Chapter 46: WTOX (White lies, Moon remix)

xxx

Playing the role of an unaware citizen had been easy. All he had to do was to claim he knew nothing about the Soul Society while admitting he was aware of the mystical force called spiritual energy if only to keep his lie balanced. It was better that way and kept him safe in case of a potential slip of the tongue. Nevertheless, it had seemed to work, since Ginjō's only reaction to his words was to hand him a business card in case he wanted to know more.

And it was a beautiful card. Professional, made from fine materials with a catchy letter 'X' imprinted in a large font over most of its surface.

As he walked back to the Unagiya Shop with his head lowered and his eyes glued to it, he came no closer to understanding its meaning than he had when his sight first fell on it. The only other occurrence of the letter 'X' he recalled was in the pirate stories where authors used it in treasure maps to define a place with a hidden treasure. For obvious reasons, he concluded that this was not the case.

'Still, it was a very interesting conversation.' He thought and gave the card one more glance before putting it into one of his pockets for safe-keeping.

'I learned his name. I also learned he does, in fact, possess spiritual energy though he keeps it concealed and low. He is aware about the Soul Society and he knows, or at least he thinks he does, Urahara Kisuke. At the same time, he didn't explain his interest in me, just that there is a connection between me and Urahara. Interesting.'

On his face, scrunched in a thoughtful frown, formed a smirk.

"Very interesting."

A quiet echo reverberated within his mind and made him nod to himself.

'Yeah, I know. If this goes just like everything else had, we could use it in our favor. I mean, I wanted to keep this charade for as long as possible, but if I have only a few more days left... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This guy's scheme is still a large unknown. But, we'll deal with this like we always had; in stride.'

In just a few minutes, he reached the shop. As soon as he took a step inside, he looked for its owner.

"Huh? Back so soon?" Ikumi asked when he came through the door. Putting a finger to his mouth, he nodded towards the kitchen and waited until she followed him. Once there, he sat down and looked her straight in the eyes.

"I met him."

"Uhm…"

For a short moment, she looked confused but then a proverbial lightbulb lit up above her head.

"Ooooh! Right! So? How did it go? What does he want from you?"

Before she could increase the rate with which she fired her questions, Ichigo raised one of his hands and positioned it in the air with the palm pointing to her face.

"I'd say it went well and though I'm not yet sure what his deal is, he doesn't seem dangerous. Just a guy who wants to talk." He explained and reached into his pocket.

"He also gave me his business card in case I decide I want to contact him." Waving the card from side to side, he placed it on the table and pushed it towards Ikumi. Though she frowned, she grabbed it, looked it over and then glanced back at him.

"Maybe he wants to offer you work? Cause it looks professional, I can tell you that much."

Ichigo nodded and took it back.

"Yeah, thought so too."

Ikumi leaned backward and into the chair, then peered into his eyes.

"It's still odd. Why didn't you just talk about whatever he wants right away?"

In a quick swipe, he picked the card and put it back into his pocket. At the same time, he grinned.

"Where's the fun in that, Ikumi-san? Don't worry, I know you're all worried about me but I'll be fine. Besides, this guy searched for me even though others should have told him I died months ago. So, whatever it is he wants from me, I want him to mention it first. Then again, I'm going back to Soul Society for a day or two. I'll contact him once I'm back."

She blinked but then her frown returned and almost matched his own that he used to wear every day.

"Is that wise, Ichigo? You are powerless and if he's a threat…" She trailed off when she saw Ichigo shaking his head.

"It's because he may be a threat, Ikumi-san that I should tread with careful steps. Think about it from his point of view. He has been looking for me for weeks and now, suddenly, I show up, and despite not knowing anything about him, I go with whatever he says and whatever he wants. That would make me either stupidly naïve, which he most likely knows I am not, or suspicious as hell. Nobody with at least a bean for a brain would follow a stranger into his den after a one minute long talk. Wouldn't that seem like I expected him to come for me? And you know I'm not that powerless." He reasoned with her with his grin still present on his face. As he spoke, he saw Ikumi's frown deepen and then vanish in a blink of an eye.

"I'm surprised. You are sly for a kid of your age."

Ichigo widened his eyes and, for a few seconds, stared at her. Then he chuckled.

"Even without my memory, it's still me, and from what others told me, I've been a distrustful person for the most of my life. But thanks for the compliment."

In a surprising move, Ikumi reached forward and placed her hands on top of his and gave him a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry."

Ichigo waited until she withdrew her hands and then he replaced his grin with an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry about it, Ikumi-san. I feel that everything is going to be just fine."

…

True to his words, before the sun set down and hid behind the horizon, Ichigo discarded his Gigai, opened a Senkaimon gate and returned to the Soul Society. There wasn't anything in particular he had planned on doing, but after stopping by the Shiba mansion and grabbing some of his things, he decided that since he had a bit of free time, he could use it to train. It had been five days since he did any training after all. However, since he planned on returning to Karakura Town in just a day or two, there was no point in starting with something new and so he spent the few remaining hours of the day by going over the abilities he already knew. Expect the unexpected was the motto.

That night, unlike the one before, he slept like a hospital patient pumped with anesthetics; once his body hit the bed, there was nothing but darkness. Until the light of the morning sun pierced through his eyelids and assaulted his retina with its annoying intensity that is.

A long stretch, followed by a cold shower and a substantial breakfast filled both his body and soul with enough energy to face yet another day, though he was unprepared to face an irate Kūkaku grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him all the way through the whole mansion and to her room where she forced him to sit down on a comfortable armchair. Once his behind hit the soft surface of the furniture, he rubbed his elbow and tried to give her the stink eye but one glance at her expression made him stop.

"It's been five days, Ichigo! Five! Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Why didn't you contact me? As it stands why didn't Ikumi contact me either?!"

Ichigo didn't reply right away. Instead, he stared at her with a pair of curious eyes until she made her way to the other armchair in the room and sat down. But since her expression didn't seem to change, he took his time picking his next words.

"Okay. I'm sorry for not contacting you, but I am not nearly as impulsive as I've been in the past, Kūkaku-san. You know that. It's been five days because I was waiting for the situation to develop itself."

It didn't look like that convinced her and so before she could speak, he continued.

"On the other hand, I know you. You are not the person who would freak out like this. So, what changed, Kūkaku-san? Did dad push you to this?"

With her mouth still opened, ready to speak, Kūkaku paused and, after a second, sighed. She looked away.

"Gh, that's why I told him it wouldn't work. Yeah, you got me. I'm guilty as charged."

In return, he shook his head and let out a chuckle.

"I'm touched. You can tell him everything's fine. So far, there has been no problem. I made a contact with the guy and he seems harmless enough."

She still didn't turn her eyes back to him and was trying her hardest to hide her embarrassment. A second later, her expression melted, and she spoke in a calmer voice.

"That's good. Did he tell you why he's been looking for you?"

Now that the atmosphere changed, Ichigo made himself comfortable and leaned to the armrest.

"No. Not yet, anyway. I will talk to him again in a few days. That's all he wants to do so far, to talk."

At last, she looked at him.

"He's not trying to convince you to do something, right? To pull you into some kind of scheme? It wouldn't be the first time, you know?"

Ichigo chuckled again and Kūkaku cracked a smile herself.

"Nah. And even if he tried to, I think I'm immune to such crap."

When she looked at him in disbelief, he raised both his hands and put them in front of him in a defensive pose.

"What? It's true! Amnesia here! I have enough nonsense to deal with already!"

Kūkaku released a long, drawn-out sigh and, pushing herself out of the armchair, walked to a large cabinet, from which she took out an oddly familiar bottle of darkish liquid. He took only a moment to recognize it as the alcohol he had drunk with Byakuya several days ago. She placed it on the table and then poured it into two small glasses. But just as he tried to reach for one, Ichigo watched in fascination as she gulped both glasses down in rapid succession. She let out a happy squeal and then returned to her seat as if nothing happened.

"I know but you are my family. Even though I'm not like your father, I worry about you. It's only because I knew you'd want to know that somebody has been looking for you that I even told you about the man."

Downhearted about the lack of glass in his hand, Ichigo pursed his lips but then deflated.

"Thanks. Really, though. There's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine."

Several minutes and a short conversation about his stay in Karakura Town later, Kūkaku suddenly slapped her forehead and shook her head, looking exasperated. Ichigo raised one eyebrow in an unspoken question.

"I almost forgot. What is this guy's name? Maybe I could try to look for any information about him? Even if he's just a human, I have contacts that could help us."

In return, Ichigo lowered his eyebrow and gave her shrug.

"Eh, I was planning on doing it, anyway. His name is Kūgo Ginjō."

…

Not even two days later, determined to get to the root of the mystery, Ichigo walked out of the Senkaimon gate with his face set in a rigid, stiff expression that was similar and yet different to his usual frown; a remnant of his conversation with Kūkaku. Because of it, he was just barely aware of the following brief conversation with Ikumi. Instead, he focused all of his attention towards the upcoming event which was him meeting Ginjō. To do so, he grabbed his Gigai, pushed himself in it and made a short call using the number printed on the business card he had gotten earlier from the man.

A strange, robotic voice entered his ear.

"Hello. You have reached Xcution. Your phone number is not on record. Are you one of our valued members? Please, give me your name."

He didn't think twice about it. It seemed like an original, yet careful security measure.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Kurosaki Ichigo-sama. We have already been informed about you. Welcome to Xcution. Now, please hang up the phone. Once you've hung up, please add zero, zero, eight, zero, zero to the end of the phone number and call again but hang up before the call goes through. Then call the same number a second time. This time, hang up just as it stops ringing. Then, on your third call, you will be connected directly to Ginjō Kūgo-sama."

A sigh escaped through his parted lips.

'What a pain in the ass.' He thought but did as told. As soon as he was sure he was talking to the man, he spoke.

"It's me."

There were no greetings as he saw no point in using them.

"I was beginning to worry." The now familiar voice answered him.

"I had to think it through. My mom taught me not to believe the words of a stranger."

A light cough filled the silence.

"Sounds like a wise woman."

He paused and waited for further words since a conversation about his late mother was not on the day's agenda.

"Since you're calling, I assume you believe me?"

"For now."

A quiet chuckle coming from the phone speaker tickled his ear.

"That's good enough, Kurosaki! Head to Chōbara district in Naruki City. Wait near the first building of the 7th Block. I'll pick you up in one hour." Once the words came through, a clicking sound announced the end of the call and he put down the phone. He glanced at the clock. It was four o'clock in the afternoon.

'Time to have some fun.'

It didn't take him long to prepare and leave. Now that he had contacted Ginjō, he no longer needed to pretend to be a worker at the Unagiya Shop and Ikumi was more than happy to let him roam the town. One hour was plenty of time and so he took the scenic route, wandering across Karakura Town in a set of slow, leisure steps while trying his best to appear as inconspicuous as he could. Dark of the night hadn't yet settled in yet, so citizens littered the town, moving around with their lives as if the supernatural all around them didn't exist.

Eventually, he crossed the western border of Karakura Town and Naruki City with plenty of time to spare. Fleetingly, he recalled two of his former classmates living in the city and switched his caution to an appropriate level, moving through the streets scanning every corner and every alley. he didn't want to take any chances. Meeting the people from his life wouldn't do him any good and avoiding them was the best course of actions. There was no way he could talk his way out of the encounter.

Five minutes before the time limit expired, he stepped out from a thin alley stuck between large concrete structures and looked for the unmistakable silhouette of the man he was meeting up with. And true to the man's words, there he was, leaning against a street lamp with his eyes set on him.

"Just in time, Kurosaki."

"Didn't want to appear too excited."

Ginjō grinned at the comeback and motioned him to follow. Together, they walked only a few steps away from the street lamp when the man ascended a large staircase leading to a doorway of a modern-looking hotel-like building.

"Meeting me right next to your actual residence? Brave." Ichigo commented from behind the man who reacted with a chuckle.

"Brave? It's called confidence."

Ichigo decided not to retort though he had the words already on the tip of his tongue. He had to keep himself in check. Being rude could work against him. He brought his attention back from his own thoughts when the entrance to the building opened and stared at him like a black hole, ready to suck him into a vortex of yet another set of schemes. Allowing himself a small smirk, he strode inside without as much as a glance.

There, a sight of a bar-like establishment, fully equipped with bar stools, couches, low tables, bar and even a bartender - a tall, older-looking gentleman clad in what looked like a typical bartender's attire, welcomed him with a clean, yet casual smell of life. The older man noticed his arrival and gave him a short bow.

"Greetings. Care for a drink, young man?"

Ichigo glanced to his left, to see Ginjō walking towards a soft-looking couch, where he made himself comfortable. When he lifted his legs to place them on a table, the man behind the bar called out to him.

"Please, Ginjō-san, a table is for glasses, not your legs. Must I repeat myself every time?"

Rolling his eyes, Ginjō retracted his legs, then gave Ichigo a nod.

"Ask for anything. It's on the house."

Ichigo looked back towards the bar. His eyes jumped all over the whole selection of bottles in hidden hope of finding the same brownish liquid he had drank with Byakuya. A moment later, his eyes lit up. He nodded to the bartender.

"A glass of whiskey, thank you."

With another short bow, the man behind the bar got to preparing the drink. As he did that, Ichigo looked back at Ginjō, who was eyeing him with an appreciative stare.

"Ah, I see you're a man of culture, Kurosaki. Giriko, make it two glasses." He said and motioned Ichigo to sit down on a couch next to him.

"Well, before we get down to business, I have just one question. What convinced you to come here? Curiosity?"

"Mostly. Besides, the least I can do is to hear you out."

Ginjō gave him a short, questioning gaze but made no effort in pushing the matter. Instead, he raised both his arms and folded them behind his head in a lazy, slightly disinterested manner.

"Okay. Where to start then?"

"The beginning would be nice."

Expecting a chuckle, Ichigo watched as Ginjō closed his eyes and released a short-lived sigh. Then, while taking small sips of whiskey, the man delved into a lengthy albeit sparse explanation about the existence of Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and spiritual matters. Though he already knew all of it, in order to continue his charade, he tried to appear as if it was his first time hearing about it. Once they dealt with the most obvious themes, Ginjō took a short breather and made himself even more comfortable.

"With me so far, Kurosaki?"

Reaching for his own glass, Ichigo tasted the whiskey and gave a silent nod.

"Good. So, I mentioned Shinigami, Hollows and a basic type of spiritually aware humans. I and my associates belong to a special category of these humans. And while there are many reasons why such humans exist, the reason behind our existence is simple. Each of us had a mother that has survived a Hollow attack while being pregnant with us. Remnants of a hollow reiryoku then remained in our mothers' bodies and at the moment of our birth, they passed this reiryoku on to us. Because of it, in time, we developed a certain ability. We call it a Fullbring." Ginjō said with a certain finality in his voice while giving Ichigo an intense stare. Aware of it, Ichigo took yet another sip of the tasteful beverage.

"I see you have never heard of it so let me give you a short demonstration." Ginjō said and pulled his arms from behind his head and moved one of it towards his glass sitting on the table, still filled with whiskey. When his fingers were inches away, Ichigo noticed a strange, weak light emanating from the surface of the liquid. Slowly, without Ginjō making any obvious movements or actions, the whiskey within the glass rose and, in an odd, circular shape, floated towards the man's opened mouth. In a matter of instants, the glass turned empty. Just as Ginjō made an exaggerated gulping sound, Ichigo shifted his attention from the glass to the man's smug expression.

"Cool, isn't it?"

Before Ichigo had a chance to analyze the strange phenomenon that happened in front of him, Ginjō continued speaking.

"What I did there, was drawing out the soul of the alcohol in the glass and made it help me swallow it."

With a twitch of his left lower eyelid, Ichigo narrowed his eyes and tried to comprehend the words.

'He drew out the soul of the alcohol? That sounds so… abstract? I don't get it.'

Seeing the thoughtful frown on Ichigo's face, Ginjō brought him back from his musings by continuing.

"In simple terms, our power is the ability to draw out the soul that dwells in any substance and make it work for us."

Ichigo's frown deepened.

"Any substance?"

Ginjō's smug expression turned into a clear grin.

"You look like you still don't get it. Did you think only living creatures had souls? Everything in this world has a soul, not just plants and animals. Their souls are small but even telephone poles and chairs and glasses have souls." He said and, once again, leaned back into his couch.

"Haven't you ever felt that your ability increases when using a tool you're familiar with? That means you've understood the soul of that tool. The soul of an object has the power to help its user and we can draw that soul out and give it a boost." He explained and then glanced at the ground beneath their feet.

"By drawing out the soul of the ground surface, whether its grass, soil or asphalt, we can increase its elasticity to jump higher and we can make liquid fly into our mouths just like you saw me do there. And we can walk on water by making it support our feet. And, with the tools we are particularly compatible and familiar with, we can even change their shape. For example, my necklace here. Watch." Ginjō said and placed one of his fingers underneath a cross-like necklace hanging from his neck. In an instant, the surface of the tiny cross glowed.

Next thing he knew, Ichigo was staring at a large claymore, a version of two-handed blade used in medieval times, with a long, broad blade in a form of a double-edged long-sword. Looking at it from a close distance, he noticed that its cross-guard comprised a small red gem at the center and two straight ornate arms ending in a simplistic version of a lily flower. The sword's handle ran through its guard, continuing on through a gold hollow space at the base of its blade. The handle was almost the same length of the blade itself and all the details put together created an illusion of a deadly, yet beautiful weapon made for tiring slaughtering of masses. Just looking at it made Ichigo's fingers tingle with an urge to pick up his own sword and fight. He could almost feel the hollow tint coming off the weapon and calling out to him, to his inner instinct. Looking away from the sword and at the man holding it, Ichigo formed a miniscule grin.

"Scary."

Ginjō chuckled.

"Does that mean you get it now? What Fullbring is?"

"I think so, though I hope there are limitations to your ability. Being able to manipulate anything sounds, well, overpowered. I'd say it turns you from simple humans to something akin to demigods."

In response to his words, Ginjō's eyes widened though he schooled his expression and reverted it back to his usual one in a heartbeat. With a snap of his fingers, he gestured Giriko to refill his glass.

"To be honest, that… is not the reaction I was expecting, Kurosaki. I think no one ever likened us to demigods."

"You don't like it?"

"No, on the contrary, I can already feel my ego inflating."

The two of them shared a chuckle. Then Ginjō grew serious.

"However, as you said, a human should not have such power and so, there are limitations, like the amount of reiryoku we can control and how much of the soul we can draw out. It is all based on the amount of spiritual energy we ourselves possess."

Ichigo nodded in acknowledgment but on the inside, he wore a deep frown.

'Still, while it sounds similar to the relationship between a Shinigami and his Zanpakuto, this Fullbring feels odd, unnatural even. It's not a regular ability that one can understand at first glance. It is too… meta.' He surmised.

"Now, you must wonder why I'm explaining all of this to you."

"Yeah."

As Giriko refilled Ginjō's glass, Ichigo watched the man with focused eyes, making his serious expression grow even more serious.

"Do you know why do hollows have a hole in their chest? They lose their hearts from the pain of not having been saved by a Shinigami and this pain forms a hole. But where do their hearts go?"

For just a second, Ichigo's eyes glided away from Ginjō's face and he thought back to his first meeting with his zanpakuto spirit when the latter wore his true appearance. Undeterred by this slight change in Ichigo's expression, Ginjō continued.

"Their lost hearts become their masks. Each hollow's appearance, their individual traits and powers, those are all formed from the hearts that were taken from them. Like I said, our mothers have been attacked by hollows before we were born. Therefore, our power of Fullbring is closer to that of a Hollow than a Shinigami. And, we find this power unpleasant. That's why our goal is simple. We want to get rid of our Fullbring."

Before Giriko walked away, Ichigo gulped down the remaining portion of his whiskey and motioned the man to refill his glass too. At the same time, he kept his eyes pointed at Ginjō.

"That's... I'm sure you have your reasons for that but that doesn't explain why I'm here. What exactly do you want from me?"

Ginjō rested his sword on the couch and leaned forward to grab his glass. Keeping it steady within his grasp, he gave Ichigo an intense, focused stare.

"Fullbring is a product of a Hollow power, meaning it is essentially the opposite of its Human wielders. After many years, we realized that because of this, it is possible for us to transfer our abilities to individuals who possess the powers of both Shinigami and Humans. By doing so, we can rid themselves of our power, becoming ordinary Humans in the process. And so, to answer your question, I'll ask you what I asked you before. Kurosaki, what do you know about your father?"

Sensing he was finally getting to the root of the matter, Ichigo leaned forward.

"Where are you getting with this?"

Ginjō clasped his hands and interweaved his fingers, pointing the joint form towards the ground.

"Kurosaki, I'm sure you know this already, but you possess a certain amount of spiritual energy, am I right?"

For a second, Ichigo struggled with the correct answer. However, he had prepared himself for many scenarios and so putting together the right amount of truth and lies into his words wasn't as difficult as he had been afraid of.

"Yeah. If that's the reason I can see spirits, then I guess I possess spiritual energy."

Ginjō nodded.

"And did you never find it odd?"

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Ichigo bit his tongue before he could blurt something suspicious.

"Don't beat around the bush and just say what's on your mind, Ginjō-san."

Watching him closely, Ginjō leaned even further forward.

"Your spiritual energy is unusual, Kurosaki. I can sense it. It has the quality similar to ours but, at the same time, it hasn't. Maybe you know or maybe you don't, but I'm convinced your mother was the same as ours were, and she survived an attack from a Hollow which makes you the same thing we are - a Fullbringer."

Involuntarily, Ichigo's expression hardened and transformed into a harsh scowl.

"Go on."

"Then again, you are even more unique than that. While your spiritual energy has traits of a Hollow, its base stands on something else. A Shinigami."

Staring at him, Ichigo couldn't help but think about it.

'This goes beyond wild guessing. He knows way too much about me. I really hoped it was just a coincidence but with this... Kūkaku's reaction to his name is beginning to make sense.' He thought, then caught the piercing gaze pointed at him and faked a cough.

"So, what you're saying is…"

"… your father used to be a Shinigami. I'm sure."***

Ichigo made haste to stifle the urge to react in a way that would expose him by quickly downing the entirety of whiskey in his glass. As a quiet wheeze flowed from his mouth, he put the glass back with too much strength, causing a sharp sound to reverberate through the room. He took a deep breath to organize his thoughts, and then let go of the glass, only to lean back and look at Ginjō with a neutral gaze.

"I guess it does make sense. Still, what exactly is that you want to do?"

Ginjō stared at him with something akin to a surprise. His lips were parted and his eyes just a bit narrowed. Then he blinked.

"You are taking this surprisingly well." He stated and, for the first time since they met, Ichigo felt just a tiny hint of suspicion seeping into the man's voice. Panic was already coming at him from afar but then he realized the situation wasn't that bad. Therefore, instead of coming up with excuses, he shrugged.

"After everything that happened in my life, if it isn't a life-threatening matter, I just take it in a stride. Getting surprised or shocked at every single nonsense I encounter on regular basis just isn't worth the stress. I don't want to prematurely die from a heart attack." He replied with a hidden hint of irony and though Ginjō most likely didn't get it, Ichigo's reply still made the man snort.

"True enoug. Now, since we want to get rid of our Fullbring, out only option is to awaken your innate potential and turn you into a human with Shinigami power. You could call it a substitute Shinigami if you want."

Lazily, Ichigo reached for his glass and, to cool himself a bit, plucked an ice cube out of it which he then placed into his mouth. Rolling it with his tongue, he looked at Ginjō and lightly tilted his head to the side.

"Okay. Sounds cool. How?"

"By making you undergo a rigorous training where you'll develop a Fullbring of your own. By doing so, it should push your spiritual energy to resonate and evolve until you reach the point where your innate Shinigami powers awaken."

"Should?"

Ginjō shrugged.

"I'm not exactly a scientist and this isn't an exact science. It's just a bunch of theories mixed with an educated guess, though, on the other hand, I expect it to work without a flaw. Not to mention it doesn't pose any risk to you. Only if you consider having more power a risk."

Ichigo snorted in amusement.

"If I thought getting stronger is a risk, I would have remained a kid for the rest of my life."

Forming a predatory smile, Ginjō briefly exposed his impressive set of perfect teeth and reached out to Ichigo with his right hand. With a grin of his own, Ichigo accepted the gesture and the two of them exchanged a shake of hands. At the same time, Ginjō raised his other hand and snapped his fingers, causing several sharp light sources to light up and brighten the remainder of the room, which unveiled two more people that had been so far sitting in the dark staring at Ichigo with friendly, respectively neutral, gazes. He looked back at Ginjō and noticed the man smirk.

"Welcome to our Xcution."

…

When the reflector-like columns of light died down and the two other people he didn't yet know walked towards him, Ichigo shook his head, feeling just a tad amused.

"Xcution? What are you, a squad of executioners?"

Instead of replying, Ginjō smirked and then, with a lazy movement of his right hand, shifted Ichigo's attention from him to the two newcomers. Before anyone spoke, Ichigo took a closer look at them.

The first one was a tall dark-skinned woman with straight chin-length dark, practically black hair, brown eyes and full lips that caused an image filled with odd commentary to float from within the depths of his conscience making him roll his eyes. It seemed that no matter in which crevice of Ichigo's mind he was, his zanpakuto spirit couldn't contain that one part of him which made him cheeky. As a way of greeting, the woman nodded to him.

"Jackie Tristan."

Ichigo returned the nod and glanced at the other one. It was a young boy, in height similar to Captain Hitsugaya, with green eyes and spiky, blonde hair with bangs that were currently covering his left eye. Looking at his clothes, a black coat, and a black cap, Ichigo got the impression the boy was trying way too hard to appear more mature than he actually was. In what was most likely supposed to be a cool greeting, the boy, same as Jackie, nodded to him, though he did it with a detached, unimpressed look in his eye.

"Yukio."

'Too cool for a surname, huh?' Ichigo thought with an inner grin but accepted the greeting nevertheless. Then he looked back at Ginjō and opened his mouth to speak, only to get interrupted when the entrance to the room opened with a loud cracking noise.

"I'm back!"

At the sound of a high-pitched, girly voice Ichigo looked towards the door only to see a young, slender girl with long reddish-purple hair styled into two pigtails. Despite the dim light surrounding her and the distance between them, Ichigo quickly recognized that she was good-looking to the point where such realization surprised even himself. ***

'Yeah, yeah. Never had similar thoughts before. Haha.' He tried to ignore the voice of his zanpakuto spirit, once again crawling from his hole if only to deliver a snide remark, when he noticed his breathing got a bit faster and a strange nervousness settled in his limbs.

"Riruka. That was faster than I expected. Did you find him?"

The girl, Riruka, shook her head.

"I did but it was a bust. That guy barely has any spiritual energy at all. I doubt he could even see a Hollow..."

Ignoring the conversation, Ichigo tried to get ahold of his inner turmoil. When the girl began to walk closer and an odd tingling sensation spread across his torso, he finally understood the situation. It was difficult not to do so when another instance of a snarky comment coming from the depths of his soul almost made him groan.

'Very funny and no, I'm not going through another puberty and… just give it a rest, would you? It's uncomfortable enough as it is.' He gulped down the bitter taste on his tongue and, for a second, closed his eyes to take a deep breath to regain his inner equilibrium. But soon enough, he realized it was impossible to do so. Then again, once he opened his eyes, he decided to ignore it as much as he could. With one of his eyes twitching from the effort, he brought his attention back to the situation at hand.

It seemed the girl was getting frustrated over something and so Ichigo turned to Ginjō.

"Who's that?"

Ginjō massaged his scalp in exasperation.

"Dokugamine Riruka. She's one of us."

It seemed the girl heard him, because as soon as Ginjō said it, she spun on her heels and stared at the space where Ichigo and Ginjō stood with narrowed eyes.

"What!? Who's there!?"

Ichigo saw Ginjō sigh and the man looked at him with a pitiful grimace. Then the latter snapped his fingers once again, and a bright column of light swallowed Ichigo whole, causing him to raise one arm in order to prevent himself from becoming blind.

"Riruka, meet Kurosaki Ichigo. He decided to help us."

Squinting his eyes as hard as he could to see through the light, Ichigo noticed the girl standing still and staring at him unblinking like a stone statue, frozen still in the flow of time. He blinked once and she mimicked his action. Then her eyes widened and she quickly looked away from him.

For a split-second, he spotted a small pink spot on her cheeks.

"So? What do you think? Is he fine?"

When he heard the question, Ichigo glanced at Ginjō with a questioning gaze but found the man looking at Riruka with a large smirk plastered all over his face.

"…more than fine…" The girl whispered in such a low tone, he barely heard it. But when he did, he sighed.

'On a second thought, doing this wasn't such a good idea after all.'

…

Later that day, back at Ikumi's place, Ichigo paced around his room with a blank stare etched on his face. He was deep in thoughts, thinking hard about everything that happened since he first talked with Ginjō all the way to the moment when he finally left the building in Naruki City.

'Fullbring, huh? If I understood it right, the ability itself could pose a problem. I never liked powers that are on the abstract side of things. Increased strength? Nice. Increased speed? Cool. Energy beams? Seems fun. Healing? Helpful. Manipulation of elements? A bit stranger but still quite straightforward. Poison? Unpleasant but still ordinary. Manifesting energy as physical objects? Still, nothing that can't be understood. Illusions?'

For a second, he stopped walking and stood still like a tree. An image of Aizen rose within his mind, along with several other instances when he had encountered a similar ability. With a quick shake of a head, he caused the image to dissolve and went back to pacing around.

'That is the first step towards something nasty but still, manageable. But now, drawing souls of any object, matter or substance? Just thinking about the possibilities how it could be used is making me weary.' He thought and a distasteful grimace formed on his face.

'He said Fullbring is a Hollow-based ability but, honestly, it reminds me of the way Shinigami fight. Drawing out the power from the object made from our soul, a zanpakuto. A Shinigami way. Though it can be applied to a Hollow too, that's true. Still, if Fullbring allows you to manipulate anything with a soul, can't you use it to do nasty crap with a zanpakuto of another Shinigami? Cause that's a scary thought… though I guess you'd need a substantial amount of spiritual energy to do so if what he said about the limitations is true.'

As he continued to walk in circles, his grimace slowly faded and was replaced with a deep frown that made his brow creased so much, it began to look like a drawing of deep, dried up watercourses.

'He says they want to get rid of this power. And just because it's hollow-based. I don't believe it. A human that has more power than most wants to get rid of that power so that he could fall back to being ordinary? Doesn't make any sense to me. That practically goes against the human nature.'

Ikumi's voice coming from another room calling out to him to stop stomping around forced him to return to the reality. He stopped walking like a maniac and hopped in bed, where he pointed his gaze at the ceiling and withdrew back to his mind. However, he had too much energy and so, as soon as he returned to thinking, his right leg began to twitch at the base of his foot, making it bounce up and down.

'There were five of them. Ginjō, Giriko, Jackie, Yukio and Riruka. But if what Ishida said is true, then there should be at least one more. Ginjō seems to be the only one with a sword and, somehow, I don't think he's the one who attacked him.' He thought and lightly tilted his head from side to side until he heard a satisfying crack in his neck joints that caused a lot of stress in his body to vanish.

'None of them seem to be exceptionally strong. Despite the possibilities of Fullbring, I don't think any of them represent a danger to Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. To Humans? Sure. But why would they attack humans? Hmm.'

He released a sigh and closed his eyes. It was time to fall asleep.

'Either way, it all falls back to their true goal. If it really is about getting rid of their powers then okay. If not, well, I'll cross that bridge once I have to. But right now, sticking with them is probably the best course of action I can take. I'll need to return to my original form soon enough and this seems like a good opportunity to do so.'

With that, he let go of his thoughts and let the blackness swallow him.

End of Chapter 46.

Apologies for the delay - real life came and punched me in the gut which made me turn to escapism through means of reacquiring my old World of Warcraft addiction. Virtual world is good for things like this. At the same time, after reading some reactions to previous chapter (and I admit my fault), I took a step back and reread the future chapters I already wrote to check for potential inconsistencies, plot holes or poorly worded dialogues.

But that's good. Criticism is what keeps me on my toes.

About the chapter - it continues with the trend I set up at the beginning of the arc - to show a new side of Ichigo which results from all his experience accumulated so far = making calculations and creating his own little schemes.

On another note, since it seems you are not against it, I'll keep doing these ANs after all, though I'll try to keep them shorter and, once in a while, I'll go back and delete them from older chapters.

For reviews:

Harbinger of Kaos - no, Chad won't be in this story. He was briefly hinted at being powerless by Riruka in this chapter. It's because after Ichigo's death, before he returned to Soul Society, Isshin kept an eye on things in Karakura. As for the other thing, *winks back*

D - it's not a complete return yet.

kaxipoptos - as I mentioned at the beginning of this AN, I admit I worded the dialogue between Isshin, Kukaku and Ichigo poorly which resulted in my thoughts not being conveyed properly. I haven't decided on Uryu's fate yet, though he will play a role later.

Im not Itachi - same as for kaxipoptos, I admit my fault for poor choice of words in the dialogue. At the same time, I made Ichigo's interaction with Uryu in that way, because Uryu doesn't know about Ichigo's amnesia and Ichigo didn't want to lie to him. Moreover, Ichigo thinks Uryu has no means of contacting Soul Society (and he doesn't) so his secret is safe. If you disagree, let me know via PM - I'd be happy to discuss this.

And that's all for now. Thanks for your patience, for reading this story, for reviews and for enjoying this ride with me.

Next chapter: Chapter 47: Hollow coexistence (Human affairs) - will be posted on September 20th.