Fine. One more, for some reason I feel like updating again.


On the floor of the training grounds, created more than a century prior by Kisuke Ukitake for himself and his long-time friend and comrade Yoruichi Shihoin, Ichigo Kurosaki lay, groaning.

'Gods... She's evil.' He thought to himself, as he sat up and loked into the delighted face of Yoruichi, otherwise known, to him and his partners, at least, as Naked-san and She-Cat.

"That was excellent, Ichigo!" She exclaimed, proud of her, now stolen from Urahara, Protege. "I've never seen someone able to move so quickly in such a short amount of time. Hell, I could count on my hands the number of people I know, even fully trained, that possess such speed!" She was thrilled to teach Ichigo her specialties; though he was less than happy wth her theory that, if she used Hoho on him, it would help him master both Shunpo and Hakuda that much faster. It appeared to be true, he would admit to himself, but his learning hadcome at the expense of an unfortunate number of bruises. As well as, he would insist, at least one fractured bone.

"Oh, bite me, Yoruichi." Ichigo groaned out, then let out a yelp. "Oh, jeez!" He rubbed his shoulder. "I didn't mean literally." The golden eyed woman gave him a saucy grin.

"You should be more careful in the future, then, Ichigo. After all," She leant in close to the suddenly blushing male. "You taste so good." She purred, before continuing with a grin. "Hah! I knew you stll had energy to keep going!" The Human-turned-Shinigami had vanished in a blur of Shunpo.


"... Understand?" Yoruichi finished her explanation

"Yeah. I think so. Basically these Tenshintai-dolls will take the form of Zangetsu as soon as I stab my swords into them, right?" He got a nod of the affirmative. "And that will allow me to fight them; proving to the Old Man thatI'm strong enough to survive, and to Hichigo that I'll 'have fun' with his Bankai."

"That's the gist of it, yes." The 'goddess' frowned. "But Urahara told me to warn you that-"

The warning she had been about to deliver was cut off as Ichigo drew two of hs blades, one the longest; being a good half-foot longer than the average katana, and the other the size of a Wakiazashi. Each had a pitch black hilt; but the longer had a crimson guard, in the shape of a rounded-corner rectangle, and the shorter a light blue in a proper rectangle. Likewise, the Wakizashi hada sapphire, as opposed to the longer's ruby, coloured Pommel.

"I'm sorry Yoruichi. It's good of you to care, but this has to happen. If you need me to power the dolls, please just let me know."

"That wasn't it,Ichigo. They don't take much energy to keep running, as long as a Zanpakuto will be occupying it. But... why do you feel you need to do this?"

"You mentioned about the boost Shinigami get when they achieve Bankai, right? That won't happen for me until I get all of them." At her confused look, he elaborated. "The Old Man and Nejibana agreed that I might try to force the last one if I got the boost before all my spirits agreed. And, apparently, that could kill me." He had a deadly serious expression, telling her that he was entirely serious. "I beat Zaraki 'cause he was holding back, and I caught him by surprise with my last attack. If I want to rescue Rukia, I need to get that power." He was already strong, but if one of the senior captains came at him now, Ichigo would be in serious touble.

Other than a frown Ichigo didn't know the origin of, Yoruichi seemed to have accepted what he said, and gave a begrudging nod, before Shunpoing away. Ichigo took ahold of the blades' handles once more and, with a sharp yank, both came free. The dolls glowed.


"Hello, Zangetsu." Ichigo unbuckled the belt-sash holding his Zanpakuto, his final blade added to it in preparation, and placed it softly down on a nearby rock shelf.

"Ichigo." The Old Man replied, with a nod.

"Hey, King." The Hollow grinned. "Ya ready?"

"I wouldn't be talking to you out here if I wasn't." He ran his hand through his messy hair. "So how are we going to do this?" The Hollow's grin decreased a little, and he shot a glare at his partner spirit.

"Well; the old man's bein' boring. Apparently, you've gotta prove that you 'know us' before we get to fight." He shrugged. "But I do get to attack while you do that."

"That is right, Ichigo. But first..." The Old Man waved his hand, and the remarkable power of Zanpakuto was demonstrated. Hundreds of blades, all cleaver-like in shape, appeared across the rocky terrain. It was especially frustrating to Ichigo, because they were the form he had only been told of by the two; a form that they would have appeared as had he not known their actual nature. Apparently, he would have to fight them with the two's powers, for him at least, united.

"And this is meant to be dificult for me?" Ichigo asked. "Please..." He shok his head with a more than a litle bit of frustration. "I would understand this if we were brand new to each other,but I have known you since I WAS A CHILD!" He vanished. The Old Man smirked, ever so slightly, while the Hollow snorted.

"Told y-" He was thrown off to the side, a kick having sent the 'man' flying.

"Good, Ichigo." The Trench Knife appeared in Zangetsu's left hand, and he turned to face his wielder.

Ichigo looked angry. Something that unnerved even the man opposing him. It was relatively common for Ichigo to grow irritated, or to give a psuedo-angry reaction to mocking, but... angry. That was a scary thought for a man with so many abilities. The majorty of which could, in some way, cause a lot of pain to the Hybrid's adversary.

Resting on Ichigo's shoulder, there was a large Khyber knife, as tall as its wielder at a little over 6ft; though Ichigo himself was not aware that was his height, and with bandages wrapped entirely around, and flowing from, the guardless hilt.

"You will need, Ichigo, to have true control over our abilities. I you do not, you will have to give up this mission of yours, and return to safety."

"I know. Shall we begin?" He received no response from the Old Man, but this was enough to tell him that the spirit was ready. On the other hand, Hichigo appeared next to his temporary partner with a loud exclamation.

"Bastard! That was a hard kick, King!" The pale version of Ichigon was holding his own Khyber blade, though this was the one that possessed the hole from the base to the middle of its length. Despite his claims of the kick being strong, Hichigo had his ever-present grin still firmly plastered on his face. "But, as you said, let's get ready to ruuumble! Haha! Let's go!" The Hollow charged his wielder with a face-splitting grin.


Ichigo was realising something. These two, well, one of them at least, had a reason for requiring that they do this out in the real world. While Hichigo no doubt just wanted to fight, The Old Man must have realised that training, and by that he meant fighting, out here was far more productive than it would be in his inner world.

It was exhausting, fending off the attacks of two masterful combatants, but very useful. While he could feel his energy depleting with every bout, it would come back, startlingly quickly, with noticeably more.

As Ichigo was coming to this realisation himself, another had long since noted the rise in his power. She hadn't expected this; Kisuke had told Yoruichi that there would be a slow, steady growth.

Slow was not an adjective she would use to describe this... this. The idea of fighting two Zanpakuto... it was laughable, she didn't know why she agreed to letting him do it; just that he assured her that he couldn't survive this trip if he didn't get past this, very large, hurdle.

And yet, he was holding his own.

No, not holding his own. Ichigo Kurosaki was winning.

It may not be obvious, and Yoruichi sincerely doubted that Ichigo himself realised it, but he was achieving near hits at least as often as both of his opponents combined. To him, it kmust seem like he was on the defensive as often as he was the aggressor, but the idea of that was extremely impressive in itself. The two spirits were highly skilled, after all.


"Rah!" Ichigo exclaimed, shoving the back of his Khyber to break the Hollow and his' stalemate. The bleached man stumbled back a few feet, grin faltering, and found a cleaver-blade whistling toward his shoulder. Only for the Orange haired man's blade to be stopped, mid swing, by a Trench knife Zanpakuto.

Ichigo ducked under a right hook form the, even now, composed Old Man, and ersponded in kind, swinging in an uppercut that narrowly missed Zangetsu's jaw.

With a growl of frustration, Ichigo vanished with a light buzz, and appeared mid swing behind the black-wearing Zanpakuto spirit.

"Damn." He snarled, before smirking slightly. "I almost got you that time, Old Man." The Hollow had shoved Zangetsu out of the way, and his not-quite-as-big blade was now blocking Ichigo's.

Ichigo really was surprised, to say the least. These two were usually at each others throats, but here they were working in perfect sync. Though, to be fair, they both were naturally parts of the same being; him.

Wait a minute, if that was the case then-

He was cut off by a pair of blades cutting towards him; one on each side of his head.


Yoruichi was perched on a ledge above the fighting trio, having a mental debate with herself. Should she stop him here for the night? Day one was, after all, over. Ichigo could probably use some rest, and then to sontinue in the morning. The only thing was; neither he, nor the two he was fighting, gave any sign of slowing any time soon. Unsurprising; Ichigo had trained, under Urahara, for 10 days straight with next to no sleep, and this time he had had a nap before they began. The were-cat gritted her teeth with annoyance; she was looking forward to teasing her charge some more in the hot springs. The dark-skinned beauty let out an irritated sigh, and decided to wait a while longer.

At least this was quite pleasant to watch; it turns out Ichigo had a habit of destroying his clothes in battle. Even when he himself was unmarked.


'Fine, so I don't have the best self control in the world. Sue me.' Yoruichi thought to herself, as she silently observed Ichigo pondering the wonders of the Spring water. As the orange haired Hybrid decided to try drinking it, she spoke up.

"How's the water, Ichigo?" The... man, for she did not like calling him a boy, nor did he like being reffered to as such, froze, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was naked.

"Mm-Hm." He gave a vague approving noise in response, which elected a chuckle from the Purple haired soul.

"Oh? Well, Ichigo, you make it sound so good, that I think I'll join you."

"Whoa! W-What?! N-No!" Ichigo turned, intending to stop her, and found a half naked Flash-Goddess to greet him. "What the hell are you- Did you just- Pants- Gahh!" He buried his face in his hands, finding this to be the best course of action for him to take, and heard a light splash.

"Oh, loosen up, Ichigo. Don't be such a prude." He could hear the smirk in her tone.

You really can't blame him for peeking. He was a heterosexual, redblooded male after all.

"What? Are you a little dissapointed, Ichigo?" The masculine voice of her cat form questionned, swimming in the water. "You are, aren't you? You pervert." Ichigo grumbled something about drowned cats under his breath, and voiced a question he had had for a while.

"Hey, Yoruichi? I've been wondering for a while; why does this place look so much like Urahara's basement-training ground?" The feline turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm? So you caught up on that, did you? We did our best to model his Human-World training ground after this one. Nostalgia, I suppose. You see, we built this one when we were kids," Ichigo let out an impressed whistle; that was quite a feat. "In order to have somewhere secret to play. When we got older, he joined the Gotei 13, and I the Stealth force; but we still came here in order to hone our skills.

"Huh? So you mean you two were-uhh..." He had turned to her, to find the cat had transformed, somehow without him noticing, back into a, naked and glistening, purple skinned goddess. His own sentiments were echoed inside his head.

'Uhhh...' The Hollow was too distracted to make even a single comment,

'Ummm...' Well, she caught Zangetsu off guard. Quite the feat.

What sounded like a satisfied growl-purr came from Tabigarasu.

And Nejibana remained silent. She had been the only one to see this coming, embarrassingly. Yoruichi obviously enjoyed teasing Ichigo. Nejibana was also the one to keep Ichigo's blood flow from reaching the two areas her wielder would not want it to go. Though she let a little of it go to his cheeks to give him what she considered to be a charming blush. Even if Ichigo simply saw it as a little less embarassing than a full-fledged one.

For over a minute, each second passing by agonizingly slowly, Ichigo and Yoruichi were unmoving, Ichigo unable to tear his gaze away; both because he was frozen and because Hichigo was putting up as much resistence as he could in order to see this site as long as possible, and Yoruichi because... well, she didn't quite know why. But it might have been hinted at with the slow, deliberate movements with which she slid into the spring.

"Right, uh..." Ichigo cleared his throat and found his previous train of thought. "Hat 'n' Clogs was a Soul Reaper? I was wondering... It didn't make sense for him to be human and have a Zanpakuto. And the two of you know so much..." He scowled. "I want to know, Yoruichi, about the guy who trained me. Who is Urahara?"

"He's the former captain of Division 12 of the Gotei 13." She looked her new-found pupil in the eye. "Just the same as I was captain of the Second. On top of that, Kisuke founded the department of Research and Development and served as its first chief..." She smiled slightly at the look of shock on Ichigo's face.

"Wow, I had no idea you were such hotshots... you two make quite the couple." He made what he had thought was a simple statement, but knew he had gone wrong as soon as he observed the look of shock, and then slight anger, for reasons unknown to him, on her face.

"Who said we were a couple?" She snarled at the misinformed Human-Shinigami.

'Uhh... Little help, you guys?' He requested.

'I recommend apologizing, and assuring her that you meant no offense to her with your presumption.' The Old man advised. A logical suggestion.

'Squeeze her tits? Please? For me?' The Hollow spoke up, hopeful. Ichigo really doubted that would help, and so he ignored the advise.

'No. Ichigo, you should tell her...'

"I am sorry if I caused any offense, Yoruichi. I was certain that one as beautiful as yourself would have long since found and married the man, whomever that man may be, of your dreams. But I now understand that the very notion of you finding love with a mere mortal is laughable; compared to you, their truly is no other who could hope to be so deserving of the title of goddess." Yoruichi's eyes went wide, and she stared at Ichigo in shock. Now, had anyone else tried to flatter her as such, the ex-assassin would have laughed them off with ease, and teased them in return. Ichigo, though? As he said that, there was something in his voice... a complete honesty that reassured her somehow. That told her to believe him. And, if this had been any other time, to put her utmost faith in the strange man before her.

And so, Ichigo got to be the first one in well over a hundred years, perhaps ever, to see Yoruichi Shihoin light up like a lantern.


"Two days remain..." Yoruichi commented to herself, as she watched the sun rise. "Ichigo's progress... its amazing. I wish I knew just what it took to achieve the release... Urahara said he would need to subjugate the two of them in order to forcibly gain it. But two of them? I don't know if he can do it." Her brow creased into a frown. "We had a 25 day grace peiod when I gathered my information, before Rukia's execution... and we've used up less than I had anticipated. Far less, in fact. But the cleaner distorted the time-line for us, so we now have 8 days left. The only thing is... any training I could do in that time would be largely useless to Ichigo. I know he can beat the Zanpakutos, but how long will it take?" She trailed off, a worried look on her face. "But... I believe Kisuke. He said that Ichigo's abilities were far greater than his own. Even if Ichigo has two enemies to face, I do believe that he will succeed."


"... tomorrow..." How strange it was that Ichigo only heard that single word. Yet he understood the conversation.

It made no sense, whatsoever for his ears, even if they were sensitive, to be so... selective. And even less for Ichigo's mind, not one of the others, nor one of the mysterious happenings that just... happened?

Renji had arrived mid way through one of Ichigo's clashes. They were too far away even for Spiritually enhanced ears to pich up the conversation between the redhead and Yoruichi; yet he did. Ordinarily, he would have wondered if that was a sign that his power was increasing. Whether he was nearing the completion of this.

But he didn't. His partners didn't, either. No, the two Zangetsus were staring, one visibly nervous, the other with the smallest of smirks, at their wielder, as his blade shook. Once more, he vanished.

"Sagh!" Renji said. Or at least, that was the closest Ichigo could come to understanding his noise. The tattood man was now pressed against a rocky wall, a hand wrapped around his throat.

"Did you just say... tomorrow? Tomorrow at noon?" Renji could have sworn the Ryoka's eyes were brown before. "Answer!"

"Ye-Yes." The, possibly ex, Lieutenant gasped out. That was when Rukia was, all of a sudden, set to be executed. The Red haired Shinigami dropped to the ground in a heap, just as he heard a slight buzz that he couldn't place. Had he seen Yoruichi's, it would have been clear that she could place it.

"Well then," Ichigo's garbled tone rang through the cabin. "We best kick this into high gear."


"Ichigo..." A stunned, former Captain of Squad 2 spoke, voice barely above a whisper. Next to her, an even more amazed Shinigami stared at the orange haired man's heavily bleeding form as he stumbled past them, his walk an uneven gate as he used immense willpower to stay standing.

He'd... Ichigo had terrified her. She was Yoruichi Shihoin; goddess of the Flash, greatest practitioner of Hoho in the history of the Soul Society, and she had been afraid. She considered crying, she considered screaming, she considered running to Ichigo and checking his wounds.

Then, she settled on an undignified giggle. Oh, she could not wait until Hiyori met him.

As Ichigo pitched forward, into the Hot Springs, she smirked; they would have time, now, to get that from where she left it. It would be fun. Maybe she'd even get to run into her old Protege. It would be nice to catch up.


"I still don't see why we need to fly." Ichigo commented, as he and Yoruichi appeared for an instant, stood atop one of the many buildings in the Seireitei. "How high can the execution stand be?" They vanished in a burst of Flash Step again.

"It isn't a matter if height." Yoruichi replied. "It would be fine, normally, to Shunpo to that height. But it is made of the same material that the outer wall is. Sekki Sekki stone disrupts the use of Spiritual powers; we would fail to reach the top without my Tentoken. Plus, unfortunately, at this point in time, it is a unique item. We have to get mine, else we won't succeed in your mission."

"Huh. That's a shame. I guess we'll have to be quick, right?" He glanced at the sun, partway through its rise to the peak. "Sorry 'bout sleeping so long, again." He said, sincerely, as they neared their destination. But was unprepared for the snort he got in return.

"I've got to say that I'm amazed you recovered as fast as you did. I would have been fine coming and getting it my self, you know." Ichigo simply shrugged. He might as well come along in case there was trouble. "I mean, seriously. Reitsu deprivation and blood loss are pretty serious. I still can't believe how... violent those two were. Especially the older one; he seemed calm and collected, but he stabbed you right through the chest. You could have died from a wound like that, Ichigo." She said, a concerned expression marring her normally cheerful face.

"I already said, Yoruichi. That was my fault. I didn't want to get Bankai unless I deserved it. Defeating them properly convinced me I was." Zangetsu really wasn't to blame.

"Yeah... I still think that-"

"Oh, look. Here we are. That's their symbol, right?" Ichigo pointed at a Pasque flower, and received a nod in return.

"That's right, Ichigo. You stop here. I will signal if I need you to intervene." The goddess of Flash vanished, and Ichigo shrugged, dropping to the ground to sit and wait. She didn't tell him the signal, but hopefully he would be able to tell what, exactly, that was.