"You can't help me?!" Ichigo shouted at Shinji. The two of them were at the Visored complex, along with Hiyori, Hachigen, and Lisa.
"Sorry, Ichigo," Shinji said, "but there really isn't much more we can do for you…"
"What do you mean? I left in the middle of training…"
"Yeah, but if I'm honest you basically mastered everything we could have taught you by now." Shinji gave a weak smile as he placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "It's up to you, now."
"What the hell is this?" Ichigo shrugged off the hand and grabbed Shinji by the collar of his shirt. "Something's wrong with my powers. I thought I had them under control, but after…" he trailed off.
"Listen, Ichigo," Hacchi began, but Shinji put up a hand. "Ichigo, I get that you're worried, and I wish I could help, but-"
"Then help me! Help me control my inner Hollow!" Ichigo had begun the conversation demanding, but now he was just pleading with them. "I can barely activate my mask anymore, and even if I could I don't even know if I could keep myself in control!"
"Ichigo, this is beyond us now," Shinji said, staring the young man in the eyes. "This is something you have to do alone."
Ichigo punched him square in the jaw. Shinji fell to the ground, and Lisa and Hacchi ran to help him up. Hiyori jumped in between the two of them. "What is wrong with you?!" Hiyori yelled, glaring at Ichigo.
Ichigo matched her stare. "No, what's wrong with you people? I thought you were people I could depend on, people I could trust. But I guess I was wrong…"
Shinji was getting to his feet. "Ichigo, wait…"
"Screw you! You come to me wanting to use me and my powers to further your stupid group, but once you realized I wasn't gonna be a cooperative member you've got no time for me anymore. I get it!" Ichigo turned and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him.
"Damn him!" Hiyori said, turning to Shinji.
Shinji just shook his head, sadness in his eyes. "No. Damn us for being so useless." Ichigo, please forgive me… This is a battle you have to fight alone.
Uryu, Chad, and Orihime all sat together outside during the lunch period. It was a cool, pleasant day outside but even the weather couldn't penetrate the dark mood floating over the group. Ichigo hadn't come to school since his outburst the day before. "I'm really worried about Ichigo," Orihime said. She hadn't touched any of her lunch.
"Me too," Chad said. "What's going on with him?"
There was a brief silence. "It must have to do with his recent Hollowfication against Ulquiorra," Uryu finally said. "He was really out of control for a large portion of the battle."
"But didn't that give him the upper hand?" Chad asked.
"Yes, but he also attacked Uryu…" Orihime said sadly.
"I… I didn't know…"
"It's not like I bear any resentment about the situation," Uryu said, biting his thumb. "In fact, all I was concerned with at the time was trying to snap him back to his senses."
"So then you think he feels guilty about hurting you?" Chad asked Uryu.
"I don't think that's it." Orihime answered. "I think Ichigo's more worried about what could have happened if he wasn't stopped…"
"Or what could happen next time…" Uryu said.
The three of them sat in silence for the rest of the period. The sun shone brightly overhead.
3 A.M. Inside Urahara Shop, Kisuke Urahara sits awake on his computer while everyone else sleeps. He had noticed the other night a brief, massive fluctuation of reiryoku that his computer had picked up, but he had not felt. What could it have been? He wondered to himself as he began to run more tests. The computer had picked up something similar to arrancar energy as well as a possible Garganta opening, but there had been no sightings of either thing the next day, and it appeared that no one had been attacked in the night. So then it must have been a scouting mission, Urahara thought. So the question now is what were they looking for? And why was no one able to sense their presence here?
"Always busy, aren't we?" a distorted voice came from behind Urahara. He whirled around, Benihime already in hand, to find himself at the point of a blade. The intruder wore a black suit and tie, and had on a white mask with long horns.
"A Hollow mask…!" Urahara uttered. The intruder laughed.
"Very perceptive, Kisuke Urahara," the intruder said as he laughed again.
"Who are you?" Urahara backed away from the intruder. Was he a new Espada? Urahara couldn't gauge his reitsu. In fact, he couldn't feel it at all. "How did you get in here?"
The intruder cocked his head to one side. "The door," he said pointing. He laughed again. "Oh, you must mean how were you unable to sense me coming? Well, I can do a lot of things that might surprise you…"
Urahara raised his sword. "What do you want?" He could tell that this intruder was no friend.
The intruder took a step forward, and then he was gone. Urahara looked around. That was shunpo, he realized. So then…The blade was at his throat before he even knew the intruder was behind him. "Like I said, I can do a lot of things, but I'm not perfect," the intruder said, pulling the blade closer to Urahara's neck. The sharp edge was hovering just over his jugular. One move and he was done. "I need a few gigai, like the ones you and Tessai use. Let's say I need them for a covert mission of sorts."
Urahara took a slow gulp. "And if I refuse?"
"You cannot. This is not a request. I'm telling you what you will do for me." The intruder relinquished the blade from Urahara's neck, and then he flashed back in front of him. "I have a lab prepared for you back at my base. You can work there undisturbed."
Urahara raised his sword. "I won't-" The intruder's blade was in Urahara's gut before he could finish his sentence. He gasped, and then realized he wasn't even holding his Zanpakutō anymore. The intruder held it in his other hand by the blade, which was cracked.
The intruder pulled his sword from the bloodless wound and caught Urahara before he could fall. "Let's go." He threw Kisuke over his shoulder and walked for the door.
As he slide it open, Urahara glanced at his sword. His eyes went wide. "That… that Zanpakutō…" he uttered breathlessly.
The intruder put a finger to his masked mouth as he shushed the fallen Shinigami. "Quiet now, Mr. Urahara," he said as he exited the shop. "No spoilers."
Hey guys! BlackShenlong here, bringing you Chapter 3 already! What can I say, I've really enjoyed writing this so far, so I'm just gonna keep rolling with this spark of creativity! I'll probably slow down now, though, and wait until next week to update again. So enjoy! Comments are greatly appreciated, and thanks for commenting if you already have! Thanks for reading!