Burning Griffin Hero: Garuda, a Bleach + My Hero Academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア Crossover fanfic

Beginning A/N: Well, here's a story that I recently got into my head after drawing one too many mythical creatures and reading Bleach manga. I don't know how well this one will be received, but I hope you all like it. It will be mostly centered on Ichigo Kurosaki, but is also centered around Izuku Midoriya because, hey, he's still the MHA Cinnamon Roll Protagonist. I couldn't leave him out of this story, even if I wanted to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or My Hero Academia! But if I did, Bakugo would have been hit in the nuts about as many times as Grif from Red Vs Blue, and would have gotten a Mt. Lady sized serving of humble pie way early in the series!

Origins of a Hero

The time was seven o'clock in the morning as Rangiku Matsumoto, the former lieutenant to the Tenth Division Shinigami Corp, smiled with content as she sat in a rather plush armchair. It has been three years since the final battle against Aizen and so much has changed for her in that time. For one, she had decided to resign as Lieutenant of the Tenth Division, choosing to live her life in the mortal realm, using a gigai, of course, in a form of self-exile. But unlike what happened with Yoruichi, Kisuke, and the Visards, hers was completely her choice and wasn't brought on by the machinations of a mad man who was hellbent on ruling both the mortal and spirit worlds as a god. Instead, it was brought upon by the man who had won her heart.

Her boyfriend and now fiance, Ichigo Kurosaki.

She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked at her engagement ring. It was a beautiful ring that consisted of a golden band with a large and rather beautiful diamond in the center surrounded by a small cyclone made from rare, orange colored sapphire gemstones that were much smaller than the diamond. She figured that it must have cost a small fortune for Ichigo to buy her engagement ring when he chose to pop the question to her. She wanted to get him a ring that was just as special, but he insisted on just a simple gold band for his own ring.

Rangiku thought back to when she had first met the man whom she fell in love with. When she first met him, he was a brash and headstrong young man who had charged into the Soul Society to save Rukia, who he considered a friend, and who had been put on trial for giving her powers to a human no matter the circumstances. She'd be the first to admit that they could have handled that situation a little differently. She was surprised to learn that he had achieved Bankai in merely a few days in a special training ground where time was accelerated, which was something that took most Shinigami years to learn and even longer to master! And after his final battle against Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, the strawberry blonde woman had found herself growing curious about the young man who had become a Substitute Shinigami and decided to learn more about him in the best way that she knew how.

By hanging out with him no matter how much he initially protested!

After the incident with Rukia's trial and the reveal of Aizen's betrayal, Ichigo had, understandably, been quite distrusting towards most of the Shinigami. Especially after it was revealed that his own father was a Shinigami Captain many years ago before he and his sisters were born. But she was persistent and had managed to help him come out of his shell to reveal the kind and protective young man that he was behind his perpetual scowl, all while helping him protect Karakura Town from the Hollows that seemed to frequent the town in those days. Eventually, it got to the point where Ichigo had worked up the courage to ask her out on a date, which took her by surprise, but she accepted.

Rangiku remembered how Ichigo had cleaned up rather nicely and, despite his man child of a father's insistence on them having a more… intimate evening for their date… which both she and Ichigo had left him unconscious on the floor with more than a few lumps on his head to show for it, Ichigo had been a complete gentleman throughout the entire night. She had been both happy and relieved when he kept his eyes above the neck whenever he interacted with her during their date, as most men in the soul society would have been more focused on her chest which irked her to no end and had looked her in the eyes during all of their conversations. Ichigo had gotten them reservations at a five-star restaurant, which she insisted on paying half the bill even though he was more than willing to pay the whole thing, after which they ended their date with a quiet walk in the park where they spent much of the evening stargazing.

Honestly, it was the best date that the former Lieutenant had been on in a long time and had been the start of a truly magical relationship. Especially when Ichigo surprised Rangiku by kissing her at the end of their date after he had walked her back to Orihime's place where she had been staying at the time.

She had to say, she hadn't been expecting the kiss, but he did a surprisingly good job considering that it was Ichigo's first kiss.

They had officially become an item after that and went on many dates afterwards. But then came the day when Orihime had been kidnapped by Aizen, and Ichigo had gone with Chad and Uryu to rescue her. Rangiku had been ashamed of her fellow Shinigami for their blatant refusal to help, and had really tore them all down verbally, and somewhat physically, for their blatant disregard for problems that were clearly their own fault. And she felt some form of sweet satisfaction when she slapped Byakuya right across his smug, prick face hard enough to leave an indented handprint in the side of his face.

After that, she had gone to Hueco Mundo to help her boyfriend and his friends rescue Orihime, but was surprised to have obtained help from Captains Unohana, Kenpachi, and Mayuri, though she trusted the last one a hell of a lot less than the others. And with good reason.

Anyway, the mission to rescue Orihime was a success, although Ichigo's Hollow side had taken over for a time when he was nearly killed by the Espada known as Ulquiorra, and they returned home to rest and recover for the impending war that loomed over the horizon.

And it was in this war that tragedy struck.

Aizen and his army of Espada, or at least what was left of them, along with their Fracción, launched an attack on Karakura Town! Fortunately, there was no loss of innocent life since Ichigo's mentor, Kisuke Urahara, had swapped the real Karakura Town with a fake. With the war reaching a critical point, all of the Captain and Lieutenant class Shinigami were ordered to the battlefield while the Medical Corp remained on standby to immediately treat the wounded.

Rangiku sighed and closed her eyes, remembering that final battle and how it triggered a series of events that would lead up to this point.

~Flashback~

Rangiku was breathing hard as she glared daggers at the powered-up Shinigami traitor known as Sosuke Aizen. After absorbing the Hogyoku, the man had grown even more powerful than he already was. So much so, he not only killed off all of his remaining Espada, although she suspects that Tia and at least one of her Fraccion are still alive, but he also totally destroyed his own Zanpakuto and absorbed its power as his own! After Gin revealed that he was undercover as a spy against Aizen and tried to kill the man before he could absorb the Hogyoku, Aizen killed Gin for his treachery while Kaname had died from his own injuries.

The strawberry blonde woman growled and held her Zanpakuto, Haineko, in a defensive stance. She knew that with her injuries, she wouldn't be able to so much as scratch the newly evolved Aizen. Not that she could even if she were fully healed. They were all lucky that Ichigo and his friends arrived when they did. Chad and Uryu were evacuating the injured while Orihime used her powers to heal those with the most grievous wounds. Even going so far as to restore Soi-Fon's lost arm from her own fight against Barragan. But as she watched Ichigo's blade clash with Aizen again and again, Getsuga Tenshos being launched left and right, she knew that while he was strong, Aizen was merely growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

"You can feel it too, can't you?"

Rangiku looked to her side to see her captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya, cradling the unconscious and bloody body of Momo Hinamori, as he watched as Ichigo was once again forced to lay his life on the line because of their mistakes.

"Aizen's power isn't dropping. If anything, it's rising rapidly!" exclaimed Rangiku as she clenched her fist. "Damn! I hate standing on the sidelines like this and feeling absolutely powerless!"

"We should have seen this coming." Toshiro said, closing his eyes as he was filled with regret. "We allowed this problem to fester instead of doing something about it, and because of our negligence, Ichigo has to clean up our mess and put his life on the line. We grew complacent and allowed our edge to dull in these times of relative peace. You were right, Matsumoto. About everything."

"There's nothing we can do about that, unfortunately." said Kisuke as he and Yoruichi flash stepped next to them. "All we can do is cheer Ichigo on and offer him our full support… hold on! Something's happening!"

All of the Soul Reapers, and even Ichigo's friends, senses a huge spike in Reiatsu as Ichigo's hair grew down to mid-back and turned from the orange hue that they all knew him for to a color that was darker than the blackest night. His body also seemed to be covered in bandages from the nose down, but the biggest change was that his Zanpakuto was now overflowing with Reiatsu! Even Aizen was shocked by this sudden change in both appearance and power from the Substitute Shinigami! And as Ichigo raised his blade, Zangetsu, to deliver what would likely be the decisive move, none could possibly fathom the consequences of such an attack…

Not until it was too late.

~End Flashback~

Rangiku was snapped out of her thoughts as a hand placed itself upon her shoulder. She looked to her side to see her fiance, Icho Kurosaki himself, standing there with a smile upon his handsome face. He was totally naked from the waist up, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants and a towel draped over his shoulders, his still damp hair showing that he had just gotten out of the shower. No matter how many times she's seen him shirtless outside of battle, the sight of Ichigo's muscular and scarred upper body never ceased to make Rangiku blush and get a little bit flustered.

"Hey, babe." Ichigo said. "You're up early. What are you thinking about?"

Rangiku placed her smaller, daintier hand over Ichigo's larger, calloused one as she gave him a loving smile. She always thought that he was handsome back when he was sixteen. But now at nineteen-years-old and fully grown, Ichigo Kurosaki had turned into a real heartthrob. And his kind and loving nature combined with his natural protectiveness of those he considered his friends and loved ones just made him even more appealing. Rangiku considered herself to be truly blessed to be engaged to such a wonderful man.

"Just looking back on how we met and everything we've been through." she replied. "It feels like only yesterday when we were both part of the Shinigami Corp in different ways. And look at us now."

"Yeah, engaged to be married and a pair of pro heroes in the top ten. I never imagined my life would take that kind of a turn." Ichigo admitted.

"I still don't like how you became the number three hero while I'm all the way at number nine." pouted Rangiku.

Ichigo just shrugged and said, "Personally, I don't care about the whole ranking system. It's basically just a gimmick to see who can make the most cash and sell the most merch. Not very heroic, if you ask me."

"Yeah, you make a compelling argument." Rangiku admitted with a nod. "Well, since it's our day off from hero work, what do you want to do?"

Ichigo removed his hand from hers and started to make his way toward the master bedroom of their apartment, which just so happened to be the room that they shared with each other.

"I think I might go on one small patrol today. Nothing big, just about an hour, two at the most. Gotta keep the fear of the number three hero in those crooks, you know?" Ichigo said.

That surprised Rangiku somewhat. Although, she couldn't blame him for choosing to do this. He tended to get restless if he didn't have something to occupy his time due to spending so much of his time training and fighting Hollows back when he still had his powers as a Shinigami.