Bleached Vampire

Chapter 51: Unleashed

Demitri looked on at the battles and of their lord who was about to deal with the vampire and the boy next to her. He smirked at things were going their way but then something new happened. Although he could see the future it was only to a certain point, the further you went the more the future tended to change and be more malleable like a river. The closer you came to the 'present' was when the futures started to merge and become one. In his released state as he was now, the future looked to be going their way but something new could change things as it was now.

It was rare but the moment coming was something that was drawing all future possibilities towards it, sometimes an event happened that could not be changed or altered. The event in question was already too late to stop, he had seen himself try and fail and be killed. He could warn his master but that wouldn't change anything of relevance, all options were quickly being closed and in all of them he saw his own death coming. This was how he had survived for so long when he wasn't a strong fighter, he knew the best course of action because he could see all actions.

But even he had his limits and the only way to survive the storm that was coming was to run, run back to the doorway, it was the only option he saw himself still alive, so without a second though while no one was paying attention to him he ran. He was a hollow after all, most only followed others because they were stronger, loyalty was a rare trait. In the end most hollows would be out for themselves and so he ran as fast as possible. He didn't need to worry about the others, he knew their fate and it would buy him enough time to get out of here.

Orihime was currently trying to heal Ichigo, the wound was closing but for some reason he wasn't waking up, that was worrying her. She had seen him take a lot more punishment than this and still stand. When the wound closed she was about to start trying to wake him up but then he started to move. She was glad and was about to touch him but she stopped as she suddenly felt his spiritual pressure change. It was getting darker and suddenly it was skyrocketing. She quickly stepped back as she had felt this before as she watched with wide eyes.

Ichigo slowly got up but his face was cast down his body started shaking as he suddenly threw his head back in a roar. In that split second his head came up she saw his eyes were black and yellow. Then she saw his chest, the front of his shit her been ripped open in his battle and a hole grew there. She watched unable to look away as his skin turned bone white, black markings came out of the hole, a hollow mask formed around his face, his orange hair grew into a long mane and horns grew out of the mask facing forward.

She had seen him in this form before, when he had fought Ulquiorra, she was afraid but not of Ichigo, she was afraid for Ichigo. After that fight it had taken something from Ichigo that had taken a long time for him to come to terms with. And here he was once again in that towering form as she could feel the power washing over her like a river.

"Ichigo," she called out to him as his head turned to her and looked in her direction but she wasn't sure if he could see her. "Ichigo are you okay?"

"Protect...Defeat...Win..." Were the only words coming out of him as the words seemed to have an eerie echo to it as he turned to face Demonio, he reached out with his hand as his sword flew to it as though it was Ichigo's will that commanded the blade now.

Everyone else in the battle felt the giant spike in power, those further away could also feel the terrible force that Ichigo was projecting. From his place on top of the School the witches shivered from the feel of it, in Ruby's case her face flushed slightly as the presence while Yukari paled a bit but both continued on with their spell as it was nearly finished.

Fong-Fong looked wide eyed in the direction as the wave of power first came over them and as a magic user himself he could feel the power. It was dark and massive and it was unlike anything he had ever felt. Urahara was more composed as he looked out from under his hat, he had known that Ichigo's powers could be frightening but even this was a bit out of his calculations.

Kurumu had been in mid flight when the wave hit and she had faltered nearly losing her balance and nearly planted herself into the ground.

"What the hell is that!?" She yelled out looking in the direction.

Uryu's eyes narrowed as he knew full well what was going on over there, he had been in the presence of that power before. The old ache of his stomach of where Ichigo had stabbed him in that form was acting up from the memory of it. The phantom pain went away but his concern didn't, Ichigo wasn't in full control last time and if he couldn't regain himself again, he didn't want to think about what might happen.

"We have to hurry and finish this off," Uryu said as he fired hundreds of blue energy arrows killing many of the hollows as he could and wounding others that were too powerful to go down from a few hits.

Back with the main fight Demonio looked over surprised by the look of the boy who had been on death's door.

"Well isn't that interesting," He grinned looking at the two teenagers he had been facing. "Don't go anywhere I'll come back to you to finish you off later. First it seems I have some unfinished business to deal with it."

He sighed to himself as he walked towards Ichigo. "You know one of the rules I have is always finish what you start. You can't just get anywhere if you do things halfway, so since you were half dead I'll have to make you fully dead. Although I am curious about the new look."

He waited but Ichigo said nothing as he silently just stood there unmoving even a little as his dark eyes stared at him. Demonio narrowed his eyes, he felt slighted that the boy wasn't talking back.

"What's the matter can't talk boy?"

With that Ichigo suddenly moved forward so quickly that Demonio barely had enough time to get his sword up in time. Ichigo roared out as his blade slammed into the hollow's sword the blow literally sent the new lord of the hollow flying off into the air like a projectile. He flew right into the side of Yammy's head sending both hollows onto the ground with a huge boom from the earth shattering impact.

"What the hell was that!?" Yammy yelled out angrily pushing himself up and seeing Demonio on the ground getting up as well. He stared down at his new leader surprised that what had hit him in the face had been that person.

Nel, Harribel and Grimmjow looked on surprised at the sudden change but they all felt the presence that had come to the battlefield but had been too busy to take a closer look. Now that huge power was coming towards them and with the break they all could see the figure slowly walking towards their position.

Tier looked at the sight and her mind was reeling from what she was seeing, it was Ichigo that much she knew for certain but what he had become was unlike anything she had ever seen. He had the form of a Vasto Lord but instead of a broken mask the mask was intact, it was a paradox of an image and yet his power dwarfed anything she had ever felt before. Stronger than her, than the Primera, than even Aizen from what she remembered.

'Ichigo Kurosaki just what are you?' she thought to herself as she watched something that wasn't human, that wasn't shinigami or even could be called any kind hollow she had ever seen before. This was something new, something unique to the world. 'Again just what are you Ichigo Kurosaki?'

Grimmjow growled in frustration as his face twisted in a snarl, once again Ichigo had climbed higher than him. This had to be how he had defeated Ulquiorra, it was the only way he could think of that would explained how Ichigo had done it. Just looking at him he knew that if he faced Ichigo now he wouldn't win, he could feel the power and Grimmjow's fist slammed into the ground in frustration. All his life as a hollow he strove to be above others, to be the king that stood above all but this boy rose to heights that he could only dream about.

It was frustrating and aggravating for him that Ichigo of all people had surpassed him like this. He forced himself to watch though, this battle was between true monsters and it needed someone to bear witness to it. Before he had wanted to finish his fight with Ichigo to finally beat him but looking at him now, at Ichigo's best he could never beat the boy. It was a bitter thing to accept and not one that was easy either as he watched Ichigo in this strange form.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Yammy asked out loud seeing Ichigo's hollow form. If that little guy had thrown their leader at his face then that was something he couldn't just let slide. He roared out a challenge as his massive fist came down.

Ichigo only looked up slightly but didn't move, his sword swept up and a black getsuga up the center of the arm. Yammy screamed out in pain as his limb from fingers to shoulder was cut in half, he looked at what was left of the arm in shock as the pain and confusion flooded his mind. The others could only look on in shock as well as the level of violence.

"Ichigo," Nel said softly worried for him.

"You bastard!" Yammy screamed out his eyes large and almost popping out of his head. "I'm going to kill you!" His mouth opened up as energy was forming inside of it, he was preparing for a large cero to fire at Ichigo who didn't seem to react at all. Then in a flash he was gone, he had moved so fast no one could follow him but then they saw him floating in front of Yammy's face standing there like a living barrier between Yammy and the others.

"Destroy." Was the only thing the young man said.

His own cero formed from the tips of the horns but they were creating the energy much faster than Yammy was. In a fraction of the time Ichigo has his own large cero which he fired into Yammy's mouth. Yammy fired his own cero in a last ditch effort but Ichigo's energy ball pushed it back into the arrancar's mouth. There was a huge explosion that blinded the battlefield and sent a shockwave over the area. Lesser hollows were blown away by it, larger ones stumbled, glass windows in the school shattered as buildings shook.

After everything had cleared away Yammy's towering form wavered although now it was headless. It swayed a little too far before falling to the ground like a huge titan had come down to the earth. Silence came after the giant's fall almost as if no one would believe that it had happened. Demonio wasn't one to let an opportunity go plus his honor had been slighted by this boy. He was the most powerful hollow and he would be the one to rule. He was at the top and this boy wouldn't be the one to push him off the mountain he had tried so hard to climb.

He flashed into existence behind Ichigo making a swing of his sword to decapitate the boy, he thought that he had him then and there. Ichigo's came up as his arm swung back to block the blow from behind like he had eyes in the back of his head. That didn't slow him down as he reached out to grab one of Ichigo's horns and using that threw him to the ground.

The young man twisted and landed on his feet and looked up silently as if saying that was nothing to him. Demonio stood there in the air as he couldn't believe that the boy he had been beating was now up and even more powerful than before. As the new king of all Hollows he wasn't going to let this slid, maybe if the boy got a powerful than maybe taking more from that vampire girl would give him more power. He looked around and saw the girl with the boy keeping each other up that other girl with the long hair and golden wings was keeping them in some kind of glowing sphere of energy.

Before he could even thinking of going to the girl to see if more yokai energy would help him Ichigo was on him again. The boy was relentless as Demonio kept fighting and it was quickly apparent to him that Ichigo would not give him an opening to go after the vampire. So he was forced to deal with Ichigo as it was now.

-Yokai Academy Buildings-

Up on the top of Yokai main building Yukari and Ruby were just finishing up the spell, they had been pushing themselves saying the spell and weaving their power through the ritual. Finally after saying the last word of power the pillars around them started to glow. They stopped as they saw the pillars send out light into the sky. Suddenly the sky turned into a pure red that glowed brighter with every second with a large humming noise. Then as suddenly as it appeared the sky went back to normal as if nothing had happened.

"Did it work?" Yukari asked looking at the sky she wasn't sure what was supposed to happen since Urahara didn't tell them what was supposed to happen when they finished.

"I...don't know," Ruby was just as lost and just as tired as she was only standing from using her staff to keep her up. The ritual had felt like it had drained her of nearly all her strength.

"Ah glad to see that everything seems to be going well," Urahara walked up to them looking up at the sky happily. "You know there was a possibility that this whole thing wouldn't have worked but everything seems to have gone just as I theorized."

"So all that was supposed to happen?" Ruby asked the older man.

"Oh yes, the glow and humming was just adding in a new layer that would merge with the existing barrier. This way all the 'holes' are filled in so no more hollows can enter which is just as good as now we just have to deal with all the ones left and this place will be nice and safe from hollows from now on." Urahara looked around and all of the hollows in his area seemed to have been dealt with, Yoruichi would have most likely gone on further so he made plans to follow in her wake.

Looking to the young man with him he had one more thing for that boy to do, "Alright I'm going off to help, you think you can keep these lovely ladies nice and safe since I'm sure they are both tried from helping make the new seal."

Fong-Fong stood up a bit straighter although he too was starting to feel the strain from his combat to keep the girls safe while casting. He didn't want it to show though as he wouldn't be able to call himself a man if he let them down now. "Of course I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe."

"Good lad, well I'm off so I'll leave you two in his care," Urahara disappeared with a flash step as he quickly went to help the others with the clean up. They wouldn't be able to get a breath of relief until all the hollows that came to invade were dealt with.

Yukari sunk to her knees with a sigh she felt like all the strength was sucked out of her.

"Are you okay?" Fong-Fong asked her seeing her fall suddenly.

"Just tired," She said tiredly but she was thankful for him asking. Although she wasn't sure about the boy he had done very well for himself when they needed help. To her that put a few good marks about him in her book. Looking into the distance where those huge powers were coming from she started to worry about Moka and the others. She had no idea what was going on but she hoped for the best, this was the biggest battle she had ever been a part of and only now she started to feel the fear that she had pushed aside creeping up on her.

She gave a silent prayer for all her friends that were still fighting hoping that they all pulled through.

Back with Ichigo and Demonio the two were still fighting pulling out everything they could. Every time their swords clashed it would send a shockwave from the impact, they moved faster than some of them could see. By this point there were no other hollows in the area that had come through the gateway. They had all either fled back home when Ichigo's new form showed up or had moved on to be met by the others.

Yammy's body had finally disintegrated like how most hollows do when they die, it took time for his large form but now the battlefield was mainly dominated between two titans. Even when the sky had changed color slightly it hadn't stopped the fight.

Demonio didn't know why Ichigo was so much stronger in that form, he wasn't even sure what kind of form it was as it was neither Vasto Lord or Arrancar, it was like a merger of both. The boy was also fighting differently, he was fighting like a pure hollow, fighting on pure instinct and power. As their blades clashed again he saw that Ichigo's sword was slowly eating away at his own. There were nicks and small pieces missing from it now but he still fought on. He kept moving quickly and striking with all his might but still the boy kept up with him. It was infuriating as he continued his battle with Ichigo as everything else went away his focus was only on defeating Ichigo.

Orihime had finished up with Tsukune and Moka as she dropped the healing shield around her friends.

"There you should be better now," She told them.

"Yes thanks," Tsukune felt a lot better he was glad that Orihime was with them now it certainly made battles and the aftermath of battles a lot easier on his body.

"My thanks," Moka said simply as she never took her eyes off the battle. "What is that form?"

Orihime looked sadly at Ichigo but she honestly had no idea what you would call it. "I've only seen this one before, when Ichigo was near death he turned into that. It's like he uses only his hollow powers, like he becomes close to being more hollow than human."

"Are you okay?" Tsukune asked her seeing that she was a little upset.

"The last time Ichigo went through this it was hard on him," She didn't want to go into detail as it was very personal to Ichigo.

The battle was ragging on as the two had been battling with neither side giving an inch to the other. Demonio had gotten a few hits in as there were a few shallow slashes on Ichigo's body but his body would soon regenerate the wounds until nothing was there. Demonio wasn't that lucky as his wounds although not fatal weren't closing up as fast.

Ichigo struck out with his blade making the hollow go back in the air to dodge it, Ichigo slowly started to grow another cero on the tips of his horns. Demonio wasn't going to let him finish his attack as he rushed in and struck at Ichigo but he blocked it with his sword. But that wasn't the intended goal, he used the block to his advantage as now he knew where Ichigo's blade would be. He spun around and in a swinging arc he cut off one of Ichigo's long horns from his mask.

Ichigo roared out in rage as he turned to face his enemy only for Demonio to use his free fist to punch Ichigo with all his strength. This time Ichigo hit the ground with a thunderous impact but still he slowly managed to get up.

"I've had enough of this!" Demonio would not let his plans fall because of some freak of nature of a human. "I have what I need so there's no need to hold back anymore." He raised a hand as dark crimson energy was starting to form.

The former Espada instantly knew what was happening it was a Grand Rey Cero, the ultimate Cero attack that was forbidden to use inside of Los Noches because of the amount of damage it could do.

"If I have to destroy part of this place to get rid of you then so be it!" he now had a large ball of deadly energy that was five times Ichigo's size as he threw it at the boy.

He stood his ground as the ball of death came at him, without hesitation he reached up and tried to physically stop it. Ichigo's body was sent to his knees as he tried to keep the energy from exploding by sending his own wrapped around it. His palm burned from the contact as smoke from his cooking flesh rose up around his fingers. With a roar he pushed back with all his might as he sent the attack back at its source.

Demonio couldn't believe that the boy had done it, he quickly got out of the way as the energy sailed past him just narrowly missing him. It exploded into the sky blinding everyone as the huge shockwave of the explosion knocked mostly everyone on their feet. Demonio blinked his eyes trying to see he turned to face Ichigo ready to attack but froze.

In that split instant Ichigo was now facing him, the world seemed to slow for him as he saw Ichigo's hand and sword coming down. He tried to muster everything he could to pull his own sword up to block but it was too late he had only got halfway up before Ichigo's blade bit into his body. His blade cut through him severing him in two diagonally. A shocked expression was frozen on his face as his body fell to the ground and the last moments of his life he couldn't understand where he had gone wrong.

He was supposed to be the strongest there was, there wasn't supposed to be someone stronger than him. His vision went black as he saw the ground coming up he was dead before he felt the impact of the ground. Ichigo slowly floated down onto the ground near the two halves as they slowly turned to the blackish ash that hollows turned into on their death and faded away.

Ichigo stood there only the sound of his breathing could be heard as he stood like a statue. There was an eerie calm over the area almost as if everyone was holding their breaths for something that might just happen.

"So, what now?" Tsukune asked seeing Ichigo just standing there. "Should he still be like that?"

"He might not be aware the fight if over," Moka told him as she eyed their arrancar allies hadn't moved an inch towards Ichigo almost like they could sense that moving close to Ichigo might be a danger to them.

"It's okay," Orihime told them, "I know what to do."

"Hey are you sure about this?" Moka asked her point blank.

She nodded her head she knew that Ichigo would never harm her as she flew off. She landed in front of him making sure that he saw her although she wasn't sure if he was aware that it was her in front of him. If that was the case then she would make him see her, she knew that she could reach him no matter how deeply buried he was under his power.

"Ichigo-kun I'm here," She told him without any fear in her voice. She slowly went up to him as he stood unnaturally still, even people when they stood still moved slightly but Ichigo was as still as a statue but she knew that he was ready to strike like a snake if provoked.

"It's okay you can stop now," she gently told him walking up to him. When she got within reach he tensed slightly the grip on his sword tightened as she felt his eyes on her even though she couldn't see them in the darkness of his mask. She paused but she still moved on closer to him trying to reach out to him and pull him out of the darkness that he had been submerged in.

"It's me Ichigo-kun, it's Orihime."

"Ori...hime..." He responded as though a memory deep inside of him was fighting to the surface but it wasn't there yet. "Protect..."

"Yes and you did protect me and everyone else. Please you can relax now," She urged him. She gently reached up to touch his mask but his empty hand quickly gripped her wrist as he let out a small rumbling growl. She winced at the grip of his hand it was hard but he wasn't breaking anything although if he did it any harder he would.

Still she didn't back down, "Ichigo-kun, please listen to me. It's over now, please come back to me."

"Protect...fight...destroy."

She wasn't sure if she was reaching him if she couldn't turn him back she was worried he might be stuck forever in this state. No, she refused to let that happen to him, they had only just got together, there were so many things she wanted to do with him. She wanted to walk around Karakura town together, to eat a Sunday together, to go to the movies, watch a sunset, go to an amusement park. She wanted to live her life with him for as long as what they had last.

She would not give up on him.

"Ichigo-kun please, I love you." She told him honestly without any hesitation or blushing. Before it was always hard for her to say the words but those words were needed now and she wanted to put all her feelings into them. She felt his grip loosen slightly.

"Lo..ve.." Something deep was stirring inside of Ichigo like the echo of a memory that was slowly getting louder and more in focus.

"Yes I love you so please don't go anywhere, please come back and stay with me, with everyone. We all care for you Ichigo so please come back to us."

She felt his hand slowly drop as she reached up to touch the mask, it was smooth and cold but as soon as her warm skin touched it, cracked started to form. She placed both hands on the mask as Ichigo could feel her spiritual presence through the contact the warmth of her presence shot out deep into the darkness.

Ichigo felt himself floating in the dark, there was no up or down, no light and no memories. It was like he was half asleep in a waking dream. He had no idea how long he had been here, he wasn't aware of anything that came before 'here', to him 'here' was all he knew. Then in the dark there was suddenly a light. A bright light filled with a warmth to it that felt familiar but he didn't know why.

"Ichigo-kun."

A voice, a female voice called out to him, something was very familiar about it something stirred inside of him as he wanted to reach out to it. He wanted to go towards that light he reached out towards it as he seemed to see a figure there.

Suddenly in the outside world Ichigo's mask shattered and fell to the ground. His long hair slowly went back to its original form his skin went back to its usual color as the hole in his chest filled up. His eyes returned to normal as they also regained focus. He looked down to see Orihime's face he wasn't sure what happened. He had a vague idea of a fight he had been in but it was like a dream that was quickly fading away. He was going to ask her something but then all the strength went out of him.

Orihime quickly caught him and gently placed him on the ground she knew that he had to be tired so without even thinking it she placed his head in her lap as she sat down behind his head. She gently ran her fingers through his hair so glad that he was back.

"Is it over?" He asked her.

Orihime looked around there seemed to be a little fighting towards the school but from what she could feel the hollows were on the run. It was only a matter of time now before they were all finished. She looked down at him smiling. "Yes it's done, I was worried about you."

"I know sorry about that but it was the only way to win," He sighed although he didn't like using that as he didn't like not being in total control to save everyone he had to do it. Although he didn't like it, he had come to see it as a part of himself anyway. He closed his eyes feeling the softness of her lap and the feeling of her fingers in his hair. It was very relaxing as he just wanted to drift away and stay like this forever.

"I think I had a dream like this once..." he said before falling asleep on the lap of his girlfriend.

Orihime watched over him because she had faith that the others would be finished soon and she wanted to enjoy the small peace they had together.

Next up Chapter 52: Aftermath