Author's Note: discord .gg/JV97AUmAr7

Capter 22: Wrath and the Strawberry Part 2

Ichigo stood high in the sky, his eyes burning with crimson malice, his demonic senses spread over the entire city and mapping out every soul within. He immediately found Ginjō's Hollow stained soul, heading well past normal human speeds out of Karakura Town. He stayed still, observing Ginjō as he continued to move further west out of town.

He's in Naruki City now.

Ichigo briefly considered following him, teleporting directly to Ginjō and taking care of him, but again, memories of Sirzechs' voice whispered in the back of his mind. Let them think you're playing the game, Ichigo-kun. Let them do the work for you.

He weighed the words in his head. As annoying as the older Devil was, no one played the game better than Sirzechs. Thus, Ichigo reached into his jacket and took out the phone number Ginjō had left behind. Taking out his phone, he dialed the number and put the phone to his ear.

One ring.

A second ring.

Finally, a click.

"Hello," a smooth mechanical voice said through the phone, "you have reached the concierge desk, welcome to Xcution."

Ichigo raised a single curious brow. This was oddly professional, something he'd seen too often in the endless bureaucracies of the Underworld. Definitely not something he'd expect from someone with some sort of association with Hollows. "This number is currently not registered. If you are a new member, please state your name."

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said plainly.

"Greetings, Kurosaki Ichigo-sama, we are well aware of you. Welcome to our Xcution."

"Yeah cool," Ichigo said in the same flat tone. "I'm looking for Ginjō."

"In order to speak with Ginjō Kūgo -sama, please hang up and please dial the same number followed by 00800 and then please hang up before the line starts ringing."

"What?" Ichigo blinked in blatant confusion.

"After that, please call again with the same number and hang up as soon as the line stops ringing. After th-"

Ichigo took the phone away from his ear and just stared at it with bewilderment as the voice continued to drone on nonsensical directions.

"The fuck is this James Bond bullshit," he muttered to himself. Ichigo promptly hung up and blew out a frustrated sigh. As his annoyance mounted, his demonic power purred temptations in his ear. It would be so simple to just teleport overhead to wherever Ginjō was and rip a Cero and leave a molten crater a mile wide, easily ridding him of this whole fiasco. But of course, he couldn't do that. Serafall would incessantly nag at him for the next few decades, his wife would probably beat him into the ground and Amaterasu would probably drop a star onto whatever was left of him.

Ichigo took a deep breath, circulating his demonic power in breathing techniques that Yasaka had taught him, allowing him to ease his power in slow and stable cycles and clearing his mind of the dark fog of rumbling anger. He stood there in the sky for a whole ten minutes before he felt his temper recede back enough where his Sin fell quiet. Though not quite silent.

When he was satisfied, Ichigo dipped into his magic and stepped through the folds of reality, bending space as he moved, and promptly appeared over the spot in Naruki City where he had last sensed Ginjō.

He then turned his attention back to his phone and triggered the voice command and said in a firm voice, "Call Infernity home office."

The screen of his phone immediately went to a call screen and within a single ring, the other side answered.

"Good afternoon, my Prince," a cool female voice said instantly. "How may I serve?"

"Hey Meril," Ichigo said in a friendly response. "Listen, I need a containment field and a possible clean-up crew at my current location."

"Very good, my Lord," she said with the same neutral inflection. "And may I ask for the set parameters?"

Ichigo reached out with his senses. "Just to be safe, let's say a dozen. Set the barrier for Class 2 Ultimate, a duration of two hours. Though I doubt that's necessary."

"As you command, everything will be prepared within ten minutes."

"Thanks Meril, I appreciate it." Ichigo said, as he kept his eyes on the door below.

"I live to serve," and he could hear the servility and sincerity in her words. Some sub-species of Devils were just supernaturally hardwired to obey stronger demonic powers to a fault.

"Yeah, I know you do," he muttered dryly before continuing in a firmer tone, "Have Ecayd be on standby, just in case. Wait, scratch that. Change that to Nihil, I forgot I sent Ecayd to keep the Worgens and Dökkálfar in check."

"Yes, of course my lord. Will that be all?"

Ichigo mulled it over for a moment. "If you could have an assortment of cheesecakes prepared. I should be back in a couple of days, provided everything goes smoothly."

"Ah, the lady has made a new discovery." A hint of amusement broke the neutrality of the female Devil's voice.

"Something like that," Ichigo said with the same small measure of laughter. "Anyways, I'll be seeing you soon."

"Happy hunting, my Lord."

And with a sharp click, the line went dead. Ichigo pocketed his phone and descended down onto the street below, right before the building from where he could sense many similar souls to Ginjō, all stained with strands of a Hollow's touch.

As he took several steps forward and craned his neck up, looking at the rundown apartment buildings. Outwardly, it didn't look like much, though it was significantly better than the run down and broken concrete floors of the Visored's condemned hideout.

How to get in?

He could simply burst his way through and start swinging Zangetsu left and right; and at the thought, the bloodthirsty blade hummed in agreement from within the confines of his soul. However, Ichigo preferred to keep a low profile. He'd rather not draw immediate attention to himself, nor did he appreciate the idea of a long and drawn-out battle. He'd much rather any actual fighting be done swiftly and with as much discretion as possible.

Don't fight, win.

Ichigo shook his head of reminders of Sirzechs' lessons. As the seconds ticked by and Ichigo deliberated his approach, he sensed a soul move towards him from just a short way down the street.

"Well, ain't this a surprise?"

Ichigo turned his neck to see a frowning Ginjō casually walking towards him with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.

Ichigo gave him an appraising look. "You're the one who said he wanted to talk."

Ginjō raised an appreciative eyebrow. "Yeah, talk. Which is why I gave you a phone number to call. How did you manage to find this place anyways?"

Ichigo gave a dismissive shrug. "I did call. But the whole back and forth was little too complicated for someone as simple and straightforward for me. As to how I found this place, well, it's not like you're the only one who knows how to do a little investigating."

Ginjō's frown became more pronounced, but suddenly his lips curved up in a thin smile. "You're filled with surprises, aren't you Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"More than you can imagine," he responded with a drawl.

Ginjō regarded him for a moment with the same unsettling expression. "So, here we are. What made you come and find me? And after you were so disinterested when we spoke not too long ago. So quick to change your mind there, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shrugged again. "Not really. But you like you said, you have answers, and I suddenly find myself asking some questions."

"Well, that's good. Because I do have something I'd like to ask of you. You help me, and I'll help you. Follow me."

And as Ginjō moved past him, Ichigo followed a few paces behind as they made their way to the derelict apartments and walked into a rundown elevator. Ginjō pressed the button to the third floor and moved to lean against the walls.

"So then," Ichigo began, "what exactly is it that you want from me? You really want to look into my dad?"

Ginjō gave a chuckle. "No, like you cleverly deduced, the only reason I even brought up your family was to pique your curiosity. I have no interest in your family at all."

Ichigo gave a deft nod. "Well, that's good. I'm not the most reasonable person when people start poking their noses into my sisters' lives. Regardless of the circumstances."

He kept his eyes on Ginjō, but the man didn't seem to register his less than subtle threat. As the elevator doors opened up and they stepped out into an empty hallway, Ichigo looked down at both ends and frowned as he didn't see anything of interest. They took several more steps and stopped at an unremarkable and plain door, save for one security lock embedded in the concrete beside the handle.

"You have the card I gave you?" Ginjō asked.

Ichigo fingered it in the pocket of his jacket and nodded.

Ginjō turned around and proceeded to press several keys on the lock, presumably some sort of security access code before turning back around and saying, "Swipe your card."

Ichigo took a step forward and ran the black card through the electronic lock. There was a second of silence before a series of beeps and an audible mechanical snap sent the door slightly ajar. Ginjō reached out and opened it full way, stepping through. Ichigo followed him, and as he stepped over the threshold, he was mildly impressed at what was essentially a very modern looking luxury bar in a black and white color scheme.

Closing the door behind him, Ichigo immediately took note of the three individuals within the large room. A middle-aged man with a dark strap serving as an eye patch over his right eye, was tending the bar and wiping down glasses. A dark-skinned attractive woman in a leather jacket and tight white pants sat at the far end of the room on a black leather sofa. And a younger man with a dark coat, Gatsby hat and ascot sat on a solid white table, his legs dangling over and not reaching the floor.

Ichigo allowed his demonic magic to invisibly snake its way around the room and, seeing how none of the other four occupants reacted, he became certain this place only had mortal level security and no other forms of supernatural protection.

"Pretty big in here," he remarked, taking all of their stares in stride. "You knock down the walls?"

"Yeah," Ginjō said simply. "Some of our members have deep pockets so we could afford to renovate heavily on the inside."

"So, I'm guessing there are more of you then," Ichigo asked with a raised brow.

Ginjō gave a nod and walked over to the bar, grabbing himself a freshly cleaned glass. "But before we get started on our business, I feel a bit of honesty is needed. On our objective."

The one-eyed man poured Ginjō a drink from a crystal decanter and plopped a few pieces of ice into the glass.

"Your objective?"

"That's right," Ginjō said with a smile as he took a sip. "Our objective is to get you your Shinigami powers back."

Both of Ichigo's eyebrows climbed high up. Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that. A part of him had assumed up until this point that these were humans who had stumbled upon his identity as a powerful Devil and were trying to make a bargain or a contract with him.

Ichigo stared deep into Ginjō's eyes. The man wasn't lying, there was no deceit in his Human soul. But there was something there. Something that didn't quite make sense and obscured his ability to peer into a person's soul and glean their hidden sins. It was almost as if the light of Ginjō's soul had been bent somehow. Ichigo did not quite understand it. And it wasn't just him, it was the others as well. It was almost as if their existences had been altered. How curious.

"That's," he began, unsure of the words he wanted to say, "rather generous of you. And unexpected. Very unexpected. What's the story there?"

"I'll tell you," Ginjō said, taking another sip. "It's a nice and long story, so sit back and relax. We have a long day ahead of us."

He motioned towards a set of sofas and a coffee table made of glass, but Ichigo didn't move and swept his eyes over the other members of Ginjō's little group.

"By the way," Ichigo said, "you gonna introduce me to your friends? I'm assuming they all know who I am, so it only seems fair."

Ginjō gave a low chuckle and started pointing them out. "True. The one sitting on the table is Yukio."

The short blond haired one gave him a nod.

"The one all the way in the back is Jackie."

The woman gave him a smile and a small wave.

"And the one at the bar is Giriko."

"Pleasure to meet you," the bartender said. Ichigo responded with an affirmative nod.

As Ichigo moved to the sofa opposite Ginjō, the man asked him, "Can we get you a drink? Or anything to eat?"

"I wouldn't say no to Jack Daniels on the rocks," Ichigo said as he moved to have a seat. But as he did, he felt a magical paling rise up like iron around the area, no doubt cast by the demonic cleanup crew he had ordered. His eyes quickly tracked over all the others in the room, none of them seemed to notice. Whatever these people were, they weren't able to sense magic, which meant their powers were strictly spiritual in nature and thus directly tied to human souls like the rest of the Shinto afterlife.

"Didn't take you for a hard-liquor kind of guy," Ginjō said with an appraising look. "Are you even old enough to drink?"

"I am," Ichigo said offhandedly, but slowly began leaking subtle traces of demonic power into the room. Again, none of them noticed.

As Giriko came over and handed him a drink, Ichigo muttered a quiet thanks and took a sip. The alcohol had no effect whatsoever on his Devil body. He could drink dozens of bottles and the only result would be an exceptionally long piss on his part. Even then, he could just magically dispel his bladder waste away if he was really lazy about it. Still, the burn of the hard liquor felt nice on his throat.

Ginjō set his glass down. "So, from the beginnings, all of us in Xcution are human."

Ichigo turned his attention to him.

"But, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, we're not normal humans. We're humans born with innate special abilities."

"A special ability?" Ichigo assumed Sacred Gears at first, but quickly dismissed the notion. Sacred Gears would not explain the sliver of Hollow taint all four of them had in their souls.

"It'd be faster to show you," Ginjō replied smoothly. He tapped the side of the glass, and suddenly, the amber liquid within rose out and floated its way to Ginjō's mouth and passed through his lips. The man swallowed and wiped the edge of his lips with his thumb.

"What I did there," Ginjō continued, "was draw out the soul of the alcohol in the glass and make it help me drink it. That's our ability, to draw out the soul that resides in matter."

Ichigo gave him a quizzical look.

"You don't get it? Alright, let me elaborate. Every single thing in this world has a soul, not just living beings. The size of a soul varies, but everything from a block of wood to the clouds in the sky have souls. Sometimes people can have an affinity with the soul of an inanimate object. A chef with his favorite knife, a painter with his favorite brush. They understand the soul, so they can unconsciously draw out the power of that soul with their own.

"We can do the same, but on a much more pronounced scale. By drawing out that latent power of a soul, and boosting it with our own souls, and even altering it, we can do things like solidify water or air, letting us walk on things other humans can't. We can change the elasticity of the floor to give us some extra bounce in our jumps. Or we can do cheap bar tricks like drinking without lifting a glass. Get it?"

He did. Though he disagreed with the assertion. Tiamat had explained to him, long ago, when magic and elder power still ran rampart and seeped into every stretch of the Earth, it had given all of the world some form of collective will. Nothing like a true consciousness that could act with agency or thought, but a passive existence of countless moving parts. Some of those parts were grander than others, broader and better defined. Those eventually did crystallize consciousness. And they were the Primordials. The very Precepts that govern reality brought to life. And then their descendants who were also linked to the world embodied similar laws of nature, though some were more abstract than the Greater Precepts of the Primordials. Eventually, those beings went on to call themselves deities, gods, immortals and whatever fanciful terms that helped them feel important in a fledgling mortal world.

For the rest of the world that remained inert and lifeless, they retained that some minuscule memory of the ancient days. Tiamat had called it the 'Du', a word of some prehistoric language that had no literal translation in modern human language. Even with their familiar bond, he still couldn't fully grasp the concept from her mind. It was entirely too alien and eldritch of an idea.

Modern sorcerers and scholars referred to the concept Ginjō was speaking of as the anima. An innate spirit bereft of the rational faculty that made a true soul. Though he wasn't about to bring any of this up with Ginjō. He was in no mood for an academic or philosophical debate as to the nature of souls. Lucifer knew he had had enough of that with Yasaka and Grayfia.

"Speaking of cheap bar tricks," Ichigo said as he reached into his jacket and brought out a cigarette from the box and placed it in his mouth. "I hope you don't mind."

He cupped one hand over the end and snapped his index finger and thumb of the other hand to make a small flame. As the end of the cigarette glowed a bright orange, Ichigo made a show of waving his hand and putting out the flame, while taking a deep drag and letting out a breath of smoke high into the air. He also subtly began pushing out more demonic power into the room as well.

"Sure," Ginjō said wryly, "make yourself at home."

Ichigo gave him an appreciative nod.

"Like I was saying, when a deep affinity is born between the soul of an object and the soul of a person, you can influence the object to a certain degree. With a high enough affinity, you can even alter it completely." Ichigo watched with interest as Ginjō reached towards his X-shaped necklace and gave a brief twist of spiritual power. The cross glowed a bright light before rapidly transforming into a massive broadsword which stabbed itself into the marble floor below.

Ginjō gave him a wide smile. "We call this ability complete manifestation, but most of us just say Fullbring instead. And we call the people who can use this power Fullbringers"

Ichigo took a good look at the blade for several moments and finally said, "Nice sword."

The other man opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly the door swung wide open with a slam and everyone's necks snapped in the same direction. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as a rather short young woman walked through the door with incredibly long pig tails and a strange circular hat that sat at top the crown of her head. Just like with the others, Ichigo could see Hollow taint run through her human soul.

"I'm back!" The girl yelled, and from her tone, he glistened that she wasn't happy about having to leave in the first place. The door swung closed behind her as she marched into the room.

"Oh, you're back already?" Ginjō said as he viewed the newcomer from the side of his eyes.

"Yeah, I am," the girl said imperiously before fanning her face with a single hand. "Also, why is it so damn hot in here?"

Ginjō gave a sigh, but the woman from the back spoke up for the first time since Ichigo came into bar. "Riruka is right, it's uncomfortably warm in here. Is the AC broken?"

"Cold air is coming out," the one-eyed bartender said as he raised a hand to an air vent high above.

Interesting.

While none of them could sense the delicate fluctuations of demonic power, they could certainly feel the effects of it on the natural world around them. Although, if Ichigo really began pumping out his demonic power in spades, they'd definitely notice it immediately, as that kind of power was just impossible to hide. Not to mention, once he started approaching Satan-class power, his demonic presence would just vaporize them and reduce them to ash. Well, them and everything else around for a few dozen miles. Which, of course, would defeat the purpose of him doing this subtly in the first place.

"It probably just needs maintenance," Ginjō said dismissively before turning towards the pig-tailed girl. "Did you bring him?"

The girl huffed in annoyance. "No, he's out visiting family somewhere out of country or something."

A flash of annoyance crossed Ginjō's face, and the girl leaned forward and squinted her eyes. "Is that a sword Ginjō? Put that damn thing away before you hurt somebody. And aside from being so damn hot, why is it also so damn dark in here too? Would it kill you all to turn up the lights?"

"I like the dimly lit ambiance," Ginjō sighed. "Look, just go put on your glasses or something."

"Eww, no." The red-haired girl's nose scrunched in annoyance. "They cover my whole face, and don't even get me started on eye contacts. They dry up so quick and make my eyes so itchy!"

Ginjō pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. Ichigo returned his attention to him and said, "So who's this?"

"What? Oh, that's Dokugamine Riruka. You can just ignore her for now."

"Huh? Who are you talking to Ginjō? Is there someone over there with you?" Riruka looked in his direction. Ichigo decided the girl must be legally blind if she couldn't see him sitting so clearly across the room, regardles of how dim the light was.

Ginjō grabbed both of their glasses and got up from his seat on the leather sofa and walked over to the bar. "Could you refill Ichigo's and my drink, please?"

"Sure," the bartender nodded.

"Wait, Ichigo? As in Kurosaki Ichigo?" The girl stared at him hard with narrowed eyes. "Is that him, why didn't anyone tell me? Gah! Why is it so damn dark I can see anything! Hey! Come over here for a sec."

"Now, now," Ginjō said as he draped an arm across her shoulders and began steering her away. "Why don't you sit with Jackie while I finish explaining everything to our new friend?"

"Huh? Why? Ginjō, stop!"

However, he continued to ignore her, and Ichigo watched as the man unceremoniously pushed the young woman down to the far end sofa on the other side of the room. Ginjō then went back to the bar, picked up their drinks and came to sit down across from him.

"Now, where were we?" he asked as he swiveled his drink in his glass.

"Soul and swords I believe," Ichigo said as he eyed the large broadsword embedded in the floor. He then took a hard sip of his alcohol and then another puff from his cigarette.

"Right," Ginjō said with a lazy drawl. However, before he could go on, the bartender interrupted.

"If you could kindly put your sword away, Ginjō. And please remember to pay for the repairs for the floor as well."

"Yeah, yeah," Ginjō said with an eyeroll and tapped the large sword, instantly causing it to transfigure back into the pendant around his neck. "Now, like I was saying, to get to the-urk."

Ginjō covered his mouth as he suddenly began coughing. Ichigo raised a single eyebrow, while keeping his face cool. "You alright there?"

"Yeah," Ginjō said as he messaged his throat. "Just something caught in my throat."

"Hmm." Ichigo took another drag from his cigarette and Ginjō took a sip of his drink.

"To get to the point," Ginjō said with a slightly gruffer voice, "every single one of us had parents who were attacked by Hollows."

Ichigo blinked in surprise. All of them? Interesting.

"Small traces of a Hollow's power remained in our mothers' bodies when they were pregnant with us. Naturally, mothers share everything with their children in the womb, so the presence of the Hollows that attacked them was also passed along. "

Ichigo swept his gaze through the room. "So, all of you...?"

"Yup," Ginjō nodded. "We're all born of mothers who were attacked by Hollows, and we all have the presence of Hollows within us. That's where you come in, Ichigo."

"Me?" he asked with confusion.

"You know what it feels like to have a Hollow inside of you. Or at least, you used to." Ginjō nodded towards his chest, where Zangetsu thrummed inside with amusement. But Ichigo inwardly wondered how Ginjō even knew about his Hollow powers. Perhaps Ginjō had some connection to Soul Society, or maybe even Aizen?

"The wrongness, the uncontrollable and unpredictable energy, the random flashes of anger and malice. It's rather troublesome, wouldn't you agree?"

Yes, it was troublesome. But also, damn useful with the proper training and application.

"I won't argue, but I still fail to see what this has to do with me or getting my powers back," Ichigo said frankly.

"I'm getting to that," Ginjō waved him off good naturedly, but from far behind him, the woman named Jackie suddenly began coughing rather loudly. Ichigo peered over Ginjō's shoulder and looked at the far-off sofa.

Riruka was patting the taller woman on the back while muttering out loud. "What you too? Don't tell me the flu's going around or something."

Jackie cleared her throat as she got up and started walking towards the bar. "No, my throat just feels damn dry. It doesn't help it feels hotter and hotter in here by the minute. Giriko, pour me a cold one, would you?"

The bartender immediately started preparing a glass as he said, "I'll call a repair service when Ginjō is done. There may be something wrong with the AC."

"Like I was saying," Ginjō started in a slightly raised and annoyed voice, bringing Ichigo's attention back to him, "we all have bits and pieces of Hollows in us. To be frank, we want to get rid of all that. We want to be normal humans again without the burden of some evil lingering in our souls. And over the years, we've learned something. That someone who is the opposite of us, that is to say, someone who is Shinigami and human, as opposed to Hollow and human, can take our powers."

Ichigo's eyes fell onto the table before him. He put the cigarette in his mouth and reached out to his glass, tracing the rim with a single finger. Blowing out a breath of smoke, he said, "And how did you learn that?"

Ginjō's lips absolutely curved. "Well, let's just say you're not the first human to have Shinigami powers."

Ichigo regarded him silently for a moment. "I see."

"Yeah," Ginjō nodded, but then started coughing again. "Dammit. But yeah, people like us, Fullbringers, some of us gave that person their powers and went back to living normal Human lives."

"So that's what you want?" Ichigo stared into Ginjō's eyes. "You want to get back my powers, so you can surrender yours to me?"

"That's the gist of it." Ginjō said, clearing his throat again.

"So, do you get it now, Ichigo?" Ginjō leaned back into the sofa. "Will you help us get rid of our curse and let us become fully Human again?"

Ichigo thought about it. If they had wanted his help, they could have simply approached him and asked for it. Why all the secrecy and roundabout ways of indirectly getting him here? At the ice cream shop, Ginjō had used words and phrases that Ichigo had recognized as an attempt to make him feel isolated from his family. To make him seem like the outsider. But the thing was, Ichigo was an outsider in his own childhood home. And that was by design. In no way did he want his sisters involved in the constant strife of the Supernatural. Especially now with the recent revelation Khaos Brigade was interested in him.

And there was this place, this secret bar room. And Ichigo allowed his eyes to sweep over the luxurious establishment, noting all the faces as they looked at him, eagerly awaiting his response. But then, why all the need for secrecy? A long and convoluted way of simply getting in touch with Ginjō via a phone call. A secret hideaway protected by a passcodes and an electronic lock.

Were they hiding from something? Or maybe, a someone?

Ichigo locked gazes with Ginjō once more. Yes, there was no lie there. He opened his mouth to respond to Ginjō, but suddenly Tiamat's presence flowed into his mind like a cold river, and he abruptly found himself viewing the world through her senses.

The sensation of a human soul with Hollow taint, just like the other Fullbringers around him. At his home, mere meters away from Yuzu. The sudden flood of lightning and the subsequent smell of charred ash as a corpse collapsed.

And as swiftly as the memory came, it left him as well, though his Dragon King's presence remained firmly anchored in the back of his mind. Yet, at the same time, all the occupants in the bar simultaneously grabbed their heads as if in unison pain.

Ginjō let out a small groan from beside him, but then his eyes flew wide open, and he stared in open shock at the others.

Jackie looked over from the bar and let out a single whisper as she looked at Ginjō. "Tuskishima..."

And it was then, that the odd bending of light in all their souls righted itself. And the occlusion that he couldn't make sense of vanished over their souls.

Ah, there it is.

His Devil eyes danced in delight. The confusion, the fear, the anxiety and the greed and desire for power.

"How curious," and all the Fullbringers' gazes slowly fell in his direction as he stood up. "How very curious. Most humans can't hide from my eyes."

Ichigo looked at Ginjō, and it was as plain as day now. The contempt and anger within the man, a strong sense of betrayal and the burning desire for more power in the pursuit of revenge.

"Well, well, well," Ichigo said in amusement as his demonic power rolled off of him. "You're nowhere near the altruistic 'let me be human' again bullshit you painted yourself as, are you Ginjō?"

Ginjō backed away from him swiftly and turned his necklace into a sword again, pointing the great blade at him. "You bastard, you never lost your powers, did you?"

Ichigo felt several waves of spiritual energy as the Fullbringers all activated their powers and took battle ready stances. He shrugged. "I did, and then I got new ones."

Ginjō gritted his teeth. "You son of a bitch, you feel like a damn Hollow. No, it's worse. You feel like a fucking Menos. What did you do to your soul?"

"Now that's a long story, and I'm not really in the mood to share. Still, thanks for all the information. The whole Fullbringer thing has been enlightening. I'll be sure to keep an eye out in the future for more of you."

Ginjō moved to say something but suddenly his whole body spasmed as he was wrecked with a series of violent coughs and fell to one knee.

Ichigo frowned. "Oh yeah, the coughing and it being uncomfortably hot in the room is my fault. I've been pumping Devil magic into the air since I basically got here. Demonic miasma: colorless, odorless and generally can't be felt unless it starts to swirl thick, in which case it takes on the properties of the magic of the Devil it comes from. Of course, when it does become dense enough, it becomes very obvious, even to the mortal eye. But in my case, that level of demonic density would outright incinerate you."

One by one, each of the Fullbringers fell to their hands and knees and began coughing severely, some even hacking up globs of blood onto the floor.

"Each and every breath has been drenched with my miasma," Ichigo said coldly as he began taking steps towards Ginjō. "Filling your lungs, your blood and even touching your Hollow tainted souls with my magic."

As he approached the heaving Ginjō, Ichigo kicked the broadsword away, sending it flying until it buried itself into a far away wall.

Ginjō glared up at him, eyes filled with venom. "You sonnava-hurk!"

Ichigo stomped on the man's head, pressing firmly against the cold floor. "You know, had you just come to me directly, I'd have been satisfied with just kicking your collective asses and then letting you go. But no. You bring up my dad. You talk about my family. And worse, some random guy with the same Hollow taint as the rest of you shits shows up at my house where my little sister is. And as soon as he dies, the rest of you aren't so nice and accommodating as before. I suppose he's the Tsuki-whatever-guy Jackie mentioned. Your name is Jackie, right?"

The woman was sprawled on the floor gasping for air and writing in pain as his magic ripped through her. As she was unable to respond to his question, Ichigo merely shrugged.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill...," Ginjō's word slurred until he finally passed out, his lungs no longer able to hande the poisonous air tainted with Devil magic.

"Yeah, good luck with asshole," Ichigo said as he brough his foot up, filled it with demonic power and sent it stomping back down onto Ginjō's head, shattering his skull and sending blood, bone and brains all over Ichigo's shoe.

Ichigo didn't even blink as he moved onto where the short blond haired young man had fallen onto the floor from where he had been sitting on the table. His Gatsby hat lying several paces away, having rolled off of his head. Ichigo gave a flick of his wrist and summoned Zangetsu. He stabbed the tip of the sword down into the back of the downed young's man's neck, severing the spinal cord and instantly killing him.

As he walked past the bar, Ichigo gave a lazy flick of Zangestu without even looking, and the one-eyed bartender's head went flying from his shoulders. Finally, he came to stand before the two women. Jackie was silently convulsing on the floor; her eyes having rolled into the back of her head. Ichigo made a twisting motion with his free hand and telekinetically snapped her neck.

As his eyes fell on Riruka, he noted she was shivering and coughing, but since she had come into the meeting later, she wasn't as exposed to his demonic miasma as much as the others had been. Thus, she had managed to retain consciousness.

Her gaze was filled with fear and quivered with terror; tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and threatened to spill over. Though from fear or the pain of his magic tearing its way through her small body, he wasn't sure.

"Please,' she begged through a hoarse cough. "Please...I'm sorry...I didn't..."

Ichigo didn't let her finish and said solemnly, "Yeah, I'm sorry too."

And Zangetsu burned its way through her heart.

As he looked through the barroom flooded and tainted with his vile magic, Ichigo silently took out his phone and hit the last number he called. He didn't even say a greeting and began speaking as soon as he heard the other side answer.

"Send in the cleanup team," he said grimly. "And have Nihil continue to be on standby."

Ichigo then noted his shoe and the lower leg of one side of his jeans covered in gore. "Also, bring a new pair of sneakers and a pair of jeans."

About forty minutes later Ichigo was standing outside of the Xcution apartment that had been thoroughly cleansed of corpses and demonic power by Devil servants from his territory in Infernity. As he felt the paling fall and each of the Devils return back to the Underworld, he turned around and was ready to head home and end this long and very cumbersome Sunday.

And as if the universe conspired to not allow him to do just that, his phone blared loud with his ringtone.

"Fuck me sideways," Ichigo muttered as he took it out. The screen read Unknown Number, but just on a hunch, Ichigo answered it anyways.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun! How wonderful it is to hear your voice again! It's been so long."

Ichigo let out a long-suffering groan and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh no, not you."

"Why Kurosaki-kun!" The voice on the other end of the call said in what could only be described as overly exaggerated emotion. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you're upset to hear from me! But that can't be true! Not after everything we've been through together!"

Ichigo let out another sigh. "What do you want, Hats-n-Clogs?"

Urahara's annoying laugh rang clear in Ichigo's ear. "Nothing at all! Just a friendly invitation to have dinner at my humble shop! We haven't seen each other in so long! I'm sure there's so much we have to talk about! So much to catch up on!"

"No."

"Eh?"

"I said no. Look, it's been a long day for me." A wanted criminal Neko representing a worldwide supernatural terrorist organization inviting him to said organization and soliciting him to father her children. Dealing with Tiamat's jealousy. Then his sisters and their sudden newfound interest in his sex life. Dealing with Tiamat's obsession with chocolate. Some random asshole trying to drive a wedge between him and his family. The same random asshole and his little cult of friends who had Hollow-stained souls. Killing them all, and then cleaning up the killings. By far this has been the worst Sunday of any vacation he'd been on. He didn't need Urahara's madness on top of it all.

"I appreciate the offer, but I just want to go home and crash on my bed."

"Kurosaki-kun," and Lucifer help him, but he could practically hear the pout on Urahara's lips, "you are breaking my heart! Would you deny an old man the chance to speak to his favorite student?"

"Bite me," Ichigo said dryly. "But look, how about I drop by tomorrow for lunch, if that's alright with you?"

Ichigo heard a sharp snap, and he immediately recognized that the eccentric shop owner must have been holding his signature paper fan. "Most wonderful! I will set up a feast for the ages! You will never want to leave again, Kurosaki-kun!"

"Somehow I doubt it," he responded wryly. "See you tomorrow Hats-n-Clogs."

Ichigo promptly hung up and ran a tired hand through his hair, before letting out a slow breath of exasperation.

"Worst. Vacation. Ever."

And he faded away through the folds of space.

Author's Note: discord .gg/JV97AUmAr7

Sorry! This was supposed to have been published last night! But after uploading it and formatting it, I forgot to hit publish and closed my browser for the evening!