Author's Note:Another new story that I've been wanting to post for a while. Updates won't be frequent because A Levels start next week. I'll start working on other stories in June.

"Zanpakuto"

"Ichigo in Resurreccion"

"Talking"

Thinking

Chapter 1: Awaken

"Ichigo! Wake up you idiot!"

"…"

"Dammit Ichigo! Wake up!"

"…"

"I'm sorry alright!? I'm sorry for leaving you like that! Now I'm back, so please…don't die on me like this you idiot!"

"…"

"Dammit…wake up you idiot!"

Rukia was late. She didn't make it in time to restore Ichigo's powers and when she reached him, he was beaten to the ground, bruises and cuts all over him. She paled when she saw him all broken like that lying on a puddle of his own blood under the night sky in the rain. She carefully placed the special sword containing Ichigo's power beside her and cradled him. She couldn't lose him, not after these seventeen months of pain of loneliness.

It was hell living in Soul Society knowing that her berry was powerless, living a normal human life, free of burden of the afterlife and everyone thought that he'd be happy living like that with no reminders of the afterlife. Oh how wrong they were. She knew him the best, like the back of her hand. He was a protector, he loved protecting and now without his powers he couldn't do what he desired to do most. He was in pain, she was sure of that. And true to her words months later when she used the family senkaimon with her brother's permission and dropped by his place; he looked like a dead man walking. His eyes were lifeless, despair rolling off of him in waves and his scowl had been replaced by stoicism. She couldn't bear to see him like that, so she left and cried herself to sleep that night at the manor.

To get her mind off of his condition, she worked herself to the bone, completing paperwork of both her and her captain's in record time and then spending her time training, growing stronger for his sake, so that she never becomes a burden to him should they cross paths after his death. Her friends had told her to stop tiring herself like that and when her brother asked why she was overworking herself, she answered with a strained smile with tears in her eyes: "Because this is what keeps me from thinking about Ichigo." Her brother stood still for a moment searching whatever-it-was in her eyes and sighed before leaving.

And then, Urahara Kisuke appeared in Soul Society with a method to restore his powers, that was when her eyes gained some life in them. Happiness and joy filled her heart that day when the permission to restore his powers was granted. She nearly cried in happiness but held her tears in order not to tarnish her reputation as Kuchiki. She couldn't help the smile on her face when she was given the task to restore Ichigo's powers and she was sure that her brother was slightly smiling at her.

All that joy and happiness vanished replaced by terror and pain when she saw Ichigo lying on the ground on a puddle of his own blood.

After making sure that the special sword was safe, she flipped Ichigo on his back and shook him begging him to wake up but to no avail. Cradling him, she sobbed as she shook Ichigo's nearly dead form in her arms.

Her attention was grabbed by a shaking cold hand on her cheek. She looked down to see Ichigo looking at her with a smile, his eyes lit with joy at seeing her. She slightly smiled and held onto his hand.

"Ru-Rukia…" Ichigo uttered staring at her crying form. "I-I missed y-you…" he took a shuddering breath and smiled. "Y-You're back…I'm glad to s-see you a-again…" Ichigo trailed off as he lost his grasp on consciousness and let the darkness envelop him.

Ichigo falling limp in her arms was the last straw before she wailed, "ICHIGO!" She openly cried hugging him close to her, not giving a damn about her Kuchiki identity because now she wasn't Rukia Kuchiki, she was simply Rukia, the soul that fell in love with a human, the same human who saved her many times.

Ginjo had already shared the powers he stole from Ichigo with the other Fullbringers and was currently engaged in a battle with Ichigo's father. The other Fullbringers were fighting the other shinigami that arrived moments after her.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" She heard Ichigo's father roar followed by a bright blue flash that lit the whole place up.

Ichigo felt like he was falling albeit with resistance. Wait, why was he falling? Wasn't he supposed to be dead? He opened his eyes and found himself in the sideways skyscrapers version of Atlantis.

'What the hell am I doing here?' Ichigo thought as kept on falling through the water before hitting the cold metallic surface of one skyscraper. He knew he had died or did he pass out from blood loss? 'Doesn't answer why I'm here anyway.'

"That's cause I pulled yer ass here Ichigo."

As soon as he turned towards the voice, he was punched by a cold pale clawed hand. He smashed through multiple skyscrapers before being embedded on the sixth one. "Nice to see you too asshole." He retorted before pulling himself out of the small crater of his shape. He brushed himself as he stood straight up before looking at his inner hollow in his Resurreccion. "Now I guess thanks is in order if I am still alive because of you." He got a grunt in confirmation. Before he could ask where the old man was his hollow spoke up.

"The pigeon ain't here."

For a moment Ichigo was confused about the 'pigeon' comment before understanding who his hollow was talking about. He scowled and asked, "Then how the hell are you here Pale-face?"

His hollow took off the horned mask and scowled at his original. "He took the full brunt of that Final Getsuga Tensho and left me with yer powers here so that I could save yer stupid ass again when the time comes."

"Oi! Where are you going?" Ichigo asked when he saw his hollow walking away towards the edge of the skyscraper. His hollow simply made a 'follow me' gesture before standing still at the edge mask on. He stood by his hollow and looked at him with a raised eyebrow only to be roundhouse kicked in the face directly into the abyss that was the depth of his soul. "WHAT THE HEEEEEELLLLLLL!" He screamed as he fell into the abyss.

"Find yer powers so that I can be done with ya for good!"

Once again Ichigo felt like he was thrown into a pool by someone as he felt water splash around him.

Is that even possible? How can I make a splash when I'm in water to begin with?

For what felt like hours he kept on falling until suddenly he stopped and felt like he was floating. Now to find my powers… he trailed off in thoughts as he racked his brain trying to find an idea on how to find his powers. He snapped his fingers and summoned spirit ribbons. Again many white ones appeared and among them he had to find the red one but to his surprise and horror, a yellow ribbon with blue aura appeared.

What the hell…? Where's my shini-oh…

"Find yer powers so I can be done for good!"

He realized now that didn't have his shinigami powers but only his hollow powers. But why was it surrounded by a blue aura? Then there's what his hol-Zangetsu said.

What did he mean by 'done for good'?

Deciding to ask the fool himself, he shrugged and pulled the ribbon but was yanked back towards its source. He kept on diving deeper as the ribbon kept on shortening towards its bottom point and he eventually found himself standing on a solid surface and in front of him was his hollow powers, all sealed up.

In front of him a several feet away was Tensa Zangetsu wrapped in yellow chains, and around it was a blue flame like aura that was shaped in the form of an energy broadsword.

Ichigo grabbed Tensa Zangetsu by the hilt and pulled but failed as the chains around it didn't let up. Grabbing it by both hands, he kept on pulling but to no avail. 'Dammit! Why isn't it breaking?' He stared at the chained sword in front of him for a while before deciding to approach it in a different way. He raised his hand and stood his ground. He closed his eyes and willed the sword to come to him. Soon the chains started rattling and he opened one of his eyes and saw Tensa Zangetsu shaking, trying to get free. He focused harder and mentally pulled hearing the rattling sound increase tenfold. Due to his eyes being closed, he didn't see the blue aura lead itself towards him and enter his body.

Losing his patience he willed and mentally pulled harder and one by one, the links in the chain started snapping and soon the chains broke and Tensa Zangetsu flew into his hand and enveloped him in a black sphere of energy. The black energy subsided and revealed Ichigo in his bankai outfit yet a different version. Or rather, the exact copy of Zangetsu's but black and red.

Ichigo looked at his hands in horror as he was met with pale white hands with retractable claws at the fingertips and the toes of his naked feet. He placed a hand on his chest and found a hole. He touched his face only to come in contact with bone like structure.

Fucking hell…! He mentally whines as the reality of the situation finally set in. To confirm his suspicions he tried taking off the mask only to yelp in pain. I've become a goddamned VASTO LORDE!

He never noticed the blue vein like patterns that glowed under the sleeves of his coat.

He sighed and glanced at the sword in his hand. It really was Tensa Zangetsu and he felt a slight relief in himself.

Eh? Who cares? Ichigo shrugged and bent his legs before jumping upwards where he knew his stupid hollow was waiting for him.

Ichigo zoomed upwards and in a blink of an eye he was in front of his hollow who was leaning on the white version of Tensa Zangetsu.

"Yer late." His hollow greeted disappointedly. "Well then let's do the final dance."

"When the hell did you become poetic?" Ichigo asked only to block a downward slash from his hollow. "What? I'll have to fight you again?!"

"…"

"Fine." He said before kicking his hollow only to miss as Pale-face buzzed away with Sonido. He tried using Shunpo and much to his annoyance couldn't do it. "You said to find my powers but why can't I shunpo? I even have Tensa Zangetsu in my hand!" He ducked under a slash from Pale-face before rolling backwards to avoid a vertical slash that created a crater on the place he was standing before.

"I said 'find yer powers' not find yer 'shinigami powers'. Is it that hard to get it? And what you're holding isn't Tensa Zangetsu. A poor imitation that looks like Tensa Zangetsu." Pale-face said before buzzing behind Ichigo and slash at him.

Ichigo turned around and raised his sword vertically to block his hollow's sword only to see it cut through his one like paper. "What the-?" He jumped back to dodge another slash but didn't take into factor the wave of pressurized wind that hit him in the chest sending him flying away. Why the hell can he cut mine? Oh wait never mind. He tried getting a feel from his sword only to feel nothing. Not even emptiness.

Hearing the buzz of Sonido he narrowed his eyes at his hollow who was charging a white cero between his horns. Great! Now time to be roasted. The moment he ended that thought was the moment he was struck by the cero but he felt nothing. No burning sensation, no pain. What? He had thrown his hands up in a cross to block some of the cero's damage but to his surprise, the cero simply bent away from him from all sides.

"Ichigo, what powers do I represent?" One question from his hollow was enough to give him the answer why the cero didn't hurt him. "I am you…"

"…You are me." Ichigo finished for him. "The cero didn't hurt because my own power cannot harm me and you represent my hollow powers instead of being my inner hollow right?"

"Correct. Now what will ya do?" His hollow asked as he walked towards him. "Will ya accept me or suppress me again?" By this point both of them were face to face with a foot distance gap between them.

Ichigo's eyes widened under his mask when he saw Zangetsu up close. His hair was blue, the white of his mask was blue as well. And there were glowing black vein patterns on his whole body.

"Found something did ya?" He could tell that Zangetsu was grinning under the mask.

Ichigo rolled up the sleeves of his arm to see the exact vein patterns except that they were glowing blue.

"What the hell is this?!" Ichigo yelled sending a glare at Zangetsu. The veins then disappeared as he freaked out willing them to go.

"Find them out yerself. I ain't telling ya." Zangetsu then slashed again at Ichigo catching him off guard and now spotted a thin shallow cut on his chest.

Ichigo jumped back and touched the wound wincing as he did so. Fuck! Now what?

Zangetsu buzzed into existence right before his face with his fist pulled back and punched.

Ichigo brought his arms up in a cross only to hear a loud crack and then feel pain before he was sent flying through skyscrapers screaming all the way.

Fuck!

He got out of the crater and stood hunched over panting as he thought about how to fight Zangetsu. He heard a buzz and there he was, Zangetsu with Tensa Zangetsu raised as he swung at Ichigo.

Ichigo barely managed to dodge it bending backwards but was sent back flying again from the wind pressure formed from the swing.

"Come on King! How long are ya gonna stand there dodgin' me like a pussy?"

"Oi! Ginjo's still out there! I need to defeat him!"

"Yeah so what?" Zangetsu deadpanned at him. Hearing a familiar buzzing sound he raised his hand and grabbed the foot that tried to kick him. "Nice try but it won't work. Yer sonido is too slow." He then threw Ichigo full force through even more skyscrapers. He sighed. This is getting boring…

On the other hand, Ichigo racked his brains trying to figure out what to do. What should I do goddammit!? In the distance he could see a faint glow of a cero. Wait! That's it! He bent forward pointing his horns at the hole and gathered hollow reiatsu between the horns and grinned when a crimson sphere formed. Yes! Now to cut the flow…

He cut the flow of reiatsu and watched fascinated as his cero met Zangetsu's own and detonated. Not wasting another second, he pumped reiatsu into his arms and saw his arms fix themselves. Cool!

"Finally did something productive did ya?" Zangetsu spoke from beside him making him jump in fright.

"When the hell did you get here?! You didn't even make a sound!"

Zangetsu dryly looked at him and said, "My full speed is the same as teleporting from one place to another completely vanishing from the radar in that split second." He raised a fist crackling with blue energy. "Let's kick it up a notch. Bala."

Rukia had quieted down from her wailing and kept on hugging Ichigo as she sobbed not noticing that there were two Ichigos with one in her arms and the other standing bent over behind her.

Byakuya noticed and felt a small wave of reiatsu wash over him. He quickly flashed to Rukia and grabbed her startling her before carrying both her and the corpse of Ichigo in another flash step.

"Nii-sama!?" Rukia asked startled.

Byakuya raised his reiatsu output just in time for a massive wave of reiatsu crash on them. Both of them were flattened on the ground bordering on passing out before removing the limiter decreasing the pressure on them. Byakuya increased his power output and enveloped Rukia too letting her breathe properly but she was still hunched over the dead body of Ichigo while he was on his knees. Around him he could hear the battles stopping and reiatsu output increasing.

What's with this boy?! He thought as he looked at the now swirling mass of black and red reiatsu several meters away from them. He heard a gasp and saw Rukia straining her neck to see the same thing as him.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." He released his shikai and created a dome that protected the two of them and Ichigo's human body. The boy is hollowfying. We were too late.

Then the reiatsu signature completely vanished.

Isshin was furious. First with himself and with the man in front of him. Ginjo Kugo. This man not only did he toy with Ichigo and take his powers but also had the guts to beat his son to an inch of his life. When he arrived to the scene with Urahara, the man wore a glove and slapped him in the face separating him from his gigai to allow him to attack Ginjo.

His heart twisted in pain in seeing Rukia lose her cool and break down holding his son close to herself trying to wake him up. The scene warmed his heart which soon froze when he realized the pain his daughters would be in once they get to know what they did to their brother.

The two stopped fighting once a large amount of pressure fell upon their shoulders flattening them to the ground. Ginjo on the other hand barely managed to go Bankai to counter the pressure. Isshin released his shikai and slowly got up his knees and sighed in relief as the pressure vanished. He paled when he recognized the reiatsu signature and felt all the emotions running in it. He could feelwhat the reiatsu was expressing. Bloodlust. Rage. He prayed that the thing that attacked him all those years ago doesn't target him again.

He looked at Ginjo only to see the man in some kind of fairy cosplay with different hair and eye color scheme holding an upgraded version of his oversized claymore. He grinned again when he saw the confusion and utter fear in Ginjo's eyes.

Not willing to let Ginjo figure out the truth, he launched a Getsuga Tensho only for his one to be countered by Ginjo's own copy of Getsuga Tensho. "Tch. Damn bastard copied everything from Ichigo." He muttered under his breath and raised his tachi above his head to block an overhead slash that had too much power causing a crater to form around him. He flicked his finger sending Ginjo flying through the sky and readied himself.

He heard a buzz and there stood beside him in ragged clothes, the hollow from twenty years ago that nearly caused Masaki to die. The hollow looked at him and he tensed with a hand on his zanpakuto.

"Calm down old fart." The Vasto Lorde got silence from Isshin. "The king's busy learning stuff. Until then I'm driving." He then looked at the sky and found a dumbfounded Ginjo looking at him with wide eyes. "Target locked." He muttered before vanished from the spot without any sound.

Isshin relaxed and walked back to the pink dome that slowly fell apart revealing Byakuya and Rukia with Ichigo's dead body.

"You guys felt that?" He asked only to get a deadpan stare from the captain of the sixth while Rukia nodded with wide eyes.

"What was that?! I almost passed out!"

"That…" Isshin pointed at the fight going on in the sky and continued, "…is Ichigo's hollow fighting Ginjo." I'm not going to go and tell them that this is the same hollow that kicked my stylish ass.

"But how?!"

"His hollow powers should've been gone with his shinigami powers no?" Byakuya asked.

Isshin shrugged and barely managed to stop himself from flinching when said hollow appeared beside him with Ginjo's dead body and fullbring in his hands.

"Talk about pathetic." The hollow replied not reacting to the siblings pulling out their zanpakuto. He jerked his head and vanished once again leaving three cautious shinigami.

A few minutes ago…

Zangetsu blinked into existence right in front of Ginjo with his right hand pulled into a fist.

"Yo! Thanks for killing King." He said before punching Ginjo who barely managed to raise his Fullbring to block. "Tsk." He muttered when he saw Ginjo fly away from his punch. He vanished again soundlessly with Sonido and stood several feet away from Ginjo who was glaring at him with his claymore having a spider web crack on it.

"Who the hell are you!?" Ginjo yelled at Zangetsu seemingly trying to stall.

"Me?" Zangetsu innocently pointed at himself. "I'm the king's horse. Thanks to you, I can serve king one last time!" He snickered when Ginjo had a confused expression on his face. "By 'king' I mean 'Ichigo'. Thanks to you, he's dead and is currently fighting me learning to get a proper hold on my powers. Too bad I won't be there to see him become an arrancar and release his Resurreccion." Zangetsu sighed dramatically secretly enjoying the sight of Ginjo paling. "Now. I suppose you have something to return, do you not?"

"What's there to return?!" Ginjo snarled charging up reiatsu to launch at the Vasto Lorde before him. "I helped him learn the Fullbring so I have to right to take it from him!"

Zangetsu shook his head in resignation and said, "Man yer not worth my time. So…" he raised a fist and red energy crackled around it. "…why don'cha do me a favor and die?" He punched releasing the crackling energy and grinned when a hole burst open on Ginjo's chest where his heart was. As Ginjo fell, Zangetsu grabbed the Fullbring and stabbed Ginjo with it and watched as the transformation faded away and silvery ash colored fluid became one with the claymore fixing up the cracks. He checked Ginjo's eyes and saw that they were dull and hollow meaning that he was dead. Still…it's better if I guarantee his death. He launched another bala and smirked as Ginjo now had another hole now on his throat. He picked up the dead body and vanished reappearing beside Isshin. He smirked when he noticed the Kuchiki siblings flinch while Isshin tried not to.

"Talk about pathetic." He complained as he dropped the dead body ignoring the way his queen and her brother pulled out their zanpakuto. He felt his king nearing the end and jerked his head before vanishing deeper into the forest. He's nearly done. Best be done with it.

He then took hold of Ginjo's Fullbring in a reverse grip and stabbed himself with it and stopped when the guard hit him. The sword glowed silvery green this time and dissolving into him. Now to wait for it…

Black, blue, green and red with gold reiatsu burst out of him in the shape of a pillar and went past the skies clearing the clouds. The whole clearing was charred black and trees were reduced to ashes from the sheer heat and density from the reiatsu.

Rukia and Byakuya stood still, zanpakuto in hands as she watched the Vasto Lorde drop the dead body of Ginjo. She took a good look at the Vasto Lorde and widened her eyes as she understood who it was.

Standing before her and her brother beside Isshin was a long orange haired Vasto Lorde. It had a fearsome appearance with the pale white skin and horned mask along with the black markings. It was wearing Ichigo's clothes which were sadly in tatters.

"Talk about pathetic." The being complained.

So this is Ichigo's hollow…

She eyed the hollow and tensed when it jerked its head before vanishing. She immediately relaxed and sighed. She sheathed her zanpakuto with a click and frowned at Ichigo's body full of bruise and cuts.

"Yo Rukia! What happened?" Renji came from the bushes with the other shinigami in two. Captain Zaraki looked displeased while Ikakku was grinning. Captain Hitsugaya brought a blonde haired boy in black frozen in ice.

"Ichigo's hollow happened." She replied making them freeze. "Don't worry he's not here." Just as she said that, a humongous wave of reiatsu pressed down on everyone dropping them to the ground as a pillar of black, red, green, blue and gold reiatsu shot up past the skies. Rukia was gasping for breath along with Renji and Ikakku. Captain Zaraki was grinning while he was on his knees. Her brother was on his hands and knees and the same was with captain Hitsugaya. What is that? Isshin too was on his knees only with Kenpachi.

Just as it appeared out of nowhere, the reiatsu signature vanished once again letting them breathe.

"J-J-Just wh-what the fuck was t-that?!" Renji yelled with wide eyes of disbelief.

"That was probably Kurosaki-san's hollow absorbing the Fullbring." Urahara commented out of nowhere on a branch of a tree making some of them jump. "Hello there! Nice to see you all here!" He greeted cheerfully while ignoring Ichigo's dead human body.

"Don't scare us like that you fool!" Rukia yelled hitting Urahara with her sandal.

"Sorry sorry! Won't happen again!" Urahara replied cheerfully totally not sorry despite the red sandal mark on his face.

Isshin snickered and Byakuya sighed as if ten years of his life was taken away from him which technically was true specially when you're around a Shiba.

Another wave of reiatsu followed by a demonic roar crashed down on them dropping them to their knees and on four for the lieutenants.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!"

The pressure then slowly decreased until they were able to breathe normally again. The reiatsu signature vanished again before Rukia could even get a lock on it.

"What the fuck?! It's what? Three times this happened?! What's happening?!" Ikakku exclaimed.

All of them froze as suddenly another shadow joined theirs except that it was missing the owner and the moon was somehow blocked from view. They looked up and paled as dread crept up their spine making them shiver in fear.

There, several meters in the sky above them was a demon. It had long straight orange hair that reached down to its waist. It had four blue wings with the upper two being wider and longer than the lower two. It had four horns. Two forward pointing horns protruding from the temples and two protruding from the corner of its lower jaw that curved backwards round the neck. The only reason the lower two were visible was because of the ominous red and yellow glow on its outer and inner side. Its eyes were glowing eerie menacing yellow. They could see a part of the moon through the hole in the center of its chest.

But what concerned them the most was the fact that they couldn't even sense it. As if it's out of their radar despite being close to them. Just like Aizen. Transcendence.

The silence was broken from the sounds of zanpakuto being pulled out by everyone but Urahara, Isshin and Rukia; because they knew who the demon was.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled out to the demon. Said demon craned its neck in her direction and raised a hand before waving at her.

"Yo Rukia! Mind asking them to loosen up? It's me. Zangetsu's gone. Err my hollow I mean." Ichigo's voice now was double toned, dark and heavy with a slightly slur.

Before Rukia could reply to him her brother asked, "How can we be sure that you're Kurosaki and not some Vasto Lorde class hollow?" She saw him tensed and prepared to strike.

Demon Ichigo rubbed his neck and sighed. "Well, I am a Vasto Lorde now but will probably become an arrancar later. I merged with Hollow Zangetsu and after absorbing both mine and Ginjo's Fullbring, I became this." He concluded waving his hand over his body.

"You look like a demon Ichigo! Think you're strong enough to fight me?" Kenpachi grinned maniacally as he said those words.

To everyone's surprise Ichigo answered, "It won't even take me more than two minutes to defeat you but I'd rather not do it now. We've got things to settle and some explanations to deliver, right?"

"When the hell did he become rational?" Rukia muttered under her breath and looked up when she felt him looking at her.

"I heard that midget. As for your question, war changes people."

Everyone cringed when he said the war part. Byakuya sighed and sheathed Senbonzakura prompting others to do so. He nodded to Ichigo and he nodded back before dropping to the ground with a thud as a small craters formed under his feet.

Rukia walked up to him and got a better look at him. He looked like a fearsome demon, yes; but he was still a protector in his heart. She placed a hand on his chest and trailed her hand around his body.

He's warm.

He kept his lean and muscle figure but at the same time was slightly bulkier compared to minutes ago. His chest was decorated with black markings that originated from his hollow hole across his chest and shoulders. The black markings seemed to have slight shades of crimson and blue on its edges.

His fingers and toes appeared to be more claw-like in nature and looked sharp enough to tear into flesh. The tips of his fingers and toes were black. From the tip of his middle finger, the black mark ran along the length of his arms and joined with the V part of the other black markings on his shoulders.

His shoulders seemed a bit bulkier as they were decorated with silver glistening sharp scales that glowed blue underneath with every breath. The scales spread out to the back of his upper arms, the sides of his body and thighs. His calves were covered entirely in layered scales.

His elbows and knees were covered by three black claws that were outlined by crimson glowing cracks.

His hollow mask had sharp teeth in a grin. Four small spikes covered his chin between the horns that protruded from the corners of his lower jaw. Said protrusions were jet black in color and just like she concluded it was outlined with glowing crimson cracks on the outer side while glowing yellow in the inner side. The horns protruding from his temples made a menacing appearance for most part.

And his wings…

"They're so beautiful…" Rukia said in a trance as she gently touched the glowing cobalt blue wings with black spiral patterns on them.

"Thanks I guess." Ichigo muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. "You're not scared?" At this he received a glare.

Rukia stepped back and noticed her brother relaxing slightly in the corner of her eyes. Craning her head up she glared at Ichigo and said, "And I should be scared why?"

"Cause I look like a demon? Inoue and Ishida seemed scarred the previous time and that one was far less menacing than this form."

Rukia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Listen here Strawberry. I don't care what you look like as long as I know that it's you in your core. And I honestly can tell whether it's you or not and I dunno why. But does it matter? No it doesn't. So don't beat yourself over mere appearances. You're a protector at heart Ichigo and I can feel it even now." She sighed and pinched her nose. "And the fact that Ishida and Inoue were scared of your previous form means that they are weak. They are too weak and blind to not see what's under this cover." She said the last line knocking on his chest and slightly winced at how hard it was. Hard but warm.

Ichigo now standing at perfect seven feet was gaping at the shorter woman who made his existence now as a demonic Vasto Lorde meaningful. He chuckled and surprised everyone by hugging Rukia. "Thanks Rukia. That means a lot. I was fearing rejection from you and the others but I don't care about the others as long as you can accept me as I am now."

Rukia was blushing and mumbled out, "You're welcome idiot."

The others smiled at the heartwarming(?) scene and let the two have their silence only to be broken by an someone they forgot about.

"K-Kurosaki?!" Uryu exclaimed as he stood between the trees behind Urahara dumbstruck at Ichigo's new transformation. "What the hell happened to you?!"

"I came back from the dead. Again."

Uryu snorted. "No shit. And no, I'm not scared of you as you are now. In fact you remind me of the demon hunters (Dante and Nero) I read about in a story book." I'd rather die than admit I play games. He sighed and swept his band behind him. "As for Inoue-san…she'll be further traumatized. I'm sorry."

Ichigo and Rukia sighed.

"Thanks Ishida. Now come here and let Rukia heal you." Ichigo slightly nudged Rukia after releasing her from the hug. Rukia rolled her eyes as she walked to Uryu and had him seat on the ground before applying healing kido on his wound.

"Thanks Kuchiki-san. I feel better now."

"No worries." Rukia stood up and dusted her clothes before turning to face Ichigo. "What now?" She noticed her brother being more than comfortable by leaving matters in her hand for now.

"Becoming an arrancar is next. I can't walk around like this can I?"

"Do you even know how to do that?" Rukia asked impatiently tapping her foot on the ground. To her surprise he nodded.

"Yeah. I'll have to break my mask and seal my powers into something."

"Maybe you could seal your powers in this little toy over here then?" Urahara asked grinning as he held the glowing sword in his free hand. I want to see what will happen should he try to seal his powers in this asauchi. Hopefully he won't die.

Ichigo gave the sword a skeptical look before looking at Rukia asking for an explanation.

"We were given permission by the head captain to return your shinigami powers. That asauchi has reiatsu from the captains and lieutenants from the whole Gotei 13."

"Whaddya think I should do Rukia?"

Said person shrugged and said, "Just grab it and see what happens."

Urahara walked up to him and held the asauchi by the blade pointing the handle towards Ichigo. "Ma~ Ma~ what's the waiting for Kurosaki-san~? Just do it!" The crazy scientist/ humble shopkeeper said hiding his grin with his irritating fan.

"Fine." Ichigo huffed our before grabbing the sword with his left hand and the right horn on his head. "Step back as much as you can." Once everyone followed his orders he took a deep breath. He snapped his right horn off and pulled the powers stored in the asauchi before pushing his own into them causing a burst of midnight black reiatsu to occur that formed a solid sphere around him.

"Well…" Renji began as he saw the floating sphere of solid reiatsu that Ichigo was in. "…at least we weren't crushed this time eh?"

Kenpachi grunted and crossed his arms while Ikakku looked excited. Urahara looked like a child high on sugar with the face splitting grin that was hidden underneath the fan while Isshin looked contemplative.

Rukia nodded and waited.

The silence was soon broken by the cracks that slowly spread out leaking red reiatsu increasing the gravity around them. Immediately all of them raised their reiatsu output to counter it but eventually dropped on all four when the sphere shattered and reiatsu heavy, dense and dark unlike any other pressed upon them. The captains were struggling not to pass out, mainly Byakuya and Toshiro. Urahara and Isshin were breathing heavily on all fours. The lieutenants has blacked out and Kenpachi was…Kenpachi, grinning maniacally despite dropping to his knees, the only one who wasn't on his hands.

Soon the reiatsu signature vanished again and there stood Ichigo several feet away in a new appearance.

He was wearing his bankai outfit except that he had the red tufts of fur around the collar and sleeve ends and was on bare foot. The left side of his face had two black lines that joined with the ones on his chest at the neck. His left eye had black sclera and golden yellow iris with three black rims while his right eye was normal except that instead of brown it was crimson with three black rims. On his waist was what they concluded to be Tensa Zangetsu sheathed in a red sheath with its chain wrapping around it. He was slightly taller as well. He stood at perfect six feet unlike his Vasto Lorde form which was seven feet in height.

Urahara started laughing like a loon gaining annoyed looks from the conscious people and a raised eyebrow from Ichigo.

"Well Kurosaki-san? What do you think? How do you feel?" He was confused when Ichigo grimaced for a split second before smirking. He understood the reason when Ichigo spoke only one word.

"Transcendent."

Isshin scoffed and said, "Don't let this power get to your head got it Ichigo?"

Ichigo nodded catching on to the hidden meaning. We don't need you to pull an Aizen.

"KUROSAKI!" Said person looked behind him at Tsukishima who was leaning heavily on a tree with face twisted in a mix between anger and agony. "How dare you kill Ginjo!" Using the last bit of his fading powers, he lunged at Ichigo only to be split in two.

"Che." Ichigo muttered sheathing his zanpakuto behind Tsukishima's dead body. No one noticed him absorbing Tsukishima's Fullbring. "Too noisy."

Everyone conscious gulped.

Rukia woke up to the noise of people shouting close to her. In fact… Why does Ichigo sound so pissed? She rubbed her eyes and looked around her spotting Ichigo scowling at Urahara.

"What happened Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she yawned. She winced when Ichigo snapped his neck in her direction.

"Rukia!" His voice sounded a tad deeper too. "Are you alright? You didn't die did you?!"

Rukia narrowed her eyes at the last question. Did he lose his mind with the transformation or something? She then got a proper look at him and finally noticed the horn protruding from his left temple, the two black markings that covered the left side of his face and went past his chin down his neck. His gold on black left eye and the crimson right eye. Huh…he kinda looks good like this…

"Oi!" She jostled when Ichigo snapped his fingers before her eyes. She went cross eyed for a moment before swatting his hand away.

"I'm fine stupid strawberry. Just thinking." Rukia grumbled.

"Thinking about little old me?" Ichigo asked grinning like a cat.

Rukia sputtered before narrowing her eyes. Is he…teasing me?

"Ho? You're being quite bold aren't you strawberry?"

Before Ichigo could reply, Byakuya cleared his throat getting their attention. Both of them apologized and Ichigo sat facing Urahara.

"So? Why can't you create a gigai for me? My human body has disintegrated so I can't return into it." Rukia flinched at the last sentence. She noticed Ichigo glancing at her from the corner of his eyes before looking at Urahara.

Said person snapped open his stupid fan and cheerily said, "Oh! You see a gigai needs to be fed reiatsu in order to work. Your reiatsu on the other hand is not only unnoticeable but it also is extremely dense. So even the slightest bit of your reiatsu can completely disintegrate the gigai." Rukia and Ichigo's eye twitched as the man opposite to them kept grinning despite the severity of the situation.

This man…! Wish I could turn him into a popsicle!

"I suggest you come with us to the captains meeting and plan out what to do." Byakuya spoke up with Toshiro nodding in agreement.

"Yeah! And hopefully let me fight you too!" Well, the person doesn't need to be identified in this case.

"Where's the guarantee that the old farts won't decide to execute me? Will gramps even stand up to them for me? Honestly, Hueco Mundo feels safer for me as I am now."

Silence descended upon the room.

"If Central 46 orders to execute you, then a civil war will break out in Soul Society, something we'd rather not have." Toshiro replied.

Rukia grimaced but she already knew what she would do. She'd fight tooth and nail for Ichigo and abandon Soul Society with him to Hueco Mundo if necessary. I'm not leaving him again.

Ichigo sighed and replied. "Fine." He then stared Byakuya down and said, "If shit hits the fan, then I'm gonna rip the spines of gramps and the old farts. Got it?"

Byakuya stiffly nodded.

The doors to the meeting hall opened and Ichigo stepped in behind Byakuya while the other captains and lieutenants stood in their positions. Shinji, Kensei and Rose nodded at him in greeting and he nodded back at them.

They don't seem surprised. Either that or they hid their surprise well.

"Welcome back, Kurosaki Ichigo." The old man spoke up from his position at the opposite end of the room.

"Thanks." Ichigo nodded.

"I see you… changed. Mind explaining?"

Ichigo nodded and began. "After I died in Rukia's lap…" said girl (woman? She's 150 years old) blushed from her position behind a smiling Ukitake. "…I woke up in my inner world before being punched by Hollow Zangetsu." Everyone sweat dropped. Kurotsuchi perked up at hearing about Hollow Zangetsu and was about to speak up before stopping from being glared at by the captain commander. "We spoke for a short time before he kicked me down to the deeper parts of my soul where I found Tensa Zangetsu wrapped in chains. However, that Tensa Zangetsu wasn't real. That poor mimicry of Tensa Zangetsu simply contained my latent hollow powers and after I absorbed them, well I became a Vasto Lorde class hollow." He stopped before pointing at his horn, eyes and the marks. The old man nodded and continued. "I jumped back to the top and engaged into a fight with Hollow Zangetsu where I learnt a lot about myself and got a better understanding of my powers. We fought for some time while on the outside world Zangetsu was fighting Ginjo and killed him. Zangetsu then grabbed Ginjo's Fullbring and absorbed both mine and his. After the fight concluded, Zangetsu dropped Ginjo's body before telepo-err sonidoing further into the forest before stabbing himself with Ginjo's Fullbring absorbing it and thus evolved and became times more powerful. I took over and then flew over above Rukia and the others. From there we talked a bit and then I became an arrancar. Then Tsukishima appeared and I split him in two. That bastard Urahara can't even make me a gigai as I am now. So I either have to stay in Soul Society or move to Hueco Mundo. That's all."

Absolute silence descended upon them all while the captain commander and Ichigo stared each other in the eyes not backing down. CC's judging stare met Ichigo's defiant one. The stare-down went on for a few minutes neither party blinking even once.

CC sighed and said, "As much I would like to have you in Soul Society…"

"Impossible!" Sui-Feng shouted only to be glared into silence by the CC.

CC continued, "…I sadly can't do it. I suppose you know why?" He received a sigh and nod from Ichigo. "I already have committed treason by granting them permission to return your powers and I can't do it again. I'm sorry."

Ichigo's eyebrows shot up to his hairline in surprise while everyone gaped at the CC. I guess he changed a bit.

"Speaking of which, what happened to the asauchi containing your powers?"

Ichigo simply pulled out the sheathed sword on his hip and held it by his side. While the hilt and guard was the same, the blade wasn't. It was longer in length, as long as a tachi and was jet black with an outer edge of blue while a red line ran along the length of the flat side of the blade. The chain dangling from the buttend of the hilt was blood red in color.

"Urahara had me absorb all the reiatsu in the asauchi when I became an arrancar. So I guess it's mine now." Ichigo said sheathing the sword back. "So yeah, I'm half shinigami half hollow with the hollow powers being the dominant one unlike my past Visord self."

No way in hell am I telling them that I'm part shinigami and Quincy along with being a hollow.

Another staring match started between the CC and Ichigo increasing the tension in the atmosphere. Ukitake was about to step in only for Ichigo to snark. "You know gramps, it's rude to stare at others." He grinned widely.

Everyone's jaw dropped.

"Do you have a death wish?!" Shinji hissed at him.

The CC's eyebrow twitched in annoyance before he sighed and slumped in his chair. "I'm too old for this shit." His reply caused Shunsui and Ichigo to burst out laughing while everyone gaped at him. He abruptly straightened up and spoke up. "I'm afraid you will have to go to Hueco Mundo Kurosaki Ichigo or Central 46…"

"…will order my execution." Ichigo finished for him nodding. "Understood." He heard Byakuya sigh in relief and cracked a smile. "You wouldn't mind if I drop by sometimes would you?" He smirked when Byakuya silently groaned.

CC shook his head and said, "Be discreet when you do."

Sui-Feng's jaw dropped. She was about to protest only for Unohana to flash her iconic smile at her. She shut up and crossed her arms with a scowl on her face.

"Dismissed." The CC ordered tapping his cane on the ground before leaving the hall.

"That went better than expected did it not?" A female voice said in his mind.

Ichigo mentally nodded at his now new zanpakuto spirit. Yeah. And it was fun watching Byakuya stay stiff and twitch for the entirety of the meeting. He received a chuckle from the spirit.

"Ichigo?" He looked down at Rukia who called out to him. "Are you really alright with it? What about your sisters?" Rukia said frowning.

Ichigo sighed and slouched. "I'll have Urahara manage something. Anyways, I'm leaving. The earlier I do, the lesser the problems there will be."

"Where will you go?" Rukia hurriedly asked trotting behind Ichigo.

"I'll drop at Urahara's first, beat my old man down to the ground, leave a letter for my sisters and leave. You wanna come?"

Rukia hesitated to answer and she glanced at Byakuya who nodded at her and flashed away. "Alright let's go."

Ichigo smiled and sonidoed away to the Senkaimon grabbing Rukia as he did so making her yelp. He laughed as the two of them landed before the Senkaimon. Rukia was on her butt. She jumped to her feet and kicked Ichigo on the shin only to yelp in pain.

"What the hell are you made of idiot!?"

"Hierro."

"Oh."

"Yes 'oh'. Now come."

"Well, this is interesting."

"What is interesting your majesty?"

"My son born in darkness has finally awakened his Quincy powers or rather, separated it from the shinigami brew. What do you think Haschwalt?"

"Shouldn't it be impossible for a Quincy to be alive with Hollow reiatsu running through them?"

"Before he could even go into soul suicide, he absorbed the reiatsu stored in the sword thus bringing a perfect balance in his soul." Yhwach grinned widely. Grow. Grow more. You're merely a pebble on the side of the road. Become a mountain that I'll have fun blowing up to pieces!

"Hahahahaha!"