Chapter 10
Ichigo sat cross-legged in the middle of a dried lake on top of a rock formation—though not just an ordinary dry lake. Over a million litres of water hung over his head in a wobbling sphere, held together by his spiritual pressure. Yamamoto—as he'd asked Ichigo to call him as—said to compress the water until it begins to freeze, if that could even happen. It took everything he had to hold it up in the first place using the old man's technique. Worst of all, Ichigo wasn't allowed to release his Shikai.
"Yo gramps!" he snapped. "Are you sure this is even possible?! Ive been trying for three hours now!" They were here since before dawn thanks to a screaming hell butterfly, and it had taken an hour of travel just to arrive at the densest forests of the Seireitei.
"Do or do not. There is no try," Yamamoto said, meditating on the other sitting stone.
Ichigo blinked, losing focus, not expecting the head captain to make such a remark. The sphere of water lost shape, and crumbled down onto them. Yamamoto redirected the flow around the rock formation with a wave of his cane.
"Since when did you get a sense of humour?"
A smirk pulled at the old man's wrinkled skin. "I know not of what you are talking about. Try again."
"Right," Ichigo mumbled. Closing his eyes, he imagined an enormous triangle, representing his spiritual power, then a triangle connected to each face, and then more unending triangles connecting to every new face. Repeating the process till he saw thousands of multi-sized triangles, he arrived at a rather perfect looking snowflake. Yamamoto had said the shape was supposed to be a harmonic that allowed for fine-tuned control of spiritual power—if one had enough spirit energy in the first place.
He focused on pulling a slippery thread from each triangle point, representing small outlets of his spiritual pressure. Applying every trickle to the surface of an imaginary sphere, he enclosed the ball onto the lake. Outward-in, as Yamamoto had instructed. As he pushed from the outside edges towards a point above his head, the water gathered into another wobbling sphere.
"You are improving, slowly," Yamamoto said, then took a sip of tea. "As you gain better control over this technique, you should be able to subconsciously limit the number of triangles leaking spiritual pressure."
Ichigo nodded, agreeing with the assessment. Gathering the sphere became easier each time after he lost focus or tired from the strain. "Yeah, thanks by the way. I owe you a bunch for this."
"Think not of it. I can't let you accidentally injure my subordinates as you walk around the Seireitei."
"What do you mea—" Ichigo said, but let it drop, sighing. He had hurt Rukia by mistake yesterday after all, so Yamamoto's comment wasn't exactly wrong. He was dead right in fact.
"You are also the first born in a thousand years powerful enough for this technique."
Ichigo peeked a glance when he said that, letting his focus waver again. Thankfully, the sphere didn't collapse this time. "A thousand years?" Imagining that kind of a time span was nauseating. A multitude of wars, battles and significant events could take place in a thousand years.
"Indeed," he said, nodding. "Less than a handful can use their spiritual pressure to influence their surroundings on such a scale. It's satisfying to finally teach it again."
The sphere wobbled and dribbled onto him as he choked in surprise. Less than a handful. There was Yamamoto, himself, and… "Wait so if there are people as powerful as I am then where were they during the war!"
"They were at places of duty."
Tubfuls of water splashed onto the rock. "That makes no sense!"
Yamamoto raised an eyebrow, crinkling the scars on his forehead. "What was Aizen after? Do you still recall?"
"Are they the royal guard guys?" he asked after a minute.
"Indeed… You'll meet them in due time. Keep practicing until the water starts to freeze or at least keep still." He stood and folded away his bamboo tea set, then cleared his throat. "While you are at it, ponder this: What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?" He walked to the edge of the formation, scuffing his staff on the rock.
"Hey, Where are you going? And whats with the stupid riddle?!"
"I have a division to run."
"So you're going to leave? What if I drown while trying to figure it out?"
He chuckled, glancing back. "I doubt it, and as for the riddle, it will help with controlling your spirit energy while you're preoccupied—and it will also do your mental faculties some good."
He left in a whispering buzz.
Ichigo grumbled, scowling and twitching his eye—even the old head captain made fun of him. He took a deep breath, pondering the riddle while compressing the water as the sun rose from the horizon.
Soifon shifted her weight, tapping her fingers on her leg, waiting for Ichigo to arrive. Every captain waited in line for over an hour now, patient as ever. But even the patience of a captain had a limit. Some captain of the royal guard he was. What disrespect. He had his way with her yesterday, and now he's late to a captains' meeting. If he was anyone else, he'd have been burnt a hundred times already.
The head captain slammed his staff on the floorboards. "This meeting has been called to order—with or without captain Kurosaki," he announced and turned to her. "Captain Soifon. Please give your report on yesterday's incidents."
Soifon stepped forward with a neutral mask, hiding her irritation. "Yesterday, Lady Yoruichi and I responded to my patrol unit's distress call at the northern gate of the Seireitei. We barely arrived to prevent casualties—most were heavily injured. It was only several hundred normal Hollows at first but two additional Gargantas opened and several thousand Hollows came through. We managed to cleanse them all but—"
She paused, considering her words—Ichigo might walk in at any moment.
"An unusually fast Adjucha got past Lady Yoruichi and managed to injure my advanced student. We thought it would be a good idea to give her some field experience—we didn't think so many Hollows would come through," she finished and stepped back in line.
To her surprise, kuchiki stepped forward. "I also responded to a similar situation at the west gate around the same time. However, there were less Hollows and multiple Adjuchas with surprising speed. I was pushed to my Bankai by the flood of Hollows."
Soifon furrowed her brow. Something was wrong—and that lazy Urahara ran off in the world of the living to do something about it according to Lady Yoruichi.
Loud footsteps echoed through the doorway. Ichigo burst through, clothes damp and and expression triumphant. "It's the letter M!"
Soifon raised an eyebrow. Captain Kyoraku chuckled from down the line. "Did you hit your head again Ichigo?"
"Or perhaps he's just talking in his sleep again," Captain Unohana added, a smile pulling at her porcelain skin.
"You feeling okay there Ichigo?" Shiba asked from captain Hitsugaya's spot.
Ichigo turned to Shiba, gawking. "Huh, so you're really a captain goat-chin. Hope Toshiro doesn't get mad at you for taking his place."
"Ah I'm sure Toshiro's happy taking care of our mansion!" Shiba said, waving his arms in overt gestures.
The head captain struck the floorboard before they tumbled into a fight. "Captain Kurosaki, it appears that your training is producing results."
"Yeah thanks again, I don't even need that limiter anymore. You guys don't feel much right?"
"Not too much, however, you are still as audacious as ever."
Ichigo's eye twitched, and he… he breathed. "Tch, whatever. I'm working on it along with the snowflake."
"See it that you do," the head captain said, opening a single eye. "I'd be interested to see your progress in time."
Drowning out the smalltalk, Soifon cast her senses at Ichigo, getting a feel of his spiritual pressure. Her head jerked back at the surprise, whipping a lash down her neck muscles. His pressure changed overnight, condensed into a radiation of controlled and defined weight. A hue in the texture resembled something similar to the head captain's signature fiery pressure, but only just.
He glanced at her, and his pressure billowed back into his usual comforting aura, casting a veil over her shoulder. Strong yet protective, powerful but still more controlled than before.
Yes, he'd protect her. After all, it was in his name, in his warm, brown eyes, under those longer amber bangs of hair, still damp from whatever he did just beforehand. It made him look even sexier than his usual messy self, and he kept looking at her, piercing her. Piercing into her core, just like when he fucked her with everything he had. A tendril of fire licked her body, reddening her cheeks in a blush.
He also blushed, his whole face red.
She blinked. Shit. She stared for an entire minute.
Soifon averted her gaze and resisted the urge to facepalm and cringe. Something was off about herself when he stood near. What the hell had happened to her? Maybe giving him a good thrashing in a spar would do the trick, and undo whatever his spirit did.
Some of the other captains gave her amused or knowing looks. Captain Kuchiki narrowed eyes, glaring at Ichigo like usual. Shiba peeked back and forth between her and Ichigo, then broke into a devious grin, rubbing his hands together. He opened his mouth, but was met with a foot to the face, courtesy of Ichigo's roundhouse. "Don't you dare you old pervert."
Soifon rolled her eyes, ignoring their tumbleweed like brawl on the floorboards.
The head captain sighed, rubbing his temple.
Captain Ukitake interrupted their scuffle. "We were just discussing yesterday's Hollow attacks. Do you have anything to report Ichigo?"
Ichigo looked up to Ukitake and kicked his father off him, then stood, facing the head captain between the end of the two lines. "Nah, Byakuya said he'd take care of it so I just went to bed," he said and looked to captain Kuchiki.
"Indeed. I just informed the captains that there were more than I expected but it didn't take long to clean up."
Shiba wagged his eyebrow at him. "Just clean-up eh? I remember you said something about a Bankai?"
Kuchiki frowned at him, then closed his eyes.
"Still the flowery Zanpukto?" Shiba quipped, waving in his face. A tick popped up on Kuchiki's alabaster forehead.
The exchange fished up memories of Lady Yoruichi teasing a young Byakuya from the corner of Soifon's mind. Those were the happiest times of her life, a hundred years ago… before Lady Yoruichi disappeared. All thanks to that traitor Aizen. Temper flaring, Soifon breathed, and listened in on the meeting again.
"Captain Kurotsuchi. Have you made any developments on this extended period of Hollow activity?" The head asked.
Soifon leaned forward to offer her report again for Ichigo's sake, but decided against it. Of course, the head captain already took it into consideration. Her report would just be a potential risk in exposing Yuzu's death to Ichigo. He'd not take it too well, obviously, but he had a right to know. A tinge of sharp guilt sank into her throat.
She exhaled and focused on Kurotsuchi's ramblings. "…as if they value their lives even less than they usually do," he said, voice croaking in a medium alto.
He pulled out a diagram from his coat, flattening the rolled up paper. He held up a finger. "However, believe it or not, it seems that the Hollows have found some way to either clone themselves or create perfect illusions similar to Sosuke Aizen." He pointed to two detailed pictures of the same Hollows. "This first Hollow here is from yesterday's attack but the second was from an attack almost a month ago, if you remember."
A minute of silence passed as Soifon's contemplation bounced in her thoughts. Aizen had been securely locked up in Muken, and according to Urahara, the Hogyoku either destroyed his Zanpukto, or fused it into his soul. And he wouldn't be able to project his spirit energy more than a meter, thanks to the seals.
That only left the cloning theory. The captains appeared to agree, if Soifon intuition on their expression was right.
"That still doesn't explain the speed of the Adjuchas I fought yesterday," Kuchiki said. "It was on pair on that of a captain."
Kenpachi broke into a wide grin. "It doesn't matter how they're multiplying or how fast they are. Only more for me to fight. If they're stronger, I'll enjoy it even more!"
Everyone ignored him, having been used to his bloodthirsty battlerage for decades now. No one else looked to have anything to add, all blank in thought.
"What of Kisuke Urahara? Has he made any developments? Where is he?" The head captain asked.
"Lady Yoruichi and Urahara have gone to the world of living for a couple of days," Soifon answered, careful to not mention Ichigo's sisters. "I believe Urahara might know something about the Hollows though."
Ichigo spoke. "My Zanpukto—"
Everyone turned to him in an instant, giving absolute attention. The authority he suddenly possessed unnerved Soifon, sending flutters down her back.
Recovering, Ichigo continued. "Tensa Zangetsu said something might be up with Hueco Mundo, like the pull of the sands is different in a way. He kind of talks in vague circles so don't ask."
The elder captains murmured among themselves, and Soifon rose a brow. That didn't add anything concrete, but his Zanpukto intrigued her. A Zanpukto with a connection to the Hollows was unheard of, ever. She thought to her own spirit. 'Do you have any ideas?' .
'Still not talking to you until you admit our Bankai is the best!'
Soifon sighed. If only her Zanpukto were more like Ichigo's—more like his Bankai. She'd make use of a deadly, stealth weapon like that, more effectively than he ever had.
"I wonder if Nel's okay," Ichigo said, scratching his head. "I wonder if Nel's okay…"
A friend in Hueco Mundo?
"Who's this Nel? A secret girlfriend you have Hueco Mundo?" Captain Kyoraku asked.
Soifon's temper rose again. How many women had he taken advantage of on his adventures? It wouldn't surprise her if he had victims of his lust stashed away in every realm.
"Don't be shy son. It's part of becoming a man to have desi—"
Ichigo slammed his foot into Shiba's face again. He crashed into the wall, leaving a shallow imprint. "Shut it goat-chin! And Nel is an Arrancar I met when I went to Hueco Mundo before. She helped us get to las Noches quicker and saved my life once. Apparently she was the previous third Espada but was betrayed."
Several murmurs echoed through the room.
"I'm surprised Renji and Rukia didn't tell you guys about her," he added.
More murmurs broke across the captains. The situation could get bad; if the captains suspected this Nel—Ichigo could overreact as usual.
The head captain sent a shockwave through the room with his staff. "Enough. I doubt this Nel is behind whatever the cause of these attacks are. In-fact I have a good idea at what might be causing this—You are not to question this issue any further."
Soifon looked at him in confusion. He was the one who called the meeting in the first place. What was the point of this meeting?
"Ahh… ol' man yama… You were the one who called this meeting remember?" Captain Ukitake spoke her thoughts.
"I merely wanted the input of my captains. I will look into this matter myself but until then, every captain will take turns to patrol the Seireitei walls and eliminate any Hollow that dares to attack the Seireitei." he ordered and hammered his staff again. "You are dismissed."
"Oh Ichigo," Ukitake said as everyone turned to leave. "I've set up the communication links to the world of the living. Your family and friends are expecting to see you this afternoon."
Soifon left in a series of flash steps before he replied. she had to make sure Omaeda didn't do anything stupid at the division—and leave before that pervert tried anything on her again.
Karin strolled down the street as she dribbled her soccer ball next to her grumbling boyfriend. He was way too cute when he was annoyed.
"Why do we have to wear these silly uniforms now?" He complained with a scowl—much like Ichigo's.
"Cus we're in a tournament," she replied matter-of-factly.
"It doesn't make a difference what we're wearing." He kept complaining.
"Suck it up Shiro. And I saw you peeking when I was changing back at home," she said, poking his side. She didn't mind—he was several decades old after all. He probably already saw everything a woman had, if his busty lieutenant was anything to judge by.
"Wha-wha I didn't—"
"Don't deny it." She poked him again as his blush grew.
"Yeah whatever… Just don't tell y—"
"Just don't tell Ichigo?" she finished for him, grinning. He bit his lips shut as a tick popped on his temple.
She smirked, and kept dribbling down the street.
Sauntering beside her, he sighed. "Sorry about griping about everything—but I've just been thin—"
His communicator beeped that emergency tune, filling the street with an arpeggio of electronic notes. He snatched the phone out of his pocket, flipping it open in under a second. His eyes bulged.
"Karin! Get ready!" he yelled and swallowed his soul candy. "Get back to the house!" he ordered to his Gigai and drew his Zanpukto, then spoke into the phone. "This is Captain Hitsugaya. Requesting an area freeze one thousand meters around myself and permission for a limiter release."
Karin's heart pounded once. Limiter release? "what's happening?"
He grimaced and stared into the sky.
She nudged his arm—hard as steel—but he only hardened his jaw. "There's thousands coming," he said in a whisper.
Swallowing, she shook off a tremble with a quick stretch of her arm. She drew her bow and loaded an arrow.
A Garganta the size of at least a couple blocks opened overhead.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the other side of the road in a flash step—the world spun for half a second. "If you start to tire, stay behind me," he said, seeping cold energy into her arm. "And don't be afraid to kill them even if it means destroying their souls."
She gulped.
The first Hollows jumped out of the abyss, leading the charge. It looked like a gargoyle bat, though still humanoid like the rest of the Hollows she had seen. The gargoyle shrieked, diving in a beeline for her and Toshiro. She released her arrow.
Her blue bolt whizzed through the air. The Hollow dodged in a twirling maneuver, only receiving a scratch to it's wing.
She inwardly groaned, cursing her slow progress. Ichigo and Toshiro could kill any of these in one hit. Even all her friends with spiritual powers could. Even Orihime could and she was a healer.
Several more abominations jumped through, resembling half-animals and flyring creatures only found in Mangas she bought in town.
She grimaced and fired more arrows.
More glancing blows.
"Reign over the frozen heavens! Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro yelled, glowing in blue light. Spiritual pressure erupted from his body and blade, pushing down on her in a violent cacophony of cold energy. Three ice dragons materialised in the air, rushing towards the funnel of Hollows. At least a hundred had charged through.
The dragons ghosted through, freezing waves of Hollows in an instant.
Karin took the opportunity and fired several carefully aimed arrows into the skull of each Hollow, shattering each block of ice. The Hollows disintegrated in more shrieking cries.
Tightening her jaw, she bit down on the guilt. Thinking about the souls she just erased from existence wouldn't do any good right now.
She kept firing arrows at the frozen targets, ignoring each pang of guilt as each soul faded away.
Toshiro growled, sending out more ice dragons. The charge slowed as the front line froze into a pileup of crystal ice. None shattered despite several dragons passing through every front Hollow.
She didn't have enough arrows. "Don't you have more abilities than just freezing them?!"
"It won't help against this many…" he trailed off, and pointed with his free hand. "Hado 4: Byakurai."
A streak of lightning cut through the sky, lighting up the street in blinding flashes of white, blinding karin for two seconds. The ice blocks in front shattered as the lightning passed through.
But it still wasn't enough. He released more dragons in followup.
Arm burning, Karin maintained a constant stream of arrows, filling her portion of the sky with toothpicks of Reishi.
5 arrows a second.
10 arrows a second.
20.
Still not enough.
Each blue spike of Reishi became deadlier as she kept firing. They were no longer glancing blows; each arrow critically wounded or killed a frozen Hollow along with Toshiro's Kido. Too bad her limit approached. She halted the barrage and hunched over, palming her knees for support. Sweat dripped off her nose as she panted under a frenzied beat of her heart.
The Hollows still came through in a flood. Thousands must have entered the tunnel on the other side. They already killed hundreds, yet more jumped through at an increasing rate.
"Arrrhh" Toshiro hissed. Sweat also dripped down his face—that limiter must have been taking a toll. "Try to stay behind me—I'll try to keep my spirit pressure from affecting you." He positioned his blade in a rigid stance, holding his Katana in front of his face.
Realising what he was about to do, she reached out to his shoulder, unable to catch a breath to speak.
Too late. "Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
The cold air exploded around him, dropping in temperature to degrees she'd never felt before, just as he had once said when he'd warned her about his Bankai. Then then spiritual pressure rose to a level higher than anything she'd be pressed under.
So cold. Colder than anything she'd imagine possible. Shivering didn't help. Rubbing her arms didn't help.
His ice wings and flowers finished forming, and the temporally finally leveled out. It was at least fifty degrees below zero.
He glanced at her, worry flashing across his eyes.
"I-I— I'm f-fi-ne," she said, teeth chattering.
He nodded and unleashed an avalanche of frost and ice, obliterating the incoming Hollows. Snow, ice, and fading Hollow Reshi broiled in a storm, chafing against Karin's already frozen skin.
And even then, more Hollows dashed through the rip in a swarm.
Toshiro slashed his blade through the air thrice, releasing three more avalanches.
Karin shivered in awe. If toshiro had that power, then what about Ichigo? They had said he had the power of over several captains combined. And Toshiro hadn't even released his limiter. No wonder Ichigo wasn't allowed in the living world—the destruction would be citywide.
An eagle Hollow flew at them in blurred speed. Toshiro stabbed it through the head before it clawed him "Ryusenka!" he yelled, discharging an even larger blast of ice from the tip of his blade.
Her goosebumps froze to a white in the cold wind of that attack. She lost feeling of her fingers and feet. She couldn't even breath without her lungs screaming in pain.
"Are you alright?" he said, glancing over his shoulder. She responded with chattering teeth.
He turned back to the Hollows and resumed his assault of ice. Every Hollow that flew into range shattered before the iceblocks formed. The charge evaporated at Toshiro's sphere of destruction.
For a minute, the onslaught continued. Freezing air whipping her in unending lashes.
A loud rip echoed through the air—no, two loud rips. Karin threw her gaze back up, frozen neck straining. Three Garangats now hung in the sky. Her already frozen chest dropped another few degrees. If Toshiro didn't use some kind of ultimate attack to destroy those Gargantas, she'd freeze in minutes. "T-To-sh-shiro."
He looked over his shoulder again, features straining. "I might have to release my limiter, but that will make my Bankai five times worse. It will even affect the weather and create a huge blizzard."
Karin stared in disbelief. A blizzard? It was already a blizzard.
She didn't get a chance to respond before a deluge of Hollows burst from the additional Gargantas. Within ten seconds, over several thousands swarmed into the sky, and Toshiro barely threw out enough ice to block the charge.
A light-blue streak of Reishi arched through the air in the shape of a rough curve, purifying at least a hundred Hollows.
Karin spun, eating the pain.
Yuzu! Along with Yurichi and Urahara!
Yuzu waved and fired more light-blue waves of Reishi at the frozen Hollows. Warmth coursed through Karin's chest. Seeing her almost made Karin forget the cold—almost. Yoruichi shot bolts of lightning and Urahara threw waves of red spirit energy at the Hollows. The barrage of ice, lighting and red-blue Reishi tore through the incoming flow. They didn't even make it out of the Garaganta now.
Everyone was so powerful.
Toshiro's shoulders dropped, or at least that's what it looked like from behind. "I was worried for a second there, sorry about the cold…" His teal eyes sank into her, glistening in relief.
"Tos-shiro… It's ok-okay…" she said in her best non-chattering voice.
The cold lifted off her, slowly, over several seconds as Toshiro let his Bankai shrink.
A flash of white in a crazy fast buzz blinked through the sky, nearly invisible.
Was that even a Hollow?
It appeared out of nowhere right next to him. It was indeed a Hollow—the weirdest Hollow in several thousand. It didn't even resemble a human figure like the others, and looked to be twice as large. A cross between a dragonfly and scorpion could only describe it.
Her heart thudded.
"TOSHIRO!" she cried in a breath of frozen and painful air.
Way too late.
As he threw a wave of ice, the scorpion impaled him in his chest before it was frozen. He coughed up blood as his Bankai crumbled around him.
Karin caught him before he fell to the ground, gently setting him onto the grass and applying pressure to his wound with a piece of his shattered ice. "Toshiro…" she said, voice broken. A single tear escaped her eye.
Yoruichi appeared next to the frozen Hollow at the corner of her eye and shattered the ice. She approached with a sad face. "Kisuke and I don't know enough healing kido for that… but Orihime can easily heal that." she said before disappearing in a flash of lightning.
That helped. Karin straightened and applied more pressure to his bleeding wound. Hot blood gushed between her fingers and his Shihakshou. "Don't worry… Orihime will be here soon—I hope…" she whispered through a raw throat. He coughed up more blood onto her.
She glanced back at the Gargantas. They still fought in a brilliant display of lightning and red-blue Reishi, slaughtering any remaining Hollows. Less than ten jumped through as the black rips closed.