Chapter 59: Battle For Control

The air in the warehouse was tense after Ichigo had finally lost his temper over being on the Super Hiyori Trainer for so long. Kirara could still feel her heart racing, having been watching on the sidelines with the others without daring to speak.

For just a moment, Ichigo remained standing, even with no light behind his eyes. Swallowed by the Kido he'd been placed under, his body then crumpled to the ground. He wasn't lying there for long, as Love landed beside him and hauled his dead weight over his shoulder.

"Hachi, build a double-barrier," Shinji instructed the kido master with them.

"Got it," Hachi clapped his hands loudly, and a barrier stronger than the normal one covered the warehouse. They all grouped together, opening the way to the underground training facility, which had been closed off when Ichigo had gone to find them.

None of them spoke, the tense atmosphere still around them. Kirara struggled to walk with them, as her body willed her to move faster and burn off the nervous energy that was currently humming through her body. She was suddenly glad that she'd only had a few bites of her lunch as her stomach continued to swirl.

Once the group reached the bottom of the steps, Love dropped Ichigo's body unceremoniously a short distance away. Ichigo landed face down with a heavy thud, and Kensei dropped the massive Zanpakuto near to him. "Hachi, place a barrier here too," Shinji spoke once more, and Hachi's eyes went wide.

"Whaaa?" he stared, thrown by the request. Shinji rolled his eyes.

"'Whaaa' - don't say that!" Shinji scolded, turning an annoyed look on him. "It's not cute when an old man says it!" he complained. Hachi groaned, but didn't argue as Shinji turned back to look at Ichigo's body. All of them could feel it, even if they didn't say anything. "Also…place seals all over Ichigo's body," he added.

"Understood," Hachi lost his nervous look and turned serious. Once again, he clapped his hands together, and the power started to swirl around him. It rippled, causing a light wind to tug at their clothes and mess their hair. Kirara pushed her hair from her face, not taking her eyes off Ichigo. "Wall of iron sand, tower of the shaven priests glow incandescent iron."

As Hachi began the incantation, golden lights emerged from between his clasped fingers to form five circles. "Tranquil and soundless to the end! Bakudo #75: Gochutekkan!" Hachi raised his hands over his head and slammed them to the hard ground. The five lights appeared around his hands and grew brighter for just a moment before vanishing.

A rumble shook the ground beneath their feet, and five pillars descended from above to crash against Ichigo's body, pinning him to the ground.

'And now we wait,' Kirara thought as she examined the sturdy barrier that went up around Ichigo to box him in. It almost seemed like overkill; the barrier and the restraints to contain him, but they all knew just how necessary it was.

All of them quietly prepared themselves for what was going to happen. Their light mood from before was gone, replaced by a group who knew from experience just how it was going to go. Kirara stretched in her usual warm-up stances, preparing herself for something a lot more dangerous than Ichigo had been only a few days ago.

Once her body was loosened up, Kirara took a seat beside Shinji. He didn't speak, but his hand found hers even without taking his eyes off Ichigo. She squeezed lightly, willing herself to wait.

The pulse of power came a few minutes later, similar than how it had been a few days ago, only much, much stronger. The others inhaled sharply as they felt it, watching as the ground once again began to rumble, and the power slipped past Hachi's barrier to slam against them like a strong wind.

"Here it comes," Shinji's soft voice was a confirmation, before Ichigo's body began to struggle under the pillars pinning him down. His hands scrabbled in the dirt as he strained to move.

"Say, shouldn't we hide his Zanpakuto?" Mashiro wondered, aware of the massive sword they had left beside Ichigo.

"There wouldn't be any point," Love denied with a shake of his head. "That would just make him more violent," he told her. Inside the barrier, the pillars began to move, causing the chains that held them together to rattle loudly.

Kirara hated what she was watching. It dragged up the unpleasant memories of the past that still gave her nightmares, and to see the same thing that they had gone through now happening to Ichigo had her body railing to move. She wanted to do something, but she had no idea what.

'Damn protective instinct. Doesn't know what to do when there's no enemy we can fight,' she complained to herself, fighting the impulse to get up and do something.

Then Ichigo's head lifted sharply, a gleeful snarl on his lips as his Mask covered half his face once again. His eye left exposed was black with a golden iris, not looking at any of them in particular, and with one more flex, he caused the pillars pinning him down to collapse on themselves. Kirara flinched.

'Stronger than Mashiro already. This is going to be a hard fight,' she thought, and glanced over to Lisa when she saw the woman rise. The pillars completely collapsed, and Ichigo stood with a snarl.

"Hachigen, open this up," Lisa requested as she moved to stand at the barrier. "I'm on duty today, so I'll go first," she told him. Hachi, who was sitting beside the barrier to maintain it, nodded.

"Understood," he agreed, and with a flick of his finger he'd created a doorway not unlike the one that they used to get in and out of the warehouse normally.

"Try not to kill him," Shinji requested as the winds continued to blow wildly. Lisa stopped before she walked into the barrier.

"Sure, if I don't die first," she replied as she glanced over her shoulder, before walking inside. The doorway closed behind her, leaving Lisa inside with Ichigo, who was slowly Hollowfying.

"She'll be fine," Shinji's quiet murmur didn't register to Kirara at first. Then she blinked, finally tearing her gaze from the two inside the barrier to look at him. His expression gave away nothing, and not for the first time she found herself envying his ability to hide his emotions so well. She forced herself to relax her grip on his hand, knowing that was what gave her away, and she nodded.

"I know she will. I just don't know if Ichigo will be," she admitted, before letting go of his hand entirely. She pulled her knees up, hugging her legs as she watched. 'You better not die, you damn idiot,' Kirara prayed.

The Hollowfication process was going slowly, but Ichigo's Hollow was proving to be vicious and relentless. After Lisa's ten minutes were up, Kensei stepped in and knocked the Hollow away before it could land a nasty blow to her.

Lisa was worn out as she left Kensei to take over the fight. Soaked in sweat, she was almost doubled over as she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath after fighting off the Hollow for so long.

"How much break time do I get?" Lisa asked once her lungs stopped burning.

"The nine of us are going to rotate, so ten times nine makes 90 minutes," Shinji replied. He was standing now, watching Kensei fighting off the Hollow. Where Lisa was graceful in her fighting style, Kensei was pure power as he shrugged off most of what the monster was throwing at him. Hiyori snorted, glaring at him.

"It isn't 'times nine', baldy!" she said, earning a glare. "If you exclude her, it's eight!" Hiyori pointed out. Shinji's glare grew as he realised she was right.

"Fine. Ten minutes times eight makes 80 minutes!" he growled irritably.

"Seven," the correction came from Kirara, who was now sitting on a rock nearby with her legs crossed as she did her best to calm her mind before going into the barrier. She cracked open an eye when she practically felt the silence, and saw Hiyori's smirk and Shinji's glare. Kirara opened both eyes, and grinned. "You can't count Hachi. He has to maintain the barrier," she pointed out, looking over at the man who was nervously listening to their conversation.

"Then it's seventy minutes, dammit," Shinji amended, growing more irritated by their corrections. Hachi shot Kirara a grateful look, and she winked at him.

"Dumbass," Hiyori muttered, and Kirara had to bite her lip to hide her laughter despite everything. Shinji just cursed them out under his breath, turning back to the barrier as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Kirara shook her head, and closed her eyes again.

'My turn next. He's strong, but I should be fast enough to dodge his attacks,' Kirara told herself, taking a deep breath to settle down again. Meditation had always been something that helped her before a mission, and even when she'd come to the World of the Living it had been a way to keep her emotions in some kind of check.

Then the watch in her hand beeped loudly, and her eyes opened. Steeled with determination to make it out of the barrier in one piece, Kirara jumped down from her rock and tossed the watch to Rose.

"Be careful," he said quietly, and Kirara arched an eyebrow at him as she walked past.

"I'm always careful," she replied, and didn't miss the dubious look on his face. "Hachi, if you wouldn't mind?" Kirara smiled to the large, pink-haired man. He nodded, and with a wave of his finger, he opened a door inside the barrier.

The Hollow let out a high-pitched shriek, seeming to be enjoying himself as he tried to tear Kensei to pieces. The man was starting to tire, but refused to back down. When the Hollow threw a powerful punch, Kirara appeared between them and kicked up. The Hollow's arm snapped upwards, missing Kensei by a few inches.

"Time's up already?" Kensei asked as he leapt back. Kirara landed between him and the Hollow, who was snarling softly now as it seemed to deliberate between attacking her and Kensei.

"Yup. Get out," Kirara's voice was too cheerful, and Kensei rolled his eyes.

"Watch the tail," was his only response before he vanished, leaving Kirara to face the Hollow alone. The barrier hid the rest of them from sight, preventing the Hollow from trying to get out to fight the others, so he only focused on her.

"Tail…" Kirara murmured, and her eyes darted to the long white tail that emerged from behind Ichigo, flicking erratically. It was large, and obviously just as dangerous as the rest of him. "Great," she grumbled. Something else to watch out for. "Okay, Ichigo. Let's go," Kirara spoke softly, before launching herself forwards.

At the last second, she used Shunpo to move around the Hollow, who had lashed out with vicious looking claws. She dodged the tail, which whipped straight towards her the moment she appeared behind him. ' Wonder if Ichigo's used to my tricks already, or he's just that quick,' Kirara murmured as she appeared by its side and delivered another spinning kick that knocked his arm up into the air, snapping loudly.

Kirara's leg stung from the thick armour that was already formed around his body. It was going to make it a lot harder for someone like her to fight. 'Damn. Should have started practising that earlier. Might have come in handy, even if I have more of an audience than I care for,' she admitted to herself, and leapt backwards quickly. Ichigo's fist smashed against the ground with enough force to scatter debris around their battlefield.

Her heart was racing faster than before, and Kirara studied him as closely as she dared while being prepared to move the moment his body tensed. 'I know I broke his arm. I felt it,' she growled in realisation. "High-Speed Regeneration. You really never make things easy for me, do you?" she complained aloud.

The only response Kirara received was a shrill screech, and Ichigo threw himself at her.

There was a loud tearing sound, when his clawed hand ripped through her shirt, and Kirara cursed. While she was relieved that he'd only caught the fabric and not her, she was still annoyed. "I need to stop wearing nice clothes around you," she complained, aware that it was ruined now.

When Ichigo's clawed hand came for Kirara's face, it clashed against her Zanpakuto. She grit her teeth, and forced him back enough that she was able to veer away, cursing that she'd had to draw her blade. Unlike him, her skin wasn't armoured to block strikes, and she certainly didn't have High-Speed Regeneration. Kirara moved around him with a dancer's grace, cutting through his armour with her blade.

It was easy to wound the Hollow, who shrieked and staggered back from the pain, but it only lasted a few moments before the wounds healed. Kirara didn't let her irritation of that show, as she continued to fight back with the ruthlessness that she had learned a long, long time ago. There was no room for hesitation or mercy - exactly the reason she'd tried to meditate for a while before fighting.

When Ichigo's vicious claws managed to catch her arm, Kirara bit back a reaction as pain burned white-hot. Three deep gashes through the sleeve of her already tattered shirt, and the blood that ran from them stained the blue fabric and dripped to the ground, but Kirara refused to show the pain. She cut across Ichigo's chest, and kicked it hard before it could heal, making him stagger back. A cheap shot, but she was never above fighting dirty.

The pain in Kirara's arm was only getting worse as time went on, but she refused to give up. She refused to be the one to fall.

In that moment, her senses sharpened. They were as ablaze as the pain in her arm, and suddenly each movement from Ichigo was far more obvious. She countered everything that was possible to counter, and dodged everything else.

Then, as Ichigo's tail lashed out to try and catch her as she moved behind him again, another Zanpakuto deflected it, before a Kido caught Ichigo and sent him staggering away.

"Most impressive, Kirara," Rose spoke softly as Kirara stood beside him, breathing heavily. She didn't look at him, focused entirely on the Hollow she'd been fighting. "Kirara," Rose put a hand on her shoulder, and she seemed to snap out of the intense focus she'd been in. "Take care of your arm," he told her.

"Right," Kirara was suddenly breathless as her mind returned to normal, and the pain in her arm grew hotter. She made her way towards the doorway as Rose turned to Ichigo, before she paused. "Thanks, Rose," she called, and he smiled.

"Anytime, my dear," he responded, and Kirara stepped out.

"Kirara, your arm!" Mashiro exclaimed, her eyes going wide as Kirara shrugged out of her ruined shirt and tossed it aside. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked. Kirara studied the three large slashes down her arm as they continued to leak blood.

"I'll be fine. We left that first-aid kit down here, didn't we?" Kirara remembered. Mashiro darted off to grab it, and Kirara hissed a curse under her breath.

"What the hell was that?" she looked up at Kensei, who was watching her. He had his usual scowl on his face, but there was something more to it.

"What was what?" Kirara asked, a little defensive as she drew back, thinking he meant her getting injured.

"Not your arm," Kensei's scowl grew. "I mean what happened after that," he said, and Kirara's eyebrows furrowed.

"That was a whole other level," Hiyori spoke up, and Kirara glanced at her. Even Shinji had a curious look as they watched her.

"I don't…" Kirara shook her head as she tried to think about it. The last few moments of her fight were hazy. "I don't know. It was like…I was moving on pure instinct," she tried to think about it, not fully understanding what had just happened. She hadn't even registered that it had happened, until Kensei had pointed it out.

"Another secret talent?" Lisa asked, an eyebrow quirked. Kirara shook her head.

"Definitely not. Not that I-" she stopped, thinking about it. "It happened before. When…" her hand went to her stomach and she thought about it.

Kirara's eyes went wide as she felt the tip of the blade sink into her skin and cut through it, creating burning pain that almost forced a scream from her lips. For a moment, everything seemed to slow, and Kirara thought she might be in trouble.

Then her senses were ablaze, sharpening everything. Every little movement Natsuki made, Kirara noticed. In a beat, she sheathed her own Zanpakuto to launch herself forwards.

Natsuki had been convinced that her strike would have been enough to force Kirara backwards, having felt her strike hit true. Blood flowed from the cut across Kirara's stomach that was by no means a shallow cut, staining her white top and dripping to the ground. Instead, she punched her hard in the stomach and spun before kicking up, catching Natsuki on the chin with her knee. It had seemed like Kirara couldn't take a hit, judging from how she'd fallen after one punch to the face. Yet now, she was fighting like a woman possessed, abandoning her Zanjutsu to fight solely with Hakuda, and it was nothing like before.

"I'm going to take that as something," Shinji spoke as Kirara's mind raced.

"Here you are!" Mashiro rushed over, carrying the medical kit.

"Thanks," Kirara flashed her a brief smile before moving to sit down. Hachi was maintaining the barrier, and Rose was fighting, so she decided to tend to it herself. "It happened before, in the Soul Society. Natsuki got me good. I shouldn't have been able to fight like I did, let alone beat her," she finally said.

"Another thing you inherited, maybe?" Shinji murmured, suddenly beside her as she healed her arm. She didn't look up.

"Possibly," she said as he fished through the first-aid kit that Mashiro had retrieved. "That wasn't the first time, though," Kirara said quietly, reaching up to trail her fingers along the scar that crossed her nose. Shinji didn't question it - that scar was one that Kirara never spoke about.

"You'll figure it out," he said, and for a moment his eyes lingered on her left shoulder. The web of scarring from where Aizen had pinned her with her own Zanpakuto stood out against her pale skin, on show now that she had stripped off her shirt and sat in only her cami. "You always do. You're impossibly nosy, you have to know everything," Shinji spoke as he tore his gaze away and started to wrap the healing injuries with the bandages he'd retrieved.

Kirara looked away, not having missed where his gaze had gone. She looked over to where Rose was fighting Ichigo, who was becoming more and more Hollow-like as time progressed.

"Thanks," she murmured, and Shinji responded by squashing her nose with his finger before standing. Kirara grumbled, rubbing her nose. 'Hurry up, Ichigo. If you don't stop your Hollow in time…' Kirara trailed off, not wanting to think about it.

Time was running out for Ichigo, and still he showed no signs of emerging from his internal battle with his Hollow. By the time Love had stepped in, Ichigo was fully Hollowfied and just as vicious as ever.

Kirara's arm itched as she watched the man fight off Ichigo. As he leapt away from the snarling monster, blood spurted from a cut across his shoulder, and he glanced at it for just a moment before turning back to Ichigo.

"Kensei," Lisa interrupted the quiet of the rest of the Vizards watching. The man grunted, glancing up from the watch in his hand to look at her. "What was the longest time we've taken in an internal battle?" she asked. Kensei's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked back at the watch with a thoughtful expression.

"That would be Hiyori's 69 minutes and two seconds," he answered. Nearby, Kirara fought a shudder as she remembered it. Hiyori's Hollow had been particularly vicious, and none of them had escaped unscathed from fighting her. Kirara still had a scar on her thigh from it.

"What's our current time?" Lisa asked as they quickly moved past it, not wanting to dwell on their own internal battles.

"68 minutes…and 44 seconds," Kensei answered quietly.

"I see…" Lisa murmured. Kirara pulled her knees up to her chin again.

'Dammit, Ichigo. Hurry up. You're almost out of time,' she willed him to hear her silent words, watching for any change in the young man to tell them anything.

Kirara refused to even think about what had happened when she had fought Ichigo's Hollow. She put her attention solely on the fight going on in front of her, not wanting to face even more unanswered questions about herself. It was too much for her to worry about when they already had to deal with Ichigo.

So she just watched as Love dodged another strike from the Hollow, barely managing to avoid another injury like the one on his shoulder. The tail was even more lethal now, seeming to have grown bigger. The more the fight went on, the less in control Love seemed, and that put Kirara even more on edge.

The spike in power from the Hollow made everyone react in horror. Even Kensei looked up from the watch sharply as the Hollow raised a hand and pointed two claws at Love. Red energy began to gather as he growled, growing brighter and stronger as the dark energy weighed down on them all.

"It's a Cero! Love!" Lisa shouted a warning.

"I know!" he yelled back, hearing her words even when he couldn't see her. Love raised his hand, and his own power began to grow.

"Are you going to Hollowfy, Love?" Mashiro gasped as all the rest of them could do was watch.

"Of course he is," Rose frowned. "Even Love can't block that without using Hollowfication!" he pointed out. They all felt the power behind it, and if Love wasn't careful, it would take him out.

Before Love could call on his Mask, blood suddenly exploded from the Hollow's arm. The cero dissipated into black wisps of Reishi, and the Hollow screamed in pain. Love lowered his arm, no longer seeing a need to call on his own Hollow powers as Ichigo thrashed.

"What the hell is happening in there?" Kirara wondered, on her feet to watch. The thick white shell of armour on Ichigo's other arm cracked, spraying more blood everywhere as the Hollow's screams grew louder.

"Hachi!" Hiyori realised what was going on and turned to the man nearby. "Let Love out of the barrier!" she shouted. Hachi opened a doorway, and Love was out in a flash. Bright light surrounded Ichigo, so bright that it cast a shadow over everything else, and they watched as a massive explosion was barely contained by the barrier. It shook the entire area, and for a moment they just stared, caught off guard by the sheer power behind it.

Kirara held her breath as the dust cleared to reveal Ichigo standing in the middle of the barrier, unmoving. A loud creak echoed, and the white shell armour fell forwards and shattered, leaving Ichigo standing in his Bankai form with his Mask over his face. Blood soaked through what he wore, but he didn't seem in terrible condition even then.

"Hachi," Shinji's voice was quiet, but the man understood the command. He snapped his fingers, and the barrier shattered like glass. For a moment longer, Ichigo stood there, before he tipped forwards and crashed to the ground. When his face hit the ground, the Mask fell off and bounced away with a hollow clatter.

"Do you think Berry is alright, Hachi?" Mashiro whispered to Hachi as they all watched warily. Hachi shushed her, and Shinji approached Ichigo's fallen form.

"How do you feel?" he asked, even when Ichigo didn't stir. For a long moment, the young man on the ground didn't move. Kirara was sure her heart was about to burst out of her chest as she waited for some kind of response, when finally Ichigo turned his head to grin up.

"Not bad," he answered. Shinji grinned back at him.

"I see," he said, impressed, and Ichigo moved to take his Zanpakuto. Having called on his Bankai during his internal battle, the blade was much smaller than before. It was like a regular blade now, with a pure black blade and a small chain dangling from it.

As he lifted it, the Mask beside him vanished, and Ichigo felt a wave of determination. He wouldn't let his Hollow take over, and he was convinced of that now more than ever.