I'm sorry for the late update everyone, but something came up last week. Anyway, I only said that I'd try to update every 3 weeks, I didn't promise anything. Anyway, without further ado, ENJOY!


Chapter 8:

Riser revealed

(Ichigo's bedroom):

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. Before he could do anything further, he heard Zangetsu's voice.

"Ichigo," called his zanpakto spirit.

"What is it Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked as he rose into a sitting position.

"About that," interrupted his inner hollow. "Me and the old man here have both agreed on something King."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"You should practice your fully hollowfied transformation," responded Zangetsu and his hollow at the same time.

Ichigo's eyes went wide for a second before he returned them to normal.

"Alright, just let me freshen up and have some breakfast first," he said whilst scratching the back of his head. He then proceeded to continue with his standard morning routine.

(Ichigo's training ground):

Ichigo stood in his soul reaper uniform. His zanpakto was laid down near a boulder ten metres away from him.

"Alright, so what do you want me to do?" he asked the two beings inside him.

"Simple Kingy!" his inner hollow stated in a mocking, teasing tone. "Just draw on your hollow power like you usually do."

"However," continued Zangetsu. "Draw out more than what comes and flows through automatically, otherwise you will simply end up with your mask."

"Aright, here goes," confirmed Ichigo.

Raising his right arm to his face, Ichigo swiped it down in a tearing fashion like he usually would. He felt his hollow power flow out in response.

"Now! Drag out more!" commanded his hollow.

Ichigo tapped into his hollow power. He was surprised to see that there was much more than what had come through to form his mask. Latching onto it mentally, he gripped it firmly and forcefully dragged a much greater quantity out into the flow.

Immediately, Ichigo felt his full body surge with dark power. Black spiritual power burst forth from his form and obscured him from view. After a second or two, it dispersed away, revealing Ichigo in his first fully hollowfied form.

It was the same form that he'd gone into against the visords when he was learning how to control his hollow powers. Like then, the clothing had been shredded away from his torso, exposing his moon-white, ripped abdomen, and the hole where his heart should be.

Raising his right hand up in front of his face, Ichigo stared at his chalk-coloured palm which had a tuft of red fur beneath it.

"You know, I always wondered what I looked like when I'm fully hollowfied," he said, his voice coming out how it usually did when he was hollowfied.

"Well done Ichigo," congratulated Zangetsu.

"Yeah, whatever. Now hurry and get moving before you get late for school," said his inner hollow in a sneering tone.

"Huh? Oh crap!" Ichigo exclaimed as he registered the statement. His hollowfied form dissolved into black spiritual pressure and vanished, how his mask did when he dismissed it.

Ichigo began running out of the training ground, switching to his uniform that he'd worn before coming down to practice. In his mind, he could hear his inner hollow laughing like a madman, whilst Zangetsu sighed in the background.

(Kuoh academy gates):

It had been a few days since Ichigo's trip to the familiar forest with the Gremory peerage. He smiled as he remembered meeting Kuro and the small, timid fragment that was like his (Kuro's) pet.

Thankfully, he wasn't late since he ran to make up for lost time. He walked past the gates and through the school grounds along with the mass of other students.

(School field):

Ichigo was sitting on a bench, having just finished his lunch. It had only consisted of rice and simple curry, but it still tasted quite good. In fact, some people would say it wasn't possible for such simple food to taste that good.

'Hmm, maybe I should buy a few books and learn how to actually cook. I don't want to just eat simple food for the rest of my life,' thought Ichigo.

He became aware of someone calling him

"Ichigo-san!"

Turning his head in the direction of the sound, he saw Kiba, Issei and Asia walking towards him.

"Ichigo-san, buchou asked me to call you," said Kiba.

"What's wrong?" asked the orange-haired teen as he scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know," replied Kiba apologetically. "She didn't say. I just told to ask you if you could help her."

Ichigo thought things over for a few seconds.

"I suppose as long as this doesn't become a regular thing," he murmured. "Alright, lead the way," he told Kiba as he stood up.

(ORC clubroom):

When they reached the door, Kiba suddenly tensed as he grasped the door handle. Ichigo heard him mutter something about presence and for him to not have felt it. His curiosity piqued, Ichigo actively sweeped the clubroom with his senses. His widened at what he felt.

'Whoa, there's someone who's at least captain-class in there,' he thought.

Kiba opened the door and they all stepped into the room. Inside were Rias, Akeno and a lady with silver hair who was dressed like a French maid. The atmosphere was tense, and Ichigo could tell that Akeno's smile was more due to habit, or force, as opposed to being natural.

"Ah, good. You're all here, even Ichigo, thank for agreeing," greeted Rias.

The silver-haired maid spoke up. "Miss Rias, do you want me to explain the situation to them, or shall you do it yourself?"

"No, it's fine Grayfia, I'll tell them myself," Rias responded. She turned to face the others. "You see-" she began, but was cut off by the large magic circle on the floor activating without warning.

The symbol in the centre of the circle changed shape, and flames seemed to spew out from it. Then, from the centre, there was a large blast of flame. Once it died out, there was someone there. He was wearing a maroon tuxedo, with the blazer left open and a few buttons of his dress shirt undone. He had blond hair and one of those bad boy/playboy auras.

'For some reason, I feel like I hate this guy already,' thought Ichigo. 'I have a gut instinct that he's worse than ten Byakuyas, with each having a six-foot pole shoved up his ass.' However, outwardly he kept a neutral expression.

"Hmm... the human world," said the man. "It's been a while." He then looked to Rias. "My lovely Rias, I've come to see you," he said in what Ichigo guessed was supposed to be an elegant tone, but for some reason made him clench his fists.

Rias responded by turning her head away from him.

"Get lost Riser," Rias said coldly.

"My my, cold as always. It doesn't matter. Come, we need to see the hall for our engagement."

Issei interrupted before anything further could be said.

"Hey, who do you think you are?! You're being rude to buchou!"

Riser turned to look at him with a displeased face. "And you are?"

Issei put his fist over his chest proudly. "Rias Gremory's pawn, Issei Hyodou!"

"I see," said Riser with complete uninterest as he turned back to Rias.

Issei face-vaulted, then got straight back up. "What the hell?! I mean, who the hell are you anyway?!"

Riser seemed to become genuinely astonished at that question.

"What? There are devils who don't know about me?" he said in disbelief.

Ichigo sweat-dropped at that. 'Just how big is this guy's ego?'

Riser looked Issei over. "I see, a reincarnated devil, but even then. Rias, haven't you told your servants about me?"

"There was no need to," said Rias simply.

The silver-haired maid, Grayfia was the one who gave him an answer. "Allow me to explain .This man is Riser Phenex, he is a pure-blood high-class devil and the heir to the Phenex clan. He is also the fiancé to the current heiress of the Gremory clan."

Issei's face became one of pure shock.

"Th-the current heir of the Gremory clan?" he repeated. "Wait, don't tell me he's..."

"Yes," confirmed Grayfia. "He is Miss Rias' fiancé."

"Fiancé?!" exclaimed Issei.

'I see,' thought Ichigo. 'So he's her betrothed, huh? But, from the looks of things I'd say that Rias hates his guts,' he observed.

Riser and Rias were sitting on one of the sofas, the one closer to the windows. Everyone else was either sitting or standing behind the opposite sofa. The atmosphere was still tense. Rather, it felt highly volatile, as though it was just begging for the trigger.

Riser took a sip of tea from the teacup he was holding.

"Ah, the tea made by Rias' queen is excellent as always," he complimented.

"Thank you," replied Akeno, but it lacked her usual cheerfulness. She then walked away from him.

Riser began to play with Rias' hair and blatantly feel her body. And it was obvious that she wasn't enjoying it. Ichigo was mustering every bit of self-control that he possessed to prevent himself from literally taking the guy's hands off her and possibly beat the crap out of him for good measure.

"Please leave me alone," said Rias, clearly displeased as she stood up. "Riser, I've told you many times before, I have no intention of marrying you."

Riser smirked. "But your family will be destroyed if you don't take a husband. Do you really intend to destroy one of the remaining seventy-two pillars?" he countered.

Rias turned to face him. "I won't destroy my family," she said firmly. Riser seemed to get happy at that. "But who I marry is my choice," continued Rias.

"Pure-blooded devils decreased greatly in number after the last war," Riser stated. "That's a problem that affects all devils. Your father and Sirzechs-sama thoroughly thought our engagement over."

Rias turned away from him once again ."My brother and everyone else in the family, they're all far too worried over nothing. I won't say this again Riser." She turned to face him. "I will never marry you."

Riser stood up, an annoyed expression on his face. He held Rias' chin with his right hand.

"Listen Rias," he said. "I'm the next heir of the Phenex family, I won't allow that title to be tarnished." He looked at the others. In the next second, flames burst to life around him "Even if it means burning all your peerage members to ashes, I'll drag you back to the underworld with me."

Rias' eyes began to glow red.

Suddenly, everyone felt a brief wave of (immense) pressure wash over them, completely extinguishing the flames and shocking everyone. Then, Riser began to feel the pressure being focused on himself.

"What did you say you'd do again, bird-brain?" Ichigo inquired, glaring at said low-life piece of playboy trash.

"You dare to speak up to me, boy?" Riser demanded arrogantly.

"Yeah, got a problem with that, you over grilled turkey?"

Everyone was surprised by Ichigo's retaliation, except Issei, who was too stupid to fully understand what was going on.

"Why you!" snarled Riser

"Everyone please stop, or I will be forced to take action," said Grayfia. "I am here on orders from Sirzechs-sama. I won't allow my king's honour to be tarnished."

Riser immediately backed down and stepped away.

"For the 'Ultimate Queen' to say that, even I'd be scared," he commented.

Ichigo backed down more out of respect for the authority that the woman seemed to have, as well as because Riser had backed down first.

Grayfia continued. "My masters foresaw that something like this would happen, so they arranged something as a last resort."

"Last resort?" asked Rias. "What do you mean Grayfia?"

"If Miss Rias was to still vehemently oppose the engagement, they suggested having a rating game to settle things once and for all," the maid explained.

"A rating game?" questioned Rias. She then became visibly annoyed. "Just how much do they plan to interfere with my life?"

"So, am I to understand that you are rejecting the rating game?" asked Grayfia.

"No," refuted Rias. "This is a chance. I'll take it."

"Rating game?" Ichigo heard Issei muse to himself. "I've heard that somewhere before..." his eyes then widened as he recalled Sona mentioning it before. "Oh yeah, the student council president mentioned it before."

Kiba began to explain to Issei what a rating game was and Ichigo listened in as well whilst keeping watch on Rias and Riser.

Riser gained a smug look. He shifted his gaze to Rias.

"I've taken part in many rating games and won most of them too. You, however, have no experience whatsoever, or even a full set of servants. Do you still intend to take me on?"

Rias smirked. "This is a chance for me to be free. I'll blow you away Riser!"

Riser smiled haughtily. He pointed to the others.

" By the way Rias, would they happen to be all your servants?" he asked mockingly.

"All of them apart from me are her peerage members," Ichigo interrupted.

"It's like he said," confirmed Rias. "All of them apart from Ichigo are my servants, why?"

Riser laughed heartily.

"Hah, this is going to be even easier than I thought! Of all your servants, only your queen, the 'Priestess of thunder' can fight on par with my adorable servants." He clicked his fingers. "Behold, these are my adorable fifteen."

The magic circle lit up again and flames swirled out, revealing fifteen feminine figures. The flames died down, showing Riser's peerage clearly.

Ichigo face palmed.

'Are you freaking serious?!' he thought. 'This guy has a peerage full of girls only? He's a worse playboy than I originally thought!'

Issei, on the other hand, was moved to the verge of tears. Riser noticed this and seemed to become rather unsettled.

"Hey, Rias, your servant here seems to be lusting after me," he informed her.

Rias sighed. "It's his dream to become a harem king one day."

Riser calmed down and smirked.

"Gross," remarked one of his peerage members, who Ichigo noticed/ thought looked awfully similar to Riser.

"Now, now," chided Riser. "It's only natural for those of low-class to admire those who are high-class. Let's show him how close we are." He motioned one of his servants, who seemed to be dressed in some sort of highly revealing sorceress outfit, to come forward. "Yubelluna."

Riser then proceeded to intensely make-out with her, making her moan. Issei seemed to become a mixture of aggravated and jealous, whilst Rias and the rest of her peerage looked away in disgust. Ichigo could barely hold himself back from just going up to the snob and pummelling him into the ground.

Riser pulled his lips away from his servant's and smirked at Issei.

"This is something that you'll never be able to do," he said whilst stroking her hair with one hand and groping her with the other.

That remark sent Issei over the edge.

"Damn it! Don't say what I was thinking you were trying to say!" he shouted. Raising his left arm, he summoned his boosted gear, catching Ichigo's attention. "Forget the rating game! I'll beat you all up right here and now!"

Issei then charged at Riser. When he was a few feet away, he leaped into the air. The stuck-up devil simply closed his eyes and called one of his peerage members.

"Mira."

A little girl with blue hair who was wearing a kimono-like outfit rushed forth. She was armed with a staff and was preparing to strike Issei with it. But the hit never landed.

Before anyone could even register what happened, Ichigo was in front of her, one hand grasping her staff firmly. With the other hand, he caught the air-borne Issei without looking and (gently) threw him back, causing him to land on the sofa.

Glaring at the girl, Mira, he spoke in a cold, merciless tone.

"What a pathetic excuse for a stick," he stated, causing her to unintentionally flinch as a shiver ran up her spine. "Get lost," he ordered as he released her staff. "All of you."

Riser scowled at Ichigo's interference. Then, he began to smile.

"Say, Rias. Why don't we make this game a little more interesting? How about I give you and your peerage ten days to train?" he proposed.

"Are you trying to give us a handicap?" Rias asked angrily.

"Do you find it insulting. I've seen many high-class devils who had great potential, but couldn't use their servants' power properly, so they failed. I'll give you ten days to learn how to use your servants to the fullest, that should make things more entertaining." He then looked to Issei. "Boosted gear, huh? A sacred that's said to be able to kill even a god or maou. However, there's never been a case of the owner doing such. Why do you think that is? It's because the sacred gear is flawed! Then there's you. You must be the weakest out of all the previous wielders."

Riser and his peerage walked to the centre of the magic circle. Looking back over his shoulder, he spoke to Issei.

"Remember, boy, as Rias' pawn, whatever you do will reflect upon her. Your loss is her loss." They all vanished in the next second.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief, except for Ichigo and Grayfia. A flash of inspiration hit him.

"Grayfia-san, was it?" he called out. "Could I ask you for a favour?"

"Yes," Grayfia agreed.

"Could you please check if there's any loop in the rating game system that would allow an outsider to participate."

"I will look into it. Is there anything else?"

"No."

"Very well, I shall now take my leave." She then teleported out using the magic circle.

Ichigo turned around to face the others.

"I'm going to come with you guys on your training trip. If in the case that I can't help you in the match, at least I'll have helped you in your training."

Rias', and pretty much everyone else's eyes widened at the spiky-haired teen's statement.

"Thank you," said Rias gratefully. "But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you doing this for us?"

"Let's just say that I don't agree with forced marriages at all. Plus, that guy is the kind of person that I totally hate. I want to personally kick his ass and teach him a lesson."

"Heh heh," chuckled Ichigo's inner hollow. "Looks like things are really gonna heat up around here, literally."

Ichigo gave a slight nod in agreement.

OMAKE:

Ichigo was walking through the park by himself. It was mid-afternoon, but there wasn't another soul in sight. Also, the silence felt oppressive and awkward.

Without any warning, uncountable dark blue, void-like portals opened up around him. Out came things unlike anything he'd ever seen. Their bottom half possessed six, insect-like legs and seemed to be composed of some sort of metallic substance. Their upper half was cobalt-blue and looked like some sort of severely disfigured, humanoid(ish) being. Their mouths were lined with numerous, razor-sharp teeth.

"What the?" exclaimed Ichigo. He switched to his soul reaper uniform and grabbed Zangetsu's hilt, preparing for battle.

Suddenly, he felt a stopping/ pulsing sensation. Next thing he knew, all the weird creatures were falling to the ground. They'd been sliced apart. Looking ahead, he saw someone coming towards him.

He was wearing some sort of cloak over himself and had a scarf wrapped around his lower face and most of his head, leaving a few areas where his platinum-blond, spiky hair was exposed. His eyes were overshadowed by his hair. His clothes and hair were gently blowing in a non-existent wind.

"Who... are you?" Ichigo asked as the young man drew closer.

"I am 'The Wanderer'," he replied as he walked past. "Someone you shall never need to remember, nor should you want to." He then carried on walking away until he was out of sight.


And that's the end folks. Sorry, I know it's a bit of a boring chapter and you guys have probably been let down, BUT the action should resume from the next chapter.

BTW, has anyone seen/ heard of an anime called 'Tokyo Ghoul'? It's seriously awesome!