Watching the Gaians get into the Gigais Urahara had made was interesting indeed, as the former were all quite disturbed about seeing an exact copy of themselves lying dead before them. Vincent had to wait until they arrived in the World of the Living to return to his body. Karin and Toshiro went on ahead since the soccer match was starting soon so it was Ichigo awaiting them.
"I've never had to use a Gigai so I don't know if it will be uncomfortable or not." The Substitute said as the Gaians continued to stare with a sort of horrified fascination at their bodies. "…But you won't really know if you don't get in the damn thing."
"Your Soul Candies." The Twelfth Squad Lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, approached them with an armful of candy dispensers, the artificial souls inside specially designed by the Department of Research and Development to be as alike to the Gaians personalities as possible.
"I still feel uncomfortable doing this." Kadaj grabbed his and stared at his Gigai again. "Besides, if we're watching for Hollows, why do we need Gigais?"
"Toshiro decided it would be good to have you guys field train in the World of the Living for a while. The other three can join in after they get their zanpaktou." Ichigo explained. "That means you'll need a Gigai to hang around…and a place to stay. Kisuke can give you a place but he usually makes you work for it, just ask Renji."
"That has already been taken care of." Nemu butted in. "An apartment was rented out by Captain Kuchiki with help from Urahara big enough to accommodate them. Urahara is willing to pay rent as long as they continue his training and work to exterminate Hollows."
"Well, you got off lucky this time." Ichigo said, standing from his seat on the floor and waiting as Tifa finally toughened up and slipped into her Gigai, which, like the others, had on their same clothes from when they first arrived. After some hesitation, the other four soon followed.
"Kind of itches." Red growled, scratching the back of his neck as well as he could.
"So all we do is swallow these and we're back to being spirits?" Kadaj held the Soul Candy dispenser at eye level to look at closely.
"Pretty much." Ichigo replied.
"Remember not to ever remove your ECB's." Nemu reminded. When she saw them look at her strangely, she quickly explained, "ECB is short for Energy Changing Bracelet, the silver bands on your wrist. If removed at any time you will be unable to revert back to Lifeforce. The only safe time to remove them is when you have returned to your natural energy, as remaining permanently bound to Spiritual Pressure may cause severe health problems later."
"Yeah, Urahara said it's okay to change back to Lifeforce every now and then. It won't set you back any, though he said your zanpaktou spirits won't like it, since they technically vanish during that time." Kurosaki added in. "Well, let's get going. Hollows don't exterminate themselves and if Toshiro has to leave the game to kill them Karin will blame me for not doing my job."
With that, the six Gaians followed behind the orange haired teen and to the Senkaimon.
Already in the World of the Living in a Gigai of his own, Toshiro stood with Karin at the field, waiting for the others.
"Thanks for helping out, Toshiro." Karin said to him, grinning.
"Well seeing as you wouldn't give up until I did come I didn't have much of a choice." Toshiro replied indifferently. "Your brother wasn't any help either."
"Okay, snowman." Karin said, punching him rather roughly in the arm. He rubbed the spot; Gigais were so weak sometimes.
"Stop calling me that." He grumbled.
She smirked at him before spotting her friends running down the road towards them.
"There they are, about time."
Toshiro rolled his eyes at her, hoping that, with him there, the match would be quick. He had paperwork to do and a Nightmare to catch. As the four boys arrived, spotting Toshiro and grinning, Karin nags them for being late.
"Well, at least you managed to actually have a team." An older voice sneered.
Toshiro immediately didn't like that voice and turned to see the six high school boys. The one who had spoken glared down at the shorter boy with a glint of malice and superiority. The Soul Reaper glared back.
"Jeez, so desperate for an extra player you grab an elementary student?" The boy sneered.
A cold wind blew by and Karin avoided glancing at Toshiro. He kept his face passive, avoiding any arguments with the pompous human.
"You'll see, just wait." Karin smirked back. "He's a lot better than all six of you combined."
"Let's just get this over with." Toshiro sighed, walking onto the field. Karin and the others were quick to join him.
"Okay Kazuya, you're goalie." Karin said to the brown haired boy with glasses. He nodded and ran to his spot. "Toshiro, you and I are on offense just like the last time we played." The white haired Captain nodded. "Heita and Ryohei are on defense, Kei will jump in when someone needs to switch out."
The boys gave their varying agreements and they spread back out. Ryohei, the boy with long blonde hair slicked over shorter black hair noticed Toshiro glare at one of the high school boys before taking up a position to get the ball when Karin kicked. He smirked and pointed this out to Heita, the black haired, serious faced boy with him.
"With Toshiro here, this game is as good as won." Heita replied, grinning widely.
The high school boys, unaware of the Soul Reaper in their opponents midst, had high confidence and were perfectly fine with Karin and the other middle school kids kicking off first. They assumed it would be easy to get the ball, especially with an 'elementary' kid with them. Though, they did feel rather uncomfortable under his teal glare.
The ball went straight to the icy Captain and with quick movements around the tall teens, Toshiro quickly kicked it in the goal. The goalie was startled by this, not thinking he would need to block so soon.
"He's…fast." One of the high school boys muttered, still processing their loss.
Stepping it up a notch, the high schoolers attempted to turn it back around, but the one they had thought would be the weakest turned out to be extremely hard to get past. Even when Karin purposely put him on defense to give the boys somewhat of a chance, the white haired boy refused to let them slip by.
By this time the Gaians had arrived, splitting up and stationing themselves in different parts of the town to watch for Hollows. The one in the area where Toshiro and Karin played was the Remnant Kadaj. He watched the game with interest, not having seen anything like it before. Soccer was foreign to Gaia, and it looked fun to play. The humans with Hitsugaya seemed to be having fun, and even when they were hurt by a fall, Karin stood them back up, dusted them off, and got them back in the game.
Kadaj noticed that their opponents were getting frustrated and seemed to be planning something. He knew the look in their eyes well, having had it himself quite a few times during his killing spree days. Emerald eyes watched them closely.
Moving around one of the taller boys, Karin prepared a big kick for the goal that would give them a score twice as big as their opponents, when one of them darted in and knocked the ball away from her, tripping her up as well due to her unbalanced position. As she fell her ankle twisted and she bit her lip to bite back a yelp.
'Just like before.' She growled and attempted to stand.
"Time out!" She heard Toshiro shout before he was at her side and helping her stand. "Why is it when I'm here you get hurt?"
"Must be the universe punishing me for cheating." Karin replied and Toshiro raised an eyebrow at her jest.
He helped her over to the side where her four friends came running to see if she was okay.
"Damn." She scowled. "This time I can't keep going or I could break it."
"The game is almost over." Kei, the boy with an afro, assured her. "We'll just finish 'em!"
"It shouldn't take long." Toshiro added.
"Man, if you hadn't come, we'd be ruined." Ryohei said to the Captain. "Karin's our best player, so without her we'd be finished."
"Hey!" The leader of the high school team shouted out. "Are you forfeiting or something?!"
"You wish!" Karin snapped back. "I may be out but we're not finished yet!" She turned to the others. "Show 'em Hell guys."
"Got it!" Heita nodded and ran back out, Ryohei, Kazuya and Kei following quickly.
"Don't let us lose, Toshiro." Karin said to the Soul Reaper.
"Why else did I come here?" He replied with an almost invisible smile before turning away and getting back on the field.
At his spot on the edge of the road, Kadaj saw the high school boys staring Hitsugaya down and knew they were going to hit him next. Once they were down to only the four boys the odds were against them. Then again, this was Toshiro, and Kadaj doubted they would manage a trip up with him; not a successful one anyway.
The Remnant glanced at the Soul Candy dispenser in his hand, wondering if any Hollows would even bother to show up, before returning his attention to the game. They had started again, Toshiro leading the way for another goal. As expected, the high school boys were attempting to trap him in, but with agile movements he instead had them tripping over each other. The goalie was a little more attentive, and managed to block the goal but only by the tips of his fingers. The younger boys still had double the score.
'At least it's almost over.' The Captain mused. 'Even if they got past me we're still ahead by ten, they don't have the time to make up that score.'
His eyes shifted to the wielder of the ball, which was a high schooler of course. He rushed over, preparing to steal it and keep it away. He wasn't concerned with goals at the moment, just getting the game over with so Karin's team would win.
A pressure in the air alerted him to a Hollow appearing in the nearby area. Pausing for the briefest moment to figure out exactly where it was and who was close by, his original target was able to slip by and even pushed him over, snickering as the tiny Captain fell hard. The boy scowled and stood, but the teen had already rushed by and scored.
Karin wanted to shout at him, she did, but she knew why he had paused, as it had caused her to look away as well. She saw a flash of silver and realized Kadaj had been close by, the Remnant rushing towards the Hollow, far more interested in a fight than the game.
"Don't worry about it!" Karin shouted to Toshiro, meaning the Hollow. "We're still in!"
Understanding the hidden meaning, Hitsugaya nodded and put his focus back on the match. The Gaians were there for a reason, they wouldn't learn a thing if he didn't give them a chance to fight, and Ichigo was there as well to assist in his place. Not to mention Karin would be furious if he left.
The Hollow had appeared under the bridge and looked like a giant barracuda, the bone like mask full of razor sharp ivory teeth and bright golden eyes. Its slimy brown body flitted through the water, heading towards a terrified spirit belonging to a middle-aged man. The beast lifted itself out of the water, revealing small legs down its body like that of a centipede, jaws opening to snap up its target.
"Not today!" Kadaj sneered, landing a rough kick to the creature's head and sending it crashing to the ground. Ichigo arrived and stood in front of the frightened soul, watching the Remnant as he unsheathed his blade and lashed out.
Roaring, the Hollow slid out of the way of the blade and back into the water, vanishing underneath its gray surface. The mud stirred up from its movements let it blend in perfectly.
'That won't protect it.' Mordofea laughed sinisterly. 'Use the shadows to spear it.'
'How?'
'I can turn into anything with a blade, use your imagination!'
Kadaj grinned, watching the water shift as the Hollow shifted its position for an attack. He liked his new blade.
"Devour, Mordofea." He whispered to the katana, watching it turn black and morph into his more familiar twin-bladed katana.
The water twitched, the Hollow beneath sensing the rise in power. It was reconsidering its food.
"Shadow Shift: Trident Blade." The dark blade twisted in his hand, becoming long with a three-pronged end, the sharp ends bright silver.
Deciding the risk was too high, the aquarian Hollow twisted around and sped off, stirring the water above it. Catching this shift, Kadaj hefted the trident high and threw it at the retreating beast. There was a gargling screech as the black weapon vanished halfway into the water and the water turned red before the blood blackened and vanished along with the Hollow.
"Nice!" Ichigo grinned, giving the Remnant a thumb up. "Might want to grab your zanpaktou though."
"No need." Kadaj smirked, holding his hand out in Mordofea's direction. The Trident turned into black smoke and raced towards his master's hand, forming back into a solid form once in his hand.
"That's convenient." The Substitute mused aloud, then turned to the soul behind him, performing the Soul Burial before another Hollow came for him. "Well, guess we're good here. I'll go see the others."
Once the teen had vanished with Flash Step, Kadaj sealed his zanpaktou and began walking back to the soccer field, wondering if the match was over. For his first fight against a Hollow, it wasn't all that hard.
The match was very nearly over, with only one play left. After his slip up due to the Hollow's appearance, Toshiro went on the offensive and scored another two, giving them double the score again to the high school boys' dismay. The white haired child was just too fast for them to beat, and when the game was over, they fell to the ground and surrendered.
"Alright!" Karin shouted, jumping up before remembering her sprained ankle and promptly falling back on her butt, gripping tightly to the offending spot but keeping a smile on her face. The high school boys had been causing her problems when she tried to play soccer at school with her friends and she was glad to have shown them up, even if Toshiro did most of the work. Perhaps it was good that it was him, since they believed he was still an elementary school student.
While the older teens walked away, shoulders slumped, Karin's friends and the Ice Captain joined said girl's side. The four boys cheered while Toshiro just rolled his eyes. It was one game, and though it was obvious they loved it, they were being a bit over dramatic in his opinion.
"Let's get you home so your dad can look at that." Toshiro said, bringing attention back to the fact that Karin was injured.
"Oh, right!" Ryohei seemed ashamed at having forgotten that. "Here, I'll help you up."
"Nah, you guys get home. Toshiro will help me." Karin waved them off
"O-okay. Thanks again, Toshiro." On Ryohei's word, the four boys left.
Sighing, Toshiro instead knelt down next to the girl and began applying Healing Kido. It was weaker while in a Gigai, but for a sprain it would suffice.
"Good thing it was just a sprain or they'll wonder why I healed so fast." Karin commented while the Captain worked.
"Welcome to your brother's world." Toshiro replied sarcastically. "Ishida made up most of his excuses though."
"At home it would be Rukia who made the excuses and dad bought it. Well, we thought he did anyway. Turns out he was playing along."
Finished with the healing, Toshiro stood and then helped the Kurosaki sister up as well.
"How long do you plan on hiding there?" The Captain called out suddenly, startling Karin.
"Huh?" She reached out for whatever it was her friend was sensing. "Oh! That guy is still here."
"I have a name." Kadaj grumbled, revealing his position of leaning against the tree. The Artificial Soul in his Gigai sat cross-legged next to him, seemingly focused on the sky and not paying any attention.
"Get back in your Gigai, Kadaj." Toshiro ordered. "It makes it difficult to talk when there are two of you."
Scowling at the order, Kadaj removed the pill and stepped into the Gigai, stretching out his limbs once he was in.
"I hate this thing." He grumbled.
"We all do, but it's necessary." Hitsugaya walked over to the Remnant, Karin following closely to see the new Substitute better.
"I forgot to ask; are you guys related?" The teen questioned, watching them both tense and glare. "I mean, you sound the same, and…" Kadaj seemed to relax and smirk, hiding a laugh, while Toshiro's glare intensified. "I guess not."
"This one is from Gaia, so there's no possible way to be related to him." Toshiro replied stiffly.
"Like I'd want to be related to a shrimp." Kadaj grinned mischievously. He laughed when the Ice Captain scowled fiercely at him.
"Look, the game is over and I have work to do." Toshiro pinched the bridge of his nose and calmed himself down. "I'll be heading over to Urahara's and returning to the Soul Society for now. I'll return when I make some progress in my paperwork."
"I thought you were supposed to be some kind of guardian for us Gaians." The Remnant knew he was pushing it but it was too fun to stop.
"There are exceptions….Look, Kurosaki is the representative for this town, so technically you're under his watch while in Karakura Town and I said I'd be back later. Go…fight another Hollow or something."
Not wanting to be in Kadaj's presence much longer lest the Remnant tease him more, Toshiro started walking away, ignoring Karin's silent protest against it.
"Hmph." Karin crossed her arms, turning to Kadaj. "Now you've done it, he was actually in a good mood a minute ago."
"He needs a sense of humor." Kadaj replied sharply.
"…Can't argue that, but he's always really uptight anyway. I gotta get home before my old man berates me for being late. See ya!" Leaving the silverette on his own, Karin started running off towards her home.
Now alone, the smirk on Kadaj's face vanished, revealing a rather thoughtful expression.
"Toshiro knows who I am…but he never says anything about it." He mused aloud. "And that girl wasn't afraid of me in the slightest. Even when she first saw me she didn't think anything of it."
Thinking about everything that had happened since he arrived, Kadaj decided he liked Karakura Town and the Soul Society way better than Gaia. No one except the Soul Reapers here knew who he was, while on Gaia they would be after his head.
Yes, he definitely liked this world better.
"There you are." A silky voice hissed and Kadaj's vision went black.
Here's the game as well as Kadaj's first Hollow fight! AH, but what happened to him at the end? Hehe, cliffhanger XD
So, getting towards the part where conflict starts showing up, if the end wasn't obvious enough, and Ichigo's dad will make an appearance at some point. ^^ Enjoy!