Alright chapter four is finally up guys!
I would just like to apalogize for the long delay I was very caught up with work and family matters and I have only just recently had some spare time to start writing again.
I am hoping to aim for at least one chapter a month, more if possible but i think that is what i will aim for from now on ok
So i hope you enjoy and i hope it's up to standard im always open to constructive criticism so tell me what you think
Chapter Four
Recovery
(Yoruichi)
The first thing that registered in her mind was PAIN! She felt as if she had just been hit by a truck her head was throbbing and her leg and mid section were stinging. Her whole body was aching and protested every time she tried to move anything.
But she was brought to her senses and her eyes shot open as she heard someone yell out her name, all of a sudden all of the events up until now came flooding back and she was gripped by fear when she realised she was alone.
(Flashback)
As his head lifted again she looked right into his warm brown eyes and she was able to relax again as she realised that Ichigo was in control again. He slowly got to his feet and made his way towards her, she could see his eyes soften even more when he found his sisters around the side of the boulder she was leaning against.
When he was standing in front of her she couldn't help but feel relief fill her as she took him in, and noticed that all of the wounds he had received earlier where now gone and all that was left was a few tears in his hakama. She looked up at his face and saw that his hair still had that shaggy appearance that she found looked quite good on him, especially with those soft brown eyes peering out from behind a few loose strands that fell across his face.
Although they weren't soft at the moment, they were roaming across her and had hardened at the sight of the injuries that covered her body. She knew he was blaming himself for what had happened to her and she was moved that he cared for her like that. But at the same time if she had possessed the strength required she would have smacked him for trying to shoulder all of the blame. But for now she just looked up into his caring eyes and couldn't stop the tears that had welled up in her eyes
She was caught off guard when he suddenly dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her into him. At first she didn't know what to do but after a second she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could with her battered body. She clutched him tighter as the emotions of the last hour took their toll on her and the tears spilled from her eyes, the pain of seeing him basically dead, the fear of being at deaths door, the helplessness of watching your death coming closer. Those and many more emotions just spilled out in her tears.
She was shaking and sobbing quietly in his comforting embrace and felt at ease as he gently gave her a squeeze and rubbed her back letting her know that he was there for her and to let it all out. She started to relax as the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her gave her a sense of security almost like she was protected from the world at that point. She buried her face deeper into his hard chest and took in his scent, it was a light earthy smell mixed with a bit of sweat that seemed to allow a sense of calm to wash over her. At that point she felt safe and secure and she knew as long as he was with her she would be safe and wouldn't have to worry anymore.
She was beginning to drift into blissful sleep when she suddenly felt Ichigo's body tense up and she wondered what was happening know. She turned her head to the right and looked around Ichigo's arm to see a young girl kneeling in a crater, arm outstretched with a pink ball in her palm. Then she saw the ball erupt into a huge cero hurtling towards them and she held on to Ichigo as if her life depended on it as another wave of fear crashed down on her. The stress was just too much for her at this point and she began to fade into unconsciousness, the last thing she heard before she was consumed was a pair of kido being yelled out then nothing.
(End flashback)
She was about to start to panic but as she took in her surroundings she started to slowly calm down as she realised that she was in Kisuke's shop.
She then heard a commotion outside of her room and started to try and pick herself up but it was slow going as her body was telling her to stop and rest more. But she needed to know what had happened and what was happening now also what had happened to Ichigo?
The last question was answered when she heard his voice just outside her room, he was babbling on like a maniac asking question after question. She assumed he must be talking to Kisuke as she heard a
'SMACK' followed by a protest and a groan
She giggled as she guessed Urahara hadn't been able to get the boys attention and had resorted to a more 'direct' method of getting his attention.
She was relieved that he was alright and safe but at the same time she was slightly surprised at how much energy he had after waking up and everything that had happened. But started to listen to the explanation of the events that occurred during her time of unconsciousness.
While she was listening she started to try moving her body and see how much movement she actually had, apart from the initial heavy feeling and a bit of tenderness in her right thigh and across her stomach she was rather surprised at how well her body had recovered after the mess she had been in.
When she was happy with her movement she started to slowly crawl towards the door to the room to see what was happening. It was around this point where Urahara's explanation had stopped and Ichigo's questions began to flood out again. She felt her chest warm a little at the fact that he was so worried about her but at the same time thought he could take it down a notch before he blew a gasket or something.
She slowly slid the sliding door open to find Ichigo and Kisuke both sitting in the middle of the hall just outside of her door. Kisuke was wearing his usual baggy greyish green three quarter pants and shirt with a large dark green coat with a white diamond pattern around the hem over the top. He wore traditional styled Japanese sandals and also wore a full brim hat that had thick green and white strips covering it, along with a cane (Which is actually his sword disguised) and a fan that he always seemed to have with him. She turned to the red head and saw that he seemed to be fine and started to say
"Did it ever occur to you tha...mph!"
She never got the chance to finish as the next thing she new Ichigo had wrapped her in his arms and gave her big squeeze.
"I'm glad you're alright, I was really worried that something had happened to you" he said softly into her ear.
This caused her to blush furiously as his words and his gesture sunk in. She didn't know what to do she was too shocked to act, sure she'd had contact with guys before and had many guys try to hit on her and do many things, and she had also had relationships with men before. But this was different, these simple words and his action seemed to knock the wind right out of her. It didn't help at all that she could feel his toned muscles pressing against her, it was at this point that she also realised that he was not wearing a shirt. But before she could think about her position anymore, she heard him whisper something into her ear again.
"Thank you" then he released her and sat back down in the middle of the hallway.
She was slightly reluctant to have him let go but didn't say anything because she was still trying to figure out why that affected her so much. At the same time she was a bit puzzled as to what he was thanking her for but before she could ask why, two figures came around the corner behind Ichigo.
"I thought it might be this idiot causing all the commotion" said the first figure with a chuckle as they walked up to the group.
He was a tall man wearing a standard shinigami hakama and had white socks and sandals with a zanpakuto tucked into the belt on his left side. He had long fiery red hair tied back into a spiky pony tail with lightning shaped tattoos on his forehead.
"Who's the idiot? The only idiot I see around here is you Abarai Renji" Ichigo said in a dark tone while turning around slightly to glare up at the man.
"Now now there's no need to get all excited as soon as we see each other" Kuchiki Rukia said pleadingly. She was a rather short girl with dark black hair that was just above shoulder length with a few stray strands that fell past her shoulders and a stray bang that fell down in front of her face. She had large violet eyes that showed innocence and intelligence. She was also wearing the standard shinigami uniform and also had a zanpakuto tucked into her belt as well.
"Who you calling an idiot huh? I didn't almost die three times in one day like a certain fool I know" Renji said in a mocking tone.
"That was complety out of my control it's not my fault everyone sees me as a target." Ichigo shot back.
"Ahhhhh I'm being ignored... oh well" Rukia sighed with her palm pressed to her forehead. Then she walked over to the dark skin woman who was still sitting on the floor in the doorway while the two boys kept arguing.
"I'm glad to see that you have recovered pretty well. How are you feeling Yoruichi-san?" she asked while kneeling down next to her.
"I'm feeling pretty good considering the previous circumstances. And I have you guys to thank for that." Yoruichi replied sweetly with a smile.
"No we didn't do much we just tagged along and were just glad we got there when we did and not any later" the short girl said quickly.
Yoruichi nodded and looked around to see Urahara still sitting in the same place with his fan covering the bottom half of his face to hide the grin that he had.
"My my we have some noisy people being inconsiderate to those who are still recovering and need rest" he said but wasn't heard by the two males.
"I'll get rid of them now" Rukia sighed
"I wouldn't have needed to be saved three times" Renji growled
"Oh yea what are you trying to imply ae?" Ichigo retorted
"That I'm better than you"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yup"
"You wanna prove it?"
"Anytime"
"Let's go then"
'CLONK'
"OWWW what was that for?" the two boys whined in unison while each nursing a new lump forming on the back of their heads.
"Is that how you treat people who are injured midget?" Ichigo added.
"You obviously aren't injured enough if you're making that racket and talking back. And unlike you there are still people who need rest and cant when you're yelling outside their room." Rukia said in a dark tone that promised more pain if you weren't careful.
"Well you're not necessarily being quiet either now are you?" Renji quickly added
"Wrong move man" Ichigo whispered
"Why?" Renji asked confused
Suddenly the temperature in the hallway seemed to drop about five degrees and an evil glint seemed to appear in Rukia's eyes. Both boys' survival instincts kicked in and knew that this was not a safe place to be at that moment and in turn began to slowly back away from the threat.
Ichigo looked around at Yoruichi who still had not moved and said "Yoruichi-san I'm glad your okay and have a good rest hope you recover fully soon there is something I'd like to ask you later"
Then gave her a wave and bolted in the other direction followed closely by Renji with an angry Rukia hot on their heels. Because of his quick escape he missed the slight blush that tinged Yoruichi's cheeks after his comments.
"Wow I haven't seen that kind of reaction from you for at least a hundred years Yo-rui-chi-chan" Urahara said in a sort of sing song tone from behind his fan.
"Oh shut up I don't know what you're talking about" she said quickly.
"Oh reeeeaaaaaally?" he said playfully
"Yes now if you excuse me I'm going to go back to bed for a bit if that's alright with you. And don't disturb me"
"So you don't want me to wake you up for dinner then?"
she paused for a bit "no wake me up around then that sounds good" she said as she closed the door behind her.
"Oh dear I thought that might be the case, we're gonna have to break out the reserves tonight." Kisuke mumbled to himself
After she had closed the door a huge blush crossed her cheeks as the thoughts of Ichigo worrying about her made her feel warm inside. But the blush intensified as the memory of Ichigo hugging her and the feel of his rock hard body pressing against her, along with the feel of his breath on her skin when he whispered into her ear. 'Why did he do that?' her legs were starting to become weak at the knees until she finally snapped herself out of it.
"Come on Yoruichi your getting worked up over something silly like a little school girl would." she told herself. But the blush never left her cheeks even when she hoped back onto her futon and drifted to sleep again.
(Ichigo)
After he had managed to evade being beaten by the little shinigami and managed to calm said person down a bit. The three friends spent the next few hours relaxing on the top of the Urahara shop filling each other in on what happened the previous day. He found out what had happened to Soi Fon regarding her arm which had shocked him at first. Ichigo was interested in what had happened to all the other captains and their luiteniants after he had gone through the garganta. It turns out everyone survived although a few received a few injuries but nothing to serious, and everyone was taken care of by captain Unahana and Orihime. This allowed the red head to relax a bit more.
They continued on like this enjoying the evening air and the company until they heard a ruckus in the building underneath them. The trio of young shinigami's looked at each other then decided to investigate after relaxing the whole afternoon, they followed the noise into the shop and down the hall and into the dining room to an unexpected sight. On one side of the room was five empty bowls stacked on top of each other on the floor and on the other side was Jinta and Ururu bringing more and more bowls of food from the kitchen. And in the middle of it all was Yoruichi wolfing down each bowl of food as it was handed to her from the right then being added to the pile of empties on the left.
But that wasn't the only thing that had shocked the boys of the trio at least, the other very surprising thing in the room was Yoruichi sitting there in only a bra and small pair of boy shorts with her hair tied in its usual pony tail. Ichigo for some reason couldn't take his eyes off her, it was like he had found an amazing piece of artwork whose beauty and craftsmanship captured the eye and wouldn't let you look away.
He started to take everything in, it was weird he had always known that she was very beautiful but she had always just been a teacher and friend to him, so this was the first time that he had really looked at her.
He travelled up the length of her smooth tanned legs with his eyes, and then glanced over her tight and well toned stomach with a slight hint of muscles coming through. Then up past her very generous chest and followed all of the lines along her collar bones and shoulders, but when he started to look up a bit higher along her small petite lips and past her smooth flawless cheeks to meet her golden eyes. He soon realised that she had stopped eating and had busted him checking her out, what's worse everyone else had stopped and just watched as he studied her.
Suddenly he felt Very self conscious and uneasy about what he had just done so blatantly, but he became even more worried when he saw something flash across those captivating golden orbs and a smile pull at the corners of her mouth.
"What's up I-chigo? You see something you like?" she almost purred out as she leant back and arched her back slightly which helped emphasise her already very generous chest.
This action was too much for not only Ichigo but any red blooded male that would ever set eyes upon this scene. Yoruichi started to chuckle to herself as blood began to drip from the noses of the two male shinigami.
But she wasn't quite done with her fun just yet. "What's the matter Ichigo? It's nothing you haven't seen before. Although you seem to have dropped the innocent boy act this time huh?" she said in a teasing tone.
"W-wh-what tha-t wasn't my fault that time. Y-you're the one who changed right in front of me. I'm not a pervert I just happened to get slightly distracted right now" The red head said in defence which ended in a mumble that everyone could barely make out.
"I-CHI-GOO" he heard from beside him as he looked down to see Rukia trembling slightly, he instantly knew this wasn't going to end well.
"Are you telling me that you have been peeking at girls while they have been getting changed? And to top it off peeking at a member of one of the six highest noble families! This is a new low for you strawberry" Rukia said in a tone dripping with disgust.
"N-No you've got it wrong she changed form in front of me not clothes it was the first time I had seen her real form and I didn't know she was gonna end up nude." Ichigo said frantically trying to plead his innocence. He looked over at the dark skinned goddess hoping for some sort of help but his hopes were dashed when he saw her laughing at how things had turned out.
"Your lies won't work here Ichigo, perverted men need to be given lessons on proper etiquette around women before their habits get out of hand?" Rukia said in a low voice.
"No you've got it wrong, it's not my fault, and I'm not like that!" he pleaded but his pleas fell on deaf ears as a dark aura started to form around the small woman. And she slowly drew her zanpakuto.
Ichigo knew that at this point there was no hope but to run for it, so he promptly turned and removed himself from the room immediately before any punishment could be handed to him. He could hear Yoruichi's laughs from in the room as Rukia gave chase.
After he had manage to lose Rukia for the second time today he found himself again sitting on the roof of a nearby building watching as the last rays from the sun faded from the world and the stars began to illuminate the darkening sky.
He began to think about the events that had taken place up until now and what they meant and also what was in store for him yet. He thought about what Stark had said to him about being part of Aizen's plans, and about already progressing past a certain point. He thought it made it sound like he was Aizen's little experiment to play with. That made him think 'what is he planning now?' he obviously didn't plan to be stopped by all of the captains, or for me to get away so what is he thinking now? Is he going to lay low for a while or is he going to come back for some sort of revenge?
The more he thought about it the more confused he got, which in turn just ended up frustrating him. But suddenly the words of old man Zangetsu flashed through his head
(Flashback)
"You are only using his raw power that he pumps into you when you summon that mask. You are not using any of his other attributes, such as his control of the power, his strategic abilities and basically his instinct" he explained in his wise all knowing tone.
"So what are you saying? That I should just let him run wild every time I face someone who is tougher than me?" Ichigo said with a sceptic tone
"Again yes and no"
"Say what?"
"You need to learn to use his other attributes along with his power. So you need to become more in tune with him when you take his power. You need to almost become one with him when you call upon him so that you may use all of our abilities to their fullest and become even stronger." Zangetsu said all of this as he kept a close eye on Ichigo as he processed the new information.
Ichigo REALLY didn't like the sound of that 'become one with his hollow' it just didn't sit well with him one bit. He didn't want to become more like a hollow! He wanted to keep his sanity and his morals, he didn't want to become a mindless psychopath while he fought then turn around and constantly regret what he did the rest of the time.
"I don't want to become a psychopath when I fight, I don't want to become more like a hollow just to attain power" he said with conviction in his voice. He wouldn't stoop so low as to discard everything he believed in and fought for just to become stronger.
"What I am suggesting is not to become more like a hollow, well not entirely. But to become more in tune with its raw instincts of survival in battle, without giving in to it and keeping your morals. So you would be able to see opportunities and form strategies that you would not see normally. Almost like a level two vizard, one with a greater understanding of both backgrounds."
(End Flashback)
"A level two vizard you say huh?" he thought out loud.
The idea of becoming one with his hollow just rubbed him the wrong way, sure now that he thought about it he could see where the old man was coming from, how his fighting instincts along with the hollows instincts would allow him to see through any situation that he would probably find himself in. And the immense power with those reactions would be devastating as he saw against stark.
But he still had that element of fear, not of dying but of losing himself to his hollow and doing something that he would always regret. He always felt sick whenever he felt the overwhelming sense of blood lust coming from him, and the way he always handled things made him cringe.
Ichigo was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice a cloaked figure watching him from the shadows nearby.
The turmoil in the shinigami's head continued to rage on without a sign of ending anytime soon. What would he do if he were to give in and end up hurting one of his friends or worse his family, but at the same time he would need all of the strength possible to protect all of the people close to him. At what cost would he be able to attain the necessary power? Would he have to give up his morals and become a monster to save them? But then his family and friends might become more scared of him and he didn't think he could take that.
But then the image of Yoruichi's limp body battered, bruised and bleeding popped into his head and he began to tremble with uncontrollable rage.
"That happened all because I wasn't good enough to protect my family myself!" he said temper rising.
"I won't let that happen again!" he said quietly as he began to give into the idea. "I will become stronger and get the skills needed to stop that from ever happening again!" he yelled up to the night sky. He decided that he would learn what he could along the lines that old man Zangetsu had mentioned.
He was so focused on these thoughts that he didn't even notice the cloaked figure come up right behind him until he felt a pair of soft hands gently grab the tops of his shoulders and heard a soft voice say into his ear
"What are you getting worked up for now? Surely you're not that upset about what happened earlier?"
Ichigo nearly had a heart attack as he rolled forward and put a hand on Zangetsu ready to draw at any moment as he crouched facing whoever had snuck up on him. But he instantly relaxed again when he saw the dark skinned goddess standing there in a dark hooded cloak with a hand over her mouth trying to cover the fact that she was giggling at his reaction to her little joke. He felt slightly ashamed at his reaction.
"Don't do that I almost had a heart attack Yoruichi" he said as he turned and sat back down returning to looking up at the night sky.
"Well I thought you needed a little wakeup call seeing as you were starting to get real dark there for a moment and didn't even notice me come up behind you" she said playfully as she sat down next to him and also started to look at the starry night sky.
"I didn't know you would get that upset about what I said earlier? Although you should take that as a lesson for your lack of discretion. And also it was funny you have to admit I didn't expect Rukia to take action so quickly hahahaha" she said as another fit of giggles took over her.
"Oh that? Yea I'm sorry about that I don't know what happened. But that's not what I'm worried about" he said off handily while watching the flickering lights of the stars.
Yoruichi's laughter started to die down a little when he said that. "Really? Huh then what's got you all worked up?" she asked as she turned to look at him.
"I was thinking about yesterday" Ichigo said in a low voice
"Oh" Yoruichi instantly went quiet as all of the previous day's events passed through her mind again, but was surprised at the next words that came out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry, and thank you" he said just loud enough for her to hear
"What for" she asked genuinely confused
He turned to look at her and amber eyes locked with gold. She was slightly taken aback at the serious look in his soft brown eyes.
"You came to help me and my family when you don't even know them and I am truly grateful to you for that, but you got so injured because I couldn't look after them myself and couldn't stop you from ending up like that. For that I am sorry I wasn't strong enough" when he finished he looked away almost like he was ashamed.
"Oh is that all it's not that big a deal Kurasaki. I helped because they were people close to you and I just couldn't sit still while someone used young kids like that. And I got hurt because of my own decisions not because you failed in any way." she stated as she knew he was the type that liked to shoulder the weight themselves, and knew he would keep beating himself up if someone didn't step in quick.
He looked back at her again with that ashamed look as he said "But if I had been stronger then I would have been able to beat Stark right away and you wouldn't have ended up like you did"
'SLAP'
"Stop it Ichigo" she said in a sharp tone to cut him off before he went on to far.
"Stop what?" he asked slightly bewildered while nursing his stinging cheeck
"Stop blaming yourself Ichigo! I'm sorry for that but you need to realise that the whole world doesn't depend on you to protect it. I got hurt because I made a decision aware of how things could turn out, I wasn't the captain of the stealth squad in soul society just because of my looks you know." she said getting a little angry now
"Obviously there are things that I have to work on so that I don't end up like that again, I understand that and there are things that you will also need to work on so that you can look after you're family. But everyone doesn't count on you to protect them, we all work hard so that we can look after ourselves and help look out for each other's backs." she paused for a bit to see if it was sinking in. when he seemed to be thinking about it she continued
"You don't need to carry the whole burden on your shoulders alone; no one can handle that kind of load by themselves. You will just end up regretting not letting anyone in to help later when things get tough. So let us in, let me help ease your burden, we can get stronger together and get through this with everyone. So don't think you have to do this with your strength alone, I will be getting stronger to help you stand up against whatever comes if you will let me" Once she was finished she took a deep breath to calm herself again and watched as what she said was being processed in his mind.
However she was a little surprised when he started to laugh
"Hahahaha your right I was getting worked up over something silly. I can get through anything if I have you, Rukia, Renji and everyone looking out for me, man I really needed that I feel so much lighter right now" he said loudly then paused and slowly lifted his left arm up and draped it over Yoruichi's shoulder. Before she fully realised what was happening he gently pulled her towards him with her head resting against his chest. He then lent down and softly whispered into her soft hair "Thank you. I wouldn't want anyone else standing by me"
For a few seconds Yoruichi just stayed like that as what just happened was still being sorted in her head. But when everything sunk in her entire face went bright red rivalling a tomato and she quickly pushed herself from his embrace to put some distance between them and looked away to hide her blush
"W-wh-what was that for? Why would you do that?" she sputtered trying to hide her embarrassment but failing miserably.
He snickered at the embarrassed goddess "Duno just felt like it" he replied off handily as he looked back up at the stars.
The pair sat there in silence for a while just thinking and looking up at the night sky. Until Ichigo broke the silence
"Should we head back? The others are probably wondering what we are up to and you should get a bit more rest" he said as he slowly stood up and offered his hand to the dark skinned woman
"I'm more than fine but yea it might be a good idea, so we don't make them worry too much" she said as she reached up to pull on his hand.
With that the pair made their way back to the Urahara shop to find everyone in the dining room drinking tea and chatting while they waited. Not long after that Ichigo decided it was time he took off, he said his goodbyes to everyone and began to make his way home.
While Ichigo was making his way back home he thought back to what he did earlier, "wow that was unexpected, I've never done anything like that before" he said quietly to himself. "Why did I act like that with her and say those things to her?"
These thoughts kept coming up but he couldn't come up with an answer as to why he was acting that way so naturally. And why towards her, in the end he decided that it was just nerves from the day before still messing with his mind. But even if he said that he couldn't get the image of her looking at him with those captivating golden eyes, and a tinge of pink on her cheeks under the starry night sky out of his head. How her purple bangs framed her slender face and how a few stray strands hung down in front of her eyes, how he wanted to just brush them to the side and wanted to spend the whole night with her on that roof.
He kept struggling with these thoughts all the way home and into his room he couldn't understand why this was happening or why he felt really warm after she asked him to let her help him. He finally thought that after a good night's sleep he would be back to normal again, so with that he quickly jumped into bed and let blissful sleep claim him within minutes with a grin on his face.
The next day went just like any other Sunday would. Ichigo was woken up suddenly by his father in ways very unique to the Kurosaki household then he would have breakfast with his two younger sisters that seemed to have forgotten about yesterday, which he was glad about. After that he decided to make his way to the Urahara shop where the shinigami had all stayed for the night. When he arrived he was surprised to also see his human friends, Ishida, Chad and Orihime also present at the shop asking Yoruichi about their extra ordeal. They were all happy to see Ichigo fine and kicking although Ishida tried to hide his relief with some statement that he was glad he wouldn't be having to increase his work load, but this didn't faze the red head at all he wouldn't have it any other way.
He was also informed that a couple of their friends had been awake when the town had been moved for the battle with Aizen and had asked the three if they knew anything about it, but the three were able to convince them that they all had somehow had the same dream and that it must have been something they ate that had caused it.
After a while Rukia and Renji announced that they had to head back to soul society for a while to help out and make their reports on the events of the previous few days. After they left, Ichigo's friends all took their leave one by one as the day carried on. Eventually Ichigo was left alone with Urahara as Yoruichi had gone down to the basement for some light training.
The issue of his inner hollow had been bugging him all day and he wanted to get the former captains opinion on things
"Oi Urahara" he asked
"Hmmm?" the shop keeper responded
"During my fight with Stark when I was unconscious Zangetsu mentioned something interesting and I wanted to know your thoughts on it" he stated flatly
"Why not Kurosaki-kun, Hit me" Kisuke said now slightly interested from behind his fan
"Well he said that when I'm using my bankai and hollowfacation that I'm still not using my full power"
"Oh really and why does he say that?"
"He says I have to become more in tune with my hollow and that I am only using its raw power"
"Hmmmmmmm, so there is more to it than just siphoning its power? Is that what he's trying to say?" Kisuke asked now fully interested in the matter "Shouldn't you ask the vizard's about this, wouldn't they be more knowledgeable in this area?"
"Yea I thought about going to them but all they are about is making the hollow submit to me rather than anything else."
"This is true I guess. What else did Zangetsu say?"
"Well he said that to become a more efficient fighter that I need to become like a hollow and use those animalistic instincts and mix them in with my fighting style. But I don't want to become like my hollow, I don't want to be a psychotic killer like him and lose my mind when I fight. What if I hurt someone close to me while I'm out of it?" Ichigo said "What do you think I should do?"
Kisuke paused for a bit as he thought about what Ichigo had just said "Well for starters I can see where he is coming from with the instincts, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a full blown killer it just means that you have to train yourself to see some things in a different way when you fight. But really I can't help you much at the moment; this is something you have to find out yourself"
"How do I do that?" Ichigo asked. He was actually hoping for some better advice than that.
"Well you have to talk to your sword and your hollow and find out from them" Urahara said off handed
Ichigo wasn't too happy with that, he was hoping for a bit more guidance on how to approach this. So with that he decided to hit the road too
"Thanks Urahara i'll be heading off now" he said as he got up to leave.
"Take care Kurosaki-kun" the shop keeper said playfully. But as the substitute shinigami left he quietly said as he pulled the brim of his hat down in front of his face "I'm sorry Ichigo but you're at the level know where I can't teach you anything, you're venturing into uncharted waters now and you have to discover these things for yourself"
The next day at school was pretty typical for a Monday, people asked about Rukia and her absence and he would tell them that she was away on family business, then they asked if he had had the same weird dream as they had, but that was about the most interesting part of the day so far, the day just seemed to pass buy so slowly. The teacher was talking about some old writer in England or something but Ichigo wasn't really paying attention, he was trying to figure out what he should do about his hollow.
What was he going to do? Was he going to turn into a hollow in every aspect whenever he had to fight a strong opponent? Or would he be able to find a balance between the power and his sanity to protect his friends from whatever he needed to?
"You wouldn't be able to handle my full potential king" he heard that sickly echoing voice in his head
"What do you mean? I've already made you submit to me when I became a vizard what makes you think I can't handle this?" he said in his head to the hollow
"Hahaha like I've said before, it's because you're too soft for your own good king. Yeah you got lucky and overpowered me once and you always go on about 'I have to protect my friends no matter what' but then it's always me who has to come out and finish the job for you when it comes down to the crunch." the hollow explained as he appeared before Ichigo in his minds inner world.
"Because I'm not a cold blooded killer like you" Ichigo replied
"No the truth is you aren't actually prepared to do what needs to be done to look after anyone, you're hoping for a world filled with rainbows and happy endings where you're enemy's will give up and surrender when you knock them down. Well I hate to break it to you king but that's not how it goes in reality, you need to be ready to do the dirty deed to protect the ones close to you. So until you have that kind of resolve don't even bother trying to come to me to try and learn how to use my strength because you're still going to fail no matter what" Ichigo's hollow yelled out to the shinigami
Ichigo was a little shaken as he listened to what was being said, and it kept rattling him more and more the more he thought about it. Almost every time he had been in a pinch his hollow had come to save or help him.
During his fight with Byakuya, during his fight with Ulquiora, during his fight with Stark and that was only a few. He started to realize just how much he relied on his hollow.
"You see it now don't you. I'm the reason you're here today." the hollow said
Ichigo couldn't believe it; he really did just depend on him and still thought he could save his important people. The images of his family and friends came to mind then stopped on Yoruichi battered and bruised "NO!" He was going to change; he was going to learn how to use his full strength on his own terms and not on anyone else's. That was his resolve
"Yes that may be the case up till now. BUT I will learn how to use you're powers efficiently without becoming like you in any way bastard, I will fight in my way not how you tell me" Ichigo declared loudly
"Hah there you go again. You still saying that you can win with your own power, please you need to wake up king. Until you can find that resolve to really do whatever it takes to protect your friends and learn from me, good luck with not dying because if you go and die again I'm going to take over for much longer next time so be prepared." Hollow said as he started to fade away again
Ichigo watched as he faded into the distance of his mindscape, then he suddenly came back to reality as he heard the bell for the end of class ringing. He shook his head and started too head out.
His mind was being plagued by the things his hollow had said to him, but when he couldn't take anymore his mind instantly drifted to a certain dark skinned women. Right now he was at lunch in the court yard sitting under a tree with Orihime, Ishida and Chad. 'I wonder what Yoruichi is up to now?' he thought vaguely
"What do you think Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked excitedly
"Huh? Sorry about what again?" Ichigo said while scratching the side of his face
"Were you even listening? Are you alright? We were saying that we should go to Sado-kuns bands big perform in a few months" she said with a slightly worried expression
"Sorry I had a few things on my mind but yea that sounds good. I'd like to see how good you really are ae big guy?" he said quickly. 'Why does she keep popping up in my head she's none of my business, he thought as the group continued their plans.
It was at this point when everyone started talking again that he just happened to hear two seniors talking as they walked by.
"Bro did you see that babe at the front gate?" one said
"That dark skinned one with the black out fit?" the other said almost drooling
"Yea what a stunner and apparently she's waiting for some guy from this school, man what I'd give to have someone like that waiting for me"
"I hear ya man she had one heck of a body and her eyes were almost cat like"
"Really? How close were you to see that?" the first one said shocked
The rest he couldn't hear as the two had walked too far away, but Ichigo suddenly thought 'nah it couldn't be her could it? But what would she be doing here even if it was her?'. He decided to go check it out as he got up.
"Sorry guys I've got something I need to check out quickly ill catch up with you in class" He said over his shoulder as he started to head for the front gate.
When he got there he found that there were a few groups of guys all goggling at a person leaning against one of the large concrete columns on the side of the gate. When he got closer he could see a tall women wearing tight black pants, she also had a form fitting plain white top with a small black leather jacket that only came down to above navel height. But when he saw the long purple hair in a pony tail he knew who it was, he was just wondering why she was there and just waiting at the front gate.
As he started to get closer Yoruichi looked up and when she spotted him she gave him a wave. As soon as everyone saw who she was waving at Ichigo felt the temperature around him drop suddenly as he felt many eyes on him and heard the odd comment like
"Lucky Prick"
"Hope he gets hit by a bus"
Aside from the fact that the negative energy was all aimed at him at that moment he felt pretty good having a girl like that waiting for him and was actually really surprised that one girl could cause such a reaction. But never mind that he needed to find out what the hell she was doing here.
"Hello I-chi-go so this is your school" she called out when he was about ten feet from her.
"Yea it is what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked completely clueless as to what would bring her here
"Well last night Urahara told me that you needed some help with some training, so I've decided to help you out again with some basics that you desperately need. Such as sensing people's reiatsu and things along that line" Yoruichi said cheerfully while looking around the ginger at the school behind him ignoring all the males glaring at Ichigo's back.
"And you came all the way here during school just to tell me that? You couldn't wait till I came to the shop after school or called me?" Ichigo asked as he felt the temperature drop again.
"Well I had just finished an errand and I happened to have some time and I also thought it would be nice to see were you go to school, so I thought why not I'll give you a little test to see what we are dealing with but you couldn't even tell that I was here when I was pumping out just above a normal amount of reiatsu so we defiantly need to work on that" she explained
"Oh is that all?" Ichigo said slightly disgruntled at her reminding him of his shortcomings
Yoruichi then put on a sad face while she asked "What are you angry that I decided to come see you and tell you myself while you were at school? Am I not cool enough to be seen with in front of your friends?"
When Ichigo saw her looking like that a slight blush crossed his cheeks and he started to scratch the side of his face with his finger in one of his nervous habits "It's not that I'm angry it's just that I thought that you might be here for something more important. And I think it's more you're too cool to be seen with" he said quietly while turning to look at the groups of students paying close attention to him, not knowing what to do while she was making such a cute face.
When she saw this reaction she decided to mess with his head a little more. She turned her head to the side a little while looking down at the ground then clasped her hands behind her back and leant forward a fraction and started kicking some stones. All while keeping the sad face in place she said while slowly looking back up at him "So your saying that I'm not important at all, and that you think I'm too cool to be around you. Do you not like me that much?"
When Ichigo saw her looking like that his mind just shut down for a few moments, the only thing that was registering in his head was 'SOOOOOO CUTE!' So when he came back to reality he started sputtering out the first things that came to mind
"N-n-no I-it's defiantly not that I do like you and you are very important to me and I would really like to be with you, it's just I thought you might have come here because of something slightly more urgent that's all nothing against you at all". The words came out before he could stop himself and he watched in horror as she lifted one eyebrow when he was finished.
At that moment shock had claimed control of Yoruichi's body, then to hide her shock she began to laugh at his reaction "HAHAHA man Ichigo you're a laugh when you're nervous. I knew you were always entertaining, well have fun at school and I'll see you later on and be ready for your new training." she said as she turned and started to walk away still laughing, leaving the teen standing there still confused and horrified at what just happened there.
(Yoruichi)
When she had walked around the corner a blush that she had been fighting came rushing out with a vengeance as she thought about what he had just said. 'I do like you and you are very important to me, and I would really like to be with you.' then that odd warm feeling filled her chest again as those words kept playing through her mind.
"Dam you're too smooth for your own good Kurosaki Ichigo, I haven't felt like this for over a hundred years" she said as she walked back to the shop
(Ichigo)
Ichigo stood there for a few minutes still trying to piece together what had just happened completely ignoring the glares still aimed at him, until he was brought out of his thoughts when the bell signalling the end of the lunch break sounded and he headed back to class. As he was walking back the image of the dark skinned goddess looking at him in her pouting pose wouldn't leave his head no matter how hard he tried.
"Wow she is cute!" he thought out loud as he made his way back to the class rooms.
When he was walking back to class through the almost empty corridors, he heard someone call out to him
"Kurosaki!"
He turned to see Ishida walking up to him "What did Yoruichi want? Did something happen?" he asked
"Nah it's not anything like that, she just came to tell me about my new training. So did you see her at the gate too?" Ichigo said
"No we just felt her releasing a much larger amount of reiatsu than normal so we were all wondering what she was up too" Ishida said as he decided he had heard what he needed and stepped into the classroom.
Ichigo's spirits plummeted when he realised just how bad he was at feeling reiatsu and that he was the only one who hadn't noticed Yoruichi at all. 'Man I hope she can help me somehow' he thought as he slowly followed Ishida into class.
(Yoruichi)
Yoruichi was so distracted as she walked back to the shop that she unconsciously ignored Urahara her long time friend who was almost like her brother, who had started walking beside her on his way back from doing some shopping for the shop.
He was quietly laughing inwardly to himself at the far off look on his best friend's face that he had not seen for a very long time. But seeing this made him feel slightly relieved, he always felt guilty about her leaving soul society and everything she had going for her to help him and the vizard's all those years ago.
"Someone's in a good mood today" he said while trying to hide a chuckle when she jumped at his words.
"What are you talking about, I'm just thinking of ways to run young Kurosaki into the ground when our training starts" she said quickly
"Oh really so nothing special happened today?" he asked from behind his fan as they neared the shop.
"No not really on the way back I just happened to drop by Kurosaki's school to tell him that I would be helping him with some training again and to see what level he was at, and I was just a little curious to see where he went to school that's all" she said trying to wave him off "Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason really. It's just that you were so engrossed in whatever you were thinking about that you didn't even notice me beside you for five whole minutes. So naturally I thought that something pretty big must have happened since you haven't acted like this for over a hundred years. But if you say it's nothing" he trailed on as he entered the shop and started to walk down the hallway.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Yoruichi asked in a sceptic tone
"Nothing at all don't mind me Yoruichi-san" he called over his shoulder
"Oh really" she said, she was always sceptical about Urahara and his double meanings whenever he spoke. As she made her way down to the basement she failed to hear Urahara quietly say
"Look after him and don't let this one go".
(In Las Noches – Hueco Mundo)
Ichimaru Gin was walking down one of the many vast hallways in the massive castle that was Las Noches pondering over their most recent set back and the most costly set back at that one. This ordeal had just costed them eight of their ten espada, and each of their fraccion. Also on top of that Aizen had received a decent injury from that little shinigami brat who had caught him off guard. He could see why Aizen was so interested in him though he had broken through the barrier Aizen always has in place on the back of his neck with one attack, and the scary part was that he could only keep getting better at this rate.
But to him Aizen didn't seem too worried about that, he obviously had something else up his sleeve but what? Gin just couldn't quite see what he could possibly still have to keep him on the high ground.
Gin then stopped in front of a set of giant double doors that were at least eight meters high and five meters wide, this was one of the testing rooms. He turned then knocked twice and called out "Aizen-sama it is time"
When he opened the door he found the large room was only illuminated by candles littered around all of the edges of the hexagonal room. In the centre of the room was a small hooded figure kneeling on the ground taking in heavy breaths, all around the figure was a horrific scene of pools of blood, pieces of flesh and mangled bodies. On the right side of the room was Aizen sitting in a chair carved from stone with bandages covering his torso and right arm with a smug look on his face. He looked up from the panting figure to look at Gin.
A small chill ran down Gins spine at the smug look in Aizen's hardened brown eyes that were always calm and calculating as he spoke.
"Is it time already, very well" Aizen said slowly as he stood up and grabbed his white shirt and coat from the back of the chair. He then looked back down at the heaving figure "That is very good progress, I am very pleased, go get cleaned up and rest well we will continue again in a few days" he said in a warm fatherly tone that was obviously fake to those who truly knew what Aizen was like but it always worked very well.
With that he turned and headed for the door way while putting his clothing back on. As he past the former captain he said "Let's go meet the new recruits shall we?"
So thats Chapter four guys i hope you liked it and let me know what you think
See ya!