Note (11/1/2022): Alright, its been awhile, there were still a few things that irked me about the chapter even after a prior revision. So I' m doing another for this and chapter 2, rather than completely re-writing so I can focus on chapter three. For those of you re-reading or reading for the first time, hi, hope you enjoy what I've written.
Slowly the sun rose above the horizon, its warm rays being cast over the small town of Karakura. The same bright rays would lightly penetrate through the curtains of a male's room causing him to stir a bit before eventually throwing the covers off of himself. He sat up, running his fingers through his rather unruly, spiked hair. This was Ichigo Kurosaki, a 17-year-old Huntsman in training and soon-to-be student of Beacon Academy, or at least he hoped. He was rather tall, standing a few inches over six feet in height, with a well-built, lanky figure and peach-colored skin. His brown eyes scanned the room for a moment, taking note of the soft light that was enveloping his bedroom. He reached over to the edge of his desk, retrieving his scroll from it before promptly expanding the compact device to check the time. He let out a heavy sigh, seeing that he had slept for a bit longer than he had initially intended to.
"I should probably get my ass outta bed already…" Despite having just woken up a few moments ago, he did so quite effortlessly. The teenager would begin to dig around his room for a few things that he needed for both his usual morning routine and today in particular. Grabbing some clothing and throwing a few bags onto his bed, he'd let out a shallow breathe. Seeing as he hasn't eaten yet, it would likely be a good idea for him to do so and take a small break from gathering his belongings. Besides, he's made some pretty good progress on that front for only having been at for roughly five minutes or so. With a somewhat leisurely pace, he'd swing open his door and move towards the stairs.
One might not expect Ichigo to have a desire to be a Huntsman or to have any kind of strong moral code. This was likely due to his two most prominent features, the things that people immediately took note of upon seeing him under normal circumstances. First was his incredibly bright orange hair and his spiked hairstyle while he wasn't sure if it was just the town he lived in or if it was a common thing but the combination of the bright, almost artificial, hair tone that he has on top of the naturally uncooperative hair gave him an appearance that made people assume "delinquent" or "punk" upon seeing him. This was not helped by the fact that his eyebrows were seemingly always furrowed to an extent and the scowl that was planted upon his features. The combination of these two features would be enough to get him labeled, however, there was always the fact that he had found himself getting into fights constantly throughout his childhood and early teenage years. This led to him often being labeled as a delinquent by his teachers, or instructors as he called them, as well as his father, though this was done more out of his father's overly clingy nature rather than any actual negative feelings towards his son. Though despite all of this, he still managed to make friends throughout the years. However, most of these things were in the past and wouldn't matter all that much. Today was a rather important day for him, he didn't have time to sit there and reminisce about his life so far because he would be getting ready to embark on his journey to the Kingdom of Vale within the next few hours or so.
Ichigo planned to attend Beacon Academy, one of the top Huntsman Academies throughout the four Kingdoms. His desire for this occupation came from an unfortunate encounter with the creatures of Grimm during his childhood. A tragic event for someone so young at the time, one that had resulted in the loss of his mother. For a while he had blamed himself, really it had shifted who was as a person entirely. After the initial sadness faded, he felt a spark that quickly grew into a raging fire within his heart. It gave him an overwhelming desire to want to protect not only those who were close to him but also those who lacked the means to protect themselves. He wanted to do anything he possibly could to prevent anyone from having to go through something like that. This overwhelming desire to protect those around him also played a rather large role in earning his unsavory reputation. Even within his hometown, there were plenty of scumbags that prayed on the week in one way or another, naturally, he straightened them out, with assistance at times. If doing the right thing made him a delinquent then he sure as hell wore that title proudly, though this has led to a bit of conflict between the front he puts up and his actual personality at times.
That fire was currently burning stronger than ever before, it made him feel invincible like he could take on the entire world with his bare hands. As he reached the bottom of the steps, he was surprised to find something missing. Instead of hearing father yelling out "Good Morning Ichigo!" and attempting to assault him, he was only greeted by the sound of a faint conversation. He stepped off of the bottom step, firmly planting his feet against the floor as he noticed two familiar figures sitting across from one another at the table within their living room. The first was a somewhat stockier older man with spiked black hair and a slight scruff present along his jawline, this was his annoying father Isshin. The other was a younger girl that had some physical similarities to his father in the form of black hair worn in a short ponytail and dark, almost black eyes. The young female was his sister Karin, who couldn't be any more different from their father.
"Morning." The eldest of the Kurosaki children greeted the two present in the same simple and informal manner that he always had. His father, Isshin, would flash a rather silly smile towards him and greet him in a rather overzealous manner.
"Good morning Ichigo!"
"Morning," On the other hand, Karin greeted her brother in a casual and slightly informal manner.
"Oh, good morning! You're just in time for breakfast." A voice would speak out, the source being a small distance away from the table in which they were currently situated. Ichigo would glance over to see the source of the voice. Yuzu, his other sister, and Karin's fraternal twin was much more soft-spoken person in comparison to her siblings' more outspoken nature. Similar to their contrasting personalities, Yuzu was practically the complete opposite of Karin, having shoulder-length light blonde hair worn in pigtails adorned with bright and more traditionally feminine accessories such as bright pink cherry bobbles.
She would begin moving towards the three with dishes in each of her hands and a rather enthusiastic expression upon her features. She would begin to place the dishes in front of each of her family members before taking her seat diagonally across from her fraternal twin upon finishing. The Kurosaki family would quickly show their gratitude for the meal before starting their meal.
They would make some rather light-hearted banter throughout the meal. Despite the seemingly upbeat mood, Ichigo felt that something was off...If he had to guess, it likely had to deal with his departure from his hometown. Of course, this was a natural reaction to such a change in the family's daily life. Given how long the family has been around one another, it will certainly be strange, and possibly hard in the case of his father and more upbeat sister, to adjust. Even today felt a bit strange, Isshin not randomly attempting to assault his barely conscious son while yelling out such an enthusiastic greeting was something that made Ichigo feel like something was missing. Given it was a major pain in the ass and he probably won't miss it once he gets used to the absence of this bizarre morning ritual, it was still a part of what he currently considered to be his everyday life.
"I'm gonna go pack the rest of my stuff. I'll be back down in a few minutes." Having finished his meal, Ichigo would gather up his utensils and dishes promptly before giving his gratitude for the meal and informing his family of his current plans. Isshin smiled and wiped away some tears in his eyes as he fought the urge to start crying like an obnoxious man child. Yuzu and Karin predictably reacted as opposites. Yuzu smiled brightly at him while Karin simply shrugged his words off and continued eating.
It wouldn't take him all that long to gather the rest of his things as he just needed to finish packing some more clothes as well as other basic items. As he finished jamming everything into his bags, he would turn towards his closet once more and gather a few more articles of clothing before changing into them. His "combat gear" had a strange start as the first item on the list was a tattered and somewhat baggy set of black and white robes that were seemingly missing the left-hand portion. The robes only reached his knees due to the bottom section being torn and frayed to the point of looking like an old cloak. The next item was a pair of leather bracers with a tight black sleeve, the right one possessing a full glove, followed by a set of a singular leather pauldron. It didn't offer much in terms of protection but the strap had a small plate that allowed him to to sheathe his weapon rather than lugging it around. Underneath all of this, he had decided to wear a sleeveless dark red shirt. Due to the robes being tattered, Ichigo had resorted to wearing a pair of black cargo pants which were accompanied by black combat boots with red and white accents on the insole and outsole of the boots. Despite how parts of his attire might appear, it was surprisingly protective with the robes and pants having a decently thick layer of padding for added defense in the case of his Aura failing. With all of that was sorted, there were just two more items he needed to get before he could head off.
The first of these was purely sentimental and was located within his desk drawer within a small white box. After retrieving said box, Ichigo would open it and take out a small chain with a silver and blue cross attached to it. It was a gift from his mother that he received for his birthday the year she died. He smiled as he stared at it for a few moments before placing it around his neck and tucking it underneath his shirt. The oranged-haired teenager would take a few moments to finish collecting his thoughts before moving over to his closet to grab the last and most likely important item for his journey, his weapon.
Zangetsu, a massive and somewhat crude blade that resembled a gargantuan khyber knife. The weapon itself wasn't anything fancy like most weapons that were used by Huntsman. No mecha-shifting mechanisms that turned it into a gun, no compartments to load dust into, hell the thing didn't even have a guard or a proper hilt. It was just a big sword with a white cloth wrapped around the lower tang but it got the job done. He looked at it for a moment, thinking back to when he first received the blade for a moment. At the time, it was as tall as he was which made it rather difficult for him to even swing at first. Now, after all these years, the good ole' hunk of metal was practically weightless. He would rest it upon his shoulder for a moment as he got his bags situated promptly before placing the massive blade on his back.
Once more he would make his way down the stairs, however, there would be a bit more noise this time around. The first thing that would catch his eye was his father kneeling on the floor with his head facing down and his hands firmly pressed against a large picture of Ichigo's mother, Masaki. Ichigo would promptly let out a rather heavy sigh as he continued forward, unfortunately, he was now able to make out the gibberish Isshin was speaking in addition to the loud, obnoxious, and somewhat gross sobbing. While it was a bit nice to hear his father practically shouting how proud he is of him and how much he has grown within the past few years, the scowling male certainly wished that he could find some other way to go about it. His father's current method was something that annoyed him and judging by the death stare Karin was currently aiming towards the head of the Kurosaki family, it was something that bothered her as well. Ichigo would come to a halt next to his father, tilting his head to the side a bit as he began to speak.
"Y'know I'm standing right here, right? That whole speech you were just giving about me would've been a hell of a lot more touching if you weren't being so annoying about it. Also, when the hell are you going to take this stupid picture down? All you do is cry and whine in front of it. The least you could do is take the damn thing up to your room." He seemed to have gotten his point across as Isshin began to collect himself, or attempt to at least. One might think what Ichigo said was a tad harsh but this certainly wasn't the first time this whole conversation came up. He and Karin had been pleading with their dad to take down the oversized memorial picture of Masaki since Ichigo was 14. Yuzu merely offered a bit of an awkward chuckle in response to the whole situation which was a bit unusual as she tended to tell the two to be easier on their father. However, a glance over in her direction would reveal the reasoning behind this. Ichigo would observe her for a few moments, watching as she scurried about the compact kitchen area stuffing food into small rectangular lunch boxes before jamming them into a large bag. Before he was able to move further towards the front door, the young blonde would have hastily positioned herself in front of her older brother. With a warm smile, she would extend her arms forward, offering Ichigo a large bag.
"Here, I made these for you and the others. That way you won't have to worry about being hungry during your trip." The sentiment would have seemingly broken the scowl present upon Ichigo's face as his lips curled up into a slight smile. He would take the bag from her hands promptly before taking a few moments to sling the bag over his shoulder. It was a bit difficult to get it into a proper position given the rest of what he was carrying but he managed nonetheless.
"Thanks, Yuzu." Ichigo would turn his head to look over his shoulder, facing the general direction in which Karin and Isshin were currently positioned. After a moment or two, he would open his mouth before shouting.
"Oi, I'm heading out now!"
"Have a safe trip!" Yuzu and Karin would respond with the same phrase with two different tones. Karin's being her usual authoritative and mildly flat tone and Yuzu's being bright and cheery. The sound of his father's sobbing would quickly begin to grow closer causing the orange-haired male's eyes to widen for a moment. Isshin quickly leaped into the air, diving towards his eldest child. Ichigo surprisingly not being able to process what just happened quickly enough would be caught up in a tight embrace. His father would continue to give the same incoherent speech about his pride towards his son's growth causing the scowling teen to attempt to pry himself from the clutches of his overly affectionate parent. Yuzu being as emotional as her father would also begin to sob a bit before joining in whilst giving a little incomprehensible speech that was more so centered around how she would miss him, this being the nail in the coffin as Ichigo just completely stopped resisting the little family huddle he was just forced into. His two emotional family members would attempt and fail, to coerce Karin to join in.
"Could you two just let him leave? You're being loud!" Isshin and Yuzu would attempt to protest however with their attention currently diverted, Ichigo would manage to weasel his way out of the hug. Dusting himself off, he would quickly sigh before looking towards the two once more.
"Alright, I'm actually heading out now. I don't want to keep the others waiting." Once more, his family would say their goodbyes as he exited his home. As he stepped out, his brown eyes would be drawn towards their home for a moment, more specifically focusing on the large sign that read "Kurosaki Clinic." Living in a house that doubled as a clinic meant there was yet another thing that would likely take him some time to get used to. While a patient's arrival wasn't something that often prevented him from being able to sleep, there were certainly a few times in which he was required to assist in treatment for the entirety of the night. The fact that the possibility of that kind of situation would no longer be a factor in his sleep schedule would be a bit weird oddly enough. It was just second nature at this point, though just like his father's morning sparring sessions, it wasn't something that he would be missing. Ichigo would force himself out the little trace, thinking about what would be different during life at Beacon was just wasting time on his end. After all, he'd have plenty of time to do that after the journey. Keeping that in mind, he'd quickly begin moving forward, his destination being the edge of Karakura Town.
Reaching his destination wasn't all that challenging seeing as Karakura Town wasn't all that large, being similar in size to that of a smaller city. It wasn't anything spectacular in terms of the sights within the town itself when compared to cities like those in Vale or Atlus. Having lived in the area his entire life, Ichigo was able to navigate every single street with extreme ease, even taking a few shortcuts during his walk. Within less than half an hour, he'd be able to see his destination coming into view. As the scowling teen continued to approach, his attention would be grabbed by a seemingly male voice.
"Ichigo!" It was within the blink of an eye that the source of the voice was met face to face with the bottom of Ichigo's boot. With a scowl, the orange-haired male would down at the figure that he had just kicked. On the ground was a slim male figure with medium-length brown hair. After a moment, the male would stand up, being a decent bit shorter than Ichigo due to standing at average height. He seemed to have a bit of a scowl on his face which was accompanied by a somewhat sad expression.
"Why do you always have to do that?!" He spoke in an exaggerated tone in an attempt to appear much more hurt than he was. His spiky-haired assailant would merely scoff in response before actually formulating a sentence.
"Because it's annoying! Not my fault you won't get that through your head after hundreds of times." Hundreds weren't exactly an exaggeration either. This person was Keigo Asano, a former classmate, and friend of Ichigo's. His overly goofy demeanor and hyperactive personality had been an occasional annoyance in the eyes of the Ichigo for years at this point. The biggest issues were either Keigo's horrible attempts at flirting and generally wooing women and his overly enthusiastic manner of greeting his scowling friend, both of which usually resulted in him being harshly struck down both physically and mentally. Yet, he still hasn't seemed to learn his lesson. It was a somewhat endearing truth be told. Endearing but also incredibly annoying.
"He's got a point Keigo. You really should stop doing that." A rather small figure with somewhat long black hair would approach the two. Both his higher-pitched voice and softer features seemed to indicate that he was at least a few years Ichigo's junior, however, this wasn't quite the case. The youthful male was also a former classmate of Keigo and the irritated Huntsman in training. Before Keigo was even able to respond, Ichigo would gesture towards the dark-haired individual as he verbally agreed with his statement.
"See? Even Mizuiro agrees. Ya think you would've knocked it off by now."
"Aw c'mon! Don't be like that, it keeps you sharp y'know?" The two would stare at Keigo with deadpan expressions. At the moment, it seemed a bit hard to tell who was more disappointed in the statement. Regardless, Ichigo seemed to be quick with his response once again.
"Keigo every time I've missed, you immediately brag about it...And then I just hit you anyway."
"Would it kill you to be a bit nicer? This might be the last time we ever get to hang out!"
"You're saying that like I'm gonna be stuck in Vale for the rest of my life. I'll be back in a few months once they give us enough time off to make the journey back here."
"Glad to see I'm not late." A soft, deep voice would catch Ichigo's attention mere moments after finishing his sentence. His brown eyes would quickly drift over towards his left as he managed to spot the source. It wasn't all that hard given the fact that the person that spoke just now had a few rather distinctive features about him, one being his gentle bass-filled voice. The male was a rather close friend of the group, Yasutora Sado or "Chad" as most of his friends called him. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with rather pronounced cheekbones and wavy brown hair that hung over his brown eyes. His muscular frame and large stature made him quite intimidating even dwarfing Ichigo by a little less than half a foot despite the added inch or two from his boots. Unlike the orange-haired male, Sado seemed to be dressed more casually, wearing a snug black polo shirt with long sleeves accompanied by a pair of khaki pants and black shoes. Had it not been for the bags he was carrying and the pair of contrasting metal gauntlets he was wearing, one would be inclined to think that Yasutora was simply seeing his friend off as opposed to accompanying him on the journey itself.
"I'm a bit surprised you weren't here before me Chad if I'm being honest. Speaking of being late though…" Ichigo would turn his head as his eyes began to scan the area for a few moments. He was looking for a few more people that seemed to be missing at the moment. Truth be told, he could see one or two of the individuals in question being a bit behind when it came time to leave but the other shocked him a bit as they were usually rather diligent in these matters.
"Where's Uryu? Not really like him to be late." His statement garnered a simple nod from his giant companion.
"It is a bit strange."
Before either of them could form another thought, a sound caught their attention. With every second that passed, the noise grew louder. After some yelling, a faint thumping rang through the area as a pair of young women came into view. The two seemed to have fairly light complexions and stood a few inches above five feet in height. One currently wore a scowl on her face. Her hair was on the shorter side and was spiked out to the side, similar to Ichigo's hair aside from it her's being black. Her less frustrated friend seemed to contrast her appearance a bit with long orange hair and a rather curvaceous physique as opposed to the raven-haired girl's leaner athletic build. The two continued towards the already gathered group at a slightly increased pace promptly before stopping roughly half a foot away from Ichigo and Chad. With a bit of a curious expression present upon his features, Ichigo would look towards the pair before opening his mouth to speak.
"What was that all about?"
"Chizuru was trying to get handsy again...Don't worry, she'll be fine. She probably just needs a few minutes." The raven-haired female spoke in a disinterested tone as she gave an extremely abridged version of the prior exchange involving the aforementioned girl. Despite her lack of concern for the girl's wellbeing, her companion seemed to be a bit more sensitive regarding the subject.
"Are you sure Tatsuki? You did hit her pretty hard back there…" Tatsuki would let out a quick sigh as she turned to face her friend for a moment. She wanted the matter to be dropped in all honesty. At times, she couldn't stand the overly touchy female and this was especially one of them.
"Orihime, she'll be fine. If she isn't then that's her fault for not knowing the concept of boundaries." Before she was able to respond, Ichigo opened his mouth to speak. There was something that had caught his attention as soon as Orihime had come into view, regarding her current attire, nothing else. Put bluntly, it was going a bit overboard for the journey they were waiting to embark on.
"What are you wearing?"
"Oh, this? It's my forest combat outfit!" Orihime's brown eyes lit up a bit when questioned. When told that the group would be traveling through the mountains and the forest to get their designated stop for the airship to Vale, the eccentric female had gone and bought an entire set of clothing for the occasion. It consisted of a black tank top, a pair of somewhat baggy camouflage cargo pants, a long-sleeve camouflage jacket that was tied around her waist, and a pair of black combat boots. To top everything off, she even put her hair in a ponytail and put two black lines on each of her cheeks. While the enthusiasm for the endeavor was appreciated, it was hard to take her seriously when she looked like the lone wolf protagonist in some cheesy military action movie. Ichigo and Sado simply stared at the optimistic girl with deadpan expressions, not being sure how to respond to the situation. Tatsuki simply let out a deep sigh in response.
"After we figured out what route we were taking to get to our stop, she went out and bought all of this for the trip. When I went to her house this morning and she came out wearing this. Don't worry, she said it's just for the forest only if that helps."
"I guess it's good that she has it for uh...any stealth missions we might end up doing?" Ichigo still didn't quite know how to respond, attempting to show some kind of approval towards the orange-haired girl's choice despite finding the choice to be a bit peculiar. Tatsuki smirked as she looked at her childhood friend's mildly confused expression, her brown eyes scanned him up and down for a moment, paying rather close attention to his combat attire.
"Though I guess Orihime isn't the only one wearing something questionable, right Ichigo?" Her tone was a bit playful, making it almost painfully obvious that she had decided to tease the teenager a bit.
"Huh? What's wrong with what I have on?" Ichigo responded with a bit of a defensive tone, finding her comment to be a bit annoying. The tomboy would step forward and gently tug on the middle of the robes, gesturing towards the frayed bottom portion and the missing left side.
"What's wrong with it? The other half of it is missing and it's all torn at the bottom. I don't get why you would keep it unless you're going for the edgy protagonist look." This seemed to strike a nerve with the scowling male. His choice of attire was purely based on its functionality, not its appearance.
"I don't where ya got that impression but just because the robes are a bit beat up doesn't make them any less functional. Besides the additions I made to it more than make up for it!" The smaller female smirked a bit as Ichigo's temper seemed to flare a bit. Honestly, she could guess what his reasons were in regards to his combat attire given how long she's known him but it was amusing to mess with him from time to time. Surprisingly Orihime had decided to speak up on the matter before either party could get another word in.
"I don't think it looks weird at all, it makes you look like a wandering warrior roaming the land!" The two found themselves blankly staring at Orihime once more. Her innocent and somewhat naive demeanor made it hard to understand what was going on in the girl's mind at times. Even if Tatsuki was her best friend and had been hearing her say things like this for years, it didn't really make her odd, and sometimes specific, comparisons any less strange to hear. Furthermore, Yasutora would nod in agreement with her statement which only served to add to their confusion.
"Uh, thanks…" Orihime would smile brightly at Ichigo while their large friend would give a simple thumbs up. He quickly moved on from the subject of his attire. There were more pressing matters at hand.
"Anyone see Uryu?" When looking over the small group that had gathered near the edge of Karakura Town, all he was able to see were shrugs and the shaking of heads. Ichigo would let out a faint sigh as Tatsuki began to speak.
"We could do a last-minute check and make sure we got everything we need before he gets here...Assuming we don't just end up having to leave without him." Not really waiting for a response, Tatsuki would look through the bags that she had brought for a moment before looking down at her arms and legs. This confirmed that she didn't forget to grab her weapon, a pair of red fingerless gauntlets, which wasn't surprising given she was rather diligent when it came to these things. Without much else to add given the nature of both their current situation and the suggestion made, those that were making the journey to the Kingdom of Vale would once more verify that they have everything they needed with them. Thankfully, their belongings seemed to be accounted for, clothes, weapons, hygiene products, essentially the whole nine yards.
"Ah, I forgot to mention it but Yuzu made us some prepackaged meals for the trip." Having just gone through his luggage once more, Ichigo would be reminded to tell everyone of what he had received before leaving the house. Needless to say, this was of course a huge time saver on their end.
"Aw, that was so sweet of her." Orihime practically squealed at the bit of information, finding the younger Kurosaki's care for both her brother and their wellbeing to be adorable. The sentiment coupled with the caring girl's approval of it had brought smiles to the faces of every person present. However, as unpredictable as humans are, the mood would be promptly shifted by a rather minuscule thing.
"So...where is everyone else?" The person behind this sudden shift was Keigo, who was currently wearing a bit of a curious expression. Ichigo would cock his head to face him for a moment before speaking.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't see Ryo, Mahana, or Michiru anywhere…"
"They're busy, Orihime and I already talked to them about Beacon and everything beforehand." Tatsuki chimed in with a rather neutral tone of voice. Her words however seemed to distress the brown-haired male if his facial expression was anything to go off of.
"Busy?! How can they not have time to see their friends off? Who knows when you guys will be a-" His sentence was cut a bit short as his head was suddently on the receiving end of Zangetsu's hilt. Ichigo's usual scowl seemed to deepen as he groaned, watching as Keigo attempted to pick himself off of the ground.
"They're Tatsuki and Orihime's friends Keigo, don't go dragging me or Chad into it just because you're lookin' for a date."
"Why do you gotta be so cruel, man?!" With a whine Keigo squealed from the ground, his voice rising a few octaves in the process. Mizuiro sighted in response as he looked down at his friend with a bit of pity in his eyes.
"Well, you don't exactly try to be all that subtle about it..."
"Well, can't say I didn't expect all of you to be so rowdy this early in the morning…"
"Yo Uryu, what took so damn long?" Ichigo's attention quickly snapped from Keigo's dumb antics to the arrival of the final person in their little travel party. A faint "hmph" could be heard as the male pushed up the glasses he was wearing onto the bridge of his nose.
"Well if you must know Kurosaki, I had some business to attend to before we left." Uryu was a rather skinned male that was just a bit taller than average with a rather slender build. His black hair was straight and fairly long, being roughly chin length with his bangs hanging mostly on the right side of his face. His current attire was worth mentioning as well, making him stick out similarly to Ichigo. The outfit was entirely white, consisting of a collared jacket, slacks, a pair of boots, white gloves, and lastly a matching mantle that flowed down to his knees . There were a few splotches of color here and there with a blue stripe and cross being present on the upper portion of the white turtleneck shirt worn underneath the trench coat.
"Snazzy outfit ya got there."
"I pride myself on looking presentable. Even in battle, I'd rather not look like a barbarian." Slight traces of a smirk could be seen on the bespectacled male's usually stoic expression, seemingly finding his little jab at the orange-haired male's combat attire somewhat amusing. His remark merely earned him a scoff from Ichigo.
"Y'know I'd rather worry about my fighting than a fashion statement. Guess that explains why you're not catching up to me in the combat department." A rather smug smirk would replace Kurosaki's usual scowl as he quickly noticed the nerve that he struck. The teenager's prideful manner simply didn't allow for him to live down being bested by the eldest Kurosaki child, especially since he looked down on him during the first few months following their initial meeting. Since then, the two had formed a rivalry, one that was also the result of Ishida's pride. As much as it pained him to admit, in recent years, Ichigo's instinct in combat along with his experience against human foes, in the form of thug wannabe upperclassmen, had eventually led to what he considered to be one of his most shameful moments. The day that Ichigo Kurosaki had bested Uryu Ishida in combat.
"It's quite sad that a simple fluke would inflate your ego this much. How shameful."
"Fluke?! Last time I checked, I kicked your ass four-eyes!" Ichigo stomped forward, finding Ishida's underestimation of his abilities to be extremely insulting. To emphasize the second half of his statement, he would bend down to Uryu's height and nearly headbutt him as he forcefully got in the dark-haired teenager's face. However, he wouldn't back down, his pride wouldn't allow for it. There was just no way that Ishida would allow himself to be intimidated and insulted by a hothead like Kurosaki.
"Your ego must have corrupted your memories then!"
"Oh yeah?! How 'bout ya prove it right here then?!"
"Gladly!"
"Guys, please don't fight!" Despite Orihime attempting to dissuade the two from brawling, neither of their resolves seemed to waver in the slightest. Hell neither of them seemed to even acknowledge the girl's words. Tatsuki would cup her face as she shook her head, annoyed at how hot-headed the two were at times. She would glance up at Yasutora for a moment before gesturing towards Ichigo and Uryu.
"Think you can break this up?"
"I should be able to." Without another word, the giant male would lumber forward, quickly closing the short distance between the two squabbling teenagers and the rest of the group. He'd place a hand on their chests before forcefully shoving them away from each other. He'd stand between them just in case they'd attempt to push his arms away and continue their little altercation and thankfully Orihime's voice would be heard before either of them could get a word in.
"Please stop fighting, we need to get going!"
"We're almost 15 minutes behind schedule!" Tatsuki's little addition caused Ichigo and Uryu to freeze in their tracks, while Orihime had made them a tad more reluctant to continue fighting, the news of how late they were currently running made them get their act together immediately. As soon as Chad released them, the two took off in a mad dash towards the exit of the town.
"Mizuiro, make sure Keigo doesn't get himself in trouble while I'm gone!" Ichigo offered a quick departing statement as he sprinted past the group. Neither of the addressed teenagers would get a chance to offer any kind of additional responsibilities as the rest of the group promptly began to follow after the two. At their current pace, the Karakura quintet would manage to find themselves outside of the town's outer boundaries within a few minutes.
Karakura Town was located in the outer regions of Anima as such the areas surrounding it were home to small mountains ranges and dense patches of forest. This meant that traversing the area by foot would take a decent amount of time to get pretty much anywhere. With their current destination being Vale, the five would have to travel through the forests that surrounded their hometown which unfortunately meant there was a rather large chance of setbacks. While the area that lies just outside of the town wasn't all that bad, aside from the occasional patch of rough terrain, the areas much further out were home to a plethora of people and creatures that they'd rather not encounter. Brigands, thieves, thugs, you could find practically every type of human or Faunus scumbag roaming through the less inhabited portions of the continent. Then there were the creatures of Grimm which posed varying levels of danger. After making their way through all of that, they'd then need to travel towards the edge of Anima to get to their stop which was where the airship that transferred students to Beacon Academy would pick them up. With the journey to the stop being estimated to take between seven to ten days and the flight to Vale to take a day or two, the group was looking at just under two weeks of traveling in total.
Of course, having lived in the region for most of their lives, the group knew of the potential dangers they might encounter and they weren't stupid either. It would be foolish to think that they wouldn't end up running into trouble at least once over the course of their journey. It didn't matter if the threat would be minor or major, a setback was ultimately still a setback and they needed as much time as they could get. Naturally, it paid to be prepared for anything and thus a plan would be hatched through a somewhat lengthy discussion. The basic marching order was decided to be Ichigo and Tatsuki in the front, Orihime in the middle, and finally Uryu and Yasutora in the back. The reasoning was somewhat simple, Ichigo and Tatsuki were easily the strongest front lines out of the five with both of them having a combat style more focused around close quarters. While not spectacular, their perception was nothing to scoff at either as the two were easily capable of picking up on any immediate threats ahead. Orihime was placed in the middle due to being more of a support than a fighter, as such being placed in the middle allowed for her to be the most protected. That wasn't to say she wasn't capable of defending herself however, quite the contrary. Being friends with Tatsuki has led the orange-haired girl to learn both martial arts and self-defense as well as developing a fairly decent combat sense. Not to mention, her Semblance was fairly versatile when it came to its application in combat meaning that the girl's role could change depending on the situation. Finally, Chad and Uryu were placed in the back. Yasutora was able to use his massive size to their advantage here, having a rather broad field of view that would allow for him to pick up on threats that those in front of him may have not perceived. Ishida was in a similar situation, his natural perception along with his Semblance allowed for the group to have a much greater chance of detecting threats before they were able to harm them. There was also the fact that the bespectacled male's skill with ranged weaponry was his greatest strength thus allowing for him to likely make the most effective usage of said skills. Furthermore, his placement meant that he was less likely to be overwhelmed by an enemy in close quarters with the silent giant being more than capable of defending against most threats.
With the lengthy discussion regarding the party's marching order, the five would be able to focus on walking. Nothing really exciting, just walking through the forested area. Staying in complete silence the whole time would make for a dreadfully dull journey, however. As such, they needed a way to occupy themselves, a goal which they achieved by employing a few different methods. There were points where someone would see something, point it out, and then the group would talk about it until they got bored. It wasn't quite effective in being a constant source of entertainment but when it was able to be used, it worked just fine. Other times, Orihime would decide to start up some kind of simple game, most of them being children's games, and having the rest of the group participate until it got old. Predictably, the most effective method was talking. Any kind of random conversation regardless of their current surroundings seemed to be the easiest way to occupy themselves for the longest amount of time. The subjects that the Karakura quintet would bring up were fairly standard given the circumstances. There was a fair share of reminiscing done which made the group feel a bit weird as memories were a strange thing. In their heads, the events they talked about felt like they had happened maybe a week or month ago at the very most but it had been years. It was just peculiar to think how long ago some things happened and just how much time has passed since then. Of course, the talking didn't stop there, the topics seemed to get a bit more random after that point with the conversations ranging from being about why Orihime seems to enjoy eating such strange food to inquiring as to what everyone expected Beacon Academy to be like. The most recent conversation was centered around Ishida's obsession with capes and mantles, the whole discussion sprung up as a result of noticing that he had donned a long white cape after entering the forest. Ultimately, the talk escalated as Uryu became a bit more flustered with Ichigo even breaking the formation and halting their progress for a moment to counter a point being made by his rival.
"If you weren't so pig-headed then perhaps you would see the benefits a cape has in combat." For the eighth time since everyone started talking about the capes, he pushed his glasses up in an attempt to hide the fact that his face was becoming more and more flushed by the moment. Once again, his pride won't allow him to back down and embarrass himself even though he couldn't seem to get Kurosaki to buy into his argument in the slightest, and the rest of the group didn't seem to be swayed either.
"Fine, fine, you're right and I'm wrong! Let's just move…" Ichigo did his best to not bust out laughing as he put on his usual scowl. Surprisingly, he had managed to convince the usually prideful male that he was accepting his point, or at least too annoyed to continue arguing. The black-haired male couldn't help but let a smug smirk form upon his lips as he scoffed, walking past Ichigo with haste.
"Well, well, I'm surprised Kurosaki. I never expected you to recognize logic when it's laid out in front of y-" His sentence was cut off by the orange-haired teenager stomping down against the white fabric of his cape. It was long enough to not just stagger him but throw him to the ground once the fabric was forcefully pinned against the ground. Having not expected this also prevented Uryu from recovering as he received a face full of dirt and grass. He groaned a bit as Kurosaki began to laugh quite loudly. Tatsuki stifled a chuckle while Orihime quickly moved towards Ishida, ensuring he wasn't injured in any way. Yasutora...well he seemed like he found it somewhat amusing? It was a bit hard to tell considering his silence, though the very slight smirk seemed to hint at it.
"See? Capes just get in the way! Just admit it already!" Within the blink of an eye, the scowling male's irritated tone had returned as he pressured the stubborn male in white to just accept his point. Orihime pouted a bit as she looked towards Ichigo, it was obvious that she disapproved of his actions, and truth be told her slight glare made him feel kinda bad, keyword being "kinda."
"Ichigo, that wasn't nice!" Keeping his established "cool and distant" demeanor, he would simply shrug as he diverted his attention back towards the caping loving teenager. Uryu had already started to rise to his feet once more at this point, dusting himself off in the process and checking for any potential stains in his clothing. Shooting Ichigo a glare, he'd opened his mouth to speak. However, the argument to be was interrupted by Tatsuki shoving herself between the two, clapping her hands somewhat loudly to further catch their attention.
"Yeah, yeah, Uryu is being dumb and Ichigo's being a dick, we get it. Anyways, it's starting to get dark if you two haven't noticed." The tomboy would point up to the darkening sky, the sun halfway hidden by the distant horizon. The amount of light was somewhat limited as it, the tall trees of the forest obscuring the sunlight even on the brightest of days. With that in mind, it was very clear that the light wasn't going to last for very long.
"Yeah, I can see that. We should probably find a spot to rest for the night."
"That would certainly be our best course of action in my opinion. We'll need all the rest we can get for tomorrow." Uryu agreed with his rival for once, mostly due to his answer being based on common sense more than anything else. His blue eyes would begin to dart around the area for a few moments, seemingly scanning for a potential clearing or a similar area. While he had already scouted out a few potentially good spots to set up camp at, he figured that getting a group opinion would likely be best.
"I've found a few potential areas we'd be able to set up camp at, what about you four? See any good spots?" He turned on his heel to face the rest of the group wearing a bit of an inquisitive expression on his face which was signified by his slightly arched brow.
"Oh, I do! It's over there." Inoue excitedly raised her hand in the air before quickly jabbing a finger towards the spot she found. Everyone else in the Karakura quintet would glance at each other for a few moments before looking back at the enthusiastic girl. Ichigo would simply shrug his shoulders as he walked forward.
"Wouldn't hurt to check it out." The orange-haired girl smiled as she began to proceed forward, walking roughly about half a foot in front of Ichigo and Tatsuki as the rest of the group began to follow her. She would lead them through a rather dense patch of vegetation and shrubbery, the male trio of the group having to dip and duck a few times as the slender branches of the surrounding trees threatened to fling back and smack them across the face. It was only a few minutes of walking but it was a bit annoying to navigate through the path Orihime had taken down, however it seemed to pay off quite well. As the five teenagers stepped over the last tree root, they'd find themselves within a rather wide clearing that was surrounded by similarly dense paths like the one they had just traversed. There was enough space for them to set up a makeshift camp, even with the amount of space that was needed for Chad. Not to mention, the path had caused to stray off of the well-defined dirt path the group had been walking on for the past twelve hours or so, meaning that it was fairly well hidden which probably meant it was safe.
"Damn…" Ichigo was honestly flabbergasted as was Uryu. The spot was perfect for the group and she just locked onto it within a minute of being asked. The giant known as Yasutora would simply begin to wander around the area, inspecting it a bit more.
"It seems nice." The response he gave was to be expected but showed his approval nonetheless. Tatsuki moved forward, ruffling her friend's hair a bit as she walked by the girl.
"Good eye Orihime. So, how are we dividing the labor up?" She quickly switched the conversation towards setting up camp since talking could wait until they had a proper setup to rest. Ichigo would glance over the group for a few moments.
"Chad and I will clear out anything that might get in the way and gather some stuff to get a fire going. You, Orihime, and Uryu should probably work on getting everything ready." Tatsuki gave a quick nod as she sauntered back towards Orihime who would, in turn, grab Uryu's attention to inform him of their assigned duties in regards to the campsite. Ichigo turned his head to the left, staring at Sado for a moment before speaking.
"You ready to get started on this?"
"Yeah." A simple word was all the confirmation Ichigo needed, moving towards the center of the clearing to start clearing out any stray branches or stones that were laying about with Sado following closely behind. The whole process wouldn't take all that long with the two of them, especially considering there wasn't much laying about in the first place. The majority of the branches were useless to them, not being dry enough to get any kind of decent fire started. The stones on the other hand seemed to have some use as a good portion of them were suitable for the construction of a campfire. Thankfully this meant that gathering stones or other heat-resistant material was already done, leaving them with only one job. With the spot cleared and the other two venturing further into the forest in search of firewood, Orihime, Tatsuki, and Uryu would get to work on prepping the sight for their makeshift camp. With no tents to pitch, their work mostly consisted of finding good positions within the clearing to place everything and with their combined effort the three would find themselves finished relatively soon. This would give them a decent amount of time to relax until Ichigo and Chad returned which was when construction of their fire would begin. The whole ordeal took a bit over an hour, with the most time being spent on searching for wood and building the campfire. As soon as the fire was going, Ichigo would hand out the packaged meals that Yuzu gave to him this morning. Honestly, they were a lifesaver, not having to worry about finding food throughout the day was absolute bliss. Especially at the moment, given how dark it was. Naturally, the five teenagers would decide to turn in for the night soon after eating, being rather tired from the long day they had. Soon they found themselves drifting into unconsciousness as the night would pass them by peacefully...hopefully.
AN: Okay so I did notice that I alternated a bit between first and last names when referring to characters. This was mostly because I'm trying to not be repetitive and with five characters being in the group things can get a bit confusing with just pronouns. If this proves to be bothersome then I will work on finding better ways of referring to the characters. Speaking of characters, I tried to be much more detailed with my descriptions when introducing more major characters but I'm not too sure if I overdid it at some points. Not much else to say about the chapter but before I move on; I have set up a poll in regards to team structures for this story. I've been considering doing teams in a few different ways but managed to narrow it down to two options. The poll can be found on my profile and will be running until Monday, 7/29/19. Anyways, next chapter should be out within a week. If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms, feel free to include them in a review or shot me a PM. Any questions left in a review I will try to answer at the start of each chapter while questions via PM will mostly like be answered via PM unless of course the answer is something I feel everyone reading should see. Hope to see you all next time, see ya!