Chapter 14
Soul Society, 9th Division Barracks
"Get back here you rotten kids!" 17th seat Tamaki screamed at his captains daughters.
"Karin!" Yuzu whined as she ran behind her sister. "Why did you do that? Dad said you aren't allowed to prank members of his squad anymore!"
"No, what he said was no pranks during lessons anymore." Karin rebutted.
The two girls reached a corner of the building and slid on their socks for a quicker cleaner turn. Running down a new hallway Karin jumped over a man meticulously scrubbing the wooden floor while Yuzu danced around his side while quickly saying 'excuse me sorry pardon me I'm sorry'.
"But Karin we were in a lesson! Tamaki is supposed to be teaching us the basics of swordplay." Yuzu protested, continuing the conversation.
"Yeah well he's a crap teacher so your point is invalid." Karin retorted.
"I heard that you shitty brat!" Tamaki screamed as he turned the corner himself.
"Tch. He's catching up." Karin spat out annoyed.
"What do we do?" Yuzu cried out.
Karin suddenly sported a mischievous grin."Remember what we practiced yesterday?" she asked.
Yuzu's eyes lit up as yes she did remember but she seemed hesitant to say yes. Eventually she did nod in affirmation.
"Alright then. On three. One...two...three!"
The Kurosaki twins turned around abruptly and each held two fingers out to the man chasing them.
"Hadō #1: Shō!/ Bakudō #1: Sai!" the girls chanted in unison.
Yuzu's binding spell trapped the mans arms behind his back while Karin's small thrust of energy nailed the man right in the ankle. Tamaki tried desperately to maintain his balance but with both arms stuck behind him there was no other outcome but to slam face first into the barracks floor.
Karin smirked triumphantly and pumped her fist in the air with a cry of 'Yeah' whilst Yuzu clutched her sheathed zanpakutō tightly against her chest, inwardly panicking that she actually went through with it and attacked an officer. Albeit a very low ranking one.
Tamaki snapped the magical bindings on his arms and looked up from the floor. His face was bright red from both the impact, his now bleeding nose, and his ever growing displeasure.
"Shit he's getting up! Come on Yuzu let's go!" Karin yelled as she grabbed her sisters hand and pulled her along.
"But Karin where are we supposed to go?" Yuzu whined loudly in exasperation.
Over in a corner room of the building lieutenant Hisagi of the 9th division snacked on a meat bun as his guests lieutenant's Kira and Hinamori of the 3rd and 5th divisions played a game of shōgi against each other.
Kira's eyes glanced to the sliding door as the commotion outside got even louder. "Shouldn't you go deal with that?" he asked as he moved a piece on the board.
"It's not my problem." Hisagi stated with certainty.
"Ehhh? Shūhei you aren't slacking on your duties as a lieutenant are you?" Hinamori accused as if scandalized by the very notion.
"It's. Not. My. Problem." he said more adamantly daring them to dispute him.
Hueco Mundo, The Desert Just Outside Las Noches
The tall Arrancar sipped his drink experimentally. Sweet but still a tad robust. Clean with a powerful finish. The Arrancar set the cup back down on it's saucer and smiled.
"This tea is really good." Shawlong Koufang commented genuinely impressed. "Ylfordt you should try some."
"I'm busy." the Arrancar with long yellow hair replied. His worried expression focused intensely on the fight they were observing.
"There's no reason you can't try it while still watching the-"
"I don't want to try the damn tea!" the 25th Arrancar snapped back while gnawing on his thumb. "...he's losing."
Grimmjow crashed into the ground at such speed it sounded like a miniature explosion. Sand and rock were kicked up into the air and a small crater had formed where he landed. The 6th Espada pushed up off his knees as he panted heavily and ignored the singe marks on his skin.
'No. I refuse to accept this. I was prepared to acknowledge that he might be better than me...but not by this much! No one is this much better than me! It's gotta be a trick...he's just putting up a front.'
"Try this one Kurosaki!" Grimmjow roared, his voice full of lust for battle. His knees bent a little as he charged a great red cero over his hand and then launched it with a maniacal laugh.
"Edrad do you want to try some tea?" Shawlong asked congenially, offering a small cup and saucer to the man. "Ichigo did go all the way to the human world to get it."
The red headed musclebound fracción frowned. "How can you sit there sampling drinks when our leader is fighting as hard as he is?"
"Because I already know how this ends." He stated casually. "The outcome of the fight was already decided the moment Grimmjow challenged Ichigo."
"You think he'll turn it around when he releases his Resurrección?" the 35th Arrancar Nakeem Grinida guessed as he reached for the cup that Edrad had declined.
Shawlong smiled. At least one of his fellow fracción seemed willing to try the drink. "No." He said in the same calm voice. "Our boss doesn't stand a chance at all."
Ichigo stood in the air passively looking down at his opponent and the red blast approaching him. Tensa Zangetsu was resting peacefully over his shoulder and his stance was incredibly lax. He tried to resist the urge of rolling his eyes at the attack but found he just couldn't help it. When the blast finally reached him Ichigo simply slapped it away into the horizon with his free hand.
Grimmjow's face of excitement turned to one of disbelief at what he was seeing. 'But...that's not possi...with his bare hand?'
"Are you done with this? I have other things I could be doing you know." Ichigo asked a bit bored.
Grimmjow's fists tightened and he snarled. "Not yet!" he screamed as he drew his sword. "Grind, Pantera!"
Twin helix's of smoke burst from the ground obscuring Grimmjow's form as the wind picked up violently. Ichigo's cloak whipped around from the force and a smile crept onto his lips. 'Finally.'
The 6th Espada burst from the smoke cloud to reveal his new form. Claws, a tail, several other cat like features, and hair that now stretched all the way down his back. He rocketed towards Ichigo and pulled his claw back in preparation to slash him across the chest.
However just as he swiped Ichigo vanished and he hit nothing but the open air. He felt a piece of cool metal resting flush on the back of his neck and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Dead." Ichigo said from behind him.
Grimmjow growled and swung his other hand around to backhand his opponent but just as before he hit nothing but air. This time he felt the point of the metal on his lower back.
"Kidney." the voice said as he poked Tensa Zangetsu into his back just hard enough to draw a trickle of blood.
Grimmjow flew into a rage and started swiping and kicking wildly at Ichigo who simply dodged or ran away from every attack that was thrown at him. Stopping only to occasionally taunt his opponent when he could have capitalized on an opening and effectively ended the fight.
Tensa Zangetsu hovering over the outstretched wrist. "Hand."
A prick in the back that could've been deep if Ichigo had wanted it. "Lung."
Blade over the heart. "Dead."
Grimmjow's rage grew with each insult and his attacks became more erratic, desperate to land a strike on his opponent. The closest he came was with a surprise attack from his tail that in the end only caused Ichigo to jump away and put some distance between the two.
The 6th Espada raised his elbow up like a cannon. "Garra de la Pantera!" Five crystalline stone projectiles launched at his foe at high speed. Grimmjow knew Kurosaki would dodge. There was no way he wouldn't. Instead of watching the stones to see just where his attack eventually landed Grimmjow prepared to retaliate for when Kurosaki mocked him again. There was no chance in hell he was letting that damnable black blade touch his body again.
This time he would be ready.
Grimmjow trusted his instincts. It was coming. Kurosaki wouldn't be able to help himself. Any moment now.
A tiny projectile splashed harmlessly against Grimmjow's shoulder.
The Espada blinked. His concentration broke and he scanned the surroundings for the source. Just as he located it a second attack hit him center mass and also shattered without doing any damage just like the first had.
Off far to the side was Kurosaki holding a bow and arrow of vibrating blue energy.
"What the hell are you doing Kurosaki?" Grimmjow demanded angrily as he ground his teeth together.
Ichigo shrugged. "Just getting some practice in. I thought we were doing the whole 'long-range attack thing' now." he said casually as he fired another arrow.
Grimmjow batted it away with ease. It didn't even sting his hand. "You call that an attack?" he tried to jeer.
"No." Ichigo stated as he gathered energy for a fourth arrow. This one slightly bigger than the last. "Hence the practice."
The 6th Espada's anger finally boiled over. 'I wanted a fight! A battle between two kings who stand above others! But he won't even take me seriously! He's using my challenge as a time to practice! I'll make him see! I'm not someone you can practice with! I am the 6th Espada! Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!'
Grimmjow pointed two fingers forward and a ball of black electric-like energy with a thin blue outline burst into being. "Just try and slap this one away! I dare ya!The cero only an Espada in their Resurrección can use! CERO OSCURAS!"
Ichigo quickly dropped his bow and started charging his own cero to combat the attack. Red met black and the two energy waves clashed for dominance for only a second before red overtook black and continued onwards unencumbered.
Grimmjow was too shocked too dodge. 'Impossible. The Espada's cero. Our cero. Defeated by a regular-' The weakened blast connected sending Grimmjow careening to the ground below. At the last moment Grimmjow caught himself and managed to stabilize mid-air before he caused another crater.
Up on high Ichigo was doing something Grimmjow hadn't seen yet. Ichigo placed Tensa Zangetsu in the center of the blue reishi bow and pulled it back as though his sword was the arrow itself. Tensa Zangetsu wrapped itself in fiery black energy that seemed eager to be freed.
"What are you doing?" Grimmjow asked just barely audible. Part of his voice quieted by confusion and the rest of it by fear.
Ichigo smiled. "Experimenting." he released his grip on the drawstring and all the energy around his zanpakutō launched forwards in a colossal black and crimson arrow. Grimmjow jumped out of the way rather then try to knock this one away too. He was glad he did when the arrow hit where he was standing and erupted into a pillar of energy that reached as high as Las Noches was tall.
"Desgarrōn!" Grimmjow bellowed as he readied to use his strongest attack. The tips of each of his clawed fingers glowed blue and in an instant 10 long reishi blades had formed over his hands. With a yell he swiped one hand outward and launched five of them at Ichigo who simply prepared another getsuga arrow in response.
Ichigo jumped backwards and fired off a quick volley of black arrows to intercept the blades as they followed him. Five explosive arrows met five reishi blades and each time a part of Grimmjow's attack shattered into pieces from the force.
Grimmjow watched stunned as his greatest technique was taken out in seconds and he lost all motivation for continuing the fight.
He wasn't surprised in the least when he realized Ichigo had appeared behind him and was pointing an overcharged getsuga arrow at the small of his back.
"Are you done?" Ichigo asked for the second time today.
It started as a small chuckle, grew to a steady snickering, and soon Grimmjow was roaring in laughter whilst the remaining half of his desgarrōn technique dissipated. "Yeah. I'm done. I heard you were good Kurosaki but I didn't expect you to be this good. I never stood a chance."
The 6th Espada's sword reformed on his waist and his Reurrección traits dissolved into spirit particles and flew back into the sheathed katana.
"I'll be here if you ever want a rematch." Ichigo offered amicably.
Grimmjow smirked. "You can count on it. I'm gonna be king of this place someday and I'll tear down anyone who gets in my way. I'll see you around Kurosaki." Grimmjow stuck his hands in his pockets before turning around and stalking away.
Ichigo watched silently as the Espada left not really sure if there was anything else to say. Footsteps approaching behind him turned his head a little as the five fracción who were observing the match walked by.
Di Roy gave a little nod of acknowledgment to Ichigo but didn't speak. Edrad and Nakeem did their best to ignore him and Ylfordt just seemed terrified of the power he'd seen Ichigo wield. The last stayed behind a moment as the others followed after Grimmjow.
"He gonna be okay?" Ichigo asked Shawlong.
The Arrancar nodded. "His pride will recover. I would not follow Grimmjow if defeat could shake him so severely. Although...I must admit that I didn't expect you to do it so effortlessly."
"You didn't think I would win?" Ichigo asked a tad surprised. Shawlong had observed Ichigo training with Neliel and Chad a few days back and should have had an idea of what he could do.
"On the contrary, I was the only one among my compatriots who thought you would win. In fact I was sure that you would. I simply underestimated how much your bankai would increase your abilities. May I ask why you decided to use it immediately? You would likely have enjoyed the match more if you limited yourself."
Ichigo shrugged a little. "It just seemed rude not to. He challenged me, said he was going to go all out, thought I would too is all."
"Yet you didn't fight seriously once you had."
"Well I didn't want to kill the guy!" Ichigo said exasperatedly. "He comes off as a bit of a volatile prick but that's no reason to really try and hurt him."
Shawlong chuckled. "Yes...it takes a while to get used to his natural...abrasiveness. Well I'll see you around Ichigo. Thank you for the tea." he said as he left to catch up with his fellow fracción.
"Don't be a stranger." Ichigo called back with a smile. 'Hmmm. Now what?' Ichigo reformed his blue reishi bow and created another getsuga arrow by pulling his sword back against the drawstring. He examined it more critically and only one thought came to mind.
"I have so got to show this to Chad." he murmured excitedly under his breath.
Four minutes and a few dashes of his unique mix of shunpo and sonido later Ichigo entered the long corridor that eventually led to his and Chad's living quarters. As he walked down the hallway he realized there was another reiatsu present coming from inside his best friends room. Someone he wasn't quite familiar enough with to recognize instantly.
As he slowly got closer he decided to play a little game with himself and make a guess of it. His sensory abilities may have improved a great amount since assimilating his inner hollow but considering the fact that they were utter trash before that wasn't saying too much.
'Let's see, first eliminate who it's not. It's definitely part Hollow. Rules out Tōsen or Gin stopping by. I'd recognize Neliel, Pesche, or Dondochakka instantly. Feels less potent than Zommari...can't be Shawlong because I just saw him a moment ago. Dordoni? Nah he feels more wild. Like a storm. This reiatsu does have a sense of ferocity to it though. But it's more of a...
Ichigo stopped mid-stride as he realized who it was. A smile crawled onto his face as he mentally congratulated his friend. 'Way to go Chad! Finally made a move on Mila-Rose...shoot who am I kidding she's probably the one who pounced on him.'
Ichigo spun on his heel and walked away. "I can just talk to him later." he told himself. "Dude can use a little stress relief."
A Few Days Later, Barragan's Private Chambers
The previous king of Hueco Mundo sat in his chair with his ever loyal fracción standing behind him. The grizzled old Espada took a moment to look at each of his gathered allies. Bringing the 5th Espada and the human named Sado into the fold were definite boons to his chances yes, but after so many years of planning...he had hoped for better.
Oh well. It'll have to do.
"So we are in agreement then. Tomorrow." Barragan spoke.
"Tomorrow." the others chorused.
Time Until Aizen Moves Against Soul Society: Three Weeks