Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach/Attack on Titan
Chapter 6 – Night of the Disbanding
It had been a brutal three years for the 104th Trainees Squad. The Military training had been far tougher and more dangerous than any had anticipated. Many cadets had pulled out when it got too tough and had been sent to the fields to gather crops and other materials. Some had even been crippled and others had been killed but the strongest managed to tough it out, or at least some of the weaker cadets had help in surviving.
Forest Trail – 11:00am
Ichigo grunted softly when his foot collided with a rock buried deep within the mud causing him to stumble slightly. The rain had been falling since early morning and it continued to fall just as heavy closing in on the lunchbreak. The orange haired cadet, along with a small group of other cadets, was being forced to run in the rain and the mud, carrying heavy backpacks on their backs. They had been running for over an hour along a path in a forest. The training had several purposes. They were running to increase their endurance and to test their willpower encase any of them get trapped outside of the walls and must learn how to survive in Titan wilderness.
Ichigo was currently in the middle of the pack but when he glanced back he saw that Armin was beginning to fall behind.
"What's wrong, Arlert?!" Keith Shadis barked from the top of his horse. He had some nerve riding a horse while they ran, Ichigo thought annoyed. "You're the only one behind! Is it too heavy for you?! Would you like to be the only one not carrying a pack?!"
"Damn!" Armin panted tiredly as Keith's horse began trotting ahead.
Ichigo slowed down until Armin caught up with him. "Give me that, Armin!" Ichigo grabbed Armin's backpack and he chucked it over his left shoulder.
"What're doing?!" Armin panted, "You're going to fail if you help me."
"Fail for what?" Ichigo scoffed, "For helping my comrade! I don't care!"
"At the very least, you will lose marks and it might prevent you from making the top ten." Despite being exhausted, Armin was still able to think ahead like that.
"I don't need to finish in the top ten to get into the Scouting Legion." Ichigo pointed out, "I'm just a grunt, cannon fodder." The orange haired cadet reminded him, and he ignored the scoff in his head from Shirosaki. Ichigo was determined to play down any thought of being important. "You might not have the physical abilities to be a good soldier, Armin, but you have something far more important."
Armin didn't know how to reply to that, not understanding what he had that Ichigo deemed important. He didn't have to think on this for long.
"You two are falling behind!" Reiner had slowed down to join them, "At this rate you will both fail."
Ichigo wasn't interested in retorting how he didn't care about failing again, so he didn't bother answering and he focused on the task at hand. He was surprised though when Armin's backpack was stripped from him by his determined friend and Ichigo was quite astonished when Armin ran ahead.
'Reiner Braun,' Keith Shadis thought looking back at the oldest of the trio, 'he is a strong soldier, both physically and mentally and he is trusted by his comrades.'
'Armin Arlert,' He glanced at the smaller boy, 'while lacking in physical strength, he's demonstrated an extraordinary aptitude for his studies.'
Finally he glanced at the last cadet of the trio, 'Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin's son. He is proficient with the 3DMG but he excels at hand-to-hand combat and is a natural with a sword in hand.'
Forest, 3DMG Course – 12:45pm
After the group finished their exhausting run and had lunch, it was time for 3DMG training. Fortunately for the group, the rain had stopped during lunch and the sun had come out. They all had training with 3DMG in all types of conditions from mist, to rain, to hail and to snow. They had even learned how to wield 3DMG during the night despite that the Titans wouldn't attack at night.
Keith Shadis continued to observe the cadets during the exercise, coming closer to determining just who would make up the top ten.
'Annie Leonhart,' the instructor observed the blonde hair girl slice through a fake titan's nape with ease, 'her strike form is flawless, but she works poorly with others and tends to isolate herself.'
'Bertolt Hoover,' the young adult followed Annie, slashing a deep cut into the middle of the target, 'he has great potential, but lacks initiative.'
Finally a third person slashed the target but his cut was much shallower than both Annie's and Bertolt's. 'Jean Kirstein, master of 3D Maneuver Gear, his brash personality causes friction with the team.'
The next target that Jean tried to slay didn't work out as well as he was outmaneuvered suddenly by Connie and Sasha. The girl with the large appetite managed to get the first slash into the fake titan.
'Sasha Blouse, she has unconventional, good instincts, but they make her unsuited for teamwork.'
Keith glanced at the shaved head cadet, 'Connie Springer, he demonstrates superior physical agility, but lacks mental acuity.'
Last, but certainly not least, Keith observed the other three cadets that stood a chance of making it into the top three... well one was guaranteed to make it. He watched with a tiny bit of awe as the black haired teen girl sliced through multiple fake titans with ease.
'Mikasa Ackerman, a master of all subjects, and she is widely considered one of the best in our history.' Keith thought with a large amount of pride. He could easily see her reaching the potential of the captain of the Scouting Legion, Levi.
A brown haired boy followed up with slashes on the fake titan's napes but they weren't as deep as Mikasa's. 'Eren Yeager, he has no outstanding talents, but he's worked harder than anyone to improve his marks. And he is more motivated to attain his goal than anyone.'
The last person that Keith observed was the mysterious Denryū Ishida. Keith observed the young man fly through the air and he slashed through the nape of a fake titan as if it was butter. The boy's skill with the 3DMG was tense and restrictive however Keith had seen enough subtle signs to suggest that the boy was holding back. However he couldn't prove this. The boy's surname, Ishida was a familiar one but Keith couldn't quite place where it sounded familiar.
'Denryū Ishida, he is an amateur with the 3DMG, but he may be deliberately holding back for some reason. He also shows disinterest in all training aspects, except whenever there is a competition where he has to compete against Ichigo Kurosaki.'
Keith knew that if they were training for a war against other humans, then Ichigo Kurosaki and Denryū Ishida would be the first two soldiers he would select. Unfortunately, they weren't. If Denryū didn't show more aptitude using the 3DMG, then he had no chance of making the top ten, even if the rest of the course he was masterful in.
Training Grounds – 3:00pm
Ichigo effortlessly sidestepped the stab that Armin tried to hit him with a wooden knife and with a quick chop to Armin's wrist, the blonde haired boy dropped the knife painfully and Ichigo quickly grasped his wrist and twisted it behind Armin's back.
"Okay, I give!" Armin yelled out urgently.
Ichigo immediately let go of his arm and Armin rubbed it gently, trying to ease the pain.
"You give up too easy, Armin." Ichigo lectured him, "At least try to break out with your other arm, or throw your head back to try and head butt me."
"Not all of us have a strong pain tolerance like you, Ichigo." Armin reminded him. He could still remember back when they were kids and the times that it was only Ichigo around to protect him, the orange haired boy kept on fighting, no matter how many times he was hit. It was a will that Armin envied, wishing that he could do it as well.
Ichigo didn't reply and instead, Armin noticed a smirk appear on his face and he looked in the direction that his orange haired friend was looking. Annie had just threw Reiner to the ground like he was nothing and then she proceed to throw Eren around.
"Her skill never ceases to impress me." Ichigo acknowledged.
"Can she beat you now?" Armin asked him curiously. He could still remember the first time that Ichigo and Annie had sparred and despite Annie's incredible talent, Ichigo proved to be the superior fighter. Not even Mikasa could take Ichigo down back then. Like Armin had just said, no matter how many times he was hit, Ichigo always found a way to keep fighting.
"She has improved a lot over the last three years." Ichigo answered him, "Though she has to rely more on grappling to beat me, she can't beat me in a fist to fist fight."
"What about Mikasa?" Armin inquired as they watched Annie walk away from a bruised Eren and Mikasa hurried over to her adopted brother. "Can she beat you in a straight fist fight now?"
"We're pretty even in terms of skill but I'm a bit faster and so I can dodge her blows easy than she can dodge mine." Ichigo admitted with a fond smile, "You really don't want to be hit by Mikasa... she is freakishly strong."
Armin noticed the fond smile on Ichigo's face and it increased his confusion about Ichigo and Mikasa's relationship. Something happened back in 749 when they had all travelled to the Trost District. He had been busy with trying to help Jean win a cooking contest against Sasha. Annie had helped them. During that time, something had happened between Ichigo and Mikasa. Over the years since they had joined the military, Mikasa and Ichigo were closer than anyone; Mikasa was even closer to Ichigo than she was to Eren. However when they returned to the military academy, they started to spend more time apart. Mikasa spent more time with Eren, him and some of the other female cadets and Ichigo spent more time on his own or training with Denryū Ishida. It had been an awkward time for them all. The separation was noticeable to pretty much everyone. Eren and Armin had asked them both what had happened but they both replied the same way, 'There are some things that we both have to work out and the best way to do that is to get some distance from each other for a little while.'
After a month, things changed again. Whatever they needed to work out, it seemed that they had made some progress because the two of them started hanging around each other again. They didn't spend as much time with each other as they used to but in a way, they seemed even closer than they had been previously.
"Kurosaki," a voice cut through Armin's thoughts and he turned to see Ishida approaching them, "up for a spar?"
"It's been a long time since we have fought." Ichigo smirked, readying his fist.
"Roughly a year and this time you are not going to win." Ishida stated cockily, falling into his own stance.
The two of them had developed quite the competitive rivalry over the last three years. Each time a competition came up; they were always on opposite sides. Each had their advantages over the other. If swords were put in their hands, Ichigo was clearly the superior user but put a bow in their hands, and the dial swung in Ishida's favour.
The whole training ground had grown silent, Armin noticed, and he glanced around to see everyone looking in this direction. Most had actually walked over to get a closer view and the blonde haired boy noticed that among the group were Mikasa, Eren and Annie. Even the instructor, Keith Shadis, was observing this confrontation. Armin couldn't blame them all from wanting to witness these two go at it. From day one, Ichigo and Ishida were the two best martial arts fighters among the 104th Squad. The two had such different fighting styles as well. Ichigo used traditional closed fists to punch his opponents, relying on the brute force of his blows to take them down. Ishida, on the other hand, fought used open handed strikes, relying more on the precise nature of his blows to take down his opposition rather than with brute force.
The first time they had fought, Ishida had defeated Ichigo convincingly. The orange haired teen had no idea on how to combat the style that Ishida had used since it was the first time Ichigo had ever fought against it. Ichigo learned how to fight it though as the next time they had fought in 749, Ichigo came out on top.
"Who do you think will win this time?" Reiner wondered out loud with his arms folded across his chest, a frown on his face.
"It's too hard to tell." Jean sighed, ruffling his hair, "I'd imagine it will come down to whoever wants it more."
"If that is the case, then there is no way Ichigo is going to lose." Eren boasted confidently, "It's almost impossible to keep him down when he is fully determined." Eren admired that ability of Ichigo and he often tried to replicate it.
"I don't know," Marco disagreed lightly, "Ishida knows the best areas to strike in order to take someone down. Determination can only take you so far."
"Ichigo will win." Mikasa firmly stated, shutting everyone up. No one would disagree with Mikasa on this matter... all but one.
"No, Ishida has got Ichigo covered this time." Annie disagreed, her eyes firmly on Ichigo. It was a rare sight, Armin realised as he looked at Annie's eyes. He had never seen her look so interested in something like the way she was looking at Ichigo right now. Eren had seen genuine emotion from Annie and he told him that Annie has a passion for her martial arts. Armin believed that her passion extended beyond her own martial arts to the actual art in general.
"What makes you say that?" Connie asked her in confusion.
"Ishida lost last time." Annie reminded them, "Like Ichigo did the last time... Ishida will have learned a way to counter his style of fighting."
"What makes you think that Ichigo hasn't learned some new moves or changed his style drastically?" Eren asked her. He wasn't as strong as Ichigo or Denryū in one particular style of martial arts but he was very proficient in using multiple different styles. He had learned from Mikasa, Ichigo, Annie and Reiner over the last three years. It was because of his multiple different fighting styles that enabled him to be #1 in the class at martial arts.
Annie just gave him a dull look, "Do winners change their style? Or do they stick to the style that enabled them to win? Those that lose and survive have the chance to learn from it but those that win get swept up in the victory and don't change."
Annie and Mikasa, in the end, were both wrong. There was no victor and instead the two cadets ended up beating each other into exhaustion.
Annie let out a slight snort when they both fell to the ground, "It looks like Ishida didn't improve as much as I thought he would." With that, Annie walked away. Considering that everyone had stopped to watch that fight meant that this training exercise was clearly over for the day.
Mikasa and Eren hurried over to help Ichigo up while Reiner and Bertolt helped Ishida. Despite their objections, the four of them carried the two cadets to sick bay to get their wounds treated.
Graduation Night (A few months later) – 8:00pm
All of the cadets that remained in the 104th Squad were all gathered at the front of the military base, in rows the same that they were in on their first day at the academy. The teachers that the cadets had learned under all stood in a line before them and standing in the middle between them and the top ten cadets was the head of the military academy. He had even higher authority than Keith Shadis.
"We have paid the price for 100 years of peace with tragedy. Given the sense of crisis at the time, we were ill-prepared to cope with the sudden appearance of the Colossus Titan... As a result we have been forced to abandon our outer wall, Maria. Humanity's sphere of influence has been driven back to where we are now, Wall Rose." The head of the academy yelled out to all of the graduating cadets.
Shirosaki snorted after hearing that, "Ill-prepared? That's a convenient way of putting it. More like too arrogant and lazy to come up with a contingency plan in the event that the Titans break through."
'There's no disagreement here.' Ichigo agreed with his inner self.
"It wouldn't be a surprise for the Colossus Titan to show up to destroy this wall right at this moment." The academy head continued, "Whenever that time does come, your duty will be to relieve the producers and give your lives to stand against the titan menace! Dedicate your hearts!"
"Yes, sir!" the 104th training squad all shouted together and they all saluted.
"Today, you have all completed your military training." The academy head continued, "I will now announce the ten among you who have obtained the top training results. Come forward if I call your name! At the head of the class, is Mikasa Ackerman!"
Mikasa didn't react to the announcement. It didn't matter to her where she finished, as long as she was strong enough to protect Eren like she had promised Carla.
"Second, Reiner Braun!"
Reiner released a proud smirk.
"At number three, is Bertolt Hoover!"
Bertolt kept his head high, a frown on his face.
"Number four, is Annie Leonhart!"
The indifferent look on Annie's face didn't change.
"Number five, is Eren Yeager!"
Eren clenched his fists tightly; a determined look appeared on his face. It was finally time for him to wipe out all of the Titans. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
"Number six, is Jean Kirstein!"
Jean frowned, he didn't understand how Eren had beaten him but he pushed the annoying thought away. He had achieved what he came to do. Now he would get the easy like inside of the interior.
"Number seven, is Ichigo Kurosaki!"
"Your crappy skills with the 3DMG compared to the six named before you kept you from scoring higher." Shirosaki informed him.
'Yeah, I know.' Ichigo answered, 'I would have spent more time training with it but you were the one that said it was pointless and had me do more running, push ups and other things like that.'
"For good reason," Shirosaki bluntly retorted. If Ichigo knew what Shirosaki looked like, he was certain that there would be a cocky smirk currently on his face. "Once you unlock your powers, you will realise that the 3DMG is quite restrictive."
'I did every training exercise you asked over the last three years and yet I still don't know your real name.' Ichigo pointed out, feeling frustrated.
"I've told you before, Ichigo, that it is more than physical strength required to hear my name." Shirosaki reminded him, "I've helped you enough as it is, it's up to you to discover what you're missing in order to learn my name."
"Number eight, is Marco Bott!"
Marco was delighted to hear his name called out. That meant that he could join the Military Police and work under the King.
"Number nine, is Connie Springer!"
Like Marco, Connie was delighted by the announcement. Now the people in his village would have to respect him.
"And number ten is, Sasha Blouse!"
Sasha smiled happily when her name was called.
When the ten students all stepped forward, Ichigo at the corner of his eye looked over at Ishida, wondering if he was disappointed in not making the top ten. He wasn't expecting his rival to be looking pleased.
"You are the top ten!" the head of the academy announced, "Now that you have all completed your training, there are choices that have to be made. For those that finished in the top ten, you have three choices while the rest of you have only two choices. The Garrison, which reinforces the walls, thereby protecting all of the towns. The Scouting Legion, prepared to sacrifice their lives by defying the Titans in their own domain. The Military Police, which exercises control over the King's subjects and maintains order... of course out of you raw recruits, the only ones that can join the Military Police are the ten with the highest scores! Soon, I will be asking you what branch you want to be assigned to! But as of right now, the 104th training squad is officially disbanded! Dismissed!"
"Yes, sir!" the group of cadets shouted together.
Cafeteria – 8:30pm
Many of the disbanded 104th training squad had gone separate ways for the night. Some returned to their cabins to get a good rest, others headed out into the Trost District and others headed to the cafeteria to celebrate.
"Lucky bastard!" a drunken cadet yelled at Jean, jealously, "Making the top ten! I'm sure you're going to join the Military Police, right!?"
"Huh?" Jean drawled, "That goes without saying! Why the hell else would I have aimed to join the top ten?!"
"I'm going to join the MP, too!" Marco said from his seat next to Jean, "It would be such an honour, to work near the king."
Jean rejected Marco's reason immediately. "Don't be such a goody-goody, Marco! Tell me how you really feel! You can't wait to get into the interior, right? We can finally escape this shitty, suffocating front-line town! A safe, comfortable life is waiting for us in the interior, right?!"
Marco tried to deny it, but Jean wasn't having it and he simply brushed away Marco's objections. Jean turned to Annie and Bertolt, who were sitting across the table. Bertolt was sipping his beer and Annie was sitting on her bench, not even facing him. "What about you guys?"
"I'm joining the Military Police." Bertolt admitted.
"Me too," Annie sighed uninterestedly, giving Jean a bored glance, "but I don't want anyone thinking that I am like you."
"You said that the interior was safe?" Eren spoke up, silencing everybody in the cafeteria. Everyone knew that Eren and Jean arguments were legendary. Eren took a sip of his own beer, once someone has officially become a soldier, drinking alcohol was perfectly legal. "Five years ago, this town was considered part of the interior. Jean... you don't have to go into the interior. I mean, isn't the interior of your brain soft enough for you?"
Reiner spat out his beer in laughter, accidently soaking Armin. Many of the soldiers in the cafeteria chuckled at the jab. Ichigo, who was standing against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, sighed as Eren and Jean descended into another argument, and he glanced over at Mikasa, noticing that she also looked annoyed at Eren getting into another argument with Jean. Eventually the argument accelerated into a fist fight and Mikasa was forced to pick up Eren and carry him outside in order to break up the fight. However Jean unleashed one last parting shop at Eren and Ichigo could see that it troubled his friend deeply.
"I bet you're planning to drag her into the Scouting Legion just the same way!"
Ichigo decided to follow Mikasa and Eren out; it seemed that it was time for them to make Eren accept that they all planned to join the Scouting Legion. He let Armin go out first, but before he could leave, Jean shouted out to him.
"I take it you're joining the Scouting Legion with him, Ichigo?!"
Ichigo looked back over at Jean to see him, along with Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Connie, Marco and Sasha staring at him intently, waiting for his answer.
"To be honest, Jean, I'm on your side about our chances against the Titans." Ichigo shocked them all by agreeing with Jean. "Eventually Wall Rose will fall and my little sisters will be evacuated to Wall Sina. We don't have a chance of winning, but I'm still going to go out there and fight. I'd rather go out there and die then wait for the Titans to break through Wall Sina and devour my little sisters. Answer me this... Jean. What are you going to do when you're in the interior? Find a girl, marry her, and maybe have a kid... and for what? Just to see them devoured by a titan when Wall Sina eventually falls. I don't know about all of you, but that sounds worse than death."
With that, Ichigo left the completely silent Cafeteria. Unknown to Ichigo, Shirosaki was seething internally.
'This is why you can't hear my name, you pathetic loser!' Shirosaki snarled internally, his fists clenched tight enough that it caused blood, 'That shitty resolve of yours! When the time comes, Ichigo, if your resolve remains this way, I swear I will devour you! I will take control and I will protect them all! Akira, Tsukiko, Eren, Armin, Annie and especially Mikasa, I will protect them, no matter what!'
When Ichigo exited the cafeteria, he saw Mikasa, Eren and Armin sitting on the steps just a few feet away from him.
"Ichigo," Eren greeted him, "Mikasa told me that you're joining the Scouting Legion, as well."
"Pretty much," Ichigo shrugged, and he sat down next to Mikasa, "I can't be bothered explaining why and so before you get it in your head, I'm not joining because of you. This is my choice and mine alone."
Eren nodded, while he fully intended on joining the Scouting Legion on his own, he couldn't deny the small bit of happiness that rose within after hearing that his friends were coming with him. He perked up along with the others when they Hannes walk by with two other soldiers. Hannes also noticed them and he dismissed them for the night. The four new soldiers stood up and saluted him as he approached them.
"At ease," Hannes said awkwardly when he joined them, "Discipline is important, but when it comes to you guys, I just can't get used to it." Hannes sighed, before smiling at them, "It's been a while, huh?"
"I can't get used to it either," Eren grinned playfully, "a drunkard like you, now a squad leader in the Garrison."
Ichigo let out an amused smirk.
"You rugrats have gotten bigger, haven't you?" Hannes asked, "I shouldn't be surprised, it has been five years since you came to this town." He suddenly looked away, a sombre look appearing on his face, "I'm sorry... I couldn't save your mother, Eren. I'm sorry about your uncle, Ichigo."
The orange haired soldier tensed at the mention of his uncle and he bluntly replied, "Don't worry about it. There was nothing that you could do." Mikasa narrowed her eyes at Ichigo in concern. Apart from that night many years ago, when they slept under the same blanket, Ichigo had never opened up about Kaien.
"Enough about that now." Eren told him firmly, "I'm older now and I have matured. I know that you didn't have a choice. Even if you had killed that titan, another would have appeared before long."
"Back when you were all just little brats, my family came down with the terrible disease that killed so much of our town. {1}" Hannes explained, "The same disease that took your father's life, Ichigo. But one day, Dr. Yeager appeared with the antibody for it and it saved their lives. I wanted to pay that debt back to your family but now I will never get the chance."
"How many times do I have to hear this?" Eren asked annoyed.
Hannes ignored him, "I still don't have the faintest idea where your father, Dr. Yeager, is. The only thing to go on is your memory, since your were the last one to see him... do you remember anything?"
Ichigo frowned when Eren's eyes widened before he clasped his forehead tightly. Ichigo grew very concerned when Eren suddenly collapsed onto his knees, Mikasa quickly grabbing him in an attempt to support him, calling his name worriedly. In only a matter of seconds, Eren collapsed into Mikasa's arms unconscious.
"No doubt he was trying to remember what happened back then... For his sake, I hope that he doesn't remember." Shirosaki informed Ichigo.
'Remember what?' Ichigo demanded to know.
"Ah, that's right." Shirosaki realised, "You don't remember either, but I suppose you have grown enough for me to give you a little bit of knowledge."
'Get on with it!' Ichigo shouted impatiently. 'What is it that I don't remember?!'
"I never told you this but it wasn't just those two times that I took control over you... there was a third time as well." Shirosaki admitted, "I took over so I could block out the memories of what happened. The day that you awaken your powers, you will automatically gain your memories of what happened that day."
'Can't you just give me a head's up?!' Ichigo asked him, determinedly.
"Absolutely not." Shirosaki snapped at him, "If you get any important kind of detail of what happened, then I will not be able to suppress it. Trust me, you don't want to know and you better pray that Eren never remembers because it will destroy him!"
That sounded chillingly, Ichigo thought, but he couldn't help ask nervously, 'Is Dr. Yeager dead?'
Shirosaki wouldn't answer him.
End of Chapter
If you like it, then please review the chapter. If you don't like it, then don't read it.
{1} – In the manga, this disease came before Eren and all of that were born. However in the second chapter I had already wrote that Ichigo's dad had died by this disease because at the time I didn't know when the disease struck. So I simply changed the time frame of when this disease struck.
Next Chapter will be released on the 24th of December. It will be a 10,000+ words chapter.
I've got some bad news for you all... unless there is a drastic change in the poll, then the 24th of December update will be the last before this story goes into a temporary hiatus. I'm not holding much hope on this story suddenly topping the poll before late December, since it is about 62 votes behind the leader. However, it might be a good thing. I'm finding it quite hard to decide what I am doing with the Bleach villains because I don't know enough about the enemies in the SnK universe.
So the question is... the next chapter will be the last before a hiatus... what would you prefer the chapter be about?
Should the next chapter start to get into the Trost invasion?
Or should I hold that off and focus on the character interactions over the last three years of training. For instance, what happened between Ichigo and Mikasa in 749 or Ichigo's relationship with Annie that didn't get much of a mention in this chapter? There might be a light smut scene.
Answering the Readers:
Q: Will Shiro start to try to take Ichigo over after he unlocks his powers again, or will Shiro remain more of a mentor/friend throughout the story?
A: You get a hint of Shiro's intentions this chapter. It will all depend on Ichigo's resolve. If Shiro has to, then he will take over if Ichigo is too weak. At the moment, he is waiting to find out what path Ichigo walks down.
Q: What does Denryū mean about him and Ichigo being similar?
A: He is simply referring to the fact that they both have spiritual power. There actual abilities are quite different.