A little piece of Heaven

by mlickko

The first time Ichigo met a Shinigami, he died. Quickly realizing that Soul Society is no heaven, he aims to make it into one. However, turning a dream into reality is a long and difficult journey, especially if you are Kurosaki Ichigo and you stand in the center of everything. A long story of adventure, drama, conspiracies but also action.(Pairings not a main focus)

7. Chapter 6: Soul-Healing

Chapter 6: Soul-Healing (The rain full of memories)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Inner hollow/Zanpaktou speech'

xxx

The following weekend was fairly calm and peaceful and Ichigo spent it mostly locked inside of his room, immersed in books containing everything that had caught his interest. It was a nice way of relieving all the stress he had built up so far. And what interested him the most was the Seireitei and the entirety of the Soul Society. He was certain he would learn all those things in classes but one could never be fully sure. That is how he found out about the specifications he previously wasn't familiar with. For example Soul Society being a dimension similar to the World of the Living in a sense that the latter was covering the surface of the Earth while the former was covering something similar. Obviously, it was Earth too, however, with some minor differences. The whole space was cramped on a much smaller area, reaching almost six and a half thousand kilometers in circumference, making the surface to be about three times smaller than the Moon. For probably anybody else this was quite a useless information but for Ichigo, it was not. Scanning through the rest of the book's chapter, he gradually became aware just how large the Afterlife really was. It was quite simple, going from Seireitei towards the outer parts of the Rukongai, the districts were getting larger and larger until the fortieth, which was the largest. Then they were getting smaller and smaller until the last district, the eightieth with every eightieth district connected together. That was why it had taken him and Kazumi only about a week to travel from each eightieth district to another on foot while it took him and Rukia slightly longer to reach Seireitei even when going in a straight line and using Shunpo. He was now, even more than before, convinced that such a large area was impossible to control or monitor with only a bit over three thousand shinigami.

Not to mention that shinigami's main job was to perform a ritual called Konso on souls of humans, who recently passed away. That was why most of the unranked shinigami spent their days routinely traveling from Soul Society to the World of the Living; to ensure souls' calm passing on. Additionally, their job also consisted of defending them and others from hollows. And the World of the Living was a whole lot bigger place than the Soul Society.

He also found the specifications of Seireitei, which was basically a city on its own. Actually, reaching nearly two hundred kilometers in diameter, it was more of a country than a simple city. The area was practically one tenth of a whole Japan. It took Ichigo a few moments to absorb such an information.

After reading that, he skimmed through the rest of the chapters in that book. It proved to be quite useful even though data in them were mostly same as those which Rukia had already told him about. But still, they were more detailed. Such as the accurate description of Soul Society's government, describing a shady figure called the Soul King as the highest ruler. He was a… being? Ichigo was not sure about it as the book itself was quite unsure in how to refer to this 'Soul King' persona. It was because he commonly left the running of Soul Society to the Central 46 Chambers and Nobles and lived in the Royal Palace, a separate dimension in the very core of Soul Society and such, nobody had actually seen him in ages. Nobility and especially the four Great Noble Houses, were described right on the next page. There, he found the name Kuchiki.

It was an eye opener for Ichigo, to see all of which had happened in this particular Noble House. His eyes quickly flew over most of the words but slowed down when he got to House's history. He had to stop when he got to the current head of the House, Kuchiki Byakuya. There was little to read about him but what there was, was enough for Ichigo to realize he may have been too hasty in judging the young Captain.

There was also something written about the rest of the Great Noble Houses, along with the lower ones. At the end, the book mentioned a Shiba House, which was for some reason no longer considered to be a Great Noble House despite being so in the past.

He then proceeded to read about the Central 46 and began to skim through shinigami Laws and corresponding punishments for not abiding by them when a yawn told him to get a rest. Closing the book, he leaned to the right and smoothly slid from the chair and onto his bed where he turned around to lay on his back. With a jerk, he pushed his hand against a side of his head and heard a satisfying crack inside his neck that loosened up the stress within.

While enjoying the silence, he mentally went back to what Gengorō had informed him about, early in the Saturday's morning. It seemed that the instructor was really enthusiastic about Ichigo and was able to clear administration stuff needed for the change in Ichigo's classes truly fast. Even Ichigo was impressed. In his opinion it was pretty rare for a teacher to do something for a student with such care. As it stood now, even though his schedule would remain the same, Ichigo was going to have classes with different students.

His Zanjutsu class was going to be with fifth year students. Despite being impressed, Gengorō deemed it too soon for Ichigo to join sixth year students right away. Skilful with a blade, Ichigo mostly used quick wit and stuck only to those lessons he learned with Kazumi and Gengorō noticed it. He wanted him to learn everything the Academy could offer him first, before moving on and using his own style. Ichigo didn't really protest, he was fine with it. Next was Hakuda class with sixth year students. Here, Gengorō had no objections. By now, Ichigo had most of his memories back and even if he had not, his muscle memory for fighting he had achieved during his days in karate dojo and times when he had to defend himself against punks who mistook him for a delinquent was still there. Because of that he had little trouble sparing with most students. However, as Gengorō pointed out, sixth year students were being taught mixed martial arts which could prove to be a challenge even to Ichigo. It was a low-level of what the 2nd Division and mainly, its Captain, used for fighting. Hohō was the class where Ichigo was going to be with fourth year students. Originally, Gengorō planned him to be with fifth year students but decided to lower the level. Ichigo was fast and had a large stamina but his control over his Flash Steps lacked a certain finesse. Kidō and the rest of the theoretical classes were to remain with first year students as Ichigo had no real talent for the former.

When Ichigo asked what the point of having an accelerated class if even that proved to be too easy for some students was, he received a simple answer.

There were gifted students before him, like Ichimaru Gin, Shiba Kaien or Hitsugaya Tōshirō, but students like that were exceedingly rare and the rest of excellent students were far behind them, the accelerated class being enough for most of them. It would have been a waste of resources to create an extra accelerated class if only one student in a decade could attend it. That was the reason why students like him, along with Ichimaru Gin, Shiba Kaien and Hitsugaya Tōshirō, had been simply put in classes with their upperclassmen.

'Well, can't argue with that.' Ichigo thought.

The rest of the weekend was filled with more reading but also with sparring in his mindscape against his Zanpakutō spirit. It always left him well-spent and in a slightly better mood. At first it made him perplexed, even anxious, knowing that fighting could relax him like that. Nowadays, he let go of such thoughts. It was just not worth getting excited over. If his Zanpakutō spirit was a representation of his own soul, then Ichigo realized a revelation like that shouldn't have really surprised him. The spirit did look battle-hungry all the time, after all.

Their spars even went so well that Ichigo was getting close to receive a permission to fight for a part of his Zanpakutō's name. Though, he didn't know when exactly. The spirit refused to say so.

'Speaking of fighting…' Ichigo wondered and scratched his nose.

The group of students who had ganged up on him on Friday's evening apparently received a beating from somebody and hence they were forced to spend the weekend at the Academy's infirmary. Each student refused to tell who did that to them but they all quickly stated it was not Ichigo.

Too quickly.

…

As per Gengorō's words, Ichigo began the new week by training with his upperclassmen and it quickly paid off. The following three weeks had passed for the orange haired teen in a flash. The incident with envious and malevolent group of students never repeated itself again. There were still a lot of stares and glares but those who didn't like him rarely approached him again and were mostly satisfied with just scowling at him from a distance.

Then there was another thing coming at him from a distance. Ichigo realized it a week later but there was apparently somebody who really liked to stalk him from shadows. It's not like he had any evidence that could back up this claim but the cold feeling in his guts was enough for the teen. He was sure of it, every day after the classes ended when he returned back to his room, he could feel a presence hiding out of his sight, somebody who just watched him walk. Once or twice he had tried to catch that person, call out to him but nobody had ever responded. After he had become a bit proficient in reiatsu sensing, just enough for him to sense a person close by, he had tried to feel the stranger's spiritual energy, but to no avail. Whoever was stalking him was good at lowering his reiatsu to the point where Ichigo's skills were useless. But, since that mysterious person had never attempted to do him any harm and had just resorted on watching him, he had left it like that. Either way, he was confident that he could defend himself in case the person ever came out of hiding.

Like the first Friday evening, Ichigo had spent each subsequent one in Rukia's company inside the tavern where she had always informed him on every news about the case. However, it was all proceeding extremely slowly, making the news scarce and short. The only thing calming the teen down was the fact that Rukia's brother, Kuchiki Byakuya, was still very much active in trying to push the matter forward and convince the Central 46 that it was a viable case worth conducting an investigation. It was almost as if the man had taken the offense of one of his man participating at such deeds personally. Coupled with what Ichigo had read about him, the teen began to feel the Captain could be of real help.

Another thing about these recent developments was Rukia itself.

Ichigo couldn't help but notice just how much she had changed since the first time he had met her in the Soul Society, or even in the World of the Living. She no longer had bags under her eyes, her skin was no longer so pale, her eyes reflected a lot less pain and anxiety and generally, she looked really better, healthier. He was almost inclined to say she was looking pretty but he did not. Such a statement could cause a misunderstanding for sure. She was a lot more cheerful, her smile that had been very rare in the past, was appearing on her face more often and she was even able to look him in the eyes without him seeing the guilt written all over her face. Occasionally, she visited him even in the middle of the week, just to talk for short moments but without appearing too pushy. It got to the point where Ichigo was able to endure a fleeting touch of her hand and lacked the urge to slap it right away. He did not lose his colour, he didn't shudder and all in all, he didn't feel like relieving bad memories. Though, he still preferred her not touching him at all but not so much that he would actively try to avoid it.

However, the most important thing that had happened over the course of those three weeks was something completely different and it was related solely to Ichigo himself.

His monstrous shinigami potential.

Truly, there were no other words to describe it and even most of the teachers at the Academy began to use this word when trying to illustrate Ichigo to others in their conversations, whether private or public. It was quite ironic because some of them had been actually opposed to the idea of him studying with upperclassmen when Gengorō first came with it. But it had taken only something more than twenty days for the teen to convince them of the opposite, even though he hadn't been trying to do that. His plan to quietly graduate the Academy wasn't meant to be fulfilled, not when he had caught up the interest of so many people. Under the tutelage of his teachers and instructors, Ichigo was rising in power at such a speed, it made a large part of the Academy unsure of what kind of monster he was. They just couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation to his accelerated growth and that was what scared some of them. It may have sounded stupid to Ichigo but he just couldn't understand just how much he stood out next to his peers.

In only three weeks his reiatsu alone had risen from his previous level to a level comparable with a high ranked officer. Ichigo had written that off as a result of the often sparring with his Zanpakutō spirit where he was slowly becoming capable of pressuring the spirit and forcing it to use more and more of its power, hence, allowing Ichigo to reclaim his own power as well. It got to the point where he had been forced to undertake a few special classes where he had been taught how to tone down his reiatsu at least while in classes. Such a thing wasn't easy for somebody who didn't really know what his final limit was, but in the end, after long hours of practice, he had finally managed to do it. Even though only partially. Not to be mistaken, Ichigo's reiatsu was still inferior to the top officers in Gotei 13 but unlike them, who kept their energy in check, Ichigo was leaking a constant amount of reiatsu to his surroundings. The amount was enough to interfere with other students' ability to concentrate on studying, training or practicing virtually anything. After all, most of them had the reserves barely equal to unranked officers or even lower. Being in hours long presence of Ichigo wear them off fairly quickly. Therefore, Ichigo had had to learn how to control his energy and so his most recent accomplishment was the ability to supress his reiatsu to the point where it was only on a level of a low ranked officer but even then, he was able to maintain it only for the duration of classes. When the lessons ended and he returned to his room, his reiatsu restored itself to its normal levels. But reiatsu alone wasn't all that prompted the teachers to hail him as a prodigy.

His Zanjutsu prowess increased to the point where studying even with fifth year students became quite obsolete and too easy for him. Same thing had happened in Hohō and Hakuda classes. More so in Hohō, where he augmented the speed of his Shunpo to the point where he appeared as a blur even to his upperclassmen. His longest Shunpo was enhanced to almost twice of his previous record and he was able to continuously keep using high speed movements for several minutes. Hakuda was coming along nicely too, though there was so much to learn that even for Ichigo it would take another few months before he could claim he mastered everything. His Kidō was still bad but there was one difference.

Ichigo had listened to Gengorō's advice and had started to treat Kidō more as a hobby than something he desperately needed to learn and this kind of an approach had resulted in a small discovery. Just for the fun of it, he had tried to do the complete opposite of what the Academy taught the students and had attempted to perform a higher level Kidō. Obviously, on his first try he had blown it and had almost destroyed a part of the training grounds where students were allowed to train outside of their classes. His instinct tingled though. He felt that despite the spell blowing up, he was already doing better than before. It took him a long time but at the end of the three weeks' time, he had finally successfully performed his first Kidō spell, a Hadō number sixty-three, Raikōhō. He was unable to use it without an incantation and it sometimes failed but even then the accomplishment was unbelievable. For a first year student to perform a high level Kidō of such calibre? Yes, definitely unbelievable. Therefore, Ichigo had decided to keep it a secret, as he didn't want any more attention.

All in all, his skills were progressing greatly and even those who loathed the teen had been forced to admit that the rumours about him had been not false. He had actual skills to back up any claim. Though, that did not mean he suddenly became all popular. Those who had hated him, envied him or simply didn't like him, mostly offspring of Nobles, still did just that. Students from Rukongai, who had idolized him even before he came to the Academy still loved him. The rest of the students, who were indifferent to him, remained as such.

But it was not meant to be, for Ichigo to live through such a long time without being forced into some sort of an incident and so, after three weeks, he heard somebody loudly yelling his name somewhere at the entrance of the Academy.

…

It was Wednesday and Ichigo was leaving the training grounds for Zanjutsu class with a small frown, so very much characteristic for him, when his ears overheard some commotion somewhere near the main desk. Clicking his tongue, the teen turned to leave; his mood wasn't very bright, courtesy of the Kidō lessons earlier that day, and he didn't really want to get caught up into something but then he heard an unknown and loud male voice.

"Why is it such a problem, damn it? I just want to see Kurosaki Ichigo!"

Ichigo's eyebrows twitched. He didn't recognize the voice but from the tone it was obvious its owner was getting quite fed up with the female clerk, who was apparently trying to mumble something. The teen stopped walking and took a deep breath.

'Nothing to see here… just move along Ichigo. I smell trouble.' He thought, as if trying to mentally remind himself not to create pointless trouble. The attention he was receiving so far was enough. Settling on ignoring the voice, his legs regained their movement when he heard a loud exclamation.

"Oi! Kurosaki Ichigo!"

Ichigo didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling the man had found him and was now directly calling out to him. With a heavy sigh, he turned around.

'Yep, trouble indeed.'

He saw a young looking shinigami with long crimson hair kept in a high ponytail walking towards him at a brisk pace with the expression of a pissed off lion. It was just a first impression, but Ichigo decided he didn't really like the man. As he got closer to Ichigo, the teen narrowed his eyes; the amount of reiatsu the stranger possessed and the amount which was pouring out of him was too great for him to be some simple officer.

'What's going on?'

"You're Kurosaki Ichigo, right?" The man asked after stopping right in front of Ichigo, who subconsciously took a step back, keeping up his personal space.

"It's common courtesy to state your name before asking for one." He said evenly. The man blinked, not anticipating such a response, before frowning.

"I'm Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of the 6th Division. Now, are you Kurosaki Ichigo or not?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. A Lieutenant from the Kuchiki Byakuya's division asking for him? Was there some kind of development in the case? If so, why wasn't Rukia informing him?

"I am. Was there some development on the case?"

"What case?"

Ichigo blinked when the man took a double-take, visibly confused. His body stiffening, the teen took a cautious stance. The man's, Renji's, face suddenly lit up.

"Oh, right, I remember now… but no. Come with me." He turned around, motioning Ichigo to follow him but the teen had no intention on following him.

"No, thanks. Unless you tell me what's going on I'm not going anywhere."

Over his shoulder, Renji glanced at him with irritation clearly embed into his face.

"It's nothing serious, just follow me."

"Why should I?"

Renji growled.

"You know, you're awfully rude for a student. If a higher ranking officers tells you to come, you go with him."

"I don't really care if you're a Lieutenant or a Captain. I don't trust shinigami so unless you tell me where we're going I'm not moving an inch." Ichigo retorted with a scowl.

Deciding it was enough big scene, as students were slowly gathering around them, whispering and muttering to each other, Renji took a step back and grabbed the teen's hand.

"I said we're going."

"Kindly remove your hand from mine unless you don't want to lose it, punk." Ichigo stated in a low, threatening tone, causing Renji to grimace.

"What did you call me, brat?"

"I said you're a punk. Got a problem with that?"

They both growled and literally butted their heads.

"Call me punk one more time, brat, and I swear I'll chop you into little pieces!"

"Wow, I'm scared shitless Lieutenant of the punk division. Just tell me what the hell do you want?!"

Renji looked like he was about to explode and his face reddened. Ichigo was preparing himself to fight, when he felt the man's hand leaving his.

"I… I can't say. I just… stop being so difficult, brat. I just want to talk about Rukia."

That deflated a bit of Ichigo's anger and he looked at the man with surprise written all over his face.

"What about her?"

Renji sighed.

"Will you come with me? I swear it's nothing bad and I'm not planning to do anything to you…. If I did Rukia would kick me in the balls…again…" Ichigo barely heard the last part as Renji muttered it quietly and with a pained expression but seeing the man's red face, it finally hit him.

'He's… embarrassed? What the hell does he want to talk about…?' He wondered but, looking around at the wildly whispering students, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine, lead the way."

…

Ichigo wanted to snort really loud. The misunderstanding had been too great. But he did not, even if for the mild pity he felt towards the guy sitting opposite of him. His face was no longer flushed, but the embarrassment was still very much there, as obvious from his red ears. The two of them, Ichigo and Renji, were currently at the tavern the teen became quite accustomed to, due to the regular visits with Rukia and a decently polite waiters.

"So let me get this straight. All you wanted from me was to thank me for cheering up Rukia?"

Renji raised his glass and took a gulp of beer, purposely averting Ichigo's moderately amused stare.

"It may sound insignificant to you but it's… it's really important to me. I have known her for decades but ever since… well… she's been really gloomy for some time now. She usually hid it quite well but failing to save you was the last straw for her and it became painful to just look at her. That's why her state right now, when she's able to even smile and laugh, is something I'm extremely grateful for. What, what I'm trying to say is that… I owe you one, Kurosaki Ichigo." He said, taking a long while to do so as he had obvious troubles putting his emotions into words. He struggled really hard, causing Ichigo to swallow the urge to make fun of him. If the matter was important enough for a Lieutenant to thank an Academy student and he did it quite humbly, then it was not a place for jokes.

He couldn't even play the 'it was nothing' card. That would have been almost offending and even though Ichigo had been quite desensitized after everything that had occurred since his passing away, even though he became accustomed in dealing roughly with strangers, even though he was emotionally distant; he still had his moments when hidden parts of his character came to light. That meant he was still capable of being polite and sympathetic.

Giving himself some time to form a reply, he sipped the lemonade from his own glass and one more time studied the man in front of him. He still looked like a troublesome fellow, with his tribal tattoos peeking from under the bandana on his head and from under his clothes; they seemed to continue on most of his upper body. His eyes gave an impression of a fierce person, capable of killing on an order.

'A punk but also a fighter.' Ichigo thought, this time putting a bit more respect into his thoughts. For the first time he met a shinigami who looked like a proper one. Not the sorry excuses he had met in the past few weeks, Rukia not counting. Also, from his words, from what he told Ichigo about Rukia, the teen was almost sure of one thing.

Renji cared about Rukia. In what sense, Ichigo didn't dare to guess. They may have been friends, lovers, he didn't know and didn't even particularly care. The important thing was, Renji cared and that was good enough for the teen. There was obviously something more going on as he noticed the regret in Renji's eyes whenever he mentioned Rukia's name but the man said nothing. That was also good enough. Ichigo didn't like others prying secrets from him and so he wasn't going to be a hypocrite.

"Good, I'll remember it for when I'll get in heavy trouble."

Renji finally looked the teen into eyes and gave him an almost imperceptible grin.

"You do that."

At last, Ichigo let out the snort and took another gulp of lemonade. They quietly sat for a few minutes before Renji, now evidently looking calmer and more relaxed, flashed a large grin.

"But know this, Kurosaki Ichigo. Since you're her friend, I will kick your ass into Hell if you'll make her cry."

"You could try, punk."

"And I would, brat."

…

Ichigo was really glad his Zanpakutō spirit finally behaved like a reasonable person, even if it lasted only for a one single simple and short sentence. Well, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and so he quickly complied with the offer.

The point was, the slightly insane spirit decided it was finally time for Ichigo to go through 'round one', as he called it. In reality, it meant he deemed the teen worthy of knowing a part of his name. Ichigo wasn't really sure how that worked; how could you know a part of somebody's name? However, he did not question it and instead, felt a bit of excitement.

The reasonable part of what the spirit said was that he chose the night from Friday to Saturday to do this, which was a lot better option than the previous one; in the middle of the week. Now, if things went south, he would at least have the weekend to recuperate.

Keeping this in mind, he left the regular meeting with Rukia a bit sooner and, once in the room, he lay down on the bed and entered his mindscape.

…

Ichigo's mindscape

"Okay, what's going on?"

Ichigo nervously stared at his Zanpakutō spirit, who, instead of a crazy grin sported an unsatisfied grimace. Next to him stood the older man in black cloak, who usually watched the duo's regular spars from a distance, acting only when the spirit lost his cool. Unlike the mirrored version of Ichigo, the old man's expression was one of a calm and quite collected person. The Zanpakutō spirit clicked his tongue.

"Che, this time, you will fight him and not me… just the thought of that rubs me the wrong fucking way."

The teen raised an eyebrow and glanced from the old man to the spirit.

"I thought I was going to learn a part of your name."

The Zanpakutō spirit grimaced again and, slapping himself on the face, he shook his head. He stood up and began to walk away, only to stop and put his hand on the old man's shoulder.

"You tell him, I'm so not in the mood for explaining this shit… and old man, don't go easy on him."

Despite the sunglasses covering the old man's eyes, Ichigo could see the movements of his face and knew the man closed his eyes.

"Do not worry, I will do what's necessary."

'Okay, I'm really not liking this so far.' Ichigo mentally noted but kept his sense of curiosity supressed when the old man moved forward.

"Ichigo, listen to me and listen to me well."

Ichigo subconsciously gulped. The tone of the man's voice sounded too fatherly to him, like he was a little boy about to get lectured for something bad he did.

"There is a reason for me being here, in this mindscape of yours together with your Zanpakutō spirit. It is because I am a part of your soul just as much as he is, because I am a part of your strength, your power, just as much as he is. You differ from other shinigami because your potential is limitless. You can break the boundaries of reality, warp your soul to match even the most powerful beings in this world. There is no real upper limit to your hidden power. If all of your soul is united, there is nothing you cannot achieve, wecannot achieve. But for that to happen, you have to understand your power and with it, understand your own self. Until you can reach the heavens and tear them apart, you will undergo many trials, some easy, some hard, some heart wrenching, some heart-warming; your will and resolve will be tested, your bonds will shake but in the end you will preserve. Because that's just who you are. It is in your heart, in that thing that keeps us all from falling into the lion's den." The man's lengthy monologue was met with Ichigo's gaze of steel, an expression that rose to his face while intently listening.

"You may not understand what I told you now, but in time, you will. What is important at this moment, is that my defeat is what will push you forward. You have already abandoned your fears and looked forward. You know when to move forward and never stop. You know you'll age if you pull back and you'll die if you hesitate. That is all I ever wanted you to learn. Now, there is little I can teach you with words. All that is left is for us to cross blades and talk with the steel of our swords. Take your blade, Ichigo, take it and win. If you cannot, you will die by my hands. If you die by my hands, you lose everything but I will not regret it."

Ichigo felt a chill travelling within his spine and shooting to all of his limbs. The words coming from the man's mouth were cutting into the very core of his being. They were harsh yet gentle. Like words of a mentor. Swords appeared in their hands. Both of them the same on a first glance but so different when gripped tightly.

With a jump, the struggle began.

'Holy shit.'

Ichigo's mind could think of only one thing when he felt himself almost getting blasted backwards from the sheer pressure behind the man's attack. Only thanks to the numerous spars with his Zanpakutō spirit was he able to make the energy peacefully flow over his blade. Still, his feet sunk into the concrete ground of the skyscraper they were fighting on. Having no other choice, he jumped in the air and rolled.

He landed in a genuflection, his sword resting on his shoulders, ready to fight, and gazed upon the old man.

'This is not going to be easy.'

"What are you doing, Ichigo? One strike and your knee is already touching the ground. Get up." A calm voice called out to him, yet it felt like a yell from a superior officer.

"Don't worry, old man. I'm, just getting started."

Their blades met an instant later, showering both of them with a splash of glowing sparks and Ichigo's hands shook. Not giving an inch of space to the man, he let his sword slide down and slashed upwards immediately after that. His attempt at surprising his opponent was not met with success and he was forced to clench his muscles when he received a hilt to the abdomen. It almost knocked the wind out of him but he refused to get pushed back.

Putting all of his weight onto his left foot, he used the power of the blow to spin himself around to create another slashing attempt at the man's head. The sound of metal clashing against another metal caused him to quickly crouch down and watch as a few strands of his hair fell down in front of him.

The old man kept his promise to the Zanpakutō spirit and was definitely not holding back. The teen's grip on the sword tightened.

Spinning himself, he tried to swipe the man's legs but ended rolling away when the sharp weapon descended upon his outstretched leg.

Appearing in a small distance away from his opponent, Ichigo felt the sweat on his forehead building up.

'This old man… he's amazing. I can't hit him at all.' He ignored his pride and grinned. This fight was not going to be boring.

…

'Forget boring, this is the best fight I had in my whole life.' Ichigo thought and leaned backwards. The tip of his opponent's sword lightly grazed his clothes but, despite not injuring him, the teen was already covered with blood from the many cuts he had received so far. Funnily enough, he completely ignored all of them, supressed any pain he could feel from them and just concentrated on fighting.

This fight was different from all those battles he had with shinigami, different from the spars with his Zanpakutō spirit. They were all hasty, full of rushing towards your opponent, full of openings that both sides ignored and full of raw power.

What was happening right now was something else. It was not about pushing as hard as you could. It was about precision, fluency of the rhythm between strikes, about strategy, using your intelligence when staring into the face of your potential demise and about using your whole soul to win over somebody vastly superior. For a teen, who had achieved victory in most of his fights so far using only parts of these, it was without a doubt, the hardest battle ever.

The old man's careful swordsmanship left practically not even one narrow opening to exploit. His sword did not fly all over the place and he didn't try to chop his enemy into pieces. All strikes coming from his blade were meant to slowly exhaust, make the opponent lose his focus from all the blood-loss, from the pain within those numerous throbbing injuries and to simply drive him insane form the inability to successfully counter attack.

However, his words before the fight began were slowly coming into life. Ichigo's potential was truly unrivalled and after almost an hour, the teen became so accustomed in dealing with him that the man was unable to open his skin in a wound anymore. Their movements became synchronized, their blurry strikes clashed against each other in a satisfying melody of metal-grinding and the old man had to fight himself, else he would smile from the sense of content.

"Oi, old man, it's time!"

The voice of the Zanpakutō spirit was carried all the way to two of them and Ichigo cautiously jumped backwards when the old man stopped attacking.

"Yes, it seems it is indeed the time."

The false sense of security almost got to Ichigo but he hastily raised his sword again when the man attacked him again. But before the teen could voice his thoughts, the man opened his mouth.

"Ichigo, we have been fighting for some time now. Do you realize why?"

Ichigo, busy with blocking the quick jabs, grunted.

"Beats me."

A powerful hit caused him to stumble and he barely dodged a swipe at his torso.

"Answer truthfully, Ichigo. I know you're not as blind as to not see what is going on here."

"…then give me a minute to-"

"No. Do it while we fight."

Staring at the man in disbelief, Ichigo scoffed and deftly side-stepped an obvious strike at his left side.

"Fine."

It took him a few more minutes before he could control the fight well enough to allow his voice to come out.

"I was supposed to learn a part of my Zanpakutō's name but… I've been fighting you all this time. True, I didn't get everything you said to me at the beginning but one thing was always quite clear… you want me to realize, to notice something from this battle. You said… you were a part of me same as my Zanpakutō is… meaning… you represent a part of my soul. So, this is just a method of teaching me this part of myself." He said in between the blows and attacks. His breathing got a bit strained, the man began to push even harder.

"Indeed. I ask you now, Ichigo. Do you have an answer yet?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth. He did not have it. He didn't know it for sure. He remained silent for a while.

"Think, Ichigo. Remember all that you have learned from you Zanpakutō, all that he showed you, told you, everything you have went through so far."

A hilt to the shoulder caused the teen to spin around and watch as a few more strands of his hair fall down.

"There is a clear difference between me and your Zanpakutō. Not just in personality."

Ichigo panted and renewed his grip on the sword. He frowned deeply.

'No shit, old man. That albino maniac fights like a beast while you fight like a cold-blooded fighter. You never falter, never show an emotion. All of your moves are calculated and you never leave the boundaries you set for yourself. You are a complete opposite of my Zanpakutō…' As he thought all of it, Ichigo's eye twitched.

'Could it be?'

He sailed through the air in a series of somersaults and landed behind the man.

"You have finally found an answer, Ichigo. I can see it in your eyes. Say it."

Ichigo took a deep breath.

"Are you my… sanity?"

In a distance, a cackling laughter came out of the white spirit.

"Very close, Ichigo. I am your reason. That part of you that keeps the beast within you, restricts it and prevents you from going berserk. I am the part that has been helping you through your whole life." The old man stated with an approving nod. Ichigo exhaled and sat down.

"I… see. So, is this it?"

He rolled to the side in a shock when the old man's sword flew towards his jewels.

"What the f-"

"Just knowing who I am is not enough, Ichigo. You have to accept me as a part of your soul." The deadly clam voice interrupted Ichigo's loud exclamation and the teen narrowed his eyes.

"Fine, I accept you!"

"…"

"You really thought it would be that easy? Fucking hell, my sides are in orbit!" The Zanpakutō spirit called out to the teen, howling from laughter. For his part, the old man remained stoic, even if the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Then how am I supposed to do it?" Ichigo yelled, red from embarrassment.

"Understanding is accepting, Ichigo. Understand your own reason."

The fight began anew, this time the old man giving Ichigo no time to even take a deep breath.

'Shit, shit, shit!' Ichigo mentally cursed. He knew he was beginning to slow down as even with his stamina, fighting for so long while using most of his concentration was too much.

"This is ridiculous!" He exclaimed and grunted when a deep gash appeared on his forearm. Blood slowly flowed down to his fingers and dripped to the ground but he was already blocking another attack. He gripped the sword.

'Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to do this? Think, Ichigo, think! I can't lose here!'

He was frantically trying to defend himself but he was being pushed back, getting heavily overpowered. Even the laughter of his Zanpakutō spirit, until now so distant, became incredibly irritating to him. The frustration was showing on his face and a few minutes later, he was ready to snap. He glanced at the white spirit watching the fight with eerie joy and growled.

'Good for nothing piece of…' His angry thought trailed off as he followed the line of the spirit's sight. He was staring at the back of the old man and Ichigo remembered something.

'Wait a minute, that's right. When we first met that bastard mentioned something about 'reason' in that irritatingly long monologue. What was it again?'

Another cut nicked the skin.

'Yeah, something about all humans being killers… uhh, old man mentioned the beast within… yeah, yeah, I got it! Reason prevents humans from unleashing their inner animal and he told me to throw it away when fighting.' The delight from finally recalling the words lasted only for a moment and Ichigo frowned.

'That's all nice but what about it? I should throw away my reason? Is it the same reason as what this old man represents?'

He felt his sword leaving his grip and he quickly jumped backwards, to give himself a breather. It gave him only a short moment of freedom as the man was sliding through the air towards him with his sword pointed forward.

In that moment, an insane idea filled Ichigo's mind.

'Throw away your reason, huh? This should be unreasonable enough.'

With an unsettling grin, he raised his hands and threw away his sword just before the old man's blade pierced his chest. With a thud, the sword penetrated him all the way through.

"Finally, Ichigo." The deep voice stated from under his face.

"Huh, it doesn't even hurt." Ichigo felt the adrenaline suddenly leaving his system and he realized just what kind of crazy thing he just did.

"Of course not, Ichigo. I am a part of you, how could it hurt?"

The teen glanced at the man, who pulled back, leaving the sword embed into Ichigo's chest.

"This is crazy."

The man smiled for the first time.

"It is. How else could you accept your reason if not by entrusting it with your life?"

…

"Now what?" Ichigo asked, looking at the sword in his chest funnily. It was bizarre, if not completely surreal, seeing a weapon made for killing sticking out of his body, yet without any agonizing pain. The old man waited until the Zanpakutō spirit walked closer.

"Now your soul will acknowledge your reason and break the chains holding it back. It should be painless, aside from the discomfort at having your own power rising. Bear with it, though, as it is not something foreign. All of it is your own power, until now restrained for your own good." He explained in a mostly stoic tone which also held a definite tint of pride.

"Yeah, you should celebrate the shit out of this." The Zanpakutō spirit muttered grumpily, causing Ichigo to glance at him. The albino shrugged.

"What can I say, the old man's very nature… irks me, if I were to use polite words. Un-fucking weird for me, huh?"

With a sigh, the teen shook his head. He really should have been used to the spirit's absurd character by now.

"Right, so how much power are we-" He never finished the question when the sword within his torso glowed all of a sudden and slowly dissolved into spirit particles that seemingly danced around him for a moment. It took only a single blink of an eye for them to stop and shoot towards his chest, where his heart was located. Ichigo felt a blow unlike any other before. It was not something physical, no. It was more of a mental strike and, just as the old man said, he felt a slight discomfort when a surge of energy raced all over his body, filling every nook and cranny with its potency.

"I feel… damn, I feel great." He stated appreciatively.

"As you should, Ichigo. However, before you can return, there is a matter on hand we must discuss."

"Sure, what is it?"

The old man pointed at him.

"As of now, you have unlocked a third of your power. I'm certain you realize implications of such an event."

The smile on Ichigo's face, so large until now, slowly decreased in size and was replaced with a decent frown.

"Yeah. It was hard enough to keep my reiatsu as low as possible. With this increase I'm guessing I'll have to start from a scratch. Damn…"

"There is a different solution, albeit not really practical." What the old man said caused the teen to raise his head and gaze upon him.

"Give it a shot."

"With my abilities I can lock your powers for you. This way, your reiatsu will remain on the same level as it was before this event."

"Oi, old man! The fuck are you talking about! We didn't agree on this! I told you he will not become one of them as long as I'm his Zanpakutō!" The albino spirit suddenly yelled, his face twisted in a surprisingly intense anger. Ichigo rubbed his eyes and nodded to him.

"Oi, don't you fucking nod at-"

"What is the downside? If it's not practical then there has to be some sort of a catch." Ichigo asked the old man, ignoring the loud and rude yells from the albino. The old man closed his eyes.

"Indeed there is. If you were in need for more power, you'd have to come into this mindscape to unlock it again. It would take no longer than few seconds, though."

"That is… not really usable." Ichigo agreed, still ignoring his Zanpakutō spirit, who took the ignorance as a sign for more yelling, swearing and gesticulation.

"Maybe, Ichigo, but I think you are strong enough to handle most situations."

"Tsk, but what if something unexpected happens? I can't leave it on a chance." His brow creased in a deep frown, trying to find a reasonable solution. A certain conversation with Rukia came to his mind.

"I recall Rukia mentioning that Captains and Lieutenants have to wear a special seal which restricts their reiatsu when going to the World of the Living. I could always ask a Kidō instructor for one."

"You could, but are you really a person who asks others for an aid so easily?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and, staring the man in the eyes hidden behind dark glasses, tilted his head.

"Why do I get the feeling you're trying really hard to push your option on me?"

After he said that, the man fell silent. Even the albino spirit did. It took the teen few more moments before Ichigo seemingly decided on a solution.

"Fine. It is still middle of the night. I'll try and use the weekend for learning how to supress my reiatsu from a scratch. In case I will not succeed until the Monday morning, I'll ask my Kidō instructor. I… don't really like the idea of asking for help but in my opinion it surely beats the other option. Sorry, old man." He announced and heard the albino spirit sigh in relief. The old man only nodded without any sign of protest.

"It is fine, Ichigo. As long as you are content with it, I will be too."

The peaceful atmosphere was torn apart when the albino spirit regained his energy.

"Now, enough of the boring stuff! Let's fight, Ichigo! We have to make you used to your new power or else you'll end up fucking up your own face with it! Powerful reiatsu means dog shit if you can't use it like a man!"

…

Two painfully long days later Ichigo came out of a certain room, in which the Academy's Kidō expert had put a suppressing seal on his right shoulder, with a disappointed expression on his face. It made him indignant, having spent the whole weekend trying to learn how to conceal his reiatsu only to come out unsuccessful. Although, he could have expected such an outcome; he was, after all, barely able to control his energy before but now, it was bordering on being impossible. The most he had been able to do was to keep the spiritual pressure around him on a mildly higher state than it was before, which would be a huge accomplishment if he was able to do that for more than just five minutes. He did just that while asking the teacher for help; if he showed him the full reiatsu he was now producing, even the teacher would have been suspicious.

Now, with the seal in place, Ichigo learned just how much of a weird experience it was. He felt… like all of his senses were covered with a heavy blanket, numbed and just plain dull. It was certainly going to take some time, adjusting to such a feeling but he tried to keep his scowl hidden. It was either this or the option of the old man within his mindscape. And this was certainly better. All he had to do to release the limiter was to make a statement out loud.

…

It was Wednesday when Ichigo had to admit that the seal limiting his energy was more than just a good idea. It was actually a great idea.

For the first time since he came to the Academy, he was able to use the most basic Hadō, Shō, without anything blowing up or without him breaking the training dummy in two. It was nowhere near perfect performance but still, it was by far the best attempt he had done so far. He even went so far as to try the most basic Bakudō, Sai and, for his great surprise, even this Kidō spell came out as usable. Using it on a living being would most likely dislocate person's shoulders but he would still live, unlike the last time he tried the spell. That time, the training dummy looked bound so much, it basically became a ball.

Not a pleasant thought in relation to a living target.

But that was the only thing that made him feel slightly happy that week so far. After the Kidō class, it was announced that his class would be going on its first trip to the World of the Living, to practice performing Konsō on recently passed humans. At first, he took the announcement at face value but later, he realized it was going to be his first time crossing back to where his life ended. Moreover, as his bad luck still stood proudly, the destination of the trip was Karakura Town. His town.

In addition, he remembered the bit of information they, students, had received earlier during that week. Since the teachers knew about the trip beforehand, they subtly supplied the students with data necessary for making the training trip smooth. It was just one piece of new knowledge that made Ichigo feel…

Well, he didn't even know how he felt about it. It was not every day he got to know that hollows were in fact, just dead and corrupted human souls who, for various reason, didn't cross over to Soul Society and deteriorated into monsters. There was a lot more information after that, like the reasons for the Plus souls not passing away and staying in the World of the Living, the transformation process in which they morph into hollows, their tendencies and the variety of their appearances but it was that one single piece that got to him. It took him some time to digest such a thing.

What would have happened if his sisters died and turned into hollows? Would he have been forced to slay them like the rest of the hollows? Just this thought made him cringe and he could almost feel the bitterness on his tongue. The Academy and all shinigami could call it 'purifying' but thinking about his sisters as Hollows made him replace the word with 'slay'. He wasn't sure he would have been able to do that. Because of that, he had to admit it was only logical for the teacher to follow this information with another thing.

Which was to always try to purify the hollow by striking it from back and that one should always actively avoid striking the hollow's mask. It only increased the risk of part of it crumbling down, making the shinigami see the human face behind it. Such a thing could easily shake up an inexperienced shinigami and make him lose his life. Ichigo only agreed.

Now, after the lunch, he, along with his first year student classmates, found himself on his way through the Senkaimon, surrounded by the upperclassmen and a single instructor. It took only a few moments before his feet touched the ground of Karakura Town.

'It's been a long time.' Ichigo sighed, feeling a bit downcast.

…

Since he was so used to bad things and coincidences around him, Ichigo was really surprised how peacefully and calmly the trip was passing so far. No accidents, nobody blowing anything up, nothing. It was just a smooth practice with nothing out of ordinary happening anywhere.

"You are scary! You have a really scary face! I don't want to die!" A middle-aged obese man frantically yelled, kneeling in front of the teen who fought his own patience.

"Shut up, stay still and let me hit you with my sword!" Ichigo replied in an irritated tone and tried to hit the man on the head while the other students sardonically watched him from a small distance, obvious sweat on their foreheads.

"I don't wanna, I'm sca-" The man couldn't finish his sentence when Ichigo finally hit his forehead with the bottom of his sword's hilt, causing the man to glow and rapidly vanish.

"So annoying…" He muttered with a sigh and turned around, to join the rest of his classmates when he stopped so suddenly, it looked like he walked into an invisible wall.

"Heey, Kurosaki, come on!" One of the sixth year students supervising his group called out to him. Ichigo blinked and waved his hand to signal him he heard the boy. Feeling his throat becoming dry as a desert, he forcibly looked away and joined the others.

What made him so shocked was a simple thing.

He had seen a small group of people wearing clothes of a certain high-school passing just a dozen meters away from him and his mind instantly made him recognize them. They had been his former classmates, people he used to hang out with, people he used to attend the same school with, his friends. He even recalled their names.

Keigo, Mizuiro, Chad, Tatsuki and Orihime Inoue.

First four of them were truly his friends while the last one was more of an acquaintance but still, he used to see her every day too. He gritted his teeth.

It hurt. It hurt seeing them after all this time. It hurt remembering all the crazy moments they shared together. It hurt recalling the crazy antics of Keigo and Mizuiro whenever they tried to cheer him up. It hurt recalling all the fights he and Chad used to get into for standing out. It hurt recalling the childhood he spent in karate dojo where he received his first defeat at hands of Tatsuki. But he couldn't go to them, Rukia's words about not interfering with living humans still rang in his ears. He closed his eyes.

'At least they looked fine.' He thought bitterly. He wasn't jealous of them but the feeling of being left out stung. Even if he used to behave like he behaved towards them while alive. To him, they were his best friends. Now, they were just other living humans he could never talk to with.

It was only because he had looked at them for just a moment that he missed how they looked in reality. He was not the only one hurting. His 'friends' weren't as fine as he thought they were. It was just over two months that he had died and they were still mourning him.

And they had no idea he had been so close, yet so far.

…

His gloomy mood preserved for the rest of the training trip and it was more than three hours later that he watched as his classmates slowly proceeded to walk through the Senkaimon connecting the World of the Living with the Soul Society. He wasn't really paying attention to anything the others were talking about, his eyes were pointed towards the ground and his thoughts were all over the place. It was only when he thought he felt something unusual that he woke up from his own world of emotions. There was something, a face, staring at him from a far.

'A kid?' He thought and narrowed his eyes. He was invisible to any living humans save for the ones spiritually aware. And such people were very rare. Was it a soul? He tried to push the image of the face out of his mind. So what if somebody stared at him? It did not concern him.

Yet there was something odd about that face. Almost as if he had seen it before. He glanced at the distant place again. The face was still there. It appeared to be some little girl with short black hair and she returned the gaze for a moment, before turning around and running away.

"Huh, Deja vu." Ichigo muttered and, his pupils dilated, opened his mouth in shock. He remembered that face.

It was the same face he saw the night his mother died. No, not completely.

'The night I have caused her death.'

He quietly cursed. With things being like this there was no way he wouldn't follow the girl. If she was somehow connected with the death of his mother, if she knew something, Ichigo would never forgive himself for letting go of such a rare opportunity. He looked around.

More than half of the students had already gone through the Senkaimon and, along with that, a half of the sixth year students and the instructor. The attention of the remaining ones was not on him. He took the chance and slipped away.

He moved as quietly as possible and when he was sure he was out of ears' reach, he pumped his energy and vanished in a single Flash Step. His eyes darted all over the place, trying to find any trace of the girl and, surprisingly, she was not far away, staring at him from behind a tree. But as soon as she saw him looking back, she ran again.

"No! Wait!"

Frantically, he yelled after the girl but she kept running away. He gritted his teeth and followed after her, the image of Kurosaki Masaki, his mother, forming inside of his head.

Her smiling face whenever she talked to him, her laughing face whenever the whole family sat at the table, her kind and warm face whenever any of her children was in trouble, her gentle face whenever they wanted to talk, her radiant face whenever she grabbed his hand and walked together with him and her loving hug whenever she felt he was down. Ichigo couldn't remember his mother ever being sad and cry or mad and yell. Not even once. It was as if she knew that such a thing could be easily passed from a parent and onto a child. No matter what had happened, all was well once he was at her side. All troubles forgotten, all pain healed. She was a centre of the universe around which their whole family revolved.

He tightened his fists and ran.

He could recall the time when his father told him the true meaning behind his name, Ichigo. It had the meaning 'to protect one thing' attached to it. At that time, he easily thought of one thing. That if that was true, the one thing he wanted to protect was his mom. The one, who always protected him.

The face of the little girl flashed in front of him as she turned around the corner. He felt tiny droplets of rain beginning to fall from the sky. He growled.

It was the same that day. It had rained. It had rained the day before the fated night, and it had rained even the day before that. Because of that, the river water rose high. Despite that, there had been a girl, unsteady and without an umbrella, who stood at the river's edge, like she was going to jump in. The same girl he was now following.

He shook his head. He didn't want to remember more. He didn't want to remember his own foolishness, when he decided to save the girl and jumped after her after she fell over. He didn't want to remember his mom's desperate call for him, begging him not to do it. And he certainly, absolutely, above all, didn't want to remember waking up to find his mom's cold and dead body, covered in blood, lying atop of him. He did not know what had truly happened that day. To this day, he still didn't know. But he knew one thing.

He loved his mom and because of him, his whole family lost its centre.

He made a turn and found himself in a small clearing, surrounded by a forest. In that moment, he stopped so suddenly, he almost tore the ground.

What stood in front of him was no longer just a child. Behind it, a larger figure of a monster stood, staring at him with menacing eyes. A hollow.

"…what's going on here? You… you were the one at the river's edge that time…! Six years ago! How come you're with a hollow?!"

The girl opened her mouth.

"Six years ago? I don't remember that far back but… I see, you've seen me before."

In a frenzy, Ichigo felt his palms getting heavy and moist from the sweat.

"What the heck are you?! A hollow's crony? Or controlled by a hollow?! Say something!" He yelled, demanding an answer. A moment of silence passed till the girl's face twisted into eerie smile.

"Both are wrong, boy."

Ichigo felt sick. The little girl in front of him suddenly shed her own skin, revealing just a bony stick underneath him. The skin hung downwards from it, flaying in the wind like a piece of cloth.

"What the hell are you?!"

"You were lucky if you survived seeing me in the past but now, your luck has run out. I can't let you go without eating your soul."

Ichigo took out his sword and tightly gripped its hilt.

"What was that girl?!" He asked, his voice shaking. The hollow seemingly laughed and wagged the thing that had been a girl. The stick connected with a hole in his head, making him look like quite bizarre.

"He-he. This? It's a simple lure I use to bait humans who can see it. And if they can see it, their soul has high spiritual density. If their soul has high spiritual density it means it's delicious."

Taking a step backwards, Ichigo felt the words physical hitting him in guts.

'…then…that time, the one I was trying to save was actually his lure? So that means I fell into his trap… so that means he…' A picture of his dead mother appeared in his mind again and he incoherently yelled out as loud as possible, while the hollow just continued to laugh.

Feeling the rage completely filling him from inside out, Ichigo ran straightforward towards the hollow, his sword brandished and raised high. He ran and the distance between them was closed sooner than a man could blink. With a roar, he cut through the whole arm which extended from the hollow, in his rage completely ignoring the blood spurting all over him. He madly slashed, cut, jabbed, hacked and sliced; his vision was tunnelled and wholly focused on his enemy he was itching to kill. He wanted to chop him into little pieces and his blood burned with righteous fury. The tiny droplets of rain changed into a downpour, slowly washing away the dirt from his skin.

Just barely, the hollow was somehow able to dodge or evade most of the attacks but the sheer ferocity of the teen forced him to quickly jump backwards, to gain some distance.

"You're good boy but I've been eluding shinigami for more than fifty years. With this level of power you are far too weak."

In a surprisingly fast movement, the hollow flashed around the teen, appearing behind him and intended on grabbing him with a furry tentacle. The blade of Ichigo's sword, however, sliced upwards just in time to cut it off. The hollow was only slightly annoyed and quickly shot out more tentacles and this time, he successfully grabbed the teen by his left hand.

"Fast but not fast enough." He said and threw Ichigo into the trees, causing him to crash. The hollow followed after him, shooting more tentacles at him but without any effect as the teen quickly got back on his feet and, in a series of quick slashes, chopped them into little bits. Jumping from the ground, he shot towards the hollow and met him in mid-air. The hollow laughed again and raised his hand to press it against Ichigo's blade.

"You're being careless, boy. Diving at your enemy's chest without a plan?! Ha! My feeding time is g-"

"I am far too weak you say?" Ichigo cut him in mid-sentence and, using Shunpo, vanished and then reappeared behind him with a face twisted in a snarl.

"Limit, release!"

The outburst of reiatsu enveloped Ichigo with such intensity, the hollow was forced to back away, else he would have gotten blasted backwards. Ichigo lowered his left hand, which was hovering above his right shoulder as a tiny tattoo shone underneath his wet clothes.

"It almost feels like purifying you would be far too good for you. It almost feels like I should torture you for what you've done. But I won't. I won't tarnish the fight for my mom with it. So I'll cut you down as quickly as possible, hoping you'll end up in Hell for eternity." Ichigo exclaimed in a rough voice, the anger still flowing through his veins. Yet he looked a bit calmer, which surprised even the teen himself. Pumping energy into his body, he disappeared from the hollow's vision.

When he came to a stop, a large arm fell on the ground, sliced at the shoulder, and the hollow groaned in pain. But he was still alive, in the last instant moving to the side and causing Ichigo's sword to narrowly miss his head.

"…you were hiding your power, boy, damn it. What is your name?" He huffed and backed away.

Ichigo stared at him through the thick and heavy downpour, not eve blinking when a raindrop fell into his eye.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, son of Kurosaki Masaki. A woman you have killed six years ago in a similar night."

"…six years is a long time. Kurosaki Ichigo, I will remember that name. I will be back and-"

Once again, the hollow was interrupted in mid-sentence but this time, those words were his last.

"I said I will cut you down. How can you return when you'll be long dead?" Ichigo whispered when he suddenly landed next to the hollow, his free hand gripping the creature's skull. Before the hollow could react, the teen thrust his sword through the mask and yanked it up and down, cutting the hollow in two pieces that fell down with a thud.

In that moment, a bright light almost blinded the teen, who was forced to squint and hide his face behind his arm. The ground shook and a deep sound of eerie whispers began to echo through the whole clearing as a large construct, a gate of some kind, rose from the depths of the earth behind two halves of Grand Fisher. The gate was bizarre and emitted some sort of a malicious, wicked aura that made Ichigo's skin crawl. The whole image was complete by two great skeletons protruding from each gate's door. The gate was closed by a series of chains that started to corrode insanely fast and, at last, the gates opened.

Ichigo gulped. He knew what this was.

'Gates of Hell.'

It was his first time seeing it. He only read about it, heard about it but never once had he seen it. It was just like the books said. The gate's effect on a person truly could be summed up with one word.

Fright.

No matter how strong a person was, facing the Gates of Hell like this evoked fear in everybody. It didn't matter whether it was a rational or irrational fear. Everyone felt the drought in his throat, the adrenaline pumping though his bloodstream, cold sweat forming all over his body and a subconscious urge to flee.

The chains fell and the gates opened. A humongous arm holding an equally large sword shot forward and pierced both halves of the hollow. Slowly, it dragged the body inside, while an unearthly laughter came from within the gates and joined the persistent whispers. And just like that, in a flash, it all suddenly vanished, leaving Ichigo standing still, like a statue, with goose-bumps all over his arms.

When his mind realized it was over, he fell on his knees. Deep breaths filled his empty lungs as he panted, a mixture of emotions filling his insides.

"I did Mum. I finally avenged you. You can rest in peace now." He whispered, a single tear escaping his eye.

He completely missed a face, staring at him from behind a tree, filled with pain and anguish and a teary eye. The face feeling the same things the teen felt himself.

End of chapter 6.

Finally, I had the time to continue this story. Hope you forgive me. This time, there is less talking than usual but there was a lot of things I wanted to say with it.

Ichigo is progressing quite nicely, he met another person from Gotei 13 and, despite their differences, they found some common ground.
Yeah, the scene with Grand Fisher is maybe too similar to canon and I agree, I changed it just a little. But that's because it was done really well in canon.
Originally, I wanted to include one more scene but I decided that this is a better ending.

To the reviews:

*predatopucker - yes, Ichigo will have two swords, just like in the newest manga. I intend to create my own version of Zangetsu powers but, if the manga will
show Zangetsu's power sooner than I'll write them, I may leave it as canon. Not really sure right now.

*YuukiAsuna-chan - yes, there probably will be more OCs but most of them won't play a large role. Only Yuno will have some part in story, though she won't be overpowered...if that's what you meant by OP. In case you meant she'll be paired with Ichigo then no again ;)

To the others, thank you! Your support is great.

Yes, the references were Yuno Gasai from the Future Diary, Sakura from Naruto and pokemon. You caught them all, ha-ha...*cough*, I'm lame...

Well, till next time!