*So...its been awhile hasn't it...heh, yeah...damn.*
"Well it could be worse."-Speaking
'Don't say that you fool...'-Thinking
"Pathetic"/"What the hell?"-Hollow/Weapon Form talking
"Fight!"-Zanpakuto/Yelling/Attack Name
~Please read the information at the bottom of the chapter, it details a lot information that concerns the future of this story.~
Chapter #9: A bookworm and a hollow...fantastic...
Do you want to know the best word to describe that dreadful morning you wake up to after an extremely tiring night? One that leaves you with cramps, headaches, and the worst case of the 'I really don't want to wake up' that you've ever had.
Well…you may want to ask Ichigo. He currently has a few thoughts that could easily describe this type of morning in various details.
"Agh…my neck…" Ichigo grumbled while rubbing his neck in annoyance. This was probably what a hangover felt like…although without the getting drunk and needing a cold shower part anyway.
Ichigo had learned the hard way that releasing his seal had a few aftereffects that came along with it.
When Ichigo had gained this power previously, the Final Getsuga Tenshou was the source of this power. This unique Getsuga is a destructive attack without any equal within Ichigo's arsenal that unfortunately causes the complete eradication of Ichigo's powers after its use. This was due to the fact that the Final Getsuga Tenshou's overwhelming power would overload Ichigo's soul, effectively burning out his shinigami powers.
But, that was no longer the case. Due to Ichigo's 'alternate' method with dealing with Aizen, the Final Getsuga Tenshou was never used and the power never burned out Ichigo's powers. With that said however, this power still had an overwhelming presence in Ichigo's soul. Using such power without a way to rid himself of it, Ichigo now is faced with a few painful repercussions whenever he uses this power. These repercussions normally include massive fatigue, strained muscles, and a few nasty headaches.
Still, it was still a major alternative than what would have happened originally. At least this way all he needed to do was get a bag of ice and take it easy for awhile. Much better then…nothing.
Slowly sitting up so not to wake the slumbering kitten, Ichigo gently slipped off his bed and made his way to the nearby desk. There is a certain duty that Ichigo had been neglecting for awhile now. So taking up a pen and paper, Ichigo began to write a letter to someone important.
XX
Dear Rukia.
Hey, it's been while hasn't it?
This place is actually pretty nice when you get use to it. The people are kind, for the most part anyway. It's also pretty interesting, sure there are no hollows but there is a substitute for them in almost every regard. Heh, that's odd isn't it? I'm a substitute shinigami and now I'm fighting something that could be called a substitute for hollows. Wow, in the middle of America and yet I still can't get away from this crazy lifestyle can't I?
Still it is a bit nutty here, but it's the good kind…for the most part. Hell, you should see the moon and the sun…you would flip out like you would never believe.
There a few 'interesting' people here as well. They have some abilities that could take even the weirdest of you guys by surprise. I even got myself another Mayrui in this city…although this one has a giant screw in his head, literally. Hell, there is ANOTHER lady here that can turn into a cat and she likes to tease the hell out of me as well. Can you believe that? I cannot get a break…(she'll kick my ass if I don't mention her in this).
Ah well, I feel like I'm monologuing now. How's it going on your end? Anything crazy going on in the Soul Society? Hollows? Kenpachi getting bored again? I don't know it's just been awhile since I saw you guys and…well I haven't been in the Soul Society that much when something nuts ISN'T happening. It's a force of habit, thinking of the worse most of the time.
I know it's a long shot, but you know anything about Karakura town? I realize that you aren't stationed there anymore after that afro guy took over for you (Whatever his name is…), but still it would be nice to hear about what's going on there and how everyone is doing.
Is Inoue doing okay? I know my leaving had a big impact on her…is she doing okay? Acting alright I mean? Is she still herself? I'm just worried.
Anyway, thanks for your time Rukia. Hope to see you and the other sometime.
And Kon, if you are reading this, don't even think about it.
No, Seriously. Just don't, it's for your own good.
P.S
-Oh and for the love of god, DO NOT GIVE KENPACHI MY LOCATION!
I do not need his brand of insanity! I actually have a wide variety of insanity to keep me comfy for the time being so there is no need of you to add to it. No, seriously, do not tell him. Tell Kenpachi anything. Tell him I'm in Europe, Asia, or the North 'fuckin' Pole...or even Hell itself!
…Actually…maybe not Hell, he may be crazy enough to go there just hunt me down…
Whatever the case is, please do not tell him I'm here! I'll owe you anything, just don't tell him.
Sincerely, Ichigo Kurosaki.
XX
Sighing to himself, Ichigo set down his pen and just stared at the letter. Was it enough? Did he forget anything in it? What if the address that Kisuke gave him was a load of crap? It wouldn't be a surprise, considering everything that Urahara 'forget' to mention before Ichigo left.
'Eh if it is, then it's just another thing I can use as an excuse to beat him into the pavement.' Ichigo shrugged to himself.
Slipping the letter into an envelope and tossing it into his bag, Ichigo went off to prepare for school. There were plenty of things Ichigo had to be concerned about and anything related to Urahara was pretty low on the list when all things were considered.
Was Soul okay? His injury was pretty bad…
Where did that Witch come from? How did she know him?
But there was one other issue, one that Ichigo himself created last night.
Maka.
When Ichigo told her that he would tell her of what happened last night, she really took it to heart. The exact moment Ichigo walked through the academy's doors the next morning, Maka was waiting for him.
Oh man, never underestimate the power of a bookworm on a mission.
She was a force that could not be denied, the only reason why Ichigo was able to escape her was the constant use of his agility (which were previously used in such a manner in order to escape the Captain of the 11th Division in previous encounters) and a few lucky distractions such as a humorous incident with Death the kid finding a painting (that Ichigo made in under a few seconds) that was completely unsymmetrical.
But Ichigo wasn't someone who was known for his luck, because even that had to end at some point.
It was lunchtime when Ichigo was finally confronted by the unrelenting Scythe Meister and there was no escape. Ichigo was backed into a corner and he was still stuck in his body, there was no way out of this. It was either face her and tell her the truth or get the unholy crap beaten out of him…with a book.
Weighing his options seemed like a lost cause right now…
"You have ten seconds…"
"Okay, okay, just give me a second too-"
"No!" Maka cut him off, "You have been dodging me this ENTIRE day! Every time I see you, some crap gets in the way! So now that I have you right here, you will explain!" She was so close now and she is not let Ichigo delay this any longer!
'Why is every short girl I know, they have one hell of a temper?' Ichigo questioned, wondering what he might have done in a past life to deserve this.
Ultimately submitting under the gaze of the scythe meister, Ichigo signaled her to follow him and walked out of the Cafeteria. If Ichigo had to explain something of this magnitude, he was not going to do it where a bunch of people would ease-drop on them.
What? It's a cafeteria in a public school, people tend to listen to things that…they really shouldn't.
Heading toward their classroom, Ichigo was thankful to find that the room was empty. If there was one thing that Ichigo did not want to deal with, it was Doctor Stein listening in on whatever Ichigo was about to reveal. This guy was crazy enough already, he did not need any more reasons to tear Ichigo apart in the name of science.
"Okay, lunch is over in…" Ichigo glances at a nearby clock, "…five minutes, so you are going to get the short version okay?"
Maka protested of course, "What? No! You-" But Ichigo cut her off.
"Hey, Stein is not hearing any of this! You can take this or try again later!" Ichigo retorted.
Honestly, if Ichigo tried to explain his entire situation to Maka…it would take a lot longer than five minutes. With the various powers he had, the concept of both hollows and shinigami along with the Soul Society itself that needed explaining, Ichigo wouldn't have been surprised if it took more than five hours to explain in detail. So the threat of the resident mad scientist listening in was just a covenant excuse.
Despite wanting to her the entire story, Maka agreed with an annoyed huff. She figured that it was better to get something then to get absolutely nothing.
Ichigo clapped his hands together with a smirk, "Okay then, now before I start…do you have any paper or crayons?"
Maka gave him a strange look, which obviously meant a solid 'No'.
Ichigo couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment, "Damn, I had most of these explanations told to me with a bunch of really bad drawings. I thought they could make it easier for you if I had some."
That was a funny thought. Despite how much Ichigo complained about her doodles, about how crappy they were and how much of a bad artist she was…Ichigo couldn't help but admit that he missed Rukia…even if it was just her completely horrendous drawings.
Taking a seat in a nearby chair, Ichigo looked at Maka with a strained stare, "Okay pick your poison, what do you want to hear first?"
"Huh?" Maka was confused, she thought that is was going to be a simple story about what happened last night, but what did he mean?
Cracking his knuckles, Ichigo raised three fingers.
"If I am going to explain what happened yesterday, I'm going to have to explain a few things to you first. These things are 'Hollows', 'Shinigami', and a 'Zanpakuto', now which one do you want me to explain first?"
Maka thought about it for a few seconds before she picked one, "What's a hollow?"
Eh, Ichigo couldn't complain. Out of all these things, at least this one had something that Ichigo could draw some parallels with. When he thought about it, Evil Humans were quite similar to hollows in a lot of ways besides being alive…for the most part anyway. Still, Ichigo quickly began to explain the basic concept of a hollow to Maka (although, an abridged version for the most part).
"A hollow…is very similar to the evil humans that we hunt…"
"While an evil human is a living person who has been corrupted due to them eating another person's soul, a hollow is something like that…but slightly different."
"A hollow is the result of a person's soul becoming corrupted after they die." Ichigo expected Maka to react to that, which she did.
"How is that possible? All the souls that I've ever seen are just these small blue orb-like things?"
Due to the implications that Shinigami-sama put in place, Student's of the DWMA have rarely if ever seen a real human soul. Instead, they take very simplistic form so that the student's don't witness the more…gruesome consequences of seeing a human soul being devoured.
"Ah, but these souls are different. It's not devouring another soul that corrupts these souls; there are only two things that can cause a human soul to become a hollow."
Maka raised an eyebrow at that, "Which is?"
"Time and suffering."
Maka didn't really move for a few seconds, "What?"
Madness was the normal reason why Evil humans were created, but time and suffering? Unless that time and suffering eventually lead to madness, it did not make much sense if these 'hollows' were created without madness in the mix somewhere.
Ichigo let out an annoyed huff, ignoring Maka's question before continuing, "A person's soul and body are connected to each other via something called the 'Chain of Fate'. Whenever this chain is broken, it signifies that the person has passed away."
"But despite being broken, this chain remains of the soul's torso and slowly starts to…fall apart from that moment onward." Ichigo briefly remembered his own chain of fate…and how it basically ate itself into non-existence in front of his own eyes.
That…was not a pleasant memory in the least…
"But the moment when the chain is completely eroded, all that is left is a hole where the chain was previously…which happens to be where the person's heart was."
At this point Maka finally got something, "Is that where the name 'hollow' comes from, because that hole is where their heart was, making them 'hollow' inside?"
Ichigo shrugged, "That's what I'm guessing at this point, but that's beside the point,"
"After the chain is gone, the person goes through a disturbing transformation that eventually leads to the person becoming a monstrous creature that barely even looks human anymore."
It's true, hollows normally has very few characteristics left after their transformations that actually still resemble their original human appearance. While a few of them do appear to have a humanoid body structure, nearly everything else is completely inhuman when it concerns a hollow's appearance. They could be in the shape of bugs, animals, or even things that could only be described as nightmare fuel.
Hell, despite seeing a few evil humans during his time at the academy…Ichigo has yet to see one that could come close to the frightening appearance of…THAT hollow…
Ichigo did thankfully 'forget' to explain the full transformation that a person goes through when they become a hollow. Considering that he nearly went through such a transformation, Ichigo felt that Maka did not need to be fully informed on what happens to someone…on both the inside and out.
"After that, the hollow begin to hunt down and devour human souls, much like that of an evil human." Ichigo looked back at the clock, seeing that there was still about two minutes left.
Sure he left a few…noticeable things out of his explanation but hopefully Maka wouldn't notice.
Looking back at his classmate Ichigo noticed that she was still waiting for him to continue.
"Okay, what's next?" Maka gave him a stare that basically said 'that's it?', "Hey, you are getting the summarized version, that's it for the hollow subject, pick your next one."
"Jezz, you don't have to be so pushy." Maka grumbled.
Ichigo chuckled at her, "Hey, it's your clock that's ticking. You may want to pick the next topic before your time runs out."
Seeing his point, Maka thought for a few more seconds before replying once more.
"What about the shinigami?" Maka asked.
Ah, now this was a subject that would be hard to explain. How would Maka take it when she learned that Shinigami-sama was not the only shinigami (besides his son) in existence? How would she react if she found out that there was an entire realm of shinigami that protected humanity from hollow's on a daily basis?
"Well…a shinigami is a soul that has gone off to the afterlife and at some point becomes a spirit that defends the living and afterlife from hollows…" Ichigo tried to explain with the straightest face his could muster…too bad that wasn't saying much.
"Seriously? You really expect me to believe that?" Maka deadpanned.
Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at that. Her reaction was so similar to how Ichigo reacted to the same thing when Rukia told him all this a few months ago. Although…her reaction was a bit less angry and it also didn't include a flipped chair.
From then on, Ichigo tried to explain the concept of a shinigami and their duties as best he could. Of course he had to leave out a bit more information than his hollow explanation, but it was necessary. Maka wouldn't understand some of the more detailed things that revolved around the shinigami and the Gotei 13. How would she understand the fact that the Soul Society has been around for so long? How would she understand that some of the souls that the shinigami dealt with went straight to hell from time to time? How would she understand their relationship with the Quincy and how one of the two groups now had a number of two?
With Maka, she more or less wanted nothing but the cold hard truth, but sometimes…the truth should be ignored.
But that's not saying that Ichigo lied to her or anything. Everything he told Maka was the truth done to the last detail. But…he just left a few things out that's all. Whatever the case was, Ichigo's luck must have returned at this point because Maka didn't question any of it…well, she didn't question the holes in his story at least.
But by the end of the explanation, Maka was satisfied with what she got for the most part. Ichigo pretty much explained the duties of a shinigami, what they were, and where they lived. Although it took him a few tries to explain the Soul Society right. You'd think a bookworm like Maka could understand the concept of the afterlife being a separate dimension that is basically a second chance at life for anyone who is sent there…
Okay, maybe that is a tough pill to swallow…
Still, Ichigo was eventually able to get the concept through her thick head and she understood it…perhaps Rukia's doodles could have been more helpful than he originally thought?
Dismissing the thought, Ichigo once again asked Maka what she wanted to hear. Although it was kind of pointless at this point, there was only one choice left…
"Now that all of that is out-of-the-way, can you please tell me what the hell a Zanpakuto is?"
Giving her a strange stare, Ichigo reached back and grabbed Zangetsu's handle. Lifting the massive Zanpakuto off his back, Ichigo gave the sword a good long look before he began his speech.
"This is Zangetsu, he is my Zanpkauto. I first made contact with him during a training session known as the shattered sha-"
-DING!-
Much Ichigo's relief and Maka's dismay, that 'ding' was the sound of the lunch period ending. Maka's five minutes were up. Shortly after the bell went off, the remainder of the students started to pour into the classroom and at their seats for the rest of the class period.
"Well, times up. Maybe we can finish this…a bit later." And with that Ichigo returned to his own seat, leaving Maka to filter through the amount of information she had just been handed.
Although this would not be the end of this conversation…not by a long shot.
Class went on like normal or as close to normal as things got around here. Maka wouldn't stop staring at Ichigo, obviously still sore that their conversation had been cut short and Death the Kid nearly had a break down when he accidentally spilled something on his suit during Stein's daily dissection experiment. Still compared to everything else...this was pretty tame.
It was only after class when things started to get interesting.
Ichigo was about to head out when Professor Stein interrupted him. Ichigo dreaded the ideas that came to mind when Stein was concerned, but it turned out that Stein just wanted to tell Ichigo that Shinigami-sama wanted to see him. Glad to be escaping anything that Stein had in mind for him, Ichigo took off towards the Death Room.
It couldn't be any worse than what Stein could have had in mind...right?
An Hour or two later…
"Does he tend to be late this much?"
"Well…not that often…sometimes…" Tsubaki stuttered for a few seconds. She really didn't want to insult her partner…
"…"
"…Okay, it's almost always like this."
"Thought so." Ichigo said with a smirk.
Two hours. BlackStar, Ichigo's classmate and Tsubaki's meister was about two hours late. You would think that a guy like this, who claims that he would become greater than god could be on time for once? But no, he was late and his two partners were stuck waiting for him before they could begin their latest mission. Still, it did give Ichigo a few minutes to look back on why he was in this position in the first place.
Ninety Minutes Ago
"You know, if you keep bringing me on these missions like this…I'll start to think that you brought me here just to be a baby sitter."
"Oh come on Ichi-kun it's not that bad." Shinigami tried to convince the youth, but a glare from Ichigo kindly silenced him. Shinigami-sama had explained that Tsubaki and BlackStar were set to take a very dangerous mission and he would accompany them on it. But to Ichigo, there was a bit of an issue.
"So, why am I necessary for this? Couldn't you send anyone else?"
The old shinigami released a sigh. Turning his gaze on the graveyard that made up his chamber, Shinigami-sama began to explain a very delicate secret to his student.
"You remember the wavelength I told you about? The one that directs souls to the Soul Society?"
Ichigo thought for a few seconds, eventually remembering one of the various things that he was informed of on his very first day in Death City. It was an ingenious wavelength, that basically transported the souls of the dead directly to the Soul Society while leaving their spiritual energy behind. With something like this, no soul would be devoured by a hollow or even have the gruesome fate of becoming one ever again. But unfortunately the Central 46, the government body of the Soul Society denied its use, forcing the old shinigami to use more 'creative' ways to get his invention out. Still, that is an unfortunate situation. If only the Central 46 weren't as strict in these matters. If it wasn't for them, then the world could be a much better place...right?
"While the Central 46 was the main reason for my project's dismissal...they did have a reason." Shingami-sama explained, giving Ichigo a real shock for once. Come on, they have had a pretty bad track record in the past so it was hard to imagine them having an actual reason for doing something stupid.
"While my project does work, it does have its...glitches."
Ichigo really didn't like the way that sounded, "What kind of glitches?"
Letting out yet another sigh, Shinigami-sama elaborated. "While the project does work, as you have seen, there are a few 'dead spots' that exist in the world."
"Dead spots?"
"Little areas in the world where the wavelength just doesn't reach or just occasionally doesn't work for random intervals of time...I have no idea why this happens or how to repair the mistake, but it's there..."
These Dead spots were pretty much holes in Shinigami-sama's wavelength. While normally the souls would be transported to the Soul Society, these holes negated that effect and left them stranded. Now while this seems fairly simple, it created a very dark problem for Shinigami-sama.
There was very few ways to predict the locations of these Dead Spots and even if someone could discover the place they could be, the time it would take to get someone over there would take too long and by then it would be too late, the damage would already be done.
Imagine if you were a hollow, in a portion of the world that had no fresh souls to eat. That would make any hollow very hungry and extra grumpy. Now due to these portions of the world normally being a dead zone for hollows due to the lack of food, shinigami don't patrol that much. And due to the random nature of these occurrences, it would seem like a waste of resources to send out shinigami to places that 'could' be in danger of hollow attacks.
With this lack of shinigami and loss of the Wavelength's transporting power, any souls trapped in these Dead spots would be utterly unprotected.
"But what does this have to do with Tsubaki and BlackStar's mission?" Ichigo said, trying to get back to the original purpose of this meeting.
"Hm?" Shinigami-sama briefly forgot, "Ah, yes. The location where the Demon Blade, BlackStar's target has been identified as one of these 'Dead spots' for the time being."
"Meaning?"
The shinigami turned around and stared into Ichigo's eyes, "It means that besides the Demon Blade himself, these students may also have some hollows waiting for them as well."
Now that was a very good point...and one that Ichigo could not ignore.
"But why not send someone else!? Someone more suited for this kind of crap?" Why send children into this if they didn't know whats coming? Evil humans are one thing, but to go into this with no knowledge of what else is waiting for them is suicide!
"This mission is personal to Tsubaki, to deny her this would be far more damaging than anything a hollow could do to her." Shinigami-sama explained, giving Ichigo a new insight on the situation at hand. There was of course the option of waiting for the Dead Spot to vanish, but since the Academy actually knew that the target would be at the location at the appointed time, waiting for the Dead Spot to pass may just give the target enough time to perform its dark deed and escape.
That was something that the school and the residents of the area could not afford despite the risks.
"Now then Ichigo," Shinigami-sama said once more, "Will you aid them in this mission, or leave it up to fate's hands if they survive or not?"
Back in the Present:
"So...Tsubaki, how are things going with the two of you?" Ichigo asked, trying to make a bit of small talk to pass the time. Too bad he wasn't any good at it.
Tsubaki quickly looked to the ground, "Fine, everything's fine for the most part..."
Tsubaki flinched at this, not really expecting this. Throughout the year so far, Tsubaki hadn't really gotten to know Ichigo all that much. While he was a friend of Maka and Soul (BlackStar as well...sometimes), Tsubaki hadn't really gotten that much contact with the orange haired Vizard. He was a bit too brash and harsh for Tsubaki's tastes, but he did seem nice enough.
But the main thing that drew her attention was his fighting style. Being a weapon herself, Tsubaki was a bit interested in Ichigo's sword.
It wasn't a weapon like her, the Thompson sisters, or Soul. It looked like a normal blade, never-changing into a person and always being present on Ichigo's back. But if that is true, then where did that power come from? That same power she saw during their lesson with professor Stein and Sid. It was so similar to how a Meister and Weapon work together, but then again it was so different.
She could just ask him straight out, but she didn't like that option. What if it was personal? What if he didn't want to talk about it? Tsubaki wanted to give Ichigo his privacy...but her curiosity was still nagging at the back of her mind.
But before Tsubaki could make up her mind, something loud and annoying burst through the classroom doors. BlackStar had finally arrived, but the moment he noticed Ichigo he had only one thing to say...
"Why the hell are you here?!"
Oh this is going to be a fantastic trip isn't it?
Some Time Later: Just outside the Village of Needles (Shin).
So after dealing with a very boring plane ride to East Asia and walking through a massive dank forest, the three finally nearly reached their destination. And so far, Ichigo was fairly happy about a certain part of their journey. Oh sure, he was tired of walking and the plane ride along with the forest was really starting to piss him off, but at least there still no hollows!
...probably shouldn't have said that...
The three students finally arrived in their target location...and it was quite interesting. Besides being in a very isolated (in the middle of a forest and surrounded by a bunch of mountains), there were also a few giant spikes sprouting throughout the village. At least the trio finally knew why the village had the nickname 'The Village of Needles" now.
The trio quickly started to explore the village in search for the Demon Blade but the town was looking much closer to a ghost town then a town where someone would come to devour souls. But while exploring the town a particular member of the group found a way to escape his boredom...
"HYAAAA!"
"Does he do this often as well?"
"Um, not this exactly..."
Ichigo and Tsubaki just looked on in embarrassment as BlackStar screamed to the heavens in perhaps an attempt to get the village's attention while standing atop a random statue in the middle of the village. Why? You may be asking. Well, neither Ichigo or Tsubaki had the answer as they are just as confused as you are.
Tsubaki was more concerned with the fact that BlackStar might actually break the statue he was standing while Ichigo? Hell, Ichigo was just waiting for someone to come out of their house to tell BlackStar to shut the hell up.
'I mean seriously, how can anyone just sit in their house while listening to this? It would drive me insane...'
"Hey King, aren't you already a bit insan-"
'Don't go there, just...don't'
While this was going on in Ichigo's head however a old man finally exited his house and stared at shock at BlackStar, "Oi! Get off our village's guardian kid, you'll be damned if you screw around with that!"
BlackStar instantly stopped his shouting contest with god, jumped off the statue, and rushed toward the old man. Lifting the old man off the ground, BlackStar instantly accused him of being the Demon Blade. The old man of course denied the claim and Tsubaki even tried to calm the ninja down. Ichigo took more drastic approach however. Walking over to his fellow student, Ichigo grabbed BlackStar from behind (Which caused him to drop the old man) and put him in a headlock.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing Strawberry!?" BlackStar shouted, not happy about being lifted off the ground by his head.
Ichigo scoffed at that, "Stopping you from physically assaulting a old man, do you seriously think that this old man could be the Demon Blade?"
BlackStar looked confused for a second but quickly glared at Ichigo, "Maybe! Shinigami-Sama told us that the Demon Blade had the ability to possess a person's body, anyone here could be the Demon Blade!"
"If this guy was the Demon Blade, why the hell did he let you pick him up by his shirt dumbass? Randomly going up to someone and asking them 'Are you the Demon Blade?' is not going to get us anywhere!" BlackStar however didn't listen and still accused the old man of being the Demon Blade. This went on for a few more seconds before more people started to arrive, obviously attracted by the noise.
"Hey gramps, who's this? Visitors?" A young kid named Ryoku asked, arriving with the other villagers.
Hearing the kid, BlackStar lost interest in accusing the old man and attempted to accuse the kid of being the Demon Blade now. But along with still being in a headlock via the local Vizard, Tsubaki quickly covered her meisters mouth and silenced him, "Enough already."
Ryoku looked on at the trio with utter confusion, seeing these three strangers acting like a group of children. But a particular thing he noticed was a tattoo on BlackStar's shoulder, the star tattoo in particular. Seeing this caused the boy to take a dark expression
"What business does a member of the Star Clan have here...ARE YOU HERE TO KILL MORE OF US?!"
The trio from Death City stopped struggling with each other and stared at the boy with confusion. Why would he think BlackStar would be there to kill actual people? And what was this business with the 'Star Clan'?
"That tattoo on your shoulder! You're a survivor of the 'Clan of the Star'?!" This time is was the old man, who also looked quite distressed by the situation at hand. During this a small object suddenly flew towards the air towards BlackStar, who merely caught it with no effort. Taking a glance, he noticed a that the object he caught was a coin.
"Money?"
"You guys from the Star Clan do anything for money right?" Ryoku spoke out, "Well then, take this and get the hell out!"
More of the villagers started to come out of their homes at this point and join in on the kids rant, all screaming for BlackStar to leave and a few even started to throw rocks at the young ninja as well. Tusbaki just looked confused by what was happening but was completely ready to escape if things got too out of control. Ichigo however was about done will all of this shit and his eyes instantly focused on the cause of all of this madness.
Walking up to Ryoku, Ichigo lifted up the kid by the scruff of his shirt and nearly drilled a hole through the kids head with a glare, "Kid, I have had to sit through one boring ass flight, walk through a dank forest, and listen to someone who has had far too much sugar lately..."
"...I am not in the best mood, so why are you all throwing rocks at my buddy?"
The kid stared back in silence for a few moments before struggling to escape from Ichigo's grip, "So you don't know? You don't know what the hell his clan did to us!?"
"Nope."
Ryoku looked surprised for a second before reverting to an annoyed twitch, "Seriously? You have no idea?" Still no reaction from Ichigo, who still had no idea what the kid was talking about. Although all this commotion did lead to one thing...no one noticed something huge approaching the town from a far distance.
Thump!
"The just shut up and leave! None of us want anyone like him here!" Ryoku shouted once more, still not standing down from his position despite how close he was from getting his ass kicked by one very annoyed Vizard.
Thump! Thump!
"Do I look like I give a damn!?" Ichigo very close to just kicking this kid's ass. Star Clan or not, this kid had no right to talk to BlackStar, Tsubaki, or anyone like that!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The two continued their shouting match for a few more minutes, but the sound of something fairly large started to attach more attention than their pretty argument. When the sounds got louder and few trees fell in the distance, Ichigo's own attention was finally drawn to whatever was approaching...which felt far too familiar.
"Um...what the hell is that?" BlackStar asked, his mouth hanging near his knees in surprise (And anticipation).
"...Damn you old man..." Cursing the old shingami that foretold this Ichigo focused on the monster approaching the village. It had been a very long time since Ichigo had fought a hollow and while he had destroyed countless in the past...the sight of these creatures still unnerved the young shinigami on some level of his soul.
"But more importantly! I'll deal with this monster while you guys deal with the Uncanny sword!" Ichigo told his friends, removing Zangetsu from his back and prepare for combat.
BlackStar stood in front of Ichigo, his goofy face twisted into a glare. "Like Hell! I'm not going to let you steal all the glory by killing this big ass thing!"
"..." Ichigo stared at his temporary partner, "..seriously? Now of all times...you have to do this?"
"Yeah! There is a giant monster attacking a village! I have a chance to kill it and prove how much of a badass I am!" BlackStar shouted, "How often do you think a thing like this happens?!"
'More often then you would think dumbass...' Ichigo thought to himself. Still, now Ichigo had to think of something that would get BlackStar to NOT try and kill the much larger and deadlier enemy. But...how? Give him some stupid rumor about hollows? Try and convince him that the hollow was actually insanely weak and not worth his time? Toss his ass back to the academy so Tsubaki and Ichigo could finish the mission? But there was one more question that entered Ichigo's mind...
"BlackStar...how would you even kill that thing?" Ichigo raised his eyebrow, eagerly awaiting the ninja's answer.
"Um..." BlackStar muttered before looking toward the massive hollow. His eyes went over the entire creature, looking for any sort of weak point on the creature. It took a good few seconds for the ninja to finally respond, but his words were not that inspiring.
"I'll figure something out!"
'Bull Shit!'
"Agh, Tsubaki? What do you think about this?" Ichigo was nearing the end of his patience with the blue ninja. While rubbing his forehead in frustration, Ichigo hoped that other side of the pair would be a bit more understanding.
Tsubaki stuttered for a second once she heard this. Why her? Why ask her opinion on this? Sure she had taken this mission for a personal reason, but she wasn't expecting a giant monster to crash the party! Quickly taking a glance at the monster she would be facing with BlackStar...Tsubaki really had one thing come to mind.
'Why does BlackStar always get me into these situations?'
"Well maybe we could...perhaps BlackStar can...I could-" Tsubaki tried to come up with a decent answer for Ichigo and her meister, but she couldn't think of decent idea that wouldn't eventually end with one or both of them getting eaten by that giant creature. This caused silence to pretty much engulf the trio.
...until...
"I have no idea." Tsubaki said out of the blue, catching both BlackStar and Ichigo off guard.
BlackStar stared at her with very wide eyes, "W-what? Tsubaki are you serious? Come on! We can kick this things ass!"
BlackStar quickly ran though multiple reasons why he should be taking on this massive behemoth and not Ichigo. Tsubaki briefly tried to convince her meister to see her point of view, but BlackStar was far to resilient in his efforts to take on the massive monster himself. During their conversation though Ichigo took the chance to quickly come up with a new plan for the ninja. However he had to be quick, the massive hollow may be slow but it would arrive sooner or later and they had to be ready by then.
Luckily, he didn't have to think that long.
"Hey Blackstar, I have an idea for you." Ichigo called out to the duo, "Whats more important? A giant monster or the mission?"
BlackStar stared at the shinigami for a few seconds as if he had grown a second head, of course he didn't understand Ichigo's question at first. So Ichigo had to explain a little bit.
"We were sent here to deal with the Uncanny Sword right?" BlackStar nodded at this, "A mission that seems far too dangerous for someone like us right?"
"Yeah, so?"
Ichigo's eyes twitched for a split second due to that but he continued on, "So...what do you think people would be more impressed by? You killing a giant nameless monster that people could claim you made up or you completing your mission?"
Hearing these choices made BlackStar take a moment and think about them. Either he could destroy a massive monster or complete his incredibly dangerous mission...ah, which to choose? Of course while the clueless ninja was considering his options, Ichigo and Tsubaki were sweating bullets. There was a giant monster slowly making its way towards them...time was not on their side at the moment.
"Agh! fine" BlackStar finally spoke up, "But you better not gloat about this and make me look like a wimp!"
Ichigo shrugged at the idea, "Wouldn't think of it."
Turning to Tsubaki Ichigo looked her with a frown, "I'll be back, be safe and make sure this moron doesn't get himself killed." The young weapon gave Ichigo a slight nod and with that the Vizard vanished into the forest, slamming his badge to his chest as he took off to kill whatever was out there.
Witnessing Ichigo vanishing into the forest briefly left a small hint of worry in Tsubaki's chest, her careful nature acting up once again. Her friend was going to confront a mysterious monster in the forest, how could she not worry about him? Quickly pushing this feeling to the side, Tsubaki quickly turned her gaze on the village.
She had a family reunion to get to.
A few Second Later:
Swimming though the sea of trees with his shunpo, Ichigo made his way toward the hollow. Luckily it didn't take that long for him to find it...it was pretty hard to miss.
The monstrous hollow was gigantic, its appearance nearly reaching the height of a Menos Grande if not for the fact that it was hunched over on its forearms.
Its head was covered in large white bone mask that took a very savage and disturbing shape that was quite similar to a fish or a serpent. The hollow's mouth looked quite similar to a clam or an oyster, its jaws ready to clamp down with amazing force. Its eyes were also visual for once (with normal hollows their eyes were normally hidden by their mask), but the black pits didn't involve any reassurance in the young shinigami.
Its arms were gigantic, so long that the beast multiple joints throughout its arms that could bend and be used as another set of legs. There was also a second pair of legs sticking out of the monster's torso but they were fairly short and had no overall use at first glance. The rest of its body was fairly standard with two strong legs supporting the lower half of its body and a large tail that was being dragged through the dirt.
Noticing the reiatsu in the air and the figure in its path, the hollow stopped its march right in front of Ichigo. Leaning forward with its massive arms, the hollow brought its head down to Ichigo's level. Staring at the young boy for a few seconds, the hollow took a small breath and blew some air through its nose, blowing a bit of dirt into the air and at Ichigo.
"What are you here for boy?" The deep and gravely voice echoed though the hollow's mask. This actually caught Ichigo's interest, it wasn't often that Ichigo met a hollow that could talk that wasn't a arrancar.
Still, Ichigo was taken back a tiny bit by the monster's question, "What?" A few seconds went by in silence, "Isn't it kind of obvious?"
The hollow huffed again, "Obvious to you, but not to me."
Lifting Zangetsu over his shoulder, Ichigo gave the hollow an annoyed stare. "Well...I'm here to kill you and protect the village you are currently marching towards."
"Yes, but why are YOU here for boy?"
"Excuse me?"
"I have lived in these words for years." The hollow began, "Hueco Mundo no longer interests me since that filthy shinigami took over lord Barragan's empire. I've lived off the souls of foolish travelers that do not head the warnings of this area. For years I have tended to ignore nearly everything around me...but there is one thing I have noticed."
"And that is?" Ichigo really wanted this monster to get to the point.
The hollow leaned in ever closer, "A lack of Shinigami."
Oh, Ichigo got a bad feeling about this.
Lifting itself back into a standing position the hollow continued, "You would expect a hollow such as myself to be hunted by your kind, right? Hordes of you coming to take my head! But...there has been none."
"I had started to believe that your kind had abandoned humanity..."
Ichigo stood silent for a few moments before suddenly letting out a small chuckle. "You really think that?"
The hollow did not respond to that so Ichigo kept going, "It's not that at all buddy" The cloth covering Zangetsu suddenly started to unravel, "We just simply forgot a cockroach like you actually lived here! We've been so busy lately that we had no time for a bug as small as you!"
Narrowing its eyes, the hollow crouched lower to the earth in a pouncing stance while Ichigo removed his Zanpakuto from his back in preparation.
"Well then shinigami, prove to me that you can handle a 'bug' such as me you BRAT!"
With that said, the hollow used its massive legs to dive toward the young shinigami. Ichigo easily escaped this however due to his impressive speed, leaving the massive hollow to smash face-first into the ground. Growing in furstration, hollow swung one of its massive arm through the air in retaliation. Ichigo however easily jumped over the appendage and sent a slash of energy via Zangetsu at the hollow's face, exploding against the hollow's mask.
"You trash!" The hollow roared, its massive arms continuing to swing at its foe. But Ichigo proved much to quick for the hollow's massive arms, his shunpo easily dodging and counter attacking with his Zangetsu. The hollow just proved to be too big and slow to attack effectively...and the sad thing is, he knew it.
With its strength proving to be useless, the hollow clenched its teeth together and roared into the air. Ichigo raised his eye brows at this but soon noticed a strange occurrence happening to the creature. The hollow's body was originally covered in a large amount of scales like a reptilian, but now the 'scales' were moving...
"Tell me boy...how do you think a being such as myself could gather my meals without being noticed?"
Shifting and expanding, the scales started to shift into something else.
"With a body this large, I need something or someone to bring my feast to me..."
The surface of the scales then started to crack and fall apart, revealing a much smaller creature underneath.
"...Now my children, bring me that shingiami's head!"
With those words, the dozens of 'scales' shrieked in unison. Looking closer, the 'scales' actually revealed themselves to be dog-sized parasites. While it seemed that not all of the hollow's scales seemed to be these creatures, there were still a fairly large number of them. Heeding their master's call, the creatures launched towards Ichigo with an impressive speed. They were eager to devour the boy, it had been a very long time since the last time they feasted on a shinigami.
Too bad their meal would go unfulfilled.
"Nice try," With a few quick slashes however the parasites suddenly found themselves sliced to bits with relative ease, "But a guy named Shrieker had a bit like that once too, but his trick worked far better than yours does."
The hollow barely had time to react as Ichigo dispatched his horde of servants, their bodies utterly dismembered by the massive Zanpakuto. Seeing one of his back up plans utterly failing before his eyes, the hollow's patience really started to unravel.
With its mind quickly being overcome by frustration, the huge creature began to smash nearly everything in sight with his two massive arms. The behemoth crushed everything around him with its arms, not caring if it killed the shinigami or not. Overflowing with rage, the hollow screamed at his foe with unyielding hate.
"Stand still! You bastar-" The hollow would have continued, but these words died in its throat.
The cause of this was what the hollow saw. Gazing at its own massive left arm, the hollow noticed that there was something quite odd on it. No, it wasn't a rock or a patch of dirt...it was Ichigo, who was wearing one of his most nasty grins in his life.
With a sudden dash, the orange haired shinigami started to make his way up the massive hollow's arm. The hollow attempted to summon its personal parasites that were located on its forearm to defend itself. But these creatures were no match for the might of Zangetsu as Ichigo easily sliced them to bits.
With its last defense out-of-the-way, Ichigo jumped off the massive hollow's shoulder and swung his Zanpakuto towards the hollow's neck. But instead of easily slicing the creature's head off, Zangetsu became stuck between the scales that surrounded the fleshy parts of the hollow's neck.
'His neck is armor plated?' Ichigo wondered, his mind briefly becoming distracted.
This moment of distraction would cost Ichigo however. With its foe caught off guard, the massive hollow quickly swung one of its smaller arms toward Ichigo, nailing the teen in the chest with a heavy blow. Throwing the boy off the massive hollow (dislodging Zangetsu in the process) and sending him crashing into the ground in front of him, the monstrous hollow expected his foe to be done for at this point.
Now imagine its anger once Ichigo quickly got to his feet while only releasing a small cough or two while doing so?
"You are a tough one, aren't cha?" Ichigo grinned as he raised his sword back into a fighting stance.
The hollow merely growled at the shinigami, its rage nearing its limit. Digging its claws into the soft dirt, the hollow lifted its head upward and released a massive roar, one that echoed through the forests that surrounded them on all sides.
Having heard things like this before, Ichigo prepared for the hollow to charge him or try to escape from the fight...but what it did next was the very thing Ichigo had been trying to avoid.
Soon enough the ear shattering roar died down, but the hollow did not close its mouth. Instead the beast widened the gap between its jaws even further. Farther and farther did this monster's jaws spread, almost as if they would go on forever. But soon enough the monster's jaws opened up so wide that they released a sickening 'crack', its jaw finally dislocating itself from the rest of its head. With that done the hollow quickly brought its head back down toward Ichigo, a red light quickly growing between the monster's massive jaw.
'Cero!'
Ichigo has had enough experience with hollows and arrancars to know when a hollow was going to fire one of those damn things. All he had to guess now was how long it was going to take to charge the attack. He wouldn't have to wait long however, because in the time Ichigo could blink...the hollow fired.
"CERO!"
The massive beam was quickly unleashed upon the landscape, burning trees, rocks, and the earth itself. It was quite lucky that Ichigo had his back facing just a bunch of trees. If he had his back facing the same direction of the village, this would have ended very poorly. Ichigo wasted no time in dodging the attack with a his shunpo. Reappearing above the hollow, Ichigo swung Zangetsu behind his back. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
With a mighty swing, Ichigo's attack smashed directly into the hollow's neck and knocked it straight into the dirt. This unfortunately caused a large portion of dirt to be blown into the air, making it very difficult for Ichigo to see if he had killed the hollow or not. Cursing the dirt in his eyes, Ichigo dove towards where the hollow should have been...
...but when he pushed himself through the dirt cloud, Ichigo got an uninvited slap across the head by a giant forearm.
Grunting from the impact, Ichigo twisted himself in mid-air and landed on a nearby tree branch. A tree that was then imminently torn apart by the rampaging hollow. Escaping once more, Ichigo finally got a good look at what his attack did. Glancing at the hollow's neck, Ichigo became annoyed when he saw that his Getsuga had only made a slight gash on the hollow's neck.
Why is it whenever Ichigo tried to take someone's head off with a Getsuga...it only ever gives them a tiny cut?
Putting a bit of distance between himself and the hollow, Ichigo began to search the hollow for some kind of weakness. Its skin was too had to penetrate with Zangetsu, it was far too big to simply smash its mask with brute force, and he really did not want to waste his bankai on something as trivial as this!
So what was left?
Meanwhile, the hollow did not take too kindly to losing his prey once again. Shifting its jaw back into place, the hollow took a deep breath and started to launch a series of balas in Ichigo's general direction. Luckily for Ichigo, the trees were quite useful in dodging the balas.
However during this glorified game of cat and mouse (With Ichigo hoping from tree to tree as the hollow tried to blast him) Ichigo finally noticed something. Focusing his gaze on the hollow Ichigo noticed that whenever the hollow launched a bala or a cero, the red sacks on the hollow's neck expanded and glowed a deep crimson. Getting an idea, Ichigo lowered his reiatsu as low as he could and made his way to the top of the trees.
Landing on one of the tallest branches he could find, Ichigo kept quite for a few moments to see what the hollow was up to. It seems that despite Ichigo escaping its field of vision and reiatsu sensing range, the hollow continued to unleash balas into the forest. It was determined to flush the shinigami out, even if it meant demolishing the entire forest to do so.
So now all he had to do was wait...
Bala!
...for the perfect...
Bala!
...moment...
Bal-
Now!
Ichigo quickly descended from his perch with great haste, his body aimed directly for the hollow below. The monster of course noticed this and lifted its head so it could intercept the shinigami in mid-air. But it was too late, with Ichigo's enhanced speed he was on top of the hollow before the creature could even twitch.
-Slick-
With one quick slice with Zangetsu, Ichigo delivered a devastating wound. The location?...the very same one that had been building up energy for a bala. One of the two red sacks that were attached to the hollow's head, the left one to be exact. So what do you think happens now that this delicate area had a big gaping hole in it? Oh right...
It exploded.
"AGH!" The hollow roared in agony, the left side of its face reduced to a bloodied mess. When the sack exploded, it released all the built up energy at once and caused a massive backlash, delivering an untold amount of pain to the hollow. Seriously, how would you feel if you had a massive hole blown in the side of your head? It would not be pretty even if you were a massive monster from the afterlife.
"YOU BASTARD OF A SHINGAMI! YOU DARE DO THIS TO ME!? I'LL TEAR YOU APART FOR THIS! YOU HEAR ME!? I WILL-"
-Thunk-
Nothing more was said from the hollow, it had not the will or the nerve to continue. Due to its blind rage, the hollow hadn't had the time to notice as Ichigo appeared next to him, a mere few inches from the right side of its head. It was only the sound and feeling of Zangetsu being shoved into the hollow's other energy sack that got its attention.
Unlike its twin at the time of its own destruction, this one lacked any spiritual energy inside it. But that did not help make it feel better. These two parts of the hollow's anatomy were the most delicate and weakest portion of its body. They were pretty much its only real weak spot since they had no protection from the hollow's thick skin. These sacks were actually the very reason why the hollow had such long limbs and those parasites, so the hollow could keep its prey as far away from these weak spots as physically possible.
Not like that mattered anymore, this battle was over.
No more banter, no more quick remarks, Ichigo was done playing with this monster. So with his sword lodged quite deeply into the hollow's cranium, he only had one thing to say.
"Getsuga Tenshou."
With a blue light emerging from all possible directions, the hollow felt only the slightest of pain as Ichigo's attack was unleashed. In a matter of seconds the hollow's head and utter body was obliterated from the inside out. All that was left of the once mighty hollow was its legs, which soon dissolved into spirit energy seconds later due to its death. And with that, all that remained from the battle was the victor...who was currently trying to get the blood off his Zanpakuto.
"Figures, even this guy's blood is a pain to get rid of!" Ichigo mumbled to himself.
So after around...fifteen minutes or so of scrapping blood of his sword (Hey! All you try wiping a monster's blood off you giant cleaver-like sword with only some cloth! It takes awhile!) Ichigo started to make his way back to the village. The trek back was actually quite simple, the hollow had knocked down so many tree that it was quite simple to see the village from their battlefield. But as he walked though the village's gate...something was wrong.
The town was a bit of a mess but with BlackStar around it was to be expected. But when Ichigo finally came across his fellow students, something was off. BlackStar was sitting on the ground...and being quite!? How that hell is that possible? He was also wounded, but it wasn't something too serious for BlackStar to handle. He's been through much worse.
Ryoku was also there for some reason but he was laying off to the side, unconscious.
Finally...where was Tsubaki? She wouldn't leave BlackStar while he was wounded, Ichigo knew enough about her to know that much. But then where was she? Did she go off to find medical supplies for BlackStar? Check on the villagers? Find the...
Wait.
What about the Demon Blade? The Uncanny Sword? Ichigo could feel that it was still alive...but where was it then? Did it escape? Run for the hills after BlackStar defeated it? But then why was Tsubaki just sitting here in front of...
...in front of a black sword.
General references and notes:
-Yep, I gave a actual reason for Shinigami-sama's invention being declined by the Central 46. Yes, they are morons at times...but hey, even they have to have some reason sometimes.
So, in certain places around the world human souls operate the same way they did in Karakura town at random times and random locations. Due to the Gotei 13 not needing to patrol because of the lack of hollows normally...well, it doesn't end well. So that's why Shinigami-sama had to leave the Gotei 13 in order to activate his invention, the C46 weren't just being douches...mostly.
-The scene where Ichigo hitched a ride on the hollow's arm and tried to take his head off with a Getsuga Tenshou was a direct reference to both his and Kenpachi's encounters with Yammy, the 10th/Zero Espada. Thinking about it...Yammy was a pain in the ass to kill too
-The Hollow's appearance is pretty much taken from the monster from the horror film 'Cloverfield'. Only this time, it wasn't a pain in the ass to kill! And there was no shaky camera...or nukes (if a Getsuga Tenshou going off inside its head doesn't count).
So about the long ass time it took me to get this chapter out...yeah, we need to make some changes:
1). Shorter chapters. The one of the main reasons why this chapter took so long is that I originally wanted to cram the entire "Uncanny Sword" story into one chapter. With that and the fact that I wanted Ichigo to not be involved with BlackStar's fight (so creating another fight for Ichigo), this chapter would have been long as hell...okay, longer as hell. When a chapter is going to be that long, it gets hard to write the entire thing in a go due to the fact that you want to take breaks, taking breaks means that you may not be in the same mindset when you start again and it'll be harder to get back to where you left off. And with the fact I started college as well during this time...yeah, it was a pain.
So here is what is going to happen.
*There will be shorter chapters, and there will be omakes.
-How short? I won't be doing 5,000 words or something I doubt I could get that far with a chapter that short. But the chapters just won't be HUGE anymore, that is it.
-What will the omakes be? They will be mini chapters that will deal with Bleach characters interacting with the Soul Eater world and Vice Versa. I am doing this because I am sure people want to see more Bleach characters (Shinigami, Visards, Arrancars, and Residents of Karakura town) but I won't be able to fit them all in the story. Now there will still be Bleach characters appearing in the story, but this will be for characters that I honestly have no idea how I could fit them in otherwise and would love to see them in Soul Eater.
These characters can include (but are not limited to):
-The Senor Captains: Commander Yamamoto, Captain Unohana, Captain Shunsui, and Captain Ukitake.
-Harribel and her girls, Mila Rose, Sun Sun, and Apachi (Ichigo has never meet them to my knowledge so them appearing in the story would make no sense but same reason as above).
-The Fullbringers and Vandenreich (Because at this point, I want to use the Soul Eater plot as a basis for this story and not Bleach's although I do want these characters to appear in some form)
-Any notable characters from the Bleach Movies (because I may think of something like having Senna screw around in Death City with Ichigo for example).
This may change fro a few of these characters (besides the Fullbringers, Vandenreich, and movie characters, that will never change) if I can think of something interesting, but at the moment at least these characters will most likely stay in these Omakes and not appear in the real story. Still, we will see later on.
And concerning the Omakes, who would you like to see in the first one?
So yeah, after the next chapter expect to see one or two omakes before another chapter.
Next Time: What happens when Ichigo is brought up to speed on the situation concerning the Uncanny sword? How will he react when he learns the true relation between Tsubaki and their target? And what can stop him when Ichigo's rage is unleashed?!