A Black Heart

Okay regarding Ichigo not finishing Kira off. I think that we can all agree that the Ichigo in this story is arrogant, vindictive and a bit of a sadist. Now part of my description is a bit lacking, as it should be his 'charred, black flesh'.

Also considering that Isane sent an urgent missive to Unohana for help, we can assume that he was so badly injured, that no one but someone of Unohana's calibre would be able to save him.

All these factors combined, is the reason why Ichigo did not finish off Kira himself there and then.

I hope you enjoy today's chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto Attacks/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto speech/Inner Power"

"Hollow speech"

XXX

Chapter 20:

"Ya certainly have seen better days Izuru-kun," Gin said with a smile as he stared down at the bandage wrapped body of his Lieutenant. The only part of him that they seemed to have left exposed was his eyes and mouth and even they were still partially covered. Seeing Kira's eye lids flutter slightly, his grin faded away. Seeing his mouth working, he leant down to try and hear him a little better.

"The…boy…with…Rukia…" he croaked out, his breathing heavy as he tried to continue to speak. "He…he…"

"C-Captain Ichimaru, you're not supposed to be here," a frantic cry came from behind the Third Division Captain, causing him to frown at the interruption. They certainly were getting brave if they were willing to tell him to leave. "Captain U-Unohana gave us strict instructions that Lieutenant Kira was to have no visitors for at least 48 hours," the healer said as she shuffled into the room as Kira tried to speak again. "And you need to rest Lieutenant Kira. It's still a miracle that you managed to live through your injuries."

As he was about to snap at the healer, Gin was silenced by the arrival of a serene voice.

"I did give strict instructions for no one to disturb the Lieutenant from his rest Captain Ichimaru. Even as his Captain, you are not excluded from those instructions," Unohana explained as she swept into the room. Seeing that Kira was about to exert himself even further, she held a glowing green palm over his head and sent him into a kido-induced coma. "His recovery will already be long and painful Captain. There is no need for you to hinder it."

"My apologies Captain Unohana, but I wanted ta assure myself that he was still alive," Gin replied with a smile. "An' It was Izuru tha' tried to give me information on his attacker."

"Be that as it may, I cannot allow you, or anyone else to continue to interrogate him while his body is still so weak."

"Ah well this is your domain, so I guess I better get goin' then," he said with a chuckle as he walked towards the door, with Unohana watching his every step.

XXX

The moon had reached its zenith when Ichigo finally found himself near the centre of the Seireitei, the majority of his day having been spent dodging squad after squad of soul reapers hurrying towards the Third Division's grounds. Now as he stared up at the stark white tower of the Penitence Shrine, he sighed and scanned the rooftops high above him. They were far too high for him to climb without some sort of aid and the pathways on the ground were long and narrow, providing almost nowhere for him to hide if necessary. Leaping down from the roof, he began to walk forward with purpose, hoping that he didn't run into anyone on the way.

He was barely a fifty metres in when a stern feminine voice cried out, "Halt!" causing him to freeze in his steps, eyes wide. Considering how little moonlight there was due to clouds above them, he could only make out that she was a relatively short woman. As the clouds shifted though, he felt his breath hitch in his throat at the white haori she wore and her almost undetectable presence.

'Great…just what I need now,' he thought, clasping his hands behind his back in a ready stance, while gingerly loosening his blade from its sheath.

"I was wondering what a member of Executive Militia was doing entering the Inner Sanctum of the Seireitei, since it is common knowledge that they either travel in the presence of the Commander of the Execution Unit, or in packs on patrol," she said as she walked towards him slowly, her arms crossed in front of her. "So tell me…what news do you have that is so dire that you decided to come yourself?"

"Captain…I…I could not risk this information running into the wrong hands," he rattled off, his mind rapidly trying to construct his lie.

"Well, let's hear it then. I'm curious as to what could be so important that you would abandon protocol," she stated, causing Ichigo to dry-swallow.

"I believe that one of the ryoka has disguised themselves as one of us Captain and is currently using the confusion within the Seireitei to move about with impunity."

"Oh? That's certainly an interesting theory you have there. Since you've come up with such a theory, how do you think we should go about capturing someone disguised as one of us then?"

"I…wouldn't know Captain. That is for you and the other Captains to decide."

"For me and the other Captains to decide…" she whispered softly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared up at him. "And what if I said that I believe you to be the ryoka?" she asked, simultaneously drawing her blade and pressing it against his neck within the blink of an eye.

"What makes you think that Captain?" he asked, feeling a single drop of sweat flow down his forehead.

"Anyone can simply wear the uniform of the Onmitsukido, but only a fake would not be able to recognise their Commander when they crossed paths," she explained, causing him to lean back as her blade cut into his mask slightly, before drawing his own blade to block her next attack.

"Geez, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you were the one to discover me," he muttered, struggling against her in a blade lock. "So, what is your name Captain?"

"Second Division Captain, Sui-Feng. You're an idiot for not figuring that our before trying to impersonate one of my men," she replied, aiming a kick at his head and missing by the barest of margins. "It's strangely comforting that you do have some skill to back up your disguise," she commented as she placed her foot back on the ground. "Our orders stand at capturing the ryoka found within the Seireitei and then interrogating them as to their purpose. You though…I want to know how you got in here and who trained you."

"That's not a lot of questions, but I guess it's just the…" he started to say; only to flinch as she disappeared from view, before appearing behind him with nary a sound. Reacting as his instincts screamed at him to do, he brought his blade up to the back of his neck, parrying her attempt at decapitating him. "What happened to capturing me alive?!" he shouted, lashing out with a kick to her gut.

"I was merely testing your reactions. For someone at my level I could have easily stopped my attack," she calmly replied, as she leapt over his outstretched foot and forced it back to the ground with her own. Swiping her blade at him again, she managed to nick the edge of his mask again, this time tearing it enough to allow his orange lochs to peek out at her. "They certainly are exemplary though, it's no wonder you've made short work of Lieutenant Kira and those idiots from the Eleventh Division."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he grunted, as he forced her back, before blocking her follow up stab to his gut. Reaching past their blade-lock, he tried to grab her neck in a stranglehold, only to wince as she caught his hand and twisted. "Hado no. 32 Okasen!" he chanted, firing a quick kido off from his blade, forcing her to release him and leap backwards to avoid the blast.

Charging at her as she fell, he thrust his blade out towards her abdomen, missing her by an inch as she spun away from him, before catching his face with her heel.

Leaping away from each other to recover, Sui-Feng stood calmly while Ichigo panted slightly and shook his head to try and clear his disorientation.

"How much longer do you think you'll last? You've barely managed to avoid my attacks up to now and with how fatigued you seem to be, sooner or later you will succumb to them."

"How much longer can I last? Last time a woman asked me that…she was just as breathless as I was," he shot back, a smirk on his face.

"Why would she…oh," she murmured in reply a tinge of pink on cheeks as she understood his interpretation. "I thought that you'd be more akin to a member of my Division, but you seem to take after the Eighth Division Captain more."

"Heh, I'm guessing that's not a compliment to either of us, but I'll take it anyway," he replied, his grin growing larger. "So tell me Captain…when's the last time you were left satisfied either by yourself or with a little help."

"That's none of your concern!" she snapped, charging towards him. As their blades collided in a shower of sparks, she forced both of their blades down towards the ground and swung her heel down on his skull, only to come into contact with his wrist. Grimacing at the force behind the blow, he couldn't help but snicker softly.

"What's the matter Sui-Feng? Is your sex life a taboo subject? You're the one who brought up the subject in the first place."

"You just don't know when to shut up do you?" she retorted, using him as a springboard as she propelled herself into the air, before falling back down towards him. Aided with her momentum, Ichigo was unable to stop her blow, wincing as she cut through both cloth and skin to finally draw blood from just above his forehead.

"Tch, you ruined my mask," he grumbled, pulling at the hindrance and revealing his face to her. Seeing her stunned expression, he couldn't resist teasing her a bit more. "What? Is my handsome face too much of a distraction for you?"

"You're the kid from Ichimaru's report, but how is that possible. He killed you," she muttered, ignoring his continued quips and drawing a laugh from him.

"Dead? Oh I can assure you that I am pretty much alive Captain. Though having my zanpakuto shoved through my heart would hurt."

"This is impossible. You shouldn't have any powers to begin with! They were the result of Rukia Kuchiki giving them to you. There should be no way for you to use kido or even have a zanpakuto!"

"Is that so Captain? Well I guess it's time I start going all out, since it seems like I won't be able to beat you without using everything I have," he said with a laugh, releasing the clamp he had on his power and allowing it to flood his being.

Disappearing with a soft buzz, he reappeared behind Sui-Feng, slamming his blade down into the ground where she had been and causing it to crumble slightly under the force of the blow. Noticing her reappear behind him, he chuckled and redirected his blade to block hers. As they struggled against one another, he brought his palm up towards her and chanted, "Hado no. 33, Sokatsui!" causing her to be enveloped by a pale blue fireball. "Man you're fast. No one else has been able to dodge that," he said out loud, looking in the opposite direction of his spell.

Sui-Feng stood there panting slightly, the right shoulder of her uniform burnt away to reveal her skin. She had a glare on her face as she stared at him, her mind racing through what she had just witnessed. 'His presence vanished for a moment there, allowing him to slip past my defences if only for a split second. But how did he do it?' she pondered as he disappeared again. Looking around for him, she ducked as a soft buzz sounded to her left, before his blade brushed through her hair, clipping a few hairs. Lashing out at him, she growled as he disappeared again. "It's not flash-step. It's almost entirely silent and still allows someone to track you if their senses are fast enough. What he's doing now, I've never seen it's like before.'

"What's the matter Captain? You're not afraid are you? It would spoil this fight if you're scared from just this little bit of my power," he said with a laugh, appearing a few metres away from her.

"Don't get cocky ryoka. You're assuming that this is the limit of my abilities…how foolish. Sting All Enemies To Death…Suzumebachi!" she commanded, causing her blade to shine brightly and flow down towards her wrist. When the light died away, a black and gold gauntlet was left behind, covering her wrist and arm while her middle finger was now encased in a black and gold stinger.

"That certainly looked pretty, but it is awfully small. Tell me, going by its name, I'm assuming that simply getting hit by you will be an unpleasant affair?" he asked, looking her shikai up and down.

"I don't see why I should tell you anything," she snapped back, drawing her arm behind her back.

"I guess it would be unfair to expect you to tell me everything it does. Since you've gone the effort of showing me yours, do you want to see mine?" he asked with a wink, getting a frustrated sigh from her.

"If your shikai is as good as your attempts at using innuendo, then I'm sure to be disappointed."

"Ouch that's so hurtful Captain. Trust me I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Ignite, Zangetsu!" he whispered, causing his blade to be engulfed by familiar white flames.

'It's similar to the Captain Commander's shikai…but nowhere near the power of it.' "I'm still not impressed ryoka," she told him, drawing a chuckle from him.

"Don't worry, you will be," he muttered as she charged at him. Having a sneaky suspicion that getting hit even once by her would be fatal to him, he focussed his attention on following her movements, dodging the stinger when he could and deflecting it away at every other chance. Not one to think of his fights as anything artistic, he couldn't help but appreciate Sui-Feng's grace and agility. Of course his appreciation did not go unnoticed by his zanpakuto.

"Would you stop undressing her with your eyes and just fucking kill her already?" she snapped, causing him to smirk.

"What's so funny?" she asked, their weapons struggling against one another.

"Nothing, just that my zanpakuto doesn't like me admiring your body," he answered her with a smirk. "It's a shame though. With how flexible you are, I can just see how much fun you'd be in bed."

Gritting her teeth in anger, Sui-Feng was caught off-guard momentarily as he disappeared again, aiming a slash at her waist. Deflecting it with the gauntlet on her wrist, she winced as the flames along his blade licked at her skin.

'He disappeared again…' she cursed, as they continued to exchange blows with one another. 'I'm the fastest shunpo user we have and yet I can't even see the steps he's using. It's almost as if he simply thinks about where he wants to be and appears there.' Feeling him grab her wrist with the gauntlet, she paled as he pulled her towards him, his blade aiming straight for her heart.

As his zanpakuto buried into her chest, Ichigo couldn't help the savage grin on his face at the look of pain on her face. Before he could relish it anymore though, he was stunned as her body seemingly vanished before his very eyes, leaving only the white haori behind to burn to ash.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to beat me?" she whispered in his ear, sending a shiver of fear down his spine, before crying out as he felt the stinger bury into his side. Tearing himself off of it, he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye, aiming for the very same spot she had already struck. Raising his free hand up to push her away, he gritted his teeth in pain as she impaled her stinger straight through his hand.

Trying to take advantage of the brief moment to mark her in some way, he choked as he felt her foot strike him in his injured side, sending him flying back into a wall and causing it to crumble down on top of him.

'How…how did she get so strong all of a sudden? Was she just playing with me?' he cursed inwardly, hefting a heavy piece of rubble off of his body. Struggling to sit up, he gasped and fell backwards, his torso feeling like it had been set aflame.

"I think she actually broke a few of your ribs with that kick," his zanpakuto chirped, her tone gleeful. "So, would you still want to fuck her now?"

'Shut up!' he growled, pushing through the pain to stand shakily on his feet. 'You can berate me all you want later, but only after we kill this bitch.'

"I look forward to it. By the way, you may want to look at where she stabbed you. It looks quite interesting."

Frowning, Ichigo glanced down at his injured hand and was surprised to find a butterfly shaped imprint on it. Glancing at the stab wound in his side, he found an identical mark there too. "What the hell did you do to me?" he growled, his eyes meeting Sui-Feng's as she strolled towards him.

"This is a battle Ichigo Kurosaki and I am aiming to capture…or kill you. Knowing that, why should I tell you what those markings are?"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, he tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around his hand. "You called your zanpakuto Suzumebachi. I'm guessing that since I'm still alive, you need to stab me twice in the same place with it?" he asked, getting no answer from the Second Division Captain. "That's what these marks are for aren't they, to give you something to aim at?"

"Like I said before, why should I answer you?"

"To humour a guy who's about to die?" he muttered with a chuckle, feeling his eyes grow heavy. Seeing no reaction from her, he muttered, "Guess not" and readied his blade in front of him.

XXX

Growling in anger as she watched Ichigo get his ass handed to him, Zangetsu paced to and fro in agitation, occasionally crushing a limb from one of the hapless souls that occupied his inner world as they reached out to grab her.

"He appears to be losing," a gruff voice spoke, causing her to stare over her shoulder at the old man as he formed from the fragments of her shihakusho. "If I had been the dominant one, we would never have been in this situation."

"Shut up!" she yelled, grabbing him by his collar and dragging him down so that they were eye-level. "Under your guidance he might've turned out a weak, snivelling boy that feared his own power, but thanks to me…thanks to me he's been able to get this far on his own. He didn't even need me to beat that Lieutenant!"

"True and yet all I can feel from you is anger and jealously that he did it on his own…wasn't that your plan in the first place? To make him stand on his own?" the older looking spirit queried.

"Yes, but not like this! I was supposed to be at his side the entire time. Even if he doesn't need me, I should still be the one to cleave through his enemies, to be bathed in the blood of any that would stand in his way! But now…"

"Now you're powerless to help him," he finished off for her, drawing a scathing hiss from her.

"We are not powerless!" she screamed, slamming her fist into his cheek and sending him crashing into one of the prisons and causing it to crumble down on top of him. "I've been holding back his power, but that is only because I know that he would attract them all to us, like moths to a flame. And despite all the power we have, even we cannot endure the storm that would follow."

"So what will you do now then?" he asked warily as she walked towards him, before picking him up by his collar. Staring into her eyes, he could see that they were now filled with the desire to kill and maim.

"If we die…my caution will have been for nothing. So now we're finally going to put you to some good use 'horse'," she whispered, her tone filled with glee, as both their energies flared, causing a dull rumble to echo through Ichigo's inner world.

XXX

"I'm starting…to doubt…that you want me alive," Ichigo panted, as he leaned back against one of the high, white walls that surrounded him. Feeling a pair of hands grab his collar, he felt his body lifted up and slammed against the wall.

"If I left you like this…there is a chance you could die," Sui-Feng commented. "But I need you alive, so count yourself lucky that the beating's almost over."

"It's not over…as long as…I'm still holding my zanpakuto…bitch," he coughed out, spitting a mouthful of blood into her face. Chuckling at her scandalised look, he coughed violently as she kneed him in his gut, before kicking him across his temple. Rolling across the floor, he watched through a single eye as she brushed the blood away with the back of her hand, before stalking towards him. As she crossed the halfway point, Ichigo felt a peculiar feeling as time slowly ground to a halt and his zanpakuto spirit emerged from the ether walking towards him.

As she stopped at his head, he couldn't help but laugh. "Well…go on then. You're not going to get another chance to gloat any time soon."

"I'm not here to gloat…I'm here to offer you another chance," she explained, kneeling down to gently lay his head in her lap.

"What do you mean?" he asked, relaxing into the feeling of her smooth fingers combing through his hair.

"That's not important right now. What is important is that you understand that once I give you this chance, any thought we have of staying under the radar will disappear. They'll hunt us every step of the way and trying to rescue the Snow Queen will just get harder."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but things can't get much worse right now. If you can do something …do it already!"

"Well if that's what you want," she whispered, before leaning down and claiming his lips. Startled at her action, Ichigo could only stare wide eyed as he felt her tongue licking away at the blood inside his mouth. Once she pulled away, she acquired a Cheshire like grin on her face. "When she's vulnerable, call me. I want to show her the price for harming my King."

Before he could confront her on what she'd done, she disappeared into thin air and time seemed to resume. Not feeling any different, he groaned as he was hefted up easily by Sui-Feng.

"You really need to learn to respect your betters ryoka boy," she murmured, choking him slightly in her grip. "Now all that's needed is to drag you back to my barracks for processing."

Wincing as she dropped him to the ground and began to drag him away, he felt a sudden rush of energy flow through his veins, causing him to moan as his muscles protested from the sudden burst. Tightening his grip on his blade, he stabbed it into the ground, bringing them both to a grinding halt.

"You're still trying to resist?" Sui-Feng asked with a sigh. "Do yourself a favour and save your strength. You'll need it." As she moved to dislodge his blade from the ground, she gasped as she felt his fist connect with her chest, her ribs cracking under the force.

"I've never been one to just roll over and die," he ground out, before smashing her face into his knee and causing her to stumble backwards onto her back. As she rolled over onto her hands and knees, he charged forward and slammed his foot into her stomach, sending her flying through one of the nearby buildings. "Get out here Captain! I'm not done with you yet!"

Gritting her teeth as her body cried out in protest from the act of sitting up, Sui-Feng glared at the substitute from the hole she'd made in the wall. "You would've lived a little longer if you'd just come quietly…but now…now I'm just going to kill you and leave you to be dissected by Mayuri!" she screamed at him.

Settling into a ready stance as she gingerly got to her feet, Ichigo watched as her reiatsu seemed to swirl around her, before exploding, for lack of a better word, from her and in its place leaving behind a whirling maelstrom with her at its centre.

"I developed this technique to defeat a person I loathe, but now…now I'm going to use you to perfect it, so that when the day comes…she'll be kneeling at my feet!" she screamed, before charging at full speed at him. As her golden stinger met his flaming blade, a colossal firestorm swept over the area, devastating everything in its path.

XXX

Far above the two, Gin and Aizen stood side by side, watching the melee with amusement.

XXX

Well now, I know a lot of you kept asking for an Ichigo vs Kenpachi battle, but to be honest, Ichigo vs Sui-Feng has been my plan since this story began. Expect an epic (at least in my mind) conclusion in the next chapter.

A note on Ichigo's speed. I've been toying with the idea of having him using Sonido, instead of Shunpo for a few reasons.

1 – When compared among all three speed techniques, the speed is always described as being the same, while the application of it is different. E.g. Shunpo, the person moves from point A to B using the fewest number of steps, either silently or with a swish. Hirenkyaku is using the reishi under one's feet, to propel oneself in a direction. And Sonido, it is described as being an instinctual movement, associated with a boom or buzz. Therefore one could potentially learn a form of another race's technique, using the principals which it is based on.

2 – His hollow has greater influence on him in this story, so I wanted to use techniques that might seem hollow-like in nature.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Can other races learn different techniques given the correct stimulus? Kisuke and Mayuri can open Garganta, a decidedly hollow technique, with some aid. The Visoreds could shoot Ceros with their masks on, albeit the limitations of this are not known. I'm still thinking of what I want to give hollows to counteract this.