Chapter 8 – News Spread Fast

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach...

The day I died

The eight chapter – News Spread Fast

Ichigo was panting heavily, his fight with Zaraki ended an hour ago. He was now drinking tea with Ukitake, but was stopped by his body's sudden exhaustion.

"Ichigo, what's happening?" Ukitake asked, wide eyed.

Ichigo turned to face his captain "There are some slight aftereffects to my Shikai…"

Ukitake nodded, expecting something horrid.

Ichigo smiled "…those being me feeling like I weight three hundred tons…"

Ukitake raised an eyebrow.

Ichigo continued "…and me becoming almost twice as strong as before I used my Shikai…"

'Must be an Enhancement Shikai…' Ukitake thought, relived it wasn't something serious.

Ichigo didn't explain his Shikai fully, not wanting to burden his captain even more.

'That captain was tough, who would've thought that he would have more reiatsu than Ichigo. Sometimes being strong is a double-edged blade…' Black Zangetsu was thinking about the situation.

Ukitake smiled "I'm still surprised that you managed to defeat Captain Zaraki… He is menacing."

Ichigo turned to face his captain again "It isn't that I defeated him… He defeated himself." He smirked at the thought of the hot-headed captain.

Ukitake eyed his lieutenant "He defeated himself?"

Ichigo nodded "My Shikai uses combination attacks, similar to yours… My white blade drains my opponent's reiatsu and feeds it to my black blade. My black blade then uses the opponent's reiatsu in combination with my reiatsu and blasts the target with one of my Getsuga abilities." Ichigo didn't mention that he only had one Getsuga ability at this moment, but it didn't matter at this point.

Ukitake nodded "So it's similar to my Shikai? One of my Shikai's abilities is to absorb any reiatsu based attack, combine my reiatsu into it, change is velocity and form, and fire it back at my opponent. But that isn't the my Shikai's true ability-"

Ichigo wheezed at the sudden pain in his upper body 'What is this pain Zangetsu? I know it's meant to hurt after I absorb someone's reiatsu, but this is more painful than that captain's sword.'

White Zangetsu scoffed "Little strawberry can't take the heat?" He was slightly worried, but would never show it to anyone. He knew, better than anyone that Ichigo was strong and wouldn't die to something like this.

Black Zangetsu sighed "Do I have to explain everything…" He turned towards White Zangetsu, glaring at his form "When I absorb the enemy's reiatsu, the greater portion goes to charcoal here…" He pointed towards the fuming White Zangetsu "And the small fragment that is left is absorbed by your reiatsu. You wouldn't feel it if the fragment was from any normal Shinigami, but that captain had some serious reiatsu. The fragment you absorbed increased your total reiatsu by a quarter of its original amount…"

Ichigo coughed hoarsely, White Zangetsu continuing Black Zangetsu's thought "Imagine you just ate both your hands… That's how much stronger you've become…"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the comparison 'Shinigami don't eat their limbs…Besides how would I become stronger by eating my limbs?' Causing White Zangetsu to huff and hide his presence.

"It's a metaphor. You simply got a lot stronger…" Black Zangetsu said impassively.

Ichigo decided to take a walk before going to sleep; the night calmed him down every time. Ukitake ordered him not to get stressed while recovering; it would only prolong the recovery. He was strolling down Seireitei's streets, not really looking where he walked. Ichigo was thinking of everything that happened up until now. Something bothered him, when he recalled his memories they would stop in the outer Rukongai forest, he felt as if there was more, there should've been a lot more.

He came to his senses only to notice a massive gate, Ichigo tilted his head. There were guards positioned to keep watch over the gate. Ichigo neared the gate; one of the guards instantly noticed the lieutenant "Welcome to the Senkaimon, lieutenant Shiba!"

Ichigo nodded and smiled "And here I thought Senkaimon was a lot smaller…" receiving a couple of chuckles from the guards.

"They are smaller in the living world, but this is the main, permanent one." A guard said.

One of the guards was slightly confused "What brought you here, sir? We're atop a tower…"

Ichigo sweatdropped and smiled sheepishly "I was lost in thought…" he scratched the back of his head "Uhm, what direction are the 13th Division Barracks?"

One of the guards was more mischievous than the others, he pointed towards the 1st Division Barracks "That way, sir."

Ichigo turned towards the pointed direction "You sure?"

The guard nodded enthusiastically.

Ichigo smiled, before flash-stepping towards the direction.

The guard in question laughed, before being stopped by the other guards "Are you trying to make him mad?"

Causing the mischievous guard to raise an eyebrow "And what will he do? He's the new inexperienced lieutenant; he doesn't even radiate any reiatsu…"

The other guards facepalmed "So you didn't hear the news…"

"The news?" the mischievous guard raised an eyebrow.

The other guards smirked, except one who was extremely annoyed "You idiot! He's the guy that defeated Captain Zaraki in a duel!"

The, now not so mischievous, guard gulped. He was now trembling; he was frightened by the thought that a lieutenant could beat a captain.

Ichigo landed in front of the 1st Division Barracks, he frowned "Those guards are as lost as I am…" he sighed. White Zangetsu laughed loudly 'You're as dense as a rock!'

Ichigo was about to retort to the remark, only to be stopped by none other than the 1st Division lieutenant who proudly stood in front of Ichigo "Good evening, lieutenant Ichigo. What brings you here?" he tilted his head, not displaying much emotion.

"Good evening lieutenant Sasakibe. I hate to admit it, but I am lost… Could you direct me towards the 13th Division Barracks?" Ichigo laughed embarrassingly.

Sasakibe pointed towards the 13th Division Barracks. Ichigo was about to flash-step "I'm surprised you beat that monster. As a fellow lieutenant I congratulate you." Ichigo nodded and swiftly disappeared. 'Still lost in Seireitei… Shinigami these days…' Sasakibe thought as he went back to his chambers.

Ichigo arrived quickly, hugged his bed and fell asleep.

He could feel it… He knew what was about to happen... He wouldn't get any rest. His eyes shot open "Welcome back, Ichigo!"

Ichigo's glare could penetrate several dimensions and freeze all of them "Why am I back?"

White Zangetsu turned towards Black Zangetsu "There's a problem…"

Ichigo tilted his head, Black Zangetsu seemed exhausted. Ichigo walked up to him "What's the problem?"

Black Zangetsu was profusely sweating and seemed tired "Controlling all this reiatsu is difficult…" he smiled to Ichigo "…The problem is your reiatsu's level…"

Ichigo tiled his head "My reiatsu's level?"

Black Zangetsu nodded "More like compressed stage… The reiatsu you absorbed was highly compressed. We thought that the chunk was only a quarter of your power, but it would seem that you absorbed the same amount of power you have, if not more…"

Ichigo's eyes widened "I blasted him that much reiatsu?" White Zangetsu scoffed.

Black Zangetsu nodded again "Since his reiatsu was immensely compressed we thought it was only a small amount of reiatsu and allowed you to absorb it… We were completely wrong…" he sighed.

White Zangetsu was the next to talk "Now it seems that we have to compress your reiatsu to his level… Maybe even higher…"

Ichigo narrowed his sight "And how do we do that?"

White Zangetsu smirked and was about to answer, only to be stopped by Black Zangetsu "There are risks involved… The more you compress you reiatsu the more it might hurt your comrades in battle… You'll have to make sure not to fight with shinigami any time soon…"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow "But I thought you can suppress my reiatsu in battle?"

Black Zangetsu nodded "Not as well when you compress your reiatsu. You will have to learn doing it yourself…"

Ichigo tiled his head again "Can't you both control my reiatsu?"

White Zangetsu laughed, before grinning manically "It isn't that we can't! It's that if I do it, you might lose control…"

Ichigo nodded; he turned towards Black Zangetsu again "Teach me how to control it, first."

Black Zangetsu sighed "It's actually really simple, we simply lied to you…" Ichigo gawked, White Zangetsu roared with laughter. He continued "You only have to focus slightly on your reiatsu flow…"

"You're kidding..." Ichigo's mouth was still agape.

Black Zangetsu shook his head and smiled "I'll try to help you when you're not focused, after all we don't want you to hurt yourself."

Ichigo was astonished how much Black Zangetsu spoke, but shrugged it off 'Must be his exhaustion kicking in…'

"How do we compress my reiatsu then?" Ichigo asked, still confused.

White Zangetsu smirked. Ichigo instantly knew it would be a long night.

It was noon and the 3rd Seats were already worried about their lieutenant, he didn't leave his office and they were too scared to enter themselves. His office was extremely quiet; they couldn't hear a single noise even when putting their ears on his door. They took a step back, looking at the door. They heard some slight movement in his office.

"Yo." Ichigo said, he was stood behind them "What you guys looking at?" he smiled.

The 3rd Seats jumped in surprise "Lieutenant Shiba!" they said in unison. They were surprised at first, only to look confused a moment later. Ichigo raised an eyebrow; he didn't have a mirror in his office so there was no way of him figuring out that one of his orange locks turned completely white.

"Lieutenant your hair!" said the blonde 3rd Seat.

Ichigo narrowed his sight "What about it?"

They pointed towards his lock "It's always been bright orange, what's your point?"

The blonde 3rd Seat facepalmed, the dark haired 3rd Seat decided to continue "Lieutenant Shiba, with all due respect, but are you trying some new human trend?"

Ichigo decided to pat his hair, maybe there was something on his head.

The blonde 3rd Seat was about to explode "It's your hair color! Why's your hair white?!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow "My hair's white?" He picked the lock in question and looked at it "It's white!" his eyes widened in surprise "That's one terrible prank to pull on you superior!" They flinched at his raised voice, frightened by his fierce glare.

They quickly fell in line and straightened their back "Forgive our insolence, but it wasn't us, sir!" they tried explaining in unison.

Ichigo looked at them "And you stood right in front of my office for what reason?"

The both looked away in embarrassment "We've been worried about you, sir…"

Ichigo calmed down, he was still confused about his hair, but decided that he would later ask his captain.

Both the 3rd Seats sighed in relief; their lieutenant wasn't going to cook them alive.

Ichigo smirked "Well if you're truly worried about me… how bout you guys do some paperwork?"

They pouted at the thought, but still nodded. He was their superior after all, he had the last word.

Ichigo was on his way to his captain's office, he sent the 3rd Seats to do his paperwork. He was notified by his captain's Hell Butterfly, his words were a little vague.

Before entering Ukitake office he could hear another captain complain. He decided to enter, noticing Rukia first and Byakuya after. She was looking at the ground, while her brother glared at Ukitake.

Ukitake smiled in relief, he wouldn't have to face the proud noble himself.

Ichigo tilted his head at the scene; he knew Rukia was very strong and wouldn't allow anyone to push her around she even retorted to Ichigo's flicks, but here she was looking at the floor. Byakuya looked at Ichigo, his eyes were cold and emotionless "Lieutenant Shiba… was it?" Ichigo nodded "I'm here to ask if you could change the list of shinigami for the next mission."

Ichigo narrowed his sight; he looked at Ukitake's desk and noticed the list. He picked the list up and quickly read all the names. He also noticed that Rukia was one of the shinigami and that this would be her first mission since her return. Ichigo faced his captain "Captain you can leave this to me, rest assured I can handle this situation." Ukitake nodded and left to his private chambers.

Ichigo turned to face Byakuya, who had a fiercer glare than before "You must excuse my Captain, he's very ill and needs to rest. I'll talk in his place." Byakuya was surprised by Ichigo's reaction "What would you have me do with the list, Captain Kuchiki?"

"I believe that Rukia isn't ready for the mission. She is still too weak. Replace her with someone who has more experience." Byakuya proclaimed.

'Even his voice is cold, sheesh.' Ichigo knew that he could only win this argument with a stronger argument; simply saying 'Rukia isn't weak' wouldn't be enough.

"Exactly how is Rukia weak? I'm under the impression that you're trying to hold a perfectly capable shinigami away from the outside. I thought shinigami that graduated the academy would be prepared for anything." Ichigo said sternly, before Byakuya could even retort Ichigo continued "You graduated the academy as well, didn't you captain? We're you too weak then too? Have you done any missions since then?"

Byakuya's glare was colder than ice now "The mission is to visit the outer parts of Rukongai and eliminate Hollows that are terrorizing the inhabitants. It's an A+ mission; we send shinigami near lieutenant level to these missions, but Seireitei's lieutenant level shinigami are too busy in the living world. Sending weak shinigami like Rukia will only jeopardize the mission."

Ichigo smirked "Well then you're forgetting one lieutenant level shinigami…" Byakuya's eyes widened, and Rukia lifted her head. Ichigo winked at Rukia "I'll lead the party of shinigami."