a/n - One Day wonder, felt you guys deserved this one as well seeing as i got HSC on friday, so wish me luck 3
The loud, unfamiliar sound of the alarm woke Layne from his slumber
"Wahhhh!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed, shirtless and wild haired
"Wahhhh!" Elias the mod soul in a Teddy Bear replied "How do you look at that face every morning!"
Layne rubbed his hand over his face, and felt the spiky beginning of a beard and moustache
"Well that's to be expected, I haven't shaved in weeks"
"I generally don't look at mirrors till after my shower"
So, Layne showered and headed off to school.
Elias had been covering his classes, so only Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Uryuu knew that Layne was actually back
"Good morning Trell, your hair appears to be messy again, as usual"
"That bracelet makes you look even gayer" Layne shot back, never appreciating people pointing out his hair
Layne bumped knuckles with Ichigo and Chad, and was greeted cheerily by Orihime, before sitting in his seat, tuning out from Keigo and watching Tatsuki ask about the strange charm that appeared to be tied to Ichigo's pants
The teacher entered and began the lesson, and just as she finished the first problem, Layne's and Ichigo's hollow alarm started going nuts
Ichigo caught Layne's eye questioningly and Layne mouthed "Janken"
After a quick Janken round, Layne using his speed to cheat, Ichigo quickly got out of his chair and rushed out of the room, shouting out "Bathroom!" behind him
"Already?" The teacher said in confusion
Chad and Orihime rushed out as well
"Oi! Orihime, girls should be able to keep it in"
This for some reason caused Layne to snigger uncontrollably
Ichigo finished off the hollow with ease, and turned to talk to Chad and Orihime
"You guys don't need to come with when it's just these"
"I really just wanted to try running out of the classroom using the bathroom as an excuse" Orihime said
"I think you might of gone a bit overboard with that reason" Chad muttered
Above them, a blond guy wearing a cap was standing upside-down in midair
"Kurosaki… Ichigo, huh?"
The next day in class, they had the first transfer student since Layne had rocked up at the beginning of the semester
"Hirako Shinji" he said, writing his name up on the board
The teacher looked at the writing closely
"It's backwards"
"Yeah" Shinji said proudly "Doing thing's backwards is my specialty"
Ichigo meanwhile, was lost in thought
"Uryuu's still wearing that gay bracelet, as Layne put it… I heard about his fight with the 12th captain from Ukitake… and Joel told me what that bracelet was… does that mean since he came to help me, he lost his Quincy powers?"
Shinji snapped Ichigo out of his train of thought
"I'll be sitting next to you from now on, let's treat each other well"
"Y..yeah, nice to meet you" Ichigo replied, startled, as Shinji settled into the seat in front of Layne and next to Ichigo
At that exact moment, his hollow alarm chose to go off
Once again Ichigo and Layne played Janken… this time in a tie, so both of them rushed out of the classroom, citing bathroom as an excuse
"Sorry" Chad explained to Shinji "That's just how the two of them are"
"Ahh don't worry" Shinji replied "That's pretty much how I imagined them to be"
"Layne Trell, huh?"
"NOOOOO!" Kon screamed, striking a dramatic pose "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
Ichigo looked up from the book he was reading, watching Kon roll around on his bedroom floor
"I want to go out!" Kon wailed "I want to have intimate contact with the smooth skin of pretty girls!"
Ichigo raised a mental eyebrow at that and returned to his book
"Shut up, before Yuzu and the others hear you"
"But how can I not scream!" Kon continued "If you keep me in here, then I'll sue you for stuffed animal abuse… I'LL SUE YOU TO HELL!"
Kon jumped up on Ichigo's desk and laid down
"Sigh, it was a lot better when I was in your body… cause then I could perv and stalk, and you'd be the one to get in trouble… I didn't have a thing to worry about"
Ichigo glared at Kon
"Bastard… don't tell me you actually did those things, they are illegal you know" Ichigo growled
"When Nee-san was still here it wasn't so bad being locked up… COME BACK NEE-SAN!"
"You're annoying, shut up and go to sleep already"
The hollow seal went off, jumping into the air
"Bah, I never thought I'd get used to this things screaming"
Ichigo glanced at the seal, then at Kon throwing a tantrum and made a decision
"Alright"
Pressing on the seal with his hand, he pushed himself out of his body, then used the seal to knock Kon out of his, then placed the Kon pill into his own body
"You can take care of it till I get back, but do anything stupid and I swear…"
"Of course" Kon replied quickly "Take your time!"
Ichigo shook his head and jumped out the window, resolving never to leave Kon alone in his body for long periods of time ever again
In Layne's house, situated in Urahara's basement, the music was blaring, and Layne was sitting at his computer playing games
Elias ran into the room, holding Layne's wailing Substitute badge by the cord
"Just because you're able to listen to loud music and stupid noises all hours of the night, doesn't mean rational beings aren't"
"I'm being insulted… by my teddy bear" Layne said drolly, taking the badge and knocking himself out of his body
"Use that super arm strength of yours and put me to bed, I was finishing up anyway" Layne told Elias, after he emerged from his body
"Hopefully Ichigo hasn't gotten to this one already"
Ichigo sliced the Hollow's mask with Zangetsu, and watched as it disappeared
"Well that was easy"
"AHH!" A voice shouted from behind him
Ichigo turned, surprised, seeing a Shinigami with an afro on a nearby roof
"Who in hell are you?" The shinigami asked "Why are you dressed like a Shinigami?"
"Who are you?" Ichigo countered
"Me?" The Shinigami adopted an arrogant tone "I'm Zennosuke Kuromandani, the Shinigami that was handpicked to replace Rukia Kuchiki when she was arrested for something or other"
"Doesn't Soul Society talk with its representatives? It's been what, a month since Rukia was cleared"
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Shinigami" Ichigo introduced holding up his badge "Here's my badge"
"Substitute Shinigami, what the hell is that?"
"What the?" Ichigo muttered looking at the badge "This thing is useless"
Ichigo heard the step behind him, felt a powerful reiatsu, and barely swung his sword in time to block the cut from Shinji
"You're… Hirako!, Is that a… zanpakuto… what are you!"
"Hush!" Hirako replied, putting his finger over his large grin "You shouldn't make a racket, Ichigo Kurosaki, with a reiatsu as uncontrolled as yours, if you lose your composure, you'll be found out too easily"
"Found out?" Ichigo repeated "By whom?"
"You're asking me who?" Hirako replied "Do I have to tell you every little detail, figure it out for yourself"
Behind Uryuu, a hand poked out of the thin sky, and a hollow poked through
Uryuu turned around, eyes open in shock
"Ah!" Kon exclaimed, stopping suddenly "That was scary, I thought Ichigo saw me for a second"
Kon continued running
"I must live this temporary youthfulness to its fullest!"
Unbeknowest to Kon, a hollow ripped through the sky behind him
"Kurosaki…Ichigo" it growled
As Layne was returning to the Urahara store, he was jumped by a woman wearing a sailor school uniform, and wielding a long sword
Painfully aware of the existence of renegade Shinigami thanks to the recent Kira incident, Layne instantly drew both of his zanpakuto, but didn't go into Shikai, not wanting to escalate the fight
The woman sheathed her sword, and beckoned him to follow
Confused beyond all reason, Layne was inclined to ignore her, but something in his head told him to just fuck it, and he followed her
Shinji and Ichigo sprang apart
"Such spiritual pressure" The afro shinigami exclaimed "Those two are monsters"
Shinji looked out to the side and sighed "They're here"
"Shinji… who are you?" Ichigo asked
"See, I told you so" Shinji said, ignoring Ichigo "It's all because you let your reiatsu go loose like that…"
"I'm asking you who you are!" Ichigo snapped
"You're so impolite" Shinji snapped back "Do you really care about that much about who I am?"
Ichigo was silent
Shinji sighed "Fine then"
He rested his zanpakuto on his right shoulder and brought his left hand over his face
"Fine then" he said, as particles began to coalesce in his hand "Take a look at this"
What popped out looked ridiculously similar to a pharaoh's mask
"Do you know what this is?"
Ichigo's eyes widened in recognition, and nearby Layne made an exclamation of surprise and fell out of a tree
Ichigo and Shinji took notice of him, and Layne scrambled to his feet
"A hollow's mask!" he identified in shock
"A hollow's mask, and a zanpakuto… do you two get it yet, I'm a Shinigami, that has crossed over into the domain of the hollows"
Shinji paused for a second, and Layne and Ichigo glanced at each other
"So let's be friends… since I'm a Vizard… the same kind as you two, so join us Ichigo… and Layne… you don't belong, with them"
"This one has huge reiatsu… it must be a Menos"
Uryuu agilely dodged another Cero
"I didn't wear the bracelet today… but I'm still not helpless against hollow attacks!"
Uryuu unbuttoned his shirt, and withdrew several small silver tubes
Throwing them at the Menos, he chanted "Feel the wrath of the battle, and accept this sacred chalice… Heizen!"
A silver block shot out of the tube and destroyed the hollow's left arm which instantaneously regrew from the stump, and attempted to puncture Uryuu
Uryuu nimbly dodged and from a ring attached to his upper right arm, pulled a long cord, wrapping it around two nearby trees in the hope that the hollow would run into it and sever itself
"It's upper body disappeared?"
From above, the upper body appeared
"It separated… no, It was two from the beginning!"
The upper body extended its tongue, aiming towards Uryuu, when a blue beam of energy pierced it
Uryuu landed on the ground and instantly looked towards the beam came from
"That was terrible, Uryuu" a new voice commented
"Your… Ryuuken!
Ryuuken was wearing a white suit and walking towards Uryuu and the unmoving hollow
"Calling your father by his first name… you never change"
The top half off the hollow's tongue began to regenerate, rather noisily
"You're noisy" Ryuuken said, instantly shooting an arrow, which caused the hollow to blow up behind Uryuu
"It's not about stopping the regeneration; you simply overwhelm it before it can regenerate" Ryuuken explained
Uryuu was still dumbfounded "How is this even possible, why do you have Quincy Powers? I thought you looked down on the Quincy… didn't want anything to do with them"
"That is why I called you a fool" Ryuuken interrupted "The words I used were, I have no interest… and you have no talent"
Ryuuken sighed "Unfortuanately, my powers are very different to the useless ones you lost so easily, Ryuuken Ishida is the man, which regardless of his personal wishes has inherited the title of the Last Quincy"
Ryuuken pulled out a piece of silver jewelry which Uryuu instantly recognized as the Quincy cross owned by his grandfather
The bottom half of the hollow leapt up and dived for Uryuu and Ryuuken destroyed it easily
"Uryuu" Ryuuken continued, as if the hollow hadn't appeared "You went to Soul Society before your powers had matured… and came back the powerless fool standing before me"
Uryuu remained silent, inwardly seething at the insult however
"If I so will it, I can return your powers"
A look of surprise overtook Uryuu's face
"Hard to believe? I assure you, I am telling the truth… but I do have one condition"
"Here's the catch" Uryuu thought, but out loud, he simply asked "What?"
"You must swear, to forego all dealings with the Shinigami, from now on"
"WHOA!" Kon shouted, narrowly diving to the side as the hollow used his fist to crush the ground "Wait a minute! Let's try not fighting in the streets!"
"Why do you run, Kurosaki Ichigo!" The hollow shouted "Hurry up and change into a Shinigami!"
"Why is the Grand Fisher here!, Dammit I always run into shit like this… even If I tell him that I'm not Ichigo, he wouldn't believe me, plus why is his face showing… I've never seen a hollow like that, is that even a hollow?"
"Enough" Grand Fisher said, increasing his speed and swiping Kon from midair "I only kept this charade up because I believed that you would take Shinigami form… but this tires me!"
Grand Fisher tossed Kon into the ground with such force that a crater appeared
"IF you will not take your form… then I shall simply crush you here!"
"Oh crap… I can't move"
A small object flashed over Kon's field of vision, and then suddenly a huge glowing white barrier was placed between Grand Fisher's hand and Kon's body
The light illuminated the object and Kon instantly recognized it
"Tsk tsk" someone said, shaking his head "I told you, you have to keep this wherever you go"
Kon turned around, recognition overtaking his face
"Mr Hollow" Isshin continued "Ichigo isn't home at the moment, so why don't you play with me instead?"
"Who are you?" Grand Fisher asked
"Ahh, how rude of me… I'm Isshin, Isshin Kurosaki"
Ichigo and Shinji all took notice of the powerful reiatsu signatures at the same time
"This spiritual pressure… its stupidly strong… is it a hollow?"
Shinji glanced at Ichigo questiongly
"He only just noticed it? Is he really worth all the effort im putting in? And that Shinigami, I don't recognize it, who could that be?"
Layne on the other hand was just confused
"Where'd that girl that led me here go?"
Shinji turned to talk to Ichigo again only to find him and Layne running in the direction of the powerful reiatsu signatures
"Oi, where are you going, we aren't done talking yet!" Shinji yelled
"I Refuse!" replied Ichigo
"I said I wasn't done talking!"
"I don't care; I don't want to be a part of your Vizard… I'm Shinigami, definitely not one of you"
Layne nodded his agreement, and they ran off
"Cheh" Shinji spat "What rude punks"
The woman who had led Layne their appeared in front of Shinji
"Well that went well"
"Yeah yeah" Shinji replied, pulling a phone from his back pocket
"Hello?, It's Shinji… is this Sarugaki-san?"
The voice on the other end of the phone started yelling
"Don't squawk… I'm sorry I failed the mission, but its only a matter of time anyways"
"Kurosaki…" The Grand Fisher said slowly
"I see, so you are Ichigo Kurosaki's…"
"Father, that's right" Isshin finished
Isshin turned to Kon, and tossed the small charm
"That charm was meant for you to begin with, Kon"
"Since when have you know I wasn't Ichigo" Kon asked, confused
"Since that first time at the graveyard… if you think about it, I've never called you Ichigo while you've been in Ichigo's body"
"I see" The Grand Fisher began "If his father is a Shinigami, then Ichigo Kurosaki is the real thing… and there is no shame in my loss from before"
"But you Isshin" Grand Fisher continued "I don't care about you, I only came to kill Ichigo… If you're his father… then hand him over"
"I don't know where he's gone, he's not a child anymore" Isshin replied "Besides, I've always been fairly relaxed with the rules in my house"
"Liar" Kon cut in "You're super strict with the girls"
"That's different" Isshin demurred "Anyway, even if you're not interested in me… I came here to kill you, so if you don't fight seriously… it will be a problem"
Grand Fisher began laughing
"You… came to kill me? You sure talk big Shinigami… haven't you realized by now that I'm no ordinary hollow!"
Grand Fisher shattered the top of his mask, and both his reiatsu and physical size increased, till he stood taller than the nearby ten-storey buildings
"Look carefully, see the extent of my power!"
"So stupidly huge!" Kon gasped "Nothing like the Menos I saw before"
"Menos!" The Grand Fisher asked derisively "Do not confuse me with those lowly things… I am…"
"Arrancar" Isshin finished "A group of Hollows that removed their hollow masks and gained the powers of the Shinigami, am I right?"
"You're actually pretty knowledgeable" Grand Fisher acknowledged, reaching up behind him and grasping the hilt of the sword slung over his back "So you should realize… that you can't beat this sword!"
"A zanpakuto!" Kon identified "But, it's almost as big as he is!"
"Exactly, you should recognize that the size of the sword is relative to the reiatsu of the wielder… in other words, your twig can't even compare!"
"Oh yeah?" Isshin said "Why don't we give it a try then"
"So you are one of those Shinigami without regard for their own safety… fine then"
Isshin and the Grand Fisher swung at each other with blinding speed
So fast that Kon had no idea what happenend
"Allow me to tell you some basics… Shinigami Captains all keep their zanpakuto to a useable size consciously… otherwise Lieutenants and up would be swinging around Zanpakuto the size of skyscrapers… much like what you are doing"
Isshin sheathed his Zanpakuto as a huge slice appeared on the Grand Fishers front and back
"So just remember… you can't judge your opponents strength by the size of his zanpakuto… you aren't fit to even talk about strength until you understand that"
a/n - It's over like a boss D=
There's been some confusion over which part is which so i'm going to state it here, and i'm renaming the story simply to Bleach Triple Plus
Arc 1 - Soul Society - Chapters 1 - 14
Arc 2 - Kira - Chapters 15 - 28
Arc 3 - Arrancar - Chapters 29 - so on
Done here, R&R if you are so inclined, and i hope you enjoy this third arc and find that it's equal to or greater than quality than the first two =)