Ichigo cracked his neck as he slowly woke up in his chair. He let out a sigh of relief as he got rid of the uncomfortable kinks due to his chair. 'Wait. Why the hell was I in my chair?' He thought before looking at his bed.
He saw Lady and Trish sharing the bed with Trish slightly off the bed. "Oh yeah. Last night happened." He said out loud as he out of the chair. He looked out the window and saw it was mid-morning. "How am I going to explain this to Yuzu and Karin?" He asked himself.
Ichigo didn't really think about his dad since he probably would just overreact and just accept it. "Ichi-nii! Are you awake?" Yuzu yelled through his door.
"Yeah, I am!" Ichigo yelled, as he walked/ran towards the door, making sure his right arm was covered by his jacket.
"I'm opening the door Ichi-nii." She replied as the door began to open.
Ichigo quickly stopped the door opening halfway through with his left hand and peeked his head through while saying, "I'll be down in a minute. I just got to get ready."
Yuzu raised an eyebrow at his now white hair. "What happened to your hair? Are you going through your rebellious phase?"
Ichigo sighed before replying, "Yeah. Let's go with that. As I said, I'll be down in a minute."
She nodded in agreement before leaving to go back down. Ichigo sighed as he closed the door. "Shit. This isn't going to be fun." He complained to himself, not expecting an answer.
"So that's your sister. She's adorable." Trish answered as she woke up, doing her best not to wake Lady.
"Yup. One of them at least." He explained as he opened the door once more and began to step through it. "Stay here and watch over Lady over there. I don't want to deal with my dad finding out about you two."
"Well fine, you have no idea about fun," Trish complained jokingly. "I'll be here, watching Lady."
"Good, I'll try to bring you two son food or something." He said as he exited his room and shut it, leaving Trish with her unconscious friend.
"Hmm...sorry Ichigo. But your plan doesn't sound much fun for me." She told herself with a smile as she began to walk towards the door.
"Hey, Karin. Hey Yuzu." Ichigo greeted his sisters as he sat down at the table, with his breakfast already set by Yuzu.
Yuzu looked at Ichigo with confusion. Mostly because of his longer hair and the fact it was now white. "Ichi-nii, why is your hair white? And longer?" She asked curiously.
"He's reached the rebellious age!" His father declared obnoxiously before he went to Masaki's portrait, yelling, "Ichigo's gone bad! It's our worst nightmare, Masaki!"
"Shut up dumbass." Ichigo insulted as he ate his breakfast. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you." Issin quickly returned back to his chair
"You shouldn't have dyed your hair Ichigo!" Issin yelled while having tears running down his eyes. "You won't ever get a girlfriend!"
Ichigo sighed in annoyance and was about to retort, but stopped when another voice spoke, "I would have to disagree with you. Ichigo can be very attractive."
Ichigo looked to see Trish had walked down the stairs and was now standing in his kitchen. "God damn it." He swore to himself as he put his head on the table.
"Ichigo! How long have you been meeting with this lovely lady!?" Issin asked as Trish smirked.
"We only met last night and we had so much fun." She said teasingly. "And there was three of us. The other one was...a bit too tired out to come down."
"Ichigo. Are you becoming a womanizer?" Karin asked.
"No." Ichigo sighed out. He would have been angry with anyone else, but he couldn't be like that with Yuzu or Karin. "She's a new friend I met last night. Along with the other one. She got tired out and decided to let them stay here." He explained.
"He's telling the truth," Trish admitted. "He was such a gentleman last night. He's captured my heart! But I hope you don't mind, but we may stay here for a while. Sorry about that."
"You can stay here as long as you want!" Issin yelled. "Ichigo finally brought home a lady. In fact two! I'm so proud!"
"Shut up." Ichigo sighed out as he finished his food. "I'm going to wake Lady up." He got and quickly ran up to his room, grabbing Trish on the way.
He dragged her in front of his door before letting go of her. "Why the hell didn't you listen to me when I asked you not to?!" He whispered harshly.
"We would eventually have to leave." Trish pointed out. "Didn't think about that did you?" She taunted with a smirk.
Ichigo smacked his head with his hand with the realization. "Fair point. But where's your sword?" He asked.
"Force Edge is still in your room." She waved off as she opened the door and entered, followed by Ichigo. "Along with Lady...Oh shit." She swore.
Ichigo looked over to see that Lady was gone from his bed, though Kalina Ann was still leaning against his wall. "Where the hell is she?" He asked irritated. "I really don't want to deal with her meeting with my dad."
"Ichigo!" Issin yelled up the stairs. "We found your other friend! And she's looking at baby pictures of you!" Ichigo heard the snickering of Lady from downstairs.
"Great," Ichigo said sarcastically as he began to walk down the stairs with Trish following. "This is going to be a great two weeks with you two."
"We could just call off the deal," Trish mentioned. "If we're too much for you to deal with."
"No. I intend to keep the deal in place." He told her. "Besides, I don't think Lady would want to call it off. But why are you helping me? I doubt it's just because you're her friend."
"That's a secret," Trish replied cheekily. "But I won't be abandoning Lady. That you can count on."
Ichigo rubbed his neck before responding, "Okay then." They quickly got to the living room to see Lady was sitting on the couch with a portfolio of pictures of his family. "You having fun looking at pictures?" He asked as he sat next to her, with Trish taking the other.
Lady smiled as she closed it. "Yup. It's must be nice, having a regular family." She commented.
"Pfff, besides my dumbass of a father, yeah it's nice I guess," Ichigo admitted.
"I want to apologize for how I acted when we first met." She forced out. "It was rude to point a gun at your head and nearly shoot you."
"Geez, you think." He said rhetorically. "But whatever. Water under the bridge or some crap."
"Thank you," Lady said simply as the looked at each other. That went on for several seconds until Trish interrupted them.
"Awww! You two are having a moment!" She teased as Ichigo turned away with a scowl and a blush, with Lady doing the same.
"Shut up." He stammered out. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ichigo's right." Lady agreed. "You're hallucinating things, Trish."
The blonde just smirked at the two's embarrassing condition. "I'm sure I am. Now can we see some embarrassing baby pictures?"
"Oh, I'm sure we can," Lady said as she opened back up the portfolio, showing pictures of Ichigo when he was younger. "You look so adorable in these!"
"Yeah, I'm sure I do." He sighed out as they looked through the portfolio.
Two weeks passed and Ichigo, Lady, and Trish were walking to Urahara's shop at night. "So what's the deal with this Urahara guy?" Lady asked. "Is he some sort of outcast, insane Shinigami? He chucked a blood bomb or something into your room. "
"I haven't got a clue, to be honest," Ichigo admitted with a scowl. "He knows a shit ton about Shinigami. Too much to not be suspicious."
"Well, let's just get this over with," Trish suggested. "It's pretty much the only way to get to the Soul Society to get your friend out."
"Fine. Let's get this over with." He told them as the finally stood in front of Urahara's shop. "Oh, he's already out front." He pointed out.
"Hello there Ichigo!" The shopkeeper welcomed cheerfully, before looking at Lady and Trish. 'Why is someone like you hanging around Ichigo?' He thought as he looked at Trish. "And who are the lovely ladies behind you?" He asked, not commenting on Trish's
"New friends," Ichigo replied as he noticed Chad was also present. "Oh, hey Chad. Why are you here?"
"Rukia saved me once, so I wish to help her in return," Chad replied. "What happened to your hair Ichigo?" He pointed at his hair.
"It a Zanpakuto thing," Ichigo replied as he ran a hand through the long, snow-white hair of his. "So is it just you or is anyone else going to join this little shindig?" He asked.
"You would be right in your prediction Ichigo," Uryu answered behind Ichigo. He crooked his head to see the Quincy was wearing a white outfit.
"What's with the outfit?" Ichigo asked. "You kinda look ridiculous with it. And you had to walk all the way here with it on."
Uryu pushed up his glasses before replying, "I'll have you know that this is the traditional garb of the Quincy."
"Well, hurrah for you," Ichigo said sarcastically. "Is Inuoe going to appear? Cause I really wouldn't be surprised."
"How did you know Kurosaki-Kun?" Orihime asked surprised.
"How many people are going to show up?" Lady whispered to Trish. She thought it would just be Ichigo, Trish, and herself.
"I haven't got a clue, to be honest." The blond said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Though I don't personally care. Though you might get jealous of having to share Ichigo."
Lady rolled her eyes at her friend's teasing. "Just shut it." She told her as the turned back to pay attention of the newcomers.
"So it that everyone?" Ichigo asked irritated. "Because I don't really think anyone else can show up."
"Well, that's quite a rude thing to say Ichigo" A male voice called out. He looked down to see a black cat walking towards him. "You'll find I can be quiet useful. After all, I help train your friends."
"Okay yup. There's a talking cat." Ichigo said before turning to Trish and Lady. "You two can see this right?"
They nodded, earning a sigh of relief from him. "Oh good, so I'm not losing my grip on reality."
"Now that we're all here, let's take this inside," Urahara told them as they began to enter his shop. They eventually descended a ladder to reveal the desert training ground of the shopkeeper.
After Urahara's assistant, Tessai gushed to Orihime for complementing the training ground, Urahara got their attention on them. "Okay then, let's get this started. But we need to change something first." He quickly raised the end of his cane and attempted to tap Ichigo with it.
He was surprised when Ichigo grabbed the cane with his right hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ichigo asked.
"You need to eject from your body to use your Zanpakuto," Urahara replied. "I thought that would be pretty evident Ichigo. I thought you were smarter than that."
He rolled his eyes as he let go of the cane and took off his glove, revealing black scales and the glowing fingers of the Devil Bringer. "I already have access to my Shinigami powers. So it's useless to try and eject my soul." He explained as he rolled up his sleeves.
"Okay then," Urahara said non-nonchalantly. "I guess we can just get this over with." He quickly snapped his fingers, causing a square portal to appear that looked liked it was made out of overlapping white material. He then went into an explanation of how they would get to the Soul Society.
Ichigo fazed out the explanation as he looked at his right arm and began to reminisce on the past two weeks. 'Nero helped me train in using Blue Rose and Devil Bringer effectively. I also got closer to Lady and Trish, though I have a feeling Trish is hiding something from us.'
"How will we go forward?" Orihime asked out loud as she looked down disheartened.
"Buck up and move faster than that cleaner," Lady answered irritated. "And I recommend that you lose the innocent doe personality."
"There's no need to be like that." Uryu defended Orihime. "She's scared. And quite frankly, she's not the only one."
"You think you can protect her?" Lady replied. "We're essentially going to war with the Soul Society. People like her don't last very long." She said with narrowed eyes.
"Enough," Ichigo ordered, taking control of the situation. "As harsh as Lady is, she has a fair point. If Orihime has to rely on us to protect her, we could be held back. Besides, you technically don't have to go. I originally planned on going solo."
"Then who are those behind you?" Chad asked. "They were with you when you got here."
"We have an agreement. They got my help with something and I got a favor from them. I'm cashing it in with saving Rukia." Ichigo explained. "Now can we get going?"
"Now that's a good idea Ichigo." Urahara complemented. "Remember, you've only got 4 minutes till it closes. Otherwise, you're going to be trapped in there forever."
"Let's get going then." Ichigo declared. 'You ready for this Nero?' He asked his Zanpakuto spirit.
'You bet your ass I am!' The spirit said. 'Let's kick some Shinigami ass.'
'Nice to know you're on board.' Ichigo answered, reassured of the support as they began to go through the portal.
"So do you think he'll succeed in saving his friend?" A stoic voice asked Nero. "He may not have enough power to do so."
"You worry too much!" A cocky voice answered. "If he's as badass as any of us are, he'll be fine! If worst comes to worst, he can call on us for back up."
"You realize that he may not want to use you due to the base of your powers." The first voice pointed out, earning a snort from the other.
"I'm sure that he'll be fine with using me." The cocky tone said. "So shut your trap and let's see some action!"
After getting through the Dangai with little trouble outside of a small incident with the cleaner, the group was flung out of the portal due to an explosion.
Ichigo latched onto the closest wall with his Devil Bringer and slowed his descent, leaving claw marks on the way down, Lady grasped Kalina Ann and stabbed the bayonet into another wall, stopping her fall and leaving her standing on her rocket launcher.
"Need some help Lady?" Ichigo asked while looking up.
"Nope." She replied as she struggles to remove Kalina Ann from the wall. She started to fall again with her rocket launcher doing the same.
Ichigo quickly moved under her and grabbed her bridal style. "Oh, my hero." She said sarcastically.
"At least my back isn't hurt," Ichigo commented as Kalina Ann stabbed into the ground next to them. He quickly let her down and Lady pulled out the rocket launcher and reattached it.
"I see you've had a harder landing than me," Trish said as she landed with yellow lightning sparking off her.
"Let's get going ladies." He commented as he began moving. "We've got to hit up some tourist sites!"
"Where do you think you're going?" Yoruichi asked. "You can't break away from the group!"
"We're our own group," Ichigo stated as he turned around. "If we all went together as one we would be a pretty large group, easy to take down." He explained. "It would be better to split up."
"You don't even know where Rukia is being held!" The cat yelled.
"It's probably a safe bet to go through the giant ass gate," Ichigo said as he pointed to the entrance to the Seiretei. "And the buildings look to be in better condition then this place. So we're going that way."
He turned around and began walking towards the open gate. being followed by Lady and Trish. When they got close, a larger gate fell before them, nearly crushing Ichigo and enveloping them in kicked up dust.
"It's been quite a long time since some has tried to pass through." A voice said as the dust settled. The owner of the voice was a large goliath wearing the garbs of a Shinigami.
"I don't suppose you'll be willing to let us pass?" Ichigo asked as he moved his hand closer to Blue Rose.
"Not unless you can beat me!" Jidanbo bellowed.
"I think we'll have a fair shot," Ichigo said as Trish and Lady brought out their respective weapons. Before they were able to start fighting, the gatekeeper slammed his axe down and tore up the terrain, sending them back and separating them from Ichigo by the rubble.
"Do you country bumpkins not have any manners?" Jidanbo asked. "The city has rules! Rule #1 is to wash your hands before eating. Rule #2 is not to eat things found on the floor. Rule #3 is that fights in this city are fought one on one. Since the spiky head approached first, he will fight me first.
"I don't think it's very fair to fight an unarmed opponent," Ichigo said. "I would say you don't have manners if you do that."
"Your right!" Jidanbo yelled with wide eyes as he stuck his other hand into his robes. He pulled out an identical axe as the one in his other and he tossed down to Ichigo, who caught it with his Devil Bringer.
"Let us begin!" The giant declared as he swung his axe down. Ichigo smirked as he did the same. The meeting of blades caused more dust to be kicked up.
He quickly followed up with repeatedly smashing the axe into the one Jidanbo wielded with a shout of effort. The resulting clashing caused both of the axes to be destroyed. "Huh, guess these things aren't Zanpakuto," Ichigo commented as Jidanbo began to cry.
"Quit your crying you baby!" He yelled as he threw the handle of the axe at the gatekeeper. "You're a gatekeeper, so act like it!"
Jidanbo wiped the tears from eyes and stood up. "You are correct. I lost fair and square. I, Jidanbo, let you and your group pass!" He declared as he grabbed the gate and opened it.
"Oh good," Ichigo said as the rubble behind him was destroyed with an explosion. He turned around to see Lady wielding Kalina Ann. "Let's get going then." He suggested as they began walking through the now open gate.
"What's this?" A voice called out. They looked to see a tall man with silver hair. "This isn't allowed." He said with a mocking tone.
"They beat me, Captain Gin," Jidanbo explained. "As a gatekeeper, I must open the gate."
The captain raised an eyebrow at that. "No your not. Even if you're beaten, you don't open the gate. Because if you're beaten...you're dead." He said with a creepy smile as he raised his wakizashi.
Gin was about to strike but was caught off guard by a shot from Ichigo's blue rose that hit the ground near his feet. "Now that's not very nice." He commented as Ichigo rushed towards him with his Devil Bringer active.
Gin kick himself back as Ichigo's spectral arm smashed the ground where the captain was standing. "Oh? I thought you were a captain?" Ichigo said with a smirk. "So why you running? You can't really fight with a dagger at that distance."
"Hmm...This isn't a dagger." Gin revealed. "Shoot to kill...Shinso (God Spear)" He declared as his sword extended straight towards Ichigo.
He raised his right arm and deflected the extending blade, creating sparks as it ran across the Devil Bringer. Ichigo twisted his arm and grabbed Shinso and pulled on it, attempting to remove Gin's grasp from it.
"That's not going to work." Gin commented as he deactivated Shinso, causing the blade to retract, causing Ichigo to lose his grasp.
"Damn it Ichigo!" Yoruichi yelled. "You can't take on a captain! Retreat and save yourself!"
"So your Ichigo Kurosaki?" Gin asked with a surprised look.
"Guess I'm getting popular," Ichigo commented. "So what I'm Ichigo? Is there a point in asking?"
"I'm just surprised to see a boy like yourself here." Gin replied as suddenly extended Shinso once more, catching Ichigo off guard. The blade hit the teen with great force and knocked him back to the other side of the gate, hitting the wounded Jidanbo along the way.
The giant and Substitute Shinigami were sent flying as the gate closed. Gin gave one last mocking comment as he waved, "Goodbye now!"
"Ow," Ichigo said as he slowly got off Jidanbo's chest.
"That went real swimmingly," Lady commented as she looked at the gate. "What's the plan now?"
"You're a fool!" Yoruichi yelled angrily at Ichigo, who cracked his neck. "Thinking you can take on a captain! What is wrong with you!"
"Calm it down kitty," Trish suggested as she folded her arms under her bust. "Do you have an idea on how to get into the Soul Society now?" She asked out loud.
"I do," Ichigo commented as he walked up to the gate. He summoned his Devil Bringer and attempted to smash through it. He was surprised to see when his spectral arm dissipate when it smashed into the gate.
"That's new." He said with a sigh. "Welp. Any plan to get through?" He asked Yoruichi, who seemed to be annoyed with his efforts.
"Yes, but I need to find them." The cat said with a twitch in his eye. Yoruichi turned to an old man. "Hello, elder. Do you mind if we go to your home? I must ask you were a certain someone is."
The Elder nodded and motioned for them to follow. "Follow me. I shall welcome you to my home." He told them as he began to move.
"I guess we'll have to follow them," Ichigo told Trish and Lady. "Let's get going. The sooner we " They quickly began following the elder and Yoruichi to the old man's home.
The group sat inside the elder's home with the owner sipping on tea. "So elder, do you know where I can find Kukaku Shiba?" Yoruichi asked, earning a shocked look from the man.
He looked down and clenched his hands. "Kukaku Shiba? Are you sure you want to know where she is?" He asked.
"Yes, I do. I haven't been able to track her down quite yet." Yoruichi explained as the ground seem to shake.
"Why is the ground shaking?" Ichigo asked out loud as a rumbling started to get closer. "Does this place get earthquakes or something?"
"No, the Soul Society doesn't experience earthquakes," Trish answered as the sound got louder and the door to the home was pushed to the door by a man being flung into the home.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Ichigo asked as the man recovered and everyone looked at him.
"Hey, there old man." The intruder greeted as he took off his sunglasses. "It's been a while, hasn't it."
"Ganju? You shouldn't be here!" The elder exclaimed as Ganju casually waved him off.
"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" He asked. "I know I haven't been here for a while, but there's no need to be rude."
"Is anyone going to take the pig?" Ichigo asked as he held a squealing pig with his spectral arm. "Because I'm going to be cooking it up for dinner."
"Hey! You let go of Bonnie! You bastard!" Ganju yelled.
"Or what?" Ichigo asked with a smirk. "Because I don't think a pig straddler like you can do much against me."
"Oh, yea?" He challenged as he grabbed the handle of his sword. "Prove it!" Ganju quickly unsheathed his sword and rushed towards Ichigo.
The teen just smirked as he sidestepped the attack at the last moment, and kicked Ganju outside, following him to finish him off. "So any other ideas?" He asked as his opponent got up.
"Your pretty good." Ganju complimented. "But you're not going to beat me!"
"Do you like bacon?" Ichigo asked randomly, earning a confused nod. "Well, I hope you can fly like your piggy!" He then quickly threw the boar in a random direction at great speed.
"Bonnie!" Ganju yelled as he looked as his boar disappeared from his sight with a twinkle. He didn't notice that Ichigo was going to grab him until he was in the air. "Hey! Let me go!" He yelled.
"Nope!" Ichigo said as he quickly threw Ganju in the same direction as his boar.
"Boss!" Was said by one of Ganju's grunts as they began riding after him on their own boars.
"That was interesting," Trish commented as she walked out with Lady by her side.
"Is the Soul Society always this weird?" Lady asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hell if I know," Ichigo admitted. "But we should be able to fight anyone off."
"Aren't you so confident." Trish teased. "But you'll find that some in the Soul Society are stronger than you think." She said mysteriously.
"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked.
"You fought a guy who could use Shikai (Initial Release) right?" She asked, earning a nod from him. "Well, there's another form of that called Bankai (Final Release). And there are a few who can use it." She explained, earning a skeptical look Ichigo.
"How do you know this?" Ichigo asked. "Are you a Shinigami?"
"If she is, I didn't know," Lady said with a slight growl, earning an uncharacteristic sigh from Trish.
"I keep secrets for a reason." She began. "I'll tell you guys later. I promise." She said seriously.
Lady narrowed her eyes at her friend as she stepped back from her. "Fine. But no lying. Got it." She said in a serious tone.
"Calm down," Ichigo said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Flipping out on her isn't going to help us." He explained.
Lady let out an aggravated sigh as she closed her eyes before she said, "Alright, I'm calm now."
"Good." He commented as removed his hand from her shoulder and began walking back towards the house. "We should get some sleep."
Lady and Trish nodded and began following him, with Lady keeping her distance from Trish as best she could. That caused Trish to look down in sadness as she entered the elder's home.
Oooh, what is Trish? That'll be revealed in the next chapter.