Finally sat down and brainstormed much more about the story, and its direction I'm heading for. While I know updating quickly Isn't always the best of Ideas, I wanted to get this chapter out there for you guys to read.
The main problem I have is trying to balance out character interactions and level of detail I should explain in a scene, writing too much detail about what is happening, or writing too little detail. I'm trying my best to make a balance I'm comfortable with and I hope to Improve In time.
For now enjoy the chapter.
One Piece and Bleach belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 3
Porche made her way to the infirmary two floors below deck. She wasn't able to catch up with the pirates carrying the orange haired enigma, but the destination was the same, meaning there was no need to rush. But that didn't stop her from walking a little faster than usual.
She couldn't help it, she couldn't quite describe the feeling she had right now. But she felt that orange haired teen had more than just a few secrets that needed to be cracked open.
Arriving at the door she gently pushed it hoping not to catch any unsuspecting victims on the other side who might be in her way. Her eyes scanned the room looking for the doctor that had brought the teen here.
She spotted him disappearing into another door as she made to follow, nearly being knocked aside as more doctors on staff walked about. Nearly knocking another doctor over she apologized quickly earning herself a glare by said doctor.
Arriving at the door she opened it slowly to quickly step out of the way as the pirates who were carrying the teenager pushed themselves out of the door. This time they apologized quickly to almost knocking her over. She merely gestured that it wasn't a problem as the pirates nodded and made their way out of the infirmary.
She stepped inside to find the doctor from earlier holding a light to the teens eye, examining it closer. His brown orbs visible for the world to see.
"What's wrong with him doctor?" She asked. She couldn't for the life of her remember the doctor's name but hopefully that wouldn't be a problem. She could always catch it later.
The doctor in question let out a long exasperated sigh as he turned off the light in his hand to acknowledge Porche's presence.
"I just started the examination, if you could kindly sit down and wait for me to finish I can give you a full report." He said with a bit of venom in his voice that caught Porche off guard. Most of the crew members treated her with respect and love, the doctor must be a newer crew member.
Maybe I shouldn't bother him while he's working.
"S-sorry." She stuttered as she rigidly walked to the side of the room sitting herself down to wait for the doctor to finish his work.
"Thank you." The doctor said giving a small smile as he turned his handheld light back on and continued to examine the young teens eye.
A few minutes passed as the doctor went through a thorough examination of the teen, checking for any noticeable wounds on his body, lack of muscle response, possible bruising, the whole nine yards.
Porche sat patiently watching the doctor go through every possible test that could be done. Even when the doctor did at one point check under the teens pants for one of the test, she turned her head to give the man his privacy.
A few more minutes passed as the doctor walked over to his desk in the room picking up a pen and clipboard as he started writing away on the paper. Porche watched quietly as the man was very concentrated with what he was writing.
"Thank you for waiting Porche." The doctor said as Porche nodded standing up to walk over to the doctor.
"Any idea what's wrong with him?" Porche asked earning a curious stare from the doctor as he looked at unconscious teen.
"While he has no physical wounds on his body, he might be suffering from dehydration. Possible lack of Vitamin C, maybe starvation." He listed off getting nods of understanding from Porche. "His physique seems to be in top shape meaning starvation is highly unlikely, most likely collapsing from exhaustion or dehydration." The doctor listed off as he walked over to the wall hanging up the clipboard.
"His strange armor on his chest made it hard to give a more in depth examination, but I believe it wasn't too much of an issue." He continued.
"We will just have to wait for his body to recover on its own and wait for him to wake up." The doctor made his way to leave the room as his work was done. He would get a nurse to be in charge of the teen in the meantime. "Now may I ask what you will be doing here?" The doctor asked waiting for a no nonsense reply. Porche could only sweatdrop slightly, she never knew doctor's could be so serious.
"Well the Captain gave me permission to keep an eye on him." She trailed off trying to avoid eye contact with the doctor, hoping not to anger him anymore than she had previously.
The doctor let out another loud exasperated sigh as he scratched his head. "Well If the captain says so, stay as long as you like. Keep an eye on him please. If he wakes up make sure to give him lots of water and food to help recover his energy." He said earning a lazy salute and big grin from Porche. The doctor rolled his eyes at the antics and walked out of the room closing the door behind him, leaving only Porche and the teen in the room.
She turned her gaze to the teen. She could lightly hear his breathing. The gentle rise and fall of his chest the only visible sign of movement on his form.
Now that she was closer to the teen her gaze traveled to the odd armor he was adorned in. It looked more ceremonial than it was for actual protection. She was no expert in the field of body armor, but it was so foreign she couldn't help but wonder.
Her curiosity began to get the best of her.
She gently placed a finger on the X shaped body armor on his chest. It felt cool to the touch. It wasn't quite metal, it looked more like bone than any other material she had seen before.
She sighed to herself. She looked at his face seeing no reaction from the close proximity of the two. His face passive, looking more akin to a sleeping child than a grown teen.
What am I doing?
She removed her finger from the intricate body armor and spun around on her foot walking to a chair. She plopped down in the cushioned seat taking one of the many books on the stand next to her and started to read, the book she picked was a fairy tale story about a prince falling in love with a mermaid. She wasn't a big fan.
She promised the captain she would keep an eye on the teen, but not dying of boredom was another thing entirely.
The ticking of the a cuckoo clock on the wall by the door was the only sound in the room, other than the occasional turning of a page. Why there was a cuckoo clock in a patient's room was beyond her, hopefully it didn't have that silly bird that popped out of it every hour.
Minutes turned to hours as she silently read the book, the prince in the book had apparently eaten a devil fruit and was unable to see the mermaid he loved because she lived under the sea. The book was starting to get more interesting.
She occasionally checked on the teen by looking up to see if he showed any signs of awakening. But the teen only slept as she huffed and continued her book.
She looked up at the clock in the room and noticed that a few hours had passed since she sat down. She sighed looking one more time at the orange haired teen who was still asleep. Her stomach growled, realizing she hadn't eaten dinner yet. Closing her book and placing it back where she found it, she slowly made her way to the door, casting one final glance towards the teen.
Getting no visible reaction she opened the door closing it gently behind her as she made her way to the mess hall to get dinner. Hopefully her subject of curiosity wouldn't wake up while she was gone.
The door closed shut as the unmoving form of Ichigo continued to lay motionless. A orange orb peaked open as it stared at the door making sure the door was truly shut and no one else was in the room.
A minute passed as nothing happened. No one new entered through the door as Ichigo gazed around the room without moving a muscle in his body. Letting out a sigh of relief he finally relaxed his body as he sat up. He had woken up an hour ago and was lucky enough he didn't make too much noise when he awoke, hurray for his dumb luck.
When realized that he had woken up somewhere foreign than the raft he had previously woken up on he had peaked an eye around the room spotting the strangely dressed blue hair girl sitting on the side of the room reading a book. Her jumpsuit very odd with her bra visible for the world to see. Ichigo tried his best to have no visible reaction. But he couldn't help the red dusting visible on his cheeks.
Not wanting to make a scene since he was under her watchful eye he continued to pretend to sleep. How he pulled that off until now was a mystery. Maybe she wasn't paying close attention to him.
He had no idea where the hell he was but he had a bad feeling in his stomach that wherever he had ended up was bad news. Call it a hunch but he always trusted his instincts.
He could tell he was on a bigger ship of some kind, again feeling the rise and fall sensation in my stomach he was quickly getting accustomed to.
He could feel his connection to Zangetsu coming from a room not too far away from where he was right now. Whoever these people were had most likely found him on the ocean and separated him from his Zanpakuto. While he wasn't too happy that Zangetsu was taken away from him momentarily, he was thankful for whoever these people on the boat were that they probably saved his life.
What surprised Ichigo the most was that he was saved from a possible waterlogged death in the ocean meaning that he could be seen. Wherever he was the people here could see his spirit form. Was he in another form of the afterlife? Would that mean there's a giant ocean in this world's heaven?
Like hell there is.
Gazing around the room in more detail now that his movements weren't so limited he couldn't help be feel that he possibly traveled back in time. Wooden walls and a tiled floor, the whole room just screamed 'OLD'. It almost reminded him of Soul Society.
Shaking his head he reached into his Haori feeling for the letter he received from Urahara, making sure it wasn't taken from him while he was napping.
Feeling the paper still tucked away he let out a sigh of relief, he wouldn't know what he would do if he lost it. The only thing he had left of his world other than the clothes on his back.
Noticing how parched his throat was he turned to the tableside noticing a pitcher of water. He said a silent thank you to whoever had left the water for him, gulping the pitcher of water down greedily.
The cool water disappeared completely down his throat as he set down the pitcher.
He looked down as his hand testing his grip. He hadn't recovered nearly as much Reiatsu as he thought he would have by now. Hopefully it would return in time. Now wasn't the time to think about that.
Ichigo swung his legs over the edge of the bed and was about to stand up before a sudden thought occurred to him.
What am I going to do now?
He had no idea where he was, or what he was going to do. He was thrown into this world with no knowledge of what was going on or what was happening.
Previous events of the fall of Soul Society still plagued his mind as his scowl etched itself onto his face.
Should I disappear now? Try Flash Stepping to land? No that would be stupid, I have no idea how far out I am in the ocean or where the closest body of land is. I don't even know if my Reiatsu would hold up for such a long trip.
He crossed his arms and he scrunched up his face in thought. Tilting around in circles trying to decide what to do. He aggressively scratched his head trying to come up with any ideas.
This wasn't like his bullheaded decisions where he could just storm into the situation and ask for answers.
His hands stopped assaulting his hair. A few moments passed as he let that settle in.
Couldn't I?
Even with his lack of Reiatsu at the moment he was more than confident he could defend himself. Maybe he could just knock some heads and get some answers, it always worked in the past.
Most of the time anyway.
"I should find out where the hell am I first." Ichigo said out loud before he placed a hand over his mouth closing it, cursing slightly. He had forgotten he was trying to keep a low profile. His gaze bored into the door waiting for anything to happen.
A few moments passed as Ichigo let out another sigh of relief.
I almost blew my cover damnit!
Getting up on his feet he tiptoed over to the door gently placing his ear against the frame. Listening for any voices that could be heard. Hearing nothing he gently pushed open the door hoping the damn thing wouldn't make any noise. A silent creaking sound came from the door causing that plan to crash and burn earning a scowl from said orange haired teen.
He peeked outside looking around the room not seeing anybody. He noticed a front desk of sorts in the room, most likely the front of the infirmary. There wasn't a soul in sight.
Was it late or something?
The clock in the room didn't catch his attention.
He contemplated leaving the room, what did he hope to accomplish by leaving? He could just stay in bed and wait for that blue haired girl to return. He stopped that train of thought when he had a strange feeling about this ship. He couldn't feel any signatures of Reiatsu, but something else foreign tickled his senses. How the hell people could see him without possessing any Reiatsu was beyond his knowledge.
He would figure out the details later.
Right now he had no idea what the layout of the ship was or who the hell was even on it.
The rumbling of his stomach surprised him as he quickly closed the door hoping no one heard him.
Damnit, why now.
He could only curse himself silently as he waited yet again to see if anymore heard him. Yoruichi would be laughing up at storm at his terrible sneaking skills, he could just imagine her teasing smirk at his own stupidity.
Moments passed as he let out another sigh or relief. No one came again. Either he had dumb luck, or he was unlucky.
Probably both.
Now that he thought about it, the last time he ate was when him and Renji stuffed their faces full of food at the Gaton Palace.
And that felt like an eternity ago. So much had happened since then.
Maybe he could get food without drawing too much attention to himself? Like hell that would work, he'd stick out with his full head of orange hair, and he was sure no one else was dressed like him either. Since he was asleep when he was rescued at sea, he didn't know if anyone would recognize his face.
His stomach growled again as he made up his mind.
To hell with it I'm starving!
He had no idea how long it would take for the blue haired girl to return and if she would return with food or not. While he wasn't under a watchful eye of any sorts, seeing as no one was guarding the room, they were probably underestimating his abilities.
With his new found goal in place he opened the door as he tiptoed as quietly as he could through the door closing it behind him.
He'd simply get food quickly and return back to his bed.
Just as the door clicked he turned around coming face to face with….something.
What the hell!?
Ichigo was dumbstruck by what he was looking at. It looked like a man with a fish head. The thing was tall, much taller than Ichigo himself as he had to crane his neck upwards just to see the top of the thing.
The fish man looked like a cross breed between a human and a shark. It even wore clothes! He was speechless, not even the Arrancars were this odd looking, even Grimmjow with his catlike features wasn't on this end of the spectrum.
The….thing in return stared back at the teen, both looking at each in mute shock. A few moments passed as neither one made any movement. The fish man seemed to notice what the orange haired teen was trying to accomplish, sneaking out of his room.
Ichigo felt his hand twitch as the thing opened up its mouth.
"Doctor he's awak-!" The fish man started to yell and was swiftly cut off by the panicked mindset of the orange haired teen. Against all normal logic Ichigo launched an uppercut as his fist crashed into the fish man's giant jaw sending him airborne momentarily before crashing onto the floor with a loud THUD falling into the world of unconsciousness.
A moment passed as Ichigo felt the sudden rush of adrenaline leave his body.
The fish man's eyes were comically rolled to the back of his head as his mouth hung open.
He stared at his fist and then the fish thing before his mind caught up with his body.
T-This is bad!
He didn't mean to knock out the creepy looking fish guy, but he was just so shocked at its appearance he felt like he wanted to hit it.
He was surprised the thing spoke, it caught him off guard.
He was so used to beating up punks that his first reaction was to punch the thing.
Ichigo looked around making sure no one heard him, quickly deciding to drag the body somewhere it couldn't be seen.
Ichigo gritted his teeth as he proceeded to drag the fish guy person.
This fish freak weighs a freaking ton!
Ichigo opened the door to his own room by awkwardly twisting the door handle with his foot and pushing the door open. Dragging the unconscious fish guy across the ground, with a grunt of effort he placed him on to the bed he was occupying recently.
Now that he was alone with the….fish guy, that's what he would call him, he now had a better look at him.
He had the head of a shark, his sharp teeth visible with his mouth hanging open, he wore human clothes, but the clothes were an off match of colors. He also had a strange mask across his face, the reason for that Ichigo was unsure. If Ichigo could best describe it, it looked like the shark guy was wearing clothes of pirates or something.
Ichigo's palm slammed into his face at the absurdity of the situation.
Great, now I've ended up on the ship of some kind of fish people group. Fish man pirates…..
He let out a groan of frustration, was this entire world some kind of aquatic world inhabited by fish people? Wait no, he had seen the girl who was watching over him earlier and she looked normal.
Maybe humans like himself were rare? Or maybe fish people lived in harmony with humans.
His stomach growled again as he he let out a grunt of dissatisfaction. Satisfying his stomach was the first priority. Everything else was secondary.
Hopefully the food wasn't too alien like and made specifically for fish people. He could only hope.
Casting one final look at the unconscious fish guy, he opened and closed the door as he made his way towards what looked like the door out of the infirmary.
He didn't catch exactly where the fish guy appeared from, but he'd take his chances.
I won't make any progress staying around here. And who knows how the other fish freaks will act since I beat up their buddy.
Now that wasn't a good thought. The first guy he met on the ship and he knocked him out cold.
As he reached for the door handle the door knob on the other side turned as Ichigo eyes widened. The door pushed open as Ichigo disappeared in a quick sloppy flash step.
The doctor who entered through the door curiously gazed around the infirmary. He was sure that a loud sound came from this room while he was busy elsewhere. He guessed someone must have fallen while trying to walk, but there was no one around.
His posture straightened as he realized his patient could have possibly gotten out of bed and collapsed onto the floor.
Wanting to waste no time he hurriedly walked to his patients room and swung the door open.
Instead of being greeted to the sight of spiky orange hair, another member of the crew had taken the orange haired teens place.
His mouth hung open in disbelief. The doctor was new to the crew and he didn't recognize who was on the bed.
He didn't get the wrong room did he? No, he was certain it was this room.
Was the orange haired teen moved without my permission by another doctor?
He looked to the wall spotting his clipboard from earlier, reaching out and grabbing it. Scanning it's contents quickly he confirmed this was the orange haired teens room, his notes on the clipboard confirming it from earlier.
He spun around on his foot as he made his way out of the room to get to the bottom of this small mystery.
Not before a fist crashed into his face sending him cartwheeling through the air crashing into the bed frame, entering the world of unconsciousness.
Ichigo looked at his outstretched fist as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.
I-I did it again!
He had hidden himself above the door, creating a small platform of Reiatsu to stand on as he watched doctor enter the room.
Praying silently that the doctor would either leave or enter another room, his hopes sank as he watched him open the door to the room he had awoken in.
Panicking slightly he dropped quietly on to the floor as he tiptoed to the door not making a sound. The doctor in turn spun around coming face to chest with the orange haired teen.
The slight widening of the eyes was the only outward reaction from the doctor before Ichigo punched the man straight in the face.
He couldn't help himself, he had no way of explaining the new occupant of his bed. A quick takedown was necessary.
Now that Ichigo looked at the scene, the unconscious fish guy on the bed, the doctor sprawled across the floor, he certainly wasn't making friends by beating the crap out of the people who had saved his life.
Did I just knock out the doctor that was taking care of me?
Feeling slightly more guilty at the realization he picked up the doctor making sure nothing notable was broken, placing him upright on one of the chairs of the room, sending a wordless apology for knocking him out.
Do I plan on knocking out everybody on this damn ship!?
Ichigo couldn't help but think, this whole situation being foreign to him. He had in the past woken up after combat to foreign situations surrounding him, but this certainly took the prize as the most absurd.
I should leave.
He'd try to explain it was in self defense if the blue haired lady returned to the scene and came to question him about it.
Leaving his room for what felt like the thousandth time today he finally left through the door the doctor came from. Peeking into the hallway seeing no one around he made his way deeper into the ship.
Porche smile beamed as she made her way back from the mess hall. The food was always the best on the ship, seeing as their Captain had acquired some of the best chefs on the Grand Line.
Her smile infectious as her crew members who passed her in the hall couldn't help but feel their moods lifted seeing one of the most loved crew members so happy.
Entering through the door into the infirmary she noticed how oddly quiet the place was. The doctors weren't bustling around and there wasn't a soul in sight.
Having a foreboding feeling she made her way to the orange haired teens room and slowly opened the door hoping not to wake the sleeping teen. With the door now open her jaw slightly fell seeing the orange haired teen was gone, and another crew member had taken his place. Her gaze travelled to the sleeping doctor leaning against the wall in the chair she was sitting in prior.
"What happened here?" She asked not getting a response. She didn't expect one seeing the situation up close. She walked over to the doctor and and shook him a few times, hoping to wake him.
Was the doctor sleeping on the job?
The thought was pushed aside as she noticed the visible bruising and slightly bloody nose on the face of the doctor. She could tell he was fine aside from the slightly warped face.
"Did that orange haired teen do this?" She whispered to herself. She didn't expect such a violent response from the teen when he woke up.
Maybe they spooked him when he woke up?
Self defense? It didn't matter, someone had hurt her crew mates and she wasn't about to let that slide. She gripped the baton on her back as a fire burned brightly in her eyes.
She would find that orange haired kid and give her a piece of her mind.
Ichigo was lost. He had been sneaking around the ship, using quick flash steps to not be seen by the crew. After seeing a few more members of the ship he watched them from the dark corners of the hallways. He concluded that most of the crew were human, the fish people were the rare ones.
His stomach growled again as a pirate who had a ridiculous hairstyle stopped in his tracks and turned towards the corner he had heard the strange sound come from. Seeing nothing he continued on his way. Ichigo let out another sigh as he stepped down from his placement on the ceiling.
Ichigo noted each person on the ship had the same strange mask on their face.
Watching the pirate disappear around the corner Ichigo scowl etched itself deeper on his brow. It seemed his sneaking skills weren't necessarily terrible, but certainly lacking a certain purple haired goddesses charm.
Peeking around another corner Ichigo spotted a big sign over top one of the rooms.
Mess hall
Ichigo sweatdropped slightly at the clear English written above the door. Was it so odd that another dimension just so happened to use English? Wait, he had clearly heard that fish guy from earlier speak Japanese before he knocked him out.
Just what kind of place is this!?
Ichigo was about to turn around the corner when he felt something hit the wooden wall next to him. He turned his head curiously seeing a rose embedded itself into the wall defying all logic.
Reaching out and freeing the rose, a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead slightly seeing the long needle on the opposite end.
Turning around trying to deduce where the rose came from he awkwardly twisted his body as four more roses tried to skewer him. Dodging them at the awkward angle, each rose embedded itself into the wall behind him.
"What the hell!" He yelled turning his head seeing the blue haired girl who he recognized was watching him while he was in bed walking towards him down the hall he had come from.
She held a strange pink baton in her hand. Now that he had a more clear look, she was skinny, very skinny, like impossibly skinny that Ichigo was a little worried about her health with how skinny her waist was.
She wore a jumpsuit with baggy pants, a jacket was tied around her waist. Her bra was visible with the zipper on his jumpsuit exposing her chest. She also had the same mask donned on her face. Ichigo guessed she was the one who threw the rose needles at him.
"You! What do you think your doing?!" He heard her yell as he groaned in irritation. This couldn't be good. Was she looking for a fight?
"I should ask you that! Are you trying to kill me!?" Ichigo retorted back. While he was certain these needles couldn't hurt him, it was still an annoyance at most.
"I went to go check up on you and all I found were my unconscious crew mates! You attacked them! After we had saved your life to a terrible fate at sea, you hurt the very people who saved you!" She stopped halfway down the hall and dramatically pointed a finger at Ichigo who sweatdropped slightly. Wait did the hallway lights go out? And why was there a spotlight on her form?
Ignoring the odd imagery Ichigo understood what she meant. They had taken him onboard the ship when they didn't have any reason to, they could have left him at sea.
"And your first instinct was to attack me!? Nevermind, I'm sorry alright! The fish guy surprised me when I was trying to leave the room." Ichigo tried to defend himself earning a blank stare from the blue haired girl.
"And the doctor?" She questioned, her baton still held in her hand ready to attack.
"A-after placing the fish guy on the bed, he walked in and surprised me as well." Ichigo trailed off feeling more and more guilty.
"Are you an idiot? Who knocks out people just because you got a little surprised?" She couldn't help but comment.
Such a violent personality. But he's not attacking me so he can't be that bad.
Ichigo relaxed his body crossing his arms in irritation.
"I'm not an idiot! I woke up and got out of bed to get some food, but the fish guy started to yell for some reason so I knocked him out." Ichigo retorted as he watched the blue haired lady stare at him questionably.
"You knocked him out because he was yelling?" She couldn't help but ask at the odd reasoning.
"Look I'm sorry alright." Ichigo tried again to convince her.
She strapped the baton she was holding to her back and walked over to orange haired teen.
Ichigo confused by her actions waited for her to act again.
"I'm Porche." She said with a wink placing her hands on her hips.
"Why are you introducing yourself after attacking me!" Ichigo yelled as he felt a headache coming.
Now that he thought about it, his friends in Soul Society, he had met them first by fighting them. They would later become close allies in the future. He guessed it wasn't that strange. By his standards at least.
Seeing the now named Porche impatiently tapping her foot she ignored Ichigo's previous retort, Ichigo hurriedly introduced himself as well.
"Ichigo Kurosaki. Sorry for knocking out your friends." He apologized scratching his cheek as he held out his other hand.
Porche reached out her hand as well and they both gave each other a firm handshake.
"Strange name." She said earning a scowl from the teenager.
"I could say the same thing to you." Ichigo replied.
Breaking off the handshake Ichigo noticed her smirk turn into a frown.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm angry at you for attacking my crew mates, but we took you into this crew because of the Captain's orders. I do believe you that you were 'surprised' when you woke up, but remember no one here is trying to hurt you." She stated making sure Ichigo was listening, he dumbly nodded following her words.
"The doctor said you might be exhausted but you look full of energy to me." Porche said walking past Ichigo earning a raised eyebrow in response.
"Captain?" Ichigo asked hoping to get a more in depth explanation.
"He's Foxy The Silver Fox!" She said dramatically hoping the teen would recognize the name of her captain.
Noticing no reaction from the teen she continued.
"He has a 24,000,000 Berri bounty." She pushed, but received no reaction, only a blank stare.
"Captain of the famous Sexy Foxy?" She half stated, half asked hoping for at least a tiny amount of recognition.
"What the hell kind of name is that?" Ichigo asked earning a look of defeat from Porche.
"So the Captain's fame hasn't reached far, he won't be too happy about that." She said to herself earning a scowl from Ichigo.
Ichigo felt something click in his head coming to a conclusion.
"You guys are pirates." He stated matter of factly, causing Porche to almost facefault.
"Did you just realize that!?" Porche yelled at the clueless teen.
"Sorry alright, I've never met pirates before." His scowl if possible etched itself deeper on his face.
"Never met pirates? Are you a Marine?" He certainly didn't look like a Marine, but everyone had their own style so it wasn't too far fetched.
"Marine? Like the Navy?" He asked confusing Porche.
"Do you have amnesia?" She asked causing Ichigo to frown.
"Like hell I do." He retorted, gaining a slight narrowing of the eyes from Porche.
"Well, do you know where you are?" She questioned further.
Ichigo titled his head at the question as his scowl lessened.
"On a ship?" He said matter of factly as Porche rolled her eyes.
"Not that, where we are right now in the world." She elaborated.
"The ocean?" Ichigo said as Porche palmed her face.
"You have no idea where you are, do you?" She said looking into the teens eyes as he avoided eye contact.
"I may be a bit lost." He admitted as Porche let out a long drawn out sigh.
What am I going to do with this idiot?
Maybe talking over a meal would be better, so she could figure out more about him. Nodding to herself she walked towards the mess hall.
"Where are you going?" Ichigo asked noticing she was leaving.
"The Captain told me to keep an eye on you, so that includes taking care of you as well. You're hungry right?" Porche concluded with a slight smirk.
Ichigo was about to retort saying he was fine, but stopped when his stomach conveniently made itself known by growling loudly. A blush worked its way onto his face as Porche giggled lightly.
"Come on, let's get you some dinner." She said walking into the mess hall as Ichigo grumbled following behind her.
Ichigo had a sudden thought that he could have stayed in his bed and avoided this whole drawn out nonsense.
That's the last time I ever do something so stupid.
Entering the mess hall Ichigo almost tripped on himself as he noticed how large the room was. There were multiple food stands each with different kinds of foods.
It looked more like a festival than a pirate ships cafeteria. It wasn't too crowded as it was past normal dinner hours, most pirates had gone to bed.
Following Porche towards one of the stands he received more than a few stares from the pirates he passed. His scowl hardened as he looked at the pirates who in turn turned back quickly to their own meals.
"What would you like to eat?" She asked as Ichigo turned and looked at the menu on the signs above the stand. The signs were in perfect english too. Ichigo finally felt his grades in english didn't go to waste.
He almost felt his jaw drop at the similarities of the foods, the food wasn't foreign at all! Hell he knew what everything on the menu was.
Noticing he was getting a strange stare by Porche he decided on his order.
"I'll take the pasta." Ichigo finally said. The chef in front of him didn't have any outstanding features expect for the comically large chef hat on top of his head.
"Coming right up!" The chef said as he worked his hands cracking a few eggs and getting his ingredients ready.
Ichigo losing interest in the preparation of the meal turned to Porche who was staring at him curiously.
"What is it?" Ichigo was taken a little off guard by the intense stare directed his way.
"I was just wondering about that armor." Porche said pointing at the intricate armor adorned across his chest.
Ichigo looked down completely forgetting about it, he was so used to his usual shinigami clothes and his special haori he wore whenever he went Bankai that it didn't cross his mind.
"What about it?" Ichigo looked up to Porche's face as she frowned.
"Why does it look like that?" She elaborated earning a questions gaze from Ichigo.
"It was a gift from some friends who helped me in the past." Ichigo said as the bittersweet memory surfaced. Porche noticing the look on Ichigo's face hoped she could change the direction of the conversation.
"I forgot to mention, we took your swords we found next to you when we hauled you onto the ship and the Captain had them placed in the Armory. I'll ask him later if you can have them." She finished the explanation with a smile.
"O-Ohh thank you." Ichigo stuttered, he didn't want to mention he knew exactly where his Zanpakuto's were and was planning to retrieve them himself later. He was glad he didn't have to explain how he found his Zanpakuto's on his own in a ship he was unfamiliar with. He would have no explanation for that.
A moment passed as the quiet humming and sounds of Ichigo's meal being prepared could be heard. Ichigo noticed he was still getting stares from the pirate crew, most likely taking interest in him as he was an oddity.
"Here you go! Pastas ready!" He heard the chef say. Turning around to the stand he noticed the large bowl of pasta with steam rising from it.
"Thank you. Do I have to pay for this?" Ichigo asked pointing to the bowl.
"Foods free on the ship." The chef started his explanation. "Aren't you the guy we found on the boat earlier today?" The chef asked with a raised eyebrow. While the chef didn't get a close look at the teen because he was so far behind the crowd, it was unmistakable to forget the teens most noticeable feature. His full head of orange hair.
"You just noticed now?" Ichigo retorted losing interest in the conversation as the chef shrugged his shoulders and went about to closing up his shop.
Ichigo followed Porche who directed him towards a table as they both sat down. He noticed that she didn't have anything to eat.
"Aren't you hungry?" He asked as she merely waved it off.
"I ate dinner earlier." She said.
"Ohh, so that's why you left the room." Ichigo said more to himself than her, but she overheard the sentence and narrowed her eyes on the teen.
"How would you know I was in your room? Unless, you were awake." She narrowed her eyes on Ichigo who wished he had just left his mouth shut.
"No offense, but I woke up earlier and I didn't know if I could trust you guys, so I continued to pretend to sleep after I noticed you were in the room." Ichigo said earning a nod of understanding from Porche.
"Than why are you trusting us now?" She asked as Ichigo turned towards her, she flinched slightly seeing the intense stare in his gaze.
"The same reason you stopped attacking me, a hunch. You guys don't seem like bad people. For a pirates at least." Ichigo said even though he had no idea what the standards were of Pirates in this world.
Porche couldn't help the smile that made its way on her face as Ichigo blushed slightly. To Ichigo, Porche wasn't as pretty as some of the women he had met in his adventures, but he couldn't help but blush at her smile.
"That's good, it will make it much easier if you trust us when you join the crew." She stated earning a questioning gaze from Ichigo.
"Who said I would be joining your crew?" Ichigo said earning a giggle from Porche confusing him further. Ichigo didn't recall any previous conversations about joining the pirate crew.
"You see, the Captain's got his eyes on you. Once he has his eyes on something he always gets what he wants. New crew members Included." She finished with a wink as Ichigo tried to understand what that meant exactly.
"What makes you think your Captain can make me join his crew?" He asked as Porche leaned back in her seat looking at the ceiling.
She was about to answer but noticed the teenager wasn't eating his food.
"You should eat that before it gets cold." She pointed to his bowl.
Ichigo blinked looking down at his food completely forgetting about it, and started to dig into his meal.
"And as for the Captain, he has his ways of getting new crew members." She said with a smirk.
"Sounds suspicious." Ichigo pointed out with a mouthful of noodles.
"You'll just have to wait and see, don't want to spoil the surprise." Her smirk still held firmly on her face.
"Now that's really suspicious." He said this time not taking his eyes off his food.
A few minutes passed as Porche stopped questioning Ichigo as he continued to eat his dinner, thankful for the peace and quiet. Now if only he didn't have the entire cafeteria staring at him he could relax more.
Porche yawned slightly as her eyes traveled to the front of the mess hall spotting a certain long nosed individual who just walked through the doors.
"Speaking of our Captain, here he comes." Porche pointed out as Ichigo followed her gaze as his eyes laid onto who he assumed was the captain.
He was about average height, shorter than Ichigo was himself. He wore yellow suspenders with his chest visible for the world to see. He had no shirt on, his most noticeable feature was his long nose and chin.
"Fueh Fueh Fueh! I see you're finally awake." The captain said earning a dumb nod from Ichigo.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
The captain in question striked a strange pose pointing his finger into the air.
"I am the great Foxy the Silver Fox! I always get what I want!" The now named Foxy exclaimed as Porche somehow ended up behind her captain also striking a dramatic pose. Ichigo felt his eye twitch slightly.
The other pirates who were still in the mess hall starting clapping at the introduction of their captain, even a few of them cheering.
"Now tell me your name!" Foxy demanded pointing dramatically at the teen. Ichigo blinked a few times just to make sure he was actually awake and not in some kind of weird fever dream.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Porche mentioned you a few times." Ichigo introduced himself with a slight bow. Foxy's grin grew as he looked at Porche.
"Did she now? Probably talking about how great the crew is! Fueh fueh fueh!" Foxy laughed as Ichigo couldn't help but cringe slightly at the odd laugh.
"Now tell me, will you be joining my crew?" Foxy said as a gleam in his eye that wasn't there a second ago that caught Ichigo's attention.
Ichigo, now that his meal was finished, stood up and bowed slightly to the Captain who stared curiously at the teen. Porche could only smirk and wait for the events that would unfold.
"I'm thankful for you saving my life, but I'm not pirate material." Ichigo said earning a hardy laugh from Foxy.
Ichigo knew he was a fighter, but if pirates in this universe were the same as they were in his universe, he definitely was not in any way a pirate.
"You forget that I always get what I want. Fueh Fueh Fueh Fueh!" He laughed.
"I'll make you join my crew." Foxys grin now could put the devil to shame.
Ichigo held his own challenging smirk as he crossed his arms.
"And just how do you plan to make me?" Ichigo said in a challenging tone. He was more than confident in himself he could take anything Foxy would throw his way.
Foxy couldn't help but laugh at the stubbornness of the orange haired teen. Even Porche couldn't help but giggle as well.
"With a game of Davy Back Fight of course!" Foxy exclaimed earning cheers from the pirates who were waiting for this moment.
Foxy gazed around at his crew, happy that everyone was in such in high spirits as he turned back to the teen. His grin faltered as he noticed Ichigo had his head titled slightly, confusion plain on his face.
"What the hell is that?"
A few of the pirates could only face fault at the response, they expected a cooler response. Porche stepped forward to explain.
"It's a game where two Captain's who agree to the terms fight each other by putting members of their crew on the line. With each battle the winning Captain gets to choose a member from the losing Captain's team for their own crew." Porche explained as Ichigo stared wide eyed at Foxy.
"What the hell kind of game is that!? And wait, a fight between two Captains? I'm not a Captain at all!" Ichigo denied as Foxy couldn't help but grin at his devious idea.
"Oooo but you are a Captain! You see we found you on a ship, since you were the only person on the boat, that would make you the captain!" Foxy could help but laugh at his own genius logic. There were no flaws with his reasoning.
Ichigo could only stare with his jaw dropped at the ridiculous statement. Even the pirates watching weren't following their Captain's logic.
"Like hell that makes me a Captain!" Ichigo's signature scowl made it's way on his face as he glared at Foxy. "I was alone on that raft, I have no crew members!" Ichigo tried to explain his logic to Foxy whose grin only expanded.
"Than it's simple, if you lose, you would join our crew. If I somehow would lose you'd be able to pick a crew member of your own for your ship. Unless, you are chicken and are running away from the fight?" Foxy taunted with a wide grin as Ichigo perked up to his words.
"I'd never run from a fight!" Ichigo exclaimed as he realized what he just said as Foxys grin if possible got even wider.
Hook, line, and sinker. Got him.
"Than it's settled, we'll have our fight tomorrow. Porche, please escort our soon to be crew mate back to his room." Foxy said earning a salute from Porche.
Ichigo palmed his face realizing he had been so easily duped into the fight. Not that he was afraid he would lose, he was more than confident, no matter what tricks Foxy had up his sleeve. It was more of a pain than anything.
Porche walked up to Ichigo with a clear smirk across her face.
"Didn't I say, he always gets what he wants." Porche finished with a giggle as Ichigo palmed his face again.
"You're enjoying watching me suffer, aren't you?" He pointed an accusing finger at her as she feigned shock.
"I wonder what gave it away." She trailed off innocently.
Ichigo let out a groan as he realized he'd have a fight tomorrow for his freedom. He couldn't help but smirk slightly as Porche watched his reaction.
There's no way in hell he'd lose.
Author's Notes
I'm happy with how this chapter came out. I was able to write down most of my idea's, come up with new ones, and express myself a bit more. Now I know my writing isn't perfect and I hope to get better but please leave any reviews with constructive criticism to help me figure out what I can do to write better.
I'm terrible at character interactions right now, and I feel Ichigo and Porches first meeting didn't feel like it had true feeling to it no matter how many times I rewrote the scene. Bear with it for now.
I do also feel my vocabulary is very limited, since I feel I use the same words over and over again.
If there's any spelling mistakes I didn't catch, please let me know.
Next chapter. Foxy vs Ichigo.
Until next time.