hi!

okay, so everybody, in the coming chapters, not just this one, be prepared to see some kido. my sources are prepped with incantations and numbers.

enjoy!

Chapter 7: Wakizashi

"Ichigo, that's not possible. Are you sure you're remembering clearly?" Rukia finally asked. Ichigo gave Rukia a look of such fury that she felt like she was being burned alive from the inside out.

"Are you suggesting that I wouldn't remember her clearly?" He snarled.

"I do not appreciate the way you are talking to my sister, boy." Byakuya snapped at Ichigo. He shot Byakuya a withering look, and if Byakuya had any less self control, he would have shivered at the coldness in his stare.

"Kurosaki, you do have to admit that it's highly unlikely that a Shiba would be living as a human-," Kyoraku started to say, but Ichigo cut him off suddenly.

"Why was the Shiba clan stripped of its noble rank?" The room paused.

"You know, I don't actually know. Just that it was a heinous, disgusting crime, but not one worthy of an execution."

"Isn't it possible that one of their Shinigami fell for a human, like my dad did?" The room paused once again.

"I guess it's possible..." Ishida ended up trailing off at the vicious look he earned from Ichigo. Ichigo knew that was why they had been stripped of noble rank. A lot of Shinigami thought humans disgusting and inferior. Ichigo knew that the previous Central 46 had, and they would have been the ones in session when the Shibas were cast out.

"Come on!" Ichigo scoffed. "What other reason would the Shibas have been stripped of their rank? I guess it would have been different for my dad, because he may have already lost his powers when he met my mother, so he had a reason to change his name. But if the Shibas didn't have her change her last name, it was acting like they were proud of it. And I'm not sure, but to me, that seems like spitting in the face of Central 46 and all that stuffy noble crap." The room stayed silent, except for Urahara, who was hiding his smile behind his trademark fan.

"Very good, Ichigo-kun. What you say is true. Your friend was most definitely one of the Shiba clan. That was why you were able to become a Shinigami, Ichigo-kun. Everybody may think that you're not a full Shinigami, but you have all the abilities of a Shinigami. Your soul was already born half-Shinigami, half-human, but when your friend gave you her soul chain and soul sleep, that added another half of Shinigami to your soul, by force. Two halves make a whole, and all you needed was a, spark, in a manner of speaking, from Rukia to wake up your powers. In fact, when the entire incident occured, of Rukia giving you her powers, she only gave you about 10% of her reiatsu." Rukia's eyes widened.

"And that stripped me of all of it?" She demanded, feeling disgusted with how weak she was. Urahara shrugged.

"The Hogyoku had already sucked most of it away. Bits kept recovering though, hence the reiatsu-draining gigai. The reason that those weren't Ichigo-kun's Shinigami powers is the same for how that reiatsu wasn't his. He simply broadcasted your signal, for lack of a better comparison."

"Wait, then how did Kurosaki regain his powers?" Hinamori asked, looking very confused. Urahara hid behind his fan again.

"That is slightly classified information-,"

"-YOU DROPPED ME DOWN A FREAKIN' HOLE AND LEFT ME THERE!" Urahara kept talking as if Ichigo hadn't spoken, grinning at the orange-haired teen's fury.

"But the point is that Ichigo's soul chain and soul sleep was damaged with a Senka, so the extra Shinigami half disappeared. That's how Ichigo-kun's inner hollow woke up. Trying to turn a half-Shinigami into a full one is no easy task, and one half of his soul went in the right direction, and the other went haywire and transformed into a hollow." Because Ichigo had died. He understood now. The close brush with hollowfication had reactivated his Shinigami side, but because Sandal-Hat had technically killed him, the other half of his soul couldn't quite convert, so it fell to a hollow instead. Ishida thought about that.

"It makes some sense, but there are a few technical bits that don't quite click. I mean, Kurosaki said that you severed his soul chain. Wouldn't it have stayed like that?" Urahara shook his head, but Ichigo immediately knew that he was lying. Well, not technically.

"No, we had kido set up to repair it and reunite him with his body." Urahara lied smoothly. Only Ichigo knew the truth. He supposed it wouldn't do any good telling the Soul Society that they had inadvertantly killed him. When Sandal-Hat had cut his soul chain, that hadn't been when Ichigo had first died. When Rukia gave him her powers, he died. He thought the Soul Society were fools for not realizing it earlier. Honestly, Shinigami powers could only belong to the dead. He didn't have a soul chain in Shinigami form. The night Rukia had given her powers to him, to help him protect his family, he had died. It was sort of ironic. He had been scolded for trying to sacrifice himself for his family, but he had died for his family anyways. "So anyways, it looks like we have a Shiba to find, don't we?"

"We should check the Soul Society. Chances are she's already been purified and sent there. I can't imagine an eleven year old becoming a particularly powerful hollow. Do they keep records on the souls that come in?" Ichigo said absent mindedly. Everyone looked at him like he was a talking rock. He had been looking slightly up at the ceiling, and tilted his head down again, frowning. "What?"

"You've been...unusually observant and intelligent since you regained your memories."

"I'm going to give you the benefit of doubt with that one Ishida, since I don't feel like kicking your ass right now." Ishida snorted and pushed up his glasses.

"Honestly, Kurosaki, you do seem a little bit different than you were before. I already know your fighting style is highly logical, but it seems like your whole demeanor has become much more analytical." Toshiro pointed out. Ichigo shrugged.

"Memories make you who you are, right? So if Urahara and Dad sealed away too many, it would have had an impact on my entire personality. I should remain mostly the same, but don't be surprised if I display some...different characteristics." Urahara grinned.

"Like actually being good at kido?" Ichigo grinned back, a devilish, mischevious smirk that Rukia had never seen before.

"Try me."

"I find it hard to believe that Kurosaki could be any better at kido." Byakuya stated dryly. Urahara shook his head.

"When Ichigo-kun was younger, we forced him to learn reiatsu control since his got a little crazy sometimes. The effect was that he was good enough to shoot off silent kido." Renji burst out laughing.

"You have got to be kidding me! Ichigo? Good at kido?" Ichigo scowled.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you Renji. I seem to remember several pathetic attempts on your part. Especially for a Shakkahou." Renji's face turned as red as his hair.

"Why you little-," Suddenly, his arms snapped behind his back, and he fell forward into a restrained position, due to the effects of bakudo #1: Sai. Renji tried to shrug it off, but found that Ichigo's bakudo was incredibly powerful, and simply raising his reiatsu levels wasn't going to cut it. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS? YOU DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING!" Ichigo grinned.

"A while back, Tessai showed me how the lift the breaking point per kido, so even the lower level ones can be very powerful." A mischevious glint started in Ichigo's eyes. He rolled them at Renji. "Come on, Lieutenant Abarai. Can't break your way out of a simple bakudo? Even I was able to do that, before I was a Shinigami. Right, Rukia?" Rukia grinned at what was going on, and nodded.

"Renji, I thought you could at least break kido." Renji snarled. In half a moment, the entire room was teasing Renji at his inability to break through the incredibly powerful kido. Even Byakuya joined in, in his own stoic manner, informing Renji;

"Abarai-fukutaicho, I'm disappointed in you. I expected more." Renji's face puffed up even redder, and finally, the kido shattered, and he collapsed forward.

"THAT WAS FREAKING POWERFUL!" He shouted. Ichigo snorted.

"I'm pretty sure I warned you. I'm probably not at Rukia-level, but I'm fairly good at it. Along with reiatsu control. Haven't you noticed yet?" Ishida, who had superior reiatsu sensing skills, had noticed immediately. Byakuya pretended like he'd noticed, and the only other person to have actually noticed was Urahara.

"You are turning out to be quite interesting, Kurosaki." Kyoraku observed. "And yes, to your much earlier question of the Soul Society keeping records. When I go back, I'll send for them. I'll check as many categories as possible and see if I can find anything. However," Kyoraku said. "It might do you all well to go and see the Shibas in this matter. I'll also look into the official reason for getting stripped of noble rank." They all knew what he meant; Central 46 would never admit the real reason the Shibas had been stripped of their rank. Kyoraku stood up abruptly.

"I should be on my way. I have a Senkaimon to open." They all nodded respectfully at the captain. At the door, he stopped and said directly to Ichigo, "I'd work on that kido, kid. With your amount of power and skill now, you're downright terrifying. If you can master kido, you'll be hell's nightmare." With that, the man Shunpoed away, leaving them sitting awkwardly in silence.

"So." Urahara said, in a quiet voice. "Who wants some tea?"

XXXXXX

Turns out, no one wanted tea, though Abarai expressed a desire to spar with Kurosaki. Urahara reminded them that his training ground was open, and everyone except for Kuchiki-taicho headed down to see them, curious to what Kurosaki could do now, with his memories back. Kuchiki-taicho claimed he had important things to do and Shunpoed away before anyone could ask what exactly he had to do.

"Shiro-chan?" Hinamori whispered to Toshiro, gripping his fingers tightly, as they stood at a reasonable distance away from Abarai and Kurosaki. Abarai was whipping his sword around experimentally, while Kurosaki was getting out of his body and sliding it off safely to the side.

"Yes, Momo?" The white-haired captain asked, not even bothering to correct her. She sounded scared.

"If Kurosaki-san was able to defeat Aizen without his training memories, what do you think he'll be able to do now?" Toshiro shrugged.

"I guess we'll just have to see; don't be afraid Momo. Kurosaki isn't the type of person to turn on his friends."

"But that reiatsu earlier, the black outs..." Momo murmured. Toshiro shook his head.

"But he didn't attack us. Because we were not attacking him. Everytime he's blacked out, he's been attacked by something nasty, so naturally, instinct dictates that he fights back. As long as you don't attack him, I don't believe Kurosaki would turn on you." Momo clutched his hand tighter.

"I'm still scared, Shiro-chan."

"That's okay, Momo. Any sane person would fear Kurosaki to some extent. He truly is...something else." Suddenly, Toshiro noticed that the giant Zangetsu wasn't on Kurosaki's back. "KUROSAKI!" He called out. Kurosaki turned his head. "Where did your zanpakuto go?" Kurosaki grinned, and tapped a black sheath by his side.

"Sealed! I can do that now!" He called back. Abarai, noticing this new found ability too, threw his own sealed zanpakuto on the ground angrily. "Oh, is somebody having a tantrum?" Kurosaki teased. Abarai immediately picked up his zanpakuto and pointed it at Kurosaki.

"You're dead." Kurosaki grinned maniacally. Urahara Shunpoed onto the field, the same sort of smile on his face.

"To make things more interesting, I can release your limiters, Abarai, and Soul Society would never have to know." Abarai began to look just as insane.

"Oh, Kami. I've gotten assigned to a group of blood-crazed lunatics." Toshiro muttered to himself, too quite for even Momo to hear. Toshiro felt Abarai's reiatsu shoot up as his limiter was lifted.

"You don't stand a chance, Ichigo." Abarai declared.

"You're lucky your limiter is lifted, Renji. Because you're going to need it to keep up." Abarai snarled, and they both drew their sealed zanpakuto. Toshiro nearly gasped as the shine of Kurosaki's zanpakuto caught his eye. The blade was a katana, but what made it so fascinating was the way the light glimmered against it, making it look like black flames were licking up against it. The hilt was pitch black, and the guard was slightly curved, and also black. To put it quite simply, the sealed form of Kurosaki's zanpakuto was breathtakingly beautiful. And deadly, Toshiro observed, as Abarai lunged at Kurosaki, who dodged easily, his blade singing through the air, making a beeline for Abarai's neck. Abarai visibly gasped, and barely matched his blocking speed in time to keep from being decapitated. From the sharpness of Kurosaki's blade, Toshiro guessed it would have sliced through Abarai's neck like butter, and killed him instantly, in one fluid motion.

Abarai jumped back, before Shunpoing closer, aiming a stab towards Kurosaki's gut. It was a perfect move, faster than most Shinigami could register. But by the time Abarai started shoving his zanpakuto forward to stab, Kurosaki's katana was waiting for him, flicking the slightly smaller sword back easily. From the look on Kurosaki's face, you would have guessed that he was bored.

"Fight me for real, Ichigo!" Abarai demanded.

"You might have to release your Shikai for that." Kurosaki responded calmly, but a smirk was tugging at his mouth. Abarai sighed, as he realized that he really never could win against Kurosaki without his Shikai. Abarai was used to his whip-like zanpakuto, Toshiro observed. He didn't have as much experience with a simple katana, while Kurosaki had a lot of experience, because of his similar Bankai sword. It was, in fact, a daito, but similar enough to a katana that Kurosaki could wield it effectively. A sealed zanpakuto wouldn't stand a chance. Kurosaki shrugged. "You don't have experience when it comes to sealed swordplay. Or at least not much. How about I give you an edge, so we can keep this in sealed form?"

"Why so desperate to hide your Shikai, Ichigo-kun?" Urahara called out lazily, a smirk on his face. Kurosaki twisted to look at him, grinning back.

"Hey, a zanpakuto all depends on its owner's personality right? So let's just say that mine has been...slightly altered. I'm saving it as a surprise!" Toshiro's eyes widened. That was true. When Kurosaki had first received his zanpakuto, he had technically been missing aspects of his personality. Naturally, his Shikai and Bankai forms would change a little.

"Pay attention to me!" Abarai snapped, lunging out at Kurosaki, who simply parried and returned with small, controlled swing/thrust combinations, moving in faster and closer, forcing Abarai back. Abarai managed to snap his blade up in time to block a few back, and grinded his katana against Kurosaki's, sliding the blade down and towards Kurosaki's gut.

"It really looks like they're trying to kill each other." Rukia muttered. Kurosaki sprang back, and then took the moment of Abarai retracting his extended arm to move in closer and bring it dangerously close to biting into his shoulder. However, the entire time, they were using Shunpo, so to the bystanders, it lookekd like a hopelessly complicated dance, one that couldn't be analyzed with the eyes, but with the heart. Blades flashed, black flames rippling through the air, sparks combining in as powerful swings crashed together. Watching the "dance", Toshiro realized that Kurosaki's moves were much more graceful and mastered, despite being much slower than usual. That was on purpose. It was obvious that if Kurosaki wanted to take down his opponent, it would have already happened. He was trying to get Abarai to take advantage of that edge he had promised him. "Kami, his zanpakuto..." Rukia muttered but trailed off.

"It doesn't look like a sword at all." Toshiro agreed, knowing what she was thinking.

"It just looks like he's wielding a column of flame." Ishida added in, looking awestruck at the beautiful sword.

"Rukia-chan, I believe you have a rival for the most beautiful zanpakuto in the Soul Society." Urahara said, with a sly smile. Rukia couldn't even be angry at the strawberry for stealing Sode no Shirayuki's title. To deny that title from Zangetsu would be an unforgivable insult to his pride.

That's simply gorgeous.Sode no Shirayuki agreed. I remember him from Ichigo's inner world. He was a ruggedly handsome man, similar in that aspect to his Shikai form. I suspect he might look a little different now. The way Sode no Shirayuki spoke about Ichigo's zanpakuto was as if she was just stating a fact.

Perhaps he looks more defined and sculpted, like Ichigo does? Rukia suggested. It was true that Ichigo's facial features had become a lot more defined, angular and sharp.

Perhaps.

"I WILL NOT LOSE!" Renji roared, and in a flash of black flames, his zanpakuto went flying into the air, and the wickedly sharp blade was inches from his throat, the black flames still seeming to gleam and move, flickering dangerously. Renji stared at Ichigo. "So what about that advantage you were talking about?" He crokaed out.

The advantage was that Ichigo could shorten his sword and adjust it until it was roughly a wakizashi, a traditional ninja blade. It was much shorter, and required a lot more hakuda attacks and getting in closer. Ichigo didn't have experience with it, so he could fight seriously. As a result, both Ichigo and Renji would improve. After adjusting his blade, Renji smirked overconfidently at Ichigo, getting into position.

"I like this plan." He confided loudly.

"Not for long." Ichigo said, right before disappearing. His Shunpo was so fast that Renji didn't even have time to register that the Vizard was gone, before receiving a vicious kick to the head. It wasn't even reinforced with reiatsu, and it sent Renji flying. Ichigo walked over to Renji, who was sitting on his ass, dumbfounded. Ichigo cocked his head to the side. "Wanna try that again, except this time you're prepared for my attack?" Renji growled and pushed himself up off the dusty ground.

"Damn, I still can't use advanced Shunpo." Rukia said, sounding pissed. Ishida glanced at her.

"What do you mean?" He inquired, not as up-to-date on Shunpo as he should be.

"Ichigo moved past Renji and jumped into the air to deliver the kick downwards, instead of a roundhouse from the ground. For an unseated officer, that would usually require several short distance flash steps, but advanced Shunpo, which is fukutaicho and taicho level allows you to make several moves in one "step". Obviously, Ichigo has been able to do that for a while because he trained under Yoruichi, but I'm just reminded of my...incompetence." Ishida sighed. He knew how that felt. It was hard to compete with someone of such an insane growth rate.

"Ready?" Ichigo asked Renji, getting back into a ready position. Renji nodded, a determined fire burning in his eyes.

"Go for it, Strawberry." Ichigo growled, and attacked with devastating speed. Renji managed to bring his blade up just in time to block a dangerous swipe at his neck, blades slamming together, but a second later Ichigo was gone, swinging around Renji in a moment. Renji only had time to blink before an insanely fast punch was speeding towards his face. He brought up his arm for an elbow block and immediately regretted it, as he realized that the punch had only been a diversion for Ichigo to hop off the ground and deliver a kick to the stomach, disappearing in a flash of Shunpo before he could even fall to the ground. He heard a whoosh, and flipped his sword around his head just in time to block a swing towards the back of his neck. But after a temporary clang, Renji realized Ichigo wasn't there, and as he spun around, desperate to find that baka strawberry before he was made any more sore than he already was. But he felt a hit in his solar plexus, a jab in the neck, and his world crashed into darkness.

Seeing Ichigo nudging a limp Renji with his foot didn't exactly reassure Rukia that Ichigo hadn't impaled him. It was clear to anyone that was watching that Ichigo had simply been playing with Renji. He could have ended the fight much earlier. Rukia knew that Ichigo had superior skills when it came to hakuda and Shunpo. Everyone rushed forward to inspect Renji, poking and prodding him.

"Kurosaki." Toshiro said, turning a steely look on the orange-haired teen. "Did you kill Abarai?" He demanded. "Because we rather need him for the team." Ichigo snorted and shook his head.

"He's fine. I hit a pressure point and knocked him out because I didn't think he was reacting fast enough."

"Can you wake him up?" Rukia asked incredulously. Ichigo considered this for a second.

"Probably. Just give me a second." He bent down on Renji, and tried a few more pressure points, though it just looked like poking him in random places to everybody else. He finally hit the right one and Renji jerked up with a gasp. He glared at Ichigo, who smirked.

"YOU'RE LIKE A FUCKING NINJA!" Ichigo shrugged, still smirking. Renji pushed himself off the ground, grabbed his zanpakuto and sheathed it roughly, stalking off. "...never sparring with you again."

Toshiro couldn't blame Abarai.

"Hey, Renji!" Kurosaki called out. "Don't you at least want to know what you did wrong? If we get attacked by those assassin people, you won't stand a chance!" There was a little bit of teasing in his voice, and Renji turned on his heel and walked back.

"Spit it out, Ichigo. Or I may just lose my temper." He growled, frustrated that he hadn't been able to land one hit on the strawberry. Ichigo was no longer smiling as he gave Renji his analysis.

"You rely too much on your opponent being far away, or that your blade will be faster than them. You won't get in closer because you don't have much experience with it. Your blade is angled too far up. You use both hands to make your swings more powerful, despite not being able to hit me. You seem to forget that you can wield it effectively with one and block my hakuda attacks with the other. You hold the sword rigidly, so it takes more strength to make it move. You need to be more aware of pressure points and your joints, or else I can snap your bones like a twig."

The blunt analysis made everybody stiffen, at how fast Ichigo had picked up on all of this. But he wasn't finished.

" Your reactions aren't nearly fast enough and you're not used to watching high-level Shunpo and have difficulty following it with your eyes. Whenever you couldn't see me, you turned in the wrong direction, afraid that I would attack from that blind spot, and thus making another blind spot. You don't trust your instincts or Zabimaru enough, and work on only making yourself stronger now that you've got Bankai. When you do listen to your instincts, you don't fully trust them and your efforts are half-hearted, slow, and weak, which makes your guard easily broken and several new vulnerable spots appear. You only know one fighting style and don't bother to improve anywhere else. You don't take them time to see how your opponents fight which puts you at a major disadvantage. Even if you are figuring it out as you go, you do not have a strong enough guard to hold them off while you do. Your sword is too small and doesn't have enough defensive qualities for that."

Renji winced, but Ichigo kept going.

" Your kido is weak, which means that overall, your focus is easily broken and you lack a certain finesse required against combinations of hakuda and Shunpo. Not only are there all those other deficiencies, but fear is making your blade dull and brittle. Overall, you are a very weak opponent." The coldness in Ichigo's eyes painfully reminded Renji of Byakuya. They all stared at him, mouths hanging open. Ichigo shrugged and blushed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why do you think I never lose to the same move twice? I analyze my opponent's movements so the next time I fight them I can take them down easily." They were all suddenly reminded of Ichigo's various battles. It was true.

"You've just never sparred with us to point out our faults." Toshiro realized. Ichigo nodded. Ishida whistled.

"I thought I understood when Urahara said you were made for battle, but this is insane..." Ichigo blushed more and shrugged.

"And Renji, sorry if I sounded a little...Byakuya there." Renji, who looked a little numb at having all his faults pointed out at once, nodded.

"And there is something wrong with that?" An icy tone behind them said. Byakuya was standing there, looking so cold and disappointed with his student that Ichigo thought Renji almost whimpered before his terrifying taicho. It was obvious no one else knew how to respond, so Ichigo did.

"Yes, because you walk around like you've got a zanpakuto up your ass. You're harsh, cruel, cold, pathetically proud of nothing, lack honor, and don't give a damn about your subordinates even if you're supposed to train them. You are remarkably unmemorable, and even if you have attained Bankai, will probably fade away in history without ever receiving any recognition. You are an empty, uncaring shell. There are hollows who've earned the right to live more than you." Byakuya's eyes widened at the onslaught of verbal attacks from Ichigo. Everyone stared at the offensive words that had just left Ichigo's lips. Sure, everyone had been wanting to say that to him for a while, but no one had dared to speak it and especially not with the fiery attitude Ichigo used.

"You insolent little-," Ichigo held up a hand, a certain fire burning in his eyes. Rukia had thought she'd seen that before, when Ichigo had come to rescue her, but she realized that had barely been flickering embers, compared to the real Ichigo, the one with his full personality.

"Please. Spare me the lecture. And go find someone who gives a damn." Ichigo turned and Shunpoed towards Tessai. They watched nervously as Byakuya's fingers slid towards his Senbonzakura. After a moment, Ichigo Shunpoed back over. "Hey, Renji, if you really want to improve, Tessai can teach you basic kido and reiatsu control, which will coincidentally probably put you in touch with your zanpakuto. You'll probably find your movements and senses are much faster since you won't have reiatsu blocking the way and a better relationship with your zanpakuto will give you a major power upgrade." Renji glanced nervously over at Tessai.

"Are you sure he's qualified?"

"He's ex-taicho of the Kido Corps." Renji blinked.

"Did not expect that..." He muttered. That was the moment when Byakuya snapped. He just couldn't stand watching that boy stand there, and completely ignore him. The way his eyes had slid over him...it wasn't like he was avoiding him. It was like he wasn't even there.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

XXXX

*tense moment* okay, *lets out breath* so plenty happened here. first thing first;

ichigo's intelligence: to me, personally, it always felt like ichigo was acting a little bit denser than he was. because we've seen him use plenty of wit in the manga or anime, and he easily breaks down an opponent's moves, and tends to excel in school. all of these signs point to the fact that he is probably much smarter than he acts. so i decided to make him seem so here.

the hakuda stuff: for a long time, it's been bugging me that apparently ichigo was like a black belt or something, but as soon as he gets zangetsu, he never employs any hand-to-hand combat, even though the anime/manga suggests that is one of his strong points. so i've decided to include a little bit of ninja stuff here (hakuda would not be easy if he had a full length katana). also, his dad is a doctor, so he should know some pressure points that would be useful when hit.

i'm still going to keep ichigo determined, protective, little dorky, especially in sexual situations, but i just think that he can go about things smarter. i have a few more surprises, so stay tuned!