Chapter 36: Destruction of evolution (Humane, Heartless, Hollow)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner spirit speech'
'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'
xxx
Several days later, when Ichigo was just about to engage in one of the regular spars with Nelliel, a powerful reiatsu descended upon the area. Feeling a déjà vu, Ichigo quickly tried to get a hold of the signature to determine whether Yammy was back for revenge or somebody new wanted to play. Though as soon as his spiritual sense took a lick from the foreign reiatsu, the answer became clear.
'Okay… it's not Yammy.'
He glanced at Nelliel, only to see her sighing heavily. She drooped her shoulders and slowly walked away from him, giving a clear impression of resignation. Even if she wanted to stop the inevitable, they both knew it would be pointless. With what had happened at the meeting with Espada, it was obvious Aizen had given each member of the group a permission to engage him in a spar anytime they wanted to.
"Hey you, the stinking Shinigami! Fight me!"
A person violently landed in a short distance away from him, kicking up a wall of sand, yet Ichigo instantly recognized his new opponent, if only by his voice.
"Grimmjow."
"Yeah, that's me! The king of the Hueco Mundo!"
"Isn't that Bar… ah, what the hell… fine." Ichigo started, only to finish with a sigh, so similar to the one Nelliel had just released. Inhaling deeply, he quickly assumed the defensive stance and waited for Grimmjow to leap towards him.
'I know his type. He'll go straight for my jugular.' He thought and slightly lowered his back, to better intercept a potentially deadly strike.
It turned out to be the right thing to do, as Grimmjow ripped through the veil of falling sand with one of his hands reaching towards Ichigo's throat. Still, even though he had expected it, Ichigo found himself barely able to move out of the way.
'He's faster than I thought!'
As soon as Grimmjow passed him, Ichigo spun around and lashed out with his sword. However, his blade did not connect with his opponent's backside. Almost as if using the same pattern, Grimmjow had spun as well and Ichigo's sword met Grimmjow's other hand. Ichigo noticed sparks coming from the point of contact and frowned.
"Fan-fucking-tastic! You're not completely hopeless, Shinigami! I was worried this would end in a flash!" Grimmjow shouted with a ravenous grin that brought chills to Ichigo's spine. At the same time though, it also caused a small spark to ignite his inner battle drive.
When Grimmjow pushed against him, he let himself skid across the sand dune and then quickly bent backwards. It resulted in Grimmjow passing him from above. The Arrancar raised one eyebrow in surprise and Ichigo quickly raised his sword and slid it across Grimmjow's torso just as the Arrancar was right above him. A single droplet of blood fell on Ichigo's right cheek. Grimmjow's. Still, even though being able to draw first blood pleased him, he knew he couldn't let himself get distracted. Since he had bent way too much, he promptly fell down. Without thinking, he quickly rolled away and took a glance at his surroundings.
Blade of a sword just narrowly missed his head and embedded itself deep into the sand. Before he could grasp what was happening, a foot connected with his abdomen and propelled him in the air with a powerful kick.
"Gah!" A string of saliva flew from his mouth.
Through eyes narrowed from pain, he saw a blur of blue hair moving towards him. He knew there was only so much he could do in mid-air but, with a tight grip on his zanpakuto, he slashed it in front of him and used it as an anchor to slightly move around. In doing so, he deflected Grimmjow's attempt at slicing his shoulder and caused the Arrancar to back away. A second later, he felt himself slowing down and pushed his reiryoku into his feet to create a cushion of compressed energy from which he ricocheted back towards his opponent.
The two of them met only a few feet above the ground. Despite Ichigo's obvious advantage of having a good amount of kinetic energy behind him, he found himself unable to blast his opponent away and their swords clashed with enough force to rattle the bones in his arms.
"Not bad, Shinigami. Still, not good enough either."
Ichigo saw Grimmjow's sword sliding along the blade of his zanpakuto but couldn't act fast enough to prevent his opponent from cutting his right side. As the pain erupted in his body he sucked the air in and quickly backed away.
'Ugh… he's good.' He thought.
Sensing, rather than seeing, he became aware of Grimmjow rushing at him from a side and acted fast. Almost automatically, he pumped reiryoku into the wound and, just as Grimmjow was about to reach him, he ducked under a widespread slash. He came face to face with his opponent's feet and only thanks to his reflexes he managed to avoid getting his face smashed.
"Release your zanpakuto, Shinigami! Or don't and let me fuck you up!"
There was an insult just rolling on the tip of his tongue. With a clenched jaw, Ichigo forced himself to stay silent and quickly debated with himself.
'I'd so like to smash his face and shut him up… but I really don't want to release Zangetsu. It's way too early.'
However, after two more clashes, when a deep incision on the left side of his chest dripped several droplets of blood, he changed his mind.
"Bleach their souls, Zangetsu." He muttered and let his reiatsu explode around him in an attempt to invigorate himself and to enlarge the fire of his instinct. Spotting Grimmjow in front of him with a smirk on his face, he rushed forward.
Immediately, the change could be felt. While he still appeared to be weaker than his opponent, Ichigo no longer found himself getting pushed back. Instead, the two of them exchanged blows almost as equals. He still suffered several cuts and gashes but he wasn't the only one. After few more minutes, Grimmjow's torso was filled with half a dozen lacerations that made him slowly lose blood.
"Now we're talking, Shinigami! In a few years, maybe you'll even force me into my own release as well!"
Biting away his retort, Ichigo opted to just send an annoyed scowl in Grimmjow's direction that caused the Arrancar to grin almost inhumanly. Grimmjow licked his busted lip and then spat the blood.
"Though I heard you can do something to augment your power even further. Do it. Show it to me so I can kick you in the ground with it."
Instead of giving out a clear reaction, Ichigo just let the fragments of his mask to form on his face. It was now big enough to cover the area from above his right brow all the way down across his cheek and to lower part of his chin. It was just few pieces shy of covering half of his face.
Ichigo saw Grimmjow's surprise. It was hard to tell whether it was because of his changed visage or because of the change in his reiatsu but, truthfully, he didn't really care. As always when he let his mask form, most of his emotions and feelings got replaced with an insatiable hunger for battle, an instinctive thirst for animalistic satisfaction.
However, he was still very much in control.
With speed unlike before, he vanished from his position only to appear right above Grimmjow with his zanpakuto already descending down. Despite his surprise, his opponent managed to raise his own sword to act as a defense but it mattered little. Using the augmented strength, Ichigo pushed Grimmjow's sword down and sliced him cleanly across the whole torso with few drops of blood spraying both their faces.
There was a tiny voice telling him to continue but Ichigo forced himself not to attack any further and just wait for Grimmjow's reaction. It was, after all, still just a spar. There was no need to mortally wound him.
'Even though it would make things easier…' He thought bitterly.
A loud gasp brought him back to the reality and he watched as Grimmjow whole body shook. With his left leg violently trembling, the Arrancar fell on one knee only to growl and force himself back up. For a moment, it looked like he wanted to continue fighting, as there was an almost maniacal glint in his eyes, but then he roughly spat on the ground and sheathed his sword. With a grunt, he gave Ichigo a short nod and then turned away from him.
Watching him quietly leave, Ichigo blinked in surprise. The realization of what just happened hit him hard and left greater impact on him than he had thought it would.
'Did I… did I just force the sixth strongest Espada to walk away? But… how? Did I really get stronger even though I can't hear Zangetsu?'
Adrenaline in his body slowly faded away and left Ichigo feeling spent. He took deep breaths to calm his lungs and just as the flame within him died down to a small spark, Nelliel patted his shoulder. When he glanced at her, he noticed there was a small smile playing on her lips.
"You are full of surprises, Ichigo. Grimmjow can be a difficult opponent."
In between breaths, he let out a snort.
"Heh, what can I say, I'm just too good."
When Nelliel shook her head in exasperation, Ichigo grew serious.
"Joking aside, I'm as surprised as you are. I didn't think I could get so much stronger in just what… two, three weeks?" He admitted with a frown. While he was happy with his progress, it reminded him way too much of his time at the Academy, where most of the school had considered him to be some sort of a monster, something that was not normal.
When Nelliel shrugged, he let out another sigh. He liked the female Arrancar, he really did, but there were times when he was sure she was pretending not to understand him. Almost as if she was wary of getting too close to him. Before he could truly ponder about it though, two figures appeared in short distance away from them.
"Oh, come on! Who is it this time?!" Ichigo groaned and twisted his body to look at the newcomers.
"Ah, crap."
Walking towards him was an unlikely duo, the Primera Espada, Starrk and Tercera Espada, Tier Harribel. With yet another sigh, Ichigo slowly took out his zanpakuto and assumed defensive stance. He knew he was outclassed but hoped he could survive without receiving serious injuries.
However, when the two of them took another set of steps closer without even raising their hands or releasing reiatsu, Ichigo allowed himself to slightly relax. Slowly, he lowered his zanpakuto and formed a frown. When they were close enough for a regular conversation, he spoke.
"You're not here to fight?"
Starrk lazily put up his hands.
"Guilty as charged, Kurosaki. I have zero desire to do any sort of training."
Ichigo raised one eyebrow.
"Confident or arrogant?"
Starrk's mouth twitched and formed a small grin.
"Neither. Lazy."
Blinking in surprise, Ichigo completely lowered his sword and, with a snort, sheathed it. Meanwhile, Nelliel greeted her replacement in Espada.
"Harribel-san."
"Nelliel."
Watching them from the corner of his eye, Ichigo nodded his head towards them and gave Starrk a meaningful stare.
"Bad blood?"
Starrk shook his head.
"Nah, just awkward. They respect each other too much to hold any animosity."
After Nelliel and Harribel stiffly shook hands and the latter turned her attention towards him, Ichigo then alternatively glanced between her and Starrk with an obvious question in his eyes.
"What brings you here, if not a fight?"
Starrk opened his mouth to answer but Harribel beat him to it.
"We watched you battle Grimmjow."
When she didn't continue, Ichigo raised one eyebrow.
"Oookay?"
Before he could say anything else, Harribel spoke again.
"We also saw the recording of your fight with Yammy in the Human World."
The memory of the fight brought back unpleasant thoughts and Ichigo's expression darkened. A thick vein on his neck pulsed but he carefully maintained his self-control. Snapping at the high-ranking Espada would have been a bad decision and he was quite sure Harribel didn't mention the fight without a valid reason. A short moment later, Harribel crossed her arms just below her substantial bosom and gave him a look he had troubles deciphering.
"You got strong, fast. How?"
Not expecting the question, Ichigo couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. But when he saw Harribel narrow her eyes, he quickly coughed a few times to try and reign in his composure.
"Sorry, I just found the question ironic."
"How so?"
It was then that Ichigo's opinion on Harribel came to a closure.
'So, she's the no-nonsense type. Good to know.'
He cleared his throat.
"Because, before you came, I was just asking myself the same question."
"Did you find an answer?"
Ichigo bit his lower lip and briefly glanced at Starrk, who just shrugged.
"I'm not sure. But you two are one of the strongest Espada. How about you tell me how you got so strong and, by the time you finish, I may have an answer."
…
After more than four hours of talking, Ichigo's head was full of swirling thoughts and barely cared where he was going. Aimlessly wandering through Las Noches, he tried to get a grip on what he had learned.
'Old man, do you think there is some merit in what they said?'
Deep in thoughts, Ichigo didn't even realize it took his inner spirit minutes before answering.
'There may be, Ichigo, though I will not say more.'
Startled, Ichigo barely avoided crashing into a wall that suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.
'Huh? What do you mean?'
'Ichigo. Whenever you are in trouble, I will offer you help. But this is something you need to understand by yourself. Being a part hollow is something that cannot be taken from you and because of this, you cannot take the easy route and make others help you understand it. As it is part of you, it is for your own good that you recognize and learn what it means to be a hollow through your own means.'
Listening to the words of his inner spirit, Ichigo quickly grew frustrated. By now, he was used to cryptic answers and generalization of concrete problems. It was a part of his inner spirit just as much as the inner spirit was a part of him. Still, this was something else. It was a blatant refusal to help. It reminded him of the not so distant past, when he was being led by his zanpakuto spirit to understand himself in order to achieve a Shikai release.
'Is this another one of Zangetsu's tests?'
'…yes.' Although reluctant, the inner spirit with the visage of an older man admitted after a whole minute of silence.
As he passed another corner, Ichigo tiredly rubbed his eyes. It would be pointless to bicker with the spirit. He cut the mental communication and immersed himself in the ocean of thoughts, furiously thinking, wondering, pondering, contemplating, speculating and reflecting until something in the back of his mind clicked.
'I see. Going by Harribel's admission and Starrk's agreement, there is only one conclusion that makes sense to me. Somehow, for reason's unknown that I don't understand, by stripping himself of the basic reason, by embracing his instinct and accepting back his lost heart, a hollow grows stronger. The closer to filling the hole in him with his heart he is, by returning back to a human persona, the closer he is to becoming whole.'
Ichigo stopped walking and leaned into the wall on his right side. Tentatively, he twisted his body so he could cool his forehead against the cold stone and lightly punched it.
'Which is nice and dandy but doesn't really answer the question. How the hell do you accept your lost heart? How do you become whole? And, since I grew stronger, did I do it already?'
Against his own will, he let out a quiet groan.
'I am so confused.'
He knew he shouldn't have, but he felt himself falling back to angst. Desperate to fight it, he looked at his surroundings and realized he didn't even know where he was. By the look of it, it was still a part of Las Noches, but the architecture was slightly different from the usual one. Just as he was about to move, he heard a familiar voice of Aizen Sōsuke coming through closed door on his far left. Weighing his options, Ichigo's curiosity and the need to think about something else won over caution. In a few quiet steps, he came close to the doors and placed one ear on its edge.
"… worry about it. There is no danger."
"Are you sure, Captain? Something doesn't seem right. I'm scared."
Ichigo's eyes widened. The feminine voice talking to Aizen was unfamiliar to him but, by the sound of it, it was fairly young. It was also coming from a speaker, which meant the person itself was not in the room.
"It's alright. The Gotei is of no concern for now. You don't have to be scared. It will all be over very soon."
"Very soon?"
"Yes. Very, very soon."
Ichigo gulped. He understood what was going on.
'Whoever that is, it must be Aizen's spy in the Gotei… which means she was right. Damn it.'
Quietly, he took a few steps backwards and then hurried back to his room. It was all starting to come down and he had to rethink many things.
…
Ichigo had planned to spend the next few days solely training and sparring but as soon as the day after his talk with two Espada came, Aizen called him to his room. Because of the conversation between Aizen and his spy that he had overheard, Ichigo entered the room with minor trepidation.
"Ah, Kurosaki. Welcome. Tea?"
Careful not to let the man know about his nervousness, Ichigo accepted the steaming teacup and hastily took a shallow sip. Once he sat down on the chair opposite of Aizen, the man looked at him with sparkling eyes that caused him to involuntarily gulp.
"Don't worry, Kurosaki. Your fight with Grimmjow was to be expected. Nothing to worry about."
Ichigo numbly nodded and waited for Aizen to continue.
"Though there is something I do worry about."
Shiver ran across Ichigo's spine and he tried to mask it by chugging more of the tea, only to cough from pain when the hot liquid hit the inside of his throat.
"Careful with the tea, I finished brewing it only seconds before you came. You don't want to… burn yourself, do you, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo fought against the tears forming in his eyes and gazed upon Aizen with an unreadable expression. On the outside, he tried to appear calm, but on the inside, he was beginning to panic.
"Of… of course not. So, what do you worry about?"
A ghost of a smile played on Aizen's lips as he brought his own teacup to his mouth and quietly sipped a small portion of tea before speaking again.
"I have a feeling the Gotei is trying to form some unexpected strike against me."
Very fast, Ichigo put the teacup back on the table. He could feel his hands trembling and didn't want to needlessly bring more attention to himself by rattling the teacup.
"You sure? Feels like it's been quiet."
Aizen's mouth formed a smile.
"Exactly, Kurosaki. Exactly."
Ichigo blinked and stared at Aizen with an obtuse gaze.
"Huh?"
Putting the teacup on the saucer, Aizen leaned in his chair and made himself comfortable.
"You see, Kurosaki, I find it amusing… no, curious, that ever since your defection the Gotei 13 have been acting fairly normal. It was my understanding that you were becoming quite famous and your defection should have created at least some sort of commotion. Yet nothing of the sorts happened."
Aware of Aizen's observant gaze following every nuance of his movements, Ichigo felt trapped in his own body. His mind was screaming at him to run, to rush through the door and never look back but at the same time he knew doing so would be a suicide. Locked in battle between his reason and his instinct, he simply froze. The lock on his cage came undone only when goosebumps formed on his arms and his heart began thumping like crazy. Against his animal urge to flee, he looked back at Aizen with a defiant stare.
"How would you know that? It's almost as if you were monitoring the entirety of Seireitei."
Meeting his stare for a few long seconds, Aizen suddenly chuckled.
"Very good, Kurosaki. It is true I cannot see every part of Seireitei, so there may have been small gatherings of Shinigami who voiced their opinions on the matter and were simply squashed under the weight of bureaucracy, secrecy and scheming high-ranking officers. I admit the possibility."
Ichigo allowed himself a brief moment of relief but still kept his guard up.
"Or maybe I just wasn't that popular."
Aizen shook his head.
"Now, now, Kurosaki. It is a good thing to be modest but do not undermine your influence on the Soul Society. You are not just another Shinigami. No, you are unique."
Using the opportunity to appear humble, Ichigo lowered his head and hid his expression for a second. While doing so, he let go of his rigid expression.
"Uhm, thanks I guess?"
Aizen laughed and then waved his hand, which was a universal sign of being dismissed. Still jittery, Ichigo muttered his thanks for the tea and hurriedly left the room. Once he was outside and behind a corner, he leaned into the wall and tried to ignore his shaking knees.
'Damn it to hell, that was way too close… I thought I was done for.'
With one hand on his chest, he could still feel his heart beating a marathon.
'One of these days, I'm going to go down as the youngest Shinigami to die from a heart attack.'
He remained still for another five minutes. Only when his knees finally stopped shaking and his heartbeat lessened, he began to walk away. In his mind, he returned to one of the things Aizen had just mentioned.
'Unique? Aizen, please, we both know I'm nothing but a weird amalgam of odd stuff.' He thought with a snort. Yet, he couldn't help but to feel unsure of himself.
Why was he so different?
Was it truly just because of his mixed heritage?
Or was there something else?
A recent memory of a foreign voice coming from Hōgyoku flashed within his mind and made him stop walking. There was something about the voice he could swear was familiar, despite being completely alien. It was like a magnet of an opposite pole that was trying to draw him in. Before he realized what he was doing, he found himself back in the room with the small orb that stared at him from the top of the pedestal, looking as innocent as a white, untouched snow.
Ignoring the echo in his mind, the voice that kept repeating the same three foreign words, he reached out with his hand and placed it on top of the orb. Acting on instinct, he focused on his spiritual energy and willed a large portion of it into the orb.
Like a lightbulb, the Hōgyoku glowed in the dark with intensity never seen before. Ichigo could feel the light burning his eyes, yet he stared straight at the source until the echo in his mind became too loud and he hurriedly withdrew his hand. Without a warning, a sense of dread and unspoken fear filled his body and caused him to flee without looking back.
Unknown to him, once he was far away from the room, a different person entered. With a curious expression on his face, Aizen Sōsuke walked to the Hōgyoku and pushed several buttons on the pedestal, hidden from plain view, but visible to him. Immediately, a colorful hologram formed just above the orb with multitude of lines running across the entirety of the object, only for a small speaker to announce its findings with a quiet beep.
Shocked at the numbers and letters glowing in front of his eyes, Aizen's expression slowly morphed into one of extreme satisfaction as he glanced at the door, through which Ichigo had fled.
"Truly outstanding, Kurosaki Ichigo. The resonance is so powerful, it makes me think I no longer need that which we don't have much reserves of. The only thing I need is your reiryoku."
In that moment, Aizen Sōsuke got an idea.
…
There was no better way for Ichigo to calm his nerves than engrossing himself in a furious training regime. Within two days, he coaxed both Starrk and Harribel in joining him, Nelliel and Dordoni in their regular spars. Though Starrk spent most of the time just lazing around and giving constructive criticism, Harribel actually took her role in spars seriously and Ichigo learned just why she was the Tercera Espada very fast. The first time they clashed, he was able to hold off for barely half a minute and that was Harribel fighting below her full unreleased power. When the similar result occurred for the second time, she motioned Ichigo to sit down with her.
A bit winded, Ichigo plopped on the sand without arguing and gave the Tercera a curious glance. She sat next to him and, to his bewilderment, poked his bare upper arm with her finger. Shuddering at the contact, Ichigo instantly moved away.
"What are you doing?"
She ignored him and poked him one more time. He was about to growl at her, when he noticed the look of intense focus on her face and realized she wasn't just trying to rile him up.
"Do you know Hierro?"
He lightly scratched the place where she had touched and nodded.
"Yeah, sure. It's the Hollow version of a defense mechanism, a sort of iron skin that makes it harder for blades to penetrate."
Harribel tilted her head and for some reason, it made Ichigo very conscious of his reply. Did he say something wrong or incorrect? Staring straight in his eyes, Harribel took out her sword and made a swift movement with it, causing a shallow cut to appear on his upper arm. Jerking in surprise, Ichigo almost snapped at her when she took his right hand and placed it on her bare stomach.
It was such a mind-boggling move that Ichigo didn't even have the time to feel the anxiety he usually felt. Instead, he just yelped in surprise and yanked his hand from her grasp. Embarrassment assaulting his mind, his cheeks gained slight pink complexion.
"The hell?"
Whether Harribel was aware of his discomfort or not was debatable but when she spoke, it was clear she at the very least ignored it.
"What did my skin feel like?"
As his throat dried up, Ichigo avoided her stare and instead lowered his head and stared at his knees. But there was no way of avoiding her question. He had to answer.
"Soft." He muttered begrudgingly and briefly hoped the ground would just open and swallow him whole. He glanced at Harribel and saw her nodding.
"Yes. Now take out your sword and do what I just did."
Ichigo's head snapped up and he stared at her in disbelief. The Tercera Espada was completely destroying his usual pace without even trying. However, the look she was giving him told him that she wasn't joking around. And so, with a sigh, Ichigo unsheathed his zanpakuto, placed its blade against her bare stomach and sharply moved it to the side.
Yet there was no blood and certainly no cut on her abdomen. Instead, Ichigo felt a slight push against his blade, a sort of a block that prevented him from cutting her skin, and only sparks appeared.
"Huh?" He stared at her stomach with a dumb expression until he noticed her pointed gaze.
"Hierro is not something we simply activate in a fight. It is a passive ability. I noticed in fights. You don't have it passively. You focus on it only in a fight. Which makes it inferior because it is dependable on your will, intent and focus."
Ichigo just continued staring at her.
"…huh?"
"You are part hollow, no?" Harribel asked. The normality of the question finally caused his brain to restart and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.
"Ye-yeah. I am."
Harribel nodded.
"Then you should have Hierro as passive ability. Your defense is too weak. Get Hierro."
When she didn't say anything after that, Ichigo opened his mouth to raise a question but then a memory long forgotten resurfaced from the depths of his mind. A memory of him wandering through Rukongai and meeting people he had slaughtered in an attempt to cleanse the land.
"I did have something like that. Once. Before I even met my zanpakuto spirit."
Harribel gave him a fixed stare.
"I do not know the Shinigami way."
"Eh, my zanpakuto spirit is a part of my soul. He is also the one that contains my hollow part."
Harribel once again tilted her head.
"Then maybe it was him that maintained your version of Hierro. Before you met. Not anymore."
Not sure what to say to that, Ichigo opted to remain silent. What Harribel said made some sense to him, though he wasn't any closer to understand just how he could turn his Hierro into a passive ability. With a small turn of his head, he looked at Starrk but the man just shrugged.
"I never thought about it. No hollow does. It just comes instinctively."
With a flip of a switch, Ichigo's eyes widened in realization.
"That's it! Instinct!"
Startled by his sudden exclamation, Starrk gave him an incredulous look but Ichigo was already closing his eyes and didn't see it. In a flash, Ichigo entered a meditative state and began self-reflecting.
'Hierro is a hollow ability. Zangetsu, just like me, is part hollow. He always emphasized that our hollow part acts like an instinct. When I try to harden my skin in a battle, I always focus on my hollow reiryoku. It all comes down to a hollow instinct and everything hollow-like.'
Digging deeper in his mind, Ichigo attempted something he had been trying for a few weeks now. Thinking about his spiritual energy, he visualized it as three rivers filled with differently colored water. Each river was supposed to represent the different reiryoku flowing through him.
One for pure Shinigami.
One for pure Quincy.
One for pure Hollow.
So far, he relied on a different approach when drawing out his spiritual energy but now, when he knew he had to change his ways, he focused as hard as possible and slowly, flickering like a corrupted light bulb, three deep trenches formed in front of him. Careful not to let go of his concentration, he opened the proverbial taps and let the trenches fill with meticulously separated liquids.
The first one that appeared was bright blue. Concentrated and powerful, it flowed down like fresh water from the woods.
Second one was dark red, partially black. With a metallic taste of blood but thick consistency of molasses, it created an eerie effect that brought chill to his bones but harmony to his inner fire.
The last one to appear was whiter that white. Pure and light, it was hard to think of it as a liquid. With a touch of mother's hand, it caused a smile to form on his face.
Clearing his thoughts with a forced blinking, he shifted his attention back to the river in the middle.
'Alright, if I'm right, there is only one possible solution to this. Since Hierro is a passive ability, I have to let a small portion of my hollow reiryoku flow within me freely at all times. Instinctively, it should know by itself what it needs to do.'
One deep breath later, Ichigo gazed upon the middle river with a determination glowing in his eyes. In a flash, he approached the edge of the river and crouched down. In a distance, hovering right above the rivers, there was a large orb representing his own self. A thick portion of the bright blue river seemed to be constantly flowing into it. He could see an empty road going from the middle river as well.
'Most likely used for channeling my hollow reiryoku whenever I use my mask.'
There was also a miniscule dry road coming from the third river but, for the time being, he ignored it. Instead, he focused once more on the river in the middle. Reaching towards it with his right hand, he raised his index finger and dipped it into the thick liquid. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he imagined a road forming from the tip of his submerged finger and towards the orb of his self.
His mind obeyed the command and soon, a narrow artery appeared with the dark liquid slowly flowing through it and into the orb. Once it reached its destination, Ichigo felt a jolt of energy that tore him from his mind and back to the real world.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed each member of his group intently staring at him. Before he could speak, Harribel swiftly sliced at his arm with her sword.
There was no blood, only sparks.
She looked up at his face and Ichigo was fairly sure she formed a tiny smile of approval. Though it was hard to tell because of the high collar of her jacket that was covering lower part of her face all the way to her nose at all times.
"Well, whatever you did, it seems to be working." Nelliel said with an encouraging smile while Starrk gave him lazy thumbs up. Ichigo chuckled.
"Thanks. It's a start but I think it's still rather weak compared to any Arrancar. I'll try to work on it anytime I can."
In that moment, a loud explosion rocketed the entirety of Las Noches. Jerking in surprise, Ichigo twisted his head towards the direction of the blast, only to see flames and a large smokescreen filling the air. Something small shot through the cloud of smoke and landed in a distance.
"What's going on?"
With one hand on Ichigo's shoulder, Starrk slowly stood up and narrowed his eyes and the flames.
"That's… Szayelaporro's laboratory."
Before anyone could speak again, the thing that landed in the sand suddenly rushed towards them, stopping only once they could see its identity. With his eyes bugging out, Ichigo shivered and felt as if cold steel of a blade touched his stomach.
"Yoruichi-san…"
There, not that far away from him, lowered on all fours and staring straight at him, was Yoruichi Shihōin. However, there was obviously something very wrong with her. She was hissing like a cat and something akin to an electrical field surrounded her whole body. The worst and most terrifying fact though, was a hollow mask slowly forming on her face.
Ichigo could think of one thing.
"Oh shit."
Not even a second later, an excruciating pain spread from his abdomen to his whole body and he found himself sailing through the air at blinding speed. Blood spurted from his mouth.
"Glah!"
Everything was a blur and there were black spots appearing in his vision. Helpless, Ichigo tore through several thick pillars of concrete until his body crashed into a sand dune with enough force to create a wave of dried earth. Dizzy, confused and barely conscious, Ichigo went into a coughing fit that sent spasms of pain through most of his torso.
'Wha… what happened?'
'Ichigo! MOVE!'
The mental yell from his inner spirit brought back some of his senses and, despite the pain, Ichigo rolled away. A shockwave coming from a few feet away blasted him in the air once more. A face covered with a hollow mask appeared in his vision and he thought he was done for. As a small fist neared his skull, pair of strong arms grabbed him by his shoulders and yanked him from the danger.
"Ichigo!"
He landed on something soft. Seeing twice, it took him a moment to realize he wasn't lying on a sand but on top of Nel. When she saw him staring at her, she carefully rolled him away from her.
"Thanks." He wheezed and tried to take several short breaths so that he wouldn't feel the pain in his chest. A body sailed just above him and crashed into a pillar behind them. When he glanced at the person, Ichigo noticed it was Dordoni. The man looked completely trashed and it was a miracle he was still conscious. However, as Ichigo stared at him in shock, the man's head slumped down. Clenching his fists, Ichigo looked at Nel.
"What's going on?"
Nel had a distressed look on her face.
"I don't know. The woman you call Yoruichi just went berserk. Starrk and Harribel are trying to fend her off but she's just way too fast. Faster than Starrk, even."
While he listened to her, Ichigo's vision finally turned normal and he immediately focused on his spiritual energy and sent waves of it through his body. He let out a content groan before slowly standing up.
"There's a hollow mask on her face and she's definitely not part hollow."
Nel grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her. She shook her head.
"She came out of Szayelaporro's lab. There's so much that could have gone wrong there. That man is insane and has absolutely zero morals."
Ichigo gave her a nod.
"Got it. For what it's worth, I think the only thing we can do is to try and knock her unconscious. It helped me when I went berserk myself."
Since he turned his attention back to the fight happening high above their heads, Ichigo missed the confused look on Nel's face.
'What now?'
While watching the fight, he massaged his abdomen with a free hand and felt very grateful for being able to learn how to turn Hierro into a passive ability. Without it, he was fairly sure the first hit would have knocked him out cold, if not worse. But as he observed the way Yoruichi moved in the air, her speed that made her look nothing more than a blur, Ichigo began to feel a level of apprehension. She was so fast, a few times he couldn't follow her movements at all, not even a blur of her figure.
'What am I actually trying to do here… I'm completely over my head.'
Despite the thought, he knew he couldn't just walk away. He didn't particularly like Yoruichi. She was brass, borderline rude and sometime even lecherous but he also couldn't bring himself to hate her. While having lots of bad tendencies, there were also parts of her that he considered important in a person. He still hadn't forgiven her for the past, though. All in all, there was no way he would blatantly put his life on the line for her.
Yet, at the same time, he felt a strong obligation to help her. She was there when he went berserk. It was her and Sui-Feng who managed to stop him from turning completely hollow. And, finally, it was her who sacrificed herself in order to bring him back from Hueco Mundo. In Ichigo's mind, it created a strong debt he was very uncomfortable with. He didn't want it. It was unpleasant and rubbed him the wrong way. Nevertheless, it was there and he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Tapping into his spiritual energy, he quietly released his zanpakuto and let his hollow reiryoku form as much of his mask as he could. Energized and filled with augmented power, his senses became enhanced to the point where he could at the very least follow most of Yoruichi's movements. She was still far too fast for him to catch but he never intended to do that in the first place. Without a further ado, he leaped in the air.
He reached the aerial battle just after enraged Yoruichi broke through Starrk's defense and was in process of delivering a kick to his midsection. Using the sole of his feet, Ichigo hit her shin with enough force to stop the attack and to hear a loud crack. He bit his tongue in order to prevent himself from crying out but, to his surprise, it wasn't his bone that cracked.
Yoruichi released a deafening roar. The lower part of her right leg seemed to be bent in a wrong way but the shockwave from her voice alone prevented Ichigo from pressing his attack any further. Falling through the air, he glanced at Starrk and gave him a small nod. The man looked like he wanted to send him away but, in the end, opted for a nod as well.
There was no space for words in a true battle.
Acting on instinct, Ichigo hastily leaned to the side to avoid a nasty swipe but still ended with a gash on his shoulder, courtesy of Yoruichi's elongated nails. He quickly spun around to follow her path and saw Harribel's sword forcing Yoruichi to abandon her attempt to claw at him again and duck. Before she could spring into action again, a kick to the back of her head sent her crashing through several sand dunes. It looked like Nel officially joined the fight as well.
Still, even with four combatants, hollowfied Yoruichi proved to be a rather difficult opponent. With her superior speed and proficiency in close combat, she managed to score several dangerous hits that left each of them gasping for breath. Since the hollow energy flowing through her was constantly regenerating any injury she sustained, the battle quickly turned into a fight of who would tire out faster.
A few minutes later, Ichigo clutched his right thigh and tried to ignore the pain from having his femur bone broken via vicious punch that was supposed to dislocate his knee. His hollow reiryoku worked its thing and meticulously repaired the damage but he was slowly getting a bit tired. From the looks of the other combatants, he wasn't the only one. Since Starrk and Harribel were one of the strongest members of Espada, they could not enter their release while within the space of Las Noches and therefore were fighting on a percentage of their total power, a fact that was starting to show. Nel too, was unreleased but for another reason unknown to him.
They needed a game changer and fast.
Fortunately, just when his broken bone snapped back into its place, another source of reiatsu appeared on top of a nearby wall. It was Aizen. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief.
'I never thought I'd be actually happy to see him.'
The man was staring at him with a serious expression, which truthfully surprised him. In a flash, Aizen appeared next to him.
"I apologize, Kurosaki. It appears Yoruichi Shihōin tried her luck during a routine examination and attempted to break out, only to smash vials of several potent substances in one of my Espada's laboratory. The combination is highly toxic and is turning her into a hollow fast."
Ichigo felt like he had a choice. To believe Aizen's words or not. However, when he watched Yoruichi release another roar, he abandoned that thought.
He had to believe him. The fact that Aizen rarely looked as serious as he did now only further increased his belief.
"How fast?"
Aizen looked at him with a piercing gaze.
"Very fast. Unless we do something, she'll turn into hollow long before you reach the limit of your own stamina."
Ichigo pressed his lips together until they formed a thin line. Then he spoke again.
"Any plan?"
The sound of blows being exchanged turned insignificant when Aizen silently handed him a small orb. An orb Ichigo knew to be the Hōgyoku. The sheer shock of the action almost caused him to drop the small bundle of power.
"What…?"
"This is the Hōgyoku, Kurosaki. It's the only thing that can save her now."
His mouth getting dry, Ichigo licked his lips and gave him an incredulous look.
"Right. What the hell am I supposed to do with it? And why give it to me?"
After making sure the fight was still going on, Aizen glanced at him.
"Once I immobilize Yoruichi Shihōin, you need to place the Hōgyoku on the center of her chest, where her heart is located and channel as much reiryoku into it as you can while keeping your mind clear of any thoughts. Both of these are very important. I gave it to you because there is only one Shinigami with Hollow powers and that's you, Kurosaki. Only the person with similar reiatsu structure as she has can help her now."
Shivering at the thought, Ichigo gave him a short nod and tightened the grip on the orb. Then Aizen vanished, only to reappear right behind Yoruichi. Several beams of light sprouted from his hands and pinned Yoruichi down before she could get away. That was his signal to act and Ichigo did as told.
In a single Shunpo, he crossed the distance between them and hastily placed the Hōgyoku on squirming Yoruichi, completely disregarding the electrical field surrounding her body that was painfully shocking him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the orb into her chest and focused on his spiritual energy. With a mighty roar, he dragged the largest portion of his reiryoku he could possibly handle and pushed it right into the Hōgyoku.
A pillar of light rose from the orb and swallowed both him and Yoruichi in a shower of energy, while blasting Aizen away. Ichigo's last conscious thought was that the voice of the Hōgyoku was silent.
End of Chapter 36.
Yet another chapter behind us.
And this one was in my opinion quite action-packed. Be it because of the fights with Grimmjow and Yoruichi that were done using swords or the one with Aizen done verbally. What did you think?
Like I said in the previous AN, the next chapter will come in three weeks time instead of two so hang in there and look forward to it as next time, Zangetsu finally comes back!
To reviews:
EVA-Saiyajin - thank you. Well, the story is progressing so things are slowly changing just as Ichigo is slowly changing as well but this change is mostly gradual. Though I love the original manga to death, I agree that some parts could have been handled a bit better.
Scarease - that is the real struggle of Ichigo's character in my opinion. To try and see what is hidden beneath a nice, honey-covered surface.
The Last Kenpachi - I honestly didn't realize (and I have like 150 hours in Witcher 3).
SomeRandomDude - it is actually meant to be 'death', though you did well in recognizing the languages. Yes, they are all mostly dead languages. That is intentional.
Coyn1206 - Aizen actually knows about the state of Soul King. He has known for a while now. Though I can see how his character could have conveyed his thoughts to Ichigo a bit better.
Dinner - holy mother of reviews. I like long ones like this. I agree with the Hogyoku part. It is indeed a very interesting plot device (that was taken straight out of buddhist mythology - look up the term wishing jewel). Ichigo's goals have been mostly the same since the beginning but he's now slowly realizing the magnitude of his ultimate goal and that he has to change his outlook on some things. Well, I do try to have a bit of background plot going while I focus on Ichigo. Thank you, this was a great insight.
MugetsuIchigo - It could be THEM. It all depends on who you think THEM is. Heh.
kaxipoptos - thank you. I read many stories where the MC just looks past his bad experiences with a swipe of his hand and it bothers me. Therefore, I tried to do it differently. The romantic part of the story haven't been written yet but I'm slowly getting to it (currently it just exists as a plot point with few words describing it.) Well, different people have different tastes.
Well, that's all for now. Like I said, next time, Zangetsu makes his return so look forward to it!
Next chapter: Chapter 37 - Blood Moon (Stochastic resonance) - will be published 12th/13th April!
See ya!