Okay, since there was some confusion about when Rukia gave Ichigo her powers, the answer is simple. SHE DIDN'T. Ichigo went to Urahara and willingly went through the whole Shattered Shaft trials to gain his powers. He has yet to meet Shirosaki, though that Hollow should get along famously with Arc.
Also, if you haven't noticed, there is a poll up on my profile on who gets what during the Grail Wars. Depending on who the fans pick, Ichigo might end up with an extra pairing. I have a plan in the event that you pick Saber or Archer for Ichigo instead of the standard Master/Servant pairings.
Ichigo was uncharacteristically cheerful today. Arcuied was confused until Tatsuki took her aside and explained it to her in private. In return she toned down her antics around him and didn't say a word about it.
She later offered to stay with Urahara for the day, but Ichigo shook his head.
Arcuied was practically part of the family anyway, and he saw no reason that she couldn't come with them to visit the grave.
The second Ichigo sensed Rukia's presence, he was pissed beyond reason. This was a private family thing...how dare she follow him?
He looked at Arcuied, who nodded. She had sensed the reaper's presence as well.
A mere hollow couldn't possibly stand up to someone like her, especially not after she had a recent blood snack.
While she refused to take blood directly, she had started to bite into the blood bags because she was sick of being stuck in a chair for over an hour.
"How dare you follow us today of all days!" he hissed at her.
Rukia raised a single elegant eyebrow in cold amusement.
"I was curious as to why you had such an abrupt change in behavior yesterday. Why did you come a cemetery?"
"My mother's buried here, and we come every year. Everyone knows we skip school today to pay our respects! Now are you going to go or will I have to kick you out?"
"Public property Kurosaki-san."
"I don't care. The last thing I want when we visit our mother's grave is to have a damn reaper of all things around!" snarled Ichigo.
Ichigo left, pissed off that the stupid girl had followed them today of all days. They had allowed Arcuied to come because she was practically family anyway and was very respectful about the subject around them. Rukia Kuchiki was neither of those things.
Ichigo came back to sounds of battle. Arcuied had her claws out, and Karin was keeping Yuzu away from the hollow that had shown up.
He saw a strange girl near the hollow, and memories of his mother's death came to him so strongly that he couldn't avoid them.
His eyes filled with rage, and he could hear Zangetsu speaking to him.
It is time, Ichigo. Hear my voice and know that from now on you will never fight alone again. If you can trust me, I will tell you how to kill this monster.
Ichigo calmed down and flexed his hands, as if gripping a sword.
I am Zangetsu, the sword of the moon. Now, call my name!
"ZANGETSU!"
Ichigo felt his loops snap away, falling to the ground. They were designed to unlock and fall should he ever say the pass phrase, which was his sword's name. His full spiritual power was at his disposal, well trained since that day. Because he had kept it limited, he was used to the strain on his body. The loops he had always worn kept his output at maximum and wove a shield around his power, hiding him from sight.
Arcuied grabbed the twins and jumped away from the perceived line of attack.
My attack, Ichigo, is a shot of your spiritual energy or if need be your prana. That attack is...
"Getsuga...Tensho!"
A line of blue energy, packed with his element, slammed into the hollow.
The hollow, known as Grand Fisher, screamed in pain.
"Insolent human!" he screamed. Ichigo shot off another wave of energy.
Despite this being the first time he had ever used Zangetsu in a proper battle, he was able to handle the strain rather well. This was nothing compared to the aches he felt whenever he wandered over to the enforcer's area to spar without relying on his eyes.
As a result his speed was something to be feared.
Karin and Yuzu watched as Ichigo systematically attacked the hollow...his eyes free from the powers of his glasses. Grand Fisher seemed greatly surprised when Ichigo cut through his lines.
When the hollow retreated to his 'lure' which had been the real cause of Masaki's death, something bizarre happened.
Prana erupted from the lure itself, resulting in a soul resonance between the lure and the crest left behind by Ichigo's mother.
The open half of the crest that the hollow had eaten, which Ichigo had despite it being incomplete, flared to life.
"Ichigo...my Ichigo. I'm so proud of you," whispered Masaki. She could sense the burdens he had gone through, the hardship of losing her. Every time his sword clashed with the hollow, she had seen glimpses of his life.
She was sad that he had gained those eyes after her death, but proud that he hadn't fallen into temptation to use them.
The fact he had somehow managed to rope in an Apostle Princess of all things as his first girlfriend was icing on the cake!
Ichigo felt his mother's crest heat up in her presence...and when Masaki touched his cheek gently, for the first time in years he felt whole again. The pieces that were missing and the parts Grand Fisher had eaten were immediately absorbed into Ichigo's spiritual body. He would now be able to use his magecraft even when in soul reaper form.
Ichigo didn't realize it then, but he was crying.
Once Masaki's ghost had vanished into the reincarnation cycle, Ichigo steeled his resolve. Grand Fisher seemed to understand that there was no way in hell the boy was letting him leave that graveyard alive.
What Ichigo didn't know was that Isshin had come soon after Masaki had appeared and was letting the girls watch the death of the hollow that had nearly shattered their family.
Ichigo didn't have his glasses on, nor did he have his soul sight active.
He could see the area where Grand Fisher's existence was greatest, and he struck it with his zanpakuto.
The effect was immediate.
Grand Fisher screamed as his soul was literally ripped into shred with nothing to anchor to. All the souls he had eaten and devoured over the years were split apart and sent flying...the worst of the sent to hell while the rest were turned into blanks and sent to the Valley of Screams. But it was the core soul, the original one that had created Grand Fisher in the first place that had the biggest impact.
That soul was completely and utterly annihilated from Ichigo's attack. Rukia, who had been quiet throughout the encounter gasped in horror as she watched the soul being completely destroyed by a single attack. Zanpakuto weren't supposed to destroy a soul like that! They were purifiers!
Arcuied gave her a cold look. Now that the danger had passed it was time she gave the idiot reaper girl a piece of her mind.
"I've had it up to here with you, you stupid chit! First you botch your damn job, then you try to force a human to do it for you, then you continuously follow us around trying to cause trouble, and now you've barged in on a private family matter without invitation! For the daughter of a supposed noble house, you are incredibly rude and classless," snapped Arcuied. Gone was the bubbly personality and flighty nature. This was the White Princess in full irritation, and she was not happy.
Rukia flinched. It was well known she was an adopted Kuchiki, not a born one, and that she came from one of the worst districts.
Ichigo and Karin took particular pleasure in watching Arcuied rip the reaper a new one for her behavior. Despite how she often acted, Arcuied was royalty to the Apostles. Part of her job description was to deal with apostles who had stepped out of line and to keep the more powerful ones in check. That meant she had to know how nobility operated and she could really hit Rukia where it hurt.
If Rukia continued to harass Ichigo or the group, Arcuied would register a complaint through Urahara to the Kuchiki clan about getting the girl properly trained.
Byakuya Kuchiki was the head of the Kuchiki clan and the adopted older brother of Rukia. Normally a commoner like Rukia would never even be considered a possibility for the adoption unless mitigating circumstances were present (marriage, soul bond, she had caught the attention of the elders...) but Byakuya had ignored all that and had adopted her as a favor to his wife, Rukia's older sister Hisana, who had died before she could see her sister again.
As such, Rukia's actions and behavior fell squarely on him. If she messed up, he was the one who was going to be held accountable.
So when he received an odd message from the Twelfth Division about his sister, who had been suspiciously absent for months despite filling out her reports and dealing with hollows, he had to go investigate.
He certainly wasn't expecting a noted headache called Arcuied Brunestud to be calling him from one of the few areas that had access to their area of the after life.
"How may I help the White Princess?" asked Byakuya calmly.
"I know where Rukia Kuchiki is, and she is seriously becoming an irritant."
"Has she been getting in the way of discipline apostles?" asked Byakuya, wondering what in the hell his sister had done to piss off someone as notably lax as Arcuied.
"She's been neglecting her duties as a soul reaper and a noble of the Soul Society. I'm sure you're wondering why she hasn't been returning to your little afterlife in recent months."
Byakuya's eyes widened, a sure sign he was shocked. How did Arcuied know what happened?
"What happened?"
"I have friends in Karakura, and I happened to be visiting when your sister barged into their house one her first night there. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the children of the family, particularly the oldest son, are spiritually aware and know about hollows and reapers. When the hollow attacked the house, the stupid girl didn't even think to unleash her zanpakuto like she should have, allowing one of the girls to be injured. If the son didn't have an unusual element she might have had to force her powers through him and make him a soul reaper."
Byakuya's breathing hitched. Turning a human into a soul reaper was an executable offense, and only extreme circumstances could overturn the conviction. The fact Rukia was almost foolish enough to even consider the idea a good one... She was going to be in for it once she got back.
"As it stands, Ichigo Kurosaki, which is the son's name, was able to kill the hollow using his magecraft. Unfortunately your sister decided that since she was injured while trying to save the family, that he had to take up her duties."
Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose. That wasn't reckless, that was being damn lazy! He knew Rukia was good at kido, and that wearing a gigai only hid their soul reaper form from view...it did nothing to prevent the use of kido!
"Exactly how did she manage to piss you off enough to actually call the soul society?" he had to ask.
"She's been harassing Ichigo for several months in an attempt to make him do her job. She somehow managed to get her hands on a defective gigai from what I understand, though she can still use kido. She's even infiltrated the school and begun stalking him! What really angered me was that recently, she even went so far as to invite herself to a private family gathering to visit the family grave and pay their respects to their dead mother who was killed by Grand Fisher. If Ichigo hadn't been distracted by Rukia, he might have been able to avoid having to fight the same hollow that killed his mother. As it stands, I'm tired of having to keep Rukia away from the family and Ichigo's group of friends."
Byakuya was displeased. Rukia had definitely crossed the line as a noblewoman.
"Is she still in Karakura?" he asked.
Arcuied managed to avoid looking sheepish.
"I may have hogtied her and left her in a safe location until you could come pick her up," she admitted.
When told of what she planned to do, Urahara had Arcuied knock the girl out completely so he could remove something in her gigai. Because of the true nature of the infamous Hogyoku, he had hoped to use Rukia to be rid of the thing at the cost of her powers.
Ichigo, when told of why Rukia's gigai was faulty, had said that he would give Urahara an 8 for execution, but a 5 for planning properly.
As the adopted sister and temporary soul reaper of Karakura, she would have eventually been found out and the man who had replaced Urahara might have discovered the artifact and misused it, never mind what would have happened had the man who had gotten Urahara banished in the first place learned that the girl had it inside her.
It was almost as bad as when Ichigo accidentally discovered Shiro had the famous sheathe of King Arthur inside him. If a Magus had learned of the sheath's presence, they wouldn't have stopped at tearing Shiro apart and slapping a sealing designation on him, never mind what the Einzbern family would have done once they learned of it.
Ichigo had told Shiro what he had inside of him, and what the basic effects were since he wasn't King Arthur. At least now Shiro had a reason for why his makeshift use of temporary circuits hadn't killed him. Once the Grail War was about to start, Ichigo would give Shiro the decision of whether or not he would summon the legendary King of Knights as his servant or not, or if he would prefer someone more in line with his own nature instead.
Urahara spent the next three hours removing the artifact from Rukia, while the girl remained unconscious from Arcuied's spell.
The next morning Ichigo, Arcuied and Urahara waited as Byakuya arrived from the Soul Society personally to collect his errant sister.
Since Ichigo hadn't obtained his powers from Rukia, the Soul Society didn't have any hold on him. They could contract him on a case-by-case basis as help, but their laws had no real impact on him since he was a Magus. A fact he planned to make full use of.
Byakuya saw his sister, still tied up but very much awake, and the infamous White Princess standing next to a human boy. Urahara kept his face obscured by his hat and made a point to keep his fan present.
"Ms. Brunestud," he said, inclining his head to the True Ancestor.
"Lord Kuchiki," she replied in kind.
"I apologize on behalf of the Kuchiki clan for my sister's behavior. She will be disciplined accordingly for her lapse," he said formally.
"Kuchiki-san was more of a nuisance than anything," said Ichigo. He acted as though Byakuya was Lorelei Barthomeloi. Probably a smart move on his part.
"You are Ichigo Kurosaki, I presume? My sincerest apologies for my sister's intrusion earlier this month. We have confirmed that you took out Grand Fisher and the reward for his death will be sent to your account once we have the appropriate details. Yamamoto-taicho has asked if I could perhaps interest you in a contractual agreement so that we might ask for your assistance should it be needed in the world of the living."
"Only if Arcuied looks over the contract first. I have no problem helping out occasionally, but I would like the ability to decline any assignments I find disagreeable," said Ichigo.
"The contract will be forwarded to your primary contact within the Soul Society," said Byakuya.
The ropes were removed and Rukia reluctantly went with her older brother back to where she came from. Since she hadn't broken any laws, just embarrassed herself as a noble and as a reaper, she would likely just have a minor punishment to deal with and a probation added.
Ichigo was just glad that she was gone from his life and that he had no more reason to deal with her anymore.
"So...does this mean Arcuied will be leaving soon?" asked Urahara grinning.
"Not a chance in hell. Roa isn't due for another few centuries at least (if he still alive) and it's boring just hibernating all the damn time. Besides, Altrouge has expressed an interest into Ichigo and I've been dying to introduce the two of them," grinned Arcuied.
"Wait, what? Why would you want to introduce me to your older sister?" asked a clueless Ichigo.
Urahara couldn't help his laughter. It was obvious to everyone who spent any real amount of time around the two that Arcuied liked Ichigo and not in a 'friends' way, and that Ichigo clearly liked her the same way back. It was only a matter of time before word got out through the Magus Association that Arcuied now had a half-human boyfriend.
He couldn't help but wonder if that old vampire Zelretch had set this one up.