Ichigo burst out into the pouring rain and stopped in the empty lot in front of the Shoten. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been so long, he wondered if he could still sense them. Spirit Ribbons. It a took a moment, but they revealed themselves quite easily. Their were countless white ones, some he recognized as Chad's, Uryu's, Orihime's, and Karin's, but only six red ones. One was his own, and was connected to his chest, three came from within the Shoten, one came from his home, and the last one... was due south, moving towards the park. Ichigo smiled and took off after it, shunpo-ing from rooftop to rooftop. He quickly caught up with his target at the edge of the park, but decided to stay in the shadows.
"Maybe Yoruichi was right... it'll be fun to surprise the little midget." Ichigo said to himself. Ichigo was able to remain completely hidden from Rukia (He forgot to return Urahara's coat), and watched from up in a tree as Rukia waited for the hollow to appear. It turned out to be an adjuchas. Not very big, not very smart, but still very dangerous. It wasn't anything Rukia couldn't handle, but it wasn't something that she could take down in fell swoop either. Or so Ichigo thought.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called on her Zanpaku-to. "Tsugi no mae, Hakuren!" Rukia pointed her glowing white blade at the hollow, and a stream of snow and ice shot out, quickly enveloping the hollow. But Rukia wasn't finished yet. She extended her hand, aiming her palm at the hunk of ice.
"The one who reigns, Mask of blood and flesh, All of creation, Flap of wings, The one who carries the title of human! In the name of truth and temperance, dig your claws into the wall of sinless dreams! Hado, 33! Sokatsui!" She chanted, and a blue flame burst from her palm. It struck the frozen hollow, which shattered onto several small pieces. Rukia sighed and proceeded to sheathe her blade, when the ammorphous hollow blobs began to convulse. They slithered towards each other, and perfectly reformed to their original state. The hollow still did nothing, it simply sat there with a blank look on its face.
"Tch... aren't you persistent..." Rukia snorted. "Hado 4, Byakurai!" A pale bolt shot from Rukia's fingertip. It scored a direct hit on the hollow and made a large hole. The hole instantly closed itself. Still, the hollow sat completely unmoving, mouth agape.
"Alright, you're starting to irritate me." Rukia charged toward the hollow, hand extended. "Hado 1! Sho!" The hollow was tossed forcefully back and slammed a tree. Rukia charged at it again, hacking and slashing until she was out of breath. Again, the hollow reformed, but still didn't move. This continued for several minutes, and Rukia got more creative each time. Ichigo was sitting in the tree, laughing every minute of it. Finally, after twenty minutes, Ichigo decided to step in. He flanked to left, far out of Rukia's field of view. He grabbed Zangetsu's hilt, positioned himself properly, and raised Zangetsu above his head.
"Getsuga...Tensho!" Ichigo yelled as he swung his overgrown blade down. The beam struck and completely obliterated the hollow, this time doing too much damage for it to reform. All Rukia saw from this was an intense blue light strike and kill the nuisance of a hollow. She was flabbergasted, but she knew that technique. She ran to where the hollow was and turned toward the source of the light. But, she saw nothing. Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind her.
"Hey." Ichigo said casually, as if the two had spoken on the previous day.
"Ichigo..." Rukia whispered.
(A/N: Ughh...I can't write fight scenes...I'm sorry this is so terrible. For the last two lines, think episode 54, when Ichigo blocks the Kiko'oh. I'm sorry if the Spirit Chant isn't right, I did it form memory, not to mention it was the english version, so...Yeah. Next chapter is last, but also longer than all the other chpaters put together for some reason. Review, make an IchiRuki fanboy happy! Or Rukia will come after you.)