The Whole Hollow

Chapter 7

Hello all my readers. I am pleased to say that I believe that I'm close to making a decision on what the pairing shall be for this story. Right now I'm leaning toward IchigoXSung-Sun because that pairing is not as widely used as IchigoXHarribel. Plus I've been sorta leading up to it in my plans for the story.

Now, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and if someone could come up with a good artwork for the cover of this fic, I would be appreciative.

It had been several weeks since Ichigo had arrived in Hueco Mundo and joined up with Harribel's group. He had become close with them, seeing him as an extension of his friends in Karakura. He told them stories of his life back home, from when he was human and after he had transformed. Things were going well for Ichigo, but that changed when he received a surprise visit from Urahara.

He had been resting in the cave that the group used as their lair during what passed as night in Hueco Mundo, when a Garganta opened at the mouth of the cave, and Urahara stepped out clad in Shinigami robes. The girls quickly leapt up and surrounded the Shinigami exile as he walked up.

"Hold on now," said Urahara cheerily, "I'm not here to fight any of you."

"Like hell, Shinigami!" growled Apacci, "Your kind always hunts us down!"

"I'm just here to see Ichigo-kun!" said Urahara as he put his sword on the ground and held his hands up, "I have important news."

"What is it, Urahara?" asked Ichigo as he walked forward.

"You know this guy, Kurosaki?" said Mila Rose in surprise.

"Unfortunately," sighed Ichigo, "so what do you want, Urahara?"

"My," smirked Kisuke, "I send you to the realm of Hollows and you already have a group of women traveling with you."

Urahara would have said more, but a quick swipe from Ichigo's claw knocked the bucket hat from his head, leaving it to fall to the ground in pieces.

"Cut the crap, Geta-boshi," growled Ichigo, "why are you here?"

Unknown to the two males, when Kisuke had mentioned Ichigo having girls following him, Sung-Sun had blushed slightly and glanced at the Strawberry Protector shyly. This action wasn't unnoticed by Harribel however, but she chose not to say anything and kept an eye on the new arrival.

Urahara sighed and gained a serious look in his eye, "Ichigo, Karakura was attacked."

"WHAT?" exclaimed Ichigo, "Is everyone all right? Who did it? What did they want?"

"Perhaps I should explain from the beginning," said Urahara grimly.

xXflashbackXx

Ever since Ichigo had left for Hueco Mundo to keep his powerful Reiatsu from adversely affecting his friends and family, Ichigo's friends in Karakura had stepped up their training in order to keep up with the Hollow activity in the city. Currently, Tatsuki and Chad were having a spar with Kensei and Lisa in the Visored Training Ground.

The group had met the former Shinigami when Urahara introduced them as people that could hopefully help Ichigo learn to control his Hollow abilities. The two groups had a sort of rough start due to some clashing personalities, but they soon found common ground and began to work together. Tatsuki had even been learning some Hakuda and Hohou techniques, due to her not having any noticeable abilities other than a significant amount of spiritual awareness and power for a human. It was thanks to them that Chad had developed his arm, his Brazo Derecho del Gigante, or the Right Arm of the Giant, and that Tatsuki was able to injure a Adjuchas Hollow with her fists.

Orihime gained training from them as well. She had bonded with the Visored's Kido specialist, Hachigen Ushōda due to the similarity of his brand of Kido and her own abilities, and he had worked with her to strengthen her powers in order to help her friends, even teaching her some Bakudo spells as well to further protect them.

"I think that's enough for today," said Hirako Shinji, the blond leader of the Visored, "You kids should head home and get some sleep."

The Karakura group stopped what they were doing and bowed to their sensei before heading back into the town.

"Do they have to call us kids?" huffed Tatsuki.

"To be fair," said Orihime, "they are several centuries older than we are."

"I guess you have a point there," said Tatsuki, "and they are good teachers."

Suddenly, the three of them stopped as they felt an influx of Reiatsu. In front of the group, a set of Japanese paper doors appeared out of thin air and opened, allowing two figures to step out. One had messy black hair and a harsh look in his eyes. He had a tattoo of a 69 on his cheek and wore a Shinigami uniform with the sleeves torn off and black bands on his arms. Tied around his left arm was a badge with the kanji for nine on it. The other figure was a man with tanned skin and dark purple hair. He wore an orange scarf on his neck and a set of opaque glasses that covered his face. He also wore a Shinigami uniform but wore a white cloak over it as well.

"So this is the place, taicho," muttered the first person.

"It would seem so," said the second man.

"Who the hell are you people," said Tatsuki, "and what are you doing here?"

"It seems these humans can see us, Tousen-taicho," mused the first man.

"It is not surprising," said the one named Tousen, "they have an unusually large amount of spiritual power for humans. We are not here for you children. We are here to apprehend Rukia Kuchiki for allowing a powerful Hollow to roam free in this town and to eliminate said Hollow."

"Ichigo-kun," gasped Orihime, causing Tousen to turn his head to regard her.

"So you know this Hollow," he said, raising an eyebrow behind his glasses, "tell us where we can find him and Kuchiki and you won't be harmed."

"I'm afraid we can't do that," said Chad as he transformed his right arm.

"We won't let you touch our friend," said Tatsuki as she got into a stance and pulled on her metal gauntlets, "and Kuchiki shouldn't be punished for this."

"You would stand in the way of justice?" asked Tousen.

"Cut the crap!" said Tatsuki, "How is any of this justice? Ichigo hasn't done anything wrong, so there was no reason for Kuchiki to execute him."

"Kuchiki-san hasn't done anything wrong," said Chad, "she shouldn't be punished for this."

"Enough," said Tousen as he drew his blade, "the words of humans will not sway the decision of the Central 46. Hisagi, deal with them while I apprehend Kuchiki."

"Hai, taicho," said the second man as he drew his katana as well.

Tousen Hisagi as a blur with her fist cocked back, only for Hisagi to intercept.

Hisagi's eyes widened as he brought his sword up in time to block the punch, the force behind it surprising him considering it was a human throwing the punch. He wasn't given a chance to recover as Tatsuki appeared behind him in a flash of movement and slammed him with several punches and kicks that sent him flying into a wall.

"Impressive," said Hisagi as he pulled himself out of the wall, "but not enough. Hado #1: Sho!"

Hisagi pointed his finger at Tatsuki, and she was suddenly blasted back by a wave of force. Hisagi advanced on her, but was forced to jump out of the way from a blast of energy that tore a trench in the ground. Turning, he saw Chad with his armored fist extended and slightly smoking from his attack.

"How do you humans have such power?" asked Hisagi, "No matter. You will not interfere. Reap: Kazeshini!"

Hisagi's sword glowed and morphed into a pair of dual-bladed scythes with the blades arranged like a pinwheel, attached at the hilt by a long, thin chain.

"To think I would have to use my Shikai against mere humans," said Hisagi, "I should end this quickly."

Hisagi began to spin his scythes by the chain before hurling one end at Chad. If the Shinigami expected the gentle giant to dodge out of the way, he would be disappointed. Chad simply raised his armored hand and caught the weapon in his firm grip. Taking advantage of Hisagi's surprise, Chad gave the chain a strong tug, yanking the Shinigami out of the air and sending him falling forward into the path of a powerful kick from Tatsuki, which was augmented by the metal greaves worn on her legs.

Hisagi was knocked back and forced to release his grip on his sword, but before he could counter, he heard something that made him put as much distance between him and the humans as he could.

"Cry: Suzumushi."

Tatsuki, Chad, and Orihime, who had been watching the fight, heard a high pitched chime in their ears that was so intense in frequency that their brain was overloaded and they passed out and fell to the ground. Tousen then appeared in a blur with an unconscious Rukia.

"It's time to go, Hisagi," said Tousen as he opened a gate in the air, "we will find the Hollow later."

The two Shinigami stepped through the gate, leaving the three teens lying in the street unconscious.

xXflashback endXx

"And that's what happened," said Urahara, "your friends want to go and rescue miss Kuchiki, so I came to inform you."

Ichigo sighed and turned to the Hollows he had been traveling with, "Sorry everyone, but I'm going to have to leave for a bit."

"What?" exclaimed Apacci, "Why would you go help a Shinigami?"

"Because," said Ichigo, "it's because of me that this happened. And the Shinigami attacked the town under my protection. I'm going to teach them a lesson by kicking their asses."

"Then we wish you well," said Harribel, "I hope our paths shall cross again. Your time with us was quite interesting."

"You'll come back right, Kurosaki-kun?" asked Sung-Sun softly.

"Without a doubt," said Ichigo, "We'll definitely meet again."

With that, Ichigo tore his claw across the air, opening a Garganta in front of him that he and Kisuke stepped through before it closed.

xXsceneXx

While the Tatsuki and Chad had been fighting with Hisagi, a gate opened in a hidden room in the Urahara shop, and a man with messy brown hair and glasses stepped out, grabbing a blue, marble-like object from a stand.

"You still underestimate me, Kisuke," said the man as the air on the stand rippled and a copy of the object appeared in place of the original, "and now I shall soon have what I seek."