Don't own Bleach.

Chapter 21: Level Up

"You were cut by the same person as me… but the nature of the damage we took…" Inoue continued, but was cut off by Ishida.

"No. The powers our opponents had seem to be different…" Ishida said, deep in thought after learning that Inoue got attacked too.

Inoue stared at him for a while, before seemingly realizing something. "Ah! I remembered something! His ability was like a Zanpakutou! And he called it Fullbring! The guy who attacked you did too, right!?"

Ishida sat puzzled for a while, before turning to face Inoue again. "… sorry. Honestly, I didn't have a chance to ask him… Until I talked to you, I was under the impression that his sword was a type of Zanpakutou, too."

…

"That's strange…"

Inoue walked along the dark streets of Karakura town. She excused herself from the hospital after using her powers to effectively speed up Ishida's healing. Still in thought after her discussion with him, she continued to head home. That is, until she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Sado-kun!" She immediately greeted upon spotting him.

"Inoue…" Chad said, somewhat in a tone that says he wasn't expecting her. "Are you on this road because you've been at the hospital?"

"Yeah… I was treating Ishida-kun's injuries."

"I see… how'd it go?"

"His wounds are healed for now, but I think its better he rests for a little longer." She stopped for a while, and continued after a few seconds. "Since it seems the injury to his Reiatsu is a little different than normal…"

"I see… that's probably best." Chad said as he started to continue walking. "This is perfect; I had some things to ask about Ishida's condition. Talk to me while we walk."

"H-huh?" Inoue replied in a somewhat startled tone as she walked faster to catch up with Chad. "H-hold on Sado-kun! Where are we going?"

Chad abruptly stops walking and turns back. "To Ichigo. From here on out, your power will be necessary for his training!"

His statement confused Inoue. Ichigo no longer has his powers, so she had no idea as to why he would be doing any form of training at all.

…

Yukio pressed the start button on his console, causing a black mass of pixels to once again envelop Ichigo and Nozomi, along with Ginjou.

"I see… so this is what you were using to keep me locked away." Ichigo remarked, watching as the space around them pixelates.

"That's right." Ginjou interjected. "This is Yukio's Fullbring, Invaders must die. It seals its target away in another dimension, and Yukio can control them with the game screen."

His explanation slightly alarms Ichigo and Nozomi, who weren't very welcome with the idea of being controlled.

"Relax, he's been told not to get in the way." Ginjou stated before continuing his explanation about Yukio's ability. "Have you ever thought you'd like to go inside a video game?"

Ichigo stares at him confused for a while. "What're you talking about?"

"Just answer me. Everybody thinks it when they're little, so you don't have to be ashamed."

Yukio finally finishes transporting the three inside the game as Ichigo looks around and examines the surroundings. He looks at Ginjou again after a while.

"… It's not like I haven't thought about it but-"

"I see. I've never thought about it, not even once." Ginjou interrupted him, earning a look of annoyance.

"Then why did you make me say that?" Ichigo asked in an irritated manner.

"'… well it doesn't matter whether you've thought about it or not."

"So why did you make me say it!?" Ichigo asked again, even more irritated.

"But it might be a little different than what you imagined though…" Ginjou continued to explain, ignoring Ichigo's ranting. "I thought you would say something like, this is what inside of a game's like?"

"It's definitely a lot bleaker than I thought it would be." Ichigo replied.

Upon hearing Ichigo's answer, Ginjou immediately puts his hand on his pendant, causing it to glow.

"Cross of Scaffold" At his command, Ginjou's pendant transforms into its greatsword form. "You've finally gotten inside a video game, so wouldn't you like some video game rules?"

Ichigo attempted to answer but was interrupted when Nozomi tugged on his sleeve.

"Ichigo, what's he talking about?" She asked. Saying that she's confused is an understatement.

"Hey, I don't get it myself, don't ask me." Ichigo answered before turning to Ginjou again.

"I say rules but they're not very complicated." Ginjou restarted. "It's a simple system. Yukio! Can you give us HP gauges?"

"Can I? Are you kidding me? I can make some right away. You want them to match your current stamina?" Yukio answered, seemingly insulted by Ginjou's question.

"Nah. Six each will do." Ginjou answered before turning to Ichigo and Nozomi.

"Got it."

At Yukio's command, the words "ICHIGO", "NOZOMI" and "KUUGO" appeared overhead, each aligned with six white crosses. Ichigo and Nozomi looked at them with confused faces for a while, before understanding what they meant to represent.

"Oh, and there they are." Ginjou remarked.

"So I take it that when these 6 crosses disappear… that's Game Over?" Ichigo asked, still examining the gauges that appeared.

"That's the gist of it. Do you need an explanation of Game Over?"

"Nope, I think I get the idea."

"When you get a Game Over, I'll make it say YOU DIE for you." Yukio commented from outside the screen. A large box with the word "READY" appeared as soon as Yukio pressed a button.

"Yeah, keep talking." Ichigo said as he entered his fighting stance. He turned to Nozomi, who was carefully examining the surroundings. "Oi, Nozomi!"

Nozomi nearly jumped as Ichigo called her. "w-what?" She asked in embarrassment.

"We're gonna start training now, but since you're so busy…" He teased, getting a kick to the leg as an answer. "Ow!"

"Shut up. I'm ready." She stated as she drew her sword.

The box's content changed from "READY" to "GO".

Ichigo grinned at her and turned to Ginjou. They all entered their fighting stances and dashed at each other.

"Let's do this!" Ginjou said and raised his sword as he charged towards Ichigo.

Ichigo activated his own Fullbring and made a blade with his Reiatsu. He blocks Ginjou's slash but is sent flying back from the force.

"That all?" Ginjou gloated before immediately spinning back to block a slash from Nozomi.

Ichigo smirked as he breaks his fall and stands up again.

"Oh crap!" Ginjou immediately realizes his mistake and pushes back Nozomi.

"Rain without End! Arazome Shigure!" Nozomi released his Zanpakutou as she flew backwards and sent a wave of pink Reiatsu towards Ginjou.

Ginjou used his sword to block the attack but was sent reeling back by the blast. Ichigo wasted no time in taking the opportunity and attacked Ginjou again.

Ichigo swings his blade but is dodged by Ginjou and kicked away.

"Impressive teamwork." Ginjou complimented. "But you're gonna have to try harder."

…

Riruka was sitting alone on top a building after the skirmish with Tsukishima ended. It's been hours now since anything happened at all, and she felt like she's gonna die from boredom. Her prayers have been answered though, when she spotted Chad walking on the streets with a girl she's never seen before.

"Who's the girl!?" She immediately jumped from the building and landed safely on the ground, earning an amused look from Inoue.

"This is Inoue." Chad answered.

"Oh, that's her, huh?" She instantly approached Inoue and inspected her thoroughly.

"H-hello!" Inoue greeted her, slightly weirded out.

"I've heard about you from Chad. You can heal injuries huh? Why're you here? Did you come to help with Ichigo's training?" Riruka interrogated her.

"Hey, Riruka…" Chad attempted to stop her but was ignored.

"I did." Inoue answered.

"You know right? That healing his injuries his injuries means he's just going to get hurt again afterwards! If you heal him then he'll end up getting hurt over and over again!" Riruka continued to antagonize Inoue, causing her to look down in disappointment.

"I can see… that you're worried about Kurosaki-kun too…"

Riruka immediately blushes and turns away after hearing Inoue's statement.

"N-no way! Why would…! Now hold on!" She attempted to defend herself but was interrupted when Inoue raised her head.

"I already know that… I'm long past the point of worrying about it." Inoue said, full of determination. "If Kurosaki-kun needs my power for what he's chosen to do… then I'll use it for that purpose, no matter what it is."

"… hmm. So what happens if he sustains some kinda serious injury he can't recover from?"

Upon hearing Riruka's statement, Inoue gives her a glare. Riruka can tell she's dead serious, so she decides to just listen.

"He won't sustain any more serious injuries that he can't recover from. Because I'll heal all his wounds, no matter how serious or hopeless."

…

Ichigo dashes forward and continuously slashes at Ginjou, but is deflected with ease.

"Nozomi!" Ichigo shouts out before slashing at Ginjou again.

"Right!" Nozomi replies as she descends from above and swings her Zanpakutou.

Ginjou blocks both attacks but immediately attempts to back away when Nozomi's sword starts to emit green Reiatsu. He's one second too late though, when Arazome Shigure's Reiatsu turns to pink.

"Oi Ichigo! You'll get caught in the blast too!" Ginjou attempted to talk some sense into him, but to no avail.

"Yeah I know." Ichigo smirks at him before turning to Nozomi. "Now!"

"Arazome Shigure!"

The pink Reiatsu explodes, as Nozomi jumps away. Ichigo and Ginjou emerge from the smoke, slightly injured but still fight-ready. Ichigo's gauge goes down to 4, while Ginjou's goes down to 5. Nozomi's remains at 5.

"Good job." Ginjou praises them as he wipes some dust off his face.

"Thanks. But we're just getting started!" Ichigo replied, before re-entering his fighting stance.

"We have a visitor. I'm sending her in." Yukio pauses the game and sends Inoue inside the game, catching everyone else's attention.

"Oh, if it isn't a healing item." Ginjou remarks as he watches Inoue look around like a lost little girl.

…

"So that's it then… Are you sure about this? I mean really sure?" Kisuke asks, with the recipient of his question being none other than Isshin.

"Knock it off already! How many times are you gonna confirm it?" Isshin answers, slightly irritated.

"It's a matter if whether or not a parent robs his son of his future. It's common sense to confirm it several times."

Isshin stops for a while before looking at Kisuke. "… that's why I'm telling you not to confirm it over and over."

"You have a point." Kisuke says after thinking for a while. He then turns to the right and speaks to a person in the shadows. "Now then! I suppose we should make our final move!"

"… yes." The person steps out from the shadows to reveal Shinigami attire.

Hey in case you were wondering, I made the picture I've drawn the cover image of this story. Give me your thoughts about it if you have time. Anyway, that's Chapter 21. Ja ne.