Disclaimer: Seiryu Himura is mine. Sanada Daisuke is Centurious the Azure, Takahashi is NukeDawg’s. The characters of Bleach are Tite Kubo’s. Not that I wouldn’t want some alone time with Orihime or Nemu.

Soul Blade of the Wolf

By Storm Wolf77415

Late Night Meeting

Sokyoku Hill, ten months before the events of the manga…

A chill wind blew over Sokyoku Hill, but the lone figure which stood there, overlooking the Seireitei paid it no mind. It was a fitting reminder of why he was there. He was dressed in the basic Shihakusho of the Shinigami. The black hakama flapping in the breeze. His Zanpakuto hung idly at his side. A wind sharper than before whipped his short sandy-blonde hair around.

“You’re late…Toshiro,” he spoke to the silver haired young man, wearing a uniform much like his own, the only difference being the white haori with the kanji for “ten”.

“It took me awhile to get away from Rangiku,” Hitsugaya spoke.

“Ah, busy worshipping the Booby Goddess?” was the Shinigami’s teasing reply, knowing how clingy Rangiku Matsumoto was to the newly minted captain of Squad 10, as well as how big her chest was, “Were you followed?”

Toshiro scowled at the mention of his lieutenant’s assets, “Of course not! And I’d be grateful if you didn’t use that ridiculous title for my lieutenant, Seiryu! You should be calling me Captain Hitsugaya!” The silver-haired man snapped. The other Shinigami just smirked.

“Sorry, congrats on your promotion, by the way, you deserve it,” Seiryu replied, “but seriously, Toshiro, I need your help” We’ve been friends since you entered the academy, and you’re really the only person I can trust.”

“Really, and what does that make us?” A mock-hurting voice on the wind said, two more Shinigami arrived, one with brown hair and mischievous, crimson eyes, wearing the standard Shinigami outfit, Dual katana hanging at his side. The other one had short silver hair, and solemn, green eyes, wearing the uniform of Shinigami Special Forces, his shoulders and back left bare, a Wakazashi hanging from his back.

“Nice of you to join us, Sable, Taka,” Seiryu asked. “Sorry bro, I’m a little edgy right now. I’m in trouble.”

Toshiro’s features softened as irritation gave way to concern. “What kind of trouble, Seiryu? It must be very serious if you arranged a secret meeting like this without going to the Head Captain or contacting Central 46? You’ve never been one to break the rules or keep things from higher authorities, unless you fear for never getting promoted.”

Seiryu sighed and started tapping the handle of his Zanpakuto, Arashi No Ookami, a habit he picked up from the one known as Sable, “To be honest, Shiro-kun, promotion has been the farthest from my mind over the last ten months. I fear there’s a conspiracy in Soul Society, one I’ve unknowingly been part of. I haven’t spoken to anyone higher up because I don’t know how high the conspiracy extend goes. I fear for my life, old friend, and I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”

Toshiro Hitsugaya’s eyebrows shot up. “A conspiracy…here? Whatever gave you that idea? And why do you think someone is out to get you?”

Seiryu sat down on a convenient rock, and motioned for Hitsugaya and the other two to do the same, “I’ll start at the beginning. It all began shortly after Momo was promoted to Lieutenant over me thirty years ago. I don’t think I need to remind you of that, do I?”

Toshiro smirked, “No, I recall you threw quite the tantrum because of it,” images of a super-deformed Seiryu crying on the floor of the Squad Five barracks flashing through his mind. Both of the other men snickered as well.

“Hahaha, very funny.” The Wolf Shinigami shot back, “After the…incident, I confronted Captain Aizen. You know how long I had been working toward it, and everyone could see he had been grooming me.”

“So what was his reply?” Toshiro asked. His curiosity over the whole issue now fully piqued.

“Captain Aizen said he had a ‘special assignment’ for me, one that entailed me remaining as Sixth Seat. ‘You’ll have more freedom to move around if you remain at your current rank,’ he said. I guess it made sense, as a Lieutenant, if I had to go to the living world, it would mean having a limiter put on me,” Seiryu sighed, “He also said if I did this, He’d see about getting me a promotion straight to Captain…like the fool I was back then, I took it hook, line, and sinker.”

Toshiro sighed and shook his head, leave it to his friend to be so concerned about rank and promotion to jump into something without asking first. “How long have you been doing this ‘special assignment’? And what exactly did it entail?”

“This has been going on for about thirty years now. Do you recall a few times at the Captain meetings when I’d sit in for Captain Aizen when he was away on business? He said it would be good practice for when I got promoted. At first, I didn’t think much of it, it only happened very infrequently. But the last nine years or so, I’ve noticed a steady increase of me sitting on these meetings. And…It’s left me a little concerned. Also…and probably more questionable, is this…Toshiro, this hard for me to say.”

“Just say it, Seiryu, don’t stumble over it,” Toshiro said irritably.

The one Seiryu called Taka then spoke. “Yeah Sei, don’t dance around the issue. You’ll have to forgive me for being skeptical. You’ve been Aizen’s Golden Boy for the better part of five decades now. I really doubt he’d try to kill you. Do you have some kind of evidence, Seiryu? If you did, I’d be inclined to agree with you.”

“Toshiro, Daisuke…He’s had me capturing Hollows,” Seiryu blurted it out. Those five words had the Captain of Squad Ten, the Third Seats of Squads Two and Eight looking at their oldest friend as if he had grown a second head. Taka knew it had to be bad if Seiryu was calling him by his first name, one that he shared with the wielder of the Dual Zanpakuto.

“Capturing…Hollows? Why in Kami’s name would Aizen want Hollows? That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Hitsugaya was considered a genius and a prodigy by the whole of Soul Society, but for once in his life…he was at a loss to explain this course of events.

“I don’t know, Toshiro. Although I think it has to do with his increasingly frequent trips away from Soul Society. At first it was just one or two a year, but lately, he’s been having me capture them at an accelerated rate. He taught me a spell that would contain them by opening a portal under them and they just dropped into it. I never found out where it went.”

“Okay, now I’m just curious,” Takahashi Daisuke said, “first off, shouldn’t Momo be attending the Captain’s meetings? I know this is a sore spot for you, Seiryu. But she IS the Lieutenant of Squad Five. Momo is the one who should be in that spot.”

“I agree, Taka. All I have is my own suspicions. But I think that whatever happened to those Hollows, wherever they’ve been taken is where Aizen’s been spending his time.”

“But doing what?” the other Daisuke, Kyouraku-Sanada Daisuke spoke.

“Search me, Sable. Medical Experiments…who knows? But I’ve been asking too many questions. And I think my use to Aizen may be at an end.”

Toshiro’s eyebrows knitted together, “How do you figure?”

“Aizen sent me on another Hollow capturing mission, You’re not going to believe the target he gave me...He wants me to capture Grand Fisher." All three men gasped.

"Impossible that seems. A few of us have tried, but to no avail." Daisuke K. spoke.

"Exactly, it's a veritable suicide mission. Aizen expects me to die."

"Then don't do it, Sei. Ask General Yamamoto for a transfer." Toshiro stated, now truly concerned for his oldest friend.

“I’m sorry, Shiro. I’m committed. I’ll go after Grand Fisher, at least…that’ll be what everyone thinks I’ll do. I’ll disappear into the human world, and live the rest of my days there.”

“Sei, just so we get all our bases covered. Do you have any idea if there’s anyone else involved in this little conspiracy? If Aizen is planning something, I can’t imagine he’s acting alone,” Daisuke T. asked. Seiryu nodded.

“Ichimaru for sure, maybe one or two others, but I’m not certain, one of the reasons I was so hesitant to say anything is because there’s no way to be certain how far this conspiracy extended.”

“I suspected Ichimaru. I never trusted him,” Hitsugaya observed, “but it makes sense if Aizen was involved. Ichimaru was his subordinate, and may have known something about what Aizen was up to. But answer one last question for me. How can you trust us? What’s to say we’re not involved in this as well?” The Wolf Shinigami stood up and looked out over Soul Society.

“Easy…I don’t know, but I have to trust someone. If not my best friends, then who?”

“What about Kira and Renji? You three graduated from the Academy, shouldn’t they have been here as well?” Daisuke T. asked. Seiryu sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I have no idea if Aizen has them under surveillance. We all served under Aizen as our first posting. Kira became Ichimaru’s lieutenant, Renji was sent to Squad 11, but there’s no telling if Aizen did something to him. It’s sad really, but I hope I can make it up to them someday,” The first rays of the sun peeked over the eastern sky, “It’ll be morning soon, I’d better get to the human world and find the big baboon.”

“Be safe, Sei, we’ll hold down the fort here,” Toshiro said. “We’ll do what we can to uncover this conspiracy on our end. You just lie low.”

“Thanks, Shiro, please take care of Rangiku, and Momo as well. I’m no longer able to do so. Well, my friends. This is goodbye, but hopefully not permanently. I wish you luck in whatever you do.”

“As do we,” Daisuke T. said.

“Don’t do anything dumb,” Daisuke K. added. Seiryu smirked and chuckled.

“Duly noted.” And with that, the Wolf Shingami shunpoed away, it would be 11 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days until they would see each other again.

In the Human World.

Grand Fisher greedily slurped down the soul of his latest victim, a foolish child with a decent degree of spiritual awareness who had fallen for his lure like so many others. “Heh, not bad. But hardly a full meal, I wouldn’t mind snacking on a Shinigami again, they always put up such a delicious fight before I rip their souls into little shreds! It would be even better if it was a female Shinigami, I love the way they scream!” Having agility that belied his rather bulky body, he leapt out of the way of three kunai that whistled through the air.

“So…your reflexes are as sharp as the stories say,” A figure highlighted by the moon said. Seiryu stepped forward, “Even still, it won’t help you against me. I am Himura Seiryu, Sixth Seat of Squad Five, and I am the bearer of your doom!” Seiryu drew Arashi no Ookami in his left hand, and a handful of kunai in his right and attacked. Grand Fisher stood his ground as the kunai hurtled toward him aimed right on the center of his gruesome white mask. His lure whipped forward and knocked them out of the sky. Seiryu jumped high into the sky with sword raised overhead. Ready to cleave Grand Fisher’s mask straight in half and he was soon bound in the ancient Hollow’s tongue.

“Too slow, little Shinigami,” The bone white face of the Hollow twisted into a hideous mockery of a sadistic smile, “Clearly you’re an amateur who’s way out of his league. I’ve faced Shinigami who were much more inventive when they fight me. That attack of yours was one only the greenest of amateurs would use. I’m going to swallow you in one gulp. Anything more would be a waste of energy for me.”

Seiryu flipped the bird at Grand Fisher as he was pulled into the demonic ghost’s mouth, and was quickly ripped apart on its massive slab like teeth and swallowed in one gulp. The aging Hollow let off a roar of victory, but that roar quickly turned into a gurgle of sickness as his stomach started lurching violently. “What the fuck?” Grand Fisher said, “Uggh, that damn Shinigami didn’t agree with me at all!” He arched his back and promptly threw up all over the forest. Seiryu’s remains strewn all over the place. The Hollow examined his most recent kill closely, and roared in anger, “A GIKON! THAT WAS NO SHINIGAMI! IT WAS JUST A FAKE SOUL IN A GIGAI! I WAS TRICKED!” The Hollow calmed down, “If that was just a fake, then the real one must still be out there! I’d look for him, if my stomach wasn’t still aching so badly.” A rush of fowl smelling wind emanated from his ass, “Euuughhh, it just got worse! I better get back to Hueco Mundo and rest for awhile. He gets to live a little longer.” Space fractured and a hole opened and he vanished into the world of the Hollow.

In the branches of a high tree, the real Seiryu, in a gigai clad in a dark green t-shirt and jeans, struggled hard not to laugh his ass off. “No one’s been able to kill Grand Fisher yet, but I’m the first to give him a serious case of diarrhea! And he’ll be constipated for weeks! He won’t be devouring any innocent children’s souls for awhile.” After having his laugh, he leapt down from the tree and wandered the empty streets of Karakura Town. “I guess I should find a hotel to lodge for the night, and I’ll need a job. Although I don’t have much of a resume, can’t very well put “Reaper of Souls” on my application.” A flicker out of the corner of his eye gave him just enough warning to put himself on guard, as he found himself at the center of a circle of nine thugs.

“Well, what do we have here?” the leader sneered. “You’re new in town, ain’t ya? Well, too bad for you.” He grabbed Seiryu by the shirt, “Hand over your money any other valuable you’ve got, and we’ll let you go…relatively unharmed.” Seiryu just spat in his eye, and kneed him in the groin. Even though he was a Kido specialist, as were all the members of Squad Five, it didn’t mean he wasn’t handy with his Zanpakuto, or even his fists. He, Renji, and Kira had gotten into their fair share of bar brawls in their early days with the Gotei 13. But still, he was outnumbered nine to one, so he was still getting his ass kicked.

Seiryu delivered a hard roundhouse kick to a second thug. Before two more grabbed him, and another started punching him repeatedly in the face and jaw and finished it with a baseball bat to his shin, the pain shooting through his nerves sending him crumbling to the ground clutching his leg. The remaining boys swooped in for the kill, kicking and punching him repeatedly. Seiryu doubled over, coughing up blood.

“You’re going to pay for that!” The leader said, wiping the saliva from his face, “We were going to let you live, but now…you’re finished.” And he drew a knife. But then one of his men let off a girlish scream. And they all turned, even Seiryu to see a shadowing figure leaning against the wall, a figure with brilliant strawberry blonde hair, and a feral smirk on his face. The leader of the small gang looked like he pissed himself, twice, “Y-you! Kurosaki Ichigo!”

“You remember my name, Kanta, but I guess you didn’t remember our last little ‘chat’, step away from the living punching bag right now,” Ichigo cracked his knuckles, and they all did so before he spoke to Seiryu, “Hey, you alright?” Seiryu nodded as he pulled himself to his feet, “Sure you should be doing that? That guy wanged you in the knee with that bat.”

“Yeah, but not before I give these guys their just desserts,” Seiryu said. The whole gang backed up a step, seeing the feral fire in jade green eyes, as he made a show of polishing off his clenched fist. “Although, if you want to jump in, I certainly won’t stop you.”

“Fine, I’ve got nothing else better to do,” Ichigo said, and the nine boys screamed like little girls as the Wolf and the Strawberry swooped in on them like reapers of death and left them in varying degrees of pain before they cornered Kanta, as Sebastian stomped him the groin multiple times. And the two walked away together.

“You’ve got some nice moves, the name’s Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo,” He extended his hand. And the Wolf Shinigami returned the handshake.

“Himura Seiryu, thanks for the assist back there, I owe you big. I don’t suppose you can tell me where the nearest hotel is? I just got in tonight and I need a place to stay.”

“Forget a hotel, man. You can stay at my place, I’m certain my dad and sisters are cool with it, but I should warn you, my old man’s a little…eccentric,” Ichigo replied.

“Meh, with what I do, I think I can take an eccentric father.” Seiryu replied.

That’s how I came to live with the Kurosakis. I thought I would spend the rest of my life, quietly living with the family that made me one of their own…far away from the constant war between Shinigami and Hollow. I could have lived as a regular human and be quite satisfied. I never expected to ever return to that life…but things rarely happen the way you expect them to. Soon I will return to Soul Society, and take up the Blade of the Wolf once more.

Author’s Notes: First Bleach fic. I’m hoping this is a good setup for events to come. The next few chapters are mainly filler, showing Ichigo’s life with the Kurosakis with lots of “GOOD MORNING, ICHIGO!” and even some “GOOD MORNING, SEIRYU!”