The Whole Hollow
Chapter 3
Thank you to all of you that have appreciated this story with Favorites, Follows, and favorable Reviews. It is all of that that has encouraged me to continue writing this story. Also, some thoughts as to what I could do to build up to Ichigo's evolution to Adjuchas level would help.
Now, shall we begin?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The next day, things returned to normal, or as normal as things got for the Karakura group. Ichigo saw his sisters off to school at the door and headed to his room to get some sleep. The activities of the previous night had left him rather tired so he wanted to get some rest now.
Meanwhile, Ichigo's friends were heading to school. They still had to keep up with their mundane lives when they weren't training or fighting Hollows after all. Their fellow classmates tended to gossip about how the most unlikely group of people became friends, but nobody messed with them. After all, both Tatsuki and Sado were quite strong and even Orihime was able to hold her own in a fistfight if needed. Between them, they held the top spots in the class, and that was because the four of them always had study groups and seeing as Uryu was the top student while still hunting Hollows, they were able to get a lot done.
The group was just getting settled in their classroom when the teacher came in with an announcement.
"Alright class," said their teacher, Misato Ochi, "today we'll be receiving a new transfer student. Please make her feel welcome."
A petite girl with short black hair and a sweet smile walked into the classroom, causing Ichigo's group to tense as they recognized her.
"Greetings," said Rukia in a sweet voice, "my name is Rukia Kuchiki. I will be transferring to Karakura High School. I shall be in your care."
xXsceneXx
"Alright, explain," Tatsuki grilled Rukia as the group of spiritually aware students met on the roof during lunch, "Why are you here?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about?" said Rukia innocently, "I'm just here to attend school."
"Really," said Uryu, "so you're saying you're not here to observe Kurosaki and us?"
"That's more of a bonus," said Rukia as she picked up a juice box and began to struggle with figuring out how it worked.
"Here," said Orihime kindly as she took the juice box and put the straw in for her.
"Oh," said Rukia in a surprised tone, "thank you."
"So why are you sticking around?" asked Uryu, "This town is well protected from Hollows. The only real job for Shinigami here is to send the souls on to the next life."
"I can't believe that you're trusting the safety of this town to a Hollow," said Rukia.
"Kurosaki-kun isn't like other Hollows," said Orihime firmly, "he's kind and caring and would never hurt any of us. He only hunts Hollows to avoid eating people. He hates killing."
"I find that hard to believe," said Rukia.
"When you two fought," said Uryu, "did he even once make an attempt to end your life?"
"That's…" began Rukia before she stopped. Thinking back on it, the Hollow they called Ichigo never tried to even attack her. He seemed to want to just go home and rest and only knocked her out so she would stop. In fact, he seemed worried when she blasted a building with Kido.
"You see," said Orihime, "Kurosaki-kun isn't like that."
"That doesn't change things," said Rukia, "I will still be observing this town and your group. I'll keep my promise though, and I'll leave the Hollow out of my reports."
"Thank you," said Orihime, "now, how about lunch? I made some curry with wasabi, blueberry jam, and red bean paste last night."
Orihime was blissfully unaware that the group was edging away from her as she took her lunch out of her bag.
xXsceneXx
"Is all this really necessary?" asked Ichigo as Urahara and his assistants hooked him up to a variety of machines.
Ever since his transformation, Ichigo was forced to go through regular checkups at the Urahara Shop to make sure that he was in good health and to make sure that his Hollow Reiatsu was under control and not adversely affecting the people around him.
"You know that it is, Kurosaki-san," said Kisuke, "we have to make sure that you have control over your abilities. We've never seen a Hollow like you before, so we don't know what to expect."
"We're ready boss," said Kisuke's large assistant, Tessai Tsukabishi as he finished setting up the machines.
"Let's begin then," said Kisuke.
Kisuke powered up the machines and they began to scan Ichigo's Reiatsu output and potency as he emitted it, showing data on the screens.
"Hmmm," said Kisuke, "looks like your Reiatsu is getting stronger and more potent with every Hollow you devour."
"Is that a bad thing?" asked Ichigo, "Doesn't that mean I'm getting more powerful?"
"That's one way to look at it," said Kisuke, "another way is that it will become increasingly harder for you to hide your presence from the Soul Society and the Gotei 13. Also, it will be harder to keep from adversely affecting your comrades with your power."
"What can I do about it?" asked Ichigo.
"I should be able to design a sort of dampener for you to wear that will help you control your power," said Kisuke, "but until it's done, you might want to have your friends finish off most of the Hollows you fight and limit how many you devour."
"Alright," said Ichigo, "thanks again, Geta-boshi."
"For now," said Kisuke as he pulled out an armband colored red white and blue and put it on Ichigo, "use this to contain your Reiatsu."
When Kisuke put it on, Ichigo could feel his power being suppressed.
"It works alright," said Ichigo, "Thanks."
"Now," said Kisuke, "I think some of the others are waiting in the training room to help with your training."
Ichigo nodded and leapt through the trapdoor that led to Urahara's underground training room. Waiting there was a group of people that Ichigo recognized well.
"Took you long enough, dumbass," said a girl with blond hair wearing a red tracksuit and sandals, "ready to have your ass kicked again?"
"I'll make you eat those words," smirked Ichigo, "Maybe those sandals too."
The group then reached to their heads and pulled, summoning Hollow masks that covered their faces. Bracing himself, Ichigo charged at them with a roar.
Sorry for the shorter chapter. This was mostly filler to lead up to Ichigo's first Hollow Evolution, granting him more power and skill. Also I repeat, he won't go Gillian. He'll go straight to Adjuchas. So any ideas how to lead up to that would help.