Thank you splitheart1120 and darkassassin619 for reviewing and adding the story to your faves/alerts and fallendestinyxx, AkumaKami64, Fifth Horseman, Lilyflower1987, Ryoshiro, splitheart1120, Zangetsu50, farticus3000, and Kami no Kage for adding this story to your faves/alerts :).

Chapter 2

Ichigo's ears immediately perked up at Zangetsu's last statement. He had always wondered what the man who had rescued him from his uncertain future did for a living. He was the only person he looked up to and admired but for some reason he had always been afraid to ask anything too personal or work-related. Zangetsu had always been a very calm and kind man but he also had a very mysterious and powerful aura around him.

Zangetsu looked at the innocent eyes of the now curious teenager and felt a small pang of guilt because he wasn't sure how he would react after he found out the truth or if he would look at him differently afterwards. He closed his eyes took a deep breath and said,

"I guess you can say I take care of the unwanted..." He said simply.

"You mean you get rid of things?" Ichigo asked.

"Uhum" Zangetsu cleared his throat uncomfortably "people."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ichigo stammered. He wasn't stupid though, he already knew what Zangetsu meant but his answer had caught him off guard.

"I take care of situations that others can't take care of themselves. I get sent on missions whenever my services are needed, which is why most of the time I'm away for long periods of time as you have noticed." He said.

Ichigo's eyes were as wide as saucers. He had so many questions running through his head at once and yet couldn't think of anything to say.

"Don't worry Ichigo, I won't blame you if you don't want to associate with me any-" He was cut-off.

"Please teach me!" Ichigo said quickly with his head bowed and then looked up, "I want to become strong so I can finally be able to depend on myself...I don't want to be weak."

"Ichigo, what I do isn't something that is to be taken lightly...it's something very serious." Zangetsu said with a stern look on his face.

"Please Zangetsu" Ichigo looked up with fierce determination burning in his brown eyes. "Please let me train with you."

Zangetsu could only stare at the boy in front of him. He was expecting Ichigo to react in a hundred different ways but this was rather unexpected. There he was, freshly out of a beating with a black eye and a few other bruises but ready to fight back. He was scrawny and probably would need a lot of training but Zangetsu had a soft spot for the boy since the first time he saw him and could never turn him down.

"Alright, we'll start training tomorrow." With that, both men headed back home satisfied with the outcome of their conversation.

The following morning Zangetsu woke up Ichigo at five in the morning and they headed to a nearby forest. He then had him go for an hour long run. When Ichigo was done Zangetsu had him doing pushups amongst other strength exercises. A few hours later the teenager was beat. He wasn't a lazy boy by any means but all the morning exercising had been unexpected and he was starting to run out of energy.

"Ichigo, looks like you're ready." Zangetsu said and stood in front of Ichigo. He extended an arm in front of him and then suddenly a sword started manifesting itself from thin air. Ichigo wasn't sure whether to be more surprised at the fact that Zangetsu had just magically made a sword appear or at the fact that said sword was almost as big as him. He became slightly intimidated but didn't step back.

"This will be the sword you'll be training with." The man clad in black said nonchalant.

"Is that what you use on your missions?" Ichigo inquired still in awe.

"Yes. This sword was manifested with the power of my reiatsu." Zangetsu said.

"Does that mean you are powerful enough to be a shinigami and yet you're not?" Ichigo continued his questioning but suddenly a strange awkwardness filled the air.

"Let's just focus on your training for now."Ichigo simply nodded and choose to keep all the bubbling questions in his head to himself.

Zangetsu then handed him the sword. From the moment Ichigo's hand grasped the clothed handle he wasn't sure why but he felt a very strong connection to it. A sense of familiarity took over and burned deep within his soul. Strangely enough, as he held the weapon he was surprised at the lightness of it. He was expecting it to be heavy and burdensome to carry.

"Alright first off" Zangetsu said bringing him out of his thoughts, "have you ever had any type of experience with swords?"

Ichigo nodded no. Zangetsu already knew the answer but wanted to be completely sure. Even though the two lived together Zangetsu and Ichigo spent very long periods of time away from each other mostly due to Zangetsu's missions.

"Alright then we'll start off with the basics." And so the two friends continued their training for a few hours more until the sun went down.

A few weeks later…

"Ichigo, I got notice of another mission today so I'll be leaving tomorrow morning." Zangetsu said and then took a spoonful of soup.

"Since now I'm training with you do you think it would it be ok if I came along?" Ichigo asked tentatively. He didn't want to be bothersome to Zangetsu but was extremely curious about his missions now.

"Ichigo" Zangetsu said with a serious face, "you can come but you have to know that these missions are not for the light hearted, they can become...messy at times."

"Thank you Zangetsu, I promise I won't get in your way." Ichigo said grateful.

The following morning the two men headed out on their journey, each with a traveling bag on their backs. From the orders Zangetsu had received it appeared this was going to be a long one, probably a week or two.

A few days later they stopped in a small rundown town. They went inside a small restaurant to rest and eat. When they were done, Zangetsu continued sitting casually as if waiting for someone. Ichigo didn't want to be a bother so he didn't ask, but soon enough his question was answered. A blond tan woman with very little clothing walked in the restaurant, the few males in the room immediately turned their heads and their eyes were like magnets unable to look away from the curvy woman. She paid them no attention as she walked towards Zangetsu.

"You're late." He said casually and looked up to see her through his dark glasses.

"Something came up when I was on my way that I couldn't leave unnoticed" She said seriously. Zangetsu then noticed a little aqua haired girl standing shyly by her friend. He simply nodded and figured his friend must have saved the girl from some type of dangerous situation.

"Looks like you brought an extra someone too." Harribel said eyeing the orange head.

"Yeah, this is Ichigo." Zangetsu said introducing the orange-haired boy.

"Hello." Ichigo said blushing furiously and trying not to stare at the woman's chest although it was practically impossible due to her clothing. Zangetsu found this very funny but managed to keep his usual calm face.

After the group left they checked in at a near inn.

"Ichigo, Harribel and I have to get going now. I left some money on the desk that should last you for a while." Zangetsu said.

After hearing he would not be going with Zangetsu Ichigo became disappointed. He was hoping he could be of help and now he only felt like a burden yet again. Zangetsu caught on quickly and said,

"I had planned on having you come with us but someone needs to take care of Nel." Zangetsu said looking at the sleeping girl.

Ichigo nodded and felt a tiny bit relieved. He wasn't keen on babysitting but at least he would be of some help.

"Don't worry Zangetsu I'll take care of things here while you're gone." Ichigo said with determination. Zangetsu nodded and headed out the door with his blonde comrade.

….

Ichigo had been sitting in the small room of the inn bored out of his mind. There was a tiny window in the room allowing the only entertainment for Ichigo. The little aqua-haired girl had been sleeping for hours. From time to time Ichigo eyed the sword Zangetsu had left him. It was a regular katana but Zangetsu said it would still be of help.

"Itsygo?" The little girl asked sweetly when she woke up.

"It's not Itsygo it's Ichigo!" He said irritated.

"I'm hungry." She said rubbing her eyes.

"I figured as much, you've been sleeping all evening." He said and got up. He then grabbed his katana and hanged it on his back, "Let's go." With that they left the room to get something to eat.

"Look Itsygo let's go there!" Nel said excited pointing to a busy and colorful market.

"I don't think that's a good idea Nel..." Ichigo said but it was already too late, the little girl had already run into the crowded market.

When Ichigo finally caught up to her he decided to hold her hand to keep her from running away on her own again. They got a few fruits and bread and headed back to the inn. Ichigo would have rather gone to a restaurant and eat leisurely but now they were going to have to go eat back in the boring room. They were almost there when tree big muscular men approached them,

"What do you got there? Whatever it is sure looks mighty tasty, how bout you hand it over like a good boy?" One of the men said. He had a big scar down the right side of his face and just like the other two had a katana hanging from his waist.

Ichigo's face was immediately graced by a scowl. He promised to himself this wouldn't happen again.

"Not a chance...Nel stand back, this won't take long." Ichigo said with confidence.

"Itsygo..." Nel said worried but did as told and headed to a safe spot. Ichigo unsheathed the katana Zangetsu had given him and got in a fighting stance, but what surprised Nel was not the boy's confidence but the smirk making its way up the boy's mouth as he fought the tree huge guys.

*Clank*clank*clank*

All that was heard after that was the clanking of the metal swords and the grunts from the men. Ichigo wasn't giving in and the training with Zangetsu had definitely started to pay off since the men couldn't land a hit on him. After a while the men decided the fight wasn't worth it for a measly bag of food. They stepped away from Ichigo and the leader said,

"You've got guts boy…" The group then turned around and walked away.

"You did it Itsygo!" Nel said happily as she ran to the boy and hugged him. Ichigo was smiling from ear to ear. He had been able to do what he yearned for the most, protect and take care of things on his own.

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the very late update, school is killing me :(! ! ! !

Hope you guys liked the chapter. I'm not very good at fighting scenes so I'm a little nervous of how this turned out. I chose to make Harribel a friend of Zangetsu because I think she's cool and collected like him.

P.S. For those of you who are waiting for some romance the next chapter will finally have some funny and compromising situations involving Itsygo :p.

Anyway, please review and let me know what you liked/disliked of this chappy =D (I also have anonymous reviews enabled).