12 – Death

When they were walking home from school the next day, Ichigo sensed that they were being followed.

"Rukia, have you noticed?" He asked.

She glanced at him and nodded. "It's like Saido said. They're here."

"What do think they're waiting for?"

Rukia considered carefully before answering. "I think they're scouting. I released my Zanpaktou yesterday, so Soul Society knows that I have my powers back. It will be difficult to charge me with transferring powers to a human now. They could be looking for evidence that I taught Shinigami arts to a human or that I'm conspiring with a Quincy against Soul Society, if they noticed Uryu as well. Both would also be considered treason."

"Uryu can handle himself," said Ichigo. "But what if they go after Chad or Orihime as well? They were there yesterday too."

The two shared a look, then nodded before disappearing in different directions.

O O O

The stealth force operatives on the nearby rooftops were startled with their targets disappeared, but reacted quickly when they noticed the spirit pressure rapidly approaching.

Ichigo found two Shinigami in ninja-like attire, their faces masked with cloth. Both drew short swords once they saw him and charged without a word.

Ichigo dodged skillfully and punched one of them in the face, while kicking the other in the stomach.

"Man, you guys are weak," he said while they stumbled back.

"Don't get cocky, human!" One of them said angrily, disappearing with a flash step.

The other one did the same, and soon they were flashing all over the place while Ichigo dodged their attacks.

"Heh! Your flash step ain't bad, as expected of the stealth force. But sorry, you guys are just out of your league here," said Ichigo with a smirk, as he finally used his own flash step.

The Onmitsukido members were in shock as Ichigo intercepted them easily and knocked their swords out of their hands.

"Impossible! How can a human be so fast!" They were unable to sense the strength of Ichigo's spirit pressure, now that he was becoming increasingly skilled as a Quincy and kept his spirit pressure tightly controlled.

Before they could do anything else, Ichigo knocked them both out.

A similar scene played out with Rukia, though she went about it less arrogantly, using a simple Bakudo to bind the Onmitsukido members.

Not long after that, they hunted down the rest of the Onmitsukido who were tailing their friends.

O O O

"…"

Urahara sweatdropped at the unconscious bodies of Onmitsukido Executive Militia ninjas lying in front of his shop.

What exactly did Ichigo and Rukia expect him to do with these guys? And they just dropped them here and left without a word!

There was only a note that read "Take care of these guys, thanks."

He sighed and started dragging them into his shop with Tessai's help.

O O O

When Renji and Byakuya stepped through the Senkaimon and arrived in Karakura town, they wasted no time heading for Karakura high. Agents from Soul Society had already tracked down Rukia and knew that she had been spending time in a gigai, going to the local high school.

From there, they used devices given to them by the 12th division, and traced her spirit pressure.

Eventually they found their way to the site of the battle against the horde of Hollows, where Rukia released her Zanpaktou.

"Rukia defeated a Menos Grande here…" Renji said, looking over the park area from the deserted street to its side, where the surroundings still had signs of battle, and there was a big circle of what seemed like shredded grass. "Why doesn't she come back to Soul Society, if she has her powers back?"

"We can question her after she is captured and brought back to Soul Society," said Byakuya. For this mission, his Captain Haori was left behind in Soul Society. He was in a basic shihakusho like Renji, except for the scarf he always wore.

"I'm sorry, but I won't be going back," said a voice from behind them.

They turned to see Rukia in her human body, standing right there.

"Kuchiki Rukia!" Renji shouted with an angry expression. "What are you doing still in a human body? You're a Shinigami!"

"Abarai Renji…not anymore, I'm not. Somehow, I've turned into a human…that's why I won't go back. I don't belong in Soul Society anymore," she said with a bittersweet smile, sombre eyes reflecting the moonlight.

Renji looked flabbergasted at her words. "The hell you talking about? Have you become so attached to this world, you'd rather live as a mere human?"

'Sorry Renji, but I can't tell you the real reason yet…not until after Captain Aizen's plans are revealed,' Rukia thought.

Renji continued with a shout. "You're Kuchiki Rukia, a member of the noble house of Kuchiki, and a trained Shinigami from the Academy, just like me! You shouldn't be wearing that human-like expression! Don't you agree, Captain Kuchiki?"

"Rukia…" The cold voice of Kuchiki Byakuya cut through the air.

"Byakuya-aniki…" Rukia greeted in return.

Suddenly Renji dashed forward and slashed at Rukia, who calmly made no move to dodge.

But before he could adjust the trajectory of his sword at the last second to avoid actually injuring his old friend, something appeared right in front of him.

Renji stared in shock.

Ichigo stood with his left hand in his pocket, wearing casual pants and a jacket, while his right hand was just curved up at the elbow, blocking Renji's blade edge with a bare finger.

"Is this what Shinigami have become? Thugs attacking unarmed humans?" Ichigo said with disdain. "Abarai Renji, was it? I heard a lot about you from Rukia. I have to say I'm disappointed she was ever friends with someone like you."

Rukia raised an eyebrow at Ichigo. She had never talked about Renji, but she supposed that Ichigo must have known Renji through his visions, and was just trash talking him.

"You…! Who the hell are you?!" Renji jumped back with a snarl.

He couldn't understand what he just saw.

He barely felt any spirit pressure from this human, and somehow he couldn't even cut his finger? He hadn't put any real killing intent or spirit pressure behind that blow, it was just a warning for Rukia, but this was still ridiculous.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, sophomore at Karakura High. I'm Rukia's classmate and friend. A real friend, unlike you."

"Shut the hell up! You don't know what you're talking about! Rukia is a Shinigami! Not a human like you!"

"I know that she doesn't want anything to do with you people. Why don't you take a hint and go back where you came from?" Ichigo said with a sour face. "You're no better than all the gangs I've put down before. But I'll gladly to take down another one."

Renji grit his teeth, but then he smirked. "Ah…I get it. You must be the human that stole her powers. Then you forced her to teach you while she was powerless, and just because you have a little talent at it, you think you can keep her under your thumb even after she got her powers back."

"He didn't steal my powers, Renji. He has his own powers, and I'm staying here of my own will," said Rukia.

"Don't fuck with me, Rukia! It's a grave sin to give powers to a human or to teach them the Shinigami arts! And now you're saying that you've abandoned the Gotei 13? There's no such thing as quitting, Rukia! Deserting is treason!"

Ichigo laughed mockingly. "Treason, treason. I'm sick of hearing that everything is treason to you assholes. Soul Society sounds like a shit place! If heaven is this bad, what is even the point of having a hell?"

"Shut up already you mere human! You've never even been there, what the fuck do you know? We Shinigami have an important job! You can't just quit!"

"Mere human, am I? And yet the soul reaper can't even scratch this mere human."

Renji looked furious and his spirit pressure spiked. "That's it, I'll reap your soul right now!"

"Sure, why don't you give it a try?" Ichigo said confidently, putting his other hand in his pocket too. "I'll even give you a free shot."

Suddenly Ichigo's spirit pressure was released.

'How the hell can a human have this much spirit pressure? Even if Rukia taught him for two months…this shouldn't be possible!' Renji's furious expression turned to wariness. He held his sword tightly.

"Who the hell do you think you are? I'm the lieutenant captain of the sixth division! Don't look down on me!"

Renji ran forward at high speed and slashed with full power at Ichigo.

But the orange-haired human only smirked and let the strike hit him.

Pain shot up Renji's hand into his arm as his zanpaktou collided against the human and didn't even cut the clothing.

Renji's face turned to one of abject shock and horror.

"You seem surprised. Is it really so hard to believe? That your sword can't even scratch me?" Ichigo said.

"Don't fuck with me! I'm just getting started! I'll show you what a real soul reaper can do! Don't get a big head just because you have a lot of spirit pressure!" Renji screamed as he jumped back. "

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

Renji's spirit pressure rose dramatically and sent out shockwaves of air as his sword transformed into its shikai state, a much larger blade with teeth like protrusions.

He swung and it lashed out, extending beyond its normal length, slashing down at Ichigo once again.

But when Zabimaru hit Ichigo, again, it failed to penetrate.

This time Renji just stared at the spot dumbly, unable to comprehend what was happening.

'Im-impossible! This is like facing Captain Kenpachi! He's a monster!'

Little did he know, Ichigo was indeed copying Kenpachi Zaraki's trick, and even copied the same bullshit Kenpachi had said to him to demoralize Renji, because he knew how scary it had been for him when he was on the other side. In his dreams, Ichigo had done this same trick later on against other opponents, and It was even easier to do it now that he had learned Quincy techniques and attained a much higher level of control over his spirit pressure.

Not only could he concentrate spirit pressure on the surface of a specific part of his body like Zaraki did, he had also gathered spirit particles ahead of time to form an armor-like layer on top reinforcing his clothes.

Ichigo removed one hand from his pocket then pushed Zabimaru away.

While it was retracting, Ichigo's smirk turned into a scowl.

"Do you know why your sword can't even scratch me, Mr. Lieutenant Captain of the sixth division?" Ichigo asked, releasing a massive amount of spirit pressure.

Renji unconsciously starting sweating as Ichigo slowly advanced towards him.

"Y-your spirit pressure…it's im-impossible!" He stammered. He couldn't believe it. For his Shikai to be unable to make a scratch, the level of spirit pressure that would need was at least captain level!

"That's right. When two spiritual beings collide, the one with the weaker spiritual pressure is the one that gets hurt. In other words, the subconscious spirit pressure I'm emitting, is much stronger than the one from your sword that is highly concentrated for killing. That's how big the difference is between us," said Ichigo, regurgitating Zaraki's explanation, unashamedly lying about his "subconscious" spirit pressure, that he was very much consciously concentrating to defend himself.

Even Rukia looked shocked now. She could feel that Renji hadn't held back at all.

"Ichigo…I can't believe how strong you've become…" She whispered softly. The stories he had told her about achieving Shikai then Bankai in a matter of weeks, only now was she really starting to believe them.

"Renji. Do not let yourself be cowed by his words. Your spirit pressure is still sealed by the limiter," said Byakuya.

With his Captain's calm assurance, Renji got a hold of himself and breathed properly again.

'That's right, I completely forgot! I'm a Lieutenant Captain now, so my spirit pressure has to be sealed in the Living World!' Renji thought.

And for this mission, because Rukia was known to have defeated a Menos Grande, they'd been authorized to release their limiters at any time.

"Hahaha! You almost got me, Kurosaki! I was actually scared for a moment!" Renji said loudly with a grin.

He then made a hand seal. "Release!"

His spirit pressure skyrocketed with the release of the limiter, and the winds from the pressure buffeted Ichigo and Rukia, causing Rukia to cover her eyes momentarily.

Renji laughed maniacally as he felt his power surge.

"Heh. Did you think I was at full power?" Ichigo asked.

At that, Renji's laugh cut off, and a sliver of doubt came into his mind again. "What?"

Ichigo reached into the inside of his jacket, then took out Kon, before digging through inside of the stuffed animal for the mod soul pill.

Rukia similarly popped the Chappy Gikon into her mouth. Kon in Ichigo's body quickly dragged the Chappy in Rukia's body away from the fight.

Ichigo and Rukia came out in their spirit forms, and their spirit pressures also skyrocketed.

"As I said, you had one free shot. Now…it's my turn," said Ichigo, unsheathing the sword at his waist.

"Enshroud, Gesshokuro!"

Spirit pressure exploded outwards, and Ichigo's sword turned pitch black, glinting dangerously in the night.

O O O

A/N: Ichigo is deliberating using Gesshokuro's incomplete Shikai.

nanox876: Never seen/read either, probably won't use anything in them except by coincidence.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: That's right. He'll be forced to face another test pretty soon.

Murderleo38: Gesshokuro only takes the appearance of Yhwach because all Quincies are descended from Yhwach. He's not actually Yhwach, which is why he says he both is and is not Yhwach, in the canon. His true name is unique to Ichigo's soul. As for Bankai, we'll see that soon.

Doctor Dandy: No it doesn't represent that. Yoruichi's theory about constant-release zanpaktou was explicitly proven wrong in the canon when Kenpachi released his. And even if it did represent that, so what? I brought it back here for a specific reason, which Gesshokuro explained in his monologue. As for why Gesshokuro wouldn't explain, some lessons aren't worthwhile if the student doesn't figure it out themselves, and in Bleach, it takes on a more literal meaning as well. Gesshokuro's voice couldn't be heard. Like in canon, the Shinigami cannot hear their Zanpaktou's name if they aren't ready, and that's similar to what happened here too. The lesson and the true name are directly tied to each other.

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!