Chapter 5: Names Forgotten and Names Unknown
"You son of a bitch!!" Ichigo bellowed at Urahara, sick of being kept in the dark by the increasingly irritating man, "Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Not yet," Urahara said ominously, "and not unless we have to. You want to become a shinigami to protect your family, yes? This is the fastest way to accomplish that feat. I never said it wouldn't be difficult."
Ichigo was about to make a sharp retort when another round of erosion began, his chain's links devouring themselves and causing him immense pain in the process. This is gonna' be a long three days…
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The following day, and quite some distance from Ichigo, Inoue Orihime was preparing for school. After a quick breakfast of jerky dipped in honey, she dressed into her school uniform, careful of the injuries on her arm and leg that she'd gotten the previous night. I didn't even see or hear the car, Orihime marveled, as she tied the standard red bow around her neck. I should really pay more attention…
Spotting the time and realizing she would be late if she didn't leave soon, Orihime grabbed her school bag, hurrying towards the door. Pausing to pat her teddy bear Enraku on the head, her eyes fell on the shrine of her late brother, Sora. A pang of sadness ran through her as she remembered how cruelly her closest family member had been taken from her.
Pushing past her gloom, Orihime hastened out the door, hoping silently to herself, Maybe Kurosaki-kun will be back today!
However, upon her arrival to Class Three, Orihime found that Ichigo's seat was once more conspicuous in its emptiness.
"Good morning, Orihime," Tatsuki said, smiling at her friend.
"Good morning Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime greeted, sitting down next to her.
"Say, Orihime…what happened to your leg?" Tatsuki inquired, staring down at the buxom girl's darkened appendage.
"Hmm? Oh, I got hit last night," Orihime explained, as she took out her school supplies.
"By a car?!" Tatsuki shouted, bringing everyone's attention their way.
Under the rest of the class's sudden scrutiny, Orihime mumbled, "Um, Tatsuki-chan, it's no big deal…"
"No big deal?! You got hit by a car!" her tomboy companion ranted, "Did the driver even stop? You could sue them for dangerous driving!"
"N-no they didn't stop," Orihime replied timidly, not liking being put under a spotlight so suddenly.
Tatsuki, noticing the rest of the class's eavesdropping, sighed, "I'm just glad you're okay. You really ought to be more careful though. You can't just space out whenever you want to. You're lucky you only got bruised."
Orihime considered telling Tatsuki about her arm injury, but thought better of it, given their large audience. Besides, she didn't want to worry Tatsuki over something that didn't even hurt that much. Her leg hurt far more than her arm did.
"Hime…" purred Chizuru as she popped up next to Orihime, "I'll nurse you back to health in no t-"
But her lesbian classmate's come-on was quickly interrupted by Tatsuki's fist. "Get lost somewhere and die, you perverted lesbian!" Tatsuki barked, sending Chizuru crashing across the room.
Sitting back down, Tatsuki began to say something to Orihime when she was drowned out by Keigo, who entered the room at top speed with his eyes closed.
"Iiiiii-chiiiiiii-ggoooooooo!" he sang, leaping towards the spot his orange-haired friend usually occupied, only to find nothing but air. Continuing past Ichigo's desk, Keigo slammed into the window like a bug on a windshield and slowly slid down it.
"He's not here again," Mizuiro supplied unhelpfully, bending down to examine his excitable chum.
"I…I see..." Keigo moaned from his position on the floor, a bruise already forming on his tearstained cheek.
Just then, the teacher entered the classroom and everyone started settling down. Seeing the incapacitated Keigo and Chizuru in a heap on the opposite side of the room, Ochi thought to herself, My, how violent today's youth is…
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Meanwhile down in the "pit of misery," as Ichigo had dubbed it, said orange-haired teenage spirit was not enjoying himself; to put it mildly. Lying face down on the ground, he watched as his chain of fate finished its latest fit of self-consumption. It looks like these things repeat a sequence of eating and sleeping every few minutes, he deduced, pushing himself up on onto his feet. When they eat, I can't even move from the pain. It's so intense I swear my hair's falling out! So…I'll try to climb out while they're still asleep. Steeling himself, Ichigo took off at a run towards the far side of the chasm, sprinting as fast as he could up the slick face. But to his endless frustration, he didn't make it more than a few meters or so before his momentum gave out. Yelping in surprise, Ichigo flailed his feet as he descended earthwards once more.
"That gaki's unbelievable…" Jinta muttered from his perch at the pit's edge, "He's actually climbed up four meters with that approach…"
"Oh," Urahara said pensively from behind his fan, "Well, well…"
"Baka," Ururu commented simply, as Ichigo failed in yet another attempt to climb the pit's vertical face.
Ichigo lay on his back, his arms still trapped beneath him, breathing heavily from his efforts. "Kuso…" he seethed, looking up at the faint non-sunlight of the ceiling far above him.
"Oiii!" Jinta called down to him, "You hungry at all?"
"No!" Ichigo shouted back, "I'm a friggin' ghost! How can I be hungry?!"
"Good," grinned the red-haired boy, "I'll let you in on a little secret: if you get hungry while you're a soul, it means that you're just one step away from turning into a hollow!"
His eyes widening, Ichigo thought wildly, I can't let that happen! For Karin and Yuzu's sake…
However, his dark thoughts were interrupted when something damp struck his forehead. Is that…rain? As he felt the liquid trickle down his head though, he realized what it was.
"Oi!! Don't spit on me!!" Ichigo fumed at Jinta and Ururu, both of whom were leaned over pit's rim, enormous spit strings dangling from their mouths.
Hurriedly, Ichigo retreated to the pit's center, so as to avoid further barrages of saliva.
How could this possibly get any worse?
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Elsewhere, in the humble abode of Inoue Orihime, its sole occupant was readying her evening meal. She diligently stirred a mixture of bean paste, chili peppers and guacamole, listening to the raucous sounds of Laugh Hour playing in the other room.
Over the sound of her favorite television program, Orihime heard the unexpected jingle of the doorbell. Muting the T.V. and answering the door, Orihime found her best friend standing outside.
"Tatsuki-chan," she greeted, cheerfully.
"My mom told me to give this to you, Orihime," Tatsuki said, a wry smile on her face as she held up a plastic container, "It's beef stew."
"Yay!" Orihime exulted, taking in the meal's delicious scent, "Tatsuki-chan's kaasan makes the best beef stew!"
"Do you mind if I join you?" Tatsuki asked, "There's enough in there for both of us."
"Of course!" Orihime answered, ushering her friend within.
Once inside, Tatsuki's nose was immediately assaulted by the odor of what Orihime considered dinner. Tatsuki shook her head and tried not to breathe too deeply.
"I got here just in time Orihime. I couldn't let you go and eat whatever that is!" Tatsuki said; her face screwed up in an attempt to keep her eyes from watering.
"Oh, I'll just save it for tomorrow," the ridiculous girl replied, turning off the stove.
The two friends then eagerly dug into the beef stew, laughing and talking about that new show, Bura-Rei. Orihime rather loved what she'd seen of the program so far, while Tatsuki merely found it diverting. She thought it relied a bit too much on catchphrases. Eventually though, the topic came around to Ichigo, as it usually did.
"I sure hope Kurosaki-kun comes back soon…" Orihime sighed.
Tatsuki smirked, rolling her eyes, "Pining away for him already, Orihime?"
"N-no!" Orihime denied, blushing, "I'm just concerned that that bad guy might've done something evil to him; like turning him into a duck!"
Tatsuki raised her eyebrow, not sure whether her friend's excuse was in jest or not. It's always hard to tell with her…
After a moment though, Orihime burst into giggles, "K-Kurosaki-kun! With a duck bill! T-too funny!"
Tatsuki, still not sure if she was joking, joined in on the laughter. Ichigo's scowling face did not belong on a duck.
However, their amusement was cut short by a rumble that shook the whole apartment; knocking down a few plates and removing Enraku the teddy bear from his perch. Unheard by either of them, a voice in the darkness of Orihime's kitchen raged, "Kurosaki Ichigo!!"
Bending down to pick up her stuffed animal, Orihime pouted, "Oh no! Enraku got torn…I'll have to ask Ishida-kun to mend it for me."
"What was that shaking just now? Was it an earthquake?" Tatsuki asked, standing, and looking around uneasily.
"I don't think it's earthquake season…" Orihime murmured absently, as she sulked over her pink bear's condition. Taking her hand away from the toy's head, she saw a sticky liquid clinging to her fingers. "Is…is this…blood?" the autumn haired beauty whispered in horror.
Just then, a tremendous force impacted her chest. Feeling as though she'd been hit by a car, again, Orihime screamed as she was propelled into the nearest wall.
"Ow..." she groaned, rubbing her sore ribs. Looking down for any blood, Orihime was startled to see a chain coming out of her sternum. "What's this chain? It…it hurts! I want to break it…" Orihime's confusion grew as she spotted what appeared to be another, prone version of herself lying across the room, the chain in her chest connected to it. "Wha…what's going on?" she wondered aloud.
But her attention was soon diverted by a loud roar that echoed throughout the apartment. There, in the middle of her living room, was some sort of monster. Standing, if it could be called standing, at about two and a half meters tall, the creature had predominantly brown, scaly skin, although its arms were a deep, bloody red. Said arms ended in wide, clawed hands, big enough to crush someone's skull. In place of a head, there was only a skeletal mask, out of which spread dark, limp hair. Despite the fact that the being had two arms, there was only a long tail where its legs should have been. The most startling thing though, had to be the hole in the center of its chest. Perfectly cylindrical, the hole was like some grotesque parody of a child's first shapes game.
With alarm, Orihime realized that the monster was looming over a beaten and bloodied Tatsuki. What am I doing?! she rebuked herself, Tatsuki-chan's in trouble! Rushing to her friend's aid, Orihime used her unusually hard head to knock the creature's enormous arm away from Tatsuki. Recovering quickly, Orihime hurried to the tomboy's side, placing her hand gently on her friend's shoulder, "Tatsuki-chan! Are you okay?"
Horrified, Tatsuki lashed out, knocking Orihime away, "Get away! Leave me alone, whatever you are!" The panic-stricken short-haired girl then passed out; her blood loss and fright at her situation becoming too much for her.
"Tatsuki…chan?" Orihime said confusedly, her hands held tight to her chest.
"It is pointless, Orihime," the fiend looming above her rasped, "She cannot even see us, much less hear us."
"H-how…do you know my name?" Orihime asked, staring defiantly up into the red eyes that gleamed inside its pale, bony face.
"That's terrible Orihime!" the beast cried, seizing her in one of its giant fists, "You've forgotten the sound of your own brother's voice already?"
"Onii…chan?" Orihime whispered slowly, her eyes widening.
"You used to pray for me every day," the monster formerly known as Sora ranted, tightening his grip, "Until that girl and Kurosaki Ichigo came into your life! Now, the only way to get you back is to kill y-"
But before Sora could finish that thought, his wrist was suddenly severed from his arm, dropping Orihime roughly to the floor. Standing before what was left of her brother, was a young man in a black hakama; a katana draped lazily over his shoulder.
"Oi, hollow-san," the stranger said, sneering, "You really think eating your sister's gonna' solve your problems?"
"Why do you interfere?!" Sora growled, his tail flicking about like an ornery cat.
"Why?" the man said, adjusting the visor perched atop his head, "Because it's my job to interfere. Besides, I just got a promotion, and I can't let the higher ups think less of me, now can I? Allow me to introduce you to your killer: Fukutaicho Abarai Renji."
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Several minutes prior to this, Abarai Renji was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, patrolling Karakura Town.
Damn you, Takezo Koukichirou! he grumbled, This is your assignment, not mine! Stupid bet…I really need to stop gambling now that I'm a fukutaicho.
Scanning the area with his visor, Renji heaved a sigh. Not a lot going on tonight at least. If only Rukia had been so lucky…I didn't even get a chance to talk to her after she got injured. Now she's right back on assignment in Rukongai somewhere…
Renji's reflections were brought to an abrupt end by a large burst of reiatsu to the southeast. So much for my quiet night…
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Now, Renji was standing, zanpakutō drawn, in front of some hollow who wanted to kill his sister.
"I will kill all who stand between Orihime and I!" the hollow screeched at him.
"Tch," Renji huffed, "I wouldn't count on that."
Using some light shunpo to get behind it, Renji brought sword down, cleaving the hollow's mask in two.
"Sister…" it whispered as its body dissolved into dust.
Sheathing his blade once more, Renji turned back to the girl. To his surprise, her eyes were starting to fill with tears.
"Y-you killed Sora…" she whispered, her lip trembling, "I know he was a monster, but…he was still my brother…"
Renji was caught completely off guard. He was not used to having to console crying women. "Er…uh, don't cry…Orihime-san, was it?" the tattooed shinigami said, uncomfortably, "Listen, if it helps, your brother is in a much better place now."
"Really?" Orihime asked, hope shining in her eyes.
"Yeah," Renji said, fiddling with his visor, "See, I'm something called a shinigami. Our job is to purify restless spirits, like your brother, and send them to Soul Soci-…er…the afterlife."
"I see," the girl smiled through her tears, "Then, I shouldn't worry for him then?"
"Nope," Renji shook his head, crossing his arms.
"That's good!" Orihime said, standing up and bowing, "Arigato…Abarai-san?"
Renji stared at her. He wasn't used to people bowing to him. When everyone had shown their respect to him after he got his promotion, it had really unnerved him. I've come a long way from Rukongai…
"R-right," he mumbled awkwardly, "Abarai Renji."
"You know…you remind me of my friend Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime said suddenly, looking at him pensively.
"Do I?" Renji said uneasily, not wanting to get involved in a prolonged conversation, "That's…what in the world can that be?!" he shouted, pointing behind the girl, who promptly spun around.
"I don't see anyth-" Orihime began, but with puff of smoke, Renji activated his memory modifier, knocking her out.
"Geeze…" he groused, picking up the comatose Orihime, "It's a lot easier when you can just perform konsō and send them off to Soul Society…"
Carefully, Renji eased the girl's spirit body back into her real one. "Yosh!" he said, stretching, "Bye and have a good n…uh…" Looking down, Renji noticed a second girl that he'd previously overlooked, "Kuso…" The girl had a minor flesh wound on her shoulder. After thinking it over, Renji decided that didn't want inflict his poor kidō skills on her.
Bending over the second girl, he shook her into wakefulness. "Oi! Wake up!"
"Huh?" the short haired girl blinked slowly, "Ichi…go? Is that you?"
"No," Renji rolled his eyes, using the memory modifier again. Satisfied that the two humans would be alright, Renji leapt out into the night, musing, Why do I always get all the weird ones? Who dreams about strawberries?
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The next day in Class Three, Orihime and Tatsuki told a rather interesting tale about an extremely violent baboon that had attacked the latter and assaulted Orihime's teddy bear.
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Ichigo lay on his side, breathing heavily. This is impossible! Even if I had my arms free, I don't think I could climb that wall…I wonder how much time's passed…
Just then, he heard a scraping sound, like someone skidding on gravel. Looking up, Ichigo saw Jinta, sliding down the pit's side with practiced ease.
"Oi! Gaki! I brought you food," the red haired boy grinned, hefting a platter of fruit, "I figured you'd be need it about now."
"Who're you calling gaki? You're younger than I am!" Ichigo scoffed, "Besides, take a look at my chain. I've still got plenty of time to figure this out."
Jinta's smirk faded, his look becoming serious, "It figures you wouldn't be able to tell time in this place. Just about seventy hours have gone by since you've entered the pit. Most people would've turned into hollows by now. But you should know: the last erosion is nothing like the others."
Ichigo closed his eyes in thought, wondering what the boy meant. Looking up again, he noticed to his chagrin that Jinta was once again back at the hole's edge. Kuso! I could've seen how he got up!
"Oh Kurosaki-san!" Urahara called, interrupting his thoughts, "I just wanted to tell you, that should you become a shinigami, you should try to make your zanpakutō…that is…your katana, as small as possible. That way it'll be nice and strong! Compression is the key."
"Alright," Ichigo replied, "Anything else I should kn-" But at that moment, Ichigo's chain came to life once more, only this time, every single link grew a mouth, tearing itself to pieces with a frightening speed.
As Ichigo began to panic, Urahara shouted down to him, "One last hint, Kurosaki-san! The flag of Japan is good because of the red circle in the center. The white surrounding it would mean nothing without the red!"
Ichigo gawked at him in utter disbelief. "THAT is the LEAST helpful thing I have EVER heard!!" the orange haired boy thundered. Looking down, he found that his chain of fate was no more. In its place was a gaping hole. Then, without warning, a cold, hard, bony substance began pouring out of Ichigo's mouth and eye sockets. Bellowing in pain, Ichigo felt as if every opening in his face was vomiting. Every negative thought, all his fears, his self-hatred, his doubts, came flooding to the surface, as the skeletal material swirled around his head.
When the pain became too much, Ichigo began to lose consciousness. As his thoughts became blurry, Ichigo's only thought was, Sorry…Karin…Yuzu…
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"Can you hear me, Ichigo?"
Opening his eyes, Ichigo was greeted with a disturbingly familiar sight: sideways clouds.
"Here again," he muttered, running his hands along the concrete of the bluish office building, "Why am I here?"
"Isn't it obvious? To find your shinigami powers, of course."
Ichigo turned, facing the speaker, "Ossan…"
The man dressed in a flowing black coat stood there, on the same pole as before, staring down at him from behind a smoky pair of sunglasses. "I told you, my name is Xxxxxxxx."
"Huh?" Ichigo said, puzzled, "That's gonna' be a bit hard to pronounce."
"Hmph," the grizzled man huffed, "Time and time again, I shout my name to you and yet you cannot hear. Ironic, given that no one in this world knows me better than you, and no one knows you better than I."
"What're you talking about?" Ichigo frowned, "I've only met you once and that was two days ago! And I don't remember becoming your best friend."
"Tell me, Ichigo," the man said, his entire body pivoting on the pole so that he was standing perpendicular to the floor, "How can you sit in such a ludicrous place?"
An all too memorable sensation struck Ichigo, as he felt his center of gravity shift and once again found himself plunging toward the ground. Not again…
Floating along beside him, the man in the wispy coat said, "Good. You are calm. A shinigami must watch over a great many spirits. He cannot afford to panic."
"I'm not panicking because this is the fourth time I've fallen in three days!" Ichigo yelled back.
"Nevertheless," the man said, "you cannot afford to lose your head, for now is when you will need your wits about you the most. This world, your world, is crumbling around us. If there was ever a time you could find the shinigami powers within you, it is now."
Gazing above him, Ichigo saw countless tiny pieces of the buildings surrounding them crumbling away. As they fell closer, he realized that they were transforming into small, white boxes.
"Of these innumerable containers, only one holds your shinigami powers. Find that one and you will have the ability to protect those you love," his strange companion instructed.
"There's no way I can search all these things!" Ichigo protested.
"You will know when you have found the right one. Remember, time is of the essence. If you do not find it before this world is gone, then you will become a hollow. And that will be the end for both of us."
Ichigo mulled this over, as he braced himself for his imminent impact with the asphalt. Yet, instead of splattering against the pavement as he had expected, the ground gave way to water, of all things. In the liquid around him, dozens of boxes floated.
How am I supposed to find the right one in all these boxes? he thought, desperately, They're all exactly the same. They're all the same size. They all have ribbons coming out of them. They're all white…Wait a minute! What was that useless thing Urahara said? "The white is pointless without the red?" I just have to find one with red on it!
Once he knew what he was looking for, it was easy. A red ribbon stood out like a sore thumb against the azure waves that encircled him. Reaching towards it, he pulled open the box.
"A…katana's hilt?" Ichigo said, staring at the contents of the box.
"Well done," said the man in black, appearing behind him, "You found me. Now, draw me before this world disintegrates and receive your power!"
As Ichigo took hold of the hilt, feeling the power enter his veins, the man remarked, "I hope that my name reaches you soon."
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Outside of Ichigo's mind, his body was becoming increasingly hollow-like. His howls filled the space beneath Urahara Shōten. As the bolts holding his bonds in place began to fly off, Tessai stood up.
"This will not hold him any longer Tencho!" the mustachioed assistant shouted, "Switching to suppression style! Bakudō Number Ninety-Nine, Bankin! Shokyoku: Shiryū!"
Ichigo's entire body became wrapped in a tough cloth.
"Nikyoku: Hyakurensan!" Tessai continued, as numerous pins shot out, imbedding themselves in Ichigo's upper chest.
"Oi, Tessai!" Jinta shouted in alarm, "If you keep it up, you'll kill the guy!"
"I have no choice," Tessai said solemnly, "I can no longer hold him. If he is allowed to continue, he will become a holl-"
However, at that moment, a bright light began shining out of Ichigo. Tessai, as well as Jinta, shied back, away from the intense radiance coming off the demi-hollow. Shooting upwards, the radiant ball of light struck the ceiling of the room before returning to earth right in front of Urahara, Jinta and Ururu. As the smoke cleared, a ghastly white face stared out at the trio through the haze.
On closer inspection though, the rest of Ichigo's body was clothed in the standard shinigami hakama. Strapped to his back was a rather long scabbard.
"A shinigami uniform…with a hollow mask?" Jinta wondered aloud, "Which is he?"
Both, Urahara thought, and neither. It's just as I thought: hollowfication.
Ichigo answered Jinta's question himself, when he reached up and tore off the mask himself, tossing it to one side. "Hmmm," he murmured, flexing his fingers appreciatively.
"Congratulations, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara said jovially, waving his fan excitedly, "Lesson two is cleared! And in record-"
"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped, crossing the distance between them with surprising swiftness and punching the businessman in the jaw, "I swore down in that hole that'd I'd kill you if I ever got out of that freakin' pit!"
"Good," Urahara said, rubbing his jaw, and glancing nervously at Tessai who had just rejoined them, "You can use that anger immediately. Lesson three has no time limit, for you will need to return here for follow up instruction. But for now, we'll call lesson three: beginning sword training."
Holding out his cane, Urahara drew the sword hidden within it and brandished it at Ichigo. "Draw your zanpakutō!"
Reaching over his shoulder, Ichigo drew the large blade from its sheath. Nearly as tall as he was, the spiritual sword was almost as wide as his hand. In fact, it resembled a tachi more than a katana.
"I thought I told you to compress your sword, so that it would be stronger, Kurosaki-san…" Urahara raised his eyebrow, twirling his weapon.
Smirking, Ichigo readied himself, falling into what he thought must be a basic stance, "I did."
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A/N: Ichigo's sword is the about the same length as before, while the width is approximately half what it is in the original story. Now, I realize that there are a lot of similarities to canon. This is not because I'm a bad writer and can't think of anything original (although, I am rather biased…). It's because, in some situations, characters are going to react a certain way and I can't stop them from being who they are and saying what they need to say. I can assure you that things will definitely be more "original" from here on out. Next chapter: Ichigo's zanjutsu training AND we catch up with Rukia!
Japanese Translations:
-chan- an honorific usually used for girls, young children or someone you have especial affection for
Hime- Princess (a pun on the fact that hime is part of Orihime's name)
Bura-rei- Ghost Bust (Don Kanonji's show)
Fukutaicho- lieutenant/assistant commander
Gaki- kid
Bankin- great/final seal
Shokyoku: Shiryū- First song: halting fabric
Nikyoku: Hyakurensan- Second song: hundred linked bolts