DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BLEACH
Ichigo dropped out of his flash-step in the entrance-way to the Seventh division barracks. Ugh. There are gonna be more guards here than in the Kuchiki manor. If I have to fight through all of them again, it's gonna be such a pain in the ass. Not to mention we're running low on time. Dammit. I might have to go stealthy on this one. What a time to be terrible at reiatsu suppression.
Forcing himself to focus completely on reducing the reiatsu flowing from his body to a minimum, Ichigo pressed himself to the wall of the barracks, avoiding the patrolling shinigami in the courtyard. Breathing out a sigh of relief as a particularly large group of shinigami passed, chatting among themselves. Ichigo paused and listened to the conversation.
"Did you hear about the lone intruder in the Seireitei?"
"That's the one that we're supposed to look out for, right? Does anyone even know what he looks like?"
"No idea. I suppose we'll know when we see him, right? I heard he beat Jidanbou with just one hit!"
"No way! He beat the gatekeeper? Jidanbou hasn't lost in three hundred years! How strong is he?"
"We'll find out eventually, I guess. I just hope that this is all over with soon. I want to go back to my sake."
Ichigo smirked. Seems like word of his actions have already spread in the Seireitei. He was looking forward to revealing himself at the finale, when Aizen and his allies made their intentions clear.
#
"Kuchiki Rukia. Your execution will take place on the Soukyoku Hill tomorrow at noon. That is all."
Rukia listened as the echoing footsteps of the Onmitsukidou detention unit guard faded. She gazed at the floor of her cell in the Tower of Penitence. Noon. It's a good time to go, I suppose. I guess they moved up the date because of the whole intruder situation. She smiled wryly. Beating the gatekeeper, invading the Seireitei. That seems like something that Strawberry would do. Good thing he's stuck back in the world of the living.
The smile faded as more footsteps approached. She roughly swiped the back of her hand across her eyes, drying the traces of moisture that thinking about Ichigo had brought on. She made her face impassive as Kuchiki Byakuya approached the door to her cell.
"Nii-sama." She acknowledged, not looking at her brother.
"Rukia. Imouto-sama."
Rukia's head shot up after hearing her brother address her as thus. "Nii-sama, what-"
Byakuya cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I have some things to talk to you about. By law it is not allowed for me to attempt to rescue you. Additionally, the threat of the intruders in the Seireitei have caused Central 46 to change the time of your execution, as I'm sure you are aware. However, some of the captains of the Gotei 13 suspect a conspiracy."
Rukia's eyes widened, not only at the information but also with the tone of Byakuya's voice. It was still cold and distant, but now it was laced with something different. Is that… a hint of warmth? she thought disbelievingly.
"There is one other thing that you should know. Although it is prohibited for me to discuss this, I feel that this knowledge that I am about to give you will mean much to you. The lone intruder's name is… Kurosaki Ichigo."
Rukia's eyes widened when she heard the name of the teen who had been in her thoughts for the past few days. "Ichigo…" she breathed. He came. He actually came!
"Believe me when I say this, Rukia. The boy is strong. He has potential. I have no idea how he managed to gain powers only days after I sealed the powers you lent him. But I have no doubt about the boy's goal, his motivation. He gained his own powers, defeated the gatekeeper, and invaded the Seireitei for you, Rukia. I could see his resolve in his eyes when I fought him. His urge to protect is… admirable."
Byakuya turned from the cell, away from a shocked Rukia. "I have no doubt that one day the boy will be a good suitor for you, Rukia. He has my approval."
Rukia was jolted out of her shocked reverie by this last statement. "Nii-sama," she said, but he was already gone. Sighing, she turned to the long window that let a strip of light into her cell. "Ichigo… I'm glad you came."
#
"Roar, Tenken!" A giant phantom limb holding a just as massive sword materialized in midair, swinging down on Ichigo. A cloud of dust exploded upon impact. As the air cleared, a scowling figure with bright orange hair stood, the giant blade blocked on a long sealed zanpakutou.
Ichigo ran his free hand through his unruly hair. "Tch. I had been hoping after Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Hitsugaya that convincing other captains would be easier. Do I have to fight all of you to get you to listen?"
Standing opposite from him, the tall imposing figure of Komamura Sajin, captain of the Seventh division, roared, "Do not be impertinent, intruder scum!
Ichigo sighed. "Look, Komamura-taicho. I don't want to fight you. So could you please just listen to what I have to say? It will go so much easier for both of us."
"Do not try to blind me with your meaningless drivel, boy! You speak of traitors in the captaincy. You dare question the loyalty of the Gotei 13? You clearly do not know who we are yet!"
Ichigo said with a grimace, "Well, I think it's clear that you aren't going to accept my offer anytime soon, and I right, Komamura-taicho?" Without waiting for a reply, Ichigo held out a hand. "Bakudo no. 4, Hainawa!"
"Glowing golden ropes shot out of his outstretch hand, wrapping around the giant captain and binding his hands to his torso. The giant phantom limb vanished as Komamura dropped out of shikai.
"You think you can bind me with a low-level kidou, boy? Don't be arrogant!" With a roar, Komamura strained and the kidou ropes began to unravel.
With a smirk, Ichigo yelled, "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel! With light, divide this into six! Bakudo no. 61, Rikujokorou!" Six wide flat strips of light slammed into the large captain's midsection, binding him once more into place. Damn, kidou is pretty darn handy. I'm glad I had Yoruichi teach me the more useful ones.
Calling out to the bound captain, Ichigo said, "Sorry, Komamura-taicho. But we're running out of time, and I really can't have you spilling the beans to our enemies. So, although I don't want to do this, it's necessary."
Komamura watched, eyes widening beneath his full-face helmet, as Ichigo began to chant. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hadou no. 63, Raikohou!" The burst of lightning roared from his open palm, screaming towards the bound captain. Upon impact, a massive cloud of smoke burst into the air as the kidou exploded.
When the smoke cleared, Ichigo dispelled the two binding kidou holding the captain upright. With a thud, Komamura fell forward, his haori badly singed by the kidou.
Ichigo reached out with his senses and found the reiatsu signature of the massive captain, faint but still there. Good. He's still alive, but he'll be unconscious long enough not to interfere. It wouldn't be good for the Gotei 13 to lose another captain, when one just died and three are about to desert.
He shook his head slightly. Man, talk about Murphy's Law. Everything always goes to hell at the most important part. Well, it's off to the Eleventh division then… He flashed off.
#
Yamamoto-soutaicho's cane slammed against the floor, silencing the hushed conversations that had been carrying on around the room. "I have called this emergency captain's meeting to discuss a number of things."
"Now now, Yama-jii. I really don't think my drinking habits are serious enough to be the subject of an emergency captain's meeting, don't you agree?" Kyoraku Shunsui drawled, face hidden beneath the broad rim of his straw hat.
"Silence, Kyoraku-taicho! This is no time to be making jokes! The loss of four of our captains and a vice-captain is a serious matter. Kurotsuchi-taicho and Aizen-taicho are dead, and Komamura-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, and Hinamori-fukutaicho are seriously injured. Unohana-taicho, please update us on their conditions."
Unohana Retsu, captain of the Fourth division and head healer, stepped forward from the row of captains standing before the soutaicho. "Currently, they are all unconscious. Hitsugaya-taicho suffered a serious stab wound through the chest, barely missing his heart by three millimeters. Komamura-taicho was hit by a powerful high-level kidou, enough to incapacitate a captain-level fighter in one hit. I suspect judging from the reiatsu that the kidou spell was most likely Raikohou, performed by one of the intruders. Hinamori-fukutaicho is in a condition similar to Hitsugaya-taicho's, and the fact that they were both found in the same place indicates that the same person attacked both of them. Additionally, when the medics from the Fourth division found Hitsugaya-taicho and Hinamori-fukutaicho, they also discovered the Central 46 slaughtered in their underground compound."
Her words sparked another flurry of conversation around the room as several captains muttered among themselves. Yamamoto's cane slammed into the floor again. "Silence! From this information, we can suspect that the intruders who entered the Seireitei a few days ago are involved. We currently have two of the three detained, one of which is the one who killed Kurotsuchi-taicho, and the other engaged Kyoraku-taicho in battle but lost. I suspect that the single intruder who hasn't been captured yet was the one who attacked Hitsugaya-taicho, Hinamori-taicho, and Komamura-taicho, killed Aizen-taicho, and killed the Central 46. As a result, I am declaring martial law on the Seireitei. In the absence of the Central 46, I order all captains to seek out and kill this intruder as soon as possible. You are dismissed!"
#
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya Toushiro sat straight up, then immediately flinched and hissed as pain lanced through his torso. He looked down at his chest and saw that it was wrapped in bandages. He looked around, assessing his surroundings. "I'm in the Fourth division…" A memory flashed in his mind, and he hissed under his breath, "Aizen…"
The door to his room opened, and Unohana stepped through. "Ah, it's good to see you awake, Hitsugaya-taicho."
Hitsugaya turned to look at her. "Where's Hinamori? Is she okay?"
Unohana smiled softly. "Hinamori-fukutaicho is in the next room. She is currently still unconscious, but she is stable."
Hitsugaya sighed in relief. His relief was immediately washed away by a pang of guilt. "I wasn't able to save her…" he muttered, clenching at the sheets of the bed. "I wasn't strong enough." He gazed down at his clenched hands. "…I don't deserve the title of captain in the Gotei 13 if I wasn't able to protect a subordinate."
"Nonsense, Hitsugaya-taicho," chided Unohana. "It was your actions that saved Hinamori-fukutaicho. If you hadn't given out that burst of reiatsu, which nearly killed you, by the way, she would have died from her wounds. You saved her life, while at the same time endangering your own. Your actions were noble and selfless, and nothing could earn your title as captain more than that."
Hitsugaya let out a shuddering sigh. "Thank you, Unohana-taicho. When can I get out of here?"
Unohana replied, "Your injuries are healed, and your reiatsu has recovered. I can discharge you now, if you would like."
Hitsugaya nodded. "Thank you for your help, Unohana-taicho. I appreciate it."
#
The door slid open quietly, and Hitsugaya walked into the room in which Hinamori Momo was unconscious. He walked over to the bed and placed a bunch of flowers, freshly-picked peach blossoms, in a vase by the bed. He sat down on a chair and looked at her face, bathed in the soft light of the lamp. She looked so innocent, completely ignorant of the oncoming storm that would devastate the Seireitei and the Gotei 13.
"Hinamori… I'm sorry. I know how much you looked up to Aizen. But I can't change the fact that he's a traitor, and he's betraying the Soul Society and putting us all, putting you in danger. I don't know what his plans are, but they can't be anything good. So I have to ask of you, Hinamori, I have to beg of you, please, don't let your admiration for Aizen cloud your judgment. You are the sole head of your division, Hinamori. They need you. The Gotei 13 needs you." He took a breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say.
"I need you, Hinamori. We've been friends for so long, and you were always protecting me back in the Rukongai. When you told me that you had been accepted into Aizen's division, the man who you had admired so much that he was all you could talk about back in the Academy days, I was jealous. I wanted to be that person that you could trust with all your secrets. I wanted to be the person that you were the closest to. I wanted to be the one who could hold you close and comfort you when something went wrong." Hitsugaya sighed as he looked at Hinamori's still form on the bed.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you, Momo. Please, I ask of you, give me another chance. That's all I want, is for you to give me another chance, to redeem myself to you."
Hinamori twitched a little in her sleep, and she muttered, "Shiro-chan…"
Hitsugaya smiled slightly, his face softening. "Get better soon, Momo. I'll see you later." He turned and walked out of the door, sliding it softly shut behind him.
#
"Well, well. This could prove quite problematic, wouldn't you agree, Toushiro-kun?" Kyoraku drawled. He, Hitsugaya, and Ukitake were sitting in Hitsugaya's office, discussing the recent order to kill Kurosaki Ichigo. Hitsugaya had been informed of the order when he had left the Fourth division.
"It's Hitsugaya-taicho, Kyoraku-taicho. But yes, I agree. There are many potential problems this order poses to our plan. We can no longer meet with Kurosaki Ichigo to discuss any further actions, and Kuchiki Rukia's execution is fast approaching. We now have less than a day to prepare for Aizen's betrayal. Have you and Ukitake-taicho secured the device from the Shihouin family?" He looked at the two senior captains.
Ukitake nodded. "We have. It is currently stored in my office at the Thirteenth division. I have informed my third seats, Kotetsu Kiyone and Kotsubaki Sentarou, about its use. However, in order to preserve secrecy, I only told them that I suspected someone was going to try and take the power of the Soukyoku. Nothing more."
"Good," said Hitsugaya. "I have confirmed that the Central 46 have been killed, and that Aizen was behind it. I have also confirmed that Ichimaru Gin is allied with Aizen. They were both there when I was at the underground meeting place of the Central 46." His expression hardened when he recalled the memory.
"Aizen was also the one who stabbed me and Hinamori. It appears that Kurosaki Ichigo was correct about Aizen's zanpakutou powers."
Kyoraku chuckled. "That boy has a lot of promise. I have no doubt that one day he will become one of the strongest shinigami the Gotei 13 has ever seen." He looked at Hitsugaya craftily. "Not unlike you, Toushiro-kun. The orange-haired genius and the white-haired prodigy."
Hitsugaya twitched in annoyance, but brushed it off. "Whatever. We need to plan our next move. Without Kurosaki Ichigo to plan things, we have to decide how to take action against Aizen. We don't know how many of the other captains he was able to convince, so we need to assume that it is only the three of us."
"Four," a cool, aristocratic voice cut in. The three captains whirled around to see Kuchiki Byakuya calmly closing the door of Hitsugaya's office behind him. "I see the boy was not lying when he informed me that the three of you were working with him. I am glad to see that you have recovered so quickly, Hitsugaya-taicho. It will make our work much easier with four captains and a captain-level fighter."
Ukitake breathed a sigh of relief. "So Kurosaki-kun informed you of the situation, Kuchiki-taicho?"
"Indeed he has, Ukitake-taicho. It appears that he was unable to convince Komamura-taicho, however. This is quite unfortunate, but knowing the boy he probably incapacitated Komamura-taicho long enough that he would not be able to interfere or leak information to Tousen, who is undoubtedly allied with Aizen and Ichimaru Gin."
Hitsugaya nodded. "Given his personality, I have no doubt Zaraki Kenpachi would join our cause, if Kurosaki Ichigo offers him a good fight."
Byakuya said disdainfully, "That barbarian would do anything for a fight. However, I suppose that his support in these circumstances are welcome."
"That man is a scarily strong fighter," Kyoraku said seriously. "I for one am glad he's fighting with us, and not against us."
#
Ichigo dropped out of his flash-step, looking around himself in confusion. Dammit, everything looks the same here. I can't find my way around at all. It's so embarrassing that I have to stop and ask for directions. Tch. I suppose it can't be helped though. He walked up to a shinigami who had his backed turned to him. "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where the barracks of the Eleventh division are?"
The shinigami turned, and Ichigo noted the vice-captain's badge on the man's arm with mild surprise. Then he caught sight of the man's face and vivid red hair and cursed.
"You!" The shinigami's eyes widened as he stared at Ichigo's bright orange hair. "You're the human! But how…" He looked stunned in realization. "You're the intruder that everyone's all worried about? But that's impossible! Kuchiki-taicho sealed your powers! You were almost dead when we left you, and that was only a week ago! How is this possible?"
Ichigo smirked. If only you knew, you stupid pineapple. If only you knew. "Nothing is impossible, Abarai-fukutaicho. You would do well to learn that."
The pineapple's face contorted in rage at Ichigo's taunts, and he growled, "Howl, Zabimaru!" His zanpakutou morphed into the serrated falchion-like blade that Ichigo had seen in the living world. "Don't think you're gonna get off easy again, human! This time, under the orders of Yamamoto-soutaicho, I will kill you!"
With a shout, he flung the falchion-whip at Ichigo, who sighed and simply flashed out of the way of the blade. Holding out his finger at Abarai's back, he said, "Hadou no. 4, Byakurai!" The streak of white lightning flashed towards the shinigami's unprotected back.
With a contemptuous laugh, Abarai retracted his blade and used it to block the attack. "Don't get cocky, human! Don't think that the same trick will work on me twice!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes, unable to resist the urge to taunt the annoying pineapple in front of him. "Do you know how many times I've been told not to be arrogant or cocky since I got here? Three. Three times I've been told that I don't have a chance of beating someone, and guess what? I've beaten them all. And you're about to be the fourth. Or did you forget how badly I was beating you back in the human world? And just on borrowed powers! I have my own powers now. You don't stand a chance, pineapple."
He casually side-stepped another attack from the whip-blade. "I suppose, since you're fighting me with shikai, I will allow you the honor of being beaten by my own shikai." Wordlessly he released his shikai, the force of his reiatsu causing Abarai to cringe slightly.
Abarai cursed. He charged straight at Ichigo with a flash-step, swinging his shikai in an attempt to decapitate the orange-haired genius. Ichigo blocked, the serrated edge of the pineapple's shikai striking the flat of Ichigo's cleaver blade with a clang. With a mighty push, Ichigo hurled Abarai head over heels away from himself.
"Let's end this. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to stop me from saving Rukia," he growled. He amped up his reiatsu, the light blue energy swirling around himself. Focusing the energy on his blade, he prepared for a mighty swing. The reiatsu engulfed the cleaver blade, and Ichigo swung. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
The massive arc of reiatsu sped towards the pineapple, impacting with a massive explosion. Ichigo turned away from the cloud of smoke, sealing his zanpakutou and returning the long blade to the sheath on his back.
Ichigo paused as a hoarse shout came from the smoke behind him. "Wait!"
He turned and gazed impassively at the badly injured figure of Abarai Renji. His shihakusho was torn and burned, and he was bleeding badly from a massive cut in his chest where Ichigo's attack had struck him. Ichigo said, "What do you want?"
"Please," Renji said, grimacing at the pain. "save Rukia."
Ichigo was slightly surprised at Renji's words, but did not show it. He turned his back to the bleeding pineapple. "I don't need to you tell me that." He flashed away, leaving Renji lying in a crater, bleeding from his torso.
#
The explosion echoed across the Seireitei, interrupting the clangs of steel striking steel and the battle cries of shinigami. Zaraki Kenpachi looked up at the column of smoke rising into the sky. Carelessly, he tossed aside the unseated shinigami of the Eleventh division who charged at him, zanpakutou raised. "Hmph. Looks like somebody's fighting over there. I bet he's strong." A manic grin appeared on the captain of the Eleventh division's face. "Ikkaku! Yumichika! I'm gonna go fight somebody, keep these maggots training!"
"Yes sir!" a bald, grinning man called back as he smashed another shinigami's face into the training room floor.
"So ugly," sniffed a feminine-looking man, whose heavily modified shihakusho was spotless despite the massive free for all battle raging around him. "We will keep the division in line while you're gone, captain."
A little girl with pink hair and the vice-captain's badge of the Eleventh division hopped off the head of yet another division member, landing on Kenpachi's shoulder. "I'm here, Ken-chan!" she chirped happily. "Let's go play!"
Kenpachi laughed. "Hold on tight, Yachiru!" He dashed out of the training hall of the Eleventh division, leaving his subordinates in a violent battle in which every man fought for himself.
#
Hello everyone! Sorry that this chapter is short, and late as well. But my laptop broke yesterday. Well, not actually broke, the power cord broke and its battery can't hold a charge so now I don't have a laptop to type on. I'm writing from the family PC, which means I had to retype a lot of the chapter. So sorry for the shortness. I promise you'll have a full-length chapter next time.
I was hoping to hit 200 reviews last chapter, but we fell just a bit short. Let's go for it this chapter! 200 reviews, here we come! Let me take the time now to thank you all for reading and reviewing. 200 reviews is another huge milestone, and I can't begin to thank you all for the support you've given for this story. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter, drop a review, add it to your alerts/favorites list, and I will see you all next time!
~fokker333
#
The administrators of are as of June 4th going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence. Now I don't know about you but I think thats stupid. There are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long. Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.
Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.
Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.
For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.
It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.
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While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.
For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.
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