Hello! We're back with another chapter of this insane story! (Insane it might be, but I'm extremely proud of it).
So much has happened in recent chapters, that at times I have to wonder if everyone's noticing everything, but if I make the chapters longer there will also end up being more of them, a lot more, and it's already going to take almost a whole year to get this posted as it is so... I just hope you're all enjoying this, whether you're commenting or not.
For those of you who've been waiting for "Jigoku-Hen"... (you know who you are). Here we are! The time has come and we're all heading to Hell (just in case the chapter-title didn't give it away). This is actually one of my favorite chapters, so much happens! From the moment the movie first came out I knew a lot of what I wanted to do with this part; though I also got some ideas that I loved and thus made me change a few things around. In short, I love this chapter and I hope you will too.
Most of the events of the movie (all the important ones) take place in this piece, a few details and the aftermath will come next week. So, enjoy!
Chapter 44. Abandon All Hope
It began with a freaky accident at school one Friday in mid-March. The past weeks since the end of Gin's trial, and especially since the end of the battles against Aizen and his Espada the week before that, had been rather quiet. Something everyone in both worlds had taken advantage of as they focused on recovering. Orihime… she was clearly making an effort, smiling and reassuring everyone that she was alright, but it was quite clear to all her nakama that she wasn't. Grimmjow was with her practically all the time, and there came a moment when he thought he might have to protect his princess even from herself…
"I'm not going to commit suicide Grimmjow-kun." Orihime told him gently after he admitted to his fear one day. "I know that wouldn't be right. Ul… he sacrificed himself for me, to save me. And as much as I might wish he hadn't done it, or that I'd been able to save him. Giving up this life so callously would be an insult to his memory, and that I won't do."
Much as it might hurt her sometimes, to have to live without him. She'd found him, after looking for so long, two whole lifetimes! And then she lost him again. It wasn't fair! But to the words she'd told Grimmjow she'd hold. The worst part sometimes was having to act 'normal' in front of their classmates. The official story (shared by Chizuru and Keigo) was that Orihime had met a boy, fallen in love hard and ran away with him. They'd been planning on marrying. It was all supposed to be a secret because his family wouldn't have approved… or something. But then he'd died in a traffic accident. There had, in fact, been a rather serious traffic accident in Kyoto a few days before Orihime was seen back in Karakura. Five people had died, and the names had never been given, out of respect for the families, though there were rumors that the rich son of a businessman had been among the victims. It all fit the story, and after some 'insistence' on Chizuru's and Tatsuki's part, their classmates stopped asking questions.
When Squad 12 first detected that something odd was going on, the Nakama and the Fullbringers were immediately on alert, though they weren't expected to have to get involved. At least not until Renji with a warning early Friday morning.
"They detected traces of hell in this world?!" Ichigo repeated, not quite able to comprehend what that was supposed to mean.
"That's right, according to Urahara-taichou, the Gates have appeared and opened several times over the last week." Renji nodded. "That's an anomaly in that never before had it happened so many times in such a limited span of time. And there are no reports of any particular deaths at those times either, or particularly difficult hollows either so…"
Of course, because the Gates were only supposed to appear to take those who'd done some heinous crime while alive. The gates could take spirits or hollows, it didn't matter, if they'd committed heinous crimes when alive, hell could claim them. And while Ichigo wasn't one to keep up with the news exactly, he was sure that if some criminal had died recently, he'd have heard about it; and if there had been hollows around that ended going to hell he most definitely would have known about it. In his whole life he'd only ever seen the Gates appearing twice. First for that hollow that had been a serial killer in life, and then for Ulquiorra, whatever he might have done in life to deserve hell Ichigo didn't know, and he'd rather not ask.
The school had been working on some renovations, so there was a lot of scaffolding on the front of the building, and students had been warned to be careful whenever they were walking by it. Of course, no one was expecting for a good part of it to just creak and then collapse for seemingly no reason at all. A couple of girls in the lower years had almost gotten killed, they would have if Keeva hadn't moved fast enough (using some of her powers) to pull one of them out of the way in the nick of time, while Chad simply stood above the other, the wood and metal falling on him. He was strong though and didn't buckle under the weight. Even then, the moment they were in private Yuzu made sure to heal him, for which he was thankful.
There was a lot of gossip regarding the possible reasons for the accident, but the nakama said nothing at all. At least not until Ichigo lead them to the cordoned off area once classes were over. One look and Uryuu was crouched in front of it, a hand lightly touching one of the pieces.
"Do you sense something?" Tatsuki asked, running out of patience incredibly fast.
"Yeah… it's very minimal, but it's still here." Uryuu answered thoughtfully. "But it's not like anything I've sensed before."
"What does that mean?" Ichigo didn't like the implications.
"It's not a hollow or a spirit." Uryuu began enlisting. "And it's not a human with special powers, like Chad, Orihime or Keeva. Moreover, it's not a shinigami either. Anyway, it seems certain that something is going on."
Ichigo exhaled, he wished Orihime were there, she was the best from all of them at reading reiatsu. But she'd left the moment the last school bell rang, something that wasn't uncommon these days. And truth was he wasn't sure if he should even get her involved, if the 'accident' was connected with what Urahara had been picking up, that meant Hell, and the last thing Orihime needed was a reminder of her loss.
"Yeah well, we knew that already." Tatsuki retorted. "What we need to know is…"
She never got to finish what she was saying though, for suddenly they all sensed the reiatsu approaching, fast.
"Bakudo #39, Enkosen!" Rukia and Ichigo reacted in record time.
The later was still a bit touch-and-go when it came to kidou, but they'd discovered that when he did it with Rukia, his spell would reinforce hers. They suspected their bond might be to blame (or thank) for it.
Even then, the shield was barely enough to hold the attack, and it broke almost immediately, throwing them both back and through the air. Though luckily Ichigo had a good physical condition in both spiritual and physical forms and managed to right himself in the air, landing on one knee, holding Rukia with one arm against his chest.
"Take them up!" He ordered the rest. "We need to keep them away from the people!"
He'd no idea who was attacking them exactly, but his priority would always be to protect as many people as he could. They couldn't fight so close to the school. Even with classes over, many people had clubs, or simply were the kind to hang around before going home. The Nakama couldn't risk their classmates.
It took several very long seconds for Ichigo, Rukia, Karin (while only seniors had classes that ended that late, she'd been at her club, and thus still at the school) and Tatsuki to get out of their bodies, leaving their gikon with Keigo, Chizuru and Mizuiro. They'd just made it to the roof and were observing Uryuu, Keeva and Chad fighting, waiting for the best moment to intervene, when Rukia and Ichigo sensed the same thing at the same time.
"Homura! Shizuku!" The two cried out.
That was their children's reiatsu that had just spiked!
"Go!" Tatsuki ordered.
"But…" They couldn't help but turn to look at their nakama.
"You won't give it your all if you're distracted by your children anyway." Tatsuki pointed out. "Go, make sure they're okay, then come back to help us."
"Yuzu might be with them already, but you know oyaji left for that overnight conference, she and your kids might need help." Karin added for good measure before pulling out her zanpakutou and calling her shikai: "Fly across the fiery heavens. Tenreikou!"
It cost her to stay behind, but she could tell there were more enemies at the school than at the clinic, so stay she would. Uryuu took his attention away from his enemy for a moment to nod at the shinigami pair. Who nodded back at him before shunpoing away.
xXx
Ichigo and Rukia got to the Kurosaki Clinic just in time to watch a strange being, cloaked, with tentacles instead of arms, holding an unconscious Yuzu and pulling her through an odd-looking portal high in the sky.
"Yuzu!" Ichigo screamed as he went right past shikai and straight to bankai, even taking some power from Shiro to move as fast as possible, though it just wasn't enough. "YUZU!"
Rukia was horrified, yet the moment she heard her children calling, she couldn't help but rush towards where they stood, just inside the Kurosaki clinic. Rukia could sense the traces of a kekkai, and she suddenly had a very good idea of how Yuzu ended unconscious in the hands of those monsters.
"Kaa-chan!" The two children cried in distress. "Yuzu-ba-chan…"
They were clearly distraught, not only for having those monsters after them, but it was clear that they knew their aunt had been captured while protecting them…
There was another cloaked and masked individual, one who seemed to be able to conjure fire and he attacked Ichigo. Starting a short but intense duel. The real problem was that Ichigo was so distraught by what he'd just seen, he just wasn't completely in the fight. It was probably a good thing when a man with a scarf that covered most of his face, and carrying a distorted blade arrived and helped Ichigo in the nick of time, somehow managing to deflect an attack before it could hit Ichigo straight on, instead there was an explosion in the distance.
"Give Yuzu back!" Ichigo yelled at the pyrokinetic.
The pyro didn't just ignore Ichigo, but he shot fire straight at the clinic. Ichigo shot towards it, but he just knew he wasn't going to make it there in time. First Yuzu was taken, and then his wife and children were about to be burnt in front of his eyes…
The fire never did hit them. Though Ichigo didn't realize who it was that had just saved those he loved most, until they all saw him fall:
"Chad!"
Uryuu and Karin arrived a fraction of a second later. The latter already in bankai began shooting fire at the person who'd almost killed her family straight out. Uryuu for his part went to take a defensive stance in front of the Kurosakis, just in case. It was for naught, as the pyro disappeared a moment later.
"I'm calling Isane-san!" Rukia announced, soul-phone already in hand.
Usually they could have called Orihime, but being depressed meant her powers weren't as good as they'd usually be. Also, since Chad was the one hurt, his girlfriend would probably want to be there for him anyway.
Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, when a voice echoing across the sky called every Nakama's attention:
"We are the Togabito from Hell. If you want to help your sister then you will help us out."
"Teme!" Ichigo cursed, looking around and finding no one. "Show yourself!"
"We have only one wish." The echoing voice continued. "To be free from hell. And we need your power for this."
Ichigo noticed something from the corner of his eye and turned ready to attack, but Karin was faster than him:
"Enmouchou!" Karin yelled, pouring as much reiatsu as she could into the attack.
The Togabito was there, and he blocked the attack, before turning back to Ichigo:
"Destroy Hell's Gate, Kurosaki Ichigo. If you do that, I'll return your sister to you."
And with that, the masked one was gone. Ichigo almost went completely nuts. Heading straight for the man who'd also appeared out of nowhere and demanding explanations. In the end Rukia was the only one who could calm him and convince them that they should go into the clinic.
Things really weren't good. Renji and most of the missing Nakama arrived shortly after Isane, Hanatarou and Toushirou. Keeva was unconscious, and Tatsuki was badly hurt, as they'd taken a direct attack to protect several of their classmates (Chizuru, Mizuiro and Keigo had done their best to lead them away but as always there were those who were just too curious for their own good, and who would look for the origin of the explosions instead of running away from them). All their classmates had really seen was an explosion coming out of nowhere that had knocked out Keeva (as Tatsuki was a soul and therefore not visible to them); that, at least, finally convinced them to get away from there.
It took a lot of time to calm down Homura and Shizuku, who both kept crying and apologizing and blaming themselves for what had happened to their gentle aunt.
"She told us to stay inside the clinic, and then she went out and put up that kekkai." Homura related. "Muramasa did his best to help her but they were too strong!"
"We're sorry!" Shizuku wailed "Kaa-san! Tou-san!"
"Shizuku, Homura, listen to me." Ichigo was so serious that the children did stop and focused on him. "Never, and I do mean never, blame yourselves for someone choosing to protect you." When it looked like they might insist on it he raised a hand to stall them. "I know how you feel. I know because I've been where you are now. Yailen-nee-san, and my kaa-san, they both died to save me. Your own kaa-san gave herself up to Seireitei to save me once. And each time I blamed myself. I tortured myself for their choices, I didn't realize that by doing that I was diminishing their decisions. I was making it about me, when it was them who decided to do what they did. And they did it because they cared for me, they loved me and wanted to protect me. Now I no longer blame myself, instead I try very hard to make sure their sacrifices were worth it."
Most of the Nakama said nothing. They'd been quite aware of most of what he'd just said, even though he'd never spoken about it so candidly.
"They were, and they are, always Ichigo." Rukia assured him quietly.
Homura and Shizuku said nothing else, they just threw themselves at Ichigo, embracing him tightly and refusing to let go for a good while.
Rukia just smiled at the scene. There was a warm feeling in her heart as she realized that maybe, just maybe, Ichigo had finally healed from the loss of his mom, and Yailen. And besides, Yuzu wasn't dead. They would save her!
Orihime and Grimmjow were the last to arrive. He was in the modern clothes he'd begun to favor since leaving Hueco Mundo: off-white pants and a black button-up; though by the fragment of mask on the side of his jaw it was clear he was in soul form. Orihime for her part was in a cream colored yukata with a branch of white and pale pink cherry blossoms in her back and small flowers and petals that seemed to be floating everywhere; a dark pink obi around her waist and simple sandals on her feet. A scarf that seemed to mix all the different colors of her yukata was covering her hair.
"Grimmjow what the hell?!" Uryuu explained the moment he saw the former Espada.
"The Gotei isn't going to like this…" Toushirou muttered looking at the arrancar.
"Yeah well, I didn't exactly like having a building fall over my head, but you don't see me complaining, do you?" Grimmjow retorted snappily.
"Idiot, you did just that." Karin snapped at him.
"Are you alright Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, worried about her best friend.
"We're both fine Tatsuki-chan." Orihime assured her with the barest hint of a smile, the closest she got to one these days.
According to their new ally, Kokuto, the Togabito had kidnapped Yuzu believing that Ichigo could free them of hell. As for why he'd intervened exactly… Kokuto didn't see it as helping Ichigo and his nakama, but simply as going against the other guys whom he 'disliked'. In the end, Ichigo didn't really care about his reasons, as long as he got Yuzu back.
"So… what's the plan?" Renji asked the obvious question.
"We're going to Hell." Rukia began with the obvious.
"We're getting Yuzu back." Ichigo added for good measure.
"And then we'll make them regret ever laying a hand on her." The two finished in near-unison.
Toushirou didn't like the plan, neither did Karin, if not for the same reason. Toushirou thought it was insane for them to go into Hell; while he wanted Yuzu to be rescued, he still thought the Nakama didn't know Kokuto enough and were trusting him way too much. Karin…
"We cannot go." Karin stated between clenched teeth.
"I'm not going to leave Yuzu!" Ichigo snarled. "And I thought…"
"Stop Ichigo!" Rukia slapped a hand in front of his mouth before he could finish. "Don't say something you'll regret." She turned to Karin. "Why not Karin?"
"To clarify, I didn't mean that you shouldn't go, I meant that I, specifically, cannot go… or well, Toushirou and I, rather." Karin explained. "And the simple explanation is that, being Royal Guardians, we cannot set foot in Hell without calling a, and excuse me the pun, hell of a lot of attention." Karin didn't even smile as she made the joke. "Ichi-nii? Get Yuzu back."
"I will." Ichigo stated solemnly. "You'll see Karin, we'll get her back."
xXx
It was early evening when Kokuto opened the strange garganta-looking portal into hell. The team going along was comprised by: Ichigo, Rukia, Uryuu, Renji and Orihime. Chad was still in the process of being healed, and while Tatsuki and Keeva were better, they'd been forced to admit that neither of them were strong enough to go against the Togabito, thus staying behind. Shinji and Hiyori had offered to accompany them after hearing what was going on, but Kokuto warned them about how the miasma in hell would make them react.
Ever since learning about the way Ichigo dealt with his hollow, the Visored had been planning. They knew their situation wasn't the same, Shiro was a part of Ichigo, half of his original soul, while the rest of them, their hollows were outsiders who'd been forced into them. And yet… that didn't stop them from wanting to try. So once the Kidou Corps confirmed that Hueco Mundo was sealed and Aizen wouldn't be making a reappearance at least for a few years, the Visored got to training. Their plan was to bring their hollows back from whatever tiny corner in their minds they once buried them in, and then find a way to either ally with them, or make them submit without having to seal them again, thus being able to use more hollow powers. It wasn't easy, and it could be dangerous, but they were willing to do it.
In any case, because they were all working on that, their hollows were closer to the surface, which made it a very bad idea for any of them to go into hell.
"It's okay." Ichigo assured him. "I'd rather you help watch over things here anyway."
"Are you sure you won't have trouble Ichigo?" Shinji asked him with a piercing look.
He very carefully didn't say with what, he didn't know how many people outside of the Nakama themselves might or might not know about his hollow counterpart, but he'd rather not risk it.
"Nah!" Ichigo shook his head calmly. "If worse comes to worst, Shiro can handle it."
The real problem, was when it was made clear that Grimmjow was another that couldn't go. He really, really didn't like that. He cursed and raved for minutes on end, until Orihime got to him.
"Hime…" Grimmjow broke off, seemingly out of things to say.
"I will be alright, Grimmjow-kun." Orihime told him gently. "I promise. I won't leave you."
Most might not understand the tight bond that had formed between them, but in many ways it was quite simple. With Ulquiorra gone and Sui-Feng not wanting to know anything about them, they were all each other had. Orihime could have chosen to stay behind, she knew no one would have thought any less of her for it, but she wanted to go, she felt that however insane it might be, she just… she had to try…
The best Toushirou could give them was wait until they were gone to place the call to Yamamoto and let him know what had happened. Ichigo was thankful for that, he knew that if the old man had found out earlier he might have tried to stop them… that wouldn't have gone well. It wasn't even that Ichigo believed Yamamoto to be a bad man, he just was too used to putting the many above the few. He'd have decided that keeping Ichigo out of Hell and thus away from the Togabito and their plans was more important than rescuing Yuzu; that was something Ichigo would never abide.
So off they went to Hell.
It didn't take long for the Kushanada (Hell's Will) to make an appearance, and so they had to run. And they had to run. Kokuto had warned them that any reiatsu above average would draw the Kushanada faster and in higher numbers. Zangetsu and Shiro were holding tight onto Ichigo's power to keep the reiatsu output as low as was possible for him.
Even then it didn't take long for trouble to find them. Though surprisingly enough, it wasn't the Kushanada. The gigantic guards of Hell seemed to be leaving them alone, after the initial encounter, and while that seemed to surprise Kokuto, in the end he didn't comment, deciding to take the good fortune and move on. The Togabito though made their appearance as soon as they got to the second level of hell. Ichigo was all for fighting them, but in the end good sense (Uryuu's) prevailed. Uryuu, Orihime and Renji would handle the Togabito, leaving Ichigo and Rukia free to continue with Kokuto.
"O human race, born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?" Ichigo muttered in a low voice.
"What was that?" Rukia asked, curious.
"A quote from the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri." Ichigo explained. "It's a novel where the narrator supposedly visits Hell… I read it a while ago and yet 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' just doesn't seem to be enough for… well, this."
And really, desolation just wasn't a hard enough word to describe what surrounded them.
"We'll get Yuzu back Ichigo…" Rukia sought to reassure him, a hand in his, not knowing what else to say.
Ichigo just nodded, clenching her hand briefly to show he understood what she was doing and was thankful for her support.
They made it to the lowest level of hell eventually, to find Yuzu unconscious in a cage, the odd part was the way her whole seemed to be outlined in a pale violet color…
"Is that Muramasa?" Ichigo blurted out, shocked.
*He's protecting his wielder.* Zangetsu sounded approving.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Rukia asked in turn.
*Very.* Shirayuki answered soberly.
Ichigo didn't need to hear the answer, he knew it instinctively.
"Let's do this!" He called, before raising his zanpakutou and calling forth his shikai: "Pierce the skies to reach True Heaven, Zangetsu!" Then bankai: "Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia chose to stay in shikai.
Ichigo demanded he release Yuzu, but it was all for naught. The real shock came when they watched the very Togabito their nakama had stayed behind to fight, rise from what looked like some sort of spring, except there was lava in it, instead of water. It was apparently where the sinners were revived, to continue with their eternal torment. But the part that seemed to shock even Kokuto was that Shuren apparently could control how fast the Togabito were returned.
It was Rukia who got things going, as she threw herself at the first of the Togabito, Kokuto following, giving Ichigo the opening he needed to fight Shuren directly. Though the real shock came perhaps when, once the going got tough, Kokuto chose to sacrifice himself in order to take the last of the Togabito with him.
"Kokuto!" Ichigo and Rukia yelled in shock.
Ichigo was so furious he didn't even think about it as he threw a getsuga tenshou with all the power he could gather, which ended up being not just his own, but also Shiro's. That pleased Shuren greatly, convinced that it was that power which would free him. Ichigo cut off the output of power instantly. He'd allowed himself to loosen the leash on his control for a moment, it couldn't happen again.
Ichigo and Rukia turned to look at each other briefly. That one look was enough, they knew what needed to be done. Ichigo smiled briefly at his wife before throwing himself at Shuren, focusing on pushing him as far away from the lava pool as he could, but more importantly, away from the cage Yuzu was in…
It worked, the bastard was so focused in making Ichigo lose control, so convinced that victory would be his, that he didn't even seem to remember Rukia. Not until he heard the remains of the cage splash into the lava, and turned in time to see Rukia land on one of the columns, younger unconscious girl in her arms. Shuren roared in fury, but it was too late, and his distraction cost him, as Ichigo took the opportunity to shunpo inside his defenses and cut the togabito's head off with a single wide slash of his zanpakutou.
For a moment it seemed like that was it, they'd won, they could go back home… the attack came out of nowhere, straight at the base of the column Rukia was standing on.
"Rukia! Yuzu!" Ichigo cried out, turning towards them.
The next shock came as he found himself run through by a blade… one he'd seen just minutes earlier… in Kokuto's hand…
It was all a trick. From the very beginning, Kokuto had never been an ally, never been a friend. All he wanted was exactly the same thing as Shuren and the rest of the Togabito. He wanted to be free of hell, only he was clever enough to come at Ichigo from a side, instead of straight on. Ichigo didn't understand, it made no sense… But Kokuto just kept threatening and provoking him, trying to get him to 'become the monster'. When he refused, he resorted to other measures. Attacking Uryuu and Renji as they arrived, too worried and tired to see the danger coming their way before they found themselves on the ground, badly wounded…
"Uryuu! Renji!" Ichigo cried out, horrified.
"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out as she made her way out of the remains of the column.
Kokuto turned to her then, shooting an attack of dark energy straight at her, similar to the one that had destroyed the column from underneath her not two minutes before… Rukia just stared at it in shock. She was hurt already, and she knew there was no way she'd be able to move in time, and with Yuzu in her arms she couldn't use any kidou either…
The attack never reached them, because someone shielded them instead.
"Ichi… go…" Rukia gasped in disbelief. "ICHIGO!"
Chocolate brown eyes blinked a couple of times, before rolling into the back of the shinketsu shinigami's head as Ichigo lost not only consciousness, but also all sense of self.
*Kuso!* Shiro cursed inside their Inner World. *Aibou! Answer me! Aibou!*
It was a matter of survival, as a white substance began shooting out of the veritable hole in Ichigo's chest, covering him. It went slow though… too slow, for Kokuto's liking.
"Ichigo!" All Nakama cried out in horror.
Rukia didn't seem him coming, she was too shocked by the developments, too concerned about her husband. And then there was pain, she was on the dark ground, and her arms were empty… Kokuto had Yuzu, and there was nothing she could do about it…
"This is Hell, you don't have to hold back." Kokuto pressed as he stood right above the magma spring, Yuzu held loosely in his arm. "Let the darkness take over!"
Guttural, non-verbal cries began coming out of Ichigo's voice, except it wasn't his voice. Rukia, Uryuu and Renji could do nothing except watch from their prone positions, praying that Ichigo might make it through, somehow. It was impossible… and yet Ichigo seemed to specialize in doing the impossible, didn't he?
"Welcome to Hell." Kokuto sentenced, before letting the unconscious girl fall.
It was as if some kind of switch had been flipped, as Ichigo's body fully transformed into a hollow, a Vasto Lorde, who sonidoed across the courtyard, catching Yuzu with one arm before doubling back and landing not far from Kokuto, a cero beginning to form in between the huge horns of his fragment of mask.
"That's it!" Kokuto cried out eagerly. "Use that power to break the chain!"
The cero was huge, bigger than anything any of the Nakama had ever seen a hollow create. It obliterated the huge skeleton first Shuren and then Kokuto had liked to stand over, as well as half the bowl-like construction around the magma pool. It was also enough to burn away the first pieces of Kokuto's chains, nowhere near enough to free him, but certainly proof that it could be done, that Ichigo had the power to do it…
"Do it. Free me!" Kokuto called eagerly. "Cut off all the chains that bind me!"
"Shiro…" Rukia murmured, worriedly.
She had no doubt about it, it was Shiro in control right then. Though control perhaps was a bit of an overstatement. It was indeed Shiro on the 'front seat', but he was fighting tooth and nail to gain control. Ichigo coming so close to death (closer than even when Ulquiorra had punched through his chest with his bare hand!), along with hell's miasma, was making it very hard for Shiro to keep his own mind. Hence the out-of control cero he'd shot. Shiro was fighting to keep his own mind, and to stabilize his transformation, Ichigo's power had grown since their stint in Hueco Mundo, which meant that Shiro's power too had grown, and he'd already been quite powerful before… but that meant his mask had changed, and there was more reiatsu in him than the arrancar version of Ichigo knew quite what to do with… and hell really wasn't the best place to learn what he was now capable of…
And then Renji chose to play his last ace…
xXx
What none of those in Hell could have known was that Shiro's out of control cero continued unimpeded, creating chaos and destruction through every level of hell, before blasting right through the Gates, half destroying them and leaving a trail of dark fire across the night sky of Karakura Town. Which only stopped thanks to the quick intervention of Karin and Toushirou, who used their respective bankais to halt Hell's miasma before it could affect the human world. They managed to hold on until a squad of the Kidou Corps, lead by Tessai, arrived and formed a temporary kekkai, as discussions began on how to repair the Gate.
They didn't arrive alone. Yamamoto, Juushirou, Byakuya, and Kotori were there as well; though the latter mostly worked with Tessai and Hachi on finding a way to fix the Gate. The other three went straight for Toushirou and Karin, wanting an explanation as to what had happened exactly. They knew already about the missing Nakama, and while Yamamoto really didn't like it, he wasn't surprised either, it was pretty much what he'd come to expect where the gifted humans were concerned. The trouble with the Gate… that was unexpected.
Karin closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it. It was the one thing they'd kept out of all reports, Ichigo's and Rukia's 'other sides', and the fact that they'd both tapped into that power to defeat Tousen once and for all (though Ichigo was the most obvious about it). It was clear that the Togabito had known something, it was why they were so interested in Ichigo. It was just as clear that they knew nothing about Rukia; which was all good, as far as they were all concerned, though they still had no idea how to handle things…
"Soutaichou! The kidou has been used!" A messenger announced abruptly.
Karin opened he mouth to ask what kidou exactly when she felt it, a reiatsu signal she knew well… and it wasn't Ichigo's…
Karin cursed under her breath before shunpoing away at her top speed. Toushirou had no idea what was going on, but he followed her anyway.
Things were pretty much as she expected. On a nearby rooftop there was Shiro, the remains of the white coat he was wearing, and the daito he was keeping carefully down made it obvious he was still in bankai, making use of all the speed to evade the shinigami that kept trying to attack him, and worse even , to take Yuzu from him.
"Stop it!" Karin yelled as she landed on the same rooftop, in between Shiro and the other shinigami. "I said STOP IT!"
The shinigami froze, more in surprise than because they really saw her as a figure of authority.
"You know this hollow, Nagaken-dono?" Yamamoto muttered, the question only half-concealing the accusation in his tone.
Karin ignored the old man completely, instead turning around to face the arrancar.
"Shiro?" She called slowly. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright?!" Shiro snapped. "No, I'm obviously not alright! That bastard Kokuto betrayed us! I told aibou it was too good to be true! The bastard put a hole through aibou's chest! We almost died! Even Ossan and I working together had a hell of a time getting things under control. And then… bam! The bastard tried to kill Yuzu! And then, we're still getting control back, when that monkey goes and does something idiotic! What the hell was he thinking sending just us back here?! The snow princess and the others are still back in hell, with that monster! We'd have never abandoned our nakama! Ichigo's gonna go ape-shit when he wakes up!"
"Shiro-nii… it's okay…" Karin approached him slowly, not wanting to startle him before hugging him tightly. "It's gonna be okay…"
In touching Shiro, Karin ended touching Yuzu as well… as if it were some kind of signal, her twin's eyes opened just a moment later.
"Karin-chan?" She asked hesitantly. "Ichi… Shiro-nii?" She revised the name instantly.
That made both Karin and Ichigo's hollow turn their whole attention to Yuzu instantly, as they both embraced her tightly.
"You're alright… you're alright…" Karin kept mumbling.
"How's this even possible?" Juushirou was in shocked. "I've never heard of someone enduring so long in hell unaffected."
"Muramasa-kun protected me." Yuzu explained quietly. "When it became obvious that we could not defeat the Togabito, I poured all I had left on that kekkai, and then he pulled me into my Inner World. Where he put his coat over me and held me tight. He refused to let me go… even when things got bad…"
"Thank you Muramasa…" Karin murmured softly.
"Shiro-nii…" Yuzu called quietly. "Is Ichi-nii alright?"
"He's badly hurt Yuzu." Shiro didn't see the point in hiding things from her. "That attack Kokuto threw at the snow princess… it was bad. He moved fast to intercept it, but there was nothing we could do to shield against him. Ceding power to me was the only way for us to survive. And even then, the attack hit him hard enough to knock him out. Ossan is watching over him in our Inner World. Our high-speed regeneration kicked in just in time. Still… it was close, too close."
"So, let me see if I understand." Juushirou called hesitantly. "You're… Ichigo-san's hollow? He's like the Visored?"
"In a way…" Karin began.
"Not at all." Shiro said brashly, ignoring Karin's hard look. "The Visored had outside hollows pushed into them. Geta-boshi's use of that cursed jewel allowed them to exist, which in turn gave them the chance to defeat those hollows and claim a fraction of their power. We're nothing like that, because I was never separate from Ichigo…" He looked straight at Juushirou. "Take a good look at me taichou-san… do you see?"
"You look just like Ichigo…" Juushirou trailed off as he understood the implication.
"Remember aibou's story about what happened to kaa-san?" Shiro asked, not really waiting for an answer. "It wasn't just Zangetsu-ossan that came to be that day. So did I…"
"That's impossible…" Several of the lower ranked shinigami around muttered, though they were ignored by the others.
"Why has this never been in any of the reports?" Yamamoto asked stoically.
"Why do you think?" Shiro rolled his eyes.
"Look around you Soutaichou." Karin stepped in. "Do you see the way your own men look at the Visored? When they see them, they aren't seeing allies, only potential threats. How do you think they'd react if they knew Ichigo qualifies as one of them? That he's more powerful than every single one of them?"
There was no answer to that.
"Well, aibou's awake, I'm out of here." Shiro announced unexpectedly.
Before anyone could say anything they saw Ichigo's body seize just for a moment, as the hole in his chest (still visible due to the fact that he was missing more than half his bankai coat) filled up, the fragment of mask on his head turning into reishi particles before vanishing entirely. His skin darkened from the bone-white it had been to the usual tan. Finally he closed his eyes tight for a moment and when he opened them they were back to the usual brown on white, rather than the amber on black they'd been.
"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked hesitantly.
"Yuzu…?" Ichigo blinked, hugging her automatically. "I'm so glad you're alright."
"I'm just fine, Ichi-nii…" Yuzu assured him, hugging back immediately.
"You're the one who had us worried, idiot." Karin snapped at him halfheartedly. "Shiro said you almost got killed."
"That bastard…" Ichigo hissed darkly remembering Kokuto, then he remembered something else and cursed. "And Rukia and the others are still back there!" His eyes narrowed, and he rose to his feet, mind made up: "I'm going back."
"You cannot do that!" Juushirou and Kotori exclaimed at the same time.
"It will not be allowed…" Yamamoto began.
"Ichigo…" A different, quieter voice interrupted.
All eyes turned towards Byakuya. It would be hard to tell what surprised people most: to hear him interrupt Yamamoto, or the tone of voice he was using with Ichigo.
The Kuchiki noble said nothing more, just stared at his brother-in-law (though most of those present had no idea of their connection) in silence before going to stand right in front of Ichigo, raising a hand to the orange-haired teenager's temple and transferring reiatsu. Not a word was said by either of them, after so long, they understood each other. Ichigo knew that Byakuya was worried about his sister, but he'd never blame Ichigo because he knew Rukia had made the choice to go on that mission. He also knew Ichigo wouldn't abandon Rukia and their nakama, and while Byakuya might not be able to help directly, he would give Ichigo what he needed to handle things himself. It was remarkable, once they no longer had a reason to be enemies, how much the two had in common… more than most people knew…
When Byakuya stepped back, kidou finished, and the result obvious in the bankai coat fully restored, and even the faint aura of power forming around Ichigo, the shinketsu had a plan.
"Noblesse oblige…" He quoted, bowing formally to Byakuya, before turning to his raven-haired sister. "Karin, it's time."
Karin didn't reply, nor did she seem particularly surprised, instead she just nodded and proceeded to recite a short but complicated kidou spell, accompanying it with some very specific hand motions. At the last word there was a small flash of light, and a bound package appeared in her hands. Placing it on her sister's awaiting hands, Karin opened it deftly, revealing a pair of wide armbands made of Damascus steel; beneath those was what would later be revealed as a wide obi, made of royal-blue dyed wind-flower silk; finally there was a second parcel, still bound. Karin handed each piece to Ichigo, one at a time, wordlessly. The armbands fit well from the edge of his black tekkou to just before his elbow (and his sleeves); the wide obi replaced the thinner sash, he'd been wearing before. The smaller parcel he left with her, not wanting to risk damaging what was inside. At Ichigo's nod, Karin turned to face everyone else before speaking out:
"I give you Nagaken-Kurosaki Ichigo, son of Nagaken Isshin, 22nd Head of the Nagaken Clan, and Kurosaki Masaki, last descendant of the Miko Bloodline." Karin announced, voice steady and strong. "Hail Nagaken-Kurosaki Ichigo, from this day forth 24th Head of the Nagaken Clan."
"Arigatou, Karin-nee-san…" Ichigo bowed his head at his sister, before turning to face everyone else with absolute determination: "I'm going back to Hell and getting my wife: Nagaken-Kurosaki Rukia, and our nakama, back."
He wasn't asking for permission, and by announcing his noble status and making the situation a matter of a Noble House, he'd effectively tied the Gotei's hands, there was nothing they could do to stop him (not that Ichigo would have allowed them to; but fighting them would have delayed him, and it might have destroyed what good will he'd gathered thus far; it especially wouldn't have gone well so soon after the revelation of Shiro's existence.
The sky was particularly dark as Ichigo shunpoed across the rooftops towards the still half-destroyed Gate of Hell but he paid it no mind. He had a mission, he wasn't backing down, that bastard Kokuto would soon find out why it was a bad idea to mess with the Nakama!
xXx
Kokuto seemed at least a bit surprised when Ichigo landed on the blackened ground, just a few yards away from him.
"Ichigo, I was just about to pay you a visit." The Togabito said. "Wasn't expecting you to come here. Are you here to avenge your sister?"
"Yuzu is safe, she's fine." Ichigo said calmly.
"That was a surprise." Kokuto admitted. "Why are you here then?"
"I came for my nakama." Ichigo answered, still calm.
"Your nakama?" Kokuto retorted. "You don't seem to understand this place. They will all be soon permanently tied to Hell. Just look at them."
Uryuu and Renji were unconscious, bound with chains to a dead tree nearby. Rukia for her part was on the ground, laying against the roots of the same tree. While still being mostly conscious, she actually looked worse off than the rest. That made Ichigo's worry escalate, yet as she tilted her head and looked at him through her long eyelashes, Ichigo noticed something. It had actually been there from the start, but he hadn't been paying that much attention, not until the eyes made it obvious: one violet/amethyst, the other lavender/silver with a slitted pupil. Kaijin was close to the surface, she was probably lending her strength to Rukia to keep her free of hell's chains.
"The rule is simple in Hell." Kokuto stated in a fake-amiable tone. "Those that are bound by the chains can be revived endlessly. And as long as the chain is there, they will never be free of this place. So you see, you'll have to break the chains."
"Or alternatively, I can just get them and get out before they have chains." Ichigo replied in a perfectly blasé tone.
Kokuto's eyes narrowed, he clearly didn't like Ichigo's relaxed attitude, or the suggestion that he (Kokuto) might be defeated.
"You know what's almost funny?" Ichigo asked, some might have called his tone conversational, were it not for the glint in his eye, cold and hard. "If you hadn't done… all this. If you hadn't betrayed me, hadn't hurt my nakama, I might have even helped you. Because I thought you were like me. I thought you were a good man, one who might have made mistakes, might have gone too far wanting to do right by his sister, but a good man deep down. Except, you're not a good man at all, you never were. Tell me Kokuto, what would your beloved little sister say about who you are now? What you've done? The monster you've become…"
That made Kokuto snap, as he let out a guttural cry, throwing himself right at Ichigo, who parried the first blow, and then the fight was on. A fast paced, harsh fight that Rukia followed silently, she and Kaijin watching through her eyes, praying for everything to be alright.
Things kept going, and eventually Kokuto began talking again, egging Ichigo on, trying to get him to turn into Shiro once again (though he didn't even know what the transformation was about, why or how it even happened).
"Are you afraid Ichigo?" He taunted the orange-haired shinigami. "Of that monster you can become? The one that will destroy the world?"
Ichigo refused to dignify that with an answer.
"If you won't change into him again, then get out of this place!" Kokuto snapped as he threw Ichigo aside. "Your sister is safe, because you turn into that monster, right? Without that, you can do nothing!"
Ichigo actually chuckled at that.
"My sister is safe because her zanpakutou spirit protected her." He clarified. "I am okay because Shiro protected me. And he's not a monster. But if you want to fight him so badly… you'll get your chance. Or rather, you'll get to fight us both."
Ichigo had lowered his head and when he raised it again… one of his eyes remained the same chocolate on white, the other was amber on black. He and Shiro had synced. It was only the second time they'd done such a thing, and the last time… that one had been a very important battle as well, against the monster responsible for much of the 'rain' in his life.
The fight was pretty even, more than Ichigo would have liked. It seemed that Kokuto couldn't only control the frequency with which a togabito, himself included, 'resurrected', but he also had a form of rapid regeneration. Which made fighting him a pain for Ichigo (Shiro was delighted, he hadn't had so much fun in a while). It wasn't that the two weren't stronger than the Togabito, they were, without a doubt. The problem was that the kind of power that he'd need to call on in order to defeat Kokuto once and for all, was the same kind of power that might destroy Hell's chains, that was one risk neither of them were too eager to take. Not because they thought Kokuto might escape, but they'd been fortunate enough that the Kushanada hadn't seen them/him as an enemy thus far, the last thing they needed was to end up having to fight the huge sentinels of that awful dimension and the bastard of a Togabito at the same time. Also, having Hell's Will against them would make it harder to get Rukia and their nakama out… The Kushanada were close, as if standing silent vigil over the ongoing fight, as long as they didn't interfere Ichigo and Shiro would rather not focus on them.
"If you don't destroy Hell, you'll just have to keep reliving this!" Kokuto snarled. "Because I'm never going to stop!"
"You couldn't get what you wanted, so you decided to get revenge?" Ichigo demanded. "That's not being a victim."
"Just a whiny bastard." Shiro's voice might have come from the same mouth, but his tone was distinctive, and separate from Ichigo's.
"You're just making other people as miserable as you." Ichigo punctuated. "Revenge is just the path you took to escape your sufferings."
"Revenge means nothing." Shiro added his two cents. "It changes nothing."
"We want to save our nakama." The two began talking in unison, their voices together gaining an odd, almost haunting quality. "But won't sacrifice innocents to do it, won't put the worlds at risk to do it. We've swore on our souls that we will fight!"
"ICHIGO!" Rukia was so tired, she hadn't noticed just how close the Kushanada really were, not until one of them was practically upon Ichigo already, and then it was too late. A huge hand fell upon the orange-and-white haired Visored.
It should have been the end… but as Rukia quieted down (Kaijin screamed at her inside their head to shut up and focus), she realized they could still sense Ichigo. He was fine… and more than that, his reiatsu was rising…
"Wha…?" Rukia was at a loss for words.
There were threads of light connecting Ichigo and the Kushanada. Rukia could vaguely hear Kokuto cackling in glee, yelling something about destroying Hell's Will… it was clear he hadn't realized that whatever may be happening, Ichigo wasn't doing it…
The power kept rising, higher and higher, until it seemed to practically explode. Rukia closed her eyes, expecting the shockwave to hit her any moment. And it did, but it didn't hurt her, instead she found herself completely healed, and not just that, but her energies were back to full. Kaijin cackled in delight as they stood, their dual eyes blinking.
"What is going on?" Kokuto demanded. "What did you do?"
Rukia had no idea what the answers to those questions might be, but she knew one thing: the pieces of armor that went down Ichigo's body (mostly the left side, though his whole upper chest was protected), were reminiscent of the Kushanada, and she didn't think that to be a coincidence.
Ichigo was saying something to Kokuto, something about his sister and revenge. Rukia wasn't really paying that much attention to it. Ichigo was a bit… distracting. Even with the new golden armor a lot of his body was on display, and Rukia couldn't help but think she liked what she was seeing. In the back of her mind Kaijin cackled almost madly, making Rukia blush slightly. It wasn't the time to be thinking about her husband's attractiveness!
"My nakama do not want me to avenge them, they want me to stop you." Ichigo stated right then. "And by the looks of this… Hell agrees with me. Hell would rather help an outsider like me than let you escape…"
"Hell… helping a human…?" Kokuto didn't seem to be able to grasp it.
*But Ichigo's not just a human, is he?* Rukia asked, mostly to herself.
*The Boss is the Boss!* Kaijin yelled in mad delight.
"No! How's that even possible?" Kokuto was furious. "My predicament was just like yours!"
"Yes." Ichigo nodded evenly, it was only his voice then, Shiro having stepped back when the Kushanada got involved, but the hollow half didn't mind. "Both human, both elder brothers. The difference is that I didn't betray my soul, and my sister's, in her name. The difference is that I didn't give into the darkness of my own heart and blamed it on her!"
"Ichigo…" Rukia murmured as she reached for him, lacing her fingers with those of his free hand (the one not holding his zanpakutou).
Rukia gasped a moment later as a flash of golden light came from Ichigo, running down his arm, to their entwined hands, and then up Rukia's own arm and into her soul… It wasn't quite the same as him, but she still found herself with golden armor covering strategic parts of her body. Nothing as bulky as Ichigo's, clearly meant for a female.
"Oh…" She really hadn't been expecting that.
It wasn't just the armor, in the back of her head she could sense Hell's Will. There were no words, more like images and feelings. It was so odd… and yet she had no trouble understanding the meaning behind it. It was the same with Ichigo.
"It's time." Ichigo sentenced, as his reiatsu spiked.
Rukia said nothing, she just held Ichigo's hand as he raised his daito and slashed the air. Instead of the blue, or black Getsuga tenshous (or the one lined in red he used when aided by Shiro), it was golden. It was enough, Kokuto had less than a handful of seconds to celebrate the loss of the chains, when a hundred new chains shot out of the blackened ground and bound him anew.
"This is your retribution for deceiving hell, Kokuto." Ichigo stated in an emotionless tone.
"Atone for your sins in Hell!" Rukia added for good measure.
The chains pulled him deeper into hell then, his screams being cut off.
For a moment Ichigo said nothing and then… in a single move he picked up Rukia, pressed her against his chest and claimed her mouth with his. Rukia was completely shocked, yet even that didn't stop her from replying to the kiss with the same amount of passion. Eventually they had to break off due to lack of oxygen.
"We have to find the others…" Rukia murmured as she looked away, cheeks flushed.
Ichigo smirked at her and followed as they went looking for their nakama. They found Uryuu and Renji still bound by the chains, hanging from the branches of the same tree Rukia had been sitting against. A single touch by either Ichigo or Rukia and the chains disintegrated, letting their friends fall. They were both a bit sore and stiff, and confused about what had happened exactly after they lost consciousness, but they were satisfied enough when learning that Kokuto had been defeated. Their biggest shock though was when they Saw the golden armor on Ichigo and Rukia.
"What is that?!" It was Uryuu who asked what they were both thinking.
"Ah, this?" Ichigo looked at himself, then at Rukia. "I think it's some kind of power they lend us. Strange right?"
"It's more than just strange." Renji snapped. "We're talking about controlling Hell's power. How exactly did something like this happen?"
"I have no idea." Ichigo shook his head.
Rukia just shrugged, she'd no idea either. Though before any other question could be asked Ichigo, who'd been looking around, asked a very important question:
"Hey, where's Orihime?"
No one had an answer to that.
