Good day everyone and welcome to yet another installment in the Ballad of the Shinigami fanfic. This chapter is especially long cause I won't be posting tomorrow but never fear, I'll try to make up for it later in more ways. Hope you enjoy and without further ado. Now onto our feature presentation.
Ichigo sighed before a small black butterfly fazed through a wall. It was strange, he'd never seen the spirit of an animal. It was clearly a spirit of some kind with it phasing through the wall and all but it struck him as rather odd. Soon after though a short, maybe 4'9" or so with raven hair down a little past her shoulders, walked into the room following the butterfly.
Watching as she scanned the room.
"It is near?" She spoke in a soft tone. Cold and directness not far underneath. Ichigo let the corners of his mouth twitch upwards as he figured he might as well make a game of this.
"What's near! The safe?!" Ichigo shouted, suppressing his inner amusement as she was caught off guard with a swift kick to the back of her head. Shinigami, meet the floor. He smiled inwardly at her stunned expression.
"Y-you can see me?" She continued to stare at Ichigo, gobsmacked at this new revelation.
"Of course I can see you, you're not very good at hiding you know?" The rhetorically sarcastic expression leaving his mouth before his brain could remember that she was some form of spirit and might not have been used to humans being able to see her. "I can see spirits but I guess that isn't common." The last part leaving him sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He didn't get to feel that for long before Isshin burst through the door and kneed Ichigo in the face, sending him careening into a wall before he jumped up to retaliate.
"Why did you kick me?!" Ichigo demanded as his dad crossed his arms.
"You know the rules! No being loud upstairs, I don't care how much of a growing teen you are, there is no need to disturb the rest of the family with your extracurricular activities!" Ichigo face-faulted at the insinuation.
"I wasn't-" He didn't even bother finishing defending himself before sending his father rolling back down the stairs with a jump-kick to Isshin's face. Turning to the shinigami who appeared to have calmed down and gained a straight face, almost regal if he thought about it hard enough.
"You finished boy?" The strange spirit regarded Ichigo with wary but slightly curious eyes. Sharp. Ichigo filed all the information away for later.
"Sorry about him, fortunately you arrived on one of his calmer days." The spirit tilted her head but sighed. Turning his gaze onto her again as he remembered what her stats had said about Shinigami. "What are you?" Ichigo spotted a slight twinkle in her eye as he asked the question. She then drew her sword, making Ichigo flinch, before bringing it down, hilt first, onto the spirit's forehead. The most recent of Ichigo's followers.
"I am a Shinigami,a guardian of the afterlife. We come from a realm called Soul Society and are sent to the human world to send souls into the afterlife and kill Hollows. You see there are two kinds of spirits;" The girl withdrew a small notebook and drew out two faces, one resembling an anime bear(Hollow) while the other resembled a bunny(Plus) in a similar style. "Plus' are souls of the recently deceased and are good for the most part. Sometimes though some humans die with regrets or attachments to certain places and that resentment or negative emotion causes them to lose their heart. This is how a Hollow is made. They lose their humanity and their heart only wishing to consume the souls around them to fill the void that was left behind."
Ichigo nodded and paid close attention to the information given to him. It was a lot to take in that there was a whole world of spirits that he didn't even know but it did fill some gaps. Curiously he regarded the Shinigami.
"So what were you looking for when you first came into my room Shinigami?" A grim expression crossed her face.
"I was chasing after a Hollow when my senses became clouded. As if someone put a blanket over my eyes." She looked off into the distance as Ichigo let the silence embrace the room. A loud shrieking filled the air and Ichigo's head bolted to his window then back at the Shinigami. She hadn't seemed to notice. Figuring it his imagination he shook it off before another shriek boomed through the room.
"Uh, Shinigami, I think that's your Hollow out there." Dread filled him as the Shinigami mumbled something under her breath before Ichigo jumped up and grabbed her. Jumping away from him, she narrowed her eyes. Shock and fear filled them as she suddenly realized the loud screams of torment filled the room once more. It was closer than she had thought it was.
"You need to stay here, I'll take care of it." She was about to leave the room when a loud, blood curdling scream came from downstairs.
"That's Yuzu!" Ichigo made for the door only to be violently pulled back by the Shinigami. "What are you doing?! I have to go help them!" Ichigo made for the door and managed to get it open, only to see Karin crawling on the floor. Blood dripping down her face as she searched, searched for the only thing she knew in that moment. Searched for Ichigo.
Spotting him in the doorway with someone dressed in a black shihakusho.
"I-ichi-go? It doesn't seem to have found you yet. Y-you need to l-le-eave. Before it finds you." That was all she could say before unconsciousness took her. Ichigo was furious and went to bolt down the stairs before he heard the Shinigami chant something.
"Bakudo No.1: Sai!" Ichigo's arms were pulled behind his back as his forward momentum slammed him into the wall before sliding to the ground with a dull thud. "I can't have you getting in my way." She calmly strode past Ichigo's downed form with a grace not unlike a dancer.
"You can't expect me to just sit here and let my family get hurt! Let me go, let me help you Shinigami!" Ignoring his pleading she moved down the stairs to face the Hollow. Ichigo resisted the restraints but found it nigh impossible. He instead voted to shimmy, not unlike an inchworm, towards the stairs only to lose balance when he came to the edge and tumbled down. The air leaving his lungs left him dazed for a moment before he took in the scene. Goat-chin in the corner, knocked out. An enormous, hulking monstrosity stood outside a large hole in the wall. It was mostly black with the exception of a white, bone-esc, mask that covered the front of its face. It had many strange, fin-like protrusions extending from its body. A horror to be sure. This is what a Hollow must look like, the monsters. Ichigo couldn't grasp how they must have, at one point, been human. He grit his teeth in anger at what he saw next. Yuzu clearly grasped in its closed fist. Screaming and fighting its hold proving to do nothing but spur the monster on more. Slowly standing up Ichigo stood beside the Shinigami as she assessed the situation.
"Whether you let me or not, I will be saving my sister!" Ichigo quickly looked at the monstrosity and shivered as a cold and unforgiving feeling of fear settled in his heart.
Cringing, he resisted the restraints more with the threat to his family fueling his attempt. The Shinigami starred in worry as Ichigo attempted to break the seal.
"Don't do it boy! You can only cause damage to your soul!" Ichigo ignored her in favor of focusing inward and using everything he had. Soon with a great pulse of energy the seal shattered and Ichigo tightened his hands into fists. Running towards the Hollow he grabbed the nearest blunt object and ran in to smash the metal chair he had grabbed into the Hollows side only for it's other fist to crash into him and throw him away at the last second.
A ear shattering roar filled the night air. It was a good night to be out, the moon was full and a cool breeze shifted the leaves as a few floated lightly to the ground. It just had to be ruined by the Hollow that was about to claim Yuzu as it's next meal. Ichigo cringed as he slowly stood up only to find the Shinigami slicing at the Hollows arm, cutting deep into the limb. It released Yuzu in favor of vanishing into a dark portal.
Ichigo lunged and slid on the ground to swiftly catch Yuzu before she hit the ground. Setting her off to the side he checked her over for any life-threatening injuries.
"She's going to be fine, the Hollow didn't separate her soul from her body. That goes for the rest of your family. Now, will you stay out of my way so I can kill this Hollow. You've done enough as it seems it was attracted to your power anyways!"
Ichigo felt as if he had been hit by a train. He had been the cause of this? His own presence attracted that Hollow? How? Asking as much the Shinigami let her expression settle into a grim scowl.
"Hollows are attracted to beings with large amounts of spiritual power. This usually manifests with the ability to see ghosts or souls that will remember their time alive after they pass onto Soul Society." Then it registered. He had always been able to see ghosts, almost as if they were normal people. Could this also be tied into his Gamer ability? Maybe, that thought could be entertained later as another howl filled the night air and that dark portal opened up to reveal the Hollow once more. He would set this right. Determination clear across his face he ran back in front of the Hollow.
"If you want me so bad then come and get me, stop attacking my family if I'm the one you want!" Ichigo spread his arms open as the Hollow let out a shriek and started to charge. The Shinigami watched the Hollow charge the idiotic child. She had a job to do and he seemed to constantly want to get in her way. Rushing forward she made to stab the Hollow through its skull before it got to Ichigo but had misjudged severely and it cost her.
Ichigo opened his eyes and released the tension that he built up in preparation for the oncoming attack when he noticed the Shinigami in front of him. The Hollow had bit down into her shoulder while her blade was lodged in its teeth. She sliced downward causing a tooth to loosen and drop out of it's mask as it howled in pain grasping at it's injured mask. The Hollow backed up and vanished once more into that void it seemed to summon at will.
The Shinigami slumped forward and fell to her knees dropping her blade. Ichigo carefully picked her up and moved her over to a short wall that lined the sidewalk across the street from his house. The light pole above illuminating the wound, allowing Ichigo to see the severity of it.
"Foolish boy, did you think it would stop with you?" She coughed, a small amount of blood dripping down the corner of her mouth as Ichigo noticed another wound at her waste. She was losing a lot of blood fast. "I should've just put you in another Bakudo." She grinned at her own foolishness. In a way, she was very similar to the human before her. "Unfortunately I am unable to do much as I am. Now I guess we wait for it to kill us and consume your family." Something crossed her eyes that Ichigo could understand fully. A sense of duty, apprehension, an undertone of fear.
Ichigo slammed his fist into the ground. He had failed, as a protector and as a brother. He had failed his family. The Shinigami then perked up.
"Do you want to save your family?" Ichigo was confused, was that resignation he heard in her voice. It wavered a bit but still held resolve.
"There's a way? Anything! I'll do it!" He nearly shouted the last words, eager to make up for his failure. To save his family.
"There is one way boy." She drew her blade and held it in front of her with both hands so it held steady. "You have to become a Shinigami." Her words held a level of finality that struck Ichigo. A gleam in her eyes told him everything. This was the only way and he would never forgive himself if he didn't take this.
"What do I have to do?" Arms trembling Ichigo felt something he hadn't felt in a long while. A primordial feeling, one that can consume the minds of those weaker than it. Fear.
"Take my blade and pierce the center of your being. I will transfer half of my power into you and you'll be able to attain the powers of a Shinigami temporarily. You will be able to fight that Hollow on level terms and save your family. I cannot guarantee your survival but it's the best chance we have"
"Is that really okay? Are you allowed to do that?" He didn't know anything about it but Ichigo figured that the Soul Society had some form of law set in place and it made sense that one would be for Shinigami to not randomly give out their powers to normal humans. Not that he was normal but that wasn't relevant right now. It still scared him. A soft sound reached his ears that snapped him out of his thoughts though.
"I-Ichi-nii? Where are you? G-get away, before it finds you!" Yuzu must be having a bad dream, but there it was again. They all seemed to be worrying about him? Why? Why were they worrying about him when they were about to die? Ichigo grit his teeth as he realized his own mistake. He had given into the fear. He had let it take him and he almost threw his life away cause of one failure. Thinking back to all that has happened it made him feel pretty stupid. Grinning, Ichigo approached the Shinigami.
"Give me that sword Shinigami, I'll take you up on your offer and kill that bastard." The portal opened again and the Hollow stepped out. It loosed a roar of anger and started its charge towards the two.
"It's not Shinigami, it's Kuchiki, Rukia." She coughed again, coating her robes in more blood. Ichigo smiled as he prepared himself.
"Then stop calling me boy. My name is Kurosaki, Ichigo. Let's do this!" With the word given Ichigo removed his grip on the blade as it struck true and a blinding white light flooded the area with its radiance. The Hollow barely had time to be confused before it had lost an arm.
"It appears the tables have turned in a 180 degree fashion to my side. Where they will stay."