Same as last chapter. I just felt like posting another one today.
"You'd have thought they'd build an escalator or something." Ichigo complained, as he reached the top of the massive set of stairs, having left Renji as he felt some more presences approaching. He'd be fine until they got him to their medical division.
The Human-turned-Shinigami flinched visibly, as he felt... someone. He had a good idea just who is was, and was not looking forward to this confrontation. Apparently the captain of Squad 11 was one of the most powerful Shinigami in the Soul Society and, based on Spiritual Pressure alone, was potentially the most formidable.
The only option, however, was to press on forward. His Zanpakuto may differ in their opinions on many matters, but none of them would accept him running from a fight simply because it might be a little tough. And he, along with them, was confident that he could defeat the Kenpachi in combat. Simply because neither had formal training in most Shinigami skills, but Ichigo had more, unlike his soon-to-be opponent, abilities than just attacking wildly and with overwhelming force.
This did, however, mean Ichigo could drop the constricting restraints that he had needed for his stay in the Seireitei thus far. Ichigo's reiatsu enthusiastically sprang forth, relieving the pressure that had been pressing on his shoulders.
"Ahh," Ichigo sighed. "That feels better. Fucking constraints." He cracked his neck, and rolled his shoulders as he let out a satisfied groan. This wouldn't be a fight where he could afford to hold back; since his Bankais probably wouldn't be any help with a fighter that relied on brute force like Zaraki. Well, one of his Bankais wouldn't. The other...
But that was rendered unimportant by Hichigo's excited suggestion/demand.
'Oi, King! I wanna fight, I wanna fight! You owe me for releasin' me just to heal Pineapple Head a mo' ago! If ya don't let me fight, I might just 'accidentally' strangle someone with my bandages next time 'round.' Unsurprisingly, the pale Zangetsu was the only one that cared whether he fought or not. And, so, Ichigo obliged him.
-()-()-(0-
"Keeen-Chaaaan..." Yachiru whined, from her perch on her captain's shoulder. "How much longer do we have to wait until Ichi arrives?" They were currently sat on top of a building, waiting not too far from the Senzaikyu; the location that 11th squad's Third seat had suggested he might be going; given that that was where Rukia Kuchiki was being kept until it was time for her execution.
"I already told you, Yachiru, I don't know when he'll get here. Just that he will pass by this way at some point." Zaraki Kenpachi said, through gritted teeth.
"But I'm booored."
"We've already played your games, it's my turn." The pinkette huffed and plopped her chin on her adoptive father's shoulder. "But... I think that may be him." The captain gave a wicked grin as his sharp eyes caught sight of a tall, though not to his own degree, orange haired, sleeveless Shihakusho wearing figure. Across the male's back, a huge blade rested. It seemed, to Zaraki, that this would be a very fun fight.
-()-()-(0-
Ichigo stopped, as he felt something change. The captain-class Shinigami had moved, apparently, and not away from the Ryoka.
"Yo. Good of you to join me." Ichigo commented, calmly. The proverbial eye of the hurricane had moved to the spot not too far behind him. He scratched the centre of his chest. "Impressive killing intent you've got there. For a moment I thought you'd actually run me through with that there blade."
"Of course I joined ya." A deep rumble responded, with a chuckle. "I think you can give me a good fight. You're Ichigo Kurosaki, yeah?"
"That's right." Ichigo nodded, turning to face his opponent. "And I'm thinking you'll be Kenpahi Zaraki; Captain of 11th Division."
"Haha. Yeah. That's me."
"And I'm his Lieutenant!" A chipper voice announced, as a pink headed girl popped up from behind the tall captain. Her darker pink eyes were glinting happily as she smiled at Ichigo. Ichigo smiled back, but it wasn't quite as easy-going as hers was.
"Hey, I don't know about the morality of you Soul Reapers, but I'm not fighting a little girl." Said girl frowned at the implication.
"Kenny wouldn't do that! Kenny fights one on one!" She said, with a slight pout.
"Good." Ichigo turned back to the bell-wearing captain. "Shall we begin?"
"Hehe. Definitely. Yachiru, can you go wait on that building?" He gave a half-hearted wave towards a building.
"Okay! Bye Ken-Chan! Bye Ichi-Chan!" She vanished in a burst of Shunpo.
"One thing I wanna know," Kenpachi pondered aloud. "You seem stronger than Kuchiki said you were.
"You complaining?"
"Hell no! If you weren't strong, how could I have fun?" Zaraki pointed out. "Nah, it just doesn't make sense since you haven't had that many fights since you got 'ere. How'd you grow so much stronger? And can I make some of my division do it so that they'll be more fun?"
"It'll take quite a while to explain; I assume you don't care enough for me to take the time to tell you. But, no, it wouldn't work for your subordinates."
"Ah. That sucks. But you're right; I don't care enough to listen to the story." He shouldered his Zanpakuto. "I'd rather get to the fight."
"Yep. Y'know, I've been told to run away if I meet a captain..."
"Oh? I'd hate to have to chase you down to kill you." Zaraki scowled.
"You won't have to. I'd never live it down if I did." Ichigo copied his opponents stance, shouldering Zangetsu.
"Those swords." Zaraki nodded to the still sheathed blades. "You gonna use them?"
"Probably not, no. But I'd feel... naked without them."
"Huh. A shame; I haven't fought many dual wielders before." He remarked.
"Oh? Maybe some time in the future." The captain scowled, disliking that.
"Tss. So you don't wanna go to the death?"
"I won't kill you, no." Ichigo stated.
"Tss. Fine, if you manage to survive, I doubt I'll feel the need to finish you off." It was true, he didn't often go out of his way to kill his enemies. "But in exchange, I ain't lettin' you have the first move." He grinned sadistically, and readied the Zanpakuto he had never spoken to.
Kenpachi lunged forwards, his battered-looking katana swinging towards his target, who, for some reason, frowned visibly before bringing his Khyber knife up to block the blow, being thrown back by the strength of Kenpachi's blow. The captain was, certainly, a strong one.
Ichigo righted himself in mid-air, stabbing Zangetsu into the ground to remove his momentum, and prepared to retaliate with a snarl. He chucked the Zanpakuto into the air, confusing his opponent greatly, and snatched a bandage out of mid air. The blade reached his peak, and Ichigo yanked the make-shift rope harshly behind him. Immediately after, he span his hand in a wicked circle around his head. The blade span very, very fast, imitating a human invention that Kenpachi believed was called a buzz-saw.
All of a sudden, the rotations ceased, and the Khyber knife was flung at the captain, like a gigantic, and sinister, dart. He raised his Zanpakuto, in order to bat aside the blade, but found himself regretting that as he was forced to focus his attention on the action at hand; meaning that he did not notice that Ichigo had tautened the bandage he used to spin Zangetsu. As the blade was knocked aside, and the Kenpachi prepared to cut the bandage connecting it, he saw Ichigo was no longer in front of him; as his view was now unobstructed. In fact, the bandage led off to the opposite side to the blade.
Leaping backwards, the Khyber blade passed through the space Zaraki had just occupied. It flew back to the hand of its waiting wielder, and Eleventh Squad's captain grinned at the look of slight annoyance his dodge inspired in Ichigo.
"A shame. I thought you'd at least get nicked by Zangetsu." He raised the body-length blade again and leapt forward at the Grinning captain.
Their blades collided, and Ichigo added strength to what had been put into his first, this time resulting in the two reaching a stalemate. In this meeting, Ichigo broke the stalemate, pushing the captain back a few paces. This, however, just inspired his grin to grow, before Kenpachi lunged forward again, his Zanpakuto aimed at Ichigo's shoulder in a harsh swipe. Ichigo stepped forward, the man's arm hitting him instead of the worn out blade. Ichigo responded to the attack by slamming the bandaged hilt of his Zanpakuto into the larger man's stomach, seemingly knocking the wind out of him and sending him back another few feet. Zaraki let out a bout of maniacal laughter.
"You must be strong!" He leaped at Ichigo yet again, the nodachi he held whistling toward the orange haired combatant's chest. "But how strong are you?!"
In response, Ichigo swept Zangetsu upwards, the two blades colliding and the unnamed, at this point, Zanpakuto being knocked completely away from Ichigo, though it remained in Kenpachi's hand. The Khyber knife slashed across the already scarred chest, cutting it open, though in a far less serious injury than just about anyone else would suffer from such an attack.
"HAH!" Kenpachi roared, and moved faster than Ichigo had come to expect from the heavy captain. His blade pierced slammed into the Khyber blade, and Ichigo stumbled back, before the nodachi stabbed through his right shoulder, inspiring a surprised gasp from Ichigo. Though it was not from the pain of such a wound...
'That voice...'
Ichigo's foot slammed into Kenpachi's gut, throwing the bigger man away and tearing the sword from Ichigo's torso.
Kenpachi's eyes widened, as he felt the Ryoka's Reiatsu skyrocket.
"Come forth, Zangetsu!"
And the man attacked with vigour, a second blade was in Ichigo's other hand. Zaraki would have grinned as the difficulty increased further. The Khyber knife blade slashed across his gut, followed by the Trench stabbing straight through Zaraki's shoulder. While the blade was certainly smaller than its partner, a stab wound from it was far from insubstantial; even to the captain. As blood sprayed from the suddenly unplugged wound, the spiky haired man's grin grew massive.
"Now this is getting good..." Kenpachi's hand moved up to the right side of his face, and he gripped the eyepatch with his unharmed hand. "But don't grow... complacent!" The man tore the accessory off, and Ichigo's eyes widened.
This was more reiatsu than he had ever felt before. It had a very... intimidating feel. The captain, ignoring the hole in his shoulder, charged forth again. The damaged blade made to bisect Ichigo, but was blocked by a, suddenly glowing, pair of unconventional blades. The Zangetsu's pushed the nodachi back, and, again, Zaraki's grin widened.
"Hah! I'm definitely not gonna kill you! This is way too much fun!" Yellow reiatsu built up behind him, and he raised his blade. "I can stop holding BACK!" He gripped the hilt of his blade with his right hand. Not an image that would normally mean much, but this, also, exponentially increased the captain's output.
'Nope.' Ichigo said to himself. 'Who knows what else he's got up his sleeves.'
The torrent of reiatsu crushed the ground, and the air whipped around Kenpachi; cutting off the sound of his opponent's voice.
"... DABURU!" Two bright blue crescents of reitsu roared towards the 11th Division Captain, running parallel to each other.
"What the..." They collided with the captain, engulfing his form briefly, and preventing him from being seen, even by his ever-loyal Lieutenant, who had just finished scaring off a messenger. As the light faded away, it showed a shocked-expression in place of Kenpachi's grin.
Two large wounds ran down Zaraki's torso; both enough to instantly render any normal person, even at full health, unconscious in an instant. As it was, the man stood gaping for a few moments, before the grin returned, his eyes close, and slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Ichigo sheathed his smaller Shikai on his right hip, and neared the unconscious man, bandages unwrapping as he neared.
"Thank you Ichi-Chan!" A pink bundle exclaimed, popping up, somehow unnoticed, on his shoulder.
"Whoa! Jeez, don't do that." Ichigo clutched his chest. "Thanks for what, anyway?"
"For helping Kenny have fun! It's been a long time since someone lasted so long in one of his games! Especially since you won!" She hopped over to her pseudo-father and lifted him, in a surprising feat of strength, before vanishing in a blur of Shunpo.
Ichigo, meanwhile, realised his clothing was drenched with his blood; from the shoulder wound made so much worse by the blade's forceful removal. He focused his reiatsu on that spot in particular, and felt his abilities drain him a little more than he already had been. The orange haired Shinigami let out a yawn, and shrugged. He might as well find somewhere to take a nap.
-()-()-()-()-
When Ichigo woke, his first emotion was, most definitely, confusion. This... room, was not where he had fallen asleep. The confusion was shortly followed by panic, and Ichigo leapt to his feet. This was furthered when he found that, as his hands went to his waist for one of his blades, they were missing.
As his hand went to his lower back, his actions were interrupted by a masculine tone.
"You were far less injured than I had expected, Ichigo." His head spun to face the cat that had spoken, and his hand dropped to his side. "I had predicted a marginal win against Kenpachi, if I am completely honest." Why was the feline's gaze on the wall behind Ichigo, when it was talking to the newly-Shinigami? Ichigo glanced down, and found his clothing had been much more... damaged in his fight than he had thought. Now, he was wearing little more than rags, and most of his body was covered only by bandages. It would be rather fortunate, soon enough, that his bottoms still covered the vital areas.
"Ah. Sorry about my state of dress." Ichigo said, misinterpreting, unsurprisingly, Yoruichi's feelings towards how he currently looked. "Oh, and, by the way, Yoruichi, next time you should be more thorough in disarming someone." His sash, with the sheathed swords attached, sat next to Yoruichi.
"What do you... Oh. You mean Tabigarasu? Hmm. I guess I forgot about that." The cat cocked its head in a more canine manner, and ran its eyes around the room. "Would you mind telling me where it is."
"I'd rather not." Ichigo looked around the room in which he had woken, too, and changed the subject. "Did you pick me up when I was napping?"
"That is right."
"Uh... How?" He looked, confusedly, at the cat. "You really don't seem big enough to carry me here."
"Oh, that is an easy task in my other form." Yoruichi said, simply. Apparently she didn't notice Ichigo's befuddled expression, until he voiced his confusion.
"...Other form?" The cat responded with the same expression Ichigo currently displayed.
"Oh. I never did show you my true form, did I?"
There was a flash of reiatsu, and a cloud of white smoke, Ichigo found himself in a very uncomfortable position.
Crouched in front of the now sitting Shinigami-Human, was a purple haired, beautiful woman. And Ichigo felt his eyes drawn, like any red blooded male, to her... nether regions. She was, for lack of a better way to be described, on display. And by "on display", I mean she was very much naked.
The dark skinned woman smirked, proudly, at the change in expression of the boy she was, and she insisted to herself that this was what she was doing, teasing. Ichigo had a very obvious blush crawling up his neck, and his facial expression gave the impression of vacancy, as he forced his eyes further up her body; to look her in the eye again.
From Ichigo's point of view, however, far more than that had happened.
It wasn't exactly surprising that his Hollow spoke up. He had often referred to himself as Ichigo's 'Inner Pervert', after all.
'Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat! Motorboat!' The chant did not stop there, but Ichigo 'muted' Hichigo until the bleached Zanpakuto had gotten it out of his system.
Of the other two male spirits, neither was anywhere near as obvious as Hichigo in their interest. Tabigarusa simply turned his attention to the events unfolding, and Ichigo couldn't say for sure if Old Man Zangetsu gave any response at all, but he thought the man, as a part of Ichigo, was at least vaguely interested.
Lastly, Ichigo looked to the sole female spirit living inside his head; mentally cringing at the expected reaction, and found himself shocked. He had been dreading accusation, or jealousy, or something of the sort. His prediction was incorrect, evidently. Nejibana's interest, though far from Hichigo's level of obviousness, was quite clear to Ichigo. In fact, she seemed a little... aroused.
'I am a part of you now, Ichigo-sama.' She replied to his shock. 'While I am a separate entity, I am influenced by the things you enjoy.' A disturbing thought occurred to Ichigo.
'Wait... so your kissing me was really... me kissing myself?' He asked, horrified. The Zanpakuto let out a burst of musical laughter.
'No, Ichigo. It's not that literal. What I meant was that I perceive certain things through your eyes, an so have grown to... appreciate them. My feelings toward you are my own, don't worry.' Well, that was relieving to the orange haired hybrid. 'I believe that you aught to speak to the naked one,' Ichigo let out a chukle, as he met Yoruichi's eyes, and she responded with an offended look.
"Do I look funny to you?" She sounded genuinely offended, which surprised Ichigo.
"No, not at all. You look..." He trailed of, blush somehow increasing. "It's just that I believe you have earned a new nickname from my Zanpakuto."
"Oh?" The Goddess of the Flash asked, relieved.
"Aye. They're probably going to be calling you 'The naked one' from here on out." The teasing woman's cheeks only reddened a fraction of the colour that was still present on Ichigo's, before she gained a slightly evil smirk.
"Is that so?" She leant forwards slightly. "Does that mean you want me to stay naked then, Ichigo?"
Now, had Ichigo answered this question, he's have spluttered out a few denials before regaining control of himself. But Ichigo had a bit of help this time, and felt the sensation of briefly being put in the passenger seat. Nejibana, this time.
"Hmm." Ichigo felt himself respond, lips curling into a smirk, cheeks returning to their natural colour and eyes... wandering. "I think I could get used to it, naked-san." His tongue darted out, wetting his lips.
"W-What?" Now she was surprised. Yoruichi had fully expected a spluttering, embarrassed Ichigo. Not one that was so confident as to tease her right back. "Wait... naked-san?" Ichigo, back in control, resembled his namesake once again. "Ichigo... was that one of your Zanpakuto?"
"Y-Yeah." Ichigo noded enthusiastically to assure her of this truth, and missed the shocked expression that Yoruichi was often finding herself wearing around the fascinating man in front of her.
"Well... I guess I really shouldn't be surprised any more." She mumbled to herself, shaking her head in a bewildered manner. Ichigo Kurosaki really was unique.
"Hey... Yoruichi?"
"Yes, Ichigo?"
"Can you please put some clothes on?" He had, now, averted his eyes from the nude form.
"Ah. I suppose that you would be more comfortable if I did, wouldn't you? I always forget the insistence that humans have for covering themselves." She found a large-collared sweatshirt... somewhere, and donned it. "I am curious, Ichigo," The purple haired ex-Shinigami began; doing her utmost to keep her voice level and finding it oddly difficult. "Is that the first time you have seen a girl naked? Your reaction was rather extreme, after all."
"Yeah, that's right." He replied, head still turned away. She was surprised by how calm he sounded. Apparently the Human-turned-Shinigami wasn't as bothered by such a comment as most men would have been. That was a good thing.
'Hey Ichigo! Hey! Hey! HEY!' The Hollow in Ichigo's head demanded his attention. 'She's a cat, right? And you just saw her pussy! HAHAHA!' He found it far more humorous than Ichigo, or any of the others who heard.
"Well..." Yoruichi began, with a smirk that hid what would have been a genuine smile. "Would you like to see it again? Life is short after all; you should capitalise on the chance to see a hot young girl like me in all my glory." He turned to her, in time to see she had lifted her top, showing most of her body once again, and gave a visible flinch, before forcing himself to turn away, thanks to the volume of his Hollow's affirmative. Once more, Yoruichi took the reaction badly, and would have questioned the reaction, but thought better of it. Based on his reaction earlier, Ichigo did find her attractive. She wouldn't worry, for now. In the future, though, she would do her utmost to... gather additional data.
-()-()-()-
"Ugh. I'd forgotten how uncomfortable it was to wear clothes." Yoruchi complained. She was now dressed in black, stretch trousers and brown shoes, a black under shirt and an orange jacket.
"You already said that, Yoruichi." Ichigo commented from his position walking next to her as they headed for what the mysterious woman had reffered to as 'the ideal place to train for Bankai'. She had Shunpo'd them to the entrance, but said that it was best for Ichigo to know where exactly they were, in case he needed a safe place while inside the Soul Society. "Hey, Yoruichi," Ichigo began, receiving the were-cat's attention. "You seem quite skilled in Shunpo." He commented.
"Oh, that's an understatement, dear Ichigo." She said, with a smirk. "Back when I was still living here, I was known as the goddess of the flash." She turned a glare on Ichigo as he snorted. "Are you making fun of my title, Ichigo?"
"In a way, yeah." He said, amusement heavy in his tone. "You must realise why else it may be fitting to you."
"What do you..." She remembered the other verb of 'to flash'. "Oh." Her cheeks, once again, reddened slightly at Ichigo's jibe. "Well, I got it for being the most proficient in the use of Flash Step out of all the Shinigami." Ichigo raised an eyebrow, and likely would have asked about her origins, but was stopped by the dark-skinned soul continuing. "Unless, of course, you would like to challenge me for that position." Yoruichi asked with a smirk, only for Ichigo to respond with a snort. "You sound a little overconfident there, Ichigo."
"Oh, no. That wasn't a snort of confidence. The idea of me challenin you; especially if you were that talented in the art, is ridiculous... Plus, I'm not sure being called the goddess of the flash would really suit me."
"Why is it ridiculous?" She ignored the second comment. Ichigo seemed remarkably skilled in it during his fight with Kisuke. Why would he think himself bad at it?
"Oh, I don't know. Probably because, when I'm not in a fight, if I can't see a clear path to where I want to go, I'm lucky to end up even going in that general direction. Let alone end up where I want to be." Yoruichi exhaled in a loud, annoyed manner.
"Yet another thing Kisuke didn't bother teaching you." She growled out, annoyed at her friend's idiocy. "Well then, take off your clothes; it's time for us to get started." She said, turning to hide her smirk.
"My clothes?"
'Damn.' She thought to herself. 'He questioned it.'
"I've yet to see anyone else Shunpo without any clothes on. Why would that be needed to train?"
"Umm..." Ichigo noted that this was the most he had seen Yoruichi blush so far. "No, t-that was a test to find out if you would obey me in this lesson. You failed!"
It probably wasn't the best way to deal with her embarrassment, Yoruichi was aware, but, nevertheless, she appeared next to Ichigo and the orange haired man was sent flying with a kick to the head from one of the greatest Hakuda practitioners the Gotei 13 had ever seen.