Disclaimer: I Don't Own Bleach
Chapter 7 – Ichigo's New Bankai Form
Ichigo ducked under the scythe that aimed at his head but didn't strike back through fear and shunpoed away. His opponent glared at him and began twirling her scythe around as Ichigo hoisted his Shikai in front of him in a defensive position. Of all the fights he had been in so far, this by far was the toughest, it was not because of his opponent's strength and skill but who his opponent was, and never in his wildest nightmares did he ever think he would be in this predicament.
Here he was fighting one of his most important nakama, the one that changed his world, his friend; Rukia.
Although she wasn't Rukia right now, her eyes were pure black from the two hollow that had taken over her, and now she was almost completely a hollow. How and why the hell did this happen? It wasn't long ago when things were looking peaceful for a little while.
Flashback
Ichigo lay on his bed relaxing after just finishing his homework that Tatsuki had brought to his house, he had finished all of the work he had been given from school and would have to hand it in within the next few days. It had been two days since he defeated Muramasa, two days since he had last been in his Shinigami form as he was enjoying a break from fighting to catch up on his life as a human. He had gotten the chance to catch up with Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki also spent some time with his sisters especially Karin whom seem to be a lot more concerned about him lately.
"It's understandable" Ichigo sighed to himself thinking of his little sister, she knew what he did as a Shinigami so it was only natural for her to worry.
He was so lost in thoughts he almost didn't feel the Reiatsu that was approaching his house and his father's scream confirmed it.
"RUKIA-CHAN YOU HAVE RETURNED!"
Ichigo scowled as his father's loud annoying voice pierced his ears and it was moments later when his door swung open and their stood Rukia in the blue dress that Ishida had made back in Soul Society.
"Haven't you heard of knocking?" Ichigo said annoyed, "I could be doing something private."
Rukia smirked at him, "Like what? Reading porn, you pervert."
Ichigo blushed and spluttered, "What the hell? Don't put me in the same mould as Kon!"
Speaking of Kon, he was hiding in the wardrobe that was currently closed except for a small edge which was big enough for Kon to see through.
"Just a little more" Kon thought as he saw Rukia enter the room as he waited until she was in perfect position, he had debated what part of Rukia he was going to attach himself to. Boobs or ass? Either thought would have brought a nosebleed if he had blood but he was made of cotton so he didn't have to worry about that. His grin widened as he saw that she was standing next to the wardrobe door teasing Ichigo about being a pervert and Ichigo denying it furiously. He quickly opened the door and jumped at Rukia whom had turned around quickly from the noise and was now facing the jumping Kon.
"NEE-SAN!" Kon yelled as he closed in on attaching himself onto Rukia's breasts, he didn't understand why Rukia drove him wild so much, more than Orihime or that other big boob Shinigami. His dream came true as he grabbed onto a surprised Rukia's breasts and began snuggling into them as Ichigo looked on torn between amusement and annoyance. Kon was too focused on Rukia's breasts that he didn't see the murderous glint in her eye and before he knew it, he was flying through the air again but this time he crashed into a window. The force of the throw was too strong for the window and Kon broke through it and fell down two stories into the backyard.
Kon didn't have to chance to complain about the throw as Yuzu had heard the noise and went to check it out and when she saw that it was her doll, she took him away to fix.
"What the hell did you do to my window you overacting midget!" Ichigo growled, that was going to cost him to repair and his dad wasn't going to believe that his third daughter did it.
"He is your responsibility; you should control him so I won't need to in the future." Rukia scoffed at him crossing her arms across her chest trying to get rid of the disturbing feeling of Kon hugging them.
"Doesn't mean that you have to break my window! Why didn't you just stomp on him like you usually do?"
She looked annoyed with him now, "Well he doesn't seem to learn that way does he, and maybe he might learn something by throwing him out of the window."
"Don't break my window next time, or there will be hell to pay."
She seemed interested now as she looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "And how do you plan on doing that?"
Ichigo shrugged, "The next time you go for a shower I will hide Kon in the bathroom."
Rukia just scoffed, "There is nowhere for a plushie to hide in there, I would spot him easily."
"I'm sure that Urahara has a cloaking device which he would lend me and I would give it to Kon."
Rukia's eyes narrowed, "You wouldn't dare."
"Don't break my window again." Ichigo smirked at her.
After staring into Ichigo's smirk for a few moments, she didn't want to let him win especially like this until an idea popped into her head.
Seeing an evil glint in her eye, Ichigo started to get a bad feeling all of a sudden.
"More like you will use the cloak yourself and peep on me you strawberry pervert."
It was amusing to Rukia at how red his face got, it looked like he had a bad case of sunburn.
"Like hell I would waste my time peeping on a midget!" Ichigo growled at her trying to push away his embarrassment.
Rukia's right eye twitched, they could battle with words for eternity best to end it now. With that thought, she punched him in the face and he fell of the bed with a loud crash.
As he got up off the floor glaring at the smug Rukia, that is how she settled all of their arguments usually but before he could yell at her a loud stern voice shouted out.
"ICHIGO!" Ichigo's eyes widened at the sound of his father's voice, it had been a long time since he heard his dad talk in a very serious voice and it worried him that it was being directed at him.
"YOU HAVE TWO YOUNG SISTERS IN THE HOUSE, SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE PASSIONATE LOVE WITH RUKIA-CHAN THEN WE DONT WANT TO HEAR IT!"
The smug smile that Rukia had on her face quickly fell off as she blushed along with Ichigo at Isshin's yell and Ichigo roared back,
"WHAT THE HELL DAD! WE ARENT DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!"
Isshin didn't reply as he was grinning widely from the kitchen, he loved riling up his son especially about woman and sex. His grin fell when he looked at the poster of his deceased wife and sighed, Ichigo needed his mother to teach him about girls, and embarrassing things like that as she was the only one who could get Ichigo to truly open up. He looked at his right fist, clenching it he observed the Reiatsu and he was close to being fully recovered, the pain of losing Masaki had began the process of reawakening his Shinigami powers. It wasn't until the day Rukia had arrived at their house and he was attacked by that hollow, which his powers began returning and Urahara helped speed up the process by pouring Reiatsu into him every day for a week.
The upcoming war was going to be huge and one of the toughest fights he would have to be in and he knew that if he used that technique again he wouldn't lose his powers. He would die. He would have to show Ichigo how to use it at some point, if it gets as bad as he thought then there would be no choice.
"Masaki I will do everything in my power to protect our family"
End of Flashback
Ichigo dodged another attack from the scythe; he was running out of time, he didn't know how to free Rukia from the fate of merging completely with those hollow. Using his mask probably wouldn't be a good idea; the hollow merged with Rukia may have a reaction to it and quicken the process no matter how much he had mastered it.
Flashback
Rukia was currently out patrolling whilst Ichigo headed to the Visored base in order to continue his training and he couldn't help but mentally smirk when he showed them how much he had improved. It had been two days since Rukia had arrived back from Soul Society, the rest of the squad that had arrived with here earlier were currently still in Soul Society trying to recover from the Zanpakutō incident.
He walked into the Visored base to see them all lounging around except for Kensei whom was currently smashing his fists into a punching bag. Ichigo wondered if he had stopped since he last left but put it out of his mind and prepared to get back to his training.
"Look who is back, it's the dickhead. Ya finished resting you pansy?" Hiyori yelled at him leaning her back on a large boulder and Ichigo took the time to glance at the rest of the Visored.
Hachi was meditating, Lisa was reading a magazine with a blush on her face, and Love was reading a manga. Rose was practising the guitar, Mashiro was rolling around doing something and Ichigo didn't want to know. Shinji was also just sitting around deep in thought and Ichigo looked at Hiyori blankly and replied,
"Yes I can see you guys are all training hard."
"What did you say?" Hiyori said angrily as she jumped up while some of the other Visored looked over at them.
"What the hell are your goals anyway? Ever since I started training my hollow with you all, you have had a tight lid on what your goal is?"
"Why the hell should we tell you dickhead?"
Ichigo shrugged, "I guess my training is over then, I am not having anything more to do with any of you until I know your objective."
He now had all of the Visored's attention but Hiyori remained firm, "Were not telling you anything! Besides you need us to teach you how to keep that mask on longer."
Ichigo scoffed and ripped on his mask whilst Shinji, Kensei, Love, Rose and Hachi all looked surprise by the increase of Reiatsu he now had with his mask. Hiyori in her anger didn't notice this as she just taunted him, "So what can you hold it for 7 or maybe 8 seconds now"
Ichigo just responded by holding out his right hand with his palm pointing directly at Hiyori who had a curious look on her face and Ichigo grinned under his mask as he gathered Reiatsu into his palm.
"Cero!" Ichigo said as he fired the large black and red Reiatsu at Hiyori making her eyes widen comically before just dodging the attack by summoning her mask on. Looking down at the explosion, Hiyori scowled and muttered to herself,
"When the hell did he learn to fire a Cero?"
"You don't need to know" A voice said behind her followed by a foot connecting into her right side that sent her crashing hard into the ground. Ichigo floated slowly back onto the floor awaiting Hiyori to pick herself up and it wasn't long until she shot out of rubble with a furious scream. Withdrawing her sword she charged towards Ichigo but he didn't use his sword, instead he punched the air sending a Bala at her. It hit her head on before she realised what had happened causing her to stumble but before she could regain her bearings a hand grabbed her tightly on the shoulder and threw her into a large boulder.
Ichigo just looked bored as he again waited for Hiyori to show herself but was surprised to see her on her knees panting hard. His eyes widened however when she glared at him and he saw that the left side of her mask had been completely destroyed and he couldn't help but taunt her back.
"We've only been fighting for like 10 seconds and your mask is falling apart already."
"SHUT UP! BUTCHER HIM KUBIKIRIOROCHI!" Hiyori's Zanpakutō turned into a large cleaver with a serrated saw-like blade. Her sword was swung at Ichigo aiming at his head but he brought his sealed Zanpakutō out and blocked it.
Hiyori growled and kept swinging fatal strikes at Ichigo but were blocked every time and not long after she began this assault the rest of her mask broke off. Seeing this Ichigo fired another Bala, this time into her stomach and because they were so close together when he fired it, she was sent flying back and landed on the ground roughly.
Ichigo took off his mask unimpressed by Hiyori's level of power; she was just all talk and no real strength to back it up. Perhaps if she had released when her mask was fresh she might have been able to force him to release as well but even with hollow powers, someone like Renji who obtained Bankai was stronger.
"Looks like the kid has gotten good with his hollow powers" Kensei said reluctantly impressed by the boy, it wasn't long ago when he considered his training to be a waste of time.
Ichigo looked over at Shinji while Hachi went over to Hiyori and began healing her. Shinji stood up and walked over to Ichigo and told him,
"Very well Ichigo, I will tell you how we came to be and what our objective is."
He then told Ichigo all about their past, that they were former Taicho and Fukutaicho and that they were betrayed by Aizen and forced into Hollowfication. Then Soul Society sent them to death whilst Urahara was to have his Reiatsu sealed away and be banished to the real world. Yoruichi had rescued them and for the next 100 years they had been living in the real world and during that time Urahara had healed them. They told him they were fascinated by the real world and began to love it and that their goal was simple, to kill Aizen.
"So for the last roughly 100 years, you have been preparing to kill Aizen." Ichigo said seeking confirmation which Shinji responded with a nod.
"I see" Ichigo murmured, and then asked, "So you guys believe you can beat Aizen?"
Shinji smirked at him and told him matter of factly, "We will be the ones to kill Aizen. Or should I say that I will kill him."
"Really?" Ichigo asked before smirking at him, "Ok then, If you are so sure then can you demonstrate something for me?"
"What's that?" Shinji asked him curiously and was confused to why Ichigo suddenly activated his Bankai.
"If you are so sure than I want you to block one attack."
Shinji did one of his large grins and pulled out his Zanpakutō as Ichigo began focusing on the level of attack he wanted to do. He thought back to when he first fought briefly and he meant briefly against Aizen and focused on summoning the same power he channelled into his blade as he had back then. It was currently about ¾ of his strength.
He shot towards Shinji and swung at his chest and Shinji was able to block it with his Zanpakutō but he had to quickly put on his mask. Ichigo jumped back with a mocking grin on his face much to Shinji and the other Visored's confusion before he asked,
"Why did you use your mask and Zanpakutō?"
They all just gave him incredulous looks and Shinji retorted, "If I hadn't, I probably would have been cut in half you dumbass."
Ichigo just chuckled further increasing their looks and told him mockingly, "You think you have the power to defeat Aizen when he blocked that same attack, same speed and same amount of power with a mere finger."
All of the Visored's including the recovered Hiyori looked shocked at that bit of information and Ichigo continued, "You guys are underestimating Aizen immensely, that strike just them was about ¾ of my strength in Bankai and I hit one of his Arrancar with a much stronger attack than that. Do you want to know how much damage it did?" They didn't answer so Ichigo finished, "About a 30cm scratch that was barely bleeding, right now we are going to have extreme difficulty with his Arrancar let alone Aizen."
The Visored were silent as they contemplated what Ichigo had told them, and as they did Ichigo decided to interrupt with another question.
"When was the last time any of you truly pushed yourselves to the limit?"
None of them answered as Ichigo shook his head and told them thanks for the help that they gave him but he would focus on learning some Kido now. With that he left as none of the Visored acknowledges his words, all of them contemplating what Ichigo had told them, but they all did come to a startling conclusion. Ever since they defeated their hollows and learnt how to hold their mask for several minutes, none of them had been pushed to their limits.
It took a while for someone to speak but it was Shinji who broke the silence and seemed to be talking to himself but they all listened, "Kurosaki Ichigo, human, learning the name of his Shikai only minutes after releasing his own Shinigami powers. Learnt Bankai in three days, and learned how to hold his mask on for longer periods of time before any of us except Mashiro of course. However while she can keep it on for 15 hours, that is not the same when in battle, where she can only hold it for 3 minutes like the rest of us. Yet Ichigo held it just then for 3 minutes, and it didn't look like it was going to break anytime soon even after using a Cero along with two Bala's. Hell none of us even knew we could do Bala and why is that, it is just like he said; we haven't been pushed to our limits nor fought against opponents trying to kill us. While Ichigo is someone who improves quickly, how much of that is because he was in life or death situations while we have been sitting back for 100 years maintaining our Shinigami skills. We haven't improved and only have a short time frame of a power boost with our hollow powers."
Everything that Shinji just said seemed to cause all of the others to come to the same conclusion.
"It's time to stop playing, we still have two months before Aizen moves out and I intend to use it and improve my mask time by at least triple." Shinji told them confidently, determination not seen for over a 100 years burning in his eyes.
The rest couldn't help but agree, for the first time in 100 years, the Visored's were going to push themselves beyond their limits.
End of Flashback
Ichigo jumped over the hollow Rukia and fired a wordless Getsuga into the ground covering the area in smoke before Shunpoing away in order to put some distance between them. He looked over at Renji to see him in his Bankai trying to destroy the core of the creature that the two hollow unleashed to turn Seireitei into chaos. The smoke that was created by his Getsuga disappeared but it revealed that Rukia had vanished much to his concern.
"Look out behind you Ichigo!" Renji yelled out.
Ichigo glanced behind him to see Rukia had suddenly appeared behind him ready to behead him seeing Rukia close up made him remember the last day together before she headed back to Soul Society and this incident.
Flashback
It was still quite early in the day as Ichigo just returned to his home from the Visored's hideout hoping that they took his words to heart and tried to improve themselves. He entered the house and much to his surprise he didn't receive a sudden attack from his dad but was even further astonished when he found his dad sitting at the kitchen table with a hard look on his face.
"Hey dad what -"
"Sit down Ichigo" Isshin cut him off and Ichigo obliged and decided not to speak as his dad looked very intimidating right now.
After 5 minutes of silence Ichigo attempted to say something but before he could his dad told him sternly,
"No talking, we will discuss this when Rukia arrives."
The lack of chan at the end of Rukia's name started ringing serious alarm bells in his head and he began dreading the moment that Rukia arrived.
It wasn't long before that dreaded moment arrived as Rukia returned from her patrol and when ordered to sit down by a grave Isshin, she immediately complied.
"Now that you are both here. We can begin." Isshin told them as Rukia looked on nervously while Ichigo had light sweat running down his face.
"Yuzu!" Isshin barked and Yuzu ran into the room and stood in front of him military style.
"Is it ready?" He asked her and she nodded.
"Very good." Isshin approved and then yelled for Karin whom much to Ichigo's surprised came into the room the same manner as Yuzu.
"Has it been booked?"
Karin nodded in the affirmative and Isshin smiled pleased with the result before turning back to Ichigo and Rukia.
"Now it is time for me to explain what you have to do Ichigo."
Ichigo was torn between hesitancy and curiosity about what his father was planning.
"Today Ichigo, you will be taking Rukia on a date."
Both Ichigo's and Rukia's eyes widened before Ichigo quickly got over the shock and yelled at his father, "What the hell old man? Here you are acting all serious and you say something like this!"
Karin could barely hide her amusement at what Ichigo was being put through.
"Quiet Ichigo!" Isshin bellowed silencing his son and so Ichigo settled for glaring at him making sure to avoid looking at Rukia whom was looking confused and embarrassed.
"Now if you would allow me to explain?" He asked them receiving no answer and continued, "You see a few days ago when we were watching Chappy along with some other shows."
Ichigo remembered that, it was when he took Karin out to play some soccer while Rukia came to a realisation.
"In one of the shows the main character asked a girl out on a date but the episode ended before she gave her answer much to Yuzu's and I's disappointment. It was then Rukia-chan asked what a date was which made me come to the realisation that she had never experience the thrill of a date especially a first date."
Ichigo glanced curiously at Rukia who avoided eye contact with him seemingly embarrassed and Ichigo wondered if this was why his father looked horrified when he and Karin had returned.
"So I have arranged for Ichigo as he is experienced in dating to take you on a date Rukia-chan so you can experience the glory of it." Isshin told her whilst Yuzu gasped and Karin snorted.
"Onii-chan has been on dates?"
"Ichi-nii has never been on a date."
"That's absurd Karin" Isshin told her, "A son of mine would have gone on plenty of dates. Isn't that right Ichigo?"
When Ichigo avoided looking him in the eye, Isshin knew the answer, his eyes widened in horror and shouted whilst running over to the poster of his late wife.
"NOOO! MASAKI OUR ICHIGO HASNT EXPERIENCE THE PLEASURE OF DATING! I HAVE FAILED AS A FATHER!"
Ichigo looked thoroughly embarrassed, making sure not to glance at Rukia while his dad continued to cry about his failures.
"Dad, don't you have to give the details to Onii-chan?" Yuzu asked snapping Isshin out of his despair as he stood up proudly and announced,
"You are right Yuzu; it is time to give Ichigo and Rukia-chan what we have organized for them."
"Dammit dad, I am not doing this!"
"I don't want to bother any of you with something like this!" Rukia protested embarrassed but Isshin just shook his head and told them,
"Sorry but you both no longer have a say in the matter."
Ichigo scowled, "You can't make us do this!"
Isshin smirked which Rukia noticed that it resembled Ichigo's.
"I believe I can, if Rukia-chan goes on this date then I will give her the complete collection of Chappy's adventures on DVD."
Ichigo looked horrified, and he glanced at Rukia's and he mentally groaned at the look on her eyes, her pupils were now stars and he knew that his dad had Rukia hooked.
Still as long as he didn't agree to this, then he was fine, he didn't think that there was anything that his father could offer him.
"Now for you Ichigo" Isshin started as Ichigo's eyes narrowed, "If you don't take Rukia-chan out on this date and make it enjoyable, then I will take all of your baby pictures and show them to your class. And yes that means all of them."
Ichigo's eyes widened as he stared his father in sheer terror and Isshin grinned smugly and reminded him, "You know I will do it"
Rukia looked at him in amusement; the thought of gaining all of those Chappy episodes was worth going on a date with Ichigo. However she had to make sure that Ichigo couldn't back out and decided to add the final nail to the coffin,
"That would be a day that nobody would forget."
Ichigo scowled, that dam midget had basically just told him that she wouldn't erase the memories of their classmates. Dam dad, he offers Rukia something while he gets blackmailed, life just wasn't fair.
"Fine you win."
Later that night
Ichigo collapsed onto his bed tired from the date with Rukia and his father's antics and drifted off to sleep.
He wouldn't get that sleep however as he suddenly awoke in his inner world much to his confusion and ask Zangetsu whom was in his regular spot on the pole.
"What's up old man?"
"To inform you about your Bankai." With that, Zangetsu's cloak seemed to wrap around him entirely as he shrunk and there stood Tensa Zangetsu.
Ichigo just looked on curiously, "What about Bankai?"
Tensa smiled at him resulting in the widening of Ichigo's eyes as this was the first time that Tensa had done that.
"You have proven yourself Ichigo, like your hollow, I was also surprised by your desire to increase your skills since returning from Soul Society. You have successfully completed the tasks that I set out for you. You no longer feel the strain of your old Bankai, you have learnt how to condense your Reiatsu throughout your body and you have achieved an acceptable level with your Hollowfication. The next time you use your Bankai, I will add my power to it but be warned Ichigo, you will have to train with it as it will once again put a strain on your body. However it won't be as severe as it was when you first began using Bankai, it shouldn't take you long to get used to it."
"I see" Ichigo acknowledged, "Thanks Tensa."
It was moments later that Ichigo woke up and glanced at his clock which read 12:05 making him scowl as he understood that he only went to bed 10 minutes ago. With the fact that he would be able to fight alongside Tensa Zangetsu from now on made him wide awake. So he began doing some remaining homework that he had, it was the last thing he had to do for school however something happened 15 minutes into his homework.
It was like a sudden wave of air just brushed past him but he shook his head thinking that he had imagined it and finished off his homework. It was then his door was suddenly burst open and Kon ran into the room, holding a piece of paper, crying his eyes out.
"Nee-san returned to Soul Society"
He forced the paper into Ichigo's hands and Ichigo tried to read the note but it didn't make any sense and he placed it on his desk before looking at Kon in confusion.
"Who the hell is Nee-san, better yet what the hell are you?"
"What? Nee-san is Nee-san and what the hell do you mean what I am? I'm Kon you dumbass."
Ichigo just looked at him blankly and sighed grabbing him much to Kon's annoyance and threw him into the closet and decided to deal with it later before climbing into bed and falling asleep.
Inner World
Zangetsu was pleased, very pleased with Ichigo's progress so far, he was becoming the warrior he knew he could become since there rocky start. His relationship with Tensa Zangetsu was progressing nicely and Ichigo now unlocked the true version of his Bankai. Not only that, his relationship with Ichigo was growing stronger and Ichigo was close to unlocking the true version of his Shikai.
However his pleased thoughts ended as he sensed a sudden wind of Reiatsu hit Ichigo and suddenly the world around him began shaking. Much to his horror, the equal largest building began sinking, the building that held his bond and memories of Rukia and moments later, it had sunk to the bottom of the world. With that building now at the bottom, everything that had connected Ichigo with Rukia began sinking and to his horror the connection he felt with Ichigo vanished.
No matter how loud he called, Ichigo could no longer hear him and it was suddenly that he understood. Rukia was the one that introduced him to Shinigami and hollow, it was for Rukia that Ichigo developed his Shinigami powers and without her in his memories, all of those things that connected to her were buried deep in his soul.
The world was beginning to darken and if he didn't do something quickly, then he would be put in the same position he was in before Ichigo met Rukia. Basically, all the power that Ichigo had attained would become dormant once again.
He dived into the water where the building connecting to Rukia sunk and broke into a window as he tried to latch onto some of Ichigo's memories of her. If he could get these memories to the surface, they should flash into Ichigo's dreams and since he had such a strong connection with Rukia, he hoped it would be enough. If it didn't, well Zangetsu didn't want to imagine. Putting everything he had into it, he was able to grab a few large boxes and threw them up onto the surface and once there the box burst open.
Ichigo's Dream
Ichigo was currently reliving the worst moment in his life, walking hand in hand with his mother walking on the path near the Karasu River. It was then he saw a woman standing at the edge of the river making it look like she was going to fall in, seeing this Ichigo ran to help her much to Masaki's horror. It then went black before light came back to Ichigo's eyes and to his despair; his mother was lying on top of him, with a large gash in her back, dead.
It was his fault, he killed the most important person in his life, the most important in Karin, Yuzu's and his dad's life.
It was then the scene suddenly changed and his was in a Shinigami uniform staring down a hollow that was holding Karin and a familiar figure stood in front of it.
"I was trying to help it back then, six years ago, but when I noticed, it was gone and my mom was dead."
The imaged changed again as sudden flashes began forming and he began to hear whispers.
"Even if you save that kid here, nothing will matter if you don't become a Shinigami! Saving him because he's right in front of you! Don't be naïve. A Shinigami has to treat all spirits equally! You cannot just conveniently save those you can see, those you can reach. Don't save that kid with such half-heartedness. If you want to save him now... accept that you must save all spirits. To go anywhere for them... to even give your life to save them, make that kind of commitment!"
"...If I ask, will you answer? ...It's your problem. A deep, deep problem. I have no right to know. I don't have a method of stepping into the depths of your heart without getting it dirty. So I'll wait. When you want to talk, when you think its okay to talk... Talk to me. Until that time, I'll wait."
"Do you want... to save your family? There is only one way... you must become a Shinigami! "
"Give me your sword Shinigami"
"I'm not 'Shinigami.' I'm Kuchiki Rukia."
"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo"
Ichigo's eyes shot open as everything came back to him, jumping out of his bed, he grabbed the note and deciphered the message by figuring out the drawing at the bottom was a racoon. The message stated that she had to return to Soul Society to run a few errands and would be back in two days.
"Kon!" Ichigo yelled throwing open the closest and grabbed the surprised plush and told him, "Rukia is in trouble."
End of Flashback
With the scythe ready to behead him, Ichigo prepared to go Bankai to dodge it but a voice called out,
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō"
Six rods of light suddenly slammed into Rukia stopping her from beheading Ichigo and fell to the ground struggling to break out furiously. Ichigo looked to see it was Byakuya standing a few metres away looking at Rukia and Ichigo could see the despair in Byakuya's eyes and he knew that it was killing him to see Rukia like this.
Rukia seemed to freeze for a second as she took notice of Byakuya but it didn't last long before the hollow took back over and continued to try and break free. Byakuya could sense the Reiatsu pouring out of her was almost all hollow and he knew that there was only one way to free Rukia and that was to kill her. He would free her and send her to Hisana and as he made that decision he felt the remaining part of his heart that remained after Hisana's death shatter, he was about to break his promise to Hisana. There was only one thing he had to do after this and that would be to kill himself for destroying his pride and shaming himself.
He pulled out his sword which made Ichigo realise what he was about to do especially when he heard Renji mutter, "Her Reiatsu is almost fully become a hollow's."
"Don't Byakuya" Ichigo pleaded, "Rukia is still in there, it doesn't matter what happens, we are still connected! Isn't that right Rukia!"
Rukia didn't answers as she began breaking the Bakudo as Ichigo looked on in despair until he noticed Kon frozen in that see through stone and he could hear him pleading, "Save Nee-san, please"
"Do you want to save your family?" Rukia's voce echoed through his ears as his thoughts went back to that fateful night when she gave him her powers and he knew what he had to do. He looked over to see that she had almost broken out and he sealed his Zanpakutō into its Katana form and told Zangetsu,
"Suppress all of my hollow Reiatsu leaking out of me."
"Very well Ichigo" Zangetsu told him.
He walked up to Byakuya who looked at him curiously, his blade still raised and Ichigo informed him, "She sacrificed her powers to save my family and I cannot and will not ever give up! This time I will save her, either this works which means I free her or we both die together."
Byakuya looked at him, the boy continued to amaze him at how far he would go for his friends, for Rukia to the point where he would be willing to give up his life.
"Do as you wish" With that he Shunpoed away as Rukia broke out of the Bakudo with a large burst of dark purple Reiatsu and glared at Ichigo.
"Let's kill him! Let's kill the Shinigami!"
Ichigo put his left arm on his right forearm and surrounded himself with pure Shinigami Reiatsu and began channelling it into his sword and said,
"Here we go Rukia, this time I will give you my power!"
Both charged towards each other and Rukia swung her scythe as Ichigo stabbed his sword, his sword pierced through the scythe and penetrated Rukia's chest in through her heart as Ichigo yelled,
"TIME TO WAKE UP RUKIA!"
With that he poured in his Shinigami Reiatsu into Rukia's body as she yelled out before the two hollow were expelled from her body as her Shinigami form once again took control. Ichigo then forced the small parasite like hollow that had merged with the other two out and purified it restoring all of Rukia's memories and everyone else's.
Rukia's eyes opened as she felt an arm around her shoulder and her face was pressed into a shoulder. Shrugging it off, she pulled back to see Ichigo looking down at her with relief and joy in his eyes and then she remembered what happened. She looked around frantically for the two twins which Ichigo noticed and pointed her in the direction they laid.
Rukia rushed over to them and knelt down before them taking their hands in hers as they looked up at her with remorseful and sorrowful expressions on their faces.
"We've been punished haven't we? For not listening to Rukia." The female said but her brother protested, "Rukia, don't hate my sister"
Rukia looked sadly at the both of them as she remembered the Shinigami that was possessed by a hollow attacked them and while trying to protect Rukia, the twins were killed.
"When I woke up, I didn't see them anymore... And I also forgot about them" Rukia said miserably as she couldn't believe that she forgot about them.
It was then Urahara spoke up as he had arrived moments ago after Byakuya and Renji destroyed the monster, "That was because this hollow erased your memory. Also, these two have the power to manipulate space. Probably as a last effort to save your, these two transferred the hollow to their own bodies. Without noticing it, they ended up in Hueco Mundo, desperate, but the hollow was still conscious. And they returned because of the immense urge to see you."
Rukia looked shock as the girl said, "Remember now? Sorry for lying to you. The truth is we died back then."
"You are not gone! Death isn't the end. Aren't you back? I was so happy."
"Because we wanted to see you." The girl told her, "I only have you."
Rukia shook her head and explained, "You're not alone. The most important person to you has always been at your side."
The both looked shocked as they stared at each other; they had been so focused on not being with Rukia that they didn't acknowledge each other, until now they considered themselves as one.
"I remembered your names... Homura and Shizuku. If you put them together it means strong shine."
They both looked in awe as they finally had names, before tears began falling down their eyes at the joy of it. Tears also began to gather in Rukia's eyes as she could sense their Reiatsu was almost gone.
"Shizuku" Homura murmured as she held out his hand and Shizuku responded by placing his hand in hers as he whispered, "Homura-nee-san."
"Goodbye Rukia" Homura said as her eyes closed along with Shizuku, their hands fell out of Rukia's whom began yelling in despair,
"Homura! Shizuku! Don't go! Hey! Hey! Answer me! Answer me!"
Rain began falling heavily as Rukia wailed into it as the others could only look on in helplessness at the situation. Ichigo whom was standing a few metres away looked up into the sky and with a soft voice that he rarely used he spoke,
"The heavens weep."
Urahara was the only one who heard him and looked at him curiously, seeing this Ichigo answered, "This is why I hate the rain, the heavens cry as someone has passed on or fallen into despair. That is always what I feel in the rain, ever since my mom died and here right now a good friend is in despair and what happens? It rains heavily."
"An interesting outlook" Urahara acknowledged.
The next morning
Rukia stood on the cliff where her deceased friends were buried looking at a drawing that the two siblings had drawn for her when she felt Ichigo approaching her from behind.
"Ichigo, you going back?"
"Yep" He told her simply.
"You saved me again." Rukia acknowledged.
"Well you saved me first." Ichigo retorted as Rukia looked surprised, he had saved her more times than she had saved him.
"You know, if death is not really the end for us, then that encounter maybe was a beginning. I don't know really, but a connection once linked, it will never disappear, so even if we forget everything, that connection will return again. Like it did for us, and like it will for you and those siblings."
Rukia smiled, "Yeah you're right."
Ichigo smirked, "See ya; I'm going first, Shinigami."
"I'm not a Shinigami, I am Kuchiki Rukia" She told him proudly as the wind took the picture and Rukia watched it fly away, she would never forget them.
Rukia's Inner world
Sode no Shirayuki was glad that Rukia had returned to normal, it definitely wasn't fun when her soul began merging with those hollow and was once again in debt to Kurosaki Ichigo for saving her master. Rukia had been much more open and talked to her a lot more since the Zanpakutō rebellion and the bond between them was going making her smile. Rukia was close to being able to learn the third dance and maybe in a few years she might be close to materialising her. It was then she discovered a change in the snowy world, her world consisted of snowy plains with a large mountain.
There were caves in the mountain that represented her bonds with others along with memories and her knowledge. The deeper the cave, the more knowledge on a subject was stored, or the stronger the connection she had with an individual. There were six very deep caves, bonds with those close to her in her life and they were Ichigo, Renji, Byakuya, Ukitake, Kaien and Miyako.
However one of the caves had changed slightly, the cave that represented Ichigo had grown deeper which astounded Sode no Shirayuki because she thought that the cave couldn't get any deeper unless they became intimate. However when she walked through the caves, she could summon memories or knowledge straight to her but at the end of the cave where it originally ended had extended for a few metres. However it was blocked by a large block of Ice and Sode no Shirayuki couldn't enter but when she peeked through the ice she was amazed at what she saw.
"Well, now isn't this interesting." She murmured.
Urahara's shop – 1 day after Fade to Black
Ichigo stood in the middle of Urahara's training ground with his Shikai released eager to test out the upgrade to his Bankai whilst Urahara watched with interest. Zangetsu had explained to Ichigo about what he did in order for Ichigo to remember Rukia making Ichigo internally grateful much to Zangetsu's satisfaction.
Ichigo entered the position for him to activate his Bankai and unleashed a large amount of Reiatsu and shouted,
"BANKAI!"
Ichigo exploded in blue Reiatsu forcing Urahara's to cover his eyes from all of the dust and rubble that was sent flying into the air. He was astounded by the amount of Reiatsu Ichigo unleashed, and wondered if Ichigo truly had a limit of Reiatsu or would it just keep on growing? His vision cleared along with the dust and rubble dispersing, revealing Ichigo in his new Bankai form.
His clothes hadn't changed, but there were some added features, he now had black gloves on both hands that ended at the half way point between his wrist and elbow. His sandals were now replaced with black boots that stopped at the half way between his knees and ankles but both appeared to be heavy. There were more noticeable changes with his sword.
The chain had grown in length, it was now at least 2 feet long and was connected to the base of his right glove forming a wide loop but the chain was detachable from the glove. While retaining its manji-like shape, the tsuba had become more curved and jagged whilst the blade itself had grown in length to roughly the same length of his Shikai and it was curved near the tip.
Ichigo could feel a slight increase to his Reiatsu but he had to admit, it wasn't as much as he was expecting and the gloves and boots felt weird. They looked heavy but to Ichigo it felt like he wasn't wearing any gloves or boots, they were light as a feather and Ichigo wondered what their purpose was. He had to admit that his sword was badass though much to Tensa Zangetsu's amusement.
"Perhaps I should just explain them to you Ichigo."
"That would be nice" Ichigo admitted.
"While the gloves and boots may seem light, they are very hard to destroy and their purpose is similar to that of the Getsuga Tensho."
"Hmm, how do you mean?"
"How do you activate Shunpo Ichigo?"
"Pouring Reiatsu into the souls of your feet to speed up your steps and also cover more distance with each step. The better control, and the better your base speed, the faster you go and the less steps taken." Ichigo summed up his basic understanding.
Tensa sighed, "That is the most basic explanation but it is more complicated than that but I can't be bothered going into the specifics. Now tell me how the Getsuga works."
Ichigo scowled in annoyance, "Zangetsu amplifies the Reiatsu that I pour into the Reiatsu and releases the condense Reiatsu at the tip of the blade."
Tensa nodded, "Correct, I do something similar with your gloves and boots, the Reiatsu that you pour into I amplify. This means, I increase the speed of your Shunpo when you put Reiatsu into your boots but they can also be used for melee situations. I increase the power of your punches and kicks, you have used it instinctively a few times if you recall."
Ichigo nodded; there had been times when his punches and kicks seemed much stronger than usual.
"With these, you will be able to do some damage to the Arrancar despite their Hierro without fear of breaking any bones. Enough explanations Ichigo, how bout we test it, do you remember the exercise I had you do a few days ago?"
"Yeah" Ichigo told him as he remembered what Tensa asked him to do; he had to Shunpo as fast as he could in a straight line for 500 metres. He also had to kick a heavy metal ball about the size of a soccer ball as hard as he could and also had to punch a large boulder as hard as he could. He of course had to do this in Bankai and the results were interesting to say the least.
It took a step every 50m, so in all it took 10 flash steps to get there. In Shikai he could only go about 20m every step and in his sealed it was only 5m every step. He was only able to kick the ball about 50m and his punch only shattered half of the boulder that was 6m high and 6m wide. Urahara did explain that he had reinforced it with Reiatsu making it much tougher than it would usually be.
Now here he was in his new Bankai and judging by the Reiatsu that was pressing into his bones, he would only be able to handle it for roughly 5 minutes. He was standing in the same spot he previously did the exercise and channelled Reiatsu into his boots and shunpoed over to the destination point. When he arrived he was amazed by how much faster he was, he was able to travel 100m with a single step meaning that he only stepped 5 times. In battle that was going to be a big advantage as he wasn't going to distance himself from his opponent by 100m very often.
Next he kicked the ball again as hard as he could and watched in awe as it travelled about 100m, the Reiatsu surrounding the ball was equivalent to the strength of the Hierro of a Gillian Arrancar. He finally finished by punching the boulder and shattered it completely and the best part was, just like Tensa said, he felt no pain from the attack.
"Splendid Kurosaki-san, your Bankai has improved drastically." Urahara clapped happily, and then asked interested, "How about you try a Getsuga?"
Ichigo smirked; he was interested to see if the Getsuga's amplified power had also increased. He raised his Zanpakutō into the air as it was surrounded by blue Reiatsu and he slashed it downwards and roared, "GETSUGA TENSHO!"
The result was a large gash through the ground that was bigger than any other that he had made; it was even more powerful than the attack that he hit Ulquiorra with. He felt that it had been his strongest Getsuga until now and Ichigo also gathered that his Getsuga Tentate's power would have also increased.
He deactivated his Bankai back into Shikai but he felt something different about it and Urahara's eyes widened as he noticed to. Ichigo held his Shikai up, feeling stronger than he ever did whilst in Shikai, the blade itself hadn't changed but it was the hilt. While his Shikai still had no guard, the grip had changed, it formed into a similar grip that his Bankai had and it was black in colour. While the pommel was silver and had a small black chain replacing the cloth that was about the length that his original Bankai had.
Ichigo looked at Urahara in confusion that didn't have an answer before Ichigo decided to ask the source.
"Zangetsu, why did your Shikai form change slightly and also increase in power?"
"Come to your inner world and I will explain."
Ichigo entered the Jinzen position and moments later found himself in his inner world with Zangetsu on his pole waiting for him.
"So can you explain then?"
"Very well" Zangetsu said before asking, "Tell me Ichigo how long does it take for a Shinigami to learn the name of their Zanpakutō?"
Ichigo just looked blankly at him and Zangetsu explained, "You see Ichigo, you only had your Shinigami power not even an hour before you learnt my name. Yet most Shinigami don't learn for months to years, to decades and in some cases to centuries. Can you understand why that is Ichigo?"
Ichigo shook his head.
"First of all it is because you're human, that means you adapt quickly as humans have short life spans and most are lucky to reach 80 years old. However Shinigami age slowly, living up to centuries and millennia, so they don't adapt as quickly. However even for a human, it should have taken you longer to learn my name but because of what you were trying to achieve by storming into Soul Society, I didn't have a choice. You definitely would have died if you didn't have my help, so I forced myself to give you my power and name which gave you an incomplete Shikai."
"So you mean I beat Ikkaku, Renji and Kenpachi with an incomplete Shikai?" Ichigo asked seeking to clarify while feeling smug.
Zangetsu seemed to sense this as he answered sternly, "Don't get cocky Ichigo, Ikkaku underestimated you severely and it cost him, Renji like Byakuya was conflicted and seeing your resolve he wanted you to prove that you could save her deep down. With Kenpachi, how many times did he let you cut him without even trying to block or dodge? Don't forget that he also told you that he hadn't had a good fight in a long time and was basically rusty."
Ichigo scowled at Zangetsu, they were all valid points which made him grumpy as he realised that he saved Rukia with a lot of luck on his side.
"When attempting to learn how to achieve Shikai a Shinigami must be able to communicate and harmonize with their Zanpakutō effectively, which requires being able to speak to the spirit within its world. You couldn't my world until Urahara taught you how to use Jinzen and we both hadn't down that in Soul Society, therefore you couldn't use my full power. With you being in danger so much, to keep you alive I had to keep forcibly give you power and we never had the chance to bond and allow both our powers to grow naturally. Ever since you returned from Soul Society and beat your hollow, both you and I have communicated a lot, and have learnt more about each other making our bond stronger."
Ichigo began to understand but he asked curiously, "So why did it just change now? I haven't learnt anything new about you in the last few days."
Zangetsu smirked, "I'm glad you asked that, it is because you have unlocked Tensa Zangetsu's power."
Confusion filled his mind again, "How does that affect your Shikai form?"
"Ichigo, to learn Bankai a Shinigami must have learnt all of the powers that their Shikai contain; however you once again had to use a shortcut by using the Tenshintai which forcibly materialized me into the real world. If you materialized me naturally, then the test I gave you would have been much different as I would have become Tensa Zangetsu and you would have to cut me down. However because I was forced out, I fought you as I am now which gave you an incomplete Bankai however you will be able to materialize me now without any trouble."
Ichigo nodded beginning to understand but had another question, "How come I can now use my true Bankai if I still haven't materialized Tensa and strike him down?"
"Technically you have, even though he was out thanks to Muramasa's power, the fact that you defeated him meant that you could now handle the power of your true Bankai. If you could beat him at that point, then you would beat him even if you did materialize him so it was a moot point."
"Yeah but how come I didn't use my true Bankai against Muramasa if that is the case?"
"Tensa didn't want to you to use a new form that you had no experience with in a life or death battle, if he felt that you needed it then he would have risked it. But he knew that you were strong enough to beat him with your incomplete Bankai."
"I understand." Ichigo told him, "Thanks Zangetsu."
Urahara's shop
Ichigo exited the Jinzen and stood up glancing at his Shikai whilst Urahara just looked on with interest. He began channelling Reiatsu into the blade as he pictured Zangetsu in his mind and thought,
"Appear in the real world Zangetsu."
His Shikai flashed blue for a moment before Zangetsu appeared a few metres away as Urahara's eyes had a sudden understanding light up in them.
"So this is your true Shikai form then?"
"You knew?" Ichigo asked and Urahara nodded, "I knew that Zangetsu would have to forcibly give you his power as there wasn't enough time for you to train properly. Plus the fact that your skill with a blade was terrible, I had to use our training time to teach you how to fight. Zangetsu giving you his power would have been useless if you didn't have the skill to use it."
Ichigo glanced at Zangetsu, "It makes sense Ichigo"
Ichigo nodded and Zangetsu dematerialized before Ichigo went with Tessai to begin training in the art of Kido whilst Urahara began thinking of his greatest student and key to the war.
He never imagined that Ichigo would progress this much, at this rate perhaps they could defeat Aizen without Ichigo having to use the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho but they would have to kill him before he evolves. If Aizen began his evolution using the Hōgyoku, then the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho was their only option.
Two days later
It was currently midday in Karakura town; Ichigo was currently relaxing in Karakura Park along with Ishida, Chad, Inoue, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro and Karin. Ichigo had set 2 days a week to spend time with his younger sisters, as he felt that his training was taking away time that would be spent with his sisters. While Ichigo never really opened up to anyone, he was always close to his sisters and by that he meant he spent a lot of time with them and today he promised he would spend it with Karin.
It was really just a fluke that they were all hanging out today, Tatsuki and Inoue had been together, Keigo and Mizuiro were doing god knows what and Ishida and Chad trained together early in the morning. Funnily enough by midday, their paths had crossed and here they were.
Ichigo had gotten news from Soul Society that they would send in reinforcements tonight as they finally got everything sorted and Ichigo prayed that there would be no attacks today. His training had been going well, like Tensa said, it didn't take him long to get used to his new Bankai and he took great joy in the fact that he was pushing Urahara much harder in their spars.
Kido was interesting, he learnt the Hadō #1: Sho which generates a small force that thrusts the target back, but Ichigo found that with his rubbish control of Reiatsu, that attack was much stronger. Instead of sending them back a few metres, his would send them flying much to his satisfaction. Tessai wasn't pleases however, as he explained that its purpose isn't supposed to do that but Ichigo told him that it suited him and that he didn't have real need for Hadō spells since he had Getsuga and Cero.
So Tessai began instructing him in Bakudo spells which were very challenging for him as it required more finesse and control than Hadō as it was more focused on power. Tessai decided that the low levels of Bakudo would be far too difficult for Ichigo so he taught Ichigo some of the higher levels. Ichigo declined the chance to learn Bakudō's #39: Enkōsen and #81: Dankū as they shields and he already had his Getsuga Tentate for that but that didn't mean that he shouldn't learn them. When the war was over, he would learn as much Kido as he could but for now he just needed the essentials and so he asked to learn a Bakudo that restricted his opponents.
In the last two days he had learnt #61: Rikujōkōrō and #63: Sajō Sabaku and while he was proficient with them, he was nowhere near close to being a master with them. However he figured that if they could give him a second or two, then he could make them work.
Ichigo watched as his sister talked with Tatsuki who was showing her some karate moves making him smirk, Karin was a fighter like him and he fully expected her to come to him when she was older to become a Shinigami.
However his eyes widened when he felt a rip in the air and he looked in horror not noticing that everyone in the group had taken notice of it. Thank god he brought Kon along as he pulled the protesting plushie out of his bag and entered the mod soul into his body releasing his Shinigami form.
Ishida stood next to him preparing for battle while Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro looked confused at the two Ichigo's.
"Kon!" Ichigo barked gaining Kon's immediate attention which forced all of his possible ideas he could do in Ichigo's body.
"Take Karin home immediately."
Kon nodded, he knew better than to disobey Ichigo when he was this serious while Karin looked worried as she took notice of the figures that had come out of the Garganta. There stood Yammy and an armless Grimmjow along with another two.
One of them had rather youthful features, with short black hair that was unevenly cut, lavender eyes, and a childish face. Just above his left eyebrow was a row of three pink stars, the remains of his Hollow mask which was a top row of teeth rested on the left side of his head. His attire consisted of long sleeves that fell past his hands, hiding them.
The other had a thin and somewhat child-like body. He had light blond hair, parted to one side, with the tips fanning out from his face. The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a three-point tiara on the top of his head. He only had two teeth visible when smiling, freckles and bright purple eyes. He wore the Arrancar jacket with a hole in the middle of his chest, revealing his Hollow hole and the tip of a mark on his chest. The outfit also had large arm cuffs on the sleeves.
"Ichigo... What?" Tatsuki asked confused unable to form a complete sentence and Ichigo glanced at her surprised that she could see him and from the expressions on Keigo and Mizuiro's faces, meant they could as well.
"I'll explain later, go with Kon and Karin now!" Ichigo told them fiercely and seeing the look in his eyes, they spun around and followed Kon who was dragging Karin away.
"Any chance Soul Society will be sending any reinforcements soon?" Chad asked but Ichigo shook his head, "No not til tonight."
The Arrancar stepped out of the Garganta well all of them except the kid whom didn't seem interested in what was happening down below. Ichigo mentally groaned when he noticed that both Yammy and Grimmjow were glaring at him but he shrugged it off. He destroyed Yammy last time with his original Bankai and fought on par with Grimmjow so as long as he could stop them from releasing, he shouldn't have any trouble.
"Kurosaki, you have fought two of them correct?" Ishida asked him and Ichigo nodded as Ishida came up with a plan.
"Are you able to stall them for a little bit?"
Ichigo smirked at him, "No problem"
"Good" Ishida approved, "Sado-kun and I will handle the other one and we will kill him as quickly as possible and Inoue-san you heal any injuries that we receive. Also keep an eye out on the one that is currently more interested in the real world than fighting."
It was true, the kid Arrancar was currently looking at the grass, trees and nature all around him with interest. Ichigo unsheathed his sword as he Shunpoed up near the Arrancar and Ishida and Chad joined him, Yoruichi had taught Chad how to air walk.
Ichigo smirked at Grimmjow and received a maniac grin in return, excited to continue where he left off whilst Yammy glared at Ichigo itching for revenge.
"Yo Grimmjow, I get while you're here" Ichigo told him but looked at Yammy blankly, "But I don't get why you are? Don't you remember the last beating I gave you?"
Yammy withdrew his sword and told Grimmjow angrily, "Stay out of this Grimmjow, this piece of shit is mine!"
"Stop the rain Zangetsu" Ichigo chanted, summoning his Shikai and awaited for Yammy's attack but sweat dropped when he realised that Yammy and Grimmjow were arguing over who got to fight him.
Seeing how this was his chance, he pointed Zangetsu out in front of him, the tip facing the two bickering Arrancar as blue Reiatsu surrounded Ichigo's body and his sword turned blue. The increase in Reiatsu caught their attention as they stopped arguing as Ichigo prepared to activate his Bankai. The chain at the end of the pommel, grew longer as it wrapped around Ichigo's arm up to his elbow and he yelled,
"BANKAI!"
Yammy and Grimmjow's eyes widened when they saw the change in Ichigo's Bankai and Grimmjow growled, "Why is your Bankai different Kurosaki?"
"There is no need to tell you" Ichigo stated and asked curiously, "What happened to your arm?"
"I cut it off; I don't need it to beat you, even with the change in your Bankai."
Seeing as they were talking, Yammy used this opportunity to Sonido behind Ichigo and swung his sword at the back of his head but before he knew it, he hit air and there was a sword sticking out of his hollow hole.
Grimmjow scowled darkly, he could barely follow Kurosaki's movements, it was clear his Bankai was much stronger now but then that scowl turned into a smirk, he might get a good fight now.
"You really are pathetic" Ichigo taunted Yammy, he had followed Yammy's movements no problem and dodged the slash by Shunpoing behind him but instead of striking a fatal blow he decided to humiliate him. So he simply stabbed his sword through his hollow hole to show him that he could have just died without realising.
Using Sonido he stepped away from Ichigo glaring hatefully at him but Ichigo ignored him and shunpoed above Grimmjow whom couldn't react in time as Ichigo kicked him in the face sending him crashing into the ground.
Ichigo smirked when he felt an increase in Grimmjow's Reiatsu and he shot back up in the sky with his sword out and attacked Ichigo. Ichigo didn't even block any of his strikes, instead he simply dodge them all and made sure to do it at the last second to further enrage Grimmjow until he felt an attack approach from behind.
Yammy was pissed. He had never been so insulted in his life, that cocky shit was toying with him and he could see he was toying with Grimmjow but it gave him an idea. He sonidoed behind Ichigo but kept a lot of distance so he wouldn't notice and began forming a Cero, it didn't matter if he killed Grimmjow in the process and fired it.
Knowing that a Cero was approaching, and that Grimmjow was so focused on him that he didn't see it coming even if it was in his vision of sight, Ichigo deflected the slash and the force put Grimmjow off balance. Ichigo shunpoed away as Grimmjow's eyes widened as the Cero descended upon him and he quickly fired a weak Cero at it which blocked most of the damage but he was still sent flying to the ground.
Yammy growled as he realised he missed his target but his eyes widened when he heard a voice behind him, "You're done."
Yammy spun around swinging his sword at Ichigo who bent back dodging the attack and gathered Reiatsu into his blade and swung upwards releasing the attack. Yammy's blood burst out of the wound that went from his left hip up to his right shoulder and Ichigo then got in close and punched him hard in the wound. Yammy roared in pain as he bent forward and Ichigo prepared to end him by attempting to cut off his head but a glint of red at the corner of his way interrupted and he was force to Shunpo away. While the Cero missed Ichigo, it did hit Yammy which was Grimmjow's secondary target and Yammy fell to the ground groaning in pain.
Grimmjow appeared behind Ichigo on his left and attempted to kick him in the head, but Ichigo calmly raised his left hand and blocked it. Grimmjow was shocked that a Shinigami could block his attack without his Zanpakutō while Ichigo mentally grinned, the kick connected with his wrist and lower forearm, which was covered with his glove, if he had managed to kick his elbow area, then it would have been broken. Ichigo then grabbed his foot and threw him towards the ground but Grimmjow was able to stop the fall and charged Ichigo again. However none of his slashes could connect, with only one arm, Grimmjow was predictable and Ichigo assumed because of the loss of his arm it explained the reason why his number was burnt off.
He blocked Grimmjow's next strike and they engaged in a blade lock as Grimmjow tried to overpower Ichigo but Ichigo just chuckled, wounding Grimmjow's pride.
"What is so funny?" Grimmjow growled at him.
Ichigo stopped chuckling and settled on smirking, "Didn't I tell last time, that getting into a blade lock against me isn't a good idea?"
Grimmjow's eyes widened as he remembered what happened last time but before he could react, Ichigo punched him in the gut with his left hand. Grimmjow grimaced in pain which disconnected the blade lock before Ichigo followed up with a punch to the face, making sure to avoid the hollow mask and sent him flying.
Again the attack wasn't strong enough to send him to the ground but as Grimmjow regained his bearings Ichigo shunpoed a few metres behind him, Tensa in the air above his head and swung downwards bellowed, "GETSUGA TENSHO!"
The energy wave crashed into Grimmjow, it wasn't long until the wave overwhelmed him and exploded sending him crashing into the ground near Yammy. Ichigo descended slowly onto the ground as Yammy begun to get up painfully whilst Grimmjow stood and the right side of his torso was covered in blood.
As Ichigo prepared to finish the two of them off, Inoue suddenly yelled out, "Behind you Kurosaki-kun!"
Ichigo glanced behind him to see the child Arrancar aiming to stab him through the back with his hand and Ichigo didn't have a chance to dodge but was saved as a wave of red Reiatsu came between them.
The sudden Reiatsu forced the small Arrancar back as Ichigo looked to where the blast had come from and was surprised but pleased to see Urahara.
"You should be more careful Kurosaki-san" Urahara told him cheerfully and Ichigo scowled at him, "I've been taking on two Espada while you took your sweet time getting here, so give me a break."
Just as he finished, he battered away the Bala that had just been fired by Yammy who was now on his feet with a shocked looked. Ichigo looked annoyed but before he could attack a voice shouted out, "Some no mai, Tsukishiro"
A large circle of ice formed at Yammy's feet and from his feet up began being covered in ice but thanks to a Bala he blasted it off and sonidoed away. However when he reappeared again another voice yelled out, "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"
A large ice dragon appeared on his left and he attempted to block it with his left fist but upon contact, his arm was covered in thick Ice and before he could attempt to break it, he was attacked again.
"Growl, Haineko!"
A cloud of ash surrounded his right arm and seconds later, deep cuts were formed by the ash which caused him to drop his sword and Yammy fell to his knees in pain as Hitsugaya yelled, "Finish it Abarai!"
"Bankai! Hihiō Zabimaru!" Renji called out as he descended from the sky, a fur cowl around his neck. The cowl was the fur of an ape and thus, the ape's skull could be seen over Renji's left shoulder while the rest of the fur extended to cover his right arm. His Bankai was in the form of a large skeleton of a snake and he launched it forwards as red Reiatsu began forming in its mouth as it closed in on Yammy.
"Hikotsu Taihō!"
The large dense blast of concentrated spiritual energy from Zabimaru's mouth charged towards Yammy who could only look in horror as he realised he was about to die by a bunch of pathetic Shinigami and he couldn't do anything about it.
However the blast was suddenly blocked by a large yellow light causing most of the Shinigami to scowl as they realised Yammy was surrounded by Negación along with Grimmjow and the child Arrancar.
Earlier – Ishida and Chad's fight
"Are you an Espada?" Chad asked him as his right arm formed into its Brazo Derecha de Gigante form and the Arrancar answered, "Yup, I am Espada #6: Antenor Luppi."
"The 6th? Wasn't Grimmjow the 6th Espada?" Ishida asked as Kurosaki had informed the group about the Espada he had fought against.
Luppi smirked, "He was until his arm was destroyed, and after that he was no longer fit to be in the Espada so I replaced him. So I take it that it's going to be 2 on 1 then?"
"Yeah" Ishida said as he summoned his Ginrei Kojaku and prepared to fire.
Luppi looked over at the fight between Ichigo, Yammy and Grimmjow and sighed, "Fighting two humans is boring, so I will end this quickly as that Shinigami looks interesting."
Chad's eyes narrowed at being dismissed so easily along with Ishida, he would show him that it was the Quincy that he should be more interested than the Shinigami.
Luppi smiled evilly at them as he pulled his Zanpakutō which was in the form of a short sword and said, "Strangle Trepadora"
His body exploded in pink Reiatsu and once finished, his body was covered in mist as Ishida and Chad waited for it to clear when a large white tentacle shot out towards them. Ishida dodged it with Hirenkyaku but Chad braced himself and blocked the tentacle with his right arm and skidded back a few metres but held strong.
"Sorry bit did I say that it would be 2 on 1? What I meant to is that it would be 2 on 8!"
The smoke cleared and revealed Luppi with a bone cowl on his head along with an octagonal design fixated on his back where his eight tentacles were connected. Chad's eyes widened as the other 7 tentacles shot towards him and he had no way to dodge as Luppi laughed, "This is the end for yo-"
He was cut off however by as an arrow pierced his chest from behind and his tentacles froze in mid air as he turned his head and saw Ishida standing behind him with a pitying look on his face.
"I expected more from the 6th Espada, you knew from the start that you were fighting two opponents. You had 8 tentacles to attack with and I am sure they could take different forms and instead of spreading your attacks and attacking each of us with 4 each, you use all 8 to attack one of us. Leaving yourself wide opened making it an easy picking for me and here I was thinking that I would get the chance to test out my new bow. Pitiful."
Luppi growled, "I am not done yet"
He forced his tentacles to charge towards Ishida but suddenly Chad appeared in front of Ishida who notice a light at his feet and resolved to ask him about that later. Chad's arm was glowing blue and he unleashed a large blast of Reiatsu at the tentacles and succeeded in stopping them. Luppi growled in annoyance but suddenly Ishida appeared in front of him and before he knew it, an arrow pierced his forehead killing him instantly.
He watched Luppi's body vanish, meaning he had been purified and Ishida muttered, "Thank Urahara-san for the glove otherwise you wouldn't exist anymore."
Ishida nodded at Chad who responded with a thumbs up as a voice rang out, "Dam it looks like we missed a chance for a fight."
They both turned to see a disappointed Ikkaku and an exasperated Yumichika.
It was then they noticed Negación descend from the sky covering the remaining Arrancar.
Ichigo watched them go, Yammy wasn't a threat and as long as Grimmjow only had one arm he could be dealt with his eyes widened however when he felt a presence appear behind him. He spun around seeing Ulquiorra standing next to a Garganta with his hands in his pockets looking at Ichigo with slight interest.
This would be a good test to see how strong his Bankai truly was and asked Ulquiorra, "Yo, ready for a rematch?"
"No" Ulquiorra told him emotionlessly, "You should be more concerned about what is going to happen to your family."
Ichigo's eyes widened, "What are you talking about?"
"Do I have to simplify it any further? I said that you should be worried about what is about to happen to your family."
Ichigo didn't stick around to ask any more questions and shot towards his house as fast as his Bankai would allow and after a few minutes of nonstop Shunpo, he arrived. He was glad to see that there was nothing wrong and wondered if Ulquiorra lied when he heard a voice behind him that made him stiffen,
"Hello again, Ryoka boy."
Ichigo spun around to see Aizen standing above him wearing a black cloak.
Like it Review it. Don't like it then don't read it.
I will show the 'date' that Ichigo and Rukia had in a later chapter.
Of course, the Fade to Black movie happened exactly the same way except Ichigo NEVER went Bankai.
Also, on March 27 is the last airing episode on TV Tokyo's 6:00 p.m. Tuesday timeslot. Which means the anime is ending or going on a break or its moving to a different timeslot or channel. My guess is the new timeslot or new channel as the episode on March 27 is Changing History, Unchanging Heart. If I am right that is near the end of the Ichigo vs. Ginjo fight but they still have some other stuff to wrap up.
Just looking at my story stats; 55 reviews. 18,150 hits. 143 Favourites. 123 Alerts. Impressive.
Now I have a question that I want answered, as I have said after the Fake Karakura arc it is going to be AU. So what do most want to see? I have a possible two paths that I want to go down, both would work well with the story but I would like to see what most want.
Ichigo's relationship with Soul Society as full trusting allies like in canon.
Or
A distrusting relationship and only teaming up when they absolutely need to. (Rukia and Renji not included as they are Ichigo's nakama.)
Poll up on profile
I
T
I
S
T
I
M
E
F
O
R
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
So it looks like the Quincies have declared war. I can't wait for more of this arc, they say the end is near; I can't wait to see Seireitei fall.