Title: Shifting Oceans
Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Bleach
Characters: Ichigo, Sado, Ishida, Orihime, Keigo, Mizurio
Chapter: 3
Word Count: 1715
Warnings: nothing
Beta: ToxicAngel13 on AO3
AN: And I thought last week was a bad week. *whistles* Nope. This week was not good. Let's just say health issues was a thing and it meant that I was very busy. So I do hope you enjoy!
When everyone had arrived and took their seats in the living room, cups of tea and plates of snacks in hand, Ichigo sat next to Sado. He pulled out one of the tomes that he had made copies of, opening it up to a hand drawn picture before putting it on the table.
The woman was wearing a hakama and hakamashita, Ishida telling them that the hakama was a yoroi hakama, taking in the black plating and red spots. The rest of her outfit was a blend of black fabric with red dots on each shoulder, red along the hems, and the obi being black with smaller red spots.
A male figure stood next to her, clawed hands at the ready, his own outfit completely black with large cat ears perched on his head. His own obi trailed off behind him in a tail like formation.
They also noticed that they both had weapons. The male held a bo staff in one hand, obviously ready to defend or attack depending on what happened next. The woman though was wielding a metal disc that was on a long string, protective gloves with the red and black motif on her hands obviously there to protect her fingers.
Over their heads in neat script were the words 'Lady of Love' and 'Lord of Night' in an old formal form of the Japanese written language.
"I going to be heading to Paris. I was already thinking of going there for a school opportunity but now I have a mission from the Seireitei that requires me to go," Ichigo stated after a moment of them looking at the book. Everyone looked up from the picture, all with curious looks.
"Is it because of this? Who are they?" Ishida asked as he pointed to the picture. He spotted and pulled another book closer to him and scanning the words. "The Wielders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous? What is that?"
"Just what the books say," Ichigo stated. He reached out to flip to another page where there were drawings of various pieces of jewelry, all different but very obviously antique. "These are the exact pieces seeing as this drawing is only about four hundred years old, but they're all called Miraculouses. The small bits of power that are left behind by Reio-sama when They created things condensed into small creatures called Kwamis. They each embody an idea that came to fruation. A happening. Things like Creation and Destruction and Loyalty. I'm sure you can get the idea from there."
"So these beings, these Kwamis, what? Inhibit jewelry that can be worn by someone and their powers used?" Orihime asked, fingering her barrettes. Despite her ditzy outside personality, her friends all knew that she was borderline genius. They knew that her brain just worked different due to a mix of her power, her personality and the trauma of losing her brother the way that she had.
"Exactly. They're not like your Shun Shun Rikka, but something close to them," Ichigo said, smirking at his friends as he sat back. "There are confirmed wielders in Paris, France. They both seem on the young side and from the information known, I think that they don't know who they are behind the mask, which isn't good for them."
"Why would they need to know who their partner is behind the mask?" Miziuro asked. He took the papers that Ichigo handed over that held a basic run down of all of the information.
"Bonding and for power reasons mostly. They need to trust each other without a single doubt between them. This pair here? They were brother and sister outside of the mask," Ichigo said as he pointed to the picture. He sat back, crossing his legs with foot twitching. "If they don't have that trust, then their power can't find the proper balance between them to grow stronger. The wielder's souls, from what I can tell, are able to resonate with each other on another layer. Platonic, familial, romantic, it doesn't matter. They connect on a deeper level," he continued.
"So, they're soulmates of some kind," Keigo summarized, Ichigo nodding his head. The brown haired male pulled another book towards him and started to flip through it carefully. "The Shinigami and Quincy helped the defeat...whatever this is?" he asked, tapping at a cat like form that was snarling and trying to attack them.
"That was the original Black Cat of Destruction before the current one from what the books say," Ichigo said. "She's sealed away currently but so far no one can quite figure out how to best seal a Kwami away for good without throwing the balance so far off that the entire world would feel it. There is a Kwami of Destruction from what I understand, but this one went bad. Like really bad. Think Aizen times ten bad."
"End of the World kind of bad really. The new kwami accidentally destroyed the dinosaurs but there was almost a time that the world wouldn't have been around if she had been allowed to do whatever she wanted. Reio-sama was able to strip her of her power and sealed her away but she got out around it by the time that the second wielder of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous' had been chosen," Ichigo told them. He bit the inside of his lip. "As far as I know, the seal is still holding strong from the last time. But they do want me to head to Paris to help the new wielders and find the Guardian. Find out what happened in Tibet to the temple."
"Where does that leave us in all of this?" Tatsuki asked as she crossed her arms, Uryu tilting his head.
"Keeping Karakura safe while you work with the Seireitei as normal," Ichigo stated. "I'll be able to come back at the drop of a dime depending on when I'm called back. But I will need to be in Paris. It came from the Palace itself so it's big. I'm sure you guys will do fine."
"I'm going with him," Sado promised, everyone relaxing and Ichigo huffing at his friends.
"It's as if you don't trust me to keep myself safe," Ichigo complained. Uryu snorted.
"You attract danger like Orihime attracts perverts when she's wearing a tank top," Uryu snorted. Orihime reaching over to him and smacking him on the arm without missing a beat. "Of course we want you to have back up during a dangerous situation."
"I'm feeling the love," Ichigo grumped as he crossed his arms, scowling at his friends as they all laughed. Keigo was still working his way through the book so only snickered.
"So why are these new heroes out and about? Got any clue?" Keigo asked.
"The Chinese Box, where this set comes from, happens to be missing two of the Miraculouses. The Butterfly and the Peacock. From what we were able to find out, they went missing about hundred years ago and the Peacock was somehow damaged. Their enemy is using the Butterfly with the occasional use of the Peacock by a woman. They're known as Papillion and Mayura. Papillion creates things called Akumas , which are humans who are possessed by a butterfly that allows them to have powers based on their feelings. Mostly anger, pain, and emotional hurt at the time. From what I can tell, it can be any strong emotion really. Mayura creates Senti-Monsters, using a feather to animate an inanimate object and connect it to the Akuma," Ichigo told them. He tapped his nails on one arm. "I'm going to have to move there, watch for the heroes and then hopefully make contact with them when the time comes."
"So you're doing recon with connecting mission," Miziuro stated. Ichigo and Sado nodded their heads. "You will of course stay in contact with us yes?" he demanded.
Ichigo snorted and flicked a hand. "No shit, you idiot. Who else will I be able to talk clothing and history with?" he asked, teasingly sneering at the other male. "And complain about you talking about your women. I swear that your taste in them haven't changed in the least bit."
Mizuiro snorted and waved a hand. "We all know that I don't sleep with them. I'm just a sugar baby and now that I'm old enough to go out on their arms, I'm escorting them to their various functions. We all know that the only person I'm getting laid by is Keigo," he drawled. Keigo groaned as he blushed, shaking his head.
"Shut up," Keigo groaned as the group snickered at his embarrassment. Ichigo just shook his head with a soft smile. He loved his friends, no matter the fact that he had rarely showed it even now days. He had been so angry back before the war, still hurting even years after his mother's death, that he hadn't been able to. But now that Aizen had been defeated, he had calmed down and was learning how to show his softer side. And the fact that he cared deeply for his friends.
Now though, he felt as if he could sit and relax and enjoy his time with the friends that surrounded him, making him feel good about how life was looking.
"Now, we should come up with a plan on how we are going to handle things while Ichigo goes off to deal with this butterfly man," Uryu drawled. "And just how good is your French?" he asked.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "It's well enough that I don't have to worry about mistranslating something and can take classes without issue," he stated. Everyone smirked at his cousin as the other male scowled and flipped him the bird at that reminder. They both knew that when Kagami knew that she was moving to Paris that she had made sure that Ichigo had kept up the lessons that her father had taught him. He was learning Mandarin currently out of sheer boredom with their language classes.
"So that means Ichigo is covered. Sado-kun?" Orihime asked as she pulled out a notebook to write her notes down in. The group went over everything that they had to work out before Ichigo and Sado left to help stop a magical terrorist.