The aftermath of Ichigo's little trip to Hueco Mundo, and time to get on with the actual arc! Enjoy!
Chapter 28. Invasion
The day after his return from Hueco Mundo neither Ichigo nor Rukia went to school, choosing to spend the day relaxing together, reconnecting. During lunch Byakuya explained to them what he and Karin had noticed thus far about the bond the couple shared and its implications:
"Soul-bonded…" Ichigo mumbled, more statement than question.
"You do not seem that surprised." Byakuya couldn't help but comment.
Soul-bonds were so rare, it was the whole reason he'd been so surprised himself, and still couldn't fully believe it. And yet the orange-haired husband of his sister seemed to be taking in all the information and accepting it as if it were the most normal thing in the world…
"Somehow, I don't think I am." Ichigo said, still pretty thoughtful.
Byakuya was about to snap at the teen, not believing that everything was that perfect, but his sister spoke first.
"Ichigo." She called softly yet seriously. "Tell us what you're really thinking, please."
Byakuya did a double take at that, he'd been about to accuse the boy of lying, or not really taking his words seriously, and yet his sister had seen beyond that attitude, noticing something he hadn't…maybe it was because she knew him so well.
"I was telling the truth just now." Ichigo assured her. "Somehow, I don't feel really surprised by the whole soul-bond thing." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I know I don't know everything there is to know about this, and that I'm probably sounding too blasé about it all. But trust me, I'm taking it seriously. The thing is, I feel like a part of me already knew it, even before you told me." He ran his hand through his hair, looking for the right words to explain himself. "I've felt a pull towards Rukia ever since I first saw her, one that became stronger instead of easing the closer we got. The more she opened up to me, to the Nakama; the more she shared with us her past, her dreams, her true self, the stronger our connection felt." He sighed. "I actually wasn't fully conscious of the whole thing as it was happening, it just felt natural to me. Until that night, when you took her away from me…"
Byakuya nearly flinched at the look the orange-haired directed at him when saying that part while Rukia just buried her face into his (Ichigo's) shoulder.
"It was like something snapped inside me." Ichigo admitted. "Like I suddenly became totally aware of the bond that had existed between us, of the part of her that had been buried in me, if only because it was no longer there." He shook his head. "It probably would have hurt more if I hadn't lost consciousness right then. When I woke up, I remember I told Uryuu Rukia's powers had been taken from me, when he told me Orihime had noticed something was missing in me; and yet, even as I said those words, I couldn't help but think you had taken much more than just reiryoku. It was why I never doubted on what needed to be done, on recovering my powers, on storming Soul Society, on doing whatever was necessary as long as we…as long as I could get Rukia back."
Rukia sobbed slightly at that declaration, snaking her arms around Ichigo's waist. She'd been mourning the loss of Ichigo for a whole week, and yet had never stooped to contemplate what he must have been feeling at the same time, or what he must have felt before…
"This last week, I'll admit it was different." Ichigo conceded as he stopped to ponder on the memory. "But that might have been because I was a bit busy trying to stay alive, didn't really have time to ponder on other things."
That and Shiro had been the one in charge of the body, not him; the whole shift had left him somewhat numb most of the time, which might have helped block most of the pain he should have felt from his and Rukia's forceful separation.
"Anyway." Ichigo went on. "The point is, you come here and tell me this pain we've felt, this bond we feel, even now, is because we're soul-bonded. And even if to your own ears the whole thing might sound strange, and even pretty much impossible; I'm way used to both things, as I'm used to both feelings, good and bad. So no, it's not hard for me to accept the fact that Rukia and I are soul-bonded, because a part of me already knew."
xXx
Byakuya had left right after having lunch with his sister and her husband (fiancé). The pair had briefly considered asking him to stay until the night, to attend the Nakama meeting in the afternoon, since Ichigo was planning on sharing with the Nakama what had happened during his time in Hueco Mundo which, with Byakuya there, would have included revealing to him Shiro's existence. In the end they decided not to, while the Gotei 13 was no longer actively searching for Visored, the law still existed regarding people with Hollow powers; they didn't want to put Byakuya in a difficult position, between his family and his job.
Late in the afternoon the group conveyed in the Ishida secret training grounds, where Ichigo insisted on summoning Shiro to the Real World before, the two of them together, proceeded to explain everything that had happened in the previous week. There were quite a few things the Nakama found particularly important.
"You became full hollow?!"
"Shiro was an Arrancar, and an Adjuchas from the very beginning?!"
"You have Resurrección?!"
"Yes, yes and yes." Ichigo answered. "On the first, it was necessary, like Zangetsu said, so I wouldn't call too much attention to myself. I was in the world of hollows, after all. And, like I've been saying over and over again since, I Trust Shiro."
They all nodded. They knew that already, but if any of them had harbored the slightest doubt that trusting Ichigo's white counterpart was the right thing to do, those doubts had vanished after the previous week.
"What about the Arrancar and Adjuchas thing?" Chad asked.
"I think that should have been obvious." Surprisingly enough, it was Rukia who answered. "If Ichigo is a Shinigami with hollow powers then, naturally, Shiro would be a Hollow with shinigami powers."
Everyone nodded, put like that it was quite obvious.
"What about the Adjuchas part?" Tatsuki was wondering about that.
No one was sure about that one.
"That one is his fault." Shiro announced after a while, pointing to his 'twin'.
"Hey!" Ichigo pretended to be offended at the whole thing.
"It's the truth." Shiro insisted, explaining himself. "You have shikai, bankai, and captain-level reiatsu…which, by the way, keeps growing. If you take that into consideration, did you expect me to be any less powerful?"
"So, because Ichigo is captain-level, you are as well." Uryuu summarized. "And in hollow-scale, the one with the level of a captain is an Adjuchas, which means you had to be one…"
"Pretty much." Shiro nodded, then took a contemplative tone as he added. "Wonder if, with enough time and training, I might make it to Vasto Lorde…"
"The worlds might not survive if you do." Rukia commented, only half-jesting.
They all understood her comment, though. Seireitei had considered the Visored a threat, when they were little more than uncontrolled, half-crazy, instinct-driven beasts; only the gods knew what they would do with someone like Ichigo and Shiro, who were so powerful, perfectly sane, and in full control of themselves and their power.
The next thing that seemed to really call everyone's attention was related to Nel, or more like Nelliel Tu Odelschwank.
"A child in Hueco Mundo?"
"An Arrancar child?"
"You protected her?"
"A cracked mask?"
"A regressed arrancar?"
"Good Arrancar?"
"She was an Espada?!"
It was precisely the last the most shocking and conversation-stopper worthy. No one spoke, as they all waited for either Ichigo, Shiro or both to explain what exactly the situation with Nelliel, the former Tercera Espada, was.
"It's like we already told you." Ichigo declared with a short sigh. "She used to be an Espada, the 3rd in power. She was attacked from behind, her mask was cracked and she…regressed or something along those lines, becoming the child I…we met. The other hollows with her used to be her Fraccion, her subordinates so to speak, and they apparently have been protecting her for years, since she became a child. Nel didn't even know anything until after the first Cazador attacked. When we realized the damned hunter wasn't after me, but after her." He sighed. "There obviously is a lot to know…"
"There really wasn't time to learn much more." Shiro intervened. "And it's quite obvious the other hollows didn't actually want her to know."
"They want to protect her, from her past, from herself." Ichigo qualified.
"That's very noble, but what does all this mean, for us I mean?" Uryuu inquired.
"What do you mean?" Both Shiro and Ichigo were confused by that.
"Can we expect this Nel to ally with us, with you, when the war eventually happens?" Uryuu inquired. "Is there a risk she might end up as an Espada, with Aizen again? Is there any risk she might go feral for whatever the reason?"
Shiro bristled, Ichigo's over-protective instincts were rubbing off on him, he didn't like the idea of someone, especially not one of his own nakama, attacking someone he already considered to be under his protection.
"He doesn't mean anything against Nel-chan." Orihime declared immediately, reading Shiro's reiatsu clearly.
"No, of course not." Uryuu reassured the 'spirit twins' the moment he caught up with that. "I just don't think we can afford not to know where everyone we know stands when war is practically upon us already."
Yet again, Shiro bristled but, understanding why it was so important, Ichigo put a hand on his twin's arm to restrain him at the same time he nodded to the Quincy.
"You do know that, if we follow that line of thought, this might end up not being the only complication?" Ichigo asked in a low voice.
The question caused several immediate reactions as Chad grimaced very slightly, in a way only his closest friends could notice, Orihime blanched, while Karin and Yuzu sighed.
"I know." Was all Uryuu said.
"Are you talking about Keeva-san?" Rukia tried to guess.
"That could be a problem." Tatsuki admitted.
The others nodded absently, though they all knew it wasn't the young martial artist who they'd actually been thinking about. In any case, that possible problem wasn't a definite or even an immediate one, they would go back to it later, if it ever became necessary.
"Going back to Nel…" Yuzu commented. "Do you think the way she acts is because of her shinigami powers? Or because she's so old? And I think she would have to be to be so powerful…Or maybe her original soul was like that?"
That made everyone think again.
"We wondered about that." Ichigo nodded.
"We considered the possibility of it being because, with only one soul in her, she would not need to be continually fighting 'herself', so to speak, to remain in charge, to keep her sanity." Shiro elaborated. "It would make things easier."
"Like with you." Karin realized. "I mean, in your case there's two, or three of you, but you need not fight for dominance…"
"More or less." Ichigo nodded. "We actually hadn't considered the last thing Yuzu mentioned, it being because of who she was originally…"
"It's a good theory." Orihime offered. "After all, even if it's so long, if she probably forgot her original life…some part of it should remain, right?"
There was no answer, because none of those present had the slightest idea how to answer that. Orihime knew that, of course, but even then, it really seemed like she couldn't help but desperately wish for an answer…
"I think we should break this meeting up already." Ryuuken informed the group. "It's late and you all have school tomorrow."
They all had to agree he was right and prepared to leave, individually or in pairs so as to avoid suspicion at so many teens leaving the area in mass.
Shiro was about to dismiss himself when suddenly he was interrupted.
"Wait." Yuzu called as she rushed to them.
Then, before anyone could ask what was going on, she went and threw herself at her older brother's hollow, embracing him tightly.
"Thank you!" She cried out as she kissed his cheek, not letting go of him. "Thank you so much for protecting Ichi-nii."
It was the second time that Yuzu had hugged him, and Shiro wasn't having any easier a time with the situation than the first. Unlike before, he now knew to embrace her back, to hold her, and he instinctively tightened his hold on her when she kissed his cheek, and then…
"I love you Shiro-nii…" Yuzu whispered softly into his ear, before finally letting go.
Shiro stood there, frozen. He could see over Yuzu's shoulder as the gentle girl's twin nodded to him with a small smile, silently thankful herself, but most of his mind was still focused on what he just heard. For a moment, just an instant, he was almost sure he could feel a heart he shouldn't have, beat. Then he vanished.
xXx
The following two weeks were relatively peaceful. There were hollows, like always, but nothing that required more than whoever of the Nakama's turn it was. It was mid-December already and school had let out for the Winter break, something all the Nakama took advantage off as they trained diligently as well as spent some time just having fun. They knew eventually the time might come when they wouldn't have time to just have fun, be teenagers. The threat of war was still bearing over them, after all; doesn't mean they weren't going to take advantage of the calm for as long as it lasted, though.
The calm was broken, rather abruptly and violently, that Friday. It was still early afternoon and the friends had chosen to spend that day with their significant other or, those who didn't have such, a close friend, or even on their own. They were planning on hanging out as a whole group during the weekend.
It all seemed to be just fine, until heads snapped up, all in different areas of Karakura, and all in completely different directions; a couple of seconds later denreishinki and insignias began blaring out alarms: There were hollows in Karakura, powerful ones, over half a dozen.
A second later cellphones were blaring. Thankfully the ones the Nakama carried were special ones; while they had been normal phones at one time, they had been modified by Urahara so they ran on reishi instead of the usual batteries, they always had signal no matter where they were, and could be used as radios with other similar devices; the last which allowed the Nakama to talk all at the same time through them, like in that moment.
"Those are Arrancars." Karin announced after analyzing what she was feeling, she was in a park, with some boys, had just been playing soccer.
"And not just any Arrancars." Uryuu added, from a corner in a new crafts' store downtown. "At least half of them are the very same ones we fought the last time."
"They're back." Orihime nodded, she was walking in the direction of her apartment and the sudden reiatsu made her a bit nervous. "And they are splitting."
"They're coming after us." Tatsuki guessed, she was with Renji, who had taken a couple of days off to spend time with her.
"Then we'll have to do the same." Ichigo decided. "Each of us will go after the closest dark reiatsu, fight the Arrancars and, if possible, destroy them. Make an effort not to be noticed by those not spiritually aware, but in the end, no matter what, we must protect Karakura and the innocents. Also, try and make sure not one person ends up completely alone, that could be dangerous since we cannot know for sure how powerful these enemies will be. We must all be careful. If any of you feels your way over your head flare your reiatsu in the emergency pattern and someone else will try to get there to help."
Everyone expressed their assent verbally before breaking communication and getting on their way. Some plans had been made long ago in case of emergencies; including the flaring of reiatsu in case help was needed.
Snapping the phone shut, Ichigo and Rukia left their room in time to see Yuzu exiting hers. They were all in spirit form. While that didn't make much different in how Yuzu could use kidou, it did make a difference on normal humans seeing her fighting thin air or not, which is why she chose to leave her body.
"I'll go find Karin-chan." Yuzu informed the couple.
"Very well." Ichigo nodded. "Take care."
"Ichigo's right." Rukia agreed in a very caring tone. "We have no idea how powerful these Arrancars might be, they're obviously stronger than Hamen, and none but maybe one or two seem to be on the level of the Espada."
"I'll be careful Ichi-nii, Ru-nee." Yuzu assured them in her cutest voice. "You make sure you do the same."
The older teens nodded.
With that all three exited their home by the front door. Neither of them seemed to notice, or if they did they chose to ignore, the figure of their father standing at the door that connected the clinic to the main house.
Isshin could just watch silently as his children left, ready for battle. There were enemies in Karakura, his children knew, and hadn't told him anything, almost as if he didn't exist, or as if they didn't think there was any reason for him to know. And suddenly Isshin understood, for the longest time he'd made his children believe he had no connection to the spiritual, so now they were returning the favor. Return was fair play, after all, even if it pained him deeply inside. He had tried to protect his family, doing something stupid, everyone who knew, even Ryuuken, had told him he was being stupid, but he was too stubborn to accept he was making a mistake. His children had given him a chance, a clean slate, when they had all been forced to come clean after Rukia's 'arrest' and then…and then he'd gone and ruined it, siding with Kisuke when he went behind the teens backs and contacted the Visored. It was hard to accept but…he had already lost Masaki, the love of his life, he didn't want to lose anyone else. He had tried to protect his family, even when they no longer needed protecting, and only managed to end up losing them all. He really was an idiot.
xXx
High in the sky of Karakura, the Sexta Espada, light blue-haired and blue-eyed Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez stood before a group of eight Arrancars. They were all dressed in the white black-trimmed uniforms of Aizen's followers, and Grimmjow certainly seemed to be the most powerful; five of those following him were his fraccion, while the last three were others who'd been part of the last 'assault' to Karakura and wanted a second chance to fight the humans who'd stood up to them before.
"There are quite a number of powerful individuals here." Grimmjow commented after sending a pesquisa to map out the town and get a trace of the possible opponents. "And, interestingly enough, most of them don't feel like shinigami…"
He knew how a shinigami felt, they all did, thanks to Aizen; and a good number of the presences he could sense in the human town, were nothing like that…that interested him, made him want even more to find the strongest person around and fight, prove he was the most powerful, prove he deserved to be King…
"Take on whoever you want, destroy all the spiritually aware you can." Grimmjow ordered. "But remember, that orange-haired shithead the sissy Ulquiorra mentioned is mine!"
Those who'd been in the first attack snorted, while they didn't believe the teen-aged shinigami to be too powerful, none of them really liked Grimmjow, and didn't believe he was too capable, or deserving, of his position among the Espada.
"Whatever." Yammy commented dismissively. "I'm only interested in finishing what I couldn't last time. That tall human with the odd hollow-like armor is mine, I'll make sure to fully break him this time."
"We'll make those who defeated us before pay, won't we sister?" Menoly asked her partner.
"We will." Loly agreed instantly.
"As you wish." Grimmjow said, not caring at all.
He knew what he'd sensed, he knew that a number of those spiritually aware had some actual power, and what that could possibly mean for those following him in that unplanned assault, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to care. Things like loyalty, solidarity, friendship, comradeship didn't exist in his vocabulary; a deep ingrained instinct in him seemed to whisper ever so often that they had existed once, that a trace of them remained in him; yet he chose to ignore it, it was easier that way.
Grimmjow watched how his Fraccion and the other Arrancars split, going after the strongest signals they could find. He was about to use his pesquisa again to track down the signal he'd identified earlier as the most powerful one in town, whom he guessed had to be the orange-haired shinigami from Ulquiorra's report when, suddenly, something else called his attention, an aura some deep buried instinct identified and yelled at the conscious part of his mind to follow, immediately.
Not quite knowing what he was doing, Grimmjow followed that aura, he soon noticed it was the same direction Loly and Menoly had gone in, which intrigued him a bit. He was curious who they could be so interested in destroying, and they were, most definitely, interested, considering how they'd zeroed in on that reiatsu and gone straight in that direction, ignoring all else, and even sending two of the Espada's Fraccion away when they'd tried to follow.
Taking advantage over the fact that his sonido was, by much, better than the two Arrancar girls', Grimmjow went ahead of them, reaching the two owners of the strange reiatsu before they did. What he found there actually confused him: they were two girls, dressed in casual winter clothes. One was dressed in dark colors, with short slightly-spiky black hair, a white bandana on her hair and seemed to have the lowest reiatsu signature of everyone spiritually aware enough to actually be detected.
The other was a girl who looked like she might be a bit older, in a sweater, knee-length skirt, tights, boots and a scarf, she had bright redish-orangeish-auburn hair and strangely sparkling blue pins on her hair. She actually felt a bit more powerful than the other girl, but other than that she didn't seem like much…and yet, something about her was drawing Grimmjow in, in a way nothing had in a very, very long time.
"They're here, Orihime-san." The dark-haired girl informed the light-haired one.
"I know." The light-haired one, Orihime, as Grimmjow could hear, nodded, it was obvious she'd already known that.
A few more seconds passed before the two female Arrancars arrived on the currently empty construction site where the two human girls were waiting for them.
Grimmjow was considering the possibility of hanging around and watching the fight, while he'd first thought, and still stood by the thought that the human girls weren't too strong, another instinct told him that the Arrancar sisters would lose; and, as a hollow, he knew better than to ignore his instincts.
And yet, right as it seemed like battles would break out any moment, Grimmjow sensed something else, the first of his Fraccion had fallen. It hadn't been even five minutes, and already the first had been destroyed; and that ripple of energy had come from the direction in which he'd detected the powerful orange-haired shinigami to be.
Making up his mind, Grimmjow directed a last look at the female stand off going on below him, before turning around and rushing away.
If he'd stayed, or looked back once more, he might have noticed the violet-gray eyes fixed exactly on the spot where he'd been standing until a second before.
xXx
Not far from the Kurosaki Clinic, in a thankfully empty street, Ichigo and Rukia stooped running rather abruptly as an Arrancar was suddenly standing less than ten feet away from them. Mostly acting on instinct Ichigo dropped into a fighting stance, left hand ready to fire either a cero or a hadou (depending on the time and the kind of power he thought was better), his right on the hilt of the still sealed Zangetsu.
"Wait Ichigo." Rukia stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Let me handle this one, please."
Ichigo hadn't been expecting that. He was about to refuse, arguing that it would be faster if he just got rid of the hollow already, it's not like he was that powerful, or at least Ichigo didn't sense him to be; then, surprisingly, Shiro spoke up, on Rukia's behalf.
*Let her, Aibou.* He told Ichigo in a no-nonsense tone.
*But…* Ichigo began mentally.
*Do you not trust her to handle this enemy?* Shiro inquired.
*Of course I trust her!* Ichigo answered instantly. *And if we're talking about power, the hollow is rather weak anyway.*
*The power doesn't matter, not right now Aibou.* Shiro informed him. *You must remember, your Rukia is a warrior. You knew that when you met her, knew it still when you broke into that Kuchiki meeting and claimed her for yourself, and even more so when you actually got on one knee and asked her to be your wife by all the laws of both worlds. Don't forget it now. She is a warrior, and even if she's normally peaceful, a part of her wants to fight, if you don't let her…you're only holding her back, hurting her.*
Ichigo nodded stoically. He obviously trusted Rukia, he just hadn't believed the enemy before them to be worthy of much; however, he hadn't realized how much he could hurt Rukia by denying her a chance to fight, even if the opponent was so weak…
"I'm sorry Rukia." He told her in a low voice. "I swear I'm not underestimating you. I know you're a warrior, and just how strong you are."
Rukia nodded, she'd known he wasn't trying to hurt her, even if she didn't fully understand why he hadn't wanted to allow her to fight.
"I just didn't think someone as weak as him deserved to have you take notice of him." Ichigo finished with a small smirk.
Rukia couldn't help it, she chuckled.
"Who are you calling weak?!" The Arrancar demanded. "You're nothing but insects, shinigami! Mere insects! While I am the great Di Roy Rinker, Numero 16 and fraccion of…"
"Hadou # 33, Soukatsui!" Rukia interrupted his speech with an incantationless hadou. "There! Enough blabbering, I though care who you are, or who you follow, you're an Arrancar, you're an enemy; I am a Nakama, Karakura is my town, and for thinking you had the right to attack us, you're going down."
Di Roy turned to looked at his burnt hand, he hadn't expected such a sudden attack to actually hurt him, even if it was just slightly; still, not even that changed his opinion that the shinigami were weak and he and the others would destroy them all.
"You're going down shinigami bitch!" He yelled as he went straight at Rukia. "Cero!"
Rukia dropped to the ground briefly and rolled to the side to evade the red attack before unsheathing and raising her zanpakutou just in time to block a knife-like hand move from the Arrancar, who had managed to get quite close to her.
"You aren't strong enough to defeat me, insect." Di Roy insisted, backhanding Rukia.
Rukia, who hadn't been expecting Di Roy's hand to not be cut in the slightest, even if her zanpakutou was sealed in that moment, was surprised by his next move, ending up half embed in the concrete wall nearby.
Ichigo for his part remained unmoving, almost impassive, standing on the branch of a nearby tree. He hated seeing Rukia being hit, but knew that aside from the surprise and some hurt that attack hadn't done that much to her. She was much stronger than her opponent.
Rukia blinked a couple of time before pushing herself off the wall. She recriminated herself for losing focus, however briefly, at the same time she silently thanked Ichigo for his faith in her, demonstrated by his remaining where he was, allowing her to handle the enemy.
The moment her feet touched the ground, and ignoring Di Roy's continued insistence that she would never defeat him, was an insect, and other insults on her person, Rukia began reciting a kidou incantation. She only got halfway through it before the Arrancar got enough brain-cells working to realize it was risky to allow her to finish; thankfully for her, and not so much for him, that was all she really needed.
"Hadou # 73 Souren Soukatsui!"
This time, Di Roy was wise enough to do his best to doge, though the attack still grazed him, enough to leave one of his arms badly burned as well as his side.
"I've had enough of you shinigami bitch!" Di Roy screamed. "This ends now!"
"Yes." Rukia agreed. "It does!" she spun her zanpakutou. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
She really hadn't wanted to call on Shirayuki, believing, like Ichigo, that such a low-level enemy didn't deserve it, and she actually wasn't planning on using any attacks. Just her summoning her shikai called on a brief snow rush around her, it didn't last long, and it wasn't too strong, however, it was strong enough to freeze Di Roy in place, and allow Rukia to choose how to finish him off. She briefly considered using one of the dances, but in the end decided it just wasn't worth it, and a hadou would work just as well; she even had one in mind which, even though she used it rarely, should do the job just fine.
As a loud crack in front of her announced that Di Roy was exerting enough brute force to begin breaking the ice holding him prisoner, Rukia began the incantation for the kidou she had in mind. It was a bit long and she had to recite it in full since it wasn't a kidou she was very familiar with, however, she still finished long before Di Roy could free more than half of him.
"You are done Di Roy Rinker." Rukia stated as she finished the incantation. "And now some information for you to take to whatever afterlife you may have after this one: my name is Kurosaki-Nagaken Rukia, Nakama, and you're now dead." She slashed at the air with her hand before calling. "Hadou # 54, Haien!"
The purple fire-like spiritual energy took a form that looked almost like a distorted oval or a strange boomerang and went straight at Di Roy, who even then kept yelling insults at Rukia, trying desperately to free himself. It was no use. The moment the hadou hit him, the Arrancar was completely incinerated.
"There, done." Rukia declared as she clapped her hands together in satisfaction.
A second later she almost jumped out of her skin as her feet no longer touched the ground, she found herself suddenly flushed against another body from head to toe.
"I…" She tried to complain, but soon couldn't find it in herself.
And it was that suddenly Ichigo was kissing her, not chastely as he did the few times they happened to kiss in a public place, no, instead it was an open-mouthed demanding kiss that had her limp in his arms almost instantly.
Eventually they had to break off to breath, and as she panted to get her breath back she wondered what had brought that up…
"Ichi…wha…?" She couldn't even ask the needed questions.
"What you just did…" Ichigo tried to find the words to explain, even as he remained as breathless as Rukia. "You looked absolute amazing…and so, so sexy…"
Rukia blushed to the roots of her hair at that.
Truth be told, even when they slept in the same room, the same bed, they hadn't been intimate yet, and they were in no rush to do so. In some ways, their relationship seemed to be already quite intimate, even without the sex. That part of the relationship would come eventually, just not yet. Maybe after they married in the human world…
Ichigo was still holding Rukia against him when suddenly the two of them became aware of the approaching reiatsu signature at the same time. The shinketsu held his beloved even tighter against him before pushing quite some reiatsu to his legs and feet, using it to push himself in a high leap, covering some distance in one jump.
A cloud of dust rose, and when it cleared a second later with a pulse of reiatsu, the couple saw yet another Arrancar standing where they'd been just a second before; there were cracks on the concrete all around him, and his fist had punched straight through it, in the very spot where the two had been.
"Bright orange hair, dressed in a shihakusho, and accompanied by a short black-haired bitch." Grimmjow declared as he watched the couple, paying special attention to Ichigo. "You are definitely the one Ulquiorra told us about!"
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, one arm still around Rukia, while in the other he held his unsheathed zanpakutou.
"Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez." The blue haired Arrancar introduced himself proudly. "And I'm here to annihilate you, shinigami."
xXx
Tatsuki and Renji had been together, taking a walk around the countryside, on the limits of Karakura. They'd had a good day, thanks in part to Kuchiki Byakuya who, for some not-quite known reason, had offered Renji a day off so he could go visit his girlfriend in the World of the Living. The redhead, of course, wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter that he had no idea of the reason for it.
If they actually stopped to consider it, so much had changed ever since the Nakama had first come in contact with the Gotei 13. For so long it had been forbidden for shinigami to connect with humans, reveal anything to them, influence their lives in any way and especially, have any kind of relationship with them. And yet, in that moment not only was Renji dating a human girl (past life notwithstanding): Tatsuki; but there were Ichigo and Rukia, regardless of the fact that he was a shinketsu shinigami, he was also, technically, human; there was also Karin's quasi-relationship with Captain Toushirou; and rumors about some dates between Chad and Kotetsu Isane on the ryoka's last trip to Soul Society, and of something between Yuzu and Yamada Hanatarou, the last which actually had the potential of being true given his considerably regular visits to the Human World in recent weeks, and especially since he was approved as liaison with Seireitei and the Gotei.
In any case, things were changing, Soul Society was changing, and no one could have any idea of how far the change might actually go.
The two lovers had become aware of the presences invading Karakura instantly. They also knew those presences had split, which meant the Nakama wouldn't be fighting together that night. The two immediately rushed using shunpo, taking advantage of the fact that Tatsuki had chosen to leave Kai in her body for the day, since Renji wasn't in a gigai and it was the best way to prevent those not spiritually aware from seeing her interacting with the air.
However, things got complicated when they noticed some strong reiatsu in two different directions. They could also sense reiatsu of other Nakama in both directions however, it wasn't that simple, because in one direction was Orihime, while in the other was Chad, alone.
"We need to split." Tatsuki stated what she thought was obvious.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Renji inquired.
"I think so." Tatsuki answered, not fully confident. "You know I'm abysmal at sensing reiatsu, not that you're much better. I have no idea if Orihime is alone or not, though I think Chad is, we cannot leave any of them alone…"
Renji knew she was right, and while he would much prefer to fight alongside his girlfriend, he understood that sometimes hard decisions had to be made. Nakama were in danger, and they had to do their best to help them, stand by them. They would have to split.
"Very well, I'll go with Chad, you go with Orihime." Renji stated.
Tatsuki nodded, even with the Nakama, Orihime would always be her main priority, the sweet, innocent, apparently-perpetually-happy girl reminded Tatsuki so much of the children she, as Shu-Yung, had cared for back in Rukongai, so many years ago…even before she'd been actually conscious of those memories, protecting the other girl had been a priority, that hadn't changed, and it probably never would.
And so, the two split, going in opposite directions, hoping it would be enough, that their choices would be for good and not for wrong…
Renji reached his goal first, found Chad fighting one of the Arrancar, blonde, the 'pretty boy' type, Renji would say. Chad seemed to be having some trouble with him, which didn't bode well when there was yet another Arrancar reiatsu fast approaching them.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji called on his shikai instantly.
He moved his zanpakutou just in time to deviate the attack the newly arrived Arrancar had sent at Chad's back the moment it had reached the empty lot they were all in.
"Such cowardly actions!" Renji commented as he retracted his zanpakutou.
"Who cares about cowardice or bravery?" The huge Arrancar who had just gotten there. "I don't. I only care about setting the record straight. I was shamed the last time I came to this fucking tone, I was the right to take my revenge! The bastard Grimmjow has claimed the orange-haired shithead for himself, so I'll take this one!"
It was then that Renji realized the huge Arrancar must have been part of the first incursion on Karakura, and he was going after Chad. That still didn't help Renji decide what he should do, how he should handle the situation.
"Renji, switch opponents with me." Chad helped him decide, by doing it himself.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Chad?" Renji inquired, not believing it to be one.
"The huge one there is Yammy Llargo, he was part of the first invasion on Karakura, weeks ago." Chad elaborated. "He wants to fight me, let him. Meanwhile, I'll leave this one to you."
Still not quite convinced, Renji agreed. It would be easier if each of them only had to worry about one enemy at a time, and with Yammy so hell-bent on fighting Chad…
So the fights began.
xXx
Karin had to push some reiatsu into her feet to stand on air after she was forced to jump off the nearby roof she'd been standing on before one of the Arrancar rushed at her. She didn't even stop to make questions or demands, the one before her was an enemy and that was all she needed to know, in an instant Karin had materialized her zanpakutou and called on her shikai.
"Interesting." The tall Arrancar commented. "You're a shinigami, though your clothes look somewhat different from the traditional ones…"
"What can I say?" Karin commented with a half-smirk. "I like to be different." She raised her zanpakutou. "Not like you'll have the time to fully understand what that means." She pointed her blade at the Arrancar. "Enmouchou!"
The blazing bird that emerged from the naginata was hot enough to leave some burns in the Arrancar's side, which actually surprised him; however, both him and Karin soon realized it wouldn't be enough. It looked like the Arrancar was going to comment on it, when Karin's next actions shut him up. She called on her Bankai. He had been just about to tell her she was good but not good enough, and then everything changed.
It took just a slash at thin air for the next firebird to come out, this one much hotter than the previous one. The Arrancar realized this, and dodged the attack as best he could, though he still ended a bit singed.
"I see." He commented. "This just keeps getting all the more and more interesting. Guess if I'm fighting a bankai wielding shinigami I should be polite and return the favor."
Karin knew what was coming, and while she didn't like it, she was hesitant to use her most powerful bankai-only attacks when she could end up affecting others, innocents. She was a Nakama, Karakura was her town, she would protect it, she wouldn't allow innocents to be hurt, not even if that allowed her to defeat her enemy.
"Snip, Tijereta." The Arrancar called on. "My name is Shawlong Kuofang, Numero 11, fraccion of the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez."
"Number eleven?" Karin inquired, curious. "Does that mean you're the 11th most powerful Arrancar, or something else entirely?"
"Interesting assumption." Shawlong commented. "But no, only the great Espada are numbered according to power; the rest of us are given or numbers in accordance to our own creation."
"Which means you must be the oldest among the Arrancars, excepting those possibly among the Espada." Karin assumed.
"Quite an interesting creature you are." Shawlong declared. "To be able to assume so much. It's such a shame you'll die tonight, little girl."
"I'm no little girl." Karin declared with pride. "I guess, since you introduced yourself, I should do the same. I'm Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami, former captain-candidate, prodigy and Nakama." Her voice turned to steel as she prepared to fight. "You and your companions made a huge mistake invading Karakura; but you won't be having the time to regret that. You're all going down!"
xXx
Keeva guided Orihime to the construction site near to where they'd been walking, the moment they knew hard battles were coming their ways. The reincarnated réalta had been visiting the sisters to learn more about the powers she may have had at one point, and how they related with what she could do with the Shun Shun Rikka. In fact, they had just ended the visit a few minutes before, and Keeva had insisted on accompanying Orihime to her apartment, since she had to run a couple of errands for Serenity anyway; and then their small talk had been interrupted by the arrival of the Arrancars…The pair had taken a detour, making their way to the empty construction site; they both guessed the Arrancars would be going after those with reiatsu, so it was better if they waited for them at a secluded location.
Orihime and Keeva stood there, waiting, they could sense the two somewhat strong reiatsu approaching them fast. For a moment four had been going their way, but then two had diverted their paths, leaving just the two that would reach them any moment, and yet…
"They're here, Orihime-san." Keeva informed her companion as she got on a stance.
"I know." Orihime replied, and she knew, but she also knew a lot more…
Orihime watched the two Arrancar pseudo-sisters as they stopped several feet away from her and Keeva, getting ready for the fight. Then something shifted, something only the violet-gray eyed girl seemed to be aware of. She turned to a side, eyes fixed on an empty spot, one that she was sure hadn't been empty just a fraction of a second before; she'd felt it…
The Arrancar sisters decided it was a good idea to take advantage of Orihime's apparent distraction and went straight at her; however, she wasn't quite as distracted as it seemed.
"Santen Kesshun! I reject!" Orihime called, quite calmly, in the last second.
The Arrancars backed down. Neither of them knew for sure what the gal might be capable of, either of them; though they did know that at least the older of the two had enough power to create unbreakable shields. That shield had been one of the causes for their shame after their previous visit to the Human world and it was something they wouldn't allow to happen again.
"Loly, we have to be intelligent here." Menoly, the blonde one said seriously. "We have to analyze what each of them are capable of and…"
"Forget analyzing!" Loly, the dark haired one screamed. "I'm going to destroy that monster!"
Without further ado, she shot straight at Orihime, who retracted her shield and flipped backwards to avoid the first attack; she could sense the reiatsu coming from the young-looking Arrancar, she was powerful. Orihime knew she would have to pull all the stops in order to defeat Loly, and Nibankyuu was a dangerous card to play when she might not have enough reiatsu herself to finish a technique, and since she was likely to end up unconscious or at least very dizzy once it was over. The best thing the violet-gray eyed teenager could do was to save her reiatsu as much as possible, using all her agility and martial arts prowess, then use her Shun Shun Rikka when an opening presented itself.
Keeva was quite different from Orihime, she didn't wait for the remaining Arrancar to make up her mind, instead leaping straight at her, beginning their own fight.
Menoly was taken off guard, enough that she was sent crashing against a nearby beam, groaning at the pain of impact.
"What the hell are you?!" Menoly demanded. "No human can possibly be that strong…"
"Keeva Castelo, Réalta Iarann." Keeva introduced herself as she dropped into a low fighting stance, the outline of her body sparkling slightly with her reiatsu. "Not that it's that important for you to know, since you won't be leaving this place alive…"
The girl had been a bit nervous a few seconds before, when noticing one of the reiatsu that had been going after her and Orihime at first, going in the direction of her lady. And yet…she knew there was no reason to worry, regardless of how she may act at times, Serenity was pretty capable of protecting herself…no, more than that, she was more than capable…stillm Keeva had her own enemy to fight, and she needed to focus on that.
xXx
At the same time, not too far from the construction site where a battle between two Arrancars and a possibly-once-réalta and a current one was taking place, Serenity stood behind the curtain of her closed balcony door. She was in her usual long skirt, blouse and veil, with some tights and long gloves added for good measure.
Some feet beyond her balcony, standing on empty air was what looked like a man with a tuft of red hair in white clothes rimmed in black. Serenity knew he was an Espada, and she knew just how powerful he was, the all-brawn no-brains kind. She also knew he was just trying to provoke her with his words.
"Come out insect…" The Arrancar called in sing-song. "Come out and let me kill you."
Serenity rolled her eyes at those words, did the Arrancar really think she was that stupid? In any case, she knew he was just trying to provoke her, which didn't mean she wouldn't answer, she would just do it in her own terms.
"Come out…" The Arrancar kept saying.
Finally the balcony glass-door was slid open and Serenity stepped out slowly, her feet had simple sandals on, with only her thick tights keeping her warm.
"Stupid woman." The arrancar insulted her. "To think you actually came out…you must not be very smart…"
"On the contrary, Corrupted One…" Serenity said in an empty tone. "I'm quite smart, much smarter than you actually."
"I'm not 'Corrupted One'." He cut her. "I am Edrad Liones, Número Trece, one of the…"
"I really do not care." Serenity interrupted him. "In any case, I didn't pretend to address you, I do not care who you are, who you serve, or anything about you at all. You are a Corrupted Spirit, one that must be vanquished for this world to stay safe, that's all I really need to know."
Edrad snorted, probably not buying that he could be capable of what she claimed.
"I know you came after me because you sensed very little reiatsu in me." Serenity went on. "You believed me weak, believed me to be easy prey. You were wrong, the only easy prey here, is you." She opened her eyes briefly to center herself. "Good bye, Corrupted One."
In a second Serenity raised both of her hands, which had been fisted tightly, then, as soon as she had them leveled with the Arrancar's form, she opened both abruptly. For a second nothing happened until, suddenly, the Arrancar began falling apart, a piece at a time.
"Wha…?!" He was shocked and suddenly very, very afraid. "What the hell is going on?! What are you doing to me witch?!"
Serenity let out a small, humorless chuckle.
"Witch…" She repeated with the same mirthless laugh. "How oddly feeling. And about what I'm doing to you, you do not really need to know, it's not like you can stop it anyway. The only thing that matters, is that you're done for, all those you may have killed, in this level of existence, and any other, can now rest in peace."
Without further ado Serenity spun around harshly, stepping back inside the apartment and closing the door behind her, not even bothering to remain in the balcony until the Arrancar finished dissolving, she just didn't care…
xXx
Renji was panting harshly as he made Zabimaru coil tightly around him, protecting him from the bull-horns of Ylfordt Granz's Resurreccion. Fighting the so-called Numero 15, has turned out to be more complicated that he had expected.
At first he'd tried not using his bankai, trying to see if he was strong enough to fight an Arrancar at shikai level; he wasn't. The complication was that, once his enemy was in Resurreccion, it made it all the harder for Renji himself to get the time to call on Bankai. Eventually he managed, though, and in that moment he was getting ready to unleash one last attack, to end the fight once and for all:
"Higa Zekkou!" Renji called as he swung Zabimaru's tail.
Yllfordt had just moved back slightly, getting ready for his next attack, he never got the chance. In a handful of seconds the segments of Hihio Zabimaru detached, surrounded the Arrancar, glowed once with Renji's red reiatsu and then shot straight at the horned enemy. He was down before he was fully conscious of what was going on.
Still panting, Renji lowered his arm, allowing Hihio Zabimaru to reform after the Arrancar dissolved into spirit particles. His bankai curled behind him, as the redheaded shinigami turned to where Chad was still fighting Yammy.
The tall, muscular human was panting himself, several serious bruises and cuts on his body, and it was likely that one or more of his bones were broken.
"You're nothing more than trash!" Yammy yelled at Chad right then. "And I'll prove that today! I'll kill you, and then I'll kill that redhead behind you, and every single person that was in that place that day…"
Renji, realizing the kind of threat that was, immediately got ready to fight against the Espada; however, he wasn't expecting for Chad to stop him.
"No Renji." Chad shook his head. "He's mine."
"But Chad…" Renji began, he could see that what his friend, his nakama, had been thus far just wasn't enough.
"Trust me." Chad told him. "I can take him."
Chad wasn't stupid, he realized how strong Yammy was; but he'd also just heard the threat the Espada had issued, and it wasn't something to be taken lightly: those words had achieved what Chad so sparsely allowed…
"I know you're strong Chad but…" Renji began.
"Things have changed now Renji." Chad interrupted him, as reiatsu began building around him, his arms, even more than before. "Because that bastard just made me mad…" a great deal of reiatsu focused on his left arm as the half-Mexican called. "Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo."