The Protector's Temptation.

As I write this, I have probably fallen asleep at my desk three times already…let's try for four. Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and I hope that this chapter answers at least some of your questions.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts/Inner Speech'

"Kido/Zanpakuto release"

"Zanpakuto speech"

XXX

Chapter 10:

Leaving Urahara's shop thirty minutes later, Tatsuki was chiding Nozomi as the younger girl constantly fidgeted with her skirt.

"It's not going to grow any longer with you tugging on it like that," the martial artist scolded her, clasping the shorter girl's wrist in her hand. "And the more you play with it, the more likely you'll actually give the guys something to look at."

"Fine, I get your point," she grumbled as she wrenched her arm away from Tatsuki, "but why does the damn thing have to be so short!"

"Don't ask me, ask the perverted shopkeeper that gave it to you," she said with a shrug. "Or blame our school's uniform shop. Or we could even blame Ichigo for asking for you to be enrolled in the first place. Isn't that right Strawberry!" she said with a grin, but quickly lost it as she saw him muttering to himself. "Hey Earth to Ichigo!" she shouted, trying to get his attention, only for him to continue walking ahead of them.

"Is something wrong with him?" Nozomi asked as they watched him disappear around the corner. "He seems to respond to people normally."

"Yeah, it's strange for him to just ignore me, or anyone like this," Tatsuki admitted, looking at her watch. "Come on, we need to hurry and get you to the office so that you can get your schedule and anything else you need."

XXX

Still lost in his thoughts after his encounter with Yoruichi that morning, Ichigo failed to notice how everyone parted around him as he walked, some muttering behind their hands about his recent behaviour. Reaching his classroom and tripping Keigo as he rushed at him, he sunk into his chair and stared out the window of the classroom.

Flashback:

"You have five seconds to explain why you're using your zanpakuto's powers on me Ichigo!" Yoruichi growled at him, her eyes burning with anger as she pinned him to the wall of the dingy little shop.

"What the hell are you talking about Yoruichi!" he shouted right back. "I haven't been playing with any of your senses since I gained Kyoka's power. Hell what makes you think that I'm using them on you anyway?!"

"Don't play dumb with me Ichigo!" she hissed at him. "Last night I quite distinctly smelt a particular odour on you, a pheromone that's emitted by male cats to attract prospective females. So tell me, how could that be, when there were no other cats in the area!"

"How the hell should I know Yoruichi?" he asked in exasperation. "I don't even have a fucking clue what male cat pheromones would smell like in the first place! How do you know that it wasn't some aphrodisiac that Urahara-san keeps locked up in his lab somewhere?"

"I don't know…yet, but if I find that you're playing around with your powers Ichigo, don't think that I won't punish you for that," she said, letting go of his shirt and storming out of the room.

Watching her storm out of the room, he groaned and muttered, "Seriously…just fuck my life. I don't need any more hormonal woman on my case."

End Flashback:

Feeling someone prod him, he jolted out of his musings and turned to face them, only to find himself face-to-face with an eyeful of Mahana's impressive cleavage. Leaning back, he found her bent over his desk, poking him on his shoulder.

"You know…I love the view from back here," Kyoka chuckled as she appeared behind the teen. "I mean, she's really someone you could get 'behind', wouldn't you say Ichigo?"

Ignoring his zanpakuto's jibes, he grabbed the girl's finger as it was about to poke him again and gave her a mild glare.

"Was there something you wanted?" he asked as he let go and watched her bolt upright.

"What's up with you today Ichigo?" she asked as she peered at him inquisitively. "I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes and all you've done is stare off into space."

"It's nothing Mahana," he said as he shrugged. "Just got some stuff on my mind."

"Oh…do you want to talk about it. I mean she is your first girlfriend after all so I can understand," she said as she sunk down into the chair next to him, while he nearly fell over backwards.

"What?! What the hell are you talking about?" he shouted at her. Noticing the rest of the class staring at him, he dropped his voice to a whisper. "I don't have a girlfriend anyway, so what are you talking about?"

"Oh? Well that's the rumour since some girls found you shopping for some stuff," she said as she gave him a curious look.

"Those were things for my cousin," he explained with a sigh, repeating the cover story that they had settled on last night for Nozomi. "She lost her luggage on the train from Kyoto and needed a change of clothes. I just volunteered to go out and get it for her."

"Oh, now it all makes sense," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean it would be strange for you to go from unapproachable to whipped, in such a short amount of time anyway," she continued, missing his expression of shock. "Anyway, I just wanted to know if you were free this weekend to put the rough draft of our project together, but if you want to spend some time with your cousin that's cool too."

"No this weekend is fine. I have practice Saturday morning, but maybe we can get together after that?" he asked, getting a nod from her as an answer, just as Miss Ochi walked into the classroom.

"Okay munchkins listen up!" she yelled, getting everyone's attention as they took their seats. "Today we have a new transfer student joining us, so I trust that you'll make her feel welcome. Please come in now."

The moment her foot entered the doorway, Ichigo supressed a groan as Nozomi timidly walked into the room and stood in front of the class. Hearing some of the guys whispering about her looks, he growled and sent a pointed glare at them, silencing their conversations.

"My name's Nozomi Kujo, pleased to meet you," she said quietly, bowing slightly.

"Moving on then, please take a seat next to Miss Ogawa," Ochi said, gesturing for the equally timid girl to raise her hand. Walking slowly towards her desk, she glanced briefly at Ichigo, receiving a reassuring nod and a small smile. Taking her seat, she listened to the teacher go through roll call, before tuning out the rest of the lesson in favour of wondering why she was here in the first place.

XXX

Several gruelling hours later and they finally broke for lunch, some being more enthusiastic than others.

"ICHIGOOOOO! What's say we go up to the roof and tuck in huh?" Keigo asked as he waved his arms around wildly, drawing several scathing looks from his classmates as they had to duck or dodge.

"Sorry, but I already have plans," he said, standing up and making his way over towards Nozomi, said girl having remained in her seat while everyone was getting up.

"WHAT?!" Keigo screamed loudly, drawing everyone's attention to the pair. Nodding his head at her, they walked off a mid the whispers and confused looks from their classmates, unheeding of the calculating look from Uryu or the confused look from Orihime.

XXX

"So how have you found the day so far," Ichigo asked her when they made it to a shady spot on the school grounds. Taking a seat, he calmly drew his bento and dug in, watching Nozomi do so at a more sedate pace.

"It's boring," she said emotionlessly. "I already know the majority of your science, biology and mathematics coursework and I have no interest in history or languages."

"Well sadly if you're going to be staying with me then you need to do this for now," he said in an even tone, filing away the slip about her knowledge. "Besides you can at least socialise with others now.

"We won't have anything in common," she shot back. "With nothing to relate to one another with, any social interaction will be limited to tense silences and awkward moments."

Fixing her with a curious look, he burst out laughing, startling and confusing her.

"What's so funny?" she queried, watching his shoulders shake slightly with mirth.

"Nothing, other than the fact that I know that you analyse things scientifically," he answered her with a smirk. "You're also withdrawn, giving reasons why you wouldn't be able to make friends, while ignoring any of the reasons why you could." Watching her turn away from him, he took her silence as her agreement.

Hearing someone calling him, he groaned as he watched Orihime and the others making their way over to them. He had wanted to avoid crowding Nozomi due to her reclusive nature and now she was about to have to deal with a myriad amount of unnecessary questions, that would more than likely cause her to shut down than open up.

XXX

Letting out a deep breath as they walked, Ichigo felt relieved that the day was finally over. During lunch he had simply repeated the cover story they cooked up and said that Nozomi was rather private and that he wouldn't appreciate it if they pressed her too hard. This helped to at least get the rest of the class to leave her alone, but from the looks Uryu was giving her, Ichigo guessed that it wouldn't be long before he brought the issue up.

"Why do you participate in those practice sessions when they are of no help to you?" Nozomi asked, breaking into his train of thought. Glancing over his shoulder at her, he could only see curiosity in her eyes, so he decided to give her a straight answer.

"To be honest, it would make my life a lot easier if I was awarded a scholarship for university for my martial arts prowess," he explained to her. "It's not that dad can't afford it, or that I won't work for it, but it would make my life a lot easier in the long run if all I needed to do was keep up on my studies and kick some ass now and then."

Before she could ask her next question, they both stiffened as they felt the presence of several soul reapers appear over Karakura Town, their reiatsu reverberating through the air.

"Come on, we need to get home and I need to deal with this," he whispered, grabbing her wrist and dragging her along. "I'll leave you with Nova and my dad; they'll be able to protect you long enough for me to get back to you if needed."

"What are you going to do?" she asked him as they broke out into a gentle jog, her mind trying to fight off the panic she felt at the soul reaper's presence.

"Nothing too serious. I'll probably just keep an eye on them for now and step in if I need to," he said over his shoulder, rounding the last corner to his home. Bursting in through the door, he raced upstairs and popped Nova's pill into his mouth, leaving the mod soul with strict instructions to protect Nozomi while he was out. As he was about to flash step away though, he found his arm held in Nozomi's grip.

"Your friends will be in trouble Ichigo and you need to know that you cannot trust what is in front of," she said cryptically, before she let go of him and retreated to his desk. Confused at her words, he stopped midstride and turned to question her, only for the question to fall away as he felt two of the signatures clash.

XXX

Meanwhile, Rukia and Renji were stood in a forested area near Karakura Town, the afternoon sun disappearing little by little. While Renji stood guard over her, Rukia was frowning as she examined one of the seals located in her area.

"What's the matter Rukia?" he asked. "From that look, I can tell that something's got you worried over the seals."

"It's just…I can feel some reiatsu around the seal and it probably belongs to the person that weakened it," she explained, holding her chin while she thought.

"Well that's good isn't it? I mean you have something that we can use to track the enemy with and help us to put this thing to rest once and for all," he said, watching her shake her head at him.

"That's the problem Renji, the reiatsu on this seal belongs to someone in the Gotei 13," she explained, shocking the Sixth Division Lieutenant with this new information. "I can't accurately say who it is, since their signature is tainted by something else, something I've never felt before."

"A good assumption," an unknown, female voice said from somewhere around them, causing the pair of them to reach for their blades. "It's even more noteworthy considering how little information was available to you to arrive at that conclusion. However I am disappointed that you couldn't determine who it was."

"Show yourself!" Renji shouted out into the air, while the sun finally set on the horizon, plunging the land into darkness.

"Watch where you're looking!" a rough male voice yelled, charging at Renji from the side and catching the redhead off-guard and sending him barrelling backwards, deeper into the forest.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled, glaring at her friend's attacker. When her eyes found him though, she could only gape as she could see an exact double of Renji smirking at her.

"Behind you!" the unknown female voice shouted at her, while Rukia barely managed to get her blade out in time. Taking a closer look at her attacker, she felt floored as an exact copy of herself, stared back at her with a stern expression on her face.

"It is unbecoming of a Kuchiki to act so surprised," the Rukia-clone said, forcing her blade down harder and tossing Rukia backwards into the trunk of a tree. Grunting from the impact, she was just barely able to dodge the murderous slice, as the clone attempted to behead her.

"What's going on here?!" she asked in panic as she continued to block attack, after attack from her clone, retaliating with her own strikes when she could.

"It's nothing that you need to worry about," the Renji-clone said as he appeared behind her, "After all, our orders are to remove you and all witnesses," he growled, bringing his blade down to cleave her in two. Wincing in preparation for the blow, she breathed a sigh of relief as Renji's Zabimaru came hurtling out of the trees, smashing into his clone's blade and sending him flying backwards.

"Don't think one lucky shot's going to keep me down," he shouted at their attackers, before charging after his clone.

Turning her attention back to her clone, Rukia quickly leapt to the side as a Sokatsui roared past her, grimacing as the blast incinerated a clump of trees and ignited a forest fire.

"Hado no. 58, Tenran!" she chanted, channelling a wave of wind to snuff out the flames, leaving the charred husks of the trees behind. Hado no. 4, Byakurai!" she yelled, sending repeated blasts of lightning at her opponent and watching as each was either batted away with her zanpakuto, or dodged entirely.

"You've changed," the clone commented idly, "I don't remember your spells having that much power before."

"Then clearly we are far from being equal," Rukia hissed back at her. "Only a fool would remain idle for ten months after being faced with the horrors of war."

"You're right…we're not equals," the clone whispered, forcing Rukia to strain her ears to hear her. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," she called, twisting her zanpakuto in a circle and surprising Rukia with her own shikai. Stabbing the ground four times, she grinned and shouted, "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

XXX

Feeling the near identical signatures clashing near Karakura Town, Ichigo grimaced at what he was feeling. Reaching out even further with his senses, he could see that similar situations had sprung up with the rest of the soul reaper as well. Unable to make sense of it, he looked over at Nozomi and watched as her hands clenched around her arms, her knuckles going white as she sat there.

"What's going on Nozomi?" he asked gently. "The fact that you're shaking tells me that you know more than you're willing to let on. Do you know why I'm feeling doubles of everyone else here?" After waiting for a few minutes with no answer, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine, I'll figure this out on my own, but promise me that you'll stay here and stay safe. I don't need to be worrying about you running off and getting caught up in the middle of a fight," he said softly, seeing her nod her head in agreement. Opening his window, he took one last look at her, before leaping out of it and rushing off towards the reiatsu he had not felt in almost a year.

XXX

Back with Rukia, the petite soul reaper was panting heavily, while sweat poured down her sides from the strenuous battle. All around her trees and flowers were frozen in ice, destroyed from the back and forth assaults of the two ice/snow type zanpakutos. Ducking her head, she dodged the sweeping slice from her clone and retaliated with her own swipe, before being forced to dance away to avoid the stab aimed at her heart.

"Hado no. 73, Soren Sokatsui!" her clone yelled, holding both palms out towards her and firing a monstrous wave of flames at her.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" she shouted back, sending an equally large of ice back at it. As the two waves came into contact with one another, they hissed and dissipated into a large cloud of steam, shrouding their positions from one another. Reaching out with her senses, Rukia worked to supress her own reiatsu, while still searching for her clone's signature.

Hearing a whisper behind her, she flinched as a circle appeared at her feet. Slicing through the circle with her zanpakuto, she dispelled the attack, before stabbing her blade into the ground and sending a tendril of ice away from her. Feeling it touch a spirit based body, she chanted, "Juhaku," causing the ice to rapidly grow over the limb and attached body.

"What…what is this?" her clone gasped as her body began to freeze over, pinning her in place.

"I guess your gloating was all for nothing then," Rukia said as she stepped out of the mist and placed her blade to her clones neck. "I may not have your raw strength, speed or power, but I know more about 'my' zanpakuto than you do. Now you're going to tell me everything and anything I want to know, starting with who you are." Hearing her clone chuckle, Rukia's brow furrowed. "And just what's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," she said with a smirk.

Before she could inquire any further, she was forced to leap back as a colossal wave of bluish reiatsu burst into the clearing, splitting her off from her clone. Turning to face the direction the attack had come from, her eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped to the ground.

"Hey Rukia, long time no see eh?" Ichigo said as he walked into the clearing, Zangetsu on his shoulder and clad in his full shihakusho.

"What took you so long idiot?" her clone asked, grinning evilly at her and shattering the ice with her own blade and walking over to join him.

"Oh just this and that," he said nonchalantly, gesturing off in the distance. "I had to make sure that everyone was doing their job properly after all."

"I-Ichigo?! I-It can't be," Rukia whispered to herself, while the Ichigo in front of her continued to chuckle.

"Can't it Rukia? After all you haven't been to visit me for over ten months…who's to say that I wouldn't have regained my powers in that time," he said throwing an arm around her clone's waist. "Not to mention I found some new friends after all."

"B-But they're not us Ichigo!" she yelled, her heart and mind warring with one another as she stared at the scene.

"Maybe, maybe not," he answered with a shrug, "but they're a lot more fun to be around," he said, bending down and pecking her clone on her cheek.

"Stop playing around with her Ichigo. Just kill her already," her clone whispered huskily in his ear, still smirking at Rukia.

"Well you heard her didn't you? Sorry Rukia, but I really need you to disappear…permanently." Not giving her a second to respond, he charged forward and brought Zangetsu's blade down on Sode no Shirayuki, forcing her backwards with his monstrous strength. Breaking through her guard, he delivered a bone-breaking punch to her gut, causing her to scream in pain as she flew backwards into a tree.

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Rukia looked up at the fuzzy image in front of her, vaguely aware that Ichigo was holding his blade up, pointed towards the sky, while his reiatsu began to rise steadily.

"Sayonara Rukia…Getsuga Tensho!" he roared, sending the full powered crescent wave at her.

Watching the wave of energy tear through the ground, Rukia couldn't help the tears pooled in the corner of her eyes, her injuries pinning her in place. 'Why…why did it have to be Ichigo of all people,' she thought, her heart still trying to deny that it was him in front of her, while her mind had already come to accept it. Closing her eyes as the wave drew closer; she waited for the inevitable burn and pain. Suddenly she was weightless and flying through the air, wincing as her broken bones flared in pain. 'Well it hurt less than I thought,' she mumbled to herself, waiting for her inevitable crash.

"You know…this really isn't the time for a nap Rukia," she heard a voice say, causing her eyes to snap open in shock. Staring back at her with a look of amusement on his face, Ichigo grinned at her expression. "Of all the times for you to give me that look, now is really not the time Rukia," he continued, setting her down gently on the ground.

Taking in his body, she barely noticed the forest green overcoat, the black gi and hakama and the green obi he wore, but focussed in on the one point she remembered about him…his warm brown eyes. Seeing them hold no malice or ill intent, she breathed a sigh of relief, her heart at last winning out over her mind. "I missed you Ichigo," she mumbled, before surrendering to the darkness and passing out.

Losing his carefree expression and tone, Ichigo stood glaring at the two that had just caught up to him. "You know…I don't really know what's going on right now, but I can promise you this. You…" he said pointing at his clone, "are not me and I'll be damned if I let you leave here alive."

XXX

So…another cliff hanger, I'm just going to run away now. *Runs off, leaving a note on the ground.*

Note from Sedor:

Well here's probably the biggest change from the Gotei 13 Invasion Army Arc. I always wondered what would happen if Ichigo was cloned and well…here we go. So next time it'll be Ichigo vs. Ichigo; Zangetsu vs. Kyoka Suigetsu. It'll be fun that's for sure.

So what did you like, love or hate? Let me know please.