Hey, everybody! Just in case you were wondering, the aspect of death that Ichigo embodies is 'hatred,' as far as Espada's go.
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Ichigo and Stark waited on the side of the battle. Everyone was just standing there, watching Baragan's four fraccion fight Ikkaku, Madarame, Kira and Hisage. It seemed as though they would all wait until those battles were over. Ichigo looked over to a battle. Just as it seemed to end he saw what seemed to be the Shinigami's Head Captain speak to the rest of them. "Get them!" Everything became quiet but the sound of his voice. The Espada stood, still. "We must risk our lives to defeat them here! Do not let them pass even if the flesh is torn from your bones!" Ichigo couldn't hear the last that he said.
He didn't look at Stark. "Tch. He really thinks they can win."
"You seem so quick to turn sides, Ichigo. First ours, then theirs, now ours again." He looked annoyed. "You know, I changed my mind." He pointed to Captain Hitsugaya. "You're fighting that guy."
"That kid!" Ichigo pointed to him. "He's as small as Lilinette!"
"Shut up!" Lilinette jumped kicked Ichigo in the back, throwing him to the ground. "I'm not small!"
"Dammit, yes you are!" Ichigo stood. He looked to Hitsugaya. "Fine. I'll fight him." He disappeared.
Stark heard someone talking from behind him. "That kid." He looked over to see Captain Ukitake and Captain Kyoraku standing behind him. "Can you…send her somewhere else?"
Matsumoto stood behind her Captain, readying for the battle. "I'll take these, you take the Espada."
"Alright." Hitsugaya agreed. "I'll leave them to you." He turned to the side to see Ichigo appear.
Ichigo stood in front of Hitsugaya. He sighed. He couldn't believe he actually got stuck with this person. And he was actually a Captain. He looked at his haori again just to make sure. This was ridiculous, why did Stark do this to him? He paused. No, he couldn't think this way. He shouldn't underestimate him. Ichigo had been standing there, thinking about all the ways he was angry at Stark, then how he shouldn't underestimate this kid for a while when Hitsugaya took a step forward.
"Excuse me?"
Ichigo looked up. "What?" He crossed his arms, annoyed.
"Is something the matter?" Hitsugaya looked equally annoyed.
Ichigo closed his eyes. "What's your name?"
"Tenth Division Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro."
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
"You weren't here when all of the Arrancar arrived." Hitsugaya looked over the battles that were going on. "Are you an Espada?"
Ichigo took his katana off of his back. "Why? Will you only fight Espada?" He flew forward and attacked Hitsugaya, who unsheathed his katana and countered in time to stop the blade. "You won't stoop to fighting fraccion?"
"That's not it." Hitsugaya pushed Ichigo away from himself.
"If it'll make you feel better."Ichigo looked at Hitsugaya for a moment. "Yes, I'm an Espada." He appeared in front of him and slashed the top of his chest. Ichigo moved back and looked at Hitsugaya. "Slay-"
Before he could finish, Nel appeared in front of him and pushed his katana downward. "Ichigo, no." She stared him in the eyes. "No."
"What are you doing here, Nel?" Ichigo brought his katana away from her.
"You shouldn't be fighting them, you should be in the Soul Society with us. I don't know what you're thinking right now. Come back." She took him by the wrist and started moving him away from the battle. "Now."
"Nel, no! I'm in the middle of a battle!" Ichigo looked toward Hitsugaya, who looked quite confused. "Let me go, dammit!"
"Ichigo." Nel turned to him.
"What?" He looked at her.
She stared at him for a moment before she grabbed him around the waist and disappeared. They appeared in a park not too far from there. Nel dropped Ichigo on the ground and landed next to him. She turned and looked to him. "What were you thinking?"
"What were you thinking? Why did you just take me away from a battle?" Ichigo stood and walked up to her. "I don't care what you have to say to me, I'm going back right now." He turned around and began walking back.
Nel appeared in front of him and drew her katana, blocking him. "You're staying. I won't have you ruin your life for Aizen. You won't fight for him any longer."
"Get out of my way, Nel." Ichigo tried to walk around her.
"No!" She attacked him. He took his katana off of his back and blocked. "Come with me!"
"I warn you, I wasn't kidding when I said I would kill you, Nel. I will kill you. Don't get into a fight with me thinking I'll just give up in the end." He pushed her away from himself.
"I expected nothing less." Nel's face was quiet. "Not from this Ichigo. The Ichigo who first came to me. The Ichigo who couldn't even smile." She looked down. "Maybe if I were talking to the Ichigo I really knew. The Ichigo I grew to talk to. Then I would be able to reason with you." She shook her head. "However." She looked up to him and raised her katana. "However…" She turned her katana to the side and held it in her palms. "It seems we are on equal footing, now. So I will have to fight you as such. I won't hold back anymore, Ichigo." She spoke calmly. "Declare, Gamuza."
Ichigo took a step back as a light surrounded Nel. "Dammit." He didn't expect her to do that. He thought she wouldn't want to fight like this. That she wouldn't want to hurt him. He held his katana out. "Slay, Zangetsu."
When the light dissipated Nel stood in front of Ichigo, both of them in resurreccion forms. Nel's face was sad, "I see the day has come to fight you in your resurreccion form, and not to just witness it."
"Same goes for you." Ichigo smiled.
"You're so happy to kill a friend?" Nel's face was serious. "You really are just like you used to be."
"The truth is, I never changed. You just didn't know it." Ichigo swung his katana at her shoulder and she clashed his katana downwards.
She thrust her lance at his chest and he moved to the side, cutting her arm. She pushed his blade away from herself. "You think you're so evil." Ichigo attacked her, she stopped his blade and pressed her lance against it. "So inhuman." She pushed him away. "So horrible." She stepped back. "You're not!"
Ichigo laughed and stood still. "You just got done saying I couldn't be reasoned with because I went back to being that Ichigo I used to be." He smiled. "I assume it was that evil, horrible, inhuman version of me, yes?"
"Ichigo, listen to me!" Nel held her lance tightly in her hand. "You're not who you think you are! Stop trying to be who they told you to be. Stop trying to be who you think you should be. Just be who you-" Nel gasped as Ichigo drove his katana through her stomach.
"I've had about enough of your speech." Ichigo pulled his katana out of Nel. "Just fight." He turned around and began walking away from her.
Nel stared at him. "Ichigo…what happened to you?"
He stopped. "Happened?" His arm dropped, loosely, to his side. "Nothing happened." He turned to look at her. "Nothing needed to happen. I'm a hollow, this is how I am."
Nel gestured to herself, slowly, with one hand and held her wound with her other. "I'm a hollow, and it's not how I am."
Ichigo's expression dropped. "Then you're a poor excuse for a hollow." He appeared in front of her and attacked. She blocked in time. "At least you can still fight after all this time, Neliel."
"Don't call me that." Nel reared up and kicked him away. "Stop this!"
"Why!" Ichigo attacked again. "There's no reason for you to care about what happens to me!"
Nel grabbed his katana to stop him. "You're my fracccion, and my friend! Of course you matter to me!" She kept hold of his katana. "And you matter to other people as well. Your father and sisters are worried sick, Orihime asked me to come here, personally. People care about you, Ichigo. Don't you understand that!" She pulled his katana from him and threw both of their weapons on the ground far away from them. She stared at him. "I don't want to hurt you, Ichigo." She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. "Can't you see that you're important to other people?" Ichigo stood still in Nel's arms. Everything around them was quiet. Nel hoped that this would be the end of their fight. That Ichigo would return to the Soul Society with her. But after a few moments he disappeared, took his katana, appeared in front of Nel and pointed the tip of his katana at her neck.
Nel stared at him. "I haven't forgotten, you know." She looked down at his blade. "This was your signature way of killing. You killed nearly every one of your victims by cutting their throats. That's why I killed you that way in Hueco Mundo." She looked back to him. "Do you still do it?"
"You really think I can somehow 'change' from the person I am?" Ichigo moved his katana forward. Nel moved her head backwards in reaction. "You think I can be happier? It would never happen." Nel looked over to her lance with her eyes, only. "I could never be happy." He brought his katana back. "So…"
"Ichigo, catch." Nel stared at him.
Ichigo looked confused. "Catch…what?"
Nel disappeared, picked up her lance and held it steady, "Lanzador Verde." She shot it at him.
Ichigo whispered, "Dammit." He held his katana up. Then he realized he didn't want to break it, it was smaller now and couldn't withstand her attack he brought it back and was hit in the stomach. He was thrown to the ground.
Nel walked up and stood over him. Ichigo coughed. "You warned me that you wouldn't hesitate to kill me. Did you stop to think that I wouldn't hesitate to kill you? I've done it before."
Ichigo laughed. "Only to bring me back to life again, no doubt."
"Dammit, Ichigo, I'm trying to save your life!" Nel stepped on his leg. Ichigo yelled and looked up. "Why won't you listen to me!"
Ichigo slowly turned back to Nel, panting. He shook his head a little. "Useless. It's useless to try to save my life."
"Because you decided so?" Nel took her lance out of Ichigo and kicked him. "Because you think you're unworthy to be happy in life!" She kicked him, again. "Because you're too 'evil!'" She kicked him away from herself. Ichigo lay on the ground. He didn't move. He was looking at the world away from Nel. He was trying to think. Think. What was Nel trying to say? That life could actually be normal for him? How could it even. How could someone like him even have a normal family? How could something like that happen. He tried. He went to his house and tried to have a normal breakfast with his family and it didn't work. It just didn't work.
"I don't see…" Nel watched him as he spoke. "How I could ever get on in the human world." He sat up, but wasn't facing her. "I tried. But I failed. In the end, I just ended up going back to what I knew. I couldn't face it. It's better for me."
"You can't expect yourself to know how to do everything right away." Nel shook her head. "You have to give yourself time, Ichigo."
"Time?" Ichigo turned his head back a bit to look at her. "Time." He laughed a bit under his breath. "Yeah. That'll change everything."
"We'll all wait for you to get used to your surroundings." Nel held her lance loosely at her side. "We won't pressure you to be anybody you aren't."
"Sure." Ichigo brought his hand up to his forehead. He ran his hand through his hair. "I just attacked a Shinigami Captain, Nel." Ichigo closed his eyes. "They're not going to overlook that."
"Yes." Nel looked serious. "That's why we're not going back to the Soul Society."
Ichigo looked up to her. "What?"
"We're not going back to the Soul Society. Your father gave me money so we could get somewhere to stay until the war ended. They're going to tell us when we can come home." Nel looked down to her lance. "Are we still going to fight?"
Ichigo held his katana up. "Where?"
"A town nearby." Nel set a tip of her lance on the ground. "It won't take too long to get there if we use sonido.
"We're walking?!" Ichigo turned to her. "No way! Let's get a tax…no one's here to do that." He sighed and his resurreccion form disappeared. "Fine." He looked around. "Which way is the town?"
"In that direction!" Urahara began walking out from behind a tree on the edge of the park they were in. "But first, you'll need gigai's." He stopped in front of them. "Here you are." He set them in their hands.
"What's this?" Ichigo looked at it. "It's pretty small."
"Portable gigai." Urahara took Nel's. "You just-" He blew hers up, "and it's there!"
"Oh." Ichigo blew his gigai up. "Euw." He got into it. "Thanks."
"Kisuke, do you have the money?" Nel put her hand out. Urahara set a wallet in her hand. "Thanks." Nel looked at Ichigo. "This is the money your dad is giving us. It should last us a few days. He said you'd know what we could do with it." Urahara gave her a cell phone. "And they'll be calling us, too."
"Well…we should go." Ichigo started walking away.
"It's this way, Ichigo-san!" Urahara pointed to his right. "This way."
"Right." Ichigo turned around and he and Nel began walking in the direction Urahara had pointed. After a while Ichigo grumbled. "How far is it?" He started running. "This better not take all day!"
"Your father said the town was only thirty minutes away if you drove in a car, so if we start using sonido right now, it shouldn't take us too long, really." Nel disappeared.
"I…okay." Ichigo disappeared.
When they arrived in the town Ichigo looked around. "I've been here before. I have no idea where anything is."
"This way." Nel pointed in front of her. "I have a good feeling." After about twenty minutes they found a hotel. Ichigo paid for a room and they laid down on their beds, looking at the ceiling. "Aren't you glad we're not dead, Ichigo?" Nel smiled and looked over to him.
"Yes." Ichigo spoke in a dead pan voice. "Why not?"
"How long do you think this war will last?" She looked back up at the ceiling.
"Who knows?" Ichigo turned over on his side. "Hopefully not very long."
"Well, until then." Nel sat up. "What should we do?"
"Fight?"
"No…"
Ichigo sighed. "Listen, I'm kind of tired, okay. I'm going to rest." He closed his eyes. "Don't bother me."
"Ichigo, you're so dull." Nel stood up. "I'm going to go look at the city." She left the room.
Ichigo continued to lie on his side as the door shut. He was looking out of the large window that was on the outer wall of the hotel room. He sighed. This was ridiculous. He was actually trying this again. Nel had talked him into it somehow. Just when he was about to kill her. But he couldn't do it. He closed his eyes. Why couldn't he do it? He turned on his back and looked at the ceiling. No matter what Nel was still his friend. He closed his eyes.
"Ichigo? Ichigo!" Nel put her hands on Ichigo's shoulders. "Ichigo, wake up!" She shook him. He opened his eyes. "Ichigo, we won!" She was holding the cell phone in her hand.
Ichigo lay there for a moment before realizing what she said. He sat up, quickly, and put a hand on her shoulder. "We won! Wait…who is 'we?'"
"The Soul Society." Nel stepped away and talked on the cell phone.
Ichigo brought his hand up to his forehead. "The Soul Society won." He laughed. Then he stopped. "Stark."
"Ichigo, your father is going to come and pick us up at this hotel. He'll be here in…a half an hour. What's wrong?" Nel sat down on the bed next to him. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes." Ichigo stood up. "He'll be here in a half an hour?"
"Yes." Nel and Ichigo waited for his father in silence. Nel could tell there was something wrong but that Ichigo didn't want to say anything, so she just didn't ask. She laid down on her bed and curled up with a pillow.
"Hey, Nel." Ichigo was sitting in the chair that was placed in the room by the window. "Thanks for not killing me."
Nel looked up at him. "You're welcome." She smiled, slightly surprised. He looked over to her and smiled. She smiled more. "Ichigo, you know that's the first time I've ever seen you really smile."
He laughed. "I smile all the time."
She looked down at her pillow. "But it's not the type of smile that you smile back at." Ichigo's smile dropped. "I wish you would smile like this more often." She closed her eyes. "Ichigo, what's the one thing you like most about yourself?"
Ichigo's eyebrows pulled together. "What?"
"What do you admire most about yourself?"
He let out a breath. After a moment he sighed. "Nothing, really."
Nel looked at him. "You mean to tell me that all this time you acted as though you thought the world of yourself when really you don't like yourself at all?" She looked towards the window. "How lonely."
"I don't need to hear this from you, Nel." Ichigo covered his face with his hand.
"I like your courage." Nel brought a hand up to the top of her chest. "And your strength." She pointed to him. "And most of all, I like your humanity."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "What?"
"Even if you don't realize it, you do things to help those around you. By saving Ishida, by being with your family, by not killing me, twice. Even if your cruel to Orihime, you're kind to her as well, even if you don't notice it. You have more humanity than you know, Ichigo."
Ichigo looked to the floor. "Huh…"
Nel's cell phone rang. She opened it. "It's your father." She answered the phone. After a moment she hung up. "He's here." They walked out of the room and down the stairs.
When they got home his father took Nel home and both Isshin and Ichigo went back to their house. When they got there Yuzu and Karin hugged him and then Ichigo went up to his room. He looked around. It felt so strange to be back in this place again. After a few moments he looked over to the closet. He walked over and opened it up. Inside was Rukia's bed. He put his hand on it and spoke softly, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
"Sometimes I don't need you to protect me." Ichigo looked to his right. Rukia was holding the corner of his wall, staring at him. She smiled. "Hi, Ichigo."
"Rukia!" Ichigo looked at her. "What are you doing here. How can you be here?"
"Your father told me you were still alive. So I had to come and see you." Rukia walked up to him.
"But, how are you still alive?" Ichigo put his hands on her shoulders. "You're supposed to be dead!"
"Nii-sama saved me." She looked down. "I was surprised, but happy."
"Byuakuya…saved you?" Ichigo realized what he had done. "So…"
"And now…" Rukia looked up. "He's dead."
Ichigo thought about this. He really thought about this. Should he tell her? Should he not tell her? This could be bad. He paused. "Rukia…I am so sorry. That must have been painful." He patted her shoulder.
"Ichigo, you ass!" Rukia pushed his hand away. "I know it was you! Your father told me!"
"Dad!" Ichigo took a step back.
"Ichigo, you will understand, from the depths of my soul, just how painful it has been for me to lose my only brother." She pulled out her chappy dispenser and popped a pill.
"Whoa." He put his hands up. "Rukia."
When she was in her Shinigami form she unsheathed her katana. "Prepare yourself!"
"Rukia, calm down, we're friends!" Ichigo moved back, more. "I'm sorry about Byuakuya, really! I only killed him because I thought he killed you! It was revenge!"
She attacked him and he dodged, getting out of his gigai. He took his katana off of his back and blocked her next attack. "Dammit, Rukia, stop this." He looked her in the eyes. "I don't want to fight you."
"Unfortunately, I do." She kicked him in the stomach, crashing him through his window and out into the open air. He coughed as she flew forward towards him. "Rukia, stop!" He clashed her katana away from him. She cut his arm. "Stop it!" She slashed his chest. "St-" She stabbed him in the stomach.
"Why won't you fight back!" She moved back and looked at him. "Stop defending and attack me!"
"I won't hurt you." He stood still. "I can't."
Rukia's eyes had no emotion. "Then die."
"Rukia!" Rukia ran to him with her katana pointed at his chest. Just as she was about to hit him Isshin stopped her blade. Rukia looked up at him. "Kurosaki-san?"
"Rukia. Stop this." He pointed her blade downward. "My son feels badly for what he did now that he knows you are alive. He would never want to hurt you. He won't even hurt you now. Don't kill my only son, please."
Rukia looked angry. She looked past Isshin to Ichigo. After a moment she sheathed her katana and turned around. "Ichigo… are you truly sorry for what you did to nii-sama?"
Ichigo looked at the ground. "Yes."
Rukia closed her eyes. "It's good to see you again, Ichigo."
Ichigo looked at her. "It's good to see you again, too, Rukia."
