The Next Great Adventure
Chapter 1: News from London
Rukia's POV
January 2011, 17 months after Aizen's defeat in Karakura Town
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I walked out of the training hall of the Thirteenth Division, which I visited several times a week. I'd been working hard to increase my power once the Fake Karakura Town Battle (a misnomer, since the battle had spread to the real town) was over and my injuries from said battle were healed. The training, recommended by Renji, who joined me occasionally, had paid off, and here I was, the new lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division. That was seven months ago, and I was now of equal rank with him, Hinamori-san, and the rest. Speaking of the red-headed lieutenant, wasn't that his presence I just felt?
"Rukia! Rukia!"
I was right. My oldest friend rounded the corner of the training hall and stopped before me, almost bumping into me. Good thing he didn't actually make contact, or he would have suffered my…displeasure. I was about to shout at him, then noticed he looked serious. Looks like he wasn't here just to goof off.
"Hey, did you hear, Rukia? A member of a foreign Soul Society has just arrived here! They've just received him officially, and he's gonna be meeting the captains and lieutenants soon. Obviously, we're to attend as well. Come along. Your captain's already there."
"A member of another Soul Society, huh? I can't even remember the last time we had such an official visit. Details, Renji. Give me details!"
As we briskly walked to the meeting place, Renji filled me in. The visitor was a man from the Soul Society in Britain, and he was a lieutenant. He didn't know why the visitor was here, but apparently, it had something to do with a discovery in England which somehow concerned us Japanese.
Soon, we arrived at the First Division HQ, and stood in line, each lieutenant standing behind his or her captain. The doors then opened, and the visitor, led by the lieutenant of the First Division (What was his name again…Ah, I forgot) stepped inside. Everyone remained silent, but all looked somewhat interested, especially the ladies. I could hardly blame them. He was a rather handsome man, with youthful good looks, spiky black hair and hazel eyes. He wore rectangular glasses with a thick black frame and was in a black suit with a white shirt and a striped gold and red tie, which I assumed must have been the uniform of those who worked for the British Soul Society.
He came forward and stopped before Yamamoto, whom he bowed to. The Commander seemed pleased at this foreigner's manners, and nodded in response. He intoned, "Welcome to the Gotei-13's Headquarters, Ambassador."
The visitor smiled and the usual pleasantries followed (Thank you for receiving me, we look forward to working together, and whatnot).
The visitor continued, "My name is James Potter, and I am a lieutenant in the British Agency for the Protection of Spirits. Our role in the British Isles is similar to that of the Gotei-13's role in Japan, and I came because we have discovered something of interest to you. As all of you are no doubt aware, about 17 months earlier, the Gotei-13 filed a report to the other Soul Societies about the activities of a man named Sosuke Aizen. Or, rather, Aizen Sosuke, as you would call him."
There were mostly nods or grunts of affirmation at this. Hinamori-san clenched her fists at hearing the name, but fortunately, she relaxed quickly. She had come to terms with Aizen's true nature long ago. Matsumoto turned to her captain and asked discreetly, "We did, Captain?"
"Yes, Matsumoto, we did! How could you forget?" came the just-as-discreet reply from Captain Hitsugaya. Typical Matsumoto. Smiling slightly at the airheaded lieutenant, I tuned them out and focused on what was going on. Yamamoto was speaking now.
"Yes, we did, Lieutenant Potter. We have dealt with this man accordingly, and we confirmed his death 17 months prior. We only made the report after we knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he was dead."
Potter-san frowned, and said, "Is that so, Commander Yamamoto? I have with me some papers here, compiled by our research bureau. Shockingly, this data has identified some traces of Aizen Sosuke's spiritual signature in Britain itself."
He had uttered those words quietly, but it was as if he had shouted with a voice of thunder. If traces of Aizen had been discovered, then that meant just one thing: the traitor was still alive and in hiding somewhere. My blood boiled at the thought that he was still alive, after all that had been thrown at him.
Naturally, there was quite an uproar among the captains and lieutenants. There were gasps all around and Captain Kyoraku's hat almost fell off. My captain had become much paler than usual ("Captain, are you alright?" "Yes, Rukia, I'm fine. Don't worry.").
Yamamoto swiftly restored order, "Silence! All of us would do well to remember that Aizen was an extremely slippery man. I, too, am shocked by this announcement, but we must not simply discard it as lies, and inspect it thoroughly. Lieutenant Potter, please pass those papers to Captain Kurotsuchi there. Captain Kurotsuchi, inspect those papers. You are excused."
"Yes Commander." said the creepy clown-faced captain who left. He was so absorbed in reading the documents that he did not even bother to say something abusive to his lieutenant/daughter like he usually did when he left such meetings. Nemu-san bowed to everyone before hurrying after her captain/father.
Yamamoto then turned to Potter-san and said, "Thank you for promptly sharing this information with us, Lieutenant Potter. We will discuss this issue and speak to you regarding our response afterwards. Lieutenant Sasakibe will take you to the room we have prepared for you."
More pleasantries were exchanged, and the First Division lieutenant led Potter-san away. Then, silence fell upon all the remaining captains gathered in the room.
Captain Suì-Fēng broke the silence, saying, "Now that I think about it, it shouldn't be too surprising that Aizen preserved his life in some form or another. Only Kurosaki Ichigo and Urahara Kisuke actually saw him die. It is unwise to take the word of just these two as solid fact. We only took samples of the reiatsu in the area afterwards to confirm their statement of Aizen's death, and the results may have been flawed."
"Yes." It was Captain Unohana this time. "It is as the Commander said: Aizen Sosuke is indeed a slippery man, and may have found a way to escape. The question is: what do we do if he is still alive? If he were in Japan, we could find him and stop him. But he was reported to have been sensed in Britain, where we have no jurisdiction."
Yamamoto opened his eyes slightly, and said, "Aizen Sosuke was our man, and it is only right that we should deal with him. For now, calm down and wait for the results of Kurotsuchi's analysis. We'll decide further what to do once the results are in. Until then, you are all dismissed."
Renji caught up to me as we left.
"So, what do you think of all this, Rukia?"
I glared, "It's unbelievable! After all that effort, he's still alive!"
"How can it be, though? Ichigo killed him. He told us how he stabbed him right through his heart. I understand Aizen got high-speed regeneration from what Urahara Kisuke, Yoruichi Shihoin and Ichigo told us, but a blow to the heart should have killed him regardless!"
"Yes. I don't believe Ichigo and Urahara would lie to us, but this data shows us that we've all missed something. If Aizen's still alive, I bet Ichigo will get himself involved somehow before we can even relay the news to him."
Renji chuckled, "Amen to that! He always has to poke his ugly mug into whatever happens here."
I massaged my temples and nodded in agreement. Speaking of Ichigo, I hadn't communicated with him in a long time. Seven months, to be exact. Ever since I had become a lieutenant, I was so busy with work on top of training, so I had no time to contact him. I knew he was doing fine, as he went back to doing his daily work as a Shinigami after the war ended, and he had some backup in the form of another Shinigami, Kurumadani Zennosuke, assigned to the town. If anything major happened to him, Zennosuke would report to me, since I was his lieutenant.
I would have at least sent some text messages from my iPhone™* to Ichigo, but since I was in Soul Society and he was in the human world, calling or texting was impossible. One of these days, I'll work up the nerve to go to the Twelfth Division and – oh horror of horrors – ask to use their phone to make a call to the real world completely unrelated to official work. One of these days.
The next day
We were all assembled in the same place as yesterday, and this time, Captain Kurotsuchi was present as well. Potter-san was present too.
"I've analysed the papers sent to us by the British, and it seems they're telling the truth. There have indeed been some traces of Aizen in the British Isles."
Yamamoto growled, "So it's true then."
"Yes sir. There is some good news, though. For some reason, the reiatsu samples provided suggest that Aizen currently is very weak compared to what he was when he died. I'd like to believe that these are remnants of his reiatsu left behind from an earlier trip to Britain which he might have undertaken before he died. Records do show that he went on such a trip even before he revealed his treachery to us. But the proof from the British shows that this reiatsu keeps popping up in different places at present time, meaning that these are not remnants of the past. They're real, and were made by Aizen. He is still alive."
You could hear a pin drop. Our worst fears had come true. Aizen was still alive, even after Ichigo had supposedly killed him 17 months ago. The only reason why there was no uproar over the news this time was that everyone had mentally steeled themselves to receive this news yesterday.
Yamamoto opened his mouth, as if to argue, then closed his mouth, knowing that the proof was irrefutably true. He said sharply, "Captain Suì-Fēng, once this meeting is over, get the word out to all our Shinigami in the real world that Aizen is still alive. Get the details from Captain Kurotsuchi and tell them everything they need to know. Captains, meet your divisions after this, and inform them."
He then turned to Potter-san and said, "Lieutenant Potter, this man is our problem, and I wish that officers from the Gotei-13 deal with this problem."
The British visitor nodded and said, "Yes, I understand. We anticipated such a response, and my seniors have said that they will be glad to have your officers in Britain to deal with this problem, as long as you follow one condition."
"Name your condition then."
"It is simple. Another British officer and I are to stay with your officers during the course of their stay in Britain, and assist them."
Yamamoto smiled slightly and said, "That is acceptable."
Potter-san smiled as well and said, "Well then, please inform me when your team is assembled, and I will go with them to Britain to carry out this task."
Potter-san then left, while the rest of us stayed behind.
My captain spoke up, "I suppose several captains will have to go for this kind of mission."
"I agree. The last time we faced him, many of us ended up injured badly. In fact, I believe the prudent thing to do would be to send one captain and a few officers to ascertain Aizen's whereabouts, then send several other captains to take him down." This came from Captain Suì-Fēng.
Yamamoto had taken a seat, and appeared deep in thought. The captains kept up their discussion, with one bringing up the biggest concern on everyone's mind: that the captains' positions in the Third, Fifth and Ninth Divisions were still vacant. Could we afford to lose anymore captains at a time like this?
After a few moments, Yamamoto seemed to have come to a conclusion. He rose from his chair and said, "I have listened to the points raised, and an idea just occurred to me."
Ukitake smiled and said, "Let's hear it, Sensei."
"We have three empty captains' positions. We also know of three Shinigami who have the skills necessary to be promoted to these positions."
My brother broke his silence, "Abarai Renji, Hisagi Shuhei and Kurosaki Ichigo, am I right?"
I was surprised. The captains were considering making Ichigo a captain? And my brother seemed to be in agreement with this as well! Renji and Lieutenant Hisagi seemed as surprised as I was. Even they had not been expecting this. I looked at my captain in confusion and he simply smiled at me and mouthed, "I'll explain later."
Yamamoto said, "Yes. Of those three, Lieutenants Hisagi and Abarai may be promoted immediately if they agree to take the Captain's Examination. But Kurosaki Ichigo cannot be promoted just about yet. He is undeniably powerful, but we have yet to see any other skills that are necessary for the running of a squad, like organisational and leadership skills."
It looked as if he was about to make a grand announcement. With everyone looking at him expectantly, he said, "Let's make this expedition to Britain into a modified Captains' examination! Lieutenants Hisagi and Abarai will be sent to England, and there, they will command a small force and smoke out Aizen, and eliminate him if possible. Upon their return after the successful completion of their mission, they will be made the captains of the Ninth and Third Divisions respectively."
Renji stammered, "But sir! This is so sudden!"
My brother cleared his throat and said, "To you, maybe. But to us captains, there is nothing sudden. We have discussed this over the course of several months. We have found you both worthy of becoming captains at this point in time. All that remains is whether or not you accept this mission and the post of captain."
Lieutenant Hisagi, who had gained his Bankai a year ago, looked as shocked as Renji, but he took it more calmly. He had been leading the Ninth Division as its Acting Captain since Tosen's departure. Becoming the captain would simply be a formality that made him the official leader of the Ninth Division. Even so, the prospect seemed daunting.
Yamamoto looked expectantly at them and asked, "Lieutenants Abarai and Hisagi, do you accept this mission, then?"
Hisagi stepped forward and said, "Like Lieutenant Abarai said, it is very sudden. However, I would still be honoured to take this mission."
Renji steeled himself and did the same. He may have been shocked, but all the same, he should have seen it coming. Most people who have held a Bankai for a year or more get promoted right away if there's an empty captain's post. It was just a matter of when he or she would get the invitation to become a captain.
Once that was done, Yamamoto continued, "As for Kurosaki Ichigo, we need to take into account the fact that he is still alive, and therefore, may not want the post of captain. Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia, step forward."
Getting over the shock of suddenly being called out, I stepped out into the middle.
"Yes, sir!"
"We have a new assignment for you. You are to go to Kurosaki Ichigo and find out if he is willing to accept working for the Gotei-13 as a captain. Even if he is unwilling, ask him if he is willing to go on this mission to England. He might change his mind over time."
Oho! So I was to go to Karakura Town and persuade Ichigo to become a captain! Smiling inwardly at the thought, I answered, "Understood, sir! I'll depart right away."
Hours later
Ichigo's POV
I whistled as I walked back home with Tatsuki. The past few days had been relatively peaceful and, as a substitute Shinigami who still needed to attend school, and had Student Council activities on top of that, it was good reason to be happy. Speaking of Student Council, that's the reason Tatsuki was going with me. We were both part of a committee that was in charge of planning a certain school activity and we were going to my house to finish the proposal for the activity that we needed to send to the teachers.
"Have your friends up there contacted you recently, Ichigo?"
"You mean the Shinigami? Nope. I think they're still busy or something. Who knows, Rukia might have gotten promoted or something after her performance during the war. That means more work for her and less free time."
I had already told Tatsuki everything there was to know about my work as a Shinigami. Not telling her prior was a mistake on my part obviously, and after she approached me in a really silly manner, I talked to her and spilled the beans, so to speak.
Flashback begins
I was walking along the pavement with my earphones blasting music in my ears, just a month after Aizen's death. All the official work had just ended. I had had to go and give testimony for the crimes of Aizen, and as the man who actually killed him, I had to contribute a lot of information to records. Urahara had to do the same; it couldn't be helped as the two of us were the only witnesses to Aizen's death.
And then, suddenly, there was a terrible roar. A Hollow had just arrived, and it was less than a hundred metres from me. Sighing, I took off my earphones and wrapped it around my music player in record speed. I took out my badge, but before I could slam it against my chest to liberate my spirit from my body, a red blur flew past me and smacked right into the Hollow. Bam! The ugly beast was slain in three seconds flat by the weird red blur, who turned out to be a person in a red jumpsuit.
I chuckled, "Hey, whoever you are, thanks! You just saved me a spot of work there!"
The person turned around and I froze. It was Arisawa Tatsuki.
What. The. Heck.
Tatsuki, wearing a red jumpsuit with pink goggles, and she had just killed a Hollow.
Smirking cockily, she walked over.
"What'd you think, Ichigo?"
Sorry Tatsuki, but I don't know anyone lame enough to wear a superhero suit and go around killing Hollows. I decided to yank her chain.
"Do I know you?"
Now she froze. Then she realised I was playing around and a blood vessel started popping at her forehead.
"Pretending not to know me, Ichigo? Why, I'm hurt!"
Now my earphones were back in my ears.
"Sorry, I can't hear you. What was that you just said?"
She promptly punched me. Hard. My Shinigami body can withstand such blows easily, but my human body sadly couldn't. I doubled over in pain.
"Ok…I deserved that. But seriously, Tatsuki, what the hell are you doing? That's kind of my job!"
She looked at me seriously, and I made sure to pay attention. Whatever she was going to say now, I had to listen to.
"Look. I can take care of myself now. You don't need to worry so much about protecting me or anything. Now, spill. I want to know everything about what you've been doing."
I looked at her doubtfully. Sensing my trepidation, she suddenly grabbed the collar of my polo T-shirt.
"How much longer do you think you can keep this from your friends? All of us saw that madman in the white – the one who tried to kill us before you showed up with your unconscious father. The time for secrets is long-over, Ichigo!"
I pulled her hands off – gently. I did not want a repeat of that last time when she punched my face through a window. Besides, she was right. She certainly deserved to know. I initially didn't want her to be involved, but where was the sense in that? She got in danger all the same, and was hurt simply because all her friends seemed to be leaving her behind. Alright. I've decided. I'll just tell her.
"Yeah. Sure. I'll tell you all. But not here. Come with me, I'll buy you a coffee or something."
We talked over coffee, and I told her everything.
Flashback Ends
And that was how Tatsuki came to know about my work. Turns out, I was an idiot for thinking she would be better off not knowing. Now that she knew all, she stayed out of my work and didn't do stupid things like try to help me hunt hollows. To think, all I needed to keep her from sticking her nose into my affairs was to tell her the truth. What an idiot I was.
But all that's in the past now, and things have only been going uphill since then. I decided to get more involved in my school, and joined the student council once my grades were decent enough. I was the Vice President, while Ishida was the President. Tatsuki was the treasurer. Everyone was shocked, firstly because I, a former delinquent, suddenly decided to take on a post with such responsibility, and secondly, because I was so damn good at it insert cocky smile here. And run a hand through hair while at it.
All in all, things have been going fine the past 17 months since the war ended. I even got to keep my powers despite Tensa Zangetsu's warning that I would lose them if I used the Final Getsuga Tensho. But since when have I played by the rules? After my training in the Dangai Precipice world, I received two things: a huge boost of power and the ability to perform the Final Getsuga Tensho. I just overpowered Aizen, and then stabbed him in the heart to stop him from using high-speed regeneration to recover. So I didn't actually have to use the attack that I had trained to obtain. By right, I should still have lost my power, but Urahara and my father decided to prevent that from happening – by giving me special training that allowed me to slowly 'step down' my power to a level which could be handled by my body. It was, in essence, a back-to-basics course, and required many difficult things like sealing my Zanpakuto and learning Kido. But it paid off, and I was a much more effective fighter now. In the past, I would win fights but only with Bankai, and I would end up beaten half to death. Now, I could fight with just my fists and Kido, and beat opponents without even getting scratched, so there was less work for poor Inoue.
Just as I was lost in such thoughts, I felt something. A familiar presence had just appeared in town. I smirked, and turned to Tatsuki.
"Looks like Rukia has just arrived, Tatsuki. What say we drop by and say hi?"
"Hey! What about the proposal, you slacker?"
"Screw the proposal! I'll get it done later. This is more important!"
Tatsuki bit her lip nervously. She had never messed up any council jobs. But she too understood that Rukia was an important friend whom I hadn't seen in quite a while.
"Oh, alright! But you'd better get it done by tomorrow!"
I grinned, "Yes, ma'am,"
And we took off towards the familiar source of reiatsu.
To be continued
James Potter is a Shinigami working for Britain? Aizen's reiatsu detected in England? Rukia's a lieutenant? Renji, Shuhei and Ichigo are to become captains? Ichigo and Tatsuki are Student Councillors? WTF?
Ok I shall stop being lame. I wrote another Bleach-Harry Potter crossover before but that one is really a failure =.= There was little planning, bad format, and so on. This is my second attempt to write in this category, and I hope it is received well. If there is anything that you didn't like about this story, please please do tell me about it. Especially if the dialogue seems very stiff and boring (one reviewer said this about one of my other stories, and I'm trying to make it better). I really need constructive criticism to improve myself.
About Ichigo's Powers: I think that the whole Final Getsuga Tensho issue (where Ichigo had to lose his power) was simply a plot device by Tite Kubo to pave the way for the Fullbring Arc. I plan to ignore that arc for this story, so I'm not using this plot device. In my story, Ichigo keeps his powers.
About Aizen's fate: As you can gather from the story, Aizen's been killed – by a sword through the heart. But he's still alive…in some form or another, as revealed by James Potter's information.
About Hogwarts: What's happening in the land of magic? Stay tuned to the next chapter. For now, I'll just say that Harry Potter's second year is drawing to a close.
*Rukia has a white iPhone 4 in this story. I get my weekly Bleach chapters from Mangastream, which features a few pages of fanart at the end of each chapter. One such piece of fanart showed Rukia in human clothing holding a white iPhone 4 in a silicone case with bunny ears at the top, and that's where I got the idea from.