Kuroi no Taiyõ – The Sun's Blackness
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I really want to thank my Reviewer here. You guys really made my day!
sallythedestroyerofworlds23, Rima-Konan-Miho, The Moogle Shinigami, memories. of. rain, Lycodrake, JediBorme, Comet1234, Persistence, Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo, Tsuki-Rose, Reyes Yong Nydia! Story Alert: sallythedestroyerofworlds23, SplitToInfinity, Rima-Konan-Miho, memories. of. rain, sidajack, Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo, Tsuki-Rose, Reyes Yong Nydia! And the Favorite Stories: Rima-Konan-Miho, Wajak, memories. of. rain, Lycodrake, JediBorme, Persistence, Kurai Minoru, Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo, Tsuki-Rose, Reyes Yong Nydia, HaremBishie!
Phew, that was a lot xD
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Yes I know I didn't wait to hit the Review-limit simply because I don't see why I should make people who did take the 30 seconds required to review wait because some were just being lazy couch potatoes (not that I'm not a bitch-ass lazy couch potato myself but it's about the effin' principle, folks) so here's an update. But don't expect too much. Unlike the first one I didn't re-read this one 46 times over the past one and a half freakin' month.
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"I'm… a Zanpakutô"
Muramasa to Kurosaki Ichigo
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Ni: Where's the gratitude?
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I gave up everything for your good and now I'm asking you… where is your gratitude? Where's your respect? I will teach you to see me as an equal… and crush you in the process.
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"How is your name?"
When the young teen replied his voice burned just like everything else on him and hurt their ears with incredible heat.
"Kuroi no Taiyõ"
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The Shinigamis' eyes were glued on Ichigo's form as he stepped forward, black fire made them move out of his way and without sparing them another glance he paced towards Muramasa and the other Zanpakutô. The moment Ichigo stood in front of the brunette leader, Muramasa asked once more.
"And… what are you?"
Ichigo stared at him for a little while, not moving, not making a single sound. Then, to the assembled Death Gods' shock, he replied, each syllable his voice created scorching their ears once again.
"I'm… a Zanpakutô."
Muramasa smirked. "Is that so? Then what… is your instinct?"
"To protect."
"To protect what?"
Ichigo turned around and faced the Shinigami. They were taken aback when they spotted the rancor in Ichigo's eyes, melting into the depths of those bicolor orbs of his and giving them an unearthly glow.
"To protect my honor."
"Then why don't act after it?"
Ichigo clenched his right hand to a fist, black flames surrounding the limb as he narrowed his eyes at the Shinigami. "With pleasure."
The next second his fist made contact with Renji's stomach, burning through the clothing, scorching the skin and throwing him back at the same time so that the redhead went flying through the Barrack's walls.
Ichigo straightened himself up again, opening his fist and creating one single flame in his palm that gave his face a nearly evil shine.
"Who wants to be the next?"
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"Who wants to be the next?"
A distorted cackle rung throughout the place as a hollow-like voice replied to his question. "Well, since no one's ready to volunteer… how about me, Aibõ?"
Ichigo turned his head slowly towards the voice's source and narrowed his eyes at the sight of his inner Hollow and Zangetsu, the former grinning like a maniac. The strawberry let his hands fall to his sides as he turned his whole body towards the two figures.
"And what… are you two doing here?"
The Hollow's grin brightened. "Well, since your inner world is pretty much non-existent by now there was no place for us to go other than here."
"And what are you planning to do now?"
Shirosaki raised his eyebrows. "What do you think, Aibõ? Fighting you! As long as it means working against you… I would even fight alongside an army of ants. Concerning the old man… he just wants to bring you back. Always wants to play martyr, che, how annoying."
And taking his white version of Zangetsu from his back the Hollow charged at Ichigo in the blink of an eye. But before he could reach the orange-head a wall of flames blocked his way. His face fell and he sneered. "Che."
As the fire vanished Ichigo was nowhere to be seen until he reappeared right behind his Hollow. An instant later flames ripped a deep burn wound into the white complexion of fabric and skin making the Hollow stop in his tracks only for a mere second.
This was exactly one second too long as Ichigo charged once again engulfing both of them into a fiery battle frenzy.
The Shinigami were only able to watch in awe as Ichigo evaded all slashes Shirosaki was throwing his way in a grace none of them knew he was even capable of. This dance-like fight went on for several minutes with Ichigo getting more and more annoyed.
"I've had enough of this crap."
The next thing they knew was Ichigo with his back facing his Hollow's. Flames began to form a sword in his right hand and he turned on his heels in an attempt to cut down Shirosaki with one single slash. In the very last second the white version of Zangetsu blocked the would-be fatal blow sending shockwaves of Reiatsu in every possible direction.
Whilst both of them tried to apply enough pressure on their blade to throw the other back the assembled people could get a good look at Ichigo's sword.
Oh holy crap.
The hilt was completely black; the guard had the form of the Kanji for 'õ' and a long, slim and black chain was attached to the hilt at which's very end an impossible detailed version of a sun was attached, glittering golden in the midday's sun above them. The sword's blade was slim as well and a little bit longer than a normal Katana's would be. The golden metal shimmered black and flames were emitting from it every now and then.
If not for the situation at hand the Zanpakutõ looked beautiful.
That was until the long chain wrapped itself around his Hollow's waist and burst into flames. That must have hurt terribly…
The chain loosened its grip on the Hollow who fell to the ground, unconscious.
The young teen followed suit albeit more gracefully and without creating a semi-sized crater in the earth. Not that this was a very difficult art…
As soon as his feet made contact with the solid ground Ichigo's attention focused on Zangetsu who stood there as indifferent as ever. "You going to attack as well?"
The old man shook his head slowly. "Am I looking that stupid to you?"
Ichigo ignored the Zanpakutõ's question and turned towards the Shinigami. Cocking his head to the left in a predatory way he regarded them with a smirk. "Is one of you guys going to attack or just keep on staring at the point I crushed my inner Hollow in the ground?"
When no response came he turned towards Muramasa and raised his right eyebrow as if asking what to do next. The brunette jerked his head as a sign to come over to them.
He stopped halfway as a petite hand got a hold on his right wrist. Albeit the fact that the skin felt unnatural cold he found the sensation quite pleasant. Shrugging off this thought he turned around to focus on Rukia's features, suppressing a growl. "What?"
His counterpart didn't reply and instead just stared at him making him lose his temper sooner rather than later. With one, resolute jerk of his arm he freed himself and proceeded in grabbing her by her collar, glaring down at her. "Say, are you tired of living, or something? If you put such a stunt ever again I'll down-right grill you, got that, ice queen?"
Her blank gaze never wavered once and that caused his patience to run thin even more. Without him giving even the slightest thought to it flames began to swirl around the arm holding her, his eyes glowing like they were fire themselves.
"You won't kill me." Her voice was so soft that he barely caught her words. He was startled, for a second only, then continued glaring down at her albeit with less venom. "What makes you so sure of that, Shinigami?" He spat the last word like it was some sort of illness, his grip on her garment tightening.
"Because killing me would mean to betray your instincts."
His eyes narrowed at that statement of hers. The flames around his arm parted into four balls of fire surrounding Rukia's head. "Try me."
"Wait a minute," Ichigo turned his head as Muramasa's voice rung through the silence surrounding them.
"Why?"
The expression in those teal eyes was unreadable as the Zanpakutõ replied. "Maybe… she'll turn out to be of some use for us. We'll… take her with us."
Ichigo's face contorted in an expression of surprise but he soon enough gained new control over his features and shrugged. "If you say so…"
Before any of the assembled Shinigami was able to grasp what just occurred black and red flames surrounded the Zanpakutõ, the traitorous Kuchiki Byakuya and one captivated Kuchiki Rukia.
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Ichigo's back connected with raw stone as Kazeshini threw him into the cave's walls knocking all the wind out of the newly transformed Zanpakutõ.
"What the hell?"
"Shut the fuck up, Shinigami! Seriously! You are the second of those pussies claiming to be on our side! But guess what? I don't fucking believe you, Shinigami-brat! It's already aggravating enough to have to put up with this guy over there that must have swallowed a stick! No! Now you of all people!"
"Don't you get it, wanna-be Jack-The-Ripper? I am not a freaking Shinigami!"
The black, demonic figure snorted. "My bad, I forgot. You're a Zanpakutõ. Honestly, WHO ON EARTH ARE YOU TRYING TO FOOL, HUH?"
Ichigo's bicolor orbs began to glow in an eerie light as his temper went haywire. "Why don't you ask Muramasa? After all, he transformed me!"
"Oh, please-"
"He says the truth."
Muramasa's voice was followed by a thick silence that weighed heavily on the assembled people. Kazeshini looked like he just got slapped. "W-what?"
The brunette paced forward and now stood beside the orange haired teen, looking as indifferent as ever although he couldn't keep an excited glint away from his water eyes. "One of my powers… is to transform a Shinigami into a Zanpakutõ. Well, it's not as easy as it may sound. It takes its toll on my body. Also, the Shinigami… has to willingly become a Soul Weapon."
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"Also, the Shinigami has to willingly become a Soul Weapon."
Rukia's eyes widened in horror at those words. "W-what? What do you mean by that?"
To her utter horror it wasn't Muramasa who answered but instead Ichigo, his voice forcing heat on her ears. "Simple, Rukia. It means I betrayed the Shinigami on my own account. Deal with it."
"W-wha… why?"
Ichigo averted his gaze and Kazeshini snorted. "I don't care about any reasons. If he's a Zanpakutõ I'll have to put up with it whether I want to or not. But you," he grabbed Rukia by her collar. "Are a different case entirely."
For a millisecond only Ichigo's eyes widened but then narrowed again, a gesture that reminded of the stoic and impassive head of the Kuchiki clan. His head moved towards her direction only slightly, a motion nearly invisible to the normal eye.
"What… what are you up to?"
Kazeshini gave a wicked grin.
"Lock you away, princess."
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Rukia let out a muffled cry of pain as the sadistic Zanpakutõ threw her into one of the many caves under the Seireitei. Without anyone doing anything bars of stone separated her from the only exit to the dark tunnel, locking her away in a makeshift cell.
Ichigo didn't even spend her a glance as he faced Muramasa. "I didn't expect those underground caves to be still intact after the stunt you guys put here."
"Most of them aren't but those here were mostly unfazed by the ruckus before."
Ichigo nodded thoughtfully whilst the other Spirits began to go back to the main area.
The young male stayed behind.
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Rukia was all alone now, locked up in some cave with Zanpakutõ 'guarding' it. What a lovely way to spend her time, really.
"Are you wondering why I did this?"
Suddenly hearing Ichigo's voice made her jump a bit in surprise but then she slowly turned to face him, unconsciously noting that his voice lost its heat. Frowning she averted her gaze again and Ichigo sighed, turned his back to her and let himself slide down at the bars separating them both.
"Tell me one thing, Rukia…"
"What?" Her voice was clearly soaked in annoyance but also… betrayal. This obvious emotion hurt him more than he even wanted to acknowledge.
"How many times have I saved Soul Society already?"
That came kinda out of nowhere. What asked he such a crap now? Without waiting for her to reply he continued. "I risked my life countless of times for them… so now guess how often I got something like a 'thank-you' from them."
Rukia snorted. "Around as often as you saved their asses?"
"Not one time," his voice was a whisper and she could hear the bitterness in his tone, albeit he did his best to cover it through his low volume of voice.
"Nani?" Her own voice sounded hoarse.
Ichigo smiled sadly and raised his gaze towards the ceiling. "Yeah, they never ever thanked me once. Actually… it was quite the opposite, actually.
"I will tell you something. Shortly before we all went back to the Living World after your stopped execution… the old man asked for a conversation under four eyes with me…"
Flashback
The huge doors closed behind the young teen with a resounding THUD! Ichigo was standing there without knowing what he was supposed to do. Hell, that old geezer scarred the crap outta him, to be honest.
"Please, sit down." The voice was neutral but Ichigo felt a lump rise in his throat nonetheless. Gulping he approached the cushion in the middle of the room.
Great.
Taking Zangetsu from his back and laying him down beside him he sat down on his folded legs, looking nervously up at the Sõtaichõ.
"I suppose you are asking yourself why I asked you here."
Not trusting his voice the strawberry only nodded his head yes.
"I have to say… you did an impressive job while rescuing Kuchiki… I wouldn't have expected this… from someone like… you."
Ichigo frowned slightly. Someone like him? What was that supposed to mean? Before Ichigo could even try to reply the old Sõtaichõ continued. "However," oh no, howevers were never good. "I heard you called yourself a Shinigami… and couldn't help but wonder… how you can claim such a thing."
Ichigo blinked. Huh?
"Huh?"
"Well, if I'm informed correctly then you're a human and not a Shinigami."
"I'm both!"
"Both? That's utterly ridiculous. You can't be alive and be death at the same time. To claim otherwise is foolish."
Ichigo gritted his teeth. His patience was short-lived already but that skinny bastard wore it out even more. "I don't care what you say. I'm alive and am a Shinigami. That's who I am."
Yamamoto let out a snort. "Tomfoolish."
"Nani?" Ichigo was getting more and more pissed off by the minute, no, by the effin' second.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm not saying you aren't strong – you are actually ridiculously strong for a mere human – but it won't change the fact that you aren't a Shinigami, you're human. You may have similar powers to a Shinigami's but you aren't one of us."
Ichigo clenched his fists in a last, desperate attempt to not run this freaking old bastard through with Zangetsu. "For the last time. I am a Shinigami."
"No you aren't. And because of that… you should be aware of something."
"What?" He spat.
"We won't show you gratitude."
"Eh?"
"I am well aware of the favor you did to us in revealing Aizen's treachery, however that won't change the fact that you aren't supposed to mingle with our own business. We won't show you gratitude or respect. We won't thank you for what you did or see you as a comrade. An important ally at the least. But never a comrade, never an equal."
Ichigo had had enough, grabbed Zangetsu and stomped towards the doors without sparing the Sõtaichõ a last glance. He'd already opened the gates a little bit but half-turned his head back and replying. "I will tell you a piece of my mind in return to yours. I didn't really have the highest opinions of you guys to begin with but gained some respect after it turned out everything was just a messed-up conspiracy. But… what little and fragile amount of respect I had towards you people just became non-existent. Don't get me wrong, I'll still stick my nose into your business because I can't have it that the place meant as heaven for those who have died to fall. But if any of you guys get into trouble without any danger towards this place… don't rely on my help. If even possible… I will personally ensure to kill you off painfully."
As soon as he closed the doors behind him he was met with the remaining Captains looking at him with rather mixed expressions. There was some sort of disgust on Byakuya's face, rage on several others and something akin to sadness in few. Ichigo's eyes clouded over in a betrayed manner for some seconds but then he straightened himself back up, held his head a bit higher in an attempt to not let his hurt shine through his features and slowly paced forward right through their midst.
As he passed Komamura the dog-like Captain growled at him. "How dare you speak in such a tone to the Sõtaichõ, human?"
Ichigo slowly turned his head towards the Taichõ of Squad 7. "What do you mean exactly?"
"I mean you should show him the appropriate amount of respect."
"I don't want to destroy your little bubble but I don't see where this old geezer deserves any amount of respect from me."
"Why you," Komamura's hand came dangerously near his Zanpakutõ but Ichigo appeared unfazed by it. "I advice you to take your hand off your Zanpakutõ. I'm not in the brightest of moods right now."
And without sparing any of the Captains another glance he continued to pace forward but then was once again stopped – this time around by Ukitake's hand on his shoulder.
"Ichigo-kun…"
Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Keeping his eyes closed he replied in a tight voice. "Please… Ukitake-san… just knock it off."
When he felt the kind man's hand remove itself from his shoulder he finally got the hell away from there.
Flashback End
There was a deafening silence after Ichigo ended his speech. He shuddered when he felt her petite hand on his back but then unconsciously melted into the little touch. Turning his head towards her he flashed her a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "But, whatever, it's not like it was all that surpris-"
He stopped mid-sentence as he saw her sad eyes and sighed, then turned fully towards her, his breath fanning over her face and lips in low puffs of carbon dioxide as he stared into her violet orbs. "Rukia, just drop it."
She shook her head stubbornly. "Now, what all of them said was just wrong and you didn't deserve any of this."
Without him giving a conscious thought to it his left hand came up and cupped her cheek, stroking her soft skin with his thumb and loving the feel of her leaning into this touch of his own. Slowly they began to lean forward and their lips met where the bars prevented them from getting closer to the other.
After what felt like half an hour – really, it were only two minutes – they broke and let their foreheads rest against each other. Ichigo gave her a small smile. "I'll try… to get you out of this wanna-be cell, allright?"
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I'm not too sure whether I caught the old geezer's personality. I'm a failure when it comes to write about people I can't stand Dx
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Me: Hello folks~
Ichigo: I don't want to endure this torture any longer…
Me: Would you like it better if I started the 4th Chapter for my SongFic Collection? Cuz what I had in mind for the next one isn't going to end all that nice for ya, strawberry.
Ichigo: I'll keep my trap shut.
Me: Smart Berry. Not that I'm going to drop the idea…
Ichigo: Sadistic Chibi…
Me: If you call me Chibi again I'll write another Fic where you'll die in – painfully.
Ichigo: What the hell got you so pissed off, Kuro-san?
Me: Maybe the fact I have 7 exams in my last 4 days of school before 12 days of break will finally give me salvation. Or maybe because my home teacher accused my mother to fake my attests. Or maybe-
Ichigo: Alright, alright!
…
So… I owned my Hollow in here…
Me: Yup~
Ichigo: …
Me: 'Something wrong, Ichigo-kun?
Ichigo: I debate about whether I should hate you or kiss your feet.
Me: That sounded OOC…
Ichigo: Did ya see how I owned my Hollow? That was effin' EPIC!
Me: …
Ichigo: That guy needed a good punch!
Me: I'll restrain from deepening this part of the conversation.
Oh, just so you know. Yesterday around 3 am I finally came up with your new Bankai^^~
Ichigo: Do I want to have a further explanation?
Me: Even if, you wouldn't receive one!
Ichigo: Darn it sadistic bitch.
Me: Thanks for the flattery~
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R&R, please! It keeps me going!
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õ – king
(yeah, I decided on this for several reasons. First: His Hollow called him King although this is mainly referencing to him being the king of his inner world. Still. Second: Louis XIV reigned in France between 1643 and 1715 and called himself le Roi Soleil, the 'Sun King' sun, king, got the hint? And last but not least: In several ancient cultures, such as the Maya and Egyptian, it was said that their monarchs were children of their 'sun god' (e.g. Horus in Egypt) so I thought I make the guard of Ichigo's sword the Japanese Kanji for king. I think this makes sense but this could –of course– only be due to my fucked-up mind)