Here we go again. Let's see how long I can stay on the horse this time around, shall we?
School is officially out. You're reading fanfic from a college grad. Not sure what that says about me.
Forever salty, am I right?
Updated 6/15/17
Karin had never been any good with the spiritual side of seeing spirits. All she knew was that she could see them and that they could see her in turn. It wasn't supposed to be any more complicated than that. Reiatsu? Asauchi? She hardly understood the words, but they were terms that Urahara seemed to throw around like their meanings were common knowledge.
"So, how is this even supposed to work?" Karin asked Urahara, trying to mask her frustration.
"No ideas of your own? Well, why don't you start by trying to focus?" Urahara smirked.
Karin seethed, swinging the blade at Urahara again only for him to parry her blow. The red of her ire tightened into a raging crimson that swathed over her face, and another slash flew by Urahara's head. He'd dodged, of course, but every attack that failed to make contact only fueled her inner fire.
"You see, that's the opposite of focusing," Urahara quipped.
"Shut up!"
Urahara's blade came up to intercept Karin's next attack, and metal ground against metal in a battle between Karin's resolve and the shopkeeper's vast experience.
"You're a feisty one. I'll give you that."
Urahara was quick to flick Karin's blade to the side. He'd either been hiding his strength until now, Karin thought, or her efforts were finally starting to take a toll on her.
"But your emotions are clouding your mind, and that's not a good thing. When I did this with your brother…"
Urahara threw an attack for the first time since they'd started this scuffle of theirs, and Karin barely jumped back in time. The sound of air separating around the blade of his cane sword and the feeling of wind against her face stilled her thought process. She didn't have to look up to see the change in his eyes to know this wasn't just her taking out her frustrations on a moving target anymore. Urahara had turned it into a survival match.
"He had the luxury of a vacation from school and a slew of natural talent that you don't seem to be willing to tap into. You'll have to forgive me to skipping right to the third stage of your training. You see…"
Urahara was in front of her again, his sword cocked back for a dangerous upward slash. She barely managed to solidify her grip around the hilt of her sword before the attack sailed through the air, crashing into her weak defense and actually lifting her off her feet to send her flying some ten feet up and twice that back where she collapsed to the ground.
"I'm trying to get you to fight back by backing you into a corner."
Even after getting to her feet, Karin was struggling to keep up. Urahara's strikes came so quickly and with so much force behind them that her attempts at blocking and dodging hardly bore any fruit.
'How is he this fast?'
Cuts on her face and through her training clothes were splattered with thin lines of blood. Things were serious. Her veins burned with adrenaline. She couldn't think. She could hardly breathe. All that existed in this moment was the flow from one sword strike to the next.
'Did Ichigo really stand up to this with just a sword and his raw power?' she thought, allowing herself a moment to admire him.
And that was her first mistake.
Urahara's leg came out of nowhere. Following a particularly strong attack that she'd barely blocked, his foot snaked its way between her poorly constructed stance and sent her reeling with a harsh tug at her ankle. The distance that created between the two of them was of little effect; he was in front of her in an instant, the palm of his free hand impacting her face and putting her on the ground.
'I thought I'd gotten stronger, but he's at an entirely different level.'
His sword was poised to stab downwards into her skull, and all her anger from before washed out of her body to make room for bone-chilling panic. She wasn't going to be able to escape. Was this supposed to be the end? What would even happen if she died as a soul? Reincarnation? Soul Society? Something else?
And then, salvation.
A bolt of blue energy shot across the room and crashed against Urahara's sword. The force knocked it from his hand, through the air, and deep into a nearby rock where it hummed as the leftover force worked its way out of the blade.
Karin's eyes tore to her savior only to find that there were three of them.
"Ichigo's friends? What are they doing here?"
"Sado," Ishida barked.
Without so much as a reply, the giant's right arm flashed with a brilliant light that, when dimmed, revealed a monstrous red and black form with fins jutting out of both sides. It had changed since Karin saw it the first time. It was almost more shield-like in appearance now. It suited him given that he was a solid wall of gravitas, Karin thought.
But if the arm was a shield, it was damn potent when it came to shelling out attacks. Chad's legs coiled into the ground and sprung out, and with a blinding charge and punch he sent Urahara jumping back to avoid and enormous burst of energy that shattered the ground where the shopkeeper had once stood.
That sort of power…It just wasn't natural.
"Karin-chan! Are you okay?"
Taking her eyes off of the action, Karin turned to see Inoue kneeling over her. A dull orange hemisphere formed around her, and Karin blinked in surprise as her wounds started knitting themselves back together like they'd never been there in the first place. Even her clothing seemed to be knitting itself back together. Orihime was at her side with arms extended out in front of her. She was the one doing the healing, then?
"W-what's going on? Why are you guys here?" Karin muttered.
Ishida broke in, answering for Orihime. It was probably for the best. Her brows were knit together in some mixture of focus and frustration.
"Urahara called us here, but we had no idea he had cut your Chain of Fate," he began. "Moreover, where he got that Zanpakuto to give you is another mystery."
Ishida adjusted his glasses, his gaze on her becoming more poignant as he did so.
"Tell me, Kurosaki. Why are you trying to become a Shinigami?"
"Damn," Karin thought, "Ichigo wasn't lying when he said this guy was quick on the uptake."
Though she was basically prone to the ground, Karin still somehow managed to shift away from her interrogator and scowl. She spit out an answer while refusing to meet Ishida's eyes.
"So what if I am? You think you can stop me?"
"No, nothing like that," Ishida sighed while adjusting his classes, "I was just wondering how Urahara roped you into something like this."
Inoue's aura dissipated, and Karin sat up and stood to her feet. It didn't make much of a difference; Ishida was still at least two heads taller than her, and Orihime a little less.
"He said it's the only way for Ichigo to get his power back," Karin replied. "He conveniently forgot to tell me about the part where I turn into a Hollow if I take too long. I've apparently only got about three weeks to get this Shinigami stuff down."
"Three weeks!?" The panic was apparent on his face. Apparently things were even worse than Karin had already led herself to believe. "That won't be nearly enough."
Ishida was cut short by Chad's hulking form came sliding across the ground, his feet digging deep into it and leaving ruts along his path. His arms were crossed in front of his face as if he'd tried to block some sort of attack – heavily seared and still smoking from the energy.
"You've been getting better, Yasutora-san," Urahara said offhandedly, his recovered sword in his right hand and letting off similar smoke to Chad's arms. "Could it be you've figured a few new things out about those arms of yours? Care to share with the rest of the class?"
Chad remained silent, his eyes still locked onto Urahara's chest as if trying to predict the shopkeeper's next movement.
"His sword changed shape," Karin murmured, taking note of the new, curved guard, the red cord at the pommel. The blade was still only one-sided, but it was straight – almost like the shape of a box cutter. When had that happened, she had to wonder.
"That's its true form," Ishida replied, his gaze not breaking from Urahara's approach. "If your training looks at all like your brother's, I'd imagine he's planned on teaching you that next. It might even be what he's trying to get you to do now. No, it's…It's not a typical way for that to happen, but I'm sure that's what he's counting on."
'Not typical? The hell's that supposed to mean?' Karin thought.
"Yes, yes. You've seen right through my plan as always," Urahara replied, absently clapping with his sword still in hand and a smug grin on his face. "So, are you interested in hearing the role you all are supposed to play?"
Ishida scoffed. "I can only imagine you want me to teach her how to actually push her reiatsu into that sword you gave her."
"Bingo!" Urahara replied.
"Which means you want Inoue-san to keep her stamina up while she's fighting, and you want Sado to…"
"To fight her, naturally," Urahara responded, a patronizing grin on his face as if he were congratulating a child for answering a question on a test correctly.
"I refuse."
Orihime, Ishida, Urahara, and Karin's heads all snapped around to acknowledge Chad. The boy had taken on solid footing and was standing tall. He looked Urahara dead in the eye, becoming an unmovable object in both appearance and in tone of voice with his next words.
"I made a promise to my Abuelo and to Ichigo. I will not use my fists to harm others. The one exception to that rule is when Ichigo needs me to fight."
Karin's brow quirked. She had no idea what that was about, and honestly she didn't have time to ask about it. Still, she could use this to her advantage if she played her cards right. If Chad would only fight for Ichigo's sake, then maybe he'd fight for the sake of Ichigo regaining his powers.
"Right now, Ichi-nii does need you to fight," she said. Chad turned his gaze from Urahara to Karin, his brow lifting slightly as if asking her to go on. Karin, though a little intimidated by their sheer size difference, swallowed and continued.
"You must have seen him. You're his friend. He's miserable!" she practically shouted, bending over and throwing her arms to her side. Her face contorted in frustration as she made her case. "If I can give him whatever power I'm able to gain, he might go back to his old self. So please, fight me!"
Chad paused, a quiet moment passing as he considered Karin's offer. Could he really fight this little girl with hardly any reiatsu to brag about simply because she wanted to help Ichigo? Would Ichigo be able to forgive him if he found out that the fists Chad had promised to use only to help him had been used on his little sister? Even if Karin was trying to help Ichigo, would Chad be able to bring himself to help Karin?
"Does Ichigo know that you're here?"
Chad's question was simple, but it pierced right to the heart of the issue. Karin grimaced, breaking eye contact and betraying the secret she'd been keeping. Chad seemed to easily pick up on that, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"He can't know," Karin mumbled. "Ichi-nii wouldn't let me do this. He thinks it's too dangerous."
The giant released his arm's transformation and placed his left hand on the girl's shoulder. He met her eyes, making sure she would understand his seriousness.
"If Ichigo doesn't know you're here, then I can't help you."
The sound of Chad's footsteps as he made his way to the exit filled the air, and the further he got the quieter the room became. Karin, for her part, didn't even try to mask the frustration from her face. She was biting her lower lip so hard that she was afraid she'd draw blood.
"Karin-chan," Orihime started.
"What? Are you two gonna take off, too?" Karin asked. "Bet you think I have a lot of nerve trying to help Ichigo out. Bet you think I'm trying to do the impossible. You all must have tried everything already, right? Must have just exhausted the list of possibilities."
Her voice was gaining volume, and as hard as Karin tried she couldn't contain the anger. Still, Orihime looked unphased by all of it. The defensive stoicism from the orange haired girl didn't strike the right chord, and even though Karin knew she'd be hitting below the belt if she went any further she didn't care. Sometimes lines had to be crossed to prove points and get things done.
"I bet you never thought for one second that maybe Ichi-nii was better off without powers! That he couldn't go out and get hurt anymore this way and you wouldn't have to worry about him! No, if you thought that then it might become obvious that you don't give two shits about him; that the only thing you really care about in all of this is yourself!"
Honestly, she'd expected to be slapped for saying that. She'd known about Orihime's crush on her brother ever since the end of the Winter War – it was hard not to see in the way she doted on him and seemed to break down every time something bad happened. She was a girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, and that made her emotions an easy target for attack.
Instead, Orihime had rushed in and wrapped her arms around the girl to pull her into a tight embrace.
That shut Karin up immediately.
"I understand," Orihime whispered. "You're frustrated. You know Kurosaki-kun isn't happy, so you're doing everything you can to help. And you're right, I've been ignoring his feelings about all this."
Orihime's hug ended, and she took Karin by the shoulders and held her at arm's length.
"But I've stood by Kurosaki-kun's side every step of the way up until now. Every step that he'd let me, at least. I tried to be as close to him as I could get. I tried to be the person that he could fight for and the person who could mend his wounds. I…I relied on him too heavily, and because of that I saw him turn into something. Something that he wasn't."
Karin could tell by the doe-eyed look that Orihime was sending her way that the girl was saying these things genuinely, but there was still something about it that rubbed her the wrong way. Ichigo wanted power. Karin would say that it was one of the things he needed to be happy.
But there were also plenty of times Karin could remember that having power wasn't enough to make Ichigo happy. She'd seen him get depressed before he supposedly gave up his powers, but it was also never this bad before.
So what was it? Was Ichigo happy with his powers or wasn't he? Orihime certainly seemed to think otherwise, but if Ichigo's behavior was anything to go off of then he didn't agree with that sentiment one bit.
And in the end, that's what this was all about, right? Ichigo being happy? Karin didn't care if Orihime disagreed with her methods. This was what she thought – what she knew – was going to work best.
Karin's hands came up in between Orihime's arms, pushing them off of her. Being angry at someone who came off so caring and mild-mannered as Orihime was difficult, but Ichigo's signature scowl didn't prove to be too far from possible for Karin when she spoke next.
"Who the hell are you to decide who Ichi-nii is and who he isn't?"
"Karin-cha…"
"Cram it!" Karin spat back before Orihime could even defend herself. "If you don't want him to get his power back, that's your own problem. As far as I'm concerned, you can either pitch in or buzz off."
Orihime recoiled at Karin's venom. She knew that Ichigo could have quite the mouth on him when he was talking to people he didn't care for, but she'd never had the same rhetoric turned on her. She wasn't sure how to respond or even if she could without losing ground in the argument.
"If that's your choice," she breathed. "I won't try to stop you. But the next time Kurosaki-kun turns into a monster because of this power you're trying to give him, will you be there for him? Can you say that you won't be afraid of him when the ugly side of him shows up? It's harder than you might think."
With that, and in complying with Karin's wishes, Orihime turned and followed the trail that Chad had blazed.
Karin's glare rounded back to Urahara without any attempt to mask her ire. The shopkeeper still had that coy little smirk on his face. It was like watching the situation he'd arrange explode was a game to him.
"Looks like your grand plans have gone up in smoke," she sighed. Whatever Orihime had been talking about before didn't make any sense, so it was best to just push it off as her being selfish and paranoid. Ichigo would never become a monster; it wasn't within his capabilities.
"Now, now. Let's not give up all hope just yet. What do you think of all this, Ishida-san?"
When Karin looked over to Uryuu, his gaze was still fixed on Orihime's departing form. There was a pensive look on his face. Whatever was on his mind was obviously bothering him. His gaze shifted from the girl to his right arm, boring holes into the limb.
"Fine," Uryuu eventually responded while clasping his fist. "Kurosaki wants…No, he needs his power back, and we might need him to have it back too."
He met Karin's eyes, looking at her with something akin to determination – or maybe that was resignation. Still, realizing that she'd at least have one more mentor to help her get a hold of becoming a Shinigami was a relief that had her exhaling a breath she'd forgotten she'd been holding.
"For now, let's stop focusing on the combat side of your training and start looking at how you're channeling your reiatsu into the sword. If you can't do that much, there's no way you're going to be able to awaken your Zanpakuto in time to avoid Hollowfication."
His last words were said with a pointed glance at Urahara, and Karin wondered if it was just that Urahara had put her in a dangerous situation or if there was something both these men were neglecting to tell her.
"Let's not be too harsh, Ishida-kun," Urahara sighed. "When Kurosaki-san was taking this step, I put him at the bottom of a pit filled with gas that accelerated the process. Where the younger sister here has three weeks, her brother had three days."
"Yes. He did," Uryuu shot back. "And look at how well that turned out."
It was a contest that pitted Uryuu's condemning stare against Urahara's cool, lackadaisical nonchalance. The air hung silent with some unsaid pressure, and the rapid spike in tension left Karin feeling awkward and hasty to move on.
"Enough about Ichi-nii. This is about my training right now," she interrupted. "Unless the two of you are fine with just letting me turn into a Hollow."
"I believe that's your que, Ishida-san," Urahara smirked.
"Right," the Quincy responded. "Though I think I'll be taking a slightly less violent approach."
"What are you doing running away like a little pussy? You're a man, ain't ya!? Stand and fight!"
The words may have stirred Ichigo to action if they'd been coming from anyone but a gigantic version of Riruka and he'd been anywhere but cramped inside a pink and plushy pastelscape at a fraction of his original height.
"I'd be happy to," he hollered up to the opening in the ceiling. "Just one question. How!?"
It was the same question he'd been asking for the past thirty minutes now, and it had only become more frequent after the stuffed animal that Riruka had affectionately named "Mr. Pork" had gone from twice Ichigo's size to nearly three times it and started rampaging around.
Apparently Giriko was to blame for that transformation, but the more important information Ichigo had gleaned from eavesdropping on that conversation was that he wouldn't be allowed out until he manifested a Fullbring.
Riruka had called it an ability of love. If this was how she expressed that sentiment, Ichigo figured he'd do well to keep that girl as far away from him as possible after this. That was a case of sadism he didn't need in his life.
"Are you still on about that? Geez, talk about a buzzkill," Riruka groaned. "I already told you. We've been using Fullbring since we were in diapers. It's more natural than breathing for us. We don't have the tips and tricks you late bloomers keep whining about."
Another plush limb swung down, and Ichigo jumped back to avoid taking the blow. Even if this thing was stuffed, it seemed to be doing plenty of damage to the environment around it. The prospect of getting hit by a blow like that with no protection was daunting at best. Without powers, Ichigo didn't know how durable he was.
Outside the Dollhouse, the five members of Xcution had gathered around to observe Ichigo's performance. Giriko's Fullbring may have prevented Ichigo and Mr. Pork from being removed until Ichigo's Fullbring manifested, but it didn't stop any of them from stepping in to aid their student should he need it.
"You know," Jackie commented, "when you said you'd roped the Kurosaki Ichigo, I figured he'd have gotten the handle of his Fullbring by the time I showed up."
"Might just be that the difficulty curve is too high for him," Yukio commented absently, his fingers tapping away at his handheld. "Not like he can just get thrown into a toy chest and told to figure out powers that run contrast to what he's used."
"Have a little faith in the kid," Ginjo cut in. "We're asking him to figure out something in hours that we slowly learned to do over years. If we get anywhere at all today, it'll be a miracle."
The sound of a key cramming its way into a lock echoed in the room, and then Chad's massive form burst through the door. His face didn't say much about his intentions, but his body language was rushed. He was gasping for breath, and his eyes were darting around the room.
"Yo, Chad," Ginjo greeted, "looking for someone?"
"Ichigo," Chad breathed, righting his posture. "There's something I need to tell him. You sent a message earlier today saying he was with you."
"Right in there," Ginjo replied, jutting a thumb towards the Dollhouse in the center of the room. "He's a little preoccupied at the moment. Mind waiting here while he finished up?"
No time," Chad turned to Riruka. "Put me in."
"No way. I don't like you that much," the girl deadpanned, waving a hand in front of her face.
"I'm not asking," Chad threatened. Brazo Derecha de Gigante sprung to life around his arm after that, black and red armor crawling up from his fingers and springing into the shape of a shield.
The air grew thick as the others took turns looking back and forth between Chad and Riruka. Its presence obviously weighed on the girl, and before long she cracked.
"Ugh. Fine! But if you get your grubby hands on anything in there, I'll kill you!"
Riruka held up one hand and braced her wrist with the other. Her thumb pressed against her middle finger, and at the tip of her nail a heart came into being. When the pressure released, she smirked at her indirect way of flipping the man off while also hitting him with a pass.
Chad nodded as Riruka's Fullbring took effect and pulled him into the wood-and-cardboard structure.
"Looks like you have some stiff competition, Riruka," Yukio commented. "Not every girl can match up to a bromance like that. If you want, I can lend you a dating sim that'll teach you how to…"
"If you don't learn to watch your mouth, you're gonna be the next doll he fights!" the girl fumed.
Things were looking bad. Ichigo was panting hard and still had no idea how to get this damned Fullbring thing to work. He had no context to go off of here. He couldn't feel any reiatsu from the badge, and it wasn't like it was going to feed off of his like Zangetsu had. It was just a badge.
"Ichigo!"
From seemingly nowhere, Chad came in and slammed his right fist into the side of the rampaging stuffed pig's head, sending it flying into the wall across the room and putting it down for the count. It was a more impressive show of power than Ichigo had been putting on, and the orange haired boy was thankful for that if not a little jealous.
"Chad!" Ichigo called back, a smile playing on his face at the appearance of someone familiar in all this chaos. "How'd you find out about this place?"
Chad righted himself, releasing his right arm's transformation as he faced Ichigo.
"Well, to be honest," Chad started, "I was the one who told Ginjo and the others about you."
"You what?" Ichigo asked through brows knit in confusion. "No, wait, I've got a better question. If you told them about me, where did they find out about you? How do you know these guys? Are you the one who gave Ginjo all that info on my old man?"
Chad, ever direct, shook his head. "No. If they looked into you, it's just because they're paranoid. The rest will have to wait. Your little sister's in trouble, Ichigo."
Ichigo tensed, his gaze warping from confusion to grave seriousness. "What do you mean?"
"She's at Urahara's. He gave her a Zanpakuto and cut her…"
Chad hadn't even finished his sentence, but white hot panic had already hit Ichigo like a tsunami. He'd been afraid of this. He tried to steer her against it, but she still wound up just where he didn't want her to be. He should have just told her he was coming here, he thought.
"Damn it, Karin!" Ichigo interrupted. "We've gotta go. Riruka!"
"Cram it! I already told you the rules," a none-too-pleased voice boomed into the Dollhouse from the roof. "I even got one of your friends to play teacher for you. Get your pretty little face out of mine until you've got a damn Fullbring!"
"Bitch," Ichigo murmured before rounding back to Chad. "You've gotta help me out of here, Chad."
"You need to calm down."
"Calm down!? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when Urahara's killing my sister!?"
"She's already dead, Ichigo!"
The conversation dropped. Ichigo's wide-eyed stare bored into Chad, struggling to comprehend what he was hearing. His eyes crept down to the badge held in a white-knuckled grip, and he had to ask himself what the point was anymore.
Without thinking, Ichigo hucked the badge against the ground with a grunt and a clatter.
Suddenly, Chad was in front of Ichigo with a hand clasped at his collar. A rough yank upwards had Ichigo a good six or seven inches off the ground and at eye level with his dark-skinned friend. Ichigo's hands balled into fists and came down on the man's inner elbow, but the strike lacked sufficient force to buckle Chad's grip.
"Look at yourself, Ichigo! Ever since you lost your powers you've been a shell of your former self. What do you think you're going to accomplish the way you are now? You've got no powers. You probably couldn't even see her, let alone get her to leave. She's there of her own free will."
"That doesn't matter! If I go there, I can…"
"You can what? Stuff her back in her body and keep her locked up in your house until she turns into a Hollow? Have us go find Kurumadani and have him send her to Soul Society?"
"I already know that I can't stop her! That's not what I'm trying to do now! If she doesn't get the hang of this soon, she'll end up with a Hollow inside of her soul just like I did!"
Chad sighed. He should have figured Ichigo was more put together than his initial reaction to the situation let on. It was just that his tendency to dote on his siblings had wound him into a panic that left him unable to explain himself properly.
"All right. Lead with that next time," Chad sighed, setting Ichigo down. "Listen. I don't know how long your sister has until anything happens to her that Urahara can't handle. Ishida and Orihime should still be there to help."
"Did he have her at the bottom of some pit?" Ichigo asked. "That's where he kept me, and it apparently sped up the process."
When Chad responded with a shake of his head, Ichigo let out a breath of relief. "Good. She's got a few weeks, then. What we need to focus on right now then is getting me the hell out of this box," Ichigo concluded. Chad met the statement with a nod.
"You asked me earlier how I knew about this place," he said. "The truth is that a lot of the times I've been out of school in the past have been because I was training here to master my Fullbring."
"Your arms?" Ichigo guessed.
"No," Chad shook his head. "My skin. I still haven't gotten as far as I'd like to, but I think I'm closer to understanding how these powers of mine work."
"Any tips you have are more than welcome," Ichigo quipped. "The guys out there aren't exactly being helpful. Didn't even tell me how I was supposed to use this."
Ichigo bent down to the ground and retrieved the substitute badge, spurring another nod in response from his comrade. If there was anything Ichigo was going to use for a Fullbring he could fight with, it would be that badge.
"There is one thing they might not have told you," Chad said while bringing his arm up in front of his face. "With Shinigami powers, the power comes from inside of you and flows into your weapon. Fullbring is different. It's about using your tool to remember the times that you have pride in. If you're looking to use that badge, then you should start by remembering times you were proud to be a Shinigami."
A sigh escaped Ichigo's lips. His fingers curled tighter around the smooth, wooden ridges of the badge. His eyes shut gently and flashes of the past played behind closed lids.
"A time when I felt pride as a Shinigami, huh?"
Grand Fisher was the first thing to come to mind. He'd asked Rukia to let him keep performing the duties of a Shinigami then. It was the first time he felt like he'd really found his calling.
Waking up Zangetsu and firing off his first Getsuga Tensho at Urahara. Something powerful and correct welled in his chest at that one.
Uniting with Zangetsu in the fight with Kenpachi. Saving Chad and Inoue from Ulquiorra and Yammy. The time he and Ishida had fought off that Menos before he'd even known what a Shikai was. When he finally beat that asshole Grimmjow down.
Losing control and slaughtering Ulquiorra without even the presence of mind to stop himself from hurting his friends.
"No," Ichigo shook his head, putting the heel of his free palm to his forehead in concentration. "If it's about times I was proud of my powers, then…"
That night he took Rukia's sword through his chest to protect Yuzu and Karin for the first time. Watching the shock on Byakuya's smug face when he held Tensa Zangetsu to his throat. Shoving his hand in Aizen's pompous face.
The smile on Rukia's face after he said goodbye to her with the promise to meet again. The look of sorrow on her face when she knew she was fading away from his vision for what they'd thought would be the rest of his life.
"I can't even begin to count them all!"
The badge pulsed in his hands, and from the depths of it a familiar black reiatsu surged forth and took form. Four prongs forward and turned at ninety degree angles, taking on the shape of a manji that reminded Ichigo almost too vividly of Tensa Zangetsu's guard.
Ichigo couldn't keep the smile from his face. For the first time in a long time, he finally felt like he'd taken a step forward.
Chad," he grinned. "Let's get the hell out of here.
I'm a little curious to see how many of my readers are still around. It's hard to believe that the one year anniversary of that terrible ending is coming up.
I guess I'll just have to keep trying to fix it a little at a time.
Reviews are always appreciated, though constructive or well-thought-out comments are always preferred.
