"Remind me, Why the hell am I down here?" Ichigo Kurosaki spoke as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It was two years after the Thousand Year Blood War, the death of Yhwach ending the war between the Soul Society and Quincy race. Lots of lives where taken in that god forsaken war, including the death of head captain of the Gotei 13, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. And his lieutenant, Chojiro Tadaoki Sasakibe.
After the events of the Blood War, Captain of squad 8, Shunsui Sakuranose Jiro Kyoraku, took the position of head captain with his lieutenants, Nanao Ise and Genshiro Okikiba, following him.
With his departure, Shunsui offered Ichigo the position of captain of Squad 8. However, the young adult respectfully declined the position in favor of going to school in the human realm. The position of Squad 8 captain was eventually given to ex-Visored, Lisa Yadomaru.
Now, The 24 year old Ichigo Kurosaki found himself in the underground training facility, courtesy of resident exiled captain and his annoyance, Kisuke Urahara.
"Oh, Lighten up my dear Ichigo! I needed your help with something!" Kisuke grinned underneath his fan, watching as a vein throbbed in the strawberries forehead.
"LIGHTEN UP MY ASS! YOU DRAGGED ME OUT OF MY APARTMENT AT THREE IN THE MORNING WEARING A DAMN SKI MASK! WHO THE HELL DOES THAT!?" The Strawberry screamed at the grinning Kisuke.
"That's not important. What IS important is that I actually need you for a little experiment I am conducting with Kurotsuchi." Urahara spoke as he walked deeper into the training field.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Wait a minute!" Ichigo ran up to the fleeing scientist. "What experiment? One, I don't remember agreeing to this! And two, why does it involve that nutcase!?" He all but practically screamed. Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the captain of squad 12 that Kisuke Urahara once led, was considered a "Mad Doctor" in the modern terms. While the man meant well, the things he would speak about made chills run up his spine, no matter how close the man was.
"Oh relax. Its perfectly harmless. Besides, you technically aren't doing anything. With Orihime finishing her final semester at University. Its good to get out the house once and a while, Ichigo. Can't have you watching House Hunters by yourself can we?" Kisuke grinned at the slightly red yet annoyed strawberry. It was true that Orihime was finishing her final semester Keio University in Minato city in order to get her degree in medical sciences.
With her ability, Shun Shun Rikka, she was able to reject or deny any sort of phenomena in various degrees. He couldn't deny the amount of times she was a life saver in their previous battles. It only made sense (and ironic) that both her and him went to school for medicine. He graduated last year with honors at Kyoto University. He remembered as if it were yesterday that his friends and family, Isshin Kurosaki, His two sisters Yuzu and Karin, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, Kenpachi (begrudgingly), Byakuya and his sister Rukia, Renji, and Nanao were in the audience congratulated him, only to have the old goat face Isshin tossed out by Kenpachi. After that day, He and Orihime agreed to try a relationship after she graduated from her university, that way they could have more time to be with one another.
The memory brought a genuine smile to Ichigo's face as he continued to walk down the rocky terrain with Urahara in silence. After the events of the Winter War and the Blood War, Karin and Yuzu learned the full extent of their families lineage. The manipulation of Sosuke Aizen, his run ins with the Espada and the fullbringers, Their mother's Quincy blood and their father's Shinigami powers. Even his cousins, Kukaku and Ganju, visited their father's clinic to complete their story. There was sadness, anger and pain in the air that day, Yuzu broke down crying after learning about her mother with Karin consoling her.
However, A week later, Ichigo noticed a change within his younger twin sisters. Yuzu would spend more time at his best friend and second cousin's house, Uryu Ishida and his girlfriend and ex sternritter, Kumiko Lehmann. Karin on the other hand, would disappear for days on end, with the only notice of her whereabouts coming from Rangiku, Nanao or Yoruichi. As the days passed by, he noticed more and more of their spiritual pressure increasing. It surprised him dearly that Uryu helped Yuzu bring out her Heilig Bogen and Karin unlocking her Shinigami powers, resulting in her chain of fate being destroyed.
She was taken to the Soul Society to further increase her training. According to Shunsui, as well as Lieutenant Momo Hinamori, Toshiro and Visored leader, Hiyori, Karin's growth rate was at a staggering level, similar to his own when he first started training to become a Soul Reaper. Already, she had learned the Shunpo, Shikai, as well as Bakudo and Kido Spells up to seventy five. All of which were learned in her first five months of training. Soi-Fon, Captain of the stealth force, began to teach her in the aspects of Hakudo for several weeks before the queen of Hueco Mondo, Tier Harribel, along with Hiyori, took her to the newly rebuilt Los Noches in order to train for her hollow.
After the Blood War, Shunsui and the captains opened the Gargantua to check their allies in Hueco Mondo. When They arrived, the found Tier, along with Nelliel, Grimmjow, and Coyote Starrk, defeated and near dead with the dark skinned arrancar chained. The devastation to Hueco Mondo was immense. The once large Los Noches was reduced to mere rubble after the sternritters and Yhwach took over. The rebuilding process was grueling, that with the mindless Gillian Hollows and Adjuchas hollows not under Tier's rule attacking the remaining Espada and Shinigami who helped in the rebuilding of the palace. After a long year and a half, Los Noches was fully restored with Tier Harribel taking over Hueco Mondo as Queen.
With the Dark Skinned Espada as queen, negotiations of peace soon followed between Tier and her Espada and Shunsui with the Gotei 13. While Central 46, the head rulers of Soul Society, rejecting such offers, they soon caved after learning the four hollows tried to defend against Yhwach and the Sternritters.
Eventually, they reached a conclusion. Grimmjow, Starrk, or Nel would have to inform both Tier and Shunsui if they were going to the human realm and accompanied by a captain and lieutenant. Furthermore, any hollow below a Vasto Lorde reported within the human world would be killed on sight, only the adjucha's that sided with Tier's rule with proof were exempt from such notion. If the Gotei 13 wished to enter Hueco Mondo, they would inform Tier, Grimmjow, Nel or Starrk at once.
Ichigo was soon brought out his thoughts when he and Kisuke walked pass a final rock, coming to a clearing where Tessai, ex-Kido corps captain, was busy typing commands on a laptop that was connected with a bunch of wires. However, what caught Ichigo's eye was the large contraption in the middle. It resembled a large, metal door frame with a metal frame that was at least 5 inches thick if he were to guess and nine feet tall. Below, it sat on a large, titanium metal plate that was twenty metres in diameter.
"Ah, glad to see you are still typing away." Kisuke spoke to the irate Tessai who let out a grumble.
"I don't see how you expect me to type in these coding. I was never that good in computers, Urahara." The man replied in an annoyed tone before pressing the f9 button.
"Details. Details. You are actually doing good." The man clad in green grinned before turning to the slack jawed Ichigo. "Well? What do you think of my recent invention?" The man grinned.
The Strawberry shook his head as if he were seeing double. However, the machine was still in front of him. "What... the hell is this Hat n Clogs?" He asked. Kisuke's grin turned shark like as he pointed his cane to the machine.
"After the Winter War, it took us a while to get the Gargantua back and working. However, it made me wonder if another situation arises where we need to get to Hueco Mondo or Soul Society and the Gargantua down. How do we get there quick? and my answer was simple..." Urahara turned and looked at the machine with pride and joy. "A teleportation device."
Ichigo waited a second as the words sunk into his very being before turning his gaze to the back of Kisuke's head. "How... how the hell is this possible?" He asked in surprise. He figured that things like Teleportation or time travel like this was only done in this hero movies that Yuzu liked to watch. To see a proclaimed "Teleportation" device in front of him shouldn't of surprised him at all with all the things he did in his life. However, this would be a technological marvel if it were mass produced.
"Took me a while to figure it out. But Mayuri and I managed to crack the code with some physics. You see, Earth, Hueco Mondo, and Soul Society are connected within the universe but act on different time frames. In Hueco Mondo, Time moves slower while on earth and Soul Society, they run parallel or slightly above. All of this achieved by one thing: Tachyons. They all shake at an increasingly fast rate but are at different points in time. That's why the time in Hueco Mondo runs slower than earth. So it got me and Mayuri thinking. What if he can disrupt the tachyon interference just long enough to rip a portal from one area to another. It took us weeks to do the math. Then we started on our first prototype with a walnut, then upped the ante with Rangiku and Byakuya going through, then with Grimmjow and we all had success. Now, we just need to test someone with Spiritual pressure far exceeding a captain. That is where you come in." Kisuke finished.
It took Ichigo a few moments to process everything that was spoken to him. The fact that Hat n Clog's along with Mayuri Kurostuchi developed this machine was nothing short of amazing. However, one detail stuck out to the substitute more than most.
"THAT'S WHY GRIMMJOW WAS HERE?!" Ichigo screamed to the distraught scientist.
"My my, don't need to get all upset Ichigo." Kisuke spoke sheepishly to the red faced, angered young adult.
"THE BASTARD PULLED ME OUT OF MY SHOWER TO FIGHT!" Ichigo screamed. He remembered the day when he came home from a lecture, tired both physically and mentally. When he went to clean himself off, the fight loving Espada barged through his bathroom door and tried to attack with a grin on his face. Ichigo was not pleased that day in the slightest.
He considered Grimmjow to be a close friend along with Nel and Tier. However, Grimmjow was like Kenpachi in certain aspects. Both of them love to fight. The only difference is, that Kenpachi would be considerate if you were unclothed or injured while Grimmjow didn't care in the slightest.
"I fixed your piping at least. It wasn't my fault you couldn't get hot water for a few weeks." Kisuke gave a shit eating grin to the visible enraged strawberry. Ichigo sighed, taking a few breaths before feeling his muscles relax.
"How does it work." Ichigo sighed out in defeat as he felt Kisuke wrap his left arm around the young adult.
"Simple. Just exit your human form and stand on the pedestal. When the machine turns on, you would be plucked from here and should end up at the other gate in the captains meeting area." Kisuke replied before lifting his cane and tapping Ichigo on the forehead. The strawberry felt a yanking sensation before skidding a few yards back, watching as his human body fell to the ground.
He looked down at himself, seeing the familiar black Shiakusho adoring his body. The weight of the Oken clothing around his neck, hands and waist accompanying his Shiakusho. On his back, sat a large black sword that took the form of a large Kyber Knife. The sword itself had no guard nor pommel, Only the large blade was connected to a long grip that was as long as his forearms. In the middle where the filler would be in the blade, was instead hollowed out, similar to Tier Harribel's Zanpakuto. On his waist, sat a smaller black blade that looked like a large trench knife. The knife was the size of his arm with an enclosed handle and a portion of the blade acting as a pommel.
These were Ichigo's Zanpakuto, Zangetsu.
"Oi King! Whats happening you fucking bastard!" The voice of his hollow rang throughout his mind followed by another.
"Hello again, Ichigo." An Elderly voice spoke after the hollow.
The strawberry grinned. After the Blood War, he hunkered down and focused on his studies rather than becoming the captain of Squad 8. Sure, there were times he went out for the night or two, doing his job excursing the random hollow and occasionally running into Ikakku or Starrk, Tier's right hand man. However, his focus was passing university before heading to medical school. To hear the voice of both Zangetsu and Old Man- Zangetsu brought a genuine grin to his face. 'Been a while, eh guys.' He replied in his head.
Zangetsu snorted in minor amusement while a warm feeling erupted from the blade, courtesy of the Old Man. "Yeah! What with your bitch ass getting a degree and shit! I missed our nights out! So what now eh? Who we fighting!?" Zangetsu shrieked eagerly. A sigh came from the Old man as Ichigo walked to the pedestal. While he could be sometimes annoying. He wouldn't replace his hollow and the old man for the world.
As he stepped into the middle of the pedestal, a slight breeze passing by his exposed chest as he looked back at Kisuke and Tessai. "You sure this will work Hat N Clogs?" Ichigo yelled over to the two men, one of which nodded.
"Of Course! See, Mayrui installed a spiritual pressure cap on all three machines. That way we don't accidently rip a hole into space. You should be instantly warped into the meeting room. Yoruichi should be already there with Karin." Kisuke replied as he walked over to a control panel that sat safely away from the machine where another computer sat with multiple wires connected that ran back to the machine.
Ichigo listened to the sounds of fingers typing away at the keyboard. He wondered how his little sister was doing with her training. He would see Yuzu more often whenever she was done training her quincy powers with Uryu. However, with Karin now permanently living with her boyfriend, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, in Soul Society, he only ever saw her when she visited or hunting for a hollow. He was hoping that her training was doing good, he wanted to see how both of his little sisters were coming along.
The machine began to rumble as if a stampede of bulls ran by, followed by a pale blue light began to form in the middle. "Okay! Get ready!" The voice of Kisuke shouted over the noise as it intensified with the noise. After a few moments, a bolt of electricity shot out and struck the ground with force, causing a small crack in the rock formation.
"Readings are steady! Okay go!" Kisuke shouted over the noise. Ichigo looked over the pale blue portal where an inky black spot sat in the middle. Taking a deep breath, Ichigo walked through and out of sight.
While he left, Kisuke looked over the screen and grinned. The readings were still stable. Ichigo should of landed in the meeting room by now. However, the grin was quickly replaced with that of alarm. The sounds of an alarm blared throughout the training space with the computer going haywire. Kisuke tilted his hat upwards and quickly read over the energy readings.
"ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! CAPACITY OVERFLOWING BY THREE HUNDRED PERCENT. RECASFDA RFEARFSDADFA123123123 21342314 31" The sound of the computer's AI glitched in several frequencies with the screen.
"KISUKE SHUT IT DOWN!" Tessai screamed as the teleportation device began to break apart. Streaks of blue electricity shot out the portal, cracking and destroying the rocky terrain. The sounds of metal caving in on itself erupted as the titanium was either ripped out the sockets or simply disintegrating.
"ERROR! PLEASE!ACTIVATE PROTOCAL 1343 SDJ FNDAJJSND ASD..." The Laptop glitched once more as the electricity grew in strength. Without options, Kisuke slammed his hand against the large kill switch. The portal suddenly shrank in on itself before erupting in a loud sonic boom, completely destroying the contraption. Outside, the city block was hit with a major power outage.
Slowly, Kisuke picked himself off the ground, coughing due to the dust that swept over his face. Staggering to his feet, he looked over to the ground and found his trusty hat laying next where he fell. Sighing, he slowly bent down and picked up his green and white hat, dusting it off before letting it rest on his head. He heard the sound of Tessai picking himself off the ground. The basement main lights were shut off from the explosion, the only light provided was the red emergency lights that gave enough light for the due to see the extent of the damage.
Where the teleporter once stood, was now an empty crater that reached seven feet into the ground. Charred rock littered the air with glass mixed in due to the electricity super heating the sand in the crevices. "Oh no..." Tessai whispered in horror as he to looked at the remains.
Looking around, Kisuke saw the upturned laptop, still operational. He quickly picked up the device and sat on the closest rock. "What went wrong... my calculations were perfect. The math was flawless when Rangiku, Byakuya and Grimmjow went through. The two were at Soul Society in under two seconds while Grimmjow arrived at Los Noches in ten seconds. So what could of went wron-... oh." Kisuke sheepishly said out loud.
Tessai noticed his long time friend grinning sheepishly, sweat running down his head profusely as he continued to stare at the laptop screen. "Urahara. What is it? What went wrong?" The dark skinned man asked the scientist. Kisuke flinched, scratching his cheek awkwardly before coughing into his hand.
"So... uh.. remember I left earlier to get Ichigo... and you told me to make sure everything was ready while you handled the power output?" Kisuke shook slightly, a smile painfully plastered on his face as Tessai nodded in confusion. "Well... I may of forgot to enable the Spiritual pressure capacitor." Kisuke replied.
Tessai pinched his nose in annoyance, his eyes closed tightly as he felt a migraine coming on. "You mean to tell me... that we accidentally ripped a hole in time and space, sending him an unknown area. All because you forgot to turn on one of, if not the most important things in the machine." Tessai grumbled to the sweating Kisuke who nodded. "You know he will kill you when he gets back." Tessai continued.
"Yeah.. I know..." Kisuke sighed out as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Well we best be off and tell Mayuri and Tier. See if we can figure out where Ichigo was sent to." Urahara replied before the duo. Tessai picked up the sleeping body of Ichigo's human body and walked out the area with Kisuke and towards the ladder that went up to the shop. All with Kisuke thinking about the resident substitute Shinigami.
'I'm gonna find you, Ichigo. Just hold on. And when we do find you, please don't kill me.' Kisuke thought as he and Tessai went up the ladder and out of sight.
Ichigo knew something was wrong the moment he opened his eyes. Instead of being in the captains meeting room, surrounded by Yoruichi, Shunsui and Karin, what he found in front of him was a swirling mixture of colors as if he were inside a rainbow. He couldn't feel any type of hard floor beneath his feet or anything around him. It felt like he was shifting through an endless void of space.
He felt something tug at his skin, almost as if it were trying to rip his entire being apart. However, due to the Oken clothing and his Spiritual Pressure, the effect felt more like someone was trying to put a needle through every part of his body. Looking around, he kept seeing more of the same color as before.
"Alright, What the hell is going on?" Ichigo asked out loud to no one in particular. He heard his voice echo out around him, as if he spoke in an empty room.
"Couldn't tell ya king! Never saw this shit in my life!" Zangetsu replied to its host. Ichigo was about to reply until he felt another pulling sensation around his body, his stomach dropped as if he were on a roller coaster as a pale blue light flooded his vision.
It took a few minutes for the light to go away, however, Ichigo let out an "Ooof" as his back collided with a hard surface. When the light faded away, Ichigo was greeted to the blue sky he was familiar with. Groaning from the drop, Ichigo slowly sat up and dusted himself off before standing up completely.
"I'm gonna kill Hat n Clogs when I get back.." He growled in annoyance. He should of known this crazy experiment he and the nutjob Mayuri would of gone south at some point. Let out one last growl, Ichigo looked around and noticed something, he was in a forest. The sounds of water rushing through a stream greeted his ears as critters ran around his feet. "I am either in the Rukongai district or I was dropped somewhere in Karakura town." Ichigo whispered to himself as he continued to look around his surroundings.
"I don't know about that King! Something Ain't right with this! I can't sense those humans you like!" Zangetsu pointed out. Ichigo frowned in confusion, While Tatsuki, Chad, and Keigo left Karakura to study in Tokyo and for Chad to go to America to train for Boxing, Uryu and Kumiko were still in the city, Zangetsu should of sensed their Reiatsu instantly. Hell, he should of sensed Don Kanoji as well.
Closing his eyes, Ichigo focused and spread his Reiatsu around him, frowning as more signatures pinged back to him. They all felt... wrong. They didn't feel like a human, hollow, Quincy or Shinigami. It was easy to distinguish the make up of ones soul if the user focused hard enough. Shinigami's spiritual pressure reeked of death and were black in nature, the same could be said for Tier and the Espada. Hollow's felt wild and yet, devoid of anything emotion. Quincies felt electric and humans felt white and pure. However, the pings he received felt wrong on every account. They felt pure, but at the same sense, Didn't.
"What the hell?" Ichigo whispered as he slowly opened his eyes, his body tightening and becoming guarded as he looked around his surroundings.
"I suggest we look around the area, Ichigo. We must see what happened after we went through the portal." Old Man Zangetsu spoke in his mind as Ichigo continued to look around his surroundings. Looking to his left where he felt the most Reiatsu signatures, Ichigo vanished by using Shunpo. He arrived at a cliff and what greeted him shocked him. Down below, was a city that was completely foreign to him. The streets were littered with both cars and wagons, people walking by greeting each other with smiles. However, what caught Ichigo's attention was the billboards and the people who were literally flying in the sky with either bat like wings or black wings erupting from the lower back.
"Oi King! Who's that Hottie on the billboard!? She has a nice pair of tits on her don't you agree? She could be up there with that Ice brat's lieutenant! Or that babe who leads those healers! She even dresses like those magical girls!" Zangetsu roared with glee as Ichigo looked at the advertisements on the large buildings. Ignoring his hollows perverseness, there was indeed an ad displaying a dark haired girl doing a rather lewd pose. "The hell?" Ichigo mumbled. '
Did Kisuke's teleporter drop me somewhere in an unknown area in the Rukongai? No... that Can't be right. I never seen any of this in Soul Society. Central 46 or Shunsui and the Gotei 13 would of known of flying people or that weird ad.' He thought to himself as he continued to look around the city.
"We Have company, Ichigo." Old Man Zangetsu spoke as seven reiatsu signatures seemingly poofed into existence behind him. The strawberry turned around and was greeted with several people holding spears and swords to him, all wearing the same silver armor with their dark wings erupting from their back and a green, sigil like tattoo on the middle of their breastplate.
"HALT!" One yelled in a male voice as one stepped forward. "Who are you and what are you doing up here!" The man in the armor yelled at Ichigo, his hand resting on the pommel and grip of his broad sword, ready for action.
"King! These ones give off the same reading! They are slightly stronger than the ones in the city!" Zangetsu spoke in a hiss. Ichigo mentally nodded as he carefully looked over the group in front of him. Reading their spiritual pressure level, he would of guess they were somewhere between a 3rd seated officer and a lieutenant class Shinigami. However, what made him guarded was how alert they were. If he had to guess, they didn't recognize him or the Shihakusho of the Gotei 13. Only furthering his theory that he was somewhere completely unknown.
"I suggest we play it safe, Ichigo. We are in un charted territory and these men are alert as is. Only give them what is necessary. " Old Man Zangetsu offered to the substitute who mentally nodded before turning back to the group.
"I am Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki. I apologize. But if you point me back to Karakura town in earth, I will be on my way." The strawberry offered as he raised his hands slightly to ease the tension. The group of knights looked towards one another in confusion. Murmuring between themselves, the lead one turned back to Ichigo, his metal faceplate gleaming off the sunlight as the man presumably looked into his eyes.
"I have no knowledge of this 'Karakura Town'. I will ask this once more. What are you doing up here!" The man yelled in a snide like tone.
The response nearly through Ichigo for a loop. He didn't know about Karakura town? That should be impossible. Karakura town is known for a paranormal hotspot. Running thoughts through his head, Ichigo decided to test something, hoping and praying he was wrong.
"Okay, Look, I don't wanna fight okay. How about this? Report to Toshiro Hitsyugaya or Byakuya Kuchiki of my whereabouts. I'll wait here." He threw the names of both captains of Squad 10 and Squad 6. Surely, naming two captains was bound to get some recognition. Especially since his little sister was dating the captain of Squad 10.
Ichigo's hope was shamelessly tossed aside as the leader sneered. "I don't know this Byakuya Kuchiki or Toshiro Hitsyugaya. I warned you punk. Lets see if you wanna tell the truth after we beat it out of you." The man sneered as he drew his broadsword, followed by the others. Ichigo tensed as the leader dashed at him, faster than a normal human but no where near the lengths of a Shunpo.
Ichigo leaned back then tilted to the side, dodging the two strikes the man tried to hit him with before pulling out his trench knife. The man lunged forward with the blade gunning for his throat, however, Ichigo parried the strike and lashed out with a punch to the mans faceplate, severely denting the metal and making the man fall to the ground unconscious.
The Soul Reaper looked up and leaned his body to the right, watching as another broadsword that was aimed for his head pass by him. Grabbing the mans wrist, the Shinigami yanked downward, a loud snap occurring at the mans arm up to his elbow broke, making him scream in agony.
Capitalizing, Ichigo leaned back slightly and kicked the man in the chest, sending him flying into two more knights before they collided with a tree, leaving them there to groan in pain. He turned quickly as two of the knights made a break for it. He could of hunted them down. However, he made it clear he wasn't looking for a fight in the first place.
"These guys anit shit! That baldy could of gave us a better fight than these noobs!" Zangetsu sneered as Ichigo looked over the groaning men. Sighing, he slid his trench knife back into the side of his waist before looking back to the city. He really didn't want to be here if more of these men come back, it would give off the wrong message if he were seen around these people in pain with him not having a single scratch on him.
Letting out a sigh, Ichigo vanished in a shunpo.
He reappeared on top of a sky scraper, looking over the city several hundred feet in the air. 'Nothing is making any sense. First, I end up in that weird void, then I get suddenly thrown out of it and land in a forest near a city that I never even seen before. People are flying with bat wings or wings that look like angels but black. Streets are either littered with carts like the queen of England would ride in or a car that's predominantly found in America. An ad for a magical girl that I never heard of. Now, I learn that People never heard of Karakura town or even a captain... Just where the hell Am I?' Ichigo thought to himself as he continued to watch the people below him. He was surprised that those men could even see him in his Shinigami form. The fact they also didn't know two captains or Karakura town made the pit in his stomach grow.
"You know, when I heard my men tell me that something that reeked of death just suddenly appear in the forest, I was seriously considering giving all of them therapy. However, seeing what you did to my men there, I guess they were right after all." A voice came from behind him that made him slightly jump. He turned around and saw a man hovering above him with twelve of those black angel wings. He wore a burgundy suit with the first four buttons undone, showing off his well developed abs. His hair was midnight black and his bangs were dyed a dirty blonde.
"Yo King. Be on guard with this guy. He's up there with the captains." Zangetsu spoke in his mind as he read this persons reiatsu. The person was strong, stronger than the men he encountered in the forest. If he had to guess, this man was definitely in a captain class range. Ichigo tensed as the man descended to the rooftop at a reasonable distance away before is wings suddenly disappeared.
The man grinned as he looked over the tense Shinigami. "You can relax. If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't be talking to you first now would I?" The cheekily spoke to the Soul Reaper.
Ichigo didn't let his guard down in the slightest, his experience with Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Aizen and Yhwach kicking in. They loved to talk before a fight. While this man wasn't on par with them, he knew better than that. Seeing that his words had no effect, the man sighed before raising his arms out to surrender. "I'm telling the truth here. I don't wanna fight either. How about we trade names. I am Azazel, Governor of the Fallen angels." The man, Azazel spoke to the strawberry in a kind tone.
"The fuck is a fallen angel?" Zangetsu voiced its opinion in the back of Ichigo's mind. The Shinigami had to agree, he had no knowledge of Fallen Angels. Frowning, he looked back at Azazel and was about to speak until the Old Man spoke.
"I suggest we listen Ichigo. While this man may not pose a threat to us, We have no knowledge of where Kisuke's machine took us. It is wise to stick to the ground and gather information of where we reside. After all, he is telling the truth. His reiatsu has no sign of ill will." The Old man continued. Eyebrow raised, Ichigo reached out and read Azazel's reiatsu an sure enough, the man had no ill will, he just wanted to talk. Slightly relaxing but still on guard, Ichigo spoke.
"Ichigo Kurosaki. Where am I?" The Soul Reaper spoke to the smiling Azazel.
"You are currently in Lilith, Capital of the Underworld." The governor replied to the visibly confused Shinigami.
'Underworld? What does that mean? The only underworld I remember was hell when Yuzu was kidnapped. But this place... It doesn't have the negative affect that place did.' Ichigo thought to himself before looking at Azazel. "Underworld? Then where are the Kushanada?" Ichigo asked the man who then frowned in confusion.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand." Azazel Replied.
The pit in Ichigo's stomach grew tenfold as those words sunk in. His eyes growing wide and his skin going pale. Seeing the troubled look, Azazel took a few steps forward. "Look, why not come to my office? We can talk about this more in depth." He commented. Ichigo's guard went up again before registering the word Azazel spoke. As much as he didn't want to, he needed answers on where he was. The fact that Azazel's Reiatsu still had no ill will made him nod.
"Good, now hold on." Azazel grinned as he snapped his fingers, a bright purple sigil appearing underneath his feet before he felt a massive increase in nausea. Before his eyes, the open air was replaced with a large office in a skyscraper overlooking the same city. The floor was covered in a blue carpet, on his right sat three Italian leather couches in a "U" Shape with a mahogany coffee table in the middle. At the back of a room, sat a large desk with an expensive leather chair sitting behind it. In front of the desk, sat two leather office single couches that looked towards the desk.
"How much you wanna bet he's small in the important places. I mean who the hell buys all this shit!? Theres a freaking 24k gold egg on the coffee table. WHO BUYS THAT!" Zangetsu laughed in the back of his mind. Ichigo ignored his zanpakuto and watched as Azazel sat down behind the desk, scooting himself in more as Ichigo stood in front.
"So, Tell me, Ichigo Kurosaki, Where do you come from?" Azazel asked the Soul Reaper who sighed.
"Karakura town." He replied as if were obvious. However, seeing the confusion on Azazel's face only made his skin crawl.
"I'm afraid I don't know a place called Karakura town." The governer replied.
Ichigo felt his anxiety boil, his palms sweaty as a trickle of sweat ran down his head. "What do you mean? It's home to Don Kanoji! That famous idiot who claims to exercise souls!" Ichigo shouted to the governor, all sense of calmness leaving his body as this was the second person to not know his hometown.
"I'm sorry but I never heard of Karakura town... How about this. Tell me everything you remember. Leave nothing out. Let's see if something happened." Azazel asked politely. Ichigo took a few deep breaths, feeling his nerves calm slightly before he looked back at the governor.
He then proceeded to tell him everything that happened. His experiment with Kisuke and Mayuri, the void he ended up in, the encounter with those knights before he arrived at the roof.
When he finished, Azazel's eyes were almost bulged out his sockets, sweat trickling down his head as he listened to every word the adult spoke. When Ichigo finished, Azazel let out the breath he didn't know he was holding before looking back at Ichigo.
"Tell me something. In the place you come from, Have you ever heard of devils? Angels? Fallen Angels? The Great War? You reek of a power that isn't human. " He sounded timid, almost as if he was begging him to confirm he heard of at least one of those things. However, The Shinigami raised an eyebrow in confusion as he shook his head.
"No, There was no such thing as devils, angels, or fallen angels. Only in the bible. And that feeling of death you feel, is my power of a Shinigami. That's what I am." Ichigo replied to the visibly pale and confused Azazel. The governor opened a drawer in his desk, taking out a glass as well as a bottle of alcohol. Quickly pouring himself a glass, Azazel drank it in one go as if he were a man depleted of water for days, not caring for the burning sensation as he looked back at Ichigo.
"Tell me something. Have you ever heard of the multiverse, Ichigo?" The man asked to the confused and pale adult.
That question alone raised so many questions in his head, all of them are ones he didn't like in the slightest. Steeling his nerves, he looked back into the eyes of Azazel.
"Yeah... I have." He trailed out, a knot forming in his stomach as Azazel took a deep breath.
"That void you were in... Is called the dimensional gap. The gap within the dimensions that separate worlds. Multiple earths, each one different from the last. That teleporter your friend, Kisuke, made must have ripped a hole through time and space which flung you in the gap and by luck, you happened to fall into our world. Instead of Shinigami, there are us devils, fallen angels and angels." Azazel replied.
Ichigo felt his heart stop from hearing those words. He knew something wasn't right the moment he landed here, with those knights not knowing Byakuya or Toshiro. However, hearing that Urahara's teleporter ripped open a hole in the fabric of space and time, flinging him from one earth to a completely different one shattered him.
He felt his throat dry, his knees weak as if it he were holding the worlds weight on his shoulders as he desperately looked back at Azazel. "Please! You need to send me back! I can't stay here!" Ichigo all but practically screamed at Azazel who sighed.
"Look, I can try to replicate the events the that brought you here. However, it won't be easy. I need to find a way to disperse the Tachyon interference the way Kisuke did long enough to send something that has both mine and your energy or power in it. When that thing lands back in your homeworld, it will give your friend more than enough data to lock on to OUR home world so you can go back. The problem with that is I don't know how long it would take on either of our ends. A day here could mean an hour back there. That is the safest route. The quick and dumb idea is that I send you to the dimensional gap and you wing it. You either land back into your homeworld or you land back somewhere else that has either greater technological marvels or they still use inkwells for writing." Azazel offered his ultimatum to the Soul Reaper.
"While you are here though. I can help you out with a place to stay, a job if you need it or whatever else you want. No matter which way you look at it, You are stuck here. All I ask is for you help me out on some jobs, that's it. and You get paid." The man continued to the Shinigami in front of him. Azazel reached out and offered his hand, a grin on his face as he looked into the eyes of Ichigo. "So what do you say? You in?"
Ichigo ran the thought and through his head. No matter what way he looked at it, he was stuck here. He didn't know if there was a Kido that could rip a hole back into the void. If he did, Then he would be a sitting duck in that place, floating around until he either landed back home or landed on a totally different earth not his own. He couldn't run away from this man and try his luck with someone else. Ichigo wasn't stupid to believe his was unbeatable. He knew that there is always someone out there that is stronger than you.
"Take it king. I'd rather not sit in this weird fucking place any more than you do. But we don't know where to even start to go back home. Its better to wait here and hope that Hat N Clogs gets the device or whatever the shit he sends and rips a portal for us back home." Zangetsu spoke to the Strawberry's mind, followed by Old Man Zangetsu.
"I agree. We need more information on this world if we are to survive long enough to get back. It is wise to wait instead of taking an unneeded risk." Old Man Zangetsu agreed with his hollow half. Ichigo ran the thoughts through his head before coming to an arrangement, he didn't want to admit it but Zangetsu was right. He shouldn't take a risk and try to find his way himself. Who knew how long it would take for him to replicate the machine Kisuke made. Coming to an agreement, Ichigo nodded and shook Azazel's hand.
"Fine. But I'm holding you to your word. And No killing, I don't kill unless I have to." He spoke as Azazel grinned.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't ask you such a deal. Some missions would be either protection, overseeing, escorting, emissary, stuff like that." Azazel replied as he walked around his desk and towards the front door.
"Besides, there's days I might need you to either come with me or watch over a group of devils for in me in the human world. Let me tell you, Those kids are something else. They have a lot of potential to be something once they are out of school. " That threw Ichigo for a loop. Quickly turning around and walking to catch up with the fallen angel leader, Ichigo spoke.
"Whoa. I refuse to go to some high school! I already graduated University!" He roared. His high school days were behind him. He had no need to go back to such a place or go to a university.
The sounds of laughter erupted from Azazel as he patted the Shinigami on his back. "Ha! As if I'd tell you to go to school. You are a grown man! At most I would ask you go to over see things while I'm not there or follow me there. That's it. There's no need for you to go back to school since you are leaving at some point." Azazel replied to the relaxed Shinigami.
"Now, Come on. Lets head down to the lab and get started of getting you back home." Azazel walked faster and pushed open the doors into the hallway with Ichigo following close behind. All the while a single thought passing through his head.
'I'm going home no matter what. And I when get back, I'm definitely strangling you Hat N Clogs!'
NEW story. Just trying to broaden my horizon a bit. Gonna make more later down the road with a whole bunch of other series and all the stuff. This is just an experiment too. Should I continue?
I haven't read Bleach in LONG time so If I messed something up I apologize.
This isn't a harem pairing. Ichigo is going to end up with Orihime like canon BUT also with another girl. Who? I literally have no clue. drop some ideas in the reviews I guess to help me get the ball rolling. It CAN'T be Rias, Akeno, or the gremory group because Ichigo is 24 here, already out of highschool and university. The ones i'm thinking about is Kuroka, Roygun Belphegor, or Seekveria (Aged a bit of course).
Lastly, This takes place in Volume 5 or High School DxdD BorN (Season 3).