Thank you all for your reviews.
I don't think I can really say anything to them, since most of the questions are answered in this chapter.
Finally, some background from the Bleach-verse!
This chapter is in the end over 10k words... the second longest so far after the Chapter 1 and with it we're at the end of the Hueco Mundo arc.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11 – Hueco Mundo pt. 4 (The Ancient)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner hollow/Zanpaktou speech'
xxx
Many things ran through the mind of the shinigami representative, Kurosaki Ichigo, while staring at the enemy, threateningly standing only few steps away from him.
'Did he say first hollow ever?'
'How old is he?'
'Why does he look like that... so similar to my Resurrección?'
'Why did he want to meet me?'
'Why isn't he attacking?'
'What's with his reiatsu?'
'...did he say first hollow ever?'
Ichigo wanted to ask so much but felt that his tongue was too heavy to form any question. From the short moment he was able to assess the enemy he was sure, that without his bankai, he was outclassed.
He wasn't scared nor did he panick.
He was just trying to keep his cool and analyze the situation properly, like Urahara taught him so long ago.
"Ah... you are probably wondering what is going on here, right?" The Ancient casually walked around him in circles, watching him carefully.
Answer he received was a short nod.
It took him few more moments before speaking again, mumbling incoherently the whole time.
"Hmm, you're making me sad, Kurosaki Ichigo. I was awaiting you at your full power but yet it seems you have not unlocked your every potential so far... I'm so disappointed... " Surprisingly, the old hollow truly showed some kind of sadness behind his mask.
Meanwhile, Ichigo noticed two small details.
First one was the fact, that the Ancient was missing a small part of his mask. Truly a tiny piece was chipped above his right eye.
Second one was more of a large detail than a small one. It was a truly horrific scar that ran from his left shoulder all the way diagonally to his right hip.
It was the second thing that intrigued the substitute shinigami more.
'The fact that he's the first hollow ever, and his reiatsu makes him truly a monster... I don't think I want to meet the one who gave him that scar.'
The Ancient noticed Ichigo's curious gaze and grinned in amusement which resulted in a frightening grimace.
"I see that you're wondering about my scar... and if I had to guess, what you're thinking right now is: 'Wow, I don't want to fight the one who did it, or something along this line." He chuckled when Ichigo's eyes widened a little bit.
"Well, you'll be surprised to know that you have already met him."
'What?' Ichigo thought.
The Ancient ran with his clawed finger along his scar.
"This is the only injury I ever received that threatened to take my life, and it was done one thousand years ago by none other than Genryuusai Yamamoto, the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13... he did it to me with his bankai."
A shiver ran through Ichigo's body.
'Old man in bankai did this... damn he must have been...wait, thousand years ago?'
"What happened one thousand years ago?" Ichigo asked suddenly.
"Heh, you got over that surprise rather quickly." The Ancient chuckled darkly and without any announcement, he spun around and flashed to Ichigo with his claws raised, trying to slash at him with them.
Ichigo barely had the time to spare but with luck he managed to block the attack, although the raw strength of it sent him flying backwards.
After few flips, he landed on the ground, this time prepared for a strike, but the Ancient just stood there, grinning wildly.
"Good, if you couldn't block that, I would be just wasting my time."
Ichigo, startled by that statement noticed, that no-one else moved since the Ancient showed himself.
'Must be frozen in fear.'
The Ancient slowly walked away and sat on the throne made completely of bones, that suddenly rose from the ground.
"If you want to know more... about what happened one thousand years ago and how it's connected with you... or about the hidden potential that resides in you... or about anything else... well, you have to defeat my subordinates first." He chuckled again, nodding to the Vasto Lorde around them to initiate attack.
'Damn.' Ichigo cursed and as fast as he could, he flashed to his companions and in quick succession, he blocked, threw or kicked away four Vasto Lorde that he wanted to take on.
Through the exchange between Ichigo and The Ancient, Nel kept looking at Harribel, trying to find in her face anything that could ease her worries.
Sadly, Harribel herself was in a small shock, something which was completely uncharacteristic of her.
Grimmjow however, probably for the first time in his life, felt fear.
He was blood-thirsty, but even he understood the situation. If the Ancient decided to dispose of them, not even Kurosaki Ichigo could save them. With that in mind, he switched his focus and concentrated his instincts on the Vasto Lorde surrounding them.
'Fuck it. I wanted to fight but this is bad. I'll have to go all out if I want to win... but after that I'll be an easy lunch for the Ancient fucker... grrr, fuck Grimmjow, get your act together, you're the King!'
Swallowing his pride, he turned to Harribel and Nel and motioned them to listen to him.
"Listen you two. Even I understand the situation and I think... that we need to work together or we are dead fucking meat." He whispered and grimaced when they widened their eyes.
"But if either of you mention to Kurosaki that I proposed this idea first, I'll kick your asses, understood?"
"Sure, but what can we do? If that old one decided to fight Ichigo, then I'm not sure we can take on ten Vasto Lorde ourselves." Nel said quietly.
They were interrupted when Ichigo was suddenly blasted in the air.
'Shit, I couldn't even see the attack.' Grimmjow thought bitterly.
After the statement from the Ancient, Harribel turned to them.
"Well, you heard it, it seems that the Ancient is interested in Kurosaki, that means that we can fight those Vasto Lorde with Kurosaki's help and after that we can breathe easier... but even as I'm saying it, I'm doubtful."
Nel and Grimmjow nodded and took their defensive stances when Ichigo blocked the four of Vasto Lorde, taking them away from the trio.
'Damn it Kurosaki, I told you to take three only. If the Ancient wants to fight you after this, you'll be dead in no time.' Harribel thought in irritation as she had to quickly focus on the fight, when a slash was aimed at her head.
She parried it with her Tiburón, jumping above the attacker.
"Trident!" She exclaimed, shooting high-pressured water, infused with her reiryoku at the Vasto Lorde below her.
Cursing under her breath when another hollow jumped and blocked the attack, she landed in front of her two opponents.
"Hey, we got the cold-ass bitch."
"Good, we can take our time to melt that attitude." Both of the Vasto Lorde chuckled, staring at Harribel with lecherous eyes.
"My name is-"
"La Gota!" Harribel interrupted them with another attack, successfully injuring the taller of the Vasto Lorde.
"I don't need to know the names of the trash like you." Harribel stated, unconsciously imitating Ulquiorra's attitude.
"Gah! Bitch cut off my arm!" Wounded hollow whined in pain.
'Shit!' Harribel cursed when the second Vasto Lorde wasn't in front of her anymore and she instinctively moved.
She gritted her teeth when blood spurted from her left shoulder.
"Don't take your eyes off us, Arrancar." Second Vasto Lorde mocked her from behind her.
Harribel focused and send some of her reiryoku to the wound, at least stopping the blood.
'It seems that this will be tough. Even if they are Vasto Lorde, they shouldn't have been this strong. As I suspected with those Adjuchas, the Ancient must have somehow raised their strength.'
"Garra de la Pantera!"
Four acutely shaped bombs were fired from Grimmjow's elbow, trying to hit his opponents.
The blue-haired Arrancar was forced to bring out the heavy artillery early in his fight, after being outsmarted and after that enraged, when he got slashed across his back.
He was distracted by the magnitude of Harribel's attacks and lost sight of his opponents for a moment, which costed him.
After the explosions cleared, his grin returned although in weakened state, as the enemy was wounded just not as bad as he hoped.
Both sides pissed off, they flashed across the land, meeting in the centre, exchanging punches and kicks and occasional slashes.
Grimmjow was having a hard time.
His fighting style was unpredictable, what was one of the things that kept him on equal grounds with the enemy hollows.
But other than that, Grimmjow was bitterly aware, that from the four of them that came here, he was the weakest member.
His blows were having only little effect on the Vasto Lorde, grazing them, cutting them, breaking small bones but other than that, no serious injury.
On the other hand, enemy's claws were giving them an edge. They were long enough and sharp enough to warrant Grimmjow's attention and he had to avoid them every time, or they would cut through his Hierro.
They weren't creating heavy injuries, but eventually, he would bled out even from the simple deep scratches or cuts.
Spinning in the air and hitting one of the hollows with his reiryoku empowered kick, he allowed himself a deep breath.
"Gaaaaaarh!" He roared point-blank at the second Vasto Lorde, sending him flying with the produced shockwave.
He quickly send his reiryoku to the deeper cuts, stopping the bleeding.
'Fuck they're tough. I'm loosing energy fast.' Grimmjow cursed under his breath and flashed to his opponents, intending on not giving them any room to breathe.
'So they want to fight in close range and to aim at my weak-spots.' Nel thought as she kicked her foes with surprising speed, giving herself some space.
"Disparo Verde!" She aimed her lance at them, shooting several bright high-speed projectiles from it.
Wanting to finish the job quickly, she sent the second attack moments after that.
"Lanzador Verde!" Her lance swished through the air, gathering more energy and spin as it cut the distance between her and the Vasto Lorde, hitting the area where they were recovering, dead on.
Using her reiryoku, she called the lance back to her hands and waited.
Her eyes widened when something bursted from the smoke and she blocked the incoming attack.
The Vasto Lorde that attacked her, was mildly burned and missing some chunks of his body around the stomach area, but it was slowly healing.
'High-speed regeneration?' She thought but the small chuckle that escaped from her opponent mouth unnerved her.
That saved her from serious injuries as the one in front of her suddenly ducked and she came face to face with a bright blue Cero, coming from the smoke.
She managed to open her mouth and to swallow it just in time.
"Cero Doble!" She sent it back to its originator, but the Vasto Lorde that was close to her wasn't just standing too and without any chance to block, only slightly side-stepping it, she received a triple cut to her side.
"Gah!" She gasped from the pain and jumped backwards immediately.
The hollow that wounded her licked his claws, tasting her blood.
He savoured the taste and grinned at her maliciously.
'Why do I always get the creepy ones.' Nel thought in irritation as she readied her lance for another attack.
Ichigo was narrowly watching his opponents, utilizing his concentration to the utmost levels. Facing four Vasto Lorde was giving him no other option. With every muscle in his being strained in stress, he reacted quickly when the smallest of them suddenly flashed to him, flaring his dark flames and trying to scare the hollow away.
With his instincts screaming at him, he bent over, dodging the claws of the second attacker, slashing at his right and cutting the third Vasto Lorde.
He stumbled however, when the fourth opponent successfully kicked him in the stomach, catching him off guard.
'Damn, Harribel was right, four of them is too much.'
His thoughts were interrupted when a vague cry cut through the air, courtesy of the hollow who touched his flames.
Ichigo glanced at him, noticing him panting heavily on the ground and realized that this was the opportunity he needed. With one of his enemies out of the combat for a while, maybe he could do some damage.
With that in mind, he flashed as fast as he could to the one who previously kicked him, his zanpaktou high in the air, glowing with energy.
"Getsuga Tenshō!" Crescent wave caught the hollow off guard and sent him flying to the distance.
Instinctively, Ichigo immediately ducked, when he heard something flying at him and narrowly escaping a bright green Cero.
'Cero huh? Let me show you mine.'
He raised and pointed his finger at the Vasto Lorde and gathered great amount of hollow reiryoku in it.
"Ce-ro." He stumbled in the middle of releasing it, when the hollow he forgot about grazed his shoulder with his claws.
'Damn.' Ichigo cursed.
With luck on his side however, he observed the trajectory of his Cero, that hit the mark either way.
The victim was however not the one he aimed at, but the one who was still panting on the ground, after coming into contact with Ichigo's flames.
Just before the Cero hit him, the hollow raised his head and couldn't do anything besides widening his eyes in horror.
He was engulfed in grand explosion, obscuring his being from sight.
Getting over his surprise quickly, the remaining two Vasto Lorde attacked Ichigo, simultaneously slashing at his face and torso.
Blocking the attacks with Zangetsu, Ichigo was blown away when something collided with him.
"Ba...bala!" The Vasto Lorde that Ichigo sent flying with his Getsuga came from the forest, heavily bleeding from the deep gash in his chest.
Ichigo wasn't holding back and the Getsuga he used, was easily the double strength he used the last time.
"Damn you, shinigami." The injured hollow cursed and fell on the ground, unconscious, but not dead yet.
'Shit. I thought he was done for.' Ichigo thought bitterly when he got up.
His robe got slightly tattered and he was bleeding slightly from the cut on his head.
"Angetsu no Ka!" He yelled and sent a wave of dark flames at his opponents, giving himself a little room to breathe.
Glancing at his left, he was that the hollow that was struck with his Cero was slowly getting up, covered in horrible burns that were slowly healing.
'Come on! Can't he stay down?'
He flashed to him, wanting to get rid of some of his opponents.
When he started to gather reiryoku into his blade for another Getsuga, he remembered the short training he underwent in Seiretei, the face of Hacchigen jumping to his mind.
Letting him sword fall next to him, he punched the hollow, sending him to the ground once again and aimed his finger at him.
Tha Vasto Lorde, seeing the stance, thought of another Cero coming at him and surrendered to the fate as he was sure that he couldn't survive another and he was too injured to be able to dodge it.
Noticing that, Ichigo frowned. He never liked the kind of people who wouldn't fight their fate.
'Well, what can you do.' He thought and gathered the needed reiryoku to the point of his finger.
"Hadō #4: Byakurai!" Blue stream of electricity shot out of his finger aiming at the hollow's shoulder, but in the end, the Vasto Lorde tried to dodge it in reflex and ended with the Hadō piercing his head, killing him instantly.
Ichigo grimaced in disgust when blood splashed behind the hollow gruesomely and he had to turn away.
And he did it just in time as the two Vasto Lorde finally sprung into action, after having to dodge his Angetsu no Ka.
Ichigo stood still and when they were close enough, again he raised only his finger and pointed at them, ushering two Kido's in quick succsesion.
"Hadō #1: Shō!"
"Bakudō #1: Sai!"
Not expecting Kido, the first hollow was blasted back with force as Ichigo put too much of his reiryoku into the attack, while the second one got his hands twisted behind his back and cried in pain.
Ichigo grasped his zanpaktou and in an instant he gathered energy into the blade, powering up a Getsuga.
However, instead of releasing it, he let the powered up sword cut through the binded hollow, bifurcating him and only after that, he released the gathered energy.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The slightly weaker Getsuga was reflected with the claws of the hollow that was previously blasted with Sho, instead hitting the unconscious Vasto Lorde, finally killing him.
Ichigo raised one eyebrow.
'Either I'm a lucky son of a..., or they absolutely don't care for what happens to their comrades.'
Seeing that the last Vasto Lorde sped to him, he allowed himself a deep breath and waited for him to attack.
For the next few moments, he decided only to dodge the strikes, looking for an opening in the defense.
The hollow was quickly getting angry, which led to his demise.
In one of his slashes, he put too much force into it and when Ichigo dodge it, it left him defenseless against attacks, what Ichigo noticed and quickly poured his hollow reiryoku into his hands.
"Bala!" He shouted and sent two shots of energy towards the hollow, who could only look as his body was blasted away, since his energy was almost wasted, leaving his Hierro drastically weakened.
Ichigo wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and looked around to see how his companions were doing.
'Fuck these two, I guess there's no other choice but use that.' Grimmjow gritted his teeth and held his shoulder, which was heavily bleeding from the numerous injuries.
His two opponents weren't faring so much better and they spurted some heavy wound too, the second one spitting blood on the ground.
Thanks to his unpredictability, Grimmjow managed to hold his own against them, getting few lucky shots with his Garra de le Pantera, dealing fair amount of damage.
Since that moment however, the duo in front of him started to cooperate, slowly gaining advantage, leaving Grimmjow now with no other choice.
"Listen here you fuckers, I'm gonna show it to you only once, so watch carefully and try not to die instantly." He grinned painfully and raised the hand, he was previously clutching his shoulder with.
'Yeah, that should do it.' He thought when he saw the amount of blood on his palm and gathered his reiryoku.
Aiming the palm at this opponents who widened their eyes in realization, he yelled.
"Gran Rey Cero!" Thick torrent of blue energy escaped his hand, hitting the Vasto Lorde instantly and generated a huge explosion.
The air around him was still cracking from the amount of the energy used as he collapsed on the ground, absolutely exhausted.
'Fuck, I hope the faggots are dead... or I'll be the one dead soon.'
From the ground he glanced at the place where the blast started and sighed in satisfaction.
His opponents were charred from explosion, their eyes rolled back in their heads, dead and already disappearing.
Grimmjow tried to stand but he was too tired, so instead he lied down, trying to catch his breath.
'Well, either you'll do some miracle, or we're fucked, Kurosaki.'
"Cascada!"
Harribel watched as her attack halted the progress of the duo that tried to attack her together.
As the water subsided, it was obvious who would win the fight.
Harribel was spurting numerous cuts and gashes, but was nowhere near inured as Grimmjow was.
On the other hand, her opponents were breathing heavily, raising from the ground again, but very slowly.
'It is quite odd. At the beginning, they were very strong, stronger than they should have been, but that power is slowly decreasing as the time passes... what did he do to them?' She wondered absent-mindedly as her mind wandered towards the Ancient.
A huge explosion woke her from her musings and she glanced at her left to see the remnants of bluish trail of energy, coming from Grimmjow's position.
She raised her eyebrow.
'Well, for the first time I have to admit that it isn't that much of a bad idea, Grimmjow.'
Touching her stomach, where she had the deepest gash, she smeared her palm with her own blood and gathered the needed energy.
"Gran Rey Cero!" She exclaimed and sent a golden torrent of energy at the helpless Vasto Lorde, who only sighed in defeat moment before the Cero hit them, killing them quickly.
She almost smirked when the produced explosion was almost twice as big as Grimmjow's.
With a deep breath she turned around.
Nel was the last one who thought of the Gran Rey Cero and she hurried to do the same.
She was faring better than Grimmjow, but she was more wounded than Harribel and wanted to do nothing else than to finish her fight as her opponents creeped her out.
Faster than the Vasto Lorde could notice, she gathered some blood on her hand and poured her reiryoku in it, releasing her own version of the ultimate Cero, green in color.
Breathing quickly and heavily, as the action tired her out, she sadly observed the end of her enemies.
They indeed creeped her out, yet they were still living beings. Sighing, she raised her head and headed to Ichigo's position.
A huge burden fell from Ichigo's heart as he found out, that despite their injuries, his companions seemed to be just fine. Just as he wanted to flash to them, deep voice interrupted him.
"Bravo. I almost thought that four of them were too much for you, Kurosaki Ichigo." The Ancient finally made himself known again.
Ichigo reacted instantly and twisted himself around in anticipation of a sudden attack.
The Ancient only chuckled.
"My, my, you're quite jumpy, aren't you, young one? But fear not as you have a little time before you'll need those reflexes in a combat again. For now... "
Ichigo gritted his teeth when suddenly a massive amount of reiatsu hit him, making him sweat bullets and pinning the rest of his comrades to the ground, preventing them from getting close to him.
"... let's talk."
...
"What?" Ichigo looked at him in confusion as soon as the pressure disappeared.
The Ancient grinned slightly at him.
"I promised that after you defeated my subordinates, I'd explain some things to you and I'll keep my word. You are, however free to try and attack me in the meantime." He finished with a sinister grimace, making Ichigo gulp.
Instead of attacking, he sat on the ground, having no other choice.
'I'm not stupid to take the bait... if we can get out of here without having to fight him... I'd be a lot happier.'
"Good, good." The old hollow clapped his hands.
"Do pardon me however. I said that I'd explain things to you, but it cannot be done without a story. So make yourself comfortable as you'll need to hear me out. Oh... but the names in the following story are completely fictional, as my memory grew old." He grinned again but after that his face under the mask grew serious.
"Let me start with what happened many thousands of years before today... with something that changed this very world..."
...
Flashback - Many thousands years ago
"Elsie, love, wheeere aaare youuuu?" Michael sang happily as he jogged towards his home in anticipation of next two free days spent with his only love.
"I'm here sweety." A beautiful woman in her mid-thirties emerged from the small hut, lovingly caressing her inflated pregnant belly.
Michael quickly jumped towards her and put her ear on her navel.
"Don't tell me he has been kicking again and I missed it. Oh, the ungrateful heavens!" He exclaimed dramatically as Elsie chuckled and smiled at him.
"You dummy, it isn't such a big deal. After he's born you'll be able to hear him as much as you can."
Michael looked at her horrified.
"Blasphemy! What if he's trying to tell me something and I wasn't there to hear him!"
His wife just chuckled again and kissed him on the forehead.
"You worry too much, honey. Come inside, I made your favourite soup."
Michael's eyes glowed with excitement.
"Oh goody! These past two weeks were horrendous. There was nothing else than meat and meat and even more meat." He whined and slowly walked into the hut, where the two of them ate their lunch.
Michael and Elsie were happily married couple, living in the middle of nowhere, a long distance from any civilization, not that there were many civilized people in that era.
They were practically a farmers, living from what they grew or what Michael could hunt down in the nearby woods.
Michael originally grew up in a small village where he was taught the basic things needed for survival, like hunting wild animals, building a hut for himself or how to find a fresh drinking water. He was however not satisfied with the small area that the village was.
His instincts were telling him to abandon this kind of living, to go and explore the wide world... the unknown land.
At the age of fifteen he finally decided and snucked from the settlement, leaving only small note for his parents, who never really took care of him anyway and preferred for him to survive on his own.
For the next few years, he wandered through the vast lands, trying many barbaric or peaceful jobs, eventually landing in an unexplored area, where he met Elsie.
She was like a gift from gods to him and he fell in love with her on the first sight.
At first, she was scared of him as his appearance wasn't very sympathetic and he kept his beard untrimmed for many months.
After he showed her no ill intentions and she got to know him better, she accepted his company.
During many following weeks, even months, Michael showed her how to live better, richer and more than anything, how to be not alone.
It didn't take long before she fell in love with him too. At the beginning, he suspected that there was something from her past that prevented her from being caring towards him, or preventing her from loving him, but eventually her resistance broke.
Ever since the day that Elsie admitted her love to him, they were living on a cloud of happiness, that grew even bigger after she announced, that she was carrying his child.
That day, for the first time in his life, Michael cried from pure happiness.
Now, Elsie was already in her last month of pregnancy and they were expecting her to give birth to the baby every day, which was the reason for Michael's departure for two weeks.
It was so that he could gather as much stock as possible, leaving them with enough material so that he wouldn't be forced to abandon his newborn child for at least few weeks.
He had so many plans for his child. It didn't matter if it was a daughter or a son. He would spend as much time with them as he could, unlike his parents.
He would show them unconditional love, he would support them, play with them and teach them everything he knew.
However, the day he returned from his two-week departure, everything went downhill for them.
"So, honey, what do you want to do?" He wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively, making her blush.
"Oh, stop it, you. I told you we can't risk having sex until the baby's born." She hushed him in embarrassment and went out to drink from the well.
Michael lied on the bed content when he suddenly felt weird, as if he was in presence of something unnatural. His head started to spin, his breathing getting heavy.
It lasted only a few moments but when Elsie came inside, he knew he wasn't imagining things.
His wife was completely drained from color, her once tanned skin almost white and her face showed horror.
"S-sweety? What's wrong?" Michael jumped from the bed, trying not to sway on his feet.
His voice seemed to shook Elsie as she looked at him scared.
"He found me... he found me, he found me..." She was mumbling in fear and when Michael tried to hug her, she backed away from him.
"Elsie?" He asked uncertain of her behaviour.
"I... I need to lie down." She said and after a second she let him to guide her towards the bed where they spent the night, neither of them getting any sleep.
From that day onward, Elsie seemed constantly scared of something, looking around with fear in her eyes.
Nothing Michael did could penetrate her defensive walls.
'It's just like we first met, but stronger.' He thought sadly.
He wanted to help her, desperately so, but she wouldn't let him.
When he tried to cheer her up with the thought of the child, she smiled for a second but then it morphed into horrified grimace and she started to cry uncontrollably.
He never mentioned the baby again. Not until it was born.
Elsie gave birth almost three full weeks after the incident.
That moment managed to cheer her up only for a few days but after that, she fell into depression again.
As the week passed by, their stock of material grew thin and Michael eventually had to leave for a few days to gather them again.
Reluctantly, he departed, praying to God that he would keep his wife and his newborn son safe.
He returned three day later.
That day, he forsake every God known to him.
That day, feeling dread and hearing only the wind, he walked into his hut.
That day...
... he found his wife's and his newborn child's lifeless bodies on the bloodied floor, laying there unmoving, with their eyes open.
That day, he fell on his knees and cried, cried, cried until his body was drained from fluids and his eyes couldn't produce tears anymore.
That day, he felt uncontrollable anger, an animal rage that was built into the core of his very being.
That day, he looked down and found a hand sticking from his chest.
That day, he spit blood on the floor but managed to turn around to see a silhouette of a man with short silver hair materialize from thin air.
"This was the last day you hid my wife from me, human." Was the only thing he heard, before the world in front of his eyes disappeared.
...
The Present
Ichigo was listening to the story with wide eyes, trying to understand but failing miserably.
"I don't understand. It is a sad story all right, but how...?"
The Ancient shook his head.
"I'll explain. The man, Michael in this story, was me."
Ichigo gaped at him in shock.
"Then..."
The first hollow ever sighed.
"I learned many things on that day and onward. The man that killed me, was the original husband of Elsie. The two of them were both from the spiritual world, from the Afterlife. Both of them were souls, first souls that showed signs of spiritual energy. Tremendous amounts of spiritual energy at that. They were a couple long time before I met Elsie and lived a happy life, creating a pleasant afterlife for every soul that flew to their world." He stopped and closed his eyes tiredly.
"But then, I don't know when or what, something happened and Elsie ran away from him. Using her spiritual powers, she crossed to the World of the Living and took over dying body of a young girl, who was terminally ill. She sent the soul to the Afterlife but took her body as her own, healing it quickly. After some time I met her and the rest is known. Her husband was looking for her everywhere since that day, but she was adapt at hiding her spiritual energy, so it took him years to find her. That was the day she changed. I found out that he appeared in front of her and gave her some time to give birth as he wouldn't take a life of an unborn, and to say goodbye to me. When she gave birth, he waited until I departed and killed their bodies, taking their souls away to the Afterlife with him. He wasn't completely satisfied however, and feeling that a human would take his wife, in rage he waited for me and killed me. That... was a mistake." He went silent for a moment to gather his words.
Meanwhile Ichigo's mind was in overdrive, trying to make heads and tails from everything.
After a minute, the Ancient continued.
"It seems that being around Elsie affected my very soul, giving me the ability to possess some spiritual energy on my own and when I died, all of it emerged from my body. Until that day, humans were dying every day but no hollow existed. When the remaining energy emerged from me, the pain I felt in my heart tore it to pieces, drawing the energy back and creating a hollow mask, thus, creating the first hollow. The process, however created a spiritual shockwave that resonated through the World of the Living, changing the souls of human beings forever, allowing them to linger on their feelings even after death. That way, a human being, after death held two options. To die and stay a plus Soul, or to die with lingering feelings and transform into a hollow." His reiatsu flared for a while, making Ichigo sweat even more.
'That's...' Ichigo was at loss of words.
"Naturally, I was devastated, but I couldn't just roam the World of the Living, nor could I have been allowed to the Afterlife. So that man, using his immense spiritual powers, created a whole another dimension for us, hollows, the Hueco Mundo... well, created... he took the vast, cursed sands of the Ancient Egypt and used them to create this ... nothingness. Why do you think that Moses could hear the God when he traveled the desert? Because it overlaps with Hueco Mundo... it's more complicated than that, but I'll leave it on your imagination to make a connection... I wanted to see my wife and my son again, but I couldn't do a thing. Later, I found out that they took care of my son, leaving him to live as he wanted. Not long after that, Elsie had another child, Osiris, whom you nowadays know as the Soul King. From his early age he blessed the beings, known as Shinigami, who were created after the souls in Afterlife were exposed to the spiritual energy of the Soul King's parents, and that way, Noble clans came to existence."
"S-soul King?" Ichigo asked baffled.
"Yes, the throne that ruled the Afterlife was left to the second child not to my son!" The Ancient flared his reiatsu again.
"Why are you telling me this?" Ichigo asked, trying not to get floored with the pressure.
The Ancient suddenly grinned.
"Why? It's simple, but I'll get to that... but as I was saying, the Soul King got to rule the Afterlife, which didn't bode that well with my son. Eventually, more than a thousand years ago, he finally somehow learned the truth and he found me. I told him my story, trying to convince him that he is the one who should be ruling the Afterlife as the elder sibling. It turned out he didn't need any convincing. He was already aiming at the throne. So, a thousand years ago, with my help, he attacked the Afterlife, in that time already known as the Soul Society. It was the only way, since the Soul King resided in his own dimension, not allowing even his sibling to see him." He gritted his teeth in frustration.
"We, however encountered heavy resistance. Soul Society had something that was called Divisions at which lead position stood a devious and exceptionally strong shinigami with the name of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. The rest of his followers were too incredibly strong. We managed to push them to their limits, but then something unthinkable happened."
Ichigo raised a sweaty eyebrow in wonder.
"I ... was defeated by that blasted bankai and was forced to Hueco Mundo, leaving my son practically alone. He was powerful... very powerful, but eventually, he was sealed in some dimension or space, where I couldn't touch him..." The Ancient stopped his story and hid his head to the shadows.
Ichigo's mind was full of questions, but he settled for one.
"Let's say I get it, that I understood your story... but I ask again. What does it have to do with me?"
"Because, I want you to join my son and overthrow the Soul King."
...
Ichigo put a finger into his ear, trying to clear it.
"Come again?"
The Ancient chuckled once again.
"I want you... to join the crusade of my son. He will get out from his imprisonment. Help is already on its way... Just as planned."
At his last words, Ichigo froze.
"Wha-what did you just say?"
"Hmm? Just as planned?"
Ichigo gripped the hilt of his zanpaktou.
"Where did you hear that phrase?"
The Ancient stood up from his throne and emerged from the shadow.
"Oh, that?... Well, some shinigami that spent some time in Hueco Mundo taught me." He said nonchalantly.
Ichigo flared his reiatsu as the black flames got hotter.
"How do you know Aizen?!"
The hollow waved his hand provocatively.
"I think you know that... isn't my appearance familiar to you, after all?"
Ichigo's sword suddenly glowed with reiryoku.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
"Answer me!"
The Ancient let the attack hit him, emerging shortly from the swirled dust showing his torso, which was only slightly charred.
"Not good enough... well, do you see this small chip that's missing from my mask?" He asked Ichigo, who was feeling dread.
"What about it?" He asked, pretending ignorance, making the hollow grin.
"Weeell, some time ago... it must have been around twenty years or so, I gave that fragment to Aizen, which he used to create one of his first attempts in making Arrancar... but you already suspected the truth the moment you saw me, didn't you? That the same Arrancar attacked your father and your mother and gave you the hollow you hide inside, am I right?"
...
Anger bubbled inside Ichigo, the angry shouts of Shirosaki only fueling it further.
"What did you just say?"
The Ancient's grin only grew bigger when he felt the heat from Ichigo's dark flames.
'Good... but he needs another push.'
"I'm saying that the hollow inside you comes from me. It means that you are my descendant...well, it's quite redundant to say that, since , after all, you are your mother's son."
CLANG!
The shockwave generated when Ichigo's zanpaktou met the sword the Ancient swiftly took from his sheath, pushed everything and everyone fliyng hard.
"How do you know my mother?!" Ichigo asked angrily as he slashed again, generating even bigger shockwave.
"Ah you know... this and that... or don't tell me you thought your mother was a simple human? Or that Urahara Kisuke or even your father never hid anything from you?"
"GETSUGA TENSHŌ!" A massive crescent emerged from Ichigo's blade, sending the Ancient flying a small distance, before he redirected the attack elsewhere.
He looked down when he felt something warm fall on his knee. It was blood.
'Well would you look at that, he can cut through my Hierro.'
"EXPLAIN!" He heard Ichigo's yell coming from his left.
"The blood will always show itself, sooner or later you will find out about your roots. How about sooner?"
"CERO!"
The Ancient quickly ducked and flashed to Ichigo, sending him flying with an uppercut to the jaw.
"Don't yell, it makes you look weak. Your mother's death was however, not my, nor Aizen's fault. You should ask the Soul King."
Ichigo, who was slowly getting up, widened his eyes.
"What are you saying?" He asked in a quiet voice.
"I'm saying that it's the Soul King's fault that your mother is dead. I'm saying that your mother is the descendant of my son and I'm saying..." The Ancient dodged a jab.
"... that if you help my son, he can bring your mother back to life."
Ichigo stopped in the middle of his Shunpo and visibly shook.
"Interested?" The Ancient taunted him.
"Don't..." Ichigo whispered.
The Ancient came closer.
"What was that? I don't think I heard you quite right."
Ichigo's hands gripped his sword, drawing blood as he shook further.
"Don't... SCREW WITH ME! ANGETSU NO KA!" Without giving any chance to dodge, Ichigo sent a massive black wave of flames at him.
The Ancient only widened his eyes in surprise, shot one of his arms forward and then he was engulfed in the sudden explosion.
Still shaking in rage, Ichigo raised his head and coughed up blood.
In the last moment before he was hit, the Ancient sent a quick Bala at Ichigo, ripping a chunk of his left side.
Wobbling on his feet from the sudden blood loss, he quickly sent his hollow reiryoku to the wound, feeling immediately better, as the high-speed regeneration slowly healed him.
Glancing at his right hand covered in blood, he remembered something from his past fights and grinned.
Rasing his hand, he poured his hollow energy into it.
"Gran Rey Cero." He muttered and widened his eyes when an incredible torrent of energy ripped through the air, creating shockwaves on its course and tearing the very fabric of Hueco Mundo's space.
He fell on his knee from the sudden energy depletion and only raised his head when the force of the explosion almost threw him away.
"That was dangerous." Ichigo froze when the voice of the Ancient came from his right.
"How... ?" He asked when he glanced at the hollow.
He was quite burned and spurting a deep wound on his torso that crossed the one he got from Yamamoto, creating an X-shaped scar.
"I managed to dodge the direct hit of your Cero and got caught up in the following explosion... regarding your fist attack... my pain is a lot stronger than your darkness and only the heat of your flames can hurt me. Nevertheless, impressive display of damage and you're not even using your bankai. Impressive indeed."
Suddenly the Ancient's face showed irritation.
"Well, I guess we'll have to cut this conversation short. It seems that your... comrades are on their way and even if I'm not that hooked on living, I can't die just yet and this little fight of yours managed to tire me a little. But remember, Kurosaki Ichigo. We will meet again." And with that, he flashed away, leaving Ichigo full of questions and with no one that could answer them.
"FUCK!" He yelled and slashed with his zanpaktou in rage, swirling up the sand with the wind pressure.
When he felt a familiar reiatsu and loud voices, he turned around and seeing the faces speeding up to him, he gripped the hilt of Zangetsu tightly, slightly shaking with anger and prepared for action.
"So you're telling me that you Kurosaki-san is fighting this... Ancient?" Urahara Kisuke asked Harribel nervously.
Few hours ago, he was contacted by the Captain of the 2nd Squad, Sui-Fēng, who was trying to get into contact with Ichigo on direct orders from the Captain Commander. When she heard that unfortunately, young substitute was in Hueco Mundo, she demanded to be let after him.
Not wanting to let her go alone, Yoruichi joined her and after a small considering, Urahara took off too.
At Las Noches they encountered Nel's Fracción, who quickly introduced themselves, and found out about the counterattack.
From that point, the trio was following reiatsu signatures and after some time, they came across Harribel, Grimmjow and Nel, who were trying to get back to Ichigo after being blown away but were being constantly pushed with strong reiatsu.
"Yes, as I already explained, he was very interested in Kurosaki..." She trailed off, earning confused looks.
"... I don't think that even Kurosaki has a chance against him right now that he can't access his bankai. The reiatsu that old hollow posses is monstrous."
Yoruichi quickly grabbed her shoulders.
"What are you talking about? He can't access bankai?"
"Yes, he explained it to us, but it would take too much time now. Point is, Ichigo has limited power so we should hurry." Nel stated with a hint of worry in her voice.
Sui-Fēng, who was quiet during the whole dialogue raised one of her eyebrows.
'Weird, I never heard about anyone who would suddenly lose an ability to release his bankai after acquiring it.'
"I remember that there was something different about Kurosaki-san's reiatsu before he departed to Hueco Mundo, mabye it's connected..." Urahara said as they were flashing through the Menos Forest.
'Or in the worst case scenario... Kurosaki-san may have discovered something ... unpleasant.' He thought with a dread.
"Oh, there he is... but I don't see the Ancient anywhere... HEEY, ICHIGOOO!" Yoruichi yelled loudly, trying to catch Ichigo's attention as they got close.
"He's alive but not unharmed." She sighed in relief.
Their lifted mood however quickly plummeted when they noticed that Ichigo suddenly flashed towards then with his zanpaktou raised in the air.
"URAHARA! YOU BASTARD!" Ichigo screamed and slashed at the ex-Captain, who only widened his eyes and quickly put up his own zanpaktou to block the incoming strike.
Beads of sweat appeared on his brow as the strength behind the attack proved to be too much and he was blasted in the trees.
"ICHIGO!" Yoruichi yelled, trying to catch him but as she got closer, the black flames surrounding Ichigo flared, preventing her from making any contact.
"Don't touch the flames if you don't want to get... burned." Ichigo muttered darkly without breaking eye contact with the trajectory Urahara flew.
"Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked with wide eyes. Something was wrong, she could feel it.
Sui-Fēng, being the non-sentimental one, reacted quickly and aimed a kick at Ichigo's temples, trying to subdue him.
Ichigo just raised his free arm and poured his reiryoku into it.
"Bakudō #8: Seki." He muttered and Sui-Fēng found herself flying back, wide-eyed.
'He learned Kido?'
Not paying any attention to the Captain of the 2nd Squad, Ichigo flashed to Urahara, swinging his zanpaktou horizontally, as if trying to bifurcate him.
Urahara instinctively reacted and blocked the strike, using reiryoku to steady himself so that he wouldn't get blown away, again.
'Damn he's angry!' Urahara gulped and tried to shake him off.
He flashed away and with wide eyes dodged an incoming Byakurai.
'When...?' Putting his questions away, he quickly raised his zanpaktou.
"Awaken, Benihime!" Releasing his Shikai in a burst of reiatsu, he grimaced as he felt a hollow energy coming at him fast, a signal that a Cero was fired.
"Chikasumi no Tate!" He put up his blood-mist shield just in time as Ichigo's Cero hit it, creating small cracks in it.
'Oh boy, looks like I'll have to take this seriously or I'm dead meat... and nobody wants that.'
"Nake, Benihime!" Releasing crimson energy blast at Ichigo, he was praying that it would calm Ichigo down.
Ichigo was speeding up to him, when he noticed an incoming attack. With a growl he raised his own zanpaktou.
"Yami no Tsukitate!" Shield of Darkness easily stopped Urahara's shikai ability, earning a surprised look from the scientist.
'What is this ability, I've never seen Kurosaki-san use this before.' He thought along with Yoruichi, who was still trying to understand the situation.
'Fine Kurosaki-san, seems I'll have to resort to Kido.'
"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō." Urahara yelled a moment before Ichigo swung his blade at him again, stopping him in mid-air.
Immediately, Ichigo growled and began ro raise his reiatsu, making Urahara raise his hands again.
"Bakudō #63: Sajō Sabaku!" A yellow energy in a form of a rope surrounded Ichigo's body, binding him tightly.
Urhara sighed in relief a little and looked at trashing Ichigo.
"Now, Kurosaki-san, why don't you explain your actions? What did I do to you that deserved attacking me?" He asked calmly while Yoruichi and Sui-Fēng flashed to him.
With his hair hiding his eyes, Ichigo gritted his teeth.
"... I left it alone when you put Hogyoku in Rukia and sent me and my friends to Soul Society without any kind of warning... I left it alone when you didn't tell me that Dad is a shinigami... I left alone many things that you kept for yourself..."
He flared his reiatsu as much as he could, black flames slowly encompassing Urahara's Kido, corroding it.
Urahara widened his eyes and prepared to do another binding spell when Ichigo continued, interrupting him.
"...but then I find out that you, along with my Dad, were keeping the real reason to my Mum's death to yourself, her identity and who I am and how it's all connected?... Enough!" The Kido suddenly broke, blasting the trio away.
"Kisuke, what is he talking about?" Yoruichi asked tentatively.
Urahara looked down sadly.
"I...we had no other choi-" He didn't have the time to finish as Ichigo came at him once again.
Deciding that he needed Ichigo to calm down, he went on the offensive, trying to drive Ichigo into corner, however this was different from the time he first trained Ichigo and the substitute was more than capable of fending off his slashes and jabs.
Finally snapping out of her surprise, Yoruichi flashed to Ichigo but widened her eyes as he aimed a single finger at her.
"Hadō #1: Shō!" Awaiting a small shove, Yoruichi gulped as her breath was blown away from the force of the Kido.
Sui-Fēng gritted her teeth as her mentor got blasted and she flashed to ichigo from behind, kicking him into his back, sending him flying into trees.
"What's wrong with him!" She yelled at Urahara who just shook his head.
Ichigo slowly got up and poured his reiryoku into his blade.
"But above all, Urahara-san... why didn't you tell me that THE SOUL KING HAD HIS FINGERS IN MY MOTHER'S DEATH?!" He yelled angrily at the shopkeeper, who, along with the others, widened his eyes.
"So you heard about that..." Urahara muttered sadly, angering Ichigo more.
"So you heard about that...SO YOU HEARD ABOUT THAT? WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THAT REACTION?! GETSUGA TENSHŌ!"
Sui-Fēng gulped as she saw a huge crescent-shaped energy flying at them in high speed. She saw first hand during Ichigo's fight with Aizen just what potential damage that attack held.
"Shit!" Urahara cursed and quickly built up his reiatsu.
"Bakudō #81 Dankū! Chikasumi no Tate!" He yelled in quick succession, raising a Kido barrier along with his own zanpaktou shield in front of them, constantly pouring his reiyroku in it, praying that it would hold off Ichigo's attack.
...
Meanwhile, Ichigo fell on his knees, exhausted from his previous battles and from almost all of his reiyroku used to power up his abilities.
He punched the ground in anguish just as an explosion blew sand at him.
From it, slightly injured Urahara emerged, along with Yoruichi and Sui-Fēng, whose clothes were a bit tattered, but they were mostly unharmed.
"Why... Urahara-san... why didn't you tell me." Ichigo asked with clenched fists.
Said man dusted himself and looked at his destroyed hat, throwing it away with a sigh.
He sat in front of Ichigo, looking for the right words.
After a minute, he opened his mouth.
"I... was scared." He answered honestly, earning a surprised expression from Yoruichi and Sui-Fēng but no reaction from ichigo.
"I was afraid that if you knew, that the one that oversees the Afterlife and shinigami was somehow responsible for the death of your mother, that you'd turn your back on us. That you'd let Aizen to go after the Soul King. That you anger would cloud your mind and you'd even sacrifice your friends... I know that nothing I'll say will make a difference... but I'm honestly sorry." Urahara finished and bowed to Ichigo.
"Did Dad knew all this?" Ichigo asked in a dull voice.
Urahara hesitated for a second but nodded in the end.
"Yes. He had his own reason for not wanting to tell you but they were as sound as mine."
Ichigo gritted his teeth for a moment but then he unclenched his fists.
"Did anyone else knew?"
Urahara shook his head.
"No, I don't think anyone you know knew about it."
Yoruichi watched them with heavy heart. On one hand, she wanted to kick the ass of her childhood friend so hard, he wouldn't be able to sit down for at least a week but on the other one... she wanted just to hug Ichigo, to let him know that she would stand by him no matter what.
She was slowly realizing what these thoughts meant, but she also knew that this wasn't the right time for it.
Finally, after a few long minutes, Ichigo sighed and the flames around him slowly disappeared, allowing Yoruichi to grab his shoulders lightly.
He absent-mindedly reached for her hands and squeezed them, but after that he shakily stood up.
"I'm not forgiving you for now, Urahara-san. I don't think that you are someone who would willingly hurt others, but you are also a shady person, who operates behind the scenes and right now, you lost some of my trust." He stated, not looking at the shopkeeper.
Urahara also stood up, sadly nodding.
"I know, Kurosaki-san."
Ichigo turned to Sui-Fēng, who was slightly uncomfortable with the scene.
"I assume something bad happened in Soul Society." He said.
"Yes... Aizen Sosuke vanished from his prison." She hesitantly admitted and watched as Ichigo's eyes widened for a second.
"I see... bastard. Are you here just to inform me or are you here to take me to Soul Society?"
Sui-Fēng recoiled a little. She was expecting more violent reaction from Ichigo after hearing that they let Aizen escape.
"Uh, well, Captain Commander would like you to come back to Soul Society as we don't know what will the traitor do next. A note was sent to Royal Guard and we are awaiting them in few days time." At the mention of the Royal Guard Ichigo clenched his fists again, but stayed calm.
"I'll get there later." He turned to Urahara.
"Now, I need to get back to Las Noches for a moment and after that, we, meaning me and Urahara-san, are going after to talk to my Dad. I want to know everything."
"As you wish, Kurosaki-san, oh, by the way, your friends who were here with you are already on their way back." Urahara nodded and watched as Ichigo turned away and flashed into the direction of Las Noches.
He quickly interrupted Yoruichi with his hand when he saw her opening her mouth.
"I know, Yoruichi, you're angry and you have every right to be... but later. I was hoping we could talk to Kurosaki-san about his new abilities. They seem dangerous."
Sui-Fēng just looked at them with mouth opened wide.
'Was I just disregarded as a bother?'
Outside of Las Noches, two hours later
Lilynette watched as Ichigo finally arrived, his clothes torn and little bloody. Harribel, Nel and Grimmjow came few minutes ago and already explained what happened at enemy base, leaving Lilynette anxious.
As Ichigo stopped in front of her, with two other people behind him, she smiled a bit.
'He's fine, it's nothing serious...I'm glad.'
She slowly walked to him and briefly hugged him, earning a raised eyebrow from Yoruichi.
"I'm glad that you're okay, Ichigo." She whispered into his ear, making him smile a little.
"Yeah, thanks Lily." She smiled too. Before the four of them went for counterattack, Ichigo decided that Lilynette was a too long name so he shortened it to Lily, against which she didn't protest. In fact she liked it as it made her feel a little closer to him.
'Lily, hmm?' Yoruichi thought with grimace.
"I take it that Harribel-san already told you what happened?" Ichigo asked the smaller Arrancar.
"Yeah, but I'd rather hear it from you." Her smile weakened when Ichigo shook his head.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but I can't stay here. There's been some problems in Soul Society and ... with my Dad and I have to take care of that." He patted her on her helmet.
"Don't worry though, I'll visit you as soon as I can, okay?" He chuckled when Lilynette pouted and with a small grin he leaned to her.
"Tell everyone that I'm sorry about my abrupt departure and take this, it's a communicator. You can always call me if you want to, okay?" He handed her a small device he received from Urahara. She nodded and quickly planted a small kiss on his cheek, surprising him.
"See you later, Ichigo." She grinned and sprinted inside.
'Okay, I don't like her already.' Yoruichi thought possessively as her mouth twitched in irritation.
Ichigo turned to Urahara and others.
"We can go now. Captain Sui-Fēng, stay with Yoruichi-san at Urahara's Shop until I'll send a message, or you can go back to Soul Society, it's your call."
Sui-Fēng raised one eyebrow at the sudden formality in his voice, but nodded.
Ichigo turned and opened a Garganta for them.
"Let's go."
Kurosaki's household
Isshin was relaxing on his favourite chair as his shift in a clinic ended just a few minutes ago.
It was hard to do it, because he has been feeling a dread in his spine for the past few hours. Yuzu and Karin were fortunately on a sleep-over at their friend's house, so he didn't have to worry about them.
The only one whose location was unknown was Ichigo.
His only son.
His fears were true, when after a few more minutes, he heard the entrance doors being open and he felt the reiatsu of his long time friend, Urahara Kisuke.
"Yo, Kisuke, what-" He stopped in the middle of his sentence, when he noticed that Ichigo was standing next to Urahara with slightly angry expression on his face.
"Kisuke?"
"He knows, Isshin. He met the Ancient."
Isshin's eyes widened and he suddenly understood the dread he was feeling was because of this.
"Fuck, okay... let me just grab my things."
"What?" Ichigo's angry expression was replaced with confusion.
Isshin turned to him with neutral expression.
"Well, you can't have the full story without him."
"Without who?"
Isshin sighed and looked at Ichigo with serious eyes.
"Ryūken Ishida."
End of Chapter 11.
Okay, I'll say some things as I'm sure there are gonna be questions.
I think it's clear that the fight between the Ancient and Ichigo wasn't as grand as you probably wanted it to be, but this is only the first appearance of the Ancient and I can't have him reveal all of his strength immediately, can I? But I think that showed that with his current power, Ichigo would eventually loose.
Some of you pointed out that the former Espada shouldn't have so much trouble with Adjuchas and could have take on more than one Vasto Lorde easily... I think I answered that in this chapter. What Harribel thinks is right. I didn't state it directly and let it on your imagination but if you want definitive statement: Yes, the Ancient was infusing his subordinates with a portion of his reiryoku, temporarily powering them up.
I think that some things should be getting clear but there will be twists in the future, don't worry.
Yes, Yoruichi is finally realizing that she loves Ichigo.
Yes, she should have been able to subdue Ichigo before he did so much damage to Urahara, but since she loves him, it was hard for her to attack him.
Oh and Ichigo explained to Urahara basics of his power, but only to him during their return to Las Noches. (I'm saying this in case I'll have Urahara mentioning Ichigo's abilities in the future)
The last thing... lack of Ichigo's reaction towards the fact that Aizen vanished is simply because his mind is full of other questions he has, plus being too tired to care at that moment.
Next chapter : Ichigo finally learns the whole truth. I don't have a name for it yet. See ya again.
btw: Seriously? 6 weeks without Bleach manga? ... I'm just gonna go there... in the corner...curl in the ball and cry a lot... -_-