In the department of Research and Development that resides from Squad 12, many of the scientists are operating at an all time high with constant surveillance, pacing themselves with frantic worry. It's odd, with Aizen's defeat it didn't seem as though there should be anything for the Soul Society to be worried about…
Except for one particular problem that recently arose…
"What is the status?" Akon asks as he walks over to the large computer machines, with a Seated Officer walking beside him.
"Well, sir, the area has been expanding at a constant rate since we first started monitoring it." The lower ranked officer answers with worry hinted at in his tone. "But the Stealth Force has been dispatched to investigate. They should arrive at the other barrier momentarily."
The sounds of beeping have Akon and the other man turn their heads to Rin, who is operating one of the many, many computers she is working on. "I just established a contact. They'll be passing by the Dangai Precipice World in 10 seconds." Rin informs both of them. "They're about to enter the dimensional area." She turns back to look at her computer. ''Opening communication lines!"
Akon and the other man stare at the absurdly large screen that shows a digitized version of both the Soul Society and the World of The Living as two massive circles that are separated from one another, with their connection showing some form of an electrical wavelength that connects them together.
A loud communication that's struggling to reach through becomes connected with the microphones that the Stealth Force have. But the second it does so, alarms begin to go off.
"Hey — what the?! Where's the exit?!" A panicked voice came from one of the Stealth Force members.
5 lines that connect the Research and Development to the Stealth Force have their state of lines switch from the green color of Connected to that of a yellow Emergency in their tags.
"It's no use! We can't break through! The Stealth Force is unable to infiltrate the area! What the hell is going on?!" Another voice comes from a panicked Stealth Force member. "Requesting immediate backup!"
"Requesting backup immediately! Maintain your position!" Rin types on her keyboard as fast as she can all the while multiple voices from behind speak at the same time, and more panic coming from the Stealth Force.
"This is Research and Development! Insertion into the dimensional area has failed! The Stealth Force is trapped within the Dangai Precipice World!" Another member of the 12th division yells, requesting backup.
Akon stands in shock at how chaotic the situation has transpired. With the Cleaner gone, there is simply no way that this should have gone so south. "Notify Central 46 about this immediately!" The officer behind him commands. "We're getting them out of there!"
"It's no use! The Restrictive Current is too strong! We can't—!"
"Listen! Help is on the way!" Akon yells through the intercoms, trying to reassure the Stealth Force despite their screams of agony. "Now tell us what's preventing you from entering the dimensional area!"
"Aaaaaaah—!" The screams from the Stealth Force is the last thing Squad 12 hears before it dies out. The tags go from the yellow Emergency to a crimson Disconnected, ending their communication. Several seconds have passed, and no words come from them.
They died.
Akon grits his teeth, clenching his fists in frustration. 'Damn it… what happened back there? With the Cleaner gone, there's no way that the Stealth Force should have been caught in such a mess. We just got done with Aizen…' He lowers his head. 'And now we're investigating a problem that's been occurring for months… is a few years of peace too much to ask for?!'
Karakura Town, a city that had been used by Sosuke Aizen to reduce it into nothing in order to create the Oken and head to the Royal Palace. Outside this city is where Ichigo and Aizen had their last, titanic battle that decided the fate of the world. It is not known by anybody as to why they all fell asleep at the same time out of the blue, and unknown to most, their city has been placed in a different realm together, only to be put back where it originally belonged to. With so many having fallen asleep during work, it was miraculous that very few people had died from this mysterious phenomenon, and will never know as to why and how this all came to be.
Nearly a month had passed since then. As of now, the civilians were doing their daily activity as though nothing had happened, though somewhere in the back of their mind they wanted to know as to what really happened, and the scientists were still trying their best to figure out what happened.
In a park, the innocents are simply relaxing as they walk among the ground that was being covered by leaves, some couples sitting down on a bench talking to one another, and some are simply walking their pets. Friends are grouped together talking about anything, and families simply spending time with one another.
That is until one of the tree branches collapsed on the ground from out of nowhere, with a strong burst of wind and smoke coming forth. Some people become startled by this. For some, they could swear they are hearing an inhuman, ominous roar. That is until Ichigo and Yoruichi are heading towards the source.
"Did this really have to happen now?!" Ichigo exclaims in annoyance in a harsh whisper.
"Relax, this isn't gonna last long!" Yoruichi tells him as she runs next to her lover. "You know what you gotta do!"
"I know!" Ichigo pulls out his Combat Pass and presses it against his chest, now becoming a Soul Reaper as he leaps towards the air.
From the smoke emerges a Hollow as it's about to get past Ichigo. The Substitute Soul Reaper unsheathes his enormous blade and slashes the Hollow's back, drawing blood, making the monster scream. With its pain tolerance, the Hollow continues to jump from one tree branch to another, with the force exerting and the speed it dashes, it makes the leaves fly, making the oncomers down below look up in awe and confusion, as even though they had no spiritual awareness, they could tell something is wrong, even more when debris just bursts from nowhere.
The Hollow continues to leap from tree branch to tree branch, acting on raw instinct as it tries to escape like a prey running from their predator, making the branches fall apart with each leap.
"There, that should be far enough." The Hollow looks from behind to see Ichigo having easily caught up with it. With there being no more civilians and running to a corner, it was a good time to strike as any. "Hraa!" Ichigo makes a battle cry as he swings his sword down, splitting the Hollow's arm open.
The corrupted monster wallows in pain, losing its balance as it falls on the ground, rolling over the ground as the sheer magnitude of its weight combined with the force makes several trees collapse. The Hollow regains balance, and lunges towards Ichigo, who is casually hanging his sword over his shoulder, waiting for the Hollow to strike him. The monster lunges its clawed hand, ready to pierce him. Ichigo looks at the Hollow with a smirk, and releases a small burst of his Spiritual Pressure, emitting blue smoke. Once the Hollow sensed the power emitting from the young man, it stopped its tracks, backing away in fear.
"What's wrong?" Ichigo rhetorically asks. ''I thought you were gonna attack me?" The Hollow turns around and leaps away, making an attempt to get away from the Soul Reaper. "No you won't!" Ichigo yells as he jumps in the air, using Flash Step as he is now above the Hollow. He holds his sword and swings it down vertically, splitting the Hollow's body into two, purifying its soul in the process.
Ichigo lands on the leafy ground, and sees Yoruichi walking towards him with the Plus Soul of a child hanging onto her leg. "It's a good thing that we acted on time. Turns out that Hollow was chasing after this soul."
"Oh. Well it's good we came by when we did." Ichigo says as he looks down at the little girl that was standing with his girlfriend's side. The Plus Soul becomes frightened of Ichigo as she tries hiding behind Yoruichi.
"Don't worry about this guy." Yoruichi can see what scared the child, and puts her hands on the girl's shoulders. "He looks scary but he's a softie on the inside. "
"Not sure how I should take that as." Ichigo replies with a snark. He then kneels down on the ground, trying to give a tender look to the girl. "Don't worry, we're not gonna do anything. We're gonna be sending you to the Soul Society."
"Huh…?" The little soul looks up at the teenager. ''Soul… Society?"
"It's where departed souls like you pass on after they die. It'll be easier for you once you move there, you won't have to worry about monsters like that chasing you." Yoruichi reassures her.
"But I…" The Plus Soul is hesitant. "I can't go... I don't know where my family is."
"Chances are your family might have already passed on the other side and are waiting for you. If they haven't, then others like me are helping them to pass along. Besides, you really don't wanna stay here. What if another one of those monsters shows up and we're not around to save you next time?" Ichigo gives a smile to reassure the girl.
"Mhm…" The Plus Soul looks down, still unsure. "Well… if it makes me see my family again…"
"Good call, kid." The back of Ichigo's handle glows brightly before the teenager gently pushes the hilt against the girl's forehead, performing the Konso ritual. The soul glows brightly with vibrant blue color, with smoke gently surrounding the trio, watching as the soul of the girl passes from the Living World to that of the Soul Society.
The couple return back to where they were before as they climb down sets of stairs. "You know, I'm not really used to this sort of thing." Yoruichi says as she puts her hands at the back of her head.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asks his girlfriend in confusion.
"This whole Hollow hunting thing." Yoruichi answers. "I can't really help you much with this stuff since unlike you, people can actually see me."
"Can't you just exit out of your Gigai then?" Ichigo asks.
"No can do." Yoruichi shakes her head. "I've long since gotten used to this body. And mind you it's more than just a Gigai. And besides, didn't you have Rukia help you with this stuff?"
"Well yeah…" Ichigo scratches the back of his head. "But she's been busy for a while. Plus, she's not exactly in charge of Karakura Town anymore. It's that Imoyama guy."
"Imoyama…?" Yoruichi looks at her younger boyfriend with skepticism.
"It's this afro haired Soul Reaper who… uh…" Ichigo tries to remember anything remotely useful about Zennosuke…
"Skip it. It sounds like someone that the Soul Society should hire someone more competent." Yoruichi stretches her back, making Ichigo briefly look at her body before turning back. "And speaking of exiting bodies… your timing couldn't be more awful with how you handled yours."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo looks away, not sounding worried.
"You used your Combat Pass just now. There's no replacement soul to take care of your human body so you might as well look actually dead if there's bystanders nearby. Don't you have one of those Mod Souls in your home to do that for?" Yoruichi criticizes her boyfriend's lack of insight.
"Well yeah... I mean I used to." Ichigo shrugs his shoulders. "I dunno where Kon is these days. Ever since I came back to Karakura Town I haven't seen that plushie at all. I don't know where he is."
"Does that always happen?" Yoruichi asks.
"Not for this long." Ichigo scratches his hair. "I'm sure he'll be back."
Suddenly the couple hear voices of concern ringing in their ears. When they turned to face a corner, they saw an ambulance trying to help the human body of Ichigo that the Substitute left behind.
"It's no good! He doesn't have a pulse!" One of the paramedics exclaimed in worry. ''He's going under cardiac arrest!"
"Wha—?!" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was seeing. "That's my body you idiots!" Out of panic he sprints towards his human body.
"This is what I was telling you about!" Yoruichi puts her hands between her lips, telling her boyfriend before it was too late.
Ichigo manages to re-enter inside his human body, coming back once more. He opens his eyes, and upwardly moves his body, completely startling everyone around him. "Uh…" Ichigo looks around awkwardly at everyone around him, who were completely stunned. "Hi… didn't mean to worry ya."
"How… did you just…?" Another paramedic was at a loss of words from what seems to be a miraculous recovery.
"Yeah, uh... I'll just be on my way." Ichigo awkwardly tries to get up, but he suddenly finds himself getting pushed back down by the paramedics. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
"You need to lie back down!"
"You can't be fine after what just happened!"
"Let go!" Ichigo can easily push all three of them away with his Hollowfied enhanced spider strength, but no way would he risk that.
"Oh good grief…" Yoruichi steps in closer and pulls out a Memory Tracer device. She activates it, and it releases a large amount of purple smoke that covers everyone within the vicinity, causing all their memories to change, giving Ichigo a chance to escape.
The two lovers find themselves running out of the park. Now that these people were unconscious with their memories being replaced, there's bound to be other people finding them, and the last thing they needed was to cause a scene.
"Well, I say that date could have gone better…" Yoruichi stretches her head as she puts her hands on her hips. "But do you usually just leave your body like that whenever you're hunting for a Hollow?"
"What choice did I have? It's not like we were sitting on a bench, and I couldn't find any nearby, and there's no way I could let a Hollow like that run around with so many people in danger, even without that spirit girl." Ichigo crosses his arms as he rolls his eyes.
"Well next time you're gonna have to bring one of Kisuke's Mod Souls to substitute your soul." Yoruichi begins to walk away from the park, with Ichigo walking beside her side. "Speaking of… how exactly are you feeling? Any change in your powers as of lately? It has been a month since you took down Aizen."
"Hmm…" Ichigo checks his palm, clenching it into his fist before letting it go. "Honestly? I feel weaker than before, but not by that much. I feel fine for the most part."
"I've been wondering… what's it like compared to running around in your costume?" Yoruichi asks.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo is confused.
"Do you feel weaker when you do your crime fighting stuff?" Yoruichi looks at her younger boyfriend.
"Well, not really. I feel almost as fine as I was before. Why ask?" Ichigo wants to know what this came about.
"I've been noticing something as of late… every time you're fighting as a Soul Reaper, your energy levels keep dropping, not by much, but it is noticeable from what I've seen. But when you're fighting as a human, I can barely notice your Spirit Energy decreasing." Yoruichi hums as she puts her index finger and thumb under her chin.
"Really?" Ichigo scratches the side of his head, puzzled as to what the older woman was saying.
"But the biggest problem… is the constant, reckless release of your Spiritual Pressure. From what I remember, you lack proper control of your Spirit Energy and it leaks out of you constantly, especially when you're in battles." Yoruichi looks at her boyfriend with a blunt look.
"Come on!" Ichigo rebukes. "I've gotten better at controlling my power."
"Then how come I still sense where you are across the whole city?"
"That's different!" Ichigo exclaims in annoyance as he puts his hands in his pockets. "It's not like I could do the same thing I did when I fought Aizen…" He murmurs.
Yoruichi's expression changes to curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"Back when I got out of the Dangai… it's like I knew exactly what to do with my power. I could lower it so that people could sense me without dying, or increase it where I can't be sensed by anybody. But since that power is gone, it feels… different every time." Ichigo looks on the ground.
"Different how?"
For a moment, Ichigo paused. He reflects on what to say before sighing. ''I can't control it very well. Every time I'm a Soul Reaper, my Spirit Energy just leaks non-stop when I don't want it to. I suppress it as much as I can, but it's like trying to hold back a hot font of water with your hands when it's at maximum, I practically can't do a thing."
"Are you serious?" Yoruichi becomes surprised to hear this. "I didn't know it was that bad… well at any rate it's at least good that—"
Suddenly, waves of Spiritual Pressure hit the couple at the same time, and there were a large multiple surges of Spiritual Pressures at that. Both widen their eyes at the same time, but nevertheless they rush together to find the source of the unknown Spiritual Pressures.
"The Train Station! What's happening over there?!" Ichigo asks as he runs as fast as he can. "And what's up with this Spiritual Pressure?!"
"I'm not sure…" Yoruichi replied calmly. "It doesn't feel like a Hollow or an Arrancar. And it particularly doesn't feel very powerful either." She looks at the teenager. ''I'll speed up and see what's happening! You find a place to hide your human body!"
"Hey, wait—?!" Ichigo couldn't finish his sentence as he sees Yoruichi disappear via Flash Step. "Come on, couldn't she have waited for a bloody minute…" Ichigo grumbles beneath his breath. Nevertheless he had to agree they had to hurry in order to see what this mysterious Spiritual Pressure was.
He can't find any benches or any other seats for that matter that wouldn't draw attention. So with his only option left, the young Substitute starts sprinting at full speed, the power in his running easily surpassing that of any Olympian Athlete in the world. It barely takes him a minute or so before he manages to arrive at the Train Station, and in front of him was Yoruichi standing with a surprised look on her face.
"Hey, what is it?! What did you find?!" Ichigo asks his girlfriend before he stops his sprint and stands beside her. What he found before him left him completely wide eyed.
There, wide open in the area are what seem to be white, moving husks with strange, red, pointy beams on their head. What was unsettling was that they bear no physical feature that made them look remotely human, not even a face, which makes it creepier.
"What… the hell… are these things?" Ichigo asks in bewilderment. He looks at the sheer number of them, and there has to be a hundred of them, at least. He looks around, and he sees that the people around the area weren't giving any reaction whatsoever. 'What are these things? No-one is reacting to them, so they have to be spirits… but if that's the case, then where are their chains?' The teenager thinks. If they were physical beings, any regular person would be running for their lives, causing a panic.
Yoruichi says nothing, giving an analytical look before she looks back at her lover. "Ichigo… you're gonna have to become a Soul Reaper again. Don't attack them, no matter what, try to perform Konso on one of them and see what happens."
"Isn't there a chance you can just get out of that Gigai and do it on your own?" Ichigo casually asks as he holds his hand on his hip. ''I mean, you have a Zanpakuto of your own, don't you?"
"Just do it, you're the Substitute of this town, I'll carry your body somewhere. Besides, it'd look stranger if a guy was seen carrying a woman somewhere." Yoruichi retorts.
"Fine." Ichigo rolls his eyes before bringing out his Combat Pass out of his pocket. He lightly presses it against his chest, and his spiritual body exists, leaving his human body to collapse, which would have hit the pavement if not for Yoruichi catching him.
The Substitute walks around, and eventually bumps into one of these strange creatures by accident. The reaction they gave was strange, as though he is being examined, with them tilting their heads before going back to just seamlessly wandering around. 'Man, this is just creepy.' The redhead thinks before pulling out his Zanpakuto, though he made sure the bandages were still sheathed. He puts his blade over his right shoulder, holding the handle with both hands as the back of the hilt glows before tapping it lightly against one of the creatures.
The results are not what he expected. Nothing happened. The strange being just springs its "head" back and forth before moving past Ichigo. "Well that could have gone better." Ichigo murmurs. "Hey, Yoruichi. Konso doesn't seem to work on these—"
The orange haired youth is cut off when a strong gust of wind blows over just about everybody in the area. Ichigo feels something strange about the wind. Before he could say anything, the colors of the creatures change. The red colors of their clawed hands and head have gotten much darker, and their posture changes to that of hostility as they aggressively approach Ichigo and Yoruichi. "The hell?!" The Substitute Soul Reaper exclaims in surprise as he pushes away the strange beings.
Yoruichi grabs one of them by their hands and knocks it aside against the other creatures. Ichigo gets to her side as they stand back to back, the bandages of his sheath now coming undone. ''So… this is the part where I cut them down or what?" Ichigo questions
"Knock them aside, but don't cut them." Yoruichi instructs him. "I think I might know what these things are."
"Questions later." Ichigo prepares himself to head into battle. "Right now it's—"
A tornado appears before Ichigo's eyes, which draws the attention of the unknown creatures. Leaves were scattering around the tornado — at least that's what would look to a casual onlooker, but Ichigo notices that something was off. The tornado wasn't blowing everything left and right like it's supposed to, and the leaves seem to be surrounding the tornado, they weren't being sucked in or blown at all.
It was then he notices her. A Soul Reaper girl, appearing out of thin air, skillfully cutting down the strange creatures with her blade, making each of them disappear with one blow. "Who the hell is that?!" Ichigo asks as he is flabbergasted. Yoruichi turns around, and she is surprised by the appearance of the Soul Reaper.
"A Soul Reaper?" Yoruichi is puzzled. ''Just when did she appear?" The former Captain didn't understand just how a Soul Reaper appeared so suddenly, having not even noticed her Spiritual Pressure up until now. There was already a Soul Reaper that was supposed to take Rukia's place in charge of Karakura Town, and there certainly couldn't have been any change in that, especially a young one at that.
The Soul Reaper in question is the one generating the tornado around her body. She had the standard black Shihakusho, with a large red ribbon tied around waist, amber eyes and a yellow ribbon tied to her hair. She backflips over Ichigo and Yoruichi, as while their eyes were gazed at the mysterious Soul Reaper girl, her eyes didn't even bother meeting with theirs. She continues cutting down the white creatures.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo demands to know.
The girl ignores him, and instead she leaps in the air, with wind coming from her feet as she makes a tornado to carry her. The girl begins to spin her body, and sounds of electricity begin to cackle. She presses her hand against her sword, and it begins to glow.
"She's about to release her Zanpakuto!" Yoruichi exclaims. "Ichigo!"
"Don't need to tell me!" Ichigo uses his Flash Step to stop the girl from whatever she was about to do.
"Bring them to the twilight…" The girl states her release command as her sword begins changing shape. However, this comes to an end as Ichigo appears before her eyes and clashes his sword against hers, preventing her from activating her Shikai.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo demands to know. ''Those things are not Hollows! You don't even know what they are! So stop doing what you're doing!"
The girl seems to be annoyed at his intervention. "Out of my way, jerk!" She replies before she jumps over Ichigo and kicks him in the face using all her strength, making the Substitute fall down the ground. She spins her body again, generating wind all over her surroundings. She does the same performance she did before. ''Bring them to the Twilight, Mirokumaru!" Her sword transforms into a Khakkhara with a pointed tip.
She releases a tornado as she swings her sword, and inside the tornado was electricity. Her attack strikes the strange creatures, and they simply vanish as they make contact. The girl twirls her body around, as she precisely strikes each and every other creature, and soon enough she manages to tag every single one of the creatures. A powerful gust of wind strongly blows over the surrounding area, making the non spiritually aware people cover for themselves as not to have parts of their uniform be blown away, or those who were quite light in their weight try to hold on to a closest object so as not to trip and fall over.
Ichigo has covered his eyes as to not have the wind nor the leaves strike him in the eyes. When it is finally over, the Substitute puts his arm down, and sees that none of the creatures are there anymore, and he can no longer detect their Spiritual Pressures either.
"Sorry I'm late!" A high school girl passes by him as she runs over to her friends, who are standing on a bus station. ''Can you believe how strong that wind was?!"
"I know! The weatherman didn't say anything about the wind being this strong!" The other girl exclaims.
Ichigo looks around, feeling completely dumbfounded. It's as though the situation passed as quickly as it began. The young man sheathes his Zanpakuto as it wraps itself in bandages, no longer detecting any danger. "What the hell just happened…?" He asks, hoping that Yoruichi had some kind of an answer to this.
"I have no idea…" The former clan head shrugs her shoulders.
"Yes!" Both the couple turn around to see the same girl from moments ago standing in front of them with her back turned, now in her Gigai with what seems to be a school uniform. ''That was awesome! Oh, that felt so good! Yes, yes, yes!" She cheerfully pumps each of her fists in the air. She then turns around to see Ichigo and Yoruichi, and it is then she stops her celebration and frowns. "Oh great, it's the jerk again…"
"Wha—?!" Ichigo's mouth is left agape. He points his index finger at the girl. "How did you just — who even are you?!"
"I thought you already knew by now?" Senna blinks her orange eyes in confusion. ''I'm a Soul Reaper."
"I think I understood that much…" Ichigo genuinely can't tell whether the girl is acting sarcastic or serious, and he didn't like it either way. "But just who are you? As in, what's your name and where are you from?"
"If you want to know that, wouldn't it be better if you introduced yourself first?" The girl promptly makes a snide remark.
Ichigo makes a sigh. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper."
"See! That wasn't so hard now, was it?" The strange girl replies by teasing the boy. "And my name is Senna."
"Really cute." Ichigo becomes annoyed. ''Now tell us what exactly were those things back there?" The smaller girl looks around, as though not paying attention to what Ichigo was saying. ''And just what did you do to them?"
Senna gasps when she seems to have spotted something. "Oh no!" She exclaims as she runs to whatever was disturbing.
"Huh?!" Ichigo immediately goes on the defensive as he grabs hold of his handle. ''Are those things back again?!" He asks Senna in urgency.
"Man, this is really bad!" Senna runs over to a glass mirror. "Hmmm…" She holds the ribbon that is holding her hair together. "Nope, yellow really doesn't suit me at all."
"Oh for the love of—" Ichigo begins to feel frustrated as he runs over to the girl. ''Will you quit dodging my questions and just answer?!"
Senna turns over, now looking annoyed. "Your name is Ichigo… right?" she asks.
"Yeah? What about it?" Ichigo crosses his arms. He briefly glances over at the glass and sees there's no reflection of him, it was a bit strange even though he expected there'd be no images shown through ghosts.
"Look behind you." Senna nudges her head with a teasing grin.
Ichigo looks behind him, and his mouth drops as he sees his human body lying in the most uncomfortable position imaginable for any human. It was causing a scene with people looking at him with concern as a couple of officers were calling for an ambulance.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ichigo quickly dashes towards his human body. ''How did it even fall like that?!"
"You gotta take better care of your body like that!" Yoruichi says.
"Just stay with the girl!" The teenager replies with annoyance.
Within the Seireitei, two Soul Reapers are taking a break on their guard duty for the day, and that was taking care of the Senzaikyu. The Soul Reapers in question were Ikkaku and Iba, who at the moment, are drinking a bottle of sake, each passing the other down when taking enough of it.
"Why were we assigned to watch over such a boring job?" Ikkaku asks begrudgingly as he pulls back the alcohol.
"What, is that drinking already getting into your head?" Iba mocks his accomplice before he gets tossed the bottle, grabbing it with his hand. ''With all the crap that went down with Aizen and finally sealing him away, it's better to make sure the Soul Society is on guard with any criminals that may stand by. It's a miracle that nobody on our side even died."
"Damn straight, just goes to show how badass the Court Guards are." Ikkaku smirks as he holds his sheathed Zanpakuto.
"Wow, you really are getting drunk. Either that or you're plain stupid overall." Iba rolls his eyes before taking a drink of the bottle. ''It was Ichigo who saved our sorry asses. Somehow that guy managed to beat Aizen when none of us could stop him."
"Honestly that reminds me, how did Ichigo get that much stronger? From what I heard, even the Head Captain failed to stop him. And now this guy, who barely beat Captain Zaraki, somehow managed to beat somebody who was immortal, and is now losing his powers on top of that? What the hell is up with that?" Ikkaku rubs his bald head, as if trying to figure out a math problem.
"Who cares? All that matters is we're alive and well."
"Also, are you sure it's wise for a Lieutenant like you to be drinking this early in the day?" Ikkaku mocks him.
"What are you talking about?" Iba is annoyed. "I could drink this stuff all day and not feel a thi—" Suddenly, the Lieutenant notices something is wrong… and checks to see if the bottle was empty. ''Oh, looks like we're out already."
"Say what?!" Ikkaku is baffled by this, before getting up in anger. ''You drank it all again you drunkard!"
"You wanna make something of it, baldy?" Iba provokes the 3rd Seat of Squad 11.
"Damn straight!" Ikkaku feels his blood boiling, and he takes out his Zanpakuto. ''I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"
"You really wanna do this again over sake like the last time? And lose?" Iba jerks him even more.
"Lose?! Last I recall you're the one who was sweating like a dog on the pavement!" Ikkaku exclaims.
"Maybe in your fantasies! But first…" Iba puts his hands on his knees. ''We'll do this after we're finished with our guard duty."
"That sounds like a—" Ikkaku briefly looked up, and in doing so he stopped whatever he was about to say. "What… the hell is that thing?"
"Huh?" Iba looks up where Ikkaku was looking, and to his disbelief he finds a huge wormhole-like portal beginning to open up, unlike any Senkaimon they've ever seen… and it was showing a clear image of The World of The Living… and it was only spreading wider and wider. ''Oh, shit…"
"Wow, a Ferris Wheel!" Senna exclaims in joy as she spots a nearby Ferris Wheel where she is running towards before stopping, with Ichigo and Yoruichi following behind her. ''It's bigger than I thought! Man, I really gotta ride one of these things!"
"Yeah, that's really great…" Ichigo grumbles, having returned to his human body, with Yoruichi's help using a Memory Replacer to compensate for how he became "unconscious" the way he was.
"Oh, right!" Senna turns around and forms a sheepish smile. "What was it you guys wanted to ask me again?"
"Why did the Soul Society send in another Soul Reaper in Karakura Town?" Yoruichi asks the same question for what feels like the 3rd time. "Is it because of those things from back there?"
"I can't really keep track of little details like those…" Senna shrugs her shoulders.
"Little… details?" Yoruichi seems puzzled. Every Soul Reaper always knows what task they had once they're sent in The World of The Living, regardless even if they have a distracting, short attention span like this girl, there's no way they couldn't just not remember that. "You do realize that a Soul Reaper has to remember the stuff they're assigned to before they—"
"Hehehe!" Out of burst, Senna joyfully skips along the pavement, almost as though she's dancing. "So I forgot, what's the big deal?" She absolutely saw no issue in forgetting what her task was in being sent here. Out of curiosity, she sees a woman walking with her dog. She beams with excitement when she sees a fluffy dog. ''Oh, he's so cute!" She rushes over to the woman with her dog. "Can I pet him?"
"Uh… sure." The woman, while surprised, didn't mind the young girl. Having permission, Senna crouched down and petted the little dog, who didn't mind the gesture. Before anyone knew it, the petting was over before it began.
"Do you know what those things were back there at least?" Ichigo crosses his arms as the woman leaves with her dog.
"Haven't the slightest idea." Senna replies as she gets up.
"Well that's great." Ichigo sarcastically remarks as he makes a mock smile. ''You don't know why you're here, and you don't know what those things were, so you just get rid of them. Anything else I should add to the list."
"You're so grumpy." Senna giggles, putting her hands behind her back. "But how can I put this…" She makes a pondering face. "I just hadthis feeling I should get rid of them, you know?" She pokes her own forehead with her index finger, pondering for a moment. ''What's it called again…? Oh! Instinct! I think that's what it's called…" She giggles innocently as she starts tap dancing on the pavement.
"We're getting nowhere like this…" Yoruichi sighs. ''Hate to leave you like this, Ichigo, but I think I might have a better idea what those things were when I get back to Kisuke. You stay with that girl and don't let her out of your sight."
"You're leaving me alone with someone who doesn't even remember why they're in Karakura Town?!" Ichigo becomes flabbergasted by this.
"Pretty much." Yoruichi bluntly replies, before she turns around to look at her boyfriend. ''And next time when we have a date, hopefully it doesn't get ruined by something like this." She makes a cheeky smile before she starts sprinting, trying to find a hidden place to travel so she can use her Flash Step.
"Just my luck…" Ichigo scratches his hair. "What else can go wrong?" The teenager turns around to face Senna. ''Alright, you, it's time for—" Only to see that she was nowhere to be seen. "What the…" The realization dawns on him that she disappeared. "Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Frantic, the young man starts sprinting in hopes of finding the girl.
He runs all the way upfront, tilting his head left, right, and any other angle he could look at. Yet the strangest thing to him is he is having difficulty sensing her Spiritual Pressure. When he gets all the way to where he made it to the street, he turns around to spot Senna. "There you are!" He makes himself known, which prompts Senna to start running again.
"Geez, you sure are persistent!" Senna is somewhat annoyed, but nevertheless she found amusement in all this. "Catch me if you can!"
"Hold on a second!" Ichigo yells, hoping he could somehow stop her. Yet, somehow, the girl is outrunning him. There's no way someone in a Gigai should be able to outrun him, especially with his human body being enhanced to superhuman degrees.
He begins to run faster. Senna looks behind, and she too starts running faster, even more than he does. Ichigo becomes surprised, he never would have believed what was happening if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes. It would be so easy if he could use his webbing to put her down, but that'll obviously blow his identity.
They get to a shopping mall. "Remember when you said you'd do anything for me when I answered all your questions?!" Senna finds all this as nothing but a game to her.
"What?!" Ichigo becomes confused. What was she trying to do? If she was trying to annoy him by saying words he never said… then it was starting to work. ''I never said that at all!" Was she trying to mess with him?
"Hehehe!" Senna giggles as she somehow starts running faster. Ichigo is having difficulty keeping up, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself with his outlandish speed. ''Let's play tag! You're it!"
"I'm not in the mood to play any games!" Ichigo replies with banter, and sees Senna running off to a corner. Ichigo is keeping track… but when he gets there, he sees absolutely no signs of the girl, as if she disappeared in mid air. ''You're kidding me… I had one frigging job…" He sighs with frustration. "Hey! Senna! Come on out! I'll do what you want if you just answer my questions!"
"What's all the commotion about, Kurosaki?"
"Huh?" Ichigo turns around, and is surprised to see Toshiro and Rangiku standing in front. ''Hey! Toshiro! And Rangiku! What are you guys doing here?"
"Refer to me as Captain Hitsugaya, how many times do I have to tell you this?" Toshiro remarks in annoyance at the Substitute's lack of profession.
"Hm, hm…" Ichigo nods his head, completely ignoring what the white haired Captain was saying. "Right… So again, to make myself not look like a weirdo by talking to thin air, what are you guys doing here?"
"We need to talk…" Toshiro's stern gaze becomes serious as he folds his arms. "Come with us."
"Look, can it happen later?" Ichigo scratches the back of his head. "I'm kinda dealing with something else at the moment."
"There isn't any time. This is serious." Toshiro replies in a sharp tone before he turns around to leave, along with Rangiku.
"Oh for the love of…" Ichigo makes a frustrating sigh. He turns his head to a corner, looking upwards. ''I'll be back! Just… try not to go anywhere!" Yeah right, like that'd work. She'd use this opportunity to escape and run off to who knows where.
"I see… this is quite a peculiar situation we're in." At the Urahara shop, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai, the Soul Reapers, the Mod Souls, and Ichigo are all gathered around his table. "Since Ichigo and Yoruichi are the only ones who aren't aware of what's going on, I suppose we may as well get started." Kisuke drinks a cup of his green tea.
"At 12:50 AM today, a town appeared above the Seireitei, and we detected a trail of spiritual waves flowing into The World of The Living." Toshiro gives his report. "Shortly after that, we lost communication between our two worlds."
"So… could you add a little more detail about what you mean?" Ichigo blinks, not understanding much of what Toshiro was saying. As he was still a novice, things like this left him out of the loop. "Like… how did all this happen? What is really going on?"
"How the hell did you manage to beat Aizen?" Toshiro queers with irritation as he has his eyes closed, his eyebrows twitching.
"Now, now, let's not be so harsh to the lad here. He's still quite young, and this is the first time he's ever heard about this." Kisuke jokingly says, before the bucket hat man turns to face the orange haired youth, with Tessai coming up behind him, holding a sketchbook. "Allow me to clarify what Captain Hitsugaya is talking about." He pulls out his fan. "As you're aware, there are two realms that we know of. The World of The Living, where we are right now, and the Soul Society."
Tessai flips the page, and Ichigo sees purple finds with differently colored sketches of cartoonishly, exaggerated objects. "And between these worlds is the Dangai Precipice World which serves as a tunnel between them, and to keep these universes from colliding with one another. You already went through it a couple of times, so I'm sure you know that much at least." Kisuke explains the basics of the functional realms.
Tessai flips another page, as if perfectly synchronized with Kisuke's timing, as he reveals the same purple lines, but there were two half drawn circles that surrounded the page, and between them was a small red circle with a neutral face. "However, about several months ago, another dimension popped up between the Soul Society and The World of The Living. At first it wasn't really a concern, however over time it began to grow and grow." Tessai keeps flipping the pages, showing the red circle becoming bigger, rigorous, and more mean looking. "And not long after Aizen was sealed away, it grew so massive that it became connected like a lense between the two universes, making the Soul Society appear as though it was located in The World of The Living. In other words, it looks like a mirage."
"Uh…" Besides Ichigo struggling to follow the explanation, the drawing was making him cringe, reminding him too much of Rukia's drawings. "Basically, a new big dimension popped up, grew really big that it connects our worlds, and now it makes itself appear to both our universes like portals?"
"Exactly!" Kisuke cheerfully exclaims. ''See, he's not as clueless as he looks!"
Ichigo immediately reacts by shooting a web from his wrist, webbing Kisuke's mouth. ''Mmhm!" The former Captain tries to pull out the webbing from his mouth, only to no avail. "I take offense to that…" Ichigo snarls.
"Would you quit fooling around? This is serious." Toshiro remarks in annoyance. ''At any rate, we dispatched multiple members from the Stealth Force to investigate this dimension, but they failed and ended up dying in the process. So now we're investigating the spiritual influx waves that are coming to The World of The Living. It was decided that I would be in charge of the investigation."
"Wait… why you?" Ichigo questions the decision that the Court Guards must have made. ''I get sending someone to find Espadas and whatever, but why some transdimension whatever? Wouldn't Byakuya have been better suited for this?"
"Don't underestimate the—"
"That's because the other Captains backed down to investigate." Rangiku cuts off Toshiro, giggling to herself as she spills the beans.
"Let's stick to the important part…" Toshiro growls.
"Wait, hang on a second…" Ichigo's head perks up. "If this dimension was such a problem and was that massive, how come we didn't see anything of this dimension when we were in the Dangai the last time?"
Kisuke rips off the webbing from his mouth with his bare hand. "So you noticed it, huh? Frankly, I suspect it's because Aizen's godlike power must have kept it at bay for some time even after he left." Of course, he didn't inform them that Ichigo was also partly responsible as he subconsciously suppressed the new dimension as he kept getting stronger during his Jinzen training.
"Oh... I guess that makes sense." Ichigo nods his head, pressing his index finger and thumb against his chin.
"At any rate, it may also explain the strange creatures we just saw… which I suspect may be Blanks." Yoruichi adds, speaking for the first time since this meeting started.
"Wait... Blanks?" Ichigo looks at his girlfriend with confusion. "You mean those weird, white, red pointy hatted things we saw earlier?"
"Blanks, huh? Well that term fits the description." Kisuke answers.
"And that means the Valley of Screams." Toshiro adds.
"Uh…" Ichigo looks lost again.
"I figured that'd be your reaction, so now it's time for explanation number 2!" Kisuke jovially swings his arm as Tessai immediately prepares a different chart, as though they actually prepared for this. Tessai reveals a similar page of the two universes from before. "As you already know, souls migrate between the World of The Living and the Soul Society." Tessai draws red dots popping from within the Dangai in a circular pattern, making some of them in the Soul Society and the Living World. "From time to time, however, these souls mysteriously become detached from the Cycle of Transmigration. These souls wander aimlessly within the Dangai Precipice World, and overtime they become drawn together over a period of time. As the souls come together, it creates a new dimension." Tessai frantically keeps flipping one page to another, showing the red dots coming closer and closer, forming a red circle together, until the last page shows a weird red/green monster combination. "Hence the Valley of Screams."
There is already something that Ichigo thinks doesn't make sense. "In the Valley of Screams, the soul separates into memory and energy, then returns to the Cycle of Transmigration." Kisuke pulls himself closer, making a mock smile. "Thus turning into those white things you saw today. Are you following me so far?!"
"I think I get enough without you pulling closer like a weirdo!" Ichigo sticks his hand against Kisuke's face and smashes him through the table, breaking it completely.
"Hey! Be careful with that!" Kurodo exclaims with his hunny ears pointing upwards. ''You can't just cause property damage like that!"
"And what are you gonna do about it?" Ichigo glares at the pink animal Mod Soul.
"Uhm… well…" The Mod Soul backs away, hiding behind his companions.
"You're such a wuss…" Ririn sighs.
"So as I was saying…" Kisuke pulls himself out of Ichigo's grasp in the blink of an eye. "Ichigo, Yoruichi, what you two witnessed were undoubtedly Blanks."
"So what are these things?" Ichigo asks. "They don't have the Spiritual Pressures of Arrancars or anything I ever sensed."
"To put it bluntly, they're souls without memories." Kisuke answers.
"That's why I told you not to cut them down unless it was necessary. I had a strong suspicion that they were Blanks, but I wanted to make sure I was correct." Yoruichi remarks.
"There's something I don't get… from the way you described how these... Valleys or whatever… are made just of souls fusing themselves? How does that work?" Ichigo asks in confusion.
"Honestly, not really sure. I suspect it's something within the essence of the soul itself, and a strong, unwavering desire to return their memories so that they give up their energy to create a new world. Of course, that's just a theory, one that's the least of our concerns." Kisuke shrugs, not paying much heed to this part. "Anything else?"
"You said the souls without memories go back to the Transmigration, and if their energies are fused, then what about the memories?" Ichigo asks again.
"The memories remerge together into one entity and return to the World of The Living. It's called a Shinenju. Think of it like a jewel that acts as a collection of memories. Though it's a bit more complicated than that." Kisuke is now looking underneath his note, his mood becoming more serious.
"How so?"
"You could also say the Shinenju is formed by the overwhelming density of the gravitational pull caused by the inner essence of the souls forming together that allowed this Valley of Screams to form to begin with. Do you remember how the Bounts threatened to fuse Hueco Mundo with the Living World if they had continued to absorb living souls?" Kisuke promptly asks.
"Yeah? It's been a while, but I remember something like that." Ichigo answers, remembering back when he was still dealing with the Bounts and learning more of the spiritual world. It makes him wonder just how vast it truly was with all these threats coming one after another?
"Good, think of it like that. Then you also have the Spirit Class." Once again, confusion spreads on the young man's face. "Before you ask, Spirit Class was an old way used by the Nobles to scale the density of Spiritual Pressure within Reishi. A Seated Officer has a 20th class Reishi, a Lieutenant has 5th or 4th class Reishi, depending who they are of course, and Captain class Soul Reapers have Spirit Class of 2nd class Reishi. So… if you take all that and add in how the Valley of Screams is born…"
"Then the density of the dimension of Valley of Screams produced by those Blanks, combined with the amount of memories someone would have to produce a being like that…" Ichigo is doing the math in his head. ''Then this Shinenju would have to be incredibly powerful…"
"I'm not so sure about the last part…" Kisuke tips his hat. ''The Shinenju would have to have been made just recently, and it's possible they may not even be aware of who they are. It also may be possible that's why this particular Valley of Screams took so long to produce the way it has. But… if they were to discover their origin and the level of density it possesses… it may just be possible we're dealing with someone who's almost half as dangerous as Aizen."
Silence fills the room at the mere mention of the man's name, as though it were a forbidden word that should never be spoken out loud. "In any case…" Kisuke continues. "The appearance of the Valley of Screams is not really an issue. They're a natural, occurring phenomenon. But the main problem is that this one is like an anomaly. Each Valley of Screams depends on size, from the smallest of sub quantoms to whatever this monstrosity is, connecting the two worlds, something that should never happen."
"The Valley of Screams are supposed to be harmless, so for this to have extended to such a magnitude that it's causing major damage, there's no way this is being done on its own. Someone is deliberately doing this on purpose." Toshiro adds on, giving out the most likely scenario.
"So do you know what they want?" Ichigo asks.
"It's a little hard to tell, I mean, after dealing with Aizen, who knows what they really want to accomplish by doing this. However, I am convinced that whatever plan he, she, or they are planning revolves around getting the Shinenju to further their goals. That theory makes the most amount of sense." Kisuke speculates.
"Which reminds me... Captain Hitsugaya, was there anybody that the Soul Society recently sent to guard over Karakura Town, besides the one we already have?" Yoruichi asks, as it is now her turn to ask a series of questions.
"Hm? Not as far as I'm aware. These days, Karakura Town is supposed to be under the supervision of Captain Ukitake's squad." Toshiro answers. ''Why ask?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that she didn't even know why she was sent here to begin with?" This provokes deep silence within the group.
"Pardon?" Toshiro nearly blinks, not believing what he was hearing.
"And believe me, it's not some lie. When you hang around long enough with someone like Kisuke, and being a former leader of the Stealth and Punishment Force, I'm a master of detecting lies, though I'm not as good as Kisuke is with it." The blonde haired shopkeeper sheepishly chuckles. "This girl just got rid of the Blanks that made her act on pure instinct, she doesn't even know why she was sent here nor who did it, and if I didn't know better she might not even know what squad she belongs to."
"Tell me about it." Ichigo rolls his eyes. ''Dealing with that girl was a pain in the neck. You ask one question and she just completely forgets literally seconds what happened after. It's like dealing with a human goldfish."
"So what are you trying to get at here…?" Toshiro questions, not understanding just where the former leader of Squad 2 was heading with this.
"When you come back to the Soul Society, could you check on every list of a female Soul Reaper by the name of Senna? If it helps, the name of her Zanpakuto is Mirokumaru, and her Spiritual Pressure is equivalent to that of a Lieutenant." Yoruichi gives as much info as she can. "Because something about that girl gives me a bad feeling, so if you don't mind, I'd like you to check out if there's any Sohl Reaper who fits that description."
"I'll tell you this much, there's definitely no-one like that in my squad, but I'll double check." Toshiro replies.
"So, is that all?" Kisuke makes the question to see if there is any more info anyone wanted to speak their mind. There don't appear to be any. ''Well since we got all that out of the way… Ichigo, I want you and Yoruichi to keep an eye on the Shinenju, and split up to cover a wider area."
"Fine by me." Yoruichi shrugs her shoulders as she gets up.
"Yeah, sure." Ichigo speaks sarcastically. "Let's find someone who claims to be the Shinenju in a city filled with thousands of people, that'll work out just great."
The Spider fires a web at one of the lower regions of Karakura, swinging over it several times before he lets go to gain higher altitude in the air. As this was one of the lower buildings, it was difficult for him to navigate by like this. It would have been easier for Ichigo to go into his Soul body and try to locate Senna, but that'd be needlessly wasting energy while carrying his human body, and he didn't feel like running on foot, so he decided the best course would be to web swing across the same place he was at to track Senna.
Plus, he wanted to try out his new suit that Black Cat made for him… after giving him a good smack or two of demanding explanations where he's been missing for nearly a month and a half. The truth was… a bit complicated. Unlike his previous vigilante suits that consisted of regular clothing and hoodies, this suit is primarily black in color, with a striking red spider symbol on his entire upper body, along with his back but on a smaller scale, as well as red eye lenses, evoking a darker look than his previous suits, and along with it being professionally made as well.
Though he thinks he could use a little more red… not that he'd complain to the woman. But right now, finding Senna was his top priority. 'Yeah right.' The dark hero rolls his eyes behind the mask, which expresses no movements from his lenses. 'What are the odds of me finding this girl in the same place she definitely ran off to?' The teenager tilts his head, as if trying to see if the girl was there. 'Her Spiritual Pressure is hard to sense… So how do I find someone who's supposed to be far away?'
Suddenly, an idea he had long forgotten came forth to his head. He had only done this once to find Chad's parakeet, back when he was starting out as a Substitute Soul Reaper. And back when he had to find his original blade when his Inner World was collapsing. 'Oh, duh! I practically forgot about this! The ribbons! Even if this Senna girl is on the other side of the town, with her as a Soul Reaper, I should be able to find her pretty easily.' The teenager closes his eyes and begins to focus on tracking Senna's Spirit Ribbon.
Despite not having used this in a while, the sensation felt similar to locating Spiritual Pressures in general. In mere seconds, the young man feels the ribbons surrounding him… only to find that the person he is trying to look for has far too many ribbons. Ichigo begins to feel sick, a sense of overwhelm taking over his being. "Gah!" He puts his hand on his forehead, feeling a headache, as though a freight car hit his head. He disperses the technique, letting go of its usage.
Ichigo cringes as he crutches his teeth. ''What the hell was that…?" He asks, making a pant. 'I never felt that before. It's like all those ribbons were—'
He stops his train of thought when he sees Senna, standing on top of a roof. As there was a skit going on, the others down below notice the girl, wondering how she got up there, though they didn't mind, thinking this was some part of an act. 'What the hell is she doing there…?' The costumed vigilante thinks in confusion.
She begins to walk on a string where down below all the lightbulbs turn on. This completely catches attention on everybody down below, and some of the cameramen on the second floor of the balcony focus their attention on Senna. Ichigo hastens his breath, being concerned with the girl's safety. Gigai or not, the girl's personality makes him think she's clumsy with stuff like this, so if she falls down…
Yet, the strangest thing was that she seems to be off in her world, concerned with absolutely nothing. Ichigo watches her, beginning to feel entranced by her performance, Ichigo couldn't help but notice how pretty she looks. With the dark atmosphere, and the faint lights shining towards her, she simply looks… dazzling… letting his guard down.
She mutters something, but Ichigo couldn't make out what she was saying. She elegantly takes several more steps… right before she seemingly loses her balance and falls down. The people below gasp in fear, some of their minds still not registering in their brain what was happening.
Ichigo widens his eyes, and his muscles tense, springing in action. "You idiot!" He yells, firing his webline to save the falling girl. Before his web could touch her, her body simply disappears by turning into leaves, flowing out through the wind. "Huh…?" The vigilante feels stumped, and when he is heading towards the crowd, he instinctively catches the wire, makes a backflip before letting go, making a higher leap as he safely lands over the crowd. "How did… where did…?" Some of them were looking at him, but he couldn't care less. He is simply confused as to where the girl might have disappeared.
"Ta-da!" Turns out, she was standing right behind him. The Spider becomes startled as he looks behind him, Senna being perfectly unharmed as she starts waving her hand as though nothing had happened. The crowd turns around, momentarily shocked, only for them to get over that and begin clapping, praising the girl for the magnificent act she pulled that fooled everyone. "Glad you liked the show!" Senna cheerfully exclaims. She then leans down towards the masked vigilante. ''By the way, I dunno what's with the lame costume, but I suggest you take that off, carrot-top."
Ichigo widens his eyes. He really shouldn't be surprised, after all she must have sensed his Spiritual Pressure and knew exactly who he was immediately. ''Yeah, yeah. Look, how about we stop this stupid game and I will treat you for dinner if you stop running."
"Wow, really?!" Senna's eyes glow with stars.
"Not so loud!" Ichigo loudly whispers. "I have a secret to maintain here! Oh, just come with me!" Being impatient, he grabs the girl's hand and fires a web. "Sorry, folks! Show's over!" He yells out as he swings away, with Senna screaming in joy.
"Aw, man!" A man who originally made a skid, with his clothes off except his robe that covers his lower regions complains. ''That girl completely out staged us!"
"Wow, this looks really good!" Senna seems delighted as she sits on a chair, before her was a plate of food consisting of fries and several sandwiches. "Can't believe you're actually willing to go this far just to get me to answer some questions." She takes a bite from one of the sandwiches. She was at a small restaurant with Ichigo. "What was it you wanted to ask again?" She cluelessly asks.
"I. Just. Explained this." Ichigo questions how the Soul Reaper even managed to last for a few hours without causing trouble. He wonders if she has some ADHD… actually can Soul Reapers even get that stuff? Doesn't matter now. "The Blanks and the Shinenju. Do I have to go over this entire thing again? My throat is already dry from explaining this the first time."
"Can't you just summarize it?" Senna eats the whole sandwich in a minute.
Ichigo wants to bang his head against the table. "Ok... The Blanks are those white things with pointy heads that are without memories, and the Shinenju is like the main source that contains all those memories."
"See, that wasn't so hard." Senna gives a mocking grin.
"Don't push it." Ichigo growls as he takes a cup of his drink. ''So you know absolutely nothing about these guys?"
"Nope." Senna takes a bite of her fries. "I would if I could, but this is the first time I heard of these guys. Especially this, uh, Shine… mebang?"
"Shinenju." ichigo sternly corrects her. ''Come on, even I can remember this stuff."
"Ichigo?"
The man turns around, and to his surprise he sees Gwen standing in front, with a purse hanging over her shoulder. "Gwen, uh… what are you doing here?" He asks.
"I was just running by to get some shopping done." Gwen answers, seemingly stumped at what she was seeing. ''What are you doing here?" She looks at Senna. "And you're… having dinner?"
Senna giggles. Ichigo rolls his eyes. "It's not a date. It's just some of my work from the other side. Nothing really dangerous, unless you count her as one." He points his thumb towards the purple haired girl.
"Oh… well, good luck, and try not to go overboard." Gwen makes a polite bow to leave before she walks away from the two of them.
"So, who was that?" Senna teases. "Your girlfriend?"
"I… well…" Ichigo scratches the back of his head. "I guess to simplify things, you could say that."
"Wait, seriously?!" Senna begins to laugh. "You are joking, right? How does a girlfriend react to seeing her boyfriend having dinner with another girl she's never met!?" She continues laughing.
"There's a reason for that, and it's none of your business." Ichigo scoffs. "But that doesn't matter. Just tell me, is there literally anything at all you know about the Blanks and the Shinenju?"
"I would if I could, but I'm honest, I really don't know a thing. Can you give a clue as to what this, uh, Shine… membab looks like?"
"We're not sure. That's what we're trying to figure out." Ichigo answers her.
"So what will you do when you catch this Shinen-thingy?" Senna asks, finishing her cup of juice.
"I can't say for sure unless we know what this Shinenju is all about. For all we know, he could be evil." Ichigo crosses his arms.
"So, ignoring your weird situation with your girlfriend for a moment—" Senna puts her drink down. "—You're basically as clueless as I am when it comes to those pointy hat things and this Shinen-whatever. Sheesh, you're practically wasting both of our time like this."
"Why you…!" Ichigo's eye twitches in agitation.
"Sounds to me you're gonna have to wait for those weird things to pop out. So unless you have a better idea, I'm all ears." Senna rests her elbows on the table, as though mocking Ichigo with her grin. "Actually, tell you what, since I don't have much to do here, I'll help you out!"
"Wait… seriously?" Ichigo seems dubious. After all, she was just mocking and now wants to help him? To him it seemed as though she was rubbing salt in his wounds.
"There's just one little condition…" Senna closes her index finger, pressing it against her thumb to form a small circle.
"I fucking knew it," Ichigo silently groans. ''Fine, what is it?"
"You gotta take me to that!" Senna gets up from her chair, pushing it back as she excitingly points her finger behind Ichigo, quite above.
"Huh?" Ichigo looks behind him to see what she could possibly be pointing at. To his dismay, he notices the Ferris Wheel after a few seconds. ''No way, I am not taking you—" He looks back at Senna, only to see her standing on a chair. "—Will you get down from there? What is it with you and heights?"
"I dunno…" Senna replies earnestly. "I just… really like it when I'm way up high. Everything that seems confusing or messed up," She looks behind. ''Suddenly become clear to me."
Ichigo is ready to scold her, as it was indecent and potentially get them kicked out if she kept acting that way. Then he sees the color of her ribbon. If he remembers correctly, the color was different from their first meeting. ''Wait a minute… did you change your ribbon?"
"Oh, you finally noticed!" Senna gets down on the ground, looking at Ichigo. ''You like it? You gotta admit, the red looks way better than the yellow, don't ya think?"
"I guess so." Ichigo numbly replies. But something is puzzling his mind. "Except… how did you get that without any money? You can't even pay for your own food."
"Oh, that?" Senna blinks. ''I wandered into some shop to look at some stuff, and when I saw this I decided to put it on and see if I liked it. I guess I must have forgotten I had it on." She shrugs. "It happens all the time."
"Oh no, you did not just do that." Ichigo gets up from his seat and firmly grabs Senna's hand, surprising her. "You're going to tell me exactly where you got that. Now." He leads her away from their mini restaurant.
"Aren't you gonna pay for the check?" Senna asks in confusion.
"Gah!" Having completely forgotten, Ichigo goes back to their table, pulls out the money from his pocket and puts it on the table before leaving again.
"Hi, I'd like to buy this." Ichigo puts Senna's unofficial red ribbon on the check from the store that she thankfully got it right the first time, and even more glad that the workers didn't notice it was missing.
"Ah, a present for your girlfriend?" The clerk teases Ichigo, having noticed the lavender haired girl behind Ichigo when they entered.
"Let's just put it like that." Ichigo makes a small blush. He did think of another excuse, but something in his head told him not to do that, as it'd be straight up weird. He wasn't in any mood to put up with this anyway.
"Shall I gift wrap it for you?" The clerk asks.
"Thanks, but I'm kind of in a hurry." Ichigo answers. The accountant moves away, and Ichigo turns around to glare at Senna, who was snooping around, and having been caught red handed, she stops, making an embarrassing chuckle.
After about a couple of minutes, the ribbon is safely put inside a package, and Ichigo takes it. ''Thank you very much, I hope she likes it~" The clerk giggles as she sees the two leaving the shop.
After moving away from the shop and stopping towards the second floor. ''Here, take it. It's now yours." Ichigo passes the present to Senna, who takes it with her hands.
"I can't believe you actually did that. You're so uptight, y'know that?" Senna says.
"No, it's called being a decent person. What you did is steal. And if the people working there noticed, they could check with their security cameras and see who took it. Having security on your tail is the last thing I need." Ichigo rolls his eyes, giving his reasoning.
"Whatever, I'd have had it either way." Senna crosses her arms before she starts giggling. "So, about the Ferris Wheel—"
"No way, I don't think I even have money to buy much anymore." Ichigo rejects.
"Liar! Do you want me to help you out with this or not?!" Senna sticks her tongue out.
"You do realize a high schooler isn't made out of money, y'know?" Ichigo makes a quizzical look.
"Tell that to your Seireitei account!" Senna stomps her feet against the floor, going away from Ichigo. "And I'm just going to the restroom! You won't have a problem with that, right?!"
A woman's restroom is a dangerous place for any man to storm over, so Ichigo decides to say nothing. 'Seireitei account? What the hell is she talking about?' Ichigo thinks as he scratches his hair.
Senna enters the restroom, dancing and tiptoeing around, without a care if there was anyone else with her. A free spirit. She unwraps her present and puts the ribbon on. "Honestly… he's not such a bad guy." Senna remarks, thinking of Ichigo. "He's a little strict, but there's something about him…"
She finishes her wrapping. "Sweet!" She exclaims in joy before exiting the restroom by dancing her way out. Ignoring the crowd around here, she sets her path towards Ichigo, until something particular catches her attention.
There is a window, but beyond that there was the river that she somehow feels a connection towards. 'That river…' She thinks to herself, remembering her past when she was alive. Every day, she would joyfully welcome her father home… until she… phases right through him, making him disappear.
Another memory. It was a funeral, and there were prayers being held for what seemed to be her… father's? That couldn't be right.
There was another one, and… it was her as a boy? During some sort of… celebration?
As dense as Senna could be, even she knew this makes no sense. There was only one answer to make sense out of this confusion, and that was to visit the graveyard.
Ichigo has been waiting for what felt like an eternity, and frankly he was starting to get sick of waiting. ''For fuck's sake…" He mutters. "How long does it take for a girl to put on a ribbon?!"
He was ready to get to the restroom… when he felt that all the noise the crowd made seconds ago had vanished into nothingness. Confused, Ichigo looks around the corner, only to find nobody at all. He looks around, only to see that the crowd that practically engulfed the mall is reduced to barely a few people or more.
"What the hell…?" Ichigo mutters. ''This place was practically alive a minute ago."
People don't just disappear like that. Especially when you can't find them anywhere in such a conspicuous area. Suddenly, Ichigo feels something was very wrong, as though Senna's Spiritual Pressure is weighing down, but not in a typical way where one was stronger, this is different.
The teenager scowls, sensing that Senna's Spiritual Pressure was in great strain. He needs to go after her.
It was dangerously dark in the night, something a person of their own should not be traveling by themselves. The dark clouds were murky, and there weren't many to begin with. Traffic lights blink as cars are allowed to pass by, but none of that matters to Senna, who enters the graveyard and walks around, clocking her head to look where her father's funeral was at.
As she gets closer, another memory opens in her mind. It is the same scene as before, of the funeral procedure, the same people, and the same prayer… except it wasn't quite what it seemed. Instead of her father, it was her funeral that was being held, with her father being the one holding the picture of her while her mother was breaking down crying.
"Wait… this is… my funeral?" The young girl mutters in confusion, with a hint of fear passing on to her. None of this was making any sense.
As she is dazed, she fails to notice a Blank crawling from her side, grabbing her shoulder. The chilly, sudden contact makes Senna shriek in shock as she stumbles backwards. Suddenly, several more Blanks appear out of thin air, floating towards Senna. The girl becomes increasingly uneasy, unsure of what to do, but to her confusion, the Blanks just stop, only staring at her.
When looking up, she instinctively leaps backwards a few times when a hulking figure appears out of thin air, striking her down with a weapon, only to no avail. "My, it seems you have better reflexes than I thought." The figure was a dark skinned, hulking figure that stood at 6'5, wearing strange green clothes and dark armor with a couple of red straps to support it.
Senna exits out of her Gigai, yet strangely her fake body didn't drop down like any other Gigai, rather it disappeared from existence as she enters her spiritual form. "Who are you?!" She demands to know as she holds the handle of her sword.
"There's no need to worry, I am simply an escort. Our commander, Ganryu, has issued orders to summon you." The strange man replies.
"Summon me? Just who is this guy?! I've never heard of him in my life!" Senna exclaims in annoyance, feeling frantic at the thought of cutting this man down.
"That information is irrelevant. Just come with me and there will be no harm done upon you." The man calmly says.
"Jai!" Senna widens her eyes as she looks behind to see several more members just like the man who stands before her. ''We told you not to waste time talking with her."
"Besides, you of all people should know better than to make an entrance like that. It's bound to get attention." A lavender haired woman scolds her teammate.
"Hahaha!" Senna looks back to see the Jai laughing briefly. "Don't worry, this will only take a second."
Wasting no time, Senna draws upon the leaves to blind her enemy. She leaps at the so-called Jai, drawing her sword as a way to cut him down. To her surprise, Jai easily blocks her attack with his own weapon. ''Stop, that really tickles." Jai humors the girl, before he executes a punch against her gut, sending her rolling down against the ground before lying on her back. She gasps when she sees the large man jumping at her, landing in between her sides before grabbing her throat with the same hand he punched her earlier with.
"Come on, are you done already? We're late as it is." One of the other mysterious members urges him to finish up.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm done already." He looks at the girl within his fearsome grip. ''Come on, girlie, we're leaving."
"What's this? Are you guys having a party?"
"Hm?" Jai looks over, only to see nobody.
"Down here. I know you're big, but does it compensate for the lack of brain cells you have?" Jai looks down, now seeing a smirking Ichigo holding his Zanpakuto. "There you go, that wasn't so hard now."
"Wait… you're the—" Before Jai can finish his sentence, Ichigo draws his blade and brutally cuts down Jai's arm, letting go of Senna. "AAAAAARGH!" Jai falls down screaming in pain. ''MY ARM!" Blood spews out uncontrollably from the chopped arm, spraying it on both Ichigo and Senna.
"Honestly, now look at what you did." Ichigo cracks his neck. "My blade is all dirty. How come you going to the restroom turned into this all of a sudden?"
"I…" Senna looks down on what seems to be of guilt before she glares at her savior. "Why don't you mind your own business?!"
"What, you wanted me to let them capture you?" Ichigo sarcastically asks before looking at Jai. ''Come on, big guy, you can do it. Losing your arm can't be that painful, can it?"
"You…" Jai struggles to stand up. "You… cocky, son of a bitch, I'm gonna tear you limb from—"
"Jai!" The other male member exclaims as he stands up. "Forget it, it's too late anyway. The time isn't right yet." He says, as he and the rest disappear through mysterious shadows engulfing them.
"Huh?" Ichigo is confused by this. ''Time? Time for what?" He looks at Jai, who is also disappearing from the shadows. "Hey, wait!" He tries to reach for his arm, only to fail as Jai also disappears. "What the hell is going on here…?" Not wanting to sheath his Zanpakuto yet, he hangs it over his shoulder.
It's a good thing he came by… something else is now happening.
Phew, this took longer than I wanted it to, but I felt this was a proper way to finish this chapter off. Right now the current arc is the first Bleach movie, Memories of Nobody. Just to make this clear, this has a different continuity to fit within the fic rather than what the Canon established as.
When rewatching the movie, there's something funny I noticed. From what I've seen a lot of people believe this takes place after the Soul Society arc but before the Arrancar arc. However, this wouldn't be true in universe as if that were the case, Ichigo would have been shocked at Rukia using her powers which is what completely shocked him in the beginning of the Arrancar arc, so the continuity of that wouldn't fit.
My personal theory is that this takes place after the first Grimmjow fight but before Ichigo goes to the Vizards, since that'd make the most amount of sense timeline wise, and we never see White or the Hollow Mask manifesting in the movie. Granted out of universe it could potentially be an inconsistency since when the movie was made, it wasn't been considered Canon yet by Kubo.
But for the sake of the fic, this takes after the Arrancar arc only for the continuity of the fic. So yeah, some bits of changes here and there since I wasn't sure what needed to be changed much. I got Yoruichi instead of Rukia just so to show the bonding time between her and Ichigo due to the lemon from 2 chapters ago… also that it's weird Yoruichi never once showed up during the movie. I didn't include Kon in this since by the end of the Arrancar arc and what's shown in the Blood War arc, he was captured and experimented on by Squad 12… though it didn't seem so horrific considering his reaction. And I had to include the Mod Souls from the Bount arc considering they are Canon within this story. Oh, and the introduction of the Spirit Class being presented much earlier, since those are a thing in the Hell Chapter
Just to let you know, this arc isn't gonna be as long as in the movie. At most it'll last another 2 more chapters before it's finished, with some big changes here and there. After this is concluded, we'll move on to the last bits of the Spider-Man vigilante stuff, and then the Fullbringer arc. So until then, see you all next time, and please make sure to give reviews, follows and favorites for feedback.