Chap 1. Captain's meeting.
Ichigo was weak.
That was the general consensus among the captains, the vice captains, and quite literally the entire Gotei 13. The general notion had been there when they saw him fall to Aizen, whereas the Commander had defeated Aizen. This destroyed the notion that Ichigo was stronger than Yamamoto, after all, if Aizen defeated Ichigo, but then lost to Yamamoto, then clearly, Yamamoto was stronger than Ichigo.
Then, Ichigo found himself unable to return to the normal world, his body having been crushed under a truck (thanks to Kon). So, he returned to Seiretei, and was made captain of fifth division. All the captains, and those who could sense reiatsu found that Ichigo's reiatsu was not strong. In fact, it was weaker than the other captains, even the weakest. Everyone was shocked. What happened to the reiatsu of Ichigo, who had defeated Zaraki? Unohana ruled that Ichigo's reiatsu was still recovering from the Winter War, but when the reiatsu levels did not increase, they were shocked.
So, the general consensus was, Ichigo was weak. He was weaker than the captains, as weak as his vice captain, Hinamori who had gained Ban Kai. His division did not respect him, no one did. Even Kenpachi refused to fight Ichigo, saying he was too weak to offer a good fight.
Ichigo was tired of his charade. He hated having to show himself as weak. At first, it had been a fantastic idea, appear weak, don't have Kenpachi chasing you for a good fight, and don't have your division petrified of you, because you're too strong.
He was thankful, though. Thankful his hollow, Shirosaki, was eager to help him. Thankful that Zangetsu and Shirosaki didn't argue. He had the Winter War to thank for that.
But now, he saw the disrespect, the amusement, the disgust everywhere. Inside, he boiled with rage, as he saw Yamamoto's repulsion at Ichigo's failure to gain strength. Ichigo understood why the Commander reacted like that, Ichigo knew his greatest strength was reputed to be his ability to grow stronger quickly, but inside, he was furious and disgusted.
Didn't the Gotei 13 realise he was hiding his strength? Didn't they realise he was far stronger? Didn't they realise he was too weak to be realistic? Didn't any of the Captains realise how much of his reiatsu was hidden? Idiots. If they didn't, then he saw why Aizen, Tousen and Gin left. The captains could be idiots. And he was almost ashamed to be a part of them, of their ranks.
And so, now, as he stood among the other captains, feeling their disgust and shock rolling of them, in the captain meeting, he boiled. He raged. He was furious. Inside his mental world, rain, thunder, lightning poured down. He could feel Zangetsu and Shirosaki boil, infuriated. Shirosaki growled. Zangetsu growled. Ichigo suddenly had an idea. Smirking inside, he checked with the others, had their eager agreement, and set about carrying out the plan.
"Yamamoto-soutaicho, I have grown stronger," said Ichigo, allowing a small trickle, not much, of his reiatsu to flow out. It made him almost as strong as the other captains, but there was still a clear gap between him and the other captains. "Actually, I was wondering, am I allowed to fight you for the captaincy of the first divison?"
There was an audible gasp. Then, an audible silence. The captains were, to under exaggerate, shocked. What was Kurosaki Ichigo thinking?! He was weaker than them all, even than some of the vice captains, and Yamamoto was far stronger than them all. Ichigo would be destroyed, annihilated, ripped into a thousand pieces. He was crazy. Insane. What else could you expect from the son of Kurosaki Isshin, but even Isshin would not be that stupid.
Ichigo laughed inside. He saw their shocked, horrified faces, and it cracked him up inside. Even Zangetsu smiled at their surprise, something that happened rarely.
Yamamoto stared at Ichigo for several seconds. "You believe that, because of your small increase in reiatsu, you can defeat me?"
"I would like to have the opportunity," replied Ichigo cordially.
"Then, fight we will."
There was an instant outroar. Ukitake stepped forwards, furious. "I must complain! Ichigo is no where near strong enough to fight you, Yamamoto!" Yamamoto shrugged.
"Kurosaki wishes to fight me. I will not deny him the opportunity to realise how far he must still travel."
Hah, Yama, thought Ichigo. I've travelled further than you, baka. I was the one who defeated Aizen, you fell!
He sighed at that thought. One of Shirosaki's abilities that Ichigo had discovered was the ability to see through Aizen's illusions. Ichigo had seen the real fight, and it had been him who had killed Aizen, Yamamoto had fallen. But, he knew better than to refute Yamamoto's claims. It was the accepted story among the Gotei 13, why bother changing it?
"But!"
"He's nowhere near strong enough!"
"Don't let him be a stupid idiot!"
"Why?" asked Hitsugaya, his voice suddenly quietening the whole cacophony. "Actually, why not? If Kurosaki decides to fight Yama-jii, then let him. Why bother stopping him? We could get rid of another idiot captain, for one thing," he added, cold eyes meeting, and holding Ichigo's. Ichigo felt the cold reiatsu that was distinctly Hitsugaya's settle around him. Remembering to appear weak, Ichigo did not allow a single extra thread of reiatsu slither out to cope with the weight. He coughed at one point, but felt the reiatsu eventually slide off. Relieved, he straightened a light slump in his body, and glared at everyone. Byakuya looked as disgusted as he was whenever he saw Ichigo. Yamamoto looked triumphant.
"If you need it, and you certainly shall, Kurosaki, you can have one of the training rooms near the forest. I am sure you will find it of assistance," said Yamamoto, well aware of the hidden insult. All the training rooms aside from those in or around the barracks had no protection against large reiatsu blasts. Offering Ichigo a training room with no protection against reiatsu blasts at all, as was the case with all training rooms near the forest, was an insult, especially as Ichigo was a captain, to his power. Then again, it was a remark at how little power he seemed to have.
Ichigo was well aware of the insult, but made no move against it. Instead, he smiled cordially, and said, "Thank you for the kind offer, soutaicho, but I decline. In fact, I believe I may not use a training room until the day of the fight, which I believe we have not settled." His emphasis on the word 'kind' showed he understood the insult, to say the least.
"You are correct. Perhaps a week from now, that is, this day next week. Of course, the battle, as custom dictates, shall be held in the District 80 of Section 80, in the circle."
"Hai," replied Ichigo, well aware of the meaning behind the phrase 'as custom dictates'.
Any battle between the soutaicho and a contestant was always held in the circle in District 80, Section 80. The circle had been laid down by a past soutaicho, and was a special one. The lining of the circle was, in fact, kido. There were spells in that lining, ancient, mysterious spells that even Mayuri did not want to investigate. The spells all blocked reiatsu, no matter how strong. They would allow people in and people out, but reiatsu did not get past the lining, at least, from the interior out. It was a perfect hiding place, no one would be able to sense your reiatsu, no matter how strong it was. Aizen could allow his reiatsu to run wild, and it was an incredibly strong reiatsu, (Ichigo had almost died defeating him (or as the Gotei 13 believed, Yamamoto had almost died defeated Aizen)), but, had the traitor hidden in that circle, no one would have found him unless they found him physically.
Yamamoto nodded, and signalled the end of the meeting. Ichigo was the first out of the room, at which Yamamoto commented snidely, "probably to find some training room", while the other captains followed more slowly, still in shock from the day's events.
Hitsugaya frowned. He thought there was something suspicious about Ichigo's reiatsu levels, like why it was so weak, and why it had never recovered. Frankly, he didn't trust the way it had happened, didn't believe Yamamoto had defeated Aizen, and didn't believe Ichigo was so goddamned, bloody weak.
He would have confronted the teen about it, but didn't believe he was close enough. Though, now, he decided to do that.
Having shunpoed his way to the fifth division offices, he entered the room without knocking. Inside, he found Ichigo meditating.
That didn't surprise him. What did, however, was the amount of reiatsu swarming around the captain's office, and that it wasn't detectable from the outside.
"King," drawled Shiro's voice, mentally. "We got company." Swearing, Ichigo retreated away from his inner world, and glared at the person inside his office, only realising it was Hitsugaya after a few minutes.
"Whatcha doin' here, Toushiro, and why didn' you knock?"
"Different tone to the meeting, eh, Kurosaki?"
"Don't blabber aroun' with me, I wanna know whatcha doing here, and why didn't you knock?!"
"You normally aren't so gruff," remarked Hitsugaya matter-of-factly, taking a seat opposite the irate captain. "But, the level of reiatsu? Why can't it be sensed outside? Explain, Kurosaki."
"Only if you promise not to tell a soul, not HInamori, definitely not Matsumoto, Yamamoto is out of the question, and –"
"I swear, on everything I hold dear, I shall not tell a soul, indicate to any soul, or any form or manner alert a single soul, living or dead, to the strength of your reiatsu. If I break that promise, let my body crumble, my soul disappear to the deepest regions of Hell, and all that I hold dear to my heart, both what I know I hold dear, and what I am not yet aware I hold dear, crumble as well."
Hitsugaya had just spoken a pledge that was, normally, reserved to matters of deepest secrecy, having known Ichigo would not accept anything else. He glanced at the stunned look on Ichigo's face, clearly the fifth division captain had not expected that, and added, "Though there's no point, really, seeing as it'll be for nothing next week."
"Ph, I don't care. Just don't tell a soul."
"I believe I just promised that." Hitsugaya was met with a disgusted look. "Tell, Kurosaki."
"Right, where do I start?" Ichigo sighed.
"The beginning is usually good."
"Shut up with the smart remarks, Toushiro. Anyway, after defeating Aizen –"
"Hold it. You defeated Aizen?"
"Yes, I defeated Aizen. His last illusion was to have you all believe it was Yama, not me." Ichigo studied Hitsugaya's almost unsurprised reaction. "You're taking it well."
"I'm not surprised it was you. I never really thought it could be Yama. He took defeating Aizen too easily, whereas you were simply quiet about it, almost in shock really. I don't know why really, I just thought Yamamoto seemed to deal with defeating our worst enemy too easily. You, you seemed like you had been the actual victor, and you were dealing with the entire thing like I had expected the victor to." Hitsugaya shrugged, smirking at Ichigo's surprised look.
"Right...well, after that, remember how I went to the real world, first?"
"You went almost immediately after the fight."
"Yeah. There, I talked to Urahara, who dragged me to his room as soon as I stepped out of the portal. He told me to keep my reiatsu hidden here, to prevent weird effects, or weirder effects, on my friends, as well as, 'hey, your body was crushed, and your friends think you're dead'. I thought about that, about keeping my reiatsu hidden... and I decided on a few things." Ichigo paused, thankful Hitsugaya was there, Ichigo needed someone to listen to him. "Anyway, I decided I'd make myself look weak."
"Why?"
"The most obvious reason? I hoped not to be bothered by people like Kenpachi, firstly, who'd want to fight me because I was strong. Then, I thought it would make life easier for me, I was to become a captain, and I didn't want my division petrified of me, 'cause I was strong. I got Urahara to design this office, so I could let loose with my reiatsu and not have anyone sense it." Ichigo sighed, "It was seemed like a good idea at the time."
"At the time? Honestly, Kurosaki, I would, if I could, do that now. It would be a relief. Maybe I could hide how much stronger I grow after my next training bout..."
"Don't," advised Ichigo. Hitsugaya frowned at him. "Seriously, Toushiro, don't. Do you have any idea how annoying it is? Imagine it. Everyone thinks you're weak. That you're pathetic. That you need constant supervision in case a little hollow comes up, and you can't defeat it. Toushiro, the entire thing is just so goddamned, bloody annoying. I hate it. I hate all those stupid bloody oh-you're-so-stupidly-weak-that-you-can't-take-care-of-yourself looks I get. My division doesn't even respect me in the slightest terms of the fricking word, they all think Hinamori is bloody stronger than me, and she only got her ban kai recently!" Ichigo's voice had risen to a shout. He calmed down, eventually, still glaring at the ceiling. "Oh, no offence at Hinamori, Toushiro."
"None taken. Although, Kurosaki, I know how you feel."
"You do?"
"Yes. Remember, most people think I'm still a kid. Physically, I look like one, yes, but inside, I know I am far stronger than a small child. However, I did not choose to look like a child, so I can't change that. You, however, chose to look weak, and now you plan to change that." Hitsugaya paused, smiling. "By fighting Yamamoto."
"Yep," said Ichigo, leaning back. "Should be fun." Hitsugaya chuckled.
"What will you do once you win the captaincy of the first, and the Goeti 13?"
"'Once I win'? Confident in my abilities, Toushiro?"
"Hitsugaya-taicho," corrected Hitsugaya, for the first time in their conversation, Ichigo noted. "But yes. As I am not confident in Yama-jii's abilities, I believe you could defeat him."
"Thanks," said Ichigo, smiling. "As for the captaincy, I'll hand over to someone," he added slowly. "I haven't thought about it. Too bothered about the fight."
"You'll be fine. You defeated Aizen, Yama-jii will be a piece of cake, compared to that," said Hitsugaya, rising to leave.
"I have two things," said Ichigo, rising too. "First, I almost died defeating Aizen. Two, have you actually tasted cake?"
"Funny, very funny, Kurosaki," replied Hitsugaya coldly. "First, Aizen will be tougher, compared to Yama-jii. Secondly, yes, I have tasted cake, Kurosaki, no small thanks to the combined efforts of Hinamori, Matsumoto and Ukitake. The cake in question was drugged with sake," he added, shuddering at the memory. "Never accept, or allow yourself to be force fed cake that comes from Matsumoto's kitchen."
Ichigo grinned. "I'll keep that in mind," he assured Hitsugaya. "Though, I thought Matsumoto's kitchen was blown up by someone?"
"Ah yes," said Hitsugaya, looking sheepish. "That would have been me, actually. It was the day after the sake-drugged cake, and I had a hangover. For obvious reasons, I was none too pleased with Matsumoto, or her kitchen. However, I am glad blowing up the kitchen got rid of, if her wails of distress were correct, several gallons of sake."
Chuckling, Ichigo showed Hitsugaya the door. Sitting back down, he found himself smiling at the fact that he had talked to someone about his situation, how he looked weak, and how the plan had backfired. Feeling Shirosaki call to him, they still had plans to discuss for the fight, he retreated back into his inner world, glad he'd locked the door this time.
A/N: Please review, they make me update faster. Disclaimer: own nothing.