Sorry for the late update to anyone who cares. Genius and perfection take time to materialize in writing, however. Also I was busy with other things. Feel encouraged to review if you feel like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter 6: A Difference in Level

Ichigo, Chad, and Mizuiro were walking home along their usual riverside route. They noticed something lying on the ground ahead of them and regarded it with interest. As they approached, however, their looks of curiosity gradually changed to expressions of horror as they realized that it was their dear friend Keigo lying in a pool of his own blood. The three of them rushed quickly to his side.

Mizuiro was calling out Keigo's name, notably dropping the honorific out of concern, and running towards him as fast as he could manage. Ichigo and Chad, however, while concerned, ran more moderately and cautiously, both being suspicious of what had happened.

Upon arriving at his friend's body, Ichigo drew upon the medical knowledge he had gleaned from his otherwise useless father and began examining Keigo. To say the least, he was shocked at the extent of the damage, which were not the sort of injuries one would usually receive from an unarmed man. 'This isn't good. He has several fractures, his breathing's irregular, his pulse is weak and he shows signs of arrhythmia.' Turning to the other two, he said, "Chad, Mizuiro, take Keigo to my father's clinic. He won't have the equipment needed to deal with some of these wounds, but at least he'll be able to perform some first aid and call for an ambulance to take him to the main hospital."

Ichigo was about to stand up when Keigo opened his eyes and began moving his lips. His voice was very faint, but Ichigo could hear him saying something that sounded like "Kemeto", which more or less confirmed his suspicions. As Keigo lapsed into unconsciousness, Ichigo started running after his assailant.

"Kemeto!"

The Reiou continued walking despite the fact that someone yelling his name was running up behind him. He did not stop until the person in question ran ahead of him and blocked his path.

"Are you the one who did that to Keigo?" asked Ichigo, getting straight to the issue.

"Yes." This was his reply. The calmness and nonchalance of the other man's voice were stating to annoy Ichigo.

"Why would you do something like that?"

"He was in my way, much like you are now."

"That's your reason? Well, I'd love to see you do the same to me."

"So be it."

The man then disappeared from Ichigo's sight. 'Shunpo! Impossible.' Nevertheless, Ichigo followed his instincts and jumped out of the way. As he had feared, Kemeto was standing at the place he had just moved from.

As he landed, he addressed the other man. "You bastard. How is it that you can flash-step?"

The other man replied, "I wouldn't think that such a simple display of reiatsu manipulation would impress the 'great hero' that invaded the Seireitei and defeated the Bount."

"How do you know about that? Who are you?"

"I have no reason to answer you."

The Reiou, now past Ichigo, continued to walk along his path. Ichigo, however, was not satisfied to let things end like this. He pulled out his shinigami badge and placed it to his chest, ejecting his soul.

"You're not leaving here until you give me some answers."

"If you force my hand now, you'll regret it later."

"SHUT UP! I've had enough of your bullshit!" Ichigo pulled back Zangetsu and charged Kemeto.

'Look at that idiot; he's not even dodging it. I'm going to end this with one blow,' thought Ichigo.

The sword was about to collide with the unarmed man. Ichigo already thought he had won, but…

Clink

The sound of metal bouncing off a hard surface. Ichigo looked at the tip of his blade and saw it touching the bare, unwounded forearm of the man in front of him.

"Is that really all the reiatsu you can focus, even while avenging your friend? If so then this duel is already over."

Kemeto pulled his right hand back and it started to glow with the concentration of reiatsu.

'What's happening,' wondered Ichigo, as he saw the aura rearrange itself into a form resembling a claw. 'Shit!' He stared moving away but it was too late.

"Heaven's Sunder!"

The claw-like light extended and collided with Zangetsu, forcing him backwards. He slowed down to a halt and looked down at his sword. Small cracks were forming along the point of impact.

"If that's all the power you have then this won't be very interesting."

"I've had enough of you, it's time to get serious!"

"Oh? What do you plan on doing?"

"This!" yelled Ichigo as he grasped his right arm, "Bankai!"

Inoue Orihime had been having an ominous feeling all day. Even before she had come across the blood stains on the ground while she was walking home. Ever since school had been let out, she knew something was wrong. That was the reason she had left the sewing club meeting early, after all. If she was at home she could phone her friends and make sure they were safe (except, of course, Ishida, who was still at the club meeting).

But then she had come across these ominous discolorations on the ground that looked like blood stains. This, of course, did nothing to ease her now frantic mind. The girl desperately hoped that her prized "Woman's Intuition" was wrong for once.

This hope was shattered the moment she felt Ichigo's reiatsu rise to a very high level. Quite excessive compared to what he would normally use when fighting ordinary hollows. In fact, she had not felt a similar intensity since his duels with Byakuya and Kariya. She hurried toward Ichigo as fast as she could.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was having some trouble making his earlier threats and promises come to fruition. He was using his speed, which was normally much greater than his opponents', and attacking with all the force his power would allow, but regardless of his efforts the other man was effortlessly blocking all the attacks, without using anything but his bare hands.

'Time to try something else,' thought Ichigo. He attacked several more times until he could position himself for a good shot. Then, when the timing was right…

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

The black arc closed in on his opponent, but…

Ichigo stared on in disbelief as the man once again deflected his attack with his fists. 'Wait a minute,' thought Ichigo, 'something's different. What was that golden arc that cut my attack in half? And why is his right arm extended? I've got it! He had to use that special technique, what was it called…oh yeah, Heaven's Sunder. Before he was using his forearms or his left hand.'

"Getting scared over there, Kemeto?"

"Why would you suggest such a thing when I am unharmed?"

"You weren't using that glowing hand of yours before. Since I forced you to use it, that must mean you didn't think you could handle that last attack, am I right?"

Kemeto was silent for a few moments before smirking. "And what would you have done if I had let that attack connect and scratch my body, or tear my clothing a little? Would you have celebrated your victory while I was standing in front of you? I've already demonstrated that one attack is all you can handle, even while I'm restraining myself. I will prove something irrefutable to you today, something that I had shown your friend, and something that he now understands better than you. Between the two of us, there is a difference in level. At the ceiling to your power there is still a great distance before you could reach the floor that I'm standing on. Now, let me ingrain this fact into your reasoning!"

Before Ichigo had a chance to respond, the Reiou was already thrusting at his chest. He leaped back, while the Reiou did the same. The Reiou extended his fingers and brought them down to point at Ichigo.

"Heaven's Lashing."

The light that was drifting and clinging hazily around his hand suddenly became more concrete and solid, and began surging forward in a straight line from his index finger towards Ichigo. Ichigo, of course, had time to dodge, since he still had the use of his bankai and taking into account that the two of them were a moderate distance apart. After he had moved, however, his opponent swung his arm and the whip followed. The fluid curve suggested to the young man that this light followed a path much like an actual whip would, and that its movements followed his opponent's will.

Knowing this was all well and good, but as the Reiou started flash-stepping around the arena of combat, altering the direction of attack and the direction of rotation, Ichigo found himself having an increasingly difficult time predicting how the light was going to move. He eventually ended up taking several hits, but he seemed to be able to dodge them or take them with little damage to his body. Certainly, he concluded, the reiatsu was less concentrated than it was in his first type of attack.

After receiving several consecutive attacks, however, he had lost sight of the actual person who was attacking him. Turning around frantically, he began searching, but he was already too late. Four more strands of light extended from the Reiou's remaining digits and wound themselves around his young opponent's four limbs, immobilizing him. As they wound tighter, Ichigo lost his grip and dropped Zangetsu. As the sword hit the ground and Ichigo fell from bankai, the Reiou announced, "It's over."

Ichigo closed his eyes and prepared for the blow the other man was directing at his heart.

"Yamete kudasai!"

The Reiou halted his attack, his outthrust hand just short of touching his opponent's body. Ichigo opened his eyes in surprise. Both turned to look at the source of the loud interruption.

They saw a panting, out-of-breath Inoue Orihime clutching her sides and collapsed to her knees from exhaustion. She looked up, directing her gaze at her classmate Kemeto.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but please don't hurt Kurosaki-kun!" she extolled of him.

The Reiou stopped and considered this, and sighed. He withdrew his hand, backed up from his thrusting stance into a regular standing position, and withdrew the threads of light, allowing Ichigo to collapse to the ground.

"As you wish, Ore no Hime."

And with a flash of light, he was gone.