Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. This work is purely fan-made and is not intended to make a profit. Please support the official release.
Sand… night… so much sand.
But he had a purpose- he had to get there; the others were just behind him. They wouldn't fail.
This wasn't their first rescue mission, and that single-minded drive would carry him through now as it did before.
As the crescent moon that hung in an eternal cloudless sky reflected against his white and red Hierro, he reflected that it was good that he could not change back- his appearance helping him to blend in for once rather than stick out like it usually would. And that brought up thoughts of how his appearance got this way- like it always did.
'Looks like I did it after all. I guess I owe that smug prick a thank you the next time I see him.' He then noticed Urahara, 'Payback for stuffing me in that freaking hole!'
Kisuke Urahara and Jinta watched tensely as the boy absently drew his Zanpakuto- still cut from where the Sixth Captain had sliced it- and began to twirl it by the tassel on his left index finger. He then walked up to the candy-store owner and stopped.
"YOU JERK!" Ichigo roared as he planted a right hook into the man's nose. "Couldn't you have warned me before pulling a stunt like that! When I'm through with you, you'll definitely need that cane to walk, you bastard!"
"Now, now, Ichigo, can't we discuss this later? Like after you have got that mask off your face?"
"Mask?" Ichigo asked, absently catching the hilt with his right hand and touching his face with his left. "What the-?" He got a solid grip and tried to pull. All he got for his trouble was pain. "The hell? It won't- come- off!" Even a strike did nothing.
"Hmm… interesting," Urahara said examining Ichigo while delicately holding his bleeding nose.
"Interesting! This is your fault so fix it!" Ichigo responded.
"Actually it's your fault, Ichigo," Kisuke replied. "If you had activated your powers sooner we wouldn't be in this mess. But you just had to go past the time limit- though if you really want my help, I suppose I could just put it on your tab. But that can wait- we haven't finished your training yet and it doesn't seem detrimental, so, I think we can put it on hold for now."
"And what's your plan for that?" Ichigo asked.
"Oh nothing much- all you have to do is knock off my hat and since I know how much you suck at pulling things off by the time you're told- this doesn't have a time limit."
"Are you fucking with me?"
"No I'm very serious- of course you don't think that I'll just be dodging or parrying, do you?" A gentleman's sword appeared from his cane. "This is Benihime, my Zanpakuto, and I can assure you she is very, very real." Ichigo could feel the power and seriousness radiating of the seemingly normally jovial man, was it all a façade? "The only way you can do this is to find out your own Zanpakuto's name- a special attack wouldn't hurt either. But if you can't then I'll kill you- a Soul Reaper who can't commune with his own Zanpakuto is no better than a worm and should not bother with anything other than survival. But you're not like that- you'd keep trying and only make it worse for Rukia. I'll save everyone the trouble of dealing with you."
With that the store owner came at Ichigo with a speed that the teen never knew he possessed. 'Shit, he is going to kill me!' He blocked the strike and was able to turn the damage away but at the cost of seeing more of his sword being cut away. 'There has to be some way to win!'
"Ichigo, have you forgotten me already?" a voice spoke interrupting his thoughts.
'Sorry Zangetsu, it's just that things are really hectic out here!' he thought in reply. Then he realized who it was that spoke to him. And that he knew him. Like that Zangetsu liked to trace out a path in the sky with his fingers, or that Zangetsu hated being wet and that in his inner world there really was no place safe from the rain. 'How the hell-'
The world seemed to stop. "It is because you have tapped into the two possibilities, the two ways to manifest power, a soul has to become. Because we are one you know me as well as you know yourself, and I know you just as well. You have done what no one else ever has- becoming simultaneously a Soul Reaper-"
'And a Hollow,' Ichigo finished the thought. And he felt fear and despair. Was he going to lose control and harm all those he cared about? Hollows always went after friends and family first- those they had made bonds with. Was he just a ticking time bomb? Maybe it was better to let Urahara finish him off now…
"Hear my words, Ichigo! You stand awake in a land of men who walk in a daze! But you also walk a path narrower than a razor's edge. If you stop, if you hesitate, if you let fear control you, if you try to turn back; you will fall, and never be able to protect anything again. Destruction shall be all that you will be good for- and you will drag everyone who you have a bond with into that pit as well. Your only option is to move forward! That is the safest thing on a high wire, never stop as there is always something greater, always something more! Reach for it always! Now let them hear the name of your soul's manifestation in the highest points of Heaven and the very bowels of Hell!"
"Zangetsu!"
"Well now- looks like I won't have to kill you after all. So what do ya say? Shall we start the actual third test?" Kisuke asked.
"You know," Ichigo began, "while I was in that pit I promised myself that I'd kill you. But I'm thinking that doing so right now is way too soon. So I hope you dodge this- because I haven't got control of it yet. Getsuga Tenshou!"
"Cry, Benihime!" He put up a quick shield that didn't have the energy to hold back the attack. However long before it shattered, the man had Flash Stepped out of the way. The same could not be said of his hat though, which was neatly bisected some thirty feet behind where it had begun to fall. "My hat!" he moaned- though privately glad; it could have been him… if he was blind, deaf, and capable of the top speed of a glacier. Still that attack… Ichigo definitely was his father's son, inheriting such a similar blade.
"Well now I guess you want me to get to work with that mask of yours?"
"No," Ichigo replied. "Zangetsu, eased my worries about it. It'll be fine. No matter what happens I will still be me."
Urahara looked him in the eye to ask if he was sure and for the first time noticed that he didn't have black and yellow eyes- they hadn't changed at all. "And this has nothing to do with not wanting to owe me more am I right?" he asked without skipping a beat.
"Maybe just a bit."
And now time for... a series of flashback chapters yay! Things really start to change around the Arrancar Arival Arc. Or if you want more specific Ichigo's battle upon the Execution Hill.
For reference Ichigo's appearance as he is in Hueco Mundo is what his body looked like while Ichigo was fighting his inner Hollow with a few changes: 1) Ichigo doesn't have a forming mask on his head over a complete one. The mask is complete. 2) His eyes, as will be later noted, are still the same color they normally are. They are not black and yellow- or plain yellow for that matter. 3) When Ichigo wears the full uniform it is not in tatters unless it got that way in the fight. Also in the opening scene he has discarded the top half of the Soul Reaper's uniform- though should he so choose he can call it back.
I've read fics where because Ichigo having already striken the mask by the time he is aware of himself after getting out of the Shattered Shaft it seperates a small chunk of his being which becomes his inner Hollow. Here they didn't seperate. But because he has access to his Zanpakuto he can still feel the bonds he's made and doesn't feel a Hollow's hunger. Also no seperate inner Hollow. You have been warned.
Ok, if anyone has read A Protector's Pride by Neoryu777, the author mentions never seeing another story with the idea of a mask-in-stages ability for Ichigo. While I've had the idea for this before I read that I feel that I must at least say that the mask-in-stages idea does play a major role. Also for those who haven't realized, the premise here is that a Natural Visard- of which Ichigo is the first and currently only- cannot take off his mask.