Chapter 10

I own nothing

Heller spoke a little Japanese as a minor interest to learn other languages and knew that Shinigami translated to Death God. He also knew the legends of Shinigami as gods of death that lead souls to the next life.

"Oh great. So since I can see you, I take it you're here to lead me to the next life?"

The woman, Rukia, laughed as if she found this funny.

"No. As much as I'm sure you wish you were dead, you aren't. As for the reason you can see us, I'm not sure how that's possible."

Ichigo looked a little irritated.

"Rukia, sometimes you really amaze me on how you insist you're smart, yet act so dumb."

"WHAT? WHAT ABOUT YOU ? YOU NEVER STOP TO THINK, JUST BARAGE RIGHT IN."

"HEY I THINK THINGS THROUGH SOMETIMES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"OH YES, IN THE TIME I'VE KNOW YOU, YOU HAVE THOUGHT EXACTLY ONE THING THROUGH, AND THAT'S WHAT TO WEAR FOR THE DAY."

Heller watched the exchange silently, but raised an eyebrow. This seemed like something they did on a regular basis. It seemed amazing they hadn't already come to blows.

That thought was interrupted as Rukia went and kicked Ichigo in the shin causing him to yelp and hop on one leg. He recovered quickly and went to give her a knock on the head in retaliation. Heller quickly moved and caught the punch. He gave a violent jolt as he felt the force behind it. It felt like stopping a sledge hammer.

Ichigo looked at him in surprise. Not many things could stop a hit like that, even if he hadn't put much in it.

"Maybe you need to blow off some steam, but don't pick on people weaker then you."

Ichigo bought back his hand and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You're right. Besides we need to get going, Rukia, the others are probably getting nervous."

She nodded. She turned and quickly began looking for their friend's sprit energy.

Ichigo seeing her looking said "No don't bother I got it."

He closed his eyes and launched out a pulse that was his Pesquisa. It traveled far and then rebounded, giving Ichigo the exact location of his friends.

"Got them. Let's go"

He turned to Heller. He had seen how he ran from the base, and knew that it might be good to help him get used to his new speed and strength.

"You up for a run?"

Heller nodded. "Sure but you want to race? I want to see the fastest I can go, and I do better with competition."

Ichigo got an evil grin. Oh was Heller in for a surprise.

"They're at the intersection of the two roads 10 blocks that way. That's where the finish line will be." He pointed north.

Heller nodded and said "on three?"

"Nah you can go now. I'll also give you a 3 second head start."

Heller was surprised. Apparently he was a cocky guy. That would cost him.

He nodded and then jumped with all his might. He managed to cross 2 blocks as he glided over the roof tops. As he took off across the roof tops, he turned to see Ichigo and Rukia keeping pace with him with no apparent strain. And also running on air.

"How fast can you guys go?"

Ichigo grinned as he simply said "Fast."

Then Heller could swear he just disappeared. He seemed to blur then he wasn't there. There were 8 of him all looking solid and running side by side. Heller couldn't believe his speed. If he wanted he could've ended this in a second.

Speaking of which, he turned to see where the finish line was. He focused on it and run with all his might before leaping in the air. Just before he hit the ground Ichigo appeared and stood there with his arms crossed as he watched Heller land, panting from the effort of going so fast while he looked like he had just gone for a walk.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Ichigo grinned as he said "Me and Rukia can do something called flash step. It lets us cover huge distances with a single step. The more practiced you are, the farther you can go in a small amount of time. And if you're fast enough you can make clones that look and feel solid like what I did before. Thanks for the light workout."

Heller got his breath back looked around. He wanted to ask how he ran on air to, but figured that would take a while.

"So where are your friends?"

Ichigo quickly lead the way to the alley with Rukia right behind him. As they got there, they saw their friends all leaning against the walls, not daring to sit down in the filthy alley.

They all turned at the sound of footsteps and saw them approaching.

Orihime quickly went and hugged Ichigo while everyone else came and gave greetings.

Heller stood there as he watched them. He felt a little uncomfortable as he stood there watching them until he was introduced.

He gave a polite nod as everyone looked at him. Then Renji looked at Rukia and ask her "so what happened in there?"

Ichigo and Rukia looked worn down as they thought about what they had seen.

Rukia said "we'll tell you later. First we need some place to stay."

Heller stepped up. "I know a place. It's a little apartment that I rented a few days ago for when I would stay here."

"That'll do fine. Where is it?"

"Not far, maybe 20 minutes' walk from here."

"Lead the way."

Time jump forward 3 hours

As Ichigo stood on the roof of the apartment building where Heller had taken them he looked out on what had been New York and thought about what happened and what he had learned.

Heller had been introduced to the others and then told the story of how he had been infected by Alex Mercer when patrolling what was called the red zone and how his squad had been ambushed by mercer himself. Heller had followed him deeper into the red zone and mercer had infected him after he had outrun a goliath and killed a brawler. Then how he had wound up where Rukia and Ichigo had found him. He had explained how New York was now divided. It had 3 zones. The yellow zone, where they were currently where people who were infected were mixed with the people who were healthy. The yellow zone was where Genteck and Blackwatch were able to carry out experiments on civilians and other things like that. The green zone was a safe zone for healthy civilians but had a strong military presence anyway. And the red zone, where Heller had been patrolling was nothing but pure hell, where the virus and infected reigned while black watch tried to get hold of places to place base, with very little success. And how all bridges and tunnels had been collapsed in order to keep the zones separate. He had told the others what had happened to him when he was taken by Blackwatch after he had been infected. Orihime had cried quietly as she heard how cruel those people had been. And for some reason that made him hurt for reasons he couldn't explain.

"Oh this is going to drive me nuts."

Ichigo sighed. He should have known his hollow would be bugging him when he thought about this.

'And what would that be?'

"The fact that the reason you feel bad when your little friend cries. For god's sake how long does it have to look you in the face before the hint finally sinks in?"

'What hint?" Ichigo asked, feeling a little irritated by his hollow.

He heard a sound that sounded like something hitting a wall. From the sound of it, his hollow had punched something in his inner world.

"Oh why the hell did I have to be born in some one that's so blind and gay?"

'WHAT? I'M NOT GAY!' Ichigo yelled as his cheeks got a little red.

"You must be if you can be this thick when it comes to women."

Zangestu cut in before a retort could be uttered by Ichigo.

"Ichigo what this victim of over bleaching (HEY!) Is trying to say is you can't be so… unobservant when it comes to certain matters. And not just this issue. You have to be aware of your enemies."

'What enemies? I have my friends here. And I don't have anyone else after me.'

"If that's what you think, then think again. You really think that fighting here won't make enemies? And for that matter why do you think that the commander trained you? Certainly not from the pure goodness of his heart."

Ichigo thought about this. His hollow was right in a few ways. He would have to fight Blackwatch, Genteck, and Mercer. Mercer worried him more than the other two did. When he had been watching him, he felt the same feeling when he had been fighting Azien. Powerful, and in control of everything while making schemes within schemes. And he was curious as to why the commander had him trained. And how he had completed training, a mission had been ready for him. One that sent him and his friends to one of the most dangerous places on earth.

"Good to see that you're making the connections. And get a clue about your girlfriend. See ya."

His hollow fell silent as Ichigo stood there, looking into the night sky.

'What do you think, Zangestu?'

"I think he was right on a few counts, as incredible that is. The commander couldn't have trained you, and then happened to send you here. And I agree with you on Mercer. He seems like the same type Azien was. Manipulative, powerful, and brilliant while being ruthless when it comes to his goals. Tread carefully around him Ichigo." And with that cheerful farewell, Zangestu left his attention as Ichigo headed back in and lay down on his bed to sleep.

And wonder what the future would bring.