I want to apologize for not updating in a while. I was just busy getting my dorm room nice and comfy since I just moved in. Hope you guys like the chapter. Review please!
Black-HunterXX: Thanks for thinking that the last chapter was cute. I'm really glad you thought that. Oh and I'm sorry for not updating. Hope this makes ya happy.
Chapter 25: Arriving at Soul Society
An alarm rang all over the Soul Society. Shingami's ran all over the placed as the listened to the alarm that ran.
"Incursion signal outside west wall! Sectors Three through Eight, switch to alert status! Repeat! Incursion outside the west wall! Sectors Three through Eight, switch to alert status!"
"What?" Renji questioned as he was hanging with one of his subordinates. "What the hell's going on?!"
Inside the gateway, all the teens and the only cat ran at a fast pace. Yoruichi led the group while Ichigo and Tsukiko were behind the cat while they were in front of Orihime who was a bit in front of Chad and Ishida. Behind them, the walls were beginning to close. Tsukiko glanced back for a second before looking back forwards as Ichigo looked toward his left side.
"What's going on? The wall's following us! The path we're running on is collapsing faster and faster!" Ishida said as he looked back as he kept running forwards.
Yoruichi then said, "If you have time to look back, move at a faster pace! If you get sucked into the Capturing Flow, you're done for!"
"What is the 'Capturing Flow'?" Orihime asked as she ran.
"It's the wall, Orihime." Tsukiko said as she began to pick up her pace.
The wall began to close at a much faster rate and by now, it was a couple of feet away from the group. Behind Ishida, a hand-like cloud had reached towards him. It had managed to grab the cape of his outfit, forcing him to a stop. He screamed.
"Ishida!" Ichigo shouted as he stopped running. "You idiot!" Ichigo reached for Zangetsu from his back as he continued shouting, "It's 'cuz of those stupid clothes you're wearing!"
"Wait!" Yoruichi said to him as the cat stopped running. "Don't use the Zanpakutou. The Capturing Flow arrests spirit entities. If you swing the Zanpakutou, you, too, will be ensnared!"
The other teens watched as Ishida was being dragged back by the wall. A dark hand gripped the back of Ishida's cape and ripped it. Chad pushed Ishida's head as he pulled off the cape, thus releasing him from the wall's grip.
"Than-" Ishida began to say, but was interrupted when Chad grabbed the collar of his outfit and lifted him over his shoulder.
"Here we go." Chad said as he took off running.
"Huh?! Put me down, Sado-kun! I can run on my own!" Ishida began saying but he took notice of the walls. "Hey, you guys...something...something's coming."
A light gleamed in the center of the wall that was closing in on them. Some sort of train looking object burst through the wall and was now following them.
"What is THAT?!" Ishida shouted.
"It's the Capturing Thrust! It's a cleaner that only appears once every seven days. Why did it have to show up NOW?!" Yoruichi said.
'Why didn't they plan this well?!' Tsukiko thought in her head.
"In any case, run! That thing is frighteningly fast!"
Ahead of them, a light appeared. It was the exit, the door way that would save them from getting killed.
"Hurry!" Tsukiko shouted to them as they all kept running faster. "We're almost at the exit!"
"It's not good! We can't outrun it!" Ishida said.
Orihime suddenly began to slow down until turned to make it look like she was running backwards. She placed her hands to where her flower clips were at.
"Hinagiku! Baigon! Lily! Sacred Tri-Link Shield! I reject!" Orihime shouted her command to send the pixie-like creatures to create a shield.
The cleaner touched the shield, creating a large blast. And it was that blast that sent everyone flying out of the door. Outside, a doorway opened and out came the teens. They crashed on the floor in an unknown area. The dust settled and Orihime looked around her.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked.
Everyone, except herself and Chad, landed in a strange position. Ichigo was on his back, his legs landing in between; Ishida was on his stomach as his back side was up in the air; Yoruichi was on her stomach, laying flat; and Tsukiko was on her back, her arms and legs were out, making it look like an X.
Orihime got up and walked over to Ichigo with an amazed look on her face. "Wow! Kurosaki-kun, your landing pose is so artistic!"
"Be quiet." He simply said to her.
Tsukiko and Ishida began to get up from their poses on the floor.
"Ow, my back. I need a freaking massage now!" Tsukiko said as she rubbed her lower back.
"Jeez! That was a hell of a ride. This isn't what I signed up for." Ishida said as he rubbed his head. He suddenly pulled out an extra cape from his shirt while saying, "I didn't think I'd have to use my extra cape so soon."
"T-That freak...He brought an extra one..." Ichigo and Tsukiko said as both they and Chad stood next to one another looking at Ishida with a weird face.
"It's good that no one seems to be hurt." Orihime said with a smile.
"Good my tail!" Yoruichi shouted as the cat head-butted Orihime right on her right eye.
"Owww..." Orihime cried as she held her eye. Yoruichi had a stress mark at the back of her head while saying,
"Didn't you listen to what I said?! It turned out fine because it was the shield that touched the Thrust! If one of the Flowers touched it, you'd have lost your life!"
"I-I'm sorry."
"Relax, Yoruichi. You don't have to be all angry about it. She did save our lives and all." Tsukiko said as she patted Orihime's head.
"You don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation." Yoruichi kept arguing.
The dusk had finally settled and as Tsukiko looked around, she took notice that it was empty. Not a single soul was out. It was like a ghost town or something.
"This is Soul Society?" Ichigo asked.
"That's right. This place is commonly known as Rukongai. The place where souls led to Soul Society first reside. It is located on the outer edge of the Seireitei, where the Shinigamis live. It is the poorest, most liberated place in Soul Society and it is where most souls live." The cat explained.
"If that's true, you wouldn't know it by looking..." Ishida said as he looked around.
"What's that? The streets look was different over there." Ichigo commented.
"Oh, that's-" The cat was interrupted by Ichigo who said,
"I got it! That's whatever it's called where the Shinigami live!" He exclaimed.
"It's called the Seireitei, idiot." Tsukiko said as she moved some of the hair that was covering her face.
Ichigo then stated running towards the Seireitei looking like an idiot while saying, "Alright!"
"Y-You fool! Don't approach that place recklessly! You'll die!" Yoruichi shouted at him.
"Huh?" Now this finally caught his attention.
Out of the sky, large blocks of cement began to fall from the sky. They landed right in front of Ichigo and the quickness of the cement wall falling, it caused dust and small pieces of rocks fell. Everyone looked either worried or amazed. All around the area more cement walls kept appearing. The remainder of the group covered their eyes so that the debris wouldn't get in their eyes.
Ichigo coughed due to the dust.
A loud voice boomed saying, "It's been a long time...since someone has tried to come through the Gate of Pure Spirits without a pass."
Everyone looked at the sight in front of them. A large giant stood in front of Ichigo. His shihakushō was customized that it showed the left size (from his view) of his own chest as his left arm had a metal plate covering from the shoulder, all the way down to his hand. On top of his head was a hat that had strings coming from both sides. His hair was in two pig tails that were made out of his own hair, also having a pony tail and beard.
"Long time since I've had a visitor. I'll take good care of you, little boy."
Everyone a couple of feet away from Ichigo looked amazed at the sight before them. They had never seen anyone of that size in their lives. Perhaps in movies but not in real life.
"Holy shiz that is one big guy." Tsukiko said in amazement. The giant just grinned.
Behind the wall in the Seireitei, a group of Shinigami stood away from the wall.
"The Ryoka has fallen outside the Seireitei." A male shinigami said as they observed the scene in front of them.
Another male spoke. "If it's on that side, we won't be needed."
And finally, the last male spoke. He had a bandage coming from him left cheek and going over his nose. He had three straight scars going down his right eye and below the bandage on his left cheek, was a 69 tattooed. "Yeah. After all, outside the Gate of Pure Spirits...there's Jidanbou."
The hilt of the giant man, now known as Jidanbou was slammed down towards the ground, causing a large amount of rubble fly across the sky in front of the group. His weapon was two axes.
Jidanbou laughed. "Now, come at me any way you like, little boy!"
"He's huge..." Ishida said as the group observed Jidanbou. "What is he? That's past the limits of human size...Who the hell is he?"
"His name is Jidanbou." Yoruichi said. "He is one of the heroes chosen from all of Soul Society...and the guardsman for one of the four Great Pure Spirit Gates, a.k.a. the Gate of the White Way."
"Guardsman..." Ishida said.
"So that means we have to beat this guy just for us to go in, right?" Tsukiko said as she observed the giant hero closely.
"Yes. But it's not such a simple feat. After all, it's been three hundred years since he's taken this mission...and not once has the Gate of the White Way ever been breached. He possesses a Herculean strength worthy of legend."
"How can we fight someone like that..." Ishida calmly said.
"It's a chance to show off out intellect. For now, we should all formulate a plan together. Hey, Ichigo..."
The cat screamed as she took notice that Tsukiko, Orihime, and Chad ran towards Ichigo in order to help.
"HEYYY! TSUKIKO! SADO! ORIHIME! Come back! Come back, you three!"
'Ichigo, you better not take all the fun.' Tsukiko thought as she ran.
'Kurosaki-kun, just wait. We'll help you as soon as we can.' Orihime thought in her own head as well and prepared for a fight by putting two fingers on each of her hair pin.
Jidanbou just stared until he raised his right arm up and slashed the ground right to the right of Ichigo. He then scraped it towards his left. This caused many large rocks come flying towards the three teens. A barrier was now in between the three, causing them to not be allowed to help Ichigo.
"What the hell was that?! That's insane!" Ishida said as looked.
"You three have bad manners. I bet you're from the country." Jidanbou said.
"I don't have bad manners!" Tsukiko shouted towards the male giant.
Jidanbou just ignored her yelling causing Tsukiko to have an anger mark. "Listen up!" He said. "In the city, we've got things called 'rules'. Number One," he lifted his right index finger, "when you come home from outdoors, wash your hands." The lifted his middle finger, "Number Two, don't eat things that fall on the floor." He lifted his right ring finger, "Number Three, when you duel, come one at a time.
"My first opponent is the boy with hair like colored rock candy."
Tsukiko started to giggle, "'Colored rock candy', that's a good one."
"Shut up, Tsukiko." Ichigo shouted.
Jidanbou just continued speaking, "Until that's finished, you three sit there quietly." He turned back to get ready to fight.
"Inoue. Tsukiko. When I see an opportunity, I'm going to open a hole in this stone wall. At that moment, send Tsubaki through it toward that big guy." Chad said as he explained a strategy to help Ichigo.
"What's that?" Jidanbou turned to look at the three. "You still mumbling stuff?"
"He has surprisingly sharp hearing." Orihime said.
"I know. Weird." Tsukiko stated.
"Yeah." Chad said.
"Hey! Chad! Inoue! Tsukiko!" Ichigo shouted from his side.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you okay?" Orihime asked as the three ran towards an opening crack. "Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, I'm fit as a fiddle."
"J-Just wait one minute, okay? We'll-" Orihime was interrupted by Ichigo.
"Yeah, about that...Inoue, would you, Chad, and Tsukiko keep still there?"
"What? W-What are you talking about?! Kurosaki-kun, that's-"
"It's okay, it's okay. Just wait and don't worry."
"He's right you know." Tsukiko said to Orihime.
"No," Ishida said as he walked past the three. "I refuse!"
"Ishida-kun..."
"Our time is limited. Right now, rather than you fighting alone, we should confront the situation together...and proceed on in a speedy manner." Ishida explained.
"You're there, too, Ishida?"
Ishida suddenly got an anger mark and shouted, "I've been here the whole time! Quit talking so irritatingly at a time like this!"
"Remember Ishida, this is Ichigo we're talking too." Tsukiko said as she examined in her nails.
"Blah, blah, blah, be quiet."
"Can you take him?" Chad asked.
Ichigo just rubbed his neck and said, "Probably, yeah."
"Probably?! What do you mean probably?!" Ishida shouted.
"Don't scream next to my ear you dumbass!" Tsukiko shouted at Ishida.
"Sorry, Takeshi-san." Ishida apologized but continued screaming at Ichigo. "Don't you get it?!
"Oh, jeez...I'm tellin' you, don't worry."
On the other side of the rock-made wall, Ishida was pounding his fist against it. "How can I not worry?!"
"I'll tell you a secret. The plan at the beginning was for me to use the full ten days to get back my Shinigami powers. But that was taken care of in five days. So just what did I do for the next five days?"
"W-What were you doing?" Ishida asked.
"I was fighting. For five days, straight through day and night, I fought one-on-one with Hat-and-Clogs."
"I thought you trained with them, Tsukiko-chan?" Orihime asked the red eyed teen.
"I did. I just had a different training method." Tsukiko told her.
"I see. And you learned the essentials of combat-" Ishida was interrupted by Ichigo.
"No."
"Huh?"
"Tsukiko learned different styles of combat. I didn't. That guy wouldn't teach me jack. But..." Ichigo said as he reached for the hilt of his weapon. The bandages that were wrapped around the blade fell, "...stamina and guts came whether I liked it or not." He was now ready to fight.
Tsukiko rested against the rock. Her thoughts were wildly moving along her brain. She knew that Ichigo would be able to take care of himself. But then again, she felt that something, if not now, was going to happen. And it would be bad. She sighed as she ran her gloved hands through her hair.
"Tsukiko-chan, are you alright?"
Tsukiko looked towards her right and saw Orihime. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking over some things."
"Do you think Kurosaki-kun will be fine?" She asked.
"Yeah. I know how Ichigo is after training and hanging out with him. He is strong and as long as he is confident, he'll be able to go through almost anything."
Orihime smiled at the answer and nodded.
Back with Ichigo, he stood in front of the giant. They stared at each other as Jidanbou said, "You done talking?"
"I don't remember asking you to wait at all." Ichigo said with a somewhat cocky voice.
"So you're a country kid, too. You ain't showin' proper etiquette." Jidanbou raised his ax and said, "When someone waits for you...YOU SAY 'THANK YOU!'"
The giant slammed his weapon down to the ground quickly, directing it towards Ichigo. A strong gust of wind and dust flew and went straight towards the others. Orihime screamed and everyone covered their faces.
"What's going on?!" Ishida shouted as he covered his face.
Jidanbou waited for the dust to settle, looking to see if his opponent, Ichigo, was dead. But as soon as it began to settle, the sight in front of him shocked him. Ichigo blocked the attack with Zangetsu.
"What are you..." The giant said.
"Attacking before I'm in position...ain't that lack of etiquette?"
Jidanbou looked worried for a while, but he suddenly burst into laughter. The pitch of his laugh had sent a rather large force of wind towards Ichigo. And because of that, it pushed him back.
"Why the hell is that giant man laughing?" Tsukiko asked as she stood next to Chad on his right.
"You're pretty good." The massive man said. "Nice. It's been decades since anyone's stopped my axe. Alright. In that case...for the first time in a long time...I'll fight without holding back! Out of those who've tried to enter this gate, the number of people who've stopped my first attack is three, including you. But there ain't a single one who's stopped my second attack!"
He lifted his right arm up, ready to strike. And while he did that, Ichigo lifted his own right arm to block the up coming attack. Jidanbou slammed down, attacking Ichigo, but once again, Ichigo blocked it.
"Good, you're still standin'. I got plenty more o' that! Eat this! TEN JIDAN-HIT FESTIVAL! ONE!" He attacked. "TWO!" Again. "THREE!" Again. "FOUR!" Again. "FIVE!" Again. "SIX!"
Ruble from every attack was sent flying past the rest of the group. Luckily for them, it hadn't hit anyone.
"SEVEN!"
"What's happening?!" Ishida questioned.
"SEVEN! EIGHT! Uh...SIX! EIGHT! " He lost track of counting, going back and forth. He lifted his arm up in the sky for one last time. "It's about time for the finish!" He sliced across. This time large rocks were cut up and sent flying towards the rest.
Orihime was lucky enough to not be hit by any. Ishida had to keep dodging any of the rocks that were close to hitting him. Chad blocked any rocks that would hit him and push it away from himself. Tsukiko created her shields, protecting herself from any that had fallen on her. It suddenly stopped.
Sweat dripped from Jidanbou's forehead as he spoke. "Wh-Wha..."
The rocks that blocked the group had begun to crumble and fell towards the ground. Dust was everywhere and everyone waited for it to clear. As it began to clear up, Ichigo was now in sight and he wasn't hurt.
"How're...you...How're you still standin'?!"
"He's standing...Kurosaki's standing!" Ishida said.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said with a smile on her face.
'Heh, I knew he would make it.' Tsukiko thought with a smirk on her face.
'So that's it...What Ichigo learned from that man was...not stamina, nor guts, nor even the essentials of combat...' Chad thought in his head.
Urahara's words spoke through Chad's head. "It's true he has far above average powers as a Shinigami. However, he has very few skills as to how to use that excessive power."
Chad's thoughts continued, 'What other Shinigami have, what he definitively lacked...it's experience. If he couls at least compensate for that, he would...'
"Is that it?" Ichigo said.
'He would...'
"Then it's my turn now." Ichigo said as he brought his Zanpakutou in front of him.
'He would become frighteningly powerful!' Chad finally concluded his thoughts.
Jidanbou stared at Ichigo for a while and said, "Not yet! I'm not done yet! My techniques ain't run out yet!" As he spoke, he reached for something from his shihakushō. He pulled out another axe.
"A second axe?!" Ishida shouted.
This caught Tsukiko by surprise. 'WHAT!?'
Jidanbou lifted both his arms up, preparing to launch an attack. His face turned red and his veins looked as if it was ready to pop out. His armor from his left arm broke, revealing a dark arm, not like his skin tone.
"Take this! My ultimate must-kill attack...Ten-Thousand-Year Jidan-Hit Festival!" He brought down his arm at a rapid speed.
Ichigo looked up at the attack and said, "Sorry. I'm going to smash those axes." As soon as he finished his last sentence, he attacked. He swung his blade towards the left and just like he said, he broke the axes, leaving Jidanbou wide-eyed.
The force of Ichigo's own attacked sent the rocks in front of the group flying towards them, risking them of getting injuries. Orihime created her yellow-orange shield, covering herself and the two boys. Tsukiko made her black shield to defend herself and Chad as well.
Jidanbou fell and landed on his behind. In her hands were the hilts of his axes. He flew towards the gate and stopped. Everything was clear and settled. Jidanbou began to get up and said,
"Wh-What the hell..."
"Freaking Kurosaki...What did he just do?!" Ishida asked.
"He beat him, of course." Tsukiko said to him.
Yoruichi looked and was quite impressed with Ichigo's result.
"But that huge guy just...got tossed through the air..."
Jidanbou jumped back to stand on his feet. He smiled and said, "Whoa, that was close. I got distracted and let myself slip and fall on my can. Huh? What's with that look on you face? Oh, I bet you think you tossed me through the air." He laughed.
'Oh, great. He's in denial mode now.' Tsukiko thought with a sweat drop.
"What're you talkin' 'bout? There ain't no way I could get tossed through the air. Jeez, that's why country hicks're such a hassle. Just you wait." He lifted his fists with the remains of his weapons. "I'll get you wit' my axes again."
He finally took notice that his weapons were destroyed. "My axes..."
Yoruichi jumped on top of one of the remains and said, "So Jidabou's axes shattered from one attack."
"What?! Those absurdly huge axes?" Ishida said with disbelief.
"Hey, say something." Ichigo said as he rested his own weapon on his shoulder.
"My..." tears began to form on his face. "...axes!" He slammed his fists down and so on, causing Ichigo to jump constantly. Tears were falling.
"They're broken! They're all broken! My axes are broken!" He then stopped but kept crying.
A rather large sweat drop appeared on Ichigo's forehead.
"Now he's crying...What is with him?" Ishida said.
"I have no clue." Tsukiko replied with a sweat drop.
"It sounds like a siren." Orihime said.
Chad just remained silent.
"U-Uh...like...I'm sorry...for breakin' your axes." Ichigo apologized as he rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. He the brought it down and raised it up and down in a calming matter and said, "I really shouldn't have broken both of them. Right?"
"Y-You're...such a good guy!" Jidanbou said with tears. "You and me are enemies, but you still worry about a loser like me." He suddenly grabbed Ichigo's shoulders with his large hands. "So big! What a big-hearted man you are!"
"Well, actually...seeing someone cry so much in front of me, I couldn't not comfort them..."
Jidanbou suddenly stood and said with his arms up to his chest and in fists, "And in comparison, what did I do? I sobbed like a baby just 'cause my axes broke. I'm a disgrace to all men. It's a total defeat!" He suddenly raised his arms up in the air and said, "It's a total defeat! As a warrior and as a man, I lost totally to you! It's three hundred years since I became the gateman of the Gate of the White Way. I never even lost once. You're the first man to defeat me." With his left hand, he wiped away the tears that were falling.
"Enter! Jidanbou gives you permission to pass through the Gate of the White Way."
"Y-Yeah!" Ichigo said with a huge grin-like smile.
Tsukiko ran from her place and towards Ichigo. As soon as she was near, she jumped on his back, causing him to stumble a bit.
"Nice job, Ichigo! I knew you had it in ya!" Tsukiko said as she wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck.
"T-Thanks." He said with a faint blush on his cheeks. She smiled and then jumped off his back and stood next to him. His blush then faded as he placed Zangetsu back on his back.
The others soon approached and the first one to speak was Ishida.
"Is it really okay for us to go through, too?"
"Yeah. I lost to your leader. I don't have the right to stop you guys." Jidanbou said.
"Kurosaki's our leader?!" Ishida shouted as he pointed at him. "Don't make me laugh."
"What're you all worked up about?" Ichigo asked with a sweat drop.
"Hey Ichigo. If you're our leader, does that make me second in command?" Tsukiko asked him.
"Yeah."
"What?!" Ishida screamed.
"Cool! Then you shall be like Batman and I shall be the sexy and cool Batgirl!" Tsukiko said with a huge smile.
Again, Ichigo blushed and nodded his head.
"You're named Kurosaki?" Jidanbou asked.
"Yeah, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Ichigo, eh? That's a really cute name."
"It is huh?" Tsukiko said.
An anger mark appeared on Ichigo's head as he shouted, "Shut up! It's 'Ichi' for 'first prize' and 'Go' for 'guardian angel'! It ain't cute."
"But the 'Guardian angel' part is cute, Ichigo." Tsukiko said with a grin.
"You're not helping Tsukiko!"
Jidanbou smiled and said, "Be careful, Ichigo. I don't know why you're entering this gate, but...inside is nothing but strong guys."
"I know." Ichigo said with a grin.
"Oh. Okay, as long as you know. Lessee...I'll open the gate now, so get outta the way." The giant turned and placed his hands under the gate, getting ready to lift it. "Don't you turn tail. I'm gonna lift all at once."
He then began to lift the gate up in a normal pace. Everyone was amazed at how he simply managed to lift it up. At some point, Jidanbou began to struggle but he soon lifted it with all his might.
"A-Amazing." Ichigo said.
"That thing could actually be lifted?" Orihime said.
Tsukiko ran towards the giant since he seemed to have paused. Ichigo followed along as she said,
"What's wrong? Why don't you say anything? Did something happen?"
When she looked at the giant's face, she immediately could tell that there was something wrong. For him to be speechless and in shock, there had to be something. Tsukiko looked towards where he was looking and she saw something. More like someone. He was wearing the shihakushō and on top, a taicho's haori. The man had silver hair and on the left side of his hip, there was a Zanpakutou.
"Who's that?" Apparently, Ichigo was also looking at the direction you were.
"Third squad Taicho...Ichimaru Gin." Jidanbou said with a scared voice.
'If my gut feelings had a voice, it would most likely say "I told you so". This isn't gonna be good.' Tsukiko thought as soon as she saw the man give a fox-like grin. 'Not good indeed.'