Standing before the grave brought back all the emotions both had experienced over the years. A sadness they both held, the disappointment of failing to protect the one thing they held most dear to them. They each had their moment to share their thoughts with her and let her know how they were doing. As the sun set in front of them they bid their goodbyes until next time. The spring breeze blowing across the graves with a quiet whisper. They returned home for a sleepless night unprepared for the fight that lay ahead.
Intruder
Ichigo and Grimmjow awoke from a light sleep with the sun gleaming through their open window. Grimmjow rolled out of the bed, standing to stretch his stiff muscles as he let out a tired yawn. He stretched his arms flexing his back and shoulder muscles revealing that, like a fine wine, he too got better with age. Ichigo could only stare with a hungry delight at how despite the rough years Grimmjow was still the only person he wanted to wake up to in the morning, of course he would never give Grimmjow the satisfaction of knowing that. Grimm walked away from the bed into the bathroom to clean up and get ready to head back to the soul society.
Ichigo slowly sat up from the bed letting the covers fall to his waste revealing his roughly chiseled chest that he kept in the best condition he could. For both of their duties, if either of them were at less than peak condition, they could easily find themselves out of the job or worse killed in action. He peaked behind him to glare at the rising sun that had abruptly disturbed his dreams. Whenever he and Grimmjow came home Ichigo always dreamed about Kyler. Oh how he missed her. Ichigo dreamt she had come home from school, her smiling face happy to see him and Grimm. She had hugged him tightly and he too had squeezed her so tightly his arms had cramped. If he could do it over, Ichigo decided he would have told her everything, about being soul reapers. Maybe then, she could have sent a message for help and they could have saved her.
He sighed as he got out of bed. If only I could go back, he thought to himself as he stepped out of the master bedroom. He took three steps and stood facing the closed door to Kyler's bedroom, he took a deep breath and opened the door. The room was kept exactly how she had left it that day. Her bed was unmade the walls covered with books stacked all along the edges, a few clothes tossed onto the edge of the bed from her choices of what to wear that day. Ichigo walked over and sat on her bed scanning the room and reminiscing in the memories of a time that he was truly happy. He turned his head to examine the photo frame that showcased the three of them together, both Ichigo and Grimmjow had been sitting in the grass up on the bank of the stream and Kyler had run up behind them wrapping her tiny arms around both their necks pulling their faces tightly together. He smiled at the memory, a genuine smile of the times he treasured so dear.
Grimmjow came walking through the door of Kyler's room a pair of jeans and t-shirt on since he would shed his giggai when they decided to leave. He leaned his shoulder against the frame of the door and made a heavy sigh.
"You know, it never gets easier coming in here." He said calmly crossing his arms while looking at Ichigo.
"I know," he replied with a sigh, "I don't know why but I keep thinking one of these days she's just going to magically show up here." He looked back to Grimm with a little half smile on his face, "Yeah I know, you can call me crazy now."
Grimm shrugged and let out a little chuckle, "If you're crazy, I'm crazy 'cause I'm holding out for the same thing." He straightened himself and turned to head downstairs, "Come on, you know Yamamoto will wring our necks if we're late."
Ichigo stood from the bed and gazed around the room. He sighed whispering to himself, "She'd be seventeen years old already."
We trudged out of the room to the master bedroom to take quick shower and put some clothes on before heading to the soul society.
XXX
Grimmjow and Ichigo stepped out of the Senkaimon and headed for Squad 12's barracks and training grounds for another boring day in the soul society. The sun shown over a clear sky as new souls and soul reapers went about their day to day duties. Ichigo and Grimmjow glazed over their duties simply going through the motions not caring to devote their attention to such tedious tasks when Byakuya wandered into their quarters.
"Captain Kuchiki, what can I do for you?" Ichigo asked, surprised that the captain would pay them a visit.
"I wanted to go over the accident that happened at Central 46 three years ago. I know you and Grimmjow can offer a different perspective from mine, something about the incident just throws me off and I wanted to know some of your thoughts." He stated casually looking around the room for Grimmjow.
"Grimmjow isn't here at the moment he's training squad members today, but maybe he'll show up a little later. What exactly do you want to go over about the incident, as far as I know the construction they had done ten years ago had not been properly reinforced for as expansive as the site was." Ichigo pondered trying to think back to the accident. The incident had not had anything to do with a war or any type of fighting so Ichigo hadn't thought much of it. Structure collapse was not one of the things that drew his mind to wonder about the details so he had gone with what he had been told and left things at that. To have Kuchiki poking around about it, something had to stick out to draw his attention.
"That's fine, can you remember everything that happened that day? I'm curious if you can remember anything that I can not." He sat down at the kotatsu where Ichigo was currently going over paperwork. Ichigo set the papers aside and pulled his right hand to his chin as his face pulled into a quizzical expression. Ichigo couldn't remember what he had for breakfast two days ago, for Kuchiki to ask him to remember an event from three years ago was going to be difficult.
"Well let me think…yeah it's slowly coming back to me. It was a late evening in the middle of the summer because me and Grimmjow had just returned from helping out in Hueco Mundo…We were walking to the barracks and Grimm had been complaining about the temperature being cold for it to be summer, of course leave it to Grimm to find something to complain about rather than just want to go home and sleep. I remember thinking that he had been right for a brief moment before I heard the alarm sound…at first I thought we had been under attack, but then I remember seeing soul reapers rushing about on the rooftops fanning out from Central 46 to the very edges of the Seireitei. I remember the cold air becoming dense and heavy as I watched people running from Central 46, but oddly enough there was no screaming like I would have thought there would be since part of the barracks and training grounds had collapsed. Grimmjow had been very insistent that we should check out 46 and make sure our help was not needed.
When we arrived there, things already seemed to be under control Captain Yamamoto was their giving commands as usual, as people flooded about the area cleaning up bits of debris. The old man had told us there hadn't been any injuries, and that his biggest concern was he hoped none of the prisoners locked deep below 46 had escaped. I remember offering my help to go down and check things out, but he had insisted that would not be necessary. He said he would rather go down and search himself since only he and members of 46 could account for all the prisoners held down there. He seemed a little distraught as I recall, it was like a small sense of fear and loss of control, but he didn't let it show too much. The old geezer simply told us that there was nothing we could do than to just make sure the rest of the Seireitei did not go into in uproar and that things should calm down in a little while.
Grimm was annoyed about being out so late for no good reason and I remember both of us wanting to get a closer look at things only to be shot out by 46 members saying they didn't need us around in order to get things taken care of. We had hung back a bit to wonder around the Seireitei sitting on top of the buildings just trying to get a better glimpse at the supposed damage below. I remember the chill in the air had not subsided despite all the commotion and having my adrenaline pumping for no good reason then…" Ichigo turned his head to look at Kuchiki as he recalled something he had never thought twice about. Kuchiki sat patiently listening intently at the remembrance of the incident, his own memories were not that much different from Ichigo's a part from a few minor details here and there.
"I remember peaking up at the night sky and for a brief second I thought I saw a group of figures disappearing into the empty sky…it was almost as if they just dissolved into the sky, I thought I had just imagined it because I was tired, but now that I think about it…I definitely saw something out there that night."
Ichigo stared at Kuchiki curious as to what Kuchiki would say to that, whether he would play it off like Ichigo really had imagined the whole thing, or that just maybe he had seen it too and wanted to know more about it.
Kuchiki looked at him without an expression on his face, then he sighed, "I wondered if any one else had happened to see them too."
"What do you think it means, or what got you thinking about it now of all times?" Ichigo asked curiously, now that Kuchiki had brought it up he was intrigued to know what it all meant.
"I don't know, could be nothing, but something tells me we were not told everything that happened that night. Well to be perfectly honest the past ten years have been rather weird, even by my standards, so when everything finally calmed down I started going over all the events that just seemed too random to be coincidence. I've been trying to decide what could have been a starting/ending point to control these events, and that is what lead me to that incident. It seemed after that incident things calmed down between the realms, but I wanted to know if any one else saw the same thing I did before coming to a conclusion." He rambled in his usual uninterested tone despite his complete attention being devoted to explaining the incidents that happened over the course of seven years.
Ichigo sat contemplating what Kuchiki had said trying to piece together the gaps he had in his mind. "You may be onto something, maybe we should—"
He was interrupted by the Seireitei alarm, there was an intruder in the outer ring of the soul society. Both Kuchiki and Ichigo looked at each other curiously. Who could possibly be intruding on the soul society! They both rose from their seats, strapped their zanpakuto to their waste and began walking, no doubt there was going to be a captains meeting before they would enter a fight. Besides, no intruder could really cause that much trouble for the soul reapers could they?
Ichigo chuckled to himself as him and Kuchiki walked while soul reapers ran towards the edges of the Seireitei to take care of the intruder.
"What's so amusing Kurosaki?"
"It's just different being on this side of the alarm. I remember when I first came to the soul society, wow that truly was a long time ago." He continued to chuckle as Kuchiki looked at him completely uninterested in that particular memory.
"Yes, it's not so fun any more now is it?" He asked not really caring to get a response.
"Yeah it's boring being on this side of things no real excitement going on." He stated blankly continuing to walk with Kuchiki.
XXX
"I WANT HIM CAPTURED DEAD OR ALIVE!" A soul reaper shouted over the others as they tried to fight the intruder, but no one had come close to laying a hand on him. The guy easily out maneuvered ever single one them. His body sliding through the tiniest gaps in oncoming attacks with effortless grace. A side step here, sideways slide, duck just below the blades as they aim for the torso. The man had not even drawn a single weapon, he simply treated their weapons as harmless toys. He ran along the rooftops without any effort, his face was covered by a large hood that despite his running did not leave his head. He wore a baggy white sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off to reveal lean darkly tanned arms. A pair of black athletic shorts reached to the middle of his knee caps showing muscular calves. The man was barefoot, and by the looks of things, it didn't seem to bother him one bit.
Five reapers jumped him at edge of the outer ring their swords synchronized in slicing the target before them to nothing. The man planted his right foot completely stopping his momentum. As the reapers swords inched towards his body he stood with his arms in defensive stance just waiting patiently for the opportune moment. The swords came to graze across the fabric covering his body, his moment had come, and with that he spun his hands reaching to grasp every sword that had dared to come his way. A simple touch from his skin is all it took for the metal of the blades to melt becoming completely harmless. The liquid metal hung in the air as if waiting for instruction to returned to it's original form when the man simply held his hands to the liquid surrounding him and it instantaneously reacted to his will covering over his skin like water droplets, covering the surface of his hands before hardening into a stronger metal than before.
The soul reapers who had attacked him did not know what had happened. It was an instantaneous move that took less than the blink of the eye, they didn't even know their swords were gone before it was too late. With the man's hands becoming their own weapon, he began his assault ripping thru the five figures that stood all around him. He sliced through vital arteries that if not treated immediately would kill in less than a minute. The inner arm, the inner thy, across the neck, he moved effortlessly as if each slice was like cutting through air. When they all laid dead before him blood spewing all across the roof and the ground below, the man looked to his hands again allowing the metal to liquify from his own thought as he popped his knuckles. There was not a spot of blood on him to be found, his white sweatshirt looked as though he had just put it on, if not for the bodies at his feet one would never know the deed he had just done.
The other soul reapers looked on in complete shock and terror, for their very own comrades had been cut down by the very blades created from their souls to protect them. They lay slain before a being that none of them could comprehend. One of the fifth seated soul reapers looked to the comrades beside him.
"GO! WARN THE CAPTAINS OF THIS! THOSE OF US HERE WILL NOT BE ABLE STOP HIM, MAYBE THEY CAN!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and immediately one of the men in the back took off towards the inner circle of the Seireitei. Those that remained turned back to face the intruder before them, sweat covered their brows as fear spread across each of their faces, but they would not falter, for it was their duty to protect the soul society.
The figure turned to face them as the roof he stood on dripped blood into the street below. Below the hood two brown eyes gleamed, staring at the enemies before him. The brown iris contained speckles of gold, looking like a light brown as if the very iris itself was placed into the forge to be melted into something new. He spread the metal he had just procured across his arms, giving himself a light armor that he could easily manipulate at will wherever he needed it. Just as the soul reapers were readying themselves for their next attack he leapt amongst them all gathering more metal for his own armor while instantly cutting down targets without a second thought. This man showed no remorse, no halt in his actions as with each soul he claimed he became stronger in his movements, more determined in his will to end them.
He danced through them catching a blade here or there, but they didn't even leave a scratch his body moved before his enemies could make their own move. He was quick and agile, trained to be silent and deadly, leaving behind a trail of corpses if need be to get the job done. He had been taught to find one purpose and destroy anything that stood in the way, and for now, the soul reapers are what stood in his way.
By the time he was through, bodies lay strung all around him, and again none of it showed on any of his clothes. His body wasn't tired, not in the least, this had simply been a warm up. He was trained to go for days without sleep, ready to fight in every second. He had gathered more than enough metal to make himself a decent armor, what he didn't have slightly hardened around his body, almost like a second skin, was hovering around him. The metal itself waited beside him waiting to be willed into use. He knew he would have use for it when he faced the captains if he got that far. He turned to glare at the wall that stood before him, attempting to block his way, his eyes continued to glow but the iris now had completely melted in the fire. They shown a bright metallic copper just waiting to cool into a shiny new form, but for now, the fire raged the metal was held at bay from spewing from the iris by the thin black edge that served as a cast for the metal to harden. With a small sigh he walked straight for the gate not waiting for the guardian to let him pass, for if he showed himself, the man would not hesitate in slicing him down as well.
XXX
Meanwhile in a realm between realms, unknown to the soul reapers or hollows, there was a place newly discovered for only those who sought refuge. The land was a harsh climate mountains scattered everywhere, their jagged peaks reaching into the clouds that endlessly raged with snow, ice, and winds that could easily freeze a being to the core if they did not know the secret. In the middle of the endlessness the blizzards raged and the mountains whistled, there sat a figure in the snow completely oblivious to ongoing turmoil of the land. The figure seemed lost in thought, sensing the energy between all the realms…searching. The figure stood finding the twisted energy it had been seeking and with a long sigh masked by the howling winds the figure whispered, "and so it begins."
Without a second thought leapt gracefully into the clouds disappearing into the endless barrage of ice and snow to seek out the entanglement of energy that seemed to be generating from the realm of the soul reapers.
XXX
The captains all stood in their usual two row formation while Yamamoto sat at the head waiting patiently for his co-captains to start up the bickering. Each captain had his lieutenant standing quietly being him just waiting for permission to speak. Ichigo and Byakuya stood completely lost in their own thoughts to start up any of the conversation. Renji was the first to offer his opinion.
"Have we heard any news on who the intruder is?" He asked casually annoyed that no one else had decided to step up and ask the question.
"No we have not Captain Abari." Yamamoto stated in his scratchy voice.
"Should we not go check on our subordinates? If they have not been able to check in, then perhaps this intruder is giving them more trouble than we expected." He retorted angry that the old man could seem so calm, surely by now word would have gotten to any of them on who the intruder was.
Suddenly a fresh graduate reaper crashed through the doors of the captains meeting completely pale and out of breath. His breathes were shallow and rapid, his lungs were trying desperately to get enough oxygen to his aching body. "CAPTAINS! THE ENTIRE SOUTHERN FORCES HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT BY THE INTRUDER!"
All the captains looked at him with shock exposed across all of their faces, some having an exasperated intake of breath at the realization of the proclamation. The old first captain scratched his beard and stood up from his seat.
"Captain Kurosaki seek out this intruder, I want him brought to me by any means necessary, dead or alive." He ordered in a bold manor.
Ichigo nodded his understanding right before Yamamoto continued speaking. "Captain Unohana see the injured quickly, the rest of my captains spread out, it appears this is no ordinary intruder, if any of you see the intruder your orders are the same as Kurosaki's. I want this intruder brought before me!" He ordered growing impatient at his captains who were still standing waiting for him to finish his orders.
"DISMISSED!" Immediately the captains sprang into action, Ichigo with Grimmjow behind him escaping to the skies to find the intruder. Captain Zaraki as usual went off looking for the intruder as well, but everyone knew he would probably be the last one to find him.
High above the Seireitei Ichigo and Grimmjow stood surveying the land below looking for the intruder. "One intruder took out the entire southern division, sounds like I'm going to get to have an interesting fight." Grimmjow stated letting his psychotic attitude spread across a wicked grin waiting for Ichigo to order him out of it.
"Don't be in such a rush, we need to see what this intruder is capable of." He stated flatly not breaking his concentration as he continued to scan the southern section of the perimeter for any signs of the intruder.
Sure enough just breaking into the southern border walls of the Seireitei, Ichigo noticed a metallic figure walking down the middle of the empty street. He had little slivers of liquidized metal surrounding his body, just floating effortlessly beside him. Well that's certainly interesting. Without a second thought, he flew like a missile towards the supposed target not knowing what he was truly about to get himself into.
The figure made no movement towards acknowledging the two rocketing themselves near his current stroll, but of course he could sense their energy all too well. Ichigo charged through the air, wind whipping at his face causing him to squint his eyes in concentration. Grimmjow followed close behind his psychotic smile spreading with excitement, to think, Ichigo didn't understand why him and captain Zaraki couldn't stand each other they basically had the same psychotic personality when it came to fighting.
Ichigo was about 50 feet away from his target when Zangetsu stopped him. "ICHIGO STAY AWAY FROM HIM!"
Ichigo stumbled midair nearly crashing face first into the ground below, luckily he quickly corrected himself landing on his feet in a defensive stance approximately 25 feet away from the now motionless figure. The white hood keeping his identity hidden, all Ichigo could see through the dark shadows beneath the hood were two almond smoldering orbs. The fires had dwindled leaving the brown irises to harden.
"Zangetsu? What's the matter?"
"If you let him touch me, I will no longer be your sword to command?"
"What?! What are you talking about?"
"I can't explain really, but by the aura around him is not his own, it seems to be a mixture of multiple Zanpakutos melted into the armor he's wearing."
"I don't know how that's possible, but let's go with it we'll keep our distance."
Grimmjow looked at Ichigo his expression begging to know why Ichigo had not attacked the man yet, but he held still waiting for Ichigo to make the first move.
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked with a stern face, ready to fight at any moment should the man choose to ignore his inquiry.
The man stood unmoving, almost statue like, analyzing both the individuals in front of him. He didn't quite understand, but somehow these figures were somehow familiar to him, and yet completely different. He knew he had never met either of these men before, but their energy was similar to someone else he had once known. Staring at the two figures before him and searching with his mind the surrounding terrain for any surprise attacks, the man choose to answer this orange headed man's question.
"I am no one of importance." He stated in a strangled voice. He sounded like he had been gargling nails, his voice was scratchy and rough, his words were almost inaudible.
"You have slaughtered an entire division of soul reapers for no reason, that makes you a person of importance to hunt down." Grimmjow spoke up with a snarky tone.
"I am searching for someone, and if you will not let me continue my search, I will have to kill you."
"Well that doesn't seem right," Ichigo stated, "but what you have done is inexcusable and I can not let you pass."
"Very well, then you will be the first of this duo to die." The man stated harshly, and before he had finished his last words, he had moved through the space between them within the blink of an eye. He outstretched his arm hardening the armor to protect his extended appendage as drove straight for Ichigo's heart.
Ichigo barely understood what had happened, but with out even thinking he had used Zangetsu to block the man's attack. With the man's right arm blocked by Ichigo's sword he jabbed his left hand into Ichigo's torso. Ichigo grunted at the sudden stab to the lower part of his torso, and as he tried so bring his other sword up into a counter attack, he began coughing up mouthfuls of blood. There came to be a different kind of pain as something spread into his body from the man's hand. Ichigo didn't know what was happening to him other than an overwhelming amount of pain as his body was turning pale, the heat of his body was being sucked into the man's intrusive hand leaving behind a cold corpse.
Grimmjow had barely any time to blink before he jumped in to attack the intruder.
"YOU CRAZY BASTARD!" Grimmjow yelled in fury as he drew his sword and yelled the words to enter his release mode. "NOW GRIND…PANTERA!"
He attacked the intruder claws sharp and bursts of fury. The intruder withdrew his hand from Ichigo, letting the dying captain fall to the ground into a heap beneath him as he turned to face the oncoming assault.
Grimmjow used his speed and rage to attack all around the man using short quick stabs to draw the man off guard…but his attacks were not working. No matter what Grimmjow did in his attacks the man always deflected him with his metal skin. Grimmjow's attacks could not even scratch the man's clothing as he continued his flurry of jabs. The man before him seemed almost bored with Grimmjow's attempt to draw him into a fight, he didn't even bother to turn his head as blow after blow was berating him.
Grimmjow grew all the more enraged at how this man took him on as if he were a child. His pride would not allow himself to be so easily discarded by a man he didn't even know, so he decided to try to end this fight as quickly as he could. Grimmjow chanced a glance to look over to Ichigo, the man was seriously pale and barely conscious coughing up blood, he needed to see Unohana or Orihime as soon as possible.
"I'll end this fast, with Desgarron!" The blue sparks burst forth from his claws as he prepared his attack. His right hand drawn back clawing at the air to release the technique on the ever still man before him. If this doesn't take care of it I'll be screwed.
The intruder never moved from his position as the blue claws targeted his body. His only movement was to outstretch his left hand just in time to catch the attack. The blue claws holding for only a brief second before the entire attack was shattered, the bits and pieces of the attack seemed to break down into tiny orbs of light that soon dispersed and began to blend into the surround area, it seemed as if the air itself had swallowed the attack destroying it before it could do any damage to the target.
Grimmjow looked on both in shock and utter annoyance at how an individual could be so powerful, when he didn't even give off a hint of soul pressure, it was like the being was simply a moving corpse!
"How did you do this? And without any spirit energy? TELL ME!" Grimmjow was beyond angry, his rage was getting the best of him. He didn't realize the opening he had left by his distraction from the fight. The intruder took full advantage of that opening moving quicker than a sonido to pierce Grimmjow's chest.
Grimmjow spit blood onto the ground in front of him as he felt the man's cold hand stab through his heart, giving him just a few seconds of consciousness. The man brought his mouth to Grimmjow's ear and whispered his reply.
"When you don't have a soul you no longer walk the path of those who do."
The man was just about to drop Grimmjow to the ground dead, when he felt a quick burst of energy come directly in front of him and then disappear. He blinked in front, noticing the body he had just stabbed was no longer held in his hands. He glanced around and noticed the blue haired lieutenant being gently laid next to the orange headed captain by a smaller figure in a black hoodie.
The person placed a gentle hand onto the area over Grimmjow's punctured heart. The air around the figure began to pull little golden orbs directly from the sky, it was as if the being was pulling energy directly from the atmosphere around. All the dots were pulled into the figures back, being absorbed into the body. The man looked back down to the hand over the fallen man's heart and slowly it began to heal. The figure didn't completely heal Grimmjow, but did heal his heart jolting it back to life, then healed the area around just enough to stop the bleeding.
The man stood glaring daggers at the hooded figure before him, there was only one person he knew that could do that. The figure once finished stood and turned to face him. The black hood completely covered their face, not even leaving room to reveal the eyes beneath, the only thing that was visible was the mouth and chin. The black hoodie fit loosely covering the figure beneath, and then the white board shorts with a thick black stripe going up the side of each leg did little to give any sign of who the person was.
They stood barefoot in a completely casual stance, just waiting for the man to make a move. He knew this person, and he knew that there was no way he could beat them, they were that strong. The man was faster than any of the beings across the realms, but this person put him to shame, this person understood all of their abilities and was capable of using them to their fullest potential. He was an amateur compared to this figure, but that would not stop him, he needed to win this fight, he was looking for someone and he would die just to find them.
"I didn't expect to see you here, but you are in my way, and you saved a being who I tried to kill."
He lunged at the intruder bringing his body to fight to it's fullest, these soul reapers had been a warm up compared to the fight he was now up against. The figure dodged each of his attacks effortlessly, and with each miss the figure would do a simple tap back onto the man's body. With each tap the man noticed his metallic armor being pulled from his body, hardening into the sword it was before he had stolen them, and falling to the ground around him. To try to bring each of those back into his body would take an extremely large amount of will power and energy that he was not willing to waste against this opponent, instead he focused on holding onto the minimum metal amount needed to give him an adequate weapon to attack with.
Their battle drew out, giving the other captains enough time to find them. Captain Hitsugaya was the first to arrive, along with his lieutenant Rangiku. "Hurry and find Unohana to heal Ichigo and Grimmjow, even from hear I can feel their spirit energy draining." Toshiro told his lieutenant, she nodded and flash stepped away to find them. After she had left Toshiro turned back to look at the two battling before him, they were more just a blur than anything else, they moved even quicker than a flash step, it was almost as if they could cut the atmosphere around them when they moved.
The two below continued fighting without wavering as they knew more and more captains were beginning to show up. Neither stopped to look at the people that began to surround their fighting area, they even both felt medical attention being given to the two that had almost been slain.
"Why would you step in to protect them? I know you better than that. You don't give a damn about anyone!" He breathed out harshly, his energy was beginning to waver, if he did not keep his full concentration on absorbing outside energy for his use, he would be forced to you his own life energy, which he knew his opponent had ten times more life force than he did, after all it was their DNA that gave him the abilities he now possessed.
He shoved himself back from the still hooded figure, giving himself a little time to catch his breath, and try to draw in more energy to use. By now all the captains had arrived on the scene, just standing their watching the battle unfold in front of them.
Toshiro turned to Yamamoto who stood to his right on the rooftops of one of the surrounding buildings and whispered, "I don't know how they are performing these movements, they are both faster than either of us, but it seems the intruder who is the one in the white hoodie is no match for the one in the black. What should we do?"
Yamamoto stood onlooking the going fight pondering Toshiro's question, "I want them captured, these are a different kind of beings and we need to know more about them. If one of them dies, take that body to Mayuri. I'm sure he would be more than excited to have such a specimen to examine."
Toshiro nodded his understanding and continued to watch the fight. Meanwhile Grimmjow had regained consciousness and sat up to watch the fight, continually checking on Ichigo who laid with his face pulled into a grimace at a pain none of them could see. Unohana continued to work on him, but it was doing no good.
"I don't know what is going on with him," she stated in a worried tone. "He's completely healed but there seems to be some kind of poison circulating his body and I can't remove it or destroy it."
Ichigo had blood flowing out of the corners of his mouth as he shivered from the cold that enveloped his body, his very soul being drained of it's energy. Just then there was a loud crack and everyone turned to look at what had perspired as they had examined Ichigo. The two figures now stood close together, the one in white had his left arm held up useless as everyone could see the bones clearly broken along his forearm and upper arm. The black figure stood just outside the man's left arm with their left hand firmly holding the other man's wrist, and the right pushing against the now broken upper arm.
The man didn't scream, or even make a sound at the pain he had just been dealt, but he flung his right arm, covered with a very thin layer of the metallic metal, at the other figure making them release his arm to block, and they both backed away from each other for one last clash. Before the man in white could plan his next move the figure before him held their left hand out slightly, palm to the sky. Quickly different orbs were being pulled from the surrounding area, the ground, sky, buildings, were all giving orbs to the empty palm of the figure. Colors of gold, white, black, red, blue, green, bronze, copper, and brass were all pulled together, they were bound tightly interweaving together around the hand and forearm. The energy orbs never touched the figure, but circled it. This was the control of raw energy, and the man knew this was a completely different level of mastery from what he himself was capable of achieving. The man just gazed at tiny glowing orbs of interwoven energy, and was unfazed when the figure practically teleported in front of him, changing the energy around the left hand to spread to resemble a sort of short blade that went over the back of the hand and drove through the man's stomach.
The energy never punctured all the way through his body, but instead broke off to disconnect his own energy from the rest of the metal he controlled allowing it to fall free from his body. The stab showed no physical signs of damage, but internally the energy was destroying him. The amount of energy shoved into his body began to eat at his internal organs and muscles. He knew that if he didn't get out of the soul society now, surely he would die. He lifted his head from staring at the ground, to the hidden face of the figure in front of him.
"I will see you again." He stated in a determined tone.
Immediately the man's body dissolved in the opposite effect of the figures attack. The energy was pulled back into the atmosphere to disappear, leaving behind no signs of ever being a part of this realm.
The figure in the black hoodie stood placing both hands inside the pocket pouch along the front of the hoodie. They stood silent for a brief minute then whipped their head back over to the lifeless Ichigo laying still beside Grimmjow. The figure casually strode over to where Ichigo was laying, not bothering to even acknowledge the others around, with looks of curiosity, contempt, and fear. The figure knelt to the right of Ichigo and placed their hand across his furrowed brow. It only took a matter of moments before Ichigo's face relaxed and his breathing became more regular. Those that watched, examined in shock not knowing how the figure was somehow healing Ichigo while even Unohana could not. None of them could sense the amount of energy being exchanged between the two, the figure pulled out the infectious energy that was eating at Ichigo's life force, while at the same time pouring in surrounding energy to compatibly replenish the life force he had lost.
Ichigo regained consciousness and sat up quickly into a coughing fit as the hooded figure beside him stood returning their right hand to the pouch of their sweatshirt. Grimmjow moved over beside Ichigo, looking in shear shock at how quickly Ichigo had been saved from the brink of death. Grimmjow silently berated himself on how careless he had been to let Ichigo fight the man before alone.
Ichigo took in harsh deep breathes trying to give oxygen back into his starving body. His face slowly recovered to it's soft tanned shade which Grimmjow loved so much. After Ichigo's breathing returned to normal, he turned to look at his surroundings. "Wh…what happened?"
"It's a long story Ichi, one that we don't have time for." Grimmjow said with a small smile as he grabbed Ichigo and pulled him to his feet. As soon as Ichigo was back on his feet everyone around heard the hard of voice of the head captain roar.
"Bakudo bind, Sajo Sabaku!"
Six yellow glowing rings surrounded and clamped down on the motionless hooded figure who stood amongst them. The rings tightening making any movement of the upper body impossible. The captains who had been watching jumped into the fray and surrounded the unmoving being, who seemed unsurprised to be bound by Kido.
Ichigo and Grimmjow stood behind the circle of captains giving the figure a harsh gaze over. Yamamoto spoke up after walking slowly in front of the figure a few steps away from their face.
"You unknown being will be tried before the Gotei 13 as soon as our 12th Captain recovers from his injuries. I would personally love to kill you right now, but my fellow captains may have other ideas for you which I am willing to hear. Until then, you will be placed in the dungeon to await your trial. This Kido will remain on you until your fate has been decided." He said in his usual raspy voice.
The surrounding captains looked to each other in forms of disapproval, but voiced none since when old man Yamamoto decided something, his orders were followed without question.
"Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Kuchiki, take this prisoner to the cells. I want them watched by a captain every second until the trial." He turned to leave as everyone else glanced around at one another wondering what was running through the head captain's head to make such orders. Toshiro and Byakuya moved to stand beside the figure to escort them to the dungeons.
"Let's go." Byakuya whispered to black hooded figure to the right of him. They began walking quietly leaving behind the rest of the staring captains. Once they were out of hearing distance and prying eyes, Toshiro became too curious to stand the silence.
"What are you doing here?" He stated in his annoyed tone.
The person continued to walk beside them in silence, showing no sign of even acknowledging to being asked a question.
"Leave them alone Captain Hitsugaya, we will get all the answers we need come the trial."
With that, they walked in silence the rest of the way. Once they reached the dungeons they chose the cell with the thickest walls, a tiny window their only glimpse into the outside world. Toshiro shoved the figure into the cell slamming the iron bars behind them. The figure stood in the middle of the room next to the one chair provided. They stood in silence gazing out the tiny window into the sky, as the sun began to fade, painting colors of orange, purple, and blue across the sunset sky. They made no struggle, or any attempt to leave, they didn't even acknowledge when new captains came to switch shifts.
XXX
Ichigo had been escorted by Grimmjow back to their home within the Seireitei to have Unohana and Orihime to check his wounds. If all went well they would start the trial at dawn. He sat on the ground with both Unohana and Orihime performing healing along with poking and prodding.
"And you are sure you feel fine Ichigo," Orihime asked in her concerned voice.
"Yes Orihime, I feel absolutely fine." He sighed back to her.
"It's truly remarkable, I don't know how they did it, it seems they pulled what was ailing you right out of your body effortlessly and replenished your own spirit energy as well. I've never seen such a thing before." Unohana sat checking all of Ichigo's vitals.
"I told you I'm fine, so will you please let Yamamoto know so we can have this trial." He stated annoyed crossing his arms while allowing his brow to crease into his usual scowl.
"Alright I will let him know, get some rest Ichigo." Unohana stood from next to Ichigo and walked out of the room without turning to look back, Orihime soon took her leave as well, leaving Ichigo and Grimmjow alone.
"You sure you're feeling alright Ichi," he stated flatly as he stood against the far wall to Ichigo's right, leaning against it with his arms crossed and one leg folded over the other.
"Yes Grimm." Ichigo turned to look at him as he stood and strode over to the blue haired man. He stopped when he was just inches from the man's face, Ichigo held onto Grimm's arms as he planted a kiss onto the pursed lips in front of him. Grimmjow relaxed beneath the kiss and was soon kissing him back. He slid his tongue along Ichigo's lower lip asking for entrance, which he was allowed, pushing in to explore the heated cavern.
They stood enjoying their make out session, but not allowing themselves to go any further, for they needed to be ready for anything tomorrow. Grimmjow kept his thoughts swirling in the back of his mind. The one that is still here seems be much stronger than the one who attacked me and Ichigo, if that is true it is going to take the efforts of several captains combined to bring them down.
They went to bed exhausted from the events of the day. They would need to rise early for the trial, which they had no idea what the outcome would be. On one hand Grimmjow was furious he wanted whoever that person was to die, but then again the figure had saved Ichigo and what he could figure his life as well. It had not been the figure in the black hoodie to cause all of the destruction within the soul society, but they were both somehow connected it seemed and keeping at least one under their control was a big accomplishment.
Both Ichigo and Grimmjow would just have to wait and see what would happen at the trial tomorrow, both on the fence about what was to happen to the figure confined in the dungeons.
In the dungeons the winds howled from just outside the lit dungeon cell. Captain Sui-Feng and Captain Abari stood just outside the bars keeping a watchful eye on the figure who now sat below the window quietly, it almost seemed as if they were asleep, but of course the figure was still wide awake preparing for the events of tomorrow.
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Hey guys thanks again for reading this far! I have been super busy lately and it took me some time to get this written out. The fight scenes were a struggle to write because I don't feel like I provided enough detail, let me know what you think! I will probably go to updating a chapter every month, so heads up for that! Thanks again for reading, write me some reviews guys, love to hear your thoughts!