Bleach: A Grand Adventure

Chapters

Prelude: New Souls in a New World
Interlude: New Information
Interlude: Encounter
Interlude: The Deal
Substitute: Training
Substitute: Exploring the City
Substitute: Shinigami Arrival
Substitute: Nightly Changes
Substitute: The First Day
Substitute: Orihime's Problems
Substitute: Cursed Parakeet
Substitute: Rukia's Self-Made Problem
Substitute: Important Day Off
Substitute: Spirit Medium
Substitute: Quincy's Game

Prelude: New Souls in a New World

It was another beautiful day in Ponyville, as birds were chirping, flowers were blooming, and the various species that called the town home were going about their days like normal, all while Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down as she moved down the road. To all of the other ponies this was within expectations, she was always doing odd or crazy things, and most of the time she liked to bounce like this, it just showed them that she was in her usual happy mood and that she likely had plans for the day. Pinkie's plan was simple, since some of her friends had gone missing, namely Twilight and Rainbow, she was going to visit the place some of the other ponies had said they were last seen heading in the direction in, the Everfree Forest, and she knew that the only reasons for that were the castle and the Tree of Harmony. With that in mind she was going to visit the Castle of the Two Sisters, search around for a bit, maybe check in with the Tree, and then be back in time for a party she was going to help set up, which she loved doing.

Pinkie found her way to the path leading into the Everfree Forest and continued to hop down it, humming to herself while ignoring the dangers that were out there, she wasn't too worried about the forest anymore, thus allowing Pinkie to reach the old ruined castle in no time.

"Nothing seems out of the ordinary." Pinkie commented, as there were no signs that Twilight had been here, every stone and item looked to be in the same place as the last time she came here, and while she walked through the structure she didn't see anything that might reveal that Rainbow had passed through either.

Something did catch her attention as she moved down one of the old hallways, it was a room Pinkie was sure that none of them had noticed in the past, something that caused her to stop and open the door, revealing a nearly empty room, save for a desk with an amulet resting on a mannequin head's neck. It was similar to how the Alicorn Amulet looked, she recalled how it looked when Trixie wore it, but it was more golden, like how Princess Celestia's royal attire looked, and seemed to pulse with the power of the sun, or a shade of it. She studied it for a moment before smiling, as she felt something, or maybe it was more accurate to say someone, resting inside the amulet, someone she might be able to talk to while she searched the place, as she was sure the Princess wouldn't mind her wearing it for a time. With that thought in mind she slipped the amulet off the mannequin and placed it over her neck, where she felt the presence in the amulet stirring as it realized that someone had removed it's home and was now carrying the amulet elsewhere.

As Pinkie walked around, however, she found that the presence in the amulet either didn't seem interested in talking or it was observing her for a time, though after some time she found that there wasn't much in the castle for her to explore, so she started down the path towards the cave the Tree was in.

Who... are you? a voice asked, where Pinkie found that it came from the amulet, instead of from inside her head where her other side often resided, as Pinkamena was strangely silent today, but this was something that caused her to smile as she continued down the stone path that brought her down to where the cave was located.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. You looked lonely, sitting in that room on your own, so I decided to take you with me." Pinkie replied, all while reaching the bottom of the path and quickly found the cave that would bring her to the Tree of Harmony, yet she could feel the presence inside the amulet stir for a moment, "I'm actually looking for some of my friends, Twilight and Rainbow, as they went missing recently and I've been trying to find them."

I see. Why would you come here? the voice inquired, though Pinkie found that it was a feminine voice, it was similar to Celestia's and yet different at the same time, but she noted that there was something about what she had said that caused the presence to grow interested in what she was doing, or maybe it was due to her being the first pony the presence could talk to in a long time.

"My friends and I occasionally come here, each of us for a number of different reasons. I just figured that since they were last seen coming this way I'd check these two areas first." Pinkie answered, though at the same time she bounced a few times as she walked into the cave, as this was more interesting than she thought it would be, and it wasn't long before they reached the end of the passage, coming to the large crystalline tree that had the six Elements of Harmony embedded inside it, "But I don't see any signs of them anywhere... they couldn't have just disappeared all of a sudden, could they?"

Not without powerful magic. the voice stated, appearing to regain some confidence after speaking with Pinkie for a few moments, which Pinkie was fine with since she loved to make friends with ponies, and even other races, while also helping others with their problems, though in the next moment Pinkie felt something come from the Tree of Harmony, a soothing presence that she was only now feeling for the first time.

Pinkie found herself swaying for a moment, like she was drowsy for some reason, while at the same time the amulet broke apart as if the magic was freeing the presence trapped inside it, causing a flaming serpent to wrap around her for a moment, before Pinkie closed her eyes as she hit the ground, yet it felt like she was endlessly falling and wondered what she would discover when she finally woke up.

It was night in Karakura Town, a time where Kisuke could relax while keeping an eye on the various reiryoku levels that were scattered throughout the place he called home, as there were several individuals he was keeping an eye on while not getting involved with them right now. He was a tall man with a lean build and he usually wore a dark grey colored coat that had a white diamond pattern on it's bottom half, and under that he was wearing a dark green shirt and pants, plus he usually wore a white and green hat on his messy light-bond hair. Kisuke was keeping an eye on the reiryoku, or spiritual power, levels of the people in the city because he was keeping track of his friend's movements, his friend's son, and several other people that were scattered throughout Karakura Town. In addition to that he was keeping his senses open for newcomers to the city, because someone was supposed to arrive from the Soul Society in the near future to replace the agents that had been slain recently, but, like always, they were dragging their knuckles with their decision on who to send next.

As he thought about that there was a flash in the air above him, above where his shop was located, as what could only be described as a crack in reality opened before Kisuke's eyes, though as he got to his feet he spotted two bodies that fell right through the opening, two girls he noticed, and once they were deposited the opening slammed shut, as if it never existed in the first place.

Kisuke noticed that one of the girls was slightly smaller than some of the high school girls he had seen, in fact her chest was half the size of the one he had seen hanging out with Ichigo Kurosaki, yet she had pink hair that was puffy, which reminded him of cotton candy. The second one was more interesting in Kisuke's eyes, as this one was more like a young adult, similar in age to Ichigo's group, maybe a year or two older, and she was definitely as tall as he was, yet her chest size was definitely on the level of the girl he compared the smaller girl's chest to. It was in that moment that he noticed that neither of them were human, rather they were like anthro ponies, reminding him of the wolf Captain of Soul Society, with both having hooves at the end of their legs, tails, pointed pony ears, and short muzzles on their faces. The taller one had a while body, in fact it was almost alabaster in color, while her hair was either colored to match the sun or it was literal fire, he honestly wasn't too sure, but both of their hair was normal sized, like what humans had, and they were wearing ragged shirts and pants.

The fascinating thing was that he could tell that they were powerful, their reiryoku was off the charts, though it was possible he was overreacting from the portal that had brought them here, to which he decided to shelve the thought as he heard one of the girls let out a groan.

"Wh... Where are we?" the older girl asked, raising her hand to her head for a moment, which was when Kisuke noticed the short horn in the middle of her forehead, unbothered by her fiery hair, plus the alabaster feathery wings that were attached to her back, before the lady freaked out by seeing that she had a physical form, "What the... why do I have a body?"

"It would seem that you two are lost souls that were given a new chance at life." Kisuke remarked, which was a guess on his part, but the way the lady spoke and reacted to having a body, in fact she was more focused on the fact that she had a body of her own and was less interested in him, which was why he came to this sort of conclusion, "Can't say that I've seen a soul be reborn like that, but I've seen a lot of strangeness in the past and can hazard a guess that you two were reborn like this for a reason. Tell me, do either of you remember your names."

"D... Daybreaker." the lady replied, though at the same time, much to the man's surprise as she noticed him standing there, Pinkie got up and was walking around like this was nothing at all, reminding her that the chaotic mare was Twilight's friend and usually did a lot of crazy things, so being able to adapt in mere seconds was normal for her.

"And I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said, stopping in front of the man for a moment, who seemed surprised by her bubbly energy and the fact that, if his guess was right, that she was able to adapt to having a body again in such a short period of time, all while she glanced out at the city with a wide smile on her face, like she was imagining all the fun she could have now.

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. I am Kisuku Urahara, owner of the Urahara Shop." Kisuke replied, gesturing to the structure that was right behind him, a closed shop since it was nighttime, while at the same time finding that the lady, or Daybreaker as he mentally corrected himself, forced herself to stand and seemed to be having a hard time getting used to standing on two legs, meaning she must have been without a body for a long time, "Tell you what, why don't you two come inside with me and we can talk... I'm sure both of you have questions and I might be able to answer some of them, plus I might be able to help you down whatever path you might want to walk later on."

"Sounds like a plan... hopefully I can master walking as well." Daybreaker commented, though at the same time Pinkie just walked over to her like it was nothing and showed her a few moves, meaning the mare was willing to help teach her how to move so she didn't have to worry about falling and hurting herself, especially in front of a stranger.

Pinkie, however, kept the smile on her face, as it seemed like she and her new friends were about to embark on what could be the adventure of a lifetime and she was eager to see what sort of challenges and events it would throw at her and Daybreaker in the days to come.

Interlude: New Information

Kisuke found that the one called Daybreaker definitely had a hard time walking, rather it was like she was an ancient spirit who hasn't walked for a long time, and Pinkie simply walked beside her and helped her out, giving her a shoulder to lean on if she needed it. The girls, on the other hand, followed him towards the two story building that was behind him, his shop to be exact, that had a metal gate over the front entrance, one that had been raised so Kisuke could come outside and enjoy the night. He ushered them both inside his shop before lowering the gate, locking it into place before closing the main door behind him, allowing Pinkie to see that he ran what appeared to be a candy shop or a convenience store, as there were plenty of jars and containers on either side of them. To Pinkie this was like coming home, since she lived and worked in the shop that the Cakes owned, while Daybreaker just seemed confused by what was going on right now, all while Kisuke just tapped on the screen behind him before sitting down on a raised section of the floor.

The pair discovered that there were three more people in this building, the first being a tall man with a muscular build and wore a white shirt with brown pants, the second was a small boy with red hair who wore a white shirt and blue trousers, and the third was a girl, about the same height as the second, who had a pink skirt instead of trousers but had the same shirt and had short black hair.

"Everyone, allow me to introduce Pinkie Pie and Daybreaker, two lost souls that appeared on our doorstep." Kisuke said, to which he pulled out a fan that seemed to be one that could be opened, but the man just held it in one hand as he tapped it against the cane he held in his other hand, as he was lost in his thoughts right now, while Daybreaker noticed a black cat joined the group, "Girls, allow me to introduce Tessai Tsukabishi, Jinta Hanakari, Ururu Tsumugiya, and Yoruichi. Tessai is my right hand in running this place, Jinta and Ururu help clean and even sell some of the merchandise we sell, and Yoruichi is just a cat we took in."

"It's nice to meet all of you. I would offer you some cupcakes, but I don't have any right now... so for now I'll shake each of your hands." Pinkie commented, shaking the hands of the people that were in front of them, before crouching and taking one of Yoruichi's paws and giving it a little shake, where Daybreaker just stood there and watched her do her thing while the people in front of them seemed surprised by how the girl was acting, "So, what's this about us being 'lost souls'?"

"That will take some time to explain." Kisuke replied, where he stood up and moved to one of the sliding doors, revealing the way to an area they could sit and relax in, as Daybreaker noticed a small table in the room, while at the same time the three employees moved to make sure they had some drinks, "Come, sit with me. I will explain what I can."

Daybreaker found that she and Pinkie sat across from Kisuke, where Tessai prepared a drink, tea he said, before serving a pot that he poured the drink out of, into three cups so all three of them had something to drink, while Yoruichi laid nearby and watched them.

"Before we begin, I need to know what the last thing the two of you remember. It will help me out." Kisuke stated, which was the truth, because if these two were from one of the other Realms of their world he could easily figure out which it was from either of the girls telling him what they could recall.

"Well, I was just exploring an old castle and a cave, before finding the amulet that Daybreaker was held in... next thing either of us knew, we were in this odd city." Pinkie stated, though while she wasn't much of a tea drinker she accepted the drink and drank some of it, while at the same time Daybreaker just nodded her head while she sipped on the drink, before she tilted her head for a moment, "Last thing I remember was that I had a physical body... not that this feels any different from what I had previously."

"Okay, so recently turned." Kisuke said, as the description Pinkie had given him did nothing to help him out, because that could be any of the four Realms, each one had castles and caves in some manner, so most of this information was useless for him to actually be of aid to the girls, but that wouldn't stop him from trying, "What I mean is that you two must have been recently slain by someone and appeared as souls... the spirit of someone who has died, to be exact, that would normally appear as Pluses to those that can see the spiritual side of things. However, you two aren't Pluses, rather your spirits seem more akin to that of a Shinigami, who reside in Soul Society and come to this world to send the scattered Pluses to the Soul Society via a ritual known as Konso. In addition to that souls can be born in the Soul Society and be trained to be Shinigami, though I've never heard of two such souls being displaced to the Human World like this."

"So we're either the souls of the recently killed, or we are souls native to this 'Soul Society' that were lost after being born into our final resting place?" Daybreaker remarked, though Pinkie could tell that the older lady didn't believe what they were hearing, in fact it looked like she was still of the opinion that she was stuck inside that amulet and was now imagining all of this in her insanity, "Right. So, what are these... realms, I guess, that you've mentioned so far?"

"There are four Realms that make up the World: the Human World, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Hell." Kisuke replied, as he took Daybreaker's comment without missing a beat, because he knew this wasn't fully believable, especially to someone who had recently died, but he was more convinced that these two were actually native souls that came from the Soul Society and came to this Realm for some reason, "The Human World is where humans reside, both those who can't see the spirits that share their world and the rare few who can see that world, even though the latter tend to ignore what they see, though there are a few who pay more respects to the dead when they can see them. Soul Society is where most souls end up, where they reside until they are reborn into the Human World as new humans, and it's where the Shinigami live, divided into the Gotei 13, or the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, the military of that Realm. Following that we have Hueco Mundo, where Hollows live, who are born from the souls that aren't sent to Soul Society and stay in the World of the Living, which is another name for the Human World, for far too long, thus becoming corrupt souls that are driven by the desire to eat the souls of the living and the dead."

"And Hell?" Pinkie asked, as she seriously doubted that this was a figment of their imagination, like Daybreaker thought it was, because there was a lot of information being handed out right now and she was focused on learning as much as she could, since it would help them in the future.

"That is where the souls of the wicked are sent, especially souls of wicked Hollows." Kisuke said, though realistically it was the Realm that very little was known about, in fact he had spent his time in the World of the Living figuring out the information he had access to, so he was taking the first steps into the unknown, "Here's an example: if a human committed heinous crimes, such as murdering a lot of people, those sins would be held against their Hollow and when purified by a Shinigami they would be condemned to Hell. From what I've been able to tell Hollows sent to Hell will transform into Ghouls, massive beasts who wander Hell for the rest of their days... I haven't been able to tell what might happen to the souls of powerful beings, since none have been sent to Hell."

"You are far more knowledgeable than a simple shop keeper... you were part of the Soul Society once, possibly a higher up in one of the Squads, weren't you?" Daybreaker remarked, because there was no way someone who was a shop keeper would be able to tell them this much about the Realms that made up the World they had been sent to, and yet she found that the man in front of her and Pinkie just lowered his head a little, almost like he was nodding in a shameful manner, "Why tell us all of this? You could have just told us about this world and the Soul Society."

"True, but it is worth knowing about all four Realms, not just two." Kisuke replied, because sooner or later they would have come into contact with Hollows and would have accused him of withholding information, so since he was sure that both of them could handle this he had decided to tell them everything he knew, including what he had found out about Hell despite him having no real reason to do so, "As you now know, Hollows will visit this world seeking souls to devour, and some seek the more powerful souls, so I'm telling you both this because in your current condition, one lost and one having trouble with walking, both of you are easy meals for a Hollow. Now, I'm going to make both of you an offer: we can help you two train and make it so you can defend yourselves against the dangers of the World, and in exchange for that I would ask that you two do a few things around town for me."

Daybreaker suspected that what Kisuke meant was that he was going to ask them to fight off the Hollows or send souls to Soul Society, it was the only reasonable thing she could think of right now, though it also meant that he likely wasn't tied to his former home at all, like he was an exile of some kind. She knew there was a lot of information Kisuke wasn't sharing with them, either because he didn't trust them fully or because he didn't want to overload them, the latter meaning they would be told more in due time, but she wasn't sure which option was the right one. At the same time she could see that Pinkie was deep in thought, this was likely one of the rare times where someone had told her that her life was on the line and that she had a very real chance of dying in the near future, if she left things the way they currently were, even if Kisuke thought they had already died once so far. Yet at the same time Daybreaker found that she still didn't believe what was happening right now, part of her refused to believe that she was in another world, free from the amulet that had held her for over a thousand years, this just didn't seem realistic to her.

In the end Daybreaker let out a sigh as she stood up, something that caused Pinkie to glance at her while Kisuke simply sat there and Yoruichi, who had decided to lay on a mat nearby, lifted his head to focus on her, because she had come to her own decision on the matter.

"Sorry, it's not that I don't believe you, but... but I need time to think about this." Daybreaker replied, not even bothering to wait for Kisuke to say anything as she found another door, which lead out into the rest of the city, and just headed out into the open air.

"I'll go talk with her." Pinkie added, where she got up from her seat and followed the older girl out into the city, because right now she suspected that it would be best for them to stick together, instead of traveling separately, especially since both of them might be in danger.

Kisuke sighed for a moment as he tapped his fan against his cane again, watching the two leave the shop and head out into the city, to take in the night life no doubt, even though he knew this was foolish on their part since there were dangers that might seek to claim them for their own ends.

"I think this time around your words did more harm than good." Yoruichi commented, speaking in a masculine voice that would have caused anyone to pause, but Kisuke and his workers were used to this sort of thing and didn't react to the fact that a cat was talking, before tilting his head for a moment, "But I won't deny that you were right to tell them that... they're strong, there's no doubt about it, and they need to be trained to hide themselves before a Hollow attacks them, or worse, have the Soul Society detect their presence."

"I suspect that the Soul Society has already detected them... if I felt them, then so did they, and then it's only a matter of time until they send Shinigami to investigate." Kisuke said, where he though about it for a moment before letting out another sigh as he stood up, while at the same time he found that Yoruichi was already heading for the door and only turned back to look at him for a few seconds, "Yoruichi, can I trust you to keep an eye on them... and to intervene if something attacks them?"

The cat nodded and left the shop, causing Kisuke to head into the basement of the shop, where his large training ground was located, to make sure everything was ready, because he had a feeling the girls would be back in no time, seeking to be trained, and he wanted to be ready for whatever the immediate future held in store for them.

Interlude: Encounter

Daybreaker headed out into the city without even wasting a second, taking in the sights and sounds that were around her as the moon hung above her, where she found that each building was at least two stories high, there were lights all over the place, and there were humans walking around. If she took Kisuke's words to heart none of the people would see her, since that power seemed to be rare, and yet she just walked out into the street and found that no one seemed to notice that she was there, like she didn't exist at all. It was as if nothing had changed for her, there was just too much pointing towards this being a figment of her imagination that she had conjured in her insanity, and it made her wonder if she had imagined Pinkie finding the amulet in the first place. Thinking of the pink one caused her to turn her head to the side a little and found that the mare was following her, or girl as the figment of her imagination would have called her, and the cat was following as well, like her mind's creations were following her.

In the next moment she opened her wings and took off a little, mostly to reach a tall building that was nearby, before simply just floating down into the middle of the crowd of people that were heading home, late night workers or something like that, and yet, as she expected, no one noticed her.

"You know, if this is my imagination then I must be horrible at this... can't even envision myself being happy." Daybreaker remarked, as she would have thought that if this was her imagination at work, like she thought it was, that she would make it so the people on the street would notice her, or talk to her, or do something that made her realize she existed, but all she got was being ignored and the usual silence she was used to.

Since no one could hear her, let alone see her, Daybreaker let out a sigh as she turned and headed out of the city, leaving the lights and dying sounds behind as she simply wandered around, lost in her thoughts as she continued to think about the information she had learned so far. It wasn't long before she found herself in what appeared to be a wooded area, either a forest of some kind or just a bunch of trees that had been placed in a park, and from the looks of it no one came this way, or at least they didn't when night was upon the city. She got off the path and walked over to one of the trees, resting a hand on it, she was sure Kisuke or one of the others had said the term while she wasn't paying attention, where she felt the bark that was under her fingers, and yet all she could think about right now was how this was just her imagination. She stood there for a couple of moments as she recalled her time in the amulet, how Celestia would come and go, checking on her while offering bits of magic that seemed to tell her about the world she had been denied access to for so long.

Such a thought caused anger to surge up from inside her, which was due to the fact that she had been trapped inside an amulet for most of her pitiful existence, and still was since she refused to believe everything that was around her, where she gripped the bark with her fingers and crushed the part of the tree she had been touching.

"Why? Celestia... why did you seal me away like that?" Daybreaker asked, as if talking to the imaginary air that was around her would give her the answers to anything she asked, yet she needed to vent in some manner before she tried to figure out what else her cruddy imagination could throw at her, "I just... I still can't figure that out. Even after a THOUSAND YEARS I still can't figure out what I did wrong to make you throw me in this pitiful situation... trapped in an amulet, going insane with no one to talk to, my mind finally breaking and giving me such a cruddy imagination. What. Did. I. DO?!"

Daybreaker ended up punching the tree that was in front of her with the last four words, breaking the bark and the rest of the tree in the process, while her last punch shattered the tree and caused it to collapse in front of her, the trunk hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

"It's not like I was like Nightmare Moon, preparing to take you over when your guard was down! And yet you acted like I was just a monster that needed to be dealt with!" Daybreaker remarked, her voice filled with anger, because Luna turned into her other half due to all the negative emotions she had been feeling thanks to what the ponies of the era had been doing to her, ignoring Luna and focusing on Celestia, and yet Daybreaker had never entertained the thought of taking over Celestia, rather that was a fear her other half created on her own, "I'm still stuck in this torment, trapped with only my mind to keep me company... and a phantom of the pink one, but she'll go away in no time, just like every other thought I've had over the last thousand years."

Daybreaker glanced around for a moment and didn't see anyone nearby, even the phantoms of Pinkie and the black cat had disappeared, leaving her to her self made madness once more as she stood near the fallen tree and thought about what else she might have to say to herself right now, all while Pinkie and Yoruichi stood on a nearby roof.

"This makes me sad... I wish I had known about her existence a lot sooner, maybe I could have cheered her up." Pinkie said, as this was the first time she had encountered a being who had been trapped for a thousand years and wasn't taking what happened to them very well, as Nightmare Moon came back and tried to take over the world, Sombra did the same with the Crystal Empire, and Discord tried to bring chaos back, but Daybreaker was reacting worse than the others.

"I don't think you can help her... she seems broken, sadly." Yoruichi remarked, which was a shame, all that power was stuck in a soul that was unable to accept the reality of what was happening to it, and right now she was thinking that it might be best to get Kisuke to send Daybreaker to Soul Society, where she belonged, since it might snap her out of her mindset.

"No, she's not broken... she's just in denial." Pinkie replied, as she understood what she was seeing right now, she had seen a lot of sad ponies and individuals of other species over her many years, especially from her own family when Pinkie thought about it, and there were a few ideas that came to mind that might allow her to help Daybreaker.

"Wait... aren't you surprised that I can talk?" Yoruichi inquired, as she realized that she had blundered and spoke while she was near someone who didn't know that she had this power, and yet, at the same time, she found that it was strange that Pinkie wasn't even remotely surprised by this fact.

"Not really. I've seen stranger back home." Pinkie commented, something that caused Yoruichi to raise an eyebrow for a few seconds, as that seemed unlikely and yet something told her that she shouldn't doubt the figure that was next to her, but in the next few seconds she found Daybreaker moving again, or at least glancing at the sky.

"Celestia! What is it that you want from me?!" Daybreaker asked, as she was hoping that her other half would hear her, even though she knew the princess would be in her home and would be far away from the amulet, but she was sure Celestia might hear her in some manner, in some odd way that she wasn't aware of yet, "Is there some sort of bargain you're hoping I'll be open to? Do you want me to die for you? Kill for you? Go to Tartarus itself for something you left behind?! Tell me what you want, Celestia, and I'll do it! Please... anything to be free of this damned prison you left me in..."

Yoruichi understood what she was seeing now, this is what the humans called the 'Five Stages of Grief', and while she was sure that Daybreaker might be speeding through them, since it looked like she was on the third one, that of bargaining, but a part of her knew that the soul would come back to denial and anger in no time. There was also the fact that the figure would no doubt move into depression and acceptance at some point in the future, though at the same time she still thought that Soul Society might be the best thing for her, since it would give her time to vent and realize that she was dead. Yoruichi had another reason for thinking such a thing, because Daybreaker's untrained power was leaking out of her, she could feel her energy from here, especially since her emotions seemed to be all over the place, meaning she was going to attract unwanted attention. This meant that either Soul Society might become aware of her and send someone to investigate, but at the same time there was a chance that Hollows might come to feast on Daybreaker's soul, and if that happened Yoruichi knew that a powerful Hollow would be born, possibly an Adjuchas, but a Vasto Lorde would be a disaster.

Sure enough she heard it, the distinctive roar of a Hollow, which was just bad news since Karakura Town didn't have a single Shinigami watching over it right now, both of the ones that had been assigned to this city had been slain by Hollows recently, causing her to wonder if she or Kisuke should get involved.

"What was that sound?" Pinkie asked, as it wasn't a sound she had heard before, yet she knew it was attached to a being of some kind, likely one of the Hollows that Kisuke had mentioned previously, and that made her excited, because this meant they could see the reality that the shop keeper had told them about, meaning it might be enough to snap Daybreaker out of the mood she was in.

"A Hollow... this is bad. Neither of you are ready to face such a beast." Yoruichi stated, though as she said that something landed near Daybreaker, a tall pale skinned lizard creature with a hole where it's heart was supposed to be, bearing a white mask that was almost bone white in coloration, and it's hands had sharp looking claws, "Daybreaker, behind you!"

Daybreaker turned as the beast stuck her chest, three bloody lines cut into the area below her chest, as the Hollow grabbed the fallen tree and smashed it into her, sending the alicorn flying through the air before colliding with the side of a boulder that was deeper in the woods, only to crumble to the ground after that. She laid there for a moment, her mind working in overtime as a lot of thoughts washed over her, namely the fact that she was in pain, not the imaginable kind, but real pain like when she and Celestia fought their enemies in the various battles she had witnessed or been part of. Her ragged shirt was cut in the locations that the Hollow had hit her in, matching the cuts that were on her body, cuts that were bleeding at the moment, causing Daybreaker to realize that she was BLEEDING, something that shouldn't be possible if she was simply imagining all of this. In that moment everything seemed to slow down and click into place, she wasn't trapped in the amulet, she had her own body and was in an entirely new world, she was wounded, she was bleeding, her body felt like it was on fire from the attack, and yet, despite those facts, a smile appeared on her face not a few seconds later.

As the Hollow approached her, however, Daybreaker found herself laughing as she forced herself to stand, though it was more like someone who was excited for a battle, all while Pinkie and Yoruichi stopped on the edge of the forest, as they had been about to move in before coming to a stop as they noticed her moving once more.

"This is good... I want more of this!" Daybreaker remarked, where she tapped her hooves against the ground, like she was finally understanding that she was alive and not trapped anymore, feeling everything around her for the first time for real, before she rushed forward and punched the Hollow in the chest, above it's missing heart, sending it down into the ground with a single punch, "Come on! You can do better than that! Get up and fight me some more!"

"Did... did her personality undergo a complete shift?" Yoruichi inquired, though at the same time two things happened, the first being that the lizard Hollow did, in fact, get up and brush itself off before facing Daybreaker, while the other thing was that she spotted Kisuke and Tessai near another edge of the woods, the latter holding a blank Zanpakuto they had been able to recover recently.

"No... at least, I don't think so. I think she was always like this, once you removed the denial and everything." Pinkie said, as she really had no idea if this was how Daybreaker usually acted, she had only just met the figure of course, though as she said that the Hollow rushed at the wounded alicorn and got a fist to the mask, cracking it while Daybreaker just had a smile on her face, "She likes to fight though, by the looks of it."

Yoruichi had nothing to say to that, as Daybreaker's fists were enough to force the Hollow back, it was amazing to see that there was someone other than Tessai who could do such a thing, even though it was obvious that adrenaline was causing her to act like this. In the following moments the figure seemed to note that Kisuke was nearby and something caused the Zanpakuto to leap out of Tessai's hands, the scabbard coming to a rest in Daybreaker's hand, where Pinkie remarked that this was her using magic, before the blade was pulled out. She then slashed off one of the Hollow's arms, using the blade as if she had spent a lifetime in battle or something, before really going on the offensive as she slashed at the creature, dealing damage to the Hollow while it was trying to get away from her. In fact the Hollow even jumped backwards to get away from her and Daybreaker followed after it, catching up with it in no time thanks to her wings before slashing it's mask in half, and it's body as well, casing it to break apart and fade away.

She was stunned, as that was amazing for a soul that, by rights, shouldn't have the power to do such a thing, though as the figure landed on the ground Tessai caught her when she stumbled forward, her wounds catching up with her at last, which caused Yoruichi to let out a sigh.

"Come on, let's join them. We'll have to treat Daybreaker's wounds before we do anything else." Yoruichi said, which was a true fact, in fact they had a healing pool down in the training area to help them recover when they practiced their moves, so now it could be used for Daybreaker before they had another talk.

Pinkie smiled as she and the cat headed down to join the others, because while this wasn't what she had been expecting, she had been looking for an opening to speak with Daybreaker about the situation they were in, this did help the alicorn and it really make her interested in what the immediate future held in store for them.

Interlude: The Deal

"And there you go. Good as new." Kisuke commented, because the moment they were sure that there had only been one Hollow in the area, and that no more were coming towards where Daybreaker had ended up, they got her out of the area and returned to the shop, allowing him and Tessai to use some ointment on the light wounds the soul had suffered, "Your wounds should be healed in no time, as they were lighter than I was expecting... though for you it must have been quite the shock to your newfound state."

"The pain was a wake up call, a sign that I wasn't trapped in that cursed amulet anymore." Daybreaker remarked, though at the same time she noticed that Pinkie was sitting nearby and was petting Yoruichi, which the cat seemed to enjoy while they talked, while the blade she had obtained during her clash with the Hollow rested to her right, before she lowered her head for a moment, "I would like to apologize for my earlier actions..."

"Please, you have no reason to say such a thing. I did drop a lot of information on you, and you were still getting used to the idea that you had moved on." Kisuke said, though at the same time he knew there was far more to the story than what he and the others had learned so far, because Daybreaker's ranting earlier informed them that she wasn't just an ordinary soul, she had been sealed away, apparently for a thousand years, and had only recently been freed, "Who is this 'Celestia' you kept mentioning?"

"My other half... not lover, before you get any funny ideas. One body, two souls." Daybreaker stated, though she did take a moment to shudder for a moment as the thought crossed her mind, she was disgusted by the mere idea of her and Celestia being lovers, especially since she disliked her other half so much.

"The Yin and the Yang." Yoruichi commented, because from what little she had gleamed from the pair this seemed to be the best way to describe it, something that caused Kisuke to nod his head in agreement, even though it was clear that both of the lost souls had no idea what they were talking about, "To some it translates to good and evil, two halves that make up the greater whole."

"Well, in a manner of speaking that's the correct way to think about me and Celestia." Daybreaker said, though at the same time she knew that she would have to go over the information she had on the matter before she told them about alicorns and their nightmare forms, the other souls that ended up developing alongside them, "For a while we were two halves that made up a greater whole, some stuff happened, I suddenly got stuffed into an amulet that became my prison, and then I spent a thousand years in near total silence and isolation... Celestia came to visit every now and then, I think it was a decade between visits, gave me some information and then left without a word."

Daybreaker paused when she said that, mostly because she knew the others would want to think about what she had said so far, and it was obvious that Kisuke was deep in thought about something while Pinkie seemed focused on something else and Yoruichi seemed to be staring at her like the cat was trying to figure something out.

"However, that's in the past and I'm more interested in what the future holds in store for us... especially since you guys had one of these blades laying around." Daybreaker continued, patting the blade that was resting next to her for a moment, as she had noted that none of the people who worked for Kisuke made an attempt to take it from her, rather it was like there was a reason for their decision and she had an idea as to what that reason might be, "Who did you kill to obtain it?"

"That is a nameless Zanpakuto, the weapons of the Soul Society, from the rank and file members of the Squads... and we didn't kill anyone." Kisuke stated, as he was realizing that Daybreaker was definitely smarter than he was expecting her to be, which he attributed to the fact that she had gotten over the madness that had been plaguing her, in part anyway, and was now showing them her vast intelligence, and he could see that she was raising an eyebrow at him, "No, I'm serious, we didn't kill anyone to get the pair of nameless Zanpakuto we have... there's a couple of dangerous Hollows in Karakura Town, at two that we know the name of, and occasionally they target the Shinigami that are sent to work here. We weren't able to eliminate either of them, mind you, but we were able to recover two Zanpakuto during the chase, which seemed to be in the mouths of the Hollows, and intended to hand them over when the next Shinigami arrived... but Soul Society is taking their sweet time picking someone to replace the last one that was slain."

"And let me guess: you want Pinkie and I to replace them?" Daybreaker inquired, because that made the most sense, the city was having a problem with Hollows since there were no Shinigami defending the souls of Karakura Town, and since both of them had incredible powers it stood to reason that Kisuke would seek to ask one or both of them to defend the city until the official replacements arrived.

"Yes, I am hoping that you two will agree to be temporary Shinigami, substitutes to be exact, where we will train you in how to use a Zanpakuto and techniques that those in Soul Society learn during their training." Kisuke said, as they had plenty of skills and techniques to share with the pair, in fact he was sure that they would benefit from this and even grow as a whole, in fact he suspected that they might be able to use the Zanpakuto like a real Shinigami.

"I take it you're the master of sword skills, Tessai is some sort of magic, and this little lady is speed based?" Pinkie remarked, where Kisuke paused for a moment as Daybreaker noticed that the other man, who was sitting in a corner while he watched them, and the cat stiffened as they heard Pinkie speak, their reactions telling her that the pink one had hit the nail on the head, before Pinkie tilted her head for a moment, "Still can't figure out why you're a cat though."

"I... you... Kisuke, I'll be right back." Yoruichi said, because this was the first time someone had outed her like this and she figured that if Pinkie was just going to spill the beans, since she could tell that Daybreaker was raising an eyebrow after this information was revealed, she might as well get it over with, which was why she jumped out of Pinkie's arms and headed up the stairs that were behind Tessai.

"Don't feel bad, Yoruichi... this is just Pinkie being Pinkie." Daybreaker stated, where Kisuke got the feeling that this meant that the girl did crazy things and that people were expected to just accept anything and everything she did, though at the same time he nodded to Tessai, who produced a second scabbard with a Zanpakuto inside it, which Pinkie accepted after walking over to him for a moment.

"Right. Well, she's right about our assigned roles and what we would be able to teach you." Kisuke continued, while mentally processing everything they had learned so far, as one of the souls was a born warrior and the other seemed to be chaos in a small form, or maybe there was more to the latter than what they were seeing at the moment, "I can teach you the basics on how to wield your Zanpakuto and perform Konso, the act that will allow you to purify the scattered souls that exist in this city, plus go into the information relating to Zankensoki, the four basic forms of Shinigami combat. Zan is Zanjutsu, types of sword techniques; Ken is Hakuda, or hand to hand combat; So is Hoho, or the movements techniques; and Ki means Kido, destructive arts that Shinigami can learn to use for combat and other instances. Most Shinigami tap into each fundamental skill during their training, but can specialize into one type or even more... Pinkie, you correctly guessed that Tessai could teach you and Daybreaker about Kido, while Yoruichi can do the same with Hoho."

"I can do more than teach you about Hoho, I can show you how to use Shunpo, or Flash Steps." a feminine voice added, to which Daybreaker and Pinkie found a slender woman opened the door that Yoruichi had walked through earlier, who was athletic as well, where the pair noted that she was dark skinned, a light dark by the looks of it, who had the same golden eyes as the cat and had dark purple hair, all while wearing a black sleeveless undershirt and black pants, "But I warn you, it won't be a walk in the park."

"Good, I'm eager for a challenge." Daybreaker remarked, because now that she had a physical body, and that meant a lot for her after her time inside the cursed amulet, she was eager to do some fighting, patrolling, and everything else that came with the job, causing her to smile as she leaned back a little, "Tell you what, I'm game for your deal. When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. I know you're eager, but you've had a pretty busy and emotional day." Kisuke replied, though at the same time he was starting to understand something important, Daybreaker reminded him of a certain Captain from the Soul Society, a fact that made him hope he was just imagining things and was jumping to conclusions, before he got up and headed over to a secret ladder that went down into the ground.

The group followed Kisuke for a moment, meaning either climbing down the ladder or just falling down and using another method to safely land, like how Daybreaker just used her magic to teleport to the ground while Pinkie just emerged from behind one of the rocks. Once the trio had caught up with them Kisuke let them see that this was a vast barren landscape with a bunch of dead trees scattered around the place, with boulders for people to sit on and large rocks to hide behind, to which he informed them that this was his secret training space and would open it up to them in the morning. This was where he and the others would teach the pair how to learn the various techniques that a Shinigami wielded, or at least the basics of each fundamental skill since he had no idea how either of them would take to the training or what their affinity might be. To Daybreaker this was a good space, it was nice and open, meaning she could practice as much as she wanted, and Pinkie also spotted a hot spring in the distance, an area for them to heal in as Kisuke explained it's existence.

"Now, we don't have a lot of rooms available, but there is one that you two can share." Kisuke continued, as there was his room, Tessai's room, and a room for Yoruichi when she wanted to be in her human form, even though she preferred to just lounge around in her cat form, making him wonder if he could use her room and let the two ladies have their own rooms for the time that they were with them, "In the morning we'll have breakfast and then bring you two down here to being your training, get you some newer clothing that's better than the rags you appeared in, and then, when we're sure that both of you are ready, we'll let you go out and deal with the other Hollows that will be hunting the souls of Karakura Town."

"Sounds like fun. I can't wait to learn how to wield a Zanpakuto." Pinkie said, where she bounced out into the area that was in front of them, as it was a good place for her and Daybreaker to learn and prepare for the future, since she was sure that they would be busy once they started working as substitute Shinigami, all while gripping the handle of the Zanpakuto that Tessai had handed to her earlier.

Kisuke, Tessai, and Yoruichi watched as the Zanpakuto glowed and contorted before their eyes, it was changing form on it's own, the simple katana transforming into an interesting weapon in the form of a double headed voulge, a polearm with a blade on each end of the shaft, even though some called it a glaive in other regions of the world. Both blades were curved and and the height of her weapon stood as tall as Pinkie did, though the interesting thing was that there was a black ring, a guard of sorts, whose outer edge was black and the inner edge was golden like the handle. Kisuke nearly dropped his cane as he stared at the weapon, because he was sure that this was a Zanpakuto, a fully realized one, and he had never heard of someone manifesting their weapon so quickly, all while he noticed that the ring was smaller than the width of Pinkie's body and the scabbard had been fully absorbed into the blades, making the curved weapon an interesting one. The shocked looks on his friends' faces informed him that he wasn't alone in feeling stunned by this discovery, because this meant Pinkie's Zanpakuto was in a constant release state and there weren't many like that in all of Soul Society.

As Kisuke thought about it he recalled that there was only one Captain, in the entirety of Soul Society, that was like this, that their Zanpakuto was in a state of constant release and showed no signs of changing that fact anytime soon, since he liked his weapon the way it was. That happened to be the same Captain that Daybreaker reminded him and the others of, who was a monster on the battlefield and was someone they preferred to stay away from whenever one of them had to sneak back into Soul Society, which thankfully they didn't have to do very often. Pinkie, on the other hand, simply smiled as she simply spun her weapon around, no doubt trying to mimic what her companion had done previously, before tilting her head for a couple of seconds as the transformed Zanpakuto glowed and seemed to shrink down into the size of a ring. It was black and gold, just like the ring that existed around her weapon, though the strange girl showed no signs of concern or worry as she placed it on her right pointer finger, so when she wanted the Zanpakuto she just had to mentally summon it and when she wanted it contained she could dismiss it in a similar fashion.

He resisted the urge to groan as they witnessed this, all while the look on Daybreaker's face told him to think of the phrase she had told them earlier, that this was just 'Pinkie being Pinkie', as he wondered what sort of chaos might unfold for them, and the rest of Karakura Town, in the coming days.

Substitute: Training

Following their discussion with Kisuke, and the discovery of Pinkie's Zanpakuto changing as soon as she grabbed the handle, Daybreaker found that they were given a room of their own, plus a second bed for them to sleep on was brought in so both could sleep on their own. She had to admit that it was interesting to sleep on a bed for once, after a thousand years of being unable to do such a thing, even though it was nothing like the beds that Pinkie was used to since these were more like rolls that unfurled into something that resembled a bed. In the end she found that she really didn't care about the specifics, she was just happen to have a bed of her own, even for a short while, and could now experience what it was like to sleep on one without the worry of waking up in the endless void of the amulet's prison. The freedom she had craved for a long time was finally hers, she was no longer bound to the prison Celestia had stuffed her into, and she intended to make the most of her new reality in the days to come.

Eventually morning arrived and Daybreaker rose with it, even though it was unusual for her to wake up in a world where the sun rose on it's own, without someone like Celestia influencing it, causing her to stretch her arms and her body, as she had to get used to her new body, even if Pinkie seemed at home in her new form already. She assumed that it was just due to how odd the girl was, especially since she had pieces of information on the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony thanks to the fact that Celestia dumped some information on her the last time she had visited. At the same time all she had was bits and pieces, so it was hard to tell anything, but at the same time Daybreaker found that she was more interested in what was going on right now, the whole new world and new body thing, instead of worrying about the past again. With that in mind she continued to focus on stretching her arms and legs, feeling the new sensations and simply enjoying everything, as she felt far more alive than she had in the past.

"You certainly seem energetic." Yoruichi commented, noticing that the older lady was definitely an early riser and that she seemed to be ready for whatever lessons she and Pinkie might face today, since she and Kisuke had plans for them to make sure they were prepared for when more Hollows showed up, which was inevitable for Karakura Town.

"Hard not to be, given my past." Daybreaker replied, finding that Pinkie must have left the door open on accident and that the lady who could turn into a cat was lingering out in the hallway, allowing her to peer into the room, before she finished her stretching and walked out into the hallway after collecting her Zanpakuto, "I'm eager to start the day."

Yoruichi nodded and headed downstairs, back to the kitchen area, where Daybreaker found that Kisuke and the others were there, along with Pinkie, and breakfast seemed to be apple juice served with salted salmon, white rice, and something called miso soup, which Kisuke informed them would give them energy for their morning. This told the pair that souls could, in fact, eat like normal people, and Daybreaker was more than happy with her food, since it was the first thing she had eaten in a very long time, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she tasted anything, other than the tea Kisuke had prepared for them yesterday. The other interesting thing was that their new bodies were able to eat things without problem, as she had expected them to have some dietary restrictions because they had been ponies before coming to this world, but it looked like the magic might have blessed her and Pinkie in some manner, to make their new lives much easier. Other than that she was able to confirm that they would be training today and that if Hollows appeared it would be up to her or Pinkie to take it or them out, since there could be anywhere from one to three at a time, or even more if the Hollows decided to come here in larger groups.

Eventually, however, Kisuke and Yoruichi brought the girls down into the basement area once more, allowing them to stand in the wasteland that would allow them to do whatever the more knowledgeable pair had in mind for their training, and it didn't take them long to spoke Ururu standing off to the side.

"Now, if we're going to train you two to fight Hollows, we need to teach you the basics and then move on from there," Kisuke stated, where the pair found that Ururu had padded gloves on and a head piece of some kind to protect her head, like the man was suggesting that they were going to be training with the girl first, "and to start we're going to be going with hand to hand combat. The rules of this are quite simple, the two of you will be training with Ururu and Yoruichi, who will be coming at you with the intent to knock you out, and if you can knock your opponent on their back than I will deem you worthy of a win... if you get knocked on your back, well, they win. Pinkie, you'll be paired with Ururu, while Daybreaker, you'll be facing off against Yoruichi, who will be taking it easy on you for the time being."

"So I'll get to see a bit of the speed category as well. I'm excited." Daybreaker remarked, where she found that she and her opponent didn't have gear to put on, even though Pinkie did have some gear to put on while they talked, which seemed to be identical to what Ururu was wearing, and the smaller pair was walking over to another portion of the wasteland to train on their own.

Ururu wasted no time in rushing at Pinkie, lashing out with a few punches and jabs before the other had a chance to realize that they were already starting, so it wasn't long before the pink haired girl went flying into one of the rock formations as dust was knocked up from the assault, and yet Pinkie simply got up, bounced on her hooves, and rushed into battle. She had no idea if Pinkie was putting on a brave face or if the attack had done nothing to her, but Daybreaker observed as the pink haired girl showed no fear as she returned to where she had started, like she was taking this seriously. The air around them shifted as they found that the two young girls continued to move around the area they were in, dust moving as Ururu went on the offensive and Pinkie defended herself as best as she could, the latter being smashed into the rock formations without delay. This left craters in the various rocks that were around the wasteland, either because Ururu liked hurling people into those areas or it was just a coincidence, but Pinkie continued to dust herself off before rushing back into battle, continuing to be on the defensive as she used her arms to block Ururu's attacks.

Daybreaker, on the other hand, found that Yoruichi remained true to Kisuke's statement, for the time being she held back as she went on the offensive, where Daybreaker discovered a few things, like it was somewhat difficult to breathe, which had to be part of the area they were in, mixed with her own inexperience with her new body. Unlike Ururu she found that Yoruichi did hold back, since this was supposed to be training, as her attacks didn't pack the incredible power that the young girl had, though it was likely due to the fact that she was still getting used to her brand new body. At the same time she discovered that she and Pinkie weren't supposed to fight back just yet, rather they were supposed to get used to moving their bodies in the odd conditions that Kisuke had weaved into the wasteland, meaning she should be focused on dodging and moving for now. As she ducked under one of the punches, however, she also realized that if she got faster, to a degree, she could start to throw some punches of her own and go on the offensive for a time, though Daybreaker found a kick coming her way and used her arm to block it, despite the fact that she was sent flying into the ground.

The best thing for Daybreaker was the fact that Yoruichi didn't even stop there, as in her opponent came down towards her while she was laying on the ground and punched her in the chest, causing her to cough as the ground around her sunk, but as Yoruichi jumped backwards, however, all Daybreaker could do was chuckle.

"I get it... this isn't about combat, this is to improve our ability to breathe, our ability to move around, and eventually reach the point that we can face people like you." Daybreaker remarked, where she was thankful that she still had the durability of an alicorn, as Celestia and Luna could tank great blows when they were fighting, and both she and Nightmare Moon were the same since they shared many of the traits of their other sides, otherwise that attack would have done far more to her, all while she forced herself to stand, "We're supposed to be improving our energy, aren't we?"

"Reiryoku, or Spiritual Power. You are correct, we are training your spiritual bodies to access your Reiryoku, because they are the easiest to raise by exposing your soul to fatal danger." Yoruichi said, though she wasn't surprised that Daybreaker had caught onto the true meaning of this training session, that they were improving the Reiryoku of the girls so they could really focus on their actual lessons in the future, especially since training against her or Kisuke's full power would be far worse than this, "Once you have reached a specific point Kisuke will stop us and announce that you are ready to move onto the next part of your training, whether it's actual hand to hand training, how to use a Zanpakuto, or whatever he has in mind for the two of you."

Kisuke watched them for a time, observing as Pinkie seemed to treat this like it was a game, in fact it was possible that the pink haired girl didn't take anything seriously, even though she had been serious when accepting this training, which made him interested in her and why she was so odd, especially with her Zanpakuto reacting like it did. At the same time he found that Daybreaker was taking this seriously, even though it sure looked like she was a battle junkie, again reminding him of a certain Captain in the Soul Society, despite the fact that she seemed to have her own strategy in mind. It did make him take a moment to wonder about her and the bits of her story that they had gleamed from her so far, there was a lot of information they didn't have and it was making it hard to come up with any real decisions on what to think of them. The one thing he did know was that they were strong, their Reiryoku was far beyond what a basic soul should have, in fact he knew that there was only one person in Karakura Town, a human boy no less, whose power could rival their own if he activated his dormant powers.

After some time he clapped his hands and found that both Ururu and Yoruichi stopped, allowing Pinkie and Daybreaker to get up from the small craters they had been smashed into, causing him to note that he might have to repair this place a lot sooner than he intended.

"Very good, that's enough for this morning." Kisuke said, because this single training session was all that was needed to tap into their Reiryoku, so the future instances of this would actually be more along the lines of fighting until he was sure they were done with the hand to had combat portion of their training, "You two did well, but for the next week I want you two to start our sessions with training like this, to help you hone your skills and prepare you for the remaining lessons that will prepare you for fighting with Hollows. Now, before we move onto the next stage of your training, I would recommend that you two take some time to rest, since both of you aren't used to the state that your bodies are in, or having a body like this in general, and when the afternoon arrives I'll be having you practice with some wooden swords for a time, to get used to the weight before we train with actual weapons."

Daybreaker nodded as she and Pinkie left the areas they had been training in, her body ached in a good way and she was sure that her companion was just ignoring whatever pain her own body was feeling, before finding that they could head up to the shop's main floor again if they wanted. Such a thing caused her to follow Kisuke and ask what his shop sold, since they hadn't learned about that sort of thing yet, where he informed the pair that he carried items that were for Shinigami in mind, but he also sold a variety of candies, snack items, drinks, a select number of toys, and even some magazines and books. On the outside they were a small convenience shop with some specialty items mixed in, in fact they did well with their sales as some of the people in Karakura Town loved their items, before Daybreaker noticed a magazine that appeared to be focused on games. Kisuke mentioned that they also had game magazines that talked about the various game consoles that were out in the world and some even talked about specific games, though what caught Daybreaker's attention was the woman that was on the cover of the one she was looking at, from a game called 'Guilty Gear'.

Such a thing caused her to smile as she came to realize something, the fact that she didn't have to bear the name that her other side had given her, because this was a new world, with a new her so to speak, and looking at the woman's page in the magazine caused the gears in her head to turn.

"You know... I'm done being Celestia's little 'Daybreaker'. I think I'll use this woman's name: Baiken. It sounds nice and strong, traits I can approve of." Daybreaker, or rather Baiken as she wanted to call herself, remarked, though at the same time she found Pinkie smiling and nodding her head, like she had been waiting for such a thing and was happy to see her come out of her shell, to embrace her new life fully and completely.

Kisuke and Yoruichi simply nodded and said nothing, figuring that it was best to just let the pair do what they wanted with their spare time, though he did have to reflect on Daybreaker's, or rather Baiken's, new name, making sure he remembered it for the future, all while making him interested in what the coming days might throw at them.

Substitute: Exploring the City

Kisuke found that Daybreaker, or 'Baiken' as she wanted to be called now, was more eager to continue her training in the basement and didn't want to waste too much time, while Pinkie was just following along for the most part, like she was letting the older girl direct their path. With that in mind he tossed them two wooden swords, or bokken as they were called, which were essentially wooden katanas to help the pair get used to the idea of using their Zanpakutos without using the actual weapons, to let them get used to the motions before using their actual blades. This was something people learned in the various martial arts schools, often starting with a wooden weapon to get used to the motions before bringing in the real weapon, and even the Soul Society did it in the early stages of the academy. He did inform the pair that they would switch to their Zanpakuto when he was sure they were good and ready, despite the fact that Baiken had used hers against that Hollow, but even she understood that he wanted them to know the basics first, which she agreed with.

Even with that in mind Kisuke observed the pair as they trained with the bokken, finding that Baiken was calm and focused as she followed the movements he called out or demonstrated, almost like she had done this before becoming a soul, and Pinkie was just following along, like she was mentally playing 'Simon Says' or something. It once again made him wonder about the pair, because one was definitely a fighter despite being a freshly turned soul, he could see that in how she moved and carried herself during their training, while he was still on the fence about the second one. He just wasn't sure what to make of Pinkie, she was beyond anything he had seen before and he suspected that when things got heated, especially since he suspected the Hollow that killed two Shinigami was still out there, she'd surprise him even more. Other than that he was glad to see that Baiken was so accepting of her newfound existence, even if that meant being a soul learning how to fight like a Shinigami, since her original state wasn't something he could have worked with.

In the end Kisuke called their training to a stop for the evening and presented them with two identical sets of clothing, as in the traditional set of Shinigami attire, shihakusho, because they were far better than the ragged clothing they had appeared in when he first discovered them.

"It's about time that you two had something more appropriate to wear, so I'm giving you two your own set of clothing that is what the Shinigami wear." Kisuke said, letting the two change behind some of the rocks that were nearby, while Yoruichi just stood by the entrance to this area, even though he knew she was focused on making sure the Hollows weren't attacking any of the souls in the city, since it would only increase the problem Karakura Town was facing, "You'll find that the outfit has a white shitagi, a black kosode, a black hakama, white tabi, and waraji sandals... now, given your quite foot structure, or your hooves, the fourth and fifth items have been removed from what I've prepared for you. This will allow you greater freedom when it comes time for you to fight some Hollows."

"Not quite what I was expecting, but I'll take it." Baiken remarked, emerging from behind the boulder and the pair noticed that she made the outfit look good, she looked like a natural resident of the Soul Society, while Pinkie made him think about a certain little girl that was with the Captain that the older lady reminded him and Yoruichi of, before she faced the pair for a moment, "So, what's next?"

"Rest, relaxation... go explore the city, if you want. Basically, time off from training." Kisuke replied, because he knew that it was a bad idea to just focus on training all the time, especially since these two souls were so different from the scattered ones that were resting throughout Karakura Town, and he could see that they were surprised, "I know there is more for the two of you to learn, but you do need to take breaks as well and this is the best time for you to do so, especially since Soul Society hasn't sent a replacement for the last Shinigami that died... trust me, once a replacement arrives you'll be wishing for calmer days again."

"Sounds like fun. Come on Baiken, let's go exploring!" Pinkie said, practically bouncing over to where Yoruichi was standing, who nodded as the pair approached and got out of the way, allowing them to head up the ladder and return to the shop so they could head out into the city.

Baiken found that her new attire came with an area for her to slip the scabbard of her Zanpakuto into, so it was nearby in the off chance that they encountered a Hollow while exploring Karakura Town, and once they were both outside the pair just jumped up onto the roof of the nearby building and glanced out at the city.

"It's a big place, full of humans that can't see us, souls in need of saving, and potential dangers." Baiken commented, though that just brought a smile to her face as she wondered what this place might have to offer her, since she could finally explore on her own and not be contained within that damned amulet, which she hoped was destroyed by whatever magic had been behind them coming to this world, causing her to shift her stance, "Shall we?"

Pinkie nodded and jumped onto Baiken's back, like she was a little kid holding onto the older lady's right shoulder, and yet Baiken could barely feel her weight, like Pinkie was as light as a feather or something, though a few moments later she leapt off the roof they were on and headed into the city. Sure enough they noticed that there were a lot of people in the city, as in there were adults and teenagers heading home for the day, some of the latter dressed as school students based on what the pair was seeing, plus the bags that were either on their backs on in their hands. There were also younger kids as well, which were children based on what Kisuke had told them previously, though for the most part they looked like they were having fun in areas that looked like playgrounds, something Baiken stopped and stared at for a time. In addition to that she found a number of houses and buildings that seemed to house a variety of businesses, something that Pinkie said was like what they had in Ponyville, like how Rarity and her sister lived above the shop.

It wasn't long before they found that Kisuke had been right, there were plenty of lost souls in Karakura Town, like there was a little girl wandering around one of the playgrounds that no one paid attention to, there was a little boy in another one, a man in a business uniform was on a roof, and so on and so forth.

"This is sad... so many lost souls, waiting for a Shinigami to come and send them to the Soul Society, even though they have no way of knowing that fact." Pinkie remarked, where Baiken noticed that her companion seemed saddened by this fact, one she agreed with since all these souls deserved to be sent to their proper resting place, be it Soul Society or Hell depending on what they did while they were alive, "That might be why Karakura Town is having Hollow problems: too many souls, so there's plenty of 'food' that's drawing in the Hollows... if someone dealt with the souls, do you think we might see a decrease in attacks?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Baiken stated, as neither of them were well versed in the rules of this world, so it was hard to say if Pinkie's idea would even work, but at the same time she found herself drawn to each of the souls they passed by, as she wanted nothing more than to send them to the Soul Society before the Hollows got to them, "However, once we get back I'm going to demand that we learn that 'soul burial' method Kisuke told us about during our first conversation... I can stand just letting them linger in this world like this."

Pinkie nodded as they continued to move from building to building, allowing them to see the parts of Karakura Town that weren't fully built, there was a construction area as they discovered in due time, though it wasn't long before she glanced in another direction entirely. The reason for that was due to the fact that there were other more powerful energy sources in the city, one Reiryoku that was finely honed and seemed lethal from what she was feeling, more like an arrow, yet it also felt shrouded in some manner, like the owner was used to hiding their power. The other one was untamed and wild, though it was more akin to what a beast possessed, or maybe it was more accurate to say that whoever it belonged to had no idea the power existed in the first place, like a human who was unaware of this side of reality. Eventually she had Baiken stop for just a moment, as they were closer to the more refine source, in fact after telling her about it the older lady had sensed the pair as well, and below them stood one of them, who seemed to be coming out of a shop, one for sewing based on the title and the icons around the shop's name.

This boy was a young adult with glasses, thin and yet knowledgeable looking, like he was a top scoring student or something, but the interesting thing was that he seemed to be looking up into the air, or, as Baiken noticed, right at them, which put a smile on her face as she wondered if he might be capable of fighting Hollows as well.

"He looks like a normal person... but he's got some power inside him, that much I can tell." Pinkie remarked, though this did tell them that there were definitely more people in the city that could see into this world, that could see the souls no matter what form they took, and it made her wonder how many more of them they would discover in the future, "This is getting exciting... I wonder what his story is."

"I'm more interested in whatever powers he might have." Baiken replied, because so far the only ones that could see souls were those that had powers, like Kisuke and Yoruichi, so if the boy was like them than she had to assume he had some sort of power as well, and that thought made her eager to face off against him at some point, before her smile widened a little as she glanced in the direction of the wild Reiryoku, "But I'm more interested in whoever is the bearer of that power, because it is wild, unrefined, and untamed... almost like a Hollow, yet not at the same time... in fact, unless I'm mistaken, it almost feels like a bit of Shinigami might be mixed into it... and something else as well. I wonder if we're feeling three individuals on top of each other..."

Pinkie and Baiken glanced at each other for a moment before Pinkie pointed the way, allowing Baiken to leap across each of the roofs as they zeroed in on the location that they knew the Reiryoku was coming from, and it wasn't long before the pair was able to locate the target, a boy who seemed to be a high school student with short orange hair. From a glance he looked like an ordinary school student who had no idea about the spiritual world, who was on his way home so he could likely do his homework, have dinner, and either relax or go to bed when night was upon him. In the following moments they watched as the boy stopped at a corner and discovered that there was a soul lingering there, an old man by the looks of it, though the interesting thing was that the boy could see the lingering soul and was actually walking to him, likely making sure his 'grave' or where he died was properly cared for. This was different from the other boy, this orange haired one could actually do far more than either of them had assumed he could, yet at the same time Baiken could see that there was nothing about him that would suggest he was connected to the types of souls they had encountered so far.

He carried no Zanpakuto, didn't wear the attire of a Shinigami, and he wasn't a monster like a Hollow, he seemed to be an ordinary school boy who could see those who resided in the spiritual world, though he did pause when he found the pair on the sidewalk in front of him.

"Wh... Who are you two?" the boy asked, which told them that this must be the first time he had seen someone like them, no doubt due to the fact that they were wearing Shinigami attire and the fact that there were no other souls that looked like the pair, since they were the only pony-like souls in the city as far as they could tell.

"Baiken, and this is Pinkie Pie. We're wandering souls, in a sense." Baiken replied, though at the same time she could tell that the figure had no idea what to make of them, which was fine since it meant he might not question who they were and what they were up to, not until he had more information on them, "And you are?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki." the boy stated, though at the same time he seemed to fixate on Baiken's name, though before he could say anything both she and Pinkie perked up as they felt something enter the city, another Hollow by the sensations both of them were feeling, causing her to shift her stance, "Hey, what are you..."

Baiken wasted no time in bursting into the air and landing on one of the roofs before rushing across the rooftops, where she and Pinkie zeroed in on the Hollow that was entering the city, as this one was still in the air and appeared to be more like a centipede, causing Baiken to smile as she drew her blade. As she reached her target she slashed through two of it's legs in an instant, which made her foe roar in pain, before she turned around and sliced off one of it's arms, causing it to stagger backwards for a moment, like it was thinking of retreating. Pinkie leapt off of her back after that and held her hand out, as she summoned her strange Zanpakuto into existence once more, spun around as she zeroed in on their target, and slashed through it's mask and head in one upwards slash. Sure enough they watched as the beast dissolved into nothingness, which meant it's soul had been purified and would no doubt be on it's way to the Soul Society, since that was what they had been told during their talks with Kisuke, causing both of them to smile for a moment.

This was just a demonstration of the skills that Kisuke had taught them, but Baiken knew they needed to train more before they could actually be temporary Shinigami for the city, and it made her wonder what the coming days might have in store for them and for the residents of the city.

Substitute: Shinigami Arrival

Following their encounter with Ichigo Kurosaki, and confirming that he had the power to see souls, Baiken and Pinkie spent a week and a half doing the same thing, as in they opened their mornings with breakfast and training in the underground area with either Ururu and Yoruichi. This allowed them to build and improve their reflexes, even though they found that facing off against the latter was definitely far harder than the former, as Yoruichi was much faster and much stronger than Ururu was, even though she happened to be holding back. It did make Baiken wonder if they would ever get a taste of her full power, to see just how strong she really was and see what sort of gap existed between them, but for the time being they focused on avoiding attacks and learning how to use their fists in combat, in case they were ever disarmed. Kisuke watched over them while Tessai focused on maintaining the store, in case someone happened to show up while they were down here, and so far it seemed like no one really came to this place, but Kisuke insisted that he had customers.

On their second day learning from Kisuke they got confirmation of that fact, as there was a young man who visited the shop once, who seemed to be about Ichigo's age, though he wore trousers, a plain shirt, and a tie, with a newsboy cap and a long coat, almost like he was in hiding or something similar to that. Baiken was of that opinion because of the fact that the young man seemed to notice them standing in the background of the shop, they had been interested in seeing some transactions from this world and Kisuke was willing to humor them, and there was the fact that the young man avoided eye contact. It was as if he was trying to hide who he was from those that he deemed to be threats or those he didn't know, and right now she assumed they were the latter to him, but he kept to himself and spoke a little while they were in the background. All he bought were a few items from Kisuke that were for Shinigami, items that neither of them knew anything about since this was the first time they heard of him mentioning fuel and fibers, which meant there was more for them to learn about.

The other thing that Kisuke taught them was how to use Kido, where they found that there were two types of Kido that could be learned, Hado for offensive spells and Bakudo for battle support, like barriers and seals, and to do that they had to tap into their Reiryoku and channel it into specific hand gestures, with or without an incantation, to unleash a spell.

Baiken found that it was literally the same as using magic, drawing on their inner power and using it to cast spells, though at the same time they learned that one could use two different types of power, a lesser one that didn't require the incantation and produced lesser power, or the full incantation that was much stronger. Of course it wasn't a simple matter to wield this power, Kisuke even told them that prodigies took some time to master the spells they knew, but he was surprised when she started to weave together the weaker versions of the various spells. Kisuke happened to have a few tomes from his time in Soul Society, he didn't deny it since Baiken knew his crew had to be from the Realm of Souls, it was the only way he could realistically know all of the stuff he knew, and Yoruichi confirmed it. Pinkie, on the other hand, simply had fun doing this for the first time, because unlike Twilight most of her friends didn't have magic, or at least not in the sense of throwing magic around all day long, so she simply went through using red flames, pale lightning, and everything else Kisuke taught her.

"It's fine... it's just Pinkie being Pinkie." Kisuke had said, showing them that he understood the pink haired girl and that she was capable of doing insane things, even though he did look like part of him wanted to observe her as she tackled the rest of her training, to see if this was going to be the norm for the rest of their training.

Baiken and Pinkie continued to tackle their training for as long as the pair gave it to them, though at the same time Yoruichi brought them out into the city every night, allowing them to work on flashing from roof to roof, building their speed as they tried to match pace with her. It was an interesting challenge for Baiken, especially since she was an alicorn and was used to the power she had back in Equus, though she was more interested in doing her best in this world, focusing on the here and now instead of the ancient past that had lead to her imprisonment. The constant training also allowed Yoruichi to regain her own powers, as they found that she had gone without training for at least a hundred years, at the very least, but constantly changing between Baiken and Pinkie as training partners allowed her to regain her own speed. This also allowed them to get used to all sorts of terrain, something that allowed them to build their endurance in certain fields and prepare for whatever the future might have in store for them, and for the most part it looked like Yoruichi was pleased with their results.

That also allowed them to clash with the couple of Hollows that were occasionally invading Karakura Town, where Baiken did make sure to let Pinkie have a few chances to fight as well, otherwise her companion's skills would rust, though at the same time she also fought some of the Hollows as well. Such a thing also allowed them to actually track down and save some of the souls that were scattered throughout the city, where Baiken used the base of her Zanpakuto to tap the foreheads of the ones they found, causing them to vanish into thin air. Yoruichi informed them that this was common, perfectly normal in the grand scheme of things, while Pinkie just smiled and tapped them in the same area with a finger, since her Zanpakuto wasn't like Baiken's, and it had the same effect, where she assumed that it was simply her power at work. Other than that there wasn't too much else for them to worry about, since it seemed like the city was fairly peaceful despite the Hollows, though it did make her wonder when Soul Society was going to send someone to replace the last one that had been slain.

By the end of their second week in Karakura Town, and at the start of what was going to be the third day, Baiken, Pinkie, and their newfound friends felt the change in the air as a gate opened, the way between the World of the Living and the Soul Society, the official opening, something that caused Baiken to sigh.

"It's about bloody time... it's been, what, two weeks since we arrived and at least a month since the last Shinigami was slain by Hollows?" Baiken remarked, though this made her annoyed with the Soul Society, she and Pinkie were fairly new to this world and even they knew that this was insane, that it would take this long for someone to be picked to replace the one that had been slain a month ago, and a lot of souls had been claimed by the Hollows due to their negligence, "This this normal for the Soul Society?"

"No, it isn't. I'm assuming that they were picking someone that's stronger than the last two that were sent." Kisuke stated, but at the same time he shared Baiken's disappointment, there was no reason for the Soul Society to take so long in picking someone to replace the last Shinigami they sent, even if they were picking someone above the unranked Shinigami that had been sent previously, before he, too, frowned, "Based on what I'm feeling it seems like a fairly high ranking officer has been selected this time... feels like a 10th Seat, maybe 11th."

"They don't feel very strong... my Pinkie Sense is telling me something bad is going to happen to them." Pinkie said, in fact it felt like the Shinigami was incredibly weak, like an unseated officer, those below the 20th mark to be exact, and that made her worry for whoever it might be, while at the same time Yoruichi seemed to be focused on sensing the figure as well, "So, shall we go meet them and see if they're willing to do their job?"

Kisuke and Yoruichi nodded their heads, it was wise for the girls to head out and interact with the Shinigami that came to the city, because it was time for the pair to get to work, for real, since Kisuke was of the opinion that things were going to get much busier than what the girls were used to. With that in mind the pair finished their breakfast before heading outside, all while Baiken found Yoruichi returning to her cat form for the time being, since there was a chance the newcomer might be by for Shinigami supplies in the future. After leaving the building Baiken and Pinkie flashed onto the nearest roof before they glanced out at the city, where people were going about their mornings, unaware of the Spiritual World and it's dangers, while the remaining scattered souls waited to move on to the next world. Both located Ichigo's power easily, even though he had no idea he had it, and that brought them to him beating up a couple of people for tipping over a vase full of flowers on the side of the road, where the spirit of a girl stood, who looked like she had been run over recently.

The strangest thing was that the newcomer Shinigami was nowhere to be seen, they were simply hiding themselves while no doubt looking over their assignment, confirming that they had to be a lower ranking officer, one unsuited for this mission, to which they simply continued to go about their day like normal. With that in mind they decided to follow Ichigo, because if the two of them could feel his latent untapped power than it stood to reason that other Shinigami might be able to sense it as well, though they stayed on the roofs to avoid being seen. The boy seemed to go about a normal day, he went to school with the rest of his classmates, he had lunch at school, got pestered by people who didn't like his hair color for some reason, and seemed to do quite well in school, at least from what they were able to observe. Baiken noticed that the glasses boy was in the school as well, though there was a tall buff boy that seemed like a fighter, with his hair covering one of his eyes, and a girl that had burnt orange hair and a rather large bust for someone of her age, but the others weren't terrifying interesting, at least not from a glance.

Eventually it happened, a Hollow attacked an area that Ichigo was moving through, though they discovered that a young female Shinigami, with short black hair and a stern look on her face, slashed up the Hollow's mouth area before slicing right through it's mask a few seconds later, purifying it while Ichigo and the soul it was following, the girl, fled.

"So, you're not a total newbie... that's good." Baiken remarked, where they found that the girl turned and looked at them as she sheathed her Zanpakuto, though she was clearly surprised by their arrival, which wasn't too unexpected since she was likely assuming that she would have been sent here on her own.

"Who are you two? What Division are you from?" the lady asked, showing that she was definitely suspicious of them, since neither of them had been to the Soul Society before and she knew she hadn't seen them before, not that Baiken could really blame her since they were strangers.

"I am Baiken, this is Pinkie Pie... and we're not with the Soul Society. These are our uniforms and Zanpakuto." Baiken replied, as she knew the lady might suspect them of stealing what they had from the dead Shinigami, even though the clothing was definitely not from the slain, Kisuke had confirmed that when Baiken asked him about why he had two sets of Shinigami clothing, "You could say that we found them and have spent the last two weeks defending Karakura Town from Hollows."

"Why? It's not your job to do such a thing." the lady inquired, though at the same time she made no move to reveal her name to them, either because she was still trying to figure out if they were allies or enemies, which was the most likely course, or she was someone who didn't like giving her name to total strangers, Kisuke said those types of people existed.

"Well duh, but we had no choice. I mean, the Soul Society did take a month to select someone to send to this city, and in the end they sent an unseated officer." Pinkie replied, doing what she normally did, bounced around with a smile on her face, even though this one was tainted with a slight frown since the delay in sending an officer here had condemned many souls to be devoured by Hollows, or could have had she and Baiken not fought them off.

"What do you mean 'unseated'? Shouldn't you be thinking I'm a ranked member, like 5th Seat or even a Lieutenant?" the lady asked, showing them that she wasn't too happy about their thoughts towards her and her ranking in her Division, despite the fact that she had yet to introduce herself to them, but at least she did seem to be thinking about the delay it took for the Soul Society to send her in the first place.

Baiken started laughing at that, she couldn't help it, because this Shinigami thought they would consider her above her rank, far above really, and yet it made her wonder what in the world the Soul Society was thinking, sending someone so weak to a city that had a number of powerful Hollows that frequented it.

"Sorry, but if you were the Lieutenant, or Vice-Captain, or whatever you say that rank is, than your Division is screwed... you, my dear, are incredibly weak." Baiken remarked, she wasn't going to sugarcoat it, the Shinigami in front of them didn't have the power to fight off some of the known Hollows that came to this city, so she was sure that the lady was going to be dead in the week if the stronger foes came at her, "Seeing you up close I have to agree with Pinkie: you're an unseated officer, not even a 10th or 11th Seat like I initially assumed. So, do you have a name, or are we just going to call you 'girl' for however long you're in Karakura Town?"

"...Rukia. I am Rukia Kuchiki." the Shinigami replied, where she looked at the pair for a moment, clearly wondering if she was being disrespected or if they were genuinely concerned for her safety, and by being mean they were hoping to make her go home before she ended up dead, before she flashed up into the air and headed into the city.

"My Pinkie Sense is still acting up. Something bad is going to happen to her." Pinkie commented, speaking after Rukia left the area, though at the same time she found that Baiken was nodding her head as well, they both knew the girl didn't have the power to stand up to the stronger Hollows and that Soul Society's decision to send her might be the death of her.

Baiken decided to follow Rukia, because she trusted Pinkie's strange abilities and knew that the Shinigami was going to get herself killed in the near future, though at the same time she found herself wondering what the next couple of days might have in store for them, the new Shinigami, and the rest of Karakura Town.

Substitute: Nightly Changes

Following their meeting with Rukia, something that left both of the girls equally disappointed in the Shinigami that had been sent to Karakura Town by the Soul Society, Baiken and Pinkie headed out into the city once more, figuring that they could observe the girl for a time. With that in mind the first thing they did was track down Ichigo, who was down the street and was making sure that he, plus the soul of the little girl, were safe from harm, though once he was sure of that he told the soul he would see her later and headed home. Such a thing caused Baiken to glance around the area for a moment, expecting Rukia to show up to do her job, and yet, as the minutes ticked by, they found that the newcomer wasn't even coming back to the area they were currently moving around in. That pissed her off to no end, that Rukia would ignore her duties and not send the souls of the dead to their proper afterlives, even though it seemed like she was focused on tracking down Hollows right now, the other half of her job.

After thinking about that Baiken landed near the soul of the little girl and quickly tapped her forehead with the base of her Zanpakuto, allowing the soul to be sent to the Soul Society at long last since it looked like Rukia was ignoring souls, for the time being, before she glanced at Pinkie.

"She's only just arrived and she's already getting on my nerves... I'm glad that she's targeting Hollows, but there's no reason for her to avoid the souls of the dead." Baiken stated, though based on what they were feeling she could easily figure out what the newcomer was doing, she was seriously focused on the Hollows right now and seemed to be chasing one, or at the very least track down the one that had slain the last two Shinigami that had come to this city, before she sighed as she took a moment to rub the side of her head, "Come on, let's ignore her and go deal with the souls she should be focused on... might be able to save some of them before more Hollows come looking for food."

"Okay. I'll keep an eye on Rukia's Reiryoku... my Pinkie Sense keeps going off when I think about her." Pinkie replied, though at the same time she bounced around before returning to her spot on Baiken's back, something the older girl was fine with, something that allowed them to flash into another part of the city as they tracked down more lost souls.

Baiken found that Rukia was fortunate to have a slow day today, because there was only the one Hollow, the insect one she had slashed apart before it even had a chance to realize she was there, for her to deal with, and yet it really didn't look like the Shinigami was interested in helping souls right now. It confirmed one thing, there was a Hollow she had been instructed to kill first, a threat to Karakura Town that neither she or Pinkie had seen during their time in the city, like there might be a Hollow coming that she had been forewarned about, before worrying about the souls. With that in mind she and Pinkie just moved around the city, tracking down souls that looked like they had been here for some time, many of them looking sad or depressed, and then tapped each one with Baiken's Zanpakuto since they couldn't use Pinkie's. Other than that there didn't seem to be much happening in the city, like Karakura Town was actually taking a break due to Rukia's arrival, which was just plain weird when she thought about this discovery, and when a few hours had passed she switched things up.

By that Baiken meant following Rukia from a distance, staying on some of the roofs while studying the Shinigami while she sensed the energy that was in the city and kept turning her head as she tried to pinpoint it, though based on Pinkie's own reactions it didn't look like anything was coming into the city. Her movements were scattered, she stopped every now and then to get her bearings, confirming the fact that she had no idea where anything was located, and the frown that was on her face suggested that she didn't like her time being wasted, despite following her mission objective. Baiken found herself getting more and more disappointed with the Soul Society if they were sending out Shinigami like this, with no information on the place they were heading to, and it made her wonder if all of the other officers in the Gotei 13 were this way, simply disappointing and acting like morons. There was the chance that this was her first real mission and she was trying to do her best, but at the same time that didn't stop her from being disappointed in Rukia, while Pinkie just continued to smile while they followed the Shinigami, she was having fun, even if this was slightly boring.

Eventually Baiken gave up on Rukia and they returned to Kisuke's shop for the time being, since it looked like she was taking her time figuring out what she wanted to do and Baiken didn't feel like wasting time with the Shinigami, where they found that their friends were waiting for their return.

"So, we met the new Shinigami... her name is Rukia Kuchiki, she's incredibly weak, and we're sure she's an unseated officer," Baiken said, taking a seat across from Kisuke while Pinkie remained off to the side with Yoruichi, allowing her to drink some tea while they waited for night to fall, even though both she and Pinkie were keeping an eye out for Hollows, before she let out a frustrated sigh, "I'm agreeing with Pinkie: something bad is going to happen to Rukia soon... when she says something is going to happen, well, I've learned to just accept it."

"So it would seem. Our new friend seems to be moving all over the place..." Kisuke commented, though while this was sort of normal, most Shinigami usually moved around to locate a residence to reside in, like a roof or abandoned building, he knew that the figure the girls had encountered had put them in a bad mood, or at the very least Baiken wasn't too happy with this 'Rukia', "Normally I would say that she's looking for a place to stay, as is customary for a Shinigami's first night in the World of the Living, but right now it almost seems like she's on the hunt for something or someone... a Hollow no doubt... usually the Soul Society would prioritize the finding of an abode, not taking care of Hollows."

"Fantastic... she's a freaking novice in everything... we've got our work cut out for us." Baiken stated, this was a headache she wasn't expecting to discover, even though it was interesting to learn the specific course of events a Shinigami was supposed to follow, instead of what Rukia was doing right now, meaning it was possible that they'd be doing her work soon.

Pinkie said nothing to that as she petted Yoruichi, though she did share Baiken's opinion on the situation that was currently unfolding right now, Rukia really didn't seem like she was cut out for the job she was doing right now, in fact her Reiryoku was far lower than they had been expecting it to be. It was like she had mental barriers on her mind or something, like there was some sort of tragic event in her past that was preventing her from using her full power, and if that was true she was in for a world of pain, because it didn't look like she had her Shikai yet. Kisuke had told them about this, that when a Shinigami was able to communicate with their Zanpakuto they gained a 'Command Phrase' that transformed it, though certain people, like Pinkie, sort of skipped that step, and that usually increased their Reiryoku quite a bit. With that in mind it really didn't seem like Rukia had been a Shinigami for long, rather it was like she had graduated from her training recently and had been sent out as soon as her training was done, which was bad for her given the fact that two stronger Shinigami had died in the past.

Eventually late evening descended upon Karakura Town and the girls headed out to see if there was anything to do before turning in for the night, though at the same time they found that Rukia had, for some reason, found her way into Ichigo's bedroom, and it seemed like they were talking to each other.

"Looks like she either felt Ichigo's untapped Reiatsu, since his Reiryoku is leaking out of him in fragments, or thought that the Hollow she's been chasing is inside his house." Pinkie said, though at the same time she and Baiken landed on a roof that was across the way from where Ichigo's clinic home was located, which was an odd thing and made her wonder about the rest of his family, allowing them to watch over the pair while they had their discussion, "Looks like Rukia is explaining what a Shinigami is, what Soul Society is, and what Hollows are... must have surprised Ichigo and is now having to deal with him and his ability to see the Spiritual World."

"At least it will serve as a reminder of her own job." Baiken remarked, as she was still disappointed in Rukia's performance, or what they had seen so far, and was hoping that after tonight the Shinigami would be more focused on her job, otherwise she was going to be extremely disappointed in the Soul Society.

Baiken and Pinkie stood there for a time, observing the pair, before feeling the presence of a few Hollows that were in two different sections of Karakura Town, causing Baiken to frown once more, as Rukia hadn't even noticed this fact, meaning she was a complete novice at her own job. With that in mind she and Pinkie focused on what they were feeling for a few seconds, where she focused on one of them and Pinkie zeroed in on the second, causing them both to burst into the air before they rushed in two different directions. Baiken located hers without delay, it was a lizard Hollow that was twice her size and was definitely a buff looking creature, meaning it had to be strong, causing her to draw her Zanpakuto as she rushed it, slicing right through it's tail when it tried to bring her down with a swift hit. The Hollow's fists, on the other hand, seemed to be just a bit better in withstanding her slashes, but it wasn't by much as she found that she was able to slash off it's fingers before it could do anything, and she frowned as she slashed through it's mask, causing it to vanish like all the others.

Pinkie, on the other hand, fought a more humanoid beast that was like an ape or something, though she just smiled while she dodged the attacks, it just continued to throw punches at her while trying to hit her, before she got bored of playing this game and slashed it in half with a single swing of her Zanpakuto.

In the following moment both of them felt the presence of another Hollow, this one right outside Ichigo's house, causing the pair to turn around and rush back to where they had been standing before feeling the two Hollows, where they found that there was a hole in the side of the house, Ichigo's father was down for the count, and one of his sisters was in danger. Even with that in mind Ichigo seemed to attack the humanoid Hollow, which was easily twice his size, with a metal bat, not that it mattered since he was knocked down the street, but at the very least Rukia seemed to be helping. Baiken was immediately disappointed in her actions, as it looked like Rukia said something about the Hollow coming to attack the house because of Ichigo's energy, indicating that the near death of his entire family was entirely his fault, especially when the Hollow attacked once more. This time around Rukia did something else that was incredibly stupid, she got between Ichigo and the figure, as she took a bite attack that literally tore into her shoulder, side, and parts of her body, basically rendering her useless, when she could have just slashed up the Hollow's mask.

After that, just as the pair got ready to deal with the Hollow, Rukia said something and Ichigo quickly grabbed hold of her Zanpakuto, where she stabbed Ichigo in the heart and that resulted in a surge of wind as the Hollow's arm went flying off a moment later, allowing them to see that the boy was now dressed like a Shinigami, with a large Zanpakuto in his hand.

"So, she's totally incompetent and passed her job onto someone else... could have let us deal with this." Baiken remarked, to which she and Pinkie watched as Ichigo sliced off one of his foe's legs, causing it to sway for a moment before he slashed at it's head, slicing it and it's mask in half, causing the Hollow to dissolve in no time.

"Yes, that is true. Now she can't defend herself, as all of her powers have been taken by Kurosaki." a voice said, where she and Pinkie found that Kisuke had arrived, no doubt because he felt a surge in Ichigo's Reiryoku, changing him from a fairly ordinary soul into the soul of a Shinigami, or maybe a substitute, before he leapt down to where Rukia was sitting, who was in a pure white version of her attire, "Hello there, would you like to rent a gigai?"

Fortunately for Kisuke it looked like the strain of transforming into a Shinigami for the first time had knocked Ichigo out, so by the time he spoke up there was no way for the boy to know what was going on, so he was only talking to Rukia right now, speaking about the faux bodies that Shinigami used to interact with the World of the Living. Usually they were used for the times when a Shinigami needed to retreat and heal, which Rukia was in desperate need of right now, and the girl could see that she had no choice in the matter, without her powers she was helpless and defenseless. With that in mind Rukia simply nodded her head and started talking with Kisuke about what she needed, especially since she knew they had to wipe the memories of Ichigo's family to make sure they didn't remember being attacked by the Hollow, even if none of them could see the beast. While they did that Baiken moved Ichigo back into his room, set the girls and his father in their rooms so Kisuke could do his work, and then she and Pinkie carried Rukia back to the shop so Tessai could make sure her wounds were taken care of before she slipped into the gigai.

For Baiken and Pinkie, however, they knew that nothing had really changed for them, they were still the protectors of this city since the official Shinigami had been wiped out during her first night on the job, something that just pissed Baiken off, but both of them were eager to see what the future held in store for them, Rukia, and Ichigo.

Substitute: The First Day

After helping Kisuke with Ichigo's family, ensuring that Ichigo was back in his human body, and making sure Rukia was fine with her gigai, Baiken and Pinkie rested for a few hours and rose as the sun rose, allowing them to get something to eat before heading out to check on their new acquaintances. As it turned out Ichigo was up and about when they arrived, but he was utterly confused by the scene that had unfolded, especially when the girls heard that his father and sisters claimed that it was a car accident, that someone drove into the clinic and then drove off without leaving any information. That was the memory that Kisuke's device had bestowed upon his family, so while it was a 'random' the device was also set to make sure that people could have the same 'random' memory, even if it worried Ichigo a bit. There were also onlookers that stopped for a time to check out what was going on with the clinic, since this was definitely unusual, and yet no one seemed to have any knowledge of the accident, which the girls understood after witnessing Kisuke's device in action.

Eventually Ichigo departed from his house and headed towards the school building, though at the same time the girls found that Rukia had obtained the same female uniform that was used by the girls that were in all of the classrooms, because this would allow her to keep in touch with Ichigo and help him get used to his new duties.

"All in all, not the worst plan out there." Baiken commented, staring down at Rukia as she entered the school building like she was an actual student, which reminded her of the conversation that the powerless Shinigami had had with Kisuke after slipping into her new gigai last night, as he had set her up with the items she needed to get started.

"Reminds me of when Twilight used the Mirror Portal... or whatever she called it... to head to a mirror world full of humans, enrolled as a transfer student, and got her crown back from a thief." Pinkie remarked, as it had been an interesting tale for her and the others, since they didn't have the chance to go with her and help Twilight get the crown back, but at the same time it was like they were there since every single pony had a human counterpart and she had found the counterparts of all of their friends, "You know, I never thought about it, but I wonder what Sunset Shimmer's been up to since the encounter with Midnight... I don't remember if Twilight went back after meeting her counterpart."

Baiken tilted her head as she heard that, because she had glimpsed into that information thanks to Celestia imparting that knowledge onto her while she was trapped in her prison, but for the time being her focus was on making sure Rukia was fine with integrating into the school and that Ichigo was fine with his new position. While she observed them she noticed the odd orange haired girl with the large chest wandering around with another girl, the one guy with the black hair was sitting on the roof for the time being, and the strange boy with glasses, the one that they had felt the Reiryoku of, seemed to be heading into the sewing club room before school started. It was interested to see how everyone went about their day, many unaware of the other world that was part of this Realm with a very select few being aware of the souls and Hollows, and how those who couldn't see the Spiritual World tried to explain the damage that the Hollows did to the Human World. Once more she found herself enjoying this, because the more and more she learned about this world the more interested she was, and that wasn't counting the battles she might get into, which really made her excited when she thought about it.

Eventually they found that Ichigo arrived during one of the later periods, instead of one of the first ones, thereby allowing him to meet up with Rukia, something that caused him to freak out a little, especially since it looked like she wrote a threat or something into the palm of her hand after he entered the room, for him to see, eventually leading to them walking outside during the break between classes.

"So, what are you still doing here?" Ichigo asked, speaking once he was sure they were alone, even though he noticed Baiken and Pinkie landing nearby so they could see what was going on, which was just weird when he considered it, which caused him to gesture towards the pair with his thumb for a moment as well, "And what about those two? Shouldn't they be going back with you to this 'Soul Society' you mentioned?"

"She can't. Last night, when she gave you her Shinigami powers to fight on her behalf, you took ALL of her power... basically, she's trapped in the World of the Living until her power returns." Baiken replied, as that was the gist of the information they had been given by Kisuke, so they could fully understand why Rukia needed a gigai in the first place, and the girl in question just stood there with a frown on her face and had her arms crossed, "The reason you don't look like a Shinigami right now is due to the fact that her power transformed your soul into that of a Shinigami, temporarily anyway, and when it's time you'll be able to transform and perform Rukia's duties in her stead. As for Pinkie and myself, we're not actual residents of the Soul Society, rather the reality is that we were recently turned into our current states, Zanpakuto and all... we could probably go with her, when it's time for her to head home, but for the time being we have no method to head there."

"No, I refuse to be a Shinigami and I refuse to fight more of those monsters." Ichigo stated, forming an X with his hands as he talked, showing them that he had no intention of using the powers he had taken from Rukia and that he had no intention of fighting anymore Hollows, while at the same time Pinkie found that Rukia was surprised by this discovery, and also slightly annoyed at the same time, "I only wanted the power to save my family, that's all. I have no intention of risking my life for each and every individual in Karakura Town, be they living or dead."

"I see." Rukia said, putting on a red glove with what appeared to be a simply flaming skull design on it, though following that she rushed at Ichigo and grabbed him by the neck, where the girls watched as she actually grabbed Ichigo's soul, dressed in the Shinigami attire still, and pulled his soul out of his body, allowing Ichigo's body to fall into Baiken's arms while Rukia let go of his soul, "Now then, come with me."

Baiken put Ichigo's body somewhere that none of the other students would find him for some time, so they didn't get the wrong idea about his sudden collapse, but once that was done she and Pinkie followed after the pair as Rukia headed off campus with a reluctant Ichigo following behind her. As it turned out she headed right to the closest playground and stood outside it for a bit, something that very clearly surprised Ichigo since he clearly wanted to be back in school, though it wasn't long before she asked him if there was a soul that came to this place often. Baiken and Pinkie knew the answer was 'yes', as they had seen the soul of a little boy that loved to play in this very location, at the same time no less, always at noon, and the moment Ichigo confirmed that information Rukia pulled out what appeared to be an older style of cell phone. Apparently it was how the Soul Society communicated with Shinigami that were out in the field, they scanned the location that an officer was sent to, determined when and where a Hollow might appear, and sent 'orders' detailing everything the Shinigami had to know to do their job.

Like her latest order was for this park, within fifteen minutes of noon hitting, as a Hollow would be attacking soon, and Rukia now knew that it would be the boy that Ichigo had told her about, and, sure enough, the soul of a five year old boy ran out into the open while being chased by a spider-like Hollow, causing Ichigo to shift slightly as he gripped the railing.

"What are you doing, fool? You said it yourself: he's just a stranger, thus you have no reason to fight for his safety." Rukia asked, where it was clear that her raising must have been cruel and uncaring, or at least Baiken certainly thought so since the Shinigami seemed to have a harsh way of dealing with things, making her wonder if the girl might be a noble with how she acted at times, "Listen, by becoming a Shinigami you have to protect everyone, no matter how far they are from where you happen to be, and it means that you cannot be so naive... if you're willing to protect the boy, to defeat the Hollow and sent the boy's soul to Soul Society, you must accept that you'll be doing this for the rest of the souls in Karakura Town, not to mention the people who call this city home."

"It's good to see that you've remembered your own training, despite your pathetic showing yesterday." Baiken remarked, as she was still on the fence about Rukia overall, her power and experience was severely lacking, to the point that she really couldn't believe that the Soul Society would send an unseated officer to a dangerous city, but her knowledge about her own duties seemed to be fairly good, before she turned towards Ichigo, "But she's right, a Shinigami must protect all souls and defeat Hollows. If you accept being a Shinigami, to take on her duties until she gets better, Pinkie and I can train you to be a warrior, so you won't be injured and give you the skills needed to bring down your foes much quicker."

Ichigo stood there for a moment, clearly thinking about something, before he leapt into battle as he slashed up one of the Hollow's legs as Pinkie carried the boy off to another portion of the playground, thus allowing Ichigo to shout at Rukia for a moment, telling her off about how she sacrificed herself to save his family. His stance was that she definitely wasn't thinking about the complex nature of her duties when she decided to throw herself into the Hollow's mouth, something that caused Rukia to pause as she realized that he was right, she hadn't been thinking during that critical moment. In the next second he turned his blade around and stabbed the Hollow right in the middle of it's mask, allowing him to slice open it's head before it could retreat, where Baiken watched as it dissolved like the rest of them, which meant he was successful in defeating it and had saved the little boy. It was an interesting showing since he was a total novice when it came to using his Zanpakuto, he had no idea how to fight with it, not like how Baiken and Pinkie had been trained since they encountered Kisuke, and yet he seemed to instinctively know where to strike to end the battle quickly.

"Rukia, I haven't accepted anything... if things get bad for me I might just run away, especially since I'm not a good enough person to risk myself for total strangers..." Ichigo said, showing them that he must have been thinking about this since they brought him out of school and forced him to fight this Hollow, which was interesting to see, though Baiken found that he did turn towards them for a moment, "However, I'm also not trash that can just sit happily without paying back his debts... so, while I have my doubts and reservations about all of this, Rukia, I will stand and perform your Shinigami duties, at least until you're able to regain your powers. And you two, you said that you'll be offering me training to wield my blade?"

"Yes, Pinkie and I have been trained on how to use a sword, so we can show you the correct movements, help you sharpen your skills, and turn you into a real warrior." Baiken answered, because if they trained him in how to fight he could deal with the Hollows without hurting himself, which would be nice since there was a chance that his wounds would carry over to his human body, if he was wounded in his soul form, "We can also teach you how to move like a Shinigami as well, and on how to channel your Reiryoku into Reiatsu... there's a lot to go over, honestly, even for the basics. In addition to that the two of us will help you deal with the Hollows that come to attack the city and complete the orders that Soul Society gives to Rukia, so you won't have to miss a lot of school... just be aware that when she tells you it's time to work, she'll mean it."

Pinkie could tell that Ichigo had no idea what he was getting himself into, now that he knew what she had said, though at the same time he followed Rukia's instructions on how to perform Konso, sending the boy's soul to the Soul Society, but she did bounce around with a smile on her face, as she was eager to see what the future held in store for them.

Substitute: Orihime's Problems

True to Baiken's earlier promise they returned Ichigo to his body and allowed him to deal with his classes, while Rukia kept up with him even though she was adjusting to being a student, at least until she got her powers back and could head home when her mission was complete. With that in mind they kept an eye on Karakura Town while Ichigo was in school, as in she and Pinkie focused on eliminating the Hollows, though for the most part it looked like that one Hollow might be the only one for the day, which Ichigo would no doubt appreciate. Other than that there wasn't a lot for them to worry about and that meant the pair just relaxed on the school's roof, where they would be out of sight and out of mind, and once the day was over they found that everyone went about their afternoons. Ichigo went home today, where he planned on doing whatever his homework was before relaxing for a time, while Rukia followed for the time being as she stared at him, even though she did stop outside his house and headed elsewhere for a time.

When night fell, however, Ichigo opened his window and allowed Rukia to remove his soul once more, so his body could rest on his bed in case anyone came to check on him, Baiken doubted that given what time it was, and once they were on a roof the older girl got to work.

The first thing they did was have Ichigo pull out his Zanpakuto as Baiken did the same and demonstrated how to properly swing his blade, the proper movements while accounting for the size of his weapon, because he didn't have training on how to use it and getting him used to the weight would be a good thing. Her reasoning also included the fact that his instincts were fairly good, because when she thought about how he attacked the two Hollows he had faced she knew that both of his opening moves had been to wound his foes, then took out their mask to purify them. She was showing him movements and specific sword motions he could use to bring down his foes that much faster, while at the same time making him aware of his surroundings so he didn't damage anything or get his sword stuck somewhere. Despite his initial resistance towards his newfound duties, especially since Rukia could have just asked Baiken and Pinkie to take up her duties, Ichigo followed her lessons as best as he could, showing that he could swing his Zanpakuto like it was nothing.

After some time Baiken had Pinkie engage Ichigo in a mock battle, where she summoned her Zanpakuto, surprising Ichigo in the process since her weapon was unique, and rushed at him, using her superior speed and reflexes to avoid his attacks as she literally danced around the roof they were on. After a few moments she leapt down to the ground and found that Ichigo followed her, swinging his blade down towards her, something that caused Pinkie to smile a little as she spun her weapon around and parried the incoming attack before it could hit her. Such a thing allowed her to push her opponent backwards, but, just as Baiken expected, Ichigo seemed to take his training seriously and did his best to follow the instructions he was being given, meaning that in a few weeks he might be on their level, at least when it came to sword techniques. Of course there were still openings in his movements, this was only the first day of his training, and she exploited those that she could see, thus allowing Ichigo to learn from his mistakes, or at least make an attempt to since his was still a novice.

Eventually they brought the training to a stop and allowed Ichigo to return to his bedroom so he could rest up for the next day's events, though as Baiken and Pinkie returned to Kisuke's shop they felt the sudden arrival of a Hollow in the city and turned to move, only for the sensation to quickly vanish.

"Must have been a freshly turned soul... kind of sad, if you ask me." Pinkie commented, as they had been told that a number of souls, when they finally turned into Hollows, had a chance to retreat to Hueco Mundo before a Shinigami could purify it, which was yet another reason to track down the lost souls before such a thing happened to them.

"Yes... it is." Baiken said, staring out at the city for a moment as she wondered where the soul had been located, mostly to see if there were more lost souls in that area for them to send to the Soul Society, to prevent this from happening again, but, for the time being, she guessed there wasn't much for them to do but turn in for the night.

As such they regrouped with Kisuke and used the room he was letting them use for the night, though when morning arrived they ate breakfast and returned to shadowing Ichigo like normal, finding him grouping up with Rukia in an area to train some more, hitting a bunch of balls with crudely drawn Hollows on some of their surfaces. It appeared that she had acquired one of Kisuke's devices to use for Ichigo's training, a device that loosed pepper-filled balls into the air, so those that were marked with a Hollow's head were to be hit and the others were to be ignored. Thanks to Rukia's poor penmanship, however, there was no way for him to figure out which ones he was supposed to hit and which ones he had to ignore, so he focused on just hitting each of them while imagining that they were the masks of the Hollows he had fought so far. It was a good idea, as this would allow him to get used to paying attention to whatever was around him while training his focus to be sure he could hit his target, and yet, once he was done hitting the required number of balls, Rukia chewed him out for not paying attention to the balls that bared the mark of the Hollow.

She even chewed him out for thinking that sneak attacks were cowardly, telling him that it was the best way for officers of her level to deal with Hollows, like she was cutting into his naive nature and was trying to sharpen him into being a better replacement, so they could deal with the Hollows much faster.

It was around that time that Orihime, the busty orange haired girl from Ichigo's class, interrupted their conversation and told Ichigo that she was doing some shopping, as this wasn't a school day, though she seemed to be buying a bit of things, such as garlic, onion, bread, gelatin, and other things. Apparently she was a bit of a scatterbrain, she even pulled out a leek from her bag and spun it around a bit for some reason, which made Ichigo wonder about her mental health despite not saying a single word, it was written on his face and Baiken noticed, causing him to ease up to prevent Orihime from noticing. Both of the girls found that the orange haired girl couldn't see her, meaning she didn't have the power to see into the Spirit World, while at the same time they found that Rukia continued to present her class persona in the face of someone that was in their class. Baiken, Pinkie, and Rukia noticed that Orihimie was wounded, even though Ichigo was focused on her arm wound that had been bandaged, only to be surprised by the fact that she had been hit by a car last night, where the boy told her that she should be angrier and should have gotten herself checked out, but the three girls were focused on the large black mark that was on Orihime's left leg.

They knew what it was, it was the mark of a Hollow, where Baiken instantly reassessed Orihime's Reiryoku, because all souls had it and those like Ichigo could see souls, Shinigami, and Hollows, and while the girl definitely had more than some of the other students in their class she was definitely far weaker than Ichigo.

"A Hollow attacked her." Baiken commented, speaking as Rukia investigated the wound on Orihime's leg, though after that the girl, instead of going to see a doctor since she was definitely feeling the pain right now, allowing them to stand there as Orihime headed into the city without wasting time.

"Ichigo... does Orihime have any family?" Rukia asked, because she agreed with Baiken, that was a Hollow wound, which was a bad thing since it meant the girl might be attacked again, in fact both she and the girls knew that such a beast wouldn't stop until they either claimed their target or were purified by a Shinigami.

"Yeah, she had a brother who died three years ago... I remember the day, since I was the one who opened the door." Ichigo replied, where he thought about the incident for a few moments, as it had been some time since he had thought about it, while at the same time putting away all of the materials that Rukia had brought with her so he could train, before he let out a sigh as he faced Rukia, "I was on my way to school when she arrived, carrying her brother on her back... it was a car accident, mind you, and he was covered in blood, but there wasn't much my father's clinic could do since we weren't equipped for such an accident and he died before the ambulance could arrive."

With that in mind Baiken thought about who the Hollow might have been, as Kisuke had told them about all of that and how usually the first victims of a newly born Hollow was their family members, so it sounded like Orihime's brother's soul had been turned into one recently and attacked his sister, which was what they felt last night. It was only after devouring the last of their family that a Hollow either stayed intelligent and became one of the ones that the Soul Society had a difficult time dealing with, or became more like a beast that followed their instincts. Other than that there wasn't much else for them to worry about right now, not with Baiken and Pinkie on patrol, so Rukia headed off to wherever she was staying while Ichigo headed home, allowing him to take a bath while one of his sisters looked around for some of her missing stuff. It was in that moment that Baiken found out that Rukia, for some odd reason, was living in Ichigo's closet, sneaking into his room when he wasn't inside it and no doubt leaving early in the morning to avoid being seen by her replacement, and she had stolen the bits of missing clothing that Ichigo's sister was looking for.

What surprised them was that they felt the presence of the Hollow mere moments before Rukia got the order, and once she got it she revealed her hiding place to Ichigo as she pulled his soul out of his body, mere moments before a naga Hollow, a dark brown body with a snake lower body, emerged to attack him. Ichigo attacked without delay, slicing through the mask and butting into the area that was above the Hollow's left eye, enough to damage the creature since it was smart enough to pull back without letting it's mask be fully destroyed. This allowed him a glimpse of his foe's true nature, because once the Hollow fled into the hole it came out of, likely a temporary passage between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living, he stopped and informed them that it was none other than Orihime's older brother, Sora. Such a thing caused Rukia to tell him the reason for that, as in that Hollows were souls that had been turned into Hollows, and got a piggy back ride as he leapt out of his room, following Baiken and Pinkie as they zeroed in on where Orihime lived.

As they zeroed in on Orihime's place, however, Baiken noticed that a few more Hollows appeared down the street, which Rukia's phone identified as additional orders for her to take care of, while Pinkie found a black robed figure lingering in the air above their current destination.

The two nodded to each other as Ichigo and Rukia focused on the naga Hollow and Orihime's place, where Baiken rushed off and drew her Zanpakuto as she slashed into the trio of Hollows that ended up entering Karakura Town while the naga was busy distracting Ichigo, like that was their plan or something. Pinkie, on the other hand, zeroed in on the black robed figure, finding that it was as tall as a human male, an adult to be exact, who realized that she was coming right for him and he just flashed out of the way, almost like he was a Shinigami, as she was sure it was a male. Pinkie chased the figure around for a bit, finding that he moved this way and that way to avoid her getting close, but she kept pace with him and forced the figure to vanish entirely, in fact she was sure he went back to the Soul Society after realizing that he wasn't going to be able to just watch whatever happened next. Baiken, as she discovered, was still smiling as she slashed through the Hollows that were her enemies, cutting through their arms and legs like it was nothing before delivering the final blow to their masks, purifying them in the process, allowing her to turn towards Orihime's place.

Apparently this Hollow had acid that it could spit out, something Ichigo dodged as he slashed through the Hollow's hand and even diced up his tail, but the surprising thing was that it still went after Orihime, who willingly allowed her transformed brother to bite her shoulder, something that stopped him in his tracks.

"Well, he was recently turned. Makes sense that his sister could do something to knock some sense into him." Baiken said, as Kisuke had told them that there were instances where newly born Hollows, while in the middle of attacking the remaining living members of their family, would stop and create openings for Shinigami to purify them, like they knew that this was for the best, and, sure enough, Sora was the same way as Orihime collapsed and he tore off his mask.

"Plus it looks like Ichigo might have talked some sense into him." Pinkie remarked, as it looked like Ichigo had decided to talk to this Hollow before purifying it, and while Rukia healed Orihime's body, so her soul could return to it, they found that the substitute Shinigami quickly purified Sora, allowing him to head to the Soul Society with a smile on his face, only for Rukia to use the memory device on Orihime once she was fully healed, "Also, someone was watching Karakura Town... I have no idea who he was, but he's bound to cause trouble again."

Baiken nodded as they left Ichigo and Rukia to finish up their task of dealing with Orihime, even though they had no idea what sort of random memory she might gain to explain the hole in the wall, but it did make Baiken even more interested in what the coming days had to offer them, as things were getting interesting and she was eager to see whatever might happen next.

Substitute: Cursed Parakeet

Baiken and Pinkie found that everything seemed to be fine the following morning, Orihime had this excuse about how her home was attacked by a sumo wrestler that had a bazooka, which was even more outrageous than the 'truck hitting Ichigo's home' story, even though most people bought it. Baiken suspected that it was due to the fact that Orihime was the one who revealed the story and not the other girl that had been in her house when Sora's Hollow, Acidwire according to what was on Rukia's phone, attacked them to kill Orihime. The interesting thing was that it looked like Rukia's memory device might have actually failed and that the two girls were playing dumb, like they recalled actually seeing the Hollow and that they had been rescued by Ichigo, even though neither had any idea what to do with this information, hence why they were silent on this matter. For the most part it was important for Ichigo to believe that none of the others were aware of his second life as a substitute Shinigami, since he didn't want anyone else to know about what he was doing, and right now they were doing their best to abide by his wishes.

Other than that they were able to give Ichigo some time to rest, relax, do his schoolwork without anything happening to him, and even gave him some time to train him when night finally arrived, as if everything was normal again, doing their best to prepare him for whatever the Hollows might have in store for him.

The fact that Hollows were originally ordinary souls seemed to fuel Ichigo's determination to make sure he was able to save as many of them as possible, almost like he was more of a Shinigami than Rukia was, though Baiken found that to be an unfair comparison since he had survived longer than Rukia had. At the very least he showed signs of conviction, taking his training much more seriously than before, and seemed to be doing his best to get used to the weight of his weapon while also aiming at the vital areas that would allow him to take down Hollows that much faster. In addition to that Pinkie made sure to tell Kisuke about the black robed figure she had seen while they were watching over Ichigo, which interested him a bit since it was definitely unusual and he promised that he'd keep an eye out for the figure while they were helping Ichigo in his training. Other than that there really wasn't much for the girls to do, though they did their best to keep an eye out for any new Hollows that might come looking for an easy target, and yet, despite the couple groups of Hollows they had previously it seemed like they were going to have a few easy days off.

Something eventually caught their attention, as the girls found that there was some commotion in one of the construction sites that dotted the city, where Baiken found Chad sitting with some of the other students from Ichigo's school, though he did end up protecting them from a steel beam that seemed to fall on them at random.

"A Hollow was here, I can feel it... in fact, I'm sure it's still watching them." Pinkie remarked, looking over Baiken's shoulder as she stared down at the trio, which was when they found that there was a cage with a parakeet inside it, one that seemed to be talking to the small group of students, "And there's a soul inside the parakeet... that's who the Hollow is chasing."

"Still, what in the world is Chad's body made of?" Baiken inquired, because it was insane that he had stopped a steel beam from hitting both of his companions and the bird that was stuck in the cage, somehow without hurting his back despite the bit of blood that was coming from his head, but it seemed to do something for the school boys, "He's definitely not human, that's for sure... we'll have to tell Kisuke about this, since he might have an idea on what's going on... it's a shame that he doesn't have any powers, as Chad seems like he'd make a decent training partner."

Pinkie nodded as they continued to observe Chad, since he was the one that seemed to bond with the parakeet and the soul that was trapped inside it, despite the other two saying that anyone who owned the bird ended up dead in due time, which Chad didn't even seem remotely worried about. The rest of the night seemed to pass by without anything happening, as in the Hollow that was following the parakeet seemed to be in hiding, either because it knew they were watching the bird or it wanted to cause fear in the soul that was trapped in the animal. This allowed them to rest up while keeping their senses open in case more Hollows decided to make themselves known, and when morning arrived Baiken tracked down Chad once more, only to find that he was hit by a motorcycle and carried the injured rider to the hospital. Such a thing meant that he would be late for school, but it seemed like an okay thing given that it wasn't caused by the Hollow that was following the bird, so they headed to Ichigo's school instead, just to see how things were going over there.

As it turned out Ichigo and Rukia were talking about Rukia's grades in the school she had learned her Kido from, which came as a surprise to the boy since he wasn't expecting Shinigami to have such a thing, but that caused Baiken to land on part of the roof, far from the others, with a huff.

"You know, when we agreed to watch over Karakura Town, I was expecting a little more excitement... I thought there would be more Hollows than what we've seen." Baiken commented, something that made her wonder if Kisuke might have a few more spare gigai in his shop, because it might be worth slipping into a more human form and just exploring the city while she waited for Hollows to show up, even though Pinkie didn't seem to be bothered by this at all.

"Look, Chad's here." Pinkie said, focusing more on the fact that things were happening, especially with Ichigo being talked to by someone else, likely someone he had pissed off before they started following him around, it was hard to tell with humans since some had really insane reasons for wanting to do things, especially once they learned about the ones who enjoyed killing people.

Sure enough the confrontation was resolved easily, Chad grabbing onto the other student's fist and hurled him backwards, thus allowing him to walk over to Ichigo and set the cage down, all while Rukia struggled to drink a juice box, causing Baiken to groan, as the actual Shinigami was freaking useless in both her own job and pretending to be a human. The only useful thing was that Ichigo seemed to understand that there was a soul inside the parakeet, showing that his own skills in being a Shinigami were growing at a steady pace, in fact Baiken assumed that once half a year had passed Ichigo might be more skilled in this lifestyle than Rukia was. Rukia, despite her near total uselessness, as her healing skills seemed to be the only saving grace she had, also noticed the soul and was impressed by how serious Ichigo was taking the parakeet's existence, all while affirming that it wasn't a Hollow, it was just a lonely soul and that it would be best to send it off soon, before it turned into a Hollow or was targeted by one. Other than that there wasn't anything else to worry about, allowing the girls to head out to observe the city once more, which seemed to be the only thing to do when there weren't any Hollows around, though Baiken headed back to Kisuke's for some additional training, figuring that Pinkie would alert her if things changed.

In the end it wasn't until the afternoon when things changed, a Hollow surfaced in the area around Ichigo's place, something that caused them to get moving, only to discover that there was a car accident involving multiple people and Chad, but the Hollow was long gone by the time they arrived.

"I have a feeling this is one of the two more dangerous Hollows that Kisuke warned us about... Shrieker or Grand Fisher, but this seems more akin to the former's habits." Baiken remarked, because their friends wanted to make sure they were ready for whatever the future held in store for them and Kisuke had shared the information he knew on the two most dangerous Hollows that he knew about.

Pinkie nodded as Ichigo returned home, in time to see multiple people being brought into the clinic while his father called the main hospital that was in the area to request some beds be opened, especially since a few of the victims were beyond what his clinic could handle. Chad, on the other hand, had a wound on his back that was made by a Hollow, in fact it was still bleeding and caused them to calm the buff student down so his back could be bandaged, and it wasn't long before he was put in one of the clinic's rooms for the night. When morning arrived, however, Chad was long gone and so was the parakeet, something that caused Ichigo to run all over the place to find him, both because he was friends with the buff boy and, more importantly, he was being hunted by a Hollow. Baiken and Pinkie remained on the roofs as they glanced out at the city, as it seemed like Chad was definitely running, he was aware that something was chasing him and the bird and seemed to be in the middle of running to be sure no one else was caught in the crossfire.

Eventually Ichigo and Rukia caught up before Ichigo had a good idea, he was going to focus on the Reiryoku of the soul that was inside the parakeet, causing him to focus on visualizing the various bits of Reiryoku into Reiraku, or Spirit Ribbons, a highly advanced technique among Shinigami, and it wasn't long before he grabbed one.

"Okay, now that is impressive." Pinkie said, as it confirmed something she had been thinking about since they met Ichigo, his Reiryoku was more akin to the ones they had sensed from Kisuke, Tessai, and Yoruichi, meaning there had to be Shinigami blood inside his body, dormant powers that Rukia's own had caused to awaken a little.

Baiken nodded, as this was definitely more exciting for them, and they rushed off in the direction Ichigo was moving in, just in time to hear the sound of the Hollow attacking the area Chad was in, though instead of Chad waiting for them to catch up he just ran off again, while Ichigo stopped as one of his sisters appeared nearby, weakened for some reason. Since he was more worried about her, however, Rukia told him to take Karin home and he did so without delay, though he made sure to tell Rukia not to push herself too hard if she decided to join Baiken and Pinkie in fighting the Hollow. Sure enough they found their target as Rukia followed Chad, a tall Hollow that was almost three times the size of a normal human, with an ape-like body, large black wings connected to his hands, that seemed to be enjoying the hunt, as it closed in on Rukia. Baiken took a moment to grin as she laid eyes on it, because they had descriptions on the two Hollows they had to be on the lookout for and this was definitely Shrieker, she recognized him anywhere, and when he attacked Rukia she was on the scene instantly, slashing at his arm as he backed off.

Pinkie landed nearby with a smile on her face, because this meant that Baiken might have found a worthy playmate and it came in the form of a powerful Hollow, at least based on what they had been told so far, while Chad continued down the street with the parakeet, focusing on saving the soul right now.

"You... you have a tasty scent. Not quite a Shinigami, but tasty all the same... reminds me of the two Shinigami I ate, those that came to send that brat to the afterlife." Shrieker remarked, confirming everything that the pair had been told, he was the one that Kisuke had gotten their Zanpakuto from, due to the blades dropping from his body once he was done feasting on the Shinigami he had killed, which was further validation that Rukia wasn't at all ready for this job.

As it turned out Baiken didn't get to fight Shrieker immediately, rather Chad returned, without the parakeet, and ended up punching the Hollow right in the face, without being able to see the Hollow, and while he tried to fight Shrieker elsewhere, a fact that confirmed his eyes couldn't see the Hollow, he ended up hitting him again somehow. Baiken realized what she and the others were seeing, Chad must have had some sort of event that caused him to see into the Spiritual World, to a small degree anyway, as she was sure he could see a faint outline of sorts, a haze that he was having a hard time making out. The Hollow even took off and that only caused Chad to tear out a telephone pole, demonstrating his great strength, before he, with Rukia's guidance, swung it down on Shrieker and crushed the Hollow into the ground, thus weakening him so Baiken could, in an instant, slice open his mask if she so desired. As it turned out Shrieker had a power none of them knew about, he had these frog-like critters that could spew out leeches that he intended to stick to his targets, though as that happened Baiken and Pinkie vanished, rushing around the area that was around them as they slashed open the critters and diced up the leeches before they could be used.

During that short period of time Ichigo arrived and Rukia, sensing the opportunity, separated his soul so he could join in the battle, where he slashed through the critters as well as they wiped out the leeches that were spread around the area, in fact Shrieker tried to have them blow up and failed in the end.

Ichigo did have to ask the Hollow one question, as he had learned that Shrieker had killed the mother of the soul that was resting inside the parakeet, and, sure enough, he confirmed that he had murdered the soul's parent, in fact he had been a serial killer before his untimely demise, somewhat of a famous one. Apparently the boy's mother had been the last one he had gone after, he enjoyed the pain he caused upon her body while she tried to protect her son, and yet it was the son who was the death of him, by grabbing onto his shoelaces and caused him to fall to his death. His rage at dying like that caused his soul to transform into the Hollow that was in front of them, leading him to tear out the boy's soul and stuffed him into the parakeet, where he told him that he'd bring his mother back if he could survive a game of cat and mouse for three months, and that was years ago. He even frightened the boy into submission by telling him that his mother was waiting for him, and yet he took a sick satisfaction in doing such a thing to someone like that, something that made all three of them sick to their stomachs.

In fact Ichigo let himself be covered in a few leeches so he could grab them and then smashed his fist into Shrieker's mouth, breaking some of the Hollow's teeth in the process, and the Hollow realized that he couldn't set off the bombs without also blowing off his head, so Ichigo tore out his tongue.

"Woah, I didn't know you had this in you... I approve." Baiken remarked, though at the same time she and Pinkie stabbed the Hollow without delay, her blade driven into Shrieker's leg while Pinkie even got a blow on one of his arms, something that caused the beast to become fearful as he severed his own leg and tried to take flight, "Now, as one!"

"Go to Hell, you bastard!" Baiken, Ichigo, and Pinkie shouted, each of them slashing into Shrieker's mask before he had even a chance to flee, two of them cutting through the eye sockets while the third hit the forehead area while driving the Hollow into the ground in front of them.

In the next moment Shrieker let out a pained groan as something interesting happened, the air behind him shuddered as a large door frame, a massive gateway with two large skeletons, the upper half of them anyway, appeared in the space right that was behind the beast, the frame divided into two panels and each had a single skeleton on it.

"What in the world is that?" Ichigo asked, as this was the first time he had seen something like it, in fact he could tell that the girls were surprised by this discovery as well, meaning that none of them knew what it was, even though Pinkie wasn't even remotely intimidated by what they were seeing at the moment.

"What were you expecting? You three were quite specific in where his soul should go." Rukia remarked, in a manner that was akin to deadpanning, though she knew this was serious, especially after discovering that Shrieker had been a serial killer in his prior life, before becoming a Hollow, where she glanced at the girls before focusing on Ichigo and the gate, "These are the Gates of Hell, the fourth Realm that is where Hollows that committed sins while they were still living will be sent when they are slashed by a Shinigami's Zanpakuto... we can only purge the sins they committed while they were Hollows, but anything they did before becoming Hollows will be held against them."

"Basically, innocent souls would be sent to Soul Society... wicked souls go to Hell." Baiken stated, where they watched as the two skeletons pulled open the Gates of Hell, revealing a reddish realm beyond the borders of the Gates, all while Shrieker seemed to be screaming in pain as his soul was claimed by the dark realm, and it wasn't long before the Hollow was stabbed by a large blade, wielded by a massive blue hand.

Pinkie just bounced up to the Gates and peered inside Hell, since this might be their only chance to do so, spotting two odd figures, one was a tall dark purple furred Hollow, standing twice as tall as Shrieker, that had an odd black chain tattoo that went from it's right shoulder to it's left hip, and it had an odd circular ring on it's right arm. That had to be a Ghoul, as Kisuke had told them about the residents of Hell during one of their first conversations, and yet that put a smile on her face since it seemed like the ape Ghoul could be a challenge for Baiken. The other one was as tall as her and Baiken, a black and eerie white scaled figure with almost icy blue talons on her feet, clawed hands, the tips of her wings, and even the pair of scythe-like horns that were growing out of her head, it was like a humanoid or even an anthro dragon. As Pinkie noticed that the figure was wearing a crimson robe with a red sash, which almost looked like a Shinigami's attire, she knew one thing, this figure wasn't a Ghoul, it was a higher ranking member of Hell and seemed far more dangerous than the ape creature.

Shrieker was dragged into Hell by the figure who was holding onto the massive sword, where Pinkie stepped back as they watched as the Gates closed before their eyes, and when she waved at the Gates both skeletons seemed to freak out before the Gates crackled like glass and shattered, as if they never existed in the first place.

"Seems like things might be getting more exciting." Baiken commented, with a smile on her face, because now they could tell Kisuke that they had seen some of the denizens of Hell, all while she and Pinkie left Ichigo's group to deal with the soul that was inside the parakeet, since there was no reason for them to stick around right now.

She wasn't sure if they could do anything about the denizens of Hell, since it seemed hard to enter that Realm, but it was an interesting thing to see and it only made her that much more interested in what the future held for them, especially since Ichigo send the boy's soul to the Soul Society, making her look forward to what the coming days might offer them.

Substitute: Rukia's Self-Made Problem

Baiken and Pinkie, following the banishing of Shrieker to Hell, made sure to inform Kisuke about their discovery, where he wasn't surprised by the arrival of the Gates of Hell to take such a foul soul, and he kept a straight face when Pinkie told him about what she had seen on the other side of the Gates.

"I am slightly surprised that you were able to see a Ghoul... usually they steer clear of the Gates." Kisuke commented, but it was the other figure who demanded his attention, because Pinkie had described something he wasn't expecting to hear about, since it was even more mysterious than the Hollows that were sentenced to live in Hell, "As for the other figure, well, that would be a 'Warden', basically someone that tends to the souls that are sent to Hell... must have been the one that Shrieker was being assigned to."

"I take it that we have nothing to worry about, since the barriers between Realms is fine?" Baiken inquired, because Kisuke and the others had told them that the balance between the four Realms was important for the stability of the World as a whole, and that if the 'disc' that represented the World, as Kisuke described it, shifted too much in one direction it would cause chaos for everyone.

"Yes, we should be fine for the foreseeable future. As long as the balance remains stable we'll be fine." Kisuke said, though he was pleased that Baiken, at the very least, understood the lessons he, Tessai, and Yoruichi had imparted onto them, even though he knew Pinkie was likely in the same boat despite how she presented herself, but he still had to wonder why such a figure would show itself to someone like Pinkie.

Other than that Baiken found that there was nothing important going on so she and Pinkie spent the afternoon resting up, since there was no telling what the future might have in store for them and Karakura Town, especially since Rukia was stuck in the World of the Living. From what she could tell the insufficient Shinigami was tending to her body while adapting to her new life in the city, while at the same time Ichigo seemed to make sure that there were no more Hollows to worry about, for the time being, as Chad went home after his wounds were mended. It was still interesting to think about Chad, that he, like Orihime, seemed to now be attuned somewhat to the Spiritual World, though Chad was unable to actually see Hollows and souls despite being able to touch and even hit them with either his fists or mundane objects. Baiken was sure that Orihime was pretending to ignore what she could see, she didn't want to be dragged into the fights that Ichigo was involved in, but it was still interesting to think about the girl, her friend, and everything else that happened so far.

A week ended up passing before anything important happened, so during the time off between the attacks Baiken trained in the underground area with Pinkie and Yoruichi, leaving Tessai and Kisuke to come around now and then to make sure their lessons were progressing smoothly, and that changed when Rukia came by early one morning.

"If it isn't Miss Kuchiki... good timing, we just received some new products from the Soul Society." Kisuke said, which was the truth, he might not be welcome in the Soul Society anymore, but that didn't stop them from sending him things to sell to all of the Shinigami that were assigned to this city, meaning there were likely other stores around the world that happened to do the same thing, "So, what can we do for you today?"

Rukia put in a purchase for a number of items, such as a spare fuel container for her gigai, a bunch of soumafixers, which appeared to be fibers designed to strengthen the bond between the Shinigami's soul and the faux body, something that was followed by Kisuke asking if she wanted a tune up, he was willing to offer a discount for her. In the end she turned him down, she didn't want him to touch her body, even though it was the fake one that Kisuke was talking about since he could eject her soul with his cane, but he accepted her decision and kept the offer on the table. When it came to how she was going to pay for all of this, no doubt using funds provided from her job and therefore on something that all Shinigami carried when they came to the World of the Living, she denied that aspect and held out her phone. Baiken and Pinkie glanced at each other for a moment before shaking their heads, this was a first for them, where Kisuke informed them that Hollows were also assigned bounties and the longer one existed the greater their soul was worth, meaning Grand Fisher had to be worth a pretty penny to the one who claimed his soul.

While they stood there Baiken and Pinkie found that Rukia paced a little, where it was easy to see that her movements were stiffer than before and it made them realize why she and Kisuke had talked about the faux body like that, before she glanced at the pair for a moment.

"I would prefer to use bounty money... some of the Hollows we took out recently have to be worth something." Rukia said, letting Kisuke scroll through the phone and the list of targets that had been assigned to her, the jobs she had completed and how much each Hollow was worth, even though the girls could tell that Rukia seemed to have her own reasons for using this system for her goods as she glanced at Kisuke, "Also, has my order arrived?"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but most of these guys aren't worth anything... Shrieker, however, is worth something, more than enough for your goods." Kisuke replied, tapping in the code in the phone that allowed the money to be transferred to Rukia's phone, then used a second code and his own card, baring the symbol of his shop on it, that reduced the amount that was on the screen, indicating that the payment had been made, while he nodded to Ururu for a moment.

Baiken found that the girl eventually returned with what appeared to be a pez dispenser, it looked like it, which Rukia took a moment to look at before accepting her goods from Tessai, allowing her to leave the shop and head down one of the alleys before using some of the spirit fibers to strengthen the bond between her soul and her gigai. Such a thing refreshed her and made her movements far better than what they had seen previously, allowing Rukia to head back to Ichigo's and slip in her stuff so she didn't lose any of it, but she took the pez dispenser with her for some reason. That was followed by them going to the school once more, where they found Ichigo and Chad's small group of friends talking to the parakeet, which was now just a normal bird since Ichigo had sent the boy's soul to the Soul Society, cutting down on the bird's vocabulary. When Rukia found them she was definitely in a much better mood, and when she asked to see Ichigo he simply glanced at Baiken and Pinkie for a moment before deciding that this was likely more Shinigami training and followed her outside.

Once they were alone, and the girls confirmed that fact, Rukia withdrew the pez dispenser and tossed it towards Ichigo, to which he caught it as Pinkie noticed that the item had what appeared to be a duck's head on the top of it, and it wasn't long before all three of them were glancing at Rukia.

"That is a Gikongan, an 'artificial soul pill' that we Shinigami ingest to separate our souls from our gigai, which have their own set personality so they'll move our gigais to someplace safe." Rukia explained, where she noticed that Ichigo was looking at the dispenser while the strange girls were raising their eyebrows at her, something that caused the lackluster Shinigami to let out a sigh for a moment as she realized she would have to explain this to them, "Look, I didn't design the thing, because I wanted Chappy the Bunny, which is the most popular on right now... also, it says 'soul candy' on the side of the container because the Shinigami Women's Association didn't like the name, so it was changed three years ago. I put an order in for this once I came to the World of the Living, but the battle with Shrieker, where I would have had to hold him off if it wasn't for our friends, reminded me that you needed this in case I was ever away and you had to fight Hollows."

"Speaking of which, it looks like there are a few coming out to play. Perfect timing, I was getting bored." Baiken said, though in the next instant Ichigo pressed down on the duck's head and a round pill popped out of it's mouth, going into Ichigo's for a moment before he was separated from his physical body, like Rukia had hit him with her special red glove.

As it turned out the soul that was inside the pill was designed to be unassuming, the perfect student and role model, but the group headed off before Ichigo had a chance to complain, where Baiken found one Hollow heading off to the west, one to the east, and another seemed stationary, causing her to smile.

"Good, I wanted to try something." Baiken remarked, focusing on the frog-like Hollow that was on their left, leaving the right for Pinkie and the middle for Ichigo, where Rukia noticed that there was a crackle in the air around her, something that also caused her opponent to stop as it realized that someone was coming at it, "Hado Number 33: Sokatsui."

In the next instant a torrent of blue flames burst out from the palm of her hand and raced through the air, something that came as a surprise to Rukia as she watched it happen, as Baiken's Hado had more power in it than what she thought about using against Shrieker previously. This tore through the right side of the frog Hollow's body before it even had a chance to move out of the way, blowing away a chunk of it's body in the process, and while it was distracted Baiken crossed the gap in an instant before slicing through it's mask, purifying it in no time. Pinkie found that her opponent was a flying type, due to the fact that it had wings and was flying around the place, but she wasted no time in catching a ride on it's back, allowing her to watch as Ichigo dodged an incoming attack from his humanoid foe and cut through it's mask instantly. With that in mind she huffed before summoning her weapon, just as the bird Hollow realized that she had been on top of it, and when it tried to attack her she she flipped forward and sliced through it's mask as she somersaulted forward.

With the trio of Hollows dealt with Ichigo turned and headed back to his school, though Baiken didn't think it was even worth the effort to follow him, she was more interested in the fact that she had performed the Hado spell correctly and produced it's power in an actual battle, making her eager to use the other spells in the future.

"Looks like we've got some trouble, Baiken, as that soul is running around with Ichigo's body." Pinkie commented, because it was far too easy for her to see the soul run down the street with a look of pure joy on his face, meaning he was enjoying having a body and didn't care that he might cause chaos for the one who actually owned the body, which was no doubt going to annoy Ichigo as soon as he discovered what was going on.

Baiken opened her mouth to say something before she felt the presence of another Hollow in the city, four in one day was definitely strange but she wasn't about to argue, and it was easy for them to see that this one was going after some kids in the courtyard of a school. The soul inside Ichigo's body managed to get the three kids out of the way, apparently he had the power to sense where Hollows were, but he also got his left shoulder sliced up by one of the centipede Hollow's claws, only to flee to the roof of the school as the beast followed. Apparently Ichigo arrived at the same time they did, so the three of them, plus the soul inside his body, punished the Hollow and even sliced through it's mask, though the soul rushed over to the area behind it to kick it up into the air before it was purified, all to avoid crushing some ants. Apparently it didn't want to kill anyone, who simply sat down and told them that he was a 'Mod-Soul', created by Soul Society, though shortly after this one was created the order to destroy the Mod-Souls went out and the day after he was birth he was slated for death, leading to the fear of being discovered when he finally escaped.

Baiken found herself feeling sorry for the Mod-Soul, since she knew what it was like to be trapped in a prison for a long time, but Kisuke ended up putting a stop to everything with his cane, ejecting the pill from Ichigo's body, though Rukia snatched it and told him that he wasn't obligated to do anything with the soul in question, she was keeping it.

"That puts an end to that... for the time being, anyway." Baiken remarked, watching Ichigo and Rukia head back to the school so they could finish their day, while Kisuke simply watched them as he wondered what they were going to do with the Mod-Soul that was slumbering inside the pill, before she glanced at Kisuke, "So, what are 'Mod-Souls'?"

"Soul Society, at one point in the past, had an operation that would allow them to use human bodies that had lost their souls as soldiers, with souls modified for battle placed inside them." Kisuke replied, even though he knew Rukia would have filled Ichigo in on what was going on and the information he needed to know, but at the same time he was impressed by what he felt from the young man, his power was growing at a steady pace, especially with the girls training him, "In the end the Soul Society came to their senses, realized that using empowered human corpses to fight Hollows was a terrible idea, and just cancelled the project, leading to the destruction of most of the pills... it makes me wonder how many more Mod-Souls are out there, just waiting to be discovered."

"Well, Kon seems nice, so we shouldn't have to worry about him." Pinkie said, a smile on her face as she spotted Ichigo and Rukia picking up a small lion stuffed animal while they were on their way to the school, which the pill could use as a body, much to it's surprise, though at the same time Baiken wasn't even remotely surprised that she knew something that neither of them had been told.

Kisuke, on the other hand, simply said nothing to that as he and the girls heads back to the shop for the day, as he needed to tell Tessai and the others about this so they could return to being normal shop employees, even though it did make him wonder what the girls might discover next in the coming days.

Substitute: Important Day Off

Kisuke aided Baiken and Pinkie in tracking down the people that saw Kon, as even Ichigo and Rukia were calling the Mod-Soul by that name, where he would tamper with whatever electronics had caught or recorded his actions in Ichigo's body and used his device to alter the memories of the humans involved with this event. It took some time and effort to make sure everyone had been hit, and everything had been altered, but after some time they were able to preserve the reputation that Ichigo was known for, while he and Rukia seemed to lecture Kon on how to behave while in his body. Of course that did let the girls confirm that the pair had used the lion plush as the Mod-Soul's body, but despite the fact that he was told to act like a stuffed animal, to avoid bringing attention to himself, he didn't listen in the slightest. What that meant was that Kon liked to angle himself so he could make an attempt to see under Rukia's skirt so he could see her panties, resulting in her simply beating his body a little until Ichigo restrained her for a short time.

Baiken also found that the morning following Kon coming into their lives, and them getting used to his existence, he tried to jump onto her chest like the pervert he was, causing her to punch him into the ground, before she joined Pinkie on the roof they normally stood on while Ichigo was getting ready for school.

"Something's eating at Ichigo... but I'm not sure what that something might be." Pinkie commented, where Baiken found that she agreed with Pinkie, it sure looked like there was something eating at him and he was keeping it hidden from them, even Rukia knew something was up with him, which made her interested in what might be bothering him.

As it turned out they followed him to his school once more and found that the students were weirded out by his smile, like he was putting on a brave front for everyone else, and Orihime definitely noticed that he was tense, something that caused the other girl, Tatsuki, to tell the girl that she was good for figuring it out so fast. Apparently Ichigo would be taking the next day off, the seventeenth of June to be exact, and Tatsuki was telling everyone that if they had some business with Ichigo it was best that they did it today, since he'd be gone all day tomorrow. As it turned out there were other students in the rest of his classes who learned the same thing, remembering that something big was happening tomorrow, so they made sure that their business with Ichigo, be it homework or even club related activities, were done so he wouldn't be bothered during the big day. At the same time they found that Tatsuki, Orihime, and the others that were in the know did their best to ensure he wasn't weighed down by anything so he could spend tomorrow doing whatever it was that he and his family would be doing, since the girls suspected it was family related.

Baiken eventually figured it out, in fact it was so blatantly obvious when she thought about it, Ichigo's mother was gone, no doubt dead since they knew that experiencing death could trigger one's ability to see into the Spiritual World, and this meant that the family would be visiting her grave.

Sure enough Isshin informed his children of what they would be doing, they were preparing lunch and items for tomorrow, no doubt to amuse themselves after they finally spent some time with the grave of their missing family member, and yet it put a bit of a smile on Ichigo's face. His sisters, for the most part, ended up sleeping together in the same bed that night, no doubt to contain their sadness by embracing a family member, stopping their tears in their tracks, and yet, while the rest of the family went to bed early, Ichigo took a short bath. It was pretty obvious that each of them were copping with what was going to happen tomorrow, to the best of their abilities, and yet it was still bothering each member of the family to different degrees, based on what Baiken and Pinkie could see right now. Rukia did the smart thing and made sure to keep herself out of sight during the meeting, in fact she was sitting in the closet like normal when Ichigo finally returned to his room, where he locked the door behind him so no one might walk in and see Rukia sleeping in his closet.

"Rukia, I won't be working as a Shinigami tomorrow... and before you complain, let me remind you that you have Baiken and Pinkie to stand in for you." Ichigo said, as he knew that Rukia was expecting him to do ALL of her Shinigami duties, instead of the three of them spreading the load among him, Baiken, and Pinkie, but right now he was taking advantage of that fact and was banking on the girls helping out in this specific situation, "In case it wasn't clear, tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that my mother died... or was murdered... and the family will be going to visit her grave for the day. Just pass whatever work you get onto the girls, they'll be able to do your orders in no time at all."

"Sounds reasonable to me, honestly." Baiken commented, because this was a ritual that was important to the family and it made sense that they shouldn't interrupt it too much, so she was more than willing to do everything in her power to make sure the family weren't bothered on the special day of the year, since it would just annoy Ichigo even more.

Rukia looked like she wanted to argue, but in the end she compromised with Ichigo, she would go to the cemetery that was where Ichigo's mother was buried, though she would hang in the shadows, watch over the family, and toss Ichigo Kon's pill if he ended up being attacked, leaving the other Hollows to Baiken and Pinkie. To their surprise he was fine with that, since it meant he would be protecting his family in case something happened, he wouldn't have to rely on anyone else, while leaving the rest of the danger to those that were able to deal with it in no time. With that in mind Baiken and Pinkie let the pair go to sleep for the night and watched over the city, taking turns sleeping so they could make sure there were no Hollows lurking in the shadows, but, for the most part, it looked like even the lost souls weren't interested in hunting. Such a thing meant that all of them were able to get some decent sleep, which Ichigo and his family needed since tomorrow was going to be a big day for everyone, and, as they expected, Rukia collected Kon when morning arrived, got dressed, and was gone before Ichigo even woke up.

The girls glanced around the area for a time and found that it wasn't long before the Kurosaki family departed from their home, where they walked through the city, passed some of the streets that Ichigo had talked to a few spirits in, and made their way towards the cemetery that Ichigo's mother, Masaki, was buried in.

"There's Rukia, lurking in the forest." Baiken quietly commented, watching the family head up the hill while Rukia watched from the trees, staying far away so she didn't draw attention to herself while also being near in case the family was attacked, and she was dressed for the nice weather, even though Ichigo seemed to think it was hot out.

"You know, I'm starting to think that a Hollow might have been involved... Ichigo said he's been able to see souls for as long as he can remember, right?" Pinkie asked, though she was resting in the usual spot on Baiken's shoulder, giving her a chance to see everything while they talked, while Baiken could see that she had been thinking about this since they figured out that Masaki was the missing link, and it wasn't long before the taller lady nodded her head, "Well, I think he meant it... I don't think he gained that power when his mother died, I think, due to his excessive Reiryoku, he's always had this power, since the day he was born. If that's true, than that means there's a good chance a Hollow did attack him and his mother got in the way, saving him while losing her life in the process."

"Best not tell Ichigo that... he already looks like he's traumatized by this event." Baiken replied, as she realized that Pinkie was making sense, something that seemed to be odd when she considered what she knew about the girl, hence why she decided to say nothing about this to Ichigo.

Pinkie said nothing to that as they watched the family have whatever fun they wanted to have, even stopping at the grave for a time to pay their respects to Masaki, but even she had to admit that there wasn't much for her or Baiken to do, there were no Hollows hanging around. As she thought about that, however, Pinkie felt something in the air and glanced down at the graveyard, where she pointed out what appeared to be a phantom of a little girl that was standing near the edge of a cliff, or edge of a hill, and Baiken zeroed in on it. Both of them realized what they were looking at, there was a Hollow in the World of the Living, hanging out in the cemetery for some reason, and before they could react Karin, who happened to be the closest to the figure, was the Hollow's main target. Such a thing was followed by Ichigo and Rukia grouping up, especially since Yuzu was also near the figure as well despite the fact that she couldn't see it, and yet, despite that fact, Ichigo took one look at the scene in front of him, and noticed the little girl attached to the shadowy Hollow before acting.

Baiken's eyes widened as a grin appeared on her face, as Ichigo's rage at seeing his sisters treated like this caused him to really focus on the lessons she had been forcing on him since he took Rukia's power, in fact he sliced through the creature's leg and tongue to save both of his sisters, before she noticed the giant hamster form that the Hollow possessed, with bird-like hands and feet and a lure like an anglerfish.

"Oh no way... Grand Fisher, one of the most notorious Hollows of Karakura Town." Baiken remarked, where she and Pinkie landed by Ichigo, allowing them to move his sisters to safe place since it looked like both of them were knocked out from the ordeal, though her grin was more due to the fact that she could now feel the Hollow's Reiryoku, "Kisuke told us about him: he's been on the run for fifty-four long years, hunting souls with high Reiryoku so he can increase his power, and I'm sure the Soul Society has an extensive list on everyone he's devoured over the years... you know, I didn't want to say it, but he likely targeted you all those years ago, Ichigo, and your mother saved you from him. Remember our training, do not let any of your emotions rule your mind... focus and use them like a true warrior."

Sure enough the air shook for a moment as Ichigo's Reiatsu surged outwards, he was angry with Grand Fisher, both because of how many souls he had devoured and, more importantly, the fact that this Hollow had killed his mother, meaning he now knew who to direct his anger towards. Baiken noticed something important, it looked like a bit of darkness surrounded his eyes for a moment, like a Hollow's, while his Zanpakuto seemed to shimmer for a moment, as she was sure that she saw a curved blade of some sort that was definitely as long as Ichigo was. In the next instant Ichigo rushed forward, swinging his Zanpakuto at Grand Fisher, cutting through some of the Hollow's hair as it leapt into the air, prompting him to follow, but as that happened both Baiken and Pinkie stopped Rukia from helping out, as they were interested in this fight. With that fact in mind she and Kon gathered the girls and took them down to an area below them where they would be able to rest for a time and be safe from Grand Fisher, therefore allowing Ichigo to focus his efforts on slaying this particular Hollow.

The girls found that such a thing meant pushing him through the cemetery, where Grand Fisher attacked Ichigo and he just dodged the tongue and hair hands that were sent at him, slashing through them like they were nothing, something that did seem to annoy the Hollow since he wasn't able to deal any damage to him. Ichigo didn't have to do anything unusual while he fought this foe, he didn't have to lure Grand Fisher into attacking him so he could get a direct shot on him, rather his own speed and power, his true power that was leaking out of him, was more than enough to counter the Hollow's power. In fact when Grand Fisher tried to stab him Ichigo just severed the arm that came at him, most of it anyway, and even cut through the side of his body in the process, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the Hollow's body. Grand Fisher then tried to flee, as in he condensed his form into the lure doll that was attached to him, almost as if he figured that Ichigo would be fooled by it again, but as he leapt into the air Ichigo followed him, as he wasn't about to let this foe get away.

"Let us pay respects, Grand Fisher... out of all those I've fought you were the oldest, the filthiest, and the only one that has angered me this much!" Ichigo shouted, showing them that he was definitely still angry, especially given who this Hollow had taken from his family, but thanks to Baiken's training, when he wasn't on duty slaying Hollows, he had turned his rage and anger into something useful so he could focus on his sole objective, "Now, GO TO HELL!"

In the next moment Ichigo delivered the final blow to Grand Fisher, surprising the Hollow while slashing open his mask, only for them to find that he was right, the Gates appeared from behind the Hollow, where Ichigo watched as Grand Fisher was claimed by Hell, a fate he deserved. Once the deed was done, and they were sure the Hollow was gone, Ichigo returned to Rukia and they headed back to where his family was waiting, even though it also started to rain, though the girls let them go as they stood there, watching as his Reiatus and body returned to normal. Baiken was slightly annoyed that she didn't get a chance to fight Grand Fisher, he had been a Hollow she wanted to clash with after hearing about him from Kisuke, but, at the same time, she wasn't about to argue with the results, especially since this was a massive win for Ichigo and it lifted a burden from his shoulders. She and Pinkie could tell that the clash had left Ichigo with a new appreciation for being a Shinigami, as it seemed like he wanted to continue down this path, something that made them smile as he walked away, because he had grown quite well in the time they knew him.

In the end Baiken sighed as she and Pinkie left to return to Kisuke's shop, as they needed to tell him about what they had seen during the fight, as it would interest him greatly, while at the same time making them even more interested in what the future held for Ichigo and his home.

Substitute: Spirit Medium

Baiken and Pinkie found that there was only one major change to Ichigo after the battle with Grand Fisher, he was serious about being a Shinigami, he spent his spare time training with Baiken so he could master the art of using his blade while also tapping into his various Reiryoku abilities. The schedule was rather simple, as during the morning and early afternoon he was focused on all of his schoolwork, following that depended on whatever he was doing after school, so they either got to work on his training immediately or waited an hour or two before starting. If a Hollow showed up during their afternoon sessions than it was up to Ichigo to show them that he was retaining their training, allowing him to cut down the Hollows so their souls could be sent to Soul Society, as there weren't many that went to Hell. When night arrived Baiken and Pinkie kept an eye on the city, hunting Hollows so he and Rukia could sleep well and prepare for the following day, and after an hour or two they would get some sleep as well, while keeping their senses open in case of a surprise.

The interesting thing was that the days went by without much happening, save for Hollows coming out every now and then to hunt down souls, though Baiken made it a point to track down the souls that haven't been sent to Soul Society before a Hollow came for them, performing the rites to send them on their way.

In addition to that Pinkie noted something odd about Rukia, her Reiryoku was getting weaker as time went on, in fact, when she sensed the Shinigami's power, she found that the girl just wasn't recovering at all, her power was as weak as the day she went into her gigai. Such a thing worried Baiken, because if the Shinigami was losing all of her abilities, which couldn't be Ichigo's fault, it meant she would never leave the city and would be in Ichigo's closet the entire time, until he finally kicked her out to be left alone in his home. The thing that really worried her was that Rukia might actually be trapped in a human body, like her soul would fully merge with her gigai and she would be unable to go back to the Soul Society, and she made sure to bring up her concerns to Kisuke, since he was knowledgeable on the subject. Kisuke told them that it was possible for such a thing to happen, that extended and constant exposure to a gigai, like what Rukia was going through, but it was rare and just assumed that it was taking her far too much time to recover her power, like he assumed she'd be back to normal in the near future.

The other thing the girls discovered was that there was a show on the television every Wednesday at the same time, where it was about this strange man who was a 'spirit medium', as he claimed that he could see and speak with spirits, went to a lot of haunted locations, and 'purified' it.

"Guy's a phony..." Baiken had commented, after viewing one of the episodes of the man's show, where she heard that some called it 'Ghost Rush', or 'Drop In', or even 'Casual Soul Realm Assault Trip', and she found that she didn't care much for Don Kanonji, he didn't seem to know what he was doing and she had suspected he might be accidentally making more Hollows during his travels, "Don't be surprised if he's actually doing something stupid with his minor sight."

Ichigo shared her opinions on the man, he seemed like a phony and he didn't like spiritual mediums, especially since he had the power to actually see into the Spiritual World and could actually speak with souls, and he had these dumb phrases that seemed to catch the interest of everyone else. One of those happened to be 'smells like bad spirits', almost like he knew the location of the souls he was 'interacting with' and labeled them as bad ones without actually seeing them at all, and there was his 'spirits are always with you' line, which people enjoyed as well. In addition to that they found that Don Kanonji had a really weird pose where he crossed his arms in front of his chest, like an x, and then positioned his fingers like he was going to grab something, only the palms were facing his body, plus it had a stupid phrase to go with it. The only thing that such a thing brought about was Ichigo and Karin talking, thus allowing them to realize that she knew about Reiryoku, she even said that Yuzu had weak spiritual power while Karin could see as well as Ichigo, and Isshin was unable to see anything so he was the weakest of them all.

During one episode, in July to be exact, they learned that Don Kanonji would be coming to Karakura Town and would film an episode of his show at the abandoned hospital, though while Yuzu was interested, and Karin didn't care, Ichigo returned to his room that night and found a worthless Shinigami and his teachers standing there.

"Well, given how Yuzu and Dad are interested in the show, we'll most likely be going when Don Kanonji arrives." Ichigo said, all while ignoring Rukia as she did the stupid pose, showing that she was easily influenced by the World of the Living, which did make him wonder if all Shinigami might be like her in this aspect, though he hoped not, before he focused on them for a few moments, "So, in the off chance that there is a spirit inside the hospital, I'm going to take Kon's pill with me and change if the need arises... though I'm surprised the Shinigami haven't arrived to send such a soul along by now."

"If there is one, it is likely an earthbound spirit, something our sensors are usually unable to detect... not until they turn into Hollows and start attacking people." Rukia replied, dropping her arms for a moment as she recounted the information she knew, even though she was pleased to see that Ichigo was so focused on being a Shinigami that he was now starting to carry Kon's pill with him whenever he went out, just in case a Hollow attacked and she was nowhere to be seen, "Basically, they are spirits bound to a specific place... like the hospital, for example... because they usually regret leaving something behind, for whatever reasons, though unlike Pulses they're usually chained in place and are in the middle of turning into Hollows. As long as no one forces their Hollow hole to open you should be fine, since it will be some time before the unfortunate spirit fully transforms... though you could always go in and perform Konso on them, if one's inside the old hospital."

"Right, so go with the family and pretend to care, while focusing on tracking down the unfortunate soul and determining if one is there: if so, purify it... if not, watch show and go home." Ichigo stated, showing them that he was in his element now, he understood the art of being a Shinigami, to a degree, and now had some pride in being able to usher souls to where they were supposed to go when they died, and was planning ahead so he could be flexible, "Baiken, Pinkie, I'm trusting you two to keep an eye out for additional Hollows that might be looking to devour our souls... if Grand Fisher was interested in my soul, and the other Hollows wanted to eat Orihime's soul, and the souls of the others, such a gathering might attract attention."

Baiken nodded her head for a moment, it made sense when she thought about it, and Pinkie simply smiled as she did the same, letting Ichigo know that they would take care of any additional Hollows that happened to show up, which put a faint smile on his face before he got ready for the night.

Eventually the day of the filming arrived, where Baiken found that everyone in Ichigo's school, save for the boy with glasses that definitely had some sort of power of his own, knew about Don Kanonji's arrival and some even taunted Ichigo with the pose since they knew he hated the show, but he totally ignored them. This told Baiken that he was focused on his task, not on the show or what the people around him were doing, and, sure enough, he had Kon's pill with him, in his shirt pocket, as there was no telling what might happen the the show finally started. A lot of people showed up for the show, to see it being filmed, and sure enough the people were moving around, setting things up for their star's arrival, though Ichigo, his friends, and his family had different opinions on things after someone stepped into the boundary of the earthbound spirit. That was because something got too close to where the spirit was chained up, allowing him to appear to those who could see him, like Ichigo and Karin, while those who were less sensitive could only hear the howls of the soul, which were definitely similar to the sounds a feral Hollow made.

Of course that was when they found that the spirit was simply overly annoyed by the fact that he was supposed to inherit this place, because he was a greedy person when he was alive, and the hospital went to his brother, so his 'regret' was being unable to own this place and using it to live a life of luxury.

"I wonder if his greed would send his soul to Hell." Baiken commented, because that had the potential to have harmed a lot of people, especially if someone might have killed him over his greed and caused his soul to be bound here, though at the same time she found that Ichigo decided to get the show on the road, he slipped the pill into his mouth and walked over to her and Pinkie in his Shinigami form, leaving Kon behind, "You eager to get the show on the road?"

"You mean our job? Then yes... we should check the perimeter of this place, to be sure there aren't any Hollows coming, and then I'll send this soul to Soul Society." Ichigo replied, where he found that the ladies nodded, causing him to jump into the air and head off for another portion of the abandoned hospital, though at the same time Baiken and Pinkie left with Pinkie riding on Baiken's shoulder.

As it turned out they found no Hollows near the abandoned hospital, it was quite odd considering the amount of souls that were in front of it that had an arrangement of Reiryoku, though while they were away Don Kanonji parachuted into the area and started doing his phrases and poses, much to the excitement of everyone else. It was following his arrival that the cries of the earthbound spirit intensified, forcing them to return and found that the man was forcing a staff of some kind right into the soul's growing Hollow hole, both confirming that he could see spirits and that he had no idea what he was doing at the moment. Don Kanonji then shattered the spirit like it was nothing, where Ichigo and the ladies found that it started to reform at the top of the abandoned hospital, taking on a frog-like stance before the white mask finally grew over his head, just like all of the other Hollows they had encountered in the past. The interesting thing was that the newly born Hollow's first target was, in fact, Don Kanonji, like he had some resentment for being turned in the first place, yet Ichigo was on the move before anything could happen, swinging at the Hollow's arm and cut it off, as it dodged as it realized he was coming for it.

He found that Don Kanonji rushed into the hospital to chase the Hollow, but instead of doing that Ichigo jumped up to the top of the building and intercepted the Hollow before it could get too far, where Baiken and Pinkie stood back, because right now he didn't need their help and that was proven right not a few moments later as he purified the Hollow.

"He's gotten better at this, he really has." Pinkie remarked, which was funny because at the beginning of their training Ichigo was a total novice and could barely fight a Hollow, winning by getting sneak attacks or being incredibly lucky, but now, after a lot of training, he was able to accurately weaken whatever Hollow he was fighting and purified them swiftly, almost like he was like her and Baiken.

"Indeed he has... and, despite hating Don Kanonji, it looks like they've come to an understanding." Baiken said, looking at the top of the hospital where the man in the costume was standing and proclaiming his victory for his fans, causing the people to cheer in the process, while Ichigo dropped down to where they were standing as Rukia sneakily ejected Kon from his body so he could slip in without anyone noticing.

While that happened Baiken also noticed that the boy in glasses, who didn't like the show and likely only came to see if the man created a Hollow, slipped into the shadows and headed home for the night, but it made her eager to see what he might do and what the future held for them and the city, while hoping to put Don Kanonji behind them so they could focus on the job they were doing.

Substitute: Quincy's Game

Baiken and Pinkie found that not a lot happened that night, simply allowing Ichigo to rest up after his meeting with one of the men he disliked, even though now he seemed to have a newfound opinion on Don Kanonji, even if he still disliked him overall, which the girls were fine with. Of course they knew that leaving him alone was a bad idea, due to the fact that he was turning earthbound spirits into Hollows, but now, at the very least, he was more aware of what he was doing, something that caused Baiken to hope that he would speak with Shinigami before doing his show. That was mostly to make sure that none of the souls he was messing with would be missed, even if it were up to her she'd remove his ability to see spirits and just leave him alone, but this wasn't up to her and she could only roll with the punches. Other than that there didn't seem to be much going on as Ichigo and his family turned in for the night, with Rukia still sleeping in his closet, causing her and Pinkie to remain on a nearby roof.

As they stood there, debating what to do next, Pinkie turned her head for a moment and Baiken felt it, a Hollow was coming out after all, though before they could even move a blue Reishi arrow, as in an arrow made out of Spirit Particles, flew through the air and disappeared in time, along with the Hollow's signature disappearing.

"Looks like Ichigo's classmate finally made a move... I was starting to wonder if he was going to show his powers or simply do nothing with them." Baiken remarked, though at the same time thing made her interested in what they had seen, since this power was definitely new to them and that meant it was worth looking into, but she knew that there was only one person they could ask about this, causing her to glance at Pinkie, "Come on, let's head back to Kisuke's shop... he likely knows about this power and can tell us more about whatever is going on."

Pinkie nodded as she climbed onto Baiken's shoulder, causing them to leap into the air before racing towards Kisuke's shop, where it took them no time at all to reach their destination and found that their friend was relaxing after everything that had happened with Don Kanonji earlier.

"Ah, Baiken, Pinkie, I was wondering when you would return. Did something happen?" Kisuke asked, though Tessai did come out with place some cups of tea on the table, allowing the girls to sit nearby and relax as well, all while Yoruichi curled up on Pinkie's lap, even though they knew that she would be listening to them talk for a time.

"A blue Reishi arrow went and destroyed a Hollow, after Ichigo went to bed... we're sure it's the glasses boy that we've seen in his class. We're just unsure of what his power is." Pinkie replied, something that caused their friends to glance at each other for a moment, meaning they were right to bring this to their attention and that the trio knew exactly who they were talking about, where Baiken seemed to be focused on the information they would be learning from them.

"Sounds like a Quincy... it's been, what, two hundred years since one's been active?" Kisuke inquired, which caused Tessai and Yoruichi to nod their heads for a moment, even though he knew that there had been a few in Karakura Town that had remained in the shadows, at least until one had been slain by the Shinigami, another rarely used his powers, and one that was basically a novice in the arts, "At least, that's when the clan was active... the Qunicy were destroyed twice: the latest was over two hundred years ago, and the first time was almost a thousand years ago, back when they tried to invade the Soul Society."

"Can I ask why?" Baiken asked, as that seemed like a stupid idea, a bunch of people going after the Shinigami that tended to the souls of the World of the Living, and it seemed like they deserved to be wiped out because of such idiocy, while Pinkie was more interested in petting Yoruichi while they talked.

"The Quincy were humans who gained the power to make spiritual weapons, bows and arrows made out of Reishi, though they ended up destroying the souls of the Hollows they killed." Kisuke replied, where Baiken found that he was telling them about the clan before answering her question, even though the girls were surprised by the fact that a Quincy destroyed the human soul that had been turned into a Hollow, before he focused on the pair, "Y... well, their King didn't like the fact that the Shinigami watched over the souls of all humans, and ushered them to their proper afterlives, plus he was basically a warmonger who conquered every enemy he came across. He got it in his head that he could open the way to Soul Society, something he was definitely able to do, but the original Gotei 13... well, they slaughtered the Quincy, and the Captain-Commander burned the Quincy King to a husk. Following that the rest of the Quincy broke into smaller clans, scattered all over the world, but they continued to hunt down the Hollows of the world, so the Soul Society continued to hunt them down and put them to the sword... remember, the Balance between worlds depends on the amount of souls in each one."

"Basically, Quincy destroy a soul and that soul's Reiryoku vanishes entirely... do it to too many souls, however, and the scales will start to tip." Baiken answered, as she remembered the beginning of the lessons that she and Pinkie had been given, so they understood the importance of the Shinigami as a whole, and her statement caused Kisuke to nod his head for a couple of seconds, to show that he was pleased with them remembering his lessons, "Which, in turn, would cause the Soul Society, the one directly connected to the World of the Living, to release more souls to counter the destruction... so they destroyed the Quincy to stop the madness."

"Yes, and a very few of them remain in the world... two, at least. A father and his son." Kisuke finished, confirming what the girls had been thinking once they saw the arrow, it seemed like the son was the one who used the arrow they had seen, all while Kisuke thought about that piece of information for a moment, before he let glanced at them with a serious look on his face, "I know it's impossible, but before their destruction the Quincy believed that their King was still alive and would return at one point... but he's dead, since Yamamoto incinerated him. As for the father and son, they both live in the city, but the father doesn't use his powers at all and the son does... so you likely saw the son hunting a Hollow."

"Yhwach seemed like a stupid king. Glad he got wiped out... could you imagine the destruction he would have caused if he had succeeded?" Pinkie remarked, where Baiken raised her eyebrow for a moment before nodding her head in agreement, as it seemed like it was a good thing that the Quincy had been destroyed, otherwise she was sure that the world could have been wiped out, since the collapse of the Balance would have been bad for everyone, while their Shinigami friends seemed surprised by her remark.

Kisuke said nothing to that as he nodded, where he noticed that the girls decided to get some sleep and headed into their room for the night, though he waited for a time, to be sure that they were asleep or focused on whatever it was that they did in the spare room, before he glanced at the others.

"She knew his name, despite me being unable to say it." Kisuke remarked, as they knew that one of the members of the Zero Division, the greatest among Soul Society since they were the personal guards of the Soul King, had power over names and had stricken the Quincy King's from being spoken, and yet, now that Pinkie had said it, Kisuke found that when he wanted to think about his name he could actually think 'Yhwach', instead of 'Quincy King', "There's no denying it... Pinkie's got to be a piece of the Soul King."

"If that's true the Soul Society would freak out." Yoruichi said, because there were supposedly many pieces of the Soul King, such as his arms and his heart, that apparently went on to be their own individual people, but it was hard to confirm those theories since they had seen no evidence of such a thing, before she glanced in the direction the girls had gone in, "Still, this is strange timing: a Quincy starts attacking Hollows, an hour before we're able to speak the Quincy King's name again... I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be interesting."

Kisuke found himself nodding his agreement, because most Quincy hated Shinigami, and the one that was active in Karakura Town had a very good reason to hate them as a whole, which meant that they might see a collision of sorts tomorrow, which was why he was going to make sure everyone was ready before something terrible happened.

Baiken and Pinkie found that, when morning arrived, Ichigo and Rukia seemed interested in Uryu, their classmate, and the pair told them why, as during the night another Hollow appeared, this one near Ichigo's house, so he went out to slay it since he wasn't going to wait for them to arrive, and Uryu had loosed one of his arrows at it. Baiken then told the pair that Uryu was a Quincy and that his arrows fully destroyed the soul of the Hollows he killed, something he might not be aware of, or might not care about, plus he hated Shinigami, which Rukia confirmed since Uryu told them that last night. While they talked about the matter they found that Uryu was part of a club in school, the handcraft club, where he pulled out a sewing kit to fix a doll that one of the other students brought to him, rather quickly based on what they were seeing, and once he was done he headed out to do the rest of his schoolwork. The rest of their school day proceeded in a normal manner, nothing major happened and both boys were able to go about their day without bothering the other, even though Baiken knew that it was only a matter of time before they met up.

Sure enough Ichigo decided to head into the city, following the path Uryu was taking, no doubt to speak with him about what he had seen the previous night and to see if there was something they could do to mend the bridges between them, or at least let him understand the other student better.

"I know you're there, Kurosaki... though I must admit, you are getting better at dealing with your Reiryoku." Uryu stated, as he came to a stop at one point and glanced back, where he found that Ichigo didn't even bother to hide himself, he knew, from Baiken and Pinkie, that his energy was leaking out of his body and he was doing his best to learn how to contain it, to hide himself from the Hollows that were hunting him, "Though I must say that your sensory skills leave much to be desired, since you only noticed me last night, when I made myself known to you... yet I noticed you the very day you transferred into our school, I noticed the moment when you transformed into a Shinigami, and I noticed when those two Shinigami started hanging out with you, three counting Rukia. However, since you've gone out for your way to follow me, I challenge you to a match."

"Ridiculous. I understand that you hate Shinigami, for the loss of your clan, but I'm not a pure Shinigami... I just a substitute until Rukia gets her powers back." Ichigo replied, which was the truth, as much as he hated to admit it, because once Rukia regained her abilities his own borrowed power would fade away, that was the course he had been told about and had been quick to accept it, while he and Uryu found the girls standing nearby, "The three of us aren't even aligned with Soul Society, so whatever beef you have with them has nothing to do with us... not unless your stupid and believe that all Shinigami are the same, and considering that you're the smartest in our class I'm sure you can see reason."

"No, all Shinigami are the same, no matter who they are... I will prove that the Quincy are superior." Uryu stated, though at the same time he found that the pair of girls, who were definitely stronger than Ichigo, were just watching and wondered if they would jump in soon, since he was expecting them to do something at some point.

"Out of curiosity, you know that you're fully destroying the human soul that's inside a Hollow, right?" Baiken asked, because that was the only thing she was interested in right now, as it didn't seem like Uryu really had much to offer right now, so she figured a simple conversation would be best while she and Pinkie studied him, "A Hollow is a transformed human soul, so your arrows are destroying both the monster they've become and the soul that used to be a person... just thought I'd tell you now, in case you didn't know."

"Better they disappear entirely, instead of being monsters for the rest of their existence." Uryu said, where he reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew a white pill or tablet of some kind, while at the same time Ichigo, who could see that Uryu was serious about his desire for a match, withdrew Kon's pill and separated his soul from his body without wasting time, which was why his body stood with Rukia while he started at his classmate, "This is a special piece of bait that will attract Hollows to Karakura Town for twenty-four hours... whoever kills the most Hollows in that time period wins."

"Now hold on a minute..." Ichigo said, though in the next moment Baiken made her move and snatched the tablet before the student had a chance to break it, confirming that they had been thinking the same thing, while at the same time Pinkie stood next to Uryu and seemed to be staring at his bow, as he had summoned it in anticipation for the match.

"Screw you, you moron. Do you have any idea how much danger you could have put the city in?" Baiken remarked, though in the next instant she looked down at the tablet she had taken and found that it was just a pill, as in a vitamin that some people took, instead of the white tablet that Uryu was now holding between his fingers.

"Remember, I knew Kurosaki was hanging out with you two, and you're both faster than he is... I figured one of you might try such a thing, so I prepared a decoy." Uryu stated, where he shattered the tablet and it dissolved into nothingness, though it's effects were instant as Baiken, Pinkie, and Ichigo sensed the presence of another Hollow, while Rukia's phone went off, and yet it was Uryu's arrow that crushed it first, where Baiken noticed that it was purified like a Shinigami had slain it, "The first kill is mine, Kurosaki... you had best get ready, for this city is about to become a battleground."

In the next instant a surge of Reiatsu came from Ichigo, showing that he was incredibly annoyed by this discovery, before he reigned in his power as he let out a frustrated sigh and rushed into the air, vanishing as he focused on what was important, saving the city and his family, while Uryu rushed off towards another portion of the city.

"Great, we're going to be in a war zone... just great." Baiken remarked, though she wished this had been a natural event and not something done by a moron, as now Uryu was just a moron in her mind despite the intelligence he was known for in the school, and it wasn't long before Rukia and Kon headed out as well, no doubt focusing on Ichigo's sisters to make sure he could focus on the Hollows, before she glanced at Pinkie, "What did you do?"

"I altered the makeup of his bow a little. Now his arrows will purify the soul, instead of destroy them... nothing major, really, but it's better than the Soul Society being altered to his existence." Pinkie said, though she also knew that the movement of this many Hollows, something Rukia's superiors would no doubt notice no matter what happened, would have serious consequences for all of them, causing her to sigh as she climbed onto Baiken's back, "Come on, let's go have some fun while we think about how to punish Uryu for this."

Baiken nodded as she rushed into the air, as it seemed like there were plenty of Hollows appearing around the city and went off towards one of them, though at the same time it made her wonder what in the world was going to happen next, along with the feeling something bad was coming their way in the very near future.