2The Senkaimon opened up in the sky of the town the two females' mission was centered in: Karakura Town.
"A'right, Rukia," Daiki addressed the shorter Soul Reaper, "I think this mission'll be finished a lot faster if we took different sides o' town."
"I agree," the adopted Kuchiki complied.
The fourth seat smirked, "Good, then that means this ought'a be a quick mission." The pair split up and went their separate ways.
It was the next day when Rukia encountered her first Hollow of the mission. She found it wrecking havoc in a narrow area of Karakura, pursuing an orange-haired teen and the spirit of a dead girl. Before the Hollow could get a hold of them, the Soul Reaper slashed it straight across its mask. The insect-like Hollow writhed in pain whilst Rukia took its distracted state to deliver the killing blow, slashing down the middle of the spiritual menace.
With the threat now resolved, the ebonette sheathed her zanpakuto.
"Woah," the high school student breathed as his brown eyes stared at the woman that had saved his and the girl's life.
Rukia glanced at them over her shoulder before she walked away without a word.
"Wait, come back," the teen Ichigo Kurosaki made a vain attempt in order to gain her attention as pedestrian's came back on scene, words of confusion and awe over what had just transpired.
But they weren't talking about the monster or the mysterious woman they were sure to have seen.
Because they never saw either in the first place.
On Daiki's side of town, there was nary a Hollow to be found.
"Are ya kiddin' me," the teenager groaned exasperatedly. "It was pointless ta send me on this mission in the first place 'cause I haven' seen a goddamned thing!" she exclaimed towards the end.
Sea green eyes narrowed in annoyance as Daiki fruitlessly roamed the streets, breezing by citizens that had not the ability to see her as they walked to school or work. If there were zero Hollows to kill, the Shiba child thought she might as well patrol just to be safe, even though that's pretty much a waste of her time.
"I could be back in the Soul Society, visitin' my family like I was s'posed ta but noooooo..."
Ichigo, later that day, laid in his bed, pondering the event that had taken place earlier that morning. "Who was she?" the face of the woman appeared in his mind: violet eyes, ebony hair that fanned out, and an expression set in seriousness. "I can't make any sense of what happened out there today."
His face looked on in surprise as a black butterfly fluttered through his open window, flying over him. Next thing the fifteen year old knew, the woman he was just thinking about had stepped through his wall and stood on his desk.
Ichigo sat up in surprise, not believing that the one who saved him was back in his life once again. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked but received no answer. Rukia placed her hand on the hilt of her zanpakuto, startling the teen. Ichigo scurried back in his bed, arm in front as a weak form of defense, "Put that thing away, you're not slicin' me up!" She paid him no mind, stepping down from the desk as Rukia spared him not even a glance. "Hey!"
"It's getting closer," Rukia thought to herself. "I feel it."
However, the Soul Reaper was not expecting what she got next.
"What do you want?!" Ichigo cried after having kicked the black-haired female down.
"A whole day, a whole freakin' day and I haven' seen even a small Hollow, are ya kiddin' me with this bullshit?! I told Ukitake, told him that I wouldn' be needed on this mission. Ya wanna know why I'm not needed? BECAUSE THERE AREN' ANY HOLLOWS WHERE I AM. Rukia's got'n at least two Hollows I've felt and good for her and all, but that just proves I'm not needed! Whoever told the capt'ns that there were more hollows showing up lately they're a dumbass 'cause, in actual'ty, there has barely been any! Ugh, I'm so angry, I can't even right now..."
The little girl's spirit from earlier that day could be seen running, the chain on her chest clinking as she went. A giant presence could be heard, thudding against the ground as it followed her.
The girl tripped and fell forward as the presence grew nearer. A massive hand reached for the girl, her forest green eyes gleaming in fear for what she could tell was her demise.
However, the monster had paused. Sniffing could be heard. "I can smell it: the 'specially tasty soul. It's nearby." The spirit watched as the monster straightened, smelling the air for reasons she didn't understand. "Along with the smell of a Soul Reaper."
The Hollow turned away from the girl, who watched on in relieved confusion.
How did things turn out like this?
One moment, Rukia was explaining things to a kido bound spiritually aware human. Then she had heard the uncanny howl of a Hollow accompanied by the cry of a young human girl.
She remembers going downstairs to take care of the threat, the boy following with. Rukia explained why it was there, attacking the teenager's family.
And now she was injured, unable to fight because the boy was too stupid and ignorant of the ways Hollows worked.
How could everything have turned out this bad?
The Kuchiki female had no choice but to use her last resort.
Rukia lifted herself from the ground, blood flowing from the wound she received and splattering on the pavement. The Hollow's cries could be heard as it was beginning to come back.
"I'm too injured to fight," the violet-eyed Kuchiki ground out, crawling her way to rest against a pole. "Do you... want to... save your family?"
"Of course I do," Ichigo replied without a moments hesitation. "If there's a way tell me how!"
Rukia grabbed her sword that was at her side, "It will only be temporary, but," she lifted her zanpakuto and pointed it towards the Kurosaki teen, "you must become a Soul Reaper yourself."
"Wha?" Ichigo voiced in shock.
"You must take my zanpakuto and run it through to the center of your being, so that I may pour my powers into you."
The Hollow had appeared once again, a bloody chip in its mask.
Rukia stared up at Ichigo in total seriousness, "I can't guarantee that you'll live, but if it doesn't work it won't matter."
A roar escaped the Hollow as it began its advance towards the two.
Ichigo stared down into violet orbs, a small smirk upon his lips, "Then give me that blade, Soul Reaper."
Rukia smiled minutely at him, "My name is Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki."
The Hollow then began to run towards the two.
Ichigo grabbed a hold of the zanpakuto, "And my name is-"
Closer and closer the Hollow got.
"Ichigo Kurosaki!" The sword was stabbed through him.
And a bright light surrounded the two.
Daiki paused in her senseless ramblings and turned. The daughter of Squad Thirteen's late lieutenant could feel Rukia's spiritual pressure waver for a moment.
"Hm, it's prob'ly for the best if I check it out," she muttered to herself.
With that, the teen began her trek, running to where she felt Rukia's energy. Daiki had covered a fair distance with the assistance of her flash step.
However the girl was stopped.
The fourth seat paused and stood on a sidewalk under a street lamp, feeling a burst of an unknown but great spiritual pressure.
"What the hell," Daiki voiced in confusion before feeling a sharp pain in her chest, sea green orbs widening from the sudden shock of pain she felt.
An arm dropped to the pavement.
A massive sword slashed to the side, blood flying off the blade and onto the ground.
An arm raised the sword and rested it on the shoulder of a black clad figure.
That figure was Ichigo.
The eldest Kurosaki child was now transformed into a Soul Reaper, wearing the standard shihakusho and wielding a behemoth of a zanpakuto.
"How could this have happened?" Rukia questioned in shock, no longer in her uniform but a simple white kimono. "I meant to only give him half of my powers, but, somehow, he's taken nearly all of it!"
"This ends now," the orange-haired reaper announced firmly.
"What kind of being is he?" Rukia thought as she watched the teen take a running start towards the enemy.
Ichigo gave a battle cry, raising his zanpakuto as he continued to close the distance between himself and the Hollow.
"I've never seen a human this strong; that's what was jamming my senses before!"
The distance continued to shrink.
"I've never heard of a human with enough strength to break a kido on his own."
Ichigo raised his weapon and slashed off the hollow's leg.
"And I have never heard of a Soul Reaper that could wield such a huge zanpakuto!"
The newly turned Soul Reaper glared up at the two limbed menace, "You will pay the price for hurting my family, you Hollow scum." The creature lunged forward, intending to take a bite out of the fifteen year old. "Feel the wrath of my blade!"
With a cry, Ichigo drove his sword right down the center of the Hollow's mask.
The threat disintegrated and disappeared, leaving an incredibly weakened Rukia and an incredibly strong Ichigo.
The Shiba daughter slowly brought her eyes to stare at her chest.
It was a truly terrifying sight.
A blade had been run through Daiki's chest, the tip extended several inches past her breast while the teen could feel the hilt pressed against her back.
Sea green orbs widened, fear and confusion swimming freely within them. "W-what...?" The sword was harshly ripped from her body, blood running down from the wound while the tanned female coughed up some as well. "When did someone even show up behind me?! I didn' feel any sort of spirit energy whatsoever!"
Her vision was starting to darken at the edges.
"No way, there's no friggin' way an injury could cause me to lose consciousness this early! What the hell..."
At last, the girl felt her body fall against the sidewalk, blood pooling and surrounding Daiki as she lay there, not able to move.
"So sorry to have to do this," a figure spoke, looming over the motionless body of the fourth seat. "It's truly nothing personal, I just didn't need you interfering with my plans."
The light of the street lamp above reflected off glass.
The figure reached over and grasped at a layering of spiritual energy, ripping it open and hiding the sleeping teen within.
"The sleeping agent I slipped into your wound reacted much faster than I thought it would." His lips pulled into a pleased smile, "How convenient." A chuckle echoed.
With the body now hidden, the figure turned and stabbed his weapon into the air in front of him and gave a twist, a pair of doors sliding open before him. "That wound won't kill you; however, that layer of energy won't last forever." He glanced over his shoulder, staring at where the teen's body could not be seen, "but by the time it weakens, its use will have already run its course."
"Goodbye, Fourth Seat Daiki Shiba of Squad Thirteen."
The figure was gone.
Gray eyes stared into the night sky, "Did you feel it as well, Tessai?"
"I did, boss," a burly voice replied.
Head tilted down, a green and white striped hat covered those gray eyes, "He showed up, and now I don't sense the other spiritual pressure from before." The man lifted his gaze once more, "Nothing good is going to come from this. Nothing ever does when he's involved."
A/N: This was edited on my phone which is really weird for me since I write on my laptop.