Chapter Six, yo! Right here for ya! Hopefully it's better than chapter five, which personally, I didn't like all that much. Here, you'll get to see how Loly and Menoly are doing and see a little more of Harribel and her fraccion. AND you'll witness the fight between Ichigo and his Hollow.(Hopefully, I did good on it.) So, with no other commentary, here's the review corner;
Shadowfreddy:I... I don't know what that means, but will just nod my head and smile*Nods head and smiles*
Nightkill:They are pretty cool, I agree!
marc:He will become stronger, and much faster too. And they didn't because of what they saw. When Ichigo willingly Hollowfyed to prove a point, Shinji concluded that it would be best to start the internal battle right away, instead of having Ichigo wait.
Grinja:I will give each girl their own spotlights and the such. Some may be more difficult than others, but I'll do it nonetheless.
icewolves:The reason I'm not doing Harribel is I believe I wouldn't be able to pull it off successfully. And the fact that I just want her fraccion and Loly and Menoly to be the harem :P
DBZlover:You waited, and here it is!
Sentiment Remains:Yes, the last chapter was rather short, but this one is longer.
Kaiser969:Yep, Ichigo is focused. And it'll make him strong, real strong.
The Demon Rabbit:Thanks for the comment! I, too, love IchigoxFemale Arrancar pairings
Seiei:Indeed, Ichigo will put his hollow in his place. See for yourself!
VampireNecromancer:Thanks for your kind review. Ichigo, for now, will be training with them. I don't know if I'm going to make things more in-depth than that, but we'll see
Desuse:*On the phone*Yeah... Yeah, with a headshot, like usual. K, call back when you're done*Hangs up* Nel won't be in the Harem... and right now, not in the story. Shocker, but this is because, while I have Bleach Manga 1 through 34, the ONLY manga I don't have is Number 28, which introduces her. I'm skeptical bout getting it though, cause that means I'd have to look at Loly and Menoly blush at Aizen... *twitches* (Hopefully you'll reread the chapter and see this :P Sorry if my comment made you upset! I didn't think you were flaming! The whole headshot thing was the reply to you saying i'd have to kill Orihime XD I was supposed to be calling in a hit on her.)
Betareadeded by the amaAaAzing LazRuth!
And that will wrap it up today. Without further ado, Chapter Six!
(Las Noches)
Loly looked down at her sister as she lay on the infirmary bed. Menoly was in bad shape, everything besides her head, legs, and arms bandaged. The nurse had been unable to heal her with her healing powers, saying there was a sinister reiatsu inside the wound preventing her from doing so. Loly believed her. So, Menoly was estimated to be bed-ridden for a couple of weeks. The only thing that could be done while her body healed naturally was to keep clean bandages on her and to keep her nourished.
Of course, this was difficult. Bandaging her was easy enough, as she laid motionless during the procedure, but Menoly would not touch her food. There was currently an untouched lunch lied out on a cart next to her bed, but Loly couldn't get her to eat. In fact, Menoly hadn't really said much for a while. She only stared up at the ceiling silently.
Loly's cuts and bruises had healed up quickly. Though, that didn't mean she felt better than Menoly. Emotionally, Loly felt horrible. This was all her fault. Menoly had been right. Sneaking out of Las Noches was a very stupid idea. In the end, she and Menoly could've been killed. When that thought triggered the memory of the previous night, Loly hugged herself and looked down, shaking.
The man she had come to love had almost killed her and Menoly. It almost made her sick to think about it. He was a shinigami, the enemy. When he found out they were Hollows, it seemed that everything up till that moment no longer mattered. She didn't know what to think of what Ichigo had turned into. Remembering it scared her though. That sinister reiatsu and the feeling of death washing over you in waves.
"Loly."
Loly looked up in surprise at the sound of Menoly's voice. It had been almost a day before she had heard it. She looked at Menoly, who had turned her head to look back at her. Loly could see, right away, that she was tired, both physically and mentally. Loly spoke up to answer her sister. "Yeah?"
"What do we do now?" Menoly's voice was hoarse, her eye's half-lidded. She brought her hands up from her sides and rested them on her stomach, her fingers interlocked. Loly didn't know whatto answer with, but it seemed that Menoly had more to say. "We go back to how things were? Forget that these past two weeks ever happened?"
Loly's expression turned sympathetic. Sighing, she answered, "It's the only thing we can do."
Menoly's expression suddenly hardened, her eyes narrowing. "So thats it then? It never happened? That's how we're going to deal with this?"
Loly was surprised at the sudden outburst from Menoly, but her own expression quickly turned to anger at her tone. "What else are we going to do, Menoly? He's a Shinigami! He almost killed us!"
"We almost killed him, too! You're just scared of him!" Menoly yelled back at Loly, who grit her teeth in return.
"Of course I am!" She retorted "He turned into a monster! That's what he is!"
Menoly's eyes widened slightly. She spoke up again, quieter this time. "Do you really believe that, Loly?"
"He's a Shinigami, we're Hollows. He's our enemy. If we don't kill him, he'll kill us. Get it through your head, Menoly. It never would've worked out, anyways! It would have ended this way even if we weren't told what he was yesterday."
Menoly stared at Loly, saddened. Loly stood there, standing as straight as possible, trying to appear as sure of herself as she could. Her eyes were watering though, showing she seemed to be just as affected by what she said as Menoly was. Menoly turned her head to look back up at the ceiling. It was obvious she had nothing more to say to Loly, so they both settled for staying quiet.
Quiet until the door to the infirmary was opened. It was Apacci. She walked into the room, the door closing behind her. She looked like she had something to say, but when she saw Menoly lying there on the bed, all bandaged up, her expression changed to that of surprise. She voiced her shock to the two.
"Whoa. What happened to you, Menoly?" Apacci paused to think how to voice the next question. "Did-?"
"Yes. It was him... It was Ichigo."
Apacci slightly gaped in shock. This surprised her. From what she had heard of Ichigo from the two in front of her, he wouldn't do something like this. She spoke up cautiously,
"What happened?"
Loly answered her, Menoly looking over to her right, away from Loly and Apacci. "We found him and attacked. When we were about to kill him, he... changed. Something that looked like a Hollow mask began to appear on his face and he attacked us. He hurt me, but I managed to heal. Menoly got the worst of it. She would have died if I didn't get her here fast enough."
Apacci closed her mouth and soaked in what she just heard from Loly. "What are you two going to do now?"
Loly answered again, Menoly still not looking at either of them. "Things are going back to the way they were... the last two weeks never happened."
Apacci blinked. This was bad. Loly and Menoly may go back to what they used to be. Something that concerned Apacci. She had to admit, she felt bad for her two friends. She knew she'd be crushed if something like this happened to her. It didn't happen to her, but she still felt crushed at this. Apacci spoke up again. "Are... are you sure?"
This only received a nod from Loly, who had turned to look down at her sister. Apacci sighed. This changed things, in her opinion. She had a message for the two, originally, from Harribel, but now, maybe she shouldn't tell them. She would have to go back and tell Harribel what happened. She turned to leave, but before she did, she said, "Sorry for bothering you two."
When this got no verbal reply, Apacci left the room, intending to go back to Harribel and tell her what she had just found out. Apacci, herself, was disappointed at this turn of events. Didn't this make Harribel's plans useless now? She didn't know. She would just have to wait and see what Harribel had to say about it.
(Vaizard Warehouse/Ichigo's Mindscape)
Ichigo and his Hollow had been exchanging blows for close to an hour now, neither one showing signs of slowing or tiring. Each attack of theirs would either be blocked, dodged, or countered. They were both determined to win this fight for themselves.
The Hollow swung his Zangetsu horizontally, aiming for Ichigo's waist, hoping to cleave him in half. This attack was blocked and expertly riposted by Ichigo. With the Hollow's entire upper body open to attack, Ichigo thrust Zangetsu forward, aiming to spear the Hollow in his heart. The Hollow realized his vulnerability and, at the last second, blocked the thrust with the flat side of his blade. Ichigo's Hollow laughed, excited. "Haha! You're getting good, King! Come on, stop trying to end it so soon, let's have some fun with this!"
"Shut up!" Ichigo growled. He swung back and brought Zangetsu down on his Hollow, who managed to block it by meeting Ichigo's Zangetsu with own above his head. Suddenly, the Hollow found himself being overpowered, fast. He brought his other hand up to push against the blunt side of his Zangetsu for extra leverage, but he was still being overcome. Ichigo continued his attack and sliced forward, off of the Hollow's blade, sending him into the building below.
An idea came to Ichigo's mind as the Hollow crashed into the building. He shunpo'd several meters ahead, now standin in the air a few yards above the hole the Hollow had just made in the skyscraper. Ichigo held Zangetsu out. "Bankai!"
Ichigo's Hollow clawed out of the rubble from the hole he just made. He was about to jump back into the fight, but was suddenly floored back into the rubble by the reiatsu explosion from Ichigo's Bankai[1]. He growled out, annoyed. Again, he emerged from the rubble and prepared to attack Ichigo.
"Getsuga Tensho!"
The Hollow looked up to see the wave of hardened reiatsu come down at him. He scoffed and brought one hand up and stopped the attack. The Getsuga Tensho was more powerful and dense than any he had seen Ichigo used before, but he was able to dispel it after a few seconds. When he did, Ichigo was already there in front of him, crouched down. Ichigo slashed Tensa Zangetsu upwards. While it was blocked, just barely, the surprise attack and strength behind it sent his Hollow skyrocketing into a skyscraper above them. For a second time, the Hollow crashed into the skyscraper, sending rubble and concrete everywhere.
Ichigo shouldered Tensa Zangetsu and walked upwards to get closer to the skyscraper that his Hollow had just crashed in. A few seconds had passed with nothing happening. Ichigo thought that maybe his Hollow had been defeated, but then the dust cleared, revealing his Hollow once more. His robes were tattered and torn slightly, but he had no visible wounds on him from Ichigo's attacks. Ichigo's eyes widened at this. "W-what?"
The Hollow laughed. "Surprised, King? I must admit I am. You've certainly managed to impress me today. Turns out, you do have some killer instinct after all!"
"What are you talking about?"
"What I mean is, I thought you were a pussy. Never fighting unless you have to, trying to defeat enemies with logic. Let me tell you, it was embarrassing to be your horse, but now, there might be some pride in it."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. What was his Hollow saying? His Hollow seemed to catch his thoughts.
"Don't over think it. I'm sayin' I'm impressed, King. So, here's how it's going to go down. We'll finish this, and if you win, I'll grant you use of my powers. Hell, I'll even make it easier for you and may teach you a few things."
"And if I lose?"
"Then I get your body. Simple."
Ichigo brought Tensa Zangetsu forward again in an offensive stance. "Fine, we'll do it that way. But I won't lose."
The Hollow smirked evilly and brought his own Zangetsu forward.
"Bankai!" He shouted, the entire skyscraper under him exploding in the transformation.
(Outside/Vaizard Training Room)
"Shinji! It's almost Lisa's turn again, this has gone on long enough!" Hiyori shouted at Shinji. Shinji said nothing, staring at the Hollowfyed Ichigo from the other side of the barrier. It was certainly odd, that was sure. Up till now, the Hollowfyed Ichigo hadn't even developed a Hollow Hole. Usually, the hole in the chest opens when your Hollow uses Bankai.[2] Why? He didn't know, but it was just a pattern he noticed in all of the other Vaizards. So, this meant that Ichigo's Hollow hadn't used Bankai yet. So, that could either mean that Ichigo already lost, or the fighting hadn't managed to escalate to that of using Bankai.
Suddenly, a small hole melted itself out of Ichigo's chest, the reiatsu in the barrier increasing. Shinji smirked. This was certainly interesting.
"Hey, Shinji! Get your head out of your ass!"
Shinji turned to Hiyori. "We'll continue with fighting his Hollow."
"What?" Hiyori yelled out in surprise. It caught the attention of all the others as well, apart from Love. Who was fighting the now more powerful Hollowfyed Ichigo.
"I believe things are getting interesting for Ichigo. So, we'll give him some more time. However, we'll continue a little differently. Lisa and Kensei. Switch with Love."
Lisa and Kensei both had different reactions. Lisa looked annoyed, Kensei looked angry at this. They both didn't argue, however, both knowing that Shinji was serious at the moment. Hachi opened two entrances in the barrier, which Lisa and Kensei used to enter.
The Hollowfyed Ichigo leaped forward to attack Love, bringing his Zanpakuto overhead to attack. He was intercepted by Lisa and Kensei, though. Lisa appeared behind him and ran her zanpakuto through is sword arm, Kensei appeared below and stabbed Ichigo's forward leg with his small zanpakuto. The Hollow Howled and tore himself away from them, giving Love time to leave.
The wounds on his arm and leg began to heal rapidly, both taking the form of Hollow limbs. Kensei raised an eyebrow at this, then smirked. "So this is where the real fight starts. Come on!"
"Be careful, Kensei. His reiatsu is increasing quickly." Lisa warning him, gripping her ownzanpakuto in a defensive stance.
Shinji watched them through the barrier. 'Come on Ichigo. I'm giving you more time, don't make me regret my decision.'
(Ichigo's Mindscape)
Both Tesna Zangetsu's met each other with a shockwave of reiatsu. The Hollow was smirking, obviously excited. Ichigo continued to stay focused.
"Come on, King! Show me what you can do!"
The Hollow retracted his blade and began spearing forward with his zanpakuto incredibly fast. Ichigo weaved side to side, narrowly dodging the thrusts. His eyes began to become more accustomed to the speed and was quickly able to start dodging the strikes much sooner. He found an opportunity to attack and went for it.
When the Hollow thrust his zanpakuto forward aiming at Ichigo's stomach, Ichigo brought his own zanpakuto down and blocked the strike. With another riposte, the Hollow's blade slid past him, making a screeching noise as it grinded against Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu. Ichigo then brought his leg back then forward to kick his Hollow in the head. When the Hollow grabbed Ichigo's ankle with his free hand, Ichigo cut his zanpakuto to the right quickly. With the Hollow's zanpakutoout to the side and his once free hand held onto something, he had nothing to block with. He received a wide cut on his torso. Ichigo jumped back at the successful strike, preparing to attack again.
The Hollow brought and hand up and felt the cut on his torso. Instead of blood, though, blackness began to seep out and change the color of his robe slowly. He cackled. "Come on, King! Is that all?"
The Hollow shunpo'd and swung down at Ichigo, who blocked it quickly. The Hollow smirked. "Getsuga Tensho!"
An explosion shook the area around them. A ball of smoke flew out of the cloud of dust, which revealed Ichigo as the wind against his body as he flew blew the smoke away. He crashed into another skyscraper, though managed to get his footing quickly and was back into a defensive stance again. There were slight cuts and scuff marks on him now, his robe tattered. Ichigo looked up at his Hollow, who stood there triumphantly. The black had managed to almost envelop his entire robe. Ichigo figured this meant that the Hollow was about to lose. If the cut had been deeper, it probably would have ended already.
"Never! Never let up, Ichigo! Keep attacking, even if your opponent is almost dead! Never assume you've won! Always think you've overlooked something!" The Hollow yelled at him, the same bloodthirsty smirk on him. The smirk dropped when his once white robe was now completely black. He sighed, disappointed. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise and slight disgust when the Hollow began fading away. Skin first, then muscle, then bones,then organs.
"Too bad. I was hoping to drag this out a little more. Oh well. We'll do it again later! Get strong, King! Don't make me regret my decision!" His entire lower body had faded away. Now, his torso. Just before what was left of his arm and head vanished, he spoke. "By the way, I never got a thank you for saving your life."
He disappeared completely. Ichigo scowled. Bastard had to get the last word in. "Yeah, thanks for saving my life, you son of a bitch."
(Outside)
Shinji blocked a powerful strike by the Hollowfyed Ichigo. Rose took this moment to come in from the side with a slash of his zanpakuto. He was stopped mid-attack when the completely Hollowfyed Ichigo grabbed the zanpakuto with his hand, cutting him self. A red light began to shine from the hand. Shinji's eyes widened. "Rose! Cero!"
"I see it, I see it!"
Rose brought his hand up to his face and began to gather reiatsu to Hollowfy. He didn't need to when, suddenly, there was a loud crack in Ichigo's arm. Hiyori jumped up and yelled at Hachi, "Get them out of there!"
Hachi nodded and opened two different exits, one on either side of the barrier. Shinji exited through the left, Rose, the right. Just in time too, as an explosion enveloped the howling Ichigo. Everyone was quiet as they observed the inside of the barrier.
Rose held his hand over a gash on his arm. Shinji was unharmed, but slightly out of breath after the fight. He looked at Hachi as the smoke cleared, who nodded and dropped the barrier. The dust cleared and Ichigo stood there behind the shell that was his Hollow side. It disintegrated shortly after. Ichigo collapsed, exhausted. Shinji approached him. "How ya feelin Ichigo?"
Ichigo groaned but still put on a defiant grin and said, ''Not bad." Shinji allowed a grin to show on his own face.
"Good."
'Remember Kingy! I may acknowledge you as my King but that doesn't mean you get to slack off! If you start to become weak, I'll take you when ya least expect it!'
Ichigo rolled his eyes behind his eyelids. 'Sorry. That's not going to happen.'
(Las Noches)
"And Menoly is in the infirmary wounded?"
Harribel asked Apacci for clarification. Apacci nodded. Harribel thought to herself for a few seconds, before she asked, "You said that 'a hollow mask appeared on his face'?" Again, a nod. Harribel became slightly relieved. "Then Kurosaki was not in control of himself, and therefore cannot be held accountable for his actions."
Apacci blinked. "Harribel-sama?"
"Don't worry, Apacci. Give Loly and Menoly some time to figure things out. In the meantime, we will continue with our own agenda. Leave me be, now, and wait for orders."
Apacci bowed and left her master alone. She exited the room and went out into the equivalent of a living room inside the palace. There, Sun-Sun and Mila-Rose were waiting. Sun-Sun spoke up first. "And?"
"She said to just wait for orders." Apacci told her. Sun-Sun nodded and said nothing else, content to do just that. Mila-Rose spoke up next.
"This is crazy. No, it's insane!" She said to them both. While she didn't say what specifically, they knew what she was talking about.
Apacci smirked. "Scared, Mila-Rose? I'm not surprised."
Mila-Rose glared at her and retorted. "No. I'm just worried that this is too much for someone like you. Don't start crying in a corner when things get hectic, Apacci-chan." She said the last part in a very mocking way.
Apacci's eye twitched. "You wanna go, you cow?"
"Bring it!"
Sun-Sun sighed and said calmly, "Stop bickering over something like this. It makes you both look pathetic."
Apacci and Mila-Rose both turned on her. "Oh, shut up Sun-Sun!"
(Karakura Town/Vaizard Warehouse)
Per Ichigo's request, the Vaizards had started training him in the use of his Hollow Mask, specifically, Mask-Endurance. It had only been a few hours since they began, and Ichigo's progress was rather astonishing. Already, Ichigo could remain Hollowfyed for for exactly twenty-seven seconds. It was unheard of to the Vaizards. It took each of them days to reach that length of time. This human did it in a few hours. Shinji guessed it was Ichigo's willingness to use the sinister power and improve it that allowed him to stay Hollowfyed longer, and sooner. It was made painfully obvious that Ichigo wasn't afraid of using his Hollow Powers.
Currently, Ichigo and Hiyori were fighting each other as part of his Mask-Endurance training. Shinji noticed that Hiyori was close to going all out on the boy, which might be another reason why Ichigo is improving so rapidly. People usually do better when faced with death should they fail. It seemed that the combination of Ichigo's Will and Hiyori's fierceness were adding up rather well.
"Thirty-two seconds, Shinji." Kensei told him, restarting the stopwatch once Ichigo re-hollowfyed. Shinji nodded in acknowledgement but remained silent. He couldn't but wonder what was making Ichigo so determined to get stronger. Whatever it was, it seemed to be making the perfect motivation. Of course, this had it's risks. Shinji hoped that only Ichigo's Willpower and determination was affected. Aside from his first few moments here, he hadn't seen anything truly dangerous in Ichigo's behavior and personality.
"Thirty-three seconds."
Shinji heard Kensei announce upon Ichigo's mask dispelling on it's own. Instead of returning to his thoughts, Shinji observed the fight in front of him. Ichigo was slightly out of breath, something that Hiyori used as ammunition. "What'sa matter Strawberry? Tired?"
Ichigo glared at her and reformed his mask right away. He answered in his twisted voice, "Not even close!"
And at that, they went back at it ferociously. Seemed Hiyori had a grudge against Ichigo from his first demonstration. Hiyori had been thoroughly embarrassed, to say the least. It was understandable. For someone like Hiyori to be taken off-guard like that, especially in the middle of one of her boasts, it was only surprising that she seemed to be restraining herself at all. Of course, now, she was getting her , Shinji knew he'd have to stop the fight soon. Not to protect Ichigo, No. Ichigo was reaching his limit. To the point that it'd only be a liability and prevent him from getting any stronger.
Ichigo's mask cracked and dispelled. Kensei checked his stopwatch.
"Thirty-five seconds." He announced. Shinji nodded and stood up.
"Alright, let's call it a day."
Kensei nodded and looked out at Hiyori. He brought one hand up to the side of his mouth as he called out, "Shinji's calling it, Hiyori! Back off for now!"
The only acknowledgement he got was a, "Tch!" from Hiyori. She dispelled her own mask and pointed at Ichigo, not even out of breath. "Lucky you, punk! I'll get you tomorrow." She threatened with a smirk that showed off her fang. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her.
"I can't wait." He said to her, as if to challenge her. She scoffed and walked away. When she left, Ichigo breathed out and planted Zangetsu into the ground. He leaned back and sat down on a boulder, giving himself a few seconds breather. He looked up when he heard Shinji walk up.
"Not bad at all for your first training session, Ichigo. Be back tomorrow morning and we'll start another round. Just so you know, you didn't last as long as you would've normally because you started immediately after your internal battle. Get a full night's rest and you'll be able to go all day tomorow."
Ichigo only nodded at this, but was inwardly smirking. He was stronger. Much stronger. Even without his mask on he could feel it. It clicked in his mind that he would have to miss a couple weeks worth of school, but that didn't matter to him. A couple of weeks worth of school to make up was an incredibly small price to pay for getting Loly and Menoly back. He stood up and grabbed Zangetsu, sheathing him on his back. He followed Shinji out of the training room.
Once up top, Ichigo got back into his body. He rolled his arms before turning to leave. Before he managed to, Hiyori called out. "Strawberry! Tomorrow morning! Eight O'clock! Don't chicken out till then!"
Ichigo growled in annoyance lowly but said nothing back to her, not feeling up to trading jabs with Hiyori. He left the warehouse, and then walked outside of the barrier. What a day. He was ready to go home and get some sleep.
"Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo jumped slightly. He turned to his left and saw Orihime standing there. She was still dressed in her school uniform, which meant she had come here the moment school let out. Oh yeah, he had cut school and didn't tell anyone. He had been in a hurry to control his Hollow.
"What were you doing in there? I could feel your reiatsu from school! I'm the only one who could though, probably because this barrier is like the ones I make." She said the last bit off-handedly, getting a little side-tracked. When she looked back at him for an answer, Ichigo sighed.
"I was training."
"Training? For what?" It was a simple question that should have have been simple to cover up, but Ichigo was silent, his mind straying to a certain topic. Orihime saw this and answered for him. "It's because of Loly and Menoly, isn't it?"
"Yes." Ichigo answered right away, determination shining in his eyes. Orihime seemed to grow exasperated at this.
"Why? They tried to kill you! They're hollows, Ichigo!"
"I don't care." Ichigo grimaced when Orihime took a slight step back in surprise at his tone. He calmed himself down and said, quietly, "They were following orders. Aizen would have killed them if they hadn't done as he said."
"But why, Ichigo? What do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to finish training, and then when I'm stronger, I'm going to Hueco Mundo. I'll find Loly and Menoly and I'll set things right. My unwillingness to deal with my Hollow cost them both dearly. I've corrected that mistake now, and I can go see them and get through to them both."
With that, Ichigo turned and walked away, his hands shoved into his pockets, a sign that he didn't want to continue this conversation, but it wouldn't have made a difference. His mind was made up, and Orihime knew she could do nothing to sway him.
(The Next Day)
Ichigo had gone back to the Vaizard Warehouse to continue his Mask Training first thing in the morning. So, he wasn't at school. Orihime had told both Chad and Uyru that Ichigo was cutting school to get stronger. They weren't surprised. They had all agreed to just let him be. Orihime had considered telling the two of Loly and Menoly, but ultimately decided against it. For now, she would try and let things return to normal. As normal as possible at least.
This ended up being impossible, as the students, from inside the classroom, heard voices from the hallway that were getting louder and louder.
"It's my first time on one of these things! It's hard to control my reiatsu because-."
"You suck?"
"I don't suck! Why are you so calm?"
"This thing is so uncomfortable."
"Just untuck your shirt, like us."
"Then where would I put my wooden sword?"
"Aha! He's in here."
The door opened, revealing Renji, Ikakku, Yumichika, Rangiku,and Toushiro. Renji spoke up once he opened the door all the way. "How have you been... Ichigo?" He scanned around the room and didn't see him. He saw Orihime, Chad, and Uyru, but Ichigo wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Renji? Rangiku?" Orihime asked in surprise, getting their attention. "What are you doing here?" Toushiro spoke up to answer.
"We're here to assist the deputy shinigami. Where's Kurosaki?"
He was annoyed. His orders were to find Ichigo and give him a debrief of Soul Society's situation with the arrancar. Orihime scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Uhm, he's not here. He's off training!"
Renji raised an eyebrow at this, but a look of realization came soon after. "Well, that explains why we couldn't sense him. Here I thought that he had finally learned how to suppress his reiatsu."
Uyru spoke up with a scoff. "How naive."
Renji stared at the Quincy in annoyance. Orihime turned to address them again. "He won't be back for a while, but he'll be home tonight when he's done!"
Ikakku sighed in annoyance. "Aye, aye, aye. We came all the way here to this school for nothing. Now we gotta spend the rest of the day here. How irritating."
(Outside the school)
Rukia climbed down carefully from the third floor in anger. She had climbed all the way up to surprise Ichigo but, much to her dismay, he wasn't there in class. Hopefully, she would get down before anyone saw her.
(Later that Evening/Kurosaki Clinic)
Ichigo stretched the sore muscles in his armsas he made his way up the stairs. Today had been similar to the day before, with Mask-Endurance. Shinji said he was improving at an impressing pace, saying his current time limit with the mask was seventy-two seconds. After close to nine hours or fighting Hiyori, that wasn't bad. He was able to remember, with pride, when he caught her by surprise and gave her a good whack to the side of the head. He opened the door to his room and closed it behind him as he went inside. He was about to crash onto his bed when he sensed something. It seemed to be-
"Yo, Ichigo!"
"Gah!" Ichigo cried out in surprise as Renji, Rangiku, Yumichika, Ikakku, and Rukia suddenly dropped down from his ceiling. He pointed at them in surprise. "What in the world? What are you guys doing?"
Renji answered, stating it in an incredibly condescending way. "We were hiding in your ceiling." He dodged a kick from Ichigo.
"I got that much!"
"Kurosaki, please calm yourself. There is something we must discuss with you."
Ichigo turned and saw Toushiro sitting in his windowsill, a serious look on his face. He continued when he had Ichigo's attention. "It's about Aizen and his arrancar." Toushiro noted that Ichigo had now given him his undivided attention, something that humbled the young captain. Toushiro began the debrief.
(Las Noches)
Grimmjow huffed in annoyance, his hands stuffed into his pockets. What was this about? One minute he's in his palace, tormenting his Fraccion, the next, he's in the Tercera's palace going to meet with Harribel. For what? He didn't know, or particularly cared. He just wanted to get it over with. He was led to Harribel by her Fraccion. When they reached her, she was standing on the ledge of her palace, staring out at the dunes of Las Noches. Grimmjow spoke up, his voice laced with frustration. "I'm not some dog to be fetched by mere fraccion, tercera!"
He bit his tongue when Harribel turned and stared at him intently. Luckily for him, Harribel only said, "It's been noted. Now, Grimmjow, there is something I wish to discuss with you, something I think you can appreciate."
Grimmjow raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "Oh?"
Harribel nodded and continued, "I'm going to be blunt with you, Grimmjow, so even you can understand what I'm trying to get across to you."
Grimmjow growled but said nothing.
"After discussing it with the Primera, Stark, we have decided that it is time for Aizen's control over the arrancar to come to an end."
Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock. "What? You're planning to betray Aizen?"
Harribel nodded. "Yes, but it will be difficult. Aizen is very powerful, and not even Stark and I can challenge him. We need all the help we cant get."
Grimmjow knew where this was going. "And you want me to join you." He said with a smirk. Harribel only nodded.
"It's crazy, tercera! But I can sure as hell appreciate it! Count me in!"
"Can the same be said for your Fraccion?"
"They were loyal to me before they were loyal to Aizen. They will do as I say."
"Good. Now, there is something else. If Stark and I can't handle Aizen, than I'm afraid there's not much you can do. So, I have a request to make."
"Eh?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow.
"I want you to go into the World of the Living and find a specific Shinigami for me."
Grimmjow snarled. "We're going to ask the Shinigami for help? That's-!"
"No, Grimmjow. We will not go to the Thirteen Court Guard Companies with this. There is only one Shinigami who, I believe, we can go to."
"Oh yeah? And who is it?" Grimmjow asked her, shoving his hands back into his pockets.
Harribel re-positioned her arms under her breasts and answered. "He's a human who has the powers of a Shinigami. From what I've been told, he has bright orange hair and an incredible amount of Reiatsu, so he should be easy to find in the World of the Living. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
(End of Chapter/Author's Note)
There ya go, Chapter Six. Ichigo tamed his hollow and Harribel has made the first move. Exciting, ain't it? I think so, at least. I don't have much to say after this update. No witty statements... Nope :l
[1]If the reiatsu that exploded out of Ichigo could destroy the skyscraper he was above, why can't it cause blunt trauma to some like his Hollow? Just a thought I guess*Shrug*
[2]If you notice in Manga 25, when Ichigo begins his internal battle not until they used Bankai did his body start to turn into a Hollow. Ichigo's body was fighting Lisa before it even got it's Hollow hole, and then when they used Bankai, the hollow hole formed and he began to grow more powerful.
Now! For the musical piece that helped me type this!
Musical Inspiration for tis Chapter:
Band:Disturbed
Song:Warrior
I'm one with the warrior inside, my dominance can't be denied. Your entire world will turn into a battlefield tonight. As I look upon you, through a warrior's eyes, now I can see the fear that will ensure my victory this time.
Thats what it was based on, but I was listening to the radio when I was typing it. And DATE RAPE by Sublime was playing, so when I'm typing out IchigovsHichigo, the radios going;
But that's the way it had to be, they locked him up and threw away the key. Well, I can't take pity on men of his kind, even though he now takes it in the behind.
To which I'm typing with this look on my face, :o
Please Read and Review! Constructive Criticism is welcome, but flamers will be hunted down and beaten up by me personally, I assure you.