Chapter Twelve
Kensei grumbled… Lately he had been having strange thoughts about a certain lime haired lieutenant.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no! She's my fucking lieutenant! She's an idiot and she's been my lieutenant for God only knows how long!
I can't love her! It's not fair! Any woman in the world I could've fallen in love with and I choose that loon!? But she's so beautiful, and… NO! Get her out of your head, Kensei! Get her out of your goddamn head, K….
"Kenseeeeeeeeiiiii!" Came a loud and obnoxious voice… But it was the most beautiful voice in the world… If he could just kiss her lips once, he was sure that he would never have to be bothered with such errant thoughts again… No. If he kissed her once, he wouldn't be able to stop kissing her. He would have to make her promise to be his forever.
"NO! That is so wrong!"
"Kensei? Are you alright? You seem… Different today…" Mashiro said quietly, tilting her head to the right, then to the left. Kensei turned away from her belligerently, sneering at her all the while.
"Did Kensei get rejected by a woman? Here… Let Mashiro make it all better…" Mashiro said, hugging Kensei tightly and kissing him on the cheek. That was very much the wrong move for her to make, because suddenly, she found herself forced up against the wall her body flush against Kensei's with her captain staring helplessly into her eyes.
"Eyes that beautiful should be a fucking crime, Mashiro! It should be fucking punishable by law for any one woman to be so beautiful and so goddamn adorable!" Kensei raved, hardly able to contain himself any longer.
Mashiro was hardly ever scared. But seeing Kensei losing control like this was slightly frightening, and, she was slightly ashamed to say, a bit arousing. She had never seen him lose control of himself like that. And she wasn't sure that she didn't like it. After a moment, he pushed down harder on her shoulder, making her lose all sensation in her right arm, leaving it to fall limply to her side and he pressed himself up tighter to her and kissed her on the lips.
He was sure when this started that she would fight at least a little bit, and he could feel her squirming under him. But her eyes were closed, and her one good arm was wrapped around him, holding him closer. When he pulled away, Mashiro blushed and looked down.
"K-Kensei… M-Mashiro didn't know you felt… Like that about her. Y-you should've just told her. M-Mashiro would do anything for Kensei-kun…" She muttered, turning a deeper and deeper crimson by the moment. Kensei also blushed.
He never thought that Mashiro could possibly be so adorable and even submissive. She had always truly been a dizzy dreamer and a wanderer. It was amazing even that she was able to become a Shinigami, let alone a lieutenant…
Why had he chosen her as his lieutenant? It had been so long since he first became a captain… He certainly remembered regretting at times that he had chosen Mashiro. She was strong, but easily distracted, impossible to keep focused. It didn't matter now, so whatever. He kissed her again, still holding her against the wall, albeit more gently now, holding her firmly in his arms.
It was at this moment that some of the squad members came in.
"Cap… O-oh… Our apologies… We'll come back later…" One of them said. Kensei panicked for a moment, but then let go of Mashiro and turned around.
"No. What is it? It would've been polite to knock…"
"We… Were knocking. For five minutes. Anyway, there's an issue in Inuzuri… Captain-Commander Kyoraku has said that you and a few others should go and investigate. There's a team waiting outside the First Division Barracks."
"Okay… Thank you." Kensei said. He then waited for the two to leave. Then he walked out himself, leaving Mashiro feeling very unfulfilled. Mashiro moaned both in arousal and in dissatisfaction and grabbed a shirt from Kensei's floor and ran back to her own room.
"Nng… Kensei-kun… Y-you could've at least finished with me…" Mashiro moaned as she viciously dug into her pussy all while smelling Kensei's shirt. His scent was intoxicating and Mashiro couldn't get enough. She needed more. She had already cummed three times, but it still wasn't enough.
She needed more. She needed Kensei. Why couldn't she just have asked him to stay a little longer? It wasn't fair. She had wanted to be with him for over a century and now when he finally started looking at her like she did at him, he was pulled off on a mission. She only hoped that Kensei was just as bad off as she was.
"Oh, Kurosaki-san… It's good to see you again." The two guards said, standing up politely. Karin scowled and looked away from them.
"Please just call me Karin… Just cuz I'm Ichi-nii's sister doesn't mean you hafta treat me any differently. I'm not even out of the Academy. I'm just here to train with Lieutenant Kuna…" Karin muttered. The two men nodded.
"Well… I would guess she's in her room right now. You can go ask her if you like. Her room is right down the hall and to the left…" The man on the left said. Karin nodded and walked into the barracks, knocking on the door.
When she didn't get an answer, she opened it and walked in and was shocked to find Mashiro completely naked and masturbating rather furiously, screaming her captain's name. Karin couldn't help but growl at this. Not only had she not needed to see that, she really wasn't in the mood for Mashiro's shenanigans. She began to walk out, but Mashiro called out for her to stop.
"Wait! Rinchin! C-can you please help Mashiro finish…? She knows…"
"I'm outta here…" Karin said, a deep scowl on her face. "I'll just come back when you're fully clothed and not satisfying yourself…" Karin grumbled. Mashiro hurried to get her clothes back on and grabbed Karin's arm.
"C'mon Rinchin! You know how it feels to be in love! You're in love with your Ichi-nii… It's not that different from me being in love with Kensei… Y-you came to train with me, right? Ju-just let Mashiro catch her breath." Mashiro gasped, putting a hand on her chest and slowly standing up and sighing in what was about as close to relief as she was going to feel that day.
"Geez, Lieutenant Kuna… Just what happened that would make you like this!?"
Mashiro blushed and shook her head wildly.
"Mashiro can't tell Rinchin! Just get into a fighting stance…" the lime haired lieutenant said fiercely, leaping into action, cartwheeling once, then thrusting herself into the air and landing on her hands, and doing a hurricane attack on Karin, who blocked as best she could, but found that she was quickly being pushed back. She refused to ask Mashiro to be a little easier on her, though.
If she was ever going to reach the level that her Ichi-nii had reached in less than a year, she would have to train as hard as she could for as many hours as she could. If she missed meals, fine. If she missed sleep, fine. Nothing would stop her from being as good as her brother.
"Rinchin is still such a noob!" Mashiro exclaimed cheerfully, turning into another cartwheel, then leaping into a flip and dropkicking Karin, who grabbed Mashiro's ankle and flipped her over her back and slammed her on the floor of the training room. Mashiro stood, cracked her back and neck and smiled brightly at Karin.
"Wow… You're pretty good, Rinchin… It's hard to believe you barely started your first year!"
"Well… I was decent at fighting even before I came to Seireitei… Ichi-nii taught me. I-I've never been as good as Ichi-nii… I was always better at soccer…"
"Soccer? Mashiro isn't familiar with Soccer. Is it like Capoeira? Or maybe it's more like Krav Maga?"
"I've learned both, and Soccer is neither!" Karin snapped, taking out her bag and removing a ball from it.
"This… Is a Soccer ball. It's often called football in every country but America which has another sport called football in which the ball is hardly ever kicked… Don't ask. The sport has two teams of eleven players on a pitch of between 100 and 110 meters. The goal of the game is to kick the ball into the opponent's goal, which is guarded by what's known as a goalie.
"Each goal is one point and a game lasts one and a half hour with a fifteen minute interlude between forty-five minute halves."
"Wow… Rinchin knows a lot about Soccer… A 110 meter field seems pretty big for a little girl like Rinchin, though. That's a lot of field…"
"Well… I could organize a game someday… Toshiro knows a little bit about Soccer. He played a game with my friends and me."
"Oh, right! Captain Hitsugaya is Rinchin's boyfriend… Rinchin seems to have his heart in her hand… You are very cute… Mashiro isn't surprised that he likes you."
"Toshiro is not my boyfriend! There's only one man for me!"
"Right… Rinchin's Ichi-nii… Guard up!" Mashiro shouted, suddenly going at Karin with a barrage of punches before twisting around on her extraordinarily limber body and kicking, making herself look more like putty than flesh and bone.
Karin was amazed at how flexible and supple Mashiro was, and Karin had to be just as good. She wasn't sure that she would ever have quite the same fighting style, but she knew that flexibility was good for her, and that it would help her in many situations.
"Hey, Lieutenant Kuna…"
"Just Mashiro!" Mashiro chirped before throwing a kick so fast that her leg blurred in the air and Karin was hit hard in the head and sent flying into the back wall.
This all happened just as Ichigo walked into the training room. Karin groaned and stood, feeling horribly dizzy. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. She was suddenly feeling ill. Mashiro ran over to Karin and put a hand on Karin's back.
"Rinchin! Are you alright! Mashiro didn't mean to kick you so hard! She thought you would block her kick!"
"Stand back, Kuna-san… Karin is tough… She just needs to sleep…"
"No! Mashiro's kicks have been known to crush Menos' skulls! You need to take Rinchin to the Fourth Division!"
"I'll get her there ASAP!" Ichigo said. Mashiro looked at him oddly.
"Asap? What's that mean?"
"As soon as possible. See you later, lieutenant Kuna…" Ichigo said, running off with Karin.
Damn… I know she's my empty headed lieutenant, but I was so close to doing it with her… I wonder what's going on that we were called out so suddenly…
"Captain!" Came the voice of one of the other people on the mission.
"Y-yes!"
"What should we do?" He asked. Kensei shook his head and took a deep breath.
"We need to question the locals. Maybe we can get some information about the threat level. Kaoru, Yuki, Ren… You go that way. Rina, Izumi, Mariko… Go that way. I'll take Minato and Katsu and go that way. Break!" Kensei said. The Shinigami bowed and began questioning the locals. Altogether, they got a dozen different versions of the same story, no doubt due to most people having heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend.
However, eventually, they pieced together that there was someone out there with strange powers that didn't resemble Shinigami powers, but from what they gathered, it also wasn't Fullbring, Hollow powers or Quincy powers.
That would make things difficult. If there was no way to determine the source of the powers or the nature of them, it would be terribly difficult to counter them. Fortunately, Rin and Nemu suddenly walked up to the group. Rin was gasping for breath, obviously having overexerted himself. Nemu on the other hand looked fine. Nemu bowed to the group and spoke.
"Captain Kurotsuchi has finished analyzing the body of the criminal that Captain Kurosaki and Lieutenant Kuchiki killed. His powers were psychic in nature. They were utilized through excess electrical impulses in his brain, and he was able to harness the electricity and create a force effect known as telekinesis. The effect is not all powerful, though.
"His ability to do so was dependent on the fact that he could employ over 60% of his brain's full capacity. It also may have been aided by his Fullbring, but due to the fact that the two cannot be fully separated, we cannot tell for sure if that is the case.
"Captain Kurotsuchi has been monitoring this area of Rukongai and has determined that the criminal has a similar ability to the criminal from the Human world if not exactly the same ability. Perhaps they had these powers before they died and retained them upon entering Rukongai. Regardless, these powers are unfamiliar and must be treated with respect."
Ichigo sighed and opened his eyes, coming slowly out of meditation. He had to admit that it was relaxing to meditate, and it did help him feel more in touch with his Zanpakuto, as well as with his Hollow and Quincy powers. He had been training his Quincy powers and his Hollow powers as well.
After losing his powers, he also lost his Hollow mask, but he could still feel it deep inside him, and recently, he began to be able to manifest it again. He was also gaining better control of his Quincy abilities, namely Blut Vene and Blut Arterie, both of which he could control to some degree, now, though he was still better at Blut Vene, which was the first ability he had learned.
As he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, he noticed Rukia sitting on the couch. She had entered completely silently, and had slipped in, even under his spiritual sense. She must have even masked her scent and her breathing, both of which he would have instantly recognized.
"Hey, Rukia-chan… Good to see you again… How's it going?" Ichigo asked with a smile, standing and going over to Rukia, kissing her.
Rukia had noticed that Ichigo had become much friendlier since they started going out. Though he still had very little tact, it was fortunate that he had become at least a little bit more open.
"I'm doing pretty well. It's good to see you too… Ichigo… You know, it's been three months today since we first started dating. We should do something…"
"That sounds like fun. What did you have planned?" Ichigo asked, being as dense as ever.
"Well… We could go to an opera. The Seireitei Performing Arts Center is always fun. You might see something that will surprise you… In fact, we'd better get going if we want to get there on time." Rukia said, grabbing Ichigo's arm and pulling him out the door. Ichigo only barely had time to get his sandals on before he was dragged out the door.
Rukia broke into Flash Step, forcing Ichigo to do likewise. Fortunately, they reached the Performing Arts Center quickly, and Rukia handed Ichigo the tickets.
"Here. Save our seats and I'll be with you as soon as I can. I have to take care of something." She said forcefully, pushing him into the theater. Ichigo grumbled, but walked to their seats and sat down.
It was good that they had gotten there so quickly, because soon the lights went out and the stage light went on and a Shinigami that Ichigo didn't recognize came on the stage.
"Once upon a time, there was a queen named Queen Orasia of Thrace who was deeply in love with the prophet, Orpheus. However, Orpheus rejected her for the beautiful Eurydice, daughter of Apollo. The queen could not accept this and planned to murder Eurydice by poisoning her. This is the story."
The curtain then opened and the unknown Shinigami quietly walked off stage. Suddenly, Ichigo realized why Rukia had really brought him there. Rukia was on stage as Queen Orasia, singing in immaculate German. He had never known that Rukia had such a beautiful voice. She was truly transcendent in her talent. He had seen an opera only once in his life, and he hadn't thought much of it. This was no exception, but so impressed was he by Rukia's singing that he was wide awake.
"Rukia's got a really beautiful voice, doesn't she?" Karin whispered to Ichigo, who started and looked over at Karin.
"W-when did you get here!?" Ichigo whispered.
"Since when have you not been able to sense my presence? Shut up and watch the opera. Rukia really thought hard about this."
Ichigo stopped talking and watched the opera. The music and the costumes were beautiful, and though he had never been a fan of operas, he was mystified by Rukia's beautiful voice. He had never thought that such a small person could have such a powerful voice. Whoever said that a person had to be obese to sing opera was full of shit.
After the opera was over, Ichigo and Karin went backstage to see Rukia, who was in the changing room. They waited outside until she was done and came out.
"Did you enjoy the performance? I've been performing for years, even before I met you."
"It was really amazing, Rukia-chan… I never knew you were so talented at singing." Ichigo said. Rukia smiled. She was really happy that Ichigo got to see her perform. She had wanted to perform for him ever since they parted ways after he lost his powers and she realized just how much she loved him.
Was it because we had to part ways that I realized that I loved him? I could never tell him before how I felt… Maybe I fell in love with him because of our parting.
"You okay, Rukia? Guess I'll have to start calling you Onee-chan soon… Won't I?" Karin asked with a good natured laugh. Rukia laughed too and shook her head.
"No. Just keep calling me Rukia… You and Yuzu are like sisters to me… But I couldn't possibly have you calling me Onee-chan…"
"Okay… So what… Crap…" Ichigo snapped, putting his finger out and taking the Hell Butterfly.
"Damnit… I was having fun… I have to go. There's a mission in some place called Inuzuri…"
"Inuzuri!? Let me come with you, Ichigo! I-I… That's my home district. I lived there before I was adopted by Nii-sama…"
"Great… Maybe you could take me there? I'd be completely lost otherwise."
Rukia groaned at this. This was something she didn't know about Ichigo. She always assumed that he had a good sense of direction. He had found his way around Seireitei the first time he came. He couldn't be as bad as Kenpachi was, though.
"Sure… Do you want me to join you? Usually, if a captain asks, he can take a lieutenant or lower level Shinigami with them."
"I-I normally would, but…"
"But what!? You are afraid of me getting hurt, aren't you? Fool! I'm a lieutenant in the Gotei Thirteen! I was willing to lay my life on the line from the day I joined!
"You're doing the same! Don't patronize me! If you don't want me to join you, say so, but don't treat me like a child!"
"Yeesh! Fine! I'm glad to have you with me. I heard you obtained Bankai. I'm eager to see it someday."
"Well, hopefully you won't ever have to see it. My ability is very dangerous, and can kill me if I'm not careful… I wouldn't wish to risk destroying myself. I'm working at the moment with Captain Hitsugaya when he has time on my Bankai.
"It wouldn't pay to be too close to the epicenter if you don't have protection. I'd honestly recommend against it. Captain Hitsugaya can control his Bankai extraordinarily well for someone as young as he. I on the other hand cannot. But let's hurry. We don't want to be late to whatever is going on in Inuzuri. Besides, I wonder if I would recognize anyone still from a century ago."
"Well, given the rate people age in Soul Society, I can't imagine they've changed much."
"You misunderstand. Spiritually active souls age at a slower rate than common Rukongai dwellers… I know, it isn't fair, but it's due to the increased spiritual density of awakened souls." Rukia said, picking up speed, seeming to silently expect Ichigo to follow suit, which he did.
"Souls can be split into four categories… Unawakened souls, such as the run-of-the-mill souls you see in Rukongai. There are Awakened Souls, such as Shinigami, Quincies, spiritually aware humans, and Fullbringers, Shinigami/Hollow Hybrids, and Hollows. Unawakened Souls age slower than humans… Much slower, in fact, to the point that they might seem immortal to a human whose life is measured in mere decades.
"Awakened Souls, such as those of Shinigami, Quincies, spiritually aware humans and Fullbringers age even slower, though a Quincy's or a Fullbringer's body typically ages at the normal rate for a human… The only thing is that the souls of Quincies cannot go on to become Shinigami, and they lose their spiritual powers upon death, so they can really be seen only as unawakened souls that age slower than most.
"Fullbringers also age as normal humans, although perhaps due to the Hollow power that they possess, they might possess a slightly longer lifespan in addition to the often predatory nature that seems to come to all of them… Forgive me… I've wandered.
"Faster… Run faster, Ichigo. Shinigami/Hollow Hybrids, such as the Vizard age even slower than typical Shinigami to the point that the Vizards you know seem not to have aged a day in the hundred years since they first left Soul Society. They do age, as Captain Kurotsuchi has done some mild and uninvasive tests on them and says that they continue to age, but that their aging is so slow that it is almost unnoticeable.
"Then there are Vizards like the former captain, Captain Tossen. It's obviously unclear whether Hollowfication via the Hogyoku is any different from Hollowfication via the experiments that Aizen ran. However, Tossen's Hollowfication seemed more complete to the point that he could even perform the Hollow Ressureccion. But again, I seem to be off topic.
"The fourth type is Hollows. They don't age, and even when they become Arrancar, they show no additional signs of aging save for any that may have already affected them when they died. Does that clear things up for you, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, showing him the picture one more time. Ichigo, however pushed the picture out of his face and scowled at Rukia.
"I'm going to buy you a how to draw book for your birthday, Rukia…"
"Hey! My drawings are just fine!" Rukia protested.
"Just pay attention. I don't know the way to Inuzuri."
"As a captain, you should know your way around Soul Society!
"Even the lowliest officer of the Gotei Thirteen knows their way around the Seireitei and Rukongai.
"I'm brand new in Soul Society! It stands to reason that I wouldn't know where I'm going…"
"Turn left here, Ichigo." Rukia said sharply. Ichigo turned with Rukia, continuing to follow her.
"Lieutenant Kuchiki and Captain Kurosaki reporting for duty. What's the issue here?"
"Captain! We've already lost five Shinigami to this enemy. Three of them were ranked Fifth Seat or higher! We need to run reconnaissance on the enemy, but every time we get close, the team is lost. By this fact, we feel we can safely surmise that the enemy is a powerful entity with reiatsu sensing abilities.
We feel that we can also surmise that whatever its abilities are, that they are completely different from any ability that a Shinigami might have. Since we have found that sending Shinigami after it has failed, we hope that sending a Shinigami/Quincy/Hollow Hybrid might succeed, sir."
"I get it. You want to use me as a test subject. Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. I'll do it. Ru… Lieutenant Kuchiki…" Ichigo grumbled, correcting himself on how he called Rukia. "I know I can't force you to stay behind, but I'd like someone a little more intelligent and tactical than myself to stay here in case this plan fails and we need to come up with a new plan.
"Kurotsuchi gave me this stupid looking thing that I can wear and give another one to another officer and relay verbal, visual and reiatsu based information on the enemy. He claims that it isn't perfect, and that the farther away the two Shinigami are, the more reiatsu it eats to relay the information. So I asked him to make it so that mine powered both radios. Here, Lieutenant Kuchiki… I think if anyone should have the other one, it should be you."
"Thank you, Ichigo… Oh, and Ichigo?"
"Yeah, Lieutenant Kuchiki?"
"Don't call me Lieutenant Kuchiki. And also, come back safe. I swear I'll never forgive you if you die on me!" Rukia said, kissing Ichigo on the lips before he blushed deep crimson and went off. Her lips were surprisingly cool, but still just as soft as the first time, and they still tasted like cherries and strawberries.
Ichigo knelt behind a bush, doing his best to conceal his reiatsu, though he was fairly certain that he was doing a poor job at best. Fortunately, he had become much more talented at controlling his reiatsu, and his combat skills had improved as a result. When his reiatsu control was wild, it gave him a slight advantage because it threw the enemy off because of how it fluctuated.
But it was also a liability in that he leaked reiatsu like a stuck pig, and thus ran out faster than he should. Now, he didn't have the advantage of surprise and shock. But he had the advantage of a sharp reiatsu that even allowed him to cut Kenpachi with relative ease, albeit not quite as deeply as he would sometimes like, given the much larger Shinigami's propensity to challenge him to a fight every time they met, and his willingness to chase Ichigo if he refused.
Most times, now, Ichigo was able to use a Kido on the man and paralyze him for a few seconds while he ran. But Kenpachi was getting better at breaking the Kido with raw strength. A scary thought. Ichigo was watching this supposedly dangerous enemy. And Ichigo could sense the reiatsu on the person, for what but a person could they be called.
In fact, they looked like nothing so much as a young girl, maybe ten or eleven years at the oldest. From the way she was speaking with a boy that was in front of her, they seemed close, if not romantic, and they spoke briefly and laughed, then sat down together and looked at the clouds.
Ichigo was trying to examine their reiatsu, but it was difficult, since it was not that of an ordinary soul, but neither was it that of a Hollow, a Shinigami, a Quincy, a Fullbringer, a Vizard or any other combination or individual type of reiatsu. It resembled nothing so much as an amalgamation of all reiatsus, but also different from any.
"Rukia, come in. Are you getting the information on this reiatsu?"
"Yes. I am, and I'm relaying it forthwith to Kurotsuchi, who may be able to shed some light on the bizarre nature of it. It smells like death, but it's different from a Hollow's. Describe the people who are emitting it."
"There are two people over there that I'm observing, but I can't tell for sure whether one simply has residual reiatsu from the other on them. One is a boy, approximately twelve years of age, and the other is a girl, approximately eleven years of age. They seem to be familiar, possible romantically so with each other… Hold on."
"Can I help you children?" Ichigo asked condescendingly. The two looked at each other and frowned.
"We'd thank you not to spy on our date. I didn't know there were such lecherous pedos in the Thirteen Court Guards." The girl said irately.
"Well, unfortunately for you, one of you has killed numerous Court Guard officers. Can I ask you to come quietly with me?"
"Not one of us. All of us. And I don't think we can come with you. Allow us to introduce ourselves, though. It would be terribly rude not to. My name is Ayame Oshiro, and this is my brother, Ryosuke Oshiro. And we are the leaders of a small 'cult' shall we say. More than that, I'm afraid you can find out for yourself. If you can last more than a minute against us… I must say that your comrades were hardly impressive.
"I had heard, my friend that the Thirteen Court Guard Companies had some of the best warriors in existence. I have to disagree there."
"Actually, Brother, their souls were quite tasty. Almost as tasty as their flesh. We ate their livers with some Fava Beans and a nice Chianti, Sluurrrrrpppp…"
"Great… A Hannibal Lecter reference. That's definitely appropriate for children your age."
"Actually, Captain Kurosaki, we are both over 6,000 years old. We have existed in Inuzuri for that entire time, feeding off the flesh and souls of those who try to harm us.
"But, unfortunately, they have not been much sustenance, which is why we were forced to wait so long. However, now, with… What was it, Sister? Five Eighth Seats, One Fourth Seat, One Fifth Seat, and ten unranked officers?"
"That sounds about right, Brother. Come, let us introduce our children to you. Children! Report!"
"Yes, Matron, Patron. We hear and obey." Came the droning voices of at least a dozen other children of varying ages, though none more than fourteen years of age. Suddenly, a horde of dead eyed children appeared in front of Ichigo, looking dead in terms of emotion, but overflowing with power that barely seemed to even remotely resemble any power Ichigo had ever seen before.
They were dark and threatening, and making him feel slightly queasy. It had a heavy, miasmal quality that reeked of death, but didn't seem similar to a Hollow's aura. Rather, it was closer to a Hollow's power, but not actually one. It was almost as if they moved as one, but not as one. Ichigo was certain that he was recording all that was happening. He spoke telepathically to the machine, as Kurotsuchi had said was possible.
They appear to have a hivemind mentality, mostly in the sense that their movements are perfectly planned and choreographed. They seem to be able to cross each other's paths while never harming one another. They possess weapons, but they seem not to actually be Zanpakuto. Regardless, if I am not mistaken, the weapons seem connected somehow to their power.
"I really hate to hurt little children like yourselves. But you're threats to the Soul Society. So you have to die." Ichigo said, pulling out Zangetsu and instantly moving into battle, then seeming to disappear, moving with Shunpo and getting behind the Patron, attacking, but hitting nothing but air. In the next moment, Ichigo felt an ice cold hand on his arm. It was the hand of one of the Hive, and his arm was starting to turn black.
"We apologize, Captain. We cannot allow you to harm the Matron or Patron. Without them, we would be nothing. Do not worry. The pain will end soon. We are only absorbing your spiritual energy. You will die, and we will be more powerful for it." The boy said with dead eyes.
For a moment, only agony monopolized Ichigo's senses. However, soon, he heard a feminine voice in the distance. He could barely hear it, but he heard the critical word.
"Bankai: Hakka no Togame…" Suddenly, an ice cold blast hit Ichigo, almost blowing him away. Ichigo held his ground, though and threw the startled child off of him, regaining his composure and activating his own Bankai.
"Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!" Ichigo shouted. In a burst of jet black spirit power, Ichigo appeared with a long stylized black tachi in one hand, and a similar looking katana in the other. In less than the blink of an eye, Ichigo jumped into the air, shot three Kuro Getsuga Tensho at the enemy, vaporizing three of the children.
They seem to have parasitic spirit powers. I would hazard the guess that it is similar to Necrosis in humans. Their touch is capable of disrupting spirit particles in a similar manner to Quincies, and they absorb the particles, making themselves more powerful. Ichigo thought, landing, slashing at two more children, and taking them out.
Individually, the children aren't terribly strong. I suspect that the 'Matron and Patron' of the cult are more powerful. Their Necrotic touch seems to have with it a mildly paralytic agent that temporarily stops the one being drained. For those with high spirit energy, this is not as great a danger. But for rank and file shinigami, they could be drained and destroyed before they could fight back.
"Rukia-chan… Er, Lieutenant Kuchiki! I thought I requested that you remain behind in order to continue giving orders…" Ichigo said, trying not to sound too demanding.
"You must think me as dimwitted as you. I did remain behind.
"I did give orders. Then once I was done obeying your orders, Captain Kurosaki…" Rukia said facetiously. "I stopped acting as a subordinate officer, and began acting as your girlfriend. I can fight long range while you fight melee as you are accustomed to."
"This entire area is my domain, now." Rukia said, the entire field freezing solid, allowing her total control over the area. As soon as a child entered her range, the child froze, falling over like a rock.
"I possess the power to reduce the surrounding temperature to Absolute Zero. That is -273.15oC or 0oK."
"The Matron and Patron seem not to be frozen yet. Perhaps they are more powerful than I suspected. I will have to support you from the back lines. I cannot stay in Bankai for long due to the danger it poses to my own body."
"Affirmative." Ichigo said, removing the wristband that he had gotten from Kurotsuchi that gave the same effect as Zaraki's eye patch. Suddenly, he had a huge burst of energy as spiritual energy positively exploded from his body.
In the next moment, though, it receded completely and Ichigo was in complete control, though Rukia could still feel his power, and found that she had never been more proud of him than she was in this moment. He had become a captain, overcome his tendency to leak spiritual energy, and made himself more powerful than ever in the process.
Ichigo immediately moved, dodging the Matron's necrotic attack, even as he healed the former necrotic attack's damage. In the next moment, he donned his Hollow Mask, a large, horned mask whose reiatsu unsettled even the seemingly emotionless Matron and Patron, who shivered slightly before turning to the children and commanding them.
"This is our final order to you, Children." The Matron said imperiously. The children bowed reverently, giving Ichigo pause.
"We hear and obey, Matron. What are your orders?"
"Activate Final Protocol Z-666."
"We surrender our powers to you, and pray that we meet you in the next life, Matron, Patron. We love you."
"We love you, as well, children…" The two leaders said together, looking as if they were crying and sounding completely sincere.
"We will channel your souls into the next Cult that you may never truly die."
Between the leaders and the children, they were all crying as the children glowed a dark and ominous black color that seemed to suck out all the light from the surrounding environs and make it seem even colder than Rukia's bankai had already made it.
Then, the souls of the children flew into each other, gathered into one collective and separated into two parts before flying into the leaders, who glowed that same dark black color that seemed to leech the light out of the air.
"Brother?"
"Yes, Sister?" The boy asked, seeming just as hurt by what they had been forced to do.
"Activate Final Protocol T- 20230914."
"I hear and confirm, Sister." The brother said coldly, stepping toward his sister, muttering in unison with his sister in a strange foreign language, probably one long dead. They then joined hands, lacing their fingers and kissing each other deeply on the lips, looking as lovers in that one moment.
"Captain Kurosaki. I recognize that language. They're speaking in Adamic…" Came a screechy voice that Ichigo could not help but recognize as Kurotsuchi's.
"I thank you for all this wonderful data. Your skills of observation are far better than I expected. Are you certain that you wouldn't like to be a scientist in my lab?"
"I'll pass. I prefer being a regular Shinigami captain. I'll give you the data when I get back. But that's it."
"Oh, of course. Feel free to ask for anything you like as well. I am very grateful to you. Now, fight. Win!"
Ichigo sighed and signed off, activating his Blut Arterie in order to move even faster than before, seeming to disappear and reappear just as the twins conjoined into one person, having become exponentially more powerful.
"We congratulate you on forcing us into this situation. You are only the second person in history to force us into such a compromising situation. The first was Captain Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai… Now, you die." The child said in a voice that seemed like two voices in one throat.
"Don't bet on it!" Ichigo shouted, focusing all his power into his sword and swinging at the one child, taking off the right arm. However, in the next moment, the arm was back, almost as though it had never been cut off.
"We regenerate based on the souls of those we have killed. As Queen Victoria would say, 'we are not amused.' However, you're the first person in 500 years to harm us significantly."
Ichigo! Aim for the heart! Cut off their head! Their arm will grow back. The heart is harder to heal, as is the head. Kurotsuchi's advice."
Ichigo nodded and attacked one more time, striking the heart perfectly, and then taking the katana half of his Bankai and slicing off the head with all his strength, before using Kuroi Getsuga Tensho to destroy the body so that it couldn't regenerate.
"I know that was hard, Ichigo. I'm impressed at your strength. Now, put your wristband back on. No need to keep leaking spiritual pressure." Rukia said kindly.
"I-it felt like killing my sisters. They didn't look much older than Karin or Yuzu, and… Nnggh!" Ichigo gasped, collapsing, feeling like he could barely breathe.
