Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

A Task Force

The seconds passed by painfully slowly as Ichigo lay in the darkness of his room, trying to force his racing mind to quiet itself enough for him to fall asleep. He relaxed his body little by little, focusing first on his feet and working his way up. Once he'd reached his shoulders he stopped, noticing that the spot where Rukia had rested her head a few hours earlier still felt strangely warm. It was actually kind of pleasant, he noted thoughtfully.

Thinking of Rukia sent a pang of guilt through his stomach. She was undoubtedly sleeping soundly just feet away from him, the only thing separating them the thin piece of wood that made up his closet door. As much as Ichigo wished she'd listened to him earlier, and given her safety a higher priority, he knew that he really didn't want her to leave. He scowled, irritated with himself for being so selfish. The upcoming battles with these supposed "Elementals" would most likely put an end to the problem of his inner hollow…although he wasn't exactly sure yet if the end would be a favorable one.

It's gonna be fun…you gonna let me fight these guys? asked his hollow, slowly seeping out of the emotional cage Ichigo previously constructed for it.

Like hell I will, Ichigo thought back, grinning a little. There's no way I'm letting you have all the fun.

Ha! Good answer…but you'd better watch your back…I'll be watching your every move, waiting for my chance to beat you into the ground…

Ichigo rolled over onto his side, grimly determined to set things straight once and for all. We'll see about that, he retaliated, waiting in silence until he could be sure that his hollow was finished toying with him for the night. Satisfied that their short conversation really had come to a close, Ichigo allowed sleep to take over, his reflections on the previous day tapering off into a dark nothingness.

--

Waiting to meet back with Urahara the next day proved extremely agonizing. Ichigo found it nearly impossible to concentrate in school that day, thoroughly preoccupied with playing each and every scenario for the coming events out in his mind. If Urahara was wrong about the Elementals, and there really was no imminent danger, what would he do? How would he find the strength to hold back his inner hollow? Ichigo had indeed grown complacent, comfortable, and stagnant, which inevitably resulted in the mess he now found himself in. His bored and unchallenged state provided his hollow with the perfect opportunity to catch Ichigo off guard and make his move to assume control. Ichigo needed something to fight for, a reason to grow stronger. Without that, he was nothing.

There's always going back to the Vizards, Ichigo sighed, not exactly thrilled at the prospect of running back with his tail between his legs to the ones who'd originally taught him how to control his hollow. Besides, he thought, what else is there that they can do for me? Ichigo didn't know if he could survive another encounter with his hollow, at least not in his current state. When he fought the sad excuses for hollows that wandered into Karakura Town there was no passion, no sense of urgency. He just moved blindly through the motions, barely feeling any satisfaction when the monster collapsed at his feet. Where had his determination gone? Since when had his life become so much less fulfilling? Ichigo didn't exactly know, and he didn't exactly wish to. For better or for worse, he now had a chance to find himself again, and that was all that mattered.

Ichigo eventually made it to Urahara's shop, slightly dismayed to find that he was the first one there. Or, rather, that Rukia wasn't. Something about her presence lately seemed to tie him down to the reality he seemed to be losing.

"Kurosaki," someone said sharply, coming up quickly behind him.

Ichigo jumped, spinning around to see Michiko standing behind him.

"Oh! Hey there…" he responded, not exactly sure what to say to her.

"Why are you waiting outside?" she asked, knocking lightly on the door before twisting open the handle.

Ichigo stared at her. "I thought Urahara was gonna come get us when he was ready…"

Michiko shrugged, pushing open the door. "He'd have locked it if he wanted us out. Are you coming?"

"Of…of course I'm coming! Why would I want to wait out here like an idiot?" Ichigo snapped, somewhat embarrassed with himself.

"Then don't," she replied, her eyes following him as he walked past her into the building.

Ichigo didn't quite know how to feel about this Michiko person popping in all of a sudden and ordering him around with such superiority. He couldn't say he wasn't used to such treatment, especially from members of the Soul Society, although that didn't make it any less irritating.

"Kurosaki-san, Nakamura-san," Urahara greeted, smiling as they walked into the back room to find Uryuu, Rukia, and Yoruichi Shihouin, a long time friend of Urahara and former Gotei-13 captain, seated at the table.

"Did you know I was waiting out there?" Ichigo demanded. Urahara grinned sheepishly, refusing to say anything. "Why didn't you come get me? How long were you planning on letting me wait? And you…neither of you thought to come and let me in?" he asked, pointing dramatically at Rukia and Uryuu.

"Ichigo, don't hold me accountable for what you do," Rukia sighed. Uryuu nodded, closing his eyes.

"Are you finished?" Yoruichi asked Ichigo, and although she narrowed her eyes menacingly in his direction, Ichigo could tell she was just as amused at his oblivious nature as the others.

"Whatever," he grumbled, dropping himself down next to Rukia.

"Shall we begin?" asked Urahara. The table nodded in agreement, Ichigo's heart pounding violently on the inside of his chest.

"For the past few days I've been investigating what Urahara and I believe to be Yasuo's hideout," Yoruichi explained, the flicker of amusement on her face from a moment ago completely absent. "I learned a couple of very enlightening things, the first being that Yasuo and his army, yes, army," she repeated, "of Elementals are indeed trying to take revenge on the Soul Society by upsetting the balance of souls."

Ichigo exhaled slowly, all the tension that had built up in his body until this point floating away. He had his second chance, his shot at redemption. He glanced at Rukia, waiting to see her reaction. She closed her eyes and nodded, her face adopting a certain weariness that Ichigo had never seen in her before. If anything, he decided, he would have to end this quickly, for her sake.

"The other thing I discovered," Yoruichi continued, "is that Yasuo is dead."

"What?" Uryuu interrupted, wrinkling his brow in confusion. "What do you mean dead? How can he be controlling the Elementals if he isn't alive?"

"That's exactly what we need to find out," answered Yoruichi. "Yasuo is dead, and yet the Elementals are still carrying out his will. Something must be controlling them," she said, "and we need to figure out what it is so we can destroy it. Hopefully if we can destroy the source, the Elementals will be much easier to deal with. If anything, they will stop killing hollows, and as of right now, that is our first priority."

"So what do you propose we do?" asked Michiko, crossing her arms.

"I've already spoken with the Soul Society about this, and they agree that the first thing we should do is create a small task force to investigate the Elementals and, if we can, identify the source of their power. We'll act accordingly based on our findings. So Nakamura," she said, turning to Michiko, "you will be accompanying me, since your experience in the second division will be useful for this type of mission. Ishida, I'd like you to come as well, because you seem to be able to sense the Elementals the most effectively out of all of us. Is that all right?" she asked, glancing at Uryuu.

"I'd rather not involve myself with matters of the Soul Society…but I would like to conduct an investigation of these Elementals myself. And since you're not directly affiliated with the Soul Society, I suppose it's all right," he said.

Yoruichi nodded. "And lastly, Kuchiki, I'd like you to come along to round out the group. It'll be a good way for you to gain experience," she said.

Ichigo glared at her, extremely upset that he was blatantly excluded from the mission.

"Have you forgotten someone?" he growled.

Yoruichi looked quickly around the table. "No," she said. "Well, you can all get going. I'll give you three days to prepare, and then-"

"I WAS TALKING ABOUT ME!" Ichigo exclaimed, standing up.

Yoruichi laughed. "And why would I take you along on a task like this with me? The success of the mission depends on the group members being able to effectively suppress their spiritual pressure, which you have absolutely no talent in. Whatsoever. You'd give us away in about half a second."

Ichigo scowled, unwilling to give up so easily.

"I'll learn how to suppress my spiritual pressure," he argued. "I mean how hard can it be?"

"Hah, I'll tell you what, Ichigo. If you're so determined to tag along, then I'll give you three days to learn how to do it. On the third day I'll be testing you, and if you pass my test, I'll let you come," she challenged.

Ichigo smirked, delighted by the prospect of this new project.

"You've got yourself a deal."

***

"So, how exactly do you plan to learning how to learn how to conceal your spiritual pressure in three days?" Rukia asked Ichigo once they'd returned to his room.

Ichigo looked at her strangely, tilting his head in confusion. "What do you mean how do I plan on learning it? You'll teach me, right?"

Rukia stared at him.

"You want…me…to teach you," she repeated slowly, making sure she understood him clearly. Ichigo nodded. "And just what makes you think I'd be capable of teaching you something like that in such a short amount of time?"

"I don't know, you're good at this stuff, right?" Rukia rolled her eyes. "Please, I need you to do me this favor," Ichigo pleaded, almost desperately.

Rukia sighed, well aware that she would give in to his request sooner or later. Besides, she needed something to distract her from worrying about the current state of the world. After meeting with Urahara and Yoruichi earlier in the day Rukia felt plagued by an uncomfortable restlessness that churned within her, growing to anxiety, and then to dread…but seeing Ichigo standing in front of her, stubbornly confident in his nonexistent skills, put her mind at least a little more at ease.

"Fine," she conceded, unable to suppress a small smile as she saw the grin that broke out across Ichigo's face.

"Great. Let's get started," he said, waiting for Rukia's instructions.

"All right…I suppose I'll begin by explaining the basis by which shinigami are able to manipulate their spiritual pressure. I'll use diagrams so that you can comprehend…what?" she asked, Ichigo's grin regressing into frown.

"Not the diagrams…" he groaned.

"And just what is wrong with my diagrams? The only reason I'm forced to use them is because there's no other way someone like you could possibly understand the intricate and complicated art of kidou! Give thanks that I've taken time out of my busy day to-"

"ALL RIGHT, I get it, just draw the damn diagrams!"

"So ungrateful," muttered Rukia, reaching for a pen and a pad of paper. "This," she began, sketching a scowling bear with many wavy lines radiating away from him, "is you."

"That's me?"

"Yes."

"What are those lines!?" Ichigo demanded, slightly horrified by Rukia's interpretation of him.

"It's your spiritual pressure, IDIOT!" she snapped, throwing the pen at him. "The reason they're going away from you is because you barely control your spiritual pressure at all. You're constantly leaking it out," she explained.

"So what do I do to stop it?" asked Ichigo, rubbing his temple at the point where the pen struck him.

"In theory, it's quite simple…you clear your mind of all emotion, and just focus on sensing your own spiritual pressure and pulling it back to your body. Gather it into as tight of a ball as you can…and the ball should feel like…hmm, how can I say this…it should feel like it's rotating," said Rukia thoughtfully.

"Rotating?" Ichigo repeated skeptically.

"Yes, rotating…"

"So…is that all?"

"Well, once you've reached that point, in order to make your spiritual pressure completely disappear you have to stop the rotation. The more you can slow it down, the fainter your spiritual pressure will be. Here, I'll demonstrate…"

Rukia closed her eyes, concentrating on all of the different threads of spiritual pressure in the room. It wasn't difficult for her to differentiate her own threads from Ichigo's violent, overpowering ones, and it took her barely any time at all to gather them tightly together and slow the rotation of her spiritual pressure down to nothing at all.

"Can you sense the difference?" she asked Ichigo, who nodded, intently watching her every move. Rukia felt her pulse quicken; there was something thrilling about the way his eyes followed her and nothing else. "Now, if I want to maintain the state that I am currently in," she continued, glancing away, "I'll need to constantly focus on stopping the rotation of my spiritual pressure. If I ever lose concentration," she said, releasing the technique a bit, "my spiritual pressure will leak out again."

"Seems simple enough," Ichigo said. "I'll have this mastered in no time…Yoruichi-san will be speechless when she sees me," he snickered.

"We'll see about that," Rukia said. "It's easier said than done. Why don't we go outside and practice a bit?" she suggested.

"Fine."

Rukia brought Ichigo back to the park where she had previously met with Uryuu, figuring that the space was large enough for Ichigo to practice without harming anyone. Not that she thought he would be able to get very far with the technique, at least not today.

"Okay, go ahead and give it a try," she said, sitting on the picnic bench and watching Ichigo as he sat against a tree, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. Rukia laughed to herself; the image of Ichigo in such exaggerated concentration was undeniably amusing. It became less amusing, however, as the minutes dragged on, and soon an hour had passed without Ichigo so much as putting a dent in his overwhelming spiritual pressure.

"Ichigo," she finally called, hopping off of the bench and walking towards him, "take a break."

He nodded, resting his head in his hands. "It's harder than I thought," he admitted.

"Yes," Rukia agreed, sitting next to him. "Do you want a tip?" she offered, anxious to speed up the process.

"Sure," Ichigo said. "I'll take anything."

"All right…so when you're trying to clear your mind, picture just one thing that you can focus on. Like…a number, or a letter, or a leaf or something. That will help you get rid of any other thoughts that are clouding your concentration. Give it a try when you're ready."

"Okay." Ichigo closed his eyes once more, breathing in and out in a slow, even rhythm.

After about ten minutes Rukia began to feel the air around her become lighter. She pinpointed Ichigo's spiritual pressure, realizing that it was slowly but surely decreasing. She sat completely still, not wanting to disturb his progress.

"I think…I'm getting…the hang of it," Ichigo said, his voice strained. He obviously was unable to reign in all of his spiritual pressure, and Rukia could hardly blame him granted just how much of it there was.

"Yes, you're doing a great job," she encouraged him. "It seems like this is as far as you can go for now…now, slowly release your-hey, Ichigo, I said SLOWLY!" she yelled, suddenly knocked backwards by the sheer force of Ichigo's spiritual pressure rushing out of his body.

"Sorry! You okay?" he asked, leaning over her.

Rukia nodded, pushing herself up onto her feet. "I'm fine…you'll just have to work on your control," she said, eyeing Ichigo angrily.

Ichigo suddenly jumped, his substitute shinigami badge springing to life to announce the presence of a hollow.

"It's not far from here," Rukia said, checking her cell phone. "I'll handle this one, you just keep on practicing. Now that you've got the basic idea down you really don't need me here," she said.

Ichigo nodded. "Okay…just be careful."

"Yeah, well, you too! Don't hurt any of the humans," she warned, hoping that she wouldn't regret leaving Ichigo alone to work on his kidou skills.

Rukia sprinted across the park, stopping when she reached the location of the flashing dot on her screen.

"Where are you…" she muttered, unable to sense the hollow's presence.

"Get out of here, Kuchiki," someone hissed sharply. Rukia whirled around to see Michiko bracing herself, her hand tightly gripping the hilt of her zanpakutou.

"What's going on?" Rukia demanded, but stopped, inhaling sharply as she saw a blonde man walking slowly towards her, casually brushing pieces of dirt off of an expensive looking suit. She looked at the behind him, shocked to see a huge fissure in the grass.

"…An Elemental," Michiko said, unsheathing her sword as he advanced closer to where she stood.

"Is that what you're calling us? How cute," laughed the Elemental, rubbing his hands together and pressing them into the ground. The ground split open, forcing Rukia and Michiko to jump backwards and out of the way.

"I'll immobilize him," Rukia yelled, drawing her zanpakutou. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," she said, her sword taking on its trademark snowy white glow. The Elemental darted towards her. "First dance, white moon!" she called, watching as the Elemental became trapped in a column of ice extending towards the evening sky.

The ice began to crack, and suddenly a hand burst through, thrashing helplessly at the air.

"Good job. I'll finish this," said Michiko, holding her zanpakutou in front of her. "Flash, Kaminari," she ordered, placing the blade in the palm of the Elemental's outstretched hand. He instinctively closed his fingers over it, and just as he did the blade began to spark violently, quickly releasing several bursts of electricity through his arm and into his body. The column of ice shattered, and the Elemental collapsed, blood spilling from the places where he'd tightly locked his hand onto Michiko's zanpakutou.

"What…what should we do with him?" Rukia asked.

"I'll make sure he's dead and take his body to Urahara," answered Michiko, nudging his shoulder with the edge of her sword.

"Do you need my help?"

"No. Besides, Kurosaki is about to come rushing to your aid," she pointed out, nodding at Ichigo running towards them at full speed.

Rukia blushed despite herself. "He tends to do that…"

"Well, it doesn't matter to me…I'll be going," she said, hoisting the Elemental over her shoulder and jumping out of sight.

"Rukia! What's going on? I saw the ice from your zanpakutou," Ichigo shouted breathlessly. "What the hell happened to the ground?" he exclaimed, noticing the two huge fissures in the earth.

"It's fine," she assured him, not in any mood to answer his inevitable onslaught of questions. Between the formation of Yoruichi's task force, Ichigo's kidou lessons, and this most recent encounter with the Elemental, Rukia wanted nothing more than to crawl into her closet and sleep away the day. "Let's just go home…"

A/N: Kaminari (the name of Michiko's zanpakutou) means "thunder/lightning" (at least according to Wikipedia)...

This chapter was longer than I intended it to be, but I'm finally done with all the talking/explanations, yay. Things will be getting more interesting from here on out!

Please review! Let me know both what's working and what isn't...I love constructive criticism! And thank you to everyone who's reviewed/subscribed/faved...you all get cookies :3