Chapter 7:

Fearing that the Arrancars would return for her, the Head Captain had allowed them to have round the clock protection from Soul Reapers. Ukitake volunteered some of his Squad members for the job. Nathan and Rosalia were returned home where they were greeted by a very happy Sashiro. The first thing he did was run up and hug them both. Rosalia was escorted into the house where she took a seat by the open window. Nathan didn't leave her side for a second. He gave her anything she asked for.

Ichigo stood outside their home as a Soul Reaper set himself up near the river where the first sighting of the Arrancars occurred. Wanting to help as well, Sashiro took a spot in the back of the house, keeping an eye out for bad guys on top of a barrel.

The orange-haired teen leaned against the outside of their home, listening to their conversation through the open window.

"How's it feel?" came Nathan's voice.

"Along." Rosalia's voice was calm and not as energetic as usual. She sounded like a loving mother waiting for her child. "Come over here and feel our baby kick."

Ichigo could hear Nathan's footsteps as he came over to where she sat and drop to his knees. There was silence.

"I feel them."

Rosalia giggled. "It's coming along wonderfully. Can you believe it? I'm having a baby. Me! A real live baby. Oh, how wonderful."

"It's wonderful. I can't believe it either."

There was another pause.

"Nathan?" Rosalia's voice sounded as soft and somber as the sound of a cello. "Do you think I will be a good mother? My own mother died giving birth to me. I never knew what it was like to have one. And you don't suppose the same fate awaits me as well, do you?"

"Not at all. And we'll have help. So many people want to help you bare this child. Captain Ukitake even offered to help in any way he could. He said even Unohana could deliver it when the time comes. She won't let anything go wrong. You'll be fine."

"But I don't know how to be a mom. What if I..?"

"You'll do fine. I've never been a father either. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't think anyone does. It's new. But you'll be a fine mother. I know you will."

"But who do I model after if I have no mother of my own? What do I do?"

"What do I do? I have no idea what it's like to be a loving father. I never had a loving home. We're both in the same boat, I suppose. We'll just have to model after someone else. There are plenty of people to choose from. And your father will help in anyway he can, too. He promised to help you through this. I'm here for you, too. And so is Sashiro. Never forget that. We're all here for you. We love you. I love you."

Ichigo heard them shift, moving to hug each other. He focused on a bird overhead before working up the courage to look through the window. He made sure that only a tiny portion of his head was visible as he watched.

Nathan was on his knees rubbing Rosalia's stomach with both hands. She was sitting in a wooden chair facing the east wall. Nathan's head was turned away from Ichigo so he had no idea he was being spied on.

Rosalia lay a hand atop Nathan's, smiling. "What will it be, do you think?"

Nathan shook his head. "Doesn't matter to me."

"Boy or girl?"

He grinned looking at her round belly, moving his hand over the spot where he felt his child kick. He smiled as if fawning on a flower. The same smile he had for his wife.

"A girl would be nice. So sweet an gentle. I can picture it now. A picture of innocence. Her running down the hills towards me, her arms outstretched calling me 'daddy', her hands full of flowers. I see her dressed in frills, her hair done up in ribbons, always asking to be picked up. I can feel her hands around my neck as she gives me a hug, her lips on my cheek. I see her just as I see her mother. A radiant beauty no one deserves; a forbidden treasure."

Rosalia rubbed the back of his hand with hers. "Sounds lovely. And a boy?"

"A boy? A son of my own?"

Nathan smiled, contemplating it in his mind. At last he had an image.

"A boy I could call my son. I see him as a tiny Sashiro, in a way. Always trying to be tough, but inside, just as frail as any flower. I think he would be like me, too. Clumsy and nervous and a bit shy. I think he would want to be strong and show off. I see him competing a lot and playing rough."

Rosalia giggled. "A boy would be a bit of a handful."

"But I would do right by him. I would raise him right. I would never say the things my father said to me. I wouldn't point out all his faults and cast him aside. I wouldn't give up on him. I'd never call him hopeless. I would try to help him in any way I could, even if I end up messing up, too. I would tell him that it doesn't matter to me. That I'm proud of him anyway, no matter what. And I would teach him how to treat women. That they are not what he thinks. That they are delicate, beautiful creatures that must be treated with love and respect. That if a woman, no matter her size or looks, needs help, he must go back for her and help her. He must tell her that she matters. That all of them are as flowers. All beautiful in their own way, but need to have proper care. That he has a lot to offer them. That they are here to make him better. And I would see to it that he treats his mother with the same care and respect, because he is here only because of her."

He rested his head on her stomach as if listening to his child. He lay there for a long time without speaking.

"Boy or girl, I will love them no matter what. They matter. They are mine and I will tell them that everyday. I'll try my best to be a good father to them. I won't mess it up. I promise to love them no matter who they are. That much I can give."

Rosalia placed her hand on Nathan's head and patted him lovingly.

"Ichigo."

He turned away from the window and saw Renji, bandaged up, standing behind him.

"Yeah, what?"

"We've got to get back. Mission success or not, we have to report it. Everyone's waiting."

"Yeah, sure." Ichigo walked away from the house without looking back. He knew that they were safe now. They were together at home where they needed to be. "So that Soul Reaper's going to be keeping an eye on them, huh?"

"Yeah. He's scouting around for now. They're in good hands so you shouldn't worry about it."

"I'm not. Are you sure you're ok enough to be walking around like that?"

Renji looked down at the bandages showing under his robe. "It's just a scratch. Nothing I can't handle."

"It was enough to make you pass out."

"Shut up!" Renji led Ichigo out of the village. "By the way, before I forget, Nathan's going to be showing up later on to report as well. He has his side of the story, too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Would have done it sooner while we were all there, but he wanted to get her home and stay with her for a while. Understandable, I guess. The Head Captain allowed it, but he's not giving him much time. Only a couple hours. He'll join us in a bit. Then you can say good bye to him all you want."

They entered the Seireitei and walked down the street toward the main building. They didn't do much talking the way there. That suited Ichigo fine. He had nothing to say.

But then, something strange started to happen. His vision was failing him. He was having trouble seeing. He tried rubbing his eyes, but that did nothing to help. To make things worse, Renji was talking to him. He could see his lips move, but he couldn't hear him. He had gone deaf. He stopped and tried to call out to him, but couldn't tell if he was or not. The strange thing was that he hadn't decided to stop, either. His body had just froze up on him. His body was going numb. He couldn't feel if he was here or not. He was deaf, numb and slowly, his vision went completely black.

"Right, Ichigo?" Renji waited for an answer, but never got one. "Ichigo?"

He turned around and saw Ichigo standing there, wide-eyed and unmoving.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Still no answer from the Substitute Soul Reaper.

"Ichigo?"

His arm started to move. His hand clenched and unclenched as if testing it out for the first time. He did the same with his other hand.

"Ichigo?"

He raised his head, turning it left and right, then back at Renji. He took one step forward and then another. Then he stopped.

"What's wrong with you? Are you ok?"

Ichigo put a hand on his sword and vanished from sight.

X

When Ichigo finally regained his sight, he was standing on a staircase. He looked around. His hearing had returned as well. He could hear people talking from far away. But he wasn't in the same place he was before. And where was Renji? What happened to him just now? He didn't know how long he was out of it. It felt as if his entire body went into shut down. How did he get here? Was he staggering around and ended up here somehow?

"That was really weird. What happened to me?"

A passing Soul Reaper stopped on the stairs nearby. "Kurosaki?"

He looked up. "Oh, hey." He didn't know who this person was, but they knew him apparently.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I was going to report what had happened to the old man with Renji, but I can't find him. Do you know where he is?"

The Soul Reaper's face fell. He looked back an forth as if expecting someone to stop him. "D- didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?" He had been deaf for who knew how long. Of course not.

"Renji Abarai has been attacked. He's in Squad Four's Division now getting treatment."

Ichigo felt as though his heart had taken a sucker punch. "What?"

"I know. And he was just released for his other injuries, too. He's in bad shape."

"Which why is the Fourth Division?" he demanded.

"Uh… that way." He pointed and Ichigo ran off.

X

"I'm sorry, but Renji Abarai isn't up for visitors right now. He was in critical condition when they found him. Someone reopened his chest wounds. He was bleeding out when they found him. He wasn't breathing, either."

Ichigo stood in front of the nurse dumbfounded. "H- how did this happen? When?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you. I don't know myself. We just had him brought in a little while ago. From what we can tell, he was heading back to report." Then she gave him a concerned look. "Weren't you supposed to be with him at the time?"

Ichigo gulped. "I was… But… I don't know what happened. We got separated somehow, I think. He wasn't there anymore with me."

The nurse was called back inside, slamming the door in Ichigo's face.

How? I was right there! He was attacked? In his weakened state, he didn't stand a chance. Who could have done this? Why couldn't I protect him? What the hell's going on?

X

Deep underground in a cave-like dwelling, an Arrancar was hard at work. Focusing his energy around a small doll in a sphere of his own Spirit Energy, Serpiente smiled to himself. All his hard work was paying off. So far so good. He laid the doll down for a rest, taking his hands away. He sat back in his chair, feeling pretty proud of himself.

"Hey!" Raposa kicked open the door and came storming in. "I never told you that you could stop cleaning up. What the hell are you doing back here?"

"This is my room."

Raposa growled and turned away. "Cercenar won't stop his complaining. 'It hurts, it hurts! That Soul Reaper's gonna pay! Waaah!' I'm so sick of it!"

Serpiente shrugged. "Don't cry to me. I couldn't care less."

Raposa looked at the doll on the table in front of his comrade. "What's that?"

He looked down. "This? An experiment."

The taller Arrancar moved closer to examine the orange hairs wrapped around the doll's neck. They looked so familiar. With a nod, he understood. "Ah… Your little voodoo, huh? So you're controlling Kurosaki, are you?"

"Trying to. It's been so long since the last time I've done this. His movements were all choppy. I needed to test him out on a weakling. I think I killed him, the Soul Reaper he was with before."

"That's why you're doing this?"

"One of the reasons."

Raposa laughed. "It's a useful technique, I'll give you that. But it's kind of useless."

"That's a contradiction if ever I've heard one," Serpiente rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's look at the facts, shall we?" Raposa circled the desk as he spoke, viewing the doll and the man at the table from all angles. "You must have the DNA of the person you wish to control, you can only manipulate one person at a time, and you need full concentration to use it. You can't attack and use this power at once, meaning you're vulnerable when you use it. You can't do two things at once."

"Which is why I was back here away from you." Serpiente tilted back in his chair. "Relax. I've got things under control. The next time I use this, I'll have a better feel for it. No one will be able to tell the difference. Plus, I'll be able to control Ichigo Kurosaki more fully."

"How do you plan to use him exactly?"

Serpiente smiled. "Right now, I'm having a little fun killing off Soul Reapers. But I do have a plan. By the time I'm through, he'll be the most hated Soul Reaper in the whole Soul Society. They'll have no choice but to have him killed. Especially after he kills a captain."

"So that's your plan? How is that supposed to help us get that girl back?"

"Just sit tight. I told you, I have it covered. Trust me."

X

Without being allowed inside to visit Renji, Ichigo was forced to wonder around by himself outside. He still didn't understand what had happened. Was it possible that someone had done that to him in order to cover up the attack on Renji? It was very possible. Question now was how and why? And who would do such a thing? He knew the Arrancars weren't too happy with them now, but there was no way they could reach them here without someone knowing about it.

Ichigo stood up and went for another walk. The only thing he had to look forward to now was Nathan's visit. After he was finished with Rosalia he would come here to report what he knew. He was also looking forward to seeing the newborn baby when the time came. Nathan wanted him there to see it. He owed their whole relationship to Ichigo, according to him. He had brought them together and convinced Nathan to confess his love to her. Ichigo didn't hold himself responsible, but there was no way he could convince Nathan otherwise.

"Ichigo."

He looked up to see a very familiar face looking at him. "Hey, Byakuya."

The captain frowned at the lack of respect Ichigo presented to him. Nonetheless, he went on. "Come with me, please."

Ichigo turned and followed him. Byakuya led him away from the building and towards the Sixth Division barracks. "Where are we going?"

"I wanted to speak with you privately." After walking behind a wall, Byakuya turned to him. "My lieutenant was in your care at the time of his attack."

"You make it sound like I was babysitting the guy."

"I just find it odd that you were seen somewhere else during the time Renji was brought in when you were entering the Seireitei with him. Care to explain?"

Ichigo stood there looking at his feet. He was still beating himself up over this whole thing and now Byakuya was on his case. He didn't need this right now.

"Where were you when my lieutenant was attacked? Why weren't you there?"

He looked up. "I don't know."

Byakuya gave him a solemn look.

"I mean it. One minute everything's fine and the next, I can't see or hear anything. Even my body went numb. I had no feeling anywhere. I couldn't tell if I was standing or walking or anything."

The captain looked at him with the same pokerfaced expression he always carried. "Really? And why is that?"

"If I knew that why the hell would I be so upset and confused by it?"

Byakuya turned his back to Ichigo, looking up at the building behind him. His office was up there. Rukia was waving down to them. Byakuya understood her wordless message. Keeping his back to Ichigo, he spoke. "That man, Nathan, is going to be coming here soon. A Soul Reaper was just sent out to fetch him. One from Rukia's squad. He should be here soon. Perhaps he can shed some light on the situation."

For a long time Ichigo said nothing. Byakuya didn't expect him to. But when he chose to speak again, Byakuya certainly didn't expect what he got.

"Captain."

To anyone else, that would have been considered nothing. But to Byakuya, it was very significant. Ichigo never addressed him as 'captain' even when he asked him to. He always called him by his first name, even if it annoyed him greatly. And the way Ichigo spoke his title wasn't in his usual tone. In fact, that wasn't even his voice.

Cautiously, Byakuya turned his head back to look at him. "Ichigo?"

He was standing behind him, staring at his back.

"Ichigo?"

A smile started to spread. "Sorry. But I'm going to have to ask you to die for me."

Before Byakuya could react to this malicious statement, Ichigo lurched forward. Byakuya pulled out his sword to defend himself as Ichigo's came flying at his face.

"What on earth are you doing?"

Ichigo forced him back. "I told you to die. Can't you do it quietly? I didn't hear any complaints from the redhead."

Byakuya stared at him, wondering if he had heard him right. "What? Then you..?"

"Yeah… I did!"

Smiling like a madman, Ichigo twisted his body around, kicking Byakuya in the shoulder.

He had no choice but to fight.

Byakuya's sword clashed with Ichigo's with a loud clang. Sparks showered them both. Not caring about his own wellbeing, Ichigo pushed forward. He just wanted to hurt him. He wanted Byakuya dead. Byakuya turned and Ichigo was there to greet him. His sword was upon him once more, never giving him a chance to make a move to attack.

"Die! Die! Die!"

Ichigo slashed away at the captain, enjoying every minute of this. Byakuya had only seen this look on Ichigo's face once before and that was when he fought against his Hollow. It was so long ago now that Byakuya had almost forgotten. He was fighting and acting like that berserker. But his eyes were different. They had lost all their color and light. It was like looking into the eyes of a blind man. Could Ichigo even see him?

"Ichigo, what has gotten into you? Answer me!"

His words fell on deaf ears as Ichigo continued to attack him, never letting up for an instant.

"Stop this!"

"Die and I will!" Ichigo slashed him across the forearm.

Byakuya leapt back holding his arm with his free hand. Ichigo was going to kill him if he didn't fight back. Byakuya raised his sword and brought it down where Ichigo stood. His opponent disappeared and reappeared on his left. He swung at Ichigo. Taking an upward leap, Ichigo came back down on the weapon in Byakuya's hand. He was actually sitting on the blade. He cart-wheeled down the blade and kicked Byakuya in the face.

This wasn't Ichigo's usual fighting style. It was like fighting someone else.

Once again, Ichigo was in the air, flipping backwards over Byakuya's head. He turned his sword into an arrow and fired at the captain's head. He dodged it easily, but now Ichigo was weaponless. No he wasn't. Before his sword even hit the ground, Ichigo had jumped down and wrapped his legs around Byakuya's shoulder. He sat on him like a child on his father's shoulder at a fair. Byakuya twisted his body, trying to shake him off, but he wouldn't budge. Ichigo wrapped his hands around Byakuya's jaw and twisted his head back, trying to snap his neck.

Willingly, Byakuya fell over backwards, slamming Ichigo into the ground, his body pressing into his gut. Pinned beneath Byakuya, Ichigo couldn't get up. But that didn't stop him from fighting back. He held his hand out in front of Byakuya's face.

Byakuya looked at the hand, confused. More confused than either of them was Ichigo. He pulled his hand away frowning. "Damn. I can't fire a cero like this."

"A cero?" Byakuya questioned.

Without answering, Ichigo leaned down and started to bite Byakuya's face and neck. Escaping the vicious attack by rolling off Ichigo, Byakuya stood up, holding his bleeding face. Now Ichigo was free as well. He got to his feet and grabbed his sword, throwing it like a Frisbee at him.

Byakuya deflected it with his own sword. No sooner had he done that did Ichigo appear in his face once more, punching him. The blow sent Byakuya reeling backwards. Ichigo slid his feet across the ground, sending up a dust cloud around his ankles, tracking his movements. He zigzagged across the ground before stopping just short of where Byakuya stood waiting for him and flashed away. He reappeared on a rooftop and jumped down, his fist up and ready.

Seeing the attack from the corner of his eyes, Byakuya jumped straight up, avoiding it with only a second to spare. Ichigo smiled and jumped up with him, halting his previous attack. Byakuya flashed to a roof and, keeping an eye on Ichigo, broke into a run. He was leading him away from the barracks and out toward the main streets where they would have more room to fight.

At first Ichigo was keeping up with him from another roof, then he was gone. Before Byakuya could react, Ichigo made his move. He swooped down from behind Byakuya and hoisted him up. Byakuya's feet left the roof and the next thing he knew, he was in the air, at Ichigo's mercy. He wrapped his legs around Byakuya's taller form and leaned back into a nose dive. Byakuya saw the sky, then the ground below, coming up fast. With no escape they both went smashing into the ground together. At the last second, Byakuya had made himself as small as possible in Ichigo's arms, avoiding hitting the ground headfirst the way Ichigo had planned it. Ichigo took the brunt of the impact with his left shoulder. Despite the impact, Ichigo skillfully raised himself up, straddling Byakuya. He took up his sword, switching it to an underhand grip and pointed it at Byakuya's chest.

"What the hell's going on?"

"Are you two fighting? For real?"

"This can't be a sparring match, can it?"

"Are you really trying to kill him?"

Ichigo looked up toward the crowd of Soul Reapers gathering around them. Despite knowing how this looked and knowing that he had been caught, Ichigo only smiled and turned back to Byakuya. "Want me to give them a show, Captain? Or would you rather I finished you off here and now?"

That wasn't Ichigo's voice. He didn't sound like that. His voice was so cold and haunting. It was creepy. And those weren't his eyes and that wasn't his smile. This wasn't Ichigo. Not the real one. It couldn't be.

"Hey, get off our captain!"

Ichigo looked back at the Soul Reapers, smiling. "Oh? And why would I do that? We were just having a bit of fun."

Byakuya kept his cool under Ichigo, never flinching or saying a word to him. He wasn't even resisting. He only tensed up when Ichigo brought his face closer, holding his sword by his head in one hand. Too tall to keep up, Ichigo laid it flat on the ground beside them, still holding onto it.

Ichigo moved his face closer to Byakuya, as if to whisper something in his ear. Instead, he started sniffing his face and neck. His pink tongue wormed past his lips, licking Byakuya's cheek. Byakuya's whole body seized up on him at the touch. He blew against the trail of saliva he left on Byakuya's face and cackled. "This is so much fun. I love playing with my prey. I love the reactions. And I love that look on your face. It's priceless."

"That is creepy as hell, man!" one Soul Reaper shouted in the crowd.

That only made Ichigo laugh again.

This close, Byakuya could see Ichigo's eyes clearly. They held no light. It was as if someone had pulled a veil down behind his eyes, cutting them off from the world. He couldn't see him. Those were the eyes of a blind man. And yet, they held a glimmer in them. It was almost undetectable, but Byakuya found them. Those weren't Ichigo's eyes.

The eyes looked back at him and then pulled away. Ichigo pulled his sword back up, releasing his hold on Byakuya's arm. "Let's finish this, Soul Reaper."

"Hado 31, Shakkaho." Freeing that arm allowed Byakuya to attack.

To avoid the attack, Ichigo had no choice but to get off him. He jumped off Byakuya and stood a few feet away. Byakuya stood up, staring Ichigo down. He didn't feel very threatened no matter how hard Byakuya stared. He threw his sword at Byakuya. The Captain adroitly avoided the attack.

Ichigo slid across the ground like a serpent and, true to their nature, struck with a powerful lunge. Thinking that he was going to be toss up again or punched, Byakuya got ready to defend himself from the attack.

But he was tricked once more. Ichigo was behind him, punching him in the side of his head. Byakuya was tossed to the ground. He looked up and saw Ichigo jumping from above down towards him, hoping to smash his skull in with his heels. There was no time to flash step or block. He did a somersault away and stood up. But Ichigo was no longer there. The next thing he felt was a pressure tightening around his throat. Ichigo had come up behind him and started to straggle him with his scarf.

"Stop it!"

"Stop, Ichigo!"

"Enough!"

"Let go of him!"

"Let go now!"

The Soul Reapers had had enough. They all rushed in to help their captain. Wrong move. Releasing Byakuya, Ichigo grabbed his sword and flashed into the crowd. One by one, they all fell as Ichigo picked them off in turn. He slashed at their ribs and legs. He went for their throats and their arms. Zigzagging through the group, Ichigo picked them all off, one slice from his sword after another. They all fell into a scarlet pool which grew as more men fell to the ground in defeat. Ichigo stood behind them all, the end of his blade soaked with fresh blood. He turned, smiling.

"And now you die, Captain."

Byakuya just stood there, not knowing what to think. Did he really just slaughter his men like that?

From above, the windows in the building behind them were blocked out one by one. Soul Reapers were crowding around to see what was going on. Several of them had figured it out and swarmed the street outside, ready to fight.

"Captain Unohana!"

The woman with braided hair stopped and looked up, her arms full of herbs from her garden.

"This way!" Hisagi led his men out of the building and outside.

More Soul Reapers started to flood the outside, all wanting to stop Ichigo's bloody rampage by any means necessary.

"Ichigo!" Rukia's voice was overlapped by many others, screaming to the teen and captain. "Ichigo!"

Hearing about the fight from a passing Soul Reaper in the hall, Soi Fon turned on her heels and ran outside to where a heavy crowd had gathered. "I'll stop him in two strikes." She dawned her weapon.

"Ichigo!"

He stood facing the captain of Squad 6, still smiling. "Looks like I'm in trouble, huh?"

Bleeding all over his white jacket and scarf, Byakuya, still in shock, stared back at him.

Ichigo held up his weapon. "Better finish you off quickly before I get myself killed, hm?"

Laughing all the way, Ichigo moved in for the kill.

"Captain, move!"

"Stop, Ichigo!"

"Kurosaki!"

"Ichigo!"

Soi Fon, using people as steppingstones, ran to the front of the crowd, ready to stop him the only way she knew how. She brought her weapon up and got ready to jump.

Seeing the captain of Squad 2 coming right at him, Rukia screamed his name once more, fighting through the crowd. "Ichigo!"

Something flew out of the crowd and into Ichigo's neck. That stopped his attack cold. He stood there, pressing a hand to the dart clinging to his skin. He looked back at Byakuya and grinned. "Better luck next time, huh?" With that, he fell forward onto the ground.

Soi Fon stopped, seeing Ichigo fall at her feet before she even landed a single strike. "What's this?"

"My doing." The crowd parted, revealing Unohana standing there with a dart blower in her hand. "I didn't think it was right to have him killed without knowing what was going on. You wanted him stopped so I used a less fatal way of doing the job."

"You hit him with a poison dart?"

"No. Just a tranquilizer. I filled the dart with Shinten. More than a few drops were in it, so I figured it would be enough to sedate him. But I also added some of my own concoctions so it's very powerful."

Several Soul Reapers came rushing out of the crowd and over to Byakuya who had fallen to one knee. He stood strong for as long as he could. "Are you alright, sir?"

He gave a shaky nod.

"What happened here?"

Byakuya panted, looking down at Ichigo on the ground. "He… attacked me."

Just coming in, accompanied by a Soul Reaper, was Nathan. He had just finished catering to Rosalia and came to report to the Head Captain as instructed. Along the way, he came across a huge crowd of Soul Reapers. Curious, he moved closer. Everyone was talking at once so it was difficult to hear what was going on. He pushed his way through to get a closer look at what was going on.

"Ichigo attacked a captain! He tried to kill Byakuya! He must die for this!"

What Nathan heard made his heart pulsate in his throat. He pushed through the crowd to the front. But more Soul Reapers were pressing in on him, forcing him back into the crowd.

"He broke the law! Ichigo Kurosaki must face the ultimate punishment!"

"Kill him!"

"He must be brought to justice!"

"What?" Nathan gasped. He jumped up and down trying to see over all the taller Soul Reapers in the crowd. He could see Ichigo laying face down on the ground in front of Soi Fon and a bloody Byakuya who was held up by many Soul Reapers.

"You can't have him killed! What's with all of you? Ichigo is our friend! He wouldn't do this!"

"That's right! What do we really know here?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki would never do this without a reason!"

"Captain, what happened here? What did he do? What did he say to you? What happened?"

Byakuya looked from the crowd back to Ichigo on the ground. He wrung the words from his lips. "Ichigo Kurosaki attacked me with the intent to kill. And he admitted to injuring Renji Abarai. And I watched him attack my squad members in cold blood before my very eyes."

The crowd started to shout and murmur. Nathan refused to believe it. Ichigo wasn't that type of person. He would never do such a thing. But his opinion lost out to the crowd's rage. They wanted the substitute to pay.

"Put him in Squad Six's holding cell and we'll deal with him later." Byakuya limped away with help from a few Soul Reapers. "He'll await judgment from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. That is the law. We must keep to our rules."

Nathan pushed his way through the crowd and out the back, watching as they carried Ichigo off. He refused to believe it. He had to find someone who would listen to him. He may have just walked in on all this, but he knew Ichigo was innocent.


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