Bleach: Heart of a Hero

by Blackdrag-rose

Prelude: First Encounter

For the next five days Sombra followed Kisuke's training to the letter, spending about ten minutes every morning sparring with Ururu in the massive basement that the shop had, in the time before the shop was supposed to open, while at the same time learning all there was to learn about hand to hand combat. Kisuke told him that, when he showed that he was ready, he would start devoting some of his time to showing him how to wield a sword, as in the proper stances and the proper techniques that one needed to know if they were to handle such a weapon. When he had been told that Sombra inquired how a sword would help him, as he was thinking of an ordinary sword that wouldn't do much against the Hollows he had been told about, but Kisuke smiled and said that all would be revealed in time, once he was sure that Sombra was ready for such knowledge. The rest of his days were spent either reading the various books that were around the shop, in the area that he had been reading in after his first training session, spending more time in the basement trying new motions to see if anything jogged his memories, or exploring Karakura Town, so he could have a better understanding of where everything was for when Kisuke sent him on whatever task he wanted completed.

Sometimes, when he was out exploring the town, he caught a glimpse of Yoruichi following him, as it was the only black cat that glared at him and stuck to the shadows, which Kisuke explained as something that the cat liked to do from time to time and that he shouldn't worry about it. From what he could gather Yoruichi was given free reign to do whatever it wanted, but instead of spending all day with it's owner it decided to leave the shop and explore a different part of the town everyday, or at least follow someone of interest. Sombra guessed that he should feel honored by the fact that Yoruichi felt that he was worth shadowing, as Kisuke called it, multiple days in a row, but after the third day he stopped being worried about the cat following him and focused on exploring the unknown town that he had found himself in. One thing he noticed right away was the fact that there were a large number of other spirits around the town, the ghost type that usually remained in the area they had died in or were occasionally floating near the home of a loved one, as they couldn't let go and move on.

When he walked around the town there were times where he simply nodded to the other spirits, who either ignored him or returned his gesture, and moved on with his life, though there were times where he stopped walking and either stood or sat near a spirit, listening to the tale on how they died. Some of them died in a car accident, making him have to add asking Kisuke what a car was, some died in accidents like drowning in the river or falling from a really high place, and then there were the unfortunate few that died on their way to a clinic or hospital, never getting the chance to recover from their accident. Many of those ones were confused on what they should do, while others held anger or resentment in their hearts, but one thing they all had in common was a chain that was connected to their chest, yet another topic for him to ask Kisuke about when he had the time. One thing he never noticed, and wondered if it was because he was walking around the town in the middle of the day, were any Hollows, as he was sure that with this many spirits and souls wandering around the place they would have been attracted to them by now... but, since there weren't any Hollows at the moment, that meant he was allowed to relax a little and take in the sights.

Today, however, he found something else that made him stop and pause for a moment, as he spotted a young adult, male from the look of his body, walking down the other side of the street as he headed away from the high school he went to, based on the uniform he was wearing. Sombra remembered Jinta talking about a boy with orange hair that supposedly had the power to see spirits and interact with them, sort of like Mr. Hirako, a day or two ago, after he and Kisuke had that conversation about the four realms and the beings that inhabited them. As he started to remember what he had been told, however, he noticed that the orange haired boy had stopped walking and was now staring in his direction, with a look that revealed that he had never seen something like him before, though instead of sticking around Sombra continued walking and left the street he had been on. Yoruichi, having followed him out like every other day when he went exploring, followed after him, though at the same time Sombra heard a car honk and knew what was going on, the young boy was investigating what he had seen and was now following after him.

Fortunately there happened to be a good place to hide nearby, in the shadows created by the train cars that weren't moving at the moment and Yoruichi found one that had an open door, allowing them to slip into the darkness and pause as they waited. Sure enough the boy slowed his pace as he walked by the slightly open door, only giving it a passing glance for some reason as he looked around the rest of the area, before moving on as he continued his search for Sombra, who waited for a few moments before Yoruichi moved out of the car. Sombra kept himself still for a few more seconds, giving the cat time to see if the boy had left, before the cat reappeared and made a motion with it's head that appeared to be one that was telling him that it was okay to move. As such Sombra emerged from the shadows, slipped out of the train car, and followed Yoruichi to a high place that let them overlook the area they had fled to, where they could see the boy in question heading back into the part of the town he had spotted Sombra in, no doubt resuming his journey home, or wherever he was going.

"I knew that there were others that could see me," Sombra commented, staring at the orange haired boy as he disappeared into the town, but unlike the boy he didn't feel the need to follow him at all and investigate who he was, as there was no reason to do so, "but I was not expecting one of them to start following me the first chance he got."

"Indeed." Yoruichi said, to which it's eyes focused on the boy as well, who had barely noticed that Sombra had a cat following him at all times, before remembering the name that Jinta had told Sombra earlier, "Ichigo Kurosaki... he's definitely someone that we might want to keep tabs on, just in case he turns out like Jinta or Ururu."

"Maybe." Sombra replied, his mind focused on the boy, Ichigo as Yoruichi said, before his mind found some new information that had been delivered to him, by the very creature that was standing next to him, "Wait a minute... Yoruichi, you can TALK?!"

"Hmm?" Yoruichi answered, with what appeared to be an amused look on it's face, though that was before it smiled and glanced up at him, as if the cat had been playing a game the entire time, "Yes, I can talk, though I prefer to do so around people like Kisuke, Tessai, and those like them, but at the same time Kisuke wanted to give you some time before revealing that I was more than just an ordinary cat. Of course, when we get back to the shop, I'll have to tell Kisuke that you know the truth... though something tells me he'll be more interested in Ichigo Kurosaki for a few days, since we now have confirmation that he's got the ability to see spirits."

"I guess Arrancars are as rare as Kisuke said they were," Sombra said, even though he was positive that Ichigo had no idea what those were in the first place, just like he hadn't known what he was when he first woke up, even though he was still lost on what an Arrancar was supposed to be, "So, since you're going to report all this to Kisuke when we get back to the shop, do you want to follow him for a few minutes, or do you think we should head back now?"

"We had best see where he lives." Yoruichi replied, to which the cat started heading back down into the area that the train car was in, though at the same time Sombra followed after it while making sure not to do anything that would alert Ichigo to their presence, "Knowing Kisuke he'd likely send me to find that out anyway, if I told him we had confirmation on the boy's abilities, so we might as well kill two birds with one stone."

Sombra nodded and followed after Yoruichi as the cat headed back to the street they had been walking on a few moments ago, though this time around they were on a mission and the cat took measures to make sure Ichigo had no idea they were following him. Sombra still felt that it was weird for them to be doing something like this, but since the cat seemed sure that Kisuke would have sent it out again anyway he guessed that it had to be right, so he simply kept his mouth shut and followed the cat down the street. The two of them followed after Ichigo as he made his way to wherever he lived, though once or twice he had to stop and deal with something, where Sombra discovered that it wasn't them being discovered by the young adult, but rather he was stopping to either talk with a spirit that wandered over to him or to correct something that happened to the offering that had been laid at their resting place, before moving on. It took them a while, and there were a few times where Yoruichi had Sombra hide when Ichigo turned back, where the cat acted like an ordinary cat for a few moments, though once he was walking again the two of them carefully followed after him once more... until they came to a stop near a bunch of houses, where one was called the 'Kurosaki Clinic', which was the same one Ichigo went inside.

"I guess his family owns a clinic." Sombra commented, to which he stared at the building in question for a moment, where he noticed that the entrance Ichigo used was on the left side of the building and that it happened to have two stories, meaning that the bedrooms were on the second floor since he was sure the first one was where the clinic was supposed to be.

"At least its an easy building to find." Yoruichi said, where Sombra noticed that the cat was taking in the surrounding area, no doubt to give Kisuke a better report on where to find Ichigo if he went out and explored the city himself, before turning around and started walking in the opposite direction, "Come, we had best be on our way before he realizes that the person he had been looking for earlier had followed him home, then he'd insist on following us until he found you."

Sombra nodded once more, finding that there was some wisdom in the cat's words, and soon he was following Yoruichi to the place they called home, especially since he had no where else to go, though at the same time the cat insisted that they race, as if it was testing his speed or something... and, at the same time, Sombra guessed that he might as well go along with it, since all of this was likely going to be reported to Kisuke anyway.

---

Jinta and Ururu were definitely waiting for the two of them when Sombra and Yoruichi got back, which made sense when Sombra considered that they usually helped customers out to their vehicles or simply swept the area outside the shop until Kisuke or Tessai needed them to do something. The walk home had been as ordinary as it could possibly be, as they saw some spirits on the way back and not much else, as Ichigo was the only interesting person they had seen, though at the same time Sombra wondered how long it was going to take before a Hollow came and attacked the spirits that they had seen, or how long it was going to be before a Shinigami arrived to sent them on their way. He was honestly surprised that neither of those things had happened yet, since from what he had read and what he had been told there was always supposed to be a Shinigami watching over the town, something that Kisuke confirmed when he asked him about it when he first discovered it. When the two of them walked back into the shop, however, they noticed that a few of the items had been purchased in the time since they had left that morning, but paid it no mind as Yoruichi sought out Kisuke.

As it turned out Kisuke was in the same room that Sombra liked to be in when he was reading, though this time around he seemed to be thinking about something, but as the two of them entered the room that thought was shelved as he turned to face the pair.

"Yoruichi! Sombra! You've returned." Kisuke said, where he opened his hands and picked Yoruichi up, to which he proceeded to scratch the cat a few times as he turned his head towards Sombra, "I was wondering what was taking you two so long to return. Did you run into something interesting?"

"More like someone ran into us," Yoruichi replied, to which Kisuke glanced down at the cat for a moment, finding that if it was speaking now, in Sombra's presence, that meant it trusted the Arrancar more than it had when Sombra first arrived outside the shop, "It seems that the rumors are true; Ichigo Kurosaki can definitely see spirits, because the moment he saw Sombra he tried to follow him and see what was going on. We only lost him because he didn't check the train car we decided to hide in, and we found the clinic that his family owns as both their business and their home, so you don't have to ask about that piece of information."

"I should have known that you would have found that out before returning to me." Kisuke stated, though the smile on his face told Sombra that he was happy that Yoruichi had gone and done that, just in case there was something they needed to do with Ichigo and didn't need to spend some time looking for his residence, before he glanced over at Sombra once more, "I see you decided to talk around our friend."

"And I'll show him more later," Yoruichi said, to which the cat pulled itself free from Kisuke's grasp and touched the floor, before turning it's head up towards Sombra for a few seconds, "Tonight you and I are going to explore the city and see if we can't find any Hollows, or maybe spirits in need if no Shinigami show up... and then we'll see how well you remember your training with Ururu."

Sombra nodded his head, because this was something he had been waiting for the moment he started training, but at the same time he noticed that there was a look in Kisuke's eyes, as if he had to prepare something for tonight, because he said nothing as Yoruichi walked away. Once the cat was gone, however, Kisuke stood up and walked out of the room as well, leaving Sombra behind to do whatever he wanted, to which he simply sighed and moved over to the area where he usually sat, before he grabbed the latest book he had been reading and continued from where he left off. Despite reading what history books he could find on Soul Society, and the other realms that the Shinigami knew about, there was still so much about the world he was in that he didn't know, and the books Kisuke had didn't paint the whole picture either, often leaving him with more questions than answers. Kisuke preferred that he finish a book or two more answering whatever questions that he had, just in case he found the answer inside the book he was reading, and so he waited until a book was over before he did that... though he still wondered how Kisuke was able to get his hands on all of this, even if he didn't feel the desire to tell him the reason.

That night, true to what Yoruichi said, Sombra headed for the back entrance of the shop and found Kisuke waiting there with a pack in his hands, though he was curious as to why he was holding onto the pack in the first place and wondered if he was going to find that out now.

"Yoruichi went on ahead," Kisuke said, to which he held out his hand and offered the pack to Sombra, who took it and held onto it, still finding it odd that a spirit like him could hold onto things like a Human could, "she told me that she was heading back to the train yard, where you found that train car you hid in, because she wants you to meet her with what's inside that pack. From there the two of you will begin your search for any Hollows or Shinigami in the town."

"Right." Sombra replied, as he remembered where the train yard was and knew how to get to it, though when Kisuke started shooing him with his fan, indicating it was time for him to get going when he wanted him to get out and explore, Sombra nodded and headed outside.

As he walked outside, and headed away from where the Urahara Shop was located, he glanced at the pack a few times and wondered what a cat could possibly need delivered to it, though when he was a few minutes away from the shop, however, he let his curiosity get the better of him and he opened the pack a little. What he found, however, was some clothing that seemed to fit a female Human or Shinigami, making him wonder why Yoruichi would even need what he was seeing, to which he shook his head, zipped the pack back up, and continued on his way to the train yard. With it being nighttime, and with a good amount of clouds in the sky above him, there weren't a lot of people out and about, but those that he spotted didn't see him as he stayed off the street and continued towards his destination, while also keeping an eye out for Ichigo Kurosaki, just in case he showed up at some point to help someone out. Fortunately it didn't take him too long to reach the area that Yoruichi was supposed to be in, to which he took a few moments and carefully checked the various train cars that were stopped around him for the night.

Sombra explored the train yard for a few minutes, making sure that there wasn't anyone around here that could see him, before finding Yoruichi sitting in the opening of the same train car he had hidden in earlier, when they were hiding from Ichigo, though the cat smiled when it saw him.

"I brought you what Kisuke wanted me to bring you." Sombra said, to which he carefully opened the door of the train car a little and set the pack inside the container, before he glanced at the cat for a few seconds, "So, when will you be ready to get our venture underway?"

"Give me a few minutes," Yoruichi replied, once more flashing him a smile for a moment, as if it found something funny, before it walked deeper into the container and glanced back at him for a second, "Oh, and would you mind closing the door until I'm ready?"

Sombra nodded and closed the door behind Yoruichi, allowing the cat some time alone with the clothing, making him wonder if it had been from a previous owner before Kisuke became the caretaker of the feline, but at the same time he leaned against the side of the train car and waited. There wasn't much for him to do, since he was more interested in seeing if they could find a Hollow or some Shinigami, so he simply stood his ground and waited for Yoruichi to make some noise that indicated that told him it was time to leave the area. Not a few minutes later he felt the door to his right start to move and stopped leaning on the train car, as he was wondering what was going on, since he was the only one that could open the door in question, though as he watched he expected a cat to come out of the container. What he got, however, was a slender and well-endowed woman that was around Kisuke's height, though at the same time he noticed that her skin was slightly dark, had golden colored irises, and black colored hair... though the hair in question happened to be waist-length and was kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.

What caught his attention next was the fact that she was wearing a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes... and, as he stared into her golden eyes, Sombra found that she was smiling at him.

"What's wrong Sombra?" Yoruichi, or who Sombra assumed had to be Yoruichi, asked, though it was clear that the lady found something humorous about the situation, even if Sombra wasn't thinking the same thing, "You look like something you believed in was shattered."

"I... Truth be told, I was not expecting this." Sombra replied, taking a moment to take in the fact that Yoruichi wasn't male, which raised another question that he wasn't sure he wanted to ask, and the fact that she could switch from her Human form to that of an ordinary cat that could talk whenever she desired, "I'm also not sure what I was expecting, so you definitely made me think about what I knew about you... you are Yoruichi, right?"

"I am Yoruichi Shihoin." Yoruichi said, giving him what he assumed was a mock bow, or maybe it was a real one and the current situation was making him think it was something completely different, before she snapped back up and glanced around the area, "Though we'll have to skip the chit chat and get to work... I'm sensing a Hollow nearby, and there aren't any Shinigami in the town at all!"

"Then let's go deal with it." Sombra stated, though at the same time he was both excited and a tad bit frightened, as this was the first time he'd be setting eyes on a Hollow, while wondering how Yoruichi was able to sense where the creature was located to begin with.

Yoruichi grinned as she jumped into the air and landed on top of the train car she had been in a few minutes ago, to which Sombra followed after her to the best of his ability, where he immediately found that she was much faster than Ururu was, and he was pretty sure that she was holding herself back so he could keep up with her. He was impressed by her speed, as he was sure that she had spent many years practicing her skills, though at the same time he wondered if the reason she was going slow wasn't because she wanted him to keep up, rather it was because the Hollow was rather close to where they had been. As if summoned by his thoughts a spirit of a young boy ran down the street with a look of fear in his eyes, though that was followed by a rather large spider like creature, standing at the height of two of him, started to head down towards the young spirit. The interesting thing about the spider creature was that there was a white, almost bone colored, mask with markings covering it's face, while at the same time, in the center of it's mass, was a hole that reminded Sombra of the one that he possessed... making him wonder what the connection between a Hollow and an Arrancar was, since they both had that type of hole on their bodies.

After that thought came to mind Sombra acted instead of thinking, where he jumped down on the street and put himself between the spirit and the Hollow, where he caused the Hollow to stop for a moment, almost with what could have been it's own look of terror in it's eyes. Instead of letting it do what it wanted, and let it feast on the soul of the spirit that was running away, he took the opportunity that was presented to him and swung his fist, like he did in the sparring sessions with Ururu, and struck the Hollow in the side of it's mask, knocking it to the ground in the process. That caused a growl to emit from the Hollow as it raised it's front legs and started attacking him, though thanks to the fact that he had been training for the last few days his responses to what was happening allowed him to duck and weave as the Hollow attacked him... and let the legs crack the ground around him in the process, while he never let one of them touch him as he focused on his opponent as Yoruichi watched him from above. After dodging a few more attacks he responded with one of his own, striking the Hollow in the center of it's head and knocked it backwards, though at the same time he understood that, unless he had the weapon of a Shinigami or something similar, simply punching his opponent would do nothing for them.

As he thought about that he found a weapon, a sword by the looks of it, resting off to the side like it had been dropped, but instead of worrying about where it came from, as he suspected that it was Yoruichi, he rushed over to it, picked it up with his right hand, and swung at the Hollow as it tried to attack him again... only to cut off the leg that was attacking him, before driving the blade into the mask, which caused the entire creature to break apart until there was literally nothing left of it.

"I was right, you do have potential." Yoruichi said, though the smile that had been on her face earlier as still there, before she glanced off in a different direction, as if she was detecting another Hollow, "The nights still young. Do you feel up to hunting a few more Hollows and making the streets safer for the souls that are still stuck here?"

"Just show me where they are and I'll take care of them." Sombra replied, though this time around he found that he was smiling as well, because he had saved the soul of a young spirit, who the Shinigami would come to see to at some point in the future, which made him feel better.

Yoruichi nodded and together the two of them headed off into the night once more, heading to the area where the next Hollow was located, intending to do the same thing to it as well, while at the same time Yoruichi knew that it was time for Sombra to start training with a weapon... and she had the perfect trainer in mind for him.

Comments

[TheArcticWolf]

Squeeeeeeeeeee!

[Nonameknight]

I am thoroughly enjoying this fic, i must say. It's interesting how this is set before Ichigo even gets his soul reaper powers, and that Sombra will likely be working with Ichigo in the future. The fact that Sombra in an arrancar will just add so much more the story. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Kaisoul]

Wait you are shiping Sombra with Yoruichi, you sir have my in interest

[Voltrasin]

Is that sword Sombra's Zanpakuto?

[Blackdrag-rose]

8997686 No, Sombra's Arrancar Zanpakuto, the center of his true power, was lost when he landed in Hueco Mundo and had everything stripped from him, meaning it's still inside the Hollow world at the moment. The weapon is the common Asauchi that the more common Shinigami carry, which Kisuke and Yoruichi found abandoned in the World of the Living, even though it's previous owner was one of the two Shinigami killed by the Shrieker Hollow, who we'll meet later on.

[MJ]

This is really good, and I love the hell out of it. Please don't give up on this story.

[Tempest_Flare]

I like how you set it up for Ichigo to fight that same hollow latter on by Mr. Hat and Clogs' (i love that nickname btw) mentioning that the hollows killed by and not devoured by an Arrancar might just go back to their world to recover even if he used a soul reaper's sword it's the wielder behind the tool that does the cleansing

[Black--Soul]

Yoruichi sure likes to play around. Got to love ger pranking side.

Sombra probably has already more fun than before his banishment.

I wonder if Sombra will remember the past piece by piece, all suddenly at once or... Not - at - all...