Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!
Rin'negan Naruto: No Ichigo will not have both a Shinigami and a Hollow Zanpakutou. He will possess only an Arrancar Zanpakutou.
RyumaOmega: To tell you the truth I am honestly not sure yet if I will add a Segunda Etapa transformation such as Ulquiorra's. The reason for this is mainly because I do not know how it is achieved, wether it is by chance or some kind of training. I could ofcourse make up how this is achieved but I feel that would be ruined if it were ever revealed how to truly unlock the Seguna Etapa transformation. Nonetheless, nothing is certain and it is still under consideration, I merely don't have a defnite answer on that question yet.
Concerning your second question. I answered this at the bottom of this new chapter so you'll have to wait and see for yourself.
Chapter 4: Ascension.
As Ichigo dodged yet another Cero he quickly whirled around and stabbed his arm through the mask of the Hollow attempting to sneak up on him. Quickly discarding it's corpse he started charging a Cero in his right hand and making use of his superior speed he sped towards the Hollow who'd fired one at him earlier. When another Hollow appeared in between Ichigo and his target Ichigo leapt over him and smashed said Hollow into the ground with his tail. With his path clear now he raised his arm upwards and as soon as he appeared in front of the Hollow who attacked him earlier he released the Cero that was still charging in his palm.
When Ichigo looked around and took in his surroundings he noticed with a smirk that all of his new lambs, as he had taken to calling them ever since he truly began to realise they were only being sent down here as lambs to the slaughter, were currently either dead or incapacitated. Deciding not to waste anymore time he quickly took a glance at the windows surrounding the pit and then turned around to start devouring his newest victims.
=0=
Nelliel stood silently watching Ichigo from behind the one-way-glass in the waiting rooms of the pit at the most bottom level of Las Noches. She had taken to 'visiting' him a handful of times a day despite the fact that he obviously couldn't see her. Still, considering he had, once again, taken a glance at the window before starting to devour his newest preys she thought perhaps he knew more then he let on.
His 'training' as he had called it had gone pretty well until now. At first Aizen had taken to pitting about one or two dozen Adjuchas against Ichigo at once, said Adjuchas were meant to work together however as soon as Ichigo started wreaking havo into the ranks of the Adjuchas it soon became a free-for-all and it had continued as such ever since. For Ichigo it didn't matter anyway. As long as he was the one who came out alive in the end and got to devour their corpses it truly didn't make a difference.
Nelliel had to admit that for an Adjuchas Ichigo truly was a fearsome opponent. She'd taken to watching his strengths and weaknessess and managed to find out several interesting facts. First of all Ichigo relied mostly on speed. His speed was very impressive, Nelliel honestly had never in her whole life seen an Adjuchas capable of speeds such as Ichigo and it was even more impressive that he seemed to be able to harness said speed in battle very well. Another thing she noticed was that while most Adjuchas-class Hollow moved around like a berserker more then anything, hacking and slashing at everything within reach, Ichigo seemed to move around expertly, not wasting an ounce of energy or making any unnecessary movements. If Nelliel was asked if she believed there were any faults in Ichigo's style of fighting she truly wouldn't be able to point out a lot of them. One of them would possibly be that compared to a lot of the other Adjuchas and looking at the difference in power Ichigo should've been stronger strength-wise. Nonetheless, she knew he would make up for that when he finally evolved into a Vasto Lorde and subsequently be turned into an Arrancar. Other then that one of his most expressive skills was his regeneration. Most Hollows either lost or chose to lose this skill at one point or another during their evolution. Ichigo however had not only maintained it, he had somehow turned the skill into something differently yet the same. Normal and high-speed regeneration for Hollow is the same, the only difference being the speed at which it regenerates. Hollow can, with this skill, regenerate any lose limbs they please. Ichigo's form of regeneration however was far more flexible then that. It could regenerate stab wounds, destroyed organs, cuts, bruises, you name it. Nelliel did observe however that most of these kind of wounds only seemed to regenerate either by some completely random factor or, which was more likely, because Ichigo chose to.
At first Nelliel had been skeptical when Aizen mentioned he would manage to help Ichigo become a Vasto Lorde within five days. When the days progressed however she started to question herself on the subject. The opponents Ichigo was facing were all no lower then Adjuchas-level. Generally when an Adjuchas striving to evolve in the wild looks for Hollow he would devour anything he came across and truthfully you'd hardly come across more then two or three Adjuchas a day and that was if you went looking for them. Besides that that was even without considering the factor that any Adjuchas you came across next could be your last. Not everyone was as exceptionally powerful as Ichigo. No after having seen the rate at which Ichigo seemed to devour Hollow daily she started to question herself indeed. She knew Ichigo was just about halfway now and thus she also knew it would be impossible for him to make it by tomorrow. But she knew Aizen had something special planned, she just wasn't sure exactly what it would be.
"Magnificient isn't he," A calm voice spoke out behind her, a voice she knew very well.
Her eyes narrowed at his remark, which thankfully he couldn't see because she was still facing the window. It appeared Aizen considered Ichigo more of a piece of meat, a tool, rather then a living being. She intended to make Ichigo aware of this at the soonest opportunity.
"He is doing well, but you know as well as I do that he's nowhere near what he needs to devour to become a Vasto Lorde. Which makes me wonder what you meant by the special treat you mentioned a while ago." Nelliel commented.
Aizen chuckled at this. "Always the perceptive one aren't you, Nelliel," He started. "I believe you will find out soon enough I do have a question for you though, Nelliel. A question only a former-Hollow can answer for me."
Nelliel turned her head around at this and raised her eyebrows at him. Signifying for him to continue.
"Consuming Hollow generally means consuming the reiatsu contained withim them, am I right?" He asked and when he received a nod from Nelliel he calmly continued. "This in turn would mean then, that consuming half a corpse would mean the Hollow that is devouring said corpse only receives half of the reiatsu he would have received had he consumed the entire corpse?" Aizen asked.
Nelliel inwardly smiled at this. It seemed their all-knowing leader wasn't as all-knowing as he claimed to be after all. "No, it doesn't." She started. "Despite how cruel it may sound it all depends on what parts are devoured. In the case of most Hollow, about three quarters of their reaitsu is stored around the area of their Hollow hole, another ten percenten is often stored behind their mask and the remaining fifteen is pretty much spread out around their entire body." Nelliel explained.
She had an inkling about where Aizen was going with this but she didn't plan to ask him about it. Aizen hardly ever answered in more then half-truths, and so she decided to change the subject instead.
"So, is the rest of the Espada coming along nicely?" She asked, actually quite interested.
She had been quite surprised when Aizen instantly offered her the spot of Tercera Espada right after the innitation ceremony of the first Arrancar. As it turned out, for now, herself, Starrk, Barragan and Ulquiorra had been the only Vasto Lorde he had managed to gather. And so Aizen felt it safe to assume that they, along with Ichigo soon, would be his most powerful Espada. Nelliel found it interesting that Aizen had given him their numbers after a mere moment of closing his eyes and examining their reiatsu signatures. Starrk too had been surprised it appeared as he commented he had expected some kind of tournament since they hadn't even shown their released forms yet. She actually learned something interesting from the response Aizen gave them. It appeared that an Arrancar's resurrección's power increase was based almost entirely on the amount of power an Arrancar possessed in their unreleased forms.
And so Nelliel now sported a big number three, tattooed on her back. Starrk had been granted the rank of segunda Espada whereas Barragan and Ulquiorra had been given the rank of fourth and fifth respectively. Barragan ofcourse had to comment on the fact that he was more powerful then both Starrk and Nelliel and should be the primera Espada instead. Aizen had dismissed his complaint instantly and told him his powers could hardly compare to the one's of the person Aizen had coming up as primera. This did pique Starrk and Ulquiorra's interest Nelliel noticed. But then, how could it not? Barragan was powerful in his own right and Nelliel could see the skeptical glance Starrk kept throwing at Aizen. It was obvious none of them were aware of his plans concerning Kurosaki Ichigo.
Ever since that day Aizen had spent a couple of hours daily converting Hollow to Arrancar. The last time she had heard Aizen had created about fifty Arrancar so far.
Each Arrancar was divided into a separate category. Most them were meant to become Números Aizen had explained, whom would basically server as the common footsoldier and were to be numbered from eleven to ninety-nine. Depending on when they were created rather then their power.
Next, the ten most powerful Arrancar in Aizen's army were to become the Espada. Ranked and numbered from one to ten, depending on their strength. The Espada in turn were allowed to pick any and as much Números as they wanted as their Fracción who were to serve the Espada that 'employed' them.
Then there was the Privaron Espada. The Privaron Espada was meant for any Arrancar that had previously been in the Espada but had been replaced by a more powerful Arrancar. Aizen told them that this rank would give them the chance to increase their power and if they could prove themselves more powerful then any current member of the Espada they would ofcourse be allowed to rejoin.
And finally there was the Exequias which seemingly consisted of only one member. The bull-headed Rudobón whose Zanpakutou could spawn a seemingly endless amount of soldiers. The Exequias were tasked with the extermination of intruders and rebels within the dome of Las Noches.
"Ah, Nelliel. I have almost completed the Espada and I intend to introduce them to you shortly," Aizen said, before turning around and walking away. However as he was just about to round the corner he turned to look at her over his shoulder and started talking once more, "If you wish to witness Ichigo's transformation. I suggest you stick around for a few more minutes. It won't be long now." And he walked again leaving her to wonder about just what he had meant.
=0=
When Ichigo had just finished devouring the last of the Adjuchas he had just beaten he wondered why there weren't any new ones being sent down. It wasn't that he minded taking a break but he felt he had little time left. Aizen had strictly told him that he would not be allowed many hours of sleep a day during this 'training' of him. And so far he had been allowed to sleep three times for what could have been more then three or four hours. He'd assumed that meant he got to sleep once a day and if this was his fourth day he was pretty sure he was nearing the end of it.
Assuming it was the end of his day and he was going to get a couple of hours rest he turned to sit down against the arena's wall. Just before he got there however a voice sounded from behind him.
"You have done well, Ichigo," Turning around Ichigo could see Aizen standing on the platform suspended in mid-air. Now, Ichigo was officially confused, Aizen made it sound as if he was done, before he could comment however another voice interupted him.
"Aizen-sama. Is this where the Shinigamification will take place?" As Ichigo looked closer he could see another person approaching Aizen onto the platform. Said figure had rather blackened skin with long messy black hair reached his shoulders. A Hollow hole located in his sternum informed Ichigo of the fact that this person was likely a Vasto Lorde, yet, what would he be doing here? As far as Ichigo was aware only Aizen himself and Nelliel knew of this place. Ichigo merely decided to observe to see what exactly was going on.
Aizen meanwhile, just smiled at the Vasto Lorde in front of him. "Ah, it is. Please, come forward." Aizen asked of him. As soon as the Vasto Lorde got onto the platform however, Aizen smiled and started whispering silently.
"Bakudou #99, Part 1 - Kin." Aizen whispered as he pointed a finger towards the man.
Black chains instantly appeared and wrapped itself around the man's arms and legs and eventually his entire body except for his head. Said man looked at Aizen with an angry and enraged expression and tried to free himself from the Kidou without any succes. Before the man got a chance to voice his protest however he was cut off from view as a black box was formed around him and black reiatsu seemed to pour into the box.
"Hadou #90 - Kurohitsugi." Aizen said with an evil smile on his face. As the box vanished a battered and bloody Vasto Lorde lay on the floor at Aizen's feet. An evil smile was plastered on Aizen's face as he looked at the body at his feet, it was obvious the Vasto Lorde was having trouble breathing.
"You are as weak as you are ignorant," Aizen started. "Did you truly believe that with four other Vasto Lorde among my ranks. I would not find out if one was sent to spy on me?"
"Regardless, your timing is excellent," Aizen commented with a grin on his face. The surprised expression remained on the Vasto Lorde's face as the lights in his eyes died out and his body fell to the floor with a dull thud. His head held in Aizen's hand. Blood from the neck dripping onto the cold stone floor.
Ichigo could only stare at Aizen as he just disposed of a Vasto Lorde without any visible effort. Granted, the Vasto Lorde was taken by complete surprise but that in itself was a feat worthy of recognition. Vasto Lordes weren't meant to be taken by surprise.
As Aizen turned back to look at him his face once again held that ever present calm expression. "Ichigo," Aizen started as he bowed down to pick up the now headless Vasto Lorde. "Your training is over," Aizen commented and Ichigo's face turned to confusion for only a brief second before Aizen threw the body down on to the arena floor. "Itadakimasu[1]" Were the last words Ichigo heard before Aizen dissapeared from view.
Ichigo stood staring at the corpse in front of him, his surprise lasted only a moment before it turned to excitement. A Vasto Lorde, here in front of him lay a Vasto Lorde and it was his to devour. Ichigo was sure of it, the moment was here and this was the last piece of the puzzle he needed to achieve his goal.
As he made his way over to the corpse he turned to look at the window at the arena's edge once more. He was certain Nelliel had been here to watch him multiple times. It appeared to Ichigo that anything or anyone standing behind the glass automatically had it's reiatsu hidden yet Ichigo had managed to catch a small sliver of what felt like her reiatsu a handful of times. He didn't know if she was watching now but he definitely hoped so. If anyone deserved the right to witness his transformation it would be her. He would never admit it but he was sure that without her help back when he first mysteriously arrived in the Menos Forest he would've been devoured before he even woke up. Apart from that she was the only person he would ever consider good company.
Moments after Ichigo reached the corpse he bent down and relentlessly delved into his meal. Ripping and tearing at the corpse of the Vasto Lorde like a madman and swallowing pieces of meat as if his life depended on it. The sensation it created was something completely out of this world, it unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He could always feel his reiatsu increase when he devoured a Hollow but it was never like this. Now he could feel the power coursing through his body. Even more then that, he could feel it flowing out of him, engulfing him and without warning it exploded outwards in a huge explosion of red and black reiatsu which shook the entire bottom level to it's very core. Cracks started appearing on the walls left and right and the glass behind which Nelliel had been watching was shattered to pieces. The air was so heavy with reiatsu one could actually hear it pulsing all around them. As Ichigo finally managed to reign his reiatsu back in he turned to look at Nelliel.
Nelliel meanwhile was staring at Ichigo in morbid fascination. He had done it, albeit with help but he had become a Vasto Lorde. And God was he powerful. She didn't think she could name a single Vasto Lorde with as much power as Ichigo seemed to posses, if the reiatsu he just let out was anything to go by.
And now here she stood staring at his form. As she looked him up and down she had to admit he looked positively intimidating. His legs were hidden from view by a tattered piece of cloth hanging from his waist seemingly bound by another tattered piece of black cloth that was holding it in place. His feet and long sharp toe-nails which resembled claws more then toes were the only thing visible below his waist. Above the waiste his entire chest was left bare, his chest was without a doubt very defined. It weren't the muscles of a brute either but the kind of a fast but powerful fighter, enough, but not too much. The top of his chest was entirely covered in intricate red markings originating from the Hollow hole in the middle of his chest and seemed to form some sort of cross which even went was as far as to reach his shoulders. But the most intimidating of all was without a doubt the mask. It still resembled a human skull most of all but instead of only covering his face it went as far as to cover the sides of his head and even the biggest part of the back of his head except for the very bottom out of which long messy orange hair flowed down to reach his waist. Two huge black bull-like horns portruded from the side of the mask. Again, the same intricate red markings could be seen sported all over the mask.
"Well? Say something," Ichigo's voice rang out.
She couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was still Ichigo after all. She'd wondered if he'd suffer from any serious personality changes but so far so good.
"I suppose a congratulations is in order," She said, smirking.
"Ah, congratulations." Ichigo replied in her stead.
Now she was confused and a bit annoyed as well. She just had her congratulations brushed off and then proceeded to get congratulated herself for some reason. Confusion was clearly showing on her face because Ichigo decided to solve her dilemma for her.
"The last time I saw you, you clearly had four legs," He said, sounding amused, "Now, I see only two. So congratulations."
She nodded at him, smiling. No he hadn't changed after all. At least, not for the worse, he seemed to be more open going towards her. She was sure she was going to enjoy finding out just how much he had changed. But first she would drag him back to Aizen and get that ridiculously frightening looking mask of his face.
=0=
Urahara, Yoruichi, Isshin, Tessai, Inoue, Ishida and Sado stood gathered before the Senkaimon back to the living world. The last few days had been boring to say the least. As ryoka they were all confined within the First Division's Grounds untill their fate had been decided upon.
Just last night another Captain's meeting was held and they had been asked to attend. As such they had and had found that their reasons for barging into the Seireitei uninvited were understandable and some even found them commendable.
During the very same meeting they had all been asked to participate in the upcoming war one way or another. They were free to stay out of it if they wished but all intended to participate rather then watch from the sidelines.
Ishida, Sado and Orihime had been charged with the first line of defense of Karakura town from mostly ordinary Hollow.
Another surprising revelation was that the Captain-Commander had revoked the banishment of Urahara Kisuke, Tsukabishi Tessai and Shihouin Yoruichi for due to recent events he found Urahara's explanation about what happened to be sufficient. The banished Captains and Vice-Captains however would not have their exile revoked for the sole reason that Soul Society does not allow Hollow entities to live within it's realm.
And so Urahara found himself staring into the blue depth of the Senkaimon. Looking at his comrades he received a nod from each of them, signifying they were ready to go home. Taking one last glance over his shoulder he stepped forward, into the Senkaimon. He was certain, this would not be the last time he would set foot in Soul Society.
=0=
Looking himself over in the mirror he had to admit that atleast he looked more civil now. He had liked his former look though, although Nel did have a point when she said he looked like a barbarian that way he just thought it was manly.
But who was he to complain about the way he looked when he had felt the power increase himself. Oh yes, Kurosaki Ichigo was more then satisfied. He had never believed it possible to achieve a level of power so high. He was confident in his skills. He was sure that among every single soul in Las Noches there was only one that might be more powerful then he was. And that was Aizen Sousuke himself, the man he had sworn his loyalty to.
As he looked himself over once more in the mirror he had to admit he liked his hair more the way it was now, almost reaching his shoulders. He guessed it was kinda feminine as long as it was when he was still a Vasto Lorde. "Then again I looked so tough no one would dare tell me I looked feminine." He grumbled.
But if there was one thing he definitely liked about his new appearance then it would be the remnants of his Hollow mask. His Hollow mask were actually a pair of bone earrings. One on each ear, hanging on the small circular earring was a long sharp-looking teeth, the teeth hanging from the earring on the left ear signifcantly larger then the one hanging from his right. He liked it, it was simple and Ichigo personally thought that the more simple the mask the more he would resemble a human. He would never want to be a human, but as Hollow were nothing but beasts that relied solely on instinct he much prefered to be viewed as a human.
He quickly moved to grab his clothes realising he would probably run late if he didn't hurry up. His clothes consisted of the standard Arrancar uniform with the only difference being that as a top he wore a thin, sleeveless vest with a higher collar, it was much like the one Tousen wore except Ichigo had a collar that ran up to cover all the features up to and including his mouth. His Zanpakutou he wore on his left hip. Straightening his collar, he turned on his heel and moved towards the chamber Aizen had instructed he meet him at.
=0=
As soon as Ichigo entered the room he was surprised to find he wasn't the only one there. The room was entirely bare except for a table with one seat at the head of it and five at each side of the table. All seats were currently vacated except for the one at Aizen's right, next to Nel, one would almost think she did it on purpose.
When Ichigo sat down a large bald guy spoke up. "What's this guy doing here? Who does he think he is sitting down next to Aizen-sama!?"
Ichigo merely stared at the guy with a bored expression. Who was this idiot making such a ruckus over something so trivial? Then again, looking at him Ichigo doubted he had a lot in the brains department.
"Hey, I'm talking to you idiot. Who do you think you're looking at?" The oaf yelled, enraged.
The rest of the Arrancar along with Aizen merely watched the proceedings silently. Obviously interested in this new arrival and curious as to how he would react.
Ichigo once again looked at the big guy, only this time he looked him straight into the eyes with a very serious expression. "You asked who I was?" He began. "Kurosaki Ichigo, your superior," He finished as his face once again took on a more calm expression. "Now do us all a favor and don't embarrass yourself any further by keeping that mouth of yours shut."
Just as the oaf was about to make a retort however Aizen stood up. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of the Espada."
He looked at each of them and most of them nodded in greeting. As he was about to continue Gin and Kaname entered to stand by Aizen's side.
"Couldn' jus' miss the introduction of the Espada, could we now?" Gin stated, grinning.
Aizen however continued as if nothing happened.
"Let me introduce to you, our newest and last member of the Espada, Kurosaki Ichigo." Aizen said.
"Kurosaki eh? So what's his number?" the oaf once again interupted.
"Since there is only one spot that is vacant, Yammy, it wouldn't be too hard to guess what his number is. That aside you should realise that since you, as the Décima are outranked by everyone present perhaps you should act a bit more respectful." A black haired Arrancar with a mask fragment resembling a broken helmet replied.
Yammy, as the oaf's name was apparently, meanwhile was staring at Ichigo with his mouth hanging open. Clearly he realized his mistake as he didn't seem to make a move to reply to that. And even if he would want, he was denied the opportunity as Aizen resumed speaking.
"Ah. Kurosaki Ichigo is our Primera[2] Espada and I assure you he is most deserving of the spot." Aizen stated.
"Tch. He doesn't look all that powerful to me." A thin man with sleek black hair and an eye patch commented.
Before Ichigo could respond however, someone else did so for him. "Nnoitra, you do not want to...upset, this man. After the beating I gave you before do you truly believe he isn't powerful when I know for a fact that I hardly stand a chance again him." The high pitched voice of Nelliel rang out.
Ichigo looked at Nelliel with a searching gaze. He didn't mind her standing up for him, not really. If it was anyone else he would beat them down instantly but not her. On the other hand he didn't need nor want her to fight his battles for him.
"You sound as if you know him." A bored voice rang out from the man on Aizen's left.
Ichigo thinking enough was enough decided to end things there. "Enough. I believe Aizen-sama called us here for a reason." Ichigo's voice rang out with a certain air of authority in it.
"Arrigatou, Ichigo." Aizen replied. "We have gathered here today so that I may share with you some information on topics concerning the Espada. But first, you will introduce yourselves once more so that Ichigo may know your names and rank."
Most of the Espada shrugged at this as Aizen motioned for the man in front of him and on Aizen's left to start things off. The man had messy, shoulder length brown hair, a bored look on his face and a mask fragment in the form of a necklace resembling a lower jaw. "Starrk, Segunda[3] Espada."
Next to him sat an elderly man with a white moustache and white hair. A five-pointed crown stood atop his forehead and the man sported several large and smaller battle scars. "Barragan Luisenbarn, Cuatro[4] Espada." The man grumbled, obviously annoyed.
To the left of the elderly man sat a man with shoulder length pink hair with amber eyes. He looked rather young and his mask fragment took the shape of rectangular-framed glasses. "Szayel Aporro Granz, Octava[5] Espada."
Next to him sat the thin man with the eyepitch that had spoken earlier. The man Nelliel had called Nnoitra. "Nnoitra Jiruga, Sexta[6] Espada." The Espada stated with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.
Next to Nnoitra was the big oaf that had been called Yammy earlier. The Décima apparently. "Yammy Rialgo, Décima[7] Espada."
Opposite of Yammy sat the black haired guy with the broken helmet as his mask fragment. Another recognisable feature, Ichigo noticed, were the green lines below his eyes that seemed to resemble tear tracks. "Ulquiorra Schiffer, Quinto[8] Espada."
On his left sat sat a man with light-blue spiky hair, the only other recognizeable feature about this guy would be his mask fragment which appeared to be his right jawbone. "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Séptima[9] Espada."
On the left of the blue haired man sat a weird looking guy dressed in some sort of dress garb that covered his entire body. His face appeared to be covered by an odd looking elongated mask. "Aaroniero Arruruerie, Noveno[10] Espada."
Next to him sat Nel who, when it was her turn to introduce herself, simply looked at him with a bright smile. "Nel, Tercera[11] Espada." Ichigo smirked at this. Her sentences often carried double meanings. If Ichigo interpreted it right he was sure she, by not stating her full name, just subtly gave him permission to call her Nel from now on.
=0=
Ichigo walked around his quarters, admiring the size and comfortability of them. He had to admit, he was very glad to have his own quarters such a these. His quarters consisted of three large rooms. One served as a bathroom, another served as a large bedroom while the large one seemed to serve as a big sitting room.
When Ichigo heard someone knocking on his door he walked over to open it. As soon as Ichigo opened the door he was knocked over by none other then Nelliel who instantly jumped him and proceeded to hug the living daylights out of him. When Nel finally let go, grinning as if she'd won a lottery, Ichigo noticed she wasn't alone.
Two other Arrancar were standing in the doorway. One of average height with sleed blonde hair and another of equal height height, a bit on the chubby side and a bald head. Looking at Nel he raised as eyebrows.
Sensing the unasked question Nel motioned for her Fracción to come in. "Pesche, Dondochakka, I want you to meet a dear friend of mine." Nel started. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo, a dear friend of mine." She finished with a smile.
Pesche and Dondochakka responded by bowing towards Ichigo. "So, you are Nel's Fracción then? It's nice to meet you." Ichigo said casually before leading them over to his sitting room.
During the Espada meeting earlier Aizen had informed them of the fact that they could feel free to take as many Fracción as they wanted as long as they were only Arrancar from the Números category. Ichigo had considered it briefly but couldn't come up with a reason of why he would need a servant and he certainly wasn't in need of any friends.
Well that wasn't entirely true. He actually considered Nel his friend and a very dear one at that. It was another thing he noticed when Aizen had turned him into an Arrancar. Not only did the void in his soul dissapear completely. He gained a whole arsenal of emotions he was previously unused to and had to take some time to adjust to them. Eventually he figured out that Nel had truly become an important person in his life, though he'd never flat out admit that ofcourse. He had a reputation to uphold after all!
Another interesting thing Aizen and the Espada had discussed during their meeting was their Aspects of Death. Each Espada would hold the title of one certain Aspect of Death. Aizen had asked them all on the spot to think of a certain cause of death that would fit with their personalities. Within minutes, everyone had been done, they'd written their prefered Aspect on a piece of paper and handed it over to Aizen.
As he reached the sitting room he motioned for Nel and her Fracción to sit down while he made some tea. He once more thought back of the Espada meeting which finished only two hours before.
Aizen had explained to his Espada, the two rules within Las Noches. The first rule was that no Espada was allowed to make use of their Gran Rey Cero under the dome of Las Noches as said technique was so destructive the backlash alone could potentially destroy the palace. The second rule was that no Espada ranked five or higher was allowed to release their Zanpakutou within Aizen's palace. Ichigo personally believed the second rule was meant mostly for those Espada who had previously been Vasto Lorde class Hollow.
Another interesting couple of things Ichigo had learned was that he was basically allowed to command lower ranked Espada when the situation called for it and if he was send on a mission along with other Espada he would always be in command, unless Aizen himself or in rare occassions Tousen or Ichimaru came along to assume command.
Aizen had explained that most of the missions within Hueco Mundo itself would be left for Ulquiorra who could choose any member lower ranked then five to his choosing to acconpany him.
After that Aizen had concluded the meeting and asked Ichigo to meet him early in the morning tomorrow. Ichigo had no idea why Aizen wanted to see him but he would oblige. He vowed to serve Aizen after all.
When the tea was finished he put the cups on a plate and brought it over tot he small table in the middle of the room after which he took a seat next to Nel.
"So, how come you didn't pick any Fracción yet Ichi?" Nel asked, innocently.
Ichigo had expected the question but was still annoyed by the makeshift nickname she added at the end of it. She'd taken to using that for a while now and while he would never let anyone get away with calling him that he could bear with her doing it as long as she refrained from mentioning it when others were around.
"I'm not planning to take any Fracción Nel. I'm sure you know me well enough to have guessed as much. I would not want to disgrace a perfectly fine Números by degrading them to my servant." Ichigo explained.
Pesche and Dondochakka instantly jumped up at this. "We are not disgraced! We are extremely happy to serve Nel-sama and,-"
But they were cut off as Nel raised her hand for silence. "Dondochakka, Pesche." She started. "You misunderstood my friend. He didn't mean to offend you. I do not see you as my servants, I see you as my friends. I have told you this before and I know for a fact Ichi was aware of this as well meaning he wasn't referring to you." She finished with a smile.
Dondochakka en Pesche instantly deflated and bowed their heads in apology before sitting down again. Ichigo merely smiled at them, they were an amusing duo he thought.
"I didn't exactly expect you to pick any Fracción Ichi but don't you think it'd do you good? You're so closed off sometimes." She grumbled clearly annoyed.
Ichigo merely chuckled at her antics. "I'm sorry Nel. I value your friendship and company very much but I don't think I would want an army of so-called 'friends' following me around and worshipping me simply because I am the Primera." He explained.
Nel had to think about that. She guessed he did have a point. Among Arrancar there were plenty of people who would 'befriend' others, to gain a better status themselves. Not that there even was a big amount of Arrancar capable of 'befriending' to begin with. On the other hand, she was glad to hear Ichigo admit he valued her friendship and she hoped he would someday consider her Fracción his friends as well.
"So, Ichi, Aizen sent you on a mission to the real world tomorrow didn't he?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Ah. It appears that when he betrayed the Soul Society a small amount of ryoka invaded the Soul Society and intended to stop him. Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen stopped four out of the seven ryoka but before they could test the strength of the other three the Captains showed up and they had run out of time." Ichigo explained.
"So basically Aizen wants you to go to the real world merely to test the strength of the remaining three? See if they could be any potential threat?" Nel asked him.
"Yea that's basically what I'm doing. Sounds rather boring to be honest and even worse is the fact that I'm supposed to take one of the lower five with me." Ichigo grumbled.
Nelliel giggled at this. "You truly don't like any of them do you?" She asked, clearly amused at the face he made.
"Tch, they're all annoying. Yammy is a loudmouth. Aaroniero simply freaks me out with that hat of his. Szayel is just some completely mad scientist, I honestly don't want to know what kind of stuff he's up to in his free time. Grimmjow's arrogance knows no boundaries and Nnoitra is a chauvinistic pig." Ichigo explained.
Nelliel let out one last chuckle before straightening her face and replying. "Well I suppose you do have a point. The lower five certainly don't have the best of manners, I'm glad atleast we don't have to eat together with them." She said with a smile.
Ichigo chuckled at this. "Say Nel. If I asked Aizen for permission tomorrow morning. Would you come with me to the real world instead?" He asked.
Nel meanwhile was surprised. She knew he'd told her earlier that he valued her company. Yet for some reason she didn't think it'd go as far as ditching Aizen's orders and ask him permission to take her with him instead. Still, she was glad.
"Ofcourse Ichi, I would gladly." She started. "But I am getting rather tired and will call it a night. Speak to you in the morning Ichi." She said as she got up.
Pesche and Dondochakka in turn stood up as well and bowed to him before quickly following their master.
"Oi, Pesche, Dondochakka, was it?" Ichigo called out to them. Causing them to halt and turn around to face him entirely. Nelliel stood behind them watching whatever it was Ichigo was doing.
"Take care of her in my absense alright," He added with a wink. Causing Nelliel's eyes to widen in surprise. Before she got a chance to reply however. Ichigo stood up from the couch and walked over to his bedroom door. Just before he closed the door she could hear him call out goodnight.
=0=
Ichigo meanwhile was standing in his bedroom. He was a bit annoyed at himself. He remembered himself saying countless times before that he valued Nel's company but that he would never actually admit it to anyone. Today however he had just admitted to Nel herself of all people that he valued both her company and her friendship. Ichigo chuckled slightly before lying down on his bed. That woman did weird things with his head, he decided before going to sleep.
=0=
Kurosaki Ichigo pushed open the huge marble doors to the throne room of Las Noches where Aizen was already waiting for him, Ichimaru and Tousen at his side. Ichigo slowly made his way over to Aizen's throne and when he reached it, kneeled down and bowed his head in greeting.
"Rise, Ichigo." Aizen spoke up as he himself rose too and started walking into the direction of the table on the side of the throne room. "Let us have tea, Gin, Kaname, will you join us?"
"Oh, but ofcours' Aizen-sama." Gin said, one could never really tell if the guy was mocking you or not. Aizen seemed to tolerate his 'antics' however.
When they reached the table Aizen motioned for Ichigo to sit opposite of Aizen, Kaname and Gin took place on Aizen's left and right respectively.
Tea was hurriedly brought over to them as they sat and silence reigned. Ichigo waiting for Aizen to start speaking, it was he who called him out here after all. His patience was rewarded quickly.
"I pressume you would like to know why I called you out here today, wouldn't you, Ichigo?" Aizen asked rhetorically.
"Ah. Aizen-sama." Ichigo calmly replied.
Aizen, face as calm as ever slowly started speaking again. "As the number one soldier in my forces I believe it would be...pertinent, for you to receive certain information."
Now this was interesting, Ichigo thought. Information was always welcome, Ichigo liked to be well informed about anything and everything. He wondered just what kind of information he would receive though.
Aizen, sensing the unasked question decided to answer it for him. "The information you will receive will differ greatly but one of the most important things I want to tell you about, is about Shinigami and everything pertaining them."
Ichigo smirked at this. Information about the enemy. It was the best kind of information. He had been curious about Shinigami for a while now. Ichigo realised perfectly well he hadn't been a Hollow for long, and so he had never even met one before.
Before Ichigo got around to replying however Aizen continued. "Other then that I do have another thing I believe I will teach you which might help you greatly."
This morning was just getting better and better for Ichigo. Aizen didn't actually teach any of his underlings, despite the fact that Ichigo was an Espada and the Primera at that Aizen was still his superior and as far as Ichigo was aware had never before taught anyone inside Las Noches. Aizen merely chuckled at Ichigo's interested and somewhat surprised expression.
"I will teach you, Kurosaki Ichigo, the art of Kidou." Aizen started, much to Ichigo's amazement. "Because even though your battle style doesn't suit it that well I can tell you have an underlying potential for it that would only be wasted by not making use of it. I assure you you will find it a highly useful skill to possess as well."
Ichigo was surprised at this and it clearly showed on his face. Kidou? Him? He'd never seen a lot of Kidou, Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen had occassionally used some to punish unruly or disrespectful subordinates and he had seen Aizen using it to destroy that Vasto Lorde. As soon as he remember that he couldn't help but get excited, if Kidou could be that powerful it would certainly be a useful skill to have. It was ironic, he thought. A former Hollow being taught a Shinigami art, by a Shinigami nonetheless. He was thankful though, it was obvious any new skill learned would improve ones powers.
"Very well, thank you, Aizen-sama." Ichigo said, bowing his head.
After that they switched the subject back to Shinigami in general. Aizen started explaining him a bit about their history at first he mentioned a couple of other races as well such as the Quincy and Bounto and Ichigo had to admit he found it highly interesting.
When Aizen reached the subject of the Gotei 13 however Ichigo started listening even more intently, making sure not to forget a single word on this subject. Aizen explained about the 13 Divisions in Soul Society. How each Division was led by a Captain with under him a Vice-Captain. He explained that each Division held twenty seated positions of power and attempted to compare them, power-wise.
Ichigo found it all highly interesting. He had actually been worried when he heard that there were twenty seated positions of power within each Division. Ichigo had assumed it meant that it meant each of these twenty people were atleast fairly powerful. Aizen however quickly dismissed this thought when he told him that an average Vice-Captain was only slightly more powerful then the average Adjuchas. A Vice-Captain in turn was basically the 2nd seat and each of the twenty seats lead from weakest to strongest with the 20th seat being the weakest and the first seat or better known as the Captain the strongest. He did remind Ichigo however that this scenario assume the Vice-Captain was indeed, average.
Aizen then concluded their conversation and told Ichigo he would tell him about Shinigami Zanpakutou the next time. He then motioned for Ichigo to follow him outside to one of the smaller training grounds.
As they made their way over to the training grounds Ichigo was truly interested in learning this whole Kidou thing. It was obvious he knew next to nothing about it, but he vowed he would be a fast learner.
"Bakudou #1 - Sai." Aizen's voice called out as he pointed his index and middle finger at Ichigo and made a slashing motion in the air, catching Ichigo by surprise as they'd reached the training ground.
To Ichigo's surprise his arms moved of his own accord and bound themselves behind his back, seemingly bound in place by invisible bonds. As Ichigo tried to break it however he noticed he could do so almost effortlessly.
"Kidou is divided in two branches of magic, as we call it. First we have Hadou which is the destructive branch of Kidou. Hadou magic is basically all about spells that possess a destructive nature." Aizen started explaining.
Ichigo meanwhile was getting interested. The Kidou Aizen just used on him was actually pretty useful. It seemed to be broken easily but Ichigo believed it had it's uses, even in a sword fight.
"The second branch of Kidou is the Bakudou branch. This branch covers a variety of possibilities really. One can use Kidou to bind someone, to form a shield or even to communicate. However the main subject the Bakudou branch covers is about immobilizing your opponent in one way or another." Aizen started again. "As you probably figured out by now. The Kidou I used on you just now was the first level Bakudou and so in theory the weakest of the Bakudou. Kidou spells from both branches are sorted a number according to the difficulty and power of the spell. The numbers in both branches range from one to ninety-nine." Aizen said. "Do not be mistaken however, as one progressess in the art of Kidou one can learn to make a level ten spell as deadly as for example as level thirty spell." Aizen warned.
Ichigo, meanwhile, was amazed. The spell Aizen used on him just now was by all means, weak. But it still had it's uses and if what Aizen told Ichigo was true then it was the weakest spell in the branch of Bakudou. Ichigo could only imagine what the most powerful spell in each branch would be like.
"As you can imagine it would be quite a stretch to teach you each and every spell in both branches." Aizen started again. "And so I won't."
Aizen chuckled as Ichigo raised his eyebrows. Obviously confused about the statement.
"It is not necessarily required to learn each and every Kidou spell. However to teach you a couple of the more powerful we will need to learn you some lower level spells as well." He said.
"I ask only one thing in return for me teaching you Kidou and that is to be honestly interested in learning it. If you do not want to learn it to begin with then it will be pointless starting. However keep in mind my end result is to teach you atleast a handful of the more powerful Kidou spells." He explained.
Ichigo meanwhile had already made up his mind. He knew he wanted to learn it. He was confident it could do a lot to improve his combat skills even further.
And so they practised for about an hour, starting out with the Hadou branch which apparently was a lot easier in the lower levels. Ichigo quickly got the hang of it. He realized that he had to figure out just how his reiatsu was supposed to flow to make the spell happen. The easiest way to do this was by saying the incantation which tried to guide your reiatsu into the proper directions. After Ichigo could easily make a spell work with the incantation Aizen told him to try it without next. This, Ichigo found was barely any harder, all he really had to do was remember the way his reiatsu flowed and mimic it.
After their hour of training Aizen called an end to it. Ichigo so far had completely mastered Hadou #1 - Shou and Hadou #4 - Byakurai. He could cast both spells with or without incantation effortlessly. He could cast Hadou #31 - Shakkaho without an incantation as well although not instantly just yet. Currently he was in the process of getting both Hadou #31 - Shakkaho and Hadou #33 - Soukatsui up to the same level of the level one and four Hadou spells he had mastered.
Aizen said he was impressed by Ichigo's progress and that as a Shinigami would say, he was likely a true prodigy in the art of Kidou. For an Academy Student it could often take months to cast a decent Hadou #31 - Shakkaho and that was still with the incantation.
When Aizen dismissed Ichigo after wishing him good luck on his mission Ichigo however, remained standing.
"What is it, Ichigo?" Aizen asked, clearly interested.
"I was wondering, why is it so important we go to the real world to find these three 'ryoka' as you called them? From what you've told me, you haven't fought them nor seen them fight. Do you not believe that if they were truly powerful opponents they would've fought with their friends, back in Soul Society?" Ichigo asked.
Aizen meanwhile, was quite pleased with the boy's perceptiveness and decided to reward it by giving him an honest answer.
"Indeed Ichigo. I do not believe they are potential threats." Aizen stated, which confused Ichigo. At Ichigo's confused expression Aizen decided to continue. "Out of the three of them, one of them is the last Quincy, he doesn't interest me too much but it would help to know what level he is at regardless. The other two however, are humans. They are not dead yet they clearly possess spiritual powers. I have my own ideas as to how they achieved their powers however what I want to know is what their powers are capable of rather then how they got them in the first place or finding out exactly what level of strength that they are at." Aizen finished.
Ichigo smiled at this. He'd gotten an honest answer and that's what he had wanted. He had to admit though, he too was interested. Three humans, one of which was a Quincy and two of which somehow possessed spiritual powers. He was looking forward to it very much, atleast he would if...
"Aizen-sama," Ichigo started. "If I may, I request permission to take Nelliel Tu Oderschvank, the Tercera with me today instead of one of the lower five."
At this, Aizen's eyebrows raised. That was unexpected, did Ichigo believe he needed another senior Espada? Was he not confident of his own powers or was it the powers of the lower five that he did not trust? No that was not it. Aizen was sure it had something to do with the bond he shared with Nelliel, they were close indeed, especially so for Arrancar.
"Oh? Do you deem it necessary to take the Tercera with you? With you, the Primera?" Aizen calmly asked.
Ichigo seemed to have his answer ready as he instantly replied. "Perhaps not. But I work well together with her and I believe you are aware of the risk of Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi showing up, not to mention Tsukabishi Tessai."
Aizen smiled, Ichigo had done his research well it seemed. But he did have a point. He and Nel worked well together and with the chance of those three showing up it might just be the better option. He didn't want to lose a perfectly fine Espada, even if it was one of the lower five, in the very first skirmish of this war.
"Very well Ichigo, I wouldn't normally send two senior Espada members on such a mission but you make some valid arguments. I'll make an exception for you." Aizen concluded.
Nodding his thanks and making a bow Ichigo turned on his heel and walked out of the throne room.
=0=
[1]Itadakimasu - Have a nice meal.
[2]Primera Espada - First Espada.
[3]Segunda Espada - Second Espada.
[4]Cuatro Espada - Fourth Espada.
[5]Octava Espada - Eight Espada.
[6]Sextra Espada - Sixth Espada.
[7]Décima Espada - Tenth Espada.
[8]Quinto Espada - Fifth Espada.
[9]Séptima Espada - Seventh Espada.
[10]Noveno Espada - Ninth Espada.
[11]Tercera Espada. - Third Espada.
That's it, another chapter done, I realise it's taken me a bit longer to write this one then any of the others so far but it can't be helped. I hope it is satisfactory nonetheless, at the very least it should be significantly bigger then my average chapter I believe.
Now before people start to ask. This story will feature no Zero ranked Espada. I honestly thought it was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Especially with the title belonging to some bruth who can barely comprehend the language he is speaking let alone be capable of fighting a battle with his brains.
Second, yes I realise I have changed some of the rankings around quite drastically and they hardly resemble the rankings we see in Cannon. I am well aware of this fact and while I do intend to let the rankings continue to adjust slightly in the feature I have no intention of mimicking the Canon ranks as much as possible.
Now I am curious to know, I am not promising I will do anything with it but I have to ask. Do any of you wish for Ichigo to have a Fracción and if so, why? What kind of Fracción would you like him to have? An existing one or one made up? Like I said, I'm currently not intending to give him one but I might in the future so your opinion will be much appreciated nonetheless.
Now I decided to add a list of the Espada and their ranks at the end of this chapter. Whenever the rankings change in one way or another I'll add a new list at the end of that chapter. Just for the record I'll add the already existing canon Aspects next to their names as well for those of you who are unaware of them.
Now I have one last question for all of you. Do any of you have any good ideas as to what Aspect Ichigo and Nel should possess? I do already have an Aspect for each of them which I believe is quite fitting however I am curious to see if there's someone who can come up with something better.
1. Primera Espada - Kurosaki Ichigo
2. Segunda Espada - Starrk - Aspect of Loneliness
3. Tercera Espada - Nelliel Tu Oderschvank
4. Cuatro Espada - Barragan Luisenbarn - Aspect of Time
5. Quinto Espada - Ulquiorra Schiffer - Aspect of Nihilism
6. Sexta Espada - Nnoitra Jiruga - Aspect of Despair
7. Séptima Espada - Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez - Aspect of Destruction
8. Octava Espada - Szayel Aporro Granz - Aspect of Madness
9. Noveno Espada - Aaroniero Arruruerie - Aspect of Greed
10. Décima Espada - Yammy Rialgo - Aspect of Wrath
Thank you for reading yet another chapter! R&R!