368Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and thank you to those that left a review. This chapter focuses on Ichigo training to become a Shinigami as well as meeting a faithful friend. Also this is going to be a harem story with Rukia, Yoruichi and Orihime as the members. Rukia will be the main pairing because I always liked the chemistry between them but with Ichigo being OOC in this story I want to see what you all think of their bond between them. Also should I add Rangiku to the harem as well? I'll create a poll and let you all decide.
"Juha Bach"
"Shiro"
"Aka"
"Ao"
"P.O.V."
'Thought'
"Attacks"
Shikai/Bankai
Chapter 2: Becoming a Shinigami and the Unbreakable Shield
Two years. It's been two years since Ichigo started his training. When they first met, Kisuke performed a full body check up on Ichigo and was able to conclude that the Kidō spell placed on him was indeed broken and he decided to put Ichigo through the process of becoming a Shinigami in two steps. Step one, Kisuke forcefully pushes Ichigo out of his body as an ordinary soul, which he explains that he must fight Ururu Tsumugiya, one of his assistance, in order to get use to fighting in his spirit body. It takes a while for Ichigo to get the hang of it and Kisuke making him say a ridiculous phrase in order to activate a headband he provide Ichigo with but as the battle continues Ichigo manage to dodge a few of Ururu's punches and kicks but before she could deliver the final blow, Kisuke stops the fight declaring that the first lesson was cleared. The second step, Tessai severs Ichigo's Chain of Fate leaving him with 20 meters of chain left. Kisuke explains that the next step was for Ichigo to unlock his Shinigami powers before the encroachment reached his center or he would become a hollow. Ichigo was restrained by Tessai using Bakudō and both of them were placed at the bottom of a hole that Kisuke calls the Shattered Shaft. Ichigo attempts to run up the walls to get out but every time he fails. Ichigo, left with only 10 meters of chain left, passes out from exhaustion and finds himself back in his inner world where he finds Aka and Ao there. They tell him that in order to become a Shinigami he must find his powers, to which they made the inner world disappear and in its place were boxes with ribbons connected to it. Aka said that his powers resided in one of those boxes and Ao told him to use the ribbons to help him. It took Ichigo a minute to figure out what that meant before he noticed that all the ribbons were white except for one that was red with black and blue outlines. Grabbing the ribbon and used it to open the box to find two handles of Zanpakutōs, which he quickly reaches for pulls them out. In the real world Ichigo's body erupts with a torrent of Reiatsu as he breaks to Bakudō spell on him and shoots out of the shaft to reveal that he has become a Shinigami wearing the standard outfit with two swords attached to his waist. Kisuke, seeing this, declares that Ichigo has passed the test and can now begin his training. Thanks to his slowly increasing of returning Reiryoku reserves, he was able to properly regulate and maintain his Reiatsu. And Yoruichi's teachings in stealth did work wonders. As it is now, should he wish for it, he can become completely invisible to spiritually affected beings. Of course he took full advantage of the stealth lessons he learnt and used them to get back at Kisuke and his father for all the pranks that they pulled on him. He's been doing better in school under the tutelage of Kisuke, coming into the top 5 eventually shocking his teachers. There was a condition to his training though. He must be in the top five of his class or else he won't be trained. This caused him to study hard whenever he was done with training.
Later on two years later at the moment, he can cast Hadō and Bakudō up to the sixties without incantation. His growth didn't surprise his teachers that much considering that he was a hybrid but he was told that he was a prodigy. His Zanjutsu and Hakuda were impressive but his Hohō needed a bit of work. Shiro had for now taught him Bala, Sonído and Pesquisa. Cero and Hierro would need a bit of hard work so he was told that he'd be taught those when he becomes thirteen meaning that he'd be learning those next year. By these two years he ended up unlocking his Shikai and mastered it to its full potential which would according to the spirits increase as he trains more in his inner world and with his teachers. When he revealed his Shikai, to say that his father was crazy would be an understatement; not to mention the fact that his Zanpakutō was a 'Getsu' as well, which was of the same category as his father's, a fire elemental Zanpakutō. He was the third Shinigami in history to be a duel wielder.
Within those two years, Isshin made Ichigo reconnect with his old friend Tatsuki. Ichigo argued at first until Isshin said that even though he's training to be a Shinigami, Ichigo is still just a kid and needs to have a social life. Ichigo, even thou reluctant at first, made an effort to be Tatsuki's friend again and while they may not be as close as they were before his mother died, they were at least back on talking terms.
Over the two years, he'd grown a reputation for himself. 'The Undefeated'. That's what thugs and bullies call him now. Add to that, his scowl when they show up makes him a complete delinquent with orange hair. He lost the scowl that he'd gotten used to after his mother's death and often had a blank deadpan and cold look that practically screamed- 'Stay Away!' Though it did backfire on him as the school has its own fan club with his name. A fan club solely dedicated towards him. There were even a boy or two among the girls which scared him for his chastity. He sometimes felt like he was being raped by the girls in his class whenever they look at him with a hungry gaze. Heck even his seniors asked him out to which he coldly rejected. And much to his shock they knew he'd reject them, and when asked why they did it nonetheless, they said they wanted him to behave coldly towards them just for the feel of it. He found out they are a bunch of masochists dedicated to him. When he told this to the others back in the shop, Yoruichi burst a gut laughing like crazy while his father cried about him not willing to give him grandchildren which acted as ammunition for Urahara to tease him.
He hasn't been told Shiro's name yet and every time he gets the same response.
"You'll know when the time comes instinctually."
But he could roughly guess that the time was soon. Maybe he had to prove himself? The same way he did with his Shinigami Zanpakutō? Ichigo even learnt to mix in Shunpo and Sonído naming the new one as 'Shunido'. He has been sharpening his skills with his Zanpakutō spirits and since he's mastered Shikai and according to them has a huge Reiryoku reserve, he might as well start his Bankai training.
To avoid pressuring his body, he started with materializing Juha Bach and often played chess with him to keep his mind sharp and clear. Then after that he started materializing Shiro and spar with him in Hakuda, Hohō and hollow powers. No Kidō and Zanpakutō as that would mean mixing Shinigami powers as well. After the past few months of materializing, he could maintain their presence in the real world for about six to eight hours. His spirits said he was making progress and it was considerably faster and more than an ordinary Shinigami. As for Kisuke…he has been stumped. He just couldn't understand why, just why was Ichigo's Reiatsu levels the same? He's unlocked and mastered Shikai, learnt bringing his spirits to the real world and yet his Reiatsu levels were the same. He'd even went as far as to make a device to measure and keep records of his Reiatsu levels and all showed the same amount. He even had Ichigo let his Reiatsu leak continuously without control and every time the results were the same and it was pissing him off. Never had he put his hand on a puzzle that he couldn't solve. But this…? Not happening. He traced back his every steps the past years to see where he had gone wrong but found nothing and in the end he simply gave up.
Isshin on the other hand had been recovering his Reiatsu faster and was now able to get out of his body with a mod soul. He too had been sparring with Ichigo to get the rust off of him. He couldn't release his Shikai yet but was still able to give Ichigo a run for his money even though Ichigo's Shikai was even more dangerous and explosive than his own. Ichigo would perform Jinzen every time he was free and got into practice with his Zanpakutō. In his inner world he could go all out no problem. Hollows did attack the town but they were quickly purified by Ichigo. On the days of his tests, Isshin often took up the mantle and did his job all the while keeping a low profile. Isshin finally learnt how Gotei 13 has been weakened. They weren't sending Shinigami to patrol the city and rarely brought academy students. Was this his doing? It's a possibility since he probably wouldn't want anyone strong to stand in his way, it'd be a waste of time and hassle to deal with them.
As of now Isshin was sitting with Kisuke listening to what Kisuke was saying about his son's progress.
"While he's progressing very well and fast, his Reiatsu levels are still the same." Kisuke explains which confuses Isshin a bit.
How can one progress this much with such low Reiatsu? He's seen the damage Ichigo does in releasing his Shikai, but there never was a considerable increase in energy. Not to mention that Ichigo was now even summoning his spirits now to train with them. He's seen how brutal Shiro and Ao can be. They are probably the ones depending solely on instincts fueled by emotions and gets stronger with emotions like anger. On the other hand, Aka and Juha Bach taught him how to keep a level head and calm calculating mind in a battle. With the training of those four, his body fights on instincts in a fluid motion thanks to Aka and always knows when to stop. That's a good progress but even so, why didn't his Reiatsu increase? Isshin was caught off guard multiple times by Ichigo who at those times were keeping his assassination skills sharp. When asked why him, the answer he got was a bit irritating.
"Because your reactions are funnier." Ichigo says.
Isshin was then later told that he'd often sneak up on Urahara and many more taking pleasure in surprising them, to which Yoruichi was proud of. His daughters were showing signs of spiritual awareness so on their birthdays, he got them seals in the form of jewelry or in Karin's case, wrist bands and other sports related accessories. He often worked on Hakuda with Ichigo whenever Ichigo's guard was lowered and he always end up losing the brawls, well most of them. Though he and the others were all worried about what his plans were as he could get into action anytime he wishes to do so. Fate was a bitch to his family.
Finally thirteen, Ichigo started working on his Hierro and Cero. It didn't take much time for him to get a good hold on the theories and try them out. In fact he instinctively did them like other hollows which was something Shiro wasn't expecting since he wasn't purely a hollow. Then Ichigo was surprised when Shiro told him to ask the shopkeeper for another Asauchi.
When asked why, he said, "Aka and Ao has their own set of Asauchi to channel their power. So I also need to channel my power through an Asauchi." Ichigo then asked why not something else to which he said, "I'm a Zanpakutō spirit as well albeit one containing your hollow powers. Like Aka and Ao I also have two releases but you'll have to earn them." Shiro says.
Then he relayed the message to Urahara who was shocked but asked to give him three days to 'manage' an Asauchi. He just nodded and used the underground basement to go through his Shinigami skills before going to his hollow powers. He always does the one he wishes to focus on more at the end. He was proficient with Pesquisa and had managed to deal more damage with Balas. After that, he focused on creating Ceros and firing them. He managed to regulate the power output in each of them ranging from laser beams to tunnel shaped beams. He's already lost count of how many times he destroyed the basement but it wasn't enough to get traced by Soul Society. By the time he was done, it was dinner time and he rushed back to his house. After dinner, the bell in the clinic rang and Ichigo opened the door, only to gasp at the scene in front of him. A girl, probably the same age as him was standing in the doorway. Tears streaming down her terrified face, her hair and her clothing was soaked in blood. All of which, came from the unconscious man she carried on her back.
"Please!" The girl with the burnt orange hair pleaded. "Please, you have to save my brother!" She begged.
Just from a glance he could tell that the young man did not have much longer. Ichigo called for his dad and Isshin did what he could but because they were just a clinic and did not have the equipment necessary to save him, and he died before an ambulance arrived to transfer him to Karakura Hospital. Sometime later, Ichigo learned the girl's name was Orihime Inoue.
A few months after the death of Orihime's brother and Ichigo learning she was now hanging out with Tatsuki, Ichigo continued to have his tough guy image of 'The Undefeated Orange Hair Delinquent' but he didn't care about what people thought of him. He was proud of who he was and he wasn't going to change that for anyone. The constant street punks coming to fight him just for his hair color did make him consider turning it black a few times, but beating in skulls was more fun than that. It would also be easier without the Kidō restraints that Yoruichi was forcing him to wear all the time, an idea he swears she got from that show about the Spirit Detective but he'll digress. He was surrounded by thugs from other schools, looking to get payback on a few beatings he gave out earlier, and according to his kitty teacher, he was about as strong as a Seated Officer of the Gotei 13 in the top 5 but he still needed more training to get stronger. Enough for five but not enough for eight, at least he knows how to fight.
"Time to die you punk!" Some idiot with a mohawk yelled before he got blindsided by a brown giant punching him aside. He towered over the others wearing the same black middle school uniform Ichigo was in. Brown skinned and wavy brown hair covering his eyes, it was his classmate Yasutora Sado…but he kept calling him Chad. He wasn't too sure what he was doing here, but he was glad for the help. It did not end well for the eight attacking thugs.
"Man that was a pain!" Ichigo growled in annoyance. "Thanks for the help Chad. These jackasses were going make me late." He says.
"It's Sado, and no problem Ichigo." The giant said as he left for home himself, rubbing the pendent on his neck and praying for his Abuelo.
Ichigo finally got back to Urahara's shop, where his kitty teacher was waiting for him in her human form.
"Just in time." Yoruichi said with a smile. "You were almost late again." She says before making him change into his workout clothes and begin doing pushups with her on his back. "Another group of idiots gang up on you again?" She asked.
"Yeah, got some help this time though." Ichigo told her about Chad and how he helped him.
"Sounds like a good guy." Yoruichi says before laying her back against Ichigo's as he continued doing his pushups. "You need to pay him back for that." She says pulling out a kitty fashion magazine and began reading it.
"If I know those idiots, they'll try something." Ichigo said before pausing in his pushups making Yoruichi curious as to his pause. "Although, there is something strange about Chad." He says.
"Strange? How?" Yoruichi asks leaning her head back against his shoulder to look him in the eye from the corner of her eye.
"Not sure. There's just a strange presence surrounding him." Ichigo says before continuing his pushups.
One week later, just as Ichigo predicted the punks from before attacked Chad as punch after punch slammed into him after these two cretins got him by the riverside. Not too much to really knock him down but enough to still hurt a bit.
"Damn you!" He assailant growled, laughing as Chad just stood there and took it. "Why don't you go down?" The guy asked throwing another punch to his face.
"This'll finish him." The guy behind him laughed as he got a large rock ready to bash his head in.
Chad saw this and actually got worried. Then he saw a black blur come at him and kick that guy away with such force he went flying. He repeated this feat with the other guy but punched him in the stomach instead. Both of Chad's attackers were out cold. Ichigo just glared at the unconscious heaps of the two punks before scoffing. He pulled out his cell and called the hospital.
"I never leave a debt unpaid man. This was for helping me out." Ichigo told his large acquaintance with a smile.
"Thanks." Chad responded in his deep voice.
Hours passed as they laid on a hillside, Sado looking at his medallion with a sense of pride for keeping his promise.
"What I don't get is why you were just standing there Chad." Ichigo finally said after the silence started to bug him.
"Sado." The half Mexican corrected him.
"Sado, Chad, whatever." Ichigo dismissed. "The point is, you're lucky I showed up when I did. I know you're really strong so why would you take that beating? Why didn't you fight back like when you helped me?" He asked, fully aware of his teacher coming by in her black cat form.
"I made a promise that I would never use my fists for my own sake." Chad said as he sat up. Yoruichi finally got to her student, climbing on top of him and letting out a purr as he cautiously rubbed her soft fur. "It's a vow I made to Abuelo." He says.
"Isn't that Spanish for grandfather?" Ichigo asked, needing a little clarification from the multilingual lessons Urahara made him learn.
"Yes it does. My Abuelo's name was Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa." Chad says.
"So, you told me you were from Okinawa, but you have Spanish roots?" Ichigo asks.
"No, Mexican. I lived with my Abuelo in Mexico after my parents in Okinawa died when I was little." Chad says, remembering how Oscar came to get him one day, how he tried so hard to make the young Sado go from a bad tempered rotten kid to a good man.
The day he finally took the old man's lessons to heart after he saved his young stupid self from some angry parents from the kids he beat up. When his grandfather gave him that medallion saying that his body and strength was a means to help people and that the coin will show him the way.
"So that medallion is a keepsake of your promise huh?" Ichigo asked while scratching his cat teacher's ears making her purr.
"Yeah, this thing's probably worth more than my life." Chad said, holding that gold coin to his heart and Ichigo noticed a phone at their feet that was open, probably on too.
"Well, I should get going." Ichigo said, repositioning Yoruichi to lay on his shoulders as he made his way back to the shop for his Kidō practice as Chad watched as his friend walked away with that strange cat.
'Ichigo...you're good with cats.' Chad thought to himself, despite feeling something was up with that feline.
"Those punks from before are going to try something tomorrow." Ichigo told his sensei as he walked. "Maybe something with his coin." He adds.
"A good assumption Ichigo." Yoruichi said in her deep masculine voice she had as a cat. "He's certainly determined if he wouldn't even fight back for his own sake." She says.
"Is that all you're going to say about it?" Ichigo asks.
"No, it's also stupid. Abusing your strength is unforgivable but not defending yourself when you have to is being stupid, not selfish." Yoruichi said before leaping off her student and walked on the nearby ledge next to him. "Someone's going to have to knock some sense into his head if he's going to learn that though." She adds.
"Leave that to me Yoruichi." Ichigo said gaining a slight smirk. "He's a good guy. I wanna help." He says as Yoruichi grunted in approval of her student.
He may not be that cute little kid anymore but what took his place was a strong kind hearted young man. It was a bonus that he grew up handsome and sexy too.
"Ichigo?" Yoruichi calls to her student with a mischievous grin on her feline face.
"Yeah?" Ichigo asks turning to look at her.
"You realized you rubbed your teacher's pussy right?" Yoruichi said with a devious smirk as she finally got Ichigo to stumble and turn redder than a strawberry again.
"You pervert!" Ichigo yelled as she ran off, chuckling as she thought about her secret growing feelings for her student.
The next day, Chad was stupid. He let his guard down too much. Now here he was, tied up, under a bridge with the same guys from yesterday and a few others. Some idiot with glasses and dreads with a small chain piercing from his ear to his nose.
"This is the end for Sado, tough guy of Middle School." He said in a smug tone, believing he's won. "So, you scared now? You're not gonna start pissing yourself are ya!?" He asked.
"I don't have to go at the moment." Chad calmly replied, getting under the guy's skin. "I guess you aren't scary enough. Sorry guys." He apologizes.
"Hehe, aw man." The guy said, getting up in front of Sado. "Well then, in that case I'll just take this." He pulled Chad's medallion and broke the chain around his neck. "Now what did you say? Something about this being worth more than your life?" He brought out a pair of bolt cutters. "Than if I take this away, you might as well be dead right?" he asked holding up Chad's medallion.
Now Chad was scared, scared to lose his medallion, scared to lose that gift from his Abuelo, and furious at the man in front of him. Wanting nothing more than to beat that smug look off that jackass's face.
"So then die loser!" The punk shouts as Chad strained against his binds, making them groan in resistance as he pulled with all his considerable strength. "Don't be stupid. Give it-" and that was all before two feet slammed into his face.
"You're pissing me off." Ichigo growled as he surfed the ground with the punk's body. "Shut up." When the dust finally settled, he gave a cocky smirk to Chad and the guys around him as he grabbed Chad's coin from the unconscious leader's hands before rummaging through his pockets for a phone.
"Hey! Weasel! You alright?" They called out of concern for their boss, knowing how hard Ichigo hits. "You got a lot of nerve going through the boss's pockets like that!" They say as Ichigo ignored them as he pulled out the phone and dialed the hospital, asking for five ambulances right off the bat.
Yoruichi was in her human form, watching her student pummel the crap out of a few idiots. She came because she was curious as to how Ichigo would handle this situation. Needless to say, she was a little disappointed in his form and movements. Too much unnecessary movement in her opinion. Chad was watching Ichigo and remembered his grandfather, taking blow after blow for his sake the first time he messed up so badly.
"Well, that's that." Ichigo said, not even winded from the fight. "Hey Chad, I've been thinking." He started to untie his large friend from his binds. "You can stay the same while I throw my punches for you. In return, you can throw your punches for me." He finally freed Chad from his binds as his looked at Ichigo with a sense of admiration he hasn't shown since his Abuelo. "If there's anything you'd protect with your life, I'll do the same." He said, reaching out his hand with Chad's medallion in his open palm. "That also means fighting back when I'm not around." He said with a chuckle. "I am being kept busy with a lot of things." He says as Chad looked at his orange haired savior, realizing the depth of that oath he just said and realizing his grandfather was right, that coin would show him the meaning behind his strength, how he should use it.
"Sure." Chad said simply, before grasping Ichigo's hand and forming an iron clad pact with him.
He would give his life to help Ichigo, knowing he would do the same for him. He'd use his strength for others. Yoruichi smiled, proud of her disciple. Then she decided on something, appearing right next to the boys almost instantly.
"ICHIGO!" Yoruichi yelled suddenly, shocking the two. "I said I wanted you to do one lap around the city in five minutes!" She never said that, she was using this to cement their oath. "Instead I find you dawdling with your buddy from school? Give me five laps NOW!" She screamed, in teacher mode, not giving Ichigo any chance to protest as he began running off to complete his task.
Chad watched his friend run off, clearly scared of making the weird woman angry, before feeling himself get smacked in the back.
"You too big guy!" Yoruichi orders.
"What?" Chad asked, confused as Yoruichi gave him a toothy grin.
"You just made a promise to help Ichigo no matter what right?" Yoruichi asks and Chad nodded dumbly, still confused. "Well, as his teacher I'm not letting you drag him down by being too weak to help him." She threw him a confidence boosting thumbs up. "So you better start, before you're too far behind." She tells him.
Chad finally understood that this woman was telling him Ichigo was constantly improving himself and he was going to keep his promise, he should do the same. He held up his coin before kissing it and putting it into his pocket, rushing off to join Ichigo in his challenges ahead.
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've always liked the bond between Ichigo and Chad and there were a few rough times for them but I wanted Ichigo to have someone who knows about what he's training to become and not have to hide it from everyone.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think.