Chapter 34: Ichigo Kurosaki

Ricky, Saber, Ben, Wall-E, Allen, Lenalee, Will, Rukia and Toph walked through a village in Aomori. To their surprise, unlike the other two cities they have visited, the village is more lively and peaceful.

The group observed the villagers. Their houses are undamaged, children were laughing and playing on the road and the adults are smiling and even singing in unison as they work and do their daily routines. The villagers are all in high spirits.

"Wow, the people in this village sure are happy." Ricky said.

"Yes. That's because the country is guarded by the Shinigamis. As long as they protect Japan, the Faction fears them and fear in attacking this country." Rukia explained.

"Gee, I wish China too have their own guardians. That way, war would have never come to my country." Toph sighed.

They continued walking down the road until they all spotted a cat on the road.

"Aww…a cute little cat!" Will cooed. She then ran over to the cat who meowed.

Suddenly, Rukia gasped when she sensed something, then yelled to Will, "Will! Stop!"

Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the bushes, lands in front of the cat and points his HUGE sword at Will.

"Halt! You will not hurt this cat!" The figure yelled. He is a 22-year old man with spiky orange hair, red eyes and wears black robes, white sash and sandals. His name was Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Eek!" Will yelped alarmed as she fell onto the ground.

Ichigo glares at Will for a while until Rukia yelled, "Ichigo!"

"What?" Ichigo looked up and sees Rukia. He then grinned and said, "Rukia Kuchiki. Good to see you again."

Rukia frowns at him and turns her head away. Ichigo now has a sad expression on his face. He remembered banishing Rukia with Renji and the council three years ago. Rukia must be still angry of him because of that. He sighs as he puts away his sword, turns to the cat and carries it up.

Will gets up as Ricky and the others walked over to Ichigo.

"Are you…Ichigo Kurosaki?" Ricky asked Ichigo. Ichigo turns around and smiles.

"Yes. And I assume you're friends of Rukia Kuchiki." Ichigo said.

"Yes, we are." Lenalee said.

"Yes, Ichigo. They are my friends. You don't need to ask." Rukia said annoyed.

Ichigo frowns at Rukia and asked, "Why did you come back, Rukia? I thought you're banished."

"I…" Rukia tries to explain, but Ricky stood up for Rukia.

"We're here because we need to talk to the Shinigami Council." Ricky said sternly.

Ichigo shrugs and said, "Very well. You guys can come with me to the council. I need to bring this cat back anyway."

"Why are you here to retrieve a cat?" Ben asked.

"Because I'm being assigned to retrieve it."

Later, Ichigo escorted Ricky and his group to a large hut. The hut is the Shinigami Council Headquarters where the Shinigamis reside.

Inside the hut, Ichigo, Ricky and his group are now in a circular room, the same room where Rukia stood before the council on the day of her exile. Sitting in front of Ichigo, Ricky and his group were Unohana, Yamamoto and Renji. Renji has now been promoted to Yamamoto's second-in-command over the last three years.

Meanwhile, ichigo passes the cat to a woman named Madame Foster. "Ooohhh!!! My poor little snookers! Mommy was so worried about you! Oh yes!" Madame Foster cooed as she hugs her cat tightly and her cat shrieks as it gets crushed.

"No wonder why it ran away." Will sweatdrops as she sees the espression on the cat's face.

"Another mission done. Good job, Ichigo." Renji smiled.

"Thanks. Anyways, Captain Yamamoto, sorry but I brought some visitors here. They say they have come to negotiate with you." Ichigo said to Yamamoto.

Yamamoto nods his head sternly as said in his booming voice, "And who are they?"

"Ricky Blade and his allies…" Ichigo said. "Which includes Rukia Kuchiki."

"Rukia?" Unohana said as she and Renji widen their eyes in surprise.

"What is she doing here?! She's banished!" Yamamoto yelled.

Rukia sighs sadly and walks up to the three. "Sorry for returning here, general but…my friends and I wish to form an alliance and-"

"Alliance?" Yamamoto scoffed.

"Sorry Rukia, but we-" However, Renji doesn't have the chance to finish what he's saying. He got cut off by Ricky.

"Hey! You said what Rukia said! We wish to form an alliance with you Shinigamis!" Ricky snapped. "I'm sure you guys know that our world is at war with the Faction."

Yamamoto sighed and said, "Carry on."

"The Faction has destroyed all that we have worked so hard to build." Ricky continued and calmed down. "If we do not act quickly, all will be lost forever. Thus, I ask you to help us. No... I beg you to help us." On the last part, he kneeled down before Yamamoto, Unohana and Renji. "Our fate is in your hands."

Yamamoto nods his head. "I understand that you wish to have an alliance with us. But one of your allies is Rukia kuchiki, a failure to our council."

Ricky looks up and glares at the old man. "Oh yeah?! You're rejecting my offer because of Rukia?!"

"Actually…yes." Unohana speaks up.

Rukia hung her head. "Yes. To your eyes, I'm a failure." But she now looks up and frowns. "But now, I'm not the failure that I used to be. I have learnt many things when I'm gone. I'm now more stronger than I used to be. So please!" Rukia kneels down next to Ricky, who widens his eyes. So does the others. Rukia yells as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Please let me have a chance to prove to you that I'm worthy to be a Shinigami again!"

"Rukia…" Ichigo uttered.

Renji looks at Yamamoto. "Well, what do you think?" He asked.

Yamamoto nods his head. "Such determination. Rukia wants to prove that she's a former failure. If she wants to prove that to us, very well."

Rukia, Ricky, Ichigo and the others look up at Yamamoto hopefully.

"I shall give you a mission, Rukia." Yamamoto said.

Rukia smiled while hearing this, then bowed down again. "Oh, thank you, Captain Yamamoto!" She said happily.

Ricky, Ichigo, and the others smiled too. Renji grins when Unohana made a weak smile.

"Rukia, you and your friends will team up with ichigo and help him escort a young villager back to his village. It does sound simple but I promise you, if you accomplish this mission, me and the council will accept you as a Shinigami again and also accept your offer to join you in battle against the Faction." Yamamoto explained.

"That's great!" Saber said.

"Alright!" Toph cheered.

Ricky turned to Rukia and said, "You hear that Rukia, you will be accepted again."

Rukia turned to Ricky and smiled. "I know." She said softly.

"So Captain, who is this villager?" Ichigo asked.

"He's coming in right now." Renji said. Everybody then turned to the door behind them and a few seconds later, the door opened and a teenage girl with brown eyes, black hair tied to two pigtails and wears a white and green hat, green jacket, white tube top, white pants and brown sandals entered the room. In one of her hands was a bottle of wine.

Allen and Ben drop their jaws. "She…she looks…beautiful." Allen said as he starts to drool.

"I know." Ben agreed. Saber and Lenalee look at the two boys in annoyance as they fold their arms.

The girl giggled and said, "Wow. There's gonna be ten people guarding me? I must be lucky. My name is Talim." Talim then drinks her wine down her throat like a drunken alcoholic. Everybody in the room looks at her with confused looks.

'Wow, for a beautiful girl, she sure drinks a lot.' Toph thought.

Talim then sighs heavily as she finished drinking her wine, then looks at Ben and laughed. "You expect me to believe that the little guy with the funny look on his face is going to be one of my bodyguards?"

"Ha ha ha!" Ben laughed at Talim's joke. He turns to the others. "Who's the little guy with the funny look-" Ben's smile dropped when he realizes that Talim is in fact referring to him. He is the shortest member in the group. Even Toph is slightly taller than him.

Ben yelled angrily as he tries to run over to Talim and beat the crap out of her but Ichigo grabs him up by the back of his shirt, stopping him.

"Lemme go! Lemme get her! I wanna teach this girl a lesson! I'll demolish her!" Ben whined.

"Now now, Ben. That's not how you deal with your client." Ichigo smirked. Rukia looks at ichigo with a sad expression.

'Ichigo looks so happy. I wonder if he doesn't care about me when I'm gone.' Rukia thought sadly.

"Like I said," Talim leans herself back on the wall and folds her arms. "My name is Talim. I'm a master bridge builder and I must return to my hometown, Hakodate, a city located in Hokkaido, Japan. I'm building a bridge there that will change our lives and I expect you all to get me there safely."

"Alright, you said what she said. Good luck you guys." Renji said to Ichigo, Ricky and his group.

END OF CHAPTER

Ryo: Ricky and his group must now help Ichigo escort Talim to her hometown safely first before the Shinigami Council can agree to join them in their battle against the Faction. Will they succeed? Stay tune and read and review!

Talim is a character from the Soul Calibur series in case you guys are wondering.