Hello everyone! I hope everyone is safe and healthy and on their way to getting vaccinated. Lots of love for each and everyone of you.
Many thanks to Alysaldria for being invaluable as my beta and person to bounce ideas of.
Please enjoy and leave a comment on your way out!
Chapter 30: The truth must come out
"What were you thinking?!" Kaien exclaims as he pats Ichigo down, searching for non-existent injuries to fuss over. "Of all the idiotic, hare-brained schemes! Never in my life did I think you of all people would pull a stunt like this."
Shinji stifles a snort. Of all the Shibas Ichigo seems the most likely to pull a stunt like this one out of nowhere. That saying about silent waters doesn't exist for nothing. The more time that has passed without Ichigo doing something major and majorly stupid, the more expectations have risen. It's not like Kaien doesn't have his own stack of crazy antics from his time in the Academy and even later on. Granted, they'd figured the worst — or rather best — had passed already in the form of drunk-off-his-ass Ichigo, but clearly that incident has only scratched the surface of Ichigo's antics. Shinji can barely hold back from rubbing his hands together – the near future has a lot to offer it seems.
'Well, it will if they all survive the coming days,' he thinks with an inner grimace. Central 46 never has taken kindly to changes, the ornery bastards. They are stuck in a different time, having forgotten what it really means to serve Seireitei and risking life and limb on the battlefield. All they care about nowadays are rules and regulations that don't do nobody any good. This development won't be looked upon favourably and the Captain-Commander can only pull so many strings. Those high and mighty, retired assholes will probably want to brand them as traitors and execute them publicly while Kurotsuchi will go back to the prison he was broken out of. Yes, if they make it out alive, Shinji will be extremely grateful.
Glancing at Ichigo, who is still placidly undergoing Kaien's fussing, he wonders if the Captain-Commander could be persuaded to allow silent observers in his interrogation. Because there would be a private talk between the Captain-Commander and the redhead, no doubt about it. The flawless control after a traumatic event and over something as volatile as a Zanpakutou partially transformed into a Hollow, the sudden increase in power-levels to be able to win consecutive fights against Lieutenants and Captains, the fucking Bankai! The kid has a lot to explain, and Shinji wants to be there to hear the explanation. No one gets this good on their own, not even geniuses.
And to top off this shitty mess of unwanted, yet intriguing surprises, Ichigo's reiatsu is a puzzle of its own. It's back to its usual state, tightly condensed around its owner. Shinji can hardly get a read on it. Compared to how it flared during ichigo's battles — enchanting, all-encompassing, oppressive, addictive —, it's like day and night. Shinji can't even pick up on any traces of Hollow, even though he and the others can't shake the lingering remnants in their own reiatsu.
There is something off about his reiatsu though, a hint of something that wasn't there before, the last time Shinji was in close contact with Ichigo. He can't quite put his finger on what it is though. It's on the tip of his tongue, but every time he thinks it's going to come to mind, it slips through his fingers instead. He curses his useless brain. All that knowledge and it refuses to cooperate!
The grand South Gate comes into view on the horizon and Kisuke quells the urge to sprint towards it without abandon. So many theories to investigate! So many experiments to plan! So many willing victims subjects! He'll have to thank Kurotsuchi for being dumb enough to get caught. Doing this kind of research unprompted and unsanctioned would get him stripped from his rank and thrown into prison at the very least, and in the worst-case scenario just plainly killed. But looking into it to cure several high ranked officers on the other hand… Kisuke will gladly admit to being an unapologetic opportunist.
Naturally he does feel sorry for his fellow officers, they will face a difficult time, and should things take a turn for the worse, he'll do everything in his power to get them to safety — if only not to lose his research. But right now, he's elated at the chance of diving nose first into one of the most fascinating studies he's ever come across!
From what he's seen at the underground lab, he gathers Kurotsuchi hunted Hollows of unknown power-level, though most likely at least Gillians to stand a chance against officers, purified their essences somehow, and injected them directly into his victims' reiryoku reserves. How exactly or why it even worked, he's not sure. It seems the Hollows have assimilated into the souls of the victims, possibly integrating with their Zanpakutous, but for the moment the Shinigami part seems in control instead of the Hollow part like when they were fighting Shiba Ichigo. Or rather getting thrown about by the young Academy student until they regained control over their own soul. While Shiba Ichigo seemed entirely in control despite sporting a mask of his own and a good two feet of extra hair.
How curious! Kisuke wonders what makes Shiba Ichigo so different from the others while they are greeted by Ichimaru Gin and Unohana-taichou. Ukitake-taichou and Kyoraku-taichou break off, presumably to inform the Captain-Commander. Shiba Ichigo is the only non-officer amongst Lieutenants and Captains, he hasn't even graduated in fact! One would expect someone as inexperienced as him to make a far easier target for a Hollow trying to take over. Yet, the opposite has happened, and it doesn't make sense. Kisuke resolves to make the mystery of Shiba Ichigo one of the major points of his research.
For now, he focuses on his fellow Captain and gives Unohana-taichou a rundown of the last two days as well as the observations he has made and hypotheses he has come up with. Kisuke has deep respect for her extensive knowledge as a healer and the fact that she is one of the original Gotei 13, but then who doesn't? Even Hiyori doesn't act up in her presence and Heaven knows she's a headache and a half.
Once at the 4th, Unohana-taichou directs Shiba-fukutaichou and Tessai to stay outside the examination room — with a storm cloud above Shiba-fukutaichou's head as a result —, and examines each of the hollowfied shinigami, taking her time and comparing the results against her records. Kisuke himself is taking detailed notes, one never knows what little piece of seemingly unimportant information can result in a breakthrough. Physically, they look to be fine, if exhausted. Except Ichigo, who looks like he has spent the days lounging around and relaxing instead of putting six seated officers through the wringer and coming out on top. Kisuke is not sure if it's a nightmare or a miracle, and apparently neither does everybody else. Except Aizen-fukutaichou, who seems about 5 seconds away from jumping the orange-haired Shinigami. And really, who could blame him?
The spiritual exam on the other hand is much more interesting and revealing. Especially when Ichigo is talked into releasing his control over his reiatsu so they can properly analyse it. It's breathtaking, and Kisuke means that quite literally. The amount of spiritual pressure that swirls around the youth is incomparable to anyone Kisuke has ever come across. It makes his control ever more astonishing. And that's just talking about the amount he has. The secrets his displayed reiatsu gives away are ever so juicy… That he even has to be admonished in letting Hollow traces bleed through is a can of worms Kisuke yearns to open.
But anyways, the six officers and Shiba Ichigo clearly carry Hollow traces in their reiatsu. And not just any Hollows, all of them have been infected with Vasto Lordes. It raises questions in Kisuke's mind about where Kurotsuchi got his Hollows. He knows for certain the other scientist didn't hunt them himself. Kurotsuchi has never been a man of action and battle, the biggest difference between the two of them in Kisuke's mind.
After spiritually poking and prodding the officers for what feels like hours, Kisuke is satisfied at last and pronounces their Hollows to be dormant, for now at least. Which Ichigo confirms with a confused, "Yea? Did you think I sparred against them just because I felt like it?"
The whole room turns to the youth with varying degrees of confusion, exasperation, and general what-the-fuck. Kisuke asks, deliberately keeping his voice even and calm, "Would you care to expand on that, Shiba-san?"
The deer in the headlights look is rather adorable. The sheer panic it conveys shows how bad of a liar the boy is. "Uhh, just that Zangetsu didn't take kindly to the Hollow and then we fought it out in my mental, you know, landscape. And when I accepted him, Hollow and all, Old Man Zangetsu told me to keep the others busy while they fought with their own Hollows, so I did?"
Huh, his temporary look of panic aside, the words ring true. It's curious though, "And how did you manage that so quickly when seasoned officers needed outside help to deal with being infected with a Hollow?"
He shrugs, the hesitation and alarm having subsided, "I don't know? I guess I don't have as much animosity for Hollows as Shinigami who have a lot of experience with them? And Zangetsu is bloodthirsty all the time, being hollowfied doesn't make any difference." The last part is accompanied with rolling eyes.
"So you're saying your Zanpakutou has, what, merged with the Hollow essence that was injected into you?" Kisuke asks eagerly, seeing his chance to fill in the missing parts of his research.
"Is that what happened?" Shiba asks, interested. "I wondered about that. Umm, yea. Zangetsu wore a mask, but once we fought it out it disappeared, because the two conflicting, umm, sides were at ease with each other. I think I can call upon it at will? That's what was implied at least?"
Kisuke rapidly writes down all the information Shiba provides. It's an interesting perspective, and how curious to find out that his stoic exterior hides a creature of blood and battle, much like Kisuke himself. He turns to the other occupants of the room to confirm Shiba's experience. While not as close with their Zanpakutous, they also had to battle their transformed souls and having to form a united front against Shiba helped to reach harmony much faster. They however do put much more emphasis on the feelings of hunger and rage that threatened to overwhelm them.
In the end, the examination leaves him in his own lab with more questions that he started with, especially in regard to the youngest Shiba, and plenty of theories as well as ideas for experiments with the… They'll have to find a better name for the 'infected' Shinigami. Non-harmful experiments of course. Kisuke's focused on discovering how much more powerful they have become, what extra abilities they now possess, that sort of thing.
Still deep in thought, Kisuke pulls out a sphere from his pocket. He'd picked it up from the corner it had rolled to in Kurotsuchi's main lab. Even though it's dull and opaque now, it still has a beautiful, otherworldly quality. And it's a question all of its own. Kisuke knows why Kurotsuchi made it though, not that his research had gone so in-depth, but then he should have realised, because how else could the other scientist's experiments have succeeded. Kisuke had found it specifically because he'd been looking for it once he realised what they were dealing with. To find it inactive and flawed… It was most likely faulty from the start and only worked long enough for the experiment itself, he reassures himself. The stability of the transformation itself is a fluke, a lucky coincidence.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK," has been running through Ichigo's head almost constantly since he came out of Bankai. Will he never learn his lesson? He's only just mitigated some of the danger inherent to his secrets by telling them as vaguely as possible to the only people he trusts in this time, and now he's gone and fucked it all up because he can't control himself in battle.
Why did he think it was a good idea to publicly display that he already knows Bankai? Oh right, Zangetsu convinced him. Ichigo would love to blame everything on Zangetsu's bloodthirstiness, but he knows, even if he can't admit to it, that he was just as eager for a real fight. He'd loved going up against Sousuke and Kyoraku, but had to hold back at least somewhat back then. He hadn't expected anyone to show up in the middle of an underground lair smack dab in Rukongai! Not after having sent his friends back to the surface to keep them safe.
He should have known they would have alerted Seireitei at some point during their pursuit. It was the sensible thing to do, and he had drilled being sensible over being a hero into their heads during the initial pursuit of the rescue party. He's a classic example of 'do as I say, not as I do', isn't he? Zangetsu cackles a confirmation in the back of his mind, and Ichigo wants to groan, but he can't. He's surrounded by inquisitive Captains and Lieutenants, some of whom are very perceptive. He can't blame them for their curiosity, he has wiped the floor with them only 12 hours ago and has apparently the most stable hollowfication of them all despite being a student and very young. Which all of them are aware of by now.
"And all of Seireitei will now be by sundown. None of those nosy bastards will be able to keep their mouth shut now ya flared for all and sundry to see. Think those itty-bitty recruits walking around have recovered from their fainting fit yet?" Zangetsu laughs hysterically.
Which is something Ichigo is going to ignore. He has curled up again, spiritually speaking, and is firmly ignoring everyone in the room except Sousuke. Sousuke who is looking at Ichigo like he can't believe his eyes, yet incredibly adoring at the same time. It does things to Ichigo. Things that he's not willing to think about when they are surrounded by so many people.
"The blushing bride is ready for his husband's attentions," Zangetsu teases and Ichigo swats him away mentally. That sentence didn't make any sense, so he's going to firmly ignore it.
Urahara prods and pokes him, asking questions which Ichigo does his best to answer as honestly, yet vaguely as possible. He wants to help the Visored, prevent their century long banishment, but he can't risk giving away too much. And it's not like he's that knowledgeable on the situation anyways! His own hollowfication is still somewhat of a confusing mess — Damn Geta-Boshi, can't you ever explain something properly! — and he never got all the details on the original Visored. Besides, he doubts Kurotsuchi did things exactly the same as Aizen had gone about it, so it's not like his opinion is worth much.
Ichigo does manage to run his mouth off — mental facepalm —, but he sorts of talk his way out of it, and most people seem to take what he says at face value. Except for Sousuke, who shoots him a glance that Ichigo interprets as, 'We're going to talk about this later'.
Finally, Urahara and Unohana-taichou leave, giving them some privacy. Sousuke immediately uses the opportunity to cuddle with Ichigo and for once Ichigo doesn't protest at all. He's been feeling tense and on edge ever since Sousuke left on his rescue mission the day before. Almost like an elastic between them had been stretched taunt. Resting in his arms is the best feeling Ichigo can imagine. He doesn't want to leave ever again.
Which, of course, means that their relative peace is soon disturbed. A Hell Butterfly flutters through one of the windows and starts rattling off its message once it's close enough.
"Shiba Ichigo, please report at the 1st Division. The Captain-Commander requests your presence for a meeting."
'FUCK!'