Bleach: A Grand Adventure

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.