Stark White Chaos - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3

Arashi lay on his futon in his living room, staring up at the ceiling, or more specifically, the results of rolling his silver ticket for purifying the Huge Hollow.

[Velocity, Rare Ability, Worm - You move 10x faster, but your influence on the world is 10x less. While you are 10x faster, you will also punch 10x times weaker, and air resistance will be 10x stronger, etc.]

He actually liked the roll, though he would have preferred it if it didn't have so many limitations. Still, using it as a toggle to give himself an edge in a fight seemed like a great way to abuse it properly. It was also his tenth ability, which meant he could now equip three at a time.

Battle Growth and Regeneration were far too good to replace. Unless, of course, the replacement was even more powerful. Since he hadn't rolled any more Epic-ranked things since he first gained the gacha, he wasn't holding his breath. Velocity was good, but not so good that he would be completely unwilling to swap it out for something else.

For now, though, it would need to wait until tomorrow for him to slot it in, as slot three was already taken and the ability was currently active.

“Mmmph, oh god!”

He did his best to ignore the moan of pleasure coming from his bedroom and instead turned onto his side and pulled his pillow over his head.

Rukia had reverted to being a bit of a bitch after they got back to his apartment. He'd kindly offered the only bedroom in the apartment to her, and she'd looked at him suspiciously and asked if he planned to peep on her! As if he would stoop to something like that when there was plenty of internet porn, should he need it.

No, his only intention with the offer was to be a gentleman. Her attitude had pissed him off, and in a fit of pure pettiness, he decided she needed to relax. So, he'd used his new Ability slot to place in Arousal and targeted her with it before she closed the door to his room for the night. Hearing the lock on the door handle click had made him certain he'd done the right thing.

Now he wasn't so certain as her very loud moans easily filtered through the thin walls of his apartment. He didn't know Rukia very well; she was more Ichigo's friend than his, so he'd expected the small woman would be a quiet one.

He was soooooo fucking wrong. She was LOUD and only getting louder as Arousal did its work. He could stop it if he really wanted to. Yet, he'd gone this far, so he might as well let it go all the way to its conclusion.

“Oh, fuuuuuUUUUUUCK!”

[Feat Achieved! Give Kuchiki Rukia her first orgasm, ever. +1 Gold Gacha Ticket]

All regrets instantly vanished, even as Rukia's scream of pleasure as she climaxed continued for a little longer. Could he get feats for sex related stuff? Then again, it made sense given the perverted rolls he'd gotten so far. He sat up quietly, ignoring the soft moans from aftershocks coming from his bedroom. Instead, he focused on mentally rolling the ticket.

As had become the new norm, his Zanpakuto Spirit appeared with a game of chance. This time it was a Fortune Wheel. The spirit smirked as he placed his hand on the wheel, “Let's see what your luck says this time!”

The spirit dramatically spun the wheel, causing it to rapidly rotate and click every time one of the pins moved the paddle out of the way. Eventually, it began to slow until it finally came to a stop.

“Oho! Grand Prize!”

[Item Hypertrophy, Epic Trait, Who said only living beings could experience hypertrophy? All items that you use become stronger over time after rigorous use and wear; letting the item rest or repairing it after great use makes the item slightly more robust and powerful. Slow and steady wins the race.]

He looked over the result as the spirit faded from sight. It was... fucking AWESOME. Another growth ability that applies to his items this time? That was amazing as hell, especially since his Zanpakuto could already grow stronger. Now his Bloom Stone could grow stronger over time and really increase its regenerative power.

He quickly pulled the, thus far, unused necklace out and slipped it over his head. The effect of the necklace was always active during the day, so even if it wasn't healing him from a wound, it should still slowly grow stronger over time, right?

Either way, it wouldn't hurt to wear it.

He double checked his items, but it was a short list. The only other thing on it was the job application form, and there was no point in trying to make it stronger. He'd probably get more items as time went by, so he was sure the trait would get plenty of work. Especially since it wasn't limited to just Gacha given items. He just didn't have anything else worth focusing on at the moment.

Though he was curious about how good his kitchen knives might become in the future.

He lay back down and got comfortable once more.

“Mmmmm, yessssss.”

His eyes snapped open at the sound of Rukia's moan. A quick check showed he hadn't shut Arousal off yet. He sighed and ramped up how much power he was feeding into it slowly. He'd give her one more orgasm, then shut it off so he could get some sleep.

-----Line Break-----

Arashi calmly followed Yoruichi into the Urahara Shoten and down into the training ground, where he took his Gikon and popped out of his body. Aside from a very awkward breakfast with Rukia the day after he'd messed with his Arousal ability, the week had been fairly boring. There had only been two Hollow incursions, and they had been extremely easy to handle. Basic Hollows posed zero threat to either himself or Ichigo if they didn't have some sort of trick or gimmick.

Frankly, it was boring.

Next week, though... he wasn't looking forward to the seventeenth. At that point, it would be a little over two weeks since Rukia arrived in Ichigo's life and thus changed everything.

He had no complaints about that. This was his second life, and he'd rather it be short and super exciting than live to almost fifty again while being ground down by society, work, and other things. He was all for fighting monsters with superpowers at his disposal!

While he did some stretching, Yoruichi sat in front of him and asked, “Get anything interesting this week?”

He shrugged, “I got one roll that was pretty nice. Item Hypertrophy. In short, any item I use slowly grows stronger over time as I use it or it's repaired.” He looks directly into Yoruichi's eyes and smirks, “And yes, it works on my zanpakuto.”

Yoruichi's golden eyes narrowed while she hissed, “You are a special brand of bullshit.” She then chuckled and looked smug in a way only a cat can, “I love it. I'm so going to rub this in Kisuke's face.”

She tilted her head while asking, “Any item?”

Arashi nodded, “Yup. My cheap kitchen knives are actually becoming pretty decent. They're still cheap and flimsy, but they're holding an edge longer and are easier to sharpen.”

Her tail flicked back and forth behind her as she contemplated what use they might be able to put his new ability to. They had quite a few interesting items lying around, thanks to Kisuke, and seeing some of them become stronger could be amazing. She'd have to talk with Kisuke about it.

“Oh, I also gained a minor speedster ability.”

Yoruichi blinked, “Oh? How so?”

So, he explained Velocity to her. Yoruichi's jaw dropped open in surprise, “So it's just a flat times ten multiplier of your speed?”

Arashi nodded, “Yup.”

Her tail began flicking faster, “Show me!”

With a shrug, he activated Velocity and started to use Shunpo. Here was something interesting he'd discovered about Shunpo combined with Velocity. Shunpo didn't give a rat's ass about air resistance. The usage of Reiryoku with the skill negated its effect, meaning his Shunpo was ten times faster. He could now blitz around the training ground at speeds that some Lieutenants might have trouble following.

There were still some drawbacks to Velocity, though. His attacking speed was unchanged because of the negative ten time multiplier, so he couldn't truly use it offensively unless he was ten times or more stronger than his opponent. Defensively though? It gave him ten times as much time to move his sword into a defensive position to intercept any attacks coming at him. As his base abilities grew faster, so too would his defensive abilities combined with Velocity.

He came to a stop after a bit to find Yoruichi calmly sitting on the ground in front of him and lazily licking one of her paws, “Not bad, still pretty slow though.”

Arashi sighed; he'd hoped that Velocity might give him a boost Yoruichi would respect, but she didn't look too impressed. It figured. He'd known there had to be people who would easily be more than ten times faster than him. He was just a baby Shinigami so he'd get better with time!

It took effort for Yoruichi not to breathe a little heavier after chasing Arashi around at his new top speed. Velocity made him into one hell of a speed demon, and she'd had to actually put in serious effort to keep up with him and get in front of him to casually show how much faster than him she was. Granted, she was in her feline form, and that meant she wasn't at her peak power. If she swapped to her shinigami form, she'd smoke him without even trying.

Still... maybe she should be more serious about getting back into peak shape. She'd already started to work the rust off, but it might be wise to up her effort. Otherwise, Arashi might actually force her to put in actual effort to remain seemingly untouchable to him. She wasn't sure if she loved or loathed that.

… Both, definitely both.

-----Line Break-----

Arashi sat on the ground across from Tessai, looking up to the giant with the killer mustache, about to get his first lesson on actual fucking magic!

Tessai spoke in a calm and collected manner, “Kido is broken up into three categories, with the spells numbered from one to ninety-nine. First, there is Bakudo, the way of binding. You have experienced a spell in this category. They are designed to bind opponents, but the category also includes defensive spells such as Bakudo number thirty-nine, Enkosen, which produces a shield to block attacks.”

Arashi nodded along to show he was listening while Tessai continued, “Then there is Hado, the way of destruction. This category contains offensive spells of various elements with a variety of purposes behind them, from the basic Hado number one, Sho, which is simple kinetic force, to number sixty-three, Raikoho, which fires a rather large bolt of lightning at the target.”

Arashi grinned broadly. He had a feeling that Hado was going to be his favorite category of Kido. Tessai studied him for a moment before he continued, “The last category, Kaido, differs from the previous two as there are no specific numbered spells. Kaido is the way of healing, allowing practitioners to heal their own wounds and those of others. Despite seemingly being the simplest, it is by far the most difficult to truly master, as your knowledge of biology has a direct correspondence to its effectiveness. Having heard this, which category interests you the most?”

Arashi's first instinct was to say Hado. Who didn't want to fire lightning bolts and fireballs? However, he held back and truly took the time to think about it. All three categories had their pros and cons. Finally, he looked to Tessai, “I can't decide. You are an expert in Kido. Where would you recommend we begin?”

It didn't last long, but for a moment, Arashi was certain he saw a small smile grace Tessai's features. Then it was gone, and Tessai spoke, “I believe we should begin with Hado number one, Sho. It is simple, useful, and will allow us to see if you have any talent for Kido. It will also be the best way for you to feel how you use your Reiryoku to cast spells.” His lips twitched again, “It is also such a simple spell that it does not require the memorization of an incantation.”

Arashi grinned at that. Simple was best in his opinion. Tessai asked, “Yoruichi has taught you how to use your Reiryoku to gather Reishi to stand in the air, correct?”

Arashi wiggled his hand in a so-so gesture, “She taught me the method, but I'm not quite good enough with it yet to stand in the air. I can only stick to surfaces at the moment.”

Tessai nodded, “That is acceptable. To use Sho, you must gather your Reiryoku into the tip of your index finger and release it as a kinetic thrust toward your target. It can help to visualize it as a punch for some people. Chanting 'Hado Number One, Sho' can also help with concentration and focus.”

“A mnemonic device to help with focus.”

Tessai nodded, “Precisely.” He pointed to the side where a straw target had been sitting and waiting, “You may begin when you feel you are ready.”

Arashi climbed to his feet and turned to face the target. He lifted his hand to point his index finger at it and then closed his eyes to focus on his Reiryoku. He'd been able to feel it since the moment he woke up after becoming a shinigami. Dense, powerful, flowing just beneath his skin, a brand new sensation of power he'd never experienced before.

That didn't make it easy to control, far from it. Reiryoku was stubborn and wanted to do what it wanted to do, not what he wanted it to do. He didn't know if that was unique to himself or how it was with everyone. He didn't ask because the answer didn't matter. What did matter was that the more he used his Reiryoku, the more flexible it seemed to become. He liked to think of it as a brand new muscle. The more he worked it, stretched it, the stronger and more flexible it became.

The first time he tried to stick to a surface, he could barely get his Reiryoku to flex; now it flowed toward his finger at his prompting. Though it was a slow process and took him nearly a minute to gather what he felt might be enough Reiryoku for the spell. He focused on his desired outcome for the spell, a simple thrust of kinetic energy meant to impact the target with force.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to aim properly, “Hado Number One, Sho!”

There was a bright flash of white light from the tip of his finger, then a moment later, the cloth around the target rippled from something invisible hitting it.

“Good, but not enough power, you also need to compress it more for a stronger result. Again.” Tessai explained from the side.

Arashi nodded and prepared to cast the spell again.

-----Line Break-----

Yoruichi lounged on a rock a short distance from where Tessai was giving Arashi his first Kido lesson. She tilted her head to look at Kisuke beside her; both of them had been curious about how Arashi would do. She spoke first, “So, he's only above average at Kido rather than a prodigy like he is in the other three shinigami arts.”

Kisuke nodded, “Of course, his skill in those arts can be placed at the feet of his abilities, amplifying his learning speed to a monstrous degree.” He sighed, “But it is nice to see him being somewhat normal at something Shinigami-related.”

Yoruichi chuckled and turned to continue watching Arashi, “I wish we had just a year or two longer. With that much time, we could train him to be the greatest Shinigami ever.” Her muzzle curled into a smile, “I think he might be capable of learning Shunko.”

Kisuke coughed then stared at her in shock, “He's not even completed his first Kido lesson, and you're saying that?!”

Yoruichi chuckled, “Not anytime soon, but I do think he has the potential.” Her grin grew predatory, “I wonder how my little bee will react when she finds out...”

Kisuke kept his mouth shut. He wasn't about to talk about the weird dynamic between Yoruichi and her former lieutenant, Sui-Feng. He'd never asked, and he never wanted to know. All he knew was that Yoruichi took a ridiculous amount of joy in playing with her 'little bee' in various teasing ways. Granted, he'd seen some of Sui-Feng's reactions, and they were highly entertaining.

But, deliberately teaching Arashi Shunko while only having given Sui-Feng some subtle hints? Was she trying to get Arashi killed?

He kind of wanted to be there to see what happened...

-----Line Break-----

Arashi blitzed from building to building using Shunpo and Velocity to move at his highest speeds. When he found Rukia, he was going to put her over his lap and spank the shit out of her for being a nosy brat. Ichigo had told her, HE had told her, to stay away for the day. Did she listen? Nooooo, she had to run off and bother Ichigo on the one day he needed to be left alone with his family.

June seventeenth was the day Ichigo's mother died. The day he saw her die right before his eyes.

Arashi had known Ichigo for years before he'd been told what happened. Rukia had NO RIGHT to intrude on such a solemn day when she barely knew Ichigo.

He came to a stop and looked around with a deep scowl, “Fucking curse!”

He was long used to the curse, having grown up with it, and normally didn't care, but it was times like this that he really hated it. He had no idea where he was, and that pissed him off. He wanted to get to Rukia before she stepped in it and made a bad day for Ichigo worse.

It wasn't as if she needed Ichigo specifically for slaying Hollows. Arashi had said he'd take the whole day himself and let Ichigo have it off. There was literally no reason for her to be bothering Ichigo today.

He spun in a circle, looking for anything familiar. Not seeing anything, he picked a direction and accelerated to his top speed.

A few minutes later, he senses it, a Hollow. His scowl grew into something hateful. Of all the times for a Hollow to appear, it had to be when he had something else he needed to do. Cursing to himself, he spun on his heel and moved toward the Hollow. He was going to make the monster pay for distracting him from his goal.

Thanks to his speed, it only took him seconds to arrive at the Hollow's location. What he saw when he did made his blood boil. Ichigo was already fighting the Hollow, some hamster-looking thing. The hollow had turned some of its hair into a spike and impaled Ichigo in the shoulder. Ichigo, being the badass he was, hadn't let that stop him and had already stabbed his large Zanpakuto deep into the Hollow's side.

It looked like it was over as Ichigo ripped his sword to the side and sliced the Hollow wide open. The Hollow stumbled away before shouting, “I will never forgive you for this!”

Arashi was surprised by the Hollow speaking. He'd heard Shieker could speak, but he'd never witnessed a conscious, intelligent hollow himself. The hollow spun and began to run away, but Arashi wasn't going to have that! He used V-Shunpo to instantly appear in the air in front of the hollow. He saw its eyes widen in shock just before his foot violently connected with its face and sent it crashing into the ground right in front of Ichigo.

As he landed on the ground, he got a better look at Ichigo and realized he was on his last legs due to the injury. That didn't stop Ichigo, though. With grim determination, he marched up to the groaning body of the Hollow. Even though he had to use his huge Zanpakuto as a crutch, he didn't stop until he stood over the hollow's head, “Goodbye, Grand Fisher.”

The hollow screamed in denial as Ichigo's blade came down and decapitated it in one swift slash. Just as Ichigo began to stumble, Rukia arrived and caught him in her arms. She gently lowered him to the ground, “Thank you for not dying, Ichigo.”

Suddenly, Arashi felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn't be. He stepped away, slinking into the shadows, but paused when he spotted an unfamiliar man in a shinigami uniform. After making sure Ichigo was alright, Rukia joined them. She focused on Arashi first, “Ranmaru-san, what are you doing here?”

He scowled at her, “I'm here for you. I told you today was supposed to be a private day for Ichigo. One you shouldn't have intruded on.” He saw a flash of guilt on her face as he quietly scolded her. He continued after looking at the unconscious Ichigo, “However, I'll hold any further scolding until I know more about what, exactly, happened here.”

Seeing the looks being shared between Rukia and the shinigami he didn't know, he turned and made his way toward the entrance of the cemetery, “I'll leave you two to talk about whatever.”

Saido, the Shinigami Arashi didn't know, looked at Rukia in confusion, “Another one? I don't recognize him, and you were the only one assigned to this area.”

Rukia sighed, “He's... complicated.”

Saido sighed and ran his hand down his face, “This is too complicated.” He adjusted his shihakusho and smirked at Rukia, “I'm not about to break up such a serious couple as you two.” He wiped a fake tear from his eyes, “Ah, little Rukia is finally coming of age.”

Rukia, flushing bright red, stepped toward Saido in an attempt to kick him in the shin. Saido just laughed and jumped away, “Don't worry, they won't hear anything from me. Have fun~!”

Rukia watched him leave and then huffed, “He could have at least helped me get Ichigo back to his body.”

-----Line Break-----

Arashi quietly watched as the Hollow he'd just purified faded away. The last few weeks had been rather boring. The only interesting thing to happen had been the night Don Kanonji had come to Karakura to film an episode of his show. Arashi had been aware of Don Kanonji and even seen a few episodes at Orhime's place, but he'd never been a huge fan. He'd honestly thought the guy was a scam artist. An entertaining one, for sure, but still a scam artist.

But then he'd come to Karakura and actually had seen and interacted with a ghost. Needless to say, Arashi was surprised. He was also shocked when the Don had accidentally turned the ghost into a fully realized hollow. Though it was fairly weak, Ichigo had gotten to it first because Rukia shoved him out of his body before Arashi could get his Gikon out.

Rukia clearly had a favorite.

Don Kanonji had also impressed him by showing true regret for what he'd done in the past. Apparently, shoving his cane into the chest of a ghost and wiggling it around until they vanished was his modus operandi. Every ghost he'd done that to had become a Hollow; he just hadn't known it.

Well, since then, things had been fairly quiet.

Until today.

Today, all hell had broken loose. He'd been at his apartment minding his own business when he'd suddenly felt dozens of hollows appearing. Upon leaving his apartment, he'd been met with the sight of hollows everywhere. He hadn't hesitated to do his duty and began purifying hollows as fast as he could.

Slowly, he turned to look to the side where the mutilated body of a mother lay over the remains of her child. There was blood everywhere, but the worst part was the look of abject terror on the little boy's face.

He grit his teeth and turned away from the sight. There was nothing he could do for them now, and their killer had already been dealt with. All he could do was move faster and hope to prevent more tragedies from occurring. His gaze moved up toward the sky, where a crack in reality had begun to form.

“Something terrible is happening.”

His gaze was pulled from the sky by the sound of another Hollow howling from nearby. He vanished in a blur of speed and arrived just as the Hollow was about to grab a little girl from a playground. The little girl was oblivious to the danger she was in, happily playing on the playground. Arashi used Shunpo to appear right next to the Hollow, his blade already slashing downward. It carved clean through the Hollow's arm, causing it to throw its head back and roar in pain.

Its roar didn't last long thanks to Arashi's sword carving through its mask.

He moved rapidly toward the next one only to see a streak of blue light pierce through its mask and cause it to fade away. He wondered if it was a kido spell he'd just seen. He hadn't learned, or even had all of the spells explained to him. He looked in the direction it came from and noticed another blue streak heading in a different direction. Someone else was helping out; that was definitely a good thing.

He didn't stick around to just watch, so he took off and cut his way through another dozen hollows in just a few minutes. His blade cleaved through what had to be the twentieth hollow...

[Feat Achieved! Defeat 20 or more hollows in a single day. +1 Gold Gacha Ticket.]

Okay, definitely his twentieth. It had been a while since the last time he'd gotten a ticket. He wanted to roll it immediately in the hopes of getting something useful for the situation; he just didn't have the time to go through the process of his spirit playing a game. Seconds could mean the difference between life and death for someone out there.

Just as he moved toward the next Hollow, he heard a sound that sent a shiver down his spine. It was like something shattering and tearing at the same time. His gaze snapped to the sky, where he beheld something terrifying.

The crack in the sky had been ripped open by two gigantic white hands to allow a Hollow mask the size of a building to stick through it. The mask was plain with a long, pointed nose and grotesque smile.

“Menos Grande...”

His education included the different ranks of Hollows, but he'd been assured that something as massive and powerful as a Menos Grande coming to the living world was exceptionally rare. As in once a century, if not longer. The damage just one of them could do would be more than all the hollows he'd taken down combined, easily.

He was frozen with indecision. Did he go and try to shove the Menos Grande back into Heuco Mundo, or did he ignore it and focus on the smaller hollows murdering people?

He was saved from his indecision by a familiar voice, “Arashi, we'll take care of the small fry. Go help Ichigo with the Menos Grande.”

His gaze snapped to where Yoruichi was standing nearby. He didn't question her, he nodded his head and took off at his fastest speed. Normal Hollows could kill individuals. Menos Grande had attacks that could level city blocks at a time.

As he got closer, he spotted Ichigo and... was that Ishida Uryu? What the hell was that pretty boy nerd doing here? And... was that a bow made of Reishi? The fuck?

He slammed into the ground next to the pair as they were arguing over how to deal with the Menos Grande. Both turn to face him, Ichigo with blood running down his face and Uryu with exasperation. Uryu is the first to speak, “Great, the other shinigami in our class.”

Ichigo cut him off, “We don't have time for your issues right now! We need to take down this monster!” His gaze shifted to Arashi and softened, “I take it you're here to help?”

Arashi nodded, “Yeah, the hell is going on with all of these Hollows?”

Ichigo waved it off, “Later. We've got a more important problem to deal with.”

All three of them looked at the massive form of the Menos Grande as it walked while completely ignoring them. Ichigo and Uryu had already taken a shot at the giant; it was his turn. Arashi pointed his left index and middle fingers at the gargantuan Hollow's mask while gathering a large portion of his Reiryoku into their tips, “Hado number four, Byakurai!”

A pale white beam of peircing lightning ripped from the tips of his fingers with a crack of thunder. It near instantly reached the hollows mask where it shattered harmlessly leaving hardly a scratch on it. It did, however, get the hollow's attention. It's massive red eyes snapped down to stare at the trio of boys.

“That can't be good.”

Arashi nodded in agreement with Ichigo. Red energy began to gather and swirl in front of the hollows teeth.

“Oh shit, that's a cero! Brace yourselves!” Arashi called out.

They didn't have any further time as the Menos Grande launched the cero. A massive ruby red beam of heat and destruction came barreling toward them. Both Arashi and Ichigo charged right at the blast while bringing their zanpakuto to bear. Ichigo's blade crossed in front of Arashi's as the two came together in an X formation, with Arashi's sword supporting Ichigo's.

The impact against their blades was tremendous. The force of it easily pushed their feet into the ground and had them sliding back even as they fought against it with all their might. The two of them roared loudly, pushing against the attack with everything they had.

When the pressure of the cero began to wane, both of them roared at the top of their lungs and swung their swords forward. Ichigo's blade released a stream of blue Reiatsu that sliced deep into the Menos Grande, even managing to damage its mask. Meanwhile, a familiar golden blade erupted from Arashi's Zanpakuto and carved a second trench clean through the Menos Grande's body, following the path left by Ichigo's attack.

Both watched in awe as Arashi's attack took advantage of the damage Ichigo had done to slice through the Hollow's mask at the damaged section. The Menos Grande let out a pained roar as it fell backward, disintegrating while falling toward the ground. As it died, the hole it ripped in reality sealed closed, cutting the world of the living and Heuco Mundo apart once more.

[Feat Achieved! Purify a Menos Grande! +1 Platinum Gacha Ticket.]

Arashi and Ichigo leaned against each other, panting heavily from the exertion. Ichigo turned his head to stare at Uryu, “You owe us a thank you for saving your life!”

Before Uryu could say anything, Ichigo started to fall as all energy left his legs. Before he could hit the ground, Arashi caught him and held him up. Ichigo's Zanpakuto began to glow brightly while Ichigo's Reiatsu suddenly went completely out of control. It violently invaded Arashi's body but didn't cause any real issue as it began to rapidly refill his dwindling reserves of Reiryoku.

Arashi's eyes went wide at the sheer amount of power Ichigo was emitting, easily many times his own over. He thought quickly while Ichigo groaned in pain. Arashi quickly lifted his zanpakuto up and began to channel as much power into it as he could. His blade began to glow golden once more. Reiatsu erupted from the sword in the familiar shape of a blade that pierced into the sky. The golden blade continued to grow longer and longer as he fed more of Ichigo's Reiatsu into it.

It felt like hours had passed, but it was really only minutes until the sudden rush of energy from Ichigo faded away. Arashi slowly lowered his blade and slumped slightly. Ichigo, still being held up by his other arm, chuckled, “Thanks, man.”

Arashi nodded and let out a sigh while collapsing to the ground. Arashi looked Ichigo in the eyes, “Do you have any idea what the hell all this was about? I was just minding my own business at home and suddenly BOOM! Hollow invasion.”

Ichigo scowled and gestured toward where Uryu had collapsed by himself, “He challenged me to a duel, then used something called Hollow Bait.”

Arashi froze, his face and voice going completely flat, “This Hollow Bait... it is what called all of the Hollows?”

Ichigo nodded, “He did, but it's alright. Geta-Boshi and the others took care of the small fry... Arashi?”

Arashi had gone stone cold, his eyes flat and devoid of life, his face a mask of stone. Arashi vanished. He moved like greased lightning, faster than Ichigo could track. Ichigo heard a loud metallic clash to the side and snapped his head around to look. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of Arashi standing in front of Uryu with his blade held level with Uryu's neck. Arashi had clearly gone for a decapitating strike that would have instantly killed Uryu.

Only the interference of a man who looked remarkably like Uryu, wielding a metal bow, and intercepting the attack had kept Uryu alive. To Ichigo, the scariest part wasn't that Arashi had tried to kill Uryu. Frankly, he completely understood the desire and couldn't fault Arashi for having it. No, what scared him was the look on Arashi's face while he was trying to commit said murder. There was no anger, no hatred, not even something as twisted as a smile. He was cold, emotionless.

“I would appreciate you not killing my son.”

Arashi didn't take his eyes off of Uryu or let his muscles relax even one fraction of an iota. If Uryu's father let up for even a moment, he would take Uryu's head off, “Why should I? He's a murderer. People are dead because of what he's done. There are bodies out in the streets, mutilated by Hollows, because of what he did. Give me one good reason to let him live.”

Uryu kept quiet, but everyone could see the terror in his eyes as he stared back at Arashi. He couldn't even form a single word of protest to protect his life. Ishida Ryuken, Uryu's father, spoke in a calm and level voice, as if he wasn't holding back a blade ready to take his son's head, “I swear to you, Uryu will never be able to do something like this again. If you let him live, I will personally see to his punishment, the first stage of which will be the stripping of his powers.”

Uryu's head snapped up to stare at Ryuken, “You can't do that!”

Ryuken scowled, “Shut up, boy! It's your powers or your life! How many times have I told you there is no profit in being a Quincy?” His gaze returned to Arashi, “I swear to you, he will be sufficiently punished for his actions.”

Slowly, Arashi's gaze shifted from Uryu to Ryuken, “If I ever see him again, I will end him.”

Ryuken stared into Arashi's eyes for a long moment, before he slowly nodded, “So be it. I will take care of it.”

Arashi moved like a glacier, slowly releasing the pressure of his attack and taking a step away from Uryu. Ryuken kept a wary eye on Arashi while grabbing Uryu tightly. The pair vanished in a flash of speed that Arashi could only follow thanks to Velocity.

He glared after the pair until they disappeared from sight. Only once they were gone did he finally relax and sheath his blade. He turned back to a shocked-looking Ichigo who asked, “What was that about?”

Arashi grimaced and flopped down to sit next to him, “Earlier... They died, Ichigo. Because of him, people died. I came across the body of a mother lying protectively over the body of her son. The look of terror on his face... It was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life.”

Ichigo went quiet; the parallels between the death Arashi saw and his own mother's death as she saved him hit too close to home to be comfortable. Now he fully understood Arashi's silent rage. There just might be two people willing to kill Uryu on sight now.

[Feat Achieved! Survive the Hollow Invasion. +1 Silver Gacha Ticket.]

[Feat Achieved! Remove Ishida Uryu from the story. +1 Legendary Gacha Ticket.]

Arashi pushed the notifications away; he wasn't in the mood.

-----Line Break-----

Arashi sat at home, alone. Rukia was spending time with Ichigo. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn the two were a couple. If he was being honest? He thought they made a cute couple... Lucky bastard.

He shook off thoughts of Ichigo's non-existent love life and onto his gacha, “Roll the silver ticket.”

The air in front of him shivered as his pit boss of a Zanpakuto spirit appeared before him with a Blackjack table between them. The spirit shuffled a deck of cards and slapped two down in front of Arashi and two down in front of himself, each showing just one card. Both of them were showing a face card, but when the spirit flipped his face-down card up, it showed an Ace, “Twenty-one, house wins.”

[Rock Throw, Common Ability, Conjure rocks and small stones and launch them as projectiles, not very powerful, but a rock thrown at your head always hurts.]

Arashi flipped his face down card up and saw a seven, “Shit.”

The spirit smirked, “Another?”

Arashi nodded and picked up a chip that was gold in color and set it in the betting circle. The spirit dealt out two more cards. Once again, both showed face cards. Arashi looked at his face-down card and smirked, flipping it over to show another face card, “Twenty.”

The spirit flipped its card, “Eighteen. You win.”

[Expert Blade Weapon Mastery, Elite Skill, You are an expert with bladed weapons such as daggers and swords, not quite in the realm of legends, but in ages past people would have sung songs about how you could slay 100 men with a single blade. Your expertise and finesse with blades are the stuff of rumors.]

Arashi looked at the result and laughed. He could already tell the difference between how he fought before and how he would fight now. He'd just cut literal decades off of his training. If he had to guess, in only Zanjutsu and Hakuda, he was at least equal to the lieutenants. He still lacked in Hoho, Kido, and overall Reiryoku. Not to mention, he didn't have his Shikai, let alone his Bankai. Still, it was less he needed to learn, and it put him further down the path to mastery.

He reached for his last chip, a glittering orange one with intricate designs on it. He placed it in the betting circle. The spirit smirked and shuffled the deck before dealing out two more cards to each of them, “Good luck, kid.”

Arashi looked at his face-up card, a three. He peeped his face down and saw a nine for a total of twelve. He tapped the table twice, “Hit me.”

The spirt buried one card, then placed the second down face up to show an eight. Arashi flipped his face down card face up, “Twenty.”

The spirit nodded and looked at his own card, an Ace. He flipped over his face down, a seven, “Eighteen, you win.”

[Super High Capacity, Legendary Trait, You have 2 extra ability slots.]

That... was useful. He could now have five abilities equipped at the same time. He didn't have a ton of useful abilities to choose from, but as the spirit faded, he slotted Metal Manipulation and Wind Edge into his new slots. Metal Manipulation had some decent power to it, and Wind Edge would give him an excellent way to enhance his blade work and give himself an easily repeatable ranged attack.

Even so... he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. His first big Legendary roll and it was kind of mediocre. There was no telling if or when he might ever get another good one like that. He sighed and lay back on his couch. Now he felt like he was being an ungrateful dick. It would definitely be extremely useful in the future.

He closed his eyes, tried to relax, and tried not to think about the things he'd seen that day.

“How are you doing?”

Arashi sighed at the sound of Yoruichi's voice, “I'm fine.”

“You nearly killed a classmate.”

Arashi cracked one eye open to stare at the cat sitting on his coffee table, “And?”

“Don't you think your reaction was a bit over the top?”

Arashi snorted, “That piece of shit was a murderer several times over. Just because his murder weapon of choice was invisible to normal humans doesn't make it any less of a crime.”

There was a moment of silence where he could feel Yoruichi studying him. Finally, the feline spoke, “Good.”

That surprised him. He opened his eyes and looked at Yoruichi in full, “Good?”

The cat nodded, “Yes, good. Though you probably should have waited for the full story before going for his head, you at least did so out of justice for the lost.”

Arashi scowled, “Regardless of any extenuating circumstances, that fucker Uryu started it all. The blame lies squarely with him.”

“True. Which is why Ryuken is stripping him of his powers and taking him out of the city, for good.”

Arashi sighed, “I still would have preferred to take his head.”

Yoruichi chuckled, “You would have made a great Onmitsukido member.”

Arashi tilted his head curiously, “What's that?”

“It's a special branch closely linked to the Second Division. However, most people use the names interchangeably. They focus mostly on stealth missions such as assassinations, and the execution of shinigami who have broken the law.”

Arashi considered Yoruichi's words for a moment, then shrugged, “I don't think I could do the assassination thing, but handling criminals would be fine by me.”

“I suppose. Not that it truly matters since it will likely be a century or two before you die and can officially join the Gotei 13.”

Arashi blinked at that, “A century or two? I figured on maybe eighty to ninety years.”

Yoruichi laughed, “With the strength of your soul, you will easily live an extra hundred years over a normal human. Provided something doesn't kill you before old age.”

He sighed and accepted that he was in for a long life. Though it was entirely possible that he could get something that would make him immortal from the gacha. Something to look forward to. Though Shinigami lifespans could reach a full millennium, he figured his odds at gaining immortality in the next eleven hundred or so years were pretty good.

He decided to move on to a new topic, “We can change my training.”

“Oh?”

He nodded to Yoruichi's question, “A reward from today's incident. Expert Blade Weapon Mastery. It makes me a master of every bladed weapon just below legendary names.”

Yoruichi snorted, “You are a special kind of bullshit kid. A Shinigami for less than three months and already an expert at Zanjutsu and Hakuda. Even the greatest prodigies of the Gotei 13 would call you a complete cheat, and some of them had their Bankai before graduating Shin-o Academy.”

Arashi chuckled, “Well, this means we only have to focus on Hoho and Kido for my training. Though we can still do Zanjutsu and Hakuda for fun.”

Yoruichi shrugged her feline shoulders, “Well, it's really only Kido you need to focus on. As far as Hoho goes, it's just a matter of practice at this point. You've got basic proficiency in Shunpo and just need to get used to using it in various ways in combat. Practice, practice, practice.”

Arashi nodded, “So, Kido and combat practice.” His grin grew, “Works for me, I love getting stronger in a safe environment.”

Yoruichi chuckled, “Cheater.”

Arashi laughed, “If you're not cheating, then you're not trying hard enough!”

The pair of them laughed at that.

Yoruichi was even more excited behind the laughter. With his new skill at Zanjutsu, making it less necessary for him to focus on learning it, that meant much more time for Kido. It was as if his gacha was orchestrating it so that he could learn Shunko in the shortest time possible.

She loved it!

-----Line Break-----

Arashi grabbed Ichigo by the shoulder and dragged him to the roof of the school. He ignored Chad and Orihime as they followed them. Once on the roof, he turned to Ichigo, who looked lost and upset, and asked what he needed to ask, “What happened to Rukia?”

Orihime and Chad perked up at the question. Orihime asked, “Do you know what happened, Kurosaki-kun? No one remembers her. It's scary.”

Ichigo looked between the three of them, then down to the ground while tightly clenching his fists in anger, “She was taken back to Soul Society. I tried to stop it but... I wasn't strong enough.” His scowl grew, “They beat me and took away my powers. There's nothing I can do.”

Arashi studied Ichigo for a second, then slammed his fist into Ichigo's jaw, knocking him to the ground. Ichigo immediately jumped from the ground to grab Arashi's collar and get in his face, “What the hell is your problem, bastard?!”

Arashi stared into Ichigo's eyes, unafraid, while Chad stood silent and Orihime covered her mouth in shock. Arashi let the silence drag for a moment before he spoke, “Quit the pity party, you pussy. You're not alone.” He glared into Ichigo's eyes, “You've got me and Chad to back you up, powers or no powers. We need to get Rukia back? Fine! We'll break into Soul Society and rip it down brick by brick until we find and rescue her.”

He grabbed Ichigo's collar and pulled him closer until their foreheads collided, “You fucking got that?!”

Chad walked closer and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, offering silent support in whatever manner they might require it. Ichigo took a deep breath and let go of Arashi's collar while Arashi did the same. He took one more breath and then nodded, “Right. Like you said Arashi, enough of this pussy shit. I need to talk to Geta-Boshi, and we need a plan.”

Arashi nodded and straightened his lapels, “Good.” He looked at the others, then back to Ichigo, “Fuck school. We're going now. It's the last day before vacation anyway.”

Not even Orihime argued; in fact, she looked as determined as the boys did. All four of them left the school together and made their way to the Urahara Shoten. Arashi opened the door and walked in like he owned the place. He'd been going there for months already, so he felt at home. Once everyone was inside, he shouted, “Oi! Kisuke! Get out here!”

There was some unintelligible grumbling before Kisuke walked out to the front of the store. He looked at the group and raised an eyebrow in question, “What's all this then?”

Ichigo spoke for them, “We're going to rescue Rukia. We need your help... I need your help.”

“Hoh?” He looked among the group, then focused on Arashi, “Take the others into the back, I want to speak to Ichigo alone.”

Arashi nodded and led Chad and Orihime into the back room, where Yoruichi and Tessai were sitting around. Yoruichi looked up at them, then questioned Arashi, “What's going on?”

Arashi flopped down and relaxed, “We're going to rescue Rukia. Ichigo is talking to Kisuke-san about it.”

Yoruichi hummed in thought, her gaze shifting to the two uncomfortable-looking teens still standing by the door. Then scoffed, “Those two would instantly die in Soul Society.” Her golden eyes shifted to Arashi, “At the moment, you're the only one with even a tiny chance of surviving, but you'd still get ripped to shreds by any and all of the Captains as well as some of the Lieutenants.”

Arashi nodded in understanding. Yoruichi had always been very straightforward about his level of strength and skill to keep him from getting a big head. He appreciated that because it would be all too easy for him to think a single skill or ability made him unbeatable. He had all the tools he needed to become a true powerhouse; it was just a matter of time.

“That's why we're here, we need training.”

Yoruichi hummed while scanning over Orihime and Chad, “I suppose I could give those two some pointers. All your current training is with Tessai anyway.” She grinned, “Though I might pop in to make sure you're not neglecting your Hoho training.”

Yoruichi would never, ever, admit it aloud, but she was thankful for Arashi being a broken freak of nature. Spending the last one hundred years as a cat had seriously degraded her skills to an unacceptable degree. She had actually started to breathe heavily after just a hundred shunpo! How embarrassing was that?! Thank all that was holy that she decided to do her training in the mountains. If Kisuke saw, he never would have let her live it down.

Now though? She'd shaken the rust off and was nearly back to her prime from before their century-long vacation. That wouldn't be good enough, though. She needed to push herself and improve even further. Maybe it was time to completely master Shunko. Sure, she'd perfected it, but mastering it would push it to an even higher level.

Well, she knew what she would be doing while training the kids.

A short time later, Kisuke entered the room without Ichigo, “Ichigo has gone home, he will begin his training tomorrow.”

Yoruichi addressed Chad and Orihime, “I'll see you two tomorrow morning as well then.”

The two nodded and left shortly after, leaving just Arashi. He turned to Tessai and grinned, “Kido training?”

The taciturn man nodded, and the pair made their way down into the training room below the shop.

-----Line Break-----

Arashi panted heavily, sweat pouring down his brow. His Reiroyoku was completely drained. He didn't even have enough left for a single Sho. Still, staring in the direction he'd fired his last spell, he couldn't help feeling a swell of pride at the sheer destruction he'd wrought.

Even Ichigo and Kisuke had stopped what they were doing to observe the damage, and they'd been doing nothing but fighting practically non-stop for the last few days. The only time they paused was when Ichigo passed out from exhaustion. Arashi could respect that.

It had also been interesting to see the process of becoming a Shinigami from the outside. Though after talking to Ichigo about it, he'd realized their experiences had been completely different. He supposed that made sense; they were different people after all.

After that, he'd seen more differences between himself and Ichigo. Frankly, Ichigo was a monster, and that was coming from his cheating ass! Even after months of training, sparring, and fighting Hollows, all while Battle Growth was equipped, had increased his Reiryoku reserves several times over.

Ichigo's Reiryoku eclipsed his by several orders of magnitude and then some for no apparent reason. It was as impressive as it was frustrating.

On the flip side, Ichigo was more of a berserker when it came to a fight. His skill with a sword was minimal, at best. He couldn't cast a Kido spell if his life depended on it. His Shunpo was more like Soru in that he just kicked the ground hard to move fast. And the less said about his hand-to-hand, the better. Sure, he could throw a punch, but it was all street-fighting skills, just like Arashi's used to be.

Of course, given his massive Reiryoku, his ability to use Getsuga Tensho, and the fact that he'd unlocked his Shikai already, Ichigo was a massive powerhouse that Arashi didn't see losing to many people.

And no, he wasn't jealous of Ichigo already unlocking his Shikai. Not at all.

…

Okay, maybe he was a little bit. But who could blame him? Ichigo had only been a Shinigami for a couple of days longer than Arashi had. But the real kick in the nuts? Technically, Ichigo had only been a Shinigami using his OWN powers for less than a day before he unlocked his Shikai. That was a real kick to the ego.

That wasn't to say Arashi hadn't made some progress with understanding his own Zanpakuto spirit. While he still didn't know the Pit Boss's name, his Zanpakuto had continued to change its appearance. The Kashira, pommel, remained gold and had gained an X-shaped mark with each suit from a deck of cards in the gaps of the X. In between the twists of the wrap on the handle were polished stones that looked like gems. The tsuba, the guard, was a circle where the bottom looked like wood, while the thick edge was gold and the top looked like a roulette wheel.

Even the saya, the sheath, had changed to show gambling images such as a roulette table, paying cards, dice, and poker chips, all in black and gold with hints of red here and there.

He was sure some people, upon seeing it, would claim his sword was gaudy. Arashi didn't care. As far as he was concerned, it was perfect. Frankly, he couldn't think of anything else more fitting for the random ass way his gacha worked and affected his life.

Hell, compared to the plain giant cleaver of a sword that Ichigo had, his was a work of divine art!

Just thinking about his zanpakuto had him running his fingers over the tsuka and tracing the silk wrap idly.

Tessai observed Arashi for a bit, then spoke, “You must rest and recover. I suggest spending some time in Jinzen while you do so.”

Arashi didn't need to be told twice. He liked to spend time in Jinzen talking to his Zanpakuto spirit. Even if every meeting ended with the spirit uppercutting him out of the spiritual realm within.

He found a spot where he could sit and relax almost comfortably and placed his zanpakuto across his lap while closing his eyes to meditate. It was the sounds that let him know he'd succeeded in entering his inner world. He opened his eyes and beheld the golden casino that the Pit Boss lived in. It never ceased to amaze Arashi that this was his inner world. He liked it a lot more than Ichigo's self-described sideways city.

His gaze moved over to where the Pit Boss stood with his thick arms crossed in front of his even thicker chest, “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.”

The Pit Boss's head moved up and down, scanning Arashi through the black aviators he wore, “I think it's time for you to learn more about me.” He slowly uncrossed his arms and flexed his hands, the large appendages cracking loudly, “And the best way to do that is to fight.” His lips curled into a vicious grin, “From now on, when you visit, I'm going to kick your ass until you know my name. I refuse to let us fall even further behind Kurosaki.”

The area around them twisted and expanded until they were in an area that looked like a high-class colosseum that a modern-day gladiator might fight in. Luxurious seating, large television screens for broadcasting, and even refreshment stands sprinkled around.

Arashi took it all in, then turned to face the Pit Boss, who was no longer garbed in his custom fit suit and was instead in leather armor he'd expect to see on a Roman Legionnaire. Arashi grinned broadly, “This is epic.”

The Pit Boss cracked his knuckles loudly, “Let's hope you still think so while I'm beating the shit out of you.”

Arashi laughed while he slowly drew his sword, “We'll see whose kicking whose ass!”

The next moment, they both blitzed toward each other, sending up clouds of sand where they'd previously stood. They slammed into each other in the middle of the arena. Arashi's sword sparked against the Pit Boss's fists as they pushed against each other for a moment. Then they were a blur, exchanging blows faster than human eyes could track. Sparks and sand exploded everywhere as both of them laughed.

Soul Society would not be ready for what was coming.

AN

9.5k words, so slightly short, but this was a good place to stop.

So a fair bit went down in this chapter. We're officially finished with season 1 and moving to season 2, the invasion of Seireitei.

For those of you who might be fans of Uryu, I just want to say I don't hate him. I do, however, think he got off way too lightly for the Hollow Invasion incident. While Aizen does later take credit for the appearance of the Menos Grande as a test for Ichigo, the rest of the hollows were attracted by the bait.

It's also clear in both the Manga and the Anime that there are way more Hollows than Uryu and Ichigo can handle on their own. Uryu is literally surrounded by them at one point and can't kill them fast enough to even protect himself, let alone others. If Ichigo hadn't arrived, he quite possibly could have died right then and there.

So, anyone believing that there were no casualties in the incident, I invite you to look at the events around Orihime and Sado. If not for them awakening their powers, they would have died. Neither Ichigo nor Uryu had any time to offer the two of them any help. It's highly likely that people did die from what Uryu did, making him a murderer.

So, yeah, not a fan of how easily he got off. Don't worry, he will come back, just not for a long time.

Now the next few chapters shouldn't jump around as much as the last few did. Then again, the last few took place over the course of months, while the next few will be over the course of days. I'm looking forward to writing some of the battles that are about to happen.

I'm not sure if I will be writing from multiple points of view, or just from Arashi's. We'll see!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter!