A/N: Heeeeey, boys and girls! Ka Hasuken here, writing more stuff even though I should be doing homework. Yay procrastination! Plenty of time to sleep when you're dead! Anyway, this is my second fan-fic to date and it's the spawn of my twisted mind and the brilliance of two awesome anime/manga writers and their staff: take two of my favorite animes and all that goes with them, the manliest, most inspirational fictional character in the universe, the most insanely bad-assical fictional evil villain in the universe, and throw in a custom plot made by yours truly and you get KAMINA'S ADVENTURES AS A SOUL REAPER (aka "My Zanpakuto Will Pierce the Heavens!"). I hope you enjoy.
'Tis a shame, but I don't own either Bleach or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
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CHAPTER ONE: My Name is Kamina! Who the Hell Are You?!
"Oi!"
The ruckus was coming from a heavily populated sector of the Rukon District… again. He was beginning to wonder why he took himself up on the offer to become a more permanent participant in the workings of the Soul Society; particularly the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
"Damn, how long have I been out? This doesn't look like the surface to me."
This place was always known for breeding trouble. Even so, being sent here so frequently had grown to be a great annoyance. More so was the fact that Ichigo positively hated being reduced to somewhat of an errand boy.
"Hey, hey, hey, get your hands off me! I'm not doing anything wrong."
He was at least a Captain-class Soul Reaper, yet when peaceful times came around, all of the Soul Society brass seemingly lost respect for him. He heard a punch landing squarely. The sound of wood breaking accompanied a cloud of dust that rose in the distance. Well, at least this guy should make for an interesting day. Sadly enough, that's all Ichigo could hope for at this point. Sure, Aizen was still at large, but the Soul Society did not seem like it was ready to make a move any time soon. So for now… it was Substitute Soul Reaper Errand Boy. Ichigo sighed in discontent.
"Who the hell do you think I am?!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth… wait—what the?"
Ichigo's final flash step perched him up on the top of a somewhat large tavern overlooking the situation at hand. There was a crowd of people surrounding a single, apparently aggravated person. But the person in the middle… it couldn't be, right?
"A Zanpakutou?"
The man was shirtless, something rather strange to encounter in a lot of places—but even more so here in the peasantry sectors of the Soul Society. He stuck out like an extremely sore thumb. Compared to the plainly dressed spirit folk in their traditional clothing, he brandished his blue swirling tattoos proudly. They flagrantly accented his arms and back, a back by the way, that was covered by a tattered and flowing crimson cape with an orange flame pattern at its bottom. In the center laid a black flame insignia shaped like a skull. This skull appeared to be wearing a white version of the extremely gaudy pointed triangle orange sunglasses that adorned the man's face. His black pants held up haphazardly by a wide, white belt flowed a bit in the wind; as did his blue hair.
And as if any of that was not enough to catch anyone's eye, he lazily carried over his shoulder an occupied sword sheath. A thin rope was attached on both ends of it, tethering it to the man's torso. Ichigo let slip some of his spiritual pressure to announce his arrival. The peasants grew worried under the ghostly strain and began to flee. The man seemed to grin a little as he adjusted his glasses and gazed up at the obvious source of the power. Unlike the commoners running away from his place, half of his innate "fight or flight" defense mechanism was permanently broken.
"Oi, you there," the man flicked his sheath forwards and pointed at his new acquaintance, "you look important. Mind telling me what's going on here?"
Ichigo looked puzzled, "Who is this guy? It's like he just got here or something." He shook his uncertainties away for the moment. "I know quite a few Soul Reapers who dress like weirdos, but seriously man."
Ichigo's initial look of confusion and the man's grin traded faces. "Soul Reaper?" he asked. "'The heck is that?"
"You mean you're not a Soul Reaper?"
"How can I be something that I've never heard of before?" The man looked a little annoyed at this point.
"Well, in that case, I guess I've got no other choice but to take you in for questioning."
"Whoa, whoa, questioning?" the man suddenly grew defensive. Ichigo knew that he wouldn't go quietly. "What did I do wrong?"
"For starters, you just punched a guy into a house a minute ago."
"I've seen worse."
Ichigo's eye twitched and he sighed again," Look, it seems you're not getting the point. You're causing problems and I've been sent to take you in."
"Somebody sent you?" The man flung his sheath's tip into the ground and leaned on it. "Pssh," he flung his hair into the wind. The sun glinted off of his neon orange glasses. With an elegant motion he adjusted them and looked back up at his would-be captor, "Who the hell do you think I am?! Ore no na wa Kamina-sama no Dai-Gurren-Dan! I won't be taking orders from someone of the likes of you! "He thrust his finger in the Soul Reaper's direction, "In fact, maybe I should get you to take me to your leader. I wanna ask them what's going on."
Needless to say, Ichigo was not too fond of his charge's attitude. He drooped his head, the shadow covering his angry eyes. "This guy had to've just died. He doesn't know anything about the Soul Society. Even so, he's pissing me off more than Ganju."
Through a twitchy smile made of gritted teeth, he managed out, "I'm going to let that slip if you just come along quietly—,"
"Oi! Take me to the guy in charge! I wanna know what this place is!" Kamina's finger refused to change its target.
"God, it's like this guy wasn't even listening. If I find the Soul Reaper who sent this guy to the Soul Society, I'm going to punch him in the face so hard he'll think twice before letting a saint in here." Ichigo smiled a little, "Oh well, I tried being nice."
Ichigo flash stepped into striking range only to find his punch directed to the face dodged swiftly by his new poorly-made acquaintance. The Soul Reaper, though surprised, followed up effortlessly with a roundhouse kick to Kamina's head. The shirtless renegade jumped; hurtling his attacker's leg with a back flip and landing a few feet away. Ichigo stood up straight and looked firmly at Kamina.
"Who are you, exactly?"
"I already told you!" said Kamina, annoyed at the question. "I'm the great Lord Kamina! Leader of the Great Gurren Brigade!" He slammed a thumbs-up into his chest.
Seeing that the man in front of him completely missed the deeper point of his question, Ichigo brushed it off angrily and set to capturing his opponent. "It doesn't matter who you are," Ichigo said calmly as the wrappings around his sword slowly slipped off. "You're a criminal as far as I can see and you're not going to go in without a fight." He assumed a lax fighter's stance and brandished a gleaming Zangetsu in the mid-day sun.
"Ooooh," Kamina adjusted his glasses in honest interest, "Nice sword! Wanna trade?"
This question knocked Ichigo off balance for a moment, "Trade?! You idiot, that's not how it works! Why the hell do you even have a Zanpakuto if you know nothing about them?"
"Zanpaku—," Kamina scratched his head with his own sword's sheath before looking at it and realizing what his attacker was actually talking about, "My sword? Hah, this isn't really even mine!" Kamina grinned widely while Ichigo's eyes displayed a look of mild shock. "This is the old man's from the village. But I think I make much better use of it."
"Not even… from the village? Is he talking about something from his lifetime? But he's here with it… that doesn't make any sense. Who the hell is this guy?" Ichigo resumed his stance, now a little worried about exactly who he was fighting. Not about to take this incident lightly, he flash stepped at full speed towards his opponent who had not even taken a stance of his own.
"I don't know anything about this guy, but he's definitely more powerful than he looks. Not being from around here, he could even be another person trying to take over Soul Society… but he doesn't seem… smart enough to do that." Ichigo swung his blade as quickly as he could. Kamina raised his sword sheath in defense but was knocked back, off his feet due to the immensity of Zangetsu. "Now!" Ichigo's eyes widened, sensing an opening to attack. He rushed forward again as Kamina was still airborne.
However, much to Ichigo's surprise and dismay, the disabling blow he was delivering was blocked. Kamina had managed to flip rapidly and land one hand on the ground. He threw his other hand up, gripping his sheathed sword and miraculously parried Zangestu. Kamina pushed off of his hand and landed back away from Ichigo, but this time with the intent to counterattack. The gloves were coming off… and by that, Kamina flung his rather bulky cape to the side. He stood up straight and the sun shot off his glasses again.
The Gurren Brigade leader grinned, "Get ready, punk. Time to show me what you've got! At least I'll get a workout before getting down to business here."
The orange haired Soul Reaper furrowed his brows, but they soon shot up in surprise as he saw Kamina rushing him at a much pace faster than he had expected. The tattooed attacker leapt into the air and drew his sword. He swung at Ichigo who blocked the attack with his Zanpakuto. However, he was unable to do anything as Kamina kept up the assault. He swung his sword's sheath as a secondary attack. As soon as Ichigo felt the hit, he lowered his sword to begin his own counterattack… only to be greeted by a roundhouse kick given by a still airborne Kamina. Ichigo took the kick straight to the side of his face and flew into the wooden house to his left. Kamina spun around and landed lightly on his feet.
"What the hell…?" Ichigo scolded himself as he got up and dusted himself off; removing a piece of broken wood that had balanced itself upon his head.
"Tch," was all Kamina could say at the moment. He smirked at the Soul Reaper before him.
Ichigo did not take kindly to that. He flash stepped again… and again… and again. Kamina actually looked worried for the first time since the encounter. Ichigo was blurring in and out of his vision repeatedly. Up on the roof, now two feet away, it looks like he could destroy him at any time. Was that just him sticking his tongue out?
Kamina calmed down and assumed a defensive stance with this sword reminiscent of Kendo. "So… who are you?" he asked hoping one of the blurs would answer.
"My name is," suddenly a blow came from seemingly nowhere. Kamina's stance was utterly broken. "ICHIGO!" The sharp kick to his shoulder brought Kamina keeling over. "KUROSAKI!" Flash stepping once more before his opponent, Ichigo high kicked Kamina in the chin before he hit the ground, sending him straight up into the sky. Not even close to being finished, Ichigo pursued his flying target and caught up to him nearly a hundred feet from the ground. The Soul Reaper gripped Kamina by his neck and held him suspended while Ichigo himself floated effortlessly in the air.
"Ha… haha—HAHAHA!" this laughter was not the reaction that the orange haired Soul Reaper was originally hoping for when he delivered his mighty kick to Kamina's jaw. "Strawbe—haha—Strawberry! Your name is Strawberry!" Despite the nearly broken jaw and trickle of blood coming from his mouth, the leader of the Gurren Brigade seemed completely content with his situation.
"Shut up about that! It means 'Guardian Angel!'" a slight blush had crept onto Ichigo's angry face.
"Oi! Whoa, whoa! And how are you flying?!" Kamina tilted his head around and was truly surprised at how his opponent was holding him.
"I don't have to explain that to yo—,"
"Let me try it!"
"Wha—wait a minute!"
It was too late, as Kamina had already freed himself from Ichigo's grip. About to yell and chase after his charge, our orange haired hero was completely astounded at what he saw. Not twenty feet below him, he had done it—Kamina was floating in the air.
"I-Impossible! It takes a huge amount of innate spiritual energy for someone to spill it out and maintain it to the point where they can float and move around like that!" Ichigo looked on in awe as Kamina did flips and dashed around, laughing and shouting happily.
"How did you—?"
"A man always acts first and asks questions later! You don't know if you can unless you try!" The brigade leader looked rather proud of himself judging by the grin that was plastered across his face at the moment.
Before Ichigo could ask any more questions—most probably regarding the sanity of his opponent—Kamina had already retrieved his blade and was rushing upwards towards him. Ichigo smirked a little, almost to his own surprise, "Well, I was right. This guy sure did make my day interesting." "Alright then, you crazy bastard! LET'S GO!!" Ichigo rushed to meet Kamina halfway. Their blades collided releasing an intense wave of spiritual pressure. The Captains, Lieutenants, and much of the Seireitei all immediately took notice at the potentially deadly but almost playful battle. However, soon something much more sinister was stealing away their attention.
Ichigo and Kamina continued to clash swords in mid air, rushing past each other, and looping back around to repeat the process again. It seemed as if neither had the upper hand, and almost as if both of them knew this and neither of them cared. This continued for a minute or two until a voice shattered the relative monotony.
"Bakudou Number 61: Rikujokoro."
Suddenly, six golden planks of light surrounded Kamina and thrust into him. He immediately released his sword out of shock, letting it drop the hundred or so feet to land blade-first in the ground. "Gugh—agh! Why can't I move?!"
"Byakuya," Ichigo stated solemnly.
"Oi, you with the hair piece! Let me outta this!' shouted Kamina, who was actually angry more about having his fight interrupted rather than being immobilized.
"Kurosaki," the Captain of Squad Six began, completely ignoring the furious cries of his prisoner, "we have problems." Byakuya's eyes narrowed sharply.
"But what about this guy?" Ichigo said pointing at a still fuming and struggling Kamina.
"Aizen-sized problems."
To make up for the size lost by Byakuya's eyes narrowing, Ichigo's eyes shot open at the last comment. Having understood, Ichigo turned to his new sparring partner with a smile, "We've gotta go take care of something. You stay here and be good, OK?"
"Don't treat me like some baby, you punk! Hey, hey, what're you doing?!" Byakuya slowly drifted Kamina to the ground into a sitting position next to where his sword had fallen, all while maintining his binding spell. With that, Ichigo and Captain Kuchiki took their leave towards a part of the Seireitei where a large explosion had just occurred. Kamina wondered what had just happened, what was going on, and what would become of him after he felt the explosion rocking the Soul Society while realizing that he was still unable to move.
More questions ran through his mind as the sky itself seemingly opened up before his eyes not too far from his present location. It seemed like there were people in there… people dressed in white clothing and… wielding swords? It seemed as if they had just been dropped off in front of an all you can eat buffet. They simply began wantonly attacking anything they saw. More explosions ripped through Soul Society. Many of them almost looked as if they were getting closer to Kamina.
"Gotta do something!" After a few moments of pained struggling, the shirtless combatant could only say, "The next time I see that scarf-wearing pansy… I'ma kill him." Not a second afterwards, a dust cloud violently shot past him along with many of the nearby houses.
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A/N: Whew, longer chapter than I had anticipated. I sincerely hoped you enjoyed it. I'm not sure if anyone's done something like this before, and I'm sorry if it seemed like I copied an idea if that's indeed true. If not, I'd love to keep writing. However, I'ma need some pointers. Even though I have a light plot written down, I'll still kinda be writing this on the fly… so reviews, comments, and suggestions are more than welcome (WOULD BE AWESOME).
By the way… just because Kamina doesn't have Gurren Lagann doesn't mean that he won't still be using drills as a weapon. Oh, yes… that's right… the Giga Drill Breaker's comin' back, bitches. :D
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Time for some Japanese!
Zanpakuto: Soul Cutter
Ore no na wa Kamina-sama no Dai-Gurren-Dan: My name is Lord Kamina of the Great Crimson Brigade
Zangetsu: Moon Cutter
Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls
Bakudou: Way of Binding
Rikujokoro: Prison of the Six-Pointed Light
