A/N: Alright so the reason for this chapter being later than normal is because of the increase in length and Mother's Day. This will be the last week I am accepting submissions for Tatsuki's zanpaktou. While I do have one already made for her, I figured I'd give you a chance to interact with the story a bit. Also, thank you guys for being patient while I get used to this.
Review responses:
Plums: Assume that everyone that has died has the potential to come back from this ability. I will not say who has or has not been sent to hell.
Clw123cat: He will have a form of his hollow powers. As for his quincy powers, I haven't made a definite decision. I made his bankai provide the bonuses of having a compressed bankai in exchange not having a single long ranged attack in bankai.
Hallibel: First off, love the name lol, second, I have already said that I will be increasing the length of each chapter until I find a combination between content and length that I'm comfortable with.
I don't own Bleach
1 day in the Living World = 7 in Soul Society
L.W-Living World
S.S-Soul Society
H.M-Hueco Mundo
"speak"
'Thoughts'
"Zanpoktou"
"Hollows"
Chapter 4
"Come one Ichi! If you don't move faster you're gonna die!"
"You expect me to beat him without a shikai when I barely beat him with bankai AND my mask?!" Ichigo yells back to Shirudo as he dodges a laughing Grimmjow.
"What's the matter Kurosaki, afraid of losing?" Grimmjow asks as he drops to sweep Ichigo's legs out from under him.
As Ichigo sees him drop to the ground he quickly makes a small jump backwards only to feel a armored hand on his shoulder. Shirudo clamps down on his shoulder to prevent him from escaping as she moves to punch him between the shoulder blades. The result was a flying 'transcendent' being directly before he smashed into one of the columns in the room.
Hama looks on at the fight with deep interest. Suppressing his thoughts so Ichigo doesn't hear them, he thinks to himself. 'Even if they aren't using Resurrection, they are trying to actually kill him, and yet he's doing considerably well. He's only been hit a couple times. We'll keep this up till he either can't continue or it actually happens…..'
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Sitting in his chair overlooking S.S, the Head-Captain enjoys a hot cup of tea while he awaits the arrival of Captain Shoalin Fon. Soon his Lieutenant opens the only door leading to the viewing area announcing the arrival of the awaited Captain.
Bowing before her superior as she approached, the assassin began her report. "Sir, regarding the first matter you asked me to look into, I could find no evidence suggesting the device is still around. I do believe it to have turned to Reishi along with the remains of Aizen."
"Very well, however, I want someone to keep an eye on Captain Kenpachi to make sure he didn't absorb it. Now, what of the second matter I sent you to investigate?" Yamamoto replied.
"It is as you suspected. She was exposed to too much raitsu during that last fight. If she is continuously exposed to more, I estimate she will be a shinigami within two week by human time."
That last bit has the aged shinigami stroking his white beard while contemplating on how best to go about this. "Leave her to Captain Kurosaki to train. I want you to make sure that she is assigned to his squad once her transformation is complete. That is all Captain, you may go."
Once the Captain of Squad Two departed, the Head-Captain let his real age show as he rubbed his forehead to ease the headache he knows will come.
'I'm getting too old for this job.'
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After being dismissed from giving her report, Shoalin made her way back to her room in the barracks. Once she arrived she released three quick flashes of her raitsu to summon her competent third seat instead of her lazy excuse of a Lieutenant.
Once she arrived, Captain Fon relayed her orders to follow the new Squad eleven Captain. She found a small amount of personal satisfaction at the fact that the 'ryoka' was once again her target.
'Nothing personal Kurosaki-san.' Shoalin thought to herself with a smile.
"Who are you trying to fool? Ever since we learned that she had sided with him, it's been nothing but personal. The ONLY reason you agreed that he should become a Captain was so that you could stalk him constantly under the guise of security."
'I'm just waiting for him to slip up so I can nail him.'
"Oh my…all this time I've been thinking you wanted to kill him. Shoalin, how come you never told me you wanted him?"
Shoalin was confused as to what her zanpaktou was talking about. She'd always wanted to kill him, whether it was for professional or personal reasons, it didn't matter.
'I don't understand….'
"You are so helpless."
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By this point in the fight Grimmjow and Ulquiorra both had been pulled back into hell but not before giving Ichigo some good cuts. Shirudo was still in her armor swinging her blades with near-lethal precision at her wielder. Ichigo himself had seen better days; he had a deep cut on his right arm, a shallow one to his chest and a black eye.
'Dammit….I need to end this quick, I can't hold out much more.'
Both Shirudo and Hama could tell he was acting more and more on instinct rather than actually thinking about what he was doing. They could even see black wisps fade in and out from eyes. He was close to reaffirming his hold on the hollow powers that were in him still.
Seeing that the fight was nearly over either way, Shirudo went on an unrelenting assault of punches, kicks and slashes. With each strike she started to get faster and faster until Ichigo could barely keep up. She knew she was going way too fast for him….all it was gonna take was one good hit now.
Several strikes later she saw the perfect opening and took it. She launched every bit of energy she had left into a punch that connected with the strawberry's gut, making him spit out blood and fly back into a wall.
He was quickly surrounded by dust and Shirudo got into a stance to dodge just in case her attack had the desired effect. Both zanpaktou spirits could feel the air change, get heavier, darker.
A feral growl was all the warning the female spirit had before a white form shot from the dust to deliver a punch to her chest. When she went to block she realized all to late that he wasn't in front of her anymore.
"I think that about does it."
Shirudo turned her head slowly to see a black and white version of Ichigo with his Vasto Lorde helmet covering his head standing behind her.
"This is what you were waiting for, isn't it? For me to find my hollow powers again and bring them fully under my control now that I've merged with the Hoguyoku?"
Suddenly the room is filled with clapping as Hama gets off his throne and steps down the stairs giving applause. "I see it was all finally worth it. You no longer have need of Hichigo like you did before the merger. Now you fully control your hollow, Ichigo."
The Squad Eleven Captain releases his form and color flows back into his being and the helmet covering his face crumbles. Shirudo also reverts to her normal form.
"You did good Ichi!" The happy spirits says to him. "You ready to hear our name now?"
Ichigo nods his head in response. "Our name, as a whole, is Tamashii no Kanshu. Our shikai release is 'Come forth and judge' and the name of our bankai is Tamashi no Karitori. Use us wisely Ichigo, we are unlike any other zanpaktou in existence. We reflect your will to protect while not killing unless absolutely necessary." Hama explains.
"Try it Ichigo, use your Shikai." Shirudo says as she backs up a couple steps.
"Come forth and judge, Tamashii no Kanshu!" He yells. With a flash of purple and black raitsu, Ichigo stands with his normal outfit but instead of an asuchi, he holds a hammer in his right hand and a kite shield in the left.
The hammer is a block of onyx with steel metal bands on both ends and a seal in the shape of the Eleventh Squad's insignia on the broadsides. The kite shield is black with deep purple trim forming four quadrants on the face.
"Fuck…I'm gonna need to relearn how to fight." Ichigo states with a tone of defeat.
Clapping him on the back Hama tries to raise his spirits. "It'll actually come really easily to you, thanks to the Hoguyoku."
Ichigo smiles at his efforts and relief that shouldn't be too hard.
"Now Ichigo, several things you should know. That hammer, as long as you keep swinging it and don't lose its momentum, it'll pack a bigger punch. As an example, you swing it once and hit something with it, ya it'll hurt like a bitch. Now, if you say kept swinging it with feints and then hit something, or someone, it's likely to break more than a few bones." Hama explains.
"So I can literally keep swinging it as much as want then hit something and it'll do more damage without any extra raitsu pumped into it. What happens if I throw it?"
"You'll be without your weapon. Only a fool would do something as stupid as discard his only weapon other than his fists." (A/N: *cough* *cough* thor *cough*) "But to answer your actual question, considering it would be in constant motion, it would create a much larger impact. With as fast you are, perhaps you can come up with something to work with." Hama replies.
Ichigo gives a few practice swings of the hammer and finds it easier to control than he had originally thought. Figuring that he should at least try it to see what he had to work with, he pulls his arm back and takes aim at one of the pillars lining the room. Without putting any real strength into the throw and just letting inertia do the work, he releases the hammer. To his surprise, the hammer doesn't spin like he had thought it would.
With a very loud BOOM and the sound the sound of stone shattering, the hammer hit its target and created a large cloud of dust. Pushing out his senses he finds the hammer a few meters past where the pillar had stood. He flashes to where he had sensed the blunt weapon and retrieved it.
"Now Ichigo, in addition to your normal attacks you can channel your raitsu into a strike and create a violent shockwave when you hit the ground. You can focus this attack into either a directional or circular attack.
"So it's pretty much a weaker form of an omni-directional Getsuga Tenshou?" Ichigo inquired.
At first his only response was laughter from Shirudo, but once she recovered she explained her amusement. "Ichi, it's only as weak as you want it to be. Now that you've merged with the Hoguyoku, your reiyoku reserves are near limitless and replenish astonishingly quickly. This is what it means to be a Transcendent being."
"She is right Ichigo, compared to someone like Captain Kuchiki, you are about four times more powerful and have the capability to continuously fight at that strength for about a day and half while in bankai." Hama continued.
Ichigo noticed Shirudo turn her head to gaze at the entrance to the throne room. "Ichigo, I think someone is trying to get your attention. You had best go back. We'll have to continue this later."
"Alright, thanks you two, for helping me out."
"Think nothing of it Ichi!" Shirudo responded with a smile as she watched her wielder return to his world.
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"Kurosaki….Kurosaki!"
Ichigo opened his eyes lazily and blinked several times before he recognized Ishida standing in the doorway. Before responding he turned his gaze to the former-Espada still sleeping next to him. After making sure she was still asleep, he got up and made his way out of the room to join the rest of the group in the hallway.
"Hey guys. What's up?"
Before Uryu could vent his rage at what he had just seen in the room with his 'friend', Chad asked the question that was one everyone's mind; "Ichigo, is that one of the Espada that was in there with you?"
The orange-haired teen looked the faces of his friends, he wasn't surprised to see rage on the Quincy's, interest on Orihime and Tatsuki's and indifference with slight concern on Chad's. "Don't worry about Tia. She has no interest in fighting us anymore. I found her in town with wounds that were still healing. She said that Aizen betrayed her and the rest of the Espada. Hat n' Clogs is making a Gigai for her now."
"So you intend to keep her as a pet?! She is hollow Ichigo. We just stormed H.M to save Orihime from her very kind. Now you expect us to believe that she is just live a normal 'life'?!"
Ichigo just stared at his glasses wearing friend with barely controlled fury as he opened and closed his right fist to relieve some of his built up tension. After regaining his composure he turned to Orihime. "Can you please go make sure she is healed?" He asked with a soft, almost pleading voice.
"Of course Kurosaki-kun." Orihime was only too glad to be away from the confrontation, she knew this wasn't gonna end well.
Once the healer had closed the door behind her, Ichigo started moving towards the sitting room. Before they could seat themselves, Tessai entered the room as well as Urahara.
The room was awkwardly quiet for several minutes before Ichigo decided to speak first. "Now, Uryu, why do you have such an issue with this? She might be a hollow but she has higher functions than that of normal hollows. Don't you think it's worth a shot?"
Ishida responded by pushing his glasses up with his middle finger. "No, I don't think it's 'worth a shot'. Her entire race is nothing but heartless beasts that eat souls for their own amusement. They are no better than rabid animals to me."
Tatsuki's eyes widened in shock at the declaration, she might not know the whole story but her best friend, Orihime, had told her that some of her captures were better than some humans. Surely some of them deserved a second chance.
Chad, once again decided to intervene before things could escalate once he looked over to his comrade silently burning with rage in his eyes. "Uryu, do you feel that way about Neliel?"
Ichigo quickly lost his rage once he noticed Uryu adopt an almost shameful look as his head dipped down. The room once again became very quiet while white-clad teen thought about his answer while everyone else stared at him expectantly. Finally he let out a defeated sigh.
"Fine, I'll step down from this matter, but know this, should she cause trouble, I will kill her." He spoke the last part glaring daggers at the brightly colored teen in the room. After he said his piece, Uryu rose and left the shoten.
Tatsuki looked at the object of her obsession and saw the worry all across his features. "Ichigo, has he always hated hollows?"
Ichigo looked down at his clenched fists in his lap before he let out a loud sigh and released his anger. Looking his oldest friend in the eyes, he responded. "I do owe you some answers huh?" He rose slowly and made his way to the door. "Come on, I'll answer everything."
Once his oldest friend was right behind him, he made his way back the room that Tia was resting in. Just outside the door they could hear soft voices talking but couldn't make out the words. He knocked several times to let the occupants he was coming in.
When he opened the door he saw Orihime and Halibel sitting and talking in a friendly manner. They both turned their heads to see Ichigo and Tatsuki at the entrance.
"How are you feeling?" Ichigo asked.
The masked Espada bowed her head slightly and answered. "Better now, thank you." She then turned towards the girl that had healed her. "Thank you as well. I apologize for kidnapping you earlier."
"No…No no…it's quite alright…uh….it's not like you had anything to do with it." She stuttered out.
Ichigo and Tatsuki smiled at the antics of their friend. "Orihime, I'm gonna have a long talk with Tatsuki and Tia here. We could be several hours until Hat n' Clogs finishes her Gigai. So why don't you go home and rest? We'll meet up here tomorrow."
"Okay!" Orihime got up and hugged her best friend before leaving.
Tatsuki closed the door to the room they were in when Ichigo motioned for her to do so. "Now, let's go over what's happened over the past year. After that, I'll answer any questions you have." Once both the girls nodded in agreement Ichigo began his tale.
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Three hours later, the two girls had answers to all their questions and understood where things now stood. Something was still bothering Tatsuki though and she voiced her thoughts.
"Ichigo, umm I…I was wondering…." She started while rubbing her head sheepishly.
"What is it Suki?" He asks.
"If she says she likes you, you better face your feelings and admit the same. I know you like her Ichi. You would've said something a while ago but you didn't want to drag her into our world. Now it's too late for that." Shirudo said from within his inner-world.
"I…ummm…" Tatsuki continues before she takes a deep breath. "IreallylikeyouIchigo!" She quickly said with crimson colored cheeks. She cast a glance up to see his reaction. She was kind of surprised to see one of his rare deep smiles gracing his features.
Tia Halibel kept glancing between the two now that she felt really awkward sitting here while her…friend and his…friend..talked about their feelings for each other. She watched as 'Kenpachi' patted the black hair of the girl in front of him.
"I like you too Tatsuki and I have for a while now. I just never said it so that you didn't have to worry about me every time I left. As it turns out, keeping you out of the loop and not saying anything just made you worry more. Sorry."
The martial artist looked at the man before her and smiled. "Idiot, I'll always worry about you. I know how much you love to get into trouble." She said before she gave him a light punch to the shoulder. She then leaned over to him wrapped her arms around him.
Ichigo responded in kind and wrapped his around her as well. For the first time he could actually appreciate the softness of her skin and the warmth of her smaller body.
'If only she was a shinigami, then I wouldn't have to worry half as much…' He thought to himself. He could tell she was developing enough raitsu were she'd eventually become one but it could still be a while.
He felt a strange warmth in his chest and when he looked down he saw a blueish glow as well.
'Oh don't tell me….'
"Good job Ichigo…..The Hoguyoku has responded to your desires and is focusing enough raitsu into her body to force the transformation." Hama explained.
He felt the girl in his arms start trembling uncontrollably. He quickly laid her down and ran to the door and slammed it open. "Urahara, you might wanna get that damn shaft prepared!" He turned back to gather Tatsuki's body into his arms. When turned around once again to go out the door he found Yourichi standing there wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.
"Come with me Ichigo, Halibel." She said with a tone that left no room for argument.
The followed the mocha-skinned woman down the stairs to the training dimension beneath the shoten. After walking for a couple minutes they found Kisuke and Tessai standing around the shaft where Ichigo had regained his powers.
"Set here down and we'll get started." Urahara requested as he pulled out his soul glove. Once Tatsuki was laid down he reached into her body and pulled out her soul.
Tatsuki opened her eyes to find she was in a desert surrounded by the occupants of the room she had just been in, as well as the perverted shop keeper and his assistant and another woman that she didn't recognize. When she looked down she saw a chain attached to her chest and…."My body? What's going on?"
"Arisawa-san your soul is trying to turn into that of a shinigami. We're going to cut your soul chain and throw you into this pit while you find your inner-world. If you succeed, you will be able to jump out. If not…I'm afraid you'll turn into a lower-level hollow and we'll have to kill you." Hat n' Clogs explained.
Anger quickly filled her as she listened to his explanation of what was going to happen. When he finished she simply reacted and punch him in the face for the second time today. Before she could do so again, she felt Ichigo's hand on her arm.
"Tats, please. We need to do this. I don't want it to be this way either but it's the only way at this point. Trust me alright?"
"I just…don't wanna die. Not yet, I just got you dammit!" She said as she haphazardly banged her fist against his chest.
Ichigo just smiled and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "I know, I'll be waiting for you when you come out, promise." He silently nodded to Kisuke to cut her chain.
Tatsuki heard the sound of a sword being drawn and then heard the clang as it cut into the chain of her soul. "I'm gonna hand you to Tessai now, he'll take care of you until you're done."
She nodded in understanding as she turned to face the former Kido Corp Commander. "This way, Arisawa-san." He motioned down the hole. She hesitantly walked to the edge and took a deep breath.
'I need to do this.' She thought to herself.
She took a single step forward and fell into the hole with Tessai jumping in after her.
"Come back alive Tatsuki."