Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Bleach Baseball ❯ Inning One ( Chapter 1 )

Story Intro: This story is a collaboration between Mom and Riyo, so we're both going to post it, but on different sites. Mom will be posting it on fan fiction and Riyo will be posting it on media miner. If you don't use either of these sites, how are you reading this story?

Summary: The Arrancar have challenged the Shinigami to a game of baseball! Teams are chosen, umpires selected and the stands are filling up fast. Who will win?

Disclaimer: All characters presented in this story are from Bleach, created by Tite Kubo and published by Shonen Jump.

WARNING: DO NOT DRINK AND READ!!! YOUR COMPUTER WILL NOT THANK YOU IF YOU DO! TRUST US.

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Inning One

“Well, Yoruichi, it's a beautiful day for baseball,” Urahara said. His amplified voice echoed through the stands.

“Yes, it is Urahara. I think we should see some exceptional play today. The stadium here in Karakura Town is perfect for today's match. Although it's neutral territory for both teams, the Shinigami will be the home team since they've been protecting this town from the Hollows for countless lifetimes.”

“And it looks like the Hollow fans are starting to get worked up,” Urahara replied. “They've got quite a cheer going on over there.”

“But I think the Shinigami fans have a response to that,” said Yoruichi. “The 11th squad looks to be unfurling a banner.”

“What's that? It looks like you're right. Who's that on the banner?”

“Why, it's the 11th captain, Kenpachi-taicho!”

“I think they've taken some liberties with that banner, Yoruichi,” laughed Urahara. “Kenpachi-taicho never looked that good!”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Several Hollows jumped to their feet. “Shinigami suck!”

The entire 11th squad surged to their feet. “Hollows blow!”

“Why don't you announce the starting lineups, Urahara?”

“Good idea.” Urahara picked up a sheet of paper. “First, the Shinigami. Leading off, we have the pitcher, Kurosaki Ichigo, our local substitute Shinigami. He's a bit of a troublemaker, wouldn't you say, Yoruichi?”

“Absolutely, Urahara, but you've gotta love that red hair!”

“Right you are! Up next is Hitsugaya Toushirou, in right field. He may be small, but this guy packs quite a punch.”

“I am NOT small, goddammit!”

“He can be a little touchy, though,” Yoruichi commented.

“Ha-ha! Batting third is Kuchiki Rukia, playing shortstop. I think this tough little lady is going to surprise a few folks once the game starts.”

“I'd have to agree with that,” said Yoruichi.

“Up forth is Kenpachi-taicho, on first. The 11th captain is a real powerhouse. I expect there will be a lot of excitement when he's at bat.”

“You bet!”

“All right. Batting fifth is the center fielder, Abarai Renji.”

“Another red-head.”

“You have a thing for red-heads, Yoruichi?”

“Just read the lineups.”

“Batting sixth is our first human player, Yasutora Sado, called Chad by his friends, in left field. This tough human can hold his own whether he's fighting Shinigami or Hollows.”

“And he's done both!”

“That's right. Up seventh is the second baseman, Ikkaku Madarame, better known as Baldy.”

“And we all know why!”

“Wondering if he's a red-head, too?”

“Stick to the script.”

“We have a script?”

“Just read!”

“Righto! Batting eighth is Shiba Ganju, the catcher. Not a true Shinigami, but a valuable member of Soul Society.”

“His sister's pretty formidable, too.”

“I'll say. Finally, batting ninth, is Matsumoto Rangiku, at third base.”

“With those jugs, I bet she's made it home more than a few times.”

“Keep it clean, Yoruichi.” Urahara picked up another sheet. “Ok, getting on to the Arrancar team. Up first is Szayel Aporro Granz, covering third base. This fellow reminds me of 12th captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri.”

“Which means there isn't much to recommend him.”

“Up next,” Urahara said loudly, “is Nnoitra Jiruga, at shortstop. He's the 5th Espada and is always looking for a good fight.”

“He should get a tough match from the Shinigami today.”

“Batting third is Zommari LeRoux, playing second base. He's the strong, silent type.”

“That just masks his inferiority complex,” Yoruichi muttered.

“Moving on. Center fielder Yammi is batting fourth. Like Kenpachi-taicho, I think we can expect some fireworks when this big Arrancar comes to bat.”

“It's not the size of the bat, but how you use it.”

“Batting fifth is Stark, in right field. He may look like he's sleeping, but there's a lot of power hiding there.” He paused and looked at Yoruichi. “What? No comment.”

“Huh? Nah, looking at that guy puts me to sleep.”

“Ok. Up sixth we have Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, the pitcher.”

“Wow, that name's a mouthful. Too bad nothing else about him is.”

“Batting sixth for the Arrancar is Tousen Kaname, formerly the 9th captain of the Shinigami.”

“Fucking traitor.”

“Watch your language, Yoruichi. This is a family show.” Urahara cleared his throat. “Tousen may be blind, but he doesn't need eyes to see. After Tousen, we have Gin Ichimaru, formerly the 3rd captain of the Shinigami.”

“Another fucking traitor.”

“Gin is catching for the Arrancar.”

“He's a catcher, all right.”

“And finally, we have Wonderweiss, a unique individual among the Arrancar.”

“Unique?!” Yoruichi exploded. “He's fucking weird.”

“Wonderweiss,” Urahara stated loudly, “is playing left field. And there you have it! The starting lineups for what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting games of baseball we've ever seen.”

“You've got that right, Urahara!” Yoruichi agreed. “If you're keeping score, you might want to note down that Ulquiorra Schiffer will be managing the Arrancar team and Yachiru Kusajishi will be managing the Shinigami. For the Arrancar, Luppi and Halibel will be serving as line couch and base couch, respectively. Shunsui Kyouraku will be line couch for the Shinigami and Kuchiki Byakuya is the base couch. For umpires today, we have Kurosaki Isshin behind the plate and our three favorite modified souls, Kurodo, Noba and Lirin, working the bases.”

“I am the most favorite modified soul!”

“Just shut up and do the mascot dance, Kon!” Ichigo growled.

“And to round it out, we have Yamada Hanataro of the 4th squad serving as ball boy,” added Urahara. “Also, if there are any injuries today, Retsu Unohana, 4th squad captain, will be fixing up the Shinigami and Inoue Orihime will be taking care of the Arrancar.”

“She's a fucking traitor, too.”

“Ok, that's it! Time for the game. I hope everyone is as excited as I am.”

“You know I am, Urahara!”

Isshin stepped out onto the field, accompanied by a roar from the crowd. He beckoned to both dugouts. “I need the managers and team captains, please.” Yachiru, Ichigo and Renji emerged from the Shinigami dugout. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow approached from the Arrancar bench. “All right, folks, I just want to go over a few rules before we get started.”

“Rules?!” Grimmjow interrupted. “Baseball already has enough damn rules!”

Isshin lifted an eyebrow at him. “Oh, I think we could use a few more. First off, no zanpakuto.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. Second, no shikai, bankai, sero, resurekushion, or flash steps.”

“Now just a damn minute!”

“And for the players with more ordinary powers, no invoking spirit mediums or calling out your spiritual strength.”

“What do you expect us to do?” Grimmjow protested. “Just play with our bodies?”

Ichigo smirked. “This is baseball, not your perverted bedroom pastimes.”

“What did you say?” Grimmjow growled.

“But you've got plenty of time for it, batting way down there in sixth.” Ichigo grinned smugly. “I, on the other hand, need to go start taking a few practice swings. I'm up first.”

Grimmjow rounded on Ulquiorra. “If that orange-headed wimp can bat first, I should be batting first!”

“I am satisfied with our lineup as it is,” Ulquiorra said calmly.

“But…”

Ulquiorra gave him a look.

Grimmjow backed up. “Well, let's get this thing started!” he said loudly, and stomped back to his dugout.

Yachiru bounded over to Ulquiorra. “May the best team win, Green-Eyes! Which means mine! Hee-hee!” She hopped onto Renji's back. “Back to the dugout, Tattoo-man!”

“Can't you just call me by name?” Renji groaned.

Yachiru tugged his pony-tail. “Faster!”

Renji broke into a trot.

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow at his dad. “Sure you can handle this?”

Isshin grinned. “I live to umpire.” He pulled his mask down over his face. “Play ball!”

The Shinigami players jogged out onto the field and took their positions. Szayel stepped out of the Arrancar dugout swinging three bats.

“I'm sure our spectators will have noticed by now that the teams will be using aluminum bats rather than wooden ones,” Urahara announced. “These players are just too strong for ordinary wooden bats, wouldn't you say, Yoruichi?”

“That's right, Urahara,” Yoruichi agreed. “Wooden bats might just disintegrate at the speeds I expect to see here on pitches and swings.”

Szayel tossed aside two of his bats and stepped up to the plate. “This puny human is no match for any Arrancar,” he sneered at Ichigo.

Ichigo just turned the ball in his hand and leaned in for the signal. Then he nodded and turned into position. The first pitch was a breaking ball and caught Szayel looking.

“Strike one!”

Szayel gawked. “That was not a strike!” he insisted. “My strike zone is not that low.”

“You gonna whine or you gonna bat?” Ichigo snorted.

Szayel scowled and crouched over, the bat held high over his shoulder. Ichigo threw a slider and Szayel swung hard. With a sharp crack, he contacted the ball and it bounced low along the ground straight at Rukia at shortstop. Effortlessly, Rukia scooped up the ball and threw Szayel out at first.

Yachiru clapped her hands excitedly. “Good job, Carrot-Head! Keep it up!”

“Geez,” Ichigo muttered. “Does she know anybody's real name?”

Nnoitra strolled out of the batting circle with a superior scowl on his face. “You won't find me as easy, human,” he said. “Your weak pitches mean nothing to me.”

“You're as whiny as the last one,” Ichigo retorted. “Why can't you Arrancar just bat?”

Nnoitra sniffed and leaned into position.

“Maybe you should crouch down more,” Ichigo said. “Your strike zone's a pretty easy target.”

“The size of my strike zone is irrelevant,” Nnoitra said. “The ball has to pass through it to be a strike.”

Ichigo wound up and threw a blistering strike straight past Nnoitra's unmoving bat.

“Strike one.”

“A lucky fluke,” said Nnoitra. But he crouched over a little more. He swung hard at the next pitch, but made only glancing contact. The ball rolled straight back to Ichigo and he threw Nnoitra out at first.

Ulquiorra stepped out of the dugout as he jogged back. “I'm disappointed,” he said. He regarded Nnoitra without expression. “May I assume you'll do better next time?”

Nnoitra swallowed and straightened up so he towered over Ulquiorra, but his response still sounded like bluster. “I'm just getting a feel for the game, that's all.”

“Of course.”

Zommari stepped to the plate without a word.

“Finally,” Ichigo muttered. “A quiet one.” But Zommari promptly smacked the first pitch straight over Ichigo's head and into center field. “Dammit!”

Renji ran in to field the ball and Zommari pulled up at first.

Yammi stalked out of the on-deck circle waving his bat above his head. The Hollows surged to their feet with a roar of applause. Yammi acknowledged them with a wave and a deprecating smile.

Ganju jogged out to the mound. “What do you think? You want to walk this one? The next guy looks like he's asleep.”

Ichigo snorted. “No way! This guy's too big to swing the bat.”

“If you say so,” Ganju said skeptically, and he jogged back to the plate.

“I hope you aren't about to embarrass us,” Byakuya said flatly.

“Would you people just shut up?!” Ichigo growled. Scowling darkly, he wound up and blazed the ball in so fast that a cloud of dust flew out of Ganju's glove. Yammi had not even started to try to swing.

“Strike one!”

“Wow!” Yoruichi exclaimed. “I have that ball clocked at 338 mph!”

“That substitute Shinigami can really throw!” Urahara replied excitedly.

Ichigo wound up again. His delivery was a blur. This time, Ganju grunted when he caught the ball. Yammi swung, but the ball was already nestled in Ganju's glove.

“Strike two!”

“That one clocked at 348 mph, Yoruichi!”

“I don't know how he can keep throwing `em like that, Urahara!”

From the Arrancar dugout, Ulquiorra blinked once. “You might want to try swinging sooner, Yammi.”

“Ya think?!” Yammi growled. He settled into position, his eyes fixed on Ichigo.

Ichigo stared back, his usual smirk curling up the side of his mouth. Then he wound up and threw so fast that Yammi did not even have time to move. The ball knocked Ganju onto his butt, but he held it. Yammi's mouth fell open.

“Strike three, you're out!” Isshin jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

“350 mph!” Yoruichi exclaimed. “That's one hell of a fastball.”

“And that's the end of the first at-bat,” Urahara said. “Now the Shinigami are up. Ichigo is leading off, and it will be interesting to see how well he bats after throwing the ball that hard.”

The Shinigami players jogged off the field shaking their fists in the air to the wild applause of their fans. As they ran in, the Arrancar players jogged out, except for Stark, who slouched onto the field looking like he had just gotten out of bed. Grimmjow picked up the ball as he stepped onto the mound, rolling it over in his hand.

Ichigo strolled up to the plate, his bat slung casually over his shoulder. “Let's see what ya got,” he said with a saucy grin on his face.

Grimmjow wound up and delivered a smoking curveball.

“Ball one!”

“Ball?!” Grimmjow shouted. “Can't you see where his strike zone is?!”

“Yeah,” Isshin said casually, “but it's gotta be over the plate, too.”

Gin threw the ball back out and Grimmjow got set for the next pitch. His fastball did not fool anybody; certainly not Ichigo. He smacked the ball soundly and it screamed between Tosen's legs, bouncing out into right field. Stark fielded it and threw it in as Ichigo pulled up at first.

“I thought you said you would be able to detect the ball, Tosen!” Luppi cried from the dugout.

“I did,” Tosen replied impassively. “Any player could have missed a ball moving at that speed.”

“But you're not relying on your eyes!” he screamed. “You should be able to react faster! I could have stopped it.” He turned to Ulquiorra. “I should be playing first!”

“You're not an Espada anymore,” Nnoitra sniffed loudly. “Clearly you aren't strong enough to play.”

“Shut up!”

“Geez!” Ichigo snorted. “With all this arguing, they probably wouldn't even notice if I stole second.”

“Stay where you are,” Byakuya said flatly from the coaching box.

Grimmjow glowered at Ichigo for a moment before drawing himself up to pitch to the next batter.

At the plate, Hitsugaya snorted. “So you finally noticed me, did you? Since you can't even keep a substitute Shinigami from hitting the ball, I should have no trouble at all. Get ready to run, Kurosaki.”

Grimmjow's glower darkened and he pitched a hard breaking ball. Hitsugaya swung and made contact, sending the ball bouncing high over Grimmjow's head. Grimmjow jumped for it and missed, but Nnoitra made a neat play on the ball and threw Ichigo out at second. Zommari, who caught the ball at second, whirled and quickly threw Hitsugaya out at first.

Grimmjow barked out a harsh laugh. “So much for the vaunted Shinigami Captain. Maybe size does matter, Shorty!”

Hitsugaya tried to charge the mound, but Byakuya caught his arm. “Return to the dugout.”

“But…!”

“Now.”

Angrily, Hitsugaya stamped back to the dugout, muttering to himself.

Rukia walked toward the plate, swinging her bat in one hand.

Nnoitra began to laugh. “First, they have a guy so short I could step over him without my balls scraping his pointy hair, and now this little girl? What kind of team is this? Dick-less?”

Hitsugaya started to charge out of the dugout again but was retrained by Matsumoto. “Let your bat do your talking, Hitsugaya-taicho,” she said.

Rukia stepped up to the plate without a word and crouched over. Byakuya folded his arms across his chest with just the faintest trace of an expression that a really generous person might have interrupted as not displeased, because no one would be so wild as to suspect him of actually smiling.

Grimmjow wound up and pitched a fastball. Rukia's bat snapped around so fast it was a blur. With a sharp crack, she sent the ball sailing deep into left field, where enthusiastic Shinigami fans surged up to catch it.

“Home run!” Urahara shouted. “Rukia puts one out on a single pitch!”

“Now that's what I'm talkin' about!” Yoruichi responded excitedly.

The Shinigami fans were on their feet, shouting wildly and chanting Rukia's name. Rukia waved a hand as she rounded the bases, a satisfied smile on her face.

“And just like that,” Urahara said, “we have our first score of the game. The Shinigami are now leading one to nothing.”

“And with Kenpachi-taicho coming up to bat, that could change quickly,” said Yoruichi.

Kenpachi marched up to the plate with his trademark grin plastered on his face. “Why don't you throw me one of those fastballs, Boneface?” he said gleefully. “You'll be looking for this ball out of town.”

Grimmjow scowled, rolling the ball repeatedly between his fingers. He studied the signals he was getting from Gin and finally nodded. He stepped back, paused for a moment, and then threw in a slow breaking ball. Kenpachi, obviously expecting something faster, swung and just barely made contact. The ball floated out into center field, where it was caught easily by Yammi.

“Damn!” Kenpachi muttered. “That's trickier than I thought.”

“And that's the end of the first inning,” Urahara said. “We've gotten off to a pretty exciting start, wouldn't you say, Yoruichi?”

“Absolutely, Urahara. I think we're going to see some spectacular baseball today.”