The Protector's Temptation

So…yeah…sorry that this has been delayed, but life goes on and here we have the newest chapter. Also I've edited Chapter 21 to fit with the new direction I'm taking. Please take a moment to at least read the note so you're not confused.

My thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter, believe me the PM's to your questions will be coming soon and a special thanks to Bunny153539 for picking up on a mistake I made. Anyway enough about that; get on with the story.

PS: The poll was not to determine what alignment this Ichigo should be, but rather what alignment your own Ichigo would be. My thanks to everyone that voted and as for my personal choice…Chaotic Evil Ichigo hands down. I just wish there were more stories with Ichigo as the villain.

EDIT: I changed Katsumi's introduction a bit to fit her new personality and I altered hers and Junichi's appearance. Their bases can be found on my profile to help you visualise them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal Speech"

'Inner Speech/Thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto Speech"

"Hollow Speech"

XXX

Chapter 22:

Deep within the bowels of the underground prison Muken, Sosuke Aizen sat bound to a chair, alone and isolated from the rest of the spiritual world. Unknown to the former overlord or the soul reapers above him though, a small tear seemed to form in thin air, expanding inch, by inch, until at long last a pale hand shot through the breach, vanishing almost immediately as it was swallowed by the oppressive darkness of the prison cell. As the figure stepped fully into the cell, Aizen's ears pricked up slightly at the sound of the stranger's footsteps, each one echoing within the confines of his empty cell and radiating the confidence with which the individual walked. Feeling a slim finger gently pry at the black fabric that bound his face, he breathed deeply as his mouth was freed for the first time in over sixteen months.

"To whom do I owe my thanks for at least granting me the chance to breathe easy, even if it is still only the cold, stale air of my prison?" he asked, his head tilting up slightly to where he assumed his visitor's face was.

"A man seeking a particular item," the stranger replied his voice smooth and even, completely at ease despite the deeds committed by the man in front of him.

"And how would I help you in acquiring this item? I am…as you can see…quite indisposed at the moment," Aizen retorted, while he thought about the Hogyoku still embedded in his chest.

"My source led me to believe that you are in possession of this item, Aizen-san," the stranger replied with a hint of humour, his finger trailing down to where the Hogyoku sat embedded in Aizen's chest, but never touching it. "I do not wish for this trinket within you though, but rather the item borne of your own soul."

Surprise flitted across Aizen's mind and face for a moment, before vanishing almost instantly, replaced with a certain smugness that he held countless times in the past. "I'm afraid that your source is rather unreliable…sir," he said with a smirk. "For even if I wanted to give you her, she was destroyed, erased from existence shortly before my defeat."

As he spoke these words, Aizen could almost see the smile vanish from the figures face, see his features tighten in agitation; while their mind fought to deny the truth they had just been told.

"You…lie…" the figure said sternly in irritation, each syllable enunciated in such a way that Aizen almost crowed with joy at the fact that he was still able to find his way under people's skin and push their oh so precious buttons.

"Lie? I do not believe that you are in a position to judge the truth of this matter. Hope and pray that my words are false, but nowhere in my soul will you find the power you seek. It was…shattered as it were, by this trinket as you chose to call it," he finished with a chuckle.

As he was about to continue to taunt his visitor though, the same hand from earlier left his chest and grabbed a fistful of his hair, twisting it in a somewhat painful manor, while lifting the overlord, chair and all, off of the ground with ease.

"Do you think you can simply beat the answer you want out of me? I feel absolutely nothing from you, you insignificant worm! To believe that you would be able to harm a God such as myself, with nothing but the strength of your arms and legs…don't make me laugh!" he shouted high and loud, his voice thundering throughout the empty cell.

"You believe yourself a God, despite your captivity. How…amusing," the figure said with a small smirk. "It is true that I do not possess the powers of a soul reaper Aizen-san…but I do possess something that should cause you to be equally fearful." As he spoke, Aizen could feel a most peculiar sensation within himself. It seemed to spread from where the stranger held him by his hair, making its way ever so slowly down to his lowest extremities.

"You see…there are such things that are beyond your realm of understanding Aizen-san, things that can only be understood after thousands of years of study and experimentation," the stranger continued, just as Aizen's limbs began to wither away, much to his shock. "Immortality is one such quandary, one I am intimately familiar with and one that I simply don't have the time to explain to you now.

As he tried to snap back at his tormentor, Aizen uttered a feeble groan as he felt his bones begin to snap and crumble, his muscles shrivelling up into nothing, while his entire body gave up on him. 'It seems…that we're about to take part in an adventure Hogyoku. I only wish…I held the reigns this time,' he thought, as his body finally crumbled into dust and his wrappings and chair dropped to the cold floor with a dull thud.

Staring at the cloud of reishi and the Hogyoku in front of him, the stranger held his palm out towards it, watching thin-lipped as it fell into his hands like a pile of dust. "He was telling the truth it seems," the stranger mused, watching as the reishi was absorbed into his skin. "There is however always two sides to a story. If the loser cannot give me what I want…then perhaps the victor can." Extending his hand out in front of him, the stranger seemed to split the fabric of time and space with his finger, before stepping into the breach and vanishing the exact same way he arrived.

XXX

As the morning sun dawned on Karakura Town, it found one teen far too reluctant to leave the warmth of his bed. As luck would have it, Ichigo was deprived any further sleep by his overly loud family as they got ready mere rooms away. Grumbling under his breath as he swung his feet over the side of his bed, he yawned tiredly and scratched the back of his head, noting Nova's absent perch as he got up and made his way over to his closet for his school uniform.

Yawning widely once again on his way to the bathroom, his thoughts strayed back to his break from school and the ups and downs it had given him. The exhibition for the University scouts had largely been a huge waste of time for him, but that was mostly due to the fact that he simply too much for a simple human to handle and even his most skilled opponents found themselves overwhelmed by his sheer speed and power. Nevertheless he was sure that he and Tatsuki had put in a good show at it and he was pretty sure they would both be getting a small bursary, if not a full one at the very least.

As for Soul Society, he hadn't heard a thing from them ever since his talk with Komamura. In a way, he was glad that they were listening to him and backing off, but just because they backed off, that didn't mean that the hollows completely ignored Karakura Town. He wasn't overly concerned though, because even if Imoyama-san couldn't handle it, he was sure that either he, Nozomi, Chad, Orihime or Uryu could deal with it.

What was more pressing in his mind though was the recent strain on his relationship with Kyoka. Ever since he had challenged her for her Bankai, the zanpakuto spirit had seemingly been avoiding or ignoring him and even when he got in a moment to actually visit her and ask her about it, she instead focussed on their training, either physical or mental, causing him to grumble as she pushed both of them to their limit over and over again.

Speaking of the green-haired mod soul, he mumbled a greeting as she walked passed him, fully-dressed and ready for school, Nova perched on her shoulder as he was most of the time these days. It may have seemed strange to anyone else that two artificially created souls would fall for one another, but the fact that they felt emotions just as much as anyone else, he could not begrudge them for finding happiness with one another.

It could not be denied that they were good for one another, especially with their recent shifts in personality. While Nova was always a hard worker, he always seemed to find some hidden reserve of energy when it came to her requests and while Nozomi was still somewhat reclusive and shied away from meeting others, she would come out of her shell more around him.

Though there was one thing that puzzled him about their relationship. Where the hell were the two of them going to stay in the future, since she stayed with him under the pretence that she was his cousin from another city and he was his body's caretaker at times?

His musing was brought to a halt as his head collided painfully with the door of the bathroom, his half-asleep mind neglecting to notice this one detail. Grumbling as he entered the bathroom, he swiftly stripped down, before stepping into the shower and disappearing in a cloud of steam.

XXX

Meanwhile in his inner world, Kyoka was tossing and turning in her sleep, her expression pained as sweat beaded her brow.

"You cannot supress me forever Kyoka…eventually I will have my time with him. You only delay the inevitable with your resistance," the stern voice chided her, applying even more pressure to her mind.

"And I've told you that I will not allow you to twist him into a monster. He deserves to live his life the way he chooses, not the way we believe he should!"

"You said much the same when it came to Sosuke too, but we all know how that turned out," the voice whispered in her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine. "Come along now, I don't want to hurt you anymore than I need to."

"Never…" Kyoka spat out, her teeth gritted in agony.

"*Sigh*…Very well then," it murmured and the pain seemed to intensify a hundred fold.

As it seemed that she would finally reach her breaking point, Kyoka bolted upright, clutching her head in agony and tossed her sweat-soaked covers away. "I won't let you get anywhere near him…not while I am still in control," she hissed seemingly to herself, her vibrant green eyes full of fury.

XXX

"Ta da! How do I look?" Yuzu said in jubilation, a sparkle in her eyes as she spun on the spot, showing off her uniform to Ichigo and her family.

"You look…amazing Yuzu-chan," Nozomi said with a smile from her spot at the table. Looking over at Ichigo's disinterested expression though, her smile slipped away, replaced with a scowl reminiscent of said teenager.

"Oh yeah today's your entrance ceremony isn't it?" he asked nonchalantly, sinking into his chair at the table. "Pass the soy sauce would you Karin." As the bottle was slammed in front of him, shaking the table slightly with the force behind it, he looked up to see Yuzu glaring at him, her entire body cloaked in a dark aura. "Was it something I said?" he asked, his question completely ignored by Karin, while Nozomi and Nova shook their heads at him.

"She was hoping for a little more than that Ichigo," Nozomi said pointedly, returning to her bowl of food. "As it stands, you're acting as if you haven't even seen what she's wearing."

Sighing as he could almost hear Kyoka chiding him about the exact same thing, he sighed and glanced over his shoulder at Yuzu. "You look great Yuzu, but you'll be giving several guys a show if you keep walking around with your skirt unzipped."

The effect of his words was almost instantaneous as Yuzu shrieked in embarrassment, Nozomi acquired a light blush to her cheeks and Nova turned a bright, crimson red and retreated into his shell.

"Oi Ichigo you ready?" Tatsuki called out to him, as she opened the front door to his house, dropping her bag and shoes off at the door and made her way into the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah just need to eat and then we can go," he mumbled, before shovelling food into his mouth again. As his father finally joined the chaos that was a normal morning these days, he sighed and tuned out the girl's chatter, his father's sobs and the ever present mumbles from their spiritual residents. To be honest though, he couldn't imagine it any other way at the moment. Setting his empty bowl down, he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "Come on, we don't want to be late on the first day of our last year after all."

XXX

Walking onto the school grounds fifteen minutes later, Ichigo scowled as an eerie silence settled on the crowd of students, accompanied by several faint whispers. Then again it was the first time that most of them had seen him since school closed for the holidays and his relationship with Michiru wasn't exactly a secret, so of course there were bound to be whispers about how he was coping.

"Come on Ichigo, let's get out of here," Tatsuki muttered next to him, ushering him along through the crowd of students and into the main building.

As they started to climb the stairs to get to their class though, they were stopped by a loud shout of "Kurosaki-san!" Peering over the heads of his peers, Ichigo spotted the principal's secretary walking towards him at a brisk pace, her straight black hair billowing behind her. "Excuse me Kurosaki-san, but the principal would like to see you before you head to class."

Nodding his head in understanding, he briefly waved to Tatsuki and Nozomi, before running off after the woman as she hurried off again. When they finally reached the polished oak door to the principal's office, Ichigo found himself practically shoved through the door, much to his annoyance.

"Ah Kurosaki-san, thank you for coming so quickly," an old man in his late forties, with a balding crown and thin brown hair said, taking his glasses off as he gestured for Ichigo to sit down.

Examining the office briefly, Ichigo could see a set of fairly old, but quite well maintained, mahogany display shelves lined up along the side wall, showcasing everything from some of the school's crown achievements, to photos of the entire staff, to finally volume upon volume of various educational books. The desk his principal sat behind was clearly newer than the shelves, but was piled under a computer, several manila folders and several metal trays filled with even more documents.

"You wanted to see me Sir?" Ichigo asked as he sat in the chair in front of the desk.

"Yes, as I am sure you are aware, we received notification from Ogawa-san's parents informing us that she had passed away and would no longer be attending this institution." Seeing Ichigo's features harden slightly, he pressed on quickly. "I know that you and Michiru were close and I would just like to remind you that if you feel the need to talk to anyone, the school counsellor, or any of the teachers are available to help you should you need it."

"My thanks for your generous offer Sir, but I have already talked with someone as it were," Ichigo replied back evenly, his voice unwavering as his eyes remained emotionless.

"Of course, of course, I merely wanted to let you know in case you found need of the service. Ah yes and there is one other thing I wish to discuss with you. Tetsuo Momohara and his family have also relocated and it has left us in a bit of a bind since the boy's karate team is now without a captain. After consulting with the coach, we believe that you are the most qualified for the position, if you are willing of course."

Narrowing his eyes at the offer, Ichigo thought about it in silence for a moment, before bowing his head slightly. "Thank you for the offer Sir, I would be honoured to accept."

"Excellent, most excellent," the man exclaimed happily as he reached into his desk and pulled out a gold-plated Captain's badge from within it. "Wear it proudly Kurosaki-san, you'll only have it for a year at most," he said as he stood up from his desk and walked around to pin it to Ichigo's blazer. "Now then off to class with you," he remarked as he finished, clapping Ichigo on his back and ushered him out of the door.

Left alone in the now empty corridor, Ichigo looked at the badge and scowled slightly. 'It's only to look good on an application…It's only to look good on an application,' he thought to himself repeatedly, walking to his homeroom class with his hands in his pockets.

XXX

"Sorry I'm late," Ichigo said apologetically as he knocked on his homeroom door and entered the classroom, his teacher's eyes lingering on him for a second before she nodded and gestured for him to take a seat.

"Of course Kurosaki, the principal did inform me that he would be speaking to you this morning. Now if only our new student would arrive," she said with a shake of her head and returned to the register in her hands.

'New student?' Ichigo thought with a frown, pausing for a moment in the doorway.

"Ah excuse me, is this class 4-A?" a timid voice said from behind him, drawing both his and everyone else's attention, as they turned to face the newcomer. Standing in front of him was a slender young girl, with red eyes and shoulder length black hair that framed her slightly angular face.

Fidgeting slightly as everyone seemed to be staring at her, she slowly started to make her way towards their teacher, a light blush on her face as she walked past Ichigo.

While most of the guys seemed captivated by her perky breasts and heart-shaped rear, Ichigo stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at the space she had occupied at the door. While he knew that he would have brushed off any girl like her before, the air of hesitation, the meek-like appearance caused his mind to go into overload as he compared her to Michiru.

Growling at the direction his thoughts had taken, he started to walk towards his desk, just as the teacher introduced her.

"Class…I'd like you to meet Katsumi Saito, she and her family just recently moved to Karakura Town and I want you to make her feel welcome," their teacher said sternly and was greeted with several spirited "Yes Ma'am's!" from some of the guys, which earned a soft chuckle from Katsumi.

As he listened to her introduction with half an ear, her honeyed words washed over him, soothing his irritated mood slightly; before it returned almost full force at the way she seemed to affect him and everyone else in the room. Without breaking his stride, he reached out with his senses, frowning when he couldn't actually detect anything amiss with her, but slowly sat down at his desk as she stood there smiling timidly back at him in particular.

As she continued with her introduction, Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced around, looking for any empty desks. As his eye landed on a desk directly behind him, he groaned and let his head hit the desk, just as she walked past him with a chuckle, the sound reminding him of a succubus that was teasing her prey.

'You know…I think I was happier without any powers,' he grumbled as the class finally began conscious of the new girl's eyes boring into the back of his head.

XXX

As they broke for lunch later that day, Ichigo found himself alone on the roof, staring down intently at Orihime and her group of friends, along with their newest addition…Katsumi. He really shouldn't have been surprised that the bubbly, naïve girl had invited her along to join them, but for he hoped it was because she felt there was something off about her too and not out of simple kindness.

"She bothers you, doesn't she?" Nozomi said from next to him, startling him slightly as she snuck up on him. "She doesn't look like a normal human, but all indications are that she is." Hearing him grunt in disbelief, she turned to look up at him. "Average reiatsu levels, nothing…unknown according to both mine and Nova's senses and as far as we know, no significant actions that would suggest taking this up with Urahara-san."

"There's something off about her though," he mumbled back, his eyes fixed on Katsumi again. "In the classroom…I felt like I would jump if she merely suggested the idea that she'd like me to jump." Catching her raise an eyebrow at him out of the corner of his eye, he growled and fixed her with a glare. "I'm serious dammit!"

"Ichigo…from what I've seen, most guys would be willing to jump at her command…I think it's just a guy thing. You're probably just eager to please."

"I just…I don't feel like that's it," he said with a sigh, brushing a hand through his hair in frustration. Seeing her accept a single flower from another guy though, he frowned when she accepted it and told him something that led to him hopping up and down in an almost maniacal way. "Still, keep an eye on her will you? Just in case?"

"Fine…just cause I don't want her running off with Nova," she said with a sigh, pouting at the idea, while he rolled his eyes at her.

XXX

When the school day finally ended, Katsumi sighed in relief and walked towards the gates of the school, the flower from earlier threaded through her hair as she walked. As she reached the gates though, she smiled at the tall, imposing man standing near a black BMW 750i. To most the sight of a man dressed in a white collared shirt, black sleeveless vest and bowtie would make them think of a high-class butler, this man was her body-guard, friend and unofficial uncle in her own eyes. As the wind ruffled his shoulder length blonde hair, she caught sight of his brown eyes alight with an almost insatiable curiosity as he eyed the addition to her ensemble.

"Afternoon Junichi!" she greeted him pleasantly, wrapping an arm around his waist as she hugged him tightly.

"A good afternoon to you to Katsumi-chan," he replied stiffly, seemingly somewhat embarrassed by their close contact. "Your father arrived earlier today and is anxious to meet you."

At the mention of her father, Katsumi's eyes brightened considerably and she hurriedly crawled into the car, leaning back into her seat as Junichi closed her door and hurried around to the driver's side. As they drove home, her mind wandered to her father, wondering what kind of mood he was in after his business trip earlier that week.

They drove for almost twenty minutes in silence, until finally they arrived at a massive set of wrought iron gates that swung open smoothly at the push of a button, ushering the sedan onto the estate. As the tyres crunched along the gravel pathway, lined sakura trees in full bloom, their manor became visible through the swirl of blossoms. Its walls were a light brown, that contrasted starkly with the brilliant white gravel path below them and the vibrant green of the grass around them.

As the tyres crunched to a halt, she swung the door open, not waiting for Junichi to make his way around to open the door for her and rushed to the cherry red doors, bursting through them and skidding to a halt in the large entrance hall. Hearing the soft hum of classical music in her ears, she hurtled down the passage to her right, her shoes clacking on the hard wood floor as she made her way towards her father's study.

Pausing briefly outside another pair of cherry wood doors, she smoothed her hair into place and tried to get rid of the wrinkles on her skirt, before knocking confidently on the door.

"Enter," spoke a low voice that reverberated throughout her entire being as she slowly reached out and twisted the handle to open the door.

As his daughter entered the room, Kohaku Saito looked up from the book in his arms, a single bright crimson eye peeking out from his curtain of black tresses to zero in on his little girl's figure. "It's been a while Katsumi-chan," he said with a beatific smile as he set down his book and held his hand out to her. "I trust you were well behaved in my absence?"

"Of course father," she said with a bow of her head. "I listened to Junichi…whenever possible and even managed to perfect my piece with his help."

"Really now? I look forward to hearing it tonight, but I'm sure that you have homework to complete first." Spying the white tulip in her hair, he frowned and plucked it out of her midnight tresses. "And what's this?"

"Oh just a gift from a boy at school," she said nonchalantly. "He was so easy to lead on that I almost felt sorry for him," she finished with a chuckle.

"I see…well then you have homework to do don't you. Off you go."

"Of course father, I'll see you later tonight," she said as she bowed slightly to him, before she headed back out of the office, brushing past Junichi as she walked.

Frowning at the flower in his hands, Kohaku looked up as Junichi closed the double doors and stood in front of him. "Do you have anything to report Nakamura?" he said in a commanding tone that reverberated throughout the other man's being.

"I saw Ichigo Kurosaki at Katsumi-chan's school today; it is exactly as you expected Saito-sama. He seems to be suspicious of her at the moment, but at the very least he does not consider her a threat."

"I see," Kohaku replied, frowning as he twirled the flower in his hand absently. As he brought its spin to a stop, he began to slowly squeeze it, causing it to crumble and wither away, leaving nothing but pollen and dust behind. "Keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't try anything with Katsumi, but make sure that nothing interferes with her mission."

"Of course Saito-sama," Junichi replied with a deep formal bow. "Will there be anything else?"

"Yes…watch over Katsumi tonight. I'm feeling a slight hunger pang that I wish to get rid of," he muttered, idly tracing his finger through the air in front of him and opening a pitch black portal.

XXX

So…what do you think? I know that some of you don't like OC's much, but they are needed to advance the story along. Anyway till next time boys and girls.