The sound of the door sliding open had Shunsui and Ukitake alert at once. Unohana gave them a serene smile as she closed the door to Ichigo's room behind her. If they hadn't known her for so long, they would have missed the slight tenseness of her eyes.
"Ichigo did not have any serious injuries; the majority of the blood was not his." Her voice was calm and collected and Shunsui let out a haggard breath.
"However,"
He tensed back up immediately, his brows furrowing.
"His soul no longer seems to be in the delicate harmony he had maintained for the past few years. His reiatsu resembles that of a hollow more so than Shinigami or quincy." Unohana tucked her hands into her haori, her eyes opening and the smile falling off her face. "If my theory is correct, then it may be due in part to him having to use hollow techniques for him to come back to us. I do not know what else he has used, but the garganta is a clear indication."
Shunsui bit his lips and glanced over at Jushiro, watching as the man mulled over the new information in his mind.
"Retsu-san, do you think teaching Ichigo other things about his heritage will help…" Jushiro paused, tilting his head as if looking for the right word. "Balance himself?"
Unohana sighed and surprised them by taking a seat next to them, her face tilted up towards the ceiling in thought. "It is the only hope we can have right now. I do believe him growing stronger in one aspect over the other causes this imbalance, but it may also not necessarily be correlated to power levels."
Shunsui ran a hand though his messy locks, his hat absent. "Meaning?"
Unohana gave him a disapproving frown but continued, "meaning that each reiatsu is different, so it would make sense that manipulating it would be slightly different for each….version of his power. We can only hope that by training him, he becomes adept at manipulating the various types of reiatsu he has in his body."
Jushiro's eyes lit up in understanding and he nodded vigorously. "I see, that does make sense but…" He frowned. "There are no quincy left."
There was silence in the room for a long moment before a grimace crossed his friend's face. Shunsui raised a brow at him and the pale man's frown deepened. "Mayuri"
He didn't have to say more than that. They had known the man had been authorized to experiment on quincy by the central 46 with too much glee, and would most likely know the best way to help Ichigo. However, it was Mayuri.
A chill went down his spine when he saw Unohana's eyes darken, shadows crossing her features and her smile turning razer sharp.
"He will help, and I will be his assistant. My grandson's safety is not up for debate." Her tone was hard, carrying no traces of the serene woman she had morphed herself into.
Shunsui and Jushiro locked eyes, grim expressions on their face as they nodded to each other. They would trust her, after all, the woman adored Ichigo like her very own.
Yamamoto soutaichou slammed his cane down harshly in the wake of the chaos caused by his grandson. "Silence" he bellowed out, slamming his cane down once more and opening his eyes fully to observe the surprised faces of his captains, minus three. The pool of blood near the spot of the eighth division was slowly drying and the shocked lieutenant stood stock still, staring at it from her post.
Once his captains settled back down he leaned heavily on his cane, watching them all with a critical eye. The only ones that didn't seem surprised at the events were Soifon, Kuchiki, Ichimaru and Aizen. However, the bloodthistry grin on Zaraki's face forced him to grab hold of his anger with tight reins, as well as the look of utter fascination that was on Mayuri.
"Not a word of this incident is to leave this room," He glared at them all, his reiatsu swelling slightly to show them the seriousness of his words. He added on more, making sure they knew he was not the only one that was to be trifled with. "I am sure Unohana Taichou would not appreciate any rumors being spread of her grandson as well."
Several eyes widened and the color drained from many faces. Satisfied that he had sufficiently smothered their curiosity he dismissed them with another slam of his cane.
Ichigo woke with a start, his eyes wide and a yelp in his throat as he bolted upright. It was dark but he could feel he was on a bed, and once his eyes adjusted he could see he was in his obachan's division. He let out a sigh of relief before freezing up, remembering the near death he had experienced at the hands of the two hollows. A shiver went down his spine and he gripped at the sheets, his hands trembling.
'I'm proud of ya, king' the voice of his anisan was uncharacteristically soft and Ichigo let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
'anisan? What happened?'
'You won. We got away, we made it out and you proved your strength.'
Ichigo swallowed, wondering at the pride his anisan had in his voice. He didn't feel like it was a victory, it felt more like he ran away and was too scared to do much. And not only that, but he had been so afraid. The fear still lingered in his chest, keeping him on high alert and watching the shadows of the room with weary eyes.
"How is this a victory" he whispered aloud, tears gathering at his eyes.
The snarl of outrage from his anisan made him jump and his eyes widened at the ferocity of the words.
'We won! Yer scared? Get stronger! I won't have you pitying yourself, king!'
A fury that wasn't his own filled his chest, replacing the fear and strengthening his limbs. He gasped, taking in a deep breath to understand the emotions coming over him from his spirits. Joy, pride, eagerness and something else he couldn't name. Something that made him want to remember fighting with a fondness he hadn't felt at the time.
'Ichigo' Ojisan's voice was quiet but stern in his mind, gripping his attention.
'There is nothing for us in the past. Abandon your fear, move forward. Retreat and you will age, hesitate and you will die!'
Ichigo was left speechless at the words, they resonated with him in a way that he couldn't describe, even as he felt determination line his little shoulders and make him straighten his back. His anisan let out a bellowing laughter that echoed in his head and he nodded his head in determination. No fear!
Ganju paled when he opened the door, taking in the sight of a blood stained Ukitake. The man's usual smile was absent and his eyes were hard as he glared directly at him. Kukaku shoved him aside and he stumbled, catching himself on the door frame. They had just returned to the house to see if Ichigo had come back a few minutes prior, both of them exhausted from their search. That hadn't mattered though, they hadn't been able to find Ichigo, and every time Kukaku looked at him his guilt grew.
"We found Ichigo." Ganju grimaced at the captain's tone before his eyes widened in surprise. How? They were far off from Seireitei and Ichigo wouldn't have been able to make that trip on his own in such a short amount of time. Even the captains found it hard to visit them often enough. Kukaku was still as stone and he followed her gaze back to the captain, back to the blood that stained his white haori. A chill went down his spine and he jerked at the significance it held now.
Kukaku let out a haggard breath but didn't say a word, her brows were drawn down and her lips were drawn in a tight line. Ukitake shifted, pulling his haori taint between his hands and shoving the fabric up so they could see.
Tiny, bloody hand prints were smeared across it and Ganju felt his worry grow tenfold along with his guilt.
"He's fine now. But I thought you should know."
The normally kind captain of the 13th left in a flash of shunpo, leaving them both staring at where he had been.
Sand shifted under his feet as he followed behind the brown haired captain. For once, his smile was absent from his face as they traced the reiatsu signature back to its source. Blotches of blood were growing larger and larger until they came across an area that was splattered with the red liquid in larger pools. The sand was already swallowing it up, but the body that was left behind wasn't so fast to disappear. A hollow was thrashing on the floor, trying to drag itself away from them. The smell of seared flesh filled the air and made him frown further. He stepped up next to Aizen, watching as the hollow twisted and hissed. It had a large hole in its mouth, and it wasn't its hollow hole. The gaping wound looked cauterized, and sand clung to the charred flesh in indiscriminate patterns.
Aizen's reiatsu fell and Gin raised his own against it, still feeling terribly pressured. The hollow was flattened and after several moments it was suffocated to death. Aizen let up on his reiatsu, sticking his hand towards the hollow's wound and forcing his reiatsu into it through his palm. A pleased smile crossed his face and Gin stilled at the sight.
"This was his work after all, Gin."
He feigned nonchalance with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh? Das good for him them, makin it out nd all. But this hollow kinda weak, too bad the kid is too then."
Aizen straightened and turned to look back at him, the ambient moonlight reflecting off his glasses and hiding his eyes.
"Oh, that's quite fine. I have no doubts in my mind that he will become stronger." He turned away again and headed towards Las Noches. "Come, our guests should be warned of what to expect."
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Extra tired. Sorry if theres more errors than usual. I managed to update my other 3-shot and the chapter ended up way longer than I thought it was going to be. Took my energy right out of me.