Born to Darkness, Ascend to Light

by Nightshade4316

(AU)The Shinigami didn't restore Ichigo's Shinigami powers when Ginjō stole his Fullbring. Tsukishima never removed the influence of his 'Book of the End'. Yhwach is actually a good emperor to the Wandenreich. Mayuri is the usual mad scientist as always and the Gotei 13 will pay the price for his actions. A Sternritter Ichigo with a powerful Schrift. OOC!Quincy!Ichigo

11. Reunions

Disclaimer : I do not own anything from Bleach.

Main Pairing IchigoXGiselle, IchigoXMulti

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Reunions

She had just finished sending off the soldats to commence with the invasion, when she heard a voice she loved to hear more than anything. The content? Not so much.

"His Majesty requires your service, Sternritter Gewelle..."

"Ugh, come off it! I don't like it when you call me like that!" said Giselle, sending Ichigo a stink-eye and sticking her tongue out in a childish way. The act received a rather mirthful chuckle from Ichigo in response.

"Fine, fine... Still, His Majesty did ask me to send you to him, Gigi. I'm sure you'll like what you find there..." Ichigo said in a rather amused tone.

It wasn't that much of a surprise to Ichigo that Giselle's eyes lit up instantly when she heard what he said, since there weren't that many things she actually liked. If he didn't count himself, and the other girls, well... there was basically one thing left, which would be a new 'collection' for her to make into a zombie.

Despite how much the thought of his girlfriend tinkering with corpses turned him off, Ichigo couldn't bring himself to hate her for it. He knew that Giselle was kind of borderline insane, but everyone had their own flaws... even if Giselle's was a tad bit more serious than the others. Well, maybe a hell lot more serious. But at least she did promise to him that she wouldn't do anything morally wrong after they won the war, which basically meant that she wouldn't turn any innocents to zombies. Honestly, it was a big relief to know that she was willing to change for the better... or as better as she could get.

"Oh...? Alright! I'll see you later at Silbern, then. Oh, and I got what you asked! The whole place was empty, so it was a bit too dull..." Giselle replied with an exaggerated sigh, and left immediately after placing a long wooden container in his hands.

To think of it, nearly every person he had befriended over the past year had their own flaws, but Ichigo still considered them as his friends with or without them. Well, except Jugram, who was just so damn perfect and noble... The man's flaw was that the man didn't have any flaws, really.

Liltotto's Schrift could be considered as cannibalism, so that was a rather big one. Actually... if he thought about it more, that might be more of a problem compared to even Giselle's. But still, Liltotto was okay as long as her never ending hunger was satisfied. While her habit of using foul words constantly kind of grew on him, it was still another one of Liltotto's flaws too.

Bambietta was extremely short-tempered, and when he says extremely... he wasn't kidding. She tended to lose her temper easily when she heard something she didn't like without hearing the whole story firsthand. She was violent, and a little blood-thirsty too. Well, not so little, since Ichigo knew that she would've enjoyed killing any Shinigami she came across during this invasion. Her habit of releasing her stress from killing someone - which he had only heard about, since she had been warned to cease the act before he joined the Wandenreich - was rather disconcerting, but at least she did have some self-control... Right?

'I should really help her find some way to let her stress loose... Maybe she might be interested in the violent kind of video games? I'll have to prepare plenty of spare controllers in that case, though...'

Cang was a decent enough guy in his opinion, even if his loyalty to His Majesty was fanatic to say at the least. Cang would gladly accept death as long as the emperor was the one to kill him, and follow any kind of orders His Majesty would give him. It wasn't necessarily bad, but such blind loyalty could be considered as a flaw. He could be a bit too much on the arrogant side from time to time, but it was harder to find someone who didn't have an ounce of arrogance among the Sternritter, so that wasn't anything special.

Mask could be a little hard to follow due to his enthusiasm, which was kind of borderline annoying sometimes. Ichigo knew that Mask was mostly hiding his real self under his hero facade, but he still considered him as one of his friends. In all honesty, he would be more concerned if Mask's hero facade wasn't an act, but his real self. Seriously, who could blame him?

Bazz-B apparently held his own grudge against His Majesty, and honestly... everyone knew that he did. He wasn't as discreet as he thought himself to be, and even the emperor found it to be amusing. The general opinion about Bazz-B among the Sternritter was that he was an annoying, arrogant jerk, but he was a decent enough company to Ichigo. Bazz-B was like what Renji was to Ichigo before he swore vengeance at the red-haired Lieutenant. They regularly bashed their heads, but got along well in the end.

Candice had her own temper, but it wasn't anything like Bambietta's. Bambietta's temper was well... volatile, explosive, vindictive, and it was something really legendary. The memory of a near-bald Bazz-B was still clear in his mind, after all. Candice on the other hand was equally or even more short-tempered than Bambietta, but that was all there was.

She didn't blow up everything even if she did lose her temper, although it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for the others if they were in close contact with a pissed off Candice. It was relatively easy to calm her down, though... at least for him, since all it took was some soothing gestures and compliments on his part. Other than that, he really couldn't bring up any major flaws she might've had. Well, her obsession with her hair could be considered as one... but still, nothing major. And he rather liked her hair if he were to be honest.

Meninas was soft-spoken, kind, gentle, caring, and probably many things he could compliment on. But that didn't mean she was perfect, though. Ichigo knew from experience that Meninas was hard to anger, but if someone did push her over the edge... Ichigo shuddered for a moment when he thought of what Meninas could do when she was pissed off. All he needed to say, was that her Schrift was 'The Power' for a good reason.

'Note to self, never give her a reason to get mad when she's holding my hand.'

There was also the fact that she didn't have that much of a good control over her strength, and Ichigo was thankful that she took special care in controlling her strength when he was near her. Neither of them wanted her to break his hips or something like that.

Meninas wanted to be pampered like a princess, but that wasn't even half as bad as the others in his opinion. He really needed someone who had a grasp of normalcy if he wanted to keep his sanity intact with all the people around him, and thankfully Meninas fit the bill... for most of the time, anyway. At least someone enjoyed literature, regardless of the genre.

Quilge was a sadistic bastard for sure, but Ichigo actually appreciated it, thanks to the amount of pain he had inflicted on Tsukishima before his death. As far as he knew, Tsukishima's last days were a living hell for the Fullbringer. Quilge also made surprisingly good company, which was something he really didn't expect from the man. His presence was always welcome when the guys hung out due to his wicked sense of humor, sometimes making even Cang to crack a smile.

Askin was... well, just Askin for the lack of a better description. He was an eccentric guy for sure, and sometimes he was even harder to follow than Mask, which was quite the feat in itself. His self-preservation was on a legendary level, such as always mysteriously disappearing right before Bambietta's temper tantrums, or knowing the limits of how much he could tick others off without getting in trouble for it. He was the last person Ichigo expected to die in this war, not that he expected the others to die in the first place.

There were the other Sternritter and the Schutzstaffel, but they were more of an acquaintance than a friend to him. Some were more tolerable than others, and some were not. But if he was given a choice again on whether he would join the Wandenreich again or not, he wouldn't change a thing.

"So... What now, Zangetsu?" Ichigo said, seemingly to himself.

'How should I know, you dumbass? It's not like I have any actual experience with this! Ask the old man, not me!'

Ichigo sighed when he heard the distorted voice in his head, and muttered. "Fine. Your thoughts, Ossan?"

'I would suggest that you hold the Asauchi, and channel your reiryoku into it. Since you already know our names, that should be enough to change the Asauchi into a proper form for us.'

"Got it," said Ichigo, opening the lid of the container.

Ichigo ran his hand over the blade of the plain Asauchi before pulling it out, and held it by the hilt with both of his hands. He stared blankly at the Asauchi for a few seconds, realizing just how much he had missed holding Zangetsu in his hands, despite it being his faux Zanpakutō.

Sure, he was perfectly fine with being a Quincy, with an added dosage of Hollow. But Zangetsu was born from his soul, and even if he decided to rely mostly on his Quincy side there was always something missing. So he planned on taking an Asauchi for himself during the first strike, but he was rather late on schedule thanks to Giselle's little scheme.

He would've chose to stick to the original schedule even if Giselle had meddled a little with his plans, but he just had to meet Rukia out of all people. So Ichigo nicely asked Giselle to do a favor for him. In other words, he ordered her to fetch an Asauchi from the Shin'ō Academy. Ichigo knew that Giselle would probably do anything for him to earn his forgiveness - not that he was all that mad with her -, so he gave her a simple task and let her off the hook.

To his surprise, Ichigo found himself surprisingly eager to hold his very own Zanpakutō... the real Zangetsu, and not a fake. He still preferred using his Quincy abilities and even his Hollow side over the Shinigami side, but he knew that he would need everything he could use in his arsenal for the upcoming trials. Ichigo was positively sure that he could use his real Bankai now. He remembered the words of Zangetsu, of him being unable to withstand the power of his Bankai.

Ichigo knew that he was strong. It was a rather obvious statement, since he had just emerged victorious over a fight with the famed Head-Captain of the Gotei 13 himself. But he wasn't on the level of transcendence, the level he had reached when he used Mugetsu while in his Final Getsuga Tenshō state. Not yet, anyway.

His Schrift 'The Amnesia' was a ridiculously powerful ability with its power rivaling even 'The Almighty' of His Majesty, which was truly befitting of the letter 'A'. So he had consciously refrained from using his Schrift to its fullest for various reasons.

First off, Ichigo had a good enough grasp on how to utilize his Schrift through extensive training, so he barely needed anymore training on that part. Another reason was that he didn't like to use it in a fight he could enjoy, which was too much of a Kenpachi-like reason. But Ichigo really couldn't help his thirst for a good enough fight. Whether if it came from himself or his instinctual counterpart, he had absolutely no idea, but he didn't really care about it all that much. Ichigo briefly wondered if he would've challenged Zaraki for the title of Kenpachi, if he was actually born as a real Shinigami.

Then again, Ichigo Kenpachi was kind of weird in his opinion. Yes, he was perfectly fine with being Kurosaki Ichigo. Technically Shiba Ichigo worked as well, but he had lived as Kurosaki Ichigo for his whole life, not to mention that the Kurosakis were Quincies which he liked.

Also, Ichigo was keeping himself from becoming overly reliant on his Schrift like some of the other Sternritter, such as Berenice, PePe, and Äs, after realizing the importance of the mastery over the foundation of his skills. Ever since he started to refine his swordsmanship under the guidance of Jugram, Ichigo was able to notice the improvement in his overall prowess in combat. It led him to devote a fraction of his time each day to train himself, to become better in order to protect the people he held dear. Well... it wasn't like that from the beginning, though.

When he first started to train himself, he did it mostly to prove his worth and usefulness to the Wandenreich. His insecurity of being discarded like a chess piece was rather serious at that time, but he was able to eventually get over it with the help of Bambietta. To say that he was surprised would've been an understatement, when Bambietta out of all people was the one who caught on the problem before anyone.

Her words were crude and straightforward, but they were extremely helpful without a doubt. Ichigo would've never expected Bambietta to be the one to help him with a mental issue, but she was able to relate to the problem due to a similar experience. They had grown closer ever since, and he wouldn't hesitate for a second to say that his current best friend was Bambietta, even if he included all the other girls and male Sternritter.

It didn't take long for Ichigo to find his purpose once more after that, to protect his girls, his friends... his family. Silbern was as much of his home as Karakura used to be, and he was proud to be a Sternritter of the Wandenreich. Now that he knew the consequences if he failed in his task all thanks to Tsukishima, he wouldn't be as lenient as he once was. If someone dared to threaten his precious people, they wouldn't live long enough to regret it. That was his vow.

"Well, here goes..." Ichigo muttered, and channeled his reiryoku into the Asauchi in his hands.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, much to Ichigo's disappointment. A few more seconds had passed, and still nothing.

Ichigo was about to ask Old-man Zangetsu if he had any more ideas, when he felt it. He could feel the connection forming between himself and the Asauchi-, no, his Zanpakutō changed its form into its sealed stage. It was a sensation he had never experienced when he was wielding his old sword, and all Ichigo could say was that it could even rival the moment when he began his path as a Quincy.

While Ichigo didn't even doubt for a second that the connection he shared with both Zangetsu was stronger than most, if not all of the Shinigami, it became even stronger when he claimed the Asauchi as his own. Their bond was now stronger than ever, and Ichigo understood instinctively that he could use all of his power to its full potential as of the moment.

Ichigo examined the sealed Zanpakutō, which was a Tachi at about 30 inches in length with a red Quincy Zeichen outlined with black as its tsuba. He was rather surprised that his Zanpakutō actually had a sealed form, since his former one was always in its Shikai. But then again, since it really wasn't his true Zanpakutō to begin with, it probably was true that there was no such thing as a constant-release Shikai. He was about to speak of his release phrase right then and there, when he sensed a disruption in the sky not that far from his current position.

"What the hell... a Garganta?" Ichigo muttered, and his widened in surprise when it opened to reveal the newly arrived trespassers.

There they were, his old friends that he hadn't seen for a whole year. His friends had hurt him emotionally when they were under the influence of Tsukishima's Fullbring... but still, they were his friends. Uryū seemed to be equally surprised when his eyes found him, and Ichigo was able to notice the slight grimace in his friend's face. For what reason, he did not know.

Orihime's eyes lit up with joy the moment she unexpectedly spotted her long-time crush, tearing up from all the pent-up emotions that struck her at that very moment. A part of her was afraid that Ichigo would hate them for what they had done while they were influenced by Tsukishima, despite knowing that the Ichigo she knew wouldn't hold it against them. But for the most part, she was worried sick about Ichigo ever since he disappeared from Karakura town without a trace. To her relief Ichigo seemed not only fine, but in an even better physical state than before if she was being honest about it.

Chad seemed to be barely standing, one of his arms draped over Uryū's shoulders for support. His injury from earlier wasn't fully recovered yet, even with Orihime's Sōten Kisshun. Orihime could've healed it completely with some more effort, but Chad insisted that she leave him be, stating that someone may need her help when they reached the Soul Society with the ongoing invasion. Orihime hesitated at first, but Chad's stubbornness emerged victorious at the end.

What he didn't expect was to run into Ichigo as soon as they arrived in the Soul Society, and while he was half-expecting him to be wearing a similar attire to the Quincy in Hueco Mundo, he was surprised at just how menacing Ichigo looked like with the white-clad uniform on him.

"...Ichigo. It's good to see you again."

"Kurosaki..."

"Kurosaki-kun! Thank god, you're okay!"

Ichigo stared at the trio blankly, trying to comprehend just why they were here, and why they had arrived through a Garganta out of all things. What reason did they have to come to the Soul Society? As far as he knew, they shouldn't have been aware of the invasion until the first strike was over. He wasn't sure of what to say, seeing how the situation was extremely awkward for him.

Not so thankfully, he didn't need to say anything.

"KU-RO-SA-KI!" a rough voice bellowed his name, instantly taking Ichigo's attention to himself.

"...Grimmjow?" Ichigo muttered in confusion, as he took in the rapidly approaching form of the former Espada and his sword.

Despite being confused at the sight of a not so friendly face, Ichigo's free hand shot up and caught the Arrancar's Zanpakutō with ease. Grimmjow seemed to be taken aback at first, but his surprised expression soon morphed into a bloodthirsty smirk. The Karakura trio flinched when they saw blue jagged lines tracing Ichigo's skin, realizing that Ichigo was using the same technique as the other Quincy from earlier. Ichigo wearing the same uniform as the man didn't help either, reminding them of their rather humiliating defeat.

"You've gotten stronger, Kurosaki ya' bastard! That's good, cuz I've been waiting too long for this rematch!" Grimmjow yelled with glee.

"As far as I remember, you lost to me, even when I took several attacks of yours that were aimed at Inoue..." said Ichigo with a frown.

"And I remember beating you up into a pulp with my bare hands! Don't tell me you're afraid of getting your ass kicked, Kurosaki?"

"Please... as if I would be scared of you," scoffed Ichigo.

He wasn't really sure why Grimmjow would want to fight him again... no, actually he did. Grimmjow did try to fight him again when he ended the fight by sparing the Arrancar's life, only to be cut down by Nnoitra immediately after that. But he didn't really think that the Arrancar would give him that much of a challenge. Grimmjow wasn't by any means weak, being the Sexta Espada and all. But compared to Yamamoto using his Bankai? Ichigo didn't want to sound too arrogant, but unless Grimmjow had a second release like Ulquiorra, there was absolutely no way he could lose in a fight against him.

Grimmjow's lips twisted into a full-blown grin, and tried to kick Ichigo into releasing his grip on his Zanpakutō. But Ichigo was much more faster. He let go of the Zanpakutō before the kick could connect with his body, and slid back a good few meters with his Flugbildschritt.

"Good! I hope you'd be a better match against me than the other guy in Hueco Mundo. I barely broke a sweat while fighting him, and he was pathetic as shit!"

Ichigo clenched his fists in realization. Of course, why would his friends come out of a Garganta with Grimmjow out of all people? They were in Hueco Mundo for some reason, and probably met Quilge while they were there. Ichigo still didn't understand the reason behind Uryū's grimace, but at least he now knew that Uryū must've recognized his Sternritter uniform.

"...What did you do to him?" asked Ichigo, already guessing the former Sexta Espada's answer to his question. Grimmjow wasn't the type to have any kind of mercy in his blood, which was something he could easily deduce from experience.

"Eh, was that guy your friend or something? The bastard was fucking irritating, so I crushed his skull. Seriously, how annoying a guy could-"

He wasn't given the chance to finish his words, due to the iron strong grip of Ichigo's hand that snatched his neck. Ichigo held up Grimmjow with his hand, constricting the Arrancar's neck with just enough strength, so that Grimmjow could only let out a wheezing breath instead of coherent words. Before anyone could react to his actions, Ichigo slammed Grimmjow to the ground and pinned him down with his foot planted on the former Espada's chest.

"Kurosaki?!" Uryū yelled in disbelief while his Ginrei Kojaku formed immediately in his hands, aimed and ready to fire even before he realized the implications of his action. He was too surprised at this behavior of Ichigo, which was so unlike him... at least in comparison to the Ichigo they all remembered.

But Ichigo paid him no mind, and drew out his sealed Zanpakutō from its sheath. He lowered the sword until the tip of the blade pricked Grimmjow's neck, causing a few drops of blood to seep out. Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock despite the pain he was feeling, realizing that Ichigo was able to penetrate his Hierro almost effortlessly. Sure, his Hierro wasn't anything near Nnoitra-level strong, but it wasn't something that could be penetrated so easily with barely any effort!

"Regardless of your opinions on the guy, Quilge was indeed one of my friends. Even then, if it were any other Arrancar that killed him, I wouldn't feel obligated to do anything since he was on a mission of his own. But you on the other hand... I was the one who spared you that day. Clearly, it was a mistake on my part," Ichigo growled out with a scowl, and started to form a Cero on the blade of the Zanpakutō. "I'll just have to rectify that mistake now."

"No, you can't, Kurosaki! I won't let you kill someone who just saved our lives!" Uryū interrupted, only to flinch when he saw the cold look Ichigo gave him.

Ichigo stared blankly at Uryū, his face devoid of any kind of emotions. He wasn't sure if he heard it correctly, but it seemed like Uryū wanted to stop him from killing an Arrancar... Grimmjow saving his friends' lives? The thought was so... alien to him.

"He saved your lives, you say? Tell me Ishida... did Quilge actually try to kill you? Did he harm any of you in a way that Inoue couldn't patch you guys up? None of the Sternritter are 'allowed' to kill or seriously maim any of you three, because I gave them a specific order not to, Ishida!" shouted Ichigo, putting more strength into his leg. Grimmjow struggled to get up, but nothing seemed to work. "So don't you dare tell me what I can, and can't do. I'm going to kill him, and if you want to stop it... You're more than welcome to try."

It was at the last moment when Ichigo was about to fire the overcharged Cero, that he changed his mind and swung his Zanpakutō at the sky instead of Grimmjow. An arc of red energy was released from the blade of the sword, causing the others to gasp as they felt the power Ichigo had under his disposal. They knew that Grimmjow would've been completely annihilated without a trace, if that Cero had struck him as Ichigo originally intended to.

'Just when did the bastard get this strong?!' thought Grimmjow, sweat drops trickling down his forehead.

Uryū couldn't really refute that claim, knowing that Quilge didn't really try to kill him or Chad despite his rough treatment. Besides, he knew that this wasn't about stopping Ichigo from killing the Arrancar. He just didn't want to watch Ichigo kill someone out of cold blood, to know that he had changed enough to actually kill someone like this. He wasn't sure if he was proud of his heritage as a Quincy anymore, if that was the case.

"But what about me, Kurosaki-san? You wound me!" interrupted the jovial voice of Urahara Kisuke, and Ichigo once more caught another Zanpakutō, this time between his fingers.

Ichigo knew that it wasn't a good decision on his part, since Kisuke's Zanpakutō was actually in its Shikai unlike Grimmjow's which was sealed. But he doubted that Kisuke would outright strike him with anything more than a calculative jab. It really wasn't like Kisuke to do so.

"Those three needed my protection in case they got involved somehow with this war, which they did... but you on the other hand, not so much. I wasn't expecting you to get yourself involved in the war this early either, Urahara. How did you find out?" asked Ichigo.

"Well, I was expecting this to happen sooner than later, in case you're wondering. But that wouldn't explain me being here, yes? You see, Nel-san dropped out of the sky, and asked for our help in rescuing her brother Dondochakka-san, so everything kind of happened from there!" replied Kisuke, not at all fazed by the lack of the usual honorific Ichigo used when he said his name.

"Wait a second..." Ichigo furrowed his brows in confusion. "Nel is under my protection, along with her companions. Why would she need help to rescue Dondochakka?"

Kisuke let out a nervous chuckle, and scratched the back of his head. "Apparently he was hiding under the dunes, because he was afraid of getting caught by the Quincy army in Hueco Mundo. Oh, and would you mind letting go of my Benihime now? She doesn't take someone manhandling her kindly, including even myself."

"I see... You know, Urahara-san, I blamed you for a lot of things back then," Ichigo started, surprising Kisuke. But then again, Kisuke knew that Ichigo wasn't the type to beat around the bush. "But I always thought that you were a manipulative bastard, albeit with good motives, and I also know that you had your reasons at that time. So I'll give you a piece of advice, and I suggest that you listen to it. Take them," Ichigo pointed at the Karakura trio when he said this. "and go back to the World of the Living. This war is between us Quincy and the Shinigami, and nothing good will come out of it if you choose to interfere... not on their side, at least."

"No, we won't Ichigo. You can stop this nonsense and come back with us. Everyone misses you, and all of your friends would like nothing more than to see you again," said Chad.

"Why would you side with them, Kurosaki-kun? What about your friends in the Soul Society?" asked Orihime, with small drops of tears visible in the corner of her eyes.

'Well, Inoue was always too much of a kind-hearted person for her own good,' thought Ichigo, nearly rolling his eyes at her question. He realized this, and a small frown crept up on his face. 'A downside of hanging out with Bambietta out of all people on a daily basis. She rubs off on you...'

Only Uryū chose to be silent among the trio, since he knew that Ichigo wouldn't be wavered by their words no matter what. He was a stubborn idiot, and nothing less of bringing him back with force would work. The possibility of the option... was slim to non-existent.

Grimmjow was still struggling under Ichigo like an insect, and Kisuke's Zanpakutō was held firmly in Ichigo's fingers. If Ichigo was able to use the upgraded version of the Letzt Stil like the other Quincy they met earlier, his own arrows would prove to be ineffective. What chance did they actually have at subduing Ichigo with force?

"That's funny to hear. Do tell, why wouldn't he side with us? Hmm...?"

Everyone's attention was shifted instantly to the owner of the voice, who gracefully landed behind Ichigo out of nowhere. The girl with dark brown hair was someone only Ichigo could recognize, and in all honesty he wasn't sure if having Bambietta here was a good thing.

"Hey, Bambi... What brings you here?" Ichigo asked the Sternritter, somewhat relieved at the sight of her being unscathed.

"Well... did you happen to see a doggy around here? You see, I was looking for him to finish him off properly, but he kinda ran off sometime ago, barking some nonsense like 'Genryūsai-dono!' or something like that..." Bambietta said with an Ichigo-like scowl. Neither of the Sternritter noticed the similarity between their scowls, but the others easily did. If the pair walked around Karakura Town with those scowls on their faces, they would end up picking a fight with all the thugs and gangs around the town!

"Hmm... he must've sensed the old man's reiatsu when I beat him. Sorry about that," apologized Ichigo with a shrug, knowing that apologizing to Bambietta was a good method to keep her temper in check. It really wasn't a big deal, if compared to what he would have to deal with when Bambietta lost her temper. "But you really shouldn't be surprised about it. Dogs do have a habit of running off with their tails tucked between their legs when they get scared, you know?"

'He defeated the Head-Captain?!' was the thought that crossed every single person's mind, barring the two Sternritter.

"Hmmph. Well, I guess that's what happens when they give out the Captain's post to stray doggies..." muttered Bambietta, a small grin forming on her lips. She was extremely satisfied at Ichigo's answers.

It was then, the others had realized the subject of their conversation. This girl was talking about Captain Komamura as if he was nothing more than a stray dog?

"So... who are these guys?" asked Bambietta.

"My friends from Karakura Town?" Ichigo answered uncertainly, since having two of them aiming their weapons at him kind of made his statement a bit... off.

"Uh-huh..." Bambietta nodded while observing the 'friends' of her current best friend, and possibly more if the idiot just picked up some courage and asked her out. One of the humans had the reiatsu of a Gemischt Quincy, but she could see that he had some potential, despite being nowhere near the level of a Sternritter at the moment. The other two were humans, but with some kind of weird spiritual powers. The term was 'Fullbringers' if her memories served her correctly, but she didn't really care about that. But the girl...

'The fuck?' thought Bambietta as she observed the orange-haired girl. The way she looked at Ichigo reminded her of a certain someone. It was the look Meninas often had, when she was practically stripping off Ichigo's clothes with her eyes. The girl's assets were at least on par with Meninas too. Bambietta couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the thought of an addition of another girl in Ichigo's little harem. Just the thought of it annoyed her to no end.

No way. That was totally not happening, not on her watch. She could deal with the sight of her friends being all lovey-dovey with Ichigo, because she genuinely cared for them. But there was absolutely no way she was going to let this cow have her way with him. Bambietta decided to nip the bud before anything became solid. But how could she do just that...

'Oh, fuck it. I know that he's attracted to me, and it's not like he doesn't know that I like him. There's no way he couldn't know about it with Candice teasing me about it on a daily basis. I'll just make it official right here! Yeah, that sounds like a good enough plan. At least the girls won't be able to make fun of me anymore that way!'

"So... mind answering me why you were about to kill one of your friends, and why the other two was trying to kill you?" asked Bambietta, draping her arms around Ichigo's neck while pressing herself to him. She had to stand on the tips of her toes to do that, though.

For some unknown reason - which Bambietta could only thank god for - Ichigo managed to not blush beet red. Her plan wouldn't have worked all that well if Ichigo immediately started to blush, and showed signs of being uncomfortable with their intimacy. Bambietta barely withheld a smirk from forming when she saw the slight grimace along with a jealous glare on the girl's face. Now she could understand why Candice loved teasing her so much, while flaunting her relationship with Ichigo. She snuggled up even closer than before... not that there was any real difference.

"This one's not my friend... He was an enemy before I became a Sternritter, and apparently he killed Quilge. Uryū... huh, I don't really know the reason he's so worked up if I'm being honest. Urahara-san is well, I'm sure he wasn't trying to kill me. If he really was trying to do that, he would have used a Kidō on the level of number ninety-something. And I know that you could've pulled it out on your own Urahara-san," Ichigo said with a shrug, letting go of Benihime.

Kisuke immediately retreated to the side of the Karakura trio as soon as Ichigo released his grip on his Zanpakutō, wariness evident on his face. While it was true that he didn't need Ichigo to release his grip, Kisuke knew that the case would've been different if he had used his hand instead of his fingers. Kisuke couldn't fathom just how strong Ichigo was now if he really did manage to defeat the Head-Captain, someone who had thousands of years of experience under his belt.

"Huh, Quilge lost to this guy? I can't really see that happening..." Bambietta muttered in confusion. Despite her low opinion on Quilge, she doubted that he would've lost while using his Vollständig. He was by no means an elite of the Sternritter, but he was still stronger than most. He wouldn't have been given the position as the Executive Hunting Captain of the first Jagdarmee if he wasn't... not that it was much of a big deal in her opinion.

"He probably did't get the chance to use his Vollständig, or maybe he lost his Heiligenschein... Whatever. I spared his life once, and I'm not about to repeat that mistake again," said Ichigo, surprising everyone except Bambietta.

"But, but why...? Kurosaki-kun, why do you have to ki- kill him...?" murmured Orihime, unsure if this was the Ichigo she knew. It was like he had become a completely different person.

'Ugh, another goody two-shoes... and she's a lot worse than Meni.' thought Bambietta, mock-gagging in disgust.

Uryū noticed this and frowned, but chose not to say anything. He saw the way Ichigo treated the girl, and easily deduced that it wouldn't be wise of him to antagonize her. He knew that he had been overly subdued after the fight with Quilge, due to obvious reasons. Uryū hated just how much he felt helpless during that fight, and he was still nowhere near coming up with a solution to that. He let his Ginrei Kojaku dissolve back to reishi, knowing that it would be stupid of him to try something with another Quincy at Ichigo's side.

"Shouldn't it be a lot more obvious to you, Inoue? I still remember the way he kept targeting you during our fight, and he already killed one of us. I sure as hell won't give him the chance to harm someone I care about," said Ichigo.

"Deeply, I might add," Bambietta slyly added her piece, and suckled on Ichigo's neck, determined to leave a hickey on him.

Ichigo shivered at the rather erotic act and Bambietta's implications of herself being that someone he cared about, while Orihime let out a small whimper at the sight of her crush being molested. Uryū noticed the distress she was causing to Inoue, and glowered at Bambietta against his better judgement. Chad chose to turn away from the sight, unsure of what to think of it.

If it were any other situation, Kisuke would've thrown in a piece of his own, but he wisely refrained from doing so. However, that didn't mean he succeeded in stopping himself from letting out a wolf-whistle. When Ichigo heard this, he blushed lightly and swept Bambietta off her feet with his free arm, causing her to yelp in surprise while wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. He then put some distance between him and Grimmjow with Flugbildschritt, and half-growled into her ears.

"Bambi, we're going to have a talk about your improper behavior later... It's highly unbecoming of a Sternritter."

It was more of an aroused growl, rather than a threatening one in Bambietta's opinion... or at least to her ears. She meekly nodded with a flustered look when he gently let her down, admittedly a little aroused from hearing his rough voice, and being swept off her feet.

"Get the fuck up, Grimmjow!" Ichigo growled at the Arrancar, who coughed and wheezed while trying to catch his breath. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to end your life. I just didn't feel comfortable with killing you in that state, that's all."

"Softie~" said Bambietta in a sing-song voice, receiving a mock-glare from Ichigo.

If looks could kill someone, Ichigo swore that he would've died a thousand times by now from the intensity of Grimmjow's glare. There were no signs of fear in his eyes, even after experiencing the massive gap between their strength. No, his eyes were filled with defiance to the brim.

"You're gonna regret this, you bastard... You see this scar, Kurosaki? The one you gave me... I'll let it heal after I beat you, and prove that I'm the one and only true king!" spat Grimmjow, tightening his grip around his Zanpakutō. If the jackass asked for it, who was he to say no? He raised his other hand at the now glowing blade, and raked it along the length of it and growled the words. "Grind, Pantera!"

There was a massive spike in Grimmjow's reiatsu levels, and a torrent of reiatsu was expelled from the Arrancar's release, which caused violent gusts of wind to engulf the vicinity. But it didn't faze Ichigo, not even a little. He had already experienced men with greater reiatsu to be intimidated by someone at Grimmjow's level. Ichigo raised his Zanpakutō which gave everyone a proper view at the sword, earning surprised looks from the others.

"That's not the Zanpakutō Ichigo used to have..." Chad muttered.

"Urahara-san, is that a sealed Zanpakutō...?" Uryū asked, realizing that Ichigo actually wasn't wielding a sword forged out of reishi. He received a stiff nod from Kisuke, who was observing the sealed Zanpakutō warily. "But didn't he lose his Shinigami powers for good? I thought that was the consequence for using the Final Getsuga Tenshō, but my eyes are telling me otherwise."

"Not exactly. If I were to give my speculations on the matter, I'd say that Kurosaki-san's spiritual powers were never lost, but simply in a dormant state. Think about it like this. If a battery is dead, you can't use it again until you recharge it. That's why I tried to restore Kurosaki-san's powers by repeating the process of how he gained his Shinigami powers for the first time. Emphasis on 'tried', since the Central 46 forbid us from doing so... But it seems that Kurosaki-san's Shinigami side was somewhat connected with his Quincy side, if he was able to regain it on his own..."

"I see..." Uryū didn't really know what to say, so he just chose to not say anything.

"If his current Zanpakutō is in its sealed state, assuming that it is actually his and not a random Shinigami's, then it might be different from his Zanpakutō that we all remember," Kisuke stated.

"I doubt that Kurosaki would use someone else's Zanpakutō, and I can see a Quincy Zeichen at the handle of the sword..."

Paying no mind to the others, Ichigo made the choice to release his Shikai. He was confident that he could beat Grimmjow with his Quincy skills alone, even if the said Arrancar had released his Zanpakutō. But he was about to speak of his release phrase before they had arrived through a Garganta, so he thought that he might as well test out his Shikai on Grimmjow.

"Eclipse..."

There was an even more drastic rise in Ichigo's reiatsu compared to Grimmjow's as he spoke of his release phrase, sending shivers down the spines of everyone near him. Orihime and Chad struggled to stay on their feet, barely withstanding the immense spiritual pressure being emitted from the orange-haired Sternritter.

Bambietta on the other hand squirmed for a completely different reason, and licked her lips in anticipation. Her gaze lingered on the boy she held romantic feelings for, turned on by the sheer strength he possessed. She could practically feel the wetness between her legs. She rubbed her thighs without even realizing it, and bit her lower lips when she did, nearly letting out an aroused moan. She was extremely thankful that everyone's attention was focused on Ichigo, she really was.

Eventually Chad collapsed, heavily affected from the reiatsu due to his condition. Uryū quickly supported him despite being under considerable pressure himself. Kisuke eyed the orange-haired Quincy cautiously, trying to gauge the strength of his one time student from the reiatsu alone.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo roared, and his sealed Zanpakutō melted into nothingness, or the others thought so until they realized that his Zanpakutō didn't just disappear when they saw it.

It was an eerie sight for everyone to see visible 'darkness' forming all around Ichigo, which was similar to a shadow, but it was somewhere in between being a liquid and gas substance. For a single moment Ichigo's Hollow mask flickered into existence on his face, but disappeared immediately as if to say that it was never there. Some of the darkness around him molded itself into a single Zanpakutō, which was a pitch black sword at about 30 inches with a hollowed out portion at the center of the blade.

As soon as the blade had formed, darkness reigned supreme over light. It was as if the darkness around Ichigo was sucking in all of the light in the whole area, in order to assert its dominance over the light.

None of them could speak a word until Ichigo let out a sigh of contentment, basking at the presence of his true Zanpakutō, or one of them to be precise. He could've chose to bring out both of course, but he didn't need to show off everything he could use, especially with Urahara Kisuke's presence.

Old-man Zangetsu was perfectly fine with it, since Ichigo usually preferred to use his Quincy skills. Zangetsu on the other hand, was enjoying every single second of the moment with a blood-thirsty grin plastered on his face. It didn't escape Ichigo's notice that the blade wasn't white like how it was in his inner world, though.

'White's my color you dumbass! You get to wield the black one now!' Zangetsu cackled with glee, and Ichigo could easily picture him swinging around a carbon copy of his current blade, with the only difference being the color of it being white.

'Whatever...' thought Ichigo, and flicked the blade once. He then raised Zangetsu, and pointed it towards Grimmjow who had a wary look on him despite being in his beast-like Resurrección form now.

All of this development was new to him, but Grimmjow quickly shook off the shock and wariness. It didn't matter if his enemy had some new things up his sleeve. He was going to completely destroy the boy, rip him apart to shreds, and prove himself to be the one and only king.

"Got yourself a new weapon, I see! But it means nothing, Kurosaki! It changes nothing, you hear?!"

The blue-haired Arrancar's words went ignored by Ichigo, as he flicked his Zanpakutō diagonally and muttered, "Getsuga Tenshō."

It was vastly different from what Grimmjow had experienced years earlier. It was made of the exact same darkness that was being emitted from the pitch black Zanpakutō, and just the sight of it set off the alarms in Grimmjow's head. He would never admit it out loud, but he had felt primal fear at that moment. The kind one would feel when faced with an apex predator who could devour them with ease... just like the time when Aizen put him into his place for his rebellious attitude.

It pissed him off greatly, but that wasn't the important thing now. He had to deal with the blurry black crescent wave, if he actually wanted to survive it. If he wanted to prove himself to be the true king, first and foremost he needed to survive.

So he raised his arms, and crossed his claws in front of him to block his enemy's attack. He didn't doubt himself, not one bit. He had never doubted himself ever since that humiliating defeat he experienced against Aizen. Self-doubt only served to make you weak, and he had grown stronger ever since he stood by that belief.

But his belief was about to be challenged.

"What the hell...?!"

It barely took a second for Grimmjow to realize that something was wrong. He expected the Sternritter to be much more stronger than the last time they fought, but he believed that he could beat him. He had grown stronger, at least stronger than the bastard Nnoitra. He wasn't sure of it, but he thought that he wasn't that far off from how strong the bat, Ulquiorra was too. But then again, he had felt like Ulquiorra always had something more than he usually showed off... but it probably wouldn't have been that much of a big deal.

'This- this is... way above any of the Espada... Even compared to that brute Yammy, when he's as fucking big as the whole Las Noches...' Grimmjow thought with a gulp, and felt his arms shaking uncontrollably.

It wasn't a serious attack on Kurosaki's part, a simple flick with his fucking sword, and here he was, struggling to block the strike that should've been nothing. He had been pushed back more than at least ten meters already from just the sheer power behind Kurosaki's technique before coming to a standstill. All of this was humiliating to him. It made him feel weak, just like the time when Aizen spoke of those words to him.

'Do not presume yourself to be anywhere close to someone of my caliber, Grimmjow.'

Aizen had said those words to him in an amused voice, as he looked down upon the defeated form of the panther Arrancar, the single most humiliating moment of Grimmjow's life. The memory still haunted him to this day, always occupying a part of his mind.

Grimmjow wasn't about to let another person walk all over him as if he was nothing, to give him another humiliating defeat to haunt him... No, he knew that Kurosaki fully intended to end his life, and it wouldn't be able to haunt him if that happened. But he wouldn't be able to prove himself to be the king, above all. He wouldn't allow that.

Never. Never... Never!

"Graaaaaaahgh!" Grimmjow roared as he pushed back against the black crescent, pushing over his own limits.

Blue light shown on his claws as he slowly, but firmly pushed back the Getsuga Tenshō. There was a screeching sound as his claws finally teared through the Getsuga, and dissipated the attack. The light on his claws kept on growing, and morphed into ten claw-like blade of reiryoku.

"Desgarrón!" yelled Grimmjow, as he flung all ten of the blades at Ichigo's direction.

But Ichigo was long since prepared. He had already swiped his palm on his blade with his Blut Arterie active, and the enhanced blood combined with his Hollow reiryoku had lit up the blade of Zangetsu with a midnight black Cero, which was nearly as strong as his Heiliger Blitz.

"Gran Rey Cero!" said Ichigo, releasing a powerful midnight black beam from Zangetsu.

Much to everyone's surprise Ichigo's Gran Rey Cero effortlessly destroyed Grimmjow's most powerful technique, and it didn't even waver at all.

"Fuck...!" Grimmjow let out a curse before he was engulfed by the blackish Gran Rey Cero, which exploded upon contact. Violent gusts of wind stormed the whole area, causing everyone to shield themselves from the wind.

Bambietta merely held onto her cap with her hand and stood firm, while her cloak and hair fluttered wildly all over the place. Only one thought crossed her mind, though. 'I think even Candice would've been pissed at Ichigo if she was here in my place...'

Kisuke was holding onto his bucket hat the same as Bambietta, but he was staring at Ichigo... his Zanpakutō to be precise. He could tell that Ichigo's new Zanpakutō was different from his original one, but he could figure out something from the reiatsu that was leaking out of him. Ichigo's current state was vastly similar to the Visoreds when they had their mask formed on themselves, or an Arrancar in its sealed state. He could tell that this version of Zangetsu was extremely close-related to the Hollow aspect of Ichigo.

"Kurosaki, this has gone too far!" Uryū yelled, only to recoil in shock at the glare he received from Ichigo. The coldness in his eyes were so foreign and unlike Ichigo that he knew, and it chilled him to his bones.

"Is that so, Ishida?" Ichigo said with a chuckle. As much as he just wanted to finish everything and return to Silbern for some well earned rest, he owed Uryū for standing on his side until the very end back when Tsukishima and Ginjō was toying with them. Not only Uryū, but his friends deserved to know the truth. "You know, I asked His Majesty once, the reason he didn't include you in our war preparations. Do you want to know what he said?"

That caught Uryū's interest. He had hoped that Yhwach would reach out and attempt to recruit him, which could've led them to Ichigo's whereabouts. It never happened, much to his displeasure. All the others were disappointed and relieved at the same time, since they knew that it could place him in danger if it came to be. But Uryū was more than ready to take the risk. That's what friends did, and while he wouldn't admit it out loud he considered Ichigo as his friend.

"What- what did he say?"

"He said that..." Ichigo trailed off in a dramatic way, almost causing Uryū to growl in annoyance. "One less of his children partaking in the war was perfectly fine with him, since the matter of our victory was never in doubt, so he saw no reason to recruit you to fight alongside us. But he also said that you will be joining us on your own accord when the time comes."

"I have no idea where to start, but first off, I'm not one of Yhwach's children..." Uryū said with a twitch in his eyebrow, causing Ichigo to roll his eyes.

It's not that he actually thought of Yhwach as his real father or something. Kurosaki Isshin was, and always will be his father. But Ichigo also knew that Yhwach genuinely saw each and every Quincy as one of his children, and meant it when he called them his. Yhwach had earned just about enough of his own respect to say that he was no longer bothered when he called him that.

"Second, he's awfully delusional if he thinks that I'll join the person who killed my mother..." Uryū growled out, clenching his fist in anger. He then glared at Ichigo and continued. "What I don't get, is the reason you're so into this, Kurosaki. Yhwach is the one who killed your own mother! Why would you fight for him, this nonsense of his empire, against the Shinigami... your friends?!"

There was silence, before a cough interrupted their discussion. Ichigo caught the fallen form of Grimmjow in the middle of a crater out of the corner of his eyes, but turned his focus on his conversation with Uryū. He could deal with Grimmjow after this.

"You know what I find funny, Ishida?" asked Ichigo, causing Uryū to furrow his brows in confusion. "You seem to be dead set against the Wandenreich, where everyone is your fellow Quincy, but not so much against the Gotei 13... who massacred our own kind because of the fact that our existence was disrupting their supposed balance. I distinctly remember the fact that Kurotsuchi Mayuri was the one who basically killed your grandfather with his orders, for the sake of obtaining his precious experiment material. Am I wrong?"

"It was you who affected me, who made me to let go of most of my hatred towards them! What the hell is wrong with you, Kurosaki?! This is nothing like you!"

Ichigo was taken aback at first when he heard Uryū's outburst. His fellow Quincy was behaving awfully alike how he would've done in this situation, but he couldn't really blame him. It really was him, who made Uryū even consider the idea of working together as a Shinigami and Quincy. He didn't regret the act itself though, since he had grown out of his burning hatred for the Shinigami as a whole.

"Everything changed when I learned the truth, Ishida. I don't hate His Majesty, because the Auswählen wasn't the actual cause of my mom's death, and it probably would've been the same for yours. None of us truly know the cause of hers, but I can assure you that the Auswählen can't kill someone who does not have a piece of His Majesty's soul in them. But I think that's a topic for another time..."

'There is no proof that what Kurosaki's saying is the truth... but would he really lie to me about something like this?' Uryū thought as he stared at Ichigo impassively.

"Ishida, I'll tell you the actual cause of my mom's death. It was the Hollow, Grand Fisher who directly killed her, but there was someone else responsible for her death. Someone who's job was to protect human souls from the Hollows, and cleanse their existence. That someone was the person who willingly allowed my mom to die at the hands of that Hollow, and he would've allowed me to die too, if it weren't for the stirring of a certain part of my soul!" Ichigo growled, and took a few deep breaths to calm down. He then spoke in a soft voice. "It was Abarai Renji, someone I considered to be a friend, who let my mom die that day."

Uryū's face turned into the one of horror at the revelation, since he could relate with the experience. The hatred he thought that he had gotten over, the one he had buried deep within him flared back to existence. Of course, he had been blinding himself. How could he have placed even an ounce of trust on the very people who massacred their own kind?

"But that's not all. My mom wasn't even allowed piece even in the afterlife. She was such a wonderful woman, and she had to suffer even after her death, all thanks to the stupid R&D Department of these Shinigami. There were two people I swore to have vengeance after Tsukishima, and I had the pleasure of achieving my revenge on that fucking clown today. He'll never be able to harm a single soul again, and I'm glad that I killed him, Ishida."

Orihime let out a gasp of horror at the revelation of the horrible sins the Shinigami had committed to Ichigo's mother, but also of Ichigo admitting to have killed the 12th Division Captain with his own hands. Chad was uncertain of everything that was going on, but he felt his trust on the Shinigami diminishing after hearing Ichigo's entire story.

"I, I didn't know..." Uryū muttered, unsure of whether to be upset that Kurosaki was the one who killed the Captain, or to be grateful at him for succeeding in what he had failed back then when he used the Quincy: Letzt Stil.

"I would've been surprised if you did, Ishida... and I'm more surprised that you didn't, Urahara-san," said Ichigo, but Kisuke was too busy digesting all this information in his head to respond. He could finally understand why the Central 46 had banned them from restoring Ichigo's powers. "But anyways, my time here is limited, so we'll see each other another time. I'm sure I gave you a lot to think about, Ishida. Oh, and Urahara-san? I did ask Shaolin to relay my words to Yoruichi, but I suppose I should tell you in person since it came to this. Our goal is not destruction, but a replacement."

As Ichigo turned around to properly finish off the barely conscious former Sexta Espada, Kisuke's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing Ichigo's message. There was going to be a change, regardless whichever side emerged victorious. The question was, which would be for the better? 'I see that you've been very busy, Kurosaki-san. Now, what should I do...?'

"Any last words, Grimmjow?"

"Fu- fuck... off..."

"Suit yourself," Ichigo muttered, and brought up his Zanpakutō.

What Grimmjow didn't know, was that his Hollow-Zangetsu did not purify a Hollow's soul. It devoured it, even though its strength wouldn't increase since it had long since reached the rank of Vasto Lorde. His Quincy-Zangetsu on the other hand destroyed a Hollow's soul, so he was no longer capable of purifying a Hollow's soul unless his Zanpakutō was in its sealed state. Maybe that was the consequence of the choice he had made back then, to forgo his Shinigami side. Ichigo wanted Grimmjow to pay for his actions regarding Quilge, so he chose this option over the other two. Grimmjow would be freed when he himself died, which probably wouldn't be for a very long time.

"I reject!"

Everyone froze, when Orihime's Santen Kesshun formed in front of Ichigo, and stopped his Zanpakutō for a short moment before it shattered. Bambietta glared at the girl, while the others stared at her in disbelief. What stopped Ichigo from finishing Grimmjow's life with that blow wasn't the barrier, but Orihime's act itself.

"You know what? I'm not that surprised, Inoue. You were always soft... too soft for your own good. You really were supposed to enjoy your life to its fullest as a normal human, not get involved with all this mess of the afterlife. I really hope that you make the right choice after this, Inoue..." said Ichigo, as his sword reverted back to its sealed state, and then dissolved into reishi as if it were a normal reishi weapon.

Orihime thought that Ichigo chose to spare the Arrancar's life, and nearly let out a sigh of relief. The old Ichigo she had grown to love was still there, after all.

Sadly, that belief did not last long.

Orihime's eyes widened in shock when a black orb of Hollow reiryoku gathered at the tip of Ichigo's forefinger. She recognized it as the very same technique that once took Ichigo's life over the domes of Las Noches. She knew that it was meaningless for her to try to stop him again, but she couldn't help but to say the words.

"Please, don't do it Kurosaki-kun! Please! You're better than this, I know it!"

'No, I'm not, Inoue.' thought Ichigo, and uttered the words that would end the blue-haired Arrancar's existence. "Cero Oscuras."

The sound of Orihime's muffled cries weighed on his heart as the beam of black destroyed Grimmjow's body, but Ichigo couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. How much had he changed for the better, and how much for the worse? If Orihime reacted like this to him, what would be the reaction of his sisters? No, he did what was needed to be done. Even if his sisters resented him for the changes he went through, he would protect them no matter what.

"Hey Ichigo, I think our time's almost up," said Bambietta, as she placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Anything left that you need to do?"

"No, probably not," stated Ichigo, who let out a groan afterwards. "Uggh, I really want to head back and get some rest. To think that it'll be rougher than this the next time..."

"Hmm... I could use some sleep too, now that you said it. And I wouldn't mind some company either..." Bambietta whispered into his ears in a seductive voice, or what she thought to be one.

"We have to talk about us first, Bambi..."

"Fine, but all of you knew this would happen anyway..." Bambietta mumbled with a small deflated pout.

What she didn't expect was for Ichigo to wrap his arm around her waist, and pull her closer to him. She yelped in surprise at first, and blushed lightly at the intimacy between them, but soon melted into his embrace. However long the wait was, she was going to enjoy everything that awaited her.

"I don't really hold what happened back then against you guys, since I chose to join the Wandenreich because His Majesty offered his help with the situation with Tsukishima, not to mention the fact that I wanted to become a Quincy like my mom. I didn't return when I dealt with Tsukishima, because I had become a Sternritter by then," said Ichigo, his eyes not meeting with any of his friends. "I knew the moment I accepted the offer to join the Wandenreich, that things would probably never be the same again. It might hurt you guys to hear it, but I don't regret my choice. What will happen after this war, though... we'll see about that when the time comes."

No one knew how to respond to Ichigo's words, as the shadows started to stir behind the Sternritter pair. The silence didn't last long, though.

"Chad, do me a favor, will you?" Ichigo asked, receiving an affirmative grunt from the tall part-Mexican. "I want you to help protect my sisters from the Soul Society. Frankly, I don't trust them to leave them out of this war. I'm not sure if my old man alone would be enough..."

'Not that I don't have any safety measures prepared, but the more hands the better to ensure my sisters' safety.'

"I will, Ichigo," Chad answered firmly. He had made up his mind, to uphold their promise to have each other's back. If Ichigo entrusted him with his sister's safety, he would gladly accept. Now having the full story, to know that Ichigo didn't hold anything against him for the incident a year ago helped him in that regard.

"Thanks, Chad," said Ichigo along with a nod of gratitude, before he and Bambietta were engulfed by the shadows. It truly was good to know that he could still place his trust on the giant, which brought out a genuine smile on his lips.

Even as the Sternritter pair disappeared through the shadows, Kisuke and Uryū were still deep in thought about their future actions. They could sense the Wandenreich retreating from the Seireitei, successful in their mission of annihilating the Soul Society. The Wandenreich had won the first round.

---

"It saddens me to know that Sternritter J, L, O, Q, R, U, and Y have fallen in battle and no longer with us, but we shall make sure that their sacrifice won't be in vain. In five days' time we shall strike, and bring down the Soul Society to their knees for good..."

Ichigo let His Majesty's words slide as he stood alongside Jugram, thinking about how everything would fold from now on.

'Five days, huh.'

He could probably use three days for some rest and relaxation, and the last two days to prepare himself into full-condition before everything becomes much more serious. All the reiryoku he had used during his fight with Yamamoto was having its toll, not to mention his use of Vollständig which drained his stamina considerably.

His thoughts then wandered to the topic of his family. He would need to get into contact with them soon enough, and make sure that his sisters were well-protected under his old man. Bringing them to Silbern wasn't a bad choice, but he didn't want his sisters to get involved with this whole war situation. If the situation calls for it, he would bring them in for their safety, but he wanted them to enjoy their normal life for now.

Of course, he fully intended to give them the choice of learning the ways of the Quincy once the war reached its conclusion, but no earlier than that. If his old man actually placed his priorities on protecting his sisters, Ichigo knew that he could trust him. Shiba Isshin was a Captain in his own right, and that was more than enough to at least stall the time for him to intervene if two or more Captains become involved. But he highly doubted that the Gotei 13 had any Captains to spare for such a mission that involved his sisters, so all of this was just a measure of precaution.

"Ichigo."

The orange-haired Sternritter was brought out of his thoughts when Jugram called his name. He noticed that His Majesty had already left, as did some of the Sternritter. The rest of them were holding a discussion among themselves, undoubtedly sharing their experiences in the invasion.

"Yes, Jugram?"

"Were you successful in obtaining your Zanpakutō? If so, I wish to see your capabilities whilst using your Zanpakutō at your earliest convenience."

"Well, of course I was. As for our spar, I was thinking of having some rest for three days, so anytime after that works good for me."

"I see... that is reasonable," Jugram said with a small nod, and turned to take his leave. "We are glad that you chose to stand on our side, Ichigo." Jugram added before he started to walk away.

Ichigo blinked for a second, before he replied to Jugram with a faint grin. "So do I, Jugram."

---

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject!"

A smile crept onto Retsu's lips as Orihime treated the Captain Kuchiki of the 6th Division, stabilizing the rather grievous state of the man. The state of some of the Shinigami that were brought in for medical treatment was beyond her capability of healing, but this human girl's ability was a miracle in itself. She didn't hesitate for asking the girl's help as soon as she stepped into the Sōgō Kyūgo Tsumesho, not that she really need to ask. Orihime immediately jumped at the chance to heal the people that were being brought in, now that the first invasion had come to an end.

Uryū was not at all pleased with her choice, but let her do what she wanted to and left for the World of the Living alongside Chad with Kisuke's help. It wasn't to say that Orihime didn't understand where Uryū and Ichigo stood in this situation, but it was also against her nature to ignore a person who needed her help.

"If it helps you to know, Inoue-san, the number of Shinigami that were brought in for medical treatment was the highest in the 13th Division," Retsu said in her usual kind voice.

"Ehh...?" Orihime glanced at the kind healer with confusion evident in her eyes.

"It means that the death toll of the 13th Division was the lowest in the entire Gotei 13, and your friend, Kurosaki-san was the one who fought with the 13th Division..."

"Oh... That's good to hear..." Orihime said with a rather forced smile. Sure, she was glad that the Ichigo she knew must be there, somewhere deep inside him. But after her encounter with Ichigo, she was still shell-shocked at the change her crush had went through over the year he had gone missing.

The Captain smiled warmly at the kind-hearted girl, and steeled her resolve. She wasn't proud of what she was about to do, but she wasn't going to stop either.

"Inoue-san, I have a big favor to ask of you..." Retsu started off.

"Uhh, okay?" she replied with uncertainty.

"No, no, Inoue-san. This isn't something you should accept that easily..." said Retsu with a warm smile tugging on her lips. The girl truly was a kind soul, and she really felt bad for taking advantage of it. "You see, the current situation requires my presence in the front lines as a combatant, being a Captain of the Gotei 13. While I have no doubts about Isane's capability to manage our Division, she will need someone to help alongside her. Would you be willing to be that person for my Lieutenant, Inoue-san? Just to be clear, you aren't obliged to the Gotei 13, so please do not feel bad if you cannot accept my request."

"Oh... I- I..." Orihime looked down, and fidgeted with her fingers.

Orihime knew that she really shouldn't accept, knowing what the Soul Society did to Ichigo's mother. However, even if Captain Unohana said to her that she shouldn't feel bad for refusing her request, just the thought of refusing to help the people who needed her... well, it made her feel extremely guilty.

Retsu could easily see through the inner conflict Orihime was going through, so she closed her eyes and waited for the girl's response with a warm smile on her lips. Normally, she would be against this kind of blatant manipulation, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She was one of the original members of the Gotei 13 and also the last remaining member, now that Yamamoto had perished. If what she was doing now meant a better chance to win this war for the Gotei, then so be it.

Protect the Soul Society, and destroy any enemies she would come across. That was all she cared, even if she lost her life while doing so.

"I... I'll do it," Orihime blurted out, a newfound resolve visible in her brown eyes. "I mean, I want to help you, Unohana-san."

"...You have my gratitude, Inoue-san. I know that it must've been a hard choice on your part and for that, I am truly grateful. While I cannot promise it, I'll try to spare Kurosaki-san's life should the time comes. None of us truly wants to see Kurosaki-san dead, despite his actions today," said Retsu, being only half-truthful. She couldn't say that she would have to kill Ichigo in front of the girl who chose to help them in her right conscious. But the part about none of them wanting to see Ichigo dead was indeed the truth, since the ones in the wrong were in truth the Gotei 13, so they really couldn't hold his actions against him.

"Oh, thank you...! That's really a relief."

Retsu turned around to hide her bitter smile, not at all proud of what she had done. She undid her braids, and made her hair flow down her back instead of her front, exposing the scar from the wound she received nearly a thousand years ago. Her fingers trailed down her scar as she thought of the one man who had ever brought her the pleasure of battle, one that she could never hope to find again. 'How selfish of me...'

"Inoue-san, pardon me, but I must get ready to leave. The Royal Guards will be arriving soon... If you have anything to ask, Isane will be more than happy to provide help."

"Okay..." Orihime said, before letting out a gasp when she saw the scar. "Do- do you want me to try to heal that scar, Unohana-san...? I think I can heal it if I try..."

"While I am grateful for the gesture... please, do save your strength for the more urgent patients, Inoue-san," replied Retsu.

'Even if I could heal the scar, how could I get rid of the only reminder I have that's left of him...'

---

"Ohhhhh~ Yeah! We're here, we're here, we're finally here! The Zero Division is officially in the house! Boy, it sure has been a long time! How you hanging you lil'... Hmm? Wait a sec. Why's there only one, two, three, four... six of you guys?" questioned Kirinji Tenjirō in confusion.

The fanfare that was being played in the background abruptly came to a stop, as the black haired beauty that stood behind Tenjirō caught on the rather heavy atmosphere around the Captains.

There were only six Captains present to greet the Zero Division. Captain Shihōin Yoruichi of the 2nd Division, Captain Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō of the 3rd Division, Captain Unohana Retsu of the 4th Division, Captain Hirako Shinji of the 5th Division, Captain Komamura Sajin of the 7th Division, and Captain Ukitake Jūshirō of the 13th Division.

"Three dead, and the rest... are still struggling with their injuries, Kirinji-san."

"Huh, and what have you been doing, Unohana?! Have you been even putting some use into those healing techniques I taught..." Tenjirō stopped mid sentence and blinked, as he noticed the 4th Division Captain's hairdo along with the rather familiar gleam in her eyes. A sudden realization struck Tenjirō at that moment. He did not want to piss off 'The Kenpachi'. "You know what? Never mind..."

"That's good to hear, Kirinji-san. As much as I'd like to exchange some pleasantries, the Gotei is not in a good state as we speak. No leader to take control of the situation, massive casualties in nearly every Division excluding the 4th and the 13th, not to mention the shortage of Captain-level combatants as well as the complete loss of an entire Division. If it were not for the Quincies retreating for obvious reasons, the Gotei 13 would've ceased to exist this day," Retsu explained their current situation in a somber tone, not at all proud of their state.

Sure, the Head-Captain's last order for the 4th Division was to stay in the 4th Division buildings no matter what, so she cannot be held responsible for anything. She wasn't even ready to wield her blade at that time, so it was truly meaningless to hold regrets over their past decisions. But that did not mean she wasn't ashamed of her inaction, despite being more than capable as a combatant... which was putting it quite mildly. At this point, she was the strongest Captain left in the Gotei 13 without a doubt.

"Ah, yes... I had expected this to be a joyful reunion, but it seems that the situation we are facing is much more complicated than I predicted it to be. First of all, the numbers of the available Captains are way lower than my expectations. Secondly, you lot have already been defeated by Yhwach, not in the literal sense but your spirits. Only two of you still have that fire in your eyes, to fight till the end for the sake of protecting the Seireitei. Of course, one of you is too ill at the moment, which I suppose cannot be held against you," said a bald monk, the leader of the Zero Division Ichibē Hyōsube.

"As much as I'd like to agree with that sentiment, Hyōsube-sama... I'm t-" Jūshirō started off, only to be stopped mid-sentence due to his illness induced coughing.

"Now, now, take it easy, young one. I of all people know of your illness better than anyone, do I not?" said the monk with a wide smile.

"I suppose so..." Jūshirō nodded with a faint smile, despite the pain he was suffering constantly.

"Good, good! Now, as you all probably know, or expected, we have come to offer our help in rebuilding the Gotei 13. Well, if everything went as my expectations, that would've been enough... but sadly, it is not. So in the short time we have before Yhwach strikes once more, Tenjirō-kun here will help rejuvenate your injured."

Tenjirō inclined his head while chewing a small wooden stick, causing everyone's eyes to focus on his outrageously large regent style hair. "Come to mama, kiddos."

"Ōetsu here, will be helping all of you with your Zanjutsu. Well, except for you, Yachiru my dear. You are the only one who can rival him in Zanjutsu, after all!"

"Please, Hyōsube-san. Do call me Retsu, as I have been going by that name for a long time..." Retsu said with her usual warm, but scary smile... not that Ichibē was affected in any way by it. "And I'm flattered to hear that."

Meanwhile, Ōetsu lifted his gold-framed sunglasses, and flashed a comically large grin that showed off all of his teeth. "Yo, I'm da' number one Zanpakutō cre-ay-tor, not ten, or nine, or eight, or seven, or six, or five... Not even SANMAI! The name's NIMAYIA OH-ETSU, and it's your pleasure to meet me~~~!"

"...Is that guy serious?" Shinji asked to Rose, who merely shook his head in response.

"Senjumaru-kun will be weaving you some new clothes that'll be more suitable for battle!"

The beautiful woman who had golden skeletal arms attached to her back gracefully bowed, and introduced herself. "Ōorigami Shutara Senjumaru, at your service."

"Now, last but definitely not the least, Kirio-kun will be fixing up some food for you lot. Trust me, you'll love it!"

The rather plump purple-haired woman waved her hand. "Hello~ Nice to meet you all... but then again, most of you already know me. Oh, and how good to see you again, Shinji! Is Hiyori-chan not with you today?"

"Hah?! Wait a minute, you're telling me... that you're the Kirio-san I remember...?! You've certainly... eh, changed... but that ain't the half of it! Are you even the same person?" Shinji asked in disbelief. Rose nodded alongside him in agreement, while Yoruichi and Jūshirō seemed to be in shock as well. Retsu just kept on smiling warmly, which was more like a habit at this point of her life.

"Now, now, Shinji! Don't be silly, dear! I'm just the same as I always was. Oh dear, I'm famished!"

"What about you, Hyōsube-sama?" Jūshirō asked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to head back to the Soul King Palace soon, young Jūshirō. While the other members of the Zero Division will be providing their help directly in protecting the Seireitei, one of us must be defend the Soul King, as I know that Yhwach will be aiming to end his life without a doubt," said Ichibē, which brought out a nod of understanding from Jūshirō.

Despite all the chaos ensuing around him, Komamura Sajin was unfazed with the whole situation, standing still with his eyes closed. His thoughts kept on drifting towards his fight with the young Quincy girl, who proved to be much more stronger than he expected. He barely stood any chance against the girl with his Bankai stolen from him, which prompted him to leave the battle when Genryūsai-dono had fallen. He would have to rectify his cowardice, and he knew the way. But was he willing to place his life for the sake of the Seireitei?

'Without a doubt.'

Shinji, Rose, and Yoruichi also had a lot of thoughts on their plate, which wasn't really in favor of the Gotei 13 unlike Sajin's. What the Zero Division was providing could tip the war into the Gotei 13's favor, but their heart was no longer into it. They wouldn't actually fight against the Gotei 13 on the side of Yhwach, no, that was truly a despicable act. But they were no longer considering to fight for the Gotei 13 either.

'What will be your choice, Kisuke?' thought Yoruichi.

---

"Tier."

The olive skinned beauty raised her head when she heard the familiar voice, the only person who actually bothered to keep her company during her time being a captive of the Wandenreich.

"Ichigo. What brings you here today?"

"Hmm, that depends. I could be here to tell you that the Arrancar Vanguard was officially disbanded, or I could be here to take advantage of your defenseless state," joked Ichigo.

"You've grown so much bolder than when we first met, Ichigo... If you're truly certain that you can handle myself along with your little harem, then you're more than welcome to do so," retorted Tier, causing Ichigo to blush in embarrassment.

"Oh, gods, no. My hands are already full as it is."

"A pity. You're the only man I'd ever consider of taking as a mate," joked Tier, not that her impassive expression showed any signs of her doing just that. Still, Ichigo was rather good at reading people with stoic expressions due to Jugram and Cang, so he did catch the joke.

"I'm flattered and all, but let's get down to business. I want you to return to Hueco Mundo, and take your place as the Queen of Hueco Mundo again," said Ichigo in a serious tone.

Tier couldn't move her body with still being bound in chains and all, so she settled for staring up at Ichigo in confusion. "And what's the catch?"

"After this war between us Quincy and the Shinigami is over, you sign a piece treaty with us. We can negotiate the terms later on, but I promise that it will be fair to both sides."

"Hmm..." Tier pondered her options, on whether she would place her trust on the orange-haired Quincy in front of him. She didn't doubt his sway in the Wandenreich, being the successor to the throne and all. She trusted his character, too. "I accept."

Her answer brought out a satisfied smirk on Ichigo's part, and he quickly released the former Espada from her shackles. Tier nearly collapsed as she was finally able to stand properly on her feet for the first time in a few months, but it didn't take long for her to get used to her restored freedom. Her eyebrows rose when she heard the opening of a Garganta, and sent a questioning gaze at Ichigo.

"Yes, I can open a Garganta, if you're asking about that. I'll seek you out when the war's over. Oh, and for all it's worth, I'm sorry that you had to go through all this."

What Ichigo didn't expect was for Tier to chuckle in response.

"You truly are an admirable man, Ichigo... I do not need your apology, for the things you did for me while I was a lowly captive here is more than enough. Actions speak louder than words, after all..." Tier said, and she gently grabbed Ichigo's face, before planting a firm chaste kiss on his lips. "If you change your mind, all you need to do is ask. Good bye, Ichigo. I hope to see you again soon."

Even after Tier left through the Garganta, Ichigo couldn't help but to wonder what in the hell had just happened. Tier wasn't joking when she admitted him to be the only man she'd consider as a potential mate? Still, four was more than enough trouble in his hands...

---

Official Message

Unohana Kenpachi Yachiru

The above individual is hereby appointed to the positions of Head-Captain of the Gotei 13 and Captain of the 1st Division.

'I had expected them to leave the seat in absence, rather than to name a person such as myself as the Head-Captain...'

"Captain? Is something wrong?" Isane asked, worried for her Captain.

"Something has come up, Isane..." said Unohana Retsu, no, Yachiru. She passed on the letter to Isane, and brushed the handle of her Zanpakutō.

"Is- is this for real, Captain...?" Isane said after letting out a gasp while reading the letter, and looked down when she saw her Captain nodding in confirmation. "Oh... I see..."

"Isane, we all have a time when we must say our goodbyes. When you're given that chance, we must take it as a blessing. Now, promise me that you'll take good care of my Division even in my absence," Yachiru said softly.

"I- I will, Captain. I won't disappoint!"

Yachiru raised her hand and wiped a few tear drops that had started to trail down Isane's cheeks. She knew that she'd be expected to fight once more with their current situation, and she was more than ready, no, eager to comply. But even she did not foresee this happening.

'Head-Captain Unohana Kenpachi Yachiru... I'll probably be remembered as either the person who served the shortest period as the Head-Captain, or the last Head-Captain of the Gotei 13...'

---

A red-haired Shinigami woke up, only to find himself in a freezing cold cell, which oddly looked like a torture chamber. He could see the blood stains, indicating that it hadn't been that long since this place was last used.

"Where the hell am I...? Oh, shit..." Renji muttered as his memories before he lost his consciousness came back to him.

"Shit indeed for you, Abarai Renji," drawled a cold voice, causing Renji's head to snap towards him.

"Ichigo..."

"It's not so good to see you, Abarai. I really had so many things planned for you, to make you feel the exact same feelings I had to experience when I learned everything my mom went through. But now that I have you in front of me... I can barely remember any of those, and I just want to kill you so badly."

"...As much as I'd like to say otherwise, I would do the exact same thing I did that day. I'm sorry for what I did to you, Ichigo, but I won't say that I'm sorry for letting a Quincy die to a Hollow," Renji admitted truthfully, knowing that he was dead the moment he was captured by the enemy.

"That's good to know, Abarai. At least I won't feel guilty for doing the things I had planned to do to you."

When Ichigo had his revenge on Tsukishima, it was so sweet, almost to the point of being intoxicating. This time... it was oddly bittersweet.

---

The first invasion arc is officially over! I did say that I hope to upload this Chapter before the 10th, and I did manage to finish it, but I took some time on smoothing it out.

The 20th anniversary special piece gave a hell lot of ideas to me, but sadly I won't be working on that with this fic. I nearly cried when I saw Sōgyo no Kotowari coming out of the gate of hell, and I'm serious. I really hope to see Jūshirō's Bankai, since I have absolutely no idea on how I should work with his Bankai in this story.

Bambietta finally blew up her patience and acted with a small catalyst as the cause of it, mainly jealousy! My original intention was to get her and Ichigo together after her defeat from Komamura in the second invasion, but I reconsidered it. That's just too cruel for Bambi.

Clearing a few things up in this Chapter.

1.

I gave Ichigo an Asauchi, cuz I had it planned before I even started to work on the first invasion. Ichigo's Hollow-Zangetsu is his original true Zanpakutō in this story, and Quincy-Zangetsu is the one he accepted as a part of his Zanpakutō. Hollow-Zangetsu basically enhances everything involved with Ichigo's Hollow side. Think of the Shikai as an all time Hollowfication for Ichigo, the reason I mentioned the mask in his release scene.

The darkness part was inspired from his Mugetsu form, and the title of this story which comes from Yhwach's 'my son born to darkness'. I came up with Eclipse as his release phrase for Hollow-Zangetsu, since Zangetsu(Slaying Moon), Getsuga Tenshō(Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer), Mugetsu(Moonless) are all involved with the moon, and with all the words I came up with, Eclipse had the best ring to it.

2.

Grimmjow was never meant to be a challenge to Ichigo. Think of it like this. Zaraki beat Nnoitra in the Arrancar arc, and he had gotten only stronger since then, with the events of the novel Spirits Are Forever With You included. Unohana literally killed him and patched him up repeatedly after the first invasion of the Wandenreich, and this Ichigo can match that Unohana without his Vollständig. That's Ichigo's current power level, and at least an opponent on Segunda Ulquiorra's level is required for Ichigo to actually need his Shikai in order to win.

3.

Orihime isn't going against Ichigo, but more like she can't ignore the people in need of their help. Unohana manipulating her into accepting her request was maybe a bit OOC for Unohana, but she's been a Captain for a millennium. I think that much is allowed...

4.

No, Harribel is not an official member of Ichigo's harem. She's not opposed at the idea, though.

Now that's done, did anyone see Unohana being named as the Head-Captain? Because I've been intending to do this, and I implied it with the worsening of Jūshirō's illness and Shunsui's defeat being a lot more serious than canon. With those two not at their full-health, Unohana is the only person who fits for the position with her seniority and strength, despite her past.

Oh, and I tried my best with the Zero Division scene, but I'm not sure how that went.

The reason for Renji's part being extremely short, is that I really don't like bashing characters. I don't hate Renji as I have mentioned before, unlike Tsukishima whom I actually hate. So I'm sorry if that some of you were expecting that part to be a bit more graphic.

Chapter 12 will be most likely a filler Chapter for the purpose of recharging myself, so don't get your hopes up on the second invasion part just yet. And I might choose to have a break in writing that part for some time, and work on some other fics I've been developed my interest in writing recently.

Thank you all for reading this, and all reviews are appreciated!