Aspect of Blades
A Bleach fanfic
Chapter 21
Ichigo's POV
-zanpakuto speaking in the inner world
-zanpakuto speaking outside the inner world
-Ichigo's Thoughts or speech in the inner world
"You idiot!" Is the first thing Rukia says to me. She lived through the extraction of whatever it was from her soul, and is currently furious. "I told you not to come after me!" She screams in my face. I am unamused by this. My ears are still sensitive from the reiatsu I used to enhance my hearing earlier so I could listen to the conversation between Kyoraku and my great-grandfather. Speaking of which, apparently he heard Rukia's comments too, and a pair of powerful reiatsu hit her, coming from both of us.
"You do recognize that I'm a captain, right? As well as being of a noble family that outranks you in prestige?" I ask, serious. I am tired from my fight with Kikouou, and just wanted a little rest as well as a chat with my great-grandfather. We lift our reiatsu from her in unison, letting her answer. Her reiatsu returns to its previous highly emotional, extremely easy to detect state as she is no longer oppressed by more powerful Shinigami.
"Yes, and I don't care, idiot!" She slams her fist into the top of my head. "What were you thinking, ignoring my wishes? Then throwing me like that? What if you had missed? What the hell happened to Renji?" She shouts. I am swiftly losing my patience.
"I was thinking that I owed you a life debt. Now, calm down. If you are still to be executed, we'll cover your escape," I say, drawing Zangetsu. "Also, the rescuee gets no say in the rescuer's actions. Instead, they either remain silent or cry out for rescue," I tell her. "I don't miss my target, so throwing you was perfectly safe, and even if I had missed, there was a lake in your path, and I would have needed to try hard for you to miss that. As for Renji, ask Unohana-taicho, it's her Kido that did it, after all," I tell her. Then I turn to my great-grandfather. "Bankai. Tensa Zangetsu," I declare, and black reiatsu roars forth into the sky, enveloping me in darkness. This will make my Hollow finish forming, but I decided to bite the bullet and let it form. "I am ready to fight, if you mean to execute Rukia," I say to him. He laughs at this.
"I hear your resolve in your words, and I find it strong. Yes, you have proved yourself a worthy heir, not only in strength, but in conviction," he says. I nod in respect, understanding why he sent Soi Fon and Ichimaru earlier. He wanted to see if I had the conviction to complete my task of rescuing Rukia. He must have suspected I would do something like this. I remember something from a few moments ago, and turn back to Rukia.
"Why didn't you voice your objections when I was rescuing you earlier?" I ask her, curious about this.
"It's kind of hard to speak when you have the reiatsu of hundreds of Shinigami in Shikai pressing down on you, idiot!" She yells, slamming her fist into my head again. "Especially when you have almost no reiatsu of your own!" I am getting tired of her screaming. I vanish into high speed travel using Tensa Zangetsu, meaning to find a peaceful place to chat with my great-grandfather. I feel him enter shunpo, along with the rest of the captains. We arrive well away from Sokyoku Hill, near the fifth division's barracks.
"You are not getting away now that I've finally confirmed you as a worthy heir, Ichigo," my great-grandfather says. I nod.
"Getting some peace and quiet. I still have a few years of life in my human body, and I'll live those, but then I will devote myself fully to the matters of the Seireitei," I tell him. He nods slowly, gaining a slight smile as he thinks about this.
"That would work very well. There is time to prepare your formal introduction to the other noble families, and time to teach you what you need to know," he says. "I approve of this plan. You will still be a captain however. For your information, it was the eleventh that defeated the most of their fellow Shinigami in that little battle, among the three that were competing. I knew about your plans yesterday, but did nothing, as I wished to see justice done. To execute one who my great-grandson owes a life debt is unjust, and I would not stand for it. I instructed Komamura to bring his division into battle on your side should the balance start tipping out of your favor. He was occupied by Zaraki for a time, but once the balance tipped, he left Tousen to his fight and led his division into battle. I believe you may have noticed his Bankai turn away from the fight with Zaraki about five minutes into your own battle with Kikouou," he says. I nod.
"My thanks for the armor and your aid in that battle, Komamura-taicho," I tell him. He nods. His helmet is removed, I notice. He is holding his head high with pride, and I nod in approval.
"To aid the grandson of the man who allowed me to become a Shinigami. It was my honor, especially since you reminded me that I should hold my head high with the pride of a captain, rather then hide my true appearance. The armor I felt was an appropriate gift given that you had to expend your power to protect yourself and rely on one of your zanpakuto to do so, rather then use all of them equally," he says.
"Care to join me for a drink at the barracks of the eleventh later?" I ask him, and he nods.
"Speaking of the three divisions you now have a dilemma over which to head, it has been decided by me that Zaraki will retain his captaincy. However, tomorrow, Kyoraku-taicho will be captaining the eleventh in its traditional manner," Yama-jiji, as I decide to refer to him, says. I grin ferally, and Kyoraku looks like a cornered animal suddenly. Soi Fon is scowling at me, and I scowl right back. I raise Tensa Zangetsu, ready to fight. She suddenly has Suzumebachi in Shikai on her hand. My left hand, which is currently free, grabs Tenken. Yama-jiji continues his speech as if nothing is wrong. "You will captain the eighth division for now, while Shunsui sees to the fifth. Aizen may very well have tampered with the division, and an experienced captain is needed to check over it. After all, part of the fifth division's duties is overseeing the academy," Yama-jiji declares. I nod. My left hand draws Tenken, slamming it out of the sheath, creating a massive pressure wave as Soi Fon leaps out of the way. It is on, we have a fight to finish.
"Roar, Tenken!" Two voices shout in unison. Komamura moved to join me. Yama-jiji raises an eyebrow, but says nothing at the fight breaking out. "BANKAI! Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou!" We roar, again at the same time. Tenken, I came to understand enough for Bankai just a short time ago, when I heard Komamura speaking to Zaraki during their battle. Hard not to hear him, given that his voice carries well and is always at higher volume then the voices of most people. At Tenken's core, the thing it holds above all else, is justice, and determination. Pride, and honor. To uphold his honor, to uphold his pride, Tenken would go to any length. He and his wielder seek justice, not simply mindless battle, they seek a peace, an end to the Eternal War. I find I can respect them for that. The two black armored giants manifest above us, and we raise our blades as the giants do. I created a technique based on Zangetsu's Getsuga Tenshou, and bring it into play now.
"Chikyu o Hakai-Ju no Kiba! (Beast Fang that destroys the Earth)" I roar, and the massive crescent of black energy sweeps down, extending the strike of the giant's blade. Where it strikes, it vaporizes what it hits, and the energy becomes no longer a blade, but two waves of darkness sweeping out from the impact point and destroying all they touch, which Soi Fon barely outruns. Komamura looks interested, and raises his blade again, gathering energy.
"Chikyu o Hakai-Ju no Kiba!" He roars as well, and another blast of energy sweeps forth from his giant's blade as it crashes down, this one a bloody red, but no less destructive. "A very interesting technique, Yamamoto-san," he says, nodding.
"I developed it from Zangetsu's Getsuga Tenshou," I respond. "And to my friends, which I would count you among, I am Ichigo," I tell him. He looks at me in surprise, then smiles.
"My friends call me Sajin, Ichigo. Now, shall we teach Soi Fon-taicho a lesson in respect?" He asks, and I nod. Once more, we raise our blades, but this time, we step forward, Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou doing the same. I reveal the second technique that I developed for Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou.
"Teki o Karu Ten no Supia! (Heavenly Spear that hunts the foe)" I shout, and as I jab my blade forwards, a lance of black reiatsu bursts from the blade of Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou. This is exhausting what reiatsu I have left from my battle with Kikouou, so this has to be the last blow. The lance flies towards Soi Fon, who dodges. She doesn't expect what happens next, though. The spear turns around, flying at her again. I explain, seeing Komamura's confusion. "That technique locks on to my opponent's reiatsu and seeks them out. It is a sure hit, and in this case, will hopefully bring victory. I don't have enough reiatsu to continue fighting after my battle with Kikouou," I say. Tensa Zangetsu returns to Shikai as I seek to conserve reiatsu and maintain Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou. The next thing I know, Soi Fon has grabbed me and is using me as a shield. I can't stop the lance, and I don't have the power to survive it. Dying by my own technique, how embarrassing. Then a massive force slams into her, snatching me away. I see Komamura has shunpoed over, grabbed me, and he vanishes back to his starting position. His blade is gripped in one hand, and I'm hanging over the other. Soi Fon barely dodged the spear, as she wasn't expecting to have to. Komamura raises his blade, and the air crackles around him. He is furious.
"SOI FON! How dare you try such tactics!" He roars, his rage burning the air, the ground exploding around him as he loses control over himself. "For that, you will know my wrath!" He roars, and his blade sweeps towards her once more. "CHIKYU O HAKAI-JU NO KIBA!" He howls, rage clear in him. The blast sweeps out, then he raises his blade and unleashes the technique again. And again. And again. His rage destroys everything, as he advances with every blow, roaring in rage. For half an hour, he rages, until finally Soi Fon is struck both by the spear, which I maintained all this time, and one of Komamura's energy blasts. She is slammed into the ground from where she was in the air, and comes to rest in a crater ten times as deep as Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou is tall. She survived, I sense. I let Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou fade at last, releasing my Bankai, as does Komamura. I look at what is behind us and in front of us, and I see everything for five miles ahead of us and two miles behind us is destroyed, wiped out by Komamura's rage. I whistle, impressed at this. Then I feel an all too familiar feeling come over me, as I fall unconscious.
Like this chapter? I felt Komamura should have his chance to shine, and my apologies for not making the meeting between the two Yamamoto's a bit longer. Soi Fon is probably in trouble for her attack, but she really needs to learn humility, I feel. Also, do you like my new techniques for Kokujo Tengen Myo'ou? I felt a Bankai like that has just too much potential to squander only using sword techniques, rather then an energy attack or two. Ichigo has accepted Komamura for who he is, rather then what he is. He now has a very loyal friend, I would think. Read and review, thank you. If any of you who are writers want to use any of my ideas, feel free. Just credit me and send me a link to the story.