AN: I don't expect to update this very regularly, but it's interesting enough that I wanna see where it goes.
"Can you state your name for the record?"
"Hanataro Yamada, sir."
"Well then, Hanataro Yamada, it has come to my attention that you were able to beat the third seat of the eleventh squad in even combat. Can you please explain to those assembled how you did that?"
Hanataro gulped under the gaze of the old man. Head captain Yamamoto was a terrifying enough figure from afar, but now that the man was speaking directly to him, gazing down at him with polite interest, he just wasn't sure what to do.
"W-well, sir, I... uhh… I-"
"Speak up boy," said the old man in mild annoyance. "You do not want to keep the thirteen captains of the court guard waiting. I shall reiterate. How did you, the weakest fighter in the court guard squads, defeat Ikkaku Madarame, the best swordsman outside the ranks of captains and lieutenants?"
Hanataro took a deep breath to steady himself, looking over at his captain. Retsu Unohana smiled encouragingly at him.
"W-well, you see sir, my zanpakuto, Hisagomaru, is a kido type weap-"
"Yes, we know," said Yamamoto, cutting him off. "Your blade is considered one of the most powerful healing abilities in soul society. I was made aware of this when you discovered it in your academy days. It is why you were allowed into the court guard despite having practically no combat potential and is the reason why you were exempt from practicing swordsmanship in the academy. The question remains, how did you beat Madarame?"
Hanataro nodded quickly.
"Yes, sir. Hisagomaru works by absorbing injuries and converting them into attack potential for its shikai state, releasing an attack proportional to the energy required to heal the injuries. Its standard release is slightly weaker than a cero blast, sir."
Yamamoto nodded.
"And this release is what you used to defeat Madarame?"
Hanataro nodded shakily.
"I allowed myself to continue being attacked by third seat Madarame while I gripped Hisagomaru's blade to heal myself. I then used the resulting power to counterattack." Around him, a few of the assembled captains and lieutenants let out slight 'ohh' sounds.
"Wait a moment," said the youngest captain, Hitsugaya, a boy who looked to be around Hanataro's age. "There were three holes in the training room wall. Are you telling me that Ikkaku was dumb enough to continue attacking you even after he saw this technique in action the first two times?"
Hanataro shook his head rapidly.
"N-no sir! Third seat Madarame stopped using his blade on me after the first time I used my shikai. He figured out that the attack was related to the amount of healing I did."
"Then how did you win?" Yamamoto asked with mild curiosity.
"I…" Hanataro hesitated, resisting the urge to begin crying once more at the memory of what he had done. "I… used my standard issue scalpel to continue injuring myself to charge Hisagomaru manually."
"Did that not hurt?" Asked Yamamoto mildly, as if talking about the weather.
"M-more than anything I've ever experienced, sir." Hanataro said in a small voice.
"I see," said the old captain in that same mild voice. "Would you mind demonstrating your shikai to us, young man?"
Hanataro went pale.
"S-sir, I would, but a full charge requires a near enough fatal inju-" Before the boy could finish, Yamamoto had drawn his sword, shrugging off his coat and Kimono to sit around his waist. The old man drew the blade in a long line across his ribs, his expression didn't change in the slightest. Hanataro let out a gasp of shock and dashed forwards, fumbling for Hisagomaru clumsily as he ran, the boy drew his blade and brought it down in an overhead strike onto Yamamoto's torso, the blade gave off a slight red glow as Yamamoto's injuries began to knit themselves back together, the bar filled to two thirds.
"Hmm," said the old man. "I take it that injury was insufficient. Very well." Without pause, Yamamoto repeated the strike, watching with interest as his skin pulled itself whole once more.
"S-sir," Hanataro gasped. "Doesn't that hurt?"
Yamamoto cocked an eyebrow at the boy as though he had said something silly.
"Yes, young Hanataro, it was extremely painful. Ah, is that the shikai then?" Hisagomaru had filled, taking on the form of a scalpel once more. Hanataro nodded mutely. "Good. In that case, young man, I want you to take a few steps back and fire it at me."
Hanataro didn't know how to respond. He was just too out of his depth here. Obediently, the boy turned and walked some five or so paces before turning once more to face the head captain. He swallowed hard, before flicking the scalpel at the old man.
The beam of red shone bright enough to illuminate the entire room, casting the faces of the surrounding soul reapers in a deep crimson. The light struck Yamamoto dead on, raging and crackling against his skin for a moment, before seeming to dissipate harmlessly against him. The old man cocked an eyebrow.
"An impressive level of attack for someone never trained in combat." He murmured, stroking his beard with a hand. "We may have underestimated your potential, young Hanataro." Hanataro looked around himself, confused. Everyone was looking at him with a degree of interest. Yamamoto slowly began to dress himself fully once more, his face contemplative. Eventually, the old man spoke. "Hanataro Yamada, you are temporarily exempt from any and all duties pertinent to your role within your squad. You are to be privately tutored in the Hoho movement techniques by captain Kuchiki, one of our resident masters of Shunpo. You have potential to provide healing at an unparalleled rate and your applicability as a battlefield healer will be dependent entirely on the speed with which you can move."
A few of the captains were nodding quietly, Byakuya Kuchiki was gazing at him with an appraising expression. Hanataro went pale.
"W-what was that, sir?"
The weeks passed rather quickly, all things considered. Hanataro couldn't help but laugh. In his quarters within the squad four barracks, he had always kept a poster hung on the wall. 'shoot for sixth,' it had said; a way of motivating him to excel in his position as the seventh seat. He had not been sure whether to laugh or cry when he saw that poster the night of his promotion to third seat. He had left the poster up, though.
Every day, Hanataro was summoned to the Kuchiki private compound, where captain Byakuya drilled him until he could barely move. The man had been quite stunned to say the least, by his student's relative weakness.
"How is your endurance this low?" He had asked, baffled, on their first morning of training. "I thought the academy instilled a higher standard than this."
Hanataro had nodded, taking a moment to answer, his breathing heavy from exertion.
"They do, sir, but after they found out my sword healed people, I was told to focus on my medicinal Kido and to just ignore everything else."
Every night, Hanataro returned to the squad four barracks, usually carried by a member of Byakuya's household staff, too exhausted to move on his own.
At breakfast with his squad, Hanataro began to hear stories of squad eleven. Its members had ceased their bullying of his teammates and some had even begun intervening when people from other squads tried something, going far enough to start fights over it. Hanataro was surprised by this. He had only been expecting to provide a boost to squad four's reputation. As it turned out, however, gambling debts were something the eleventh squad abided by with a fearsome degree of fervor.
The result could well be called frightening, as many of the members of squad four now began to idolize their new protectors in the eleventh squad. For their part, several of the tough, brawny elevens were beginning to take individual members of squad four under their wings, offering to train them to fight. Some of these offers were accepted, usually with very little success. To this there were a few exceptions. Ikkaku Madarame had offered his personal instruction to the lieutenant, Isane, who had accepted and thrived.
Gradually, under the watchful eye of captain Kuchiki, Hanataro began to get faster. In the few brief moments that the captain allowed him to rest while they trained, Hanataro occasionally encountered a girl who looked to be slightly older than him. The girl identified herself as Rukia Kuchiki, the younger sister of lord Byakuya. The first few times they met, the girl was cordial, even polite, making occasional small talk as she moved about her duties. Then, one day, Hanataro had mentioned once owning a pet bunny, and the girl had forced him to describe it in exacting detail, a wild gleam in her eye. Apparently, Rukia liked cute things. As time passed, the two became friends.
It was Rukia who began Hanataro's instruction in the basic combat spells, spending several days teaching the boy the first bakudo, sai, along with the first hado, sho. Seeing this, Lord Byakuya began to incorporate combat kido into their daily regimen, noting that the boy had some surprising talent for it.
One day, nearly a year after they had become friends, Rukia was tasked with a particular mission, to investigate the unusual level of hollow activity in a particular town within the human world, a place called Karakura. Hanataro would miss having his friend around to talk to, but comforted himself in the knowledge that she would return before long.
Ichigo Kurosaki stood between the monster and the girl, shielding her with his body as the great arachnid shape loomed closer. The girl was a ghost, but that did not matter to him. For whatever reason, this monster wanted to hurt her. Ichigo refused to allow that, even if this monster was absolutely terrifying.
"Run," the orange haired boy said quietly. "Get as far away as you can. I'll hold it off." The frightened girl needed no more incentive. She ran. The creature moved to follow her. Ichigo wasn't sure what he could hope to achieve against a monster like this one, but he had to try. The boy leaped into the air, making use of a healthy degree of natural athleticism, and kicked the thing hard in the face; a face that was as big as he was, covered by a sinister white mask. Ichigo had expected the blow to be harmless. At best, he had hoped to distract the thing. What he had not expected was for the thing to rear backwards with a shrill cry as the blow struck home, eyes moving down to look at him, filled with killing intent. Awesome, he had the thing's attention; now he just needed to survive.
The creature raised an arm tipped with a long, scythe like claw, slashing it downwards at the boy. He stepped to the side and the blow whooshed past him, embedding itself into the pavement. The creature growled, straining as it tried to pull its claw free of the concrete. Ichigo took the opportunity to jump up once more, punching the thing in the face with all his might. He had always been strong, far more so than his frame and musculature might suggest, and had assumed it to be a product of the same abnormality that allowed him to see the dead. Even so, Ichigo found it difficult to believe that he was actually strong enough to hurt this creature. Nevertheless, the thing reared back once more as his fist struck home, a hairline crack appearing in its mask where the blow hit. The creature ripped it's talon free of the pavement with a furious shriek, eyes glowing with menace. Ichigo began to form an idea. If he could draw this thing into traffic, then he might be able to pull it into the path of a car or, better yet, a bus. No, that wouldn't work. What was he thinking? If he used traffic to fight this thing, someone else might get badly hurt. The question was rendered moot when a dark robed figure dropped from the roof of a nearby building and landed atop the creature's mask, before plunging a sword deep into its face. The creature dropped like a rag doll, hitting the floor and beginning slowly to dissolve.
The figure turned to stare at Ichigo, who stared back in turn. It was a girl, a few years younger than him in appearance, hair and robes a pure black.
"Interesting," she murmured. "The human almost seemed to be fighting the hollow. I should make a note of this."
Ichigo stared at her, stunned. Before he could recover his faculties enough to speak, the girl vanished, leaping back up towards the rooftops and out of sight.
Ichigo let himself sink to the ground, resting his head in his hands. Why couldn't the world just make sense sometimes?
Ichigo sat on his bed that night, toying with a lucky charm his sister had given him. Karin had been so proud when Ichigo announced that he was going to start trying to help the ghosts of Karakura move on. She had given him the tiny piece of carved wood the following day, saying it was to keep him safe. Ichigo smiled a little. His little sister had changed so much since then. Nowadays, it was virtually impossible to get her to express any positive sentiment. He joked sometimes that she was becoming an emo. Nevertheless, holding the cheap little scrap of wood had always helped Ichigo center himself. Whatever else was going on, his little sisters were proud of him. Ichigo thought back to the monster fight, remembering the strange girl who had saved him. He shook his head, this was all way too confusing.
Ichigo's confusion was not helped any when that same girl jumped lightly in through his open window. The teenager's eyes went wide as he backed away.
"W-what the hell are you doing here, lady!?"
The girl turned her gaze towards him for a moment, cocking her head in surprise.
"Huh, it's that kid form earlier. Wait, can you see me?"
"What?" Ichigo spluttered. "Of course I can see you!"
"Interesting," the girl muttered. "Your spiritual pressure must be quite impressive for a human. Regardless, I need you to stay where you are for a bit, okay?"
Ichigo shook himself. Today was just too surreal.
"Why?"
The girl sighed.
"Remember that monster from before?" She muttered. "Well, there's another one around here and I don't want some kid getting in the crossfire. Just stay in your house for now, kay?"
Ichigo felt a cold weight in the pit of his stomach. There were more of those things? He nodded. Better to let this girl handle it. Girl or no, she'd killed that thing from before in a single hit.
There was a small thump from outside the room. The dark haired girl raised a finger to her lips and cautiously moved to the door, opening it carefully. Yuzu lay on the floor outside, her face against the floor, unmoving. Ichigo ran towards his sister, his mind emptying to a blank panic.
"She's fine," the girl reassured from somewhere behind him. "Just a little overwhelmed at all the spiritual pressure nearby. It's normal."
Ichigo looked up at the girl, panicked.
"She'll be okay?"
The robed girl nodded, smiling slightly.
The teen moved his sister to his bed before following the robed girl downstairs. The first thing Ichigo noticed was the hole in the kitchen wall, easily the size of a car. The second thing he noticed, which immediately took prominence in his mind, was the monster holding Karin in its clawed hand.
The robed girl wasted no time. She charged, Ichigo hot on her heels. She brought her blade high overhead, swinging it down into the creature's thick wrist, as wide as a person's waist, cutting deep. The creature let out a wailing screech, dropping Karin. Ichigo launched himself forwards and caught his sister before she hit the ground. The monster lunged, not for the dark haired girl, but for Ichigo. The boy tried to dodge, but his course was stuck, too much momentum from launching himself after his sister. The robed girl moved quickly, placing herself between them with a wordless exclamation. The creature sunk its claws deep into the girl's shoulder. To her credit, she did not cry out, sinking silently to her knees as she tried to absorb the pain.
The thing towered over the helpless swordswoman, letting out a victorious roar. Ichigo lay his sister gently on the ground and stood, stepping forwards as the creature bent down to wrap it's hands around the wounded girl. Ichigo caught the distracted beast with an uppercut to the face, striking it with all his might. It took a step back, stumbling slightly.
Ichigo felt a roaring inside his mind. There was just too much to process right now, the girl beside him was telling him to run, pulling herself to her feet with some extraordinary effort. The monster was quickly recovering. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Karin move, turning her head the smallest amount to look at him. He couldn't focus on that now.
"Get away!" The dark haired girl urged again, holding her sword in a weak grip. "I'll hold it off!"
Ichigo shook his head.
"Not a chance. In the shape you're in, I'm a closer match with this thing than you are."
The girl hesitated, knowing his words to be true but not wanting to accept it.
"…Fine. There may be a way for us to win this. I'll need to lend you my powers... It could kill you."
"Fine," Ichigo nodded. "Just do it." The beast raised its head, the white mask splitting in a ghastly grin, before it charged.
Behind him, Ichigo heard Karin mutter something quietly:
"Y-you can do it, Ichigo."
In that moment, the boy felt a surge of pride, gripping the lucky charm he still held even tighter in his hand. Something felt different there. He glanced down. Two dark, glowing red lines ran through the tiny piece of wood, meeting in the middle to form a cross, each end tipped with a small curved line of the same glowing red. Ichigo brought up the strange cross like a shield, swiping it across himself to strike the creature in the face as it approached. The blow didn't do much, knocking the creature back, a few small chips flying from it's mask. Still, it was more than he'd managed with his bare hands.
Ichigo stepped forwards, placing himself between the monster and the others, raising the strange cross once more. The creature brought its arm around, claws outstretched as it swung at him. Ichigo planted his feet and… parried, for lack of a better word, with the strange cross of energy, knocking the monster off balance. He jumped high, rising further than he had ever jumped before, and brought the cross down once more on the things face, it stumbled backwards, a thin crack in its mask radiating out from where the blow had struck. Ichigo tried to focus on the cross in his hand, trying to get a sense of it. It felt… hungry. Ichigo faced the creature down as it pulled itself to its feet. On impulse, he tried feeding the hunger that he felt flowing from the strange weapon; just a little, at first. The cross flared bright red for an instant as Ichigo fed it, pushing something he couldn't quite find the words to describe into it with his mind. Then, the glow faded, the cross flickering back to its original color after a few short moments. He tried again as the monster approached at a run, this time feeding it more. The boy acted on instinct, swiping his glowing cross through the air and watching as it launched a red wheel of energy through the night, striking the monster in the stomach. This attack seemed to do more to the thing than everything else thus far, gouging a deep hole in its belly. The thing staggered, ceasing its attack mid strike as it brought an arm down to the ground to steady itself, barely three feet from him. Ichigo tried again, feeding the cross even more this time, trying to see what he could manage. This time, when he launched it, the glowing wheel was crossed by a single red line, marking its rotation as it span. The attack bit into the creatures mask, splitting it in two and showering Ichigo with a rain of dark red blood.
The monster fell, landing with surprisingly little noise as it slowly began to dissolve, its form fading to smoke in the pale evening light.
Ichigo turned to the wounded girl with a smile.
"Thanks for the help there. Couldn't have done it without you."
The robed girl was staring at Ichigo, eyes wide, her sword glowing a strange light blue that slowly began to fade as the two faced one another. The girl pointed at the cross in Ichigo's hand.
"W-what the heck is that!?" She asked in a shriek, before collapsing to the floor, unconscious.
Ichigo ran forwards, the wooden charm still clutched in his hand as he moved to help the girl. Her injuries were bad, he knew. He needed to fetch his dad, the old man was a surgeon after all. Ichigo took a few steps towards his severely damaged house, before a quiet tapping noise made him turn. A blonde man in a green and white hat stood behind him, holding the unconscious girl under one arm.
"Don't worry about this one, kid," the newcomer said casually. "I'll take care of her for you." Ichigo stared at the man. For his part, the stranger gazed down at the cross still emanating from Ichigo's hand. "Hey, kid, you mind if I take a look at that thing for a sec?" Numbly, Ichigo held out the small wooden charm from which the cross seemed to have sprouted. The man reached out and plucked the thing out of his palm, looking at it intently. As soon as the blonde man took it from Ichigo, the cross began to fade away, leaving just the lucky charm, looking as ordinary as it ever had. "Interesting." The man said quietly, handing the charm back to Ichigo. "Well, I'll see you around kid, later." With that, the man vanished, leaving Ichigo even more confused than ever.
AN: For those who might be confused, Ichigo just accessed his fullbring power instead of borrowing Rukia's Shinigami power.