Bleach: A Grand Adventure

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.