Chapter 12: Tensa Zangetsu Reborn
"Ichigo just stay out of this ok. I don't need you getting yourself killed during the fight." Rukia said.
"But I-" Ichigo spoke but was quickly interrupted.
"But nothing Ichigo just stay home.." Rukia Exclaimed.
Rukia wrapped her arms around Ichigo for one last hug, and then she flash stepped her way out of sight.
Ichigo looked in the direction she traveled and went back to the clinic. He opened the door quietly, and solemnly. He tiptoed his way to his room where he shut it quietly and locked it so that Karin, Yuzu and Isshin could sleep. He sat on his bed cradling his Head with his hands, wrapping the fingers in his orange hair. He looked up at his desk and saw the gift bag for the necklace he bought.
He got up and shuffled over to his desk and dug out a long black velvet box. He went and sat back down on his bed and opened the rectangular box, and stared in awe and sadness at the sparkling diamond moon connected to the elegant chain that laid beautifully in a smooth violet satin. He let loose a small smile as he began to talk to himself.
You know, I cant run away from it now, If it wasn't for Rukia, I wouldn't be here, none of us would, I just cant hide my heart away from the world any more, the whole tough guy thing I am, the cold hearted man I was ever since mom died, I feel as though the ice melted, all because of her, I didn't ever want to think it and I didn't want to say it, but Rukia has to know. She has to know how I feel, she has the right too, and what she said about me hugging her in the park, I realize now that even she has feelings for me…. But what about her brother….. ah Fuck him, he can deal with it.
Ichigo got up off of his bed and took one more long look at the necklace as he closed the box and returned it to its adorned gift bag. "Rukia im sorry for this, but you have to know." Ichigo whispered.
He walked down stairs grabbed his keys, wallet and shoes and proceeded out the door towards his hot rod car.
"And where will you be going tonight son?" A gruff voice asked.
Ichigo turned around and saw his father in designer jeans and a white t shirt, Isshin stood there with his arms crossed and a serious look sprawled on his face.
Ichigo faced him and said, " I need to go do something ill be back dad."
Isshin shook his head, " No Ichigo, I have to agree with Rukia on this one, going there is suicide, besides if your there Rukia has to worry about you too, and she cant fight with that on her shoulders."
"But dad you don't understand…." Ichigo said.
"I don't understand what Ichigo! I'm your father, im one who I know you know has been there done that for most things. What the hell could be so important that you need to be by her side at the risk of your own life!" Isshin exclaimed.
Ichigo looked down, " I uh…. I cant say it, its I don't know…." Ichigo said nervously.
Isshin placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "look, son im sure she will be ok, she can handle this… just let her be…" Isshin said before being interrupted.
"NO DAD! I need to do this, this has to be done. I have to tell her…..." Ichigo was about to exclaim it to the world but sighed. " I'm in love with her dad."
Isshin backed off for a moment. He didn't know how to react, but the reaction he game Ichigo was the most unexpected.
Isshin smiled at his son, a genuine smile that said I understand. "Well, even though I highly advise against this. Fine go." Isshin said to his son in a happy yet serious tone.
Ichigo turned and was about to enter the car but Isshin intervened.
"But if I find out from Rukia that they found you in soul society because you died, I will go there and beat your ass, understand." Isshin said seriously.
Ichigo laughed, "Yeah I understand, I wont get killed. See ya later ok dad."
They didn't know that Karin was spying on them, she whispered to herself "how does dad know about that Soul Society, and how he knows how to get there? What the hell."
Isshin turned around and said, " Well he is like me after all, he has soul reaper captain blood after all. My blood. And that's what made him strong, his pride. Im proud of you son, now go get the girl."
Karin's eyes widened tremendously, Dad is… a soul reaper captain! Did I hear that right!
Ichigo raced through the lit streets at least 20 mph over the speed limit, he was hell bent to tell her that one phrase.
He finally made it to the park and raced over to a hillside where he knew Rukia was.
"Shit she's already fighting." Ichigo cursed.
Ichigo got out of the car and stood at the edge of the hill, he saw two women fighting, one wasc short with dark hair wearing black robes and had a katana, obviously Rukia, the other was a taller thin woman with brown hair and a bone around her neck, an Arrancar! Ichigo thought.
The two clashed furiously for a few moments, and then it subsided, both combatants breathing heavily, wow this must have been intense so far, thank god I didn't pick a fight with her.
Ichigo didn't think on what he was just about to do but he did any way, "Hey RUKIA!" He yelled.
Rukia turned and looked back at him standing on the hill, she yelled back at him, "you dumb ass I told you to stay home!"
Ichigo reared back in shock, oh shit that's right I really shouldn't be here right now! He thought.
He didn't notice the Arrancar charging a cero pointed right for him.
He heard Rukia scream "ICHIGO LOOK OUT!"
Ichigo looked over at the arrancar and saw a yellow mass of energy forming on her fingers and it was pointed at him.
OH FUCK THAT'S FOR ME! Ichigo thought.
The ball fired at Ichigo and he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them in time to see Rukia jump infront of the blast and take the blow.
Ichigo's heart sank. "Oh no RUKIA!" he yelled.
Ichigo ran to Rukia, whose body dropped on the ground limp.
She's alive but shes unconscious I gotta get her out of here.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" the female arrancar yelled at Ichigo.
Ichigo just barely looked up at the charging arrancar before he felt her foot impact his stomach, sending him flying backwards into the side of the hill.
The force of the impact made Ichigo cough up some blood as he fell to the ground struggling to get up.
Ollivante looked between them both. "Ah I see now, I can see what you fear, you fear to loose her, well guess what….. I am your fear!" Ollivante laughed maniacally kicking Rukia's body into the sky.
Ichigo looked up no… no no no why does this have to be. He said to himself.
Ollivante performed a sonido and kicked Rukia's body back down to the ground, creating a small crater. Blood started to drip from her mouth. Ichigos' thoughts began to go on a rampage, hey yelled at himself.
WHY! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN!
Ichigos eyes welled up and tears streamed down his face. Ollivante came back down to the ground and picked up rukia's body by her hair and began to punch Rukia in the gut.
I CANT WATCH THIS. I CANT WATCH HER DIE IN FRONT OF MY EYES!
Ollivante slammed the body back into the ground and she kicked Rukia even more, blood continued to slowly drip from Rukia's mouth.
IT'S MY FAULT! IF I DIDN'T COME THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED, BUT NOW I'M HERE I NEED TO DO SOMETHING, SOMETHING RIGHT NOW.
Ollivante stood over Rukia's unconscious body, sword drawn, she flipped the sword over in her hands, the point aimed at Rukia's heart. "I'm not the one to break hearts, but this is one exception ill be willing to make."
I CANT WATCH THIS, I CANT LET THIS HAPPEN, I LOVE HER, I CANT LET HER DIE, I WONT LET HER GO!
Ichigo noticed something odd after he subsided his thoughts, it was as if time had stopped.
Huh what the? Ichigo said to himself.
Just then everything turned white and Ichigo looked around and found himself in a misty world where he laid on a blue skyscraper he looked around and saw the cage that contained the familiar cloaked man he talked to before his last time he was here.
"Zangetsu!" Ichigo yelled.
The man jumped a little and turned to face Ichigo as Ichigo managed to stand up and approach him. Ichigo noticed the bars of the cell were fading.
"Ichigo do you truly care for that woman?" the man asked.
Ichigo nodded, "more than you can imagine…."
Ichigo could see half of his face, the man smiled widely when he said, "well I believe that you are experiencing your darkest hour.."
Ichigo cocked an eyebrow when the man pointed to something behind him.
Ichigo turned and saw bright particles forming into a shiny golden key right before his eyes.
Ichigo recalled a memory. Only in your most dire time of need will the key appear…
The key finally formed and it shined brightly through the mist. Ichigo grabbed the key and walked over to the lock and placed the key in the lock,
The key began to glow brighter as the whole cage was engulfed in golden light. When Ichigo opened his eyes, the mist covering the world was gone, and there infront of him stood the hooded man smiling.
"you did it Ichigo, you set me free, now time is short if you want to save the girl we need to act fast." The man said walking off a distance.
Ichigo was confused. "Wait what are you going to do?"
The man stopped and turned around, "just stand there ok."
The man drew out a black bladed sword with four prongs bent out like a swastika, a chain hung off the end of the sword.
Ichigo was stunned, Tensa Zangetsu!
The man charged at Ichigo with the blade and Ichigo stood motionless as the sword pierced his chest he looked at the man who now wasn't wearing his hood, a younger looking man with wavy locks looked Ichigo straight in the eye.
"Hear this, Ichigo, when we merge, your soul reaper form will be in permanent bankai form. Theres no turning back, I said I was your true power, and so you will have access to that power from the get go, understand."
"Thanks for the heads up Zangetsu." Ichigo said looking directly at him
"No Ichigo." The man said, smiling " My name is… Tensa Zangetsu."
Ichigo smiled at him, "I know." He replied.
The sword was twisted in his chest and a light erupted from them both.
Ollivante smirked wildly over Rukia's body, raising her sword higher, ready to let her blade pierce the petite soul reapers chest.
She marveled in her victory, this was too easy, way to easy hahahahah.
"it was fun soul reaper, but now I think its time you said good bye to your life." Ollivante sneered.
She began to plunge her blade downwards but she stopped and she began to shake violently. Huh what the, what is that.
Just then an explosion rang out, Ollivante snapped her head towards the source of the explosion, where she saw dense black energy erupting from the ground, and in the middle stood an orange haired boy, No! IT CANT BE! She thought.
Ichigo stood up and threw his head back and yelled to the sky, his arms tense, hands clenched into fists.
The black energy grew higher and higher, the ground began to shake violently from the raw power that was being unleashed.
Ollivante stood in absolute awe as she watched the boy generate more energy, she could feel the spiritual pressure rain down on her, it was heavy, and getting heavier by the second.
Where did this power come from, earlier I couldn't trace barely any spirit energy from him, now, its as if something finally snapped.
Ichigo brought his head down and looked Ollivante straight in the eye, his eyes wild with anger, he was pissed, "I wont let you do this, Arrancar!" He yelled.
Ichigo, you need to let your emotions go, your bottled up emotion is holding back your power, release them all!
Ichigo threw his head back, threw his arms down in rage, and screamed to the night sky. An intense rage filled scream that caused tears to fall from his face.
Then everything let loose, the ground shook as if it were a large scale earthquake, wind whipped by causing Ollivante's hair to whip in the wind violently under the power of the wind, black and red spirit energy erupted into an endless tower of energy and raw power that pierced the sky.
Ollivante just stood and watched in shock at this incredible power.
...
in the soul society...
Renji was kicking back and relaxing after a long day's work a lower ranked messenger burst through his door.
"Lieutenant Abarai sir, your requested at this time to meet at the captain commander's office immediately." The messenger spoke in urgency.
Renji grunted, and left his quarters for the captain commander's barracks.
When he got there the door opened and there stood all of the captains stood waiting for his arrival, when Renji took a few steps in he stood and shook in place.
"whats the matter Renji Abarai?" Captain Yammamoto asked.
"I-I just felt an intense outbreak of spiritual pressure sir." Renji stuttered.
All the captains looked at him confused.
"Renji do you know who it is, I feel it too, its very distant but very powerful, incredibly powerful, beyond a captain's." Captain Unohana asked.
Renji searched his thoughts, this spirit energy is so damn familiar, I haven't felt it in such a long time, but I am almost certain its….. its…..
Renji gasped, "KUROSAKI!"
All of the captains looked in shock, Hitsugaya stepped forward, "That's impossible Abarai, Ichigo lost all of his spirit energy, theres no chance that his power has come back, let alone this powerful, this power is beyond a captain's almost on par with the captain commander himself!" He exclaimed.
Renji shook his head, " I know the signature of that spirit energy all to well, its Ichigo's unmistakably, I know it."
The question is when did he ever become this powerful! He thought.
In the real world…
Ollivante stood motionless as the towering mass of energy compressed in on itself and formed a dome over where Ichigo stood, the dome exploded and the area became covered in mist, Ollivante couldn't see very well, but when the mist cleared, there stood a hooded man.
"Where is the boy, where did he go, answer me!" Ollivante scolded, she didn't know it was Ichigo. Ichigo turned, and drew Tensa Zangetsu out of his sheath, doing so the chain that extended from the handle, extended out and wrapped up his arm and over his shoulder to a point on his jacket. When Tensa Zangetsu was fully unsheathed, Ichigo looked at the liquid black blade and grinned.
He turned his attention back to Ollivante and he disappeared in an instant.
Ollivnate looked in shock as Ichigo appeared behind her and kicked her in the back with force that sent her rolling. Ichigo stood next to Rukia's body and looked down at her.
"Im so sorry this happened Rukia, ill make it up to you, don't worry." Ichigo whispered.
Rukia's head began to turn as she moaned trying to wake up. Ichigo sheathed Tensa Zangetsu, the chain going back to normal length,
Ichigo picked up Rukia and cradled her in his arms, she moaned a little more.
Ollivante got back up and charged at Ichigo, "you will pay for that!"
Ichigo disappeared with Rukia's body, leaving Ollivante looking for a trace of him.
I cant even sense him move, he moves to fast!
Ichigo reappeared up by his car and laid Rukia down on the ground, being careful to not hurt her any more.
Ichigo wiped the blood from her mouth using his coat stood back up and faced the other way towards Ollivante. Rukia rolled her head back and forth moaning, when she finally came too.
"What the hell?" Rukia said scratching her head, she struggled to sit up.
Ichigo removed the hood from his head and turned around to face Rukia.
Rukia looked in shock, "Ichigo what the hell!"
Ichigo smiled at her. "I bet your wondering what happened eh?" He said in a genuine happy tone. "I saved your life just after you saved mine Rukia."
Ichigo smiled looking into her deep violet eyes, Rukia sat up and painfully tried to speak, "I-Ich-igo, I is this happening?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo had no time to answer as Ollivante appeared charging a cero as she yelled in joy, "I found you!"
Ichigo thought, Shit!
He picked up rukia in his arms and disappeared as Ollivante released the cero, the blast ending up destroying his car.
Ichigo reappeared and set Rukia down on a park bench and lifted her face. "Hey, don't worry, I'm sorry I came against your wishes, but I had to tell you something important."
Ichigo turned and saw Ollivante charging at them with her sword. Ichigo used a flash step so fast that Ollivante didn't know what happened, as she felt a slash in her shoulder, with blood gushing out of the wound, Ichigo turned and struck again, gashing her other shoulder with the gleaming black blade.
Ollivante looked at Ichigo standing infront of Rukia with fearful eyes.
Ichigo smirked, "Ollivante, you said that you were my fear, but, why do I see so much fear in you, is it because of something I did?"
Ollivante lifted a finger, "You're the human, what trick is this! I didn't sense anything from you before, what are you trying to pull?"
Ichigo pointed his sword at Ollivante, "this isn't a trick Ollivante, this is the true form of Tensa Zangetsu."
Ichigo whipped his sword up and slashed downward, releasing a wave of dense black energy that cut Ollivante's arm completely off.
Ollivante gripped where her arm once was as Ichigo stood forward walking towards her.
"That attack is called Getsuga Tensho." Ichigo said. He walked forward and stood face to face with a heavily wounded Ollivante. "I can't hold back against you for two reasons, one you just destroyed my car, my very expensive car, two you tried to kill the woman I love…" Ichigo said directly to her face cas he plunged Tensa Zangetsu right through Ollivante's stomach.
Rukia sat and looked at them standing there, Ichigo's sword clearly pierced completely through Ollivante, who wrapped her hands around the sword. Rukia heard footsteps coming, she looked over and saw Orihime, Uryu and Chad rushing towards them.
"OH! RUKIA WHAT HAPPENED!" Orihime exclaimed worried for her good friend.
"H-Hey Or-ihime, glad you guys made it." Rukia managed to speak, Orihime began to heal Rukia as the whole group looked over and saw Ichigo standing there with a blade through an arrancar's stomach. "Woah is that Ichigo!" Uryu exclaimed.
Chad looked at Ichigo, "I never anticipated him to have this much power, it's truly frightening even from here."
Rukia looked over at Ichigo and smiled, you fool, I told you not to come, but I'm glad you didn't listen, your incredibly strong Ichigo,
Ollivante snickered, "good luck trying to save your town, once my master gets here."
Ichigo scowled as he twisted the blade so that the edge pointed up, he then forced the blade up and through Ollivante's chest and head exiting her skull, nearly cleaving the arrancar in half before she dissipated into black ash.
Ichigo sighed, "we will see about that." He said before he turned and went back to the group. He stopped and saw Tatsuki standing five feet from him, gazing in complete shock.
"Hey Tatsuki, whats up?" Ichigo asked as he sheathed Tensa Zangetsu. Ichigo walked back over to the group where Rukia was finally fully healed.
Ichigo smiled "hey" he said.
Rukia stood up and slapped Ichigo in the face. He didn't retaliate he just stood there and smiled.
"IDIOT! I could have handled that, I wouldn't have been beaten to a bloody pulp if you didn't show up!" Rukia exclaimed through teary eyes.
Ichigo looked at the group, "Hey guys, can I talk to Rukia alone for a minute."
Orihime and Uryu smiled and nodded, Chad just nodded as the all turned and walked towards home.
Ichigo sat on the bench and slumped over some, Rukia stood in front of him.
"Ichigo you look really tired out, what happened to you?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo looked up at her, "well id imagine its because my body isn't used to the insane spiritual pressure I exert now, its been seventeen months now, it makes sense." Ichigo chuckled.
Rukia remembered something, "hey Ichigo what was it you wanted to tell me before?"
Ichigo stood up and scratched his head "well I do actually now don't I." Ichigo playfully said.
Ichigo grabbed Rukia's hands and looked straight into her eyes, what is he going to say that would cause him to do this… wait a minute…. Rukia thought.
"I-I don't really know a way to say it so ill just say it outright." Ichigo stammered.
Rukia looked into his smoldering brown eyes and Ichigo stared deep into her deep violet eyes. Rukia's eyes shined as she smiled at what Ichigo said next.
"Rukia. I love you."