Author's Note:
I shall briefly give some information about what I have planned for this fiction. First I have one medium sized harem already figured out but may add to it. Other ones will appear. Everyone that went to Shinto Teito so far will either be part of a harem (Not saying which part whether a competitor or the focus of attention) or they will have some form of love interest of their own (I admit I'm still trying to decide what to do with Yoruichi but will hopefully find something out eventually). I may also have plans for several we haven't seen in this story yet. I was planning on leaving Yukari in because I love her character. I already have plans for her *Evil glint in eye*. A guest reviewer pointed out that Urahara had already met Karin in the cannon storyline. Thank you for pointing this out, I updated the previous chapter to make it fit better. It's important for people to review this to make sure I don't make any embarrassing mistakes like this. Now I have put up one poll and will eventually put up a second poll after I feel enough time has passed or I find a way to put two polls at once onto my profile, whichever comes first. Also when I said no slash pairings I was referring that I myself would not be creating new pairings, Mutsu is still winged by Mikogami.
Thanks for reading now to end this long note with the usual warning: I own nothing except for any original characters.
Ichigo softly dropped to the ground in Urahara's training ground. It was an empty space that Urahara had dug underground after having left the Soul Society. The artificial lighting looked like completely natural sunlight. Urahara claimed that he created it using Soul Societies technology in a day, but Ichigo still wondered how he had painted the vast expanse of ground above them to look like the sky in only a single day. Orihime, Chad, Uryū, Yoruichi in her cat form, and Rukia all stood in a group by a gateway Ichigo had never seen before.
"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Urahara's voice called from above. Ichigo have had years of practice from his dad moved to one side to dodge whatever was coming down at him. Unfortunately he moved the wrong way which became abruptly clear when he felt the bag hit his head and carry him to the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL HAT AND CLOGS!" Ichigo shouted throwing the bag off his shoulders as he quickly stood up. He pointed an accusing finger at Urahara who was climbing down the ladder into the subterranean training ground. A large tick mark was starting to form on his head. "ALL MY STUFF WAS IN THERE! IT COULD HAVE BROKEN!"
"I would have sold you the stuff you needed replaced at a dramatically reduced price." Urahara said as he reached the ground.
"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!" Ichigo shouted the tick mark growing in size with each word.
"How else would it work?" Urahara asked opening his fan in front of his face. "Besides I looked through your bag before I tossed it down. The most breakable thing in there was Kon."
"YOU LOOKED THROUGH MY BAG?!" Ichigo yelled.
"Of course," Urahara said laughing behind his fan. "We wouldn't want some unfortunate mishap to occur in which you accidently left behind your underwear with 'I heart anime' on them in bold pick lettering, or leave some breakable objects lose that might break if some random man happened to kick it down the nearest hole."
"I swear Hat and Clogs," Ichigo said letting some killing intent slip out. "If I find you slipped a pair of boxers in this bag you'll find yourself wearing them, running around town trying to avoid me slicing you into tiny little cat treats for Yoruichi."
"No need to worry," Urahara said snapping his fan closed. He started walking toward the group of friends who had paid no attention to the interaction between the two. "I did slip in a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs for Yoruichi though."
"URAHARA!" Ichigo said reaching for his substitute badge at his belt. He grasp but found nothing. Looking down at where it should have been all Ichigo found was a slip of paper attached to his belt by a single thread.
It read: "Ichigo, please forgive me for messing with you. You just make it to easy. I also had to take your badge because I don't feel like dying today. Besides opening the gate is going to be hard work and I'll need as much of my energy as I can. Thanks, Urahara. P.S. Your badge is in your bag."
Ichigo let some more of his killing intent slip. He was going to somehow get back at the bastard. Then a horrible idea began to take shape in his mind. It was something he had never wanted to use against the shop keeper just because it would be too evil. Urahara had just given him a reason to use it.
With that thought in mind the killing intent he had let slip suddenly vanished as he walked toward his friends. Urahara looked back at him as if trying to figure out why all the killing intent had just disappeared. He quickly turned around after seeing the look on Ichigo's face.
"So when do we leave?" Ichigo asked everybody in general.
"Right now." Yoruichi said gruffly.
"Why are you in your cat form?" Ichigo asked raising an eyebrow at her.
"We're going to a new location with very limited information," Yoruichi said simply. "And some of those there seem to have Captain level spirit pressure. I figured it would be best if they see me as a strange albeit weird cat."
"Are there any questions?" Urahara asked the group.
"Do we have to deal with the cleaner?" Chad asked.
"No," Urahara said smiling. "The cleaner while reformed is only supposed to work between Soul Society and the World of the Living. I modified this gate to take you to another place in the world of the living and not Soul Society. There should be no cleaner. If that is all I'll start the preparations to open it. You'll all have the usual four minutes before it closes and you'll be trapped."
Ichigo squatted down next to Yoruichi seeing Hat and Clogs walk toward the gateway and whispered, "Hey could you do me a favor?"
Yoruichi looked confused but asked, "What is it?"
"Is there any way to get a message to Soul Society with the communications down?" Ichigo asked.
"Suì-Fēng set up a line of personal communication for this mission in case of emergencies. Why do you ask?" Yoruichi said confusion lacing her words.
"I was wondering if you could tell her to ask if Kenpachi wanted a workout after fighting the Head Captain." Ichigo explained simply.
"Ichigo isn't that going a little far?" Yoruichi asked catching on.
"Did I forget to mention he said he put some pink fuzzy handcuffs in here for you?" Ichigo asked nonchalantly.
"Yes you did," Yoruichi said surprisingly calmly. "I asked him to put them in. They are specially built to seal away a person's spirit energy while wearing them. They may prove useful in interrogating any prisoners." Her explanation left Ichigo sputtering trying to come up with a response. "Besides Kenpachi is already in Tokyo."
"Shit." Ichigo finally managed to get out. "Why?"
"He got wind of what was going on while he recovered in the Medical Division barracks. Since nobody could convince him to work anyway they let him go." Yoruichi explained.
"So we have Kenpachi to deal with too?" Ichigo asked moaning as he straightened. "How can this day get any worse?"
"It's all ready," Urahara said from near the gate. "When I open it everybody run through."
Ichigo looked around at his friends. Each gave a nod indicating they were ready.
"Whenever you are ready." Uryū said out loud.
With that the gateway Urahara was standing near suddenly let out a flash of light temporarily blinding Ichigo. When his vision returned to normal he saw that the gateway seemed to be filled with a strange purple goo. He looked at each of his friends and gave a single curt nod. With that alone they all jumped through the gateway at once.
Five minutes later
"I'm going to kill Urahara." Ichigo said taking a strangled gulp of putrid air. The entire group was currently huddled in a none to clean alley. Each was in various states of exhaustion.
Yoruichi wasn't even winded instead she was stretching her cat form like she was just getting up from taking a nap.
Uryū in his traditional Quincy attire and Orihime in a pink top and blue skirt seemed to be taking it the worse. Orihime had a white purse hanging loosely from her hands. Both were under Chad's arms passed out. While Chad himself seemed to be just fine in a simple green shirt and black sweatpants.
Rukia in her gigai form was wearing a simple yellow top with a matching skirt was in the same condition Ichigo was. Which was to say leaning against the side of a building and taking deep wheezing breaths.
"That's unfair Ichigo." Yoruichi said finishing her stretching. "Nobody has created a gate only from one area of this world to another area. In theory there should have been no cleaner."
"Unfair or not are you sure we can't sick Kenpachi on him?" Ichigo half pleaded.
"I'm sure." Yoruichi said simply as she walked from the alley way.
Ichigo glanced at Chad. He shrugged and gently put down Uryū and Orihime. Uryū and Orihime slowly got to their feet. "You look terrible." Ichigo said to Uryū as he stumbled away from the wall.
"You aren't any better Strawberry." Uryū said stumbling out of the alley. Chad and Orihime followed close behind. Ichigo gave a start when he realized he was the last one in the alley. He quickly shook his head to clear it and walked as quickly as his legs could handle out of the alley.
"Ichigo glad you could join us." Rukia said glancing at him as he walked toward them. The sun was high overhead. The buildings on either side of them seemed to reach toward the sky, shining like luminescent jewels. Hundreds of people filled the street bustling by the group without giving them any attention.
"Yeah," Ichigo muttered feeling a few of the aches in his legs start to leak out of them. "So what's the plan Yoruichi?"
"Ideally we would all stay together." Yoruichi said. "However given our past experiences I wouldn't wager one of Urahara's clogs that it'll happen this time. Uryū look in your bag, I asked Urahara to pack some phones for you all."
A soft zipping noise was just audible over the bustle of the city streets. Uryū quickly unzipped his bag. Sitting atop a neatly folded Quincy uniform were six touch screen cell phones. Each had a different design obviously intended for a certain person.
Orihime reached in and grabbed a pink phone that was covered in white flowers. She briefly turned it on and started flipping through the various functions. Chad grabbed a plain dull green phone. He slipped it into a pocket of his pants without looking at it. Rukia squealed as she picked up a purple phone with a picture of Chappy the rabbit on the back. She held it in her hands as Ichigo grabbed for what he assumed was his. A black phone with dark red veins running through the phone. Ichigo opened up the contacts folder. It contained all of his friends' phone numbers along with a number for Urahara and his dad. The two remaining phones obviously belonged to Uryū and Yoruichi. One was pure white with a blue technic design covering it. The other was a bright orange with a black cat face on it. Unlike the others it was tied to an abnormally large leather bracelet.
"Could you strap that around me?" Yoruichi asked her gruff voice said from below Ichigo.
Ichigo slipped his phone into his own pocket and did as Yoruichi asked. In the end it looked like she was a cat with a tool belt.
"You look so cute!" Orihime said stuffing her phone in her purse. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she admired the cat woman.
"Thank you," Yoruichi preened. "Now down to business. Normally I would say we need to stick together but Shinto Teito is a large city, so our best bet is to split into teams of two. It goes without saying that you should avoid using your powers as much as possible. We don't know what to make of the people here. Orihime and Rukia are together. Rukia is fairly adept at sensing spirit energy and Orihime is our healer. The reason they are together is that I want Rukia to be able to sense and avoid fights. That way our healer isn't exposed to too much danger. While Uryū could protect Orihime I don't like the idea of him being alone with a younger woman."
"Sounds reasonable," Rukia said nodding along.
"What are you insinuating?" Uryū asked his face turning red.
"Did I only insinuate?" Yoruichi asked. "I meant to say it out right. In that case, I'm worried Uryū might take advantage of a young woman all by herself."
"You know I wouldn't do that." Uryū indignantly stated his face a bright tomato red that clashed with his snow white outfit.
"Whatever you say." Yoruichi said rolling her cat eyes. A sweat drop rolled down the back of Ichigo's head as he watched the two argue.
"Do you think that many people will be hurt?" Orihime asked a note of worry in her voice.
"Several of our report said that several Captain level spirit pressures have been sensed wondering around the city." Yoruichi said bluntly turning her attention to her. "It is best to assume that while we may not fight THEM, it is safe to assume that they aren't here for the scenery."
"I understand," Orihime said nodding. A look of determination spread across her face. "I will make sure everyone here stays healthy."
"Thanks," Yoruichi said nodding her appreciation. "The second group will comprise of myself and Uryū."
"Why him?" Chad asked in a monotone.
"I'll be going where I'm needed and amongst all of you he is the least likely to find himself in trouble." Yoruichi said bluntly.
"I resent that!" Ichigo said insulted. A tick mark had taken the place of the sweat drop from earlier. "It's not like I try to attract attention."
"Would you be as insulted if I stated that the reason you attract the most attention is that you have the strongest raw spirit energy among us and strong enemies naturally gravitate toward it?" Yoruichi asked.
"Fine," Ichigo said sighing. The tick mark on his head slowly faded away.
"Two hours," Ichigo heard Rukia whisper. When he glanced over at her he was surprised to see that the rest of the group were huddled around her.
"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked curious.
"Placing bets on how long it'll take you to get into a fight." Rukia said not even bothering to lie.
"DAMN IT RUKIA I'M NOT THAT BAD!" Ichigo shouted at the midget. The only indication the people on the street gave them was to give them a little more space. Other than that the flow kept moving around them.
"I agree Ichigo." Yoruichi said amusedly. "Rukia put me down for twenty four hours."
"YORUICHI!" Ichigo shout turning indignantly toward the cat.
"What?" Yoruichi asked. "I'm playing the long odds."
"It's true," Chad said speaking up.
"Rukia says two hours, Uryū thinks one, and Orihime is down for twelve." Chad said neutrally.
"Don't make it sound like you aren't in on it too." Rukia said elbowing him in the gut. "You're down for ten minutes after we part ways." Chad had the decency to blush along with Orihime.
The tick mark had grown larger than his head. Before Ichigo could speak Uryū spoke up.
"Yoruichi as much as I appreciate you wanting to be on my team, I work better alone." Uryū said walking toward the crowd. "You can find me by my spirit energy if you need me." With that said he disappeared into the crowd.
"I figured he'd do something like that," Yoruichi said sighing. "That's the real reason I didn't assign him to any of you."
"You knew he was going to storm off like a big baby?" Ichigo asked surprised.
"No," Yoruichi said shaking her head. "He has always been a loner. Even when he was training it has always been alone. He isn't childish. The term is introverted. One of the main differences in the way they operate is internal. Where you would rather train with someone to get stronger, he prefers to train by himself. Each method has good and bad points to it."
"She's right Ichigo." Zangetsu said speaking up. "When a person learns from another they tend to make the same mistakes and fall into the same traps that the teacher would, however those that train by themselves can often grow complacent and not push themselves hard enough to do what needs to be done to get stronger."
"You're both right," Ichigo said back to him. "Nothing wrong with it as long as he keeps getting stronger and I'll be here to make sure he does."
"That leaves Ichigo and me." Chad said breaking Ichigo out of his talk with Zangetsu.
"Correct," Yoruichi replied. "You are paired together because of all of us Ichigo seems to get in the most fights and is the most visible. Chad can usually defeat lesser enemies without having to resort to using his powers and can take tremendous hits."
"Hey," Ichigo protested quickly. "I can handle myself in my human form. I've taken out five guys at once before. Chad was even there."
"Yes," Yoruichi conceded. "However are you strong enough in your human form to withstand a steel girder falling on you?"
"No," Ichigo dejectedly admitted.
"He can withstand a hit and give them too." Yoruichi said. "As it is you're leaking quite a bit of spirit energy, but not so much as to be completely noticeable given those that are running around."
"Why should that matter?" Ichigo asked.
"Ichigo," Chad said leaning closer to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you really want to advertise to Kenpachi where you are in the city?"
Ichigo felt his face drain of all color. 'If their fight destroyed half of the Seireitei, and it took the Head Captain that long to knock out Kenpachi then what would happen to Tokyo?' The thought brought images of a leveled and burning city. Ichigo wasn't able to suppress the shudder that went through him.
"Is there any way to suppress my power anymore?" Ichigo asked half pleading.
"No," Yoruichi monotonously responded. "As it is you shouldn't have much of a problem anyway as long as you stay in your human form you don't leak as much power as many of the creatures running around."
"About them," Rukia asked. "How powerful are they? I can only sense rare spikes and even those seem to be nearby."
"It's hard to judge," Yoruichi admitted turning to her. "The most likely reason is that you can only sense them when they use some sort of ability. As far as I can tell three have been jumping around soon after we arrived. They haven't paid any of us any attention as far as I can tell. I would say two of them are at least at the level of Lieutenants while the third is about as powerful as an upper seated member. Although something seems to be off. I can tell they have the spirit energy of Lieutenants and an upper seated member it's almost like they keep running into a sort of barrier preventing them from using the majority of their power."
"So kind of like our limiters." Rukia compared.
"Similar," Yoruichi admitted. "But the question is what are they and why do they exist. Ours are meant to not cause undue influence in this world. They should not have such things since they are from this world."
"We'll find out." Ichigo vowed. "But in the meantime we have to find some place to live. Any suggestions Yoruichi?"
"I would suggest you go north. Uryū went east meaning he will probably find a place in that area. Ideally I want us placed in the cardinal directions. That way if we need a base of operations in a particular part of the city we can always visit the other's building. I think I'll take the south."
"We'll take the west then." Rukia stated moving away.
"We'll get right on it." Chad said starting to move north.
"Good luck guys," Ichigo said waving nonchalantly over his shoulder.
Soon the crowd swallowed all trace of their friends. Ichigo and Chad walked in silence as they maneuvered through the crowd. The buildings seemed to blur together as they made their way north.
"Hey Ichigo," Chad said breaking the silence. "I'm a little hungry. Care to stop at a vendor and get some Yakitori?" The mention of the skewered grilled chicken caused Ichigo's stomach to growl.
"No problem," Ichigo said breaking his traditional scowl with a brief grin. "I need some food too."
A quick stop later had the duo walking away with two sticks of grilled chicken. Ichigo began to gnaw at a piece on the end. The juices flowed into his mouth causing his stomach to rumble with appreciation. Overall he had been on worse missions, especially where Urahara was concerned. He wasn't paying attention so when he noticed the crowd had disappeared he was faintly surprised but not overly concerned. He briefly glanced at Chad but he just shrugged in response. He didn't know what happened to the crowd either.
"Look out!" A female voice screamed above him. With reflexes honed by his father Ichigo leaped to one side. Chad was not so quick. At the sound of the voice he had turned toward it instead of jumping away. With a dull thudding noise a bosomy woman crashed into his chest. As soon as he felt the impact Chad instinctively clutched the woman to himself. Through it all he had somehow managed to hold onto his food. The woman wore a white gi with red string, a red skirt, brown boots that came up to mid-calf, and a red skirt.
"You okay?" Chad asked the woman. A faint blush crossing his face.
"I'm alright." She replied.
Ichigo stood nearby sputtering. "Zangetsu please tell me I'm not seeing things."
"No," His sword replied. "I see her too. If you took the time to notice two others are approaching fast."
"Damn it," Ichigo said aloud. "Chad two more incoming."
"Are they friends of yours?" The stoic man asked the woman in his arms.
"That's right!" The woman said suddenly hopping out of Chad's arms. "Musubi was fighting those two women."
"So your name is Musubi?" Chad asked to clarify.
"Yes," Musubi answered grinning. She grabbed onto Chad's shirt. "We have to run away now."
A ripping noise fill the air as Musubi tried to run off with Chad. His shirt ripped at the shoulder revealing his "Love and Death" tattoo. Ichigo sweat dropped as he saw Musubi run a block away before she noticed the lack of person in her hands. In just a few seconds she was back. This time pulling on Chad's arm. Chad just blinked at her.
"You're pretty strong." Chad complimented.
"Of course," Musubi responded as she stopped pulling for a moment. She gave a grin from ear to ear. "Musubi is a fist type Sekirei."
With those words Ichigo stiffened. 'That's one of the words Urahara said kept popping up.' He reached for his bag and tried to unzip it to get at his badge. With a grunt he realized the zipper was stuck. He pulled harder. The bag refused to open.
Suddenly two woman in S&M clothing appeared crashing to the ground each had long dark hair. The only noticeable difference was a slight difference in bust size and the color of their suits. 'Shit too late.' With that thought he took a step next to Chad, dropping his bag nearby.
"Put the girl down." The one purple commanded.
"This doesn't concern either of you." The one in dark blue said.
"This concerned us when you started to threaten this girl." Ichigo said limbering his muscles up.
Musubi stepped in front of the pair spreading her arms.
"You will not fight them." Musubi commanded. Ichigo wasn't sure if she meant that for them or for the girls. "I will fight them. You two run away."
Before Ichigo could respond Chad had placed a hand on Musubi's shoulder and gave her a rare smile before saying, "Thanks for trying to protect us, but Ichigo and I can handle these two. You just stand back and watch."
Before she could object Chad had bodily picked her up and placed her behind himself. A prominent blush seemed to seep across Musubi's nose.
"Don't think we'll be so easy." The two women said as one. A bolt of lightning flashed from one of them toward Chad's feet. The impact left a small crater foot (0.3048 meters) in diameter.
"Brazo Derecho del Gigante" Chad shouted. His right arm suddenly appeared coated in a liquid that solidified into a black and red arm.
The girls hesitated at the site of the arm, but shook themselves out of their astonishment.
"What are you?" The one in dark blue asked.
"Human," Chad replied simply.
"That's impossible but regardless you aren't getting in the way." The purple one responded.
The lightning seemed to dance around the two as they charged their attack. Chad began to charge an attack in his arm. The spirit energy in the area grew denser with each passing second. Chad was the first one done charging.
"EL DIRECTO!" Chad shouted firing a blast at the feet of the two girls. Both jumped back trying to dodge the incoming projectile. Unfortunately they were caught in the shock wave and were sent through a wall of a nearby building.
"That was so COOL!" Ichigo heard Musubi shout behind him. "What was that? What are you? Can you use that some more? Do you have any other powers? Are you a Sekirei?" With each word out of her mouth Musubi was poking and prodding at another part of his body.
"I'm a human." Was all Chad deemed fit to respond. A worried frown crossed his face. He squatted down to be at eye level. "Are you feeling okay? Your hands feel kind of warm."
"I do feel a little hot." Musubi said faintly. What Ichigo had thought was a blush seemed to be spreading. Her entire face was beat red. Now that he was looking Chad's seemed to be getting flushed as well.
"Hey are you two alright?" Ichigo asked taking a step forward.
"Shit," Ichigo heard on of the girls say from the hole in the building. "She's reacting."
Before Ichigo or either of the girls in the building could move Musubi did. She leaned forward and met Chad's lips with hers. Suddenly a bright light burst out from the pair. Squinting Ichigo could make out a set of wings sprouting from Musubi's back.
As the light faded he heard Musubi's voice saying, "Fist of my contract! Break the unhappiness of my Ashikabi."
'There is another word, Ashikabi.' Ichigo thought as his face turned bright red.
"Damn it," The girl in purple said. "Well she doesn't concern us now."
"What do you mean?" Musubi asked question marks appearing above her head. "Musubi is ready to fight now."
"We only go after those that aren't Winged." The one in dark blue responded turning to leave. "It's better for them to be defeated before they are forcibly Winged."
"Wait," Ichigo asked stepping toward them. "What is Winging?"
"The director will get in contact with you soon to explain it to him." The one in dark blue responded.
"You will probably disappear." The one in purple stated. "He doesn't want civilians knowing what's going on."
Before Ichigo could ask any more questions the pair jumped up to a nearby roof and disappeared.
"Musubi," Chad asked quietly. "What just happened?"
"Oh," Musubi said turning back to Chad. "You became Musubi's Ashikabi."
"What is an Ashikabi though?" Chad prodded.
"An Ashikabi is someone who is very important to a Sekirei." Musubi supplied helpfully.
"What's a Sekirei?" Ichigo asked.
"Ichigo right?" Musubi questioned.
"Yeah I'm Ichigo." Came his response.
"Sekirei are special beings that can use fantastic powers." Musubi said a wide grin on her face. "We all went out to look for the important person who would become our Ashikabi just recently. Those two must have found theirs pretty quickly after they left and I found mine."
"How did Chad become an Ashikabi?" Ichigo asked. "Was it the kiss?"
"Yes it was." Musubi stated nodding vigorously. "When an Ashikabi exchanges DNA with the Sekirei they are winged."
"What does a Sekirei do?" Chad asked.
"A Sekirei fights other Sekirei with their Ashikabi until only one Sekirei remains." Musubi said stars appearing in her eyes. "Then they get to ascend to heaven with their Ashikabi."
Ichigo felt a chill creep up his spine. That sounded suspiciously like what Aizen was trying to do and it didn't sit well in the Substitute Shinigami's mind.
"What does that entail?" Chad asked. His voice had taken on a wary tone. It didn't sit right with him either.
"Musubi doesn't know." Musubi said shrugging her shoulders. She looked at Chad weirdly. "The Director should have called by now to explain all this. Weird."
"Who's the Director?" Ichigo asked.
"He's the Director of course." Musubi said smiling.
Ichigo felt a sweat drop form on the back of his head.
"Anyway Chad," Ichigo said turning to his friend. "We need to find a place to live while we're here and since Musubi seems to be sticking around it'll be for three."
"Right," Chad said straightening up to his full height. "Let's go."
"So that's the name of Musubi's Ashikabi." Musubi said walking next to Chad. "Musubi was wondering what it was. Chad is a nice name."
Both Ichigo and Chad sweat dropped. 'She didn't even know his name and she kissed him.'
After recovering the group continued to walk. As they walked Ichigo kept glancing at Musubi.
"I think she can be trusted," Zangetsu said speaking up. "When she spoke I didn't detect any trace of deceit in her."
"Thanks Zangetsu," Ichigo told his constant companion. "That doesn't mean I should let my guard down though."
"I said I think she can be trusted," Zangetsu responded. "Not hand her a knife and ask her to guard you while you sleep."
"Point taken," Ichigo responded.
"Hey Ichigo," Chad said stopping by a nearby fence post. On it was a poster for an inn. "I think we should try this place out."
"As good a place to start as any." Ichigo shrugged grabbing the poster off the fence.
As they walked Ichigo suddenly felt familiar spirit pressure wash over him. 'Kenpachi,' Ichigo thought as he turned to look north. It was far away but it still made Ichigo nervous. He caught Chad looking as well. He shrugged in response to Ichigo's unasked question. They continued on the way to the inn.
It took them about five minutes to arrive. In appearance it seemed older but yet quaint. It stood three stories tall and looked like it would be completely at home in Seireitei.
The three walked up to the door and knocked. They waited for a brief moment before a woman of about average height opened the door. She had long silky purple hair.
"Why hello there," She said in a sweet voice. "Can I help you fine people?"
"Yeah," Ichigo said speaking up. 'Can that be her real hair color?'
"Why yes it is." The woman responded sweetly. "Is that your real hair color?"
Ichigo felt his face flush. He hadn't known he asked that out loud. He handed her the poster they had grabbed. "What I meant to say was that we saw your add out on the street and we were wondering if you still had any rooms available."
"Yes of course," The lady said smiling. "My late husband made it a point to never turn anybody away. The rent is 50,000 yen per month per room. The only payment I do not except are MBI cards."
"That's fine neither of us has one," Chad said speaking up as he pulled out a blue credit card. The woman blinked. A look of surprise flashing across her face Ichigo was questioning if he ever saw it. "I'll take a single room for myself and Musubi."
Ichigo dug into his back pocket and took out a simple black credit card. "I'll take one for myself."
"In that case let me welcome you both to Izumo Inn." The woman said smiling as she took the cards. "My name is Miya Asama. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Ichigo." Ichigo said and just as he said it he felt Kenpachi's spirit pressure drop slowly faded from his ability to sense it. He hadn't died. He was just done fighting. Ichigo groaned. 'I don't want to meet the person who was able to stop Kenpachi.'
North of Shinto Teito Five Minutes Earlier
"You aren't half bad." Kenpachi said grinning manically as blood dripped down his face. A shallow cut ran from his right temple to his jaw line. A blood dripped from deeper cuts on his arms and torso. His heart was beating fast from the excitement of battle. They stood about a mile away from any inhabited land.
"I was about to say the same thing." The woman opposite him said a similar grin etched onto her face. Rips in her black clothing concealed absolutely nothing. Her bountiful breasts bounced free of all constraint. Shallow cuts allowed rivets of blood to slowly make their way down her skin. Deep cuts on her arms and legs told the tale of the give and take battle between the two.
"Go get her Kenny!" Yachiru shouted gleefully from atop a nearby tree. Her short childlike appearance belayed her status as a Lieutenant. Her pink hair caught the light shining from the sun.
"I suppose I should fight you at my full power." Kenpachi said reaching for his eye patch. With a quick yank it was free. The power the eye patch had been absorbing was now free. The air around them grew heavier by the second. Something felt different from normal but Kenpachi chose to ignore it. "I know you've been holding back now is the time to unleash your whole power."
"Afraid I can't do that." The woman responded seemingly only slightly winded by the amount of his spiritual pressure. Her cheeks where a brilliant red. Kenpachi wasn't sure if it had something to do with the blood on her face or if the blood was simply rushing to her head. Either way he didn't care. "I have to find someone first."
"Well go find him so we can keep fighting!" Kenpachi demanded his grin growing wider. His heart beat was increasing. 'Strange I haven't cut her or been cut for a while. Why is my body acting so exited?' He dismissed the thought as it came to him.
"Think I might have found him." The woman said lowering her sword.
Kenpachi looked at her strangely. 'I know she loves fight as much as I do. So what gives?' He watched the sword warily waiting for a sneak attack.
"My name is Karasuba by the way." Karasuba said a smile on her lips.
"Kenpachi Zaraki." Kenpachi responded. Karasuba nodded.
With a flash of steel Karasuba's blade came spinning at Kenpachi end over end. 'That's fast.' Kenpachi barely had to knock it away before she collided with his body, but instead of a knife digging into his flesh as Kenpachi had expected he felt her lips brush his.
A flash of light blinded him. For some reason he felt his arms go leaden. He felt more than heard the blade crash to the ground near his feet. The soft feel of the woman's lips on his own was completely foreign to the Captain of the Eleventh Division. If he squinted he could make out black wings that seemed like they belonged on a dead or dying insect. They were beautiful.
He felt her pull away. The light began to dim around them. Her voice cut through the air, "This is the pledge of my blade, exterminate the sworn enemy of my Ashikabi!"
The air around the two was silent.
"Still feel like fighting?" Karasuba asked.
"Not now." Kenpachi said for once not feeling like fighting. "Perhaps tomorrow. Right now I need to rest."
"If you go to a hospital they have equipment that can heal you up in a few hours." Karasuba said.
"I don't think it'll work on me." Kenpachi said.
"My blade worked on you the hospital treatments might as well." Karasuba responded.
"I'll think on it." Kenpachi replied.
Karasuba slowly backed away from him and turned to leave before calling over her shoulder, "Same time tomorrow?"
Kenpachi grinned manically back as he replaced his eye patch. "You got it."
Karasuba slowly walked away. Silence filled the air.
"Kenny kissed a girl!" Yachiru exclaimed gleefully from in her tree.
"Be quiet," Kenpachi growled. "You were the one who led me to her."
"Yes," Yachiru exclaimed. "But I didn't know you were going to kiss her. Why did you let her get away?"
"Because I realized something," Kenpachi said grinning evilly. "If I kill all the strong opponents then they can't get any stronger. If I let them go they keep getting stronger and I get to have more fun. That's why when I fight Ichigo next it'll be even better than the first time. Maybe I'll take an arm as a souvenir from him."
"But wouldn't that make him weaker?" Yachiru asked jumping down onto his shoulders.
"I'm sure that clown in the Twelfth Division can make him a new arm." Kenpachi said his smile wide. "I know he's working on one for the Head Captain."
"Wow," Yachiru said in awe. "Kenny is getting smarter. It must be because that girl kissed Kenny."
"Be quiet," Kenpachi growled out. "Now which way to one of those hospital places. Karasuba will be in top shape tomorrow and I need to be able to match her."
"Kenny has a date!" Yachiru squealed. "I'm so happy for you Kenny."
"Just tell me which way to go." Kenpachi said.
"That way I think," Yachiru said pointing randomly.
"Hope you're right," Kenpachi muttered as he took a last look at the battle field. Everything was leveled withing the mile diameter. "Shame it didn't go on longer, but for a total time of ten minutes it wasn't to bad. Next time we can cause some real destruction." Just the thought made an evil grin cross his face. 'Next time it might just level the city, which would bring out Ichigo from wherever he was hiding. Yes next time they would have to rampage through the entire city.'
With those thoughts fresh in his mind Kenpachi left in the direction Yachiru was pointing.
Author's Note:
Over 6200 words without the author's notes not too bad if you ask me. Sorry there wasn't more humor in this chapter. It was hard to find a way to get everybody to the city and somewhat situated while still having humor. To all those that thought Ichigo would be the first to get a Sekirei that would be a no. It was big stoic Chad. In the Bleach fanfiction's I've personally read I don't hear much from Chad at all. He tends to get left behind a lot, so I am going to give him his chance to shine. Besides Musubi could learn more from Chad than the others in the group. As for that last scene I hope it turned out alright. I wrote it at 3:00 a.m. so I may not have been thinking clearly. As for that pairing it seemed like I could write some funny scenes with Kenpachi and Karasuba. Now to get on to other things. I have a few members of Soul Society that I want to get in on things just to make it interesting. They won't all be working together. Some like Kenpachi due to their natures will be more antagonistic than helpful. I may add a few new Sekirei in to accommodate the various characters. I may add in a few non-cannon abilities because using the same attacks over and over just gets repetitive, so please don't bite my head off for these little things. I also added a third floor to Izumo Inn. The reason for this is eventually the entire group will meet up again at the inn and two floors just won't cut it for housing. About the group splitting up. I have a reason for splitting them up. The major reason is to allow the various people to start acquiring Sekirei on their own before meeting up again. That said the only people I will confirm WILL be Ashikabi's are Uryū, Ichigo, Chad, and Kenpachi. There will be others just stay calm. Until next time this is John Hinde signing off. As always thanks for reading and please review.