Way of the Protector

by mlickko

Ichigo died fighting Ulquiorra on top of the Las Noches and his hollow decided it was enough and Ichigo must arise stronger than ever. Watch as Ichigo learns how to accept himself and he becomes the person he always strived to be, the Protector. AU from the fight with Ulquiorra.

3. Chapter 3: Rise of the Protector

Hello guys, it's time for another chapter of Way of the Protector.
I'll be repeating myself, but seeing so many reactions makes me very happy :)

For some of you that are more into action... well, I'm sorry, but for now I want to explore what makes Ichigo the Protector he is, so no action.
But I still hope this chapter will interest you.

Yes, Ichigo is kind of overpowered, but even the strongest of opponents can be taken down by someone who's weaker (David & Goliath anyone?).
Ichigo has more reiatsu than most, but to use it properly he'll have to train (I won't be giving him power-ups, which are not earned.)

About the harem... weeeell, you can never be sure who's going to be in it if it's me who's writing the story :D. Before you can be absolutely sure about it, I'll give a confirmation in story.

The Golden Boy ... yes, I'm afraid myself that I'll end up in some cliché, that's why I'm so hesitant to add more women. I'm conflicted between how I want things to be and how they should be.

Enough ranting, read the chapter ;). (v2)

P.S: at the end I'll give you a name of the next chapter, see if you can predict what will happen in it :)

Chapter 3: Rise of the Protector (Black & White ... & Gray?)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'

xxx

Ichigo stood in front of a huge doors, that marked the entrance to the 1st Division barracks and he was feeling very nervous. Something from the back of his mind was warning him, that this meeting won't be as easy as the Gotei 13 thanking him for defeating Aizen.

He sighed and when the doors opened, he hesitantly walked inside, where Captains were standing in two rows, with the Captain Commander in the center. Gulping slightly, he walked forward and stopped in front of the old Commander.

Yamamoto brought his cane down with a boom.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are standing here, because we feel that for all the help you have given us, you deserve a formal thank you. Therefore, in the name of the Gotei 13, I thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo." He said with a booming voice and slightly nodded in the direction of Ichigo, who nervously laughed.

"Aah, don't mention it."

"But I think you already know that this is not the only thing we wanted to discuss with you." Yamamoto added.

"Yes. What is it?" Ichigo asked nervously, making the Commander open his squinting eyes and look at him directly.

"We would want to hear the full story of how you came to possess the hollow powers and what exactly happened in Hueco Mundo."

Ichigo was nervous, but he still managed to frown.

"I don't mean to be rude, but why should I tell you. I have no problem with explaining as to how I came into possession of my hollow powers, but why do you want to know about Hueco Mundo so much?"

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes a little. He was expecting such a question.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, the answer is simple. To determine if you are indeed in control of yourself and to find out just how did you increase your power, we need to hear the full story. I think you understand that punishment for acquiring the hollow powers of your own will is severe. The Central 46 still haven't been formed and therefore I'm in the control of decisions, so for now I simply want to know, if we can trust you with controlling your hollow powers. However, after the Central 46 is formed, what will happen to you will be their decision. With me having information about you and your story, I can somewhat defend you, otherwise... well you get the idea."

Ichigo was still calm, but he didn't like what he was hearing.

"So you are telling me that even after everything I've done, your government can still do to me whatever they want to?" He asked slightly angered.

Yamamoto sighed.

"I understand your distrust, but what do you think would happen if your hollow powers would get out of control? You claim that something like that can't happen, but you have no proof since there is almost no evidence of this phenomenon. You yourself are aware just how much power you possess. With that much power being out of control, many lives can be lost."

Ichigo clenched his fists.

'Damn. I want to be angry, I want to yell at him ... but what he says is true... I lost control once and the results were disastrous. Damn.'

"I understand what you're talking about. But you have to understand something too. If your government think, that they can execute me just because I want to protect the people I care about, and because of that I gained power they don't understand... I will not just stand here and let them kill me." Ichigo replied, carefully choosing words, so they would understand he wasn't threatening them directly, that he was only giving a warning.

Yamamoto frowned and rubbed his temples. He understood him exactly as Ichigo intended to, but it wasn't very calming.

"You dare to threaten the Gotei 13? Know your place, brat!" The voice of Sui-Feng interrupted their thoughts.

'Ah, I really am getting too old for this shit.' Yamamoto sighed and looked at the Captain of the 2nd Squad.

'She really needs to learn to read between the lines.'

Ichigo's eyebrows twitched in annoyance and he turned to her.

"Oh I know my place very well. It's between stupid people and the people I care about. I don't care who you are. If you threaten my family and friends, you are unlucky. Moreover, you misunderstood, I'm not threatening anyone, I'm just warning you that you shouldn't cross me. I've been through a lot and I know what I can expect from you. I'm not naive anymore. Not everything is black and white. Between that are many shades of gray that can determine what is wrong and what's not. But your government sees everything only in black and white. I just want you and your whole system to learn to see other colors. Not everything is simple and you need to learn that not everything you thought was the truth in the past is the truth nowadays. I've met hollows, Arrancars, that are more human than most humans. I've met Quincy, who befriended a shinigami. I've met a shinigami, who respects humans. I've met humans, who would fight and try to hurt you just because the color of your freaking hair is different. There are many examples that not everything that's written in the stone is true. Do you know that after the final battle I found a surviving member of Espada?" He stopped to take a breath and looked Sui-Feng in the eyes.

Other captains were listening to him while holding their breaths.

"Yes, I heard about that. I disagree with your decision but continue." Sui-Feng said.

"I was expecting you to disagree. Do you know what the said Espada wanted to do after she woke up? Mind you she was in such a bad shape she could hardly move. No, you would never guess it. She wanted to check on her Fracción, her companions and she refused to leave without them. How many people, humans or shinigami, would show that much devotion to others at the battlefield, in which you have badly lost and you could be executed on sight? I'll tell you. Almost none. Nobody would risk their necks for others in such a situation. Do you still believe that every hollow is bad? I've met a child Arrancar, her name is Nel, who is such an innocent person, that you would want to take care of her almost immediately. She's now an adult, but she's still the same sweet person and would never try to hurt you without a good reason. Of course, most of the hollows are not like them. I know that. But as I said, there are not only black and white, but also shades of gray. Your government exiled your own Captains and Lieutenants without any hard evidence and condemned them to almost sure death. What would you do if, for example, your mentor, Shihoin Yoruichi would turn to a shinigami with hollow powers? Would you mercilessly kill her or would you try to save her?"

Sui-Feng looked at him but averted his gaze after a moment.

"I...I would do anything in my power to try and save her." She muttered quietly.

Ichigo nodded.

"Yes, exactly. You see? You may be a military organization but even you have feelings, you are not machines. I have learned something from Byakuya, I admit that. If you, the Captains wouldn't uphold the law, then who would? There would be probably anarchy. So yes, you must listen to your government but that government should be made from the ones who are open-minded not bigoted nobles, which are so stuck up in their traditions they don't even know what it's like trying to survive every day. Look at the Rukongai. Every soul which is sent to the Soul Society is told that this place is heaven. Who are you trying to kid? I saw what it looks like. It's a dump and I don't even want to know what happens there or I would probably vomit. You can live hundreds of years and yet you do nothing, because the damn nobles won't allow you to spend their money on the poor. Is that any different from the humans in the World of the Living? No, it's even worse. We, humans learned from our mistakes. Not completely but we are trying but you however, are not." He paused again, trying to catch his breath.

Nobody spoke a word.

"As I was saying, I'm not expecting you to break the law on daily basis. I just want you to make this place a better place for every soul. I want you to take into account circumstances of every situation and not just do everything mindlessly. If you disagree with your government, let them know and they should rethink it again... I think that's everything I wanted to say..." Ichigo finally stopped his monologue and looked around at the others.

Some Captains were looking at the ground slightly ashamed, some of them were thinking hard, even Kenpachi wasn't grinning anymore. But most of them gave almost no reaction to his speech, if only slightly closed their eyes, trying to look indifferent.

"Oh yeah, and do you have a problem with me? Ever since you've known about me, you were trying really hard to get rid of me." Ichigo added a question for Sui-Feng who looked at him in surprise, not expecting this question.

"Yes... well I had, but most of them were slightly erased by what you just said. But I still think of you as a rash individual with too much power that could turn on us." She managed to reply.

Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

'I see... so the effect of Yoruichi-san leaving her behind is still there. She's paranoid and afraid that she'll be betrayed again.'

Ichigo sighed and thought about some sort of a solution that could change her opinion of him. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him and he grinned, which confused the female Captain.

"So... how about we spar sometime? I could take it as a training, we could get to know each other and you may even change your opinion of me." He asked her.

She narrowed her eyes on him.

"That is a stupid idea, as your huge Zanpakuto against my Suzumebachi is the worst match-up I can think of."

Ichigo chuckled.

"Oh no, I'm not talking about using zanpakuto. I'm talking about Hakuda, it's your specialty in the 2nd Division right?"

Sui-Feng and the others raised their eyebrows in surprise. He willingly wanted to spar in Hakuda against master assassin?

"Do you have a death wish? If I agree I won't go easy on you."

"Challenge accepted. Bring it on." Ichigo grinned cheekily, making Sui-Feng grin too, albeit a little bit evilly.

"If I may, Captain Commander." Ukitake spoke up.

Yamamoto nodded to him.

"Kurosaki-san, we actually wanted to talk to you about that. We think that it would be best if you stayed here in the Soul Society for some time so that you could learn something about being a shinigami." Ukitake said slowly.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

Ukitake turned his head and looked at Unohana who nodded and came forward. Ichigo's cheeks colored a little when his gaze met hers, but he endured it and didn't avert his eyes.

"Kurosaki-san. I believe that you will be forced to stay in the Soul Society simply because of the changes that your soul went through. You may not feel any different from before, but your sudden growth in power will be probably too much for your human body, which is too fragile. I'm not saying it's permanent, but you'll probably have to give your body some time to slowly adjust to your new reiryoku. I'm sure that Urahara Kisuke will know more, but I want you to be prepared for a possibly bad news." She said sadly.

Ichigo looked at her in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? You mean if I tried to return to my body I could... die?"

Unohana smiled sadly.

"No, not exactly. But if you tried to force your soul into your old body, it would probably result in a great amount of pain, as your body needs to adjust itself. It would be best to simply pour your reiryoku in extremely small doses into the body and let it take care of it itself. As I said, it may take some time but eventually the body would be able to take your soul back."

'So, this is the price I have to pay in the exchange for the power to protect? I'll have to talk with Dad and girls... damn how can I explain it? I really need to talk to Urahara-san.'

Ichigo clenched his fist and shook his head.

"It's okay. It makes sense. I'll talk to Urahara-san as soon as I can."

Unohana nodded and stepped back.

"Now, Kurosaki Ichigo, I believe it's time for your story." Yamamoto spoke up.

Ichigo sighed and shifted his weight on his other leg.

"Right. I'll start from the beginning. Ever since I was little I could see ghosts. Of course, back then I didn't know that they were ghosts, I only realized it later. It became a routine for me to help some of them, if they were unfortunate but mostly I helped kids who recently died and couldn't find their parents. One evening, while I was in my room, a weird person in black clothing came from nowhere. I found out that she, Kuchiki Rukia, was a shinigami and from her I learned the basics of the hollow-shinigami equivalency. That same evening, almost at the same moment, my house was attacked by a hollow. I naively thought, after Rukia told me that the hollow was after me because of my unusually high reiatsu, that if he was to kill me, he would leave my sisters and my father alone. Heh, naive indeed. Rukia saved me, but it cost her most of her strength. She was unable to fight anymore, but she offered me a chance to save my family. I had to become a shinigami myself by plunging her sword through my heart. I did it, and thus I became a shinigami. Never once I thought that giving power to a human was an offense. The days went by, I was purifying hollows with Rukia's help and I think I was doing a good job. But then a huge hollow appeared, the Menos Grande. I managed to drive it back by pure instinct and from there it all went downhill. Not long after that, Rukia tried to leave and that's when Renji and Byakuya came for her. I tried to stop them, as I owed her my life and the life of my family. Byakuya injured me, believing that he left me powerless. Urahara-san found me lying in the pool of my own blood and nursed me back to health. He offered me a chance to regain my powers, which I accepted too hastily. I didn't even ask what the procedure of getting my powers back included and few minutes later I was already trying to survive. When I was in my soul form, he cut off my chain of life and told me to change into shinigami, otherwise I would end up as a hollow and he would have to kill me."

Few Captains shook their head in disbelief. How could have Urahara Kisuke, a well-known genius do that to just a kid?

"Well, I had no idea how to turn back into a shinigami so my chain of life corroded completely and threatened to turn me into a hollow. I later found out, that I was supposed to turn into one immediately. But strangely, I was able to resist and found myself in my Inner World, where thanks to Zangetsu, my zanpakuto, I discovered that I owned my own shinigami powers. I turned into a shinigami, but I wasn't quick enough and from what I understood, the traces of my hollow partly managed to infect my soul. At that time I wasn't aware of this fact. I was happy that I managed to take out Zangetsu from inside my soul."

At this point Captains were whispering in shock but Ichigo hadn't noticed.

"What followed is probably known to you. I trained for ten days and after that me and my friends invaded the Soul Society, trying to save Rukia from the execution. During that time I fought Ikkaku-san, Renji and Kenpachi. First time I tried to face Byakuya, Yoruichi-san knocked me down and told me, that at that moment I couldn't defeat him. So then I trained for my Bankai. After more than two days I managed to do that and the rest happened at the Sōkyoku Hill. During my fight with Byakuya, I admit, my Bankai was proving too much for my body to handle and I started to lose. When Byakuya threatened to kill me, my hollow managed to usurp the control from me and fought Byakuya instead. I managed to drive him back and we finished our fight. After Aizen went to Hueco Mundo I returned to the World of the Living but the hollow's voice became more profound and louder and I was becoming afraid to turn into a shinigami. I was struggling and trying to hold him back with my will but it was greatly lowering my fighting ability. Thankfully, I was contacted by your ex-Captains and ex-Lieutenants, the Vizards and they taught me how to defeat my hollow. After that I was able to use my hollow powers freely, but it had a time limit, which I slowly increased in each fight." He stopped and took a breath.

"In Hueco Mundo it was simple, fight everyone and win. First time I ran into Ulquiorra in Hueco Mundo, he left me dying and only thanks to Grimmjow, the Sexta Espada, who wanted me to fight him at full health, I survived. To clear it up, he brought Orihime and forced her to heal me. We fought and eventually I won. But then the Quinto Espada, Nnoitra showed up and since I gave all to my fight with Grimmjow, he trashed me badly. Kenpachi showed up and took Nnoitra on while Orihime healed me again. He won but as we were going to escape, a man, who I now know was the Primera Espada, took Orihime away, what left me with no other choice than going after her. I ran into Ulquiorra again. We fought, I managed to force him to release his Resurrección and then everything went into hell." Ichigo interrupted his speech and sighed.

'There goes the bad part.'

"In his Resurrección he was overpowering me easily. He was loads stronger than Grimmjow or even Nnoitra. I refused to back down and he released for the second time. He called it Resurrección Segunda Etapa and that he was the only one from the Espada who could do that and that even Aizen didn't know about it."

"What rank should he have been, Kurosaki-san?" Ukitake asked with interest.

Ichigo thought a little.

"Honestly? I'm not sure since I never fought the Primera, Segunda or Tercera. I briefly fought Zero however. I felt the reiatsu of the Tercera so going by the reiatsu I'd say he was only slightly below Zero. Combat ability he was fast, faster than almost anyone I've ever seen. His Cero and other attacks had devastating effects. You can say that he was on equal grounds with Primera." Ichigo replied, shocking the Captains.

"How were you able to defeat him, then?" Sui-Feng asked.

"Ah... I wasn't able to defeat him." Ichigo admitted.

"What do you mean?" Sui-Feng asked confused.

"He killed me." He said simply, shocking them even further.

"Let me explain. He blew a Cero through me, creating a gaping hole inside my chest. I woke up in my Inner World, where I met my hollow." He heard a slight gasping.

"We fought, but I was once again overpowered. But my hollow is not stupid and offered me a last chance to redeem myself. In his own words, he could have just take over my body and leave everyone. However Aizen would find him and even he couldn't fight Aizen alone. Thanks to him I realized something I should have realized a long time before."

"What was it?" Kyoraku asked quietly.

"That to be able to fight at my full power I needed to fully accept who I am. I needed to accept, that myself is only a one part of me, and only one part of my power. I needed to accept, that at my very core my power was divided into three separate beings. Myself, my zanpakuto, Zangetsu and my hollow, Shirosaki. It sounds crazy I know. How could I trust a hollow? But he made some good points. Ever since my hollow powers have awoken, they were hindering the other part, Zangetsu, therefore I was able to fight with only one part of me. Trust me, it wasn't easy for me to accept, that part of my soul is a hollow. But I did it and I accepted him and we merged."

Yamamoto's eyebrows shot so high they couldn't even be seen after that statement. His hand almost twitched and he had to stop himself from doing something rash.

Others were faring the same. Ichigo raised his hands.

"Yeah. However, I'm still me. Merging with my hollow increased my reiatsu exponentially, since it's no longer hindering me, my body underwent a small growth and I now possess Resurrección. Don't be fooled though. I can almost see what you think. The hollow was always a part of me. It's part of my power. Even if I wouldn't have gained a hollow in the training with Urahara-san I'd still be around this strong. Only addition is that I can use some of the hollow powers. Of course I'll have to train now even more than a normal shinigami, since I have to balance my reiryoku into my attacks accordingly. If I would wish to learn a Kido, I would have to be careful not to use hollow part of my reiryoku, as I assume it would only result in blowing my face up."

Ichigo stopped talking and looked at the Commander who was thinking. Old Captain stroke his beard and opened his eyes.

"I understand. I hope what you say is true. But that still doesn't answer the question to who defeated Ulquiorra?"

Ichigo scratched his head nervously.

"Ah yeah. It seems, that when I was in my inner world fighting my hollow, my body heard my friends screaming for help. My body was mostly dead, but it couldn't turn into another hollow, since I already was a part hollow. Therefore that part of me was the one that reacted and it fought using my body with pure instinct. From what I know, it was that form that defeated Ulquiorra. Quite easily by the way."

Yamamoto shook his head.

'Once again, I'm too old for this. This boy... it can't be a simple coincidence that he can do all of that, it's almost as if he's a ...'

He shook his head again. What he was thinking was impossible.

"And you think that you shouldn't have mentioned something as grave as that?" Yamamoto asked in an irritated tone.

Ichigo shook his head.

"No, because it was one time thing only. Now that I'm merged with my hollow, something like that is mostly unlikely to happen."

'Mostly unlikely isn't good enough boy...' Yamamoto sighed and rubbed his temples.

He paused and thought about this whole situation.

'It is true that we have never had any experiences with this kind of phenomenon. I really want to trust him. I can see clearly that all he wants is to protect, but what if once fails to do so? Will he be strong enough to endure the pain? Or will he seek revenge? I'm the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 and lives of every shinigami are my responsibility. Can I gamble that on my belief in him?'

Ichigo was looking at him with a small bead of sweat forming on his forehead.

'He is young and has a big heart and endured quite a lot. But still...' Yamamoto stopped the train of his thoughts and reached a conclusion.

"Fine boy. I am putting my trust in you and your ability to make the right decision. You gave us a lot to think about. Indeed, nothing is black and white. I'm more than one millennia old and I have lived through tough times so I understand where you're coming from. Maybe our decisions aren't the best, but if you have thousands or even millions of lives under your responsibility, you'll see that it's hard to find what's right and what's wrong and what's evil. However, I respect your opinion. I don't think I've met someone so young but already with such strong will. You are no longer that naive in my eyes, but what you want from the afterlife will be extremely hard to accomplish. Now, you are free to go. If you don't have a place to sleep ask some of the Captains, I'm sure they'll take you in for the time being. Dismissed."

Ichigo sighed in relief. He was glad that at least some of his thoughts reached them. When he was on his way out he remembered something and turned around.

"Yeah, I almost forgot, what about the Vizards? Are they still exiled or...? "

Yamamoto squinted his eyes.

"No, since it was all due to Aizen's machinations, they are no longer exiled. Now it's their choice if they want to come back or not. We would be glad to have them back in our ranks but we'll understand if they don't want to."

"And Gin?"

There were few seconds of silence.

"His actions are inexcusable. Planning on taking revenge by sacrificing lives of many isn't something that a respected shinigami like himself should have done. We will hear him out later today. I personally don't want to see someone as talented as he is to go to waste, so the punishment will be less than death."

Ichigo sighed in relief for the second time.

'I really can't find the snake face a pleasurable man but I can understand his reasoning a little.'

He turned around and walked out of the meeting.

"So, what do you think, sensei?" Kyoraku asked Yamamoto when he was sure that Ichigo was out of the ears distance.

"I don't know. I really don't know. I caught it just like you did. It is not normal for a shinigami to create his own zanpakuto without the use of the Asauchi. I don't think even I remember someone who did it before." Commander stroke his beard thinking hard.

"Wait, when did he say he didn't use an Asauchi?" Hitsugaya interrupted them.

"Well, from the reports we heard from Captain Kuchiki, his zanpakuto was broken when he was using power obtained from Kuchiki Rukia. It was probably an empty sword, as he didn't know its name and it was broken very easily. But in his story, he mentioned that he met his zanpakuto spirit in his inner world and that he pulled it out from his soul. We also know that his zanpakuto is a rare constant release type. It's safe to assume that he created his zanpakuto from nothing." Ukitake answered instead of the Commander.

"But that's ... impossible, isn't it?" Komamura joined the conversation.

Yamamoto nodded shortly.

"Yes, at least for a normal and traditional shinigami but we all know that Kurosaki Ichigo is hardly normal. He said that his zanpakuto informed him about his own shinigami powers that he always had. That raises another question. No living human can possess shinigami powers unless..." He didn't finish when a knowing look flashed across Kyoraku's face.

"Unless one of his parents is a shinigami." He completed the sentence, creating a complete silence.

"Even if one of his parents is a shinigami, it can't be someone of a low rank, otherwise he would never be this strong. It must have been someone on at least Lieutenant level or even higher. Captain Kuchiki, did Kuchiki Rukia mentioned something about his parents?" Commander turned his head to the noble Captain.

"Only thing I know is that Kurosaki's family is very generous and kind and that ..." Byakuya went silent for a moment and closed his eyes.

'I'm sorry Rukia, I promised you not to say this to anyone else, but I can't hide things from the Commander.'

"...And that his mother was killed before his very eyes when he was little. It was done by a hollow."

Even the Commander looked surprised by this and a little bit confused.

"That's ... but how can he not hate hollows then?" Unohana asked in shock.

"I don't know. It's like he's not blaming the hollows for that, but I can only speculate. Rukia said that he never talked much about this topic." Byakuya finished and stepped back.

"That's why it was so hard for him to accept his hollow part... probably." Ukitake mused while others nodded their heads in agreement.

'That's why he acts as he does. His life wasn't as innocent as I thought before.' Yamamoto sighed again.

It seemed like he did that a lot when talking about Kurosaki ichigo.

"We diverted a little from the original topic. It seems that his parents are not some no-names after all. We need to find out something about them, but do it slowly and discreetly. If he finds out about this... his trust in us could be lost." Yamamoto curtly nodded in Sui-Feng's direction who nodded back in acknowledgement.

"Now, this meeting is adjourned. Dismissed."

Meanwhile, Ichigo was thinking about the meeting, not knowing where his steps were taking him. Will the Gotei 13 really take him seriously like the Commander told him or would they just brush it under the tables? After all, they were an organization that held for more than a millennium. What could an opinion of a seventeen years old teenager change?

When he shook off these thoughts, he realized he was standing in front of the special unit at the back of the 4th Division barracks, where the Vizards were staying, recuperating from their injuries taken in the fight with Aizen. He remembered, that he hadn't visited them yet and sighed in a little shame. They helped him quite a lot and he almost forgot about them.

When he got inside, he was welcomed with a rare sight, where most of the group was scattered around the Hyiori's bed, sleeping. He noticed that the ones who were still awake were Hacchi and Love.

"Hey guys, how are you holding up?" He greeted them quietly, so that he wouldn't woke up the others.

"Heey Ichigo, we're mostly fine. Me and Rose weren't that much injured. Same with Shinji and Lisa. Kensei and Mashiro were beaten quite badly but they are out of the worst. Hacchi got his arm back, thanks to your friend Orihime. The only one who's keeping us worried is Hyiori. The little punk still hasn't woken up." Love nodded in the direction of the small figure with blonde pigtails under the blankets. Ichigo smirked when he noticed that Shinji was lightly holding Hyiori's hand.

"Sooo, when did this happen?" He pointed at their hands. Love started chuckling madly.

"Oh, ha-ha, you don't know the half of it. It is quite sad actually, because when Hyiori will wake up and notice that, she'll kick him into unconsciousness. We think this is just a brief moment of Shinji being afraid of losing his childhood friend. No love between them, at least not that kind you are thinking of. Speaking of that, I think Mashiro is the one who is the most surprised. Kensei managed to form some nice words to her when she woke up." Love snickered again with Hacchi smiling widely.

Ichigo was gaping at him like a fish.

"Kensei? No way!"

"Yeah, no one would guess that he would break. But then again, Mashiro has been teasing him for more than a century so it's not that surprising if you think about it." Love chuckled again.

"How about you Kurosaki-san? You look quite fine after fighting Aizen practically alone." Hacchi asked him. It was when the name of Aizen was mentioned, that the others woke up with a start and looked at Ichigo in surprise.

"Whoa Ichigo, what are you doing here?" Shinji asked while trying to discreetly let go of Hyiori's hand. Ichigo noticed but decided that he could make fun of him later.

"Sup guys. I came to see how you were. Sorry that I didn't come sooner but I had little time. Just now I came out of the Captain's meeting." He saw that they tensed a little.

"We'll talk about that later. Sooo... how did you do it?" Shinji asked interestedly.

Ichigo sighed and sat down on the vacant chair.

"I assume you're talking about Aizen. Well, some of you saw it with your own eyes and who didn't the others surely filled them in so I won't go into detailed story. Only thing I can say is that ... it was close. If the Hogyoku didn't reject him at the end and he wasn't sealed, I wouldn't be able to fight much longer."

"What about your hollow thingy? We heard that you managed to do a Resurrección? How? The reiatsu you released with it was unreal." Lisa butted in.

Ichigo turned to her and immediately blushed and looked somewhere else.

"Geez Lisa-san, at least cover yourself with the blanket!" Ichigo half-yelled wildly. Lisa frowned in confusion and then looked down at herself.

Only then she noticed, that the only thing that she was wearing on her top were few bandages and even they were little bit loose.

"Oh. Interesting." Lisa mumbled and covered herself with a blanket.

Ichigo sweatdropped.

'That's interesting? She's even worse than Rangiku-san, both of them have no shame.'

"My Resurrección, huh? I only acquired it few hours before my fight with Aizen." He said.

"Yeah, but how did you acquire it? We've been Vizards for a little more than a century, yet you, who had hollow powers for only few months are already further than us." Shinji asked in irritation.

Ichigo scratched his head and sighed. He had a theory for some time but it was the first time he was going to say it out loud.

"Honestly? I don't know. I have a theory that it has to do something with the fact that your hollow powers were given to you artificially and with force, while my hollow was born naturally. I'd ask him, but even he doesn't' know..." Rose suddenly stopped him.

"Wait, ask him? You mean you can communicate with him?" He asked in shock.

Ichigo looked at him confused.

"Yeah, can't you? Shirosaki has been in contact with me for some time." The Vizards choked at the mention of the name of his hollow.

"You even gave him a name?" Love asked incredulously.

"Sure, he didn't have any and I saw that he would want one. He's a little bit crazy but sometimes he has good ideas." He looked at them even more confused when he saw them gaping at him.

"Yo-you know. Your theory might be true. You don't understand Ichigo. We have been living with our hollows for a century, yet we never heard anything coherent from them. They are only mindless beasts who were trying to destroy us. Nothing more. But from what you're saying it almost seems like your hollow is a civilized person. That's why it's a shock to us." Shinji told him with wide eyes.

Ichigo only stared at him.

"I had no idea. In the beginning he was trying to take over but he was always ... I'd say a complete opposite of me. It was like we were two variables in an equation. Since we were always fighting, the equation had always the wrong answer. Now that I accepted him as a part of me, the equation is solved and I no longer need to fight him and he's no longer hindering my abilities."

"Quite the scholar he is..." Love mumbled shaking his head.

"So that's how you acquired the Resurrección? By accepting him?" Shinji asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes and no. I accepted him, but it was only a first step. The second one was merging with him." He held up his hand in defense when he noticed that they were looking at him in alarm.

"No need to panic. I'm still me, we only merged our powers, that's why my reiatsu increased. And since our powers are combined I can do releases of both shinigami and hollows, therefore Bankai and Resurrección. My personality is unchanged, except for the fact that my emotions are little bit harder to control, but I'd say it's to be expected, since the hollow represented my instincts."

"That means you're no longer gay?" Lisa asked with poker face making Ichigo drop to the floor in shock while others started to laugh.

"Hey! I'm not, never was, never will be gay! I'm only considerate to women and I'm not shameless, unlike you Lisa!" Love was wiping a tear that was trying to escape from his eyes from the hard laughing but then he heard Lisa's reply and he started to laugh even harder.

"So, basically you turned away from me when I wasn't covered in blankets because you were trying to be nice and not because you like hairy chest?"

Ichigo's eyebrows twitched with annoyance and he sat on the chair, fuming while he did so.

"Back to the topic. You accepted your hollow and merged with it... him, and that's how you got the Resurrección." Shinji sighed deeply and shook his head.

"What are you thinking Shinji-san?" Hacchi asked him.

"I'm thinking that something like that won't be possible for us. Our hollows are not normal. They are completely separate entities and they are not part of us. Even if we accepted them, there is no way in hell I'm ever going to trust that crazy bastard and merge with him." He looked at the others and saw that they shared similar thoughts.

Ichigo opened his mouth to somehow console them, but in that moment they heard a loud groan coming from Hyiori's bed.

"Ow... the fuck is going on."

The Vizards looked at each other and immediately jumped and circled her bed. She opened her eyes and looked at them in confusion. They saw a flash running through her eyes and she tried to sit down, hissing in the process when a pain shot through her.

"Easy there saber tooth. You're not completely alright yet." Ichigo tried to calm her down. She looked in surprise at him and then grimaced.

"Fuck you carrot-top, where am I? What the fucking fuck happened? Answer me baldy." She grabbed Shinji's head and head-butted him.

"The hell are you doing Hyiori. It's over. You're in 4th Division barracks. Aizen was defeated, thanks to the Strawberry here." Shinji pointed at the irritated Ichigo.

Hyiori looked at him in surprise, then a relief washed around her face but a second after that Ichigo had to dodge a head-butt.

"Fuck it. I wanted to do it myself. But... since it's not some other stinking shinigami but one of us... I guess I can live with it. So where is Aizen? Wait... did you just say we're in the Soul Society?" She asked with a disgusted grimace.

"Yes Hyiori-san, you were injured quite badly. If it weren't for Unohana-san you could have ..." Hacchi paused and looked at her with pained expression which seemed to calm her down and caused her to drop her head a little.

"You know, I don't know what happened to Aizen after he was done, myself." Shinji looked at Ichigo who nodded.

"He got sealed thanks to Urahara and from what I heard, he's been kept in the lowest levels of some kind of underground prison." Ichigo replied.

"So, want to fill me in on what happened after ... you know... after I passed out." Hyiori asked with a little shame in her voice.

Ichigo sighed and told the story about his fight with Aizen one more time. After he finished, Hyiori looked at him expectantly.

"Can you teach us how to do the Resurrección thing?"

Ichigo glanced at Shinji and shook his head.

"No, probably no. We actually talked about it just before you woke up. It seems that I can do it because my hollow was born naturally and was a part of my soul unlike yours, who were made artificially and forced into you. You'd have to accept your hollow like a part of you and merge with him. I think that's out of the question, hm?" Hyiori jerked with herself when he mentioned merging with her hollow and shook her head quickly.

"Not a chance, that bitch is not a part of me."

After that statement they just sat there and relaxed for a while but soon the silence was interrupted by Rose.

"When you first came you mentioned something about a Captains' meeting. Can you enlighten us a little?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, sure. They wanted to officially thank me for my help in the winter war... and of course they wanted to know how I got enough power to defeat Aizen and from that, how I got my hollow. If it was unintentionally or not. I explained all of it to them and I maaaay have criticized how they run things here in the Soul Society." Ichigo looked at them nervously.

"Wow, you actually told them that they were wrong about something? And you told it to Yamamoto? Brave... brave man..." Love whistled in respect.

"What did you criticize?" Rose asked interestedly.

"Oh you know. That they shouldn't judge someone just because of who he is and that their government is rotten and that the Rukongai stinks." Ichigo mumbled sheepishly.

Love whistled for the second time.

"You've got some balls after all." Lisa said in surprise.

'She's surprised too much.' Ichigo noted in irritation.

"Basically, you defended us?" Hacchi asked quietly making Ichigo nod curtly.

"Since the Central 46 doesn't exist right now, Yama-jii is in control of the decisions and he told me to pass a message to you." Ichigo continued and noticed that they tensed a little again.

"Let's hear it then." Shinji replied.

"It's nothing bad. He's just saying that they are acknowledging the fact that they exiled you wrongly and they are offering you free stay in the Soul Society but only if you wish it. No pressure."

"Well, they can go fuck themselves." Hyiori stated instantly.

Ichigo wanted to protest but he understood their thoughts.

"It's your choice. As I said, no pressure. But since I'm forced to stay here for some time, it would be nice if you'd be here too."

"You are forced to stay?" Shinji raised his eyebrows in question.

"They think that I now possess too much reiryoku and my human body probably won't be able to deal with it. I'll have to talk with Urahara-san about it but the theory is, that my reiryoku should be given to my body in very small doses periodically and let it adjust to it. Till then, I have practically nowhere to go." Ichigo replied.

"Can't they just put a seal on you? Like they do with the Captains and Lieutenants?" Love asked and Ichigo shrugged.

"They didn't mention it so I guess it's probably my hybrid nature that makes them think it won't work. I'll talk to Urahara-san just to be sure later and I'll know more."

Shinji nodded and sighed.

"Thank you Ichigo, for the news. I think we have to talk about that offer more. I can't do the decision for everyone." Shinji thanked him and Ichigo was on his way when he remembered something. He braced himself and turned to Hyiori.

"I... I don't know how you'll react but Ichimaru Gin is alive and his actions will be judged by Yama-jii later this day." He saw Hyiori's face redden with rage, same as Shinji so he continued quickly.

"But before you'll go and cut him down, you should know that he was never Aizen's pawn. He was actually planning to kill Aizen ever since they have met. It has to do with Aizen doing something to Rangiku-san whom he considers to be his big sister. I know that it doesn't justify his actions but just consider it. It was most likely something very grave if he held his hate for a century, just like you did. He almost succeeded in killing Aizen but as I said in my story, the Hogyoku made Aizen almost immortal." Hyiori's face deflated a tiny little bit, but she still looked angry.

'I think I'll leave out the part that I saved the Espada who fought her.'

"Oh, and don't think I defended him. I can sympathize with him but I too think that it was too much. I never fought him so I hold practically no ill will towards him, however you do, so... give it time and don't do anything stupid Hyiori... it wasn't a happy sight, seeing you like... you looked." Ichigo smiled sadly at her which seemed to deflate her anger more and she nodded to him with a small smile.

"Bye now guys."

End of chapter 3.

That's all for now. Hope you liked it.

As promised, the name of the chapter 4 will be: Protector's hardships (Solutions, Revelations, Goodbyes).