Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or any of its characters. I do, however, own this story
A/N: Before we begin, a small announcement. This story has over 100 reviews! Huzzah! This is unreal, and I wanted to take a moment to extend a hearty 'thank you' to each and every person who's taken the time to read this story and then shown enough interest to leave a review. Also, a Special Jury Prize goes out to FrozenChaos, who left the 100th review. Enjoy that, buddy.
Torn
Chapter 8: Surge
Neliel kept her promise to Ichigo, waiting by his bedside and only taking breaks for meals, mandatory missions and swapping out the orange-haired Soul Reaper's medicine bags. A few weeks passed, until the pale-golden-eyed Espada was jolted out of a daydream by a soft, pained chuckle.
"You look worse than I do, Neliel," Ichigo said, his voice strained. "Do you want to switch places?"
The Espada gave a small, rueful laugh at the weak attempt at humor, before letting go of her charge's hand and rising.
"Good to see you're awake, Ichigo," Nel said, making no effort to hide the relief in her voice. "I'll go tell Zommari to get up and make you some dinner; it's about time the rookie actually did something around here, and he makes a surprisingly good bowl of miso soup."
"Zommari?" Kurosaki asked, confused. "Whossat?" The brown-eyed young man broke down into a coughing fit shortly after finishing his question, and the Espada shook her head exasperatedly as she put the back of one of her palms on Ichigo's forehead; this allowed her to check his temperature and restrain him simultaneously.
"Shh, don't make too many sudden movements," Nel ordered. "Those poor nurses worked themselves to the bone healing you up, and I'd hate to tell them you went and reopened all of your wounds."
Rather than shoot back some witty reply like she thought he would, Ichigo was oddly silent. Looking over, Neliel saw that the young Soul Reaper was giving her an atypically searching look.
"You remind me of my mother," he said, before stifling a yawn and drifting slowly off to sleep. "I miss her…"
Nel couldn't completely hide the sad smile that appeared on her face just then; clearly this kid had been though a lot, but if there was one thing he had held on to through all of his trials, it was his innocence. As she gently brushed a stray bunch of hair out of the sleeping Soul Reaper's eyes, the Espada sighed.
"You're a good kid, Ichigo," she whispered, "and for that I'm sorry. This place has no room for people like you, and I can only hope that you can carve one out with your strength before it destroys you."
The Third Espada walked calmly out into the main room of Las Noches and took her seat next to a pale-skinned, green-eyed Arracar with short, dark hair half-covered by a mask fragment.
"How's he doing?" Grimmjow broke in from across the table, and Neliel shrugged.
"He's awake, and probably not going to stay lying down for long, but that's all I can say for right now."
"It's about damn time," a large, dark-skinned Arrancar spoke up from down near the other end of the table. "I've been waiting to see what this shrimp Soul Reaper's capable of for a while."
"I would not be so eager to cross blades with him, Yammy," the pale Espada next to Nel spoke out drolly. "Unless you desire to make room for him amongst the Espada with your defeat?"
"Ulquiorra, you little bas—" the Tenth Espada began growling, before a calm, amused voice sliced the quarrel in half like a blade.
"Yammy, I would advise you to put aside your temper for a moment," Aizen said, "and greet the newest, and last, member of the Espada."
Every eye in the room swiveled sharply over to look at their master, who was standing next to an Arrancar with medium-length brown hair, sharp grey eyes and a mask fragment resembling a lower-jaw that hung down like a necklace of fangs.
Stark had finally been brought under Aizen's banner, and Soul Society's worst fear had come to pass:
The Espada had been completed.
Every head at the table inclined slightly in respect, but Stark waved them off as he walked lethargically over to his seat.
"Beh, save it," he grumbled. "That transformation made me tired as hell, and I've got no interest in seeing you fawn."
The Espada all resumed straight postures while Stark slumped over in his chair, eyes already half-lidded as his head rested on his hands. Aizen gave a slight grin as he took his place at the head of the table: after hearing about Soul Society's increased efforts to prepare for Las Noches' eventual assault, the former Captain had accelerated his plans and completed the Espada himself by forceful persuasion. Now Sosuke was still a comfortable number of steps ahead of his enemies, and they had no idea that the former Captain had already completed his elite guard.
Ichigo was lying in his hospital bed, halfway between dreaming and waking, when he received an unexpected visitor.
"It's about time you got up, brother."
The orange-haired Soul Reaper's eyes began to open lethargically, but snapped open the rest of the way when he saw who his visitor was.
"What the hell do you want, Hichigo?" he asked as forcefully as he could, but Ichigo couldn't keep a sliver of hesitancy from entering his voice. The Hollow sensed it and chuckled.
"I wish there was a mirror in this place," he jeered. "If you could see how bruised you still are, you wouldn't be talking so tough. But you know exactly why I'm here, brother," the pale warrior finished, walking up to the prone form and glaring down into wide brown eyes with his narrow, malicious yellow ones.
"No, I don't," the Soul Reaper parried. "Why don't you enlighten me?"
Kurosaki wasn't prepared at all for the white fist that rushed towards his sternum, but his hand acted for him and instinctively blocked the blow. Ichigo's eyes widened even further when he felt no pain, and his Hollow counterpart smirked.
"That's what I'm talking about," the pale warrior said triumphantly. "Even though you look like crap on the outside, you're strong enough to block a punch from me without feeling anything. So why haven't you healed yourself by now? What the hell's holding you back? Don't you want to get stronger? Don't you want to kill that smug Aizen bastard?"
"Yes, I do!" Ichigo shouted back. "Now shut up!"
"Not until you give me one reason to think you aren't full of shit, brother," Hichigo insisted, and the Soul Reaper sighed.
"I'm not ready for this," he said. "I can't fight a war; I'm not strong enough."
The Hollow raised both of his eyebrows at the reply, his eyes wide with incredulity.
"Are you retarded, Ichigo?" he asked bluntly, and the brown-eyed warrior flinched slightly at the insult. "Were you listening to anything I was saying just now? If you're not strong enough to fight Aizen right now, then get stronger. If you don't think you're ready, clearly you've forgotten how you were able to block the fucking Soukyoku with a single zanpakuto just because you gave yourself a reason to fight.
"And if you're really going to tell me you can't wage a war, you must have amnesia. Because unless I'm going insane, I seem to remember a kid who had literally just learned shikai tearing down Soul Society practically by himself. So stop feeling so sorry for yourself, Ichigo, and get up before I have to drag you by your neck!"
Kurosaki felt a wave of anger, indignation, and determination rush through him, transforming itself into raw, untamed power as it grew. The surge closed up what cuts remained, healed the burns while leaving only a trace of scar tissue to remember them by, and refocused his hazy, brown eyes into sharp, determined orbs that began to pulse a faint blue with spiritual power.
After a few moments, the rush subsided and Ichigo swung his legs over the side of the bed, rising to his feet swiftly and surely. The pale warrior to his left smiled, his yellow eyes glimmering with something approaching approval.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked, and Ichigo just glared at him before picking up his zanpakuto and walking towards the door. Before he left, however, the Soul Reaper turned his head back over his shoulder and spoke.
"Hey, Hichigo," he said, "I have a question for ya."
"Shoot."
"I achieved bankai with Zangetsu, but as far as I can tell I'm not drawing on him for power. So how do I re-learn it, if you're my zanpakuto's spirit now?"
The pale warrior gave a darkly amused chuckle.
"The same way you did with Zangetsu, brother," he answered. "But try not to get ahead of yourself; you're going to have to be a lot stronger than you are now before you can even think about being able to subjugate me. And when you do think you're ready, I won't hold back. No more of this 'buddy' bullshit you pulled to gain my 'shikai'; if you really want to be king, kid, you had better be prepared to pry the crown from my hands."
The Soul Reaper smiled cockily, the glow of inner-strength back in his eyes.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," he said before flashing away, leaving Hichigo by himself.
Well, almost by himself.
"It is almost time," a deep, slightly echoing voice spoke out, "for me to return."
The Hollow 'tsk'ed dismissively.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, old man," he parried. "The only way you're coming back is if the kid realizes you're still buried somewhere in his soul."
Zangetsu chucked.
"When he challenges you for the right to bankai, Hollow," the spirit replied, "he will remember that you are not his only ally."
"We'll see soon enough, old man," Hichigo spoke as the pair faded away from the corporeal world.
Kaien barely blocked the latest strike in a frighteningly fast string of attacks, and took the brief respite to marvel at how strong his student had gotten over the past few weeks. It was like the young Kuchiki was possessed; she was pushing herself incredibly hard and progressing at a rate far beyond anything anyone had anticipated, even her older brother.
"I might have to stop training you soon, Kuchiki," Shiba said as he broke the deadlock with a shove and launched his own volley of attacks. "At this rate, I'll lose my arm-badge in a few days!"
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Kaien-dono," Rukia said with a smirk as she parried a strike and all but disarmed her opponent with a counter-attack. As he jumped backwards and caught his breath, the Lieutenant got a mischievous smile on his face.
"Clearly, you're too good for simple kendo training," he said. "What do you say we take this thing to the next level? If you think you can handle it, that is," he taunted with a smirk, knowing just how to press his student's buttons.
Not even replying to the provocation, the violet-eyed Soul Reaper turned her zanpakuto point-down and called out.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
Kaien's smirk turned into a smile.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," he said. "Okay, Kuchiki, but know that I ain't gonna hold back."
"Kaien-dono," the young Kuchiki asked smoothly, "are you stalling because you're afraid of simply losing, or because you're afraid of losing so badly you'll never recover?"
Shiba's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the taunt, before narrowing sharply. Kurosaki had no idea what he was getting into, that was for sure.
"Try saying that again in about five minutes, Kuchiki," he shot back. "Surge through the seas and rage through the skies, Nejibana!"
With the two zanpakuto unsealed, teacher and student clashed once again, a crowd of Thirteenth Division Soul Reapers beginning to gather to observe the mock duel.
Ichigo walked out into the main room of Las Noches, his zanpakuto resting easily over his shoulders as his aura practically bled almost insufferable confidence. His brown eyes looked over the Espada, taking note of the new faces, before turning his gaze to the Soul Reaper at the head of the table.
"You've certainly been busy, Aizen," he said. Sosuke merely smirked as he signaled for an indignant Tosen to stand down, who had no doubt wanted to punish Ichigo for being disrespectful.
"Ichigo," the brown-haired former Captain replied easily. "Good to see you're on your feet again. I was about to send Rudobon and the Exequias to check in on you."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Kurosaki replied snidely with a smirk of his own, almost laughing at the apoplectic expression on Kaname's face but restraining himself at the last moment.
"For those of you who haven't met him yet," Sosuke addressed the Espada as if the exchange with Ichigo had never happened, "this is Ichigo Kurosaki, a Soul Reaper who joined our cause when I departed from Soul Society."
"Yo," the orange-haired warrior said with a lazy wave, before Ichimaru's voice spoke up and broke through the slightly awkward silence.
"Ichigo-kun," he said, "I think it would be in our best interest to get you back into fighting shape as soon as possible. What'd ya say you and I go spar for a bit, while the Captain finishes up this logistical stuff?"
Kurosaki was about to decline, as spending time with Gin was not high on his list of things he wanted to do at the moment, but there was something in the garnet-eyed Soul Reaper's voice that made him reconsider and nod.
"Sure," he answered. "That sounds good."
The two promptly flashed away, re-emerging in a plain, white-walled room. As soon as he was sure they were alone, Ichimaru dropped his smirk and opened his eyes, his voice stone-cold serious.
"I know what you're planning, kid," he said, the affectation in his voice dropping altogether as his grinning mask fell away, "and I want in."
Even though he was shocked by both Gin's change in demeanor and startlingly accurate accusation, Ichigo swiftly hid his surprise behind a veil of nonchalance.
"I don't know what you're talking about…"
The denial was quickly silenced by the point of Shinso pressing hard against the Soul Reaper's Adam's apple, and Ichimaru's hard eyes glinted fiercely.
"Don't play dumb with me, Ichigo," he hissed. "It doesn't suit you, and I don't have the patience for it. I know you've been trying to think of a way to bring down Aizen since the day you got here, and the only reason why you would pull such an unbelievably stupid stunt like you did just now to try and agitate him would be if you thought you had the edge to back it up. So what is it that's got you so confident all of a sudden, Ichigo?"
Realizing he had his back quite literally up against a wall, the brown-eyed Soul Reaper figured it would be smart to start talking. Before he began to spill the beans, though, he had to be sure of one thing.
"How do I know you're not going to rat me out to Aizen?" he asked. "And why would you want to depose him, anyway? I thought you guys were best buds, or something."
Ichimaru laughed harshly at the question, a smirk rising again on his face.
"Are you kidding, Ichigo?" he shot back. "Aizen wouldn't recognize the words 'friend' or 'loyalty' if they walked right up to him and smacked his teeth out."
"But then why have you followed him for so long, if he's just using you?"
"Because he made the best offer," Gin said with a noncommittal shrug, "and at the time, he offered to take me for what I was, rather than shun me like the rest of the Soul Reapers had.
"And I didn't graduate the Academy so young by being an idiot, Ichigo," the silver-haired Soul Reaper continued. "I know that once Aizen has total control, everyone who serves under him will become expendable, and I'm not about to march to my death like a sheep if another option presents itself."
Ichigo smiled despite the chokehold he was in, seeing where this was going.
"So you think I have what it takes to defeat Aizen, then, and you're willing to fight with me?"
"Not exactly," Gin parried. "Yes, I do think that somewhere in that greenhorn, fight-shy and pitying soul of yours lies the ability to overcome Aizen, but I'm not about to fight alongside someone who's just going to charge in and get himself and everyone else butchered like a fool."
Ichigo sighed.
"You sound like my Hollow," he replied, and Ichimaru smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment," the silver-haired Soul Reaper said. "Now," Gin continued, withdrawing the point of his zanpakuto from Ichigo's throat, "let's get started."
The orange-haired Soul Reaper raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Started? With what?"
The garnet-eyed former Captain chuckled darkly once again, his reiatsu spiking suddenly in a way that sent a chill down Ichigo's spine.
"Your real training," Gin answered, powering up a kido spell in his free hand and letting it fly.
Ichigo had all of two seconds to roll to the side in order to avoid having his head blown off by a terrifyingly strong shakkaho. As he rose shakily to his feet, the warrior's voice was beyond angry.
"What the hell was that for?!" Ichigo shouted. "You almost killed me!"
"That's the idea!" Ichimaru parried, firing off a byakurai that carved a gash into Ichigo's shoulder. "I'm gonna draw out your killer instinct and pound every ounce of fear from your soul, Ichigo," he declared. "If it takes me beating you to within an inch of your life, then so be it."
Kurosaki spent the next five minutes dodging and weaving like a madman, so focused on staying alive that he had no time to think about striking back.
'What the hell are you doing, Ichigo?' Hichigo asked scathingly inside his head. 'Stop pussyfooting around and fight him! Quit being such a coward and stand your ground! He's not even fighting at half-strength, for fuck's sake!'
The badgered Soul Reaper shut out almost the entire tirade, until he heard Hichigo say that Gin was fighting at less than half his strength. At the notion that he was being taken lightly, something inside of Ichigo snapped. His warrior's pride had been wounded, and that made him furious.
Planting both of his feet, Ichigo faced down the incoming soukatsui and sliced it clean in half with his zanpakuto, rage gleaming in his eyes as they began to change in color. They shifted starkly from a warm brown to a cold, hard yellow, and when the telltale white stripes that signaled his transformation into the 'shikai' state of his zanpakuto appeared on Kurosaki's face, Ichimaru smiled.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere," he quipped, before Ichigo rushed at him full-speed, killing intent saturating his reiatsu.
Bit by bit, as Nel had feared and Gin had demanded, the pity was being ground out of Ichigo Kurosaki's heart: war, after all, had no place for it.
Rukia and Kaien broke apart after their latest exchange, both of them breathing hard by now, and were about to begin another round when a very familiar reiatsu appeared nearby and stopped them in their tracks.
"Well, as much as I hate to interrupt this, as it looks like you two are having so much fun," Captain Ukitake said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "not only has your little spectacle kept half of the Division from performing their duties, but the pair of you have been summoned to a meeting by the Captain-Commander himself. I suggest you not be late."
The two dueling Soul Reapers barely noticed the crowd that had been watching them disperse shamefacedly, and the pair of them hurried over to First Division Headquarters as fast as they could. When they got there, the stony, aged voice of Yamamoto greeted them with its usual terseness.
"Lieutenant Shiba, Ms. Kuchiki," he said. "How nice of you to grace us with your presence."
Teacher and student dropped into apologetic bows, before straightening up and taking in the other occupants of the Great Hall. Soi Fon was gazing at them with a look bordering on disgust, while Ikkaku and Renji looked excited and focused, respectively.
"The five of you have been assigned to the Human World, to monitor possible Arrancar incursions and other movements by Aizen's troops. I expect full, prompt reports on your findings; you leave tomorrow morning at dawn. Captain Kurotsuchi has already arranged for the delivery of your gigai to your respective quarters. That is all; dismissed!"
The five members of the task force nodded briskly and vanished, each one pondering different thoughts as they laid down that night for a brief rest. Ikkaku was looking forward to fighting some truly strong opponents, while Kaien was feeling worried about Rukia despite the fact he knew she was more than strong enough to handle this mission. Soi Fon was just relieved that the Second Division had been left in the hands of a certain Shihoin whose exile had been recently repealed, rather than her incompetent Lieutenant, Omaeda. Rukia was torn between feeling excited and scared at the idea of possibly crossing paths with Ichigo again, and Renji was thinking of nothing other than his unquenchable desire to beat that same traitorous, heartbreaking Soul Reaper to a pulp as soon as he could.
A/N: I had to crunch the rest of the Espada in or it would have taken far too long, and I didn't want to kill the momentum (hence the time-skip). Also, Ichigo getting trained this way by Gin doesn't mean he's going to turn into a hard-hearted bastard like Aizen, merely that he's going to gain both the capacity to be merciless and the willingness to take a life when he has to. Next chapter will feature Ichigo's quest for bankai and a surprise duel in the Human World that has cataclysmic effects on the two participants.
Oh, and as always, please review! I'm truly blown away by the reception this story has received so far; all of you are fantastic (I know i sound like a broken record at this point, but it bears repeating)!