Shinigami Hunter: Chapter One

AN: alright, here we are. First chapter of the Shinigami Hunter. I'm a little…rusty at writing, so please excuse that, but as always I welcome criticism, as long as you keep it constructive, and keep in mind this is only a trailer. The first RWBY trailers offered little in dialogue and character, so I tried keeping it closer to that. There'll be much more character in later chapters, but until then, enjoy this first chapter!

Prologue: Arrival

October 10, 17 years ago

In the city of Vale, in front of a house, a set of Japanese rice doors opened, and out stepped two figures. One a man with short, dark hair and wearing a Haori with the kanji for 'ten' on it over a black kimono and the other a woman with long brown hair carrying a bundle. "I can't believe their making us do this, Isshin." The woman whimpered.

"I know Masaki. Believe me, I'm as happy about this as you are, but unless we do this, they'll execute him without a second thought.. At least this way we know he'll be safe and able to have a life here, Masaki." Isshin said, and Masaki looked at the bundle in her arms, revealing a sleeping baby with orange hair.

"Little Ichigo, I'm sorry we won't get to see you grow up." Masaki said, tears welling in her eyes as she kissed the baby's forehead. She set the baby on the doorstep, and knocked on the door, reading the name on the door. 'Ms. Goodwitch, please take care of my son.' She thought, and ran through the rice doors to join her husband, watching Ichigo as the doors closed, a tear falling down her face as the doors closed. The door of the house opened, and out stepped a blonde woman in her late 20's sat alone in her home. She wore her hair in a bun, with a single curl hanging free, wearing a white long sleeved shirt with puffy arms, black pants, and a pair of glasses over her bright green eyes.

"Who on Earth could be knocking at this ungodly hour?" Glynda Goodwitch asked, looking around and searching for the culprits. "Damn kids…" she muttered, and was about to return inside, before she heard what sounded like crying. Looking down, she could not believe what she saw…

It was a baby boy, probably not older than 3 months, wrapped in a black blanket with skin reminicent of the inhabitants of eastern nations, with the beginnings of orange hair visible on top of its head. "Oh my god!" Glynda gasped, picking up the crying chil, and looking around for any sign of who left it. "Who's child is this?! Who left him here?!" She yelled, only to receive no answer. Dumbfounded by who would leave an infant in weather like this, she retreated with him inside out of the cold. "It's ok, you're warm now!" Glynda said, only for the child to continue crying. In his screaming, a sort of scroll fell from the blanket, and Glynda used her semblance to bring it into her hand. Unfolding it, she saw the message was written in strange characters she could not read, only for them to begin to rearrange themselves into something she could read.

To Glynda Goodwitch:

This is Ichigo Kurosaki. His birthday is July 15, and his name means 'One Who Prorects' when it is written in our native language. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control have forced us to give him up for his own safety, and after much consideration, we have chosen you as the best person to look after him and guide him along the right path.

He has tremendous power within him, and with this comes a great darkness. However, we believe that you will be able to give him the guidance he needs, and will endure Ichigo becomes a wonderful man.

If you feel you are unable to carry this burden we reluctantly place upon you, then all we ask is that you make sure he is placed in a loving home. Whatever you do, we have faith your choice shall be the right one, regardless of what we wish.

Sincerely, Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Shiba.

Glynda must have read the scroll at least a dozen times, trying to process the message. These people chose HER to care for their child? She had no qualifications for being a parent, hell she'd only just started teaching at Beacon! She couldn't even hold down a romantic partner for longer than a few months, let alone raise another human being! Already, Glynda was thinking about what she could do. 'They said it's alright if I gave him to someone else, but who? I could give him to an orphanage and…no, many orphanages are corrupt. According to Commander Ironwood, many often sell children that aren't adopted into slavery for a quick buck. Maybe someone else would be willing to? I'd have to put out an we, file paperwork, interview-' she began to think, when the baby began to cry. "No, don't do that!" She protested, holding it away from her. When Ichigo continued to cry, she frantically thought back to when she'd had to babysit as a part time job, and cradled the child, holding him close to her. Soon, Ichigo's crying began to subside, and Glynda felt something spread through her. It felt nice and warm, and most of all, it felt…right, feeling the infant snuggle into her shoulder. 'Ichigo Kurosaki, huh?' She thought, looking at the child. 'Maybe I can do this…'

Trailer One: K: The Deadly Strawberry

Today, Signal Academy

On the island of Patch's leading primary combat school, students gathered on turnstones of an arena to watch a young man with orange hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a long sleeved, form fitting white shirt underneath a black shit with sleeves reaching down to the elbow, with black combat pants with white piping along his thighs, wearing black boots with white laces. On his back, he carried what resembled a large trench knife wrapped I bandages strapped to a thick red, rosary-like strap around his chest, with a silver hilt with a trigger just below the blade. This young man was Ichigo Kurosaki-Goodwitch, the adopted son of the esteemed Huntress Glynda Goodwitch. "Well, are we doing this or what? I don't have all day, you know." Ichigo said, and in the stands over looking the arena, a middle aged man with gray spiky hair wearing a a gray dress shirt and a tattered cloak sat with a scroll in one hand.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Berry boy." Qrow Branwen said, a flask in his other hand. "I know you're eager to get out of here and spread your wings, sow oats, yadda yadda, but this is your graduation exam, and we wouldn't ya to mess up and stay here another year, now would we?" Qrow said, taking a swig from his flask.

"And get taught by your drunk ass for another year? No thanks. Can we go ahead and get started, or do I need to have someone push the right buttons for you?" Ichigo retorted, causing Qrow to smirk.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance to prepare." He said, pressing a series of buttons on the scroll and causing a door to open. Ichigo gripped the hilt of his blade in anticipation, before two voices in particular drew his attention.

"Go Ichigo! Kick their asses!" Yang Xiao Long, his longtime friend, cheered from behind Qrow, sitting next to her younger sister, Ruby Rose.

"You can do it!" Ruby cheered, and Ichigo acknowledged them with a nod, before he began to tune out the cheers, focusing on the being emerging from the cage.

Out stepped a young man with teal hair wearing a teal colored pirate's coat with gray trims over a plate of samurai armor on his chest over a gray under shit, wearing gray pants, black boots, a black bandanna on his left shoulder, and a belt with two swords strapped to his hip, one clad in an ivory scabbard and the other in a teal sheath. "Kurosaki, allow me to introduce you to Mr. Zephyr Turchese. He'll be teaching here next year, but right now, he's the proctor for the rest of your exam." Qrow explained.

"Enough with the chit chat, Qrow." Zephyr said, untying his bandanna from his arm. "Alright Kurosaki, here are the rules for your test: don't lose to me. You beat me, you pass, but if you don't, you fail and have to retake this exam at a later date." The man explained, tying the bandanna around his head.

"That's a little unconventional, don't you think?" Ichigo replied, readying his blade. The wrappings began to unwrap themselves disappearing as they did so, revealing a black blade with a silver edge, the blade sloped slightly like a cannon. Zephyr began to remove his own blades from their sheaths. In his left hand, he held what appeared to be a normal teal colored katana with a gold guard, and in his right hand held a teal double edged, fork bladed sword with a gray trigger at the hilt.

"Not every encounter you have with the enemy will adhere to what you're used to, Kid." Zephyr said, and he and Ichigo stared each other down. Zephyr made the first move, and charged at Ichigo with unbelievable speed, slashing with the Katana. Ichigo quickly blocked with his blade, but the force behind the attack caused him to slide back. Zephyr quickly went on the offensive, unleashing a rapid series of slashes. Ichigo maneuvered the massive blade to black as best he could, blocking many of the strikes and dodging the rest. Ichigo quickly jumped back and aimed the tip of his weapon at the future teacher, pulling the trigger four times and firing out small, blue 'bullets' of energy. Zephyr flawlessly blocked each shot, and slashed the air with his katana, sending out what appeared to be blades of wind. Ichigo blocked it, but Zephyr took this opportunity to dash in close, only for Ichigo to jump above him and press a button on the hilt of his sword. The edge of the sword slid down to the other end of the hilt, forming the shape of a longbow as an energy string materialized between the two point. Ichigo pulled back on the string, materializing a blue arrow made of arua and firing it at Zephyr.

The older man blocked the arrow, and Ichigo began to fire many more. Zephyr knew he might not be able to block every one, so he pointed the former sword and depressed the trigger, causing a stream of flame to shoot out and intercept the arrows. Ichigo landed on the ground and began to strafe Zephyr, firing arrows as he leapt around him. Zephyr blocked each shot, and noticed Ichigo seemed to be moving faster, pondering what the student was up to. He received his answer when Ichigo changed his bow back to sword mode mid-leap, and once he was back on the ground, rushed Zephyr and slashed with his weapon. Zephyr blocked with his weapons, but the force behind the attack was more than he expected, cracks appearing in the floor as he pushed back. Now it was Ichigo's turn to go on the offensive, unleashing a rapid series of slashes against Zephyr. Zephyr did his best to block each strike, but each strike was faster and more fast paced than the last.

'Looks like Ichigo's semblance finally kicked in.' Qrow thought to himself, taking notes about the fight on his scroll. 'The ability to increase one's own strength the longer a battle goes on…it's one helluva useful power, but someone as headstrong as Ichigo might not always have the patience to wait until it activates. The only reason he's taking his time here is because he wants the best grade he can get, but in a real fight…' Qrow analyzed, not wanting to picture the worst case scenario, and glanced towards the aura meter on the scroll. Zephyr's was in the yellow, while Ichigo's was yellow as well, but was close to the red zone. 'Either way, this is going to end soon.'

Zephyr and Ichigo clashed blades once more, sparks flying off their swords as they entered a deadlock, before they each jumped back. "Not bad, Kid. You're turning out to be a lot more entertaining than I thought." Zephyr said.

"Back atcha, Professor." Ichigo panted out, still maintaining a grip on his sword, and Zephyr held both Swords in an x in front of him.

"Time to end this!" He declared, a teal glow surrounding him.

"Couldn't agree more!" Ichigo said, and held his blade in front of him, a blue aura surrounding him as his eyes glowed blue, channeling the rest of his arua into one final attack. They leapt at each other, clashing with an explosion of teal and blue light that caused everyone to shield their eyes. When the light died down, Qrow saw Ichigo and Zephyr standing opposite each other, before Ichigo began to wobble and collapse, only stopping from falling to the ground by using his sword for support.

"Ichigo!" Yang yelled out, jumping into the arena to support her friend. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Ichigo reassured her, but the fact that he couldn't stand on his own said otherwise.

"You idiot, you know you always use WAY too much aura! One day you're going to overdo it, and I won't be there to pick you back up." Yang said, purring his arm over her shoulder and helping him up.

"Hey, Ichigo." Zephyr called, sheathing both blades, and panting himself. "Nice job out there. Almost had to use my semblance on you. Wouldn't have expected anything else from Ms. Goodwitch's kid."

"That's all fine and dandy, but I still failed your test." Ichigo replied, looking at the ground in shame, only for Zephyr to smirk.

"Look at the aura count." He said, pointing towards a large view screen on one of the arena walls that displayed aura during training battles. Ichigo looked at the screen, and couldn't believe what he saw.

On Ichigo's aura bar, the aura count was well in the red, with the dangerously low number of '15' displayed above it. Looking at Zephyr's, he was also in the red, and the number that was displayed next to his name…was '14'. "You finished with a higher aura count than me, so by tournament style rules, you officially win. So, I guess that means you pass." Zephyr declared, and relief filled Ichigo.

"Alright!" He cheered, pumping a fist in the air, and began to steady himself on his feet.

"Knew you could do it!" Yang said, patting him on the back, and Ruby came to join them, hugging Ichigo.

"Congrats!" She exclaimed, and the three began walking out of the arena, Ichigo slinging his blade back onto his back. "So, now that you passed, and Yang passed her test, does that mean you're both going to Beacon?"

"That's the plan. Someone's gotta keep this one from burning the place down." Ichigo answered, jerking a thumb at Yang, who pouted.

"Well somebody's gotta keep Strawberry here from running yourself dry." Yang retorted, causing a tick mark to appear on his forehead.

"Someone's gotta help you keep from failing, Blondie." Ichigo say back, and Qrow watched with a smile the two began to argue about who'd look out for who as they exited the arena, before his scroll chirped, indicating a message. Checking his inbox, he read the message.

Candy: Well? How'd it go?

Qrow sighed, having been dreading this part, before replying.

Q: it went as expected. Turchese pushed him to his limits. No abnormal behavior.

Candy: excellent. Beacon will be the best place we can monitor his growth. Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Professor Branwen. The other members of our organization will take over from here.

Qrow let out a sigh, closing his scroll and heading towards his office. All this secret keeping made him feel…dirty, and not the fun kind of dirty. 'Good luck, Ichigo. You're going to need it.'

Next Time: L: Opportunity Cost