10
Recap: "Maybe Ginjo knows who attacked your friend?" Muramasa suggested.
"Or it could have been him for all we know!" said Shiro.
"We won't know unless we talk to him," said Zangetsu.
'Do you guys think I should call that number?' asked Ichigo.
'That is up to you, Ichigo,' said Kikoo.
Isshin waited for Ichigo to finish talking to his zanpakuto before saying, "I could call Ryuken later to see how your cousin is doing."
"That would be great." Ichigo finally got up off the floor. "I'm going to go upstairs. Call me when dinner is done."
Ichigo went to his room and grabbed the card that was on his desk. He stared at it for a good few minutes thinking about what Muramasa said. 'If what he said is possible, and what Ginjo said was true, then Chad might be in danger. Maybe I should call, just to make sure Chad is alright.'
Ichigo grabbed his cell again and called the number.
Ichigo was annoyed. The phone call was a real pain to deal with, because he had to call it more than once and wait for the next set of directions. He hoped that this was worth it and Chad was fine along with finding out if the Fullbringers knew who it was that attacked his friend/cousin.
"This was the biggest waste of time I think we ever had," said Shiro.
'We didn't even get there yet to find out if it was,' replied Ichigo.
"Ichigo, as much as this pains me to say, I agree with Shiro," said Zangetsu.
"Did a quincy just say that?" asked Muramasa.
'Yes he did,' said Kikoo.
Ichigo let out a breath. He also agreed with Shiro. He was pretty sure that no information was worth this much time. He was just looking for his friend, and if the young man was in danger during that time he would be dead by the time Ichigo got there.
"Ah, you're finally here." Ichigo heard the voice of Ginjo Kugo. He laid his eyes on the man and gave him one of his best glares.
"I would have been here sooner if I didn't have to call at almost every corner," said Ichigo in annoyance.
Ginjo chuckled, "Why don't we go inside? We can talk there."
"Not until I know if Chad is okay," said Ichigo.
"You can find out yourself by coming in. He is already inside."
Ichigo didn't know whether to believe the man or not. 'What if it's a trap?' he thought.
"I don't think it is. If they were going to do something, they would have already done it by now," said Zangetsu.
"Or they could just be waiting for him to enter the building where there are less chances for witnesses," said Shiro.
'Good point…' said Kikoo.
Ichigo followed Ginjo inside the warehouse while staying alert. When they got to the right floor, and the elevator opened, Ichigo saw that it was dark, but there was enough lighting for him to see the people standing and sitting around the room. Ichigo looked around, trying to spot Chad.
"Ichigo?" The orange-haired teen heard his name and turned to face the familiar voice. There in the corner, sitting on the couch, was Chad. "What are you doing here?" Chad asked.
Ichigo felt relief. 'He's okay.' He decided to answer his big friend after thinking that thought. "Uryu was attacked earlier while we were looking for you," he said. "I thought maybe someone here might know where you were and if you were hurt. I also wanted to know if they knew who might have attacked our friend." While Ichigo was talking, his eyes landed on Ginjo accusingly. "You do know something about it, right?"
Ginjo hummed and thought about what Ichigo said. "Well...the only person that comes to mind that would attack your friend would be Tsukishima," he said.
"Who is Tsukishima, and why would he go after my cousin?" asked Ichigo.
Ginjo's eyes widened slightly. Clearly he only thought that Uryu was Ichigo's friend. "That would make sense…"
"What does?"
"You might want to sit down for this, because it is a long story." Ichigo and Chad sat next to each other on one of the couches while Ginjo sat on the chair next to them.
Before they started talking, Ginjo pulled out a jug of orange juice and then asked Ichigo and Chad if they wanted something to drink, which Ichigo said no to. Ginjo just shrugged his shoulders and drank the whole bottle in one sitting.
"Alright, I guess I should start explaining," said Ginjo. "Tsukishima was one of us: a fullbringer. He was the one that brought us all together. We thought he did this because of how everyone treated us. We were different, so they feared us and our powers. What we thought, though, was not what Tsukishima had planned. We wanted to get rid of our powers and live normal lives, but Tsukishima wanted to build an army to attack the Soul Society."
'Like everyone else? There are a lot of people that can't stand the shinigami,' said Kikoo.
"Facts!" said Shiro gleefully from within Ichigo's inner world.
"What did the Soul Society do that Tsukishima wanted to attack them?" asked Ichigo.
"They didn't help us. They knew we existed, but didn't do anything to help us with the living. They left us to fend for ourselves in a world that would rather see us dead."
"It is not the shinigami's place to interfere with the living," said Muramasa from within Ichigo's head. "They are to control balance, not meddle in human affairs."
"Shinigami, not meddling in human affairs…? They killed off the quincys. Remember that?" asked old man Zangetsu, sounding irritated.
"You are lucky Tenebris isn't here right now. She would have gone on a rant about that," said Shiro to Muramasa.
'You know, she never did tell us what her problem was with the Soul Society,' said Ichigo, and then he returned his focus back onto the fullbringer.
"This made Tsukishima angry and feel rejected again. From what I know, he made it sound like that we wouldn't even be welcomed into the Soul Society. I could see why, for our powers stem from hollows," said Ginjo, shocking Ichigo. The orange-haired teen turned to Chad and looked for confirmation. He found it when Chad nodded his head.
"It happened while we were in Hueco Mundo. My powers felt like they were resonating with the reiatsu in the air more than any other time or place," said Chad.
Ichigo showed his thanks for the explanation with a nod of his head, and then faced Ginjo again, waiting for him to continue.
"So Tsukishima gathered us together so he could take them on, but we didn't want anything to do with that, so we had no choice but to kick him out of the group he created. After we did this, we looked for a way to get rid of our powers. That was when we learned we needed a shinigami with hollow powers to take ours away. We know about the others, the visoreds, but they have rejoined the shinigami's ranks, so we didn't approach them."
"Then why come to me? I'm an ally of the Soul Society," Ichigo questioned.
"You may be an ally of theirs, but you are not within their ranks. Not only they but you have a friend who is a fullbringer. Unlike us though, Chad doesn't want to get rid of his powers, for you accepted him. So we agreed that we'll keep our powers until we have fully trained him. After that, we would like for you to get rid of them."
Ichigo was silent for a moment in thought, and then asked, "How would I get rid of your powers?"
"It is similar to how a shinigami gives their powers to a human, but instead of giving you will be taking," explained Ginjo.
"I see… Now how can I help in training Chad?"
"Does this mean you are agreeing to help us?" a man with an eyepatch asked.
"I'm not sure if I'm believing you really want to get rid of your powers, because I have never met anyone that did before, but I'll give you guys a chance. Also, I'm doing this more for Chad than you, because he is my friend," explained Ichigo.
"I wouldn't have told them my doubts. I would have let them believe I'm gullible and then strike when they try to backstab me," said Shiro, sounding unimpressed.
'You can do that if they try to backstab me. Also, it now makes sense why Tsukishima would attack Uryu. It is because I am a shinigami and he's my friend. I don't think he knew that Uryu and I are cousins.'
Ginjo held up his hands. "That is fine," he said. "As to how you can help, I'll tell you tomorrow. It is getting late, and Chad has finished his training for today. So you can go home and come back tomorrow." He stood up from his seating. "Also Ichigo, if you want, you might be able to learn fullbring as well."
Ichigo turned to him and said, "No thank you. I have enough power as it is. I don't need more."
"Alright, but if you ever change your mind…"
"I won't." Ichigo and Chad walked out the door after Ichigo had his final say.
Once the two friends were a few blocks away from the hideout, Ichigo asked, "So why are you training? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you wish to get stronger, but you could have asked me for help."
"I wanted to get stronger, because I didn't want to lose another friend." Ichigo knew Chad was talking about Orihime. "Another reason I wanted to train was because I ran into Tsukishima. He knew I was a fullbringer, and so asked me if I would like to help him in fighting the Soul Society. I told him no. You are friends with the shinigami, and I have become close friends with Rukia and Renji already. I didn't want to betray them for someone I don't know."
"Plus Chad doesn't have a reason to attack the Soul Society," said Shiro.
"What happened after you told him no?" asked Ichigo.
"Tsukishima attacked me, and I defended myself. We fought, but it was a losing battle. He's fast and strong. It's like he knows how you are going to attack*." Chad took a breather before continuing. "It was only thanks to Ginjo showing up that I got away with my life."
Ichigo felt rage pulsing throughout his body. If he ever saw Tsukishima he would make sure the man could never hurt any more of his friends.
"Calm down, Ichigo," said Zangetsu. "You know better than to rush in blindly."
'Zangetsu has a point,' said Kikoo. 'You could get hurt if you allow your rage to swallow you.'
'Sorry guys, I'll try to calm down,' replied Ichigo.
"If you need someone to knock you out and fight your battles, I'll be more than happy to oblige," said Shiro. Ichigo didn't need to see his face to know there was a manic grin on his face.
"So why didn't you come to me?" Ichigo asked.
"...I'm not sure…" said Chad with a complex look on his face. "Maybe because Ginjo was there and he offered to help me get stronger, and because he has the same kind of power I do…?"
"That could be it," said Muramasa. "Or he just didn't think of it."
"I smell a rat," Shiro muttered.
Ichigo and Chad made it to the bigger teen's apartment shortly after their talk.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Chad," Ichgio said. "I'll be sure to have news about Uryu by then."
"I would like to see how he is doing, but it is too late to visit him," said Chad. "Goodnight, Ichigo."
"Goodnight, Chad." With that, Ichigo left to head home.
TBC
Happy New Year! XD
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was sort of giving me a hard time. I really need to write up some plans. I wrote Ginjo's plan, but not the story's. :(
* Also, Tsukishima did cut Chad already, but he didn't plant himself in his memories yet. He cut him so he could see Chad's fighting style. That's how he "got into Chad's head".
Ichi: Good job on the recap.
Enj/Dark: It had been a while since I wrote this side of this story. It needed some recapping. So does my other story.
Shiro: Well then… Happy New Year! C:
Ichi: And please review! :)
