NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: Retorta chapter 6
Kisuke loses time for a while. When he comes to, Ichigo is still holding him, gently murmuring into his hair-- reassurances to both of them, no doubt. His hand has stopped bleeding, and he stirs himself enough to begin the healing kido. While he's healing himself, Ichigo shifts enough to sit them both up properly, stretching his back.
Yoruichi is out of sight, but still on the edge of his reiatsu awareness, no doubt doing her version of concerned hovering. Beyond her, he can feel Tessai maintaining a sleep kido on the Visored, trying to keep them unconscious and their Hollow repressed until Kisuke--or Yoruichi, had worst come to worst--can stabilize them. Kisuke allows himself an amused little smile. If nothing else, Ichigo's assistance should allow the Visored to deal with their newly feral other halves much more easily this time around. Hopefully they can avoid the decades of despair and most of the suicide attempts before coming to terms with themselves.
Importantly, though, they're all alive in this time period.
He nudges Ichigo, who groans like an old man, but lets them up regardless. There's a blanket draped over both of them, and he folds it neatly and sets it aside. They've got work to do, now. And--regretfully--some explaining to do. Ichigo gives him a rueful smile, guessing the line of his thoughts, and Kisuke allows himself to lean into the youth's strength for a moment more before pulling himself upright.
Yoruichi appears almost immediately, eyeing Ichigo with a cat's wariness. Ichigo grins at her, clearly enjoying having the upper hand for once, and beckons for her to join them. She does so, looking to Kisuke for an explanation for this odd, overpowered Shiba who has far too much of Kisuke's trust. Kisuke winces. This explanation is going to push even her suspension of disbelief, especially since Yoruichi in this time has never been acquainted with Kurosaki Ichigo's unique ability to make the impossible a day-to-day occurrence. He rubs at the back of his head, offering her a sheepish smile, but before he can order his thoughts into words, Ichigo pipes up, blithely unconcerned with the traditional limits of reality.
"Ah, Yoruichi-san, we're from the future."
There's a long moment where both Yoruichi and Kisuke stare at him, and then Kisuke buries his face in his hands and mutters,
"I don't know you."
Ichigo just tips his head back, laughing freely, and Kisuke hasn't seen him do that since Kensei died, one of the first casualties in the war. For the first time, it strikes him that being back in the past is probably a blessing , to Ichigo, an opportunity to save everyone he failed before. And Aizen is dead, to boot, which means that there doesn't even have to be a war. No wonder Ichigo is so uncharacteristically lighthearted.
Kisuke grins at Yoruichi, who is still boggling at Ichigo. Finally, she shakes her head and says,
"Well, he's definitely a Shiba."
Ichigo snickers.
"Yeah, my dad is Shiba Isshin. It's...a long story, I'll explain later. How are the Visored? I mean, the hollowfied Shinigami?"
Yoruichi squints at him, but since Kisuke continues to be unfazed by, well, Ichigo , she seems to accept his word as truth for now, slipping easily into what Kisuke thinks of as her "work mode."
"They haven't woken up yet. Tessai is keeping them unconscious, but I don't know how long he can hold it before he needs to sleep."
Ichigo nods.
"Okay, there are two ways to stabilize them. The first is with the... "
He trails off, glancing at Kisuke, who nods. He's told Yoruichi about the Hogyouku. Not what it is, not fully, but at least part of what it does, and how to use it.
"Right, with the Hogyouku. That's how it happened last time. They were fighting their Hollow halves until the day they died. They had to fight and defeat their inner Hollow, to suppress it, but every time they got too emotional or lost control, the Hollow would start fighting them again."
Kisuke takes over from here--he invented this process, and damn if he's not going to be proud of it.
"The other way we can do this, Yoruichi-san, is if we turn their inner Hollow into an Arrancar, and convince it to work with them."
Ichigo grins ferally, cracking his knuckles, Shiro and Ossan manifesting in his hands with a swirl of dark reiatsu, and picks up where Kisuke left off.
"And by convince, he means beat it into them ."
Tessai glances up when they enter, nods a greeting at all three of them, gives Ichigo a calm once-over, and returns to focusing on maintaining the sleep kido.
Tessai is so fucking cool . Ichigo has missed his steadfast presence.
Kisuke crosses and starts murmuring to Tessai, while Ichigo scrutinizes the unconscious Visored.
He's never going to let Shinji get away with cutting his hair. Ever.
They all look disconcertingly young, to be honest, despite the fact that fully-grown Shinigami don't really age at all. Perhaps it's just that Ichigo is used to seeing them worn-down and grim, fighting for their lives and war-weary.
Once, a lifetime ago, they had protected him. This time around, Ichigo will protect them, he swears it.
Kisuke and Tessai are setting up barriers, moving a sleeping Visored into each. No doubt they're going to allow him to fight them one-on-one. Which is nice, and all, even if Ichigo doesn't actually need the help. On the other hand, though, the faster he beats their inner Hollow into the ground, the faster their instincts will realize that they have no chance of winning against Ichigo, and then and only then will they be able to listen more-or-less rationally.
There's a delighted humming in his soul, amplified three ways by his excited spirits, and finally just as Shinji stirs, Ichigo reaches deep within himself and pulls . Shiro and Ossan stay inside--they're content to experience this battle as his blades--but his other spirit would rather watch, if Ichigo's going to be drawing on their power.
With a quiet murmur, Muramasa manifests, only to drape themselves over Ichigo's shoulder, pinning the disoriented Shinji-Hollow with an intense stare. After a moment, a ripple of purple reiatsu washes through the air and Shinji's form wavers. A howl tears through the air, and then Shinji's Hollow claws its way free from Shinji, who collapses bonelessly. Before it can turn on him, though, Ichigo is there, deflecting its claws away from Shinji's prone body. It snarls at him, gold eyes meeting gold eyes, and then Ichigo brings his reiatsu slamming down on it, effectively flattening it.
Were Ichigo fighting a Shinigami, this would be the end of the fight. But this is a Hollow, a newly-born one at that, and it tears more desperate strength from nowhere to drag itself upward, back to its feet. The familiar pharaoh mask grins at him without humor, all of its limited intellect devoted to figuring out how to destroy this new threat. It's one of the biggest failings of newborn Hollows--they don't yet have the intelligence or common sense to run away that many of the older, stronger ones do.
This Hollow, however, is different. It was born from the Hogyouku, takes its power from that instead of consuming other souls, and its potential is nearly as unlimited as the Hogyouku itself. All Ichigo needs to do is drive it to the point of evolution. And to do that…
He increases the flare of his reiatsu, tinging it with more of his hollow side, and Shiro crows in delight as Ichigo claws his mask across his face. The Hollow goes back down, shrieking in denial and frustration as Ichigo stalks closer, the easy stride of a predator. Just as he's raising Ossan for a strike--to remove a limb, not to kill--the shrieks change pitch, and the Hollow shoves itself back up with determination. The eyes on him are assessing, this time, more intelligent, and a moment later Ichigo is staring down a growing Cero.
He laughs, rough and dual-toned, and eats the thing. His Quincy abilities add it to his reserves as another drop in the reservoir, and then Ichigo returns one of his own. The massive black-and-red Cero carves its way through the floor and the Hollow alike, leaving it with a gaping mess where its shoulder and side should be. The Hollow howls in pain and fury, but Ichigo has gotten what he was hoping for, and the wound is already sealing off.
Forcing a Hollow through all stages of evolution at once is a mad concept. Absolutely insane. Naturally, that's why it worked, at least according to Kisuke, who had run calculations for weeks and finally given up and chalked the discovery up to Ichigo Being Ichigo. The young, temporarily-Hollowfied Shinigami on their side of the war had certainly appreciated the increase in power and control they were afforded, and several of them had chosen not to return to the way they had been. Now, Ichigo can ensure that Shinji and the others will have all the power they could ever use at their disposal. Not that he thinks they'll need it, not with Aizen dead already, but by now, Ichigo has a pathological need to ensure the safety of those people he considers "his." This is the best way he can think of.
The high-speed regeneration finishes its work and the Hollow circles, warier and more calculating now. Ichigo lunges forward, slowing himself enough to be just slightly faster than the Hollow can keep up with. It parries with a snarl, lashing out itself, and Ichigo lets its claws bounce harmlessly off his skin. As soon as it shows signs of being able to keep up with his rapid attacks, though, Ichigo redoubles the pressure, driving it to its knees. They're getting close to the mix of strength, intelligence, and sheer frustration he needs, Ichigo thinks. He bleeds more killing intent into his reiatsu, more bloodlust, and the pinned Hollow goes quiet, struggling desperately as Ichigo approaches again, fear seeping into the gold-on-black eyes.
It's the tipping point. The Hollow shudders, reaching up with both hands to claw at its own face.
With a crack that echoes incongruously loudly, its mask shatters.