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)

19. Chapter 18: Propane Nightmares

Chapter 18: Propane Nightmares (First Contact)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Inner Quincy/Yhwach speech'

'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'

xxx

Two hours earlier

After putting a stamp on the last piece of paperwork, the Captain Commander of Gotei 13 let his Vice-Captain take it all away and leaned into his chair. Before his Vice-Captain reached the door, he called out to him

"Chōjirō."

The Vice-Captain of the 1st Division turned around to see the Captain nodding to him. The man nodded as well.

"I understand, sir. I will begin shortly."

Once the silver-gray haired Vice-Captain walked out of the room and closed the door, Yamamoto released a deep, calculative sigh. A moment later, he stood up and walked up to the handrail. For a few minutes, he just stood there and enjoyed the wide, sweeping view of Seireitei.

'If only the peace could last for another millennia.' He thought bitterly and closed his eyes.

He recalled the time when he was in his prime. The time long forgotten, known by few; the time he used to be a different person. Back then, he hadn't been a fool who enjoyed a peaceful life and an evening tea with Chōjirō. Back then, he hadn't been a shinigami who used his zanpakuto only on rare occasions. He had been a man driven by his killer instinct. He had been a shinigami driven by his bloodthirsty urge to do what had been necessary. A shinigami unlike any other. A stray thought caused his mouth to form a thin line.

'A shinigami unlike any other, huh? If only we didn't have to become 'shinigami'.'

Pushing back the memories of the past, he took several slow breaths and placed his hands of the handrail. Only then he opened his eyes again.

'If only my men wouldn't need to die. Again.'

The expression on his face hardened. Was the past going to repeat itself once again?

'No… there is still time and until then, we have to take care of Aizen Sosuke.'

He scowled.

'No shinigami should die for such a traitor. But, for the sake of the Soul Society, they will.' He thought and briefly glanced behind him as if he was waiting for something to happen. His timing was perfect.

"!"

A loud, screeching noise went off in his office. It began to spread out from the center of the Seireitei until it reached the walls that surrounded it from all sides. In a steady rhythm, the noise energetically repeated itself, causing a ruthless grin to form on Yamamoto's face.

"Now, show me your abilities, men. Show me how well you can cooperate. Show me just how well the Gotei 13 is organized." He muttered to himself and glanced at his desk, where a small piece of paper lay. There was a short message written on it.

'Alert to all divisions, this is your Commander speaking!

We have received a report that large groups of Menos Grande managed to penetrate our defenses and are now spread out all over the Seireitei. Make haste and locate them before any damage can be done to the lives of civilians! As there is no additional information available at the moment, use whatever means necessary to gather as much intelligence as possible.

This is an invasion we cannot overlook!

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the Captain Commander of Gotei 13.'

Yamamoto sighed.

'Next time, I'll have to think of something better. I fear this is barely sufficient.' He thought and turned his head back to the view of Seireitei.

"Well, let's see the results first."

As soon as he said that, he placed his cane in front of himself, used it as a support and waited. Standing still, like a pillar of fiery will, he simply stared at Seireitei and watched every single movement in it. It took longer than he had expected for a mixture of sounds to begin echoing through the place and such a conclusion caused him to narrow his eyes.

"They discovered the dummies only now?" He grumbled in dissatisfaction. His expression, however, changed quickly as the noise coming from Seireitei drastically increased. He tried to feel the spiritual energy in the air and frowned. Before he could form any thought, he heard the door to his office barge open.

"What is it?" He glanced behind him only to find his Vice-Captain giving him a troubled look.

"Sir, there have been sightings of Menos Grande inside Seireitei."

Yamamoto squinted his eyes at Chōjirō.

"Yes, that was the plan. The dummies-" He said but was interrupted.

"No, sir. I mean real Menos Grande. So far, we have counted at least 30 of them." Chōjirō explained quickly.

Yamamoto's expression changed again but, after a moment, it reverted back to normal. Nodding to his Vice-Captain, he opened his mouth.

"Proceed as planned. The situation being real only makes it a better training. We'll investigate once it is over."

Chōjirō blinked but, other than that, gave no other sign of being surprised.

"Yes, sir. I understand, sir." He stated and left the room.

Once he was left alone, Yamamoto shifted his sight to Seireitei once again.

…

Present time

Their brains unable to comprehend the current situation, Ichigo and Rukia stared at the chaos in front of them for another few seconds. The scene seemed ludicrous; the thought of Seireitei being under attack was unprecedented. However, as they had already witnessed the Bount invasion, the two of them got over their surprise fast. Acting swiftly, Rukia ran forward and grabbed ahold of the first shinigami that came close.

"What is going on here?" She asked loudly, trying to overcome the commotion coming from every side. The man in question gave her an incredulous look and yanked his arm out of her grip.

"What does it look like? Gillians have invaded Seireitei!" He yelled and left in a hurry.

Rukia glanced at Ichigo with a worried expression. The teen raised one eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Gillians or, in other words, Menos Grande. So far, I've only seen them once... they are supposed to be quite powerful."

Ichigo snorted contemplatively and looked up at one of the Menos Grande towering in the distance with narrowed eyes. He remembered seeing one back at the Sōkyoku Hill when Aizen had defected. Pushing his concentration to the limits, he tried to get at least a brief reading on the creature's spiritual energy.

"I remember reading about them. They are the weakest category of Menos." He paused and then, to Rukia's ire, formed a wide grin.

"Time to find out just how much of it is true." He stated and flashed away in a burst of Shunpo, completely ignoring Rukia's indignant yell while doing so.

'Oh yeah, let's get busy.'

Wholeheartedly agreeing with his zanpakuto spirit, Ichigo quickly covered the distance between him and the closest Gillian only to see it releasing a bright energy beam from its wide-opened mouth. In that moment, he heard loud yells and noticed that the attack was aimed at a small group of low-ranked shinigami. Without thinking, Ichigo jumped in front of them and raised his zanpakuto. He braced himself for the impact.

"Ichigo!"

Rukia's outcry was drowned in a screeching noise as soon as the energy beam collided with Ichigo's sword and pushed the teen a bit backwards. Surprised at the force behind the attack, Ichigo responded by strengthening his posture and raising his spiritual energy output to match the beam's power.

'Not as strong as the books pictured it but not as weak as I expected.' He thought and violently slashed with his sword, redirecting the beam back at the large hollow. The energy of its own attack cut through the monster's skin and caused it to wobble backwards.

"I'm not finished, yet." Ichigo muttered quietly and pumped the reiryoku into his legs only to leap into the air. He appeared right in front of the hollow's large face and raised his sword. With one strike, he cleanly sliced through the monster's mask along with its head. When he landed on the ground, the hollow already began to turn into a shower of spirit particles.

"Now I'm finish-ow!" He yelped when he felt a hand slapping the back of his head. Not even bothering to turn around, the teen shrugged.

"Hey, I see an enemy, I attack. Honestly, what did you expect me to do?"

He heard a sigh but no words. Curious, he glanced behind him to see Rukia pointing at the group of the shinigami the teen just saved. They were all staring at him.

"I thought you didn't like playing the hero."

The group of shinigami spared him one more grateful gaze before leaving in a hurry and Ichigo felt like slapping his forehead. Instead, he mimicked Rukia's earlier reaction and sighed. Rukia melodramatically patted his shoulder.

"That is the burden of a hero. Gratitude and recognition. I don't know how you're going to survive that."

He gave her a dirty look.

"Very funny."

In response, Rukia smirked but then looked away, at another Menos Grande that was slowly making its way towards them. She grabbed the hilt of her zanpakuto.

"Well, since it seems we are already in the middle of this, I guess the only thing we can do is to help."

Ichigo nodded and prepared to jump, only to feel a small hand on his elbow.

"But I'd prefer if we did this together. Teamwork is important." Rukia said with a small smile. For a moment, Ichigo just stared at her. Then he chuckled.

"Sure."

Rukia's smile widened a little.

"I'm glad to hear that. Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" She exclaimed and, instantly, Ichigo felt the temperature around him dropping. He glanced down, at his zanpakuto, and shook his head.

'Nah. I can do this without releasing.' He thought and cleared his throat.

"Freeze him on the spot. I'll take him from behind. Let's go!"

Mockingly, Rukia saluted him.

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

In that moment, the teen flashed away. Using one of his longer Shunpo, he appeared right behind the large monster and tightened his grip on his zanpakuto. An instant later, he heard Rukia's voice coming from a short distance.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

A large, powerful avalanche of cold air rushed through the battlefield and smashed into the hollow's lower body, instantly freezing it and encasing it in ice. The Menos Grande reacted almost instantly by releasing a loud roar. A moment later, a bright light began to form in front of its mask.

However, by that time, Ichigo was already in air. He cocked his zanpakuto back only to plunge it forward. The blade hit the back of the hollow's head and easily pierced right through it. Ichigo then focused on his reiryoku and sent some of it into his sword.

The Gillians's head exploded.

After he landed on the ground, Ichigo flashed over to Rukia. She caught a glance of his troubled expression and frowned.

"What?"

Ichigo frowned as well.

"This place is swarming with these Menos Grande. What's going on?"

Rukia looked away from his face to look at the rest of Seireitei that lay in front of them and shook her head. Her frown deepened.

"I have no idea. Let's not think about it too much. I see another Gillian." She said while pointing her finger in the direction of the 3rd Division barracks. In response, Ichigo just narrowed his eyes and filed his question to the back of his mind.

'Something must be going on. I don't think hollows can just casually invade Seireitei like this.' He thought and felt Rukia vanishing in a burst of Shunpo. Another thought later, he followed after her in the same manner.

When he came to a stop, he appeared right next to the petite shinigami and the two of them became witnesses of a failed attempt to try and defeat one of the large Gillians. A group of shinigami officers quite hesitantly bombarded the hollow with a volley of different Kido but the power behind the spells seemed to be lacking. Without further thinking, Ichigo raised his free arm, aimed it at the hollow and focused on his spiritual energy. Generating an orb of bright yellow lighting in front of his palm, the teen quietly chanted an incantation.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast. Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle. Hadō #63, Raikōhō." He muttered and fired the built-up energy straight at the hollow's head. Next to him, Rukia finished her own incantation and fired her spell only a split-second later.

"…the wrath of your claws. Hadō #33, Sōkatsui!"

The blast of blue energy followed right after Ichigo's Kido and, too, hit the hollow straight in its head. The joint spells detonated at the moment of their energies connecting, causing the group of shinigami battling the hollow to jump in surprise.

"Allow us to assist you." Rukia said politely, receiving a positive reaction a short moment afterwards.

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, it worked. It's wounded!" One of the shinigami yelled, causing others to turn their attention back to Menos Grande. The large wound on its mask, the result of Ichigo and Rukia's effort, quickly invoked a sense of pride in the group and all of them swiftly renewed their barrage of Kido spells.

"Incoming!"

At the sound of a warning yell, Ichigo instantly turned around but he was unable to dodge a Cero that came out of nowhere. The only thing he managed to do was to raise his sword a bit higher and then he was blasted backwards.

"Ichigo!" As soon as she noticed what happened, Rukia couldn't help but to exclaim worriedly.

"I'm fine."

She yelped quietly when the teen, his body giving off a bit of smoke, appeared right next to her. He cracked his neck joints, dusted his clothes and formed a scowl.

"That was a cheap shot, you bastard." He muttered quietly and leaped towards the Gillian which had fired the Cero. While doing so, he completely missed the expression of disbelief on Rukia's face.

'Don't push yourself, Ichigo. That was quite the hit you just took.'

Ichigo grimaced but didn't reply to his inner spirit. Instead, he poured his spiritual energy into his zanpakuto and slashed the air in front of him.

"Getsuga Tenshō."

With satisfaction, he watched as his attack made its way to the hollow and cleaved right through its mask. An instant later, the Gillian's head exploded. Only then he turned his attention towards his inner spirit.

'I've been worse. I thought it would hurt more but, frankly, it feels like I have only superficial burns. I'll be alright, Yhwach. Don't worry.'

'Yeah, buzz off, old man! It'll take more than a weak Gillian's Cero to stop my wielder.'

Ichigo raised one eyebrow.

'Was that a compliment?' He asked mentally. His zanpakuto response came almost immediately.

'Wipe that smirk of your face, dumbass. While I did compliment you, don't forget that you let yourself get hit by such a slow attack. Your combat awareness seems to drop when you're agitated. Work on that.'

Scrunching up his nose, Ichigo rubbed his chin and snorted in dissatisfaction.

'…yeah.'

Deep in his mental conversation with his inner spirits, Ichigo didn't even notice when a man in a white haori walked up to him with an approving expression.

"You make destroying these hollows look quite easy." The man said.

It took a few seconds for Ichigo to completely return from his thoughts so he registered the praise only when the man was already next to him. A bit startled, the teen gave him a confused look. The man's face livened up and he apologetically waved his hands.

"Ah, sorry. Seeing as you are an Academy student which, by the way, seems quite unbelievable, considering the power behind your attack, you probably don't know me yet. My name is Amagai Shūsuke and I'm the recently appointed Captain of the 3rd Division."

Ichigo slightly squinted his left eye at the man. Since he didn't want to appear rude right off the bat, he looked the Captain up and down only briefly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Captain." He replied. An awkward silence then fell upon them until Ichigo realized the meaning behind the man's expectant stare.

"Oh, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." He added hastily, causing the man to nod and offer him a hand shake. Ichigo looked at it and hesitantly accepted it. Once he did so, the Captain formed a friendly smile.

"So, Kurosaki. Have you been asked by any other Captain to join his division once you graduate?"

Ichigo blinked.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Ah, you see, a young man that can slay a Gillian with one attack would be a nice addition to the 3rd Division. Especially now. So… have you been asked already?" The Captain continued with his friendly smile.

Still a bit perplexed, Ichigo wanted to reflexively shook his head but then, he recalled a similar situation that had happened during the Bount incident. He shrugged.

"Yeah. Once."

"But you haven't accepted it, right?"

Ichigo shook his head.

"No. I'm trying not to think about it at the moment."

The Captain of the 3rd Division sighed but the smile never left his face. He turned to leave but, before doing so, glanced at the teen once again.

"Well, once you do, take my division into consideration. I'll be on my way now. Lots of hollows to slay." He stated and then left.

A moment later, Rukia popped up next to Ichigo.

"What happened?" She asked. Thoughtfully staring at the place where the Captain had just stood, Ichigo frowned.

"Nothing."

He glanced at the petite shinigami and then at the hollows in a distance.

"Let's go. By the way, is it just me or is your reiatsu getting a bit stronger…?"

…

Later that evening

"Ah, my bad. They both looked fairly tired so I told Kurosaki-san that he can return to the Academy and that I'll tell you once we meet. It seems he, along with Rukia, had been busy helping the others with the Gillian invasion." Ukitake said apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head. The one he was speaking to, Ichigo's father, sighed.

"It's fine, Ukitake-san. I wanted to take him to meet his cousins but it can wait until morning." Isshin stated and glanced at the 1st Division compound they were both walking towards.

"So, any idea what was that all about? The Gillians?" He asked the other Captain quietly. Ukitake negatively shook his head.

"I and Shunsui both think it was supposed to be some sort of a training plan that Genryūsai-dono came up with to determine the current state of Gotei 13. However, I don't believe he would risk so much by letting so many Gillians inside Seireitei. Something must have gone wrong." The Captain of the 13th Division said and coughed. Isshin raised one eyebrow.

"You okay?"

Ukitake coughed again but kept his smile on his face.

"I used a fair amount of my spiritual energy yesterday when I decided to train, so it's a bit hard to keep it up today but I'll be fine."

Isshin frowned at him but said nothing. He understood. The white-haired Captain had it rough.

'I don't think I could do it for so long.' He thought.

"What do you think? About the Gillians?"

When he heard the question, Isshin glanced at the other man and shrugged.

"I have a theory but… let's wait and see what Kurotsuchi will say."

A few minutes later, the two of them joined the rest of the Captains inside the room reserved for the Captain's meetings and, together, they waited for the arrival of the Captain Commander. The leader of Gotei 13 appeared soon enough and when he did, he tapped the floor with his cane.

"I believe everyone is present. Let the meeting begin." He stated loudly and took a long gaze at each Captain within the room.

"Well, I believe all of my Captains to be quite competent and so I'm sure most of you have already figured it out. Yes, the alarm report was fake. I faked it, so I could determine the level of cooperation the Gotei 13 divisions can muster in an emergency."

Isshin glanced at the other Captains. True to Yamamoto's words, none of them showed any surprise. The Captain Commander continued after a short pause.

"I cannot say I'm very pleased with the report I have received from my men who were carefully monitoring the whole situation. There is a distrust, reluctance and a large amount of resentment between most divisions of the Gotei 13. In light of the recent happenings, these are the things we have to erase from our prideful hearts if we want to prevail in our future obstacles." He said in a rather forceful tone, earning a slight rustling among the Captains. Before he could silence the room, a voice cut through the noise.

"You said you faked the report but Gillians did appear in Seireitei after all. What is going on, Yama-jii?"

When a hint of annoyance crossed the Commander's face, Isshin had to smirk. There was only one person who could get under the old Captain's skin.

"The original plan was to use dummies but, somehow, real Menos Grande managed to get to Seireitei without my knowledge. Captain Kurotsuchi?" Yamamoto turned to face the Captain of the 12th Division with a serious expression. In response, Mayuri frowned.

"It almost feels like you are accusing me of something, Commander. Nevertheless, I think I can answer your question with a fairly satisfying answer." Then he glanced at a tall man standing next to him.

"Well, since Zaraki was so nice as to show up, I'll try to explain this in the simplest terms."

"Oi, Kurotsuchi, wanna-"

"Captain Zaraki, please." Yamamoto interrupted the large Captain, causing the man to scoff. Mayuri formed a wicked grin.

"Now, let's see. Aside from Zaraki, I am sure you all know the structure of the current world. But, just for Zaraki, let me clarify it. Soul Society, Human World and Hueco Mundo are all dimensions which exist in a void space called Garganta. Only Soul Society and Human World are connected via Dangai, the Precipice World, leaving Hueco Mundo floating within the Garganta without any formal and stable connection. The only method for hollows to enter either place, be it Soul Society or Human World, is to create a dimensional gateway which we, too, call a Garganta." He explained and paused to look at each Captain. All of them nodded to him. Satisfied with that, the scientist continued.

"All of that is basic knowledge. Here come the interesting parts. Shortly after the appointment of the new Captain of the 3rd Division, there was an incident with a group of Gillians within Dangai, which should be impossible as there is no possible way for creatures as simple-minded as them to enter it through normal means. Then there was an incident in Human World when large groups of hollows, low-class hollows, mind you, entered Karakura Town through a too large Garganta. Such a Garganta can be opened only by a Menos-class hollow. The last incident happened today. Large groups of Gillians opened multiple Garganta straight to Seireitei. As you can see, each incident was something of an impossibility. Now, can any of you think of a reason behind these?" He asked and went silent for a while, as to give a space for a possible answer. The one to provide it turned out to be the shortest Captain in the room.

"Something is wrong with Garganta." Toshiro said. Giving him a short glance, Mayuri nodded.

"Naturally, that is the only logical conclusion. With that in mind, I shifted my attention towards it. However, the void of Garganta is a vast space, highly immune to monitoring and analyzing and trying to examine it whole is a waste of my time and Soul Society resources. Therefore, I focused on the part near the Precipice world and the part around each dimension. I discovered something mind-boggling."

Yamamoto, fairly annoyed by the scientist's urge for dramatic pauses, growled at him.

"Captain Kurotsuchi…"

Mayuri grimaced.

"Fine. The pockets of space that we call Valleys of Screams are behaving oddly. For some reason, they are gravitating towards each other and I'm most certain that this unusual behavior is the reason behind all these recent anomalies. At first glance, it looked like their movements were chaotic but now, after some analyzing, it seems there is some sort of system in it. It's as if there is a central, enormous Valley of Screams that acts as the gravitational center and pulls the rest of them towards it." He explained and ignored the murmurs that immediately stemmed from his explanation. Yamamoto didn't waste a moment and tapped the floor with his cane again.

"Silence! Captain Kurotsuchi, I know what Valleys of Scream are and what you are saying sounds quite disturbing. What do you propose we do?"

A brief look of worry crossed Mayuri's face, causing Yamamoto and most of the Captains to narrow their eyes. The Captain of the 12th Division rarely showed that particular emotion.

"Right now, let me study Garganta and the Valleys of Screams. I'm not one to unnecessarily cause panic, however, if this continues and all those Valleys of Screams mash together and create one large, then I'm afraid it could destabilize the whole balance of the world. Potentially even destroying it."

A loud silence fell on the room for a moment.

"Well, that doesn't sound good." Kyoraku muttered quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear. Isshin mentally agreed with him.

Yamamoto, being the Captain Commander, didn't lose his cool. With a quite calm expression, he turned to Mayuri once again.

"How long do we have?"

"Hard to say. If the motion of the Valleys remains as it is now, I estimate we have few years. However, in case the speed with which they are moving increases, we may have only about month or two. As I said, hard to say." Mayuri replied.

"Is there a possibility that Aizen Sosuke is behind this?" One of the Captains asked. Mayuri immediately shook his head.

"No. There is literally zero possibility. I can assure you that this is not Aizen Sosuke's doing. We may have a new enemy."

Isshin frowned and was about to think about the whole thing but then he noticed Kyoraku's intense gaze. The man was staring at the Captain Commander, who appeared to be deep in thought.

"Yama-jii?"

Yamamoto quickly looked up.

"I see. Captain Kurotsuchi, please continue your research but I'd like regular reports." He said and tried to erase his previous expression from his face.

"As you wish, Commander."

Yamamoto then turned to the rest of the Captains.

"With that out of our way, there is still the issue of our divisions' intolerance towards each other. In light of that, we need to discuss a possible plan to better our cooperation. I'd like to hear your individual opinions now."

…

Next day

Ichigo stared at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror and what he saw caused him to grimace. Thanks to a rough night, the bags under his eyes seemed more prominent than before.

"You look like shit, Ichigo." He muttered and, with a deep sigh, turned on the water in the washbasin. Bending his back, he stuck his whole head under the cold stream of water and suppressed the natural urge to immediately take it out. Turning the faucet to the left, he increased the water's temperature and released another sigh. A sigh of content.

"Mhm, that's better. Now I may look like a human being again." He groaned and raised his head to look at his reflection once more. Without looking at the shelf, he grabbed a towel, dried his face with it and then nodded to himself.

"Yeah. That's more like it."

In a few long steps, he returned to his bed, took down the bandages from his chest and began putting his clothes on. A voice called out to him from within his mind.

'You know, it's kind of odd when you talk to yourself like that.'

The teen put on his blue trousers and chuckled.

"What should I do, talk to you instead? First thing in the morning? Thanks, but no thanks, Zangetsu."

'You could talk to me.'

Ichigo chuckled again.

"Thanks old man but you know me, I don't like talking about my nightmares. Talking nonsense to myself like this helps me more than you'd think."

'We understand, Ichigo. Just wanted to let you know that we are always here for you.'

A rare, honest smile flashed across Ichigo's face.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks." He said quietly and grabbed his zanpakuto from his bedside. It was time to go to the class.

Despite his worries, Ichigo got through the day without anybody spotting the bags under his eyes. All the classes went as usual without anything out of ordinary suddenly happening. He even screwed up in his Kido class only once, which was better than usual and it caused his mood to increase a little. Moreover, in the Hohō class, he even managed to improve his old record in the length of his longest Flash Step by a fairly large margin. Later, during lunch, he had a short but entertaining conversation with Yuno about her advancement in a special Kaidō class. Hearing that made him feel… at ease. For some reason, after he had heard the girl's story, Ichigo slowly came to realize that there was a sort of a connection between the two of them.

'Maybe it's because of our similar… past experiences?' He mused once he said his goodbye to her. However, once he entered his next class, he had to abandon that trail of thoughts.

It was a lot later when the last class of that day ended and he was allowed to return to his room that he came across a hell butterfly. The spiritual creature landed on his outstretched arm and relayed a message to him. He grimaced.

Not even an hour later, he appeared in front of the 10th Division compound and looked around in an attempt to spot the man who had sent him the message.

"What took you so long, Ichigo?"

A bit startled, Ichigo's shoulders jerked but he managed to successfully stop himself from jumping in the air.

"Don't do that, dad." He said when the owner of the voice walked from behind him. Giving him a short glare, the teen continued.

"What did you expect? I just finished my classes. If I have to deal with you after the whole day, then I need a moment of relax before that happens." He said and grimaced in disgust when Isshin pouted at him.

"Don't do that either. You said you have a temporary solution for the Kasumiōji clam problem, right? Because I'm all ears."

Once ichigo said that, the Captain of the 10th Division changed his demeanor and gave him a short nod.

"Yeah, something like that. Come with me."

Suspicious, Ichigo raised one eyebrow but followed the man nevertheless. Once they neared the gates of Seireitei, he heard him speak again.

"Like I told you before, it's quite impossible for us to just meddle in a Noble clan business without any evidence. That being the case, there is a roundabout way for us to interfere."

Since he felt more information coming, Ichigo kept silent and allowed his father to continue without any interference.

"I don't know how much you know about the Noble clans but, in the past, Shiba clan used to be one of the Great Noble clans. Nowadays, it is only an ordinary Noble clan but the name itself is still very well known. It would be a political suicide to go against it." Isshin said and waited until they passed a gatekeeper to continue.

"Right now, I'm taking you to meet the current head of the Clan, so don't freak out."

Ichigo's left eye twitched in annoyance but then he realized something.

"Isn't he some kind of my family?"

Isshin briefly turned to look at him and chuckled.

"She's actually your cousin."

Ichigo blinked.

'She?'

Seeing that the teen went silent again, Isshin continued.

"There is something she can do about this Kasumiōji thing. Obviously, she can't afford to go directly against the clan but, when I talked about it with her, she came up with an idea. I'll repeat myself, but, like I said, going against Shiba clan would be a political suicide. Same thing applies if somebody would try to hurt one of its members."

Ichigo frowned.

"You mean me?"

In response, Isshin negatively shook his head.

"No. You wished for me to officially keep our relationship a secret and so, for now, you are not a Shiba. However, after our clan fell from the grace, some of the remaining members escaped to the Human World. I'm talking about a Shiba who lives in Karakura Town and offered to shelter the Kasumiōji girl." He explained in a low voice.

"Once the Rurichiyo girl is there, the assassins can't touch her. Or at least, they shouldn't be able to. That should give us some time to gather enough evidence to convince the Captain Commander that he should start an investigation of the Kasumiōji clan." He quickly added before Ichigo interrupted him.

"That's great but… why do I need to go visit the Clan head if she already agreed to this? Not that I want to be ungrateful or anything…"

Isshin turned to face him and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Since it means helping you, she had no problems with agreeing to it. However, she asked for one thing in return."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

'…I have a bad feeling about this.' He thought and steeled himself.

"And what's that?"

"In return, she really wants to meet you and to get to know you. You are one of the few remaining members of her family and so she… well, it sounds kind of funny seeing as I'm talking about her… but, basically, she wants to… love you?"

Ichigo abruptly came to a stop, forcing Isshin to do the same. The teen blinked several times in a row.

"She wants to… what?"

Isshin chuckled and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Uhm, you know… you're her cousin and she wants to be just that. To be your cousin. Your family. I know that it may sound forceful but… at least let her try. Same as you, she lost too much in her life." He added quietly.

Ichigo stared at the man for a whole minute. Then he sighed so deeply, it looked like the sigh itself came from the deepest parts of his being. He began to walk again.

"Dad… please tell me she's not as… well, retarded… as you are?"

The answer he received was followed with another nervous chuckle.

"Uhm, you see, it kind of runs in the whole clan?"

The teen briefly closed his eyes.

'I'm regretting this already.'

It was half an hour later when the two of them reached their destination in a form of a house with large human hands made of stone standing on its both sides while also holding a banner with the name 'Kūkaku Shiba' written on it. As soon as Ichigo saw it, he stopped walking forward and, instead, took a step backwards.

"You have got to be kidding me. I'm not going in there." He stated and lightly shook his head. Standing next to him, Isshin laughed.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you can't see the beauty of this style!"

Still laughing, the man then went behind Ichigo and began pushing him forward until two large man appeared in front of them.

"Halt! Who goes there? Huh… Isshin-sama! Welcome back!" Both of them yelled respectfully.

Seeing the expression on his son's face, Isshin leaned to him.

"These two are Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko. They are the Shiba Family's house guards and Kūkaku's assistants." He explained quickly while pointing at the man on the right and then on the other one.

"Come on in, Kūkaku-sama is waiting for you." Koganehiko stated and motioned Ichigo and Isshin to follow him. The Captain of the 10th Division did so immediately but Ichigo took a few seconds to glance at his surroundings and only then he hesitantly trailed after them.

Soon, they reached a large, but mostly empty, room. There was a single person sitting in the center of it. When he first saw her, Ichigo was almost instantly struck by a mixture of different emotions.

Kūkaku Shiba was seemingly a youthful-looking woman of average height. Despite her rough facial features, she was quite beautiful, enough so for even Ichigo to notice it. But the teen couldn't look at her for long as her provocative red robe that was exposing much of her skin and even a small part of her undergarment brought back an uncomfortable memory. Oddly enough, the energy she was radiating felt warm and that confused him even further.

"Hey Kūkaku. This is my son, Ichigo." Ichigo heard his father say and blinked to clear his thoughts. He saw a shocked expression briefly crossing the woman's face before she expertly hid it behind a wide grin. She slowly stood up and walked up to them.

She stopped right in front of Ichigo and only then the teen noticed quite an obvious thing.

Kūkaku was missing most of her right arm. It seemed to have been cut off right above her elbow and the stump was now covered with bandages.

"Yo! I'm Kūkaku Shiba." She introduced herself crudely and then, without any warning, grabbed Ichigo and enveloped him in a rough and violent one-armed hug while also slapping him on his back.

"It's good to meet you, cousin! We have much to talk about!"

Feeling a bruise already forming on his backside, Ichigo tried to suppress the urge to flee from the hug and formed a bittersweet grimace.

'Yep. I'm really regretting this.'

…

Next day – evening

Petrichor, the earthy scent of an earlier rain welcomed Ichigo as he, along with Rukia, emerged from a small Senkaimon and placed his feet on the moist soil of Karakura Town. The refreshing smell quickly improved the teen's mood after a long day in the Academy and caused him to form a tiny smile.

"Ah, there should be their house." He heard Rukia as the petite shinigami pointed her finger to the far right. The smile on Ichigo's face faded and was replaced with a frown of concentration.

"Let's go."

Several lazy Flash Steps later, the two of them stopped in front of an ordinary house and hastily drew their zanpakuto. Ichigo cursed.

"Damn it."

The roof was full of holes, walls were riddled with deep cuts and, generally, the place bore all signs of a fight. It looked like they were too late. Such a thought caused Ichigo to growl and punch one of the walls.

"…they said their barrier would hold."

"Calm down, Ichigo. Despite the signs, I don't see any blood. It's quite possible the assassins attacked this place only after the three of them left. Look for any clues." Rukia calmly called out to him and leaped over the wall, to look inside the house.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo placed his forehead against the cold wall.

'She's right. No point in panicking yet.' He thought and looked at his feet. He blinked. There was something lying on the ground, next to his left foot. Curious, he kneeled down and picked it up.

It was a red ribbon. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

'That belongs to the girl… but it's not damaged at all. Maybe Rukia really is right and they left in a hurry before they got attacked...huh?' He mused and stood up.

"Rukia! I found something. I think they left in a hurry. Go ahead and look for them at other possible locations. I'll see what else I can dig from here!" He called out to his shinigami partner.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be right behind you!"

There was short delay before Rukia leaped from the house and through a hole in the roof and gave him a short nod.

"Alright. Be careful."

Watching her leave, Ichigo waited a half a minute and then casually bent over only to jump in the air an instant later. A long blade sliced through the air where he had just stood.

"I knew my paranoia wasn't without reason. There was somebody watching us after all." He exclaimed once he landed on the roof and looked down at the person who just tried to attack him. He narrowed his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was the man's hair. It was light purple. Then here was also a scar running across the man's face. It went from the uppermost part of his forehead until at least the root of his nose. Since the man's nose and mouth were covered with a mask, he was unable to see if it ran any further.

'Another assassin but… his attire as well as his spiritual pressure is different. Is he of higher rank?'

If only for a short while, the man, who mimicked his expression, remained stationary and silent.

"Impressive reflexes. I almost don't believe the clothes you are wearing." The man stated as he returned Ichigo's intense stare, causing the teen to narrow his eyes even further.

"Never judge a book by its cover."

The man snorted.

"Indeed. I thought you are just another student but it seems I was wrong. I'm Hanza Nukui."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

As soon as the words came out of Ichigo's mouth, he noticed that the assassin's posture visibly changed.

"I see. I recognize that name. You are the one who meddled in Gotei affairs during the Bount incident. Interesting."

In response, Ichigo gripped the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"I didn't know I'm so famous that even assassins knew about me."

Hanza snorted again.

"It's my job to have intelligence on potentially dangerous individuals. Now, let's see just how good you really are."

Not even a second after the last word echoed through the chilly air, Ichigo forced himself to move and duck under a fast swipe of the man's sword. He instantly retaliated but Hanza had already jumped backwards. When the teen saw him land on the opposite side of the roof, something caught his eyes.

'That sword…' He thought. What he was looking at was a katana with a large mirror attached at the hilt. His opponent caught his stare and glanced down.

"I see that this is not the first time you have encountered Saiga."

Ichigo didn't have time to reply as he was forced to side-step a diagonal attempt at his torso. Smoothly, he flowed around the strike and used his elbow to bash the man's skull from behind. His attack, though, didn't connect.

"Yeah. This is the second time." He said and leaped in the air. The two of them crossed blades in mid-air and then exchanged their locations. Now, it was Ichigo who was standing on the other side of the roof.

"In that case, I'll have to make sure there won't be a third time. Seal him away, Saiga!"

When he felt the man's spiritual pressure rising and saw the man turn his sword and point the mirror directly at his face, Ichigo cursed and raised his sword hand to shield his eyes. Despite that, he could still feel a blinding light surrounding him from all sides. An instant later, he used a Shunpo to appear in a distance behind the man.

"Oh? Why are you afraid of a simple light?"

Ichigo scowled but didn't answer.

'The last time I fought that sword, it took one look into the flash of light and I was paralyzed.' He thought and something unpleasant ran across his spine. A blinding light swallowed him again.

'But why does it feel different now? It's like I'm being squeezed even when I'm not looking at it.'

He tried to flash away but his body refused to move. He cursed.

'Shit.'

"I applaud you for trying to evade the light but it's futile. Even if you fought Saiga before, it was in incompetent hands back then. Now that I'm wielding it, I can bring out its full power! You cannot escape!"

Before the light swallowed him completely, he felt a pulse of familiar spiritual energy surrounded by several unknown ones.

'Shit. Rukia.'

…

The scenery before Ichigo's eyes flashed and was replaced by something akin to a void space filled with fluctuating energy. He tried to move, but found himself unable to do so.

'What the hell?'

Getting angry, he tried again and his hands shook from the effort but that was the most he could muster. An amused laughter echoed through the odd dimension.

"It's useless to struggle. Your consciousness is here but your body is someplace far away."

His opponent, Hanza, materialized in a distance in front of him, causing the teen to growl.

"As long as you are locked in here, in this world of mirrors, you will not be able to move an inch." Hanza said in a smug voice and raised his sword arm so Ichigo could see it clearly.

"This sword is the same you have encountered before but, now that I'm wielding it, it has completely different set of powers."

Both Ichigo's eyebrows shot high.

"That doesn't make any sense. A zanpakuto-"

"This is not a zanpakuto." Hanza sharply interrupted him.

"This sword acts by consuming its wielder spiritual energy. In other words, the stronger the spiritual energy, the greater the power it can draw."

'This still isn't making any sense. I've never heard of anything like that.' Ichigo mused. A nagging thought entered his mind from the back of his consciousness.

'Still… right now, this guy is rather talkative. Is he so confident? If so, maybe I could learn some information.'

While Ichigo was thinking inwardly, Hanza continued to speak.

"This sword continues to consume spiritual energy and only someone who can endure it is able to manifest its true power. Someone… like me!" The man exclaimed and pointed his sword at the blurry sky. In the next moment, a lot of spiritual energy began to surround him.

'…well, that didn't work out.'

"I have now wasted enough time with my explanations. I shall now kill you in one breath."

Feeling his opponent's spiritual pressure rising even further, Ichigo's expression hardened and he focused on his own spiritual energy.

"Dream on. You are a lot stronger than all the previous assassins combined but… so am I."

In one blast, Ichigo released his mental barriers that were keeping his reiatsu constrained at all times and let his spiritual energy pour out of him in amounts that caused Hanza to take a step back and to stare at him in disbelief.

"What is this pressure?!"

However, Ichigo quickly realized he was still unable to move and so he pushed himself further.

"I'm not done yet!"

*BOOM*

His reiryoku burst out of him with such force, it caused a small explosion yet his opponent, after overcoming his brief shock, grinned smugly.

"It's useless! No matter how much-"

*CRACK*

A loud cracking noise interrupted Hanza and forced him to glance down, at his sword.

There was a crack on the large mirror.

"A crack in Saiga? Impossible!" He exclaimed and raised his head to send an intense glare at Ichigo.

"Kurosaki Ichigo! Time to die!"

Ichigo watched the man leap forward, towards him, and desperately tried to release even more energy as he still couldn't break free from his invisible bindings.

'Shit, shit, shit, shi-' He mentally repeated only to get interrupted by a familiar voice.

'Ichigo, don't force your way out of this. Think!'

'Gee, thanks old man but I'm kind in a pinch. Even I will kind of go down if he gets a clean hit on me.' Ichigo mentally retorted and his whole body shook from his efforts of trying to break free. He watched his opponent slowly close the gap between them and felt a bit of panic rising within his soul.

Undeterred by his emotions, his inner spirit spoke calmly.

'I'm well aware of that. I'm just telling you to use your abilities. This man's ability to stop your movements is clearly too strong to just force your way out. Thankfully, you are not an ordinary shinigami. If releasing all your energy isn't working, then do the opposite.'

Intently listening to him, Ichigo couldn't suppress the bead of sweat from forming on his forehead. Hanza was getting closer and the teen was starting to get worried.

'Opposite? What are you…? Hm? Oh, I get it.' A clear image of one of his abilities formed within his mind and caused him to frown deeply in concentration.

A moment later, he stopped releasing his spiritual energy and, instead, the spiritual particles of the space he was in began to break down and flew towards him and then into his body.

The sheer absurdity of that caused Hanza to stop abruptly. Clearly, the man was unaware of what was happening and didn't want to risk getting too close to the teen.

"What is this? What are you doing?!"

Ichigo, his forehead completely sweaty from the amount of concentration it took him to focus on his Quincy ability, involuntarily formed a smirk.

"You're not the only one with a surprise in his pocket."

The spiritual particles of the void space slowly surrounded him and enveloped him in a dazzling light. Getting a bit desperate, he willed himself to move.

'Come on, let me at least move my sword!' He mentally yelled and, to his great surprise, he felt as if the spiritual particles moved across his body and stacked themselves around the wrist of his sword hand. A moment later, he was able to increase the grip on the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"AAARGH, sssssscrew this!" He roared. Pushing his body to its very limits, he managed to move his sword hand and slashed the air in front of him.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

The unexpected strike collided directly with Hanza as the man, in a desperate attempt to stop Ichigo, had leaped towards him again.

The void space of mirrors was engulfed in an explosion and shattered into a million of little pieces.

…

Once he felt his limbs' movement wasn't restricted anymore, Ichigo jumped backwards to escape the cloud of dust that had been swirled by his Getsuga. However, as soon as his feet touched the roof again, he staggered. In the next moment, the roof, along with the rest of the building, collapsed and forced him to jump away. The cloud of dust expanded itself and, for a moment, denied the teen any vision of his enemy.

"…damn…"

Carefully looking around himself, Ichigo steeled himself and tried not to pant as much as his body was forcing him to. The amount of energy he had released while inside the void space finally caught up with him.

"Kurosaki… Ichigo…"

Hearing the words, Ichigo's head snapped up and he tried to see through the slowly receding cloud of dust. Eventually, he was able to spot his opponent who was hunched over and was giving him an angry glare from a distance. A strange feeling of relief washed over the teen. While he was fairly tired, his opponent was clearly fairing worse than him.

Hanza's clothes were torn and soaked with blood that was pouring out of the gashes on his torso and the man was panting heavily. Despite that, Ichigo could almost feel that the man was a long way away from toppling over. His sword was still raised in front of him, ready to intercept any attack, and his spiritual pressure was still quite strong.

"…you win this time." Hanza growled. He continued to glare at Ichigo for a few more seconds before turning around and fleeing the scene.

Ichigo, torn between wanting to follow after him and looking for Rukia, watched him leave with a contemplative stare.

"Good riddance… damn." He finally muttered. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm down and concentrate of locating Rukia's reiatsu signature.

"…got it. Behind Mashiba Middle School."

…

Trying to conserve his energy while also hurrying towards Rukia's location, Ichigo flashed across Karakura Town with a deep frown on his face. His fight with Hanza aside, he was mad about the several unknown reiatsu signatures obviously surrounding his female partner.

'And I don't even know why.' He thought, irritated.

It took him a few dozen more Flash Steps before he finally reached Mashiba Middle School. When he did so, he sensed one another reiatsu signature. This one, however, felt familiar. Despite that, his frown did not disappear. On the other hand, it deepened even further. Directing his reiryoku into his legs, he leaped high in the air and jumped over the school in one go.

He was still in mid-air when he finally saw Rukia and realized the situation she was in. At the same time, he noticed the other person whose reiatsu he had recognized. Resolutely, he shifted his aim at one single assassin that was trying to flank Rukia and swung down his blade.

His wordless Getsuga hit the man before he could even turn his head towards it.

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaimed in surprise and almost lost one of her limbs because of it. Thankfully, there was one ally who stopped the blade before it could touch her.

"Thanks, Yoruichi-san."

"No problem." Yoruichi said in return and, in one hit, blasted the assassin backwards. In that moment, Ichigo finally landed on the ground. Greeting Rukia with a nod, he glanced at the former Captain of the 2nd Division.

"What's the matter? A few assassins are too much for Yoruichi Shihoin?" He mocked her with a raised eyebrow. Yoruichi answered by blasting another assassin away and pointing her gaze at several burnt spots on the ground all around them.

"See those?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"Ah…" He muttered and then glared at the remaining assassins.

"Your commander has been defeated. Retreat, if you value your lives." He exclaimed loudly to the surprise of both his allies, who looked at him with confused eyes.

"Commander?"

Ichigo didn't answer immediately and, instead, waited until the assassins visibly blanked out and then hurriedly fled the scene. Only then he turned to face Rukia and Yoruichi.

"I'll tell you but we need to speak with Kenryū and Enryū first."

…

Half an hour later, Ichigo dropped into his seat and gratefully accepted a cup of hot tea from Enryū, while simultaneously listening to Kenryū telling him about their narrow escape from a horde of assassins. Since he was fairly tired, Ichigo never once attempted to interrupt the man and opted to wait until he was finished talking.

It was when he gulped the third cup of a clearly colder tea that Kenryū finally reached the final words of his story.

"…and so, thanks to the fortunate diversion, we managed to flee the scene."

Ichigo wiped his mouth and pinned the man with a firm gaze.

"Anyone injured?"

Kenryū negatively shook his head.

"Just a few scratches."

Satisfied with the answer, Ichigo leaned backwards and noticed the fixed stares coming from Yoruichi and Rukia who were sitting on his both sides. Clearing his throat, Ichigo looked back at Kenryū.

"Alright. Things are getting serious. This setting, you hiding behind a barrier, is not going to work anymore. Not with the guy I fought barely an hour ago around." Ichigo said. Before Kenryū could respond, he continued.

"Since he is an assassin working for your family, you may know him. His name is Hanza Nukui and… oh, so you do know him." Ichigo muttered thoughtfully when he saw both Kenryū and Enryū turning pale.

The two bodyguards exchanged worried glances and then turned back to the teen.

"Yes. That man is the leader of the assassination squad under Gyōkaku Kumoi. The Nukui family are a clan that has served the Kasumiōji diligently for many years. If Kumoi sent even him…" Kenryū stated in a low voice, causing Rukia and Yoruichi, who was in her feline form, to narrow their eyes.

"Is he that strong?" Rukia asked.

"He has good spiritual energy but that's not what makes him a bad opponent." Ichigo replied in Kenryū's stead and then threw a hard gaze at the man.

"This Hanza guy told me that the sword he uses is not a zanpakuto and he that he was actually the second person to use it. He explained that it works by consuming the user's spiritual energy. Based on it, the sword can even evolve and produce new abilities. Have you ever heard of something like this before? Because honestly? I haven't." He asked. Unfortunately for him, both Kenryū and Enryū shook their head, causing Ichigo to frown and glance at Rukia and Yoruichi.

Rukia too, clearly didn't know anything about that but when Ichigo's eyes met Yoruichi, the cat almost imperceptibly nodded. In response, Ichigo's frown deepened.

'That can't be good.'

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked.

"Yeah, right. It doesn't matter." He turned his eyes back to Kenryū and Enryū.

"Like I said, you can't hide behind a mere barrier anymore. It's not safe. That's where we come in."

Kenryū tensed but, when Ichigo continued, he quickly relaxed.

"We did as you asked and, for now, we did not talk about this with the Gotei 13. However, I have a… let's say a good relationship… with the Shiba clan. They have agreed to shelter you three for some time. One of the clan's members is hiding here, in Karakura Town, and, tomorrow, we are to move you there. Once you're there, you are practically untouchable. Would that be alright with you?"

"Yes! I mean, yes. That is an excellent idea. Even Gyōkaku Kumoi wouldn't dare to go against Shiba clan. At least I don't think so. While not one of the Great Noble Clans anymore, the Shiba clan still plays an important role in the inner workings of the Soul Society. He would have to be extremely desperate to attack it." Kenryū said and, together with Enryū, they both bowed deeply.

"You have my utmost gratitude, Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Rukia-sama. I'll inform lady Rurichiyo." He stated and, along with his partner, left the room. Once they did so, Yoruichi moved from Ichigo's side to sit in front of him.

"Go on. What do you know about those swords?" The teen asked, much to Rukia's surprise.

"You know something, Yoruichi-san?"

The cat nodded and answered in a quiet tone.

"There are few things in Soul Society I know nothing about. I remember hearing about swords with properties such as the ones you have mentioned. If I'm not mistaken, they are called Bakkōtō. While the Zanpakutō is a symbiotic being, working and growing more powerful as the Shinigami develops a relationship with the sword's inner avatar, the Bakkōtō is more of a parasite, gradually consuming the user as it grows in power, until it starts to affect one's mind and eventually devours him." She explained, causing Rukia to recoil in shock.

"I recall that term from somewhere. Bakkōtō… aren't they highly illegal?"

Yoruichi nodded.

"Indeed. This is a good thing."

Ichigo raised one of his eyebrows.

"How so?"

To answer his question, Yoruichi, even as a cat, formed a sly grin.

"Since Bakkōtō are a technology created solely by the Kasumiōji clan, if we can capture and present just one to the Captain Commander, then I think we will be able persuade him into taking action against them."

…

Next day

It was already an evening when Kenryū and Enryū finished their preparations for moving out and that caused Ichigo to be even more irritated than usual. He had hoped to move the trio during the midday, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, their time schedule had been forcibly changed. The teen didn't like it. With every passing minute, the possibility of another assassination attempt only rose. Still, he couldn't bring himself to snap at the two bodyguards. Every time he got close to the point of boiling, he noticed the distressed expression on Rurichiyo's face and his emotions deflated as quickly as a ball with a big hole in it. On the other hand, the extra time only helped him and Rukia to recover from their battles even better. Not to mention that he got to know the little girl from the Kasumiōji clan a bit closer and what he discovered only convinced him that his decision to help her was the right thing to do.

"We are ready."

Nodding to Kenryū, Ichigo glanced behind the man, at the little girl strapped to Enryu's back, and hardened his demeanor.

"Let's go."

At the sound of his voice, all of them quietly rushed forward. As it was still before sunset, Ichigo found it very odd to run across the moderately populated area of the town clothed in his Academy robe and with a sword tucked to his waist. Passing several people by, he shuddered at the thought of anyone actually seeing him. The experience was new to him.

However, thoughts such as those quickly vanished from his mind as a bad feeling settled in his gut instead. Nervously, he glanced at his surroundings, only to see nothing out of the ordinary.

'Why am I so… agitated?' He mused and subconsciously increased his pace, forcing the others to do the same.

"Is something wrong?" Kenryū asked while trailing behind him. Giving the man a brief glance, Ichigo formed a frown.

"I'm not sure. I just have a… bad feeling. We should hurry." He said and pointed his stare to his right side. Then, a moment later, he focused his worries into his spiritual energy and released a short and weak pulse of reiatsu.

'That should be enough to alert her.'

It took the group fifteen minutes until they reached Karakura Community Park, the half-way point between the last safe house and the house of the Shiba clan's member, when something shot from the sky and hit the ground right in front of Ichigo. Right in the middle of his Flash Step, the teen was forced to jump over it. In that moment, the thing that had embedded itself into the soil exploded and pushed Ichigo away from the group.

"Damn it to hell…" Ichigo groaned. Suppressing the pain from having his backside burned, he forced his body to land on his legs. Before he could flash back to the group, a man with a drawn sword blocked his path.

"You…" Ichigo growled when he spotted the purple hair of his opponent. In response, Hanza growled too.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Reaching for his zanpakuto, Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the man.

"For some reason, I feel like you aren't here to assassinate Rurichiyo but to challenge me. Am I wrong?" He asked, trying to calm himself down. He was tempted to look beyond the man to see what was going on with the others but, looking at the armor covering most of Hanza's body, he decided to believe in Rukia and Yoruichi.

'Yesterday, that armor was covering only one of his shoulders. That means…' He thought.

"No, you're not." Hanza replied all too calmly, causing Ichigo to try and read the man's spiritual energy. Not even a second later, a dark reiryoku began to pour out of the teen.

"In that case, it's time to stop playing around. Bleach their souls, Zangetsu!" He exclaimed. In that instant, the sword in his hand divided itself into two and the spiritual pressure surrounding him skyrocketed.

"I don't understand how a mere student can possess so much spiritual energy but, right now, it doesn't really matter! Die!"

Creasing his brown into a deep frown of concentration, Ichigo calmly parried the man's frontal assault with his larger blade. When Hanza pushed, Ichigo pushed back and, in the process, kept the man's attention on the myriad of sparks produced by their crossed blades. Despite the anger bubbling within his blood, Ichigo grinned.

"What's so funny, Kurosaki?"

"Nothing. Getsuga Tenshō." Ichigo replied leisurely, catching his opponent off guard with his light energy blast, underhandedly produced with the smaller blade. Hanza was instantly blown away but Ichigo followed after his sailing body with black energy surrounding his other sword, the one in a form of a large khyber knife.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

"No!" Hanza angrily exclaimed. In the last moment, before he was hit, he managed to raise his sword in defense and release a lot of spiritual energy. Still, the power behind Ichigo's Getsuga forced his body to crash into one of the largest tree in the park and pushed him into it until the tree's trunk snapped and toppled over. Ichigo watched the man's body fall on the ground with a thoughtful expression.

'…he's not done, yet. That would be too easy.' Following his thoughts, Ichigo shot forward at high speed and aimed to pierce right through the man's torso. Once again, he was stopped in the last moment. The tip of his large sword hit the mirror of the man's blade and smashed it into thousand pieces. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"Too bad. You just lost the only advantage you could ever have over me." He stated and raised both his sword to deliver the finishing move only to find himself unable to move.

'What?'

His shock must have shown itself on his face as Hanza, slowly getting from the ground, formed a weak smirk. His armor was heavily damaged and it was obvious his body too, didn't escape the harm from Ichigo's attacks. Yet he still appeared to be confident, unnerving the teen greatly.

"Heh… don't think you have Saiga or me all figured out, kid. I said it yesterday and I'll say it again. With enough power, this sword can become infinitely powerful! You cannot escape Saiga's reach!" Hanza exclaimed loudly and released even more spiritual energy, momentarily surprising Ichigo with its intensity.

'Where the hell is his energy coming from?! The reiatsu he's producing almost feels like it belongs to a Captain!' He thought, for the first time feeling a bit of panic.

A short moment later, an intense bright light swallowed him whole.

…

Within a void space

Ichigo slowly opened his to the feeling of his body floating in the air.

'Not this shit again.' He thought bitterly and looked around. To his surprise, the void space looked nothing like it did the day before, when he had fought Hanza for the first time. This time, he was within a vortex of slowly moving small mirrors and the only thing he could see in them was his own, surprised face.

Then, all of a sudden, the image in the mirror shifted.

"…what?" He muttered in disbelief. The face that appeared in the mirror was his own, but several years younger. The head of the boy in the reflection was hung down and Ichigo was unable to see his expression. However, the boy soon raised it and showed the teen his blank, practically dead, eyes.

"What is going on?"

He stared at the boy and the boy seemingly stared back at him.

He stared.

The boy stared.

He became the boy.

His vision collapsed and a memory of his past began to play within his consciousness. A one of his precious memories. A memory filled to the brim with joy and happiness. A memory of warmth. A memory of love.

A memory of his mother, Masaki Kurosaki.

He wanted to stop it but couldn't. He wasn't in control anymore. The little boy was. He was the little boy, yet he wasn't. He saw everything through his own eyes, yet also through the eyes of the boy.

The boy was in karate dojo, fighting a tomboyish girl. The boy tried his very best to beat her in a spar but couldn't. He received a light direct punch to the face and fell down, on his butt. He started crying.

"Ichigo."

The boy instantly stopped crying and happily took down his head protector. Immediately, he jumped up and ran towards a beautiful woman.

"Mommy!"

"Come on, Ichigo. A strong boy like you shouldn't cry, don't you think?"

The woman smiled warmly. She was dazzling. She shone brightly, almost like the Sun. In the boy's eyes, she was the center of his own little universe.

The scene changed.

The boy and his mum were walking down a walkway, next to a calm river. The sun was setting down. It was evening. The boy's left hand was firmly squeezing his mum's right palm.

"Tell me, Ichigo, why did you start doing karate?" The woman asked with a bright smile. The boy blushed and bashfully looked away.

"It's… it's a secret."

"Awww."

The scene changed again.

It was dark. The boy's eyes were closed. Waking up with a start, the boy opened them. Something heavy was lying atop of him. He glanced down only to feel his breathing getting heavy.

"M-mum? Mommy?!"

He exclaimed and hastily pried himself from underneath the bloody corpse of his mother. Blood was everywhere, yet the woman's face looked peaceful, almost as if she was just pretending to be asleep. Almost as if she was to just suddenly open her eyes and tell him it was all just a joke.

But it wasn't.

It wasn't a joke.

She was dead.

She died protecting him.

She died because of his foolishness.

And the boy knew it. He knew that it was his fault. There had been nothing he could have done, yet the guilt was too strong, the reality too harsh.

The scene changed again.

The boy was at the riverbank, sitting in the grass and just staring at the sunset with blank eyes and broken expression.

"Why won't you come back, Mommy…?"

He just sat there and talked to himself, asking question he couldn't hope to answer. Questions that pressed on him so much, they made it hard to even breathe. He asked questions that couldn't be answered. Both the boy and the teen within him knew it was pointless.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner, Ichigo."

A voice that shouldn't have reached him entered the boy's ears and caused him to jump in surprise. His head snapped to the right.

"Mommy?"

The beautiful woman, his mother, walked towards him with her arms open wide, ready to embrace him in a warm, loving hug. The boy ran and threw himself in it. Happiness once again filled his soul and quickly washed away all the pain, sorrow and guilt that had been plaguing his mind for what had seemed like an eternity.

"Now, now. Let's just go home, shall we?" The woman asked kindly. The boy hesitated but, after a moment, he grabbed her hand and let himself be led up a short stairway.

However, the grip of the woman slowly but surely began to hurt.

"Mum? You're squeezing too much."

She did not respond. She didn't even look at him.

"Mum? You're hurting me! Nnnargh!"

The boy felt that something was wrong and forcefully ripped his hand out of her grip. No longer being supported, he began to fall down.

But the one who hit the ground was not the boy.

It was Ichigo.

Feeling weak, he tried to sit while staring at his mother's back.

"Why did you…" He tried to move, to stand up, but something heavy was pressing on him, preventing him from doing anything. Helplessly, he watched his mother turn around and walk down the stairs and towards him. For some reason, he could not see the expression on her face.

"What's going on…?"

'She's dead! Snap out of it Ichigo! You know that this is not her!' He thought in alarm.

The woman closed the gap between them and lowered her body. Her arms shot forward and grabbed him by his neck.

She squeezed.

Ichigo gritted his teeth and tried to raise his hands to grab her arms. He couldn't.

"Stop it, Mom! Don't do this! I… I'm sorry I couldn't protect you but I already made peace with you. I avenged your death. You shouldn't be suffering anymore!" He exclaimed shakily, the image of him slaying a certain hollow appearing within his mind for a brief moment.

The scene changed again.

The boy didn't return. Ichigo remained Ichigo and he found himself chained to a bed. At first glance, it was clear he was in a jail, a dungeon of sorts. The room he was in was cold and dark. Its walls were slimy, the air was wet. A cold breeze passed right through him and caused him to shiver.

He was naked.

Alarms went off in his head.

"…no… no, no, no, no, no…" He chanted repeatedly, trying to stop what was coming next, but it was all for a naught.

From the darkness of the room, a lone person, a woman whose face still haunted his mind walked out and slowly, with a sick smile, climbed on the bed, freely touching his body while doing so. She didn't mind the shudders, the trembling of the teen's limbs as he tried to stop himself from hyperventilating.

"Get off… GET OFF!" He screamed in desperation.

The woman ignored him and crawled across the bed, towards him, with a seductively sick smile. Lowering her body, she stuck out her tongue and ran it up his calf, his knee and his thigh.

Ichigo shook his whole body but he was unable to shake her off.

The woman jumped over his sensitive parts and continued to run her tongue across his skin. The wet mucous membrane of her tongue sloppily licked his belly and she let some of her saliva to flow to his bellybutton.

Quickly turning his head to the side, Ichigo vomited. When the urge to puke left, he panted and dared to look down the bed again.

He paled.

The woman was right in front of his face and when he turned to her, she mockingly licked the tip of his nose. Then she sat and positioned herself right on top of his waist.

Desperation began to overwhelm Ichigo.

But then, the woman's face began to change.

The skin on her face, the muscles beneath them and the bones within it bubbled and gradually rearranged themselves. Slowly, but surely, her features began to settle down.

Slowly, but surely, her face began to remind Ichigo of somebody…

For a brief moment, not even a second, Ichigo's perception of time disappeared. It felt like time itself disappeared and the scene in front of his very eyes froze. His brain malfunctioned and mixed all of his senses together, causing him to momentarily lose any and all emotions he felt. Retina in his eyes detected the photons of light, yet the teen saw nothing. His auditory system detected the vibrations of the air, yet he heard nothing. There was no time. Only the oblivion of his inability to understand anything.

Then his brain came back alive.

"NOOOOO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and violently shook his whole body. He shut his eyes and refused to look at the woman anymore.

The feeling of desperation vanished, replaced by searing anger. Replaced by seething hate. Replaced by unfathomable rage. His whole soul filled itself with fury he never felt before.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" He screamed and incredible amount of black energy burst out of his body, burning away not just his surroundings and the woman on top of him but also stripping his mind of any limits, any sense of reason he had.

The void space exploded.

…

Outside the void space

Hanza watched the large ball of his void space from outside while panting heavily. He had been trying to keep Ichigo within Saiga's ability for as long as he could, pumping every last drop of reiryoku into the Bakkōtō but despite his attempts, the ball began to crack.

Something unbelievable was trying to get out of it and he could feel it.

He couldn't help but to be astonished by it.

"How… how is that possible? What is he?!" He exclaimed.

The ball exploded and forced him to raise his free hand and shield his eyes with it.

"Who the hell are you, Kurosaki Ichigo?!"

His answer came in form of a powerful downward slash which he tried to block, only to feel as if his sword, along with the bone in his arm, broke. The strike blew him away. With extreme effort, he managed to stabilize himself and glanced at his opponent.

A feeling of fear washed over his whole being.

"…what… what the hell?" He muttered. Staring at the face of Kurosaki Ichigo, he couldn't help but to take a step backwards.

There were spiritual particles surrounding Ichigo's head, swirling around his face and slowly, bit by bit, covering it with an unknown substance. However, the longer Hanza stared at the teen, the more shocked he became. The longer he stared, the clearer the scene became. Even if he tried to deny the very possibility.

The things that were forming on Ichigo's face were fragments of a hollow mask. Undeniably and inevitably, Ichigo's visage morphed. Coupled with the black sclera of his eyes and his eerily calm demeanor, he looked truly terrifying.

'Not to mention his spiritual pressure. This guy… he's insane!' Hanza thought. For a moment, the feeling of fear within him intensified.

Then he gritted his teeth and raised his sword.

"Haha! You are a great opponent, Kurosaki Ichigo! An incredible one! With you, I can test Saiga's truly infinite potential to its very limits!" He yelled and pushed more of his energy into the sword. The Bakkōtō reacted by growing thick tentacles from its center and reached for his whole body, enveloping it in a tight hug.

The pain was unbearable but Hanza barely registered it. He was too busy staring at his motionless opponent.

"Prepare yourself! Go, Saiga!" Hanza exclaimed and, slicing the air, released a powerful bolt of energy straight at Ichigo. When the teen didn't move an inch, he began to laugh. A slightly insane expression formed on his face.

"HAHAHA! YOU'RE FINISHED!"

The closer his attack got to Ichigo, the wider his grin became.

Then it happened.

"!" Hanza blinked at the sheer absurdity of what he witnessed.

Very casually, Ichigo raised his left hand and caught Hanza's energy bolt with his bare palm. As if it was nothing, he simply moved the hand to the side and pushed the attack elsewhere. There was not even a scratch on him.

Hanza blinked again. He was unable to comprehend it. That pissed him off.

"You bas-" He couldn't even finish his snarl when a powerful spiritual pressure pressed on his shoulders so heavily, it almost froze him on the spot.

Large amounts of black reiryoku began to seep from Ichigo. Then the teen moved.

Hanza barely noticed a black blur before something heavy blasted his body into ground with so much force, the ground itself caved in and a small crater formed around him.

"Gah!" Blood spurted from his mouth.

Hastily, he pried himself out of the earth's embrace and tried to spot his opponent. It took him only a split-second, as it seemed like Ichigo was in no hurry to follow after his first strike. He just stood there, pinning Hanza with his glare for a long while. Then he opened his mouth.

"GYAAAAAAAAH!" A thunderous roar escaped from his throat and his spiritual pressure pressed on Hanza once again.

"Hah... this… this is bad. Saiga!" Hanza panted and called out to his sword. He pushed even more reiryoku into it.

He raised the Bakkōtō to shot another bolt but before he could he felt a pulse of reiryoku so strong, the shockwave itself forced him to fall back. He leaped into the air. From above, he stared at the destruction his opponent caused just by releasing his energy.

"Die!"

Hanza quickly released his bolt of energy. It barely shot from his sword when Ichigo's partially masked face appeared only few inches in front of his own.

'So fast!'

He tried to raise his sword to defend himself but he was too late. An enormous wave of black energy hit him straight into his chest and his body was helplessly sent flying away until its back hit something solid. In that moment, the black attack exploded in a powerful explosion.

Hanza felt his consciousness slipping away. He couldn't feel his body anymore. He wasn't even sure there was any body left at all.

'…I have fought countless battles for the Kasumiōji clan, yet I survived every time. If this is how I should go… then so be it.' He thought just when another blast of black energy flew towards him.

The place where he lay was instantly obliterated.

End of chapter 18.

---

Damn... it took me a lot longer to do this chapter. Not the writing itself but getting to it. I explained some of the circumstances in the latest chapter of my other bleach story, so I won't repeat myself. I'll just say, I hate my life sometimes.

Still, your waiting was worth it! This chapter is one of the longer ones (13.5k words, actually) and not just in word count. A lot of things happened as well. And a lot of things will happen in future too! This chapter is actually a foundation stone for a lot of plot points.

You noticed the Valleys of Screams. Yes, I will use them. Will I use plot from the movie? Only partially. I will use the explanation of Valleys of Screams from one of the recent canon chapters. Oh, what I'm trying to say is that - no Senna. Sorry.

There is much I want to say about this story (I'm just so excited about the possibilities it presents) but I won't. I'll just say that this story will probably be extremely long (I'm already reaching 200k point and the story is just starting... jesus!)

Now... look forward to the next chapter. On to the reviews:

*Kragh50 - there is another way... but I won't spoil it to you.

*Dinner - this chapter should be more to your liking then ;)

*HeavenAsunder15 - damn...you just made me blush! Still, there is a lot of room to improve!

*blarg7865 - a truly terrifying image! Second question has an answer in this chapter. Ichigo will meet Uryu in the next chapter. I won't comment Tatsuki or Vizards (afraid of slipping a spoiler). Interesting question about Quincy... didn't think about it until now. Now I'll have to! Chuck Norris? Well... the Soul King will make an appearance eventually so...

*Harbinger_of_Kaos - this arc has several different purposes. I'll mention them all once it's finished. Which may get problematic as I want to include another arc into this one. An arc within an arc... Bleachception! Shiba? Yep, all rowdy and, as Ichigo eloquently put it, quite retarded. Urahara will be trying hard to redeem himself but... well, he's a complicated man. sometimes, he can't help himself.

*MugetsuIchigo - just seeing the words "busy rereading chapter" is enough of a satisfaction to me. Don't worry about it.

*Elon - thank you. I try. There are many, many trials Ichigo will have to undergo soon. Look forward to them.

*NieveDrop - I like them too. It's fun writing them. About the second thing... without giving out too much spoilers - yes. She felt Vizards. At the same time, she didn't know it was them, hence her confusion. Awkward indeed. Now, it may seem this chapter will send him back but don't worry. I did the nightmare to actually push him forward. You'll see next chapter. Ship? No idea what you're talking about. None at all.

Many thanks to all of my readers! You're the honey to my bitter tea of life!

Did you like the chapter? Let me know why. Didn't like it? Let me know, why. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Until next time! See ya!