Kurosaki

Prologue: Coming of the Herald

URAHARA SHOP, LATE AT NIGHT

Kinta made his final rounds around the store, ready to retire and have Teppai take over for him for the night shift. It had been a long day for him, with customers like Rukia Kuchiki making demands, keeping a watch over Ururu, helping Yuzu with her homework, and doing something that had been his greatest desire and his greatest fear at the same time: asking Yuzu out. She had accepted almost without hesitating and he had almost leaped for joy, yet was saved from the embarrassment of doing so from the untimely arrival of Yuzu's brother, Ichigo, and father, Isshin. However, when they had found out what was going on, Isshin had broken down in front of his weird poster of his dead wife and Ichigo had tried to murder him. Kinta had managed to get away, but still, long day.

He heard a soft electrical buzzing that he didn't recognize. His lazy side wanted to just ignore it, but the majority of him knew it was bad news. He sighed internally. This day was just going to keep getting longer, wasn't it?

He followed the sound of the buzzing outside and noted that it was concentrated on one spot in the courtyard— and it was getting louder. He ran the inside for his bat and ran back outside. Whatever was coming, he would need something to defend himself from it.

The buzzing was now a full out electrical roar as little bolts of lightning started to appear in the center of the courtyard. Kinta raised his bat fearfully, too late realizing that he should have run inside for Mr. Urahara while he was getting his bat. As a dense orb of electricity— no, of reishi appeared in the air and started to expand, Kinta swallowed and thought, "Sorry, Yuzu. Looks like I won't be able to keep that date."

A little bit earlier...

Kisuke Urahara sat at his computer, experimenting. Some strange reishi signatures had been popping up over the past few days and it was making him and Yoruichi nervous. They had never seen anything like these readings, which could mean that Yhwach may have found a way to return... or something worse was coming. Personally, he hoped it was the former. Then, they could just have Ichigo deal with it and they wouldn't have to worry as much as they did about a new threat.

Yoruichi and Teppai came in, looking grim. "Any luck?" Kisuke asked. "None," Yoruichi answered. "There's still no explanation for why these signatures keep popping up." "Do you think it's a new breed of Hollow?" Teppai asked. "No," Kisuke said. "If I had to put a name to it, I would say that these energies were created by something man-made, but that can't be right." "Why not?" the two of them asked. Kisuke looked back at them. "Because they also look just like energies from a S-"

Suddenly, an alarm blared. "Warning. High unknown reishi concentration in vicinity. Warning," the alarm blared. Kisuke quickly pulled up the sensors. A large orb of energy was appearing outside of his shop. Kinta was out there facing what was coming with nothing but his bat. "Idiot!" Kisuke shouted. He dashed out towards the top level, the shop, with Yoruichi and Teppai hot on his heels.

When they got out there, the ball was now taller than Kisuke and seemed to be stabilizing. The three adults took battle stances and waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the energy shifted into a very familiar, yet very different, door. It opened and out staggered a figure clothed in Soul Reaper garb. A Zanpaktō was strapped to the figure's belt, but the uniform he/she wore was torn in various places and the Reaper was bleeding all over his/her body. One sandal was missing from the Soul Reaper's foot and the other was broken. Not only that, but the figure looked extremely fatigued, as if he/she had just come out of an intense battle.

The biggest thing was the Reaper's spiritual pressure. It reminded the group of Ichigo's, but it was heavy, wild, and it leaked out of the Reaper as if he/she was a ruptured dam. It came out in insane quantities as well.

The four onlookers could only stare in awe and confusion. 'With this much spiritual pressure leaking out, this person has the same potential as Ichigo and Yhwach!' Kisuke thought. 'However, it doesn't seem like this Soul Reaper can control that power yet. Still...'

Yoruichi was dumbstruck. 'Just who is he? Or is this he a she? Argh, so many questions, so few answers!' Teppai and Kinta could only stare in utter disbelief.

The figure looked up and the four recoiled. The person's hair was wild, like a bramble of thorns, and his/her skin was just a bit pale and gave him/her a deathly look. But it was the eyes that truly scared them. They were the yellow and black eyes of a Hollow. However, the group relaxed a little when they saw that the remains of a Hollow mask clung to the figure's face. The Reaper had Hollowified, giving it the attributes of a Hollow. As the last of the mask crumbled away, she (they could now see she had not too shabby assets on her chest [at least, that was Kisuke's opinion]) gained a healthier glow to her skin and her eyes became white with deep blue irises. She looked at them, muttered something that sounded like a plea, and collapsed.

Kurokara College, The Next Day

Ichigo sat down in his seat, sighing heavily. His life had just taken an unexpected turn for the worse: his sister, Yuzu, had been asked out, his homework had gotten really hard, his rent was now due in two days instead of five, and Chad had had to crash at his place since he had had his totaled by a tree and was now homeless. However, he was a little grateful for these problems, because, outside of the occasional Hollow killing, his life had taken a very normal turn. He hoped it would continue like this for a while. Then he wouldn't have to worry so much about his friends so much, especially his girlfriend, Orihime.

The teacher approached the front of the class and banged her ruler on the desk, getting the class' attention. "Alright class," she began. "Before we begin, we have a new student today. Kurosaki, you're gonna be her guide for the next few weeks."

Ichigo mentally groaned as he replied confirmation. It would be another clueless freshman who didn't know left from right on this campus, which would sap up his time and energy in trying to keep her on track. As the student started to take the front of the room, Ichigo wondered who it was that was just adding to his long list of ordinary problems.

The student took the front of the room. She was tall with long, spiky hair that had a similar yet darker shade than Ichigo's, a sizable rack, and a perfect figure. Her eyes were a deep blue and she had a sort of grace and confidence around her that reminded Ichigo a bit of Rukia. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Sadako Honoka! It's nice to meet all of you!" Her voice was soft, yet a little on the deep side, giving it a mature, yet gentle sound.

The class said a reply and Sadako went to take her seat, which was (apparently) right next to Ichigo. As she did so, one of the boys got up and blocked her path. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear. 'Something sleazy, no doubt,' Ichigo thought. The girl scowled then looked out the window. "Hey look, Don Kanonji!" she shouted. Everyone looked except Ichigo. While everyone was looking the other way, Sadako slugged the man in front of her, then walked to her desk. No one noticed. Ichigo looked at her with a new-found interest. There was certainly more to this girl than what met the eye.

She plopped down next to him, then turned to look at him. She smiled gently and extended her hand to him. "It's nice to meet you, Mr..." she started. Ichigo smirked. "Just call me Ichigo," he said, shaking her outstretched hand. "Nice hit," he added softly. Sadako blushed lightly and looked at her feet. "You saw that, huh?" she asked. "If you weren't gonna do it, I would've done it later," he told her.

She smirked at him. "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine," she purred. "Just to get this out of the way, I have a girlfriend. And I'm not dumping her anytime soon," he replied with a smirk of his own.

Sadako chuckled. "Your loss," she told him.