~FIREFLY KNIGHTS~
Bleach Copyright Tite Kubo
Firefly Knights Copyright Illand Girl
'For those that need a Guardian.'
Chapter 11: Training Begins
Kisuke really didn't pump the brakes this time.
The first thing we worked on was figuring out where my blade had gone off to. Initially I thought that I had dropped it, but Kisuke had a theory. So he swung at me with the intent to kill.
I ran, at first, until he goaded me about not being serious in helping Ichigo.
As if by instinct I reached for my hip and felt the hilt materialize into my palm. I swung out, summoning my sword. From there, Kisuke pushed and pushed until I was flat on my back.
I laid on the training ground floor dying and Kisuke had yet to break a sweat and looked thoroughly entertained. Tessai had been still tending to Ichigo while we fought, and Kisuke refused to give me any breaks until I literally fell down.
"We're not done yet~!" Kisuke sung as he slammed Benihime down at me. I rolled out of the way and scrambled back to my feet with a wheeze.
Apparently, I stand corrected.
Kisuke didn't chase this time. Instead he watched me as I held my blade steadily between us. He smirked, looking amused.
"This is for your own good Naomi." He assured me, but I had my doubts.
"My own good huh? Feels more like you're trying to kill me slowly." I blocked him when he went for a sneak attack. Our blades clashed briefly before he made to swing at me again and again.
"Your spiritual pressure can only grow if you constantly push the edge of exhaustion. Every battle will only increase your experience and over all spirit. In time-" he gave a particularly arm rattling slam of his sword and I folded like a stack of papers. He stood over me, grinning. "-you might give me a workout."
I grumbled, lying half in his shadow. He helped me up at the same time that Tessai shouted down the ladder.
"Well, he certainly took his time waking up," Kisuke looked to me. "I would recommend you head to bed soon. We'll continue training in the morning."
He made his way to the ladder after that. I watched, tempted to just hide in here and not be forced to see Ichigo. However, I was dreaming of a hot bath that Ururu mentioned before. I sniffed myself subtly, cringing at the scent.
Eventually, I crawled up the ladder, almost dying in the process since my arms were essentially long noodles. At the top sat the black cat from before. It eyed me as I struggled to lift myself.
"Your training is going better than I assumed it would." It spoke in a deep voice. I blinked rapidly, forgetting that the little guy could talk as I sat cross legged in front of him.
"Th-Thank you." I said, uncertain what I could say. The cat glanced at my body, then hummed to himself.
"It appears as though Kisuke has been pushing you more as well. He isn't holding back as much." The cat said again. I glanced down at my clothing, where shallow cuts and tears littered my body. The uniform that I never changed out of was destroyed. My jacket had been discarded some time again.
"Yeah, though he did say I could only improve by constantly pushing my spiritual pressure to it's limit." I said, looking back to the cat's yellow gaze. He hummed.
"That is true, though I do believe your physical body is in better condition than your soul currently."
Physical body...
"My body!" I looked down the ladder to find my prone form still on the ground.
"Yes you have yet to return to it. Though it seems to do quite well outside of it." The cat mused as I looked back at him. "My name is Yoruichi by the way. It's nice to officially meet you, Naomi."
"Yeah, likewise." I said, bowing my head briefly. Yoruichi chuckled shortly, then stood on all fours.
"Once you've retrieved your body, it might be a good idea to check in on Kisuke and Ichigo. I'll escort you there.".
Easier said than done.
That meant jumping down the ladder and climbing all the way back up again. At least my physical body didn't have any major wounds on it except for a bruise on my forehead from where Kisuke shoved me with his scabbard.
At the top of the ladder, Yoruichi escorted me down the hall to where both Ichigo and Kisuke's voices were coming from.
"You have to want to, with all your heart. You have to want to save Rukia Kuchiki, no matter the cost." Kisuke's voice said as we neared the room.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ichigo's asked firmly. Kisuke chuckled.
"You don't think before you act, do you? Think about what you'd be sacrificing." Kisuke said as I slid open the paper door.
There on the ground, covered in bandages, was Ichigo. He looked up at me, shocked.
"Nao?" It turned to a frantic sort of worry then as he scowled. "Wait, what the hell? You said you were at your mom's?"
I stared down at him, my face neutral.
"I lied."
He looked hurt, turning away so I couldn't see his face.
"Forget it. Just go. Don't involve yourself with this." He said, sounding tired. Kisuke answered for me.
"Evidently, that's not up to you Ichigo. Naomi here has already been made aware of the truth. Including your involvement with Rukia Kuchiki." He revealed. Ichigo tensed up, then looked to me for confirmation. I knew he was pissed by the way he stared, but I didn't move or say a thing. Ichigo grumbled, turning to glare at Kisuke.
"I told you to leave her out of this." He said in a lower tone.
"Don't blame Kisuke," I said, gaining his attention. "It was out of his hands. I was- well, I am- a ticking time bomb."
Ichigo's face scrunched up as he took in my appearance. It seemed to dawn on him that I had gone straight to Urahara's after he dropped me off the other night. His eyes landed on mine again.
"What the hell are you talking about? Ticking time-bomb?" He asked, sounding uncertain. I opened my mouth to explain, but Kisuke cut us off.
"Easy now, we'll have plenty of time for this later. Right now, you look like you're exhausted Naomi." As Kisuke spoke I felt myself waver on the spot. Kisuke put a steadying hand on my shoulder at the same time Ichigo leapt up to help. He ended up falling again after opening a wound. Urahara sighed.
"You two, honestly," he glanced at Yoruichi behind me. "Yoruichi, would you mind escorting our lovely Naomi to the bath? She's earned it for now."
"For now, you act like I've been picking daisies all day, Urahara." I muttered, turning to see Yoruichi waiting for me. I glanced at Ichigo again to see him frowning at me. He'd never said it outright, but oh boy was he pissed.
I would likely be hearing about it very soon.
Yoruichi showed me the bathroom, to which I enjoyed a long hot bath and scrubbed my skin completely clean. When I got out, Ichigo had already been sent home, and a pile of clothing had been left by the bathroom door for me.
I practically passed out on the futon that night, only waking to the damned black cat laying across my face.
He then showed me a stash of women's clothing at the back of the shop. Initially I thought it wouldn't fit well but was surprised to find most of the clothing fit me perfectly. It took a few tries, and directions from a cat on how to get everything on, but I did manage to figure out the black body suit that was backless. I slipped a tight purple long-sleeved top underneath it, leaving just a strip of my back showing. Yoruichi commented it was less sexy this way, but I was not about to walk around exposing that much of my skin. With that taken care of, I slipped on the black and white flat shoes I had worn here and was satisfied with the look. My hair was in a bun, with some of my wavy bangs framing around my face.
"Rise and shine Naomi~!" Kisuke sung, hiding behind his fan while we all ate. "Ready for another day of training?"
"Emotionally, sure. Physically? Kill me." I said, sipping some delicious rice tea. I complimented Ururu, making the little girl blush as we ate.
Training began as usual, with me being pushed from my body and starting the same steps. However, even with just one day of work, I noticed things were different.
For one, I stumbled less. I didn't trip over my own sword or get mixed up in what I was doing as often. Kisuke didn't give me any more breathing room though, in fact as I felt like I improved it also felt like I was failing since he seemed to be moving faster and hitter harder.
He took a swing, and I aimed to defend, when he vanished from sight. In the time I blinked, I could smell sesame oil and rice vinegar from behind me. Kisuke's blade was already coming down at me by the time I spun to block again. I was slow though, the block was one handed and failed as he pushed the katana down onto my shoulder. I winced, feeling him not give in.
"Impressive. You managed to block me. And I can't see a hint of your hollow form." Kisuke mused, not releasing to the pressure. "I think it's time we moved onto something else."
He vanished, appearing some distance away from me. I turned and squared up to him, frowning.
"Considering the type of fighter you are, I would recommend keeping your distance in most fights. If you have no intention of hitting your enemy back, you need to think about your other abilities and use them to your advantage." Kisuke explained, holding his zanpakuto out.
"Scream, Benihime."
A blast of red came flying at me. I froze, then instinctively dodged it. Kisuke frowned, appearing next to me as I batted him away, using my blade's rebound ability to give an extra burst.
"Think of all your abilities," Kisuke said as he resumed distance. "Try and decide what would be the best suited for this attack."
The red blast came at me again, and this time I thought about the hollow inside of me. How I won against her. Instead of sidestepping, I dropped my sword and opened my left palm. I felt a pulse awaken, and the blast was almost sucked into it. A small wince left my face as I opened my right palm, aiming for Kisuke. He smirked, watching me release his own attack back at him.
Kisuke dodged, but didn't come any closer.
"Very good, now, how fast do we think we could make that trick of yours work?"
On reaction, I drew my sword from my hip and it materialized once again in my hand.
"One way to find out." I said, smelling rice vinegar and sesame oil to my left. I guarded on instinct. Kisuke hummed as he put more force into the attack.
"Think of all your abilities."
I did this time, using the rebound to push Kisuke away on contact. He slid a few feet back, smirking.
"Very good, I think we should move onto lesson 3." He said this while sheathing his blade. I blinked, about to let go of my own when he stopped me. "Lesson number 3 might be a failure regardless, but I'm curious about something. Namely your sword."
I glanced at the blade, then raised a brow.
"What about it?" I ran my thumb on the hilt ribbon as I waited.
"You see normally a zanpakuto, or soul cutter, is only wielded by a soul reaper. However, your inner hollow appears to have one, judging by the encounter you described. What I want to know, is if it is indeed a zanpakuto. If it is, we must learn it's name before I can allow you to go any further." Kisuke said in a serious tone as I looked down at the blade once more. I thought of how he called his zanpakuto Benihime, and wondered if this was indeed a zanpakuto with a name.
"Okay, then how do we go about it?" I looked to Kisuke, who adjusted his hat.
"That's entirely up to you. How did you get in that world last time?" He asked. I thought for a moment, before refocusing on the blade as I closed my eyes. I tried to remember the feeling from last time, the spiritual pressure and nausea waves had blocked some of the sensations...
A water droplet woke my senses, and I found that I was standing on the water again.
"Back so soon?" A smooth masculine voice called from behind me. I turned to see a tall man with an eye patch watching me as he took a drag from a long pipe. He took a moment, then let out a long breath, blowing his black hair out of his eyes. Smoke rose from his lips, almost clouding his icy blue eye from my sight. I noticed, idly, he was also wearing a shihakusho, and a blue kimono over top his shoulders with white petals falling around the trim.
"Well? You just going to stand there all day?" he asked, catching me from my stupor. His voice was deep and un-amused.
"Ah- what do you mean 'back so soon' like you own the place? Who are you?" i argued back, trying to figure out what this guy was doing in my head. He frowned, eyes narrowing at me.
"You're a lot cockier than I expected, though I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised." he said in an unenthusiastic tone. I narrowed my eyes as I squared up to him. "Ah, what's this? Come to fight me now?"
"No offence, but the other one tried to cut me in half last time I was here." I admitted, holding my sword with two hands. He hummed, taking another drag of his pipe. This time he eyed me up as if contemplating something.
"The other one? Oh," he tapped his foot, sending ripples in the water. "The one sleeping below? Yeah she's a bit much."
I glanced down, unable to see the hollow in the depths. Then my gaze returned to this guy in front of me and my stance slacked.
"Then excuse me for asking, but why are you here?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. "You're not... like her, are you?"
His nose wrinkled.
"Do I look like a hollow to you?" he asked, although the slight smirk made me think he was amused. I frowned, then lowered my stance completely. "Ah, you think I'm not a threat then?"
"Well, unless you're going to beat me with that pipe, not really." I admitted, watching him take another drag of said pipe.
"Nah, I like it too much." He said dismissively, and somehow it felt like an insult.
"Right, so, back to the question. Why are you here?" He shrugged at me.
"Because I have to be." He admitted. I raised a brow, waiting for him to continue, but the silence stretched into awkward territory.
"What does that mean?" I asked after a minute of staring at him. He shrugged it off again.
"It means what it sounds like. I have to be here, and that's that."
This guy...
"Why do you have to be here?" I asked, raising a brow. He took a drag of his pipe again, slowly letting air from his lips.
"It's complicated." He said, and I swear tick marks grew everywhere on my face.
"Seriously? That's it?" I don't know how I hadn't lost it already with this guy. "Look pal, my best friend became a soul reaper, I have a hollow trying to eat me, and Kisuke is up my ass about figuring out if this is a zanpakuto or not, so excuse me but if you're not going to help then please get the hell out."
He didn't respond, just took another drag of his pipe. I felt like I had just yelled at a brick wall with how little he was reacting.
"It's not a zanpakuto," he finally spoke, "well, it is and it isn't."
Seriously?
"How can it be one and yet not be one?" I asked, clenching my grip on the sword in question. He narrowed his eyes at me.
"A zanpakuto is, by nature, a blade comprised of compressed souls. Souls that have been crushed to form a template for you to imprint your own piece of spirit onto the very blade. This is what gives Zanpakuto such unique forms when released."
I looked at the blade.
"However, your blade contains no such compression of souls. The only one present at hand is your own, and so it cannot be a zanpakuto. And yet, it does in fact have the same properties of a zanpakuto." He had a knowing look that I didn't like.
"When you say it has the same properties as a zanpakuto... Are you talking of a name?" I asked, hoping to finally get some answers.
"... I never said that."
I swear on god almighty...!
"But I do know, this blade belongs to her," he said, glancing down to the waters. "So if you wanted to know more, you'd need to wake her up and ask her yourself."
He smirked lightly.
"If you're brave enough for it."
I looked beneath us and thought, wondering fi there was even a way to get to her.
"I was only joking," he continued. I looked up at him while he took another drag. "In your current state, she'd eat you alive. Quite literally."
"I beat her last time." I huffed, feeling the need to defend myself. He hummed, not looking convinced.
"That would be why you can see me. But she's been under lock and key for a while now, so her movements are going to be sluggish at best. To defeat her at full strength? You're way out of your league." He raised his chin. "For now, your best option is to hone your control on that zanpakuto, do not waver, and find strength in other parts of yourself. Stop thinking, allow instinct to take over."
I hesitated, the curiosity getting the best of me.
"Just... who are you? What's your name?" I asked. He paused, smiling knowingly again.
"I think you already know it," he said sagely. A water droplet dripped from the sky, sending massive ripples around us. I closed my eyes, ready to leave, when I heard the ghost of his voice murmur.
"I have... great expectations of you..."
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the training grounds under Kisuke's shop with the shop owner watching me curiously. I squared up to him, not saying a word.
If I was ever going to stand a chance at waking that hollow and learning about this zanpakuto, then I had to take this seriously. Because I had a gut feeling that the blade in my hands had a lot more secrets hidden inside of it.
"Stop thinking, allow instinct to take over."
Kisuke, reading my movements, unsheathed his sword again. With a deep breath, I cleared my mind of any thoughts or plans, and waited for him to make me react.
We stood across from each other for a moment before I smelled rice vinegar and sesame oil next to me. On instinct I blocked with my sword, rebounding Kisuke away from me. He vanished, appearing further away and then back to my other side. Again I forced him away, and this time as he struck me with the red blast I dropped my sword and opened my palm.
Kisuke saw that opening and attacked me from behind. I ducked, drawing my sword and swinging up at him. When he created space I took that as a chance to move towards him. It surprised him as I swung down as he guarded, but then I opened my right palm, aiming directly at his face. Kisuke's eyes widened, and I felt something push me in the chest as the blast burst.
I went flying, tripping up and staggering to my knees as the dust settled. My chest burned with exertion, and it felt like I just ran a marathon.
"Well well well. It looks like you're finally taking this seriously." Kisuke mused. I looked up, stunned to see a massive crater where we had just stood. "Had I not pushed you away, we both would've lost a limb or two. Still, not a bad counter strike method. You took me off guard there."
I looked to Kisuke standing off to the side, his green coat was ripped in the front and singed on the hem. Otherwise, he looked completely unharmed as he readjusted his hat.
"You're one interesting kid, Naomi."
I smirked, catching my breath.
"Gotta keep you on your toes somehow." I mused. He smirked back at me, then raised his zanpakuto again.
"Let's see how many times we can repeat this." He said, coming at me once more.
During a break with tea and rice, I told Kisuke about what was happening in the internal world I would go off to. He hummed and hawed, thinking over everything that I told him.
"Hm, that's quite interesting... and I have no idea what it means." He admitted from behind his fan. I hung my head, almost missing the ghost of a grin on his lips. At least one of us found this funny...
The smell of chocolate and summer was overpowering my nose again, alerting me to Ichigo's arrival. I looked to the ladder at the same time Kisuke paused.
"Well, it's about time Ichigo returned." Kisuke mused. He stood from his spot and excused himself. I mentally prepared myself, knowing he was going to be beyond pissed off at the stunt I pulled. 'I'm sorry' probably wouldn't cut it this time.
While I was expecting him to yell, or get angry, or at the very least give me a glare, what I hadn't been expecting was the cold shoulder.
When Ichigo came down the ladder with Kisuke, his eyes zeroed in on me. We stared at each other for a moment before I swallowed my nerve and made my way over to him.
"Uh, Ichigo, can we-"
He walked straight by me, ignoring what I said.
Kay, well, I probably deserved that one. The shop dwellers noticed the cold shoulder. Kisuke hid a smirk behind his fan.
"Don't worry, I know what will make you feel better." Kisuke assured me. I was curious what he meant and followed him with the others.
He was absolutely correct.
Watching Ichigo get his ass handed to him by Ururu was amazing. Watching little miss muffet send him flying sideways was a beautiful thing honestly. I enjoyed every second of it.
"Funny to think, Naomi wasn't nearly as defenceless when she started." Kisuke mused from behind his fan, looking to the ceiling innocently. Ichigo, however, took that seriously as he turned to pick a fight.
"As I thought," Kisuke muttered. "You're his number one motivator."
I rolled my eyes.
"But now comes the hard part." Kisuke continued. He wasn't joking either. They had carved out the crater from earlier and rounded the edges before dropping Ichigo in with just a few pieces of his soul chain. It was then that a realized Ichigo had a chain while I didn't.
"Urahara," I started, not entirely sure how to continue. "Why don't I have a chain on me?"
Kisuke was quiet for a minute, before clapping his fan shut.
"Well that's because of the inner hollow. She ate it. Remember how I said souls become hollows?" Kisuke mentioned. I nodded, looking over to him. "While you prevented her taking over your soul, she still did start the hollowfication process. Meaning that your attachment to the physical world is severed. It's only because of a kido that you can go between your body and this form."
I looked down to Ichigo then, thinking harder.
"You said Ichigo can revive his soul reapers powers by completing this training," I started. Kisuke nodded.
"That's right." He spoke, making me frown.
"But you just told me I cannot be a soul reaper, so how is Ichigo different?" I asked, frowning. Kisuke smirked.
"Let's just say you and Ichigo have as many similarities as you do differences." I scoffed at his sagely tones.
"You and the guy in my head both know how to say a lot without actually saying anything."
He laughed at that.
The next few days was spent in a routine. Ichigo was trying to get out of the hole, sometimes I would call down to him. He would ignore me, so Kisuke and I would train. To say I was getting better was an understatement, but after the first two days Kisuke said it was time to focus on Ichigo. I thought it was odd, until he offered me an entire bag of juicy red apples to share. How was I to say no? So I laid on my stomach staring over the hole, and watched Ichigo try to run up the side again.
"Y'know, I never did this training," I called down. Ichigo's groaning stopped for a moment. "But I can tell you Urahara has no problem making things difficult for no reason."
Ichigo remained quiet, so much so that I almost moved away. However, he began to let out groans again, then cries. They quickly became panicked sounds of distress. An acrid scent filled my nose, as though it was trying to cover up Ichigo's scent.
I jumped to my feet, looking down into the hole. Kisuke put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him shake his head.
"This is the part that played out much like your own. Either Ichigo learns to overcome the hollow, or he fails. But right now, you can tell he's resisting. Let's give him move time."
I glared at him, ready to argue, when he spoke again.
"A reminder that you were more than capable of getting through this. Are you under the impression Ichigo cannot?" Kisuke challenged. I bit my tongue, frowning.
It wasn't a matter of if he could. I knew Ichigo was strong enough, but I also knew the agony that came with it.
Was saving Rukia really that important to him?
Against my better judgment, I sat back down and tried to ignore the wails of agony from Ichigo. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the acrid smell.
"He's losing." Jinta said from beside me. I winced, trying to ignore it.
"I have to suppress him!" Tessai shouted. "He's going to become a hollow!"
A wave of summer scent washed over me. I opened my eyes and looked over the edge.
"Tessai wait!" I called, looking to the thing that was covering Ichigo. Tessai looked up at me at the same time that a golden light burst from the hole. Kisuke pulled me back, shielding us from the blast. Something darted out of the hole, startling me as it landed not far off. I could tell it was Ichigo even before the dust cleared.
I moved around the others and took a step closer to him, but Jinta jumped in front of me.
"Hang on! Look! He's got a mask on." Jinta's voice wavered as Ichigo became visible.
"It's alright you two." I assured, watching Ichigo break his mask. Relief washed over me as I saw for myself that Ichigo was alright. A soft smile lifted the corners of my lips as we made eye contact. However, before more could be said Kisuke walked forward and clapped.
"Congratulations! Lesson 2 is cleared-" Ichigo lunged forwards, hitting Kisuke in the face with the hilt of his blade. Kisuke folded like a stack of papers, wailing on the ground.
"That actually hurt me." He cried. I narrowed my eyes, knowing full well how hard it was to hit Kisuke. The guy actually let Ichigo touch him? Seriously?
Ichigo, however, was too busy gloating about surviving that whole ordeal.
"I swore the moment I got out of that hole I was going to beat your ass!" He shouted, pointing to Urahara. The shopkeeper looked up at him and hummed before stepping behind me and unfolding his fan.
"As much fun as that might be, I thought this might be a great time for you two to work out all the kinks in your relationship!" Kisuke assured from above me. I looked over my shoulder at him with a frown.
"Urahara..." I glowered, but Ichigo spoke over me.
"Enough! I told you twice already. I don't care what crazy plans you come up with, just don't involve Naomi in them. But you lied to me about that too." Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest. Kisuke hummed.
"Hm, well that's too bad, because lesson 3 is simple," he closed his fan and tapped it lightly on the top of my head. "You just need defeat Naomi in a one on one battle. The time runs out when you die."
"Forget it, I'm not fighting her." Ichigo immediately dismissed the idea. I frowned.
"Look, Ichigo, I-"
"And you!" He glared down at me, finally showing how pissed off he was. "What the hell are you doing here?! What was that whole break up thing for anyway?! For you to run off to Mr Hat and Clogs to do some secret training?! Why the hell are you trying to piss me off so much?!"
I crossed my arms, frowning.
"Because you wouldn't tell me anything!" I snapped back. Ichigo took a looming step towards me.
"There was a damn good reason for that and you said you trusted me!" he yelled.
"I do! But I also know you're the type of guy to run headfirst into a burning building without protection!"
"I would not!"
"You're literally fighting monsters and attempting to go to Soul Society to save somebody you know for less than three months! What part of that doesn't scream 'I'm that guy'?!"
"I- You-" A noise of strangled frustration ripped from Ichigo's throat as he buried his face in his hands. When he pulled them away he had composed himself somewhat.
"What's it matter to you anyway? It's not like you're coming with me." He said it as if his word was law. I scoffed.
"As if I'd let you run off on your own." I said airily. Ichigo grumbled, stepping even closer to me.
"Nao," his voice dropped as he towered over me. I looked up to see him trying to use his height to intimidate me some.
"You are not coming with me. I will not allow it." With that, he stepped by me and began to speak to Urahara.
I didn't move for a moment, slowly the words were coming to a slow click in my head.
"You're not allowing me." I said quietly. Ichigo paused in talking to Kisuke. I felt a buzz, an insult, a rage settled under my skin. I turned, snapping my head to Ichigo.
"You're not allowing me?!" I repeated, turning to face him. Ichigo looked taken aback as I grabbed for my hip, my sword materializing in my hands as I leapt forwards at him. Ichigo used the broken nub of a blade to block, looking stunned as he did so.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?! Allowing me?!" I pulled back, then slammed my sword back down, using the rebound effect to push him away. I raised my sword to him, glaring.
"Ichigo, if you think you're going to run off to die without me, you are dead wrong. And if you think you're going to ever boss me around, then you better be ready to fight for that." I felt laughter in the back of my head, but I didn't care. I readied my blade as Ichigo tried to talk his way out of it again.
"I'm not going to fight you! I won't!" He shouted, making a rage burst into me.
"Then I'm going to beat your ass so bad you can say goodbye to saving Rukia!" I shouted, raising my sword.
I lunged at him.
Merry Christmas y'all! I'm so glad to say I got a whole day to write and this came together better than I expected. Ichigo and Nao need to have a good old fashioned Shounen battle that leads to them understanding one another better since they are literally at odds. I cannot wait until Nao realizes Ichigo called that hiatus a 'break up' because sweetheart is not going to handle it well.
Also, I do hope powerscaling is still legit. I think there is some very interesting levels to Nao that we literally won't see until TYBW arc which- full transparency, I've never watched it. I wanted to complete the Arrancar arc and then watch it- because i have three big ideas I want to keep regardless and I don't want to be swayed because of it.
Also, full transparency, this is going to be monster of a story. I initially expected 52 chapters, but we're on chapter 11 and we haven't even gotten to SS. SS is going to be like, 15 chapters, Arrancar arc at least 20, and fullbring will make it's way in there because Naomi is going to be working hard even when Ichigo loses all his powers. We'll probably hit close to 70 chapters by the time TYBW arc is done. I may split this into two books instead to make it more readable. I personally think 250,000 words is more than long enough for a book and dislike when they get to long. I next to never read past chapter 50 unless it's wrapping up.
Anyway, thank you for reading! Little Nao is going to have quite a bit of fun next chapter. Ichigo and her reeeeaaaally need to get this off their chest. It was inevitable honestly. This is, afterall, a shounen manga, and I will be leaning on that crutch heavily with my logic.
Bless to Laur-machine, I completely understand december being busy. this is, honestly, the quietest time of year for me. April thru september I work three jobs to rack up enough money to chill in the winter. So yeah, no worries! We all get busy, though I'm thankful that you are still reading. It's funny that everyone called it a breakup, but I think in Naomi's head she was just removing herself from the equation entirely as a logical perspective. Needless to say, Ichigo is NOT happy she is here. I really mulled over what he would say, and to be frank, I can see him being pretty pissed off with her by now and thinking he is just done with this shit. And Nao isn't exactly in a place where he can walk all over her either. It is interesting you mention squad 11. I will say, Nao is going to get pretty attached to a few people haha.
Merry Christmas y'all, hope it was a peaceful one.
Cheers,
Iland Girl
