"what is this?" he asked the white reflection of himself "ya already know. we've done this before you and i"
Ichigo's gaze turned into a glare as he readied himself to fight. then a voice echoed through the world.
"can you hear me Kurosaki-kun?" Aizens voice called "I'm using a kido to allow me to communicate with your inner world, though it is limited to speech and hearing given my current restrained state."
the pair scowled at the interruption and the hollow responded "oi, fuck off butterflaizen, we have our own shit to sort out first!"
"oh my, how intriguing. if you care to remember my last evolution was rather fearsome."
"but i don't care ta remember butterflaizen" the spirit roared back "now piss off!"
Ichigo let out a sigh "yeah better call it off for now Aizen looks like we have some things to deal with first"
"that is well enough. Muken acts much like an inner world where time is concerned. it is part of why so much political effort was put into bringing you to me. between this place and your inner world we have a great deal of time on our hands."
after a few moments of silence the pair turned back to each other.
"no point asking where Zangetsu is, is there?"
"ya already know the answer to that and every other question ta be asked about it. ya just don't do anything with it, and maybe ya just aren't ready ta do something with it but that's not our issue here right now."
"then what is our issue?"
"ya weak, and i told ya i wouldn't serve a weak king"
"since when?"
"Ichigo, don't bullshit. ya real bad at it. ya go through all that effort to get a new power then ya sit behind a desk after getting the basics down. ya weak right now and ya know it. ya trained almost every day when Rukia was with ya, then after saving her ya trained almost every night in here. ya haven't done that this time"
"so? i can shift back to my Shinigami powers when i want to"
"can ya now? ya forgetting something. I'm in charge right now, not him, and i say ya cant so ya cant. your fighting me like that" the Hollow finished as it stood up drawing its sword, then to Ichigo's shock, threw the blade away. Ichigo stared as the weapon tumbled away into the abyss of his inner world.
"whats that about? ok so i don't know as much as i would like to about being a Quincy but do you really think you can win with no weapon?"
"its not just the weapon. pay attention"
Ichigo did as he was told and focused his senses on the hollow, and froze in shock as he felt the layer of Shinigami power bleed away from the creatures signature and its power dropped "what the actual fuck are you doing?"
"i'm not gonna beat ya because i have extra power, I'm gonna beat ya because ya weak. this is Hollow vs Quincy so be careful using my reiatsu. it wont kill ya like it would normally since its mine but its still gonna hurt like a bitch if you get this wrong. ready king?"
Ichigo reached into the bits of power he still had in himself after the collapse of his reishi web and formed his sword. "ready when you are" he was low on power but Quincy excelled at drawing away and using anothers power. he would find a way.
the Hollows form shifted. a black mask with long horns forming on his face, with clawed hands and feet. it was the same form Ichigo knew from above the dome of Las Noches and when confronting Zangetsu for the final getsuga tensho, though the clothing had not shifted or altered, remaining the white robes the creature always wore. ichigo supposed it was to be expected, there was no bankai involved this time to change it. red reiatsu flared before the hollow rocketed forward in sonido. Ichigo responded just as quickly, blade arching forward as his offensive blut flooded his system and hirenkyaku coated his feet. there was the screech of metal grinding across metal as the Quincy blade scrapped along the hollows arm. Ichigo knew he hadn't pierced the hierro but that hadn't been the goal of his counter stroke, and immediately began to pull in the reiatsu the hollow had released. he had to use his own reiatsu to filter out the hollow taint, change its structure, before he could use it safely and that took focus and a bit of time. time his opponent wasn't going to willingly give him as the Hollow reappeared, reaching out a clawed hand to rip his face open. Ichigo acted on instinct and wrapped the hollows arm in the same modified ransotangai he had developed against Zangetsu. it barely slowed the creature, but barely was enough as Ichigo slipped past the arm and slammed his sword into the Hollow's torso. then the Hollow's other fist hammered into his jaw sending Ichigo sprawling. he quickly regained his feet, to find the Hollow had stopped and was looking at him.
"ya see what i mean Ichigo? that was a hell of a hit, but ya don't have the power ta back it up, then ya took a hit yourself and i know that hurt ya. The old man warned you the style you're going for is dangerous. don't misunderstand i agree with it, but ya still fighting like a Shinigami. ya expect to be able to attack and take a hit but ya just cant like this. ya don't have the reiryoku in ya to heal it either, even if ya did you don't fucking know how. one of the greatest abilities of a Quincy that the old man directly mentioned and ya don't know it. why the fuck don't ya know it Ichigo?"
"because I've been busy damn it!"
"why have ya been so busy!? Soul Society has existed like this for thousands of years at least. what the hell makes ya think ya can change it so quickly? i know ya want to help, to protect them, but there's only so much ya can do. fuck king you're eighteen. you've poured so much into this you've given up on passing high school and we both know the old man has tried this before."
"has he? really? come on man we both know what he was like till a few years ago. anything he tried before would have been an invasion to bring Rukongai under control, not to help them"
"and how are ya any different king?"
"fuck you, you know its different"
"oh we know its different, that ya want ta help, but do they?"
then the hollow attacked again. metallic white blade meeting claws and knocking away arms in a flurry of movement. a taloned foot came sweeping up to rip Ichigo's belly open, Ichigo shifted his hirenkyaku, slipping away. his instincts blared at him and Ichigo took the moment to switch his blut defensively, raising an arm as the hollows fanged jaw closed around the limb. Ichigo jerked his opponents head to the side and swung his sword down on the Hollows exposed neck. this time, he cut through. the Hollow lashed out, raking its claws at its kings eyes causing Ichigo to jerk away as the Hollow released his arm and got some distance as its neck quickly regenerated.
"shit king ya dangerous, weak but dangerous."
"what the hell's the difference?"
"Toshiro's powerful but not very dangerous. ya know he failed to kill just about every Arrancar he fought, but he beat them all. ya used to be like that too. oh sure ya like to keep em alive still but you'll kill em if they don't stop fighting. ya meant ta kill Aizen at the end there, ya meant ta kill him the moment ya set foot on that battlefield, and ya doing that here. but ya got weak when ya switched powers."
"you aren't going to win this. the longer this fight goes the stronger i get."
"Ichigo ya moron, ya haven't noticed have ya. ya haven't been absorbing my reiatsu. ya stopped trying after i first interrupted ya. you've be spending what reiryoku ya had fighting me. like i said ya still fighting like a Shinigami. i stopped to talk to ya twice to give ya the chance and ya wasted it. this is over Ichigo."
the Hollow struck. Ichigo raised his blade to defend himself and it shattered under the hollows fist. the next ripped through his blut and throat. he collapsed feeling blood pooling in his lungs and mouth as it got harder to breath. even now he refused to surrender. grasping at whatever scraps of power where still in him he rose to challenge his Hollow again. then he blacked out.
"shit king are ya scary"
Uryu arrived at the northern command centre to find Hitsugaya, Rukia, Hinamori, Yoruichi, Kukaku and to his surprise Rurichiyo Kasumioji waiting for him as well as a group of people he didn't recognise, and immediately started seeking answers.
"what happened with Kurosaki?"
Kukaku gave a large grin and laughed "we threw him in Muken"
the Quincy stared for a few moments "why? he was busy."
she scoffed "Ichigo is always busy with something. anyone who knows him knew this thing with Rukongai was coming sooner rather then later, its just who he is. thing is he doesn't have the political skill or military training to pull this off. that and he really should be focusing his efforts elsewhere, so we let him get as far as he could till he ran into heavy trouble then stepped in. we were wondering how he would take it till Kuchiki and Hinamori came to us with a plan of their own"
"who's 'we' and what did you pair do?" he asked turning his gaze to the others.
"yes, what is this Hinamoi?" Toshiro inquired Rukia winced and Momo shuffled in embarrassment "it was our idea to send him to Muken...and we kinda sorta set up a false trial to get him convicted by all of the central forty six."
Toshio blinked in surprise "why?"
"because we cant teach him kido shiro-chan" Momo wailed as Toshiro grumbled at the old nickname "we just aren't advanced enough, we just don't have the power. outside Kuchiki-taicho or the sou-taicho who are too busy the only person who can teach him is...him" Momo's voice twisted with hate at the end.
Uryu gazed back "have you considered seeing a therapist about that?"
Momo shuffled again "Hirako-taicho and the healers are helping me through it, yes, but its just so hard. he lied to me, used me for a hundred years. I'm suspecting he arranged the very first time i ever met him"
"...if its a comfort to you, then in your own way you are now using him for your own ends. the difference is you do it to help someone, he did it for himself"
Momo's face shifted into a happy little smirk "that is some comfort. thank you"
Uryu gave a brief smile back "moving on. what do you all plan to do now, and what was Ichigo's plan?"
Yoruichi scoffed and Kukaku laughed again "its stupid"
"its bloody brilliant"
"yes ok but what is the plan?"
Hitsugaya explained "we have hit a situation where the northern crime lords, primarily the man known as 'the director', are throwing wave after wave of untrained slaves at us kept in line by loyal units armed with basic guns. should this continue the balance will be upset. we revived a report just minutes before Ichigo left of increasing hollow activity throughout Rukongai. They are known to swarm when the balance starts to waver and we typically use it as our first sign of a problem. that way we can purify the hollow influx to fix the instability. the problem is minor right now but we cant let it get out of hand. Ichigo's plan was to capture the northern attack waves and offer them food and new living spaces in the area we control initially built and supplied by Seireitei till they become sustainable. in effect, he wants to steal their population out from under them while using modern construction and farming techniques to increase both the population density and food supply for easier policing and Shinigami patrol. his short term military goal was to create a stalemate where they couldn't attack and gain anything while we deal with the instability"
Yoruichi scowled "we should just kill him"
"we cant just kill him" Kukaku said sighing "that would cause the lieutenants to fight each other for the top position and you know this. we're trying to fix the instability not make it worse"
"oh i know it would make the situation worse, i just want to kill him on principle. i know what he gets up to in his spare time."
"i don't want to know do I?"
Yoruichi shook her head "if we could get back on track please" Uryu interrupted "whats the disposition of our forces and who are the others here?"
Hitsugaya spoke again "we are currently in the twenty eighth north. things have been slow going up here. the north is particularly violent, other districts are known to exile their unwanted and unmanageable people and criminals to the north to get rid of them. south army has reached district thirty five, but was decimated by guns so its mainly made up of Kuchiki support members now. luckily there has been no further fighting on that front so far but we will need to find a way to regain trust in the south. both east and west armies have reached districts forty with little resistance before we told them to halt till the others caught up. we are getting worried they may end up over stretched or out flanked. we think there has been so little fighting out there because east and west have largely acted as a buffer zone for the north and south warlords, the director and the old man, to avoid conflict. we are keeping a small kido group behind each army for support and the plan to use Onmitsukido to root out corruption is working. the big problems we are having outside the growing imbalance is a growing shortage trained manpower. the further one goes in Rukongai the bigger the districts become, much bigger. we not only have to defend our position but patrol behind us to bring stability. while the academy dropouts are doing well enough at that we don't have enough of them, we have been forced to recruit average citizens into our militia and that's not really working. they are under trained, undisciplined and many are former gang members used to old vendettas. it would take years to bring them up to standard and I'm not sure we have years to work with."
"hmm. the original plan Ichigo and i had was a sudden attack to break them before they could properly organise." Uryu pondered "we most definitely don't have years unless we change things. we have both wandered Rukongai but it seems we didn't properly grasp just how big it can get out here."
"that's not entirely the issue" Yoruichi said "you knew the noble houses would get involved, but you underestimated how deeply that involvement would go. your plan may well have worked, or come close, but the big names in Rukongai knew you were coming before you left Seireitei. they started mobilisation at the same time you did and gave some ground to cover it up. Ichigo has also leaned on Byakuya a bit too much. we uncovered institutional racism in the academy and nobility and he tasked Byakuya to deal with it and the problems its caused then when the south army was wiped out he sent Byakuya and his resources into the south to shore it up. i know he trusts him, i know you both do, but one clan can only do so much." Yoruichi stated Uryu frowned "he didn't tell me that. how bad is it?"
"its crippled our economy and military without us knowing. we always assumed the reason so many souls from east Asia became Shinigami was because of Seireitei's inherent culture and reputation driving others away. we held recruiting drives in outer districts at times to try and get more recruits but it never resulted in much. now we know why."
"Hmm. So who are the new arrivals and why are they here?"
An elderly man stepped forward to answer him "we are representatives of the noble clans alongside Kukaku-dono and Yoruichi-dono. We have come to oversee our commitments to this war"
"Uryu gazed back at him "this wasn't meant to become a war. We wanted this to be quick, to help people before it ended up like this"
"noble intentions young Quincy, but given the corruption and lawlessness in soul society it was never going to happen so easily. Truthfully we believe it has infiltrated the five great clans as well"
"you know what I am? I wasn't aware Quincy were so well known outside the Gotei"
The elderly man gained an unhappy look "I am Ginrei Kuchiki and I served as the former taicho of the sixth division. Given my age its not hard for you to guess I took part in the extermination of your people. I deeply apologise for that"
"there is no need for apologies. It had to be done. the Shinigami maintain the balance and we Quincy were a threat to that. Our souls still exist and our society will grow from it. what exactly do you bring to the table and how do you plan to deal with that corruption?"
"that will be the role we and the Kasumioji clan fill." Rurichiyo said "since times ancient our clan has crafted blades capable of cleansing the tormented souls of Hollowkind and while since the founding of the Gotei our works have been relegated to ceremonial duties they are still effective against souls as a whole, and we have not forgotten the lessons of Kumoi's coup. Since taking our position as head of the clan we have directed much effort in rebuilding the clans intelligence network. With the proper weapons and support we will be able to aid in removing such troubling elements from the great clans. Perhaps with this contribution there will become a sixth great house" she said smiling.
Ginrei turned to her "a house does not become one of the great five by action and wealth but by direct commission from the Reio. Even with the loss of their wealth and exile from Seireitei Kukaku Shiba has always had the ear of the other four"
Rurichiyo winced and gave a bow "apologies, we are getting ahead of our station"
"no apologies needed young lady. It is good to see someone so willing to contribute, I simply didn't want you to labour under false pretences"
Uryu's eyes grew hard "I will trust that you have indeed learned the lessons young lady. An intelligence group is very different to an order of assassins"
Rurichiyo gave a bright smile "of course! It was a lack of information that let Kumoi get so far and a lack of information that made the battles you and yours faced ever more dangerous and complicated. Information is power and we will use that power, but we draw the line at murder to gain our objectives. We will not be Kumoi"
the Quincy turned to the remaining pair "and the rest of you?"
a somewhat short young woman introduced herself with a light bow "I am Yukari Fujiwara, sister to out clan head Yuka. I'm also the biggest supplier of flowers in Rukongai"
Uryu blinked "and how will you help?"
the woman smiled "you would be surprised at what can be written on a card in a bunch of flowers or what can be said with a particular flower arrangement. While the Kasumioji act as your eyes and ears within Seireitei I and my clan as a whole will provide information from throughout Rukongai, as well as well timed financial investment"
the next was a long haired man of average height "I am Ryoma Ottori, as before, younger sibling to my clan leader Ryuta. I'm afraid my day to day job is not as impressive. I am a clerk. That said I should be able to help with the growing paperwork quite aptly. Beyond that my clan as a whole, while most famed for its role as head of the central chambers, has a fantastic reputation as impartial judges for the laws of soul society and hearers of other grievances. I should be able to act as a political go between for you with other parties whom we may align to our cause. Beyond me as an individual my clan as a whole is behind you. So far we have dedicated ourselves to putting a fine toothed comb through the records for any gaps or mismatches. Anything that can be used as evidence when the time comes to move against our more secretive enemies in higher society. Beyond that we have begun leveraging our political ability within the chambers themselves to gain as much authority as we can muster, coupled with the Fujiwara clans "well timed investments" we have begun to see some progress already"
Uryu looked to Ginrei "no need to ask why you are here. While I'm more capable at strategic thinking then Kurosaki I've never done anything this large" he turned to Yoruichi "and I take it your heading up our combined intelligence network" she smiled at him. Uryu's gaze swept over them "so, your my new command staff. Lets get to work"
…
Chad looked up from the growing crowed with a smile. His friends were here. They had come to help and the timing could not be better. He turned his head to look back towards Seireitei as he sensed another friend swiftly approaching before addressing his little group.
"Urahara and Tsukishima are on their way"
Tatsuki blinked "who the heck is Tsukishima?"
Chad let out a huff. Well it had been a while since they met him. It was good that the pair would meet chad decided. The Fullbringers had been limited on methods to enter soul society so he had turned to Urahara for help getting them in. as if in answer to the thought the man himself appeared at his side.
"good afternoon Sado-kun how are you? I see your friends will be here any moment. Sorry if I'm intruding but I was hoping to finally meet them.
Chad turned and gave a nod of agreement.
The six Fullbringers strolled into sight and a tall, thin dark haired man raised his hand in greeting "Chad, its been a while." Chad raised his own hand in greeting as he and moved forward to meet them.
"I have something important to tell you, and I need your help" the Mexican giant said as he mingled into their group.
Tatsuki sidled up to Urahara "what is this? Who're these people? I've never seen Sado so ready to greet new people"
Urahara smiled at her "pay very close attention to every detail Arisawa-san...every detail."
Mizuiros gaze shifted between the new arrivals and the waiting crowed...and had a brainwave "ah I see, so that's what hes planning. Given how quickly Sado himself has grown its a good idea."
"what have you spotter now Mr radar?" Keigo asked as he and Alice wandered over "i would need Sado himself to explain it fully, but that new group has the same reiatsu traces as the people we have been recruiting, the same as Sado...though the colour is different bar a few from outer Rukongai. I do believe we have found a group of people capable of swift growth and in sufficient numbers to help"
"whats this about colours?" a tall dark skinned woman with black hair asked from the new arrivals.
"its reiatsu traces, just like ours" Chad answered as he stepped forward taking center stage and the crowed gathered round. "its not just hollow reiatsu that causes a Fullbringer to be born. I think, as long as an unborn child is exposed to enough reiatsu they become a Fullbringer."
"and the colours?" the woman asked again "green for Hollow reiatsu...red for Shinigami reiatsu"
Ichigo woke on the sideways buildings of his inner world and scrambled to his feet. There was the Hollow waiting for him.
"I thought you wanted to take over?" he asked as he took position across from the white doppelganger.
"I have, and I've decided you're not leaving till I let you, or you beat me"
"thought you would try eating people"
"who's there to eat? We're in Muken. Only person I know of is butterlaizen and I'm not putting that in my mouth"
"...so where does that leave us?"
"it means I get ta kill you as much as I like. I'm a creature of instinct and fighting's part of that"
"or I beat you and get out"
"can ya horsey?"
You always catch more flies with honey than vinegar was a saying Orihime remembered well as she watched a young woman light a Quincy bow. She was the fourth one today. Healing them took some skill and she would have had no hope of doing this for Ishida during the war, but she had worked hard to understand her powers and grow the strength she had. She knew offensive power would never be her forte, she was too peaceful for that, but that was the last thing her group needed with Kurosaki Ichigo back in their ranks. What they needed, what these Quincy now needed, was someone to show them they could still move forward, still had purpose and heal the hurts that stopped them doing so in this moment. That she could do well.