A very quick chapter huh?
I told you guys, I like writing this, but maybe I'm writing too quickly huh?
I mean, maybe I need to go back and revise some stuff? Or at least give you guys time to catch up, huh?
Well whatever, hope you don't find this chapter lame or hurried or badly written.
I'll be updating this as well as I can.
This is actually now the longest chapter I've ever written, and the fastest...hopefully that combination doesn't turn out bad...
Let's get this started!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters, settings, etc.. Did you really need me to tell you that?
Hueco Mundo
Las Noches
"Did you send the EspadaUlquiorra?"
Ulquiorra stiffened and kneeled before his master, Aizen-sama.
He felt weighed down by a sense of belonging, obedience, and sheer terror.
"Yes, Aizen-sama…I have sent Halibel personally to infiltrate the area, after you gave her the orders…She was particularly irritated at hearing deployment orders from me, I noted."
Aizen snorted, leaning back and rubbing his chin as he sat atop his tall ivory throne.
"It is a wonder they are oblivious to it all…but not unexpected. Kaworu will make the perfect distraction…"
Ulquiorra's eyes widened and he glanced up at his master in searching curiosity and confusion.
"You wonder what I plan, do you Ulquiorra?"
"N-No, Aizen-sama. I believe in your every word."
"Hmmm…I will tell you this, there are more people than that foolish Kuchiki girl in Soul Society that interest me…"
He stared deep into Ulquiorra's eyes making him shudder, if only briefly as he rose from his throne and spoke in a booming voice laced with cold laughter.
"Did I not say it before? For a human, he was quite interesting! He and that friend of his…Both of them, quite interesting…"
Ulquiorra nodded slowly, his eyes gleaming without emotion as he registered quickly what Aizen-sama did with things that interested him
Soul Society
Seireitei
Yoruichi Shihouin nearly felt like crying as she delivered Kaworu down into the ground.
Nearly.
She let a cold isolated sense of duty she hadn't felt in centuries void out those emotions, though chilly frozen tears yet ran down her darkened face.
Her Hachimitsu had done the deed again…no, she had, Yoruichi Shihouin. She couldn't just lay the blame on her blade.
It had been her, murdering him again.
Yet inside she told herself, as she turned to Ichigo Kurosaki, that she hadn't had a choice at all.
She remembered Kaworu's last moments, in the binding strength of Hachimitsu's brutal Senpūrendan.
They hurtled straight down, spinning in a violent corkscrew of energy that threatened to explode at that very instant as the ground rushed up steadily to meet them.
She pressed her face against his back, and feeling his futile struggles against her silken bonds stopping, she pressed a kiss against his robes.
"I'm…sorry…Kaworu…but I had…no…choice."
She could see his emotionless face, suddenly unnerving, and he turned to glance at her with a hate so immense that it made her shudder.
He spoke only once before the ground rushed up and met his body in a massive explosion of dust, dirt, pain, and spiritual power.
"No."
She shuddered, shaking her head as she wiped the tears from her face.
No…she had grown since those days…what made this encounter with Little Okami so jarring? She had had no choice, she told herself. But hadn't she and Kisuke fled Soul Society for the very same reasons? A sense of disillusionment with the hierarchy's unflinching will and orders.
Hadn't Kaworu simply done the same, except a few centuries early, to find his best friend and lover turning against him?
She shook these thoughts out of her head and dared not look back at the massive crater that she had formed. She knew damn well what lay in there, and she didn't want to think about it any longer.
His…corpse…I did it…I did it again…
No…if she hadn't done this…then Rukia…then Ichigo…then Soul Society…and indeed the world would be in danger, and Aizen would be a step closer to his nefarious mechanizations.
Yoruichi sighed as she knelt down to Ichigo Kurosaki, stroking his cheek and trying to rouse him awake.
"Ichigo…Ichigo…It's over, wake up…"
Her voice was as nonchalant and confident as ever, however the tears would not stop.
The young woman with dark skin and tawny blonde hair strolled confidently through the empty corridors of the particular district of Seireitei she had infiltrated.
She batted her strange red eyes and looked around.
It had surprised her how easy it had been, but Aizen-sama had said that the majority of the Shinigami would be too busy with internal matters to notice her presence if she hid her reitsu low enough.
It annoyed her, as well as the terribly fresh air and sunny disposition of Seireitei overall, but she had orders.
No one dared defy Aizen-sama.
Halibel kneeled down as she drew her zanpakutō and began her rites.
"Chuu, Gusanocerebro!"
So far she had gone unnoticed by the Shinigami patrols, and it seemed unlikely they would sense her even now with that massive battle raging off in the distance.
No one dared defy Aizen-sama. And soon, his will would be made true all around existence.
Rukia Kuchiki found herself in a strangely familiar place.
The infirmary.
She awoke with a gasp for air, only to find Captain Retsu Unohana quickly at her side, along with a concerned looking Captain Jūshirō Ukitake
She felt as if her body had been thoroughly pummeled, full of bruises and broken bones, but a quick inspection revealed nothing of the sort despite the pain.
Retsu sighed slowly.
"It will hurt for a while, Rukia Kuchiki…"
"Captains?"
Ukitake gave her a smile that seemed tinged with concern and morbid curiosity, brushing his long white hair from his face.
"Do you remember much, Rukia?"
Retsu seemed to want to protest this questioning of the patient, but Rukia proceeded regardless, whispering out her response timidly.
"I…don't know…I just remember seeing…brother…oh…"
Rukia coughed up blood, falling to her knees as tears flowed down her face.
"Bya…kuya…"
Suddenly she felt comforting arms wrap around her and she turned, seeing her brother's face smiling back at her as he lifted her up on his shoulder.
"B-Brother…"
She sighed, feeling the comforting warmth as her eyes closed and she passed out.
"What happened?! Where's my brother?! Where's that man, I felt Ichigo as well, what-"
She gasped in pain as she tried to rise with her words, the soreness driving her back down to her bed and sending beads of sweat over her forehead.
Ukitake placed a pale delicate hand on her face, over her eyes, and after a few minutes she was asleep from sheer fatigue.
He nodded his farewell to Retsu, whispering slowly.
"It's better that she take this slowly, Captain Unohana…Captain Kuchiki was badly injured."
Captain Unohana gave a polite affirmation, though it had been her suggestion in the first place that Rukia be allowed rest and isolation.
Captain Jūshirō Ukitake sighed, making his way sluggishly out the front door of the infirmary, only to be instantly shot at with a familiar voice.
"Does she remember much?"
He turned, shaking his head as he faced the source of the voice, his old friend Captain Shunsui Kyōraku."
"It was unwise of us to stay out of the matter, as their seniors, Shunsui, you know this. We were their mentors, well at least two of the three Prodigies…that one, well; the old man trained his own son…"
Shunsui nodded slowly.
"The old man can be merciless at times, we know that best, better than his supposedly dead family. But…"
Ukitake smiled sorrowfully.
"Yes, you sense it too? Something else in the background…I think this is far more than some family drama to be allowed to rage on and on without interference."
"And what of the old man's orders?"
Ukitake smirked at Shunsui.
"Since when did we ever pay them much mind, eh?"
"Yep…It seems Miss Yoruichi is dealing with him at the moment, but I sense…"
"Yes, something amiss…Perhaps he is truly dead once and for all. It is a rather dark and cruel thing to hope, isn't it Shunsui?"
Shunsui sighed wistfully, looking down at his sheathed blades as the pair made their way away from the infirmary.
"Hope springs eternal, old friend. Let us dwell over these matters over some tea, I believe Nanao-chan is brewing some at this very moment!"
Kisuke Urahara rather wished he could remain on his knees with his eyes closed forever.
Telling himself it was just a dream…just a dream…just a stupid illusion from a stupid old man's zanpakutō…
But he could feel cold metal against his neck, and a familiar, cold voice.
"Arise, brother."
He couldn't help but listen to the voice, opening his eyes and gazing at his dead brother Touji Urahara and his upraised sword.
He looked much like Kisuke, with sandy blonde hair, though it fell to his shoulders and he looked significantly younger.
Also surrounding Kisuke were a number of less vital faces, Hollows and various criminals of Soul Society he had killed.
He realized now the true terror of Tokikaze and Gendo Yamamoto-Genryūsai and he actually found himself smiling sadly for a moment.
So…this is how you show me your pain…your pain…your loss…your time…your history…reflecting it with my own. I escaped, but you never had that chance…you were 'disappeared'…I see…but this…is too far…don't make me remember this!
"Why so quiet, brother? You were so fascinated with me, before, were you not? Always asking me into your laboratory…And I, the eager young brother, never thought anything wrong with it…"
Kisuke trembled, taking a step backwards.
"I-It was a mistake, Touji! A mistake…A…miscalculation!"
Touji's eyes widened with anger and he pressed his hand against his own chest.
"MY SOUL, KISUKE! MY LIFE! You killed me, brother! And after I came to you for help!"
"I'm…worried, Kisuke…my Shinigami exams are coming soon, and I've been having this terrible nightmares…I feel as if there's something inside me…another me…ever since that battle I had where I was severely wounded by that Hollow…I'm scared, Kisuke!"
Kisuke Urahara smiled kindly and patted his younger brother on the shoulder.
"Don't be a crybaby Touji…c'mon, calm down…I'll run some tests on you, it's probably just fatigue…You came to the right place, little brother…"
Kisuke shook his head, just barely summoning the will to dodge his brother's slashing sword towards his face.
"N-No…Don't make me…remember…"
"What's wrong Kisuke? I don't understand? Are you telling me that this is all my imagination? The sleeping pains…the madness? You're telling me just to forget about it?"
Kisuke nodded reassuringly, smiling.
"Just leave it be, get some rest…none of the tests revealed anything…I…think you're just tired, that's all…"
"You knew all along, didn't you…you could sense my inner Hollow, but instead of helping me…you urged it along, you…all along you were thinking more as a researcher than as a brother!"
"N-No…"
A Shinigami from his division rushed in, terror in his eyes.
"Captain Urahara! It's your brother…he's…there's something…wrong with him! It's like a Hollow!"
"A Hollow?"
"We have no choice but to…sir…I'm sorry, but we have to stop this! He's going insane, it cannot be said to be your brother any longer!"
"N-No…please…don't remind me…"
Kisuke Urahara reached into the dying chest of his brother, realizing it now.
Had he contributed to this demise by his non-action and his orders for his brother to ignore the obvious pain of his inner madness.
He easily could've helped his brother, stopped the Shinigami squads from slashing up his brother's distorted Hollow form, stopped this from the beginning.
Or could he have? Was it within his power?
It was easy to decide that it was not within his power, that his brother's death was out of his control.
Easy to justify it as he reached into his brother's chest and felt that rising glowing orb of white beauty floating out of it.
He had spent centuries trying to extricate it.
"The…orb!"
"You used the very boundary of my own soul to construct your precious Hōgyoku! Was it worth it, brother?! Was it?! Did you enjoy watching the Shinigami divisions hack me to pieces because of the monster I'd become?! Because of the monster you already recognized?! You let me DIE!"
Touji rushed forward, Kisuke rolling away from him and slashing two or three Hollow spirits into dying body parts with Benihime.
Kisuke quickly pushed and slashed away any of the others that tried to approach him, but his only reactions to Touji's moves were quick dodges and tired ducks.
He couldn't keep this up any longer. He had to do something, his brother wasn't pulling punches.
He had to fight back, or he would lose his own life…and this couldn't be real anyway! His brother was…dead…
Was he at it again? Justifying and calculating? How much had his brother's life been worth to him?
Was it not much like Kaworu, his former best friend? He had weighed the idea of betraying Soul Society against betraying his best friend, and Soul Society had won.
In this case it was now his own life against his brother, his research against his humanity.
And as Touji Urahara rushed forward to deliver yet another stab, Kisuke felt suddenly exhausted and unwilling to move.
Enough calculations. Enough plotting. Enough research. Enough weighing the lives of others and risks and odds.
"Touji…Kaworu…everyone…I'm…sorry…"
Kisuke Urahara didn't even flinch or move as Touji's sword slashed into his right side and out his back.
Touji simply stared at Kisuke bewildered in disbelief as the blood dripped from the wound onto the ground.
As the blood fell upon the shadowy darkness below them, Touji Urahara and the other shadows around Kisuke Urahara simply shimmered out of existence to reveal that Kisuke had been on the same battlefield when Gendo had used Tokikaze originally.
Kisuke Urahara's body let out a long flying spray of blood as the sword piercing it and indeed its owner simply shimmered out of existence.
The dying former Captain simply toppled over onto the ground, no longer moving.
Unknown
Ichigo Kurosaki gasped for air, finding himself suddenly in a shimmering void of darkness.
In front of him was the embodiment of Zangetsu, staring at him coolly and shaking his head.
"You failed, did you not? You still haven't found the true skills I can provide you…how long until the other YOU takes over?"
Ichigo shook his head, snarling furiously.
"N-No…Never! I'll never allow that!"
"And will you allow Kaworu to take away Rukia? Will you allow your friends to be harmed again and again? You are weak! You failed already! You had to be rescued!"
Ichigo grit his teeth, some of his former spirit returning.
"Screw you, bastard! I'll be plenty strong, I just need more-"
"What? Training? With who, Urahara? With cat woman? It'll take you nowhere, Ichigo!"
Ichigo trembled, clenching his fists as Rukia appeared to his right and Orihime appeared to his left.
They spoke in unison, almost in monotone.
"You want to save us, don't you?"
Chad slowly rose out of the darkness with Ishida and Ichigo's sisters and father. They all spoke in unison as well.
"And all of us."
Ichigo nodded feverishly, grasping his skull.
"Y-Yes…with you, Zangetsu, I'll protect them all!"
Ichigo Kurosaki never noticed Zangetsu's strange smirk and red eyes. He was too engrossed with a single thought.
"POWER! I need more power! I need the strength to protect all of my friends!"
Suddenly, a familiar male voice behind him that sent a shiver up his back.
"I can give you all of that, Ichigo Kurosaki."
Ichigo spun around and found himself faced with none other than former Captain Sōsuke Aizen.
Ichigo Kurosaki found his scream of anger, surprise, and terror unable to leave his throat.
Soul Society
Seireitei
Gendo Yamamoto-Genryūsai sighed, staring down at the result of his zanpakutō's madness. He shook his head in sorrow, giving one last glance at Kisuke Urahara's dead body and turning away.
"It is with grave sorrow that I took your life, Kisuke Urahara. Such sadness in your soul. Tokikaze makes experienced warriors such as you pay true penance, facing all you have slain over your life as a Shinigami. Such a pity."
He glanced at the three Lieutenants, Renji, Isane, and Kira, the trio rather shabby and unprepared, staring in fear at the victorious Gendo. They stood about thirty feet away and seemed ready to flee.
Gendo nodded wistfully.
"Yes…run, young ones, before I deal you the same fate as-"
"Okiro, Benihime!"
Gendo Yamamoto-Genryūsai suddenly stiffened at the voice, looking down at Benihime protruding out of his chest, his head turning just a bit to see Kisuke's exhausted form behind him.
Kisuke pushed the old man off of his blade and fell to his hands and knees, panting and spitting blood as he strived to stay conscious.
Can't…let him…kill me…not yet…not yet…Isshin…Yoruichi…Not yet…KAWORU!
Unknown
"Can I dream alone?"
"That would not be a dream. It would just be a projection of reality."
"Then... where is my dream?"
"That is the extension of reality."
"My... where is my reality?"
"That is at the end of the dream."
Ichigo Kurosaki woke up with a start, sweat dripping off his brow, to find himself laying in the infirmary, his entire body aching.
"Where am I? Yoruichi? Did Kaworu…am I injured? Did he die? Where's Rukia?!"
Ichigo paused to stare up at the ceiling, muttering under his breath.
"Unfamiliar ceiling…"
He turned to see a familiar Shinigami girl standing to the side of his bed, her soft eyes flashing with unreadable emotions.
"Where am I, Rukia?"
"Earlier you said that…miracles only happen once. So what would you call it this time?"
"Fighting Byakuya? No, I'm not there..."
Rukia stood beside Kurosaki's bed, startling him with her voice, a voice he had grown to love and at times abhor.
"If you don't try to further yourself and challenge yourself, you will never grow in strength, Ichigo…Sometimes that means sacrificing your beliefs…or even your soul…to gain the strength to defend your friends against certain death. "
Orihime appeared at the foot of the bed, still as she had been when he had last seen her, her soft voice piercing into Ichigo's very essence.
"Please…Ichigo…you cannot let them kill us…they'll take me…they'll take Rukia…they'll take us all…You have to find a new path to protect us…You couldn't even beat Kaworu…What makes you think you can…beat…"
A new commanding voice rose over the others, Ichigo craned his head to see a tall man with a cold stare and glistening eyes.
"Aizen..."
"Human, you have no strength in your current form…You are nothing but a plague, a weakness among your companions! I overestimated you, drifter…You are too fickle and stubborn, unwilling to consider other paths to strength if they could protect your friends from harm."
Rukia nodded slowly.
"It was my brother's stiff stubbornness that caused his defeat, his rigidity, his refusal to change. You remember…"
"How can you let your own sister be executed?!"
Beside him was a woman with soft hair that resembled the glamorous painting his father had in their house. Ichigo Kurosaki knew very well who she was.
"Mother..."
"Ichigo…As long as the Sun, the Moon and the Earth exist, everything will be all right. You must gain the strength to defend your friends and loved ones, even if that means taking the path that you fear…"
Then there was a flash of light, and Kurosaki let out a shriek, clutching his head.
"I'LL PROTECT YOU ALL EVEN IF IT MEANS GIVING UP MY GODDAMN SOUL!"
Soul Society
Seireitei
Ichigo Kurosaki let out another scream and trembled in Yoruichi's embrace, making her brow furrow in confusion and worry.
It seemed almost like he was dreaming or having some horrible nightmare. He certainly wasn't conscious.
Yoruichi shook Ichigo gently and then frantically with increasing worry as she felt him go limp in her arms.
"Ichigo? Ichigo? What the heck is wrong with you? Come to already? I beat Kaworu! I beat him, it's ove-"
Suddenly a booming and eerily familiar voice interrupted her, confident and strong, but hollow and emotionless in the same turn.
"Not quite…"
Yoruichi spun around and nearly yelped in surprise, though her strength and experience simply made her response a stoic stare.
Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai loomed dominantly in the horizon, atop a cliff next to the crater, his eyes blazing with the fury of a thousand suns.
"You see, Yoruichi, and you little Ichigo fellow, I haven't been…entirely truthful during this ordeal. For that, I suppose, I apologize."
He gripped Inazuma with both hands and raised it in front of himself.
"I suppose it was rude of me to underestimate you, Yoruichi. You nearly did me in there, you know. I thought I could save the best for my father, I thought I could beat the rest of you until I got to him on the basis of a charade."
Yoruichi stared up at him, utterly confused, while Ichigo moaned through his barely conscious state.
"You two seem confused…Let me elaborate. When I went-"
Kaworu grabbed Inazuma with both hands firmly, giving Ichigo a stare so fierce it seemed to bore straight through him. Except now he seemed to be doing this all in jest.
"Bankai! Totatsu Tatsu Ouu!"
His spiritual pressure rose a bit, and then steadied.
"When I went like that, I was sort of…lying. All I did was raise my spiritual pressure up to say, forty percent of my true power. See, I rather thought since I knew you would be dying horrible deaths anyway, I'd at least give you people the illusion of achievement by fighting me bravely at 'my highest level'. A bit rude, I know. But you should've thought it curious that my zanpakutō never actually changed…"
Ichigo's eyes widened in unabashed surprise and confusion, while Yoruichi took a step back that was partly fear and partly confusion.
That…bastard…toying with us like that…Kaworu…you bitter and arrogant son of a bitch!
She stared at him, noting with a bit of alien and obscene comfort that Kaworu had however taken a few good wounds for sure from Ichigo and her. His robes were covered in slashes, and there was blood dripping from his forehead.
He probably flash stepped out right before I slammed him into the ground…so he was hiding that much power?!
However, Kaworu seemed to bear it well, and he broke both Ichigo and Yoruichi out of their mental entanglements as he raised Inazuma once more in that familiar 'fake bankai' position.
"Now, let me enlighten you all…That day against my father, I was pitiful, my power barely existed on his realm. However, through a certain betrayal and death and through centuries of training, I have…well, you know Yoruichi…"
He mimed her earlier words mockingly.
"'You're not the only one who's grown, Kaworu…I'm afraid…I can't allow you to carry this on any further…' Well, let me show you my true growth, Miss Shihouin."
Kaworu gripped his spear even harder and grit his teeth, his eyes bulging as he uttered the following words in a fierce whisper that Ichigo and Yoruichi could nonetheless hear quite clearly.
"Inazuma…Bankai! Adauchi Raikiri!"
His muscles bulged and his spiritual power rose up and down drastically as his body crackled with pure reitsu.
The knuckles gripping his changing zanpakutō seemed to smolder until it was clear that golden-white kanji were forming tattooed on each finger's knuckle spelling the phrase "VENGEANCE IS MINE" ("Fukushû Suruwa Wareniari") across both hands.
The letters gave off smoke as they were seemingly tattooed onto him with an invisible hot iron, and as his newly changed hands gripped the spear, it began to change as well.
Inazuma seemed to grow longer and thicker, far stronger and sturdier looking and it changed further, obviously no longer a simple cross spear.
The perpendicular trio of blades ending in a sort of curved trident instead much like the blade of a sai.
This new Inazuma glowed with power, as did Kaworu Yamamoto-Genryūsai's trembling form.
When the dust had cleared, it was obvious to Yoruichi Shihouin that this was the real deal.
His…spiritual power…has at least doubled…He says he was fighting at only forty percent when he was faking his bankai…so what is this? Not even the true height of his power? Can there be more?
Ichigo shook, seemingly passed out from the sheer spiritual presence of Kaworu, but Yoruichi lifted him and laid him comfortably on the ground, letting him sleep as she turned back to the ominously looming form of Kaworu in the distance.
She bit her lip, shouting out to him as she drew Hachimitsu once more.
Could this be a losing battle for Yoruichi Shihouin? No…I can't lose…it all depends on me.
"Must we fight like this, Kaworu?! Is there no other way?"
Kaworu stared down coldly at her, his tattooed hands trembling around his spear. He seemed to leak danger and spiritual power.
He spoke now in a voice eerily unfamiliar to Yoruichi. Sure, she recognized his voice, but the way he spoke…it was like he was hollowed out…slightly different…yet rudely casual and comfortable.
It reminded her…of his dying moments back then…when he had spoke those words, taunting her even as his mortal blood flowed.
"Hah! Ichi-chan! You say such things now? Surely you aren't faltering already! When the odds were stacked on your side, you were full of bluster and strength. So ready to strike and end me for the 'good of Soul Society'. Tell me, Ichi-chan…"
She shuddered, not only because of him reverting back to calling her by that name, but also because he continued his sentence suddenly directly behind her, as if he had been there the whole time.
This…speed…my god…
"Tell me, where did that wonderful strength go? A beautiful woman like you should at LEAST DIE BEAUTIFUL!"
That last part was a screeching scream of pure unadulterated rage and fury as Kaworu brought his intimidating glowing spear of power slamming straight at Yoruichi's head.
Well, hope you enjoyed that chapter…
It seems Kaworu was toying with lives and fate again, a bit arrogant of him…I guess he just wanted to make Ichigo think he'd fought Kaworu at his highest level before Kaworu killed him. Almost out of pity. Same with Yoruichi until it turned out that Kaworu couldn't handle Yoruichi at that fake bankai level.
Oh, and if you remember Inazuma's real bankai form's description that I described in this chapter…
It's like a trident, except it has a "sai" point, I said. These are sai:
http://upload. ouch…is Kisuke Urahara dead?! What about his old opponent Gendo?!
We'll see who survived that terrible duel…if anyone!
Also, what the hell is wrong with Ichigo? Weird nightmares and hallucinations? Is it Zangetsu?
See ya next chapter!