Girl-of-Action- Thank you for all of your support! Whether it be through follows, favorites, reviews (especially reviews) or simply the views, I really appreciate it! Those reviews that I cannot answer through private messages, will be responded to at the author's note at the bottom of this chapter.
On another note… someone asked in a review if it should have really taken Ichigo a whole chapter to die… And the answer is no. xD In actuality, the first chapter is more like a prologue than anything else, showing when Ichigo comes from and therefore how powerful he is. The reason why I didn't call it a prologue is because even if I did rename it that, fanfiction would refer to it as 'Chapter 1: Prologue'. Kinda confusing. I also wanted him to do some thinking about his hollow. After all, the best revelations come to our favorite orange haired main character when he's under some type of distress. So, you can take the first chapter with all of this in mind and a grain of salt.
Or maybe I'm just unnecessarily cruel author who likes to write about my favorite characters in pain, in which case I now feel a bit guilty and concerned. ^^; I guess I'll let you folks decide. On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and never will.
Warnings: Language, Blood&Gore… Again. I tried to skim over the grimmer of details, but please tell me if it is still too much for a T rating.
_
I wake to near complete darkness. Sweaty and eyes wild, my head swings back and forth, attempting to catch sight of- anything, really... Nothing. I automatically reach for Zangetsu to find it where it's supposed to be, much to my relief and confusion. Had I expected any differently? My head is pounding. I reach back, expecting now to touch blood, but come up empty handed. Still, I feel like I just underwent one of Urahara-san's "training" sessions. The ground underneath me is not rocky terrain however. It's moist and soft. The air is palpably sticky, thick humidity in the air. I almost feel like I'm breathing in water with how thick it is. I struggle to my feet, using for support what I assume to be a tree by the feeling of it.
Despite the dampness in the air, my throat is raw and dry. I'm parched and the eighty degree weather doesn't help one bit. Zangetsu….? I call out silently, struggling to find something familiar in this confusing mess. My memory is hazy, as though I just walked into a room with purpose and promptly forgotten what I wanted to do, only this is much worse. I also notice something else as I take my first woozy steps forward; I feel… much lighter. I grip Zangetsu's hilt tighter, and it hits me. This is… I pull Zangetsu out of his sheath. Since when have I ever had a sheath? That's right. Back before I learned shikai. Even then though, has my zanpakuto ever been so… small?
My eyes are adjusting to the dimness of this forest and in front of me I can just make out what is now my zanpakuto. The hilt is reminiscent of Tensa Zangetsu's with the black and red diamond pattern. The blade however, although normal for an average katana in width, is long, nearly as long as I am in height like my shikai, and it glints silver in the faint moonlight. I carefully wrap both my hands around the hilt, testing the weight. Lighter than Zangetsu's shikai, definitely, but I don't feel unbalanced by the offset between the two. My grip on the hilt is comfortable- familiar, and when with a slash I whip the blade through the air, it sings. I let out a small breath, my heart's raging pounding subsides to its usual pace. Without the blood thrumming in my ears and with my vision sharpening as it becomes used to the light here, I pick up on other things. Like, for example, the absolute absence of life besides plants, whether it be animals or insects.
I take a step forward, wondering what I'm doing here, when I pause. One of my hands go up to my throat, and for a brief moment I still feel like I'm choking as flashes of memories play before my mind's eye. No way… I… died? But if I really died, I would have just appeared over my body in shinigami form, right? So, what am I doing here?
I shiver, despite the heat, something- "H-" I freeze, straining my senses. There's a groan. Scratching. Whimpering. I walk, then stop. I'm making too much noise. The sound of foliage crunching underneath my feet is almost deafening in this forest's unnatural silence. I solidify reishi underneath me and walk on the air a foot above. I wander uneventfully through the forest. Several times I pause, my sense of direction disorientated. If I listen though- truly listen, I can pick up the faintest sense of something towards a certain direction, and hear gentle cries in the distance. It takes a while, or at least I feel it does, when I think I see a clearing through the thick grouping of bushes up ahead. With a few quick slices of Zangetsu, I shred the bushes and pave the way forward.
I... I almost wish I didn't bother.
Groans.
"Help…"
"Anyone…. there?"
Quiet whimpers. The occasional muttered names of loved ones. In front of me is a clearing of bodies, blood and carnage. Zanpakutos are scattered about- all in sealed form. Shinigami, many of them ranked, but none of the zanpakutos released... Whatever had hit them had hit them hard and left them… alive? Something latches to the bottom edge of my Shihakushō and I nearly jump out of my skin. Looking down I see a girl lying on the ground, looking no older then me, with ragged black hair snaking down her back and blood from her mouth, dripping down her chin. She smiles at me, eyes disturbingly void of emotion or color as she whispers. "Niichan? Hi Niichan."
I rip my clothing away from her grip and quickly back away, eyes wide. She continues to stare at me for a few more moments, still smiling, then collapses face down without any warning. I take a shaky breath, then steel myself and step forward. "Hey… Are you okay? Talk to me." No answer. Not even the slightest twitch. Hesitantly, I bend down and grip her gently by the shoulders and turn her onto her back. I promptly gag and throw up one arm to cover my nose and mouth. Her stomach is ripped open, contents spread out on the ground. I unceremoniously drop her, the body turning into reishi and floating away in nonexistent wind just as I do. She's not the only one. Several of them follow. I'm at a loss at what to do as I shunpo from person to person, trying to patch them up to the best of my ability. They all have a wound in the stomach, most just as bad as the first girl. I do what I can to ease their passing, going as far as to play into their delusions. That night I am cousin, nephew, uncle, grandfather, father, brother, son…
"Hey, kid…" I blink. That's a new one. There is no sense of familiarity in this voice. Hands soaked in blood not my own, I turn to face my newest 'patient'.
"Yeah?" I respond automatically, then wince at how apathetic it sounds. These people are dying (again!), for Kami's sake! "What is it?" I ask again, this time significantly softer.
There is a bitter chuckle. "What? You mean besides the obvious?"
"I… sorry," I say, at a loss.
"Don't be. Just make sure this all's not for nothing."
I eye his slumped shadowy figure both hopefully and apprehensively. "You're a lot more, erm, lucid than the others. Who are you?"
"We can blame that on my reiatsu reserves, I have a lot of it, not that it does me much good in the end." The figure leans forward, revealing a tired looking middle aged man with dark hair and even darker eyes. "Name's Okubo Meiji, Third Seat of the Fifth Division. My own fukutaicho did this to me."
"Your fukutaicho?" I echo, disbelief coloring my tone. I don't know this 'Momo' girl, having only really heard of her through Rangiku. She is Toshiro's childhood friend, isn't she? A kind, innocent and extremely loyal girl who was manipulated by that scum Aizen then left to rot after stabbing her right through the heart, both figuratively and literally. That's how Rangiku described her.
The man grunts. "The one and only Ichimaru Gin-fukutaicho; damnable, psychotic brat and bane of my soon to end existence. Hell, it feels good to speak my mind after everything." I stare at him like he's just lost his mind as the gears in my own head work overtime to figure it all out. He seems so sincere, yet at the same time he is mortally wounded… Maybe he's not as sane as I first thought?
He smirks at me. "I know that look. You think I've gone crazy, like the rest. But think about it. Who else could catch off guard this many high ranking shinigami except one of our own?"
"No, I believe you, but…" Why does this guy think Ichimaru is fukutaicho of the fifth division?
His gaze hardens. "Don't you think that I would remember with all of my strength, the identity of the person who sliced open me and all of my comrades before stuffing some type of sick, reiryoku eating experiment inside us?"
I don't know what the hell is going on, or what to believe, but I do know one thing. "I'll figure out who did this, I swear, and I'll make them pay."
"Not bring them to justice?" he asks lightly, tight smile strained by the pain.
"I'll make them pay," I repeat, voice strained as well with stress and held back rage. I have seen what the Soul Society's form of justice is like and want no part of it.
He gives an approving nod. "There can't be any justice with a crime like this. Remember that." Just then another two bodies dissipate into reishi. He glances at them before returning his attention to me. "They were both fifth seats. I don't have much time left, so listen up." I straighten my posture, expression hard as I do. "That Ichimaru brat is only a foot soldier. The real megalomaniac behind it all is Aizen." A pause. "You don't seem surprised."
I shrug, face darkening. "Never liked the guy." That is the understatement of the year, and it seems like the Third Seat Meiji has picked up on it.
"What squad are you from, kid? What's your name? I know you're not a seated officer." He inquires quickly, obviously wishing to get onto more important stuff but extremely curious at the same time. I suppose I would be too, if I was in his situation. This forest appears to be extremely dangerous- not a place some unseated shinigami would be running around alone without having his companions killed off, and it doesn't look like I have been in a fight despite me feeling like I have and then some.
"Kurosaki Ichigo… I don't belong to a squad, I'm a Substitute Shinigami."
"A what now?"
"Substitute Shinigami. You know, someone with shinigami powers but still alive…" I know substitute shinigami are rare, but come on, you would think word of me has spread by now- what with invading the Soul Society and all. But then again, this guy thought Aizen is still a captain. "Just how long have you guys been out here?" I ask out loud, returning the skeptical look the guy is giving me with one of one own.
A flash of understanding appears in Meiji's eyes. "Too long, apparently," he admits grudgingly. "You say you're still alive?" I give a firm nod. I wonder if I also should tell him of Aizen's betrayal, but then brush that thought aside. I wanted Meiji to live out his final moments in sanity, and if clinging to a hope that he could in some way help stop Aizen before he makes his big move helps him do that, then there is no way I'm going to take that away from him.
"Is that a problem?" I can't be dead. It just doesn't add up.
"You seem dead as doornail to me kid, but whatever. I don't give a damn who you are in the end as long as you're willing to do what needs to be done."
"I am," I say in heartbeat. First Aizen rips that thing out of Rukia, nearly kills me and Renji not to mention murdering a whole bunch of other people... Now he takes Orihime and there's this.
He spreads his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "Then no, no problem what-so-ever," he tells me wryly, then proceeds to turn his head and cough up a glob of blood. He grunts afterward to regain my attention, as I have turned politely away in order not to see his weakness. Now he tells me everything he has found out about Aizen. "And there you have it. Half of my life, devoted to finding out his plans, and in the end I come up with a few minutes worth of information and a hole in my gut as reward." He tells me with a sort of dark amusement.
"That's more than I ever knew." I offer off-handedly, trying to ease his sense of failure.
"You knew there is something wrong with him. That's more than most, who think he's some type of God-sent."
He laughs at the expression I make. "A wannabe God maybe, but not that."
Meiji cuts his laughter off, something having occurred to him. "How did you overcome the illusion then? I looked up to Hirako-taicho and when he was branded a traitor I decided to dig deeper." So Shinji was a captain, huh? I knew he was a shinigami, but he never told me how high ranked… "Kid?" Meiji prompts, reminding me of his question. I say the first thing that comes to mind, since technically I didn't even know who Aizen was until he gutted me that day I saved Rukia. What comes out of my mouth surprises even me.
"Instinct."
"Instinct…" The man murmurs, studying me carefully and nodding slowly. He grunts. "Maybe that's the real trick to ripping away his illusions from people's eyes. Now that I think about it… all this time, I've been using logic and reason to try and figure out what the nutjob's aims are. That never got me far. The farthest I've ever gotten is when I threw logic and reason out the window- the day Captain Hirako was labelled a traitor. They had all the evidence there, stacked up against him. Everyone was so convinced… And what did I have? My trust in the man I served and gut instinct." He snorts. "Can't believe it took me all this time to figure that out, and here you come along…"
I let him rant, becoming more and more solemn as I hear him speak, both because of what he has gone and going through and because of what he said, my hollow… "My friend you don't have that, you try to use your brain to win a fight, you attempt to defeat your enemies with reason and logic, you don't tap into those pure base instincts that exists within your core waiting to be released! And the simple matter is that it doesn't work, you're weak ICHIGO! I won't put up with that, am I clear?" The memory of his words echo in my mind.
"So what now?" I break the somber silence, mind whirling as I force myself to get back on track. This is no time for inner revelations, not when someone's spirit is turning to dust in front of my eyes. "How can I convince everyone about Aizen when you couldn't?" I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. I have gotten to mixed up in this- forgotten that this could all be a man's delusions of the past or his last wishes based on outdated information. I sternly remind myself that the real Aizen is already out in the open- I shouldn't be saying these things.
To my relief though, he doesn't take it in a bad way. He has been expecting this, and if I hadn't said something along these lines he probably would have been suspicious. "Well, that's up to you now. Be creative." He pokes me on the stomach. "Follow your gut instinct. It seems to have served you well so far."
"Guess it has…" I murmur.
He scoffs. "Don't guess. Don't doubt it. It knows what it's talking about." I take the dying man's words more seriously than even he probably meant them to be taken. Suddenly he reaches up and grips my chin, tilting it up to the light. I slap his hand away automatically, knitting my eyebrows and wondering what the hell that was about. "You said your name is Kurosaki? Not Shiba?"
I stare at him, thrown off by the sudden questions. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"You look just like a Shiba, minus the hair…" He smirks. "Hey, you might have a better chance than I first thought."
I scowl in mock anger. "What? You think I didn't have a good chance to begin with? And what do you mean? How does looking like a Shiba help with anything?"
He chuckles, eyes widening. "You really aren't from around here. The Shibas are-" His chuckling breaks off into another coughing fit and I wince, hand automatically going to my own throat. I'm rattled, I know it, but I can't show it. I reach out an arm and grab his shoulder, trying to steady him as he coughs up all over his uniform- My eyes widen. That's not blood. That looks like… "The hell…" The man mumbles, finally showing the fear he has been doing a great job of covering up.
"That's…." It dawns on me what's happening. "You said Ichimaru put something inside of you. Can we take it out?" Kami, I really don't want to stick my hand into some guys gut, but if it stops what I think is about to happen... "If we can stop this, I could shunpo you to the Fourth Division-" I hadn't bothered with the others. They were too far gone to know up from down and I am completely lost, but if this guy can show me the way-
"It's no use."
My free hand form fists. I refuse. I refuse to give up on a good man just because he thinks he's ready to die. "You don't know that-"
"I do." He cuts me off. Through-out our whole conversation he has had an air of carefree dark amusement, but now he only looks tired and grim. "I can feel it inside me. We all could. Some tried to take theirs out. They disintegrated as soon as they did- some type of fail safe no doubt."
"But Unohana-taicho-" I continue on doggedly.
"Can't help us if we can't get to her. There's some type of kidou on this forest. We're actually just right outside the Seireitei, but we've been stuck in here for hours. I know this forest, but now everything looks the same. Even closing our eyes, choosing a random direction and going straight without stopping or turning didn't get us anywhere. We found ourselves right back in this clearing, each and every time." I'm trying not show how much the information freaks me out. My sense of direction sucks as it is. Will I spend a couple months in this forest myself, like they seemed to have? How'd I even get here? Wasn't I on my way to Geta-boshi's place when… what? So many questions, so I might as well ask one that I know he can answer.
"What were all of you doing out here? I've seen people from the Twelfth, Third, Thirteenth and Fifth…" I remember some armbands- not the Lieutenant type- on a few of the shinigami with what I'm pretty sure are meant to show their division pride.
He gives a grunt of confirmation. "Third and Fifth… several birds with one stone. Most of the people here were close with our old captains in some way. Some like me might've suspected. The Twelfth and Thirteenth people are probably just for show, unlucky bastards who got dragged in because we're supposed to be investigating a unique and high hollow reiatsu…" His voice trails off and he grows distant. It seems to be getting harder and harder for him to stay awake… I hate feeling helpless, but for the life of me I don't know how to help. I know trying comfort him beyond a hand on the shoulder would only really shame him. Not only that, I have to be strong for him- for all of them. They've placed their hope in me now, not for justice.
For vengeance. And for the assurance that something like this never happens again.
I was not able to protect them, but this… This is how I can help.
Girl-of-Action- Even though Meiji was only around for once chapter, I enjoyed writing him though I'm not sure why. I hope you guys don't mind OCs, Meiji definitely won't be the last. I for one would think it very weird if Ichigo is /only/ to interact with the character already introduced in Bleach, there are so many more people out there. So while OCs will never be main characters in this story (at least not for long), they will be involved.
It just occurred to me that I will probably be using quite a few japanese words in these stories. For those who are not familiar with these terms, I'll give you a quick, random list of words I will probably be using.
Taicho - Captain
Fukutaicho - Vice Captain
Getai-boshi - Hat&Clogs (Ichigo's nickname for Urahara)
Hai - Yes (respectful)
Aa - An affirmative response, not very respectful.
Iie - No/ No problem
teme - rude way of saying 'you'
kun - suffix of endearment, usually for boys
chan - suffix of endearment, usually for girls
san - polite suffix meaning Mr/Ms/Mrs
sama - suffix showing great respect
dono - Basically the same as sama, but are especially used for nobles. Roughly translated it means 'lord' if I remember correctly.
Now onto the review responses~
Guest #1- Thank you! I'm glad to hear that my fanfic is unique, at least in that fashion. I hope I don't disappoint.
hollowzangetsu- Thanks for the review and support! I can promise you that there will be NO yaoi in this fic. To be honest, I'm not even sure if I want to put romance in it, but if I do decide to do so there will be no RukiaxIchigo. Their relationship will be strictly sisterly/brotherly love. As for Soifon, I already have one or two POV (Point of View)s planned for her, but I hadn't planned on making her a major character. However, there is still a lot of room for changes in my semi-planned plot, so I'll see what I can do about her. :)
In closing, I'll say again, thank you for the views/favs/follows/reviews (especially the latter)! I ask that you please keep it up and feel free to offer your wishes/hopes for this story like hollowzangetsu did. I'll be sure to take it all into serious consideration. If you'd like to talk to me about your ideas in more detail, you can always send me a private message as well. I'd love to hear them and run by some ideas I have for this story with you if anyone is interested. That about covers everything I wanted to say. Ja ne~ (Cya~)