Stand in the Rain

Shadow of an Echo

Chapter Twenty-Five

Together Forever

It was a few days later that the first report from the living world came back containing information about the upheaval in Heuco Mundo. Yamamoto once again called together all the Captains, and with the lock down still in place the hybrids had to attend as well. Jyuushiro, as usual, had been the contact for the team in the living world.

"Let us not waste time, has Aizen recovered from the loss of these Espada?" Yamamoto demanded with a gesture to the cluster of Arrancar lounging along the wall of the meeting room, pretending to be engrossed in thoughts while instead they were listening intently to the discussion.

"So far he has managed to find replacements for the Quinto and Sexta spots, the Primera and Octava have yet to be filled." Jyuushiro reported dutifully. "For the Sexta he created an Arrancar named Mabashi. When Mabashi uses his resurrection his appearance is much like a rodent and his power is a bit like a combination of the Seventh Espada's mind control and Szayelaporro's physical takeover, he does not need to touch his opponent to possess them. Since he is new he is raw in fighting ability but very strong so is likely to learn quickly.

"The Quinto position has been filled by an Arrancar named Koga, and he has a Fraccion named Cain. Koga rivals Yammy in size and takes on the appearance of a spider when released, his power is a projectile venom that appears to be a small dart that can freeze his opponent in place like they are caught in a web. He is also especially hard to wound as he has regenerative properties much like Nnoitra and Ulquiorra." When the white-haired captain was finished speaking it took a moment for anything else to be said as the other captains digested the information.

Soi Fon was the first to speak, "Is anything else known about the Fraccion?"

"Unfortunately, no." Jyuushiro informed. "While the Espada are expected to tell the others about their power the only ones with a reason to be concerned about the Fraccion are their individual Espada's. The one already established Fraccion on our side, Ggio, is attempting to get close to Cain but has to be careful not to be too forceful or people may ask questions about why he is so insistent."

Seeing that train of thought was going nowhere, Ichigo felt it was okay to make an observation. "I guess that means Aizen decided not to move Barragan up to become the Primera, tells me he is hoping to find another even more powerful Hollow."

"That's right," Jyuushiro confirmed. "There is also the fact he does not trust Barragan and therefore will not hand over any more control than he already has. The Primera has the power to command the others, he is trying to stall any uprisings before they start. As for the Octava position he is searching for another capable of researching at least near the level of Szayelaporro."

The conversation was interrupted by a short burst of manic laughter from the pink haired former Espada, "Good luck with that." Szayel commented dismissively unable to keep quiet. "Patience is not a trait most of us possess, Aizen will be searching a good long time for someone who can replace me." He preened, having absolutely no humility whatsoever.

"Good, the more time he spends trying to rebuild his forces the better for us," Shunsui responded, both so they could prepare the squads a little more and for the sake of the baby.

"So what is the plan from here?" Byakuya asked. "We have more information, but that doesn't tell us anything about when to expect Aizen to make his move."

Yamamoto already had the answer, "We wait, train, and gather even more information about the enemy." He turned towards the Arrancar again, distain on his face, but even he had to admit they were a good resource. "Your task from here on out is to inform the squads about the warriors you already know, what their powers are and the best ways of defeating them. Since there are only a few of you I have little choice but to lift the restrictions on your movements so you may complete this job for all thirteen squads. The only stipulation I am going to enforce is there can be no more than three hybrids travelling together at any one time without being accompanied by an Officer Lieutenant level or higher. Do you understand?" He laid out.

"Yes," Starrk answered for all of them. "We will train your soldiers as much as they are willing to learn from us."

"They will be expected to cooperate with this arrangement just as much as you are." Yamamoto informed.

"Then I do not see a problem," Starrk responded calmly, knowing Grimmjow and Nnoitra in particular were beyond restless at the constraints and were probably just barely holding themselves back from making some kind of commotion in their relief that they would have their freedom once more. He couldn't blame them, not when Lilynette was practically vibrating with happiness in her spot next to him.

"Are we done here?" Kenpachi demanded impatiently when a few minutes passed in silence.

"For now yes, you are dismissed." Yamamoto allowed, just shaking his head at how rapidly the meeting room was vacated.

As soon as they were out of hearing range Grimmjow burst out, "Finally! I thought we were going to be caged forever." He grumbled.

"Told you it would end," Ichigo needled the panther before getting serious again. "Thank you all by the way for cooperating, I understand it wasn't easy for you but it was the only way of making this work."

"It's alright Ichigo, we know." Starrk responded. "Besides it wasn't like we had a whole lot of freedom under Aizen. We were pretty much locked up in Las Noches, and that many volatile tempers in close quarters definitely had its ups and downs."

"It was similar for us, if we didn't want to get caught we had to be very careful how much time we spent exposed," Shinji added. "I am curious about something though, the Arrancar have a job but Yamamoto said nothing about us." He commented.

"I bet he doesn't know what to do with us yet," Kensei observed. "What he is asking of you is common sense," He was speaking directly to the Arrancar then. "But there really isn't a straightforward task for the Visoreds, other than general training I guess."

"It couldn't hurt," Isshin approved, "At least it would give you something to do."

"Better than sitting around," Kensei agreed. "Haven't had much of a chance to train any one new since Ichigo showed up."

"Thanks for that," Ichigo was both teasing, but totally honest with the comment. He owed the other Visoreds a lot.

Everyone was a bit surprised when Starrk joined the conversation, he normally stayed quiet in big groups preferring just to observe and analyze. "I know the rest of you are looking forward to this, I can't really say the same for myself."

"You really don't like fighting, do you?" Love realized.

"No, I don't." Starrk confirmed. "Even a simple spar in my case can be too much to handle for my opponent, my strength is difficult to control when I am pushed to the point of violence."

"We had a bit of trouble learning our own strength after gaining our Hollows," Shinji admitted. "It didn't help we hated having them, so trying to understand and connect with them was not something we wanted to do."

"Have you made any progress trying to bridge the gap so far?" Szayel asked out of an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. The fact he had stayed together with the group was even more surprising than having Starrk add to the discussion. They had expected him to head back to his shared lab in the Twelfth as soon as he could.

"Not a whole lot," Rose confessed. "I have tried to speak with mine a few times but I am always attacked before I say more than three words. It is going to take a long time before we learn to trust each other.

"I've had some luck, managed to talk a bit between bouts of fighting." Kensei informed. "He is beginning to listen to me, but isn't very forthcoming about himself."

"Mine doesn't attack on sight anymore." Lisa spoke next, just getting her comment over with. "She is easy to provoke though, so I don't stay long."

Hiyori was next, "I'm not much further along than Rose; both our tempers are just too hot." At least she managed to confess that much. It wasn't like she was telling the others anything they didn't already know.

"Mine has mellowed quite a bit," Love contributed. "He doesn't like talking much, but hasn't tried to fight me the last few times I got in contact."

Shinji actually pouted, "My Hollow out and out ignores me, he doesn't fight or talk at all, and if he is listening to me he sure doesn't show it."

"My Hollow allowed me to name her already," Mashiro reported proudly. "I called her Kaori."

"That's great Mashiro! And the rest of you, I'm just glad you're trying," Ichigo informed. "I don't know whether or not it will work since it has been so long, but if you do manage to come to a truce your Hollows can be just as much support as your Zanpakuto."

Their little discussion was interrupted by Kenpachi coming over with a maniacal grin, "Alright who's ready for a fight? Been holding back so didn't piss off the old guy. Follow me if you're in!" He challenged, more than ready to judge the others' power for himself.

Nnoitra and Grimmjow didn't have to think about it, following along with the plan without a moment's hesitation, but Shinji, Kensei, and Ichigo all followed at a slower pace. Upon realizing just how many people were going, and to silence Lilynette's enthusiastic requests, Starrk joined them at the last second.

The Primera used the distraction of the other's roughhousing to speak to Ichigo, "Do you think this is a good idea?"

"Don't know, that's why I'm going," Ichigo admitted. "I know I can't stop them though, so might as well let them go at it and just keep an eye on them."

"That's what I was thinking too," Starrk agreed placidly, looking up at the enthusiastic expressions on his subordinates' faces, "I could stop them if I felt like it, but unless they get too rough, I'm going to let them show off for awhile. Should keep that captain from pestering me." The fact Kenpachi had yet to stop challenging him to sparring matches only increased his desire to give the violent man a different source of amusement.

"You know, one of these days you should just give and see what happens." Ichigo responded lowly, teasing the powerful Arrancar.

He received a steel grey glare. "You know better! I only fought you because I had to. I don't want to kill anyone who doesn't deserve it."

Ichigo tried to hide a smile, "I think you might be making the same mistake as Grimmjow about underestimating the Shinigami. I know there is at the very least three people here that could give you a good work out without you needing to worry about anything except maybe losing."

Starrk arched an eyebrow, "Oh, and who is that? Other than the head-captain anyway?" He was not drawing his sword on Yamamoto, he didn't not trust himself to even try to control his strength. He had heard a little too much about the man to risk losing control.

"I wasn't even thinking about Yamamoto," Ichigo admitted, "And I'm not sure if I should tell you or not, I mean if you really don't want to fight it isn't my place to make you."

Starrk caught the glimmer of humor in Ichigo's eyes, and knew he was being teased, but he couldn't stop himself from replying. "So because I don't want to fight, I can't be curious?"

"So you really wouldn't do anything if I told you?" Actual interest backed up the question.

Starrk had the grace to pause before replying, "Probably not."

"So there is still a chance?" Ichigo looked positively triumphant.

"Why are you so persistent on this?" He asked in exasperation.

Ichigo shrugged with a little smile, "Maybe because I'd like to see you fight too?" He admitted easily.

That brought Starrk up short, "Wait, but you already have seen me fight!" He objected, only to earn a disbelieving stare.

"No I haven't." Ichigo refuted calmly, but firmly, the smile gone. "I know you held back, and considering the circumstances I'm grateful, but I really would like to see what you can do. I wouldn't lie and put you in a spar with someone who I honestly didn't think could handle your strength. I don't want to see an innocent die any more than you want to kill."

The youngest Visored stopped there and waited patiently for the eldest Espada to think it over, and it took the whole trip to the Eleventh before he came to a decision. "Alright, tell me who it is and I might just go along with you, but not in the open like this. I don't want too many people around, they could get caught in the crossfire." With the way Los Lobos worked, anyone watching would be in just as much danger as his opponent.

"I know the perfect place, and the only ones that know about it are the ones we tell, there won't be any surprises." Ichigo was quick to assure, thinking of the cavern he had trained Hanataro and Rikichi in.

Feeling his resistance crumble at the pure excitement, and the actual effort being put towards resolving his concerns, Starrk could only ask, "So who are the people you think I should fight?"

He should have expected the answer, he really should have, considering the confident response was, "Shunsui and Jyuushiro."

"I'm not surprised," Starrk confessed drily, before noticing a discrepancy, "But didn't you say there were three people?"

"I did, and I meant it, but the third hasn't sparred for a very long time. I've never even seen them fight with my own eyes, I just have it on very good authority that they can." Ichigo decided not to pull Retsu into it unless he had her permission, he already knew his loves wouldn't care.

"And are you going to badger them like you did me?" Starrk could read between the lines quite well, picking up on the reason behind the reticence.

This time the smile was rueful, "I don't think I could resist at least bringing it up." Ichigo admitted.

Starrk quieted as he realized the others were already forming a ring around the training arena, big enough to give the sparring pairs enough room to move around. It would be hard to talk between cheers and battle cries, effectively ending the conversation for the moment. A good thing in Starrk's opinion as he had been just about to put his foot in his mouth and tell Ichigo that whoever he was thinking of asking would probably go along without much of a fight. He could be incredibly persuasive when he felt like it. He didn't do empty promises or shameless begging either, instead he did what he could to accommodate worries and concerns; that was an eye for detail Starrk was pleasantly surprised to see developing.

The opening match was between Grimmjow and Nnoitra, to give the former Espada a chance to warm up and, yes, show off. It had been awhile since they could indulge in a spar with each other so they didn't hold back. The watching Shinigami from the Eleventh, drawn by the influx of people in the training yard, found themselves desperately wishing they could see the Arrancar fighting without restrictions.

Kenpachi jumped in to challenge Grimmjow, as Kensei took up Nnoitra's invitation.

The fight between silver haired Visored and black haired Arrancar ended after barely ten minutes. Kensei was fast and agile, but unable to overcome Nnoitra's regenerative skill on top of dodging the massive double crescent Zanpakuto. Any time he landed a blow that actually wounded the Arrancar he would get slashed in return, and if he dodged in time to avoid injury than he couldn't cut deep enough to penetrate Nnoitra's Heirro.

All things considered ten minutes wasn't that bad against the Quinto, when Kensei hadn't even watched him fight before let alone challenged him himself. His head was held high as he back down, giving Shinji a try while obeying Ichigo's beckoning wave.

"It they would have let you use your Hollow more, you might have had him," Ichigo encouraged while resting a hand on Kensei's shoulder, sending healing Kido to soothe the worst of the injuries. He wanted to get in all the practice for the things he was allowed to do as he could, Retsu had cleared him for healing as long as he didn't try to heal something too difficult. Retsu was fully aware Ichigo wouldn't break her trust or risk his daughter by ignoring her warnings, giving her some comfort in the allowance.

"I'll get him next time," Kensei claimed confidently, eying up the Arrancar now putting Shinji through his paces. "Just give me time to get used to the limiter again and I'll beat him."

Ichigo just nodded, but kept his mouth shut. As hard as it was for the Visoreds to adjust, it had to be harder for the Arrancar that had never been under any kind of constraint before beyond Aizen or Starrk's orders. At least the Visoreds had experience with them from their time in the Seireitei before they gained their Hollows. For all the improvement the Visoreds would see as they settled into the new circumstances, the Arrancar would likely see more. Nnoitra would improve at the same or greater rate than Kensei if Ichigo was guessing right. He wouldn't say that out loud though, a bit of rivalry would be good for them. It helped to have a goal to beat when training as Hanataro and Rikichi proved when Ichigo was teaching them.

It was not long before Ichigo was healing yet another Visored and Nnoitra was walking around with a cocky stride, looking towards the audience with an eye for anyone who would try their hand. Even he had to admit though, he wasn't likely to see many takers, for two reasons. One, the way he had put two Visoreds in their place one right after the other made any rational Shinigami shudder. This was the Eleventh, so that of course was not the only thing, which brings up the second reason; Grimmjow and Kenpachi were putting on a show too good to miss out on.

Both were feral fighters that preferred a straight up brawl rather than any fancy battle strategies. Grimmjow had enough practice fighting Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra when he provoked the Cuarta just a little too much, that the former Sexta knew how to penetrate Kenpachi's almost Hollow-like skin. The limiter wasn't holding him back as much as the others, he didn't think as he fought, he just let his body do the work. As long as he didn't get caught up in what he thought he could or couldn't do, he didn't have much holding him back.

Kenpachi was reacting in much the same way, he hadn't taken his eyepatch off, making the battle that much more even. Just like Grimmjow, he wanted his fights fair, it made the victory that much sweeter knowing you had overwhelmed your opponent completely under your own strength without any trickery.

The grins on their bloodied faces were identical as they slashed each other to ribbons. If this was a serious fight to the death Ichigo was sure things would be different, but as it was it looked to him like the two were merely trying to have fun, only their idea of fun involved copious amounts of blood loss.

Starrk decided to comment once more as he watched the fight, "I can see what draws you to Grimmjow if you had already experienced this man's style." He noted.

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked with narrowed eyes.

"Exactly what it sounded like," Starrk stood by his observation. "You cannot doubt there is a connection between you and Grimmjow. I am not talking about love, that is not the bond you share, but there is a bond."

"You think so, do you?" Ichigo responded grumpily, not taking his eyes off the ongoing spar.

"I know so," Starrk had far too much practice dealing with stubbornness from Lilynette to succumb to Ichigo. "I'd almost say you were friends."

"Ah, Starrk, we are talking about the same guy; aren't we? He's tried to kill me!" Okay so Ichigo was overlooking one very big thing.

That was one thing Starrk refused to let him get away with, "He also saved you, and it's not like you didn't fight him right back."

"It's not like I had a lot of choice," Ichigo snorted, shaking his head.

"Maybe not the fight itself, but are you honestly trying to tell me you didn't enjoy it? Not even a little bit?" The stubborn silence was all the answer Starrk needed. "See? I'd try and console you and say that's your Hollow doing that, but considering I don't like fighting myself not all of us do. That means to me at least some of your enjoyment in battle is coming from you and you alone. Now, doesn't that sound like someone else we know?"

As a bout of familiar laughter broke out from the blue panther, drawing Ichigo's attention, the Visored had to admit Starrk had a point.

By the time Kenpachi and Grimmjow were ready to call it quits a new, and even more unexpected, challenger had arrived for Nnoitra in the form of Isshin. This time the attention of the audience was on the new battle erupting, as Ichigo realized if he wanted to keep his promise to Retsu he could only help stop the bleeding of Grimmjow and Kenpachi; anything further and they would need someone else to take over. It might have just been him, but Ichigo suspected those two didn't care and wouldn't do anything more than shower off the drying blood rather than worry about being healed further.

Seeing his father actually use Engetsu was something different, even for Ichigo. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen Isshin fight before, not seriously anyway. He had a good gauge of Nnoitra's strength by then, so it was relatively simple to get a measure of his father's power when comparing the two.

It was interesting watching the look of frustration encroach on Nnoitra's face. Unlike the Visoreds and other Arrancar that were working on getting used to a power limiter, Isshin was exactly opposite, only recently getting used to having the seal on his powers broken. He might be under the same rules as the other captains, but he still had access to more power than he had handled for a very long time. He used every bit of it to his advantage, proving exactly where Ichigo's instincts and natural talent for fighting came from.

Ichigo watched Isshin beating up Nnoitra with a smile that grew to a grin, and advanced to chuckles, before turning into all out laughter at the definite pout on Nnoitra's face when he landed in the dirt with blood trailing down from a cut on his cheek; in the exact same spot Ichigo himself had cut when Nnoitra had first noticed the baby and used Aizen's hated nickname to tease him.

He gave his father a high-five when the match was over, even allowing Isshin to swing an arm around his shoulders while smirking at the Arrancar moodily dusting himself off.

"That's the second time you've gotten your ass handed to you by a Kurosaki," Grimmjow had no qualms about teasing Nnoitra, the difference in their power was not enough to keep him obedient, hell he barely listened to Ulquiorra and even then only when there was no way around it.

"Second?" Kenpachi asked curiously, neither fighter having left Ichigo's side since the Visored had given the little first aid he was willing to, leaving them close enough to hear the comments being flung between Arrancar.

Grimmjow gestured to Ichigo, "He's done it before too, got his cheek in the same spot too." For it being a spar that wasn't his own, Grimmjow was certainly smug.

"That was on purpose," Isshin acknowledged ruefully, "Wanted to see if I was as rusty as I thought, need a little work, but not as bad as I was afraid of."

"That was you still rusty?" Grimmjow was both impressed and excited.

Isshin shrugged, stroking the hilt of Engetsu protruding from its sheath, "Been a long time since I could fight like this."

"I want a rematch!" Nnoitra growled, finally coming back to his usual arrogance.

"Someday maybe," Isshin hedged, just knowing he was driving the former Espada up the wall and was kind of enjoying the feeling.

"Oh no, I get to challenge him next, you already lost. It's my turn!" Grimmjow claimed, starting a chain of bickering back and forth between himself and Nnoitra.

Isshin didn't see a reason to break them up, so he didn't, and the others followed his lead.

From there several more rounds of sparring broke out, inspired by the blood pumping battles held in the beginning, this allowed Ichigo to tug his father from the circle, and leave them to it. Now that they weren't needed to police the hybrids, Ichigo could do something he had desperately wanted to for a very long time, but hadn't gotten the chance.

He chose Shunsui's squad this time, as Lisa was there to distract the squad if someone got too close, and it was a simple enough thing to invite Jyuushiro over to 'discuss the information from the living world' only the exact topic wasn't quite what Yamamoto would think if the message was overheard.

The minute all four were in the room alone, a silence descended between them. Not frosty or angry, but calm and measuring. They needed a few minutes to read the atmosphere before they could discuss what was needed.

It was Ichigo who spoke first, this was his idea and he would see it through, "I think the four of us have a lot to talk about."

"That's a bit of an understatement," Isshin replied, settling down on the offered matt across from where Shunsui was sitting cross legged with Jyuushiro beside him, Ichigo had stuck next to his father for this conversation. He very much wanted to join in the warm embrace of his loves, but realized he should have his head clear for this.

"Whatever you want to know, just ask," Shunsui encouraged.

Isshin took a deep breath, "Before I ask this I will say that I do trust you, but this is my family, they mean more to me than my own life. You are going to have to tell me, in plain language, what you plan to do about Ichigo and the baby?" If these two were not people he trusted, they would be having something a lot stronger than a conversation about this.

Jyuushiro linked his hand with Shunsui, looking Isshin directly in the eyes, "We will love and protect them. We don't have any rosy thoughts about this ending all sunshine and daises, this will be hard and I am truly sorry that Ichigo will have to deal with that. However, I have never loved anyone more than I do with them. If I could take his place, I would. Believe me, in a heartbeat I would make it so he didn't have to worry about anything."

"I think you have noticed we only talk in plurals about each other, right?" Shunsui took over without giving either Isshin or Ichigo a chance to talk, but he did get a nod of agreement to his query. "That is because when it comes to Ichigo, Jyuu and I think with the same mind. WE love him, and BOTH of us love that little girl as if she were ours. I know you are a powerful healer, feel what is surrounding your granddaughter and you will understand us a little more." He encouraged, remembering the conversation between Starrk and Szayel.

"I already have," Isshin admitted, his lips curving up in a smile in remembrance of the extra shield of protection. Plus he was there when the conversation between Arrancar had occurred as well. "Like I said, I trust you. If I didn't Ichigo would not be in the same world as you; let alone the same room. I just wanted to hear you say it."

"We aren't going anywhere," Jyuushiro assured, Shunsui gripping his shoulder and nodding in agreement, "We will be there every step of the way."

"I know that, but what about when she gets here?" Isshin questioned seriously, "What are you prepared to do then?"

A sorrowful look came on the gentle captain's face, "That is up to Ichigo." He responded softly, needing the reassurance of Shunsui's touch to keep going, reaching up to cover the bigger hand with his smaller one. "We love him, and will do everything we can to keep them both safe, but we know what life would be like here for him and our daughter. Shunsui and I have talked about it, and we want to give Ichigo the choice. Stay here and raise her with us, or go back to the Living World with you and maybe get some peace until she is big enough to help protect herself."

Isshin looked grave, and Ichigo was in tears, bursting out "WHY?! You could come with me! All of us, get away from Yamamoto and raise her until she is safe! We could come back when she has grown up."

"I can't leave," Jyuushiro admitted with pain and rage, "Not for more than a week or so, that is why I am never sent on missions in the Living World. My illness is kept at bay by the Spirit Pressure in the air here, I would die if I spent too long away."

Shunsui drew him into a tight hug, the same position Isshin had taken up with Ichigo, both crying tears of frustration. "I can go with you," He took over, just barely holding back his own emotions. "If you want me to, I will."

"But if you do, Yamamoto probably won't let you back in," Isshin spoke up with his own heart breaking.

Ichigo had his face pressed against his father's shoulder and his arms wrapped around his abdomen, "I just want us to be together."

"There is still the option of staying," Shunsui reminded, keeping control in the hope he could get his loves through the rough times ahead. The words he shared provoked a long look and nod of acknowledgment with Isshin. "We just didn't want you to think that was the only choice. She would be safer in the Living World. That would be much harder to do here."

"I don't care how hard it is, we are staying together!" Ichigo chose fiercely, head raising up to lock gazes with Shunsui. "She is safer with us than anywhere else. Anyone even tries to touch her and I'll kill them." He said with such finality, no one was willing to argue with him.

The topic would not be forgotten so easily, none of them were that naïve, but for now they decided to focus on calming down from the emotional high.