Reaper of Rome chapter 6- reunions and new milestones and school days
This chapter will cover how Ichigo makes it out of the last battle alive, his next training milestone and Rukia's past sins.
I will cover the events of 41-42 with parts of 43-45, 46-49 and 51
I will skip most of the content that doesn't involve Ichigo and Rukia directly.
Rukia pov
As I heard the sounds of battle end, it was followed by a scream that sounded like Hanataro and I just wondered what happened. I also wondered who exactly was fighting and if both parties lived. The other sounds I heard was that of a girl that sounded like Yachiru and remembered the rumor about Zaraki not knowing the name of his zanpakuto. It wasn't much longer into those thoughts that the door to my cell opened and revealed Hanataro and somebody I saw only as a boy but now was grown up. as the young soul reaper came into the cell, the man just looked at me in horror. I then looked at the symbol on his outfit and knew he was from the Shiba clan. He then said something that made me figure out, he has Kaien's younger brother. He was there when I returned his brother's body.
but the next thing I knew I felt a huge pressure. I then soon learned it was my brother and he wasn't happy. The man of the Shiba clan then asked why he should risk his life for me. Hanataro was then about to face my brother to save me. but then the Shiba man Ganju took his place and was about to fight my brother.
Ichigo pov
Next thing I knew, I was in a house with the black cat, and he told me "It took all your ambrosia stash and your strong life force to bring you back. you won't be able to get into a fight like that again and heal as fast anytime soon. The cat then showed me a broken mask and said it did most of the damage to me. but I didn't know I had got it back after the healer threw it away.
It was after that, the cat took the mask from me and then revealed he wasn't in his true form. after that he changed and revealed he was really a woman and had dark skin, long purple hair and a body that made me blush. I was shocked seeing her body full on as female when the cat had a male voice. She then explained she liked to mess with people by using the male voice and changing form. it was then a turned my earing into a silver towel and tossed it at her. she then said "wow, I didn't know you could make a towel like that." I then said, "I didn't know I could either." as she got dressed. She then asked me "is that the first time you saw a naked woman?" I didn't answer but I had seen a few naked girls before but none as mature or bold as she was. the only girl I wanted to see naked next was Rukia, I didn't really feel much about seeing her naked, but it didn't help my still unhealed injuries.
It was after that, I was asking who she was and her connection to the soul society but before she could answer, we felt a huge burst of spirit pressure and I knew instantly it was Byakuya, and I needed to save my friends from him even if I was in bad shape. I then used this strange wing device to fly to them and hope I could do something. He then proclaimed he was going to save me as we ended up getting into another fight as I wanted to kiss this man as our little argument ended due to my weakened state.
It was then my captain figured out that Ichigo looked a lot like Kaien as I wondered if there could be a family connection between Ganju, Ichigo and Kaien. But my brother was prepared to kill the man I likely loved. The two then started to battle and Ichigo even countered my brother's flash step attacks. But my brother was still too fast for Ichigo to catch him in his injured state. I was amazed by the sheer levels of growth Ichigo had made but part of me knew Ichigo wasn't strong enough yet. By brother was then about to release his blade to finish Ichigo but a strange dark-skinned woman in orange stopped him before he could, and my brother even seemed to know her. Ichigo called the woman Yoruichi, and she used her hand to stab my potential lover with what my captain called a drug to knock him out.
It was then the woman, and my brother basically played a game of high-speed tag but even while carrying the body of Ichigo she was still faster. Then Yoruichi said to my brother "give me three days and this boy will surpass you in power. you can fight him again after that." It was then she ran off and then my brother walked off the scene and said he lost interest. I just wondered how Ichigo would get stronger in such a short time. It was then the two lieutenants of my squad came out as their captain called then got medical attention for Ganju and after that the strength drained out of me as I was barely awakened but taken back the cell with reluctance the male lieutenant of my squad. He then promised to help get me out. I the with the last of my strength asked him "why are you helping?" he replied "somebody murdered Aizen and Ganju here might know who it was. I am also helping him because he tried to save you. I saw how you got along with that boy and am rooting for you two." it was then before I could say anything the rest of my strength drained, and I passed out.
Rukia pov
I was prepared to fight my brother to save this Ganju man but my time in the cell had drained my power too much to stand up to him. when Ganju did end up facing my brother, the man had his arm slashed nearly instantly but my brother clearly wasn't taking him seriously as he released his shikai to attack and rip apart the Shiba man. With said attack, I could tell Ganju was down but still alive. It was my captain that stopped my brother from making the killing blow. My brother then revealed to my captain that he could use his full powers when the white-haired man said he couldn't.
It wasn't long after that, we felt another captain level spirit pressure and Ichigo flew down to me. he then checked on Hanataro and was about to save me. but I was too stunned to say anything to him, I wanted to ask him to save me and proclaim all my love for him. but I ended up calling him a fool and telling him to not face my brother. Even if his power had seemed to raise to my brother's level or close to it.
Ichigo pov
It was while I was passed out in the physical world, I got a dream vision from my mother saying "Ganju was taken for medical care and Uryu and Orihime are still safe. Also, your friend Chad is indeed a demigod, but the Legion is still pretty full for now and such Lupa won't come calling for him." It wasn't long after that that I woke up in the cave to learn the dark-skinned party pooper was out of shape from not fighting for over a hundred years and that made me wonder what history she had with Byakuya that long ago. But the drug she gave me didn't fully get out of my system until the moonlight of this world flooded the chamber.
When I fully got up, I said to her "if I hadn't learned from my mother my friends are safe. I might have attacked you." She then stated "so that's the deal with that moon beam that entered the cave. I didn't know Greek gods could come into the soul society." I replied, "next time I get to talk with a roman god, I will ask about that for you." It was then she flipped me over and said "you wouldn't have been able to win as you were, and I am not sure if Ganju or Rukia as they could get stronger fast enough. But can train you to be stronger."
She then took me a larger part of the cave and asked, "have you noticed your zanpakuto is in a constant released state." But I really hadn't noticed and replied with "I just assumed it took on a new form due to Byakuya and Urahara breaking the old sword. She then explained "that could be a reason why it is stuck in the first release state known as Shikai. But there is a level above that release known as Bankai and to become captain you must master both releases. All except Kenpachi Zaraki. He was strong enough without even releasing his blade. By gaining bankai you should get at minimum a power boost of ten. It would normally take ten years to master bankai, but I have a short cut that will reduce the time to three days.
Rukia pov
It was feeding time that I learned from the guard that Uryu and Orihime ended up defeating the nasty clown like captain Kurotsuchi but ended up capturing my captain Tosen to major injuries. But would be healed up and questioned after they recovered. It was then he mentioned missing my songs after I was executed. Then I wondered how Ichigo could get stronger in a few days, captain Ukatake seemed to feel he was close to captain level at least and how his blade was different I could tell Ichigo had at least master Shikai in a little under a month. I also wondered how my captain could get me out of this and what he may be willing to do to do so.
Ichigo pov
It was after that; the dark-skinned woman gave me a lesson on how to get shikai and going to my inner world was enough to unlock my shikai. Then she said to reach the next level, I would have to bring my zanpakuto out of my inner world and into the physical world and to fully master bankai you will need to force the spirit to submit." She then pulled out a strange human sized doll and said "this will force your zanpakuto spirit out of your inner world and if you can force him to submit in three days you can master bankai.
It was after Zangetsu spirit form came out and Yoruichi left my training to him. it was then he made a bunch of blades then said, "only one of these can defeat me and you will have to find it before I defeat you." It was then we began to clash with the blades over and over as I kept grabbing blades that barely lasted a few minutes.
Rukia pov
It was when dinner came that I learned about my friends in medical care and that Hanataro basically got chewed out. I also learned that Renji fought Ichigo and was imprisoned after it. Then I learned that Ichigo managed to defeat captain Zaraki not long after he defeated Renji. Then I learned that Renji recovered and escaped his prison to parts unknown. I also learned more of the people in my class were locked up for their reactions to the death of Aizen. I also learned the leaders of the tenth were imprisoned together with my friend and that might lead to the team breaking out.
Ichigo pov
It was in the struggles of the first day that I ended up getting knocked down hard. It was after I got up, we trained harder, but I kept breaking swords on the spirit. Then he told me I needed a blade specially made for combat and each of the breakable blades was part of my weakness. I basically had to figure out the best blade to use to overcome my inner weakness. I wondered if one or more of these was connected to my demigod side and if it was the one, I needed.
Rukia pov
It was during my time in the cell, I began to remember my times in soul reaper school. I remembered the fact that I got into the barely their class due to my level of hado control. I remembered that Renji sucked and hado but was much better in terms of swordsmanship than I was. I remembered all the friends we made. I remembered when captain Aizen first visited our school and the fact he was a fairly new captain and had only been in for a few years. I remembered Renji's first trip to the living world and how he and my other friends told me about how he was saved by Aizen.
It was after that I learned of even more escapes in the form of Hinamori and that she seemed to have gone insane over Aizen's death. I knew she had a major crush on Aizen but wasn't sure it was that bad. I just hoped she didn't get into any more trouble. The last thing I remembered was not long after that I was adopted into the Kuchiki clan but wasn't sure why it happened.
Ichigo pov
As the battle continued, I had made it to sword fifty-one and still hadn't found the right blade to complete my bankai. I then grabbed sword fifty-two and was nearly able to hit my sword spirit, but he escaped and broke the sword and smacked me away. but after that I got up and claimed another sword. I then saw the dark-skinned woman watch me as I advanced in power. I was making good progress with a single blade when spirit turned back into a doll and Yoruichi told me that was it for the first day and I would have to stop and rest.
The woman then guided me to a hot spring and in the bath, I learned it healed my injuries and even scars. It was while I was in the bath, Yoruichi was about to get in with me, but she ended up getting in the bath in cat form just to mess with me. it was while in the bath, I compared this chamber to the one under Urahara's shop. The talking cat Yoruichi then said "Kisuke and I modeled that chamber after this one. We used to play and train in this cave as kids. She let on that they both used to be soul reapers and she told me he used be the captain of squad twelve while she was the captain of squad two. it was after that I managed to get a few hours of sleep.
On waking up, I began to do the normal camp warmup workout. But after I finished, I couldn't find the shapeshifter, so I decided to use one of the last things Suletta made to draw her to me. It was a mouse robot that she hadn't fully tested. But it did end up working and got her to come.
Rukia pov
When the sun rose, I got the shock that my execution would end up being tomorrow, but I also learned there had been more battles in the Seireitei and Momo barely made it out alive. But the constant changing of the date didn't feel right. Part of me was thinking my execution was somebody's plot. I was wondering if there was a good reason for somebody wanting me dead.
Ichigo pov
When the dark-skinned woman did come, I began to train and make more progress with each blade. It was in the middle of said training that Renji burst into the chamber. But didn't want to fight and train to master bankai along with me. he gave me the news that I only had until noon tomorrow to finally master my bankai due to the exaction being moved up. it was then Renji revealed his zanpakuto spirit was a baboon with a snake tail, aka a nue.
When Yoruichi heard the news, she seemed ready to give up, but I said, "I am not even close to being ready, I work better under pressure." I knew to win, I would have to use my demigod powers and into my soul reaper powers and push myself to the limits.
Rukia pov
It was while I was waiting for the time to come, I decided to sleep. As I did, I remembered the day I had to kill Kaien and remembered how much he looked like Ichigo. It was then my dream took me back to when I first joined squad eleven and met the man, I had a crush on. Part of me believed I should be punished but the other part of me still wanted to get the answer from Ichigo.
I remembered how strange Kaien liked much fewer formal greetings were. I remembered how meeting with my brother always left me depressed by not meeting his expectations. But the Shiba man and my other squad mates rose my spirits. I also remember meeting Kaien's wife and both being happy for him but sad that I had no chance with him knowing that.
It was a little later that a team had to deal with a very dangerous hollow and Kaien's wife was on said team. It was a little bit later that only she came back alive. But it didn't take long to learn the reason she came back and that was because the hollow was a parasite that took over her body.
It wasn't long that we caught up to Miyako only to find the hollow burst out of her body and had to be killed. The battle ended my the lieutenant seeming to hurt the hollow only for it to enter and take over his body. when my captain's illness took him out of the battle, it took the last of the Shiba's man's will to fall on my zanpakuto and kill himself. I then had to be the one to deliver his body to Shiba clan property. There I met his sister and learned their cousin was the busy leader of another squad.
The next day came, and I was led out to my execution, but I could tell as I was being led not all was at peace in the Seireitei. I knew it would be a very long walk and take a decent amount of time to release the tool that would kill me.
Ichigo pov
It was that night Renji finally mastered his bankai and then told me "You are on the edge as well; I hope to see what you can do soon. He then left to see if he could save Rukia or at least make a difference." It was a few more hours before I finally defeated Zangetsu and gained my own bankai. But not long after that, I passed out and just hoped I would wake up in time.
Chapter end
The next chapter will cover Ichigo's clash while Rukia gets to experience the others clashes around as well. all around
But first Katerina will have to get closer to maria and have to meet with the other reincarnates in her school and deal with summer vacation.
For updates
week of 7/16/23 the hero becomes the villainess or not
week of 7/23/23 reaper of Rome
week of 7/30/23 the hero becomes the villainess or not
week of 8/6/23 reaper of Rome
week of 8/13/23 the hero becomes the villainess or not
dates subject to change
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