Friendly Visit (End)

10 advanced chapters on my Patreon: Fiction Haven

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Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The Quincy Cross helped Ichigo a lot in using his Quincy Power. He could already create Reishi constructs easily which he previously could only do in his Inner World. What excited him the most was, of course, the fact that he could willingly summon Blut Vene in his spiritual form. Using Blut while still in his body took a lot of time, but he was fine with it since he mostly fought in his spiritual form.

Retsu hadn't returned from Soul Society. Ichigo decided that whatever they were discussing must be important, but he didn't care much. Whatever preemptive measures Soul Society took, the Espada would wipe the floor with them, regardless. He would be glad if that wouldn't happen, but he still didn't want to rely on them.

'I wonder if Uryū would regain his power today,' Ichigo mused. 'It took him longer than he was supposed to. But then again, the timeline of an anime is pretty obscure.'

As his mind wandered about what he would do after school at the Study Chamber under the Karakura Hospital, he realized that he had been ignoring his Hollow power training. A wry smile crept up his face as he remembered the promise he had made with the Visored.

'Shit. Mashiro would bug me the whole day.'

Thinking about the energetic Visored already made him reluctant to come. Alas, he needed to come if he wanted to be able to visit Hueco Mundo.

'Well, I will leave Uryū to Ryūken. It's not that Ryūken can't do it without my help.'

Time flashed by and he soon heard the bell that signified the end of the class. Coincidentally, his Denreishinki rang off at the same time. Chad and Orihime turned to him and told him that they were going to take care of the Hollow. Having a more important matter to attend to, he easily agreed with his friends.

He walked to the home of the Visored as his two friends rushed to where the Hollow had appeared. He was halfway to the warehouse when he felt the world shifted. Stopping in his tracks, he found Shinji standing upside down in the sky. Shinji still had his trademark grin, but Ichigo could a slight distaste from his expression.

"Didn't know you would bail on us, Ichigo."

"I didn't. I had just been too caught up with my other training."

"Hoh? Is that why I sense a Quincy Reiatsu from you?" Shinji quirked his eyebrow. "What do you even gain from training with a Quincy?"

"Reiatsu control… and many things," Ichigo answered cryptically.

The reversed world shattered and Shinji stood on the ground once again. He was about to urge Ichigo to go to the warehouse when he felt two significant Reiatsu coming from the other side of the town. He felt a soft wind blow and then Ichigo was gone. Ichigo's physical body was already occupied by the Mod Soul, Nova.

On the other side of Karakura, Orihime watched in horror as Chad blocked the punch of a gigantic Arrancar, preventing him from killing Tatsuki. It had been a peaceful Hollow subjugation until the two Arrancar came. She had seen people drop dead when the gigantic Arrancar took a deep breath. She was worried about what would happen to her friends.

"Sado-kun!" she shouted.

"No problem!" Chad exclaimed as he retreated to her side.

The gigantic Arrancar clicked his tongue. "They better not be the one we are looking for, Ulquiorra. These bugs are not even worth killing."

The Arrancar in question, Ulquiorra Cifer, didn't say anything to his partner, Yammy Llargo. He opted to silently stare at Orihime as if she were an interesting specimen. Noticing the gravity of the situation, Chad handed Tatsuki to Orihime. She knew what Chad was doing and a conflicted look immediately crossed her face.

"Take Arisawa-san to safety and then ask for help, Inoue-san. The faster you take her, the earlier the help will come," Chad said sternly.

"But, Sado-kun…" Orihime trailed off as she watched Chad dash at Yammy.

Shaking her head, she immediately ran away while supporting the unconscious Tatsuki. She could feel the clashing Reiatsu behind them and the sickening killing intent. She tried her best to ignore it. She would only fail Chad if she dilly-dallied. Alas, her heart was not strong enough. She stopped, turned around, and watched in horror as Yammy ripped Chad's right arm.

"Sado-kun!"

Bam!

Yammy kicked Chad in the chest, sending him flying to her. Chad's body impacted hers, causing her to fall to the ground with a grunt. She ignored the pain and immediately sat up in favor of treating Chad. The amount of blood pouring out of the ripped arm made her pale, but she persevered. She was afraid but didn't want her friend to die.

Her breath hitched when a huge shadow fell on her. A crushing killing intent and malevolent Reiatsu crashed down on her. She wanted to scream, but nothing came out of her voice box. Despite her fear, her Fullbring was still healing Chad's injury.

"Don't kill that one. Aizen-sama may be interested in her," Ulqiorra spoke for the first time.

"A little scratch won't—"

Thud!

Before Yammy could finish his sentence, he reeled back in shock as his right arm fell to the ground. Before he could even register what had assaulted him, he took a solid kick in his abdomen. The force behind the kick was enough to send him flying to Ulquiorra.

"Getsuga Jūjishō!"

When he could see his orange-haired attacker, Yammy widened his eyes. A cross-shaped light beam was heading his way. The sheer intensity of the Reiatsu it possessed was enough to make him shiver. He gathered as much Reiryoku as he could to protect himself, giving up on dodging. As soon as the attack hit him, he knew his defense wasn't enough.

Boom!

Yammy's scream was muffled by the explosion. Ichigo watched coldly as it engulfed Yammy whole. When the light settled down, Yammy was seen sprawled on the ground, losing all of his limbs and a part of his torso. Ulquiorra was nowhere nearby. Ichigo looked up and found the said Arrancar standing in the sky above the unconscious Yammy.

"Are you not going to help your friend?"

"Greetings, Kurosaki Ichigo," Ulquiorra greeted stoically, ignoring Yammy. "Aizen-sama was not exaggerating when he told us to be extra—"

"Careful," Ichigo finished, appearing before Ulquirra with Zangetsu ready to slice him.

Ulquiorra used Sonido to avoid the cut. He succeeded in preventing fatal damage but still lost part of his arm. He looked at the clean stump for a moment before regenerating it in a second. Ichigo already knew Ulquiorra's insane regeneration but still marveled at the scene.

"I think the visit ends here," Ulqiorra muttered. "We are going back."

Noticing that Ulquiorra was heading to Yammy, Ichigo sent a Getsuga Tensho to Yammy. Ulquiorra reached Yammy's side earlier than the Getsuga Tensho. Ichigo wasn't surprised by Ulquiorra's speed but he was surprised when Ulquiorra dispersed Getsuga Tensho with his hand even though the action left the hand destroyed.

"Curious. It seems I overestimated my capability."

Similarly, Ulquiorra was surprised. Like it did before, his hand regrew. Without saying anything anymore, he ran his finger down the air, opening a Garganta. Picking Yammy up, he disappeared into the Garganta.

As the malevolent Reiatsu disappeared, Ichigo reigned in his Reiatsu. Coming down from the sky, Ichigo stood before Orihime. The usually cheerful girl cried and jumped into his arms, causing a frown to mar his face. He reciprocated the hug, pulling her close to his body and caressing her head as her tears wet his chest.

"You came in time," Chad said weakly.

"Sorry for what you had to go through," Ichigo said appreciatively. "Good job."

"No problem." Chad sat up and turned to Tatsuki who was lying not far from him. "I am going to take Arisawa-san home."

"Take her to our clinic. Her mother won't be amused when she sees an intimidating man carrying her unconscious daughter."

"I guess…"

As Chad stood up, two people showed up. They looked around before meeting Ichigo's eyes, prompting him to promptly nod.

"Quite late to the party, Kisuke, Yoruichi."

"We needed to take care of the eighty-plus dead bodies," Kisuke explained grimly. "Thankfully, Ishida-san was willing to help us. He wasn't amused, though."

"Where are they?" Yoruichi asked seriously.

"My awesomeness drove them away."

Ichigo's light smirk caused Yoruichi to lighten up slightly. It did nothing to lighten up the mood, though, as she could still see the murderous gleam in Ichigo's eyes.

"Do you mind to have a bit of a talk at my shop, Ichigo-san?" Kisuke asked, tilting his hat down.

Instead of answering the question, Ichigo turned to Chad. "Bring Tatsuki with us."

The gentle giant nodded in confirmation. Ichigo looked down at the person in his arms. Orihime was already asleep. He didn't have any intention of waking her up, so he carried her bridal style to the shop.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Adan Smith

Venerable Immortal Andne

Venerable Immortal B0mbaCl0ckBob

Venerable Immortal Colorblind

Venerable Immortal Haider Alkefaji

Venerable Immortal Jack Wright

Venerable Immortal Rollo

Venerable Immortal Star Dragon Bahamut

Venerable Immortal TOKA?

Venerable Immortal Wilfrid Calixte Killian