Ichigo sits in her ruthlessly elegant seiza, blinking open her eyes to stare at the crimson colored liquid in the cup resting in her hands. Her hair was carefully pulled back and styled into a shimada* and she was dressed in a rich red kimono with a dragonfly and falling leaf pattern. Her obi was black and tied in a large bow that cascaded down her back, hanging over her nagamaki.
Her breath leaves her mouth as frost when she lifts her cup to take a sip. The chilly autumn wind cuts against her skin as its warm greeting. A giggle echoes through the silent space.
"You dress so beautifully for me... have I missed an occasion, My Sacred?" The complimenting question warms Ichigo with its icy blanket and bells of omens. She looks up and sees a tall woman sitting before her, Her smile splitting Her face in half.
"Your Sacred greets you with a bountiful harvest and eternal battles, Death," Ichigo speaks in reverence. Death giggles once more, Her lips splitting to reveal sharp teeth.
"Dearest Protector, you may forgo the greeting. I am the one to summon you," Death speaks before She leans back. Her hair, black and infinite as the void, falls over Her shoulder, brittle and thin, and rests into Her lap and the floor.
"No, you did not miss an occasion, Death. I always dress for your summons," Ichigo answers Death's previous question with a smile, staring into eyes of a grey mist.
Death smiles and holds out Her smoothly scarred hand. Ichigo immediately reaches for it, placing her palm onto the long, crooked fingers.
"Some time ago, an exceptional child of mine had stumbled across what my Sacred of Souls knew of That One. He read inaccurate information and fell deeper into the insolent madness That One had once fallen into." Death gently grasps Her Sacred's hand with Her own. "I had tried to get him to See his illness for what it truly was. I intended to punish him before his reach grew too far, but unfortunately I was too late."
"Aizen Sōsuke needs to be punished and my children need to be saved. Sweet Sōsuke has intentionally caused the death of thousands in my Domain, framed many of my strongest children, and has manipulated the already corrupt system which Soul Society is now ruled by to permanent ruin."
Ichigo doesn't flinch when thin nails pierce into her hand. Death's smile disappears as the liquids inside their cups boil over.
"Ichigo, My Sacred, you must listen and trust my children who plan the tides of battle. They may not See at the beginning, but they are the ones who are attempting to go against my foolish child that started all of this. Do you understand?" Death asks, releasing Her grip on Ichigo's hand to gently caress the bleeding knuckles. Ichigo smiles and nods once, eyes alight with determination and excitement.
"What is it you wish for me to do now?" Ichigo feels a relief swirl in her chest when a smile returns to Death's face. Her foster mother shouldn't have to worry so much about this.
"You will begin your training with the Sacred Childe and your Devout Wizard. You may choose when to reveal me to the rest of those who are yours, whenever you are comfortable. But know that they will not cast you aside for what you are," Death gently hums, reaching up to caress Ichigo's cheek. The blood on Her fingertips smudges against the freckled skin and burns a sigil onto Ichigo's cheek.
Ichigo doesn't blink an eye to the blood that starts to drip off her cheek from the gift, staring up at Death with wide eyes. "You will show yourself to Rukia and Mizuiro?"
"I will. You have sworn your Devout Wizard as a Vavasour, and you swore the Sacred Childe under your protection through your own blood. As two of your Court, there must be no room for error or risk when they are tasked with your protection," Death answers before She scratches a nail through the sigil She has Blessed Ichigo with.
Death tilts Her head, listening to something outside of the summon before a smile splits Her face in half once more. "It looks like your Kind Protector has run away from my brave son's clinic. You must awaken before the trapped child is hunted any more."
"Chad, you idiot..." Ichigo sighs with a heavy frown. If he tears his stitches, she's going to make sure he feels the slap to the back of his head for weeks!
Death giggles loudly at the thought, lifting Her blood smudged hand to rest it on top of Ichigo's head. She leans over the table and kisses Her favorite Sacred's cheek, right against the sigil.
"Run along now and have fun, my dear friend. I will be around soon."
Ichigo blinks awake, staring up at the magically conjured Milky Way Galaxy above her bed. She sits up, realizing the sun was only barely peaking over the horizon. She blinks again before scowling.
"Chad..." Ichigo kicks off her covers and she stumbles out of bed. A small curse escapes her mouth when she trips over her own feet, startling Rukia awake.
"Wha‒'chigo? What's wrong?" Rukia sits up from the futon she slept on as Ichigo stands up from the floor.
"Chad‒Chad isn't in the clinic. We gotta go before he gets himself killed. The damn idiot!" Ichigo swings open her door and runs down the hallway.
"What? Wait‒Ichigo! Hold on!" Rukia scrambles to follow after the Witch, not before grabbing her glove.
"Oyaji, Chad escaped! Get one of the rooms ready!" Ichigo shouts over her shoulder before sprinting down the stairs. She slides across the wood floors to stop her momentum before she sprints towards the front door. Rukia follows after her, crashing into the couch, and quickly stumbles her way through the front door.
"Ichigo!" Rukia catches up with the orange haired teenager once she stops in the middle of the street, panting slightly and her hand clenched around the glove.
"Which way would he have gone...? He knows I'm coming to beat his damn ass for sneaking out while injured," Ichigo mutters under her breath, whirling around to face every direction.
"How did you know he was gone?" Rukia asks with a furrowed expression.
Ichigo hums, distracted by trying to pinpoint Chad's presence. "Death summoned me. She told me he had run away before sending me Back."
"You spoke with Hahanoshi-sama?! What‒Oh my! What happened to your cheek?!" Rukia stares at the raw sigil burned into Ichigo's skin. Ichigo brushes her thumb against it, barely wincing at the sharp sting of pain, to check for any blood.
"Death gave me a gift. Let's go. Chad went this way," Ichigo states before she starts running down the street.
"Hahanoshi-sama‒She gave you a gift?!" Rukia follows after the orange haired teenager, easily keeping up with her while pulling on the glove. "How did‒where‒why did Hahanoshi-sama summon you? What does it do?"
"Chad!" Ichigo booms loudly when she spots the hulking silhouette of her good friend. The silhouette freezes, physically shivering before turning around.
"...Ichigo," Chad greets almost casually, making Ichigo scowl. She stumbles to a stop in front of him, glaring up at him with the heat of a thousand suns.
"Sado Yasutora! Why, in the name of the Veils, did you run away?! You can die from pulling your stitches! Or worse!" Ichigo scolds her friend, her voice a mix between shrill and booming. Rukia and Chad sweatdrop, but don't say anything to Ichigo. Are there things worse than death?
"Miss. Don't be mad at mister... it's my fault. I've put you all in danger..." Yūichi says with too much guilt for a child to hold. Ichigo sighs heavily before her shoulders relax.
"Chad wouldn't be devoted to helping you as much if he was worried about being in danger. Are you alright? What's chasing you?" The orange haired teenager asks softly, momentarily forgoing her anger for worry.
"Mmhmm! I'm okay! The thing chasing me, it's a monster! But he said‒he said he could save my mom! He said he could bring her back to life!" The parakeet exclaims loudly while flapping his wings.
Ichigo and Rukia narrow their eyes at the statement. Rukia steps forward and gently grabs the front of the cage.
"Who told you that?"
"I did." Something chuckles out from behind the group. Ichigo whirls around with a snarl and her arms outstretched to protect the others while Rukia rushes forward with her hand reaching for Ichigo's back and Chad widening his stance, Yūichi squawking loudly inside the cage.
Ichigo's body crumples to the ground before it's hit by the claws of the Hollow, slicing into Ichigo's spirit body instead. She groans loudly and takes the brunt of the attack, sliding back before her hands latch onto the large arm.
"You fucking asshole!" Ichigo uses her leverage and her loud shout to swing the entire body of the Hollow above her. The Hollow lands face first into the asphalt, cracking its mask from the force and its claws are forcefully ripped from where they dug into Ichigo's body.
"Ichigo!" Ichigo stumbles towards Rukia and quickly wraps an arm around her waist before grabbing her physical body's wrist. She starts sprinting down the street with Chad only a few steps behind her.
The Hollow growls loudly as it slowly sits up from where its face was slammed into the asphalt. "You fucking bitch... I'm gonna kill you!"
"Ichigo‒put me down!" Rukia struggles to get out of the teenager's secure hold.
"We can't fight here! The Hollow will just attack those heading to work!" Ichigo hisses angrily, glancing over her shoulder. She hisses once more when she spots the Hollow easily gaining ground in the chase.
She tosses her body into Rukia before she kicks her back into Chad. Rukia yelps in pain and Chad grunts, instinctively grabbing a hold of Rukia and the limp body before either could fall to the ground. Ichigo reaches back and grabs the hilt of her nagamaki.
Three blurs suddenly fall from above. Ichigo whips her head up with wide eyes before something slimy hits her. She wipes away at her face, leaping back in case the Hollow tries to attack her while she's blinded.
"Ichigo! You idiot!" Rukia screams, tugging herself out of Chad's hold.
"You fucking‒" Ichigo sputters and spits out the gunk that managed to get in her mouth. She rips off one of the things attached to her face and glares down at it.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Ichigo quickly releases the leech in her hand. "Disgusting!"
Ichigo glares up at the Hollow when it chuckles. It sits on its haunches, simply watching Ichigo.
"Do you like my little Targets?" The Hollow asks conversationally, making Ichigo blink.
Targets?
The Hollow's mouth opens and there's a ringing hum. Ichigo's vision goes completely white and she chokes on a scream.
The left side of her face explodes into fiery pain before her chest and shoulders explode next. Ichigo collapses to her knees with a wheezing gasp.
Targets‒as in bombs.
"ICHIGO!" Rukia races forward, only to jump back when leeches are spit towards her. She barely dodged them all, landing in front of Chad.
Ichigo's vision slowly returns. She couldn't hear anything around her besides a ringing in her ears. Her entire body felt off-kilter and nausea bubbled in her stomach.
"A ruptured ear drum." Ichigo breathes out through her mouth, glancing up with a narrowed gaze.
Rukia was speaking quickly about something, but Ichigo couldn't hear her past the ringing. The parakeet was flailing around in his panic and Chad had his arms wrapped protectively around his cage.
Ichigo swallows back a gag and stumbles onto her feet. Her eyes nearly roll back into her head when the world suddenly spins and her knees buckle. She blinks rapidly, glaring past the stars blinding her.
She sees the Hollow chuckle. More of the Targets appear and Ichigo raises her zanpakutō and slices through a few of the leeches before they could land on her. Ichigo feels her throat constrict as her zanpakutō suddenly bears a sudden weight.
The Hollow opens its mouth, but Ichigo still couldn't hear it. Her eyes spot the word looking tongue.
"Run and keep‒keep Chad from doing anything stupid!" She couldn't hear her voice, so hopefully she wasn't screaming, but Ichigo needed to say something. Rukia needs to get Chad away before he tries to dive right in to help when he couldn't see anything.
Ichigo glares up at the Hollow and snarls. The sigil sears at the stretch and the nausea seems to fade away.
The sigil.
Ichigo turns her head and gives Rukia, who's still shouting, a harsh glare. "GO! I've got this!"
Rukia glares at her and tries to say something, but finally lifts Ichigo's physical body onto her back and sprints down the road. Chad looks after her and hesitates, only for the bird to say something. He starts following the Shinigami, some of the smaller Hollows chasing after him.
Ichigo focuses back on the Hollow and lifts back her leg. She kicks as hard as she could against its stomach and the weight eases off of her nagamaki.
She places a hand to her ruptured ear, part of her palm covering the sigil, and a glowing white appears. "Episkey*."
A sigh leaves her mouth as the nausea slows and the sound of the songbirds can be heard once more. The ringing continues in her other ear, but much more muffled.
"–gonna have a real good time torturing you, you little bitch!" The Hollow sneers before it suddenly appears in Ichigo's line of vision. She holds up her nagamaki to her right and blocks the claws from completely bisecting her.
"Gonna have to actually get me first," She snarls back before twisting her nagamaki, so the blade suddenly digs into the Hollow's fingers. It roars and Ichigo feels something wet splash onto her back.
She smirks and takes the risk to lift a bleeding hand from her zanpakutō, right as the Hollow's mouth opens to reveal its weird tongue.
"DIFFINDO*!" There's a higher pitched ringing than the one in her ears.
Pain ignites her entire spine and a cry is ripped from her throat. The Hollow howls and stumbles back as blood spills all across the teenager who just sliced out its entire mouth, tongue, teeth, and all. Ichigo collapses to her knees, quickly stabbing her zanpakutō into the ground before she could collapse all the way.
"Do you like my spell?" Ichigo taunts with a wild grin and glittering teeth. The sigil decays into a black ink, drying and cracking through the living skin of Ichigo's cheek.
Power. That was what the sigil passes on.
Hey! I hope you all like the new chapter! Now, it's been almost exactly a year... but it's out! And... a bit short... but it's out! I promise I'll make sure the next chapter is extra long for you all!
Anyways, hopefully I'll be updating it sooner than before. I have a new system that I think is going to work with updating all of my stories, but we'll see!
*(1) Shimada is a name of a hairstyle from the Edo period that was commonly worn by girls in their late teens. It is also a part of geisha styled hair.
*(2) A spell from Harry Potter derived from Greek. It comes from επισκευή (episkevi) which means repair.
*(3) Another spell from Harry Potter, commonly named the Severing Charm. It roughly translates to "I split/cleave/open".
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far and thank you all so much for your patience! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini