Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga
Author: chibi-kyuubi
Genre: Action/Adventure/General
Rating: K+
Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?
Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.
Chapter 12: Inui's Plea
"Ryoma-kun," Echizen heard a distinctly feminine voice calling him inside his head.
"You," Echizen immediately recognized the mysterious voice as the one he had heard just a few moments ago. "You're Fubukihime?" The freshman stared at his released soul slayer. It was slightly different from the usual katana, with a straight blade instead of a curved one. The hilt had also straightened out, though it was still colored blue. And right above the plain, circular hand guard, Echizen noticed something that resembled small propeller blades.
"It seems that you've finally heard me," the voice said coldly. "I've been calling out to you for a while now."
"So it was you who was causing those strange noises," Echizen remembered asking Ichigo about it, but the orange-haired shinigami said that he didn't hear anything. "But if you were calling out to me, how come I didn't understand what you were saying?"
"That's because your desires were different from mine," the soul slayer replied.
"What do you mean?" The freshman wondered how a sword can even have desires.
"You see, as a weapon, my natural desire is to fight, or to be used in fighting," Fubukihime explained. "But while that orange-haired brat was attacking you, the only thing in your mind was to avoid being cut and to end the training as soon as possible. You had no will to fight at all." Echizen hadn't realized it earlier, but what his soul slayer said was true. "But now I see that you wish to prove yourself through combat," The voice in his head continued, "Your feelings and mine have finally reached each other, so you can now understand what I'm saying."
"So are you going help me in fighting Kurosaki-senpai?" Echizen asked after understanding what Fubukihime had just told him.
"Of course," the soul slayer answered with a sadistic tone. "Let me at that Zangetsu, I've been itching to show him my true power."
"What was that?" Inui asked Urahara. The Seigaku senior was intently reading a book in Urahara's library when he suddenly felt a surge of reiatsu coming from the training chamber below him.
"That Inui-kun, is the spiritual force of a shikai," Urahara said while he continued tinkering on a strange device that looked like large earphones. "Impressive isn't it? When a shinigami achieves shikai, defeating normal hollows would be as easy as cutting paper, regardless of the kind of training he or she received. You must have a very talented individual in your group."
"It's probably Tezuka or Echizen," Inui said as he closed his notebook and the book he was reading.
"What's the matter Inui-kun?" Urahara asked as he reached for a screwdriver and continued working on the strange gadget. Without even looking at the boy, he could tell that something was troubling the regular.
"Um, Urahara-san," Inui didn't know how to proceed with the conversation, so he just let out what was currently on his mind like he usually did. "You must be thinking that all these information you are giving me would be a huge contribution to our group, and I agree with you. But just having data isn't enough. If I'm not able to act accordingly, then using data against hollows would be useless. You may argue that I let my teammates do the fighting while I provide them with information, but I… I won't be satisfied with that. There is only one more day left, so please Urahara-san, teach me how to combat hollows."
"So that is what's bothering you," Urahara said, still focused on the contraption in front of him. In fact, he didn't even take his eyes away from his work when Inui pleaded. "There, it's finished. And just in time," Urahara raised the headphone-like instrument and stared at it admiringly. "Don't worry Inui-kun," he said, finally giving his full attention to the boy. "I never had the intention of letting you fall behind the others in terms combat ability."
Fubukihime? Is it an ice-type zanpakuto like Rukia's? Ichigo thought as Echizen prepared to attack. If it is, then I better avoid getting hit or else I'd be immobilized. Ichigo assumed a defensive stance, and Echizen dashed straight towards him. They locked swords for a few seconds, then suddenly, the propeller-like blades on Echizen's sword started to spin, and a column of spinning cold air surrounded his soul slayer. Ichigo felt the ice-cold wind blow against him, and cautiously jumped back. Even though they were already a few meters apart, Ichigo could still feel the temperature of the air around him decreasing.
"What's the matter Kurosaki-senpai? Don't tell me we're going to stop now. And here I thought you enjoyed cutting me up," the first year said sarcastically. The chilly air around his soul slayer was now spinning so fast that it was already visible because of the frozen water particles in it.
This kid, it seems that he really did achieve shikai. Right now, it might be dangerous to go near him. I'll keep my distance for now and see what he's going to do, Ichigo thought. Then suddenly, the freshman pointed his sword at his mentor and a rush of icy air blew towards Ichigo's direction. The orange-haired shinigami quickly moved out of the way and avoided being covered in ice like the ground where he stood just a few moments ago.
"Eh, I missed," Echizen said, pretending to be surprised. By this time, there was also a funnel of cold air about a meter in radius spinning around the freshman, and the dry desert-like terrain around him was now covered in a layer of frost. But even though his hair and clothes were fluttering a little despite the strong wind, his body didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all.
"Don't get cocky brat," Ichigo said, though he was really happy that Echizen achieved shikai. "In case you haven't noticed, my soul slayer has been in its released state the entire time. I've just been holding back to avoid killing you accidentally." I'll have to strike him quick and escape before I get frozen. Ichigo thought as he charged past the freezing wind surrounding the younger boy. He realized that the cold wind wasn't as threatening when he was moving faster than it. He got to Echizen in no time and swung his sword with a little more power than before. Impossible. Ichigo thought as his soul slayer clashed with Echizen's. With his current level of reiatsu, I was sure that he couldn't catch me or even have the strength to stop my attack
"What's the matter Kurosaki-senpai? It seems that your attack you've gotten weaker," Echizen said behind their soul slayers.
So that's what happened. Ichigo finally realized why the freshman managed to stop his attack. When I passed by the cyclone around him, my speed has dropped a little. And the spinning wind around his soul slayer reduced the impact of my blow. If that's the case…Ichigo released more of his reiatsu as he increased the pressure on his sword. Eventually, he overpowered the freshman, sending the younger boy flying back, with a small wound on his chest. The small cyclone surrounding Echizen disappeared, as if it needs concentration to maintain, though the one surrounding his sword didn't seem to slow down at all.
"Ouch, that hurt, Kurosaki-senpai," Echizen said as he slowly stood up. He noticed that the wound on his chest, as well as the rest of his wounds seem to bleed less when he released his soul slayer. "I have to pay you back for that before we finish."
"I know what you're thinking." Ichigo said. "Not only does your soul slayer reduce the speed and power of my attacks, but because I'm struggling against the strong wind and the cold temperature, my stamina will decrease much faster than the usual, am I correct? I must say that's a pretty useful thing you have there, but it won't work on me."
"We'll see about that," Echizen said as the air around him started to spin again.
"Toushiro-kun, who are those two over there?" Tezuka asked the white-haired shinigami, who was quietly sipping tea beside him. There were only two hours left before the 48-hour training period ends, and the two of them decided to use the remaining time to rest before Tezuka and the others proceed with the field exercise.
After everything that I thought him, he still treats me like a kid. Hitsugaya thought bitterly. At least he's very talented like… well, like me when I was still in the shinigami academy. But still, I'm almost a hundred years older than him, and he should treat me more seriously. "That's Abarai Renji, and Kuchiki Rukia. Why did you ask?" He answered, referring to the two shinigami seated across the table. While Renji and Rukia were talking, Kaidoh was taking a nap at the corner of the room, and Fuji was reading a book on intermediate level demon arts that Rukia gave him.
"They've been whispering to each other and looking at me for a while now," Tezuka said.
"I think I have an idea why," Hitsugaya tried to ignore the thought that just came across his mind.
"I'm so hungry Kurosaki-senpai!" Echizen said as he and Ichigo entered the room, both of them looking worn out and tired, though Ichigo still remained uninjured.
"Yeah me too. We haven't eaten since we started training." The orange-haired shinigami replied.
"If I wasn't so hungry, I could've gotten you back for the wounds you gave me," Echizen said, though he was very satisfied with the results of their training.
"Hey, I already said it's nothing personal," For a moment there, Ichigo thought that the freshman was really serious. "Besides Tessai did say that he will fix you up after he brings our food."
"Yo! Ichigo!" Renji yelled as he and Rukia asked the substitute shinigami to join their hushed conversation. Echizen saw his two senpais at the table and joined them. Tessai came in shortly after, carrying a tray full of food and a small bag of bandages and other healing supplies.
"No way! Why me?" Ichigo complained out loud.
"Because you were the last one to arrive! Now go and ask him," Rukia yelled back as she forced a piece of paper into Ichigo's hand. Renji said nothing and tried his best not to laugh.
"All right, all right, if this is worth as much as you claim it to be, I'm going to do it," Ichigo took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Um, Tezuka-san, could you please do us a little favor?"
"What is it?" Tezuka replied, deeply curious about what the three had been talking about for the past few minutes.
"Could you please read these few lines out loud for us," Ichigo said as he gave the Seigaku captain the piece of paper. Rukia turned on something like a tape recorder under the table.
"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya and I am the captain of the sixth division. I use kidoh to straighten my hair and my personal motto is: tough guys have pink reiatsu. What is this?" Tezuka asked after he read the first two lines on the paper. He looked further down the note, and found that other sentences contained the same kind of sillyness. However, Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia were literally on the floor and laughing hard and were unable to answer him. Hitsugaya looked politely away and tried his best to ignore their infectious laughter.
"I'm glad everyone's enjoying themselves," Urahara said as he entered the room, and caught the three naughty shinigami laughing their hearts out. He was followed by Inui, who looked so worn out with his black shinigami robes torn and his eyeglasses cracked. "It seems that a handful of the training pairs are already here," Urahara said after looking around. "Let's just wait for the others, and then I can give out the instructions for the field exercise."
Notes: I'll move this to the Bleach section for a while in case anyone there would be interested in this fic. Also, when I was writing this chapter, I had a little trouble with Inui and Urahara's conversation because the first one I came up with was quite touching and emotional, but then I remembered that it was Inui who was talking and his lines were so sappy that I had to rewrite the whole scene. And in case anyone didn't get the last scene, Byakuya and Tezuka have the same voice actor. Please review after reading, I really appreciate them.
