The Protector's Temptation

I would say something, but I've delayed you enough. Go on and read the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts/Inner Speech'

"Kido/Zanpakuto release"

"Zanpakuto speech"

XXX

Chapter 15:

Still reeling over her words, Ichigo looked at Kyoka Suigetsu in confusion. "What do you mean Kyoka? Why would I hate you at all?" he asked her, seeing her shake her head.

"The 'influence' that you have had on people since we bonded, however slight, is a result of an aspect of my power Ichigo," she said with a sombre expression on her face. "It is one of the reasons I pushed for you to learn control so quickly, for left unchecked, my 'influence' would have spread like wildfire over Karakura Town."

"And what exactly is this 'influence'?" he asked through narrowed eyes. "Why is it so dangerous and why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't tell you, simply because I cannot reveal it to you," she answered him, walking towards him until she was barely inches from his face. "The only way for you to find out and control it…is for you to undertake its trial. If you don't, it will stay in a semi-dormant state, affecting those around you should you merely come into contact with them, or if you allow your reiatsu to roam freely." Seeing his eyes widen at the implications of leaving it unchecked, she held up a hand to stall his questions. "This is not without its risks though Ichigo. If you take too long to complete it…you will die."

"Wha-what are you talking about?!" he shouted at her, seeing her step away from him and shaking her head at him once again. Realising that he wasn't going to get an answer, he sighed and looked up at the sky, noticing that the normally clear night sky was overcast and cloudy. "You know that I'm willing to go to the ends of the Earth to protect others Kyoka, even if it's against me that they need protection from."

Before he realised it, he blinked and tried to take a step back as she appeared right in front of him, her hand hovering over his face, before her slim fingers grabbed him and slammed him head-first into the ground, knocking him out. "Good luck Ichigo…" she whispered into his ear, before vanishing into thin air.

XXX

Groaning as he rubbed his head to alleviate some of the pain he was feeling, Ichigo cracked an eye open and immediately shut it again as he stared up at the blinding light above him. Gingerly opening his eyes again, he pushed himself up off his back and looked around, finding himself in a black suit with a white shirt and blue tie, and sitting just outside Karakura High. Getting to his feet and dusting his clothing off, he walked towards the front gate, peering inside and seeing the rest of his friends and classmates also dressed formally, for what reason he still didn't know.

"It's your graduation day Ichigo," he heard a voice whisper to him, worrying him as it sounded nothing like Kyoka Suigetsu. "Do you want to join them? I'm sure that they would love to celebrate this day with you." Before he could answer the owner of the voice though, he felt compelled to join his friends, to be a part of the celebration that was this day.

Walking through the crowd, he wasn't surprised to see that Uryu was taking the top honours for their year, while Orihime was third. What was surprising to him was that he was apparently tenth in their year. Before he could find out anything else though, he heard the tell-tale ripping sound of a Garganta and spun on his heels to see the tear in the fabric of space. Feeling a sudden rush, he glanced down to find himself dressed in his shihakusho with his zanpakuto at his side. Not bothering to give it a second thought, he kicked off the ground, cutting through the air with ease and slamming into the first wave of bestial hollows and dispatching them with ease.

As the battle continued to rage on, he kept an eye on the events below him, seeing that those with some spiritual awareness were glancing up at him with worry in their eyes every now and then, while subtly nudging the others to leave the area. Dodging a lunge from a snake-like hollow, he grit his teeth and flash stepped back, holding his palms out in front of him. "Hado no. 73, Soren Sokatsui," he chanted sending the twin wave of blue flame charging forward at the swarm of hollows, reducing them all to ash as it blew through them, before entering the Garganta and exploding within it. Seeing the rip collapse in on itself, he turned back to join his friends again, but felt suddenly light-headed and pitched forward, falling to the ground unconscious.

"He did well there," Kyoka murmured, raising her head slightly. "He's put our training to good use."

"He still hasn't passed yet and that was a pitiful display. Honestly he should be embarrassed with how he handled that," the strange voice muttered, her tone indicating her displeasure.

XXX

Moments later found Ichigo mumbling incoherently as he started to wake up again. Instead of lying face down in the dirt though, he found himself under the covers of a warm comfortable bed. As his mind finally caught up though, he stiffened as he felt his arm wrapped around another warm body. Opening his eyes slowly, he could see a woman in her mid-twenties with her back pressed against his chest, her arms wrapped around a four year old girl that was cuddling into her chest. The strangest thing about them though, was that their features were constantly shifting. Everything from her hair colour to the shape of her cheekbones, simply nothing remained the same as he watched her hair change from auburn, to black to a startling blood red that reminded him strongly of blood.

Shaking his head to clear it off such thoughts, he heard the disembodied voice yet again. "Will you wake them up? I'm sure that they'd love to wake up and see the most important man in their life." Yet again he felt the strange compulsion to follow through with the voice's suggestion and placed a tender kiss to each of their foreheads, chuckling as the woman he assumed to be his wife smiled and peered up at him with sleepy aquamarine eyes, while the little girl that was their daughter yawned cutely and snuggled back into her mother's side.

The peaceful scene was destroyed though as the wall of their room was blown to pieces, showering them in rubble. Shielding them with his body, Ichigo barely registered his wife's gasp of surprise, or their daughter's wails of confusion. His attention was instead concentrated on the battle that raged outside the destroyed wall, soul reapers and hollows alike locked in a raging conflict with kido and ceros flying about destroying the area without care.

"Quite gawking and get moving Ichigo!" a voice shouted at him, causing him to turn in surprise and see Renji standing there with a grimace on his face, his zanpakuto drawn and Ichigo's in his hand. Tossing the blade over to him, he disappeared out the hole in the wall and leapt into the melee.

Not bothering to think any further, Ichigo spared his family one last glance, before he charged out the hole with his blade in hand, solidifying a platform for him to stand on and look out over the raging battle in front of him. Feeling his instincts screaming at him to duck, he brought his blade up and parried away the deathblow to his neck, slicing into the offending hollow and sending it crashing to the ground below him. As he continued to fight, he caught glimpses of several members of the Gotei 13, as well as others like his father, Uryu, Chad and Kisuke.

Duelling against an arrancar with a rat-faced mask and twin daggers that inflicted several minor nicks to his arms and torso, he feinted to the side and rammed it up through its chin and out its skull in a small crimson spray. Catching his breath during a lull in combat, he felt his blood run cold as a piercing cry of "Otou-san!" echoed across the battlefield from the ruins of his home. Turning towards it, he felt rage and fear take hold of him as an arrancar stalked towards his family, its bladed tail and claws grating against each other as it grinned at them with malice.

Abandoning any hint at restraint, he vanished from view, reappearing between them and giving the smirking arrancar a cold glare. Blocking the bladed claws as the hollow lunged at him; he caught the tail aiming to impale him from behind.

"You'll never live to see the light of day again hollow," he hissed, whipping Kyoka Suigetsu through the air and piercing the arrancar's skull, right between its eyes, a small trickled of blood running down the wound.

Before the arrancar disappeared though, he heard it mumble softly, "Your strength was enough this time…but will it always be enough?"

Confused at its last words, he turned around to see their stricken faces. Looking away grimly, he walked over to them, picking them up in his arms.

"Tou-san!" he heard his daughter scream one last time, before darkness seemed to claim him and he knew no more.

"He desires a family to call his own. Surely you can't fault him for that?" Kyoka asked, sighing as the stranger shook her head.

"He gave in again, I refuse to accept such weakness," she growled, turning away from her and disappearing.

XXX

As his eyes snapped open, Ichigo growled and leapt to his feet, looking about in confusion at the fact that there was no battle raging around him. Instead he found himself in the middle of a dense forest, the soothing sound of the birds and wind causing him to relax ever so slightly. Hearing a faint giggling coming from his right, he headed towards it, brushing low hanging branches out of his way as he walked.

Finally finding the clearing, his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he stared at his sisters and father having a picnic on the grass, their smiles wider than he had ever seen them before. What captured his attention though, was the woman in her early thirties with long wavy brown hair and kind eyes that glinted with humour. "Kaa…san," he whispered to himself, his mind racing to catch up with what he was seeing.

"They look happy don't they?" the same annoying voice said as it joined him once again. "Your family whole once again, isn't that what you've always wanted? Why do you hesitate now to go and join them?"

"I…I don't know," he muttered, feeling his heart clench as Yuzu wrapped their mother in a tight hug, the two of them laughing at something, while Karin and Isshin chuckled and shook their heads at the pair.

"Well go on then…no one's going to hand you a Golden Invitation after all," the voice said, egging him on, to which he just nodded and headed out into the clearing.

As he snapped a branch as he walked forwards, his family turned and looked up at him. Seeing his mother smile and stand up, he froze as she slowly made her way over to him.

"You made it," she said gently, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "How's my little boy been doing these last few years?"

"Kaa-san…I…" he tried to say, stiffening as she gave him another squeeze.

"What's wrong baby? Don't you want to tell me how your life has been?" she asked again with a smile.

"It's not that," he quickly mumbled out. "It's just…" he tried to say once again, but was interrupted by a cero exploding close to them, sending them into a panic, while Ichigo growled and looked around for the source. Looking up into the air, he frowned as he watched Grimmjow howl with demented laughter, the Sixth Espada already released and waiting for him it seemed. Flash stepping towards the panther-like arrancar, Ichigo brought his blade down on his armoured hide, sparks showering the two of them from the contact.

"Been a while eh soul reaper?" Grimmjow smirked, spinning on the spot and slipping past Ichigo and slamming his foot into his lower back. "It seems that you're even weaker now though."

Grunting as the blow connected, Ichigo looked back grimly at the aspect of destruction. It wasn't that he was weaker; it just seemed that Grimmjow was infinitely stronger than the last time they battled.

"Guess I need to properly motivate you then," Grimmjow said in a blank tone, cocking his elbow at his family below and firing off several off his devastating darts at them. To Ichigo's horror, their increased speed far outstripped him and they pierced each of his family's bodies, causing them to explode in a shower of gore. Clutching his head as pain lanced through his head and heart, he threw his head back and screamed, his eyes filling with rage at the arrancar.

Catching a kick on his right forearm and grabbing a clawed fist with his left, he glared into the arrancar's eyes, his body acquiring a light purple glow as he forced his power to its limit, before almost effortlessly slicing off each of his opponent's limbs, leaving him nothing more than a head and torso. Hearing the limbless body chuckle, he scowled down at his defeated opponent.

"Still don't get it do you Kurosaki? Heh, guess you're in need of further education then," Grimmjow said with smirk, before Ichigo felt his head flare in pain once again and he blacked out.

XXX

Waking up yet again in the forest, Ichigo frowned and charged off towards the direction of the clearing yet again. Sighing in relief at the fact that his family was whole once again, he looked around to see if there was any sign of Grimmjow.

'If this is a second chance to pass this trial…then why isn't he here yet?' he wondered, guessing that the same amount of time had passed by now.

"Is that really what you think this is? A second chance?" the stranger asked him.

'If it isn't…then what is it?' Ichigo shot back, seeing his sisters notice him in the trees and hurry over to him. As they approached the halfway mark though, several soul reapers flash stepped into view between them.

"Guys?" Ichigo asked curiously, seeing Yamamoto, Byakuya, Sui-Feng, Mayuri, Kenpachi and over two dozen Stealth Forces members in front of him.

"Stay out of this Kurosaki," Byakuya said sternly, his eyes narrowed as he addressed the teen. "By order of Central 46, they are all wanted for questioning and are to come with us."

"What are you talking about Byakuya?" Ichigo growled at him, flash stepping past them and placing himself in front of his family, a hand on his zanpakuto. "What do you mean they're wanted for questioning?"

"The why is irrelevant Kurosaki, what matters is that we have our orders," Sui-Feng said emotionlessly as she glared at him. "Arrest them!" she ordered, causing the Stealth Forces troops to charge in and try to apprehend them all. Before they could take more than a few steps though, an immense amount of force slammed down on them as Ichigo's considerable reiatsu choked the life out of them, causing each of them to drop to the ground unconscious.

"I won't warn you again…" he hissed out through gritted teeth, drawing his blade and holding it levelled out in front of him. Seeing the Captain Commander give an almost imperceptible nod, Ichigo tensed as three of the Captains disappeared, while Kenpachi charged straight at him with glee. "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu," he whispered ignoring their glares as he released his zanpakuto, vanishing from the spot along with his family. To his dismay though a flaming wall sprang up in front of him and surrounded the entire area, trapping them within it.

"What will you do when your strength is not enough Kurosaki?" Yamamoto asked as he appeared within the prison with them, his eyes cracked open and revealing the flaming red irises they held.

"I'll fight on regardless of it," he answered back, wincing as the flames seemed to roar even higher.

"But why must everything, be solved by fighting?" Yamamoto asked with a sigh, before vanishing from the prison and drawing the flames in closer and closer.

Feeling the pain from before return tenfold, Ichigo clutched his head as it felt like a ten tonne weight was pressing down on it and screamed and rolled around as his family was turned to ash, before the flames dissipated and he was left alone, haggard and whimpering.

"What's the point of this?!" he screamed at the sky as the pain continued to intensify. "What is it that you want me to do?! Am I just supposed to ignore them and let them die?!"

"That is for you to decide," the voice answered him, before he could feel a slim fingers brush over his forehead gently. "This is your last chance Ichigo…you fail now and I won't be able to save you again."

XXX

Opening his eyes to the bright sun, Ichigo found himself in the damned forest for the third time that day. 'So if I go charging off someone will come for them and I'll try to save them and fail and eventually kill myself simply due to the pain of seeing them die…just great,' he thought with a sigh, walking slowly towards some heavily shrouded bushes. Staring at the peaceful scene, he felt the strange presence appear at his shoulder.

"You're not going to try and join them again?" she asked in surprise, nudging him forward.

"No, not this time," he said sternly, taking a step back and making sure that he was completely hidden. "Each time that I've listened to you today…others have had their life placed in danger. The school, that room and finally here, each time that I've tried to make myself a part of it, something bad has inevitably happened. At first I thought that you wanted me to simply overcome whatever the threat was…but that's not what you wanted is it?"

Waiting for an answer, he pressed on regardless. "There was also the fact that each time, you've used something I wanted, something I desired to have and you compelled me to take it. What you're asking is for me to see that they're happy without me and be happy for that. You want me to deny myself the opportunity to share in that happiness and just leave them be."

"I do not want you to always deny yourself these pleasure Ichigo, but I had to see that you could see past yourself. I have nothing more to say for now…we'll see each other eventually Ichigo. Try to survive until then," the voice said one last time, before disappearing and thrusting him back into a world of darkness.

XXX

Groaning as his head throbbed with agony again; Ichigo could feel his head resting on something warm and silky, while cold droplets fell onto his face. Opening his eyes slightly, he found his head in Kyoka's lap, her fingers running through his hair, while tears poured from her eyes and down onto his face.

"Welcome back Ichigo," she whispered, wiping the tears away from her face and smiling down at him.

"Kyoka…you…" he mumbled, still reeling from the mental torture that he had gone through and fell silent as she placed a finger to his lips.

"I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through that Ichigo," she said gently, "but I couldn't be happier that you did."

"Kyoka…what are you really?" he spoke slowly and haltingly, his expression confused more than anything else.

"Haven't you figured that out yet Ichigo? I offer everything and nothing. I am both your friend and enemy. I am your desire, your temptation. Your heart is an open book to me and your mind is my playground," she answered him, growing more and more sombre as she spoke.

"But how?" he asked, trying to prop himself up, but finding that he lacked the strength to do so and collapsed into her lap again.

"My Complete Hypnosis is merely a means to an end Ichigo. In order to influence their senses, I need to enter their mind. Once there, I am privy to all their deepest and most heartfelt desires. Using that information, I can use it to nurture or break them. Taking you for example, your friends have always been an integral part of your life, with you laying your life on the line if needed," she explained, drawing his mind back to the first scene that he appeared in. "Using that I could trap you within a never ending cycle of hurt and hate, destroying your trust in them." Seeing him scowl at her example, she tried to lighten the mood.

"Though I must admit that I was surprised that your desire for a family of your own is so strong at your age, is there something you're not telling me Ichigo?" she said with a mischievous smirk.

"That's…that's private!" he shouted at her, blushing slightly at her question. "Wait, who was that woman that was in there with me?" he asked, his mind flashing back to the strange voice that had accompanied him and saw Kyoka shift uncomfortably.

"You will meet her again one day, that is all I can say for now," Kyoka explained to him.

"I see," he mumbled, running a hand over his tired face. "Is that why some women have had that reaction to me, because your power convinces them that I am their greatest desire?"

"Well…chocolate is another big desire, but in terms of men, you're pretty much every girl's dream guy. That is if you decide to affect them. Normal contact should be fine, but anything more…intimate and don't be surprised when they consider you Kami's gift to women everywhere," she said with a smirk, patting him on his cheek.

"Great just what I needed…more attention," he said with a sigh as he closed his eyes to try and alleviate the future headaches he could feel coming on. "How does it affect me though?" he asked her, looking up when he heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Do you remember the first time we met in my home?" she asked slowly, seeing him blush slightly and nod his head in response. "Do you remember what you felt at the time?"

"Well embarrassment and shame for one," he mumbled, his mind recalling a vivid image of her nude form as she bathed "And after that frustration at how much work we needed to do. Is that it?" he asked, seeing her shake her, causing him to think over it again. "Well the only other thing I remember was…" he trailed off, his eyes widening, before he looked up at her sombre expression.

"You felt an attraction that you passed off as a boyish fancy for a beautiful woman," she said a smile, "but the truth is…I am what you desire most," she said with a sultry whisper, leaning over and claiming his lips in a passionate kiss, his mind going blank with lust and desire, before he groaned as darkness claimed him for the final time that day.

XXX

So…what do you think? Kyoka using a person's greatest desire and temptation against them through her complete hypnosis. She is of course the reason why this is called the Protector's Temptation and explains my desire to give her more than just complete hypnosis.

I know that she could do that already if he knew the person quite well, but to be able to go up against a complete stranger and use their greatest desires against them…that scares me.

And a small hint at the future of Kyoka and Ichigo's relationship. I still get to torture you about how it ends, even if the beginning has come.

As for the strange female voice that was there with him for his trials, she'll show up sooner or later.

Right time for our insight corner:

Ichigo's 'conversation' with the Gotei Task Force: Yup it's time for Ichigo to man up and speak his mind to them, not to mention some of those flaws are just so…glaringly obvious.

Komamura: Not one of my favourites by any means, but I just get the feeling that he is at least one of the most respectable Captains, but gets the short end of the stick so many times, whether in humour or in battle.

Don't think there's anything else I want to mention for now so thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and I look forward to hearing from you again.

PS. Almost 500 reviews, 700 favourites and 600 alerts. I don't normally get too excited by these things, but thanks to everyone that contributed to make this happen.