Here's another chapter of Savage. I decided to write this today because... well, because I felt like it and I didn't really finish the scene yesterday. Apologies to anyone that wanted me to explain the Vizards situation, but I can't be bothered to write that out. I assume everyone knows, but if you don't check out the Bleach Wiki, or search for it on Youtube, I'm sure it's there somewhere.
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
-()-()_()-()-
Hollow
Old Man Zangetsu
Nejibana
-()-()-()-
Inside the warehouse home of the Vizards, Yoruichi finished detailing the events in which Aizen condemned the Hollowfied Shinigami to this fate, and then convinced the Shinigami court to sentence them to death when he saw the results of his experiments. Yoruichi was,
"And how, exactly, was that a distressing story?" Ichigo asked the woman sitting on him. "You seemed fine through the entire narrative."
"That's because you're so good at comforting me, silly." She smiled at him, as Ichigo made a disbelieving noise.
"Are you going to get off me now, then?"
"Hmm… no, I don't think so." The Goddess of Flash grinned at Ichigo, only to be thwarted as Kisuke spoke up; having joined the group halfway through the story; after his nose stopped bleeding. Similarly; Shinji and Hiyori were now sat with the group.
"If I might make a suggestion," The male exile began. "Ichigo may want to train with the Vizards, since they will provide a different nature of opponent than any he has fought before." He turned his head to Ichigo. "Assuming you've never fought somebody Hollowfied, that is." He gestured for Ichigo to stand; believing that they would get right in to training.
"Not that I know of, no." Ichigo did as was suggested, and dumped Yoruichi on the floor before standing and cracking his neck.
"Oh, you'd know if you'd fought one of us; kid." Kensei Muguruma stated, with a smirk.
"In that case, I'd have to say I haven't." Ichigo replied.
"Hold on, Baldy," Hiyori held up her hand to Urahara. "Does he even have a mask? I ain't training a Soul Reaper." She shook her head vigorously, as the others nodded their agreement; they, understandably, held a grudge against the Shinigami.
"He does," Urahara answered. "I've seen it myself; when he regained his powers." The bucket-hatted man grinned, as Ichigo nodded; his annoyance that the question hadn't been directed at him minimal. "I am sure Ichigo would be happy to give you a demonstration; right, Ichigo?"
"Sure," The hybrid nodded. "How should I do that?" The orange haired man questioned.
"I'm going to beat on you until your Hollow takes over." Hiyori commented, not waiting for Ichigo's reply, and leapt in to action. She was in an even worse mood than normal.
"Wait!" Ichigo just managed to exclaim, before he had to dodge out of the way of her sealed Zanpakuto. "What the hell-" He drew his own blade; Kikoo having been sat on his hip at the time, and blocked the small girl's katana's blade with his own, red hilted, katana. "Are you doing?!" The girl attacked again; her Zanpakuto narrowly missing Ichigo, and the human lost his temper. "Bitch!"
The Human-Shinigami lunged forwards and Kikoo cut a lock of hair from Hiyori's head, and the girl gained an expression of shock; appearing a safe distance away and fingering the bald spot while Shinji howled with laughter; imagining a wholly bald Hiyori and finding the image very humorous.
"Shut up, Baka! You're distracting!" The girl barked, as she scowled at the leader of the Vizards. "You wanna go?" She asked Ichigo. "Fine!" She raised her hand to her face; her fingers imitating claws, and continued. "But you asked for it!" Her hand, and head, was engulfed in reiatsu.
Ichigo gained his own look of shock, briefly, as the girl's reiatsu skyrocketed, and took on a sinister quality. When Hiyori's reiatsu subsided, and he could see her face, it became clear why; covering her face was a Hollow's mask; the prominent feature of the bone-like mask being the horn protruding from her forehead, as well as the reverse-kite patterns running horizontally underneath said horn with diamonds directly below, and Ichigo somehow got the impression she was grinning below said mask.
"Huh." Ichigo muttered, as he dodged out of her way; the girl attacking once more, and pushed the girl away. "I wonder why yours looks so different."
"Bahh!" Hiyori leapt at Ichigo once again, and the human raised Kikoo to defend himself. It turned out this was not necessary, as Shinji appeared between the two with his own Zanpakuto blocking Hiyori's path.
"Wait!" He ordered. "Didn't you hear what the Newbie just said?!"
"No! And I don't care!" Hiyori replied in her garbled voice as she darted past her friend, and swung her Zanpakuto; Kubikiri Orochi, in its sealed form, once again. This time, she was intercepted by Rojuro Otoribashi.
"He said your mask's different!" The girl ignored him, and continued on her war path.
"That means he's got one himself!" An enthusiastic girl exclaimed, as Mashiro Kuna stood in front of Ichigo, and between him and the angry blonde.
"Bullshit! He would've used it by now if he did!"
"Not necessarily." Kensei commented, from the sidelines.
"And why not?!" Hiyori demanded.
"Because you haven't made me break a sweat yet." Ichigo answered for the Vizard, as he sheathed Kikoo. He grinned as a vein pulsed in the girl's forehead, and continued. "But don't worry; at least you tried." He stepped out of the way as she lunged at him again, and laughed. "Jeez. You might be formidable if you got your anger in check."
"Everybody just calm down!" Shinji exclaimed, before turning to Urahara. "Why didn't you tell us Ichigo had subdued his Hollow already, Kisuke?" He asked, and was satisfied at the result.
"You KNEW?!" Urahara didn't have time to answer befroe he started to run for his life as a small, blonde girl, still wearing her mask, chased him with a shoe in hand.
"There; that got rid of her for a while. Now, would you tell us how you have control of your Hollow already? We all needed help, and I find it hard to believe that you didn't."
"From what Yoruichi said, you were made in to Vizards... artificially, right?" Shinji nodded, with a small shrug. "Well, I've had a Hollow since I was born. I'm not certain, but I think that my mom was… infected by one, and it transferred to her first born. Me." Ichigo said, slightly uncertainly. "He's a bastard, and fought me a lot when I was younger, but I had help from my Zanpakutos, and eventually we became civil... Well, civil-ish; he still comments on everything around me, and they're never exactly nice things he says, but he doesn't try to kill me at random intervals anymore, so I call that a win." He smirked, as said Hollow complained about that description.
"Well, that's more than any of us have managed. Our Hollows hate us, and it sounds like yours... doesn't." Shinji said, with surprise on top of his previous jealousy. "Maybe you're different, because of the natural element. What does Kisuke say on the subject?"
"He hasn't said anything to me."
"Really? Weren't you curious about your Hollow?" Shinji asked, bemused. "Why wouldn't you ask Kisuke? Say what you want about him, he's the smartest guy I've ever met."
"'Cause he's been with me for as long as I can remember," Ichigo stated. "The way I see it, I've got no reason to trust him any less than the other spirits I have. Hell, maybe less, since he's so... truthful." Yes, that was a nice way to put it, but not necessarily honest. "Okay, maybe it's more like he doesn't understand the concept of lying, but it's hard not to trust someone without the ability to be dishonest. But, anyway, I consider him something like a friend. Or did, once I finally bought what he was selling."
"Huh. Must be nice." Shinji said, with envy evident in his tone. The expressions on his allies' faces mirrored this feeling. None of their Hollows was even sentient, let alone trustworthy.
"Yup. So, how are we going to train?" The human-shinigami queried, looking around at the other Vizards.
"Well, we'll need to see how strong you are first; to do that, I'd say you should have a go at duelling each of us, with your mask on, of course, since that's what would have happened if you didn't have control over your Hollow. I know I'm itchin' for a fight." The Vizard smirked. "How about you, guys? Since I've never heard Hiyori say no to violence."
Rojuro nodded boredly, from his place on a sofa, as he tuned a guitar he had retrieved from... somewhere.
Love gave a thumbs up in answer, showing that he, too, was willing to fight Ichigo.
Lisa looked up from her Manga and shrugged. She, like Rojuro, didn't particularly care about fighting.
Hachi didn't answer; he wouldn't be fighting anyway, instead he would be setting up the barriers to minimise the destruction that occurred.
Kensei nodded the affirmative with a smirk.
"How long can you hold it for, Berry-tan?!" Mashiro, finally, asked of Ichigo; providing her own answer.
"Berry..." Ichigo scowled at the nickname, before deciding to simply answer the girl's question. "I don't know; I've never actually worn it in the real-world." At the looks of surprise, he elaborate. "I've only been a soul reaper, with the ability to wear my mask, for a few weeks, and most of that time's have been in the Soul Society. You're living proof that they don't take well to things that are different, and my Zanpakutos were plenty to make me stand out."
"You said that earlier as well," Shinji spoke up again; speaking for the others. "It sounds like you're saying you've got two Zanpakutos or something..."
"Four, actually," Ichigo replied. "And one of them's a dual-wield." The human-shinigami grinned as the others sweat-dropped, and prepared to tell the story; no doubt they would pester him until he shared the basics, at the very least. That would be troublesome, if he was to spend any significant period of time with them, and if they were to get involved with the fight against Aizen.
-()-()-()-
"Hurry up, BALDY!" Hiyori yelled at her opponent, as the pair stood inside a newly created, courtesy of Hachi, barrier. "This is pointless if you don't PUT ON YOUR MASK!"
"Will you be quiet if I do?" Ichigo asked, with annoyance evident in his expression and tone. "I'm stood right in front of you, there's no need to scream stuff."
"FINE!"
"That's... never mind," He shook his head, as Shinji grinned at him from outside; they'd all attempted to convince Hiyori to use her indoor voice before, and none of the Vazards expected Ichigo to be the one to finally succeed. "Are you going to put your own mask on, or should I go first?"
In answer, Hiyori brought her hand to her face, and it radiated pink energy as she donned the horned mask as she drew her Zanpakuto. It hadn't changed any, of course, and so Ichigo felt no surprise at the appearance.
"C'mon the, Ichigo! Let's see if you deserve to join us!" Hiyori said, loudly. "Just 'cause the hat-wearing Baldy suggested it, doesn't mean you're already in!"
"Who said anything about wanting to join you? As far as I can tell, you're a bunch of cowards!" The blonde girl bristled at that, and Ichigo would have chuckled, had he not been deadly serious. "Why else would you just be sitting here, while Aizen's still out betraying... well, everyone? No, I'm gonna take the fight to him; not just sit in a run down warehouse." Ichigo shook his head. "But, I need training if I'm going to beat him and, if impressing you's the only way to train with people who are obviously strongIn that case, I might as well give it some effort," The human-shinigami grinned, as he raised he hand to his jawline. Similarly to the girl before him, his hand was engulfed in Reiatsu, though this was blue, and he began to call his Hollow mask forth; something he rarely used, since he, unlike these exiles, had nothing against using Shinigami powers.
Hiyori watched, confused, as Ichigo swiped his hand upwards; none of them did it in that direction; it just seemed... strange. Then, her surprise was pulled elsewhere.
"That's..." Outside of the barrier, Shinji, as well as the others, was shocked. Ichigo's reiatsu, to start with, was immense; not something they expected from a human, but that was not what surprising the psuedo-leader of the Vizards the most.
As different as their masks looked, none of the Vizards had such unique Hollow forms. There was a hockey mask, a pharaoh, a bird, and, yet, Ichigo's was... stranger. Fiercer.
The bone-like material wrapped around Ichigo's entire head; covering his orange hair that, admittedly, made him look a little less intimidating everyday, with four crimson streaks running from the base of his skull, over the scalp where the two centremost stripes stopped in sharp points, and the two outside lines ran down his face and finished at Ichigo's jawline, only curving slightly; briefly vanishing to avoid his eyes and the sharp; fang-like teeth that were grinning at his opponent. On the sides of his head, two small spikes were protruding; looking like the horns of a devil, and pointing to the sides. Those observing couldn't help but feel that these were wrong somehow.
Perhaps it was incomplete.
"What's the matter, tooth-girl? You look like you've seen a ghost." Ichigo asked Hiyori, as he drew the katana sat on his hip; Kikoo would be good, as long as he didn't have to release Shikai. He certainly didn't expect to, so there was no harm.
"N-Nothing. I'm just curious; that looks... c-cumbersome." She gulped. Unlike the others, she could feel Ichigo's Reiatsu.
"Oh? So you're... shakingbecause you feel sympathy? I didn't think you cared." He stepped forwards, pointing Kikoo at the smaller girl, and continued. "Shall we?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm not shaking, Baldy! Shut up!" True to form, Hiyori leapt at her opponent with her Zanpakuto raised.
The katana swung at Ichigo's mask; attempting to shatter the helmet, and Hiyori cursed as he ducked the blow. Ichigo's fist slammed into her stomach and the girl was thrown backwards, and landed in the dirt. With a buzz, Ichigo appeared over her, where she was flat on her back on the ground. In another second, the girl leapt to her feet and attempted another attack.
"Too slow..." A garbled voice hissed in her ear, as Tabigarasu pressed against her throat. "Heh. But I don't much want the fight to end yet; I'm enjoying this." He pressed his hand against the girl's upper back and shoved her forwards. She tumbled in to the dust, and Ichigo leapt back; flipping and landing in a fighting stance once again; both blades in the ready position. "For the record; these're two differentZanpakuto." Ichigo stated, for the others' benefit.
His katana swung upwards, and caught Hiyori's blade where it appeared. Ichigo shoved her away, breaking away from the grapple with a flick of his wrist.
"C'mon, Hiyori-chan, you can do better than that!" The familiarity in his tone irritated the girl, and she snarled. "But," He began, as he leapt back and a blade passed through the space he'd previously occupied. "If you want to, you'll need to get your temper in CHECK!" Tabigarasu vanished, and Ichigo drew the katana's sheath instead. He appeared behind the girl with another buzz, and whacked it over the back of her head.
Spinning, Ichigo moved to the side of the short girl and placed the sharp of the blade against her throat; sheath at the back of her neck to keep her still.
"Bah. We're done, I suppose. I'd bet we'll fight again, though, so I won't let it bother me." Ichigo re-sheathed the Zanpakuto and patted her on the head.
"Bastard! We aren't done!" Hiyori yelled, and leapt at Ichigo once again.
"Yeah, we are." Ichigo slammed the hilt of Kikoo against her mask. "Do me a favour, and send in one of the others." Ichigo grabbed the back of her red tracksuit, and tossed her at the side of the orange barrier.
"H-Heyy!" Hiyori yelled, as her Hollow powers dissipated and she was narrowly saved slamming face first against the wall by a doorway appearing.
As she flew past the pair, Kisuke commented to Shinji about the outcome, with an amused tint to his voice.
"I told you he was impressive."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't see why you're so proud. He's not your kid, or anything." Was Shinji's response. "And if you don't stop being so cocky 'bout it, I'll tell Hiyori you were rooting for Ichigo."
"You wouldn't..."
"I would."
"Hey! Can you two stop gossiping, or should I just go in and fight the Punk?!" Kensei asked, in an agitated manner.
"I see no problem with that." Urahara commented. "Ichigo said he'd be happy to fight everyone, after all, and you're one of the crazies that seems keen on the idea." The hat-wearer grinned, and a fan materialised in his hand. "Good luck!"
Kensei didn't give an answer, as he stepped in through the doorway of the barrier, and strode to the centre of the makeshift arena.
"You never did answer Machiru. How long do we have before your mask times out?" The ex-captain asked.
"I don't know. That was, and is, my answer." Ichigo replied.
"Eh. I guess I best get started, then. Are you a one-trick-pony, or can you fight without hand-to-hand, too?" The pale-haired man asked, just before his mask appeared on his face; a hockey mask with several slits running down each side. "None of that lot like training in Hakuda, after all." he nodded to their audience.
"I know the feeling; not a lot of people understand the joy of beating the daylights out of someone with nothing but your own fists." Ichigo grinned under his mask, as he remembered all the times he had done just that along with Chad back when he was a human.
"I couldn't have said it better myself."
-()-()-()-
"Please don't hurt me, Berry-tan..." Machiru asked Ichigo, who stood over her, as her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered. Kensei watched, in a huff after he had failed to beat Ichigo, and his mood was not helped any as he watched his ex-lieutenant use such dishonourable tactics.
"I wasn't..." Ichigo started, confused, as there was the threat for Machiru to begin crying. "I'm sorry," He sheathed Neibana; used in this duel, and knelt next to the green-haired girl. "Here, let me hel-ooph!" The human-shinigami offered the girl his hand, only to be kicked in the head, and sent flying.
"Woohoo! I win!" She exclaimed, with a large grin, only to be corrected by Lisa; who looked up from her erotic Manga long enough to point behind Machiru. "Eep!" Ichigo was stood behind her; mask only a little cracked on the side of his head. The grin, somehow, seemed even more sadistic at this point, and the girl was scared.
"That wasn't very nice."
"I'm sorry!" The exile exclaimed as she fled.
-()-(_)-()-
Ichigo had finished, for now, his training with the Vizards. Now, he was heading through the Dangai for training with a wider variety of people; none of whom would cheap-shot him after pretending to be terrified.
Well, none that Ichigo intended to seek out.
As the human-shinigami stepped out of the darkness, and in to the Soul Society, he dropped to the floor a few feet below; landing softly as he peered around. Next to him, a similar, if even softer, thud sounded a second later.
"So, where to first?" Yoruichi wondered, as she sidled up to Ichigo. This time, the human-shinigami didn't even bother trying to shake her off his arm, as she took his hand; it was seeming more and more pointless to fight her affection and, if he was honest, Ichigo was curious why she was so friendly. First, it certainly seemed that she was simply very flirtatious but, even after spending so much time around the woman, he had not seen her act like it with anyone else. Not that he would have been honest with himself about the curiosity if he didn't have several spirits more willing than himself to point it out.
"I'd best check in with Kukkaku," Ichigo answered. "She seemed quite determined that I stay at hers whenever I'm in the Soul Society for some reason. After that, I'll find someone to spar with for a couple of hours. Then, I'll get something to eat; I'm already a little hungry."
"I would love to join you, Ichigo! Thanks for asking!"
"Wait... what?"
-()_()_()-
"Ichiiigo!" Aforementioned substitute-Shinigami turned to the man approaching at alarming speeds, and raised his hands. "Fight me!"
"I will! I will!" Ichigo responded. "But I have some conditions, first."
"Conditions?" Kenpachi repeated. "Why would I agree to your conditions when I could just attack you?" The tall man grinned, brandishing his battered Zanpakuto.
"Because if you attack me without agreeing to them, I'll just Shunpo away." Ichigo explained, calmly. "But if you agree to them, I'll fight you frequently, even if it isn't quite as often as you would like to. You know I'm faster than you, so you'll fail to catch me if I run."
"Ichi-Chan's right, ken-Chan!" A pink head popped up, over the bell-haired man's shoulder.
"Fine. What're these conditions?" Zaraki asked, impatiently.
"Firstly, I'm not fighting you to the death. If either of us dies, that will just hinder the Soul Society in the fight against Aizen, and I neither want to kill you, nor want to die." Ichigo surmised. "I'm happy with violence, but that's all I'd be happy with, since that in itself will bring a heap of trouble on to me. And you, as well, if you have to visit Captain Unohana."
"Fine. Fine. What else?"
"Not here." The Captain had found him in the middle of one of the roads passing not too far from his division, and collateral damage would be unavoidable if the two fought here. "Let's go to your division, first, since I'd bet you have an area to fight without risking hurting somebody other than your opponent."
"Anything else?" Kenpachi growled; frustrated at the delay.
"Hmm... no, not really." Ichigo racked his brain. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you left me alone for a while after this," He said, before continuing, once he saw the agitation on Kenpachi's face. "I'll fight you again, but I can't spend every moment fighting you, can I?"
"Fine, fine. Me and Yachiru are going on a trip after this, anyway, so I wouldn't have asked you even without that... condition."
"Okay, then," Obviously the man didn't feel like sharing, and Ichigo didn't have any need to know where Kenpachi and his adopted daughter were going. "Shall we get on with it?"
-()-()-()-
Later that night, after a brawl with Zaraki that tired him out enough that sleep was welcome, and a dinner with Yoruichi; which was okay, as long as you discounted her low cut top that was rather distracting, Ichigo was lying on the bed he'd been provided with by his not-sister Kukkaku in a deep slumber. He was having a pleasant enough dream, even if he would not remember it later, about his friend's in the human world. As annoying as they often were, it provided a needed break from training.
Well, it provided a temporary distraction for the sleeping human. One that would, inevitably, end. With such... exuberant characters in the house, the peace would obviously be short-lasting.
"YORUICHI!" Ichigo's voice rang through the house, as he woke to find the woman's golden eyes inches away from his own. The woman giggled, before answering the unasked question of why she was in his bed. Not that her excuse was great.
"I just wanted to let you know, I have to head back to the living world; something's come up." She said, with a pout that Ichigo missed due to the dark. "But thanks for a great night. I'll see you soon." The woman vanished, and Ichigo blinked confusedly; not awake enough to react any more than that.
"Weird woman." He muttered, before rolling over and going back to sleep. It was fortunate that he would remember the conversation in the morning, or he may well have panicked.