Author's Notes:
And here's chapter 11! Nothing much else to say other than that this is the last chapter before the Soul Society arc finally begins!
And on a side note: Getting some proper spacing done here on does indeed suck. 'Nuff said.
Ichigo found himself in a strange landscape, with a blue, near cloudless sky, and a strangely white set of rectangular hills, stretching as far as he could see. What was this place? He really wished he had asked what the experience would be like- but maybe this was one of those things you really had to figure out for yourself? Given how much it sounded like some crap from a fantasy novel, it probably was- the only problem was that he had no fucking clue what to do next. Sit down and meditate?
Hesitantly, he sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes.
"Why are you sitting still?"
Ichigo jerked; the voice had come out of nowhere. He looked around, seeing nothing- but it had sounded like it was right next to him. It had been a deep, strong voice, like an older man…
"Who are you?!" He called.
"That's your question to answer." The voice came again, and this time he could make out a contour, obscured by light. "Tell me Ichigo, what is my name?"
"I'm supposed to name you?"
"I have a name. You must tell me what it is." The figure said, sounding enigmatic.
Ichigo got up, walking towards the silhouette. "Do I have to fight you, or something? Is that how it works?"
"In time." Ichigo could now make out more- the shape had a long, flapping coat of some kind, long brown hair, and orange coloured glasses of some kind. "But today, you call my name- or never speak to me again."
"How am I supposed to call your name, when I have no idea?!"
"You will find a way." And suddenly, in an instant, the landscape tilted forty-five degrees, and Ichigo began falling. Just quickly, before he began to catch momentum, he noticed that it had not been hills at all- they were white skyscrapers, and he had seen them from a strange angle at first.
"What the hell?!" He shouted, flailing wildly, "This is not helping my concentration! At all!"
The man hovered next to him as he fell, seemingly unaffected by the change in gravity. "And yet you must find a way, Kurosaki Ichigo, before you hit the ground. I have called out to you for many weeks now, ever since you first were born as a shinigami- now you must call mine. I will not be alone any longer."
"I would call it, if I knew how!" Ichigo shouted desperately. "Bloody hell, how is this supposed to help?" He looked down- he clearly wasn't falling at the same rate as in the normal world; there it would have taken only seconds to turn into paste against the sidewalk.
Suddenly, as he watched the obscure ground come closer, he saw it- a hundred white boxes coming down, each with a long white ribbon attached to it.
"This is all you will need." The man said, stopping his hover, going upwards. "Find me, Ichigo."
With that, he vanished from Ichigo's view, leaving him falling towards his probable demise. Determined to try at least something, Ichigo maneuvered himself towards one of the boxes, got hold of it, and opened it. Inside of it, he found... a katana, which looked a good bit like the asauchi that he had been impaling himself with. Hadn't Urahara said something about the sword becoming something like a manifestation of his soul, a being with a mind of its own? Was this some sort of test to prove his worth as shinigami, or what?
Ichigo looked down once more. The ground hadn't come much closer, but he was certain the longer he hesitated, the faster he would fall – and impacts after a long fall had the annoying tendency to hurt a lot, spiritual realm-thing or not. Figuring that pondering about this all wasn't exactly the best thing to do while falling, Ichigo took the sword from the box, maneuvered himself towards the nearest skyscraper, and rammed it into it, attempting to at least slow his fall down...
Only for the blade to break. Well, crap.
Ichigo looked down again. The ground had come a noticeable bit closer. He grabbed another box that was close to him, and opened. It contained another katana, which, just like the previous one, resembled the asauchi. Ichigo looked around himself. There were a lot of boxes.
If it weren't for the fact that he was in something that might very well be a life-or-death situation, Ichigo would have sighed. The instructions couldn't have been clearer.
oOo
"Ishida-san, may I have a word?"
Uryu turned around. After he and everyone else had successfully convinced Kurosaki to join their rescue mission (though Uryu's own part in that was admittedly negligible), he had gone to a remote part of Urahara's absurdly spacious basement to train for himself. While it had been an obvious outcome, the fact that he had lost so badly to the shinigami that had come to retrieve Rukia still bothered Uryu a lot.
True, for the past few years now he had focused more on hunting hollows than on actually training his spiritual powers, and these two shinigami had probably worked multiple decades, if not centuries to reach that level of power... but it was shinigami like them, those allied to the Gotei Thirteen that had been responsible for his grandfather's death. Not being able to defeat them felt nothing short of disgraceful.
So he trained. Getting this entire operation started in the first place had been easier than he expected: All that Uryu needed to do was meet with Tatsuki, tell her what happened, and her connections to this shady shopkeeper did the rest – though Uryu did not trust the man in the slightest.
But while the highest priority was, of course, to rescue Rukia, he also hoped to somehow find the shinigami that were to blame for his grandfather's death, and then... fight them? Kill them? Uryu wasn't certain – but he did know that he wanted to something. And for that, he would have to get stronger.
Which would be easier to do if there wasn't a certain suspicious shopkeeper standing behind him.
"What is it, Urahara-san?" Uryu asked, trying his best to conceal his distrust towards the man.
"I do hope that I am not interrupting you during something important – like an interior monologue about vengeance – but if you do have some time to interrupt your training for a while, then there is something that I would like to ask of you." Urahara explained, with the exact kind of childlike cheerfulness that played a major part in his overall suspiciousness.
Uryu hesitated. Urahara was not exactly the kind of person that he would expect to ask for a favour if it was something unpleasant – if someone like him wanted you to do something unpleasant, he would probably skip the asking, and just make you do it somehow. "And what would that be?"
"I will be quite busy very soon, Ishida-san," he said, snapping his fan open, "and so will Yoruichi-san. "I will still make time to train Kurosaki-san, of course."
"Busy, you say? How so?"
"You wouldn't understand, I am sure," Urahara said cheerfully, "and even if you did, I am afraid I couldn't tell you."
"So you set us up for a rescue mission- us, a group of teenagers- and you won't help?"
"I will help in many ways, Ishida-san," he said, fanning himself, "but I only have so much time. That's why I am assigning Inoue-san to you."
"Say what?" Uryu flinched.
"You already have excellent reiatsu control- I could teach you some things, but it would be rather fine-tuned- nothing you would benefit from right now. Your skills are quite good as they are- your grandfather certainly was an exceptional teacher."
Uryu glared. What did he know about his grandfather? "What if I refuse?"
"We both know you're not going to be that immature about it, Ishida-san. To be frank, Inoue-san has a lot of potential… but she lags far behind the others. She needs tutelage from somebody who is well accustomed to using reiatsu, especially the finer details of its manipulation- which I believe is a quincy specialty."
"I was never taught how to tutor. I might be a terrible teacher."
"Alliterative!" Urahara grinned. "Nevertheless, that is how it must be. Arisawa-san has yet to fully blossom, and Kurosaki-san… he is just a seed. They need mine and Yoruichi-san's full attention."
"…fine." Uryu said, feeling less than pleased.
"Excellent!" Urahara cheered. "Inoue-san, over here!" He waved to Orihime, who cheerfully jogged over to the two of them.
"Hi, Ishida-kun!" She said, happily. "Oh, I mean- Ishida-sensei!" She smiled. Uryu felt a little knot in his stomach- he had never really learned how to behave around girls, much less the popular, attractive ones. "So what do we learn first?"
"I, uh," he began lamely, as Urahara walked away, smiling smugly, "uh… why don't you fill me in on what you learned so far?"
"Sure thing!" Orihime said. "All right, so at first there was this spark I was supposed to make, and I totally made it, which really made me feel like I was really a killer robot from mars like I always wanted…"
Oh, dear god…
oOo
The ground was closing in rapidly now. Ichigo was almost panicking; he could almost feel it, his ribs and spine getting smashed across the concrete…
Shit. Shit shit shit fuck. What to do?
Quickly, he tried to focus. It was do or die- what could he do? He closed his eyes, trying to feel the reiatsu. Where was the right one? Where was the sword that was supposed to be his? Inhaling deeply, he forced himself calm. There was no ground, no anything, only him right here and now. That's right, no chance of imminent death at all…
And then suddenly, he felt something. Not looking down, he reached out- there was something there, amidst the hundred boxes. One string, that seemed different… he squinted, looking closer.
What was a zanpakutou? It was supposed to be a reflection of yourself, right? Well…
"Is this a zanpakutou I see before me?" He mumbled, reaching for the string. He could see it now, red- how could he not have seen it before? It was plain as day now; shining in its blood red colour. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the thread, pulling at it hard…
And finally, he just knew. Hitting him like a realization, like a word at the tip of his tongue finally coming out, he felt it- an entity inside of him, which had been calling his name, like in a dream… how much like a blind man he had been! And here it was. Pulling hard at the ribbon one last time, he shouted,
"I have you now… ZANGETSU!"
And out came the blade, and suddenly there was no falling any more. His surroundings shifted, and a moment later, he was safely standing on the skyscraper once more.
"You pass." Ichigo turned around. The man had reappeared behind him, and since he wasn't distracted by the fact that he was falling towards his doom anymore, Ichigo could finally get a good look at him.
The man was very tall, and had a lean build. He had stubble, ragged black hair, and a stoic expression that at the very least matched that of Rukia's brother in lack of emotion.
"So you're Zangetsu."
"Yes. I am the spirit of your Zanpakutou... and to be honest with you, if we you were approaching your training more traditionally, you would not be seeing me for at least another five years." Zangetsu said. He spoke stoically, too, Ichigo noted. And that guy was supposed to be a manifestation of his own soul? Hard to believe...
"There's no time for that! Rukia is going to be executed if we wait too long!" Ichigo retorted.
"I know. That is part of the reason why I already showed myself to you. That, and this shady shopkeeper using untraditional methods that allow you to rush things... but that is beside the point. The reason that you are here is so that you can learn about your powers." He materialized a katana identical to the one that Ichigo had retrieved from the box out of thin air, and pointed it at Ichigo.
"So what does this do, old man Zangetsu?"
"That is for you to find out, Ichigo."
Zangetsu… what a strange name. Cutting Moon? What a cheesy name!
"I can feel your thoughts, too," Zangetsu said dryly, "and the name is subtler than you'd think."
"Could be worse." Ichigo said, smiling nervously. "At least the sword- uh, you- don't look too bad."
"This is not its true form." Zangetsu said. "All zanpakutou have a sealed form- like this- and a true form, the shikai. Call for me, and you will see."
Carefully, Ichigo took the blade from Zangetsu, weiginh it in the palm of his hand. "Uhm, okay…" He swallowed, closing his eyes. Do this on instinct…
"Destroy them, Zangetsu!"
There was a bright flash, and he felt the blade change, elongate, grow… it was no longer the same.
Once it had stopped its glowing, Ichigo inspected the blade closer. It was a strange shape- all black, and positively huge. It had to be almost as long as he- and strangely, it looked more like an oversized knife than a sword. No guard, only a long, long, heavy blade, with a solid steel grip wrapped in cloth.
"That is who I am." The old man said. "Your weapon, here to destroy your enemies so that your beloved people can live safely."
"That's surprisingly violent." Ichigo remarked, carefully trying the weight of the blade. It was feeling much lighter than it looked- Ichigo felt like it should have the kind of weight class that weapons that looked more like a giant slab of iron than a sword would have.
"Are you not violent?"
"I'm not!"
"Part of you is. It is the part of you that wants to protect as well as punish. You are not the kind of person to do violence for the sake of violence- but do not deny that when you need to, you can be quite violent."
":..I guess." Ichigo said. "Uh, so…"
"This will suffice for now." Zangetsu said. "Until next time, Ichigo- you have much more to learn before you have mastered me."
"Okay-"
And suddenly everything went white, then black, and suddenly his body felt… numb. The kind of numb you get from lying on a rock floor. Irritated, he blinked, light stinging his eyes.
"What…" he grunted. He looked to his side- and there it lay, a longsword, neatly sheathed. It had a long, black hilt, and an equally black, rounded guard. "Zangetsu…" he mumbled, feeling it resonate back in response.
"He's awake!" It was Tatsuki.
"You make that sound like it's surprising or something..." Ichigo said, slowly trying to sit up, which was easier said than done, since his entire body still felt very much tired.
As he got up, he heard footsteps approaching, and a moment later, Urahara entered his field of vision, followed by Yoruichi. While the latter was still completely naked, she was now at least in her cat form once more, making her nudity more acceptable; cats usually don't wear clothes.
"Well, it is kinda surprising, actually. When I first got my powers, it took me even longer to get to my senses again."
"Ah, there is a reason for that, my dear Arisawa-san." Urahara interjected, eagerly jumping at the opportunity to provide exposition. "Since Kurosaki-san already had the powers of a substitute shinigami before, the process of turning him into a fully-fledged one was not a completely new experience to his body and soul. That is why it didn't take him thirty hours to complete the process of becoming a shinigami."
Ichigo blinked a few times and shook his head, trying to get rid of this feeling numbness and being sleepy. Having a conversation when being like this was probably not exactly a good thing to do... how else could he have misheard Urahara as him saying that Tatsuki had been out for thirty hours?
...unless he had heard right. "Wait, did I hear this right? Tatsuki had been out for thirty hours? ...How long have I been out, anyway?"
"Yes, yes, and five hours. Like I said, you were quite fast in comparison to Arisawa-san... which might also have something to do with the fact that you didn't outright fall unconscious once you properly obtained your powers." Urahara answered nonchalantly.
Ichigo calmly stared at the shop owner silently, taking a few seconds to let that what he had just heard sink in properly. So apparently, he had been out for- "FIVE HOURS?! I need to go back home! Oh god, I don't even want to imagine how my mother is going to react!"
"Hey, at least you weren't out for thirty hours..." Tatsuki grumbled, which was lost on Ichigo.
"Tsk, tsk. I feel offended, Kurosaki-san." Urahara chided in a playfully offended tone. "Do you honestly believe that a stalking, kidnapping bastard such as me wouldn't take things like that into consideration?"
"We have already taken care of your mother, Ichigo, don't you worry. For the time being, we can just focus on your training." Yoruichi added in, now once again speaking in a much deeper voice.
Ichigo looked around himself irritably, before taking a deep, deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. They had 'taken care' of his mother... it was probably better not to ask what that was supposed to mean. Considering how shady of a person this shopkeeper was, knowing what they had done would probably give Ichigo only more reason to worry.
"...Right." He finally said, using his sword to help himself get up. "So, uh, training. What are we gonna do now?"
"Now, Kurosaki-san, comes the part where she punches you." Urahara said cheerfully.
"Huh?" Ichigo said. "Oh, we're supposed to spar-"
And he managed to just barely roll out of the way from a flying axe kick from Tatsuki. The ground beneath it cracked, and Ichigo quickly got to his feet, barely remembering to hold on to Zangetsu. "What the hell, no warning?"
"No warnings, no help." Tatsuki said determinedly. "Where we're going, we're not going to be facing duels. We'll be fighting people who are trying to kill us."
"Got it." Ichigo said. He reached for the hilt of his sword- but in an instant, Tatsuki was in front of him, slamming her fist into his gut, quickly following it up with a roundhouse kick to his shoulder. Ichigo barely blocked it- damn, when had she learned to kick like a mule? She hadn't beaten him in a fight since they were twelve; this was a completely different Tatsuki.
"At least let me draw my god damn sword!" He shouted.
"Draw it if you can." She shot back.
"Hmm." Yoruichi said, sounding thoughtful. "That was a shunpo she used right now. Shoddy, but an actual flash step- you've trained her well in just a few weeks, Kisuke."
"She's been coming here every day. Her training's showing." Urahara nodded.
Ichigo had finally managed to get his sword out, dropping the sheath on the ground. He took a stance- this, he could do. Tatsuki scoffed, and reached into her shihakusho, pulling out a shorter blade, holding it in a reverse grip. Oh, this was good news- even he knew that in a swordfight, the longer blade had the advantage.
Not wasting any time, Tatsuki charged with absurd speed, slamming her short blade into his, time and again. Ichigo parried- he could do it. He could react fast enough; he wasn't outclassed. Letting out a loud cry, he hit back, bringing his blade down hard…
And Tatsuki let the blade slide, dropping to the ground, supporting herself on an arm and a leg, sweeping her other leg into Ichigo's knee joint. Hard.
Ichigo groaned, violently being forced down to one leg. Tatsuki didn't let up, slamming her foot into his solar plexus. Ichigo saw stars. He struggled to stand up- Tatsuki had jumped back, but was coming at him again. Groaning with annoyance, he got up to his feet- and there she was, catching his sword before he could even get into a stance, shoving it aside. Quickly, she put her blade to his neck.
"One for Arisawa-san!" Urahara cheered. "That will do- both of you, separate!"
Tatsuki obeyed, walking back a bit. There was a distance of perhaps five yards between them, enough that either could prepare for an attack.
"When the hell did you get this strong?" Ichigo groaned, rubbing his knee.
"Lots of hard work." Tatsuki said. "Urahara's shady, but he knows his stuff. Plus, I know how to handle a longsword opponent."
"Well, I guess I better up my game," Ichigo said, holding out his zanpakutou to the side. "Destroy them, Zangetsu!"
And he felt the transformation happening again, the blade resonating with him, whispering in his ear, singing with joy for finally being used… there it was, the black slab of iron almost as big as himself.
"That's what you got, huh?" Tatsuki said. "Not bad, I guess."
"I showed you mine- why don't you show me yours?"
"Yeah. Sure, I'll show you."
oOo
She was back in her zanpakutou's realm again. It had been two weeks since she first got it, and this was well over the twentieth time she had visited, and the damn thing was still being difficult.
The realm was not bad in itself- it was like a cross between a dojo and a military arms museum. On the walls were weapons of all kinds- European great swords, katana, nodachi, ninja-to, morning stars… on one wall there were Mongol composite bows, on another there were kukris, machete and an assortment of other really nasty-looking blades.
"You really have a thing for weapons." She mumbled.
"I am your weapon, and a reflection of yourself." It was the spirit of her blade, suddenly standing opposite of her on one of the mats in the dojo. It was tall, its features obscured by a brown and red samurai's armour, face obscured by that orange and black mask. It was an imposing figure to deal with- its voice deep, its arm strong and fast, its footing so solid that her karate teacher would have cried with joy if she had seen it. "These weapons are a reflection of martial prowess."
"I prefer hand to hand, though…"
"Yes, we both do." The spirit said. It was always like this- conversing at first, then it would suddenly assault her, trying to beat her into the ground. She had stopped losing entirely, but she still couldn't beat it- too fast, too furious. "Have you come here to claim my name again?"
"I wish you wouldn't be so stubborn." Tatsuki said, sounding annoyed. "Is it really all you want, fighting?"
"Is it what you want, Tatsuki?"
"Always with the riddles." She grumbled. "Well, I think more like-"
And then she leapt forward, spinning her left leg round in a roundhouse kick, aimed for the spirit's head. She missed, just barely, as the spirit stepped back.
"Surprise attack. You improve."
"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Tatsuki shot back, launching herself into a series of heavy, fast hits and kicks, trying to keep the spirit on its guard. She had to beat it somehow, just somehow…
And then the creature simply caught her foot, and flipped her over. Tatsuki just barely managed to balance her fall, catching herself with her arms and going into a backwards somersault, quickly back on her feet. She could see the spirit's foot strike where she had been just a second ago- that was a close shave.
"Not bad." The creature said dispassionately, charging forward in a tackle. Tatsuki sidestepped, and slammed a fist into its side- which was largely not effective, because fists do not do well against armour. The spirit replied with a spinning kick; Tatsuki bent her knees and dodged low, jumping back up, going for its mask again. The spirit reacted, slamming a fist into her torso- but Tatsuki was ready, diverting the force of the punch, catching the wrist with her left hand. Quickly, she kicked up towards his other fist, slapping it away. There it was, an opening at last… she lashed out, her free arm readying for the punch of a lifetime-
And suddenly, there was a burning pain in her left shoulder. The spirit had… stabbed her, somehow. A concealed blade in the sleeve of the arm her left hand had been catching.
"You are not yet ready."
"Cheater!" Tatsuki shouted, frustrated.
"Do your enemies on the battlefield play by the rules? Are you naïve enough to expect them to do so, for your sake? Child."
Quickly, Tatsuki grabbed the stabbing arm with both hands, and slammed her knee into the gut of the spirit. It twisted, trying to retract its arm, but Tatsuki would not let go. She was not losing, not again! Quickly, she followed up on the knee hit, striking it twice, thrice, until it staggered back. Then, she let go of the hand, finally driving a hit home with her unhurt right arm, slamming it hard into the mask of the spirit. There was a crack, and she could see smooth, white skin under the mask.
"I wounded you… and you turned it to your advantage." The spirit was, she could just barely see, smiling.
"Damn straight! And I don't care if I lose an arm, I'll still beat you into the dirt until I know your name!"
"Good show." The spirit said, stepping back. "You have proven yourself worthy. Tatsuki, my name is…
oOo
Her reiatsu spiked, and there was a faint glow as Tatsuki held her blade up.
"Strike, Raitora!"
Her sword began to glow, shift and change form... but Ichigo wasn't going to wait until it was done. Determined to not let this chance go to waste, Ichigo charged at Tatsuki as fast as he could, intending to knock whatever weapon her blade transformed into out of her hand.
Only to find his sword blocked, anyway.
"Oy, Ichigo! Attacking me while I'm releasing my zanpakutou? That's my trick!" Tatsuki growled, audibly strained by the strength that it took her to hold back Ichigo's sword.
Ichigo gave her a confident grin. "Just keep telling yourself that! I've been using that sorta thing since before you even had your powers!"
From his current perspective, Ichigo could not properly see what kind of weapon Tatsuki's zanpakutou had become, but whatever it was, it was small – and therefore not exactly suited for clashing with a person-sized sword. For now, he was at an advantage... but after losing the previous round, he knew better than to let it get to his head.
Careful to stay out of reach for any possible counter-attacks, Ichigo put more force into his sword...
Only for Tatsuki to push his sword to the side, causing it to ram right into the ground. Not even a second later, Ichigo had a blade in front of his neck.
"And the second one goes to Arisawa-san, too!" Urahara declared. "That's enough for this round, Arisawa-san. Let him go."
Once again, Tatsuki did as she was ordered. As she lowered her weapon, she gave a Ichigo a smug grin. More importantly, though, he could now see what weapon she was wielding now in her shikai...
"Daggers? That's your weapon?" Ichigo asked, surprised.
"Sort of." Tatsuki said. Almost instantly, her daggers changed shape once more, becoming a pair of a brass knuckles. "I can switch freely between the daggers and these here – though this is the base form, so to speak. If it weren't for your little trick just there, you would not have been able to even catch me with that slab of iron of yours! I'm very fast with these, y'see?"
And apparently was quite proud of it, too. Great. "Bah, the only real difference here is that you already had some training, unlike me. If we had the same amount of training, your speed would be just about useless." Ichigo retorted.
"You know what I think?" Tatsuki said, sounding dismissive. "I think I'm finally strong enough to take you, and you're sore about it."
"Then you wouldn't mind demonstrating the limits of your strength, Arisawa-san?" Urahara interjected before Ichigo could even think of a way to respond to that. "If that is really what you think, then there is something that I believe I should do."
Tatsuki gave him a confused look. "Huh?"
"Just wait here for a moment. The two of you shall see soon enough." And with that, he hurried off, leaving even Yoruichi to stare after him in confusion. When the shopkeeper returned a few minutes later, he was followed by Uryu and Orihime, neither of which really seemed to have an idea of what was going, either... or at least, Uryu didn't. With Orihime, this sort of thing was harder to tell.
"So, Arisawa-san. If you are truly so confident in your abilities, then I would suggest that you provide us with some proof of your claim of your being the strongest out of the four of you. Defeat Ishida-san."
"…all right." Tatsuki said, raising her fists. "I'll take him on. Sure."
"Hang on a second, Urahara-san!" Uryu objected, "I didn't agree to this. What if she's hurt?"
"I trust your control, Ishida-san." Urahara said, smiling wide.
"Maybe I'll be the one to hurt you, Ishida-san." Tatsuki said, already having taken a stance.
"You would undoubtedly hurt me if you could hit me, I do not doubt that." Uryu said, causally readjusting his glasses. "But I don't think you can."
"Now who's cocky?"
"It's not arrogance, Arisawa-san. Your reiatsu and training is inferior, and your close-combat aptitude puts you at a disadvantage."
"Let's just go!" Tatsuki said impatiently.
"Fine." Uryu said, sounding irritated. He hadn't expected this- then again, sparring shouldn't be unexpected. Slowly, he walked up, taking a stance.
"You know, Tatsuki seems a bit… different today." Orihime said.
"I wouldn't know for sure, but… Ichigo shut her out. I wouldn't be surprised if she still was a little angry with him." Yoruichi mused.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Orihime nodded. "They were friends since they were kids and everything."
"That, and the drug has some side effects." Urahara said offhandedly. "In her case, it causes overconfidence. It's a subtle chemical process, and I've since readjusted the serum… but for the time being, the more reiatsu she uses, the more confident she gets without being able to help it."
"You never mentioned that." Yoruichi frowned.
"I didn't confirm it till just now. I had a good idea, but I needed more data. I'll talk to Arisawa-san later."
Tatsuki charged at Uryu, slipping into a simple shunpo. The brass knuckles began charging; she would hit him hard-
And suddenly, Uryu was standing twenty yards away, on a large rock. Before she could react, he had shot her twice, each shot grazing her leg.
"I told you, your style is at a disadvantage." Uryu explained. "And it will be until you are at least equally as fast as I am. Your current level of flash step is impressive for a rookie, but really inadequate compared to me."
"Stop talking and fight!" Tatsuki demanded.
"Fair enough." Uryu hopped down, and began casually walking towards Tatsuki. Readying herself, she raised her fists-
And then he was behind her, and she could feel a spiritual arrow humming at the base of her skull.
"Ishida-san wins!" Urahara exclaimed cheerfully.
"…damn it." Tatsuki grumbled. He really was quite ahead of her…
"You are quite fast considering the amount of training that you had this far, I will give you that... but that is no good reason to get as over-confident as you have gotten." Uryu said, lowering his bow. "You are easily faster than Kurosaki-san, but that alone isn't saying much."
"I get it already! Stop lecturing me!" Tatsuki moaned in annoyance. Why did Uryu suddenly believe that he needed to lecture her?
"I am only saying this to warn you, Arisawa-san. We are going to be attacking Soul Society, where our enemies will fight to kill us. It is for the better if they aren't the ones that tell you about your weaknesses."
Tatsuki sighed. "I get it, I get it..."
"That is enough for now, Ishida-san!" Urahara stated.
"Can I get back to helping Inoue-san with her training then?" Uryu asked, casually walking away from Tatsuki, and towards Urahara.
The shopkeeper nodded. "Quite. You made a good point, and helped me confirm something – that is all that I need your help for now. Thank you, good sir."
Uryu rolled his eyes, but didn't say another word, simply leaving the room instead. Waving happily at Tatsuki, Orihime followed him a moment later.
"So what do we do now?" Tatsuki asked, once they were gone. "Another sparring match?"
"In a moment, Arisawa-san." Urahara said, covering his mouth with his fan, which did not exactly help him in looking particularly trustful. "Before we get to that, I suppose it might interest you what exactly I was able to find out thanks to Ishida-san's help..."
One short explanation later, Tatsuki was not only very much baffled, but also a bit infuriated. "You mean these drugs are still affecting me? Now, several weeks after I have taken them?!"
"So it would appear, yes. How else would you explain your recent tendencies to become so overconfident? Unless you have somehow, and miraculously, have hidden this specific character trait of yours from me – which, as I might add in, is not very likely – this is the only explanation that I can offer. But do not worry, even this effect should wear off after a certain amount of time."
"Time?"
"Only a few months, I wager."
Before Tatsuki could express her baffled frustration, Ichigo spoke up. "Well, this is nice and all..." he interjected "But can we get to the actual training now?"
"Quite." Urahara said. "Arisawa-san, Kurosaki-san, go again."
"Got it." Tatsuki said, frowning. It felt uneasy, knowing the side effect of the drug.
"Guh…" Ichigo grumbled, still not happy about his performance. "Let's do this, then."
The both of them walked out, away from the others, and took their stances. Tatsuki clicked her brass knuckles together, holding her fists up, this time waiting for Ichigo to strike first.
Ichigo, unsure of what to do, held his sword up, letting his reiatsu rise. All right… how would he fight somebody faster than he was? Carefully, he stepped forward, slowly letting the walk turn into a charge. He swung his sword in a horizontal arc, aiming for Tatsuki's chest. A thought occurred to him- what if he actually hit? He would do a whole lot of damage-
Not that that mattered; Tatsuki ducked low and the swing went over her harmlessly. Quickly, she put her hand on the blade.
"What-" he managed.
"Charge!" Tatsuki declared, and there was a spark of blue- and suddenly Ichigo staggered backwards, shocked- literally shocked; it was like he had been kicked by a horse. Tatsuki quickly followed with a direct kick to his chest, unbalancing him, knocking him over. "That's Raitora's power, Ichigo," she explained. "Lightning. And what's a good conductor for lightning?"
"Metal." He grunted. "So you can switch between two different kinds of weapon, and have electricity powers, too? I'm so gonna demand some new powers out of old man Zangetsu when I see him next time... maybe something like fire. Uh, anyway, does that even work? I mean, this sword feels like metal- but it's all reiatsu, isn't it?"
Tatsuki shrugged, taking him by the hand and pulling him up. "It seems to work that way, though."
"You're going easier on me." He noted.
"Hell no." She said. "I'm just not going to kick you when you're down."
"Yeah?" Ichigo said, taking a stance. "So maybe-"
But Tatsuki didn't let him rest for one second, instantly slamming a charged fist into his general chest area. Ichigo just barely blocked it, this time anticipating the shock. Hopping back, he held out his sword. Tatsuki charged at him, hammering him with kicks, punches, more kicks, keeping him on the defensive. Ichigo swore inwardly; her rapid style of attack meant he couldn't swing his sword to do big enough damage- unless he got away from her furious barrage. Hopping back rapidly, he managed to get some distance between them. He held his sword up, firmly with both hands, prepared as she came at him. He swung down, hard, but Tatsuki sidestepped, and again dropped to the ground, sweeping at his feet.
But Ichigo was prepared this time, jumping just over her swing. Quickly, before he hit the ground, he lashed out with his foot. He was rewarded with a solid impact, and a surprisingly gratifying groan from Tatsuki. Before she could recover, he brought his blade down, stopping it just before it hit her neck.
"I win this one." He grinned, standing triumphant.
"You do, do you?" Quickly, Tatsuki kicked up, right into the most painful place imaginable, and Ichigo let out a loud squeal, and sunk to his knees.
"Draw!" Urahara declared.
"Draw?"
"Draw." He nodded. "If that had been a real fight, you would have died- but then again, Kurosaki-san let his guard down. Draw."
"…okay." She smiled sheepishly. "Uh, sorry Ichigo." She gave him her hand, pulling him up to his feet. "You okay?"
"Just fine!" Ichigo said, just barely managing to get the words out, still bent over. "Juuuust fine. Oh god…"
"The two of you will be sparring a lot the next few days," Urahara said cheerfully. "And with myself, and Yoruichi-san. Be prepared to hurt."
Trying his best to ignore the unimaginable pain that a certain part of his body was in, Ichigo managed to grin. "I wouldn't have it any other way... though I could do with less groin attacks."
oOo
And just like that, two weeks passed. Over the course of this time, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Uryu and Orihime made great progress with their respective trainings – though in the end, little changed in regards to how strong each of them was in comparison to one another. Uryu was and remained the strongest among them, followed by Tatsuki, who had the advantage of already having had more training than Ichigo to begin with. Orihime was the weakest out of them, though that came to the surprise of absolutely no one. Since the date of Rukia's execution had already been set, there simply was not enough time to awaken Orihime's potential in the form of shinigami powers (or for Uryu to teach her how to use Quincy arts, for that matter), so that the only other option that remained was a more simple power that could more easily be used by living people... or at least that was what Urahara claimed.
Orihime being comparatively weak ultimately seemed to matter little, anyway; the powers that she eventually did awaken with Uryu's help were, in contrast to Ichigo's and Tatsuki's, a lot more defensive and supportive in nature, which more than made up for her lack of offensive strength.
Ichigo, on the other hand, somehow managed to convince the spirit of his Zanpakutou to grant him two more new tricks, though Ichigo was still far from actually having mastered them. Zangetsu had made it very clear that he was not approving of Ichigo rushing his training with Urahara's methods, and it showed time and time again. While he did help Ichigo with his training either through direct spars, moral support, or just talking with him, it was easy to tell that Zangetsu did so reluctantly.
From what Ichigo heard from Tatsuki, things with her and Raitora weren't much better, either- the samurai-spirit, as Tatsuki described it, had gladly helped her get to the point where she could activate her shikai, but anything beyond that just went by slowly. When the two of them had talked about the matter to Urahara, the shopkeeper had just dismissed the Zanpakutou spirit's behaviour as something that was to be expected from the methods that he had developed.
But with these hindrances, their training went on, with plenty of sparring matches between themselves (most of which Uryu would win), and Urahara and his subordinates (most of which Ichigo and his friends lost). After little less than about two weeks, they finally got to the point where Urahara announced that the four of them were ready to begin their rescue mission within the next couple of days, and that they should make their final preparations.
Luckily for Ichigo and the others, summer break began about two days into their training, so that they at the very least did not have to worry about school for the time being. Their family and friends, however, were another matter entirely. While Orihime and Uryu both didn't have much problems with their excuses (on account on Orihime not having any parents to worry about, and Uryu's father seemingly not caring), Ichigo and Tatsuki had to constantly think of new reasons to give their families and friends for them staying away from home for most of the day, since neither of them wanted Urahara to 'take care of things'.
Things were particularly hard for Ichigo, who was now, that he had gained proper shinigami powers, once more facing the dilemma of having to decide when and how to perform the soul burial for Yuzu. While Tatsuki had offered to perform the soul burial in his place, Ichigo had rejected the offer. It was his family, his sister – if he did have to power to do it, then he should have to be the one to let his sister move on.
So when Urahara told him to make his final preparations, Ichigo found himself torn once more. Should he let his sister move on before he left, and then try to find her at Soul Society, so that he could help her once he was already there? Or should he wait until they returned from the afterlife (which they hopefully did), and then decide whether she should stay with them some longer, or move on? No matter what his decision would be, in the end, he would still have to let her move on – and at the same time, he would have to reveal to his family what he had been doing this entire time... reveal to them that he had become a shinigami.
But before he could even do that, he needed to settle something else first.
The sun was setting as he walked home. His feet felt heavy, and it was not because of the hours long training sessions he had been doing. No, this was different…
Reluctantly, he walked up the street leading to his mother's apartment, his home. He opened the door, took his shoes off and hung his coat on the wall. Absent-mindedly, he said,
"I'm home."
There was no answer- the place had been quiet, oh so quiet, since Yuzu's death. He walked through the hallway and into the living room. There his mother was, sitting by the window in her armchair, looking out into the distance, although probably not looking at anything in particular- she had that same look he had whenever he was deep in thought, staring out into a distant nothing without focus.
"Kaa-san." He said softly, grabbing a chair and taking a seat opposite of her.
"Ichigo." She said, as if she had only just now noticed his presence. "You're back late- are you hungry? Do you want me to make you a sandwich- or maybe I could heat some leftovers for you-"
"I'm not hungry." He said solemnly. "We…"
How would he even begin? 'You've been deceiving me for a really long time, mom, what the fuck?'
"Recently… I've had some really weird things happen to me." He mumbled. "And ah, I need to talk. To you."
"What about?" She tensed a little, he could see it.
Well, there was no point in being subtle. "You've been talking to Yuzu's ghost. So have I."
"What on earth are you talking about-"
"Don't bullshit me!" Ichigo burst out angrily, instantly stopping himself- it was still his mother, and he was here to find out why, not to shout at her. "I… what I mean to say is, she's been talking to me too."
"Ichigo, we're going through a difficult time. It's not strange to see things that aren't there-" Her voice was trembling a little now, however much she tried to sound normal.
"All my life, you told me to never believe in ghost stories, in gods or demons or spirits, to only believe what was solid. And when I told you I could see ghosts, you would shush me angrily."
"Because it's silly."
"I never questioned you, kaa-san." He said, shaking his head. "You always loved me and you were always there for me. You've been strict when you needed to and understanding when I needed it. When I got a reputation as a punk, you believed me when I said it wasn't my fault."
"Of course I believed you. You've always been a sweet boy," she nodded, looking nervous. "So what's this?"
"Why did you lie to me, kaa-san?"
"I never lied to you. Ghosts aren't real!"
"I can see them!" He shot back. "Karin can see them, and so can you! Now would you please tell me what's going on?"
"…you want me to tell you what's going on?" Her tone sunk into that strict, 'I am very disappointed with you, young man!' voice she would use, the kind that would straighten his spine in an instant. "Why don't you tell me why I've been finding blood in your clothes these last months?" She stood up, and begun pacing back and forth. "Why don't you tell me who Kuchiki Rukia really is?"
"So you knew…" he mumbled.
"I'm your mother!" She snapped. "I do your laundry. I clean your room. I know everything about you. I know what books you read, who all of your friends are, what you like and what you don't like. I even know where you keep your dirty magazines."
"I don't-"
"In a cardboard box on the top shelf of your wardrobe, covered by shonen jump issues." She said. Ichigo felt a sinking feeling. Damn. "I know enough to notice when my son is doing something off. At first I thought it was just street fights- that happened before- and that girl, but it was pretty obvious something was going on, and not something normal."
How in the hell had she turned this around on him? Why was he the one feeling guilty? "You still lied to me!"
"I lied to you?" She looked furious. "I've been doing what I've done since you weighed a kilo and a half- protecting you!"
"I don't need to be protected!" He shot back, angrily.
"How many times have you been hurt this recent time, Ichigo?" She asked coldly. "How many times have you needed stitches, bandages, serious medical care? Yes, I know about the spirit world- and just like your father, all it does is hurt people!"
Well, he couldn't really argue that away; he had been hurt a lot…
"I was hurt, yeah." He said. "But I've also been helping people. People who would be dead otherwise. Uh, deader."
"I know more about the spirit world than you do, Ichigo," she said, putting her foot down, "and trust me, that's a world of death and suffering. Be grateful that you don't have to be a part of it anymore, now that Rukia is gone!"
"Why did you keep this from me? I thought I was going insane!"
"Please Ichigo… I just wanted you to be safe." There was something pleading in her eyes, and despite himself, Ichigo felt his anger drain away. She had always done what she thought was best for him- she'd never lie to him out of malice.
"Yeah… I guess." He said, awkwardly scratching his head. "So ah, about Rukia being gone and me not being part of this anymore…"
He could see the dread in his mother's face, washing over it like a flood, clearing away all anger. "No…"
Carefully, he took out his gikongan, smoothly slipping out of his body, standing tall before her in his shinigami uniform. His mother almost collapsed; Ichigo caught her in his arms as she stumbled forward.
"Oh god, no…" She moaned, tears streaming down her face. "Not you too, Ichigo, not you too…"
"Was my dad like this?" She nodded through the tears, crying into Ichigo's shoulder. "What was he like, then?"
"He… he was a great shinigami." She managed. "But then he was… gone." He could see the pain on her face; he almost wanted to tell her to stop, but he needed to know. "I always thought this could happen, so… I just wanted to shield you from it, okay? Be safe from these things."
"I understand." He said, hugging her tight.
"I- I could always feel it, you know," she said. "I could always feel the energy, even when I was little. I could feel it in you before you were even born. But this… it just hurts people, Ichigo."
"Listen, kaa-san," he said, looking her in the eye, "I'm going to go save Rukia. She's going to be killed unless I help her. And when that's done, I'm coming back here. I'm not going to end up some dumb hero dying gloriously for some cause. I'm going to be fine, and I'm going to come back alive and in one piece. Got it?"
His mother gave him a long, silent stare. Then- "Please don't die on me, Ichigo. We just buried Yuzu... don't be the next one that I have to lose."
"I won't die. And neither will Rukia. I'm not gonna do this alone, either. I have friends that will go with me. We will return victorious!" Ichigo said, doing his best to sound confident, to actually believe what he was saying – which was harder than he had hoped.
Once again, Masaki silently stared at her son for what seemed to be ages. Ichigo already began to fear that she still might disapprove of his plans, that she saw through his facade, so that he subconsciously tensed when she finally did speak up again. "Make sure to keep that promise, Ichigo."
"I will. So, uh, I guess I'll get going now. I'll see you in about two weeks." With that, he returned to his own body, and walked out, leaving his mother to look after him. Once he was gone, she sat down again, and sighed. She should already have seen this conversation coming, but actually having it was entirely different from anticipating it. It all really should already have been obvious to her back when that man had visited her...
"Why hello there, Masaki-san! Haven't seen you in a while."
Masaki turned around. She was out grocery shopping, and was just on her way home when the voice had spoken up behind her – a voice that she had not heard in years, but still recognized. "Urahara. What do you want from me?" She asked, with hostility in her tone that she didn't even bother to hide.
"Oh, nothing in particular, my dear. I just wanted to talk a bit with you about the whereabouts of your son." The shopkeeper said, with the exact kind of unfittingly upbeat attitude that she had always hated about him.
Masaki gaped. Ichigo had been away from home since yesterday afternoon – she had so far not really put any thought into it, since this was hardly an unusual thing to do for Ichigo, but if Urahara was involved, there was just no way that this could be good. "What business do you have with my son, you-!"
"Ah, ah, ah! Please, Masaki-san, do mind your language. Cussing is just unbecoming of you." Urahara chided playfully. "It is more befitting of your son, in fact – who just happens to be training over at my place, as I wanted to inform you. Said training might be taking up a high amount of his time, so I figured that it would be for the best if you knew."
"Training? What are you talking about?!" Masaki quickly asked. This just couldn't be what she feared it was... it just couldn't.
"Isn't it obvious? Training to regain the powers of a shinigami, and to strengthen them, all for the purpose of preventing the execution of Kuchiki Rukia."
"No..." She whispered, stumbling back. "You're lying! Ichigo quit this nonsense when Rukia left! He's not a part of this world anymore! He's normal again!"
Urahara shrugged. "Keep telling that to yourself if you want. You know who and what his father was – it should not surprise you that he is doing this. I was only here to inform you of it. Whether you actually believe me is none of my business. The fact remains that Ichigo and three of his friends will be in Soul Society to prevent an execution. And who knows? Maybe he might even meet his father."
Masaki gave the shopkeeper a mad glare. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."