Chad and Orihime stay with Karin and if Ichigo thought for even a moment she could convince him, she'd have Uryū stay as well. Once Kokuto opens the path and they're all in Hell she gives them a moment to take the landscape in. It is quite a sight, nothing on Hueco Mundo or Soul Society admittedly, but it does have an allure all its own. For Ichigo, the sight before them is an old one and if anything she gets a slight sense of relief that the towers before them are those of Hell and not the broken husk of Karakura.
Before, when the balance got out of sync and the barriers started to fall they'd done everything they could to restore them. Soul Society was stabilized for the most part but without the barriers Hell started to merge with the closest thing it could– the World of the Living. Karakura, as a Spiritual center, was one of the first where the barriers broke and it wasn't just the spiritually aware who could see the monsters anymore.
Once they've all looked their fill they set out– Ichigo's main point of solace here is that while they are still working with a deadline, there's no timeline she has to keep with. She doesn't have to play things out like before, what's happening here has little bearing on Aizen's future plans but Ichigo isn't going to chance Shuren or Kokuto coming after her later. It's better to face them now and get them out of the way while she knows what to expect. She knows Aizen has his spies, she knows there's at least one watching them from the moment they entered this place but she doesn't care. She came here for three things and nothing is going to stop her.
They make their way through the first level of Hell quickly enough. Ichigo makes sure to keep herself in check but she still goes Bankai when the guardians show. She can feel Hell tugging at her Hollow abilities but she keeps them reigned in even as she unleashes a Getsuga and wipes out the crowd of Kushanada surrounding them.
When they reach the second level Shuren's three lackeys are lying in wait. They remove their cloaks and formally introduce themselves.
"You could've left the hoods on," Ichigo derides. She glances at her friends, "You three good to handle them?"
Rukia doesn't scoff but Ichigo can hear it in her tone. "Of course we can. You two go on ahead."
"When you're done here, leave," Ichigo instructs. "Kokuto and I can handle Shuren. The three of you, there's no need to make you stay longer than necessary."
"Ichigo–"
"No, the moment these three are down, you three leave," Ichigo reiterates. "I'll return once I have Yuzu."
Rukia gives a reluctant nod and that's all Ichigo needs before she calls for Kokuto and dives headfirst into the water that leads them to the third level of hell. They're still falling when one of the Kushanada springs out of a pool of yellow lava and makes a grab for Ichigo. She dodges the swipe and Kokuto takes the guardian out. They exchange a quick glance before they continue on.
It's as they're going down the steps leading to the fourth level that Kokuto gives his spiel about being an older brother who got sentenced to Hell for taking revenge on the ones who killed his younger sister.
"You sell your heart to darkness for the sake of those you cherish," Ichigo recalls, her own heart throbbing in response. She knows without a doubt that her and Kokuto are nothing alike, but those words hold so much truth. She's done many things she'd rather not have, done things she'd regretted– not having done them, but having to do them– but when it's for the sake of her loved ones she honestly doesn't care what it means for her soul.
The stairs widen out and open into the fourth level, a field of bones laid out before them. On the other side of the field is the cage Yuzu is being held in and Ichigo's feet itch with the urge to move. She doesn't fight it, taking off across the field and closing in on where Shuren is waiting.
Like before he meets them amicably enough. Unlike last time, he can't summon his lackeys just yet. Ichigo takes the opportunity to charge in, she and Kokuto attacking in sync. They're almost taken by surprise when the three finally do make their appearance.
Growling, Ichigo calls her mask and uses a Getsuga to take out two of them, leaving Gunjo for Kokuto while she turns back to Shuren. They dance around some more but even her limited amount of power is too much for the Sinner. She remembers it was the same way before, lining her blade with reiatsu and using shunpo to appear before him, releasing the reiatsu in the form of a Getsuga as the blade bit into flesh.
Shuren goes flying and is taken out completely in the resulting explosion. Ichigo doesn't smile in satisfaction and she doesn't drop the mask, turning to focus her attention on Kokuto now. She's still mid-turn when the blade slams into her chest. Her breath hitches and the sounds around her fade in the shock of the moment. She finishes her turn and falls to the ground, landing on her side. It's at that moment that everything hits at once. Sound returns and pain explodes in her chest and back even as there's a slight pang along her left side from where she hit the ground so hard.
For all that she'd expected Kokuto's betrayal, he still managed to catch her off guard. And he even got her the same way he had last time, she muses absently. She grits her teeth when Kokuto pulls the blade from her chest and glares up at him.
"Guess you got tired of playing the nice guy, right?" She rolls onto her stomach, struggling to push herself up to her knees. He gives his little rant and Ichigo has a derisive retort on the tip of her tongue when three far too familiar reiatsu register. "No!"
Rukia appears and immediately heads for Ichigo only to be intercepted by Kokuto. She's down before anything has time to register. Uryū appears moments later and while he arrives ready to fight he's still not enough for Kokuto and neither is Renji who comes right behind him. It's only a matter of seconds and all three are down.
Anger fills Ichigo along with a sense of dread. The three of them were supposed to leave, they weren't supposed to come after her! If things had gone the way they were supposed to, she wouldn't of had to make a second trip. If they'd left, she could've taken Kokuto out and saved Yuzu and returned to the World of the Living without having damaged the Doors. Now though, all three are down and so is Yuzu, there's no way she'll be able to get all four out.
Cursing herself and her friends, Ichigo leaps to her feet and strikes at Kokuto. Instead of his sword, he uses his chains to parry her blows. Even with her mask however it isn't enough to break the chains and Kokuto seems to realize that as he changes tactics. Ichigo growls again, following his movements as he claims Yuzu and holds her aloft to taunt Ichigo.
Like before, she is too late. There's only a single link but even that is too much for Ichigo and seeing Kokuto holding her over the lava, seeing him dropping her, is enough to fill Ichigo with plenty of anger. Shiro is already close to the surface and she feels him nudge her, offering her his power. While she'd rather not, Ichigo also knows they're best chance now is to let things play out as they did before. Knowing this, Ichigo accepts Shiro's offer and lets his power unfold.
She's in motion before the transformation is complete, touching down with Yuzu's body safe in her arms not even a full second later and in her complete Vasto Lorde form. She doesn't waste time, summoning a Cero and unleashing it at Kokuto with the full intention of wiping him out. She knows it's not enough, not with the limiter in place, but the intention is still there and even if it doesn't work, unleashing all that anger, the frustration at not having been able to change things, certainly helps her.
She hears Kokuto's laugh, hears as he revels in each chain that is broken, as he taunts her into breaking more. Ichigo isn't sure if it's a lucky guess or what that leads Renji to cutting off one of her horns; before, that was the quickest way of breaking her free of her hollow, but they don't know that here. Either way, the pain of having her horn sheared off is enough to bring her back to herself and the moment she realizes what Renji plans to do she drops her sword and reaches for the closest body. Her fist wraps itself in fabric and she holds tight as the Kidō takes effect, as Shiro reclaims his powers and she falls to unconsciousness.
