BLEACH: The Mourning Shinigami

"Ichigo!! Acheron-san!!" Ishida, Chad, Orihime and Yoruichi all quickly ran over to see how they were doing as they called out from afar with no response. Ichigo was lying on the ground next to an unconscious Jidanbō and Mei was lying under a large pile of rubble after she had crashed into too many walls.

"OWW!!! Crap!! Why did that old hag (Mei) have to kick me so hard!? I could've been killed by my own teammate!"

Ichigo sat up irritably after recovering from his earlier confrontation with Gin. He kept grumbling and ranting about Mei kicking him and a crazy white-haired guy blocking them. He looked over to see if Mei was okay as she was staying under the rubble, but who would have thought that she would immediately sit up when Ichigo leaned over to check causing him to bump straight into Mei's rock hard head.

"What?" Mei said with a face that didn't waver in surprise but rather impassive as usual. Her body wasn't injured or had any scratches as she raised her hand to stretch it to check for broken bones, she tilted her head to look at Ichigo with a slightly puzzled expression as he held his face and groaned.

"You could have spoken up while you were alive!? Don't make us worry too much!" Ichigo grumbled and pointed at Mei's face as he was still sulking from the kick to his stomach that Mei had delivered, he could feel his ribs cracking somewhere.

"If I'm dead, how can I speak?" At this moment, Mei's competitive spirit rose as she argued with Ichigo and left him speechless, resentfully trying to swallow the anger that was rising in his throat.

Ichigo clicked his tongue loudly and turned away like a little brother who had just been bullied by his older sister. "Tch!"

"I guessed they all seemed alright...." Orihime was sweating a little and her heart was beating fast due to shivering along with Ishida, they also didn't understand how the other two could calmly argue like cats and dogs without scathing, and yet were sober enough to realize that they were arguing?

"I'm relieved you're not hurt, Ichigo and Acheron." Yoruichi approached them as Acheron couldn't help himself, quietly picking Yoruichi up to hug and cuddle them. While Yoruichi tried to push Mei's face away so she wouldn't rub against them enough to ruffle their fur, Ichigo sat up straight and looked down at the ground with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry about the gate."

"No, don't blame yourself. The gate is closed again, but....with Ichimaru on the other side, we could never have gotten through that way." said Yoruichi. "It's enough that you guys weren't maimed or killed."

The rustling and footsteps coming from behind Ichigo's group made them turn around to look as they didn't expect there to be people living here even though there was no one in sight at first. "People...."

"Who are they? Were they hiding before?" asked Ichigo.

"Strangers danger? Oof! Mmhph?" Having had enough of Mei's ignorance and silly questions, Yoruichi used their two forelimbs to block Mei's mouth. Since Yoruichi's paw pads were quite soft, Mei didn't mind being blocked by a cat like that. It felt quite interesting.

"Of course. Konpaku that have illegally entered the Soul Society without a Soul Reaper escort are called Ryoka." Yoruichi explained to Ichigo's group. All the curious gazes of the people here were focused on them with curiosity, interest, and caution. "They're considered the principle cause of problems in the Soul Society. It's little wonder they're leery of strangers."

"Are they enemies?"

"I'm not sure, so Acheron's "Strangers danger" isn't necessarily wrong in this situation." said Yoruichi as they removed their little cat paws from Mei's mouth. "But, they've shown themselves so perhaps they're friendly."

"Excuse me! Let me through! Please let me through!"

While Yoruichi was still talking, they noticed a boy with brown hair speaking from the back of the crowd. It was a boy with unruly short brown hair and big, innocent eyes that were the same color as his hair. The boy tried to use his small body to squeeze through the crowd until he passed through the crowd with a bright face and raised his hand to greet Chad like an old friend. "Hey! Chad!! How you been!? It's me! Yūichi, the Parakeet!!"

"Yū-Yūichi!?" While Chad was still looking surprised, Mei seemed to be stunned because she no longer understood what was happening and how far it had progressed.

When the sun was slowly setting as the day was about to end as everyone in Ichigo's group finished helping the villagers and made friends with them, even Mei who was always calm and cool headed was being blown away by the kids as they braided her purple hair and taught her different games and expressions.

Although she was feeling a little happier, after being dragged from house to house she was officially lost in this place. Well Yoruichi would definitely chew her head off if she was late so she was still on her way back....

"Huh, where is Acheron san?" Orihime looked around the small house they had borrowed from the villagers to use as their strategy room and she noticed that Mei who had been following Ichigo's group the whole time was gone which made Yoruichi bristle and was about to scold them when a door opened which startled them.

THOOOOOM!

It was none other than Mei who had gotten lost and had returned just in time. She looked like she had just run faster than lightning just to find where everyone was gathered making Yoruichi sigh.

"Fine, you're all here anyway." Yoruichi sat down next to Chad and they asked everyone to sit around in the middle of the room. They looked more serious now so Mei had to swallow to keep her silly and senseless questions down. "Sit. I will now explain out plan of action."

"In other words... Now that the gate's been opened. They're sure to beef-up security on the other side, making entry there impossible." Yoruichi pointed down to a circle that had been drawn in the sand with one corner crossed out and a large X marked on it.

"So a frontal assault on the gate now would be fool-hardy."said Ishida.

"I wouldn't have advised it in the first place! That was these idiots's idea." Yoruichi frowned and their tails seemed to have a sentience of their own as they pointed at Mei, who was leaning against the door and hugging her sword, her other hand still holding a half-bitten peach. "In any case.... It's no longer possible for us to enter through the White Road Gate!"

"What about the other gates?"asked Chad.

"It's a ten-day walk to the next one. We don't have that much time." Yoruichi replied to Chad's question.

"Hmm.... But what choice do we have?" Ishida asked worriedly as he tried to think of any other way to break in.

"Never fear if the gates are blocked to us.... Then we don't use the gates." Yoruichi's calm reply made everyone wonder what that meant. How could they get in without going through the gate?

Yoruichi then turned to the village chief sitting near them and asked him. "Elder... Kūkaku Shiba.... Do you know.... the where-abouts of such a person?"

"Last I recall that person was dwelling in the west fugai district.... As you may know, theat one moves around a lot...."

"Kūkaku... Shiba...." The village chief was shocked when he heard that Yoruichi wanted to find someone named "Kūkaku Shiba", he trembled as he said the person's full name. His eyes flashed with worry and anger. "Are you.... thinking of going over the wall in that thing!?"

"What thing?--" As Ichigo was about to ask, there was the sound of footsteps like a tiger passing by the door where Mei was leaning.

TMTMTMTMPPPPP!!

"What's that!?"

"Acheron-san I think you need to move--" Ichigo looked around in confusion to see if anyone knew what was going on and Ishida was about to go over to call Mei when the front door slammed down on Mei.

SKRSHHH!!

THUUD!!

"WOAH!! ACHERON-SAN/ OLD HAG!!" They screamed as Mei was staying under the door but she still stuck an arm out from under the door and gave a thumbs up to show that she was still alive. Then a man rolled from outside to where Ichigo's group was discussing, making everyone stand up to avoid the man. "A guy!?"

"A human cannonball!!"said Ishida.

"Look out!! It's a wild boar!!!" Ichigo yelled as he noticed a wild boar stomping on the door, where Mei was still lying under. He turned to Ishida and tried to chase the boar away so Ishida could pull Mei off the boar that was pressing down on her. "Ishida, save that old hag first!"

"Aight!"

"Ho, boy.... Bonnie threw me again...." The man who had just rolled uninvited into their meeting place slowly stood up and brushed the dirt and dust off his clothes. He was a tall and well built man with black hair and a turban, he carried a sword at his waist but behind his back. He stood up and salute everyone while making a rather stylish bow. "Hey! How's it hanging, old man!!"

"Ganju! Why, you...." The old village chief was startled and angrily scolded the man named Ganju for not going home. "What are you doing here!? Go home!!"

"Is that how you greet an old friend? Look, you're scaring your guests." said Ganju, his smirk widen as he had a knack for teasing the older man.

"You are scaring them!!"

"What....?" Ganju's eyes widen as he saw Mei brushing the dust off her clothes and Ichigo grumbling continuously. The two of them looked at Ganju, then Mei and Ichigo looked at each other confusedly to see who Ganju was looking at.

"What? What are you looking at?"

"What the.... What's a Soul Reaper doing here!?" Ganju muttered something and took off his goggles to get a better look. He spoke with irritation and disgust as he looked at Ichigo and Mei. He made different expressions as he punctuated his sentences, from patting Ichigo's cheeks to squeezing his chin which made him angry but trying to hold back. Mei stood aside calmly eating peaches and eavesdropping, she decided not to tell Ganju that he was about to get beaten by Ichigo. "Well? Speak up! What're....stinking Soul Reapers doing here?"

POOOW!!

SKRSHHHHH!

THUUD!!!

Ichigo was irritating and without saying much, he threw a powerful punch that sent Ganju flying, spinning and crashing into a wall before falling face down on the ground made Mei unable to hold back and giggle quietly then she cleared her throat to regain her composure, continued to eat the peach deliciously like nothing happened.

"Why you crazy, dendelion-looking freak!!" Ganju sat up and screamed, he held his cheek which was swollen and bruised from Ichigo's punch. "Are you picking a fight with me?!!"

"You picked the fight, Pig-straddler!!!" Ichigo got angry and retorted to what Ganju had said. It looked like a battle was about to break out. "You started in on me for no reason!!! What kind of moron are you!?"

"A... A fight.... What should we do!? W-we should stop them!" Orihime was so nervous that she stuttered, she turned to Chad to ask him for help to come up with a solution but Chad remained silent, turning to Mei she saw her sitting there eating peaches and waiting for what was about to happen making Orihime sigh.

"Oh boy.... I knew it would come to this."sighed the old man.

"You knew!? Who is he, elder!?" Ishida pointed at Ganju's face and spoke loudly, making Ganju himself confused and ask Ishida back.

"What? You don't know who I am? What kind of hilly-billy Soul Reaper are you?" Ganju thought for a bit before he smirked and decided to explain to Ichigo's group. "Heh.... All right, I'll tell you...."

"My name is Ganju!! The self-proclaimed deep red bullet of West Rukongai!! The self-proclaimed-- but universally acknowledged-- Boss of West Rukongai-- Voted number one 14 consecutive years in a row!!!"

"And!!! The self-proclaimed number one Soul Reaper Hater of West Rukongai!!!"

"All self-proclaimed!!!"

Ganju's long introduction only talked about one thing, himself and something else making the entire Ichigo group except Ichigo gasp at his introduction, but Mei still didn't understand (or rather forgot) because he talked too long and too much. Mei tilted her head and pondered but accidentally said it out loud, making everyone freeze and gape at her absent-mindedness. "He's a what what?"

"GRAAAAAR!!!"

After Ganju introduced himself, he suddenly shouted and pushed Ichigo outside, sending him sliding a long distance into the front yard.

WHAAAAAM!!

SKRUSSSHHHWWAAK!!

"Ichigo!!!" Ishida and Orihime shouted, they quickly ran out to stop Ganju but they were blocked by a gang that seemed to be Ganju's accomplices.

"Whoa!! Don't mess with the boss man." said the man with small, slanted eyes

"If you try to help your friend.... You'll have us to deal with!" The thug with a pair of glasses spoke after the other, they continued to block Orihime and Ishida's way to prevent them from coming to rescue Ichigo.

"They must be Ganju's thugs!" Ishida said worriedly.

"Wow.... They... They're all...."

"They're all....riding boars!!" Ishida and Orihime had the same thought when they saw the group of thugs under Ganju all riding wild boars like their leader and dressed in "weird" styles.

"Get out! Now! No Soul Reaper's gonna set foot in West Rukongai while I'm around!!" Ganju pointed at Ichigo who was hit and was lying face down on the ground and groaning in pain. Immediately after, taking advantage of the moment when Ganju was not defending, Ichigo used his martial arts skills to kick Ganju right in the face causing Ganju's thugs to scream.

"BOSS!!"

"Cool it for a second!" Ichigo stood up and rubbed his scratched face. "Hear me out before you jump me... Then if you want a piece of me, i'll give you a nice big slice!"

"Why, you! You punched my beautiful face.... Not once but twice!" said Ganju.

"The second one was a kick, you bandana-wearing jerk!" Ichigo snapped back at Ganju with subtle insult.

"Looks fun... Can I jo-- Ow...." Mei was about to step out to join the fun when Yoruichi jumped on her head and nibbled on her hair.

"You supposed to stop them from joining them, you idiot!!!" Yoruichi scolded Mei because if she joined, this village would definitely not be intact, after scolding Mei, Yoruichi loudly called out to Ichigo. "Cut it out, Ichigo!! Stop wasting energy on this pointless rough housing!!"

"Well, he started it." Ichigo replied without looking at Yoruichi, determined to counter Ganju's attack at all costs. "If you don't like it, talk to him."

"Tsk." Yoruichi frowned and tried to think of a way to stop them when Yoruichi themself was just a cat. "You'd let your pride ruin everything, you silly child!"

"Hmph. If you won't leave voluntarily... Soul Reaper.... You and me.... Are gonna have to do the man-dance!!" Ganju said and quickly drew out the sword he had hanging from his waist.

"Stop, Ganju!! This man is a good Soul Reaper!" The Elder wanted to stop Ganju but he cut him off when Ganju decided to have a fight with Ichigo.

"Shuddup!! You should know better, Elder! Soul Reapers are all the same!" Ganju gave the Elder a determined look. "They're all bad!"

"Ganju...."

"Ready, Soul Reaper!!" Ganju quickly rushed in front of Ichigo.

"No! Ichigo doesn't have his Zanpakutō!" Ishida said as he noticed Ichigo didn't have any weapon to block Ganju's attack then Chad acted silently grabbing Ichigo's Zanpakutō and threw it towards him. Ichigo heard the sound of the sword coming and caught the hilt precisely the cloth wrapped around the sword like a sheath was cut off revealing the large black blade.

"That;s your Zanpakutō?! It's huge! But..."

KLAANG!!

"It's not always... The size that counts!!"

Ganju charged at Ichigo's sword with great force and without hesitation, the sound of swords clashing against each other created an ear-piercing sound. He quickly turned his supporting leg around and stomped on the ground, leaving Ichigo confused as to what Ganju was planning to do.

"SINK!!!"

He smirked as Ichigo was caught off guard and his hand grabbed Ichigo's sword, the ground also suddenly caved in causing Ichigo's blade to sink into the ground almost to the hilt of his hand.

SHUNNK!!

"Wha.... What's going on!?" Ichigo was caught off guard and confused as his blade seemed to be swallowed by the ground, making it impossible for him to pull the sword up.

"The ground's.... Turning to quick-sand!!"

SHOOOM!

THWAAK!!

Not giving Ichigo time to react to the attack, Ganju jumped into the air and kicked Ichigo in the head sending him flying into the trees.

Not giving Ichigo a chance to react to the attack, Ganju jumped into the air and kicked Ichigo in the head, sending him flying into the bushes. Ichigo, with quick reflexes, used his hands to push himself off the ground, stopping himself from flying any further as he began to assess the situation.

"Hey..." Suddenly Ganju appeared in front of Ichigo, intending to kick him away, but Ganju didn't expect that Ichigo would grab his pants and pull his leg aside. Finally, he attacked Ganju's face with a punch that even he couldn't dodge.

"That's hurt huh..." Even Mei had to frown because Ichigo's skillful close combat attacks were truly terrifying.

WHAP!!

"Unh...."

"Like that? Sting a little!? Until Junior high, I could even beat Tatsuki at Karate!" Ichigo smirked and mocked Ganju upon seeing his shocked and angry expression, Ichigo quickly released his grip on Ganju's leg in anticipation of Ganju's next attack.

"You little creep!!" Ganju raised his right hand holding the sword to strike down on Ichigo's head but he didn't expect Ichigo to not dodge but instead use his wrist to block Ganju's wrist. Another consecutive attack as Ichigo twisted his hand to grab Ganju's wrist and performed a Judo to throw him down, at the same time adding a punch to Ganju's face to knock him down completely.

KRAACK!

SKRUUFFF!!

Even though Ganju had taken two of his consecutive attack combos to the point of having a bloody nose and a bruised face, he was still somehow able to stand and retreat to keep a safe distance from Ichigo, which shocked him.

"H-he didn't go down! I hit him with everything I had...." Ichigo was surprised and muttered to himself, he frowned wondering if he had used all his strength or if Ganju was like a battleship taking the blows. He waved his hand to stretch his muscles after the attacks just now. "He's tough..."

"Okay, punk!"

Ganju blew out his nose bleed as if nothing had happened, he still wanted to continue fighting but stopped when he heard a sound like an alarm bell.

"O....Oh no, boss!!" One of the four thugs of Ganju's group spoke up with a panicked expression to call Ganju, except for him, everyone was confused as to what made Ganju, who was like a battle-crazed gorilla, sweat profusely and be so scared....