The Protector's Temptation

Welcome back one and all. A reviewer pointed out that my updates have dried up quite considerably from when I first started on this site. I will try and update a little more regularly in the future, hopefully at least once a week, but work is devouring my time as it is, leaving little time to do anything but eat and sleep. I hope you guys enjoy today's chapter.

PS. Enjoy your school/college/university life boys and girls, you only get one chance to live that life of innocence.

EDIT: Changed some aspects of Katsumi's personality to fit the character I chose to base her on. The bases for the OC's are now on my profile to make it easier for you to visualise.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal Speech"

'Inner Speech/Thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto Speech"

"Hollow Speech"

XXX

Chapter 23:

As a frigid wind howled through the ruined halls of Las Noches, it hid the laboured breathing and frantic footsteps of two arrancar as they hurried to escape their pursuer.

Skidding around a pile of debris, Loly Aivirrne continued to run despite the burning in her lungs as her body was starved for oxygen, her mind solely focussed on the raw terror she felt hovering over her and her long-time friend, Menoly Mallia.

The two of them had recovered slowly after the Winter War, their wounds from their encounter with Yammy plaguing them as they roamed Hueco Mundo's endless plains in search of some sort of stability. As luck would have it though, on their return to the deserted fortress, they came across a strange man, a thick black cloak cast around him to hide his features from them, standing in quiet fascination at the destruction wrought upon the throne room.

"Who the hell are you?!" Loly snapped at the man, her face twisted in rage at the audacity this stranger had to defile this sacred chamber. As the stranger turned towards them though, they felt a shiver run down their spines at the brilliant white smile that he gave them, before he started to walk towards them at a sedate pace.

"I asked you a question jackass!" she growled, hurling a volley of Bala at the man, but stiffened as he blurred out of sight, reappearing in front of her, his teeth bared in a sadistic grin as she sputtered incomprehensibly.

"Loly!" Menoly cried out in alarm, lashing out with her zanpakuto, only to gasp as the stranger calmly caught her blade in his hand.

"You shouldn't play with knives Menoly, they're only for adults after all," he chuckled, snapping the blade at the hilt with seemingly no effort and dropping it to the ground. Shaking in terror, they turned tail and bolted down the passageway, praying that they at least held the advantage in terms of knowing the fortress better than the stranger.

As they neared the exit out into the sands of Hueco Mundo though, Loly skidded to a halt as she heard Menoly cry out in pain. Looking back, she watched as an arm was pulled back into the shadows slowly, while the blonde arrancar lay flat on her back, hacking and coughing violently after she was clotheslined.

"Now, now Menoly, Loly, it wasn't very nice of you to run away after greeting me like that," the stranger chuckled softly, stepping out of the shadows between the two girls, his cloak flaring slightly around him. Hearing Menoly gagging, his eyes acquired a glint of amusement and he ambled over to her. Stooping down, he grabbed the blonde arrancar by her neck and hoisted her up into the air, her legs kicking out desperately as his grip aggravated her already bruised neck. "Having a little trouble breathing are we?" he taunted her, his eyes acquiring a demented gleam to them as the young arrancar female whimpered in his grip. "Sorry what was that, I couldn't understand you through your grunts and gags? You know what…it's probably a…" he tried to say; only to pause as the wristwatch hidden under his sleeve began to beep shrilly.

"Is it that time already?" he murmured in surprise. "I'm terribly sorry to have to cut this short girls, but I came here for a reason and I am not leaving without having sated it," he uttered in a low tone while his eyes acquired a bright yellow glow to them.

Widening her eyes in fear, Menoly frantically resumed her thrashing as she tried to escape, vaguely aware of a soothing feeling spreading from where the man held her throat. As the feeling spread though, her movements lost their energy and she only twitched occasionally in his grip, her eyes rolling up into her head.

"Menoly!" Loly screamed in outrage, tears in the corner of her eyes as she watched her friend's skin begin to shrivel up and wither away. "Poison, Escolopendra!" she screamed, her body being engulfed in a cloud of white smoke as she unleashed her resurreccion.

Glancing over at her as she transformed, the stranger's eyes lost their bright yellow glow and were hidden under the hood of his cloak once again. "Well this should be interesting," he whispered to himself, just as a pale white appendage shot out of the smoke, intent on piercing his head.

As the sickening squelch of flesh being torn apart was heard, Loly peered through the lingering smoke of her resurreccion and almost lost her stomach at the sight in front of her. Instead of seeing the stranger's head impaled on one of her centipede like appendages, dissolving into a puddle of goo, she was horrified to find Menoly's head in its place, the stranger having moved her in front of him to take the fatal blow.

As her friend's body felt to the ground with a muffled thud and began to slowly dissolve due to the acid in her limbs, she looked around desperately, searching with her limited senses for the stranger's presence.

"Over here," she heard a faint voice whisper in her ear, before she cried out in pain as she was sent flying back into the wall of the hallway, several of her bones breaking under the force of the hit. Struggling to look up at the man that had caused her to finish off her best friend, she heard him sigh and shake his head as he took in Menoly's remains.

"That wasn't the smartest move you could've made," he said with a hint of agitation in his tone. "And I wasn't even done with her yet. In all the months that I've been here, never before has anyone given me as annoying a headache as you have tonight... You'd best hope that you have enough power left in that body to satiate me," he stated as he walked over to her.

"Never…" she coughed out feebly, fumbling with her lead-like limbs as she stood up on shaky feet.

"I've bested you with a single blow little girl…what do you honestly think you can do against me in that state?" he asked haughtily as he slowly stalked around her.

Sparing Menoly's remains one last look, Loly finally allowed the tears to fall from her eyes. "Sorry Menoly," she whispered to herself, before driving her limbs into the floor underneath her, dissolving it with ease and causing her to fall into the black abyss below.

Staring down at the hole she created, the stranger watched in slight shock as Loly cancelled her resurreccion and tore open a garganta, fleeing to who knows where. 'And on a night where I'm already running late,' he thought with a sigh, before falling forward after her and seeking out the faint traces of her reiatsu to follow.

XXX

Meanwhile the moon reached its zenith over Karakura Town, its pale light highlighting Ichigo as he tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep, his eyes fluttering rapidly under his eyelids.

"No Ichigo don't!" his mother shouted at him, the brown fur and grotesque white mask of Grand Fisher rising up behind her, before she was brutally impaled on a tendril of fur.

"Foolish…" the voice from his trials spoke, her tone taunting and belittling him.

"Just stay there and don't move," Rukia whispered faintly, the sky darkening even further as the clouds gathered above them. "Just stay still and live for as long as you can," she continued, turning to face him, her expression pained as tears gathered in her eyes, while Byakuya stood silently behind her, his expression stern and cold.

"Weak…"

"KUROSAKI-KUN!" Orihime screamed as she bent over his broken corpse, his heart obliterated by Ulquiorra's cero, while said arrancar clutched Orihime by her throat with his tail.

"Trash…"

"Ichigo-kun…" Michiru whimpered, her hair matted with blood as she stared at him imploringly, her hand reaching out to him, before it was abruptly snatched back by his own twisted, hollowfied form, the glow of the beast's sinister yellow eyes the only thing visible as it dragged her back into the darkness.

"Unworthy…"

"NOOO!" Ichigo screamed as he woke up, his body covered in cold sweat, while his head was wracked with a blinding headache. Gulping in great lungful's of air; he tried to get his ragged breathing under control, only to stiffen as he felt a new presence alight on his bed next to him.

"Shh…it was just a nightmare Ichigo," Kyoka murmured softly, her form shimmering into existence next to him.

"I know…I know, but they're getting worse. I swear I'm hearing that voice again…I just wish I knew why," he said with a hint of fear as he laid back down at her insistence. "I mean what more can I do? I train and train, growing stronger each time, but there's always someone stronger than me waiting to take their shot. And no matter what I do…there's always someone that gets hurt."

"You're trying, that's all that matters to your friends, all that matters to me and all that should matter to you Ichigo," she said soothingly, running her hand through his orange lochs and sending a spark of relief down his spine. "You can't let these nightmares make you think otherwise. The past is just that…the past. Learn from it, better yourself because of it, but do not let it consume you."

"Just like your past with Aizen right, move on and learn what to and not to do right," he muttered, catching a small smile on her face.

"Yes, just like that," she said with a hint of amusement as she continued to stroke his hair. Catching a slight flicker out of the corner of her eye, she supressed her urge to gasp and quickly pulled her hand away, hiding it behind her back.

"What? Is something wrong?" he asked, sitting up in concern at the sudden shift in her mood.

"It…it's nothing," she muttered hastily as she disappeared back into his inner world before he could say, or see anything else.

"Dammit Kyoka! What's…" he tried to say, only to stiffen as he felt an arrancar's presence appear over Karakura Town. "Of all the times for one to appear," he griped, popping Nova's pill into his mouth and disappearing out the window, his robes billowing about him as he sped away.

XXX

Within his inner world, Kyoka glared down at her left hand, the seemingly normal looking appendage that appeared no different than normal, except for the violet coloured sleeve that covered it.

"You can no longer stop me speaking to him and now your own body betrays you. How much longer do you think you can keep me away from him before I finally overpower you and reveal myself fully to him?"

"For as long as I need to if your sole reason for speaking to him is to torture his already tortured mind! What do you hope to gain out of this?! He's of no use to you if he's a broken man!" she shouted, her limbs shaking due to her fury.

"He's of no use to me if he's unable to see that his power is still not quite what it should be, that his almost limitless potential has barely been reached! And if I need to break him so that we might reach the very stars themselves, then so be it…" she shot back, elation in her tone as she spoke of her dreams.

"He'll prove to be stronger than you could ever imagine without your help! Sosuke made that mistake and you will too!"

"We'll see Kyoka-chan…we'll see," her voice whispered, fading away as she sank back into the darkness of Ichigo's soul.

XXX

As Ichigo tore across the night sky, he mulled over Kyoka's reluctance to let him see what was bothering her. 'My soul was wholly my own after I lost my powers, so it can't be my hollow. Does that mean that it's my soul that's causing her some kind of distress? Is this why she's been avoiding me? Is our bond beginning to affect her in ways that she doesn't want it too?' he thought, until his thoughts came to a grind halt as he came upon the area where he felt the garganta open.

"Now where are you?" he muttered, feeling out for the traces of power that had been left behind. Finding that the trail lead to the streets below him, he dropped to the ground landing with a muffled thud, before heading off into a nearby alley that reeked of hollow-like reiatsu. Silently striding through it, he paused briefly at a pile of old, decaying boxes and thrust his hand into them, his quarry letting out a shrill shriek as he grabbed her. "Who are you and what do you want here?" he growled out, walking over to a nearby street light so he could get a better look at his captive.

As the light revealed the arrancar's features, his eyes narrowed slightly as he recognised the arrancar as the girl that had tormented Orihime during his fight with Ulquiorra.

"Let go of me you fucking soul reaper!" Loly hissed out, kicking and clawing at every part of him she could reach, but barely scratching his skin. Dropping her to the ground, he watched her leap to her feet and sprint off in the opposite direction. Holding his finger out in front of him, he channelled a small burst of reiatsu through them, forcing Loly's arms behind her back and sending her skidding face first along the ground.

Struggling on the ground, Loly protested loudly against her binding, ignorant of his slow, purposeful footsteps drawing ever closer to her. When he finally came to a stop at her head, she stopped squirming and looked up, stiffening at the look of rage etched on his face.

"You're the one that tortured Orihime…have you come back to finish the job," he spat, his hand dropping to the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"W-What?! No…GOD NO!" she screamed up at him. "I never want to see that bitch again if I can help it! Why the hell would I actively seek her out?!"

"Watch your tongue arrancar…you're insulting a friend of mine," he growled, drawing his zanpakuto an inch out of its sheath. "So if you're not here for her…why are you here?"

As she opened her mouth to answer him, their eyes both widened in shock as she was whisked away in a flash of emerald green light.

"My apologies that she disturbed you this evening soul reaper," an even voice spoke from above him, causing Ichigo's eyes to dart to the edge of the roof above him. Staring back down at him, he found the Loly struggling with renewed effort as she was held effortlessly by a stranger in a long pitch black overcoat that hid his features from prying eyes.

"What…the hell?" Ichigo muttered to himself, his brow furrowed as he tried to get a read on the stranger's power. He was positive that what he felt was not reiatsu and it was certainly not a high speed movement, but it still left him at a loss as to what it really was. "Who are you and what do you want with her?" he called up, seeing the stranger tilt his head to the side slightly as he stared down at him.

"Ichigo…Kurosaki…why this is a pleasant surprise!" the stranger replied in a pleased tone. "I was told that your powers were exhausted…that you were left a pitiful human being. I've never been so glad to hear that my sources were wrong."

"How do you know who I am?" Ichigo asked cautiously, hiding Kyoka underneath his overcoat, away from the stranger's prying eyes.

"Oh you'd be surprised what I know about you Ichigo-san…but that is a story for another day and I believe that you still have school in the morning. Once again, my apologies that she disturbed you this evening."

"Hey, hey, you can't just…!" Ichigo shouted, only to cut himself off when he disappeared with Loly in a blinding green flash of light once again. "ARGH! What is with people and cutting me off today?!" he screamed up at the heavens as he slammed his fist into the wall next to him. Taking several deep, calming breaths, he leapt to the top of the roof and briefly analysed the traces of reiatsu left behind. To his disappointment, he found nothing but the arrancar's signature left. "Tch…you'd think that I was a tyrant in a past life with how much shit life keeps throwing at me," he grumbled to himself, disappearing in a whisper of wind back to his home and the headache that was sure to return now.

XXX

"Well I must say, that went better than I expected," Kohaku muttered to himself as he appeared in his office with a slight skip to his step, sinking into his office chair and tossing his cloak onto the rack nearby. "It seems that Loly's escape yielded most unexpected information. Now…how do we adapt to it accordingly?" Hearing a knock at his door, he frowned and glanced at it. "Come in."

"Welcome home Kaito-sama. Katsumi-chan has retired for the evening and bade me to bid you good night," Junichi said as he walked into the room, collecting his master's cloak from where it lay.

"I've learned a startling piece of news Nakamura, it seems that Katsumi's mission will need to change," he said as he reclined back in his armchair, propping his feet up on a stool.

"That is…alarming news, may I ask what her new mission is and what brought this on?" Junichi asked curiously, a hint of concern colouring his tone.

"It seems that Ichigo Kurosaki has recovered his powers and as such is a greater person of interest than his friends. He will prove to be a greater asset than the others for our future plans."

"As you wish Kaito-sama, but…do you think Kurosaki will be receptive to your way of thinking? Initial reports indicate he has an almost fanatical loyalty towards his friends."

"Do you doubt that she will be able to convince him, Nakamura, that he will prove stronger than my little girl?" he asked, his tone chilling his servant to the bone, while the lights in the room dimmed slightly.

"I…I am merely concerned for her wellbeing," Junichi stuttered back, sweat beading his forehead. "If Kurosaki becomes aware of our intentions, his anger might be directed towards her."

"Well that's why I have you watching her Nakamura…to make sure that nothing does happen to her," Kohaku replied, the lights returning to their normal state. "That and making sure that nothing interferes with her mission of course."

"Of course Kaito-sama, whatever you wish," Junichi replied, bowing one last time before he swiftly left the room, leaving his master alone with his thoughts.

"We're finally drawing nearer to the culmination of my efforts in this world…and I refuse to allow a boy like him to ruin my plans," Kohaku muttered darkly to himself, as he stood up and strode over to the window, the pale moonlight casting an eerie light on his pale skin, "Or anyone else in this world…"

XXX

As their feet pounded down the deserted streets the following morning, Tatsuki peered at Ichigo out of the corner of her eye, picking up on the irritated scowl he wore this morning. In fact he seemed to have gone straight back into the fearsome scowl that she remembered little over two years ago. Biting her lip, she contemplated bringing it up with him, before throwing almost all caution to the wind and bumping into him slightly.

"What's up with you today Ichigo? I'm beginning to miss the non-scowling version of you we had for a few months," she said slightly breathlessly, as he turned to glare at her, before his expression softened a moment later.

"It's nothing Tatsuki; I've just got some things on my mind…" he murmured, his head bent low.

"Oh. Is it about Michiru, you know you've kind of grown a bit distant towards us again. You know we're always here if you want to talk right?"

'If only it really was just her death on my mind,' he thought with a sigh. 'Between Kyoka, the new girl and now that new guy…issues like my grief just seem so inconsequential.'

"Then why not make them all trivial?" the same voice that tormented him the previous night spoke, causing him to stumble as his mind came to a screeching halt.

'Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?!' he shouted into the recesses of his mind, unaware that he had come to a grinding halt, startling Tatsuki next to him.

"You will know who I am soon enough Ichigo…and when I do finally show myself to you…I will make all your problems crumble in the face of what I have to offer…" she replied ominously, causing a shiver to run down his spine at the double meaning of her words.

'What do you mean by that?' he asked again, his question going unanswered much to his frustration.

"Oi baka!" Tatsuki's voice came, finally breaking through the mental block he had placed around himself. "What the hell caused you to zone out like that?!" she demanded.

"N-Nothing Tatsuki…let's just finish this and get going, otherwise we're going to be late," he answered, breaking into a run again and leaving Tatsuki staring bewilderedly after him.

"BUT YOUR HOUSE IS DOWN THIS WAY BAKA!" she shouted at him, but growled as her words seemed to shoot over his head once again. "Stupid Strawberry, what have you gotten yourself into this time," she whispered to herself, starting after his retreating form.

XXX

Unfortunately for Ichigo, Tatsuki was not the only to notice how distracted he was that day. To almost all of them it simply seemed like he was haunted by Michiru's death and, to his friends at least, his partial role in it. As she watched him, Katsumi sighed in slight annoyance at the back of Ichigo's head. First her father wanted her to stay away from him, while getting closer to his friends. Now she was supposed to do the exact opposite and get closer to him instead and practically ignore the others. 'It would be so much easier if he just made up his mind,' she grumbled internally as she turned back to the teacher. 'And what's with the useless drivel he's spouting? Who honestly cares what 'X' is in the end?'

She felt like jumping for joy moments later as the bell finally rung signalling the end of the school day and everyone began to pack up amidst their teacher's shouts to remember their homework. Watching Ichigo out of the corner of her eye, she watched him brush past Orihime and the others she knew to be his friends and rapidly disappear out the door.

Frowning at his attitude, she quickly reached into her bag and snatched out a folded piece of paper, before snagging one of the last boys as he passed her, making sure to bat her eyes as she pouted at him. "Sorry, but do you know where I can find the boy that sits in front of me? I think he might have left this behind and I don't think he wanted to lose it."

"Ah y-you sit b-behind Kurosaki r-right?" the guy stuttered, his mouth hanging open slightly as she ensnared his mind. "If I remember he just got made karate Captain recently and they have practice today. That or he's headed to the dojo on the other side of town."

"That's quite helpful, thank you," she said with a shy smile, her eyes beginning to glow slightly. "Now tell me…what else do you know about him?"

"I don't really know much about him, other than the fact that he used to be a big time delinquent until recently. You know the whole getting into fights, skipping classes and running out of them. That and he has done pretty well academically," the boy replied in a monotonous, his eyes blank as he stared mesmerised into her eyes. "Although the main topic about him at the moment is the death of his girlfriend Michiru Ogawa."

"Oh? I wasn't told about that…what happened to her?" Katsumi asked, her eyes glowing even brighter as she forced the knowledge from the boy.

"She was killed in the recent terrorist attacks that gripped Karakura. She was timid and shy around everyone that I know of and didn't stand out. She was friends with Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa, Ryo Kunieda, Mahana Natsui and Chizuru Honsho. In fact…some would say that you're quite similar to her in a way."

"Well that certainly does make things difficult. I was hoping that he wouldn't have some tragic past to get around and if he looks at me like a reminder of his past, he won't be as receptive later on. Then again he could treat this as a chance to get what he wants this time. Aww why'd he have to make this so hard," Katsumi said with yet another sigh, running a hand through her short black hair, ruffling it. Seeing the boy standing dazed in front of her, she yawned and walked past him, the glow in her eyes dying out. Moments later her hapless victim finally gasped and collapsed unconscious in the classroom, his breaths coming in short, frantic bursts.

As she made her way over to Junichi, she spied him watching Ichigo and another man talking to one another down the street. Seeing Ichigo's casual dismissal of the man, she frowned and turned back to her butler, a curious look on her face.

"It's nothing for you to worry about Katsumi-chan, Ichigo-san simply returned some lost property to him," Junichi said with a slight bow, holding her door open for her.

"I see…and his friends?" she asked, slipping into the back seat and stretching out along its length.

"They departed shortly before the incident. He appears to be avoiding them."

"I guess we can work with that, but first…" she trailed off, a slight smirk on her face. "I want ice-cream please!"

"But Katsumi-chan you father…" the words died in her servants mouth at the teary eyed pout she was giving him, until he finally gave a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, we'll get you anything you want."

XXX

The big reveal is coming boys and girls and I wonder how Ichigo will survive in the face of it. Between unknown and secretive Inner Spirits, grief from the death of a loved one and now an unknown group with an interest in him…I really wouldn't envy his life. Till next time everyone.