A/N: Welcome back, everyone! I present to you chapter eight! And, yes, more fighting is on the way! LOL Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine. The unfamiliar characters are.

Soul Mates

Chapter 8: One Step Closer

Rukia blocked her opponent's dagger with her sword once again. She had to admit, considering his injury, he was fighting well. But he was only fighting with an ordinary dagger – especially now that he seemed to have run out of explosives. And she wasn't particularly in the mood to drag the fight out any longer than necessary.

It's time to end this, she decided silently as Hyouta attempted to push her back. She braced her feet, locked her knees, tightened her grip on the hilt of her zanpakutou, and called, "Some no Mai – Tsukishiro!"

As she called out her attack she swung her sword, forcing Hyouta back slightly and giving her plenty of room to move out of the way. She offered him a smirk before leaping backwards, taking herself well out of the way of her attack.

Hyouta watched her with wide, startled eyes, but his gaze drifted when he realized that the ground beneath his feet was suddenly glowing. The glow was made all the brighter by the darkening sky above them. And then the temperature inside the glowing circle suddenly dropped, and he knew he needed to move.

Rukia watched as her opponent finally caught on and made to dive out of the range of Tsukishiro. He threw himself to the side, the upper half of his body easily clearing the attack radius, but he didn't quite move fast enough. He landed heavily, on his injured shoulder, and cried out in pain before he'd even realized that both of his feet were encased in solid ice.

Hyouta took several deep breaths before finally lifting his eyes to glare at Rukia. His feet were frozen and now he was a sitting duck – especially since he'd dropped his dagger inside the circle of ice. "You bitch!" he snarled angrily.

"Go ahead and call me names if it makes you feel better," Rukia replied, holding her sword at her side. "It won't change the fact that you've lost."

"Has he?" another male voice asked almost immediately.

Rukia turned, startled, and her eyes widened when she recognized Hyouta's associate, Arashi, standing only a few paces away. She had assumed that the larger man had been thoroughly defeated when the unknown woman had taken over his fight with Ichigo, but apparently the woman had only been impatient.

And then Arashi surged forward, aimed not for her but for his comrade.

Rukia could only watch as Arashi's fist slammed into the ice over Hyouta's feet, thereby freeing him.

Arashi stepped back, helped Hyouta to his feet, and then both men turned to properly face Rukia. Hyouta took a moment to brush some crumbling ice from his shoes and ankles, but otherwise he seemed to have recovered from the pain of his less-than-controlled landing.

Grinning threateningly at Rukia, Arashi cracked his knuckles and said, "So, how about we finish this, huh?"

"Yeah," Hyouta added confidently, "and maybe we'll take that zanpakutou of yours as a trophy after you're dead."

Rukia braced herself, glaring at the men across from her. She knew she could defeat them both, but she also knew it wouldn't be easy fighting them simultaneously.

"Well, well," a familiar, unexpected male voice suddenly called from Rukia's left. The three combatants turned their attention toward the speaker even as he added, "What have we here?"

Rukia's eyes widened in surprise when she recognized one of Renji's closest friends, Ikkaku Madarame, standing several feet away. "Ikkaku?" she asked incredulously.

Ikkaku was standing faux-casually, his sheathed sword balanced across his shoulders, as he watched them. His eyes were mostly focused on the two men standing opposite Rukia. "You intend to fight her two-on-one, do you?"

"What's it to you, Soul Reaper?" Arashi called defensively, hands still fisted at his sides.

Eyes narrowing slightly, Ikkaku replied, "Well, it just so happens that I have this rule about fighting: battles should always be fought one-on-one. And since you interrupted their fight, you're the lucky bastard who gets to fight me."

Ikkaku cut a glance toward Rukia, then, and asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

With a slight shake of her head, Rukia replied, "Not at all."

"Fine," Arashi declared, "I'll fight you."

Ikkaku broke into a broad grin and removed his sword from his shoulders as he said, "Good."


"How interesting," Kisuke Urahara declared thoughtfully after Yoruichi finished explaining the situation to him. They were gathered in his preferred meeting room, sitting around the large, round table, and they were joined by Ichigo's father, who had asked to be present when and if any information was discovered.

Isshin was wide-eyed after Yoruichi's revelation and, after a long beat, he switched his gaze to Urahara and asked, "How is something like that even possible?"

Kisuke's fan snapped open silently and, once it was covering the majority of his face, the shopkeeper replied, "I'm honestly not sure! This is something I've never heard of!"

"Then what are we going to do about it?" Isshin asked, ignoring the older man's odd behavior. "It certainly can't be healthy for either one of them."

Taking a deep breath, Urahara lowered the fan and dropped Isshin's gaze before he responded, "I don't think we should do anything until I've done a little research on the subject. But, it's important that we all keep in mind that this is Ichigo we're talking about! And we all know he's a magnet for strange things!"

"Yes, he certainly is," Isshin agreed on a sigh. He returned his glare to Urahara after a second and added, "But it's Orihime I'm worried about mostly, anyway."

"Are you sure about that?" Urahara asked mysteriously, fan in place once more as he held Isshin's gaze. "Her safety might be the one in the most jeopardy, but you know Ichigo well enough to know that if something were to happen to Orihime…. Well, I doubt I need to spell it out for you."

Isshin's eyes hardened. "That's exactly my point. So let me know if I can help at all."

"Of course, of course," Urahara assured him, waving the fan in his direction dismissively. "I'll let you know when we find something useful!"


"You shouldn't be worrying about your friend in the middle of a fight," Ichigo's opponent – who had since identified herself as Sayuri Komine – taunted as she swung her sword toward his head.

Ichigo blocked her swing with his own sword and glared at her. "And you shouldn't be worrying about whether or not I'm distracted," he returned pointedly.

The truth was, he had been distracted for a moment – but it wasn't with worry. He'd been distracted with surprise when he'd heard Ikkaku's unmistakable laughter. And it had been a fleeting distraction, because, like it or not, he had to acknowledge that Sayuri was a capable fighter.

Sayuri pushed back, using his own strength as a springboard to launch herself several feet backwards, and landed gracefully with her sword at her side. She held her sword casually in her left hand as she declared, "I tire of this fight."

Knowing she wasn't about to surrender, Ichigo tightened his hold on Zangetsu's hilt. "That could be a problem for you," he said.

"I was thinking exactly the opposite, actually," Sayuri replied. She raised her left hand slowly and reached out with her right, grabbing the tip of the blade as she called, "Take aim and fly."

As she spoke she began bending the blade of her sword backwards, pulling it in toward her body as if it were made of thin rubber, and then the sword began to glow. The hilt, still held firmly in her left hand, elongated and curved into a familiar shape, and the blade broke into three even, slim pieces. The ends of those pieces were suddenly pulling against an almost-invisible cord that was connected to either end of what had once been the hilt.

Her sword had transformed flawlessly into a bow, complete with three very solid and pointy arrows.

It was an interesting sight to see, but Ichigo was far from impressed. Hell, I bet Uryuu would be insulted, he reflected, his lips twitching in a smirk. "Nice trick," he called, "but how's your aim?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Sayuri suggested darkly. Without another word she let the arrows fly.

They were aimed straight at him, slicing rapidly through the air. If they connected there would be one for his head, one for his throat, and one for his chest. But he had no intention of letting them get so close.

Still, he wanted to know if they were just arrows, or if they did something sneaky once they connected – like explode, or release some sort of gas. So instead of counterattacking, Ichigo flash-stepped to the side, reappearing in the air.

The arrows struck the ground just slightly behind where he'd been standing and, after a brief pause, they exploded in bursts of controlled spiritual pressure.

That's what I thought, Ichigo reflected.

"Your instincts are impressive," Sayuri complimented. She turned as she spoke, already pulling another set of three arrows into the ready position. She angled her bow, then, and added, "Truly, it's a shame we didn't meet under better circumstances. I think I could have liked you."

"Spare me," Ichigo grunted before he wrapped his left hand around Zangetsu's hilt again and called, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Sayuri released her next volley of arrows into his getsuga, triggering an explosion before it reached her even as she moved out of the way. But when she came up from her crouch she was chanting something that was lost to Ichigo's ears, though he figured it out when a ball of red energy began building in front of her newest set of arrows.

She can combine kidou with her zanpakutou? Ichigo realized, eyes wide. It was an interesting trick – and one that could certainly cause damage.

The word "Shakkaho," barely reached his ears before she released her arrows and her kidou. The combined technique soared toward him, the bulk of the dangerous fireball just inches ahead of the explosive arrows.

Ichigo glared into the attack and called, "Shiten Koushun." If she wanted to play it that way, she was going to have to up her game.

The attack slammed into the newly-formed shield and, after barely a second, everything exploded outward in a rush of heat and unstable spiritual pressure.

Ichigo lost sight of his opponent – as well as the alley they'd been fighting in – for several seconds as the smoke rolled through. The resulting explosion had taken a good chunk out of the ground and even out of the surrounding walls.

And then Sayuri emerged, coughing faintly, as she leapt onto the ledge of a wall slightly behind the newly-destroyed section. She landed in a crouch, still holding tightly to her bow and glaring up at Ichigo angrily.

The explosion had destroyed most of her cloak, leaving only her collar and shoulders still obscured, while the outfit she had on beneath was now fully exposed. She was wearing a tight, tank-top styled dark blue top that didn't quite cover her mid-section and an ankle-length white skirt with slits up to her thighs on both sides. Her legs were covered by black thigh-high leggings and her feet were enclosed in equally-black boots.

"That's an interesting kidou," Sayuri called, still crouched on the wall.

The shield vanished at Ichigo's silent command and he narrowed his eyes at his opponent. "That wasn't kidou," he replied easily. "But while we're on the subject, how is it you know kidou?"

Glaring at him, Sayuri replied, "My brother was a Soul Reaper. He taught me kidou after he taught me how to use my zanpakutou."

Arching an eyebrow, Ichigo asked, "Did he also teach you how to break into the Seireitei?"

"No," she said firmly, "I figured that out on my own after he died." She pushed to her feet, then, and pulled the nearly-invisible string back on her bow. As three more arrows formed between her hands, she added, "But enough about me. I'm afraid you're going to have to die."

"And here I thought you wanted to take me hostage," Ichigo declared calmly.

"I'll find another way to get what I want," Sayuri assured him. Without another word she once again released her arrows. This time, however, as soon as they were in-flight, she brought her hands together and called, "Bakudo number four: Hainawa!" A thin, yellow-gold rope suddenly shot out, curving around her arrows and latching onto Ichigo's right wrist tightly.

Ichigo looked down at the low-level bakudo that was attempting to hold him in place. She was clearly trying to stop him from escaping her attack. Fine, he decided silently. There was more than one way to avoid her arrows; and hainawa only prevented him from pulling away.

Smirking, Ichigo kicked off of the air and surged forward, dropping beneath the arrows at the last possible second. As they arched harmlessly over his head he wrapped his other hand around Zangetsu's hilt, using the loosened grip of the bakudo to his advantage and following it back to its source.

Sayuri watched with surprised eyes as Ichigo appeared in front of her, swinging his large sword violently and completely disregarding the bakudo that was still attaching them. She only barely managed to block his swing with the bow of her own zanpakutou, but he still managed to push her back. And when her concentration shifted the bakudo that was connecting them shattered.

But then she realized that he was right there – far too close to dodge properly – and she had the perfect opportunity. His zanpakutou was pressed up against her bow, so she held it in place and pulled her right hand back once more. Three more arrows formed, draining a little more of her spiritual pressure, and she smirked up at him. "Idiot," she taunted.

Ichigo realized too late what she meant, and he cursed himself for not considering that possibility. By the time the arrows were released from her grip, they were piercing into his chest and stomach. Crap! he thought fleetingly even as Sayuri vanished in a flash-step.

And then the arrows exploded, knocking him forcefully off of the ledge of the wall and slamming him into the ground as they tore into his flesh. Pain almost immediately surged through him as he rolled, out of control, several feet back.

He felt like he could barely breathe, and he hurt everywhere. His whole body was throbbing and sore and his chest felt like it was on fire when he finally came to a stop, lying on his back and eyes squeezed shut. Fuck, he cursed silently as he tried to push past the pain.

"'Idiot' was right," his hollow groaned, irritation overflowing from his words.

"Ichigo!" Orihime cried, her voice nearly overshadowing the hollow's.

"I'll be fine," Ichigo grunted on reflex, forgetting for a moment that she was probably acutely aware of how much that attack had taken out of him. And then another thought struck him, and his eyes snapped open even as he asked, "Are you hurt?" He realized he didn't actually know if they could feel his pain, or if they just knew that he was in pain.

"No, of course not," Orihime assured him, her voice laced with concern. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying again.

Relief had barely settled over him when his opponent stepped into his line of sight, her reloaded bow aimed straight for his head.

"This game is over, Ichigo Kurosaki," she declared evenly. "Perhaps in another life you and I will be able to fight alongside each other, instead of against each other."

Glaring up at her as his eyes focused, Ichigo grunted, "And maybe in another life I'll just let my hollow eat you."

As he'd expected, his strange comment caught her off-guard, and her eyes widened slightly as she asked, "Your what?"

Ichigo used the opportunity to flash-step away from her, ignoring the pain of his still-bleeding chest, and reappeared behind her calling, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Sayuri barely turned in time to see his attack coming, and though she managed to leap out of the way of the majority of it, she caught enough to be slammed into the wall behind her.

Ichigo landed on his feet, one hand coming up to clench over his chest.

Damn, he thought as he noticed how much blood covered his hand when he pulled it away. That explosion had taken a nice chunk out of him; his vision was blurry around the edges and it was still disturbingly hard to breathe. Guess I don't have much choice.

Dropping to one knee and bracing his weight on Zangetsu, Ichigo closed his eyes and summoned Orihime's Souten Kisshun. He hated the idea of having to use it before the fight was finished, but he couldn't let his opponent defeat him, and the hard truth was that she was in much better shape to continue the fight than he was.

For a moment, as the dome began reversing his wounds, Ichigo could have sworn he felt Orihime's hands on his back, supporting and reassuring him.

But then the feeling was gone, replaced with her voice and a warning. "Ichigo, look out!"

Ichigo's head snapped up and he realized that Sayuri had gotten back to her feet already. She was standing a few feet from him and, as he looked up, she released another set of arrows.

He knew Orihime's powers well enough to know that her Souten Kisshun wasn't meant to stand up to an attack of that level, and trapped as he was beneath the dome he could only think of one way to fight back. So again he summoned her newest shield, and the Shiten Koushun materialized just in time to save him from her arrows.

The explosion took out another chunk of wall, but Sayuri had obviously recognized the shield, as she had immediately vanished in a flash-step when it formed.

"Thanks," he called silently, knowing she would hear him. Her warming smile filled him a heartbeat later.

As soon as he could breathe properly again – and his chest was no longer bleeding – Ichigo dissolved the golden dome and pushed to his feet, swinging Zangetsu out to disperse the lingering smoke.

"Well, isn't that convenient," Sayuri said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she moved into his line of sight again. "I guess I'll have to kill you outright if I want your wounds to stick."

"Good luck with that," Ichigo returned, bringing Zangetsu before him and wrapping both hands around the hilt. "Let's end this."

"With pleasure," Sayuri replied, lifting her zanpakutou and once again pulling back on the string. Her lips continued moving, but this time the words didn't carry to his ears, and again a ball of explosive energy began forming in the air before her arrows.

"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Ichigo called, recognizing the kidou as one of Rukia's favorites. And then inspiration struck, and he didn't bother containing his smirk. There was something he had always been curious to try, but never willing to risk. Something he could try now without needing to worry about that risk.

So he waited until her attack had formed, and she had called, "Sokatsui!" Her arrows, and the bright blue energy of the kidou, were arcing through the air, headed straight for him. She was standing calmly, assured of her victory.

"Shiten Koushun," he said quietly. The shield reformed in the air even as he vanished in a flash-step, moving around behind his opponent.

Sayuri's eyes widened when she recognized the shield, but before she could dodge she realized that he was already behind her, and she spun, intending to block his swing. But he was several feet back and already swinging.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo called as he brought Zangetsu down heavily.

Sayuri attempted to counter the getsuga with a kidou even as her other attack slammed into the Shiten Koushun.

Ichigo's attack tore through her kidou mercilessly and crashed into her at the same time as her original attack was thrown back at her.

Ichigo flash-stepped out of the way of the large explosion, landing on a section of the wall just slightly behind the shield. As he'd known it would, his getsuga collided with the returned attack and pushed it back into the shield, which again exploded outward. And, as the dust settled, he had his answer.

The Shiten Koushun held firm, shimmering under the moonlight.

"Orihime," Ichigo called silently as he strapped Zangetsu over his back. He kept his gaze on the shield, knowing she'd be able to see it, and added, "I want you to remember this the next time you decide to think you're weaker than the rest of us. You saw what I threw at that shield, and I'm sure you can see now that it's not even flickering."

Orihime watched, through her chosen window, and found herself speechless. She had always secretly wanted to test her shield against his Getsuga Tenshou, but she had known better than to even ask. And now that she had her answer she would have been lying to say she was anything less than proud. Her shield had withstood Ichigo's attack.

Sensing her almost-hesitant surge of pride and excitement, Ichigo smirked again and added, "I tell you what. If you promise not to stand directly behind it, I'll even test it against my bankai after we get you back to yourself." It was an easy promise to make. If he could get her strong enough – or confirm that she was strong enough – to withstand his strongest attack, then he might actually be able to talk himself into worrying less. Slightly less, at least.

Slowly, Orihime replied, "I look forward to it."

Satisfied not only with her answer but also with her new sense of pride, Ichigo turned his attention outward once more and looked around for his opponent.

Sayuri was on the ground, having been thrown several paces away and to the side, and was obviously unconscious. Her zanpakutou had reverted to its sword from and was resting on the ground near where she had previously been standing. She probably needed medical attention, but Ichigo wasn't worried. And he certainly wasn't going to waste Orihime's powers on her.

So he turned and looked around for Rukia and Ikkaku. His fight had taken him farther away from theirs than he'd realized, but he caught sight of them soon enough as they made their way toward him. He wasn't surprised to see that their fights had ended already.

"Yo, Ichigo!" Ikkaku called with a grin, lifting one hand in a lazy wave.

"What's up, Ikkaku?" Ichigo called back, returning the gesture. "You guys okay?"

Rukia cocked an eyebrow at him. "We're better than you, that's for sure," she replied.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, knowing she was probably right. He'd only bothered to heal the gaping wound in his chest, but that hadn't been his only injury. "Are you implying something?" he returned reflexively.

"Yeah," Rukia declared, crossing her arms. "You look terrible. It's a good thing Orihime can't see you or she'd be giving you that look."

"I'm not that bad," Ichigo defended even as Orihime's self-conscious laughter drifted around in his head. Rukia gave him a pointed look, arching her eyebrows, and he sighed. "Alright, I can take a hint," he said even as he begrudgingly sat down on the concrete.

As Orihime's Souten Kisshun formed over Ichigo, Ikkaku's eyes narrowed in thought and he asked, "So it's true, then?"

Ichigo looked over to his friend. "What's true?"

"I told him about your situation," Rukia confessed as her arms fell back to her sides.

Understanding the question, Ichigo took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, it's true."

Ikkaku's lips twitched and he declared, "Then it's a good thing for you that my Captain's not around right now. You know he'd love to fight you with all that extra power."

Ichigo cringed visibly. He hadn't even considered that option, but he was suddenly immensely grateful for Kenpachi Zaraki's absence. The battle-loving Captain always seemed to want to fight Ichigo, but he was sure it would be ten times worse if the larger man knew Ichigo was currently host to a whole new set of powers.

Inside him, Ichigo felt Orihime cringe, too.

"Don't wanna test your shields against Kenpachi, huh?" Ichigo teased.

Orihime's voice was sheepish as she replied, "Not particularly. He's sort of scary when he fights."

Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at her words. He whole-heartedly agreed with the statement, even if he wasn't actually afraid of Kenpachi anymore.

One eyebrow high on his reflective forehead, Ikkaku asked, "What's so funny?"

Ichigo blinked, not realizing he'd been laughing aloud, and stared up at his friend as he tried to find a non-embarrassing response.

Renji's teasing voice interrupted as he called, "He was probably just flirting with Orihime again."

"Renji," Rukia called, a warning in her voice as she turned to look over at him.

Ichigo did his best to ignore the heat suddenly flooding his face as he glared at the tattooed man. "Don't make me kill you," he warned pointedly.

Smirking now, Renji came to a stop beside Rukia and declared, "You don't look all that threatening right now."

Sighing pointedly, Rukia reached up and latched onto Renji's ear. She ignored Renji's outcry of pain as she said, "Never mind him. We need to wait here until the intruders are rounded up, and then we'll probably have to go back to Squad One for another meeting."

Ichigo deflated and looked away, glaring at the ground. "Yeah, I know," he said. Rukia was right, of course, but he intended to leave the Seireitei as soon as everything was settled.

Provided another enemy didn't crop up in the next couple of hours, Soul Society could handle the rest without him.

To Be Continued…

A/N: One more chapter in the history books! And now we're getting sooo close to the answer to the mystery! But I'll give no hints, so you're just going to have to keep reading! And, maybe, in the meanwhile, you could tell me what you thought of this chapter? You know, before you go off and read the next one! ^_~