The Protector's Temptation.
Welcome back one and all. Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. Not much I want to address right now, since the story will explain it far better than me just saying it outright.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Thoughts/Inner Speech'
"Kido/Zanpakuto release"
"Zanpakuto speech"
XXX
Chapter 4:
"GOOD MORNING, ICHIGO!" Isshin yelled as he dived in, feet first, through Ichigo's open window and bounced off the mattress to hit the roof. Grumbling to himself, he looked around curiously for his son, finding no trace of the boy anywhere in the room. Keeping in line with his theatrics, he ran downstairs sobbing and flew through the air towards the poster of Masaki.
"Oh Masaki-chan, our little boy's gone and run away," he wailed. "Was it something I did, or is this simply a phase in his teenage life?!"
"Shut up you old goat!" Karin yelled, tossing her ball at him, striking the man on the back of his skull and sending him face first into the wall. "If you'd been more awake this morning, you would have seen him leaving to go for a run with Tatsuki before school."
"What?" her father asked in shock. "But he's never been one to get up and do something like that. Could it be that he's finally showing interest in granting me grandchildren? OH MASAKI-CHAN HAPPY DAYS ARE SOON TO COME!" he yelled, only to be silenced by Karin's foot this time.
"They only went for a run, because their sensei told them to dad," Yuzu said as she set the table for breakfast. "Even Tatsuki-chan said that they're only friends after all."
"But, but…" Isshin said with tears in his eyes, before rapidly wiping them away and complaining to the poster about how Ichigo would never become a man.
"Geez, just give it a rest already," Karin said with a sigh, sitting at the table and trying to enjoy her breakfast.
XXX
As their feet pounded down the hard ground, Ichigo was vaguely aware of the stares that he and Tatsuki were getting as they ran, his mind focused solely on his stride and the lucid tones from his iPod. Both he and Tatsuki were kitted out in a pair of shorts, a tank top and trainers, their bodies glistening with a fine layer of sweat. Overall the image they presented was quite alluring to several other early risers they passed.
When they had left his place at 6am, their course had led them past the dojo, along the river for a few miles, before finally heading past the school and towards Tatsuki's house. Not slowing down as they neared her home, he pulled one of his headphones out to hear her.
"See you at practice after school right?" she asked slightly breathlessly.
"Yeah of course, someone needs to kick your ass to keep you in line," he said with a smirk, ducking as she tried to swipe the back of his head.
"Yeah and I need to make sure your head doesn't grow any bigger!" she shouted at him, as he rounded the corner to head home.
As he neared the front gate, he slowed to a walk and took several deep breaths to slow his racing heart down.
"I'm home," he called as he stepped through the front door, slipping out of his trainers and pulling his headphones out of his ears.
"And just where do you think you're going?!" Isshin yelled at him, flying towards him with a kick aimed at his face. "You missed daddy's bitter suicide bomb this morning, but you won't dodge my sup-mrgph," he choked out, unable to finish as Ichigo's fist connected with his face, sending him rolling backwards across the ground, until he hit the wall.
"Even when I'm not here you're still trying to deliver your wake-up call? Geez get a life already," Ichigo berated him, as he walked to his room to grab his uniform. Once he had it, he headed to the bathroom, relishing the thought of a hot shower to both soothe his muscles and wash away the stench of sweat.
From his position on the ground, Isshin winced and rubbed his bruised jaw. 'I know that he's regained some form of power,' he thought, standing up and making his way to the table, 'but he shouldn't have been able to send me flying like that so soon. Even though he's restrained by his body, it felt more akin to the times we fought just after he returned from rescuing Rukia.' Accepting his plate from Yuzu, he made a mental note to talk with Kisuke about it when he had the time.
XXX
As the hot water washed over him, Ichigo let loose an involuntary groan at the feeling and reached over for the shampoo bottle when he remembered that his time was limited.
"I must say that, that groan was so arousing," Kyoka said, startling him to the point where the bottle slid from his loose grip and to the shower floor.
Turning his head to the side, he could see the ghostly image of his zanpakuto, her green silk robe tied loosely at the waist and her hair tousled as if she had just woken up. Covering himself as best he could, he watched her chuckled at his actions.
"Relax Ichigo, like I said before, I've seen it already," she said with a yawn and leaned back against the sink.
"What the hell are you doing here Kyoka?!" he almost yelled at her, but remembered that it would sound weird to his sisters if he was talking to thin air.
"What? I'm just saying good morning," she answered as she pouted and crossed her arms over her ample chest, making her breasts jiggle slightly. Blushing crimson, Ichigo cursed the clear glass door, but relented that she would see him like this regardless of what he did and continued washing himself as quickly as possible.
"Why do you look so tired, did you just get up or something?" he asked, not looking in her direction.
"As a matter of fact, yes I did," she replied, fixing her hair in the mirror above the sink. "I'm not much of a morning person and when I do wake up, I don't like interruptions. Remember that the next time you visit me."
"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" he asked, guessing her answer already.
"Nope," she said with a grin. "It's not like you don't want another chance to see these anyway," she teased him, her smile diminishing somewhat when he pointedly looked the opposite way.
"Can you please just let me finish showering, I really don't want to be late," he whined, hearing her sigh and feeling her reappear in his inner world.
"Fine, but you're making up for this later today," she said mischievously, making him groan in exasperation.
XXX
As he left his house, Ichigo felt a familiar reiatsu at the edge of his senses. Looking in the general direction of it, he almost smiled when he could see Rukia standing on the roof of one of the neighbours' homes, her shihakusho fluttering in the morning breeze. Before he could say anything to her, she disappeared in a flash, leaving him frowning at her actions. Looking at his watch, he sighed and started walking towards his school at a brisk pace, his mind in turmoil at her return.
XXX
"Good morning Kurosaki-kun," Orihime called out to him as he entered the classroom with his bag slung over his shoulder.
"Morning Inoue," he replied, barely noticing when she came over to his desk.
"I just wanted to apologise again for having to miss out on the rest of your party," she said with a slight bow, making him sigh at her politeness.
"Look Inoue its fine," he said with a small smile. "I know that you guys had a lot of hollows to deal with, so what kind of friend would I be if I held a grudge for it? Just relax okay?" he asked, seeing her nod her head in understanding.
"Okay you guys quiet down now," Mss Ochi said as she entered the room, causing everyone to head for their respective desks.
As she walked back to her own though, Orihime couldn't help but shake the uneasy feeling she got from Ichigo. If she didn't know any better, it was as if his reiatsu was simultaneously trying to comfort yet distance her from him, but that couldn't be right, especially since he had given up his powers hadn't he? Brushing it off as her imagination, she took her seat as roll call was taken.
XXX
By the time lunch rolled around, Orihime had completely forgotten about the strange feeling from Ichigo and was currently trying to get Tatsuki to try her custard, rhubarb, wasabi, red bean paste and pickle desert, a dish that led to several confused looks from her friends as usual.
Off in the distance, Tatsuki could see Tetsuo approaching Ichigo and the others, probably to ask him to join the guy's karate team. Sighing, she wasn't surprised since word had gotten back to the school that he was indeed training again, which led to Tetsuo's renewed effort to recruit him.
"I'm guessing it's true then," Ryo said as she peered over her book at Tetsuo. "I had heard that Ichigo was getting back into it, but rumours can always be so misleading. Your reaction though, at least confirms it," she said as she turned to Tatsuki.
"Yeah, guess it was only a matter of time before he tried again," she answered with a shrug. "Any bets on how quickly Ichigo shoots him down?"
"Tatsuki-chan, you didn't tell me that Ichigo was training again," Orihime pouted, making her friend slightly uncomfortable.
"It's not like I was trying to hide it Orihime," she said in a calm voice. "I was just as surprised when he showed up at the dojo on Saturday."
"But wasn't he, a strong fighter already?" Michiru asked timidly, prompting Tatsuki to turn to face her.
"Don't tell me you're still afraid of him?" she asked, seeing the smaller girl shift uncomfortably in her seat. "And yeah he was good, but there's always room for improvement."
Turning back to Ichigo and Tetsuo, they could see the latter trudge away, a crestfallen look on his face. Hearing the bell, they also reluctantly packed up and made their way back inside.
XXX
"You know, I think you should've given the idea more thought," Kyoka said, her apparition appearing on the window sill in the classroom. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo turned his attention back to the class.
'And I've already told him and you that I have no interest in it,' he told her, furrowing his brow as his teacher continued to drone on. 'If I join the team, I'll attract even more attention. Not to mention the fact that my reiatsu amplifies my abilities, even when I am in my body, how would that be fair on others?'
"Maybe, but not all attention you get will be negative," she said as she swung her legs lazily where she sat. "Think about it Ichigo, you'll become known for being more than a delinquent if you join the team. Combined with your hard working ethic and academic record, you could earn a scholarship to do whatever you want at university. Isn't that worth pursuing? I mean you can't exactly make a living as an ex-substitute soul reaper."
'There's only a year and a bit left anyway Kyoka,' he replied as he turned to face her, appearing as if he was simply staring out the window. 'What's the chances that, that would happen?'
"You'll never know if you don't try Ichigo," she shot back, seeing him turn away from her again. Huffing in frustration, she hopped from her perch and moved in front of him, placing her hands on her hips and glaring down at him. "Are you going to continue to be stubborn then?"
'I'm not being stubborn, just considerate,' he replied.
"Fine then," she said with a wicked grin, "enjoy the show."
Before he could ask what she meant, he paled horribly when the members off the Soul Reaper Men's Association (SMA) danced into the room, clad in nothing but a white loin cloth and promptly started to tap dance in front of the blackboard. Being the only one that was being subjected to this torture, Ichigo glanced to the side and noticed Kyoka smirking at him.
'THIS WON'T MAKE ME CHANGE MY MIND!' he growled at her, watching as her brows furrowed. To his dismay, she perked up almost immediately and the tap dancing illusions vanished. Hearing the next illusion enter, he almost shouted a curse and leapt to his feet at the sight before him. Before his horrified eyes, Kenpachi and Captain Commander Yamamoto danced arm in arm, butt naked in front of him, their scarred and wrinkly skin making him want to retch.
'OKAY FINE YOU WIN!' he yelled back at her, his mind trying in vain to scrub the image from his mind. 'As soon as class is over, I'll tell him that I accept, just please stop.'
"I knew that you'd see it my way Ichigo," she said with a smirk. "In fact for being so cooperative, here's a small reward."
Tensing up in case she did something perverted again, he winced when he felt her mind touch his. A myriad amount of thoughts swept across his mind, the core concept being the reiatsu control method she had taught him on Saturday. As he examined the memory though, he could see a change to it as she added several sluice gates to the dam.
"This is my present to you," she whispered in his mind. "Each gate acts as a control to the relevant limb or tool. Some will reinforce your physical abilities, such as increasing your strength or speed," she continued, placing the dam within his body and tracing channels to his hands and feet. "While others will feed your reiatsu into me or kido," she added, tracing channels between the dam and her sealed form. "We can practice this tonight."
Reeling from the sudden memory dump, he let out a shaky breath and jumped slightly when the bell rang signalling the end of school. Seeing Tetsuo packing up next to him, he quickly spoke up.
"I'll do it," he said in an even voice, making the other boy turn to him in shock. "You want me to join so badly, then I'll do it. Just be prepared to get your asses kicked when we spar."
"Of course, it's worth the beating if we end up improving after all," Tetsuo replied with a smile. "Still having you on the team, you have no idea how great this is. We just might make the national finals this time round." Not waiting for another second, the boy ran off, obviously thrilled to tell the coach about the newest recruit.
Sighing to himself, Ichigo remembered that he still had to meet Tatsuki at the dojo after school and made his way there.
XXX
"You're kidding me!" Tatsuki half yelled at him as she tried to sweep his legs out from under him. "You're telling me that after all these years; you've finally caved and decided that you're going to compete again?"
"Is it really that shocking," Ichigo replied as he leapt over her sweep and brought his fist down on the ground she used to be lying down on. "The guy sounded so desperate and I guess that it could help if I manage to get a scholarship to go to university, because of it."
"Well you're going to have to go all out for it then," she shot back, charging back in with a kick at his midsection. "They only take the best after all."
"If I can handle you when you when you're pissed off at me, god help the poor souls that have to go up against me," he quipped back, grabbing her outstretched foot and sweeping her leg out.
Unlike the first time he did this though, she was ready for the grab and had leapt into the air, nailing him across his ribs with her free foot. Stumbling backwards, he managed to recover just in time to duck under her haymaker and throw her over his shoulder, pinning her to the ground with his knee.
"Well done Arisawa, Kurosaki," the sensei said as he walked over to them, his eyes shining with pride. "It's been a while since it happened, but I'm glad that someone's been able to go against my star pupil like that and force her to innovate to that extent. I look forward to seeing you both improve."
"Of course sensei, thank you," they both said from their position on the ground. When the man had walked off though, Tatsuki retaliated and struck him with a palm strike to the gut, winding him.
"What the…hell Tatsuki," he wheezed, his hand massaging the spot on his gut, while she rubbed the palm of her hand.
"Just improvising like he said," she teased. "Where did I hit you though? I mean it hurt me just as much as it did you obviously."
"Heh, these abs just too much for you?" he teased her back, watching as a faint blush adorned her face.
"Shut it you!" she growled as she charged at him, her blows coming fast and hard, but to him, incredibly predictable.
XXX
Setting his bag down on his desk that evening, Ichigo let out a relieved sigh as he sunk into his desk chair. Reaching idly into his bag for his school work, he paused when he heard a wooden object hit the floor. Looking down he could see his old substitute badge on the ground, the memento evoking a strange feeling of nostalgia in him. As he reached out to pick it up though, Kyoka appeared in front of him, stalling him.
"Don't touch it Ichigo!" she half shouted at him. "Look I don't know if you know this, but that badge serves another purpose besides simply expelling your soul. It…I'm sorry to say this, but it also serves as a monitoring device for the Gotei 13," she said in sadness, half expecting him to yell at her for not saying so sooner. To her surprise, she could hear him chuckling.Looking at him, she could see his shoulders shake with laughter, while he held a hand to his mouth. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" she shouted at him, making him fall from his chair in laughter.
"Sorry it's just that, I sort of already guessed that a long time ago," he answered with a smirk. "I'm guessing that if I touch it now, they'll be alerted that my powers have returned, even if I'm supressing it right?"
"Y-Yeah," she replied, her eyes still staring at him in shock. "Why aren't you mad though? If not at Soul Society, I would almost expect you to be mad at me for not telling you earlier?"
"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked incredulously. "Look I don't know how Aizen treated you, but that's not me okay. I mean I had a rough start with Zangetsu, but I would still trust him with my life and now, even though we barely know each other, I know you won't do something to intentionally harm me."
Looking into his eyes, she could see the truth behind his words. Remembering that he was uncomfortable with her hugging him, she gave him a small smile.
"Thanks Ichigo, now hurry up and finish, I have another surprise for you," she said, disappearing back into his inner world.
Perking up at what she could have in mind, especially since she had taught him a new way to use his reiatsu, he pulled out his books and got to work.
XXX
Several hours later he cracked the joints in his arms and neck and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes to relieve the strain. Looking over at the clock as it read 21:30, he moved to his bed and sunk into a meditative pose, intent on giving Kyoka at least an hour of his time. Sinking into the empty world, shielded from Karakura Town with a pane of glass, he headed towards the cottage that Kyoka stayed in. Remembering his manners this time, he knocked before entering, finding her nowhere in sight.
"Uh Kyoka?" he called out, unwilling to try the backdoor in case she was in the bath again.
"Right here Ichigo," she answered him, stepping into the room with her sketchpad in her hand and sinking into one of the couches. "Come see what I drew for you," she said as she patted the seat next to her.
Knowing that her drawings were quite good, he ambled over and sunk into the seat next to her. Accepting the sketchpad, he felt his jaw drop at the image. On it, she had accurately sketched him along a rocky beach with her sealed state in his hand, standing tall and proud as several waves crashed on the rocks around him. What captivated him the most though, was the new outfit he was wearing.
Gone was the traditional shihakusho that most soul reapers wore and replaced with black hakama bottoms, a black top with a high collar and a green sash around his waist. Over it went a forest green overcoat with a high collar that flared out around him. Unlike his old bankai coat though, this was left open. On his feet was a pair of black sandals and white socks.
"Do you like it?" she asked hopefully, moving in closer until her face was mere inches away from his. "I tried to add a bit of Zangetsu's influence in there, but I'm not sure if I got it right."
"I…I love it," he said as he continued to stare at the image. "Is this how you see me?" he asked, turning to face her and seeing how little room there was between them.
"It's what I expect your new soul form to look like," she answered with a grin. "Those shihakusho's that the others wear are just so plain. Plus this way I get to add a bit of green to your outfit."
"You really like the colour green don't you?" he asked, seeing her pout at him.
"Of course I do," she huffed. "After all so many things I like are green. You know I think Sosuke chose Hueco Mundo just to spite me, I mean there wasn't anything green there except for Ulquiorra's eyes."
Chuckling at his zanpakuto's antics, he winced when she clubbed him with a wooden sword. Tossing it at him, he caught it by reflex and stared back at her to find her wielding a similar sword.
"Now get up so we can start our lesson," she said with a stern expression. "I'm going to teach you to use your reiatsu more effectively and get you used to my length. Now come on, we're wasting time here."
Getting to his feet, he followed her out and promptly leapt back as she swiped at him, feeling the wooden blade breeze past his face. As he leapt to counter attack, his blade missed her by inches, leaving him open for her to whack him solidly across his already sore ribs.
"I'm not that long remember," she berated him as he knelt on the ground wheezing. "You can lengthen my sword form, but that tactic won't work all the time and simply makes me weaker since you need to stuff my length with your reiatsu." Holding out her free hand, her sealed state materialised in it.
"You can't increase my length, maintain a deadly edge and amplify your limbs at the same time, at your current level," she explained to him, tracing the dam in the air again with a sliver of reiatsu, emptying the dam completely as it flowed through all three sluice gates. So you must budget accordingly and only devote as much as is needed to the current task. Now get up and try again," she ordered him.
"I will be able to do that one day won't I?" he asked as he stood and took his stance again.
"Once I replenish your reserves, then yes I think you just might be able to," she replied as she took her stance. "But that won't be for days or weeks even. With your monstrous growth though, I'm thinking days."
Nodding in understanding, he charged at her again, remembering her shorter length. After two gruelling hours, he returned to his body and winced as his bruises were transferred to his physical body. Before he fell asleep, he was just thankful that he only had a jog with Tatsuki tomorrow and not a full length training session.
XXX
Wow quite a bit longer than what I originally planned, but it was fun to write. Now a couple of things:
1 – Ichigo has been visiting his inner world in his normal clothing.
2 – His new outfit is similar to Aizen's outfit that he wore during the fake Karakura Town arc, except the colours differ.
3 – Kyoka can appear in front of him at any time in the real world, she just doesn't have a physical presence. Ichigo can feel her touch him etc. but not physically interact with her in that state.
4 – I know I'm going into his school life a bit, but remember that he doesn't really have much to do and I plan to play around with this aspect a bit later.
Can't think of anything else right now, so what did you like, love or hate? Let me know please.
PS. Can you imagine the torture Aizen went through in Captain's meetings when Kyoka was mad at him? This was the spark that made me think of ways that Kyoka could, 'persuade' Ichigo into following her line of thought.