Thunderous Soul 5 (Patreon)

Hey guys! Was happy to see that most of you liked the last chapter!

Most.

As expected, there was a small explosion of whining and story-drops from the shippers. Less than I expected honestly, but still disappointing. Man, some of you hate Chad, and I don’t know why. You hate him like most people hate Mineta and there’s NO reason for it.

Let me put it to you straight. I love getting reviews and feedback, but at the end of the day, I write for the express purpose of creating something I want to read. You want IchiHime, IchiRuki, or IchiTats? Go find one of the hundreds of other stories with them. I like them, but not as much as I like other characters, and so I will preferentially write fics with the pairings that I want to read that no one else is writing. The fact that at least one of you KNEW AND ACKNOWLEDGED that I had stated that none of the three would be paired with Ichigo, yet still kept hoping that enough begging would change my mind is just baffling. Ah yes, let me just go ahead and rewrite my entire planning document to cater to pairings that already exist in hundreds of other fics. And now you guys are pissed that I followed my plans and desires and not yours?

If your plan in your next review is to continue complaining about my pairing choices, then in the hilariously immortal words of the HeavenlyFather: Didn’t ask. Don’t care. Cry about it. Stay mad. Get real. L. Mald. Seethe. Cope.

The first half of this chapter was brought to you by Rangiku’s complete and utter lack of shame. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Also, thanks to TheSinful and Kairomaru for our expanded, communal Kidō list!

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Chapter V:

-]|[-

“Berry-kuuuuuun!” Ichigo sighed as Rangiku’s whining hit his ears, “Come on, let’s go do something fun!”

“I’m doing my homework.” He replied blandly, “And you should be doing it too.”

“Ugh, but it’s so boring.” She fake-cried, hugging his neck from behind. It was only his chair that kept her from pressing her boobs into him. “Why do you even bother?”

He rolled his eyes, “I’ve got enough shit to deal with without adding ‘class idiot’ on top of it. My hair is naturally this color, but everyone and their grandmother assumes I dye it, and that’s a thing only the delinquents do. So, all the teachers are already predisposed to act like I’m a gangster or a delinquent. Having good grades gets them off my back.”

“Wait, but what about the girls?” She blinked in surprise.

“It’s more socially acceptable for girls. It’s the guys who are usually the bleached blonde, pierced, tattooed wastes of space.” Ichigo replied as he finished his history assignment, “Of course, my tendency to lose my temper and beat the shit out of the idiots who harass me doesn’t help.”

“That’s kind of funny, honestly.” Rangiku giggled, “You should see some of the Shinigami. Renji’s hair is as red as mine, and all natural too; Hisagi has really dark purple; my own Captain’s hair is as white as snow…”

“Jeez, must be an old fart.” Ichigo muttered.

“Nope! He’s obviously older than you, but you’d never guess it.” Rangiku giggled, “He only barely looks older than Yuzu and Karin.”

“Bwuh?” Ichigo made a funny noise, “And it’s natural?”

“Yup.”

“Huh, how about that?” He shrugged, “Oh well. Not like it changes things down here. Anyway…” He drawled, “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your homework as well?”

“Oh, come on!” Rangiku started to poke his cheek, “Can’t you at least do it for me?”

“Hey, you chose your cover, little miss ‘fifteen-year-old’ girl.” Ichigo smirked as he took out his next book to get started on the next assignment. “Should have thought of that before you chose to join us in class.”

“But what was I supposed to do?” Rangiku pouted, “I had to be near you.”

“I don’t know, maybe not be a grown ass woman posing as a fifteen-year-old?” Ichigo snarked, “Why didn’t you do something smart like replacing our gym teacher or something?”

“Ugh…” Rangiku slumped onto him, “Can you at least show me how to do this crap?”

Ichigo’s brain stuttered, “What do you mean, show you?” He turned to look at her, “Do you not do this stuff in Soul Society?” He pointed at the math book.

“Not really?” She rubbed the back of her neck, “We use Reiryoku for everything and can casually break human ‘laws’ of physics. The Academy focuses on just making sure we can read and write. We also have stuff like calligraphy. The most math we do is making sure we can add, subtract, and such. Most of our time is spent preparing us to fight Hollows and defend humanity. Stuff like this might be, I don’t know, elective stuff? I know the eggheads in the Twelfth Division have to know it since they’re all sciencey types.”

“But what about non-Shinigami?” Ichigo asked, completely dumbfounded.

“Hey, to me, all this is just weird. There’re no schools or anything in Rukongai. Everything is just kind of communal. At least in the lower districts.” Rangiku giggled.

“Damn, Dad didn’t mention any of this…” Ichigo muttered, “Guess I should have guessed with it being feudal and all…” He sighed, “Damn it Rangiku, couldn’t you have picked a better cover?” He turned slightly and pulled her side-saddle into his lap.

“Ohoho, I think I like this much more than math.” Rangiku giggled, settling on him with a smirk.

“Don’t get too excited.” Ichigo muttered, “I still have to finish this shit before we go do other things.”

“Ugh.” She deflated, “Fine. Can’t these stupid teachers give us less work?”

“I wish.”

“HOLLOW! HOLLOW!” They were interrupted as Rangiku’s Soul Pager belted out a warning.

She was quick to flip the phone open, “Wow, late warning.” She blinked, “One minute in Mashiba.” She got off his lap. “Shall we?”

Ichigo smirked, “Nah.” He said softly, “I want to try this out.” He thumbed his neck, drawing her attention to the fact that he had a chain now. He quickly whipped it off his head, revealing his mother’s Quincy cross.

“Wait, but won’t that des-” Rangiku started to protest, but Ichigo cut her off.

“I don’t think so.” He said, “Urahara had quite a bit to say about Quincy and what he knows of how their powers operate, and I don’t really roll that way. For some reason, I have a really hard time drawing in foreign Reiryoku the way the Quincy did. I’m creating the weapon with my own power.”

Rangiku bit her lip as she followed him onto the roof, “Hopefully it’s a really young Hollow… just in case you’re wrong.”

“Right…” Ichigo unleashed his power, and in a blindingly bright flash of purple light, his weapon was revealed.

“What the hell?” Rangiku gaped, “Aren’t Quincy supposed to use bows?!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Ichigo grinned, hefting the massive weapon over his shoulder. Longer than he was tall by a good amount, it looked almost like someone had taken something like a sniper rifle into Photoshop and just made it bigger. Had it fired conventional ammunition, it would have been labeled a 50 mm cannon. It was more of an artillery piece than a rifle. A normal human could never have even held the damn thing, much less kept it steady and fired it. It was made of a dull black metal with a dark purple hue to it. The barrel was thick, and the muzzle brake was shaped like an arrow with three slots on either side. There didn’t appear to be anywhere to actually load it, though with it being a spirit weapon, perhaps there was no need for one.

“This isn’t going to be super loud, is it?” Rangiku asked, looking at the sky with exasperation.

“Let’s find out!” Ichigo had his typical, slightly insane grin on his face as he pulled the trigger. Rangiku hurried to fall into an upright fetal position and covered her ears.

Yes. The answer was yes.

The entire house beneath them shook and rattled as Yuzu and Karin let out frightened screams, “DAMN IT, ICHIGO!” Isshin roared, speeding up to the roof. He blinked, “Holy shit kid, what did you do to your mom’s bow?!”

Ichigo had even been knocked back from the blast, and was groaning, “…F-Fucking hell…” He raised his head to look forward, “M-Maybe I should just save that for… emergencies.”

“YA THINK?!” Rangiku yelled, getting to her feet, and wiggling her fingers in her ears, “Owowowowow. PAY FOR MY TINNITUS!”

Ichigo let his head fall back with a groan.

Isshin just stared dumbfounded. The air ahead of them for several kilometers was warping and crackling with occasional bursts of static.

-]|[-

“FINALLY!” Rangiku cheered, “FREEEEDOM!”

Tatsuki chuckled, “You’re even more excited than Hime is.”

“Of course, I am!” Rangiku sounded affronted, “I did nothing to deserve being stuck in prison!”

“Well, technically…” Ichigo trailed off at her death glare. “It’s not that bad, Rangiku.”

“Hmph. We’ll agree to disagree.” She nabbed his arm and put it between her breasts, “Now come on, Ichi! You promised we’d do something actually fun this weekend.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ichigo sighed.

Off to the side, Keigo and Chizuru were both biting their book bags, “Damn that Ichigo! He’s got the hottest girl in school on his arm and he’s acting like he doesn’t even care!”

“She should be in my arms!” Chizuru replied, sobbing pitifully.

“Alright guys. I’ll see you later.” Ichigo told his three best friends.

“We’ll keep Karakura safe.” Tatsuki gave him a two-fingered salute before turning and walking away with Chad and Orihime.

“So, what are we doing?” Rangiku asked as they walked out of the school.

Ichigo made sure no one was looking, “Hup.” He gathered her up and they vanished, “Let’s get changed. We’ll head off to Tokyo. Bound to be something good over there.”

“Oooh, yes! Now we’re talking my language!” Rangiku cheered, “I’m going to buy so many cute outfits!”

“Aren’t you as broke as I am?” Ichigo deadpanned.

“Nope!” Rangiku grinned, “Some Hollows have bounties. The six we took out my first night here netted us about a hundred-and-twenty thousand Kan. And even Shrieker was worth about five thousand. So, since you took half of them, that’s half to you. Urahara hooked us up. Pretty difficult to exchange Kan to Yen since, you know, humans can’t even see Kan, but we need to go undercover or just recover in the human world often enough that it needs to be possible.”

“Seriously?” Ichigo looked delighted, “How much is that in Yen?”

“The exchange rate is ten Yen to one Kan.” Rangiku replied cheerfully.

Ichigo choked. “A-Are you serious?!”

“Yeah, is that a lot? I haven’t looked at prices yet.” Rangiku said cluelessly.

“Shit, maybe I really will drop out and just go to Hueco Mundo to clean house every once in a while.” Ichigo snarked, and immediately ducked under Isshin’s kick.

“No son of mine is going to be a dropout!” He declared, leaping back to dodge Ichigo’s answering punch.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ichigo waved him off, “Seriously though. Twenty thousand Kan for just one Huge Hollow?”

“That’s nothing.” Isshin chuckled, “A Captain’s salary startsat two hundred-thousand Kan per month.”

“Holy shit dad!” Ichigo gaped at him.

“There’re only thirteen Captain positions after all.” Isshin chuckled, “We don’t exactly give the title away, otherwise Rangiku here might have been one.”

“Ass.” Rangiku muttered.

“Wait, hold on.” Ichigo frowned, “That means that only ten Huge Hollows would be equal to a month’s pay for a Captain.”

Rangiku giggled, “‘Only’ he says. Ichigo, need I remind you that I was demoted and do not have my usual seal limiting me to twenty percent of my power in the human world?” He blinked, “I still released my Shikai, which is a pretty big deal. I’ve been a Lieutenant for decades. Needing to release is already a bit alarming. Honestly, you saying that just shows me how little you know of Soul Society and how powerful the rank and file actually are. They might be jokes to you, but to any Shinigami that isn’t at the very least a seated officer, they’re practically an immediate death sentence. There aren’t even a whole lot of opportunities to slay them, since they rarely leave Hueco Mundo. Shinigami only ever get the chance when we go on excursions to their world for whatever reason, and usually the Seated Officers will take one on in groups. The only reason you’ve seen any is that this is the Jūreichi.”

“Huh… I had no idea. I’ve been taking care of them for a long time.” Ichigo mumbled.

“Yep, you’re a regular old freak.” She grinned teasingly at him.

He snorted, “What about above them? That can’t be as strong as they get, right?”

“Nope.” Isshin agreed with them, “Above them are the Menos Grande.”

“…Less Big?” Ichigo stared at him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“Yeah, not the best at naming stuff.” Isshin and Rangiku laughed, “But they’re no joke. Generally, only Lieutenants are allowed to engage even the lowest of Menos Grande: The Gillian class. These fuckers are giant.”

“Like, ‘skyscraper’ giant, Ichi.” Rangiku added helpfully.

“Truthfully, they’re not actually that dangerous.” Isshin said, “All they have is size and the Bala you’ve been dealing with is upgraded to a full Cero. They’re too huge to use Sonido, for example. AND they’re dumb as bricks unless they have a unique mask. But the problem is that they have very powerful Reiatsu, so unless you have enough yourself to at least match that… you can’t do anything. That’s why only the highest-ranked Shinigami are generally given permission to engage with one. Anything less is just assisted suicide.”

“Sounds like the Gotei 13 needs a kick in the rear. Or ten.” Ichigo chuckled.

“Can’t say I don’t agree.” Isshin nodded at him.

Karin had been listening quietly with Yuzu, “So what comes after that?” She asked, swallowing slightly. Even regular Hollows seemed scary to her. Ichigo and their dad hadn’t even let them face one yet.

Rangiku’s face hardened, “After that, you get to the Adjuchas class. That’s when Hollows start becoming legitimately dangerous. Only the strongest Lieutenants are allowed to engage them, because they compress all of the power of a Gillian or more into a body the size of regular Hollows or smaller. They can be as small as regular animals like lions and jaguars.”

“Shit.” Ichigo cursed, “And I’m guessing they’re not as dumb as bricks.”

“Not on your life.” Isshin said gravely, “Every Hollow ability you have, they do too. Hierro, Cero, Sonido…”

“Damn.” Ichigo said, “Is that as high as it goes?” He asked curiously, and blinked when both of the senior Shinigami shared looks. “I’m guessing that’s a no.”

“It’s a no. There’s one final rank above that, but they’re so rare that there’s practically no proof that they actually exist. Only hearsay.” Rangiku said, “Ichigo, Karin, Yuzu, do you remember why Hollows eat souls?”

“It’s because they lost their hearts, right?” Yuzu asked cutely.

“Exactly.” Rangiku said, “Their hearts become black voids that they’re desperate to fill, and so they eat the souls of others. But human souls are, quite frankly, not very filling to them. Humans don’t have very much spiritual power. That’s why they can eat and eat and eat and always be forever hungry.”

“But other Hollows?” Isshin took over, “Oh they’re much more filling. So, when a Hollow gets a taste of Hollow, they don’t find human souls very appetizing anymore, and will start going for other Hollows.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Karin looked vaguely green.

“Yeah, it’s pretty gross to think of.” Ichigo said, “But why ask? Why segue into that?”

Rangiku turned back to him, “In truth… only the weakest of Hollows stay here in the human world full time. Those that can’t fight and eat other Hollows.” Rangiku told them, “But the more they eat, the stronger they become. Eventually, they eat enough of their fellows to grow to a monstrous size. Huge Hollows.”

Ichigo’s eyes widened in understanding. “And if they continue eating, they become Menos Grande?”

Rangiku nodded, “Hollows are desperate to fill that void inside of them. Vasto Lorde are the only ones that are said to succeed.” She said softly, making the three kids stiffen in shock.

“Menos Grande are made of hundreds and thousands of Hollows, both regular and Huge.” Isshin said, “But the process usually breaks their mind, because they have thousands of conflicting consciousnesses inside of them. That’s why Gillians are as dumb as bricks. That’s why they all look alike.” He sighed, closing his eyes, “But occasionally, one is strong enough to emerge as the dominant personality. That’s when it starts cannibalizing hundreds and thousands of other Gillians, and becomes an Adjuchas. After that…?”

“All that work to regain their minds, but they’re not done.” Rangiku said, “Because they’re in danger of reverting to mindlessness if they get too hungry. So, they fight and eat other Adjuchas, until they either have a piece of them eaten themselves, permanently preventing them from evolving forward or backwards. Even if they’re still always hungry, they at least won’t lose their sanity anymore.” She shrugged, “Either that, or they die. That’s why Vasto Lorde are practically considered myths.” She finished the explanation somberly.

“I’m scared, Daddy.” Yuzu clutched his leg. Karin also looked very uncomfortable, but refused to do the same. “And I… I feel bad for them.” She bit her lip.

Isshin was having none of it and scooped them both up, “Don’t worry, girls. You shouldn’t ever have to worry about Menos. You have me and Ichigo to protect you.” He said, “And it’s a rare Shinigami that does not at least pity their existences…” He started to walk away, “Come on… let’s take your minds off of it.”

Rangiku sighed, “They asked, but I kind of wish this had come up when they were asleep.”

“Yeah… they’re strong, but this might have been too much, too soon for them.” Ichigo scratched the back of his head wearily, “So what now?”

“Nothing for it now. Your dad will keep them safe. Come on Ichi. We’re going to Tokyo!” She dragged him along.

“Have fun, you two!” Isshin called from the living room, “And I know Ichigo can apparently inhale mead thanks to Thor, but he can’t legally drink so don’t try to take him to a bar!” He laughed as he heard Rangiku cursing.

“Don’t become a drunkard, Ichi-nii!” Karin called out as well. Ichigo shook his head as he allowed himself to be dragged away.

-]|[-

“Shit, where do we even start?” Ichigo muttered to himself as he looked around.

“Never been here?” Rangiku asked curiously.

“Nah, never really been a big spender.” He replied, “I suppose I could get a new computer or something. Mine’s kind of getting on.”

“Hmm, I’m more interested in this.” Rangiku smirked as she started to pull his arm, “Come on Berry-kun. It’s summer, you know! We definitely need to hit the beach once or twice.” Ichigo very lightly blushed as she brought him into a shop with some swimwear displayed very prominently. “Hee, hee, I got a blush~” She teased him as she let go of his arm. “Come on, Berry-kun. Let’s find some swimsuits.”

“Can you at least call me Ichi instead?” He muttered as he followed her around. He blinked, shocked, “What is that?! Is this even legal?”

“Hmm?” She turned and looked at the one that had caught his eye. It was a very, very micro slingshot bikini with a g string back. “Oh my… Ichi, you pervert.” She grinned and grabbed it.

His face went red, “I didn’t say to grab it!”

‘Shut up, boy!’ Thor rumbled in his head, very much interested in the ongoing events.

“Awww, do you not think it would look good?” She pouted at him, dipping her head.

“Of fucking course, it would.” Ichigo grumbled, “I was just wondering if you wanted me to stay alive during this trip.”

She started to laugh, “Well, you sure know how to make a girl feel appreciated.” She kept it in hand as she got closer and whispered in his ear, “Just wait till I start modeling them for you~”

“You know what?” Ichigo said, forcing a smirk of confidence onto his face, “Bet.” He grabbed another very daring swimsuit, though not quite as daring as the first. Rangiku smiled widely as Ichigo got into it. The two of them went around, with Rangiku grabbing some bikinis and swimsuits, with Ichigo grabbing others. She also grabbed some other assorted odds and ends.

Suddenly, Rangiku grabbed his arm again, another catlike grin on her face, “Hey Ichi~” She had a teasing lilt to her voice, “I’ll wear the sling for you if you wear this speedo for me.” She smirked at him while twirling said speedo.

Ichigo stared at her, wondering if this was a dignity sacrificer. He couldn’t recall even his damn clown of a dad ever wearing a speedo. He stared at her, “…You first.”

“Sold!” Rangiku laughed as she grabbed him and dragged him to the changing rooms. She quickly grabbed all of the swimsuits she chose and hurried into the room, leaving him to sit in front of it and wait. He could hear some light rustling with his enhanced hearing, before Rangiku started to walk to the door. “Well? How do I look, Ichi~?”

Ichigo twitched. Hard. “F-Fantastic.” His mouth felt kind of dry as he stared at her in just the regular white bikini with red flower patterns she had chosen. It was still tiny, but it wasn’t as tiny as the others.

“Awww, you look a little disappointed.” She winked, “Don’t worry. We’ll work our way up to it~” She closed the door again. Again, Ichigo waited, and this time took a lot longer than the first one. He wondered what she was up to. And then she finally opened the door, and Ichigo swore he stopped being able to breathe. “Ooooh, what a reaction.” She beamed, giving a little hop on her toes which did interesting things to her chest. She had swapped out the first bikini with a rich purple bikini that was actually a bit larger and more covering than the first one. Despite that, she came out looking even better because she had put her hair into a loose, messy ponytail, and had a loose, white Hawaiian shirt hanging off of her. She had even slipped on a pair of sunglasses, which she had pulled down her nose slightly so he could see her eyes.

“Either you’re buying this one or I am.” Ichigo said resolutely. “That entire outfit is making you look even more gorgeous than usual.”

“Oooh, my first present from you!” Rangiku cheered, “And you flatterer. Am I really that beautiful?” She teased him before blowing him a kiss and backing into the room. He could hear her giggling inside as the tips of his ears turned red.

Slowly, she worked through all of her outfits. Ichigo had enough time to calm down as she changed, and the next few didn’t garner anywhere near the reaction that the first two did. She looked fantastic in all of them, of course, but the first two were special. Finally, though, she ran out of the ‘safe’ outfits and started trying on the much more daring ones.

The first one she came out in was a relatively normal one, just a lot tinier and with a lot more string. The top was tiny and only really held in place by her breasts since it was a halter-style. It was connected to the bottom via various strings. Of course, with her size, it was fighting for its life. “Not sure I like this one.” Rangiku said, not out of any sense of modesty, but because she legitimately didn’t like it.

“Yeah, it just looks weird.” Ichigo shrugged, “You make it look good obviously, but yeah, there were better ones.” She nodded and went back inside. The next one put the ‘micro’ in micro bikini. It was just a thin set of straps held together by a ring up top, and the bottom was teardrop shaped, leaving very little to the imagination. “Are you trying to kill me, woman?!” He hunched over, dabbing at his nose to see if it had burst like they were in an anime or some shit.

“Not yet~” Rangiku said cheerily, before turning around and posing with her arms raising her hair, “What do you think~?”

‘I have seen God, boy.’ Thor rumbled in rapture.

“That can not be legal to wear in public!” He yelped, staring wide-eyed at her perfect ass. “It’s fucking dental floss.”

“I know~! Isn’t it great?” Rangiku laughed, “We definitely don’t have anything like this in the Soul Society.” She closed the door, putting it into the ‘yes’ pile. With how tiny that one was, Ichigo didn’t have to wait very long for the grand finale. “Well, little pervert? What do you think~?”

“You’re the one that put it on!” He hissed, pinching his nose to try to keep from getting a nosebleed. This final one had a teardrop-shaped bottom like the other one, but the top was completely separate and put most of her cleavage on display. And like the previous one, it did basically nothing to hide her ass when she turned around.

“Mhm, I think Ichi likes.” She laughed as she saw how red his face was.

“Yes, Ichi likes a lot.” He deadpanned at her.

“Then I suppose it’s your turn now.” She smirked, slipping back inside, and getting her clothes on. “Don’t keep me waiting…” She teased as he strode inside after her.

‘Oh, I’ll get you alright.’ He said as he shrugged his clothes off. He wanted to get it over with, so he slipped the damned speedo on first. He quickly stepped out, and watched as her face went blank and her body stiff. “Ohoho, what’s this?”

‘I took a calculated risk.’ Rangiku wailed in her head as a very light blush crossed her cheeks, ‘But boy am I bad at math.’ Ichigo was not a hulking slab of muscle like Thor. He was pretty lean, but he had clearly inherited his father’s physique because his body was taut with muscle. All of the training with his Zanpakutō, good eating, and just general clean living had yielded a body that the Greeks and Romans would have made statues based on. This was very much helped by the fact that Ichigo did not look his age. He was actually almost as tall as his dad, and quite easily mistaken for an adult.

And Rangiku had just stuffed him into a speedo.

A tiny trickle of blood dripped down Rangiku’s nose as she licked her lips.

-]|[-

The rest of their trip proceeded more calmly, with Rangiku having gotten all of her teasing out of the way. Well, most of her teasing. Someof her teasing.

Okay, so Ichigo was still very much in danger with the number of cute and downright sexy outfits she modeled for him. Especially when she brought him in to try on lingerie. The rest of the shopping district seemed to be seething in jealousy for one reason or another. Eventually, they got bored of it and rented a hotel room just to drop off their purchases so that they wouldn’t need to return to Karakura yet.

“Hmm, what’s this?” Rangiku asked, looking at the large building.

“Bowling alley, arcade, bar and grill, take your pick.” Ichigo chuckled, “Never seen one of these?”

“Nope.” She chirped, “Haven’t actually been back to the human world since before Captain Shiba left.”

“Well, let’s go give it a try then.” Ichigo brought her inside. Despite the music and atmosphere, it was still fairly early in the day and there were no nearby sporting events going on, so it wasn’t that packed.

Rangiku looked around with a small smile, fascinated by all the flashing lights, “My, humans sure are creative, huh? What’s the point of all this?” She asked, feeling some culture shock.

“To have fun?” He asked dryly, chuckling at the look she shot him. “Plus, you get points and tickets for everything and can use them to buy prizes.” He pointed off, and she didn’t have to strain her eyes to see all of the cute plushies and other things that could be bought.

“Oooh, some of those are cute! That one looks just like Chappy! Let’s win some!”

“The hell is a Chappy?” He asked under his breath. He quickly went to the token machine and started feeding it yen. He stuffed the tokens into his backpack so they wouldn’t have to carry them everywhere in his pockets.

“So, how does this work?” She asked as they came up on one of the throwing games.

“It gives you a bunch of balls, and you’re supposed to hit the clowns as they light up.” Ichigo said as he slipped some tokens in, “Like this.” He grabbed a ball and casually tossed it at the clown that had lit up. The ball hit the clown, and the clown fell back.

“Heh.” Rangiku chuckled as she grabbed a few tokens herself. “First one to miss must pay a penalty to the winner!”

“You’re on!” He grinned, “Just watch the strength! These things aren’t all that tough.”

“Thankfully, I’m in a Gigai.” Rangiku grinned, “And it’s modulated to normal human strength.” She chuckled, “Not reflexes though. We’re as quick to respond as though we were not in them.”

“Tch.” Ichigo clicked his teeth, “Lucky. I have to try really hard not to break things!” He tossed another ball and quickly grabbed another.

“Already making excuses for when you lose?” Rangiku matched him, and much to his complete lack of surprise, was as precise as he was. “Huh, this is pretty easy!”

“Yeah, precision games like this kind of lose some of the fun when you never miss.” Ichigo chuckled as they rapidly hit target after target, “They’re really devised for kids and teenagers, after all. Average kids and teenagers, who don’t have superpowers.”

“Hey, what gives!” Rangiku yelped, affronted, “Why did it stop giving us balls?!”

“Ran out of time.” Ichigo explained, “We maxed out the machines though, so we’re getting a lot of tickets.” He pointed down, and she watched as snake after snake of tickets was spat out.

“Huh, and these are totally useless everywhere but here?” She asked as it finally stopped, and she grabbed them all, “And they have to count all of these individually?”

“Nope, there’s a machine that counts it for you.” Ichigo pointed it out, “But we can do that later. Let’s just stick them in my bag for now.”

“Kay!” She slipped both of their sets in after he put it back on his back, “Any games we wouldn’t crush?”

“There’s a few luck-based ones.” He brought her over to a tower stacking game. “Here’s one. You have cubes sliding left and right, and you have to press the button to make them stop on a platform or on top of other cubes. The objective is to not let any fall. If you get all the way to that second bracket, you get a grand prize. But if you let all the cubes fall, you don’t get anything.”

“Huh? But that’s not luck.” Rangiku frowned, “It’s another precision game.”

“Give it a go then.” He grinned, holding out the tokens.

“Fine! And when I win, you’ll have to pay that penalty!” Rangiku declared, putting the coins in. She didn’t notice him grinning. The cubes started sliding, and Rangiku quickly started to stack them. “See, I told you. This is easy! Prepare to pay that penalty, Ichi!” She said, focusing and not letting a single block drop. As she went higher, they took blocks away, making the tower narrower. Finally, she was at the level of the grand prize, with no room for error as she only had one block. So, she did as she had been doing… and the block fell off. “What?!”

“Oh, too bad.” He grinned, “Looks like you get the penalty, Ran-chan.”

‘Ran-chan? I think I like that.’ Rangiku whirled around, “No way! There’s no way I missed on something that easy!”

“It’s okay.” He gave her a faux-commiserating frown, “Why not give it another go?” He held out some more tokens.

“Fine!” Rangiku growled, snatching the coins from his hand, and trying again. And again, this time she went too early on the final stack. “No way! I’m sure I got that right!”

“That’s two strikes, Ran-chan.” Ichigo grinned, “One more?”

“Grrr!” She stared unblinkingly at the flashing lights, a hundred percent dialed in. She quickly sped all the way to the top in motions that looked like she had practiced the game for hundreds of hours, making it all the way to the top in only a few seconds. “What is WITH this hunk of junk!” She kicked the machine, pouting outrageously, “It’s cheating! It has to be! Why are you laughing, Ichi?!”

“Bwahahaha!” Ichigo was nearly doubled over.

“Jerk!” She kicked him in the leg now.

Ichigo straightened up, “Okay, okay, I’m done.” He let out another unbidden chortle, “I told you it was a luck game, didn’t I?” Her eyes narrowed, “It is cheating. If it allowed people to win every game, the arcade would go bankrupt.” Her jaw dropped, “So it’s programmed to only let people win on every, I don’t know, 69th attempt or something.” His joke went right over her head, “So if you play on attempt 69, you have to win on that attempt, or it resets.”

Her jaw dropped again, “Wow, humans are sneakier than I thought.” She bit her thumb, “I’m impressed.” That set Ichigo off again on another fit of laughter. “Oh well, nothing for it, I guess.” She then smirked and wrapped her arms around him from behind, making sure to press her breasts into his back. “Looks like I lost.” She whispered into his ear, making his hair stand on end. “What’s my punishment, Ichi-kun?”

Ichigo was stock still for a few seconds, before replying, “You know, I think I’ll take a raincheck. Let me…think on it a little.” He tried to project confidence, which got her to smile.

“Kay!” She chirped, before they left the stacking game for good and tried other things. They won more tickets, but sadly got bored quickly at the games that actually gave a lot of tickets out. They were just too good at them for it to be really fun.

“Man, this is such a drag.” Ichigo chuckled, “It’s too easy.”

“Let’s just win enough for prizes and then you can show me that bowling thing.” Rangiku said, and they hurried to do just that. Eventually, they drained all of Ichigo’s tokens, and spent a few minutes at the counting machine. “All that for just a slip of paper?”

“Yup.” Ichigo chuckled, “Good thing I remembered to bring the backpack, otherwise we would have been lugging a bunch of slips around.” He brought her over to the bowling area. “Okay, so we’re going to need special shoes for this, so let’s go find some sizes.”

“Why?” She asked, a confused look on her face.

“Bunch of reasons.” Ichigo replied, “Most importantly is that you’re supposed to be able to slide and stop. Regular shoes you’d just stick and maybe fall over or even get hurt. Plus, it could actually get the lanes dirty and make cleanup take longer.”

“Huh.” Rangiku shrugged, “I suppose that’s not that weird then. Still, do we have to wear these things anyone could wear?”

“These places are generally pretty good about keeping them clean if that’s what you’re worried about.” Ichigo told her. She nodded, and they quickly got ready as Ichigo got them a lane. “Okay, so the goal here is to get a high score. There are ten pins, and you have to knock all of them down. There are ten ‘frames’ and you get two tries per frame, and then it’s the next player’s turn. There are 300 points max, and whoever gets the highest score wins. If you knock all the pins down in one try, it’s called a ‘Strike.’ If you take both tries but get all of them, it’s a ‘spare.’ Anything less than that just gives you the total number of pins you knocked down in the frame.”

“Okay, sounds simple enough.” Rangiku smiled at him, “Why don’t you show me how it’s done, Ichi-kun?”

“That was the plan.” He said dryly, “Because one more thing. You’re rolling the ball, not throwing it. Throwing it would likely break the lane and probably get us kicked out.”

“Not without my Chappy!” Rangiku declared, and Ichigo again wondered what the hell that was.

“Okay, so free warning, I’m not exactly great at this, so I wouldn’t exactly say ‘watch and learn’ here.” He chuckled, before turning and grabbing the lightest ball, knowing that with his strength, it would probably be a disaster if he misjudged how hard to throw it. And with his strength, he’d knock all the pins down anyway. He took a few steps and slid, rolling the ball…directly into the gutter.

Rangiku giggled, “I’m guessing that wasn’t the best?”

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, “Yeah, I’m not exactly a master at this.” He was blushing a bit. “Okay, let’s try this again.” He grabbed another pretty light ball, now having a feel for it, and rolled. “Hmm, five ain’t bad.”

Rangiku hopped up and went over to the balls, “How do I know which one to choose?” She asked, finger right under her lip.

“Basically, you want the heaviest ball that still feels comfortable and that you can roll with enough speed. You said that Gigai was matched to human strength, so the heaviest ones might injure it.” Ichigo replied.

“Oh, come on! They’re more durable than that.” She said, grabbing the heaviest one just to try it. She did a few test swings, before frowning. “Huh, you may be right. Maybe I should tell Urahara to up the stats a bit.” She put it down and went for a medium ball. She swung it a few times, and nodded, “Much better.” She tried to copy the position he was showing her, and practiced the throwing motion he showed her a few times, before going for it. “Ooof. Right in the gutter.” She stuck her tongue out and gave herself a thumbs down. She quickly grabbed another ball and tried again, adjusting her aim a bit. “Drat!” She cried out as it went into the other gutter this time, “Adjusted too much.”

“You’ll get it.” Ichigo got up and grabbed his ball, before rolling it.

“You got one!” Rangiku cheered, smirking, and knowing he wasn’t happy.

“Yeah, one.” He groused as he grabbed another. He rolled, and cursed as all he managed to do was knock down another one.

“Better than my none!” Rangiku got up as he sat down and hurried to grab her ball. “I’m going to hit it this time!” She declared, before rolling it down the lane. She leaned to the left as the ball neared the right gutter, and cheered when she knocked four pins over. “I did it!” She hurried to grab another ball, “No fair!” She pouted outrageously as she managed to knock down another four, leaving two right in the middle standing.

“You’re beating me. Don’t pout!” Ichigo grinned, and focused up. He quickly rolled the ball… again into the gutter. His eye twitched as he heard Rangiku giggling, “Alright you hunk of junk.” He grabbed a ball with purpose, “No more Mr. Nice Ichigo.” He rolled it with a bit more zip, and a loud CRACK rang through the air as all ten pins fell over.

“Yay!” She grinned, jumping up and throwing her arm around him in a quick hug as she passed, “You did it!”

He snorted, “Feel like I cheated.” He mumbled, “Put too much on it. I thought I broke the pins.”

“They look fine to me.” She said, making another adjustment. She put her game face on and slid forward. CRACK. She gasped, “No way!” She beamed as all the pins flew. “I did it!” She hopped up and down, cheering.

Which obviously brought his attention to her chest as it bounced. “Uh huh, you sure did.” He said absently, not even realizing he was supposed to be getting up.

She caught sight of him and smirked.

The game quickly progressed once Ichigo regained control of himself, and they quickly finished it. Ichigo smarted over the fact that Rangiku had beaten him, but honestly didn’t really feel like he lost with all the eye-candy of the day. They did billiards next, and Ichigo got yet another eyeful every time she leaned over. ‘Today has been a good day.’ He thought to himself.

All things had to come to an end though, and so, with Rangiku carrying her ‘Chappy’ bunny and Ichigo carrying all their purchases, they made their way back to Karakura late that night. He thought they were done for the night, but Rangiku promptly showed up in his room with sake and mead she had snuck off to buy. “Ugh, what’s your liver made of? You’re not even buzzed.” Rangiku complained, her face slightly flushed.

“Cast iron and hatred.” Ichigo drawled with a smirk as he downed another bottle. “Thor once joked that he was the God of Mead.”

“No fair.” Rangiku pouted again, taking another sip of her sake, and frowning when she realized it was dry, “Why is the sake always gone?” She asked rhetorically, before she reached for another bottle. She didn’t get it because Ichigo grabbed it. “Oh, come on!” She pouted harder when he put it away.

“Moderation, Ran-chan.” Ichigo shook his head, “Didn’t you already get in trouble for this?”

“I was framed!” She replied with a tiny bit of heat.

“And no one had any trouble believing in it.” He shot back, making her flinch.

“Ugh, fine.” She stood, “But if you’re going to keep me from my sake, then I have to punish you!”

“Oh? How you going to do that?” He asked challengingly.

“Perish.” She declared, before knocking him into his bed and smothering him with her breasts.

“Mphmph!” He gave a thumbs up, which just had her giggling some more.

She didn’t go back to her room that night, falling asleep right there in his arms.

-]|[-

A few weeks had passed since their trip to Tokyo, and Rangiku had stopped pretending to care about propriety and had just moved into his room. Yuzu had just about had a conniption when she came in one day and saw the both of them just sleeping there with a bunch of alcohol bottles around. Even Karin had got in on Ichigo becoming a ‘deadbeat drunk’ until he smirked and drank both Rangiku and his dad under the table and then did some very acrobatic, very much ‘not possible while drunk’ flips, tumbles, and balancing acts. His two sisters were dumbfounded.

Isshin had tried to copy him and ended up nursing a broken nose, which Ichigo had spent days randomly laughing about.

The bed was kind of small, but they fit in just fine. And Ichigo had to say… waking up with a beautiful woman in his arms every day was amazing. And Isshin no longer coming in for his daily wakeup attacks was the least of the reasons for it being amazing. After all, while Ichigo usually went for the face or chest when his dad pulled his shit, his lazy cat very much did not like being frightened awake and went right for the balls.

“Ugh…” Rangiku groaned as they woke up with his alarm, just as she always did. “Do we have to go to school?”

“Fuck me, I wish we didn’t.” Ichigo groaned, rubbing his face.

“Well if you insist…” Rangiku sat up and straddled him firmly, before chuckling as he blushed red, “Still too easy, Berry-kun.” She teased as she swung off of him onto the floor.

“Damned tease…” He grumbled as he got up, putting his arms above his head and stretching out with a groan. “What’s the date again? We go on vacation on July 20th.” He wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying, and was just focused on rubbing his eyes.

“June 16th.” She called out. Ichigo froze. After a few moments of not getting an answer, Rangiku turned around. “Ichi?” She called, seeing him standing there looking like he was trying to glare a hole into the floor. “What’s wrong?”

He huffed air out through his nose, before saying, “…It’s tomorrow.” He looked away, out the window.

She gently put her hands on his cheeks and turned him to look at her, “What’s tomorrow, Ichigo?” She asked softly.

He didn’t say anything for a while, and the look on his face made Rangiku wonder if she had overstepped. When she had finally started feeling a little uncomfortable, he turned away from her. “It’s the day mom died.”

She froze now, not sure what to say.

“Or to be more accurate…” He said, “It’s the day she was murdered by a Hollow.” He sat heavily on his bed, “Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I just thought I was seeing things. I passed out, and woke up covered in blood with her on top of me. I blamed myself for more than a year, thinking I got her killed.”

“Oh, Ichi…” She said tenderly, hurrying to sit with him and pull him down so that she was giving him a lap pillow. She stroked his hair gently, “It’s good that you don’t anymore.” She said softly, “It can’t possibly have been your fault. You were just a child. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s ours for not slaying the Hollow sooner.” ‘Ours’ referring to the Shinigami in general.

“Can’t get them all.” Ichigo said softly.

“Want to tell me about it?” She asked, still stroking his hair.

Ichigo sighed, “It was basically a monsoon.” He sat up, shaking his head, “Was pouring cats and dogs. Mom and I were walking home from the dojo, and I saw a young girl near an overflowing river. She looked like she was too close and was going to fall in. I ran, and it burst from the river. It looked like a-”

“Giant, green-furred hamster with tiny limbs.” Rangiku said, her expression flat.

He whirled around to her, “You know of it?!” His eyes looked a little mad.

“Grand Fisher.” She replied, closing her eyes, “That son of a bitch has been active for fifty-four years, and has killed over two hundred Shinigami.” She had almost said ‘motherfucker’ but that probably would have been very bad in context, “Its bounty is actually higher than most Huge Hollows at 45,000 Kan.” She looked at him mournfully, “I’m sorry, Ichigo.”

Ichigo’s fists tightened, “How?”

“It’s the lure.” She told him, printing out a small slip from her device, “It has some way of turning that lure into something the person facing it wouldn’t want to hurt. The Shinigami hesitates…”

“And becomes food.” He crushed the slip in his fist, “Is it still active in the area?”

Rangiku swallowed, “I don’t know. It actually hasn’t been sighted in months. It moves around a lot.” She stood and hugged him, “I know how much this has to be hurting you, Ichi… but if you ever do encounter it… don’t lose yourself to rage. Rageful people fight stupid.” She pulled back, “And I know this is personal for you… for your family… but the worst thing you could do is to keep it personal and allow it to kill you. Pride will do you no good if you’re dead, okay? Your mom wouldn’t want that.”

Ichigo swallowed heavily, before letting out a sigh, “I think I needed that, Rangiku. Thanks.” He said wearily.

“Anytime.” She smiled, “Come on. Let’s get to school. I think you could use a distraction.”

“Right…”

…

The first thing Orihime did was give Ichigo a big hug. “Hey ‘Hime.” He said softly.

“We’re here for you, okay?” She pulled back and smiled, “I know how hard today and tomorrow usually are.”

He smiled, “You’re always here to brighten it up for me, ‘Hime. At least a little.” Her smile got much brighter. He greeted Chad with their usual forearm clasp as Orihime went to go hug Rangiku as well.

“Hey, what gives?” Michiru asked, “Orihime’s hugs are usually a lot bubblier than that. And Ichigo seems so tense.”

“What do you mean?” Chizuru asked in confusion, “Look at him smiling and joking with Keigo and Mizuiro.”

“Nah, she’s right.” Tatsuki sighed, “Tomorrow’s a bad day for Ichigo usually.” She stood, “If you have any business with him, make sure to take care of it today. He’ll be absent tomorrow.” She walked over and nudged Ichigo with her shoulder, and the two put their arms around one another in side-hugs.

-]|[-

“Ugh, dad is just exhausting.” Karin said after kicking Isshin back down the hill. “I know he’s just trying to keep our spirits up and all, but does he have to?”

Ichigo chuckled with Rangiku beside him. They had invited her along, despite the fact that she didn’t really belong in a family meeting. Rangiku smirked, “It’s a Shiba thing. Honestly, you three are a little weird.”

“Why, because we’re not weird?” Karin snarked, only to go deadpan when Rangiku nodded.

“Yup!” She laughed, “Of all of the Noble Families in Soul Society-” She stopped talking when all three of the Kurosaki children sputtered. If they had been drinking anything, it would have been full-on ‘spit-takes.’

“Excuse me?!” Ichigo coughed, massaging his throat.

“Daddy was a Noble?!” Yuzu stared at her in shock.

“Did he not tell you?!” Rangiku asked incredulously, “That lazy… grrrr.” She growled, “Okay, long story short, there are five Great Noble Families in Soul Society, of which the Shiba are one. On the very, very rare occasions that the Royal Guard descend from the Royal Palace, it’s the Shiba who are responsible for getting them back up when they leave. They also generally have incredible Reiatsu and have had many Captains in the Gotei 13, so honestly, your strength is not entirely unexpected.” She giggled, “Of course, they’re also the polar opposites of the Kuchiki, who constantly have sticks up their asses. With the Shiba, it would probably be constant partying if they didn’t have work to do.”

“Huh…” Karin and Ichigo gaped, “I never would have guessed.” The two siblings looked at each other, before starting to laugh.

…

Rangiku stayed out of their way, sitting high up on the retaining wall near the graveyard. She had left the family alone until they called for her. All of the Kurosaki had said their prayers together, but they also took turns alone. Karin had followed after Yuzu, who had started to cry. Even if Dad and Ichigo hadn’t given them the gruesome details, knowing that their mom had been killed by a Hollow and her soul eaten had overwhelmed the girl once they had finally been face-to-face with Masaki’s grave. Truthfully, Karin was just putting on a brave face right now. She was definitely going to cry later tonight once she got in the shower.

Ichigo had gone for a walk on his own to clear his head. Every year, he remembered the monster that had killed her, and no matter how much progress he’d made… every year on this day, when facing her grave, he thought of what ifs. ‘What if I hadn’t tried to help that stranger. What if Mom didn’t lose her powers. What if they had told me about ghosts and taught me how to see them…’

Even Thor didn’t give him too much shit on this day, despite the storms and hurricanes that pounded his soul on June 17th.

Isshin had also gone off on his own, his own thoughts on his mind. The sky had gone from bright blue and sunny to orange as their star started to set. Yuzu and Karin were sitting on some steps, with Karin comforting/chiding her twin for crying like usual. Finally, they heard the telltale ‘tweeting’ of one of Isshin’s silly whistles, calling them to gather once more. The two young girls stood, and Karin patted her sister on the shoulder, “Let’s…” She stopped as she caught sight of something, “Go?”

“Huh? What is it?” Yuzu asked, looking over, “That girl!”

Karin sighed, “Wait here. I’ll go check on her.” She walked over, “Hey, you okay?” She asked, and the girl didn’t respond, “If something’s troubling you, there’s a priest who lives just down the hill.” She pointed behind her.

“You… can see me?” The girl asked.

Karin twitched, “Ah, you’re a ghost.” She deadpanned, “Guess I was worried for nothing. See ya.” She turned and walked away, but something was telling her to be careful.

“You can hear me too. How lovely…” She heard the girl saying, and hurried her steps. “How tasty you look!”

Karin didn’t need to hear Yuzu’s panicked scream to leap forward and roll. “Wh-what the hell?!” She cried out as she turned, staring at the girl before her. All the blood drained out of her face as she comprehended her words, “H-Hollow!” She heard steps, and panicked, “NO! YUZU, STAY AWAY AND GET DAD OR ICHI-NII!”

“You even know what I am?!” The girl looked delighted, “And it looks like a two-for-one special! How delightful!” She licked her lips, “HOW UTTERLY DELIGHTFUL!” A massive Hollow at least three stories tall landed behind her.

Yuzu and Karin both froze as they looked at it. It looked like a very furry, green hamster with red, bird-like talons. “N-No!” Karin gasped, “W-we can’t possibly be this unlucky! A Huge Hollow?!”

“Ahahaha, that’s right, girlie!” The Hollow replied, “Fifty-four years young and starving.” It stalked forward on all-fours, “And you’ll make some tasty treats!”

“H-Hadō #4: Byakurai!” Karin chanted, pointing her fingers, and pouring more than double the usual amount of power into it. The beam of lightning burst from her fingers like a sniper round, slamming into the Hollow’s mask and exploding. “Come on Yuzu, there’s no way that took it out!” She grabbed her sister and ran, her ears twitching as she heard her sister chanting.

“AHAHAHA!” The monster called out, “WONDERFUL! SIMPLY WONDERFUL! TWO LITTLE SHINIGAMI MEALS!” Karin chanced a look back, and realized its mask hadn’t even been smudged. “COME HERE, LITTLE MORSELS!” It shouted at them, before leaping.

Yuzu turned around, “-nd three ravens soar through the sky! Bakudō #30! Shitotsu Sansen!” She screamed as the crackling energy at her fingertips drew a triangle in the air with three pointed tips at the vertices. The three triangles at the tips fired out, surprising the Hollow and piercing it, sending it rocketing back and pinning it to the cliffside.

“WHAT?!” It roared out as Karin chanted next to Yuzu.

“Rise up, fall still, silent end. Warring field, northern point, the march continues on! Hadō #29: Yūreiha!” Ten spectral blades appeared around her, and all fired at the pinned hollow, striking its body with enough force to pierce straight through hardened concrete. A plume of smoke engulfed the beast from the explosions as Karin fell to her knees, panting as if she had run a marathon.

“We need to run, Karin!” Yuzu tried to get her up.

“Did that at least slow it down?” Her sister managed to get Karin’s arm over her shoulder and helped her up.

“Ahahaha, not a chance.” The ominous voice called out from behind them, revealing that the hollow wasn’t even injured and that it was stalking towards them. Before they could do anything, tentacles shot at them, “NOW COME HERE!”

And then Ichigo landed in front of them and swiped his arm, generating a blast of wind that disintegrated the approaching tentacles and knocked the hamster ass over teakettle.

“Ichi-nii!” Yuzu and Karin cried out in relief. “We-we couldn’t do anything…”

But Ichigo didn’t respond. Not to them. “Who are you, sonny?” The Hollow stood and started to slaver, “Oh, but what a banquet! SO MANY TASTY SOULS! I CAN’T EVEN CHOOSE WHERE TO START!”

The only thing Ichigo said in response was “You.” in a tone so full of wrath that his two sisters squeaked and stiffened in terror. Around them, the skies started to darken, and the wind started to blow. The orange skies rapidly started to fill with black clouds that crackled with lightning.

Rangiku was the next to show up and she quickly gathered up Yuzu and Karin. “R-Rangiku… what’s wrong with Ichi-nii?” Yuzu asked tearfully.

Rangiku did not have her signature smile on her face, “That’s the one…” She said softly, and Karin stiffened as she realized what the buxom woman and her brother were talking about.

“Y-You mean…?” She stuttered as she turned around.

“Yeah…” Rangiku said softly, “That’s the one that killed your mom…”

Yuzu let out a horrified gasp and Karin ground her teeth together. “ICHI-NII!” She yelled, “KILL THAT BASTARD DEAD!”

“Ahahaha! What’s this?” Grand Fisher laughed, “What’s got you all so upset, sonny?”

“You.” Ichigo took a step forward and Grand Fisher showed a slight bit of interest as the ground cracked beneath his feet. “You killed our mother!”

“Hahaha! Is that so?” Grand Fisher laughed some more.

“What. Is. So. Funny?!” Ichigo’s rage was spiraling out of control as he took another step forward. His vision was starting to tinge red, as if blood was covering his eyes.

“How can it not be funny?!” The Hollow roared in laughter, “Sonny, do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?”

Something inside Ichigo snapped. “RAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” The roar of inarticulate rage and ensuing shockwave blew Grand Fisher, Rangiku, and even the dirt coating the rocky cliff they were on away. Bolts of lightning continuously crashed down on him, the thunder ripping through the cliffside nearly rupturing their eardrums.

“What the?!” Grand Fisher cried out as it used its claws to stick itself to the stone beneath.

Rangiku grunted as she hit the back of the cliff, groaning in pain.

“This isn’t right!” Yuzu cried out, “I-Ichi-nii would-would never-” She started to cry.

“I don’t think Ichigo is home right now…” Rangiku said, her heart hammering inside her chest.

The dust cleared, revealing Ichigo and the Grand Fisher. The beast had recalled its lure, which had ripped the girl apart and formed a second mask, which attached itself to the main body like an anglerfish’s lure. “Hey, hey…” For the first time, Grand Fisher started to look afraid as it stared at Ichigo. “What the hell is this? Y-You’re not even out of your Gigai. How can you generate this much Reiatsu?!”

The boy’s shirt had disintegrated, revealing that his musculature had seemed to bulk up. His shoes had also exploded, and his footprints were now permanently engraved on the stone beneath him. Purple lightning was crackling along his skin almost like tattoos, and his eyes were mere pits of crackling electricity. Even his skin had reddened slightly, and there was a tiny bit of foam escaping from his lips. He opened his mouth and steam seemed to escape him.

“Perhaps discretion is the better part of valor this once.” The terrified Grand Fisher raised its leg.

BOOM.

Grand Fisher didn’t know what happened. Why was the earth upside down? Were… were those its legs?! The brat. The brat was behind where it had been standing, his arm behind him with five little tongues of crackling lightning trailing his fingers. The ground rushed to meet it and the Hollow immediately scrambled, revealing its regeneration and extremely flexible body. Only one thought engulfed its mind right now.

Flee.

Grand Fisher’s legs hadn’t even finished regrowing yet when it realized Ichigo was above it. It distended its body, and just barely evaded Ichigo’s falling punch.

BOOM!

The cliffside exploded, flinging huge chunks of stone around and shattering part of the cliff, sending more stone tumbling down below. Even part of the retaining wall cracked, though thankfully it held. For now.

Karin and Yuzu screamed as a giant boulder headed for them, and only stopped when Isshin arrived in Shinigami form and sliced it apart. “Shit! What happened?!”

“Grand Fisher.” Rangiku explained, holding Yuzu and Karin tighter than she really needed to, “It’s the one… and Ichigo snapped after it said something to him. I couldn’t hear it. Captain Shiba, what the hell is going on?! This Reiatsu…!”

“I was afraid of this…” Isshin groaned, “I did a lot of mythological diving when he told me his spirit claimed to be Thor. That god was known for flying into Berserker Blood Rages.”

“But it can’t possibly be Thor, right?!” Rangiku asked desperately, “Gods like him don’t really exist!”

“No… but you heard what he said… he was Aizen’s unknowing success.” He said roughly, “He must usually be in balance… but the sheer rage he’s feeling must have touched his Hollow Side deeper than he ever has willingly.”

“Shit. What do we do?! There’s no way Soul Society won’t investigate this!” Rangiku cried out.

“We need to be fast. The initial burst would likely have scrambled all sensors, and I put a barrier up when I sensed it. But it’s not going to hold, and it especially won’t hold if I end up having to fight him until he calms down.” Isshin said, “Lieutenant Matsumoto, get my daughters away from here and get Urahara and Tessai here immediately!”

“Yes!” Rangiku didn’t even consider reminding him that she had been demoted. She had been his Lieutenant once upon a time.

Yuzu and Karin were crying as Rangiku rushed away. “Stay safe, Daddy!” Yuzu managed to yell at Isshin’s back.

“D-Don’t hurt Ichi-nii too much, okay!” Karin’s voice faded as Rangiku rushed away.

“Jeez, those girls…” Isshin sweated as he hid his Reiatsu. No need to allow Ichigo to find him before he finished with Grand Fisher. “They should be more worried about me.” He stared hard at the slaughter happening before him. ‘Please Ichigo… regain your head soon… I don’t think you’ll live with yourself if you eat it and your mom with it.’

…

Ichigo opened his eyes and realized immediately that he was in his Inner World. “W-What happened?” He put a hand on his throbbing head.

“You fucked up, boy.” It was Thor’s voice… but at the same time, not Thor’s voice. There was an odd reverb to it. Ichigo sat up and froze as he eyed his Zanpakutō spirit. It was like the man he had known for years had been bleached completely white. The only bits of color on him were his black teeth, black eyes, and golden irises. “You got so fucking pissed off that your Hollow Side is going out of control out there.”

“Shit.” Ichigo sprang to his feet, “I need to-” The hammer crashed at his feet, forcing him to jump back. “What the hell, Thor?!”

“I told you, boy.” He clicked his fingers, and the hammer flew into his hand, “YOU FUCKED UP!” He leapt and smashed the hammer into the rocky cliffs beneath where Ichigo had stood, kicking up giant boulders and flinging them everywhere with an accompanying crackle of lightning. “I represent ALL of your powers, boy! What do you think your Hollow Side going out of control is doing to me, huh?! I CAN JUST BARELY HOLD MYSELF BACK!”

“SHIT!” Ichigo cried out as he summoned his own hammer. The two raced at each other and clashed, and the resulting eruption shattered the cliffs of Ichigo’s soul.

…

The Grand Fisher really was regretting all of its life choices for about the last decade, give or take a few years, judging from the boy’s apparent age. The boy was a savage. He wasn’t content with just killing Grand Fisher quickly. Oh no, he was tormenting the Hollow. If its body hadn’t been practically made out of hair, it would be black and blue with deep, rupturing bruises. And everything Grand Fisher tried, failed. It had tried to pierce him with its claws to read his past and use its lure, and they had screeched on Ichigo’s Hierro. It had tried to sacrifice its lure as a distraction by having it change into any generic woman and having it call to him, but Ichigo had simply grabbed the lure’s tentacle body and chucked it and Grand Fisher hard enough to embed it into the cliff. Ichigo seemed to be purposefully avoiding its mask. He had pounded the Hollow so much that Grand Fisher was wondering if he was planning on using it like a bludgeon at this point.

And then Ichigo grabbed its leg and swung it through the air, hammering it into the cliff and causing it to roar again in agony. “M-Monster! GET AWAY!” Grand Fisher managed to fire a Bala at the vengeful teen. The rapid attack smashed into Ichigo and exploded, causing him to let go of Grand Fisher’s leg.

The hamster practically skidded in its hurry to escape. It desperately slashed open a rip through the air and flew through it into the glimmering black beyond. The rip sealed behind it, and it sighed in relief as it realized it got away.

And then Ichigo appeared directly in front of it, and Grand Fisher realized it was dead. Ichigo’s hand crashed into its mask and his fingers dug in. All the sensation it felt besides pain was the feeling of rushing backwards, and then seeming to shatter a glass pane with its body. In reality, Ichigo hadn’t torn a Garganta, he had broken one.

Grand Fisher’s mask ground into the cliff as it and Ichigo slid down the mountain. They impacted the ground lower down and kept sliding, carving a furrow through stone, and throwing up a huge plume of dust and dirt. “S-Stop!” Grand Fisher begged once they came to a stop. Its body was broken. There was no way it could escape. “I-I won’t ever-” Ichigo’s hand clamped on its mask and forced its jaw shut. He opened his mouth, and showed that even his teeth were covered in lightning. He breathed out and another puff of steam burst from his mouth. He lowered his head. “Nhh! NHHH!” Grand Fisher tried to scream when it realized what Ichigo was going to do with it.

And then a blue fireball smashed into Ichigo and threw him away. “What?!” Grand Fisher cried out, before looking at Isshin. “A-A Shinigami sav-” It stopped.

“I didn’t save you.” Isshin had his arms crossed as a thin line appeared through its mask, “I saved my son.” Grand Fisher’s eyes widened, “He would never have forgiven himself if he ate Masaki’s soul.” Grand Fisher’s mask sprang apart, and the Hollow disintegrated into Reishi. “Now it would be really great if that woke you up, son.” Isshin ground out, staring at the smoke in front of him. It cleared, and revealed Ichigo just as pissed. “Shit…” Isshin cried out, drawing Engetsu and using it to block Ichigo’s fist. “Damn it, Ichigo!” Isshin cried out, “Grand Fisher is dead now! Masaki is free! Please wake up!”

Ichigo’s only response was another roar. He swiped madly at Isshin with clawed, lightning fingers, and it was all Isshin could do to block them.

“God damn it, I HATE fights like this!” Isshin ground out, “I hope you forgive me Ichigo, Masaki! But I can’t hold too much BACK!” He sliced Ichigo, cutting him upwards from about mid-chest through his collarbone in a gout of blood. Ichigo’s skin knit right up with his High-Speed Regeneration. Isshin let out a momentary sigh of relief at the sight. That relief ended as Ichigo punched a lightning bolt at him. “DAMN IT KISUKE, HURRY UP!”

Ichigo roared, and his hands both started to crackle with so much lightning that they started looking spherical. Isshin’s face went a little blue, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

Ichigo clapped his hands together and the lightning fused, before firing out at Isshin and looking way more powerful than a Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō. It was purple with a whiteish-purple core and crackling lightning all around it.

“Bakudō #81: Dankū!” Kisuke cried out as he landed in front of Isshin. A thin barrier looking like a pane of glass appeared in front of them.

An absolutely colossal explosion shook the cliffside as Ichigo’s Cero smashed into the defensive Bakudō. The fire burned intensely and would have covered several acres, but it smashed into a Kidō Barrier which Tessai had been channeling since he and Urahara had rushed out of the shop. He sighed in relief as it held, and then prepared to seal the three inside away from the world.

As the explosion died down, Tessai cried out, “Ryūbi no Jōmon!” A set of white pillars rose and formed a gate in front of him, “Kokō no Jōmon!” An object not unlike a watermill formed way in the back, “Kigai no Jōmon!” Several green hexagons appeared on the left side, which formed into a honeycomb-shaped structure. “Hōyoku no Jōmon!” An obelisk rose in between the three, and then a red cloth opened up like a sunshade. “Shijū Saimon!” He finished the combination barrier off, and a transparent, black cube formed out of the four components.

Kisuke sighed as he eyed his cracking Dankū. The explosion had cleared, and he allowed it to dissipate. “Well, at least we know he’s not capable of shattering a level 81 barrier yet.” Kisuke said lightly, betraying some nervousness.

“What are we going to do?” Isshin asked, swallowing heavily.

“The only thing we can do.” Kisuke woke Benihime without the words, “Hope he can get himself under control before we’re forced to kill him.” He said ominously.

…

“GOD DAMN IT!” Ichigo ground out as Thor forced him back, “How do I fix this, Thor?! How do we get back to normal?!” He swung his hammer and unleashed a bolt of lightning at the older man.

“Oh, it’s easy!” The bleached-white Thor grinned maliciously, “You either got to knock me out, kill me, or come to terms with that rage of yours.”

“What?!” Ichigo gasped, “But I’ve never beaten you before!”

“Well, you better start now, boy, otherwise I’m going to eat you!” Thor’s eyes glittered, “And then we’ll become a full Hollow for however long it takes your dad to figure out what happened and put us out of our misery.” He charged and tried to knock Ichigo’s block off. Ichigo ducked and scrambled away, “Or just come to terms with that rage!”

“But I don’t even feel angry right now!” Ichigo protested, though even to his ears, he knew it was weak.

“DON’T JOKE AROUND, BOY!” Thor thundered, “LOOK AROUND YOU! YOU’RE SO FURIOUS YOUR SOUL IS QUAKING!”

Indeed, as Ichigo looked around, he realized hurricanes, plural, were throwing trees and rock alike around like they weighed nothing. Lightning struck multiple times every second. The entire landscape was shaking in the storm. Sheets of rain were pouring down and turning everything into a muddy mess. His distraction cost him, as Thor’s hammer smashed into his face and broke several bones, knocking him away and sending him tumbling on the floor. He spat out a tooth as he regenerated, groaning in agony. He scrambled at the dirt and picked himself up, “Okay…” He panted, “I am angry!” He ground his teeth as he physically reached for his hammer, “I’m so fucking pissed off I can hardly see straight! All of the pain, all of the nightmares, every time I cried myself to sleep, every time I had to listen to my sisterscrying! AND THAT SON OF A BITCH DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO REMEMBER HER!” He roared as he flew towards Thor like a bullet and smashed their hammers together.

The electrical energy they were throwing out was so powerful that even the non-magnetic materials around them started to float before the energy exploded in a gargantuan lightning bolt that threw them both tumbling away. “Oh, you’re angry about that, yeah.” Thor picked himself up first and clicked his fingers to return his hammer to his hand, “But that’s not the true reason you’re so furious.” He held it at his side, “I thought you were past this, boy!”

Ichigo flinched, “What the hell are you saying?”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL!” Thor engaged him again, and battered his defenses aside before grabbing him by the throat and flinging him into a cliff, “YOU STILL BLAME YOURSELF!” He stomped towards him, “You let people in! You stopped letting it rule your thoughts! You thought you were better, but deep down, you never forgave yourself!”

“AND HOW CAN I!” Ichigo spat at him, “I RAN FOR THE LURE! I GOT US INTO THE FIGHT! ALL BECAUSE I COULDN’T TELL THAT A GHOST WAS A FUCKING GHOST!” He growled out and for the first time in his life, Ichigo knocked Thor over with a devastating blow, sending teeth flying through the air. Thor landed and shook his head, stunned momentarily. “And you know what?! Facing that fucking hamster reminded of how much I hate the fact that I even have hollow powers…” He dropped his hammer, “I hate it. I hate the fact that I share fucking species with that monster! That I can become a monster!”

“And what are you going to do about it, boy?” Thor stood, and as he spoke, his voice lost the reverb effect, “Get lost in it every time you get pissed off? Are you going to give up?” Bit by bit, the white seemed to be sliding off of him like a bad paint job. Like ink that was just not sticking to paper.

“No.” Ichigo ground out, “I am what I am. I have to accept that. Crying about it isn’t going to do shit.”

Thor snorted as his beard and hair returned to normal, “You were a child, Ichigo.” He used his name for the first time in a while, “Your parents knew that you were special, but they didn’t want you involved in their world. They purposefully kept you ignorant instead of teaching you, and it was a mistake. You didn’t do anything wrong. You saw someone in trouble, and you tried to save them. You wouldn’t be you if you hadn’t. You heard what Tits said. That Hollow has been hunting for decades and has killed over two hundred trained Shinigami. There was nothing you could have done, other than not be there that day. You have to stop blaming yourself, kid. No one else does.”

“I know…” Ichigo let a tear fall, “I…I think now… I can finally let go.”

Thor snorted, “Aye, you beat that bitch like it owed you money. Or your body did, at any rate.”

“Is it dead then?” Ichigo asked, “Damn, not even going to get a chance to do it myself.”

“Aye. Your dad took care of it.” Thor replied as he regained all of his color, making Ichigo open his mouth in confusion, “Trust me kid. He did the right thing. You never would have forgiven yourself if mom ended up in here.”

All the color drained out of Ichigo’s face. “I…I was going to…?”

“I ain’t going to sugarcoat shit for you, boy. You were about to eat it before your dad blasted you off it.” Thor replied, and glanced at the sky. The storm had died down, but it started to pick back up, “No!” He growled commandingly, “Don’t fall into that trap, boy. You had nothing to do with what happened outside. All you need to worry about is making sure this never happens again. Your mom is free now, and that Hollow will never hurt another soul. Focus on that.”

Ichigo closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, “Thanks Thor.” The storm broke completely, and Ichigo vanished. Thor let out a dry chuckle, “Shit kid,” He rubbed his face, “That was a hell of a hit…” He grinned widely as he sat back on his rock.

…

Isshin and Kisuke groaned as they smashed into the back of the barrier again, sliding down. “So, this is the power of a hybrid, huh?” Kisuke groaned as he got back to his feet.

“We should be glad he sucks at manipulating foreign Reishi.” Isshin had a hand on his knee as he forced himself up, “Otherwise he would have just disassembled this barrier.” He raised Engetsu, “Come on, Ichigo. Get it together, son! Otherwise…” He swallowed heavily, “Otherwise how am I going to face Yuzu and Karin…”

“Sing, Benihime!” Kisuke cried, sending out a blood red blade of Reiryoku that hobbled Ichigo momentarily. Ichigo’s body growled and raised his hand. Once more, a massive amount of electricity started to gather in his hand, and Kisuke paled, “Shit, I delayed the casting of that Dankūthe last time! One without an incantation won’t survive another blast!”

“I’ll layer one behind it!” Isshin yelled, “Hurry!”

“Bakudō #81: Dan-” They started to shout, only the lightning vanished. “Eh?” They both almost fell over as they cut the energy off. “What?”

The lightning vanished entirely from Ichigo’s form, and his muscles shrank. The lightning that had covered his eyes revealed black eyes with golden sclera, before even that faded into Ichigo’s warm brown eyes. He slumped and started to fall.

Isshin sighed in relief as he used Shunpo to catch his son, “Glad you’re okay, son.” He said warmly, though Ichigo was unconscious and didn’t respond. Immediately, the barriers around them disappeared, allowing the rain to instantly drench them with what seemed like a tidal wave of water. “And now we’re wet.” Isshin deadpanned.

“Phew! That was a workout.” Understatements were apparently on the menu for Kisuke today. “Let’s go. Before someone shows up to investigate this.”

“Yeah.” The three conscious and one unconscious Shinigami vanished, leaving the destroyed cliff behind.

-]|[-

That’s a wrap!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Took a large break in December. Didn’t really do much writing until the final week. Was honestly feeling a little burnt out, and the muse didn’t want to focus on anything.

Going to try to immediately start work on 6 while the Bleach muse is still firing. It should hopefully go much faster, because there’s not really much in the chapter that I’ll need to actually struggle through. This chapter fought me for…probably a good few days, maybe a week, until I got through the parts I was struggling with.

But next chapter… *Evil Laughter* oh, I’ve been looking forward to this one. We’re finally getting Yoruichi into the picture, and finally, we get to Ichigo’s Zanpakutō. Hope you’re all ready!