After being a long-time watcher of this series, and after a dream concerning said series, I decided to write my first Bleach fanfic. Now, I will try my best to keep in the spirit of things, you know, keep faithful to existing characters, be as accurate as possible and of course, write awesome battle scenes, but you must understand: there's a limit to what words can do, whereas animation or even comics open a whole new door of possibilities. Either way, I hope you enjoy this fic. Maybe it will inspire someone enough for them to draw me a comic!
Chapter I – Inuzuri's Secret Guardian
Warning. There has been a breach in security. Squad 11, report to Area 78 of Southern Rukongai immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat. Warning. There has been a breach in security…
The message rang with clarity and urgency throughout the walls of Seireitei, the words still echoing as a handful of men from Division 11 rushed to the site of trouble, Yumichika and Ikkaku leading the way.
"Think it's a ryoka?" Ikkaku asked, a large grin plastered on his face.
"Tch, whatever it is, it's probably a waste of time." Replied Yumichika who, unlike his friend, looked annoyed.
"A fight's a fight." Simply said the other.
Before long, they reached the southern-most gates to Rukongai; once through, the squadron pressed on. A while passed. They were running past yet another deserted street when Yumichika stopped, then signaled for the rest of the men to stop as well. Calmly, he swept the district with his gaze; the houses and shacks stood silent, the dusty roads empty. There wasn't a soul to be seen or heard.
Frowning, he turned to his team before sighing dramatically, "I knew it! This was a waste of time!"
Beside him, Ikkaku's grin turned into a grimace, hands on his hips, "And here I could be doing something better… like sleeping."
They were about to turn back, all of them grumbling unhappily about a false alarm, when suddenly an explosion in the vicinity sent dust and debris flying in the air, followed by a distinctive cry.
Ikkaku was the first to snap back around, a surprised look on his face, "A hollow? Here?"
Yumichika wasted no time in questions, instead bolting forward, hand at his zanpakuto, and heading for the source of the sound. He was soon joined by Ikkaku, his battle-hungry grin back in place, and the rest of their squad, though they somewhat trailed behind. As they neared the hollow, they could begin sensing its aura… their aura.
"There's more than one." Yumichika stated, then added with a frown, "And I also feel another presence."
Ikkaku didn't respond, and instead sped up, his excitement growing quickly at the prospect of facing a new enemy.
The two of them were about to round a corner when all of a sudden, a roar was heard, followed by a hollow crashing in the ground in front of them. It struggled to get up with its remaining three limbs, since one had been ripped off, but its mask abruptly split in three and it disappeared. Both Yumichika and Ikkaku exchanged puzzled looks, ignoring the arrival of their men, before peeking around the corner. What they saw confused them.
A girl stood in the middle of the district's largest plaza, surrounded by four hollows. By her looks, she was nothing more than one of the many souls that resided in the district, however, most of her was covered in blood, and something told them not all of it was hers. Despite the large cut on her cheek, she was smirking defiantly, oblivious to the pain, facing up the monsters before her. Finally, one of the hollows, a misshapen horse-looking beast, reared up and charged with a bellow.
"Damn!" Exclaimed Ikkaku, straightening up from behind the shack and turning to his friend, hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto, "We gotta-" But his words were cut off as Yumichika pointed back at the scene.
When he looked, his eyes widened. The horse hollow was falling forward, tripped by the girl with a powerful low kick to its limbs. Its weight crashed down into one of his own, a toad-like hollow that had been standing right behind the girl, crushing it and its mask. That was the second hollow they had seen being dispatched by this Rukon soul.
Angry at their loss, the remaining two hollows attacked from both sides, just as the girl was getting up from her crouch. She managed to dodge the first swipe, and the second, but an unexpected third blow from behind, courtesy of the once more standing horse hollow, sent her flying against a house, destroying the better part of it.
When it was obvious the girl was out of commission, Yumichika turned to face the rest of the squad and ordered, "Alright, you know what to do! Go destroy those ugly things!"
A chorus of cheers issued forth from the men before they charged at the monsters, swords out, ready to fight; Ikkaku was leading them, grinning widely. They were only a few meters away, blades calling for action as the hollows were raring up to go, when suddenly a wall of light erupted from the ruined shack and stopped the squad's charge short. The nearest hollow, resembling a grotesque cross between a snake and a spider, was caught in the fire, and as such, collapsed to the ground before disappearing, its mask pulverized.
"Wha-what was that?" Exclaimed Ikkaku, who had almost been hit by the white column of light.
As if to answer his question, debris of what was once a home were pushed aside, allowing the supposedly unconscious Rukon soul to get out of the ruins; a bright white glow surrounded her, briefly, before fading away. All of them openly stared in disbelief, some men even gasping as the girl stepped, if a little unsteadily, toward the remaining hollows, oblivious to the shinigami right there. She was holding her side, which now sported a deep cut, just below the ribs, and her jaw was clenched from the pain, but she stood straight, determined. The horse hollow stamped its foot impatiently, viciously, preparing to attack; finally, it lunged forward.
It all happened lightning fast. The girl let go of her bleeding side and assumed an attack pose, ready to dodge or counter, however, it was the second hollow, with the body of a cobra, that hit her first. Its tail caught her square in the chest, knocking the breath out of her, and sending her skidding across the ground. Ikkaku, using shunpo, caught her before she slammed into another house, sparing her the extra harm.
"Ikkaku!" Called out a few of the men.
"I'm fine!" He shouted back as he laid the girl to the floor, then knelt by her, "Just kill those things before they do any more damage!"
"You heard him!" Ordered Yumichika, turning to his squad, "You've wasted enough time, now go! Attack!"
Like one entity, the men roared and rushed forward, slashing and hacking at the two remaining hollows, making short work of them (though the horse-looking one was a fighter even in death). Seeing as his team was in no need of his help, Yumichika turned to his comrade and his broken and bloodied catch.
"She used byakurai." He stated simply as he crouched down to get a better look at the Rukon soul.
"That was white lightning?" Asked Ikkaku, surprised, before looking down at the girl.
Now that she was motionless and in front of him, he could study her. She was young, pretty if it weren't for the cuts and bruises, and if she were wearing a kimono. Her torn and tattered clothes were that of a boy, and as dirty as a boy's would be, minus the blood; a sleeveless gi tied with an old obi and a pair of pants that didn't quite reach her ankles. Her hands and feet were bandaged, though not because of injury, but to fight. Her black hair was long, probably waist-length, and even that was kept in a messy bandage-ponytail.
"Yoko!"
The two shinigami looked up to see people coming out of hiding and flooding the streets. Some of them were running toward them, a few of them looking absolutely anxious and scared. Ikkaku and Yumichika moved away from the girl as an elderly woman reached her first.
"You have to save her! You have to save our Yoko!" She cried, falling to her knees beside the girl as she did, bringing a hand to her mouth when she saw her condition, "Poor Yoko…"
"Please save her." Added an equally old man, kneeling beside the woman and resting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, "She's our savior." The men behind him nodded gravely.
Before Ikkaku could say anything, three children suddenly burst through the crowd and practically threw themselves on the ground beside the girl. All three looked aghast when they laid eyes on her.
"Onee-san!" Exclaimed the first, a boy with brown shaggy hair. His cry was echoed by the other two, a little girl with black hair, tears in her wide eyes, and a second boy her age, equally tearful but with light brown hair.
"Onee-san, please, you can't d-die!" Sobbed the little girl, taking hold of the girl's bloody hand in her smaller ones, "You-you promised you'd protect us!" The boy beside her didn't say anything, just stared at the deep gash in the girl's side.
"Mister!" Shouted the first boy, "You can save her, you have to save her!" He wiped angrily at the tears threatening to fall, "It's your duty isn't it?" His eyes were accusing and unwavering.
"Well, yes but…" Began Ikkaku, feeling uncomfortable under the boy's intense gaze, but he was cut off by Yumichika.
"She brought this upon herself." Stated his friend as he crossed his arms, voice somewhat cruel, "It's not our fault if she was foolish enough to face those hollows on her own."
"She wouldn't have had to if you had showed up sooner!" Cried someone from the crowd, joint by more shouts.
"Yumichika!" Ikkaku whispered urgently, "We might not be from the 4th Squad, but it still our job to protect these people."
"But it's not our fault!" Hissed back the other, "Why should we be responsible for this girl's stupidity and-"
"Aren't you curious though?" Yumichika raised an eyebrow at him, so he continued, "She used kidō and killed two hollows."
"Three." Someone corrected him.
He looked down to find the youngest of the two boys frowning back at him, eyes no longer teary.
"What?" He asked, surprised.
"She killed three of those things." Explained the light brown-haired boy, seemingly defending the girl's skill, "She smashed right through the first one with one punch!"
The crowd heard the boy and roared in agreement, cheering or shouting various praises. Ikkaku exchanged glances with Yumichika, who merely shrugged in defeat; behind them, the squadron also exchanged curious looks. After a few moment's hesitation, Ikkaku sighed and turned to face his men.
"All right, I want you all to go ahead and send word to Unohana-taishou that she has a new patient!" He ordered loudly, then turned to the inhabitants of Inuzuri, "We'll take it from here." He reassured them.
Looking relieved, the people began cheering again, though this time, it was all gratitude, praise and alleviation. Ikkaku couldn't help but smile, whereas Yumichika rolled his eyes and turned away, annoyed. His friend knew better though, he knew he was turning away because he was pleasantly embarrassed by the cheers.
After stopping the bleeding with his special ointment and wrapping the girl in a spare blanket, Ikkaku picked her up then, assuring the people one last time, left at a gallop, Yumichika keeping pace beside him.
"This turned out to be more trouble than it's worth." Complained his friend, once they were halfway to the gate.
"You're just saying that because you didn't get to fight." Grinned back Ikkaku.
Yumichika glared at him before speaking once more, "In addition, we have this half-dead girl to take responsibility for."
"We? You're the one that will be doing paperwork!" Snorted the other, before speeding up and leaving behind his outraged friend.
"Ikkaku!" Shouted Yumichika, but all he got back was laughter.
Well, I apologize for the shortness (it's five pages long in Word), but I hope you enjoyed the first installement. For those who have read this: if you have any questions, comments or criticism, please, don't hesitate to post something. I would also like to find a beta, so if anyone is interested, send me an e-mail or just post your desire to become one.
Domo arigatou.