Chapter one: First Moon Rise (一月起)
Kurosaki Ichigo was not normal; a statement of fact.
He had stopped believing himself normal long before the one to buffer him from the derision of those who looked down upon the different was murdered that rainy day almost six years before. And while Kurosaki Masaki's death meant that there was no longer anyone left to try and mend the bridge, or perhaps, more accurately, be the bridge between his family's innate abnormalities and the rest of the world, Ichigo refused to let that prevent his sisters from having the opportunity to have that choice of being seen as acceptably normal. Even if it meant that he gave that choice for himself up to insure it. After all, it was easy to for the two girls to seem normal with their father's wild and outlandish behavior and Ichigo's own attention grabbing reputation.
Ichigo's reputation was as wild and varied as the number of people he encountered on a day to day basis, though there were a few common themes. The first was that Ichigo was a delinquent; with his orange colored hair (which was completely natural, no matter what anyone said), his rebellious and lackadaisical approach to his school classes when he bothered to attend, and his tendency to run into situations that led to him needing to give someone a physical (and often painful) correction. The second was that the high school student was a moody genius; Ichigo always got good grades on tests and homework regardless of his attendance, and with full-proof means of making sure he didn't cheat proving his natural abilities beyond a shadow of a doubt, combined with his national (and, if his agent was right, growing international) renowned as a professional artist making teachers and students believe that the orange haired teen's behavior was a reflection of the combination of his desire to create art and periods of being inspiration less. Thirdly, that Ichigo was god sent to the aid of the homicide and other law enforcement divisions; he was considered such to the (new) Super Intendant of the Karakura police and the town's prosecution office do to using his gifts to learn where to look for evidence and can do so without tainting evidence or procedure (after some early misstarts) while not drawing publicity away from those who were actually hired to do so.
On a relative note, the priests knew Ichigo was god sent and while some happily aided him as it meant they did not need to be the ones dealing with yokai upset by urban expansion, others thought he was trying to usurp their 'greater authority' and blamed any actions of the yokai on him. However, this sort of response only made the yokai (who looked at Ichigo's status of Celestial Envoy as Old West films saw Sheriffs as 'the Law') more resentful of the priests turning the situation into an infinite loop when Ichigo would have need to get involved to pacify the creatures.
However, despite his varied reputation, there was one thing about Ichigo that he doubted would ever change about him. The orange haired teenager could see and interact with spirits. That should have been enough of an explanation as for why his foot ended up in the first goon's face for no discernible reason. Unfortunately, his reputation for spirits didn't always precede him.
"What the…!?" one of the goons stuttered as they looked at the lanky, orange haired teen. Ichigo scowled at the dumb looks on the oblivious faces as he made himself look as bored as he could while getting into a ready stance. Honestly, people as far as Kyushu and the Ryukyu islands could recognize him from the 'Tanuki Rights War' over five years ago. Granted, a lot of those people knew or were involved in that movement….
"You come here, stomp Lil' Yama in the face, and order us about like we was dogs?!" the goon continued, Ichigo wincing at the bad grammar. "You crazy, punk? Gotta death wish? Speak!" Ichigo kept his silence but slid his eyes in the direction of the little girl's spirit, giving them clues to figure it out themselves. However, it seemed like it was going to have to be done the blunt way as the same punk got himself into a really sloppy fighting stance and charged.
"Say something, you-" the man (if he could be called that) cut off as Ichigo's other foot slammed into the grunt's face, years of martial arts allowing him to easily keep his balance despite the unorthodox stance he was using; hands in his pockets, messenger bag slung across his shoulders, his divine calligraphy case and scroll tied to his belt, and a stone and wood rosary chain looped around his right arm and shoulders.
Ichigo huffed disinterest over the second goon as the rest of the goons stammered at each other, easily holding himself in a crane stance. At least until he heard the goons call him a 'blood-thirsty berry head' and other emotive based derogatory terms; then he growled with temper and slammed his foot on the second goon. "Shut up!" Ichigo barked, leveling a glare at the morons, making them shrink in on themselves with a squeak.
"All of you chumps, look at that!" Ichigo yelled, pointing at the vase of flowers that was knocked over. "Question one! What's that!?"
Pointing at the scruffy goon with the piercings, Ichigo continued, "You, smelly looking dude! You tell me!"
The goon, now labeled Smelly, stammered for a moment before responding. "Umm… an offering for some dead kid?" Smelly answered, giving him a look as though he thought Ichigo was a moron. Ichigo repressed another growl as he moved.
"Look at the brain on Smelly!" Ichigo congratulated as he slammed a crescent kick into Smelly, causing the other two goons to jump back further before checking on Smelly.
"Question two," Ichigo continued with a deliberately calmer tone as he leveled a hard look at the last two standing. "Why is that vase lying on its side?"
"Dat's 'cuz," one of the last two goons with some sort of floral print shirt finally began, "we knocked over with our skateboards?"
"Is that so?" Ichigo asked rhetorically. Inhaling a deep breath, Ichigo gathered his reiryoku and blanketed the area with reiki, making the young girl's spirit visible to mundane eyes. Leveling a maniac grin at the goons, Ichigo delivered his finisher as he jerked his thumb back at the girl, "Then you better apologize to her, hadn't you?"
The goons screamed and began to babble apologies while quickly grabbing their friends and retreated with speeds they probably were not used to reaching without their skateboards. Ichigo decided that it would be needlessly cruel to point out the fact that they left their skateboards behind, but at least they had the decency to care for their friends' lives above their possessions. Glancing at the girl who was blinking with confusion at how the goons could suddenly see her, Ichigo sighed as he began the arduous task of gather his reiatsu to reabsorb the reiki he released into the air that was making the girl's reishi visible.
"Sorry about that," Ichigo apologized honestly, scratching the back of his head with one hand while righting the flowers and the vase with the other. "I usually have a better hold on my temper than that. It's bad manners to do that without permission."
"That's alright, I did ask you to help," the ghost said easily as Ichigo released the scroll and calligraphy set from his belt and knelt in front of the vase. "What are you doing?" the girl asked curiously.
"Fixing your flowers," Ichigo answered absently as he opened his calligraphy case that he had hand carved and lacquered from the branches of one of Sakuya-hime's sacred tree that she had happily donated to her oldest friend's promising young pupil and bound with some rare, reiki enriched stingray leather his pen-pal, Chihiro Ogino, was able to get from Ryūgū-jō on his behalf as payment for service rendered to the dragon court for the reestablishment of the Kohaku River (and now knew better than to go underground with Shiranui-sama when rocks need to be broken).
Inside his case, Ichigo kept a fair assortment of items. Brushes of various sizes made with their traditional materials of animal hair and bamboo and bound in a pale bamboo shitajiki with the linked fudeoki and sumioki used as ties, a few rolled up sheaves of paper to make ofuda and omamori with some general ones already made for emergencies in a separate roll next to the first, his delicately carved slate suzuri which had been a gift from the Tama Hills' Tanuki clans enchanted to never break, his self-made ginkō-in (as the only personal, official seal he currently might need at any time that wasn't the family's, he kept it on himself) and his self-made gagō-in (slightly larger than standard size, but reasonable as an artist signature) were in their secure loops side by side, a simple brass bunchin, a small and water tight porcelain suiteki, a small case of red seal paste, a cleaning cloth, and three black sumi sticks. Of course, to Ichigo's eyes, only one of them was pure black.
As the devoted student, follower, and Celestial Envoy of Shiranui-sama (and indirectly, the Celestial Envoy of Takamagahara as a whole, though most of the gods and spirits that Ichigo has met that knew how that worked would not tell him how that happened), brush art was where the god's power laid. This necessitated Ichigo having three sticks of sumi. The first was plain black with only as much reiki imbued in it as any master ink maker from thirty to fifty years before would have put into it for everyday use, used by Ichigo for mundane brush work such as painting or other decorative arts. The second sumi was one that Ichigo himself had made; pouring his reiatsu into the materials each step of the way, making the stick in any spiritually aware person's eyes radiate a midnight to dawn blue glow of reiki. While it did not have the same quality of older sticks, his self-made sumi gave any ofuda and omamori or any other inscribing or brush based spell work a powerful boost. Despite the powerful quality of his own ink, Ichigo grabbed the last stick of sumi in his case as he pulled the items needed for his spell; the one that glowed gold to the teen's eyes.
Ichigo knew that Shiranui-sama gave Ichigo many allowances and aids to use her techniques to the fullest that a human could. The special translucent scroll made from Takamagahara washi and sakaki and stingray leather bindings that Ichigo used as the medium for the Tenraifude-ryū was the school's equivalent of over powered training wheels. The brush he took out of a hidden compartment made of dragon ivory and Shiranui-sama's own fur was strong enough to survive any overcharging of spells and was of a greater quality than any master brush maker could hope to make as it was a gift from Shiranui-sama herself. And the sumi that glowed gold was one of Shiranui-sama's own; given to her student whose own reiatsu could only make a small flower bloom if he burned through the whole of his reiryoku to do so.
If Ichigo had just been her student learning the art, that would have been a limitation that would have been worked on but not worried over; Shiranui-sama always told him when he got frustrated over his inability to use all forms of the Tenraifude equally was that Ichigo was always more a samurai than a kannushi, lacking that twist of power an exceedingly few mortal creatures had to create from pure will. However, as one of the duties of the Celestial Envoy was to preform minor miracles to show the might of their god and associated religion, Shiranui-sama gifted him the sumi she had made while teaching him how to make sumi to the Tenraifude-ryū's specifications. Ichigo hoped that by the time he ground the whole of the sumi to ink that he would no longer have need to use his god's power to make flowers bloom at a stroke of the brush.
As it was, Ichigo only needed to ground out a small amount of the sumi onto the land of his suzuri as a more watery ink was all that was needed for this simple task. Mixing the ink expertly with one hand, Ichigo braced the scroll on his left knee so he could view the vase and flowers through it. First, a stroke to mend the chips and cracks in the vase. Next, a swirl to collect and return the water spilled from the vase when it was knocked over and return it to where it was meant to be. And finish with a bloom stroke.
Holding the divine instrument between his teeth by its red and white tassel, Ichigo rolled up the scroll and returned it to its casing as a gold based rainbow twined with midnight to dawn blue reiatsu tore itself from the other side of the washi and twirled around the daisies, restoring them to how they had been just after they had been cut. Unable to stop the swell of pride in his work, Ichigo let his face fall into a small smile as he used the last of the prepared ink to inscribe a small protective ward on the vase.
"Wow!" the little girl's ghost gasped. "I didn't know you could do that!"
"Most people who know of this technique are put off by the needing to get blessings from thirteen different gods," Ichigo confided as he wiped the extra ink from the brush tip and returned the brush to its compartment. "Most don't stick around long enough to learn that because only Shiranui-sama of the thirteen gods of the different techniques was also a regional protector god and therefore had a secondary group of worshipers, she ended up absorbing all of the other gods' powers when they faded over a thousand years ago. Which suits Shiranui-sama just fine."
"Shiranui-sama?" the girl asked rhetorically as the teen finished wiping the ink residue from the suzuri and replaced the rest of his tools. "Isn't that the wolf god in the mountains?"
"Yep."
"Didn't Shiranui-sama do something for the Tanuki to the south?" she questioned. "I remember being little and seeing a large white dog creature with red markings on the T.V., but mom and dad said that it was just a white dog. Except after all the weird stuff ended, a poster with the same dog with the same markings I saw showed up on the entrance sign once the preservation park was established saying thank you."
"Ah," Ichigo hesitated with embarrassment. "She was mostly there making sure I didn't blow anything up that wasn't supposed to since that was the first major thing I was ever asked to do. I'm her mortal representative, so these sorts of things are something that I'm supposed to be doing. And on that note, with so much of Shiranui-sama's power around that vase, it should keep any malevolent spirit away from you tonight as long as you stick close. I'll come back tomorrow with news of how your parents are doing and a slip that should get you safely to the afterlife. Does that sound good to you?"
The ghost beamed at her savior. "Yes, thank you so much!" she said gratefully.
"You take care," Ichigo said with a wave as he began back towards his home. "And pass on if you feel like you can without me. There is a whole other life beyond this one waiting for you."
Thankfully, the rest of the walk home was largely uneventful; Ichigo only subtly acknowledging the various yokai that were either invisible to the mundane eye or were indiscernible from their mundane counterparts who called out to him in greeting with means most humans could not hear or understand. Thankfully, the yokai of this area did not expect more than this unless they were requesting something, which Ichigo was not in the mood for. Despite the protection he gave the ghost, Ichigo still had a bad feeling about this night. If only he could figure out what was bothering him.
Sighing with slight relief as he reached the front of the clinic that served as his family's home, Ichigo entered. "Tadaima," the teen said in a manner that showed he was only saying so out of rout. And ducked under the hook kick his father aimed at him from behind the door.
"You're late!" his father, Kurosaki Isshin proclaimed, two seconds before Ichigo stood with his right arm catching the leg that had not been aimed at his head while his left arm caught the other against his neck and gently tossed the older man further into the house before closing the door with his hip. Well, relatively gently.
"Sorry," Ichigo said honestly, slipping off his outdoor shoes and dropping his bag and calligraphy tools, gently, by the stairs. "I forcibly made it so some jerks that were disturbing the spirit of a little girl, who was waiting to pass on till after she knew how her parents were coping with her death, see her to scare them off. I wanted to make sure she had some protection in case I attracted something unsavory towards her before I could find out how they were doing."
"Outside the wards?" Karin stated more than asked.
"Yeah," Ichigo sighed as he dropped himself in the empty chair next to Karin, causing her raise an eyebrow at him as he usually sat across from her, though he could not bring himself to do so at the moment.
The wards were a set of wooden ofuda carved from blessed sakaki wood and then inked in with his reiki infused ink with inserts on the back of the ofuda to fit two omamori designed to both ward away those with ill-intent (including malevolent spirits) and dampen the feel of reiryoku and reiatsu of those inside the wards so Ichigo and his family did not attract yūrie, or hollows as Uryū-kun (a classmate of his that has a family history of spirits that Ichigo was making quick friends with since they met at the beginning of the school year) says they are more often called, and then have them attack everyone that lived just outside the wards. He also had them in place around the schools and the local hospital, so he did not have to worry about his family where ever they were. The first ones were put up by Shiranui-sama after Ichigo became her student, but last year the wolf kami declared that Ichigo's ward work was powerful enough to rely on his own. After over a year with no trouble from them, Ichigo was both relieved and proud at the achievement as it meant he was keeping his promise to both learn how and use what he learned to protect his family.
The down side of the wards was that if the ghost of someone who did not have strong ties to the area in either life or death entered, they ended up getting shocked which resulted in the ghost having a bad reaction. Usually a sudden burst of chain corrosion, but there was that one time where there was an instant hollowfication. In any event, it was something Ichigo and his family tried to prevent from happening by not inviting trouble and taking care of all ghost problems before coming home. This was why the eldest Kurosaki was not making as big of a deal about his only son arriving home later than usual like he would under any other circumstance. In fact, Isshin seemed to be giving his son an unusually serious look as he took the empty seat to Ichigo's left.
"Making a ghost visible seems a little extreme," Isshin stated pointedly.
"I know, I agree," Ichigo sighed as he passed the serving bowl to his father as Yuzu finally sat down, her back to the kitchen. "But there has been an increase in activity of the ghosts in Karakura that seems completely disproportional to recent deaths in the area. On top of that, ever since this morning I've been on edge and I can't figure out why."
"Speaking of an increased activity of ghosts," Yuzu began tentatively, pointing over Ichigo's shoulder, "you've got another one."
Ichigo twitched and turned to look. A cubical drone, great. "Do you even have a reason for staying here?" Ichigo hissed.
The ghost's expression did not change as it floated back a foot. "I'm scared," it finally said. Ichigo groaned, cradling his head in his hands. Karin sniggered.
"Hey," Isshin whined. "Stop rubbing in the fact that you can see ghosts and I can't."
"At least you can tell when you're near a yokai now," Yuzu said comfortingly. That was one of the few things that was a genuine side effect. Ichigo had thought that when Yuzu and Karin's ability to perceive ghosts and yokai began to sharpen relatively quickly after he started learning from Shiranui-sama that the wolf god was actively affecting his siblings. This led to him confronting the kami about it as the responsible brother in him was uncertain about the balance of burdening his sisters with the responsibility accompanied with that level of power against the ability to see all the things they might need to run from. The goddess did not take offence at the accusation, though she did firmly correct his assertion as that it was a natural human response to being in constant exposer to powerful spirit energy; almost as much as a factor as genetic family history. This was why families who lived near sacred groves or other holy sites often gained spiritual abilities regardless of prior family back ground.
"While knowing which ones will understand me if I yell at them for getting into the garbage is useful," Isshin agreed. "I still feel left out that all my children can do something I can't. Being able to see ghosts is so cool."
"Trust me, it is not that great," Ichigo grumble as picked up is soup bowl and took a long swallow. Turning back to the ghost, he leveled a hard glare. "You, stay against the wall until we finish dinner and then I'll make you a talisman to get you safely to after world, got it?" The ghost nodded frantically. "Good."
Turning back to his dinner, Ichigo and the Kurosaki family ate as they discussed current news at school; Ichigo's calligraphy club (which had an absurd number of girls in it and Ichigo somehow ended up as Secretary despite not trying for any position on top of it) were arguing about entering one of those new performance calligraphy competitions, Karin's soccer team was getting ready for an upcoming tournament, and Yuzu's acceptance to begin training to become a Miko at the large shrine in Naruki city during the summer. Ichigo would have preferred her being trained at the Higurashi shrine despite the long distance as he trusted the priestess there far greater than any other in the Western Tokyo area, but knew that if Yuzu completed her training there, it would lead to her becoming at least as strong as he was spiritually and gain all the responsibilities that came with the power of being a Higurashi miko. There really only needed to be one Higurashi Kagome level miko in the world at a time.
Isshin was starting a story about one of the intern nurses the local hospital shuffles through as a part of their training, jumping around with wild expressions and movements for emphasis, when Ichigo heard someone on the stairs and stilled. "I don't understand," a strange female's voice muttered to herself. "I swore I felt it come this way." Ichigo tensed and looked over.
First thing he noticed was that the spirit was short; and it was a spirit, as only a spirit could have come in from upstairs. Second was dark hair and dark clothing. Third, and most important, was the katana at her side. Relaxing slightly, though not lowering his guard completely despite the Shinigami's confused look, Ichigo jerked his finger at the ghost floating against the wall. "Loose something, Shinigami-san?" Ichigo drawled. Karin and Yuzu stared at him before turning to look in the direction he was glaring at, though only Karin's squinting eyes were actually focusing on her. Isshin, on the other hand, clammed up like flipping a switch and returned to his seat. Ichigo wondered if he knew more details about Shinigami in reality than he did, being a close friend with Uryū-kun's father despite Uryū and Ichigo having only met that year.
The Shinigami in question started at being noticed and addressed. With a faint flush to her cheeks, the Shinigami drew her Zanpakutō and quickly stamped the seal on the pommel of her blade against the ghost's forehead.
"No," the cubical drone whined, as Ichigo rolled his eyes and finished the last bit of his dinner, internally frowning at how serious his father was looking despite his attempt at behaving in a manner most would find normal. "I don't want to go to hell."
"Do not worry," the Shinigami said in what was probably supposed to be a soothing tone. "Your soul is bound for the Soul Society, a far more peaceful place than Hell."
"Is there really something there, Ichi-nī?" Yuzu asked, looking at were the ghost had been.
"Something is definitely there," Karin said. "Though all I see is a blur."
"That's odd-"
"Does the Shinigami have a reason for being here?" Isshin asked with forced cheer, his eyes resolutely ahead of him in approximation of where the Shinigami should be despite his inability to actually see, or even sense, spirits to any significant degree. "Or was it just here for your newest spirit pal?"
Before Ichigo could say anything in response, the Shinigami broke into the conversation. "You can see me?" the Shinigami gaped with surprise. "Really see me?"
"Yeah, I can see you fine," Ichigo answered. "The local Kami of Protection, Shiranui-sama, has been active this past decade so a lot of us in the area can at least detect spirits. Are you new to this area?"
"Yes," the Shinigami answered though she still seemed bewildered. "I just started this past week. How could you tell?"
"Just a week?" Ichigo repeated for the benefit of his family who obviously could not follow very well, if at all. "That explains it. Most of you guys end up running into one of the local yokai and get told the local peculiarities with in the month but if it hasn't even been a full week that you've been assigned here, then it would explain why you don't know."
"Know what?" the Shinigami asked, gathering her wits.
"That I'm the student of Shiranui-sama and Celestial Envoy of Takamagahara when called on," Ichigo said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair. "As such, areas that I frequent such as here, my school, and a couple other areas in town are warded against malevolent spirits and suppress our signatures to lessen the chance of attracting them. And just because you are a Shinigami and probably have a century more experience-"
"You said that your wards have a reiatsu sensing suppression function?" the Shinigami interrupted urgently.
Ichigo leveled a look at the wide eyed Shinigami. "Yes, among other things," Ichigo repeated calmly. "Just because I am concerned with the living and you with the dead does not mean I want to have a spiritual equivalent of a neon sign hanging above my-"
"When were they last updated?" the Shinigami interrupted again.
Ichigo gritted his teeth, but tried to refrain from antagonizing the one with the sword. "This past spring just before the semester started at the dawn of the beginning of the flower season, when Shiranui-sama's power peaks," he answered, losing grasp on his temper. "Are you going tell me what the hell you're-"
"I was following a Hollow until it got near here and its signature vanished," the Shinigami answered, though she seemed distracted trying to sense through the wards. "It was too different to how they normally disappear for me to not investigate. Are you sure they are still fully functional?"
Ichigo was going to scoff and tell the Shinigami that of course he was sure, but there was something that made himself stop. He had been having a bad feeling since he woke up that persisted throughout the day. A ghost that didn't look like it was from the area seemed to have followed him home without problem. And a Shinigami that seemed relatively young but honestly eager to do the sort of duty that they were founded on, if he had to guess, saying that a Hollow vanished from her senses in the middle of his neighborhood. Inhaling deeply, Ichigo reached out with his reiatsu to look through the weaves of the wards of his making….
…And felt the suffocating feel of hunger and madness that could be nothing else than a Hollow just beyond….
Snapping his eyes back open, Ichigo began to move even though he could feel his blood leave his face as the evil feeling seemed to flare and focus with malevolent intent. "Dad, everyone, get down," Ichigo cried as he forced Karin back and grabbed the edge of the table. Isshin (with speed Ichigo did not know his father had in spite of his ability to land his "attacks" on his son, who had experience dodging yokai, when he actually was trying) dove from his chair, clearing the edge of the table before pivoting and snatching Yuzu from her own chair and spun to grab Karin who was stationary behind Ichigo in surprise; all in the precious few seconds before the wall behind where he was sitting burst through with the roar of the Hollow.
With a shout, Ichigo tilted the table and kicked it into the buck-tooth face of the Hollow, jumping clear of the grabbing hand, heedless of the shattering tableware. Reacting quickly now that her target was in front of her, the Shinigami deftly leapt forward and swung her sword at the Hollow's face. It was in vain, though, as the Hollow had brought up its other arm when it reeled backwards from being struck by the table and blocked the strike, knocking the Shinigami back into the Kurosaki home.
Shoving panic away, Ichigo unwound the long chain of stone and wood beads on ōgumo silk rope from around him and began to twirl the chain like a kusari-fundo with the weight of the jade magatama at the end allowing the teen the ability to aim. The beads were made more for catching and calming overactive yokai than for dealing with angry or otherwise dark spirits, but they did have some ability to purify so they should be harmful to the Hollow. Knowing that he did not have the tools to land a critical hit, Ichigo was determined to at least give the Shinigami the shot she needed to land the killing blow. "I have pre-made ofuda in my calligraphy case," he said to his family behind him as poured his reiatsu into the beads and silk rope, making them give a blue glow.
"Right!" Yuzu said quickly. Ichigo could hear her lunge back towards his supplies but he stopped paying attention when the Hollow turned to follow her movement behind him and he threw the chain, the magatama striking through the eye hole causing the Hollow to back up with a pained cry, both hands coming up to cover its face. Reeling in his beads as he moved, Ichigo ducked through the hole in the wall and began to pour reiatsu through the beads again. With the clear street now at his back and not his mostly defenseless family, Ichigo threw the bead chain again, this time hitting the Hollow's flank. The young Celestial Envoy could not help but give a vicious grin at sizzling sound that came from the contact.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" the Shinigami chanted from within the Kurosaki home. "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31: Shakkahō!" A red fire condensed and shot from her hand and struck the Hollow in the face, causing it stagger further from the Kurosaki home. The Shinigami used this to join Ichigo on the street, leveling her blade at the monster, making sure to keep clear of the spinning beads.
"What are its power levels like?" the Shinigami asked. "I still cannot sense it through your wards."
Ichigo focused on the enemy's energy signature. "I cannot sense the extent of its power," Ichigo answered honestly as the smoke from the spell faded and revealed the cracked mask. "However, its reiatsu is fluctuating similarly to some yokai with a high healing factor." This became evident as its mask mended itself before their eyes.
"A Menos? Here?" the Shinigami asked bleakly. "Twelfth is supposed to tell us about these things."
"Good thing you're not alone then," Ichigo said, ducking left away from the Hollow's (Menos?) attack as the Shinigami ducked right, whipping the beads out and connected with its side again. The Hollow roared as its recoil brought it into the Shinigami's blade as she spun and dodged to stand next to Ichigo again.
"Hassha!" Karin shouted from above. A second later a flash slammed into the recovering Hollow's face. Scowling, Ichigo looked up to see that his younger sister had climbed up to the roof and had a stack of ofuda at her feet. Before he could come up with a way to express his annoyance (he could feel terror later), Yuzu called to him from the hole in the wall.
"Ichigo, I have them!" Yuzu shouted, shifting her gaze between the smoking creature and her brother. Gritting his teeth, Ichigo lashed out with the beads again before leaping back towards Yuzu. Running back the rest of the way, the orange haired youth snatched the ofuda as the Shinigami made an abortive slash at the hollow as Karin fired another purifying ofuda blast.
"Ichigo, will it run from these?" Isshin asked quickly as he ran towards his eldest, the wooden ofuda usually in the kamidana that served more as prayer receptors rather than offensive or defensive use for the house shrine (Shiranui-sama) and the clinic's (Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami), but….
"If Yuzu channels her reiatsu through them and prays, they should glow with the kami's power," Ichigo answered. "We might have to get new ones afterwards, though." The road crunched as the Hollow missed the nimble Shinigami, bringing Ichigo's attention back to the fight. Tucking the paper ofuda into his pocket, Ichigo charged the beads again. "Karin! Get back down here and help Yuzu! We don't need a broken roof on top of everything!"
"Okay!"
The Hollow lunged at the Shinigami and Ichigo leapt forward, wrapping beads around its arm, the magatama locking it in place as the teen worked to bodily restrain it as his sister got clear of the roof. The Hollow roared in fury and pain, swiped at the beads and flinched back when the glowing beads burned its hand. Snarling even more, the Hollow lunged at Ichigo. Ichigo tossed himself through the Hollow's open legs, hoping to force the Hollow to smash face first into the ground where it would be in easy stabbing range of the Shinigami. Unfortunately, it did not work as well as he had hoped, as the Hollow landed a scratch on his right arm that was supporting the beads, making his reiatsu waiver and his chain lose power and go limp.
'No, it was worse than that,' Ichigo thought as he quickly rolled further away from the Hollow as it attempted to stomp him, tucking his right arm to his chest, using his left hand to pick the correct ofuda by reiatsu sense and pulled it out swiftly, slapping it over his injury and activated it. 'It has venom that hinders reiatsu flow entirely!'
Coiling his beads as the ofuda purged the venom from his body; Ichigo righted himself as he tried to think through this mess. It healed faster than they could deal damage. If the Shinigami had the power to counter it without causing more harm, she looked desperate and determined enough with her spell casting for Ichigo to believe that she would have done so by now. Ichigo had the power to defeat it, but not the time. The wards were tampered with in a way that made it impossible for the Shinigami to sense the monster but not repel it. Would he have even had checked the wards if the Shinigami had not come looking? Was this deliberate?
Forcing as much reiatsu into the beads as he could, Ichigo charged at the Hollow; springing off the monster's back with a flip and slamming them down on the Hollow's mask with a loud crack, causing the Hollow to shriek and stumble back as the mask cracked and smoked. But the damage was already done. The Shinigami stumbled up against a wall, one hand on her bleeding shoulder, the other barely keeping a grip on her blade. "Damn it," the Shinigami hissed as she clenched her eye shut.
"Shinigami-san," Ichigo asked worriedly as twin glows of gold emerged from within the hole in his house, causing the Hollow stumble away from his family in pain as its mask continued to heal and the comforting feel of his kami's power filled the air, "are you alright?"
"While my life is not in any immediate danger," the Shinigami said, her voice painted with pain, "I fear that I am too badly injured to continue fighting."
Watching as the monster stood and turned back towards the Shinigami and Celestial Envoy, fully healed, Ichigo bleakly addressed the Shinigami, "Can you think of anything that would give us a chance of beating it?"
"Only one," the Shinigami answered, adjusting the grip on her sword so that it was leveled in front of Ichigo. "You must become a Shinigami."
Startled, the teen looked back at the Shinigami. "What?"
"I pierce you through the heart with my Zanpakutō," the Shinigami explained. "By doing so, I have the ability to force some of my reiatsu directly into your soul, giving you the ability to take on a Shinigami's power and abilities. The chance of success is low with failure tearing apart your soul entirely, and even if we succeed you may still end up dead. But you have shown that you have control over reiatsu, and probably have a lot of it still left even now, so perhaps it means that you have a better chance of survival."
"Or perhaps and even lower one?" Ichigo asked rhetorically, gripping his beads tightly as he saw Karin, his idiot, idiot, younger sister edge out of the house, glowing ofuda in hand making the Hollow back away from her. But now it was obviously deciding that getting burned by the holy power was an acceptable loss to get such a tasty treat. "Right then, let's get started, Shinigami-san."
"Ichigo?" the teen could hear Yuzu call to him, though he ignored her to keep his determination firm.
"My name is Kuchiki Rukia, not Shinigami," the Shinigami, Rukia, corrected as they leveled her Zanpakutō over his heart.
"Kurosaki Ichigo," he answered in kind. "May we both be able to meet again after this."
"Ichigo?!"
They pushed the blade through his chest, and Ichigo had to clench his eyes at the second of pain before ice slid into his soul; numbing him with the chill of death even as it bridged and pulled power out from the depths of his soul and out into the air. With all the determination that he could muster, Ichigo compressed the energy further to himself, reinforcing power wrought clothing he could now feel draped over him. Realizing that he now held the swords hilt rather than the blade, Ichigo compressed his exposed energy even further, remembering the discussion between the Western Lord and his siblings two summers before about the correlation of energy compression and piercing damage of yokai and other spirit creatures, holding firm the image of a katana until the energy seemed to settle.
Snapping his eyes open, Ichigo zeroed in on the Hollow, ignoring the presence of his family beyond recognizing as needing to avoid hitting them the sword that seems to between the length of a standard katana and a ōdaichi (which was honestly more suited for his height than the standard size). Moving faster than he has ever had under his own power, Ichigo quickly wove through the obstacles his family made of themselves, ignoring his desire to curl around the comforting warmth of the activated ofuda, and slashed at the Hollow's legs. The Hollow crashed heavily onto the ground with a cry. It cried out again as Ichigo quickly slashed through the arm that attempted to block his leap over the fallen form. Steadying his feet on the ground, Ichigo pivoted and slashed a horizontal line through the entirety of the Hollow's head, defeating it once and for all.
Shaking with the desire to fall over, Ichigo pulled at the remains of his reiatsu, the image of a powerful warding circle and his neighborhood crossed over each other in his mind. Forcing the energy to his sword point, the new Shinigami slammed the sword into the ground, overwriting the old wards and saturating the air with shaped purifying energy. With his senses expanded as far as he could go, Ichigo could vaguely feel the souls of all the creatures with the barest slivers of true evil in their hearts suddenly run in the opposite direction. Ichigo might have laughed, but his sword had evaporated with the last of his energy and he landed on the ground; only cold left in his heart.
Shivering weakly, Ichigo heard the sounds of his family's desperate cries, but could not make out any words in his state. He tried to move, but was quickly scooped into his father's arms and firmly held there. Rather than feel smothered like he would have normally, the teen tried to burrow deeper into his father's warm body; desperately trying to will that familiar warmth into him even as the Kurosaki patriarch's warm hand practically throbbed as it rubbed small circles into his back where he would have been physically injured if the damage of the spiritual weapon did not coil itself in his soul.
"Cold," Ichigo finally managed to gasp before falling into darkness.
Sorry that this is still not Beta'ed. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! let me know if the formatting problem is still there.
translations:
Yokai- nature and/or elemental spirits. sometimes believed to be different from kami only by either having worshipers or by occupation. Not usually out right evil, as some western religions such as Christianity would label them, but are known for conflicts with humans that result in a lot of damage and casualties.
Kyushu and Ryukyu islands- the southern large island and the smaller island chain to the south of Japan
Reiryoku- the potential energy of a person
Reiki- spirit energy with out intent that can collect upon a spirits reishi and make them visible in the living world. often accumulates naturally at shrines and other sacred sites. also the term for energy with out intent in an object. Used by Quincys to make weapons and do combat.
Reiatsu- energy released into the air that carries the intent or will of the one who releases it. the driving energy behind spell casting and other similar techniques
Reishi- spirit partials, what spirits and everything in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. Used by Quincys to make weapons and do combat.
Ryuuguu-jou- the palace of the dragons at the bottom of the ocean. In this story, it is made of sea coral and sea glass and other objects that make it to the bottom of the ocean, has five wings which contains the throne room and a season each to accommodate all the different kinds of dragons, and its ruler has comparable authority over the world as the Japanese Emperor (who is considered the primary ambassador between dragon and human kind)
shitajiki- a mat of either felt or bamboo to prevent ink from bleeding through paper. usually used in calligraphy
fudeoki- calligraphy brush holder
sumioki- ink stick holder
ofuda- a talisman, predominately used by Shinto shrines as means to bring a connection of a kami into one's house, though they can take a more combative use when prepared as such
omamori- a charm, usually used to ward or balance energy around a person, though it can be used for other, defensive, purposes (see the protection charm that Isshin gives to Ichigo before Soul Society arc)
suzuri- the ink stone, where traditional ink is ground out and mixed. used in calligraphy and other traditional brush arts in the east
Tanuki- racoon-dogs native to east Asia, the yokai versions are capable of illusions and transformation
ginkō-in- a personal, official seal, used at a bank instead of a signature
gagō-in- a personal, unofficial seal, often used as an artist signature, often hold nicknames or pen names
bunchin- a type of paper weight used in calligraphy
suiteki- a water jar used in calligraphy
sumi- ink sticks, traditionally made of charcoal and either resin or animal glue. used in calligraphy
Takamagahara- the heavenly plain where the palace of the gods of Japan resides. considered eponymous of each other.
washi- Japanese traditionally blended paper, mostly used in Japanese decorative crafts that involve paper like calligraphy and origami
Tenraifude-ryuu- Celestial Brush techniques. made up term but i think it is more accurate to the translation than 筆調べ or the "investigators brush", even if that is how it is most often used.
kannushi- Shinto priest, i believe they are more specifically mage or healer types than other terms
kusari-fundo- a chain weapon with weights on two ends. best known for use by police during the Meiji era
ōgumo- means "the great weavers" usually a spider spirit, though may also refer to other thread making insect spirits
magatama- a type of bead that looks like a yin-yang symbol that is considered sacred in Japan, believed to have originated as a symbol of boar tusks which was the original reason as to why they were always paired
Hassha- firing, shot, discharge (I know most people use "kai", but I can't find a translation as to why so if someone can show me where this comes from, I'm sticking to what translates acceptably)
kamidana- house shrine for Shinto, I think a different one is used for Buddhist use