A/N: Whew, this was a difficult chapter to write. I lost count of the number of times I edited it, even before betaing twice. Hope it's worth it. Thanks for all reviews on the last chapter, and remember, I know where you live. If you read but do not review I will summon Rukia out your computer screen to restrain you and draw bunnies on your face! Lots of bunnies! (evil cackle)

x

The Heir Apparent
Chapter 14: The Way of the Warrior

It was the end of their fifteenth day of the hunt, everybody was setting up camp with routine ease; moving in their small friendship circles. The day had really dragged for them all, more than usual. Nel and her Fraccion's antics hadn't seemed funny anymore, and people tended to snap at small things; even to their friends. More than once Ichigo had to break up potential fights. It was fortunate that Grimmjow was otherwise occupied with tracking, he had no doubt that the former Espada would have made tensions ten times worse.

So for the others, the end of the day's hunt came with a sense of relief. He noticed even Kensei and Byakuya pulling their futons out their packs, no doubt longing the distraction of sleep more than the actual rest. Ganju was on guard duty, he didn't look the least bit pleased about it, walking around muttering and finding innocent stones to kick. Ichigo meanwhile had a job to do, one he'd been putting off ever since they'd set off.

Hinamori Momo was busy making up her bed. He came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She immediately stiffened at his touch. 'Come,' he said, and headed off towards a secluded spot hidden by the dunes that he'd identified earlier. She followed only when he called back to her. Nanao and Iba exchanged a worried glance.

When they reached the place, Ichigo turned and faced her. She had her head turned away from him. It struck him that she was almost the same height and build as Rukia, but otherwise they couldn't have been more different. Rukia was self-assured, and strong enough to come back and live after being at the brink of death many times. Even when she'd been left friendless and alone she'd still found the strength to carry on. This little woman in front of him on the other hand…

'Well, what are you waiting for?' he demanded harshly. 'It's just the two of us here, no-one else. Attack me!'

She looked up, her eyes wide and watery, 'Kurosaki-taicho!'

'I'm telling you I don't mind,' said Ichigo, drawing Zangetsu to emphasise his point.

She said nothing.

'I killed your captain,' he goaded, 'now's your chance to avenge him.'

The dam burst. 'Why,' she cried, 'Aizen-taicho was a good and kind person. He was respected and liked by everyone!'

'And he betrayed them all, including you. Perhaps especially you.'

'He - he was being controlled by Gin. That wasn't the real Aizen-taicho, he would never have done those things.'

'Gimme a break. He was the mastermind behind the entire thing. He slaughtered nearly the entire royal family.' His family that he'd never met, but Hinamori didn't know that. Only the captains and those Renji had inadvertently told did.

'Sh-SHUT UP!' she shouted, clapping her hands over her ears, tears pouring out her eyes. 'Aizen-taicho was a good and kind person. I won't listen to this.'

She wasn't attacking him either, this wasn't going quite according to plan. Well, if she wouldn't make the first move he'd just have to force her hand again. He leapt at her, his sword extended, making sure to make some noise and not go too fast. Even still she only just reacted in time, blocking with her barely drawn zanpakutou.

'You want to know why I killed him,' he growled as he pushed on her sword, his face inches from hers. 'The reason why I'm able to sleep at night after doing so? He tried to kill me and the one I care for the most.'

He saw her eyes widen, the full import of them driving home. It was exactly the same for her, Aizen had tried to kill both her and Hitsugaya.

'I said SHUT UP,' she cried, and tried to push him away with both hands on her blade. When that didn't work she leapt back and said, 'Snap, Tobiume.'

Her sword straightened to a steel rod with three prongs extending off it and protruding forward. It seemed to have no edge, only a point. Even though it was a strange shape, Ichigo knew that as a Shikai it would still be dangerous, which was confirmed when a small fireball grew out the hilt. It travelled along the blade, gaining size and speed as it went along, reaching the size of a man's head when it left the tip.

Ichigo didn't bother to dodge, he sliced it in half as it came closer to him. The two halves whizzed past to explode behind him. 'I'll tell you something else,' he said, 'Do you know why you were sent on this mission with me?'

'You want to see if I can still fight and where my loyalties lie,' said Hinamori, glaring at him.

'Yes and no,' he said. 'We don't think you're likely to join up with Tousen. But we can't keep you on as a lieutenant that doesn't function as one, especially since your condition is a detriment to your childhood friend and captain. This is your last chance, lieutenant Hinamori. Do you know what I have to do if you don't improve?' He flash-stepped behind her and touched his blade to her neck. 'I have to kill you.'

'Y-You w-wouldn't,' she stammered, rigid with shock.

'Wouldn't I,' he said, trying his best to sound cold. It sounded fake to his ears, hopefully she wouldn't notice.

'F-Fine,' she said, terror in her voice. 'K-Kill me l-like you killed captain Ai-Aizen.'

Ichigo sighed, did she truly have so little to live for? 'No, I won't, not today. But why are you so eager for death, how do you think Toshiro would feel?'

'H-He would understand.'

'No, he wouldn't. He would be devastated.' He sighed again, they would be fighting Tousen and his Arrancar soon, if she didn't get her priorities right before then she wouldn't stand a chance. One who wasn't determined to live never lasted in a fight. Urahara had taught him that lesson, Kenpachi had driven it home.

He withdrew his blade and sheathed it. 'Come back to camp when you're ready,' he told the weeping girl. 'You and I will have another little chat in a few days.'

x

Rukia stared at the massive cavern, taking in the sheer size of it. She'd been led there by Urahara at the end of her days training with Kenpachi, although for what reason she wasn't sure.

'How is she doing?' Urahara had asked the towering captain when he'd come to pick her up.

'She's strong,' Kenpachi replied, 'Stronger than Ichigo was when I fought him.'

That hadn't made sense to Rukia, Ichigo had beaten captain Zaraki on his first visit to Soul Society. Yet when he trained with her he kept his reitsu-sealing eye patch on. She listened on.

'So, then she should be ready for the next stage?'

'Dunno 'bout that, but she has improved. So, Kisuke, does this mean that my debt is finally paid?'

'It's been well overpaid. Thanks for your help, Kenpachi-san, I'll take it from here. And if there's anything else you ever need-'

'-I'll know where to find you,' the big man had said before walking off without a word to her.

Rukia still couldn't understand what they'd meant. Debt? What were they talking about. And what did it all have to do with Ichigo.

'Whooaaa, who would have expected such a massive cavern in the side of a mountain!' Urahara called, dragging her back to the present.

'You don't have to shout for me,' she retorted.

'Aw, you're such a spoil-sport,' he pouted. 'Just like Kurosaki-san.'

'Ichigo,' she said, looking down. It had only been two weeks since he'd left, but it felt like an eternity. His worn old suit had become her teddy that she would hug every night until she went to sleep. It was starting to smell more like her than him.

'Alright, lets get started,' said Urahara, pulling out a length of measuring tape from his robes. 'Have you been taking your medication, Kuchiki-san?'

By 'medication', he was referring to the pills he'd given her at the start of her training with Kenpachi, supposedly to counter any lasting effects the Hougyoku had left on her body.

'Yes,' she replied. 'They're nearly finished, you know.'

'Good, good,' said Urahara absently as he took measurements of her. 'Good, good, good.' Although he was being totally professional about it, it still felt weird.

'Well?' she said when he finally put it away.

'As I suspected, your physical growth was slightly inhibited, not just your power. You'll be pleased to know that you've grown four centimetres taller since you started your training, which I predict that will increase to between six and eight in the next month.'

She gasped aloud. 'Are you sure?' Four centimetres was a lot, she certainly didn't feel any taller.

'Of course I'm sure,' he said with a smile. 'I am a scientist. You're never going to be a tall person, Kuchiki-san, I'm guessing that this will be your last growth spurt. But at least you'll be reaching your full adult height.'

So, she'd still be short. Ichigo would still call her a midget, she thought with an inward smile. 'So, why exactly are we here?'

'Do you know were we are?' he countered.

'Uh, we're under the execution hill,' she said.

'Yes, yes. But did you know that this is where Kurosaki-san achieved his Bankai?'

'Ichigo… here!' It clicked in her mind. 'You're going to teach me here as well.'

'Cor-rect,' said Urahara with a toothy grin. 'Not today, of course. From tomorrow morning I'll need you for three days solid, you'll eat; sleep and train here.'

'Very well,' she said, she'd already discussed it with Kiyone and Sentaro, they could cover for that short period. And Yoruichi had promised to pop in to check on them. 'And at the end of it, I'll have achieved Ban release?'

'That depends entirely on you,' he told her. 'Only two people have ever succeeded by this method. I'm one, Ichigo's the other. Will you be the third?'

x

'Thanks again for your help, Retsu,' said Shiba Kukaku as she walked the other woman to the door.

'It's really not a problem,' said Unohana graciously, 'I feel I owe you for back then anyway.'

'Really, you don't have to feel responsible for that.'

Unohana gave a serene smile. 'I must say it is a pleasure having another woman among the captains.'

'Um, what about Yoruichi, and before her Soifon?'

'I respect; and respected; both, but they both try to be more like boys than the boys. You understand, don't you? A woman must behave like a woman.'

Kukaku gave a nervous laugh. She didn't know exactly what she did that was so feminine. Was the other woman trying to say something? Better not to ask, she didn't want to even attempt anything that might cross her. She knew from experience that Unohana was only soft on the surface.

'I'll take my leave now,' said Unohana with a small bow. 'Thank you for your hospitality.'

Kukaku closed the door with a sigh of relief. Even though she could be a bit extreme at times, she was truly grateful for the other woman's help in sorting out her division. Her friends Yoruichi and Urahara had just retaken their old divisions and had plenty to sort out themselves, so she didn't feel right asking them. Especially since she was now lieutenant-less. Kira was the current caretaker for the sixth division, and if all went well that's where he would be staying. She didn't really like him, but Byakuya seemed to; so it was better all round. Her new lieutenant after the big exchange would be Iba. How that would work out, she had no clue.

She went to her favourite of window and looked out. There in the distance she could just see a spire. It was in the first district of Rukongai, and had only been erected yesterday. One of two that would be there, holding the new Shiba banner below their new manor. The spires had been a concession, since the city authorities hadn't liked the idea of arms.

With her promotion to captain, her family had finally been reinstated as one of the noble families of Soul Society. They had lost that position when Kaien died, since one of the requirements was that there be at least one person in a second seat or higher position. Even with them added to the rolls, there were currently only three recognised noble families. The Kuchikis, the Shinoins, and the Shibas. The other two had fallen from grace since their members in the Royal guard had been killed, and they had no other members in the higher ranks of Gotei thirteen.

She turned towards the wall. All her families priceless portraits were stacked against it, wrapped in protective sheets. One of their covers had fallen away, showing a picture of Ganju riding on his favourite boar, Bonnie-chan.

'Ganju, you'd better come back to me safely,' she said softly.

She uncovered another picture. It was one of the ones that had been gathering dust in storage before, but she knew its history. It was a picture of the progenitor of the Shiba clan, the previous captain-commander of Gotei thirteen. He had also been her and Kaien's original father many generations back. He'd become a captain once and a lieutenant three times in subsequent rebirths, the most recent being four hundred years ago.

While humans born in the material world were all new flesh dressed on old souls, those born from a union of two souls were entirely new. It made up for those who were lost to hell, in more recent years also for those lost to soul-destroying techniques like those of the Quincies. It kept the balance in check.

Since souls always looked the same when they came to soul society, no matter how many times they'd been reborn, it was easy for the noble families to bring their former members back into the fold. They'd make a special effort of course for those who had achieved Bankai in a previous life. Even though they wouldn't remember it, they would have a far greater chance of reaching that level, their soul would remember its former power. And since they needed at least one member with a lieutenant or higher rank just to remain a noble family, adopting their former members was standard practise.

The progenitor though was lost to them. He would never be a Shiba again.

x

'Ichigo.'

Come off it, he'd just closed his eyes. It couldn't be time to get up already.

'Ichigo!'

Wait, he knew that voice, and it certainly wasn't one of his travelling companions. He opened his eyes. He was sitting on the side of a building, staring towards the sky. Dark clouds had gathered, and every now and again lightning would flash in them. But through the few spaces between them he could see light shining through.

'Ichigo,' said the voice again, he turned to see Zangetsu standing on a pole to his right.

'Old man,' he said. There could be no doubt about it, he was in his inner world.

'Hello, partner,' said a voice behind him.

Ichigo turned quickly, to find his hollow sitting back-to-back with him, facing the opposite direction. It turned and gave a feral leer.

'You,' he exclaimed, jumping up, 'And Zangetsu. What's going on, who's in charge now?'

'Things have changed a bit here, Ichigo,' said Zangetsu. 'When you defeated your hollow, I was given the right to rule; he was suppressed. But since then you've changed.'

'My Resurreccion,' he guessed.

'That's right,' said his hollow. 'Even your masked friends haven't reached that level. By doing that, you released my full potential instead of locking it away, so I'm able to exist as a separate being.'

'Wait, so you're both my power, but you're separate?'

'Yes, we are all of us separate,' said Zangetsu, 'But all linked.'

'It's like a tripod,' said his hollow, 'You're just part that everybody sees, you'd fall down without our support.'

'That's very… interesting,' said Ichigo, trying to shake the feeling that they were ganging up on him, 'But that doesn't explain why the hell I'm here.'

'Look there,' said his hollow, pointing at the sky. 'You've been giving us fuckin' shitty weather.'

'What do you mean?'

'When your heart is heavy, clouds form. When your soul weeps, it rains,' Zangetsu explained.

So what did the sunlight between the clouds mean? 'Don't tell me you brought me here just to complain about the weather!'

'No. We brought you here to prepare you.'

'Prepare me for what?'

'To KILL,' exclaimed his hollow with a maniacal grin.

'WHAT!'

'Ichigo, for the past year you have been living the way of the warrior,' said Zangetsu. 'You've been prepared all that time to die with no regrets. It's time for you to realise the other side of this, to be able to kill without regrets.'

'I…I have killed,' he stammered. He didn't like where this was going.

'Oh yeah,' said his hollow with half closed eyes. 'Who?'

'I've killed plenty of hollows.'

'You saw them as monsters, not as people,' said Zangetsu, 'You couldn't even bring yourself to kill Arrancar that looked human.'

Damn it, couldn't he hide anything from this guy. 'What about Ulquiorra?'

'More me than you,' stated his hollow.

'Shut up. At least I killed Aizen.'

'That was only because you could justify it with your personal hatred of him,' said Zangetsu, 'And even then you probably would have stayed the killing blow had you not been sharing your consciousness with him at the time.' He nodded in Ichigo's hollow's direction.

'What does that have to do with anything?' Ichigo demanded. 'Most of the people I spared ended up becoming my allies, even Grimmjow.'

'This is not one of those times,' said his sword-spirit. 'Tousen Kaname is your enemy to the death. You have to be prepared to kill him.'

'But Byakuya has some new technique, and Kensei also wants a shot at him.'

'And what if they should fail, or if you are the one who reaches him first?'

At that point, his hollow leapt at him with a white sword. Ichigo had no time to think, only react. He blocked with the black blade that had appeared in his hands.

'Ichigo, you are a wuss,' his hollow stated as he pushed down.

'Bastard,' he growled as he pushed back.

'You do have killing intent behind your strikes,' said Zangetsu, 'But your kindness holds you back. Extinguish it! Emotions like that have no place in battle.'

'What are you guys doing?' Ichigo yelled as he blocked a flurry of attacks from his hollow.

'Isn't it obvious?' his opposite number replied. 'You have to kill me, or I kill you. And if I win, I get to be the front-man of the tripod, YOU become MY power.' He licked his lips, 'I wonder what your little lieutenant tastes like.'

'YOU KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER,' he roared, and with a supreme effort pushed the hollow away. 'CLEAVE, ZANGETSU.'

His sword grew to its true form, he could feel the power coursing through his body. His hollow smirk and released his blade without saying anything. They leapt at each other at the same moment, clashing in mid-air.

'GETSUGA TENSHOU,' they cried at the same time, the black and white moon-fangs of equal power cancelling each other out even as they ripped the building below apart.

They clashed blades, then clashed again. The hollow sprung over his next attack and sliced down. Ichigo pulled away, but not before the tip had opened a shallow cut on his shoulder.

'Calm down, Ichigo,' said Zangetsu from the sidelines. 'Keep your mind clear, or your attack patterns will become predictable. Your emotions are like a fire inside you, the can give you strength as long as you keep them under control. However, if you let them take control they will destroy you.'

'You're noisy,' said Ichigo, but he heeded the words all the same. He clashed with his hollow three times in quick succession, and this time it was his opponent that came away wounded. The hollow put a hand to it, it came away stained with black blood. He grinned.

'This is great, isn't it Ichigo,' he cried, throwing his arms out wide like a performer. 'Kill or be killed. This is the way it should be. You seek battle, Ichigo, but there's something else you lack.'

'What?' said Ichigo coldly.

'You have to seek your opponents death. You have to want to hurt them. You only do it when you have no other choice. That's why you'll always be weaker than me.'

'There will come a time,' Zangetsu added, 'When you will have to fight someone who isn't a hollow and hasn't done anything against you. They will simply be on a side that opposes yours. At that time you might have to kill them to protect what you hold dear, even though that person isn't necessarily evil. They simply represent a different set of ideas and ideals.'

Ichigo's eyes widened. He had to admit, he didn't hold anything against Tousen. He'd just been another on Aizen's side. Even though he was the leader of the expedition, he'd never really thought about the eventuality that he might have to kill him, he'd always just assumed that Byakuya or Kensei would do it.

'That is the path you have chosen,' the sword-spirit finished. 'The way of the warrior.'

'Don't get distracted,' said his hollow, swinging his white sword around on its ribbon and launching it at him.

Ichigo dodged, the hollow pulled back immediately and resumed spinning. His next throw Ichigo blocked with the side of his sword. He responded with an immediate black moon-fang, which his hollow only just dodged.

'It's time to finish this,' he shouted, extending his sword and placing his left hand on his right elbow. His blades ribbon wrapped around his arm on its own accord.

'Heh, if you say so,' said his hollow, copying his stance.

'BAN-KAI!' they cried in unison.

x

'So, you are capable, Ichigo,' said Zangetsu, staring up into the sky. Above him the storm clouds had grown even thicker and darker. It hadn't been a pleasant lesson for Ichigo to learn, but a necessary one.

'Hey, can I get some help here,' called the hollow.

Zangetsu jumped off his perch, and walked up to him. The hollow lay in two pieces, his head severed from his body. There was also a deep slice in his chest, besides various other small cuts. No matter what wound they took, neither of them could die while Ichigo still lived. Or to be more precise, as long as Ichigo's soul remained in the flow of spirits. Zangetsu picked up the hollow's head and reattached it to his body, using his power to fuse the two together.

'Took your time,' muttered the hollow as he sat up and allowed the sword-spirit to tend to his other wounds. 'So, do you think he will be able to do it?'

'Time will tell,' said Zangetsu as he worked. 'We can't know for sure until he gets into that kind of situation, nor can he. But he will be more prepared to deal with it now.'

'Well, that's something at least. Would you have challenged me if I'd won?'

'You know I would.'

'Che, that sucks. Both of you against me.' He was silent for a moment. 'There's something else, isn't there. It isn't just this mission that made the lesson necessary.'

'There is a storm coming,' said Zangetsu softly, looking up to the sky.

x