Chapter 3:- The Green Man
Ichigo opens his eyes, which were hazy, and his head feels as if he was hit with immense pressure, causing the headache. He slowly sits up, trying to comprehend his surroundings, and observes that he is in a hospital bed and feels the bands covering his arm and head. After a few moments, the door slides open, and Orihime walks in, slightly relieved to see Ichigo awake.
"Good morning, Kurosaki kun, Are you fine now?" She smiles at him while sitting down on a nearby chair.
"Good morning, Inoue. Yeah, I am fine for now, just a slight headache, that's all. By the way, how is Uryu? I didn't see him." He asks her out of curiosity.
"Oh, he is resting for now; don't worry, he is fine as well," she reassures him.
"I see, that's good to know; by the way, how did we end up here?" He asks.
"We were thankfully saved by Kuchiki san, and she brought us here for medical attention." She responds to his query.
"Oh, I see, and what happened to that bastard?" He was irritated while speaking of Grimmjow after what he did to them.
"Well, as far as I know, she told me that he was taken away by another one of them; it must be a partner or someone close," she replies.
"I see *sigh* thanks to her that we are alive; it just happened all so suddenly that I couldn't even comprehend what happened. I hate to admit it, but he was too powerful as if he was just playing with us." He clenches his fist with a frown on her face.
"It's alright, I understand your frustrations, but at the end of the day, at least we are alive, right?" She glances at him, comforting his troubled mood.
"Yeah, I guess you are right; we should be grateful that we are even alive." He lets out a sigh. The door opens again, revealing Rukia and Uryu stepping into the room.
Grimmjow walks with each step heavy as if he were dreading to confront Aizen after what he did; however, he had no choice but to obey as he knew what Aizen was capable of. He reaches the room and steps inside the room, seeing Aizen sitting on his throne, which even gives him a sense of anxiety and nervousness.
"So you have finally arrived; step forward," Aizen commands in a threatening tone, and Grimmjow steps without opening his mouth; despite his internal anxiety, he didn't show any signs of submission and kept a straight face.
"Tell me why you decided to visit the world of the living despite my orders, Grimmjow." Aizen demands a reason from him.
"I just wanted to kill them off right away instead of later; that way we won't have to deal with them at all.".
"Let me tell you something." He stood up from his throne and instead walked towards him.
"You see Grimmjow, I think differently than you, and I give such orders based on clear reasons that you may not understand." He speaks as he takes his steps towards him.
"You see them as useless fodder, which they are; however, even worthless can be made worthwhile if you know how to use it, so what you did was a terrible blunder; not only did you almost ruin my plan but also alerted them of our activities." His eyes open wide as he feels the spiritual pressure becoming heavier as he gets closer, almost making him kneel, striking fear into his heart.
"If you had successfully accomplished your intended actions, you wouldn't be here breathing the next day, do you understand?" He looks down at him while he can't even look up.
"I hope you keep my words from next time on, as I expect much greater things from you, 'Espada', that I have created." He now sees forward, ignoring Grimmjow.
"You can leave now and heed my words, as I won't tolerate such a blunder from now on.".
"Yeah, L-lord Aizen, I understand." Grimmjow speaks in a low tone as Aizen suppresses his pressure back and walks away. Sweat drops from his face as he never felt such fear before.
"I see, so you are telling me he was taken away by someone else?" ichigo questions Rukia.
"Yes, it seems like they were partners, but I sensed some sort of hostility, but I couldn't figure out their conversation from afar." She answers his question.
"Anyways, maybe it was for the better he was taken away." He sighs in defeat.
"Yeah, I guess so." She agrees, not willing to admit her weakness.
"That was pathetic," Uryu says in irritation, clenching his fists, which makes the rest glance at him.
"We were barely anything to him, like a toy for his amusement." Ichigo and Orihime look down at his statement, and as Rukia started to say something, she was interrupted.
"How can we be protectors if we couldn't protect ourselves? What if they had come to destroy our town? We would have been useless waste." His tone was harsh and frustrated.
The room was silent for a while until Ichigo spoke.
"That's why we need to get stronger; we can't give up like this on our people, our friends; if there is anything we can do to get stronger, we have to do it." He speaks with new-found determination in his eyes.
"I think I know a way you guys could become strong." The trio looks at Rukia with curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo questions now fully intrigued and perhaps a little bit excited deep inside.
"I know a man who can help you with that" She speaks in a confident manner.
After getting recovered, the trio thanked Unohana for her medical care, and Rukia takes them back from Soul Society to the world of the living. After they arrive, she leads them to a peculiar store, which looked a bit shabby, so to speak. She gently knocks on the door, and they can hear some rustling sounds from behind.
"Coming in a sec!" The voice comes from behind.
"Oh, hello, new customers—oh? Rukia san? What are you doing here?" A man with disheveled hair and wearing green opens the door.
"Oh, hello, Urahara san, well, you see, I have to talk to you about something," Rukia says in a somewhat awkward tone, and Urahara notices the trio behind.
"Well, ok, then come inside, let's have a talk." He guides them inside, after which Rukia explains the whole story to him and makes him understand.
"I see... so you are asking me to train the three behind you?" He points at the trio, and Rukia nods.
"Fine by me, however." He gets serious again.
"The training I will be providing you will be gruesome and hectic; of course your strength will be guaranteed to increase, but it depends on your will to really get stronger." He glances at them with a stern face.
"Mister Urahara, I am willing to do whatever it takes to grow stronger as well, my friends here," he answers in a determined tone.
"Well then, I am more than willing to teach you if that's the case except for the quincy boy. I am sorry to say, but I don't have much knowledge when it comes to your abilities and power." He glances at Uryu, waiting to see his reaction.
"It's alright, Mr. Urahara. I understand, so I will manage on my own for that." He responds back, reassuring Urahara.
"Well, that's all set then, so shall we get started or do you have anymore queries?" He closes his fan in his palm and glances at them.
"No, Mr. Urahara, I think we are ready to get started.".
"Perfect! Then let's go to the training grounds, shall we?" Ichigo and Orihime agree, and so they say their goodbyes to Uryu and Rukia as they leave as well.
'Well then follow me, you two." They follow him as he takes them to the back of the store and opens a hatch at the floor, which leads to a large training ground underneath.
"Wow, this place is humongous!" Orihime speaks with aww in her eyes.
"It is, isn't it? Well, I couldn't have done it without my buddy Tessai, who is currently sleeping in his room up there." He points up where the store is.
"So what are we going to do first?" Ichigo asks curiously.
"A good question. Well, first of all, I am going to teach you the basics because it seems you two just self-taught yourselves how to use your own powers," he says with a grin.
"Well, I think we know the basics right?" Ichigo questions.
"Nope, not really, you guys haven't even reached the tip of the iceberg yet. There is more to your powers than just swinging your sword or putting up an offensive shield," he answers, but they look confused.
"Let me explain. There are three Shinigami techniques of combat:
The first one is Zanjutsu: basically known as sword fighting,
Second is Hakuda, which is close combat or hand-to-hand.
The third and last one is Kido: The ability to use your spiritual energy to cast spells." He explains while bringing up three fingers as they listen attentively.
"One more thing, Zanjutsu is called as lethal combat while Hakuda is called as non lethal combat".
"Why is that so?" Ichigo asks intrigued to know.
"Because Zanjutsu utilizes weapons for combat while Hakuda utilizes fists or feet which are not as harmful as a weapon" Urahara replies back to his question.
"So these are the two techniques of shinigami combat, however they both have their own pros and cons. Zanjutsu requires you to wield a weapon whereas Hakuda doesn't have such requirements except for your own body so you can say that Zanjutsu has more range and impact whereas Hakuda has more flexibiliy as well as diversity." He speaks while walking around.
"Another important aspect of these combat techniques is that Zanjutsu requires regulating your spiritual energy through your weapons whereas Hakuda is completely opposite meaning through your own body." They both nodded their heads as they understood.
"Alright, time's up for class," he says while nonchalantly walking away, swinging his cane as their jaw drops.
"Wait! That's it!" Ichigo yells.
"For today, and besides, taking too much information is confusing for you, right?" He asks them with a slight smile on his face.
"Yeah, it is," Orihime speaks with relatability, nodding her head.
"Well, then we can continue tomorrow, and by the way, no need to call me Mr.; it makes me feel old, alright." They both leave saying their goodbyes as they understand why he didn't go further today. They both split up, and after a while, Ichigo finally arrives at his cold, shadowy house. He enters it, creating the only noise in the house, walking up the stairs towards his bedroom and plunging onto his bed.
He stares upon the ceiling and sighs, rolling onto his side, and as he does his eyes glance at the photo of him with his parents, a momentary sadness embraces his eyes. When he was a kid, his parents had died in a car crash, unfortunately taking their lives in the process, which left him now alone along with the empty darkness of the house ever since. After so much time spending alone he got used to it however he still feels gloomy as he observes other happy families which he wishes he could have.
As the moon shines brightly in the sky, Ichigo's mind finally falls into a deep slumber after deep thinking for so long.
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