I want to thank everyone again for their reviews. I love the feedback. ^_^
DimpledSun and to clarify again- There's going to be a lot of Ichixhime, HichixIchi, and Hichixhime elements. (Especially at the beginning) You also have to consider that Ichigo and his hollow are just 2 parts of the same soul. It really depends on how you look at things. Once the story progresses, it's going to focus on all 3 of them. That's what I mean by a threesome fic. This isn't a one shot or a story where they're gonna sex it up right from the beginning. The story will most likely be fairly long and it's going to illustrate how their relationships are changing. Sorry if there was any confusion about it. Be patient, it'll start to make more sense soon enough.
This chapter should help clear up some of what's going on, but there's not much going on romantically this chapter. The next chapter makes up for it and will be posted very soon, I promise. ;p Interesting little tidbit- when I was planning this chapter out I came up with name for Kyouraku's team by the bridge. It was dubbed Team Song and Dance... I'm still not really sure how my brain thought that one up… The cat I'm house-sitting this week is a riot. She came up several times and started nuzzling the corner of my laptop screen. I really tried to get this out for Christmas but I had a really rough time getting the last half of this done. Next chapter will be out tomorrow.
I was looking at the statistics and was pleasantly surprised at how many people from other countries read the first chapter. Only about half were from the US. Gotta love the internet. 3
**An important note- any reference to a hollow refers to Ichigo's hollow. He still does not posses a name of his own. I apologize for any confusion. The enemies will be referred to as Espada or arrancar.
Sitting atop his self-proclaimed throne, irritation began to bubble beneath the lord's calm facade when he noticed two missing from the group he had sent out earlier. "Where are Grimmjow and Szayel?" he inquired.
"Your hypotheses were correct, Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra replied. "The boy certainly has potential. He displayed a higher increase than we had even anticipated. However, Grimmjow was severely injured and Szayel will be delayed until he can stabilize the Sexta. I was asked to relay that he predicts a high probability of success."
"I see. Good." Aizen sighed then muttered, "I suppose this will change our plans slightly, but it is unimportant. You may proceed once Grimmjow is stabilized."
"Did you have a replacement in mind, my lord?"
"Ah. I suppose Luppi should be able to be of some assistance to you." he dismissed them with a lazy wave of the hand. The group exited after bowing to their lord. "Don't you have anything better to do, Gin?" Aizen said with a sigh.
Gin emerged from the shadows with his usual foxy smile in place. "Ya seem kinda depressed today, Taicho. Yer lil' games ain't keepin' ya amused?"
Aizen turned to look at his lieutenant with a bored look as an idea came to him. "Go follow Ulquiorra's group without being detected."
Gin's smile grew even larger. "Awww, ain't that cute? Never thought I'd see the day when ya'd go and get attached to one of yer lil' pawns," he teased.
"Ulquiorra is the only Espada that is truly loyal to me. It would be bothersome if he were to perish," he stated as he turned his head back to rest on his hand.
"Don't worry, Taicho. I'll keep an eye on yer pet for ya."
Ichigo was contemplating the battle earlier that day as he strolled alongside the rest of the group, Tensa Zangetsu still in hand. Nanao's yells were echoing throughout the forest as she reprimanded two of the guards loudly. Less than two weeks away from the battlefield and the enemy had already tracked him down and brought the battle to him. He let out a sigh as he began to recall the strange conversation that had led him to request this mission.
**Flashback: A week and a half prior**
The fighting had subsided and Ichigo was sitting down with some friends when Rukia stood to get up. "I'll see ya later, Ichigo. I need to get my stuff and get ready," she said with a quick wave as she left.
"Getting ready for what?" Ichigo asked, confused.
"Kuchiki and Abarai are being reassigned to a guard mission," Hitsugaya explained.
"Eh? Why would they be reassigned?" Ichigo questioned as he turned to look over at Renji who was still lying on the ground some distance away. Inoue was still working to heal the last of his wounds.
"Seireitei is struggling to keep up with their normal duties as the war continues. We aren't able to give people time off, but we are trying to rotate people off the front lines as much as possible." Hitsugaya explained.
The three teens were looking over at Renji and Inoue when Chad spoke up, "You should volunteer to go with, Ichigo."
"What? Why?" Ichigo turned to question his normally silent friend.
"Everyone needs a break." Chad said with a shrug.
"I'll be fine," Ichigo assured him as he laid back to stare at the sky.
Ishida shook his head and sighed. "Inoue-san needs a break."
Ichigo whipped his head to look at Ishida and sat up on his elbows. "What does that have to do with me?"
Ishida's eyebrows raised high as his eyes went wide. 'His density is legendary, but he's still this stupid?' Ishida thought as he glared at shinigami. 'This has gone far beyond ridiculous at this point.' Closing his eyes, Ishida's palm met his face with a loud smack. He quietly muttered, "Baka... Can you remember a single battle where she hasn't been there with you?"
Ichigo looked over toward Inoue again, who was now talking animatedly with Renji. His eyebrows furrowed as he flipped through his many memories of the battles he had fought over the past year. Inoue had healed him nearly every time, he already knew that much. Now that he looked back on it, he couldn't recall a single one. 'Have I really been that preoccupied? How could she have been in every battle I was? It couldn't have been a coincidence…' he thought to himself. "How-"
"She always requested to be assigned to the same areas as you, boke," Ishida interrupted. He pinched the bridge of his nose as tried to keep calm. "Considering the type of battles you were always involved in, they were always ecstatic to have her extraordinary healing abilities." He opened his eyes and looked back over at Inoue. "I don't think she's had a proper night's sleep in over a month," he added.
Ichigo couldn't disagree with Ishida, she looked extremely tired. "But-"
"Take a break. You need it," Chad insisted.
Ichigo glanced over at Chad. He stared at his lap as he stewed in thought. Maybe a break wouldn't be so bad after all… "You two aren't coming?"
Ishida stood up and brushed off the dirt he had accumulated then stated, "I'm returning to Karakura for a while."
"Sado has already agreed to help me with an upcoming mission." Hitsugaya added.
"Mmm," Chad confirmed as he stood.
"Do you think they still have room?" Ichigo asked Toushirou.
"I don't know. Squad 8 is in charge of the operation." He started to walk away before pausing. "I'm fairly certain Kyouraku-taicho would be happy to have you along though," he relented before he left.
"Right..." Ichigo said to himself while he stared over at Inoue. "I guess I'll talk to Kyouraku-san about it then."
"Take Inoue-san with you," Ishida added before he left in a flash.
Chad gave Ichigo a smile and a thumbs up before walking off.
**End Flashback**
In the white halls of Las Noches, the sound of Ulquiorra's steps echoed throughout the empty corridor. With his hands placed inside his pockets, he stared at the floor with a blank expression as he continued towards the meeting area. His eyes lifted as he noticed the Octava turning the corner.
"How did it go?" Ulquiorra inquired.
"He's been stabilized for now," Szayel replied as they fell into step besides one another.
"Are you sure this plan of yours will work?"
The Octava turned his head to glare at his superior for a moment before scoffing, "Don't insult my intelligence."
"You will be the one to face Aizen's wrath if it fails," Ulquiorra stated quietly.
"I know that," Szayel snapped. He sighed and added, "They've split into two groups, by the way."
"That won't be a problem," Ulquiorra explained as the pair drew close to their destination. "I'll send the others to lead a separate group as we go after Kurosaki."
"Whatever. Just be sure to do your job." Ulquiorra opened the doors and ignored the appraising look the pink-haired arrancar was giving him. Szayel readjusted his glasses and grinned. "As much as I would love to dissect such a fine specimen, it would be... inconvenient if you died now," he added.
"You really think the attack was about Ichigo?" Renji sputtered.
"Ichigo-kun said the arrancar he was fighting confirmed it," Kyouraku stated. "It has me a little worried. This group was not meant to handle attacks of multiple Espada."
"We were lucky that it didn't turn out worse," Rukia said softly. Kyouraku nodded in agreement. They stayed silent for a moment before Rukia added, "There's something I don't understand. How could they have known he was here? We've been on the move…"
"It's possible they have something similar to what the 12th division uses to monitor the real world, but there's no way to tell exactly how detailed their information could be. Aizen certainly knew of it and that pink-haired Espada probably has something to do with it as well," Kyouraku mused. "If that's the case, it makes setting up these campsites with barriers that much more important."
A song began playing loudly, "Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight. Get down tonight." Kyouraku searched for his communicator. Rukia and Renji just looked at each other for a moment before they started cracking up. "Why hello there, Nanao-chan. Did you miss my handsome-" he paused and his face grew solemn as he listened. "What?"
Smoke slowly billowed out of his mouth and dissipated as it floated toward the sky. Akon walked along the forest paths, his self-modified mp3 player blaring his favorite tunes. 'I don't understand why Taicho insisted it had to be me and not one of the other officers, but it's nice to get out of the lab for once…' Akon glanced at his cigarette before taking one last drag. He realized he was already running low as he pulled another cigarette out of the carton. "Damnit," he groaned as he lit up.
He saw Kurosaki stiffen out of the corner of his eye as Akon sensed his reiatsu fluctuate. Apparently the Inoue girl had noticed something as well. They stared at each other, several yards apart. Akon cocked an eyebrow. 'The hell? I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary…' The ryoka nodded at each other and Ichigo flash stepped over to inform Nanao of something. Ichigo locked eyes with Akon for a moment before flash stepping over to talk to Inoue quietly. Nanao ordered the group to stay on their guard but continue as she flipped open her communicator.
'How in the world did Kurosaki of all people notice something I can't? I was under the impression that he had sensory capabilities similar to Zaraki,' Akon thought to himself, intrigued. With a quick shunpo, Akon was next to the teens. "Sorry for interrupting, but what is going on?" he inquired. They stared at Akon as he took a drag on his cigarette before letting it drop to the ground to put it out with his foot.
The two teens exchanged a glance before Inoue began, "There's going to be another attack. It feels like a larger group this time. It seems like they are splitting into two groups, most likely heading towards the other group as well..."
"And how do you know all of this exactly?" Akon asked incredulously.
"Ano…"
"Can we talk about this another time?" Ichigo drawled as he cut off Orihime. "They're coming." A burst of reiatsu signaled the beginning of the second attack of the day. The garganta opened and 7 arrancar could be seen. Ulquiorra, Szayel, and 5 others he had never seen before. He knew that he'd be fighting one of the two Espada; the question was who was going to handle the other. Three of the lower ranked male arrancar charged the group and the guards met them sword to sword.
"What's keeping you, Kurosaki Ichigo?" the Cuatro inquired.
"I might ask you the same." He replied. He kept his face calm as his mind raced, trying to figure out how he was supposed to manage to fight the Cuatro Espada without the risk of using his mask.
The four others moved off even quicker that the first bunch. The two female arrancars went directly for Orihime as the two espada sped off toward Ichigo. Nanao caught the blonde female with a kido spell and moved to block the other but Orihime deployed her Santen Kesshun to shield them both. "Leave this one to me and take care of the others," Orihime stated with a fierce look as she launched Tsubaki after the black haired female.
Akon caught the Octava's hand before he had a chance to strike Ichigo from behind. The espada's face was full of surprise as Akon tossed him back. "I heard you were the scientific type, but attacking someone from behind is just low," Akon said offhandedly.
"I don't recall you from the previous battle," the Espada said as he stood and brushed himself off.
"No, I don't suppose you would have noticed me. I have very specific orders from my captain, you see. However, I know all about you, Szayel Aporro Grantz. Octava Espada and head administrator of Hueco Mundo's lab."
"Oh, well. This is a surprise. I didn't realize that the shinigami had much information on me," Szayel sneered.
"It's a strange coincidence that I'm sent on this mission and you show up in the first attack. I've been looking forward to a good fight," Akon taunted as he prepared to attack.
Ulquiorra held a tired disinterested expression as he traded strikes with the teen. Ichigo was getting irritated at the bastard's complete lack of emotion. He launched a Getsuga toward the arrancar who simply brushed it away with a flick of his hand. "This fight is pointless unless you bring out your mask," he stated. Ichigo stared at the Espada in shock. He didn't want to have to resort to using his mask, but he didn't have much of a choice if the Espada could withstand his getsuga that easily.
He's not even trying to kill you King. He wants you to use the mask for some reason. They're fuckin' with us.
Yea, but what the fuck am I supposed to do? At this rate, we'll be here all week.
I don't know, but I don't like it, the hollow said with a growl.
Akon flew past as Ulquiorra charged him from the front. Ichigo prepared to block Ulquiorra when he felt something prick his shoulder. A second later, Ichigo's head felt like it was trying to tear itself into pieces. He heard his hollow's cries as his mask began to form over his head. He held onto awareness for a few moments as clutched his head in pain, but quickly melted away into unconsciousness.
"Thank you, Szayel," Ulquiorra said automatically then began to address the boy. "I'm glad you've finally decided to join us."
"What the… hell… was that?" the hollow managed to ask, still clutching his head in pain.
"What? Don't you like it?" Szayel teased.
"It feels like I got run over by a truck. Then it decided to turn around and stick a crowbar through my skull..." he ground out.
"Duly noted. Well, you're one of a kind. So this is its trial run," Szayel explained, observing the vizard.
"You are Kurosaki's hollow, are you not?"
He looked up at Ulquiorra and smirked. "You're a real emotionless prick."
Ulquiorra's face fell slightly at the hollow's remark. A bright orange light suddenly appeared and exploded near Ulquiorra's feet as he was suddenly knocked away. Akon sprang up simultaneously to deliver a swift kick into Szayel's gut. Tsubaki was doing his best to keep the Cuatro occupied by darting around and rapidly firing bursts toward him. Orihime appeared and multiple triangle shields began to form and connect to erect a barrier around herself and Ichigo's body.
Orihime did a quick inspection of Ichigo and noticed no major injuries, but his reiatsu had completely changed. 'So his hollow is in control now…' she thought to herself. "Ano…" She paused and stared at him wide-eyed as he faced her. His eyes had changed but the mask was acting abnormally. The half formed mask floated around slightly in front of his face and the design was swirling as the mask refused to solidify. "K-Kurosaki-kun?"
"Come on, Hime. You know I ain't him," he chuckled.
Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open slightly in surprise at his nickname for her. She didn't think that his hollow would even know who she was, let alone have a nickname for her… Then again, she knew very little about Ichigo's hollow. "What should I call you then?"
"I appreciate the help, princess, but you might not want to be here right now," the hollow stated with a weak smile. "Not exactly feelin' very stable right now."
"What happened…?"
"The pink bastard injected us with somethin' and I was forced to take over," the hollow explained. Ulquiorra's reiatsu suddenly spiked and green reiatsu rained down upon the dome-like barrier. "Well that can't be good," he muttered. Orihime immediately recalled Tsubaki before he could sustain any critical injuries.
Ulquiorra suddenly appeared in front of the dome in his resurrección form. "I have grown tired of your persistent dawdling," he stated as he pointed a finger toward the dome and charged a black cero. Ichigo's hollow immediately stood in front of Orihime, who was channeling her energy into the barrier. "Cero obscuras," he muttered as he fired the cero at the barrier. It screeched as it exploded against the barrier. The hollow extended a hand toward the point of impact on the barrier in an attempt to reinforce it. Orihime was trembling with the effort and energy required to maintain the barrier. Cracks appeared, but the barrier withstood the blast.
Moments later, Ulquiorra swiftly shattered it with his glowing green weapon. Orihime dropped to her knees and Ichigo's hollow wasted no time- immediately attacking the Espada with a growl. "Oh? Did we finally manage to irritate the emotionless Batspada?" the hollow taunted with a grin as they began wounding each other.
"Now for phase two…" Szayel said as he appeared behind Orihime and lifted her by the hair. She screamed and attempted to free herself from the Espada's hold. Ichigo's hollow whipped his head around, earning him a kick to the gut from his opponent, sending him away from the girl. Ulquiorra launched his weapon toward the group of bystanders then charged a cero toward the vizard. As his weapon exploded, instantly evaporating a portion of the group, Ichigo's body slammed into the ground. The hollow let out a fearsome roar as Ulquiorra fired the cero. The mask quickly hardened and encased his head. Between the two newly formed horns, he quickly charged powerful cero of his own which collided and overpowered Ulquiorra's.
The Cuatro was immediately kicked to the ground and impaled by Tensa Zangetsu. The hollow proceeded to grab Szayel by his hair a second later, and threw him into the woods. Inoue simply stared at his new form. Two lines ran across both eyes now, the mask now wrap[ed around his head and had two symmetrical horns sticking out of either side. She could not find his eyes behind the mask, just a pure dark void. He looked at her for a moment before appearing over Ulquiorra. The hollow began to charge a cero.
"You far surpass all expectations at every turn of events. If I cannot defeat you in this form then my life no longer has any purpose. Do it," Ulquiorra beckoned.
Before the hollow got a chance to fire his cero, he was caught within a quick kido. "Yare, yare. I really didn't think I'd have to get involved… I can't let precious Pet-san here bite the dust though," Gin said as he looked at the struggling hollow. "That's certainly an interesting form, kid." He glanced at Ulquiorra for a moment before removing the sword impaled in his stomach, tossing it aside and signaling the negación.
The hollow's reiatsu spiked as he watched his enemies float away into the sky. One by one, the bars of yellow light began to shatter slowly, as the hollow struggled to break free. Orihime quickly strode toward the struggling hollow. "Kurosaki-kun?" she asked tentatively as she approached him. The hollow looked at her for a moment before continuing his struggle, itching to attack the escaping Espada. When only two bars remained, Orihime had made up her mind. Tsubaki popped out of her hairpin. "Can you do it?" she asked.
"Yea. The timing will be a little difficult, but it's nothing we can't handle," he stated with a confident smirk. Another bar cracked and dissolved as the hollow let out a roar. "Now!" the faerie yelled.
"Koten Zanshun, I reject," Orihime chanted as Tsubaki sped off toward the hollow. A split second after the hollow broke free, Tsubaki sliced through one of the horns of the hollow's mask. The mask cracked and broke apart as Ichigo's body crashed into the ground. Orihime ran over to Ichigo. She sat next to him and leaned over him to carefully roll him over. She carefully pried the final bit of the mask from his face and cupped his face gently as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Inoue-san! Please hurry!" Nanao interrupted anxiously. "Akon-sanseki has lost a hand and is in critical condition! We lost nearly all of our healers in the explosion and most everyone has sustained heavy damage from the blast." Orihime looked down at an unconscious, mildly injured Ichigo and said tiredly, "Hai, Hai. I understand," She reached into her bag and popped a pill into her mouth before heading off to begin emergency operations.
A few notes on the fighting- Ulquiorra is in his first release. I toned down the destructive capabilites of his lance quite a bit due to this. While Ichigo and his hollow get the new mask and mask design- it's not exactly like it was in the manga either. No hole in the chest, no real changes other than the mask. And like I said in the beginning, there's been a war going on for about a year. Like I said before- Don't expect the frail little Orihime in this fic. That was Loly and Menoly if you missed it and Orihime kicked Loly's ass. She still dislikes fighting and is still mainly a healer, but she's no longer going to hold back once she or her allies are attacked. She had a chance to get some REAL training before the war began and has gained a lot of experience, so she has some impressive new abilities now.
I don't think its ever stated that Akon is the 3rd seat in the 12th division, but it makes sense to me and I honestly can't see anyone else in the position. It's a real shame we don't get to see more of him in the manga. =/
I'm sorry that Ichigo's hollow doesn't have a name yet. I hope it wasn't too confusing.
Please review and let me know if anything didn't make sense to you! Thanks for reading! 3
Japanese for the chapter-
ボケ[Boke] - Idiot/airhead. Similar to baka.
やれ やれ[Yare, yare] - My, my. Oh well. Something along those lines.
~三席[~sanseki] - 3rd seat (officer)