Chapter 8: Half measure

It had been a few months since Ichigo, Masaki and Isshin came into the Seireitei and things were looking better on Ichigo's part. He had finally managed to regulate his energy and control it partially to its fullest. It was still a bit unstable when he was angered, but that didn't happen all too much anymore. Ichigo had been trained by Toshiro the entire time and the two had become pretty much like brothers at this point. Watching each others backs, training together, sharing laughs, hanging out with both Masaki and occasionally Isshin. Speaking of which, Isshin had been very busy as of late. Not only was he being swarmed with the duties of a captain, but he had been trying to get the last of his clan to return to the compound. He knew Ganju and Kukaku were still alive and not too far away from them. That had been a very, painful reunion for Isshin to see those two. Mostly just by Kukaku actually. Masaki had been alright, just restless since she hadn't seen her daughters for months now. She wanted to hold them both and not let go of them for as long as she could, but the way the soul society had her set in meant that there was nothing she could do. The Central 46 had made it so she could stay here without fear of execution as long as she keeps her son under control. And since Ichigo was prohibited from leaving, she couldn't leave either.

Right now, Ichigo was out and about, walking through the streets of the Seireitei. He didn't really take notice of what most people were saying around him as he walked on, or maybe he did and just didn't care, it was hard to tell. Ever since Ichigo was able to control his energy as best as he could, two things had happened. He had gotten a bit taller, and he noticed that his hair had spiked up a bit. Not all too much, but just enough to be noticeable to an extent. He didn't really know, nor did he really care. As he walked down the street, ready to meet up with Toshiro, he did bump into someone he had met only once before.

"Oh, Ichigo." The familiar voice of one Rukia Kuchiki spoke up as she smiled at him.

"Hi Rukia." He said to her as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I wasn't paying attention." She reassured him.

About a month ago when Ichigo and Toshiro were racing each other to see who was faster, Ichigo wound up at the squad 13 barracks and crashed into a wall. He was okay of course, but the wall collapsed to reveal Rukia changing her clothes since she had trained earlier and was sweaty. To say that Ichigo was embarrassed was an understatement. To his surprise though, after her initial shock, she had started to talk to him a bit and they quickly became friends.

"So what are you up to, Ichigo?" She asked him as she walked with him.

"Just gonna go and meet up with Toshiro and a friend of his named Momo. You wanna come?" He asked her with a smile.

"Sure. I'm not busy now, so I've got time to kill." She responded with a smile.

As they walked on, they failed to notice that they were being watched from up high by a certain Kuchiki clan head. Ever since that incident with Rukia, Byakuya's trust for the boy went from barely there to nonexistent. He saw the boy as a threat beforehand, but now he simply saw him as a means to an end. Especially if he continues to get closer to Rukia.

Aizen's lab

Frustration.

That was the only word that came to Aizen's mind whenever he thought about that boy and his power. For months, he had been trying to find out about the boys power and how he could use it. And for months, he came up with only a handful of information that was just off of basic observation from the boy's training. Ichigo had an oceans worth of energy, most likely more than every single captain within the Seireitei. Ichigo's power also has some form of self healing from how quickly he's able to bounce back from intense training so fast. Aizen also noticed that Ichigo was able to fire off his energy in some sort of energy blast of sorts. That power is very destructive and too powerful to defend against. Even a seasoned member of the Kido Corp would have a near impossible time trying to block those attacks.

Aizen had tried to get close to the boy in order to manipulate him for use later, but found it extremely difficult with Toshiro and Isshin usually around. Not to mention Masaki was around him nearly every time he tried. The one chance that he finally did get close to the boy, he had tried to use Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnosis on him. To his astonishment and anger, he found that it didn't work. For Aizen, usually when he used his zanpakuto on someone, he could always feel the change in that person, but Ichigo was far different from the others. It made Aizen frustrated to no end.

Right now, he's sitting in his chair at his lab wondering just what he should do right now. The boy was a problem, and this problem needed to be dealt with. He knew Isshin and Masaki were off limits since it would become incredibly difficult for him to not be revealed to the other captains. What could he do to really get what he wants and get rid of the boy in the process?

Kisuke's lab

For months now, Kisuke had been trying and failing to see what kind of power Ichigo had through his sisters. They had spirit energy, that was a fact, but he couldn't find any traces of foreign energy within them like the reports for Ichigo are from the soul society. It was a very intriguing anomaly for Kisuke to not know what was going on. It made no sense to him, and he knew that if it made now sense to him, it was probably giving Aizen a hard time. Kisuke leaned back in his chair as he was still examining the blood samples he sneakily took from the two infants right under Yoruichi and Tessai's noses and noticed that they were practically the same as any other infants. He had no idea what this could mean, but he knew that in order for him to get answers, he would have to go and get a sample from Ichigo himself.

What could go wrong?

The next chapter will have a fight in it. Don't know who yet, but that'll happen.

Stay awesome out there, and as always,

PEACE!