The characters in this fan fiction are property of Tite Kubo, Viz Media, Shonen Jump and the others, I do not own and part of the Bleach manga/anime series. I am not nor have I ever made any money of Bleach series.
This is a fan fiction about Ichigo , Hiyori, and somewhat about Rukia . Many things about this story are the same as in the current continuity of Bleach while some things are vastly different.
Chapter 14
By the Time Hiyori had made it down stairs to the training ground she was very angry and very tired. Why tired? Apparently there was a Kido barrier around the room she woke up in. It took nearly a day to get through it, and a lot of Spiritual energy. She climbed down the ladder and turned around to see Ichigo leaning over, out of breath. He was in a standard Soul Reaper's Shihakusho but he was holding a Zanpaktou that was enormous, maybe even bigger then his original was. Ichigo looked over and saw her standing there. "Hey Hiyori, good to see ya, Snaggletooth" He said with a grin.
She broke into a run and jump kicked Urahara in the side of his head, sending him into a nearby boulder. Jinta, Uryu and Tessai held up scoreboards, each of them with the number 10 on them. Ichigo just smirked, and before he could say anything, Hiyori jumped at Ichigo and he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain. But he felt warmth and opened his eyes to see Hiyori's arms wrapped around him, hugs him as tight as she can. "Hiyori? What's up with you ?" he asks, putting his arms loosely around her.
She looks up at him and gives a small smile." I was just worried, you moron" Hiyori says, blushing slightly. "If anyone should be asking "what's up", it's me. Like what's up with your Zanpaktou? Did you already achieve a Shikai release or something?"
Ichigo looks at her blankly. "Shikai? What's that?"
"Actually, Hiyori. Ichigo's Zanpaktou is a very rare full time release Zanpaktou." Said Urahara, who was wiping the blood from Hiyori's kick away. "This means ,due to his enormous and still growing Spiritual Pressure, Ichigo's sword stays in it's Shikai state permanently, unless he achieved Bankai or something…."
"So my Zanpaktou Zangetsu, is a rare type? Huh.. cool I guess." Ichigo said, wiping dirt off his face from his battles with Urahara. "In any case I think master Zangetsu and I will be just fine now."
Hiyori was about to respond, when she remember why she had raced down there in the first place. "Ichigo!" she yelled, despite being right in front of him. " When you got your powers back, did.. did you have a mask!"
Urahara looked nervous, Uh oh.. This isn't good.. But she'd tell him even if I tried to stop her….
"Hmm a mask?" Ichigo asked thinking back.. "Yeah I did as a matter of a fact, it was white with red marks on it, why?"
"Damn you Urahara! What the hell did you do!" Hiyori screamed. "How did he become a Vizard!"
"A Vizard?.. " Ichigo asked ,nervously. "What's a Vizard?"
She grabbed Urahara by his collar, and said, very loudly " A Vizard, is a Soul Reaper with the powers of a hollow! The characteristics include a hollow's white mask!"
Ichigo felt his blood run cold when she said that. " I have a hollow's powers?…." he managed to say. "Wait, are you sure!"
She turned to look at him with a sad expression. "Yes Ichigo, I am….. because I'm a Vizard too…"
Ichigo dropped to his knees. "What …what am I suppose to do?" He asked, in a frightened voice, with his head down.
Hiyori let go of Urahara , and walked over to Ichigo. She knelt in front of him and placed her arms on his shoulders. "Ichigo , look at me. Do you trust me?"
He looked up at her. "Ye.. yes I trust you."
"Then trust me when I say, I'm going to help you defeat the hollow within you," She said smiling. "When were done , you'll be in control and will be able to use your Vizard powers to help save Rukia."
"I will?" he asked, trying to gather up courage. "Then.. Then let's get to it."
He stood up ,gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I'm ready Hiyori, teach me to control ,this inner hollow thing"
She looked up at him. "Good then lets go," She said walking towards the ladder. "And meet the others."
"The others?" Ichigo asked , walking along side her." Other .. What.. Vizards?"
"Yep, other Vizards!" She said, out loud. "Kisuke , you've helped him restore his Soul Reaper powers, and unlock his Zanpaktou. Now It's my turn, to assist him.. Keep in mind I'm still pissed at you, but It will have to wait for a while. So consider yourself lucky.. Come on let's go!"
And with that Ichigo got back into his body, grabbed his recovered Gikongan dispenser, and followed Hiyori up the ladder. Tessai walked over to Urahara, and looked at him "Did you really think it would turn out like this for Ichigo?"
Urahara looked over at him and said. "There was a small chance, but I'm still disappointed it happened."
"I hope Miss Hiyori and the other Vizards can help him" Tessai said, looking up at the ladder.
Urahara took off his hat and looked up as well. He sighed and said, "Me too Tessai, me too.."
-shortly later-
Ichigo and Hiyori stopped in front of a huge warehouse after going quite a ways away from Urahara's shop. "So this the hideout you told me about?" Ichigo asked, standing and looking at it with his head tilted, "Seems kind of crappy."
"Yeah well, that's cause it is crappy." Hiyori said, smiling as she walked forward and knocked on a strange shield that surrounded the building. "But don't worry, cause it's even crappier on the inside."
A moment later a giant of a man came walking out. Ichigo gulped and looked at him in amazement. The man was very large, with a pale green business suit, yellow bow tie and pink colored hair and mustache.
"Ah ,hello miss Hiyori, welcome back, we've missed you." said the large man, politely. "Hmm? And who is young man with you?"
"Hello Hachi, good to see you too." Hiyori said, calmly. "This is Ichigo and I've brought him here for some "Assistance" of sorts."
The large man bowed down to Ichigo , slightly, and said. "Greetings Ichigo, my name is Hachigen Ushoda, but most people call me Hachi. I bid you welcome, friend of Hiyori"
Hiyori looked up at Hachi, and asked "Are the other s all here? This is kind of important."
"Yes they are as a matter of fact, just let me open you both a path through my barrier." Hachi replied, putting one hand on the shield. After a moment, a doorway shaped opening appeared and he motioned for them to walk through. He removed his hand and the shield sealed the opening back up. "Do not worry young Ichigo, although it requires me to let people in anyone can get out by walking through it" he said, noticing Ichigo looking at the barrier.
The three of them walked inside and Ichigo looked around to see the floors of the warehouse had been broken away. On them sat a number of individuals, who were engaged in other things until they sensed there were visitors and looked down . A young guy with yellow hair in a bowl cut shape and a sneer jumped down in front of them. "Hiyori , where the hell have you been for the past 3 weeks!" he asked in a irritated tone.
She frowned at him and said "None of your damn business, moron"
"Hey ,who's the cute guy with the orange hair?" A voice asked. Ichigo looked up to see a skinny girl with lime green hair, goggles, an orange scarf and a strange white bodysuit, jump down in front of them. "Hey there cutie, I'm Mashiro. Are you Hiyori's boyfriend.?"
Hiyori sputtered while Ichigo just stared at her, slowly shaking his head no.
"He's not my boyfriend Mashiro!" Hiyori yelled with a red face. She growled at her as she reached for her flip flop.
Mashiro put her hand of her chin as if thinking and then looked at Ichigo again. "So your not her boyfriend, ..do have a girlfriend right now?" She asked smiling .
"Shut up, you stupid perv, This is a serious situation!" Hiyori yelled ,smacking the blond guy in the face.
"Hey! What the hell Hiyori!" He yelled. "Why did you hit me for, punish Mashiro here , she's the pervert!"
"I hit you cause of your ugly face, Shinji ..now shut up and listen up everyone!" Hiyori called out. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki,….. and he's now one of us, a Vizard"
Shinji's face froze, and he said "A Vizard?… How is that possible? What the heck's going on here?"
Hiyori cleared her throat and said "Well it's like this…"
Several minutes later…
"….. And that's when he emerged form the pit as a Vizard" Hiyori said, as she finished explaining the situation to the others there.
"Man , what was Kisuke thinking?" Shinji asked. "He must have known this might happen."
Hiyori sighed and said "I don't know, but I couldn't exactly stop him, what with the Kido spell I told you he used on me."
" In any case we only have a short time, before the Soul Reaper who gave him his original powers gets executed , so he's been working hard to get ready to go to the Soul Society and rescue her"Hiyori sad, stretching her arms out
.
"Well As much as I feel for you kid, your on your own" Shinji said, frowning. "Sorry, but you'll have to deal with your inner hollow problem and with your suicide mission into the Soul Soceity after your friend on your own."
Hiyori smacked him with a flip flop again, "I don't recall asking your permission, we're helping him and that's final, got it?"
"Alright! let's help ,Ichigo!" Mashiro cheered, clapping her hands.
"Man you such an idiot, Mashiro." A tall, silver/grey haired man next to her said, looking irritated.
In response, Mashiro sticks out her tongue at him in a childish fashion.
Ichigo face vaulted as he watched this, and turned to Hiyori "So what do we do first?"
Shinji growled at being ignored and sat down grumbling under his breath.
"I'm glad you asked, Ichigo. Here's how it works." Hiyori said, grinning evilly. "You will enter your inner world, where you found your powers, and fight in a one on one battle against your hollow within. If you win you'll gain control of it's powers and be able to use it's mask to enter your "Hollowfied state"
"Are you ready?" Hachi asked, standing up.
"Yeah, let's take care of this!" Ichigo yelled out confidently.
Hiyori walked to him put her hands on his shoulders and said. "Very well, here we go"
"First, transform into a Soul Reaper, Ichigo." Hiyori said, folding her arms.
"Fine," Ichigo replied, swallowing his Gikongan, and exiting his body, which Hachi caught and gently laid down.
"Ok ,now what… He started to say. But as Hiyori's hand reached for his face, his vision faded into blackness only for him to awaken back in his inner world.
He was once again on the side of a building, only he wasn't falling down like before. He looked around and called out "Hey ..uh.. Inner hollow! Where are you?"
"Hehehe so we meet at last, king…" Said a voice from behind him. "You ask and here I am,… so brings you by for this visit?"
Ichigo looked behind him and saw himself, only pale whitish-grey skin, wearing a white Shihakusho and white hair. "Your …your me!" Ichigo stuttered out.
His almost-double laughed and said "I suppose that's true in a way,… in fact you might wanna just think of me as your.. better half…"
…...
Hiyori , Mashiro and Hachi all stood near where Ichigo's body lay after Hiyori jump-started Ichigo's inner hollow battle. Mashiro kept trying to lift up Ichigo's shirt cause she wanted to see if he was muscular, while Hiyori kept smacking her hands away from him. Finally Hiyori turned and looked at Hachi. "Alright Hachi, give a me 2 layered barrier that's ..say…25 by 25 feet."
"Of course miss Hiyori, one 2 layer barrier coming up" Hachi said ,putting his hands together. Moments later, A large square shaped, 2 layered barrier appeared in the area around Ichigo. "There, barriers established."
"Good, now seal his arms and legs too, Hachi" Hiyori said, walking over the barrier and looking in. "I've felt and seen how much power he gas, we can't underestimate him."
Hachi looked confused ,but nodded none the less. "Very well" he said putting his hands together again.
"Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, and silent to the end, Bakudo number 75, Gochutekkan!"
Five glowing disks, appeared and flew downward into the ground. Then five giant iron pillars appeared above Ichigo and slammed down on his limbs.
Hiyori looked over at Ichigo as he lay inside the barriers. And said "Now the real fight begins.."
Meanwhile inside Ichigo's inner world, Ichigo was looking around the area, ignoring his hollow self. His inner hollow laughed again and asked "What's with the expression, king? Are you looking for something?.. or somebody ,maybe?"
Ichigo looked at him, and asked "Where's master Zangetsu?"
His inner hollow (whom I'll refer to as Ogihci, or Ichigo backwards, from now on) grinned. "Oh he around.. In facts he closer then you think"
"Tell me, do you mean that sword you have there on your back…?" Ogihci asked, pointing at him " Or could you mean, this one I have here?" Ogihci pulled a Zanpaktou off his back and readied it.
"What? A white Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked, in surprise as he pulled out his own Zanpaktou.
"You asked me where Zangetsu is…well it's simple.." Ogihci asked as jumped into the air and raced towards Ichigo "…I AM ZANGETSU!"
He laughed manically as he brought his sword down against Ichigo's, who struggled to hold him off.
Suddenly, in the real world the pillars on Ichigo cracked and shattered. "Here it comes everyone, prepare yourselves!" Said a female Vizard, who had glasses, braided black hair, and wearing a schoolgirl's sailor uniform.
Ichigo gripped the ground and after a moment, lifted his head, which had about half of his hollow mask already formed, and laughed insanely like. The girl with glasses walked up to the barrier next to Hiyori. "Open the barrier, Hachi. I'm going in" she said, looking at Ichigo.
A small doorway shaped opening appeared and as She started to walk she felt her sleeve being pulled on. She looked back and saw it was Hiyori. "Please…don't hurt him too much, Lisa." She said shyly, with a little redness to her face. "He's…important to me"
Lisa smiled and said. "Don't worry I'll do my best" with that she walked into the barrier, which closed up behind her.
Ichigo grabbed a hold on his Zanpaktou and stood up, grinning evilly. Lisa unsheathed her sword and said " I know you can't hear me right now, Ichigo, but before we do this, I wanna introduce myself to you. My name is Lisa Yadomaru, and If I survive this, maybe you and I can be friends"
Partially Hollowfied Ichigo rushed at her with his sword and as he did on the outside, Ichigo and Ogihci were locking swords as well. Ichigo pushed him back and said "Damn it, tell me where mater Zangetsu is!"
"You must be hard of hearing or some thing, king" Ogihci asked, laughing again. "How many times do I have to tell you,… I am Zangetsu!"
He drew back his sword and slammed it into Ichigo's ,knocking him back in the side of a building .
Ogihci putt his sword on his shoulder and looked down at Ichigo who was crouching in the small crater from where he crashed. "I'm starting to think your not deaf, but just stupid, so I'll try to explain things real simple like."
Ichigo stood up as Ogihci continued talking. " It's like this, Ichigo. You were becoming both a hollow and a Soul Reaper at the same time. You triumphed over your emerging hollow and ended up a Soul Reaper. But because you were so close to becoming a hollow, at the time you became a Soul Reaper that also had a hollow formed inside of you. I was fused with Zangetsu, who is both your sword and in many ways the source of your Soul Reaper powers "
Ichigo's eyes went wide "Then.. then that means.."
"That mean's I'm not lying when I said I am Zangetsu,… I'm literally, part of Zangetsu."
Ichigo didn't know how to respond to this information, and simply stood there.
"You can think of me as ..your horse that you ride into battle on.." Ogihci But I refuse to serve a weak king. Show me your worthy of being king of this inner world…and I'll gladly aid you as you face your enemies. But fail ,…and I' will be come ruler of your world and your body! Hahahaha !"
Ichigo gritted his teeth and gripped his sword. "So that means, If I defeat you, I'll control you, instead of you controlling me, right?"
Ogihci grinned, and said, "That's true… if you can actually manage to beat me, that is…"
Ichigo held out his sword and Ogihci did the same. They charged at each other swords swinging, each of the m fighting for dominance.
Back outside, Lisa slid to a stop, out of breath from fighting against Hollowfied Ichigo . Ichigo suddenly stood still and the bottom of his mask grew downward across his chest and covered more of his face. He charged at Lisa again, who did a handstand and spun on her hands kicking Ichigo in his face, sending him stumbling back. Just as Ichigo was about to slice into her with his sword, another Vizard with silver-grey hair, a tank-top, and plain pants blocked it by elbowing him in his stomach.
"Geeze, Kensei I could have handled it, you know" Lisa said, in an annoyed tone, as she wiped away some blood from her cheek.
"Be that as it may, I wanted some exercise too, so deal with it and get out of the barrier already" Kensei said bluntly.
"Yeah fine, just don't kill him ,or me and Hiyori will kill you." She said as she sprinted over to the opening.
"Since he's Hiyori's friend I can understand her, but why you? This is the first time you met him" Kensei said, looking back.
After Lisa exited and the opening seal back up, she turned and said "He's quite the worthy opponent for me, and I think I'd like to do some friendly sparing with him after this is over."
He nods to her , and then takes out his Zanpaktou. "all right I'm Kensei Muguruma , and I'm going to kick your ass, Ichigo."
He held out his sword and yelled " Now blow it away, Tachikaze!"
His sword changed shape and shrunk into a combat knife. "Alright ,here.. we… go!"
Ichigo and Ogihci both stood apart from each other, and both had wounds. Ichigo had large gashes across is abdomen while Ogihci had gashed on his shoulders and right arm.
Ogihci took a deep breath and said "Well, your doing surprisingly good, king. But it doesn't mean you can win…"
Ogihci thrust his sword into Ichigo's midsection, and out the other end. "I did say you were good, but you just don't have that killer instinct to win this battle or any battle for that matter. That's why you couldn't stop Rukia from being captured, and that's why after I kill you, I'm going to enjoy torturing and killing your little girlfriend, Hiyori… I bet she's a real screamer..!"
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, which glowed white. He then gripped the sword and pulled it out he as growled and yelled. "I'm going to kill you! I'll never let you lay even one finger on her!"
Before Ogihci could even react, Ichigo shot forward and plunged the word into him and pinned him to the wall behind him. He took a hold of his throat and squeezed it as Ogihci coughed up blood and weakly said " well *cough* I guess your not as weak as I though *cough* you were."
Ichigo just held the sword with one hand and Ogihci's throat with the other. Ogihci coughed up more blood and said" Well you, did it, ..you beat me fair *cough* and square somehow. So for now, I'll be your horse.. But remember, If you ever weaken…. I'll knock you off your throne and take over *cough, cough*."
He began to fade away and as he did he said "I'll be watching , king…."
Back in the real world…
Kensei had fought, and traded off with another Vizard with brown hair in star shaped points, a bluish-green jogging suit and sunglasses, named Love Aikawa. He had been fighting for about 5 minutes or so with a now completely Hollowfied Ichigo, when Ichigo stopped moving. Cracks begin to appear in the hollow armor and Hiyori yelled to Hachi to open the barrier for Love as he ran away from Ichigo. As the Vizards watched, Ichigo screamed and the armor broke away, leaving a normal, but injured, Ichigo wearing his hollow mask. As Hachi dropped the barriers, Hiyori raced forward and caught Ichigo just as he collapsed forward, and his mask fell off and onto the ground near him.
Not far away, Mashiro was biting her nails, nervously. "Hachi, will Ichigo be alright?"
Hachi nodded and said yes he will as they watched Hiyori lower Ichigo to the ground and lay his head on her lap. She smiled and let her one pointy tooth poke out from the top of her mouth. "Way to go , strawberry."
He looked at her and smiled back, and said "yeah ..thanks, snaggletooth..". then he passed out, and Hiyori just sat there, and ran her hand through his spikey hair as he slept.
Off to the side Shinji growled and mumbled out nasty things about Ichigo. He didn't last long though as Lisa smacked him in his head with one of her magazines , which were rolled up into a tube. "Cut it out, Shinji, your just jealous about her relationship with Ichigo"
Shinji turned his head towards Lisa and growled. "First of all, I'm not jealous about her and the orange haired moron… and second of all they are not in a relationship!"
He stood up and stomped away, yelling out " I'm getting something to eat, damn it"
For the next 5 days Ichigo spent nearly all his time with the Vizards, as he trained to keep his hollow mask formed for long periods of time. After a couple of days of intense training with Hiyori he managed to keep it formed for a maximum of 25 minutes. Hiyori removed her own Hollow mask and said " Alright, lets take a break for lunch, Ichigo"
Ichigo reluctantly removed his own mask and walked over to Hiyori. "Are you sure, I'm getting better , so shouldn't I practice more?"
"No, there is such a thing as over kill when it comes to practicing" Hiyori said, leading him along towards the table, by his wrist. "You can practice more later,… for now we eat"
They sat down at the table along with the others at begin to pull out the food from the bag Love had brought from a convenience store. Mashiro sat on one side of Ichigo, asking him weird questions as she usually did and ended with her asking him on a date. Again Hiyori growled at her, while Kensei smacked Mashiro in the back of the head. Ichigo just ignored her and ate his lunch and talked to Hiyori about random stuff.
Ichigo fit in with the other Vizards pretty well over time as he was there. He found he had a lot in common with them as well. He would read Shonen Jump manga magazine with Love and another Vizard with long blond hair, black pants and jacket and a frilled under shirt named Rose Otoribashi . He would also do friendly spars with Lisa, and Kensei and was taught Shogi by Hachi. The only one he didn't get along with was Shinji. They constantly butted heads, about nearly everything you could imagine, from whether the curry they were eating was to spicy or not spicy enough, to his belief that Ichigo was spending to much time with Hiyori.
"Ichigo, I think you should take the next 2 days that are left before you leave to the Soul Society and rest." Hiyori said, eating her rice ball.
"What? Why?" Ichigo asked in surprise." I can use those days to train some more."
"True, you could. But you've only taken short breaks between spars with me and Lisa these past few days. You need some serious down time to relax in" Hiyori said looking at him. " I need to take care of some things , so I won't be able to train with you anyways."
"Oh.. Then I guess I'll see you …in a few days?" Ichigo asked getting up to throw his paper plate in the nearby trash can.
She smiled at him and said "Yeah don't worry , I'll be there you big baby"
"Good to hear , you snaggletooth midget" He replied back, grinning as walked out the door "Well I guess I'll see the rest of you around when I get back. Lisa, Love, Hachi, Rose,Mashiro,Kensei and uh… helmet haired boy, I'll miss you guys /girls, and I'll like to come back here and hang out with you all after I save Rukia"
Mashiro ,Lisa and Hiyori all gave him Hugs and the others, minus Shinji who just nodded and frowned at him, gave him hand shakes before he turned and left.
"I'm gonna miss, berry boy" said Mashiro, sighing. As most of the others agreed.
"Yeah, I'll definetly miss him too, Mashiro.." said Hiyori , in a saddened tone. "Well I need to think about some things, so I'll see you all later, and if anyone bugs me , keep in mind I will gut you"
With that, she walked away to her room leaving the other to talk amongst themselves. "Isn't too bad , he left?" Mashiro said, stirring around her instant ramen in it's bowl. "He got Hiyori to open up so much, way more then she ever did to us"
Rose nodded, "Indeed he did, Mashiro, and It was quite obvious they've developed deep feelings for each other as well" He said , drinking some of his tea. "Even if neither of them will admit it."
Upon hearing this, Shinji stomped out of the room swearing as he did.
"What's his deal?" Mashiro asked, with a mouth full of food. "Does he like her too or something?
"Stop talking with your mouth full, you idiot, it's disgusting" Kensei said, sneering at her. "And he does have a crush on her, only he's too stubborn to say anything"
"Well that's his loss, and Ichigo's gain" Replied Rose, simply, which everyone agreed to, before returning to their lunches.
Not long later…
Ichigo arrived home and got a large amount of hugs from his sisters , Yuzu and Karin, who had been extremely worried about him not coming home for the past week or so. After he hugged them back and apologized for not saying anything, he hung out with them for a couple of hours, before getting ready for bed. Before he went up stairs, he announced he would be taking a trip for the summer with some of his friends. Despite protests, mostly from Yuzu, and a few from Karin as well, they didn't change his mind on this. He bid them both good night, and as he fell asleep he, wondered about a lot of things, like if he could really save Rukia and.. About what a annoying, and sarcastic, but still great person Hiyori was, and how was gonna miss her while he was gone. As he drifted into slumber land, his last thoughts were, She's really something else that's for sure… I even think… I might like her too…. At least.. A little bit…
END OF CHAPTER 12
Here's another chapter, that I hope everyone enjoys. Please read and review. See in a few days with another chapter, peace for now.