Chapter Eight

AN- Yes, I know. It was a frig long wait. I have no excuse, blame writers block. I had a general idea of where this fic was going, but it sorta just lost momentum to me, y'know? I finally got round to doing this.

Disclaimer: I still have Wright and Co working on suing Oda and Kubo for everything they're got, based on how they effectively stole a year of my life by making me watch their big ass shows. After all, time is priceless, so a year of my life should be worth AT LEAST one of their franchises.

After the notorious fight with 'that coffin guy', life on the Midnight Cutter went back to normality, or about as normal a ship of spiritually powered humans and Shinigami who all had personality quirks (Barring one- Yamada obviously) due to the horrors of the Vandenreich War, could be.

Ichigo returned to his usual routine of training and Captaining, Chad took back control the helm, Ishida resumed his almost nocturnal workload, Rukia bitched while navigating, Orihime kept trying to sneak into the kitchen and make lunch, and Yamada just looked at all their shenanigans and asked himself for the seven hundredth time why he joined such a crew of lunatics.

Up until the group managed to reach the next port, only a few major things occurred. One; the proud Quincy finished designing the flag for their crew. 'The Reaper Pirates'. (The name which Uryu still thoroughly hated and only accepted due to the bribe of being able to do some fabric work)

A black flag now remained in the sky above, a single design covered the fabric of all the sails. The jolly roger itself being that of the Skull which emblazoned Ichigo's Substitute Badge, with his original Bankai and Shikai swords crossing downwards behind it. To top off the flag, in the background there is a faint symbol which is reminiscent of a flowering Snowdrop mixed with a five sided cross. When asked, Uryu stated that it was a mixture of both the Quincy Cross (To maintain he still had some Quincy pride despite being part of a crew named after his technical worst enemies) and the Squad 13 insignia.

Rukia liked it, Uryu liked it. With the woman who wore the pants on the ship liking it, and the guy who could shoot you from a mile off with a bow and get away with it, supporting her, the flag was elected as the official flag.

Other interesting things which happened included: Rukia mastering the navigation of the ship enough to turn them around after she realised she had been going in the wrong direction for two and a half days, an occurrence which up until recently had been something perfectly accepted, Uryu finally getting his back up Quincy equipment courtesy of Urahara and a space Kido. In leymmens terms, the spell connected to different points remotely, and allowed the transfer of non living matter between them. One was set up in the Urahara shop, the other in the engine room. It was how Ruki had been sending her reports back to the Seiretei.

Also, Yamada was fully accepted into the group. The Gargoyle Man had struck up a steady friendship with both Chad and Ichigo, as well as a professional rivalry with Orihime to keep control of the kitchen.

For some odd reason, the bounty hunter and the silent Mexican seemed to complement each other really well in an odd sort of way. Like ice cream and ketchup, or marmalade and toast, or cold custard and apple pie, any and all food analogies of this nature fit the bill well. The duo often sparred against one another to get each other in top condition, (and while Chad often won, Yamada was never a sore loser) played video games with one another when there was free time, as well as having the same opinions on most things, save for violence, spicy food and seafood.

Similarly, Ichigo and Yamada got along simply because they were both pretty damn similar. They were both violent, liked rushing in heads first, were skilled fighters, disliked Orihime's cooking, thought they were always right, had strong views on family and friends; the list goes on. The only consequence is that arguments were often caused due to their straightforward mindframes.

As such, the entire group was very happy when they reached the final stop before the Grand Line, Logue Town, the town of the beginning and the end. At first, not much to look at from afar. A moderately sized island with a large city covering the vast majority of it, save for a few steep hills where building would have simply been awkward.

It was much more impressive, however after you docked there. "This is a damn fine port." Commented Ichigo dryly from the lower deck as Chad dropped the anchor and tied the ship up... or whatever it was called. "Its sort of like that one we saw on Shimotsuki Village, only bigger."

"Obviously." Responded the bounty hunter as he stood next to the orange head. "This place is pretty close to Reverse Mountain, that upwards river flowing place I told you about the other day, and as such, is the final stop for any and all Pirates before they reach the Grand Line." He gave a proud grin. "I've been to the Grand Line, so I know this place pretty well since a few ships I've served on have docked here in the past while on the way there." He stroked his chin lightly before continuing. "For Pirates this place is vital, being the only stop to collect much needed supplies. That's good for us, we can take a day or two to grab supplies before we head off again."

"There sound's like a catch." Added Uryu stiffly as he joined in the conversation. "After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch."

"Indeed," Nodded Yamada. "This place also has a Marine Base, which last time I was here, was stocked with some pretty tough Marines. This guy called Smoker had just became in charge of the place and was cracking down on all pirates... hard. Seriously, that guy, despite being newly promoted, took down an entire crew in a matter of minutes." After scratching his head and scowling, he continued. "I only just got away myself when he went after some guys I was partnering up with. I may have pissed him off just a bit though... and knowing my luck, he's probably still here."

"What did you do?" Sighed Uryu.

"...Nothing."

"Come on man!" Complained the Captain impatiently. "I'm sort of curious too."

"As I said... nothing much." To mask himself, Yamada started walking off to seemingly 'check some suspicious area of decking', quickly muttering what he did as he left. "I Onlysleptwithamarinechickathisbase, gotcaughtbyhimwithmytrousersdown, soIpunchedhimintheface, lockedmyslefinhisoffice, accidentallysetitonfire, stoleapackofhisexpensivecigars, brokeawindowtoescape, andwaschasedhalfwayacrossthetownafterwards... and that was about it."

Ichigo blinked several times. "Did you just say you slept with a marine chick in a MARINE BASE, while he was there, was caught, so you punched him in the face, set fire to his office, stole some cigars for some reason, then decided to make like a tree and leave?"

"That pretty much sums it up."

"No wonder he probably has a grudge against you." Commented the Quincy. "If he sees you, he'll probably try to murder you on the spot, simply out of principle."

"I know, right?" He took a mournful sigh. "And the worst thing was that I never had the chance to leave that awesome chick my Transponder Snail frequency." The mournful look was removed from his face as he smirked pervertedly. "It was worth him trying to kill me... she was a damn fine broad."

"... You're as messed up as us, you know that?"

"Yes Ichigo... I figured as such."

"And if we're calling you messed up, even by our standards, you're pretty messed up." Added Ishida.

"Shut up Mr 'I hugged a woman's legs for two day's while drunk'."

"...I have nothing to respond to that with."

"Either way," Said Rukia, who had been listening in on the last part of the conversation without them realising it. "It would probably be a bad idea to let you off the ship while we're docked here."

"Ha!" Snorted Ichigo slightly. "You've been grounded."

"Come to think of it Ichigo," Mentioned the Lieutenant with an evil grin. "Didn't you recently get a bounty? Yep, you did. And isn't Smoker really anti pirate?" She dramatically shed a tear of horror. "It seems you too will have to remain hidden away on this ship, lest you potentially be killed! Oh the horror!"

"...This is payback for when I threatened to get Yamada to make Rabbit soup, isn't it?"

Rukia smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about carrot top."

"Oi! Piss off midget!"

"Don't worry, I will be long gone soon." She turned around and called out to Chad and Orihime. "YOU'RE ALL GOING SHOPPING WITH ME! GOT IT?"

"YES SIR!" Called back the other two sarcastically.

"You keep the two idiots out of trouble Uryu."

"Got it."

Rukia jumped ship, with the other two crew members following her. "I'll see you two later! BYE!" She walked off with barely a backwards glance. Chad hurried after her, turning around once to give the three a 'good guy' gesture, while Orihime sent an apologetic glance towards the group, following which, she bounced after the Navigator.

This left a Shinigami, a Quincy, and a bounty hunter alone together on the deck of the Midnight Cutter, a bit like the start to a bad joke.

"I blame you for this Yamada."

"Piss off strawberry, fancy a spar?"

"You have no idea."

XXXXXXXXXX

Two day's passed without incidence, during this period of time Rukia took much pleasure in exploring Logue Town. Similarly to how she acted when she first went to the Human World, the unexplored world surrounding Soul Society greatly excited the diminutive woman. Every sight was new and miraculous, even early on in their 'adventure' she was still having fun. Admittedly, a certain spiky haired overpowered Shinigami may have been part of the reason she was so cheery, but she still fundamentally felt excited from the sheer newness of East Blue.

After exploring the new city, she concluded that it wasn't really that amazing. It was pretty normal as far as populated area's go, even if the almost medieval market place and the execution grounds caught the Lieutenant's attention.

The reason for the little trip she was currently on, was so that she could pick up a 'Log Pose'. After asking for Yamada's advice on what to stock up with, he immediately responded with "Get a god damn Log Pose. Fuck food, water, medicine, get a Log Pose first."

As such, she felt that the thing must be pretty important, thus while Chad shopped for ingredients Yamada requested and Orihime picked up medical goods and other requests, Rukia had spent the last two days searching for a place which stocks the illusive Log Pose. She finally found a small map shop which had a few of them in storage somewhere, so in addition to buying some maps and mapping equipment for her own use on the previous day, she also ordered a Log Pose to pick up the day after.

The day after had came, and Rukia was eager to see what the thing she had put so much effort into finding was like.

"Here ya go little Miss!" Cheerfully offered the old shopkeeper to the woman as he haned her a little box. She opened it up and stared.

"Its a small bracelet."

"Yes... it is."

"I searched three day's for this." She exclaimed.

"I know, right?" He gave a proud grin. "This has got to be the finest Log Pose in stock!"

"This little thing is what I put all my effort into?"

"Wait... are you dissatisfied with your purchase."

"Not at all." She gave her fake smile, which had no smiliness to it at all. "I simply expected... more... for all my money."

A tick mark appeared on the elderly gentleman's forehead. "Brats... these things are pretty rare you know? Amateur pirates everywhere flock for these things, its rare to find these before they're confiscated by the Marines for their own use. Hell, this was only inventoried a week ago."

"It still seems like a lot of fuss." She pointed out.

"It doesn't look like much, but it is still a vital navigation tool. This thing reads the individual magnetism of any island it comes into contact with, allowing you to be able to permanently navigate in the Grand Line despite it having no stable magnetic field, which consequently screws over all compasses. But... if you're dissatisfied, I will just have to ta-" He motioned to put it away when-

"WAIT!" Blurted Rukia. "I guess its pretty... good?"

"Indeed." He handed the Log Pose in its box to her. "You've already paid so you can just take it. Although, take care. The Grand Line isn't a cakewalk. Monsters sail there."

Rukia turned around and left, her purchase in turn. "Have you ever thought, perhaps, that you were talking to one of those monsters?" She didn't wait for an answer, she just smirked in the fact that he would probably be scared shitless of the next pretty girl to enter his store.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chad held a large sack of potatoes over one shoulder, a sack of mixed vegetables over the other. Shopping had gone well for the silent giant, with the money given to him he had collected the vast majority of goods over the last two days and was simply using his current trip to carry the most heavy requests back to the Midnight Cutter.

On the way back, he saw a woman in a nearby alleyway. A shifty looking man stood next to her, one hand of his placed against the wall she lent against. Perfectly innocent at first glance, not so innocent when the man pulled out a knife.

A knife. A short, blunt one by Chad's estimation. Before it was pulled out he would have been willing to walk away, but now that it had. Once more he would need to go and help someone in need, so he walked towards the duo.

"Hey." He grunted as he dropped his sacks gently onto the floor.

"What the fuck do you want?" Snapped the man bluntly.

"I was curious to see why you have a knife pointed against a woman."

"And what's it to you?"

"Your life." Was Chad's equally blunt answer.

"H-HELP!" Choked out the woman. "He said he was going t-"

"Shut up bitch!" He motioned to plunge to blade into her shoulder, but was blocked by Chad's arm, which was drenched in enough Reiryoku to easily block the blow. "What the?"

"I apologise," He apologies upfront. "But I'm going to have to knock you out for a bit."

"Like you could punk!" The mugger regained his confidence, and charged towards the Mexican to try and stab him again, seeing his previous attempt as a fluke.

THUD! WHACK! Two blows was all it took to finish it. Firstly, Chad swept one arm into his stomach, to knock the air out of him, and a second fist gently slammed down onto the thugs forehead to apply unconsciousness.

"Are you all right?" He turned to the woman, who now sported a very grateful expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thank you." Her expression turned dark again. "If you hadn't involved yourself-"

"I would have had to get involved." Grunted a third voice.

Chad saw a tall, muscular white haired man walk briskly towards him. His most distinct features were the grim look on his face, the Marine coat which he wore open to reveal his chest, his leather gloves and boots (Which gave Chad the impression of a general delinquents attire) and the two Cigars he had in his mouth.

"Who are you?" Asked Chad.

"Me? You can call me Captain Smoker." He offered the male a strong hand to shake. "I run the Marine base on this island, keeping punks like that off the street and the seas." He gave the downed thug a large kick. "Thanks for helping this woman out, even if it was unnecessary. I was about to interfere when you acted to protect her." He offered a toothy grin. "I still appreciate it."

"Its okay." Responded the male as he hoisted the first of his sacks onto his back. Following this, he gave his signature 'good man' pose, which he was notorious for back home in Karakura.

"Have you ever thought of joining the Marines? We could use a guy like you on the force."

"No... I haven't." The second sack was hoisted. "Goodbye."

"A man of few word's eh?"

"...Yes."

"Well, I might see you around sometime."

"Maybe." Chad left the Marine to tend to the woman he saved and went back to transporting goods to the ship.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Ichigo was training. His Quincy abilities specifically. Before going off to have his midday snooze the day previously, Uryu had decided to advance his almost non existent progress by giving him a Quincy Cross to help him collect Reshi in the air.

The Cross itself was fairly basic, it was a five pointed star made of smooth silver metal, with very little decoration at all, save for a long chain which would allow the Cross to be worm from the wrist. Ishida claimed it was the practise Cross he used during his actual training, before he switched to his first proper bow, which he used up until putting on his 'glove' just before the Ryoka Invasion.

Suffice to say, Ichigo was pleased at first, he still had grand delusions of spamming laser spears like how Ulquiorra did during their fight. His expectations were dashed. He had gained enough ability after practising with it, to gather enough Reshi to form a basic, small bow, but was unable to maintain its form. He just couldn't... control it properly. The Reshi kept on dispersing after he had gathered enough, he was unable to keep its shape.

This frustrated Ichigo greatly. So frustrating actually, that he had got sick enough to switch back to practising his similarly useless Kido spells instead.

He was still unable to cast any of the spells though. Any time he attempted the spells, he severely overpowered them, even with his control exercises. It was just typical. His Quincy training was stuck because he couldn't maintain his bow due to lack of power and control in manipulating Reshi, while his Kido was stuck because while he had finally mastered the control exercises for the lower Kido's, he had to much Reiryoku so overpowered it.

His Kido was basically too strong, while his Quincy stuff currently had too little control and power to work.

Too strong while having basic control down.

Too weak while having no control.

Ichigo snapped up from his spot laying on the floor, snapping to attention at the sudden idea he had in his head.

It was suicidal, crazy, unlikely to work, and could potentially damage the ship. "No... It can't be that easy."

He looked left. No one there.

He looked right. No one there either. Chad, Orihime and Rukia were out, Yamada was inside cooking dinner, Uryu was sleeping and there were minimal people at the docks, none of them looking at his ship. No one was around to see what he was about to try and attempt.

"Lets see if this works, eh?" Spoke Ichigo as he clutched his Quincy Cross tightly, hoping his idea didn't literally blow up in his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What... the hell... happened... here?" Vocalised Rukia with false calmness as her eyes befell the sight before her.

"I'd like to know that too." Asked Yamada. "I was just cooking, then BOOM! I rushed outside and saw what had happened."

"I too experienced a bang waking me from my sleep." Admitted Ishida tiredly.

"Nothing much." Sweatdropped Ichigo lightly. "Just a bit of... training."

"TRAINING!?" Roared Rukia like a terrorising dragon.

"Yeah... the hole in the railing was completely accidental."

"Its... a frigging metre wide."

"...My training was quite enthusiastic."

Rukia sighed. "What have I said about practising Kido when I'm not around."

"Well... I wasn't doing Kido per say."

"Also," Added Ishida. "I told you to not bother firing an arrow from your shoddy Spirit Bow, I warned that the arrow could potentially become unstable."

"I... wasn't firing any arrows."

"So what? You were practising your Getsuga Tenshou?"

"...No."

"Trying to recreate a Cero?"

"...No."

Rukia simply sighed, before adding with a voice dripping in sarcasm. "I half think you inflicted that damage by pounding the railing with your thick head."

"That seems rather unlikely." Pointed out Yamada.

"I was being sarcastic!"

"...Well soooorryy!" Complained Yamada in retaliation. He turned around to go back inside. "Deal with this yourself, I have a quiche in the oven to take out."

"So what exactly did you do?" Asked Rukia with lots of irritation.

"I told you... training." Ichigo tried to sidetrack the question.

"I swear to GOD Ichigo, if you don't give me a proper answer right now I will castrate you with one of Yamada's butcher knives."

"Fine." Sighed Ichigo as he gestured to the pointed out damage. "That, was a little... experiment. You see, my Kido training could not progress because I kept overpowering it, despite having the shitty control exercises down, while my Quincy stuff was the polar opposite, being too weak and lacking in any control."

Ishida snapped awake. "Wait a minute... you didn't!"

The Captain of the Reaper Pirates scratched his head awkwardly. "I got really pissed off because I couldn't progress with either Kido or Quincycraft, due to not having what I needed to accomplish improvement on either technique, so I though: 'Hey, why not take the parts I can do and slot them together'."

"...You didn't." Deadpanned Rukia, finally getting what Ichigo had done.

"Yeah... I gathered Reshi with my Cross, then used the control technique and method for Kido to gather it and shape it together, to get past my inability to maintain my Reshi constructs, then gave my weak Reshi construct a little boost by adding in just a little bit of my Reiryoku to remove the lack of power issue... then just sorta... fired it."

"I... can't believe it." Vocalised Rukia. "Basically, on a whim, you tried to fuse together Quincycraft and Kido."

"...When you put it like that it seems sort of stupid."

"No." Interrupted Uryu excitedly. "Not stupid. In fact... its... its..."

"Irresponsible?" Suggested Rukia. "Pointless? Lazy? Impossible? Dangerous?"

"Its... its... its, brilliant!" Sparkles appeared in the Quincy's eyes as he grabbed Ichigo's shoulders and shook the lad with great vigour. "Either you're the biggest idiot ever, or the biggest genius ever! You just pretty much created a whole new brand of unique Quincycraft!"

Its not such a big deal." Added Ichigo hurriedly. "I just figured that I could bypass my issues with Kido by using a less powerful energy source, which in this case, was Reshi."

"That's sort of clever actually." Admitted Rukia. "In a suicidal sort of way."

"Does it work! How did you do it? What was the optimum range and power for it? Could it be altered for different Kido types?!" Gushed Ishida excitedly, his dislike for his rival temporarily gone a she tried to grill him for information.

"I could show you I guess."

"GOOD! GOOD!" Ishida let go of him quickly, then pulled out a notepad and pen. "Proceed."

"Fine." Huffed Ichigo.

The Substitute held out his Cross and concentrated for a bit. At first Rukia thought nothing was happening, then Reshi began to gather around his fist, fluctuating wildly as it did so. "This," Commentated Ichigo mildly as he continued to gather Reshi. "Was when I added the Kido control to shape it." At this point, the Reshi condensed and twisted, continuing to shape and twist as it continued to gather. It settled into a distorted spiral twisting around his hand. "I tried to do the technique for Byakurai, twisting your energy and condensing it, before releasing it as a single blast with all the energy targeting a single point, which is how the lightning bolt forms."

He looked down at his own spiral, struggling to condense it. "I sort of had problems shaping at this stage." The spiral finished distorting, finishing its shaping as a glowing rod, only about the length of a short ruler, which he almost seemed to hold in his palm. "While this was going on, I added some of my Reiryoku to power it up, then..." Ichigo thrust his hand forwards, sending the energy forwards. As soon as it was released it acted like Byakurai, gaining the appearance of a very large, blue glowing lightning bolt, as it soared through the air before him.

To show its destructive power, the bolt speared the railing with another huge hole next to the pre-existing one. It continued on, shooting far off into the distance.

"Wow." Said Rukia. "I had doubts... but that was pretty cool."

"I guess." Shrugged Ichigo. "I'm amazed it worked a second time. I half expected it to blow up in my face."

"As did I." Agreed Ishida with his normal demeanour having recovered itself. "Firstly, let me say one thing. I was wrong. You aren't a talentless fop when it comes to Quincy."

"Thanks... I think." Ichigo took the half arsed compliment.

"This isn't conventional, and it needs a lot of work, but still! This is a completely new type of Quincycraft. Sure, we have Ginto, but it isn't the same!"

"You mean that thing where you stored Reiryoku inside capsules to do things?" Asked Ichigo, giving a very laymen's answer concerning the the practise of Ginto.

"Yes, yes!" Agreed Uryu, his mind already flashing through various plans and scenarios. "This though, it needs lots of work and testing, but it is definitely a revolutionary idea. If we could perfect this idea, who knows where it could lead us."

"It needs lots of work." Commented Rukia.

"Indeed." Uryu clapped his hands together, a grin on his face, all signs of tiredness gone. "Then we'd better get working."

XXXXXXXXXX

A fleet of battleships sailed on, the plans of the World Government in realization. All seven ships were stocked with multiple combatants, as well as holding a grand total of three Vice Admirals in total, just in case a peaceful solution does not seem imminent.

They had great distance to travel, but they were making fast progress despite the frantic start. After all, a second Wano Country would be a disaster.

Twenty four days until they arrive at their destination, the Soul Society.

AN- So yes, this is my plan for both Ichigo's Quincy and Kido training. Come on, did you really think I was just writing that training from before as a placeholder? I deliberated giving Ichigo a bow and allowing him to fire off fireballs like a pro, but it just didn't seem like his style. Either way, this is the first time that Quincycraft and Kido has been combined, so I hope you like the idea. If you don't? *Shrug* You can't please everybody.

Here's hoping inspiration appears and I update a hell of a lot sooner than this time. Please review! Undying Soul out.