Hello everyone, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this next chapter and a review would be appreciated. My author's notes are at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor do I make money from this fan made fiction. The only ownership I claim are any and all original characters created by me.
Edits were made: Spelling, punctuation, grammar, and diction changes: It should be easier to read now. Also, I added some basic visual descriptions that were missing for several characters that were introduced this chapter.
Speaking out loud: "Hello, how are you?"
Thinking: 'I wonder how you are doing.'
Anything not considered normal: "Why hello there."
"Bold+Italics is anything not considered normal, while also in thought/private conversation."
Out of the Bag: Chapter 3
Things were bad; and Kisuke was already processing the various forms of damage control in his head. He had only spent three months in the soul society, and in that time the next wave of trouble had already crashed into soul society's metaphorical shore.
This was all thanks to one Dr. Benjamin Leary. The former "crackpot" scientist was now being hailed as the next scientific giant after his discovery—and subsequent technological developments—had, for the first time in human history, accurately and reliably provided real-time images of actual ghosts. The landmark event spread throughout the world like wildfire through the information network known as the internet; and with major news networks picking the story up, the world was starting to believe in ghosts.
"Spectre Glass" it was a marvel unlike anything that had come before it: upon looking through it, one could see the spiritual. And for several legitimate and back-door reasons, it had begun to ship with new phone cases in a very fast mass production implementation, which gave ordinary people the ability to take pictures and video of things they otherwise were unable to see; albeit, without sound.
And that is what people did: many recordings were uploaded to the internet onto various video and image hosting websites as well as blogs. The final nail in the coffin of secrecy was the response and commentary of people confirming that these were, indeed, passed loved ones.
Soon enough, a website called "WhoIsThatGhost?" had been set up; the site compiled a database of "spotter" images and video, using an algorithm to compare images uploaded by "hopefuls". Most "hopefuls" never found a "spotter"; but that was to be expected by anyone who knew the full story. Kisuke, himself, had calculated the average rate of souls that failed to cross over to soul society without help.
Regardless, since the damage had already been done, what really worried Kisuke was Dr. Leary's other invention: a glove that allowed one to touch beings and objects made of spirit particles. Humanity had been lucky so far, with only one case of a recorded hollow on a backwater website, but that was bound to change. And once humanity had properly awoken to the threat of hollows, they would take action. This glove was designed in such a way to do harm to spirits, rather than help them pass over.
If humanity took action against hollows with that technology, then the balance would be in immediate danger. Worst of all, it would likely mean a war between the living and the dead. It sounded like the plot to a good action flick, but tragedy could be the only outcome. A moment later Kisuke decided on a course of action; now all he needed to do was implement it. He would speak to Ichigo's friends before they left the training room underneath the shop.
A few minutes later Kisuke heard someone knock upon the entrance to his workshop and he turned around to face the culprit. "Hello Miss Arisawa, is there anything you need?"
Tatsuki, a young tomboy with spiky black hair, took a wary step back at the suspicious man's demeanour and answered: "No, Orihime asked me to tell you that we finished fixing the training room. She still thinks you should have let her use her powers."
Kisuke simply nodded and responded in an all too jovial way, ignoring the latter part of the comment. "Excellent, Miss Arisawa! But, before you all leave, please get everyone to come to the tearoom." The group of Ichigo's friends had been using the underground training room for some time according to Yoruichi; and it was only fair that they fixed the damage they caused over time.
"...Sure..." Tatsuki said, narrowing her eyes; his personality was way too suspicious in her opinion. With a quick turn she moved toward the hatch that led to the underground training room, still unsure how Ichigo, Orihime or Chad could trust the shady shopkeeper.
Five minutes later and Tessai, a giant of a man—even taller than Chad—with very defined muscles, had already served the group tea as they sat on the floor around the room's low table, waiting for whatever it was the shady shopkeeper wanted to say. "So," Tatsuki began, "is this how things normally happen?" There was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, something between excitement and dread: would she finally be directly involved in Ichigo and Orihime's adventures?
While Tatsuki's words were clear, the tone of her voice implied something more, something the others weren't exactly sure she was asking. Keigo, her classmate with brown hair that grew past his shoulders a bit, sat silently and nervously; mostly because the question was directed at Orihime and Chad, while Mizuiro, another classmate, with neat, black hair that fell to his chin, was looking through his phone contacts and deleting those he hadn't corresponded with in a few months.
Chad remained silent as well because it seemed like Orihime was going to answer the question. Her hand was resting beneath her chin in a 'thinking' pose, and she was trying hard to remember how her first meeting with Chad and Kisuke went.
Suddenly, she giggled. "Oh, don't worry Ichigo!" She exclaimed with a serious, knowing look. "The red aliens are the winners, which means the dinosaurs aren't allowed to land their invasion force." The commentary—while out of context, strange, eye-opening, and silly—was a step toward normalcy for Orihime. She had stopped entirely during the last war, and moments like this were few and far between.
"What a vivid imagination Miss Inoue." Everyone looked in the direction of the cheerful voice to see Kisuke with a fan covering his face before he quickly snapped it shut.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Tatsuki abruptly asked, the suspense was eating away at her and she wasn't going to let it continue.
Kisuke gave her a wide smile while keeping his eyes overshadowed by his hat: he wasn't above pulling a fast one on Ichigo, so Tatsuki was also fair game for a little teasing. "My, my, you seem to be in a hurry Miss Arisawa; please, have some tea, it helps you relax." Tatsuki responded with a glare that went either unnoticed or ignored while he continued without missing a beat. "So~ who here's heard of Spectre Glass?" Everyone confirmed in one way or another. "Well, that saves me an explanation."
In a sudden burst of energy and dramatic movement, Kisuke pulled a phone case from his clothing and tossed the object onto the table. "This here is the looking glass to the unseen!" His voice was at once accusatory and cheerful; to Tatsuki, it was starting to get annoying. "It's lens is a glass charged with spirit particles, which allows the average person to see what we can see."
Orihime hummed and Chad nodded and grunted while Tatsuki and Mizuiro looked confused; but Keigo was the one to actually speak up. "So what does this have to do with us? I mean, we don't even need it to see spirits."
Kisuke smirked. "And that's why you're the perfect people to ask." His voice seemed more serious before it all went out the window with his next question. "How would you all like to become celebrities?" There wasn't a cricket to be found.
About a minute later, Keigo had finally managed to nudge Mizuiro in the side to ask if Kisuke was serious, since the delivery of that line left everything to be guessed. "I.. think so." came the hesitant reply.
"My, my," said Kisuke, who now sported a pout along with a look of mock hurt, "Here I offer you the opportunity of a lifetime and you just question my intentions?"
"It's not that." Replied Orihime, "And it's not like I haven't thought about becoming famous like Don Kanonji, but isn't this..."
"Top secret?" Tatsuki finished. While the offer wasn't completely revealed, the entire group realized the direction the shopkeeper was heading in.
The shadow over Kisuke's eyes deepened as his voice took on a fully serious tone. "Normally, yes." he said. "But the cat is out of the bag, so to speak... or it will be soon." The others in the room gave him an odd look, nobody was talking about soul reapers so it seemed secret enough? "Thousands of confirmed ghost sightings, major news networks worldwide picking up the stories, tens of thousands of scientists accepting the evidence; the only thing they haven't encountered are the dangers."
"Hollows." Chad interjected.
"Correct. And what do you think the human race will do when it encounters this danger?"
"Defend itself." Stated Mizuiro, who was no longer looking at his phone.
"And therein lies the problem. Humans don't know right from wrong when it comes to how the spiritual realm works. We could easily have armies capable of destroying souls and threatening the balance."
Keigo was unsure of the exact point Kisuke was making, but the issue seemed menacing enough. "That... sounds bad."
"It would be the end of life in the universe." He rested both of his hands on his cane. "And there is only one solution to a threat that grand."
Orihime seemed very upset by this. "You mean... you would kill...?" She gulped as a lump formed in her throat.
"We would have to." replied Kisuke. "And that would cause a war."
"So how do we stop a war?" Tatsuki asked, "I mean, we're not even out of high school yet."
"Ah," Kisuke replied, pulling out the fan with his left hand and pointing it toward the group. "There's this thing called 'YouTube'; all we have to do is film the three of you fighting hollows and sending wholes to the other side using some special equipment I'll provide for you." With a gleam in his eye Kisuke settled into a light squat as he once again rested both hands upon his cane and waited for the dramatic timing to be right. "So, who wants to be a star?"
"So..." Tatsuki began, "We just wait for a hollow to show up?" She was looking around, obviously not quite comfortable and slightly annoyed at being on film.
Mizuiro, with his left hand covered by a fitted gold gauntlet, had just pulled his phone out and began texting someone out of boredom, but his interest still remained vested enough to reply. "Apparently."
"Come on guys! We're gonna be so cool once the world sees what we can do!"
Keigo's shouting and dramatic movement was impossible to ignore, and Tatsuki shook her head in disbelief at the situation. "I can't believe that shady shopkeeper convinced me to do this." Tatsuki had intentionally lowered her voice to prevent the camera from hearing it but, apparently the effort was in vain because the feminine voice of someone came from behind the camera and spoke to her.
"It's fine Tatsuki." Orihime said, although she still remained behind the camera. "Besides, don't you think it's kind of cool? Mister Urahara even gave you guys some cool gear." Her voice sounded slightly jealous.
Tatsuki looked down, beyond her grey t-shirt and long, olive cargo shorts to her white cross-trainers and the gold, tribal-looking ankle braces. "Well... they do look pretty sweet." She then brought her arms in front of her and more closely inspected the similar golden braces around her wrists which attached to her arm and the palm of her hand. They were ingeniously jointed to allow for a full range of motion while also fully supporting her wrists to prevent injury.
According to the shopkeeper, the gear helped draw out her spirit energy to utilize it more efficiently in a fight; the ones on her ankle were the same in that regard, but instead they assisted movement. "But I still don't think these things are as safe as he says they are. I feel like an alpha tester."
"Which just makes it even more cool!" Keigo shouted, waving his golden gauntlet and a small gold-coloured rod a little too closely for Tatsuki's comfort. "We're making history, we'll be remembered for years!" Tatsuki would have replied, but was interrupted by a bone-chilling howl.
The camera quickly turned to find the source, seeing a creature off in the distance before turning back to Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatsuki. Keigo activated his gauntlet, which turned into a medium-sized kite-shield made of green light; the golden rod projected the green light into the shape of a bastard sword. Mizuiro was similar, but his shield was small and round – like a fencer might use – and his sword took the shape of a long tsurugi with a fairly elegant, carved guard. Well, as elegant as a blue energy construct might look.
The hollow landed, revealing it to be twice as high as Keigo and four times as wide; its body rippled with folds of what might be considered fur. The white mask the creature had was elongated vertically into an oval while it's small eyes were just barely positioned on top of the creature's outer mouth.
"This one isn't that strong Tatsuki." Came the voice of the camerawoman.
"Right!" replied Tatsuki, although it seems Keigo was the one in need of reassurance as those words seemed to trigger his next actions.
Keigo swallowed his nerves and charged the menace with a great yell, but he was quickly forced to bring his shield up to block a swift punch that came from the unexpectedly agile hollow; unfortunately, it also left him vulnerable to the hollow's other hand. He closed his eyes and heard the impact but felt nothing, slowly opening them to see that Mizuiro had blocked the other fist; now both teens were in a stalemate, the backs of their white shirts letting out a glow the same colour as their equipment.
A moment later Tatsuki broke the stalemate in a red streak as she flew forward at inhuman speeds and smashed the mask of the hollow and landed without effort.
"What was that?!" she exclaimed as she walked up to Keigo and back-handed his head. "You just forgot your training and charged in there like an idiot!"
"C-come on Tatsuki, that thing was huge." Keigo's reply was almost a whimper. "I just... well it doesn't matter, it's dead now."
Mizuiro quickly came to Keigo's rescue. "I think he knows Tatsuki. The training wasn't going to eat us and the real thing is unnerving."
"Alright, alright." Said Tatsuki, feeling like she had just kicked an old dog. Letting out a breath she continued. "Just deflect the punch next time so you can get closer. You should be able to solo these weak ones."
More howls were heard and the camera looked to the source to show four more hollows approaching from a distance before everything faded out with "To Be Continued..." displayed in Comic Sans; the image suddenly changed as the video continued. Tessai was standing behind the shop counter while drinking tea with an excited gleam in his eyes.
"Hello dear viewers." he said, gracefully placing the tea down on the counter; his voice bold and dramatic. "What did you think? Were you scared? Intrigued? Excited?" His voice was building up to a crescendo. "Were you cheering on our intrepid heroes?!" He looked ready to calmly burst from his skin before adopting a more serious expression. "Just remember, if you see one of these creatures, please stay away from it. They are very dangerous and only those trained and with the right equipment should face one."
Tessai then leaned forward and toward the camera as if he was about to reveal a secret. "Are you, the viewer, also capable of seeing the supernatural? Would you also like to learn to fight monsters with unique spirit gear? If so then you're in luck! In the description there's a link to our new website: "humble shop dot com" where you can sign up and request gear of your very own; we will even send someone to give you specialized training. Just click on the 'contact us' tab and then click on the 'I want to save souls' link. We look forward to hearing from you!"
A whisper was heard from behind the camera. "Hey, you're taking more time than the actual battle."
Tessai grunted and looked rather embarrassed. "Well folks, it seems our time has run out! Just subscribe to this channel to see the next episode featuring our intrepid heroes! Have a good day everyone!" The video faded out as he waved goodbye.
Keigo, Mizuiro, Tatsuki, Tessai and Kisuke were all sitting in front of the computer in the Urahara Shop watching the video that had just finished. "He really did take longer than the battle." Keigo said, pointing accusingly at Tessai. "Hey, are you trying to steal the show?! You are, aren't you?!"
"Now, now, Mister Asano, I assure you: you three are the true stars of this performance." Kisuke's voice was no nonsense. "Tessai is just doing a little advertising to make sure we get enough people visiting the website." He also seemed extremely pleased with himself. "Mister Kojima, would you please open the link and head to the website? I want to show you the website and how to log in."
Mizuiro clicked on the link in the video's description and waited a few seconds as a black page loaded with the logo—cartoonish green and white striped hat resting on a cane with the word "Welcome!" written in a large font—at the top left of the screen. To its right were tabs that navigated the rest of the website in a more basic font. The first tab was highlighted and read "Home"; beside it were "Profile", "Forums", "Leaderboards", "Professionals" and "Contact Us".
"Leaderboards, professionals...?" voiced Tatsuki, "Is this some kind of game?"
Jovially, Kisuke answered her. "I just wanted to keep things friendly and inspire a little competition." He was sure his version of cheerful was annoying the young woman, and he would be sure to keep up the act when appropriate. "Mister Kojima, why don't you head to the 'profile' tab?"
Mizuiro did as requested and the page loaded with his picture, information, and rank on the page, which worried him quite a bit more than he let on. "Mister Urahara, how did it know it was me?" It wasn't a list of people since the other functions on the page like rank, ability score, group associations, security options, funds, and personal messaging were all about him.
"Oh!" Kisuke exclaimed; he really had a penchant for the dramatic. "That's a feature of the mouse you're using. It serves as authentication on the website and scans your equipment for the payment tracking program."
"We..." Keigo started.
"...get..." Mizuiro continued.
"...paid?" Tatsuki Finished.
Kisuke chuckled, extremely pleased with himself. "Of course," he responded, "for every whole you send to soul society and every hollow you cleanse, your weapons will keep track of it. All you have to do is place your spirit arms catalyst next to the mouse. And please remember you can also receive sponsorship and partnerships in the future!" The money was almost printing itself: money that would help both his future plans and the spiritually aware who chose to combat hollows.
"That's so cool!" Keigo shouted. "Come on Mizuiro, try it!" The drool was practically falling from his open mouth.
Bringing the "arms catalyst" (gold-coloured rod) close to the unique mouse caused the input device to chime in a two-toned "ding" sound. On the screen a message popped up, reading: "Thank you for your service! Your records have been saved and we will process the payment after 24 hours." Once the message went away, the border of the "Hollow Counter" box gave a purple glow and the numbers were now zero under "Kills" and three under "Assists."
"Sweet!" Tatsuki exclaimed, a knowing grin on her face.
Kisuke saw the look on her face and frowned, the realization striking him: he had found another natural warrior. "It seems you have an aptitude for this kind of work, Miss Arisawa." However, instead of sounding enthused, he became completely serious. "But please remember, hollows come in different forms and strengths. A weak hollow can be unexpectedly cunning and a strong enough hollow may not have cause to fear you. Please do be careful, I wouldn't want to inform Captain Kurosaki of your untimely demise."
An unpleasant shiver went through her spine at those words. While she wasn't as close to him as she once was, they grew up together. She knew him better than most; the idiot was protective of those around him to an extreme. He even tried to push her away to keep her safe from what he feared. It wasn't fair to her; it wasn't fair to him; but she wouldn't add more loss to that burden: that was a promise. It was her new resolve.
Seeing the new, serious look on her face, Kisuke turned toward the room's closet. 'She really is like Ichigo.' he thought. He then pulled out three boxes, giving one to each of the three humans who starred in the video. "These mice are for you three, just plug it into your computer and it will do the rest; There's also an adapter for smart-phones. Oh, and do remember to scan your arms catalysts within the next 23 hours and 50 minutes, it helps ensure you get paid correctly."
The chosen three students nodded their heads in acknowledgement and soon began walking out when Kisuke called out to them again. "Mister Sado, Miss Inoue, I need to discuss something urgent with both of you.
Oliver: it was an unlikely name for a girl, and not necessarily popular, either. She had known that for years, was told so by many she met; the way they reacted to her name was not always pleasant, either. But she was proud of it, and of what it meant. Years before—when she was a child—she asked her parents what it meant and they told her that it was a way to remember that she could beat adversity when things got tough; she then asked what adversity meant. And it had become more precious than ever when her father died two years ago.
And speaking of adversity: this short, red-haired punk was openly laughing at her name. "Ha-hahahahaha! A girl named Oliver! Like in that stupid book." And now he had a broken nose... hopefully, that face was more solid than she thought it ought to be. "What was that for?!" Well, it was no skin off her nose.
"That," said Oliver, "is for being a little twit." Sure, the kid was younger and smaller; but that didn't mean he could say whatever he wanted without consequences.
"Well, well. You certainly know how handle yourself. Blonde hair in a stylized bob cut, green eyes, about 5'3", you'd make a good poster-girl Miss Simons."
Oliver looked to her right to see a blond man in a stupid hat, with wooden clogs and a cane, approach her. Quickly putting herself in a more defensive stance, she eyed the newcomer warily. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?" As the man got closer she felt a shiver ripple through her spine and prepared to bolt: being kidnapped was not on her 'to-do' list.
"Allow me to introduce myself." the man said, giving a theatrical bow. One arm was stretched out while the other was across his stomach; he managed to balance on one leg while the other was raised behind it in some combination of curtsey and stage bow. The fact that he didn't fall over was an impressive feat. "I am the humble shopkeeper; I believe you want to save souls?" As he rose from his bow the gleam in his eye became more disconcerting, since only the gleam could be seen, his eyes were overshadowed by his hat.
Oliver's eye twitched once, and something may have broken in her mind. "... You guys work fast..." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she remembered seeing the first video from the Humble Shop YouTube channel only yesterday; she had clicked on the "I want to save souls." button only the day before. "I'm not being punked, am I?" Classmates that knew of her ability to see the supernatural had begun to tease her since the release of the video, and their pranks were more irritating than ever. She wouldn't rule out that this was one of them.
In fact, the only reason she bothered to respond to the video was that howl: that damnable howl had caught her attention. She saw what made them once, when she was four; and was nearly killed, too. The resulting nightmare that night had lasted for too long before she finally blacked out. She awoke three days later in hospital. Apparently the doctors had put her into a forced coma to keep her brain from working itself to death. She wanted payback.
"Not at all Miss Simons," Kisuke replied, "I assure you, I am one-hundred percent serious." He spoke in a direct tone, to sound as concise as possible. Pulling out a grey coloured orb from his clothing, he handed it to Oliver, who just looked at it in a funny way. "Just hold that a minute or so and we'll have the information needed to create your equipment."
Oliver just gave a contemplative look as she held the orb; it was both soft and prickly, however that worked. Soon enough the orb turned a dull copper colour and Kisuke had the thing back in his hands. "Your arms and armour will be delivered by a professional who will get you off on the right foot." She looked up to see that both the humble shopkeeper—who didn't seem all that humble—and the red-haired twit were both gone; a sudden breeze ran across her face and she was broken from her thoughts.
"Okay..." she said to herself in a light daze. The exchange happened very quickly and there was no way the two could have left without her noticing, so maybe she was imagining it. "I'm going to talk to a shrink... or my mother, she's cheaper."
It had been several weeks since the Eighth Division had transferred their third seat and things were running smoothly since the egotistical warrior had left. Byakuya had been pleased that Ichigo asked him for the help, which would ultimately test even his patience, as the captain had found himself mortified by the attitude of this particular third seat. Arrogance was too small of a word for the now fifth seat; and it was alarming that he was the third strongest member of the Eighth Division. Fortunately the division would be whipped into shape, or so believed Byakuya: If there was one thing Ichigo was good at, it was inspiring others to new heights.
Ichigo, however, was mentally sorting through the information from the captains' meeting moments ago: The living world had become able to see spiritual entities and events; and although they didn't have any specific details on the afterlife, he suspected some of it would leak the way Kisuke was going about the solution; although that was probably intentional.
News like this also brought his thoughts of returning to the living world to the forefront of his mind. The good part of this was that Kisuke would likely find a way to finish adjusting his body sooner—the thought put shivers through him at times—and it helped that his friends had visited him the month before, but he couldn't wait to return more permanently.
Until then, he would continue to make progress with controlling his spirit energy during the lessons he received from Suì-Fēng. He had managed to stay civil in their first meeting, and soon enough the two could get along... somewhat: it was a bizarre form of camaraderie somewhere beyond rivalry... and yet nowhere near fellowship.
Regardless, he had other things on his mind, as according to her division, several soul reapers from many divisions, including his, were now A.W.O.L. and suspected of deserting. And as troubling as this all was, it would have to be put on the back burner since Ichigo had more important business and his vice-captain was waiting for him.
Momo was confused because her captain had taken her to the most isolated facility in the Eighth Division compound: the sealed training room used for division members to practice with, and train for, bankai.
"What did you want to show me?" she asked, looking to Ichigo.
"Actually," Ichigo stated, "it's something you need to know, I think I finally know the words I want to use. And I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."
That's when it clicked for Momo, Ichigo was finally going to let her in on the important secret he had promised to tell her months ago. It was coming far later than he said he would tell her, but now was better than too late, she supposed. She was troubled, however, since Ichigo looked like he was troubled; and in her experience, that usually came with hard news. Like the day a squad of three soul reapers was wiped out due to infighting in front of a hollow.
"Momo, how much do you know about Visored?"
Apparently Ichigo had been worrying over nothing. "Captain Hirako told me everything, you're both part hollow, right?" She slightly giggled at the apparent (in her mind) triviality of the subject. She had already accepted him a few weeks back.
"Well... that saves me some explanation."
Ichigo was still troubled, maybe this was still hard news.
"Listen, I really didn't want to be the one to do this, so please forgive me if this is too much." He was bowing in front of her now; this was uncharacteristic. "Aizen was a scheming bastard, in fact, he's the reason I exist the way I do: he's the reason I'm a Visored." Ichigo looked like he was struggling more and more as he spoke. "I... I heard you were close to him, so... I'm worried-"
"W-what do you mean?" Momo demanded, cutting Ichigo off; she wasn't going to be accused of treason, not now. "The man means nothing to me now." she quipped sharply, this was getting dangerously close to both an interrogation and a confrontation. "I'm no spy, and Kyōka Suigetsu can't affect me while Aizen is locked up." She prepared to use flash-step to escape; sure she couldn't outrun a captain, but hopefully the shock of her sudden move would give her enough of an edge so she could hide somewhere.
Ichigo was surprised for a moment, it seemed Momo held something of a vendetta if she had already forgotten the first part of his explanation. "It's not about that Momo. Besides, Aizen is dead."
Everything felt numb and weightless for Momo, relief running its course through her every cell: when did things ever work out so... "wonderfully?"
"Is he really...?" She wasn't able to finish her question as her voice had locked up.
"Yeah," Ichigo replied, "he's dead. The attack I used to kill Yhwach was capable of cutting through dimensions, including the dimension Aizen was being kept in; the area he was in was non-existent after it landed."
"Aizen... is... dead..." Momo suddenly had an empty look upon her face, one that soon transformed into relief as she processed the information: the tyrant of her mind was no more. "Hehe." It was funny, it truly was: her new captain had killed her former captain, like a brother might chase away a bad boyfriend; and now she could let her guard down: one she had built and kept up since her rehabilitation.
"Hahahaha." The joy she showed was uncanny, but she didn't notice the concerned look Ichigo was giving her. "Hehehehehahahehaha!" The air became dark as her laughter became maniacal; something was wrong. She tried to stop laughing but couldn't, and fear grew inside her when she was brought into her inner world and saw Tobiume. She didn't look or sound like Tobiume, though: her voice reverberated wickedly and her zanpakutō spirit's skin was chalk-white.
"Don't be afraid," it said, "soon we will be unbreakable!" Then everything went black.
Author's Notes:
So, there's another chapter. It's not exactly what I had hoped to put out, I had planned to include more (I have approximately 3000 words - "big" fight scene included - already written out by hand); but this screamed at me as an appropriate place to end the chapter... I just couldn't resist the cliffhanger this time.
Anyways, I have included my first original character (OC) and tried to introduce her without it being a useless scene since she'll show up later. I hope she was done well enough and has shown off some of her personality.
She will not be a main character, nor will any OC. I don't really consider any character (other than maybe Ichigo) a main character since each character has their own part to play in this story. They're all "recur-able" characters, and I'll leave it at that.
On religions: Since this is a sensitive topic if done poorly I'll try to ignore it to the best of my abilities: because it doesn't even pertain to the plot. I might mention the general chaos when that happens in story, but so far everyone still thinks they're right because hollows don't exactly fit any image known to any religion (to the best of my knowledge). The Bleach afterlife itself is a hodgepodge of different beliefs (mainly Shinto and Buddhism) with some original content thrown into it.
Tsurugi - a double edged, straight blade, Japanese longsword that predates the Katana and appears similar to some ancient Chinese swords.
By the way: That was my first ever fight scene, so I hope it was alright. I know it was short but most fights against weaker hollows are extremely short (the first hollow Ichigo cleansed for example).
And for anyone who is curious - I set a four month deadline for all my releases since I don't know where my schedule and procrastination will put me. Realistically I could put out a chapter in a month easily, but I get distracted easily as well - especially with this medical condition that has me physically disoriented for the time being.
I proofread this myself so any pointers are appreciated if you care to let me know.
Alright, I think that's everything. Please consider leaving a review to let me know what you think of the story. The next chapter should be out in the next month but I'll leave the 4 month deadline up just in case.
Have a good month(s) everyone and God bless. Until next time,
SomethingAncient.
Edited: 2018/01/10
