A/N: Thank you for any and all reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!
Bleach and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.
Sunday, February 23, 2003
In truth, cold doesn't radiate like heat. Heat will necessarily flow from hotter to colder regions as it seeks to achieve thermal equilibrium. Cold draws heat in. The importance of this distinction became evident within the Urahara Shop training room as an unstoppable wind began to rage from the black sun's reiatsu pillar toward the white moon's, dragging everything that wasn't secured along with it. The former blazed outward, while the latter churned inward. The temperature differential made them feed on one another and grow monstrously.
The three humans found themselves forced to the ground by the intense air flow around them, and even the current and former Shinigami braced against it. Tessai quickly erected a kidō barrier around them, and they stood in awe beneath harsh black and white lighting that cast odd shadows about them. Boulders broke against the barrier as they went by like confetti in the wind. It looked like a plausible way for the world to end.
"This is bad," Ishida muttered. At the current rate the training room wouldn't hold up for much longer.
Everyone else said nothing, different expressions telling their own thoughts. Byakuya, Urahara, and Tessai were all inscrutable. Yoruichi seemed vaguely amused. Renji looked impressed. Chad and Inoue looked stoic.
As quickly as it had begun, it stopped. The pillars dropped as if under their own weight into the vast spirals of debris they had thrown up, and the entire training room was filled with enormous plumes of dust that made it impossible to see. Minutes seemed to pass as the dust drifted in sheets and began to settle. It was then that on either side of them they caught sight of two figures advancing.
Rukia had Sode no Shirayuki in its shikai release state upon her left hip. She had her right hand on its hilt and her head down slightly against the remaining wind. There was a brilliant white scarf loosely draped about her neck that complimented her tekkō, but otherwise nothing different about her shihakushō.
Ichigo marched with his hands clenched into fists. His head was likewise down against the wind. He had X-shaped white straps across his chest that fed into a pauldron on his left shoulder, and some sort of white cloak tied around his waist. He seemingly had neither a zanpakutō nor even a scabbard for one.
The dust finally settled just as both figures arrived at the edges of the barrier, and Tessai dropped it without a word. The assembled group looked from one to the other. Ichigo and Rukia just looked at each other and smiled, ignoring the others.
"You seem to be missing something, Ichigo," Rukia said in a teasing voice.
"Yeah," Ichigo replied in a knowing way, before turning his glance to Urahara, saying "Urahara-san, do you have a spare asauchi?"
Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this, while Renji's eyes narrowed. Their friends stood in confusion, never having heard of such a thing before.
Urahara glanced at Yoruichi with a modestly pleading look.
"Hmph, fine, I'll get one," she said, disappearing. She returned only a moment later in front of Ichigo, cradling one and holding it out to him.
He took it from her, considering it for a moment in the artificial sunlight. Yoruichi made her way back to the group at the same time as Rukia made her way through it, ignoring everyone including Byakuya as she walked up in front of Ichigo.
"I like your scarf," he said idly as he continued inspecting the asauchi.
"I told you flattery would get you nowhere, fool," she said quietly. She had a small smile as she considered him.
"You sure you don't want to be with them when this happens?" he asked, meeting her look.
Her smile widened, "You know better than to worry about me like that that."
Ichigo nodded and looked at the asauchi again, saying, "Sorry, this is going to be a lot faster than you were expecting." He stabbed it point-down into the ground, shouting "You're probably gonna want to put that barrier back up!"
He tilted his hands downward and grasped the asauchi by the grip with both hands, as if he was wielding it. Rukia took hold of both his wrists then and said "For good luck," while looking down at the sword. In the background he could see the barrier come back up and looked at Rukia, before looking down at the sword. He mentally took the idea of Zangetsu that had been left in his soul and he put it into the asauchi that was in his hands, along with all the reiryoku he could bring to bear.
Rukia felt the power flow by and didn't deliberately contribute anything, even as she knew something of her own might go along anyway. After all, since the very start, we have both been…
Everything flashed to white.
This time, rather than a pillar, it was more like an explosion, and the surface of the barrier cracked in response to the rush of reiatsu. Like that, the flash passed by, and Rukia and Ichigo were standing where they had been as if nothing had happened at all. Rukia let go of Ichigo's wrists and moved out of his way, and everyone else could see that where before there had been a rather plain katana, there was now something rather different.
Ichigo brought his hands apart then, revealing it was actually two rather different things, both all-black in color, one in either hand. In his right was a sword the size of the old shikai state of Zangetsu, but rather than a cleaver it more resembled a hiltless khyber knife with an odd slot in the blade and a strange slotted hilt. In his left was a short sword that resembled a trench knife, with the front of the grip enclosed. They were, in his mind, representative of the new and old Zangetsu, respectively. He slid the former into place on his back and the latter into place on his right hip.
He couldn't hear or feel either of them within his inner world now, but that was to be expected. He would now fight alone. His eyes slid over to Rukia then. She had a smile and hooded eyes that conveyed nothing but being proud of him. No, not alone… He smiled back at her, and for a moment it was like they were only the two people present.
It was then that they heard clapping. Looking up, Ichigo and Rukia could see that it was only Urahara, but he was almost immediately joined by Yoruichi and Tessai. Renji and even Byakuya started shortly thereafter, and his friends joined in then as much in confusion as in anything else. Rukia laughed shortly and turned back to him, joining in with the applause.
Ishida was about to ask why they were all clapping when Urahara took off his hat and smiled, saying "So, Kurosaki-san, how does it feel to finally be a real Shinigami?" Ichigo and Rukia's friends' eyes went wide with surprise at this and they fell silent.
"Probably about as good as having finally achieved bankai," Ichigo said, looking to Rukia. He began to clap for her in turn. This time it was Byakuya who joined along first, followed immediately by everyone else. Rukia blushed just a shade and gave him a stop-you're-embarrassing-me look but he continued for awhile.
At last Ichigo walked up alongside Rukia and paused for a moment before continuing on with her by his side. They came back up to the group, stopping opposite them, and looked at one another. Something transited between them that resulted in small, self-satisfied smiles. With that they both simultaneously came to attention and each snapped off a crisp salute to the assembled group, proclaiming "Combined Task Force Raven One reports for training!"
Everyone else stared, while Urahara put his hat back on and smiled from underneath it, saying only "How exciting! But perhaps we should take a short break."
At this it was like a seal was released, and the three teenagers and Renji went up their friends, congratulating them by means of handshakes and hugs and clasped shoulders even as they assaulted them with a thousand questions about what, exactly, had just transpired and what it all meant.
It was a minute into this chaos that Rukia heard Byakuya call her name. He was standing off to one side by himself. Rukia immediately excused herself and made her way over to him. Ichigo watched her go for a second before continuing on, knowing she would be alright.
She came to a stop in front of him, looking up at him resolutely "Yes, nii-sama?"
Byakuya said nothing at first and looked at her closely, looking directly into her eyes, evaluating. He then shifted his gaze to Ichigo as he talked with his friends, before looking at her again. He selected his words with even more care than usual before speaking: "Whatever your reasons for seeking strength, know that it is you who has chosen to become strong. Never forget that. Your reiatsu has been evident to all in attendance and no one, least of all I, can deny that you have become truly formidable, Rukia."
Rukia's eyes widened before she turned her head to one side to hide her surprise. She stood completely still even as her heart soared as his acknowledgement.
Byakuya briefly looked to Ichigo again, before adding "Do not let me delay you from celebrating with your friends and your…partner, Rukia," before taking his leave, going to Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai. Rukia stood for another moment in thought before going back to the other group.
"What did Urahara-san mean by 'a real Shinigami'?" Inoue was asking.
Renji suddenly put Ichigo in a friendly headlock "This guy right here hasn't been using a real zanpakutō this entire time! Can you believe that?"
Ichigo managed to get his head free from Renji's arm and lightly shoved him away, saying "It's kinda complicated really… Now's probably not quite the right time to get into it."
"We'd be standing here for hours while he tried to explain," Rukia added with exasperation, coming back up alongside the newly minted Shinigami.
"Oh, like you're one to talk, 'look at me unlock bankai in minutes after however long' Kuchiki-dono," Ichigo said, turning to face her with an expression that betrayed the teasing, "What, did you finally beat Shirayuki at a match of Go? Did she lose a bet?"
"That's not how it works," Rukia huffed as she lifted a finger to point at him.
They realized that everybody else had fallen silent and all of them were looking at them with slightly smug expressions. "What?" they both asked.
"We're just happy for you," Renji said, lifting his eyebrows slightly. Chad nodded and cracked a small smile. Inoue gave a genuine smile. Ishida let his smirk become fully superior.
Just as Raven and One opened their mouths to voice their displeasure at this display, a familiar voice cried out "What the hell is going on down here?!" from the base of the ladder.
Turning to look, Ichigo and Rukia saw Tatsuki, with Keigo and Mizuiro clambering down behind her. She appeared to be genuinely confused and angry. The presence of the three had been all-but invisible given the reiatsu signatures that were already present in the training room.
"Tatsuki-chan!" Inoue called out, waving. Tatsuki immediately began to jog her way over to their group wearing what was clearly, even from such a distance, a determined expression.
In the other group, Urahara scratched the back of his head and muttered something about how his jammer must have failed under the strain of the earlier reiatsu emissions, earning him a swat from Yoruichi.
Tatsuki made her way straight up to Ichigo and grabbed him by his hakama, growling "Are you trying to shake the whole goddamn town apart?!" She seemed about to continue on when she found Rukia's hand around her wrist, soon likewise joined by Inoue's, Ishida's, and Chad's going up her arm to the elbow. Renji stood back, discerning this wasn't his fight. She looked at all of her friends as much in irritation as in shock and confusion. They looked back with expressions that made it clear they wouldn't accept anything violent.
Ichigo looked at her guiltily before he raised his own arm up and brought it down onto the assembly, lightly breaking everyone else's grip. "It's alright, if what happened down here leaked out, it must've been pretty concerning. Besides," he remembered how angry she had been with him when Inoue had been kidnapped and her words to him then, "we owe you an explanation for what's going on."
Tatsuki regarded him severely but upon meeting his gaze she exhaled and crossed her arms in grudging acceptance, right as Keigo and Mizuiro ran up.
Ichigo looked to Rukia then, saying "You can tell this story better."
"Don't suddenly push the work onto me!" she protested.
"You're the one who's given official reports on it twice and explained it before!" he exclaimed.
Rukia frowned and stared him down before turning to the three newly arrived teenagers. His deference to her abilities was in its own way his form of a compliment, exasperating though it may have been. "Okay, fine, but I'm only going through this once, so pay attention!" she declared, holding up a finger. She glanced at Keigo and Mizuiro before looking square at Tatsuki. "Ichigo is an idiot and now works for some people who powered him back up. These people are interested in working with Soul Society for reasons. They both agreed to make me and Ichigo a special mission force as a proof of concept of the idea. We've been tasked with getting stronger in pursuit of our actual objectives. That's what you've been feeling. Questions?" she finished briefly.
"Is that why the two of you have been acting so—" Keigo began before he was knocked over by Ichigo pegging him in the chest with a rock.
"What people? Mizuiro asked.
"I cannot possibly tell you such a thing," Rukia said adamantly, crossing her arms over her chest, even as she stared directly at the badge that was still strapped to Ichigo's hakama in spite of his outfit change.
Catching her drift, all three looked at it, their eyes widening at the obvious implications.
Renji had been idly following the conversation and looked at the badge for not the first time, finding it still made no more sense to him than it had the past few times he'd looked at it. "What's the story with that anyway?" he suddenly asked.
"'U.S.' stands for 'United States'," Ishida interjected.
"Eh?" Renji asked, still not getting it.
"America," Chad added.
Renji thought hard about this for a second before sort-of making the connection "Oh, I see! Is that supposed to be a big deal?" He knew even less about the rest of the layout of the Living World than Rukia previously had.
"Ichigo, you joined G.I. Joe?" Keigo said incredulously after regaining his composure, earning confused looks from everyone else. "Come on, no one?!" he continued.
"Why?" Tatsuki asked plainly.
Ichigo looked at her then and let a slightly wistful smile onto his face before he said "You know why."
Tatsuki stared at him for awhile, before looking to Rukia. She then looked to everyone else in the group, and then at the other group, which appeared to be idly conversing about something or other.
"I see," Tatsuki said at last, "And the rest of you decided to get stronger with them too, huh?"
"That's right, Tatsuki-chan," Inoue led off.
Ishida and Chad both followed with "Yes."
"And you guys are here to watch?" Tatsuki asked Renji, before her eyes flickered to Byakuya in the distance.
Renji gave a shrug and small nod of acknowledgement.
Tatsuki's eyes came back to rest on the badge on Ichigo's shoulder for a moment, before she looked at him. "It's really that serious, huh?"
Ichigo held her stare equally without saying anything further.
"Let us help," Mizuiro said.
"Absolutely not—" Rukia began to say.
"You think you're the only one who's felt powerless?" Tatsuki demanded, her gaze hardening at Ichigo. "We were all there for that over a year ago! We couldn't do a damn thing except run and wait for you to arrive! You think we don't know how it feels? You always take everything upon yourself! What happens when you're not here or when you're too late? Not just him, all of you! You think we don't see you run out of class in shifts? And you," she said pointing at Renji, "what are we supposed to do when someday your cavalry never arrives?!"
Keigo and Mizuiro said nothing, but their stares made it known that they agreed with Tatsuki.
Rukia looked at the young woman in sudden recognition. Tatsuki's particular frustrations with Ichigo now reminded her very much of her own the other day.
"Tatsuki-chan," Inoue said, stepping forward. She remembered Urahara trying to remove her from the war effort against Aizen.
Ishida found himself recalling how the Shinigami had never arrived in time to defend his grandfather—had deliberately not done so.
Chad reflected on when Ichigo had taken over the fight against Arrancar 16, Di Roy Rinker.
A thousand things went through Ichigo's mind then. He began to truly understand the universal compulsion to defend oneself against the unknown that was embodied in groups like the Quincy, or Nightmare Eclipse, or even the Shinigami. He began to wonder at the damage that was truly caused by things 'that slipped through the cracks' worldwide and what it meant that these were viewed as acceptable losses. He began to wonder if Nightmare Eclipse had anticipated this too. You're what we call a 'force multiplier'... He began to wonder if they were really okay with using what were in many countries child soldiers, even if they were almost of military age and even if they were volunteers. He began to wonder if they could actually be afforded any of those distinctions given everything that had happened to them. A blade of clarity suddenly cut through this haze of questions. "Okay," he said plainly.
All his friends blinked, looking to him in surprise. Rukia and Renji both looked at him with appraising glances.
"There's really not much difference between the three of you now and where Chad and Inoue were when we went to Soul Society for the first time, or where I was when I met Rukia. Only Ishida has been at this since he was a kid," Ichigo continued on. "I can't promise they'll agree to train you," he said while jerking his head to the other group, "but we can at least try and get you to a position where you can defend yourselves." He looked Tatsuki directly in the eyes as he said "We owe you that much."
Tatsuki was astonished by this, and it told in her face. It was incredible how different this Ichigo was from the one she had demanded answers from less than two years earlier. How different he was from even the one that had moped about two weeks ago.
Before she could say anything, Ichigo had already turned and was walking away toward the other group, saying "Hey, Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san, we need to talk for a moment." Rukia followed along with him to support him against whatever counterarguments they might raise.
The two in question turned their heads from Tessai and Byakuya and made their way over to meet with Ichigo and Rukia.
Yoruichi used Ichigo's momentum against him, punishing him with a moderate chop to the spine as he went sailing by before blocking one of Rukia's kicks with an arm, lightly punching her aside. "Again!" she declared. Raven and One rose and launched an attack once more.
In the distance, Renji worked with Chad, Byakuya with Ishida, and Tessai with Inoue. Urahara was further off still, instructing Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro in the very basics.
Ichigo was this time kicked aside while Rukia was tripped and sent flying. "Don't think I'm gonna forgive the two of you for making me do this alone again," Yoruichi said sternly. She wasn't really mad, but she'd never let them know it.
A/N: Technically Rukia doesn't have a different shikai outfit, but I figure she deserves at least a conservative one after achieving bankai given all the outfits Ichigo gets.
In the main narrative, when Ōetsu Nimaiya reforges Zangetsu using an asauchi and Ichigo's soul, it's broken. Since it hasn't been broken here I'm going to handwave that given his growth rate and advanced understanding, Ichigo can basically "inject" the "blueprint" of Zangetsu into an asauchi and circumvent both reforging or the long process of acclimating it.
I'm not taking the Karakura-Raizer Team as canon.