"Ichigo!" A voice called through the door waking Ichigo from his heavy slumber. "Ichigo, wake up! Urahara-taicho is calling for us."
Ichigo grumbled a retort into his pillow and tried to go back to sleep. "Go away Haru!"
"Come on Ichigo! Please don't get me in trouble."
"It's not like Urahara is going to yell at you."
"But he said it was an emergency!" Ichigo sat straight up. Damn it! I had been hoping to get more sleep. Ichigo quickly dressed and opened the door.
Haru was just about to open the door himself when Ichigo appeared.
"Let's go, Urahara wanted us there ten minutes ago." Haru immediately started heading down the hall.
"Hey Haru, wait up," said a still tried Ichigo. "We've been here for several months now, you know Urahara really doesn't really care about being on time. In fact he's the one who's usually late… What does he want us to do anyway?"
"Taicho said that he has a mission for us." Ichigo's frown deepened. They had been getting a lot of assignments lately.
"What makes this one different from any of the others that we've done in the past?" Haru shrugged. Ichigo sighed. "All right then. Let's get this done with so I can get back to sleep." Haru chuckled as Ichigo walked by him to open their captain's door.
"You wanted to see us?" said Ichigo walking in to interrupt the taicho from his work. Haru rolled his eyes. Rukia-san is right; he really doesn't have any manners.
"Ah! Good morning Kurosaki-san! Someone's up early! What's the occasion?" Urahara teased with a huge smile on his face.
Ichigo glared. "I was told that there was an emergency."
"Emergency?" asked Urahara pretending to be clueless.
Ichigo glared at his superior.
Urahara laughed. "But, really it's just a situation that is troubling Soul Society."
"What's the problem?" said Haru from behind Ichigo.
"It's the hollows," answered the captain. "Someone is killing them, and the souls are not being cleansed and sent to Soul Society, but rather being destroyed. So, I'm sending the two of you to go check it out."
The two subordinate shinigami nodded.
"Have fun!" said Urahara cheerfully. Haru returned the positive attitude with a smile, but Ichigo just scowled. "Oh! And Haru! See what you can do to wipe that frown off Kurosaki-san's face!"
"Will do!" said Haru dragging the now angry shinigami out the door, before he could answer back.
Ichigo and Haru walked down the streets of Karakura casually looking at the restaurants and shops they passed.
"What the hell are we suppose to be doing?" Ichigo asked. "Are we just supposed to wait until that stupid pager starts beeping?"
Haru took out so called pager as if it would start going off. "I guess so. We won't be able to find out what's happening to the hollows unless one shows up."
"Yeah…"
Haru looked up towards his annoyed partner. "Why? Do you have some pressing matter to deal with when we get back?"
"No, not really." said Ichigo unconvincingly.
Haru smiled. "Or should I ask if there is a certain someone you need to see?"
"Wha-" But, before Ichigo could continue the pager went off. Relieved to now have something to do, Ichigo shouted: "Finally! Where is it?"
Haru checked the device and pointed out the direction. "That way."
The pager led them down a side alleyway and upon reaching their destination they looked around for the hollow. Strangely, there wasn't a sign of a hollow anywhere.
"What the…?" Ichigo looked around searching as if one would appear from a hiding place around the corner. "Where is it!?!"
"I don't know," replied Haru, consulting the pager once again. "According to the pager it just disappeared!"
"What? How did it disappear?" shouted Ichigo as his frustration grew.
"I don't know!" said Haru helplessly.
"Augh!" said Ichigo letting out an aggravated cry.
"My, my you really should learn to control that temper of yours." A voice came from the end of the alley.
Ichigo and Haru spun around towards the source of the voice to find a man standing a few feet away from them. He was tall, yet narrow with piercing eyes behind glasses, framed by dark blue-black hair. He was also wearing strange cloths compared to those that were worn by normal humans, styling a long white jacket and pants.
"Who are you?" said Ichigo bluntly.
He ignored Ichigo and instead turned to the left as if looking at something in the distance. "There's a hollow coming."
Ichigo and Haru's eyes went wide at the mentioning of hollows. They both looked at the pager which suddenly started to beep.
The man with the glasses noticed their glance towards the gadget in Haru's hand. "You can't even sense it yourselves? And you call yourself a shinigami."
Ichigo was about to argue with the weirdo in front of them, but stopped went the strange man reached out his hand to reveal a cross bracelet hanging from his wrist. The shinigami were even more surprised went a bow and arrow made of spiritual pressure emerged from the cross. The man then proceeded to aim and fire the arrow towards its hollow mark causing the pager to stop beeping.
Then bringing the bow down to a resting position by his side, he spoke with his back turned to them. "I am Uryu Ishida, a Quincy and I hate Shinigami."
Ichigo and Haru just stood there not sure what to do. Neither of them knew what a Quincy was.
"Ichigo," said Haru to an unresponsive Ichigo. "I think I figured out what's been happening to the hollows." Even they could tell that the soul of the hollow had been destroyed.
Ichigo scowl deepened. He didn't like this guy, he was too cocky. "Who the hell are you?"
Uryu frowned. Really, how dense was this guy? "I said my name is-"
"Yeah, yeah I heard that part," interrupted Ichigo loudly. "But what gives you the right to stick your nose into our business and then go mouthing off?"
Uryu glared at the orange-haired shinigami, not liking his attitude at all. "I am a Quincy," he repeated. "I have the power to kill hollows and it seems that I am doing a much better job then you."
"Are you looking for a fight?" Ichigo could practically feel his blood boiling.
Uryu chuckled. "No, but it seems that you are." He eyed the shinigami standing in front of him. He smiled "Would you like to play a game to see who is superior- a shinigami or a Quincy?"
He could feel Haru silently protesting behind him. "You… against me?"
"Yes," replied Uryu. "But, your friend can help you out if you want."
Ichigo saw what he was getting at and turned around to face Haru. "Haru," He looked up at Ichigo. "Go back to Soul Society."
Haru's eyes opened wide. "What!?! But- Ichigo."
"Go." Ichigo ordered. "You can report to them that we discovered the problem." He stressed the last word and looked pointedly at the Quincy. "And you can tell them that I am taking care of it."
"B-but-"
"I said GO." Seeing that Ichigo was serious, Haru quickly opened the portal and went through.
Once he was gone, Ichigo turned his attention back to Uryu. "Now…what are the rules of your game?"
Uryu smiled. It seemed that things were going his way. "Let's start with this." He held up an odd looking tablet.
"Huh?" said Ichigo. "What is that?"
"Hollow bait," said Uryu simply. "After I scatter it, hollows will begin to converge on this town. Whoever defeats the most hollows in the next few hours wins, agreed? That should be enough… even for you."
"What!?" said Ichigo disbelievingly, his eyes going wide. "What are you thinking?! Everybody in Karakura would be in danger. What kind of sicko are you?"
Uryu's face darkened as he crushed the tablet in his hands. "There is no need to worry about innocent bystanders because I am going to destroy every hollow that appears. And if you really have the guts to protect the people from the hollows then you'll accept my challenge."
Ichigo became worried as he watched the remains of the tablet drift off in the wind. He jumped when he heard a loud ripping noise. Ichigo looked up to the sky to see gaps forming in various places. In the biggest, the hand of hollow was clawing its way into the world. Fortunately, before it could fully emerge a spiritual arrow shot through it causing it to explode.
"That's one," said Uryu as he prepared to aim at another. But, before he could do anything he suddenly felt himself being grabbed and violently thrown against the wall. Uryu looked up calmly into the eyes of his opponent. "What's the matter…Ichigo, was it?"
"Call them off," growled now Ichigo regretting his decision. "Get rid of the bait!"
"That's impossible," said Uryu pulling himself out of Ichigo's grasp. "I can't recall it. The die is cast. Soon hollows will be all over this town, lured by the bait. Instead of pushing me around you should be running. It won't be easy to defend an entire town from the hollow hordes."
"Why you…" But, Uryu didn't give Ichigo a chance to finish as he turned around and ran off to find his next prey.
Ichigo looked up at the sky again. Now even more hollows were forcing their way into the world of the living. "Damn it," said Ichigo as he pulled out his zanpaku-to.
"Hey Rukia!"
"Kaien-dono!" said Rukia seeing the fukutaicho walking off in the opposite direction. "Don't we have training today?"
Kaien flashed a smile. "I thought I give you the day off."
Rukia gave him a confused look. "Why?"
"Well…you've been doing really well lately so I thought you deserved a break."
"Huh? But, I'm so close to getting shikai. Why stop now?"
Kaien sighed. There was no getting around it. "Okay, okay, the truth is that Miyako is forcing me to go shopping with her today in Rukongai." The usually cheery man was looking depressed at the thought of going thru shop after shop and having to carry all of those bags.
Rukia laughed she could almost see his thoughts. "Good luck."
"Thanks, I'm going to need it." Rukia looked at him. It really was strange, now that Kaien wasn't smiling, he reminded her even more of Ichigo.
Kaien looked up to see the look on Rukia's face. Then forming a sly smile on his face he asked, "Sooo, what are you going to do on your day off? Going to use the time to visit a certain special someone?"
Rukia blushed. She knew exactly where he was going with this, but the thing that really got to her was, that was what she had planned to do. "He is just a friend."
Kaien laughed at her embarrassment. It looked like he really had guessed right. "Whatever you say." He waved as he turned around and left to go find his wife.
After she was sure he was gone, Rukia turned around and headed off towards the twelfth division.
As Rukia walked around the division barracks she searched for her orange-haired friend with little luck. As she passed the captain's office, she thought about asking the twelfth division taicho. A captain would know where their subordinate was, right? But then again this was Urahara they were talking about. Finally deciding that she wouldn't be able to find Ichigo without some help, she approached the office and knocked lightly on the door.
At first there was no answer and Rukia was about to turn and leave when she heard a voice from within give her permission to enter.
When she entered the room, she found that she was not the only on there. Urahara-taicho was as usual sitting at his desk, but there was someone else with their back turned to her frantically talking to the captain.
Hearing the door open the two at the desk looked up to see their guest.
"Ah! Rukia-san, it's good to see you!" said Urahara as brightly as ever.
"Hello, Urahara-taicho," Rukia greeted. "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"Oh don't worry! Haru, here was just giving me his mission report."
Rukia and Haru exchanged greetings before Haru quickly turned back to Urahara.
"You need to send someone to the world of the living to help face off that guy!" Haru was talking very fast in an effort to speed up the process.
"So Kurosaki-san is still in the world of the living with … did you say a Quincy?" Rukia perked up at Ichigo's name. It looked like she had come to the right place.
"Yes!" continued Haru. "I don't know what they were going to do, but it looked like they were going to fight or some sort of competition."
Rukia rolled her eyes. Looks like the idiot's in trouble again. Really, how does one person get into so many fights?
"Hmm…" Urahara looked down at his papers. "Interesting…I just received a report about a huge increase of hollow in the area…You might be right about sending someone in for back up…"
"Can I go?" asked Rukia. She could feel the excitement building up inside of her. "I've worked with Ichigo many times before in the past and I was given the day off from my duties in the thirteen company."
Urahara gave her a curious look before answering. "Alright, if you want to, I don't see any problem with that-"
"Thank you!" said Rukia. She couldn't help the big smile that appeared on her face. It had been awhile since they had worked together and it would be fun to be partnered up with him again.
"Well then we'll send you out as soon as possible." Rukia was already getting ready to leave the room, when Urahara's voice stopped her. "But first I need to tell you a few things about Quincies…"
A hollow screamed as it dissolved into the air. As soon as it was gone, Ichigo spun around letting his zanpaku-to crash through the hollow coming up behind him. They crowded around him, easily out numbering him. Bringing out his left hand he muttered a kido spell, killing two hollows.
Ichigo shifted his stance to face the hollows posing an immediate threat. They just kept coming, each one bigger than the last. For the most part they were easy, but the bigger ones took a lot more to kill.
When blocking one hollow, Ichigo failed to notice another coming from the right. Just as it was attacking, Ichigo was able to evade it enough to only receive a cut along his cheek to join the countless other gashes that he now had on his body.
Ichigo was breathing heavily, looking for some end to all of the madness that was surrounding him. He was clueless to how much time had passed, but he knew this couldn't go on forever.
Suddenly, Ichigo felt a huge increase in spiritual pressure as an abnormally big hollow charged towards him from behind. Ichigo turned around to try and defend himself, only to find that there was no need to. Confused, Ichigo wondered where the hollow had gone. It looked as if it had just disappeared or someone had-
"Hey!" said a familiar voice. "Need some help?"
Ichigo looked up as Rukia jumped down from a nearby roof. He had probably never been more thankful to see her. He could almost feel a smile tugging at his lips at the thought of fighting besides her again.
"Me? Need help? Please, I can take care of them myself," said Ichigo, cocky as ever.
Rukia gave him a disbelieving look, before marching up to him and whacking him across the head causing him to bend over in temporary pain. She then swung her zanpaku-to across the spot that Ichigo's head had once been, killing the hollow that was trying to attack him.
"You idiot! How the hell did you get in this mess?!?" yelled Rukia as she blocked another incoming hollow. "And why am I always the person who has to bail you out?!"
"Why are you yelling at me?!?" Ichigo shouted back. He sliced through the head of another attacking hollow. "It's not like I asked for your help!" Ichigo jumped out of the way of Rukia's kido spell.
"Then you should be thankful that I came without you having to ask!"
"What the- why would-" But, Ichigo was interrupted when Rukia yelled and pointed to a location about a hundred meters away.
"Look Ichigo! That boy!" Ichigo glanced over to see a large hollow hovering over the soul of a small boy. The boy looked absolutely terrified as the creature kept getting closer.
"I'll distract the hollow!" yelled Rukia quickly formulating a plan. "You perform konso on the soul! Got it?" Ichigo was about to argue that he would be the one to hold back the hollow, but Rukia had already jumped into action.
Rukia blocked the hollow's incoming arm, while Ichigo snuck behind her to reach the boy.
Not having any time to explain anything to the confused and scared soul, Ichigo quickly touched the hilt of his zanpaku-to to the small boy's forehead, sending him to the safety of Soul Society.
Just as he was about to turn back to the mass of hollows he heard a cry of pain come from Rukia. Ichigo turned around and was frozen with shock. Rukia had been so focused on protecting Ichigo and the boy from the huge hollow that she had forgotten about the others, allowing one able to slip passed her defenses and stab her straight through the chest.
Rukia's whole body felt like it was on fire as the pain swept through her. She couldn't feel anything, only pain. Her vision went blurry as the only remaining color was the red of her own blood. She tried to move the arm that held her sword, but she couldn't. Actually she didn't even know if she was still holding on to it. She desperately tried to breath, but the claw had pierced her lungs.
Suddenly, Rukia's body jerked as the hollow's arm was removed. As soon as it was gone, she felt the blood rush from her body, taking her life with it. The world started slipping away from her as she lost the ability to detect her surroundings.
"NO! RUKIA!!"
And as her world slipped into darkness the last thing she heard was Ichigo calling her name.
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Sorry for not updating for a while! You wouldn't believe the amount of work I've had!
But anyway...I hope you liked this chapter, I actually changed it a couple of times because I wasn't happy with how it had turned out in my first drafts, but hopefully it turned out okay in the end.
Parts of this chapter may have seemed rushed, but there are certain parts which you guys already know about from the books that I'm not going to really focus on.
Note: Haru. Kind of random OC that came up with on the spot. Was he necessary? I don't know, but he kind of fit. Don't know how much he's actually going to show up, this chapter is mostly likely one of the few he will be in, but you never know maybe he'll show up later:)
Sorry of errors of any kind! I really wanted to get the chapter out and might have glanced over a few things while editing.
PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! BIGGEST THANKS to all who reviewed the last chapter, you made me feel guilty for not updating sooner!
~StrawberryShinigami