The released reiatsu literally blew Ichigo away. Thinking quick, he struck his main blade deep into the ground to anchor himself. Once the initial burst of energy settled, Ichigo looked up. The dust had yet to clear but, if he squinted his eyes a little, he could make out the silhouette of his Zanpakutō. The fuck is he doing?

His answer came not even a second later, when the air became thick and heavy with Hollow reiatsu and another voice rang through the air.

'W-what on Earth did you do that—?!'

An explosion of sonīdo swallowed the rest of the sentence and changed it into a pained gasp. The soundwave cleared the cloud of dust, revealing the scene that had played behind the curtain of pulverised stone.

For a reason unknown, Zangetsu had Hollowfied. The large blade of their bankai had been dismissed now their hands had turned into weapons themselves. The right claw had wrapped around a slender neck, nails digging into skin as it forced its prey up and against the back wall.

Ichigo need not to see more. Abandoning the blade, he crossed the distance with a leap of sonīdo. He grabbed the wrist of the hand wrapped around Zangetsu's victim (what had Tensa even done to deserve this?) and stared at the spirit as he demanded, 'Let him go'.

Zangetsu's grip weakened at the order, golden irises glancing at the pair of brown. Before he could make a decision, he felt the other's reiatsu (and the emotions contained within) brush against his own and his rage returned full force. With a roar did Zangetsu tighten his grip and slammed the other into the back wall again, this time with enough force to leave an imprint.

Tensa didn't deign the abuse worth more than a hiss through clenched teeth. His feet searched for a foothold to relieve his neck of the weight of his body, reishi flickering beneath his boots to create support but dispersing whenever the pressure on his throat increased. With blunt nails did he clawed at the hand to pry himself free, eyes glaring unblinking at the other with hatred and spite.

Not wanting to find out what happened to Zanpakutō when they were killed by someone other than their wielder, Ichigo let his own mask form. He increased switched from Zangetsu's wrist to the front of his uniform, forcing him to look him in the eye. 'I said: Let. Him. Go'.

Tensa dropped to the ground, gasping for the air he had been deprived of only to choke on it when he inhaled too greedily. With his main concern resolved, Ichigo let go of Zangetsu, who sneered back at him in defiance even though he took a step back. Ichigo kept staring his Zanpakutō down until he looked away and only then did Ichigo dismiss his mask and turn his attention to his other spirit.

Tensa wasn't looking at them, bend over as he coughed up the air he was trying to inhale. Ichigo noticed a blue glow near the spirit's neck but it faded too fast for him to see what it had been. His failed investigation did reveal something else that Ichigo found much more worrying.

Spread across Tensa's skin in a spiderweb-like pattern were thin lines that looked similar to a crack in double-paned glass. Ichigo frowned, casting a glance at Zangetsu's blade and the one still stuck in the ground. Maybe not a crack in glass but in steel.

Ichigo shook his head. He could ponder about weird Zanpakutō biology—or whatever the fuck this shit falls under—after the tension had been resolved. Putting his hands together, Ichigo focused on a kaidō as he knelt down at Tensa's left. 'Here, let me—'

'Don't!'

Ichigo blinked, the kaidō flickering and vanishing, as he was levelled with the same intense glare Tensa had given Zangetsu a moment prior.

Tensa heaved one breath after another, his glare switching between Ichigo and Zangetsu. 'Don't…touch… me'.

Zangetsu screeched at Tensa in offence (more on Ichigo's behalf than his own) and took a step forward with the intention of resuming where he had left off. Ichigo was quicker, though, and put himself between them.

'Oh, no. You stay right there'. Ichigo put his right hand against Zangetsu's chest when the spirit didn't immediately listen and was relieved when he didn't try to steamroll him. It didn't stop Zangetsu from glaring and growling, though; their reiatsu lashing out in aggregation and barely restrained fury. 'Alright, who of you two is gonna tell me what is going on?' Ichigo asked, glancing between the two.

Tensa looked away at the question. 'That's none…of your…concern', he breathed out, prompting Zangetsu to voice their objection with a shriek.

The loud and shrill noise had Ichigo flinch, bringing his hands to his ears to protect his eardrums. He gave Zangetsu a look, 'Stop screeching and use your words, damnit'.

Zangetsu huffed, grumbling something illegible (which Ichigo knew to be expletives) as he reached for his mask with his right hand. The claws curled around the edge on the left side of his face and by the time Ichigo realised what the spirit was planning on doing, Zangetsu tore the mask from his face. Ichigo lunged forward to catch it but couldn't get around his Zanpakutō in time. It clattered to the ground and Ichigo didn't miss the way Zangetsu winced when a piece broke off.

'The fuck did you do that for?! That's your heart, you idiot! You need to be more careful with—'

Zangetsu interrupted him with a snarl, taking a step to the side so they could point at the other spirit while they shouted accusations. Well, Ichigo guessed that was the intent. The words that came out of the spirit's mouth were neither loud nor quick, let alone many or clear.

'He—! He's at…at fault!'

It came out so soft and hoarse, black mist passing their lips with every syllable they managed to get out. He would growl loud and clear in between words, some barely recognisable as a language spoken by humans.

It was odd. Zangetsu never had trouble speaking before. In fact, his Zanpakutō Spirit made being loud and obnoxious a character trait (his best even, in Zangetsu's own opinion). To see them struggle to string a single sentence together did nothing to ease Ichigo's growing concern.

Wow, wait a sec. Didn't this happen back then, too? Ichigo thought back, way back, to the last time the two of them had fought before his soul was torn asunder. Yeah, he hadn't spoken then either. At least, not after he had donned their—

'Drop out of your Hollowfication', Ichigo ordered.

Zangetsu shook his head, pointing their finger at Tensa and making gestures along with their growls in the hope of getting their point across. Ichigo turned his attention to his other spirit with a frown, hoping he could shed some light in one way or another.

Tensa had recovered his breathing by now and had decided to manifest his inner "teenager" to match his appearance. He sat on the ground, one knee raised to his chest, and glaring at Zangetsu as if they were responsible for all that is wrong in the world.

Yeah…Ichigo understood Zangetsu's concern.

Ichigo caught his attention with a small wave of his hand. The fierce glare Tensa had been shooting at Zangetsu softened when his eyes moved to their wielder. 'Promise me you won't try to pull a vanishing act if they drop their Hollowfication'.

The request garnered a response from both spirits, one with an accusing look and the other with a shrill noise that embodied offence and exasperation.

Tensa scowled (he had been making a lot of those faces today) at the other two, his eyes narrowing as he weighed his options. After a moment of consideration, he heaved a sigh. 'You have my word'.

Satisfied, Ichigo offered a nod in acceptance and appreciation before turning back to Zangetsu. 'He promised. Now drop it'.

Zangetsu glared at both Ichigo and Tensa, a low growl rumbling in his throat to voice both his scepticism of the other keeping his word, as well as his annoyance that Ichigo took those words at face value. Crossing their arms with a rough huff, Zangetsu did as he was told. The discarded and broken mask destabilised, melting into a non-descript black ooze that surged towards the spirit's chest. The black lines that covered his skin retraced their path back to the hole his heart had left behind. It filled back up completely, leaving nothing but white and scarred skin behind.

'And? Can you speak now?' Ichigo asked.

Zangetsu's lip twitched, exposing his overtly sharp teeth. 'Tch, course I can'. Black mist passed his lips as he spoke, voice still hoarse but words legible.

'Well then, what did you try to tell me?'

The reminder of why he had to remove his mask in the first place reignited Zangetsu's previous fury. With a sneer and golden glare did the spirit point at Tensa, 'Cuz that little shit over there thinks he ain't yer Zanpakuto!'

Before Ichigo could even raise a brow in confusion at the accusation, Tensa spoke up.

'Because I'm not!'

The snarl is what tipped Ichigo off. He quickly moved in front of Zangetsu, who had stepped forward. Placing his hand on his chest once more, he kept the spirit back to prevent a fight from breaking out.

'That is no reason to attack him like that', Ichigo scolded.

'No reason-his denial is what made yer blade weak, King!'

'First of all: don't call me that; we have been over this', Ichigo said, giving Zangetsu a look. 'Second: we were sparring. There is no need to—'

'We're fucking lucky we were sparring!' Zangetsu shouted, face gaining colour as his temper rose. 'What if that shit happened during patrol?'

'But to drag him out by force and attack him isn't—'

'Then when am I supposed ta do it then, huh? When yer on the ground bleeding ta death?'

'Hey, it was just my arm. There is no need to—'

Zangetsu snatched the before-mentioned arm by the wrist, raising and shaking it for emphasis as he hissed through gritted teeth, 'THIS time it was just yer arm. Next time, it could be yer leg—' He kicked Ichigo's shin— 'or ya chest—' He jabbed his nail into his sternum— 'or even yer damn head that comes off!' They grabbed a fistful of orange hair, forcing Ichigo to look at them. 'Do ya remember what high-speed regeneration can't fix, King? Vital organs, like that brain yer never using!'

Ichigo pulled his wrist free, grabbing Zangetsu's in return and tightening his grip until the spirit let go of his hair. Zangetsu didn't back down and Ichigo's own eyes shifted to gold as he stared the other down.

'You could have told me', Ichigo countered. 'We could have talked this shit out without—'

Zangetsu grabbed the front of Ichigo's uniform, 'How can you be so damn calm about this?!' he shrieked, abandoning the fabric he had taken hostage to point at Tensa once more. 'He's literally jeopardising yer life and—'

'I am not!'

'Yes, ya are!' Zangetsu pushed Ichigo aside. 'That weren't mah blade he were blocking with!'

'Nor was it mine!' Tensa yelled back, rising to his feet. 'I am not a—'

'Stop lying to yerself! Ya've got yer own damn bankai fer crying out loud; what more proof do ya need?!'

'That is not a bankai. It's an imita—'

Zangetsu lunged forward with a roar of rage, claws aimed at the bruised throat to finish the job if it meant shutting the other up before he could finish that sentence. Tensa was quick. He evaded the claws with hirenkyaku, blue gathering at his fingertips as he summoned a bow in his left.

Both Zangetsu and Ichigo stared at Tensa. While they had known the other represented Ichigo's Quincy heritage, while they had known the other was just as much an archer as he was a swordsman, to see him wield a bow drove the fact home as an indisputable truth.

Ichigo was the first one to take his eyes away, aiming them at Zangetsu instead. The spirit was seething, reiatsu wound up tight like a spring ready to uncoil. He reached out with his right, wanting to keep Zangetsu from starting a fight but his fingers were smacked away by the hand he was trying to grab. With a snarl, Zangetsu leapt forward with sonīdo; the backlash of the sonic boom throwing Ichigo against the other wall, rupturing his eardrums.

#

TO BE CONTINUED

BLEACH – Tite Kubo