This War's Not Over: Chapter 9
In Pieces
Hello everyone!
Am back with some more.
This chapter starts us off with a flashback.
"So…She that important to you?"
Ichigo turned to Ganju, his voice flat. "Not really."
"I know! She paid you to save her!"
Ichigo huffed impatiently. "That's not it. Besides, how am I supposed to use money from your world in my one?"
Ganju scratched his head. "Then…then why are you so damn determined?"
"I owe her! She saved my family's life and mine. I don't want to turn into some punk who'd just turn his back on her."
So I hated owing since the beginning, huh?
Nel and Grimmjow both released the zanpakutos, all three espadas reiatsus almost flattening the captains themselves and killing anything within a ten-mile radius.
But Nel and Grimmjow knew something was wrong with their leader. This was not the Kurosaki Ichigo that they knew and loved. Nel let out a low hiss. They shouldn't have made him so angry! But the two espada would stand by the 0 espada, Ichigo or not Ichigo.
Now both in their resurreccion forms, they charged at the captains. If Ichigo had decided to fight, they would fight too. Not that Grimmjow wanted to complain.
Only then did Nel notice the absence of some of the Gotei 13's captains. Well, that was one good thing. Some of them had stayed behind to protect Soul Society. At least Yamamoto hadn't completely lost his mind.
Nel charged at Komamura to free Renji. The captain, who was momentarily distracted by Nel's sudden attack, released his grip on Renji to block her spear. Renji slipped away, spinning in the air to face the captain as well.
"I've got this," Nel warned Renji quietly.
She was still obviously angry with the soul reapers for pushing Ichigo too far. Renji opened his mouth to object, but a slight movement in the air caught his eye. He flash stepped to protect Nel's back, blocking Rangiku's sword.
"See? I've got your back," Renji assured her, a grin on his face.
Nel let out a huff before throwing herself into battle against the 7th Division Captain.
Renji pressed blades with Rangiku, his loyalty to the Gotei 13 and his friendship with Ichigo tearing him apart.
"I'm sorry, Rangiku-san," Renji started.
Rangiku gave a tight smile. "We all do what we have to do."
Nel seemed to have the upper hand on Komamura. Renji and Rangiku were having a halfhearted battle against each other. Rukia had managed to slip away from Soifon's hold, but was now desperately trying to avoid the captain's attacks. Grimmjow and Kenpachi had both decided that they had hit the jackpot by clashing swords with each other.
Amidst the exploding reiatsu, Ichigo's inner hollow pointed his blade in Byakuya's general direction, teasingly tracing how he was going to rip the captain's chest open.
Byakuya stared at the hollow in disbelief, while Toshiro was watching cautiously from the side.
The hollow's yellow eyes glowed an eerie gold, smiling wryly at the 6th division captain. He tapped Tensa Zangetsu against his shoulder, taking a lazy stance.
"My, my, what have we here?" the hollow grinned widely from ear to ear. "Remember me?"
Byakuya's eyes narrowed, lifting his zanpakuto to level his face, his sword beginning to shine a pink glow.
"I wouldn't be talking so smart if I were you, boy."
Ichigo's counterpart crouched down, licking his lips with anticipation.
"Now, now, who was it who beat the shit out of who on Sokyoku Hill?" the alter ego faked a confused frown, before erupting in a bout of laughter. "Oh! I remember now…"
"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi," Byakuya scowled, before dropping his blade into the floor.
The hollow's yellow eyes narrowed knowingly, his lips twisting upwards. He knew the attack all too well.
As soon as the rows of blades behind Byakuya erupted into a massive pink fury, the hollow leaped from his crouching position and shot up in the air. As expected, the barrage of blades followed.
But the evil counterpart hadn't forgotten. He blocked Toshiro's zanpakuto as the short captain came at him from behind. What he didn't expect was for his arm to be instantly frozen.
"You're Ichigo's hollow aren't you?" Toshiro said coolly.
The hollow rolled his eyes. "Not the brightest side of the Christmas tree are you?"
"You're out of season," Toshiro's face flushed with anger, taking a swing at his opponent.
The hollow shrugged. "In Kingy's inner world, you can easily lose your sense of time."
The hollow easily dodged Toshiro's swing and effortlessly shattered the crystal fragments around his arm with a blast of black and red reiatsu that burned the ice away like fire.
Toshiro gasped, stiffening at his enemy's ease.
The inner hollow grinned. "Be seeing you."
Toshiro turned around just in time to see the huge wave of cutting blossoms rising behind him. But the 10th Division captain didn't possess Ichigo's inner hollow's speed. While the hollow disappeared from the scene in an amazing display of sonido, Toshiro was enveloped by the flow of blades.
When the short captain emerged, cuts and wounds mercilessly crisscrossed his skin.
"Kuchiki!" Toshiro snapped furiously in between gasps.
Byakuya had his hand raised, still in command of his blades that had pulled back to assert the damage. But Byakuya's orbs showed no shock in them.
"Do not get in the way of my blade," the 6th Division captain told the 10th Division captain coldly.
"I wouldn't want to be distracted if I were you, soul reaper," hollow Ichigo's interrupting sneer sounded from behind Byakuya.
Byakuya turned, shock plastered all across his face as a frontal Getsugatensho smashed into his body. The blast was so powerful it reached Toshiro, whose injuries had dulled the young captain's senses. They were both caught in the blast.
Ichigo's Getsugatensho was no longer reiatsu that burned your skin. With Ichigo's recent power boost, it was now a lethal attack that was highly fatal on contact. Both captains crashed to the ground, burns all over their bodies.
The hollow advanced mercilessly towards them, his face surprisingly dead. The grin on his face was replaced by a hateful downward curve of his lips.
Byakuya was shocked. He had never seen such hatred in the boy's eyes before.
"Did you get the 0 Espada that you wanted so badly?" the hollow's warbled voice sliced through the air like a serrated knife.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed. The hollow's lips pulled back to reveal his fangs, his brows deepening into a hate-filled scowl.
"No answer, huh?"
And with that a huge red ball began to form at the tip of hollow Ichigo's horn, until it seemed the size of the moon itself.
Toshiro's eyes widened. "Cero!"
Byakuya's blossoms formed a barrage to protect their master, but the blades would never be able to withstand a blast of the 0 Espada's cero.
But one voice rose above all, high and pleading.
"Ichigo! It's Nii-sama! Don't do it!"
Ichigo's inner hollow cast a sideways glance at Rukia, who was being restrained by Soifon to throw herself at the hollow. The hollow shrugged Rukia's plea off, turning back towards the two injured captain's. The size of the cero hadn't stopped growing. Soon the sand itself seemed to be suck into the red ball of energy.
Rukia writhed and squirmed, her eyes wide with horror. This was overkill. This was not Ichigo.
"Ichigo, wake up!" Rukia screamed at the top of her lungs.
The hollow diverged his glare once more at the petite soul reaper, annoyance beginning to flare up within him. But then there's was that feeling he had experienced countless of times before. The inner hollow tensed, then froze. Ichigo. He was awake.
Ichigo rammed himself against the invisible barrier that had been created to prevent him from accessing his body. An angry scream ripped itself free from his inner hollow's throat, followed by a low hiss as the two counterparts struggled for the control of Ichigo's body.
Everyone was still, shocked by the turn of events. Everything was passing by so quickly.
But the fight going on inside of Ichigo's mind was enough for an opportunity to strike Ichigo down. The soul reapers didn't take it. They were still frozen by the inner hollow's words. "Did you get the 0 Espada so badly?"
Something wasn't right here. That wasn't the way a traitor should talk like. Hesitation clouded the captains' eyes. But the decision was decided for them.
A burly form bowled the struggling teen over before ramming his fist into the the hollow's face. The cero the inner hollow had been charging blew up in the air, blasting Soifon and Rukia ten meters away.
Ichigo blinked his way into consciousness once more, the black ink slowly beginning to clear away from his eyes. But the hollow wasn't giving up.
"They're going to kill us Ichigo!"
It was one of the rare times the inner hollow used his real name. Ichigo let out a hiss, trying to push the hollow down into the corner of his mind. The figure above him sensed his struggle, as the black was still edging back and forwards over the surface of his eye.
What appeared to be a man opened Ichigo's mouth and inserted a small pill that Ichigo was forced to swallow.
As Ichigo's vision started to grow hazy, he stared up at the man who had come to stop him.
Shock spread across his features. "Dad?"
Uryu slammed his fist down on Urahara's table, anger all over his face.
"Why didn't you tell us Kurosaki was in trouble?"
Urahara tried to make a calming gesture by putting his hands up in the air as the quincy edged closer. "Calm down, calm down! Rukia and Renji are out searching for him! Not to mention Kurosaki-san's own father."
"Uryu's right. You still could have told us," Chad's low voice agreed with his friend.
"Yes! We would have gone with Rukia and Renji to save Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime piped up.
Urahara put a hand on his hat, concealing his face with his fan. "But Kurosaki-san was already being taken away when Renji and Rukia caught up. They couldn't have waited for you or the Garganta would have closed up."
"Send us now in your Garganta then!" Uryu demanded.
"I'm pretty sure Isshin Kurosaki-san has already retrieved him. You would just end up missing each other and then we'll end having to rescue you," Urahara laughed uneasily.
Uryu grunted in frustration. "I can't believe this! How come you didn't tell us in the beginning!"
"I don't know what you're getting so worked up about Ishida-kun. Didn't you swear not to help another soul reaper again?" Orihime smiled warmly.
"But Ichigo's not a soul reaper!" Uryu growled, shaking his head.
Urahara stared from the shade of his fan and hat, which hid his concerned expression. "Ishida-san right. Kurosaki-san is not a soul reaper."
Isshin watched as his son's eyes gradually closed, before pulling the limp boy up off the ground and into his strong arms.
Byakuya and Toshiro had joined the soul reapers in the sky, panting and gasping heavily frm their injuries. Soifon had retrieved Rukia, and was now pointing Suzumebachi at her throat and Renji was surrounded by the remaining captains. Nel and Grimmjow had joined the soul reaper who was now carrying the 0 espada in his arms.
For a moment the two sides stared at each other quietly, both gazes forlorn and scornful. Byakuya broke the silence.
"Very well then," he said quietly. "If you insist on protecting Kurosaki Ichigo, we shall return with more soul reapers to end this. Until then, Rukia and Renji will be brought to Soul Society to receive punishment for helping the 0 espada."
Rangiku lifted up a small radio device to her mouth.
"We are retreating," she whispered into the radio that was probably connected to the 12th Division's control room.
As a Garganta gapped open behind them, Isshin didn't say a word. He didn't disconnect his glare off Byakuya's.
Renji was nudged into the Garganta by sword point, casting one last regretful glance down at Ichigo. Rukia had been knocked unconscious, so there was no protest there.
Byakuya was the last to leave. He gave one more cold stare down at Isshin and at the three espadas. "And do not expect to save them. Saving your friends from Soul Society will not happen again."
And with that, the Garganta closed shut and disappeared, Rukia and Renji with it.
Ichigo blinked his way into consciousness, sitting up on the windowed ground beneath him. He realized with a sudden jolt that he was in his inner world.
Ichigo was furious with his inner hollow. How dare he take over his body when Ichigo was at his weakest?
Ichigo squinted, his eyes flicking searchingly across the buildings. The hollow was nowhere to be found. Ichigo's teeth gritted together in frustration.
"Over here," Ichigo recognized Zangetsu's voice.
Ichigo turned around to see the flowing black cape of his zanpakuto. They stared quietly at each other for a while before Ichigo hesitantly started a conversation.
"Zangetsu…Why—why am I here?"
Zangestu remained quiet for a moment, only the sound of his flapping cloak in the non-existant breeze signaling that there was anyone there at all.
"Something had changed Ichigo," Zangetsu said.
Ichigo frowned to express his confusion. "What?"
"The sky that has remained without clouds has disappeared. Now, the grey clouds are threatening to bring me rain."
"Why is that?" Ichigo's brows knit tightly together.
"Perhaps—it is because of the confusion in your heart."
"The confusion in my…?" Ichigo trailed off, clearly confused.
His mind subconsciously flicked back to what his hollow had told him. The question is—do you think the same way of the side you're on now? The question still haunted him.
"Zangetsu…I…"
"Take some time to reflect upon it Ichigo. You do not have to answer yourself right now."
And with that, Ichigo's sight of his inner world disappeared.
When Ichigo came to, he was lying flat out on the white sand of Hueco Mundo again. With a whimper, he realized that his hunger had made its return.
He flipped over onto his front before pushing himself up into a sitting position. His gaze wondered across the sand dunes, before finally resting on his father, who was sitting cross-legged with a phone in his hand. Noticing his son was awake, Isshin flipped the phone shut before replacing it back into his shihakusho.
"I've contacted Kisuke so he can open up a Garganta for us on the other side. It might take some time to open because of some 'mechanical' difficulties," Isshin frowned impatiently at an imaginary Urahara over Ichigo's shoulder.
Ichigo said nothing. He had an odd sense that something was missing. Seeing his son's unresponsiveness, Isshin stiffened and tried to break into an uneasy smile.
Ichigo blinked in surprise. It was the first time he had ever seen his father look so worried towards him. What was going on?
"Man, what did they do to you…? …How are you feeling?" Isshin asked.
Ichigo flinched at how uneasy his father was towards him. It made him feel so cold.
"I'm alright," Ichigo nodded.
But then he realized how shocking his espada appearance must be to his father, especially the cold yellow eyes that he now possessed. Rukia had told him on their way here how much his eyes had changed. Ichigo had never realized that his face was so emotionless now: if he was appeared to be like that, it never was on purpose.
Ichigo froze. Rukia.
"Where…Where are the others?" Ichigo asked quietly, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
His father stiffened, before looking away. "Nel and…Grimmjow left to go hunting. They'll be back soon."
"No—Where is Rukia and Renji?" Ichigo demanded, his eyes pained.
He already knew his father's answer the moment his father's gaze flopped downwards to the floor. Ichigo had never seen his father like this. It was obvious that something was bothering Isshin. Deeply.
But Ichigo's surprise was eclipsed by immediate anger. His yellow eyes crackled with fury and loss, and before he knew it he had pinned his father down to the floor with a fist raised to hurt him.
Ichigo was so lost amidst his anger, he barely felt the shock of attacking his own father.
"You left them to die, didn't you? You left Rukia and Renji to die!" Ichigo screamed at Isshin.
"We were outnumbered. Renji and Rukia were already surrounded by the time I arrived. There was nothing we could do."
"Soul Society will kill them!" Ichigo said, his eyes screwing themselves shut and his teeth gritted together as he shook his head.
"Soul Society…betrayed me!" Ichigo snarled, his yellow eyes glowing gold.
His father said nothing, his eyes narrowed in concern for his son's state of mind.
As Ichigo's fist raised to strike his father, something hit Ichigo that had never crossed his mind ever since he lost bits of his memories.
Ichigo's raised hand lowered to clutch his face. He slid off his father, weak with pain and as he bent his head with his face in his hands.
"I…I can't remember what Karin and Yuzu look like," Ichigo whispered.
Isshin sat up, his eyes narrowing. After several days in Hueco Mundo, being an espada, had indeed, completely broken Ichigo.
"We'll return to Karakura. You'll see them soon. Then we'll rescue Rukia and Renji," Isshin promised.
Ichigo lifted his head. Karakura. That was the name.
Ichigo had recomposed himself by the time Nel and Grimmjow arrived. Ichigo was hungry, but he didn't complain. This was nothing compared to the trauma he'd been through in the past. The presence of his father had somehow reinforced some of the old Ichigo again, but he was still all over the place. It would take a while before he would truly return to being himself.
"So…he was the soul reaper you were talking about?" Ichigo asked Nel.
Nel brought him into a bone-crushing hug. "That's right! I'm so glad you're okay."
Soon, after a few minutes, Urahara had apparently opened up a Garganta somewhere nearby, and Isshin left the three espadas to scout for the path of home.
The three espada sat lazily in the sand. Ichigo glanced at Nel, who was bouncing up and down. Ichigo guessed her childish half had never really gone away.
"So this will be your first time in the real world then?" Ichigo asked Nel.
The espada nodded excitedly.
"I don't see why you're so happy," Grimmjow snorted. "There's nothing really to see. And the sky over there is too bright."
Grimmjow had been sat there sulking half the time because he had been forced to cancel his fight with Kenpachi. The two were so much alike; it was almost a pity that they weren't sparring partners.
After another awkward moment, Grimmjow started again.
"How did you defeat Aizen?" the espada asked Ichigo suddenly.
Ichigo hesitated before answering. "I trained in the Dangai. The time that elapses there is much longer than the outside world. So I had time to get stronger."
Grimmjow thought over this quietly before he came up with another question.
"I never would have thought that you father was a soul reaper," Grimmjow cocked a brow.
Ichigo frowned. "Yeah…Had to say it shocked me too when he appeared in front of me when Aizen…"
Ichigo trailed off before looking at the ground.
"When Aizen…?" Grimmjow prodded, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"…Told me I was a human and a, well…he didn't get to finish the rest cause my father interrupted him. But I got my answer since my father showed himself to me as a soul reaper," Ichigo laughed nervously.
Grimmjow exchanged an uneasy glance with Nel before reacting.
"Aizen always seemed to have a certain interest in you. But don't you think it's kind of odd that he would be interested in you just cause you're a soul reaper? Couldn't he have taken interest in the growth of some other random soul reaper while remaining in Soul Society?" Grimmjow asked.
Ichigo flinched. Grimmjow had just asked the questions that Ichigo himself had feared so much he had banished them out of his mind.
Ichigo tensed, his eyes narrowed. He forced himself not to tremble.
"Are you saying…that Aizen never meant a human and a soul reaper?"
The end! Sorry, this one was a little rushed.
I hope you enjoyed this one.
Please tell me what you think and review! ^^