Ichigo Kurosaki couldn't move. His body was tattered and his bones broken, and he was almost certain that he had lost this battle. Byakuya was strong, and Ichigo cussed. He was on his knees, trying desperately to move. He wanted to win. He needed to move.
'Move!' he told himself internally, trying to gather the strength to stand. 'Move! Move! Move!' He repeated again and again, and he finally found the reason he came. 'I came here to win!' He shifted from the ground, slowly getting himself back on his feet. 'It's meaningless to just survive and meaningless to just fight!' He grabbed the hilt of his sword tighter, and got back up. 'If I don't win, then nothing will change!' He stood, and balanced his stance, 'I have to win! I want to win!' He told himself, and grabbed Byakuya's sword with his bare hands. Byakuya's eyes widened and he was shocked at the boy's persistence. 'How did he-?'
"Idiot, I told you, if you die then I'll suffer too!" Byakuya was confused. Who was he talking to? And what was with the sudden change in voice? "How is this possible?" Byakuya asked, and glared at the boy in front of him. "Who are you?" He asked. "Who am I?" Ichigo chuckled darkly. "I'm nobody!" He said, a he looked at Byakuya in the eye. He had a mask like appendage on the left side of his face, and his left eye color had changed into gold and black. This was certainly not the Ichigo Kurosaki that Byakuya was fighting earlier, this he was sure. "You ask me who I am, but I don't have a name!" The darker Ichigo said. And in an instant, Byakuya felt a sharp sting on his chest. Ichigo had sliced him across his chest, and Byakuya felt immense pain. This boy, was not ordinary. "Ha! Ha ha!" The boy laughed hysterically, and attacked again and again, with blind power.
"You're really worthless after all Ichigo!" The boy said, and sliced again. "Just being in his Bankai's spiritual pressure, made you're bones shake like crazy!" He yelled at nobody, and dashed forward, fully intending to attack Byakuya. "Watch carefully, I'll show you how to use Bankai correctly!" Ichigo dashed forward, but Byakuya frowned. This was getting too far, and he had to stop this. But right then, Ichigo fired something darker, and more intense from his sword. 'A black…getsuga?' Byakuya thought to himself, as his eyes widened.
"Ichigo, you're such a disgrace! You can't even use Bankai properly! Ha! And you know what-"Ichigo dashed forward, and struck Byakuya with another black getsuga. "-Misaki's mine!" Byakuya's eyes widened and he wondered what was going on, when it finally hit him. "This spiritual pressure…and that mask…are you a hollow?" Ichigo laughed maniacally, and "That you don't need to know! Because you'll soon-"Suddenly, Ichigo's hand grabbed the mask on his face, and his eyes widened. Byakuya was dumbstruck and was completely baffled with what was going on. "Gah! D-Damn it! Let go!" Ichigo yelled, and fidgeted around. "You're the one getting in the way! Let me keep fighting and we'll win! Don't you see? And about M-Misaki, we'll- Damn it! She's mine! Damn it! You idiot!" Ichigo yelled, and within an instant, the mask came off and the boy started to pant heavily. His head jerked upwards and Byakuya looked at him, wide eyed. "Phew." Ichigo said.
Ichigo smirked at his opponent and said, "Sorry about that, my inner demon got in the way." But he frowned internally. 'Why was he bringing up Misaki into this? What the hell did he mean she was his?' He thought to himself, and "Come on, let's start from the beginning." He said, hoping to find out the answer later.
Kisuke chuckled darkly, and Minato sighed. "Tessai, did it go well?" Tessai looked tired, as he shook his head. "That amulet is tough, what is it made of?" Kisuke teased and Minato glared at him. "Soul Reaper, you've to use Kido to destroy it." Minato said, and looked at the amulet. "Kido?" Tessai asked. "I know well about Kido, it's a basic derivative of Magic. Use an offense spell that ought to work." Tessai smirked as he knew just which technique to use. He concentrated his spiritual pressure and said, "Hado: 63 Raikoho!" The amulet disintegrated.
Misaki gasped. She felt as if it were some sort of adrenaline rush, and sat down immediately. Her head felt dizzy, and her vision blurred a little. After a minute or so, the feeling wore off and she got back up to her feet and said, "I'm not eating well. This is what happens." She sighed and went to the kitchen.
"How do you know about Kido?" Kisuke asked. Minato frowned, and "Are you an idiot? I told you I'm a Mage, and Kido is a derivative of Magic!" Kisuke put his hands in front of him, admitting defeat. "But are you not self-trained?" Tessai questioned and Minato nodded. "Then how do you-?" "My mother has a book of incantations. Or she…had a book of incantations. I destroyed it once I learnt everything off it. I didn't want Misaki to find it." Minato said. "What was that amulet Minato? And why did it protect Misaki? Mages each have their own amulet like a Soul Reapers Zanpakuto. Then how-?" "Zanpakuto?" Minato questioned. "It's the sword, kid." Kisuke said. Minato nodded, and "That wasn't exactly an amulet that you destroyed. It was a charm, my mother put up to protect the family. It behaved weird around Misaki because of her spiritual pressure. It resembles our mother's greatly. And don't even ask me why I couldn't destroy it, that charm was my mother's. Like a part of my mother's soul. I can't destroy it. Not only because she was my mother, because…she probably knew I was going to try and destroy it anyway." Minato said. "Then if she knew that, why did she put a charm in the first place?" Minato's stare was cold. "She was dying. A human virus, and there was no escape out of it. Magi, are highly sensitive to human viruses and…emotions. She thought it would be best to store a part of her soul inside that necklace. But seeing what effect it had on my sister, I decided to destroy it. I couldn't, because the damn necklace identified my spiritual pressure. So I came here."
Kisuke finally understood. "So, the necklace created the sphere around Misaki when the hollow attacked because of Misaki's spiritual pressure?" Tessai asked. Minato shook his head. "Wrong, all my life I believed Misaki was normal. She isn't, apparently. The necklace just enhanced her spiritual pressure, did nothing about the sphere. That sphere, was what Misaki conjured up." "So, your sister is a Mage?" Minato nodded. Kisuke clapped his hands together, and bellowed, "How exciting! A family of Magi!" Minato looked away from him. "I need to get going." He said, and tried to walk away before he was blocked by a barrier. "What the hell Urahara?" "I need to see Misaki's magic." Minato grabbed the man's collar and said, "Leave her out of this. I know what you did to that orange haired kid, his spiritual pressure was darker. I don't want my sister involved in anything, and I certainly don't want you telling her about spirits, Soul Reapers or even about the Soul Society for that matter." Minato warned, and Kisuke chuckled. "Then you show me."
Misaki wrote the note and pasted in on the fridge. 'I hope dad reads this, or even Minato. I already told them yesterday that I was going to Tsuzune's house. Oh well.' She thought to herself and walked outside, and locked the door. Tsuzune Akiyama, was a fellow classmate of Misaki's and she'd asked her to come over for lunch. Misaki was reluctant at first, but Tsuzune was persistent, so Misaki said yes. Her house wasn't that far, and Misaki decided she's walk there. But then she felt as if she were forgetting something. Her hand involuntarily went to her neck, and she felt the area around it. 'That's strange…' She thought to herself and continued walking.
Tsuzune yelped when she saw her friend enter her house. She ran over to Misaki and hugged her and pulled her into her room. "We are going to gossip like no tomorrow!" Tsuzune said, and Misaki smiled at her friend's excitement. Then Tsuzune's mother yelled that lunch was ready and Misaki giggled at her friend's facial expression. After lunch, the two girls went up to Tsuzune's room and she lay on her bed, Misaki sitting at its edge. Tsuzune pulled Misaki toward her and asked, "So, who's it?" Misaki was confused. "What do you mean?" Tsuzune pouted and pulled her friend's shoulder. "You're crush!" Misaki blushed immediately and shook her head. "I don't have a-""Don't gimme that crap! There's gotta be someone!" Tsuzune persisted and Misaki sighed.
"Is it Kurosaki?" Misaki's eyes grew wide and she stared at her friend's remark. "Where in the world did you get that idea?" She asked, and Tsuzune laughed. "The other day, he was all over you! He was holding your shoulders and you weren't stopping him either, and you were smiling and it was all-gah! It's definitely Kurosaki!" Tsuzune declared and Misaki's heart leapt. "N-No, it's not what you think, Ichigo is j-just a friend." Misaki said, her face reddening. "Right, right, he's just a friend, come on Misa! I've seen the way you look at him, and oh god, you should see the way he looks at you!" Misaki gulped and "W-What?" "He obviously likes you, I can't believe you didn't notice." Tsuzune said. "But he has Rukia." Tsuzune howled. "So, the girl actually likes him!" Misaki blushed and looked down before hearing something which made her smile. "Don't worry, Rukia and Ichigo are just friends."
"You want to spar with me?" Minato asked. Kisuke nodded. Minato sighed. "Don't you think you're store is going to-"Tessai opened the underground door and revealed the passage. Minato's eyes widened. "Who in the hell are you Urahara?" "We'll talk when we spar, come on." Minato smirked and followed the blonde. As the two of them stood, Kisuke unsheathed his blade. "Soul Reapers, as you know are the spiritual guardians who the guard the souls who are going through the circle of transmigration. Namely, they are "balancers"." Kisuke said, and dashed toward Minato, but he couldn't land a blow on the boy. If he looked carefully, there was an invisible wall between them. "Oh, a barrier spell?" The wall disappeared and it formed a gas like substance and attached itself to the boy's right hand. "This-"Minato shows Kisuke his right hand. "-Is Manus Contego. The Shielded hand. The barrier was Victus Contego. The Immortal Shield."
The boy pushed forward and Kisuke dodged, and Minato hit the ground, shattering the earth below. Kisuke was wide eyed and he smirked. Tessai was in awe. Kisuke sped forward and tried to hit him again, while the boy smirked wider. From his hand, the energy like substance changed shape. It became needle like and dashed toward Kisuke. "That is Acus Morti. Needles of death." Minato said. Kisuke used Benihime and dodged the needles, but he was scratched by one. "You should stop, that needle is poisonous." Minato said, and Kisuke stood there, his eyes wide. Minato walked up to the man, and muttered, "Tergiversatio vitus." A blue blob of energy enveloped Kisuke's injury and in a matter of seconds, it disappeared. "What-?" "This is a beginner Mage healing spell." Minato turned around, "That's all I can show you without exhausting myself, so, good bye Urahara." And he walked away.
That night Misaki walked home, to find that Minato wasn't at home. She grumbled and she felt dizzy once again. But this time, she felt as if someone were watching her. She looked out the window, but couldn't see anyone. She shrugged and sat on the couch.
The next day, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad were back to school, and Misaki couldn't wait to greet them. She walked up to class, and suddenly, she felt as if someone were choking her slightly, and she knew this feeling was familiar. Ichigo looked at her face, which was turning white, and "Misaki?" The girl fell to the floor and Ichigo caught her, "Misaki!" Orihime looked at Ichigo and sprinkled some water on her face. "Are you okay?" Orihime asked her, and Misaki nodded but immediately blushed to realize her face was in contact with Ichigo's chest. He let go of her, and blushed.
That evening, the two went to Urahara and told him about the incident. "Her spiritual pressure must have been overwhelmed by your developed pressure. That's all, nothing to worry." A voice said behind them. The two turned to look at Minato standing there. "Minato?" Ichigo asked, surprised. "Relax." He said, and explained to the boy what he knew. After everyone left, Minato glared at Ichigo and he glared back. Kisuke chuckled and pulled Ichigo aside and asked, "Do you love Misaki?" Ichigo's face turned a dark vermillion and put his hands in front of him declining the remark. "N-No!" He yelled. "That's weird. Every time her name came up, your eyes twinkled, or was it just my imagination?" Kisuke winked and left the teenager on his own. Ichigo muttered, "Damn." And walked out, with a red face, thinking of a certain red haired Mage girl.