The Protector's Temptation
Welcome back guys and girls, thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and as always I hope you enjoy this one.
I'm going to answer some of the reviews at the end, but these two points stuck out for me and I want to address them now.
Kyoka's comment: Now I've basically explained in the last chapter that her power, if Ichigo chooses to use it, causes him to influence the minds of those around him into thinking that he is what they want, what they need. As an example, for a woman this could mean the ideal husband, lover, father etc. while if I applied it to a man, he would be the ideal worker, friend etc.
Now since she is the source of this power, she is what men would want in a mother, wife, lover etc. As such she is what he would want from whoever he was to end up with. More on this as the story develops.
The Red Sun Sets, the Black Sun Rises: I won't lie to you, I have the chapters outlined all the way to the end, the various key scenes I want planned out and little fun scenes too, but I simply cannot find the motivation to write for it at this moment in time. I have pretty much scrapped the last three versions of Chapter 22 since they just didn't fit with what I wanted to do for it. I know that people love it and I do too, but I simply can't find my muse for it.
What I have at the moment is a small 500 word piece that I keep adding to little by little and hopefully it will eventually become a full chapter that I can feel good about posting. Till then guys and girls, please bear with me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Thoughts/Inner Speech'
"Kido/Zanpakuto release"
"Zanpakuto speech"
XXX
Chapter 16:
Blinking wearily as he opened his eyes to the bright morning sun, Ichigo groaned as his body ached from sleeping upright the entire evening. Cracking his joints and stretching as he stood up, he glanced over at his bed to find it empty and made.
"Good morning Ichigo," Kyoka purred in his ear, causing him to freeze up, before turning slowly to his left. Finding her ethereal visage inches away from his own, he relaxed slightly and took her in with a critical eye. As his eyes roamed over her lithe figure, he felt the similar pull from their first meeting as she brushed her fingers over his cheek.
"Kyoka…" he murmured softly, trying to wrap his fingers around her slim hand. Feeling it slip through his fingers though, he sighed and gave up on it and instead turned serious as he remembered her words from last night. "What exactly did you mean that you were my greatest desire?"
"I mean exactly what I said Ichigo," she said with a smile, removing her hand from his cheek and rapping him on the top of his head. "I embody everything you desire from a woman. Believe it or not, but the majority of my physical appearance is determined by my wielder, in this case you."
"But I didn't particularly ask for a silver-haired green eyed vixen now did I?" he said with a smirk, feeling the ghost of her hand swat him on his arm.
"There are some things about me that will never change Ichigo, but for others…" and here she twirled on the spot, her silk robe fluttering dangerously high and causing him to blush, "…it is only what you desired most."
Shaking his head to clear it of Kon-worthy thoughts, he scowled slightly as he thought about her explanation. "Wait, so if you're my…ideal woman as it were, what does that mean for my other desires?"
"We will always be together Ichigo, because we are in fact bound closer than any two beings can ever be," she explained as she placed a finger to his chest, just over his heart. "But I am not against sharing you so that you might have what is an equally great desire to your heart. We simply need to approve of the same girl that will be your Living lover."
"Approve?" he sputtered in surprise, seeing her nod her head.
"Of course. If the embodiment of your desires does not like her Ichigo…what are the chances that you will?" she asked innocently with a pout.
"Okay, okay I get it," he said with a sigh, grumbling about how his love life was already complicated enough without this new development. "So what do you think of some of my friends already, Michiru in particular?"
"Well…" she trailed off with a mischievous smirk, sending a shiver of fear down his spine.
XXX
A few minutes later, Nova walked into Ichigo's room to find said teen seated on his bed with his head in his hands, his face flushed for some reason. "Ichigo?" the mod soul spoke slowly, watching the teens head snap up to look at him.
"Oh Nova it's just you," the teen sighed in relief, puzzling the mod soul. "I've been meaning to ask you, what happened to you and Nozomi last night? I assume you ran into this Kageroza Inaba."
Nodding his head, Nova quickly explained everything that had happened from the time he had seen Nozomi leap from Ichigo's windowsill, to the timely arrival of Mayuri and Kisuke.
"I see…" Ichigo said quietly, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated this new information. "So since when have you had a crush on our young guest?" he asked with a smirk, watching Nova's eyes widen in surprise and shock, before he quickly retracted his limbs into his shell and spun around comically on the ground. "Oh come on Nova I'm sorry for that, but it was just too tempting," Ichigo said as he chuckled at the mod soul's reaction.
"I…I…" the mod soul tried to say as he slowly exited his shell, stopping as he couldn't string two words together. Taking a deep breath, he fixed Ichigo with a neutral expression. "I have no outwardly romantic feelings for Ms Kujo," the mod soul stated calmly, feeling a current of unease as Ichigo smirked at him again.
"So does that you still feel something within?" he asked, poking Nova's chest with his finger and laughing as the mod soul again retreated within his shell. Dropping his casual and carefree demeanour, Ichigo quickly adopted a grim demeanour. "How would you describe Kageroza's powers Nova? From what you've told me, he seems to think that you are both quite similar."
"He…he seems to be able to rip open the fabric of space and then travel through it," the little mod soul explained, his own analytical mind running through possible scenarios. "The greatest danger I see him posing though, is that he also manages to 'stop' time as it were and allow himself to travel between two points almost instantly. Even if you know flash step, I doubt you could evade him as you are frozen in time, while he is not."
"And he's at least as strong as a high level lieutenant. Why is it that the enemy always seems to have the most annoying and unfair abilities to use?" he grumbled, standing up and heading for the door. "I need to go see Urahara today; I'll take your Gigai with me to get it repaired."
XXX
Walking downstairs, he found his sisters and Nozomi huddled on the couch, watching the news.
"Morning Onii-chan," Yuzu greeted him as she saw him appear. "All the schools have closed early for the holidays after the attack yesterday. So it looks like we're all going on holiday early."
"I'm sure the vast majority of students are jumping up and down for joy right now," he said as he walked over to the dining room and grabbed a plate of food and began to eat. "Thank god that our exams were finished at least," he mumbled. Glancing at Nozomi out of the corner of his eye, he could see that her posture was slightly rigid, almost as if she was expecting him to interrogate her at any time. Watching as she got up and made her way up to his room, he quickly finished off his breakfast and headed up after her.
Knocking at his door, he slowly entered and found Nova staring at Nozomi with some concern from his spot on the desk, while said girl was lying in on his bed in the foetal position facing the window. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he gently rubbed her back slowly, feeling her tense up.
"You're worried that I'm going to hand you over to save the town aren't you?" he asked, watching her shoulders begin to shake. "Haven't you observed my behaviour long enough to know that I would never give in and allow someone to be taken against their will?"
"I am a stranger in your home though," she whispered, almost too softly for him to catch. "Furthermore the longer I stay here the longer your town and the people in it will be in danger."
"Those are reasons for you to not stay…but what do you want though?" he asked her, hearing her sob softly.
"I came here to disappear…to make sure that he would never be able to find me and go through with his plans," she said through choked sobs. "But you wouldn't let me escape, no matter how much I wanted too. You made me feel like I wanted to stay here forever."
"And that's exactly why I won't hand you over or let Kageroza take you away from here," he said quietly, continuing to rub small circles on her back. "Because you chose to stay here and I will do anything in my power to make sure of it. Now come on, dry those tears up, Nova's getting awfully worried here," he said with a smirk, unable to resist teasing the shy mod soul again. To his surprise though, both Nozomi and Nova blushed and buried their faces away in embarrassment. Feeling the reiatsu signatures of Toshiro and Komamura appear above the house, he sighed and stood up. "Get some rest, there's no point doing anything right now since school's cancelled." Heading for the door, he quietly closed it behind him and headed downstairs, sliding the back door open and stepping out. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting to Captains?" he asked, watching the pair of them drop to the ground from their position in the sky.
"You left rather abruptly yesterday and we thought that we should share some of the information that we have gleaned from our battles with you," Toshiro replied in an icy tone, making Ichigo wonder if he was irritated more at his actions or simply the tension between him and some of the other Captains.
"Well go on then," he said with a gesture, prompting the Tenth Division Captain to continue.
"During our battles with our doubles, we have discovered that while they appear to mirror our personalities, faults and all, they tend to be even more bloodthirsty than we are," he explained. "They also seem to have an iron-clad reason for following Kageroza Inaba, a reason that would make them turn against everything the Gotei 13 stands for." Thinking back to how his clone had cited his weakness at protecting Hinamori as the reason for allying himself with Kageroza, Toshiro ignored Ichigo's expression of surprise and slipped into a thoughtful silence, ignoring the world around him and causing Komamura to step up.
"Urahara and Captain Kurotsuchi have also managed to devise a way to pierce through the barrier keeping us trapped within the World of the Living," the canine-like Captain explained, drawing Ichigo's attention back to the matter at hand. "As such the other Captains and I believe that it is time that we return to the Soul Society and take the fight to Kageroza, as well as re-establishing contact with the other Captains. We were hoping that you would accompany us and assist us once again."
Thinking it over for a moment, Ichigo came across a glaring problem with this plan. "And who would remain to defend Karakura Town?" he asked, noticing the Captain's eyes flicker slightly. "Who would protect Nozomi from Kageroza as we find ourselves locked in battle with our doubles, unable to assist should he attempt to kidnap her again?"
"It is a risk…" Komamura answered slowly, "…but the other Captains and I feel that it is a risk that we have to take in order to make any progress in this war. If our attack is successful, then he will not have the time or resources available to make any attempt on her life or well-being."
"Your plan is too hope for the best?" Ichigo asked in shock. "That's the biggest load of shit I've heard in a while from you guys and honestly I can't say I'm surprised." Seeing that Komamura was about to speak again, Ichigo held up a hand to silence him. "Look Komamura-san, you're right you guys do need to get back, but I will not be going with you, not this time. In the event that you're wrong, this town, my home, will be left at his mercy and as grateful and proud as I am of my friends, they were beaten easily by the man himself last time. So go and head back to Soul Society, I'm going to protect this town in the event that you're wrong…or that you fail."
Shaken out of his reverie by Ichigo's strong words, Toshiro almost growled in exasperation. "Be reasonable Kurosaki, your double is as much your problem as it is ours, what would you have us do if it shows up on the field again?"
"What do I expect you to do?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "Why fight of course. As Captains of the Gotei 13, you are the pinnacle of what it means to be a soul reaper. Against a powerhouse that has, admittedly impressive reiatsu and a deadly Bankai, you are at the very least far more skilled and experienced than him and I would hope that the majority of you spent these last ten months training and not resting on your laurels. I'm sorry Toshiro, but this is my final decision and I will not change it."
"It's Captain Hitsugaya dammit," the shortest Captain of the Gotei 13 grumbled under his breath, before he and Komamura watched as Ichigo disappeared into the house yet again.
XXX
Stepping out of a steaming shower a few minutes later, Ichigo walked towards his room with a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his still damp hair onto his torso and running down to his feet. Stepping into his room, he found himself faced with Tatsuki, Orihime, Uryu and Chad waiting for him with Nozomi. After what seemed like hours in his mind, he coughed and made his way over to his cupboard, grabbing what he needed from it.
"So…you have questions, but do you think it could wait for later?" he asked, watching a beet faced Tatsuki, Nozomi and Orihime rush out of the room, followed by a grimacing Uryu and stoic Chad. "What were they so embarrassed about? I've lost my shirt in a fight plenty of times before," he asked incredulously, scratching the back of his head.
"You know…I don't like that they got to see you like that," Kyoka said with a pout, appearing in his room and sitting down on his bed. "I mean the only one who should see you like this is myself and our…'partner'."
"Um Kyoka?" he tried to interrupt, waving his hand in front of her as she continued to rant.
"I mean I like Tatsuki and I'd love to have her body writhing under me…hey do you think she's as physical in bed as she is in life?" she continued on, ignoring his attempts to get her attention and the light blush on his face. "And then there's Orihime…kind, sweet, lovable and absolutely dense at times. I mean sure you didn't deny her affections outright, but come on…if a guy hasn't returned your affections for so long, just move on and be done with it. She just seems so…urgh," she finished with a sigh, falling back on his bed.
"Kyoka!" he finally said a little more forcefully, seeing her sit up and give him her full attention.
"What?" she asked in exasperation, kicking her feet in the air as she spoke.
"I just managed to get them to leave, do you think you can too please?" he asked as nicely as possible, seeing her pout and cross her arms again.
"But it's nothing I haven't already seen before," she said in a huff, that quickly changed to a mischievous smirk. "Or I could strip down as well to make you feel better about this situation."
"No!" he shouted at her, trying desperately not to be too loud in case the others were right outside the door.
"Aww, why not though? I mean…" she tried to say, only to find that he had already stomped out of his room, heading back towards the bathroom with his clothing in hand. "I can just slip back into your inner world you know," she said as she disappeared from his room and appeared on the couch in her little home, flicking the TV on to see what he was seeing. "Of course it's nothing like seeing it live though."
XXX
Meeting up with his friends after he changed, he quickly explained to them what he had learned from Nozomi and what he knew about the forces attacking them from the Soul Society and ending with what both he and the Gotei 13 planned to do.
"So once again we find ourselves in the middle of the Soul Society's war," Uryu said in his neutral tone, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Just like old times eh Ishida?" Ichigo asked with a smirk, seeing the Quincy glare at him briefly.
"A word if you would Kurosaki," the archer said, nodding his head over to the door and leading the pair outside.
"So what is it that you wanted to talk about Ishida?" Ichigo asked a confused expression on his face as he was met with yet another glare.
"Let's start with why I'm the only one other than the soul reapers that seems surprised that you have your powers back," he replied with a hint of venom, narrowing his eyes as Ichigo smirked at him.
"You know considering all the times you said I sucked at sensing reiatsu, I just wanted to see how long it would take for your amazing detection skills to finally find me. Sadly it seems that they failed the course," Ichigo answered, causing the archer to scowl at him.
"I may not have noticed it at first Ichigo…but that doesn't mean that I haven't sensed anything. I know that something's different about your powers, there's something different about you too. What I don't know yet is what exactly is different," Uryu explained, noticing that the former substitute wouldn't meet his gaze at the accusation.
"You're thinking a little too hard about this Ishida," Ichigo began. "I'm still using my powers to protect others. So what if they're a little different, I'm still the same person that I used to be. Now stop worrying so much, hell I think you'll go just as grey as your old man if you keep overthinking shit like this," he called out over his shoulder and heading back to the others.
'That's exactly the problem though Ichigo…you're not the same person anymore,' Uryu thought as he followed Ichigo back into the house.
XXX
Meanwhile in the Soul Society, Ichigo's clone was clenching his fist in anger, scowling down at the shaking limb. Having a healer of Unohana's calibre meant that even if his original had beaten him, he was already at fighting fitness again within a day. But what good did that do when he had proven to be defeated easily time and time again. It probably would be a lot easier if his opposite didn't have that damn hypnosis on his side, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Hell even his attempts to get his original to sacrifice himself, like he would, ended in failure due to the sheer difference in power between the two of them. Cursing to himself, he got up from the chair in their shelter and made his way towards the master's lab. If anyone could help him with this problem, his master should be able to.
Hearing a knock at the door to his private chambers, Kageroza paused in his work and looked towards it, calling for the person to enter. When he noticed the tell-tale orange hair, he sighed as he mused at how…disappointing his ace-in-the-hole had turned out. Despite copious amounts of training from the veteran Captains and his own scientific ingenuity in sealing away the hollow half of him, the boy still couldn't provide the needed edge to his army. Then again this plan had relied on the original's swift demise, a plan that had yet to come to fruition.
"Kurosaki, what can I do for you?" he asked as his servant bowed to him briefly.
"Master I…I have a request if you will grant it," the clone said purposefully, causing Kageroza to raise a brow at this attitude. "I would like to request that you completely remove the seal, sealing me off from the powers that my hollow half possesses."
Frowning at the request, Kageroza cleared his throat before he began. "You do understand that allowing you access to these powers places you in greater danger of losing yourself to that 'beast' don't you. If it is unleashed we will have no option but to eliminate you completely."
"I do master, but my original has proven to be far more of a challenge than I could have ever anticipated and I believe that with the increased power and some of my hollow's instincts, I will be able to overcome him," the clone explained, while Kageroza drummed his fingers on the arm rest of his chair.
"Very well, come back in a few hours and I will assist you in removing the block. Now leave me, I am putting the final touches on the newest member of our family," he ordered, turning back to his work.
"Forgive me master, but is she really…" the clone trailed off, seeing Kageroza nod his head slightly.
"Regardless of whether I break the seal on your powers are not, I believe that she will be the sword to your shield," Kageroza commented, his fingers rapidly punching away at the keys in front of him and triggering a stream of solution to flow into the chamber that housed a slim humanoid figure, while Ichigo's clone looked on apprehensively.
XXX
You know, while the wait for finding out who this mysterious new player may seem like agony for you, it's an even greater agony for me since I can't just blurt it out or rush it into the story. Now I know that I'm going to get asked who she is, but you're just going to have to wait.
Anyway insight corner time, actually wait. Hmm there's not much to talk about really since the big point was at the start. And I'm not about to give away any more hints about who the mysterious voice from the trials is.
Till next time guys and girls, enjoy and have fun.