AN: back. :) another chapter, not the best one, but... i'm working on the next one already, so don't be sad! :) I hope you enjoy it just a little bit.

Chapter 7 Close Your Eyes

Ichigo stirred. He felt something heavy lying on his chest, that almost made him struggle to breathe properly. After a few seconds he opened his eyes to a world of blue. At first everything was blurring together, and he felt weak overall. As he pushed himself up on his elbows, his vision cleared, and he noticed that he was inside his inner world, and the little body of Shikari was lying on his stomach, curled up into a tiny ball, obviously asleep, more like exhausted from giving Kisuke his memories back.

Ichigo looked around, only to see nothing but the sideways skyscrapers. He was about to stand up, and leave his inner world already, he heard the familiar buzz of soinido/shunpo, and turned around to see his white counterpart and his Zanpakuto standing before him, his Hollow wearing his trademark smirk. Ichigo was a little confused, not sure why his spirits looked so smug.

"Yo, King-o. Back already? 'ya sure make things interesting." His Hollow said.

Ichigo thought about that for a moment, before he realized, that he hadn't thought of, how to go on, since Kisuke had to go back to Soul Society one day, and he'd have to get involved with Shinigami business as well, if he wanted to succeed in stopping Aizen in his early tracks. He smacked his hand against his forehead, which caused his spirits to snicker.

"Well, Ichigo. It seems Shiro is right, we have to think of something, but first. We want to teach you something. We found out that the time travel affected our powers to an certain extent, as you noticed; our sword doesn't look like it used to…" Zangetsu said, as Shiro continued for him. "'Ya know, usually we'd make 'ya fight fer it, but we can't have yer cheery lil' friend worry 'bout ya, mysterious wounds appearin' on yer body, ne." he smirked, and Ichigo did, too, because he knew exactly what he meant, since those 'spars' they had, always ended in all of them covered in wounds, until one collaped or Zangetsu called it a fight.

"I agree. You have to spare your powers for whatever may come in the future. But even if you don't have to fight, you have to find out for yourself. There is just one thing I tell you. Take a look at your sword, look exactly. For some things to see, you have to close your eyes." Zangetsu said, and with a buzz the two of them disappeared into nothing. They even took Shikari with them, and he was left alone, in his just too quiet inner world.

There was just one little thing, this new version of his sword was sticking out from the ground, mocking him. Zangetsu was just too weird, speaking in his riddles, and the worst part of this was, that his Hollow was actually part of it now, and knew everything.

Unfortunately he had to get what they meant before he could leave his inner world again, and join his best friend for a calming cup of tea. A sigh escaped his lips, and he focused on the task at hand.

The sword was beautiful, there was no other word to describe it. Taking a closer look he noticed more than the split colors and the purple line. The white side emitted an unearthly glow. This half was also decorated with thin black lines, scribbling vague kanjis on the sword, but its not clear enough for Ichigo to read, he could only make out the first Kanji: "Slay." There was more, but he was unable to see it, and if you didn't know it, you wouldn't even know these lines exist. He took a closer look to the black side as well. The color seemed unearthly as well, it was the exact opposite of the white side, so it seemed. It was emitting no light, it seemed more like it sucked up every ray of light that fell on it. There were Kanjis as well, but just as on the white, he could only make out the first one. It said "Protect". That's it.

The sword was overall smooth and the cutting edge was on the white side of the blade, and the thin purple line seemed to glow as well. The guard looked like a "x" and it had a dark purple color, that almost seemed black. The handle was wrapped in a dirty looking white cloth, not unlike his old shikai, the only difference being, that there were kanjis on it, but they made no sense to Ichigo, he just couldn't read what they said, except those two words, while the rest was blurry.

Ichigo know that it was no usual sword, and how much different it was, from the old sword. Heck, he couldn't even tell if he was in Shikai, or this actually was his sealed state.

He let out a scream of frustration, and let his sword carelessly fall to the ground, while he started to walk circles round it, in hope to figure out what was so special to the sword. He accidentally let out a burst of Reiatsu, because it seemed, that he was going to spent at least a little while, to figure that one out. From the side of his vision he noticed, that his sword seemed to respond to his Reiatsu, because it glowed a pure white. Well it wasn't really white, more like pure energy, neither white nor black. Ichigo stopped his tracks and watched. Suddenly he remembered the last sentence his Zanpakuto said. 'For some things to see, you have to close your eyes'.

For the second time that day he smacked himself against his forehead. He guessed that Zangetsu was laughing so hard elsewhere, because he would have never guessed that Zangetsu would actually mean something he said literally, and he knew that Ichigo wouldn't get it.

Ichigo sat down on the floor, his sword on his knees, like he was mediating, and he closed his eyes. At first everything was dark, pitch black. Suddenly there was a bright light, right before him, and through his closed eyes he could see his sword, glowing as bright as the sun, but there was something different than before. Sure, he could feel the energy, and that was, what disturbed him most. It almost felt like there wasn't only one energy, that fueled the sword, no.. it were 2, wait no.. 3 to be exact. That's when it hit him. Of course! He had three spirits now, and their power combined, and this was their sword. The three of them managed to push all their reiatsu into one single sword.

The mind of Ichigo was racing, and he quickly got a idea to prove his theory. He already knew that the sword reacted to his Reiatsu in a way.

Ichigo smirked, he pushed some of his Reiatsu directly inside his sword as something unexpected happened.

Kisuke hadn't slept all night long, he was up, thinking of solutions, buying a striped head and a green Haori. Just as the sun hit the sky, he thought it would be time for breakfast already. He didn't knew how long Ichigo would be sleeping, but he needed a warm cup of tea now.

As he silently was brewing he favorite tea, jasmine, he felt a shock of Reiatsu. It belonged to Ichigo, and Kiskue never really felt his Reiatsu these days, since it had been on a higher level ever since Ichigo gained this power. It felt rich and warm, but there was that feeling that you shouldn't mess with him, that murderous intent, but now only slightly underneath a calm and comforting feeling.

As he was about to go back to Ichigos room, said person stood in the door frame, and sleepy rubbed his eyes, while leaning onto one side of the doorway. Kisuke just smiled and offered him a cup of tea.

"Thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am, just for that cup of tea."

After taking a sip of his tea, Kisuke noticed that wicked smile on Ichigos face, which never meant any good… never!

Ohh, i'm sorry. not so much Kisuke in this chapter.. but in the next one! :) be prepared.

Leave me a nice review, would you? :

Love, mspauly.