Disclaimer: I don't own anything. See chapter 1 for details.

Author's note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Sorry for the really late post, many things were going on. Me and Gokai were discussing ideas on the next chapter and so on. It took a while but we finally finished it. And even though that I update my other story, Saiyan in Mahora, weekly, don't expect this one to be the same. That other story is kind of my main focus and I want to finish it ASAP. Once that is done, I'll focus on the other stories so please bear with me.

Also, I'm really glad that some of you enjoyed the first chapter. And trust me, there will be more exciting chapters coming up.

I want to thank Gokai Entertainment for beta reading this chapter. He has been a great help. So now, let me present to you all Chapter 2 of Soul Reaper Son Gohan! Enjoy!


Chapter Two: Rice and Strawberry

"Gohan! You bastard!" A young man with orange hair dressed in a black Shihakushō brought down his black katana upon his unforgiving opponent. Son Gohan, the opponent in question, dodged it easily. The impact of the sword hitting the sand caused an explosion of dust to surround the area.

"You'll have to do better than that, Ichigo-san!" Gohan responded. Gohan had lost sight of Ichigo in the dust cloud but could feel his spirit pressure was still there. Suddenly, Ichigo erupted out of the safety of the dust cloud and headed straight towards Gohan with incredible speed. Gohan noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ichigo was now adorned with a strange mask that resembled a hollow's with red markings on it.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo roared his signature attack, swinging his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, in one swift motion. A beam of black energy erupted from Ichigo's Bankai that rushed toward Gohan. Gohan responded by transforming into a Super Saiyan. He slashed with his own Zanpaktou, shattering Ichigo's attack with hardly any effort. He then held his blade high and grasped the hilt with both hands.

"My turn."

Ichigo braced himself for Gohan's attack but it never came. Instead he vanished. Where had he gone! Ichigo looked around frantically, trying to search out his spiritual pressure.

"Kikouken-jutsu," Ichigo turned around to see Gohan behind him. "Kiken-giri!" Gohan brought down his blade as hard as he could and unleashed an energy attack similar to Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho, only it was blue in colour. Ichigo had no time to dodge and simply used Zangetsu to defend himself. The force of the attack pushed Ichigo back as it struggled against his blade.

Summoning all of his strength Ichigo gripped his Zanpaktou with both hands and pushed the attack towards the sky. Gohan could not help but smirk at this. "Impressive, Ichigo-san. I'll have to take this seriously if I want to win." Ichigo then gave Gohan a glare that would give most people the chills.

"Why are you working for Aizen! Please, Gohan… Answer me!" Ichigo screamed.

Gohan gave away no emotion as Ichigo stared at him with hopeful eyes. "I'll answer you if you defeat me!"

Ichigo frowned at this. "Man, you are stubborn! Fine then, if that's the way you want it then I won't hold back!"

Why did it have to happen like this? Gohan pondered that very question secretly as Ichigo charged at him once more. He had no way of knowing that when Aizen sent him to Karakura Town that things would turn out like this. Gohan did not trust Aizen completely but simply did not have any choice in the matter at the time. His doubts grew several fold as he became close to Ichigo and his friends. Gohan simply wished he could go back to Karakura High and spend his days in bliss. He had never been happier in his entire life.

"Here I come, GOHAN!"

As they clashed swords once more Gohan thought back to how it had gotten to this moment…


A few months earlier…

The urban environment of Karakura Town was not something Gohan was used to. Even Satan City was not quite as colourless as this place. The first thing Gohan did when he arrived was get back into his own flesh and blood body. He didn't like the idea of being in the same form of his 'supposed' enemy and more to the point, now that his mind had slightly recovered from the shock of everything he had been through he had a chance to think and realised something was off about Aizen.

Even knowing this though, Gohan had no choice but to trust him for the time being until he arrived at the truth. What should I do first? When I think about it, Aizen-san wasn't too specific on what I should do, and other than Urahara Kisuke, he never gave me any names to go on. The only other thing he did mention was to befriend an orange haired high school boy.

Gohan pondered his situation as he walked the desolate streets of Karakura Town. He was so distracted that he didn't realise someone was in front of him until they collided. Gohan remained still as though nothing happened while the person he bumped into fell to the ground. This snapped him out of it and he attempted to grab this person at the last second, though as a result he used too much strength and pulled the stranger right up until their faces were literally inches apart.

Gohan blushed at the closeness as he backed off a bit. "I'm so sorry," bowed apologetically the demi-saiyan. "I didn't see where I was going. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"That's okay," spoke the voice which sounded like music to Gohan's ears. He had recognized the stranger's voice to be a girl's and when he looked up to her face, he had noticed that she was around his age. She had long orange hair and a sizable bust that he couldn't help but notice. Gohan immediately blushed hard once he saw them and tried to look away. The girl stood a bit dumbfounded as she watched Gohan's reaction. "Is something the matter? Are you hurt?"

"I-I am fine," stuttered the demi-saiyan. "I-It's n-nothing to worry about." Come on Gohan, focus here, he said to himself. Try and avoid looking at her bust. Mom would give me an earful for doing something so impolite. As he avoided the gaze, he noticed that there were two grocery bags next to her and on the ground. "Here let me help you with that."

The orange haired girl smiled brightly as the demi-saiyan handed her the bags. "Thank you so much," she said. "I'm sorry for bumping into you. I was just thinking so many things in my head and I didn't see where I was going."

Gohan chuckled slightly. "That's okay. It happens to all of us." Upon closer inspection, Gohan noticed many items in her bag that looked awfully heavy for her, especially when she was carrying another bag with her. Probably her school bag based on the clothes that she was wearing. Plus, she seemed to be carrying some bandages on her, but from what? The half-saiyan wondered.

Gohan knew what he had to do. "Hey, as an apology, how about if I help you with those bags?" Gohan asked. "They look awfully heavy."

The orange haired girl was a bit shocked by Gohan's request. "That's okay," she said. "I'll be all right. Besides I do this all the time."

"All the time?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. Ever since my brother died that is."

"I see. I'm sorry about your loss."

"It's okay. It happened a long time ago. I know that he is in a better place."

"That's good to hear then," Gohan said. "So let me help you, I insist. Either way, it is a good way to see more of the town." Grabbing both bags without waiting for response from the girl, Gohan started walking towards the direction that the orange haired girl was proceeding to. The girl stood still as she watched Gohan walk ahead of her. The demi-saiyan turned his head around when he noticed that the girl wasn't following him. "Aren't you coming?"

This shook the girl's shock as she caught up with the demi-saiyan. "Y-Yes, sorry," she said. Gohan simply smiled as the two of them began walking along the side walk. They continued to walk for about 10 minutes, neither one of them speaking.

The air around them was tense. Both of them were a bit nervous. Gohan was nervous in trying to avoid looking at the girl's 'assets' but at the same time, the girl was cute in a certain way. However, Gohan didn't have much experience when it came to girls. Kuririn and Yamucha seemed to be the ones to talk about that.

After all, Kuririn was able to marry Artificial Human No. 18 after a few tries. That reminded him that he needed to go and speak with the Z senshi before anyone got worried. But how was he going to break the news about what happened to him and his family?

"So," spoke the girl, snapping Gohan's thinking, "You said that you wanted to see the town. Are you new here?"

The demi-saiyan nodded. "Yeah, it is my first time here in Karakura Town. It seems quite… lively."

"I guess," the girl responded. "I never really thought about it actually." Gohan chuckled a bit. "By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. Silly me. My name is Inoue Orihime."

"My name is Son Gohan. It is nice to meet you Inoue-san."

"Nice to meet you too Son-kun," the girl responded with a smile that made the demi-saiyan remember his own father's smile. "So, what brings you to Karakura Town?"

"Um, well…" Gohan was unsure on what to say. He couldn't tell that he was sent here by Aizen in order to fight against the Soul Society. That would be weird. He definitely didn't want to lose a potential first friend in a new city. The girl seemed nice and full of positive energy. Then an idea came to him as he noticed the school kids walking around them. "I am here for my education."

"Education?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah. I have been home schooled by my mother most of my life and she thought that it would be a great idea to go to an actual school."

"Your mother sounds very nice."

Gohan's face turned into a dejected look once he heard Orihime's comment. "Yeah, she was," he muttered as he clenched his fists in anger. He needed to find his mother's killer. He almost had completely forgotten after all that happened with Aizen and him becoming a Soul Reaper. Even though he still had doubts about what Aizen said, it was the only thing that he could go on.

Orihime noticed the demi-saiyan's look and got worried. "What's wrong, Son-kun?"

Gohan immediately snapped up. "N-Nothing," he said with a nervous laugh. "I was just thinking about something."

"Is it something that I could help you with?"

Gohan nodded. "Well, actually there is another reason on why I came to Karakura Town. I'm looking for someone and his name is…" But before Gohan could say anything, a loud grumbling noise shouted across the area, getting looks from everyone that was in the vicinity. Orihime was curious as to what that noise could be till Gohan spoke up. "Sorry about that," he said while scratching the back of his neck. "That was my stomach." Everyone around Gohan and Orihime immediately face faulted, wondering how the hell did a young man such as himself could produce such a noise. Gohan blushed heavily with embarrassment that was until Orihime started to chuckle.

"You're hungry aren't you?"

The demi-saiyan nodded. "I haven't been able to grab a bite just yet."

"How about this then? You can come to my house and eat with me," Orihime stated with a smile on her face.

Gohan widened his eyes. "Really?" The orange haired girl nodded. "That's great! Thank you Inoue-san! But I don't want to impose on you, especially eating the recent groceries that you just bought."

"Don't worry Son-kun. I can always go to the store again. Besides, I really want you to try out my new special dish. It contains spring onions, curry, ice cream and other things." Gohan sweat dropped once he heard the combination of foods that she was going to make. Gohan couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Thank you Inoue-san."


A few minutes later, at Orihime's house…

Orihime's mouth was gaping in shock as she stared at the demi-saiyan. Gohan, upon the food reaching the table, began to ate like there was no tomorrow. And although the combination of foods that she just mentioned sounded like something that nobody would eat, it was actually pretty delicious. He definitely wanted to eat more. The plates began to stake up higher and higher than Orihime could have anticipated. Where was all this food going to go and also, how could someone so skinny like Gohan eat like that?

A few moments later, Gohan let out a sigh and put down his last plate. "Thank you for the meal. That was delicious," he said with his father's trademark grin on his face. Orihime was taken aback by this; usually people had a rather different reaction after eating her creative delights.

"Y-you mean you really liked it?"

Gohan looked at her confused. "Sure I did. Why wouldn't I?" Orihime looked at Gohan as though she was on the verge of tears. Gohan was startled by this. Did I say something to make her mad? He wondered, gulping as a nervous sweat ran down his neck.

Tears started to roll down Orihime's face like a waterfall. Gohan was about to flip out until she spoke. "I'm… so glad!"

"Huh?" Gohan gaped at her.

"Well everyone says I have a weird sense of taste so I thought you wouldn't like it."

Gohan couldn't help but sweatdrop. "Is that all?" Orihime nodded as she wiped away her tears. Gohan sighed out of relief, and then he chuckled. "Well it was wonderful. No offense but are you sure your friends have tastebuds?" Orihime's eyes lit up like sparkles at his comment. She then grabbed his hands and held them to her chest, something that made Gohan instantly blush but Orihime did not notice.

"Son-kun, we absolutely must be friends!" Orihime cried.

"Eh?" was Gohan's only response to her sudden outburst. "O-of course. You seem like a nice person." Orihime's tears returned but instead of waterfalls Gohan was treated to waterworks this time. Gohan then realised that he had forgotten what he had come to this town for having been distracted by his stomach and Orihime's antics. Clearing his throat, he decided to bring up something he had on his mind since he first met Orihime. "Inoue-san, there's something I'd like to ask you."

Orihime stopped crying and snapped back to reality. "Uh, sure Son-kun. What would you like to ask?"

"I noticed you were wearing a school uniform earlier. Do you go to the high school here?" Orihime nodded. "Would you be able to help me enrol? I plan to go to school here."


Two days later…

The chime of the school bell rang across the school grounds as the high school students rushed towards the school building. As soon as the last chime was heard, everyone was in their own class room. However, one classroom was unusually more noisy than usual. In this classroom, some of the students were talking about what happened the other day when a bunch of strangers came into the classroom looking for one Kurosaki Ichigo. Added to that was the fact someone had jumped to the third floor of the school building. But something more interesting had come up.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom slid open, revealing another one of the classroom's students. This person was like any normal teenage boy, except that his hair was spiky orange. He was a fairly tall, lean-built person with peach skin and brown eyes. As soon as he entered the classroom, he heard a familiar scream coming towards him. "I-I-I-I-I-ICHIGO!"

The teenage boy, now named Ichigo, lifted his leg up and blocked the incoming student. "Oh, hey Keigo," Ichigo said as he walked into the classroom, knocking over Keigo. Ichigo then noticed the other person that Keigo seemed to be attached to. "Hey Mizuiro."

"Hey Ichigo," Mizuiro greeted while looking at his cell phone. "It seems that you are more spry than usual."

"Well, there is a reason for that," Ichigo commented softly with his usual demeanour before getting punched in the back. Ichigo turned his head to see who had landed a hit on him as he knew the only person that could think of doing that to him. Standing behind him was a short and petite girl with light skin, violet-colored eyes and black hair, with one strand of hair always hanging between her eyes.

"I hope you are not saying bad stuff about me, Ichigo," the girl said.

Ichigo glared with one of his eyebrows twitching. "O-Of course not, Rukia," he said. This was just great for him. First, he got his ass handed to him when a pair of Arrancars showed up in Karakura, then a whole group of Soul Reapers appeared disguised as high school students arrived at his school. Now, Rukia was able to convince his dumb father to let her stay at his place. Things couldn't get worse could they?

Suddenly, Rukia's demeanour changed as she noticed Orihime chatting up with her best friend, Tatsuki. "Orihime!" greeted the disguised Soul Reaper as she went to greet her friend.

Ichigo let out a sigh, still in disbelief on how easily Rukia was able to fool mostly everyone with her change of attitude. If they knew the real her, they wouldn't be so friendly. However, Ichigo couldn't really blame her. Throughout her life in the Soul Society, she couldn't associate with anyone due to being the sister of Kuchiki Byakuya, a noble in the Soul Society as well as a Captain of the Gosei 13. He might as well cut her some slack.

As Ichigo approached his seat, he glanced around and noticed three figures not here. His tall friend, Sado Yasutora, most commonly known as Chad, and Ishida Uyru, a Quincy, haven't shown up since the battle against the pair of Arrancars. But there was another person that he noticed was gone and that was Hirako Shinji, a man claiming to be what he called a Vizard. He had approached the orange haired boy with an offer to join his side but Ichigo refused, saying that he could control his inner Hollow that had interrupted his fight last time. So far, Ichigo was able to put his inner Hollow at bay… for now. Who knows when he would show up again?

As soon as Ichigo took a seat, Keigo rushed over to the orange haired boy. "Hey Ichigo! Did you hear?"

"Hear about what?" Ichigo asked nonchalantly, as most of the stuff that Keigo would say weren't interesting to the orange haired. He had more important things to worry about.

"About the Golden Warrior," Keigo replied.

Ichigo's ears perked up. "Th-The Golden Warrior?" he questioned.

Keigo nodded. "Yeah! He just showed up recently! He has been seen kicking butt around Karakura!"

Ichigo shook his head, knowing that this 'Golden Warrior' was probably part of some marketing thing. "Is this 'Golden Warrior' part of the Don Kanonji group?" he asked, thinking that someone with the name of Golden Warrior must have allied with the fake superhero, Don Kanonji.

"That's the thing, Don Kanonji is not affiliated with him!" Keigo said. "I know because I am his biggest fan!" Upon saying that, Keigo did the trademark pose of Don Kanonji of crossing both his arms over his chest and laughing.

Ichigo sighed indifferently. "Well, he's probably another Don Kanonji, trying to become a hero like him." Even though he is super lame, Ichigo said to himself.

"Actually Ichigo, he stopped some bank robbers the other day with just his fists," Mizuiro commented. "He also saved a falling bus from the bridge."

Ichigo's eyes widened a bit. "What? You can't be serious. You believe this too Mizuiro?"

"It's all over the Internet," Mizuiro stated as he pulled up the website on his phone and showing it to Ichigo. Ichigo glanced over the information with his eyes and noticed that some of the things that Mizuiro said were true. Yesterday, a major robbery was stopped by a mysterious warrior with golden hair. And just now, a bus that almost fell into the river was pulled up by the same person.

"You can't really believe this stuff," Ichigo said. "It's probably fake." That was, unless this person possessed Soul Reaper powers. But the only people he knew that possessed such powers were Rukia and the Soul Reaper group that came the other day. They of course wouldn't do something that would attract attention to themselves. It was not in their nature. He decided to ask anyways.

"Hey, Rukia, have you seen this stuff about the 'Golden Warrior'?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia stopped talking with Tatsuki and Orihime and walked over to where Ichigo was. "What do you mean, 'Golden Warrior'?"

"You haven't heard about him, Rukia-san?" Orihime questioned. The disguised Soul Reaper shook her head. "He is all over the place. I wonder who he is."

"Probably some weirdo like Don Kanonji," Tatsuki commented. "Ichigo, you don't believe in this crap, right?"

Ichigo was unsure how to answer that question. This past year, he had seen what only a few handful of people would ever see in their lifetime. It could be possible that this Golden Warrior exists. Ichigo was about to respond to Tatsuki's question when suddenly, the homeroom teacher came in. "Okay, please be seated," she said. Once she said that, everyone took a seat and did the formal greeting that came in the morning.

"Now then," the teacher said as they finished the morning rituals. "Hirako Shinji has unfortunately dropped out of school so we won't be seeing him any time soon." The classroom students sweat dropped at the teacher's comment. "Anyways, today I am pleased to present you Hirako-kun's replacement. You can come in now."

The door to the classroom slid open as everyone turned their heads and their attention towards the new figure coming in. It was a fairly normal teenage with spiky jet black hair with a few bangs coming across his forehead. He had onyx eyes that seemed cheerful and heavy at the same time. He also wore the Karakura High School uniform. Students were a bit awe struck at the new student's appearance. Some of the girls had blushes on their faces once they noticed how cute he was. Ichigo and some of the other guys didn't think much of him. Orihime however, was surprised to see such a familiar face.

Once he stood in front of the classroom, the teacher continued to speak. "Class, let me introduce to our newest transfer, Son Gohan!" The classroom was a bit quiet as they noticed that Gohan didn't look like he was the same age as them. The teacher thought so. "He is just fifteen years old but was able to ace all of our rigorous entrance exams. And as Hirako-san has left us, Son-san is going to take his place. Now, why don't you introduce yourself to the classroom?"

The half-saiyan nodded. "Hai," he said as he turned his attention to the classroom. "My name is Son Gohan and I'm fifteen years old. Please take care of me." As he finished his bow, Gohan took a quick glance around the classroom and noticed some interesting figures, especially one Kurosaki Ichigo. Gohan focused his attention at the orange haired, thinking that maybe this was the person that Aizen was talking about earlier. He had to make sure.

Ichigo, meanwhile, noticed that the demi-saiyan student was staring at him as he did the same. He noticed something was strange about Gohan as he felt a strong energy coming from him. Plus, he didn't put on a performance like Shinji did earlier when he was introduced to the class. But something about Gohan was definitely strange. He was going to have to have a talk with Rukia later to confirm his suspicions. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

"Son-kun!" screamed a familiar voice to the half-saiyan that snapped him out of his thinking. Gohan turned his head towards the direction of the voice to see an unlikely person.

"Inoue-san!" Gohan said with a bright smile on his face as he walked at the orange haired girl.

"Son-san, since you seem to know her, how about you take a seat next to her?" the teacher said. Gohan nodded happily as he took the empty seat near Orihime.

"Son-kun, I didn't know that you were going to be in my class," Orihime said excitedly.

"I didn't think so earlier," Gohan responded as he took a seat. "Please take care of me, Inoue-san."

Orihime smiled brightly. "Of course."


At lunch…

Ichigo and Rukia were eating their lunch at the rooftop as they normally would, as this provided a good opportunity to discuss Soul Reaper matters. However, today's conversation was not about Soul Reaper matters but rather on the new student, Son Gohan. "Rukia, what do you think about the new kid?" Ichigo asked.

"He seems fine to me," Rukia said. "Wait, don't tell me that you like boys like him?"

"What! Where the hell did that come from!" Ichigo screamed. Rukia laughed at the Substitute Soul Reaper's expense. "Anyways, that's not what I am asking. I'm sure you know what I am talking about."

Rukia's facial expression turned into a stern one. "That boy… I sensed something unusual about him. I felt a strong energy but not spiritual pressure. It felt somewhat… refreshing…"

"Don't tell me that you have a crush on him?" Ichigo said with a sly smile on his face as it was his turn to get Rukia embarrassed. And unexpectedly, he got a surprising response from her.

"O-Of course not," Rukia stuttered with a slight blush on her face. "Wh-Why would you think that?"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"B-Because… you are an idiot Ichigo!"

Ichigo was taken aback by that. "What did you say?" The two of them stood up and glared at each other, ready to start their usual fight. However, that all stopped when they heard Orihime's voice.

"Hey! Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime said as she opened the door leading to the roof of the school building. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

"Orihime?" Rukia said, a little surprised to see the orange haired girl. "What's up?"

"Well…" Orihime said. "It's been a while and we haven't eaten and I thought I might as well bring someone to eat with us."

"Oh, who?" Ichigo asked.

"You can come out," Orihime said as she looked back and walked outside. Following behind her was none other than the half-saiyan, Son Gohan. Rukia blushed a little bit upon seeing Gohan as she and Ichigo were just about to argue because of him.

"Hey everyone!" Gohan greeted with his father's signature grin on his face. "Sorry for the intrusion."

"Son-kun, you don't have to apologise," Orihime said. "We are friends and it is normal for friends to eat lunch together." Gohan blushed a bit at the comment. He was still getting used to the fact that such a person was his friend. To be perfectly honest, this was his first true human friend. Everyone else was his father's friends. It was nice to have his own.

"Thank you," Gohan said as he walked alongside Orihime. The two of them joined up with Rukia and Ichigo.

"Oh I forgot to introduce them to you," Orihime said. "This is Kuchiki Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you, Son Gohan," Rukia said with a greeting bow.

"Hey," Ichigo said in his usual tone. Gohan began to wonder if he had gotten on the wrong side of Ichigo due to the orange haired boy scowling at him.

"Please take care of me. Also, I'm sorry if I offended you," Gohan stated.

"Offended? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"Well… you seem angry."

"Don't worry about him," Rukia commented. "He is usually like this."

"Hey!"

"Anyways, Son-san, where are you from?"

"I'm from the East in a region called Mount Paozu," Gohan said. "I came here to get an education since my Mother home tutored me. I heard good things about Karakura High School."

"I see," Rukia said as Gohan began to talk to Rukia about himself and who he was.

Ichigo meanwhile, stared at the half-saiyan with interest though he didn't pay too much attention to what Gohan was saying. Something about him was troubling and Ichigo didn't like it. Added to that was that he didn't like how Rukia and Orihime were chatting it up so easily with him. He immediately shook his head at that kind of thinking. Why the hell do I care if they are chatting it up so easily with Gohan? Ichigo asked himself. He is just the new kid. Of course people are going to wonder who he is. I'm just being paranoid.

Ichigo decided that he was going to join the conversation as well. "So, Gohan, where are you staying?" the orange haired teenager asked.

"Well, I'm actually staying at the same apartments as Inoue-san," Gohan stated.

A few seconds of silence passed through the area. "EHHHHHH!" They all shouted.

Ichigo glared at the half saiyan. "Are you some kind of stalker?" Ichigo threatened, grabbing hold of Gohan's shirt by the collar. "I won't let do anything bad to her!"

Gohan began to flail his arms. "W-Wait! It's not like that! I promise!"

"Kurosaki-kun, please calm down" Orihime said. "I'm sure Son-kun has a good reason."

"Orihime, this guy is bad news," Ichigo stated. "I knew it from the moment I saw him. You really are trouble!"

Gohan blinked his eyes in confusion. "W-Wait Kurosaki-san, I have no bad intentions. I swear!" he said. "I'm new to the area and I didn't have any place to sleep. Inoue-san was my first real friend and I had noticed the 'For Rent' outside her apartments. I asked the landlady and she was happy to take me in. I promise you that I am not going to do anything bad to her."

"Really, Son-kun?"

"Is that true?" added Rukia.

The demi-saiyan nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I lived out in the countryside and was home tutored by Mom. The only friends were my Dad's friends. They are good people but they were closer to my father since they knew him when he was younger. I had friends but not someone of my own age. Inoue-san is a nice person. I would never do anything to hurt her."

Ichigo contemplated on his next move. Within a few moments, he let go of Gohan's collar. Gohan landed on his behind and looked up at the orange haired teenager slightly confused. "Sorry," Ichigo muttered. "I didn't know that."

"It's okay Kurosaki-san," Gohan said. "I understand that you value your friends. Inoue-san has a great group of friends." Orihime smiled brightly at the comment. "So, can we be friends as well?" Gohan asked.

Ichigo let out a small smile. "Sure," he said as he and Gohan shook hands. "After all, if Orihime trusts you, then I will too." Gohan smiled at the comment. He felt that this was the start of good friendship between him and Ichigo. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud grumbling was heard on the roof. Everyone glanced around to see where that noise had come from.

"Heh heh heh," chuckled softly the demi-saiyan in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. That was my stomach." Ichigo couldn't help but sweat drop. What the hell kind of stomach makes that kind of noise?

"We should get back to eating then before the lunch is over," Orihime said.

Gohan nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said as he went to devour his food. But then, Gohan remembered something. "Hey, do you guys by chance know a person named Urahara Kisuke? I'm supposed to meet him." Ichigo and Rukia suddenly stopped eating when they heard that name. Both of them looked at the half-saiyan with interest.

Orihime, meanwhile, was a bit surprised that Gohan knew such a person. "Son-kun, how do you know about Urahara-san?" she asked.

"Wait, you guys know him?"

"Why do you want to meet him?" Ichigo asked.

Gohan was about to respond but stopped right before he muttered a word. He immediately pondered on what he should say. Just like what happened with Orihime when they first met, Gohan was unsure whether to tell the reason why he needed to meet Urahara Kisuke. Sure, they had become friends but based on the facial and body expressions of both Ichigo and Rukia, the half saiyan felt that he hit a topic that shouldn't have been brought up.

Trying to defuse the tense atmosphere, Gohan scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "S-sorry about that. I guess I di–"

Suddenly, a ring sounded, interrupting Gohan. The half-saiyan noticed that the ring was coming from Rukia as she had pulled out a cell phone from her pocket. Pressing a few buttons, Rukia's demeanour changed. "Ichigo!"

The orange haired teenager what that look on Rukia's face meant. A Hollow had appeared. Grabbing his things, Ichigo went on ahead. "Sorry about this Gohan, but me and Rukia have to go. We'll talk later about Urahara-san."

Gohan nodded with a Son grin on his face. "Okay."

"Ichigo!"

"Right! Let's go!" And with that, Rukia and Ichigo had left, leaving behind Gohan and Orihime by themselves on the roof.

"Um, Inoue-san, are those two dating?" Gohan asked, pointing to the last spot where Ichigo and Rukia were last seen.

"I-I don't think so," Orihime stuttered. Gohan bent his head slightly in confusion as he noticed a blush on the girl's face but more than that the half-saiyan noticed something else. It was her hands and they were clenching really hard. The girl's body was slightly trembling as if she had a cold. Gohan knew something was up.

"Inoue-san," Gohan said as he stood up, "I'll be right back. There is something that I have to check out." And with that, Gohan rushed towards the exit of the roof, leaving behind a confused Inoue Orihime.


A few minutes later…

"That's the last one," Ichigo said as he picked up his Zanpaktou and placed it on his shoulder. "Seriously, I just wish that the Hollows would appear after school, not during it. Right, Rukia?" He then noticed that Rukia was looking at her phone, rather than pay attention to him. The orange haired teenager scowled even more. "Rukia?"

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention," Rukia said. "What did you say?"

"Never mind," sighed Ichigo. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What do you think of Gohan now?"

Rukia's face turned a bit serious as she noticed that Ichigo wanted to continue where they left off from their conversation about the half saiyan. "Well, he is surprisingly honest, nice, good natured unlike someone I know."

"Hey!"

"But I don't think he is someone we should be worried about."

"Do you believe his story? About Orihime being his first friend?"

Rukia contemplated on her answer. "Yes," she said flat out. "That look in his eye, I have seen it before." It reminded me of myself, back before I met Kaien-dono as well as everyone else here in the Human World, Rukia said to herself. "What do you think about him, Ichigo?"

"I'm not really sure," Ichigo said as he placed his Zanpaktou on his back once again. "I was at first a bit paranoid about him, especially after happened with Shinji but he doesn't seem to be a bad guy. I knew it the moment we shook hands." Rukia let out a slight chuckle which resulted in a look from the orange haired teenager. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Rukia said as she let the breeze pass through her. Talking about the demi-saiyan got her more interested in Gohan than before. Perhaps she could talk with him more once they returned to the school. "Anyways, we should head back."

"Right." Then without notice, Ichigo felt something, that cold dark void feeling that came from hollows. How could he have missed one? He wondered as he gripped the handle of his sword behind his shoulder and turned his head to see the approaching hollow.

It was a fairly large one, kind of reminded him of a spider only walking one two legs and the other 'legs' were arms. Rukia screamed out at Ichigo to look out but it fell upon deaf ears as Ichigo cursed at himself for allowing himself to be left wide open for an attack. As the hollow approached him, the orange haired teenager could only hear his heartbeat sounding. Then he heard the voice, that disgusting voice that he always dreaded. "Let me handle him. Come on…"

No! Ichigo shouted in his head. I-I won't let you!

Then something unexpected happened. The hollow was hit on the side by a rather large blast, knocking him against the wall of a building. Ichigo immediately looked at Rukia, thinking that she had just used one of her Kido spells. Of course that was not true as she stood in the same place as before. "What the hell?" Ichigo muttered. Suddenly, Ichigo felt something; an unusually high spiritual pressure. He looked up to the spot where he felt it.

However, Ichigo couldn't get a clear view of his mysterious saviour as the sun's rays were blocking his sight. But not for long, for within moments, the orange haired teenager had started to get a clearer view of his saviour. The figure wore the Karakura's school uniform and was definitely stronger looking than the average teenager. The most interesting feature was his spikey blonde hair and his jade eyes as he looked at the hollow.

The blonde fighter landed on the roof, getting a surprised look from Ichigo as he had noticed that the guy flew down towards their level. Ichigo couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Is that… the Golden Warrior?"

The hollow quickly shook its head as it went on the attack. And this time, it wasn't heading for Ichigo but rather for the Golden Warrior. The hollow let out a chilling roar, the same one that all hollows use. Ichigo began to worry. "Hey, watch out!" he shouted but his cry fell on deaf ears as the Golden Warrior paid no heed. Ichigo gritted his teeth. That guy is going to get killed. There is no way he can stand up to this kind of hollow.

The hollow quickly lashed his attack, only for the Golden Warrior to side step and dodge the attack. The hollow growled as he went for another attack except this time, the blonde fighter lifted his arm to block the attack. The small shockwave sounded upon the blow. Rukia and Ichigo were about to quickly rush to the aid of the Golden Warrior when they noticed that something about the hollow. The hollow stepped back, screaming out in pain.

"What just happened?" Ichigo questioned as he noticed the hollow holding up his arm; the same one that was blocked by the Golden Warrior. The blonde figher stood a bit stoic, looking at the hollow with interest. Then without notice, he dashed at the hollow and landed a devastating blow to the gut. The hollow quickly spit out some bile due to the tremendous force of the Golden Warrior's punch. Gasping for air, the hollow took a few steps back.

The hollow then glared hatefully at the Golden Warrior, crying out in sheer anger. Ichigo gulped as the Golden Warrior had just made things worse by making it angry. He needed to stop this quickly before things got out of hand. He was about to unsheathe his Zanpaktou from his back when he saw the hollow's mouth open as a familiar red glow formed. It had been using the time to gather up some type of attack. Some sort of electrical ball was forming in one of its hands, this was most likely a special ability of this hollow.

Ichigo gritted his teeth. It was now or never! However, Ichigo felt it again. The voice… that same disgusting voice was in his head again. No! Not now! Ichigo cursed at himself. Rukia knew that something was wrong with the orange haired teenager so she decided to act. Before she could do anything, she saw the Golden Warrior getting into a stance.

Bending his knees and cupping his hands and placing them to his side, the Golden Warrior began to chant. "KA… ME…" Rukia was intrigued by the chant when she noticed something forming in the blonde fighter's cupped hands. Her eyes widened by the second as blue orb of energy was forming. "HA… ME…" continued the Golden Warrior as the hollow was preparing his Cero.

Then, it fired the cero at the Golden Warrior. Throwing his hands forward, the blonde fighter unleashed his attack. "HAAAA!" Out of his cupped hands, a large energy beam was unleashed and sent straight at the approaching Cero. The two attacks collided with one another with the Cero almost overpowering the Kamehame-Ha. However, the Golden Warrior wouldn't give up as he put in more power into his attack. As a result, the Golden Warrior's attack blew through the Cero and then the hollow. The blast tore through the sky, leaving no trance of the hollow behind.

Rukia and Ichigo were shocked at the display of power. "N-No way! Was that a Kido spell that just like you always use Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"Not that I know of," Rukia responded. "His chanting was uncharacteristic of a Kido spell." She then noticed Ichigo heading towards the Golden Warrior. "Ichigo! Wait!"

Ichigo ignored Rukia's cries as he stood before the blonde fighter. "Hey you! What the hell was that?" No response came from the blonde fighter. "Are you really the Golden Warrior?" Again, no response. "Are you even listening to me? Do you have any idea what you just faced? You shouldn't do that again!"

Then, the Golden Warrior turned his head toward Ichigo, surprising the orange haired Substitute Soul Reaper a bit. Suddenly, Ichigo was being looked upon by the fighter's jade eyes. He felt something behind them. But before he could do or say anything, the Golden Warrior jumped into the air. Then a blazing golden aura surrounded him as he coursed through the sky at lighting speeds.

"What the hell?" Ichigo questioned as he watched a golden stream of energy pass through the sky until it was gone. "Hey Rukia, I don't think that guy knew what he was facing or if he even knew that we were here."

"No, he knew," Rukia stated out flatly.

"What! How?"

"I don't know. I'm definitely sure he knew that he was facing against a hollow. Plus, I'm sure he knew we were here."

"Then why the hell didn't he respond?"

"I don't know. But this is troubling. We have to be on the lookout for this Golden Warrior." Ichigo stared at the Soul Reaper for a few seconds before agreeing with her. Things just got more interesting in Karakura Town.


Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Just a quick reminder that even Gohan defeated a Hollow as a Super Saiyan does not mean he will be able to beat an Espada with just ki. His battle against Ulquiorra proved that.

READ AND REVIEW! See ya around! Peace!