This is it everyone, the beginning of substitute soul reaper arc. Id like to thank each and every one of you who has favorited and followed this story, and a special thank you to those of you who left a review.
Special shout outs go to wolfdude16, draconichero21 Bleached Guest, Kenshinverse, XenotheWise135, Alpenwolf, NoNameAvailable Bis, harlequin320 and Evan deivant. I cant thank you guys enough for the support, as well as everyone else who has left a review, they mean a lot to us. But before I go into any more details however, the writer wished to leave some words regarding where we are at.
"Well, here we are at last! Canon comes around, and we do it our own way. Word to the wise- if you expect a faithful retelling of the canon, this might not be the fic for you. It would be completely and unforgivably boring not to mix things up a little- and mix them up, we will. Not radically, but enough that we make it more than just telling you the story we already know. So if you're a canon purist, please don't complain to us- we're doing our own thing from hereon out. Most of it will be the same, but some things won't. Cheers!"
Well said GKR, Our version of the events that will transpier will be VERY different from cannon. This should be rather obvious since Masaki is still alive, and Orihime lives next door to Ichigo. Many other things will be different however, many of which you should be able to spot in this chapter. But enough of us rambling on, enjoy.
Thank you once again Greatkingrat88
Also, I really hope you readers can understand why I titled this chapter what I did. If your a bleach fan you should know.
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.
"We stand in awe before that which cannot be seen. We respect with every fiber of our being that which cannot be explained."
-Tite Kubo
Life was funny. Kurosaki Ichigo, fifteen years of age, had no real cause to complain, really- he had been raised with two loving parents, his teen years so far had carried considerably less angst than TV dramas would lead you to believe, and he got good grades in school. He'd fight punks who singled him out for his hair every now and then, but his more than proficient karate usually made that a very one-sided affair, and the two times so far he had got busted up badly, his auntie had hunted the guilty parties down and delivered beat-downs of epic proportions- his auntie did not mess around, didn't care if you were a girl or a boy, a child or an adult, and the people at his school whispered with terror about the demon woman who had adopted Orihime and looked out for that Kurosaki punk like one of her own.
Yes, life was not at all bad, for a period where things were supposed to be hard, frightening and confusing. But it was funny. There were hiccups. Like the ghosts, for example. He had been able to see them for as long as he could remember, and in his youth, he had innocently told his mother about it. Each time she had laughed it off and told him he was being silly. Then, as he got older, the tone had got firmer, and she had told him in no uncertain terms that it was one thing to play make-believe when you were small, but he was a big boy now and big boys didn't make stupid things like that up.
Eventually, he had stopped asking. But he had never stopped seeing them. He saw spirits floating around town, rarely staying for long- he assumed they passed on somehow. Old men and women with wrinkles on their faces and glasses over their eyes, as if poor eyesight somehow carried over after death. Middle aged men dead of heart attacks, people dead from accidents. Most disturbing were the children, sometimes with blood still on their faces. But Ichigo never shied away from them, never treated them as less, and greeted them politely whenever they came in his way. They never stayed long, but there were always ghosts- spirits, lost souls, whatever you wanted to call them.
His mother had a track record of being right, as mothers tended to do, but Ichigo could always see them plain as day. They were no illusion, no fevered dreams dreamed up by a mind in flux by illness or trauma. They could not be touched, completely ethereal and partly see-through, but they seemed entirely real still. This left only one creeping suspicion as the reasonable alternative: He, Kurosaki Ichigo, was insane. Lost in his own mind, treating hallucination like reality, with delusions that could become dangerous one day. That had caused him no great deal of stress since he had realized it, roughly around the age of twelve, but as the days passed he had learned to cope. Sometimes, he got the impression his dad knew something, that maybe he saw them too- the odd glance, the strange look here and there when his mother wasn't looking, but Ichigo had never dared ask. Maybe one day he'd end up in an asylum; that fear had haunted him for years- but for now, he was fairly sure at least his friends were real, that at least his family was real, and if they weren't- well, then he didn't want reality anyhow. Life was refreshing when you knew you were a bit mad, Ichigo had come to realize. It gave you a perspective nobody else had.
He had a good family. But something was odd, and always had been, even ghosts aside. He had never had it explained to him where his auntie Erza had come from, for one, only that it was very far away- which seemed strange, because she looked and sounded very much Japanese. His mother was kind and loving, but there was something she wasn't saying- Ichigo nurtured a vain hope that it had to do with ghosts, and that perhaps he wasn't crazy after all.
Then there was his cousin. Ishida Uryu was a serious, rather grumpy kind of boy, and difficult to spend time with. The two of them had clashed often, but his mother had insisted, since the time that they were young, that they needed to let him in on their little circle because he did not have friends. That entire family was a mystery- the Ishida, he had learned, were all dead except for Uryu and his dad. How that happened, nobody would say. He kept feeling like there was a secret he was not supposed to know, just around the corner…
Or perhaps that was just delusion, paranoia and other crazy people things.
"Hey Ichigo, move your butt!" Tatsuki cried from a distance, Orihime beside her. They were out of Karakura, out of Karakura, in the neighbouring city of Takahama for a martial arts tournament. It had taken some convincing to let him go along, by himself, but his auntie had come to the rescue and finally his mother had let him go, to Ichigo's relief. He was at the delicate age where image mattered, even if the only person who cared you looked stupid was yourself.
"I'm coming!" Ichigo yelled back. "Just a second, all right?"
He kneeled by the pavement, on the road to the hotel they had booked for the weekend, and picked up a small glass bottle, turned over, water spilled out, flowers lying on the asphalt to dry. A small girl had died here, hit by a car, and people had left their tributes- and because humans are mean-spirited, some punks had knocked it over. Carefully, one by one, he picked the flowers up, and put them back in the bottle. There was barely any water left, and they would dry out in just a day, but it was better than nothing.
"Thank you, big brother," the ghost of the small girl mumbled. She was young, at least three years younger than his little sisters, and there was a pang in his chest as he looked at her, half her face covered in blood, but still smiling, her pigtails hanging freely from her head. She deserved at least some form of respect, even if he could do nothing else.
"Don't mention it," Ichigo mumbled quietly, partly to hide the emotion in his voice, partly to hide the fact that he was talking to something that was probably not real. "I gotta go now, so… just pass on soon, why don't ya? You're not gonna get anywhere here."
"I'll try," The ghost said, nodding bravely. "Good night, big brother."
"Good night," Ichigo murmured, and stood up, walking over to an impatient Tatsuki, and a cheery-as-always Orihime.
"Sheesh, honouring the dead?" Tatsuki said. "You have the face of a punk, but you're a boy scout on the inside, Ichigo,"
Ichigo shrugged. "Just seemed the right thing to do, that's all. Besides, we're in no hurry, are we? You wiped the floor with the competition today- you should celebrate, not gape at me."
"They were strong…" Tatsuki said tentatively, not wanting to seem to prideful. Then, unable to resist, she gave him a small grin. "All right, I was way stronger, but I wouldn't say I wiped the floor with them. Besides, that was only the lower bracket- tomorrow is gonna be way harder."
Tatsuki had real talent for karate, and a passion for the art of it, enough that Ichigo could see her becoming a professional- she wasn't Karakura's regional representative in the Tokyo championships for nothing.
"I know you can do it, Tatsuki!" Orihime said happily, putting one hand around her shoulder. "There's no way you'll lose! If you do, I'm officially the cyborg lord abzorbaloff of the raxacoricofallipatorian empire!"
Orihime, for her part, was… weird. There was no other way to put it. A good kind of weird, but also quite bizarre. Having grown up under his auntie Erza, who was best described as 'blunt, unconventional' when it came to how she approached the world in general, certainly hadn't done much to take the edge off.
"Cyborg lord. Right," Ichigo said, and couldn't help but smile. The two of them were his closest friends, and though he had been teased about it in middle school, they had never stopped meaning something to him. "Well, you're the same as always. Let's get going, yeah?"
"Agreed," Tatsuki huffed. The trio of teenagers walked down the street, quite alone- Takahama was not a large city, and it was not crowded after night, the people having gone to sleep, only a few street lights keeping the pavement illuminated. The summer night was pleasant to walk in, warm but not too warm, and Ichigo looked forward to a quick shower and then a good night's sleep.
He thought nothing of it when a chill passed through the street, a gale coming seemingly from nowhere with the cold of winter in it. He shivered, and crossed his arms, and soon it passed.
"The heck was that?" Tatsuki muttered. "It's supposed to be summer, isn't it?"
"Probably nothing," Ichigo said, and shrugged. They walked on, but not half a minute passed before another gale swept the street, causing them all to shiver.
"This don't make sense," Tatsuki grumbled. "Come on, the hotel is only a couple blocks away,"
"It's probably the frost giants," Orihime said, her tone having that bit of distance and awe she got when she began imagining things. "That, or global warming. Do you think there are global warming giants? That would explain SO MUCH-"
Orihime's tirade was cut short, as there was a thud in front of them. Something had landed in the street, leaping down from above. In the dim street light, Ichigo couldn't quite make it out- it was tall, ludicrously tall, stood on all fours like a gorilla…
Then it turned around, and Ichigo looked into the face of terror. A white mask for a face. Giant teeth. Clawed hands. He froze, feeling the chill all over his body, standing paralyzed. Quickly, he looked at Orihime and Tatsuki- Orihime looked confused, but Tatsuki, just like him, stared directly at the monster. If he hadn't been so pants-shittingly terrified, Ichigo would have wondered what that was all about. As it was, his mind was overwhelmed with fear- he wanted to run away, to move his legs, to get out of there, but somehow he couldn't. It was as if he had become paralyzed, frozen in place, helpless before this… thing.
The monster let out a low, rumbling chuckle, as if he was well aware of this effect. He was maybe ten yards away, and slowly, taking small steps, he advanced. Ichigo breathed raggedly, almost panicking. He could feel the breath of it, stinking like a rotten corpse, its teeth stained with dried, brown blood. If he had been able to move, his next impulse- aside from running away- would have been nausea, throwing up all over the pavement. The monster slowly reached out with one clawed arm, toward Tatsuki, and with horror Ichigo began to realize that this was it, this was how they died-
Then there was the slightest change in the wind, and Ichigo suddenly felt himself able to move. Seemingly from nowhere, a figure dashed at the monster, cutting deep into its arm with a sword. It roared, and swung at the swordsman hard and fast, but the figure jumped over him. Blood dripped from the creature's arm, and it turned around to face the new arrival, away from him, away from Tatsuki and Orihime.
"I am over here, monster!" The figure cried, and Ichigo realized it was a woman. He blinked, and looked at her, standing further down the street, sword held high and at the ready, fearlessly confronting the monster. She wore black, an old-fashioned kind of kimono that looked oddly familiar, and her hair was quite black. The monster, for its part, growled and positioned itself to attack, seeming to take her seriously despite how much larger and fiercer it looked.
"Ho-holy crap," Tatsuki mumbled, blinking. "What the hell IS that thing?" She turned to look to Orihime, who had fallen over, seemingly unconscious. "Damn it!"
Ichigo for his part was still paralyzed, although not quite like before. He could not turn away, not look elsewhere. Something in him wanted- no, needed- to see what happened here. The logical thing would have been to run, to hide, to let this strange warrior buy them the time they needed, but Ichigo was at a place far from rationality and calculated thinking. There was an unthinking awe in his mind, as he watched the battle commence.
The monster growled again, and lunged forward. With the calculated precision of a veteran, the woman jumped to the side, her blade once more cutting at the creature's forearm. It didn't seem to do much more than draw blood, though- it seemed to have thick skin. Nevertheless, the black-robed warrior went on the offensive, using an arm as a springboard, launching herself toward its masked face. She seemed intent on cutting its head, but the monster quickly brought an arm up, and swatted her away. The warrior was sent flying, but recovered mid-air, landing on a slide. The monster had taken the initiative, though, and had already leapt at her, swinging furiously with its clawed arms. The warrior defended, dodged and parried, but it was clear she was being pushed back.
Run away, the reasonable part of his mind said. Run away. Your friends need you. You might die. Run!
But something had snapped in Ichigo's mind, and the voice of reason was quashed. Looking around for something, anything at all, he grabbed a brick from the street, and ran after the monster. He had no idea what he was doing; not the smallest amount of thought had gone into this. He just knew he had to do something, because the warrior woman was in trouble and she might die if he just ran.
"HEY!" He cried at the beast, as he ran closer. "HEY, YOU UGLY PIECE OF CRAP! I'M RIGHT HERE!"
With gusto, he threw the brick at it. It was a good, accurate throw, and could have cracked the skull of the typical human being. It simply bounced off the monster's thick hide, though. Ichigo refused to let up, shouting abuse at it.
"You fool!" The shinigami cried, pushed back by the monster. A swipe of the monster's paw hit her, and she only barely recovered. Ichigo paid it no mind, running right up to the monster. He saw a pipe lying on the ground, rusty and broken, and grabbed it. It would do nothing, probably, but Ichigo still took it in both hands, and swung at the monster with all he had. Finally, it growled and slowly turned its head toward Ichigo. Faced with a close-up view of its gaping maw, huge teeth and rotting pieces of flesh still stuck in it, Ichigo started to realize that this might not have been the wisest choice. Still too far gone to turn back, he defiantly raised the pipe.
The hollow took two steps back, planted its forearms firmly on the ground, opened its mouth wide, and jumped. As if the world slowed down, Ichigo could see it coming- right at him, much too fast, intent to bite him in half in one swift move…
And then, for the second time that night, the warrior came to his aid. As if from nowhere, as if spirited away by magic- hadn't she been knocked back ten, twenty yards just seconds ago?- she appeared in front of him, sword at the ready. The mouth came down on her, and though her sword blocked it partly, Ichigo could hear the teeth bite into her, hear the crunch of flesh and bone snapping under the pressure. Desperately the warrior raised one hand, and a flash of blue light surged out, striking the monster in the eye. It roared, staggered back, shaking its head around furiously.
The warrior sunk to her knees, just barely holding herself upright, and Ichigo hurried to her side. In the moonlight, he could see fairly well- blood was pouring copiously from under her kimono, and at least one arm seemed broken.
"Damn…" She managed, her voice ragged, struggling to breathe.
"I'll- I'll find help-" Ichigo said, realizing how stupid he had to sound. What kind of help would you find for this kind of thing? This was bad- even if they ran, they couldn't possibly hope to get away from a monster so big, so fast. If they didn't find a way, right here and now, Orihime and Tatsuki would be dead. So would he, so would the warrior woman bleeding on the pavement.
"Listen," the woman said, looking him in the eye. She was beautiful, one part of his mind noted- the one that wasn't terrified to the bone. "Do you… do you want to live?" She sounded hesitant, as if not sure what to do. "Do you want to save your friends?"
"Anything it takes," Ichigo said resolutely.
"You should have run away…" She murmured, and held up her sword. "But there is a way. Will you trust me on this?"
"What choice do I have?" Ichigo said simply. The monster was still reeling, but it seemed to have recovered. They had seconds, at best. "Here," the woman said, raising her sword arm. It trembled a little, and it seemed to take more than a little effort to hold it upright. "Take the blade… and stab it in your heart."
"Wh-what?" Ichigo said. The sword looked very deadly, with a dull glimmer in the moonlight on its grey blade, and running a weapon into himself was probably the last thing Ichigo would have considered.
"It will give you some of my power," The woman said weakly. "Enough to defeat it. It's not very strong- I would have won if I didn't have to…"
Ichigo felt a pang of guilt. She wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for him- he had tried to help, and it had made things worse. And to make matters worse, the monster was looking right at them now, ready to charge. This was mad. This whole situation was mad. This whole night was mad.
But then again, Ichigo was mad already, and if this was a delusion then he might as well run with it.
"All right," he said, hesitantly grabbing hold of the blade with one hand, reaching down to grab the hilt with another.
"Just one thing," the woman said, a defiant look on her face, "I'm Kuchiki Rukia."
"Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo said with a grin. He felt her hand push upward, and defying every survival instinct he had, he pushed with her, letting the blade go closer and closer to his chest. He was terrified. The monster itself had scared him; what it was going to do to his friends had terrified him, and now a sword was about to lodge itself in his chest, on the assurance of some stranger that it would help. Mad, it was.
To hell with it.
Smoothly and easily, it slid into his chest. Ichigo had only ever seen swords in a museum before, and had never spent much thought on what it would be like to get stabbed by one. He imagined it would involve an overwhelming pain, and had steeled himself accordingly. But rather than a sword cutting into flesh, like a knife through lunch meat, it slid neatly into his ribcage with hardly any resistance. For a second, he felt shocked- there was no pain, no ripping of muscles, sinews and organs, no blood gushing…
For just a second, he was surprised. Then it happened, an overwhelming sensation as if every cell in his body had come on fire, lit up like a light bulb sparked by electricity. At first he thought it was pain, but it was simply shock- a new, alien experience that somehow just feltright. Something inside Ichigo exploded, like a dam bursting, and he could feel power coursing through his entire body. The whole process took but a few seconds, but he could have talked about it for hours; a sensation nearly indescribable. It was like being awake for the first time in his life, like he could feel every part of his body work…
Stumped, in awed, he looked down on his body. He wore the same kind of black robes that the woman- Rukia had worn. In his hands were a blade, well over five feet long, thick and wide. And, he noticed, by his feet lay he himself, his own body still and motionless. That… was disturbing, but he had more pressing concerns, like the monster ahead of him. The beast had stopped, mid-charge, as if surprised by the power radiating from this new enemy. Resolutely, Ichigo took the hilt of the sword in both hands, and assumed what he hoped was a good stance. He had never had much of any training in kendo, and it would probably be more like whacking it with a very sharp stick- but with the power Ichigo felt right now, that would probably be enough.
The monster growled, apparently ready to take its chances, and began to move forward. Not waiting for it to take the lead, Ichigo charged in, bringing the sword down hard. The monster tried to block with one arm, but Ichigo's blade cut keep, enough that he could feel it graze bone, and the monster roared with pain and staggered back. Quickly, Ichigo followed up with a sideways cut across the chest, and the monster staggered back.
"Hit it across the mask!" Rukia cried out. "It will be purified, and die instantly!"
Well past the point of questioning any part of this madness, Ichigo immediately ran forward, raising his sword high. He jumped into the air, part of him noting that he was jumping way higher than he should be able to, especially considering the enormous hunk of metal he was carrying, and brought the sword down. The monster shrieked, tried to get away, but it was too late. With all the grace of a club smashing into bone, the sword's edge collided with the mask. The impact all but shattered it, pieces of white flying to each side, and Ichigo just barely landed on his feet. The monster roared, desperately clawed at its face- and then, most remarkably, it simply began to… disintegrate, as if every particle holding it together had decided to part ways. Ichigo gaped, and was glad there was nobody watching his stupefied expression. He had beaten it. Easily. The threat was gone, and some part of his mind reminded him that if there was ever a time to say something cool, now was it.
"Yeah…" He said tamely. "That, uh, that'll teach you."
Smooth.
He turned back to Rukia, sword resting on his shoulder. "So… this is the power of… well, what is this power, actually?"
"We are shinigami," Rukia said. "Long story."
"Shinigami. Right." Ichigo said, realizing he sounded much too skeptical. "You know… that actually makes perfect sense. The great, evil thingy I just killed?"
"…a hollow." Rukia said. She was barely sitting up, the blood flow seeming to have stopped.
"And another me just lying on the ground?" Ichigo said, looking at his body nervously. It was weird seeing his own face from the outside- unsettling, even. He looked closely, and it seemed he- it?- was at least breathing.
"The you that walks and talks right now, that is your soul," Rukia explained. "And that, over there, is your body. Come here, and I'll take back the power and make you whole again."
"…all right," Ichigo said, realizing it almost felt disappointing to go back; he enjoyed this, the rush, the power, the enormous sword. Even so he complied, and walked over to the body.
"So, now what?"
"Just let me do my work…"
And then Ichigo woke up with a start, and looked up from under the comfortable covers of a hotel bed. Feeling a bit stiff, he slowly sat himself up. He had a slight headache, an odd ache in his body on the whole, and blinked heavily at the sunlight shining in through the window. The first thing he noticed was that he was still wearing pants, and the same shirt he had worn the other night. What had happened? His memory was a bit blank on that. He had watched Tatsuki mop the floor with her opposition, and Orihime and himself had cheered with her, then it had gotten dark and they had started heading back…
Suddenly, it all flooded back in his mind. The small girl's ghost. The three of them walking down that empty street. A chill, and then a monster. A woman with a sword- Rukia! Kuchiki Rukia, her name was Kuchiki Rukia! A fight… and then he had ended up with her powers. He flexed his fingers, and made a fist, trying to feel it, the raw power coursing through the smallest cell of his body, through each and every part of him…
Nothing. He felt perfectly normal. It… was a dream, of course. He'd headed back to the hotel, maybe hit his head on something and forgot, and dreamed about Rukia, about monsters…
It had just seemed so real. Like anyone else, Ichigo had had dreams that seemed real before, the kind that were clear and felt entirely true while he had them, but this was different. But it had to be. Right? There was no way this was true.
Deciding not to get stuck in his own ponderings, Ichigo shook his head, grabbed a fresh change of clothes, and headed for the shower. Five minutes later, he joined Tatsuki and Orihime by the table for breakfast. Orihime was making a predictably bizarre meal, toast with what looked like lutefisk and strawberry jam, while Tatsuki herself was chewing down a more reasonable toast. Very slowly, Ichigo noticed, and uncharacteristically quietly, looking into the table.
Equally silently, Ichigo got some milk, and stared blankly into space. Life was funny. Crazy, really. He had the urge to come out and say it, ask Orihime and Tatsuki if they had seen it too- but with how he was already ninety percent sure he was insane, he decided not to. No reason to make them think he was mad when he already knew he was. So, he ate breakfast in silence.
However, he would not have to wait long. After finishing her bizarre toast, Orihime had a drink of milk, hummed cheerily, and said,
"So… are we just not going to talk about how we almost died last night? It's not every day a spirit samurai saves your life from a mutant monster from outer space, you know."
Tatsuki looked incredulous, and in her gaping face Ichigo saw a sure mirror of what he had to look like himself, his jaw having dropped. At the same time as Ichigo started talking, Tatsuki said,
"That was real?"
While Ichigo said:
"You saw it too?!"
"Well, duh," Orihime said, casually buttering another piece of toast, "and I figure it had to be an alien, since it doesn't look like anything we have on earth. That, or a malignant spirit created by a ghost with regrets which loses its mind with hatred and sadness and preys upon the living. Or oooh, maybe an advanced kind of cyborg!"
"…I thought I was just dreaming," Tatsuki mumbled. "Had to be, right? But it… seemed real, and it was real, and I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to make of this."
Ichigo, for his part, didn't say anything more. Instead, he just began laughing, a long, relieved, heartfelt laugh. Tatsuki started giving him funny looks when it lasted over a minute, and once it had gone on for two, she punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey, you think it's funny, almost dying?"
"I'm so-I'm sorry," Ichigo said, gasping for breath. "I was just… I was sure I was going crazy. And now I know it wasn't just me, that it wasn't all in my head. I'm not crazy, you guys!" He laughed again, feeling relief flood through him.
"…he said, after cackling like a madman," Tatsuki snorted. "I think the jury's still out on that one, buddy."
"You don't get it," Ichigo said excitably. "All my life- since I was a little kid- I saw ghosts, all over the place, but nobody else did and… and since forever, I kinda thought I was going crazy. But it wasn't just me!"
"Well…" Tatsuki mumbled. "I've actually seen them too. For a couple years, at least. Just kept my mouth shout, because, you know…" She made a gesture with her finger, at her head, "…people think you're crazy if you say stuff like that."
"Oh, holy crap…" Ichigo mumbled. "For how long? Orihime, did you see it too? Did you see the ghosts?"
"Not really," Orihime said, and shrugged, as if the topic was completely normal- which, in her reality, it probably was. "But I believe you. If there can be mutant aliens attacking us, there can be ghosts, too." She swallowed down the last of her toast. "Actually… I didn't see the monster. Not at first. I just felt… frozen in place. But something happened there, and I don't know what, but… somehow, I started making it out. It was blurry at first, like watching something at the edge of your vision, but it got clearer somehow. I saw… you fighting it off, Ichigo."
"Wait, what?" Tatsuki said. "I remember some girl running away and you lying there on the ground all limp, and figured she fought it off. We practically had to carry you back to the hotel."
Well, that explained the clothes.
"I did, yes," Ichigo said, and nodded. "I don't know how, but she gave me… power, somehow. I killed it. Don't know how, but I did."
"So you're a spirit samurai too, now?" Orihime said happily. "That's great for you, Ichigo! Now we can form our own superhero team… what should your name be? 'Black Robe', maybe? Nah, too bland. How about 'Red Swordsman', because of your hair? Or-"
"Um… no superhero teams just yet, Orihime," Ichigo mumbled, a bit taken aback. Orihime never ceased to surprise you, no matter how much you thought you were used to her. "I'm uh, I'm not. A spirit samurai. I mean, a shinigami."
"That's what it's called?" Orihime said. "I guess that makes sense, but I still think 'spirit samurai' sounds cooler."
"Shinigami?" Tatsuki said questioningly.
"It's what she said they were called," Ichigo said, shrugging. "I don't know any more than you do, okay? She gave me some power, I beat that thing, and now I'm back to normal." Without realizing it, he let a small sigh slip out.
"If you say so," Tatsuki mumbled. "This is… kind of mind-blowing, though, isn't it? All over the world people think ghosts aren't real, and now we know they are… and not only that, there are these weird monsters running around, attacking who knows how many people. It's like there's this whole world going on that nobody else can see…"
"And now we're part of that world!" Orihime said cheerily. "Isn't that cool? Just think of having two whole words to explore, instead of just one!"
"That… is one way of looking at it, sure," Ichigo mumbled. "But yeah. It's heavy stuff. Um…" He looked at the clock, and added, "but um, I think we better get going. Ghosts are real and all, but so is your tournament, and we'll miss the bus if we don't get ready. You have asses to kick, remember?"
He said the words with a small grin, one Tatsuki reciprocated.
"Hell yeah I do," She said eagerly. "You're right- having my mind blown can wait till tonight. I've got a championship to win!"
"That's the spirit!" Orihime said cheerily. "Try not to break any bones. Unless you have to. In which case, break as many bones as you need to!"
"Duly noted," Tatsuki said, and got up from the table. She affectionately ruffled Orihime's hair, and went to get her things. Ichigo and Orihime got ready, too, and before long they were waiting for a bus ride to the Tokyo Regional Championships.
The day played out as expected- lots of karate bouts, most of their time spent waiting for Tatsuki's turn in the tournament. The brackets were extensive, even with most of it behind them from the day before. Tatsuki seemed to not be too distracted by last night's revelations, taking one match after another with convincing vigour, few opponents even putting up that much of a fight. She was a natural, Ichigo knew, and he felt proud watching her beat down her opposition.
However, nature's calling eventually made itself loud and clear to Ichigo, and after watching Tatsuki flip a girl nearly twice her size (or so it seemed, at least) like a rag doll, Ichigo excused himself, and headed for the restroom.
Just as he had concluded his business, and was about to reach for a paper towel to dry his hands, he saw a figure in the mirror. At first glance, he thought nothing of it- public restrooms were public, after all- but after a second, he realized several things. It was Rukia. She was not wearing a black kimono. Worst of all, it was a girl.
Scrambling to zip his fly, which he had forgot to close, he quickly turned around- too quickly, enough that he lost his balance. Desperately grabbing for support, and failing, he fell over. Realizing that whatever dignity he had ever had was gone, he quickly got to his feet, and snarled,
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh please, I wasn't looking," Rukia said, with a smirk. "I was a perfect gentlewoman, I assure you."
"Ha-freaking-ha!" Ichigo hissed, keeping his voice down- shouting might attract more people, and the last thing this needed was an audience. "What the hell are you doing here? I mean… here, of all places?"
"I'm confused," Rukia said, clearly enjoying herself, "do you want to know what I am doing here, or why I chose this place?"
"The first! And second! Both!" Ichigo said, feeling flustered. Girls were all right, provided they didn't do crazy things like sneak into the men's room- and when they did, he was never sure what to make of it.
"It's private," Rukia said casually, with a shrug. "A bit of simple magic, and we won't be disturbed until we're done."
"Done with what?" Ichigo said, still angry but calming himself down somewhat. "And what are you doing, wearing that… normal getup?"
She was dressed quite simply, in a dignified grey blazer and a somewhat less dignified short skirt of the same colour, looking exactly like a normal human being. And, a small part of him noted, she wasn't bad to look at.
"Our shihakusho aren't attached to our skin, you know," she said amusedly. "I'll have you know that plenty of shinigami prefer to sample living-world fashion on their off duty hours."
"…yeah, whatever," Ichigo grumbled. "What do you want, surprising me like this?"
Rukia's amused demeanor dropped from her face, and she looked dead serious. "Something happened last night," she said, and looked him in the eye.
"Well yes, something happened, all right!" Ichigo said. "You stabbed me and then I got all powerful, and then I don't remember a thing- so what about it?"
"You were supposed to get only a small portion of my power," Rukia said, her voice serious, "a tenth, perhaps. No more than a human should be able to handle. No more than I should be able to recover myself. But that didn't happen- somehow, you took all of my power. I only have enough left to stay alive. I have been reduced to a simple soul."
"You don't look much like a normal soul," Ichigo said, frowning.
"This," Rukia said, gesturing at herself in general, "Is what we call a gigai. An artificial body. We use it sometimes to hide when we're in the world of the living. My power, the part that makes me a shinigami- that is still stuck inside you."
"What?!" Ichigo said with a bit of shock, running the palm of his hand over his chest, as if he could somehow sense it physically. "But… how…"
"I don't know either," Rukia said. "But it should wear off. I hope. I can't contact my base of operations for a while yet, and I don't know how long this will take to wear off."
"So… um…" Ichigo said, doing his best to try and feel for some weird ghost-spirit-samurai kind of power, and coming up short, "what… do I do about it?"
"Well, it's obvious," Rukia said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "you'll simply have to take over my duties for the time being. I was assigned to the Karakura region, although I landed in the wrong city by mistake. You are a Karakura resident. You have the power. It should work just fine, with a bit of guidance."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ichigo said. "Wait- how do you know I'm from Karakura?"
"I know a guy who knows things," Rukia said. "He was the one who supplied me with this gigai. Now, let's get started. You have a lot to learn-"
"Again, whoa," Ichigo said. "I never said I was going to do it, okay? This whole… slaying monsters business is not me. I mean, dumping this on me, that's like dumping a war on a soldier who never fought in a battle. No, scratch that- it's more like dumping it on somebody who never finished boot camp! Slaying monsters with swords…" He shook his head. "It's not just that it's dangerous for me, but I can't let my family be at risk. Or my friends. I'd just be an idiot with a big sword that he doesn't know how to use."
"You did fine yesterday," Rukia said impatiently.
"That was… I dunno, dumb luck?" Ichigo said. The memory of it was a bit hazy, almost a blur. He had felt strong, powerful, he had felt right… but now, in the daylight, where it was no longer fight or die, he felt hesitant, even afraid. Tatsuki was right- it was a whole new world, and the thought of being enlisted as a soldier in it didn't appeal to him.
Rukia shook her head. "Trust me, your strength is far above that of a typical human being. Stronger than many shinigami, even. You won't be dealing with anything too dangerous. I'll just give you some basic training, just as a temporary solution, and we'll-"
"No," Ichigo said flatly. "Sorry, but no. This is your mess, not mine. I'm not going to stick my neck out because you messed up. If it were just… something smaller, but, ah," He scratched his head; he felt like a prick saying these things so bluntly, "you're asking me to risk my life. That's what it is, if it's anything like last night- and if my friends and family got caught up, then…" At a loss for words he shrugged, hoping she caught his meaning.
"Ichigo," Rukia said gravely, staring into his eyes, "last night, you saved my life. If that counts for nothing, then you should know that you also saved the life of your two friends, too. Do they matter to you?"
Ichigo said nothing, but the look on his face spoke volumes.
"They do," Rukia said, nodding. "Now imagine it's somebody else's best friend. Somebody else's sister, daughter, mother. Somebody else's precious somebody that nobody can replace. Can you imagine that, Ichigo? I know you can. You felt it last night."
"That was… different," Ichigo said evasively. "I had my back against the wall, I had no choice…"
"Ichigo, if you do this, you will make a difference." Her voice was sharp, true, and held a weight and certainty well beyond her youthful appearance. "These monsters are hollows, souls driven mad by grief and regret, turned into monsters preying on the living. We shinigami purify them. Each hollow we stop is one less that can hurt and kill others. Ichigo, if you do this, you will save lives. If you do not, people will die. Eventually my superiors will send a replacement, but that could take time- for all they know, I am still at work. It could take months. How many human beings will die in that time, Ichigo?" Her voice was somewhere in between pleading and steely, and it drilled at his mind like a jackhammer. Hold firm, he thought, you said your piece and it was true. It's not your battle.
"I can tell you how many: not dozens, but hundreds," Rukia continued mercilessly. "Hundreds will die. Thousands will have lost their children, their siblings, their parents. You have the power to stop this. So will you stand there in the shadows because you are afraid, or will you step up and make a difference?"
"I… I don't know," Ichigo said hesitantly.
"Have you ever lost anybody, Ichigo? Anybody close to you?"
"…no," he mumbled.
"It hurts. More than anybody can imagine. It leaves a hole in your chest. You have potential, Ichigo, and you're strong- so if you let me, we can stop that from happening."
"No." He said, less resolutely this time.
"What if it were your sisters?" Rukia said coldly. "What if a monster came after them, and you were powerless to stop it? What if it was your mother? After all, they came after you once- who's to say they wouldn't do it again?"
"You shut up!" Ichigo said sharply. He was in turmoil, balling his fists as he felt as if something boiled in his chest. "You- just shut up, okay? I don't want any of your crazy world, not one iota!"
Before she could reply, he stormed out of the restroom, leaving Rukia behind. Shaken, he made his way back to the stage where the tournament was held, taking long, deep breaths. Rukia just watched him leave. That was enough for now- but she was not done, not by far.
Tatsuki had taken the championship, quite convincingly, against a monster of a girl taller and tougher than she was. Ichigo had watched and cheered, but his mirth had been forced, fake, hiding his anxiety. The confrontation with Rukia had shaken him, filled him with a noxious cocktail of emotion- fear, anger, self-righteous fury, nervousness, and the gnawing feeling that he was doing something wrong. It was crazy, of course, and he knew the arguments- it wasn't his world, not his mess, and he had no reason to risk his life for somebody else; the safety of his family was at risk…
It made perfect sense. He saw no flaw in his logic. Sure, he was partly to blame for Rukia's injury back then, but she asked way too much of him- way too much. It was unreasonable. Completely unfair. He was fifteen years old; he should be worried about grades, about girls, about the future, not putting his life on the line. It was… too much.
But the more he thought about it, the more those things felt like excuses. Feelings were rarely logical, and he tried to dismiss it at just that- an irrational sense of guilt, coupled with some dumb, macho protector instinct, but no matter how he reasoned he couldn't shake it. He kept thinking of Rukia, of her steely, determined face, her voice as she said the words,
"Hundreds will die. Thousands will have lost their children, their siblings, their parents. You have the power to stop this."
So it was that, after some appropriate celebration, whose associated elation let him almost forget about the encounter, he found himself back at the hotel. Twilight would soon come, and all three of them were exhausted- well, not Orihime, whose energy seemed limitless. Tatsuki had taken a shower, and was taking a well-deserved rest on the couch in the hotel room, lazily watching some crummy soap opera, with Orihime excitably following the show's excuse for a plot. Ichigo had joined them, although he couldn't focus at anything- certainly not some silly drama show. Restlessly, he fiddled with his fingers, making fists, twiddling thumbs, staring down into his lap.
After a while, Tatsuki looked away from the TV, fixing her eyes on Ichigo, and said,
"Well aren't you the picture of joy? I just won a trophy, and then we went out and had a roaring good time too, and here you are looking like your pet hamster got run over, or something. Did that monster thing really get to you that badly?" She sounded somewhere in between quizzical, concerned, and a little irritated.
"It's not that," Ichigo said, and immediately regretted his words. It would have made for a good excuse, but he couldn't back away now. "It's, um… it's nothing, all right?" He said lamely, hoping it would be enough. "I can handle myself, so don't worry."
"Pff, 'don't worry', my rear," Tatsuki snorted. "I know you, Ichigo, and that's what you say when you're being an idiot who thinks you have to keep it all inside just because you're a boy. It's okay to have more emotion than a rock, you know."
"Really, it's nothing," Ichigo said, putting a little more effort into it. He sounded more convincing this time, but Tatsuki was not letting up. She stood up from her chair, and walked over to Ichigo.
"Come on. Talk to me. That's what friends are for, aren't they?"
"I'm fine," Ichigo insisted.
"Well, you leave me no choice," Tatsuki said. She shrugged, and Ichigo caught the look in her eye and the grin on her face too late, and within a second she had locked an arm around his neck, placing the knuckles of her free arm on the top of his head. She was strong- of course, Ichigo was taller and stronger, but he wasn't about to start wrestling her like it was serious.
"Hey, hey, knock it off!" Ichigo said, squirming- although not very hard.
"You leave me no choice, bud," Tatsuki said. "Speak, or I'll give you a noogie you'll feel two weeks from now."
"What are we, five?" Ichigo protested. "I'm fine, I told you!"
Orihime looked on with cheer, and said,
"Ve haff vays of making you talk, mister Bond! So you better spill it!"
"Okay, one: James Bond never fought any Nazis," Ichigo began, "and secondly- owwwww!"
Tatsuki had begun rubbing her knuckles over his skull.
"You can make it stop any time, Mister Bond!" She said cheerily. "All you have to do is talk!"
"Since when am I mister Bond?" Ichigo protested. Despite himself he was nearly laughing; this was so typical of Tatsuki, so direct and blunt. "Oww- come on, knock it off!"
"Never!" Tatsuki insisted. "And if this doesn't cut it… maybe the Indian burns will!"
"No!" Ichigo cried out, and laughter finally bubbled over in his voice. "No, anything but that!"
"Haff you had enough, mister Bond?" Tatsuki said, stubbornly continuing her torture. "Or shall ve proceed to phase two, ja?"
"Fine, fine, I'll talk!" Ichigo said, and couldn't help but laugh. "Just let go of me already, okay?"
"That's what I like to hear," Tatsuki said, nodded, and let him go. Standing in front of him, she said, "Let's hear it then."
"Is it that girl from last night?" Orihime said, and Ichigo marveled at the accidental accuracy of her bizarre fantasies. "I bet you totally fell in love with her, and now you're torn because she belongs to the world of the dead, and you to the living, and your love is impossible and may never be, but you will try anyway-"
"NO," Ichigo said firmly, hoping he wasn't blushing, "definitely not that. Definitely."
"So what is it then?" Tatsuki said, sitting herself down at the far end of the couch.
Ichigo took a deep breath.
"All right. You know what? It is the girl from last night. Minus the whole 'impossible love' nonsense," he added hastily. "Today… I was taking a leak, and she surprised me in the bathroom."
Tatsuki gave a whistle. "Don't tell me…"
"No, goddammit!" Ichigo swore, and knew that this time, he was definitely blushing. "She surprised me and gave me this… speech." He took another deep breath. "I'll tell you the whole thing, but if I hear one word, one freaking innuendo or tease, I'm keeping my lips shut, got that?"
"You got my word," Tatsuki said with a snigger, and the grin on her face told him she already had had enough fun at his expense."
"We won't, I promise," Orihime said. "Did she tell you that you're still a spirit samurai?"
Again. How did she do it?
"…yes." Ichigo mumbled, and nodded. He went on to explain the whole thing, all she had said; how he now had the powers of a shinigami, how she had tried to recruit him, how he had said no… Orihime and Tatsuki listened and nodded, occasionally cutting in with a question. Surprisingly, Ichigo felt much better having gotten it off his chest, most of that uncertain turmoil in his gut settling down.
"…and that's about the gist of it," He said quietly. "She wants me to be a soldier for her, and for who knows how long. It's crazy. Right?"
"It's a big thing to spring on you, gotta agree," Tatsuki said thoughtfully.
"Imagine that…" Orihime said, with a look on her face that Ichigo knew meant her imagination was going into overdrive. "You have the actual powers… of a death god…"
"Yeah, well, I'm not using them," Ichigo said stubbornly. "This is not my war. If there's a whole order of 'em out there, then it's their responsibility to fix this, not mine." He looked at Tatsuki, desperately wanting her to agree, to convince him- because he certainly hadn't convinced himself.
"That thing she said…" Tatsuki said thoughtfully. "It could be your family."
"…yeah, she said that," Ichigo said uncertainly. "What about it?"
"If it were your family," Tatsuki said seriously, "if it were your mom, your dad and your sisters, and one day you came home to find them all dead, blood everywhere-"
"Jesus, Tatsuki!" Ichigo snapped.
"IF that happened," Tatsuki insisted, "and you knew there was somebody who could have stopped it, but didn't, would you ever forgive him?"
"What the hell?" Ichigo said, feeling angry, "You're on her side now?"
"I'm not on any side." Tatsuki said. "But no matter what, you'd never be alone."
"Because we'd be right here," Orihime said confidently. "We'd find a way to help- maybe we'd find some kind of scientifically advanced experimental anti-monster rail guns. Or regular guns!"
"…something like that," Tatsuki said. "What's important is you answer the question. Would you forgive somebody like that?"
"I… I dunno," Ichigo said, knowing full well the answer.
"I think you do." Tatsuki said seriously.
"Think about this, Ichigo," Orihime said, and Ichigo wished he could just worm his way out of here. Tatsuki was firm, assertive, sort of like a brother, and screaming at her, he could do. Orihime, not quite so much.
"Last night, you saved me and Tatsuki. I think that was pretty heroic."
"Well, I didn't have a choice, did I?" Ichigo repeated.
"Ichigo, if you saved the two of us, if we're worth saving… aren't the other people out there worth saving too?" She looked him right in the eye, and he wished he could look away.
"…sure, sure," He said hastily, and looked down, "but… I'm not even trained for this."
"This is a big thing, make no mistake," Tatsuki said, "and she is asking a lot of you. But you always do the right thing, Ichigo. If people need help, you help. I always respected that. So the choice is yours, and I'm not going to judge you either way. It's not fair, dumping something like this on you. You're young- we all are."
"But life's not fair, right?" Ichigo said. "That's what you'd say next."
"Maybe," Tatsuki said. "I just know that you'd never get any peace if you thought people died because of you."
"So… ah, fuck" Ichigo mumbled. He was about to take the leap, he knew, plunge headlong off a cliff without knowing the waters below, "what am I supposed to do? I mean… you'd help, yeah?"
"Damn straight," Tatsuki said, making a fist. "All for one and one for all, you know that."
"Like the three musketeers!" Orihime said. "Only without muskets. Would that make us the three shinigamiteers?"
"Damn it…" Ichigo mumbled. "All right. Fine. If she comes looking for me again… I'll say yes."
"Go to the bathroom and wait, why don't you?" Tatsuki said with a snigger.
"Hey!" Ichigo began, but then he heard a noise, and realized the window was open. "Wait… what was that?"
As if the universe was inclined to answer his question directly, he saw Rukia's petite frame smoothly heave itself up through the window. They were two stories up, but at this point, nothing should surprise him. She landed gracefully, and gave him a look that was somewhere in between satisfied and a little smug.
"You!" Ichigo said. "You- how long have you been out there!"
"Well, for quite some time." She said flippantly. "I was going to come in sooner, but you sounded like you were having a moment, and I didn't want to intrude."
"So instead you just listened in like some stalker?" Ichigo said incredulously. He had agreed to the proposal, perhaps, but that didn't mean he had to like her.
"Ah, the bathroom girl herself," Tatsuki said cheerily. "Or was it shinigami? You don't look very much like a spirit."
"Don't underestimate us," Rukia said. "And I'm no 'girl'. I am ten times your age at the least."
Tatsuki gave a whistle. "Well, then you're not looking bad for your age. So… how does this work?"
Rukia walked into the room, and dug out something from her pocket. "Well, first I'm going to need to overwrite your memories. Except Ichigo, of course. You're not supposed to know-"
Quickly, Ichigo put his hand on Rukia's, holding on to the little device.
"No," he said simply. "We're all in this, together. We all go, or none of us do."
Rukia gave him a calculating look, as if to determine if she could somehow do it anyway, then finally decided to put it away, stuffing it back in her pocket.
"…all right," she said. "I'm not sure what you'll be able to do, but… if that's the way it is."
"Well, that was surprisingly easy," Tatsuki said.
"I'm a little desperate, to be honest," Rukia admitted. "This was my first solo assignment to the world of the living, and… it got messed up. This is the only way. So, I adapt."
"Good then," Ichigo said. "So… what am I supposed to do?"
"We'll get there. Not tonight, it seems quiet enough, but when we get back to Karakura, we have some basics to go over." She looked at him, and shot him the smallest of smiles. "I'm glad you reconsidered."
"To be honest, I guess I owe ya," Ichigo said, and shrugged. "You got all busted up trying to save me, so I'll repay the favour. But only until your shinigami buddies fix this, got that?"
"Understood," Rukia said, and nodded.
"So…" He said, not sure where to go next.
"Why don't you sit down with us, shinigami lady?" Orihime said. "I am Inoue Orihime, by the way."
"Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia said.
"Excellent," Orihime said. "Come sit with us. You've nowhere to go anyway, right? They're just about to reveal who murdered mister Kiyasaki, head of the sushi company."
"…the what?" Rukia said.
"Don't ask," Ichigo said, and shrugged. "These things make no sense."
Yet, somehow, Rukia wound up staying the night, sitting up till late with Orihime. Shinigami she was, but human entertainment seemed to appeal to her still.
And just like that, Ichigo had taken the plunge.
It had been a week since Erza had left for her kendo tournament, and it felt good to be back home. As she walked up the stairs to her apartment she smiled, thinking about the experience. Some of her students had come along to cheer, and she had felt proud performing so well in front of them. It was hardly fair, of course- even with the restrictions of a gigai, not a single one of her competitors had come close. She felt bad, but only a little. Having earned a neat chunk of money for first place certainly eased any shame she might have had. Orihime would be back by now, she knew, from that tournament Tatsuki had. It was a good thing, she thought. Young people should be out and about, enjoying themselves, and karate was a healthy sport to follow. All things considered, she and Masaki hadn't done a bad job- no delinquency, no drugs, and no alcohol for their kids. Most other parents would tell them you could never know for sure, but most other parents couldn't stalk their children at the speed of sound if they needed to. Because of this, she hadn't been too nervous, letting them go away by themselves- Takahama was outside the danger zone, as most hollows in the region tended to frequent Karakura, and the three of them were responsible young individuals. Well, comparatively at least.
Lost in thought, Erza unlocked the door, stepped inside, took her coat and shoes off, and was soon greeted by a cheery Orihime, who ran up to her and gave her a quick hug. It was Saturday, which meant they were in no rush- and free to spend some quality time together.
"Erza!" Orihime chirped, hugging her hard. She always surprised Erza, so strong for a human- then again, that was how Erza had raised her. "You're back! Welcome home!"
You might have thought Erza would have been gone for months, not just a week, but the two of them had got quite close. Orihime valued the people close to her; she would have made a fine member of Fairy Tail, and that was high praise.
"Yup, I'm back," Erza said, and smiled as she ruffled Orihime's hair. "Oof- take it easy there, or you'll break me," she joked.
"Did you win?" Orihime said, letting go.
Smiling, Erza reached into her bag, and produced a small trophy, and a wad of bills.
"I knew you'd do it!" Orihime cheered.
"Of course I would," Erza said. "I worked my hardest and did my best, and what does that mean?"
"You win, and even if you don't, you still have a reason to be proud of yourself!" Orihime said, repeating a lesson Erza had taught her.
"That's right," Erza said, nodding. "Come on, let's have some tea."
"I already made some, just in case," Orihime chirped.
"Great," Erza said. She really was a sweet girl.
Soon, the two of them were seated on the couch of her apartment, the TV running a re-run of some soap opera, one of their favourite pastimes. It was ridiculous, but quite entertaining.
"So," Erza said, leaning back with a mug of warm tea, "how was the tournament?"
"Oh, it was awesome!" Orihime exclaimed. "There were like, so many girls who looked super tough, but Tatsuki was like, Wham! Pow! Shadoosh!" She made some excitable gestures, mimicking karate- Tatsuki had taught her some, something Erza had definitely welcomed. She watched and listened as Orihime launched into a tirade, describing what was with certainty a vastly exaggerated recount of Tatsuki's run through the brackets- she was sure that karate tournaments did not involve time-travelling robots, or tin-can-shaped cyborg aliens with a tendency toward extermination, and she knew for a fact that Tatsuki was not actually a superhero. Even so, she smiled, listened, and read through the line- she had done quite well, Orihime and Ichigo had cheered her on, and they had had a good time all around. After a good fifteen minutes of excitable and uniquely imaginative explanation, Erza said,
"Well, I'm glad you had such a good time. And that was all? Did anything else happen that I should know about?"
Erza meant Ichigo, of course- after all, it was him and two teenaged girls alone in a hotel room, and while she was sure she could trust the three of them, you never knew with hormones in play. The answer was far more shocking, though.
"Well, we were sort of attacked by this big monster," Orihime said casually. "It had this huge white mask, and it was pretty scary." She blinked, as If remembering something important. "Come to think of it, it kinda looked like the stuff you told me about."
"What?!" Said Erza, almost beside herself with the thought of her Orihime having been attacked. Unlike Masaki, she hadn't kept Orihime in the dark- but she had decided to fill her in little by little, until she was older. She had told her about hollows, what they looked like and to always run away, but not much else. Orihime had spiritual potential, but it had always been slight, dormant; she had never been able to see ghosts as far as Erza could recall.
"Oh, it's okay," Orihime said. "A big, brave spirit samurai came running and fought it off. Then we went back to the hotel, talked about it, and now we can all see ghosts. Isn't that cool?"
This was not exactly honest, Orihime knew, but part of her really liked the idea of keeping a secret- Ichigo was going to be a superhero, and superheroes had secret identities. Being in on that made her feel excited, and as such, she didn't tell Erza everything. It wasn't technically lying, after all…
"What- what?" Erza mumbled. "I mean, are you okay? Were you hurt?" Urgently, she grabbed Orihime, looking at her as if she had some sort of hidden injury. "Are the others okay? What happened?"
"Erza, calm down," Orihime said happily. "I told you, some guy in black fought it off. We weren't hurt or anything."
"Are you sure?" Erza said. Quietly, she sensed Orihime's reiatsu, scanning for something. There it was, unmistakably- the energy she had always had, no longer sleeping, flaring about defiantly like a candle in the night. She had been changed by this- and so would the others too, she would bet her right hand on it.
"Yes, I'm sure," Orihime said insistently. "We were totally fine. But I kinda wonder about the spirit samurai."
"Orihime, listen," Erza said, her voice restrained, trying to think of the right thing to say. "You know how I warned you about the monsters? About hollows?"
"Mm-hmm?"
"Did you ever wonder how I knew about them?"
"Nope," Orihime said simply. "You're pretty smart and you know stuff. That's basically who you are. That, and being really cool and lots of other stuff."
Normally, Erza would have felt moved by Orihime's simple, earnest compliment. Now, however, she was on edge, nervous.
"Well, er," she began, still fumbling for the right words, "I… know a lot about that sort of stuff, actually. You could say I'm an expert. Orihime, I…" She wanted to confess, tell her the whole thing, but she also very badly wanted to check on Ichigo, get the whole of the situation known to her first, "let's just say I know my way around the spirit world, okay? One of these days I'll tell you all about it- real soon, actually."
"Oh, that's cool," Orihime said. "Can we finish the show, though?" She said, and gestured at the TV. Not that they had paid close attention to begin with, but Erza breathed out. Taking it easy for a little while might be the best answer- don't overthink it, don't do anything rash.
"…sure," Erza said at last. "Is there more tea, actually?"
"Sure, sure, I'll get some," Orihime said cheerily.
Erza leaned herself back. She had always known a day like this would come, for Ichigo in particular, but no matter how much she had anticipated it, it was still a bit of a shock. Not as much of a shock as it would be for Ichigo, though…
If he had had an awakening, if his power had become active, then he had painted a beacon on himself. Masaki would know it the moment she saw him. No matter what she thought, no matter how much she wanted to protect him, no matter how much Erza wanted to respect that as she had respected it for all these years, she could stay silent no longer. He was in danger now. He needed to know. He needed to learn how to defend himself. As did… Orihime. Probably Tatsuki too. Reiatsu had a way of rubbing off on people, and Ichigo had been friends with them since he was young. She sighed. This was going to get complicated, in a way she did not appreciate at all.
She waited till it was dark, after Orihime had gone to bed. Once she was sure she was asleep, she got up, swallowed a pill containing a mod soul, and popped out of her gigai, standing tall as a shinigami. Quietly she exited the apartment, and sped away toward the Kurosaki residence. Masaki was out of town for just a few days, which gave her a bit of time to work with. Within the minute, she was perched on a rooftop opposite of the Kurosaki home. She relaxed, focused, and sensed for Ichigo. The idea had been to sense for him, and then… well, improvise. Talk to him, maybe. Warn him.
What actually happened was a surprise, even knowing what she did. She sensed Ichigo, all right, but he was moving away from the house- and fast, much too fast for a human. With a sense of urgency, Erza followed his signal, trying to get a view. Before long she had caught up, and… there he was.
He was dashing across the roofs, leaping from one to the next, jumping across telephone poles, street lights, crossing large distances in single bounds. He wore theshihakusho, there was no mistaking it. On his back sat a girl- no, on closer inspection, it wasn't just any girl. It was Rukia. Wearing what looked like a gigai, her power output being marginal. What the hell was going on here?
Carefully, so as to not be spotted, Erza followed them. The pair seemed focused enough, and neither were likely to sense for her. Erza was no expert in the matter of reading reiatsu, but following Ichigo's signal, which blazed like a bonfire in the night, was child's play. They were headed toward another clear signature, that of a hollow recently having manifested from a portal to Hueco Mundo.
As she followed, Erza's mind raced. Ichigo's power had blossomed; it was an awakening and then some. Already it was equal to that of a tenth seat, maybe even better. He seemed to have absolutely no skill with it, but that was no surprise. His reiatsu signature read distinctly like that of a true shinigami- completely transformed from that of a normal human soul. The distinction was unmistakable; humans barely if ever had control of their reiatsu, and what little they had was usually a small ball of consistently blazing energy, whereas shinigami were large, powerful, and very much controlled, their energy having the fragrance of structure and military order. Overnight- literally- Ichigo's energy had warped, mutated and grown, not only in magnitude but in structure.
How had it happened? Well… that was Rukia. It had been so long since she had seen her last, but Erza remembered her as a capable fighter, not without pride, and she doubted she would have made herself second to some human- or did she know who Ichigo was? No, not likely- they had all kept their heads down, going so far as to block their powers almost entirely for almost a year after the quincy incident. But he looked so much like Shiba Kaien… she had to suspect something.
But the most likely explanation, Erza decided as she followed them for a couple of miles, was that Rukia had somehow been drained of her powers. The procedure was known, if rare- in desperate times, a shinigami could lend her powers to an ally, although it was risky. Not knowing Ichigo's potential, she must have lent her powers to him- and being so naturally powerful, he had absorbed them all without realizing it. Here he was now, playing at being a shinigami, without having the slightest idea what it meant, physically or mentally. Part of her ached with worry and frustration at the thought of it, but another part of her was cautiously optimistic- he had power now, and maybe, just maybe, he could use it.
Before long, the chase stopped, and Erza hid herself behind the slope of a rooftop, observing the two of them. In other circumstances, she would have been overjoyed to see Rukia, an old friend, but at the moment she was much too concerned with Ichigo to think about it. Carefully she hid, putting herself in close distance if they needed her. The hollow was close, just down the street, and Erza had a good view of the scene. It was a big beastie, or at least it would be to a total rookie like Ichigo, with thick scales on its back, stubby clawed hands, and a mask stained with blood.
Come on, Ichigo Erza thought, Don't be stupid. Keep your guard up, and don't run in recklessly. You can do it!
As Ichigo raised his sword and let out a battle-cry of sorts, Erza had to resist the impulse to get up, to run to his side, to protect him from the monster. She saw the little boy she had helped raise since he was a baby, the little kid she had baby-sat and protected his entire life, and felt a fear that he would be hurt, so strong it was nearly a physical pain, but she forced herself to remain still. The hollow, she knew, had inferior power compared to his- very inferior, actually; its only advantage would be experience. She had to at least let him try. She needed to see what this was. If things got bad… it would take her all of two seconds to sweep down and destroy it.
The hollow growled and charged, and Ichigo met it head-on. He ran at it, swinging the sword like a club, and cut into its arm. Quite adeptly, for somebody of his skill level, he dodged the counter-slash, jumped into the air, and cut its mask. It was no clean hit by any means, and only barely had enough force to crack it, but it did the job. The hollow shrieked, began to dissipate, and Erza felt a pang of pride. She made a fist and smiled, relaxing herself. He had done it, killed a hollow- without even a day's worth of formal training. This put him years ahead of the typical shinigami student to be sure, but it wouldn't be nearly enough.
Assured that everything was as it should be, Rukia said something to him. The two of them seemed to banter a little, before Ichigo picked her up, and they began heading back home. Quietly, Erza followed them again. She watched him land at home, and though his movements were clumsy, he seemed to have a knack for it- he was a natural, and no doubt about it. He and Rukia spoke, Rukia headed out into the night, and Ichigo stood there for a while, staring out into the night.
Erza watched Rukia leave, and once she was out of earshot, she made her move.
Ichigo was a bit confounded. Fighting that monster had felt… good. It was dangerous, and he had nearly got cut, but that had just made it more… exciting, somehow. Not that he would admit it, but he didn't mind this so much. Quietly, he stared into the night, thinking about this new turn of events. Life was funny. One day, you're a teenager whose biggest worry was passing math with decent grades, and the next… you're a death-god slaying soul-eating monsters. It really was a mad world.
He was just about to turn around and head inside, when he saw a figure on the roof across the street, its face obscured by the dark of night. From the light of the stars he could see the flowing robes, the same kind of kimono he wore right now. What- what was this? Had they already sent somebody new?
Before Ichigo could think any further on it, the figure had leapt across the street, crossing the distance instantaneously. Ichigo flinched a little, and held his sword up, just in case. The night was cloudless, allowing for some degree of visibility- and in the pale light he saw the figure up close. Tall, busty, with a steely expression and… red hair? Lamely, he let his sword drop, as something deep in his mind recalled it, a memory long buried in his childhood…
"Ichigo," she said, "we need to talk."
Now, as im sure some of you have noticed Ichigo is a bit...different than his cannon counterpart. Because of this, we believed a change was necessary.
GKR: We are keeping Ichigo's character mostly the same, but he is not the same person he is in canon. He has two loving parents, and he is secure in himself, less aggressive and less grumpy. Consider him a slightly different character, and consider this before you call anything about him "OOC"
We think youll enjoy his character despite these, or perhaps enjoy him even more. Also, you may have noticed we included Tatsuki at the beginning. I wont say much, but I will let you all know that her role will be far lager in this than in cannon like Kubo originally intended hers to be.
Now, that all said we really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Erza sure has her work cut out for her, she isnt just raising Orihime any more, now she has to help ichigo out as a soul reaper as well as her own training and job. How will this all go? Well, read the next chapter of course.
Thank you for reading, and please leave a review, we really appreciate them.