Shinigami IF[Bleach/Re: Zero] - Chapter 1

"I just hope it's one of theirs and not some weird stuff," Ichigo Kurosaki said to himself as he looked down at the cross in the palm of his hands and as he walked through the streets of Karakura Town, the chilly December air whipping against his face as the lights of the street lamps shone down on him, the sun already set.

And that cross wasn't just a normal cross.

It was a Quincy Cross.

One that Ichigo had found in a box in the attic when he had gone to pick up the Christmas decorations for his sisters so that they could get started on that.

But when he had done so one of the other boxes had tipped over and out it had fallen.

Which had left Ichigo very confused.

Because why the hell would there be a bloody Quincy Cross in their home?

It made no sense to him.

So that was why Ichigo was currently on his way to talk to his friend Uryu Ishida and his Father as they were the only Quincys left in existence.

He couldn't talk to Goat-face about it as he wasn't currently in Karakura Town and even if he went to him about it... Ichigo wasn't sure that he would give a straight answer as to why there was a Quincy Cross in their house.

So yeah, that was why he was currently walking through the streets of Karakura Town at like seven in the evening.

Hoping he would get an answer.

Though as he walked Ichigo suddenly let out a yawn, one so strong it forced the former Substitute Shinigami to force his eyes shut. "Augh, must be more tired than I thought," He said; he knew that he hadn't been sleeping well for the past year, one didn't really come out of such an experience without a few consistent nightmares.

Ichigo opened his eyes.

And closed them.

And opened them.

And closed them.

And opened them.

And did that a few more times just to make sure he hadn't just started hallucinating on the spot.

For Ichigo wasn't looking at the streets of Karakura Town anymore but rather an open plaza filled to the brim with people that had not been there before.

And now the sun was shining down on him and he could feel that the temperature was now about twenty or so Celcius rather than the five they had been before. Which made Ichigo instantly feel stuffy in the black jacket that he was currently wearing.

And in response to all of this Ichigo Kurosaki had only one reaction.

"What the fuck?" He asked in complete shock as he just stared at… was that a lizard man?

His thoughts had grounded to a complete halt as he now saw among the humans , humanoid animals and…

Yeah, that was a carriage he could see being pulled by what looked to be a massive lizard.

"How did I?" Ichigo asked himself as he began to walk, and it was just so that he had something to do as his mind tried to comprehend what had just happened.

How?

Why?

What?

Again how? Those were the loops Ichigo's mind was making as he walked on the cobblestone paths that this very old ass European city had for roads instead of asphalt.

At least it looked European to Ichigo's mind- the architecture looked similar to the pictures of various old English Towns he had seen online for that one English Class project.

And again the question was where was he?

For Ichigo could obviously guess he was not on Earth anymore as animal people did not exist… Well, Captain Kurama notwithstanding.

He really didn't know anything about the man and Ichigo could guess if there was one there was more. So okay it was more obvious to say that there were no animal people among the living, at least.

Ichigo was still at a loss for words.

And to make it even worse it seemed while he could understand what everyone around him said Ichigo couldn't actually read the language going by the few signs he had taken a look at in an attempt to know where he was.

And so after half an hour of trying to figure the fuck out where he was and failing Ichigo found a small side alley where he could sit and think on the steps that were there.

"Again how the fuck did this happen," Ichigo said to himself as he buried his face in his hands, left out a frustrated sigh, and began to think, and as he did something about his situation started to seem familiar like he had heard of something like this before. But that couldn't be, right? Could it?

People just didn't randomly just get teleported to another world…

"Isekai?" Ichigo said to himself as he remembered a conversation he had with Keigo at the start of October.

"Man that Genre has really taken off hasn't it?"

"What Genre Keigo?"

"Oh hey Ichigo, just looking at the list of up-and-coming Anime, and it looks a lot of are going to be Isekais."

"Another World? How is that a genre?"

"Well, it's more like a descriptor for a certain kind of work where some loser from our world gets sent to a fantasy world, where he becomes overpowered and gets a harem of cute girls."

"People want to watch that garbage?"

"Hey, people like a good power fantasy. But I guess Mr. Shakespeare wants more class in his anime?"

"Damn right I do, if I wanted to watch low-brow trash to make myself feel better, I'd watch my dad make a fool of himself."

"Oof, brutal as always Ichigo, but if you're not careful you might be the one getting Isekai'd next! But I guess you already have if that counts."

"No, it doesn't, and also funny. Anyway, I got those tickets for the concert."

"That is great!"

"Damn you Keigo," Ichigo growled as he cursed his friend and himself for taunting the universe like that. Since while it had taken a while to strike at him, it had done so already. And honestly, Ichigo didn't think it was that impossible to be 'Isekai'd' as Keigo had declared it.

He had already dealt with a lot of fantastical stuff last year.

Being a 'God of Death' and all that, even if temporarily or actual Godhood even more temporarily. And at the thought of his lost Shinigami powers, Ichigo felt his spirit fall a bit.

"Well, I get nothing done by sitting around, going to have to find a way back home or at least find a way to live until Hat-n-clogs finds me," Ichigo said to himself as he clapped his cheeks since knew that if he couldn't find a way to get back home, Urahahara would be able to get to him.

At that Ichigo stood up from the stairs and was about to leave the alleyway but three dudes that looked shadier than any of the thugs back home blocked his exit.

"Well look at what we've got here." Said the smallest of three.

"A helpless straggler." Said the lanky one.

"One all alone on our turf." The final and largest one finished.

"Are you trying to mug me?" Ichigo asked in surprise, for this was certainly a first.

None had actively tried to rob him before.

This was a novel experience.

"Are you an idiot?" Shorty asked.

"Of course we are?" Biggy said angrily.

"So hand over the goods, you look wealthy," Lanky demanded as he pulled out a knife, and it looked like he was the only one that was actually armed.

And here Ichigo thought he was going to get a genuine workout

"Well you asked for it," Ichigo said as put the Quincy Cross around his neck along with the other necklace he was currently wearing.

"Hey you're not supposed to put that thing around your neck, you're supposed to give it to us!" Shorty shouted as Ichigo got closer to them.

"That was not what I meant when I said 'you asked for it,'" Ichigo retorted as he quickly grabbed Lanky's right wrist with his left hand before slamming his elbow into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Gargh!" Was the grunt the thug let out as Ichigo quickly grabbed the arm with both of his hands and pulled him over the shoulder and slammed him onto the ground.

"Chin!" The other two thugs cried out at once as Ichigo quickly took the knife from him, thinking it could come in handy. Though they didn't get to react further as he quickly delivered a swift uppercut to Biggy's chin knocking him out and then took shorty out of the picture with a swift kick to the gut.

"Thank you, delinquents, of Karakura town, for keeping me in shape for the past year," Ichigo said as he went down and picked up the blade's accompanying sheath from Chin. "And let this be a lesson not to try and mug everybody you see."

"Wow, you guys suck as usual," Came the voice of a young-sounding girl from above and Ichigo quickly looked up to see, said girl, in the air above him. And he was able to see as she looked down at him that she had red eyes and blond hair, who quickly landed behind Ichigo. "I am going to leave her to you carrot top!"

"Hey don't call me that!" Ichigo shouted back as he stood back up to question her further about what she meant, but the rather agile girl disappeared up one of the buildings with extreme parkour skills. "Damn, I think even Yoruichi would be impressed by that."

Though before he could do anything else Ichigo heard another female voice speak up.

"Hey get back here you thief!" And Ichigo turned around to see…

Probably the prettiest woman he had ever seen in his entire life, and he did specifically mean pretty and not most sexy as in his opinion those were two entirely different aspects of beauty. Yurichi and Rangiku were classified as sexy beauties in his mind, while Rukia and this girl gave the feeling of looking at a perfect winter landscape for some reason.

I.e. Pretty.

"You!" She declared as she pointed her palm at Ichigo. "Give me back my Insignia!"

"Huh? What do you mean? What insignia?" Ichigo asked in confusion.

"Don't play coy with me, I heard her shout for a carrot top to handle me, and you're the only one with orange hair here. So you're obviously with her and you even hurt these poor people already, have you no shame?" The silver-haired girl accused Ichigo as she pointed at the thugs Ichigo had just beaten to a pulp while her amethyst eyes glared at him.

And with those words it clicked for Ichigo what had just happened to him.

He had been thrown ass first under the bus by that blond-haired thief.

"Hey, you've got it all wrong!" Ichigo quickly responded as he held his hands up in defense. "I am not with her, and these guys tried to mug me first, I just defended myself."

"Puck, is he telling the truth?" The girl asked and Ichigo was confused for a second as he couldn't see another person besides them and the three stooges.

But Ichigo got his thoughts answered rather quickly as besides the white-dressed girl appeared a… creature that looked similar to a cat, which floated quietly in the air.

And here Ichigo thought he had seen everything.

"He is speaking the truth Lia, I am not detecting any malicious thoughts or intent from him so he is definitely not against you," The cat creature he assumed to be Puck spoke with a child-like voice but one that spoke of great age to Ichigo's ears, something he could only detect thanks to having talked with people that were old as dirt.

"Oh! I am sorry then, I just heard her shout and then saw you standing over them…" Lia as that was what Puck had called her, gestured to the downed thugs. "With a weapon in hand, I thought…"

Yeah, she didn't need to finish that sentence.

"Yeah I can see how you would make that conclusion," Ichigo agreed as he now took the sheathed knife and pocketed it in his jacket's inner pocket.

Now glad for those very big pockets.

"So if you're not with her why did she call you out?" Lia asked in confusion.

"Probably to do exactly this, get you occupied with me so she could get away," And after he had said that, Ichigo saw what was probably the cutest face of anger he had ever seen.

"Argh and I fell for it, never going to catch her now and get my Insignia back now," She grumbled.

"Hey don't be like that, we're going to get it back," Ichigo said.

"We?" Lia asked.

"Yeah it's kinda my fault, so I should help you out in getting that back," Ichigo answered as it looked like she needed help, and he had nothing else to do.

"Really, you would help me out?" She asked in surprise.

"Why would I not?"

"Because I'm a half-elf," She responded and Ichigo winced internally at that. So it seemed that racial discrimination was alive and well in this world as well. And it seemed that Tolkien had been very correct in his description of elves in his works if Lia's looks were anything to go by.

"Well I don´t care about that," Ichigo replied, making her look at him with wide eyes of surprise. "You need help, so I am going to help you."

"T-thank you," Lia stuttered for a bit. "Uhmm…"

"Right the name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and your name is Lia, right? That is what the cat there said," Ichigo asked.

"The name is Puck buddy and I am not a cat, I'm a Great Spirit. So you better keep your promise to my daughter or else," Puck said in a threatening tone. Which Ichigo could tell the little guy could back up. He had to ask what a Great Spirit actually was later. Because he certainly didn't look like the kind of 'spirit' he was familiar with.

"Daughter?" Ichigo asked.

"Ahh, it's eh, it's a long story," Lia responded. "And my name isn't Lia, it's just a nickname Puck gave me."

"Alright, I won't ask, I am just a stranger helping you out, I don't expect you to give me your life story," Ichigo replied. "And if you don't want to give it, I can just keep calling you Lia if you want," Ichigo said as he didn't want to push her, his mother had raised him better than that.

"My name is Satella," She answered.

"Okay," Ichigo replied not sure why Lia gave such an obvious lie but he assumed she had her reason for doing so. So he wasn't going to budge on it.

"So how do we go about getting that thief? There is no way we can catch up to her now?" She asked after she blinked a few times at the non-reaction to her saying that her 'name' was Satella.

"Well from her words, I think she knew these three idiots, so let's ask her where she would probably go to hide or fence her stuff," Ichigo suggested as he gestured to the three thugs who were still knocked out.

"Ah, I had completely forgotten about them!" Lia said in embarrassment.

"So yeah, let's get them tied and get questions answered," Ichigo said.

"Ah, shit what the hell do you want with us?" Chin asked the only one out of the three that had woken up, with all three now bound in ice shackles that Puck had conjured up. Which had fully confirmed for Ichigo that magic did exist in this new world that he had ended up in.

"I just need to get information from you, so you better have answers or Puck here is going to turn you into an ice sculpture," Ichigo said while Puck menacingly lowered the temperature a few degrees.

Very different from what little Ichigo knew about Kido.

"Oh shit a spirit," Chin said in complete and utter fear of the floating fluff ball and then his eyes darted to Lia, and Ichigo saw the color of his face drain even further. "Witch."

And immediately Ichigo sensed the mood change as he heard Lia take a step away from Chin. Ichigo didn't know the context of why he had called her that, but it was easy to tell that it was a slur of some kind, as one didn't just call a person a Witch for no reason.

"Please don't hurt me!"

"Not going to if you tell us what we want to know," Ichigo said in a hard tone. "Blond girl with red eyes dressed rather skimpily," Ichigo tried not to blush as he tried to remember what she looked like. "Probably likes to steal things, you know of her?"

"Yeah, that is Felt," Chin answered.

"So do you know where she would go after she stole something, or where she would fence it?" Ichigo asked as Chin kept looking fearful between Puck and Lia.

"Old Man Rom, she would be going to Old Man Rom's Loot House down in the slums," Chin answered fearfully.

"The slums? Well that should have been obvious, but now we at least have a place," Ichigo said. "Well, Lia you're coming along?" He asked as he began to walk out of the Alleyway.

"Huh? Wha? Yeah, I am coming along Ichigo," Lia said as Ichigo's words brought her back into focus, her mind having blanked a bit due to Chin having called her a Witch. It had brought up some not-so-pleasant thoughts.

"Hey, you just can't leave us here?" Chin said.

"Sure we can," Ichigo replied.

"Yeah, you insulted my daughter, this is the least amount of punishment that you deserve," Puck spoke, and Ichigo once again caught off guard by his referral to Lia as his daughter. Well he wasn't one to judge weird families. "See you never again!"

At that, they left the alleyway and went back out to the Mainstreet.

"So do you know where the slums are located? Because I don't," Ichigo asked as the three of them walked. For how could he? He still didn't know what this city or even country was called let alone the name of this world.

Man he was really out of his depths with this one wasn't he?

He almost wished he had just ended up in Hueco Mundo.

At least he would have Nel.

Ichigo really missed Nel.

He had failed her, hadn't he?

Ichigo knew that if he ever regained some form of power, and got back home. He would have Hat-n-Clogs make a Garganta and go get her.

"I… I don't really know either, this is the first time I am in the Royal Capital of Lugnica, and it's a pretty big place," Lia answered nervously as she fiddled with her hair in embarrassment.

So the country is called Lugnica and this is the capital? Ichigo thought. And going by the fact it is called the Royal Capital, this place is a Monarchy.

"So since this is your first time here, did you come here alone, or are you just with Puck?" Ichigo asked.

"I came here with Lord Roswall and Ram… Aaah… I really need to get back my Insignia now or they are going to be so mad," Lia panicked. "I still can't believe it got stolen hours after I got it."

"Hey," Ichigo said in a calm tone as he placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "We're going to get it back, though could you tell me why it's so important? I thought it was an heirloom but you said you got it today."

"Well…" Lia said as her face got a bit redder. "It's what designates me as a candidate for the Royal Selection."

"Royal Selection?" Ichigo asked.

"You haven't heard?" Puck asked. "The entire Royal family died a few months ago so now new rulers have to be elected, with my Lia being one of the candidates obviously."

"And how did you get selected?" Ichigo asked as they continued to walk.

"Well it's the Insignia," Lia said. "It lights up when held by somebody who is worthy to be a candidate."

And Ichigo assumed it did that via magic. "Yeah, I can see why getting it back is really important for you."

"Thank you for being understanding, though now we just find our way to the slums," Lia said.

"Well, we could just ask for directions?" Ichigo suggested.

"Yeah, but who would help…" She began to say but stopped, Ichigo was about to ask her if she was okay. But then he noticed what had caught Lia's attention.

It was a little girl standing at the side of the street looking rather nervous and scared, her eyes darting around wildly as if looking for somebody. Ichigo would have thought somebody would have noticed her, but it seemed that everyone besides them ignored her.

"That girl is all alone and looking scared, something must be wrong," Lia said as she walked over to the child and Ichigo quickly followed. "Hello there, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" The little girl replied as she looked up at the two of them. "My-my mama, I lost my mama," She began to cry.

"Hey, hey," Ichigo immediately said as he went down on his knees as he knew exactly what was going to happen. Having dealt with similar emotional outbursts from both Yuzu and Karin. "Do you wanna see a cool trick?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked as her attention was pulled away from thoughts about her missing mother.

"Watch this," Ichigo said as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and held it up for a few seconds before he put it in his closed fist and then opened it up to show that the handkerchief was gone. "And it's gone."

"Wah!" The child said in awe.

"Or is it?" Ichigo asked as he reached behind her ear and pulled it out. "Tadah!"

"Wow!"

And Ichigo smiled in response. Man, that starter magician kit he had bought this summer out of boredom had finally come in handy.

"Well, are you okay now?" Ichigo asked as he pocketed the handkerchief.

She nodded her head.

"Great so how did you lose your mom?" Ichigo asked.

"We were shopping and I let go of her hand and suddenly she was gone," She answered, still slightly teary-eyed.

"Well what about your dad do you know where your dad is then?"

"He is at his booth," She answered. "He sells Appas."

"Great so we just need to go and find your dad then, when your mom will surely come to you, does that sound good?" Ichigo asked.

"Ahah," The girl answered with a nod as she reached out with her hand to take Ichigo's.

"My name is Plum, please help me find my papa," Plum said with a brave smile on her face.

"We will Plum, my name is Ichigo, this is Lia and this is Puck," Ichigo introduced himself and the others, and he saw light shine in her eyes as she noticed the fluffiness that was Puck.

"Hello there Plum, you can hold my hand if you want as well," Lia said as she held out her own hand, and… it looked she was kinda nervous to do so like she expected Plum to suddenly just scream and run away from her.

"Okay," Plum replied with a big smile as she took Lia's, and soon after they were walking down the street with Plum in one hand each.

"You handled that really Ichigo, I didn't really know what to do when she was about to cry," Lia spoke in a quiet tone as Plume giggled between the two of them.

"It's just practice," He answered. "I am an older brother and I had to calm my sisters down a few times."

"I see," She simply answered and the next period of time was mostly spent entertaining Plum while they searched for her father, and thankfully they were able to find the man.

"There he is Papa!" Plum shouted as she let go of their hands and ran towards a rather muscular green-haired man standing in a booth surrounded by fruits of various kinds.

"Plum!" The man shouted as he left his stand and rushed towards her. "What are you doing here? Where is your mother and who are these people?"

"I and mama got separated, so they helped me get back to you," She answered in that happy tone of voice she had been using the entire time.

"Did they now?" He asked. "Well thank you for bringing my daughter to me, what can I do for you in kind?"

"Well we are new in the Capital, so if you could give us directions to the slums it would be appreciated," Ichigo said.

"And why would rich folk like you want to go there? If you mind me asking?" The salesman said.

"She got something of hers stolen, and we know the thief went there," Ichigo answered and the man turned his head to look at Lia and… yeah there was definitely some racial discrimination going on here. Ichigo thought as he saw the man's face go through a bit of a conflict, he had thought that was the case by Lia's earlier words and Chin's reaction to her. But this just confirmed the fact.

"Well if you want to get to the slums as fast as possible, go down the street then right then go straight for two crossings and then go left and then just continue straight on, you will get to the slum the quickest that way, and take these," Plum's father said as he went over to his stand and picked up two fruits. "Here is an Appa for each of you, directions aren't that much of a reward."

"Thank you so much sir," Lia replied as she took the offered fruit, which Ichigo now realized was this world's version of an apple.

"Yeah, yeah get on with it you two," He said as he picked up his daughter.

"Bye, Itsygo, bye Lia, bye Puck," Plum said as she waved at them as they walked by them and Ichigo felt a pang in his chest at having his name butchered like that.

And they responded in kind.

"Man the sun is about to go down but we managed to get here," Ichigo said as they stood in front of what was supposedly Old Man Room's loot house as even after they had entered the Slums, whose inhabitants conditions had shocked Lia greatly as she did not know that people could live like this. It had still taken some time to find the place as the place was big and so they had to rely on what Lia called Lesser Spirits to guide them to the place as they had seen Felt run by.

And speaking of Spirits their existence was definitely something else as they reminded Ichigo about the dead he used to interact with, but they weren't. They were living things.

"And hopefully they haven't managed to sell it just yet," Lia muttered.

"Well you're going to have to do that on your own you two," Puck said as he let out a yawn. "Going to go to bed now." And that he puffed out of existence.

"What was that about?" Ichigo asked. "Why did he vanish like that?"

"Well it's due to our contract, he can only come out during the day, so when the sun goes down he has to go to sleep," Lia explained.

"Ah magic stuff," Ichigo said back. "Now then let's go in shall we?"

"Yeah we shall," Lia responded, and at that Ichigo opened the door and entered the rather dark Loot House.

"Damn did they leave? Hey, anybody here? You stole something that belongs to my friend here," Ichigo said as he went further into the building. "Damn they really are-," Ichigo stopped speaking as he felt his shoe steep in a liquid, he looked down and saw a pool of dark liquid that flowed…

Ichigo's eyes followed the stream and he saw…

A body.

A large body was sprawled against the wall and next to it was a much smaller one.

Ichigo's mind accelerated.

"Lia start-,"

Right.

Old slumbering instincts came to life and Ichigo move-

An old sound.

A sound he had not heard in a long time filled Ichigo's ears. The sound of flesh being cut by a blade.

And Ichigo quickly realized two weapons had been swung.

One at his neck and one at his stomach.

He dodged the neck one.

But the familiar sensation of his guts falling out hit Ichigo like a cargo plane and he collapsed to the ground, his human body unable to handle such a severe injury, unlike his spiritual body.

"Ichigo!" He heard Lia shout and panic quickly filled his mind.

But before he had a chance to warn her Ichigo saw her collapse to the floor.

And stayed still.

"My, my, my," Ichigo heard a seductive female speak as he saw two high heels enter his darkening vision. "I didn't expect this to happen, they will probably be unhappy but what can you do, but I must say you two have such pretty insides."

Ichigo coughed up blood as his vision continued to darken, his hand reaching out to Lia's dead body.

A body that was quickly overlaid by the image of a much older human with orange hair.

All while his mind continued to scream.

He had failed.

He had failed.

Failed, failed, failed, failed, failed, failed.

Ichigo Kurosaki had failed because had been weak.

Because he had been powerless.

If he had…

If he had just a little bit of power…

He could have saved Lia.

Ichigo Kurosaki had once again failed to live up to his name.

Zangetsu… Zangetsu… Zangetsu… Zangetsu… Zangetsu…!

Ichigo mentally screamed, calling for his Zanpakuto, for anything to save Lia as there was still time.

I'll even take you, you damn bastard. You can have my body just… save… her…

And at that Ichigo Kurosaki died.

Lamenting his powerlessness.

Dark hands grabbed Ichigo Kurosaki's heart.

Xxx

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