Glad I got this chapter done fast. I got some things I need to tell you guys but that can wait at the end. Until then enjoy the show~

Chapter 12

Making Some New Friends

Karakura Town, Kurosaki's House, Morning

"I'm heading out!" Ichigo told his family as he walked toward the door. Karin just waved at her brother, while she ate breakfast. But then he heard Yuzu call out to him.

"Big brother, are you going to hang out with your friends today?" Ichigo paused for a moment, not sure what his sister was getting at.

"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?" Ichigo questioned.

"I was thinking of having your friends meet with Sakura and Edward to hang out. Being in the house all day isn't good for them," she explained to her brother. Ichigo understood her logic and he was about to agree with her when his father kicked him to the side.

"Ichigo! You have to let those freeloaders meet your friends! Let them go out and have some fun for a bit! It gets them out of our hair for a while." Ichigo growled and punched his father in the face.

"I was about to do that old man!" Ichigo yelled at him then stormed off to where the said duo was currently.

He slammed the door open and both Sakura and Edward snapped their heads to him in surprise.

"After school ends you guys are coming with me to see my friends. So be ready around 3:45," Ichigo told them and then left in a huff.

Sakura turned to Edward. "What was that about?" she asked him with a confused look on her face.

Edward just shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it's stupid."

Hueco Mundo, Morning, Forest of Menos

Hiss!

Slice!

A fish-man Hollow yelped in pain as its arm was cut off. Sora landed behind the Hollow and quickly turned to cut it in half from its midsection. The Hollow let out a final scream before fading away.

"Got one!" Sora called out with a smile on his face. He turned to see Haelth stab a big-lizard Hollow through the eye. It screamed and jerked its head to get Haelth off but she held on.

"Almost got mi-" Haelth cut off as the sudden flinging of the Hollow's head caused Haelth to have to hold on for dear life. She growled and sent a bolt of electricity through the spear to the Hollow's head. The Hollow screamed at the electricity frying its brain and fell over dead. Haelth jumped away from the Hollow's body which twitched a bit before disappearing.

"Well, that takes care of that!" Haelth exclaimed and started spinning her spear around trying to act all cool. Then the butt of the spear hit the back of her head.

"Ouch!"

"Are you alright?" Sora asked as he ran up to her to check her head for any injuries.

Haelth batted his hands away, "I'm fine but where's Cro-"

Thud!

Sora and Haelth looked to where Crona just finished decapitating a Hollow.

"These guys are so weak!" Ragnarok commented.

"Of course they are. Fighting higher level Hollows can be dangerous. So you get small fries before we go after some bigger fish," Ashido explained to them. He was watching them from a few feet away ready to help them if they needed it.

"So when are we going to fight tougher Hollows?" Haelth asked.

"Hopefully never. I'm hoping that you guys out of here before that happens. But I know things don't usually go to plan so might as well teach ya before you get yourselves killed," Ashido told them.

Ragnarok huffed. "We can kill those f*ckers right now."

"You wait until I say you are ready." Ashido didn't yell but he said it with a firm voice.

Wanting to change the subject before Ragnarok started yelling at Ashido, Sora asked him, "Hey Ashido! Are you going to come with us to the living world?"

Ashido thought about it but shook his head. "I don't know." Ashido looked down for a bit. "I have been in Hueco Mundo so long that this almost feels like my home. I know it's not but..." He looked up at Sora, eyes glazed over in memory. "My comrades and I were here to kill some Hollows that escaped from us." Sora could already feel where this story was going but it didn't help; his heart was already filling with pity for the soul reaper. "I was the only one that made it out alive and I had no way to get back home. I finished what we started and I continue hunting down Hollows to this day."

Sora looked up at his teacher. "Ashido I had no ide-" Ashido started to walk away from them.

"Stop wasting time. We have to get you back home." Haelth and Crona looked at Sora, who was in deep thought before heading after Ashido. The other two followed close behind.

Hueco Mundo, Morning, Outside The Cave

The group traveled in silence after Ashido told them his story. Haelth didn't know what to say or do after she heard about it. She had seen people like Ashido before in her world. Mostly hunters and soldiers that had seen too many battles or one very bloody ones. Only doctors can help them then as Haelth learned the hard way. Her body shivered at the thought of her sister and mother. While her mom didn't beat her because of an attack, she was always cold towards her and her training methods were brutal. Her father and other mother said that she does that because of something that happened to her in the past but she always stays away from people like that.

With a sigh, Haelth turned her gaze to her right and when she saw something. The same four figures from earlier were running from what seems like a cloud at first. She almost didn't see them because their black bodies blended so well with the night but when she saw the yellow she knew what they were.

"Heartless!" Haelth shouted, and others immediately looked to where Haelth was pointing.

"Wh-" Ashido was about to ask her what she was talking about before Sora dashed ahead with Crona and Haelth on his heels. As they got closer, they saw that the Heartless were chasing the Hollow family they met before. Haelth and the boys ran faster to try and get to the Hollow family before the Heartless do. A red blur blocks their way towards the family.

"What are you three doing?!" Ashido shouted at them. Haelth stepped back but she glared right back at him. "Those are Hollows down there. You should leave them to their fates. It's how life is around here."

Haelth felt anger rise from within her. "There's a kid right there Ashido! We can't just leave them to get eaten by those things!"

"This isn't the human world or whatever little planet you are from, girl. This Hueco Mundo! It's killed or be killed around here!" Ashido shouted at her and Haelth flinched back. "Besides that girl is Hollow. If she goes hungry she'll eat you in a heartbeat whether you save her or not. That's just in a Hollow's nature."

"And that's your excuse to leave them like this?!" Sora spoke up in an angry tone. "Nothing about this is nature! Those things down there are Heartless and they won't stop after one is killed. They keep on killing until there is nothing left," Sora told Ashido before he ran around him to get to Nel's family.

Ashido was about to yell at him but Crona started shouting first. "You can't blame someone for the sins of another. It's a cruel thing to do!" With that Crona followed Sora with Haelth not far behind. She didn't say anything to Ashido because there wasn't anything that hasn't already been said by her friends.

Sora started to slice and hit the Heartless away from Nel and her family who cowered in fear. Haelth sent a bolt of electricity toward the main body of the Heartless's group with Crona following it up with a swing of his sword and a beam of energy, cutting right through the crowd.

Sora turned around and smiled at them, "About time you guys got here," he joked.

"Don't you know heroes always show up late to save the day?" Haelth smiled back and then went forward with her spear pointed toward the Heartless. She ducked and weaved under the Heartless' attacks. Anyone of the Heartless that showed an opening, she thrust at and cut with her spear. Training with Edward and Sakura truly helped her in the long run. Shadow-type Heartless can only take a few hits before death while Soldiers were different as they were faster and stronger than the Shadow Heartless, but, since she learned their fight pattern, Haelth can kill them easily. Then came the Large Body.

They are spherical and have massive arms and hands but very short legs. They are in purple sleeveless bodysuits edged in gold trim, the trim lacing up the front of the bodysuit across the Large Body's big belly. That large belly is the problem.

Haelth ran toward the Heartless to stab its stomach, but her spear bounced off like she hit a brick wall. The Heartless raised its fist to hit her but she quickly darted away and watched the ground explode where she stood seconds before.

'Ok time to try something different,' Haelth thought as she charged energy into her spear. A bolt of lightning hit the Heartless' side it stumbled a bit before it turned to Haelth, glaring at her.

`Oh shit.'

Suddenly Haelth heard a strange whisper, "Girl you better run."

The Heartless charged at her and she quickly moved out of the way of the attack before the Heartless made an impact.

"Attack the back!" Sora told her. As the Heartless passed her, she ran forward to stab its back. She succeeded and the Heartless fell and disappeared, its heart released. Before she could celebrate Crona tackled her to the ground as a large shadow passed by their heads.

Haelth and Crona quickly got up and pointed their weapons at the enemy. When the dust cleared their eyes widened in surprise. It was the same nightmare wolf from before!

"What the hell are you doing here!" Haelth shouted at the Hollow who snarled at them.

"What do you think!? You destroyed my pack and killed my leader! I'm here for revenge!" It lunged at them and Crona and Haelth both split up to dodge the attack. As the Hollow passed them, they both made sure that their weapons dug into the Hollow's side.

The Hollow hissed in pain and jumped at Haelth, jaws open wide to eat her. But then Ashido cut into the Hollow's side and threw it off course.

"Ashido!" Haelth cried out in surprise.

"Never let your guard down!" Ashido told her as he tried to keep the Hollow down. Haelth rushed forward to help him stabbing the Hollow in the eye. The Hollow howled in pain before Sora and Crona cut its head off.

Everyone stopped and started catching their breaths as the Heartless retreated. Haelth thought of going after them but stopped herself. Sora told her that the Heartless are mindless without a leader. Hollows around those Heartless might become easy prey for the Hollows.

There was the sound of footsteps coming toward them and Haelth turned around to see Nel coming closer. Nel stopped a few feet away from them and locked eyes with Ashido.

"Why did you save us?" Nel asked Ashido.

"Because these idiots," he glared at the trio who looked away from him, "Wanted to help you. If I had a choice, I would have left you and your family to die." Nel flinched and Haelth glared at Ashido.

"Ashido! Isn't that going a bit too far?" Haelth scolded.

"It's the truth," Ashido answered and then walked away. Haelth was about to tell him off but Pesche of all people stopped her.

"You don't need to protect us from him. This is how most people act in Hueco Mundo,'' Pesche told her and Haelth was reminded of what Ashido said earlier about how 'it's kill or be killed here'.

She stubbornly replied, "Well maybe people should be kinder to others."

"How come you guys saved us?" Nel asked the trio.

"We couldn't just leave you guys to be Heartless food," Sora answered them. "It's not the right thing to do." Haelth nodded and Crona smiled shyly.

Nel looked at him in shock. She never had someone act so kindly to her before besides her family. Was this group for real…

As if reading her thoughts Haelth spoke up. "We helped you guys because well…it's not right seeing someone in trouble and not doing anything to stop it," she explained. Nel looked down as she tried to process what the trio was saying to her.

"Thank you for helping us," Nel finally said which surprised the trio but they smiled at her regardless.

"It's not that big of a deal," Sora replied.

Ashido coughed to get their attention. "It's time to leave," Ashido spoke up and the trio got up to follow him.

Nel quickly grabbed Sora's pants. "Will you guys come back?"

Sora turned around and knelt to her height. "Of course we will! We'll come back tomorrow, ok?" Nel nodded and they both smiled at each other. Ashido narrowed his eyes but didn't comment until they got back to the home base.

Karakura Town, Main Plaza, Morning

Sakura hobbled alongside Edward and Ichigo. She had a leg cast and crutches to keep up the appearance that she was still hurt, but man it was so annoying to be this goddamn slow!

….She was starting to sound like Naruto again.

Edward heard her huffing and whispered to her, "It's only for a little while. Just grin and bear it."

"I know! I know! But it's just so...frustrating," Sakura whispered back.

"Trust me, I understand," Edward said as he looked down at his left leg.

"Sorry, Ed."

"I'm used to it so it isn't a big deal."

"We're here!" Ichigo told them as they arrived at a small cafe. There were lots of people inside since school was out for the day. They moved to one of the booths near the window and sat away from the other people.

There was silence between the three of them for a few seconds and Sakura decided to break it. "So, how was school?" she asked and both guys turned to her with a weird look on their faces.

"What?"

"You sound like a mom," Edward laughed a bit and Sakura blushed.

"I-it's just a simple question! I'm not, like, asking him if he made some friends or anything!" Edward only laughed harder and Sakura's face turned a brighter red.

"If...you want to know, it's going fine. Just some annoying classmates I had to deal with today," Ichigo answered and that stopped Edward and Sakura's little fight.

"Annoying how?" She asked.

"Just trying to be my friend and being a little sh*t," Ichigo answered.

"I would have told him to p*ss off," Edward commented.

"I did and he still didn't get it." Ichigo rolled his eyes. Then a new voice shouted at them.

"Hey, Ichigo!" They turned to see a group coming toward them. The girl in front had brown eyes and long orange hair while one of the boys had straight, chin-length black hair and blue eyes and the other was dark-skinned with pronounced cheek-bones and had wavy brown hair with bangs that hung over his eyes. The last boy was the only one that didn't have a short-sleeved shirt with an open collar.

"Hey, Orihime." Ichigo waved them over and the trio sat down next to them. Orihime sat next to Sakura and Edward while the other two settled next to Ichigo. "These are my friends Orihime, Uryu, and Chad. Guys, this is Sakura and Edward."

"Hello," Sakura greeted while Edward waved his hand. Orihime looked over to them in glee.

"So are you guys aliens? I mean, Ichigo said you came from a different world, but you don't look like aliens." Sakura's and Edward's mouths nearly fell open in shock. Sakura turned to Ichigo, her eyes narrowed and her mouth in a frown.

"You told them?!" Sakura yelled at Ichigo.

Ichigo held his hands up. "I didn't know it was a secret! You guys didn't tell me!"

"That still doesn't give you the right!" Edward yelled as well.

"Ichigo isn't that smart, to begin with," the boy with the glasses commented which made Sakura and Edward almost laugh.

"Shut up, Uryu!" Ichigo shouted at his friend which only made Uryu look smugger.

"What? It's the truth. You didn't ask them if it was alright for you to tell us about other worlds," he pointed out and Ichigo looked taken aback.

"Ok I made a mistake and I'm sorry," Ichigo apologized to Edward and Sakura.

"Just don't do it again and make sure you talk to us first," Edward told him and Sakura nodded. There was an awkward silence between all of them after that before Orihime broke it.

"So, can you guys tell us about your worlds or not?" Orihime asked them. Sakura and Edward thought about it for a moment and then told them a bit about their world. Then after some questions, the group started to talk about each other.

Sakura and Edward told them a bit about the adventures they had more than they should have but then again they didn't know about the world border. Orihime was most interested in that as she asked questions and hung onto every word they said. Because of this Sakura enjoyed talking to her the most.

But all things must come to an end and so the group went on their separate ways.

Orihime stopped Sakura before she left. "Do you want to hang out again?"

Sakura nodded. "I would like that."

Karakura Town, Kurosaki's House, Night

Ichigo, Edward, and Sakura were all hanging out in Ichigo's room. They were talking about how the gummi ship repairs were coming along and the portal. Chip and Dale got the rough outlines for the gummi ship and were working with Kisuke to get the parts. The portal, on the other hand, was taking a while because of the lack of resources from Kisuke's end. But Haelth and the others were doing fine for the most part. They needed to sleep tonight to get an update.

Suddenly Ichigo's head snapped up. "Is something wrong?" Edward asked him when he noticed Ichigo's sudden movement.

"There's a Hollow running around. I'll take care of it," Ichigo told them as he got up.

Sakura got up as well. "Want us to help?" she asked him.

"No, I can do this on my own. But there is something I need your help with." Sakura and Edward raised an eyebrow at him. Ichigo pulled a lion plushie out from behind his pillow.

"Finally I'm free! Ichigo why did you stuff me under the pillow?! What was the big idea, asshole?!" Kon, the plushie, screeched at him.

Sakura and Edward looked plushie and were shocked. "What the hell is that?" Edward asked pointing at the stuffed animal.

"A pain in the ass," Ichigo answered before he jabbed his hand down Kon's throat and grabbed the pill. He heard Sakura gag at that and popped it into his mouth.

"What the fu-"

He felt the familiar feeling of his soul leaving his body. He went straight for the window but before he left he turned to Sakura and Edward.

"Just watch over this idiot for me," Ichigo told them then left to go find the Hollow.

The two stood in silence for a moment before Sakura spoke up. "What the hell was all of that?" Ichigo's body suddenly stood up and they immediately knew something was wrong because instead of the usual grumpy expression Ichigo had it was replaced with a lovey-dovey look when he locked eyes with Sakura.

"Gimme a kiss!" Kon exclaimed as he jumped toward Sakura who just straight up punched him in the face.

'Now I know why he's a pain in the ass,' Edward thought as he watched that scene unfold right before him.

"What the hell are you?" Edward asked him.

"Name's Kon and I'm a Mod-Soul." When he got questioning looks from Edward and Sakura he adds, "Basically, I'm in charge of Ichigo's body when he's away on Soul Reaper business."

"Well, that explains how his family has no idea what's going on," Sakura commented and then saw Kon going toward the window.

"Where are you going?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Kon smiled and then jumped out of the window and ran down the street.

"Shit! After him!" Edward yelled as he chased Kon with Sakura on his heels.

In the sky above them a portal opened up and a pair of eyes glared at the form of Kon on the run.

"Ichigo…"

To be continued...

First up I have a now: .firedragonx?fan_landing=true. Which this chapter was available before the public got their hands on it. So go check that out.

Also, I'm working on a new fanfic. It doesn't have a title yet but it's Soul Eater x My Hero Academia fanfic. Where after the ending of Soul Eater anime, the DWMA discovered that Medusa finds her way into the My Hero Academia world and was working with someone called All For One. Crona volunteered as well as Stein and Marie to the My Hero Academia's world to find what she was planning to do there when she was alive. Through a series of events, they discovered that All Might was fighting All For One and is now a teacher at UA. Crona is going to go there as a student to get more information about All For One and maybe discovered what it means to be a hero.

The fanfic will be coming out this year maybe after the first Act of Rogue Crew is done(which after this one is only two chapters) or maybe sooner.

I did write a couple of drabbles about in my public discord server: /5putJxU

and on my tumblr here: .com