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Chapter 31: Boiling Point

Kirara had to commend Ichigo. It had been almost 24 hours, and he was still on Hiyori's Super Trainer. Either he was dedicated, or an idiot. Kirara was leaning more towards the second.

"Where's Mashiro with lunch?" Shinji grumbled, stretched across the sofa as he flipped through a book. "Kirara..." he whined.

"Yes?" the Vizard glanced over from where she was sitting, looking over Lisa's shoulder at the swimsuit models.

"Lunch is late again and I'm starving, make something to eat," he told her.

"If you want me to burn down the place, sure," Kirara scoffed, returning her attention to the magazine. "Make yourself something to eat if you're that hungry," she told him.

"So mean..." Shinji sighed.

"No, just not your skivvy, Hirako," Kirara retorted. "So make your own lunch," she said.

"Yeah, if you want him to burn the place down," Lisa commented. "Oh Kirara, what do you think of this one?" she asked, pointing to one of the models. Kirara leaned closer to see the model she was pointing at.

"Pretty racy," Kirara studied the scantily clad woman, whose swimsuit barely left anything to the imagination. "I like it," she gave Lisa a thumbs up. Lisa's glasses flashed as she nodded, both approving of it.

"Great, I thought we only had one letch here," Shinji muttered.

"Shinji, remember that I've never been afraid to hit you," Kirara warned him in a casual voice. "Oh, that one is even better," Kirara pointed to another model.

"Good eye Yamada," Lisa approved.

"Lisa, I want you to keep a sharp eye on the Shinigami and look after him," Kensei spoke up nearby, taping up his knuckles.

"Don't worry, I won't let him out of my sight," Lisa spoke with a dismissive tone.

"Yeah, but you're not watching him, you're just sitting there looking at swimsuit catalogues!" Kensei growled when he looked up to see that Lisa hadn't taken her eyes off the magazine.

"Can it," Lisa rolled her eyes and leaned closer to the pages. "I can see the Shinigami just fine," she told him. Kensei's scowl grew.

"That's not the point! You're on duty today aren't you? You're supposed to be training him!" Kensei snapped at the perverted Vizard. Kirara looked up at Ichigo, who had been doing his best to ignore them. His scowl was just growing, and she smiled a little.

"Fine, have it your way," Lisa rolled her eyes. "One, two...one, two..." she began to speak in a monotone voice.

"Oh, that's an even nicer one," Kirara pointed over her shoulder. "Too bad I couldn't wear them," she sighed, leaning against Lisa as she continued chanting.

"Lunch sure is late..." Shinji sighed again.

"Stop talking about it!" Hiyori snapped at him. "You're only making us more hungry than we already are!" she told him irritably.

"I can't take this!" Ichigo finally snapped, and Kirara looked up in time to see Ichigo kick the Walker at Hiyori. It would have hit her dead on, had she not used Shinji as a shield. The Walker bounced off his face, and flew through the air, crashing loudly nearby. Kirara sighed heavily.

"What's the big idea?!" Hiyori shrieked at Ichigo. "You try something like that again dumbass and you're dead!" she threatened angrily.

"I was...I was just gonna say that to him..." Shinji groaned.

"I should be saying it to you!" Ichigo yelled back at the pair as the rest of the Vizards watched. Kirara shook her head. She was surprised it had taken that long for him to snap. "You bragged about how you were gonna teach me control and how to suppress a Hollow inside me forever! So why the hell are you idiots making me run all day on this cheap, home-made, poor excuse for a cross-country ski machine?!" Ichigo demanded.

"Honestly, I'm surprised it took him this long," Kirara said to Lisa. Hiyori and Ichigo continued to yell at each other loudly.

"I'm surprised he was even on it to begin with," Lisa said, glancing up from her magazine as they sighed.

"Lunch is here!" Mashiro announced as she pushed the door open and walked in with Hachi.

"Oh yay!" Kirara jumped up and bounced over. Mashiro glanced over to where Hiyori and Ichigo were yelling, with Shinji lying bleeding on the ground beside them.

"Should I interrupt them to tell them lunch is here?" Mashiro asked as she handed over Love's food to him. "It might get cold," she mused.

"Nah, don't bother," Love shook his head. "I'll eat theirs," he smirked.

"Oh, I want Ichigo's then," Kirara said as she took the extra portion.

"You two are so cruel," Rose shook his head, taking his own as they watched Hiyori and Ichigo yelling at each other.

"They seem to be awfully angry...why are they fighting?" Mashiro asked curiously. Love sighed.

"Well...he doesn't seem to like the Hiyori Super Trainer," he told her. Mashiro's eyes widened.

"What? He was still on it?" she gaped, looking over at the two, who had gone from yelling to screaming. Kirara shook her head as Hiyori called Ichigo a dumbass, and he called her Snaggletooth. At one point, Hiyori threw Shinji at Ichigo, making the orange-haired boy shriek in alarm.

"I think Hiyori's finally met her match," Kirara commented as she opened hers and began to eat. "They're both idiots," she sighed.

"If you ask me, I don't think Hiyori explained the theory of her training treadmill very well," Hachi admitted as he handed over food to Kensei and Lisa. "So I can see why the Shinigami might be upset," he said as Hiyori and Ichigo threw punches at each other, before Hiyori switched to her sandal and started slapping him with it.

"I have to agree," Kensei nodded. "When giving orders, she always leaves out one or two key details," he agreed with Hachi. Lisa just watched silently. Hiyori then kicked Ichigo down to the lower level, and grabbed her trainer.

"Quit your complaining and keep running until you drop!" she shrieked, hurling it down. It slammed into Ichigo's chin, and he growled, but stopped, deflating as Shinji finally stepped in.

"Calm down Ichigo," he told the angry boy. "The stupid Hiyori Treadmill Trainer-"

"It's Super!" Hiyori snapped, but Shinji didn't listen.

"Is the foundation for your future training," he explained. "We determine the level of your next training program based on how long you can run on that treadmill," Ichigo stared at him, wide-eyed.

"What exactly do you mean when you say level?" Ichigo asked him.

"Just listen to Hiyori, okay? Quit complaining and get back on her senseless treadmill trainer," Shinji told him, dodging the question.

"For the last time it's the Super Hiyori Trainer you dumbass!" Hiyori shrieked.

"After about three days, you'll collapse from exhaustion. First we break you down, then we build you up by teaching you how to control your Hollow transformation," Shinji continued as if he hadn't heard Hiyori's angry yell. Ichigo's gaze darkened.

"Oh no..." Kirara murmured, recognising his look. It never boded well.

"What?! That's a joke!" Ichigo yelled at him, losing his temper. "Well you can forget about three days!" he pointed at the fallen trainer nearby. "I can run on that thing for almost a week without getting tired!" Ichigo yelled up at Shinji. "I get it, okay? That stupid machine is designed to drain me of all my Reiatsu! Well big deal!" Ichigo yelled as Shinji's eyes narrowed very slightly. The other Vizards walked over, and Kirara watched Ichigo, worried. "You wanna measure my maximum Reiatsu output by seeing how many days I can run before I collapse. You idiots! With the Reiatsu I have right now, I could go at least five days straight on that thing!" Ichigo bragged angrily.

"That idiot..." Kensei muttered. None of them were impressed by Ichigo's tantrum.

"There's no point in testing me like this! Just teach me how to control my Hollowfication already!" Ichigo continued his rant. "I don't have time to waste on this crap dammit! I cannot afford to lose any more time playing around with you Vizards!" he yelled.

"Shut your mouth!" Shinji's roar took him by surprise. The other Vizards looked at him carefully, and Kirara grasped Rose's sleeve, worried as Shinji glared at Ichigo, Rose moved his other hand to pat her arm gently. "You don't have time? That's quite something coming from the guy who doesn't know how long it takes for the Hogyoku to awaken," Shinji growled. Ichigo's breath caught.

"What...did you just say?" he breathed, his anger dissolving to make way for his shock.

"I said stop blabbing when you don't really know anything about the Hogyoku or anything at all about Hollowfication!" Shinji's voice rose with his anger. Ichigo stared at him, stunned into silence.

"What is this...?" Ichigo managed to speak. "How do you know about...how is it possible that you know about the Hogyoku?" he asked slowly.

"I know all about it...the Hogyoku, the Arrancar...even Sosuke Aizen," Shinji sighed. "I've known about them for many, many years," Ichigo couldn't find the words to speak, and Shinji suddenly appeared in front of him, holding a hand in his face. "Don't worry, I'll give you all the details another day. I thought it would be a good idea to take some time at the beginning, to get used to us. But now that I think about it, you can already turn into a Shinigami...you can use your Shikai, and you have a Bankai," Ichigo stared at him.

"You know all about that too?"

"But I can see it would be better if we just jumped right into teaching you to control your Hollow, just like you originally asked us to," Shinji ignored his comment as his hand began to glow. "Are you ready, Ichigo?" he asked, and the light pulsed. Ichigo immediately keeled over, his eyes open but blank.

The other Vizards joined him, not speaking as Love hoisted Ichigo over his shoulder. "Hachi," Shinji turned. "Give us a two-layered fault forcefield," he requested.

"Alright then..." Hachi sighed, clapping twice to summon his massive barrier that enclosed the warehouse. The ground opened in front of them, revealing the stairs down to the training grounds, and the group began to walk down. When they reached the ground, Love dumped Ichigo unceremoniously on the ground in the middle.

"You know, you could stand to be a little more gentle with him," Kirara frowned irritably.

"I'm not gonna break him," Love commented, patting her head as they stepped back. Kirara rolled her eyes, swatting him away.

"Hey Hachi," Shinji ignored the pair. "Throw up another forcefield here too," he instructed.

"What?" Hachi gaped at him in alarm.

"Don't 'what' me, you're standing there with your mouth open looking like you're trying to catch flies!" Shinji rolled his eyes and scowled at Hachi. "Just do it, okay? And seal off Ichigo's body as well," he added. Hachi sighed.

"As you wish..." Hachi clapped his hands together, and a powerful wind picked up around him. "Wall of iron sand, tower of the shaven priests, glow incandescent iron, tranquil and soundless," yellow lights emerged from his clasped hands and he lifted his hands above his head. The lights focused above them in five yellow circles of light. "Bakudo #75! Gochutekkan!" Hachi slammed the lights to the ground, and five pillars appeared, landing on Ichigo and pinning him to the ground.

Everyone was quiet as they sat down away from Ichigo, and Hachi summoned another forcefield around his body, blocking it off from them. Kirara fidgeted as she stared at his motionless body, a sick feeling in her stomach. It had been a long time since any of them had had to do this, and it only brought up bad memories.

Feeling the pulse of Hollow-like Reiatsu again, Kirara lifted her head as the Reiatsu flooded out, causing a powerful wind. The gust battered at Kirara, whose hair whipped her face as she watched Ichigo silently. His fingers scraped at the ground as he struggled to move, and he lifted his head to reveal the same Mask as before, with a sick smirk on his face. The pillars finally collapsed, crashing into each other and shattering as Lisa got up.

"Hachigen, open up please!" she requested of the Vizard maintaining the large barrier. "I'm on duty today, so I'll go first," she said. Hachi nodded, and a small doorway opened up in the barrier in front of Lisa.

"Let's try not to kill him Lisa," Shinji requested. She paused in the doorway, looking around at him.

"Yeah, if he doesn't kill me first," she retorted, and disappeared inside. Kirara sighed as Ichigo got to his feet, growling at the woman facing him, and she stood up as well. She was already antsy, the anticipation of the battle flooding her with adrenaline. The others all looked just as on edge as she felt, watching Lisa fight off the Hollow inside the barrier.

"Kirara," she looked around as Shinji called her. "Come here," frowning, Kirara walked over to him, and as soon as she reached him, Shinji grabbed her arm and pulled her down so she was forced to sit. "Don't pace, you'll drive me crazy," he muttered, not looking away from Ichigo.

"I thought I always drove you crazy," she smirked.

"You do," he confirmed.

"Good. Thought I was losing my touch for a moment there," Kirara murmured back. His grip on her arm tightened very slightly, before he let her go, focusing on the battle in front of them. Kirara pulled her legs in close and rested her chin on her knees. This was going to be a long hour.

Once Lisa's 10 minutes were up, Kensei had stepped in, taking over the fight. His ten minutes would soon be up, and after a fierce game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Kirara was next in. Twitchy, she wanted to get up and keep moving, but pacing would help no-one. Kensei was easily holding his own against Ichigo, who was becoming more Hollow-like as time progressed.

Instead, Kirara settled for drumming her fingers on her leg, not taking her eyes off Ichigo. Trying to memorise how his Hollow-self fought. He was fast, and strong, but they all had been in their Hollow forms. It amplified their powers a great deal. She needed to figure out which style of fighting would be better against him.

After watching Ichigo, she knew she'd need to fight with her Zanpakuto. While she was more skilled with Hakuda and stronger, she didn't possess the brute strength that Kensei or Love had, and Kensei was barely pushing Ichigo back. She would have to rely on speed and her sword. Taking a breath, Kirara braced herself, and couldn't help her mind wandering back to the last time they'd had to do this.

Kirara glanced to her side, where Lisa was catching her breath. Sweat ran down her face and dripped to the ground. She had exerted herself quite a bit.

"How much of a break do I get?" Lisa asked as she glanced over to them.

"If all of us rotate in on schedule, it's ten minutes times nine people, so ninety minutes," Shinji told her.

"It isn't times nine, idiot," Hiyori snapped at him. "You can't count her, so it's only eight," she pointed out.

"Fine," Shinji scowled at the correction. "10 minutes times eight is eighty minutes," he corrected himself. Kirara grinned.

"Uh, you can't include Hachi, remember?" she pointed out, glancing to the Vizard sitting at the edge of the barrier, looking very nervous. "He has to maintain the barriers," Kirara told him. Hachi shot her a grateful look. Shinji glared down at her, having stood up to stretch.

"Then it's seventy minutes, dammit," he amended again.

"Dumbass," Hiyori muttered. Kirara bit her lip to hide her laughter.

When the watch beeped, she was up in an instant, walking towards the barrier.

"Hachi?" she smiled to him, and he nodded, lifting a finger. A doorway opened for her, and Kirara tensed, before disappearing. She reappeared by Ichigo and Kensei, swinging her leg hard to kick Ichigo's arm. His punch sailed over Kensei's head, and Kirara flipped backwards, landing nearby.

"Time's up Kensei," she said to him.

"Already?" he straightened up as the Hollow hissed; golden eyes focused on Kirara. She just tossed him the watch. "Watch out for his tail," he warned, and her eyes moved to the long white tail that was flicking quickly.

"Noted," she said as he moved towards the still open door, not too fast to avoid provoking Ichigo. Once he was out, Kirara drew her Zanpakuto. "I suppose I should formally introduce myself. Kirara Yamada. Prepare yourself," she pointed her Zanpakuto at him. He hissed at her, and suddenly leapt at her. Kirara moved quickly, dodging his slash, only for his tail to lash out at her. Using her Zanpakuto, she blocked it, but was shoved back by the strike. "You can never make things easy for me, can you Ichigo?" she sighed as she landed, and he turned, growling at her again. His hands had changed into white claws that would tear her to ribbons if she wasn't careful.

Taking a deep breath, Kirara held her Zanpakuto up in two hands, and watched as Ichigo faced her completely. She kept completely focused on him, ignoring her pounding heart as memories of the past battled to make their way to the surface of her mind. Lisa and Kensei had handled Ichigo fine, Kirara would not be the one to get herself killed keeping Ichigo's Hollow at bay while he battled internally. With a shriek, Ichigo leapt at her again, swinging his Zanpakuto, but Kirara read his moves easily and dodged, slashing up his arm. He let out a snarl, but as he landed, the cut was covered in the same white substance as most of his body. "High Speed Regen. Great," she sighed, and moved again when Ichigo attacked her. Swinging her Zanpakuto, Kirara prepared herself to keep this up for 10 minutes.

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