Disclaimer: The characters and everything from Bleach isn't mine and all credits should go to Tite Kubo. The only thing I own is the plot, though the story will follow the anime. Don't worry, it should get better.
Soul Reapers
Rukia wouldn't stop laughing at me. It was rude. I honestly don't think my expression was that funny.
After the Hollow passed on or whatever, I somehow ended up in my room with the short shinigami. Karin and Yuzu had their memories replaced and injuries healed, so I didn't have to worry about them. My dad was still out on business for the clinic, so he wasn't a problem either. It was myself I was worried about.
I had been returned to my body; apparently, being a substitute shinigami or whatever means my spirit leaves my body. And to put it lightly, I was freaking out over the new changes. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't changed so much.
My orange hair reached down to my lower back, now, and I had curves. The sad thing is, I made a really hot girl, but I couldn't appreciate it because it was, well, me! And I am a boy, a male teenager, not a girl. I felt extremely picked on.
"Your spirit power is massive," Rukia explained when her giggles finally faded out. "I think that is why those Hollows showed up. They weren't after the Whole in the area, exactly, but, rather, you. And it's also the reason why all of my Soul Reaper powers are basically gone. Additionally, there is a chance that the release of those powers was so big that it caused your gender to reverse. Other than that, I don't really understand why it would have happened."
What I didn't understand was how she could be so calm and serious. An edge of hysteria entered my tone, yet again, when I said, "So how do I go back?!"
"That may be impossible. For now, you'll just have to wait until I regain my powers. I'll be able to travel to Soul Society then, and see about returning you to normal. But more than that, before I regain my powers you'll have to carry out the duties of the Soul Reaper for Karakura."
"No." If I wasn't going to get my way, neither was Rukia.
"Ichigo," her jaw ticked, "you will stay a girl forever if you don't."
Sweat beaded on my brow and I gulped nervously. "Fine," I ended up giving in. "But you have to help me out with..." I searched for words before giving up and finishing, "...this," while I gestured at my new body.
"Deal."
Rukia stuck out her small hand and I took it with my own. I was shocked that even my rough hands were gone, replaced with slim, nice-looking ones. My body had seriously changed.
We shook and then went about fixing up a nightly routine. I had to wash my face, and, of course, go to the bathroom. Rukia was there to try and soothe me after the traumatizing experience, as I was not interested in girls that way. For the most part, I hadn't thought about liking someone, or all that physical stuff hormones induce. Sure, my friends at school mentioned it, Keigo even often. But I was always focused on something else, or on the actual person rather than body. Rukia warmed up to me when I said that, and that's when I got worried again.
In the end, she made fort within my closet, and I went to sleep with only slightly better feelings about everything.
The morning was hectic as soon as it started. Police showed up, the wreckage was blamed on a truck, and the neighborhood was amazed they hadn't woken. Oh yeah, my dad also decided to try and kick me good morning.
"Rise and shine, son of mine!" he called enthusiastically as he sailed through the air.
"Heyah!" I countered with crossed arms, and then I jumped down to the floor on top of him, covering his eyes with my outstretched hand.
"I have nothing left to teach you," he cried comically, and I almost lifted my hand at the feeling of his wet, stubbly face.
Now, if you don't know why I covered his eyes, it's because there was absolutely no way I was ready for my father to find my gender change. I had asked Rukia the previous night about cutting my hair and binding my chest, but she had counseled me to just leave it because there was no telling when I would change back. Basically, I might as well get the initial showing over with so things were easier later on.
I lifted my hand with many sweat drops and much fear. This was the big moment.
"Ichigo, have you been hiding something from me?"
Cue mental face palm.
"Dad," I started uncertainly. "I..."
"I will always accept you for who you are," he cried. "It does not matter if my son has a few strange fetishes, I will not stop loving you. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"
My dad looked at me with bright eyes and I knew immediately what conclusion he had come to. He thought I was cross dressing! He thought I was gay!
I heard snickers from my closet, and noted to myself to kill Rukia later.
"That's not it," is what I wanted to say, but the real explanation would only further complicate things. Things were not looking up so much.
After much hassle, including Yuzu's exclamation, "I have two sisters!" and Karin's double-take, I was off to school with Rukia, who had somehow gotten hold of a uniform and would be joining me. Still with my same male uniform that now didn't quite fit in places and was strangely snug in others.
"That was highly amusing," she said, flipping her raven black hair. "I love your family!"
"You can have 'em," I grumbled sullenly. My own orange hair swishing around only helped because it hid my face. I flashed annoyed brown eyes at her.
"It's not that bad." Rukia pointed at me with a huge grin. "Besides, I've always wanted a gay best friend."
I blushed from the tips of my ears to the bottom of my feet; she was acting as if I were a guy that would like other guys or I were a girl liking other girls, I just knew it. And based off of my dad's reaction, she wasn't the only one.
We reached school with time to spare, and the first thing I did was knock into someone while turning a corner. I tried to just keep going, hoping I wouldn't be recognized, but of course Tatsuki stopped me for her best friend.
"Apologize," she growled. "You knocked Orihime down, so you better apologize and take responsibility." With a sigh I turned to her fully, expression perhaps a little too fierce. "Ichigo?" she gasped, dark eyes widening.
"I'm sorry, Inoue-san," I said. I held out a hand and tried not to hang off of her reaction too much.
"K-Kurosaki-kun," Orihime stammered, scooting back a little on the floor. I noticed the dropped books and started picking them up.
"What happened to you?" Tatsuki asked incredulously after grabbing my shoulder to turn me so she could take me in.
"I was kidnapped." It was totally random, totally unplanned, but I suddenly had a story. "Someone kidnapped me overnight; did you see my house on the news, with all the wreckage? Person who caused it took me and experimented on me until this happened. It was terrible. I've been traumatized."
Rukia ran down the hall so she wouldn't crack up laughing, and both Tatsuki and Orihime gasped in horror. Tatsuki hugged me fiercely, blushed, and then turned to help Orihime up, who then did the same. Apparently, by some miracle, they believed me. I decided I would keep that story.
For the rest of the day, I received similar reactions from the female population, and I think the males would have all laid down their lives for me if I asked. At least, most of the school's population was like that. People who didn't get the story from me because we weren't on terms period probably didn't give a crap or didn't get the story, although I was sure I would become the new item of gossip over the weekend. And then there were those people that were all hateful whispers of "Attention-seeker," and such. I only thanked the heavens that I wouldn't have to deal with it for two days.
Saturday began with sleeping in, something I was grateful for. Friday night had seen Rukia showing me how to do Kōnso on a Whole after saving it from a Hollow. According to her, I did pretty good for a newbie. Then we stayed up late talking, arguing, really, about how I would fit in Soul Reaper duties and school. On my side, school was more important, 'cause I was definitely not taking up the shinigami gig as a lifetime thing. Rukia, of course, argued the opposite side, saying, "A Soul Reaper must be totally committed to do the job properly." We settled with staying in school but leaving if her phone thingy alerted of Hollows.
So, suffice it to say, I was thankful for being able to catch up on sleep. Judging on the snores from the closet, Rukia was as well.
"Oi, Rukiaaaaa," I dragged out her name purposefully. "Neeee, Rukiaaaaaa..."
I crawled silently off my bed to the floor, bare feet skimming the carpet. Slowly, I tiptoed over to my closet, even slower I slid it open...and then...BAM! I jumped on Rukia and was fought against swiftly in return. A karate chop here, a block there, a kick here, a returned kick there... You know, all good things.
"Ichigo," she thundered. "What was that for?"
"You needed to wake up so we can go shopping," I said plaintively. "I require woman supplies." I hated to say it, but it was true. I needed to be prepared, and I needed bras. It is very revealing when a girl wears a shirt without a bra...as I had awkwardly found out.
"Ugh," she grunted.
I got dressed in jeans and a white tee that had been a little small before but was now a belly shower, while Rukia "borrowed" one of Yuzu's dresses. Once in "appropriate attire," she climbed out the window and I walked down the stairs; I told Karin I was going outside, then took my exit. She didn't really react, although she might have been a tad surprised I was still obviously female.
After shopping with Rukia, I decided that I really needed to stop traumatizing myself so often. She helped me find clothes, making very blunt comments about my figure. Then we went into the embarrassing topic of bras, continuing into Rukia wondering if I would have...periods...because I was a fifteen year-old girl. I swear, I blushed enough that the cashier thought I was hitting on him or something, cause he definitely looked me up and down and mouthed call me. He took it as far as to write his phone number on the receipt!
I set to devising a plan to never go into the public ever again while Rukia took me to the site of another Hollow I had to cleanse or whatever. It was a short fight, because it was really weak. This one had a creepy clown-smile mask and a monkey-like body. I didn't even get to a shouting match over this one; talk about disappointing.
"Ichigo," Rukia glared at me afterwards. "Stop being so cocky. They will not all be that weak, so you need to train up as well."
"But Rukia-saaaaaaaaannnn," I moaned childishly. Her eyes smiled a teeny bit but the rest of her expression remained stern. I really felt like a little kid around her, and she was super tiny compared to me. "Do I haaaaaave to?"
"Yes." She flipped her hair (I wanna learn how to do it effectively like that if I'm gonna have to keep my long hair) and continued to walk in front of me, showing dominance yet again. Rukia is really bossy. I don't think I'll ever be able to think she's cute at the end of this.
We were about a block from home when we ran into Inoue. She was crossing the street with groceries when a car came speeding down; the nice kind that means it belongs to a rich kid showing off.
"Inoue!" I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled. I dropped the bags I held (apparently I was still the man so I had to carry them) and ran over, my shirt riding up even more. "Watch out!"
The car got to her before I did, but somehow swerved just enough to barely skim her. Her long orange hair laid out around her in her new position on the ground. Rukia signaled me to pick up Inoue's groceries while she calmed the other girl down. I gathered the fallen fruit and vegetables quickly, rubbing each on my shirt before storing it back in the plastic bag. I grabbed my stuff too before returning to where Rukia was helping her new friend up.
"Are you okay?" I asked calmly, internally freaking out.
"Yes," Inoue said, voice a little faint.
"You sure?" I pushed. Rukia just kept her eyes fixed on the other girl.
"Yes."
I looked her up and down, inspecting for injuries, to find a large bruise forming on her arms, almost in the shape of a big hand. I pointed to it with a raised eyebrow, and Rukia spoke for both of us when she said, "That sure looks like it hurts to me."
Inoue looked at her arm in confusion, as if she really had no idea what we were talking about, and her thin brows jumped at the sight. "Do you want us to walk you home?" I offered.
"No, no, I feel fine. I'll make it home alright, no need to be bothered." With that taken care of I handed her her bags, only just now realizing the strange combinations held within them. Considering what Tatsuki's reactions were to sharing Inoue's bentou...it made sense...but I still shuddered.
Rukia and I continued on after parting with the strange red-head, though we were both still concerned. Then again, I'm probably always concerned about something. We went to a park and Rukia started teaching me about reiatsu. I honestly found it difficult to follow, but you have to give me credit for trying. She blew off my complaint about her style of teaching and continued to draw in her weird, creepy way.
"Reiryoku is spiritual power," Rukia started over once more when I still didn't get it. "Remember how I said that it was your power that attracted the hollows?"
I nodded my head slowly in response, concentrating as much as I could with my hands bound behind my back by itchy rope.
"The power that attracted them was your high level of reiryoku."
Without anything to compare all this stuff to, I was struggling, although this was probably the best explanation so far.
"When you actually use the power, your reiryoku, it's called reiatsu." I nodded. "When you broke the bond on your arms before, that was you using reiatsu." I nodded again. "What I used to bind you was reiatsu, as well." I hummed to show that I was still with her. "So by controlling your power, you can do more stuff like that with lots of practice."
"Meaning that when you said before that I needed to train, you meant with the reiatsu stuff?" I asked, just to be sure.
"Yes."
"Don' wanna."
Rukia, obviously expecting a totally different answer, anticipating, even, started to nod, saying, "I will teach-" before she halted her actions. "Wait, what?!" She took up arms, her eyes shooting purple darts at me.
"How many times to I have to tell you," I said calmly, "that I am not taking this position up for life. I should be strong enough now to do everything necessary."
"And I told you to take this seriously!" Rukia yelled at me. "Do you think I wanted to give you all my powers? Take responsibility!"
A loud beeping sound cut me off before I had the chance to retort, and Rukia jumped up from her seat on the bench we had found. I heard the strange scream that hollows make. I stood as well, forcefully breaking the rope that had been irritating my hands. The short shinigami took the thingy she used to separate my spirit from my body and shoved it at my chest. The tingly feeling of my hands waking up disappeared as I almost fell for the second time that day. She really needed to give me some warning when she did that, and it was especially weird to see my body lying motionless on the ground.
I looked away to focus on the hollow that had shimmered into existence, randomly wondering where they came from. And how the heck they got such ugly appearances. This one had a sort of narrow face, with more recognizable features in the mask than I had seen previously; it had arms that ended in five long claws on each hand, but instead of legs its torso turned scaly past the mid section, stretching out into a serpent's tail. It was creepy, to say the least.
I took my sword from my back and stood in a confident stance, waiting for the hollow to make the first move so I had an idea of how it fought. So far, each hollow used its most powerful attack first, probably aiming to quickly kill. Even though Rukia said I wasn't taking the role of a soul reaper seriously, I was. I mean, who would be stupid enough to recklessly jump into any fight without any knowledge? I may not have all A's in school, but I'm smarter than that.
The hollow lashed out with its long tail first, and I dodged only to quickly be faced with the claws on its left hand. I brought my sword up and...I think the correct term would be parried?...in retaliation. I used its momentum against itself by flipping onto the still moving arm, allowing it to get get temporarily stuck in a tree. As it pulled back, uprooting the tree, I ran up its arm and slashed across its mask. I guess I didn't hit hard enough, because the only thing that resulted from the blow was a piece of the mask, the area of the right eye, being chipped off. The breaking looked and even sounded like when a piece of porcelain cracked or broke.
The distraction very nearly cost me when a tree I had forgotten about was flung at me. "Ichigo!" Rukia had shouted to bring me away from what I had seen. I barely managed to duck and avoid the flying tree, but right after it came the serpentine tail. It was that moment that it was brought to my attention that the tip of the hollow's tail was way too pointed for a tail. Luckily for me, it only skimmed me before shimmering out of existence.
I turned to Rukia, confused. "What happened?" I demanded. "What was that?"
She sighed, which only irritated me more. "You removed part of its mask, so it probably went back to recuperate."
"No," I said strongly, the memory rubbing against me again, the face stuck in my mind. "Why did that thing have the face of Inoue's brother?"
Rukia explained to me more properly exactly what hollows were. She told me while we walked home and put up what we had bought. The raven-haired girl started with telling me that this was exactly why soul reapers were always supposed to attack from behind. I was almost worried by how serious her tone was, how her eyes seemed somewhat...distant.
To sum it up, hollows start out as wholes, but by not moving on they can choose to become hollows or are forcefully turned into hollows by another to act as a meal-fetcher of sorts. To eat or bring along certain people so the turner could consume their reishi. Even to be fattened like a pig and eaten themselves.
The new information sent me reeling. I may be able to kill monsters without too much consideration, but a human? Someone that had once lived the same as I? When it was possible that they didn't even want to do what they were doing? That I could not do.
Rukia told me that it wasn't actually killing them, but at that point I stopped listening. I felt numb. I kept putting the clothes away, folding them up, smoothing out wrinkles, peeling and ripping off tags, but my mind drifted away. I stopped seeing what I was doing, and started envisioning the hollows I had fought so far. I heard their terrible screams, saw each one with a face. I tried to push it away; I didn't want this guilty conscience on top of everything else. The feeling stayed, though, even without the images and sounds.
"Ichigo," Rukia said, suddenly right in my face. Her expression was serious, and called my attention to a constant beeping sound I had been too out of it to notice. It was the hollow detector.
She punched my shinigami self out of my body for the third time that day, and I finally didn't fall. I just whipped around to see a familiar figure shimmering into existence. He wasn't as I had left him, though. The mask was fixed, so I could no longer physically see Inoue's brother's face, but my mind continued to torture me with it. I remembered again the last time I had seen that face, with a younger Inoue curled over his limp body. The feeling of a spirit tearing away from its body.
"Ichigo, move!" Rukia shouted at me, causing me to notice that the hollow had begun a fatal sweep in my inattentiveness. Also, I had been trembling.
I blocked the tail with my sword, trying to cause the least amount of damage I could in my room. To my surprise, as soon as Rukia and I hopped out the two-story window to lead it away, the hollow disappeared.
"Where could it be?" I asked Rukia half-heartedly. Then my heartbeat sped up as I connected a few dots of the puzzle. One of them was Inoue Orihime. "Inoue-san," I whispered.
I ran at a furious pace to the apartment building where my red-head friend lived; I knew from walking her home when she was alone. Behind me Rukia struggled to match the pace, but she was no match against my enhanced speed. Being a shinigami has its benefits. Being a boy that works out helps as well, and don't you dare think for a moment that I am female. I am still a man, and will remain so. I just have to figure some things out, is all. But back to Inoue's house.
I heard the strangely mournful cry of a hollow, and I knew I was almost too late. I strained my body even more to reach her in time, taking an impossibly large leap to reach the fourth floor. (Author knows this is probably not where Inoue-san lives, but is too lazy to look up something that may take a while or not even be there.) A much more human scream pierced the air, causing a shiver to ripple down my exerting muscles.
I stood on a balcony, the curtains pulled tight, although they swished as if someone was sending draft across them. I honestly had no idea if I had jumped to the correct room, but I didn't stop for the courtesy of checking. My limbs continued to pump me forward, shattering the glass doors and nearly ripping the mint green curtains away from their rods. Normally, I would feel terrible for the woman who quickly began shrieking when a "ghost" came a rather physical way into the room. As it was, I was in too much of a hurry to care.
Another scream sounded, to my left, and I turned accordingly after exiting the woman's apartment. When I arrived, the balcony doors were mercifully already open. Glass is painful, even if you are full of adrenaline. To my horror, inside was not only Inoue - who was being held down by her brother's hollow - but Tatsuki was there as well. And she was hurt and bewildered, unable to see what held Inoue but still fighting. My anger reared up, enough that I momentarily forgot my reluctance to fight and kill any hollow.
I continued full speed towards the hollow, driving it off Inoue and back around to the open balcony. We struggled while falling through the air, and, though it happened in a mere few seconds, it felt and looked as if it took longer. I had withdrawn my sword to block and attack, and we spun a great many times before the hollow crushed me to the ground. A crater formed in the concrete due the force of the fall.
The hollow made its terrible noise as it continued to pound against me, and I against it. Its snake-like tail whipped around to trip me, and I was so focused on the upper half that I missed it. While I was down I saw Rukia running out of the apartment building with Inoue. The red-head looked frightened, but also determined. I felt a little better knowing that Rukia had a plan because the inability to seriously fight the hollow had come back full force.
"Orihime," the hollow ground out, its vocal cords causing the sound to be almost similar to its screams. Inoue stiffened in response, probably still unable to see her brother, but able to hear him.
"Ni-chan," she whispered. As I looked at her more fully, I realized that Inoue was in shackles, and that her form was that of a spirit.
"Inoue-san," I called out, distressed. My long hair fell forward into my face, and I pushed it back, growing more and more frustrated with this situation. Blood pounded through my head, blocking any sound; my vision flashed sporadically, going to white, black, and pictures from memories. My hands trembled, and I felt incredibly weak. I struggled to stand, but my legs were shaking as well. For a moment, I felt as if I were in a nightmare. The type of one in which you can't do anything, you can only watch as you and the ones you care about are devoured.
I used my overly large sword to push myself up, staggering even with the extra support. In front of me, I caught a glimpse of Inoue again, speaking to her brother, before my vision flashed again. After waiting for a few seconds, I started to get my senses back, and saw the hollow lunging at Inoue. The world slowed down again, and I worked to speed over to where she was, to block the blow that would surely kill her. The masked face seemed to unhinge its jaw, as if it were really a snake, and the gaping hole came down over Inoue. But it was stopped by the arms the unfortunate girl threw around the hollow's face. She stopped her brother with a hug.
I didn't waste any more time in rushing over, discarding the tingling sensation that swept over me. I didn't hesitate this time to plunge my sword through the thing's chest. But I did feel an overwhelming sadness as the hollow that was Inoue's brother dissipated into white light, then faded away. Just before it was gone, I heard an echo of its mournful cry.
Inoue collapsed then, unconscious, and Rukia looked at me with a something akin to a combination of pity and pride. I shuddered, and felt about to fall myself thanks to my traitorous limbs. The short soul reaper came to me in hurried strides, but she didn't run. There wasn't exactly a point. Even she knew that I would be just fine if I fell. But she was fast enough to help me sit naturally.
After I regained my strength we helped Inoue's soul back to her body, which was still in her apartment, and erased and replaced both her and Tatsuki's memories of the night. It reminded me of the previous Thursday night, when I had first been faced with a hollow. It seemed so long ago that it had happened, and yet so unreal in the fact that it had turned my body into that of a female's. Everything had a touch of that surreal quality now, as if suddenly nothing made sense. I sincerely hoped that it would start to soon, but I began to fear that nothing would ever be like was before. That it couldn't be.
Rukia and I walked home slowly, occasionally speaking but mostly staying quiet. When we arrived, we crept in quietly, careful not to wake up my family. I returned to my body in my room, slowly going through the nightly checklist Rukia had set up for me. She said as a girl I had to take care of myself more than I would regularly. Bed beckoned me while I slipped into one of the pairs of pajamas we had picked out earlier. They were a sky blue with strawberries scattered all across; a loose short-sleeve tee and equally loose pants with a string that wrapped around the waste and could be tightened.
I climbed into my bed as Rukia entered her own makeshift one in the closet. She didn't pull the door closed, though; she just sat and faced me with her firm expression that was starting to become something I associated with her. Figuring that this was the part where she would scold me, I turned away so I wouldn't have to look at her.
"Ichigo" was what she started with, as usual. "Soul Reapers do not kill hollows. They purify them." I was tempted to roll over to face her, but I resisted. That would show weak will. "Wholes go to Soul Society, but they have to be released from all physical ties first. Sometimes Soul Reapers don't reach them fast enough, and they become Hollows. The Hollows are then stuck, because they cannot 'move on' in that form. Soul Reapers then have the duty to purify their souls, allowing the Hollow to go back to Soul Society. We are not killers, Ichigo. We are protectors."
With that, Rukia slid the closet door shut, leaving me to my thoughts. I fell asleep with a much lighter heart, and a rock-solid determination to get better. To protect.
Hello! This is author! Sorry for delay. In case you haven't noticed, this is a really long chapter and I'm a procrastinator and slow. Plus, I have tons of other stories I work on (I haven't uploaded very many, but the last time I counted I have over thirty stories started [they just won't leave me alone! ^_^"]) So I don't feel as guilty as I might. Now, on to KIFR! :)
Kurosaki Ichigo's Feelings Report (KIFR)
Girls: Obviously still like 'em, so you ain't ever gonna win this battle.
Boys: I wouldn't get with a guy if he were the last person besides me on Earth. No way.
Inoue Orihime: She is super cute and sweet, despite her strange habits. And she's super brave. Did you see her with her brother?