A/N: Sorry I haven't updated yesterday (reason being my internet was down), so to make up for that, I extended this chapter a bit! Enjoy!

Muguruma Kensei

That punk over there with the orange hair? His name's Kurosaki Ichigo.

The first time I met him, he sauntered into our hideout, boldly proclaiming that he'd fucking use us to get what he wanted. Immediately, negative feelings stirred inside of me, and I gritted my teeth to stop myself from steering in. Let Hirako handle the talking, I thought to myself, and relax. And if you snap, chances are, Hiyori's already gotten to him before you have. I glanced at the blonde girl, chewing her lip in anticipation, squatting on the ledge across from me. Rose gave me a look of warning, and Love raised an eyebrow; I waved them off, silently indicating that I had it under control.

But that kid was just a punk. His eyes filled with arrogant resolve, he boasted, "I won't join up with you, but I'm sure that you guys can teach me how to subdue the Hollow inside me."

Shinji frowned down at him and shifted his feet. "Well listen to ya, talkin' so big like that. And who the hell d'ya think's gonna teach ya?"

The kid was quiet for a sec. Then he spoke again with that same arrogance, smirking down at the ground, "Then I'll just rip it out of you—" His eyes snapped up to meet Shinji's and he grinned. "—by force!"

"Psht, don't make me laugh," Hirako muttered.

The kid rummaged through the back pocket of his pants, yanked out a strange badge-like device, rammed it against his chest, and instantly, his spirit form burst out, garbed in one of those despicable Shinigami shikahusho. And just like that, the bastard flew at Shinji, every inch of his face reeking with that confidence. Shinji only blinked, unfazed, and with a smooth tap of his foot, flipped his Zanpakuto laying at ease on the floor spinning up into his grip. "Yep, yer a crazy one, alright," he remarked, unsheathing his blade to block the punk's attack.

It turned out he was worse at controlling his reiatsu than Shinji had initially predicted—way worse. Once he managed to rein in his Inner Hollow, his training went along at a slow, if not lethargic pace. One month of duration training: eleven seconds of mask time. But despite how suckish he was, the kid insisted on going, making Hiyori lug her frustrated self up and spar him once again.

"Ya suck ass!" she'd complained numerous times to his face. "Just give up already!"

"I can't!" he'd shot back equally as many times to her deriding sneer. "I need to get stronger!"

Stronger for what? What the hell could he have been aiming for? I narrowed my eyes, watching him and Hiyori whisk on their masks and leap at one another once more, Zanpakuto raised and ready. My guess was that his strive came from his own enormous ego and that he wanted to attain the skill of restraining his Hollow for his own entertainment. So be it. If he wanted to put himself at such a risk for his own damned entertainment, I wouldn't give a shit. The punk left us, still inexperienced and fresh, but Shinji intentionally let him go.

"Oi, Hirako! What the hell are you thinking?" I demanded as the kid sprinted up the stairs, towards the approaching Arrancar. "You just letting him get himself killed?" Maybe I did have a little consideration for him as time went on—only for the fact that I would be saving a life. Shinji didn't answer. His eyes stared blankly into the space. "Shinji!"

"Ichigo…he grows as he goes," he finally said, shoving his hands in his pockets, as if it were no big deal.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The kid was either seriously stupid and just steeped in his own overconfidence. There was no way that eleven-second run could do anything significant in a fight. Especially against a fucking Arrancar!

But man, was I wrong. The punk finished his business in Hueco Mundo and rejoined us for the fight against Aizen, but when he shattered out of the Garganta, whipping on his mask, I stiffened in surprise. Something about his reiatsu felt…different. It was powerful—tons more powerful. Did something happen in Hueco Mundo? Did that something make him stronger?

I managed to catch a glimpse of him during my own fight alongside Mashiro. In those eyes that kindled that irritating arrogance a while back, I saw something new. They burned with something painstakingly similar to arrogance, but it was very well different: pure resolution to protect. I saw him look over the town, his hometown that Aizen sought to destroy for his own selfish purposes, and I watched his expression. That's when I realized what made Kurosaki the man he was; that's when I realized that all this time, that arrogance that always pissed me off in the past were merely the roots of the resolve that blazed his power. His soggy, shallow ego turned into something raw and solid. Something indestructible. He managed to defeat Aizen—a Pyrrhic victory at the price of his own power.

I'm a captain once more, and I'm hanging out in my old office, breathing in the familiar scents of washed wood floors and crisp paperwork in satisfaction. Shinji's also been enjoying his time back on the job, seemingly getting along well with his lieutenant. He often accompanies her on evening strolls through town, and the two seriously prattle off a damned storm. Rose, on the other hand, is a still bit apprehensive of the sudden change, although he pathetically tries not to show it. But with that distance between him and Kira? I'm not going any further into this. As my lieutenant, Hisagi, brings me evening report, brimming with pages and pages of describing rampant Hollow activity, I can't help but think about Kurosaki and his period of walking around in Karakura Town before we restored his power, completely unable to return to the work he loved: protecting those around him. It's a sickening fact, having your one and only resolve stripped away from you.

"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away," as the great human general MacArthur said. So true are those words. An old soldier may fade, as Kurosaki did for a while, but that doesn't necessarily mean that his tour of duty is over. Yet.

A/N: How'd you all like it? Feel free to leave some feedback in that comment box below! Positive, negative, give me your insight! Thanks for reading!