HALCYON DAYS
Volume One: Reap What You Soul
Chapter Four

Ichigo bound across the Karakura Town skyline, reveling in how much lighter he felt since his salad days as Rukia's apprentice. His trials in Soul Society had made him immeasurably stronger, and the increase in capability brought on a psychic ease: he knew he could handle any Hollow that came his way. Even a Menos Grande would be manageable. Not that he was dealing with a Menos; the Hollow in his sights was a scrawny little thing, not a whole lot bigger than a cow.

The beast reared up its head, clocking Ichigo's approach. It let out a piercing roar.

Too easy, Ichigo thought, deciding he'd flex a little. Before the Hollow could even brace itself for battle, Ichigo flashed-stepped right past and cleaved it clean in half with Zangetsu. He slung the oversized blade over his shoulder and looked back to watch the bifurcated monster gradually dissolve into fine particles.

"Welp, all in a day's work for a Shinigami Deputy," he said with self-satisfaction before looking up collegially at the full moon, as if it were admiring his handiwork.

"Hey!" an irate voice cried out. "Just who are you supposed to be?"

Ichigo cocked his head and spotted a goofy-looking Shinigami angrily waving around his Zanpakutō a rooftop over. The grunt had a big spherical Afro and thick, fussily manicured eyebrows. He looked straight out of the disco era, with his long sideburns serving as a cherry on top.

"Who are you?" Ichigo shot back.

"Excuse me?" The Shinigami sputtered incredulously, jutting a thumb up at himself. "I'm Kurumadani Zennosuke, the elite Shinigami assigned to patrol this district! So, don't make me repeat myself: who are you?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, Shinigami Deputy," Ichigo replied, flashing the badge Ukitake had given him. "Looks like we share the same jurisdiction."

"Huh?" Zennsouke said while craning his head forward, squinting at the skull-emblazoned placard. "I have no idea what that's supposed to be."

"What, don't they tell you guys anything?" Ichigo blanched, becoming flustered. "I'm with the Gotei 13, OK?"

"Wait, now I remember," Zennosuke recalled with a touch of apprehension. "You're the punk who got my predecessor into a whole heap of trouble, aren't ya? I'm not gonna work with a career-killer like you."

"Relax, there's nothing left for you to do, anyway," Ichigo smirked, pocketing his badge. "I already took care of the Hollow."

"What, that puny thing?" Zennosuke laughed, motioning to the Hollow remnants dissipating behind Ichigo. "That was just a straggler; it's not the Hollow that caught SDRI's attention."

Ichigo frowned. This patrolman was proving to be a real pain in the ass.

"Look, say whatever makes you feel like a tough guy, but this isn't my first rodeo, Afro-san."

"Did you just call me Afro-san?" Zennosuke blushed. "I already told you, punk, my name is Kurumadani Zenn–"

Without warning, a lavender-hued tongue with the thickness of a rolled-up carpet shot up from below and latched onto the right side of Zennosuke's face, suctioning tight. He fell into what looked like a stupor, his arms falling limp.

Oh shit, Ichigo thought, looking on in stupefied disgust.

The tongue retracted back with the speed of a slingshot, dragging Zennosuke down with it.

"Help!" the patrolman screamed, feeling his Zanpakutō slipping out from his slackened grip.

He hurdled down into the darkened alleyway, the retracting tongue slurping back into Bloodmaw's gullet. The Hollow sounded out a gleeful guffaw as he reeled in his prey. All it would take was one crunchy bite...

Before he could chow down, Ichigo whizzed past Bloodmaw's tongue and severed the muscle with a sword swing, freeing Zennosuke. Bloodmaw let out a roar of pain when his appendage was sliced clean through, a geyser of sludgy blood erupting from the stump.

Zennosuke landed onto the pavement with a slam, completely immobile. He craned his groggy eyes back and got a good look at Bloodmaw; the wailing beast was only two yards away from him.

"Glaaaaaaaaargh!" the Hollow hissed, fangs bared.

Ichigo landed beside Zennosuke, his blade at the ready.

"You know it's rude to interrupt people when they're having a conversation," the Strawberry gritted. "I'm gonna make short work of you, ugly."

"W-wait..." Zennosuke rasped, his voice a labored croak.

Bloodmaw's two beady eyes widened, marveling at Ichigo's aura. The Hollow opened his massive jaws to let out a hearty laugh.

"Tough Shinigami, huh?" he cawed.

The Hollow lolled out its halved tongue tauntingly, the sliced edge bubbling.

High-speed regeneration? Ichigo observed.

A new tip for Bloodmaw's tongue jutted out with a fleshy splash, flecks of its saliva spraying out and reaching Ichigo like a fine mist.

Friggin' gross, Ichigo wretched, feeling the putrified moisture sink into his skin. Suddenly, a numbness coursed through him and his knees began to buckle.

"Whatch tha –?" he mumbled, speech slurring. He planted Zangetsu's point into the concrete to steady himself.

Bloowmaw cackled and performed a surprisingly agile backflip, revealing the two mewling mouths on his back. Bloodfang and Bloodgums opened wide and spat out projectile wads of acid.

Ichigo's eyes perked up with fear when the two burning spitballs bore down on him. He tried to lift Zangetsu and parry, but the blade was too heavy now, so he resorted to shielding his face with his left arm. The two missiles landed on his forearm and seeped in, scalding his skin. His limb swung down like a rusted hinge, completely paralyzed and useless.

"Squirm, Shinigami," Bloodmaw hissed, his lips peeling back to reveal a serrated smile. "You lie on floor for hours now. After I eat Quincy, I come back and munch you whole!"

The Hollow sprung up, bounding back and forth up the adjacent buildings until it reached the rooftops above and disappeared from view.

Did he just say Quincy? Ichigo's thought, his eyes widening with alarm. Uryū's in danger! I've got to... I've got...

The Shinigami Deputy slumped over and fell flat on his face, laying on the ground beside Zennosuke.

"I... treed to wern youuu," Zennosuke mumbled, his tongue too swollen to enunciate properly. "His spitz iz toxin..."

"... I canz shee dat now," Ichigo mumbled back.

Suddenly, they both broke out into convulsions as the poison wreaked havoc on their nervous systems. The two of them writhed on the ground together, feeling like complete assholes.


Tatsuki was picking at the last remaining nibs of her meal, digesting what Orihime had just told her.

"So you all went out of town together to help that Rukia girl with a jam?" she recapped. "Some drama with her big brother?"

"Mhm," Orihime replied nervously, slurping back her second helping of ramen.

"Huh," Tatsuki grunted, seemingly satisfied with the half-truth explanation. "Well, going all the way to another city just to help somebody sort out their family business sounds like a lot, but honestly... it's the kind of thing Ichigo would do."

"Mhm!" Orihime agreed, now licking her bowl clean.

She felt terrible for feeding Tatsuki a lie. The essence of everything she shared was honest, but she had omitted certain details like Rukia being a ghost and her hometown being the afterlife. She wished she could fill her best friend in on Soul Society, but divulging that information would betray everyone else's confidence. Besides, Tatsuki would probably think she was crazy.

"Hm," Tatsuki hummed pensively. "Well, I gotta hand it to you. It's pretty selfless to help your crush out with his girlfriend."

"What?!" Orihime squealed, slamming her empty bowl down in shock. "What do you mean? Kurosaki-kun and Rukia aren't boyfriend and girlfriend! They're just good friends!"

"It's not like that, Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime protested. "They're just really good friends!"

Tatsuki rested her head in her hand, scrutinizing Orihime at length.

"You said he and this girl were inseparable?"

"Well, sort of..."

"And he dropped everything to go help her out?"

"Um, yuh-huh."

"And they bicker all the time but still have each other's back?"

"Mhm."

Tatsuki gave a sympathetic shrug.

"I'll put it this way: if you slapped that exact same relationship dynamic on a television show, everybody on the internet would ship it. Maybe she and Ichigo aren't romantically involved. But whatever relationship he's got with her, it's intense. So you gotta figure out if there's any room left over for you."

"But... I..." Orihime blushed.

"I kinda hoped you'd gotten over him by now, honestly," Tatsuki sighed. "Look, I've known the guy forever: he's clueless about women. He'll just string you along if you let him, and he won't even realize he's doing it. Ichigo will keep you at arm's length; it's what he does. If you ever really wanna know where you stand, you're gonna have to be the one who takes a step closer."

Orihime considered the advice, feeling a knot growing in the pit of her stomach.


Some feeling was finally returning to Ichigo's feet. He was flat on his belly, a pool a saliva forming around his sputtering mouth. But he was able to wriggle his toes again; that was an encouraging sign. The toxin's effects were wearing off, slowly but surely. At least the convulsions had subsided.

"Gotz... to... shave... Uryū!" he gritted.

He attempted to push himself up, only to collapse again into a heap of jelly-arms. At this rate, Uryū would already be digested by the time Ichigo got back up on his feet. Zennosuke wasn't doing much better, either.

A shadow flitted overhead, floating down into the alleyway with eerie weightlessness before landing right between them. Ichigo roved his eyes up to scrutinize the mysterious interloper. He squinted, disbelieving what he was seeing: his own face.

"Kah... Kon?" he gurgled.

"What the heck kind of a mess have you gotten yourself into this time?" Kon asked, kneeling down and patting his host's immobile face. "You look terrible."

"What argh youz dun'in out hurgh?" Ichigo asked, his eyes widening with confusion.

"Oh, I was... just out for a stroll." Kon hummed awkwardly. "You know: bouncing around."

"Buh-bah-bad Modz Shoul!" Ichigo scolded, his face contorting with a mixture of rage and neurotoxin.

"Hey, I keep your body active when I'm wearing it, alright?" Kon hand-waved defensively. "Can you blame me? I'm cooped up in that friggin' doll most of the time. So, what happened to you two bozos?"

Kon propped Ichigo and Zennosuke up against the alleyway wall, trying to make them comfortable. After a few minutes, they finally regained their powers of comprehendible speech.

"Man, this sucks." Zennosuke sighed while roving his jaw. "It's gonna be hours before either of us can walk again."

"You're telling me just one measly Hollow did to this you?" Kon said with disbelief, squatting down to inspect Ichigo. "Aren't you supposed to be a Big Deal?"

"He poisoned us," Ichigo replied. "He wasn't alone, either. That freak has three heads; kinda reminded me of Shrieker, except these were a part of his body and not some attack. I've never seen a Hollow like him before."

"He's a Menos," Zennosuke interjected. "A Gillian on the cusp of becoming an Adjuchas. It's rare for them to prowl around here in the material world."

"For real?" Ichigo frowned. "I've seen Gillians before; they're the size of skyscrapers."

"You're thinking of Gillians when they're Gillian," the patrolman clarified with an eye roll. "When one of the souls they've gobbled up becomes top dog, they evolve into an Adjuchas. They get smaller and a whole lot smarter. But you can tell that Menos is still Gillian because he's got three heads: that means he still has three personalities competing for dominance. We call that a triptych. Once the big mouth absorbs the littler mouths, he'll become a complete Adjuchas."

Ichigo listened carefully, feeling a bit humbled. It turned out Afro-san had something to teach him after all.

"Well, that Gillian is after Uryū," he gritted. "Kon, you gotta help me go after him."

"You're kidding, right?" Kon blanched, holding his hands up. "That's crazy. Ichigo, you can't even stand up right now. Ishida's a Quincy, right? He can take care of himself."

"No, he can't," Ichigo said. "Uryū's lost his powers. I'm sure of it."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Kon exclaimed with exasperation. "How do you know that?"

Ichigo reflected on what Orihime had told him earlier that day:

Uryū hasn't been doing too well... Since before we left the Soul Society. I don't think he wanted you guys to know. I think... he likes to keep things like that to himself.

"When I asked Uryū in class if he could come over and patch you up, he blew me off," Ichigo recalled. "I thought at the time that he was just being stuck-up as usual, but now... I think he didn't want me to notice that he's changed. I couldn't sense any spirit energy coming from him. I don't know how, but he lost his Quincy powers when we were in Soul Society. He's defenseless, and that monster's after him."

"Well okay... so maybe he's in mortal danger," Kon sighed. "But what am I supposed to do about it?"

Ichigo, with all his might, craned his chin forward and gestured to Kon's knees.

"I need you to do what you're good at, Kon," he said. "I need you to bounce."

The Mod Soul stared at his host with flabbergasted mortification. He was catching Ichigo's drift, and he hated every ounce of it.