Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Fairytail
Soul Society, Magnolia Branch.
Chapter 2: A Tense Meeting.
While she was buying her strawberry cheesecake as usual, she spotted something out the corner of her eye. It was quite an alarming situation for her, seeing over fifty people dressed in black robes, armed with swords, and carrying different pieces of equipment and building materials. Understandably for someone like her, she would assume it was a hostile invasion, but she banished that thought from her mind once she noticed that the citizens of Magnolia weren't fleeing and screaming, and the strange people were not attacking anyone either.
She was further bamboozled by the sheer speed at which they built up a whole building. Even Fairy Tail with magic took a while to build the guildhall according to the master. There was someone outside of the guild that hasn't entered yet though, he looked just as strange too. Bright orange hair that resembled Loke's, the same black robes, two white and red shoulder guards, and a huge sword on his back with a smaller one on his hip. The orange haired man had a distant look in his eyes which soon turned into annoyance then recognition as he realized he was standing outside of the guild. After that he pushed the doors open and went inside.
'That's strange, I was not informed of this new guild. Granted, I was on a job but for one to be approved and built that fast is certainly not normal. Maybe I should ask the master about what's going on.' The red haired swordswoman thought to herself as she picked up her cake and started to make her way back to the Fairy Tail guildhall.
The guild was in its normal high spirited mood, everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves greatly as they chatted, drank, fought, or relaxed.
"Here's your food Natsu! A roasted lamb leg with extra spicy hot sauce and set on fire, just the way you like it!" chirped the eldest of the Strauss siblings, Mirajane. She set the plate down onto the bar counter before she started to prepare more food and drinks for the guild.
"Wooh! Thanks Mira, I'm starving." Natsu dug into his meal voraciously as per usual. Splatters of sauce, meat and saliva ended up almost everywhere around the dragon slayer's vicinity. Some of it ending up on Gray, who looked pissed as all hell.
"Can you at least have some decency when you eat, flame-breath!" shouted the angry ice-wizard, who at this point stripped his torso bare.
"Shut up stripper, at least I don't lose my shirt every damn second after I put it on" spat the Salamander, enraged that his meal had been interrupted by Gray of all people.
"You burn down practically everything around us on jobs, and somehow my stripping is a bad habit?"
"You cause damage too ice-prick, how many houses have you accidentally frozen solid?"
"At least they still have their houses after the ice melts, you just destroy stuff you dumbass bonfire!"
"That's it, you wanna fight? I'll roast your ass you Popsicle!"
"Bring it on! Ice-make: Lance"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"
Of course, this was Fairy Tail, meaning that Gray's attack missed and hit Elfman in the face, Natsu slipped at punched Jet in the face. From there on out, a classic Fairy Tail brawl erupted. Elfman threw Gray into Cana, making her lose grip of her mug which splashed beer onto Macao, who tried to hit Cana but hit Alzack instead. Eventually everyone ended up in the middle of the guild, punching anyone and everyone, and getting punched by anyone and everyone. Soon though their fun ended.
A loud bang from the front of the guild signified someone's entry into the guild via slamming open the doors. As their heads turned to see who it was that entered, everyone paled. Erza stepped into the guildhall with a twitching eyebrow.
"What is going on here?! I leave for just a week and no one pays attention to the rules anymore?! Who started this mess? I shall punish them!" With those words all the wizards parted to either side of the guildhall, leaving Natsu and Gray still trying to beat each other up, oblivious to the menacing figure of Erza looking over them.
First Gray noticed her, which drained the colour of his face. Natsu mistook this as Gray being afraid of him of course. "Hahaha! You're pale, do you finally admit you're afraid of me and that I'm much better and stronger?"
It was at that moment that he noticed that Gray was looking behind him. Slowly Natsu turned his head to see what Gray was looking at, praying that it wasn't Erza. And it just had to be Erza…
Their screams were heard all over Magnolia.
SS,MB
Erza dusted her hands off, proud of her work as she looked over the unconscious forms of Gray and Natsu embedded into the guild floor. She suddenly remembered why she had rushed back to the guild though. Erza ran to the master's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" was the yell that came from inside. She opened the door to the see the master at his desk doing paperwork.
"Ah Erza, what brings you into my office? Take a seat." He motioned at the chair in front of his desk with a caring look in his eyes. He knew that it took a lot for someone like Erza to confront him over an issue, so understandably he was worried.
"Well master, as I was on my way back to the guild, I stopped to buy myself some cheesecake," at this the master smiled a little. No matter how much she showed herself to be mature and stoic, she was a sucker for strawberry cheesecake. "Then I saw this large group of people, all in uniform of black robes except a few. They built up what looks to be a guildhall in record time under the name 'Soul Society, Magnolia Branch'. One of them had a humongous sword on his back and a smaller one on his hip, with some weird white and red armour." She stopped for a breath before continuing.
"I was wondering if you knew anything about these newcomers and whether or not they are a threat. So I rushed back to the guildhall to inform you. I would have done so sooner but I was distracted with disciplining the troublemakers that caused a guild brawl. For that I apologise, you may strike me if you wish." Erza bent down at a ninety degree angle, preparing for a blow.
"Now, now Erza you know I won't hit you, so raise your head. You have to get rid of that habit one day. As for the new guild, rest assured they are not a threat to Fiore. I wanted to inform everyone in the guild that a new guild was going to open in Magnolia, but it appears that I have underestimated their capabilities in building up their guild. At first I was unsure as well when I heard a guild was going to open in Magnolia from Yajima, but after consulting them a few days ago, it is true. The council approved of the guild and its master is someone that goes by the name of 'Urahara Kisuke'."
"Apparently the council is more than happy to have a new guild in Magnolia, hoping that they would be able to show a good example to Fairy Tail, keep us from causing trouble, or at best force us out of business. I don't plan to let this new guild do any of that though. But with that said we must not forget to treat them with kindness unless they prove to be unpleasant, whether it be character wise or if they are a dark guild in disguise." Finished the elderly master.
"Should we go over to congratulate them on opening their guild?" Erza asked Makarov, comfortable with the new guild now due to the master's explanation. However she still did not fully trust them, so going over would prove to be a good opportunity to find out what they are like.
"I suppose we should, I'll pick the people to go over with me. If there's nothing else, I might as well announce the news to the guild now."
With that they left the office. Erza went down the steps to sit at the bar counter and enjoy a slice of her cheesecake.
"What did you talk about Erza? You seemed kind-of rushed." Inquired the bar maid.
"Nothing to be worried over Mira, I just had false assumptions. The master will explain it all now." Erza pointed up to the master, who took his place on top of a railing.
"Listen up brats! I got some news to share." Everyone settled down and listened attentively to the master. "There's a new guild in town, it's called 'Soul Society, Magnolia Branch', as a warm welcome to Magnolia, I have decided to go to their guild to personally congratulate them. I have picked some people to go along with me. These people are: Natsu, Gray, Erza, Mira, and Lucy.
"Woohoo! Hey Gramps, if there's anyone strong can I fight them?!" Natsu was excited by the prospect of a whole new guild of potentially strong people who he could fight.
"Natsu Dragneel you will behave yourself when you arrive there. Plus their power level is unknown, it is not wise to pick fights that you might not be able to win." Makarov was genuinely worried about the pink-haired dragon slayer picking fights with someone that he would either severely injure, or get severely injured by. Since it was a new guild they might be wanting to prove themselves, and beating the Salamander of Fairy Tail to a pulp would definitely be something they might want to do.
"But Gramps! Who cares what their power level is, if they can put up a fight that's all that matters isn't it?" whined Natsu, clearly not liking the fact that he wasn't allowed to fight someone that could be really strong.
"Absolutely not Natsu, if you do end up in a fight, expect punishment to be dealt" This time Erza wanted to persuade the dragon slayer from starting fights, although she was curious as to how strong these new people are, she didn't want a potential friendship with a new guild to be ruined by Natsu starting fights.
"Fine…" relented the pink head. Crossing his arms and pouting childishly.
"Am I the only one kinda worried? What if they're really mean or what if they're super strong and they don't like us?" Lucy genuinely worried. The latter option was what really worried her though, she could handle not being liked but if they were super strong, they really wouldn't have much problem blasted her off the face ofEarthland.
"Come on Lucy, I'm sure they're not bad people. And I think we might just form some new friendships there." Mira added on, keeping an optimistic view on this whole situation.
"Yeah, maybe there's some cute boys too!" hollered Cana from her position at the counter. Both girls sported blushes.
"What?! No man would allow her sister's heart to get played with by a guy! I'm going too!" Elfman overreacted as usual when it comes to his older sister.
"No Elfman you shall not be coming, we need people to stay behind and protect he guild in case of an emergency." Makarov pitied the embarrassed bar maid. If he brought Elfman along, Mira would probably die of embarrassment.
"If there are no more qualms, we shall be setting off now." Makarov hopped down to the first floor and stepped out the doors, followed by the people he had chosen.
SS,MB
The group stood outside of the doors of the guildhall belonging to Urahara Kisuke. They hesitated, wondering how they should approach entering. Should they knock? Barge in? Call someone?
Luckily, or unluckily, they had a pink haired solution named Natsu.
His solution? Why, kick the doors wide open and announce his presence of course.
BANG! "Nice to meet ya! Name's Natsu and I'm from Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore! Anyone strong for me to fight?!" taunted the soon-to-be-punished dragon slayer while the rest of the Fairy Tail squad looked at him in disbelief, frozen for a moment.
"What was that kid? Strongest? So you're worth giving a shit huh?" seethed Grimmjow as he cracked his knuckles with a dark look in his eyes, his pride not allowing anyone to proclaim that they're the strongest as long as he was around. It didn't matter where, he was the strongest damn it! Yet no one thought so…
"Hey King! Here's someone we can whack around a little, let me out please? I'll only make his death a little painful." The inner hollow pleaded, showing his sadistic nature.
'Absolutely not' declined the Soul Reaper, knowing that it was hard to tell if the hollow was joking or not when he said he would kill someone.
"What was that you blue haired weakling!? You think you can beat me?" challenged the pinkette.
"You heard me, I'd beat you six ways to Sunday blindfolded kid, I doubt you could even scratch me" Grimmjow started stalking over, ignoring the shocked and fearful look of the foot soldiers, they knew that an angry Espada was not something they wanted to be close to, and the disapproving look the rest of the group gave him. "Hell, I don't even think your little rubbish group here combined could bruise me, let alone beat me. Bring your weak little guild along, you'll need them all to do anything to me!"
"What was that you ruffian! You may insult Natsu, but I will not allow anyone to mock Fairy Tail. For that you must be punished." The insulted Erza stepped forward, unsheathing her sword.
"Yeah, you can make fun of matchstick here but you insult Fairy Tail and you gotta deal with us." Gray stepped forward, ice forming around his hands and missing a shirt.
"It's our job to protect the Fairy Tail name, because we're Fairy Tail's strongest team!" Lucy added, preparing the key of Taurus.
"Hey, hey come on guys, let's not solve things with violence." Mira attempted to pacify her teammates, trying to prevent a fight. But with Natsu that was just wishful thinking.
"Yeah your guild is probably trash anyway! What's the deal with the orange haired kid and the weirdo in a bucket hat just standing there? Are they scared? I bet those girls can't do anything either! I challenge all of you, c'mon I'm all fired up now!"
Ichigo, Nel, and Harribel collectively developed an eyebrow twitch.
"What was that you pink haired shit?" Ichigo stalked forward, taking the larger Zangetsu out.
"Itsygo isn't scared! And I'm strong too!" Nel joined Ichigo, unsheathing her Zanpaktou.
"You will find that I am far from useless, child." Coldly replied Harribel as she took her stand next to Nel, sword out.
The two groups had a staring showdown, the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Even so much as a twitch from either side could start a disastrous fight. Especially true considering Natsu, Erza, Grimmjow and Ichigo are going to get involved.
The first to move was Natsu, as he leapt forward with his fist encased in fire. He aimed for the blue haired cocky bastard. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fi-"He cut himself short as he realized his opponent wasn't there anymore. He heard a buzzing sound behind him, only to look back and see Grimmjow behind him, sword already swinging down at his neck.
CLANG!
Both group's eyes widened as Grimmjow's slash was blocked at the last second by another blade, this time it was connected to a cane handle. "Settle down Grimmjow, no reason to kill the kid just because he ruffled your feathers a little." To the unsuspecting person it sounded cheerful, but to Grimmjow it was laced with a promise of pain if he didn't comply. The steely look in his eyes didn't help either. Begrudgingly Grimmjow sonido'ed back to his original position, unhappy with his fun being ruined. Erza and Gray pulled a still shocked Natsu back to their group.
The Fairy Tail group were in awe, never had they seen people move that fast before. It was almost like speed magic, but neither of them cast a spell or had a magic circle on them before they moved. Lucy in particular was terrified by this, understandable since she hasn't gone through nearly as many battles as the rest had. 'We just tried to pick a fight with these monsters, if it wasn't for that weird guy, Natsu might be hurt quite badly' the thought sent a shiver down her spine.
It wasn't until they payed attention to their surroundings did they notice that they were surrounded now. Blocked in from every side by men and women with swords, who now had the courage to move forward and fight, since Grimmjow had been efficiently placated, and that their enemies did not look to be too tough.
"Master, what should we do now?" Erza asked in a hushed whisper to her master as the group huddled closer together, everyone covering each other's backs.
"Stand down, let me solve this issue." Makarov assured.
"Ahem, May I please speak to the guild master? I apologise for my member's rashness. Please do forgive us, we did not come with ill intentions." Hopefully the guild master would be an understanding man, he didn't want to start a guild war.
"Heya! You asked for the guild master? Well here I am!" Kisuke pulled out his fan and covered his face. Meanwhile the Fairy Tail group had another shock. 'This creep is the guild master?!'
"Now you say you came without ill intentions, yet your member kicked open our doors and challenged us to a fight. Isn't that slightly hypocritical Master?" the cheerful nature of the man's speech did not ease the worry Makarov felt, especially when the man's gaze was a mix of accusation and warning.
"I assure you we did not come with that intention, it's just that sometimes Natsu can fly off the handle. Please call off your men, I would rather leave without conflict."
Under the stare of Kisuke, the Fairy Tail group fidgeted slightly, unsure if he would allow them to escape this situation without violence. The stare lasted for a while longer and the Fairy Tail group accepted that they may come to blows, they started preparing their magic and weapons. The tension was even more than the previous situation.
The tension practically vanished as the doors opened again and a soothing voice cut through the guild, and the tension. "Kurosaki-kun we're back from grocery shopping! I can't wait to cook somethi- Wait what's going on?" Orihime, Uryu, and Chad stood at the guild doors, looking at the situation, wondering just what had happened and who these new people were.
"Damn it Kurosaki, you got us into another mess didn't you? Why am I not surprised that even somewhere new you cause trouble?" accused Uryu as he pushed his glasses up with his fingers.
"It's not even my fault! Blame Grimmjow and pinkie over here!"
"Who are you calling pinkie, sunset?
"And what the hell do you mean it's my fault, obviously that pink haired freak started it!"
"You're calling me a freak? You have a hole in your chest and a piece of bone stuck on your cheek! And its salmon!"
"That's it, are you asking for another beat down?"
"I would be if you beat me in the first place, which you didn't!"
The rest of the onlookers facepalmed as they got into another verbal spat, except for Makarov as he realized the one thing all three of the main women in the guild had in common. Blood started dripping down his nose as he stared even more, only to be interrupted by a foot in the face. "Stop staring at the girls you creepy old man!" shouted Ichigo.
"Master!" shouted Erza and Mira as they went to check if he was alright.
"What's the big idea, attacking our master like that?!" Gray tried to punch Ichigo, emphasis on 'tried'. Missing completely as the Substitute leaned back, before he too was kicked back.
"Kurosaki-kun! Don't go around beating people up" scolded Orihime with a pout, since she wasn't one for violence.
"Wha- But…He was…Gahhh whatever. Sorry." Ichigo apologised to the healer with a frown as he looked the other way, unable to resist against her wide doe eyes and cute pout. It reminded him too much of Yuzu.
"Soten Kisshun I Reject!" A golden dome formed over the two injured parties. Makarov's broken nose and missing teeth, and Gray's bruised and broken ribs started being healed.
Mira, Erza, Natsu, and Lucy looked on over in wonderment as they had never seen anyone with such strong healing "magic".
Sensing that the trouble has been passed, the officers went back to their works, the ones from 12th going back to their research material, the others went back to practising and paperwork.
"So, if your intention wasn't to start a fight, then what is it?" questioned Kisuke, seeing that Makarov was fully healed.
"Ah, we heard a new guild opened up and we came here to congratulate you and wish you success. Of course Natsu isn't one to let a good fight go by, so I apologise for his actions." Makarov bowed his head, which Kisuke accepted.
"Well now, news travels fast huh? If you're here on friendly terms, why not stick around for a bit. I'm sure it would be beneficial for all of us if we could form a friendship. Care for some tea while we talk, Master?"
"Sure, it would be nice to get to know a fellow master better."
With that the two masters walked off to the lounge area, leaving the two previously warring groups.
"Well, I'm gonna go get a drink and sit down for a bit, anyone care to join me?" Ichigo asked before he left to get a cool drink to soothe his mind after this day of headaches. Closely followed by Nel, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Harribel, and lastly Grimmjow. The Fairy Tail group shrugged before following along.
They whole group settled down around a big table, all with cold beverages and light snacks. The only exception was Orihime, with her red bean, wasabi, and chocolate sauce covered pasta noodles.
"So, why'd you open up a guild in Magnolia?" asked Lucy.
"No reason really, just so happened to pick it. Wasn't even really our choice to begin with, the primary group told us to build here, so we did."
"Oh yeah, that's one thing I've been meaning to ask, is there like a main Soul Society?"
"Duh, that's why we're named that. It's a little different but still the structure they use is the same as us, thirteen different squads, each fulfilling different roles."
"Wow that must be quite cool."
"Mmhmm…" Ichigo sipped his drink.
"Bah who cares about that boring stuff, I wanna know what you guys did just now to move so fast." Natsu asked the group.
"It's just a technique we can use, Grimmjow's one is a little different from usual but the core concept still remains the same."
"What's the deal with you? All fiery and shit." Classic Grimmjow. If he doesn't curse or swear, it's not Grimmjow…
"That's my Fire Dragon Slayer Magic!" exclaimed Natsu proudly while flexing his right bicep.
"Seems shitty to me…" Grimmjow huffed before he was hit upside the head by Nel.
"Don't be so mean Grimmjow!" scolded the child-like arrancar.
"God damn it, stop hitting me you damn green bitch!" clearly pissed at continually being slapped by the childish arrancar whenever he curses.
SLAP!
"Ow fuck! Not you too you damn shark cunt." He yelled at Harribel.
SLAP! SLAP! CLANG!
Grimmjow was slapped twice from both sides by both women before he was slammed upside the head with the larger Zangetsu.
"What the fuck Kurosaki? This doesn't involve your ugly ass." He yelled as he stood up, unsheathing his sowrd in the process.
"It involves me because you're cursing at innocent people." Ichigo readied his own sword as he prepared to give Grimmjow a beatdown.
"You wanna fuckin' fight Kurosaki? I'd beat the shit out of you just like I did before."
"Try me, that was two years ago you blue dick."
Grimmjow swung at Ichigo, who parried his sword, before grabbing hold of his wrist and tossing him out the guild hall before following out, his zanpaktou at the ready behind him.
Nel was cheering for Ichigo, while Harribel looked over with annoyance and Orihime had a worried look.
"So, does that happen often?" inquired Mira, their fight reminded her of her own guild's brawls.
"You have no idea…" replied all of Ichigo's group.
"So how strong would you say they are? For someone to move that fast and wield such a huge sword as if it was a feather, they must be quite strong." Erza asked, interested in the orange haired swordsman's capabilities. Someone like that should prove to be a worthy challenge and opportunity to learn for her.
"Itsygo is the strongest person ever! No one can beat Itsygo, even if they do, he always comes back stronger!" Nel replied cheerfully, which made the rest of the group smile, remembering how he always came back stronger after every beating he took.
"Even stronger than that Flimsy Jaw guy?" Natsu asked incredulously, since he had first hand witnessed the ridiculous speed he was capable of.
"Yep, way stronger! He's the best protector you can ask for!"
"I agree with Nel, Kurosaki-kun is indeed the absolute strongest person I know. Not just for strength but for his character too."Orihime added on.
"And his name is Grimmjow, not flimsy jaw" sweat-dropped Uryu at the pinkette's horribly bad name remembering.
"Ah whatever he's called, as long as he's strong. Now I wanna fight the both of them!" He tried to stand and head out the door before he was held down via an arm on his shoulder, courtesy of Erza.
"No Natsu, I will not permit you to fight them. If it wasn't for their guild master, you would have been hurt badly." Contrary to what Natsu believed, Erza genuinely cared for her friend's safety. "And if that Ichigo man is as strong as they say, I don't think you will stand much of a chance."
Natsu was about to retort and go chasing them before he saw the look in his friend's eyes; concern, worry and caution were all present.
"Fine…I won't fight them" He sat back down and pouted to one side.
"Good, if it make you feel better you can fight with Gray outside the Guildhall when we get back." Her eyes softened as she was glad Natsu wouldn't try and go after them.
"So, how strong are the rest of you guys?" Natsu asked, still trying his luck. If he couldn't go after the two, maybe he could find a decent fight with one of these.
"I am stronger than Grimmjow, but not nearly as strong as Ichigo." Admitted Harribel.
"I'm in the same boat as Harribel." Nel told the group.
"I don't come close to Ichigo's power but I can hold my own in a fight." Was the low and brief response by Chad.
"I can hold my own against Grimmjow just fine, but Kurosaki has me beat." It pained Uryu to admit that his rival/friend was much stronger than him.
"I don't like to fight, so I'm probably the weakest here in terms of a fight. I prefer to heal" was Orihime's answer.
Natsu and company paled slightly as they realised that Natsu had called them useless and weak when in reality, they were pretty damn strong. Hopefully they wouldn't take offence…
"What about you guys?"
"Well Gray and Natsu are pretty even. Mira can't fight anymore. Lucy is weaker than Gray and Natsu. Out of us all with the exception of the master, I am the strongest." Erza replied with full honesty, causing Lucy to curl up into a ball at a corner mumbling to herself that is was unfair how the she was surrounded by monsters…
Begrudgingly Natsu and Gray had to admit that they were around equal strength.
"Although I want to ask, if Ichigo is the strongest, how come he isn't the master?" Mira was quite confused, since the guild master was always the strongest in the guild.
"Well…you see…" Orihime tried to find the right words to explain why.
Uryu on the other hand, had no such reservations. "Because he's denser than a rock, can't do anything paperwork related, doesn't take well to authority, has abysmal social skills, no idea how to operate an organisation, has too rash of a temper, can't deal with shady politics, and has no battlefield strategy whatsoever."
"Ishida-san, don't be so mean." Chided Orihime.
"It''s true and you can't deny that."
"Well, at least make it sound nicer…"
"He's not here to hear it is he?"
"Still, being so mean is bad…"
"So your guild master, Urahara, is someone with all those qualities?" asked Gray.
"Yeah, Urahara is basically the man to go to for shady business and handling situations. He always seems to have a plan for everything and anything. He's terrifyingly smart as well." Replied Uryu.
"I wonder what they're talking about…."
SS,MB
"Ho ho, those girls you have in your guild are quite the lookers aren't they?" Makarov commented with a nose bleed.
"Your girls are eye candies too you know." Urahara replied with his nosebleed, only his was covered by his fan.
"So… Why did you choose Magnolia to open up?"
"Well we didn't choose actually. The higher-ups gave us instructions and we followed them."
"Ah that's why your guild is named that way. Say, who are these higher-ups? This 'Soul Society'?"
"The Soul Society is something you do not want to get involved in Makarov-san. Especially if they view you as a disturbance… They have quite a militaristic view on handling issues. That's why you see all these people in uniform in our guild. They're basically here to ensure that the way things are run are not changed from the main organization, so that if there are more people coming in to fortify this branch even more, they are used to how things work. We are basically building a fort. Maybe we'll branch out to other cities and areas. But they also serve as more firepower if we need it. After all, you need an army if you're gonna get rid of something big, right?" Kisuke warned Makarov. To be quite honest he quite liked this new world they're in, so many thing to explore and experiment. It would be a shame if they were to start something that either causes a disturbance in the balance of souls, threatens the world, or harms this branch of the Soul Society. He preferred peace, but if it comes down to it, he supposed that he could follow Soul Society's previous ways. He wouldn't like it of course, but if it had to be done then it had to be done. The same couldn't be said for Kurosaki-kun, but with enough reasoning, even he would follow through with an order, no matter how horrible it would seem.
"I see… I'll take your advice to heart then Urahara-san." As much as Makarov didn't like to be threatened, this time it really felt like the threat would be carried out. He was intrigued by this Urahara character. He switched so much between moods and attitudes but still maintaining this feeling of being one step forward over everyone else. Maybe it was just his own paranoia but he definitely was glad a wide scale fight did not break out. Speaking of that, he remembered that he would have to punish Natsu later. A grin spread across his face as he sipped from his tea cup.
SS,MB
"You know since we're starting to get to know each other better, I've been meaning to ask you Harribel-san, how you got to know Ichigo?" Uryu asked the tanned beauty. Curious to know since before the war was over, Uryu never saw those two together.
"It started after the defeat of Aizen. I was bleeding out on the ground after Aizen slashed me, I thought I was going to die. Luckily, Ichigo and Orihime decided to search the battlefield for any survivors, and they found me. Ichigo was the one to notice me first though, he pulled me out of the rubble and asked Orihime to heal me up. I was hesitant to cooperate at first, since he was a Shinigami. But he was nice enough to ignore my hollow nature and save me. For that he had my gratitude. I was further surprised when he asked my name, and after I told him he shunpo'ed away, before coming back with my fraccion. They told me that Ichigo and Orihime both found and healed them. My gratitude only increased after that."
"We returned back to Hueco Mundo and it was all going well until the Quincy invasion and I was imprisoned." At this she glared at Uryu, still feeling the phantom pains of the shackles around her wrists. "After a while I heard a fight going on, shortly after that, the cage door was busted open and in came Ichigo. He broke the shackles and got me out of the encampment."
Erza's eyes widened before her own phantom shackle pains appeared. Apparently she wasn't the only one to know what being held captive in chains felt like.
"I thought Quilge was fighting them? I wonder how they had time to search the camp." Uryu wondered.
"Well Ichigo beat Quilge, but he started moving again with some strings. Luckily Urahara-san reacted fast enough and stabbed him again." Orihime replied grimly, she didn't like to recall these memories.
"Oh, sorry Inoue-san, I did not mean to bring up bad memories…" Uryu apologised.
"Wow, you guys have been through quite a lot huh? Geez makes what we do at the guild look like nothing… No wonder you're all so strong." Gray commented. He was quite unnerved by the fact that the guild master would kill someone but when it's under these circumstances, he supposed he could understand.
"Well, if you need help, I guess we'll be happy to help, right guys?!" Natsu assured. Everyone smiled at this, normally people were not as optimistic or happy as Natsu.
"We will be sure to ask if we do need help Natsu-san" Thanked Orihime.
"Let's move on to lighter topics shall we? Did you know Natsu practically destroyed Hargeon Port?" Lucy said.
'What's a "Hargeon"…?' was the collective thought that went through the Soul Society group.
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"Getsuga Tensho!"
"Gran Rey Cero!"
"Getsuga Jujisho!"
"Descarron!"
The environment around the two combatants lay in ruins. Charred tree trunks, holes blown into stones, craters formed on the ground, and blood spilt on the ground.
Ichigo was bleeding from his forearm after over-estimating his Blut Vene and from his side after failing to dodge a slash from Grimmjow. Grimmjow wasn't looking good either. He was bleeding from his mouth after taking a nasty punch to the gut, broken arm from blocking too hard of a blow from both swords, and stab wound that went through his leg.
Both fighters were panting, with Grimmjow being slightly healthier from refreshing himself after activating his Ressurecion.
"I think it's about time I kill you, you shitty Shinigami." Taunted the blue haired Espada as he launched himself at Ichigo, aiming to claw his throat. He wanted this moment to go on forever. After all he can't usually let loose and have fun since the agreement with the Soul Society and that wrinkly old fire geezer. After promising to be on good behaviour and cooperate with the Soul Society and by proxy Ichigo Kurosaki, he couldn't fight all out anymore, so this was a moment he wanted to savour.
Ichigo wasn't just about to drop dead to some arrancar he beat up two years ago though, so he grabbed the approaching arm and delivered a side kick, before trying to slash his chest open with the smaller Zangetsu. After he dodged, Ichigo smirked, and threw the bigger Zangetsu at Grimmjow who was still in the air and unable to stabilize himself for a sonido.
Desperately wanting not to be impaled, Grimmjow twisted in the air so that only his shoulder was stabbed by the giant sword. Even before he landed he could sense Ichigo shunpo behind him with the smaller sword at the ready. As a last ditch attempt, Grimmjow charged up a quick Gran Rey Cero and fired at the ground below him.
He recovered and sensed that Ichigo had retreated in order not to get hit by the strong Cero. He readied himself to go after him once more.
But before either of them got a chance, they were interrupted by a talking frog creature.
"Halt! Your actions have caused a disturbance to the public and environmental damage. For this you are under arrest!"
"What the fuck are ya talking about?!" Grimmjow yelled. "Get the fuck away unless you wanna die, don't interrupt my fun again or I'll murder you!"
Eager to get back to his fun, he launched himself at Ichigo before he was hit mid leap by a spherical object smashing into his side, causing him to be hit into a tree.
"God fucking damn it, you really wanna die huh you frog bitch?" He prepared to leap at the terrified creature before he was held back by Ichigo. "Calm the hell down Grimmjow, it wasn't even that who hit you, it was her." He gestured toward the purple haired woman in a cloak.
"Good Afternoon boys, my name is Ultear Milkovich. We have gotten reports of two people wreaking havoc in this forest. Mind telling me what's going on?" she readied her sphere over her hand, a smug grin forming across her lips.
"It's none of ya business you slu-"a hand clamped over Grimmjow's mouth before he finished.
"We were just settling a dispute, nothing else. What do you want?" roughly asked Ichigo, he recognized a form of authority from her uniform. Stopping Grimmjow from getting them into further trouble, he shut him up.
"Nothing much, other than you to stop whatever you're doing and come with us for questioning."
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Grimmjow laughed at her. No way this chick is gonna beat him.
Just as he said that, they were surrounded by rune knights from every side that appeared from the trees. There had to be almost two hundred of them… Talk about overkill.
"You just had to say that didn't you?" Ichigo facepalmed before allowing himself to be handcuffed. These goons and the girl wouldn't pose any problems to him and Grimmjow at all but he really did not want to potentially murder over two hundred people by going overboard accidentally. Grimmjow would definitely murder these people… And that did not sit well with him. "Just go along Grimmjow. It's just questions. Don't forget that you're not supposed to kill things you're not supposed to."
"Tch… Fine."
With that they were hauled into the wagon and taken away by a purple haired beauty for questioning.
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Orihime got a chill down her spine. She just had this feeling that something was wrong with Kurosaki-kun… Or was is jealousy? No, no, something must be wrong… After all what's the chances that he's going to be interrogated alone with a pretty purple haired woman right?
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"So, who are you?" Asked Ultear.
"Ichigo Kurosaki" was his tired reply. The ride here hadn't been comfortable and he could barely get some sleep with Grimmjow's yelling. Thank God his interrogation was skipped over after they decided that he wouldn't give any information other than curse and swear. He almost stabbed someone before they decided to let him go and ask Ichigo.
"Guild Affiliation?"
"Soul Society, Magnolia Branch."
"Age?"
"I don't see how that's relevant." Ultear looked disappointed by that answer.
"What were you doing in the forest?"
"Settling a dispute."
"By destroying the forest?"
"…Settled with violence."
"How long has your Guild been up?"
"A few hours."
"How strong are you?"
"Irrelevant." Damn it, she wasn't getting the information she personally wanted.
"Independent or Light Guild?"
"Don't know what those are."
"Independent guilds are not under the council but do not participate in illegal activities. Light guilds are under the council."
"Light then."
"What type of women do you like?"
Now Ichigo was getting irritated. "Irrelevant" he growled.
Tsk. So not gonna get that answer either…
"What's your goal here?"
"Irrelevant"
"Do you believe that the end justifies the means?"
At this Ichigo's eyes widened significantly. Why would she ask that? He thought of two very prominent figures in his mind that followed that logic. Aizen and Yhwach both tried to create their own world, thinking that no matter what they do to achieve it, the end would justify their means. To hear that in this new world unnerved him greatly. But now that he got the chance to think about, did the end truly justify the means? 'Perhaps if the means… No that still would be bad… But if the end… Does it really justify it? Were Aizen and Yhwach trying to make the world better?'
"You are conflicted Ichigo. That is not what I have thought you. Since when have you ever doubted yourself? Do not let the words of some new comer hold you back. You are not meant to stagnate at one position hesitating. Always remember Ichigo. Abandon your fear."
"Move forward and never stop." Added the hollow portion of Zangetsu.
'You'll age if you pull back.' Added Ichigo.
"You'll die if you hesistate." The three completed together.
'Yeah you're right Zangetsu and Zangetsu-no-ossan. The end does not justify the means, there was no way Aizen and Yhwach were doing anything good. We saved the worlds.' But somehow in his heart, there was still a small seed of doubt planted in there.
"Ahem, if I could have your answer please Ichigo?"
He was brought back to reality by Ultear's question. "No, I don't believe the end justifies the means."
She just smiled at the Substitute before closing her notebook. "You're free to go now . I will be sending a bill to your guild master to be payed within two weeks of delivery."
As she watched the Substitute Soul Reaper get up and leave, she smiled to herself. 'Maybe you're the one. The one I need. It's going to be fun working with you from now on, ' She sighed and looked out the window. 'Maybe over the course of this whole journey, perhaps you could become something more to me than just someone I need to achieve something.' She took a sip of her coffee in the loneliness of her office. 'Just maybe.'
[A/N] Hey, Hey! Second Chapter!
Uploaded this earlier than I expected to since I had some extra time, so take it as a treat for being so nice to me :D. Usually I will try and upload a Chapter every week. So this week's chapter is settled. A little longer too, do let me know if you prefer shorter or longer chapters. Anything uploaded earlier than the week's Friday is an early update, anything after Friday is a late update, and on Friday is just on time.
Hopefully in this chapter some confusion was cleared up about the past. The stuff I haven't explained yet or were introduced, don't worry, I will touch on it and explain fully in due time with more chapters. I hope Grimmjow's cursing wasn't too out of hand.
Alrighty so some Writer/Reviewer interaction time.
To Bleached Guest. : For the characters that died part are the bleach characters. I haven't caught up much with the fairytail manga, which is why I'm starting off before the phantom arc.
The material that I'm using will be canon, with maybe an exception for Senna since I honest to god love her character.
The characters that we'll see are actually quite numerous to be honest, since it will be set mostly in the FT universe so a lot of FT characters will be seen. Now that doesn't mean that they will be integral characters to the story or plot, just seen and mentioned. Bleach characters will also be the same, since I do have a plan to introduce more of them.
The whole Stark And lillynette thing didn't cross my mind at first to be quite honest, but right now I'm thinking of ways to actively bring them back since Stark is one of my absolute favourite arrancar. Maybe it might seem lazy of me to do this but if you have any ideas on how they could be brought back I would gladly consider them. At this point I do have some ideas on how to bring them back into the story but nothing concrete. As for Tatsuki, she will be making an appearance in this story so rest assured. I like Kukaku A lot but it would be hard to fit her in this story too, but I'm sure I could find a way.
As for characters like the captains and lieutenants they will be part of the story too.
I don't think the fullbringers will be making an appearance, but even that can change.
Villain wise will be mostly FT – centric since the story is somewhat based in FTverse.
Bleach villains may or may not make an appearance since im still cracking my head on thinking about ways to reasonably show a bleach villain in FT, especially since its already after the Blood War arc.
OC villlains are something im quite hesitant to do, since I'm not very confident in my writing or my ability to create an enjoyable and creative OC villain. I don't want to add on to the stigma that OC characters are usually trash.
Oh and Ichigo's harem. I plan to make his harem around 4 girls maybe 5. 6 is pushing it but if you guys want me to include a sixth girl I suppose I could. The current ones in his harem already, meaning that they have feelings for him (whether they recognise it or not) are Nel and Orihime. Harribel is a character that has briefly interacted with Ichigo so while she doesn't have feelings for him yet, she does have a fondness for him. So that's 3 girls down. The other three I might do are either Erza, Mira, or Ultear. For picking the girls I will let you guys choose which FT girls end up with him, but the bleach ones won't change. Mira might be a strong choice since she doesn't have a canon pairing. Erza can go to Ichigo or Natsu either way I'm happy. Ultear will probably be for Ichigo.
Speaking of Natsu, I might add a small little harem for him too. A reasonable one like Ichigo's.
Perhaps Erza, Lucy, Lissana, Yukino. I'll leave that up to you guys as well since this story is gonna be a journey we all embark on together, not just me. It's only fair that you guys have some input and impact on the story.
Thanks for the well wishes, and your review really did help shape some of the foundations of the story and how it will go. I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing :D
To: Bunny153539
The whole thing about Urahara for me has always been how he is a jackass to Ichigo and that's why he's funny to me. But for you that's different. I don't know how to write Urahara in the way that you expect/want me to, to be perfectly honest since the way im writing is based off my own feelings about the characteristics of these characters and how they are portrayed in my mind.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated on helping me craft the proper character, I obviously have not much experience in writing fanfictions, seeing as this is my first. So for that I apologise and ask that you be patient with me and my explanations about things going on.
For me the primary purpose of throwing things in without explanations is to interest readers in wanting the explanations so they form an attachment to the story, not to confuse people, but maybe that was poor planning on my side. Hopefully this chapter explained some of what you were asking.
Thank you for taking the time to review and help out, it's greatly appreciated.
If I'm being honest I don't really consider myself to be above the average author. I find myself to be quite average, but I'm hoping to change that over time. And the key to getting better is practice after all. So as I keep writing hopefully you guys will notice differences in quality.
Thanks for helping out with the story and giving me more things to think about and plan to make the story firmer and more solid. :D
To: TheEdgiestOfEdgelords
Great name. I don't plan to make the Hollow side of ichigo to become a total pervert, he will be a little bit perverted but he will also have other qualities, like bloodlust. Which I think was portrayed in both chapters. But I will take your advice to heart. The whole Grimmjow and Ichigo thing will be explained through the story, but another reasoning for me to put them in this story is because of how they remind me greatly of Gray and Natsu in the rivalry department. The whole Harribel issue was hopefully covered in this chapter, giving you a reason why she has a friendliness/fondness to him, I won't make her love him immediately and throw herself to him of course. But as a base guide line that's how she knows ichigo and that's why she holds ichigo in a good regard.
So overall I'm going to try my best to keep in mind about characterization and keeping things non-confusing and pace myself better. Like I said any advice is welcome. And do choose which FT girls you want to end up with Ichi & Natsu. Let's have a great journey together with this story :D
Thanks for Reviewing, Favouring, and Following!
Signing off,
Parting~
