Part 6 – The Living World
Author's Notes: I had to add an extra chapter in to tell a recount of what happened in the living world before the Soul Society herd comes hence it's a bit off the HitsuHina track (they are still in it though, towards the end.) This chapter therefore comes before the chapter that was supposed to be part 6 (reunion). I hope you readers don't mind Warning: I'm absolutely terrible at writing stories set in the modern world. :( Oh, also, this intermixes with my other story, "The Other Side".
SPOILERS up to manga chapter 188
Hou Gyoku – Mechanism that could instantly transform a hollow into a shinigami and vv.
Arankaru – fractured mask (in Bleach, a type of Hollow)
Vaizards – masked army
/ … / signifies a recount in between
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Bleach.
PART SIX
There has never been as many people in the Kurosaki living room as there was now.
Sitting on the couch was Inoue, Chad and Tatsuki. The very latter had discovered her ability to see spirits during one of Ichigo's 'bathroom' sprints where she inadvertently saw him as a death god when she looked out the window.
Sitting in the loveseat adjacent to them was Urahara Kisuke and Isshin Kurosaki. Just a day prior to this odd meeting, the entire Kurosaki children discovered that their father was a shinigami of captain level. Though the entire family was shocked at this revelation, it was safe to say that Ichigo was by far the most flabbergasted out of the lot. The reason for this? While the other Kurosaki children found out through words, Ichigo had found out through sight.
/ Ichigo stood there in shock, a hollow bigger then the Menos Grande stood there. It was apparently facing someone but Ichigo couldn't see who, he could only make out that he was a shinigami. Is it the replacement shinigami? Zennosuke? He thought, Can't be, the build is completely different.
"NOOB!" he heard the shinigami yell out. There was silence after that. Then in a flash the enormous hollow split in half and dissipated. What the! This guy just eradicated a menos grande-like hollow with a single slash! Ichigo froze even further when he saw who the shinigami was.
"Otou…Otousan!" He cried in disbelief.
"Yo! I-chi-go." Greeted Isshin Kurosaki casually. He knew it would come to this eventually but he didn't think it would be this soon. Isshin was greeted by the infamous Kurosaki jump kick delivered by his extremely pissed off son.
"What dya mean, "yo?" Ichigo stared intensely at his father's fallen form.
"Whaa, delivered just like a true Kurosaki. I have now taught you everything…"
"Apparently not." Ichigo retorted, eyes twitching uncontrollably. Isshin sat up and sighed. This is going to be a long day he thought, bringing his hands up to rub the back of his head. /
Isshin was back in his normal clothes, his shinigami other reverted for now. Ichigo, who was sitting on the couch facing him, was glaring at him non-stop. He had been so far unsuccessful in getting his father to explain why he was a shinigami. Whenever he had asked, Isshin had just grinned his goofy smile and said "that is a story for another time." He had scowled in response. However, Ichigo had secretly suspected that his father turning from a shinigami to human had something to do with Urahara Kisuke. Everything that goes horribly wrong always happens to be connected to that guy. Thought Ichigo, continuing to stare at his shinigami father though sparing some glances to the others around him now and then.
Standing behind him was Ishida and his father, Ryuuken. Although they had seem to meet at an accepted agreement, the air surrounding them when they were together was still dark and oppressive.
/ "What did you say? You can…" Ishida Quincy counter asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He was walking home from Ichigo's after repairing the plush toy for the nth time when an enormous hollow entered through the sky, much like the menos grandes did. It had pursued him and, being powerless and low from spiritual energy, he had ran from it. He was desperate, at lost for an idea or an escape when all of a sudden a blue flash slashed the hollow, dismembering it into pieces before disintegrating. Ishida looked towards the direction where the flash originated from and saw, to his disbelief, his father, Ryuuken.
"There is one more ability in which you have not learnt. As the last Quincy, you have the right to learn it." Ryuuken took out an object which Ishida recognised as the Cross of the Quincy.
"With this, I can restore the power you have lost and subsequently further empower you. However there is one condition."
"What condition?"
"You must forsake all ties with the shinigami." Ryuuken commanded impassively.
Ishida's mind was in turmoil. Forsake all ties with Ichigo? A few weeks ago it would have meant nothing to him. He hated all shinigami after all. But now…
"What is your answer?" Ishida looked up at his father, determination on his face.
"No." He replied firmly.
"No, that is your decision then?" When Ishida remained silent, Ryuuken continued.
"So be it then. You are a disgrace to the Quincy, you do not deserve the name as The Last. If you can not accept my condition, then I shall not teach you the last technique." He looked at Ishida once more, then seeing as there was no reaction, turned to leave.
"Wait, chichiue." Ryuuken turned back to face his son.
"You changed your mind?" he asked, emotionally.
"No."
"Then I shall have nothing to say to you." He turned to leave again when he was interrupted once more.
"You will teach me the last technique."
"Oh? Enlighten me."
"Right now, the shinigami and I share a common purpose. That is to protect others from hollows." Ryuuken looked unmoved. Ishida let out an exasperated sigh.
"Didn't you see the hollows? Can't you see that the ones coming now are bigger and stronger? You need to teach me so I can defend others from the hollows! With all these hollows, there's something really wrong. Don't let your pride be in the way of saving others, it is not the way of the Quincy."
At that moment, about a dozen hollows appeared. Ryuuken seemed unmoved, as though he had sensed them long before they arrived. Ishida, on the other hand, was looking around bewilded. I can't believe my spiritual abilities had been lowered to the state where I cannot even sense so many hollows!
The hollows surrounded them. In one flash, Ryuuken had eliminated all six on his side. He turned back to watch his son fight the other six.
Ishida was desperate. He had no weapon to fight them with and he could not run. He would not run, not in front of his father. Three of the hollows ran and leapt into the air, Ishida managed to dodge, but he was not quick enough. The claws of one of the hollows had successfully slashed all along his left arm. Great, now I can only use my right arm to defend myself. He looked up just in time to see the same three hollows leap up into the air. They seemed to form a triangle around him, there was no where to escape. He closed his eyes and anticipated his death. It never came.
The next time he opened his eyes, all remaining hollows were gone. Eradicated, no doubt, by his father. He slumped onto the ground and looked up at his father who was now standing in front of him.
"So be it. I shall teach you the last technique. If you are going to defend someone, let it be yourself." /
Ishida had not yet mastered the last technique. He was in the middle of training when a note about an emergency meeting at Ichigo's house had come to him from Inoue. It had took a lot of arguing and persuading to get Ryuuken to come. Ishida gave his father a sidelong glance then returned his glaze to Karin and Jinta, who were currently busy beating each other up.
Another person who was watching the two fireballs with an amused expression was Hirako, a 'new student' of Karakura High who is actually from the masked army, vaizard. The Vaizards had detected something wrong and so have sent Hirako as a representative of their kind. His glaze was temporarily diverted when a certain yellow teddy bear ran across, arms up and screaming for his life. He was being chased by two girls.
What have I done to ever deserve this mistreatment? Am I not cute? Cried Kon inwardly as he ran as fast as he could from Yuzu and Ururu.
"Matte! Kon!" cried Yuzu as she continued to chase him, a dress in one hand, and some pink and red ribbons in the other. Yoruichi watched them warily, a sweat drop slid down the side of her face.
"Everybody, if I could have your attention please" said Urahara. He repeated a few times to no avail until finally Ichigo got fed up.
"EVERYBODY BE QUIET AND LISTEN!" Yelled Ichigo, the noise and all the movement was making him nauseous. At once everyone stopped and looked at Ichigo, who gestured over to Urahara before taking a seat again.
"Umm, thank you Ichigo. I have called this meeting today to call attention to some important points. As you have realised, there has been a greater number of hollows these few days. Recently Isshin face an Arankaru."
"An Arankaru? What exactly is that?" asked Inoue.
"It's a type of fractured-mask hollow. This particular hollow Isshin fought with was altered. We were thinking that Aizen somehow created a normal hollow into the Arankaru using the Hyougoku and sent him down as an experiment."
"Aizen...the captain who betrayed the Gotei-13? What is the meaning of sending down an Arankaru?"
"Think, if he turns a hollow into an Arankaru by using Hyougoku's full power, then what would be the product? The Hyougoku is extremely powerful, it will create an extremely powerful – near unbeatable as a matter of fact, Arankaru. We are guessing that he is planning to unleash his final creation into the world along with an army of Meno Grandes. It would be the end of the world." Gasps and murmurs broke out throughout the room.
"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Ichigo, they were already fighting as much as they can.
"I don't know." Urahara answered, bring his fan up to cover his mouth. Everyone looked at him dubiously. Isshin moved to speak.
"But in the meantime we have to train, that we have made plans for."
"Yes, yes." Backed Kisuke, moving the fan from his face. "Yuzu, Karin, Jinta and Ururu."
The four stood up and looked at Urahara. "Hai?"
"You will undergo an extensive training program lead by Isshin."
"Right, right, daddy's going to be teaching you two." He said idiotically, smacking his lips together while leaning down to speak to them. "Don't worry, now I can…" SMACK!
"Urusai" replied Karin, crossing her arms and turning away from him. Tears were streaming comically down Isshin's foot marked face. "This is what I get from being such a good father…"
"Father and I will continue to train." Said Ishida quickly, glancing at his father nervously. Hell would have broken out if Urahara, a shinigami, former or not, had given Ishida Ryuuken of the Quincy an order.
"Good, good."
"Ichigo, you will continue fighting me. I will teach you more techniques as well as well as help you perfect your bankai." Ichigo nodded.
"What should Chad and I do?" asked Inoue.
"You will be with me." Said Yoruichi, "I want to see if there are other levels of your powers."
So we have told the children, Ichigo and his friends what to do. Ishida has informed us of their plans. That leaves…Urahara turned to face Hirako, the vaizard. Hirako straightened up in his seat when he saw Urahara approaching him. His presence loomed over him. He prepared himself for his mission.
"You, Hirako-san, will do…" said Urahara
"Yes, sir?" Urahara smiled at the seriousness in his voice.
"…whatever you Vaizards do." Hirako promptly fell of his chair.
"Hai." He answered as he got back on.
With that, Urahara walked into the centre of the room again.
"So, everyone has something to do. We will begin this training tomorrow. There is no time to waste."
The night fell as the full moon rose, throwing everything it touched into a bluish hue.
In the darkness, six figures appeared on the rooftop opposite the Kurosaki clinic.
"You know your positions?" It was more of a statement then a question asked by the leader, a short figure with unique hair. The moon seemed just behind him.
"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya." Four replied.
"Then go." He commanded. They left at once, leaving the captain and a vice-captain behind. They jumped and landed beneath a streetlight.
Hinamori sighed. "Why are we going to see the ryokas again? That's Renji's job."
"Because you're not well. You haven't fully recovered from the injuries…" he was cut off.
"Yes I am!" said Hinamori indignantly.
"No you're not, I heard you cough this morning."
"I choked on tea!"
"See." Hinamori let out an exasperated sigh. No, she could not 'see' his point but she gave up trying to argue with him anyway.
"You need a place to rest occasionally, and this seems the safest place to do so. Let's go."
"Wait, it's really cold." Hinamori said as she took out a woollen scarf. It was baby blue which faded to white towards the ends.
"You already have a scarf on. Do you really need two?" He said, looking at the scarf that she was wearing. It looked identical to the one she was wearing, except hers was baby pink. It had her name (mostly in Kanji) embroidered on one of the ends in the opposite gradient.
"It's not for me, silly." She said adoringly as she wrapped the scarf around his neck, indeed, the scarf had his name embroidered on it too. Nonetheless, Hitsugaya resisted.
"I can handle the cold." He said as he tried to take it off.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro", she said sternly. He looked at her, and then took his hands off the scarf.
"…H…Hai" He replied. Judging from the tone of her voice and the facial expression she just gave him, he had decided that it might not be a good idea to disobey. Instead, he waited for her to readjust his scarf before he asked his next question.
"Where did you get a scarf with my name on?"
"I made it. Do you like it?" She asked, staring at him for an answer.
He was touched, and he absolutely loved it. He would love anything that came from her, though he would rarely admit it.
"Yeah. It's nice." He said looking to one side, trying to sound indifferent. She smiled and clung onto his arm.
He let out a sigh of relief. Hitsugaya Toshiro, he said to himself, you just learnt an important lesson today: Accept everything and anything your girlfriend shoves at you and don't utter a single complaint. Just accept it gracefully and express your never ending gratitude. Or else…
I'm so exhausted! Thought Ichigo as he landed on his bed. Kon had followed him in and was still rambling incessantly about how he was mistreated. Ichigo spared him a glance and felt one eye twitch. Kon was dressed in a pink tutu, complete with a pink ribbon and dancing shoes. Ballerina Kon. He looked incredibly horrible but somewhat not completely out of place…
After letting out a bout of laughter, Ichigo got up to close the door behind Kon when suddenly a hand reached out to stop him. Ichigo stared at the intruder, his eyes widened.
"Yo, Ichigo." Said Renji, sounding as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be barging into Ichigo's room.
"And after that…hic…Rukia-san…hic…beat him up for criticising her…hic…artwork." Said Urahara, taking in another shot of sake.
HAHAHAHA
"So what…hic…happened…hic…after that?" asked Shunsui, holding his cup out for another refill.
"That sounds like…hic…my Rukia-chan…hic." Commented Ukitake proudly, finishing his remainding sake.
HAHAHAHA…haa…ha
zzZZZZ
End of Part Six
Note: I am not planning to write on how Ichigo and the others get stronger through training as that is too off HitsuHina (sort of like this chapter), however, you will know what they learnt in the final showdown.
The next chapter will have more HitsuHina in it.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Please read and review. Thanks for those who reviewed again. :)
