Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

A New Window	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 13905 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it or any part of it posted elsewhere please report it

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
The Speed Phantom

After everyone was seated and
the food had been distributed, they all said the one last thing before the meal
finally started.

�Itadakimasu!�

Surprisingly, there were still
plenty of leftovers after everyone had eaten so much they could barely move.
Watching Tatsuki and Nemu eat had been something else
though, because they put away enough food to match Yasutora
individually and they were two-thirds of his size, if that. It was to be
expected, one doesn�t exactly go through pregnancy on a diet.

With the food however, another
problem had arisen. Now there were plenty of children fully charged and ready
to go. Patience wasn�t exactly their strong point, all except the ones that
were in the higher years at the academy, because they were being instructed in
military ways. The others had just been taught the basics by their parents, as
their spiritual pressure was nothing to scoff at either. So there was a good
deal of little bodies flying around the large mansion using the skill known as Shunpo, or Sonido, depending on
the child.

Tatsuki leaned on her husband as
she watched all the youngsters zoom around their house. �I think we could show
our present to our family early, don�t you?�

Ichigo smiled at what she was
suggesting. �That sounds like a great idea.�

Toshiro rolled his eyes as he
straightened out the casual wear he had chosen for his gigai.
�How exactly do you plan on getting them all to stop?�

The orange-haired captain
grinned. �Weeelll��

�No Bakudou,�
Tatsuki reprimanded instantaneously, without even needing him to say anything.

�But��

�No.�

�Just a little��

�No.�

�Are you su�?�

�Yes. No Bakudou.�

Ichigo scowled exaggeratedly and
glared mockingly, before he did the next best thing and also the cruelest to
any adult still recovering. He yelled, �PRESENTS!!!�

Every adult�s eye widened in
horror when that word was shouted for everyone to hear; though the only people
who would respond to that cry were anyone but them. Suddenly the pounding sound
of a stampede of feet was heard rolling towards the living room, and in less
than a second every single child that had been in the house was seated around
the Christmas tree.

�PRESENTS!!!!!�
The whole group of children cried out at once.

Renji
glared at Ichigo. �You�re evil.�

Ichigo merely grinned, but since
he had been the one to call them he only found it fair to give them some
reprieve before the actual thing began. �Well, I had only called you all here
to see one present, but since you all came here so quickly I think it�d be okay
to open one each before Tatsuki and I show our family our gift.�

The eyes that had started to
become downfallen at the beginning of his speech suddenly perked up excitedly,
and the other parents could only agree else there be a whole new problem on
their hands. That didn�t make them like Ichigo any more for his little �joke�.

One by one each person, not just
the children, opened one gift and the living room quickly dissolved into
conversation and any subsequent playing with any gifts that might have been
given. Since there had been some weaponry�of all the things to give
children�among the gifts given, Ichigo and Tatsuki were quickly given better
reason to show their gift. They did like their house after all, and
repairing it was a pain.

�Okay, Kaien, Tsuki,
Ikasam, Masaki, follow us, but all you others can
come too!�

Curiosity aroused, everyone
followed the kimono�d twosome as they led the way to
one of the unused rooms of the mansion, and when the door had been opened and
nothing was revealed, there were more than a few skeptical glances. Imagine
their surprise when Ichigo reached down and pulled on the floor to reveal a
staircase down to some as-of-yet-unexplored region. The three�four with Ikasam�Kurosaki children�s eyes widened tremendously.

They knew this could only be one
thing.

Kisuke
Urahara tried to hide his grin with his fan as he always did, but with Yoruichi
right beside him and Kin already after her boyfriend down the staircase, he
wasn�t able to completely hide that he had a part in the present. It was
his specialty after all.

Of course, everyone followed the
ones that had already run down, and they too soon bore witness to the area
nearly identical to the one under Urahara�s shop,
albeit with a few more�healthy trees.

�Welcome to the new addition to
our home, complete with hot springs,�
Tatsuki announced proudly. �Now until later in the night, I�m sure all of you
can occupy yourselves playing here, am I wrong?�

The answer was a
near-simultaneous sound of bodies dropping to the ground. All the kids stood
there, most of them in their white-and-blue or white-and-red academy kimonos,
and the ones that weren�t old enough were in simple kimonos. None of the
Kurosaki�s had left their bodies yet, but that was because the
super-intelligent teens were analyzing the area with interest.

Then Kaien felt a tap on his
shoulder. He turned around to see Asuka, already in her spiritual form, looking
at him with that infamous Grimmjow grin. �We haven�t fought in a while now
mister. Wanna go a round?� She noticed the way
Kaien�s eyes started glowing, even though he was still within his physical
body. She gulped.

�Sounds good.�

�Oh no you don�t!!� an indignant
voice suddenly called out, and they both looked over to see Kin standing off to
his side, already out of her body. �I haven�t gotten to fight you once
since you�ve been back! You�re fighting with me!�

Kaien laughed, smacked his hand
to his forehead, and the people around him watched as his body fell to the
ground as his Espada-like form stood where his body
once had. Since few of the adults�and all the kids�hadn�t seen his jacket open
as it was now, they were privy to the sight of the Hollow�s hole smack dab
between his pectorals. �How about this, I take you both on,� he
suggested. If the two girls didn�t know any better, they�d think he was wanting
to. Since they did know better though, they knew that was exactly it.

�Don�t think I�ll be holding
back,� Kin warned, clearly thinking he was underestimating her.

Kaien simply smiled. �I wouldn�t
dream of asking you to.�

Kin simply gave an unladylike
snort and led the way to a large opening of the desert-like landscape, where
she and Asuka quickly took positions on opposite sides of Kaien while remaining
a good distance away. Both women drew their swords and Kaien made no response
to the obvious advancement in the fight.

Instead, he cocked his head to
the side and gave them each a look. �I thought you said you weren�t going to
hold back?�

Within the span of a hair�s
breadth Kin had Shunkou activated and had launched
herself at her significant other faster than any normal eye could see. To her
utmost shock, she hit her target dead in the stomach and thanks to the dense Kidou covering her blade her sword sunk right through his Ierro until its point was stabbed completely through his
body.

�K-Kaien�?� she muttered in
horrified disbelief, then before her very eyes the image vanished and her sword
wasn�t through anything, nor was there any blood on the blade. �W-What the�?�

�Yes Kin? Something wrong?� a
deep voice asked amusedly and she jumped in surprise and turned around to see
her boyfriend standing behind her with a grin on his face. Only there wasn�t
just one of him, there were two.

Kin rubbed her eyes and looked
back at him, but still no change. There were definitely two Kaien Kurosaki�s in
front of her. �Kyouka Suigetsu?�
she wondered aloud.

�No,� Asuka�s voice growled.
�Shit, he�s not planning on taking us lightly either. Even among his siblings,
he�s the only one who can use both Shunpo and the
higher form of Sonido.�

Understanding dawned in Kin�s
eyes and she gulped worriedly. �Gemelos Sonido�I thought it died with the Septima
Espada�. Good Lord Kaien, how much can you do?�

It was more of a question to
herself than anyone else.

~~~~~~~~~

The adults had been ready to
leave, but seeing three of the oldest children ready to fight each other in a
two-on-one battle was too good to refuse. They stood watching on one of the
surrounding mountains; well away from striking range while not so much that
their view was hindered.

Ulquiorra looked on wordlessly
with his wife by his side. �Gemelos Sonido�he hasn�t used that in a while,� he noted
monotonously.

The captains who hadn�t fought
him before�and even those that had�were astonished far more than the
emotionless Espada. �Sonido?� Ukitake asked
confusedly. �I�m sure I felt him use Shunpo before
though. Now it�s Sonido? How can he do both?�

Ichigo grinned smugly. �All of
our children can use both Shunpo and Sonido, but only Kaien managed to get up to Gemelos Sonido. It�s on a completely
different plane, almost like Yoruichi�s Ways of the Omnitsu.�

Yoruichi laughed. �No wonder he
was able to keep up with me so easily when I was playing around. He was
combining the two without going further; otherwise he would have started
creating the quasi-clones like he is now.�

Tatsuki nodded. �Most likely, if
he didn�t want you to know any more about his power. That would be all he would
use normally too. He�s easily one of the fastest people in this room, minus
only you and Ichigo.� This was said while in the presence of other captains.

The mocha-skinned woman smiled
ruefully. �This is going to be an interesting match.�

The other captains only stared
down on the scene below.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kaien smirked over at his two
competitors. �If I hadn�t avoided that one this battle would have been over
already. That�s some scary stuff there Kin,� he complimented without actually
looking worried, which in a way he was. He stopped moving at the great speed he
was and regarded them both as he simply stood there. �Well? Are we getting this
party started or what?�

Kin�s gaze hardened and she held
her blade in front of her rigidly. �Shunkou
not enough for you? Fine! Arise: Benitenchi!

Asuka�s head shot over to Kin as
the release cry was shouted. She hadn�t known Kin was able to use Shikai, and if she was, then why hadn�t she used it against
her? This changed the equation though, so she would need to reevaluate how she
was going to fight with Kin against Kaien while remaining undamaged from her
new partner.

Kaien hadn�t seen the released
form of his girlfriend�s sword, but he knew what it was. After all, for him he
wasn�t simply limited to Shikai, and after absorbing
all the memories of a zanpakutou, things like released forms are common
knowledge.

The sword in Kin�s hand glowed
red and without even looking Kin simply let her hands out to the side and held
them out in front of her. The blade shimmered in the air for a second longer before
wind enveloped its form and the glowing red sword melted and elongated into a
long white staff that fit perfectly into Kin�s outstretched hands. At either
end of the staff taller than Kin was herself was a beautiful ruby orb no
thicker than the staff itself, holding the same chaotic blue light within them
as that of the Shunkou on her back. It was a strange
sight, to see blue within red, but the azure energy was like lightning clawing
at the crimson sides of the orb, just begging to be released.

Kin smiled confidently when her
released blade had set itself in her hands. With practiced movements she spun
the white and red staff around her until it was set like a spear against her
side as she eased down into a more comfortable fighting stance. Staffs are much
different from regular swords, and just like Ikkaku Madarame, she held the end behind her at a higher angle
than that of the end before her as she bent her one leg to ease the leg in
front of her at a straight angle. With Shunkou
activated, the stance was one of the most intimidating things he had ever seen
on such a beautiful woman.

Kaien tried not to look as
worried as he felt. �So Asuka, what�s my limit this time? I�ll give you a
half-hour then this bout is done, I have to recover in time for gifts after
all.�

Kin was clueless as to what he
was implying, but this was a regular occurrence for he and Asuka while he had
been living in Hueco Mundo,
so the blue-haired teen behind her knew exactly what he was asking. She
grinned. �Two against one? I don�t think it matters.�

The mocha-skinned teen gulped
when Kaien�s smile reached �almost disturbing� length. �Doesn�t matter? Well then,
bring it on,� he taunted arrogantly as he sunk down into his fighting stance.

Kin stole a quick glance back at
Asuka. �Think you can keep up without getting hit?�

Asuka barred her teeth. �Let�s do
it. You take right side, I�ll take left.�

A quick nod,
and they were off.

Kaien knew he was going to have
to be on his guard the moment they split, because soon after an explosion had
rocked the area Asuka had shot to and he knew she had just released her
zanpakutou. He wasn�t about to ignore Kin, because ignoring an opponent with
both a released blade and Shunkou was inviting death.
An Espada-class hybrid and a Captain-class
True-Blood�what the hell was I thinking!?

He quickly turned to Kin�s
position and saw that she was in the air falling towards him with her staff held
in front of her. �Hadou Four: White Lightning!�

Kaien�s eyes widened when her
Incantation Bypass was uttered and instead of shooting from her finger, the
orbs on either side of Benitenchi glowed in response
and the white energy was launched from both of them. Oh crap!!

He quickly rolled out of the way
of the double strike and when he felt the reiatsu coming close to his seemingly
unprotected back areas he just as quickly shot his foot out behind him and thus
bent Asuka�s form over his foot from her flying stomach-first into it. Her
breath and a good deal of saliva were forced from her fanged mouth from the
impact but he didn�t give her time to recover. He grabbed the collar of her
skin-like transformation and flung her over his shoulder, to where Kin was
still falling down at him.

The two in the air had no
recourse but the painful collision Kaien had just forced them into and their
mutual yelps as they hit were quite amusing to hear. Thanks to incredible
flexibility and cat-like balance, by the time they reached the ground they had
both landed on their feet and with no recovery needed they simply flung
themselves at him again.

Kaien leaned himself back to
avoid the thrust at his head by the staff and was instantly glad he did so,
because seconds later the red ruby had shot blue energy from the orb to form a
blade at the end of the staff. It disappeared just as quickly but he knew he
had to act, so he completed the backwards lean he had started and planted his
hands on the ground, launching his legs up to grab the staff while using the
momentum to throw Kin over him with just his feet as he used the handspring to
get him back on the appendages he had just used.

Crap. Crap crap
crap crap crap! With the blade being made of energy�or Kidou to be more accurate�that nullified any weight or
unbalance of a normal spear and that meant she could move it just like she
always did without any difference being necessary to her fighting style. Once
again, Crap.

It was time for him to start
fighting back otherwise this bout would be over before his set limit. That
wasn�t something he was going to allow. There was coordination behind their
improvised fighting that bordered on animalistic ferocity and he had been
forced into a state of action-reaction, something not very much appreciated by
the fighter who prided himself on knowing when and where each strike was going
to come from. Something not really possible with the many punches and strikes
coming his way from two of the fastest people there were in his generation.

Come on think! Think! He
cursed himself again as he blocked another of Asuka�s blows while jumping to
the side to dodge the Kidou-infused rod that his
girlfriend-turned-opponent had swung at his side. What would be best in this
situation!?

Most males on the planet would
die for two women who looked like Kin and Asuka to fight over them, but the
downside was they were actually fighting him, and not fighting over
him.

He knew he was going to regret
this later when he was recovering but for now he needed the speed boost,
because Gemelos Sonido took
too much conscious thought to be used. Since it didn�t take very much normally
however, that only went to show how far Kaien was being pushed by the two
fierce females.

Before he knew it Asuka was right
in front of him again and he said the first thing that came to mind. �Hadou One: Thrust!� The normally weak Kidou packed the force of his reiatsu behind it and it shot
her away from him like a bullet and into one of the opposing mountains. Thanks
to that, Kin was distracted momentarily and he used that opportunity to get
steady grips on the swords he had just called out.

Kin turned around just in time to
see her boyfriend holding what was undoubtedly Tensa Zangetsu before pushing the intense black blade together
with a katana that looked to be serrated from the jagged condition of its
blade, one that she couldn�t recognize. The two melded together until only a
jagged Tensa Zangetsu
remained, but instead of preparing to counterattack, Kaien crouched down and
held the blade towards him while his unused hand went like a claw onto the side
of the blade.

She felt cold sweat drip down her
neck. She had seen that stance before.

His eyes locked on to hers just
in time for him to yell out, �Grind, Pantera!!�

It seems he had figured the best
thing to do in this situation was fight fire with fire.

The shockwaves from the fused
blade being released yet again sent her to the same place Asuka was just
pulling herself out of. Both women groaned from the damage but they pulled
themselves out regardless, only for them to see the smoke clear around a now
transformed Kaien. Asuka�s eyes widened and she quickly turned to Kin. �Which zanpakutous did he use?!?� she shouted.

Kin had pulled herself up and
made sure she had a firm grip on Benitenchi again.
�He used Tensa Zangetsu, I
know that much from my father, but I didn�t know what the other blade was until
he called out, �Pantera�.�

She watched as the blood drained
from Asuka�s face. �Looks like playtime�s over. Don�t let your guard down for
even a second,� Asuka whispered and Kin wasn�t exactly reassured from the gulp
she gave at the end.

Kaien stood as the dust settled
around him, identical to Grimmjow�s released form in
every way except for the color of the transformation, the place of his Hollow
hole, and the lack of a bone-like forehead protector. His jet black hair had
lengthened and straightened down his back in sharp waves and his eye tattoos
had grown to accommodate the pointed ears. His menacing fangs were shown easily
in his enjoyment and his yellow eyes burned with the intensity of the sun.
Unlike Grimmjow, with Tensa Zangetsu
joined to the blade the transformation was completely black with contrasting
red lining to show the now noticeable �strips� of skin-like cloth.

His eyes narrowed in on Asuka and
they both took a stance similar to Grimmjow�s, as he
was in a sense a bipedal cat, so his legs weren�t meant to be fully stretched,
instead more held bent with his arms on either side like an animal.� Kin tried not to notice the sweat beading
down Asuka�s face just from looking at him, because with Kaien�s reiatsu
control it was still impossible to sense anything from him, even in complete
released form. She had a nagging feeling Asuka had felt it before
though, and from the way she looked like she was trying to look fierce just to
hide the fear coursing through her was a pretty large hint for that.

Then they both roared.

The soundwaves
of the two ricocheted against each other like physical attacks,
that was how dense they were in their sheer volume. The physical pressure
the two made alone made Kin thankful she had Shunkou
activated because unlike reiatsu, where it depended on you spiritual strength
to stay standing, this was just plain force being put down on the air
from sound itself.

The two charged at each other
soon after and it became vastly apparent that Kaien had fought in this form
before.

He was careful not to use his
claws because while he wanted to have a fun all-out match with them, he wasn�t
about to seriously injure them. Add to that it was hard enough for him to
simply fight normally because his sense of chivalry was pounding against his
conscience, trying to make it remember he was fighting women. His
rational side countered that by saying Asuka was half Arrancar, and most
Arrancar women would think it an insult to be treated as weak as a human woman,
though there was the side of them that loved being treated delicately. It was
instinct, after all.

Back to the
matter at hand�

He and Asuka collided head-on
with the blade on their right arms pressed firmly against each other in what
seemed like a stalemate scenario. Asuka snarled and suddenly her tail had shot
out from behind her head and went straight at his. Her eyes widened when her
tail went straight through what she thought to be Kaien and revealed it had
been an afterimage caused by his speed. Seeing no time for her to look around to
gain his location, she quickly jumped back while spinning to defend against any
attacks with her tail.

To Kaien�s eyes everything was practically
in slow-motion. Pantera increased his speed
exponentially and together with Tensa Zangetsu it wasn�t hard for him to break the sound barrier
by walking. He could see each rotation of his opponent like she was
doing them at a deliberately slow pace and her tail�s rate of spinning around
her was easily discerned.

�Watch out!� she heard Kin�s
voice cry. It was too late, because right after she was stopped abruptly when a
hand grabbed her tail and she soon found herself spun around by the hand on her
attached appendage and then she was let go and flying towards the ground at a
frightening speed. She braced herself for the impact but instead of hitting
hard ground, she soon felt a warm set of arms under her armpits and a firm pair
of breasts cushioned against her back.

Kin grit her teeth as she used
her freakish strength�an attribute gained from her mother�to grab Asuka and
with her grip established she was able to land them both safely, though she had
to take them both into a roll just because the speed Asuka had been thrown at
made it unsafe to do anything else without breaking her legs.

Asuka had momentarily forgotten
she was fighting with a partner this time, and that made her more than thankful
for the save from what would have assuredly been a painful landing. �This is
pitiful!� Kin said in exasperation. �We need to start working together better
or we might as well wave the white flag now!�

The blue-haired teen merely
groaned again. �Easier said than done! He�s used that
form to tear apart Adjucha�s with his bare hands! If
he was channeling Ulquiorra you wouldn�t even be able to stand right
now!�

Kin�s gaze hardened. �You�re
underestimating me.�

She looked over quickly to see
that Kaien was now circling them like a panther slowly advancing on its prey,
only this panther was moving at speeds that made it look like there were twenty
of him. Kin stood up straight and raised her staff above her head before she
started spinning it like a propeller, unmindful to Asuka�s confused look as to
what she was planning.

Satisfied she had the timing of
his movements down, Kin spun her staff faster before yelling out, �Bakudou Four: Crawling Rope!!� Just like before with White
Lightning, the Kidou came from both ends of the
released zanpakutou and the spinning movements swung it right into the many
running forms of Kaien. Her plan worked, because soon one of the rope-like incantations
had grabbed something solid out of all the �Kaiens�
around them. Knowing she had him, she stopped spinning her staff and tugged
harshly, eagerly enjoying the surge of adrenaline she felt when he went flying
over her head from the unexpected pull and right into the side of one of the
mountains. She let her Kidou go and looked down at
Asuka smugly, who was looking at the hole Kaien had made in his impact with an
open mouth.

�Kidou�s
worthless against me when I�m with Benitenchi, and
with Shunkou activated it boosts my zanpakutou�s strength even more than normal. She absorbs Kidou and fires Kidou, so
anything involving the Demon Arts is useless against me while it becomes my
greatest strength. Since Kaien�s been cut by it already, he probably knows that
and that�s why he hasn�t used any. You don�t underestimate Kin
Urahara-Shihouin!� She said confidently as she planted her staff beside her and
waited for Kaien to pick himself out of the hole she had made him make.

Besides being arrogantly
confident herself, Asuka Jaegerjaques was wondering when in the hell all of her
friends had gotten so damn scary.

�Getsuga�!!�

Oh shit!!! The Espada-class young woman thought instantly before tackling
Kin out of the way and charging up a Cero.

��Tenshou!!�

The black and red attack came flying from the hole just in time to be met by Asuka�s
Cero and the two attacks pushed against each other for a few seconds before it
became apparent that both attacks were around equal strength. They fought for a
second longer before they both blew up and shot hurricane-force gales around
them, throwing dust and dirt from the ground into the air like confetti.

Kin planted her staff in the
ground again. �Hadou One: Thrust!� The force of the Kidou coming from both ends shot the dust away like nothing
and thanks to that Asuka was able to intercept Kaien as he ran towards them in
a charge. They met and their clawed hands locked together as Asuka fought
against what she knew was a stronger male.

�You can�t stop me like this, you
know that Asuka,� Kaien taunted her through his fanged teeth and she barred her
equally deadly teeth right back at him.

�Maybe not, but I can keep you in
one place for a few seconds at least, can�t I?� she taunted back with a knowing
grin and she loved the way Kaien�s narrow, seductive eyes widened in
realization.

�Let go now!� Kin yelled, and
Asuka immediately did so. Since Kaien was still pushing against her, when she
took off he was thrown off balance and in no position to move anywhere but
forward, just like Kin wanted. All the sudden she was beside him and her staff
was flying at him in a full baseball swing until it hit his gut and sent his
breath and any saliva he might have had out his mouth as he was hit away like a
kickball. Kin wasn�t nearly done yet, and she shot after him with staff at the
ready.

His sides were the first thing
she went for, as they were the easiest accessible for many hits with a staff.
They were inelegant strikes meant only for pain and not technique, and Kaien�s
ribs groaned in protest from the repeated strikes that effectively destroyed
any chance for him to get back his lost breath. With the dense Kidou covering her weapon and her sheer strength in
general, the hits felt almost as bad as going up against his father. He was
sure he had one broken rib by now. If had just been a blade then his Ierro would have blocked it, but it was a blunt force
weapon that didn�t need to cut to do damage, and he was feeling it. Ierro did well against that too, but she just happened to
have the ideal weapon for it, that of a staff practically soaked in Kidou. The Demon Art the staff radiated naturally from
having Shunkou activated on its user pushed the full
force of the attack through the reiatsu-hardened core of Ierro
and right to the vulnerable organs beneath. This form was ideal for fighting
Asuka, but against a long-range weapon like Kin�s, especially with the fact
that it didn�t rely on cutting, he should have tried to keep his distance. He
was realizing that very painfully.

His vision was blurring now. He
couldn�t get enough air. He needed to stop this and now!

Moving out of an animalistic
sense of self-preservation, Kaien managed to spin in mid-air and Kin had
forgotten about his long tail, the thing that came
flying at her when he did so. She managed to get her staff up but the force of
the strike sent her flying away from him, exactly what he had been hoping for.
He landed harshly on one of the mountaintops and was reduced to all fours as he
panted for breath and vomited up blood from the force of the blows that had
been dealt to him. His broken rib throbbed with every large expansion of his battered
lungs as they struggled to get in the air they needed and he had the sense to
wipe away the spittle and blood flowing down his chin. He had fought with
her before since he had come back, but not against her, and it was far
more than he expected. He could counter her of course, but not without
seriously injuring her. He wasn�t willing to take that chance, but the Hollow
blood inside him was boiling, raging for him to put her in her place and
exhibit dominance.

He could feel both Asuka and
Kin�s reiatsu, and he could tell they were confused because they didn�t know
where he was. That was a perk of being able to hide reiatsu. He knew in this
condition his fighting ability was going to be severely tempered, and calling
out another zanpakutou seemed useless now. Though his body was weakened, right
then his blood was anything but. Even if he wanted to fight, right now his
blood was fighting against him. It shouldn�t have been acting up like this, but
it was and right now it wanted Kin in the same position he was currently,
though for what reason�punishment or procreation�was up for debate.

�Damn it!� he coughed again, and
more blood came up with it. Then he heard it, and it chilled his blood.

�Bakudou
Sixty-One: Six Stave Light Prison!�

It was definitely Kin�s voice,
and he had no recourse as the six bars of light trapped him in place just in
time for her to fly up and once again her staff came up and smacked his
unprotected middle, which sent him flying up to where Asuka floated waiting.
This time he could actually feel the crack as another rib gave way and
he barely had time to spin and see Asuka pull back her fist as he flew towards
her. It appeared like they had planned this out. He knew the black was
overtaking more of his eyes, and he also knew if this fight continued at the
pace they had it at he wasn�t going to be able to stop from hurting one of them
more severely than he might have already. Taking his blood into account, he
knew if this didn�t stop now they all were in danger.

Her punch still caught him
off-guard even though he was fully expecting it. She and him
had fought many times before, and it obviously hadn�t occurred to her that this
time something was different, something even more prominent than the fact that
one of the combatants didn�t have Ierro and he
couldn�t afford to hurt her seriously. Her punch caught him right below his
Hollow hole and thanks to the already terrible state his ribs were in he felt
another snap before he was sent flying to the ground from the force of the
blow.

He hit the ground with a huge
explosion of dust as he made his own crater and he knew he no longer had the
strength to keep up his transformation. He tried to get back onto all fours so
he could struggle himself upright, but his broken ribs made any vertical
movement impossible. �Damn�I guess I deserve this for taking them so lightly�� His
lungs caught up to him yet again and with one last vomit of blood the strips of
his transformation snapped off until they were back into sword shape and he slumped
back to the ground, unconscious. At least he hadn�t lost his control, and that
was all that mattered to him right then.

And hey, he had made it to his
half-hour limit just like he wanted.

Asuka knew something was wrong
the moment she saw his unfocused eyes looking at her as he flew upwards from
the force of Kin�s strike. The first thing she noticed was how he had made no
attempt to get out of the way, the second was the blood coming from his mouth
and pouring down his chin, and the third and final thing she noticed as she
punched him was how close the black of his Hollowization
had been to completing itself.

Then she had felt a rib under her
fist snap and he went flying down to the ground.

Kin was in front of her almost
right after and had her in a congratulatory hug with both her zanpakutou and Shunkou deactivated. �Did you see that!? It worked
perfectly! We did it!!� Asuka didn�t hug back however, she only stared down in
terror as she watched her Prince retch up blood before his transformation
ceased and he fell limply to the ground. Kin seemed to notice that Asuka wasn�t
responding and she turned to see what she found so interesting.

Her blood ran cold when she saw
Kaien lying unmoving in his crater with blood still dribbling from his mouth.

�KAIEN!!�

~~~~~~~~~

Ichigo and Tatsuki knew something
was wrong right away after they had watched Kaien spit up blood, and the fact
that the was unable to keep up his transformation was surprising enough, never
mind the fact that he had fallen unconscious right after. They had both noticed
his eyes however, and they knew he probably wanted the unconsciousness,
no matter how it was delivered. They both knew he wasn�t fighting to his full
potential. Heck, not even a quarter of his strength had annihilated all the Adjuchas that had attacked their home, so a simple bout
like this should have been child�s play.

However, they both knew his
concerns. One: he didn�t want to hurt the love of his life; and two: they both
knew he was afraid for her because she didn�t have Ierro.
Had it just been him and Asuka, there was no doubt in their minds that there
would have been a few mountains gone from the landscape.

In an instant they�and any Espada that happened to be there, so Ulquiorra and Halibel�were gone from their perches and over to the fallen
prince�s side. Ichigo quickly turned him over and did a scan of his son with
his reiatsu. His eyes widened. �Holy shit,� he muttered. He placed his hands
over his son�s chest and the people around him braced themselves for the
explosion of reiatsu that they knew would happen as he started to heal his son.
Blue and black reiatsu glowed over the visible wounds and over his skin to heal
the internal injuries too.

Kin and Asuka were both back to
normal now as they appeared by Tatsuki�s side, worry etched all over their features. �What�s wrong
with him!?� Kin shouted hysterically.

Ichigo craned his head over to
look back at them as he continued the healing process. �He�s got a number of
shallow flesh wounds, three broken ribs, and one of his lungs was one punch
away from collapsing.�

Kin gasped and fell to her knees
in shock. �I�I did that�?�

Asuka stood unmoving beside her.
�He couldn�t even fight back by those last two hits,� she told them, the
disgust at herself audible in her voice. �For whatever reason his blood decided
to act up and if he had those kinds of injuries he wasn�t going to risk
fighting back against us when he knew he might lose control. I don�t think he
was planning to go unconscious the way he did, but it was a means to an end.�

Tatsuki put her hand on Kin�s
shoulder. �Don�t worry Kin, he�s recovered from far
worse. He just can�t fight you all-out anymore. You don�t have Ierro like Asuka does but besides that, at the back of his
mind you�re his girlfriend first and his sparring partner second. Even if he
attacked you directly he would have made sure you had a way out.�

Kin stifled a sob. �I�I�ve seen
him fight before, I�ve seen him make light of tons of enemies! I didn�t think I
could hurt him this bad, I really didn�t!�

�Heh,
like Mom said, I�ve gone through worse,� a weak voice interrupted. Kin�s eyes
shot over to Kaien�s, who�s bright yellow eyes were looking at her amusedly, if
not a bit sleepily.

�Kaien!�
She rushed over to his side, but didn�t dare hug him or anything because of
Ichigo still healing him.

�I�ll be able to move in about
forty-five minutes, so don�t worry about me.� Kin impulsively reached for the
hand nearest her and held it to her cheek lovingly,
like she needed to be sure he was still warm and alive. �Sheesh, beautiful and strong. You do this to
me too much more and I�ll lose my respect in Hueco Mundo,� he joked.

�On the contrary,� Halibel began, much to his surprise. �Self-sacrifice for
the sake of a weaker mate is a direct connotation to defying the primal drives
within, and that is far harder than merely taking control of the entire
situation like most would want. Even if you weren�t trying, that she managed to
give you that much damage in a fight would increase her respect too. We
wouldn�t expect you to know this, because you never showed any interest in
claiming an Arrancar so you wouldn�t have learned the procedures and the like.�
Even after she was done, it didn�t look like she was completely done. That was
confirmed when she turned her intense blue gaze to Kin.

�And you�you should count
yourself lucky he didn�t release his reiatsu. I doubt you would have even been
able to move.�

Kin�s gaze hardened. �I�m being
underestimated again.�

�No,� a small voice countered
shyly, and Kin was shocked when it was Asuka who had protested, even
after fighting beside her. �All Espada-class Arrancars can instill a great amount of fear in their
released forms. I�m no slouch of course and I can fight with the best of them,
but the stronger the person the stronger the fear. Even in humans and
Shinigami, everything is attuned to fear of those stronger. The same thing
happens when the King and Queen undergo their Vizard
or White Transformation, but Resurrecion is a far
stronger release that takes Arrancars to their Hollow
form, the form born from Fear itself. I was there�the first time he unleashed
my dad�s form onto himself�� The sweat was back on Asuka again, and she
shivered involuntarily.

�I didn�t know what to expect,
but when I did it I felt this euphoric sense of becoming�whole. The power was
intoxicating, and with my reiatsu adding Grimmjow�s
to it I wasn�t prepared to stop the sudden rise. I still feel bad about that; I
nearly crippled Apache,� Kaien voiced, to add his take to the conversation.

Halibel
made no outward sign that she felt bad about what had almost happened to her Fraccion. �She was unprepared for a kind person such as yourself to release that kind of reiatsu.�

Ulquiorra nodded his agreement.
�Primal fear is not to be underestimated, to use your words.�

Kin gulped. If some of the
remaining Espada themselves
reinforced the argument there was no way she could refute them, especially when
she hadn�t felt his reiatsu in that form for herself.

�That�s why I said you should
have thought yourself lucky he wasn�t channeling Ulquiorra, because whether my
dad likes it or not he still is technically two ranks above him, and Halibel is even higher. Kaien�s weakness with his zanpakutous is hard to remember when you think of the
actual ability itself and not its weaknesses. It�s�terrifying,� Asuka finished.

�Geez,�
Kaien groaned from his place on the ground. �You�re really making me out to be
a bad guy over here. Did you forget that that �terrifying� guy you�re talking
about is currently lying prone on the ground after getting his ass handed to
him by two girls?�

Asuka snorted. �That doesn�t
count. Even though you released Pantera you still
weren�t totally taking us seriously. You could have incapacitated both of us in
an instant with that speed, and if you wanted to you could have even released
some of your reiatsu and had most everyone here seeing their own deaths.�

Kaien laughed reluctantly, which
soon turned into a coughing fit, as Ichigo hadn�t finished repairing his one
lung yet. Ichigo looked down on his son worriedly. �Okay Squirt, that�s enough.
We�ll wake you up in time for presents, okay? I�m going to help you get to
sleep; even talking would be a bit much for a freshly healed lung.�

Kaien sighed but did his best to
nod. Ichigo smiled and put a hand to his son�s forehead before a dim glow came
from his hand and Kaien went limp. Kin carefully put his hand back to the
ground by his side and she sighed. �So forty-five minutes is his recovery time
this time?�

Tatsuki nodded. �Yeah. He�d be a bit sore because he used Bankai but with Ichigo healing him he should just be a bit
groggy when he wakes up. Besides, it�s easier for him to recover in his body so
he doesn�t have to do it later.�

A small explosion from another
area of the large expanse of the underground training area turned their
attention elsewhere.

Sado
let his head fall into his hand in exasperation as he felt the reiatsu in the
air. It was one of his children.� �Oscar,
what have your mother and I been teaching you all this time?�

Halibel
walked by her husband and put a small hand on his large shoulder as she
smiled�something she would forever love to do because she could in her gigai and in her Arrancar form it was all but impossible.
�I�ll go talk to him this time. His legs are getting stronger, you have to
admit.�

He gave a reluctant chuckle. �I
do. He just needs to control himself more around people weaker than him.� It
seemed the bronze giant was getting better at stringing more than three words
together.

Rukia
chuckled and elbowed the man nearly twice her height in the ribs playfully. �So
your youngest has his legs as his power and not his arms, huh?�

Sado
sighed. �Halle�s exactly the same, but she inherited a lot of our
calmness. Oscar is a lot like me when I was younger right now, and his legs aren�t
even taking into account his zanpakutou.�

Rukia
paled.

�It�ll be okay!� Orihime piped up cheerily. �Sora�s
over there too, so he�ll be able to heal anyone if they�re hurt!� Her airhead
personality never ceased to take the tension out of any situation.

Uryuu
readjusted his glasses like he always did. �He�s the only one out of all our
children to have your powers as a base for his Quincy ones. Everyone else is the other way
around.�

�And he�s got my orange hair!� Orihime boasted proudly.

There was an atmosphere of
�please don�t let her get started about her kids� so Ichigo quickly scrambled
for a way to change the topic. �Chad!
Would you mind carrying Kaien upstairs to the living room? Now that this is
done we can talk up there for a while before we let those kids dig into their
gifts,� he explained optimistically, trying to hide the sweat that was breaking
out on his brow at the thought of having to listen to Orihime
go into one of her imaginative rambles again.

Still, it had been too long since
everyone was together like this.

~~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: Yet again, I had to split up a chapter because it
got too long. I know having so many chapters for one day seems like overkill
but I think I�m able to get the points of each of them over better by splitting
them up than keeping them all in one chapter and losing the quality of the next
one. Thanks for waiting and it won�t be too much longer until the next update,
I can promise you that!

By the way, xSTALKERx,
you could leave a review for What The Eyes Can�t See too�LOL, I�m sorry, I�m a review junkie
now! You people are too kind to me, LOL! (Please don�t stop). I�m glad things
are making better sense to you now, I wouldn�t expect
too many people to understand this story without reading the first one.

Thanks for giving me your time
and reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one when it comes!
- 12
- 13
- 14
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A New Window