Chapter 35: Ichigo Story Mode: Start

(A/N: I am going to make good on my statement folks. Ichigo does indeed make his first Soul Chess appearance here. However, first, we must take a look at the time stream as it flows to the day he and Rukia first meet)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Code Geass

3rd Person pov

It has been 15 years since Lamperouge Lelouch first became a captain of the Gotei 13, 20 since Kurosaki Isshin was banished to the world of the living. Although the phantoms had suffered no major loss or casualty, Lelouch was forced to disband them. They had lost, Aizen had won. However, though their team was disbanded, their bonds to each other were not lost.

Lelouch and Nemu, a happy couple for several years, had a falling out and separated. They remained close, but Lelouch did not want to risk Aizen thinking of Nemu as his Achilles' heel. He had to remain self-sufficient and make sure that if his ship sank that no one went with him. Nemu protested several times, Lelouch explained to her that it was because he was just too scared to lose her and wanted to minimize such a risk. Lelouch somehow felt that it couldn't have been coincidence that Aizen chose that specific day to blow up the maggot's nest. Lelouch got the feeling there was a rat of some kind lurking about, relaying information to Aizen.

Lelouch was quite convinced that such a rat could be neither Tosen nor Momo. Momo had become almost another Lelouch, though much less cynical and her surface self was much more friendly and sweet. Such a transformation had only occurred with her under Lelouch's guidance. Tosen was Lelouch's double agent. He followed Aizen's orders unless they conflicted with Lelouch's. However, the fact that Tosen had no idea of the bombing made Lelouch worry. He wondered if perhaps that was Aizen's way of wondering if Tosen was truly loyal to him.

Isshin's martyrdom overshadowed Tosen's absence at the emergency meeting. Tosen made the excuse that he had been out in Rukongai taking care of a personal matter and hadn't heard the alarm. Hisagi, of course, backed up his story.

Although no one had died on that battlefield, the injuries many suffered made Lelouch worry that his secret would be exposed. However, he didn't give his followers enough credit. Each one had their own excuse for explaining their injuries and it wasn't something stupid like they fell down some stairs or had an accident with a sharp object. Lelouch wasn't sure if such excuses would escape Unohana's notice, but thankfully he had Isane in his pocket to draw away the woman's attention.

Everyone recovered, unfortunately this included Aizen, and the Soul Society was back on its feet by the end of the year, even more so once Lelouch became captain. He promoted Rangiku to be his second in command and gave Hitsugaya 3rd seat.

Shisato begrudged the fact that she still couldn't get to a 3rd seat position, as did Keshiba Ryou. The man was tired of being just underneath Jirobo Ikkanza. If it wasn't for the fact that Jirobo's bark was as lethal as his bite, Keshiba would be above the man by now. Their clash when he was Fantomu Orenju had been called off when Ryou retreated. Of course, he didn't walk away from that battle unscathed, not many did. Thankfully no one had the brilliance to say, run a blood sample test for any blood that was dripped. Even if there had been, Lelouch was prepared to use his influence to have Isane and Nemu tamper with the trial and spoil the samples and then cover it up with Geass.

Perhaps the most troubling outcome of the phantoms' loss was what befell the Shibas. Because Isshin was a member of the branch family the main family was held responsible. As head of the house, Kaien was supposed to be held accountable for Isshin's actions. However, Yamamoto and Ukitake intervened and, using their status and Kaien's, prevented Kaien from receiving so much as a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of Kukaku taking the rap in Kaien's place.

The self-sufficient woman was given a prison sentence of 3 years. However, the Soul Society didn't exactly keep their prisons single sex. As a result Kukaku wound up twisting a few arms and breaking a few limbs of a few inmates that wanted a piece of her. Such roughhousing ratcheted her sentence up to 10 years. Of course, at the same time it also sent the message to the other inmates that Kukaku was not to be fucked with. Kukaku didn't serve all 10 of those years though. She was given a visit during her six year by a friendly face.

14 years ago

Kukaku was escorted by one of the officers to a confined room where she would meet her 'visitor'. Being locked up in prison, she wasn't exactly privy to the goings on outside in the light. So when she saw Lelouch walk in wearing a captain's haori she was rather shocked to say the least.

"You have twenty minutes." The warden told Lelouch and slammed the door.

"My, oh my. I didn't think I'd live to see the day." Kukaku grinned. "Lamperouge Lelouch, Captain of the Gotei."

Lelouch smiled glad to see that Kukaku seemed much like her normal self. He knew what prison could do to people. "It's good to see you." He told her.

"So what do I owe this nice surprise visit Kap-i-tan?" Kukaku asked, still grinning.

"I'm here to get you out of here." Lelouch said.

Kukaku blinked, confused. "Say what?"

"Just as Urahara Kisuke spoke with Kurotsuchi Mayuri and ultimately had him released and conscripted into the Gotei, I'm here to grant you a similar offer." Lelouch said.

"I'm listening." Kukaku folded her arms.

"I want you to agree to joining the Gotei as part of the tenth division under my captaincy." Lelouch stated.

"And what makes you think I even want to be a Soul Reaper?" Kukaku asked. "Did it ever occur to you why I never bothered to join?"

"It has. As the younger sister of the famous Shiba Kaien, you've always lived under his shadow. People would treat you differently and you would always be compared to your brother while at the Shino Academy. However, you know that you are your own person. You aren't 'Kaien's little sister' you are 'Shiba Kukaku'. However, I know that you're fairly skilled with your fists and Kaien tells me that you can cast Raikoho flawlessly."

There was a pause before Kukaku spoke. "I hate it when you're always so knowledgeable in everything. It's irritating. Also, Kaien says a lot of things, but this time he's right. I can actually cast Raikoho without a problem, though I still need the incantation."

"Then combined with you Hakuda skills I can get you to bypass the Shino Academy entirely so long as you take a few private lessons using your family's tutors. I can have you out of here immediately and in my forces by the end of the year." Lelouch said.

"And just why do you care so much?" Kukaku asked.

Lelouch looked at her seriously. "You've been a good friend to me all these years. Yeah, you're tough enough to handle prison with the kind of attitude you bring to the table, but I'm not about to resign you to your fate when I can do something about it."

Kukaku said there was definitely more to what Lelouch was saying than he was letting on, but the security camera prevented such. Still she knew what he meant. His words, combined with his tone and expression, spelled out the statement: 'It's my fault you're in here. I'm getting you out.'

"Well no matter what I do, I still get out of here in another four years. Let me weigh the options." Kukaku held up her hands like a scale tipping each one as she spoke the corresponding option. "Wait four years, become a Soul Reaper. Soul Reaper. Four Years. Soul Reaper? Four Years?" Kukaku shrugged. "Eh, why not? If I join I don't have to get Kaien a ladder to get off my back. He'll just do it himself. I don't have to constantly call you taicho though do I?"

"I'd prefer some level of respect thank you." Lelouch said with a friendly smirk.

Kukaku chuckled. "Whatever." She extended her arm to Lelouch. "You got yourself an officer Lelouch."

Lelouch shook her hand. "You got yourself a release from prison."

Present Day

In the 14 years Kukaku spent training as a Soul Reaper she became quite good at it. Currently she was an 8th seat in Lelouch's squad. With both Kaien and Kukaku as Soul Reapers, it put a lot of pressure on Ganju not to be a disappointment to the family. Unfortunately Ganju had failed the entrance exam a total of 5 times. Kukaku kept saying he should just stop trying and that some people aren't meant to be Soul Reapers, but that didn't stop the youngest Shiba from training so he could try again.

While the Shibas were doing rather well, the same could not be said for the Shihoins. After nearly a century of having their name soiled with Yoruichi being declared a traitor, and that their successor was unable to become a prominent enough figure in the Gotei the clan collapsed. The Onmitsukido, after a strenuous courtroom struggle, were eventually instated as a purely Gotei affiliated corporation, entrusted to the senior officers of the 2nd Division. Said senior officers were currently: Lusca Stefan, the captain. Otamachi Kendra, the vice-captain. Samakura Yosei, head of the detention unit. Bermuta Yolanda, leader of the STRU and Libra Naomi, head of the Reversal Counter Force.

Of course while the Shihoin's had it bad, things weren't exactly peaches and cream at the Kuchiki manor.

Once again, Rukia and her sister were at odds.

"All right, I get it!" Rukia shouted as she reached the intersection in the hallway.

"Do you, do you really, Rukia?" Hisana asked. "Or are you just saying that so that I'll leave you alone until next time. I don't understand why you constantly have to act so difficult. Help me understand what the problem is Rukia."

"My problem is that I never asked for this life. You just sort of dragged me into it. No matter how much we do together everything always has you running back to nii-sama. Whenever he and I have an argument you always take his side!" Rukia shouted.

"That's not true," Hisana tried to defend, "I…"

"You love me, I know. You've told me, but you love nii-sama more. That's just how it's always been. Yes, you've protected me, yes you've helped me, but sometimes I just wish that you'd divorce nii-sama and you and I could just be happy, just the two of us." Rukia was close to tearing up.

"Rukia, you mustn't say things like that." Hisana said calmly. She reached out towards Rukia, but her sister swatted her arm away.

"Don't! Don't touch me!" Rukia shouted. "I'm sick of this. You always try to make things up to me by being kind and doing all this sisterly bonding stuff, but every time you choose nii-sama over me I just want to throw up. You two were happy and then I'm just making it difficult for you. You nearly worried yourself to death looking for me. Maybe it'd just be better if I disappeared and you never saw me again!"

"No," Hisana was very hurt that Rukia was saying such things, "I lost you once, I couldn't bear to lose you again."

"Maybe you should've thought about that before you abandoned me." Rukia said as coldly as she said and ran off.

"Ah, Rukia." Hisana reached out for her sister, but just watched her go and sighed. Little did she know that her passive action would later be the catalyst to which would cause the chaos to occur over the next half a year. If she had gone and stopped Rukia and made up with her perhaps Rukia wouldn't have been so angry and have such a desire to just be normal that what would later occur would not have occurred and the tension that was building between Lelouch and Aizen would've continued to build behind the scenes. But Hisana did not, and Rukia did and the events did occur. Had they not…well the future would not have been all that interesting.

Rukia arrived in 13th Division about an hour later and knocked on Kaien's office door. The raven haired lieutenant came out and saw Rukia and smiled. "Well if it isn't my favorite 6th seat. You all set Rukia?" Kaien asked her.

"Of course." Rukia responded. Somehow Kaien always made things better.

"Okay, follow me." Kaien said and led Rukia to the Senkaimon. "Remember, if you overstay your welcome I'm going to have to come after you." Kaien said it as a joke. "But seriously, one month and that's it. You know what happens to Soul Reapers who stay longer than they're supposed to."

"I know." Rukia responded with a smile.

"Well, good luck then Rukia. See you in a month." Kaien said and opened the Senkaimon. Rukia stepped through it and emerged into the night sky of Karakura Town and planted her feet firmly on a telephone poll. She stood silently and then picked up a sensation. "I sense strong reiatsu close by." She leapt off the telephone poll and into the night. The blade of fate had fallen.

The next day

Karakura High School

It was a typical day as any typical day could be at Karakura High School, especially for class 1-3. Asano Keigo doodled in his notebook. Inoue Orihime paid careful attention to the lecture. Honsho Chizuru paid careful attention to Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki paid careful attention to Chizuru. Ishida Uryu was going above and beyond the necessity as a student and Yasutora Sado was sitting in the corner of the room trying not to be noticed. Kurosaki Ichigo, however, rather than paying careful attention to his work load had dozed off, facing the window.

His teacher took notice of this and grabbed a piece of chalk and whipped it at his head, bolting Ichigo awake. "Pay attention Kurosaki!" she snapped.

"Right," Ichigo said getting back in his chair, "Sorry Fon-sensei."

Yes indeed, Ichigo's freshman year high school teacher was one Fon Shaolin aka Soifon. The petit former executive militia commander had stayed in Karakura Town with her partner, Shihoin Yoruichi. When the existence of Kurosaki Ichigo came to their attention, Yoruichi requested that Soifon keep an eye on him. She complied in the form of not only becoming the teacher at the martial arts dojo he and Tatsuki attended when they were kids, but also had now become his teacher for his freshman year.

Ichigo kept his consciousness alert for the rest of the day until lunch to which he and Tatsuki broke out into conversation as they headed for the roof to have lunch.

"Sensei really laid into you this morning." The raven haired teen snickered.

Ichigo rubbed his head in frustration. "It's bad enough she runs the dojo you and I trained at, did she have to wind up becoming our high school teacher too? I swear that woman is stalking me."

"Oh lighten up. At least you don't have to deal with her during P.E." Tatsuki told her friend.

"Can't be any worse than when she was our instructor." Ichigo said, following his friend.

"Hmm no, I suppose not, but she's a good person." Tatsuki stated. Ichigo could only nod in agreement. Neither one had forgotten the time they had seen Soifon run down the street, dive bomb onto a man in a trench coat and twist his arm until he gave back a purse he stole from an old woman. Ichigo had never seen anyone run that fast in his life.

As the two friends sat on the roof together and got out their lunches Ichigo felt a chilling sensation only to notice a ghost girl, in a school uniform, looking out over the side of the building. Aw hell, not again. Just ignore it Ichigo, maybe it'll disappear. Ichigo was sick and tired of dealing with ghosts and afterlife spirits. It drove him crazy that he had the ability. Tatsuki once caught Ichigo doing, what she perceived, as yelling at a garbage can.

The girl turned her head and looked at Ichigo and Tatsuki only to float over to the orange haired male. "Excuse me." The girl said.

"What?" Ichigo snapped.

"I didn't say anything." Tatsuki said.

"Not you, her." Ichigo pointed to where the ghost was floating. Tatsuki of course, couldn't see it.

"Ichigo there's nothing there." Tatsuki said.

"Your friend can't see me?" the girl asked.

"And that's surprising why?" Ichigo responded.

"What's surprising?" Tatsuki asked.

"I'm not talking to you, Tatsuki." Ichigo reminded her.

"Ichigo you're a little old to be talking to an imaginary friend." Tatsuki stated.

"Hey, if you had the ability to see ghosts you wouldn't think I'm crazy." Ichigo said.

Tatsuki got up and rubbed her head. "Ugh, now I know why I don't hang around with you all that much. Every time we sit down to lunch together you always ruin it by talking to yourself and saying that some ghost is following you around."

"Oh, c'mon it's not that intolerable is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes it is." Tatsuki said bitingly. She sighed and loaded her bag onto her shoulder and carried her lunch under her arm. "I'm going to go see if Sensei needs any help setting up for today for P.E. I'll see you back in class."

"Tatsuki wait a minute." Ichigo said.

SLAM!

The door to the roof slammed, leaving Ichigo alone on the roof. "So…" he said to the ghost. "What's your story?"

Tatsuki headed down the stairs and went for the teacher's office to speak with her teacher. Soifon had gotten used to using her real name a lot lately. Only Yoruichi and Urahara still called her by her nickname. After hanging around the guy for so many years she realized he wasn't all that bad and, as things had turned out, he wasn't an obstacle for her either so the two had become friends in exile. Yoruichi and Soifon still lived apart from Urahara and Tessai, but paid visits to the shop every once in a while.

Soifon had saved a lot on rent by Yoruichi deciding to spend the majority of her time in cat form so she was just viewed as Soifon's pet and acted like a normal cat around those unaccustomed to the strange and mysterious. As a result, Soifon was the only one ever seen walking the streets between the two. She did the shopping, took care of the income and paid the bills, while Yoruichi took care of the apartment.

Recently the two had moved into a comfortable house for two so Yoruichi was able to 'stretch her legs a little more'. In other words she didn't have to be in cat form 90% of the time. She still enjoyed being in cat form a good percentage of the time. Still, at least now she could watch TV when Soifon wasn't home without someone thinking that someone had broken in.

Currently, Soifon herself was on the phone, talking to her lover. Tatsuki, of course, had no idea who was on the other line.

"I see so one of our own is here. No she hasn't made contact with the subject yet. Why, does Kisuke think she might?" there was a pause. "I see. All right, I'll see you when I get home." Soifon hung up. "Oh, Tatsuki, I didn't hear you come in."

"Ohayou, sensei." Tatsuki said to Soifon. "Do you need any help setting things up for Phys Ed today?"

"I think I'm good, thanks for the offer though Arisawa. What're you doing down here though? I thought you and Kurosaki were going to be on the roof eating lunch today." Soifon and Tatsuki had a very friendly Student/Teacher relationship. Soifon was Tatsuki's childhood idol. Tatsuki had once gotten separated from her parents and became lost in the town in the pouring rain. A strange man pulled over his car and tried to get Tatsuki to get in, but the then pint sized martial artist, kicked the guy in the nuts and ran. He eventually caught up with her and nearly got Tatsuki as he carried her away kicking and screaming, but Soifon had happened to be just around the corner and she saved her student. She bludgeoned the kidnapper, and later to be found out to be a pedophile, and left him so broken and bruised he was still recovering by the time of his court trial. Soifon was legally let off the hook on the grounds of 'defense of a 3rd party.'

Tatsuki looked up to Soifon like the older sister she never had. She had actually watched Soifon compete in a professional martial arts tournament and win. Soifon, former trained assassin that she was, had actually held back, using a mere 15 percent of what she was capable of in order to make things interesting and even then the fights were one-sided.

Therefore, due to their relationship, Soifon knew that Tatsuki had been looking forward to a one on one lunch with Ichigo. Normally Ichigo had lunch with Chad or Keigo and Mizurio. He and Tatsuki hadn't done much together since high school started; of course it had only been a couple of weeks since the start of the trimester. Their lunch together wasn't supposed to be anything special, just a friendly get together between friends. At least that's all Ichigo would see it as.

Recently Tatsuki had become aware of her best friend, Inoue Orihime, growing crush on Ichigo and had taken it upon herself to do some legwork since Orihime was so shy. However, thanks to a butterfly effect due to the interference in the time stream of a certain black haired afterlife spirit captain, Tatsuki was also starting to see her childhood friend in a slight different way. Infatuation? More than friendly affection? Tatsuki couldn't be sure, but she was willing to give up on Ichigo for her best friend if she had to. After all, Ichigo didn't see her that way and Tatsuki figured he probably never would.

"Well, Ichigo had another one of his 'episodes'." Tatsuki said using quotation marks. She had told Soifon once before about Ichigo's annoying habit to talk to things that she couldn't see, including the infamous garbage can incident. Tatsuki found it annoying and absolutely irritating. She never wanted to be around Ichigo when he was like that, it felt awkward for her to watch her childhood friend bicker with something that, as far as Tatsuki was concerned, didn't really exist.

Such incidents had grown in rate considerably towards the end of her and Ichigo's second year of middle school. The two friends drifted apart more and more whenever Ichigo got crazy, irritated, or grumbly over a 'spirit'.

Tatsuki often found herself thinking: why can't I see what he can? If there really is a world invisible to the normal eye, then I want to see it to. I want to see it and become a part of it because then I could understand my friend so much better.

She had said these exact words to Soifon once before and was prepared to repeat them if the situation started calling for it. "Why does it bother you so much?" Soifon asked.

"Because it makes him look weird. He's lucky I'm his friend, but if he's out in public yelling at garbage cans that's not normal." Tatsuki responded. She sighed and shook her head. "No, never mind. Forget I said anything." Tatsuki left the room and headed for the locker room to change into her Phys Ed uniform.

Later that afternoon, Soifon arrived at her house and began talking to Yoruichi about Tatsuki. "And she just looked so sad, Yoruichi-sama. I just wish there was something I could do, something to make her believe." Soifon said as she sat on the couch watching television.

Yoruichi, with a snack chip in her mouth sat next to the petit trained assassin. "Well, if what Kisuke said is true, then a lot of crazy shit is about to go down Soifon. You may just get that chance."

"I hope you're right." Soifon said and changed the channel to a popular anime show that was currently on.

That Evening

The hour was late, the moon was high in the sky and the Kurosaki Clinic received a visitor late that evening. This visitor was Kuchiki Rukia, 6th seat of the 13th Division. Her encounter with Kurosaki Ichigo proved to be detrimental to her mission and soon both found themselves faced with a dire situation in which both would be killed if something was not done. This was all due, in part, to Ichigo trying to take on a hollow with his bare hands because Rukia had said to him that the creature was after his soul.

As Rukia, lay on the ground, injured, she spoke to Ichigo. Neither knew the other's name. "You fool," she said, gritting her teeth. "How could you think you were any match for a hollow? Did you really think that everything would be over if you gave them your soul? One soul doesn't satisfy them for long." She lifted her head up off the ground. "If you don't stop interfering then we're all going to be his food." Rukia crawled over to the nearby lamppost. "I'm…too injured to fight. Do you…want to…save your family?"

"Of course I do." Ichigo responded. "If there's a way, then tell me how."

Rukia picked up her sword and pointed the blade at Ichigo. "It will only be temporary, but you must become a Soul Reaper yourself."

"Wha?" Ichigo was confused.

"You must take my Zanpakuto and run it through to the center of your being so that I may pour my powers into you. I can't guarantee that you will live, but if it doesn't work it won't matter." Rukia said to him.

"Then give me that blade, Soul Reaper." Ichigo said to her.

"My name is Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia." Rukia said to him.

The hollow began charging towards the both of them.

"And my name is Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo introduced. He grabbed Rukia's blade and plunged it into his body.

Now, while Rukia wasn't in a great depression, as she would've been if time had flowed normally, from the bottom of her heart, a wish blossomed: I wish…I could just be normal. It was this wish that sparked the Hogyoku to transfer all of Rukia's power into Ichigo. Of course, Rukia had no idea that such a desire had created such an effect and therefore was confused when Ichigo nearly all of her spirit energy.

Primed for battle Ichigo sliced off the incoming hollow's arm. He lifted his sword and put it behind his back. It was about as long as he was.

Rukia watched Ichigo engage the hollow in battle. Thoughts swirled about her head about Ichigo's capabilities, from the fact that he took nearly all of her spirit energy to the fact that he could break a level 1 kido on his own and how large his Zanpakuto was. Perhaps…I should talk to Lamperouge-taicho about this. Despite what I've done…he'd keep quiet…I'd hope…perhaps I'd best not take the risk.

Of course had Rukia taken a risk all it would've done was delay the inevitable because little did she know that Lelouch would soon find out about Ichigo and the day that the Soul Reapers crossed paths would be the day that the blade of fate clashed with the power of the king.

To be continued…

(A/N: And thus fell the blade of fate. The son of the black phantom met the warrior of white. The King's spiritual son born in the day of winter now lost in time and now watches the world spin. He fights with the four eyed monster to determine the outcome of a place along the trunk of Yggdrasill. The world became destined to turn to chaos and the fates of four pieces of granite would be caught in the eye of the storm. …yeah sorry about all that poetic garbage, feel free to and figure out what it means if you'd like, but I think the important part is the changes we've already started to see thanks to Lelouch's meddling, like Soifon being Ichigo's teacher. Right…so…next time you hear from me, I'll be in Pennsylvania. Expect an update Saturday and Sunday, but for things to slow starting Monday. By folks, here's to my next semester at college).