Hello and welcome to chapter 13. Last time, we took a break from the main story and focused on what was going on between Ichigo and Rangiku's Zanpakuto, Zangetsu and Haineko, ever since the Fishbone D incident. This chapter however will get us back on track, picking up from where chapter 11 left off. Now without further ado, let the chapter begin.

Chapter 13

Unlock! The Power of the Soul Reaper

At Masaki's grave, Ichigo had been given encouragement from his father and was listening to Tōshirō's story.

"I learned something: that if you keep it all inside, it just makes you weak," Tōshirō told him. "I know you're trying to be strong, but sometimes, you have to share your feelings with those around you. All of those things that make you happy or sad, you should share them with the ones you love, your friends and your family."

Tōshirō then left the scene, but not before having one conversation with Rangiku.

"I'm glad he didn't die today," Rangiku started.

"He's something else." Tōshirō nodded his head. "As we both know, the power a Soul Reaper possesses is determined by his life force. His potential is frightening, to say the least. It might even surpass the Head Captain's."

Rangiku's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"I'm still surprised to find that Captain Shiba is alive." Tōshirō looked in the direction Isshin went before returning his gaze towards Ichigo. "Let alone that he has a family."

"Speaking of which, I noticed you eyeing one of Ichigo's sisters earlier." Rangiku smirked. "Are you interested in her?"

Tōshirō turned his eyes to his lieutenant. "You're one to tease. What about you and Ichigo?"

Rangiku blushed. "Huh? Captain, there's nothing going on between us. Well… not now, at least."

Why the hell did I just say that?

"Anyway, it's time for me to head back to the Soul Society," Tōshirō told her. "It would seem like your time here with Ichigo has changed you, Rangiku. You're not as lazy as you used to be."

"Oh, give it a rest," Rangiku sighed. "Are you going to report all of this to the Head Captain?"

"He'll find out eventually," Tōshirō pointed out. "My initial report is that Grand Fisher got away, but he will be back, but you managed to wound him, at least. Good luck, Rangiku."

Tōshirō then disappeared back to the Soul Society to give his report.

After he left, Rangiku watched as Ichigo had his little moment with the other girls. While she was happy that they managed to help calm him down, a part of her felt left out, as if she should have been the one to say the things that Orihime, Tatsuki, Haruko, even Nel, had told him.

After he calmed down, Ichigo turned to Rangiku. "Are you listening, Rangiku? I want you to teach me the ways of the Soul Reaper. I want to become strong so I can continue to protect the innocent from Hollows. I must become strong enough to defeat any Hollow, especially this Grand Fisher. I can't face my mother again until I've killed him."

"Then are you ready to accept the burden of being a Soul Reaper, Ichigo?" Rangiku tested his resolve. "I warn you: once you accept the burden, there's no going back. You have to commit yourself to save every Soul, including those who have been turned into Hollows."

Knowing that Rangiku was right, Ichigo took a deep breath before answering, "I already have, and I'll do whatever it takes."

Rangiku then jumped back down to Ichigo's level and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Then get some rest, Ichigo. We start at dawn."

"Okay, but where are you two going to train?" Tatsuki asked.

Yoruichi answered that. "No need to worry. I know just the place."

In another city, a tall and lean-built man with fair skin, brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair kept combed back down to the nape of his neck. was having a drink at a bar. He had had a long day and was trying to get the events out of his head.

"Can I get you another one, sir?" said the bartender.

The man finished his drink before replying, "No, I'm going to go."

The man then walked out of the bar and walked through the streets, his hands in his pockets. As he walked, someone called him out by name.

"Hello, Ginjō Kūgo."

Ginjō turned his attention to the source of the call. Emerging from the shadows of an alleyway was another tall, fair-skinned man. This one had a lithe but muscular body, crimson eyes with thick black eyebrows that sharply arched upwards and progressed outwards from his brow with pointed tips extending off his face, a flat mouth, and a thin vertical scar on the left side of his chin that widened near the bottom, as well as white hair that was both shaggy and neatly cropped short as it flared upward and outward, with a horn-like tip sticking out on either side of his head.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ginjō?"

"Jin Kariya." Ginjō identified the man. "What brings you here to Naruki City?"

"Oh, I just thought I would hang about."

"Well, do it somewhere else." Ginjō narrowed his eyes while grinning. "You know what happened last time you were just 'hanging around'."

"Come now, Ginjō," Kariya chuckled. "Can't bygones be bygones?"

"A Bount like you has no place here." Ginjō kept his expression.

"And neither does a Fullbringer like you." Kariya countered. "Besides, I heard rumors that a new Substitute Soul Reaper has appeared in Karakura Town, so why haven't you gone after him?"

"I could ask you a similar question." Ginjō countered. "There are rumors of a Quincy, also in Karakura Town. Why haven't you gone after them?"

"Probably for the same reason why you're not going after the Substitute Soul Reaper."

There was a moment of silence.

"Whatever," Ginjō said, "but I warn you: when we do go after the Substitute, stay out of the way."

"Same with you when we go after the Quincy," Kariya warned him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I shall return to my mansion."

The two went their separate ways.

In Hueco Mundo, Grand Fisher and the other Hollows had merged into one giant 6-story tall Hollow. This new Hollow let out a loud roar that echoed throughout the Menos Forest.

Nearby, two female Arrancars were watching the event. One had long, black hair with two pigtails which reached down her back, a slender build, and pink eyes. The other had short, slick blonde hair with a slight fringe over her right eye. Her eyes were green.

"Wow, he actually became a Gillian," the pigtailed one commented. "And here I thought he was going to come to Lord Aizen to ask to be made into an Arrancar."

The blonde one smirked. "Perhaps, but what would you do if he actually became one, Loly?"

Loly giggled. "Probably make him into my lap dog or something. Anyway, let's get back to Los Noches. One more Gillian's nothing to report."

In the Soul Society, Tōshirō entered a room where a fair-skinned bald-headed old man was waiting for him. This old man had deep wrinkles, a hooked nose, pronounced cheekbones, red eyes, long eyebrows, a long mustache, and a hip-length white beard secured by a purple band crossing down it.

"Captain Hitsugaya, you have returned," said the old man. "What do you have to report?"

"Head Captain Yamamoto, unfortunately Grand Fisher has eluded us again," Tōshirō said. "My lieutenant found and cornered him, but due to outside interference, he escaped."

Yamamoto opened his eyes to this. "Outside interference?"

"Some humans got involved and they unintentionally gave Grand Fisher the opportunity he needed to get away," Tōshirō half-lied.

"I see," said Yamamoto. "And what of your lieutenant?"

"Rangiku is fine," Tōshirō told him. "However, she has requested to stay in the World of the Living for a while longer."

Back at Kurosaki Clinic, everyone was in bed after a long day. As usual, Ichigo was in the bottom bunk with Rangiku and Orihime, Tatsuki was in the top bunk, Haruko was in the pullout bed, and Yoruichi was lying in her cat bed. The only one who needed a place to sleep was Nel, as she was a newcomer. Not wanting to waste time, Tatsuki agreed to let Nel sleep with her for the night until they could figure out what to do with her. By now, everyone had changed into their nightwear, all consisting of matching pants and button shirts (and a night cap in Ichigo's case). Ichigo's were yellow with red polka dots, Orihime's were pink with magenta sleeves and trees on it, Rangiku's were orange with black sleeves, Tatsuki's were light yellow with orange sleeves, and Haruko's were white with a blue cross on the back and front and blue sleeves.

At that moment, Ichigo turned to face Rangiku and vice versa.

"Rangiku, thanks for helping me, even when I didn't want it," Ichigo whispered. "And, sorry I didn't listen to your advice."

"Honestly, Ichigo, you should be more careful when you face Hollows, especially ones as strong as Grand Fisher," Rangiku whispered. "You almost got yourself killed out there. I was so worried about losing you. From now on, try working smarter, not harder."

"I'll try," Ichigo complied.

Wait a minute, 'worried about losing you'? Rangiku thought. Sure, Ichigo is my student, but when did… Oh, I'm overthinking this. We're just teacher and student, nothing more… No, that's not true. We're friends.

What's up with her? Ichigo raised an eyebrow. She must be deep in thought for some reason. Come to think of it, she has been a good teacher to me. Not great, but still good enough, and now she'll teach me more about being a Soul Reaper tomorrow. But what's this feeling I get whenever I'm near her?

Ichigo then noticed something. Wait a minute, I think I'm blushing.

Ichigo touched his face. Oh crap, I am blushing!

Rangiku noticed Ichigo's blush and smiled. Ichigo is so cute when he blushes. It makes me want to… Wait a minute…

Rangiku touched her face. Oh crap, now I'm blushing!

Ichigo and Rangiku turned towards each other, noticing each other's blush. They then chuckled it off, quietly so as to not disturb the others.

When they were done, Ichigo suddenly asked, "Rangiku, can I use your cleavage as a pillow?"

Rangiku raised an eyebrow then giggled again. "Why would you ask that, you little pervert? You've been using my rack as a pillow ever since we met."

"I know," Ichigo acknowledged. "But those other times, I did it without your consent and while we were both asleep. This time, I want your permission. I don't want to end up like Kon."

"You're so silly Ichigo." Rangiku smiled and shimmied her hands to his head. "But since you asked so nicely, go ahead."

Ichigo snuggled his face into Rangiku's cleavage, much to her amusement and pleasure. Rangiku wrapped her arms around her student's head like… She wasn't sure what it was like, but she liked it, in the same way she liked, rubbing her hands into his spiky orange hair while she was at it. Rangiku was starting to sigh with enjoyment until she noticed something.

"Uh… What are you guys looking at?"

The others took notice of Ichigo snuggling with Rangiku and all showed a variety of reactions. Orihime's eyes were so wide that they almost popped out of their sockets. Yoruichi had taken on her true form and smirked. Tatsuki narrowed her eyes in slight disapproval, Haruko had a blank stare, and Nel was just confused. Ichigo looked and saw these expressions himself and immediately got a panicked look on his face.

"Uh, I don't know how much of that you saw…"

"Oh, we saw all of it, Ichigo, you naughty boy," Yoruichi teased in a seductive tone.

"Ichigo, why wouldn't you snuggle with me?" Orihime pressed her index fingers together. "I mean… If you want to…"

Haruko continued her dead-eyed stare. Her brain was still rebooting.

Nel jumped headfirst into Ichigo's abs, blowing out his lungs.

"GYA!"

"Don't forget about Nel," she said sternly.

All the girls gasped. "NEL!"

Nel looked at the others, confused. "What? Did Nel do something wrong?"

"Let's just say that Ichigo's going to be feeling that in the morning." Tatsuki turned her attention to Haruko. "Hey, Haruko, since we're all awake, are you going to explain to us what all of that was back there?"

Haruko blinked, then addressed her. "Could you please be more specific?"

"When we were fighting the Grand Fisher, you used some sort of bracelet and grew a bow from it. Afterwards, you started shooting blue arrows at him."

Haruko took a deep breath before answering, "I guess there's no point in hiding it. The truth is, I'm not an ordinary human. I'm a special human known as a Quincy."

"What's a Quincy?"

"Well, Orihime, we were originally spiritually aware humans, no different than you, Ichigo and Tatsuki." Haruko explained, crossing her arms (and pushing up her bust). "We mainly used bows and arrows as our weapon of choice. Like Soul Reapers, our mission was to defeat Hollows, but there's a big difference."

"What kind of difference?" Ichigo groaned, still feeling the pain from Nel tackling him.

Yoruichi sighed. "It's a difference of whether to cleanse Hollows or just kill them. Soul Reapers seek to purify Hollows with their Zanpakutō, allowing them to enter the Soul Society, unless they were like the Shrieker, and would be sent to Hell as punishment for their crimes. But the Quincies believe that Hollows deserve only destruction."

Everyone gasped.

Haruko defended herself. "I perfectly acknowledge my misgivings and I'm aware that you all have reason not to trust me. But please, try to judge me for who I am rather than condemn me for a crime my entire race as a whole has committed."

There was a moment of silence.

Ichigo broke the ice. "Look, we've all had a long day today and we should get some rest. We'll continue this in the morning."

Everyone agreed and went to sleep.

In the Soul Society, a man was watching Ichigo's battle with the Grand Fisher on a video screen. While the battle got messy with the inclusion of Tatsuki, Haruko, Nel, and Rangiku intervening, he was impressed with what he saw.

His grinning silver-haired partner barged in. "I see you've been keeping an eye on the battle that unfolded. Then again, you did add that feature into Grand Fisher's Lure shortly before his encounter with the boy's mother."

The man smirked at his guest. "Waste not, want not. I was surprised to find any remnants of her at all."

Gin smirked back.

The next day, Ichigo and the girls woke up early and made their way to Urahara's Shop.

"Okay, so let me get this straight." Tatsuki had just heard about what happened to the Quincies. "You guys wiped out the Quincy race because they were upsetting the balance between the World of the Living and the Soul Society?"

"Unfortunately." Rangiku nodded sadly. "The number of souls between the two worlds doesn't change. They just exchange places from the World of the Living to the Soul Society and back. And because the Quincies destroy Hollows completely, if they had continued to destroy Hollows, the balance between the two worlds would have collapsed. It would have meant the apocalypse."

Haruko adjusted her glasses. "To be fair, the Soul Reapers did try to warn us, but we wouldn't listen, and that's what ultimately led to our downfall."

Orihime wiped tears from her eyes. "That's so sad."

Yoruichi, back in her true form, patted Orihime on the head. "Ancient history, Orihime. Don't let it get to you."

Upon arrival they were all greeted by Kisuke.

"Welcome everyone! So nice to see you all. What brings you here?"

Yoruichi rolled her eyes at this. Come on, Kisuke, you already know why we're here.

Rangiku didn't want to waste any time so she got right to the point. "Yoruichi told us that you have a training ground that we can use."

Kisuke covered his face with his fan. "A training ground, you say? In a candy store?"

"Knock it off, Kisuke, you know very well what she's talking about," Yoruichi butted in.

"Okay, okay, I'll tone it down, Yoruichi." Kisuke waved his fan at his best friend. "Loosen up a little. Just follow me."

Kisuke led the group into his shop and towards a trapdoor with a ladder. He then jumped down into the hole and Yoruichi followed right after. The others just used the ladder, though Tatsuki had to stop Orihime from jumping in. Once they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a subterranean training ground with rocks and trees. The walls and ceiling were colored to look like the sky.

"No way. This place is amazing." Kisuke acted like he was surprised again. "Who would have guessed that all this time, this miracle of science and genius was under my store?"

"Ugh." Yoruichi tipped her head up at the ceiling. "Stroke it somewhere else, Kisuke."

"Forget the acting." Ichigo crossed his arms. "Obviously, you knew this place was down here, but I will admit it's impressive."

"We can admire the decor later, Ichigo," Rangiku told him. "Let's not forget why we're here."

"Okay, okay, let's just get on with it, this training session or whatever you call it." Ichigo put his pinky into his ear to clean it.

Rangiku stomped her foot, getting Ichigo's attention. "Don't take this lightly, Ichigo. You barely managed to escape being killed in your battle with Grand Fisher and I warn you, when or if you face him again, he'll be even stronger than he was last time. With an attitude like that and your current level, you can't possibly defeat him."

Ichigo glared at Rangiku. "Then let's stop wasting time and get on with it!"

"Always be careful what you ask for." Kisuke pulled up his cane and struck Ichigo with the bottom end, which had the same symbol as Rangiku's glove.

The moment the cane hit Ichigo, he popped out of his body in his Soul Reaper from.

"Okay, now let's get started," said Rangiku.

But Ichigo was confused. "Wait a minute, how's this going to work?"

Rangiku explained. "To start off, I want you to take your Zanpakutō and run it through me."

This news shocked everyone, except for Kisuke and Yoruichi who caught on to what she was talking about.

"Rangiku, are you crazy?"

"Orihime's right," Tatsuki said. "If Ichigo runs that giant blade through you, won't you die?"

"Not quite," Yoruichi explained. "When Ichigo became a Soul Reaper, Rangiku ran her own sword through his being. Doing so transferred some of her powers to Ichigo, but the process left her with only half of her own Soul Reaper powers."

"And up until now, you've only been using the Soul Reaper powers that I loaned to you," Rangiku pointed out. "But now, you must return the powers I loaned to you. From now on, you'll have to rely on your own Soul Reaper powers."

"My own Soul Reaper powers?" Ichigo's eyes widened upon hearing this until he remembered that his father was a Soul Reaper, too. "Oh, right. But how do I do that?"

"The same way I transferred my Soul Reaper powers to you." Rangiku continued. "Only instead of me running my Zanpakutō through the center of your being, you must now run your Zanpakutō through the center of mine."

Ichigo got the idea and positioned himself to start the process. "Then prepare yourself, Rangiku."

With her nod, Ichigo shoved his Zanpakutō into Rangiku's body. There was a huge flash of light and spirit energy. When the light faded, Rangiku was back in her Soul Reaper form and was now back at full power. Ichigo, on the other hand, lost his Soul Reaper altair and now only had a white t-shirt and dark-blue pants identical to the ones he was wearing in his human form today. But to make matters worse, he had a chain of fate and he found it hard to breathe.

"Ichigo!" Orihime and Tatsuki tried to run to his aid, but were stopped when Yoruichi stretched her arms out in front of them.

"It's hard to breathe when you're in the form of a soul, isn't it, Ichigo?" Kisuke commented. "Right now, your Soul Sleep, which is the wellspring of your spirit energy, and your soul chain, the booster, have been destroyed."

"In other words, your soul is like any ordinary human with no spiritual power," Yoruichi added.

Ichigo mustered up a question. "Okay, so how does that help me unlock my own Soul Reaper powers?"

"This was all a side effect of you transferring the powers I loaned you back to me." Rangiku crossed her arms. "But that also shows how reliant you were on the powers I loaned you. Now before we can proceed, we have to first unlock the spiritual power that you've been neglecting to use since the Fishbone D incident."

"Okay, just tell me what to do."

"Be patient, Ichigo. I'm getting to that." Rangiku disarmed herself of her Zanpakutō. "Now here's your first lesson. You must go up against me one on one. The lesson is over when one of us is no longer able to continue the match."

"Me vs. you," Ichigo gasped.

"A little slow on the uptake today." Rangiku got into a fighting stance. "Just to make it fair, I won't use my Zanpakutō. I'd suggest going for a knockout punch, if you can."

"Okay, but this isn't going to be fair to you." Ichigo smirked. "I've trained with Tatsuki and I know how to dodge surprise attacks thanks to my dad."

"Don't get overconfident, Ichigo." Rangiku smirked back at him. "Just because we Soul Reapers primarily use swords, doesn't mean we're slouches at hand-to-hand."

Ururu showed up with some protective gear. "Please put on all this protective gear, Ichigo. I don't want you to die at anyone's hands. Same with you, Ms. Matsumoto."

Ichigo looked at the protective gear, which consisted of a white headband and matching white gloves. Seeing that he might need this protective gear since he had no idea how strong Rangiku was at full-power, Ichigo put it on and got into a fighting stance. "Okay, I'm ready."

Rangiku put on her gear as well and with that, the match began. Rangiku charged at Ichigo with surprising speed. Before he knew it, she was just inches away and was about to deliver a right strike to his face. Ichigo barely managed to duck his head at the last moment, though a glancing blow still sent him flying a few meters away. He didn't stop until he landed on his front.

"What's the matter, Ichigo?" Rangiku chuckled. "For someone who practiced martial arts, I expected more."

"Yikes, she's savage." Tatsuki covered her mouth.

Ichigo raised his head. "Oh give me a break, will yah? I'm still getting used to moving around as an ordinary soul."

"You'll have time for a break later, Ichigo." Rangiku thrusted her hands forward. "Right now, focus on the task at hand."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what are you doing?"

Rangiku generated an orb of crimson energy from her hands before firing it at Ichigo.

"HADO 31: SHAKKAHŌ!"

"Oh crap!" Ichigo quickly got back on his feet and jumped to the right, barely escaping Rangiku's attack. "What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"SHAKKAHŌ!"

Rangiku fired another Shakkahō orb at Ichigo, giving him no time to rant. Getting back on his feet, Ichigo started running for his life as Rangiku continued to use Shakkahō over and over again. Each time she fired, Ichigo barely managed to avoid it, jumping either to the left or to the right.

"Damn it Rangiku." Ichigo panted. "How am I supposed to even get close to you if you keep firing those fireballs at me?"

Rangiku smirked. "Very simple, Ichigo. You must clench your hands onto your headband."

Ichigo did just that. "Like this?"

"Yep." Rangiku tried to hold back a laugh. "Now yell as loud as you can, 'Amazing headband of justice in place. Amazing armor of justice, protect me now.' Go on, say it."

"The amazing headband of–what?" Ichigo started, but stopped himself upon realizing something. "Ah, that's just stupid."

Rangiku took the opportunity to attack again. She pointed her right index finger at Ichigo, gathered high-density spiritual energy, generated a concentrated bolt of lightning, and discharged it.

"HADO 4: BYAKURAI!"

Ichigo barely noticed the lightning bolt just in time and jumped out of the way. It also helped that he heard Rangiku call out the technique.

"Seriously though, that really is stupid." Tatsuki scowled. "Why are you guys trying to get him to say it?"

"I'll explain that." Yoruichi whispered the explanation to Tatsuki.

Tatsuki covered her mouth.

"Alright, I'll say it." While still running, Ichigo placed his hands on his headband and said the chant. "Here goes nothing. Amazing headband of justice in place. Amazing armor of justice, protect me."

At that moment, Rangiku, Yoruichi and Tatsuki all laughed, which caught Ichigo's attention.

"Well, what do you know?" Kisuke covered his mouth with his fan. "I can't believe he actually fell for it."

Ichigo was going to ask 'what's so funny', but it didn't take long for him to figure it out. "Hey!"

"And you fell for it, hook, line and sinker!" Yoruichi was laughing so hard that she dropped to her knees and held her arms against her gut.

Tatsuki had her cellphone out. "I-I-I think I'll make that my new ringtone."

"Hey, don't you dare!"

"BYAKURAI!"

Rangiku fired another lightning bolt, forcing Ichigo to dodge again.

"Amazing armor of justice my ass," Ichigo complained. "More like armor of junk. Running for my life is the only thing that's saving my life."

But then it hit him. Wait a minute. If I'm avoiding her attacks, it must mean my speed has returned, and that means maybe I can dodge her attacks.

Ichigo turned around and prepared to charge at Rangiku, head-on.

He's figured it out. Rangiku smiled.

"Here it goes." Ichigo charged at Rangiku. "Here I come, Rangiku!"

Rangiku smirked. "Don't get overconfident, Ichigo."

Rangiku fired another Shakkahō at her student. "HADO 31: SHAKKAHŌ!"

But just as the blast was about to reach Ichigo, he moved to the right and kept running.

Tatsuki was impressed. "Wow."

Yoruichi and Kisuke smirked. "Huh."

Tessai chuckled.

Orihime and Haruko cheered. "Alright Ichigo!"

He dodged my attack. Rangiku smirked harder. "Good job, Ichigo, but let's see if you can keep it up!"

Rangiku fired more Shakkahō blasts at Ichigo, but Ichigo was able to dodge every one of them. As Ichigo got closer, Rangiku switched spells.

"HADO 4: BYAKURAI!"

Switching spells, Rangiku fired lightning bolts at Ichigo, which were harder to dodge especially at close range. But even with the odds stacked against him, Ichigo still managed to dodge.

I can do it. Ichigo soon got close enough to throw punches at his teacher, forcing her back as she was now on the defensive. I won't aim for her face. I'll just give her a tap on her headgear to make her back off.

Wow, he's not giving me room to counter attack. Rangiku dodged to the left or to the right, depending on which fist was thrown at her. Obviously, he's taking the fighting skills he's honed over the years and combining them with the speed he's regained. If I wasn't holding back, I'd have clobbered him by now.

But Rangiku was paying so much attention to the fight that she lost track of her footing and somehow tripped on a rock. Oh crap!

As Rangiku fell to the floor, Ichigo tripped on the same rock and fell on top of her.

"Looks like I've got you pinned, Rangiku." Ichigo suddenly felt something big and soft in his hands. "Huh?"

Ichigo looked and realized that his hands were on Rangiku's breasts. If that wasn't bad enough, he squeezed them as he pushed himself up, which made her moan a bit.

Ichigo frantically let go and got back on his feet before waving his hands defensively. "I didn't mean that!"

"Honestly Ichigo, if you wanted to touch my boobs, you should have at least asked for my permission first." Rangiku picked herself up. "But now, I'm going to have to punish you."

"Uh oh…"

"HADŌ 58: TENRAN!"

Putting her hand in front of her, Rangiku created a widening tornado-like blast, which she fired towards Ichigo.

Ichigo, paralyzed by fear, was sent flying right into a boulder. The tornado pinned him to the boulder and pushed him so hard into it that he penetrated it. When the wind died down, Ichigo was stuck, unable to move.

"Well done, Rangiku." Kisuke clapped. "What a fine teacher you are. But let me ask you something. After you've knocked your pupil senseless, how do you expect him to remember the lesson?"

Rangiku's eyes widened upon realizing she went overboard. "Oops…"

"That's a laugh, Kisuke, coming from you." Yoruichi put her hands on her hips. "You would have done something similar to this if you were teaching him."

"Maybe, but not to this extent." Kisuke tipped his hat. "Just look around."

Everyone looked and saw all the damage Rangiku caused from her Kidō spells. There were large craters everywhere she fired her Shakkahō and Byakurai spells, with the rubble strewn about by the last Tenran attack.

Rangiku herself was astonished, especially since this was not what she had expected. "Did I do all of this?"

"Yep, you did," Kisuke confirmed.

"But, I was holding back." Rangiku looked at her hands. "There's no way my Kidō spells should have been that powerful."

"It's probably the side effect from when Ichigo gave back the Soul Reaper powers he borrowed from you," Kisuke theorized. "You've gotten too used to fighting with a handicap."

"Oh no!" Haruko gasped in realization.

"What's wrong, Haruko?" Tatsuki shot a look at her.

"Rangiku's last attack actually hit Ichigo." Haruko explained. "And since her other attacks did this much damage to the training ground, what if that means…"

Rangiku, Orihime, Yoruichi, Tatsuki, and Nel all gasped upon realizing what Haruko realized.

Ichigo appeared in this inner world where Old Man Zangetsu was waiting for him. Upon his arrival, Old Man Zangetsu tried to get his attention.

"Ichigo, can you hear me?"

Ichigo stirred and awoke to a city slanted on its side. "Where am I?"

"Over here."

Ichigo looked behind himself and saw Old Man Zangetsu standing atop a pole. "So tell me, who are you?"

"Who am I?" Old Man Zangetsu questioned. "What are you talking about? It's me…"

Before Old Man Zangetsu could say his name, his voice was cut off for some reason.

Ichigo was confused. What the hell? I couldn't hear his name.

"I see. I cannot reach you?"

Before anything else could be said, Ichigo was suddenly dragged out of his inner world.

Ichigo awoke upon feeling something liquid poor all over his wounds. It didn't take him long to realize what was happening.

"EWWW! NEL!"

"At least your injuries are healed now, Ichigo."

Ichigo scoffed at Tatsuki's comment. "Yeah, but I don't feel comfortable with getting puked on or drooled on all the time to be healed."

"Nel doesn't see what the problem is."

"I have my own healing ability, Ichigo." Orihime rubbed the back of her head. "I unlocked it during the battle against Grand Fisher yesterday."

"Then why didn't you use it?"

Tatsuki backed up Orihime. "Don't you think she would have done that if she could?"

Rangiku sighed. "Anyway Ichigo, sorry about how I reacted earlier."

"It's okay," Ichigo sighed.

"I'm surprised that you reacted to Ichigo groping you like that though," Tatsuki pointed out. "I mean, you constantly shove his face into your cleavage and he's snuggled his head against it like a pillow repeatedly, even if it's not intentional on his part. Not to mention that you're flirting with him, so what's the big deal?"

Rangiku blushed sheepishly. "Oh… I don't know. Force of habit, I guess?"

The talk was cut short when Kisuke clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Congratulations. I pronounce lesson one cleared."

Ichigo was confused. "What the hell are you talking about? I lost."

Yoruichi giggled. "No one said you had to actually win to clear the lesson."

"Keep in mind Ichigo that I was holding back throughout the entire lesson." Rangiku reminded her student/roommate. "If I was going all out, you would have been killed on the spot."

Ichigo swallowed the lump in his throat.

"By the way, are you still having difficulty breathing?"

Ichigo took notice of what Kisuke was referring to. "No, now that you mention it."

"That means you've successfully unlocked your spirit energy." Rangiku pointed out. "The entire point of this lesson was to determine in a one-shot battle whether or not you could dodge my attacks."

"You see Ichigo, spirit energy increases a lot faster when the soul is in danger of being destroyed." Yoruichi added. "We just needed to find out if you'd be able to raise yours fast enough to dodge a fatal blow."

"And if I hadn't succeeded?"

"You would have died."

"What the hell, Rangiku!" Ichigo started ranting. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Rangiku ruffled his hair. "I had faith in you, my silly student!"

Ichigo blushed at this, looking more like his namesake. Rangiku followed in suit, looking more like her namesake.

The moment was interrupted by Orihime's growling stomach. "Eh heh heh heh heh, sorry, but I'm getting a little peckish."

Everyone laughed.

"And school will begin soon," Tatsuki checked her watch. "We better get going."

"But, what about Nel?" Ichigo looked at the Hollow child. "She still doesn't have a Gigai so she can't eat with us and she certainly can't come to school with us."

Kisuke interjected. "I'll take care of that."

"You four go on ahead, I'll look after her." Yoruichi offered.

Ichigo and the others accepted this and left for school.

And that was Chapter 13. Now Ichigo's training has truly begun and Rangiku's the one training him. On top of that, Rangiku's regained her powers, but now they're stronger than before. Their training will continue in the next one or two chapters.

Chapter 14: Zanpakutō and Hollow Mask