Chapter 3: "Make Yourself At Home"
As the purple and black energy began to die down around her body, Aizen watched in amazement as Ichigo stood up. She had drastically changed because of the Hogyoku's and Aizen's will to protect her. The most noticeable changes were the mask fragment on the right side of her face just below her eye, and black markings over certain parts of her body. Her skin was still the same as before minus the black markings, and her hair was still the same length. She also had a white horn sticking out of the top right of her head and some red fur around her wrist and ankles. She was also naked, much to Aizen's astonishment at her amazing body. Ichigo looked so smooth yet toned for a young woman, and she had curves and size in all the right places.
Ichigo stood there for a moment in a dizzying daze for few seconds before regaining her senses. She looked over to see Aizen standing there with his jaw dropped as he stared intently at her. She didn't know why he was doing this until she felt a very cold breeze around her body. She moved her arms around herself to warm up only to feel no clothes on her. Ichigo looked down and saw that, to her horror, she was naked and immediately covered herself up.
"What just happened!?" She yelled as she was failing at keeping her blush off her face.
Aizen was still staring at her when she said that and shook his head to get his mind back to the subject at hand. "Your inner hollow was attempting to take over your body as soon as you came through the garganta." He walked to a drawer and pulled out some clothes. They were almost like her original soul reaper clothes only white now. Aizen handed them to her and she covered herself with them much to Aizen's disappointment. He continued while she was getting dressed. "I used the Hogyoku along with my own will to tame your hollow by making you and it one."
Those words stopped her in her tracks as she was putting the pants on. "What do you mean make us one?"
"Just like how I did with individuals over a century ago, forcing a bond between a soul reaper and a hollow, with you all I had to do was make you two whole. This way, you no longer have to worry about your inner hollow and you gain its powers as well." Aizen finished as he went over and placed a hand on her clear cheek. Ichigo once again felt his warmth again and fell into his warm embrace.
After a short while, Ichigo backed away and looked around the large room. It had a large bed with purple sheets on it and large white pillows on each side. There were three drawers on each wall of the room that wasn't near the bed and a door leading into what she could assume was a bathroom. Aizen noticed her wondering eyes and smiled at her.
"This is the room you'll be staying in." He said, getting her attention.
Ichigo looked around again and looked to the bed with a questioning eye. "That bed is pretty big if I'm the only one sleeping in it."
"That's true." Aizen started as he wrapped his arms around her neck gently. "That's why I'm staying in here with you."
Ichigo's blush was in full now. She had no idea how to react to hearing those words coming out of his mouth. "Y-y-you don't have to." She said with a shaky voice.
"But I need to Ichigo. After all, this is my room." He said in his smooth voice.
Ichigo was completely stunned from hearing that and didn't know how to react once again. Aizen noticed this and chuckled under his breath. He let go of her, ceasing the warmth he had provided her and turned to the door. She turned to him and wondered why he let her go.
"Get dressed Ichigo. When your done, these two will lead you to where my espada are." He said to her with a genuine smile again as two girls, one a blonde and the other with dark hair in pigtails, came around the corner of the door. "And when we're done in there, you can make yourself at home."
Aizen left the room and the two went inside to greet her with a bow.
"My name is Menoly." The blonde said.
"And mine is Loly." The pigtails one finished. "We're Lord Aizen's personal servants, and now that makes us yours as well."
Ichigo looked at the two confused, but shrugged it off. She finished dressing and walked up to the two. "So, where exactly is this meeting room supposed to be?"
"Right this way." Menoly started as they walked out of the room. Ichigo followed the two and tried her hardest to memorize the path it was to get to Aizen's room and to the meeting room. When they made it to the large double doors, both Menoly and Loly bowed to her and left. Ichigo watched them and had a vague feeling that those two were jealous for some reason. She shrugged it off and opened the doors. When she did, all eyes were on her. Ichigo stood there, stunned for a brief moment before feeling a familiar hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw that it was Aizen's hand on her shoulder. His warmth once again was once again with her.
"My espada." He started. "Welcome our newest espada, Ichigo Kurosaki."
Soul Society, Captain's Meeting
The captains stood there and awaited the final captain to show. After a few minutes, captain Hitsugaya showed up and took his place with his fellow captains. Once he was in place, the head captain banged his cane down on the ground to get everything started.
"This urgent meeting pertains to Ichigo Kurosaki!" The old man bellowed out loudly. "From the report we received from captain Hitsugaya and his group, Aizen has somehow found a way to sway the young but powerful girl to his side. This situation calls for an immediate action."
Everyone looked to the head captain confused. They didn't know what he was going to say, but if he were to issue for a capture or kill order, then it would mean very bad news for the orange haired girl.
"Master." Ukitake started as he stepped out of line. "Are you implying on killing her?"
The head captain sighed. "It seems that is what it might take. Aizen has a sharp tongue and a cold and calculative mind. Whatever he has said to the girl has made her willingly go to him. It seems we have no choice but to consider Ichigo Kurosaki an enemy of the soul society now."
His words cut a few captains deep. Mainly Byakuya and Ukitake. The two both knew that both Rukia and Renji were going to be devastated when they heard this news.
"We will have Kisuke Urahara prepare some kind of device to suppress the substitutes power before doing anything rash to the girl." The head captain said after a moment of silence. This brought a collective sigh by a few of the captains. "Captain Hitsugaya and his group will stay in the world of the living and continue to keep watch, should Ichigo Kurosaki attempt to make contact with her family." Toshiro nodded to the head captain in response. "Once we have neutralized Ichigo Kurosaki, we will have an upper hand on Aizen. Dismissed." He banged his cane on the ground and the captains left.
As the captains left, Byakuya noticed his sister and lieutenant walk up to him. Before they got to him, he sighed, hoping they wouldn't react too badly to the report.
"Brother." Rukia started.
"Captain." Renji started.
They both looked considerably worried at whatever the news was going to be. Byakuya let out another sigh and started.
"The head captain has stated that Ichigo Kurosaki is to be considered an enemy to the soul society from now on." He started with his eyes closed.
Both Rukia and Renji gasped at this news. They were about to protest until Byakuya held up his hand to stop them.
"Before you two get emotionally involved in this too much, Kisuke Urahara is being tasked with making a device to neutralize her powers. That way we can simply capture her and not kill her." He said to them.
"Oh thank goodness." Rukia sighed in relief followed by Renji.
"Captain." Renji started with a determined tone of voice. "Do we know how Aizen was able to sway Ichigo over to him?"
"Not sure." Byakuya started while placing a hand under his chin. "But I have a feeling Kisuke would remotely know at least. Go check with him when you leave, both of you."
The two both nodded and left to head back to the world of the living. As they walked along in the Dangai, both of them were very apprehensive to talk about their actual thoughts on this whole matter. Rukia felt a sense of betrayal and hurt from her friend. How could she side with the enemy so easily and after only a few days? Renji was the most devastated. After his first confrontation with her, and feeling just how powerful she was, he had started to develop strange feelings for her. After their second confrontation, Renji knew that he would eventually have to tell her exactly how he felt. Now, he was too late.
"Kuchiki! Abarai!" Toshiro yelled to them. They both looked up and noticed that they were now in front of Kisuke's shop. "If you two are done spacing out, we have work to do."
The young captain along with the rest went in and were greeted by Tessai. He showed them to the back in the labs where Kisuke was working relentlessly. He stopped when Tessai called to him.
"We have visitors from the soul society boss." The tall man said to him.
Kisuke stopped working stood up to them. "Well, I see that this must be urgent if the head captain sent so many to me." He said in a tired tone behind his fan.
"As I'm sure well aware of Urahara." Toshiro started. "Aizen has Ichigo Kurosaki now." The words made the shop owner seethe behind his fan so no one would notice. "The head captain doesn't want Ichigo dead as I'm sure you don't as well. He wants you to develop some kind of device that could neutralize her spirit energy. Can you do that Urahara?"
Kisuke took a breath and brought down his fan. He now had his usual, goofy look again. An obvious facade to Tessai and Yoruichi who was listening in from the other side of a wall. "Of coarse. I'll start making it right now actually. Seems Aizen got us with the greatest trick of all time."
"And what would that be?" Ikkaku asked.
"Hit us when we least expect it. Right after he leaves." Kisuke said as he sat back down in his chair to start working. "Now if you all excuse me, I have a device to make."
The group nodded and left. Much to Kisuke's surprise, neither Renji or Rukia said a single word to him pertaining to Ichigo. That made him worry.
When the group left the shop and were clearly out of earshot, both Tessai and Yoruichi walked into the lab. Kisuke looked to them and sighed in defeat. He leaned back in his chair and started to just sit there.
"You don't know how she got to him yet, do you?" Yoruichi asked him.
"My theory is that whenever he got to her, he gave her some sort of device to bring her to him. But what I don't get it is why didn't he just take her away when he had the chance?" Kisuke felt as if he had failed in keeping Ichigo prepared and ready for anything. He was prepared to turn her over to Shinji so he and his group of Vizards could help her control her hollow. And he was even more prepared to train her if necessary, but now those plans were out the window.
"What are ya gonna do boss?" Tessai asked in a serious tone.
Kisuke sighed and turned to them. "Make something I know I'll regret, again."
Espada Meeting Room
Everyone was stunned by Aizen's words. Even Tousen and Gin were shocked by what they just heard. At first there was silence, a deafening silence, but then an uproar by a few of the espada.
"YOU GOTTA BE FUCKIN KIDDING ME!?" Nnoitra shouted among them.
"First you expect us to welcome another soul reaper here with open arms and now you say she is ranked among us!?" Barragan was livid. "Why should she even be in our league anyway!?"
"Even I have to admit Cap'n Aizen," Gin said without a smirk on his face. "How exactly is she an espada in any sense of the word?"
Aizen didn't let his smirk leave his face even once. He turned to Ichigo who had the most confused expression out of everyone. Aizen smiled at her and turned her toward the others in the room. He proceeded to move his hand over Ichigo's hair and parted it to the right of her head near the horn she had. Everyone looked at what they were seeing and was in absolute shock. Ichigo noticed this and said her first words since she stepped into the meeting room.
"What's wrong?" She asked and soon enough, Aizen let her hair go. She turned to him and could tell from his grin to her that it was something spectacular. "What?"
He turned to the rest of the espada and his two lieutenants with the same smirk. "As you all saw, she is now our new cero espada."
"But how!?" Yammy slammed his fist into the table, causing it to shake. "I'm the cero espada! And I'm ten times more powerful than some soul reaper who has a hollow inside her!" He stood up and looked at Ichigo with pure rage, expecting Ichigo to quake out of fear where she stands. Only she stood her ground and matched the big guys glare with a scowl of her own.
"Hmm." Aizen started while rubbing his chin. This caught everyone's attention as he snapped his fingers. "Seeing as though Yammy proves quite a point, I see no reason for two cero espada. So, we are going to have a duel between the two and whoever wins is the new and permanent Alpha espada."
The room was silent for a brief moment before Ichigo of all people spoke up first. "What's the difference between the two?"
Aizen smiled at her and answered. "The cero espada marks the most powerful of the ten espada. But the Alpha espada marks an arrancar that surpasses all the espada and every other hollow all together. Since Yammy is in fact the cero espada and the Hogyoku has deemed you the cero espada as well, the only logical choice is to have you two face each other for the right to be called the Alpha."
Yammy had a mad grin across his face and was staring intently at Ichigo. Ichigo didn't back down from his look.
"Then lets do this." Yammy started. "I'll crush this little girl before she can even lay a hand on me."
"Ready when you are, dumbass." Ichigo retorted, causing a chuckle from Grimmjow.
"I like this girl." Grimmjow said.
With that, Aizen led everyone outside to the open area of Las Noches. Both Ichigo and Yammy stood in front of each other and stared the other down. Aizen smirked at the thought of Ichigo showing just what she could do, and he was also very curious to see just how powerful she had become. Yammy cracked his neck and slammed his fist into his palm, causing a shock wave in the sand and air. Ichigo wasn't even phased.
"Lets do this! I'm gonna tear you limb from limb!" He shouted to her.
He charged straight at her before she had the time to even retort. As soon as he was in arms reach, he went for a punch, and to everyone's, especially Aizen's, surprise, Ichigo was sent flying. She had a blank expression on her face as she was was flying through the air. Almost like she was in very deep thought about something to even register that she was in the air. Yammy didn't care if she was ready or not, he wanted that Alpha espada spot to prove he was the strongest of all. He charged a cero from his mouth and fired at her as she started to get closer to the ground. The cero sped over and hit her point blank. A large explosion was caused by the cero and nobody could see Ichigo amidst the sand and dust.
Aizen was genuinely worried. Before, he could feel Ichigo getting her reiatsu ready when they were walking outside. But now, he couldn't tell just what she was doing now. He watched as Yammy started to laugh maniacally at his victory.
"So is that it!?" He started as he pointed over to where the dust and sand were falling. "I barely broke a sweat! I guess you were all talk and not even a single challenge for me! Pathetic human! You really thought you could-"
Before he could even say another word, a shadowy figure could be seen standing up in the dust and sand. It looked like Ichigo from behind, and when she turned, her eyes were glowing red color. She raised her arm and sung it vertically to blow away the dust. Everyone gasped when they saw her condition and were shocked to see that she didn't have a single bruise or scratch along her body. He clothes were completely fine and she brought her arm in front of her to examine herself. She stared wide eyed when she noticed the difference between her original power and the power she now had. Sh felt stronger, faster and far more powerful than anything she could have dreamed of being as a soul reaper. She looked over at Yammy and smirked much to his disdain.
"I didn't even feel that." She said with her grin growing. "If that's all the cero espada's got," she started walking over to him. "Then I'm gonna be the Alpha for a long time."
Suddenly and without warning, she was gone. Yammy looked around confused, but his confusion turned to pain when he felt a fist to his face. Ichigo had punched him with her left and as he was falling, she kicked him with her left leg, sending him in the air from the sheer force of her blow. She landed on her feet and looked up with a smile on her face as her eyes continued to glow red. She held up her right arm and pointed to the large espada with her finger. A black cero with a red outline appeared and she fired straight at the big guy. The cero fired at blinding speeds and hit Yammy straight in the back, causing an even bigger explosion that rocked the entire palace. Ichigo's eyes went back to their normal brown color and she watched with a surprised look on her face of what she had done. When the bright flash of light subsided and sight was brought back to everyone again, they saw two things. One, they saw Yammy fall to the ground with half of his body disintegrated, and two, they saw the massive hole in the ceiling of Las Noches. Ichigo walked back over to the group and stood in front of Aizen with a smile on her face.
"So I guess that makes me the Alpha, right?" She asked him as she crossed her arms.
Aizen smirked at her and nodded. "Yes it does. Yes it most certainly does." He turned to the shocked espada and two former captains and smirked. "Are there any objections to this?" He asked while Ichigo let her eyes glow red again.
There were no longer any protest to Ichigo being among their ranks, nor any of her previously being a soul reaper. They all looked back to the damage that she had caused and noticed that that wasn't even with her zanpakuto.
"Alright then." Aizen started as he turned to Szayel. "Get Yammy back on his feet as soon as you possibly can Szayel." He received a nod from the pink haired man and continued. "In a few weeks, we'll launch a reconnaissance mission to Karakura town to assess the stationed soul reapers' power. Ichigo and Ulquiorra will be going on this mission. Is that clear?"
"Sounds pretty simple to me." Ichigo said with a grin.
"Understood Lord Aizen." Ulquiorra said with a small bow.
They espada all dispersed among themselves. Szayel took Yammy back to his lab and was going to enjoy figuring out just how powerful Ichigo was. Aizen stayed behind with Ichigo when everyone else left and smiled at her. The two were alone and he couldn't contain his happiness for her. He hugged her gently like before and Ichigo leaned into the embrace to feel his warmth again. After a few seconds, he released her.
"You should rest. For tomorrow, I'll have Tia train you to control your new power." He kissed her on the forehead, much to Ichigo's joy. "You were beautiful." With that, Aizen let her go completely. "I have to go and check on a few things. I'll find you when I'm done,okay?" She nodded to him and smiled. Aizen went back inside and made his way down a hallway before Ichigo lost track of him.
Ichigo made her way up the to the top of the tallest area inside Las Noches and looked out to the beautiful sands of the palace. She sat down and took in the sight in peace. The fake sun was warm against her skin and for a very brief moment, she felt like she was in Aizen's embrace again.
"That was very impressive." A voice came to her. Ichigo looked to her right and saw the pale espada that Aizen had mentioned was going with her in a few weeks. "I've never seen a cero with that much precise power before. I look forward to seeing how you progress in these coming weeks."
"Thanks." Ichigo started. "I hope that I don't disappoint anyone now."
Ulquiorra cocked his head to her. "What exactly do you mean?"
"I'm the Alpha espada now. The highest of hollows apparently." Ichigo looked back at the bright sands again and leaned on her hands. "I was never told of what hollows were really like or the hierarchy that they have. Now I'm on the top of that hierarchy, and I won't let any of you down."
Ulquiorra was surprised at how she wanted to treat the other hollows below her now. Almost as if she wanted to protect them in case they came across someone far more powerful than them. "I understand." Ulquiorra started. "Then I'll make sure not to disappoint you when the war starts."
"Thanks Ulquiorra." Ichigo said to him with a grin.
That's The End Of Another Chapter. I'm Updating This One To Get A Good Sense Of How The Ichigo Vs Aizen Fight In My Other Story Should Be Like. Never Really Wrote A Full On Fight Scene Before, So I Hope This Was Good. What Did Ya'll Think Of It. LOL.
For The Record, The Only Pairing That Is Set In Stone For This Chapter Is FemIchiXAizen. That's Not Changing At All.
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