Chapter 12: Genesis of Lucifer, part1 (The Fall of Soul Hunters)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'
xxx
Staring at the ceiling of his room with his brow creased in a large frown, Ichigo growled and let his arms fall beside him. In a rare display of annoyance, he grabbed the book he had been trying to read for hours and threw it to the side. The textbook innocently crashed into the trash can in the corner of the room and caused the garbage to spill everywhere. Slowly turning his head to stare at that, Ichigo blinked in disbelief.
"…oh, for fuck's sake…" He muttered in frustration and, with heavy legs, moved to the mess on the floor and swiftly cleaned it up until only one last item remained lying there. The book. With a sour expression, Ichigo snatched it and gazed upon it for a moment.
What he was holding was nothing but a regular and ordinary textbook on Kidō. There was nothing in particular about it that could have possibly aggravated the orange haired student. It was a perfectly mediocre publication, easily available in every library the Shin'ō Academy offered. The way the explanations, the theorems and formulas within it had been written made learning from it quite straightforward. It contained pictures of every single Kidō spell being performed by a certificated specialist, which further emphasized the accessibility of the book for all kinds of students. Even somebody like Ichigo who had some troubles with this particular set of shinigami skills found the book to be really helpful. Yet, at the moment, he felt like ripping it in two halves.
It wasn't the book's fault and he knew it. But the book was also an inanimate thing, which made it suitable for taking the full brunt of irritation currently flowing within his veins head on. And he needed a way to release his pent-up emotions. He had learned from his past and was trying not to vent his frustration on his fellow students but he was also nearing a breaking point beyond which he just wouldn't care.
It was just so vexing.
What the Captain of the 5th Division had told him during the last calligraphy seminar still echoed within Ichigo's mind, making it impossible to forget.
He had been trying to integrate into the shinigami society. He had been trying to learn how to live his new life among them, how to get over the fact that it had been shinigami who had disappointed him all those months ago in the first place. He had been trying really hard. Kazumi would have been proud of him. What had happened to him left an aftereffect on his mind and his soul but he was slowly healing. The deep wounds were closing. The dark memories were slowly becoming the memories of nobody. He had learned that not every shinigami was bad, that he couldn't just place a stereotype on all of them. He was learning not to see the world only the way it appeared to be but to see what was hidden from the plain view too. He was maturing.
But it seemed fate had a twisted sense of humor and for every step he took forward, towards his new life, a life without prejudice and past memories that could haunt him, something unexpected happened and forced him to take one small backwards.
Sighing heavily, he pushed the unnecessary thoughts into the back of his mind and put the book away. He glanced on the clock and, after making a quick decision, grabbed a towel. The shower he took was cold and short. Ichigo hoped it would wash away his frustration but he was wrong. The only thing it accomplished was to cool his head off just a little bit. The feeling of frustration was still there and pushing him to do something he really wanted to do as soon as he heard those words from Aizen.
"…screw it." He muttered and hastily changed from his academy clothes into something less suspicious. Something that wouldn't instantly give him away as a shinigami. Before his hand reached the handle of the door, he grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto and tucked it under his clothes so it wasn't visible. It was uncomfortable but he could do with it. After that, he finally left his room and closed the door as quietly as he could.
Until he reached the gates, he stealthily walked around the dark and mostly empty corridors of the Academy all the while making sure that nobody spotted him. From the weird feeling in his gut he felt like there was somebody watching him but before he even finished that thought, he was already a large distance away, speeding towards the Rukongai in a burst of Shunpo.
'…black market, huh?'
…
Having shot out of the Academy Friday evening it was already a Saturday's night when an incredibly annoyed Ichigo sat down in front of a large tree and leaned backwards into its trunk. He was frustrated, even more than he had been the previous day. For the past several hours he had been visiting every bar, every tavern and every shady-looking establishment he had come across but without any positive result. With a hood over his head, covering his bright orange hair, he had been doing his best to look like a potential customer of a black market but it seemed his act was simply not good enough and he had been seen through too many times. Clicking his tongue, he moved his head backwards and lightly hit the tree trunk with it.
"…so pointless." He sighed.
What was he really trying to accomplish here? Was he really trying to single-handedly uncover some secret underground society full of illegal activities? It sounded ridiculous even to him. He was just another idiot without any hint of a plan. Did he come here to play a hero? A white knight from teenage girls' fantasies?
'…or maybe he's just trying to ease his guilt at letting Aizen's word get to him like an idiot he is? To feel like he tried to do something after hearing those words? Because he feels like that is his obligation? To right the wrong? Or maybe he is that pathetic as to think that these past few weeks which he spent feeling like a high school student were too good for him and he now feels guilty about actually enjoying his life for a change?'
Hearing his own zanpakuto spirit utter those words caused Ichigo to stiffen and clench his fists in a feeble attempt to deny them. But before he could muster the strength to retort, the spirit spoke to him again.
'You're an idiot, Ichigo. It's that simple. You've rarely worried about such pointless stuff in the past so why start now? Don't make me slice you up in our next match because I swear I will do it.'
Ichigo closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to ease up his ire. He still wasn't completely aware of it, but his zanpakuto had a knack of telling him brutally honest truth that often caught him by surprise. But, most of the time, it seemed that it was just the thing he needed the most.
'You'll just do it anyway.'
For a moment, there was an unnatural silence within his mind. Then, a laughter filled it.
'Got that right, Ichigo! Don't tell me you'd expect any less from me!'
Despite his best attempts at stopping himself, Ichigo couldn't help but to chuckle at that.
'Nah. We both know you're one crazy bastard.'
'Right back at you, Ichigo. Right back at you.'
The teen raised his head to stare at the starry sky above him and, looking at the moon that glistered in the heavens like a shiny ball filled with hope, he let the frustration slowly leave his soul.
'...good night, you bastard.'
…
It was only when a harmless ray of morning sun stubbornly kept poking Ichigo's closed eyes with its piercing light that the teen quietly groaned and showed first signs of waking up. He wrinkled his nose and tried to roll over to the other side, completely ignoring the fact that he was sleeping with his back propped against a tree. Thus, his body suddenly plunged downward and hit the ground and gave him a rather effective wake-up call.
"…oh, man, my back is killing me." He whined faintly and blinked a few times until his eyes got used to the sunny skies above him. Yawning widely, he stretched himself and just lay there for a moment to try and collect his thoughts.
"So… what now?"
It was Sunday. The last day of the weekend. The day before Monday. In just a little more than twenty-four hours he would have to attend his classes. With that in mind, Ichigo mentally made a bit of math and grimaced. If he didn't want to be late to Kidō theory class, the class he came to really like, he would need to turn around and run back to Seireitei before sunset. Even then, he would get practically no sleep and he didn't want to be sleepy during that particular class. Thinking about it, he absentmindedly reached into one of his inner pockets only to feel the rest of the coins he had on him. His grimace only worsened.
'Only that much, huh? It's barely enough for one more drink. Eh, going to bar without ordering something would be too suspicious. Ah, well, what can you do? I'll try one last bar and then I'll go back.' He thought and took his hand out of the pocket. Reluctantly, he got up and dusted his clothes before walking in the direction of the city.
…
An hour later and all of his money lighter, Ichigo walked out of a small tavern with a dissatisfied expression. He hadn't been able to learn anything new yet again. This time, though, the teen just sighed and let go of the feeling of frustration as soon as he felt it slowly build up within his mind. There was no point in getting irritated anymore. Despite not learning anything, he had tried his best and that took some weight off his shoulders.
"I guess it's time to go back." He muttered to himself and took several steps towards the edge of the city. But then he felt some disturbance in the air and made a sharp turn. His sixth sense, his instinct, told him to stray off his intended path and wait.
And so he did. Crouching behind a row of thick bushes, he first made sure there was nobody in his vicinity and only then set his sight at a small road that ran across the edge of the city all over into the nearby forest. Seconds passed peacefully, the only sound was the sound of the city coming from behind him. Because of that he was able to hear even his own breath which made him feel like he was doing something he shouldn't be doing. When a full minute passed but nothing happened, he almost began to question his own senses but then he saw it, though he wasn't sure what he should make out of it.
It was a group of mean-looking Rukongai citizens. That kind which he could recognize at first glance without really having to think twice about it.
Thugs.
But it wasn't the sight of a group of thugs that somehow caught Ichigo's attention. Such an occurrence wasn't unusual for the Rukongai area he was in. Thugs, bandits and all kinds of low-level criminals sometimes formed small companies when forced to. The thing that was out of place was a lone shinigami walking in front of them as their apparent leader. Now that was a rare occurrence Ichigo couldn't understand. As far as he knew, Rukongai citizens all hated shinigami. Unanimously and without exceptions. The only thing that differed from person to person was the amount of hate they held towards shinigami. There were those who would converse with shinigami without feeling the urge to spit on the ground, people who would listen to them for a whole minute without feeling the urge to turn around and leave or even people who could control themselves so well, they could even speak to them in a calm tone. The last group was in minority, though.
However, not once had Ichigo seen a crowd willing to follow a shinigami of their own free will which was exactly how the situation happening in front of his eyes looked like. Furthermore, all those men appeared to be really excited about following the shinigami.
'I smell bullshit. An extra-large even.'
He wanted to follow after them but as soon as he went to stand up, he flinched and remembered all those times he had been too curious for his own good. Begrudgingly, he remained in his position and opted to just observe the group for the time being. Since the men looked ordinary, he moved his eyes to stare at the shinigami in the front.
From what he could see, Ichigo noticed the man had a short raven black hair and wore a sleeveless shinigami uniform with a hood coming out from a shirt beneath it. There was also a sheathed zanpakuto clearly strapped to his left side. When the man, along with the rest of the group, left the area of Ichigo's vision, the teen sat on the ground and tried to come up with an explanation.
'Putting all the possibilities aside and ignoring the fact that I'm probably overthinking this, didn't Ikkaku-san mention something about a former member of 11th Division joining forces with the Bounts? I can be wrong but seeing a shinigami do something as suspicious as this now that the Bounts have come to Soul Society is too much of a coincidence.' While he pondered about it, the voice of his zanpakuto offered him an advice.
'Well, how about catching up with them and ask them with my blade?'
Actually considering it, Ichigo shook his head after a moment.
'Nah, if I'm right and I meddle with the Gotei 13 affairs again I'll just get pissed at. It just isn't worth it. I'll simply report it to Rukia or somebody else from the Gotei 13 once I'm back.' He thought and slowly got up.
'Maybe it isn't worth it or maybe you're just turning into a little bitch.'His zanpakuto laughed mockingly. Instead of getting angry, Ichigo smirked.
'Well, if I'm a little bitch then what does that make you?'
'…touché.' The spirit said and, after a short pause, snorted.
"Hey, you! What are you doing here?!"
Hearing an angry voice, Ichigo slowly turned around to see a tall man glaring at him with a short sword loosely held in his right hand. Behind him stood six other men that glared at the teen in the similar way. They all looked just like the group Ichigo had seen minutes ago.
'More thugs?'
With the hood still covering his head, Ichigo tilted it so they didn't see his face as he simply stared at them.
"Resting."
"Then go rest somewhere else!"
Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo noticed the bit of sweat forming on the forehead of the man that did the talking.
"Is there a problem? I don't see any sign that this is a private property."
The man's eyebrows twitched, causing one bead of sweat to flow down from his forehead and travel across the whole left side of his face all the way down to his chin.
"A-Are you looking for a fight, damn it?!"
Ichigo blinked, a bit surprised at the outburst. He even ignored when his zanpakuto spirit happily began to laugh within his mind which caused him to subconsciously shudder. The madman inside of him sounded too creepy.
'Oh, Ichigo! I can't believe you'd do that! To look for a fight just for me. You're the best wielder ever…'
Ichigo actually had no intention to fight but the man must have understood his shudder as a sign of dangerous movement because he jumped towards Ichigo and tried to slash at his shoulder.
Without thinking, Ichigo's left hand reflexively shot out of his cloak and he deftly caught the blade descending on him in his palm, an action that shocked not just the man that tried to attack him but also the rest of the men along with Ichigo himself.
"Uh…" The teen muttered dumbly but all the stares were pointed at his hand that was gripping the blade so it didn't matter. A bit confused, Ichigo raised his head to look at it too.
'Oh, well… I guess what we learn is true.' He mentally noted.
The fact that caused everybody at the scene to freeze was that there was not even a tiny droplet of blood flowing from Ichigo's hand and that was simply because there was no injury. He was completely unharmed and the blade pushing against the skin of his palm was unable to cut it at all. Nothing happened even when the blade slid across his palm. Nothing but sparks which made it look like Ichigo's skin was made out of steel.
When the man overcame the shock and finally understood what had happened, his eyeballs almost comically bulged out. Frantically pulling at the sword, he yanked it out of Ichigo's grip and made two fast steps backwards.
Ichigo watched his actions with mild amusement but also with a sense of suspicion that was growing more and more with each passing second. When neither the man nor the others that stood behind him came at the teen and simply stared at him, the teen slowly lowered his hand.
"Let's pretend that didn't happen. Now, since I don't think I did anything wrong here, I assume you tried to attack me because you think I saw something I shouldn't have seen?" He asked but to no avail. None of the men offered him any reply. But looking closely, he noticed that the amount of sweat of the men's foreheads increased a little.
"I take that as a yes. In that case, it has probably something to do with that group of men led by a certain shinigami, am I right?"
Again, silence was his answer. But he didn't give up. It just wasn't in his blood.
"Okay. Is this somehow connected with a certain group of… people that recently came here from the World of the Living? Bounts?"
Now that earned him some response and some men nervously glanced at each other. A strong voice came from one man that stood a bit away from the rest.
"He knows too much. We should just get rid of him and get over with it. Together, we can take him. Even if he possesses a bit of spiritual energy he's still just a one man and there are seven of us."
"…I don't think I like how easily you speak of murdering somebody." Ichigo muttered in a disgruntled tone. Reaching into his cloak, he took out his zanpakuto and prepared himself for the inevitable. For a moment nothing happened and Ichigo just stared at the men that continued to glance at each other, unsure of what to do. The teen could clearly see their eyes and the emotions reflected in them. Then the one man who encouraged the others to kill Ichigo jumped towards him and tried to strike him with a rusty H
Effortlessly, Ichigo parried the attack and narrowed his eyes at the man.
"I though you are just simple thugs but something tells me you in particular are not."
Gritting his teeth in effort to push the teen with his sword, the man growled.
"Got that right. Unlike these cowards, I'm a mercenary from Kusajishi."
"Is that so? Do you enjoy killing, then?"
The man growled and, when Ichigo didn't budge, pushed himself from the teen.
"It's what I do to survive." He said and sliced the air in front of Ichigo's head in an attempt to cut open his throat. But the teen's reaction time, honed through his past battles, allowed him to easily dodge the strike by leaning backwards. Then he noticed that nobody else hurried to join their fight.
"Really? And what do you need here in Soul Society to survive, anyway? You don't possess any spiritual energy so you don't get hungry or thirsty and therefore don't need money to buy food. So no, I don't think I believe you when you say you do it to survive." The teen said with a frown and ducked under an angry swipe. It seemed his words were pushing the right buttons because the man's face twisted itself into a deep scowl.
"There are more things a person needs to survive!"
"Ah, I see. Selfish reasons. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride, huh?"
The man's scowl changed into a grimace.
"You think you can judge me? Who do you think you are? A saint?!" He snarled. Ichigo, a part of his features still hidden underneath the hood, shook his head.
"Hardly. Same as you, I'm a guy pushed forward by his selfish reasons and urges. Same as you, I try to justify my actions under the pretense of something noble. However, unlike you, I never take lives of the innocent." The teen said calmly and when his opponent screamed in rage he closed his eyes.
"Get purified." He stated and resolutely swung down his blade at the man, cutting through the man's katana, his clothes and the flesh of his body until blood spurted from him and just barely missed Ichigo's face. His opponent was dead before he could even register what happened.
Getting blood off his zanpakuto with an empty slash, Ichigo turned to the rest of the small group and slowly put down his hood to show his orange hair. Just as he expected, as soon as men saw it, they began to murmur and he was sure he could hear the word 'Tora'. He sheathed his sword, causing the men to gulp and take a step backwards.
"Run and never join forces with people like the Bounts again or else…"
As if he cracked a whip, each man threw away his weapon, turned around and began to run so fast, Ichigo almost thought they used some kind of a flash step.
'Why?' His zanpakuto spirit asked him a simple question. Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed.
'Only the mercenary deserved to die. The rest was just a harmless bunch. The worst that they have ever done was most likely just a petty theft.'
'Oh? You sure you're not just getting soft?'
'Nah. I felt it… I can't explain it very well but it's like I could see what was in their hearts. Trust me, they will never be able to kill a person.' When he heard no snappy response, Ichigo almost blinked in surprise. Concentrating for a moment, he received an image of his zanpakuto spirit having some sort of a serious conversation with the other, older, spirit Ichigo possessed. Even though such a thing baffled the teen, he had no time to dwell on it because he felt somebody approaching his location fast.
Observing his surroundings, it took him only a moment to spot a figure descending on him from above and so he quickly jumped backwards to evade it. The newcomer landed harshly and caused the ground below his feet to rupture and fold, forcing Ichigo to shield his eyes from the bits of soil that erupted from it.
"I was wondering what was going on here and look what I found here. You are the boy that interrupted Mabashi and Koga back in the World of the Living." The newcomer, a slender woman with long dark teal green hair, said mockingly and with it confirmed Ichigo's suspicions.
'She's a Bount… so I was right. There is something going on here.'
"That makes things easier. I'm Yoshi. I hope I can expect a good fight from you, boy." The woman said before raising a fan in her hand.
"Zeige Dich, Nieder!" After uttering a strange phrase, the fan in her hand glowed and rapidly changed its size and appearance. A mere second later, it divided itself into a fan and a sword, both of them connected with a long chain.
'Yep. I hate when I'm right.' Ichigo nodded to himself and quickly unsheathed his zanpakuto. The woman, Yoshi, watched him with interest.
"You're quite silent for a boy of your age. Or is it just that you are trying to give me a silent treatment? Or maybe you're just shy?"
Ichigo didn't bat an eye at that.
"You talk too much. Are we doing this or what?" He said firmly. In response, the corners of Yoshi's mouth twitched upwards to form a grin.
"Heh, just don't disappoint me, boy."
"I could ask from you the same thing."
Moving slowly, both of them twisted their bodies to form a stance and just stared at each other for a while, trying to anticipate and read their respective opponent. Ichigo knew that logically, he was at disadvantage. His opponent was using an odd weapon, a kind he had never encountered before; a fan connected to a sword through a long chain. Moreover, he was more than convinced the fan wasn't there just for a show or didn't serve as a simple fashion accessory. He knew this was going to be a one of a kind fight and, subconsciously, that thought caused the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards and form a mild grin. Wordlessly, he released his seals.
"!"
He moved first. In a burst of Shunpo, he straight-forwardly crossed the distance between them and plunged his zanpakuto forward. The woman looked surprised by his speed just for a split second before she twisted her body around the blade and hastily redirected the strike with the back of her fan. Expecting that, Ichigo carefully stuck out his left leg forward to stop himself from advancing further and used it to instantly spin around and make a slash.
His blade, however, did not connect with the tender flesh of a human body. Instead, it sliced only the air where his opponent had been standing a moment before. When his body finished turning around, he saw Yoshi momentarily suspended in air above him. He noticed one of her legs springing towards his head and so he hastily leaned backwards. Evading the kick, he grabbed her outstretched leg with his free hand and yanked it to the side.
Yoshi sailed through the air and almost crashed into a nearby tree. In the very last moment, she managed to spin herself and bounce back from it but, in the process, she cracked the tree-trunk and caused it to topple over. When it hit the ground, sending small tremors across the clearing, Ichigo moved again.
He jumped towards Yoshi and with a one-handed swing downwards attempted to slice open her torso but she parried the attack with her sword. The teen could see her yanking on the chain to flail the fan on him but he acted faster than her and pointed the index finger of his free hand at her abdomen. Uttering a phrase, he shot a burst of energy at her.
"Hadō #1, Shō!"
The unexpected strike surprised the woman and pushed her backwards several feet, causing her to stumble. But Ichigo wasn't able to use the hole in her defense. Instead, he had to move fast in order to evade a volley of needle-like projectiles that shot out of Yoshi's fan after she swung it down while stumbling.
He jumped high and quickly began to chant a long incantation.
"What do you know, you're not bad at all!" Yoshi exclaimed after she regained her footing and swung her fan again. More projectiles shot at Ichigo and the teen was forced to use his sword to block them. One or two still managed to scratch him and drew a bit of blood but he ignored it as he finished chanting.
"…the empty castle! Hadō #63, Raikōhō!" Generating an orb of yellow lighting above the palm of his hand, he fired the built up energy at Yoshi in a form of a massive lightning strike, causing her to curse loudly.
"Shit!"
The spell moved too fast. She had no time to evade it and it hit her dead-on. The results were highly destructive and tore the ground all around her, causing chunks of soil, wood and everything else to erupt and obstruct Ichigo's vision of her.
He landed on the ground. Unlike the last time he used this spell on a Bount, though, he didn't miss a beat and sped towards his opponent. As soon as he got close enough to her, he noticed the woman was crouching behind an opened fan that was now even larger than her body. Tactically, he waited until she folded it. Then he sprang into action. He instinctively concentrated a small amount of reiryoku into his left fist and, when she stood up, threw a punch to her abdomen.
"Gah!"
Ichigo's sudden strike caught her unprepared. His fist embedded itself deeply into her abdomen and, despite not penetrating the flesh, the teen could feel her organs rupturing under the force of his hit. Before he blasted her backwards, he swore he could feel the outline of her spine on his knuckles.
"!"
Not even crashing into a single tree managed to stop her body. She continued to smash through a whole row of them before the momentum from Ichigo's punch finally died down.
"Oh, shit… ow!" Ichigo cursed in surprise when he saw the results. Soon enough, though, the pain in his hand brought him back to the reality. Glancing down at it, he saw no external wound but the discomfort was great.
'Ow, I think I'm fine but… damn. I didn't even use that much energy. This is some good stuff.' He thought and shook his head. This was no time to marvel at his discovery. Moving forward, he carefully approached the place where his opponent had landed. With narrowed eyes, he found her motionlessly lying on her back. A lot of blood was flowing from her mouth which didn't surprise him that much. If what he felt was true, he must have dealt her a lot of internal injuries.
'Still…' He thought and cautiously raised his zanpakuto to deliver one more blow, just to be sure. In that moment, Yoshi's whole body was enveloped in a light so bright, it forced him to forgo his intention and shield his eyes.
When the glow lessened, he saw the spirit particles from his surroundings flowing into the woman and healing her injuries at a fast rate. Before he could react, she was already getting up. Still vastly damaged but no longer unconscious.
"…that is so damn annoying." He muttered and jumped backwards. Thinking back to his previous encounter with a Bount, he recalled using the energy slash.
'It would be so useful if I could just use reishi from my surroundings to power up my technique the same way these Bounts are using it to heal themselves.' He thought and concentrated on his reiryoku.
'…you could always try that…' His zanpakuto spirit interrupted him in an extremely reluctant tone.
'What?'
'…I'm saying you could try to call on the reishi from around you to power up the technique.'
Blinking rapidly in bewilderment, Ichigo was careful not to let Yoshi out of his sight but, at the same time, he was trying to understand the words of his zanpakuto spirit.
'But… but I'm a shinigami, right? And shinigami can manipulate only the energy within him.' He objected nervously. It wasn't just the proposition that was making him uneasy, it was also the odd kind of tone his zanpakuto was currently using, the kind of tone he had never heard him use before.
'Just… just shut up and try it. I don't want you to use these kinds of things but I already made a deal with the devil.'
Completely baffled, Ichigo had not time to dwell on his feelings, because his opponent was almost finished healing herself.
'Okay… but I've never done this before.' He thought and creased his brow in deep concentration.
'Don't force it. Feel it with your instinct.' His zanpakuto spirit told him in an almost disgusted tone. Ignoring it, Ichigo listened to the advice and concentrated. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and tried to feel the energy around him.
But it appeared to be pointless. He lacked any form of training or any previous experience and so he just couldn't seem to grasp the magnitude and delicacy of his task. He was trying with all his might but he simply didn't know where to even start and that was quickly making him more than just a bit irritated. With a growl, he focused on a small plant next to him.
'…everything in Soul Society is made out of reishi, right?' He thought to himself and glared at the innocent plant as much as he could. He tried to visualize it as a construct made out of pure energy, to see it not as a specific thing, but as a pure matter. He even closed his eyes and for a moment completely disregarded the danger Yoshi represented.
'Now come to me you bastard!' He mentally exclaimed and imagined the matter tearing itself up and flowing into his blade.
He opened his eyes after what he thought had been a minute but in reality had been just a second.
"Wow." He whispered.
To his immense surprise, he saw the plant slowly disappearing in front of his eyes as the spirit particles it was made of lazily rose upwards and flowed into the blade of his zanpakuto.
'Yeah, yeah, hallelujah.' His zanpakuto spirit begrudgingly congratulated him. Then Ichigo snapped out of it and noticed Yoshi moving towards him.
"Crap." He muttered and quickly abandoned what he was doing. He had partially succeeded but gathering reishi from his surrounding was clearly not for current situation. It would have taken him too much time to gather enough reishi and time was the thing he didn't have. Switching to using his own energy, he parried several of Yoshi's strikes, evaded a volley of her needle-like projectiles and coughed when he received a kick to his abdomen. When he felt a small opening, he jumped backwards to create some distance between them before finally pumping his energy into his sword. However, before he could release his crescent-shaped blast he heard a slightly familiar voice coming from above him.
"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"
A large ice dragon shot down at the place where Ichigo was fighting Yoshi and forced both combatants to take cover.
"…Kurosaki Ichigo? What the hell are you doing here?!"
When Ichigo raised his head, he saw a small figure clad in a white haori land in front of him. It was the Captain of the 10th Division, Tōshirō Hitsugaya along with his Vice-Captain, the busty woman Ichigo now knew was called Rangiku Matsumoto. Before he could reply, the Bount he had been battling for a while called out to him.
"It seems we have to cut our fight short. I enjoyed it but I don't like my current odds." She stated and prepared to leave only to find herself inside a swirling tornado of small particles that suspiciously looked like a simple dust.
"Yeah, you're not going anywhere." Matsumoto said lazily while holding the hilt of her sword. Its blade was missing but Ichigo realized it only at second glance.
"What-" Yoshi tried to get out of the tornado only to receive several cuts on her limbs, causing her to curse and stop moving. That was a mistake because in the next instant, Tōshirō appeared behind her and caused a large portion of her legs to become enveloped in ice with a simple slash.
"You're done." He stated with a certain finality in his voice.
Yoshi protested and tried to get away but the amount of ice enveloping her body began to increase to the point when only her head was sticking out of it.
"Careful, she can manipulate reishi."
Tōshirō glanced at Ichigo, who was walking towards him, with a raised eyebrow.
"It seems these Bounts can use reishi to heal their wounds but rest assured, she's not getting out of this. Only a Quincy can effectively manipulate and control reishi to the point where the escape from my ice would be possible." He stated and, with a blunt side of his blade, knocked the female Bount unconscious. Then he, along with his Vice-Captain, fully turned to Ichigo who appeared to be a bit unnerved after hearing those words.
"Now, Kurosaki, explain it to me. Do you go and look for trouble on purpose or do they find you?"
…
"Kurosaki…" Tōshirō sighed heavily after Ichigo finished explaining how he had gotten into yet another fight with a Bount. The teen tried to lie about his true intentions and about his presence in Rukongai but the young Captain quickly saw through him and so he was forced to explain things truthfully. Now, Tōshirō had one palm placed across his face to try and hide his bewilderment.
"I thought of at least five things I could reprimand you for, but let's not do that right now. I'll focus on the important. You said you saw a shinigami leading a group of men somewhere into that forest?" He asked and nodded towards the nearby area full of trees.
"Yeah, it was probably that former member of 11th Division. He fits the description I got from Ikkaku-san. I don't recall his name. Maki something."
"Maki Ichinose." Rangiku finished for him and then glanced at her Captain who was openly staring at Ichigo for a few seconds. Then the Captain frowned.
"Right, I almost forgot how well you're acquainted with this Bount incident... okay, your information certainly sheds some light on our problem. It seems Bounts are definitely planning something fishy." He muttered quietly and then turned to the unconscious female Bount, still trapped within his ice. With a few light slaps, he woke her up. Blinking rapidly, Yoshi's eyes darted from side to side until she realized what was happening. She grimaced.
"I'm Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Captain of the 10th Division. What are the goals of your group, Bount?" Tōshirō asked in a serious tone which, in Ichigo's opinion, did not fit the young Captain at all.
"Who knows, I'm here just for a good fight." Yoshi scoffed.
Narrowing his eyes at her, Tōshirō wasn't deterred by her pointless answer and continued to ask her several more question but each time, the female Bount offered him a reply that had no value at all. Just listening to her caused Ichigo to feel a headache and from the look on Rangiku's face, he wasn't the only one. After fifteen minutes even Tōshirō felt his blood pressure rising and so he turned away from the Bount.
"This is getting us nowhere. I'd like to take her in and let Captain Sui-Feng take a look at her. I'm sure she could easily crack her. However, we also need to investigate what's going on in that forest." He muttered to himself. Then he glanced at his busty Vice-Captain.
"Matsumoto, do you think you could look af-"
"Watch out!"
When he heard Ichigo's yell, Tōshirō instantly turned around to see the ice enveloping the Bount exploding and several energy swords flying towards him as well as towards Ichigo and Rangiku. Quickly slashing his zanpakuto downwards, he created a small wall of ice that intercepted the swords along with the ice debris in front of him. He hastily stepped from behind it only to see that Yoshi was already gone.
"Damn it." He cursed and then looked at the other two.
"You alright?"
"I'm okay, Captain."
"…I'm fine."
Tōshirō let his wall vanish and then looked in the direction of the nearby forest.
"We need to get going. Kurosaki, you go back and-"
"Not a chance." Ichigo immediately interrupted him.
"Hey, kid. I think I've mentioned it before but you're talking with a Captain so you should be more polite." Rangiku stated with a frown but was completely ignored, causing her to pout childishly. Her Captain stared at Ichigo with unreadable expression.
"Kurosaki, you are not part of the Gotei 13 and I don't want to be responsible for a death of a student. Also, I need to alert the rest of the Gotei…" He began.
"Just send the hell butterfly. Besides, you don't need to worry. I can take care of myself. I'm going with you. If nothing, I could serve as a back-up." Ichigo said firmly and flared his reiatsu a bit, causing the Captain to continue staring at him in silence but with a thoughtful expression.
"You didn't have that much reiatsu back in the Academy." Rangiku stopped pouting and noted warily. She glanced at Tōshirō only to see him narrowing his eyes. She blinked.
"Captain, you knew about this?" She asked. In response, Tōshirō sheathed his zanpakuto.
"I noticed something was suppressing his reiatsu. I am not a Captain just for a show." He said and continued to look at Ichigo, whose eyebrows twitched in surprise. Trying to weigh the pros and cons, for a few more seconds, Tōshirō eventually nodded.
"Fine. Let's go."
A moment later, after the Captain sent a hell butterfly and the three of them were hurrying towards the forest, a sly voice echoed within Ichigo's mind.
'Well, aren't you a little hero.'
Ichigo formed a small grin.
'I'm not. I just want to finish my fight with that Bount.'
…
After several minutes spent separately skimming through the forest in an attempt to locate the Bounts, the Captain and his Vice-Captain landed next to Ichigo. The teen had just knocked out another man when he heard Tōshirō's voice.
"I hope you didn't kill him."
"No, but I probably should. This one is another mercenary that had killed innocent before."
The young Captain sighed.
"And how would you know that, Kurosaki? Do you have any proof? Besides, I've already told you, our primary mission is to defend human souls not to judge them."
In response, Ichigo bit his tongue. He didn't want to quarrel with a Captain of the Gotei 13, even though he really wanted to. Turning away from the teen, Tōshirō glanced at his surroundings.
"There is quite the number of patrols around this area so we must be getting close. Keep your eyes opened. Let's go." He stated and, along with his Vice-Captain, flashed away. When he was sure he was alone, Ichigo let out a growl.
"…I just know."
Then he flashed away too. From all the possible directions, the teen chose to simply go forward and it didn't take long before this decision was met with success.
"You are persistent, kid." Yoshi noted when Ichigo landed not far away from her. Since he didn't want to waste any minute, Ichigo smirked and quickly took out his zanpakuto.
"Don't worry. This won't take long." He stated confidently, causing the Bount's grin to freeze.
"Getting ahead of yourself now, aren't we?"
Enveloped in a small burst of light, she came running out of it with armor covering her right arm and a set of energy swords trailing behind her main sword. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
'She's finally getting serious, huh? My turn.' He thought and explosively released his reiatsu. Focusing on his reiryoku, he poured it into the blade of his zanpakuto and jumped towards the Bount to meet her halfway. Rapidly slashing the air in front of him, he intercepted the few energy swords she tried to throw at him and then the two of them clashed.
The accumulated reiryoku in the teen's blade blasted the Bount backwards and forced her to make several flips in order to avoid losing her footing. Her expression changed further into a deep frown but she relentlessly pushed herself from the ground and charged Ichigo once again.
While they exchanged a long series of blows, both of them felt a reiatsu spike coming from somewhere nearby. Neither of them reacted to it, though, as they continued to try and overpower the other one.
As he was trying to close the distance and impale the female on his sword, Ichigo felt a stinging sensation on his left thigh and left side of his abdomen, forcing him to abandon his strike and, instead, to jump away.
'Was it the fan…?' He thought and touched his side only to feel something wet and sticky on his fingers. Cursing quietly, he gripped the hilt of his zanpakuto.
'Time to wrap things up.'
Ignoring the blood coming from a wound in his side, he used his fastest Shunpo to appear directly in front of Yoshi and to diagonally swing his sword. The Bount hastily formed a block with her real sword and one of her energy swords to stop him but, before their blades connected, Ichigo briefly grinned.
A large crescent wave of energy shot out of his zanpakuto and smashed into the female Bount with incredible power. The force behind it was too much for her to block and her feet momentarily left the ground. She was carried across the area the two of them had been fighting in, before her body finally crashed into yet another tree.
Having nowhere to go, Ichigo's attack exploded in a brilliant flash of light.
The teen shielded his eyes but, for some reason, wasn't sporting a satisfied expression. Instead, there was an uneasy frown on his face as he lowered his zanpakuto.
"That attack… why is my energy getting darker?"
There was nobody in his vicinity that could answer that question but it didn't matter. Ichigo knew exactly who he was talking to but that person, living in his mindscape, chose to remain as silent as a moon hidden behind the horizon.
…
Even the many questions that plagued Ichigo's mind didn't deter him from hurrying towards the place from which constant reiatsu spikes had been coming ever since his fight with Yoshi. On his way, he noticed several unconscious men and so he knew he was going in the right direction. Continuously using his flash step, he suddenly flew out of the forest only to land at the edge of a large clearing, where he immediately noticed two things.
First thing was the absence of a large quantity of trees.
Second thing was the Captain of the 10th Division in a stalemate with the shinigami the teen had seen earlier that day.
Not even a second after his feet touched the ground another person appeared next to him. Feeling a bit sick, he forcibly tore away his gaze from that person's large assets and focused on the fight in front of him instead.
"You alright, kid?" Rangiku asked when she noticed his blood-stained clothes.
"I'm fine. Met the female Bount." He replied shortly. Accepting it as a satisfying answer, Rangiku appeared to be impressed. She didn't ask more questions, though, and turned away to look at Tōshirō.
"Captaaain! Need any help?"
"Not now, Matsumoto!"
It looked like the young Captain was in a serious mood and was busy trying to talk some sense into the other shinigami. So far, it seemed to have been pointless. Ichigo couldn't hear what the two of them were saying but he clearly recognized an expression of defiance in Maki Ichinose's face before the man jumped backwards, away from Tōshirō's reach.
"I will not let you get in the way of Master Kariya! Shine Brightly, Nijigasumi!" He exclaimed.
Before an incredible glow filled the whole clearing and forced Ichigo to shield his eyes, the teen saw the blade of the man's zanpakuto to disappear.
'Must be his Shikai.' He thought and heavily squinted his eyes in order to see at least something. Despite doing that, he only saw light everywhere around him and decided not to move an inch until he figured out what was happening in the first place.
'I can't see a damn thing.'
"Everybody stay where you are!" He heard Tōshirō exclaim loudly. A pair of blade clashed somewhere near Ichigo and the teen heard a female's groan.
"Damn it…" He muttered quietly. Then he felt, rather than heard, somebody approaching him from behind. Unsheathing his zanpakuto, he reflexively spun around to intercept a strike only to hear two swords collide straight in front of him.
'What the…'
The light all around him was flushed away when an incredible spiritual pressure washed over the whole clearing, causing alarms in his mind to go off. When he could see again, he saw a tall and muscular man in a sleeveless Captain's haori with hair styled into stiff strands. Despite not seeing his face, Ichigo was sure he knew who the man was if only because of the spiritual pressure that made him sweat bullets.
However, even though the reiatsu the man was excluding was heavy and powerful, pressing onto Ichigo's shoulders with great force, Ichigo wasn't sweating solely because of that. No. The reason was the sinister nature of that reiatsu, the sense of foreboding within it and, most importantly, the fact that it was making his instinct, that feral side of him, giddy from excitement. Such realization greatly unsettled his mind.
"Well, if it isn't Ichinose. It's been a while." The tall man said in a slightly eager tone. The small movement of his head was accompanied with a ringing sound of small bells that were attached to the tips of his hair strands.
"…Zaraki…" Maki Ichinose whispered in shock before the man easily pushed him back.
'So he is Zaraki Kenpachi, the Captain of the 11th Squad that Ikkaku-san and Rukia mentioned before.' Ichigo noted with stiff jaws.
"We did it, we found Ichi!" A childish voice coming from above Kenpachi's shoulder caused Ichigo to look at the man again only to find a small pink-haired girl attached to him. She was enthusiastically waving to Maki Ichinose, looking incredibly out of place. Then the girl noticed Rangiku.
"Hi, drunk jiggles, I haven't seen you in a while!" She greeted the Vice-Captain in happy tone.
'…drunk jiggles? Who is this kid?' Ichigo stared at the girl in disbelief.
"Oh…hello, Vice-Captain Kusajishi." Rangiku replied a lot less joyfully, causing Ichigo to almost fall on his backside from absolute shock.
'T-That girl is a Vice-Captain?!' He mentally yelled.
"Zaraki!" Tōshirō exclaimed in an attempt to get Kenpachi's attention. The tall Captain glanced at him and grinned.
"Things have been getting quite entertaining lately so I decided to come and take a look. You don't mind, do you?"
"…no."
Ichigo slowly walked to stand next to Rangiku, who briefly looked at him.
"You seem to be dealing with Captain Kenpachi's reiatsu quite fine. You continue to impress me." She said and smiled at him. The teen noticed that the Vice-Captain of the 10th Division too, had small beads of sweat on her forehead which, for some reason, made him feel a bit amused. But, since the Captain of the 11th Division appeared to be talking again, Ichigo didn't even attempt to reply to her.
"You can go back. I think I need to have a small talk with Ichinose." Kenpachi's voice cut through the clearing as he stared at the former member of his division that was crouching in front of him with an eager grin. Tōshirō narrowed his eyes but didn't protest. He turned to Rangiku and Ichigo and nodded to them.
"Let's go. I have a bad feeling about this."
…
Since the young Captain and his Vice-Captain had been hurrying to get back to Seireitei as fast as possible, Ichigo had had to use one of his faster Flash Steps in order not to fall behind. Even then it had taken them hours before they finally neared the sturdy walls that still surrounded the whole Seireitei. By that time, Ichigo felt he was actually quite winded and kind of glad they could stop for a second. But the moment of peace lasted only until they noticed several unconscious people scattered around the gate. Most of them appeared to be simple men from Rukongai but one figure, almost too large to be human, stood out.
"Jidanbō!" Tōshirō blurted loudly and dashed towards the giant with a worried expression. While Ichigo and Rangiku examined the others, the Captain of the 10th Division checked the gatekeeper for injuries. Loud noises coming from within Seireitei only further agitated him.
"What is going on, damn it?"
"Looks like Bounts managed to get through the gate." Ichigo stated and pointed to his far left, where broken pieces of a large wooden construct lay innocently. Rangiku was already walking around them with her face scrunched up.
"It looks like a… giant lever." She muttered.
"…he needs medical attention…" Still crouching next to the gatekeeper, Tōshirō mumbled anxiously as he tried to use pieces of clothing to stop the man's bleeding, while ignoring the two of them.
Turning away from that scene, Ichigo looked at the massive gate that stood in their way and sighed.
'There is no way any of us, aside from the gatekeeper, can lift this thing up. It must weight a ton, if not even more.' He thought but, just for fun, he walked to the gate, stuck his fingers under its end and pulled up with all of his might. When the gate actually moved, he got so surprised his fingers slipped and caused him to fall backwards, on his ass.
In his surprise, he opened his mouth to call out to Tōshirō and Rangiku but then he realized the gate didn't fall back down and, instead, was still being lifted up. That movement caught Tōshirō's attention and the young Captain raised his head.
"C-Captain Hitsugaya, sir?!" After the gate had been raised high enough, a group of shinigami came through it only to stop abruptly when they noticed the Captain.
Ichigo, still on his ass, shook his head and slowly got up.
'…you should have seen your face when you thought it was you who lifted the gate. Hilarious.'
'Shut up!' Ichigo felt a bit of heat rising to his cheeks but tried to ignore his zanpakuto's taunt. Fortunately, he was being completely ignored as the attention of the whole group of shinigami was pointed at the young Captain. Tōshirō quickly used it.
"What is going on?" He asked the closest shinigami. The man stiffened and hastily saluted.
"Sir! Today in the morning a group of Bounts managed to defeat all of our gatekeepers and enter Seiretei. Our forces have been attacked in multiple locations and we have suffered some losses."
Tōshirō listened to him with a slowly darkening expression and completely ignored that Ichigo scooted closer, enough to hear what they were saying.
"You talk like it was over already."
"Yes, sir! It is, sir! All Bounts have been defeated and executed, along with their leader, Jin Kariya. We are currently in process of cleaning up and escorting the injured to the 4th Division barracks."
Standing close to them, Ichigo blinked in surprise.
'Already?'
It seemed Tōshirō shared his bafflement as he stared at the man with narrowed eyes.
"I see. You mentioned losses. Tell me."
The man gulped and glanced at the others in his group, who looked not just nervous but also, visibly depressed.
"Sir… because of various circumstances we have lost 56 unseated and 12 seated officers. Captain Kurotsuchi is incapacitated for the next three days. His Vice-Captain is also heavily injured. Vice-Captain of the 7th Division and Vice-Captain of the 2nd Division both suffered mild wounds but are already working. Captain Sui-Feng is extremely weakened and still in care of the 4th Division but is expected to make recovery in a short time. But...sir, there has also been one more loss. That person sacrificed himself to defeat Jin Kariya."
The grimace on the man's face caused Tōshirō to mentally prepare himself for the worst.
"Go on."
"It's Captain Aizen, sir. He's been found dead."
End of Chapter 12.
First of all. I apologize for the wait. Second, I said the last time that in this chapter, shit will hit the fan. It happened partly. That's because I'm still writing this chapter. It just got to the point where it became too big and so I decided to divide it into two parts. Good news is that because of that, the next part will be finished soon.
About the chapter, I think it's rather self-explanatory. If you don't like what I did at the end, I just want you to know, it had to happen. There is a difference between this and canon, you'll see.
Btw: I will explain the chapter's title next time as well, though I'm sure some of you may understand what I mean by it. (it has two meanings, actually)
to reviews:
*Harbinger_of_Kaos - yes, both spirits are like that in their own way. Yes, but when I tried to think as Uryu, this came to mind. He's not powerful enough to defeat Bounts so he did this instead. Despite encountering ichigo in this chapter, they didn't really interact so wait for it. I did thought about the right division for Ichigo and at the moment, I'm deciding.
*Takei_Daloui - I replied to you via PM but to let others know, the writings on the wall exist in canon too. This small detail will play an extremely large wall in the future, btw.
*Reign_of_Rayne - it was intended. I looked up infor about that particular Bount and found out he often considered his prey to be just a food. Yes, Ichigo will have troubles with his hollow part. I thought the part where he was so angry the color of his eye began to change was easy to notice.
*Dianne060807 - glad you liked it. Yeah, I want ichigo to develop his other skills too but at the same time, I don't want to push things too far (like him suddenly becoming a prodigy even in Kido... yeah right.)
*NieveDrop - Yuno is a minor OC. She will appear from time to time but she'll never be promoted to main cast. I like their playing too xD.
*Dinner - thank you. I try. Yes, it's hollow most of the time. When it is not him, I make sure to make it visible. Aizen is being more straight-forward because of time. He postponned his plans because of Ichigo. (and yes, there is a reason why time is important). At the same time, as you said, he's too curious for his own good. I hope you'll like new chapters too.
*Mondtanz - He'll gain Shikai probably in chapter 14 or 15. You got it right ;) Sorry about the names, I will try to get it right.
*afi123 - the game will not stop even after he is revealed. It will only become more interesting ;)
To the rest of you, a big thanks!
One thing: I managed to get myself a beta. He started recently and is in process of fixing the prologue. He will then correct every published chapter until today. Then he'll began to beta the new ones. Just to let you know.
So long! Look forward to Chapter 13: Genesis of Lucifer, part 2! I have already written around half of it. Things are getting even more fun!