Chapter 1
"Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, strike but slightly your claw upon this wall which feigns ignorance of sin! Hadou Thirty-Three, Soukatsui," Sora chanted.
Blue flames lanced out from his index finger, striking a dummy figure right in the middle. The straw figure smoked and caught on fire as his demon art took effect. Almost immediately, the flame was extinguished by their instructor for the day.
"That was a great improvement from two weeks back," their instructor commented.
Sora smiled, "Thank You, Captain Yasutora."
Sora turned to take a seat, as the scattered applause of his amazed classmates rang throughout the combat grounds. He looked on as the other shinigamis attempted to master today's lesson spell. Sora suppressed a chortle as he saw wisps of smoke rising from the charred area of various figures. Charred, but not burning. "Ah, I've a feeling its going to take awhile before these people can catch up to me," he murmured.
"I suggest you keep your arrogance under control," a quiet voice said behind him. Sora jumped. Standing behind him was the third squad captain, Abarai Renji. "I apologize for my rudeness, Captain Abarai," he said meekly.
Captain Abarai merely stared ahead, his eyes distant. "This kinda reminds me of back then," Renji reminisced, "Though I never was this bad," he added on second thoughts.
"Don't delude yourself, Renji. If I recalled, you were horrible at demon arts," Captain Yasutora said as he approached Renji. "I don't see you here often. Do you need something?"
"Nah. I was just passing by. Hey Sado, do you want to go for some sake later?"
"You know I don't drink, Renji."
"It's okay. I'll drink and you can watch," Renji teased, "Also, I feel like having a talk."
"Fine. I'll have to dismiss the class first."
Sora rejoiced inwardly as Captain Yasutora allowed the students to leave early. All hail Captain Abarai, he thought. The days had been tough, staying here after he had already finished the lesson. Captain Yasutora had been caring, too caring perhaps, and his concerns usually resulted in more training. Sora joined the stream of students flooded out of the seventh squad combat arena.
Perhaps I should visit Rukonji, Sora thought. With the idea in his head, Sora neared the White Gate of Seireitei. "Jidanbou, can you let me out?" Sora asked. A gigantic shinigami looked up from where he was sharpening his axe. "Sure," he said, "I'm the gateman after all." Setting aside his two prized axes, Jidanbou crouched down, prying is fingers between the gaps of the gate, and summoned his strength. Slowly, he lifted the humongous gate over his head and watched as Sora ran right through it. "Thanks Jidanbou!" he heard him call out as Sora darted between the alleyways, disappearing into the complexity of Rukonji.
Sora ran through the narrow streets of East Rukonji, ignoring the bustling market life around him. He slipped through a small hole in a fence, and found himself in an abandoned town, Karakura Town. The town transported to Soul Society, but never went back. Rumors had it that twelve years ago, a titanic battle had erupted between the shinigamis and espadas, who were under the leadership of traitorous fifth squad captain, Aizen Sousuke. It was there that most of Aizen's forces were annihilated, due to the appearance of a Soul Society hero, and his group of Vizards. Although that battle did not result in many casualties, the survivors, including Captain Yasutora and Abarai, rarely talk about it. As such, this battle was dubbed the Silent Battle.
Captain Yasutora leaned against a shady tree, atop a hill overlooking Karakura Town. Beside him, Renji was indulging himself in sake, looking every bit like an idiot. "You should put that away you know. If Genryusai sees you downing sake like that, he's going to kill you." Renji paused to give him a like-I-care stare, before draining the keg in one large gulp. "Ah!" Renji let out a sigh of satisfaction. East Rukonji sakes were the best. Setting aside the keg, Renji asked somberly, "Do you think Ichigo's still alive?" Sado glanced at him, making sure that he was still sober. "I've never once believed that he was dead," he replied.
"Same here," Renji muttered, allowing himself to sink into his memories. It was about this day, twelve years ago. During the battle of Karakura, the Vizards had suddenly entered Hueco Muendo, and with their help, Ichigo defeated Ulquorria and the other hollows in Hueco Muendo and rescued Inoue. Then the Vizard Shinji opened the gargantua, and brought all those who had gone to Hueco Muendo back. They had appeared in the midst of battle, in Karakura Town, where the shinigamis were losing. With the increase in battle strength from the Vizards, the shinigamis were able to turn the tide. After a few weeks of battle, the shinigamis were able to open a crack in the espadas defense line. It was then that Ichigo had charged in and attempted to defeat Aizen Sousuke. He never came out. However, a few hours later, the espadas retreated and the shinigamis forced their way into Aizen's base. In there, they found the body of former third squad Captain, Ichimaru Gin, former fifth squad Captain Aizen Sousuke, and former ninth squad Captain Tousen Kaname. The bodies of many arrancars were also found inside. However, Ichigo's body was never recovered. Soul Society had declared him dead, but Renji would never believe that.
"All shinigamis near Sector E21, a number of hollow had been detected there. Please proceed for extermination," a soul butterfly relaying the message disrupted his thoughts. With a slight shake of his head, Renji propped himself against the tree trunk. "Shall we go?" he asked Sado.
Sado closed his eyes for a moment, and then replied, "I don't feel like going. Anyway, it seems that someone's going already."
"Ya, I can sense her reiatsu," Renji said, before lying on the grass.
Sora got to his feet when he heard the message from the soul butterflies. E21. That was two blocks away from where he is now. Sweet, he thought. Shinigami trainees rarely get to see real action. Since he was not an official shinigamis yet, Sora was not allowed to unleash his soul slayer, even if he had already had one. This is the perfect chance," Sora thought as he raced towards the site.
Sora was greeted by a scene, exciting in his own standards. Four hollows prowled the soulless streets of Karakura Town, the savage look of hunger all too clear on their masks. Sora hid behind the rubbles of a building, his heart pumping. This would be his first real non-arena fight. He was dying to see how his soul slayer would react.
Quietly, Sora said, "Breath, Kirintetsuo." With a flash, the regular sword form of his soul slayer condensed into a smaller form, much like a short sword. With his other hand, he held the sheath, which Sora assumed would be used for blocking and parrying. A raw-throated growl drew Sora's attention away from his soul slayer.
"Uh-oh," he said. The flash during his soul slayer's release had caught the attention of the hollows. With devouring the only thing on their mind, the hollows immediately moved to capture their target.
"Bring it on," Sora said, grinning. Kirintetsuo felt extremely light in his hand, much like a feather. The small, virtually weightless blade allowed Sora to utilize his agility to the maximum. Sora bent his knees slightly and sprang upwards, over the head of the nearest hollow. As he flew in an arc over the hollow's head, Sora stabbed his blade through the skull, and the hollow disintegrated. Swiftly, Sora dispatched another two hollows with the same technique, before lopping of the head of the last hollow. A simple strike at a critical spot was all it took.
Sora sealed his soul slayer and examined his handiwork. Four hollows dead, all within five minutes. Feeling pleased with himself, he turned to leave. A sudden movement caught his attention. Sora wheeled around and barely managed to parry the blow. However, the force was enough to send him crashing into the ruins. Sora shook his head groggily and saw a hollow. It was a fifth one! It had been lurking out of sight until now, where it had surprised him with that attack. This is bad, Sora thought as the hollow's second blow came towards him. He needed to protect himself. He closed his eyes and held his sword in front of him, bracing for the second impact. The punch never came.
"Beginning Dance, White Moon," a voice shouted. The hollow froze in mid-punch, and shattered into thousands of pieces. Sora felt a gentle orange glow surround him, and within moments, he was refreshed. Lifting his head, Sora saw Captain Kuchiki, of the fifth squad, along with Lieutenant Orihime.
"Don't you know that it's forbidden for academy students to fight hollows alone?!" Captain Kuchiki said, her words laced with anger.
"Just let it be, Rukia, he was probably just looking for excitement," Inoue said.
Captain Rukia Kuchiki looked at this boy in front of her and sighed. Another initiate seeking thrills.
"I guess you're right, Inoue. Let's go," she said offering her hand to the boy. He grabbed hold of her hand, pulling himself up. Suddenly, the boy's face paled, pointing at something behind her and blabbering incoherently. "What is it," she asked.
Sora paled when he it appeared. What was that thing? It had a grotesque mask, akin to that of a hollow, but it held a soul slayer. What was that thing? Unable to do anything, he pointed at that ominous figure, trying to warn the Captain.
Rukia whirled around, but it was too late. As the soul slayer, threatened to cut her, an orange shield blossomed between her and the sword, stopping the blow. "Soten Kisshun," Inoue shouted. Rukia recovered, and said, "Following Dance, White Ripple." Once again, a shell of ice enclosed the hollow. What was that, Rukia thought. She could barely sense its reiatsu. She did not know of any hollows who could head their reiatsu so well. No hollows could, except an espada. Was Aizen still alive and creating espadas?
"Inoue. Does this look like an espada to you?"
Inoue stared at the hollow in the ice, and said, "It does not resemble espada I know, but it is one."
"We should go. Before something else happens," Rukia said.
"And there I thought that this would succeed in killing you. You're stronger than I expected, Rukia," someone said as they made to leave. Sora, Rukia and Inoue turned in unison towards the voice. Sora watched as Rukia and Inoue's face turned whitish, their expressions visibly shocked.
Rukia stared hard. She could not believe what she was seeing. "It can't be," she said, "After all these years."
"I-chigo," she said, half-crying.
"Kurosaki- kun," was all Inoue managed to say.
Sora looked up and saw the figure standing on the lip of the gargantua. This person had flaming orange hair, and a huge odd-shaped soul slayer. He fit the description. Sora gasped, it was him. The hero of Soul Society.
Kurosaki Ichigo.
It was the same person who disappeared after the Karakura Battle.
Kurosaki Ichigo, but donning a hollow's mask.