“Broken Innocence” Chapter 8

"Good job my boy," Grand Fisher praised Hideo. "You've retrieved the blood of the famous Ichigo Kurosiki, who has the power of both Soul Reaper and Hollow within his being. Now we can begin…"

“It was my pleasure,” stated Hideo flexing the fingers on his right hand, which ached slightly after his brief fight. “I’d expected him to be stronger than that.”

The Grand Fisher looked at him, an expression on his face resembling some form of fatherly concern. However, it did not hang around for long.

“I’m sure you will get another chance to fight him and perhaps then he will be more sport for you.”

“Doubt it,” muttered Hideo who was watching the Grand Fisher closely. “So, when do we start?”

“As soon as you hand me the final ingredient,” he replied holding out his hand.

He stood in front of a glowing pot into which other ingredients that had already been added. Hideo walked over and handed him the vial of Ichigo’s blood, The Grand Fisher poured it into the pot and turned away just before dazzling lights danced around the room. Hideo was too late so he just watched the colors as they spun and danced around him. He could already feel the power the concoction held. Each of his cells felt like dancing with the lights giving him the urge to do the same. An urge he successfully resisted. After a few minutes the lights calmed down and the pot held only a clear, still liquid. The pair knew they had been successful, anticipation boiled within them.

The Grand Fisher turned around and glanced at the pot, an evil grin spreading over his features as he gazed at the liquid.

“It is done,” he said as he poured the liquid into two waiting cups. “This should give us the power of Ichigo, the power of both the Soul Reaper and that of the Hollows as well, and with that,” the evil grin returned with a vengeance “we shall obtain all power that we have ever dreamed of possessing.” Hideo and The Grand Fisher held up their glasses.

“To power, vengeance and victory,” Hideo said before they tapped glasses and drank the liquid; their faces were pictures of unbridled hatred and malevolence.

Hideo discovered that those feelings increased as the liquid coursed through his body. The flashes of light he had seen now were truly in his cells and he could feel them beginning to affect him. The power was immense he wondered briefly how Ichigo had controlled it, but soon felt at one with it and started to laugh. It was an evil laugh.

Malice filled each syllable; soon he was going to have the ultimate revenge to go with ultimate power.
There was just one person standing in his way. Hideo flexed his fingers again then gazed at his hands as though expecting them to have changed. He appeared the same, but he knew the others would be able to feel how he had changed. He had been powerful before, he knew that, but this power was on a completely new level. This power could never be ignored.

When the reactions had completely stopped and his body and the liquid were one, Hideo returned to Karakura Town where he hoped his next fight would test his new abilities. The Grand Fisher remained behind, he had his own agenda, and with his new powers, he could now complete them alone. He would let Hideo have his fun…for now. Soon he would call on the boy and then it would all be over for Ichigo.

Not knowing what to do about the new immense power of the two departing opponents, Ishida and Rukia picked up the unconscious substitute Soul Reaper and quickly carried his slack body to the one and only haven they knew of here in town; the Urahara Shop. After a while, Kon, in Ichigo’s human body, followed the two saviors down the now dark streets of Karakura Town, the streetlights casting an eerie glow upon slack Ichigo’s body.

“Ichigo is not ready to face that boy yet, Rukia. What are we going to do about it?” Ishida asked, out of breath from running and carrying Ichigo, as well.

“We’ll have to give him some real Soul Reaper training, and I know just the girls to do it,” Rukia said with a mischievous grin on her face. “But now, we just have to get him to a safe place, so he can recover. That boy really did a number on him, even I was not expecting him to be so strong,” Rukia fell silent. She was still in awe from what had just happened on the hilltop.

As Rukia and Ishida rounded the corner, they saw the lights on in a seemingly normal street mart. As usual, they saw a short boy with spiky red hair with a broom picking on a slightly older girl with black pigtails. They continued to ‘play’ until they saw Rukia and Ishida with the unconscious Soul Reaper substitute, they knew some serious business was going down and they would have to move quickly if they were going to be of any help to Ichigo.

Jinta, the red headed boy, ran inside the shop, yelling “Oi! We have, visitors come quick!”

Urahara, in contrast to his usually playful mood, walked out of the back room giving orders to Jinta and Ururu to prepare to heal Ichigo. Ishida laid Ichigo down as the healing process began. Once the short, but important process was done, Urahara turned to Rukia with a look of serious distress eminently present on his face.

“Rukia, I think it’s time you seriously trained Ichigo. His Zanpaku-to, uncontrolled reiatsu, and overall kidou skills a lot of need work.”

“I know Urahara, this event has made that all too clear for each of us,” Rukia said, turning to Urahara. “Urahara, I think we should send Ichigo to the big hill just outside of Karakura once he has healed. I do not think we have much time until that boy comes for Ichigo again. So the sooner we get started the better for all of us. I’m sure Ichigo would agree if he were conscious right now.”

With those words, Rukia left the Urahara Shop and headed towards the mentioned meeting place, contemplating how she would train Ichigo.

“He has no kidou skills, he doesn’t even know the name of his Zanpaku-to, and he needs to learn how to control his reiatsu… Naoko, Tamura, come out; I know you’re there,” Rukia said aloud. The two mentioned Soul Reapers jumped down from the surrounding trees, looking guilty.

“Sorry Rukia, we couldn’t help overhearing that the boy needs training. You should leave that to us, and inquire to Urahara about your strange gigai. You’re gonna need your strength for the next battle,” Naoko said sheepishly.

Rukia thought leaving the training of Ichigo in the hands of the two capable Soul Reapers was a great idea. She was worried about her current position concerning her powers and knew she would not be much help in training if she could not even manage some regular kidou.

“All right, I’ll trust you two with his training, but make sure you actually TRAIN him, and not just have some ‘fun’. He really needs this training; he does not even know the name of his zanpaku-to! I know you two are probably the best for the job in our current situation so, Good Luck,” agreed the gigai hindered Soul Reaper.

Too bad Rukia did not see the mischievous grins on the two Soul Reaper’s faces. They were going to do more than just train him. After all, Rukia did not say that they could not have any fun.



Broken Innocence Chapter 9