Disclaimer: Not mine, I can wish….but no :(

Setting: After Winter War

Chapter Ten: Training and Plans.

Note:

Italics is thinking

Bold italics is Ichigo's hollow

The Forest

Nanami's POV

"I just don't think his body can handle this much reiatsu, my Lady" Nanami said to Hisa-sama as she glided over to check Ichi's progress.

"You may be right…but you could also be wrong, if Ichi has this much reiatsu then he must be able to contain it otherwise he would have been overwhelmed by his own power by now" she said, speaking softly so Ichi could keep his concentration.

"Do you think he can do it My Lady?" Nanami asked as he watched the older boy

"If I didn't I would not have chosen him as my right-hand man" was the reply before she left.

Nanami watched her leave before focusing on Ichi again. Even if he managed to pull in all his reiatsu, it would take a while for him to learn to keep it hidden at all times. At the moment Ichi had only managed to pull in 2 percent of his reiatsu.

Nanami jumped up as an idea came to him and ran to the little cabin to ask permission to help.

Ichigo's POV

This took much more concentration that Ichigo previously thought. Every time he pulled in some reiatsu he let his control slip slightly when feeling for the next bit and let it go again. It was becoming frustrating; if he could get a feel for it he was sure he could do it better, but he couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

"Ne Ichi?" said a very soft voice

"Nanami?"

"Yeah it's me; I thought I'd give you a hand" Nanami answered and Ichigo felt an arm touch the middle of his chest, over the place where his reiatsu began.

"You're in my head aren't you" Ichigo stated and got a mental laugh from Nanami in return

"Yeah, now listen. I'm sure you can get this faster if I help. If I help you pull in your reiatsu then you can feel what it's like and try to contain it. If you can manage to contain it, it will be easier to pull in. see?" Nanami explained

"Yeah I understand." Ichigo answered

The next few minutes were quiet as Nanami slowly withdrew all of Ichigo's reiatsu for him. It hummed under the surface of his skin and felt like little electrical currents. It made him feel powerful to have all this power at his disposal. It felt amazing.

"Now try and hold it as long as possible" Nanami said and Ichigo felt him pull out of his mind. The power immediately began pushing against his insides. Making it feel like he was being pulled apart. He cringed at the sudden pressure inside his body but tried to ignore it and hold his reiatsu back.

It didn't work.

The reiatsu flung itself outwards in a sudden motion and Ichigo only managed to hold in about 5 percent of his reiatsu, although that was a 3 percent increase from before.

Ichigo opened his silver eyes and looked at Nanami who lay sprawled on the floor in front of him. Apparently the force of Ichigo's power had knocked him backwards.

"Okay that was good Ichi; you held it for about 20 seconds. Now let's keep trying again until you get a good feel of it, and then we can try you pulling it in alone again" Nanami said and sat up cheerfully and placed a hand on his chest again.

Kaori's POV

Many hours later, Ichigo was improving, even if it was a very slow improvement. He could now hold all his power in for nearly 5 minutes, but it was causing a strain on his mind so Nanami had suggested a short break.

"You're getting much better Ichi, most people would take years to control their reiatsu and most people start off with a smaller amount to control that slowly increases throughout their training" Kaori said as she gave him and Nanami their food that she had made.

"Yeah I guess" Ichigo mumbled and Nanami looked at him out of the corner of his eyes while eating his food. Ichigo still had silver eyes that were forcing him to do this training, but he was getting better. Even Kaori could see that the difference was noticeable…although she may only have noticed because she was watching the barrier and changing it to keep Ichigo's reiatsu hidden.

Ichigo was managing to keep in 10 percent of his power at the moment, and was still holding it now with little concentration. This meant he was improving and if he could keep it inside his body then he would hopefully be able to do it while sleeping as well so the barrier could be taken down.

Kaori would keep the barrier up as long as needed but even she had her limits.

"Okay Ichi, back to work" Nanami said a while later, "Lets have you at 25 percent before nightfall"

"Yeah okay" Ichigo said, his eyes flashing brighter for a brief second.

Urahara's Shop

Outside POV

As promised Rukia returned but much sooner than expected, she was only gone for a total of two hours and managed to bring back the communication mirror as well as the entire 10th and 11th division and the first 7 seats of the 6th division, the other divisions had to stay to protect Soul Society in case of attack by Hisa, her three minions and her newly acquired "right-hand man."

Kenpachi was in the real world now with his division but was pulled straight into the side room for a captains meeting.

The communication mirror was against the wall with the Captains and Urahara sitting around a small table with cups of tea and bandages strewn across it.

"So how are we gonna do this?" Kenpachi asked eagerly, hoping that he could fight Ichigo again.

"I believe that none of us could be able to fight Ichigo in a fair one-on-one fight" Urahara chipped in.

"I agree, it would be difficult to beat the young lad, he is very powerful which is why this situation is so serious" the Captain Commander said slowly "Urahara…Kurotsuchi, do you have anything with the research?"

"Of course" Kurotsuchi crooned. "We found that Kurosaki has had Hisa's reiatsu injected into him and it is this that's controlling him. If we could get rid of Hisa's reiatsu then we could break the hold she has over him and those other three minions of hers"

"And how could we get rid of Hisa's reiatsu?" Kenpachi asked impatiently

"To kill her" Kurotsuchi replied gleefully. "Although it's a pity I would love to see her notes on this..-"

"There is a reason that Mind Control is forbidden in Soul Society Captain" said the Captain Commander gravely and the 12th captain nodded meekly,

"So do you all agree that Hisa should be killed to break her control on Kurosaki and those other three?" the Captain Commander continued and the others nodded in agreement. They couldn't kill Ichigo…one of their greatest assets; it would be very unwise in case another powerful opponent turned up in the future.

"So we need a plan?" Kenpachi asked

"If you may, Captain Hitsugaya and I have thought of an adequate plan that has a high chance of working." Byakuya said with a nod from said small Captain. The two of them had become quite close during and after the Winter War because they often got put together to help with strategy plans and worked well together because of their similar personalities.

"Let's hear it then Captains" the Captain Commander said.

Byakuya and Hitsugaya proceeded to lay out their plan and the other Captains had little to add or change, Ukitake had also thought of an extra ploy that worked well with the original plan and the plan was adapted to fit the extra idea.

It was nightfall by the time the Captains meeting was finished and the people all left the room except a few injured ones who were going to get treated by Inoue. The other Captains went to their respective division members to explain their parts in the plan but didn't tell them the whole plan in case any of them were taken by the enemy.

The Forest Clearing

Outside POV

The sky was long darkened by the time Nanami suggested that they rest for the night. Unfortunately Ichigo couldn't hold all his power for more than 10 minutes and he could only hold back 20 percent of his power with little concentration which was 5 percent off from what Nanami had said. Ichigo didn't want to stop because Nanami had said 25 percent and he took this literally because of his altered mindset. (ie. Silver eyes, anything Ami, Kaori, Nanami and Hisa say is law)

Ichigo and Nanami were currently arguing about continuing longer. Nanami was adamant that enough was enough but that conflicted with what he had said earlier so Ichigo was following the first order over this second one. Kaori was getting tired of this and was setting up camp with Ami, who had returned with little news, apparently the Captains had started a meeting but she couldn't find a way to eavesdrop.

"Listen Ichi, I'm giving you an order now, get some rest and continue in the morning" Kaori called to him and he stopped his argument immediately, looking up at her.

"I second that, you're both annoying the heck outta me" Ami growled.

"Three against one Ichi" Nanami said and Ichigo fell silent.

The two boys went over to the makeshift camp and settled down into the little beds. Hisa-sama was still working but when she finished she would sleep in the cabin.

Ichigo wanted to have a quick word with his Hollow but the others had told him to rest so he had to. He had no choice in the matter. He was tired from training all day anyway.

Ichigo went to sleep rather quickly but the other three stayed up discussing other things for a few hours…things that Ichigo wasn't allowed to hear.

A/N: Hello, sorry for the looooong delay, I'm in my exam period so I can't write much for about 2 weeks. I will try and get another chapter out this week because I have half term then you have to wait two weeks. Gomen. Review. Tell me what you think? Good? Bad?