Trouble – 7th Chapter

Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does.

Warnings – Bad language mostly

Note – Sorry for the wait, enjoy!


Pain. All Ichigo felt was hot piercing pain lace its way through his body. He tried to move but found it impossible. All he was able to do was breathe in ragged, rasping breaths; and even that proved to be a strain on his weak body. As Ichigo slowly gained consciousness, he tried to remember what the hell happened. He remembered Shinji leaving earlier that day, then Ichigo went to see Renji and they had a get together with the other lieutenants, and then Ichigo went home. He wanted to see Shinji, wanted to be next to him and feel his familiar body mold against his own. But he never made it; he was attacked and essentially kidnapped. But…where the hell am I?! Ichigo thought with a fury.

Ichigo groaned as he forced his eye lids to open, only to be faced with more darkness. But one thing he realized right away was that he was suspended with his arms stretched wide overhead and secured painfully by his wrists. He tried moving his legs and found them to be pulled taut from below. He desperately tried to shake at his restraints and break free, if only he could actually move.

Something was wrong. He felt weak and sick and empty-

"Zangetsu?" Ichigo rasped to the very empty room, or whatever the hell he was in. There was no response. That familiar presence of his zanpakutou simply wasn't there, and that made Ichigo panic a little. He had already lost his powers before; he did not need them taken away from him again.

"Oi, you gotta be there. Zangetsu!" His now louder voice echoed in the darkness, and he could hear his own fear reflected back at him. "Shit!" Ichigo tried to move again, but it was useless. He growled, whoever did this was going to pay-

Ah, the mighty king has fallen, alone and pathetic without his horse and blade.

Ichigo chilled at that all too familiar voice of his hollow as it crept through his brain full of sarcasm and scorn. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Ichigo said out loud. The hollow laughed in his head, loud and high.

Why don't you come see me and find out, King, if you're not scared…

Immediately, Ichigo closed his eyes and entered into his inner world to find it pouring with rain and very cold, a mix of hard fury and cold fear. A fear which his hollow loved-

"Looks like there's trouble in paradise, King," his hollow said in his left ear before Ichigo even noticed him. He jumped back a few feet and glared at his hollow, his maniacal other half.

"Shiro, where's Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, but Shiro just laughed and in a flash, he was as inch from Ichigo's face with his sword drawn and pressing on Ichigo's neck. Ichigo stared into Shiro's golden eyes and held his ground.

After a moment, Shiro finally answered, "I'm standing right here, my fool of a King-,"

Ichigo leaned closer, daring Shiro to cut him, "I meant the sword, they took it, you, away."

"Oh, I'm still around. Those fools think they can destroy me, but they can't, especially while you still breathe," Shiro said as he breathed on Ichigo's face, devouring the shinigami's rage.

Ichigo shoved Shiro out of his face with disgust and this only made the hollow laugh even more. "You know who they are?" Ichigo asked over the laughing and the pounding rain, and Shiro abruptly stopped.

"Yeah, I know. I'm awake even when you're not," Shiro said. "They plan to kill you and take what is mine, all to save their beloved god-,"

"Who are they, Shiro?" Ichigo asked again. A chill ran down his spine since he had a pretty good idea as to who this god may be. He did not want to believe what the hollow was saying, but new it spoke the truth.

"Nothing you can't handle, King." Shiro appeared behind Ichigo and once again, brought his sword to rest upon Ichigo's throat. "They say they will draw the shinigami here in order to save you, and then kill them all including your new boyfriend." Shiro spat. Ichigo spun out of Shiro's hold and punched him hard in the face. He then lunged and knocked the startled hollow on his back with a splash, pinning him to the inverted skyscraper as his sword spun away.

"What the fuck are you getting at, and you better hurry up, horse, because I don't have time for your fucking games," Ichigo growled and the hollow stared up at him, defiant and grinning.

"I could kill you right now, but what would be the fun in that when you're so weak and in need?" Shiro sneered. "They are draining your spiritual pressure as we speak. Those Aizen rejects gain power from stealing reiatsu from souls. They're his forgotten experiments, but they cannot help but love their creator. They plan to free their god from imprisonment and help him wreak havoc once again."

Ichigo stilled and tightened his hold on the hollow's arms, "They're gonna fight Soul Society to let Aizen go? After all I went through to put him down?"

"And who do you think will fall first? Without you, the shinigami are nothing." Shiro stared into Ichigo's blazing eyes and got no answer. "All of this will happen while you die a long, slow death, forgotten by your so called-,"

"No!" Ichigo yelled. "There's always another way, and you know it." Ichigo knew that Shinji would never let him die, Soul Society be damned. He knew that Shinji would fight for him, and knew that he had to fight too.

"Oh, I know. You need me, King. Call me into battle and lend you my strength, to serve my king, willingly." Shiro laughed. "But get one thing straight, I'm doing this for me. If you die, I die. And if I die, I will never be able to take what is mine. To take your power…," Shiro's eyes fluttered closed as he trailed off. Ichigo moved off of him and pulled the hollow to its feet with a grunt of a laugh.

"Don't you forget, Shiro, that I am the master of my mind and you just happen to be the crazy bastard running around in it. Now give me that power so I can kill those bastards before they even start and save Soul Society again." The white hollow began to fade as the rain began to stop. The sun came through the thinning black clouds and burned hot on Ichigo's skin as he could feel his spiritual pressure grow and expand and fill his whole mind and body with incredible heat.

"Already ahead of you, my King," Shiro said before he completely disappeared and Ichigo was thrust out of his inner world with a yank. The air was all at once thick in the room he was suspended in and there was a mighty roar from Ichigo as the white power of his hollow destroyed the restraints on his limbs. He fell to one knee and looked up through his hollow's eyes. There was a commotion outside the room and the door opened with a bang. The men who ran in turned on the lights in the room only to freeze in terror of a fully Hollowfied Ichigo, who rose slowly to his feet. His white form stood tall and dangerous as a red ball formed in between his mask's horns and grew. Before the men could even scream, a cero was released quick and fast and terrific.


"Why the hell can't you people find him?" Shinji asked for the fifth time that day. Mayuri Kurotsuchi glared at Shinji as he paced around the room, looking over the shoulder of members of the 12th Division as they typed furiously away at their computers.

Mayuri returned his attention to the screen he was looking at and tisked in annoyance, "Do not antagonize my work, Captain Hirako! Your precious Ichigo will be found, in due time."

Shinji rounded on him, "I can say whatever the hell I want! We have been here for three damn days! He could be anywhere-,"

"Exactly! Do you realize how big Soul Society is, you idiot? And do you realize that he is not emitting reiatsu-,"

"I know what the fuck their doing, Captain Kurotsuchi. Those bastards are gonna get what's comin', I know that much," Shinji said darkly. He could feel his hollow stir inside of him and all he wanted to do was kill…

Shinji focused his attention on the screen Mayuri also stared at. The map was moving so fast it was a wonder he could discern anything from it. But it scanned Soul Society at lightning speed, looking for any trace of Ichigo. Shinji was mad as hell at those hollow wannabe's. He had to go back to the world of the living earlier that day and see Urahara since no one here knew what the hell was going on. Shinji went over their conversation in his head to see if there was anything he missed.

The quiet of Urahara's shop was disrupted when an angry Shinji stormed through the front of the shop.

"Get out here now, geta-boushi!" Shinji yelled when he only saw Jinta and Ururu tending the front of the shop, who were in turn staring at him in surprise. Jinta spoke first.

"You can't come in here like that! You freeloading son-of-a-,"

Thankfully, before the insult could be finished, Urahara emerged and smoothly cut him off, "Oh my, how I hate that nickname! My poor hat and shoes are always taking the blame. But what brings you here, Shinji-san?" Urahara looked at Shinji like he wasn't standing there with anger boiling off of him in waves. Shinji moved forward and when he reached Urahara in the doorway which led to the back of the shop, he grabbed the other man's arm and dragged him further inside. Jinta started to stop Shinji but Urahara reassured him.

"Jinta, it's alright. Just keep working at whatever you were doing!" Urahara frowned as Shinji slid the door shut and roughly let go of Urahara's arm. "Oh, I never knew you to be so passionate-,"

"Oh, shut it! Ichigo's been kidnapped and we can't find him. I need you to tell me who you think took him." Urahara peered at Shinji from under his hat for a moment in thought, and then his face suddenly darkened with a thought that came to him.

"There have been some disappearances lately, am I right?" Shinji raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.

"How did-," Shinji started.

"Yoruichi is a wonderfully stealthy feline, isn't she?"Urahara said seductively and Shinji smirked in understanding. Urahara continued, "Aizen did many experiments before he perfected the Arrancar, on both hollows and shinigami. He continued long after we left." He paused to gauge Shinji's reaction, but the other man just stared at him.

"Some of the shinigami survived, as you well know. But the others were left to fend for themselves, seemingly forgotten by Aizen as failed experiments. There have been disappearances off and on for years, but now that Aizen is locked away, it seems they have become desperate to bring him back."

After a moment, Shinji found his voice, "And you know all this, how? You haven't even been there."

Urahara sighed, "Unfortunately, I know how a scientist thinks and Aizen's unquenchable curiosity drove him to no end. He wanted to see what would happen and subtly controlled their development. And if he were to ever fail at his goal-,"

"He would have his back-ups," Shinji finished. "But what about Ichigo?"

Urahara leaned against the wall before slowly answering, "I believe these "failures" have been feeding off of other shinigami, especially those who have not been found by the Gotei 13. They had to remain hidden if Aizen was going to use them as his trump card, and the best way to get powerful was to take spiritual pressure directly. So, Ichigo is the most powerful Shinigami we know. It's only natural they would want him. They need power if they plan to free Aizen…"

"What!? Free Aizen? As if-,"

"Shinji, there are hundreds of them. And they're partially hollowfied. And though they are not as strong as the Arrancar, their sheer numbers will overwhelm you all. You have to find Ichigo before they take his power."

The other captain crossed his arms, "And do you think they really can take Ichigo's power?"

At that question, Urahara grinned, "Oh, we will find out soon enough. Ichigo can very stubborn."

Here, Shinji grinned to himself. He knew damn well Ichigo couldn't be defeated but Shinji would still look for him. He would come for him no matter what.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou, there is something happening!" one of the shinigami said with surprise. Both Mayuri and Shinji went over to shinigami who spoke.

On another displayed map, there was a flash that erupted just north of Seireitei. And it was closer than they thought. Alarms went off and a spot blinked on the map. The words KUROSAKI ICHIGO FOUND, blinked along with the dot. After a few seconds, they in the 12th Division laboratories could feel the immense power that accompanied the flash and Shinji knew instantly that it was Ichigo in his hollow form.

Mayuri immediately sent out a message to the Head Captain who had all the other captains on stand-by. Shinji grinned evilly as he pulled on his hollow mask. Show time!

As Shinji burst out of the 12th Division, he was met with Hinamori, Rose, and Kensei and they raced to the outskirts of Seireitei. The other captains and lieutenants were racing behind them, all ready to fight. As they entered the district Ichigo was in, Shinji was shocked to see that it seemed like a normal area. There was never any sign of anything suspicious going on in the past, but apparently this had been going on right under their noses.

The pressure was greater now and the screaming reached them first. Another flash of red was seen a little ways off and buildings disintegrated along with it. In the middle of the destruction stood Ichigo, completely white and hollowfied. The surviving captors surrounded Ichigo and blasted kido spells at him in a failed attempt to injure him.

"Ha, now this is what I'm talkin' about!" Zaraki Kenpachi yelled as he was the first to attack, laughing as he cut the aggressors down, spurring the others to move into action. Shinji was right behind him, but his goal was Ichigo because at this rate, Ichigo would destroy a lot more than was necessary. Before Shinji could reach him, however, a new and larger group of shinigami landed and knocked each captain and lieutenant back. They all looked around and found themselves to be surrounded from all sides and all angles in a dome of shinigami. They were the creations that Aizen left behind to rise in his wake.

One particular figure landed right behind Ichigo and blasted him with a wordless kido, knocking Ichigo over with a powerful binding spell. The man turned his attention to the captains and lieutenants staring at him.

"Now that you all are here, it's time for you to die," the man said with a grin. He was tall with long black hair. He wore the standard shinigami uniform but it was white instead of black, with a haori much like a captain's haori, but black. A sword hung at his waist and piece of a hollow mask was stuck to his face. But his eyes were what stood out. They were permanently hollowfied, and gleamed in triumph.

"We have waited well over a hundred years for this moment, and as luck would have it, Ichigo was handed right over to us." The man scanned the shinigami as he spoke, and looked directly at Shinji. "Who would have thought that in a time of peace, Aizen would rise once more?"

Before Shinji could reply, Renji struggled with a man holding him, "Like hell that's going to happen! We're gonna beat your asses-, Bankai!" A great tornado of wind surrounded Renji and the shinigami around him went flying as his bankai was released. "Hihio, Zabimaruuuuu!" Shinji smirked and looked to man addressing them.

"Do ya really think we're gonna go down that easily?" He said, and other captains released their bankai. "Do ya honestly believe we're gonna let you just take Aizen back? Ha!" He raced toward the man, with Sakanade drawn but not in bankai. As he approached the man, Shinji yelled one final time, "And ya must be crazy if you think that that spell will stop Ichigo. Ichigo! Get the hell up and show these fuckers who you really are!" Shinji attacked the assumed leader of these new shinigami who was forced to draw his sword in an angry growl.

As the other captains as lieutenants fought once more, Ichigo strained at the binds, yelling with effort. Finally they broke apart and Ichigo stood. He held out his right hand to the side and slowly his zanpakutou formed from his hand, coming together slowly but steadily from hilt to tip. The leader was distracted from his fight with Shinji.

"Impossible! I destroyed that thing myself! I took that power-,"

Ichigo laughed as his hollow form broke apart and his shinigami form emerged. His long hair shortened and his eyes returned to normal, but still glowed in determination. "No one will be able to take Zangetsu from me, not if I can help it." Ichigo took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, "Bankai!" A great pulse of oppressing power came off Ichigo as he changed again, and many of the enemy fell under its sheer weight, but more still stood.

Shinji laughed out loud, "Ha! Ichigo let's show these fakes what real power feels like!"

Ichigo grinned at Shinji, glad to see him ok along with the others, "Yeah," he said as he passed his hand over his face, and put on just his hollow mask. Ichigo was ready to put a stop to this fiasco and ran to join Shinji in the fight.


A/N - I know, I know! Another cliffhanger. I just can't help it. But thank you to all who have followed, faved and reviewed. I know it has been a long while since I updated, but now that the semester is over, I have more than enough time to get these chapters out. (Like a whole month!). So, I'm very sorry about it. But please, don't forget to give your opinion! Thanks so much!