Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Lucifer's Angel ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Kubo Tite. The concept of “Lucifer's Angel” comes from The Rasmus' song of the same title.

• • • • • •

The shinigami exist to guide the souls of the dead into the afterlife, and protect the souls of the living from the lost souls known as Hollows.

But as with all things in this world, there is an adversary who works directly opposite of the shinigami. For the longest time, the shinigami believed their adversary to be the Hollow, but this was slowly being realized to be false…

• • • • • •

Abarai Renji - known to most as the loudmouth red-haired lieutenant of the sixth division - loathed paperwork. And stacks and stacks of it sat on his desk, looming over him, and he could swear they were laughing at him. The stack he was currently attacking seemed to get no smaller, even after hours of hand-cramping work. In fact, he would almost say it got bigger.

So when the meeting was called, Renji wasted no time in throwing down his pen and rushing out of the office just short of flash-stepping the whole way there.

“We are receiving reports of an unknown reiatsu emission in…”

Renji was trying his best to pay attention to the old man - after all, it was the old man who was giving him a few minutes reprieve from the masses of paperwork - but strange reiatsu emissions weren't particularly interesting. The Hollow were constantly changing and morphing - evolving, if you will. Thus their reiatsu emissions weren't always the same. It was common for a Hollow to mutate rapidly, causing blips on their radars like this.

“It has been confirmed that this particular reiatsu does not belong to any Hollow…”

Okay - maybe things would get interesting.

“Our reports indicate that this creature is very powerful and potentially very dangerous…”

That perked Renji's interest real quick - anything powerful and dangerous was usually dealt with by the captains and lieutenants.

“There is some uncertainty in the reading of this reiatsu, but there are some marked similarities between this creature's signature and the signatures of the shinigami…”

Things were getting better and better! An unknown being similar to a shinigami - things were just bound to get exciting.

“For initial scouting purposes, I am requesting for sixth division's Abarai-fukutaichou and third division's Kira-fukutaichou. Any objections?”

“Ah, Yamamoto-sou-taichou, if I may…” a voice spoke up.

“Yes, Urahara-taichou?”

“This is not necessarily an objection, but an addition, rather. If I may be so inclined, I wish to request that I be able to join Kira-fukutaichou and Abarai-fukutaichou in their scouting mission. For scientific purposes, you see.”

“Very well. Twelfth division's Urahara-taichou shall join them as well.”

• • • • • •

“What do you think it is, Abarai-san?” Kira asked as they walked to their meeting point.

“Probably just some weird human mutation or something. Dunno - could be something really cool or scary. What about you?”

“Ah, I have no clue. It's a bit frightening, not knowing what we're looking for.”

“That's why we have these, Kira-san,” Urahara said, waving around a pair of sunglasses. “The details are rather boring, but the main thing is that you'll be able to recognize the unknown reiatsu. Plus they're stylish!” he added with a gleeful grin, handing Kira and Renji a pair each. “There's also a communicator built in. You just hold down this button here and talk and the rest of us will be able to hear you, no matter how softly you speak!”

“Enough with the details - can we get goin' yet?” Renji said, trying his best not to snap at the crazy scientist - Urahara was still a captain, after all.

“Eager, are we?” Urahara laughed. “Very well…”

• • • • • •

It was dark out. They'd been scouting around for a few hours now, checking in every once in a while. They were still under their basic obligations to perform a konso on wandering souls and slay any Hollows they should come across.

So far, Renji hadn't seen anything, and he was getting bored. He stopped atop the roof of what looked like a warehouse and scanned the area. A sudden ripple in his senses put him on edge - and for good reason. A Hollow attacked him with a screeching battle-cry.

Shit!

Renji jumped away just in time and unsheathed his Zanpakutou, only to be attacked from behind by the same Hollow. He flash-stepped away and managed to slay the fast little thing, but the Hollow's claws left deep gashes on his back that were starting to burn.

Fucking little…

He took refuge in a nearby alleyway and pulled in his reiatsu all the way. He was about to call the others for assistance when a slight disturbance caught his attention. He turned scanning carefully through the glasses.

“Those won't help you,” a voice spoke, startling the lieutenant. “Take them off and you'll be able to see me.”

Renji took the voice's advice and moved them to rest on his forehead. Indeed, where the glasses had picked up nothing, a barefooted young man with orange hair sat on the highest crate, one knee pulled up to his chest. He looked maybe eighteen or twenty, and was clothed in black pants and a black long-sleeved button-up shirt. “Who are you?”

The man's eyes fixed on the shinigami for a moment before he disappeared out of Renji's sight, suddenly reappearing behind him, his hand placed on the middle of Renji's wounds. “My thanks for getting rid of that Hollow.”

Before Renji could ask for an explanation, the wounds on his back closed up, healed completely, and then the orange-haired man was gone. Renji searched for him, but there wasn't even a trace of anybody else.

“:Abarai-san, did you find anything?” Urahara's voice came through the radio.

Renji slipped the glasses back down. “No, just a Hollow,” he answered.