The Protector's Temptation.
Wow, just wow. Considering all the reviews, favourites, follows etc. that the last chapter received, I think it's safe to say that I will continue with this story. Looking back at all my current projects, I've picked three that I will try to cycle through and finish before going back to the others. These are;
The Red Sun Sets, the Black Sun Rises.
When the Heavens Fail
The Protector's Temptation
These are the three that I have the most planned out for, so I will continue with them, while developing an outline for the others. Rating on this was also brought up to M for safety. Enjoy the chapter.
PS. I gave up on trying having a writing free holiday. My mind just refuses to stop thinking about it and work.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, but oh how I wish I did.
"Normal speech"
'Thoughts/Inner Speech'
"Kido/Zanpakuto release"
"Zanpakuto speech"
XXX
Chapter 2:
In the dark alleyway, the wind swept through, rustling the scattered rubbish and debris around the three adults and lone teenager. Isshin, Kisuke and Yoruichi didn't dare to breathe after hearing those words come from Ichigo's mouth, their minds trying vehemently to deny hearing them at all.
"W-What are you saying Ichigo?" Yoruichi stuttered. "That's not your zanpakuto, Zangetsu is your zanpakuto."
"He was Yoruichi," Ichigo answered in a solemn voice, his eyes staring at the ground while his hand tightened around the sheath in his hands. "And I lost him in order to stop Aizen from destroying everything I held dear."
"And how did you gain his zanpakuto then?" Kisuke asked curiously, the scientist in him winning out over the worried mentor.
"She's been with me ever since that day when I defeated Aizen, Urahara-san," Ichigo replied, looking up at the man. "When the Hogyoku attempted to kill her, she latched on to the closest thing she could find to survive. She ended up with me."
"And why hasn't she shown up before now?" Kisuke queried, his eyes examining the sword once again.
"I don't know," Ichigo said as he gripped the blade of the hilt again, feeling that same warmth flow through him once again. "It's like you said before, zanpakuto know when the time has come and their soul reaper has the greatest need for them." Swaying slightly on his feet, he grabbed his head, as a wave of exhaustion washed over him, his body feeling as if he had just gone through an extended sparring match with Kenpachi. "I've got to get back home and get some sleep."
Stumbling past his father, the blade and sheath vanished into thin air and he bent over to grab the unattended soft drink bottles. Turning to face them again, he saw a hint of worry in their eyes still. "Look there's no need to worry about me," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "All that's happened is that I've found a new power, one that might have been used for ill means in the past, but in no way does that mean that it will continue like that when I use it." Stumbling away, he still had a grin on his face, his posture showing that he was more confident than he ever was before.
Watching the boy disappear down the street, Yoruichi and Kisuke turned to Isshin with worried expressions on their faces, while he seemed like he had just aged a decade over the last ten minutes.
"What do you want us to do now Isshin?" Kisuke asked. "Soul Society probably won't know that he has regained some measure of power tonight, but who knows what they'll do once they find out he has that zanpakuto in particular. Not to mention what might happen with him learning how to use that blade."
"I, I don't know what to do," Isshin said with a sigh, a hand dragging over his face. "We'll keep an eye on him for now and if anything happens, then we'll intervene before it's too late."
"How can you be so sure of that Isshin?" Yoruichi asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "We've all seen its release now and you know what that means. How are we supposed to know what is and isn't real when it comes to him?"
"Surely you're not implying that he could've already learnt how to control its powers Yoruichi?" Isshin said in shock, staring at the Flash Goddess with something akin to disbelief.
"Maybe not yet Isshin," she answered looking down the road where Ichigo had disappeared. "But he will learn how to and knowing him, it won't take him very long to get the hang of it."
"We'll just have to trust Ichigo then," Kisuke spoke up, tilting his hat to the side. "Trust in the fact that he won't misuse such power."
XXX
Back at the Kurosaki household, Ichigo collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to change or slip under the covers. When he had stepped through the door, dead on his feet and bleary eyed, this had naturally worried his younger sister Yuzu, who had then called out to everyone that was still in the house. Brushing off their concerns, he cited that nothing had happened and that he was just dead tired from the day and was going to call it a night. He barely registered their farewells as he trudged up the stairs to his bedroom, ending up in the position he was in now.
'What the hell happened,' he thought to himself. 'One second I feel like I'm on the top of the world, next second I feel like gravity's increased by 100 times its normal force.'
"Relax Ichigo, it's just the reiatsu exhaustion from killing those hollows," Kyoka Suigetsu spoke from within his mind. "Despite the fact that you had power before, you've been living without it for nine months; it's natural for it to take time to build itself up again."
'Wait you mean I'm stuck having to train myself all over again?' he asked, his mind dreading having to start from scratch.
"Well not completely from scratch since your reserves are still intact, you just didn't have any way to replenish those stores. It'll take some time, but eventually I will be able to replenish it all," she answered him, providing some measure of relief. "Don't think that I'm just going to let you sit on your ass while I do all the work though, come tomorrow morning, you and I are going to have a serious chat."
Wincing at the tone of her voice, Ichigo grumbled something about demanding zanpakuto's and slipped into a blissful slumber.
XXX
The following morning, Ichigo woke several hours before dawn, shooting up out of bed and wondering if everything from last night was just a dream. Staring down at his hand, he could feel the slightest pulse of power in him, making him grin at the confirmation that it wasn't. Lying back down, he closed his eyes and focused on heading into his inner world. When he slipped into his inner sanctum, he found his body falling until it impacted with a hard, wet surface. Groaning, he sat up, rubbing his bruised back and turning to look at what he hit. What he saw made him freeze in shock.
He found himself sitting on a clear glass surface, covered with about an inch of water, its surface crystal clear. What surprised him though, was the replica of Karakura Town underneath the glass. From what he could see, everything was exactly the same. Turning to look at his surroundings, he found that on this side of the glass, there was nothing for miles around him, except an old fashioned wooden cottage in the distance. Standing up, he made his way slowly towards it, his steps slow and unsteady as he felt that he was about to fall through the glass with each step. About to knock on the front door, he paused and cursed his foolishness. This was his inner world after all, or at least he thought it was.
Entering the home, he found what looked like an exact replica of the living area and kitchen from his home. Off to the side there was also an exact replica of what looked like his room, with an empty room across from it. Hearing a voice coming from the back of the house, he walked over to the sliding door and stepped out.
What he found waiting for him outside, was a woman in her late teens, early twenties, bathing herself in what was a private outdoor bath, private that is until he walked out. Blushing up a storm, he took in her silver hair done up in a high ponytail, with two bangs framing her face. Her pale skin that made her almost seem to shimmer as the light fell on her. While her bust was certainly not the size of Rangiku and Orihime, she would certainly rival Yoruichi in that aspect. He watched mesmerised as her slim hands roamed over her body, one caressing her breast while one slid lower to her womanhood. Choking at the sight before him, the woman became alerted to his presence, her piercing green eyes zeroing in on him and fixing him with a look of shock and outrage.
"ICHIGO YOU PERVERT GET OUT OF HERE!" she yelled at him, startling him as he came to realise that this was probably Kyoka Suigetsu.
"Sorry, sorry," he sputtered out, turning around in haste and rushing back inside where he collapsed onto one of the couches in the room.
A few minutes later, he could hear a set of soft footsteps as they walked towards him. Turning to face her, he felt the blush return at the sight of her. She wore a light green silk robe tied loosely at the waist and was cut off a few inches above her knees, leaving little to the imagination as to what it concealed.
"Humph, barging in on a girl's private time," she grumbled and sat down on the opposite couch, crossing her legs over each other.
"Look I'm really sorry about that," he began, "but how the hell was I supposed to know that you were having a bath back there?"
"Eh, I guess not," she answered with a shrug, obviously not being too bothered by it now. "Plus I get to see you naked without you noticing, so it's a fair trade."
"H-Hang on," he stuttered, his mind freezing up at her words. "What do you mean exactly?"
"Well I get to see the world through your eyes and well I get to see you taking a bath or shower too you know," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making his jaw drop and hit the ground.
"W-W-Wait, so you mean you watch me…well you know," he trailed off, his mind thinking that he had been violated without him knowing.
"Well yeah, I mean what else, do you think I do all day?" she asked incredulously. "It's not like you have anything to be ashamed off though."
"Oh god," he said, placing his head in his hands in disbelief, his mind being shaken enough in the last twelve hours that it was a miracle that he wasn't running up walls or muttering incomprehensibly.
"Okay enough being shocked for now Ichigo," she said, a grin on her face as he looked up at her. "We're here to talk about what you're going to be doing while I begin the restoration of your powers." Hearing this Ichigo's ears pricked up and he gave her his full attention. "First things first, while you have almost no power, you're going to learn how to control your reiatsu. I will not have you leaking your power constantly like you used too." Hearing this, he stared at her in shock, thinking of several other things that she might've wanted to teach him instead, like using her for example.
"Any particular reason why you want me to learn that first?" he asked, seeing her turn her gaze away from him.
"Well it will help me teach you how to use other techniques, not to mention to give you a control over your power that you previously lacked. And because I…" she trailed off, mumbling the last part.
"Sorry what was that last part? I didn't quite catch it," he asked, quailing when she turned to glare at him.
"I said that I don't want to be a big, bulky blade like you used to use," she grumbled. Hearing her reason, he couldn't help but burst out into laughter, falling silent only when she walked over to him, her sealed state materialising and being held to his neck. "Something you find amusing Ichigo?" she asked with some steel to her voice.
"No, of course not," he gulped, breathing a sigh of relief when she withdrew her blade from his neck and strode back to the couch. His eyes trailed after her, watching mesmerised as her hips swayed from side to side and her long legs slid gracefully across the floor. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he rubbed at where the blade had nicked him slightly. 'What's going on with me, I've never been this bothered by a woman's body before.'
"As I was saying, learning reiatsu control will not only help with other aspects of your training," she said, drawing his attention once again, "but it will also make it easier for us to avoid unwanted attention, which we will no doubt attract if yesterday's meeting was any indication."
Remembering his argument with his father and mentors, Ichigo could only imagine what some of the more…hard-headed soul reapers would do to him if they found out.
"I'm willing to learn it if that is what it takes," he began, looking her dead in the eye, "but who is supposed to teach me all these things. I doubt that Urahara-san or Yoruichi-san is feeling willing to right now and I don't even want to think about going to the Visoreds." A pained look flashed across her face, before being replaced with a gentle smile.
"Sosuke was many things Ichigo, monster, power-hungry, delusional, sick, twisted, megalomaniac and so on," she said, her eyes reflecting sorrow as she remembered her old master. "But he was also an excellent teacher. Using what I remember of his, own personal techniques, I can teach you to do the same. It is the same way that I will help you improve your Zanjutsu, Hoho and Kido, as well as improving your mental faculties enough to use me to my full potential."
He understood now why she was going to train him in control since in order to learn kido in the first place, one had to have adequate control over their own power and while he was indeed a skilled swordsman, he would have to learn to fight with a shorter blade, since she was nowhere near as large as Zangetsu in either of his forms.
"Hang on what about Hakuda, I mean are you saying that I have enough mastery of it, or…" he trailed off as she held her hand up to silence him.
"Correct I will not be teaching you Hakuda, since I want you to learn from a more…entertaining teacher," she said with a grin, making him shudder at what she thought of as entertaining.
"You're not talking about Yoruichi are you?" he asked carefully, seeing her chuckle in response.
"Oh please, of course not Ichigo, I meant your friend Tatsuki," she said with a grin.
"Tatsuki? What the hell are you on about?" he asked in surprise.
"Well if you go back to learn karate in a more…professional environment, we can use that as a reason to explain why you suddenly feel slightly more tired or ache a little bit more," she answered. "After all, you're not going to get away without some bruises or burns from Kido and Zanjutsu."
"I see," he said, rubbing his chin in contemplation, before holding his head and groaning. "Why do we have to learn so much?"
Feeling a weight sink into the couch next to him, he turned his head to see Kyoka Suigetsu sitting next to him, her hand reaching out to rest on his thigh, making his face heat up.
"You're not going to be able to brute force your way with me Ichigo," she said in a soft voice. "I can be just as strong as Zangetsu was when it comes to cutting down regular hollows and maybe even Gillian-class Menos and eventually against the toughest hierro you encounter, but against a foe of any considerable skill you will need to have more than just power to help you."
As she smiled at him, Ichigo couldn't help but feel cowed by her words. His old Bankai had increased his speed and strength beyond what others his level could achieve and it was further enhanced with his mask. Now though, he was going to have to become that balanced fighter since his zanpakuto was a kido-type and not a melee-type.
"I understand," he whispered, looking into her forest-green eyes once again and feeling as if he was being drawn into them.
"Well now that, that's all sorted," she said clapping her hands together and jumping to her feet, her robe rising just a little bit higher, "it's time you get back and get ready for the day. After all I'm expecting a decent show to repay me for mine earlier," she said with a mischievous grin, making him groan at the memory.
XXX
Once he returned to his body, the sun had just passed over the horizon, bathing the area in light. Remembering that it was a Saturday and that Tatsuki would be attending the morning classes at her dojo, he got out of bed and stretched, before gathering his clothes for the day and reluctantly walking towards the bathroom, his mind conscious of the fact that his new zanpakuto would be watching him.
Walking out of the house 30 minutes later, he started towards the dojo slowly, his mind elsewhere as he passed by people on the street.
'She's probably going to challenge me to a match the minute I walk in there,' he grumbled inwardly to Kyoka Suigetsu. 'Remind me why I'm doing this again?'
"Because I want you to learn a more refined form of hand-to-hand combat than simply your street fighting style," she shot back, her mood unsurprisingly pleasant since she 'enjoyed' her show.
'Damn perverted zanpakuto,' he grumbled, hearing her laugh in response. When he finally reached the dojo, he slid the door back and entered. Looking around, he could see some of the people that had been here all those years ago. Unsurprisingly those that did remember him paused in their sparring and stared at him.
"What are you guys all staring at? Get back to practice," a voice shouted, pushing through the ranks of stunned martial artists. When she finally made her way through the crowd, Tatsuki froze at who was standing before her.
"Hey Tatsuki," Ichigo said with a smirk on his face. "I was wondering if you'd be up for a match, maybe more in the future."
XXX
Within a darkened room, a figure sat in front of a glowing screen, pouring over an immense list of figures and calculations, barely reacting when a door behind him slid open.
"Forgive me master," the newcomer spoke, bowing their head towards the man, "but the report on Ichigo Kurosaki just arrived."
"Good, was he eliminated?" the man asked, not turning away from his work.
"Forgive me master, but it seems that he is still very much alive," the servant spoke, stilling when his master's hands froze from their typing.
"How?" he asked, his tone filled with curiosity.
"It seems that former Captains Yoruichi Shihoin and Kisuke Urahara were able to get to him in time. We don't know the exact details since our scanners were destroyed in the ensuing fight," the servant replied, feeling as if they were about to be killed on the spot.
"Hmm very well then, we'll forgo any further attempts for the moment," the master said as he resumed his work. "We'll try again once the rest of my plans have moved ahead."
XXX
And we come to an end. I wonder who that mysterious figure is… ah who cares, I want to know what Ichigo was so embarrassed about (Or do I? Hmm). This is shorter than what my other stories normally are, but I covered everything I wanted to so I'm not going to go into the material for the next chapter.
So what did you think? I'm feeling a bit…iffy about the title of the story. I mean I feel it fits, but maybe in the long run it should be changed. Let me know what you think about it and the chapter please.