Misaki was accompanied by Shinji that night who dropped her home. She wanted to talk to him, more about his past and what he planned on doing with Ichigo. She was afraid for the both of them, and Shinji noticed her being extra quiet. It was a rather long walk to her house, and Shinji walked right next to the girl. "Shinji?" Shinji's ears perked up at the sound of her voice, he grinned and "Yes love?" Misaki smiled, "What's going to happen?" The blonde cocked his eyebrow and stared at the girl beside him. "Whaddaya mean?" Misaki looked at his face with a worried expression, "To Ichigo? To you?" Shinji was quite shocked that she asked about him as well, and he smiled. "We'll defeat Aizen, and I'll marry you." Shinji chuckled and Misaki playfully hit his arm. She thought he was joking, but only the blonde knew just how serious he really was.
"Shinji?" Shinji looked at Misaki once again, "Yes love?" The girl didn't know why he called her that, but it kind of made her feel special. "How's Ichigo holding up? Kisuke told me you were training him." Shinji sighed. "He's a goof." Misaki giggled.
"So, Ichigo…" Shinji said, looking at the Soul Reaper standing below him. "Now that you're finally here, are you ready to join us?" Ichigo in reality, wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin off Shinji's face. "Hell no!" He yelled. "Ah?" Shinji mimicked an expression of terror at Ichigo and, "Me become one of your flunkies? Gimme a break! The only thing I wanna do with you guys-"Ichigo said looking up at the blonde Vizard. "-is use you." Shinji Hirako was angered outwardly, "What's that?" He asked, containing the wrath within him. Even though he wasn't the type to show anger externally, Ichigo got on his nerves. In more than one way possible. He was in their hideout, ordering them that he would use them, and most importantly, he was after the same girl Hirako set his eyes on. Same goes for Ichigo, although he wouldn't admit to himself that he was jealous of Hirako. "I won't join up with you, but I'm sure that you guys can teach me how to quiet down the hollow inside me." Shinji was so irked that he could laugh. "Well, listen to you talking so big like that. And just who do you think's gonna teach ya?" Shinji asked. "I'll just rip it out of you." Ichigo said, his gaze fixed to the ground. "How's that?" Shinji frowned. "By force." "Don't make me laugh." But Shinji knew Ichigo was being serious at that moment. Ichigo used his Soul Reaper badge, and his Soul form appeared out of his body, fully intent on attacking Hirako.
Shinji could see the murderous intent in the orange haired Soul Reapers eyes. He wasn't kidding in the very least. "You're a crazy one alright." Their blades clashed, the metal surfaces making a shrieking sound. The other Vizards could only watch. "That Ichigo boy, he must think quite highly of himself to be crossing swords with Shinji." Rose said, smiling. "Dummy, look closely, Shinji isn't taking this seriously at all." Lisa said, in retaliation. "Although, upon closer investigation, it also seems as if Ichigo is not fighting at his full capabilities either." The Vizards could understand that Ichigo was afraid of releasing his hollow. "Boy, this is getting a wee bit too personal, don't you think?" Love asked, scratching the backside of his head. Rose nodded. "How so?" Mashiro asked. "Both of them are in love with the same girl, so it seems as if this fight is headed in another course of direction. To see who is worth capable of winning over Misaki's heart." Kensei could puke. But they knew it was somewhere close to those lines.
Shinji kissed Misaki's cheek and, "Hey, don't worry about Ichigo, he's doing fine. Just don't come to the warehouse till he's suppressed his hollow kay?" Misaki smiled and nodded, and it broke Shinji's heart. 'She certainly loves him alright.' He turned around to leave when Misaki tugged to his arm. His eyes widened and when he turned, Misaki kissed Shinji on his cheek. "Thank you Shinji, for everything." Shinji's face grew red and he grinned. For once in his life, he really felt as if the girl before his was his first true love.
"Hey, long time no see, eh?" Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes."-king." It was a white version of himself. He identified it to be his hollow. It has to be. Ichigo didn't say a word. "What's wrong?" Ichigo was still quiet. "You sure are making one hell of a wimpy ass face over there." Hollow Ichigo smirked darkly. Ichigo looked to his left and right, but he couldn't find it. "Tell me where Zangetsu is." Ichigo asked his hollow. "That Zangetsu thing you're talking about, isn't that what you're holding there? Or maybe-"Hollow Ichigo showed the blade that he was carrying. "Could it possibly be the one that I have here?" Ichigo's eyes widened. 'A White Zangetsu?' Ichigo thought. "You asked me where Zangetsu was, didn't you? I'll tell you." Hollow Ichigo smirked jumped up in the air, aiming to strike Ichigo. "I am Zangetsu!" Ichigo couldn't believe it, and he wasn't about to either. Their blades clashed, stronger than ever.
Hachi's Kido was shaken. "Here it comes." Shinji said, waiting for the impact that he expected Ichigo to give them. Ichigo's hollow-self appeared and Hachi's Kido disintegrated. Lisa stepped near the barrier, "Just don't kill him, okay?" Shinji asked her. "Is it because your Misa would mind?" Shinji grunted internally. "Just think, I'll be doing you a favor if he died, Misa'll be all yours." Shinji frowned and Lisa stepped inside. 'Stupid Lisa.'
Ichigo and his hollow were fighting a pointless battle, "Damn it! Tell me where the man inside Zangetsu is?!" Ichigo yelled as he struck his hollow, who managed to dodge easily. "What a pain in the ass, how many times do I've to tell you? I am-"Hollow Ichigo dashed toward Ichigo and, "-Zangetsu!" His attack caused a massive explosion. "Who knows if you'll understand, but Zangetsu and I have always been the same. Zangetsu and I are both part of your spiritual power and I'm just one part of Zangetsu. As far as a body containing more than one inhabitant is concerned, when master and servant decide to switch, naturally the body's appearance changes as well. Just as bodies are wrapped in meat during life, upon death we'll be reduced to nothing but bone. It's the same truths." Hollow Ichigo explained. "My power began to grow stronger, and soon dominance was handed over to myself, and Zangetsu became a part of me. Now the act of forcing you to draw out power from Zangetsu has become a simple task, with dominance over your soul!" Hollow Ichigo grinned. Ichigo frowned deeply, "I get it, so that means if I were to beat you here, then the Zangetsu guy will be restored into the control of my spiritual power once again." Ichigo said, readying his blade. "You? Beat me? Impossible." "Is that so?" Ichigo scowled.
Lisa could feel Ichigo's 'vessel' behave differently. "Has it finally begun?" Shinji told himself, and kept watching.
After seeing that Hollow Ichigo had the same Bankai, Ichigo was pissed. "You bastard! That's my Bankai! When'd you pick it up?" Hollow Ichigo laughed. "We've been styling the same threads since the time you learnt it." The fight caused a massive eruption of the buildings they were standing on, and Hollow Ichigo provoked Ichigo more and more. "How does it feel? To lose?" Hollow Ichigo said. "Shut up!" Ichigo dashed forward to attack, which his opponent dodged. "You're gonna lose everything! Including Misaki!" Hollow Ichigo laughed maniacally, and Ichigo attacked harder than before. "Go to hell!" Ichigo yelled, angered by the mention of Misaki's name in such a way.
Kensei Muguruma stepped into the barrier to fight Ichigo now. 'This is what you wanted Ichigo.' Shinji thought to himself as he watched.
Ichigo's blade disrupted in front of his eyes. He stood there motionless while his hollow told him that he was Zangetsu again. Hollow Ichigo pushed Ichigo backwards, and he went flying. "Ichigo, you think you can tell me the difference between a King and his Horse?" Hollow Ichigo asked. "What?" Hollow Ichigo laughed. "It's about the form! The ability then the power! Almost like the two could have been the same existence at one point! But then, the one that fights to stay on top becomes the king! Whichever one leftover to become the horse lending its power to the former! Now I ask you, what is the difference between the two?" Hollow Ichigo asked, his voice loud. "There's only one answer." This time, his voice was softer than before. "Instinct!" Ichigo listened on to his rants. But one sentence caught his attention. "All in order to further sharpen our killer instinct!" Ichigo's eyes widened, and he listened on. "Something you've no knowledge of! You're instinct is too obvious! Too normal! You only fight with reason! Needing a reason always to cut down your opponents! Just who the hell were you thinking of attacking when your sword was vaporized? You see! This is why you'll always be weaker than me, Ichigo!"
A sword went through Ichigo and Ichigo could barely breathe. This was it? "You must excuse me Ichigo, but you know, I really have no idea where that Zangetsu guy is, but there's no way I'll let a king weaker than me hop on my back and ride me around like a little bitch! I won't tolerate that kinda coexistence! You are weaker than me, and I will destroy you! Then I'll be the one and only king. And after that, your body will be mine and so will Misaki. And you can only imagine what I'd do to her."
After that brief visit with a manifestation of Kenpachi, Ichigo came back to the battle with his hollow self. He attacked, and this time, his blade went right through hollow Ichigo. "So it seems, somehow…you still had a little bit left in you…the instinct you needed to seek out this battle…so whatever, you beat me in the end…" Hollow Ichigo looked at Ichigo's face and grinned. "So that means I'll have to call you king…but don't forget this, you become the slightest bit lazy then…that's all it'll take for me to knock you down! Do your best not to die! Take care, got it?" And that was it.
The next day, Misaki noticed that Ichigo wasn't at school. She was worried, but she trusted Shinji, so she let it slide. But Misaki wanted to train, and she wanted to meet Hachi just once to confirm it. So she would go to the Vizard warehouse today and see for herself. She only hoped Ichigo wouldn't see her. So that day, after school, Misaki would visit the Vizards. As she walked toward the warehouse, she saw Orihime trying to enter the area. Misaki was confused, but she also knew Orihime knew about the whole thing, but wasn't there a barrier that Hachi put up? Orihime went right through it, and Misaki was shocked. She followed not too far off.
Hachi suddenly got a strange feeling. "What's wrong Hachi?" Shinji asked. "Someone just slipped past and entered through my barrier." Hachi replied. Shinji wondered on whether it could be Misaki, but it if were her, Hachi would've identified it. It then was revealed to be Orihime. While her brief chat with Ichigo, Shinji walked toward the main entrance to find Misaki standing there, and Shinji smiled. "Misaki?" "Shinji, I wanted to talk to Hachi about-"Shinji hugged the girl. Misaki was wide eyed. He released her and, "Nothing, just wanted to do that." Misaki was confused and "I'll let you talk to Hachi after Orihime leaves." Misaki nodded.
After Orihime left, Hachi went up to Misaki and smiled. "Shall we begin?" Misaki nodded. "Um…Mr. Ushoda, I was wondering if we can train someplace Ichigo won't be able to find out." Hachi nodded as he understood and the two went to a deserted forest area. "Misaki, I was wondering if you really want to get involved in all this. It is going to get very perilous from these moments on, and it would be rather difficult for a human to keep up. I shall not deem you unfit to help us, I am just worried." Misaki smiled. "I'm sure Mr. Ushoda. I really want to help. And I'll try my best." "It's Hachi, my dear. Let's begin then. I shall first teach you to conjure energy outside the physical body. And to do that, you need to focus at a point right at the center of your body. If you focus long enough-"Hachi's hands held a shiny golden globe at the size of a tennis ball. Misaki was wide eyed. "-you can very well see the outcome." Misaki nodded, and tried. "If you do not achieve it in your first attempt, do not worry, it'll take more time to-"Hachi gasped. There, in Misaki's hands was a small golden ball. Hachi couldn't believe his eyes. "That-That is amazing, I have never seen someone conjure something so quickly!" "Hachi, thank you." "I shall now try and identify what your basic strength of battle is. Offence, defense, or both." Hachi used the globe and held Misaki's head. Misaki felt a shockwave travel down her body and she bit her lip. When the pressure became too strong, a golden orb enveloped her, forcing Hachi to take his hand backwards. Hachi was mesmerized and he thought for a minute. The globe vanished and Misaki looked normal once again.
Hachi tried out another experiment. "Misaki, I need to find out what your true ability is, and for that I need to induce an impact on you." Misaki didn't understand, "Do what you need to, Hachi." Hachi used Kido and that cut Misaki's finger, blood coming out of it. "Now, focus energy around you." Hachi said. When Misaki did that, a globe didn't appear, but Hachi's finger was now cut, and Misaki's was healed. "How-?""Just as I thought. You Misaki, are gifted with the powers of life logging and procreation." Misaki was confused.
"Your abilities allow you to inflict the same damage that you have received or yet to receive upon the attacker. And also, you can create a barrier around you, and within it, heal yourself thoroughly. Your gift has an almost mirror like aptitude that reflects the occurrences you are yet to be befallen with. The ultimate defense." Misaki nodded. "And know this Misaki, this is no ordinary talent. It is highly advanced and also-"Hachi's look was stern. "-the ultimate defense is a very good offence." Misaki smiled.
On her walk home, Misaki saw Toshiro ahead of her. Misaki smiled and thought to herself whether she should call out to him. "I know you're behind me, Misaki." Misaki's eyes widened and she jogged toward him. "Hello, Captain Hitsugaya." Misaki smiled. "You look really happy today." He said. "I guess I am." Misaki giggled and Toshiro grunted. She wondered what he was doing here, and she spoke to him on random things. "Captain, if you wanted to grow taller, you should swim more." Toshiro was obviously angered but kept it cool, but Misaki continued irking him more and more about his height. "You're not my sister!" Toshiro yelled at one point and Misaki giggled, "But I've always wanted a little brother!" Misaki said. "I'm older than you are, so quit trying to be my big sister!" Misaki ruffled Toshiro's hair and stuck her tongue out to him. Misaki reached her house, and she turned to Toshiro and said, "And Captain Hitsugaya?" Toshiro turned to the girl. "Black suits you." Misaki smiled and walked in. Toshiro smiled to himself and continued walking. 'That stupid girl…acting like an elder sister to me…who does she think she is?' Toshiro thought to himself and continued walking.