Hello- Narration
"Hello."- speech
Hello- thoughts
Hello- zanpakuto
Hello- Hollow
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.
"Getsuga Tensho!" The determined cry rang through the air, but even before the dark crescent faded, a hand shot out from the cloud of dust to bury itself in its opponent's stomach.
"How disappointing, Kurosaki-san. I had hoped you would be the one to finally bring me to transcendence." The battle had raged for several hours in the ruins of Karakura without any progress. Ichigo had already called upon his bankai, augmented by the Final Getsuga form, as well as his Visored mask before the start of the battle. Yet, he was already panting and sporting several wounds, while the former captain just continued to healed and become more powerful through the Hogyoku.
Damn, at this rate, I'll have to use the Final Getsuga Tenshou, thought Ichigo as he continued to exchange blows with Aizen. Aizen- the very name brought forth bile into his throat and filled his mind with rage. After a decade of war, he had hoped that he had finally run out of emotions, become numb to the constant, crushing anguish and fatigue that seemed to haunt him since he had seen so many fall in droves, his nakama passing on one after another, and countless shinigami and human lives lost in one man's quest to become a god.
A sharp pain in his abdomen from a stab not quite successfully evaded brought Ichigo back to the battle at hand, reminding him of the precarious situation that he was in once again. Throughout the bloody years, the twenty-eight year old had continued to display remarkable growth, even more so after making peace with his inner hollow. Now, the once Substitute Shinigami was a well-respected captain, and one of the last survivors of the original Gotei 13. Not wanting to attach himself to any military structure, Ichigo had used every exude he could come up with to delay his appointment, but the alarming void in leadership that resulted from more higher-ranked shinigami dying than could be reasonably replaced and the rapidly falling morale had left him with little recourse. And the death toll of the war on the Shinigami side had been fearsome. After the first Battle of Karakura, the Captain Commander Yamamoto had been confined to bed rest due to his deteriorating health, only being disturbed to provide Captain Kyouraku, the temporary Captain Commander, with guidance during dire situations. All had prayed for the old man's return, but that last battle had proved one too many for the Captain Commander, and he passed on in the third year.
This came as a severe blow for the new Captain Commander, having lost his best friend, Captain Ukitake, to his illness the year prior. The sickly captain whose health had been questionable before the war had taken a decided turn for the worse that first year, and had passed on in the second year of the Winter War. For a while, despite their losses, the prospects of the war seemed to look up. The shinigami could declare several decisive victories, and the warfront was pushed from Soul Society to Hueco Mundo. Yes, they had many casualties in the first five years, but many more hollows were falling, and Aizen was steadily losing ground.
Aizen's treachery had not helped his cause either. After his betrayal, Tercera Espada Tier Harribel had sided with the shinigami against Aizen. She, together with Nel and her fraccion, ran counterintelligence, and then continued to fight alongside the shinigami once staying behind enemy lines had become too precarious. There had been resistance to their presence at first, but with Ichigo's and Inoue's endorsement, Nel, Harribel, and a few other arrancars had entered a tentative alliance with the Gotei 13.
Things took a decided turn for the worse in the sixth year of the Winter War. Aizen had been waiting for the Gotei to loosen their guard in the face of favorable tides before feeding false information through an intercepted hell butterfly. The resulting trap had been executed flawlessly, and a reminder to all of Aizen's skill in tactics and strategy. Many shinigami died that day including three Captains and five Lieutenants. It was a blow from which the Gotei 13 would never fully regain its feet. From then on, the shinigami steadily lost ground. What few victories that were claimed were but few and far between.
The Winter War Massacre, as it was later called, also served as a turning point in the public sentiment toward hollows. Blaming the disastrous outcome to the faulty intel, all hollows who had not sided with Aizen were declared suspicious persons and potential traitors who could not be trusted. Ichigo and his fellow Visored fell under similar suspicion, making their divisions the least popular or stable.
The events of the seventh year of war came as a surprise to all. Attempts to reinstate the Central 46 had come to a screeching halt once the fighting had started in earnest, but that year, the nobles reared their heads once again, forging a new central power amongst themselves and perhaps believing that more victories could be achieved under their leadership. Few were happy with the arrangement, and not-so-subtly reminded them that Soul Society was under martial law, but fewer felt inclined to do anything about it; the war before them was much more pressing.
The new Central 46 started out innocently enough. They helped fill the vacancies with their personal soldiers and body guards, providing a much-needed influx of skilled fighters. They also provided scribes and scholars to help take care of the paperwork (why paperwork was still around in the middle of a war was a mystery, but no one complained about the help). Soon after the Central 46 regained some footing in war-time decision making, the real changes started to take place. All hollows and Visored were reassigned to a new Fourteenth Division under Ichigo, seeing as he was the only one that both Visored and arrancar would listen to. Few who were affected were happy with the decision, but seeing as it appeased anti-hollow sentiment from the Winter War Massacre, not much could be done without spurring further discontent. The next change was the increasing number of especially dangerous missions that the Fourteenth Division was assigned with the excuse that they were Gotei's strongest warriors and most familiar with Hueco Mundo. Neither claim could be disputed, seeing how the division contained several captain-class fighters and the Espada had once called Las Noches their home, but it was obvious that the Central 46 were trying to wear them down. Ichigo seriously considered taking up complaints to Captain Commander Kyoraku, but held his tongue; the man was already swamped with leading the war and keeping the Central 46 from spreading its reach too far. The frequently changing leadership was not making things easier for the man either. And so, despite the unfairness of it all, the Fourteenth Division fared as best they could. Without many alternatives, they would take reassurance from each other's survival and the chance to strike at Aizen every chance they got.
It was during these hard times that Ichigo learned the Final Getsuga Tenshou. Nearly a decade of conflict, the death of his family and nakama, and no foreseeable end to the war had managed to finally wear down the zanpakuto spirit, who extracted the promise that Ichigo would not use the technique except as a last resort before finally giving in. When Ichigo left his inner world with the knowledge of the Final Getsuga in tow, the constant rainstorm in his inner world that the zanpakuto and inner hollow so often bemoaned quieted down, and the floodwaters began to recede. The wry looks that lit the residents' faces at the change in weather were appreciated only between themselves. It was a twisted world indeed when one so young as their master found peace in the knowledge of his own demise if it meant he could bring down his greatest enemy as well.
And now, the two greatest powers of the three worlds stood locked in the battle that would determine once and for all the fate of the afterlife. The final battle was taking place, most appropriately, in the ruins of Karakura Town, where the war had started. This time, Aizen himself had appeared on the battlefield instead of sending another horde of his newly created arrancar, and every shinigami worth his mettle had come to partake of the conflict. Knowing that he was the only one who could even stand a chance against the former captain at this point, Ichigo had rushed him immediately, trying to keep the battle in the air and away from the others in order to minimize the number of shinigami crushed under the forces of their combined reiatsu. The clang of steel clashing upon steel filled the air, a lethal dance punctuated by Ceros and Kido spells. When it soon became clear that the skirmishes on the ground were insignificant in the face of the duel above, the ground battles gradually came to a halt, and all turned their faces to the two individuals who would decide the outcome of the war.
High above, similar thoughts passed through the minds of the two men now facing each other. The combatants came together and parted in an intricate dance that few were able to follow for the sheer speed of their movements. Both were fighting to kill, and for a while, they seemed at an impasse. For each strike that the shinigami seeking godhood received, the power of the hogyoku equally strengthened him, rendering the shinigami immortal. The human-shinigami-hollow hybrid meanwhile refused to die or waver in his resolve, instant regeneration rushing to cover his various wounds in a white, shell-like shield even as his energy flagged dangerously. Both beings knew the end was drawing near. Only one of them would survive this battle and be declared the victor. That knowledge only made each strike more desperate and brutal. Ichigo tried time and again to find some weakness in Aizen's seemingly impenetrable defense, and Aizen goaded Ichigo on, sure of his own victory and silently urging him to make the move that would thrust him into transcendence.
Ichigo knew that he didn't have much left in him. As strong as his resolve was, there was only so much his body could take before giving out on him, and the battle had been drawn out far longer than he would have liked. No, now only two options remained: the Final Getsuga Tenshou, or one last shot with everything thrown in. Through the din surrounding him, Ichigo remembered his promise to Zangetsu- that he would only use the technique when all else failed and there existed no other option. As desperate as the situation seemed, Ichigo did not want to betray the trust that his zanpakuto spirit had shown in him by teaching him this final technique. No, he would pour his all into one parting shot, and pray that it be enough. Decision made, Ichigo waited until his enemy drew close enough before he rushed forward, ignoring the slew of new wounds that opened on his body, and aiming his attack at a point-blank range that not even Aizen could hope to escape. "Getsuga Cero."
The energy was released from the daito in a black and red mass, and engulfed the ex-Captain. They could see the hogyoku shining brightly in its attempt to hold its master together, the light battling the darkness trying to overwhelm it. While the two powers struggled, Aizen's continuously degrading and reconstructing form flickered into view, and there was a brief lull in the frenzy as the two individuals gazed upon each other, respect for their opponent's skill and hatred at what the other represented reflected in their eyes. A few precious seconds passed before the darkness overwhelmed the light, and the image of the traitor was torn into a million pieces that were consumed by the dark energy.
Exhausted, Ichigo fell from the sky in his shikai form. Out of instinct, he righted himself before landing in a graceless heap that still managed to dissipate most of the impact from the fall. Looking around, he saw a few familiar faces approach him in congratulations. A handshake here, pat on the back there, none of the childish cheering or squealing so unbefitting of the death trap that this place had become. He himself felt none of the exuberance that some would have expected at securing victory. And really, the only thing that changed was that one more life had been extinguished, admittedly a life that sought to make itself a god, but ultimately just one more soul, one more existence extinguished at the hands of Kursoaki Ichigo. No, there was only emptiness within him, an acceptance of the fact that he did not have to fight so hard anymore.
The surviving shinigami were rounding up the remaining hollows, who had surrendered once their leader and strongest fighter had fallen, or were helping those who were too wounded to travel by themselves. In a daze, Ichigo grabbed the first two wounded he saw, supporting one on each side, and also made his way towards the hospice areas. This back and forth motion continued, none of the passing faces quite registering, but all exhibiting an exhaustion that undoubtedly showed on his own face as well. After a while, Ichigo made his way back to his own tent where he dropped onto the few blankets that comprised his bed, battle grime and all, and promptly fell asleep.
The tickling of a hell butterfly carrying a summons to the Central 46 roused Ichigo from his light doze. Taking a few minutes to make himself presentable, Ichigo made his way grumbling to the Central 46 Compound. Out of all the days to make him report, it had to be the one right after a fight to the death with Aizen. Despite his reluctance, Ichigo handed Zangetsu to the shinigami in the atrium as decorum dictated before entering the main chamber. As much as he hated being separated from his partner, he was too tired to fight the windbags about it as he usually did. He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, taking comfort instead in his ability to summon Zangetsu should the need arise. Standing tall before the assembly, Ichigo waited to be addressed by the nobles.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, former Substitute Shinigami to Karakura Town, Visored, and Captain of the Fourteenth Division. Do you affirm yourself to be the individual in question, and acknowledge the titles given?"
"I do."
"Captain Kurosaki, relate to the council the happenings of the last twenty-four hours."
"The last battle against Aizen commenced when an army of arrancar numbering around 200 entered Soul Society via garganta. Squads Three, Eleven and Fourteen were dispatched to meet the threat. The rest of the squads were called in when Aizen joined the battle with reinforcements. I myself engaged Aizen and defeated him. The remaining hollows surrendered, and our wounded are being treated by the Fourth Division healers. I don't know much about the fighting on the ground, but I'm sure more details will come in once the other squads submit their reports."
"How did you manage to defeat the traitor?"
"I hit him with a Getsuga Cero, a combination of Getsuga Tenshou and a Cero Oscuras."
"And these are techniques that are part of your bankai release?" Ichigo frowned. That last question seemed out of place.
"Yes and no. I can use Getsuga Tenshou in both my shikai and bankai, and Cero Oscuras is part of my Visored powers."
"Do you admit to having entered hollow form when you confronted the traitor Aizen?" Ichigo tensed. How would they know about that? As they said, the battle had taken place within the last 24 hours, and no reports should have been filed yet.
Zangetsu-ossan, do you know what's going on? No response came, and Ichigo became concerned. It wasn't like the old man to be quiet like this. In fact, Shirosaki was being unusually quiet as well.
"Answer the question, Captain Kurosaki." Now alarm bells were definitely going off in Ichigo's head.
"It was necessary," he answered cautiously, and low murmurs filled the chamber. A shuffling noise drew Ichigo's attention, but he couldn't make out the source amongst all the dark forms. When the speaker from before raised his voice again, the errant murmurs subsided.
"In light of the evidence presented before our persons, the Central 46 has no option but to declare Kurosaki Ichigo a dangerous person and a threat of the highest priority." Before the words were fully out of the councilman's mouth, Ichigo felt several high level bakudo slam into him. Cursing his momentary lapse in attention, Ichigo raised his spiritual pressure. Like hell a few kido spells would restrain him. He hadn't survived a decade of war to go down like this. Just as he was about to break out of the last barrier, he felt his spiritual pressure hit a wall before it was abruptly forced back into himself. The sudden shift left Ichigo nauseated, and the few seconds he reeled from the impact was all that was needed to secure a few more reiatsu suppressors onto his person. In the back of his head, Ichigo could hear outraged cries from Zangetsu and Shirosaki, and he belatedly realized that their earlier silence had not been voluntary.
Staggering forward, Ichigo cried out, "What the fuck is going on?" even as he fought against the kido spells that were struggling to hold him in place. Ichigo ground his teeth in frustration. Breaking out of such restraints was usually chid's play, but the last battle against Aizen had taken a good deal out of him, and the reiatsu suppressors couple with the separation from Zangetsu and Shiro, however they managed that, rendered him to weak to break through.
"This war has proven the immediate danger hollows pose to Soul Society. The complacency of before will no longer continue. Any and all hollow activity is to be considered a threat and must be removed immediately. Kurosaki Ichigo, as a Visored, you harbor a hollow within your soul, and so also pose a threat to the peace of Soul Society. The appearance of your hollow self in this last battle is proof of this. By decree of the Central 46, Kurosaki Ichigo is guilty of conspiring with enemy forces."
"Bullshit! Conspiring with enemy forces! I just fucking killed Aizen!"
"For your crime, the appropriate punishment is death. However, in light of your services to Soul Society, your punishment will be reduced to a permanent seal on your powers and imprisonment in Muken until further notice. Take away the prisoner."
Ropes attached to the reiatsu-suppressing collar around Ichigo's neck, and with his hands restrained behind him by means of a kido spell, a howling Ichigo was led out of the chambers like a common criminal. Just as he thought things couldn't get worse, Murphy's Law made its presence known once again in his fucked-up life in the form of Captain Kurotsuchi wearing his signature creepy grin and a gleam in his eye that promised trouble.
"Move aside, fools. We will take the prisoner from here."
The head of the procession stepped forward to reply, "Captain Kurotsuchi, we have orders from the Central 46 to escort the prisoner to the Muken directly. I'm afraid we cannot release the prisoner into your custody."
"You worthless scum! Do you know how valuable of a specimen you're about to waste? Of course not. Now step aside." When no one showed any inclination to move, Kurotsuchi turned to his Lieutenant. "Nemu, you useless girl, don't just stand there. Go and collect the specimen."
Lieutenant Kurotsuchi stepped forward to the sound of something depressurizing, and before anyone could react, the guards bent over coughing and wheezing before finally passing out. Taking advantage of the monetary lapse in security, Ichigo started to escape via shunpo, only to be jerked back by the new restraints materializing around him. Of all the captains, he had to run into the mad scientist who undoubtedly had panned for him a fate worse than he was already assigned. Ichigo didn't have long to fully reflect on the gravity of his situation before he felt the tell-tale prick against his neck of a syringe penetrating his skin, and his world was plunged in blackness.
When Ichigo regained consciousness, he found himself in one of the many laboratories within the Twelfth Division compound. The day's events rushing back to him, Ichigo lurched upright, and was brought crashing back down to the examination table that he was lying upon. A panicked cry escaped his throat as he fought to free himself, possibly setting off every alarm in the vicinity in the process, and before long, he was surrounded by various lab coat clad shinigami trying to subdue him.
Oh, he resisted at first, of course. He clawed, bit, thrashed, and fired ceros in every which direction. Or at least, he tried. The thrice-damned reiatsu suppressors greatly reduced his strength, and whenever he flared his spiritual pressure beyond a designated point, they punished him with a shock of electricity, effectively freezing his muscles until he was freed by one of the upper seats. Several escape attempts taught him not to underestimate the security that Kurotsuchi had placed around him. The man made Kiskuke seem like a harmless kitten. Through the torture and pain that now defined his world, Ichigo wondered if he not suffered enough. What sin had he committed to be condemned to this never-ending hell?
The absence of Zangetsu and Shirosaki only made the situation worse. The multiple struggles for control against Shirosaki had led to a tentative partnership followed by an uneasy friendship, and Ichigo had learned to trust his hollow to help train him and get him out of messy spots when impatience and short temper got the better of him. He had always known intellectually that his hollow represented the part of him that he hated about himself. But then the war had come, and had shown more than clearly enough just how much a part of him Shirosaki was. Forced to make decisions where there was no right answer, when death surrounded him and the only way out was to kill and fight a way out, he had slowly come to accept Shiro's existence. How could he reject a part of his soul when the war was putting into such clear relief the similarities between the two? Their approach might be different, but at the end of the day, Shiro was the fighting instinct that kept him alive when he was too tired to respond to anything else, and they both strove to become stronger and live to fight another day. Losing Shirosaki felt akin to losing a brother, and Ichigo realized just how important the hollow had become to him. The remaining silence was as jarring as it was disorienting, and he felt lost without the constant voices filling his head alternately with sage council and rude commentary.
Ichigo's time in the Twelfth division gradually became a blur of alternating pain and numbness. Certainly, Kurotsuchi Mayuri tried very hard to keep Ichigo responsive throughout the experiments, but the human mind could take only so much. After a while, most thoughts were lost in favor of the blankness that kept him from focusing too much on the perpetual pain or the helplessness of his situation. He stopped counting the number of times he had been vivisected and had unknown substances injected into his bloodstream. Actually, it was surprising that he was still alive. Funny, how Kurotsuchi could manage to keep things alive if he put his mind to it.
Currently, Ichigo was housed in a liquid-filled cylinder. He didn't bother wondering about how he wasn't drowning in the liquid surrounding him, but the cylinder was undoubtedly made out of some extra-sturdy reiatsu-reinforced polymer that would resist attacks long enough for reinforcements to come. Finding nothing else to hold his attention, Ichigo withdrew into the darkness again. The next time his mind stirred enough for coherent thought was to the familiar sensation of being laid on an examination table. They had managed to bring out his hollow form, and in the pain-filled haze, Ichigo vaguely wondered how many arrancars Kurotsuchi had experimented on before figured out how to make hierro-piercing scalpels and needles.
Everything changed the day they moved him, which was noteworthy because thus far he had been kept in solitary confinement. Deemed too dangers to leave in the presence of other test subjects, his storage and experimentation had been done under the careful direction of Captain or Lieutenant Kurotsuchi. From the uneven bumping and jerking, Ichigo gathered that the metal slab he was lying on was being carted somewhere, and the words "reorganize" and "temporary storage" managed to filter through, not that he cared much in the murky suspension that now comprised his existence.
At some point, the movement stopped, and Ichigo began to lazily survey his new surroundings. The movement came to a screeching halt once the scene around him finally registered. There, on similar metal slabs lay the bodies of several Espada that he had fought during the war, and there a few of the Visored that were declared MIA. There, in a separate area was displayed an arrangement of zanpakutos (of course Zangetsu was not among them) that had not been allowed to disappear with the death of their masters' souls in various stages of release. And finally, there. Ichigo's eyes widened a fraction and his eyes gained a single spark of life even as his mind struggled to reawaken and figure out why the scene in front of him was possible. He had been there, he had watched as their bodies were buried in the ground without ceremony because there wasn't enough time amidst all the fighting. But somehow, they had been brought out of their resting places- Orihime's hair clips, Chad's armor-clad arms, Ishida's pentacle cross, as well as samples of hair, flesh, and blood. Hadn't he ensured that they'd be left alone? Hadn't he witnessed Soul Society recognize them as heroes of the Winter War? Then how were they here? How were they in this hell with him when they were innocent? And he knew he had failed them. First in life and then in death, he had failed to protect them. He had failed to fulfill his purpose, the purpose which his very name declared.
As for the questions at hand, there could be only a few possible answers, and they made Ichigo's blood boil with rage. Either Seiertei had been putting on an elaborate charade for him or they had been secretly exhumed. Whatever the case, it didn't matter any more to Ichigo. So he had failed in his mission as a protector, but at least he could use what remained of his life to wreak vengeance on their tormentors. They had fought, bled, and even died for the afterlife. And even in death, they were not allowed peace. All he knew was a cold rage at Soul Society. Not for the first time, he wished he had died in that last battle against Aizen. Not for the first time, he acknowledged the corruption in Soul Society that was rotting it from the inside out and that had inspired Aizen's treachery. But for the first time, he wished death and destruction with his entire being, his very soul cried out for blood, and he swore a slow and painful death for Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
For once, the universe respond to Ichigo's plea. The alarms blared through the halls of the RDI, alerting the scientists to an intruder. Ichigo briefly wondered if someone had come to save him, but the thought died a quick death; everyone in Soul Society had given up on him by now. The alarms were now joined by the pounding sound of many running feet, and in the opportune distraction, Ichigo overwhelmed his restraints. He knew he would be punished for the attempt but the pain be damned. It didn't matter now, anyway. This chance would probably never come again, and even if the restraints didn't kill him, either he would die one way or another. He no longer cared to live, and any fate was better than that of a lab rat to satisfy Kurotsuchi's curiosity.
To say that the reciprocating pain was intense would have been an understatement. Ichigo's resolve nearly faltered, but gritting his teeth, he finally broke his restraints, and immediately lost consciousness out of exhaustion. Ichigo woke to the sound of blaring alarms and shouted orders. Pulling himself to his feet, he mentally called out to Zangetsu, hoping that the various experiments had not severed his connection with his zanpakuto. Ichigo sagged with relief when he felt the familiar presence of his mentor and friend. Although it was faint, it was there. He could also feel his hollow stirring, for which he was grateful. With their return, he was complete again. The connection to the other parts of his soul might be tentative, but hell would freeze over before he let them go again. Ichigo concentrated on his connection to Zangetsu, and pulled. He scrambled for a better grip when the link wavered from the sudden movement, but fed a continuous stream of his reiatsu into the link, feeling the bond strengthen and solidify after a few minutes of the transfer. He pulled the bond towards him again, and felt the familiar weight travel his direction. When the zanpakuto arrived, Ichigo immediately saw the reason for the silence. Zangetsu, still in his shikai release, had been covered in a reiatsu-draining sheathe. Immediately, Ichigo pounded mercilessly into the vile covering until he stood triumphant with Zangetsu in his red and blistering hands.
Yo King. 'Bout time you snapped out of it. Thought you might've forgotten 'bout us.
Hello to you too, Shiro.
As Shirosaki said, you should not have allowed your resolve to waver so easily. That being said, it is good to be back.
Mentally sending his gratitude and welcome to both of his zanpakuto spirit and inner hollow, Ichigo hastily made his way out the door and through the corridors. The first order of business was to find the Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He might not be in the best shape, but he had enough strength to kill the bastard, and considering that he was already in the heart of the Twelfth Division, such a clear shot might not present itself again. Rounding another corner, Ichigo saw exactly what the commotion was about. In the middle of the courtyard stood Aizen, the easy confidence of his bearing in stark contrast to the chaos surrounding him. Wondering if he was hallucinating, Ichigo shook his head and blinked a few times before taking another look, but Aizen still remained, this time sporting a bemused look on his face.
"This is no illusion, Kurosaki Ichigo. Rather, you are the only one who remains free of Kyoga Suigetsu's influence, a veritable accomplishment on which I must commend you." Without taking his eyes off Aizen, Ichigo took quick stock of the situation, and found that indeed, the chaos moved around them rather than centering on them. A part of him begrudgingly thanked Aizen for diverting the attention- not that he'd ever admit it aloud- since he really didn't need to fight on two fronts.
"How are you still alive?"
"Still so naive. Did you truly think that you could defeat me with such a flimsy technique? My life is sustained by the hogyoku. What you saw disintegrate was my adaptation of Urahara's portable gigai."
You know, sometimes life just really sucks, but who was Ichigo to complain? It was about time he accepted his role as the universe's whipping boy and resident laughing stock. The situation that he managed to land himself in this time had pretty much assured his place in the Catch-22 Hall of Fame. If he were to defeat Aizen here and now and still survive, he would be too spent to resist recapture by the shinigami, and he had no intention of becoming Kurotsuchi's lab rat again. If he were to flee and regroup for a future assault, Aizen would succeed in his takeover of Soul Society and dethronement of the Soul King before he reached spitting distance of Sereitei. Even his prospects of restarting as a newly dead soul were grim at best. No existence under Aizen's rule was worth mentioning, and he rather doubted the Soul Society would leave him alone even if all of his memories were erased; he would remain a fugitive. And without anyone to protect, the purpose of his existence would end with Aizen's and Kurotsuchi's deaths- Soul Society in and of itself was necessary to the balance of the afterlife, and he had no intention of following in Aizen's footsteps. Fuck.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Not helping, Shiro. Any bright ideas, old man?
It seems there is no preferable solution. It seems we must choose the least of the evils.
Too much yapping. I say skewer the bastard 'til he's good and dead, then kill Kurotsuchi, and fight off anyone stupid enough to try standing in our way.
Will you stop spouting that crap? We don't have enough power right now to do that. I thought you wanted to keep us alive.
That IS the only way to stay alive, King. Fight and get stronger. If you don't got the balls to do that, move aside so I can get us out of here. You don't have the power to fight? Well I do.
I told you, that's not happening!
Move aside, King. It was you who got us in this mess in the first place, and I'm not sitting by while you get yourself killed or caught again.
Enough, both of you. We don't have time for your squabbling. Our only option is to deal with each obstacle as they come, and the most immediate threat is defeating Aizen. With that, all attention was focused on the figure approaching Ichigo.
"Why do you hesitate to attack, Kurosaki? It's unlike you to hesitate or to hold back."
"Shut up, you bastard. Don't pretend to know me."
"But I do. Remember that it was I who made you who you are, that it was I who watched over you and orchestrated every step in your development. The Winter War, as you call it, was only a stepping stone in my evolution into a transcendent being and ascendance to the throne of the Soul King. It was the perfect stage to eliminate threats to my future reign, and now, you are the last obstacle that remains. Shatter, Kyoga Suigetsu."
Before the release phrase finished, Ichigo quickly shut his eyes, and searched for Aizen's reiatsu signature. During the war, Ichigo's level of reiatsu suppression, which had always impaired his ability to sense the reiatsu of those around him, had improved to the point where the constantly flowing faucet was reduced to a small leak, or at least a small leak by his standards. Captain Commander Yamamoto, who had best identify with Ichigo's problem with his own vast reiatsu stores, had been the one to successfully teach Ichigo how to control his spirit pressure. Ichigo's first attempts at reiatsu suppression had been disastrous to put it mildly. Ranging from an exhausted Ichigo after hours of no progress to fearsome backlashes when he did succeed, Ichigo had quickly grown frustrated and frequently lashed out against his mentor. Only the fact that his presence was causing discomfort for the unranked shinigami and that the effect was steadily becoming worse had kept him vigilant in this task. The last thing he wanted was to crush his friends and further weaken his allies with his reiatsu when they were suffering enough already from the war.
Ichigo frowned. He had suppressed his spiritual pressure to the point where he could easily sense anyone but the true masters of reiatsu control, but Aizen was nowhere to be found. Ichigo was about to expand his awareness when pain erupted across his back. Focusing to keep his eyes shut against the pain and shock, Ichigo whirled around in confusion. He should have at least felt something before the strike, but even now, there was no sign of his opponent.
"Are you wondering why you cannot sense my spiritual pressure? It is because I am a transcendent being. The power of your last attack was enough to push me to the final stage of my evolution. Your own existence remains firmly fixed in this dimension, and as long as that remains true, you cannot hope to touch me. Surrender, Kurosaki. You have been outmaneuvered and outmatched."
Inside, Ichigo rebelled against Aizen's words. He had been pitted against impossible odds before and come out victorious. There was no reason why this should be any different. As Zangetsu said, he had to focus on one battle at a time, and he would win this one! With a loud battle cry, Ichigo lashed out in the direction that the voice had been coming from, and focused his reiatsu on his other senses in the hope that they would give him warning enough for him to react to any attacks. He had barely finished his first swing when it suddenly became a challenge for him to move let alone breathe.
"Why so surprised, Kurosaki? Did you think that because my spiritual pressure could not be felt that it does not exist? How quaint. I had hoped you would understand without my explaining. I now stand on a plane of existence separate from all other beings. It is only for that reason that you fools cannot feel my spiritual pressure. Were we to stand on the same plane of existence, my very presence would be enough to reduce Soul Society to spirit particles. What you are feeling now is but a fraction of my spiritual pressure, simplified so that even your primitive soul can start to comprehend some of it. Do you understand now? You are only alive because I permit it.
"You have performed well, Kurosaki Ichigo. Exult in the knowledge that you were the instrument of my ascent and the dawn of a new era, although you not be present to admire it. I can't allow you to interrupt my plans in this life or the next, and your zanpakuto spirit and inner hollow will be separated from your human soul. We can't risk your retaining your memories or regaining your powers after death, now can we? Farewell, Kurosaki Ichigo." With that, Kyoga Suigetsu descended upon the orange-head to cleave him in twain, and the scene erupted in spiritual pressure.
Even if Aizen's spiritual pressure had not been holding him still, the threat of separation from Zangetsu and Shirosaki so soon after their reunion rendered Ichigo's limbs motionless. The guilt and self-loathing at the fact that he had played straight into Aizen's hands paled in comparison to the abject terror that Ichigo felt at the prospect of being alone again. As he watched the blade descend, Ichigo acted without thought or reason to his fear. He grabbed all three parts of his soul and merged them into one. The resulting explosion of reiatsu rocked the whole of Soul Society and leveled the Twelfth Division compound as well as a few surrounding it. When the whirlwind of reiatsu died down, taking with it all traces of Ichigo's spiritual pressure, there remained in the crater a being of long black hair wearing a black, horned helmet, a white bankai coat and black hakama. In that act of desperation, Ichigo had attained transcendence himself.
Casting aside the zanpakuto that he had blocked with his left hand, Ichigo lunged toward the other transcendent, initiating a furious exchange of blows. Throughout the duel, Aizen's words continued to haunt him. His loved ones had died because he had failed to protect them. It was his failure that brought down his friends and family. His failure that Aizen now perched on the threshold of victory. But no more. At least, in his final act, he could avenge his loved ones. A steely glint appeared in Ichigo's eyes, and he renewed his assault on the transcendent before him.
Zangetsu, Shirosaki, I think I found a third option in our Catch-22, and I'm taking it. Please forgive me. There was no response, not that he expected any. He was Zangetsu, he was Shirosaki, and he was Kurosaki Ichigo. They three were one being, with only a single voice to represent them, and accountable only to himself. Ichigo watched Aizen's next stabbing stroke, but instead of parrying it, accepted the blow into his abdomen. Ignoring the searing pain and the blood filling his mouth, Ichigo grabbed the hilt protruding from his stomach, and buried his own katana into his opponent's chest right where the hogyoku rested. Looking straight into Aizen's eyes, Ichigo allowed himself a small smirk, and uttered a single word. "Mugetsu."
The rush of spirit pressure that left him made Ichigo light-headed, but he held firm both to the hand gripping Kyoga Suigetsu and to his own katana, effectively preventing Aizen from disengaging himself. Aizen's struggles grew wilder, knowing that neither transcendent would survive the last attack, and that not even the hogyoku would be able to prevent his demise. Aizen's mouth opened in a silent scream as his body dissolved into reishi, and the hogyoku burning brightly shuddered in his chest.
As Ichigo too succumbed to the pain of his soul being torn apart spirit particle by spirit particle, he briefly wondered where everything had gone wrong, how things could have been different. But there was no going back and no use in wondering about what if's. All things considered, he would have it no other way.
A/N: Please leave a review on your way out.