(Karakura High. Lunch Time)
It was the next day, all the damage was undone, Urahara and Yoruichi were planning the next training schedule and methods to account for Orihime and Tatsuki awakening to their own powers. Everything else went along as normal, the students went to school and the adults planned for what might come next. Ichigo had invited Uryu to lunch, despite protests from Keigo. All Ichigo said was, 'deal with it.'
"Hey Keigo." Ichigo called his cheerful friend. "Tell us a story." Keigo felt honored. Despite his suspicions, lunch actually had a rather lively atmosphere.
"Very well!" Keigo yelled out happily. "Let me regale you with the tale-"
"This should buy us the entire lunch period." Ichigo said, turning to Uryu. "What happened?"
"Father confirmed that it was definitely hollow bait that was used." They went to Urahara's to rest and recover. After Uryu's arms healed, he went to see if Ryuken had any information or guesses as to what had happened. "Pretty potent for the amount of hollows, but still nothing to summon even one Menos Grande."
"So the Vandenreich was behind that incident." Ichigo summarized. "But someone else capitalized on it."
"Indeed." They figured who had sent the Menos but didn't say anything. "What about you?" The Quincy asked after a moment of silence.
"What do you mean?" Ichigo responded.
"Your lady friends seemed more than a little angry at you after that whole 'powerless' thing. What happened?" Uryu asked. Normally he wouldn't care, but Ichigo needed to focus and if he was distracted by love troubles then they would both be in trouble.
"Well..."
(Flashback: Last Night)
"Tatsuki, I'm sor-" Ichigo tried to say as he was punched in the face, again, by his irate girlfriend. When her powers awakened, Ichigo wanted to apologize for telling her she was weak. He couldn't get a word in edgewise because she just kept punching him every time he said something.
"-and just where do you get off saying that I'm the one that needs protecting when I've fought your battles for you when we were kids!" She yelled, getting her knuckles healed by Orihime. Ichigo was very tough in spirit form. He didn't even bleed while Tatsuki's knuckles got bruised before Orihime started healing. "You were the biggest crybaby!"
"All Tatsuki wanted was to keep by your side, Meanie Ichi!" Orihime scolded with a pouty face. "You should know that better than anyone!"
"And Orihime's very gentle, but that doesn't mean you should push her to the side simply because she couldn't fight!" Tatsuki kept up. Isshin stopped by to pick up Ichigo while talking with Urahara about what happened earlier. "You better make this up to us in the biggest way you jerk!" Tatsuki glared as Ichigo realized that if he didn't say the right things, she would just punch him and hurt herself again.
"Fine." He said, relenting to his angry ladies. "How shall I pay for my sins?" Tatsuki grabbed his shihakusho and pulled him in close.
"This for starters." She grabbed the back of his head and crushed their lips together, shocking everyone but Orihime who took her turn once Tatsuki relented. Isshin was silently cheering the girls on in making his son a man while Urahara grabbed him a camera to commemorate the wonderful occasion.
"Tatsuki!" They heard a familiar yell as the former head of the Shihoin clan stormed over to her students. "What do you think you're doing?"
"We-we-we were just kissing our boyfriend sensei." Tatsuki stammered. She was afraid of the aura Yoruichi displayed, knowing better than to anger her teacher.
"No you aren't." Yoruichi stated, pushing them aside and getting in close with Ichigo, whose brain appeared to stop working. "This is how you kiss." She smiled mischievously before opening Ichigo mouth and giving him a deep kiss. "Remember," she mumbled while continuing to explore Ichigo's mouth, "don't force it. Be gentle and rub against his tongue a bit." She explained, letting the girls watch with massive blushes on their faces. Ichigo apparently came back to reality, but he couldn't fight against the more experienced woman's ministrations. She finally pulled back to let them both catch their breathes. "Now you try." The two girls nodded dumbly and took his lips again. Soon they collapsed onto the floor, the girls in his lap with each taking turns.
"So what are we going to call this?" Urahara asked as he and Isshin documented this moment of Ichigo's life. It was agreed among everyone to record the biggest moments of his and Uryu's lives for when Masaki and Kanae finally woke up, which Urahara predicted would be sometime that year.
"Ichigo's first makeout." Isshin giggled uncontrollably. Feeling some pride as a father for having a stud of a son, but also knowing he could milk this for quite some time. "And we will not show Masaki. Ever." Smiling as his son finally gave in and returned them.
"Thinks she wants him to stay her baby boy?" Urahara guessed.
"Maybe." Isshin admitted. Nothing else really important happened that day, other than Ichigo staying in a deep haze until the morning.
(Back to the present)
"Wow." Uryu couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Yeah." Ichigo agreed, taking another bite of his bento lunch. "I was going to destroy it, but that was some pretty good tips. Gotta keep the girls happy Uryu."
"Is that you or Zangetsu talking?" The Quincy asked, knowing about Ichigo's zanpakuto.
"Me, but just to shut him up." Ichigo answered. "He was both ecstatic and pissed because I didn't try to cop a feel."
"Boobs and butts! Big boobs and nice butts! Right there! And you didn't go for it." His sword yelled at him. "I am not forgiving you until you have sex with one of them. At least."
"Yeah. He says that because he's my hollow he's also my instincts." Ichigo said, trying to make conversation and ignore his sword spirit.
"Which is eat and mate? Primal instincts?" Uryu guessed.
"At least someone gets it." Zangetsu said.
"Replace eating with fighting and that sounds right." Ichigo said. "But enough fun, you felt it too, right?" The conversation took a more serious tone that even gave Keigo pause as the attention shifted before Chad brought Keigo back to his story.
"Yeah. Two strong Reiatsu signatures appeared in the city this morning." Uryu confirmed what his cousin was getting at.
"Dad was right. Soul Society finally sent someone." Any appearance and sudden disappearance of a Menos Grande hollow was enough to warrant the attention of the Gotei 13. Rukia has overstayed her role in Karakura, and they've come to get her.
(Same time, with Rukia)
She sat in the tree, pensively staring into the sky in contemplation. She can't stay with Ichigo and the Kurosakis anymore. Isshin would definitely be put on trial for abandoning his post and Ichigo would be executed for taking her powers, not to mention the others that displayed their powers. She needed to get out of there for their own sakes, or the guilt would destroy her if anything happened to them because of her.
"Hey Rukia!" She heard one of her 'classmates' call out to her. "Why don't you join us for lunch?" It was the tanned one, Mahana she recalled, with the other girls that Tatsuki and Orihime were friends with. She did so reluctantly, needing to continue her cover for the rest of the day before she made her move. They sat in a circle, calmly eating their meals, until Mahana brought up the number one gossip subject among teenage girls. "Hey, can I ask you something? Do you have a crush on Ichigo?" She asked, making Rukia spew out the juice she was drinking in response. "That's a maybe, but what is your relationship with him?"
"Family friends, that's all." Tatsuki said quickly, going with the story Ichigo told her after they were done making out.
"Mahana!" The petite Michiru scolded her friend. "That's not something you just ask straight out like that!"
"I don't see why not, everyone wanted to ask that." She defended.
"I didn't want to ask that." Michiru said, trying to steer the conversation away from the boy still was afraid of.
"What's your problem with him anyway?" Tatsuki asked.
"I just think he's scary looking is all." She said, embarrassed by such childish reasoning.
"Sure he looks intimidating, but he's also really gentle." Tatsuki said, smiling in remembrance of how he still held he tenderly that night she yelled at him. She just melted in those strong arms of his.
"He's a real tender lover too." Orihime said, completely without shame. "He's such a great kisser after one lesson." Everyone else stared at the airhead in surprise, or shock in Chizuru's case, as Orihime blushed and giggled. "He tasted so good too." Tatsuki only let out an irritated sigh.
"Yeah, I can vouch for that." Tatsuki admitted, though she suspected it was because of everyone swapping spit in that make out.
"You mean?" Ryo asked, being the first to come to her senses as the stoic one of the group.
"Yep, Ichigo's our boyfriend." Tatsuki declared in defeat of having been exposed. Orihime just nodded, happily declaring her relationship with the strawberry.
"And if Rukia wants in this club, she needs our permission." She said, surprising everyone again. Rukia couldn't help but imagine being one of Ichigo's girlfriends. She started thinking about it while Chizuru went crazy about 'her hime being defiled' and if she couldn't have Orihime's first kiss, she'd settle for her virginity. Needless to say, everyone was trying to restrain Chizuru after that. Rukia just went off with her imagination about being Ichigo's lover. Complimenting her, praising her skills, holding her in his arms, kissing-
"Looks like Kuchiki's a bit of a perv!" Mahana said, tickling Chizuru's stomach while Tatsuki had her in a headlock. Rukia wiped away the small bit of blood dripping from her nose as she tried to deny the notion. The day passed by simply after that.
(Night with Rukia)
She ran, she had to run as far away as possible, keep them safe, don't let them share her burden. They were just there for shelter. She didn't care about any of them, not about the girls in highschool, not the Kurosakis, and definitely not Ichigo. That's what she wanted to believe anyway. She liked them, she enjoyed her time with them, she didn't want them in danger. She knew Ichigo was powerful, but she still didn't want him to fight against Soul Society. She had one time, been of the belief, that he was equal to a captain, but he had only years of training and experience, where captains have centuries. It would be foolish of him to fight one. So she decided to run for their sake, but it hurt her to leave without a goodbye.
"Am I getting too attached to this world?" She asked, unaware of the two bearing down on her.
"Yes!" She heard a familiar voice ring out. She stopped in her tracks to look at the man that's hunted her down. "You've broken quite a severe law, Rukia." He had a red ponytail and tribal tattoos, dressed as a Soul Reaper with a badge on his arm.
"Renji?" She asked in disbelief, wondering if it was her old friend. "Renji Abarai?" He dropped down, swinging his blade as her, making her jump back and eject from her gigai.
"At least you still have some powers, and your not lax enough to drop your guard completely." He complemented, raising to his full height. "Now call him Rukia. The man that stole your powers." Rukia stayed in a guarded stance, ready to run if need be.
"Why do you think I lost my powers to a human?" She defended. "Maybe I got badly injured and didn't want to shame Onii-sama by showing weakness."
"If you're going with that argument, then you shouldn't lie." Renji retorted. "Should she, Captain Kuchiki?" Rukia froze, feeling a very familiar, very ominous presence behind her. She turned to see him, wearing that scarf and hair ornaments, the Kuchiki clan head.
"Byakuya onii-sama." She shuddered out, feeling terrified.
"Rukia." He said simply, watching his lieutenant attack her again as she dodged again.
"You know it's a crime to grant your powers to a human." Renji said. "We have orders to execute him." He prepared for his next attack. "Now call him Rukia! We'll capture you and he will die. So don't try to defend him!" He settled into his stance. "This time, my next attack will be serious."
"I have nothing to worry about then." Someone said before a rock the size of a baseball hit Renji in the face, breaking his visor and leaving a few cuts. "Because if you needed to get serious against her in that state." He said, jumping down and revealing himself. "Than I'll have no problems against you."
"Who the hell are you!" Renji growled at the orange haired man.
"Ichigo Kurosaki," He declared fearlessly, "the human you're looking for."
(With Ichigo earlier)
He was watching over the city, waiting silently, so still one would think him asleep. Already in his Shinigami state with three red ribbons in his hand, sensing and waiting. He felt Rukia run off, writing only a letter to let him know her plans, run as far as she could to spare his family the wrath of Soul Society. But he made a promise to help her and he keeps his word. Now here he was, with his spirit sense keeping track of the three other Soul Reapers and their spirit ribbons in hands to increase that accuracy. They finally met and he moved, disappeared from his perch in an instant when the first strike was made. He found them, two Shinigami, attacking Rukia, from the sixth division judging from that captain's haori. He grabbed a rock and threw it at the attacking red head.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked after Ichigo jumped down.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, the human you're looking for." He told the irate Renji.
"So you're the human that stole Rukia's powers?" The Soul Reaper growled.
"By accident, yes." Ichigo admitted. "Your point?" Renji charged at Ichigo, swinging his zanpakuto down with furious strike after strike. Ichigo turned his blade to a more normal size in order to throw off his opponent, should the need arise.
"You're dead!" Renji growled, slamming his blade against Ichigo's in an attempt to kill the man who gave his best friend a death sentence. Byakuya watched in silence, analyzing this newcomer as his subordinate attacked. Years of experience let him know who was going to win this fight.
'This is the one that slew those Menos?' He questioned as the two got into a blade lock. 'Renji, this battle was over before it even began.'
"Here's what'll happen." Renji growled with an angry smirk, furious at the human before him and furious at his inability to try and save Rukia from her fate. Orders were orders. "You'll die, Rukia gets her powers back, and then she'll-." He was interrupted when Ichigo twisted the blades and thrust his blade's hilt into Renji's chin, making him bite his tongue.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you to shut up in the middle of a fight?" Ichigo asked, calm and collected as Renji grasped his mouth in pain.
"You bast-!" He was about to yell, but Ichigo was already in front of Byakuya.
"Hello captain..." Ichigo greeted, almost politely, to the noble who looked at the human with a calm expression.
"Kuchiki. Captain Byakuya Kuchiki." He responded, still trying to read the young human.
"Thank you." Ichigo said before preparing to explain what happened.
'At least he's making an effort it seems.' Thought the noble, a little happy someone is trying to save his sister.
"Here's what happened. I've been spiritually aware since I was a kid. Apparently one of my ancestors was a Soul Reaper and I learned most of the important stuff from hand me down knowledge." He explained, not telling the full story. "From there I prepared to fight hollows to protect my friends and family. When I finally had the means, I used something that would absorb enough Reishi to allow me to change into a Shinigami. Rukia simply became a casualty and I've been helping her as a way to make up for her situation." He raised his blade to block another strike from Renji.
"Do you think this changes the situation?!" He roared in anger at a child humiliating him.
"He's a rude one. Wouldn't you say so?" Ichigo asked the captain, not sparing a glance at his attacker.
"Quite." He agreed, giving Renji a look to tell him to back off. His lieutenant reluctantly obeyed. "So that is the story?"
"More or less." Ichigo admitted. "What happens now?"
"We'll still have to take Rukia in, with you as a witness." Byakuya answered. "Maybe this will lighten her sentence."
"But I'll have to die." Ichigo said, knowing from what his teachers said about the judicial system of Soul Society.
"Very likely." He looked to Renji again, who took the signal to continue and made a swing. He stabbed through Ichigo's back before it disappeared and he received a hard kick to his side.
"Sorry, but I'm not in favor of dying just yet." He apologized. "But I'll make a promise. Renji wins, I go willingly. He loses, I don't." He said, face to face with the captain.
"I have no doubt anymore about the reports of you slaying those Menos Grande." Byakuya said, knowing this battle would end in Ichigo's victory. But Renji needed an attitude adjustment. "Go ahead."
"I will not stand for this!" Renji growled. "Roar! Zabimaru!" He said, wiping a hand over his blade, letting it transform into a six segmented blade with sharp protrusions. The fight seemed on hold as both sides waited for the other to move. Rukia stood by her brother, knowing and accepting her fight, but silently hoping Ichigo would survive. "Well?" Renji finally growled. Ichigo took a second to glance between his own blade and Renji's. Guessing at what the lieutenant meant, Ichigo finally allowed his blade to grow to the matching size of Zabimaru.
"Happy?" He asked, confused. Renji gawked in surprise, thinking that no shikai could be so worthless as to just be a size increase. Byakuya, on the other hand, reevaluated the hybrid as he's shown a level of control only captains used. What scared the noble was the possibility was that Ichigo still didn't have full control of his Reiatsu.
"That's your shikai?" Renji asked, again annoyed at the whelp.
"What?" Ichigo responded dumbly. "I don't have shikai." Renji couldn't believe this.
"Then you're a fool!" He yelled, swinging his whip like sword, Ichigo defending against the hard swings with visible effort. "A fake Soul Reaper who doesn't even know his own zanpakuto's name?!" He broke Ichigo's guard and made for the killing blow.
"The fool." The Kuchikis said at the same time. Rukia, in sorrow for her friend, and Byakuya, for his rash subordinate. Ichigo swung his blade, striking the top segment of Zabimaru, with the resulting shockwave breaking the connection to the hilt. Renji could only gawk as his blade fell apart in a mess, leaving only his hilt and blade base, before feeling himself getting stabbed.
"I said, I don't have shikai." Ichigo said, Zangetsu again in two forms with a katana in one hand and a tanto knife, buried in Renji's side. "Because Zangetsu won't let me use shikai while in this state. Using Rukia's powers as a link to my own." He removing the dagger from Renji as the lieutenant dropped to his knees, blood spilling out of the hole in his side and staining his shihakuso. "Your arrogance, is your undoing." He was about to swing again before stopping. Curiously, he reached up to his chest, directly above his soul chain and soul sleep, before feeling it soaked in his blood. He pulled open his robes to see to bleeding holes in his chest. Behind Renji was Byakuya, sheathing his blade. "Hmph." He grunted, more mad at himself for dropping his guard so easily.
"You won." He said simply, Ichigo dropping to his knees as his strength left him. "But I was still free to act." He grabbed his subordinate and helped him to Rukia, who began healing her old friend. "You will lose your powers, but you will survive." He declared to the boy, lying on the ground in a small pool of blood, unaware of the boy's healing. "Live you life, die, then come to Soul Society." Byakuya said, opening the spirit gate to Soul Society. "You may make a fine Soul Reaper after all." He said preparing to walk through, with Renji and Rukia in tow. He barely took another step before turning saying. "Bakudo #81. Danku." Creating a transparent barrier between them and the rising Ichigo, feeling danger in the boy.
"ZANGETSU!" Ichigo yelled, unleashing a black and blue getsuga against the barrier. Simply the result of activating a first transformation. Byakuya was in shock of the boy.
'How can he have this much power!?' He questioned before shoving his sister and lieutenant through the portal, shutting it, and dodging to avoid the blast that finally cracked through his kido barrier. Mostly he was fine, his arm was charred and broken.
"Sorry. Zangetsu was pretty mad at you for that sneak attack." Ichigo said, slowly rising to his feet, looking pale and tired. "But I should thank you." He told the captain, who was grasping his arm in pain. "You severed my link to Rukia's powers, and finally balanced my own." The two injured Shinigami stood on their feet, watching the other closely. "Neither of us are in any condition to keep fighting. So let me say this. Two weeks. I'll be in Soul Society for two things. Saving Rukia, and I need to talk to the Captain Commander." Byakuya glared at the youth for his display of arrogance, but knew that he was in no condition to fight.
"Very well." He said, opening another Senkaimon. "Two weeks it shall be." Leaving it at that while he needed to reach squad four as soon as possible. Ichigo straightened up, feeling himself be restored as his regeneration finally kicked in.
"Finally." He shook himself to get the feeling back into his limbs. "Now, how to break the news to everyone else?"