29 What's your name?

For the non Bleach readers, read the comment pinned to this paragraph, it might help you understand a bit more what's going on in this chapter.

Chapter Twenty Nine. (Edited by CDoggo: Good morning everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful day; and enjoy the chapter!)

''Don't talk so big, kid.'' Byakuya pushed back with his zanpakuto, gaining the upper hand in their clash due to his opponent only having one usable arm. ''This changes nothing, I will rip away those shinigami powers of yours, just like I did with your friend, no matter what you do.''

''Oh, will you?'' Kuromiya smirked, though despite his words he took a step back, deciding to break the contact of their swords before he was overwhelmed by the man's physical strength.

'Man, this sucks.' That single step he took was more than enough to create over ten meters of distance between them, and so now that Kuromiya had some seconds to think, he couldn't help but frown at his current situation. 'Without my left arm, I can't clash swords with him without being overpowered… To make things worse, I can't even use Bookmark right now.'

''You often seem to take pleasure in making strong claims, but without the skills to back it up, those claims are nothing more than meaningless words.'' Byakuya noted, as he watched with an impassive gaze how the boy retreated. ''It matters not if you have obtained the powers of a soul reaper, in the end you are just a human.You'll be defeated and laying on the ground soon enough, and this time I'll make sure you remain there.''

''You sure are talkative today, aren't you?'' Kuromiya replied to Byakuya while making his best to ignore the man's words, it would do him no good to charge at him without thinking. ''With someone like you at home, it's no surprise Rukia would have rather remained at the world of the living with us.''

That seemed to be enough to make both of them clash for yet a second time, and a third one, each one of them disappearing and reappearing within the blink of an eye, the sound of zanpakuto's clashing now reaching the ears of every person nearby.

. . .

'... What the hell?' Kenpachi had seen more than a few weird things throughout his life, but his current sight wasn't quite normal, at all. Ichigo Kurosaki, the opponent standing up from the ground after being in death's door was now suddenly back on his own feet. 'His bleeding stopped… And his spiritual pressure is rising too?''

Ichigo was covered in a bluish aura, his once weakened reiatsu now back to his max, and even beyond that. The teenager was silent, his two brown orbs with a similar blue glow covering them, reflecting the sheer power that he himself had acquired.

How had all this happened, exactly? There had to be some kind of explanation for all of these strange events, after all.

The answer for this was fairly simple, all this had been the result of a talk between him and his zanpakuto, which had taken place in his own inner world. In essence his zanpakuto had determined that their bond was too weak for them to face the current threat, and after presenting to him a challenge and succeeding in it, he was not only back to full strength, his overall power had skyrocketed.

The truth behind what happened there would be lost to everyone but Ichigo, and so any sane person would have probably been a little bit wary of such an unexplainable change, but 'sane' and Kenpachi Zaraki didn't mix quite well, and so the man's reaction was what one would expect of him.

''... Nice reiatsu.'' With a huge smirk plastered all over his scarred face, the man complimented his opponent and faced him once again. ''I have no idea h…''

Ichigo 'blinked' out of existence, closing the gap between the captain and himself in an instant and swinging his sword with an upwards slash, cutting the man all the way up until it reached his right shoulder.

''I'm sorry, but I don't have time to waste here.'' Ichigo said, watching as blood dripped from Zaraki's wounds, painting the ground red. ''I'll finish this and move on.''

''Ha…'' With his glance casted downwards, the man started chuckling, the pain of all his wounds just making his laugh grow louder and louder. ''You don't have time to waste? You want to finish this quickly? I won't allow that, not now that it has gotten so damn fun!''

. . .

For what might have been their sixteenth clash during their short exchange, both were forced onto opposite sides of the bridge, the one who was pushed the most was of course, the wounded individual, that being Kuromiya. In an attempt to stop his retreat, he stabbed his sword against the ground, while Byakuya merely used his feet to stop his movements, both regaining their balance shortly after.

''You said I was the one who liked talking big, right?'' The first one to talk again was Kuromiya, no matter if he was at a disadvantage in his current condition, it still felt incredibly good to annoy the man in front of him. ''If memory doesn't fail me, you said something about defeating me soon enough, and yet here I am…''

The slightest signs of a scowl appeared on Byakuya's face, making clear he was more than a little annoyed by the resistance of the kid in front of him, even more so when considering that said person kept throwing taunts at him, no doubt with the hopes of breaking his focus.

''You leave me no choice.'' The captain of the sixth squad said, his tone lowering as he raised his sword, pointing it at the air as he came to a decision. ''It's clear that your powers have grown more than I had imagined, and so, before you make a mockery of yourself, I shall bring the curtains down in this pointless invasion.''

'He's doing it, then?' Kuromiya's smirk disappeared, replaced by a knowing gaze. This was perhaps one of the abilities that he had the most knowledge about, after all he had seen it countless times in use, and each time it had been just as impressive. 'Here it comes… Senbonzakura.'

''Scatter.'' The command left his mouth, his once normal zanpakuto's blade glowing with an intense pink color. ''Senbonzak…''

An instant before the man was able to mutter the name of his sword, a massive clash of spiritual pressure distracted every single one of them, making them turn towards an explosion that happened a few kilometers away from their position.

''Well, it seems like time is up for us, Yoruichi.'' Kuromiya commented while looking towards the direction of the explosion, the amount of energy released from that place made it quite obvious just who was responsible for it. ''Ichigo is done with his fight, and…''

He didn't get to finish his words when talking to the woman behind his back, since the figure of a long white haired man arrived next to Byakuya, his white haori identifying him as yet another captain.

The newly arrived man was Jūshirō Ukitake, the captain of the thirteenth squad who had been absent throughout all the captain meetings, his poor health making him unable to perform most of his captain duties.

''... Captain Ukitake!'' Rukia's relieved voice reached Ukitake's ears, making him turn towards the black haired girl. Ukitake smiled at her, while taking a glance towards the people next to his imprisoned subordinate, doing a double take when recognizing Yoruichi.

It was no surprise that Rukia was relieved to see the man, for she was not only her direct subordinate, but the captain was also a kindhearted man who wouldn't allow senseless killings to happen if they could be avoided.

''Rukia, you look better than a few days ago, I'm glad!'' Ukitake smiled at her, while taking a glance towards the people next to his imprisoned subordinate, doing a double take when recognizing Yoruichi.

''Oh! That's another familiar face.'' Yoruichi's words followed soon enough, waving at the newcomer. ''It has been a while, Ukitake!''

Ukitake's carefree attitude was a huge contrast when compared to his fellow captain, who was observing their exchange in silence, it seemed like he had lost interest in the situation from the moment the white haired man arrived.

''Yoruichi, we really need to leave.'' Kuromiya prompted the woman, no matter how much confidence he had in Ichigo, the substitute soul reaper would still need their help, no matter how much bullshit main character powers he had. ''Or else…''

''Huh? I know that already, I'm waiting for you!'' The dark skinned woman's reply came in swiftly, making him well aware of the fact that she was waiting with her arms opened up, a clear sign that she was ready to go.

''Oh, right.'' Kuromiya realized, releasing a sigh when realizing that he was the only one that could get them out of the place. ''Alright then, just uh… Jump I guess?.''

The surprisingly silent pair of captains watched them talk, and under Rukia's curious gaze, Yoruichi walked until she was right behind the teenager and jumped on his back, hanging from it and waiting for them to leave.

''Right… So, this is farewell for now, Rukia.'' Leaving those more than a little awkward words behind, both of them vanished after a glow of green light, and soon enough their figures were seen as they levitated in mid-air. ''I'll come back for you later.''

Since none of the two captains present were able to fly due to the presence of the shakonmaku that prevented them from gathering energy under their feet, following them became impossible. Though even then it didn't appear like either of them cared enough to even try to do it.

Ukitake wasn't about to give chase to them, no matter what their orders were regarding them. Intruders or not, the two of them had attempted to rescue one of his direct subordinates, so he wasn't about to hunt them down, his honor wouldn't allow him to do it.

''You are not going to try following them?'' Ukitake questioned while looking at the two retreating intruders, now barely able to be seen from the distance.

''... I have lost interest.''

. . .

It had been four long hours ever since the encounter at the bridge, and right now the three of them had returned to the secret training grounds below the Sokyoku Hill.

Yoruichi and Akihiko had been successful in rescuing the unconscious form of Ichigo from the empty battlefield. Neither of them knew just who had won the fight, but since Kenpachi was nowhere to be found, it was clear that the man wasn't dead, at the very least.

''How long until he wakes up?'' With his gaze landing in Ichigo's still unconscious form, Kuromiya couldn't help but frown.

''U-um…'' The somewhat girlish and timid voice of Hanataro tried to give an appropriate answer, still treating most of Ichigo's wounds with healing kido. ''I'm not quite sure… It's up to him, it could be right now or an entire day, but h-his life isn't in danger anymore.''

''That's good to hear.'' Yoruichi replied, her figure resting against one of the walls of the room, she had been silent for almost an entire hour already, she had a ton of stuff to think about after all. ''We will wait until he wakes up, then we will decide what to do.''

''Do we have enough time for that, though?'' Kuromiya questioned, it had been around six days since the group had arrived at the Soul Society, and there was no guarantee that Rukia's execution wouldn't be rescheduled once again.

Hanataro was quick to excuse himself from the conversation once Ichigo was done, he was nothing but a healer after all, so he had little to contribute to battle related conversations, much less the ones that involved fighting a captain.

''I will go out tonight and find out about it.'' Yoruichi replied to the teenager, crossing her arms across her chest while glancing towards him. With a pensive look adorning her beautiful features, she finally voiced her concerns. ''But before that, I need to ask you something, Akihiko. I have planned Ichigo's training already but… Should that fail, what do you think are your chances against someone like Byakuya?''

''Right now?'' Kuromiya blinked at that, he wasn't expecting such a question. He gave it some thought and at last, he arrived at what he believed to be a somewhat accurate answer. ''In a one on one fight… Seventy percent, give or take a few.''

''That's more than I expected.'' The woman mused, now suddenly more hopeful about their chances of succeeding. ''In that case, should Ichigo fail in his bankai training…''

''Then I'll handle him.'' He finished for her.

. . .

Black and white, floating doors, some kind of black liquid, all of these strange sights only existed at one place, his own inner world. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep after some last minute kido training, the boy hadn't even tried to get inside the place, yet he had somehow subconsciously managed to do so.

''No matter how much I look at it, this place makes me so uncomfortable.'' Kuromiya whispered, taking a step into his inner world despite the unease he was feeling. ''Plus… Are there more doors than before?''

''Yes, there are.'' Answering to his question, the voice of his zanpakuto spirit reached his ears, making him turn his head to the side until he was able to find the spirit. It didn't take long to find his spirit, who was looking at him with his usual smile adorning his child-like face.

"Whenever you make a new memory, a new door is created." The kid explained, pointing at one of the doors that looked to be in a better state than the rest. "That one was created when you fought Komamura and..."

"The one to the left should be when you gave Yoruichi a piggyback ride and she pressed her tits against your back, if I'm not mistaken."

"I might have to revisit that memory later, just to be sure." Kuromiya replied to the spirit while taking a look at the door in question. Still, he wasn't here to talk about doors or memories, and so he decided to go straight to the point. "But enough of that, I'm here for a reason, you know."

"Mhm, you want answers, then?" The kid mused in interest, though he didn't show any visible surprise despite the sudden change in the topic of their conversation. "Some information? A few explanations? Or..."

" I have a ton of things that I want to ask you, but right now only one of them matters. I'm here to learn your name, and I won't accept a no for an answer." Akihiko interjected, he had wasted more than enough time already, so it was time to learn the one piece of information he needed in order to awaken his shikai. "So, tell me…''

"What's your name?"

End of chapter twenty nine.