I don't own Bleach or RWBY.
So I figure if I maintain my chapter sizes around 4k words I might be able to update more often so I am going to attempt to maintain that word count. I think it will balance update speed with out interrupting the overall plot with needless breaks. I have gotten a lot of reviews in the short time this has been posted and will try to provide some feedback at the end of chapters. I will warn you that plot questions may not be answered because it may take away from twists and overall build up to the story. I have a good idea where this story will be by the end of the first semester at Beacon for team RWBY. It may develop slower as building up character interest is important to me.
Chapter 3: An Unexpected Offer
Ichigo woke up with a start, jerking up from the pillows with a gasp before immediately falling back on them. He was laying in a partially reclined position allowing him to see much of the room. He tried to move again only to feel a weight restricting on both of his arms pinning him down. His eyes narrowed in rage at the thought of someone trying to restrain him. A quick glance to his right arm revealed the face of a pretty blond girl using said appendage as a pillow. He gave a curious glance to his left and ascertained a similar situation as a girl with black hair and a giant bow in her hair was using his left arm. A book rested on his upper arm still held partially open by the girl's small hands. The steady beeps of a heart monitor and the smell of antiseptics answered the growing question of where he had ended up. The surrounding room was white with a window to the hallway to his right. A window to the outside was on the left side of the room revealing a large clock tower with green glowing lights. Sitting in the corner of the window was a large recliner with another girl curled up asleep. He recognized her as the girl he had saved. Rosey or something was her name, he thought. He sighed knowing that he was probably wrong, he was always terrible at remembering people's names.
Ichigo sighed softly as his eyes alternated between each girl in silently frustration. They both looked so cute while they slept he couldn't force himself to wake them yet. He did wonder why the two were sleeping on his arms but that would have to be a question answered later. He spent a few seconds looking at each closer trying to remember something about either. They had been there when Rosey was fighting that scorpion hollow. The blond girl had arrived shortly after the rescue to check on her sister and then stood to challenge him if he was a threat. Ichigo resisted snorting at the thought. He had barely been able to stand at that point. His thoughts had been distracted and until the pain hit he hadn't realized he was at his limit for his human body.
He was stuck in his human body despite every attempt at using the combat pass to exit. In his irritation he had tried forcing his spirit energy in to the poor piece of wood. Instead of it activating like he thought would happen it reacted similar to when he was learning his Fullbring. Thinking back to his training he was able to activate his Fullbring again despite its previous theft at the hands of Ginjo Kugo, the first substitute soul reaper. Fullbrings relied on the hollow spiritual pressure that some humans contained do to contamination from hollows while in the womb. His own hollow powers were a part of his zanpaktou so maybe that was why he never truly lost it.
Some mumbles and shifting to his right quietly pulled him from his thoughts as he watched the blond shift to get a little more comfortable. A small pout came to her lips, making her look just a bit more cute than before. Another small motion, this time from his right, caused him to shift his attention. Blake still slept deeply and appeared unmoving until her bow twitched. Ichigo couldn't keep the dumbfounded look that slipped on to his face as the bow twitched and moved every so often. The urge to reach out and touch it had him irritated because with his hands pinned he couldn't do anything but stare at the unusual sight. He really wanted to know what was making that bow move so oddly. After a minute the bow ceased any further movements as the girl shifted slightly in her sleep.
A cold wet feeling he soon felt on his right arm caused him to groan softly, he really hoped Yang wasn't drooling on him. Another glance her way confirmed his fears as a steady trickle of drool from the corner of her mouth was beginning to run down his arm. A small drop of sweat rolled down his face in irritation and disbelief, as he cursed a little too loudly. Giggles from across the room told him he wasn't the only one awake now. A look past the Blake's bow revealed the girl in the chair was now awake. Her eyes were closed as she covered her mouth trying to stifle the giggles. When her eyes did open, revealing her silver eyes, they twinkled in mirth at the poor boy's misfortune.
"Yang... she has been known to drool when she sleeps." the girl said with a smirk as she rose from her chair. She crossed the room silently before stopping at the foot of the bed. She bowed her head slightly before speaking again.
"Thank you very much. You saved my life." She spoke softly before Ichigo's scoff caused her to raise her head. He appeared put off by her heartfelt thanks causing her to tilt her head slightly in confusion.
"I don't need thanks for doing what's right, Rosey?" Ichigo said modestly causing the young girl's eyes to widen.
"It's Ruby but you were close. My last name is Rose and... you weren't... I mean you were in terrible shape when we got you here. The doctor's were in a panic... Aura overuse, dehydrated, and in starvation. They said it was a wonder you could move let alone use your aura to power your abilities... which by the way are SOOOO COOL!" she rambled ending in a jump with a fist extended in the air and small shout waking the other two girls suddenly. Blake jerked awake flipping her book in the air as she fell back from her chair. She caught herself and then the book, catching it without losing her place. Yang, on the other hand fell, backwards out of her chair before leaping up fully alert and bouncing from foot to foot.
"I'm up, I'm up. What's up?" she asked staring around the unfamiliar room before she remembered where she had been the night before. A quick glance in Ichigo's direction had her smiling as she moved face to face with him. Her lilac eyes stared deep into his own brown eyes trying to pick up anything wrong. She stared deeply as different emotions played out across his eyes. First anxiety, caution, surprise, and finally ending on the deep-seated hollowness from when they met.
"Uhhh.. Yo!" Ichigo offered trying to sink into his pillows deeper. The girl suddenly pulled him into a bone crushing hug forcing all the air from his lungs as she squealed in excitement.
"You woke up! I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to thank you for saving my baby-sister." Yang said before pulling away to stand by his bed side again.
"Thank you for saving my team leader." Blake replied formally giving a deep bow causing Ichigo to blush slightly at all the attention.
"Really it was nothing. I couldn't just stand-by and let a girl be killed by a hollow like that." Ichigo said looking away modestly from the girls.
"A what?" Yang asked giving him an odd look.
"The scorpion with the white mask? A hollow is what they are called." Ichigo said with confidence.
"NOPE!" Ruby said emphasizing the P with a pop. "Those are called Grimm. How couldn't you know that?" Her silver eyes glittering with curiosity.
Ichigo looked between the girls a little confused. He knew a hollow when he saw one and he definitely knew what one felt like... and that wasn't a hollow. At least not any normal hollow. "Huh, I guess I was wrong then now that you mention it. That couldn't have been a hollow, no spiritual pressure."
"Yeah, Grimm don't have Auras. This is also common knowledge." the Blake replied bluntly giving Ichigo a steady glare now as she crossed her arms. Ichigo scratched the back of his head nervously having no idea how to continue this conversation without raising way too many questions that he had either no answers for or didn't want to talk about because of how painful it all was still. So instead he changed the subject.
"I got Ruby's name but I didn't catch your names?" Ichigo asked hoping for a miracle that they would drop it.
"I'm Yang." The Yang offered before pointing to her partner. "And this is Blake. Now what is a hollow?" Yang asked her eyes narrowing in a strong refusal to back down.
"The corrupted souls of humans who died. Either corrupted by their own evil from when they were alive, the corruption caused by another hollow, or their inability to move on to the afterlife because of something hold them to the world of the living. They lose their hearts and form masks to hide their pain from the world. The devour other souls in an attempt to fill the void in their souls from their missing hearts, usually starting with their family and friends." Ichigo explained quickly getting quickly paling expressions from the girls before they each sat from the dizzying topic.
"That's terrible!" Ruby exclaimed while Blake just nodded in agreement. Yang shuddered before attempting to extract more information from Ichigo. While what he said sounded terrible and he spoke with confidence the idea was foreign to them leading her to believe maybe he was suffering from some mental incapacitation as well.
"Why do you know about these hollows but nobody else has even heard of them?" Yang asked causing the other girls to return their gazes to the teen boy. It really did seem odd to the girls when Yang pointed that out.
"The spiritual world is usually invisible to normal humans. Only ones with sufficient spiritual pressure can see spirits and even fewer can interact with said spirits. I have seen them before..." Ichigo offered, hesitant to offer anymore information. His memories of meeting Rukia for the first time and becoming a Soul Reaper for the first time replaying through his head as a morbid film where all the actors except one were now dead.
"What do you mean by spiritual pressure and energy? And can Faunus see these hollows as well?" Blake asked with a raised brow. She thought he was talking about Aura. Which, if he was then more than likely a large portion of the population should have been able to see these hollows. It seemed like maybe he really was insane.
"Well to answer your first question spiritual pressure is like the reservoir of spirit energy a soul contains. Spirit energy is the energy used by spiritual beings to create attacks or protect themselves." Ichigo struggling to describe a concept that he had never really been taught before. He had learned what he needed to fight, textbook definitions wouldn't help him in a fight as far as he knew so he hadn't learned those things.
Blake raised a hand emitting a wave of black energy from a fist. This caused Ichigo's eyes to widen in surprise as the other girls repeated the performance with crimson red surrounding Ruby's and a fiery orange and yellow rising from Yang's fist. They were manipulating spirit energy and he hadn't noticed it at all yesterday. He must have been really out of it not to notice before and now he wasn't sure what to say. He was just as confused as the girl's seemed to be when he first spoke of hollows. This wasn't the world he had been in before he woke up a week ago. His memories were shady after their arrival to the Soul Palace. Likely because anytime he began to think about it he remembered the end of his life as far as he was concerned.
"I... I..." Ichigo stuttered staring at their fists his eyes fading off into his thoughts the girls silently watching before a few tears ran down his cheeks. They dropped their fists and watched as the boy's eyes suddenly refocus with a startled look.
"WHERE ARE THEY!?" he shouted looking around the bed. He was distraught as he dug through the blankets before jumping out of the bed stumbling as he stood, still weak from pushing himself too hard only half a day before.
"What are you looking for?" Yang asked looking around the room for something that stood out. Ruby and Blake joined in glancing around the room.
"THE ONLY THINGS I HAVE LEFT OF MY FRIENDS!" Ichigo screamed as he ripped the IV out of his arm blood dripping at a steady pace from his arm as his heart raced. The heart monitor flat-lining as the sensor came of his finger. He threw the machine at the window launching it through the glass and into the hall. The girls stepped away from him in surprise and fear. His eyes fell onto the small box that now rested on the floor, knocked off the nightstand in his fury. He fell to his knees picking the box up slowly. He opened the box revealing its contents. His body visibily relaxed before he collapsed into unconsciousness holding the box closely to his chest.
Doctors and nurses raced towards the room stopping in the hallway staring at the now broken monitor and shattered glass. They turned questioningly to the girls only for Yang to point at one nurse and wave the rest away a burst of her aura threatening them to argue. The one nurse carefully stepped pass the glass and entered the room. She gasped seeing the boy they were supposed to be treating bleeding all over the place and laying unconscious. Yang bent down quickly picking Ichigo up and placing him back in the bed. She made sure to leave the small box in his hands where he could find it quickly upon awakening. The nurse quickly bandaged the where the IV was ripped free before moving to the other side to administer a new IV.
"I'm just going to administer some sedatives and painkillers to keep him relaxed." the nurse said to the group. She went to put the medication in his IV stopping when Yang grabbed her hand.
"Please don't. We pushed him too hard. He was upset and then he realized those things were missing. They must be very important... they belonged to friends that are most likely... dead." Yang said with tears in her eyes. The nurse nodded setting aside most of the medication only grabbing the one that Yang recognized as the painkillers they used the night before.
"Thanks. Ruby, Blake." Yang started getting her partner and sister's attention. "Go to Professor Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch. They should already know about this. Just in case, let them know Ichigo woke up. I will stay and keep Ichigo company until he wakes up again." Yang asked calmly trying to suppress the rage she felt with herself. It was so easy to become angry being a necessary component of her Semblance.
"O-of C-course Yang. Are you sure you don't want someone... never mind" Ruby answered offering only brief resistance at leaving her sister alone until her lilac eyes flashed crimson at the suppressed rage slipping for just a second.
"Yang, don't be too angry with yourself. We are all to blame. It was evident that Ichigo has been through a lot but we all pushed him for answers even before we gave him our names. It was only naturally to question him with some things he said." Blake offered with a small pat on the shoulder in understanding. Yang was alone a few seconds later when the nurse offered a small bow before stepping out once again cautiously stepping by the broken glass.
"I should have waited. You didn't see the emptiness I did when I looked into his eyes. He has given up really living his life." Yang whispered as she looked back towards the orange haired teen now drifting from unconsciousness into true sleep. She grabbed her chair, still knocked over from when she woke up, that now lay by the door. It had been moved in the fit of rage Ichigo had shown.
Yang sat quietly next to Ichigo's side taking his hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She had decided now that she wouldn't leave the boy's side until he found something worth living for again. She didn't want to think about someone around her age already so broken that he was only his stubborn pride away from killing himself. Pride could only last so long for someone in that position, she had to think. She would watch him and be the friend he so desperately needed. She would wait until he was ready to talk and offer what ever advice she could.
It felt like hours that she stared silently at Ichigo as he slept in peace. The sun had risen and the glow of day light flooded the room. She didn't dare get up and leave his side so the light would stay until a nurse came by and closed the curtains. She continued to hold his hand tightly. Occasionally she allowed her fingers to trace small designs on the back of his hand, the faint glow of her aura dancing at the tips without her even realizing she used it. It was this scene that Glynda and Ozpin arrived to silently observing the young woman as she tended the still recovering boy.
Glynda reconstructed the window using her powers, drawing a look from Yang. She glared at the interruption her aura flickering in fiery fury. A simple warning message before she returned her eyes to Ichigo. Glynda raised an eyebrow in surprise from the boldness one of her new students was displaying. Usually they cowered subconsciously from her strict and imposing appearance. Ozpin chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee moving around the broken monitor that Glynda soon moved out of the way with a small flip of her crop. He opened the door as quietly as possible entering the room before raising a hand to tell Glynda to wait. Glynda sighed as she pulled her scroll out to begin making observations of her combat duel class that another professor was covering for her.
"Ms. Long, I believe this is the first time we are meeting face to face like this. I wish it was under better circumstances." Ozpin offered with sincerity drawing only a small snort from Yang.
"Yeah, me too. I'm going to give you fair warning that I am not going anywhere without Ichigo. It'll take an army to pull me away. He saved my sister and it's my turn to save him." Yang stated bluntly allowing no room for compromise or discussion.
"Oh dear girl, I hadn't even considered the thought." Ozpin replied drawing a quick glance from Yang before she refocused her attention to Ichigo's hand.
"Good. So is there anything I can help you with because I don't know if Ichigo is going to wake up anytime soon. He is still recovering." Yang asked flippantly. Even though she had asked Ruby and Blake to find Ozpin and Goodwitch she couldn't help but regret their presence now.
"I came by to offer you a proposal that depending on the rest of your team may have an effect on your living arrangements." Ozpin said with grin as the girl's head spun faster than he could blink and her focus was entirely on him.
"Our living arrangements? Are you separating our team already? What happened with Weiss was a misunderstanding." Yang immediately countered.
"No, No. I meant that I was considering adding a fifth member to your team. It depends on your team's decision as well because these are extenuating circumstances that I don't want to force this on anyone. I want Ichigo to join RWBY. He has the potential to be an amazing hunter." Ozpin explained drawing wide eyes from Yang.
"Really! I mean his abilities seem interesting but how can you be so sure about his potential?" Yang asked curious at why the headmaster was making such an unusual decision.
"Did you not look at his medical charts?" Ozpin asked handing her the clipboard hanging from the end of the bed.
"It's personal... I shouldn't..." Yang looked back to Ichigo's sleeping face.
"Just look at his aura levels." Ozpin offered causing the girl to flip quickly to the page that was familiar to all potential hunters and huntresses. Aura levels were regularly assessed to monitor the growth of all trainees. The chart would show the current level at the time of the test, current max aura level and comparisons to other similar aura levels including percentile ranking amongst other at the same age, same grade, and same school.
She nearly dropped the chart when she viewed his aura level reading at the time of the test was only one percent. The level was only a scaled percentage based on a person's own max reading with zero being dead and one hundred being a healthy, fully rested and nourished individual. He had been so close to death when that test had been taken that it was frightening. The next section had her nearly hyperventilating as she stared wide eyed at the paper. His max aura level was as high as the testing equipment could record and his percentile ratings were ninety-nine percent across the board.
"It didn't matter what age they used for reference because no one has ever had an aura that powerful. He likely exceeded the maximum level the equipment could record because it stopped at the upper limit. How he doesn't burn up his body with this much energy is the one of many questions our doctors have. I venture to say that his experiences are not normal. This resulted in such an abnormal case and allows his body to maintain such a powerful aura. I think with time he can become the greatest hunter in history and may even be able to change the tide of our war against the Grimm. If he could pass on even a little of the training that got him to the point he is at now then think how much more effective our future hunters and huntresses would be." Ozpin explained getting excited as he further talked. The idea that humanity could finally break free of its stalemate with the Grimm was too much to stay calm even for his usually blank composure.
Yang stared blankly at Ozpin barely moved by his words. "So, what do you want from me? Manipulate him into becoming a hunter? Figure out his secrets so you can use them? I'm sorry I can't do that. I look at him and just see so much pain. You can just shove it if you want me to just fuck with his life. I will burn this place to the ground before I do that." Yang replied rising to stand between Ozpin and Ichigo, her aura now burning brightly as her crimson eyes glared at Ozpin.
"Just be his friend and support him is all I desire. I think you are doing a fine job of that now. Thought you should know about my offer first. I assume you agree to my arrangement. Let Ichigo know about my offer, please. He doesn't have to accept right away to become a student. If he wants to observe classes and think about his decision then all the better." Ozpin said sipping from his coffee once more, Yang's aura fading away before she nods. Not speaking any further she returned to her seat and again took Ichigo's hand into hers silently watching the sleeping teen.
Ozpin stepped out just as quietly as he entered. He found Glynda's eyes burrowing holes though him obviously not agreeing with his decisions. She had been able to see and feel the teens reactions and found Ozpin's lack of response to such overt threats an acceptance of such disobedience.
"Glynda, you know quite a bit about Yang Xiao Long. She is a bundle of rage contained in the shell of a teenage girl. As long as she isn't punching things I think we can say she is in control and not in need of punishment. I got the answers I wanted especially after watching that camera footage." Ozpin said walking down the hallway away from his right hand.
"But do you think this is the best course? What if he isn't what you think he is?" Glynda questioned only for Ozpin to pause for just a second to answer.
"He can use the powers of Grimm. He may finally be the key to defeating the Grimm once and for all." Ozpin answered resuming his walk away as Glynda stared at her scroll. For less than half a second Ichigo's aura had flared while he threw the monitor. It had happened so quickly that the human eye couldn't see it. Going through the footage frame by frame revealed a startling discovery. Something had formed on Ichigo's face in his rage filled tirade. A mask of white with two crimson stripes running vertically down was clearly visible with yellow eyes peering through the mask.
I want to thank all the follows and favorites I received in the past two days. I am honestly surprised by the level of interest. I want to take a moment to thank all those that reviewed.
Many are already asking the specifics about Ichigo's powers and the point in time in Bleach we are talking about before his arrival to Remnant. I think I covered most of that in this chapter. Ichigo faced Juha Bach at the Soul Palace but doesn't remember anything really other than the deaths. He currently doesn't have access to his Soul Reaper powers for several reasons one of them integral to the plot of my story. He does still have access to hollow powers as that hasn't been confirmed or denied in canon at this point. Instead I like to think that Zangetsu, both spirits, will support him now that an understanding has been reached and that if he needs to use his hollow powers they will be there. That is about the only hint I will be giving in regards to my plot.
Some of you may already be figuring out my future plot line so I beg you not to post in the reviews any theories that may ruin the build up for others as they figure it out for themselves. Instead if you really can't wait to find out if you figured it out message me privately and I will let you know if you figured it out.
Please continue to enjoy. Reviews are appreciated and motivated me to stay up late tonight after work to get this chapter completed.
Any errors that I have missed being brought to my attention will be greatly appreciated. I try to review a few times before posting but my eyes tend to see what I meant to write and not what is actually written.