Chapter 2 – A Man's Inner Self
Ichigo Kurosaki was leaning onto the wall as he sat on his bed, looking up at the roof. His orange hair ruffled up as usual, slight locks of it hanging over his hazelnut brown eyes. His peach-colored skin had a few bruises along his arms and a few cuts on the neck, contributing of the training sessions he has had to overcome boredom, or as in a few cases, fear of being consumed by 'him' again. His clothes consisted of a rather torn-up white T-shirt with grey and red lines over the chest area, and blue jeans. Sighing contently, he tilted his head downwards, just looking down at himself.
Ichigo Kurosaki was no ordinary human being. He was a Shinigami, or Soul Reaper. At least a Substitute one, since he had not claimed the official title of 'Shinigami', as he was born a human, then gained Shinigami powers through one of his friends; Rukia Kuchiki. From that moment on, his entire life changed, as he has constantly been in battle with foes, whether they'd be overwhelmingly powerful, or just as strong as he was. And now, as if a hope to try and get away from all this, he had joined a group called the Liberty Squad, a small squad of heroes from various dimensions and world locations. But another battle had awakened… on his inside.
He sighed as he finally stood up from his bed and went over to a mirror in his room, just glaring emptily into it. He was not normal for another condition… one that he both despised… but also depended on, from time to time. He had something known as a 'Hollow' inside of him. A Hollow is normally a being that is created from a dead human soul, if it is left to linger for too long in the human world without being released into Soul Society – the home world of the Shinigami – by a Soul Reaper, and thus becomes consumed by rage, hatred and remorse, transforming into a horribly twisted creature known as a Hollow. But in Ichigo's case, his 'Inner Hollow' had been artificially made from his body, making him a hybrid between Hollow and Shinigami; a being called 'Vizard'. Vizards were Shinigamis who had undergone a 'Hollowfication', turning part of them into a Hollow, while still retaining their Shinigami powers. However, unlike other Vizards, Ichigo had little if no control over his Hollow side, which would tend to go berserk or just control him from time to time. And the results were never good in the end. He groaned slightly, bashing his fist into the wall next to the mirror while pressing his forehead to the glass in front of him, just glaring into his image.
"Hey, Ichigo! Ya up soon? Sanji's sayin' it's breakfast soon!" a familiar voice shouted from outside his room. Sighing, he stood up-straight, and looked towards the door.
"Shuddup! I'll be done in a second!" he said rudely back to the one behind the door. He didn't say it to be rude, however. It was just how he addressed people normally. He picked up a small badge on his nightstand, which resembled a hexagon-shaped pendant with a cross on it, a skull emblazoned into the centre of the pendant, topping the cross at its central point; his Substitute Shinigami Badge. With it, he could turn from a regular boy into a Shinigami by separating his soul from his body, which would be left as an empty shell. Putting it into his pocket, he went up to the door and opened it.
Outside stood a peculiarly strange boy with green skin and hair, pointy ears and a few sharp fangs showing out of his mouth. He wore a purple and black outfit with a grey utility belt around the mid-waist, and wore grey gloves and purple sneakers with Velcro straps on them. This used to be his old outfit when he worked for the Doom Patrol, but gave them up once he joined a group known as the Teen Titans. He was known as Beast Boy. Even if he looked hideous, he was the most bright-hearted of their group, if not the most childish one when it came to all the pranks he usually pulled. Though with Ichigo, the boy had grown to respect someone older than him, and displayed it in a slight grin of happiness.
"Yo, Ichigo! Ya slept well?" he chimed in his usual tone. Ichigo just shrugged with a smirk.
"Could have been better, BB." He said to the green boy. 'BB' was his nickname for Beast Boy. He ruffled the green boy's hair a bit with a smile on his face, receiving a toothy grin and a chuckle in return. "A'ight, now let's get and get some breakfast." Ichigo and Beast Boy headed downstairs, meeting up with a girl on the way down. She had long, blonde hair with a blue tiara in it, and glimmering blue eyes. She was dressed in a blue T-shirt with white sleeve-tips and a blue skirt. She had knee-high stockings and black shoes as well. Next to her was a very humanoid-looking creature, with green hair and a white/green body. A red crystal was protruding from its chest, and its red eyes beamed happily as she saw the two of them. "Yo Cameron, Gardevoir." Ichigo addressed them. The creature Gardevoir smiled at Ichigo, giving his cheek a motherly pinch. "S-Stop it!"
"Oh, Ichi-Kun! Gardevoir's just like anyone's mother, you know!" giggled the girl named Cameron, and shook her head a bit to the creature. Gardevoir stopped, giving an apologizing smile. Gardevoir was a creature known as a Pokémon, and Cameron was a Pokémon Trainer. She had two more, one called Arcanine, and the third being something known as a Lucario. "Well, you two on your way for breakfast? I already had mine! Sanji-Kun is such a sweetheart!" Ichigo and BB ignored that last part, and just moved off.
"He's a sexist…" BB muttered to Ichigo as they walked downstairs.
"Tell me 'bout it…" Ichigo groaned. They got down to the bottom floor, and headed to the kitchen where some breakfast food was standing. Near the entrance to the kitchen itself, stood a man with a black suit with a blue shirt underneath the vest, having blonde hair combed over his right eye, and with a swirly eyebrow over his left. He had a cig in his mouth, smoking on it slowly.
"Mornin', you two." he said with a rather scolding tone. He was always like this to boys or men, but with girls and women, he was a wannabe ladies-man.
"Morning." Both Ichigo and BB coaxed as they sat down and began eating whatever toast slices and pieces of bacon they could grab onto. They had to admit though; Sanji's cooking skills were unlike anything they had ever tasted. "So Sanji, where's Kiba and Akamaru?" Ichigo then asked.
"Ya know them, they're eating in the kitchen hall, probably. They're dogs, and I am speaking literally." Sanji groaned. He didn't really appreciate someone eating from his sacred place – his kitchen – but with those two… he could just not stop them. "So anyhow, today we have to—" he was cut off as a blast was heard from the kitchen, and two figures blurted out of it. One was a boy with a grey hoodie jacket with black fur-trims, a forehead protector with a leaf carved into the metal plate, and red tattoos on his cheeks, accompanied by a beige/brown dog with brown spots on its ears. The boy was Kiba Inuzuka, and the dog was his companion; Akamaru.
"Guys, ya better get up ASAP! We got company!"