Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Shiro: Hi
Ichigo's thoughts: Hi
Zangetsu: /Hi/
Chapter 11 – A Story Told in Black Part I
Zangetsu strode over to the hollow and they began conversing in low tones, occasionally casting glances in Ichigo's direction. A vein popped in Ichigo's head. They were ignoring him. Or at the very least keeping him in the dark. And that just ticked Ichigo off.
"HEY!!! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
Zangetsu shifted his attention from Shiro to Ichigo. Why couldn't his wielder show any patience?
Come to think of it, Ichigo had never shown much sense, or patience.
-Flashback to a quiet moment in Ichigo's inner world-
Zangetsu stared upward at the blue sky. It was a deep blue, with black clouds floating by driven by a strong wind. Ichigo was resting in the 4th Squad's barracks, recovering from the injuries he received from Byakuya Kuchiki and Souske Aizen. Surprisingly, the hollow was lurking elsewhere, so he wasn't bothering Zangetsu either. The free time gave Zangetsu an excuse to do some deep thinking. Zangetsu had a lot on his mind, as he was contemplating the "what if's" of the previous week's events. Ichigo's personality outlined his normal reactions to different challenges that were presented to him, and one of Zangetsu's main "what if's" was 'What if Ichigo had a different personality? Would events have turned out better… or worse?'.
Ichigo always rushed in without a second thought. He was extremely impatient and had a strong-as-steel will. Ichigo would not back down from a challenge, no matter what. Like when his wielder kept charging into battle without analyzing the situation or odds (*cough*challenging Gin Ichimaru without knowing the existence of bankai*cough*challenging Aizen after the captain had hoodwinked the entire 13 Court Guard Squads while Ichigo was injured*cough* whispered Zangetsu's subconscious (1)).
Oh, well, Zangetsu inwardly sighed. Impatience and stubbornness go hand-in-hand. Though not one of the greatest personality traits to have, a stubborn heart can lead to almost unfathomable bravery.
And Ichigo had that kind of bravery.
Anyways, Zangetsu suspected the hollow (the small sane part of him, that is) had come up with the conclusion that his king was unbelievably stubborn, had bravery that bordered on stupidity, impatient to reach his goals, and powerful enough to do something about it. Not the greatest combination, but Ichigo made up for it with his strength of heart, loyalty, and character.
Still, strength of heart, loyalty, and character won't help much when planning attack and/or defense of a large area (aka Seireitei). If only Ichigo would exercise common sense when it came to the battlefield… (2)
-Flashback end-
Ichigo was probably displeased (to put it mildly) about being left in the dark. He would use any means necessary to find out what was being kept from him. And his haste was a prime example of his impatience. Ichigo knew, subconsciously, that he would eventually be told that which was being hidden from him. However, Ichigo expected instant gratification of knowledge when something important occurred. Shiro's unfortunate accident fell into the category of "top priority".
"Well? Answer me!" Ichigo demanded.
Shiro blinked in annoyance, then turned to Zangetsu and said, "You explain."
Typical Shiro. He never was able to hold a lengthy civil conversation with Ichigo. Instead, Shiro expressed himself through his sword and rather vile language. Zangetsu should have known Shiro would leave the explaining to him.
"I'm waiting," said Ichigo, tapping his foot impatiently.
Zangetsu sighed. "Fine, but I forbid you to kill Shiro afterwards."
Ichigo Immediately narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He'd kill Shiro later anyways. Oh well.
(30 minutes later)
"So let me get this straight." Ichigo began. "Shiro got lost in the forest."
Both Shiro and Zangetsu nodded.
"And you accidentally headed to Seireitei instead of the Academy."
Shiro nodded again.
"At the Academy, you accidentally run into Hokkaido, who decides to chase you."
"Cuz he felt my hollow reiatsu, but yeah."
"Then you run through the forest for a half hour, trying to get rid of Hokkaido. When that fails, you decide to knock him out, and just leave him lying unconscious on the Academy grounds."
"Yep."
The silence was tangible. But, of course, all silence is eventually broken.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!"
Zangetsu inwardly winced. It had been too much to hope that Ichigo would calmly accept Shiro's mistake.
Shiro was unperturbed by Ichigo's outburst, and replied cheekily, "I made a mistake. I admit it. But if Hokkaido forgets it all, we shouldn't be worried. I'm certainly not complaining. You shouldn't, either."
Ichigo looked apoplectic. He opened his mouth again, fully intending to screech at Shiro loud enough to wake up Kyoraku Shusui (and that was hard enough to do when one is standing right next to the captain in question, let alone miles away).
Shiro continued on, unfazed. "Now that my story has been told, let's hear yours. How did the clearing suddenly double in size?"
Ichigo clamped his mouth shut. His cheeks glowed a furious red, but the rest of his face was pasty white. Shiro quietly snickered while Zangetsu rolled his eyes. Ichigo had nothing whatsoever to be embarrassed about. Really. Zangetsu himself had contributed to some of the new clearing space, and he wasn't embarrassed.
Ichigo turned to Zangetsu and asked, in a strangled voice, "Can you explain?"
Zangetsu sighed. Today just wasn't a good day. For anyone, himself included.
(6 hours previous)
"Ah… Zangetsu? Are you sure it's… safe to let Shiro roam free?" he asked hesitantly.
His manifested zanpakuto nodded. "He will not directly attack anyone or indirectly lead someone here. Not while I can reasonably control him. Now, shall we get started?"
Ichigo nodded reluctantly. Zangetsu knew Ichigo wouldn't enjoy a minute of the kido exercises Zangetsu had in store for his wielder. Oh, well. In any case, it would build character.
Zangetsu knelt and placed his hands on the ground. He concentrated on drawing out a piece of Ichigo's soul, shaping it into a vaguely human form, and materializing it. Unfortunately, Zangetsu was limited to materializing power-type, non-extendible zanpakuto. This was where Zangetsu's creativity came in. He could make a vague human shape using the blade as the torso, jutting extensions as arms and legs, and the hilt as the head.
The final product came out a bit rougher than Zangetsu would have liked, but it would do. Three metal dummies, stuck into the ground along the northern edge of the clearing, stood about ten meters apart from each other. Ichigo lifted an eyebrow.
"Interesting use of a zanpakuto," he commented, circling the closest dummy. He fingered the hilt/head, then pulled the zanpakuto/dummy out of the ground. He tossed it from hand to hand, testing its weight, balance, and maneuverability. He then stuck it back in the ground, chuckling, "What piece of my soul did you use to create this?"
Zangetsu gave Ichigo a quick half-smile. "You don't need, or want, to know."
Ichigo glared at Zangetsu and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Yes, I do."
"Drop it. I'm not answering that question." With that, Zangetsu summoned his shikai self from Ichigo. Said Shinigami spluttered indignantly.
"Hey!! What was that for?! And you still haven't answered my question!!"
"The purpose of the time here right now is to train with kido. You don't need a weapon to perform kido," Zangetsu replied, ignoring Ichigo's final statement.
Ichigo turned a pasty white at the reminder. Zangetsu inwardly chuckled. His wielder was so predictable.
Inquiry forgotten, Ichigo asked, in a steady voice, "So, what do I need to do first?"
Impressive. Ichigo was suppressing his fear. Irrational fear that came from the knowledge of imminent embarrassment was usually fairly difficult to hide.
"Reiatsu control is an essential part of kido, so we'll start with that. I'm tired of watching your kido backfire because you exceed its breaking point," Zangetsu said. "Right now you unconsciously let your reiatsu pour out of you, like an open faucet. So when you need more power, you don't just turn on the faucet. You open the valve wider. You start out with the amount necessary to do kido, but you feel you must need to use more power. So now you have more power than you need, for kido, at least. Also, what feels to you like a small amount of reiatsu could be a huge amount for others. Your own massive reiatsu numbs your reiatsu-sensing abilities. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to teach you to be more sensitive to the reiatsu around you and how to control your torrent of reiatsu."
Ichigo nodded, color returning to his cheeks. "I never knew that reiatsu-sensing and reiatsu-emitting were so deeply interconnected. Though I guess I should have figured, since they both deal with reiatsu. I feel like an idiot now."
"That's why I am teaching you, not the other way around."
"Right. So tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"We'll start out easy. Focus your reiatsu into a small ball floating above your hand. The trick is to use only a small bit of reiatsu. Small, Ichigo. Small. I said small!"
(15 minutes later)
Well, Ichigo could have finished the task faster. But at long last, he had done it. A small ball of blue, controlled reiatsu floated a few inches above the palm of his hand. Both Ichigo and Zangetsu were frustrated about the amount of time Ichigo had needed to do the simple task. But it was done.
"What's next?" Ichigo asked, voice strained from concentration and frustration.
Zangetsu had Ichigo manipulate the ball of reiatsu in many different ways: first moving the ball side-to-side and up and down, then expanding and shrinking the ball, then thrusting it away and drawing it back. One time Ichigo completely lost control of the ball; it sped into a nearby tree and caused said tree to explode, scattering scorched wood chips everywhere. Finally, after 45 minutes, Zangetsu called for a stop. Perhaps even the little bit of progress shown would improve Ichigo's kido. For the next 15 minutes, Ichigo attempted to perform decent kido on the dummies. It wasn't a pitiful attempt, but it wasn't great, either. About halfway through, Zangetsu sensed Shiro heading for Seireitei. Zangetsu forced down his unease and Shiro was soon forgotten. Finally, Zangetsu couldn't stand Ichigo's abominable kido anymore and he told Ichigo to take a small break. Discouraged and downbeat, Ichigo slumped against a tree at the end of the clearing. Apparently Ichigo hadn't improved enough with reiatsu control to make a significant impact on his kido. It was to be expected, since there was so little improvement with reiatsu control.
Zangetsu leaned against a tree at the other end of the clearing out of his wielder's sight. He had to get alone to think. Why was his wielder having so much trouble with basic reiatsu control? Any good Shinigami should be able to do those exercises very, very easily. And Ichigo was one of the best — power-wise. He was captain class; above-captain class when he used Shiro's power. So why was this so difficult for him?
Could the problem lie in the fact that Ichigo was a Vizard? No, the other Vizards were still perfectly capable of stellar kido. Could it be because Ichigo was only a substitute Shinigami and not the real thing? That he still had a living body? That he was still human?
If that was the case, then was Ichigo's connection with his body screwing up his ability to control reiatsu? If so, then learning reiatsu control the normal Shinigami way might not be best.
Great. Now Zangetsu had to create a new system of reiatsu control that Ichigo could use easily. Time to do some brainstorming.
(Ichigo)
Ichigo leaned on the tree, discouraged. Why couldn't he control his reiatsu? Why was it so hard?! Every single time Ichigo tried to control the ball of reiatsu, it taxed him tremendously. Ichigo was forced to focus solely on the ball at all times. Any other thought or distraction would cause him to lose control of the ball; the distractions included worries about keeping his true identity and power secret, the problem of getting back home, even just talking.
Ichigo was disturbed over his lack of control. Did this mean he had a Shinigami's sword and strength, but not the reiatsu control necessary for kido and healing? Did this mean Ichigo was crippled? But if Ichigo was crippled in kido, shouldn't that mean he should also be crippled in zanjutsu, hakuda, and hoho?
Ichigo shook his head, clearing his scrambled, murky thoughts. He couldn't have any doubt of his abilities. Doubt led to weakness. And with Aizen's attack looming on the horizon, weakness meant death. This was why Ichigo was doing his best to improve his reiatsu control and kido. Any advantage, any skill, any power Ichigo could obtain would help him and others survive when Aizen struck. This time in the past was the perfect opportunity to train in peace without the threat of war approaching. Aizen would be defeated when he got back. If he got back.
Ichigo suppressed his muddled thoughts when Zangetsu entered his peripheral vision. Standing, Ichigo turned to meet his zanpakuto.
"I want to test an experiment. Come over here, please."
Ichigo shivered slightly, but obeyed Zangetsu. If only his zanpakuto knew how much he had sounded just like Mayuri Kurotsuchi just then…
(Zangetsu)
"I want to try out an experiment. Come over here, please."
Ichigo stood and approached Zangetsu. As he drew closer, Zangetsu could see the despair, fatigue, and steely determination in his eyes. The same emotions seeped through their connection, even though both Ichigo and Zangetsu had put up walls to shield one from the other's thoughts.
"So, what's this experiment you want to try?" Ichigo asked warily. (3)
"I believe that your attachment to your living body is screwing up your ability to control reiatsu the normal Shinigami method. So I want to see if you can control your reiatsu in a different way than most Shinigami."
Shock was reflected in Ichigo's eyes before he quickly masked the emotion. "My body is crippling my ability to control reiatsu?"
Zangetsu nodded slowly. "But the good news is I may have come up with a different method of reiatsu control that you may or may not be able to use."
"So tell me what to do," Ichigo said firmly. "I'm not making much progress with the regular method."
"Alright. Start by creating a large ball of reiatsu."
Ichigo quickly formed his reiatsu into a ball. It floated serenely in front of Ichigo. Zangetsu raised an eyebrow. The ball was at least ten feet in diameter.
"Good. Now condense the ball so it's the same size as the original ball we worked with."
Now Ichigo took more time to do the task. However, it had been done quicker than Ichigo's attempts at the original tasks. A small ball of blue reiatsu floated a few inches above Ichigo's palm. The ball glowed white-hot and small white flares of reiatsu danced on its surface. Zangetsu suspected it would burn Ichigo's hand if his wielder attempted to touch it.
Without Zangetsu's instructions, Ichigo began manipulating the ball. It zoomed in tight circles around him, then began soaring around the clearing. Once, it passed too close to a tree and said tree burst into white-hot flames.
Zangetsu was extremely pleased. He had found a way for his wielder to control reiatsu without too much difficulty. Now Zangetsu had to find a way to incorporate this new form of reiatsu control into kido.
(Ichigo)
Ichigo allowed himself a small smile. He had done it! This new form of reiatsu control was so ridiculously easy for him; it was almost laughable he was struggling so much before. Before, Ichigo could only use a sliver of his power. It was like letting only a trickle of water through a dam that might burst at any time. And then Ichigo had to manipulate that trickle without letting the dam burst. Now Ichigo could open the floodgates wide open and use the entire torrent of water that came flooding out. Granted, it was fairly difficult to condense the reiatsu (and keep said reiatsu condensed), and the condensed reiatsu had a tendency to fly around too fast (and was extremely difficult to brake), but it was a whole lot easier to use than the other method of reiatsu control.
Suddenly a thought stuck Ichigo. How would the new method of reiatsu control work with kido?
This chapter was so hard to get through, as was chapter 12. Speaking of chapter 12, I have it written out, just not typed up. Review and I will post it faster!!!
I know many of you were looking for comic relief in this chapter. I myself was planning to make this chapter a comic relief chapter. However, it never turned into a funny chapter. No flames about the seriousness. Please. There is a reason why this fanfic is not labeled "humor". I did make this chapter longer to make up for the lack of humor.
(1) Even though Zangetsu is a zanpakuto, he has a very human-like personality. So why can't he have his own thoughts and feelings?
(2) I'm sorry if I bored you to tears with that, but it needed to be done. Zangetsu is a quiet, thoughtful type of person, so I needed his viewpoint about Ichigo and the situations he gets himself into, and why.
(3) I do mean warily, not wearily. It's annoying when other authors confuse the two. Just like they confuse their and there.
Press the little button below, please!!
-HM