Well, here's another chapter for you guys. Enjoy.
Hollow speaking or thinking
Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking
Normal speaking or thinking
At the Urahara Shop, Yoruichi had been watching over Ichigo through the night and into the early morning after she brought him to the store to recover, with Tessai and Kisuke following her, the burly, bespectacled man carrying the other two boys on his shoulders. After she reached the shop and bandaged his wounds, she changed into her regular outfit so when he woke up, she could have a serious conversation with him. She continued to watch him rest, but other than that, she had nothing else to do other than retrieve he and his siblings' bodies from their house, but she quickly finished that task and placed them into their human bodies. This meant she had some time to herself and mull over her thoughts.
She always had been a proud and independent woman, never allowing herself to be tied down by her job or anyone else. The cocoa-skinned female was a free spirit, and even though she used to be the Squad 2 captain, leader of the Stealth Force, and Shihoin Clan Head, which would put a 90-foot long pole up anyone's ass from the perception of self-importance, Yoruichi didn't let that stop her from having fun and being herself. But she also never let the power go to her head and be like the snobbish and conceited nobles of the Soul Society's governing body and most of the other nobles that resided there. Kisuke and Tessai had helped keep her grounded and open-minded when they were growing up in her clan's compound, which translated into how she would do her jobs in the future.
She smiled at the thought of them hanging around the compound, making fun of and pulling practical jokes on some of the more stuck-up members and elders of her clan, and the games they played when they were little brats. 'If I never had those two to shape my life and views on life, I definitely would have become a different person than I am now.' Yoruichi's mind began drifting to what she might have been like and acted if she never met her friends. She quickly banished such thoughts from her head and pondered on another subject.
She knew she was an attractive woman and that fact alone had many suitors attempting to court her before she was exiled. She never gave them the time of day due to the fact that they only were after her because of her status, good looks, or sometimes both. That was why the ex-captain refused to marry unless she found a man that loved her for being her and not for her position, beauty, or status, but there were few of those people in the Seireitei. Kisuke might have been one of those few candidates and liked her for being herself, but dating him would be like dating family since they grew up together, and they both knew that. And he had a tendency to openly show how perverted he was, which annoyed her a lot. It had seemed she would never find someone.
Then she met Ichigo Kurosaki.
Ichigo was different from the men in the Soul Society. He was caring, sweet, and knew how to break the walls she would put up. Not only that, he was willing to fight for what he believed was right and had an aura about him that showed security and comfort, which would make anyone want to become close friends, allies or, in a girl's case, something more. The fact that he was a major badass and extremely good-looking was just icing on the cake, and she began to like him soon enough. At first, she thought it was just a schoolgirl crush that would go away, but soon she found herself wanting to spend time more and more often. It eventually progressed to her unconsciously knowing she was in love with him, but not wanting to admit it to herself. But after her discussion with Tatsuki, she had some time to truly think on what the Substitute meant to her. She realized she loved every part of him and couldn't stand the thought of her entire world without him. And deep down in her subconscious, she knew he felt the same about her.
When they had found Ichigo and his brothers lying on the ground bleeding and wounded, she wanted to cry, but steeled her nerves and cursed herself for ever allowing them to get involved with their world and fighting against Aizen. She never wanted him to get hurt this badly. Oh she knew there would be some injuries, but not ones coming from a highly skilled captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads. It was something she never wanted to happen to him again, but because of how well she knew him after all this time, Yoruichi knew Ichigo would just continue to push forward like nothing happened. It was what was so endearing about him to her.
Looking down at his sleeping figure, she cradled his head and gently stroked his untamable spikes. She sat there for a bit thinking so more before she heard a groan coming from the orangette. The teen slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. 'Must be in Kisuke's shop.' Then he looked up at the woman holding his head. "Hey." he quietly said, not sure to expect from the shorter female.
SMACK!
Ichigo's head went to the side after his teacher/crush slapped his face... hard. He could feel the sting from the slap and his cheek was red. Rubbing his face, he looked back at Yoruichi and widened his eyes when he saw that she had tears in her golden eyes. Of all the things he was thinking she would do, crying after slapping him was not one of them.
"You stupid jackass! What were you doing fighting a captain?!" she cried out. "Byakuya Kuchiki is one of the most skilled division leaders the Soul Society has! You, Benetto, and Randi could have been killed!"
"We only fought Renji Abarai, the lieutenant. We kept up with him and even had him on the ropes. Then we asked who their leader was, they answered, and we told them we wanted to talk to him about why they wanted to arrest Rukia when all she did was help a family. Byakuya said we could, then he just vanished and somehow cut us, but only in spots that stopped movement. He kept us alive for that reason alone." Ichigo retorted.
"Doesn't matter! I could have lost you... and then I'd be alone. I don't want to lose you, Ichigo." she fired back, though the angry reply became softer in tone at the end. She whispered softly, "I care about you too much for that to happen."
The tattooed teen sat up and took her dainty hands into his calloused ones. Looking into her eyes, he replied, "Trust me, I won't let that happen. You're the light in my entire world, Yoruichi."
Her breath hitched. 'Does he really mean...?' His face and eyes said it all. The chocolate Amazon felt her heart race. This was the moment she had been waiting for.
Slowly, she leaned in. Ichigo, realizing what she wanted to do, leaned in as well. Their lips met and they gently kissed for a good fifteen seconds. Then Yoruichi began to kiss more hungrily, almost daring to keep up with her, and he happily obliged. Tongues clashed against each other, fighting for dominance, both keeping the pace that she had set. Yoruichi put her hand behind the teenager's head and pulled him further into her lips while he wrapped his arms around her waist.
They pulled apart after five minutes and caught their breaths. "So that's what being kissed feels like." chirped Ichigo. Resting his forehead against hers, he smiled at her. "I've been wanting to tell you something ever since I realized it. I love you, Yoruichi Shihoin." he confessed, pouring out what he felt about this goddess among women.
The Shihoin princess was giddy on the inside. Her dream came true after all, even if it was just confirming what she wanted to believe. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that. I love you too, Ichigo Kurosaki. And no one is ever going to take you away from me, you hear that?" she playfully threatened her new boyfriend. She grabbed his shirt and quickly kissed him again with Ichigo eagerly returning it.
"You go, King! You finally bagged the Queen!" came the shouting from Hollow Zangetsu. Ichigo rolled his eyes internally and told him to shut up. However, a certain pervert ruined the special moment when he entered and saw the two kissing.
"If I said I wasn't expecting something like this, I'd be lying." giggled Urahara, who had just come in from checking in on Ichigo's brothers.
The lovers pulled apart and glared at him. "And why would you say that, Kisuke?" Yoruichi growled.
He flipped out his trademark paper fan and smirked. "I have had a suspicion as well as a theory about the both of you for a bit ever since I heard from Ichigo about his brothers having soulmates. That and you two connected with each other better than anyone else. So you just proved my theory to be correct," he answered. "You two are soulmates and the reason I can tell is both of you have a residual amount of each other's spirit energy in your signatures, this is basically the result of a pair of soulmates' energies being attracted to the other's and when the energies mix, they combine and re-enter your bodies, leaving an imprint of your soulmate's energy in your own signature and spiritual pressure. Very few soulmate pairs have ever been documented in the Soul Society, but what always happens every time is each Soul Reaper or Soul's Zanpakuto Spirit knows who their wielder's other half is instinctively and they are never wrong. I bet your spirits figured it out when you first met Yoruichi."
They widened their eyes. Ichigo looked at his girlfriend. "So Zangetsu knew this entire time. That's why he's been calling you 'the Queen'. He knew you were my soulmate." he told her.
She smiled. "That just reinforces what I told you before. You're not getting from me anytime soon. I am yours, and you are mine." He nodded his head and kissed her cheek lightly.
Kisuke then got a serious look on his face. "On a more serious note, how are you feeling, Ichigo? You three got hurt quite a bit by Captain Kuchiki."
The orange-haired Kurosaki said, "Yeah, I'm alright, the wounds weren't too serious. Other than stopping us from moving for a little bit, they didn't hurt too much. I have a feeling you want to discuss what happened with me and my brothers, right?" Kisuke nodded. "Are they awake yet?"
"No. Tessai is tending to them as we—"
"GOD DAMN IT, TESSAI! I DON"T NEED YOU DOING THAT!" screamed a pissed-off voice.
"Looks like Bennett's awake." said Urahara.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, MAN?! THAT"S JUST CREEPY!" came another angry voice.
"That's definitely Randy raging out. Just what did he do that got them so mad?" wondered Ichigo.
Yoruichi helped Ichigo get up and they walked to another room in the building. They opened the door and saw his brothers adorned in bandages and sitting up with an angry look on their faces and her friend dazed and sprawled out on the floor with a bleeding lip and busted nose. She cocked her head to the side in confusion while Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. Kisuke came in after that, but for all his intelligence, he could not figure out what exactly he was looking at.
Tessai slowly pulled himself off the ground into a sitting position, but was unfortunate enough to be seeing stars in his vision, though he was able to make out his longtime friends and their pupil that was currently not ticked at him standing at the door. He shook the stars out of his sight and cradled his lip and nose tenderly. "They're exceptionally strong when they're not in their soul forms, boss, and they definitely don't pull their punches either. Their fists are like steel." he said in a pained tone.
That caught Yoruichi and Kisuke off guard, though the pervert quickly recovered from his shock and went into thinking mode. Tessai was quite sturdy and much more built than the typical Soul Reaper and to knock him flat on his back and give him a bleeding and busted nose and lip was no small feat. Very few had done something like that to him and they were already fully-grown, mature adult Soul Reapers, but even then it took a lot of effort to damage the large man. For two human boys in the early stages of their mid-adolescent years to do that with a single punch from each of them was incredible (of course, the enhanced strength came from the mixture of all three spiritual races in their bodies and Kisuke knew that, but what he was trying to figure out was how the strength manifested in their human bodies and not in just their soul forms in the first place).
"Hmm..."
Yoruichi knew that look on Kisuke's face. "What are you thinking, Kisuke?" she whispered to him.
"I have a theory, but I shall address it later." he quietly responded. His musing was interrupted by Ichigo speaking up.
"What exactly did you do to them is what I would like to know, dude." asked the ginger-haired teen.
Randy barked out, "I'll tell you what he did, that creepy bastard hovered over our faces while we were knocked out and he was tending to us and the only reason we knew about it was because both of us woke up with his face less than six inches above ours." He shot a glare at the offender. "So we punched him in the face. Hard. Serves him right for being a creep!"
"They have a point, Tessai. You kind of deserved that. Sorry, but I'm just being honest. I highly recommend you not do that next time."
Urahara stopped any further discussion of the topic by saying, "Look, we are getting off track. We need to discuss with you three about what you plan to do now."
The three brothers agreed. "Alright..."
The end of the year had approached for the students of Karakura High and everyone was excited to be done with school for the year. The students were like ADHD kids hopped up on a massive amount of sugar, they just could not sit still to save their life. Luckily, it was the last class of the day and Ms. Ochi was finishing up talking to her students in her homeroom. "Don't do anything too stupid over the summer to get yourself killed, injured, or otherwise. Enjoy your vacation, everyone." The final bell rang throughout the school. "Class dismissed, see you all next school year."
All of the teenagers cheered and many of them rushed out the door to go home. However, three certain people were not thinking about how they were going to enjoy their vacation. The Kurosaki brothers were instead thinking about what Kisuke had talked to them about. They couldn't get their minds off what they were planning to do.
The three exiles and Substitutes had a lengthy discussion the previous night. The brothers wanted to save their friend from being executed and talk to the Head Captain as well to know why she was being arrested and explain the circumstances surrounding them, the exiles, and Aizen and his two fellow conspirators. Unfortunately, they didn't know if Head Captain Yamamoto would listen to them at all or just kill them for daring to invade the Soul Society, but they had to try. They saw Rukia's face when she was taken back to the Seireitei. She was very much in distress and afraid of what would happen if she was arrested.
Kisuke told Ichigo that he needed to talk to his Zanpakuto spirits and learn about the abilities of his Shikai as well as practice them and hone his other skills. He explained to Bennett and Randy that they needed to unlock their Shikai too and do the same as Ichigo when they did. But to survive the 13 Court Guard Squads, all of three had to learn their Bankai release. He had a plan to help them to unlock that power, but that would come later when they were already in the Soul Society, and he also told them that Uryu was conflicted because the Quincy had observed the fight and nearly jumped in to help them when they were fighting Byakuya and Renji but didn't because he was afraid of the consequences if the Soul Society made the discovery that there were some Quincies still around and decided to entirely eliminate them forever, which included him, his father, the Kurosaki teens and their younger siblings. Urahara gave them advice to make sure their cousin knew it wasn't his fault and they didn't blame him, which they didn't in the first place.
Yoruichi would be coming along with them to help, though she would have to sneak in her cat form because she was recognizable in her soul form. Ichigo was worried at first that if she was recognized and caught, they would execute her on the spot. His girlfriend responded to that by saying she would be fine and knew what she was doing as well as kissing him on the cheek and holding his hand. Right in front of his brothers and Tessai, all of whom did not know they had officially started dating. The blond teen and his raven-haired brother grinned when they saw the display of affection and they were happy for Ichigo. But they could congratulate him later.
They ended the discussion by saying they would be getting some help from some friends of Kisuke's that were in a situation similar to the three and their Zanpakutos, and they should also ask Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu to join them in rescuing Rukia. They needed all the help they could get.
"Do you guys know what happened to Rukia and where she is?" asked Chad's deep voice, snapping them out of their thoughts. They looked up and saw Chad, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Uryu standing in front of them.
"Hey guys, cuz. Yeah, we know where she is and what happened to her, and so does Uryu, but there's nothing good about why she left. You are really not going to like the news we have to share." lamented Bennett.
Randy sighed. "Rukia got taken back to the Soul Society. She didn't want to go, but she was arrested just for what she did the night we first met her. According to Kisuke, they're going to execute her as a criminal." Orihime gasped in fright and Chad stiffened quite visibly. Uryu, who knew that she was arrested but not that she would be executed, narrowed his eyes.
Tatsuki got mad when she heard what they said. "Why?! She helped save your family by unlocking your powers. You three never took her powers, you gained your own. And they're killing her for that?! That's not right!"
"I know, and we're going to stop this from happening. In less than two weeks, we are going to storm the Soul Society to rescue her and save her from being executed," explained Ichigo. "I know this is not fair to ask of you four, but we need any help we can get. I'm not going to lie to you, it is risky and will be dangerous. But that doesn't make a difference to us, Rukia saved us from death and we will do the same for her. Can we count on you to come with us to the Soul Society and save Rukia Kuchiki?" he pleaded.
"You got my help. You three are family and family members support each other in times of distress. Rukia's different, she's not like other Soul Reapers. She certainly doesn't deserve to be put to death just for saving your sisters and father." affirmed the Last Quincy.
"I haven't been the greatest friend since all four of us drifted apart all those years, it's time I started being in your corner again. I got your back, you guys, and don't ever forget that!" exclaimed the fiery tomboy.
Sado replied, "When we became friends, Ichigo told me we would watch each other's backs and you kept that promise every time. You three are my closest friends, there's nothing I wouldn't help you guys with. I'll watch your backs when we invade the Soul Society. I'm in." He gave a small nod to show he would not back down from the task that was asked of him.
The three boys looked at Orihime, expecting an answer from the auburn-haired girl. She nodded. "How could I say no? You need my assistance, you got it. Rukia needs us, all of us." the innocent girl answered. Though if she was being honest, she was worried about any of them not coming back in one piece, or even coming back at all. But she did not voice her concerns.
"Thanks, you guys," said an appreciative Randy. "Right now, our main concern is training and mastering our powers in order to stand a fighting chance against the 13 Court Guard Squads and their captains and lieutenants. If we don't do that, then we'll be slaughtered like the animal's in a butcher's shop."
"This is non-negotiable, it will keep you alive and in one piece," explained his redheaded brother. "I believe when Kisuke talked to you three at his store, he said my girlfriend would help you train with your respective powers and abilities. Go over there and get started on your training today."
The healer of the group widened her eyes at hearing her crush had a girlfriend. 'Oh no, please don't tell me...'
Tatsuki grinned when she absorbed the information from her friend. "Oh, and just who is your girlfriend, Ichigo? You did not have one the last time we talked." she cheekily teased the strawberry. If her hunch was right, then Yoruichi and Ichigo had confessed to each other and got together.
He smiled happily. "You, Orihime, and Chad met her at the Urahara Shop. Her name is Yoruichi Shihoin and... well, she's the best thing to happen to me in a long time. We love one another dearly, and according to Hat-and-Clogs, we're soulmates. It's like what Randy and Bennett have with the girls they love. It doesn't matter though, I don't think I could love anyone else like I love her."
Orihime knew that this was coming, but it still hurt that she couldn't be the one for Ichigo. She thought she would be able to get over the heartbreak in time, but looking at how she felt about hearing that he and Yoruichi were soulmates and meant to be together, she realized it would not be easy and it would be a while before she could stop feeling heartbroken.
The resident martial artist, on the other hand, was ecstatic to hear this. "Woah, I knew you two liked the other but I didn't know that you and Yoruichi were connected to each other that deeply. I'm happy for you, Ichigo," the Arisawa girl congratulated him. She looked at Uryu. "I assume that you are going to do training on your own since Kisuke and Yoruichi are not really able to teach you on your Quincy abilities." He nodded. Tatsuki turned to Yasutora and her best friend. "Come on, you two. You heard them, we need to train. So let's get going." The three empowered humans began walking to the Urahara Shop, leaving the group of cousins alone.
"Hey, Uryu?"
"Is something the matter, Bennett?"
"Can we discuss something? It relates to what Ichigo told all of you and involves me and Randy."
"Okay."
The next day, the three Substitutes were training with Yoruichi and Kisuke in the area below the shop, although one of them was in his Inner World and the others were exchanging blows with one of their two mentors. So far, Bennett and Randy were doing well, but they also had been conversing a little bit with their Zanpakuto spirits, who were refusing to give them Shikai until they understood what it was for and earned it, while they trained and were starting to get a little ticked at their inner selves for clamming up at an extremely bad time, not helping out at said bad time, and giving very little information to work with.
While this was occurring, their friends were resting so they didn't strain themselves from the training. They had trained a bit with Yoruichi before the three brothers started their own training. They, along with the two kids Chad had seen with Tessai, Jinta Hanakiri, the boy, and Ururu Tsumugiya, the girl, watched as Kisuke fought with Bennett and Yoruichi with Randy, the two exiles pushing the Substitutes to their limits. Tatsuki, unlike her two friends, was interested in the fighting style Ichigo's girlfriend was using and made a mental note to ask the former clan head to teach her in the style to add to her repertoire.
Meanwhile, Randy began to fight harder against the dark-skinned female and started pushing her a lot further than she thought he would. Unfortunately, that still did nothing to change his Inner spirits' minds. This continued for fifteen more minutes until he finally got fed up with them and couldn't take it any longer. 'What gives?! You two are not giving me any hints or advice here. I need Shikai or we'll never have a chance at surviving or saving Rukia. So why are you not telling me anything?!' he raged at his spirits.
"You have been close to unlocking your first release for a while, Randi, but raging like an angry berserker will not earn you any brownie points with us. Now, are you going to calm down some and listen to both of us or are you going to continue to flip out?" scolded the Hollowfied spirit.
He began to calm himself. 'Fine. What are you trying to say?'
"Randy, what have you always tried to do for your family? You know the answer to this question, this is important." the blond man in his head spoke.
He knew the answer immediately. 'After Mom died, I made a promise to make sure they never suffer pain or are harmed ever again. Mom no longer being with us crushed Dad and my siblings and it changed everything. Nothing was ever the same after that day. But I wanted them to be happy and not be sad again and for that to happen, I knew I would have to do everything in my power to stop anything that tried to hurt them or make them upset or scared, especially Yuzu and Karin.'
"But what are you going to do to stop those threats to your family? What do you think you will do to accomplish this?"
'I'm going to defeat them and never let them harm my family.' stated the teen, though he didn't know where they were going with this line of questioning.
"That's not going to work every time, Randy! That may work for regular humans if you just beat them up and leave them with broken bones and such, but in the supernatural world, you cannot allow your opponent to walk away from the fight! Aizen's army of Arrancars won't hesitate to kill you just because you are an enemy and neither will Aizen himself if he feels you are interfering with his plan to kill the Soul King or no longer of interest to him. Wake up! Sometimes it's necessary to end the threat you are facing permanently, especially if they are terrible people and threaten everyone and everything you care for. Do you understand now what we are saying?"
Randy lowered his head as he absorbed the information his spirits were giving to. 'Yes, I do. To make sure my family stays happy and not scared anymore, I must kill whoever threatens their safety and happiness if it's needed. I must have the guts and intelligence to know when to go for the kill and never turn back from that decision, or else I will die and so will my loved ones.'
The two spirits nodded. "You are ready, you have earned Shikai. You know our name, now say it!"
He gritted his teeth as he held his weapon. "GAIGETSU!" he shouted to the heavens.
Just like how it happened with Ichigo, an enormous wave of spiritual pressure rocketed from his body, blanketing the underground area and making it difficult for the people unprepared for the pressure to stand it. The dust from the ground kicked up from the torrent of wind that appeared and covered the area, no longer allowing people to see what was going on.
When the dust settled and the wind stopped howling, Randy stood with his newly unlocked Shikai, which was somewhat similar to his brother's, though it was different in its own ways.
Just like Ichigo's, it was a Dual Zanpakuto that had both manifestations as bladed weapons, one larger and one smaller. However, instead of an oversized Khyber knife, the bigger blade was a black, double-edged longsword sharpened to a deadly point. In addition to the sword, the smaller weapon was not a trench knife but a dagger in the same color as the larger blade. The finishing touch was a knuckleduster on each weapon's hilt that served as both an extra mode of attack and protection. All in all, it made for an awesome sight for one's eyes to behold.
Yoruichi whistled in surprise. "Well, I'll be damned. You were right, Kisuke. Randy has two blades as well. It makes me wonder what Bennett's blades are going to look like."
The pervert chuckled mockingly with a bit of false arrogance laced in his laugh. "Of course I'm right. There are two rules you should know when dealing with my intelligence. Rule Number One: I am always right. Rule Number Two: If I'm not right, refer to Rule Number One."
Randy and Bennett just looked at him like he was a dumbass. "Hat-and-Clogs, never act like that again. Arrogance is not a good look on anyone's face, especially on your ugly mug. It just makes you look like you are mentally challenged." the mohawked teen snarked, taking a potshot at the stupidly dressed man.
His sibling followed up with his own comment. "Though you do an excellent job of that already with your dopey clothes and overall looks, you dumbshit." He grinned maliciously at his remark. Yoruichi fell to the ground and rolled around laughing in the dirt. The two brothers just smirked and high-fived each other in victory. Their friends snickered. While they may have not known the man as long, what the blond said definitely summed up the ex-captain in a nutshell.
The aforementioned "dumbshit" just sulked in the corner, drawing circles in the sand and mumbling, "Why do my students always pick on me? These are clothes I like and fit me and my style well. And I'm not challenged mentally. Why me?" To the onlookers, he was just being a big pouting baby, and they continued to laugh at his misfortune, his best friend especially.
After five minutes of hysterical laughter, the sole female exile finally stopped laughing and stood up. She said, "Whew! Alright Kisuke, stop your pouting and get over here. We need to get back to business."
Faster than the human eye could see, the genius popped up like nothing had happened at all and sported a cheery grin as if he was bipolar, switching from one mood to the next. "Randy, reseal your Zanapakutos like Ichigo did, if you don't mind."
He did so and the longsword and dagger turned back into a katana. "God, you three are just terrifying. Not only does your mixed heritage allow you to have superhuman abilities in your soul form, but it has bled over and manifested into your human body, which I had already figured out from . Add in the fact that all of you may just have Dual Zanpakuto and you could very well have three captain-class warriors who'd just mow down just about any enemy that would be thrown at you. I feel sorry for any human who tried to pick a fight with you, they would get demolished." Kisuke said in an awe-filled tone.
A couple seconds later, the orange-haired teen appeared next to the group with both of his swords released. "How was training with Zangetsu, Ichigo?" asked Kisuke.
"Productive, to say the least. They explained the abilities and attacks my Shikai has and in addition, they helped me gain experience using my abilities and release state by having me practice them and spar with them inside my Inner World using both blades as well as just the larger blade. But jeez, dude. The old man and Zangetsu are... I guess an appropriate description would be 'battle maniacs'. Though that fact probably says a lot about me as well as my personality." He snickered a little when he thought about it, it did describe him to a point as well. "Moving on, they told me that when I release my Shikai, all of my natural abilities are exponentially increased. It's kind of scary to think about the potential it has if that's just my Shikai, imagine my Bankai. One of the attacks I have is this..." Ichigo drew his giant Khyber knife and held it steady while looking straight at a large rock formation. He reached back with his sword and swung forward in an arc. "Getsuga Tensho!" he roared.
A black crescent of spirit energy shot out from the sword and zoomed toward the rocks, hitting it and completely demolishing it. His girlfriend and Kisuke widened their eyes in shock, as did Bennett and Randy.
Ichigo held his free hand up to stop them from talking. "I can also unleash that attack from my smaller blade too. I can do something else as well." He pulled out his knife and proceeded to replicate the motion he performed with the larger sword. "Getsuga Jujisho!" A gold-colored cross of energy reminiscent of an "X" appeared, racing to a just as large second rock and eradicated it, with no sign of the target left over.
"Hold on, I got one more." The strawberry held out his weapons in a ninety degree angle and shouted out, "Tsuki no Kohai-sha!" Two large and extremely hot laser beams of energy showed up from the tips and scorched the ground while shooting towards the wall and leaving a large crater in it.
The owner of the facility was less than pleased. "Thanks a lot, Ichigo! You destroyed part of my training area!" Kisuke ranted.
"You're a genius, Hat-and-Clogs. You can rebuild it in no time, so why should this bother you?" questioned the orangette.
Urahara sighed in resignation. "Anyway, I have seen your Getsuga Tensho before, it's your dad's primary attack. Looks like you inherited the ability from him since you're his child and have a Getsu Zanpakuto. Randy and Bennett most likely will have a Getsuga Tensho and Jujisho attack and your natural skills increase as well because of them having two swords and being your siblings, though since each Zanpakuto is unique, they probably will not have your last attack but something else. " He looked at the time on his watch. "Bennett and Randy can go take a break. Orihime, Tatuski, and Chad can continue their training with Yoruichi. Ichigo, you should go home and rest for now. I recommend you continue practicing in your Inner World while you sleep because the experience will transfer over to your in the real world."
"Sounds good to me. See you guys."
Over the next week, the training went extremely well. All of them made improvements to themselves to make sure they were ready for the invasion. Chad learned how to enhance his punch with his spirit energy, Tatsuki was taught by the Shihoin princess on the Hakuda fighting style and learned some new techniques with her electricity, Orihime strengthened her shields so they would break as easily, and Uryu practiced honing his skills and trained to learn new attacks.
Meanwhile, the three Substitute Soul Reapers were improving by leaps and bounds. They each had Uryu train them in Hirenkyaku to give them an edge (they recently had an idea that they wanted to experiment with, but they needed Tia and Nel to join them in Karakura Town and teach them about Arrancar techniques). Not only that, Randy learned the exponential skill increase and their signature Getsuga Tensho as well the Getsuga Jujisho and his own special attack unique to him, the Nagareboshi Satsujin, a column of highly explosive spirit energy that erupted from the ground like a geyser when the two swords were stabbed into the ground. As Ichigo had done with his own Zanpakuto spirits, he named them as well, the Hollow spirit was Gaigetsu and the Quincy spirit was Jugo. Another piece of good news was that Bennett unlocked his Shikai which had pleased him greatly, but he really didn't like what Kisuke had tried to do to get back at him for the comments he and his brother had made about his style of clothes and intelligence after he had acquired the release state.
The raven-haired Kurosaki skidded back against the dirt as Urahara kept going after his hair, making the punk teen pissed off. No matter what he did, the stubborn bastard just never went for anywhere but the hair on the top of his head. 'I'm guessing this is payback for calling him mentally challenged and poking fun at his clothes and looks.'
"Nooooo, what makes you say that, Bennett?" said his Hollow spirit sarcastically.
'You're mocking me, aren't you?'
"Well I'm certainly not asking you out on a date, that's Tia's job, hahaha!"
"You moron, you are not helping anything by being an sarcastic dipshit.' the redheaded Quincy fragment pointed out.
While the conversation in his head was going on, the pervert located outside of Bennett's Inner World poured on the intensity of his attacks. The slashing and swinging increased in power and forced Bennett on the defense yet again.
However, the reflections continued to talk with their wielder. 'Any advice, you guys? What am I not understanding that is preventing me from attaining Shikai?' he spoke to the voices in his head.
"Looks like you need one last push to do this. Do you know when you are at your strongest, Bennett?"
'I'm not really sure, I think it would be when I'm fighting and I have trained myself to win that fight.'
"You are partially correct and while training may be a great assistance for fighting, that is not what I am talking about. You fight at your highest level when you are fighting for something you believe in. Do you understand?"
'I think so, you're saying that when I fight for a cause I believe is righteous or just, I will be stronger than ever.' Bennett answered.
"Yes, but what if someone says your cause is false or they want you to stop fighting for that cause? Would you no longer fight for what you believe in? Or what about when they want to kill you just for being on the side of one they themselves don't see as right? Would you waver and give up to stay safe? The Soul Society may very well do any of these things to you, Bennett. Do you know what I am trying to get you to realize?" asked the mohawked redhead.
The Kurosaki teen nodded his head. 'To be at my strongest and very best, I must fight for a cause I believe in. And when someone tries to sway my mind, I cannot waver or stray from my path. I mustn't compromise my beliefs no matter what happens or is said to me.'
Both reflections grinned. "That is what we wanted to hear. You've unlocked your first release state, release your Shikai!"
"SHUGETSU!"
The theme for Bennett's Shikai state was the same as his brothers', a large blade and a small blade, which was not surprising to Kisuke when he saw it and confirmed his theory. The Shikai was the combination of a black nodachi with a wider blade than normal as the bigger weapon and a similarly colored tanto to go with it as the smaller counterpart.
As with Ichigo and Randy, he knew the ability upgrade, both Getsuga attacks and his own attack, the Soradesukyanon, a barrage of speedy cannonball-sized energy orbs that came from the tips of the blades and fired just by pointing the tips at the target. It was just as destructive as his siblings' abilities. Another thing was Bennett following in their footsteps, calling the Hollow reflection Shugetsu and the Quincy spirit Bazz, as to give them their own identities and not confuse them when he talked to both.
Like their former sparring partner, they also received training in Hakuda to gain an edge, though Yoruichi said they would not need to train much in the art since they had practiced karate and the Soul Society was basically a dimension that was sort of stuck in a past Japanese time period, they most likely hadn't seen other fighting styles other than the standard Soul Reaper hand-to-hand combat style and Bennett, Ichigo, and Randy could mix up and combine both styles to surprise their opponents. All in all, they were very close to being ready to rescue Rukia.
It was the last week of training and Ichigo and Yoruichi decided to go on a walk around the town and a date to relax and take time off from training while Randy and Bennett spent time at the empty park listening to some music to pass the time.
A little while later into the day, something major happened. A garganta opened up in a secluded area in the town and a few female figures fell out and collapsed to the ground, one of them closing the rip in space and shutting the portal to Hueco Mundo before they had crumpled in a heap.
All five of the women slowly dragged themselves to a grassy area, their wounds starting to paint the grass. The woman wearing a jacket told her companions, "We're out of there, for good... though it might have been for nothing, if we don't get medical attention soon, we will die here for sure."
One of her allies thought of an idea that could save them "We should try flaring our spiritual pressure, maybe they'll find us if we do." They did so at the same time they slumped against a large tree. All that was left was to hope for the best.
While Ichigo and Yoruichi walked around the the restaurant district in the downtown area, they sensed the pressures and initially assumed a group of Hollows had snuck into the World of the Living, but upon reading the signatures a second time, both of them realized the presences were comprised of Soul Reaper and Hollow spirit energy and belonged to several injured Arrancars. They exited their bodies and rushed toward the source to see what was wrong.
Meanwhile, the two brothers at the park continued to be at ease and listen to the music on their phones when they felt the strong, but quickly fading pulses of five different spiritual pressures, two of them they were intimately familiar with. They recognized the two pressures almost instantly.
"Oh no, no no no no no. This can't be happening! Please don't let her be dead!" cried the taller boy.
"Why did it have to be her, I never wanted her to get hurt! Oh god, I need to find her before she dies!" wailed the other teen simultaneously.
They each popped their Mod-Soul into their mouths and exited their bodies, telling their replacements to go to Kisuke's and wait for them there. Leaving no room for argument, the two substitutes combined both Hirenkyaku and Flash Step to go faster than they had ever gone.
Arriving at the grassy clearing where the pressures were located, they were shocked to see their other halves for the first time in person. Unfortunately, there was no time for that as they saw the wounds on Tia, her Fracciones, and Nel's bodies, their clothes sporting slashes and cuts, and the dirt and blood covering them.
"TIA/NEL!" they both screamed in agony.
The bombshells opened their eyes and smiled weakly. 'They are really here, we can finally be together. Randy's much more handsome now that I am seeing him in the flesh for the first time.' "Randi... you came. I'm so happy..." coughed out the ram horned Arrancar.
"It's nice to finally see you outside of your Inner World for the first time, Benetto. " Pain racked Tia's body, her entire being felt cold, which wasn't a good sign.
They scooped the two women into their arms bridal style. "You are not dying on us, you understand? You two are too strong for that!" Randy said. "We're going to get you help, just hang on."
Yoruichi and her boyfriend arrived on the scene just as his brothers hoisted the busty blonde bombshell and her equally busty greenette friend and widened their eyes when they saw what the problem was. "Is that—"
"Yes, it's them. Yoruichi, call Kisuke now, inform him of the situation, and get him to have Tessai ready to administer medical aid! They are in danger of dying!" Bennett shouted in a panic. "Carry Tia's Fracciones to the shop, they are in equally bad shape. Hurry!" They blurred out of existence, using the same combination of Quincy and Soul Reaper travel techniques to travel back.
Yoruichi got out her personal cell phone and called her friend who picked up on the second ring. "Kisuke, I don't have time for your stupid antics and bullshit right now. Help Tessai get the rooms in the shop prepared for 5 people who need immediate first aid. Do it right now, this is a matter of life and death!" She ended the call and shoved the device back into her pocket of her leggings. "Do you think you are able to carry two of them at once quickly? I know you have the strength, I'm asking if you can do it while using your unfinished technique without dropping them." she asked her soulmate.
"Yes, I can definitely do that. Let's hurry." He placed Mila Rose and Apacci on his back and looped their arms around his neck while his lover picked up Sung-Sun and put the snake Arrancar over her shoulder. They secured the 3 females, nodded to each other, and disappeared from sight from using their high-speed travel abilities with an extreme sense of urgency, making their way to the Urahara Shop.
But what none of them wanted to think about was a single question looming at the back of their minds...
What exactly would Bennett and Randy do if they did not save the two Arrancars and their comrades?
That was a scenario no one wanted to experience...
And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming, please (and holy shit, my longest chapter yet. Damn, 8,000 words).
I originally had an almost entirely different concept of how Bennett's Shikai would be and look like when I first talked to my anonymous friend who was giving advice to me on this story. You remember them, right? I talked about them in the second chapter. Well, I decided to go with a different idea instead of my first one. I had the idea and I thought about using it, but upon some further thinking and visualization, I realized it would not work as well as the one that is in the story. The Shikai I envisioned was a pair of katanas combined with either a kusarigama (if you don't know what that is, look up the For Honor Shinobi hero's weapons and it is an accurate visual of the real thing) or rope-dart (the most similar weapon to Mortal Kombat's Scorpion's chained kunai). Looking back on the concept, I don't think Bennett would have been able to fight battles with weapons like that and it would be hard to write the fights as well. Fortunately, I figured out a better solution and idea, and the new Shikai is the one I came up with. Randy's Shikai was in the same boat, though it had some parts stay the same (the knuckledusters/brass knuckles). It would have been a katana either held normally or in a reverse grip, depending on the scenario, with the duster connected to where the hand would go, and a combat knife always held in a reverse grip, also with a knuckleduster on the spot.
If anyone was looking forward to Dual Zanpakutos that were conceptually different from Ichigo's, I am sorry if I disappointed you (I also apologize to my anonymous friend for the same thing), but I have a reason. The way I see it, since the three main characters are triplets and have a manifestation of their Quincy powers and their Hollowfied Zanpakuto spirit, which come from White being split between them, as representations as their powers/heritage, they are bound to have a similar concept for weapons to the other two. In canon, Aizen created the circumstances which lead to Ichigo being born and him being the unique result of Aizen's experiment. Benetto, Randi, and Ichigo are brothers, so it would actually make sense for this to happen and there is some logic behind this line of thinking. Just think about this if I did not do what you wanted to see.
One last thing: the google translations for the original attacks I created. I shall list them for you:
Tsuki no Kohai-sha: Moon Devastator.
Nagareboshi Satsujin: Falling Star Homicide. (The name is a reference to a song by the Nu metal band Emmure, which itself is a reference to the Dragon Ball series)
Soradesukyanon: Solar Death Cannon.
Crash, out.