Chapter 7: Kōsō Mūn

Shout-out to The Keeper of Worlds for the name of Ichigo's zanpakuto in this story. You kick ass man.

As Ichigo stood there in front of the still stunned shopkeeper, he couldn't help but noticed that he was back as Rukia with a few adjustments now. Ichigo looked to his arms and saw the familiar slender frame of his body and smiled. He could feel the changes he had went through as he changed back, but to finally see the results felt good to the teen turned soul reaper. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, relieved that he could remember everything from before. His life as himself to the point where he met Rukia and she imprinted her soul onto him, and her memories as well. He took the time to look through who that black haired man from earlier was and was disheartened when he found out that he used to Rukia's superior and good friend. The memory of his death by her hands caused Ichigo to shudder and frown at this. No wonder Rukia took a liking to him so fast, he looked exactly like Kaien Shiba, sans the hair color.

"Ichigo?" Kisuke started in a cautious tone, breaking the girl of her thoughts.

Ichigo looked up towards him with a smirk of her own and folded her arms over her chest, which actually grew a cup size to her surprise. "What's the matter Hat-n-Clogs?" She started with a bit of a cocky tone that was indeed Rukia's voice only a little deeper. "Not what you were expecting?"

"No." The man admitted as he still cautiously approached her. 'His spirit energy is much stronger than I thought it would be. If anything, his training here for ten days would be more than enough to face a high ranking lieutenant, maybe even a captain.' He though to himself. "Well then," he began again as he readied his own blade, "shall we start your training Ichigo?"

Ichigo smirked as she reached for her own zanpakuto. When she pulled though, she was beyond disappointed that it was only the handle and pommel much like how it was when Byakuya attacked her. 'What the hell?' She thought to herself as she stared in disappointment at what she held in her hand.

Kisuke noticed that this was not what Ichigo was expecting and had decided to gloat a bit to get a rise out of her. "My, my Ichigo. And here I thought that large sword was to compensate for something." He smirked in his usual, jovial tone only to notice that she was not paying any attention towards him at all.

'Why do I still have this?' Ichigo said to herself as well as the one within her mind. This didn't feel right to her. Not the idea of having no blade to this handle and pommel, but the fact that it was still Rukia's.

'You know why it's like this Ichigo.' She spoke to Ichigo once more in a bored and slightly irritated tone. 'You know exactly what you have to do.'

Ichigo nodded.

'Never run from your enemy, or you will be struck down.'

Ichigo's gaze fell, confusing the already intrigued man in front of her.

'Never surrender, for your resolve will shatter like glass.'

The very air around the raven haired soul reaper began to slowly pick up. Kisuke could feel the difference and told the children behind him to get back.

'When you strike, you strike to kill.'

Ichigo's grip on the handle tightened. Her grip was so strong that the handle started to crack.

'When you defend someone, you WILL not let them die.'

Her reiatsu rose and swirled around her in a mixture of black and lavender.

'Your resolve will never waiver.'

Small ice shards and snowflakes began to form around her.

'You will never doubt yourself again.'

The very air around her began to freeze along with the ground, causing Kisuke to take a more serious stance.

'You will never allow yourself to lose what makes you strong.'

Ichigo grasped the handle with both hands in a kendo stance.

'Now, say my name, Ichigo.'

Ichigo raised her head as she looked towards Kisuke with glowing lavender eyes. The energy and the spread of the ice suddenly stopped as Ichigo spoke the name of her zanpakuto.

"Kōsō Mūn."

Almost instantaneously, the energy from before gathered around her once more and fired high into the air, covering her entirely. Kisuke widened his eyes as he quickly raised his shield to block the wave of energy coming from his student. He could feel the air around him chill his very form as the cold was overwhelming even with his shield up.

The energy continued to rise and spread all throughout the entire training field. It began to cover everything in a solid layer of ice and snow, much like a certain captain in the soul society, but this was on a different level. The ice wasn't a white or lavender color like the shop owner had expected. It was a solid black with an odd red/lavender energy coursing through it in sporadic patterns.

Eventually, the energy stopped and the entire training field from the ground to the ceiling was covered in the black ice. Kisuke could feel his feet was nearly encased as well as the ground. He quickly broke free and dropped his shield, noticing that it went from a vibrant ruby red, to pitch black. He looked over to where Ichigo was standing and watched as the smoke began to clear. Disregarding the smoke from the energy released, it was hard to see anything as the ice covered the training field in what felt like darkness. He took a breath and saw the vapor trail escape his lips. The shop keeper was astonished at how quickly Ichigo's energy was able to freeze everything.

'I wonder how strong his Bankai will be if he unlocks it at some point?' He said to himself as he was still in awe of just how powerful Ichigo's zanpakuto was.

A noise brought him from his thoughts. He looked out into the cold darkness and could make out the silhouette of the cause for his training field's current state. From what he could see, Ichigo was knelt down for some reason and holding something that was stabbed into the ground. He tried to adjust and could finally see just what was in front of him. To say he was a tad bit disappointed was an understatement, especially after everything he had seen just from Ichigo speaking his zanpakuto's name.

Ichigo was knelt down as she had her zanpakuto in hand and planted into the ground. At first glance, it wasn't like her first zanpakuto. It wasn't large and bulky, nor was it larger than her entire body. It was a simple katana with a simple handle and pommel. It looked like any other zanpakuto from a far, but up close was a whole other story.

The handle was covered in a lavender layer of ice that would be nearly impossible to hold, yet Ichigo had a firm grip on it, ensuring that it would not fall from his grasp any time soon. The pommel was a darker lavender color and circular in shape. It looked normal enough. Then you had the blade and that was a whole other story. The blade seemed to be a normal one at first, but upon closer inspection, the blunt side was a clear lavender color that had some kind of frosted air coming off of it. The sharp side though was completely different. The edge from the base to the tip was completely black as Ichigo slowly pulled her zanpakuto from the ground.

The moment the blade was released from the ground completely, the black ice started to crack at the epicenter. The cracks spread to the rest of the training grounds and soon enough, it all began to shatter away. Kisuke watched as his training ground lost all of the ice around it and looked much like his original design. He marveled at just what he saw as he took another look towards Ichigo's zanpakuto. He noticed the difference from his earlier assumptions.

'This must be Ichigo's shikai.' He said to himself as he examined the blade closely. 'Interesting. I can feel the energy flowing off of it, but something feels completely different than before.'

"Alright." Ichigo started as she stood up straight and looked towards the man that was going to be training her for ten days. "Lets do this Hat-n-Clogs."

Once again, big thanks to The Keeper of Worlds for the name of Ichigo's zanpakuto. I think this fits exactly what I wanted for this character very well. It means Frost Moon just in case some of you were wondering.

The next chapter will have some action in it as well as showing Uryu's progress.

Stay awesome, stay safe, and as always...

PEACE!