AN: Well, here is the first official chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Also, I do not own Bleach. Bleach is property of Tite Kubo.
Chapter 1: Lost Souls
Ichigo found himself sorounded by darkness. He looked in all directions but the only thing in sight was the blackness around him. He made a few steps and wondered how he could walk on nothing.
"Hello! Is anyone here? Can someone hear me?"
He received no answer and fear started running through his veins as he didn't know where he was or how he got there.
Then suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. Ichigo immediately turned and saw a bright light. In the light there were two shadows, both having the shape of humans. As the light started to diminish, Ichigos eyes were wide as he recognized the two persons, they were Aizen and Ginjo.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are still so naive and ignorant about the truth, it's laughable." Said Aizen with a smirk on his face.
Then Ginjo started to speak. "Hope you are enjoying your life right now Kurosaki, cause soon everything you hold dear will perish and it will be all your fault", he had the same mocking smirk as Aizen.
Ichigo having heard enough spoke. "What are you talking about? I don't understand, what am I not getting? Answer me, what do I not understand?" he was desperate.
Both Aizen and Ginjo spoke at the same time.
"Everything is wrong Kurosaki Ichigo. You do not know anything about your enemy or what is about to happen, but don't worry, we'll be here at the end to laugh at your pathetic face and your disbelieving tears as your life is taken away from you.". Both started laughing.
Ichigo was angry and terrified and blindly started reaching for them, but with each step they got further away.
"No! Wait! Don't go, make me understand…"
"WAIT!" Ichigo found himself in his bed with his hand reaching towards the ceiling. Sweat covered his entire body as his heart was rapidly pumping blood. He shakily glanced at his clock, it read 6:21 AM, then he runned his right hand through his hair to calm himself.
"What the heck was that? A nightmare?". "So it would seem Ichigo". "Zangetsu."
Since he recovered his powers, Zangetsu has changed a bit both inwardly and outwardly, due to his fullbring mutation. In his inner world Zangetsu looked pretty much the same, his outfit changed slightly incorporating a few "X" symbol on his chest, arms and back.
" You have been through a lot of mental strain recovering your power, the mental torture of Tsukishima Shukurou's ability, Ginjos betrayal as well as your first kill have added up and have weakened you. Rest, recover your resolve, your strength and trust your friends as well as yourself. Remember I am here if you need me partner."
"Yeah, thanks partner." Zangetsu always manages to make his worries disappear.
Ichigo looked at his clock again, 6:37 AM. "Might as well prepare for school, since I won't be getting anymore sleep."
He went to the bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth put his uniform and went downstairs for breakfast.
After a short fight with his father and saying goodbye to his sisters, he left to go to school.
"Hmm, it's been a while since I've been to Unagya shop, guess I'll visit Ikumi-san after school".
Soul Society – 12th Division Barracks
"What's the sutra scale" asked a scientist.
"It's currently at category four…grave" answered another one.
"Well, aren't you in a leisurely warning stance?" scolded the first scientist.
"I'm sorry…there were so many trifling situations before this, that only minor adjustments were necessary to deal with them" the other scientist apologized.
"102 hollows destroyed in 902-0201 as well."
"51 destroyed in 6603-8983!"
"Adjusting the barrier invasion rate to 0.24!"
"Notify correction squad!"
"3Rd seat Akon, the hollow just keep disappearing. At this rate, in a few days, the barrier between here and the material world…" a scientist with blonde hair and glasses informed his superior.
"I already reported that! If you don't have any other intel, then step down." Akon ordered to his subordinate.
"I…I'm sorry." was his only reply.
Akon then turned to the master's seat.
"…Captain…this is the work of-" he was cut off by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Captain of Division 12.
"…a certain party, obviously. The only ones capable of removing hollows from existence itself…are THEM and THEM alone!"
The entire division continued with their research and reports from the material world.
Material world - Karakura Highschool (a few days later)
As the clock ticked, some students were eagerly awaiting the end of their last period on Friday. Only one student wasn't excited about the weekend that would come, an orange haired boy who seemed lost in thought as he stared outside the window.
It's already been a week since Ginjo's burial and things were going back to normal, well as normal as they could get for Ichigo, he resumed his Substitute Shinigami duties and went during classes to kill hollow.
The only odd thing he noticed was that the number of hollows decreased dramatically and so there were days when no hollows would pop up so he still had a lot of free time.
"It feels so strange though, it's as if those things with Tsukishima and Ginjo didn't happen. Keigo, Tatsuki and the others have no memories of what Tsukishima did to them and neither do Orihime and Chad. While I am happy they don't have to suffer from their actions, it almost feels unfair that we forgot about what happened so quickly" Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by the bell.
"Well, everyone don't forget to bring in your essays about monarchy in a kingdom on Monday and have a nice week end" the always smiling Ochi-sensei told her students.
Ichigo gathered his things, put them in his school bag and went outside. Just as he was about to exit the courtyard, he heard someone calling him.
"Hey Ichigo", it was his childhood friends, Tatsuki.
"Hey Tatsuki, what's going on?"
"Well, you've been down all week so the gang and I thought we should hang out, Orihime kept telling me about this new restaurant she wants to go to. So, what do you say, want to come?"
Ichigo thought about it for a few moments and then he answered.
"Sure, how about we go tomorrow? Today I have to do a few chores for Ikumi-san, I swear these last few days have been hell, I worked 6 hours every day" Ichigo complained.
"You're fault for slacking so much these past weeks, you're still lucky to have a job. If I were your boss, I would have kicked you out a long time ago. But alright, I'll tell the others and I'll call you tonight."
"Ok, bye Tatsuki" Ichigo turned around, but stopped as he saw Tatsuki looking at him in a strange way
"Is there something wrong?" asked Ichigo with a curious face.
"No, it's just that...did you really get your powers back?" asked Tatsuki. "I mean I heard from Orihime, but she says she doesn't remember how you got them, even though she's been there. You know what's up with that?".
"...Yeah I got my powers back, everyone from Soul Society gave their reiatsu to me, restoring my powers." was Ichigo's only answer.
"That's good then, you do give a different aura now, it's much stronger than before and you almost seem happier but I can tell something is bothering you. You can tell me, you know." Tatsuki noticed that Ichigo didn't answer her second question but decided not to press on for answers. Whatever happened must be the reason why Ichigo is so down lately.
"Yeah, thanks Tatsuki, it's just that lately I have -…look it's a bit hard to explain and I'm not sure myself what is going on. I'll try to figure it out then I'll tell everyone, ok?" he looked at her apologetically.
"Ok, knowing you, you'll need quite a long time to figure this out though" responded Tatsuki with a teasing grin.
"Geez, thanks, it's nice to see how much your friends appreciate you." The scowl on his face was more pronounced now.
"Well, guess we'll talk later, bye Tatsuki." Ichigo then made his way to the gate.
"Yeah, bye" she stared in his direction a few more seconds before she turned and started heading to her part time job at the dojo.
Timeskip – 11:23 PM
Karakura Town – Komatsu District
A rather silent night, with few clouds on the sky so the stars were visible. Those with knowledge could point out different constellations and stars.
But everything was ruined by a monstrous screech.
On an alley between houses, there was a running girl, on her chest there was a soul chain. She was running from whatever made that piercing sound. As she turned left around a corner, she hit a wall. The force made her fall on the ground. As she was recovering from the impact, she heard a few noises behind her. She turned around and her heart stopped.
There were 20 hollows surrounding her, on ground and on air.
"No, please don't eat me" tears started running on her cheeks as she begged the monsters in front of her.
The hollows laughed at the girls words. Then the leader gave the signal and all the hollows lunged at her.
The girl screamed and closed her eyes waiting for her death to come. But strangely it didn't come, all she heard were the screams of the monsters and then a sound like when something would hit you.
She opened her eyes and with relief she noticed that all the monsters disappeared.
A few houses away on a rooftop was the person responsible for the hollows destruction. The person wore a white outfit with a mask, at first glance it looked like a spacesuit. Next to him two more figures appeared, both wearing the same outfit.
"Well, how did it go?" the leader(?) asked.
"I successfully destroyed 25 hollows" came the first reply.
"Hah that's weak, I destroyed 36" was the proud reply of the other one..
"You fools, this is not a race, how we execute our orders is crucial for our goal. Remember, failure is not an option. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir!" both of them answered.
"Good now let's return and report our progress. I'm sure that by now, they have also returned."
All three of them started being surrounded with their shadows before finally disappearing.
Unknown to them, someone observed their mission and was not pleased with how things were evolving. It was the hooded figure that visited Ginjo's grave a few days ago.
"So they are making their move as well. While this might delay my plans it might work out better in the end. They will distract Soul Society while I can quietly do my mission unnoticed. Yeah, this might work out better than I have hopped."
With that said he opened a garganta and went inside.
Soul Society - 12th Division Barracks
Mayuri was working on the current problem when Akon came in with the latest report.
"Captain, you might want to read this." He handed the report to the mad scientist.
Mayuri read the report once, then he read it again before talking.
"Contact the other Divisions and make them arrange a few search parties. When they are ready send them to these coordinates". He gave the data back to Akon.
"Right away captain." Akon left to inform the divisions.
Mayuri looked with narrowed eyes at the screen. "This whole situation is getting worse" wide grin "and also very amusing, I can't wait to see how it will develop."
Chapter End
AN: And it ends here. I know the story is a bit slow but I don't want to rush it, I want to take my time writing it.
Waiting eagerly for my first review.*please*
