Yang had been sent out to find Ichigo, despite his initial warnings he gave her father to leave him be until he was done. The patriarch of the Xiao Long home had begun to get worried after a few hours had passed with no sign of the carrot top, and had sent out Yang to go and find him. The blond brawler wasn't all too pleased to have to go search for him, but she knew that her father would need to go off soon for private tutoring for a few of his more difficult students.
She was proud to say she had once been one of those students, once upon a time. Even if it lead to him ramping up the difficulty of their sparring sessions as his own special way of "tutoring" her. It was completely worth it.
And if it came down to having either her or Ruby wander around the forest looking for Ichigo, Yang would always throw herself out into the wilds first. Even if there was something about him that simply prickled at her nerves, though for what reason she couldn't really figure it out. At first she simply thought it was due to him being an attractive guy (Nothing wrong with checking out some nice eye candy here and there after all!) but she had quickly dispelled those thoughts.
She had then been quick to shrug it off as simply getting off on the wrong foot, having met the guy when she had been in a bad mood. There were few things that could help piss off the younger Xiao Long more than another dead ended search for her mother.
And then he performed his little stunt during his spar with her sister, which certainly did nothing to ingratiate himself to her good side, what with slamming a sword larger than her sisters body next to her head. That had certainly done a bit more than a failed search in a club.
Shaking off those thoughts and the irritation they brought with them, she began to notice a slight pressure pushing down on her shoulders. It felt similar to the time when Ruby had spilled a small amount of gravity dust on her, making her feel a bit heavier and making things more difficult to move. She found as she began to walk more towards wherever this pressure was coming from, the more it felt like she was being pushed down by gravity. Soon she began to feel as if something was attempting to crush her, sweat appearing on her brow as she panted.
Her initial instinct had been to move away, to stop heading towards this crushing force. Yet she didn't, having an odd suspicion that her quarry was the very source of the gravity increase. He had already proven to be both strong and strange enough, and she had seen weirder than a semblance that could increase the gravity of an area. Though the amount that gravity was increased she couldn't help but feel was ludicrous.
She leaned against a tree as her aura began to unconsciously flare in defense, a bright golden shroud covering her form and making it much easier to breathe and move. Soon she came upon Ichigo, once more struggling to breathe as the crushing force seemed to increase the closer she got to Ichigo. 'Is this actually his semblance? Some sort of gravity pressure increase? Its so strong I can barely breathe...' Even with her aura raised and attempting to protect her, it wasn't enough to stand up under the pure force of the pressure pushing her down.
"What... the fuck..." Despite the fact that she hadn't been physically damaged, her semblance activated, her eyes becoming crimson as her hair flared up with a golden flame. It certainly helped to cope, but the fact that she needed to use her semblance just to stand near him while he wasn't even conscious of her presence astounded her. "Ichigo! Wake the hell up!" Her yell didn't seem to catch his attention, annoyingly enough.
Extending the gauntlets of one of her Ember Celica, she cocked the shot-gauntlet back before firing off next to Ichigo, the loud blast and impact on the ground not fazing the soul reaper in the slightest. "God damn it!" She didn't have much else that she could do, and she highly doubted she'd be able to get close enough to touch him to get his attention. The pressure was strong enough as it was, weighing down on her and seemingly attempting to grind her into dust.
Having no other options left to her except to leave him and to head back home, she put some more distance between herself and the carrot top before leaning against a tree, leaving several meters between herself and the seemingly comatose teenager, keeping an eye on him and their surroundings in the event that a grimm tried to attack. If she couldn't wake him up to bring him home safely, she'd at least be ready to keep him safe in the event that this increase in gravity didn't stop a potential threat.
She could do that at the least.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He couldn't help but be caught off guard by old man Zangetsu, the cloaked zanpakuto going to stand next to the infuriated hollow. Neither seemed to be interested in attacking the other at the moment, with the hollow glaring at him while the older spirit almost seemed... guilty, in a sense. It wasn't outwardly obvious, though one who knew him as well as he did was more than able to pick up the signs.
Shoulders lowered instead of held back in pride and strength, his expression a soft frown as he stared at his wielder. There was a fierce conviction in his eyes though, yet the light seemed duller than normal. The man kept his eyes on Ichigo, avoiding looking at the hollow in any way.
"As I said. We are both Zangetsu, though it is complicated how we came to be as we are." At this the hollow scoffed at him, though Zangetsu seemed to ignore him for now, "To say either of us were meant to be like this would be incorrect. And to say what Zangetsu was originally meant to be would've been like this is just as wrong." The dark zanpakuto sighed and shook his head, seemingly trying to think of a way to explain things.
It was here the hollow decided to put in his own two cents, rolling his eyes as he did, "What he's tryin to say is, we're a unique situation that can't really be replicated. We could try to find a way to explain it all to you, or if he would get over himself, we could show you." Here he threw a glare over at the zanpakuto, crossing his arms in irritation as he waited.
His interruption of his thoughts seemed to do the trick, Zangetsu looking over at the hollow with the smallest amount of annoyance before sighing, "Yes, that is likely the best course of action. If you'll come over here, then we can do as you suggested. Show him, instead of explaining." Without a word the light hollow went over to Zangetsu, using sonido and drawing his zanpakuto.
At first Ichigo thought he was going to try to attack Zangetsu, the thought making Ichigo ready his own blade and charge up a getsuga tenshou. He found out what the goal was when Zangetsu took out his shikai and connected the blade with the hollows, the two blades seemingly melding where they clashed. They each drove the connected blades down into the building below them.
After driving their blades down into the building, they each charged up their own blades with spirit energy, not long after the building they were along began to light with a purple glow. "What the hell are you two doing?!" Though he understood they wanted to show him exactly what brought about this situation in the first place, he wasn't sure what charging a pair of getsuga tenshou into the building.
He was only given a single response.
"Watch."
It was dark. The lighting given within this world was minimal, the ground they stood on blank. For all intents and purposes, the entire world they found themselves in was a blank slate, the norm for a new born soul. Nothing to mark its identity, the hopes that kept it going or the crushing fears that threatening to drown the world. Within a few short years this would change, after the soul had aged and gained a more obvious sense of self.
Yet that soul was already at threat of soul suicide. Within this new and barren world two spirits clashed with one another. One was of hollow origin, with a hole and an exposed heart in its chest, its arms blades and two large horns jutting out from the top of its head. Its opponent seemed to be an older man wearing a dark long sleeved shirt and pants, wearing a pair of sunglasses. Its veins glowed red as it drew back the draw string on a solid silver long bow, uttering, "Heilig Pfeil!" A volley of massive arrows that appeared solid slammed into the hollow, inciting a roar of outrage.
Watching over their battle in silence was a third party, a sealed zanpakuto sealed at his hip. He was dressed in a dark cloak with red edges near the bottom that seemed to flow with a breeze that wasn't there, fur lining around the collar and the wrists of the cloak. Short silver hair dangled in front of his eyes as he watched the battle take place, the spirit that would've been known as Zangetsu knowing he had to intervene soon.
Glowing silver eyes narrowed as he leaped forward, getting between White and Yhwach before the two could collide. He unsheathed his blade and blocked White, charging it with purple energy as he quietly uttered, "Getsuga tenshou." The purple and white crescent launched White away, giving Zangetsu and the fragment of Yhwach time to breath. He turned to the quincy with a glare, bearing his teeth at the old quincy, "Would you mind explaining what the hell you think you're doing starting a fight with the hollow?!"
"Exterminating it." His reply was cold, collected as he looked at the zanpakuto. He looked past him at White, the hollow quickly recovering from the point blank blast it had taken as he continued, "That beast is an abomination, even for a hollow. It needs to be destroyed, I will not share a soul with such a monster." The Yhwach piece seemed to be ready to clash with the abomination, dismissing the bow he had been using as he created a large blade in his right hand.
Zangetsu grabbed his wrist before he could launch forward however, taking his zanpakuto and charging it, firing off another getsuga at White in a bid to buy himself more time, "You can not continue to fight it! This soul is fragile, if you continue on this path its going to self destruct. Our wielder will die, and us along with him." He wanted the chance to fight side by side with the boy before they died at the least, to see him grow and become a man.
He didn't want that to be taken away by a quincy overcome with hollow hate.
The quincy was completely unimpressed by his pleas however, looking at the zanpakuto with a cold glare, "If this soul is too weak to survive our conflict, then so be it. It will not be my end, zanpakuto." With that, he took his free hand and slammed his fist into the zanpakutos face, forcing him to release him and driving him back several feet. Now free, the fragment of the father of all quincy launched himself at the freshly recovered White, the two clashing as the hollow let out a scream of rage.
"Damn fool." Zangetsu muttered to himself, only able to watch as they continued to fight. The world around them began to shake under threat of their power, threatening to destroy each other and everything around them. Neither could clearly be reasoned with, the hollow was just as likely to attack him on sight as it was to attempt to communicate, while Yhwach made it clear he wanted nothing to do with any options that didn't end in Whites destruction, no matter the cost to the soul they currently inhabited.
Neither could live in the same soul as they were, not with their polar opposite existence. Even though White was created using the souls of soul reapers, he was still a mindless hollow and took more after that side of him. As a pure quincy and anomaly of a hollow, neither were compatible with one another. The zanpakuto sighed to himself, a small mournful smile coming onto his face as he prepared himself. At the very least, it was a good thing there was a third party that happened to be compatible enough with both.
As the two prepared to clash once more, he flash-stepped in between the two clashing spirits. Yhwach was unperturbed by his getting in the way, as was White, both ready to impale him with their respective blades. Yet he did not make a move to stop either of them or to block, and as Yhwach seemed to try to go around him at the last second, he grabbed his hand as he faced the fragment. The first blade to impale him was Whites left arm, punching through his chest, soon after Yhwach's own blade was forced through his gut.
The world still as the three spirits stayed in place in the air, Zangetsu staying impaled on both their blades. The hollow seemed frustrated that it couldn't remove his blade from the zanpakuto, and in response slammed his right arm through him. Though he was in pain, he knew that this was the only path left available to him, with no one being willing to speak and be reasonable. As his form started to glow, he could see the realization in Yhwachs eyes as he saw what he had done, surprise in his face.
His form began to dissolve, white and purple energy traveling down the blades of both hostile spirits. White could only scream as he was forcefully changed, a shihakusho slowly covering his form, his mask and blades breaking off. Soon his head was revealed as was his arms, the hollow hole that showed his beating heart being filled in. Upon his change, he fell unconscious.
As Yhwach began to change, Zangetsu's cloak appearing around his shoulders, the zanpakuto only had a single request of him, one he hoped the hollow would be made aware of once he regained consciousness, "Please. Take care of the boy. Protect him, make him strong. I will not be able to watch him grow, but I can pass on my power to you two knowing he'll be in good hands. Crush any who would threaten him."
He had half expected dismissal or outright refusal, and yet found himself pleased as the perplexed quincy nodded at him in the affirmative. As the last of him began to merge and become a part of the two separate entities, the last of Zangetsu becoming a part of White and Yhwach as he imparted the last of his will upon the two of them, in the event that they both decided to clash after he was gone.
Protect the wielder.
Ichigo's eyes were opened as the memory of the event ended, having seen the event from the perspective of the original Zangetsu. He was silent as the two remaining spirits kept their eyes on him, watching for his reaction. The carrot topped substitute first looked at Old Man Zangetsu, having several questions considering what he had learned from the memory, "You're... a piece, of the man who first created the quincy? Why are you a part of me? And why did Zangetsu merge with both of you? Especially if he was already made up of soul reapers..."
Old man Zangetsu looked over at his white counterpart before sighing, looking back at their wielder, "Just like the original Zangetsu came from your father, I came as a piece of your mother. White was latched onto her soul, and jumped ship to yours upon your birth. As for why he merged with the both of us, it was due to our previous existence. White lent himself far more to being a hollow, and I was only a quincy. His merging gave White more than just rage and killer instinct, and made him far more balanced in his existence as both a hollow and a zanpakuto, versus him being just a hollow made up of soul reapers.
"As for me, it was to both make me more patient and tolerating of White. On top of that, as well as imparting his will upon both of us, by making us both share a part of his power, he made us incapable of fighting as we did before. To do so would mean my destruction now, as well as yours. Something neither of us wanted." The dark zangetsu removed his blade from the building, allowing it to vanish into thin air now that he no longer needed it. The white Zangetsu put his own blade on his back, though he didn't dismiss the blade completely.
Though the white counterpart did still seem annoyed as he sent a glare the way of the quincy zanpakuto, "It doesn't help that he still didn't trust me and had the urge to try and destroy me for a while, despite our new affiliation. So instead of us constantly fighting, we settled on a deal. He'd be the forefront of your powers for the most part, until such a time as he deemed me trustworthy. Now he finally doesn't think I'm just out to get you."
It was a lot for the young man to wrap his head around, to say the least. The true identities of his zanpakuto, as well as the truth about his mother. Something that had been hidden from him for the past few years, long after her death and after he became a more active part of the spiritual world. Clenching his fist, he knew he was going to need to have a few words with his father once he returned home. He had been fine with his father not talking about his past as a soul reaper, but not telling him about his mother was another matter entirely.
He thought of how both spirits had merged to fight him when he wanted to learn the final getsuga, an event seemed a bit odd to him now that he thought about it, "If a good part of you is quincy, then how were the both of you able to join together when we were in the dangai? How did you each become a single spirit?" And was their combination the truth behind his bankai, something he had been missing.
They both seemed to be aware of what he was thinking, and white Zangetsu decided to take the lead, "Despite the opposing parts of hollow and quincy, we were able to stay in such a state because of what the original Zangetsu made a part of us. It basically served as a barrier to keep us from self destructing. Though we are able to stay in such a state indefinitely within your inner world..."
"You would only be able to stay in such a state for a limited time." Old Man Zangetsu spoke up, his arms crossed as he looked at the young substitute, "Your current bankai, with hollowfication, is a lesser version of this. The full form of your bankai is something you would only be able to manage for roughly thirty minutes or so if I were to guess. As for your shikai, your knowledge of the truth will already lead to an increase in power. All you need to do is draw on both of us at once, rather than just me."
Ichigo certainly appreciated the knowledge, even if he would've appreciated knowing this a lot sooner. Having such unified power would've helped him a lot in previous fights, such as the travesty of a "fight" he'd had with Ulquiorra. He would've extremely appreciated knowing the truth about both spirits sooner considering how long he had considered the white counterpart as just a monster, for how long he had feared that he would lose his body to him if he wasn't strong enough. To know it was just his own way of trying to push him towards getting stronger was annoying to say the least.
"I need to... think about all this. Assuming that this is the last of your secrets that you've hidden from me?" A light jab, one that the white Zangetsu seemed largely unbothered by. The other Zangetsu only winced in response, shaking his head in the negative. "Then I'll be going. I still need to figure out how to get us out of this place." And with that, Ichigo left his inner world, a few grey clouds darkening the world.
"Not gonna explain to him exactly who Yhwach is, or was?" White Zangetsu gave his dark counterpart an inquisitive look, raising an eyebrow at his silence over the father of the quincy.
The no longer pure fragment of Yhwach shook his head in response however, "No, the moment Zangetsu became a part of us I was permanently severed from the connection I had with Yhwach. He still felt faint, weak. I have my doubts that he will be awakened anytime soon. With any luck, he will never be a problem Ichigo will have to deal with in the first place." Though, with the luck Ichigo had so far, he had his doubts that everything would go right.
Nothing ever seemed to with that boy.
As he slowly began to wake up from leaving his inner world, Ichigo began to reel in his spirit energy. It had begun to go somewhat out of control not long after he found out the truth about Zangetsu, as well as about what his mother had been in the first place. As he began to reel it in he noticed that someone else had gotten close, someone that wasn't a grimm. There were a few smoking bodies of grimm that had thought it wise to approach upon sensing his turmoil, though they had been crushed to death in the process. On the other hand, Yang was on her knees with a hand against a tree looking as if she had been suffocated, clearly having just regained the ability to breathe.
"Damn it!" He got up from where he had been kneeling quickly and ran over to her, looking around as he noticed a few other grimm that were quickly closing in. He didn't have the patience to fight them at the moment and focused his attention on the grimm, bringing down the full weight of his spiritual pressure as he drew on the strength of both Zangetsu. The small group of wolf like grimm and a bear type were crushed to death, with the bear lasting a full minute longer than the wolves that had accompanied it. He quickly turned his attention back to Yang and kneeled next to her, a frown on his face as he looked at her in concern, "Yang, do you feel like you can stand up? You gonna be alright?"
It took her a moment to respond, her eyes red and her hair seemingly a flame from her semblance still being active. Her semblance slowly began to die out, her hair lowering back down and her eyes turning back into a lavender purple. She made an attempt to stand up from where she was, only to begin to fall back down. Ichigo caught her and put her arm around his shoulders to help her stand as she turned a small glare to him, "That... that should answer your question. I'll be fine... just need some time to rest. I would be fine if it wasn't for YOUR out of control gravity semblance..."
He only brought his free hand to the back of his head as a sheepish expression crossed his face, "Yeah, I told your father that I'd be taking care of some personal business and that I'd be gone for a bit. I also made him aware that it would be good if I was left alone until I returned to the house. How long was I gone? I didn't think I was gone all that long." Though if he were to judge by the expression of irritation on her face, that meant he was gone for a lot longer than he thought he was.
"Oh, only a few hours." She responded, sarcasm more than clear in her tone, once more turning a glare his way, "Dad got a bit worried with how long you had been gone but he was busy, so he sent me out here to come looking for you. When I found you and realized I couldn't get close to you without getting crushed to death I decided to keep my distance and keep away any grimm that may think of trying to get the drop on you while you're unawares, which was what I've been doing the last thirty minutes or so. Of course, then your semblance seemed to just go nuts and I started to get crushed anyway for the past five minutes. Right as I felt like I was going to die was when you finally decided to wake up."
He couldn't help but wince in sympathy, he was more than aware of what it felt like to get crushed by superior spiritual pressure. He still remembered when he had been weaker and the likes of Kenpachi's power would feel like gravity had more than tripled, and to be of Yangs strength facing his own pressure. Well, at the very least he was happy that she didn't suffer any lasting damage, and just needed rest, "Sorry about that Yang, I had a feeling something like that might happen while I was out here, that's why I told your dad I needed to be alone. I didn't think I'd be out here for so long though. Thanks for sticking with me though."
She sighed and looked away from him, though as she went to respond she winced and stopped, her legs giving out. Ichigo didn't really notice the difference all that much afterwards, though he could see if he didn't have a solid group on her she likely would've fallen. He raised an eyebrow at her as the blonde blushed and looked away, a bit embarrassed that she couldn't walk anymore "I'm completely wiped out after dealing with your semblance for so long... my aura is completely drained on top of the effect of your semblance." He wasn't all that surprised. If he had to guess, he would assume her bones hurt from being ground together, much like his own had when he had first learned bankai. Except worse. "If we're going to get anywhere you're probably going to have to-"
She was cut off by Ichigo rolling his eyes and bringing his under arm under her, picking her up and continuing on down the path they had been taking before as he carried her bridal style, "Let's not beat around the bush here, Yang. Next time just say you need to be carried because you can't walk, yeah? Or I can just let you drop next time around, if that works for you." He was also a bit embarrassed that he he had to carry her in the first place, partially because he was the one at fault for her being like this to begin with.
The blonde didn't give a response, and when he looked down at her he realized she had passed out. The orange haired substitute sighed and shook his head, continuing on to the house.
Xiao Long-Rose Residence
It had taken him roughly another half hour to get to the house while carrying Yang, having to be more careful not to bump her head into anything as he walked. Once he made it back to the house he went to bring her up to her room, but stopped once he noticed Tai was in the living room and had returned home. The older blonde looked over at them and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at his daughter being carried, "So, gonna explain what exactly is going on here?"
Ichigo only rolled his eyes however as he stared at Tai, feeling a bit annoyed in turn, "She came into contact with my 'semblance' while it was out of control. Drained her aura to near nothing and was crushing her, so she's sore and exhausted. I had to begin carrying here and she ended up passing out not long after. Though that all happened after she came looking for me because you asked her." Near the end he could see the older man gain a slightly sheepish expression of his own, looking away and beginning to whistle.
"I guess that's kinda my fault then, huh?" He muttered. The huntsman shook his head and turned to the stairs, waving Ichigo over to get him to follow him. Once at the top of the stairway Tai led him over to Yang's room, Ichigo taking a quick look around the room. There wasn't all that much to say about the room itself, with the walls being painted white and the beds comforter being grey with white sheets and pillows. Next to her bed was a nightstand with a vase full of freshly picked sun flowers.
The substitute went and laid the blonde down in her bed before stepping away and walking out, finding Tai waiting for him next to the door again, "Not too sure how long she'll be out of it exactly, though I wouldn't be all that surprised if she was down for the rest of the day. Sorry that I got her in this condition in the first place." He placed a hand behind his head and looked away, his gaze directed more at the floor.
Tai only waved away the comment however, turning away from Ichigo and making his way back down the stairway, "She'll be fine as long as we give her some time to rest. She's tough, and you didn't seriously injure her. Though sadly, I won't be able to bring her along on our shopping trip now." He didn't seem all that disappointed in not being able to bring his eldest along on the trip, though if Ichigo were to be fair, neither was he.
"Think she'll be fine on her own?" Ichigo had noticed fairly quick the lack of Ruby's presence when he got closer to the house, confirming she wasn't around when he got there and the young Rose didn't come running to her unconscious sister. He didn't feel all that great about leaving Yang alone and unconscious in a house in the middle of the woods, leaving her as a prime target for any grimm that may come upon the small family's home.
The blonde huntsman gave Ichigo a thumbs up though, putting on a pair of boots when he got down to the doorway. "Yeah, she'll be safe. Even if we're not here to protect the house, Zwei will be more than enough to handle any of the grimm that may stumble upon the place. He's a good bit tougher than he looks." He shot Ichigo a grin, which seemed odd considering he was putting his daughters safety in the hands, or rather paws, of a corgi of all things.
Ichigo liked dogs and all, and he had thought that the small dog was quite cute when he saw him in passing. It just seemed weird that in a world full of unnatural soulless monsters he would leave his unconscious daughter with just Zwei. Though he supposed if Tai of all people was certain that a corgi of all things was capable of killing grimm, well, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing he had seen.
He still remembered when Karin told him about how Yuzu's "ghost kitten" kept her safe from hollows. He'd almost gone to Urahara's to check if he had been drugged at some point.
And so, Ichigo embarked on his most trying journey yet since coming to this new world. Shopping for clothes.
Sorry for a bit of the delay, hope y'all enjoyed. This note will only address two things, those being my take on OG zangetsu, and Yang.
One, the origin of the current Zangetsu. Essentially Ichigo is born with three separate entities within him. The fragment of Yhwach, Zangetsu, and White. Though White is composed of soul reaper souls, he still acts like a mindless hollow. The only difference between him and others is his strength and appearance. Quincy, quite simply, exterminate hollows. They are opposites to a point where hollowfication guarantees soul suicide, unlike for a shinigami. Shinigami can, on some level, hollowfy.
Considering what Old Man Zangetsu said his mission was originally in the manga, to prevent him from being a soul reaper and to kill him if need be, I wouldn't be shocked if he wouldn't have cared if he killed a young Ichigo in the first place. And obviously White is a mindless brute without any real sense of self at this point in time.
Zangetsu, on the other hand, well, his main concern is Ichigo. Ichigo grows up with his strongest motivation being to protect those around him, even if it meant self-sacrifice. Though it was short, I felt this a decent representation of what Zangetsu could have been like without any outside interference. Then of course, he allows the other two spirits to run him through.
This is a common trend in Bleach for learning new powers or to gain power, for one reason or another. Its how Ichigo gets his powers in the first place, and gets them back. He gets run through by White Tensa for the "Final Getsuga". When he ran White Zangetsu through his cloak became more like Ichigos. Then of course, Ginjo stabs Ichigo to take his fullbring.
The idea is based off of soul reaper powers being a more neutral grey area, while hollow powers and quincy abilities are complete opposites. They can't naturally interact without a proper buffer. The moment the captains took those hollow pills, the sternritter no longer had access to bankai due to them being effectively infected. Which shows soul reaper abilities, on some level, are compatible with the quincy.
Zangetsu split himself into both to not only reign them in and impart his will, but so he could serve as a solid barrier to prevent soul suicide, and to also keep Yhwach and White tied in a way where killing one meant crippling or destroying the other. Obviously their personalities are altered after this.
There's a lot that was going through my head for this, so feel free to send me a DM if ya got questions.
And two is a small thing, but its Yang. Her semblance and aura reacted out of instinct to Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Why may that be? Welp, as stated in RWBY, semblances are a reflection of the soul. They are essentially spiritual abilities in nature. Yang did the best she could, and I would wager she has more spirit energy than low level officers (like Hanataro) but there's no way she was holding up against Ichigo and his spiritual pressure. Not with where he's at. Though her being put under such pressure may lead to a few different results.
