He smiled as it was late in the afternoon and he finished his daily paperwork already, he was about to enter his office only to be stopped by Ukitake "We've been invited to join Shunsui for some sake." Ichigo narrowed his sight, about to retort because of his captain's health "I'm feeling a lot better now, so don't worry." Ichigo simply nodded, realizing he had no word in the matter.

Ukitake and Ichigo slowly made their way through Seireitei, receiving bows and 'good works' from the passing shinigami. Ichigo noted that his captain was quite popular among all shinigami and liked by all, he had an amazing aura surrounding him. They were stopped several times by shinigami expressing their gratitude towards Ukitake, while at the same time eyeing Ichigo. Ichigo had his ever present scowl on; well it wasn't ever present, only when he was extremely tired or aggravated. Some shinigami were frightened by his look, Ukitake chuckled at the sight 'He wasn't allowed to rest, was he? I better tell the 3rd Seats to go easy on his tomorrow or he might actually hurt them…' Ukitake didn't notice that they were in front of the 8th Division Barracks.

Ichigo simply stood behind his captain, looking at the barracks in front of them. They were almost identical to theirs, the only difference that theirs was the insignia. The 8th Division had the insignia "Strelitzia".

Ichigo noticed that the barracks door had been opened by the 8th Division lieutenant, whose name he still didn't know. He walked towards her and greeted her with a slight bow "We have an appointment with Captain Kyoraku." She nodded, but before she could utter a word Ichigo continued "It appears we haven't been introduced yet, I'm Ichigo Shiba, lieutenant of the 13th Division." Ichigo smiled.

She wasn't attending the last lieutenant meeting and wasn't briefed about the new lieutenant yet, she inwardly thanked him "I'm Nanao Ise, lieutenant of the 8th Division." She said with a small smile and welcomed them to their barracks. Ukitake was brought back from his thoughts quickly as he made his way into the barracks.

Kyoraku was already pouring himself another cup. Ukitake was the first to enter the room, followed by Nanao and Ichigo. Kyoraku greet his guests with a warm welcome and a cheerful laugh, Ichigo smiled at the sight of a captain that is as easy going as Ukitake. Nanao berated her captain; he began drinking before the guests even entered. Kyoraku simply chuckled while Ukitake smiled and sat down.

Ukitake noticed Ichigo still standing "Ichigo, come. We've both been invited."

Ichigo bowed and politely declined, he could smell the sake from outside. The smell invaded his nose and attacked his senses; Ichigo couldn't stand it "I'd like to go for a walk; I don't want my moodiness to bother you."

Ukitake chuckled "You don't have to ask for permission Ichigo. I'll call you when we're leaving." He smiled warmly as Ichigo made his way out of the 'sake den'.

"I'm surprised at how polite he is; with that amount of reiatsu I wouldn't be surprised if he was arrogant." Kyoraku said seriously.

Ukitake nodded "I feel the same way. He seems grateful that we gave him a cause. I don't think he knew what to do after his death."

Kyoraku laughed lightly "You're saying that he just wants to be a shinigami and nothing else?"

Ukitake nodded "He doesn't seem to have any other wants…" he took a sip of the strong sake.

Nanao eyed the captains curiously "If I may interrupt, with that amount of reiatsu? I couldn't feel any coming off of him."

Kyoraku chuckled "Oh yes, it's a secret for everyone but the captains, but I'm pretty sure you won't tell anyone…" he turned to receive a nod from Ukitake, he continued "The reason you had that lieutenant meeting was him."

Nanao froze on the spot "You mean that his reiatsu made three quarters of the shinigami in Seireitei numb?!"

Ukitake smiled "They were at a distance, I was closer. The pressure was immense, reminded me of Yamamoto."

Kyoraku laughed "He reminded you of old man Yama? That is some reiatsu indeed." He took poured himself another cup.

Nanao simply stood there, confused how Ichigo manages to keep that heavy reiatsu under control.

Ukitake noticed her look "It's interesting how he keeps that reiatsu in check…" he smiled as he took yet another sip of his sake "…His Zanpakuto is special, it wants to keep Ichigo safe at all times… But because of his reiatsu he's always in danger of hurting himself, so his Zanpakuto controls the reiatsu."

Kyoraku was astonished "I haven't heard of that kind of teamwork yet, Zanpakuto are usually really selfish with their powers." Nanao nodded in agreement.

Ukitake nodded as well "But the teamwork isn't the only thing special about him and his Zanpakuto, it's his Shikai that shines brighter than anything..." Kyoraku took another sip of his sake "It's very similar to ours, yet different."

Nanao looked confused "You're saying that his Shikai turns into dual blades?" Ukitake nodded, leaving Nanao wide eyed.

Ukitake continued "The Shikai indeed turns into dual blades, just that the blades aren't identical like ours, they are complete opposites of each other."

Kyoraku was intrigued by the idea, smirking at the thought of another dual blades wielder "We'll have to teach him how to wield them!" Kyoraku chuckled as he poured Ukitake and himself another cup.

Ichigo didn't know why, but he enjoyed the moon's glow. He felt at home every time he bathed in the light. He was sat in a field of soft grass for the past couple of hours; he finally managed to have some peace.

Ichigo could hear the noise coming from the 'sake den' get louder by the minute, he decided to go and check on his captain. When he opened the door he was met by the two captains singing loudly, the smell of strong sake in the air. They didn't only sing, they also danced and laughed like mad men. Ichigo turned towards Nanao, who was simply leaning onto a wall and biding her time.

"How long has this been going on for?" Ichigo facepalmed at the sight, Ukitake and Kyoraku performed a seductive dance, they thought it was seductive. It was disturbing and it destroyed the picture Ichigo had of the two captains 'Why did I come along?' Receiving a chuckle from Black Zangetsu, White Zangetsu was laughing for a while now, almost passing out.

Nanao turned to face Ichigo, she had a similar expression; disbelief. This happened once a month and it was always disturbing to watch, at least now she wasn't the only shinigami who knew about this.

"Captain, it's pretty late…" Ichigo said, looking away from the captains.

The captains turned to Ichigo and laughed "Ichigo! Come join us!" Grabbing Ichigo and dragging him onto the dance floor.

A vein popped on Nanao's forehead, quickly smacking her captain on the head and dragging him out of the room, stopping only to say her goodbyes. Two captains dancing was too much already, but dragging an innocent bystander into the mix, crossed the line.

Ichigo was not helping his captain stand, as he fell to the ground when he let go of Kyoraku. Ukitake chuckled "Don't Ichigo, I'll call my 3rd Seats. It's not a lieutenant's job to carry his drunken captain. You go ahead and leave for our barracks, I'll be alright."

Ichigo nodded, placing a pillow next to his captain "I'll go ahead then. Please restrain yourself next time." Ichigo smiled before closing the door 'I'm never drinking that sake, ever. Imagine what it would do to me…' Ichigo thought while strolling down Seireitei, towards the 13th Division Barracks.

On his way he was met by some peculiar captain's. One had brown hair and glasses and the other had silver hair and squinted eyes. They must've been the before mentioned Captain Aizen and Captain Ichimaru. Captain Aizen was the first to speak "Good evening, lieutenant Ichigo." He smiled warmly "What a beautiful night, isn't it?"

Ichigo nodded "Good evening, Captain Aizen." He smiled "Its lieutenant Shiba from today on." Aizen smiled at the thought "It is a beautiful night, the moon is as calm as ever."

'Shiba, so you figured it out already. I have to hand it to you Ichigo, you do learn fast…' Aizen thought as he put his right hand on Ichigo's right shoulder "I have to apologize, but we're in a hurry. If you'd excuse us…" They quickened their step, quickly leaving Ichigo's view.

Black Zangetsu shivered, pulling White Zangetsu closer for a private chat "That man it evil, I can feel it from his reiatsu. His intentions are bad, we must warn Ichigo."

White Zangetsu scoffed "We shouldn't make the already worried Ichigo, worry even more… Instead we could do some fighting!"

Black Zangetsu narrowed his sight "Fighting? Elaborate…"

White Zangetsu grinned maniacally "Well I would do the fighting and you would do the explaining…"

Black Zangetsu never liked White Zangetsu's word games "You're talking about his Shikai abilities, aren't you?"

White Zangetsu smiled "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Maybe I just want to fight Ichigo!"

Black Zangetsu nodded, there was no point making Ichigo even more worried, he still had to meet the head of the Shiba clan and talk about noble families. And to teach him something about his Shikai would be a great way to protect him without worrying him 'Sometimes I'm amazed by his intellect. He seems like a battle crazy barbarian, but he thinks things through even before I do… It must be that other part of him that wants to fight…'

Ichigo finally made it to his bed and not even a second after closing his eyes, he was brought to his inner world. White Zangetsu smiled "Welcome back, Ichigo!" he drew his sword and charge an annoyed Ichigo, who quickly blocked his attack.

Ichigo's eyes widened by how strong Zangetsu's strike was. He was sent flying into one of the skyscrapers. He recovered quickly and charged White Zangetsu, only for the events to repeat. It repeated several times, Ichigo began panting; having no sleep for two days took a toll on him.

Black Zangetsu stood in the distance "Ichigo… Not every enemy is weak enough to be beat by a sealed Zanpakuto; sometime you have to enter Shikai state to beat a powerful enemy…"

Ichigo nodded "Cast aside fear: Zangetsu!" His Zanpakuto now released, he noticed that there was no massive wave of reiatsu in his inner world.

"The inner world is the perfect place for shinigami training. You can't be hurt; you only lose reiatsu when you get cut in this world. The time in your inner world is different from the time in the outer world; it can either pass faster or slower." Black Zangetsu proclaimed sternly.

Ichigo looked at his blades, one as dark as the night and the other as bright as the moon. He hadn't yet fought someone in this state; he had zero experience with dual blades. He had no time to decide which blade to use to attack; White Zangetsu was already on his way, ready to attack again. Ichigo chose his weaker hand to defend and his stronger to attack, blocking the attack with his left hand and attacking with his right. Only to be pushed back again.

White Zangetsu scoffed at Ichigo's choice "You're gonna use me to defend, and him to attack?! Don't make me laugh Ichigo…" White Zangetsu's eyes filled with anger "And here I thought you had a brain…"

Ichigo's scowl deepened 'him to defend and him to attack' Ichigo wondered what White Zangetsu meant for a moment, it hit him like a truck 'Black Zangetsu is the white blade, is he meant for defending? White Zangetsu is the black blade, is he meant for attacking? But why choose my weaker hand for attacking?'

Black Zangetsu heard his thoughts and so did White Zangetsu; they were part of him after all. 'A slightly stronger defense is better than a slightly stronger offence… Think Ichigo.'

Ichigo narrowed his sight; White Zangetsu was fast he had to time the parry perfectly. He readied his right hand, parrying White Zangetsu and swinging his left blade at him. White Zangetsu swiftly dodged "Not fast enough, Ichigo…" he scoffed.

Ichigo didn't notice White Zangetsu remark as he felt something change, he felt as if he had more energy than before. His wounds also healed and his body felt lighter. Ichigo narrowed his sight and smirked at White Zangetsu "Round two…"He charged at White Zangetsu, who simply grinned maniacally.

The morning sun was shining brightly as the 3rd Seats made their way to Ichigo's office, their hands full of documents that had to be signed and approved. They opened Ichigo's office door and swiftly put the documents on his desk, the weight causing some light cracks.

They turned towards their lieutenant's bed; the blonde 3rd Seat was the first to utter a word "Should we wake him up?" the black haired 3rd Seat laughed loudly "After yesterday?"

Ichigo was fighting White Zangetsu the whole night through, again having almost no sleep. The 3rd Seats were both laughing in his office, offering him no peace. Ichigo jumped out of his bed, now fuming with anger. He composed himself after he noticed that they weren't paying attention to him. He decided to just grab the collars of the two shinigami and throw them out his office "Next time at least knock!" he shouted at their cowering forms. Slamming his office door shut, he turned his attention towards his desk, his mouth wide "What is this?" Ichigo whispered at the sight, his eyes filled with disbelief.

His desk had a mountain of documents, they weight slightly bent his desk. Ichigo pushed himself towards the desk, greatly annoyed at the massive amount of work he had to do. 'I really do hope I get paid for this…' White Zangetsu snickered at the thought.

It was noon by the time Ichigo was done, surprised at his efficiency. He was about to turn his last document in but was stopped by a sudden knock on his door. Receiving an 'enter' from Ichigo, the person in question entered his office. It was no other than the captain of the 11th Division, grinning manically. Ichigo eyed the captain "How generous of a captain of a different division to visit my humble office." Ichigo smiled, curious what the crazy looking captain wanted.

Zaraki laughed "Fight me!" Ichigo's eyes widened, he was about to retort only to stopped by Ukitake, who entered after Zaraki.

"You accepted his duel Ichigo." Ukitake sighed.

Yachiru looked at Ichigo from Zaraki's shoulder "Yeah Ichi, you said you'd play with Ken-chan!"

Ichigo deadpanned "I thought Ken-chan was a child, not the 11th Division Captain!"

Ukitake nodded "That explains it all, well under those circumstances I'll allow the duel. Under one condition only: no deaths."

Ichigo sighed 'Do I never get to rest?!'

Zaraki simply groaned in annoyance 'I never get to kill anyone… So unfair…'

They made their way to the 11th Division Training Grounds, where a huge duel field was prepared. Ukitake walked beside Ichigo "This is where the 11th Division Captains are chosen." There were sword cut marks all over the field "They are not chosen by a test or something, they become the 11th Division Captains after they kill their opponent."

Ichigo gulped at the thought 'He must be strong…' White Zangetsu was laughing "Scared already, Ichigo? I thought I beat some sense into you…" Ichigo frowned at the remark.

The duel field had spectator benches around it; they were quickly filled by a crowd of 11th Division shinigami. 'Quite a crowd…' They were roaring and cheering for their captain.

Zaraki quickly entered the duel field and silenced his crowd, turning his attention to the, now alone, Ichigo. Ukitake was sat in the crowd with the 3rd Seats. "A lieutenant with that much reiatsu, I would be a waste not to fight you…" Zaraki bared his chest "…I want to give you a fighting chance, cut me with all your might!"

Ichigo narrowed his sight "What's the hook?"

Zaraki laughed "I'm too powerful, I have to handicap myself to make it more fun!"

Ichigo nodded 'I won't enter Shikai yet, but I'll need highly concentrated reiatsu on the blade, I have a strange feeling about this fight.'

Black Zangetsu was satisfied by Ichigo's enemy perception, finally seeing fruits from his labor. He looked towards White Zangetsu, who was trembling with excitement "I want to cut him! I need to cut him! His reiatsu's challenging me! I'll make you cut him Ichigo!" White Zangetsu roared.

Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto; it had a red glow, pulsing with reiatsu. Zaraki eyed his blade carefully "You're going to use a sealed Zanpakuto? I said with all your might!" he said angrily.

Ichigo looked straight into Zaraki's eyes "This will be more than enough…" Ichigo's speed surprised both Zaraki and Ukitake, his stance was impressive and his reiatsu was controlled. Ichigo made it close enough to swing, he chose to cut. Blood sprayed out. Ichigo eyed his opponent, his scowl deepening. The cut was too shallow, but it wasn't Ichigo that was at fault there, Zaraki's instincts make him move back slightly.

Zaraki was more than impressed, grinning manically "It sure was more than enough!" He charged Ichigo head on.

Ichigo smirked at the sight, reminded how he always fought White Zangetsu. Ichigo decided to take this fight seriously, so he prepared himself to use his whole arsenal.

Before Zaraki made is close enough "Bakudō #1; Restrain!" Zaraki's arms quickly locked behind his back, before he could react Ichigo continued "Bakudō #4; Crawling Rope!" A yellow rope appeared from Ichigo's hand it charged around Zaraki.

It made it even harder for Zaraki to move, Ichigo smirked before continuing his barrage of Kidō "Bakudō #9; Strike!" Paralyzing Zaraki's body, his eyes filled with confusion "Bakudō #30; Beak-Piercing Triple Beam!" Three yellow beaks appeared in an inverted yellow triangle, they immediately shot out towards Zaraki, pinning his frame to the ground.

Ichigo jumped into the air "I have a feeling getting into close combat with you is a mistake, so forgive my insolence, Captain Zaraki." Ichigo narrowed his sight, he placed his Zanpakuto in front of him while also placing his other hand on its blade "Hadō #32; Yellow Fire Flash!" a bright yellow beam of energy fired out of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, hitting the Captain directly. The blast was massive and left a crater, dust still in the air from the immense reiatsu. Ichigo landed and sheathed his blade, his eyes still looking at the place his target was just a moment ago.

Ukitake's eyes were widened at the display of perfectly used Kidō. The fight was so one sided he couldn't believe it, he expected Zaraki to break free from the restrains but it seemed Ichigo put a lot of reiatsu into the Kidō.

Ichigo watched and listened, he knew that the level of Kidō he used was too low to hurt such a strong enemy. He was right, Zaraki was quickly on his feet, jumping out of the cloud of dust. He had burn marks and was bleeding from the chest, but his grin did not falter "Your instincts are as good as mine. I am dangerous in close combat, but I did not expect you to be able to restrain me that well. I'm impressed to say the least… But now it's my turn to strike!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, Zaraki couldn't allow Ichigo to gain distance between them, and so he slashed at the ground causing a miniature earthquake. Making it enough of a distraction to close the distance between them.

Ichigo quickly parried his attack, only to he pushed back. The weight behind his sword was insane. Zaraki smiled maniacally as he continued his fast and powerful barrage of attacks. He kept pushing Ichigo back, not allowing him to counter even once.

Ichigo was getting annoyed as well as tired, his hands started to bleed from the constant attacks and his feet felt like fire from the friction. 'I have to finish this quickly; it feels as if he's getting more powerful by the moment. What're gonna do Zangetsu?"

White Zangetsu gritted his teeth "Well there's one thing you could do…"he mused "Shikai!"

"I have to agree with this suggestion. This is not an enemy you can defeat with a sealed Zanpakuto…" Black Zangetsu sighed.

Ichigo narrowed his sight 'I'll need to get him off of me first…' he thought of a couple of solutions, deciding to use force instead of restraints "Hadō #33; Blue Fire, Crash Down!" a bright blue energy fired out of Ichigo's fingers, blasting Zaraki away from him. "It seems I have no choice here…" Ichigo took a deep breath, Zaraki narrowed his sight "Cast aside fear: Zangetsu!"

Zaraki smiled at the sight "Are you trying to mock me? You had that kind of Shikai and held it back?" he laughed as he dashed towards Ichigo.

Ichigo was now collected, the increase in reiatsu made him feel lighter. Zaraki was about to cut vertically, only to be easily parried by Ichigo's right blade. Continuing with his left he cut the captain across the chest, again. Zaraki felt a change in his power but ignored it; he continued to attack Ichigo with his usual barrage of powerful and fast attacks. Ichigo smirked at the sight, the captain started to sweat. Zaraki was about to swing at Ichigo again only to be met by both of Ichigo's blades. Ichigo pushed Zaraki's heavy Zanpakuto away leaving an opening in Zaraki's defense "Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo shouted as he was about to cut the captain. A black and red beam fired out of Ichigo's blade, blasting the, now unconscious, captain into the crowd.

The crowd went silent, before cheering loudly. It was a great fight, even if their captain lost the 11th Division enjoyed a great fight. They knew their captain would eventually get revenge. At the end the crowd wasn't only filled with 11th Division shinigami, there were also a lot of 13th Division shinigami and shinigami from random divisions which heard that the new lieutenant accepted a captain's duel request.

Ichigo sighed in relief, he didn't have to injure the captain with high level Kidō and instead he used his two new abilities. 'Getsuga Tenshō is something else Zangetsu…' White Zangetsu simply ignored the remark and smirked "It's nothing great… It's only one of my abilities you idiot."

Black Zangetsu was also proud of Ichigo; he used his other ability perfectly.

~Ichigo's Inner world, early morning~

Ichigo was done fighting White Zangetsu and was about to leave, but before he left a thought hit his head. He turned to face Black Zangetsu "Why are you in my stronger arm? Shouldn't the blade meant for cutting be in my stronger arm?"

Black Zangetsu smiled "I guess I should explain it to you, after all, you did beat him…" He turned to look at an unconscious White Zangetsu, still twitching "We work together when we fight. So we decided that the first abilities you learn should be used together. 'Reiatsu Absorption' and 'Getsuga Tenshō' work together perfectly… Your strong arm with absorb the hits but also the enemy reiatsu while your weaker arm with cast the absorbed reiatsu back at the enemy in the form of Getsuga Tenshō."

Black Zangetsu smirked at the thought of the killer combo. 'It's also to protect you better. I'm a defensive sword where he is an offensive sword. I'm not meant for cutting…' He thought as he saw Ichigo nod to his explanation.

"This attack combination should be enough for you to beat almost any opponent… When we feel that you require more diverse abilities, we will teach them to you." Black Zangetsu explained.

Ichigo nodded again, he was about to leave, only to be stopped by Black Zangetsu "Also, I'm pretty sure you heard of Bankai…"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he turned to face Zangetsu "Actually… Never mind for now…" Ichigo nodded, he waved goodbye to his Zanpakuto and left his inner world.

'It might be too much for you to handle, sorry Ichigo, but not yet.' Black Zangetsu thought as he was about to try and wake up White Zangetsu.

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