All right, this is the first of hopefully many Bleach stories I hope to write on this site.
This is a challenge fic from Storylover213 and the basics of it is: What if it wasn't Zangetsu that Ichigo awakened, but a different Zanpakuto.
It is an OC zanpakuto, not another from the series.
The Pairings will be Ichigo/Yoruichi/Rangiku.
"Humans Talking" - "Bring it on"
'Human Thoughts' - 'What did I do to deserve this'
"Attacks/Hollow Talking" - "Getsuga Tensho!" "Oh Hell!"
"Damn you Hat and Clogs! I'm going to kick your ass straight in to next week when I get out of here!"
"Idle threats aren't going to help you escape any sooner, Ichigo, or stop the encroachment process, so less talking, more escaping!"
"You're fucking dead!"
"Language! There are Children present!"
The incredibly annoyed and angered voice of Ichigo Kurosaki echoed up through the deep pit he was currently sitting in, the Shattered Shaft, a test to awaken his dormant Shinigami powers. The orange haired teen tried to run up the wall of the pit, his arms restrained behind his back by one Tessai Tsukabishi, only for an incredible surge of pain to shoot through his body, he slipped and fell on his back.
'Dammit! What am I going to do?' Ichigo thought, he looked down at his chest, the devouring mouths of the links that had been eating away at themselves calmed down, but only for the time being.
'I can't become a hollow…I can't…I Won't, I have to save Rukia!' he thought, giving himself a boost of energy, jumping to his feet and running full speed towards the shaft wall and made it a quarter of the way, only for the encroachment process to begin again, Ichigo cursed as the pain shot through his body again, he overcame it long enough to flip and land safely on his feet.
Kisuke Urahara, the owner of a quaint and rather sketchy looking candy shop and Ichigo's temporary sensei, looked down at the withering teen beneath the brim of his striped white and green hat, his face looking all the more grim because of it. His two children assistants, Jinta Hanakari, a red headed, and rather disrespectful young boy and Ururu Tsumigiya, a dark haired, soft spoken young girl, looked over the edge at the teen, waiting to see what would happen.
"He's not going to make it, is he?" Jinta asked. Urahara didn't answer.
'That's 54 hours and counting Ichigo, figure something out fast or you're as good as dead' Urahara thought, he had thought the orange haired teen would've figured out some way to get out, possibly causing a big scene with a flashy exit, but now he was beginning to have his doubts.
'For some reason, I highly doubt we'll be able to kill him if he does turn in to a Hollow' Urahara thought 'let's see what you can do, Ichigo.'
Forest in Karakura Town...
A blue haired young man sat cross-legged on a flat stone, seemingly in a meditative trance. In his subconscious, he could feel the energy of the surrounding nature encircle him, gathering from every nearby plant, animal, even single blades of grass.
Dark blue eyes snapped open and the pale skinned young man stood up, creating a bow of energy around his right hand and drawing back with his left, an arrow of energy forming.
"Let us begin" he fired at the nearby waterfall.
Karakura Streets...
A lone black cat walked the afternoon streets of Karakura town, mild mannerly staring at the passing humans, the smaller children would try to forcefully pull it by the tail only for the cat to avoid their grasp or to be chastised by the parent, while some of the older ones would scratch it behind the ear, and both parties would be on their way.
The cat stopped, a gleam in one of its golden eyes and its tail swaying as it spied an auburn haired girl with an impressive bust wearing a pink shirt and floral pattern long skirt. And a tall Hispanic boy in a red Hawaiian shirt with yellow floral pattern and blue pants.
'Targets acquired' The black cat disappeared in an impressive burst of speed.
The two of them stopped seeing a black cat sitting in front of them, its tail happily swaying.
"Awww, It's so cute!" the auburn haired girl said, picking the cat up in her arms.
"Why thank you" The Hispanic boy and auburn haired girl looked each other curiously.
"Was that you, Chad?" the girl asked, the boy shaking his head no.
"It was me" There was that same, deep male voice again. The two of them then slowly turned their attention to the cat in the girl's arms.
"Hello there" the cat spoke.
Oh, what fresh hell is this?
Urahara's Training Grounds...
Ururu and Jinta came back down the ladder from the shop above, the timid girl handing her employer a cup of tea while the redhead jumped in to the pit. Jinta landed in front of Ichigo who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, going over different ways to escape the hole he was in.
"Hey carrot top, I brought you some food" Jinta said, placing the basket of fruit on the ground.
"I'm not hungry" Ichigo said, looking at the rock walls that surrounded him, Tessai sitting a few feet behind him to keep him contained in his bindings.
"Well that's good, let me let you in on a little secret; the first sign of Hollowfication is having an appetite in soul form, followed by loss of thirst…" Jinta said; a grim look on his young face, Ichigo just looked at the redhead with his patented scowl.
"A hole will tear open in your chest, your humanity will be lost, the line between friend and enemy will completely vanish, all they'll be is food to you, as it begins your organs will shut down one by one, liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, and when all of them are gone, the heart is the last one to go, your mask will form and you'll nothing more than a mindless beast with an insatiable hunger for souls " Jinta said, leaning against the rock wall.
Ichigo glared at the child, his scowl deepening. Before he could angrily retort, the redhead smirked.
"How was that Boss?" Jinta yelled up to the two still on the outside.
"Perfect Jinta! It looks like you really freaked him out with that whole organ failing speech!" Urahara yelled down. A large tic mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead, his left eye started to twitch, but it stopped just as the pain of the fifth encroachment cycle began to wear down.
"You've been down here for 70 hours, you're running out of time Carrot top" Ichigo ignored the jab at his hair color, he took in a deep breath and exhaled, his eyes snapped open.
"All right! This time I've got it!" Ichigo waited for the encroachment to stop and he ran full tilt for the wall of the pit, he ran up and made it a quarter of the way again, this time kicking off to the other side and back.
"Haha! I'm coming for you, you blond haired bastard!" Ichigo said with a wide grin, he saw Urahara's face at the halfway point, it was still grim, a second later, it felt as though every last cell in Ichigo's body exploded in white hot flames, a pained scream tore from his throat, he fell in mid-air and struck the ground with loud.
Bang!
Ichigo bounced up and then struck the ground. He was still and he never saw the final link devour itself. That detail though, did not go unnoticed by Urahara and his employees.
'…It begins' Urahara thought.
Brown eyes opened, not meeting the sheer blue sky of Urahara's artificial training ground, but a midnight black sky with a crescent moon hanging over him, thin clouds slowly drifting across the expansion of black, illuminated by the white light of the moon.
"What the hell?" Ichigo mumbled as he sat up. He was sitting in the middle of a rocky, desert terrain; he could see large rock formations in the distance all around him, varying in sizes. He shielded his as a mild breeze came by, picking up loose sand.
"Where the hell am I?" he asked, "Is anyone out here?" Ichigo yelled, his voice echoing as it bounced off of the rocks.
"Oi, People are trying to sleep" Ichigo spun around to see a middle aged man with shaggy, messy dark brown hair, the moonlight bounced off of his black sunglasses on his head. He had dark grey eyes, a bored and slightly annoyed look on his face. He had white bandages wrapped around his forearms to his elbows. Nothing over his torso, revealing battle scarred skin, grey camo pants and black combat boots.
Ichigo was shocked at first, but then returned to his normal serious scowl.
"Where the hell am I? And more importantly…" he raised a finger to point at the man, "Who are you?"
The annoyance became slightly more apparent on the man's face, "I've lost count of how many times I've told you my name and yet you still refuse to listen…" he jammed a thumb in to his own chest.
"My name is…" his mouth moved but no sound came out.
"I didn't hear you, speak up" Ichigo said. The man sighed.
"I guess you're still not ready to hear my name…what a pain…" the man said, scratching the back of his head. Ichigo glared at the man.
"You still haven't answered my other question, where. The hell. Am I" Ichigo said a little more forcefully, the man gave him a half-hearted glare.
"Watch your tone with me kid, if I don't get my 23 hours of sleep I'm not in the best of moods, I was at 22 when you oh so rudely woke me up, Sigh, we're in something along the lines of your subconscious, an inner world created from your dormant Shinigami powers" he said, Ichigo came to a realization at that moment, about who the man was.
"You're my zanpakuto, aren't you?" Ichigo said.
"Ding ding ding! Maybe you have some brains after all" he said in a mocking tone, Ichigo glaring at him.
"Sigh, Ichigo, as of This moment, on the outside, you're turning in to a Hollow" this shocked Ichigo once again, the ground began to shake and crack apart.
"What? No, that's impossible; I still have two hours left!" Ichigo said loudly, refusing to believe that he had lost his only opportunity to save Rukia and was about to turn in to a creature he had sworn to kill.
"The process sped up because of the desperation that you felt in your heart, your fear of failing and despair of your time running out, this only accelerated your turning in to a Hollow. Because of this transformation, you're slowly losing your humanity and soon your soul will be no more, but you still have a chance" the ground burst and hundreds of sets of gauntlets and greaves were thrown in to the air where they seemed to float around, along with large chunks of earth.
"One of these sets is your Zanpakuto, a representation of your dormant Shinigami powers, I've given you the means to become strong again, It is up to you to find it" the man said.
"These aren't even swords!" Ichigo said loudly, looking around frantically ", And they all look the same!" He was right, each set of Gauntlets and greaves were pure black, no distinguishing marks among them as far as he could see.
"Hell if I know, they all look the same, so better get to work Gaki, You've got about five minutes, that gas Urahara put at the bottom of the pit is also going to speed up your Hollowfication" the man said, falling back on a bed shaped slab of rock that started floating high in to the air.
"Damn Bastard! I should kick his ass first" Ichigo grumbled, he jumped away as the ground started to crumble away under his feet, he stepped on to a floating rock and jumped up to the first set in his sights, he grabbed them, but they turned to dust on contact.
"All right, one down," he looked around ", about a million freaking more to go" The orange haired teen jumped around from floating rock to floating rock, grasping at whatever set of weapons were in arms reach, only for them to turn to ash.
'Better hurry kid, Even though I'd like nothing more than to keep sleeping, I'd rather not die just yet' the man thought as he gazed up at the stars above, ignoring the crumbling earth below.
Reality...
"Rrrrrrraaaaaaghhh! Ahhhhaaahhhaaah! Rrraaaaaagghh!" the ground of the training facility shook at the sheer volume and force of the pained screams of the orange haired Kurosaki boy. A Hole partially torn open in his chest as he thrashed around violently on the stone ground, a white liquid substance poured out, rising to his face and spreading out over the remainder of his chest.
Jinta was pressed against the stone wall in fear, an incredible pressure was being exerted from the orange haired teen, a pressure so intense that Jinta's throat and lungs felt like they were being constricted, making breathing more difficult with each passing second. Tessai was straining to keep Ichigo under wraps with the simple Bakudo he was using.
"Boss! What do we do?" Tessai yelled, not taking his eyes off of the former Shinigami. Urahara was in silent awe, the pressure Ichigo was giving off was incredible for a bodiless soul, he would go as far to say that it was nearly that of a Captain class Shinigami.
'The Hollowfication process normally begins with the body exploding and then reforming, then forms the mask last, but this…the mask is forming first and should have by now due to the gas at the bottom on the shaft…Is it possible…!' the Shopkeeper took a step back and held on to his hat as the pressure flared, Ururu fainted and he caught her, but kept his eyes on the screaming teen, the mask was still forming, but it was going much more slowly than he had expected it too.
"Ichigo…He's fighting the Hollowfication…I've definitely underestimated this kid" he mumbled to himself, as the flare died down, Urahara stepped up to the edge.
"Tessai! Do what you have to! Keep him restrained!"
"But boss-" the large man was interrupted.
"I have faith in him! I have a feeling that this kid has a few more surprises in store for us" Urahara yelled down, the former Kido Corps Commander nodded and made a series of hand signs.
"Dopperugengā!" (Doppelganger) Tessai's shadow expanded and from it rose and black and white exact copy of the bespectacled man.
"That's new" Urahara said tipping his hat upwards. The original changed the hand seal while the shadow copy made its own move.
"Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku!" (Way of Binding #63 Chainlink Chain Bonds) Yellow energy chains appeared and wrapped around Ichigo's body, but within a few seconds, the restraints were already straining to hold the orange haired teen.
"Rrraaaggghhh Aaaaaggghhh!" Ichigo's voice was slightly distorted as he screamed in agony, his body trying to shatter the bonds.
"Bakudo #99 Part One: Kin!" (Way of Binding #99 Part One: Seal) Black fabric cross in an X-shape appeared over Ichigo the moment Tessai called out his technique, slamming down on the orange haired teen and pinning him to the ground, iron rods fell from the sky and fell evenly in place, pinning the thrashing Ichigo to the ground. Despite that, the former Shinigami continued to fight against the bindings.
The shadow called out another technique, "Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan!" (Way of Binding #63: 100 Step Rail Parch) The shadow jumped in to the air with a length of black connecting him to the ground, forming a blue energy staff, he spun it above his head before throwing it down, splitting in to hundred more, adding to the force pinning Ichigo to the ground, but he continued to fight.
'Ichigo…don't mess around, I really don't want to be the one to explain your death to your father' Urahara thought
Inner World...
"That's set number 31…" the man said as he heard the familiar sound of a Gauntlet and greave set dissolving as Ichigo touched it, "Running out of time Gaki"
"Shut the hell up! Don't you think I know that" Ichigo launched off of another floating rock, going for another set only for a flaming rock to shoot past him, the backdraft from its speed throwing him away, he regained himself and grabbed two sets at once, both disappearing, he could see two more stars fall and bright flashes in the darkness beneath as the ground continued to crumble and fall.
"Your negativity isn't helping! And Quit calling me Gaki!" Ichigo yelled, failing yet again to find his zanpakuto.
"Just stating the obvious" the man said as he continued to look at the sky, he could see a light growing brighter and larger with each passing second, and he soon realized that it was headed straight for him. He hopped on to his feet in to a crouch and back flipped off of the slab on to another nearby rock as his stone bed was shattered by the falling star.
"Aw man…" the man sighed and looked at Ichigo was leaping from rock to rock, trying not to fall while reaching out for any gauntlet and greave set within his reach, only for them to dissolve to ash and slip through his fingers. Stars were falling in the distance and he could see the rock formations begin to crumble and fall.
"Dammit! Every time I get rid of one it's like two more show up in its place somewhere! Ahhhhh! There has to be something I can do!" Ichigo yelled in anger. His time was running out, he could actually feel his body growing colder, his mind beginning to slip as he came ever closer to becoming a hollow. He clutched his chest.
"Wait a second…Uryu…Ah what the hell did that glasses wearing bastard say again?" Ichigo said to himself as he looked around at the many sets of floating gauntlets and greaves.
Flashback...
"You can stop following me now" the blue haired Quincy stopped in his walk home, openly speaking with no in sight. From around a corner, Ichigo walked out in to the open, his oversized katana strapped to his back.
"I guess I need to work on my stealth more, never was my strong suit" Ichigo said. Uryu scoffed.
"What you lack is control over your Reiatsu, I've known you were following me ever since I left the school grounds, you also seem to lack sensing abilities or you would know that I am par if not stronger than you Kurosaki, so I would refrain from trying to fight me unless you have a death wish" Uryu said, turning to Ichigo as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the glare of the sun hiding his dark blue eyes.
"Whatever, you still haven't explained how you know what I am and about Shinigami in general" Ichigo said, pointing an accusing finger at the bespectacled young man. Uryu stood there for a moment before taking in a deep breath and exhaling, Ichigo waited for a moment. The world around them began to lighten and white ribbons could be seen over the tops of buildings and around Ichigo.
"What the hell?"
"This is a technique known as Reiraku, it condenses the Reiryoku of any living being or soul and allows me to follow its owner" Uryu explained, Ichigo looked around at the millions of white ribbons surrounding him, something caught his eye, it was something dark within the forest of white.
"Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki, have different ribbons from the norm…" a red ribbon drifted in to the Quincy's hand, "All Shinigami have a red ribbon, which is what allowed me to deduce what you were, I've known all along that you were powerful, I know when you became a Shinigami, I also know the truth about Rukia Kuchiki" Uryu said, with a strong tug, he ripped the ribbon and the world of spirit ribbons faded.
Flashback End
"Worth a shot" Ichigo mumbled, he closed his eyes and focused on the world that was falling apart around him. He opened his eyes, white ribbons extending from the hundreds of sets around him, than something dark was caught in his peripheral. He looked down in to the expansion of darkness and there it was a red ribbon that was slowly falling inside the black.
Ichigo grinned and dove off of his rock just as a star came falling down. He put his feet together and his arms to his side to increase his speed.
'Almost there! C'mon! Just a little more!' Ichigo thought, his hand extended to grasp the ribbon.
"Just…A little…" Ichigo closed his hand around the ribbon "All right!" With a strong pull, the set of Gauntlets and Greaves were illuminated by a light that shone through the dark, the weapons dissolved and a sword hilt and guard with a small stub of blade was pulled towards him.
"Took him long enough" the man said with a smirk as Ichigo grasped the hilt, the world went white.
"Rrrrraggggghhhh Ahahahahahahaha!" Ichigo pained filled screams turned in to maniacal laughter; he set his sights on Jinta who was cowering against the shaft wall. The young redhead looked as though he would pass out any second, all color left his face the moment his eyes met Ichigo's, from brown irises on white sclera, they had turned to a sinister yellow on black sclera, the partially completed mask just added to the terrifying scene he made.
"He's breaking through the bakudo, I'm sorry boss but I have no other options left!" Tessai yelled, his shadow copy having dispersed after placing a few more binding spells on the hollowfying teen. He went through a series of hand seals, Urahara used a yellow energy rope to latch on to Jinta and pull him out of the shaft.
"Bakudo #99 Part Two: Bankin!" (Way of Binding #99 Part Two: Great Seal) The bindings on Ichigo broke just as Tessai called out the technique, white cloth wrapping around Ichigo's torso, numerous bolts with corkscrew heads piercing him from all directions. Tessai finally slammed his hands on the ground just as the orange haired teen was being engulfed in light.
"It's over!" Tessai yelled. Urahara looked up as a massive metal cube fell from the sky. He sighed, but just as the cube barely entered the shattered shaft, he felt an incredible spike in Reiatsu, a pillar of light shot from the shaft, the Shop owner keeping the two children safe from the shock wave that came with the large cloud of dust.
"Tessai!" Urahara called out, worried about his friend, seeing how that was a rather big explosion. A tanned arm raised out of the hole, the large man pulling himself out of the hollow, his glasses falling apart and his clothes dirty, but no real injuries.
"I'm all right boss, nothing serious" Urahara nodded with a smile, but then turned serious.
"Any idea about what happened?" the former captain asked. His assistant shook his head no.
"The light became too bright to see anything" at that moment, chunks of the metal cube came crashing down around them and around the shattered shaft.
"Tessai, if anything happens, get Jinta and Ururu out of here, you're in no condition to fight and I don't want them getting caught in the crossfire" Urahara said, stepping forward and slamming the base of his cane on the ground with enough force to make spider-web like fractures.
"Right boss" Tessai back away with a hand on Jinta and Ururu's shoudlers. A shadowy figure flew out of the shaft in the cover of the smoke, the shopkeeper narrowed his eyes. As the smoke cleared, all of their eyes widened in bewilderment.
"Wha-what the heck? Th-there's no way" Jinta said, shocked by what he saw. There stood an orange haired figure, wearing the black shihakusho garb of the Shinigami, a red hilt was visible over its right shoulder, some wrapping and bolts leftover from Tessai's bakudo on the figures shoulder. While the orange hair would be a dead giveaway for Ichigo Kurosaki, his new appearance wasn't what shocked them, it was the fact he was wearing a hollow mask.
Urahara tipped his hat to hide his eyes, a smile formed on his face.
"Well, isn't this a surprising little development" he mumbled to himself. Ichigo raised his hand to grasp the hilt behind his shoulder, causing Urahara and Tessai to tense up.
'What's your next move Ichigo…If you're still in there, you had better choose wisely' Urahara thought. Ichigo unsheathed the stub of a Zanpakuto and his next move shocked them, he used the base of the hilt to shatter the mask, pulling the leftovers off of his face.
'This is incredible, the Reiatsu his giving off is the same if not greater than what he gave off after Rukia gave him her powers, but there is something else, I don't think this is everything…Hmmm' Urahara thought, he put on his normal goofy grin, opening his fan as well.
"Hehe, welcome back Ichigo, You don't know how much of a relief it is knowing that I won't have to kill you now, no hard feelings for trying to crush you right?" Urahara asked as the orange haired teen walked towards him with his patented scowl in place, which became angrier with each step.
When the shop owner thought to back away, it was too late and he was bashed in the face by the base of the hilt.
"I told you I'd kick your ass when I got out of that hell hole!" Ichigo said angrily as he stomped on the downed shopkeeper, who did his best to protect his head. Ichigo stomped after a moment, giving Urahara one final kick.
"Happy?" the former captain asked as he got to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Not really" Ichigo said.
"Heh, Well, you passed lesson two Ichigo, you should be proud!" Urahara said in his normal upbeat tone, he opened his fan to cover the lower portion of his face, Ichigo knowing he was hiding some kind of mischievous smirk or his normal annoying smile.
"Well Ichigo, it's about time we get on with the third lesson and this 'Vow to kill me' attitude of yours is exactly what you need, there will be no time limit for this lesson and all you have to do is use your zanpakuto to cut my hat off of my head-" Urahara was stopped from going any further in his explanation by Ichigo slashing upwards with the stub of blade and clipping his hat.
Urahara hopped back while Ichigo smirked, twirling the hilt between his fingers.
"This is only gonna take five minutes at the most" Ichigo said, Urahara snapped the fan shut and threw it down, actually piercing the earth a few inches. Ichigo became worried seeing the smile on Urahara's face.
"All right then, five minutes it is, if you can't defeat me in five minutes Ichigo Kurosaki…" the shopkeepers voice became steadily more serious with each word he spoke, as he spoke he unsheathed a sword from his cane. He turned his head to peek through the cut Ichigo made, revealing his steely grey eye, which met with Ichigo's brown. Urahara's smile grew.
"I'll kill you" Urahara rushed Ichigo, with a powerful swing slicing a rock in two, Ichigo diving away from Urahara's attack, raising the remains of his zanpakuto to block his downward slash.
"Being able to stop my sword with the stub of a blade…Not bad Ichigo" Urahara said. He pushed the orange haired teen away, who slashed a couple times, Urahara barely moving to dodge them. He stabbed forward, clipping the side of Ichigo's shihakusho as he jumped away.
"Ichigo, I'm sure you're thinking that just because I'm not a Shinigami, I won't be able to cut you with this cane…That my young friend, is where you're dead wrong…" Urahara took a stance with the shikomizue, his Reiatsu rising.
"Now Awaken, Benihime!" Urahara slashed upwards, sending a red energy wave across the earth, Ichigo narrowly managed to avoid the attack, he was distracted by the sheer speed and power of the attack, and the fact that Urahara had a zanpakuto, he looked back to see that the shopkeeper was gone.
"Damn!" Ichigo jumped as the energy wave was dispersed by Urahara who slashed for his feet from behind it. Ichigo saw Urahara turn the blade towards him and he back flipped away as it came up, barely clipping the hem of his hakama pants.
"This is a Zanpakuto Ichigo, and it is very, very real" Urahara said. He chased after the orange haired teen who just avoided his slashes, trying to avoid every attack, while trying to get the hat, only to driven back by a quick stab or slash.
"What happened to the cockiness Ichigo, a moment ago you were so eager to fight and now you're avoiding me?" Urahara said, spreading his feet and taking a stance with his released zanpakuto, it was odd looking, Ichigo couldn't deny that, but he also couldn't deny the power it was giving off.
A sleek black blade with with a silver edge. Black decorative wrapping around the hilt, which is bent forward near the end, and a crimson tassel hanging from the base, instead of a guard, a U-shaped guard covering covers a small portion of the medium seized blade.
"This is a nice little surprise Hat and Clogs, but I really shouldn't be surprised, given all the weird stuff you're able to do" Ichigo said, he spread his feet, ready to move at any given second.
"The countdown has begun Ichigo, better start moving" Urahara said in a serious tone, with his smile still in place. Ichigo scowled and his gripped tightened on the hilt.
"Fine, but don't blame me if I get your neck instead of your hat" Ichigo said, his scowl turning in to a grin. Ichigo and Urahara shot forward at the same time, Ichigo dodged a slash from Urahara and stabbed with the blunt head of his own zanpakuto, Urahara stepping away from the attack, and slashing for Ichigo once again, only this time aiming for the torso.
The orange haired teen ducked under it and went for Urahara's hat, who merely bent backwards to avoid the rather fast slash, and struck Ichigo in the stomach with a strong punch, sending the Shinigami in to a coughing fit.
"Not quite Ichigo, care to try again?" Urahara asked, Ichigo doubled over his fist, his coughing fit having stopped.
Ichigo's head shot up, aiming to headbutt Urahara in the chin, the shopkeeper dodging it, the orange teen slashing for the hat once again, only for Urahara to hop back and counter.
"Nake, Benihime!" (Sing, Crimson Princess) He slash upwards and red energy fired in the arc of the swing, Ichigo using the remainder of his zanpakuto to try and block it, being engulfed in red light, the energy wave tore through the ground and crashing in to a large rock.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Ichigo stood there, the left sleeve of his Shihakusho gone and his arm lightly burned, the small stub of his blade falling away as well, leaving him with only a guard and hilt.
"Four minutes and counting tick tock Ichigo" Urahara said, the orange haired teen glared at the blond haired shopkeeper and thought about his options, which were few.
'No blade left, how the hell am I going to do this?' He thought. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong time to not pay attention, Urahara had closed the distance between them in mere seconds and slashed for his torso, Ichigo came back just in time to avoid being cut but the tip and cut through his shihakusho.
The orange haired teen jumped away, to his astonishment, the rock that had been behind him slowly fell apart, as if Urahara had cut through it without actually touching it.
"On the defensive now? Shame. Looks like you won't survive Ichigo; Benihime is not exactly a 'nice' blade, defensive fighting won't do any good against her" said the shopkeeper, twirling his zanpakuto much like Ichigo had done earlier.
"Dammit…" Ichigo couldn't risk trying to think his way out of this, and ran forward, aiming to avoid being cut apart while doing what he can to get that damned hat.
He and Urahara clashed, Ichigo dodged Benihime's fast slashes to the best of his ability, his shihakusho being cut apart in the process, he tried to strike Urahara with the hilt, hoping to daze him for a second or two and get the hat, but the blond shopkeeper was much faster than he looked, dodging Ichigo's brute force attacks with ease and countering with a swift stab or slash.
Ichigo tried to block a slash with his guard, only for Benihime to cut through it like paper.
"Your zanpakuto has size, but none of the necessary power, if you can't awaken it by calling its name, then you'll die the moment you step foot in the Soul Society" Urahara said.
"Stop talking dammit!" Ichigo yelled, he swung, trying to hit Urahara in the face with the hilt, only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying away, the orange haired teen flipped and landed on his feet safely, or so he thought.
"Nake, Benihime" Ichigo's eyes widened as Urahara got in close and launched another red energy wave, Ichigo raised the remainder of his zanpakuto and tried to block, only to be sent flying by the blast. The top half of Ichigo's shihakusho was destroyed, his chest and abdomen slightly burned, his guard fell away from the hilt and disintegrated on contact with the ground, leaving the Shinigami with only the hilt.
"I think it's about time we finished this, don't you Ichigo" Urahara released a large amount of Reiryoku, the air around Ichigo pressing down on him and for the first time since this fight started, he felt…scared. Afraid for his life.
'This power…it's freaking intense…It feels like there's a clamp around my throat and steadily pressing down more and more…Can I really win this…No! I have to! Rukia's life is at stake here!' Ichigo thought to himself. He blinked ready to continue fighting, only to see Urahara had appeared in front of him with Benihime coming around to decapitate him. Ichigo hopped back, and turned to run and get some distance.
A red energy wave shot past him and blocked his path, he turned around and bent back, the tip of blade nicking his neck, Ichigo dodged the next few slashes and stabs, jumping back as Urahara launched another red energy wave at the ground at his feet. Ichigo was caught in the shock wave of the attack and sent tumbling away.
"Gah!" he hit the ground and skid to a stop, he looked up to see Urahara had stopped, only twirling Benihime around by the hilt between his fingers.
"You're fucking pathetic" Ichigo knew that voice. The world around him darkened, his shadow became white, he turned around to see the sunglasses wearing man standing there with his arms crossed and a look on his face that was a mixture of pissed off and annoyed. It took the orange haired teen a minute to register what the man had said to him, his own slightly scared look was replaced by his normal scowl and a glare.
"What the hell did you just say? And what is happening here anyway?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't stutter kid, and I hate to repeat myself, but if I have to, You. Are. Fucking. Pa-the-tic" the man said slowly, leaning in closer with each word. Ichigo glared even more, wanting to punch the man's face in more than ever now.
"We're still in your world, I'm just talking to you, and judging by your friend there, he knows it" the man said, "Time is limited, so I would listen if I were you."
"What do you want?"
"I came here to ask why the hell you're running from one opponent? If it were three of them, I may understand a little better, but this is one damn man and you're running away like a child from his bully" he said.
"Have you felt the power he has? It's insane!" Ichigo said, "How am I supposed to match up to that without a blade?" Ichigo questioned in a loud voice, showing him the hilt in his hand.
"Well if you'd get your head out of your ass and listen to me, maybe you wouldn't be getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter by this jackass!" the man said in an equally loud tone, motioning to Urahara who was patiently waiting.
"Listen up because I'm only going to say this once, your fear is what has been holding you back, keeping you from hearing my name like before, face forward Ichigo and never stop, stopping will age you and hesitation will kill you, overcome your cowardice and let go of your fear! Now Shout!"
Ichigo felt a new found power surge within himself hearing his zanpakuto's speech. The man jammed a thumb in to his own chest.
"My name is…"
Urahara looked on in fascination as an invisible power surged around Ichigo, becoming an aura of white light around his body, Ichigo spreading his feet and getting in to a battojutsu stance with his hilt at his side, as if it were connected to a sword.
"Show them your Fury…Tengoku no Ikari!" Ichigo shouted as his energy surged forth in a large fountain of white, Urahara eyes widened as he was engulfed in bright light, he held on to his hat as he was and a powerful shock wave passed him.
"His Reiatsu just shot through the roof!" Jinta said, he, Ururu and Tessai hiding behind a rock to avoid being caught in Ichigo's and Urahara's fight, which was the smart move as it was all over the place. As the light died down, Urahara stood a few feet away from the epicenter that was Ichigo, his hand still securely on his hat.
"It's about time" the shopkeeper said as a grin pulled at his lips. Ichigo stood there, clouds of smoke still moving away from him due to the white aura of energy around his body. As it died down, Urahara and his employees could clearly see Ichigo's new weapon, they weren't expecting what they saw.
On his arms and legs were a pair of gauntlets and greaves, while his shihakusho pants covered the greaves, they could tell there were lines of light on visible parts of the armor. The gauntlets however were completely visible, black armor that went to his elbows, his hands were like claws, white lines of light symmetrically marked them.
"Hat and Clogs…"Ichigo called, his short orange bangs shadowing his eyes with his head bowed.
"Hmm?"
"I plan on ending this with one attack, so get ready" Ichigo said, he spread his feet, and light started gathering around his right hand, the wind picked up as well. Urahara grinned and twisted back with Benihime, ready to launch his attack. Ichigo twisted back as well, his right hand held parallel to the ground.
"If you're sure about this Ichigo, by all means, do your worst" Urahara said. Ichigo raised his head, revealing the white light behind his eyes, a grin spread across the orange haired teen's face.
"I plan to…" the light around Ichigo's arm started grow brighter and brighter, electric discharge arced around the armored portion of his arm as the wind picked up even more, becoming a powerful gust.
"3…" Urahara started.
"2…" Tessai and the children said.
"1…" Ichigo said.
"I hope you dodge this Urahara-san!" Ichigo ran forward, his hand tearing the earth asunder as he placed it against the ground. The honorific surprised Urahara.
"Because I can't control it yet!"
'Oh my' Urahara thought.
"Nake…Benihime!" Urahara called out his attacks name to give it more power, launching a far more powerful red wave than any of the ones before.
"Rrrraggghh!" Ichigo roared as he swung his arm forward and the light grew and he launched a powerful energy wave of white light, the two attacks collided, creating a powerful shock wave, the collision actually shaking the foundation of the training ground, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu hiding behind the rock to avoid the shock wave and smoke cloud.
Urahara eyes widened seeing Ichigo's energy wave start to overpower his own, he twirled his zanpakuto and held it upside down just as the attack finally broke through and raced towards him at incredible speeds.
As Ichigo's attack passed, the smoke clouds began to disperse, Tessai and the children looked out to see what had happened, on one side they could see Ichigo, who was standing next to the crevice he had created in his run. And on the other side was Urahara, who had raised a red, hexagonal energy shield, his hat gone.
"Chikasumi no Tate" (Blood Mist Shield) Urahara's shield dropped and he extended his free hand to catch his hat which was cut a little over halfway through.
"That wasn't very nice, Sir…I do believe you have killed my hat" Urahara said. He looked up at Ichigo who was just standing there. Jinta walked up to the orange haired teen, who stood stalk still. The redhead kicked him, nothing, he kicked him again and again and Ichigo just stood there.
"He passed out on his feet boss" Jinta said. Urahara grinned.
"Tessai, carry him upstairs and let him rest, I'll be up in a moment" His muscled assistant saluted him and carried the orange haired teen fireman style up the ladder to the shop above. The platinum blond took another hat out of his coat and placed it on his head.
"Whoa!" Jinta said loudly, Ururu gasped. Urahara looked to his right to see a large crevice that got wider the farther it went until it finally stopped.
"That's what I though" Urahara said, taking up his fan which had been right by his foot and opening it.
"Who new Carrot Top had it in him?" Jinta said. The platinum blond shopkeeper chuckled.
"In all honesty, if I hadn't used my shield when I did, I probably would've lost a lot more than my hat, at the very least I would've lost an arm" Jinta looked at his boss in surprise who just stared off in to space.
"Well, I'm going back up" Jinta said, he and Ururu walking towards the ladder.
"Take the day off you two, it's been a long day" Urahara said, not even looking their way as they ascended the ladder.
'If Yoruichi successfully trains Ichigo's friends, and knowing the Quincys' hold pride above all else, Ichigo and his friends may just be able to save Rukia after all' he thought as he looked off in to the artificial sky.
All right, and there you have chapter 1. Tell me what you think, Review if you like it, constructive criticism is appreciated.
Some translations here...
Tengoku no Ikari - Heavenly Wrath.
Taicho - Captain
Fukutaicho - Lieutenant
Reiatsu - Spiritual Pressure, that is the energy the person exerts from their body.
Reiryoku - Spiritual Energy, That is the amount of energy one holds inside of their body. Those two sometimes get confused.
As you may have guessed, Ichigo's fighting style will change, being more of a close range fighter now.
This will still be fairly canon, I'm not sure if it counts as AU but I'll put that in the summary if it does.
If there are any questions, ask and I'll get back to you as soon as possible...
Laterz!