This War's Not Over: Chapter 23

The Dead End

Hey everyone! :D

Many thanks for all the reviews! I had no idea this fic would actually go this far! 8D

This will be the last chapter before I leave for California for 3 weeks! So please be patient, and I hope that everyone enjoys their own summer holidays as well. :)

Again, a lot of reflection in this chappy! Ichiruki!

Enjoy :)

Ichigo stared at the Maggot's Nest, noticing that his feet were still taking him closer to the unpleasant reiatsu. He halted in front of it, his eyes flickering with hesitation.

What are you trying to do?

No. He couldn't do this. It was the worst idea he could ever come up with. His eyes narrowed as he strained to sense the much hated reiatsu. However, the teen found it to be somewhat…faint in the Maggot's Nest. The bone-chilling voice answered Ichigo's doubts.

"You seem quite troubled, 0 Espada."

Ichigo's blood froze. He turned his head slowly, forcing his eyes not to reveal the utter shock he felt. He turned his body completely, mechanically turning it to face the voice that had spoken to him.

"Aizen."

The name of his enemy left his mouth, dripping with disdain. His fragile calm shattered, as if speaking the name of the traitor had turned the situation into a complete reality. The brown-haired man stared down at him, his lips quirked up into his usual sardonic smile. Behind him were Gin and Miko, standing on the remains of Seireitei.

"I should have known," Ichigo snarled, his teeth barred in hatred. "How did you get out?"

It was Gin who spoke from behind Aizen. "Believe me Ichigo-kun, he was freed before we even arrived."

Ichigo gapped at him. "Before?"

"Your father," Aizen smiled.

Those words were all it took to make Ichigo stare at the ground uncomprehendingly. He pulled tensa zangetsu out of his cloth belt, his yellow eyes like chips of topaz. "Liar."

"Believe me, Kurosaki Ichigo, your father has lied far more many times to you than I ever have," Aizen said.

The teen's throat tightened. It was true and Ichigo knew it. The orange-haired teen didn't lower his sword. He gave Aizen a glare that could have been mistaken for one of the coldest of all winters. "He must have…made some sort of deal with you…hasn't he?"

His voice shook. His father, Isshin, was doing something behind his back. Again.

"I'm going to assist you in the battle against the Spirit King."

Ichigo didn't speak, his eyes flickering with deliberation as he reflected on this. Killing the Spirit King had been Aizen's goal since the very beginning. All this time…Aizen had been right. Ichigo hung his head, silently slipping his zanpakuto back into his cloth belt. Aizen may no longer have the Hogyoku in his body, but he had taken down all the soul reaper captains without using it once. Kyokasuigetsu still made him a valuable ally.

Yet, Ichigo had to take into account that Aizen could stab him in the back when he no longer needed him. Like Soul Society, and everyone else had done countless times already. It didn't make much of a difference if it was for the hundredth time anyway.

Ichigo opened his eyes, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd ever been holding. "What can you provide us?"

"We still have many arrancars left in Hueco Mundo that are under my command," Aizen offered, a genuine smile on his face.

But Ichigo knew better. Surely there was some sort of catch. Isshin had probably made a deal to free Aizen in exchange for his help. He wasn't stupid; with the Gotei 13 numbers already cleaved in half, they didn't stand much of a chance. They didn't have a choice in the matter.

Ichigo sonidoed to where Aizen was standing, facing the opposite direction as he glared at the remains of Seireitei with cold yellow eyes. "Show me."

Ichigo had never pictured himself to be one of the leaders in the War. He was 'just a substitute soul reaper' after all. But here he was, amongst the dunes of Hueco Mundo, gathering forces in order to fight against the Royal Guard, to survive. Because war was really based on the instinct to survive and thrive, to live and crush. But it was all hidden behind some noble cause. Ichigo closed his eyes. Great. Now he was thinking like Shiro was. What more could possibly go wrong?

Angels have to lie to stay in control.

That was the way Soul Society worked. Ichigo could see that now. But for the sake of his friends and his family, Ichigo knew that it no longer mattered what side he was on. If the arrancars and the soul reapers had the same goal in mind, so be it. Ichigo would be the one to grant it.

"They better not be scattered all over Hueco Mundo," Ichigo mumbled as he plodded after Gin.

He hadn't told the others where he was going. He'd kind of been hoping the visit to Hueco Mundo would be short. Besides, this was supposed to be kept secret. The Gotei 13 didn't know Aizen had been set free. They were too concentrated on the new war at hand.

"I went back to check just before we in to rescue you from the Royal Dimension, Ichigo-kun," Gin turned his head to look at him. "They seemed to be all clustered about the remains of Las Noches."

"Good," Ichigo growled.

They continued to sprint across the desert, Las Noches slowly but surely getting closer by the minute as they ploughed through the sand. They contoured the Royal Dimension gate, careful not to risk being seen by the guards that were positioned there. Soon, they were making there way through the rubble, steadily pacing up towards the remains of the dome that had managed to pull through Ichigo and Aizen's previous battle. It felt strange walking beside the traitor he had fought so hard to defeat to protect his friends, but he would have to tolerate it for now.

He could see some the arrancars now, sat on a couple of broken walls. They were obviously arguing over something, snapping and snarling. But a hushed whisper spread across them as Aizen, Ichigo, Gin and Miko entered the clearing. Many froze at the sight of their old leader, and some at Ichigo's espada-like appearance.

"Aizen-sama. We thought you were dead," one of them spoke up.

Aizen gave them an unpleasant smile. "As you can see, I am still alive."

"Why are you here?" another asked, but her voice was full of spite.

Ichigo began to understand that Aizen's command over them had been forced, and since Aizen had been defeated, this had encouraged the arrancars to rebel against him.

"I have come to gather arrancars who wish to fight against the Royal Guard," Aizen announced. "I trust that you are all prepared."

The two arrancars that had spoken for the rest of the arrancars exchanged a glance, before the male one of the two raised his voice. "We have no wish to fight for you any more Aizen. You no longer have the Hogyoku with you, as you no longer have us to command. We are not afraid of you."

Ichigo felt sorry for the arrancars. They had been forced to serve under him for a long time, and now they saw this as an opportunity to rebel against the traitor. But, Hogyoku or not, Aizen's power was still far more dominant than all of them put together. He half expected Aizen to flashstep over to one of them and kill one to brutally prove his worth, as he had seen him do countless times before. However, Aizen didn't move.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. What was Aizen planning to do? It wasn't exactly as if an eloquent pep talk was going to do them any good. They were hollows. Strength had to be shown through brutality.

It was then that Ichigo realized that Aizen was watching him closely, as if expecting Ichigo to do something about the situation. Ichigo avoided his gaze, scouring his yellow glare across the arrancars who had become a sea of scornful eyes.

He felt Shiro's wide grin at the back of his head. "What would Aizen do?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and smirked. When he opened them again, he sent a huge ripple of his crushing reiatsu crashing down on the arrancars, bringing them all down to their knees.

"As Aizen was saying," Ichigo pronounced every syllable in a crisp, cold manner, "anyone who wishes to join us against the fight against the Royal Guard is welcome. I trust that you are all prepared. Don't make me upset."

He immediately made his reiatsu recede back into his lean form, watching as the arrancars look up one by one, their eyes wide, aware that they had angered the wrong person. They all shakily nodded as one, and Ichigo smiled sweetly. "Good."

Aizen was watching Ichigo with hidden amusement in his eyes, an approving smile on his face. Ichigo turned back around to return from where they previously came from, taking the lead as everyone else followed closely behind.

"You're good," Miko whispered in his ear with a grin.

Ichigo smiled coldly. "I know."

Ichigo had returned to sitting on what remained of Sokyoku Hill, feeling sorry for himself. He was just sick of everything. Mainly because he was just sick of being a hollow, and he just wanted to return to his normal soul reaper self, where his mind felt clearer on what he wanted to do.

But he was painfully aware that for now it was no longer an option, as he couldn't get himself to relax like Shinji had advised him to. They were in the middle of a war. That he had in some ways started. How could he relax?

Aizen and the rest of his forces had turned the Maggot's Nest into their main base of operations. The soul reapers underground may have concealed there reiatsu in the sewers, but they couldn't sense Aizen's as well. It would only be a matter of time before a soul reaper patrol came to the surface though. Ichigo dreaded it, even though the arrancar forces were all suppressing their reiatsu.

His hollow senses seemed to have increased for the better his ability to sense reiatsu. He was glad, because in his soul reaper form he usually sucked, and just about anyone could sneak up on him. Like now.

"Rukia," he said without turning.

He sensed the petite soul reaper's surprise, but she continued to walk towards him until she plopped herself down to have a good look at his face.

"Something's bothering you," she said, her teasing eyes making him uncomfortable.

He avoided her gaze, deciding that the Seireitei remains were far more interesting.

"I don't think I'm strong enough to face the Spirit King," Ichigo admitted after awhile.

Rukia frowned, and Ichigo immediately regretted saying what he did as she looked just about ready to slap him. "Don't be stupid."

"We barely made it out of our fight against Jun. I don't think we're strong enough yet to fight Squad 0, let alone the Spirit King."

Rukia practically shoved her face into Ichigo's, clearly pissed by what the orange-haired teen had just said.

"Since when have you turned into such a snivelling coward Ichigo?" she shouted. "'I'm not strong enough?' Are you going to make me tell you again? If you're not strong enough then you have to train hard enough until you can beat the enemy! Don't back down before the fight has even started you moron!"

Smack. Ichigo was sent sprawling in the dust, gasping and begging Rukia to stop stomping on his face. She stepped on his face and gave his horn a good tug for good measure, Ichigo pleading her to quit the pulling, as she knew full well that it wasn't coming off.

"Stupid idiot," she hissed, facing away from him now as Ichigo picked himself up of the ground and rubbing his sore face.

Ichigo crossed his legs, staring at Rukia's back, still massaging the sore part of his face were she had kicked him. She was right however. He'd given up before the fight had even started. He was worrying over something that could still be fixed. Here he was, with bags of time to get stronger due to his remarkable growth rate, but wasting the time away sulking.

"You're right," Ichigo said. "I'll get stronger."

"Of course I'm right," she huffed, sneaking a glance at him from over her shoulder. "You're just too stupid to realize it."

They stayed silent, staring at the remains of the Seireitei. No matter how many times Ichigo stared at it, he couldn't get his head around the fact that the usual architecture and buildings—were all gone. He couldn't imagine how Rukia and the rest of the soul reapers must feel. This had been their home for their whole lives.

"How're you coping with the war Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

Her eyes narrowed as her gaze rested upon the remains of the 12th Division barracks.

"It's hard to take in. But we'll live," she said. "We can build this place back up again. Buildings can be replaced. Lives can't. That's all that's sad about war."

"You must have really liked this place," Ichigo said sympathetically, but he couldn't hide the envy in his voice.

It must be nice, to have a sense of belonging somewhere. When you had one community to share your woes with, when you could feel useful because you always had something to do. Even though he had never lived here in Seireitei, he had always bared a strange attraction to the place. It was where he could reflect upon things when he usually never did. And sometimes, he would imagine he belonged in a squad too somewhere, and his life would be just here. Just here in Soul Society. He was half soul reaper after all. But the same relentless question tore at his mind. In the end, which world would he choose?

Rukia had obviously sensed the envy in his voice, and she seemed to read his mind as easily as an open book. "You have your friends back in the human world. I don't see what could possibly be so different from here."

She watched him closely, and again Ichigo felt uncomfortable.

"I just don't like it when things change," Ichigo said. "Because change means moving on. Here, at least you always have the same group of friends. Cause you guys practically live forever right?"

"Right. But you have no idea how boring things get when things don't change Ichigo," Rukia frowned. "What're you getting at?"

"Coward."

His hollow's voice made jump. Rukia's puzzled expression increased, but then her expression seemed to clear. It was always like that. Even though they hadn't known each other for long, it was common knowledge that Rukia could understand Ichigo without having to exchange words.

"Ichigo. You should live your life in the human world like a normal high school student should. That's your job. Screw soul reaper life for now. That'll come in later when you die," Rukia said quietly. "And when you do…I'll be waiting."

Ichigo's eyes widened. He then started to feel himself relax, his eyes softening as her words sunk in. A strange sense of calm swept over him. He hadn't felt like that in a long time. The world finally seemed to make sense.

Rukia watched wide-eyed, as Ichigo's espada form began to fade away, restoring his shihakusho and his warm chocolate coloured eyes. Zangetsu was returned to his basic shikai state, and Ichigo stared at his hands as his body returned back to normal. He blinked, surprised that he had returned to being a soul reaper again.

Rukia blinked away her own surprise, otherwise clearly pleased that she had managed to make Ichigo relax. Ichigo closed his eyes, smirking.

"Thank you Rukia."

"Ack!" Ichigo said intelligently as he crashed into the dirt.

Grimmjow and Nel were standing above him in the sky, both with their swords drawn. Ichigo, in his bankai form, stood back up, gasping for air as Grimmjow sonidoed towards him in order to attack him. At the same time, Nel hurtled behind him, her sword whistling through the air as it almost cleaved off his head. He ducked both of them at the last second, Grimmjow's zanpakuto slicing off a few strands of his orange hair as he did so.

Ichigo had hollowfied several times already, but they had cracked his mask numerous times. Ichigo didn't want to risk going into his espada form, as he was worried he wouldn't be able to turn back again. He would only use it when need be.

But their sparring session was interrupted by several huge spiritual pressures, a senkaimon opening up in the sky. Ichigo's heart thudded in his chest, the realization dawning on him. The Royal Guard had returned to finish off what they had started.

"Nel," he called urgently.

She was at his side immediately, her lips so tight the colour had drained from them. "Warn Gotei 13."

She nodded silently in assent, disappearing in one sonido. Grimmjow stood at his side, a grin plastered on his face. It was good that Grimmjow didn't look worried, otherwise Ichigo was sure he could wrack up the courage to face the Royal Guard alone until back up arrived.

He raised his reiatsu so that Aizen could sense it, not that he hadn't sensed the Royal Guard's reiatsu already. One of the figures stepped out, to Ichigo's surprise with the usual soul reaper shihakusho rather than the usual red uniform he had seen many of the Royal Guard subordinates wearing. The man had a torn haori draped on one side of his shoulder, and Ichigo felt a pang as he realized how much the Royal Guard's attire resembled the way his father wore his own haori.

His eyes narrowed with hostility as he sized up the man and his immense reiatsu, enough to compete with Ichigo's own—maybe more. Ichigo watched silently as the man paced towards him across the clear blue sky, which seemed unaware of the crimson carnage that was about to ensue and stain its pure white clouds.

The enemy before him had green eyes and long brow hair tied up in a ponytail. He looked at Ichigo from up to down, before finally settling for a tight smile.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, correct?" the man asked, pulling out his zanpakuto from his scabbard.

Ichigo nodded, his eyes narrowed. "And who're you?"

"Yosuke Higashi," he said, bowing. "I'm afraid you're going to have to return with us back to the Royal Dimension while we finish off your friends."

Ichigo readied tensa zangetsu. "Not happening."

More Royal Guards men walked out of the senkaimon, standing a fair distance away from Ichigo and Yosuke. Relief flooded through Ichigo as he sensed Aizen sonido to his side, along with Gin, Miko and the rest of the arrancars.

"Having trouble Ichigo?" Aizen asked smoothly, but the teen flicked him off.

The Royal Guard respectfully waited for the Gotei 13 to show up, as if they had never barged into Soul Society and slaughtered half of their numbers in the first place.

"Such nice people," Ichigo muttered under his breath.

Aizen smiled in agreement, and Ichigo never thought he would have seen the day where he would have smiled with his sworn enemy.

"What is he doing here?" a familiar disgusted voice sounded behind them.

The Gotei 13 had arrived, Toshiro staring at Aizen, his eyes full of disdain. Momo cowered behind him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Matsumoto was staring at Gin, her grey eyes as wide as her mouth was.

"G-Gin?" she whispered.

Gin eyes opened, his eyes unreadable as he turned away from her to face the enemy. "Not now Rangiku-chan."

"Aizen Sosuke. What is the meaning of this?" Yamamoto demanded from behind the soul reapers.

"I believe we have the same goal in mind, Yamamoto. That is why we have come to your assistance," Aizen replied smoothly.

The soul reapers murmured suspiciously amongst them, while Yamamoto's eyes rested on Ichigo. "I trust that you are making the right decision, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"I am," Ichigo announced steadily.

Surprise prickled through him as the old man tapped his cane in assent, meaning he was accepting Aizen's aid. Had the old man grown soft? Or perhaps was it that he realized Soul Society's need for allies?

The united opposites faced the enemy, who had respectfully held back until everything had been sorted. Both sides stared at each other silently, before Yosuke decided to speak again. "No harm will befall on you if you hand over the boy."

"No harm my ass," he heard Grimmjow spit beside Nel, Ichigo silencing him with one hand.

Yamamoto and the rest of the soul reapers raised their heads. "Kurosaki Ichigo has displayed strong loyalty to us countless times. Gotei 13 refuses. We will not hand over the boy."

Ichigo screwed his eyes shut. This war really was happening because of him. Then he noticed that Aizen shifted beside him, raising his own head. "We refuse as well. Hueco Mundo declares war on the Royal Dimension."

"And so does the Gotei 13," Yamamoto added.

Ichigo, despite the situation they were in, felt his heart soar. They all wanted to fight in order defend him. Maybe…he wasn't just a substitute soul reaper after all. But it didn't matter what they really thought. If they were ready to give everything they had to defend him, so would he.

"Shiro," he thought determinedly.

"This is gonna be fun," Shiro licked his lips with anticipation.

Ichigo's body changed back into his espada form, his white uniform billowing in the wind. He no longer cared whether or not he could revert back or not. He was going to give them everything he had to win, just like he always did.

It was one of the too eager subordinates who broke the line first. He eagerly swung his sword at Grimmjow, who instantly ducked and punched him in the gut. This broke the rest of the line, as Royal Guards men, soul reapers and arrancars alike charged into the fray.

Ichigo was immediately assaulted by Yosuke, who crashed his sword against his, sparks flying in all directions. Ichigo gave him a shove, knocking his opponent backwards before charging a cero the size of the moon on the single horn on the top of his head, before blasting it towards his enemy. Yosuke nimbly dodged it, letting it blow up the remains of the 3rd Division completely. Ichigo disappeared in a sonido as Yosuke's sword sliced through the empty air, deftly blocking Ichigo's zanpakuto with his own when the teen appeared behind him.

"Getsugatensho," Ichigo said mercilessly as he sent his attack crashing into his enemy while they were still crashing swords.

The blast enveloped Yosuke, enveloping him in black and red reiatsu. Ichigo dived in after him, searching for the former captain amongst the smoke and dust. Thanks to his Hogyoku powers, he sensed Yosuke's killing intent behind him, enabling him to turn around and block in time. He used the Royal Guard man's sword to push himself up, flipping himself over the man and landing on the other side, his ivory black sword tearing across Yosuke's haori. Startled by how Ichigo could sense him, Yosuke flash stepped out of the smoke, Ichigo at his heels.

That's when Ichigo skidded to a halt, staring wide eyed as Yosuke pointed his zanpakuto at Ichigo. "Holler, Shiramaru!"

Ichigo was thrown back by Yosuke's reiatsu as the man burst into his shikai. Ichigo was instantly shocked as Yosuke flew out of the gales of wind, a huge halberd in his hands. Ichigo gasped in pain as Yosuke drew blood on his shoulder, before kicking Ichigo in the gut and sending him flying into the Repentance Cell.

Yosuke watched through the crack as Ichigo angrily fired another cero, this time burning Yosuke's right shoulder as he didn't evade it in time. They fought furiously, the sound of their zanpakutos slamming against one another echoing across Soul Society, dust and rubble swirling around them.

During their fight, Ichigo caught a glimpse of Nel and Grimmjow fighting head to head with another strong looking captain, working as a team as they released their resurreccions. Yamamoto was burning a few subordinates and reducing them into charcoal, before he was confronted with one of the Royal Guard captains.

Gin and Matsumoto were fighting back to back, exchanging a few brief words before they distracted themselves with their opponents. Kyoraku seemed to be fighting someone he called "Hikifune", but he seemed to be chatting her up more than anything.

Rukia and the rest of the substitute team had busied themselves with fighting two Royal Guard captains, Toshiro lending them a helping hand. They seemed to be having a tough time, Renji covered in cuts.

As Ichigo looked around him, he realized that despite their team effort and strong wills, they were losing. Terribly. The Royal Guards men were giving everyone a tough time and they weren't even using their bankais. Ichigo cursed as he was hurled across the Seireitei, burying himself in rubble.

He let out a choked gasp as he pulled himself out, panting and gasping. He heard an angry cry in the sky, and saw that one of the Royal Guard captains that had been fighting Aizen and Yamamoto had died, falling limply to the ground, his blood spraying the debris.

He felt a small sense of victory, but it was utterly destroyed when his eyes fell on lieutenant Sasakibe's body, limp and unmoving. Yosuke let out an angry roar at the sight of his fallen comrade and Ichigo let a defiant snarl rip through his throat, barring his teeth like the wounded animal he was.

His wounds stung, not to mention that he had been run through already once, which his inner hollow's regenerative abilities were having a hard time healing.

"It's poison," he heard his hollow hiss. "The wounds won't heal."

Ichigo tried to hide the despair he felt, but his hollow could feel it. To his surprise, his hollow didn't say a word. Was this his way of saying that this was Ichigo's battle? Was it even possible that his hollow had an ounce of respect for him?

"I'll heal myself," he assured Shiro.

Willing himself to heal, Ichigo's blue aura glowed around him, the hogyoku's healing powers slowly beginning to mend his broken body. However, his depleted reiatsu didn't seem to return.

"The poison is meant to eat up our reiatsu," his hollow snarled.

Ichigo swore as his vision blurred, Yosuke triumphantly striding towards him.

"Shiro," he said it out loud this time.

Reading his mind, Shiro called in unison with Ichigo. "Whiten, Cielo sin Luna."

Tensa zangetsu taking on a white colour, Ichigo's body began to change once more, his eyes glistening red. A second horn formed at the top of his head, and Ichigo's hair grew to his waist and turned pitch black.

Put off by the sudden transformation, Yosuke leapt back, but the distance wasn't far enough away in order to avoid Ichigo's speed. Tensa zangetsu gouged into Yosuke's abdomen, earning Ichigo a gasp of pain from the former captain. The man's blood laced up in the air, the two springing apart.

Ichigo raised his white zanpakuto up in the air, a smirk appearing on his face. "Final Getsugatensho."

The black reiatsu sucked up all the debris as it crashed towards Yosuke, who didn't have time to avoid it. The blast hit him head on, leaving Ichigo heaving as his reiatsu went down fast. The Final Getsugatensho dissipated, leaving Yosuke a severely burned figure as he gasped for air, clutching his shoulder.

Yosuke lifted his head, his eyes full of hatred and rage. "Curse you!"

Ichigo watched in alarm as Yosuke went into bankai, gales of wind sweeping around him. Ichigo squinted to see the man's form, seeing Yosuke wipe some sort of liquid onto his zanpakuto. Ichigo's senses flashed him a red alert, so he readied his zanpakuto, ready to block anything Yosuke threw at him.

Only Ichigo didn't see him.

The man in bankai was going too blindingly fast. Ichigo's eyes couldn't even see him. It reminded him of the hopeless time when he had first met Byakuya. He felt the sword pierce through his body, running him through for a second time. His hand gripped his enemy's zanpakuto, gasping in pain.

Agony tore through his limbs as Yosuke wrenched out the bankai-enhanced halberd out of Ichigo's body, letting the teen fall to the ground below. His body smacked the ground, the ground cracking as he did so.

Ichigo couldn't move. Instead he let out an agonized scream as poison burned inside his body, the teen beginning to convulse on the ground.

Ichigo had no idea what was going on. Apparently, another Royal Guard captain had been cut down. He heard the Royal Guard retreating, saying that they had decided to let them live a little longer, or something of the sort. He felt everyone relax, yet burdened by the grief of losing so many of their own. He felt his friends rush to his side, screaming his name.

He could feel Miko attempting to heal him with her kido, Orihime telling her that she could help. But then he felt Miko freeze beside him, feeling her anguish.

"What is it Miko?" he heard Rukia say. "Can you recognize the poison?"

He let out another cry of pain. He noticed Miko was shaking, her eyes wide with horror.

"It's bloodlock."

Bwahahaha! It's done! *laughs evilly again*

I'm sorry for the cliffhanger I just couldn't help myself! XD This was a long chappy to compensate for the three weeks that I'm not here. This fic is also drawing to its end so I kinda want to delay it as much as possible… *sniffles*

Please review and tell me what you think! Happy summer holidays! :D