I forgot what should be here.
Chapter 18: Let's get dirty
"All right! Today you're going to be in this fish tank!" Riruka said as she proudly presented a bear-themed aquarium.
"Okay." Ichigo nonchalantly complied, earning looks of bewilderment from Nozomi and Riruka.
"My, aren't we obedient? You're okay with this? Not gonna say something like you gotta get in one of these things again?" Riruka questioned him but was still met with nonchalance.
"Nope. Just do it already." Ichigo replied, getting the attention of both Giriko and Ginjou. It was unusual of him to be this quiet. The events of last night really struck him hard.
"All right, fine. Ichigo, I permit you." Riruka activated her Fullbring, causing Ichigo to get sucked in the fish tank and shrink to a miniature size.
"So that's her Fullbring?" Nozomi thought as she watched Ichigo get transported into the tank. She was trying to figure out the basic concepts of how Fullbring works based on what she observed from Ichigo's battle with Mr. Pork.
Ichigo straightened himself up as she was greeted by Jackie inside the tank.
"Welcome. We've met but I haven't introduced myself… I don't think. I'm Jackie Tristan, nice to meet ya." She said and entered her fighting stance.
Ichigo pulled out his badge and activated his nameless Fullbring. "Kurosaki Ichigo… let's get this started"
"Now that's a good expression." Jackie remarked as they spiked up their Reiatsu and prepared to fight.
"I've been meaning to ask… why are you always here anyway? You're not even a member of Xcution nor a Fullbringer." Riruka suddenly asks Nozomi, but failed to surprise her since she was somewhat expecting that kind of question.
"To protect Ichigo should something… unpleasant happen." Nozomi answered without a second thought or hesitation.
"Something unpleasant you say? Are you implying that we'll betray Ichigo?"
"No, I'm not."
Nozomi and Riruka exchanged hostile glares with each other, even freaking out Ginjou a bit as he thought he saw lightning crackle between them.
"Stand down, Riruka." Ginjou ordered after correcting his expression, to which Riruka followed without a question, albeit begrudgingly.
"Hmph!" Riruka began to leave the apartment after giving Nozomi another quick glare, which was returned to her with the same, if not higher, level of ferocity.
"Hey! Where are you going? You need to disengage your Fullbring later. Stay here and watch." Ginjou told her but she just continued walking and didn't even give him a single glance.
"No way! I don't care about today's training! Come get me when they're done!" Riruka said before leaving the room.
"Can I say what I'm thinking?" Yukio, the video game playing, cap wearing member asked.
"No, you don't have to." Ginjou replied.
"That's what I hate about Riruka."
"I said you didn't have say anything."
Ginjou returned his gaze onto the fish tank Ichigo and Jackie were in to watch their battle. Even though Jackie was a much more experienced Fullbringer, one shouldn't underestimate the pure talent Ichigo has in fighting. This was going to be an interesting show for Ginjou.
"Not going to attack?" Jackie provoked Ichigo, who was simply in place holding his badge out in a defensive position.
"You haven't brought out your Fullbring yet." Ichigo replied, seriousness easily detectable in his tone.
"How naïve. This may be training but it's still a fight you know? You have to treat me as an enemy." Jackie made a stronger provocation, but Ichigo still ignored it and retained his stance, slightly annoying her. "Would you say the same thing on the battlefield?"
Ichigo looks away for a while before answering. "… probably."
"Unbelievable." An annoyed Jackie remarked. "If that's how you are then I guess I have no choice. I'll get this started."
Jackie's Reiatsu spikes up after taking a step, slightly alarming Ichigo. She walked forward as electricity-like Reiatsu covered both of her feet, signifying the release of her Fullbring.
"Dirty Boots!" She said out loud before black Reiatsu covered her entire body, sticking to her skin like tights. A black hat shaped like a police cap also appeared on her head with a piece of cloth covering the right part of her face while white cloth armor covered her thighs, hips, arms and shoulders. She also had a white fur sweater on her.
Ichigo carefully observed her, anticipating what her next move might be. Jackie stands still for a few seconds before suddenly vanishing and reappearing behind Ichigo before he even had time to be surprised. She launches a powerful kick, sending out shockwaves on the area in front of them.
Fortunately, Ichigo manages to jump away in time to avoid her attack but still gets sent a few meters away by the shockwaves. He regains his composure in mid-air and lands safely on the ground.
"Well, you're pretty good. I didn't think you'd be able to dodge that." Jackie compliments him as she stands up.
"… neither did I."
"What's up with you?" Jackie asks, perplexed at Ichigo's strange behavior.
"What's up with you and that outfit? There's Fullbrings that you wear on your body?" Ichigo asks her, attempting to attain more information about Fullbrings.
"There must be if I'm in this get-up right?"
"What's its power?" Ichigo asks her, but Jackie is not as naïve to tell her opponents about her ability and risk exposing its weakness.
"You think I'm gonna tell you?"
'Nope." Ichigo said as he finally entered an offensive position. "Because this is a battle right? Guess I'll just have to find out… while I'm fighting!"
Ichigo held his Fullbring in front of him and starts to rotate it at high speed like a propeller, sending spinning wheels of black Reiatsu speeding towards Jackie, which she manages to evade.
He tries again, but a noticeably weaker wheel emerged from the badge, which Jackie manages to obliterate with a kick.
Ginjou and Nozomi were intently watching the battle when the door opens, with Chad entering the room and immediately looks around.
"Sado. Hi." Nozomi greets him and returns her focus on the battle taking place in the fish tank.
"Chad, if you're looking for Ichigo, he just started training. He's in that tank Nozomi-san is watching. He's battling Jackie right now."
"I see. That's convenient." Chad replied, confusing Ginjou with his strange answer. Or at least, Ginjou thinks it's strange. "There's something I want to ask you. That Tsukishima you told me about before… I want to know about his powers." He requests, remembering his earlier conversation with Inoue.
Inoue told him that Tsukishima cut her with his blade, but she didn't receive any wounds and that he and his companion just disappeared suddenly. She also said that for some reason, she thought Tsukishima was her friend when she talked with Ichigo. She said that it wasn't implanting false information on her, rather its because she recalled a memory in which Tsukishima was her friend, despite having not met him before.
Back in the tank, Ichigo dodges another attack from Jackie with a backwards jump. He wipes off some dirt from his face before standing up again.
Jackie stands up straight after recovering and stays still for a while. "Somehow, it seems like you can't dodge every time. You dodge one attack and get hit by the next. You've got good sense but you're too easy-going! Do you think you'll slowly figure out the trick while fighting?"
Ichigo doesn't give a response and simply reassumes his fighting stance.
"Well that's all well and good. But you're not gonna be able to keep up that easygoing mindset for long!" Jackie taunted him as she lightly stomped on the ground a few times. "Check it out, the ground here was hard before. But now it's sucked up some water and started turning into mud."
Ichigo examined the ground himself and found out that she was indeed telling the truth. The ground was becoming muddy and his feet are slightly sinking.
"Take a look. The Dirty Boots are gonna get dirty!" Jackie said before swiping the ground with her foot with a kick, causing some of the mud to cover it. She launches herself at Ichigo and unleashes a kick, which he manages to block with his left arm, although he feels something different.
"Her kick, it's got more force!" Ichigo thought as he gets sent reeling back several meters away.
"Figure it out?" Jackie asks him as she lands safely on the ground while Ichigo recovers from her attack, covered in dirt. "Just like the name says, Dirty Boots gets stronger the dirtier they get. Sand, dirt, mud, or even blood and rust. Anything'll do! Up until now they've been gaining strength gradually soyou wouldn't notice. But from here on out they're gonna get exponentially stronger at an accelerating pace!"
Ichigo manages to take in all that information calmly which, for some reason, angers Jackie. He could've sworn he heard her grit her teeth at least once.
Jackie then suddenly snaps when Ichigo still remains calm. "… Kurosaki Ichigo… Just how long are you gonna keep playin' it cool!?" She shouts out, surprising Ichigo but she doesn't give him a chance to respond. "Don't you get it!? You're not a Shinigami now! You're fighting with a flesh and blood body! Have you fought too long in a spirit body and lost your sense of reality!? You're flesh and blood! You can die! If you keep taking my attacks with your body then you're gonna get beat to a pulp and die!"
Ichigo takes all of that at once but still remains calm. He readies his badge and activates his Fullbring, further increasing Jackie's rage.
"Do you only know one damn thing!? That technique is full of holes! It's unusable in a real fight! Haven't you noticed yet!?" She reprimands him but he still prepares his attack. "If you don't get it then I'll show you!"
Ichigo releases a wheel but is easily evaded by Jackie.
"That technique's power is inconsistent! The number of blades varies between 6 and 3 depending on your level of concentration! If you fire them off in succession then the number of blades decreases!"
Her statement was proven true when Ichigo launches a wheel with four blades, whereas his previous attacks had 5 and 6 blades.
"And if it's 4 or less I can break them with a kick!" Jackie claims and immediately proves it by destroying the wheel Ichigo sent.
Undeterred, Ichigo launches two more wheels, one with 4 blades and the other with 3. Jackie manages to easily destroy the first one and gets ready for the next.
"Also, if you fire off 3 consecutive shots…" She destroyed the wheel and dashed straight towards Ichigo, but was met by a confident smile in return.
"Is when I'm left most vulnerable, right?"
By the time Jackie realized she fell into Ichigo's trap, it was already too late. He quickly manages to miraculously get behind her and strikes her from behind, sending her flying back a few meters.
Everyone was left awe-struck by the sudden table-turning Ichigo has done. Ginjou and Chad had surprised faces while Nozomi had a you-never-change-do-you? smile plastered on her face.
Ichigo lands safely on the ground wearing a triumphant smile.
Chapter 18. Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you like. My next update might be tomorrow so sorry for that. Ja mata ashita ne!