Outsider Chronicles: Strike Out

Most Outsiders are reborn after death, but I wasn't. I actually found myself in an Afterlife. Just one problem, its not the afterlife I was expecting. No fluffy clouds or harps for me, just swords, Demons and utter chaos. Dear god, I'm boned!

And we're back. Nothing to say here, other than enjoy!

Chapter 3

Momo was terrified. It was an emotion that was unbecoming of a Soul Reaper, but there was a limit on that. Plus, she was just a student, so she had an excuse there. And then there was the fact that she and her friends were facing down a small army of Huge Hollows, one of whom had just taken three Shakahos to the face without so much as flinching. Even a fully fledged Soul Reaper would be perfectly justified in being scared stiff by this situation. To make matters worse, they were completely surrounded. They couldn't even escape.

"Damn it, how did this happen?!" hissed Hisagi, "What happened to Ikki and the others? Did they…"

Momo barely heard him through the pounding in her chest. All she could do was stare at the advancing Hollows, completely sure that she was about to die. Thunder rolled in the distance and lightning lit up the sky, providing a perfect backdrop for her doom…

Then, the lightning struck and three of the Hollows collapsed as their heads were cut in half and a very battered looking Ikki appeared in front of Momo and friends, breathing heavily, but very much alive. He had certainly taken a beating though, with gashes and bruises all over his body, his uniform in tatters and blood leaking from his lips. However, most immediately attention grabbing was the sword in his hand.

Instead of the standard Asauchi all of the students had been issued, the blade he was holding was a tachi and, instead of normal steel, was completely purple and glowing faintly as electricity sparked off it, dancing across Ikki's body and making the tips of his hair and eyes glow a faint purple.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"Almost," said Hisagi, shaking of his surprise, "Most of the kids, other than these three, got away, but Kanisawa and Aoga…"

Ikki scowled and closed his eyes, murmuring something under his breath, before opening his eyes and turning to face the gathering Hollows.

"Well, nothing we can do now," he said, "All we can do is survive until help arrives."

Hisagi's eyes widened.

"Wait…"

He was cut off as Ikki launched himself forwards with a yell, a brilliant purple flash lighting up the night as his blade left short lived trails in the air as it sang. Each strike cleaved through Huge Hollow flesh like butter. Finally, the only one left was the original one, which had backed off after Ikki's arrival and still sported a scorch mark on its mask. The massive monster tried to strike Ikki from behind, but he reacted far too quickly and shot past the Hollow, skidding to a stop behind the monster as it froze. There was a brief pause, before the Hollow was consumed in an enormous blast of purple lightning.

As the glow of the lightning faded, an eerie silence fell over the area as Ikki turned back to Momo and the others, who were staring at their classmate/Senpai with wide eyes. He forced a smile and moved to take a step forwards, but before he could, his legs gave way and he collapsed.

"IKKI!"

Momo got there first, just barely fast enough to catch the larger Soul Reaper trainee before he faceplanted.

"Is he alright?" asked Hisagi as he ran over to help Momo before she too collapsed under Ikki's weight.

"I think so," said the girl as the two of them laid Ikki down, "Hes breathing at least…"

"Thats a relief," said Hisagi, "Come on, lets…"

"My my, isn't this an interesting scene?" said a new voice, cutting across the sixth years order.

Momo looked up and her eyes widened as she saw the familiar white coated figure of Captain Aizen and his lieutenant walking towards them, accompanied by a squad of Soul Reapers from Squad 4.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Captain Aizen, "What happened here?"

"There was a Huge Hollow attack sir," said Hisagi, getting to his feet, "They somehow got past our detection net."

"We detected a massive spike in Spiritual Pressure in this area, so we knew something was wrong," said the leader of the Squad 4 healers, "I assume that was him?"

He indicated to Ikki, who was now being treated by one of his colleagues.

"Yes, he released his Zanpakuto," said Hisagi, "He managed to kill all the Hollows, but I don't know what happened to the rest of his group. The first years are all safe, but my classmates…"

"We'll deal with that, don't worry," said the squad lead, "The first years are all safe, we sent them back as soon as we arrived. Captain…?"

"Go and do your duty," said Aizen, "As for you four, you head back as well. Get some rest, you've more than earned it."

He smiled and Momo felt her heart get a little bit lighter as she and her fellows obeyed, followed by a few members of Squad 4 carrying Ikki with them on a stretcher. With people like Captain Aizen around, the Soul Society was in good hands.

I groaned as consciousness returned to me, bringing with it aches and pains that I'd rather not think about. It didn't help that I was laying on the ground for some reason, albeit a lot softer ground than the asphalt the training ground was paved with. That said, sand and grit wasn't much softer. On the up side, my head was resting on a very warm and soft pillow.

I opened my eyes and found myself looking up at a pair of purple silk clad breasts, before a face with glowing eyes appeared above that.

"Ah, your awake Master," said Narukami, "Good."

I sighed and sat up, turning so I was facing my Zanpakuto properly and, for the first time, taking in her full form.

She was a beautiful woman, with pale skin, purple eyes with glowing pupils, purple hair tied back in a loose braid, decorated with a hairpin shaped like a fan and purple flower. She was wearing a gorgeous Kimono in pale purples that faded to dark purple at the edges and was patterned with Sakura petals. Resting at her side was a traditional paper umbrella in the same pale pink as her kimono with a number of flower covered vines attached to it, each one glowing faintly with power.

"So, Narukami huh?" I asked, "Let me guess, your power isnt just lightning?"

Narukami smiled, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

"Of course not," she said, "Why would it ever be that simple?"

I sighed.

"Great, so Electro then?" I asked.

In response, I got a mysterious smile. I sighed again and lent back on my hands.

"So why am I here again?" I asked.

"Well, you were already injured when you called to me," said Narukami, "After the fight was over, your injuries, combined with the release of that much power for the first time putting more stress on your body, was too much and you passed out."

"I see," I said, "But I managed to kill them all?"

"That you did."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, with any luck that will make Momo a little less likely to develop such an unhealthy relationship this time through."

Narukami made a vague noise of agreement. There was a moment of silence, before I got to my feet with a grunt and started stretching, getting rid of the last of the lingering stiffness.

"Right, now thats done, lets move on," I said, "So long as I'm here, can you teach me how to use you?"

Narukami smiled and got to her feet as her sealed form appeared at my hip and I drew my blade.

I groaned as consciousness returned to me, bringing with it aches and pains that I'd rather not think about. This time, instead of a nice set of tits, I found myself staring up at a white ceiling. It was pretty clear that I was in the hospital from the scent of antiseptic and the sounds I could hear from outside my room. I slowly sat up with a wince at both the actual physical injuries and the phantom leftovers of the training I'd just finished with Narukami, and looked around.

The room was pretty much what you'd expect, sterile white with not much in the way of furniture, other than some cupboards, the bed, a chair and a bedside table where a jug of water and cup was sat. I was about to make use of the latter when the door opened and a nurse walked in, clipboard in hand. She paused when she saw me awake and smiled.

"Ah good, your awake," she said as she came over and poured me a cup of water, "How are you feeling?"

"Well enough," I said as I sipped at the cup, "How long have I been out?"

"About a day," said the nurse, pulling a thermometer out of her pocket and sticking it in my mouth, ignoring my protest, "Captain Unohana said that you were communing with your Zanpakuto, so no one was worried. Hmm, looks fine."

She took back the thermometer and wrote something on her clipboard.

"Alright, you're perfectly healthy," she said, "You'll probably be released later today, but first, you have some visitors. Stay put."

She gave me a look and left the room. For a moment, I was tempted to get up and walk around, but quickly changed my mind when I remembered who was in charge around here. Instead, I settled back against my pillows and waited.

A few minutes later, the door opened again and Hisagi walked in. He looked alright, other than the heavy bandages wrapped around the left side of his head. He stumped over to the chair beside my bed and dropped into it with a sigh.

"Kanisawa's dead," he said.

"Hello to you too," I said.

He shot a glare my way, then sighed and dropped his head into his hands.

"Sorry, its just been…a day," he said, "Everyone from our year who went on that mission aside from you, me and Aoga is gone. Those damn Hollows slaughtered them all."

He let out a bark of slightly hysterical laughter.

"I don't know if I can do this Ikki," he said, "The thought of fighting something like that again…I don't think I could do it."

I sighed and sat up so I could put a comforting hand on my friends shoulder.

"Thats a perfectly normal reaction to nearly getting killed," I said, "Hell, the only reason I'm not a gibbering mess myself right now is because I can't actually remember much about what happened. Fear is fine, fear is natural, whats important is if you can work through it. Just remember that we are getting stronger all the time and next time we encounter Hollows like that, we'll be able to beat them without help."

Hisagi relaxed and gave me a slightly strained smile.

"You already don't need help," he said, "You released your Zanpakuto! Do you have any idea how rare it is for Academy Students to do that?!"

"Extremely I should imagine," I said with a grin of my own.

"The last person who managed it was Lieutenant Shiba over a century ago!" said Hisagi, "He graduated after just 2 years and was given a high seated post after just two years service!"

"Huh, so I guess I'm in esteemed company then," I said.

Hisagi goggled at me.

"How are you taking this so calmly?!" he spluttered.

Before I could respond, the door opened again and the nurse stuck her head in, fixing Hisagi with a withering glare.

"Kindly keep your voice down young man," she said.

Hisagi quailed under the glare and muttered an apology.

"Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut this short," she said, "You still have one more examination before we can let you go and Mr Toudou has another visitor."

I blinked.

"I do?" I asked, "Who…"

I trailed off as the very man Hisagi and I had just been discussing appeared behind the nurse with a slightly strained grin on his face. Hisagi's eyes widened at the sight of the Lieutenant and he shot to his feet.

"A-ah, Lieutenant Shiba sir, w-we were just…"

"Its fine son," said Kaien, "Your not wrong after all."

Hisagi looked like he was about to pass out and quickly took the available avenue of retreat, scurrying out of the room after the nurse as Kaien took his place next to my bed, resting the canvas bag he was carrying against the bed frame as he did.

"Well, I have to admit, I certainly wasn't expecting us to meet again quite like this," he said, "I knew you had potential, but to release your Shikai before even graduating was far and beyond what I expected."

"Um, thanks?" I said, blushing at the praise, "Although to be honest, I'd rather have not released it at all if it meant my classmates…"

The Lieutenant smiled thinly.

"Yes, I'm sure you would," he said, "Still, what happened happened and you did manage to protect your friend and charges. That is an achievement to be lauded. Speaking of which."

He picked up the bag and opened it, carefully reaching inside and pulling out a sword. I recognized it immediately of course, it was mine after all. However, gone was the simple, unbounded Asauchi, instead the Zanpakuto now had a fine, purple wrapped hilt, the same shade as Narukami's kimono, a round tsuba stamped with cherry blossoms on the top and Electro sigil on the bottom and a purple sheath that was the same shade as her hair.

Kaien held out the sword and I reverently took it from his hand, feeling a faint hum as my fingers closed around it. I unsheathed it slightly, revealing that the blade had a purple tint down the edge, then looked up at the Lieutenant and bowed as best I could.

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't mention it, it is yours after all," he said, "Of course, I didn't just come to give you back your sword."

I looked up and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"As your friend said, I graduated from the Academy after I released my Nejibana for the first time," said Kaien, "It doesn't happen often, but its an established rule. Those who release their Zanpakuto are considered full Shinigami and are considered graduated from that moment. As such, I have come to jump the que and offer you a place in Squad 13. I think you'd do well with us."

I snorted.

"Sure, and its not just because I killed five Huge Hollows the other night," I said.

Kaien grinned.

"I will admit thats part of it, but I've had my eye on you since I found you on that mountain," he said, "So, what do you say?"

I was silent for a moment, weighing my options. To be completely honest, I didn't have much reason to go with anyone else. The others were all either 'eh' or 'FUCK NO!' for various reasons and I actually like all of the characters in Squad 13. Plus, with any luck, I might be able to stop Kaiens death or at least give Rukia a bit of a confidence boost.

Mind made up and grinned and bowed deeply.

"I would be honoured to join Squad 13," I said.

Kaiens grin was even wider than before and he let out a bark of laughter, slapping me on the back hard enough to make me wince.

"Great to hear!" he said, "Now come on, lets get you checked out so we can get your transfer sorted!"

He left the room, leaving me to get out of bed and start getting changed into my streetwear, my mind full of the future possibilities that awaited me. Whatever was ahead, it was sure to be…interesting.

And with that, I'm done. Hoo boy, this was actually a lot of fun, I think I'll do more of this. Anyway, on to some stuff.

I think its fairly obvious that Narukami looks like the Muso Isshin the Raiden Shogun uses, but I'll be damned if I can actually figure out a good way to describe it.

Speaking of, Ikki managed to cleave through those Hollows because he took them by surprise, mixed with the power surge that always comes with unlocking new powers. Personally, I think that its an actual thing and certainly is here. Thats what Narukami was talking about when she mentioned his body not being able to take all the power.

Speaking of which, believe it or not, Narukami isn't actually Ei. Shes based on Makoto instead.

Squad 4 is there to save them as well because they detected Ikki releasing his Zanpakuto and Aizen does have limits on what he can manage with his Kyoka Suigetsu. He could have prevented anyone from noticing, but he had no real reason to assume that anyone would release their sword and thus, didn't plan for it, so he doesn't get a group of pawns quite so devoted to him. Still, he can work with it, although I don't think hes entirely pleased with Ikki.

Bit of character development with Hisagi. He'll have slightly less of a complex over Kazeshini in the future.

Think Nichirin for the look of Ikki's sealed sword. I was going to include more Demon Slayer stuff in this, but that idea is long gone at this point. This is a nod to that.

Joining Squad 13! I planned that from the start, as you might be able to guess. Mainly because its one of the only places Ikki would actually fit.

And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!