Bleach Fanstory: A Bleached Honeymoon
By Michael Xu
Initial Comments:
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo
This is purely a fan story and I don't own any of the characters in it, apart from OC I may create.
This is the sequel to Bleach: After the War, and follows Ichigo and Rukia as they embark on their honeymoon/mission around the world.
Story so far: Newlyweds Ichigo and Rukia are ordered by Commander Unohana on a mission to the real world in order to clean up spiritual hot spots. Things don't turn out as they expected and Unohana is forced to give them a new assignment: assist Ishida Uyru and Captain Kurotsuchi with their investigation into a suspicious terrorist attack in Poland. What they find under the former World War 2 concentration camp of Auschwitz is the beginnings of a monstrous conspiracy, one which may have been instigated by the former enemy, Aizen Sousuke. Mayuri returns to Soul Society to inform the Commander, but Ishida, Ichigo and Rukia go on a road trip across Europe. Their first destination is Berlin, where Ishida tracks down a house belonging to the survivors of another Quincy clan. The elder matriarch Maria Rosenfeld reveals the truth behind what happened to the Quincies: nearly all were killed during the Holocaust. After putting the pieces together, Ishida, Ichigo and Rukia discover that Aizen was the one responsible for the Holocaust, using his Bankai's ability to hypnotize Adolf Hitler to do his bidding. Ichigo and Rukia must now find a way to contact the captains still present in the real world, in order to relay this information to Soul Society.
Chapter 8: Paris to New York
After spending another night at the Swissotel, Ichigo and Rukia woke up early in the morning, and swiftly began packing all of their belongings. By twenty past nine, they brought their luggage to the foyer of the hotel, where Ishida, who had woken up even earlier than them, was already waiting.
"Got everything ready?" Ishida asked. Ichigo and Rukia nodded. Ishida led them down the underground car park where the Mercedes was waiting. Having paid all of the hotel fees along with the parking fees, they were free to exit the hotel. Ishida drove out of the driveway and began heading southeast towards the outer limits of Berlin. Within twenty minutes they had already exited the outer boundaries of city and quickly skirted by the adjacent city of Potsdam. By ten past, Ishida made his way onto the main east-west freeway that would take them to the western border of Germany. Travelling at over seventy miles per hour on this unbroken stretch of high-speed freeway, the three of them made good progress. Within two hours they had reached the borders of North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous of the German states. It took them another hour to reach the outskirts of the great urban conurbation that stretched from Dortmund all the way to Dusseldorf.
It was here that they encountered the first big snag, for the freeway soon ground to a halt due to a vast amount of traffic. Though Ishida managed to avoid the most congested parts and quickly got onto the freeway that skirted around the Dortmund metropolitan area, the going became much slower. By the time they reached Cologne, it was already nearing two in the afternoon.
"Ishida, let's stop to take something to eat," Ichigo said. "I'm starving."
"Me too. I didn't eat much at breakfast time," Rukia added.
"Okay. We'll head into the city for lunch," Ishida agreed. He turned right at a large spaghetti junction and headed west into Cologne's central business district. Ishida parked the car along the eastern bank of the Rhine river and the three found a nearby coffee shop where they ate lunch. After they finished, the quickly got back in the car and drove through the city until they got onto another freeway which headed directly to the border with Belgium. By quarter to four in the afternoon they reached the border town of Aachen. After going through the border customs, Ishida, Ichigo and Rukia drove as fast as they could through the mainly flat farmland that characterised the Wallonia region of Belgium. Skirting around the city of Liege, they made it to the French border by six o'clock.
Again they went through another routine border clearance, and proceeded to head south along a freeway to Paris. As the sky turned dark, the three of them made fast progress, and within an hour crossed over the Somme River. Shortly after the river crossing however, Ishida began detecting strange spirit signals heading towards the Mercedes. Rukia's soul pager also went off, the screen showing tons of hollows all heading towards them.
"What's going on here?" she asked. "It's like we suddenly entered a territory full of hollows."
"Want me to deal with them?" Ichigo asked the other two.
"No, going into Shinigami form now would be awkward," Ishida said. "I have a better idea." He summoned his familiar, the blue sparrow Kojaku, and ordered it to multiply into a hundred individual sparrows and scan a ten mile vicinity around the car. The newly created swarm of sparrows flew off at speeds surpassing that of the Mercedes. Even though he was still driving, Ishida could see into the eyes of each of the sparrows. He frowned when he saw the birds fly over a field full of gravestones.
"I should have known this would happen," he sighed. Ichigo and Rukia were confused.
"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.
"We're currently in the area where the main battles of the First World War were fought. Although the Western Front cut across all of northern France, it was here around the Somme region that the bloodiest conflict took place. It was said that millions of soldiers were slaughtered like lambs in these fields of blood."
"If that's the case, then this area would be full of hollows or Jibakus, traumatised by their deaths," Ichigo said. Ishida nodded grimly.
"If you had still been on your mission, no doubt this is one spot you would have needed to cleanse. But it's already getting dark and we need to get to my father's house before nine." Fortunately, the ghosts of the dead soldiers that lay in the muddy fields of the Somme only briefly disturbed their journey. Sometime after eight o'clock they made it to the outskirts of Paris, where all of a sudden they were confronted with a massive jam of vehicles. Apparently the city of lights was one place that didn't go to sleep after nightfall. Ishida, Ichigo and Rukia crawled along the freeway as it snaked its way into the urban centre. By the time the freeway ended and they crossed over into normal streets, it was already close to nine in the evening. Ishida drove as quickly as possible whilst frantically searching for his father's address. He eventually found it after driving past the Gare de l'Este station and turning left towards the Canal St. Martin. Along the canal bank was a row of buildings with colourful ground floor store fronts. Ishida parked the Mercedes along the kerb and led Ichigo and Rukia through a door next to a medical practitioner's office. When they reached the second floor, Ishida knocked on a door to the right. A few seconds later it was open and the three of them were greeted by Ishida Ryuken.
"You're late," Ryuken said in a brusque manner to his son.
"Sorry dad, I couldn't drive any faster," Ishida replied, panting heavily.
"Well I don't blame you. It's better to be late and in good health than speed and end up losing your life," his father smile and welcomed them in the door. Ichigo and Rukia placed their luggage down and fell onto a couch. It was then that they took in the detail of the apartment, and were astounded at how intricate the decor on the walls, the floor and the ceiling was. Although there weren't a lot of expensive items, the overall design of the apartment made Ichigo think it was worth millions.
"So then, Kurosaki Ichigo, tell me about your adventures," Ryuken said as he lit up a cigarette. "I heard you and Kuchiki-san had quite a lot of trouble."
"Tell me about it," Ichigo replied. He and Rukia briefly recounted their journey from Tokyo to Central Asia and then to Berlin and Poland. Ryuken was intrigued by Ichigo's description of the Nexus, but it was when the Holocaust and the Quincies were mentioned that he really took notice.
"So that is what really happened," Ryuken pondered. "Although Kurotsuchi Mayuri did experiment, especially upon our family, the majority of the Quincies were killed by Aizen. I already had knowledge about what happened to the surviving clans during the Holocaust but I had no idea that Aizen was once again the culprit behind it. What you have encountered disturbs me greatly."
"As it does for me," Ichigo said. "It's definitely news that must be delivered to Soul Society."
"Speaking of the Soul Society, I just got a message from Isshin today," Ryuken said. "He said your Commander ordered you to fly to America and try to find Urahara as soon as possible."
"What's Urahara doing there?" Rukia asked.
"Probably some sort of shady investigation," Ichigo said. "Well, we don't intend on staying in Paris for long. Perhaps if we can, we could book a flight to New York tomorrow."
"There's no need to book anything. Isshin told me before hand to arrange the flight." Ryuken handed Ichigo and Rukia a set of flight tickets. "I've booked you a twelve fifteen flight from Charles De Gaulle Airport bound for John F. Kennedy Airport. You should arrive there at close to eight in the evening."
"What are we going to do once we get there?" Ichigo asked.
"Your father told me that Captain Muguruma, Captain Otorobashi and Captain Aikawa are all stationed in New York. They'll either meet you at the airport, or be waiting for you in front of the United Nations building."
"Just give me a minute," Rukia said as she jotted all the details into her soul pager. "Alright I've got them down. Thanks for arranging everything for us." Ryuken gave a brief smile before heading into his private room. To Ichigo, it appeared he was embarrassed to be have been complimented by the Shinigami for helping them. Ishida noticed Ichigo's face and laughed.
"Don't worry about dad, he's always like this," Ishida said. "I've never seen him actually accept a compliment before, not even from my grandpa." He was about to head into another bedroom but Ichigo stopped him.
"So Ishida, are you going with us?" Ichigo asked.
"No, I have to stay in Paris to help out my father for a while. I'll return to Tokyo and visit Soul Society once your journey's finished."
"Oh well, we had a great time regardless," Ichigo thanked Ishida, who, almost like his father, gave a brief smile before going into the bedroom. Like father like son eh, Ichigo thought to himself. He looked at the time and noticed it was nearing ten o'clock. He and Rukia had quick late night snack, showered themselves, before going to sleep.
The sound of a crowing rooster woke Ichigo and Rukia up. When they looked at the time, they saw it was already past nine o'clock.
"Oh shit, we're going to be late!" Ichigo exclaimed. He looked around the apartment and saw that Ishida and his father had already gone out.
"What's the rush Ichigo? We've still got two hours left before we have to check in," Rukia said. "We could always catch a taxi from here to go to the airport."
"Well, I hope it turns out as easily as you say it is." The two of them got changed and ate a moderate breakfast, before hastily packing all of their stuff. Before Ichigo was about to head out of the apartment, he saw a note that had been placed on the desk beside the doorway. He picked it up and read it.
"'Kurosaki, by the time you read this I'll probably be already out with my dad. No need to worry about transportation; a taxi pre-booked for you will arrive at the door by half past nine. Ishida.' Well, I never expected them to go this far," Ichigo snickered.
"Maybe they can't help but plan out everything for us," Rukia giggled. They went down the stairs and true to Ishida's words a taxi was waiting for them.
"Are you Mr. Kurosaki Ichigo?" the taxi driver asked in English.
"I am. Can you take us to the Charles de Gaulle airport?" Ichigo asked back.
"With pleasure. Put the luggage in the boot." The two of them did and so and go into the taxi. Roughly an hour later they arrived at the entrance to Terminal 2A, a semi-circular like building which formed part of the gigantic complex that was the airport's Terminal 2. Ichigo and Rukia took their luggage and walked through entrance. Finding themselves in the middle of what was a very wide and spacious hall, they scanned for their flight on the departures notice board. Once they found it, they went through the check-in, and proceeded through customs without much fuss. By the time they reached the waiting lounge for the flight, it was already half past eleven. Half an hour later the gate for the opened and the two of them boarded the 787 Dreamliner jet bound for New York.
Much to their delight, Ichigo and Rukia found themselves seated in business class, with a whole side space with two reclining chairs reserved for them.
"Wow, this is so cool, this is the first time we've been in business class," Rukia said, giggling with excitement.
"I'm still amazed at how generous Ishida and his father were," Ichigo smiled. "To go and book such high class seats." They settled down and watched the windows as the jet trundled down the runway. Within ten minutes it was fully airborne and from below the majestic city of Paris slowly disappeared from view. Ichigo and Rukia however, were already preoccupied with the miniature television set and DVD players in front of them.
More than seven hours later the 787 Dreamliner jet touched down at John F. Kennedy Airport, dozens of miles away from central Manhattan. Ichigo and Rukia got through the customs without much trouble but upon exiting to the arrivals hall, they found no one there waiting for them.
"What the hell, weren't Love, Rose and Kensei going to pick us up here?" Ichigo asked.
"Ryuken also said they might be waiting at the United Nations building," Rukia said.
"Chh, it's going to be a pain in the arse to find them," Ichigo sighed. He quickly changed what was left of their Euro money into American dollars. Then the two of them went out and hailed a taxi. To their dismay, they discovered that a single taxi ride from the airport to the United Nations building would cost nearly forty dollars. Ichigo decided to pay the bill regardless and bid the taxi driver to them there as quickly as possible. They got in the taxi and watched as it left the rather drab terminal 8 of the airport. Soon they were travelling upon a major freeway, bound for Manhattan. The traffic they saw around them was unlike anything they had encountered so far. From the side window, Ichigo could see a row of cars going on for what seemed like miles.
"Crap, it's going to take us ages to get to Manhattan," Ichigo said.
"Maybe we should have taken the rail instead," Rukia suggested. Ichigo silently agreed for her. Unbeknownst to both of them, the taxi driver was intentionally taking much longer than was needed to get to Manhattan, taking a rather circuitous route of freeways so that by the time they got within sight of the main island, it was already nearing eleven o'clock. The first sign that Ichigo and Rukia had that they had reached Manhattan was when the taxi crossed over the famous Brooklyn Bridge. In the distance was a huge mass of skyscrapers, lit up with lots of windows and neon-lights that clustered around the lower end of Manhattan. The skyscraper that instantly caught Ichigo and Rukia's attentions was an enormous class obelisk structure rising high above any of the other surrounding buildings, topped out by a massive antenna that seemed to shoot into the sky. When asked about what the building was, the taxi driver said that building was the Freedom Tower, the main building of the World Trade Centre.
The taxi crossed over the bridge and entered the complex network of streets and avenues that made up most of Manhattan. Ichigo wondered if the taxi driver even knew what the United Nations building looked like, let alone where it was, for it seemed to him that they were going through an endless row of buildings and apartment blocks. The feeling was made worse by the fact the taxi driver continued driving along the same road shortly after getting off the bridge. Just as it almost nearing midnight, the taxi reached an intersection that was filled with literally thousands upon thousands of people. The driver parked on the side of the street and asked them to get out. They got out the taxi and grabbed their luggage from the boot. Then they looked around and noticed something was amiss.
"Hey, this doesn't look like the United Nations building," Ichigo complained to the driver.
"The UN building is a few blocks that way," the driver pointed to the right. Before Ichigo and Rukia could protest, the driver sped off, leaving the two of them stranded with luggage in the middle of the largest sea of people they had ever encountered. Literally millions had packed into a triangular shaped area covering at most three city blocks. Ichigo wondered what the occasion was.
"Ichigo, take a look at that thing!" Rukia exclaimed in amazement. Ichigo looked at what she was pointing to and his jaw literally dropped. Just a few dozen metres in front of them was a gigantic sphere, glowing with a kaleidoscopic range of colours, easily two dozen feet across. It was suspended upon a pole at the very top of a skyscraper right in the middle of the square. Slightly below the pole was a gigantic plasma screen showing the time. It was thirty seconds to midnight. Ichigo noticed that the ball was actually descending, flashing luminous lights as it did so. As the clock reached forty seconds the screen changed into a countdown from twenty, and all of a sudden the teeming crowd all around started changing out the numbers as they appeared on the screen. By the time the numbers got down to five, the atmosphere reached fever pitched as everyone seemed to literally scream at the top of their voices. Then in one glorious moment, as the clock struck midnight, the ball reached the bottom of the pole and then emitted a blazing blast of yellow light that for a brief moment illuminated the entire square, before it was followed by fireworks that seemed to burst from the roof. Ichigo and Rukia stood silent, utterly awed by the entire spectacle as everyone else started dancing, cheering and singing about.
"What an...amazing moment," Rukia stuttered. "I've never seen something like this in my life."
"I've seen new year's celebrations before, and I've heard about the Times Square ball drop, but to see it with my own eyes was something else," Ichigo said. They observed the celebrations in silence for a few minutes, before deciding to join in the fun. They dragged their luggage along, and did the best they could easing through the crowds. Along both sides of the square were dozens of shops all lit up, selling all kinds of goods, although most of it was predominantly clothing. People of all ages and backgrounds could be seen, and though the temperature around was a chilling one degree, most didn't seem to mind the cold. For a while Ichigo and Rukia were so caught up in the revelry that they forgot about their objectives. It was when the laughter and the music started dying down that they realized they had got carried way.
"Oh my, it's nearly one o'clock," Rukia said, exasperated. "How could we have wasted so much time?"
"Well, time does fly when we're having fun," Ichigo said. "We're going to have to find our way to the United Nations building by ourselves." The two of them asked around for directions and discovered that the UN headquarters was located nine blocks or so to the east. From the bottom of the Square, Ichigo and Rukia started walking along 42nd street and counted the number of blocks in their heads. The going was tedious, and with the amount of luggage they had to pull, incredibly strenuous. Neither Ichigo nor Rukia could walk more than a block without stopping for a rest.
"My hands are all red," Rukia moaned, glancing in despair at her palms.
"Mine are too," Ichigo added. They had no choice but to keep on walking. As they walked, they became painfully aware that nearby onlookers were observing them with a mix of curiosity and incredulity. A few cars even blew their horns at them as they were crossed intersections. Just as the two of them were about to give up Ichigo glanced upwards and saw a large rectangular shaped building right across the street.
"Hey Rukia, I think that's the UN building!" he exclaimed.
"Are you sure? We'd better not have walked ten city blocks for nothing!" Rukia moaned. Using what was surely the last of their strength they trudged across the intersection and walked towards the base of the building. As they got close up they saw a row full of flags lined up in front of the entrance, and in the circular area below the base of the building there was a half-broken golden globe. Several other interesting sculptures adorned the surroundings. But what caught Ichigo and Rukia's attention were the three people that were standing on the steps directly beside the front door. Ichigo and Rukia recognised them at once. Seemingly filled up with a renewed burst of energy they ran as fast as they could up the steps, before collapsing in a heap in front of Love, Rose and Kensei.
"Whoa, the two of you look like a mess," Love said.
"What took you guys so long?" Kensei asked. "We've been waiting here for four friggin' hours! Because of you we missed the new years' celebrations."
"Then, why didn't you, meet us in Times Square?" Ichigo asked, panting heavily.
"Because it would have been impossible to find you!" Kensei answered back.
"Let it go Kensei," Rose smiled. "Cut Ichigo and Rukia some slack. I've bet they've had a horrid time getting here."
"You could say that for sure," Rukia panted.
"Fine, whatever. Let's get back to the hotel first." Kensei said. Rose and Love helped carry Ichigo and Rukia's luggage as the five of them got into a Chrysler and drove off into the night.
A very quick update this time, mainly due to how short this chapter is. It's more of a bridging chapter, showing how Ichigo and Rukia manage to logically make their way from Berlin all the way to New York as realistically as possible. I originally planned for the Paris portion to be longer, including a visit to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but it didn't make sense in the overall story, plus it was too much of a hassle to write. So instead I had them driving through the battlefields of the Somme and encountering the ghosts of the dead soldiers. I deliberately wrote the New York portion of the story to firmly establish the time period that Bleached Honeymoon and After the War take place in, with the reference to the still under-construction Freedom Tower and then the much larger permanently-on display Times Square Ball drop.