AN
Oh, a new chapter!
Please, enjoy.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Bloodborne and Bleach are not owned by myself, but this story and the characters I create are mine and mine alone.
Orange Hair and Funny Hats
James stood outside what appeared to be a little candy shop. Nothing supernatural like the transformed students at Byrgenwerth, or the frost that covered Cainhurst. He looked down at the cat, who had begun to strut their way over to the door.
He wasn't just a nut who talked to cats, right?
Before the feline had a chance to mew, the door swung open revealing another peculiar sight. A man with a funny hat and large wooden sandals. He looked at the hunter with a cross between carefully concealed paranoia and an air of goofiness that came with his look. The suspicion did fade a bit when the striped hat man saw the cat.
"Well, well, been a while since you've brought a boy over, Yoruichi."
"Not now Kisuke, this kid's something different."
James frowned in confusion for a moment, before subtly checking over his shoulders, as well as past this 'Kisuke' character, and into the shop. His bafflement did not seem to go unnoticed by the cat, however.
"Down here," came a deep, irritated voice, "the cat can speak, yes, now, you said you had something to discuss?"
The hunter tugged his collar up a bit higher. He had encountered far stranger things than cats that could speak, (a certain man-headed spider came to mind) but he was at a loss for words at the feline, well, actually, Yoruichi, who just proceeded to walk into the shop.
"We can hardly have a discussion out here, come on in and have a seat at the table," Kisuke gestured past himself and into the store, "name's Urahara Kisuke, by the way, and I am very interested in you my new friend!"
James made his way over to the table and, much to Urahara's dismay, refused to remove his boots.
"C'mon, not in the shop! I'll have to get someone else to clean it up later!" he whined.
The hunter leveled his eyes with the shopkeeper, but Yoruichi stepped in before he had time to retort.
"Let's get this moving Kisuke, you can't let Jinta watch Ichigo in the Shaft by himself."
Urahara, who the hunter had now decided was quite the eccentric man, suddenly sobered up rather quickly, surprising James yet again with his unexpected seriousness.
"You're obviously not a hollow, or any type I've ever seen, and you're definitely not a shinigami," Urahara deduced, "So why are you sitting in my shop right now?"
"Straight to business I see," James spoke, "But I can only tell you what I can remember, and that's not much in the way of anything."
"Well don't keep us in suspense," Yoruichi quipped.
"I'm here to help a boy, a human," he said, "I think I saw a potential in him before I ended up here, before I ended up human like this."
"So you're not human?" Pushed Kisuke.
The hunter's brow furrowed in concentration as he struggled to comprehend what he once was. Echoes of a beautiful emptiness above all else sat in the back of his mind, and whispered, "more than god and man."
"Some sort of… god? At some point? I am truly sorry, but I cannot recall my past. Is there another way I could prove myself?" The distraught hunter inquired. He had already lost pieces of his memory, he wasn't sure if he could bear to lose his purpose as well.
Suddenly, Urahara's smile was back up to full glow, as he materialized some kind of fan from seemingly nowhere.
"I have a little something in mind," he stated, giving the hunter a friendly pat on the shoulder before walking over to a loose looking segment of floor, and flipping it open to reveal it was a hatch leading to a sub level of the shop.
"Follow me!" He said, hopping down.
James frowned behind his collar. How in the world could he prove himself to be amiable in a cellar? Peering over the lip however, he was greeted to a dizzying drop and a rather large ladder. Suddenly a small force slammed itself into his back. Just before tumbling into the hidden room, he had a very important question to ask.
"Patches?"
Nope, Yoruichi. The deep chuckle gave it away.
The hunter barely had time to pull himself off the ground before Urahara launched into a rather self-aware spiel.
"Gosh! I wonder how this got down under my shop?" He wondered loudly.
"You already used that joke on me you bastard!"
Urahara flinched at the voice coming from yet another hole in the ground. The hunter peeked over the lip of this one as well, with extreme caution of course, and spotted a head of orange hair attached to a boy whose hair colour definitely matched his personality.
"Who's this guy then?" He called up grumpily, "another one of your annoying employees?"
Urahara strode to stand next to the hunter at the side of the Shattered Shaft and gazed at Ichigo with worry masked by a healthy dosage of mirth.
"Better hurry on up and get your powers Ichigo! That chain of yours is starting to run shy a few links!"
"When I get out of here I'm gonna kick your ass Hat n' Clogs!"
"Oh my, no need for violence Ichigo!" He mocked behind his fan.
Urahara turned back to address James, ignoring the profanities attempting to climb their way out of the Shaft behind him.
"Alright Mr. Tall Dark and Quiet, here's how you can prove you're not out to get me." He pulled a timepiece out of his robe and backed up a few feet.
"Catch Yoruichi-"
"Wait, Kisuke-" the cat protested.
"As fast as you can."
James was baffled finally to the point of speaking.
"How the hell does chasing Yoruichi around-"
"Starting now!" The eccentric shopkeep grinned.
Without much else to go on Yoruichi took off in the blink of an eye. James was reeling from the sudden burst of speed, but began his pursuit soon after. He spotted the cat standing out in the open some distance from himself, and with a speed honed from countless hunts and further enhanced by this strange world, he launched himself straight at Yoruichi. And ended up with a handful of sand and a cat on his head.
"I don't suppose that counts?"
"With your hands James!" Urahara called.
Yoruichi was off again, and a repeat of the previous clash happened twice more, with James becoming slightly closer each time.
A plan, James thought, I might be slightly slower, but a good mind game and, well, the cat's in the bag.
He sped towards Yoruichi again, but instead of lunging for the cat, he smashed a clawed hand reminiscent of a visceral attack into the ground, kicking up dust. On instinct, Yoruichi leapt straight into the air and into the hunters trap. The reasoning was, 'what goes up must come down.' Apparently, and to James' complete and utter bafflement, Yoruichi was flying. Well more like standing on air, but come on.
"Ah, yes, of course, the talking cat can also fly," he muttered, then a second later, frustration got the better of him and he tore off his hat and spiked it at his feet.
"Like hell!"
Urahara chose to step in here. He had obviously been laughing seeing as he was clutching a stitch in his side and was wheezing.
"Alright you two, good sho- work! I mean work"
James was contemplating hitting him with the kirkhammer, but it seemed that Yoruichi had beaten him to it, and was currently clawing at the man's face.
"Damn you Kisuke! Now my fur is covered in dust!" he seethed.
"I thought you liked tag!"
"I can't enjoy it when you drop it on me like that!"
James stood back and enjoyed the striped-hatted man being torn to shreds. He could anticipate Yoruichi and himself getting along just fine.
Finally managing to pry him off his head, Urahara plopped Yoruichi back on the ground.
"Now then," he said, somehow ignoring the angry red scratches on his face, "I have one more little test for you!"
"I'm starting to think your trust isn't worth it Urahara."
"C'mon, don't be like that! This one is great, I promise!"
James dusted off his hat and placed it back on his head, covering up his coal black hair.
"Out with it then."
The shopkeep hefted his cane (which James had neglected to notice up until now) and pointed it at him in challenge.
"How about a sparring match?" he smiled.
AN
All in all a straightforward chapter (mostly set up to be honest with myself). Expect the story to become more opaque when discussing the good hunter's cosmic heritage and what that implies. Other than that I don't like to go too far up my own ass with that stuff. Using too much makes it rather dull and skip-able instead of the fascinating mystery it's supposed to be.
Again, any and all feedback and criticisms of the author notes (and of course the story) will be taken into account. I understand how annoying AN can be sometimes.
Lay it on me, I got thick skin.
Thanks for reading,
DeadManDreaming