Chapter VIII
"What do you think?" asked a smiling brown-haired man sitting in a chair before a large monitor, one of many that filled the walls in the room. His glasses reflected the light off the glowing kido devices, which were designed to observe and record events and data from large distances, hiding his eyes from view. His companion stood behind him looking at the device with a large smirk plastered on his visage.
"He looks interesting. He might have potential, but we won't know unless he's tested."
"Are you volunteering?"
"No. You have plenty of minions that can do so without bringing needless suspicion on us."
"Hmm. I agree. Why don't you go retrieve our mantis-related friend? He should be an…adequate test subject to observe if we should bring him into the fold."
"You think he's ready for such an obstacle?"
"If he's not he will die. Thus proving he had no right to stand beside us. I will make the arrangements," the glasses wearing man said. "They did just receive permission to go on missions after all. Perhaps his entire class can benefit from another lesson" The man's companion spared one last look at the monitor showing a group of five first year student, however his attention was centered on a strawberry blonde girl and a faintly scowling orange head.
"Shiba Ichigo," said the brown haired man, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Show me what you are capable of. Show me your potential."
His silver haired companion slipped out the door to fulfil his orders, but not without thinking, "Damn it Shiba, why'd you have to go bringing his attention towards you. Especially with her hanging around your shoulders. If she gets hurt because of you…" Slitted eyes opened up resembling a snake hunting its prey. "Aizen won't be the only one to feel my blades poison."
Bleary brown eyes opened slowly. Tentatively stretching out his limbs, Ichigo was happy to note he didn't have any aches or pains from the previous day.
"Thank you hollow powers," he thought. The regenerative abilities of his hollow nature were a boon whenever he overdid it while training or fighting. Ichigo yawned as he made his way through his morning rituals and left towards the cafeteria.
Three weeks had passed quietly after his team had defied expectations of all the teachers and won their not-so-little competition. They were waiting anxiously for their first mission which had still yet to be announced. Ichigo had a feeling that would change soon judging by the measured glances from the instructors he passed in the hallways that morning. Shrugging the thought off as he entered his first class of the day after a hearty breakfast and dropped his bag of books on kido theory to the floor. He grabbed a small book titled "The Breakdown of Kido for Dummy Shibas" by Your Favorite Blonde-haired teacher. Ichigo didn't know whether to feel appreciative of Kisuke taking the time to write him a book that better explained the subject than all of his textbooks combined, or angry he snuck into his dorm and left a note saying, "read this little strawberry!" with a cartoonish face of him smiling widely. Ichigo preferred to stick to appreciative or else thoughts of violently skewering Kisuke on his sword tended to pop up from calling him strawberry.
Ichigo thumbed through the later chapters of the book about how Kisuke had started the process of creating his original kido. The best way to start is first trying to modify an existing kido to better suit his own fighting style. Raikōhō, the lightning spell the Shiba Clan is known for, comes out as a bolt of lightning that obliterates the ground. Ichigo knows at his core that he is a melee fighter, that hasn't and will not change even if his zanpakutō's name has been forgotten. But that doesn't mean he can't come up with alternatives to give him an advantage in a fight. Being able to summon lightning as a shroud around the edge of his blade would be quite handy to fighting any hollow with a particularly strong hierro. Even if somehow his blade didn't cut into it, the shock could still cause some pain if not any damage.
Ichigo was cut out of his musing by the excited slam of the door. The class had filed into their seats and the smile of the instructor left the class hopeful for a more interesting class than piling more theory down their throats.
"As you all know, our first years won the training simulation three weeks ago, so they will be starting missions soon." The entire class glared at the sheepish smile Ichigo's team sported.
"But before they can begin their missions, they need to learn the skills you all would have learned at the start of next semester. I am happy to announce that your class will be taking a trip to the world of the living to get some hands on practice of how to correctly perform Konso. I will be going over the basics with you today so you all can leave tomorrow adequately prepared!"
"Seriously?" Shizuka squeeked quietly. "We actually get to visit the human world?"
"Apparantly," Ichigo said.
"Have you ever seen the human world?" Ichigo hesitated for a suitable response, "Briefly." In all consideration, it wasn't a lie. Souls live for hundreds of years and Ichigo only lived there for 22 years. While 22 years for Ichigo was his entire life, for someone like the head captain, it was a mere footnote in the commander's wanderings on the earth.
"What was it-" Shizuka was interrupted by Kato-sensei clearing her throat in front of them.
"Do you have something you'd like to share with the class?" she questioned sweetly, beaming a white smile that glimmered in the sunlight through the window.
"No ma'am!" Shizuka said, letting out a small eep.
"I get that you're all excited, but please learn to restrain yourselves. You have a duty to uphold and I would hate for you to be unsuccessful especially after you were all given the rare opportunity to do this early. Now are there any more interruptions? Or can I start the lesson now?"
The class was silent as she walked back to the podium to start the lesson. On the board, she wrote Konso and circled it.
"Before I begin, can anyone tell me what they know to start?" Instructor Kato asked each student their thoughts on the technique and wrote down on the board every new fact a student stated. A web of words covered the board and her expression brightened as it was filled more and more.
Ichigo knew she was the teacher who maintained a strong front in front of her students but would be filled with gushing pride among the other instructors in private. Praising the newest Kidō her prodigies completed or the student who had struggled all year and finally completed the requirement. If there was one thing Ichigo respected about Kato-sensei, it was that he observed she genuinely loved teaching to her students.
She spent the rest of the lesson explaining how the travel between the Senkaimon works and what they would be doing.
"I want you all to gather outside the main entrance tomorrow morning at 10:00. The chosen squad members will lead your class through the Senkaimon to the world of the living. Good luck. Class dismissed."
The class exploded once more into excited chatter as the students left the room, boasting of relatives who had the chance to see the human world. Ichigo also caught a few grumbles about how disgusting and dirty the human world was from the more…uptight nobles. Ichigo understood their concerns. The class difference was very similar to the Rukongai and Seiretei in how well dressed the people were and their living conditions.
The poor far outnumber the rich, their regrets and desires of living a life under the boots of a feudal lord created a breeding ground for hollows. The result left hollows gathering to the misfortunate souls and any deployed shinigami found themselves overwhelmed. A situation which only worsens under the effects of war. More dead souls, more feelings of regret and failure, and more hollows drawn to the blood soaked soil.
"Ichigo?" Rangiku questioned. "Are you alright? You seem lost in thought."
"I'm fine. I'm just worrying over nothing."
"Hmm," Rangiku tutted, she looked unconvinced.
"If you say so." She swirled around and led their group of friends to the next class. Ichigo felt like this was going to be a long day. Ichgio dragged a hand through his hair in annoyance. "Night could not come soon enough," he thought, looking out the window ignoring the instructor's lecture.
The weather was crisp as Ichigo gathered alongside the other students by the academy's front gate. He could feel the waves of excitement from his classmates as they patiently waited for the squad members to arrive. The instructors had spent the previous evening grouping them all into teams of three and further explaining how a squad works in a patrol. They would stay with and defer to their squad leader. It was their job to make sure they all stayed safe and dispatch any hollows.
Ichigo fidgeted as he leaned against the wall. He remembered the stories Rukia, Renji, and their classmates faced. He wasn't at all worried for himself by any hollow that would show up. Any hollow hunting for souls in the human world was new or had just regained their individuality after evolving from the Menos Grande to hunt down any of their surviving friends or family. But, his new friends weren't like him. While certainly strong for students, hell they could probably become officers right now in terms of pure power and skill, they were still inexperienced in fighting hollows. Maybe not Ginjiro, Ichgio amended. The outer districts of the Rukongai were littered with hollows, dangerous bandits, and former or disgraced shinigami.
"Attention!" shouted a man with black hair cropped into a short cut with a long ponytail in the back. He had a long goatee and a scar trailing over his left eye down his cheek.
"I am the lieutenant of squad seven, Jin'emon Kotsubaki, you can address me as whatever you wish, as long as Lieutenant is in front of it," he said, offering a wink to Rangiku and the other female classmates. Separate into your teams where we will collect you and take you through the Senkaimon." If nothing else, Ichigo enjoyed that there wasn't a long speech. He held a rather gruff demeanor despite his superfluous facial hair.
Ichigo's height and bright orange mop of hair stood out among the crowd, allowing his partners Ginjiro and Shizuka to easily find him. Offering a nod to the both of them, Ichigo wondered if he would meet anyone he knew on this trip. Ichigo had only heard of the man in passing, but the lieutenant was the father of Sentarō, the future co-third seat under Juushirō. He had retired decades before he and his friends had stormed Soul Society to rescue Rukia.
The squad mate chosen for them arrived in a shunpō who was quickly fixing his belt. He had a sheepish expression that turned pleading at them not to mention he arrived late and his appearance unkept.
"You're late again Minato-san?" Shizuka asked quietly.
"Calm down Shizuka. You could hardly call this late. The first group hasn't even left yet."
"I would be more 'calm' if you weren't always late to everything," Shizuka said in resignation.
Ichigo and Ginjiro watched the conversation like people watching ping-pong. Every response was fired back instantly. Their conversation and tone certainly implied familiarity. Shizuka shook her head and looked at them.
"Oh, I'm being rude. Guys, this is my friend Minato. He saved my family from some hollows when we were having a trip out in the Rukongai. He and his squad offered to escort us back to the inner districts. We've been friends ever since."
Their replies were derailed when the teachers started another round of instructions on safety and the rules of not interfering with the lives of the living. It grated on Ichigo to have to listen to them explain something for the third time since yesterday. If there was one thing he secretly hadn't cultivated was his impatience in the face of bullshit protocol. Slowly the teams were led through the purple tunnel into Ichigo's first view of Japan since arriving in the past. They arrived on the city's edge of Kyoto, the sprawling city of buildings connected like row homes. The sunset bathing the roofs in a warm glow as the residents lit lanterns along the street.
From his history classes, Ichigo knew that Japan was still in isolation from the rest of the world, as such the weapons they used were still in the form of matchlock (Tanegashima), the precursor to flintlock muskets.
"Japan has not had a large conflict in nearly 150 years, so there shouldn't be a huge influx of hollows, and yet-" Ichigo trailed off, he sensed a large presence of them throughout the city. Groaning in realization that he jinxed himself, of course this trip would turn out to be irregular.
"We have been labled as team three," said Minato. "As Shizuka said earlier, you can call me Minato. Our team is supposed to clear out the eastern section of the city hollows and pass on any plus souls still stuck here. Teams one, two, and four will also be clearing out the other cardinal directions of the city, while the rest will travel to the surrounding towns. I heard you three were pretty strong for first years, so I'll let you three take a go at any hollows first and only step in if you need it." His words weren't condescending, in fact Ichigo detected a hint of worry, but he still had trouble not smashing his fist into Minato's face for thinking they couldn't handle the single souled hollows hiding in the shadows. They were mostly hollows who were searching for their loved ones after dying, their fragments of memories leading them to look for them to fill the void in their heart.
Ichigo's team moved to the center of the city, stopping on the roof of the Kyoto Imperial Palace before starting their search for the nearest hollows. Ichigo had to admit that it was amazing seeing the palace in all its glory as the seat of power in Japan. The large botanical garden stretching out as an oasis of green in the middle of a city, the freshly painted red pillars, the guards stuck between the traditions as samurai and the slowly increasing technological advancements in ranged weaponry slung across their backs as they patrolled the grounds.
Ichigo turned his head as he found the first hollow. Offering a point in the direction, he headed off and found a hollow resembling a monkey hanging onto the edge of a roof. It was looking through the window of the guests quarters of the palace. It jerked in surprise as Ichigo slammed his fist into its back launching it away from possibly damaging the building. With a simple flash step Ichigo pierced the hollows bask from behind spearing it through its left eye. Ichigo was reminded of his final days in the future as the hollow dissolved, the ease of how quickly the hollows fell and just how numerous they really are.
He sensed another two about a mile away, but within seconds they disappeared as they were replaced by Ginjiro and Shizuka's reiatsu. Minato crouched on the roof observing Ichigo's movements. The lack of even the slightest hesitation. He grunted softly in amusement. The three students quickly tore through another thirty hollows before making their way back to a now sitting Minato. He had a few papers in his hand and was scribbling a few notes down.
"Nice job," he greeted them. "I haven't seen any academy students clear out that many hollows in such a record time. And without injury too. But now it's time to start the other part of our mission." He pointed down the street to a pale girl huddeling in the shadows of an alleyway. "You're up first Ginjiro," Minato said before shoving him off the roof with glee. Ginjiro grumbled as he face planted into the ground and started spitting curses at the officer before shaking his head to get back on task. He approached the plus soul whose knees were pressed against her chest and offered her his best attempt at a warm smile. It didn't work. Her shoulders further hunched in the vain hope of Ginjiro walking away.
Ginjiro thought about what he could possibly do to calm her down so he could perform the Konso when he realized introducing himself may help ease her fear.
"Hey, girl, what's your name? I'm Ginjiro."
The girl ignored the question in favor of staring at him blankly. Ginjiro faltered at her lack of response. What the hell was he supposed to do? He clenched his fist behind his back.
"Do you know where you are? What you are?" The girl nodded. Slightly relieved at finally getting a response Ginjiro decided to ride the momentum. "Well you can't stay here. There are…evil spirits nearby," he simplified the explanation for her. "They're gone now, but they will return soon. I can help you pass on." The girl shook her head.
"You don't want to pass on?" She shook her head again. "Why?"
"I need to help my mother. She is giving birth soon. She asked me to get towels and bandages for her, but when I left the house I was run over by a horse. The man fell off and he and his friends beat me. I just wanted the pain to stop, and then suddenly I was standing up without any pain with this chain on my chest."
Ginjiro looked at the incredibly short chain. There were only a couple links left before she became a hollow herself.
"How long had she been here?" he thought. "Can you show me to your house?" he said aloud.
The girl nodded and untangled her arms from around her knees and led the way down the street. After four blocks of walking, the girl turned to a small home connected to a flower shop. The window was cracked and the wood looked like it was in dire need of replacement, but the shop looked well taken care of with what little money they made.
Through the broken window, Ginjiro saw a woman bouncing a babe several months old in her arms. Her eyes glistened in the dying light as she pressed her lips onto the baby boy's brow. The mother set the child down to bed before walking back over to the flower shop as tears fell from her eyes.
"Mom," the girl whispered. "Don't cry!" She walked through the glass and put her pale arms around her mothers leg, but found herself incapable of touching her.
"Tsuki," the mother whimpered burying her face into her hands and openly wept."
"Mom, I'm right here! Mom, there's no need to cry, I'm here. I'm here! Mom!"
Ginjiro watched the little girl fall to her knees because her mother was incapable of hearing her voice. He placed his hand on her shoulder in support and Tsuki pressed her wracking frame into him in silent sobs, an occasional hiccup leaving her throat.
"It's Tsuki, right?" Ginjiro knelt down in front of her. He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I can't tell you how to feel right now, nor can I understand just what it is you're going through, but I can tell that you love your mother. That chain on your chest is getting shorter, which means that time is running short for you. And when that time runs out you'll become just like those evil spirits roaming these streets."
Tsuki gasped and her hands jumped to her mouth.
"But," Ginjiro continued, "there is a way to stop that. I can send you on."
"But what about my mother?"
"If you turn into one of those evil spirits, the first thing you will do is try to hurt your mother." Tsuki shook her head in denial.
"I would never hurt her!"
"You will."
"I won't."
"You will," Ginjiro said, gently placing a hand over her mouth to stop her from interrupting. "I need you to be brave Tsuki. You can help your mother one last time by passing on. Will you do it? Not for me, but for her?" he asked, and from the hand covering her mouth, he grabbed her chin and pushed her to face the crying form of her mother. Tsuki looked at her mother for a long while, drinking in every detail before offering a small nod.
She didn't say anything when Ginjiro unsheathed his sword. She didn't say anything when he pressed the Kashira, the pommel, to her forehead and she started glowing. But as she started to transform into a butterfly for transit to the soul society, he heard a soft whisper of, "Thank you, and goodbye." Ginjiro gazed at where Tsuki last stood for a moment before he sheathed his sword and left the flower shop. His team was standing outside with Minato marking the last few scribbles down in his notes.
Ichigo offered a grin and a light punch to his shoulder before taking off to his own souls to persuade towards "Heaven." He would tell them about a land of no war and hardship. A serene land of plentiful vegetation and food. A world where all there passed loved ones were waiting for them. The words had never tasted so bitter.
"That was some really great work out there guys," Minato said as they gathered around back on the roof of the Imperial Palace. "I'm sure you'll all become fine shinigami. In fact-" Minato coughed and fell face first on the roof. A glowing blue arrow pierced his back.
"What the hell?" Ginjiro shouted.
"Where did that come from?" Shizuka asked before yelping at a clang in her ears. An arrow was ricocheted away from piercing her head by Ichgio. His eyes narrowed at the white clothed forms in the distance. There were two quincies facing them with drawn bows. One was wielding the Kojako, the singular firing bow, while his counterpart was wielding a bow in the shape of a spider's web. The Ginrei Kojako. The bow that can fire up to 1,200 arrows at once. The same bow Ichigo had affectionately dubbed "bug spray" to annoy Uryū in its ease in eliminating low-tiered hollows.
Ichigo felt a barrier go up before the middle aged and more experienced quincy shot a salvo of arrows which Ichigo sliced to pieces. He wouldn't let a single arrow through! The other quincy used hirenkyaku to flank them and shot an arrow aimed for the downed Minato. Ginjiro stepped into its path and deflected it into the ground, a deep crater forming on impact. The quincy forwent quantity for a larger piercing arrow.
"Shizuka, help Minato. Ginjiro, you have to take the other quincy," Ichigo said before rushing forward to attack the bombardment of arrows hurtling through the air.
A game of cat and mouse ensued as Ichigo tried to close the distance with a blitzing shunpō while his opponent continuously backed away firing as many arrows as possible. Ichigo slashed an arrow aimed at his neck and swung at last connecting with the quincy. It was shallow, barely larger than a scratch, but his uniform slowly stained a crimson hue. The look of annoyance was well worth the wait.
"What rank are you shinigami?" asked the quincy with a tone of underlying respect.
"Rank?" Ichigo teased, "I'm just an academy student," indicating to his blue and white uniform.
The quincy didn't react beyond a small widening of the eyes. He stood in the air on a platform of reishi as if considering Ichigo's words, and then it happened. The quincy vanished in a burst of speed almost four times faster than during their fight. Ichigo jerked forward dodging the arrow aimed at his spine and then blocked another three from his side. The quincy seemed to be jumping to six sides, like a cube, all around Ichigo. He fired a dozen arrows that curved and swirled in an attempt to confuse Ichigo, but he had seen similar attacks from Uryū in training, and knew how to avoid or block them.
"Impressive shinigami, you're much more skilled than I thought. But that won't save you."
The quincy picked up the pace firing a hundred arrows with every draw of his bowstring. Ichigo shattered them, every swing striking multiple arrows at once, though a few nicked his sides. Ichigo frowned and started laying out a trap for the quincy. On his next charge he shunpōed behind the quincy, but before he could flee Ichigo called out, "Hadou #4: Byakurai!" A beam of white lightning exploded out of his left index finger and shattered the quincy's right knee.
The pain made his concentration slip and he fell towards the earth. He caught himself just in time and used hirenkyaku to turn his free fall into a fast tumble. His once pristine white uniform stained brown and red from the mud and blood. The middle aged quincy glared up at Ichigo before strands of reishi roughly stitched his skin back together where the byakurai had pierced him. Ichigo smirked, goading the quincy to attack him in anger.With Ichigo's reveal in his knowledge of kidō the entire fight turned on its head. His sudden ability to attack at range Ichigo stood at equal footing to the quincy. The quincy's advantage now stolen, he was forced to think up a new strategy. He glanced at his nephew who was still fighting Ginjiro. Ginjiro had held his own in blocking any attack aimed at Minato or Shizuka, who had ripped part of her uniform to staunch the bleeding, but he was unable to go on the offensive less he risk exposing Shizuka's back.
With a plan in place, the quincy once again increased his number of arrows, this time firing three hundred arrows curving from multiple angles. Ichigo dodged them all flash stepping in between the flight paths, but to his confusion the quincy turned his bow away from him. Snapping his head to the side to realized what he was aiming for Ichigo was too late to stop him from firing a singular arrow packed with a large amount of reishi.
Ichigo ran. As fast and as strong as he possibly could, Ichigo blurred through the air and jumped between Shizuka and turned the flat of his asauchi to the tip of the arrow. A boom echoed through the city and a cloud of dust covered the area halting the fight temporarily. As the smoke and dust cleared, the quincy saw a shirtless Ichigo was a blast mark on his chest, but otherwise unharmed. The dust had provided Ichigo with a screen to hide his use of Blut Vene, glowing blue veins vanishing right before the dust settled.
Ichigo tilted his head forward with his bangs covering his eyes from view. His left sclera staining a slight black as his iris turned into a burning gold. Relying solely on his other senses, Ichigo roared in rage and slammed down on the quincy's bow.
"Fucking coward! What kind of man attacks a medic?"
"A practical one. You outnumber us and your kind has been killing my kin for centuries. Do you think you Shinigami haven't also killed our healers? No! Every last one was butchered just like the rest! You are all hypocrites. This is why I hate shinigami," the quincy shouted venomously.
"We didn't have anything to do with that! You see these white uniforms? Do you know what they mean? We haven't joined the ranks of the Gotei 13. We haven't done anything to you."
"But you are intent on joining them. You shinigami kill everything that doesn't fit in your perfect bubble!"
The quincy fired another salvo of arrows no longer willing to speak, but Ichigo had had enough. Flash stepping inside the quincy's guard, he clamped a hand onto the quincy's wrist on top of the pentagram quincy cross and tugged. Off balance and his arm overextended, the quincy could do nothing as Ichigo severed his wrist right in front of his eyes. The quincy didn't feel the pain; his brain was uncomprehending of the sudden flux of signals overloading it, but he still fell to his knees. The reishi strings came undone and he dropped to his side, his subconscious telling him to get off the shattered mess of an appendage.
Ginjiro attacked the other quincy at last freed from guard duty and with a quick disarm of the bow, Ginjiro stabbed him in the heart. Ginjiro flicked his blade free of blood and stared at the dying man with apathy. The quincy didn't deserve respect in his eyes for the ambush and attacking Shizuka.
Ichigo grabbed the man's attention by clasping a firm hand around his chin, forcing him to look Ichigo in the eyes.
"Our fight is done. Go home and live the rest of your life in peace. I have no desire to kill you."
"Peace? You think I can live in peace after everything? My son, my beautiful boy. You took him from me. My wife. My sweet, innocent Emilia. She had nothing to do with the war except of what she was. She wanted nothing more than to live in peace but you killed her. My brother, my two nephews, you've taken everyone from me!"
Ichigo stared at the bleeding quincy with something close to sympathy. He knelt at his side and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," Ichigo said, his brown eyes conveying his sincerity. The quincy snorted in disgust.
"Apologies won't bring my family back. Nor your pity."
"No, it won't. But it will help stop any future wars from occurring if we were to work together."
"Minato-san! Hold on! We're going to get you some help!"
Ichigo jumped away leaving the bleeding quincy to check over Minato, Shizuka, and Ginjiro. Ginjiro escaped his fight with several bruises and scrapes, but otherwise looked all right. Minato on the other hand had taken a turn for the worse. In his haste from stopping the quincys, Ichigo hadn't paid much attention to where the arrow had struck Minato. The fight hadn't lasted more than ten minutes, but the pool of blood surrounding Minato was a good indicator of an artery or vein being struck.
"Move Shizuka! I've got him." Pushing Shizuka with a not so gentle shove, Ichigo knelt above Minato and applied his rudimentary skills in Kaido to try and heal him. Ginjiro and Shizuka helplessly watched Minato's labored breathing as it slowly got shorter and turned into ragged gasps.
"Hold on Minato-san. You're going to be alright," Shizuka said. She grasped his hand and gave a firm squeeze in solidarity. "Just hang on. Ichigo will fix you up and you'll be better in no time."
Minato coughed a spurt of blood, but still managed to place a smile on his face.
"You don't have to lie for me. I know I'm too far gone. So just stop Shiba-san. Save your strength."
"Shut up!" Ichigo scowled, "Don't you dare give up on me."
"Death comes for us all. This is just my time. Besides, I'll see you again eventually right? The one good thing about the cycle of reincarnation–we'll all eventually meet again someday–in another life." Minato hacked up another spittle of blood and his face tightened in pain. "But that can't happed if my cause of death is from this arrow. You're going to have to burn away the reishi with your own."
"Please, stop saying you're going to die Minato-san!" Shizuka cried. Tears spilled from her eyes which she tried to rub away, but only managing to smear Minato's blood onto her face.
"I can see it in your eyes Shiba. You know as well as I there's no hope for this."
Ichigo hid his eyes. He knew exactly what needed to happed.
"That quincy was right you know?" Minato gasped out. "I fought in the last war. Both sides resorted to underhanded acts in the name of upholding the balance or for pride. We thought we stood for something greater." His shoulders shook, "What a joke. We're right back at square one."
No one could think of what to say as Minato broke down into a bitter laugh. Shizuka tightened her grip in Minato's weakening grasp, Ginjiro grabbed her shoulder in his own form of support, and Ichigo continued to futily heal Minato's injury. At last Minato struggled to lift his arm and wrapped it around the back of Ichigo's neck and brought him closer to whisper a few words in his ear. Ginjiro and Shizuka watched as Ichigo froze, his kaido temporarily wavering as his attention slipped, before he stopped all together.
"I promise. I'm sorry," Ichigo said, raising his sword to the injury.
"Idiot. If anyone should be sorry it's me. Shizuka, Ginjiro, Ichigo. Don't go joining me soon, ya hear. Goodbye."
"I prefer 'see you later.' After all, you were the one saying we'll see each other in another life." Minato chuckled in acknowledgement.
"See you later,' then." Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment in silent prayer before he opened them and plunged his sword through the quincy's arrow and flushed his system full of his reiatsu, his asauchi softly glowing a mixture of black, red, and blue.
Shizuka collapsed beside Minato and buried her head into his chest as she shook in silent sobs. She lifted the hand she was holding and cradled it against her face. As her cries died down she kissed his hand in farewell. Ginjiro held her against his chest in silent support. In any other circumstance Ichigo would have found it funny Ginjiro was at last showing he cared about Shizuka, but…he just felt tired.
"How touching," the quincy spat behind them. "But you can all die together. Burn in Hell shinigami!" He reached into his pocket and grabbed several balls of Hollow bait. With a smirk he crushed them before Ichigo had a chance to stop him. Any sympathy he might have felt just vanished. To disgrace the death of an honorable man who simply tried to uphold his duties in service to the Seireitei was the height of dishonor. Even if Ichigo hadn't known him long, Ichigo could feel that Minato was a good man. Then to add insult to injury, he endangered the city with the attraction of countless hollows.
Ichigo could hear his blood rushing through his ears. Clenching his teeth so hard he felt his gums bleed. Ichigo's sword created a silver blur as it cut through the quincy's sinew and spine, his head dropping to the side without its support.
The three students stared up to the sky as a black void appeared in the sky as hundreds of hollows started free-falling around the city.
"We need to leave, now," Ichigo said.
"But what about Minato?" Shizuka asked.
"We can't do anything for him right now," Ginjiro spoke. "We'll come back for him later if we can. We need to focus on staying alive."
"We'll meet up with the other teams. We'll stand a better chance of reducing casualties if we are together," Ichigo informed. Before they could follow through though, dozens of hollows surrounded them.
"You have any ideas?" Ginjiro asked. The three stood back to back in a circle.
"Yeah, don't die." Ichigo started chanting, "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hadou #33: Sōkatsui!" A superheated blue fire launched from his palm and slammed into a hollow's chest before bursting and charring six hollows, and more importantly, cutting off an avenue for the hollows to attack from as the flames continued eating away at the ground.
"Shit," Ichigo thought. Maybe he hadn't thought things through all the way. The current emperor was only a couple hundred meters away. If this fire spreads it could kill him and any of the palace guests. With no time to lose, Ichigo decided to try out a spell he'd learned from Kisuke's book. He didn't use the incantation in hopes of restraining the power output.
"Hadou #87: Hyōgo Seiran!" A wave of ice froze the flames and another dozen hollows behind it before Ichigo punched the ice structure which shattered under the force along with everything inside it.
Ichigo let out a steamed breath, exhaling slowly in the chilled air. They watched as the hollows circled them like wolves. Despite the quick execution of almost two dozen of their number, the hollows were single minded in the pursuit of feeding their hunger. Ichigo turned his senses to the max, trying to anticipate where the next strike would come from. Two hollows broke from their ranks and Ichigo dodged a gorilla sized fist from one that he quickly cut in half leaving the other hollow to Shizuka. Three more rushed in where Ichigo and Ginjiro swiftly cut their hunt short, their spiritual bodies slowly fading away after the destruction of their mask.
It was then that Ichigo sensed something strange. Something stronger. He couldn't see it and he could barely sense it. Its presence was muted somehow but it still felt close. Almost like it was right on top of them. Ichigo looked up expecting to see a hollow about to drop on top of them, but he didn't see anything. He suddenly felt a rumbling coming from beneath his feet. It was underground!
Ichigo stabbed his asauchi into the gaping maw that broke through the earth trying to swallow him whole. The worm like hollow let out a shrill shriek before it dissolved.
"Watch out!" Ichigo swung his sword into another hollow trying to ambush him and heard a gasp behind him.
"Ginjiro, wha-?" Shizuka was cut off, shoved to the ground.
As Ichigo and Shizuka stared at him in shock they realized too late why he'd shoved her. Nearly invisible teeth clamped down onto Ginjiro, his right arm and head all that remained outside the hollows teeth. It was an adjuchas. Somehow its ability to turn invisible also extended to masking its reiatsu. It wasn't that Ichigo missed sensing it like Ginjiro had. It was just by instinct that Ginjiro sensed the danger and he reacted.
In a shout of pain and anger, Ginjiro's muscles bulged as he tried to push back against the teeth baring down on him, but it was no use, he didn't have any leverage. Turning to see Shizuka one last time he only got out one last word, "Run!" before the hollow bit down with a sickening crack and Ginjiro was torn to pieces.
"Nooo!" Ichigo screamed.
The hollow allowed its camouflage to drop letting Ichigo and Shizuka see its chameleon like body dripping in the red rivulets from its teeth. It smirked and giggled perversely.
"Oh, was that your friend? Judging by the looks on your faces you must have really cared about him." It laughed harder until its entire frame shook.
Ichigo felt pressure building within him. He felt like a dam the moment before the flood exploded. The hollow towered over Shizuka as its sadistic yellow eyes inspired terror into her own.
"Ichigo," a whisper sounded right behind his left ear. "What are you doing Ichigo?" Behind his left shoulder was the Old Man. His shaggy black hair and cape floating in a nonexistent wind as his eyes stared behind dark shades with slight reproach. Ichigo looked around to see that time was moving incredible slowly. The hollow was stuck in its lunge as it aimed to eat Shizuka.
"You are ready Ichigo. You have the power to unleash us but you are still holding back," the hollowfied zanpakūto said at his right side.
"You have been living these last two years like a blacksmith pounding his hammer into heated metal, but with no idea of what it is you wish to create."
"All of those hours practicing and sparring with Kisuke and your classmates, for what?" asked the hollow.
"Have you forgotten who truly are?" asked the Old Man, "and why it is you fight? What are you Ichigo? A boy who clings onto his new family in hopes of them solving his problems, or are you the same man who charged head first into Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Hell itself to save your friends and family?"
Ichigo scoffed, his eyes filled with a glowing blue. "Do you even have to ask?" The Old Man smiled at the unsaid confirmation. Ichigo was and always will be a protector. The Old Man and the hollow each placed a hand on his shoulders and shouted, "Then save your friends and call out our name!"
Ichigo's reaitsu exploded as the words flowed out of his mouth like he'd recited them a thousand times, "Cast off your fear and break the chains of Hell! Shatter fate and tear the heavens asunder! ZANGETSU!"
Time resumed once Ichigo finished speaking his release phrase allowing the hollow to continue its attempts to swallow Shizuka, but immediately found itself buried in the earth as it was crushed beneath the reaitsu Ichigo was exuding. The very air was stifling as the hollow clawed the earth trying to get onto its knees. It turned its head at the crunching sound of footsteps to see Ichigo standing above it with dual black blades raised over its head like Damocles.
"You killed my friend," Ichigo said quietly before increasing the pressure on the hollow. A crack echoed as Ichigo glared mercilessly at the hollow squirming like a worm at his feet, its bones crushed under the weight of his reaitsu. The hollow felt like gravity had increased around it by a thousand times. It couldn't breathe, frozen by both fear and the shinigami's strength.
"Did you think you were just going to be able to slink away like a rat after what you did?" The hollow wanted to bristle at his pride being stomped on, but it was incapable of opening its mouth much less return the insult.
"Does it hurt? Do you feel helpless at your inability to do anything in the face of someone stronger than you? Now you know how all of your victims feel before you killed them."
The hollow cursed its fate in meeting such an undesirable end. Ichigo looked down on the hollow with an unwavering gaze and swung his swords with no hesitation cutting the hollow into four pieces. As the hollow's chameleon form started decaying, Ichigo wasn't shocked to see two large open doors with skeletons carved into the sides appear in the air as a demonic figure wielding a tanto larger than the size of a skyscraper plunge into the hollow's soul as chains bound its form and dragged it screaming into the depths of Hell.
As much as Ichigo wanted to just take a moment and process Ginjiro's death, he couldn't as the surrounding hollows screamed a loud rallying call. Ichigo's stunt had called the attention to all hollows in the city of a strong soul that their starved bodies couldn't resist, even if it meant death. Ichigo stood guard over Shizuka as she stared uncomprehendingly at Ginjiro's severed head and arm lying on the ground.
"Shizuka," Ichigo prodded, getting no response. "Shizuka!" he said louder, with still no answer. "Damn it!" Ichigo cursed. She was in shock. Ichigo needed to find somewhere safe to put her so he could take care of all the hollows. Using a getsuga would kill all the small fry, but it would also kill hundreds of humans living in the city. While the surrounding hollows were hesitant to attack immediately, Ichigo took the chance to see his shikai once again.
In his right hand, he held a familiar looking kyber knife-like sword with only a slight alteration, there was a chain that came out the end that wrapped up his arm. In his left was a black sword that looked like a trench knife. Unlike its counter part, it looked exactly the same as when he first retrieved it from Ōetsu Namaiya's forge in the Soul King's realm. However Old Man Zangetsu was quick to change his theory.
"Ichigo follow me," the Old Man said in his head. Allowing the Old Man to guide his movements, Ichigo moved in tandem and raised his left sword and gathered his reiatsu like he was about to fire off a Getsuga, but as he swung instead of a singular energy blade came dozens of small crescents that arced through the air homing in to incinerate the closest hollow.
"I will teach you how to change the trajectory of the fangs, but it will take some practice," the Old Man said.
"Doesn't everything worthwhile require such effort?" Ichigo quipped, before throwing Shizuka over his shoulder. He vanished into a shunpō to travel back to the clearing they had arrived where he knew some shinigami were surely fighting.
His class had started to gather in their retreat from the swarm of hollows that continued to amass from Hueco Mundo. It looked like no one had escaped without some form of injury. Rangiku, Yukino, and the other remaining classmates were working together in guarding a group of fallen students who were being treated by an officer. The few members of the Gotei 13 were doing their best to eliminate the stronger hollows in the area to prevent the students from being completely overwhelmed. Ichigo flash stepped into the circle leaving Shizuka next to the officer and reported her just being in a state of shock before joining the others in the defense. Ichigo made a vow as he jumped back into the frey. No one else was going to die. Not while he could still move and breathe.
A six limbed hollow stood in the clouds, its large bug eyes viewing the efforts of the shinigami below it with amusement.
"Begin stage two," it said. "Ambush the stragglers. We'll take them down one at a time until even the strongest fall, but leave that orange haired brat alive for me." As its subordinates nodded and left it stayed watching its prey. The adjuchas had the greatest desire of becoming a vasto lorde, but for the last few years it had found itself incapable of passing the threshold. No matter how many souls it consumed or hollows it had beaten and killed it was never enough.
Then one day an arrogant glasses-wearing shinigami with brown hair came and offered it a deal, it would offer him powerful souls in exchange for its loyalty. The hollow wasn't inclined to take orders but it could feel the strength of the shinigami before it. So the hollow planned to play along until it evolved and became strong enough to devour the arrogant shinigami itself. And what a feast lay before it. The hollow felt like salivating at the feel of the souls in the air. All it was asked to do by the shinigami was to eat the orange haired student, the rest of the students were free pickings if it desired, and it very much desired devouring the delicious smelling souls before it.
The praying mantis observed the shinigami protecting the injured and smiled wickedly. A perfect target. It charged a cero, almost as much as it could fit into it, before it unleashed the blast downwards aiming for the center of the group.
It wasn't a startling realization for Ichigo as the hairs on his neck stood on end in warning of the incoming cero. Some students screamed in fear and the officer behind him had a resigned look on his face believing his fate to be sealed. "Now that wouldn't do," Ichigo thought, wreathing a Getsuga around his larger blade and waited until the last moment before slashing upwards letting a black crescent meet the red beam. The red blast collided with the black for a moment looking as if it would pierce through before the density of Ichigo's reiatsu swallowed the beam and shot skyward narrowly missing the hollow who was forced to dodge.
The hollow clicked its tongue in annoyance at its surprise attack failing and blurred away in a sonido to hide hoping to escape Ichigo's senses to wait for another opening. Ichigo wanted to pursue but growled in annoyance knowing if he chased the hollow, it would leave an opening in the defense of the injured. It was then that Ichigo realized where he had sensed that reiatsu before; Nnoitra Gilga, the cowardly espada who broke Nel's mask. He only ever prays on the defeated or weak and calls himself strong. Ichigo was almost satisfied knowing that the hollow was here. Nel was his friend and he wanted to personally pay him back for the pain he caused her and the curb stomp the hollow had given him after he had exhausted himself from fighting Grimmjow.
Nnoitra's followers chose that moment to strike. Rangiku and Yukino still teamed together and took on a humanoid snake hollow that spit acid. Ichigo charged to meet another who jumped from shadow to shadow that melded within it who attempted to bite an unsuspecting student facing off against a couple of weak hollows. Its glowing green eyes were filled with annoyance that Ichigo interfered in its ambush. It jumped backwards and sunk into the ground before attacking from another angle.
Ichigo met its stabbing claws with his wakizashi while Zangetsu's larger blade blurred behind and ripped a chunk out of its side. The hollow screamed in pain and attempted to retreat again, but Ichigo shunpōed to meet it. The hollow whipped its head around in fear for another shadow to hide in but found a crushing grip on its arm. With its mobility halted Ichigo jerked its arm and stabbed straight through the hollows head leaving a second hole in its body. The hollow reached disbelievingly at its mask for a moment before it fell to the ground, starting its journey to decay.
Ichigo scanned the battlefield taking a moment to search for any other higher tiered hollows. Yukino and Rangiku were struggling with their opponent. The snake had yet to make a significant blow to either of them, but its strength far exceeded their own and the girls were only able to scratch through the hierro of the recently evolved adjuchas menos. The only thing allowing them to stay ahead of the hollow was their agility.
Five students were attacking a bull-like hollow that was smashing the ground causing tremors every time its front legs impacted the dirt. It was firing balas from its horns in between the tremors to disorient any proper defense the students could muster, causing them to constantly be on the back foot until finally one particularly brave student rushed in by jumping in the air to slash its hind leg. He was rewarded with a hoof print indentation to his ribs and blown backwards coughing blood. However the pause in tremors gave the others the chance to surround the hollow and slash its flank. A student cast bakudo #1: sho to temporarily halt its movements creating an opening and its mask was slashed apart with triumph.
Ichigo glimpsed another three hollows in the clearing that were meeting similar fates from the shinigami unseated officers before he jumped in to assist Rangiku and Yukino. Ichigo appeared behind its back intending on separating its spine, but as if it had eyes on the back of its head, the hollow moved just enough to dodge his blade.
Ichigo was undeterred and pursued the hollow ducking below a retaliatory strike and swiped its scaled legs out from underneath it. Zangetsu stabbed down piercing the upper right of its chest before he had to abandon the attack.
"Get back," Ichigo screamed, the hollow exploded into a venomous acid that melted and burned everything in its path. Ichigo swung in an upper cut trying to disperse some of the attack into the sky, the air pressure alone flinging most of it into the clouds, but some unfortunate students were still sent to the ground writhing in pain as the acid went into their pores and bloodstream.
Yukino went down with a silent scream, biting her lip into a bloody mess to conceal her agony as she shook on the ground. Ichigo watched as the venom just seeped into her skin like it had a mind of its own seeking the path of least resistance.
Hoping to get rid of what little acid he could, Ichigo decided to try something a little risky. Reiatsu could act as a spiritual barrier against outside attacks, but only someone with a lot of spiritual power could use it effectively as a shield as it cloaks the outside of your skin. Ichigo was hardly the most knowledgeable about the intricacies in manipulating reiatsu, but he hoped his training all those months paid off. He created a tendril acting like a scalpel shearing off a layer of the venom which fell to the ground in a grotesque splatter. It wasn't deep enough, so Ichigo tried digging a little deeper. This time Yukino thrashed and shouted as Ichigo cut down, his makeshift knife removed most of the venom in her arm, but he also was using his own reiryoku in a violent way in someone else's body.
The most important skill in Kaido is learning how to safely and effectively use your own power to enter someone else's and allow their own power to assist in the healing process. How quickly you can transfer your reiryoku into another is what determines your skill along with the efficiency of how much is wasted in the transfer process. However the issue is safety; there is a reason why only some officers are knowledgeable in the art of Kaido and that is because learning to overcome the hurdle of properly transferring your power into someone else is like transplanting an organ or transferring blood. Your power has to be accepted by the recipient and work alongside the donor's power or else they will tear each other apart.
So, despite Ichigo's good intentions in getting rid of the poison, Yukino's soul is reading Ichigo's reiryoku as a threat and trying to repel it. But if there was only one word that could be used to describe Ichigo it was that he was stubborn. With laser-like focus, Ichigo ignored Yukino's attempts with regret knowing he was hurting her, but also knowing if he didn't the venom would likely kill her.
Ichigo closed his eyes and used his senses to follow the trail and at last cut deep enough and wrapped his reiryoku around the acid and expelled the rest out of her arm. Relieved the hard part was over with, he started properly transferring his reiryoku into Yukino to begin healing on its own. Ichigo set Yukino in the temporary medical center before repeating his process on another five students. The procedure wasn't physically taxing on Ichigo, but damn him if it wasn't mentally exhausting keeping such an intense focus on an unfamiliar use of reiryoku manipulation.
It was finally quiet as the majority of the hollows left seeing the strongest hollows slaughtered. Ichigo could still sense several hollows in the city, but paid it no mind as weariness settled on his shoulders.
"Shiba-san?" Ichigo lifted his head towards the voice. When did he drop his head? "That was quite something. I've never seen someone do something so reckless in healing a fellow shinigami. Any chance you desire to join squad four in the future? I am sure I can convince my captain to accept you as an officer."
Ichigo snorted at the offer. "Thanks, but no thanks. I never want to do that again. My head feels like it's splitting in half."
The officer smiled resignedly as if he knew that would be his answer. "Well regardless, on behalf of my fellow squad mates, we thank you for your assistance." Snapping into a short salute he left to further attend in healing the other students. Ichigo collapsed with his hands supporting himself in a sitting position. He just managed to close his eyes and tipped his head to the stars breaking through the darkening sky as he felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.
"Ugh, what now?" he thought, sitting forward to subtly retrieve his swords. Whipping himself around just in time to clash on two scythe arms slashing down on him. Ichigo heard a startled cry of, "What?" before he was blown out of the clearing and deeper into the woods away from the city. Nnoitra had returned with a vengeance bearing a savage smile, his golden eyes glinting with sadistic cruelty.
"You really are a resilient shinigami, aren't you?" Gilga cackled. "Well so am I!" With a heave of effort, Nnoitra twisted its body using its massive form to throw Ichigo off balance. As two of its arms came slashing in an "x" pattern, Ichigo raised his wakizashi to deflect the blows before having to dodge two more scythe arms coming from the sides. Or was it legs? Nnoitra growled at his failed surprise attack before expelling a lot of reiatsu into his uppermost arms causing the arms to bulge until they transformed into larger forms of scythes.
"Huh, you know most girls say size doesn't matter," Ichigo quipped. Nnoitra actually chuckled before his eyes narrowed as he snapped, "there are better uses for a woman's mouth than words." Ichigo almost forgot how on top of being a coward, Nnoitra was a top of the line sexist and hated how both Nel and Tia were higher ranked than him. Ichigo's mouth tightened into a deeper scowl than it usually was. Having many females presences in his life that he admired, most notably Captain Unohana and Yoruichi who would take delight in curb stomping whatever little shit said that to their face, and two younger sisters and an older sister in the form of Kukaku, Ichigo felt it was his duty in dragging out Nnoitra's death in a slightly more…painful way.
A wordless Getsuga launched out of Zangetsu's larger blade, the attack nearly impacting Gilga before his four arms intercepted and dispersed the Getsuga. Ichigo shunpōed behind him and cut off the lower arms, his Hierro barely causing him strain before retreating a couple feet to just dodge the larger arms. As the arms impacted the dirt, Ichigo rushed in close and slammed a pommel into the hollow's ribs, a harsh crack announcing the break before flashing behind Nnoitra once again. The scythe arms acted like whips in their pursuit of Ichigo. There was a squelching sound as the hollow's ribs returned back into position with a slightly noticeable dip in his reiatsu. Instant regeneration was a real pain in the ass.
Ichigo heard the rattle of the chain on his right blade and suddenly had an idea. On his next charge he let Nnoitra believe he was going to attempt the same attack again as he shunpōed behind him before vanishing in a sporadic display of speed. Multiple images of Ichigo appeared around the hollow who was whipping his head back and forth in a good attempt at following him. Gilga attempted to send out a pulse of Pesquisa through one of his arms just as Ichigo threw his larger blade and jerked his arm, the blade swinging tightly around the hollows upper limbs. Nnoitra pushed one of his lower arms to halt the squeezing chains and glared bloody murder at Ichigo.
"You think your weak chains will kill me?" He howled, as the chains grated and sparked against the hollow's Hierro; the chains pressed into skin but were unable to pierce through.
"No," Ichigo smirked. "Getsuga Tenshō!" Black reiatsu rushed down the chain in a flash before it reached the tip of his blade and exploded.
Dush shot everywhere as Gilga roared in agony. The chain disappeared in the explosion and Nnoitra rushed at Ichigo in a blind rage. Ichigo saw the charred body and cracked mask of Gilga as the hollow screamed in rage. With the broken mask, the hollow would never be able to further evolve. While he wanted to smirk at destroying the hollow's dreams in turning into a vasto lorde, Ichigo was slightly unprepared for how quickly the hollow recovered and let the hollow get too close. Ichigo cursed and let out a burst of reiatsu creating a barrier before the scythe had a chance aiming for his face.
Ichigo's brain rattled with the blow as he was sent crashing through a boulder head first. His head was harder than rocks. Wait, that makes him sound stupid. He was denser- nope that's just as bad. Ichigo swore he would never tell anyone about almost saying that out loud as he shook his head from the surprise attack. Ichigo had had enough. He would end this with one blow. He started channeling reiatsu into Old Man Zangetsu's blade as he turned to face Nnoitra Gilga for the last time. But just as the rampaging hollow could get within ten meters of the young Shiba, the hollow collapsed to the ground with dozens of glowing knives sticking out of its back and head. Ichigo was slightly put out as he canceled his attack. Who interfered?
Ichigo was stunned at the petite form that quietly stepped from behind the large hollow. Dressed in a maids uniform and a demure smile that seemed very out of place after killing the hollow was Watanabe Misaka.
"Hello Shiba-dono," she greeted politely. "Do you need any further assistance?" Ichigo swore he could see a teasing glint in her eyes before she closed them in a mock attempt to copy Captain Unohana and closed her eyes before she tilted her head in faux innocence. Ichigo knew he was surrounded by crazies.
[AN: Hi! I'm back. I know I disappointed a lot of you when I said I'd be back with the next chapter in a few days. *cough* six months *cough* But I was moving and then started school and stress caught up to me. When I tried coming back to the story nothing seemed right and I couldn't keep in character. There are probably a few scenes where you can catch that, but *shrugs* I don't know. Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and had a nice Thanksgiving and wish you a happy Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, etc. holidays all around. I will attempt to get another chapter out before the new years and after my semester is over, but this time I make no promises. Finals are a bitch. Anyway, Review, Share, Favorite, and all that fun Jazz.
P.s. Can anyone explain why in the "Invasion of Soul Society" Arc the captains never attempted to use the Spirit Ribbon technique to find Ichigo's friends? They should have been the only white ribbons in a sea of red in Seireitei. And Ichigo's reiatsu was so high at the time they should have easily cornered him. Plot armor at its finest.]
-EmberPhoenix
