Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. I do however own all of the OC's in the story, unless stated otherwise.
AN: Here is the second of the three in one upload. R&R!
...
Chapter 7: Training Begins
Feeling better after having a chance to calm down, you finally manage to say, rather than yell, something to Ichigo, who stayed with you while you calmed down in order to learn more about your hollow.
"So Kisuke and Yoruichi..." You still can't believe that the two of them are together. It's just not right. She just looks so young, and Kisuke... well, he does run a candy store.
"Yeah. It is weird to think about, but you will grow used to it... sort of."
"I just hope I'm not around to see them... be affectionate." You shudder at the thought.
"It's not a pretty sight. But back to the hollow. What is it doing?"
"I don't understand what you mean?"
"I mean is he trying to kill you? Just he just insult you? Has he showed you any of his powers?"
"She." Ichigo gives you a look of confusion. "My hollow is a girl. Her name is Kanashimi."
"It's... a girl?"
"Yeah. Is that bad?"
"Well no. I guess it's not considered bad, but hollows always take the gender of the host, or at least that's what Hat n' Clogs told me."
You contemplate silently for a minute. "So does mean there is something wrong with my hollow?"
"Maybe." He looks to be brooding over something before looking toward the back. "We should tell Hat n' Clogs about this though. You might gave to undergo a different kind of training. The last thing we need is your hollow riping you apart from the inside because we forgot to make you do something."
"Yeah, that would be bad." You chuckle nervously. Seeing as how you like your insides where they are, inside, you figure that it's probably best to go get Kisuke. Better safe than sorry.
You stand up and follow Ichigo to the back where Kisuke went after Captain Hirako departed back to the soul society. Opening one of the doors in the long hallway, you find yourself face to face... with you?
Kisuke was currently inflating you. This was just plain wrong.
"So you have his gigai already? How did you manage that? He has only been here for like fifteen minutes. I know you're a "genius" and pull off "miracles" all the time, but this has got to be a record of some sort."
Kisuke looks over his shoulder at the both of you, smiling his signature smile. "Yoruichi gave me hundreds if pictures and a chart listing your measurements. How she got some of them though is beyond me. You must be a heavy sleeper to not notice that."
You flush bright red in embarrassment. She did what? Suddenly feeling very self conscious, you back away slowly from the gigai. Kisuke just laughs at you.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to judge, well at least not judge that." He smiles coyly, covering his face with his fan as your face turns an even deeper shade of scarlet. "But back to the matter at hand. I presume you have information regarding the hollow?"
"Only that his hollow is a female." Ichigo spoke up for you, seeing as your current discomfort level was very high right now.
Kisuke raises his eyebrows in confusion. "A female you say? Well that sure is interesting... anything else."
"She already knew of both Captain Hirako and Ichigo without me meeting them since I have had her."
Kisuke's eyes open really wide. Ichigo turns to face you with his mouth hanging wide open. "She knows about me?"
"Yeah. She said that even in the world of hollows, you are famous. She also mentioned that your hollow is so strong, that it makes Aizen look like a baby."
If it was possible, Ichigo's mouth dropped even farther. "He makes Aizen look like a baby?! Then that would imply..."
"That you are probably the strongest soul reaper while being aided with your hollow powers." He looks at you, completely dumfounded about this new revelation.
"More importantly, your hollow is a female, correct?" Kisuke joins the conversation again.
"Yes."
"That poses a number of problems for us."
"What kind of problems."
He looks at you, completely serious. "Never before has someone with an inner hollow had said hollow be the opposite gender of themselves. Taking into account all things, anything could happen at any given moment, as far as we know. You could literally explode right now from this... BOOM!" You jump back and scream.
Kisuke looks at you with a grin and chuckles. "But that probably won't happen. As far as training goes, we will proceed as normal, unless something prevents us otherwise, as we have no outside data to work off of. So with that said, let's go to the training room."
You follow both Ichigo and Kisuke to the room Kisuke mentioned, all the whole glaring at the latter for the scare he just gave you. Heading to another room in the shop, you find it completely bare, except for a a hinged door on the floor.
"I may not be an expert on hollows and hollowfication, but I don't think that this room is qualified for hollow training."
"Now who ever said we would be training in this room?"
You stare at Kisuke blankly. "We will he training down there." He points to the hinged door, which Ichigo opens, to reveal a ladder leading to some unknown place.
"In the basement? We are going to train... in the basement?"
"Yes, indeed we are!" Kisuje smiles like it was no big deal.
"How is that any different from up here in this room?"
"Well you see, the lower elevation causes an increased concentration of-"
"Ok I'm going." You grumble a little bit to yourself, and follow Ichigo down the ladder. Kisuke soon joins you. After about a minute of climbing, the walls around you give way to a new sight.
"This is the basement!?" You choke on your words, and slowly continue down the ladder, trying to take in everything. The "basement" as it were, was at least a two mile long, and wide, box. How it's even possible for something like this to exist is beyond you, so rather than thinking about why or how, you think about the positives that come from having such a big training area. Less damage to buildings, not there were any in here anyways. More space for potentially destructive attacks. It also runs little risk of anyone outside to hear or feel anything coming from within the walls.
"So what exactly does this training entail anyways? I don't believe either of you informed me on what I was expected to do."
"Well that can be a bit difficult to actually tell. Since you did not go through the hollowfication process, I think that starting with forming your mask." Ichigo says as he steps off of the ladder.
"Excellent choice Ichigo!" Urahara calls out as he too steps off the ladder. "For that we will just need you to make your hollow submit."
"Ok... so..."
Ichigo huffs. "Just go to your inner world and kick the crap out of your hollow until it says that you are its master."
"Well I fought her while unconscious, and she said that I was her master." Kisuke gives you a questioning look.
"Did she? How interesting..."
"Is that just another thing to worry about?"
"No, not at all! It's just highly unusual for a hollow to accept its master after such a short period of time. It will, however, make things easier for us. Try putting on your mask."
You stare at him in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to tell me how to do that? That is why I'm here after all. To learn about how to use, control, and suppress my hollow powers."
Ichigo glares in Kiskue's direction. "Come on Hat n' Clogs, do you really expect him to know anything about hollowfication?" He gives Kisuke one more glare before looking at you.
"Alright. Just focus on your hollow. Try and feel its power coming out of you. Then try and focus that power into your hand, and drag it across your face.
"Ok. So like this." You make said dragging motion across your face.
"Yeah that works. Now try and focus that energy."
"You close your eyes and concentrate. Feel the energy if Kanashimi. Feel her presence.
After a minute you give up. "I can't. I don't feel anything. I used to be able to hear her, but now I can't hear a thing."
"Hmm... she might be ignoring you. Go to your inner world and talk with her." Kisuke, offering his words of wisdom, takes a seat on a nearby rock. "If you could, could you have Shi no Dansu materialize. I would very much like to talk to her."
Ichigo gives him a look of confusion, while you give him a look of disbelief. "How did you no my zanpakuto coils materialize?"
"Yoruichi told me."
"Oh... well it's not much of a secret anymore, so I guess, if she wants to, she can stay out here. That actually might be better so she doesn't get hurt... Hey Shi. Can you come out for a while?"
Your blade glows faintly, and in a flash, Shi no Dansu appears before all three of you.
"What is it Oto?" She, still hugging Oto Jr., looks up at you.
"I need to go to my inner world. I need to talk to that crazy hollow lady that lives there with you. It will be safer out here, so I want you to stay materialized as long as I am in: there, ok? Plus I believe Uncle Kisuke wants to talk to you."
"You mean Kana-chan! She is so fun to play with!" She smiles up at you, while Kisuke, Ichigo, and yourself all stare at her, mouths hanging wise open, completely dumbfounded.
"Kana-chan?"
"Yeah! Yesterday we had a tea party! Oto Jr. likes her too!"
"... Ok then... I'm going to go now. Have fun with Uncle Kisuke."
"Wait Oto! Which ones Uncle Kisuke?"
"He is the creepy old man."
"Hey! I'm not old!" Kisuke interjects, quite sore about the old an comment. You notice, however, he does not interject about the part where you called him creepy.
"Then who is he?" She points to Ichigo, who is still confused as to why your zanpakuto can materialize at will.
"That... that is big brother Ichigo." You give Ichigo a small smirk. He looks at you in anger, but that dissipates, and is replaced with surprise when Shi no Dansu jumps on him.
"Ichi-nii!" She snuggled into his chest, gripping his shoulders tightly.
"Have fun." You call out to the trio before sitting down and focusing. You feel the familiar tingle on your spine, caused by slipping into your inner world. Then the world goes dark.
...
You open your eyes and find yourself in the same sandy plains as last time. You look around and call out to the hollow.
"Kanashimi! Come out! We need to talk!"
"Holy crap! I'm right here, no need to yell so damn loud!" You turn to find her standing before you.
"It's about time you got here. I hoped that masking my presence would lead you here again."
"Wait you needed me here? Then why not drag me here like you did last time?"
She snorts in response. "Would you really be willing to cooperate if I dragged you here again?"
"Good point. So why do you need me here?"
"There is a hollow out there that needs to be stopped. I can feel him, even in here. For the past nine hours, he has been executing hollows indiscriminately and without cause. I lost track of the deaths around five thousand."
Your eyes grow wide. "Five thousand! Wait, if it is killing hollows, why should I bother stopping it? I'm a soul reaper. I want hollows dead."
"That may be, but if there are no more hollows doesn't the soul reapers existence become moot? As much as you hate us, you become useless without us. You need us. Soul reapers need hollows."
You stare at her. She does bring up a good point. If it were not for hollows, soul reapers would be fairly useless. All there would be left to do would be traffic the souls.
"I get what you are saying, but I still don't see why you want me to do something about it."
She hisses at you, angry at your ignorance. "Because I am a hollow. Like it or not, I am a part of you now, which means he will eventually come after us. Of those five thousand he has killed, over half were at least a vasto lorde class. Some were even arrancar... at your current level, it would be less painful to throw yourself from a cliff than face this guy. I... I want to... help... you in becoming more powerful. Don't get the wrong idea though! I'm only doing this for my sake and Shi no Dansu's as well."
You take a minute to think about what just transpired. There is some evil hollow killing thing, who also just happens to be a hollow as well, out there somewhere causing mayhem. In order to beat it, you need to get stronger. Kanashimi is offering her help to make you stronger.
"You already said that you accepted me as your master."
"I did. This however is completely different. I can't lend you my powers until I know for certain that they won't be wasted. It might be difficult to understand, but it is necessary."
"I need you to fully submit to me, and acknowledge that I am, truly,your master. I need the powers you posses in order to win."
"I can't do that. It's not in my nature to just submit. We need to fight again. I want to see if you learned anything from our first one. If you beat me... I will fully submit and lend you my power. But if I win, I will take control of your body and mind and go kill him myself."
"Sounds good to me. Let's fight then." You take a stance. She holds out a clawed hand, pointing it at you. A white cero starts to form.
"I won't be holding back Kanashimi."
"Neither will I, Hiroto Arinori." With that fires her cero.
...
-Soi Fon POV-
Three days. Three days have finally passed. You can't help but feel both excited and nervous. On one hand you get to see Hiroto again, but on the other hand, he is now a Vizard. You hope that it won't affect how he feels about you.
Walking slowly into the gates of Lady Yoruichi's manor, you pray silently that he has not forgotten them.
"Soi Fon. Right on time I see." Lady Yoruichi calls out to you from the front door. "Come on, Let's go already. I can tell your anxious to see him." You give her a nod and follow her through the front door.
...
Traversing your way through the manor, you reach the back door, which leads to the courtyard with the Senkaimon, which was already open.
"Come on. I'm sure that they are all waiting for us." Once again you nod and follow her through the Senkaimon, hoping to find Hiroto alive and well.
...
Stepping through to the other side, you enter Urahara's shop. Ichigo is standing there waiting for you.
"Hiroto is still training. He's been going for three straight days now. I don't know what that means exactly, but it has never taken this long for either the hollow to take control or submit. I'll take you girls to the training room, but don't expect to talk with him anytime soon."
Lady Yoruichi just smiles at Ichigo. "That's ok. As long as he is not in danger of dying anytime soon."
Ichigo turns around and flash steps to the training room, both Lady Yoruichi and yourself on his heels.
Arriving in the underground facility, you find Urahara sitting on a nearby rock, his hands folded in his lap, intensely watching Hiroto. There also appears to be a young girl with him, bit you can't identify her.
The young girl turns around, and upon seeing Ichigo, jumps at him. "Ichi-nii!" Slamming him into the ground, she curls up against his chest, sighing contently.
"Who is she?" You are unsure of whether or not this girl was actually one of Ichigo's sisters, but you assume that she isn't, based on their obvious physical differences.
"Her? That is Hiroto's zanpakuto, Shi no Dansu."
You look at Lady Yoruichi with a questioning look.
"How is that possible? A zanpakuto should not be able to manifest itself into a physical form. The only time that happened was when Muramasa came to the soul society."
Urahara speaks up, giving Shi no Dansu a peculiar glance. "You are correct in your assumption. However, Hiroto did not train in the traditional way. According to Shi no Dansu, he literally broke his spirit trying to become stronger. Much like the 1st Espada Coyote Starrk and hid fraccion, Lillynette, she is a part of his soul that has broken away. A zanpakuto spirit resides in the soul of its master, but in their case, that piece of his soul has broken away."
At this point, Ichigo managed to pry Shi no Dansu off of himself. They were both now listening to your conversation with Urahara.
"I was talking with Shi no Dansu about it, and because of the break in his soul, they can't even talk in the traditional way. They cant even share their thoughts with one another. She must be manifested in order to convey information."
She smiles at you. "Yep! I can only talk with Oto when I'm outside. Hey aren't you Soi Fon?"
"Yes? How did you no that?"
"Oto talks about you all the time!" You blush at that statement. So he does show his affection publicly. Or at least he tells his zanpakuto about it.
"Are you and Oto dating now?" Ichigo falls backwards onto his butt sputtering at what she asked, while you manage to blush even more.
"Well... yeah we are." You say this softly, almost like you are afraid to announce your relationship to the world.
"So now your my mommy-chan?" At this your eyes grow wide, Ichigo completely faints, Urahara manages a small chuckle, and Lady Yoruichi smiles widely.
"No! I don't think that we are-"
"Of course she is your mommy-chan now." Lady Yoruichi gives a big smile, interrupting your interjection. "She is definitely your mommy-chan."
Shi no Dansu smiles widely up at you, and in the same manner as Ichigo, she jumps at you, flinging her small arms around your neck and snuggling as tightly as she can.
"Yay! I have a mommy-chan!" She looks up into your eyes, her hair brushing against your chin. "I love you mommy-chan!"
Urahara loses it. He falls backwards off of his rock, laughing loudly. Even Lady Yoruichi was trying her best to stifle her own laughter.
You almost fall down yourself. Trying to understand what exactly what just happened was making your head spin. If you were mommy, then Hiroto was... You blush as the thought enters your head. That might turn some people on, but for you it was embarrassing to even think about. Although, maybe some day, you could really be her mommy-chan.
Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you slowly wrap one arm around her, hoping that that will console her for the time being.
"So what about Hiroto? Is he doing okay? Isn't there some way you can tell if he is ok in there?"
Urahara looks up at you from the ground, his laughter finally ceasing. "I'm afraid not. I had Tessai erect a barrier around him in case he loses against his hollow. Hopefully it won't come to that, but it is best to be safe. The only thing we can do at this point is wait for the fight between them to end."
"Hey. I think Kana-chan is trying to tell me something." Shi no Dansu closes her eyes and focuses in something.
"Well what did she say?" Yoruichi joins the conversation again, apparently peaking her curiosity.
Shi no Dansu opens her eyes.
"He is coming."
Everyone freezes. All looking at her, you ask her one last question. "Who is coming?"
"Vacio Mariposa."