Rukia ran down the road the static still sent flickers through the screen of her detector, which pissed her off, what the hell could he be doing that's more important than fixing her equipment, he was probably just sitting drunk in the back room of his apartment. Then she remembered something, and her face lit up as she ran down the road.
Urahara stumbled around his shop, his eyes in a blur as he tripped over a chair. The table shattered beneath him as he fell into it,
"Ughunhgah" he mumbled drunkenly, what was he meant to be doing again? He lurched over to the wall and collapsed onto it, passing out as he hit the floor.
Ichigo jogged down the road, it had been just minutes since he had received a message from Rukia asking him to come to the river quickly, apparently something was up. He turned the corner, expecting to see a hollow or the like, but as he turned the bend, his eyes widened.
The scene before him was the strangest he had ever seen. There were shinigami everywhere, stretching in a large semi-circle around him, there was also a large number of tables and what appeared to be bottles of suspicious looking water, apparently it was inconspicuous to label bottles "water" over a previous label, and put them on a table that said "Water, completely not alcohol".
The cheer was enormous, and the noise sent Kon crawling over his shoulder to peek over. The 1st squad captain approached him, flanked by the 8th and 13th captains on each side, with 6th squad captain Byakuya Kuchiki following behind him. As he approached, Ichigo nervously shifted his gaze between everyone, still visibly shocked at the sudden appearance of all the captains and seats before him.
"Ichigo Kurosaki" said the Captain commander slowly "The 13 protection squads have been ruling over soul society for many millions of years, and we have never once met a human with such extra-ordinary power"
Ichigo blanched, was this the Captain Commander's idea of praise?
"For the past few years, you have been in close contact with the 13 protection squads, fighting our wars and helping our patrols, over these years, each of the captains before you have evaluated your skills with the blade, and your willingness to support our cause. We have decided that, despite your lack of formal training and schooling, you have more than earned the right to carry the full rank and responsibility of a shinigami"
Ichigo almost fainted. The shock at this announcement was incredible, him? A shinigami? His features paled as he realised that he would also be required to work more and more until he... wait.
He finally managed to gather enough of his wits to speak,
"But, what about my friends? And my family? If I become a shinigami, I won't be able to live my life as I do now"
"We have already seen to it that you be given the right to use your body in place of a Gigai, you will be able to visit your friends and family every week, at least once, until your body finally dies."
This was insane, thought Ichigo, him, a full shinigami? He would be mad to accept, but also he would have to be crazy not to. He weighed up his options, and chose, there was only one thing that tipped his mind.
"Thankyou, everyone, you have no idea how much it means to me, I gratefully accept this position from you, and await my charge" Ichigo said grinning.
"Very well, as you have accepted, the captains of each of the squads shall retreat to the headquarters to discuss your squad placement, for now, enjoy the celebration we have organised, since our official certificate seems to have gone missing, along with the person due to present it" his eyebrows lowered as he remembered the scene that had confronted him at Urahara's shop. He walked away, entering the Senkai gate back to soul society with the captains.
There was a colossal roar from the assembled crowd, and a voice rose above the crowd "Lets celebrate!" and the cheers echoed throughout the town.
"Ichigo!" came the sudden cry to his right and as he turned to face the source of the cry, Rukia crash tackled him in a tight hug, almost winding him.
"Ugh, Rukia, hi" He said, looking up and smiling at the grinning face of his friend, he stood up and hugged her back. "Did you know about this?" he asked ludicrously, looking at the smiling faces around him,
"Of course, silly! Everyone knew!" she said looking him in the eyes, he was genuinely shocked, she could see that, so she dragged him toward the 'water' table, "Lets get a drink! We need to celebrate for once"
"Hey! Rukia! Ichigo! Came the voice of Renji from one of the larger crowds, "Congratulations!" He shouted, hitting Ichigo on the shoulder just a bit too roughly, Ichigo swore loudly and rubbed his shoulder,
"What the hell Renji!"
"Aww, gonna cry?"
The scream penetrated the cheers like a hot knife through butter, sending chills through the spines of everyone present. Everyone turned and stared at the creature leaping through the sky, and recoiled in horror at what they saw, those lower rank shinigami fled and those who were braver stood there ground, but ran, eventually, the only ones left were Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and some of the higher power shinigami.
The creature roared at its new opponents, towering above them and sending tremors through the air,
"I-Ichigo!" Rukia shouted, almost shieking, her voice trembling, pointing toward the creatures huge feet, where shapes were crawling away from its body, attached by chains to its chest.
"What is that?!" Yelled Ichigo,
"No way, thats impossible!" Exclaimed Renji.
To be continued...
(Tell me what you think of my ideas? Do you like my ideas?)
