Chapter 40:

Ichigo and Byakuya grappled in the air, spiraling towards an unknown location as they focused on each other. Ichigo sunk his teeth into Byakuya who bit him back. The two sprang apart and landed on different rooftops to stare each other down.

They were both very territorial. This had little to do about revenge or correcting a mistake. This was about pride and territory. They didn't want other vampires to challenge them for food and anything else. They didn't want to run into each other or deal with the results of the other's actions. There was only one way to remedy this.

"I've been a vampire longer than you have and a Soul Reaper," Byakuya told Ichigo. "You're a fledgling. And a human, to boot. I am the superior vampire by rights and however else you choose to look at it. There's no challenge or debate. I've already won."

"Don't get all high and mighty on me, Byakuya. I kicked your ass in the past and I can do it again."

"And how many times before you succeeded?" Byakuya asked, cocking his head smugly.

"Heh. That was when I was still new to the whole Soul Reaper thing. I can kick your ass anytime I want."

"You're new to the vampire thing, as you would say. You won't be able to defeat me, but it'd be fun to see you try. Amuse me, Ichigo. I'm looking to have some fun."

"I'm almost going to miss that irritating voice of yours." Ichigo got ready to spring but Byakuya didn't wait for Ichigo to be ready. He came at him swinging and clawed Ichigo across the chest, drawing blood. Ichigo clenched his teeth and delivered an uppercut to Byakuya's jaw. From there he punched Byakuya so hard in the gut, the Captain spat blood, drawing a smirk from the younger vampire.

Shinji backed away from Kensei cracking his knuckles. "Kensei, I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad," he said, advancing.

"Is there even a point in me trying to reason with you?" Shinji asked sounding bored. "Bringing up good times and all we've been through together? How many decades?"

"You're wasting your time," said Kensei. "I remember everything and simply don't care. I have new purpose; new meaning and it doesn't involve you. You'd be wasting your breath."

"I'm sure I would," said Shinji. "You belong to Byakuya now. Nothing I say matters, no matter how heartfelt my speech."

Nothing he said or did would reach Kensei. His friend could kill him and not feel a thing. Such as it was for a vampire servant. They existed to serve and protect their master and everything they did was driven by that objective.

"You're just a robot without feelings for anyone other than your master." Shinji sighed and shook his head. "Well, if you're not going to feel bad about it, I guess I won't either."

Kensei threw a punch at Shinji who ducked at the last second so Kensei's fist ended up embedded in the wall behind him. Kensei pulled it free and came after him again. Shinji evaded every attack, but as he did, more and more of his wolf side began to show itself. Finally, Shinji ducked down and began to gallop away from Kensei on all fours, gradually turning into a wolf. Once fully transformed, he circled back and kicked Kensei in the chest with his paws.

"Sorry, Kensei," he said insincerely.

Kensei got up fighting and the same routine ensued. Shinji's swift movements were too much for Kensei's large body to keep up with. He kicked Shinji to change things up then grabbed him by the tail and threw him across the yard.

Hisagi jumped between Renji and Ikkaku, hoping they'd end up hitting each other with the attacks meant for him. They didn't and he had no choice but the run again. "How are you holding out, Shinji?"

"Doing good," said Shinji after being thrown for a second time. "You?"

"You sure we can't bite them? It'd be a lot easier to fight."

"You heard what the boss said."

Hisagi went for Ikkaku's weapon, hoping to pull it out of his grasp with his teeth. Ikkaku ended up throwing Hisagi with it instead. Renji had his weapon released and launched an attack at Hisagi after he landed hard further away. Hisagi took a direct hit from Renji's Zanpakuto and Renji ended up taking a direct hit from Shinji. He snarled at Renji and tried to wrestle the weapon from his hand but Renji's grip was too strong.

"Get up, Hisagi. We got to handle this."

Hisagi staggered up whining. He shook himself and came to Shinji's side just as the trio launched a combined attack on the wolves. They managed to escape in time but ended up running into another attack. Byakuya's minions were more organized than they thought. It seemed that as long as they were fighting to protect Byakuya, they wouldn't fight for their master's attention.

Shinji was sure he couldn't play mind games with them, knowing this. They wouldn't fall for it.

Renji used his weapon to wrap around Shinji and held him there while Ikkaku moved in for the kill. Hisagi tried to reach him but had to contend with Kensei who wasn't letting up for a second. Shinji was on his own.

Ikkaku raised his weapon which was promptly snatched from his grasp and thrown over a wall. Ikkaku spun to see what had happened and as he did, Renji was kicked from behind, allowing his Zanpakuto to fall and Shinji to escape.

In the air, Yumichika circled before landing in the courtyard with his wings fully exposed as well as his taloned feet.

He looked in Ikkaku's direction, disappointed. "Come, Ikkaku. This isn't like you. You're more boorish than usual and I don't care for it."

Ikkaku seethed with rage and took a step towards Yumichika. "You're here to lecture me? I should be pulling your feathers out for what you did to Byakuya's office."

"You mean after he tried to eat me?"

Shinji stood by Yumichika's legs as he spoke in his wolf form, knowing Yumichika could understand him. "What brings you here? Not that I'm not grateful."

"The noise is disrupting my beauty sleep and I couldn't stand this for one second more. Besides…" Yumichika glared at Ikkaku. "I don't care for what Byakuya's been doing. To you or in general."

"What do you mean what he's done to me?"

"I never see you anymore, Ikkaku. Who do I have to talk to these days or show off my beauty to? And I'm getting tired of being saddled with the work you've been neglecting."

"You tear yourself away from the mirror long enough to do them?"

"No, but I'm tired of hearing about it." Yumichika folded his feathered arms in front of his chest and gave Ikkaku a stern look. "Ikkaku, is what Byakuya's done to you really that good when it makes friends fight friends and ignore their jobs? It may give you a sense of fulfillment but is it making you a better person? A better fighter? Don't give up your dreams for him. He's not worth it. You're not Ikkaku anymore."

"So what if I'm not? As my friend you'd want me to be happy."

"I'm friends with Ikkaku. Not whatever this is. You haven't trained or even been to the dojo in weeks. Have you? No, really, have you, because I lose track of time staring at myself."

Shinji's eyes wavered to look at Akon who had changed positions. It seemed he was able to move after all. "Keep talking," Shinji told Yumichika, knowing Ikkaku couldn't understand him.

"Ichigo's a vampire now, too. Byakuya created him, so shouldn't you be protecting him instead of doing whatever this is?" Yumichika asked, doing as Shinji said.

"That was before. Now we have new orders. He also attacked Byakuya. We can't allow that."

"First and foremost, is it?"

Akon was aiming something at Ikkaku's back, but he never got the chance to use it. Renji had spotted it first and forced Akon's hand to the ground with his foot.

"Ikkaku, it's a distraction," he yelled. "Take them down!"

Ikkaku threw a punch at Yumichika who sprang into the air. He flapped his wings, flying. "You're just proving my point, Ikkaku." He flew to one side as Renji used his Zanpakuto to attack. Renji's attacks were coming from all sides, leaving him to dart and twist in the air.

As long as Renji's attention was pointed upward, Shinji had an idea.

"Yumichika, keep your distance and his eyes on you! Hisagi, lure Kensei this way!"

Kensei followed Hisagi around the yard, stepping on Akon at one point as he passed. He kicked him out of the way after the second time and continued after Hisagi.

"What's the plan?" he hollered at Shinji. "He's getting closer."

"Remember when we were hunting in the forest and Hitsugaya taught us that one trick? Cornered animal and two coming from both sides at it. How do we keep from running into each other?"

"Oh!" Hisagi said with recognition. "I get it!"

He picked up speed, moving as close to the ground as he could as he turned sharply.

Shinji acted like he was going for Renji and Ikkaku went to cut him off.

Hisagi ran towards Shinji, picking up speed. As Kensei was closing in, Hisagi jumped as high as he could. Kensei looked up, still chasing him and didn't see Shinji underfoot. Shinji braced himself and threw himself into Kensei's shins. Kensei was knocked off his feet and slammed into Ikkaku and the two went flying.

Hisagi landed on the wall and scrambled over it to go find Hitsugaya and the vampires, thinking they needed help.

Ikkaku saw Hisagi make his escape and shouted for Kensei to get up so they could go after them. Kensei ran to go over the wall after Hisagi but it soon became apparent that something wasn't right.

No matter how many steps he took, the wall didn't seem to be coming any closer.

Ikkaku ran right into him, looking unsteady. He tried to go around Kensei but kept going into him. "What the hell? How hard did we hit each other?"

Kensei's eyes narrowed. "Does the air smell sweet to you?"

As he said this, the wall in front of him was upside-down as were everything else.

Shinji stood further away in Soul Reaper form, Zanpakuto swinging in his hand. "I may be a werewolf, but that doesn't mean I forgot how to use this."

Renji took aim at Yumichika's wing but his sword ended up going into a building. When he corrected it, his Zanpakuto almost hit him. He noticed the sweetness in the air, too, and knew what the problem was. Yumichika was out of range and wasn't affected. Not that it mattered, since Shinji could have it not effect certain people if he wanted to. However, since his ability to control all his Soul Reaper powers as a werewolf remained undetermined, he wanted to play it safe just in case.

"Dirty trick, Shinji," Kensei told him angrily.

"Hey," he said with a shrug. "All's fair in love and war, right?"

Yumichika looped in the air and divebombed the group with a squawk. When he circled back, he screeched and the men covered their ears, including Shinji. Even though the attack wasn't aimed at him, his sensitive hearing picked it up as if it were.

"Hold off on the shrieking until I'm out of the area, will you?" he complained.

Ichigo was thrown into a wall, cracking it as well as a few ribs. He slid down, holding the wound on his side. Byakuya had managed to slice open the side of his stomach but it wasn't very deep. Byakuya was skilled and more experienced, having been a vampire longer, but Ichigo refused to go down.

Byakuya appeared on the roof and threw himself at Ichigo with all his strength to pulverize him. Ichigo jumped out of the way in time and disappeared over a dividing wall. He could hear Byakuya crash into the building behind him but refused to look back. He needed to get some distance between them for his next move.

Byakuya was right on his tail, moving at an incredible speed. Ichigo twisted in the air to dodge him and, as Byakuya missed his target and kept going, Ichigo grabbed Byakuya from behind and threw him out of the air. Byakuya grabbed Ichigo's ankle, taking him along for the ride. Both slammed into another wall and came out the other side, pounding each other with fists and kicks.

Hitsugaya followed the destruction and found the two in another street punching each other over and over and then wrestled. Ichigo tackled Byakuya in the middle and tried to ram him into a different wall. Byakuya was lifted off his feet and carried towards that target. He used his claws to stab Ichigo in the back and twisted, drawing blood and screams from the teen. He kept going until he successfully rammed Byakuya into the wall, then let go to tend to his wound. Byakuya came bursting out and kicked Ichigo so hard in the chest he was sent flying into the other wall.

"Knock it off, you two," Hitsugaya called but was ignored. "Stop it!"

Ichigo picked up a piece of rubble and threw it at Byakuya who broke it in midair with his fist before it could reach his face. He marched forward for another attack.

"Stop fighting!" Hitsugaya ordered.

"Screw you," snapped Ichigo and threw himself at Byakuya for another grapple.

All Hitsugaya could hope was for the two vampires to tire each other out without killing the other first. If he jumped into the fray, he'd likely get himself killed. If he couldn't reason with them, what else could he do?

Byakuya snatched Ichigo out of the air with his hand and threw him into the ground. Byakuya threw a punch straight down towards Ichigo's skull to crush it but he moved aside in time and his fist shattered the ground instead. He grabbed the back of Ichigo's shirt to keep him from leaving and pulled him into his chest for a better target. Ichigo grabbed Byakuya's arm with both hands to force it down. Unless he used the arm he was currently using to hold him by his shirt, Byakuya could do nothing.

Not to be stalemated that easily, Byakuya stepped inwardly to try to throw Ichigo off balance. Ichigo responded by biting Byakuya's arm. He held his fangs in Byakuya's arm, drawing more and more blood.

"I'm going to rip you to shreds," Byakuya threatened and released Ichigo's shirt to drive his hand into Ichigo's stomach instead. Ichigo bit down harder on Byakuya's arm from the pain. Blood oozed down Byakuya's arm and splattered on the ground. Ichigo's feet were starting to slide as Byakuya pushed his arm deeper into Ichigo's gut, pressing out more blood.

Hitsugaya couldn't stand and watch them anymore. They were killing each other. As he moved into stop them, a sharp voice cut through the air.

"Captain Kuchiki, what is the meaning of this?"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Soi Fon and Omaeda standing horrorstruck in the entryway to another street. He pulled his arm from Ichigo's stomach and dropped him. Ichigo wheezed and crawled only a few inches before stopping and laying on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Byakuya stood where he was, letting the blood from his own wound and Ichigo's drip down his arm. His clothes were torn and he was covered in blood and dirt. He didn't look like Byakuya anymore.

"What'd you do to the kid?" Omaeda asked, referring to Ichigo.

Byakuya's eyes rolled in his direction without a word.

"Captain Kuchiki," said Soi Fon, trying to remain in control. "What have you done? To my men and to Ichigo? What is going on here? What happened to you?"

Byakuya looked at Soi Fon, emotionless.

"Don't get near him," Hitsugaya warned. "Stay away, Captain!"

Byakuya stepped forward and Soi Fon reached for her weapon. "That won't do anything to me," he said coldly. "I'll snap it in two."

"Don't fight him!" Hitsugaya called again. He knew he was wasting his breath. Soi Fon would never listen.

Byakuya kept coming and Soi Fon ordered him to stop. "That's far enough." He didn't listen. "Stand down, Kuchiki. I said, that's far enough." He was getting even closer.

Omaeda stood in front of Soi Fon with his arm stretched out. "The Captain gave you an order. You have to listen- Ow!"

Byakuya bit Omaeda's arm, swallowed a mouthful of blood and released him. "And now you have to listen to me."

"What?" Omaeda was confused, looking from the wound to Byakuya. The wound was just beginning to heal itself.

"I have business to take care of. Do not interfere," Byakuya told Soi Fon.

"I want answers, Kuchiki," Soi Fon snapped angrily. "What is going on? What happened here? What did you do to Ichigo? What have you done to my men? This is beyond… Kuchiki, this isn't like you."

Byakuya started to walk away. "I'm not the Byakuya Kuchiki you know anymore."

He knew he was different and he no longer cared.

Byakuya turned back to discover Ichigo was gone. He looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. Knowing he couldn't have gone far, Byakuya decided to pursue him, wanting to finish him off.

"I'm going after Ichigo. Don't let her follow me," Byakuya told Omaeda before walking away.

"We're not finished here, Kuchiki," said Soi Fon, taking a step forward. "You're not going anywhere."

Omaeda threw out his arm to stop her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Omaeda didn't seem very sure. "I don't know… I just…" He wanted to obey the order Byakuya had given him. Byakuya's power was just starting to take effect.

"Knock it off, Omaeda. Get out of my way."

Omaeda grabbed both her arms and held them behind her back. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't let you do that."

"What's the meaning of this?! What are you doing?"

Omaeda held her tightly, his large hands covering her forearms. "I'm doing what Byakuya wishes, Captain. I'm sorry, but I can't help myself. I want to please him."

Soi Fon stopped struggling, realizing this must have been how Byakuya corrupted her Squad. She couldn't understand exactly what he had done or how, but she knew enough to figure out this much and could tell that they weren't really doing this by choice.

Soi Fon bent her knees and sprang backwards over Omaeda's head, breaking free of his grasp. She was faster than he was and took advantage of that fact. She stepped on his face and started to go after Byakuya but Omaeda grabbed her again.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you, Captain."

"Get off me right now! That's an order!"

"I won't, Captain. I serve Byakuya now. He's more important than you."

Soi Fon gritted her teeth and snarled, rage mounting. What had Byakuya done to her Lieutenant? What was this power? Why was he like this? How dare he say such things and try to stop her?

"Captain Soi Fon," said Hitsugaya, hurrying into the street to try to stop her as well, but for different reasons. "You can't go after him. It's too dangerous."

"He's dangerous," she snapped.

"That's what I mean. If he managed to do this to Omaeda, what makes you think he won't do the same to you?"

Soi Fon stopped, having not considered this until just now. The main objective right now was to stop him and hadn't been thinking about anything else.

"Don't worry," Hitsugaya told her. "I'll stop him. After all, it's not his fault."

"What do you mean 'not his fault,' Hitsugaya? What's going on?"

"It's a long story. Just trust me on this. I can handle him."

Soi Fon scoffed, looking away. "How can I trust that? Just what do you know about this situation that I… don't?" When she looked back, not Hitsugaya but a wolf was standing in front of her.

The white wolf whined softly and sped away, leaving a very stunned Soi Fon behind.