Chapter 37: Blood Moon (Stochastic resonance)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Inner spirit speech'

'Inner hollow/Zanpakuto speech'

xxx

Minutes after the incident, the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro, watched as his servants brought Yoruichi back into his lab. She was unconscious but without any trace of the hollow mask. Szayelaporro, the best scientist among the Arrancars, glanced at Aizen standing right next to him with a questioning gaze.

"Was this really a wise thing to do, Aizen-sama? You knew that using two doses of the pathogen that we sprinkled on the Academy students can cause unpredictable results. While there wasn't a real danger of her truly turning into a permanent hollow, she is a special case and even I can predict if there won't be any lasting effects. You knew that."

Aizen offered him only a smirk. Then he turned around and walked away with a small orb filled with glowing energy.

The orb was pulsating in a way that was similar to the breathing of a living being.

Keeping it steady and firmly in his grasp, Aizen calmly made his way through Las Noches, stopping only after reaching a large, spacious chamber with a translucent box in its center. There was a bandaged figure kneeling within it, still as a rock. With a pleased expression on his face, Aizen walked towards it. When he was right in front of it, he stopped moving and raised the hand in which he was holding the pulsating Hōgyoku. Tentatively, he placed the orb on a small pedestal but kept the palm of his hand firmly on its surface.

Closing his eyes, Aizen's face contorted in deep concentration. A moment later, the Hōgyoku let out a pulse of energy that completely shattered the translucent box and forced the figure within the sprawl on the floor.

Aizen opened his eyes and looked at the figure.

"State your name, my new ally."

The figure twitched, then sluggishly rose from the ground to rest on its knees with its back straightened and his face facing Aizen. Its expression was filled with wonder.

"Wonderweiss… Wonderweiss Margela."

Pleased with the name, Aizen nodded and threw a robe at the Arrancar but not before the doors behind him opened and revealed the pale member of Espada, Ulquiorra.

"Welcome, Ulquiorra. You are just in time to greet our newest comrade. I assume you have accomplished your mission."

With a slight turn of his head, Aizen gave Ulquiorra an expectant gaze, only for the Quatro Espada to move to the side and reveal a pair of hollows. The sight brought a large smile on Aizen's face.

"Step inside, my dears. Please, take your places in front of me. The Hōgyoku is waiting for you."

The two hollows, a pair of females, looked at each other before complying. As they made their way through the chamber, Aizen couldn't help but to smile even more.

"Do not worry. You will meet the one you desire very soon."

…

It took Ichigo two whole days to regain consciousness but he remained out of commission for one more after that. The energy backlash from the explosion did not injure him and, aside from the wounds he had received in the actual fight, he was physically fine but for one or another reason he had pushed into Hōgyoku way more reiryoku than he could have afforded. Simply put, it left him with severly burned reserves. Therefore, it was three whole days later that he managed to scramble out of bed and move without a struggle.

The first thing he did was to make sure Yoruichi was safe and in no danger of turning hollow. True to Aizen's words, the Hōgyoku had prevented such a thing from happening. However, the mere mention of the man's name caused him to do the second thing he had planned to do and that was visiting Aizen himself.

"Kurosaki, welcome. I can't say I haven't been expecting you, which is why I already prepared enough tea for us to converse in depth about the thing that is certainly occupying your mind."

With a thoughtful frown, Ichigo took a seat in the chair opposite of the man and accepted the full teacup with a nod.

"How did you know it would work?"

Unflinchingly, Aizen met his gaze as well as the accusatory tone with a small, yet poignant smile.

"Well, aside from me being far more intelligent than the average person," he stated with fake arrogance. "There is a very good reason for me knowing what to do."

His expression grew serious and Ichigo got the feeling he was about to hear something unpleasant.

"It has to do with a certain rainy night several years ago, during which you have lost one of your parents."

The teacup in Ichigo's hand shook. The hot tea within it spilled on his bare hand, yet he did not notice. He was way too much focusing on not snapping.

Yes. Definitely unpleasant.

"…how?"

Aizen regarded him with a penetrating gaze.

"I will explain in detail but I must warn you, Kurosaki. What I am about to reveal may cause your ire to reach dangerous levels, so I'd appreciate if you could tell me to stop when there is a risk of you destroying my room. I do quite like it after all."

Forming a sour scowl, Ichigo lowered his eyes. He took a small sip of the tea, placed the teacup back on the saucer on the table and then wiped his wet hand with a small handkerchief. In a few seconds, he made himself comfortable and leaned into the chair. He closed his eyes.

"Right. Go on."

Blind to the surroundings, he heard Aizen's voice tearing through the darkness as the man spoke.

"First, I will start by saying I know these things because I was there to witness them, though hidden from plain sight. There is no doubt in my mind that you have been told about the hollow inside of you and that you inherited it from your mother, who got it in an unfortunate incident from one of my experiments. Correct?"

"Yes." Ichigo answered without bothering to open his eyes.

The man continued.

"However, I am not sure if you have been told that while the hollow infection has been within you from the moment you were born, it turned into a full hollow entity that merged with your latent Shinigami powers precisely during the events of the night when Kurosaki Masaki died."

Ichigo's hands, so far idly placed on the armrests, twitched.

"The fact that she died right in front of your eyes caused an adverse reaction in both your body and mind. You may have heard of this before but emotions are a powerful driving force of any and all hollows. Therefore, it is of no surprise that the intense emotions of despair, rage and nihilism that filled you in that moment acted as a potent catalyst for your hollow infection and caused it to evolve, transform and shape into a concrete entity which instantly began to occupy the entirety of your mind." Aizen calmly explained, cutting himself off only to take a sip from his teacup.

"Essentially, it can be said you lost control of yourself. Despite being a living human, even at such young age you possessed lingering traces of different energies that, coupled with the harsh reality of the situation, inadvertently created a phenomenon even I was unable to predict or, at that time, even comprehend. Apologies for my saying this but it was an extraordinary event that crossed the boundaries of the known science. However, as I was watching the scene unfold, an even more surprising variable entered the equation. You know her as Kuchiki Rukia."

Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he stared at Aizen in a mixture of utter shock, confusion and anger that momentarily robbed him of the ability to speak. He just stared at him in silence, which forced Aizen to quickly continue.

"Whether it was because of the energy you were releasing or because of the ridiculous notion some call the gears of fate, Kuchiki Rukia found you screaming your lungs out and, most likely in shock, she thought you were a soul about to turn into a hollow. With a slight hesitation in her movements, she took out her zanpakuto and plunged it straight into your chest in an attempt to purify you. Of course, nothing of the sorts happened. Instead of you getting purified, you started to suck out the spiritual energy out of her. Not just any amount. No, it appeared you were trying to drain her of the very essence of her being. Before that happened though, another variable entered the equation, more shocking that the previous one."

Aizen gave him a meaningful gaze.

"Urahara Kisuke."

Just like with a flip of a switch, the air became heavy, filled with dense spiritual pressure pouring out of Ichigo. Yet he was still unable to find his lost voice.

"He showed up with something you are now familiar with. The Hōgyoku."

That brought back his voice, though his words came out as nothing more but a whisper.

"…what the fuck?"

"Back then, I wasn't completely sure why he did it, though I wager he thought he could reverse the situation. He quickly planted the Hōgyoku in Kuchiki Rukia's body from behind. Once again, the situation played out differently from my expectations. Somehow, when your energy came into contact with the Hōgyoku within her, your energy and the Hōgyoku began to resonate. It was almost as if you recognized each other and tried to communicate in an odd, alien way of speaking. However, this soon died down in a pulse of energy that washed over the surrounding area. The results were fairly positive as it calmed you down and forced you to let go of Kuchiki Rukia, though both of you lost the memories of such event ever occurring. It was worse for Kuchiki Rukia as the incident erased not just the memory of that one night but also of her whole mission in the Real World." Aizen finished and took another sip, slowly emptying the rest of the tea in his cup.

"That is why I was sure of what was needed to be done in order to save Yoruichi Shihōin. I knew that whether it was Urahara's Hōgyoku or the one I created, you would resonate with it and your energy would reverse the process of hollowfication. It may have been a gamble but since I witnessed you doing something similar before, the chances of success were as high as they could ever be."

Still in shock, the only thing Ichigo managed to do was to repeat himself.

"…what the fuck?"

…

Ichigo had no idea whether he had been sprawled across his bed and shifting from side to side for an hour or four but no matter what position he tried, he just couldn't seem to fall asleep. The talk with Aizen had left him mentally drained so it wasn't like he was brimming with energy. No, he was exhausted. Yet sleep eluded him like a plague. It was simply way too difficult to just stop thinking about one of the most confusing concerns he had ever encountered so far.

Who was Kurosaki Ichigo?

Or better yet, what was Kurosaki Ichigo?

Turning around to rest on his stomach, he buried his face into the pillow and sighed, feeling more annoyed with each passing minute.

Of course, he was who he was and he was what he was. But who and what that was? Just forming the questions was almost as confusing as trying to think of the answers and his brain was starting to seriously hurt.

Ichigo did not consider himself to be a genius. At the same time, he was aware he was not stupid either. Strictly biologically speaking, each person on the planet was born the same way in a meeting of cells from two opposite sexes. From the philosophical point of view though, things began to differ for every single human.

Some were happy accidents of love.

Some were planned bundles of happiness.

Some were unwanted.

Some were cast off.

And some were genetically engineered.

A long time ago, he used to think he belonged either to the first or the second group. Now? Now he wasn't so sure. The way his life had been going and the way his parents had met, he was beginning to feel that maybe, just maybe, he actually belonged to yet another, unique group.

An experiment.

From the spiritual sense of things, he was an oddity, a scientific impossibility. Being a hybrid of four different sources of spiritual energy, he simply should not have been alive. Statistically, he was simply an error of computation. Digitally, he was the annoying bug in the application, a glitch in the system you knew existed but couldn't truly prove since you had no previous data you could base your findings on.

What in the actual fuck was his identity?

Releasing a mild groan, followed with an irritated growl, he pushed himself from the bed. Once again, he was slipping into his angsty teenage phase he simply didn't have time for. He sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his face.

'No point in dwelling on useless stuff. I am Kurosaki Ichigo. I am what I need to be.'

He sighed.

'Right now, I'm a person who needs a shower.' He thought and glanced at the door to the bathroom with an almost blissful smile. The thought of cold water washing away his pointless speculations caused him to stand up and briskly take off his clothes.

Almost twenty minutes later, he left his room with a new goal in his mind; to visit Yoruichi. It was a risky action as there was no doubt in his mind that Aizen or his other colleagues were now closely monitoring her in order to prevent another attempt to break out, yet he couldn't help it. Despite being assured of her well-being, he just had to make sure with his own eyes and ears.

When he finally entered the room she was being detained in, he noticed the complete absence of spiritual energy and the fact worried him greatly. It must have shown on his face as a voice from a shadow spoke to him.

"They placed some sort of barrier around the room to prevent me from using any spiritual energy whatsoever. It does feel unnatural, doesn't it?"

He released a breath he didn't even know he had been holding in.

"Ah, right."

Yoruichi slowly walked into the light. When he noticed her affable expression, Ichigo frowned. The last time they spoke, she looked anything but friendly. He saw her eyes flickering to the closed doors behind him.

"I think I understood what you meant."

The new bit of information threw his brain into overdrive. Did she truly understand or was she just playing tricks on him?

'Well, either way...'

"Good." He muttered. Awkward silence fell between them and Ichigo found himself looking away from her. He cleared his throat.

"I just wanted to check if you were okay. You are, aren't you?" He asked in a small voice.

Yoruichi offered him a grateful nod.

"Yes. I heard you were the one who finally stopped me. Truthfully, I don't remember anything past being put in that disgusting man's lab, but they told me I began to turn into a hollow?"

"Yeah."

Her smile withered a bit and she slowly turned around and leaned into the wall behind her with her forehead touching it.

"Well, that can't be right. I mean, once you are infected, there is no cure. At least as far as I know, though Kisuke was very sure of it. I tried to enter my mindscape and there are no traces of the hollow energy anywhere within me."

Ichigo's jaw tightened at the mention of Urahara Kisuke but he managed to prevent himself from snarling. Instead, he focused on what Yoruichi said and narrowed his eyes.

"Really?"

She slightly turned her head and took a glance at him.

"Really."

He was tempted to tell her about the Hōgyoku but decided not to. He was already taking a risk, there was no need to needlessly enlarge it. Because of that, there was no way of further continuing the topic so he tried to change it.

"You know, when you were turning, you never once tried to use your zanpakuto. From what I heard, whenever I was turning I always tried to wield it. I thought everyone would. Like it was instinctual."

Yoruichi actually let out a prolonged sigh and lightly banged her head against the wall. He couldn't see her face well but it seemed like she was debating with herself. Was there something weird about his question? After several long seconds, she addressed him in a surprisingly calm voice.

"What do you know about a Bankai?"

Taken by surprise, it took Ichigo a moment to organize his thoughts and recall what he had learned in the Academy.

"Uh… it's the final possible stage of release for any Shinigami zanpakuto. It takes rare talent and skill to achieve it and it takes decades, centuries to reach and then the same period of time to master it. Most Shinigami never achieve Bankai."

A snort escaped Yoruichi's lips.

"Perfectly academical answer."

In response, Ichigo raised one eyebrow.

"You mean it's wrong?"

She slowly turned around to face him.

"Not completely wrong but not completely right either."

Giving her a long, hard stare, Ichigo crossed his arms and shifted his weight to only one leg.

"What do you mean?"

An almost imperceptible smile crossed Yoruichi's face.

"That the books are written by those who want to prevent Shinigami from even attempting to learn Bankai. Either way, there is a method to achieve Bankai in just days. Though it is very dangerous."

Ichigo's eyes bugged out at the surprising piece of information.

"What? How?" He rapidly shot the question, only for Yoruichi to hold her hands in front of her.

"Kisuke came up with it. It's how he reached Bankai. If you are strong enough, it can help you bypass most of the exhausting work."

Ichigo ignored the mention of the man and opened his mouth to question her further, only to close it again. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Okay? How does that tie into my original question?"

At that, Yoruichi lowered her head and stared at her feet.

"Like I said, it is a dangerous method. If you are strong enough, you can reach Bankai. However, if you are not… you completely lose you zanpakuto spirit. I know that because that's what happened to me."

Ichigo blinked.

Then he blinked again.

"What?!"

Yoruichi formed an anxious grimace.

"We were young and, back then, I could be quite irresponsible. Driven by Kisuke's success, I followed in his wake but… it turned into a disaster. I couldn't do it and, after ten days passed, my zanpakuto spirit tore itself apart and merged with my soul."

Ichigo blinked one more time.

"Wait a minute. Zanpakuto spirit is already a part of your soul isn't it?"

Yoruichi shook her head.

"It is and it is not. It is a part of you, it is born out of your soul but exists as a separate entity. What happened to me erased it from existence and only strings and pieces of its being got absorbed by me, allowing me to use some of its abilities, albeit in a different way."

'Shit. Maybe I should have prevented her from saying all of this. Or maybe she's not worried about Aizen potentially knowing this? Who knows if there aren't any hidden listening devices.'

Furiously thinking, Ichigo suddenly pointed his finger at her.

"So that's why you can turn into a cat!"

She formed a small smile.

"Yeah."

…

"You want me to what?"

It was almost a week since he had last spoken to Aizen and Ichigo stared at the man in a complete bewilderment. He was just given a detailed description of his new mission and the words still echoed in his mind. He had hoped his hearing briefly failed him and the man did not tell him to once again invade Soul Society but the look on Aizen's face told him otherwise.

"I want you to destroy the Sōkyoku blade. The artifacts you have taken from the Shihōin vault will allow you to do so fairly easily." The man repeated.

Ichigo took a deep breath and then scowled at Aizen.

"Seriously? That's the least of my worries! No doubt they increased their security. Going there again is a suicide!"

However, Aizen did not budge an inch.

"And yet you have to go."

Ichigo wanted to argue that the very idea was incredibly risky and stupid but one intense stare from Aizen effectively shut him up. Still, he at least wanted an answer to one question.

"Why?"

Seeing that Ichigo was done protesting, Aizen leaned in his chair and raised the steaming teacup to his lips. Ichigo's brow twitched in annoyance. While he did enjoy Aizen's tea, he was starting to suspect the man did not and that he used it only as an excuse to unnerve him.

'Well, it's working alright!'

After taking a long sip, Aizen licked his lips.

"Kurosaki, tell me… what do you know of the Sōkyoku Hill and the blade located on top of it, the Sōkyoku blade?"

It took but a moment for Ichigo to organize his thoughts.

"Not much. It is in a form of a large halberd, though it has supposedly a different form. Aside from that, the only other information I have on it is that it is used in delivering the most serious punishment in Soul Society, an execution."

Aizen nodded.

"Good but that's not the complete truth."

Ichigo couldn't stop himself from snorting loudly.

"When it ever is…?"

A smirk formed on Aizen's mouth.

"True. Nevertheless, the Sōkyoku blade is not just a simple tool for execution. It is a retainer of an entity called Kikōō, a massive phoenix-like being made out of pure energy. You could liken it to a zanpakuto spirit. This entity is said to possess offensive and defensive power of a million regular zanpakuto. The incredible heat it emits is enough to not simply execute, it completely vaporizes the soul and erases it from the very existence so that it cannot rejoin the reincarnation cycle. It is the most terrifying weapon ever created."

While listening to the explanation, Ichigo's scowl lessened and was replaced with a somber grimace.

"And you want me to destroy it."

"Yes. It would be unwise to let it exist in case something goes… awry."

Rubbing his head, Ichigo let out a sigh. He glanced at the tool placed on the nearby table and then looked back at Aizen, who was watching him with a curious gaze.

"I will not have to fight this phoenix entity, won't I?"

Aizen merely chuckled.

"Of course not, Kurosaki. That's why we have these tools."

"When?"

"In three hours. I will prepare a perfect diversion for you to sneak in Seireitei. Until then, make the necessary preparations. I will wait for you in front of Las Noches."

…

Three hours and twenty minutes later, Ichigo stood at the end of the road within Garganta with an uneasy expression. He was just about to open the gate and stealthily enter Seireitei but he had a gut feeling that something was about to go very wrong. A few minutes before, he had passed something akin to a wall of dense air and it was then when the bad feeling began to make waves through his body. He was still clad in the masking cloak, so he was fairly certain he wasn't yet spotted but he just knew he was walking into an ambush.

Taking a deep breath, he let go of his worries and used a small device to create an opening in the void. A moment later, he stood atop of Sōkyoku Hill and he quickly took a look around to assess the situation.

'Well, so far so good.'

There was nobody in his immediate vicinity. A loud explosion coming from afar shook him from his stupor and he strained his eyes to see beams of green energy making ruckus at the closest Seireitei gate.

'That's what he meant by a diversion.' He thought and then looked at the large halberd not that far away from him.

'Alright. Let's get to work.'

Moving fast but with enough care, he made his way towards the Sōkyoku, stopping only next to a pair of thick ropes that kept the halberd standing upright. Once again, he stole a glance at his surroundings.

'I have a really bad feeling about this.'

With one hand, he reached to his back and carefully grabbed the only thing aside from his zanpakuto that he was carrying with him. It was a large, shield-like item with the Shihōin family crest stamped on it as well as a long cord that was attached to it. He gave the tool a short look of disbelief.

'Is this really going to work? It looks like a useless souvenir.'

He sighed and shook his head. There was no time or space for doubts. Reaching out, he grabbed the cord connected to the shield and then glanced at the Sōkyoku. With slightly narrowed eyes, he alternated his glances between them so that he could take proper estimation of the distance he needed to overcome.

Before long, he was wildly spinning the cord above his head like a lasso. Without making any sound, he then threw it towards the large halberd and watched with satisfaction as it wrapped itself around its center. Happy with the result, he then reached for his zanpakuto and quietly released it. He looked at the shield.

'Here goes nothing.'

Resolutely, he raised both his swords and plunged them into two vertical slots that ran from the top of the shield. He took one last glance around him and then pushed his reiryoku into his blades.

Immediately, the shield glowed and the accumulated energy shot from its center and flowed through the cord, until it reached its final destination, the Sōkyoku.

Before his very eyes, the large halberd briefly glowed.

Then it exploded in a shower of spiritual particles that caused him to blink in surprise.

'Wait… that's it? That was… underwhelming?'

However, he couldn't watch the reishi slowly fall to the ground as the noise from the distant diversion had already died down. With a nod, he congratulated himself for a job done and then hastily recovered the shield and placed it back on his back.

He turned around to once again enter the tear in the air but before he did so, he reached into his pocket and allowed a small letter to fall on the ground next to his feet. Then he returned to Garganta.

Once he closed the tear after him, he immediately felt that something was wrong. A loud buzzing echoed within Garganta like a swarm of bees and caused the alarm within his mind to go off. Acting fast, he created the pathway beneath his feet and began to run.

However, once he reached the veil of compressed air, something squeezed his insides and he found himself sailing through the void until he crashed through some invisible wall and shattered the boundary between the worlds. Like a sack of potatoes, he landed on a cold, hard surface that certainly wasn't the sand of Hueco Mundo.

He rolled over, only to see clouds moving across a night sky as well as a large tree obscuring his vision of the moon.

'Wait… a tree with leaves?'

He looked from side to side.

"Oh crap. Karakura Town."

In that moment, a bright orange barrier that seemed very familiar rose all around him and a familiar voice called out to him.

"Oh crap indeed, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise and a little bit of dread.

"Shinji-san?"

…

There was deadly chill slowly spreading through not just the air but through Ichigo's insides as well. They were all staring at him, glaring at him, trying to murder him with their eyes. Confusion, anger, betrayal and desperation, it all mirrored in their eyes and Ichigo knew he was fucked.

He could have tried and convince them about his innocence. To tell them what the truth was. But the plan would have been ruined. Not to mention they would most likely never believe him. No, they were all now acting on pure instinct, driven by emotions of reliving their worst nightmare. He was sure of it.

Of all the places, of every possible situation, Ichigo had ended up in the worst of the worst.

Dumped in the middle of Karakura Town, he was surrounded by the entire gang of Vaizādo. The group of Shinigami who had been turned into Hollow hybrids by none other than Aizen, the man Ichigo was now associated with and from the looks of it, it seemed Vaizādo knew about it.

And they certainly weren't happy. If anything, they looked downright murderous. Judging by the slowly forming hollow masks on their faces, the barrier surrounding them and the way the air was filling with heavy reiatsu, Ichigo knew one thing.

He had to run away or he was going to die.

Painfully.

Alone.

Fear fleetingly touched his heart and he acted on pure instinct. With an incredible vigor, he got to his feet and flashed towards the edge of the barrier with his larger sword already falling down.

"TRAITOR!"

'Shit!'

The tip of his blade managed to nick the barrier but nothing else. A powerful beam of energy collided with his side and hurled him across the whole area until his left shoulder came to a sudden stop after crashing into another part of the barrier.

He stayed down for exactly one millisecond. As adrenaline spread across his whole body, he was back on his feet just in time to intercept a vicious kick from a small opponent with the blunt side of his zanpakuto. With slight difficulty, he redirected the limb away from him, only to see armed fist flying straight at his face. Immediately, he raised his other sword and redirected the second attack as well.

However, he was unable to prevent the third strike coming at him from behind from connecting with his back. Fortunately for him, his passive Hierro evolved enough to block most of the damage. The blade slid across his back leaving nothing more than a scrape. Still, the power behind the attack knocked him forward and right into second fist that came out of nowhere.

"!"

He felt his jaw moving and soon, his body followed after. Blasted across the area within the barrier, he barely managed to spot a blade closing in on his chest. Acting fast, he used his smaller blade to slap the attack away. Once he did so, he vaulted over another beam of energy and landed on one knee. He quickly looked up.

Every member of the Vaizādo group now wore his or her hollow mask. Despite not being able to see their faces, Ichigo knew the situation was quickly getting worse. Even if he got stronger, facing eight former high-ranking officers who possessed augmented power was more than just a suicide.

It was madness.

"I guess talking is out of the question." He stated quietly.

One of the Vaizādo spat on the ground. Must have been Hiyori.

"You aligned yourself with Aizen! There's nothing else to say!"

He bit his lip and mentally accepted the situation.

"It appears so. Very well." He said and let his own hollow mask to slowly form on his face. Pushing himself to the very limit of his sanity, his mask grew to cover a little more than half of his face. The effect was instantaneous.

The offensive came from eight different directions.

He managed to block one, redirect another two, dodge or evade another two. That left him with three attacks he was unable to cover and he prayed his Hierro could withstand it.

It didn't. Not completely.

His backside slammed into the barrier and he heard a cracking sound, thought he wasn't entirely sure whether it came from the barrier or his body. Dazed and in pain, he reflexively let out a burst of spiritual energy to prevent any potential attack from getting close to him. It partially worked and gave him three whole seconds of peace but on the other hand, it robbed him of a piece of energy he couldn't afford to waste.

A whole palette of colors alerted him of the pending danger and several beams of energy shot towards him. With no room to maneuver, he took the risk and flashed away in hope they wouldn't anticipate that. Unfortunately for him, they did and a knee connected with his abdomen right in the middle of his Shunpo. It completely disrupted his equilibrium and made him stumble. As he felt himself falling forward, a fist connected with the side of his face.

"Pfu!"

The force of the punch spun him around and made him spit saliva and a bit of blood. His lips were busted and there was as odd ringing in his ears but he managed to remain standing. From the corner of his eye, he saw a long blade nearing his neck and hastily ducked. A small strand of his hair appeared in front of him. The distraction cost him another hit to his backside.

Annoyed growl escaped his mouth. He was getting tired of being the punchbag, yet nothing came to his mind. It was, after all, eight on one. Hastily using a short-distanced Shunpo, he created a tiny space between him and the Vaizādo.

"Why are you even doing this? I thought you were hiding!"

His snarl was answered with a nasty Cero that barely missed his head.

"We are!"

Still angry, Ichigo let out a sharp snort.

"Good luck with that! Did you seriously think that I went on a mission without a monitoring device?"

It was the truth. Just before he departed from Hueco Mundo, Aizen assured him he would keep an eye on him, just in case something went wrong. On the other hand, Ichigo wasn't sure what the man meant by that. Was it a security bug or something else? Since he wasn't completely sure, he at least tried to bluff. However, when some of the Vaizādo scoffed, he knew it did not work.

"Dumbass, that's what this barrier is for."

Ichigo blinked in surprise.

'Huh… I thought it was to prevent spiritual energy to leak all over the town.'

The thought gave him an idea and he slowly formed a smug grin. His mask covering only half of his face, the Vaizādo noticed it and visibly tensed.

"Heh, you don't say…" He muttered.

For a split second, nobody moved. Then, after a short buildup, Ichigo raised his zanpakuto that was brimming with energy.

"Getsuga-"

"Shit! Hacchi!"

"-Tenshō!"

A dense, crescent-shaped blast of energy emerged from the blade of his sword and shot towards the nearest wall of the barrier. With every intention on smashing through, Ichigo followed after and tried to further push the blast with his zanpakuto. In the last moment, before he could reach the barrier, several members of the Vaizādo got in the way with their swords descending at the blast.

"Get the hell away!"

"Fuck you!"

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo pushed as hard as he could, both with his muscles and with his spiritual energy alike. He continuously pumped more and more reiryoku into his Getsuga and, despite Vaizādo doing their hardest to push him back, he felt himself slowly moving forward.

But only until two powerful crimson colored Cero smashed into his right side and completely obliterated his defenses. Sharp, intense pain assaulted his senses as his body sailed through the air. He could feel his skin melting and a smell of burn meat entered his nose. Before long, he crashed into the barrier with a resounding thud and slowly skidded to the ground.

Barely conscious, he wanted to scream but found no oxygen in his lungs. As soon as he realized he could still think, he dispatched a large chunk of his hollow reiryoku to his whole body in an attempt to increase the speed of his hollow-like regeneration.

It worked, but way too slowly. He realized his wounds must have been more serious than he thought. That meant one thing. He was done for. From the feel of it, it would take him at least half a minute before he could even attempt to get back up.

Through his gasps, he heard the sound of footsteps closing in.

'Shit. Shit, shit, shit!'

"I am not a naïve dreamer, but I definitely thought we could become friends, Ichigo. I thought we were on the same page. That both of us hated Aizen for what he did."

Shinji's voice sounded sad, yet cold at the same time. His face popped up in Ichigo's vision. The man stood above him, giving him a long, searching gaze.

"I thought you of all people understood just what kind of monster he is."

Still struggling to breathe, Ichigo grimaced.

"Heh… who's, who's the one killing a, haah, a teenager? Aizen, haaah, Aizen is certainly, wheew, not a saint but… but he never tried to kill me." He wheezed.

Shinji's expression darkened and his gaze hardened.

"Are you saying I'm just as bad as him?" He asked. Ichigo did not retort, causing Shinji to scowl deeply and look away.

"I never thought I'd say it but he was completely wrong about you… damn you, Kisuke."

Ichigo stopped gasping for breath. A spark in his mind increased in size and turned into a fire. His facial muscles twitched and a growl slipped through his lips.

Urahara Kisuke.

It always came back to him.

Anything he did, anywhere he went, the man's name was everywhere, seemingly connected to everything.

The fire within him grew into deadly inferno in a blink of an eye. Anger spread through his veins. Hatred clouded his mind. Fury entered his heart.

Unforgivable.

He hated the man.

"Shinji!"

His fingers twitched and hollow reiryoku exploded all around him. Like a blanket for emotions, it wrapped itself around his head and began to seep into the remains of his mask, repairing it fast. But when the mask grew to its previous state of covering half of his face, it did not stop growing. It quickly covered his second eye as well.

"SHINJI! DO IT!"

KILL HIM!

KILL THEM!

MURDER THEM!

SLAUGHTER THEM!

SLASH!

HACK!

SLICE!

RIP!

TEAR!

The pressure surrounding his body began to eat away at the barrier and large cracks appeared in it.

"SHINJI!"

"I CAN'T FRICKIN GATHER ENERGY!"

"JUST CUT HIM DOWN!"

A loud screech came through Ichigo's mouth.

But then.

'No.'

Everything around him froze in time.

'No! I won't let you!'

He felt the control of his body slipping away.

'I am not a monster! I am not a Hollow! NO!'

Time restarted itself.

'I AM KUROSAKI ICHIGO!'

Eerie silence filled the world. Nobody dared to move. Not the Vaizādo. Not him. Then, Ichigo felt his mouth moving but it wasn't his voice that came out.

"You are an idiot, Ichigo. I leave you for a few weeks and this is how you end up? Embarrassing."

"What the hell is that?"

Before anyone could take a step towards him, Ichigo's body got up and stared at the shocked ensemble with a disgusted grimace.

"You lot are pathetic. This dumbass is the only child in here, yet he is more mature than all of you put together. And you, Ichigo. Don't get used to this. I won't always just come to save your sorry ass."

Shinji and the rest of the Vaizādo stared at the person in front of them in complete bewilderment.

"It's his… hollow?"

Ichigo's body laughed mirthlessly.

"And that's why you're an even bigger dumbass than this guy. Come on Ichigo. We are out of here."

The whole Vaizādo group tensed and raised their zanpakuto, but Ichigo's body grinned.

"Don't worry, it'll hurt only a bit."

An enormous amount of spiritual energy exploded from Ichigo's body with enough power to blast each Vaizādo away, to form a crater beneath his feet, to tear the asphalt from the street and the soil from the ground. It pulsed with such intensity, the orange barrier surrounding him didn't even have the time to shatter and, instead, simply disintegrated.

In the middle, Ichigo's body swayed and almost fell on its knees.

"Hang on, Ichigo. Just a few more seconds." The voice said almost gently.

With a swipe of a hand, a tear appeared next to him and Ichigo's body fell through it, unconscious before it hit the sand on the other side.

The Vaizādo slowly got back on their feet, only to see the tear already closing. Glancing at each other, they all spoke at the same time.

"Shit."

End of Chapter 37.

I'm back. Norway is a beautiful country.

Zangetsu is back! Maybe it wasn't with such a big and loud bang as some of you hoped for but it was a bang nonetheless. Lots of new stuff in this chapter. We finally got to one plot point that has been in manga but didn't go anywhere - Rukia's forgotten mission in the Human World.

Then we have the revelation of why the fast way to Bankai using Urahara's method isn't as safe as it appears to be. Same as with Rukia's mission, it appeared in manga but was forgotten. We heard that the method is dangerous but not the reason why.

Of course, there is the thing with Aizen's not complete truth about Yoruichi's hollowification. That she no longer possesses a zanpakuto spirit makes her a unique case and the question is: is she really okay as she says she is?

Then there's using Hogyoku for Wonderweiss, even though Wonderweiss isn't the interesting part of that scene...

Ichigo's grew as a character and despite being thrown off balance and finding out he's uncertain of his identity, he no longer mopes around in a depressive mood. Instead, he takes it as it is and deals with it on his own terms.

Finally, Ichigo's unfair fight against 8 strong opponents. Obviously, he stands no chance in hell, yet he doesn't let the fear of death devour him and tries to find a way out of it. And even when he fails, he fights against the despair and the instinctive urge to go down while slaughtering as many as he can and stays in control.

Then... Zangetsu. Truth be told, I'm very satisfied with how well this chapter flowed. Next chapter, with the reappearance of Zangetsu, Ichigo undergoes even more training, since his growth until now should have been impossible. What do I mean by that? Tune in for the next chapter in two weeks!

To Reviews:

MugetsuIchigo - you are reading too much into it, ofc they aren't them... or are they?

Dinner - that bit about the silence, well, for now, ichigo thinks there was silence but, like you said, it doesn't mean nothing was said. Nelliel will remain just Nelliel. Starrk and Harribel are one of the smarter Espada so I think it's only natural they'd want to know what Ichigo is about. I actually kind of forgot about Lilynette, I have to admit. Still, as you said, Ichigo didn't know about it and the story is told mainly from Ichigo's POV (despite it being a 3rd person view). Ichigo in this story is different from canon. He's been training a lot more and, more importantly, in this story, Yhwach isn't hindering Ichigo's power. And yes, right now, Ichigo ignores most of other abilities because he's hurrying towards... something.

SomeRandomDude - actually, as far as I know, Hogyoku is based on the true mythological wishing jewel called Cintamani Stone (look it up)

DarkHollow07 - I have to disappoint you there, Yoruichi did revert back but, even though neither of them realize it, there is a strange bond binding them. It should come up later in the story, though.

blarg7865 - well, you could be wrong. I won't confirm nor deny that. The thing with those three languages... is a bit complicated and I can't really say anything without spoiling the story. Dead or not, it is important that they belong to the past long forgotten. About the books - that would be actually quite funny but no. Ichigo's sisters can't be hollows since they have been killed and their souls eaten at the very beginning of the story. And for the last part... yeah, tell me something about distractions -_-

Zionchar11 - we have to go even... further... beyond!

Anontbhfam - it's just as you said, enjoyable but not easily envisioned.

kaxipoptos - Yoruichi can't really afford to be angry at him, though. Not if she understood his phrase "For the sake of Soul Society."

Big fat thanks to everyone who reads, everyone who reviews and anyone who simply enjoys the story (despite its flaws). Like I said, next chapter is two weeks away and we are slowly reaching the end of this arc so things are going to be even more exciting. With that said, thanks and:

Next chapter: Chapter 38 - Psyche, reformed (Oblivious of obvious) - will be published 26/27th April!