If And When We Rise
Chapter 04: You and Your Kind, Step Back!
Bakageta
'You stand before me, I will defeat you;
You will not break me, I will not take you.
You're just another unearthly poison
Someone will stop you;
You and your kind, step back!'
--The Aquabats!, 'Powdered Milk Man'
Reviewer response is at the end of the chapter.
"Woah…" Crosser gaped in awe of the sword stuck six inches into the Zanpakuto Classroom's floor. "I-it's huge…"
"Sure is," Akiko sniggered, "ya' think he's compensating?"
"Shut. The hell. Up." Ichigo ground out as he struggled to free Zangetsu without doing too much damage to the floor.
"Aww, someone's touchy."
Ichigo just glared.
There was a long awkward pause during which the only sound was of Ichigo trying different ways of pulling his Zanpakuto out of the floor.
"So, what's its name?" Crosser ventured, breaking the silence.
"Zangetsu." Ichigo replied. "Think it would come out if I wiggled it?"
"Maybe." Akiko said, obviously fighting back laughter.
"You're disgusting." Ichigo said as he shifted the giant blade back and forth. It became looser and looser until Ichigo was able to wrest it from the floor with one last tug. Now that Zangetsu was free, Ichigo rested the blade's tip on an undamaged place on the floor and looked his Zanpakuto over. It looked exactly like it had in his dream (though Ichigo was fairly certain that it hadn't truly been a dream) and, unsurprisingly, the blade hadn't been even slightly damaged.
"Wow…" Akiko breathed, finally impressed.
"Ichigo?" Crosser asked. "How are you gonna sheathe it?"
"Why would I need to do that?"
"'Unless Wartime Exceptions are in place, all Zanpakuto must be kept sheathed when inside both the Seireitei and Rukongai.'" Crosser quoted.
"Wait, ya' actually memorized the laws?" Akiko asked incredulously.
"Only part of them!" Crosser said defensively.
"That doesn't help." Akiko said, shaking her head.
"Shut up." Ichigo commanded suddenly. "I think I figured out what to do."
They all watched as Ichigo gathered a little reiatsu into his sword's hilt. At first this seemed to accomplish nothing, until they noticed that the cloth that extended from Zangetsu's pommel was slowly lengthening and winding protectively around the sword's blade. In less than a minute the cloth drew tight and stopped moving.
"Wow…" Crosser muttered redundantly.
"Yeah, I think that's been established." Akiko said rolling her eyes. "So the sheathe thing's been solved, but how're ya' gonna carry that thing?"
"Like this." Ichigo said, hefting Zangetsu over his right shoulder and onto his back where it somehow hung from a red leather chain reminiscent of vertebrae.
"Where in hell did ya'— Y'know what? I don't care. Yer just too weird." Akiko said throwing her hands up.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and Crosser just stared.
"Kurosaki Ichigo?" A voice called out.
Ichigo turned and saw the female division representative from before standing in the classroom's doorway.
"Kuchiki Rukia, Thirteenth Division.' She introduced herself as she approached Ichigo. "I'd like to speak with you, alone."
Akiko and Crosser both followed the thinly veiled instruction to leave, Akiko mouthing something about 'lucky bastard' as she left.
"So what do you want?" Ichigo asked when he turned his attention back to Rukia.
"You suck at Kido." She said bluntly.
"W-what!?" Ichigo spluttered angrily. He knew Rukia was right about his Kido ability. His demonstration in class had been a fluke, but that didn't mean he would admit it out loud.
"It's true, I saw earlier."
"I did better than some of those guys!" Ichigo said indignantly.
"Yeah, you did, on the surface at least. But," she said in a superior tone, "to someone who knows Kido, you did almost as badly as the guy who set himself on fire."
"And I guess you're one of those people who 'know Kido'?"
"I am."
"How wonderful for you. What does this have to do with me?"
"I'm offering to tutor you in Kido."
"No." Ichigo answered immediately. He'd never really seen the point of Kido. It was nearly useless in battle unless you could bypass the incantation, but if you could do that then it was likely that you were strong enough to beat your opponent without Kido. Ichigo was the kind of person who would rather hit someone than recite poetry at them.
"Of course that would—" Rukia suddenly stopped, surprised. Then her expression darkened ominously. "What do you mean 'No'?"
"I mean," Ichigo said, walking closer to Rukia so he could look down at her, "that I don't need any tutoring."
"Well," Rukia said glaring back up at him, "that's odd because I say you do."
"I say I don't. And, besides, I don't see how I could learn anything from someone so short."
"What did you say!?" Rukia demanded.
"You are sh—" Ichigo started to say, but Rukia punched him viciously in his gut before he could finish. He fell to the floor from the unexpected pain; it felt like he'd been stabbed. Ichigo slowly sat up, clutching his stomach and trying not to cause himself any more pain.
"I suppose this means I'll see you for your first lesson on Monday, right, Kurosaki-kun?" Rukia asked innocently as she left.
"Ya' called fer me, Aizen-taicho?" Ichimaru Gin asked as he approached his former captain in the Fifth Division's garden.
"I did." Aizen confirmed. He left a long pause before he spoke again. "I believe I've found a solution to our problem."
"Th' Hyogyoku?" Gin asked.
"Yes." Aizen answered and started walking down one of the gardens many paths. Five minutes later Aizen spoke again.
"Did you know, Gin, that there is a Vaizard in the Academy?"
Gin's eyebrows rose into his bangs. "Really now?"
"Yes. I felt his reiatsu; it's there, just barely. His name is Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Y'mean Kurosaki Kurosaki?"
"He's the spitting image of his mother." Aizen said with a benign grin.
"Kid like tha' has gotta have some connections." Gin said.
"Of course, especially considering his father."
"S' too bad 'bout him bein' a Vaizard n'all, one slip up an' biff! He's done. But a' least he's got friends who could help 'im."
"Friends," Aizen added, "Who most likely already know about his… issue, and are waiting in the wings to spirit him away.
"All we would need to do is follow."
"I'll set up th' Kido, Aizen-taicho." Gin said easily. "I got one question, tho'."
"Yes?"
"Why would a person like Urahara be interested in lil' Kurosaki-kun when he could let Hirako an' his people take care of 'im?"
"He wouldn't." Aizen answered. "Unless there was a need for it."
"So…?"
"It's likely Urahara plans to use Ichigo to destroy the Hyogyoku."
Gin raised a questioning eyebrow.
"One should never underestimate the energy created when two opposing forces struggle against each other."
They walked in silence for another few minutes before each captain returned to his respective division.
Ichigo stretched lazily before rolling over to keep the sun from hitting him in the face. It was Monday again, and the rest of his class still had Zanpakuto class. He'd spent the rest of the week with Crosser
and Akiko. They were similar to Keigo and Mizuiro in their ability to include him in things he didn't really want to be included in, and the two of them had dragged him out to Rukongai to shop and visit Crosser's father.
By the time they'd finished for the day it was late and instead of walking for two hours to get back to their beds at the Academy they spent their remaining money on a small hotel room. They were too tired to do much more than slip into their respective futons and chat before falling asleep. The three had traded stories of their pasts, though Ichigo never went into much detail.
The next day they'd returned to the Academy and had spent the rest of the day working on the few assignments they'd received in class.
Ichigo was drifting off to sleep with thoughts of his weekend when a voice dragged him back to consciousness.
"You're late, Kurosaki. Wake up."
Ichigo cracked his eyes open and was greeted by the angry face of the Shinigami, Rukia he thought her name was, from Tuesday.
"How can I be late when I don't have any classes?" He asked groggily.
"Oh, but you do." Rukia said, the grin on her face was almost evil as she handed Ichigo a sheet of paper.
It took a few moments for Ichigo's sleep fogged mind to understand what he was seeing, but when he finally comprehended it he was furious. It was class schedule with Ichigo's name on it and under the heading of Monday, instead of a blank space, was neat handwriting that read: 'Kido tutoring'.
"Bitch!" Ichigo shouted as he leapt out of bed. "You changed my damn schedule!"
"What did you call me?!" Rukia demanded.
"Bi-t-ch." Ichigo sounded out the word slowly.
Nearly immediately Rukia lashed out with her foot and kicked him in his face. Ichigo was left dazed and, when he regained his awareness , he found himself on the floor held in an arm lock by Rukia.
"Now that that's done," Rukia dug her knee into the small of Ichigo's back, "I'll see you at the Kido Practice Hall in ten minutes. If you don't come on your own, I will drag you there." She exited suddenly with a flash step, leaving Ichigo on the floor.
Ichigo stood up and slammed the door, if only for effect, and quickly got dressed. He hadn't thought the Shinigami had been serious about the tutoring but that didn't change the fact that he didn't want the lessons. Why was she so insistent about giving him lessons? The only answer Ichigo could come up with was that her division was desperate for new recruits.
Nine minutes later Ichigo was dressed in his uniform and had arrived in the Practice Hall. As its name implied, the Practice Hall was a large room. Its walls were a dull stone color, made of the reiatsu blocking Seki-seki Stone, and it had a very high ceiling. Rukia was standing near the other end of the hall.
"Fire the first destructive spell." Rukia called out after Ichigo had shut the door.
"Why?"
"I need to remind myself of exactly how you suck at Kido."
Ichigo glared but otherwise complied, gathering reiatsu in his palm and aiming at one of the many targets that were attached to the gray stone walls.
"Brought by four wheels, two horses, and eight hands; a spark, a flash in the night. Hadou no Ichi: Shiro Bakuhatsu!" Ichigo shouted as he launched the Kido.
It missed the target and exploded weakly on the wall next to it.
There was a long pause. Ichigo was glaring at Rukia, silently daring her to say something mocking.
"I know what your problem is." Rukia said. "All the reiatsu that you gather to power the Kido, you let it leak. You let more than half of the reiatsu you gather to power it dissipate after you have it, that's why you suck."
"Wonderful." Ichigo grumbled. "What now?"
"You need to practice gathering and maintaining a set amount of reiatsu. Once you can do that you shouldn't have any problems."
"Fine." Ichigo said and immediately began gathering reiatsu. The sooner he was able to maintain reiatsu the sooner he would be able to sleep in on Mondays. Ichigo gathered a small ball of reiatsu in his palm but almost as soon as it had formed it began disintegrating. He noticed and gathered more.
"Stop." Rukia commanded. "Don't get more. Try to keep a hold of what you do have."
Ichigo glared at her. He could tell that the day was going to drag.
Hours later they hadn't made much progress. Early on in the training, Ichigo's issues with reiatsu manipulation had shown up. He'd become so absorbed in concentrating on his reiatsu that he'd fall back on his habits and let reiatsu dissipate before replacing it instead of holding it. When this happened Rukia would usually have to hit him before he'd become aware of her.
"I don't get why you have such a big issue with reiatsu control." Rukia said conversationally during their lunch break. She hadn't allowed Ichigo to leave the Kido Hall, saying that he wouldn't be distracted if he didn't leave.
"All the other instructors said it was because I have too much." Ichigo said in between mouthfuls of his lunch. He didn't resent Rukia as much as he had at the beginning of the day. While it was true that she was an annoying, arrogant midget it was also true that she had helped him more than any of his other Kido teachers had.
"May I see?" Rukia asked, holding out her hand.
"See what?" Ichigo asked with rice in his mouth.
"Your reiraku."
"Sure."
Rukia closed the fingers of her outstretched hand and slowly a broad red ribbon appeared trailing away from her hand and to Ichigo's chest. Her eyes widened.
"This is at least as much as a Vice-Captain…" Rukia said unbelievingly.
"So?"
Rukia looked from Ichigo to the reiraku in her hand before letting the ribbon fade away. "You are an idiot."
"What! Why?!"
"Because I said so. Now finish up, so we can get back to work."
Ichigo fell asleep almost as soon as he got into his bed and no amount of curious nagging and poking from Crosser could wake him.
That was the night that he first had what would later become a recurring nightmare.
He was in the sideways world where he'd fought the shifting hollow and had found the name of his Zanpakuto, it was almost the same except for the weather. The sky was filled with dark clouds that flashed soundlessly with heat lightning.
In the nightmare he was being chased, though he didn't know who or what was chasing him, whenever he looked back there was nothing behind him. Soon after the beginning Zangetsu appeared and ran at his side.
"Don't be afraid Ichigo." He said looking towards his bearer while he ran. "He can never win. Place your trust in me and I will always be strong enough. Trust me even if your sight is clouded."
They ran side by side until Zangetsu suddenly disappeared. Ichigo looked back over his shoulder, there was still nothing there. Ichigo kept running his fear building irrationally as time passed.
"Why're ya runnin', Partner?" A distorted voice whispered in his ear. "You can never out run me and you know it."
Ichigo skid to a stop and searched frantically for the source of the voice.
"What'cha lookin' for? I'm right here." The voice said.
Ichigo turned towards the voice and froze when he saw the speaker. It was a caricature of him, bleached white and wearing inverted Shihakusho, both its mouth and eyes were black. It stepped forward and Ichigo took a step backwards.
"Ah… a reaction like that!" It said, baring black teeth in a grin. "I'd almost think ya were afraid of me!" Then it dashed forward.
Ichigo ran. The rest of his nightmare was spent on the run. Occasionally it would catch up to him and strike out at him, but it would never knock him down. It acted like a predator that had all the time in the world to play with and tire its prey before it went in for the kill.
Author's Notes!
First of a big thanks to Miggrator who waited patiently for me to finish so she could beta!
This is the BIGGEST chapter I've written at 8 pages in MS Word with a word count of 2674 words before author's note. All I can say is don't always expect this kind of thing.
In the next chapter: another time-jump, a festival, a Hollow attack, and a troubling occurrence!
So, what with the festival... I would love IDEAS and SUGGESTIONS for it. If you have any, tell me and I'll try to fit them in. Any ideas used will be credited to whoever came up with them. You can leave them in a review or send them to me in a note.
THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: Animelvr (anon), Kandei, SplitToInfinity, Icewind Alchemist, Shakugan no Shana, MysteriousEyez, lordofkightmares, Silvercrystal.ct, Dark Inu Fan, Hiryuu Tei (anon), Artificial Life Creator, Unsane Chibi (aka: Miggrator), Wild Dragon's breath, sandcat, and UNTensaZangetsu
Review Response
UNTensaZangetsu: I don't wanna talk too much about the Hollow and how that works as it's a vital plot bit, and I don't want to spoil anything... But as for Aizen's interest in Ichigo, it's because he believes that Urahara is going to use him to destroy the Hyogyoku. My opinion on Ichigo's growth is that he needs a reason to get stronger (i.e. save Rukia's ass, protect people, ect...) and so far in this story he hasn't had a reason to reach for the rediculous amounts of strength he has in canon. But of course, what kind of author would I be if I didn't give him a reason?
Wild Dragon's breath: Yes, he will get his crazy reiatsu levels back, in fact he already has crazy reiatsu levels compared to the other students. Yes, compared to canon he is weak right now, but this is only because he had no reason to become ridiculously strong. He will get a reason soon enough. As for Hichigo... I said no pairings, and I will stick to no pairings! If the relationship changes at all it will be more towards tolerance instead of resentment and constant take over attempts. Of course if the change happens it won't happen immediately.
lordofkightmares: I have my theory on the way hollows work that explains how everything happened, and it will be explained later, because I don't want to spoil things to much. I will tell you that you'll find out when Yoruichi shows up again. I'd have to say that so far your review is my favorite! So many good questions that I can't answer yet!
Shakugan no Shana: Ichigo probably won't learn much Kido, and that is mostly because of my personal tastes. Given any RPG game I will focus on my party's physical/melee attacks. But Ichigo will at least know more Kido than in canon.
Thank you for reading! Please REVIEW, it lets me know what you think about my story and gives me a reason to write more faster. I have ANONYMOUS REVIEWS ENABLED so you can review even if you don't have an account or are too lazy to log in. I don't even mind if you copypaste 'Good Job' or 'Great Story'