Karakura Town: Thursday, May 8, 3:30 p.m.
Kurosaki Ichigo stretched in Karakura High School's field in his new soccer uniform. He had just accepted joining the soccer team as their goalkeeper for a pretty hefty pay, so he waited outside until practice started.
Ever since he had returned to school seventeen months ago, sports teams all over the school came begging to him to get his help to win their tournaments. Ichigo had never really played sports, but he was still very athletic.
Why?
Kurosaki Ichigo was an ex-substitute shinigami.
"Huh?! What happened to basketball?"
Ichigo turned his head towards Tatsuki, who held her bag behind her shoulder. "My job with them ended last week. What about your club?"
"I have a part-time job. Didn't I tell you? I started working as an assistant instructor at the dojo last week,"
Ichigo made a face and hunched over. "You, an assistant instructor? Good thing I stopped going there. I'd hate to have to call you sensei,"
"How about I force you to call me that now..?" Tatsuki threatened.
Ichigo backed away slightly, afraid of what the shodan black belt could do to him.
"KUROSAKI-KUUUUN! TATSUKI-CHAAAAN!"
For now, Ichigo was saved by Inoue's loud greeting. She hung out the school's window pretty far and, to their surprise, slid down the pole from the second story window. When she reached the bottom, she ran towards them, only to be karate-chopped in the head by Tatsuki.
"Ow!"
"That's what you get! Next time you do something that dangerous, I'll hit you even harder!" Tatsuki's fist shook in anger.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Calm down. She didn't get hurt, after all,"
Orihime's head whipped back and forth as Ichigo and Tatsuki argued. She saw Tatsuki grab his shirt front, as if preparing to punch his lights out.
Orihime glanced up at the sky and quietly gasped when she saw the top of the nearest light post. She waved excitedly until the person perched on top of it waved back with a smile of their own.
"What is it, Orihime?" Tatsuki looked in the same direction as her, and grinned when she saw who it was.
"Who is it?" Ichigo asked, staring at the fist still gripping his shirt front. He wanted to look nonchalant, but really, he was extremely curious about which of the shinigami the two girls were waving to.
Tatsuki looked back at Ichigo. "Just a shinigami,"
"Tch. Whatever," Ichigo expected that answer. Whenever his friends or family saw a shinigami, they would never tell him who it was. It bugged him. "Would you let go of me already?"
Tatsuki forcefully shoved him down. "I just remembered that I'm wasting my time. I have work to be at,"
"Hmm?" Orihime seemed a little confused, but then she remembered that she, too, had a job. "Oh! Bye, Kurosaki-kun, Tatsuki-chan!"
"See ya,"
"Later,"
The two girls ran their separate ways, leaving Ichigo alone on the field. He just stood there for a moment before he resumed stretching.
"Hey, Kurosaki-senpai!" The soccer club vice-president called to Ichigo.
"Coming!" He called back. He cracked his knuckles and looked up at the light post. He tried to imagine one of his shinigami nakama or Imoyama-san up there, watching over the town for him. No matter how hard he tried, the image wouldn't come to him. With a frown, he looked away and ran to the soccer field.
～～～～～ 魂の実施形態 ～～～～～
The gentle spring breeze brushed Kuchiki Rukia's hair, making it flutter all around her face. She was standing lightly on the post, watching her three nakama on the green field down below.
She kept telling herself not to waste her time like this. Seireitei was experiencing a very peaceful period and had been since the arrest of Aizen Sousuke. But also since that time two Novembers ago, Rukia had lost some of what made her happy all the time. Sure, she was safe after the Winter War. And sure, she was thirteenth division's new fukutaicho, no longer an outcast in the Gotei-thirteen. But in the aftermath of the war, she had lost one of her closest nakama.
Constantly, she would ask Ukitake-taicho if she could use the senkaimon to visit the world of the living. Any of the other captains (except maybe Kyoraku-taicho) would've said no if their fukutaicho's had asked for no reason at all, but Ukitake-taicho must've understood Rukia's feelings. He agreed as long as she got her work done. She was always done before mid-morning.
Rukia saw Orihime wave at her from below. She quickly waved back, glad that most of her human nakama could see her still. Occasionally, she would talk with them, but today, she wasn't in the mood.
She waved to Tatsuki as well. She watched Ichigo, hoping he would finally look up, but he didn't. Rukia sighed.
Not long after the Winter War had ended, she had talked with so me of them.
"Kuchiki-san... will you ever visit Kurosaki-kun?"
Rukia had looked out at the horizon. "If you guys don't mind, could you not tell Ichigo about me coming here?"
Orihime cocked her head in confusion. "Why not, Kuchiki-san?"
"Ichigo can't see me anyway. I don't want to see him upset if you all can and he can't. I guess... he doesn't need to know that I'm here,"
Rukia was glad they all had kept their promise. Even though she didn't like the look in his eyes now, it would kill her to see how upset he'd be if he was sure she was right there, but no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to see her himself.
Rukia thought about using a gigai from Urahara Shoten, but she could never bring herself to do it. She didn't know what she would say.
From atop the light post, she watched the soccer practice. During her time in the world of the living, she had played soccer once. It looked interesting, but the rules to the game still confused her. She hadn't understood why Ichigo yelled at her every time she threw the ball into the goal or kicked people's shins to get them out of the way. She wanted to watch closely this time so she could try to play right next time.
She mentally hit herself on the head. And when would "next time" be? Probably never.
The familiar beeping of her denreishinki brought her out of her senses. It was a message from her captain, requesting her assistance in a captain and lieutenant's meeting in Seireitei. Rukia sighed and answered that she was on her way. She turned and opened the senkaimon, stepping through without looking back at the ground.
～～～～～ 魂の実施形態 ～～～～～
"Division 6's Kuchiki-taicho and Abarai-fukutaicho have reported to me suspicious hollow activity in the world of the living. They seemed to be able to mask their reiatsu, thus being able to devour more human souls," Yamamoto-soutaicho reported in his booming voice.
All the captains and lieutenants stood lined up, standing straight and tall. Rukia felt proud to be let in the meeting, because often, fukutaicho's had to wait outside. She glanced at the place where her brother and Renji would be, but they were still investigating the strange hollows.
The captain-commander continued. "I want you to tell your subordinates about this, because the hollows are going to be far more fatal. Don't let single shinigami go out alone, and constantly be on the lookout,"
"If I may, Yama-jii, how are the hollows able to cloak their reiatsu?" Kyoraku-taicho asked, not even bothering to address the captain-commander respectfully.
Yamamoto-soutaicho shook his head. "That is what Kuchiki-taicho and Abarai-fukutaicho are investigating. We have only seen hollows like these once before, but they revealed their presence when attacking. These hollows are not,"
Rukia remembered when Renji told her the story of when his, Kira's, and Hinamori's class took a trip to the world of the living to perform konso, but they had been attacked by a large number of huge hollows that could cloak their reiatsu. Two sixth years had been killed, but then Aizen and Ichimaru had shown up.
She felt angry. That was before everyone knew Aizen's plans, when everyone thought he was just the humble captain of the 5th division, a man to admire and respect. Because of Aizen, two of the three elite students had been mortally injured in the Winter War.
Rukia glanced at the third and fifth division spots, where Kira-fukutaicho and Hinamori-fukutaicho stood next to their captains, looking a little troubled.
Ukitake-taicho raised his hand slightly. "Do we want to send more parties out to investigate the attacks?"
The soutaicho shook his head. "Not until we know more about them. We must all just stay on alert," He looked around at all the hard faces of the captains and lieutenants standing in front of him. He banged his stick on the ground with his one, strong hand. "This meeting is over. You are dismissed!"
～～～～～ 魂の実施形態 ～～～～～
Ichigo was walking the same streets he did every day to and from school. He hadn't found being the goalkeeper very much fun, but he supposed it was worth it with the pay he was getting.
He thought about the future he was setting himself up for. Ever since he became a regular, human teenage boy again, he had started saving up money. He figured he might as well do something in the medical field when he got out of high school, since it was the only career he had at least a vague understanding of. It felt weird to him, thinking about college and jobs. He had never asked to be a shinigami, but he never thought it would be taken away from him. He'd risked his life constantly. Heck, he even died once. But now that there were no wars to fight, no friends to protect, Ichigo was... What was he?
Right. BORED.
I guess you never know what you have until you lose it.
That sure was the case now.
Ichigo suddenly stopped. He had heard something behind him, but when he turned around, the street was empty except for the occasional passing car. The sun had started to set, so long shadows stretched across the sidewalks, making it harder to see far away.
He decided to let it go and keep walking. He didn't live very close to the school, and he was still about half a mile away from it.
The rest of the way home, he didn't hear anything again.
～～～～～ 魂の実施形態 ～～～～～
"Onii-chan, how was school today?"
The family of four sat around the table, and for once, it was completely silent. This wasn't unusual if Isshin wasn't around, but when he was, he never stopped making obnoxious remarks about his kid's personal lives.
Ichigo picked at his dinner. "Normal," He said roughly.
Yuzu glared at him. "Onii-chan, you've been acting really grumpy lately,"
"He misses Rukia," There was that obnoxious remark.
Ichigo grit his teeth. "Says who?"
"Your face," Isshin said. He started hugging the large portrait of his deceased wife and cried, "Oh, Masaki! Our son has grown up so fast! Soon enough, he'll be gone and having children of his own-"
Karin hit him over the head. "Will you shut up?!"
Ichigo stood. "I'm done," He left his half-eaten dinner and walked upstairs to his room.
Yuzu stared after him. "I knew it. There is something bothering him,"
Karin put more rice in her mouth. "You know Ichi-nii. He won't tell you anything,"
～～～～～ 魂の実施形態 ～～～～～
It was already past midnight, but Ichigo couldn't sleep. He lay on top of his covers with his arms crossed behind his head, staring out the window.
He didn't know how many more days like this would go by, but he hoped something interesting would happen in his new life. Ichigo tried shutting his eyes, but he couldn't. Instead, he focused on the full moon. It seemed larger than usual tonight, or maybe closer. For a moment, it made him think of Rukia, but he pushed that thought away as quickly as it had come.
He hated thinking about his old life, because he knew he couldn't get it back.
Ichigo rolled onto his side, facing away from the window. Maybe then he'd be able to sleep.
The familiar feeling of near-death came upon him. It was the same feeling he'd felt when he'd dodged a would-be fatal stroke of the enemy's sword in battle. He quickly sat up. He could feel someone's eyes on the back of his head.
He turned around a little too late. Something sharp and heavy struck his back. He grunted, falling forward onto the floor.
"That was easier than I thought it'd be," A cold voice dripped into the room.
Pain exploded inside him. He knew it was an arrow that struck him, but when he reached back to pull it out, there was nothing there. Struggling, he turned his head to look at the man standing on his bed.
"Who are you?"
The man had light reddish-brown hair that peaked up on the sides of his head. He was dressed all in white, including his long trench coat. What shocked Ichigo was the small mask over his left eye.
A hollow mask.
But how? Ichigo had lost all his reiryoku. There was no way he could see an Arrancar. So what was this guy? He thought about what had hit him. It didn't feel anything like a sword. It had a point that sunk directly into him, like an arrow.
Arrancars didn't fight with bows and arrows. Quincies did.
Ichigo knit his eyebrows together even more. "Are you a Quincy?"
The man stepped down from the bed and stood in front of Ichigo. It hurt, but Ichigo craned his neck to look up at the guy. With his hands behind his back, the man started to speak in his cold voice.
"I'm Ivan Azgiaro, and yes, I suppose I'm a Quincy. But I must say I'm a little surprised you figured that out. I was told you were a bit dense,"
Ichigo grit his teeth as the pain intensified, his vision blurring slightly. "Who told you that?"
Azgiaro chuckled. "That's not important. What does matter is what I came here to ask you," He crouched down to Ichigo's eye level and got really close to Ichigo's own face. Azgiaro smiled, in an unfriendly way. "How would you like to join Quincies?"