Alright guys and gals, here's Chapter 10 - Vs. Baldy and Lady Man. I just wanted to thank all my readers. As a new writer, the response has been amazing. I've only been doing this for three weeks, and I already have 30 reviews, 61 favorites, and 88 followers! You guys are the best. Plus, shout out to ShiroHollow96, for some fascinating ideas for my next fanfic. I won't start for a while, but the suggestions sounded great! Without further ado, happy reading!

I own nothing. Bleach & Fate/stay belong to Tite Kubo and Type Moon respectively.

As Ichigo and Chad ran down a side street, they ducked down in a corner. Waiting till the footsteps of the running Shinigami had passed, they peeked out. Seeing that the coast was clear, they stepped out of the corner, and ran down the street in the opposite direction of where the patrol had gone. Turning another corner, they suddenly found themselves confronted by two formidable men. One was a sly looking man, with a shiny bald head. He wielded his sword in one hand, and his sheathe in the other as though it were a dual bladed Zanpakuto. The other man looked rather effeminate, with heavily done up hair, and some make up. He wielded a normal looking sword, but the two teens could tell he was more dangerous than he seemed. Looking at the two of them, he could tell that he was in the presence of two men a cut above most of the Shinigami he had seen so far. He shifted his stance, ready to trace a sword and attack at a moment's notice. Beside him, he could feel Chad do the same.

"Well then. I guess you two are some of the ryoka that have had the whole of Soul Society in an uproar. Well, be glad that I am the one who will fight you. I'll give you a chance to prepare yourself while I do my battle dance. The Tsukki-Tsukki dance!" The effeminate man next to him simply sighed and shook his head, while his friend began a ridiculous battle dance.

"Ikkaku, you idiot, that is so not beautiful." The bald man, Ikkaku, spun around angrily.

"Shut up Yumichika," he roared, "this dance is a sign of respect between warriors! Why-" Ichigo decided to cut the ranting man off.

"Hey, who are you guys?" The arguing shinigami paused, and turned back to the two teens they had just confronted. The bald one stepped forward.

"Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd seat of the 11th Company. He," he jerked a thumb at the other man, "is Yumichika Ayasegawa, 5th seat of the same company." Ichigo nodded. They sounded strong. Suddenly, he was glad that he had Chad with him to back him up. He muttered out of the side of his mouth to Chad.

"I've got baldy, you've got the lady man." Chad nodded, and they jumped forward. Ichigo swung down at Ikkaku, who blocked by crossing his scabbard and sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chad call forth his armour and throw a punch at Yumichika who, though he blocked, was thrown backwards through a wall. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the power at display, as Chad shot after the thrown Shinigami. Yoruichi must have really pushed him to get him this strong in only a few days. He turned to Ikkaku, who also seemed surprised at Chad's power. He laughed at the dumbfounded look on Ikkaku's face, then pushed against his block, throwing him back a few steps, giving them a chance to size each other up for real. Ikkaku quickly reassessed the teen, with what had happened in that last bout as reference

Alright, the kid is strong, fast, and powerful, but he hasn't got much in the way of technique. If I had to guess, he's been in fights before, which gave him good reflexes, but he received some hurried teaching before he came. He decided to shout out a question.

"Hey, kid! Who taught you to fight?" Ichigo considered ignoring the question, then shrugged. What's the worst that could happen?

"They only taught me for a few days, but their names were Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara." Ikkaku's eyes widened, but beyond that he didn't betray his inner turmoil. This child had received training from those two?! He was far more formidable than he had originally thought! He grinned. It was about time that he got someone worth fighting.

"Well then kid, considering who taught you, then it's only polite if I fight you seriously!" With that, they charged at each other, and Ikkaku was the first to attack this time. He dealt him a vicious overhead slash. Ichigo blocked it only to realise that he had blocked the man's scabbard. He quickly twisted to avoid the thrust from Ikkaku's real sword. He stepped back, then slashed forward. Again, Ikkaku raised that same cross block, but instead of blocking he deflected the blow. Ichigo staggered at the lack of resistance, but Ikkaku did not escape unscathed. The tip of Ichigo's sword had opened a shallow wound in his brow. As Ichigo stumbled, Ikkaku stabbed at his head, only for Ichigo to twist out of the way again, turning a potentially fatal wound into a cut that was the match for Ikkaku's. They disengaged, quickly judging their next moves. Ichigo used one hand to wipe the blood out of his eyes, only for more to drip down. He cursed quietly, then looked over at Ikkaku, hoping the bald shinigami was having similar problems. To his irritation, Ikkaku merely popped off the end of his sword, and scooped out a salve. Wiping the salve over the cut, Ichigo was annoyed to see the bleeding stop.

"Oh, come on! That's cheating!" Ichigo shouted at his opponent. Ikkaku looked up, angry.

"What the hell man? There's no cheating in being prepared! You're just an idiot for not thinking ahead!"

"No, you're an idiot!" Ichigo irrationally shouted, his annoyance made worse by the laugh he could hear from Shiro at their childish argument. Finally, Ikkaku came to a decision. He held out his sword, reversed his grip, and slammed his scabbard into the hilt.

"Extend, Hozukimaru!" There was a flash of light, and once it faded, Ichigo saw that the sword had extended into a Naginata. Ikkaku charged at him without giving him a moment to prepare himself, forcing him on the defensive. Quickly stabbing repeatedly, Ichigo quickly dodged and deflected each thrust, until he finally knocked away Ichigo's blade. As Ichigo stood there, seemingly defenseless, Ikkaku charged in again. At the last second, Ichigo sidestepped, traced another sword, and was about to strike down on him, when Ikkaku spun his spear out in a slash. Ichigo blocked, or so he thought.

"Split, Hozukimaru!" Ikkaku shouted, and the spear split into 3 sections, connected by short chains. A Sansetsukon. The 3rd section was deflected around his blade, and cut deep into his arm. Ichigo leaped back, and winced as the shock of the wound wore off. He looked at Ikkaku, who had returned his sansetsukon to its naginata form. Ichigo closed his eyes, and came to a decision.

"Cut through the heavens and cleave the moon! Reach forever onwards and seize the sun! Rise, ZANGETSU!" The reiatsu pulse knocked back Ikkaku, wiping the smug smirk off his face. As he got up, he noticed with consternation the changes in Ichigo's zanpakuto. While it may have seemed like simply a bigger sword, anyone with an ounce of spirit sense would have been able to feel the power flowing off it. Watching Ichigo wind the hilt wrap around the wound in his arm, then hold up the sword in readiness, Ikkaku felt like he had bit off more than he could chew. Suddenly, a black blur shot at him. He held out his spear in a standard quarterstaff block. Suddenly, he realized Ichigo was already behind him.

So fast! It must be a result of being trained by Yoruichi Shihoin, the flash master! He looked down at Hozukimaru, and realised to his shock that it had been shattered. Then, as he began to black out from the massive wound in his chest, his final thought was,

Not bad, kid. If you survive this adventure of yours, you'll go far. Ichigo began to go off to find Chad, then stopped.

"Oh no you don't." growled Shiro, annoyed, "This guy was just now trying to kill you! You really want to go back and save him?! What about Chad?" Ichigo glared.

"You really think he can't handle 'lady man'?" Shiro snorted at the nickname, but acquiesced.. Ichigo went back to Ikkaku, who's zanpakuto had returned to its sealed state once he had become unconscious. Though it was still shattered, the hilt was still intact, and that was what Ichigo was after. He opened the end of the blade, and scooped out some salve. He looked down at the slash in the man's chest. This would take a while.

When Ichigo had given the signal, Chad had immediately struck, knowing that having the first strike would give him a definitive advantage. He roared as he punched Yumichika, sending him through a wall. Looking sidelong at Ichigo for a moment, he saw the look of confidence on his face. He'd be fine. He leaped through the hole in a wall, into another alley, to find Yumichika already dusting himself off amongst the rubble of the wall. He raised an eyebrow at how unruffled the feminine man was at having been punched so hard. He readied his stance, in case the man suddenly attacked. Yumichika simply cocked his head at the wary teen.

"Such power in a single punch. It would have been beautiful, if only you hadn't used such an underhanded method to land it. That makes it so ugly, I weep." Chad facefaulted. Of course he got the talkative one. If he had known that the guy he had taken would be the chatty type, then he would have switched opponents with Ichigo faster than he could blink. Talkative people distracted him. He cocked his fist, ready to throw another punch, when, suddenly, the man was in front of him, his sword drawn and attacking.

This must be flash step. I remember Ichigo practicing this.

He quickly swung his arm around to block, and the sword glanced off his white armour. Chad used his unarmoured hand to grab Yumichika's sword arm, and used his power arm to punch Yumichika in the gut. He flew through the air and smashed into another wall. He stayed standing for a moment, then he coughed up blood and fell over, his eyes wide. He had underestimated the tall teen, and had payed the price. He hit the ground, unconscious. Chad dusted his hands, and went to find Ichigo. He followed the path of destruction back to Ichigo, who had just finished tending to Ikkaku's wound. Ichigo looked up as he heard Chad speak.

"Benefits of being a doctor's son, huh?" Ichigo looked down at Ikkaku, and looked up again.

"Yeah I guess."

"You fool." Both teens jumped as Ikkaku suddenly spoke, having just regained consciousness.

"Why would you save me? I am your enemy! I just attacked you!" he shouted angrily. Inside his head, Shiro added his own two cents.

"That's exactly my point! You just wasted an hour on this idiot."

"Shut up." Ichigo turned to Ikkaku.

"Why shouldn't I save you? You were defending your turf. Plus, I need information. Where do I find Kuchiki Rukia?" Ikkaku's eyes widened at this, and he seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment, before giving in.

"Fine. She's in the Senzaikyū. She has less than a fortnight. At the end of those 14 days, she'll be taken to Sokyoku Hill, and be executed." Ichigo couldn't help but grin. That was a lot of time! With that kind of time, they could be carefull about how they get to her. Ikkaku noticed the smile, and shook his head.

"Don't get cocky. There are still all the other Shinigami between you and her. You may be strong, but if you meet a captain , or even a lieutenant, you're done for. Their strength is so far beyond you it's not even funny." He coughed, and the sudden motion seemed to have made his wound worse, given that he was unconscious again. Ichigo and Chad got up from where the had been kneeling, and looked towards the middle of the Seireitei. There, in the center, was the Senzaikyū. They looked at each other, nodded, and dashed forward, intent on their target.

Some of you may be wondering why I gave Chad such an easy win with Yumichika. The answer is, honestly, Yumichika always seemed rather weak to me. He had an irrational obsession with not using his own abilities. Plus, Chad can demolish buildings with just the pressure of his punches, even at the beginning of the series. In canon, Ganju beat Yumichika with just fireworks. I mean seriously?! That's, if anything, embarrassing! He's only ever beat ONE noteworthy enemy, Charlotte Chulhorn, and that was only after he got over himself, and used his full Shikai. Anyway, thanks for reading you guys, please review, and keep an eye out for Chapter 11, coming at you soon!