Chapter 10
Ichigo was once again in the underground training center, and was once again sitting on the rock he had sat on before. The vizards had sent him back down there after they had talked with him about his "purpose" for joining them.
Ichigo had the tiny slip of paper in his hand, writing facing down. He still hadn't read it, and was debating on wether he should. Finally curiosity got the better of him. He flipped the paper over and began to read.
Ichigo, YOU DUMBASS! There were tens of thousands of possible ways to handle this situation. Out of all of those, you chose one of the worst. You really are stupid. This was definitely Rukia's writing. So, what the hell were you thinking? How are you going to get out of there? I'm not going to help you, you idiot. But I imagine everyone else is trying to come up with a plan to get you out. If you get out I'm going to smack you so hard that you'll have problems remembering your own name. Just get out alive, ok? DUMBASS! Sincerely, Rukia.
Ichigo wasn't suprised at what Rukia had written in the note. She was known to act like that when she was mad. But would he really ever get out of the prison the vizards had made for him? Were his friends really trying to rescue him? He had told them to forget about him in the note he had left on his desk. But how many of his friends had read the note or even known that it existed? Maybe his dad, or Rukia, had found it and taken it. And then just explained what had happened to him without telling about the things he had said in the note? He didn't know, but he had to assume that everyone had read it.
Suddenly, Ichigo heard a creak and a ray of sunlight crept into the training center. He turned his head in the direction of the sunlight to find Shinji and Hiyori standing on the stairs with the door slightly ajar and letting in sunlight behind them.
"Are you ready to complete your purpose for being here?" Hiyori asked, jutting out her single pointed tooth from her lip. She started descending the stairs, dragging Shinji along with her. "Because we're ready." She said as she reached the last step, Shinji still in tow.
The "purpose" that Ichigo had for being there, as the vizards had told him, was to test how long he could withstand the strain of the hollow powers he had as a vizard. They planned on giving him challenge upon challenge until he either died or was taken complete control of by his inner hollow. Basically, they were assigning him a suicide mission.
"I'm ready" Ichigo said, but really he was nowhere close to being ready. He didn't want to be a test subject for the vizards, just so they could find out how long they could go without hurting themselves. And he wasn't sure the "test results" would be accurate. Everyone is different, and it's most likely the same way with the their limits of control.
But Ichigo knew that if he tried to tell them that, they'd just shrug it off and keep going. It wasn't worth it to try. So when Hiyori strode up to him and handed him his Substitute Soul Reaper Badge, he took it and became a shinigami. And when Hachi came down to seal Ichigo in a force field to begin the challenges, he let him. And, after all the vizards had gathered to watch the challenges, when he was instructed to put on his hollow mask, he did. Then the first challenge began.