Sorry this took so long, I kinda took some time off to actually READ THINGS. So many fic updates and stories I've wanted to read lately but have been too busy to read or I've been working on my own stories which were plainly going nowhere as writers block hit my dangly man parts in barely controlled rage, forcing me into a small ball of pain, misery and indecision. Thankfully when I erased part of this chapter and changed a few things I was able to write a good portion of it in one sitting which got my writing flowing again.
Also, as a side note I had to help some of my family move into a new place so that took an ungodly amount of time as well, and it STILL isn't finished...
Some strippers might have also been involved at some point as well. You all know how that goes, right?
Alright then, first off let's just say HOT DAMN people like Akitsu, not that I didn't expect it since one of my reviewers was right when they said that she has a large fan base. And who wouldn't fanboy over her? She's like a Cloud cookoolander Rei Ayanami. Silent, Cold, Busty, Lacking any sort of modesty and regularly forgets to wear her panties. All she needs is a bacon version of that bondage suit of hers and I will get on my knees and debase myself before God and Country to marry that woman.
I've decided to cut back on the AN's today because I love you guys, even the flamers and critics. I've been kinda mean to you all the last few AN's so here's some furious lovin from the Haz man and a longer than normal chapter.
Now lets do this.
Fic o the day: Naruto's Compensation by DisobedienceWriter A story where Naruto loses a leg, still wants to be a ninja but the Hokage deny's him, this sets off a chain of events for Naruto to become not only the strongest Puppeteer in the world, but the strongest ninja in general.
Song/vid of the day: Never could have been worse from the Trigun OST This my dear readers is a classic. Back when Anime were epics of badassery and followed their own moral code of awesomeness. The only Anime for me in recent years that brought the nostalgia home quite like those bygone days was Gurren Lagann. If you haven't seen anime like Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Yu Yu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, DBZ, Rurounin Kenshin... if you haven't seen at least one of these I will personally make it my life goal to find you, slap the bitch out of you, then sit you down in front of a TV to show you the folly of your blasphemous ways. I carry the holy scriptures in a CD case wherever I go so you can be damn sure of it.
Word/s of the day: Rhetorical. Don't know why, but I love this word.
Disclaimer, I don't own Bleach or Sekirei, the people who own it, own it.
-ooo-
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback
Narration/machines talking
"Hollow talking"
'Hollow Thinking'
-ooo-
Chapter 6: A Friendly Spar and Talking Tree's
The morning light of dawn peeked through the open curtains of Maison Izumo's window's, the rays of light hitting a certain Fullbringer right in the eyes.
"Ngh." Ichigo groaned, Shifting slightly in his semi awareness. A sigh escaped the Fullbringer's lips as he felt a wonderful softness surround him on all sides, the comforting weight and heat of several bodies lying next bringing him out of his slumber...wait...what?
Ichigo's eyes opened blearily, to take a good look at his surroundings. He could feel Musubi on his left again, still dressed in the nightgown she had worn during the apartment attack. Her breasts (or his arm) had wandered again last night and were again enjoying their place around said limb. A quick glance to his stomach confirmed that Yashima was there, dressed in one of his white T-shirts, on her making the shirt look like a small dress due to the size difference. A small frown appeared on her face as he shifted a bit to get comfortable, she seemed to move away from him but at the same time grab hold of his side harder than before. Ichigo grimaced a bit at the girls grip, apparently she was still feeling conflicted about him being her new Ashikabi, he'd have to try and speak to her today and at least see if he could fix this somehow. Sending a mental feeler down to make sure little Ichigo was playing nice Ichigo turned to see why his right arm felt so heavy...only to find himself staring into Akitsu's slate gray eyes.
Ichigo blinked, ah... last night was a thing... riiight. "Umm, good morning Akitsu..." He greeted the woman, the event's of last night coming back to him clearly.
The woman regarded him for a second, shifting slightly on his shoulder to get a better look before turning her head slightly to the side, a small blush apparent on her pale cheeks. "Ah..." Her eyes flicked to look at him again, the blush growing. "Good morning Ashikabi-sama."
Well that was odd, why was she blushing like... That's when Ichigo felt something different about how his right arm was situated. He followed the line of Akitsu's blue nightdress, something that she had borrowed from Musubi to sleep in. Let's see... chest, stomach, hips... annnd he found his hand resting right smack dab between the girls legs, a strange wet feeling on the tips of his fingers.
Ichigo's breath cut off in a short strangled noise as he quickly pulled the now damp hand as if he'd been bit (Really bad analogy in hindsight) from where it had somehow found itself in the night and wiped it off on his night shirt. Ichigo's turned away from the woman, face heating up in embarrassment. Thinking quickly Ichigo tried apologizing to the woman. "Uhhm, s-sorry about that Akitsu, I d-didn't mean for that to happen."
"Ah." She blushed again, looking away from him as well while shaking her head imperceptibly "It's fine, I liked it."
Ichigo's eyes snapped back to just stare at the woman in shock, jaw dropped and swallowing the lump that had found its way into his throat. He had to be the luckiest bastard in existence right now. Sleeping with three women next to him, two of them wearing skimpy nightwear, and the other clearly enjoyed the accidental situation that they'd found themselves in.
Hell, Akitsu had essentially given him enough to work on that he could, in theory, consider it consent to take it to the next level. Too bad he still didn't know if he wanted to do that with his Sekirei yet, damn indecisiveness!
Ignoring the incessant feeling that the universe was doing this just to mess with him, Ichigo extracted himself from the tangle of bodies, carefully moving Yashima into Musubi so that the fist Sekirei could cuddle with the weapon type. It helped that Yashima's expression had smoothed out after he stroked the girls back, relaxing her enough so that neither of the girls would wake for at least a little while.
Ichigo glanced over his shoulder at Akitsu, a curious thought at the front of his mind. "Akitsu, last night I gave you a pair of Musubi's panties to wear, what happened to them?" How the hell had they come off during the night? He took a quick glance around the room and noticed the panties were wadded up next to the dirty clothes hamper.
"Ah." She tilted her head to the side in a thoughtful expression. "I forgot." She replied after a long pause.
Forgot... more like took them off...
"..." Ichigo stared up at the ceiling, glaring a hole in it and hoping that he could will whatever deity that was fucking with him to burst into flames using his mind. They sat there and stared at each other until Ichigo lowered his head sighing in frustration. 'I just know fate is taunting me now, three hot women, one of whom WANTS me to take advantage of her... I don't know whether to hate or love my life right now...' Whatever the case, now that he was awake he helped Akitsu into one of Musubi's shirts and pant's, the size just a bit too small surprisingly but it was all they had until they could go shopping again.
The smell of something cooking in the other room tipped Ichigo off that Miya had started breakfast and the wonderful aroma was making his stomach grumble in protest. Ichigo snorted in amusement, he was beginning to sound like Musubi. Shaking his head, he got dressed himself and walked out of the room, Akitsu falling into step behind him.
Following the smell out into the hall they passed Uzume in the living room.
"Morning bro." She greeted. "So how's Akitsu doin?"
Ichigo nodded to the woman in greeting. "She's doing fine, I'm just glad you guys didn't mind me bringing a complete stranger here." He tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the woman in question who was shadowing his every move.
Uzume blinked, leaning over slightly to see the woman behind Ichigo. How the heck hadn't she seen her? "Morning Akitsu" The snow woman nodded her head like Ichigo had done before in greeting. She turned her attention back to Ichigo. "It's not like Miya would have tossed you out on the street for helping someone anyway, that would be kind of hypocritical of her own behavior."
"I heard that." Came the melodic voice of their landlord from the Kitchen.
"Doesn't make it any less true" Uzume shot back cheekily.
"Oh?" Miya peaked her head out from around the corner of the doorframe leading into the kitchen, a small eerily happy smile on her lips. "You seem to have forgotten your panties again Uzume." A dark aura sprang up causing Uzume's eyes to widen and her skin to pale drastically.
"C-calm down Miya, I-it was just a little slip, y-yeah that's it." She slowly scooted as far away from the woman as possible before taking off at a full run back up to her room.
The dark aura around Miya dissipated and the smile evened out to a small smirk as she watched the panty-less woman run off. With a sigh she shook her head. "I swear, that girl never learns."
"You know." Ichigo pointed out. "It's moment's like that I can understand why you were called a hollow."
Miya turned a questioning look on the man, a single eyebrow raised. "Oh?"
"That aura of yours is dark." Ichigo held a hand to his chin a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's similar to that of a Hollow's but different... it's definitely around lieutenants seat in power but strangely more dense."
"Oh?" She repeated again, this time taking a pensive pose while her voice took on a somewhat playful tone. "I don't know what you're talking about Ichigo-san."
Ichigo blinked. Wait what? "You mean you don't know you're releasing large amounts of Reiatsu in a miasma of killing intent behind your back?" Ichigo worded it like a question but strangely enough he felt it was more of a statement than anything else. The small Cheshire grin the landlady gave him made him roll his eyes. "Oh, so it's like that eh?" She was going to play dumb around him, Uzume and Kagari. She probably did that regardless anytime anyone asked her about her Reiatsu technique and it was only the fact that he wasn't exactly normal by human or Sekirei standards that she had even had that conversation with him the night before. It was childish... but most likely all in good fun. He may have never been a participant in those kinds of mind games but he always found it fairly amusing when his classmates did it to each other.
"Breakfast will be ready in a moment Ichigo-san, Akitsu-san." She nodded politely to the two, leaving the room with the smile still in place. The two sat down at the table, wondering what was taking Uzume so long to find a pair of panties, she was just as bad as Akitsu... actually no scratch that Akitsu was worse... or better if you considered why she... yeah need to stop that line of thought right there.
Ichigo shook his head and waited for Miya to bring in breakfast when the door to the front of the Inn opened and in walked a tired looking Kagari.
"I'm back." He replied with a yawn, slinking into the living room to plop down at the table and lean back comfortably. The white haired man yawned sleepily several times as he surveyed the room, taking note of Ichigo and Akitsu. He nodded to the former and blinked a couple times lazily as he stared at Akitsu. "Who's this?" he asked dully, leaning on one arm.
"Akitsu." Ichigo replied, the woman next to him giving a small dip of her head in greeting. "She's with me."
"Eh, it's none of my business." He shrugged, eyes flicking over to meet Akitsu's slate gray orbs. For a moment the two of them stared at each other. One in a blank stare, the other in minor curiosity, a curiosity that quickly turned to horror and a small amount of fear as Kagari and secretly Homura, the guardian of unwinged Sekirei's eyes sharpened in recognition while focusing on the woman's appearance. Now that he was paying attention he could feel the woman's power, and pared with her features he could guess who it was that was sitting only a few feet away. The Sekirei in front of him was number Zero-Seven Akitsu, a scrapped number and possibly one of the more dangerous Sekirei in the Plan. The white haired man tensed, his body no longer showing the tiredness that had been there but moments before.
Ichigo seemed to pick up on the man's sudden tension as he also tensed, leaning forward and glaring at the male Sekirei. "Is there a problem Kagari-san?" He spoke in a growl.
The self proclaimed guardian of unwinged Sekirei glanced his way, a small frown marring his face. "N-no, nothing's wrong Ichigo-san." The two shared a tense silence as they slowly got to their feet, ready for a fight if need be when suddenly a dark aura of malice filled the air.
"Ichigo-san, Kagari-san. Fighting in Izumo house is strictly...Prohibited."
The two turned their heads, one mechanically the other in abstract curiosity to see Miya standing in the kitchen doorway, wielding a ladle and a dark aura surrounding her with the beginnings of a what appeared to be a hollow mask poking out from behind her.
Homura started sweating, beads of moisture rolling down his back as he turned slowly to meet Miya's closed eye grin. Chuckling nervously the man raised his hands up, all manner of ill will towards Akitsu forgotten in the face of the growing need to maintain his extended existence in life. "W-we know Miya-san, it was just a m-misunderstanding, r-right Ichigo... Ichigo?" The man turned his head to get reassurances from the Strawberry when his entire world froze.
Ichigo was standing next to Miya, staring at the dark aura surrounding the woman, gently prodding the half mask that was formed behind her. With an almost clinical detachedness the Fullbringer grabbed a hold of the mask and pulled on it.
Pop!
Miya blinked and turned her head to see Ichigo standing there with the mask in his hands, staring down at it curiously. Then, seemingly satisfied he looked up at Miya and tilted his head, a single eyebrow raised. "Why didn't you tell me you had a hollow mask?"
Miya blinked again. Kagari blinked as well, a vague feeling of dread building in his stomach.
Ichigo frowned and took another look at the mask. It was composed of Reishi as far as he could tell, most people wouldn't have been able to even come close to touching the thing normally but with his Fullbringer powers he was able to actively handle the thing. What's more, Miya's Reiatsu was around high Lieutenant to low Captain at the moment, so, while it was uncomfortable and made a mild sweat appear on his skin, it was nowhere near as bad as facing down Kenpachi was, nor was it even a fraction of what Ullquiorra's once was when using his segundo etapa. Sure, he could feel that she was holding back quite a bit from what he could feel of her reserves, but that was besides the point, for anything of low captain spiritual power or less without any previous exposure to high amounts of Spiritual Pressure it would be absolutely terrifying. Which, he noticed, was the exact response that Kagari had, locking up tighter than a virgin girl in a house of ill repute. Akitsu on the other hand had widened her eyes slightly, hiding her body behind the short table as much as possible.
"Scary." She murmured quietly, just loud enough that everyone could hear her in the deathly quiet room.
"Ok nobody panic!" A sound of running feet could be heard from upstairs along with the voice. "I found some pan-" Uzume grabbed hold of the door frame into the living room, sliding on the wooden floors on her socks, only to freeze when she noticed the dark feeling in the room. "-Ties..." The girl finished, looking back and forth between Miya and Ichigo, who, to her utter horror was holding the cursed item that haunted her nightmares on stormy nights...and most other nights as well.
She let out a strangled noise before her eyes rolled up into her head, passing out completely on the living room floor.
"Ara?" Miya tilted her head in confusion now, the mask and Aura disappearing.
Homura joined Uzume in blissful unconsciousness.
-ooo-
"Why am I doing this again?" Ichigo scowled, standing across from Miya in the courtyard a wooden bokken in his hand and a similar weapon in the woman's delicate grasp.
"Because you were the poor bastard crazy enough to grab Miya's Hannya mask?" Kagari supplied from the sidelines, joined there by the other members of Izumo Inn.
After that little mask grabbing incident, and Kagari and Uzume were woken up, (screaming shrill screams while doing so.) They all, including Musubi, Yashima and Akitsu had sat down to a tense breakfast. In Ichigo's opinion it was one of the most uncomfortable meals he'd ever had. Mainly because Miya had gotten over her initial confusion and was now staring at him with an intense expression, jaw firm and a small grin on her face, like a wild animal about to attack and devour a hunk of fresh meat.
After the meal was finished Miya had calmly asked Ichigo to meet her out in the yard for a small spar. Apparently that was Miya speak for prepare yourself to die as both Kagari and Uzume had frozen at the way Miya had phrased her words. Kagari had sat back on his heels to prepare to bolt at a moments notice, Uzume was muttering something along the lines of 'Crazy bastard actually touched it.' and joined her fellow Sekirei in fleeing preparations. Frankly the way the two were acting sent a small chill down his spine, like he had caught the interest of some here-to-fore unspoken creature of the deepest pits of Hell.
"Go on Ichigo-sama!" Musubi cheered next to the others on the veranda, watching the soon to be duel to the metaphorical death... at least he hoped it was metaphorical, actual death would kind of suck at this point... Well, at least he had moral support...
"Ah." Akitsu spoke up in what Ichigo was beginning to understand as a verbal tic. "Do your best Ashikabi-sama." And that makes an even two for his side, now for a possible third nod of encouragement in the face of death?
Yashima, watched on in a detached silence, a small smile on her face. Maybe she was actually starting to accept him a little bit? Maybe... but he'd still have to get the girl to open up more, she had been far more outspoken from what he could tell when they had fought before. The least he could do was bring the girls fire back to her.
"Un, Ashikabi-sama" The quiet blond nodded her head slightly, showing that she was behind him as well.
Well then, Hero level set to maximum. Now let us face this beast head on!
Ichigo faced his opponent with a look of utter confidence on his face, both hands gripped on the bokken in his hands in a basic Zanjutsu stance.
Miya's eyes twinkled as she got into her own stance, an uncharacteristic predatory grin touching her lips.
Oh crap... ohcrapohcrapohcrap...
The first thing he felt was the wind blowing by his cheek as his instincts told him to tilt his head ever so slightly to the side. Which was a good thing as he found Miya's bokken occupying the space a moment later, sending a small breeze out from its edge.
Ichigo's eyes widened. 'Fast, is Miya really going all out on me?' She was currently about half as fast as his full power speed, but that level was still nothing to scoff at while he wasn't using his full powered form and Ichigo didn't really like that scenario one bit as he brought the edge of his blade up and knocked the woman's sword high. As the blade rose Miya drew her sword back preparing for another lunging strike as Ichigo's instincts told him to dodge.
Another lunge and another dodge, this time joined by a parry as the Fullbringer turned to the side and allowed Miya's bokken to slide along the length of his. With a twist his blade was sliding along the length of Miya's sword, on a direct collision course with the woman's face.
Miya's eyes widened as she raise the back end of her bokken up, blocking the strike and grinding the forward momentum to a halt.
Ichigo, wanting to put as much force behind him, pushed down on the woman's weak stance hoping to throw her back.
Unfortunately Miya anticipated this and placed a hand on the back of her bokken, holding the taller and heavier man off as the two separated, both eyeing each other with a larger amount of respect than before as understanding of how skilled they both were came to a shocking clarity.
In the blink of an eye the two were back at each other's throat, wooden blades clacking against each other in a harmony that sounded as much a song as a battle. A gutting slash from Miya was dodged by a small step back, then Ichigo stepped back in to deliver a strike on the woman's collarbone, only for another loud clacking sound to echo out, signifying the wooden sword met it's twin again in a solid guard.
The Fullbringer stepped forward into the woman's personal space, taking one hand off his blade and grabbing her clothing by hem and prepared to throw her, barely sliding under the woman's attempt to (Somehow) decapitate him with her bokken and flipped her over his shoulder in a throw that would have at least winded most as they struck the ground.
Not Miya apparently as the woman flipped mid-air to land in a crouch. She raised her sword up again and blocked the overhead swing as it came, moving to the side to let Ichigo over step himself and go off balance. The Fullbringer had prepared for this and dug the tip of his sword into the ground and as Miya went for a debilitating strike to his shins the man leapt over the attack, vaulting over his sword and landing behind the woman. Pulling his weapons tip out of the dirt, Ichigo brought it up to block a strike at his head, the two blades crossing in an almost cliche battle stance, the two blades pushing against each other and locked in a stalemate.
On the sidelines the spectators were silent, eyes widened at how the two were fighting.
"Holy shit." Kagari breathed, the white haired Sekirei watching as the two broke the clench and proceeded to go into the intricate dance of blocks and strikes that this 'spar' had apparently devolved... was that even the correct word for this? No, quite frankly the dance (And that's all it could be considered at this point) 'evolved' into something greater as the two rushed forward again, meeting attack for attack and blocking when they could. So far no one had made a solid strike on the other, mere glancing hits, wooden kisses that if it were a real blade would have barely left a scratch on otherwise unmarred skin.
Uzume stared in awe as well, and a small bit of fear as she watched an ordinary human go toe to toe against one of the strongest, if not the strongest Sekirei in the Plan. Sure, she was going easy on him but apparently so was he as neither of the two were even breathing hard at the moment. It quite frankly frightened the girl to think that a human could fight on par with even one of the weaker Sekirei, skill and power bordering on superhuman to anyone who didn't know any better.
Musubi... she was just chewing on the knuckles of her gloves in barely controlled glee as she watched her Ashikabi fight, apparently she'd gotten over the fear she'd held for her Ashikabi when Junichi had tempted the Fullbringer's ire. Now she was just enjoying the fumes of battle permeating the yard and rocking back and forth hoping to one day spar with her Ashikabi like Miya was.
Akitsu was silent as she watched her Ashikabi. A small raising of her eyebrows betraying the surprise and awe she felt just being in the prescience of the two skilled sword users. Sure, she had felt the man's strength and speed the night before when he had rescued her. This, was something entirely different. This was a test of skill and speed, both of whom seemed to be evenly matched in at the moment despite the handicaps that both were likely fighting under.
Yashima blinked several times as the fight in front of her unfolded. She wasn't surprised by her Ashikabi's power, she had experienced his wrath first hand and even now the man's hard eyes bored into her mind like the grim reaper preparing to take it's next victim. Only the soft caring eyes she had seen when she had awoken to her new Ashikabi had kept the girl from flinching away from the fight as a whole. Right now she felt the emotions through the link, as all his Sekirei did on some level. She felt the exhilaration, the rush of combat flow through her Ashikabi's veins. In a moment of clarity the girl realized that he was actually enjoying the battle, much like she would have if she had been fighting another Sekirei. So, with a curiosity born of wonder and a small amount of fear she watched her Ashikabi block another strike from Miya as she began pushing him back with raw power.
Ichigo grit his teeth as he ran more Reiryoka under his skin, supercharging his Korra and stopping the woman's advance. She had progressively been getting stronger and faster as the spar carried on, forcing the younger man to reinforce himself with Reiryoka, or risk losing before he ever began.
He could tell he was being tested, being pushed into fighting harder than what he was willing to show. It wasn't that he blatantly showed off his powers to everyone, or even tried to go beyond what most humans were capable. Normally anything that deserved his full power ended up dead or incapable of telling the tale but other than that he preferred to stick within the realm of human ability for the most part. If a master swordsman really looked at the fight that he was was currently participating in, they could tell that it was all well within human ability... well, human's who had spent decades in their craft yet were still young enough to apply those skills in high speed combat, but that was beside the point.
Miya had most likely felt his power on some level, felt it on par with her own and she was now pushing him to whatever limits he had. Him fondling her Hannya mask had probably just been a plausible excuse for her ire, but right now he could see the curious gleam in the woman's eyes. She had seen his potential the night they had talked and was testing him, she was slowly ascending the scales of what could be considered human and was pushing him past that into the superhuman category.
Then his back hit a tree.
'Fuck.' He cursed mentally only to freeze up for a second as a crying child's voice echoed through his mind.
'S-omeone...P-please help me' It whispered sadly.
'Wha-' He felt a minor burst of Reiryoka coming from the tree before the connection snapped, bringing the man back to reality, only to see the tip of a wooden bokken inches from his face and about to make contact.
Brown eyes turned honey golden for a single moment as his own bokken came up, a fraction of the very tip meeting the blade in an inborn instinct that had been beaten into him by countless opponents. One hand came off the handle and a large amount of Reiryoka focused in the tips of his fingers as a single hand shot out at the same time as the blade of Miya's bokken smashed into his shoulder, slightly weakened by his block and missing the decapitation shot that would have happened had it been an actual sword and had he not blocked how he did.
Surprise echoed through the Sekirei spectators at the loss but none were as loud as Musubi. "Awww Ichigo-sama was beaten." The girl started to pout when Kagari's words froze everyone.
"No, look again." The white haired Sekirei nodded to the bokken wielding pair, from their angle they couldn't quite see what had happened but both Ichigo's and Miya's eyes rested on the hand right under the landlady's chin. The thumb was tucked into the cup of the hand while the four fingers were sticking straight out in a nukite. It was a variant of a standard nukite strike he had learned years ago from one of his more esoteric martial arts teachers. For a skilled martial artist who had mastered the technique they could break boards and puncture watermelons with ease. For a Fullbringer practically thrumming with bringer light reinforced limbs?
He could have probably dented half inch steel plate.
The woman's larynx along with anything underneath it would have been crushed, Sekirei or not, sending the woman down into a choking heap to die a very slow, gasping death. Though, he wouldn't have been much better off with a cleaved shoulder blade, probably biting into any number of major arteries and veins underneath the bone. He would have probably died quicker from blood loss than the time it took the landlady to expire from asphyxiation
"A draw?" Uzume blinked in surprise, not quite able to grasp how something so unlikely could have happened.
"Seems like it." Kagari agreed, in his own mind the fact that a human could even match a Sekirei in combat staggered the man. A hand reached up to idly scratch an itch on his chest, only to stop and twitch for a moment as he registered the action. "Seems like it." He repeated again more quietly, standing up and walking back to his room.
"Th-that was awesome Ichigo-sama." Musubi leapt from her sitting position over to her Ashikabi and proceeded to grab his hands and hop like an excited rabbit with them clutched in her own. "Can we spar now, Ichigo-sama?"
Ichigo, for his part suppressed a chuckle as he watched the excitable girl bounce up and down, the action causing an interesting reaction from her chest. The fullbring shook his head in amusement, seemingly barely out of breath despite the fight he'd just been in. Idly he ruffled the girls hair, a small smirk on his lips. "Sure Musubi, I'll spar with you."
"Are you sure you should be doing that right now?" Miya questioned while nodding at his shoulder, a sharp little hint of curiosity in her voice. It seemed she had found something she was interested in during that little spar of theirs. "You received a nasty hit, can you fight without further injuring yourself?"
Ichigo snorted, adjusting his shoulder a few times. "Yeah, it's just a bruise. It should be good as new in a couple days, right now it's just a little sore."
"Very well." Miya gave Musubi a stern glare. "Don't go hurting him Musubi-san."
A muttered "And now he's fighting another one." came from Uzume, who was still in her own little world.
Musubi hopped back and brought her fists up just below her chin like a boxer, taking a few test punches and hopping from foot to foot a few times to loosen her muscles. "Alright Ichigo-sama!" A small grin formed on her lips. "Let's go!"
-ooo-
"Owwie." A few hours after the spar we find Musubi sitting in a large Japanese style bath, rubbing one of the numerous bruises on her body from where her Ashikabi had struck her, one particularly nasty one along her upper back where he had used an elbow strike to know her off balance.
"Miya told you to take it easy." Uzume sighed, leaning against the opposite side of the tub. "It's your own fault for taking it so far that Ichigo had to knock you out." She shook her head and chuckled. "Though it's still pretty crazy t hat he can knock out a Sekirei to begin with."
"Yeah, my Ashikabi is strong if he can... wait." Musubi blinked and tilted her head cutely while placing a finger to her chin. "How do you know about Sekirei Uzume-san?"
Uzume grinned and turned to show the woman her back where a Sekirei Crest stood out on her flushed skin. "Cuz I'm a Sekirei too, I'd be a pretty bad one if I didn't know what I was."
Musubi's eyes widened in surprise, then a small grin formed on her lips. "Oh!" Water splashed as Musubi leapt to her feet, stark naked as the day she was born to raise her fists, preparing to fight the Sekirei across from her.
Uzume stood and raised her hands as well, but instead of a hostile one she chose to raise her hands in a calming gesture. "Hey hey hey, what are you doing?"
"I'm gonna fight you!" Musubi spoke happily. "Ohh I've wanted to fight another Sekirei after my last battle didn't turn out so well." The girls grin widened . "I'm Sekirei number Eighty-Eight, Musubi. A fist type!"
"That's adorable." Uzume spoke quickly, waving her hands back and forth. "But didn't Ichigo tell you to relax and not try to fight or anything after he smacked you around?"
That seemed to stop the girls impending rush for a moment as her face which had been set and primed for combat, twisted in confusion. A her bottom lip poked out as she sat back down in the water. "Ichigo-sama did say that...I guess. But I really wanted to fight you." She whined wiggling back and forth with a angry pout.
'Disaster averted...for now' Uzume sighed. "Musubi, even if we did fight, I'm pretty sure-" A shiver went up the girl's spine. "-Pretty sure that Miya would have stepped in to stop the fight."
Musubi stared at the woman across from her for a moment before letting out a cute little sigh. "Alright... I won't fight you-" A playful little smile formed on her lips as she lunged for Uzume.
The other Sekirei's eyes widened comically as she was tackled into the water.
"-That doesn't mean I can't tickle fight with you!" Water splashed into the air as a pair of girlish giggles rang out.
-ooo-
Brown eyes glared a hole into equally brown tree bark as Ichigo stared at the tree that Miya had pushed him into earlier.
'S-omeone...P-please help me'
Those words echoed in his mind as clearly as the moment he heard them. It was a child's voice, that much he was certain but one that he'd never heard before.
"Heehee-Musu-hahahahah-Stop it-hohohohooo!" Ichigo blinked, then turned to stare at the bathroom window on the second floor bath where Musubi and Uzume's giggling could be heard.
The Fullbringer shook his head. "Don't even want to know." grumbling as he turned back to the tree. It was odd how he had felt that strange Reiryoka enter his body, it felt like... he couldn't quite place it, it felt almost like something was growing inside him, like a plant. Of course given that he was backed up against a tree at the time it was entirely possible for that to be the case. Maybe it was another Sekirei? One that could control plants? Eager to test that hypothesis the man placed a hand against the tree trunk and channeled his Spirit Energy into the bark. Almost immediately he felt the power return, almost like sonar to reveal a small trace of energy left behind by whatever it was that had tried to contact him.
'S-omeone...P-please help me'
That was definitely the message hidden within the energy, curious to see how far this idea could be taken the Fullbringer channeled even more energy into the tree before blasting it outward in a wave that traveled along the roots out into the ground. It was only a few moments later that he got a response.
'H-hello?" The same child's voice seemed to ask.
'Can you hear me, what's you name?' Ichigo asked within his mind, hoping that whatever form of communication this was would be able to transmit his thoughts.
'Yes! Yes I can!' The girls voice took on an almost ecstatic tone as she felt the reply. 'My name is Kusano. P-please, can you help me?'
'What kind of help do you need?' Ichigo asked curiously, although his thoughts were decidedly serious as he felt the girls apprehension and fear through the mental link.
'T-there's a bad lady looking for me, I don't want her to find me.'
'And where exactly ARE you?'
I-I'm in a garden. I need help, I've been hiding and -eep' The connection cut off there and a large amount of Reiryoka flared through the link, idly Ichigo felt more than heard a massive quake off in the distance. It was a fairly long distance off he noted with a growing apprehension. if he could feel it this far away then something catastrophic had to have happened wherever the girl was.
'Kusano! can you still hear me!?' Ichigo yelled into the link. All was quiet for a moment before the little girls voice came back in.
'Y-yes, I-I'm fine, the scary lady almost found me. I-I used my power to keep her away.'
Ichigo blinked, then stared off in the direction the quake had come from. 'My god, that was caused by her?' he wondered idly before cursing when he felt the girl nod in assent, apparently his mind wasn't quite so private at the moment.
'I'll find a place to hide, could you come help me mister, the bad lady is scary.'
The Fullbringer breathed deeply, the was definitely a Sekirei he was talking to, her Reiryoka feeling decidedly similar to his own Sekirei and if someone was chasing after her then this girl hadn't been winged yet and someone was trying to forcefully wing her. Anger flared up in the Man's chest as he felt the girls apprehension only heighten. She was scared, alone and hunted, something he wouldn't stand happening to a child, Ichigo remembered all to well Nelliel and her condition stuck in a little child's body, barely able to protect her self. This little girl may have power but whatever was chasing her was tenacious to chase her for more than a few hours. Coming to a decision the man nodded his ascent.
'Yeah, I'll come help you, you need to stay hidden and don't let the bad lady find you, ok?' Ichigo sighed when he felt the girl nod again.
'Don't worry, Kuu is good at hiding!'
'Good, I'll come get you as soon as I can'
Promise?' The girl sounded strangely hopeful there, like she was putting all her faith in him. Him, a random stranger and this little girl was waiting for him like a knight in shining armor.
That thought brought Ichigo up short. He wasn't feeling anything from his fullbring right now so it didn't mean that he 'had' to protect the girl, it's was as if his Fullbring's silence was meant to test his resolve, his dedication to his namesake. Another small burst of fear from the girl decided it, taking a deep breath Ichigo answered her. 'I...I promise. Now go hide, Kuu-chan I'll find a way to come and get you soon.'
'Thank's mister.'
'Don't worry about it, oh' He added as an after thought. 'And It's Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki.'
'T-thank you Ichi-san.' And like that the link went dead as the girl presumably went and hid.
The Fullbringer sighed turning away from the tree to walk back into the house.
"Something the matter Ichigo-san?" Miya, walked out from where she had apparently been watching Ichigo essentially 'talk' to a tree for the past ten minutes.
Seeing no reason to lie to the woman, despite the fact that she might think he was going a bit nutty in the head, he told her the truth. "A Sekirei contacted me through contact with that tree over there, apparently she's in trouble and that quake you no doubt felt earlier was due to her using her powers."
The purple haired landlady nodded grimly. "I knew something was strange when your guard dropped during our spar earlier, when I forced you into that tree your eyes glazed over for a second and a small burst of energy entered your body." She pointed to the tree he was just touching. "A similar energy came from the tree just a few minutes ago and peaked during that quake so it wasn't hard to assume." Her face went blank for a moment as she watched Ichigo's face go through several emotions all at once. " You plan to go rescue her ?" A nod answered the question. "Then I will not stop you, but do you even know where she is?"
"She said something about a garden" He supplied. "A you can guess which direction it was in." Ichigo pointed in the direction the quake had come from.
Miya's eyebrows came together for a moment in thought. "That would be in the direction of the Shinto Teito Botanical Gardens. A place owned by MBI so it's definitely a possible place for a Sekirei to be."
"If she's there then I'll go there to save her."
"My, how chivalrous." the woman lifted a hand to her lips to cover a small chuckle of mirth.
"It's my namesake." He chuckled along with her. "I wouldn't be much of a 'He Who Protects' if I couldn't do something as simple as rescuing a damsel in distress."
"So you wouldn't" The two shared a small laugh together as the walked back into the house.
"You two are rather chummy." Kagari spoke up from his place in the living room, sitting at the table while watching the news.
"Just a small joke between sparing partners, Right Ichigo-san?" The woman turned a small smirk on the man in question
"Right." He nodded.
Kagari stared at the two, glancing back and forth between them. "Yeeeah whatever, you two should see this." He pointed to the TV where several reporters were standing in front of a large atrium, only this atrium was filled from floor to ceiling with large trees and shrubbery. It looked like a jungle had sprouted out of nowhere and had taken over the confined glass structure.
"Well it seems you were correct in your assumptions Miya-san." Ichigo spoke up, pointing behind the reporters to a sigh that hung on the wall of the building. "That is indeed the Botanical Gardens."
"So it seems." The landlady sighed.
Kagari blinked, and did his double take routine between the two of them. "Did I miss something?"
"Yes actually" Miya answered dryly. "Ichigo-san was contacted by the Sekirei who did that." She pointed at the jungle filled atrium. "She apparently wishes for him to rescue her. The real question however, is what are you going to do Homura-san...?"
"Miya!" The now named Homura hissed, looking between her and Ichigo quickly.
"Oh shush." She waved his anger away. "He already knew that You, Uzume and I were Sekirei before he even came here." She turned to Ichigo. "Homura-san here is a guardian of unwinged Sekirei, he uses the name Kagari to hide his real identity so that he can do his job." She turned a glare on Homura, who was leveling his own glare at Ichigo. "If he wanted to do anything he would have already done so Homura-san."
The white haired Sekirei grimaced, a hand rising up to scratch at his chest. "I was right then." His glare sharpened. "You aren't normal."
The Fullbringer raised an eyebrow, a small snort escaping his lips. "You have no idea."
Kagari grunted and turned back to the television. "I guess I'll have to go out again tonight, Miya."
"You'll have to forgive him Ichigo-san." Miya apologized. "He hasn't been winged yet and he's just a bit... cranky."
"I am not cranky, Miya." The man in question threw over his shoulder. "I'm just cautious." Unseen by the other two, but visible by the way he tensed he his shoulders the man grunted angrily. "When you see a Sekirei getting forcefully winged you tend to be a bit more cautions then most."
Ichigo was about to say admit that he could technically free a Sekirei from a forced winging, only that they'd have to be winged by him or someone nearby for them to actually be freed from their previous Ashikabi, but then a bit of practical sense kicked in and his mouth clamped shut. He really, really didn't want to have to explain that the method to initially free a Sekirei was to either neutralize the Sekirei or kill their Ashikabi... and that would be kind of uncomfortable to explain seeing as most Sekirei considered their Ashikabi second to nothing, even their own well being. No, they probably wouldn't take well to that information at all.
"Regardless of that" Ichigo pointed out. "I'm going to go help Kusano. The girl asked for my help and I'm going to give it to her."
"Number one-hundred and eight, Kusano." Homura mused. "The last of us to be adjusted." he man was silent for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision. "Alright, I'll join you in your little rescue operation, We should probably go at night to dodge the reporters and camera crews."
"Mmm" The Fullbringer nodded, stealth would be their ally this time, thankfully there was probably only one Sekirei that they had to worry about being ther-
Beep beep beep
Ichigo's train of thought stopped as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. It was a rather standard thing, just a common flip phone really. It was a new one he had just picked up to replace the old one he had, it was something he had a habit of doing when he left his previous place of employ, seeing as he had made quite a few enemies from taking less than scrupulous job's from even less than scrupulous clients, he tended to draw trouble like a magnet. So he'd always get a new phone under a different name when he had to move. This was his... fourth time doing that if he remembered correctly. Aside from the reasons to change phones this one wasn't that special, it was really just a standard cell phone: A small camera and screen to take pictures or receive text messages on them, which was what he had just gotten. How was that even possible? he had just bought the the thing a few days ago on that shopping trip with Musubi.
Flipping open the phone he punched a few buttons and read the text. As he did so his face only grew darker and darker as anger clouded his features. "That motherfucking son of a bitch! he is so dead." At the pair of Sekirei's questioning looks the man flipped the phone around so that they could see the message.
-Hey there everybody, Minaka here and I'm here to bring you some good news, there's a little Sekirei out in the Botanical Gardens just waiting to be winged. Which one of you will get the Green Girl first hmm? ;D -Minaka Hiroto
"You're right." Homura growled small wisps of smoke rising from his hands. "He is dead." The now smoldering Sekirei glared at Ichigo, daring him to point out that they had agreed on something. "We'll do this at nightfall, but if you do one thing that I don't like-" The smoking hand burst into flame. "You'll be visiting the burn ward in the near future." With that the flames went out and he turned to go get ready.
"I need to get ready as well Miya-san." Ichigo made a small bow before turning on his heels and walking towards his room.
"Look after yourself out there Ichigo-san." Miya waved to him, receiving a small wave over the shoulder back. A small blush appeared on the woman's face as her voice came out in a whisper. "Be careful."
-ooo-
BAM, nother one bites the dust.
OK, like I said above, sorry this took so long, shit happened and it's still happening, I just found some time to write this over a period of like a week. for those of you who are reading my other stories, sorry if I haven't updated in awhile. Again, shit's been happening. So until then, enjoy the next chapter.
Oh and a question. Should Ichigo free and wing Yomi? Ichigo has said he'll protect as many Sekirei as he can, that means keeping them out of the hands of evil bastards like Mikogami and his ilk, soooo should I free her? or is she just a bitch and Yashima is enough? I actually feel kind of sad for Yomi since she's treated like trash by Mikogami before AND after she was terminated...
Soooo, I'm on the fence about this. Kuu is definitely going to join Ichigo's as of unsaid quote-unquote "Flock" I just love the way she interacts with the other characters too much to even think of removing her. So again, yay or nay? I'm willing to make this a "Mass Flock" So that this can get really bonkers at some point. The perv in me wants to make this some diabolical game of pokemon with Ichigo's slogan being "Gotta guard/protect em all" but then the rational part of me imagines that being a bad idea.
Right now my Pervy side and my rational side are locked in a deathmatch and they've got each other by the balls. So it's up to you guys and ladies to decide how I do this.
EDIT: changed the "Gotta catch em all" line because people didn't think that fit with Ichigo's personality... It was a joke people... changed it to better fit his personality but still retaining the general joke atmosphere.