Chapter 6
The three Espada had dropped into their combat stances, waiting for the shinigami to make their move. Hitsugaya Toshiro sighed. It seemed like Aizen had somehow bended the prodigal shinigami representative to his will. Slowly, his hand reached for Hyourinmaru, attached to his back, unsheathed it and brought the blade in front of him for a defensive stance. Behind him, the rest of the Advance Guard followed suit.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." The tenth division captain pointed his zanpaktou at the Espada leader. "I don't know what Aizen did to you, but know this. If you side with Aizen, Soul Society will show you no mercy." He brought the hilt of Hyourinmaru to his chest, "Sit upon the frozen skies, Hyourinmaru!" The skies darkened as the 10th division captain called upon his zanpaktou's power.
Ichigo chuckled behind his mask. Shikai, eh? How dull. Might as well let Grimmjow and Yammy have the fun, these punks ain't worthy of fighting me. "Grimmjow." He turned to gaze at the sixth espada. "You do whatever you want with these guys." With that,
he seated himself on the concrete, crossing his feetHe placed Zangetsu on the ground next to him and grasped the hollow mask covering his face and moved it aside. The shinigami know I am here. No need to spend my energy. An invisible force kept the mask in place, defying gravity.
The shinigami captain looked baffled. "What do you think you're doing, Kurosaki?" Broken from his reverie, the espada shot a glance at the young captain. "Shut up and focus on the fight, Taichou-san." He nodded at Grimmjow.
Grimmjow glanced at the espada over his shoulder, then turned around to look at the shinigami with a grin on his face. "Lets go, Shinigami!" He unsheathed his zanpaktou and ran at the shinigami closest to him.
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"Renji! Watch out!" Too late, Grimmjow thought, as he dissappeared and reappeared in front of Renji in Sonido.
What the hell was that? So fast... didn't even see him..."Urghh..." Renji fell to the ground, blood exploding from the deep cut in his torso. His vision began to blur as he tried to make out the voices sounding around him, but unable to clearly discern them, due to ringing in his ears.
"Renji!" Rukia couldn't believe the scene unfolding before her eyes. "This must be a dream ", she thought. There was no way Ichigo would simply sit around doing nothing when his friends were getting hurt. Or would he? Rukia gazed at the orange-haired teenager, looking for any signs of the Ichigo she knew. She looked at his eyes, trying force him to break free of Aizen's indoctrination. She closed her eyes, willing herself to awaken from the nightmare. This is a dream...I must simply wake up...wake up! Wake up! Wake up! SlowlyHer eyes fluttered open, fully expecting to wake up in the familiar closet in the Kurosaki household.
Everything was still the same. Ichigo was still seated behind the Espada, quietly observing the spectacle in front of him, a bored look on his face. Renji was still laying in a pool of his own blood, his face blank. Ikkaku and Yumichika were exchanging blows with Yammi while Grimmjow was battering Hitsugaya-Taichou's defense with powerful blows.
Ichigo... I have to make him come back to his senses! With newfound determination, Rukia
grasped Shirayuki's hilt tighter as she approached the seated form of her friend. He's just sitting there...with that expression on his face. As if...nothing...mattered? The Espada turned around to look at the approaching Shinigami.
The orange-haired espada glared at the Shinigami in front of him. She must be in a hurry to die to approach me directly. These guys are no match for Yammi or Grimmjow, and they are just weaker among the espada. Does she think she can take me on her own? With a sigh, Ichigo stood up and hoisted Zangetsu over his shoulder, ready to cut his opponent down.
To his surprise, the female shinigami made no move to attack him, although she was pointing her zanpaktou at him. "What is it you want, woman? Grimmjow over there is just about to finish off your comrades. Shouldn't you be helping them instead of committing suicide like this?" The espada stared at the shinigami's near-violet eyes, sensing something familiar, but not being quite able to put his hand on what it was.
"Ichi..go? What did Aizen do to you? What happened?" Her tone was soft and pleading, catching the espada completely off-guard.
He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before replying:
"What is it that you mean when you say "what Aizen-sama did to me?" I exist for Aizen-sama and his designs, his goals are my goals, his will is my will." His tone was calm and filled with resolve.
"What are you saying Ichigo!? What about your friends? Your family? Everything you fought to protect? Rukia was shocked at the way Ichigo was talking, it was as if he had been brainwashed. The Kuchiki looked at Ichigo's face for any sign of recognition at the mention of his family, his friends, anything at all. There was nothing. His eyes were empty, Just like that Ulquiorra, she thought. As she studied his eyes with her gaze, she noticed the bone-white hollow mask on the side of his face. Could it be? Did Ichigo's inner hollow take over?
"I have no such things. My fellow Espada are the only thing close to a family that I have. I fight for Aizen-sama. I got no clue what you're talking about." The espada was getting tired of this meaningless conversation, the woman was obviously delusional. "But that's enough talk. You gonna attack me or do I have to kill you already, Shinigami-san? I'm kinda interested in what that pretty sword of yours can do." Ichigo moved his zanpaktou in front of him, assuming a defensive stance.
"Very well, hollow. I'll show you." She twirled the pure-white blade around whilst uttering the release command: "Mae, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia gripped the blade with two hands and dropped into the traditional battle stance. "Tsugi No Mai!" Five gashes of ice erupted on the concrete beneath her, spirit particles flowing from them and gathering for the freezing attack. "Hakuren!" The icy mass of spirit particles flowed out in an avalanche, encasing the Espada in a block of ice. Rukia jumped forward and slashed through the ice, blade connecting with the hollow mask, shattering it to pieces.
In a surge of reiatsu, the icy prison shattered as the top Espada leaped towards the unseated shinigami. Mid-flight, he brought his hand up to focus reiatsu into a Kidou-spell and muttered the chant: Bakudou "#61: Ryokuyoroukou!" Six bars of light trapped Rukia in place, forcing her to the ground for support. Kidou!? Ichigo never knew any Kidou...!
"Tell me. Why did you only set out to destroy my mask?"
"I...You're a hollow! Destroy the mask and you die!" This doesn't make sense!? His hollow isn't in control?
"Tsch. As you can see, I'm still here." He brought his hand up, white liquid matter already materializing into it. Within moments, a mask with red streaks formed. "This is what you wanted eh? Tough luck." slowly, he brought the mask up and pressed it to his face. He opened his eyes, revealing deep yellow orbs and black sclera. "Mine is a mask not easily destroyed."