Here's another chapter of Savage that I hope you will all enjoy. I can't think of anything much to put here, other than the fact that this is quite an eventful chapter in several ways, though some of them require a little reading between the lines.
I wasn't being sarcastic in asking for opinions on whether Ichigo should get new Zanpakuto, as some people seem to believe, though I willadmit that I was teasing a little with such vague hints. I do that quite often, I'm afraid. I wasn't actually asking for new Zanpakuto (I'm pretty good at coming up with weapons, if I do say so myself) but more welcoming people's opinions on whether adding any more would be cluttering. I don't think that I've done that so far, but I'm the writer, not the reader, so my opinion's only so useful.
Please leave a review, and Follow/Favourite.
-()_()-
At a later date Soi Fon would deny, even to herself, that she had stopped fighting just to watch Ichigo and his Zanpakuto go at it. Even so, there was very little that she could actually gain from observing the pair in their fight and it would take some serious creativity to invent a logical reason to justify it in her own mind, or to her ex-mentor when Yoruichi asked her for a retelling of the event; having already gotten a hint of Soi Fon's actions from Ichigo, while grinning from ear to ear.
But she was hypnotised by the sight of Ichigo, as he weaved out of the way of Zangetsu's massive blade; the combined Shikai that he was able to use even without the other half of Zangetsu. Ichigo had yet to draw one of his weapons, for reasons known only to him at that moment.
Ichigo danced out of the way of a sapphire crescent, and raised an eyebrow at the attempt from his regal Zanpakuto. While a Getsuga Tensho would not likely kill Ichigo, it would hurt. Ichigo did not voice his question, as Zangetsu sent another of the attacks his way. It was not as close a call this time, as the human-Shinigami expected the fast-moving attack. He easily stepped out of the way, and the Reiatsu-based ability crashed into the wall of a building behind him; one of the edges of their makeshift arena that was actually a large courtyard.
Ichigo smirked at the destruction caused, and vanished in a burst of Shunpo; appearing behind his Zanpakuto and driving his fist into the kidneys of Zangetsu. The spirit was thrown forwards, and barely righted himself in mid-air to land on the cobblestone ground; his blade raised and glowing.
"Getsuga Tensho." Zangetsu stated, and the blade fell; a sapphire arc launching at Ichigo. The Orange haired Hybrid vanished once again, and appeared off to Zangetsu's; left.
"I wonder why Ichi-kun isn't fighting back." A voice said, from the area over Soi Fon's shoulder.
"How would I know?" Was the shinigami's response, in a slightly annoyed tone. She was still unhappy with her sword-spirit. "And why are you calling Ichigo that?"
"Calling him what?" Suzembachi buzzed over to the other side of her head.
"'Ichi-kun'." Soi Fon reminded the small spirit.
"Because Ichi-kun is our future husband!" The Zanpakuto chirped.
"WHAT?!" Soi Fon' composure left her, as she lost her footing at that remark, falling to the floor in an expression of her surprise.
"Husband," Suzembachi appeared in front of her wielder's face, hovering at eyeline, and spoke in a condescending tone. "Y'know, as in man-and-wife? And he is a man." She purred, and turned to watch the fight once again.
"What are you talking about?!" Soi Fon demanded of the spirit. "Why would you think that?!"
"Because you like him and he likes you, though I don't know why he would like you."
"Why would you think that?!"
"That you like him?" Suzembahi assumed Soi Fon meant. "Because I like him, and I'm a part of you, silly."
"T-That's ridiculous!" Soi Fon denied. "I'm not some weak little girl to fawn over that man just because he is handsome!"
"Aha! So you admit that he's handsome! And he's strong, and sweet! Even when he was confused, he complimented me; he'd probably compliment even you if you gave him the chance!" She exclaimed, excited, turning back to the Soul Reaper captain.
"He's not that strong." Soi Fon denied the point that stood out to her.
"Oh no? Well, watch; it looks like he's about to start fighting, and his Zanpakuto have been boasting about how strong Ichi-kun is!" Suzembachi appeared behind her wielder's head, and turned Soi Fon to look at the fight occurring.
Ichigo, meanwhile, was focusing entirely on the situation at hand and, so, did not hear anything of the conversation Soi Fon was being forced into. Instead, he was ducking and dodging the increasing number of Tenshos coming his way with decreasing ease, and decided that this tactic was no longer working for him. He had, after all, not landed a single hit on his Zanpakuto, during this fight, since his first.
Ichigo charged forwards in a blur, dancing out of the path of yet another attack in a Flash Step; appearing a foot to his right mid-run. He flashed forwards, to appear in front of Zangetsu, and leapt into the air a moment later; his foot raised to meet the taller figure's head.
Zangetus ducked, and Ichigo's leg only clipped the top of his skull; meaning the Zanpakuto could recover from the hit after only seconds of disorientation. By that time, though, Ichigo had drawn his fist back, and punched Zangetsu in the stomach. The spirit was thrown backwards, and Ichigo blurred forwards; seeking to capitalise. Zangetsu raised his blade, and swiped it across Ichigo's torso.
Blood sprayed from the man, as the large blade cut a shallow wound across his chest, and Ichigo snarled out his pain as he lunged forwards, and his fist met Zangetsu's jaw. The sword-spirit went flying to the side, as Ichigo hissed at the pain his form-fitting Kimono made upon brushing against his wound. The black fabric fell to the floor seconds later; solving that problem, and Ichigo began his attack anew; his fists raised as he ignored the blade on his left hip, much to her annoyance.
'Ichigo! Why not make this fight easier on yourself?!' Nejibana demanded of her wielder. 'Use my Shikai, at the very least!' She begged of him, as she sensed a small jolt of pain in Ichigo.
Ichigo did not respond, as he leant back and avoided the massive blade that Zangestu swung at him. Follwing through on this movement, he transferred his weight onto his arms and swept the Zanpakuto's feet from under him; sending Zangetsu to the floor. A grunt came from the Spirit, and Ichigo sprang to his feet again and seized Zangetsu's ankle. With a twist of his body, Ichigo threw the rebelling spirit at the wall on the opposite side of the courtyard, and hissed once more as his chest twinged.
'Ichigo! Put an end to this fight!' Nejibana pleaded with Ichigo, and the boy cringed at the desperation in her tone.
'Flower...' He began, in an apologetic tone. 'Old Man Zangetsu is rebelling to make me fight with my power. If I rely on you as a crutch, then it negates what he is trying to teach me. I can beat him. If I could not, there is no way he'd be doing this. I want to prove to all of you that I deserve to wield you. That I can protect you and everyone else.' His tone turned determined towards the end of his brief explanation, and Ichigo leapt forwards again, his Reiatsu-fuelled leap taking him to the partially-shattered wall that his Zanpakuto had crashed through.
As Ichigo landed, Zangetsu rose, and lifted his shikai form yet again; blinking away the painful ache running through his body in favour of continuing to fight.
"How much do I need to do to prove myself then, Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked of his Zanpakuto.
"You have to defeat me, Ichigo." Was the response. "Thank you for adhering to the unspoken parameters, though I would expect you to use a blade." He almost asked why Ichigo was not using one of the sealed forms, at the very least, and Ichigo answered with a shrug.
"You want me to win with only my own strength, so I'm taking it a step further than just a sealed form. We both know that I'm stronger with a blade in hand, after all, so if I can beat you without drawing a blade, then I could replicate the same with a katana. If I'm honest, I believe that I could beat you with a blade, since I went up against you and Hichigo with Shikai, and I am stronger now than I was at that time. I don't know, though, whether I can beat you with only my own strength." Ichigo rolled his shoulders, and pointed to the gash along his chest. "I can handle pain though, and that's something I need to learn to be able to continue to grow, as you so wish to see. Maybe if I was tougher, I wouldn't have stopped when that grinning bastard stabbed me in the back."
"You're correct, Ichigo," Zangetsu nodded. "But I believe there are more effective methods of growth for you than seeking pain. You have not come near to your potential for Reiatsu-manipulation, for example. You rely, instead, on the abilities of our Shikais to replicate that effect."
"What do you mean?" Ichio frowned, simply failing to understand.
"You know my origin, Ichigo." Zangetsu reminded him, in an apathetic tone. "Your mix of powers are unique. Your potential is unlimited, and so I do not regret my next actions. Even if you fail, it will remove an obstacle to your growth and motivate you to go further. To become stronger so that it will never happen again. I have changed my mind, Ichigo. You do not have to defeat me, as long as you block this." Ichigo watched, as the man's eyes lit up in a shocking blue glow, and heard shocked exclamations come from the rooftop to his left; where their two-person audience was perched. Zangetsu raised his blade, and the sword gathered more reiatsu than Ichigo had ever seen; he could feel the thrum of the energy about to be released. The shikai held only the vaguest of shapes at that moment as the Reiatsu raged around it, and Zangetsu's arm fell.
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo heard the man yell for the first time, and a massive sapphire crescent burst forth.
Upon the rooftop, Soi Fon could not hear their conversation, but had been watching Ichigo's fight intensely since he first began to attack. She had defeated him in their spar, and she had not been going all out; giving a metaphorical handicap to the Substitute, but the skill with which he dodged these blows hinted, to Soi Fon, at Ichigo's strength and she began to want for a truer contest with him in hopes that she could force him to fight with all he had.
"Told ya he was a catch." Suzembachi smirked, floating above her head.
"W-What makes you think I agree now?" Soi Fon asked, in denial.
"Oh, I don't know, how about the hungry expression on your face?" Suzembachi giggled. "It may just be me, but I think it appeared when he took his shirt off. I know it aroused my interest." She giggled once again, as Soi Fon reddened.
"Wha- You little pervert!" She exclaimed.
"So what? I'm sure that Ichi-kun would like it if you were a little less prudish!"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up! I'm making sense!"
"You are not!"
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Am t-ahh!" Suzembachi squeaked, at the same time as her wielder let out a yell of surprise.
Sapphire chains had shot out of the roof below, and one rose into the air to catch Suzembachi before she could react; wrapping around her waist and yanking her down to the tiles. At the same time, the chains embraced Soi Fon's wrists and yanked them down to her hips; another encircled her around the ribs, and tightened to incite a gasp of pain from the Captain.
"What the hell?!" Soi Fon exclaimed, at the sudden restraint. She soon added another loud curse, as she searched for the source. She saw the sapphire crescent headed there way, and pulled on the chains, that were holding her still, desperately; her toned arms strained, but she failed to break free. On the ground next to her wielder, Suzembachi struggled to break free, also.
Soi Fon's panic only increased as she found one of Ichigo's Zanpakuto's attacks, this one larger than any of the predecessors, rocketing towards her. She was not able to block the attack, as he arms were restricted. Nor could she escape, as she found out upon trying to Shunpo away; her arms were very nearly pulled from their sockets as the strain on her shoulders was massively increased and the petite Soul Reaper let out a cry of pain. She was moments away from initiating her Shunko in an attempt to negate the damage when her Zanpakuto interrupted.
"Ichi-kun!" Suzembachi cried out for help, seeking it from the only person near enough to do anything. Soi Fon saw the apparent result of this cry, as Ichigo snapped out of his horror and appeared in front of the girls; his uncovered back suddenly prominent in the Captain's line of sight.
"Ichigo?" She groaned through gritted teeth; her arms aching. "What are you doing?!" He did not even have his sword drawn. "How do you mean to stop it?!" She yelled at the man, who did not respond as the air around him began to swirl.
Ichigo's face fell into his familiar scowl as he clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as he forced a calm over himself and his brown eyes turned a vivid blue. Around him, the air began to burn blue; his Reiatsu flowing off him and wrapping its owner in a sapphire cocoon, and Ichigo slowed his breathing as the blow intensified. The human raised his arms in front of him, and focused his will onto the limbs as the back of his forearms faced the oncoming threat.
Soi Fon watched, fascinated, as the Reiatsu condensed around Ichigo; forming a very nearly opaque barrier around the hybrid before her eyes. Then, it went further, and the energy shrunk; wrapping around Ichigo's arms from elbow to knuckles as the Tensho attack neared their rooftop.
Ichigo lunged forwards, pushing himself off the tiled rooftop, and Zangetsu's blue arc crashed against his wielder as the man watched on with the smallest of frowns. His concern was unneeded as the attack stalled.
"Ichigo!" Soi Fon yelled, and the Reiatsu-chains dispersed. The Captain stepped to the edge of the building, as she stared into the blue abyss; looking for a clue of Ichigo's fate as he had been swallowed by the blue light.
The crescent shot into the air, and Soi Fon let out a cry of surprise. Then, she caught sight of Ichigo; kneeling on the ground below.
The human's forearms were red, and his fingers were splayed as he felt the skin burn; he had not been entirely successful, evidently, though he had blocked the vast majority of the damage, and he winced as he closed his fists. Apparently, he'd have to head for the Fourth Division as soon as the opportunity presented itself. He looked up as he felt Soi Fon appear next to him, and caught sight of Zangetsu. The man looked on with pride, as his form began to dissolve into pure blue particles and returned to Ichigo; vanishing as they met with the centre of his chest.
Ichigo would swear that his Zanpakuto had smiled at the pair in front of him in the seconds before his face vanished.
"Ichigo..." Soi Fon began, pausing as she was uncertain hat she wished to say. The girl placed her hand on his shoulder awkwardly and continued. "Thank you." She reddened, and dropped her hand hastily as Ichigo looked up at her before rising slowly to his feet. The Captain looked up at him, as the human smiled down at her.
"You're welcome." He shrugged at the gratitude. "I'm sure you would have done the same if you were in my position."
"I would have," Soi Fon agreed with her own smile. "Though I have no idea what that technique was that you used. Some form of Kido?" She asked.
"Something like that, yeah." Ichigo answered. "Hey... where's your Zanpakuto? Did she go somewhere."
"Suzembachi? No, I believe she's still over... there." Soi Fon found the Hornet Spirit where she expected, but the Zanpakuto was not in the state she anticipated. The bee-girl was staring at the two with her jaw hanging open. More specifically, she was staring at Ichigo.
"What's up with her?" Ichigo asked, after a few moments, in a nervous tone.
"I do not know," Soi Fon frowned. "She seems to be staring at..." She trailed off, as she turned to look at Ichigo, and found the reason. Instantly, she reddened dramatically, and she failed to find words, making a strange noise instead.
"Huh? What does "Hamenehuh" mean?" Ichigo asked, with confusion, as he glanced at the petite captain. "What are you looking at?" He asked, and looked down at himself. "SHIT!"
His clothes had not survived the attack.
He vanished in a burst of Shunpo, and reappeared behind one of the broken walls; quickly releasing Zangetsu in order to reacquire his Shinigami clothing, and returned to find Soi Fon having a whispered conversation with her Zanpakuto. The Captain appeared to be trying to refuse something, while her Zanpakuto hovered, in front of her, with hands on hips in a gesture of stubbornness.
"Would you rather I refuse to fight you? I could just refuse, and then you'd have to fight against the others without Shikai. I forget, do you enjoy being weak?" She asked, rhetorically. "It's not difficult! And I guarantee it won't be unpleasant!" She continued, as Ichigo grew confused.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"What?! Nothing!" Soi Fon turned, panicked, and exclaimed.
"Do it!" Suzembachi ordered.
"No! I never have!"
"Exactly! Who better than your future husband?!"
"I... I don't..."
"Do it!" She encouraged her wielder, who turned to Ichigo and reddened again at the very thought.
"Soi Fon," Ichigo began, voice soft and uncertain. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong!" Suzembachi chirped, and flew behind Soi Fon; shoving her wielder forwards. "Go on! You'll like it, trust me!"
"What are you talking about? I don't understa-aah!" Soi Fon jumped at Ichigo, and grabbed his neck. She lunged forwards, and her lips crashed against his as she pulled his head down and craned her own neck. "Mpph!" Ichigo let out a startled noise, as Soif Fon held herself against him.
"Mm." Soi Fon returned, in a moan, as she sank into the spontaneous kiss, and the man's eyes closed.
"Yay!" Suzembachi exclaimed, bringing Soi Fon back to the present and preventing Ichigo from responding properly as the Captain shoved him away a heartbeat later. Ichigo blinked confusedly, as the girl made another noise that he could not comprehend, the sword-spirit winked at him before dispersing in a golden shower. Then, Soi Fon vanished in a Flash Step and left Ichigo behind, extremely confused.
"Well... that was unexpected." He commented to himself, as pinkness began to creep up his own neck. "Wow."
Ichigo pulled himself together, clearing his throat, and shook his head.
"Right. Tabigarasu and... ah... Muramasa, that's it." He said to himself in a disoriented tone; his mind jumbled.
-()()-
When Ichigo arrived at his destination, the human-shinigami found a rather unfortunate image to greet him. Tabigarasu was, of course, thrashing his opponent, but Ichigo winced as he saw Muramasa pinned against the wall with a clenched, scarlet fist crunching into his face over and over; most of his teeth were gone already and his nose had shattered.
Tabigarasu roared, a crimson glow lighting Muramasa's face from inside the savage spirit's skull, and let the purple-eyed man fall to the floor in a heap.
"Tabigarasu," Ichigo began, cautiously, as he appeared a few metres to the demonic-spirit's left. "He's beaten. You don't need to do this." He said, as his Zanpakuto raised its blood red claws and prepared to tear out the defenceless spirit's throat.
Tabigarasu roared again, and Ichigo nodded.
"I know, but he's defenceless. He poses no threat to me anymore, does he?" Ichigo asked. "Nor did he ever pose a true threat to me. As long as I have you and the others, someone as weak as Muramasa would stand no chance against me, right?"
The Zanpakuto growled.
"Wouldn't it be worse for him to be spared? To be left as this pathetic figure? To have to crawl away, beaten and broken, and lick his wounds?"
Tabigarasu grunted, and rose from his position on one knee next to the brown-haired man, his claws seeming to become less sharp as he decided not to kill the instigator of the rebellion. Muramasa turned his gaze towards the orange-haired Substitute, only to be stopped by Tabigarasu's foot slamming into his ribs and throwing him into the dirt. The brown haired man rolled, with a grunt, unable to catch himself with his largely-destroyed arms.
Tabigarasu turned red eyes onto Ichigo, and bowed his head as the red glow formed a poor imitation of a smile. Ichigo returned the gesture, and Tabigarasu began to fade once again in shower of red sparks. They returned to Ichigo, and the orange haired man frowned at the broken form of Muramasa on the ground; wholly undecided on what to do next. He had only said what he did to Tabigarasu because Muramasa would be killed in a wholly un-merciful manner if the choice was left up to the savage spirit. No matter what he had done, Muramasa was defenceless, and Ichigo would not allow a captive to be killed when he posed no threat.
"Wha will yoo doo wi' me?" Muramasa got out, spitting a few of his teeth out of his damaged mouth as he did so.
"First," Ichigo sighed. "I'll do what I can to heal you. You might deserve whatever Tabigarasu would have given you, I don't know how many fatalities there have been, but I won't kill you when you're not a threat." Ichigo knelt next to the brown haired man, and his palms began to glow a healing green.
Ichigo worked on the Zanpakuto for the better part of an hour, before he was satisfied that the Healing Kido had repaired Muramasa enough to move him to the Second Division and find someone to imprison him properly. Ichigo assumed that they would then call for healers and, therefore, settled on this plan of action.
He would have gone through with this, as well, had a voice not interrupted him.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura." The voice said, and a thousand blades slammed into Ichigo and caught the human unaware. He was thrown through a wall, as the petals cut into his torso, and had no chance to reduce the impact. As Ichigo lay, gasping, and the world began to darken, he saw the long haired form of Byakuya Kuchiki take Muramasa's arm, and prepare to Flash Step away. The man's gaze flicked to Ichigo, and the hybrid felt hate grip him just before he fell into unconsciousness.
Byakuya vanished through the use of Shunpo, taking Muramasa with him, moments before another arrived. The exile looked down at the human's broken form, and gasped.
"Ichigo..." Yoruichi knelt next to him, concern etched into his features, and her fingers went to his throat to check for a pulse. She let out a sigh of relief as she felt it, and leant down to him. The purple-haired goddess pressed her lips against his forehead, lingered there, and lifted her pupil's limp form before vanishing.
-()()()-
"Idiot!" Nejibana berated her wielder, as Ichigo appeared in his inner world. "You idiot! Do you know how worried I was?!" She demanded, her eyes teary. Ichigo had 'gone dark' for half a minute between the time Byakuya blind-sighted him and the human fell unconscious, and all of his swords were extremely worried about the fate of their Shinigami.
"I'm sorry, Flower," Ichigo said, not bothering to justify the situation using his lack of control, as his rage faded away at the sight of tears in Nejibana's eyes. "I know it must have scared you." He stepped forwards, and wrapped the female spirit in a hug. Nejibana leant into him, her tears flowing into Ichigo's cut up chest, as Ichigo continued. "I don't even want to think about it being the other way around." He murmured to the girl with sorrow in his tone at the very thought. "Hm?" He let out a mutter of surprise, as another par of arms wrapped around his waist from behind. "Oh, hello there Kikoo." He said as the fire-haired girl's head poked around his torso and the girl smiled up at him happily. Her mood was bettered as soon as Ichigo was shown to be fine.
"You should have let Tabigarasu deal with Muramasa, Ichigo." Zangetsu commented, off to the side, as he hid his own relief at seeing Ichigo healthy as could be expected. "You could have avoided this incident."
Tabigarasu growled his concurrence.
"I'm more inclined to regret not killing Byakuya when I had the chance, at the moment." Ichigo responded, as he tightened his arms around the crying spirit in an attempt to suppress his anger. "The treacherous bastard."
"I am certain that you will get the chance," Zangetsu said, his own voice cold, as the spirit's dark eyes narrowed in anger. "But I imagine you need to think on what your next course of action will be once you have calmed." He said, logically. "It appears that Muramasa will need time to recuperate, but Hichigo is uninjured. You have been hunting him, haven't you?"
"I have..." Ichigo agreed reluctantly. "I suppose you're right. I should go after Hichigo first." He sighed, wanting to go after Byakuya but knowing the logic behind ignoring the traitor for now, and the group fell silent. Each person's mind was on a different, though related, subject. Kikoo's was certainly the most pleasant, as she cuddled into her wielder without any sadness colouring her thoughts.
"So, Ichigo," Nejibana said into his chest, as her tears faded after several minutes of quiet, with a smile. "About that kiss..."