Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. All rights belong to the creator Tite Kubo.
This is an AU story with some OOC.
And with nothing else please read, enjoy and review.
Chapter 16: Danger! The Battles That Lead to Hopes, Memories, and Dreams!
Part 3
-X-
"Who are you?" Ichigo repeated himself towards the white silhouette. No sort of shadows could hint him if he's facing the figure's face or not.
Forgetting about trying to see if he was even looking at its eyes, Ichigo looked around instead. Where was he? Was this part of his mindscape? 'Most likely not.' Ichigo may have only gone into his mindscape twice throughout his entire life, but he could never forget such a simple setting. This place was completely not it. The most obvious difference between the two has to do with all the buildings set sideways. Looking behind he could see the cloudy sky, above him were more skyscrapers and right behind the white figure he could see a sidewalk.
How is it that his mind isn't feeling all queasy? Shouldn't he have lost his balance the moment he appeared, not just in this strange world, but on the side of a building? Shouldn't he have freaked out? Yet, that's not what happened. Then came the fact that he felt unaffected, he was expecting the sick-to-the-stomach feeling but nothing came and dare he say he felt natural being here.
He casts his eyes back to the figure and frowns. "C'mon, I know I heard you talk. You can't give me the silent treatment." His frown deepens. "How do you know my name? Did Zangetsu tell you?" His eyes narrowed as he tried looking around for Zangetsu. "Where is he? Did you do something to Zangetsu?!" As he accused the figure, he drew his blades. "I'll give you 10 seconds for you to tell me!"
"Which one should I answer first?"
Ichigo blinked owlishly. 'So it can talk.' "How do you know my name," He asks, slowly lowering down both Zanpakutō.
"I heard your name so many times from different people." The figure looked down at the building they were standing on before tapping it twice with his left feet.
Ichigo only reacts out of instinct, he leaps up to the air and gathers Reishi under his feet. Now hovering above the building, he could see all the buildings' windows displaying an image. An image of Starrk, but something felt off though.
"Hey there, Ichigo. I'm Coyote Starrk, and that over there is Lilynette Gingerbuck, or you can call her Lily for short."
Now Ichigo knew what felt off. The Starrk that's showing right now was wearing the ragged cloth around himself. But there was more, 'This was the first time I met them.' He stayed quiet as Lily now played across the windows. "Welcome to the pack, Ichigo."
The scenario changed again; he was no longer watching Lily now but Gerald instead, way before the Hollow got the crack on his mask. "No, what you did doesn't just happen in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo-sama. My life belongs to you now."
"My, my, it seems you both don't know how I was able to find you eh? Ichigo-kun. Lily-chan." Szayel when he first found him and Lily on the ruins.
"You can't do anything Ichigo. But I can." The first time he met Zangetsu.
"Are you talking to your imaginary friend again, Ichigo?" Ulquiorra.
"How have you been, Ichigo?" Isshin.
Ichigo jumped as thunder roared. He knew to look behind him instead of looking up to the sky.
"Looks like it'll rain."
His eyes looked back down to the building, trying to find the figure before it spoke right next to him.
"Why does it anger you?"
Again the redhead jumped before looking to his left, the figure casually hovering next to him. Instead of lashing out, Ichigo answers back. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm no fool, Ichigo, nor are you. You know what I'm talking about." The figure taps his feet again. Causing the building below them to play all of Ichigo's memories of his father.
He was calm but still the thunder roared. Ichigo closed his eyes and took a breath. "Can you stop?"
"Then answer me."
He opens his eyes again and glares at the figure. "I'm the one asking the questions here."
"If I answer all your questions, will you answer mine?"
Ichigo didn't see why he should deny the figure's request, however. "One. I will only answer one of your questions, but you have to answer all of mine first."
"That's fine. I only need to ask one."
"Who are you?" Ichigo frowns.
"Who am I? Well, as far as I know. I'm no one."
More confused than ever, Ichigo said. "How do you not know who you are? Is something so simple."
"Do you know who you are?"
"What." the redhead scowls. "Hey, I thought I told you I was the one asking the questions here." He waited for the figure to say anything back, but as it went into silence, he asked the next question on his mind. "Where am I?" As the figure turned to look at him, with what Ichigo was hoping was its face, it answered him.
"Do you really not know? Do you not feel it? This is a part of your mindscape... well, finally a part of your mindscape."
Ichigo's eyes opened wide and he started looking around. This was all part of his mindscape? "Wait. Finally? What do you mean by that?" he turns around to look at the figure walking towards the ground again.
"This part of your soul got left untouched and unfinished after your death. As I came to be, I finished the work that the previous spirit left behind. It took me a while, but I needed to be careful. Is difficult working with someone's soul."
Ichigo watched as the figure finally reached the ground and turned around to look at him. Patiently waiting for his next question. But now he didn't know what to ask. Every time the figure spoke, more questions kept popping to his head. "You said you finished this? What do you mean?"
"It's complicated to explain. It hasn't been long since I came to be."
As Ichigo hears the figure's responses, he frowns. "Then... how long have you existed?"
"In here? Perhaps 2 months... but to my knowledge... maybe over one hundred years."
"100 years?" Ichigo could only think of two beings who could live that long. "Are you some sort of Shinigami? Maybe an Arrancar?" He softly frowned as the figure shook his head. "Then what are you?" He raises a brow up as the figure pointed at him? He points a finger towards himself. "Me?" The being said nothing, but he still kept pointing at him. Or better yet, not at him. He looks at the finger and then at his back. Could it be?
Ichigo drew both of his Zanpakutō.
"Close." The figure spoke.
The being was still pointing at his Zanpakutō, or more precisely, only one of them. Ichigo looks at the white blade sword. "Are you... Zangetsu?"
"I am entirely not Zangetsu, but I am a part of him, or shall I say, we are." Zangetsu looks above him.
Following his sights, Ichigo looks up to see the mask-bandage man. "Zangetsu!" He couldn't help but feel delighted to see him again. "Where have you been!? I have been trying to talk to you for the last 2 months!"
The raven-haired man was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed before taking a breath and standing up. "It's good to see you too, Ichigo." Zangetsu opens his eyes to see Ichigo's eyes reflecting a scowl. He sighs as he brings a hand up, stopping Ichigo from saying anything. "I know, I know. It'd been a long time, and I'm sorry about it but some things came up."
"Then why are you finally talking to me?" The boy asks, expecting for Zangetsu to say something, but all he did was point a finger at the white figure. "What?"
"I'm not trying to talk to you." Zangetsu frowns. "It was him."
Feeling more comfortable, Ichigo scowls while pointing at 'Zangetsu'. "Who is he?"
"Didn't you hear him? He's Zangetsu, well half of it, since I'm the other half..." He felt like realizing a breath but held back in doing so, 'Zangetsu' had already explained to him about what he is. Crossing his arms, he said, "Look, the real question here isn't who he is, it's what he is." Before the boy could open his mouth and ask, he raises his hand again. "I know you have tons of questions, but there are more important things to talk about right now."
"Like what?" The redhead scowls. "I don't think there's anything more important than finding out what he is."
"Do you remember the first time you went into your mindscape?" The man asks.
It didn't take Ichigo long enough to recall his first memory. "Yeah, I do." His eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying I force my body again?!"
"Bingo." Zangetsu watches as the teen turns around and starts searching for something in the air. "What are you looking for?"
"The damn exit!" Ichigo yelled back. "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! Where is it damn it! I need to get back!"
"You can't leave just yet, Ichigo." Zangetsu spoke after a while, causing the other two to scowl.
"What the hell. I told you that Ichigo can't be here for too long. His body is acting without guidance. He could have possibly done some serious heavy damage out there already!"
Unfazed from the yell, the white figure looked Ichigo dead in the eyes. "Are you done asking your questions?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Just get me out of here!" Ichigo was freaking out. If his body has been acting only by reaction does that mean he may have caused some damage to Karakura Town?
"Then you're finally ready to answer my question?"
"Huh... Wait... What!" Ichigo sputtered. Was this thing for real? It still wanted its fucking answer!? "Look, I'll answer your question some other time. I promise! But, I. NEED. TO. GET. OUT. OF. HERE!" He waited for it to say anything.
Zangetsu sighs and crosses his arms. "That won't work, Ichigo. This... thing... what it can do... it's just unheard of. So even though this is YOUR mindscape, he's the one in control. Actually, he brought me here. Away from my mindscape."
"Two mindscapes?" The redhead frowns. "Why would I need two mindscapes?"
"Why do you have two swords?"
"What?"
"Do you think we could hold your powers in one Zanpakutō? No, it wouldn't have been possible. You're a Quincy."
"A Hollow," Zangetsu added.
"And Shinigami..." Ichigo quietly added, too.
"And that's not all."
Ichigo couldn't help but groan at the white figure's reply. "Really? There's more? What else can I fucking be?!"
"You're still human."
"What.. Human? But... I'm dead. I'm a soul now."
"That's easy to explain, brat. Do you remember the reason Hollows have to eat?" Seeing as Ichigo nodded, Zangetsu continued. "When a soul becomes a Hollow only a tiny fraction of their humanity goes with them and as said Hollow keeps eating others of his kind, he would realize that the never-ending hunger seems to calm down a bit but that's because of all the tiny amount of souls he ate had stacked up, building up the Hollow's humanity."
Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that what helps us evolve?"
"That's right! Remember what Starrk said? Hollows evolve after they have plenty of souls. But they don't evolve because of the souls. They evolve because they gather enough fractions of humanities. That's what drives us! To feel complete by trying to become 'human' again."
"Going back to feeling 'human' again in your case isn't good." The white figure spoke, gaining both men's attention. "Gaining back part of your humanity meant that your soul was becoming unbalanced. So I had to fix it and to do that, I had to balance your soul with us."
"Yup! While Pale-face over here became the holder of your Quincy's powers, I became your Shinigami and Hollow's powers!" He raises his hand to stop Ichigo. "Yes, your powers had to split like this cause if it didn't you'll be dead right now."
"DEAD!? LIKE DEAD-DEAD?!" Ichigo yelled before remembering something important. "Wait, how was it that I got enough souls to evolve into an Arrancar?" He turned to Zangetsu and said, "Szayel and Starrk are both convinced that I didn't go through the stages of evolution. I was already an Arrancar from the start."
Zangetsu figured Ichigo would finally want to know about that. "First thing first, you did not start off as an Arrancar and that's all I'm going to tell you about that. Second thing, the only reason you could skip through all the evolutions was because of me and the reason you're still breathing is 'cause," he pointed at the white silhouette. "He was able to balance your soul. I know it may not sound like such a big deal but when you can balance one's soul in under 5 minutes, well you tell me. It took me about 6 years to work with your half."
He felt like it should be a joke. Zangetsu, who was originally a Hollow and perhaps lived longer than him, took 6 years to create the mindscape that he's familiar with while this other Zangetsu took 5 minutes to do so?! "Wait." Ichigo looks at the white figure. "I thought you said someone else was working in this mindscape before you took over and finished the job. What happens to him? Who was he?" Ichigo didn't even get his reply from the white figure.
"He was nothing but a fucking parasite." The mask-bandage man glared at the floor. "He wasn't planning to give you the strength you needed to survive. Because then you wouldn't need him and he was afraid of that. Afraid that he couldn't protect you." He looks back-up and straight into Ichigo's eyes. "So I fucking got rid of him. Well, not really but still. It would have been bad if your Quincy side was to vanish."
"And that's something that we need to tell Ichigo."
"That's right!" He couldn't believe he almost forgot about that. "Ichigo, I don't think you have noticed it, but have you seen the way your control over Reiatsu seems to have improved?"
"Were they supposed to be noticeable?"
"You're kidding, right, brat? Haven't you noticed how fast you were able to coat your arm with Capa Cero?! You brought the time down to 10 seconds! And that's just your hand! You shouldn't have the control to do something like that yet!"
Was the change that obvious?! How come he never noticed it before? Well, he thought training with Ulquiorra was helping him in that but is that not the case? "Is that bad or good?"
"It's umm, well, it's not bad... in a way it's good. For obvious reasons."
"Such as~?"
"It's proof that you're finally showing off some sort of Quincy's powers."
"And since you're showing off Quincy's powers that means you're still somewhat a Quincy, and that's great news cause that's the only proof we have that your soul's balanced, 'cause if it wasn't, you would be dead." Zangetsu added cheerfully.
Ichigo looks down to his hands as he flexes his fingers. Quincy, Shinigami, and Hollow. Yes, after he learned about it from his father, he felt like it was no big deal. So he was special, so what? What does he get? Some medals? A cookie? "Can you please just ask your question..." He didn't even look up, he found his hands more interesting than meeting any of the men's gaze.
The white figure only had one question set in his mind. Something simple that should hopefully relax the boy's mind and soul. Because if Ichigo can't control the storm that wishes to fall across his mindscape, it'll rain and he hates the rain. He asks slowly. "Why does it anger you?" The words barely left his mouth and already he could hear the thunder scream again. "Answer Ichigo. Why?"
His eyes were still looking down to his hands. "Can't you ask anything else?"
"You said I can ask any question."
"JUST ASK SOMETHING ELSE!" Ichigo yelled, ignoring the way the thunder seemed to sound closer. "There are so many questions that you could ask, a ton of them, so why do you need to know that?"
"Because I can feel it and I want to understand it." Zangetsu watched as Ichigo steadily raised his head and finally met his stare. "Being your Zanpakutō, you can say we have a form of mental and spiritual connection with one another. I can feel your emotions but... I don't understand them." It wasn't a bonus that came by being Ichigo's Zanpakutō's spirit, this was just one of the many power-ups that he had gifted the boy. So if the boy wishes to earn his Resurrección, then he needs to 'hear' his call by understanding himself better. Feeling as perhaps Ichigo won't say anything without a push, he says, "Why the hatred towards your father." He didn't ask it as a question but as a harsh demand now. "Why do you hate your father for trying to keep you safe?"
A bitter laugh escapes through Ichigo's lips. "Safe? Ha.. haha.. How, how did he keep me SAFE!? He lied to me from the very beginning! Why didn't he say anything to me about Shinigami, Hollows, and souls? A heads-up could have been nice! That way... that way... that way I could have been more aware of what was waiting for me on that fateful day! SO MAYBE INSTEAD OF RUNNING TOWARDS THE WAITING ARMS OF A HOLLOW, I COULD HAD TURN AROUND AND RAN!" His breathing came out in labors, he wants to take a quick break before wanting to say more but what else is there to say? Gentle stinging sensations coming from his back made him turn his head back, he flinched as raindrops hit his face.
"Rain, I hate the rain."
Ichigo couldn't help but agree with Zangetsu, yet he couldn't say he hates the rain. Living in Hueco Mundo he never had experienced rain and during his time living in the Human World, he did his best to avoid looking or even hearing the rain. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he died on a rainy day. "Yeah... tell me about it."
"Do you know why it's raining?"
The redhead shrugged his shoulders in a laid-back manner, his eyes closed and his head up to enjoy the gentle way the rain kissed his skin. "Should I know why it's raining?" He quietly whispered.
"You should."
He waits for a couple of seconds before it turns to a minute without having the white figure say any more that causes him to scowl. "That's it? You're not going to tell me?"
"No, he isn't because that's what we agreed on." Zangetsu spoke with a mirrored scowl. "Sorry, Ichigo, but we're not going to help you with this. You can't expect us to help you every time you're stuck."
"Then what was the whole point of coming in here then!?" Ichigo looked towards the white figure. "You can't expect me to leave after all of that!"
"The whole point of you coming in here was because Pale-face over there wanted to meet you since he wanted to see whose soul he was living in. So now he got his answer." Turning his back towards Ichigo, the mask-bandage man started walking off. "Send him back, Pale-face."
"He still hasn't answered my question."
"How can he answer your question when he doesn't even know the answer to it?"
The area went down into a tense silence. Ichigo watches Zangetsu's back, not understanding one bit why he wasn't helping him. He helps him during his training so why can't he help him right now? He looks towards the other Zangetsu. If his other Zanpakutō-half was as powerful as Zangetsu made him sound, then why would it listen to him? "You're not actually going to listen to him, right? You still want your answer."
"I do, but he's right." Zangetsu raises his hand and pokes the redhead's forehead. Light embraces the teen in a hug before he vanishes—removed from his own inner world. He kept staring at the space. "He's an interesting boy." He turns around to see the other Zanpakutō spirit behind him. "Though it seems he must mature more."
"He's an OK kid." Zangetsu replied, watching the same empty spot as Zangetsu. "Though he was right, you didn't have to listen to me. You could have waited for him to tell you, or better yet, you could have helped him."
The white finger shook his head. "No, it would have been pointless to keep him in here any longer since he doesn't even know the answer himself." Turning towards the man, it was now his turn to ask the Hollow-eyed man some questions. "Why didn't you help him with his dilemma? How are you expecting him to hear his Resurrección through the rain now?" He looks forward and allows the rain to meet his featureless face.
"Because I can't help him. Ichigo has to accept what happened. If he can't accept his Hollow side, then he will never hear it."
"How long will that take?"
"Centuries."
"Why so long?"
Zangetsu raises an eyebrow as he hears a concerned tone coming from the white figure. "Honestly, I'll be a bit surprised if the brat could hear it in a couple of decades. Ichigo never spent time as a Hollow, a common Hollow, the boy was already a... Well, he was half an Arrancar when he first started off his Hollow life. So Ichigo never got the time to accept what he became or what he had done."
"You're talking about what he did to his own mother?"
"Pfft. You mean how the brat unknowingly absorbed his mother's soul?" Hearing a quiet humming of agreement, Zangetsu turns towards the white figure. "Don't feel pity for Ichigo, because let me tell you this, Ichigo was a kid when all of this happened and he didn't know what he did until that bastard Shinigami showed him. Ichigo could have lived his life normally, and he could've been able to hear his Resurrección without knowing about his mother's fate. But now, thanks to the Shinigami, Ichigo lost his chance."
"Must we really avoid helping Ichigo with his problem? At least trying to soothe down his pain could help us."
"No. We can't give him any short cuts because whenever he's in trouble he'll be expecting one of us to help him. It's fine to help him train but that'll be all." Zangetsu turns around and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "This is just something Ichigo naturally needs to go through."
"Naturally?"
Zangetsu turns around to respond to Pale-face before stopping. Instead of the white figure there was a tall lean-built, stoic middle-aged man with pale skin, high cheekbones with stubble and long ragged black hair with brown highlights. His attire comprises of a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, amorphous black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flares out into ragged ends and a pair of brown-tinted, semi-transparent wraparound sunglasses.
With the appearance of Ichigo's Quincy powers, Zangetsu summons a black daitō, the cross guard has four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji. "Fuck, here I thought I left you seal."
"He's gone."
"Pale-face?" He slowly lowers down his sword. "Is that you?"
"Who else could it be?"
"Well shit, here I thought he was able to get out." Dismissing the blade, Zangetsu started walking around Zangetsu. "So what the fuck is this? Why did you change into him? Could you have always done this?"
"Not quite, I absorb him."
Zangetsu's eyes widened, he slowly and carefully spoke to Zangetsu. "You absorb him? That's impossible... there's no way you could have done something like that." He tried plenty of times but Ichigo's Quincy's powers were just too much for him. Not to mention that the Quincy spirit was more powerful than him so he couldn't destroy him. There was more, if he was to destroy Ichigo's Quincy's power would that had led the boy into Soul Suicide because his soul would have been unbalanced? "How did you do it?"
"He cares for Ichigo, maybe not in the same 'affectionate' tone as you, but he cares."
Zangetsu raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't answer my question, Pale-face."
"We found a neutral ground. We both want to keep Ichigo safe even though our reasons are different. To him, Ichigo's a lost boy who needs guidance, and he wants to help Ichigo by having him grow." The Old Man turned towards the other spirit. "My reasons are simple, the boy is my current host, if he was to die then I would perish with him. So I will keep him alive."
"Sheesh, and here I thought the other guy was a parasite." Feeling uneasy with the hard stare Zangetsu was sending him, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and put on an unfazed expression. "What? Something you want to say?"
"How was it that you did it, to keep him at bay?" He narrows his eyes as Zangetsu looks elsewhere. "His strength is no joke. He's stronger than you so how did you do it?"
The masked-man sighed. "It wasn't easy. Honestly, I couldn't do anything against him. I couldn't overpower him; I couldn't destroy him but I outsmarted him."
"With death." Zangetsu frowns. "Observing him led me to gain his memories." He answers the man's unsaid question. "You threatened him with an unavoidable or an instant death." He saw it all, plenty of countless times, Zangetsu tried his best to defeat the boy's Quincy's powers but had always failed, that was until the masked-man finally seemed to realize that power wasn't everything. He tricked the other spirit. Remembering the fact that he was pure Hollow Reiatsu, he uses that to trick the other Zanpakutō spirit. Warn him that if he did not stay at bay, then he would try to destroy the boy by unbalancing his soul. Simple and easy, yet it worked. And after that work, Zangetsu sealed the man away.
"So, you don't need me going into details then?" Zangetsu interrupted, bringing out the man from his thoughts. "Good, then we're done here." He yawns behind his hand before turning around and walking off. "Well, I'm gone."
The overcoat man hummed. "Are you heading back to your side of Ichigo's mindscape?"
"Hell no! Do you have any idea how bad the weather is there?! There's a literal hurricane passing through!" Zangetsu shook his head. "No, thank you. I wanna stay here."
Again he hummed and watched as Zangetsu went inside a building to take shelter from the rain. His mind now wonders what his future holds by being Ichigo's Quincy's powers. "How will things turn out to be from this point on?"
Humans are strange.
That was Byakuya's simple understanding of humans. Their existence was always a puzzle to him. What were they meant for? Does their existence matter? He could never understand and it's not like he hasn't bothered trying to understand them; they're all too different to understand. Some are humble and some are too prideful, some were kind and others were cruel etc. etc. They were all so different in person but besides that; They were all still human, so why would there be such a huge misunderstanding between one another? Why would they treat each other differently?
Then there was the fact that they were some very destructive creatures. Creating weapons of mass destruction and for what purpose? For what reason did they build such weapons? Apparently, it was for peace. Peace brought with death.
He tried understanding why they would believe that death could bring peace. It was an idea with a very strong flaw. During his early years as a Shinigami Captain, they tasked him to watch over two cities, two very specific cities; Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both victims of the humans' way of peace and there was a reason he had to watch over them and that was because it became a feeding ground to Hollows. Hundreds of thousands of Souls walk through the ruins of their cities. Members of his Division were there to send those souls to Soul Society, as many as they could. So many innocent souls lost to Hollows and some of them turned into Hollows.
At the time when he first witnessed a soul-transformation into a Hollow, he wondered if they ever took a part of their humanity with them. He wonders if they could still feel love, hate, sadness. It was a small and yet big question that rested on the back of his subconscious and that question has been back there for as long as he remembers, never making itself more self-conscious than it should be. That was until he met Zangetsu and the Arrancar.
His first experience with these Hollows was not Zangetsu but the brunette instead. His first impression of the man was with how calm and unpretentious he was. While he wasn't trying to show off, he could see just how easily he was able to handle him and the rest of the Captains. Dare he says the Arrancar wasn't even trying to hurt them. But why wouldn't he? He's a Shinigami and he was a Hollow. The Arrancar should have tried killing him since it was only natural for him to do so. Yet he never went for a killing blow and because of that, the Hollow appears as a strange enigma.
Still, that didn't stop him from doing his duty and because of his actions, his 2nd experience with an Arrancar went differently.
Zangetsu, or as he had introduced himself as Kurosaki Ichigo was perhaps the most mysterious Hollow ever. The pre-child Arrancar was difficult yet easy to understand. Well, honestly he only interacted with the redhead once and that wasn't a very pleasant memory to think about. He didn't have much to judge the boy beside the fact that he was a powerful Hollow that needed to become purified. But, there was something that told him that he shouldn't judge the boy just yet. Yes, even though the boy had mutilated him by serving his right hand, Ichigo never killed him. Something he could have easily done. And there was more, he knew there was more. He wishes he could better understand him before judging the boy. But as he lowers down the spherical dome that he commanded his Senbonzakura Kageyoshi to take to protect everyone from Ichigo's overpower Luz De La Luna, he can finally judge the boy as he sees the barren wasteland he created.
Kurosaki Ichigo is nothing but a monster. A far too dangerous monster.
He guesses Hollows take something from their human nature; their destructive essence.
His arms fell to the sides, his Bankai falling to the ground, since he's too mentally shocked to keep them up. Dark, scorching burn marks replaced the green and flourish park and spread across the park's ground like branches. He could still see green flames eating down dozens of trees. He looks up to the sky to see Captain Hitsugaya's clouds replaced by smoke.
"Damn it..."
Captain Kuchiki turned around to see the young Captain kneel to the ground, too exhausted in trying to stand back up. "Are you okay, Captain Hitsugaya?"
The boy nodded once and tried getting back on his feet before falling right back. "I feel too weak to do anything right now." He looks down to his revert Zanpakutō. "At least I use the last of my strength to create a shield around both Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." His eyes were fast to spot the quick retreat from Byakuya's Bankai as he used his blossom petals to create a dome around not just them, but the Lieutenants, too. Just for precautionary measures, he summoned ice-pillars around the pink-petals domes. Hitsugaya likes to think he has made the right call. "Do you think the others are alright?"
A powerful green energy blast fired up to the sky, clearing away all the smoke, answered the captain's question.
"That seems to be the work of Captain Ukitake's Shikai." Kuchiki said, feeling relieved that Captain Suì-Fēng was okay since he left her alone to deal with the Arrancar.
"What about Captain Kurotsuchi?" Tōshirō asked.
"What about him?" Came the grumpy reply of Captain Zaraki, pushing past Kuchiki and Tōshirō. "He's a Captain for a reason. I'm sure something like this wouldn't have killed him." He glares as he spotted Ichigo's body—the boy no longer in his demonic form. As he finally got close and towered over Ichigo, the boy lying face downward, he scowled and picked up the redhead from the top of his head. "Is this really all you had, Zangetsu?"
"Cut him down, Captain Zaraki." The white-haired boy said as he moved to Kenpachi's left side. "We can't have a Hollow like him running around anymore, he's becoming too dangerous." Though he lost his sense of pride, his common sense hadn't left him just yet. Ichigo was becoming a problem that would soon be out of their hands.
"Is the boy alive?" Captain Kuchiki asks from Kenpachi's right side. "We don't know if an Arrancar disintegrates upon death, it could be possible that they don't."
"I'll check then." Kenpachi tightens his grip around Ichigo's head, making the teen grunt before slowly making him open his eyes. "Mornin' brat."
"... waut.."
Captain Kuchiki watches as the boy tries to reach his blades before his hands fall motionless by his sides. "It seems the boy's body can't handle such power... yet."
"Another good reason we need to get rid of him right now." Captain Hitsugaya spoke.
"Captain Zaraki, cut him down." Kuchiki demand.
"No," Kenpachi said in a silent and stoic manner that no one has ever heard him speak before. "I spent 8 months waiting for this. I put too much of my patience so I can finally have my rematch and you're right brat, there's nothing for me to get back from him but," He turned around and grinned towards Captain Hitsugaya, "there's something he has to give me and that's a good fight." He turned back to look into Ichigo's eyes, a faraway look in them, and spoke back in his usual brash attitude. "So fucking sorry that I'm not fighting Zangetsu to get my Captain's pride back or because it's a Captain's duty."
Ichigo was trying to understand most of Captain Zaraki's speech but with the loud ringing in his ears, he couldn't understand him. He felt as the spiky-haired Captain squeezed his head again before letting him go and as soon as his feet touched the ground, Kenpachi shoved him back, now lying on the ground with his back facing the ground.
"Get up, brat."
He heard the Captain calling him and his eyes could only lazily look at the scowl on his face.
"Damn it brat don't make me kill you right now without a fight."
Ichigo didn't react as Captain Zaraki pulled him to his feet by his shirt.
Zangetsu was walking in a thin line with his short patience. The boy still had the faraway look in his eyes, as if his mind was not there at the moment. "Raise your blade, brat," Kenpachi growls his words through clenched teeth. Patience almost breaking, he shoves the Arrancar back to the ground again. He turned towards Captain Kuchiki and said, "Hey, fancy pants, what did you do last time to piss him off."
With a dispassionate look, Byakuya says, "Stop trying to anger the boy and finish him already."
"Not until I get my fight." Kenpachi replies, causing him to have a staring contest with the noble before turning to Tōshirō when he heard him say, "The girl."
"Girl?" The 11th Division Captain asks back. "What girl?"
"There was a girl with lime-green hair when we first encountered Ichigo, the one that Captain Kuchiki injured with his Kidō Spell." Captain Hitsugaya elaborate so that Kenpachi could remember and it seemed he did with the way his eyes lit-up.
"Ah, that's right. I think I remember seeing a bitch that like when Zangetsu and I first fought. Oi—" He turned around to tease Ichigo but caught his words. The teen was back on his feet with a weak glare on his face. His grin came back. "You look like you got something to say, Zangetsu."
Ichigo wheezed as he spoke. "Her name… is Lily."
Kenpachi ignored the girl's name and still called her with his foul insult. "Don't like that name. I'm just going to keep calling her a bitch." His smile turned bloody as he could see Ichigo's glare harden.
"Her name is Lily." Ichigo said as he drew his black-blade with his left hand, he still couldn't feel much strength from his right one.
He could feel his teasing working, Ichigo was close to breaking and maybe changing back to his demonic appearance. "If you want me to call the bitch by her name, then you have to beat it into me." He rushes towards Ichigo as the boy tries closing the gap with Sonido. He parries Ichigo's blade to the left, leaving him exposed. Before he could slash the boy across his chest, Ichigo grabbed his sword with his right hand which seemed coated with a strange white substance. "You got some new tricks I see." Kenpachi pulls his sword and watches as sparks flew off the boy's hand instead of blood.
Ichigo couldn't believe how right Zangetsu was. He easily coated his hand with Capa Cero in just a couple of seconds and to his surprise, he seemed to have just used the last of the Capa's ability; Esoeskeleto to harden his Hierro. He flexes his fingers before looking back up to Captain Zaraki. "You're right. I gotta beat it into your skull."
"Now we're fucking talking!" Kenpachi yells before launching a Reiatsu Wave towards Ichigo.
The redhead grinned as he naturally let his Esoeskeleto switch to Devorar. The Captain's yellow energy attack turned into a stream of yellow light before being observed by Devorar. As he draws back his right hand, Ichigo swings back his black-bladed Zanpakutō. "Getsuga Tenshō!"
Kenpachi laughs like a maniac as he unleashes a burst of Reiatsu. Protecting him from Ichigo's assault. "C'mon you need to try harder than that!" He didn't even ask what was it that Ichigo did to his attack, all he knows is that he should keep it metal-to-metal.
Looking at the yellow-flame on the palm of his hand, Ichigo looks back up to Kenpachi as he sees the man race towards him. 'Not gonna use any more Reiatsu now, huh?' As the Captain swung his blade down, Ichigo held his diagonally and swiftly directed Kenpachi's sword to the ground while swinging his back up, causing a gash across Kenpachi's chest. 'Not enough!' He clenched his teeth as he saw a look of excitement across the Captain's face and not a look of pain.
As his blade reached a peak, Ichigo was ready to swing it back down again but stopped the moment he spotted Captain Zaraki's chipped blade coming back for another swing. Instead of blocking the Shinigami's Zanpakutō with his own, he uses his white-coated hand instead; ability changing back to Esoeskeleto. Making sure he had a strong grip on the man's blade, he swung back his Zanpakutō while calling out another one of his signature attacks. "Getsuga Tenshō!"
This time, Kenpachi used a burst of Reiatsu to protect himself from the blank-zone energy attack.
His Getsuga Tenshō connected to the man's burst, and he quietly curses as he felt the man's blade cut through his Esoeskeleto before realizing that his abilities have unintentionally switched. He was now using his Devorar instead. 'Crap! I still don't have any sort of control between them!' Distracted, he didn't react fast enough to let go of the man's blade as he pulled the chipped Zanpakutō from his grip.
Kenpachi smirks as he spotted blood and sparks. "You're not so tough to cut." His smile as Ichigo's wound heals instantly. "But it's gonna be fun cutting you down."
Ichigo couldn't even find the time to charge a Cero at the Captain, the man's speed seemed to have gotten a boost. 'Crap!' He raises his hand just in time to catch Kenpachi's sword but doesn't find the time to strengthen his grip around it before Kenpachi pulls his sword back. Causing a deeper cut through his hard skin.
Captain Zaraki kept grinning as Ichigo started attacking him with wild swings. All he did was easily swatting away Ichigo's attacks with the flat side of his Zanpakutō. "C'mon! Put your back into it!" As he parries another one of Ichigo's attacks, he brought back his blade and cut Ichigo across his chest with a terrifying speed that caught the boy off-guard.
'I don't get it!' Ichigo let his wounds heal before going back to his assaults, holding his black-bladed sword with both hands. Trying to see if added strength could get him to pass Zaraki's defenses. But the 11th Division Captain seemed to see through his moves, even with the speed he was swinging his blade around, Kenpachi was still following and countering before he made his next move. He jumps back and with both hands, he calls out an unnamed Getsuga Tenshō. But to his complete shock, Captain Zaraki disperse his attack with a simple swat of his blade. 'H-how!? How is he this strong!' His shaky Hollow-eyes watch as the crooked smile on Kenpachi's face turns into a frown.
"C'mon brat, is that the best you got?" Zaraki said as he blocked a desperate attack from Ichigo. "I'm barely even trying at this point. What a let down you turned out to be." Eight months of his patients went to waste. The expected feeling of a battle-ecstasy was all but gone. He was expecting a lot from the boy, Zangetsu had time to train, too. He scowls as the boy raises his Zanpakutō with both hands, the edge of the blade gaining a bright blue.
All Ichigo heard from the Shinigami Captain was an irritated: "Enough." before his actions came to a halt as an aching pain ran across his chest. While his body stayed motionless, his eyes were following Captain Zaraki as he started walking towards him. He was about to act before the pain on his chest got worse. Looking down, Ichigo found a gaping wound across his chest. He tried to open his mouth to talk but instead of words, blood was pouring out. He drops his blade as a hand goes to his mouth and another to his wound. His instant regeneration took longer than usual, since it was a deeper wound. After a couple of seconds his injuries were gone. Ichigo looks up just in time as Kenpachi pierce his shoulders with his chipped Zanpakutō and pinned him to the ground.
"And it's over." Kenpachi turns around to only see Captain Hitsugaya. "Where the hell is the pretty boy at?"
"Captain Kuchiki went to take Kuchiki Rukia to the 4th Division." Tōshirō answer.
"Just her? Didn't we have like 3 lieutenants down?" Kenpachi asks Tōshirō, while looking at him to make sure Ichigo wouldn't try anything. "Oh wait, didn't we see the fat guy from the 2nd Division turn to ash?"
"His name was Lieutenant Ōmaeda." Captain Hitsugaya sharply replies. "That could have been any of our Lieutenants." He narrows his eyes and says, "Even yours."
"Tch." Kenpachi drills his sword deeper into Ichigo as he sees the teen trying to reach his sword. "So what do we do with him?"
Tōshirō narrows down his turquoise-eyes. "What do you think? We purify him."
"Purify?"
Both captains turn to look at Ichigo. Tōshirō slowly nodded his head as he answered the teen. "That's right. A Shinigami's duty is to send all Soul Plus to Soul Society while also purifying Hollows."
"You don't kill us?" Ichigo asks back.
At this, Captain Hitsugaya thought about the answer more. "We aren't 'killing' Hollows. What we do is purify them and when we purify Hollows, we help release all the souls they ate."
"All the souls?..."
Captain Hitsugaya doesn't understand why Ichigo would be so interested in his enemies' duties. "That's right, all the souls."
With a shaky voice, Ichigo's ask. "And what happens to the Hollow who ate those souls? Do they go to Soul Society as well?" As the small Captain shakes his head, he casts his eyes down.
"They don't go to Soul Society. The Hollow's souls and every other soul they ate go into the Cycle of Recreation." Captain Hitsugaya answered back. Just as he finished answering the boy's question, he looks up to the sky as he senses dozens of Senkaimon open up. "That's no good."
"I agreed, it's not."
Captain Hitsugaya's eyes widened as someone sent Kenpachi flying back. He brought his eyesight forward in time to see the bottom flat end of a cane hit him on the chest.
Urahara Kisuke puts a hand on his hat and turns around to send a shocked Ichigo a goofy smile. "Guess the plan didn't work out so well." Seeing Kenpachi's sword impaled on the boy, the shopkeeper grabbed it by the hilt and said, "Sorry if this hurts!"
Ichigo bit down his scream before looking behind Urahara as both Captains started getting back to their feet. "URAHARA-SAN!"
The shaggy blonde turns around to see both Captains ready to launch at him. "Oh~ Shinji-san! You're up!"
"I know already!" The Visored yelled, holding his release Shikai. His Zanpakutō's pommel became a large ring. An extension of the cross-guard covered the first few inches of the blade, the tip ending in a slanted razor-like edge instead of being tapered to a point and there are five holes along the sword's length. "Remember what I told you, Urahara!" As he spun Sakanade, a pink mist formed. "Sakasama no Sekai!"
A strange yet heavenly aroma invaded Ichigo's nose. He couldn't get another sample of the smell before Urahara tossed him over his shoulders and started running. He was trying to lift his head up when for some strange reason; he started focusing on the ground instead. He also could only hear the way both Captains were yelling, but no matter how hard he tried, he kept looking down instead. 'What the hell is going on?'
"Holy crap that was a close one," Shinji commented as he finally caught up to Urahara, now traveling to the man's left side. "I can't believe you got the hang of it so quickly." A cocky smirk reaches his lips as Urahara looks to his right instead. "Guess not."
"Well, what can I say," The ex-shopkeeper went back to looking forward. "It's hard to move your body when your mind is set to reverse."
"WAIT! We have to go back! Ulquiorra and my uncle are still back there!"
Urahara wraps his arms around Ichigo tighter as the teen was trying to worm himself out from his grip. "It's okay, Ichigo-kun! They're already heading back to the warehouse." Pulling out a cloak from inside his own, Urahara covers Ichigo up so that no one could follow them.
With Ulquiorra
Ulquiorra took one deep breath and pushed the tree that had fallen on top of him from the blast. He re-sheaths his Zanpakutō since he re-sealed his Resurrección. "Such power." He whispers in awe as he could see the crater that Ichigo's attack had created. "But, how, the power I felt before the blast went off. It was my Reiatsu and I'm sure Ichigo uses my Luz De La Luna."
He turned his head around as another blast went off that seemed aimed up to the sky instead. It didn't take him long enough for him to figure out who that was. Using the last of his strength during his Resurrection to heal his wounds have already left him too weak to re-enter it. "I need to get over to Ichigo and get us out of here." Ulquiorra 'tch' as he remembers about Ichigo's uncle. 'I guess I must save him, too.' He was about to go find Ryūken when he senses someone's Reiatsu behind him. He turns around, unsheathing his Zanpakutō, to only see someone throw their Captain's Haori at him—blocking his sight. Feeling pain on his chest, he leaps back and looks down to see Suzumebachi's trademark butterfly stamp on him. "You're a very persistent woman."
"So they have told me." The 2nd Division Captain's cocky grin drops as she senses Captain Kuchiki heading over to where she could sense the Lieutenants. 'Kuchiki Rukia, Abarai Renji, and Matsumoto Rangiku. I can sense them but where the hell is that sloth's Reiatsu at?' She shook her mind off from her lieutenant and concentrated on the Arrancar. "So, ready for round 2?"
The green-eyed Arrancar tch'd and pointed a finger at the Captain while creating a Cero. The small smirk on her lips as he fired his attack was the only clue he got before realizing he walked into her trap. The white-haired Captain once again steps between his Cero and the woman to absorb it with his Shikai. Before he could create another one, Captain Ukitake pointed one of his swords and fired back his Cero.
Dodging with a Sonido, Ulquiorra narrows down his eyes and speculates the Captain's Shikai ability. "You can absorb my attacks and fire them back at me with even greater and faster force." He looks down at his chest and scowls while looking at the 2nd Division Captain. "Your Shikai's abilities are hard to understand, but all I know is that you must hit me again at the center of this stamp."
Captain Ukitake nodded. "You're quite the clever one, Hollow-san."
"How about we don't start praising our opponent for figuring out how our release Zanpakutō works." Suì-Fēng said, getting an apologetic look from the white-haired man.
Moving closer to his fellow Captain while also keeping his eyes on the Arrancar, Captain Ukitake whispers, "So what can you tell me about this Hollow."
Keeping her eyes on the target, Suì-Fēng whispers back. "He's a very smart Hollow, too clever for my taste. I don't know if he's any skillful with his sword, he instantly used his Resurrección the moment we tried to stop Zangetsu."
"Resurrección?" Jūshirō asks back, unsure of the word.
"Think about it as the equivalent of our Bankai."
Ulquiorra looks down to the stamp on his chest, the puncture wound left by the petite Captain's weapon haven't healed at all. 'Perhaps it's a setback for using my Resurrection..' Did that mean it'll take longer to heal wounds after the use of his Resurrección? 'I have no time to waste here.' He focuses again on creating another Cero, getting the Captain's attention.
"That won't work, Hollow-san. You already know of my Shikai's abilities, why bother." Captain Ukitake said, preparing to catch Ulquiorra's attack.
Ulquiorra didn't bother to reply, he aimed his Cero between him and the Captains and used the smoke from the explosion to head over to Ichigo. It would have worked if Captain Suì-Fēng hadn't thought the same idea and prepared herself by appearing behind him the moment his Cero hit the ground. 'Pesky woman.' He swings his Zanpakutō at her. Seeing as his blade had gone through an after-image, he brought back his blade to his chest, blocking Suì-Fēng's attempt of stabbing the center of the butterfly-stamp.
Just when he blocked and was preparing to counter-attack, the petite Captain Flash Step behind him and stabbed him on his right shoulder, creating another stamp. He grunts and swings his blade around but the Captain vanishes. He looks to his stomach to see another stamp. "Toying with me, are you now?"
His focus changed from the petite woman to the man when he saw him join the fray now. Ulquiorra carefully deflects all the Captain's attacks while keeping a close eye on his opponent's Zanpakutō and Suì-Fēng. As he spotted the golden rings from Suì-Fēng's hair, he blocks Ukitake's upcoming attack and takes a fast arch-swing behind him to once again hit one of her afterimages. 'Damn it!' Getting fooled, he tries turning around in time to block Ukitake's sword but he was too late and the man was able to slash his back.
He leaps back to put some space but as his Pesquisa sense Captain Suì-Fēng behind him, he quickly swings his Zanpakutō but his blade never reach her since Captain Ukitake called out a Bakudō #4. Hainawa (Slithering Rope) to wrap his arms and body with a yellow rope made from his Reiatsu, leaving him immobilized.
Does he even have time to escape with a Sonido? Can he even use a Sonido to escape the Bakudō Spell that connected to his opponent? While deep in thought about what his best course of action should be, Ulquiorra kept dulling, staring at the weapon that's aimed to his chest before feeling a tug.
He didn't know what he was expecting, but being saved from Suì-Fēng's Shikai by Captain Ukitake was not one of them. He quietly grunts as he hits the ground. "I'm sorry for that, Hollow-san." He heard his opponent say.
"What are you doing, Captain Ukitake!" Suì-Fēng said in a not too friendly tone.
Ulquiorra turns his head to see the calm look on the Captain's face while trying to break free of the Bakudō Spell. "Just hear me out, Captain Suì-Fēng, we need to at least gather information about why they return here again. They're probably planning something." He heard the man's word then he turned his head to the other Captain to see what her reaction/response would be.
"Are you crazy, Captain Ukitake! We don't need any information from them! We already know everything that we needed to know! So just purify the Hollow!" The 2nd Division Captain yelled.
Ulquiorra looks at one before the other. Was Captain Ukitake trying to take him back to Soul Society alive? 'That won't be any good.' He goes back to trying to break free before he sees it and then a plan comes to mind. "I assure you, there's much that you don't know about us." As he gained both Captain's attention, he said. "Do you think we came here with no purpose? Our King has tasked us with a mission and we will succeed."
"KING!?" Both Captains yelled.
Ukitake's eyes widened. "Wait, does Zangetsu follow this King as well? Are you saying that Zangetsu, a powerful Hollow, is a follower of this King? Are there more of them?" Watching as the Arrancar nodded made his stomach turn to knots. A Hollow King. Such a powerful being existing that rules over strong monsters like Zangetsu could be Soul Society's worst nightmare. "Captain Suì-Fēng, we need to take him back and extract information from him."
She may want Zangetsu's and this Hollow's death but when they hold information that could be useful for Soul Society, well, she has to hold back the urge to kill Ulquiorra. "Right." She was about to open a Senkaimon when he opened his mouth again and stopped her.
"I believe there's no harm in telling you that our mission was to meet up with Urahara Kisuke and Shihōin Yoruichi."
Her gray eyes widened and turned around to ask Ulquiorra to repeat himself but a quick chop to the back of her head made her fall into oblivion.
Taken back from seeing Yoruichi appearing out of the blue and knocking out Suì-Fēng with an unsuspected chop, Ukitake realized the Hollow's words were a distraction.
"Mashiro Super Cero!"
Hearing a voice above him, he let loose of the Bidding Spell and dodge the strange arch Cero launched at him. "What?!" Watching as the attack misses the Arrancar, Ukitake looks up to the sky to see Kuna Mashiro. He watches as the green-haired woman lands next to the Hollow.
"You got on with the plan!" She cheerfully said as she helped Ulquiorra to his feet. Looking at his injuries, she frowns. "You're in bad shape."
"I'm fine, these wounds will heal." The green-eyed Arrancar started cleaning off the dirt from his shirt while addressing the Shinigami Captain. "It seems my luck is still with me, Captain-san."
Ukitake nodded. "It would seem so."
"So what are you going to do now?" Yoruichi asks, tying her ex-student up. "I know you can't handle all 3 of us at the same time, besides, you're having a lucky streak yourself since your disease hasn't kicked in."
Sheathing back his Zanpakutō, Ukitake sighed. "I can't do anything more."
With that said, Mashiro moves closer to Ulquiorra and puts one of his hands over her shoulders. "C'mon I'll take you back to our hideout! I forgot you never saw ours! You're gonna love it! We have all this new cool stuff that Urahara-san brought! Umm, we have jobs now, too! I mean, Hiyori doesn't like it and she makes sure to always complain about it every day but—"
Ulquiorra kept listening as she went on talking about all things the Visored's warehouse seemed to have now, a ghost of a smile on his face. He almost forgot just how talkative Mashiro was.
As both Ulquiorra and Mashiro left, Yoruichi was ready to follow them when Ukitake's voice stopped her.
"Have you joined forces with the Hollows?"
With her back facing the Captain and she says. "Y'know, I kind of ask myself the same thing, but, as I got to know them better, I realized that I didn't join forces with a bunch of Hollows." She turns around, which lets Captain Ukitake see her gentle smile, and repeats the words she heard come out of Isshin's mouth some time back. "Just a bunch of misunderstood souls."
Now alone, Captain Ukitake sighed as he looked up to the sky to see dozens of Senkaimon opening up. "Yamamoto-sensei is going to kill me."
As Ulquiorra sensed dozens of powerful Reiatsu appearing all over the park, he looked at Mashiro and said, "We need to go find Ichigo's uncle, he wasn't too far away from me."
"Don't worry about Ryūken, we went to help him first." Yoruichi said as she caught up to them. "Unlike you, it's been a while since he has done any sort of combat. He got lucky that Captain Kurotsuchi got caught by surprise from the blast and didn't find the time to take shelter, unlike Ryūken, who sensed the blast and started running away from it."
"I see," Ulquiorra replied, looking down at the ground, feeling a bit relieved that Ichigo's uncle was all right.
Seeing the downcast look on his face, Yoruichi said, "It's no big deal." She shrugs her shoulders and continues in a monotone. "You got paired up with Captain Ukitake who could absorb not just Cero but your Reiatsu and my little bee, Captain Suì-Fēng, who seemed to finally gotten faster than me and by default, was already faster than you. Shitty luck if you ask me."
Seeing the way Ulquiorra was still looking gloomy, Mashiro nudged him. "Don't start feeling down! This just means you gotta improve more! So once you're all healed up we're gonna go back to training with your superhero transformation!"
Another one of his rare smiles formed on his lips. "Yes, my superhero transformation could use some work." He doesn't feel like correcting her that his 'superhero' transformation was his Resurrección. As he looked back up, he spotted Rose and a large man that he learned was called Hacchi, carrying the white-haired Quincy on his back. They were heading towards the same destination as them; the Visoreds' warehouse.
Yoruichi quietly groaned as Mashiro started babbling like a parrot. Telling Ulquiorra everything she has been up to since the day they left. Living with the Visoreds, she learns that the best way to have the talkative Mashiro to leave you alone is by simply nodding and replying 'Ah, yes.' and the occasion 'Oh, really now?' to have her pout and go bother someone else. There was nothing wrong with the woman, she's a great sparring partner and she got her serious moments now and then but in talking, she just can't shut it. Also didn't help that the only person to have ever paid attention to her was living in an entirely different dimension.
But now.
She looks over at the pair and presses her lips into a thin concentrate line. Trying to understand why someone like Ulquiorra, who's the quiet-and-prefer-to-be-alone-with-peace-in-mind-type, could get along with someone so socially and chatty like Mashiro. She squints her eyes and blinks owlishly as she spotted the rarest object in the world; Ulquiorra's smile. Not the smile Ichigo could make his brother form on his lips, the sporadically rare-centimeter-high-corner-proud-smirk-because-he-did-something-right but an actual smile-smile.
Looking past his smile and looking more into his facial expression, the well-endowed woman could see the way he quietly listens to everything Mashiro was talking about, like genuinely listening to her. He hasn't shut her voice out of his thoughts like everyone else would and dare she say that the look on his face was one of wistful longing for the day he would've listened to Mashiro's talks, 'or perhaps voice?' Hearing Mashiro talking, she set her golden eyes to the lime-haired Visored to see a gleeful look in her eyes. Almost as if she waited for too long to talk to Ulquiorra again.
Captain-commander Yamamoto wishes he could finish Zangetsu's job and burn down this entire park with the 3 Captain that allow this destruction to unfold. Captain Kuchiki, from what the Captains that he sent as backup told him, had left Captain Suì-Fēng by herself to deal with the Arrancar while he went over to rescue his sister from Zangetsu. Nothing happened to the 2nd Division Captain and the only injuries she seems to have right now was a concussion and a cut on her forearm so nothing too bad there. Though his irritation wasn't about those two, no, it had to do with Captain Hitsugaya. While looking like the white-haired Captain was having a hard time looking straight, Yamamoto wondered why there wasn't any sign of battle on him. His Captain Haori was still neatly clean, unlike the last time he battled Zangetsu. No sort of wounds on him—besides being exhausted—were spotted on him.
"Captain Hitsugaya," He started his speech with a cacophonous tone, he won't go easy with the boy since he asks to be on every tour to just ruin his only chance. "I want you to explain how you three couldn't defeat Zangetsu and even allow the Hollow to once again slip through your fingers while leaving behind a catastrophe like this."
The 10th Division Captain would later explain that the only reason his eyes weren't looking at the Captain-Commander's set was because of the strange effect caused by the bob-cut Shinigami's Shikai's abilities. "Zangetsu, he wasn't alone. He was with another Arrancar. To make matters worse, the Quincy, who has been hurting our men, joined Zangetsu's side since the Hollow's family."
"In what way?" Captain Kurotsuchi asks, looking like a mess with his make-up half a mess.
"Turns out that the boy you capture is Zangetsu's cousin, and that means Zangetsu is his nephew."
The ancient Shinigami heard the mad scientist mutter under his breath and turn his harsh gaze towards the man. "Captain Kurotsuchi, how about you make yourself useful and send out your division to cover-up this mess since your 'genius' couldn't create a proper barrier to hold back Reiatsu." With a clenched jaw and a firm response, Yamamoto watches the 12th Division Captain leave before Captain Aizen appears with a more detailed report on Zangetsu's damage, but with the sorrowful look on his face, he could already guess some details of his report.
"We have counted a little over 400 newly Soul Plus that appear here in Karakura Town, all of them victims of getting crushed by Zangetsu's Spiritual Pressure. With more findings coming up, we found that a diameter of 10 miles—labeling Karakura Town as the main center—became devoid of any Hollows' presence; almost as if they fled for their lives. Zangetsu's transformation scared them away but now that they sense him gone, they will return here and possibly mark this town as a Hollow Feeding Zone for the next couple of weeks."
All the passing Shinigami wince as they could hear how hard the Captain-commander was gripping his cane. They could even see the veins on his wrinkling hands pop out and as he spoke, every word that rolled out of his tongue caused the surrounding air to rise in temperature.
"Captain Aizen, return to Soul Society and gather a fair number of your men to bring here to Karakura Town so that we may start sending these lost souls where they belong." Yamamoto concentrated a fiery glare towards Kenpachi. "Captain Zaraki, I want your Division to deal with all the Hollows outside and inside Karakura Town's diameter."
"What if I just wanna find Zangetsu?" Kenpachi grin, his reply meant to be a simple joke, something to jab the old man's temper but his grin disappeared and his throat went dry.
"Did those orders come from my mouth, Zaraki?"
He's never scared, never back down from anything, never have looked at Captain-commander Yamamoto as his superior—he knew he was—but still, with how the Commander's Reiatsu was drying the sweat from his body as the fluid barely left, he knew he shouldn't try anything stupid. He replied with a shaky and frightened voice but made sure his tone was respectful. "No Sir."
With Kenpachi and Aizen dismissed, he turns his sights to Captain Suì-Fēng. "Search the entire town. I want that Hollow found."
"Yes Sir." She instantly replies and turns around to find her Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Ōmaeda get your ass out here!" She glared at her sight of vision and any Shinigami who saw her icy glare move out of her way so that she could find the large man. She looks everywhere but as she can't spot the fat man, she groans. "Great, I bet the bastard headed back to Soul Society." She was about to head out and search the town alone before once again the Captain-Commander spoke.
"Captain... Hitsugaya. How about you tell your fellow Captain about the fate of her lieutenant?"
Tōshirō swallows his spit down his dry throat. He had hoped the petite woman wouldn't have asked about her 2nd seat but now that the Captain-Commander had pointed it out and told him to share the news to her, he mentally prepares himself before opening his mouth and answering an irritated Suì-Fēng. "Captain Suì-Fēng, your 2nd seat, Lieutenant Ōmaeda..."
-X-
Holy crap that took forever! Lol. Ugh, sorry about that folks. I accidentally smash my fingers at work and boy was it not pretty... Lost three nails and I couldn't type with one hand. So~ I had to use only one. Yep! Y'all will notice where I started to type with one hand when you see the story turn a bit shitty lol.
So because I'm waiting for my fingers to heal up and didn't wanted to leave you guys waiting, I decided to cut down the final chapter in half. Yes, this means there's one last chapter left before we finally go into Cannon. WHICH reminds me that a lot of stuff from the anime won't be mention here or I will simply not bother setting it here in the story. For example, bount-arc won't happen. They might get a mention but I won't bother putting them here. Also, most filler arcs won't get set here either. Unless y'all wanna see a specific arc get settle down here. As for Movies, well, I actually planned to set one of the Movies here as 'Cannon'. The best choice will actually be Memories Of Nobody, now, why would I make this Movie into Cannon material is simple. Because out of ALL the Movies, Memories of Nobody could literally fit into Cannon. Now, I don't wanna see a comment saying that it never got mention in the anime or manga because if y'all remember, in the movie everyone lost their memories so in a way Memories of Nobody could be the most 'Cannon' of all the films because it could've happened but no one knows about it.
Hmmm, what to say... Guess I should clear some stuff?
The Old Man (Ichigo's Quincy's Power) is basically gone, he merged with the other Zangetsu, so while he may appear like him, he's not. Who is he? Well, y'all just have to wait and see.
Also, no I'm not bashing on poor Toshiro or anything like that since pretty much a ton of crap is happening to him, trust me, I'm building him up. After all, there was something about him that was mention in the anime and manga that never seemed to get explained about.
Hmm so between Ichigo's and Zaraki's fight, I'm expecting probably some sort of backlash or flame about it but let me remind y'all that Ichigo's currently strong as Pre-time skip Grimmjow, so even then Ichigo wouldn't have a change again Zaraki when even Nnotria or however you spell his name (5th Espada) started loosing to Zaraki. And while I know most of y'all just want Ichigo to be OP AF and whip the floor with everyone, I'm just not going to instantly overpower him. Because of two reasons.
1. Is boring, is boring to see the main character just be OP and beat everyone with little effort or no effort at all and while I'll make him basically God- like towards the end, that's where it's going to happen at. Towards the end of this story.
2. OP!Ichigo stories are everywhere and i'm sure most of you know how those stories go.
Also, for that one reviewer who has been asking about the Harem, i'm sorry but that won't be happening because not only is it cliche but it's a little bit more hard to write about multy-lovers since I have to find a way for them to love Ichigo and no, i'm not just going to have them around so that they can have sex all the time with him. Which reminds me about my next point. Lemons. Are they going to happen? Yes, but once Lily and Ichigo become official.
Ummm.. that's about it, there's probably some stuff that I didn't talk about so if y'all have any questions, either PM or leave a review.
-Ten Out.