Hello my faithful readers, it is I! Hypn0s, giving you all another chapter of ichigo the inferno, which was long overdue I suppose.
Now i know some people want to flay me alive for taking this long with this particular chapter, especially considering that most of my stories have a month lag between chapter and chapter, or a week long depending motivation, time and inspiration juices flowing, and a lot of people will complain for the short chapter, in standards to most chapter, this is because this is the penultimate chapter, meaning the last chapter will be long, really long, fight, destruction, wanton annihilation and a lot of hollow bits flying left and right in preparation for the epilogue and the opening of the next story of the saga, hell i think this might be as long as the harry potter books, well not that long.
Anyway, enough talk, let me give you the next chapter, enjoy.
CHAPTER 12: THE CALM
One month later…
"Ichi-nii, don't forget your lunch!" Yuzu called as she held a bento box on her hands, the eldest of the siblings seemed to return of the street in a flash, grabbing the bento box of her hands, "Thanks Yuzu, you're a lifesaver" Ichigo called, his school uniform well groomed and clean, even more than usual.
"You're surely on a hurry" Karin remarked drily, looking at her brother sprint towards the exit of their home, "I dealt with three Gillians last night, at midnight dammit!" Ichigo called out, closing the door behind him and running away, Karin simply shrugged at that, it was not that he could be defeated by the Gillians, she had seen him crush the head of one with just his telekinesis, just to see if it worked as well as using his zanpakutou to purify them, apparently the only thing it did was to leave a massive body he had to hack with Zangetsu so it could be purified.
And she understood what he meant, the spirit was directly connected to the body in both stamina and endurance, obviously the many scars her brother had on his spiritual form were transferred to his empty body once he entered and if he was awakened at midnight and had to leave his body, his spiritual body would take the charge of being awaken at such hour and remain awake at that hour.
No wonder he looked so tired during breakfast, no matter how powerful he is, he is still taking charge of EVERY hollow attack in Karakura town, ever since the shinigami withdrew their forces of the area, the cowards.
"Kaa-san, can't you spare some guards to help light the load on Ichi-nii? He is burning himself up" Karin called, looking at the woman she called mother, long dark smooth hair held on a ponytail, already clad on a nurse attire, with deep green eyes and tanned skin, no one could actually say that this woman was in fact Masaki Kurosaki, on a Gigai.
Masaki Kurosaki, for the world was as good as dead, body buried and already eaten by the maggots, there was no way in hell she would walk around in a Gigai made to resemble her down to the last detail, they could have say that she had another name and she never knew this Masaki, the theory that everyone on this world has an identical twin, or something close, but someone that was in fact a carbon copy not, so instead Urahara made a Gigai out of several women appearances, the result? A woman that while had the face and body features of Masaki, was all but identical to her, after all a tanned beauty with long black hair would be easily confused as a foreign intern living with the Kurosaki family and helping on the clinic.
"Not possible dear, most of them are in the palace, guarding it, the others are keeping tabs on the family, Ichigo included, they will intervene when things get ugly, but beyond that they can't do anything else, their bows doesn't allow them to do this" Masaki, or better said Maria replied, making Karin sigh.
"And you and dad can't do it too because you're too busy with the clinic, me and Yuzu are at school and all that jazz, and you won't let us even use our zanpakutous with 'adult supervision'" Karin said.
"You know why Karin-chan, while you have released your zanpakutous, you still lack some finesse and experience" Masaki stated.
"Ichi-nii is as inexperienced as me and Yuzu!" Karin snapped incredulously, "He is a fast learned, and unlike you two, he has a hollow inside him that gives him a boost of power and near god-like powers to heal himself of even the worse injuries, both internal and external, sans dismembering" Masaki stated calmly, sipping some tea.
Karin blanched at the dismembering part, then reminded herself that most of their opponents, hollows included fought with claws, blades and teeth, sometimes acid and something that can explode.
"I guess you're right…but that's why we are training right? I mean in any moment Ichi-nii will be called to Crystalia to fulfill his mystical duty as knight in a battle that will put shame to other battles, then someone has to step into the protection of the town, what better choice than us?" Karin wondered.
"Better trained shinigami?" Yuzu asked as she cleaned the plates, "Not helping!"
Masaki simply shook her head, finishing her tea then placing it on the sink, looking at both girls sternly, "I think you two have school as well, so dress up and get moving, just because you have powers doesn't mean you will miss school especially you Karin-chan" so said girl chuckled nervously as she made her way alongside with Yuzu to their room to dress up for their day in school.
Masaki slightly smiled, a sad one that is, she had missed so much of her babies lives, it was a sad thing, she hated it, she wished she could take time back, return at the moment Ichigo saw that girl, and just force him with her away of the girl, that dammed lure…
"You're leaking reiatsu dear, you're angry" Isshin voice made Masaki snap out of her anger, sighing she turned around, spotting Isshin, already dressed for a day's work, "You know that holding feelings of revenge will only make you bitter" Isshin said, reminding her of Yamamoto's grudge against the Rayearth knights, and how things had turned out.
"I know dear, but if it wasn't for that damn hollow, if it wasn't for Grand Fisher, I would be still alive, I would have not missed my babies lives, how they grew up, I died and Ichigo stopped smiling altogether, Yuzu burdened herself with the housework, and Karin, she acts thought, but deep down she is still a little girl" Masaki stated.
"Don't I know it?" Isshin said, slipping his arms around her waist, "I saw them change every day, it was so sudden, and I was unable to do something to stop it, sometimes I feel guilty by doing nothing to stop it" Isshin said.
"…The past is in the past" she began, looking at the spot her son had left, "Now the only thing that we can do is to help them grow, even more than before, that is a parent's work" Isshin said, "Besides…with what's coming ahead, we should be able to give them some semblance of normality" Isshin finished, much to the amusement of Masaki.
"Isshin, their big brother is a shinigami who holds a powerful hollow inside him and holds one of the greatest powers a mortal could hold, his mother is dead and now using an artificial body to interact with the living world, and the girls are also reapers, I think normality is far beyond their reach" she stated with mirth, making Isshin roll his eyes.
"Never mind then, let's open the clinic…I want to parade my hot new nurse" Masaki's answer to his words was a whack to the head.
"Come on your horndog, we got patients to treat"
"Inoune, Chad, Ishida" Ichigo called, looking at his friends waiting for him on the near corner, usually it had been Chad who would wait for him in that spot, but after the Soul Society fiasco, as Ishida had begun calling it, Ishida and Orihime began to join Ichigo and Chad in that spot as well, mostly because Orihime wanted to be near Ichigo, making sure no wraiths would pop around, and Ishida was staying near Orihime, kami knows the reason why.
In any case, this fits Ichigo well enough, after all he didn't know them well enough, including Inoune, but after what they went through, the bond that had been there was strengthened by the events, and besides, what kind of people would go with him to a practical suicide mission to save someone they barely know? The answer, good friends.
The group made their way towards Karakura High School with ease, which was something odd considering that Karakura Town is a hollow hotspot, but so far no inexplicable incidents or inexplicable damages to the city, a hollow once in a while, but nothing Ichigo couldn't handle.
"It has been…an uneventful week" Ishida began, "I have barely lifted my bow to attack before the hollows vanish" he stated, "Because I deal with them" Ichigo stated, looking at the Quincy dead in the eyes.
"Indeed, but I find odd that only Gillians and Adjuchas class hollows have appeared so far, is like they are being lured by something" Ishida said.
"More like ordered to, they attack nothing but me" Ichigo said, making the Quincy frown, "That's not right, while you're the greatest source of spiritual energy around, you're not the only source of it, Karakura Town is a spiritually rich area, which might explain why there are so many spiritual aware individuals, even before you became a shinigami" Ishida explained.
"It has sense that they would attack you, it would also have sense they would be attacking your sisters, your mother and father, attacking your home, converging into it, yet they do not, they come at you, only you, they don't even prey on pluses around the city" he added.
"Which is annoying, have you tried to send a plus to the afterlife while holding two Gillians with just your mind? It ain't easy, not to mention the pluses are scared of me after I'm done with the hollows" Ichigo stated.
"It might involve you breathing fire and I don't know…scaring them with your presence alone?" Ichigo just scowled at Ishida, the Quincy felt a sense of accomplishment after shutting Ichigo down, "You are just envious, I did what many Quincy have desired all their lives" Ichigo stated as a matter of fact, Ishida didn't had and argument to fight that back because it was true, Ichigo had done what many Quincy had desired for many generations, hurt the shinigami, in their pride, hard, fast and brutally he might add, the fact a shinigami/human/hollow hybrid with near unlimited power and part of the shinigami royalty had done it made it just sweeter.
It might explain why his dad had send Ichigo a whole set of Quincy grabs, not that the orange-haired shinigami substitute will wear them, his sister's find them classy thought.
As the foursome approached a near construction site, a usual for the next two years of their high-school life, Ichigo suddenly tensed up, stopping suddenly and staring at the construction site, narrowing his eyes at this.
"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime called, Ichigo didn't pay her mind, instead he just pulled a green pill and popped it to his mouth, immediately his spirit was separated of his body, if Chad, Orihime and Uryuu weren't worried they were now.
"Kon, I want you and the rest go to school, I need to check up on something" Ichigo ordered, turning around of his still standing and utterly confused body now in possession on a very perverted soul-mod.
"Sure Ichigo!" Kon called happily, mind already wandering to many thing he could do to land on the valley of the 'gods' as Kon happily called the girls breasts.
"Chad, if Kon tries anything perverted hit him on the head, then you tell me, I think Yuzu has a new dress she wants Kon to try" Ichigo said with a slight sadistic smile, Kon immediately panicked and then straighten himself up.
"I'll be good, I'll be good"
"Good, I don't want anyone following me" Ichigo stated clearly, blurring away of the sight of the group, Orihime bit her lip at this, not wanting to leave Ichigo go out alone, especially if he felt something dangerous, Ishida knew this as well, but he also knew that Ichigo was strong enough to deal with anything that might attack him or his family and friends personally, besides Aizen is not stupid enough to try a frontal assault against a Rayearth, let alone a sneak attack.
Right?
Shacking that idea off, Ishida grabbed Orihime's shoulder and guided her away of the construction site, idly noting the lack of sound on the construction site, surely the workers had yet to arrive.
Ichigo kept a vigilant eye around the steel beams that composed the base of the building, since it was a fresh start on a building, small mountains of dirt, alongside with removed rocks, some flattened sectors and exposed ground, showing pipes were visible, and while the base wasn't finished completely, they had already put a roof underneath it, just to ensure that the sun or rain were to affect the construction.
Pulling Zangetsu out, Ichigo tried to determine the location of the presence he had felt, he was damn sure he had felt the presence of a hollow/shinigami, similar to the one of the tanned woman that had attacked him a month ago.
While he had felt it in just a passing, he had felt it nonetheless, showing that the training he had been undergoing with Fira to hone his senses was indeed working, if he was able to feel a presence even with his massive reiatsu flooding his senses, then it meant he was progressing, while it was no combat abilities, which Fira admitted he excelled at, he was indeed making some progress.
Some pebbles falling to the ground made him turn around, only to see nothing there, or at least he believed he did.
In a blink of an eye he had turned again, this time raising Zangetsu and ramming it to the hollow that had tried to sneak on him, cutting the hollow neatly in two, then punched a hole on another hollow to his left, right on the stomach, then decapitating a third hollow that looked like a gorilla crossed with a raptor, all in less than a second.
With that done, Ichigo focused his sight on the hollow impaled on his left arm, the hollow trashed and tried to slash his arm, with little success, his increase of reiatsu had allowed Ichigo to do the same as Kenpachi, harden his skin up to the point he could not be harmed by weaker beings, meaning newly born hollows or hollows that had yet to reach a stage of evolution.
Seeing that the hollow was now a mindless beast, unlike Acidwire, Orihime's long deceased brother, Ichigo raised Zangetsu and cleanly beheaded the hollow, releasing it of its suffering.
"You know king, this is odd, is the first time in over a month we have dealt with a very lesser hollow" his inner hollow reminded Ichigo, "He is right, Gillians and Adjuchas have been our adversaries for over a month, now we deal with lesser non-evolved hollows, it is a matter of concern" Zangetsu added.
"Yeah, but considering the amounts of high level hollows I have been purifying for the past month I'm not surprised, just…concerned" Ichigo added.
"Ichigito, just because you have killed a ridiculous amount of hollows and surely accumulated a bounty big enough to spend in Soul Society doesn't mean they are all Hueco Mundo can offer, there are more than just decided to stay there rather than risk facing a shinigami, unlike humans and shinigamis, hollows don't get stronger by training, they get stronger by consuming other hollows"
Knowing that the cannibalistic nature of the hollows was the only reason they could grow stronger, Ichigo began to walk around, checking the area where the hollows had come, only to stop when he saw the bodies of several workers, no sign of their souls, surely consumed by the hollows, this left him with quite a sour taste on his mouth.
Shaking his head, Ichigo wielded the wraps on Zangetsu's hilt to wrap around the blade, and then he brought it to his back…
Only to turn around yet again and try to hit the one behind him, his eyes widening when Zangetsu was punched out of his hand, three fasts fists meeting his gut and making his skid a little backwards, then a kick to the face that send him crashing on a steel beam, bending the beam upon impact.
Ichigo eyes snapped open in anger, his right arm catching the fist that sailed to his face, the shock registered by his attacker was mimicked by Ichigo when he realized what he was fighting against.
"He made more" was all Ichigo said as he released the fist and retaliated with a vicious jab to the ribs of the white clad humanoid that currently had a hollow hole on his abdomen, the punch was enough to send the humanoid hollow flying against another steel beam, there Ichigo could see his attacker more openly.
The humanoid hollow was as tall as he is, with spiky light-blue spiky hair and eyes, and also has green lines below them, similar to the eye markings on the Panthera genus of cats, his attire consists of a white hakama and a black sash; his white jacket is ragged with an upturned collar, the inner lining is black, the sleeves are rolled up, and the man wears it open, leaving a muscular chest revealed. The remains of his Hollow mask consist of the right jawbone, and his Hollow hole, as he saw before, is on his abdomen.
The human shaped hollow snarled at Ichigo after that blow, "You bastard, that actually hurt" the spiky haired man said, Ichigo cocked an eyebrow, "Good, it was meant to" was all Ichigo stated as he assumed a combat stance, fists brought together in front of him, like he had done many times with other jerks and high school gangbangers.
Slowly Ichigo began to circle the human hollow, the human hollow doing the same, a sneer on his face.
"So you're Kurosaki Ichigo" the man stated, more like an affirmation to himself rather that a question, "Yeah, what's it to you?" Ichigo asked, seeing how the man seemed aloof, not taking a combat stance, this basically meant to a fighter like him that the man was confident that he could take him without even assuming a stance.
"Not much, Harribel mentioned a human with shinigami powers far beyond anything seen before, not even flinching to her attacks, I thought she was speaking of a giant, a man worth fighting, now I only a brat playing hero, pathetic" the man said as he spat on the ground, Ichigo simply narrowed his eyes at this.
"So you came here to see if what that woman said was true, only to be disappointed…bastard" Ichigo hissed, blurring out of sight, the man gave a feral grin as he effortlessly rose his right arm to block a punch to his face aimed to his right by Ichigo…
BAMM!
Only to have his eyes widen and his face to suddenly explode in pain as Ichigo fist overwhelmed him and punched him regardless of the hand holding his fist, the spiky haired hollow sailed to another steel beam, this time going through the solid steel by sheer momentum of the blow.
As he skidded to the ground in shock, the hollow just looked at Ichigo, wide eyes slowly narrowed, a grin growing on his face, standing up the man simply grinded, even more than before, "I see I underestimated you, that was a good blow" the man said, rubbing his face with the back of his hand, looking down he saw a small spot of blood there.
"Inhuman strength is confirmed alright, he was able to bypass my Hierro with just a punch, must say I'm impressed…he is just a small lanky looking Yammi with a mean scowl, I don't know what Aizen sees in interesting on that asshole" the hollow thought as he brushed his pants, then began to crack his knuckles, one by one.
"I must say I am impressed, just one fist and you put me through a metal beam with ease, but you need more than that to bypass my Hierro" the man said, Ichigo by his part rose an eyebrow at that, it was not a big think to Ichigo after all, he could do more, much more.
"I guess is fair to you know my name before I kill you" the man said, Ichigo by his part was getting a little restless by this man, it was like he was stalling him…for something.
"My name is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez" the newly introduced Grimmjow stated, slowly making his way to Ichigo, "Oh and the asshole behind you is Yammi" now that caught Ichigo's attention, turning around he spotted what could only be described as a giant of a man, a giant Arrancar with tan skin and a ridge-lined cranium, brown eyes and black hair. He has long, bushy sideburns and a thin ponytail, aside from that, he is bald, he also has orange eye brows and red markings under his eyes, wearing a standard looking white uniform, with the jacket open, revealing he has a large hole in his chest signifying his previous time as a Hollow, what remains of his Hollow mask is the jawbone (complete with 8 teeth), which rests on his chin.
The man identified as Yammi lost no time and delivered a fast straight at Ichigo who ducked it with ease, at the same time wondering why the hell he is always enemies appearing behind him.
Jumping to his left side he avoided the axe like kick of Grimmjow, seeing how the blow opened a small crater on the ground, "They are not so tough, that female one was able to cut me, these two however are either weaker than her or are simply fooling around" he thought with a sneer, seeing that he was indeed right, those two were actually fooling around, another opponent would have followed his movement while dodging and tried to hit him while doing so, they didn't did that, not pressed for a further attack.
Ichigo hated to being toyed with, raising his hand he called Zangetsu, the zanpakutou returning to his hand just in time to block Yammi's meaty left fist, the blade cutting edge met Yammi's knuckles, the sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the construction site, Ichigo slightly blinked, then snarled, pushing Yammi's fist with ease he rose his right leg to block Grimmjow's kick to his stomach, the hollow was surprised when Ichigo held his ground with one leg after such blow.
"Underestimating me, last mistake of your life!" with that Ichigo roared as a telekinetic wave hit both hollows, hard, alongside a heat wave that slightly glassed the ground around Ichigo's feet.
Grimmjow gracefully recovered, Yammi not so much, landing on his butt the massive hollow growled and glared at Ichigo, with a scream he rushed at the Rayearth, only to be slightly blinded by a light, a light that became pain on his left arm, looking to his arm he saw another zanpakutou neatly stuck on his shoulder, his Hierro preventing it from going even further, "Tough luck, my Hierro is sturdy enough to take anything" Yammi boasted.
"Really?" Ichigo smirked, something Grimmjow saw well enough, in less than a second Grimmjow eyes widened when several small saw teeth emerged out of the red blade length, and with a jerk of his wrist, the teeth came to life, and began to serrate Yammi's arm off.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Yammi screamed loudly as Ignis easily butchered his left arm, blood pouring freely and seemingly no stopping at all, Ichigo had cut Yammi's arm up to the shoulder down.
Yammi cursed and screamed, but his screams became gurgles when he felt cold metal on his stomach, looking down he saw himself lifted up by Ichigo, his black zanpakutou stuck on his stomach.
With a sneer Ichigo pulled Zangetsu out of Yammi, then while falling, kicked him on the face, making Yammi's face to meet a metal beam head first.
Grimmjow actually blinked at the sight of the defeated and brutalized Yammi…and grinded like a damn lunatic.
Grimmjow reached for his sword, or would have if he had not been stopped by another person.
Ichigo tensed up after the appereance of the third hollow humanoid, this one, dressed in the same attire as Yammi, but groomed, well taken care of, with pale skin, green eyes with slit pupils, what seemed a helmet with a horn on top representing his hollow mask remnants, stared in a bored manner at Ichigo, like if Ichigo itself was nothing less than a bug, not entertaining, or just the guy was like this.
"Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow snarled, "You shouldn't have intervened, Ichigo is mine to kill" Ulquiorra seemed not to pay mind to Grimmjow, just raised his free hand, and pointed a finger at Ichigo.
"The bastard" Ichigo thought, knowing what would come next, a cero.
Suddenly Ichigo tensed, turning around he swung Zangetsu with all he had, and in a neat motion beheaded the giant that had tried to hit him from behind, Yammi's shock was expressed as his head flew away of his body, as he turned around, Ichigo brought Ignis up, blocking a green and black cero, the beam was torn in two, each beam hitting several support beams and causing the structure around them to start shacking.
As the building in construction began to fall, Ichigo simply stared at Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, narrowing his eyes at both of them, "Tell Aizen he better had made his will, if he dares get close to my family…" whatever he was going to say died out as the building fully collapsed, both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra leaving trough a Garganta.
The fall of a building brought the attention of several pedestrians; the cops were already on the way, along with ambulances.
No one noted how several metal beams were moved away with ease, all this by Ichigo's hand, looking around the shinigami saw several people, now thankful that only a handful could see the spirits, with a grunt he sheathed Zangetsu, returned Ignis to the crystal on his glove and jumped away of the sight, feeling somewhat happy with what he had done so far.
Aizen had attacked first, but Ichigo drew first blood and the first casualty on Aizen's army.
Karakura Town High School, fifteen minutes later…
"So let me get this straight, Aizen attacked first, but you already inflicted the first casualty on his army, am I correct?" Ishida asked to Ichigo; now back on his body, and lacking any kind of bruising that might resemble a female's handprint, or a fist.
"That about sums it up, yeah, although I'm pissed, they killed people to get my attention, they released several wild hollows to kill them, maybe too high and mighty to do the job themselves, cowards" Ichigo hissed, crossing his arms and basically scaring several people with his usual scowl.
"You didn't know how far they would go to get you Ichigo, don't blame yourself" Chad offered, making Ichigo sigh, "I know Chad, is just…dammit I wish I could have done something else, well at least that Yammi guy is dead, one down for the count" Ichigo added, more to himself than to the others.
"Kurosaki-kun, you shouldn't have send us away, we could have helped" Orihime stated firmly, only to hear Ichigo sigh, "I doubt it, those guys were strong, nearly captain class, even Yammi, but rage got the best of him, but those other two, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra if I heard right, they look like trouble, no" Ichigo shook his head, looking at each one of them straight in the eyes.
"If you want to help me you need to get stronger, stronger than you are now, I don't know how, but you must to, if you want to help" Ichigo stated seriously, he didn't like to tell them that, but he had already took down one of Aizen's soldiers, besides he could feel the power of those two, they were holding up, a lot.
"You might be correct, but at the same time you might not be correct, remember that Inoune powers far surpass yours, her power plays in rejecting everything, let it be powers or the existence of a person" Ishida stated.
"He is right ichigito, the girl has powers that gods fear, to reject the existence of a being is something akin to bitchslap the wheel of life, her powers are dangerous…Aizen will want them"Fira reminded Ichigo.
"Then is a good thing he hasn't seen them in action, he knows about me and Ishida, about my sisters, my parents and every single shinigami in Seireitei, but Chad and Orihime are a mystery to him, we can use that" Ichigo added.
"A good call, but remember that Aizen has years playing this game, we cannot…we will not follow his path" Zangetsu replied in some sort of anger.
"I'm not saying become another Aizen, he is expecting me, he is expecting Seireitei…he is not expecting Inoune…he is not expecting an alliance between me and Seireitei"
"Uh king, hate to break it to ya, but you burned that bridge and use its ashes to add pain to the wounds of the old fart, he won't accept an alliance" Hollow Ichigo stated, apparently concerned by this.
"No, but what about the other captains, they know the menace Aizen is, they will help if I show that I'm not going to burn them to a crisp"
"In the end is your call Ichigo, I will help you in whatever you do"
"You're wasting time king, we should we laying hell on Aizen fortress"
"We don't know where it is, it is on Hueco Mundo, but the place is vast, besides once ichigito lays a foot there, every hollow will be driven to a frenzy, they will either run and hide or basically charge against ichigito, his rich reiatsu will give them power beyond comparison" Fira snapped to Hollow Ichigo, Ichigo could actually feel his hollow side sneer at Fira's remark.
"We'll see what happens, Aizen will keep attacking, I say let him send all his troops to die" Hollow Ichigo grinded at the king's idea, Fira simply nodded at this knowing that in a war of attrition a Rayearth would always win, Zangetsu remained silent, but he knew that this was by far the best option.
"A war of attrition against hollows?" the foursome froze when they heard a very familiar voice behind them, turning around they spotted the last person they expected to see.
"Rukia?" Ichigo whispered, seeing the petit girl, clad in the school uniform, looking at him with a smirk, "Really Ichigo, of all the ideas you have, that is the worse" she stated, walking to the group, and looking at Ichigo.
"Play the part for the moment, we will talk during recess, okay?" she whispered, Ichigo was about to say no when he saw the rest of his classmates start pouring around Rukia, clearly surprised by her appereance just as Ichigo and company.
With a grunt Ichigo relented, but a look shot to Rukia basically told her that this was far from over.
During recess, school rooftop…
"Okay Rukia, speak your piece" Ichigo stated, leaning to a wall and crossing his arms, his eyes focused on Rukia, just like the ones of Chad, Uryuu and Orihime.
Rukia seemed to give it a thought about it, then shook her head and began, "Well…where to start" she muttered.
"Perhaps the reason you are here would help" Ishida stated, "Yeah, good idea, well, after the all fiasco in Seireitei and you basically raising hell, as a matter of saying, things started to cool down, sort to say, many shinigami found themselves rethinking a lot of things, especially the way they train, and how easy you beat them" Rukia said, "Most of them began to train hard, their reasoning was to beat you, but we all know that is futile, you are a Rayearth, a shinigami with spiritual powers unheard off, even more so considering you are alive to begin with" Rukia continued.
"Nevertheless this hasn't stopped many people of wanting to get stronger; the 11th division has been going nuts on training, Zaraki-taichou included" Rukia stated, "No surprise there, Kenpachi looks the type who enjoys pushing himself" Ichigo stated drily.
"But that's not all, your actions caused a whole political shakedown, the fact you are the soul prince and your mother is the soul queen made it worse so, the families don't know where to stand with, either with the legitimate royalty and the change they will bring or stick with the old traditions" Rukia added.
"So far we have seen hat old traditions ruling your lives to the fullest has led to" Ishida murmured, "Yes, nevertheless no one knows what to do, even the sotaichou is at odds with this, your family is untouchable, your friends are untouchable, so any kind of actions against them is mute, and pretty much suicide" Rukia remarked.
"But that didn't stopped him from cutting shinigami from entering Karakura Town, the four of us, my dad, my mom, Urahara and even the Vizards, people who are exiled and should by right do nothing, have helped in keeping the hollows in check" Ichigo remarked.
"That was because we lacked forces, your attack severely weakened us, he had to do this so he could focus on the real menace"
"Aizen" Ichigo stated with a hiss of his voice, "Correct, we just uncovered some startling facts about his plans" Rukia added as she walked to Ichigo.
"Have you ever wondered why Karakura Town is a hollow hotspot? Or why there are so many spiritual sensitive around this specific city?" Rukia asked, walking to Ichigo.
"No, is not normal, I mean cities filled to the brim with humans, is a buffet for hollows waiting just to happen" Ichigo remarked.
"Bullshit Ichigo, you know it" Rukia snapped, jabbing a finger at Ichigo's chest, raising a slight eyebrow at how hard his chest wa…
"Dammit Rukia get a hold of yourself"
Shaking her head, Rukia continued, "Karakura Town is a plot of enriched-spiritual land, something rare that happens once in a while in the human world, because of this humans develop spiritual awareness faster than on other places, this also means that hollows are attracted by the land, not the people, reason why the strongest hollows are found here" Rukia pointed out.
"Grand Fisher being an example" Ichigo growled.
"Correct, this fact makes the town a target for Aizen, not you or your family, the town is instrumental to the creation of an object called The Ōken, a key that can open a door directly to the royal family realm, beyond Soul Society and Hueco Mundo" Rukia muttered, then looked at Ichigo straight in the eyes.
"Worse still, to forge it he needs a 100,000 souls to forge it in a radius of half a spirit-mile, Ichigo, that covers all Karakura Town" the reaction was expected by Rukia, she could feel immediately how the temperature rose around, being a wielder of an ice zanpakutou made her more acute to change on the temperature, but she didn't expect the sudden rise nor the source being Ichigo, nor the fact his sclera had turned black and his irises red fire.
But as soon it had come it was gone, allowing her to breathe properly, he had unleashed some reiatsu alongside, and suffice to say it had freaked her out, she had felt-no, tasted hollow reiatsu alongside his shinigami energy.
"So that's why he needs that orb, the Hōgyoku is his hammer and anvil" Ishida mustered the courage to voice his thoughts, "obviously his plan remains unchanged regardless of the knowledge that the royal family resides on Karakura Town, he is focused on reaching the royal palace, killing the family during the forging of this key is only a boon to him" the Quincy added.
"One he won't complete when I get my hands on him" Ichigo hissed, "True, but as things are, you guys are the only thing that stands between that, hell I was send here because I'm familiar with Ichigo and with Karakura Town, that and because I was the only one they could spare, the sotaichou knows that if he starts sending troops to Karakura it will only weaken Soul Society as a whole, and truth to be told Karakura Town, while being the only place in the human world to forge the Ōken, is hardly the only place to make it in the realms" Rukia stated, making everyone blink.
"Come again?" Chad asked, "Kurotsuchi-Taichou theorized that there are other two places to make the Ōken, one is actually the Rukongai districts, let it be north, east, west or south it doesn't matter, just a chunk and the population in the densest spot and he'll have an Ōken, reason why the sotaichou is not sending troops besides me" Rukia stated.
"He is fortifying in case that happens" Ichigo stated, "Exactly, the other place is Hueco Mundo, but to that happen he'll have to gather as many powerful hollows as possible, in a zone we called 'The Menos Forest' a place filled to the brim with Menos class hollows" Rukia added.
"So, Aizen has the cards, we know what he wants, but we don't know when he will do it" Ichigo remarked, "Correct, I was send here as a liaison between you and Seireitei, I know you don't have love lost for them after what they tried with your sisters, and truth to be told I don't either, but the truth is that Aizen is the bigger menace, once he is done…we'll see how it goes I suppose" Rukia muttered, making Ichigo sigh.
"…Thanks for being honest midget" Ichigo stated, the Kuchiki heir simply smirked at that, "I'll let the midget comment slide, just this time" she added, that was the cue for the group to actually enjoy lunch, but before they could actually sit, Rukia told them something else she had forgot.
"Oh, one more thing Ichigo" Rukia began, her face growing even more serious than before, "Listen, rumors began to fly around about your rescue attempt on me, people, especially the noble families say that you actually knocked me up while I was here before my capture" that brought a blush on Ichigo's cheeks, and apparently to the rest as well, not as prominent as his but it was a blush nonetheless.
"Others say that you are actually the real heir of the Kuchiki family and my long lost half-brother, we can actually say that one is not true" Rukia said, "Of course, to begin with my sisters will we taller than you when they reach puberty" Ichigo mentioned, just earning himself a glare of Rukia.
"Others are more serious, they say that the Kuchiki clan was somehow able to enact a boon with a Rayearth, and has you on a leash, ready to let loose on Seireitei and any enemy of the clan if spoken of" that did brought a frown on Ichigo's face.
"Suffice to say my brother is not happy with this, neither the sotaichou, my brother knows you held me as a friend, but you're not friend by extend to the rest of the clan, sooner or later you're going to have to travel back to Seireitei and set things straight, or we could see a full blown war between families" Rukia stated, a frown on her face.
"How bad this could be?" Uryuu asked, vaguely wondering what a war between noble families could cause to Seireitei, "Very bad, with the lack of Central 46, the sotaichou and the heads of the house have taken to rule Soul Society as a war like regulation, it had helped since many laws that Central 46 gave originally were too arbitrary, but if a war between families were to break, so would the cohesion among the leaders when trying to help Soul Society" Rukia stated.
Ichigo just shook his head at this, it was too much to take, a possible civil war by his sole presence, and could be stopped by his presence, if he presented itself.
"What tells me this is not a trap" Ichigo suddenly said, looking at Rukia dead in the eyes, "Remember who caused all this, me, I assaulted Seireitei, I put them on shame, I nearly killed two of their strongest shinigami and exposed a traitor right on their noses, that left them as fools, I'm just a convenient way to direct their rage after such lost" Ichigo fought back, letting a sigh.
"Could be, it is said several nobles were present when you basically 'emerged out of hell' like they say" Rukia said, using imaginary quotes to describe the moment Ichigo had went bat-shit crazy after seeing his sisters as hostages.
"They fancied themselves to be strong, but you put them into shame, your mere presence froze them, and when they attacked you brushed them off like flies, maybe they want retaliation for this humiliation, after all they still don't know you are the soul prince, only captains know this, far better than the military knows this than the civies" Rukia muttered, "Regardless of any of this, the fact remains now, you are the strongest ally Seireitei has against Aizen and his army of hollows" she stated.
"I have to inform the sotaichou about your encounter with these three human hollows, maybe this will convince him to send some additional troops, at least to help you, you are a Rayearth, but you're just one now" with that Rukia walked away, giving an apologetic look to the trio of humans, "I'm sorry you all got dragged into this" Rukia stated finally to the trio, walked away of the roof.
Ichigo by his part stared at the spot Rukia had vacated, digesting all she had told him, realizing that now he was a player, once again in another battle, this one however was for the sake of his town, his friends, everyone.
"Things can't get easier…can't they?" Ichigo asked to no one in particular.
"Easy is boring ichigito, the hardest goals to achieve are the ones with the best reward"
The words of Fira didn't seemed to help him at all, after all the same could be said of Aizen, he was going against almost impossible odds, if he win, somehow, then his victory would be the sweetest.
Ichigo wouldn't allow that on the expense of his family.
"Hmm…he went through his Hierro, twice" the mind of the Octava Espada, Szayel Aporro Granz, began to work into overdrive, seeing the image that Ulquiorra had recollected during the brief fight between Yammi, Grimmjow and Ichigo, and he had to say, he was somewhat impressed by the level of power a human could achieve, he found himself intrigued also by Ichigo's swords, one had cleanly cut trough Yammi's Hierro, and his arm, without any kind of strength behind, while the zanpakutou was able to go through the Hierro once again, this time a considerable amount of energy and strength put behind the blow to decapitate the Decima Espada.
"Yeah, can't say Yammi didn't had it coming, but…" Coyote Starrk, The Primera Espada, basically the strongest, and the laziest of the Espada muttered, one eye simply glancing at the image of Ichigo, just after deflecting Ulquiorra's Cero, it was an achievement, Ulquiorra, of all Espada had a fast Cero, even faster than his, blocking his cero, even if Ulquiorra had stay his hand, meant that Ichigo was an enemy of care.
"It was a mistake attacking him" the silk like voice of Neillel Tu Odelschwanck cut through the reveries of the Espada assembled like a reiatsu laced blow, many wouldn't admit it, but this was a mistake, attacking a Rayearth so blatantly was like asking him to just waltz into their home and kill them all.
The Quinta Espada simply narrowed her eyes, once the Tercera, now demoted to the fifth for killing Nnoitra Gilga, of course in self-defense, the chauvinist former Espada had tried to show how strong he was, and he and his Fraccion had paid the price for messing with a superior opponent, of course she got off lightly, Aizen had told her to "Not do it again" and had demoted her to the former rank of Nnoitra, thus allowing one of her protégées, Tia Harribel, to become the Tercera, also there was the fact that among the Espada gathered, she had been the only one to even draw blood out of a Rayearth, but the fact the guy didn't even felt it meant she had basically failed on her little attack, that or the Rayearth knights lacked any nervous system related to pain.
"He is just a man, a human, he has several weaknesses we can exploit" Ulquiorra stated, perhaps he was the only Espada that could match Aizen in sheer intelligence, and that was hard, a keen intellect and sharp mind and eyes allowed him to break an opponent into tiny bits, seeing things others can't, stances, weakness, strengths, abilities, Ulquiorra just needed a glance and he could do just that with ease, also he could relay that information to other Espada, allowing others to learn what he learned, a skill many appreciated, albeit many could do without him gouging his own eye out and then crushing it into dust so he could relay that info.
"Be it as it may, he is an opponent of care, we must proceed with caution" Aizen stated, looking at the assembled Espada, the strongest Hollows transformed by the Hōgyoku into Hollow/shinigami hybrids.
"I say kill him, let me spear the assault, I already know how he fights" Grimmjow snarled, knowing full well that his little scuffle with Ichigo was far from over.
"I will not allow it, we already lost an Espada, and replacing Fraccions is far easier than replacing Espada" Aizen snapped softly, but his tone was final, and basically told Grimmjow that no matter if he used his resurreccion, he would end up dead like Yammi at the hands of Ichigo.
To the panther king, this was unacceptable, a blow to his pride, to be told that someone stronger than him existed and he couldn't fight him, let alone prove if the man was strong as claimed.
The moment Grimmjow stood up in rage was the moment a monumental amount of reiatsu crashed over him, making him kneel and gasp for air, the look Aizen was giving Grimmjow was all but pleasant.
"You will obey, or you will be destroyed and replaced, am I understood Grimmjow?" Aizen boomed, the Arrancar gasped for air, and tried to lift his head, Aizen saw this and lowered his spiritual pressure enough so Grimmjow could speak and face him.
"Yes…Aizen-sama" Grimmjow gasped, "Good" was all the leader of the Espada said as he released the panther king of his sudden attack.
"Now, as for the matter at hand, Luppi Antenor will take Yammi's place" no one dared to talk back Aizen after his decision, after all Luppi is weak compared to the rest of the Espada, hell Yammi held the androgynous Espada on a lower regard than his fraccions, and that said much about the guy.
"Ehm, Aizen-sama?"
"Yes, Zommari?"
"Uh, how we are going to deal with this Rayearth?"
"Zommari" Aizen began, "No, no, no, I understand that we are not to attack him now or something like that" the dark skinned Espada assured, all to evade the ire of the man who would lead hollows to glory, "Is just that…I think"
"You think? That's rich"
"Szayel" Tousen hissed, "Well, in any case, we have to face him if we want to win, after all he is the biggest obstacle of them all, not Soul Society or the Shinigami but the being that can burn Hueco Mundo with a flick of his wrist" Zommari said, earning him a set of surprised looks, Aizen by his parts looked pleased.
"I am well aware of this Zommari, and I thank you for opening this conversation even further" the dark skinned Espada beamed with pride after being praised by Aizen, while the brash members of the Espada thought one thing.
"Ass-kisser"
"You see, while this Rayearth cannot be taken by force alone, and illusions seem to hold dim to none power over him, I developed a way to stop him enough for a Espada to face him on, after all most of his powers are focused on his flames and his Rayearth blade, and while I assume he trained his shinigami powers, they are not on-par to those of a captain" Aizen began.
Snapping his fingers, a figure began to advance out of the shadows, "The Hōgyoku is truly a marvelous tool, it didn't only created you and the Vizards, but it has also helped me create the means to stop Ichigo the inferno" he said as he looked at Tousen side, the dark skinned shinigami slightly smiling at the being at his side, a pure being.
"My dear Espada, here is my answer to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and Ichigo Kurosaki" Aizen said, "A new member, Wonderweiss Margela" he said, then pulling something else, a small black needle, and for once the Espada and Gin actually wondered if Aizen was secretly a Yandere, because the smile he showed was…scary.
Ichigo didn't knew how to feel about Rukia following back home, on one hand he didn't mind, Rukia at one point had lived with him back when he was helping her keep the hollows at bay when she tried to recover some of her power, only to realize she was in fact losing more by the day.
On the other hand he did mind, after all she was inviting herself to him home, and he didn't knew how his family would react to her presence, and also to the news that besides him, his father, his mother and sisters, she was the only shinigami sent to help in the defense of Karakura Town.
Maybe Aizen had made much more than betray them, Rukia seemed edgy to tell him something until she met with his mom and dad.
His worries seemed unjustified when he and Rukia returned home, Masaki and Isshin welcomed Rukia with open arms, especially Isshin that proclaimed Rukia as his third daughter and soon to be daughter-in-law, Isshin would have to pry his head off the ceiling when Ichigo uppercut him for that comment.
Karin and Yuzu were at first apprehensive of the shinigami, Karin because she is brash and trust little people who attacks her family, and Yuzu because of what she lived in Seireitei.
After that it was basically the same routine of everyday, dinner with the family, followed by doing the homework left to them, and then sleeping, albeit with a slight change, one Rukia presented during dinner.
"Oh Ichigo, I forgot something" Rukia began, reaching for one of her school uniform pockets, then pulling out what seemed a pentagonal badge with a skull on the middle, right on top of an 'X'
"Ukitake-Taichou gave this to me right before I left, is a seal of approval that grants you official benefits as any other shinigami, simple terms, Karakura Town is your territory, and while you're required to slay hollows as usual, you don't need to fill paperwork or report to a superior" she said, "I kinda envy you in that regard, paperwork has become such a hassle these days" she added.
"The badge also can separate your soul of your body and also the badge can detect hollows since I can see you still suck at feeling reiatsu" Ichigo frowned at that, of course she would jab at one of his natural weakness as a shinigami, his inability to sense beyond his massive reiatsu, true he could sense people and hollows now, but using his Rayearth inherited abilities, hollows felt…like a strange mixture of ice that perturbed everything around it with its presence alone.
"This could be useful" Ichigo said, taking the badge and instantly pocketing it, he would have enough time to examine it; he never noticed how Masaki and Isshin exchanged troubled glances with each other.
Once Ichigo and Rukia finished dinner, they instantly rose on their feet, "I'm going to my room mom, need to check some things with the midget" Rukia glared at Ichigo for that comment.
"I am not small"
"Karin and Yuzu will be of your height when they reach my age, face it you are vertically challenged"
"Why you…" any arguing the two would have ended when Isshin asked THE question, "Rukia-chan, were you will sleep?"
"Oh, the same place I slept before…I hope you didn't put trash in the closet" Rukia stated, walking onto the second floor, "It's my damn closet I can put anything I want there!"
Apparently satisfied by her answer, the remaining Kurosaki household went back to eating, until a second later her message actually sank in their minds.
"The closet!"
That night…
Rukia glanced at the small, yet comfortable area that was her territory, Ichigo's closet, despite initial misgivings, thanks to Renji, was neither smelly nor housed some sort of supernatural entity, besides herself, it all dated back in the days she was in the academy, and she still believed Renji's stories, she was unable to stare at her own closet for over a week until she grew tired and blew it open with a kido spell, and then shifted her aim to Renji.
In any case this same closet had become her home back when she had lost her powers, oddly enough she felt more comfortable in the small closet that in the spacious room she had in the manor, a perk of being a Kuchiki, you do things big and with grace, pity she couldn't decorate the closet with Chappy the Bunny posters, Ichigo had clearly put his foot down on that matter.
Glancing at the room, she kinda smirked at the little, yet immense changes that had happened in it, for instance the bird perch that was placed near her closet, obviously this was for Fira whenever she felt like stretching her wings and was tired of staying in Ichigo's head, the other change as of course the white bed sheet with a blue cross that was on his bed, she clearly remembers that a red one had been before, she smirked at that, Ichigo seemed to not care or not know that he was basically sleeping over the symbol of the Quincy, that or he didn't noted that somehow Ishida had changed his bed sheet with another one that was more fitting to one of a Quincy bedroom rather than a one of a shinigami/Rayearth.
Besides that she could see Kon, the mod-soul that had taken residence in that particular plushy, while many find a chibi lion cute, she doesn't, especially when so said plushy tried to cope a feel on her already underdeveloped chest, while she is flattered that she can attract someone with her bust, it also makes her awfully sad that it only works on a already perverted mod-soul.
As for so said mod-soul, the moment Rukia entered the room, it basically went nuts, screaming and laughing all the way, screaming that her 'Nee-sama' had returned to him, then promptly tried to glomp her, it only earned him a vicious uppercut of Rukia that the greatest boxer of all times would had envied by its speed and grace.
In any case she felt like in home, and that same feeling of comfort and security made her feel bad considering what she had given to Ichigo.
The badge, if she was told correctly, was not an insignia and certification of his status as a deputy Shinigami, they didn't even existed, if they did then their jobs would be immensely easy, a deputy for city, yet that wasn't meant to be, no one knew why, maybe the process was too much for a normal human, that or the power behind it.
The badge however served a purpose to the very few deputy shinigami that existed in the world, which could be counted with just one hand.
The badge was to control, to monitor the deputy shinigami, their power, to examine them, it was determined long ago by some force that wasn't tied to the soul king, yet it was strong enough to leave the badges and how to use them, they all looked old, very old.
The sotaichou didn't knew when the badges came to be, and he was the oldest shinigami around, there were no written records about the badges, they were just there, older than anything around Seireitei, and with instructions of how to use.
Of course the sotaichou saw the badge as the means to actually monitor Ichigo's growth, if he couldn't get Ichigo to actually join them, which was improbable after all that had happened, then they would monitor him from the least expected place, his badge, everyone expected Rukia to be the monitor of Ichigo's, no one however would expect that the badge to be the real monitor, it was genius, to an extent, after all Isshin and Masaki, being royalty and one of them being a captain before had clearance to several things, everyone expected that at any given moment they would say to Ichigo the true function of the badge, and then Ichigo, on a fit of rage to destroy it.
"You're okay Rukia?" Ichigo asked from behind her, the Kuchiki girl simply nodded, "Just Kon being Kon"
"How cruel nee-sama!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes as he stepped into the mod-soul, dragging it to the ground with his feet and then tossing Kon under the bed, "Don't mind him, at least he is punctual and wakes you up, far better than dad trying to kick you awake" Ichigo commented.
"He still tries that?" she asked with a small smile, she would never imagine the heir to the crown to be this childish, then again most shinigami had special quirks.
Going to her closet, a bundle of clothes in hand, Rukia turned to Ichigo, "By the way" she said, looking at the man that had turned her life, and in effect the life of every person in Soul Society upside-down, "Thanks…for saving me…and everything else" she said as she entered the closet and closed the door to change her clothes.
Ichigo rose an eyebrow at that, then shook his head, "You're welcome Rukia" was all he said as he pulled the badge out of his pocket, staring at it intensely.
"Are you certain of this Fira?"
"Absolutely, this little thing seems to be a monitor of some sorts, interesting artifact, it resembles your Rayearth glove in the ability to separate your soul of your body, and like Rukia's own glove, not only that, it can advice you or nearby hollows" Fira mentioned with some sort of appreciation for the badge.
"I find odd of course that they gave it to you so freely, this must be a very precious artifact"
"I know why" Ichigo muttered to himself, not loud enough to make Rukia come out of her closet, just something to assure himself.
They were testing him, to see where his loyalties lied, because regardless of what had happened so far, he was still a shinigami, he was still the soul prince, he was still tied to Soul Society and its people, he didn't want that, but there he was, with ties he didn't even knew he had.
He could crush the badge with ease, and whatever control they might enact on him with it…
Instead he just placed the badge on his nightstand, giving it a long look.
"You could destroy it with just a finger" Fira spoke, oddly serious for someone as outspoken as her.
"I could, but I chose not to" was Ichigo's simple reply, "That's what makes me different of them, I can choose what I want to do" was all he said as he walked to his bed, Fira simply smirked to that remark, it was so true, she pitied the shinigami, because for all their power and potential, they were bounded and were unable to choose, free will was overlooked, that was until you actually lose it.
Tossing the badge to his nightstand, Ichigo finally flopped to his bed, hands behind his head, and let a small smirk play on his lips.
"Besides, this means that the old man is still too apprehensive of me, and wants to make sure I won't finish the job" Ichigo found a strange sense of satisfaction of knowing that the captain-commander was too afraid of him.
He later related that feeling to the one of self-fulfillment, and increase on his ego.
Orihime had recurring dreams, sometimes nightmares; it was not odd after what had happened with her brother, Soul Society and the wraiths.
She dreamt that the wraiths attacked her friends, that Ichigo was unable to do nothing and everyone was slain, by that point she was already awake, knowing that Ichigo wouldn't be killed by the wraiths, if something she learned of her ordeal on the other world was that Ichigo was perhaps the strongest shinigami around, if not the strongest being on this world.
After learning of the existence of Crystalia and the existence of the other Rayearth knights, Orihime was granted the answer to the question many asked themselves, they were not alone in the universe, true the others were humans, or close to, but still…
Suddenly her room was engulfed in light, she immediately tensed up, her hairpins instantly reacting to her and the fairies contained in them appearing at her side, the light blinded them for just a second, then it condensate on what seemed a circular portal of some sort, it seemed somewhat unstable by the way it changed forms Orihime noted.
Then a humanoid formed out of the portal, one that finally materialized into the one of a man, or what seemed a man Orihime noted, who stumbled out of the portal, this one closing and taking out the source of light in the dark room, besides the moon outside.
As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, one of her fairies decided that this amount of darkness, coupled with the unknown man lying on the floor was not a good idea, so it decided to turn it on, it regretted it later.
Once the light was on, they could clearly see who had stumbled out of the portal, it was a male, by his physique, clad I the same armor that the guy Faeron had during his appearance in Seireitei, Orihime noted, but she also noted that some plates of the armor were missing, or blown out, also she noted he was pouring…purple blood.
Then she noted his face, and she froze, the man's head, for the lack of better wording, was the one of a spider, with eight round and actually glowing eyes, its mouth was exactly the one of a spider, fangs included, and out of the mouth purple…blood was coming out, slowly but coming out.
Then the spider man stood up, Orihime dared to think he was taller than Chad, and equally bulky, when he stood up she noted that the chest plate was basically blown out, exposing a series of plates that were surely the spider man's exoskeleton.
Then the spider man did something she didn't expected, he actually kneeled in front of her, like greeting royalty.
"Maiden of fairies" It gasped out; Orihime noted the pain laced with every word; surely the wounds were more than she expected.
"Please…I beg of you…take me to the Rayearth of fire…I have…urgent news for him"
Kurosaki Household, fifteen minutes later…
Waking up after sleep had finally taken her was not exactly a nice thing, especially for Masaki; there are those who say that a good night sleep can put a smile even on the grouchiest person, equally if you are denied that sleep you can expect hell to happen.
In case of Masaki Kurosaki, mother of the current Rayearth of fire, you could expect even a worse hell to happen, even more so considering that she has her own zanpakutou, one she is carrying and ready to use against the dimwit that dared to wake her up.
As the knocking got even worse, Masaki growled even more so, this was a side not even her son and daughters had seen, mostly because they have common sense and they also wake up grouchy in the same conditions Masaki was now, now everyone knew why Ichigo tended to be a little more brutal with the hollows at midnight.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Masaki yelled, moving a little too fast just to get this over it.
Then she opened the door, and got the shock of her life.
There in front of her was Inoune, as usual whatever Inoune wore, no matter how baggy, seemed to cling in such a way that it was indecent, and would make men look at her, now her pajamas was pink, with a stamp of cutie little chibi…aliens it seemed.
What shocked her was the being behind Orihime, humanoid, with the face of a…did the guy had a spider for head?
The spider man actually advanced, showing to Masaki the extend of the damage on his plated armor, and kneeled in front of her.
"Highness of the spirits, guide me to the Rayearth of fire, I have urgent news" he declared, she could hear the exhaustion on his voice, the pain, but also relief for something, surely by finding her son.
Masaki weighted her options, on one hand she could kill the spider guy, she clearly remembers what the other two had done, they were responsible for Aizen's escape altogether, their mere presence had tipped the balance on Aizen's favor only because no one expected them, not even her son.
"If you're here to harm my son…" she let the threat hang in the air, surprisingly the spider man stood up, something akin to…outrage on his face.
"Harm? Betray? I am honor bound to the fire knights and our liege, I would never hurt him!" he declared hotly, outraged by that declaration.
"Kurosaki-san, should we carry this…inside?" Orihime suggested, Masaki mentally thanked the girl for her intervention, she was sure her talking to a stranger with a head that looked like a spider wouldn't do good enough for the already strange reputation of the Kurosaki family, with the eccentric dad, delinquent looking son with tomboy little sister and the small fragile looking other little sister, all running a clinic, it was a wonder social services haven't come, or that they had patients willing to come to the clinic.
As the trio entered, she noted that Ichigo was already up, clad in his shinigami grabs, surely he had to wake up and take a night hollow down, those surely put a damper on his mood, near him was Rukia, also clad in her own shinigami grabs, ready to go upstairs when they saw Masaki, Orihime and the spider man.
What happened next surely amused Rukia to no end.
The spider man's face somehow lit up with excitement and amazement, he covered the distance between him and Ichigo in less than a second, and then kneeled.
"My liege, I have finally found you, I was worried about your welfare"
Ichigo blinked owlish, Rukia did the same, and in fact both Masaki and Inoune did the same, not knowing how to react to the sudden action of the spider man.
"Oh, I am sorry my liege, I lack proper manners, I haven't introduced myself" the spider man said, standing up, "I am Arat Nat Hut, of the providence of Terratos" there the newly introduced Arat seemed to hesitated, then seemed to gain some edge, and spoke again.
"I am, as far as I know, the last loyal member of the fire knights" Arat summarized, everyone noted the sad tone he took, "My brothers and sisters…all now corrupted, blinded to the truth" Arat hissed, looking at Ichigo, seeing the way Ichigo looked at him, Arat walked to one of the chairs and sat.
"I guess, I should explain myself" Arat suggested.
"You think?" Rukia asked.
"Sarcasm aside little one" Rukia bristled at that remark, "I owe you that much, to explain the actions of…my fallen comrades" No one said nothing, knowing that Arat was referring to both Faeron and Eurania.
"I assume they died…you did them a favor" Arat began, "In them we saw the first signs of the corruption…but we were too proud, too careless…we paid the price" Arat added.
"What do you mean by that?" Masaki asked.
"They were the best, what every knight of the order should aim to be, strong, fast, cunning, ambitious, but one should measure how much he wants, and how much is willing to pay for it" Arat mentioned.
"It began slowly, like a cancer, benign, small, but it grew, without treatment, no one knew what was going on, not even the elves, and they are all but masters of the arcane arts, the Utta didn't knew either, MagiTeck is their forte, not the arcane arts, this…was old, older than some elves, older than the rayearths, it began slowly, but it didn't stop" Arat said, bringing his hand over his chest.
"When we did realize, it was late, 90% of our the fire knights were corrupted, the rest had to lay low, but when the pillars resonated, oh when they did, we had to act, the knights had been selected, we had to protect them" there Arat reach for his chest, obviously in pain, Orihime immediately reacted, but he just rose his hand to stop her.
"You have done more than enough, I told you already, I am the dead walking, I can only inform and die with the knowledge passed to my liege" Arat's statement surprised the present, Orihime looked downright sad, about to break on tears.
"Do not cry for me, I will reunite with my ancestors on the endless fields, and walk eternally on peace" Arat said, "As I was saying before, when the knights were elected, we knew we had to act, sadly so did our enemies" Arat added.
"As far as I know, the court of wind is unaffected, something about elf physiology preventing it, I envy the knight of wind, an army of females under his command, and some people have all the luck in the universe" Arat chuckles ended when he began to cough then groaned.
"The water monks…they live in seclusion, monasteries on the edge of mountains and the seas, so I doubt the corruption has hit them, but I know that our enemies are actively seeking them" Arat continued, "And for the fire knights, you have seen it by yourself, willing to attack our own leader, we swore to serve the rayearths above the queen, in times of peace the queen might tell us what to do, nothing else, we decide if we want to hear her, but when a knight is selected, we are to follow his or her orders, it has been this way since the end of the Great War" Arat said.
"I come bearing grim news my liege, beyond the fall of the fire knights, there seems to be another…problem if you want to be technical, an unknown army has been attacking several towns on the edges of Terras territory, survivors claim that the attackers wear ragged cloaks and chipped curved swords…wraiths" Arat said, seeing how Orihime stiffened, her eyes narrowed.
"It is a sign of bad omens; the return of the wraiths is just a prelude, Crystalia is facing an era of unrest, the queen is really hated by the people, feared to be the word I seek, her older daughter is haughty, proud, arrogant, her youngest was exiled, and if rumors are to believe, she leads the rebellion of the Grey Houses of the continent of Pi'ta" Arat ragged, everyone noted how he began to take deep breaths, struggling for words.
"The army is broken, they have numbers, but not a clear leader, and the…generals are petty and…fat" Arat gasped, "The people don't know what to do, they are afraid, change is accepted, but things are happening too fast, and too much blood is being spilled, the oracles have secluded themselves on the edges of gold mountain, entire cities are on lockdown, Terras itself is holding a bulk of a million soldiers" Ichigo blinked at that, it was…a large number.
"Our world needs the knights, it needs a new queen, and Queen Tania the fifth is…unbalanced, her decisions are…leading us to disaster, if we don't act now…I dread what might happen" Arat said, now gasping and actually leaning on the chair, his eight eyes focused on the ceiling.
"I can only assume that the dark lord will return, and when he does" Arat said, reaching for something on his pocket, "You, as a knight, must be prepared to face him" he said, slamming his hand on the table, then removing it, showing what seemed a ring, a silver ring.
"Do not…be deceived, that…ring, is in fact a key…when the time is right, it…will reveal something…it's nature…I do not know, the oracle…was vague" Arat said, reaching again for something in his pocket, then pulling out a crystal pyramid of some sort.
"My time has come…yet I won't spend it here my liege, I will die, as every living being in his universe, but I choose were to…to my home fields, the forests surrounding it…it's trees as thick and tall…the smell of juniper berries…it is a good place to let go" Arat added as the small pyramid on his hand began to crack.
"Be…well my liege…may your foes fall upon your blade…my ancestors beckon…for me" with that the pyramid broke, and he suddenly vanished, sparks and thunderbolts enveloping for a single second before vanishing for good, leaving an empty chair.
Ichigo by his part just looked at the spot Arat was, he had just come to relay him a message, to give him something of an edge, to prepare him for what might come ahead, with his last breath, he had done a lot, he wouldn't be fooled.
Reaching for the ring, Ichigo looked at the people around, all looking shocked by this, Orihime looked really frustrated and angry to herself, it seemed that her powers to negate had finally met something that couldn't be negated at all.
"Ah…home"
When he was born, the elder of the village who had been present on his birth had said he wouldn't partake on something important, that he would be one of the averages, on an average era, working on an average job.
Now he was sure, now that he was going to join the ancients, he was so going to rub the fact that he was born on the era of the knights, that he was part of the fire knights, and that for one, fleeting minute, he had done an important task, and had walked among giants, on the face of such elder once he sees her on the endless fields.
Arat felt the life fade of him slowly as he leaned on the back of a massive tree, the sun rays warming him.
The curse of the bonded, a spell that required the caster to bond his or her life with his or her target, making it impossible to break unless the caster is killed, this bound, which the maiden of fairies was unable to break, only stall, a truly incredible act, considering that the curse cannot be stopped by nothing, not even the strongest arch-mages could do so.
The curse leeched his life, then gave it to the caster, enhancing his own mortality, one could say that is an immortality spell, as your very life is taken and added to another person own life, doubling it, or tripling it if the caster had used it before, so that was why the fairy maiden was unable to heal him properly, flesh wounds closed on her touch, but the chains that leeched him could not be broken.
She was distraught, but alas this was meant to be, her power was great, no doubt, comparable to the power of a Rayearth, yet hers, like every power of every mortal being, had limits.
Sitting near the tree, his back on the tree, he could gaze at his town, his bellowed town, far beyond the problems of the upcoming war, yes, war, he didn't diluted himself with illusions that the arrival of the rayearths would prevent or outright stop any action death on its tracks, no, things would get worse, far worse.
But for now he could pass on with the knowledge that while war would come, he had armed one of the knights with the proper knowledge of what was happening, of what to expect, because in this war, just like the Great War, there would not be shades of grey, there would be black and white, good and evil.
Oh he could see it, the knights, advancing in the ancient ashen fields of war, just like their predecessors, and army behind them, a united army, against the dark army, just like in times pass…
He also saw allies alongside the knights, standing proud and ready to face death with them, he saw twice red, he saw black, and he saw a giant of purple that roared as the two armies advanced, ready to decide the fate of Crystalia once and for all.
"Ancestors…I come to you" he gasped one last time, as life left him at last.
One little girl, of his same species passed near him, instantly recognizing his armor as one of the fire knights, she didn't got close to him, mistaking his death state to sleeping, she simply walked near him, and placed a small flower she had picked near the fields, and placed it on one of his opened hands, then left.
This was as much as Arat, later know as Arat the speaker, would get as a respected burial before his remains were found months later by the very man he came to warn and was granted the burial of a hero he rightly deserved.
"Are you certain this…Arat was a crystalian?"
"Positive Sotaichou, he was clad in the same armor the other male had, but damaged, he appeared to be in great pain, Orihime's powers didn't helped a lot, just eased the pain long enough for he to relay a message to Ichigo"
"Good work Kuchiki-san, yet I am disturbed that you took two days to tell me this"
"Because I told her so"
Yamamoto had to bit the sharp retort he had planned for this when he heard Ichigo's voice, many questions got answered the moment Ichigo spoke.
"I told her so because we need to plan an attack on Aizen, now"
"So this is his plan…take the offensive to Aizen, not let him dictate the course of this war" Yamamoto thought, a slight bitterly of course, he had wanted to take on Aizen also, do it immediately, but the Shinigami forces on Seireitei hadn't recovered fast enough to allow this, even with a Rayearth knight on their side they needed to be cautious with Aizen, he had, after all put the wool on their eyes for over a hundred years, even more, he was crafty, he was smart, he would surely be prepared for an all out assault of Seireitei, with the captains and the Rayearth spear-heading the assault to Hueco Mundo.
Also there was the issue of the terrain, Hueco Mundo, for all intents and purposes, is a massive ocean of a desert, filled to the brim with hollows of all sizes, forms and power, he had made once the mistake of sending a sizable force down to Hueco Mundo, at least a millennium ago, the best shinigami he could hand-pick, fifty of them, all ready and willing to chip a hole on the hollow force back in that time.
None of them returned, if what he thought was perhaps correct, Ichigo might be suggesting a massive offensive, sending every single able shinigami with him to Hueco Mundo, take the war to Aizen's turf, problem was of course, no one knew where Aizen truly was in Hueco Mundo.
"Listen, I don't trust you, to be honest I want to beat the shit out of you again, but right now my family and town comes first"
At least he was being honest; Yamamoto could respect an honest person, depending on the truth.
"And I'm sure you hate me with all you being, but right now we have a bigger fish to fry, so here's my plan"
Yamamoto immediately perked up upon hearing the beginning of Ichigo's plan.
"I go to Hueco Mundo, carrying a small surprise of Urahara made himself to carry this, I make it out to Aizen's fortress, lay hell whenever I find it, go to the center, plant the surprise in the center, and you and the captains do the rest, after all is easier to pull out a tired fish that a healthy one"
Yamamoto blinked, he thought Ichigo would try to convince him to fight Aizen on their terms, on his land, not fight Aizen on their terms, on their ground, it was brilliant, it was crazy, it was something Aizen Sosuke would not see coming.
"…How much time to start this plan?" Yamamoto asked, seeing the utter brilliance of this plan, Shinigami usually didn't engage on this kind of conflict, on this kind of scale, but this time, they would make the exception.
"A week, Urahara is working on a gate for me to enter Hueco Mundo, and perhaps a day after that while I made it to Aizen's place and tear it down, Urahara even had the coordinates ready"
"Good, I'll have a force ready for this" Yamamoto never found himself agreeing with a Rayearth, he had his pride, his zanpakutou had its pride as well, being defeated so soundly had hurt that pride, that could easily be repaired by beating the rayearths knights, especially the new wind knight.
But what Aizen had done, it went beyond pride, it was a downright insult, at least the Rayearth knight had the delicacy to fight him with all he got, but being manipulated like some sort of toy was beyond insulting, he would enjoy destroying Aizen and making him see how his plan crumbled apart.
"Good…make sure you keep your shinigami on the leash, Shinji and company will help as well" with that Ichigo ended the call, Yamamoto simply narrowed his eyes, the kid was crossing too many lines, but against this…Arrancar, hollows with shinigami powers, they needed all the help they could get, the fact that the Vizard, the complete opposite of the Arrancar would face them was not lost to him, right now any kind of edge was needed to stop Aizen before he caused a catastrophe only comparable to the one the Quincy nearly did during the war.
Truth to be told he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a joint operation between Seireitei with the Rayearth and his allies, but both sides, while not liking each other at all, or were too indifferent to the other in the case of some members, had one common enemy, and that united them to face him and take him down.
He would have all the time in the world to see what to do about the Rayearth friends, and not to mention the new Rayearth knights, princess included.
He had made a promise, the knights would die, and all of them would die by his hand, regardless of the consequences.
For the moment however, Aizen and his ambition had to be stopped.
A week later…
"This is all I could dig up Ichigo…the rest is up to you" Urahara mentioned, handing Ichigo a cell phone and stepping away.
Admiring his work, Kisuke wondered how things would play out now, Ichigo was basically going to fly solo up to Hueco Mundo, on a, many consider, suicidal charge against Aizen and whatever army he had with him, Kisuke didn't had much hopes of Ichigo actually making it there undetected, the moment he touches the sand of Hueco Mundo, every hollow will know he is there, and will either fight or flee, depending how evolved in both power and brain are, he knew the higher Hollow ranks would ignore Ichigo, and he would ignore them, but the lesser hollows would try to attack and eat Ichigo, his dense spiritual power would grant them immediate evolution, or jump two stages of such evolution.
Standing on the training fields right under his shop, with two massive pillars made of white rock, both pillars being the only artificial way to open a garganta up to Hueco Mundo, after all there was no way normal means would suffice to reach Hueco Mundo.
"It's enough Urahara, thanks" Ichigo mentioned, pocketing the cell phone on his robes.
"Are you absolutely certain you want to do this? You will be on your own there" Urahara stated, "I would take Kuchiki offer and let her come with you, it would be more beneficial for both of you"
"No, I'm going to lay hell there, I can't focus on her, besides she said she was going to keep a watch on my friends" Ichigo said.
"Ah yes, your class is on a field trip, highly convenient, your whole class, which is slowly developing spiritual awareness, it won't be long before they can see your spiritual form, and some of them to develop powers of their own"
"Don't remind me" Ichigo groaned, slightly palming his forehead, that topic was something Yoruichi hadn't let him live down, he, just like Fira had said, with his mere presence had started to change his class, all of them, his teacher included would be able to see spirits, hollows and shinigami included, but just a handful would develop powers like Chad and Orihime, which was a blessing indeed, Karakura Town was already overcrowded with humans developing powers of their own, besides he was damn sure he would have to explain them why he was the only one with a big ass sword, and the hollows, oh he was not so looking forward into explaining that.
"You will have to confront this with the sotaichou, he won't be pleased" Urahara reminded, slowly walking to the pillars.
"I don't care if he is happy, my town takes priority over anything he thinks" Ichigo snarled, "Besides pissing him off makes my day" Ichigo added, Urahara just fanned himself, mentally smirking, Ichigo had really progressed from the moment he gained his powers, up to this point.
"…Kisuke-san" Ichigo began, catching Urahara's attention, so far Ichigo had never called him like that, never, it was always the usual 'Geta-boshi' or 'Urahara-san' never by his first name, this had to be serious.
"Listen…if I don't…make it, if I don't return, keep a watch on my family…all of them" Ichigo said, more of a plea than a question or a command.
"I will, Kurosaki-san" Urahara said, handing Ichigo the last item, the one Ichigo needed the most, a small pink cube, it was small enough to fit in Ichigo's hand, even if closed.
"I have been working on a temporal shield that could negate negacion if this was summoned, with some small modifications I was able to convert it into a teleportation device, keyed to the sole location found only on Soul Society outskirts" Urahara said happily and he handed the cube to Ichigo, then out of the blue turned serious, deadly serious.
"you have to place the cube on the floor inside the fortress Ichigo, if you see you can't do that, that a frontal assault would be too much, even for our amassed force and your preemptive assault, just push reiatsu into the cube until it shows one single crack, then toss it down, and run like hell, it will kill everything around, you included, Rayearth or not" Urahara added, closing Ichigo's hand with the cube with it.
"A lot relies on your success, regardless of what you do" Urahara said, slightly turning his gaze to the gate.
"The gate will take you to the heaviest shinigami reiatsu detectable, it won't drop you on top of Aizen, but it will be very close, so be very careful" Urahara said, stepping away and making his way to the pillars, then placing his hands on the pillars, spiritual energy leaking on his hands and being leeched by the crystal pillars.
"Whenever the fates deem ready, knight of Crystalia"
This was the first time Urahara ever referred to him as a knight of Crystalia, which was odd to Ichigo, but not to Fira herself.
Usually this phrase was used in ancient times, back during the first Great War, long before the guns and space-ships, when the words were refined; it was first used during the final battle, oddly enough by the dark lord itself, in his confrontation with the Rayearth of wind, while using the body of the Rayearth of water, but was then twisted by an officer at least five millenniums later during the old one wars, his original words had enough profanities that in the end, the very dirty speech became that particular phrase.
As the pillars slowly began to tear the time-space veil separating the living realm of Hueco Mundo, Ichigo stared impassively at it, knowing full well what awaited him beyond the tear, an army waited for him, no, for anyone fool enough to try to attack them.
He didn't care of course, he would tear them all apart just to get to Aizen, he had to weaken them, to make sure Seireitei forces could pick them up after the teleportation.
With a big intake of breath, Ichigo saw how the tear was fully opened, and he dived into the unknown, again, this time, alone.
and it's a wrap, for now, as i said, short for my standards, considering that most of my stories have the odd tendency of getting longer and longer with each passing chapter, just could the number of letters in the chornicles of maverick from chapter to chapter, including author notes and you'll see, freaky eh?
right now i will take some time, i just got my wisdom tooth removed, two of them in fact, so anyone who has beheld this procedure knows the mind-numbing pain that follows after anesthetics wear down, and then i have to wait for the other two, so yes, i will be not be updating too soon.
till a next time, hypn0s signs off, have a good day my friends and readers, be well.