I do not own Bleach
Chapter 23 New Friends
Hinata slipped out of the office as soon as Rangiku got to the last stack of papers. She could sense Ichigo moving again and wanted to go meet him. Rangiku protested, but Hinata just waved merrily and used Hirenkyak to cross the Seireitei so that she'd make it in time to watch Ichigo fight.
She underestimated her speed and got ahead of Ichigo. Skidding to a stop, Hinata looked around and found a bright pink head peering at her over the spiky haired man's shoulder.
"Kenny, look! My friend came back!" Yachiru cheered, hopping off Kenny's shoulder.
"Huh?" Kenny asked, swinging around to look. "Someone strong, right?" Then he saw Hinata and let out a sigh of disappointment. "Wrong one."
Yachiru skipped over to Hinata and gave her a big hug. "Come! Kenny's going to make a new friend!"
Hinata smiled and climbed on the man's back with Yachiru. Kenny leapt to the rooftop, and scanned for signs of Ichigo, who was fast approaching. In his excitement, Kenny released a massive amount of spirit pressure. Once Ichigo arrived, Kenny jumped to the ground, catching Ichigo by surprise. "You are Ichigo Kurosaki, are you not?"
Ichigo turned. "How do you . . . know my name? Who are you?"
"Oh. Didn't Ikkaku tell you? I am Kenpachi Zaraki – Captain of the eleventh company. I'm here to kill you or die."
Hinata was trying hard not to giggle and give herself away. How surprised would Ichigo be when she jumped out from behind Kenny? She could also feel from Kenny that he just wanted to have a good fight. Ichigo was strong and would be able to give him a good fight, and because of this, Kenny wouldn't kill Ichigo. She heard Ichigo cry out to Hanataro. She quickly felt out to him and noticed he was just under extreme pressure from Kenny's spiritual pressure. She gave a small sigh of relief; Hanataro would be fine as long as he left the area.
Yachiru popped up then, pushing Kenny's head to the side. "He's Drooling!"
"What?" Ichigo cried out. Hinata felt Yachiru lightly land on Ichigo's shoulder.
"Poor guy."
"Crap!" Ichigo yelled, swinging upward at Yachiru. With that Yachiru jumped back to Kenny's side.
"That man's mad at me. . ." She said in a quiet voice.
"Silly. Of course he is." Kenny replied.
Hinata thought this would be a good time to appear. She poked her head over Kenny's shoulder just like Yachiru had done. "He's not mad at you, Yachiru, you just surprised him!" Hinata sent a wave towards Ichigo. His eyes went wide at seeing her. She started giggling. She stopped when Ichigo started speaking again.
"Ganju! Grab Hanataro and go! I'll take care of this guy. You've got to save Rukia!"
"How?" The man that was with Ichigo said.
"Shut up! Just go! I have to save my sister!"
The man seemed conflicted for a moment. "All right!" He turned and threw Hanataro over his shoulder as he took off running.
Kenny and Yachiru just watched as they ran away.
"What's this? Neither one of you is going after them? Isn't it your mission to stop us?" The whole time Ichigo talked he didn't take his eyes off Kenny or Hinata on his shoulder.
"I told you, I'm here to kill you or die. Your friends and the girl are of no interest to me."
Ichigo gave a growl. "Then why do you have me sister!"
Kenny shifted to look back at the girl sitting on his back and then at Yachiru. "You didn't tell me she had a brother."
Yachiru have a shrug before jumping back on his shoulder and looked at Hinata. "Why didn't you tell me you had a strong brother for Kenny to play with?"
Hinata just gave a smile as Ichigo spoke up, "Give back my sister!"
Kenny, with a lazy eye, looked back at Ichigo who had struck a fighting pose with anger leaking out. "Not bad. Your guard is stiff and full of holes, but you've got a good amount of spirit energy. Even some lieutenants might not be a match for you which explains why Ikkaku lost."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Thanks a lot."
As Kenny started talking again, Yachiru grabbed Hinata and pulled her over to the side. Hinata watched with interest as Kenny told Ichigo to take the first hit. He seemed reluctant, but with a look towards where Hinata was standing, he rushed forward towards a smirking Kenny.
Hinata and Yachiru took a squatting position off to the side and watched with interest as Ichigo swung his sword. Hinata watched as a trickle of blood hit the ground. Her eyes rose to Kenny who was completely fine. Ichigo on the other hand was bleeding from his hands because of the force of his swing.
"Silly Ichigo, he won't be able to hurt Kenny unless he goes all out."
Yachiru sent her a side look before looking back at the stunned Ichigo, "Yeah." She stood up and walked up to Ichigo. "You can't cut Kenny. To him it's almost like your sword has no blade."
"What?!"
As they started to explain why Ichigo couldn't hurt Kenny, Hinata was distracted by a rise in Chad's spiritual pressure. She looked towards where he was and gave a smile when she felt that he was with Shunsui. Shunsui would take care of Chad; she wouldn't need to worry about him anymore.
Yachiru came back over and, picking Hinata up, shunpoed to the top of a nearby building. "This way we can watch them. Hopefully your brother is strong enough to be Kenny's friend."
Hinata could feel the sadness coming from Yachiru as she spoke. She looked down to watch Ichigo running away from Kenny. She gave a small frown; Ichigo was strong enough but he was scared. If he didn't find his determination, he wouldn't be able to be Kenny's friend! Hinata gave a small smile and nudged Yachiru. "Look he is ready to fight!"
Just as he started to find Kenny, he froze though. Hinata also turned to where Chad's spiritual pressure had declined significantly. He appeared to have lost to Shunsui, but he was still alive. A few moments later, Ichigo seemed to find the same thing before taking off again. When he finally found Kenny, he swung his sword again and this time gave him a cut across the chest.
Finding Yachiru's arms wrapped around her in a tight hug, she heard Yachiru say, "Look Hinata, your brother is strong!"
As they stood there, Ichigo's voice rose from below them, ". . .cause if I die, I'll lose everything I've been fighting for!"
Yachiru giggled, "Kenny looks happy."
The fight continued for a couple minutes before Kenny stabbed through Ichigo's Zanpakuto, piercing him in the chest.
Yachiru stood up, brushing herself off. "Sorry Hinata, looks like your brother wasn't strong enough." She looked to be about to jump down when Kenny froze.
Hinata smiled, "Ichigo's not done yet; his sword has just come to fight."
Yachiru looked confused at Hinata before looking back down towards Kenny, but she couldn't see anything. Hinata watched as a tall man dressed in a long black coat walked past Kenny towards Ichigo. She felt when Ichigo entered his inner world and began to fight. The man in black stayed outside for a moment and cast his eyes up to where she was standing. They made eye contact. When she gave a cheery wave, he had a small smile cross his face before he vanished back into Ichigo's inner world. It was only a matter of a moment before they were slammed with an immense spiritual pressure.
Hinata smiled as she watched Ichigo rise from the ground. He was still bleeding, but his eyes were full of determination this time
Yachiru gave a cry of joy and jumped up and down excitedly.
Ichigo shot forward like a bullet, swinging his sword and leaving a deep slash in Kenny. She could feel the joy that started pouring out of Kenny. He had found a friend. They kept fighting back and forth and she could feel that Ichigo was growing uneasy with the way that Kenny was fighting. She watched with interest as Kenny ripped his eye patch off. His spiritual pressure became more intense. He had finally let the full extent of his spiritual pressure out. She hadn't understood why he wore the eyepatch, but wondered if maybe it was like why she wore her gigai?
At that moment, someone appeared behind them. Hinata cast a look over her shoulder to see a man with a roof like hat over his face covering his eyes. She went back to watching the fight below.
"Lieutenant Kusajisji! I have an urgent message for you!" He called out.
"Okay, come back later."
"I'm sorry but with all due respect, this is a top-secret message signed by Captain Yamamoto and Captain Hitsugaya."
"Fine. Tell me Later."
The man seemed to be agitated, "That's . . . that's not possible lieutenant. I was ordered to deliver this message to all captains and lieutenants immediately!"
"Quiet." Yachiru turned around and Hinata felt her true power manifest in the shape of a large tiger as she glared at the man. "Don't bother me while Kenny's fighting."
The man jerked back in surprise. Hinata gave a small smile before looking back at Kenny who was standing with his now released energy. They talked for a little bit before Kenny swung his sword causing a building to collapse. Hinata watched with interest as once again Ichigo's sword manifested as the man talking to Ichigo again. Just like before, the man looked up and made eye contact with her before giving her a small nod and vanishing again. Ichigo's power also rose to surpass Kenny's. They both drew in all their power and dove in for what Hinata knew would be the last attack. At their collision, the surrounding buildings began to collapse. She looked at Yachiru who seemed to have used her own spiritual pressure to keep the building they were on from collapsing.
When the dirt settled it showed Ichigo and Kenny with swords pressed against each other. Yachiru grabbed Hinata then and they flew to the ground. They arrived in time to hear Ichigo's last words before he collapsed to the ground.
"Sorry guys."
Kenny just looked down at him, smiling as blood sprayed from his wound. "Heh, what do you have to be sorry for?" His sword snapped in half. Hinata looked to Yachiru who had gone paler. "You won fool," and with those last words he too fell beside Ichigo.
Yachiru walked up to both of them before bowing, "Thank You!" She turned, giving Hinata a hug before turning back to Ichigo. "Kenny had a great time fighting you! Thanks Ichigo! It's been so long since I've seen him this happy! Thanks a Lot!" Turning to Hinata, she continued, "It was a lot of fun spending time with you too, Hinata. We should play again as well." Moving over, she scrambled under Kenny's arm and picked him up. "Let's go; Ichigo, try not to die. And if you can, come back and play with Kenny sometime. Please." With a finally nod to Hinata she jumped into the air with Kenny.