Chapter One: Chaldea
Hello everyone, I'm back with a new story for the Drabbles!
This is a crossover between Bleach and the Fate/Grand Order game that I was recently suggested to try by our fellow author, Quatermass, and let me tell you… it is sooo addicting!
In this story, I have it where Ichigo, our favorite strawberry-flavored substitute shinigami is kidnapped by the Chaldea Organization a month before he would have met Ginjo and subsequently regained his powers after an epic struggle. In here, he will be taking the place of Ritsuka Fujimaru as the Master for the Chaldea group in the Singularities, having been chosen through a blood testing program set up by the old fossil Rocco Belfaban, who you guys might remember from Fate/Apocrypha's beginning.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
I do not own anything from the Fate franchise nor do I own the Bleach franchise, though I do own a replica of Excalibur along with several figurines of our beloved Moedred and Bae Artoria… and I will soon have my hands on a rather hard to get figurine of Tamamo-chan!
2017 AD.
The last era in which Magecraft still existed.
Society was created by human hands, but Mages grasped the truth of the world. Magecraft is comprised of techniques from past humans that cannot be explained by science, while science encompasses the techniques of future humans that Magecraft cannot achieve.
Researchers and scholars of both Magecraft and science have been gathered to maintain human civilization.
AD. 1950: Successful creation of the Phenomenon Recording Cyber Daemon: Laplace
1990 AD: Completion of the Global Environment Model: Chaldeas
1999 AD: Completion of the Near-Future Observation Lens: Sheba
2004 AD: Completion of the Heroic Spirit Summoning System: Fate
2017 AD: Completion of the Spiritron Calculation Engine: Trismegistus
The organization has continued to churn out splendid achievements, and thanks to Chaldea, the continued history of the human race was ensured up to 100 years in the future.
But then, in 2017...
Without warning, the future domain recorded by Sheba vanished.
Calculations identified proved the extinction of humanity in 2019.
Why? How? Who? By what means?
The researchers of Chaldea were perplexed by these questions.
Then, Sheba detected a new abnormality.
2004 AD. A certain provincial town in Japan, named Fuyuki.
For the first time ever, a region that could not be observed appeared.
Assuming that this was the cause of humanity's extinction, Chaldea carried out its sixth experiment, though it was still untested.
Time travel into the past.
A forbidden ceremony where they would convert Mages into Spiritrons and send them back in time. By intervening in events, they would locate, identify, and destroy the space-time Singularities.
They called the mission the Quest for the Holy Grail: Grand Order.
This is the title for those who would make a stand against human history, and battle fate in order to protect humanity.
Karakura Town, Soul Society
"Kurosaki-san."
Ichigo blinked at the call of his name before he turned to look over his shoulder at the worn and beaten up Kisuke Urahara, the man that had just sealed away the nemesis of Soul Society, Sousuke Aizen.
"Urahara-san… Where is everyone?" Ichigo asked as he looked around, ignoring the winter's chill on his bare pectoral and arm, looking around for his father and the bombshell of the Tenth Squad, followed by his friends that Aizen had been about to kill when he arrived.
"They went back," the owner of the Gotei's HQ in the living world said as he rubbed his bruised cheek. "They seemed like they wished to talk with you… but it seemed to be equally difficult for them to approach you."
"You didn't erase-!"
"…No." Kisuke said with a calm shake of his head. "I didn't tamper with them this time."
Ichigo's frown became a small smile, before it transformed into a grin, "I see, I'm glad to hear that. I'm tired of hiding things from them, so when I get back I'll tell them everything."
"The holder I created for Aizen's seal has already been carted off to the Seireitei," Kisuke said after giving a small smile to the fifteen year old hero's gratitude. "I'm sure the Central Forty-Six will immediately determine how it is to be dealt with and judge him within the full course of the Seireitei laws."
"…Yeah."
"Why the long face, Ichigo-kun?"
Ichigo sent a startled look towards the former Twelfth Squad captain, before he returned his gaze towards the spot where Aizen had been sealed, "…Good question. I'm not really sure myself."
"You saved everyone and the world itself by putting your life on the line and defeating Aizen," Kisuke said as he looked at the tired substitute who had changed so much since the first time he had laid eyes on him during the battle with the Menos Grande. "You did the right thing, there's no reason for you to be wearing an expression like that… Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo just sat down with his back towards the eccentric shopkeeper, "Hey Urahara-san, I wonder… If Aizen was really rejected by the Hōgyoku…"
"I heard from my dad," Ichigo continued as Urahara sent him a curious look that was barely hidden beneath his cool exterior. "That the Hōgyoku's power is to read the 'hearts' of those around it and make it reality. If that's true, then I wonder, if it's possible that Aizen wanted to lose his power…"
Urahara blinked slightly at the boy's words, before settling into his calm façade again.
"Once I had enough power to be able to fight Aizen as an equal, I finally came into contact with his sword," Ichigo said, remembering when he crossed blades with Aizen after entering the real Karakura town with his father. "And in it, there was nothing but 'isolation'… If he had incredible power ever since he was born, then maybe this whole time he was looking for someone who looked at things the same way he did, and from the moment he gave up on finding that, I wonder if, somewhere in his heart, he wished that he could just be 'a normal shinigami'…"
Urahara sighed and looked down at the grass brushing against his clogged feet, before looking back up and just as he was about to speak, the two found their moment interrupted by a familiar voice.
"K-Kurosaki-kun…?"
Turning to look over his shoulder again, Ichigo smiled as he found himself looking at the wounded, but healthy forms of his friends, with Orihime and Renji standing towards the front of the group.
"Inoue… Ishida…" Ichigo muttered, stunned at their appearance here. "Rukia… Chad… Renji!"
He quickly stood up from the rock he had claimed as his seat when speaking to Urahara. "What the Hell…! You guys are up and about already!?"
"We could say the same thing about-" Rukia began, before she was cut off by Orihime, whose eyes were tearing up.
"…It… It really is you, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime warbled out as her lips quivered. "Your hair's so long… So I thought maybe it wasn't you… I'm happy… I'm so happyyy…"
"Why're you looking at me like that, Inoue?" Ichigo asked as he stood up, looking sheepish. "I mean, sure my hair's a mess-"
At that moment as he took a step forward to reunite with his friends that he had been forced to leave behind in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo fell forward much to the shock of the gathered group.
"Ichigo!" Renji cried out, shock written on his face, before he raced over to his fallen friend, the remainder of the top of his soul reaper uniform falling off his muscled frame in his haste.
"Ichigo!"
"Kurosaki-kun!"
"Kurosaki!"
Rukia, Chad, Orihime and Ishida joined the red-haired lieutenant in rushing towards their fallen friend, only to be forced back by his rising spiritual power.
"…Uu… Uwaa… AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Karakura Town, World of the Living; Month Later
Ichigo groaned as he opened his eyes to the world after blacking out from the immense pain he had suddenly gone through after falling towards his friends, blinking away the pain the light created when it hit his eyes.
"Ah!" Orihime exclaimed from right above the shocked strawberry, before Rukia, Chad and Ishida rushed over to the shocked boy's bed. "KUROSAKI-KUN!"
"Huh? What?" Ichigo exclaimed as he sat up abruptly from the shock of the four of them standing above him. "I'm… In my house?"
"…Yes." Rukia said as she patted the embarrassed Orihime, who was fretting over everyone else being calm about Ichigo's awakening, on the head. "You've been asleep for almost a month now…"
"A month…?" Ichigo asked, before his eyes widened and he placed his hand on his chest. "That's right! My power…"
"…Ichigo," Rukia said calmly, yet with a sad tone in her voice, catching the boy's attention. "Urahara told me that you… have lost your shinigami powers."
"…I see, you heard, huh?" Ichigo said as he closed his eyes, feeling the aching loss of his power. "It seems that way, guess I'm going to have to give up being a substitute shinigami, too."
"…The first stage is a loss of consciousness, accompanied by intense pain. Then the physical effects of your time in the Dangai are reversed," Rukia continued, ignoring Ichigo's attempt to lighten the mood. "Your hair has gotten shorter, but we didn't cut it. At that point, you have lost your powers as a shinigami. Then in the second stage, your remaining reiatsu stabilizes and you awaken. Shortly thereafter, your remaining spiritual power will fade away…"
"…I see," Ichigo said quietly as he looked at his four friends. "I figured as much."
"…Y-You're not alarmed…?" Rukia questioned him, a look of shock that was present on all his friend's faces mimicked on her own.
"…No," Ichigo said as he placed his feet on the ground. "Somehow, I kinda had that feeling."
"…Can we go outside?"
The group nodded to their friend, sad expressions on their faces at the news of his power leaving him, before the group walked down the stairs of the Kurosaki household and walked out the front door of the clinic.
'I can't sense any spirits…' Ichigo thought as he turned back to look at the front of his home at hearing Rukia's footsteps, the young appearing soul reaper watching him with a sad expression. 'And Rukia's presence is fading away little by little. I'm really gonna lose my powers…'
"…This is goodbye, Ichigo." Rukia said as she came to stand before the carrot top of Karakura town.
"…Seems that way, doesn't it, Rukia?" Ichigo said with a calm smile on his face as he looked at the beautiful purple eyes of his petite friend, committing the woman's eyes to his memory.
"What's this? Don't look so sad," Rukia said, her voice breaking slightly as she withheld the tears that sought to break out of her eyes. "Even if you can no longer see me, I will still be able to see you!"
"What the Hell?" Ichigo demanded as he scratched his head, his eyes scrunched up in annoyance. "That's nothing to be happy about! And I don't look sad!"
"…" He looked down at Rukia, who had come to stand right before him, the female shinigami beginning to fade away from his sight. "Tell everybody, that I said hi."
"…Sure," Rukia muttered before she raised her head to look at the boy who had changed the entirety of her world, taking in his gentle smile and sad brown eyes one more time as she faded away completely from his eyes.
"Later, Rukia… Thank you."
Year and a Half Later
"Raise your hand."
Ichigo panted as he held himself up against the ground, a strange wing-like set of symbols glowing red on the back of his right hand, before his gaze raised up to stare at the backs of several strangely dressed figures.
"Right now," a silhouette of a young woman shorter than himself carrying a massive shield said as her shadowed head turned back towards him from where the gathered people were staring at the horizon. "Is when we start our battle… Master!"
Ichigo found himself rising up to his feet, holding his now glowing hand next to his face as he glared into the void the encompassed the massive stone cliff he stood upon, the roar of hundreds of people filled the sky.
"GEEET UUUUP!" The voice of his father exclaimed loudly, making Ichigo's eyes pop open as his dream of his nearly forgotten friend dissipated. "IICHIIGOOO…"
Ichigo immediately dove out of the way of his heart-pants wearing father, kicking open the window over his bed for the older man to fly out of, just barely stopping himself from going further when he grabbed the windowsill.
"UOWAAAAAHHHHH!"
"A-are you stupid!? Are you!?" Isshin yelled at his son as he clung to the windowsill, trying to support his weight and pull himself back over.
"Hell if I know…" Ichigo said dully, before attempting to peel his father's fingers of the sill. "Besides, you won't die by falling from the second floor."
"Ho…" Isshin gasped as his brown eyes stared up at his son, crocodile tears falling out of his eyes at his son's cruel words. "WAAAAHHH! WAAAHHHHH! STOP IT. I'm gonna fall! I'm really going to FALL!"
Finally after amusing himself by making his father scream in terror, he helped the bearded goat into the room after noticing the wide-eyed stares of the neighbors. Isshin clapped his son on the shoulder, "By the way, you have a letter from the blood donation agency you went to last week."
"Hmm?" Ichigo hummed as he followed the man down the stairs, pulling his jacket on. "What do they want?"
"Dunno," his father said as he shrugged, happily greeting his twin daughters, Yuzu cheerfully hugging her father while Karin stared at him with utter and clear boredom.
Ichigo stared at him in disbelief, knowing full well that his father and Yuzu were always snooping through his mail and listening to his conversations in attempts to invade his private life, especially if they thought it had something to do with his love life. The carrot top picked up the letter that held the logo for the blood bank he had visited at the hospital Uryu's old man worked for, along with another stamp that had the Big Ben Clocktower of England on it.
'They want me to come back in?' Ichigo thought as he read the kanji in the letter. "Hey pops."
Isshin perked up from where he was laying under Karin, who was seated on his back, eating her breakfast with her ever bored look on her face.
"I'm going to be headed to Mr. Ishida's hospital today," Ichigo said, grabbing the toast Yuzu set out for him and making his way for the door. "I'll be heading over after school and whichever club manages to hire me today."
"Oh? Well then! Have fun!"
Ichigo ignored the yelp of pain the man gave when Karin stabbed him in the shoulder with her fork, the seventeen year old walking out the door as he headed for school.
"So." Ichigo drawled as he stared intensely at the sweating baseball, soccer and karate club captains that stood before him, hoping to hire the orange haired school tyrant. "How much are you offering?"
"…Fi… Five thousand yen…" The karate club vice-captain stuttered, a look of terror on his face as he stared at the boy before him, feeling like he was looking into the eyes of a dragon.
"Five thousand for one week!?" Ichigo exclaimed as he tossed the screaming karate captain to the side, before looking over at the equally terrified soccer captain who was doing everything in his power to look everywhere but him. "Next!"
"Yes sir!" The blond kid exclaimed, trying not to cry. "I am Satoda! Vice-president of the soccer club! We would like to enlist your help, Kurosaki-senpa-"
"I am Hayate Koda!" The brown haired boy wearing a baseball uniform interrupted, the only one of the three staying calm under pressure, making Ichigo contemplate the boy. "I am the baseball-club captain! We're hoping to enlist your help with the aide of ten thousand yen(1)."
"Hey Ichigooo… Hm?" Mizuiro asked as he ducked into the room to locate his former shinigami friend.
"He's in the middle of negotiations," Tatsuki said in boredom as she leafed through the latest 'Naruto' manga while waiting for Ichigo to finish so he could help her train for the up and coming martial arts tournament, ignoring the pathetic, whimpering form of her club's vice-captain as he attempted to beg her forgiveness like she was going to brutalize him for not getting Ichigo into their club. "It'll be a little while before he's free."
"Ah. I see," the playboy of their group of friends said as he took a seat next to the strongest martial artist in Japan of their age group. "So his tenure with the music club is over?"
"Yeah…" Tatsuki sighed as she flipped a page, sending a bored look over at Ichigo and the baseball club captain, both of them negotiating the rising of the price he offered. "Keigo's going to be bitching for a while…"
"ALL RIGHT!" The two of them turned to see the baseball club captain cheering while Tatsuki's underclassman and the soccer club vice-captain wept while holding onto each other, making the tough-as-nails girl scoff at her vice-captain, wondering why she even let him be nominated, unknowingly sharing a similar hate for subordinates with the captain of soul society's second division.
"Decided to go baseball?" Mizuiro asked as he looked up from his phone as Ichigo marched over with a scowl, annoyed at the loud cheers of the baseball captain and his fellows. "How much you getting?"
"Secret."
"When do you start?" Tatsuki asked as she stood up, snapping her book closed.
"Tomorrow," Ichigo stated as he looked at his watch, five minutes until the end of school. "I've got to go to the blood drive at Mr. Ishida's hospital, there was some mix up with the blood I gave last week."
"What sort of mix up?" Mizuiro asked as he looked up, one of his majors for getting into college being Hematology, the study of blood.
"Don't know," Ichigo confessed as he looked at the baseball uniform he was stuffing into his bag for tomorrow. "Probably just misplaced it or mixed it up with someone else's. So I'm just going to give some more."
"Hmm, maybe you're sick or something~," Mizuiro quipped, getting a small glare from the taller boy.
"Shut it!"
Karakura Town Hospital, Hour Later
"Ah! Kurosaki-san! Come in, come in!" The short old man, straight-backed and the creases on the skin of his face gleamed as if he were a statue carved of wood, exclaimed as he looked up at the young man he had taken blood for just last week.
"Hello, Belfaban-san," Ichigo said as he walked forward towards the man. "I was told there was a problem with my blood-"
Before he could any further, the man's glasses glinted and red burst of light filled the room, before Ichigo's world went dark as something impacted his back and he fell to the floor.
Forty-Eight Hours Later
"Confirmed the sequential basis of the human genome."
"What the-?"
"Neutral alignment confirmed."
"Welcome to the research center for the future of humanity. A secret organization that protects humanity, called 'Chaldea'."
"Chaldea?"
"Fou? Kyuu… Kyuu?"
He felt something soft tap against his face.
"Fou! Fou… Fou!"
"…" Ichigo shifted slightly against the hard surface as he felt himself stirring awake, what felt like something wet rubbed against his face. "Feels like something just licked my cheek."
"…Um." A soft feminine voice spoke up, making the Karakura Strawberry open his eyes in confusion, pretty sure he hadn't been around a girl aside from Yuzu and Karin last night… nor did he remember his bed being so hard, for that matter. "Since it's neither morning nor night, please wake up, Senpai."
Ichigo immediately jerked up into a sitting position to find himself staring at a beautiful girl that appeared his age, if a bit younger, with lavender colored hair and purple eyes, eyes that were staring directly at him with a cute tilt of her head. "Who are you? Where are we?"
"Right. That's a simple question," the girl said with a small smile as she adjusted her glasses. "I really appreciate it. This is the passageway from the front gate to the Central Command Room, which is in front of the main Chaldea gate."
She then looked curiously at the seventeen year old Karakura student that still remained seated on the floor, "… Ahem. Anyway, can I ask you a question, Senpai?"
When he nodded, she smiled again, "You were asleep, but I don't see why you'd sleep in the hall. Can you not sleep unless you're on a hard bed?"
"Was I sleeping here?" Ichigo asked, still confused about how he had gotten from his moderately comfortable bed in the Karakura Clinic to laying on the hard, cold floor of the futuristic looking hallway he was currently occupying with the bespectacled girl.
"Oh, um, yes Senpai."
"Fou! Kyuuu! Kyao!"
Suddenly a white blur rocketed onto the girl's face, startling the two and making Ichigo stare at the strange white creature that appeared to be the mix of a cat, dog and a squirrel. "What the…?"
"Ah…" The girl squeaked in surprise, though Ichigo had a feeling it wasn't because of the creature currently sitting on her head. "… I completely forgot. I still haven't introduced you yet, have I, Fou?" She turned to the still slightly out of it former shinigami, "This squirrel-like creature if Fou. He's a Privileged Life-Form allowed to freely walk around Chaldea."
"Fou led me here," she said with a gentle smile as she took Fou in her arms and stroked its fur. "And that's how I ran into you, Senpai."
"Fou. Mmkyu, Fou!" Fou barked from its place in her arms, staring at the seventeen year old student, before leaping out of her arms and bolting down the hallway behind her.
"Ah, he ran off somewhere again," the girl commented as if it were an everyday thing. "He does that sometimes, just walks around as he pleases."
"…What a strange creature." Ichigo commented as he watched the fluffy tail of Fou disappear around the corner. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Yes, normally he doesn't go near anyone aside from me, but he seems to like you, Senpai." The girl said, still smiling at the clueless Kurosaki as she shyly tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear. "Congratulations. Now you shall be the second caretaker of Fou in Chaldea."
"Ah, there you are, Mash!" A voice called out, making the former substitute look back to find a tall man with long, shaggy brown hair standing behind him in what appeared to be all green Victorian period clothing. "That won't do, you know, wandering about without permission… I thought Olga and I made that clear."
"Oh," the man caught sight of Ichigo standing beside the girl now identified as Mash. "Someone's already with you? You're…? Oh, I see… You're the rookie Rocco Belfaban sent us. My name is Lev Lynor, one of the technicians employed here. And you're name is?" He stuck out his hand to the still confused wizard, shaking the student's hand with a polite vigor.
"Ichi-"
He was interrupted once again when the man lifted up a clipboard that the boy hadn't seen before, "Hmm, Candidate #41; Kurosaki Ichigo of Karakura, Japan. So you're the last of the forty-eight candidates. Welcome to Chaldea. I'm glad you're here, you were chosen out of the many applicants Mr. Belfaban sent us. How long was your training? A year? Six months? Three months?"
"…I'll leave that to your imagination." Ichigo said, slightly annoyed at the rapid fire questions and the apparent hand the seemingly-kind blood donation doctor had in his abrupt relocation, but was glad to finally be allowed to speak between the two strange people, still confused as to how he arrived in this place, and where he was.
"Ah, I see that you already know how competitive it is in here." Lev said, his smile not leaving his face despite the perceived insult. "You're going to hide your information from your rivals?"
"Professor, I think Ichigo's training was less than a few hours, I think it's from embarrassment." Mash commented as she looked at the Kurosaki.
"Oh? Well, now… I see." Lev commented, his smile falling slightly while Ichigo's temple throbbed at the insult, before calming himself, reminding himself that he needed to find out where he was and why he was here. "We did have an emergency opening for applicants to fill out. So you're one of them? Do forgive me, I was inconsiderate."
"But please don't be discouraged just because you're a public applicant," the man continued, his smile growing back in strength, unknowingly annoying the Karakura third year further. "We need all of you for this specific mission."
"Thirty-eight of the elite mages sent from Clocktower, plus ten talented public applicants… Somehow, we were able to gather all possible candidates. That's something to rejoice over, this year, twenty-seventeen, all possible candidates capable of Spiritron Dives were brought to Chaldea."
He then patted Ichigo's shoulder in what would seem as a calming gesture, but served only to annoy the terror of Karakura High, "If there's something you don't understand, feel free to ask Mash or myself at any time… Hmm?"
He then turned back to the lavender haired girl, "Come to think about it, what were you talking with him about, Mash? That's not like you. Did you perhaps know each other before Chaldea?"
"No Professor, I've never met Senpai before," Mash replied with a frown as she discreetly looked back at Harry. "I saw Senpai sleeping here, so I just…"
"Sleeping?" Lev asked, an incredulous expression as he looked at Ichigo questioningly. "Mr. Kurosaki was asleep, here? Ah, you went through the simulation when you entered, right? Spiritron Dives can get to you if you're not used to them. After the simulation, the gate must've opened and you walked over here before you returned to consciousness."
The green-clad man gave a great laugh at the befuddled look on the former shinigami's face, "It's a type of sleep-walking. When you fell, Ichigo; that was when Mash spoke to you. You seem to be fine, but I'd like to take you to the infirmary just in case…"
"Oh sorry," he said as he looked at his clipboard again, remembering what he was supposed to be doing before he met the Japanese boy. "Director Animusphere's orientation for the chosen candidates is about to start. You should hurry over."
"Orientation?"
"Yes, to greet the Master candidates assigned here today like you, Ichigo," Mash spoke up. "In other words, it's for the big boss to welcome careless newbies." Lev commented with a smile on his face, while Ichigo frowned at the man. "And since the Director is not the type to forgive and forget, if you show up late, you'll be on her radar for the entire year. The orientation itself begins in five minutes in the Central Command Room. Go straight down this hall. Hurry."
"Professor Lev, do you think I'll be allowed to sit in on the orientation, too?" Mash asked, looking cutely shy as she asked for permission from the green magus.
"Hmm?" Lev pondered as he chanced a look back at his watch. "Well maybe, if you stand way back in a corner, I think she'll look the other way… But why?"
"I just thought I should take Senpai to the Command Room. It's possible that Senpai might fall asleep on the way again."
Ichigo sent her a wounded look that almost made the girl giggle, before she looked back at the man as he grimaced in thought, "…If I leave you alone like this, the Director might yell at me… I should tag along as well, eh?"
"Well, if that's what you want to do, Mash, go ahead." Lev said with his smile returning and his eyes returned to their squinty manner. "You okay with that Mr. Kurosaki? If you have no more questions, let's head to the Command Room. Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Why is she calling me Senpai?" Ichigo asked, noting the blush that started to form on Mash's face at his question.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Lev said, calm as ever. "To her, every human your age is her senpai. But, it is rather unusual to hear her actually call someone that. This might be the first time."
"Actually, I'm intrigued." Lev said, curiosity covering his face as he turned his top-hat covered head to look at the young woman. "Say, Mash, why do you call him Senpai?"
"Um, the reason…?" Mash stuttered, twiddling her fingers together as she ducked her head to hide her blush. "Ichigo is the most human-like person I've ever met."
"Hmm. Which means?" Lev prodded.
"I don't feel threatened," Mash said with a smile to the wizard. "So there's no reason for me to be hostile, not at all like with Doctor Gracie."
"I see, that is important!" Lev exclaimed, slight anger passing over his face at the mention of the mysterious doctor, making Ichigo wonder what exactly happened between the two and what had happened afterwards to Gracie. "People at Chaldea are all a piece of work! I agree with you, Mash. I think you two will get along, just fine!"
"…If you like Senpai, Professor, then Director Olga will probably hate Senpai…" Mash said as she looked down, before peeking over at a door just down the hall that Ichigo could see had the universal signs for male and female bathrooms. "…Well, why don't we hide in the restroom to boycott the orientation, then?"
"That will only make Miss Olga more upset, Mash." Lev said with a chuckle at her joke. "We're going to have to leave it to fate." He then turned to Ichigo with a nervous smile, "Shall we jump into the lion's den, Mr. Kurosaki? Hey, once you get used to her, she can be a pretty sweet girl."
With that, Ichigo quietly followed the two of them down the hallway, Professor Lev leading their small group to a large set of doors, the trio entering to find several dozen people already sitting on chairs set in front of a massive astronomy ball that looked like a model of the planet Earth. Standing before the crowd, a look of annoyance on her face at the sight of the three of them entering late, was a grey haired girl wearing an orange and black Victorian-style uniform with a braid on the side of her head.
"Well, it's late," the girl snapped, annoyance filtering off of her as she glared at a sheepish Lev, while Mash led Ichigo to one of the seats towards the front, before she went to stand a little behind him. "But, at least you are all here now. I welcome you chosen forty-eight to the secret agency, Chaldea… I am the director of this organization, Olga Marie Animusphere."
"I will not forgive someone who is late!" Olga Marie exclaimed as she sent a small glare at Ichigo, getting him to stare forward blankly as many of the other applicants turned to glare at him, the former substitute soul reaper still not understanding what he was doing here in the first place, or even how he had gotten to this place. "Remember that my word is absolute!"
"And with that said, let's continue." Olga said as she turned her attention from Ichigo, slightly unnerved by the hard look in his eyes while Mash looked at him curiously. "All of the candidates here were chosen for having the potential to-"
"Senpai, are you alright?" Mash asked as she looked over at the sleepy Kurosaki with worry as he fought to stay awake.
'Crap, not again, I'm falling asleep!' Ichigo thought as he fought to keep his eyes open. 'I need to stay awake! I need to find out where the hell I am!'
However, his mind lost the fight a mere second later when his head fell back and a soft snore flew from his mouth, making Mash stare at him with shock, neither Ichigo, nor the lavender haired girl noticing the tick mark appearing on Olga's forehead before the director marched over and, with a great amount of anger fueling her, slapped the wizard across the face.
Ichigo stared at the white walls with a distinctly unamused look on his face as he rubbed at the bright red handprint on his left cheek.
"Does it still hurt, Senpai?" Mash asked as she led the seventeen year old student down the hallway towards where the dormitories for the candidates was, concern on her face as she looked at the brutal handprint covering most of the left side of the boy's face.
"A little," Ichigo commented, taking his away from its futile attempts to rub away the director's slap mark, chuckling lightly to himself that no matter where he went, he was still managing to annoy some girl, whether it be a human, a shinigami or apparently a magician. "I'm still a little sleepy."
"True," Mash said with a giggle at the expression on her face. "But thanks to Ms. Olga's slap, you're more awake than you were before."
"Yes, and also expelled from that weird orientation," Ichigo said with his usual scowl directed at the girl that accompanied him. "Because I fell asleep, I was unable to learn anything about why I'm here, or how I even got here. The last thing I remember is walking into Mr. Ishida's hospital because something was wrong with my blood."
"Ah, here we are, Senpai." Mash said as she pointed to a door marked with a forty-eight. "This will be your room while you are here at Chaldea. Wait here for a moment, please, I would like to explain the situation that the orientation was for."
"Don't worry about it," Ichigo said, stopping the girl from speaking and causing Mash to blink in confusion. "I'll find out all this crap later, that director lady is waiting for you to return, thanks for the help."
Mash smiled at the boy, "Don't worry Senpai, I won't be late. Maybe when we return, we can have breakfast together."
Ichigo waved after the girl as she walked away, humming to herself.
He then turned back to the door, ignoring Fou, who had somehow managed to get on his shoulder without him noticing. 'I have the impression that I'm going to be waking up in an Asylum somewhere in Tokyo or something, maybe Karin and Yuzu would like to visit me in Kyoto. What kind of organization is this, and why am I here? Is this some extra thing from Soul Society that that bastard Kurotsuchi set up to mess with the substitute? What do I do now while I wait for them to return from whatever it is they're doing?'
Ichigo froze as he found himself staring at the back of a ginger haired man wearing a lab coat when the door opened… who was in the middle of pulling his pants up his legs, and was clearly as shocked as he was at his entrance.
The stare-off lasted for a minute, with the only noise being Fou letting out what almost seemed like a disappointed sigh, before the orange haired man erupted, his pants abruptly pulled up. "This area is restricted, who the hell are you!?"
"That's exactly what I'm supposed to say!" Ichigo exclaimed back at the man as he tried to erase the image of the man's pale rear from his mind, a tick forming in his cheek at the man's behavior.
"What do you mean!?" The man shouted, his arms spread wide. "I am the head doctor of Chaldea!"
Just then, their fight was put on hold when Fou leapt from Ichigo's shoulder and slammed feet first into the proclaimed doctor's face, using the stunned man's face as a springboard before it landed on the single bed of the room.
After a few moments of subdued conversation, the man perked back up, his belt properly fastened. "I see, you're one of the candidates for the 'Master' position that Miss Olga gathered, Ichigo Kurosaki, right?"
"It's nice to meet you," he said as he extended his hand to the carrot haired boy before him with a smile on his face. "I am the head doctor of the medical care department for Chaldea, Romani Archaman, but everyone just calls me Roman, or Dr. Roman. So feel free to call me either of those, I don't mind."
'This guy is a doctor?' Ichigo asked himself while he could have sworn Fou had just rolled his eyes at the strange man occupying Ichigo's new room. 'This place is full of crazy people… though I suppose I should be used to that, I have met Kisuke Urahara after all, and helped save the world from a madman…"
"Excuse me."
"Hmm," Dr. Romani said as he looked over at Ichigo from where he was picking up a chocolate chip cookie from the platter on the see-through, plastic bedside table. "The bathroom is through the door just over there."
"No. That wasn't what I was going to ask," Ichigo said as he shook his head. "I wanted to know where I am exactly. The last thing I remember before waking up here, was walking into the blood donation office at the Karakura Hospital."
"Well, um…" The man looked surprised, sweat falling down his cheek as he tried to figure out what to say. "That-"
"…We are one of thousands of research laboratories run by ONU, or specifically Chaldea," the doctor said as he took a bite of his most recent cookie, while Ichigo absentmindedly pet the strange squirrel-dog residing in his lap, its bushy tail wagging around. "This is the main branch of Chaldea, we are currently located at roughly six thousand meters above sea level on a mountain that hides us from the world with extremely cold weather and constant blizzards."
"Hmm…" Ichigo hummed as he took a bite out of the cookie offered as he mulled over the long list of information he had been given by the ponytail wearing doctor.
"I bet you'd say this was a kidnapping."
"Was it not?" Ichigo asked as his eyes stared over at the fidgeting doctor, before he sighed. "Anyway. Removing the rather abrupt kidnapping your people pulled to get me here and whatever the hell they injected me with to knock me out for two days! They all seem to be good people so far…"
The doctor looked stunned by the third year Karakura High student's proclamation, before he smiled at the former substitute. "I see."
"Now that I understand that I'm inside this 'Chaldea'," Ichigo continued, his gaze becoming harder as he starred at the doctor, inwardly wondering if this was going to turn out like his short notice adventures through the spiritual worlds. "What I really want to know exactly, is why I am here in the first place. The last thing that I remember happening is walking into Mr. Ishida's hospital because they had a problem with the blood I donated, and from what I've gathered, Belfaban-san, the man that took my blood, had a hand in my abduction."
"Ah, its rather simple…" Roman began, before he was interrupted by the loud beeping of the large watch on his wrist, making the laidback man look down at the contraption just as the voice of the green-clad man from earlier came through.
"Doctor Romani, we are about to start the rayshift," the man said, his image appearing in a square shape of pixels above the doctor's wrist. "I would like you to come in to monitor the health of the applicants. Some of the newbies are showing anomalies."
"Oh?" Doctor Roman said as he looked at the image of the long-haired man sitting above his wrist, while Ichigo watched the interaction with startled interest, having never seen that sort of technology before and beginning to wonder why the Soul Society didn't use this sort of thing over those weird as hell butterflies. "That's a shame. I'll get down there immediately, I just need to collect a few things."
"Thank you. You should be able to get here in two minutes from the medical bay."
Romani kept the smile on his face until the man's image disappeared and the watch let off a beep to show the transmission had ended. Then he sent an extremely worried look in Ichigo's direction, "What should I do…?! It'll take me at least five minutes to get from here to central command!"
"That's because you hid in here and slacked off…" Ichigo said without a hint of mercy for the strange doctor.
"Thank you for chatting with me," Romani said with a nervous smile as he began collecting the tray of cookies and picked up the drink cup he had been using before Ichigo had been taken to this room by Mash. "Once you're settled in and the rayshift is complete, come by the medical bay. I'll make sure you're up to health and maybe I'll dig out some of that delicious cake Mash made me for my birthday a week ago."
'He's really nervous about being late…'
Just then, the light of the room cut off, plunging everything into complete darkness, making Ichigo jump up, a wary look in his eyes as he looked around. He found himself looking over at a stunned Romani as a red light began flickering on and off.
"What the-?" Romani asked himself, sweat dropping down his cheek as he straightened up and looked at the door in confusion. "Did something happ-?"
Just then, a massive burst of sound filled the room, sounding like an explosion happened before the room itself shook, nearly knocking the doctor to the ground if Ichigo hadn't caught him.
"Doctor? What was-?" Ichigo demanded as he helped the doctor straighten himself.
"I-I don't know…" Romani stuttered before he made his way over to the large television screen that Ichigo had missed during the man's earlier explanation about Chaldea. "Monitor! Show me the control room!"
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!" The two occupants of room forty-eight stared in stunned shock at the sight of a completely destroyed command room, which Ichigo had just been in over thirty minutes prior, the only thing still intact being the massive planetary device in the center of the room, many of the containers that were supposed to be holding the applicants for the project were scattered amongst the rubble. "A FIRE HAS BROKEN OUT IN THE CENTRAL POWER STATION AND CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM!"
"Wha-what's going on…?" Ichigo asked as he looked over at the doctor while the alarm continued to blare out that it would be closing the central barrier in several minutes. "Doctor! Isn't this bad…?"
"Mr. Kurosaki, you need to evacuate right now," the doctor said as his trembling hand pressed against his mouth, before he began moving quickly towards the door. "I'm going to the control room. The barrier will be closing soon! You should get out before then!"
"Doctor!" Ichigo exclaimed before he looked over at the blaring alarm, Fou standing next to him as calm as could be. "He told me to evacuate, but…"
He shook his head to clear his thoughts, before looking back over at the monitor that displayed the ruined central command room, his eyes fastening onto one of the containers that stuck out of the rubble. 'That's right… Mash is in the control room…'
With his course decided, Ichigo immediately ran after the panicking doctor, Fou keeping step easily with him.
Doctor Romani stared at the rubble and fires covering the room in shocked horror as he held his handkerchief up to his face, looking desperately for survivors.
"Doctor!"
He jumped slightly and turned back to find his newest acquatience in Chaldea running up to him. "Mr. Kurosaki!? Why are you here!?"
"Leave that aside for later!" Ichigo snapped as he moved past the man to observe the destroyed room. "What about the people in here!?"
"…I don't know…" Doctor Romani said as he looked around the room, before his eyes settled on the floating rings and orb. "The only thing I know for sure is safe is 'Chaldeas', which is floating there. I fear that this probably wasn't an accident. But rather, sabotage…!"
"Somebody did something like this…?" Ichigo muttered as he stared at the destroyed room, noticing several of the scientist he had seen moving about the room during the orientation, their bloody remains spread over and around the boulders that had come down upon them.
"There's not enough power being generated," Romani said as he rolled up his sleeves, looking all around the ruined room. "I'm sorry to say this Mr. Kurosaki, but I'm going down to the underground power station. You should hurry and get out of here while you can. The doors will be closing soon! Whatever you do, don't take any detours!"
With that last statement, the man rushed off, leaving Ichigo behind to stare at his retreating back.
'But…' Ichigo thought as he watched the man round a corner, before he blinked in shock as he remembered the girl from earlier. 'That girl is still…!'
He moved into the ruins, looking around at all his surroundings as he tried to locate Mash, dodging falling debris as he went, until he noticed a pair of legs sticking out from behind a boulder, legs covered in the same stockings and shoes the kind girl from earlier had been wearing.
"Hey! Are you ok!?" Ichigo demanded as he quickly bolted over to the location he saw the legs in, pushing past a large boulder in his path. "I'll help you-!"
Ichigo stopped cold in his tracks as he stared at the heaving, bloody chest of the girl that he first met in this crazy place, a large spike of stone sticking out of her stomach through to her back.
'An injury like this… It's already too late…'
"…Senpai…" Mash coughed out as she caught sight of the orange haired boy she had helped earlier. "I-It's nice to see that you are so quick on the uptake S-Senpai. Y-You need to h-h-hurry and get o-out of here…"
"WARNING! ALL OBSERVATION STAFF! CHALDEAS' STATE HAS CHANGED!"
Ichigo jumped at the sudden blaring of noise from the warning system and somehow found his eyes landing on the large orb from earlier, watching as its appearance went from stone grey with several lights on it to a massive ball of flames, mimicking a sun.
"ONE HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FUTURE CANNOT BE CONFIRMED! THE SURVIVAL OF MANKIND CANNOT BE CONFIRMED!"
"Survival…? Future…?" Ichigo asked as he stared up at the inferno that consumed the globe. "What the h-hell is it talking about…!?"
"C-Chaldeas turned bright red…" Mash coughed out, returning Ichigo's attention to the young woman, before her purple eyes moved over to the entrance just as the blast doors fell into place. "More importantly… w-we can't get out… anymore… I'm sorry… Because of me, y-you…"
"…That's not true," Ichigo said, stopping the girl's apology as he bent down to her level. "I'm sure it will all work out, Mash. I'd rather stay here and help you than run away."
Mash's eyes widened in shock, before they narrowed, watering up as tears invaded, running down her cheek, "T-thank you… S-Senpai…"
"COFFIN VITALS: mASTErs, BASELINE nOT ReACHed! RAYSHIFT REQUIREMENTS ArE NOT Met!" the announcement blared out as one of the containers near them exploded. "SEARCHING FOR A QUALIFYING MASTER… CAnDIdaTE FOUND! CANDIDATE NUMBER FORTY-eIGHT, KUROSAKI ICHIGO, reSET AS A MaSTER!"
"Senpai…" Mash gasped out, catching Ichigo's attention from wondering what it meant by choosing him as a 'master'.
"Yes?" He asked with a kind smile replacing his usual scowl as he held vigil over the girl's deathbed.
"UNSUMMON PROGRAM, START. SPIRITON CONVERSION, START."
"…My hand… Please… Hold my hand…" She begged, her lower lip trembling as she reached towards him. Ichigo smiled down at her and grasped the extended hand, moving closer to her impaled body to hold onto her, making Mash smile in thanks to the Karakura student's kind gesture.
"ALL PRoCedURES CLEAR! pROJeCT FIRST ORDER, COMMENCING!"
Then everything in Ichigo's vision went white and he could no longer feel Mash's hand inside his own, before he landed harshly on shattered concrete. The last thing he saw before his world erupted in an all-consuming pain was a burning city that looked terrifyingly alike to Karakura town.
(1) 10,000 Yen is 90.20 American Dollars.
Thank you all for reading, I'm sorry but the only thing I have to say right now is that we will be opening up right into the Fuyuki Singularity in Chapter Two, if this manages to keep my attention. Fucking ADHD...
Make sure to leave a review, I don't care if you don't like the story, but as I mentioned in my last posted chapter I don't give a flying fuck about Flamers and really don't appreciate it when you chew out my story just because you wish to be a dick. Take the example from the user blight23, I may not be able to delete a user's review, however, he is now blocked from reading my stories on my profile.
And I just gotta say to Mr. Blight, you're a real coward if you think blocking off the private messages is a great move after you trash my story, have fun with that.
Have a nice day, Iskander Mandoraekon signing out, Ja Ne!