Bleach: Heart of a Hero

by Blackdrag-rose

Soul Society: Immediate Battle

Immediately after their group was separated into four smaller groups, even though two of those groups were made up of a single person while the other two groups had three people apiece, Ganju and Ichigo struggled with each other as Sombra merely held on. He wasn't about to fight over who wanted to be the one to hit the ground first, as that was what Ichigo was saying it was about, but in a few seconds Ganju revealed that he had a special technique that would be able to assist them in this situation, as it was something that he used on Ichigo during their first encounter in West Rukongai, causing Ichigo to open his mouth once more. This time around Sombra tapped his shoulder and shook his head, because he was honestly growing tired of the two of them fighting with each other, especially since they barely knew each other and were supposed to be friends in this mission, or at the very least allies, to which Ichigo sighed and let Ganju take point, as much as it pained him to do something like that. Ganju, silently thankful that Sombra managed to convince Ichigo to let him do this for them, faced the part of the Seireitei that they were heading towards and held his hand out towards it as he prepared the technique he had mentioned... one that was accompanied by him moving his hand around in a pattern for a moment and saying 'Turn to Sand, Stone Wave' after completing the symbol that he was drawing.

Sombra soon discovered that the technique did the very thing that Ganju said it would do, he turned the area that they were going to crash into, at least the part of the street that was directly in front of them, into a decent sized pool of sand that all three of them safely landed in... even though he barely sank in it and both Ichigo and Ganju sank a little deeper than he did.

"We're safe, thanks to your weird spell." Ichigo remarked, though at the same time he coughed as he pulled himself out of the sand that they had landed in, while also annoyed that Sombra didn't have to deal with this like he did, and made sure that he had gotten all the sand out of his systems.

"Ugh, it went down the wrong pipe..." Ganju moaned, indicating that he must have swallowed some of the sand after hitting the pool he had created, as it took longer for him to recover than it did for either Sombra or Ichigo, not that he was aware of that piece of information since he was focusing on himself.

"How long are you going to choke on your own spell?" Ichigo asked, to which he lightly kicked Ganju in the back and knocked his face into the sand once more, though at the same time Sombra sighed as he climbed out of the sand and began to search the area for any hostiles that might want to delay them.

"You bastard." Ganju replied, which was followed by him pulling his head out of the sand as a look of annoyance flashed on his face for a moment, proving that he had completely forgotten where they were at the moment as he prepared to fight ichigo again, "You've sure got the balls to be kicking the person that just saved your life!"

"Will you two be quiet for a moment?" Sombra asked, causing the two of them to turn towards him for a moment, as he couldn't believe that he had been put with the two people that were the most likely to give away their position before they even figured out where Rukia was located, not that it mattered since they were in trouble anyway, "Our company is going to arrive any moment now."

Not even a few seconds later Ichigo and Ganju found Sombra's words to be correct, as two Shinigami landed on the top of the wall that Sombra was standing near, though as the two of them stood there this information only told Sombra that they had the misfortune to land near where these two had been stationed. Sombra noted that the Shinigami on the right was a tall and muscular man, at least in terms of the Shinigami he had encountered so far, and that he was bald or had shaven his hair to the point where he looked like he was bald, while also spotting that he carried his Zanpakuto's sheath in his hand instead of his belt, like everyone else. The second Shinigami was also a man, who wasn't as muscular as the first one, though he was wearing an orange piece of clothing on top of his uniform, around the neck area, which appeared to cover most of his chest that would otherwise be exposed by his normal Shinigami uniform. The orange piece of clothing was also connected to an orange sleeve on his right arm under the much looser fitting sleeve of the uniform, and, oddly enough, the man had colorful feathers on his right eyelashes and eyebrow, making him look more feminine than he actually was.

"How interesting," the feather wearing Shinigami commented, as he was genuinely impressed that one of them had noticed them coming to this location, even if that person didn't have time to tell his companions to move out of the way before they arrived, "he sensed our presence before we even arrived."

"Man, am I lucky!" the bald Shinigami stated, choosing to ignore his partner's words for the moment, as he was more interested in what was standing in front of his eyes, and he could already imagine what was going to happen when he forced them to draw their weapons, before the two of them jumped down and faced the group, "I was slacking off around the corner, cause it's a hassle to get to my post, then right before my eyes, down plops my reward. I'm lucky, I'm lucky! Lucks on my side today! And you... got bad luck."

It was in that following moment that the bald Shinigami started doing some sort of dance, repeating a few variations of the word lucky as he did so, though while Sombra stood there and observed them, as he was curious as to how other Shinigami acted, both Ichigo and Ganju remained in the pool of sand as they watched what was going on... which only seemed to annoy the bald Shinigami once he finished his dance and noticed that the two of them were still in the pool that they had been in when he and his partner arrived.

"What the HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" the bald Shinigami exclaimed, where Sombra noticed that even his partner seemed annoyed by what was happening in front of his eyes, though he believed it was because of Ichigo and Ganju's lack of actions and not the dance his partner had preformed, "Here I am dancing the Luck-Luck Dance, waiting for you bastards to crawl outta there... What the hell are you standing there STUPEFIED FOR?!"

Of course Ganju decided that now was the time for them to flee, which Ichigo was absolutely not okay with at the moment, and they were further interrupted when the bald Shinigami asked what they were up to, which was when the feather wearing Shinigami commented that the two of them might be afraid of them. The bald Shinigami then decided that he would give them one more dance, because he was 'so nice', before they started to battle each other, though Ganju took that opportunity to run in the opposite direction and the feather wearing Shinigami immediately moved to intercept him, only for Sombra to flash into the area between the two and lightly kick him backwards, allowing Ganju to continue his sprint out of the area without turning back even once.

"I'm impressed, you're faster than you look." the feather wearing Shinigami commented, though at the same time Sombra touched the ground and stared at him, as he had the feeling that this was going to be his opponent for the next few minutes before he and Ichigo could leave the area, "but it doesn't matter. In the end we'll track your friend down and kill him as well, since those were the orders that were given to us earlier."

"You know, that brings up a good question," the bald Shinigami stated, as he had been wondering something since the clearly weak opponent had ran off at the first sign of trouble and his stronger companions had stayed behind with the two of them, while knowing that someone would catch the runner soon enough, "Why didn't either of you run away? That guy ran because he saw that our reiatsu was stronger than his own, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that was his thoughts on the matter," Ichigo said, because he already knew that Sombra would have preferred to take out whoever saw them so they could continue to move without anyone reporting where they had been seen, not until much later anyway, before he got back to the matter at hand, "but for me it's different. If your reiatsu is greater than mine, then running away would be meaningless for me, but if your reiatsu is weaker than mine, then all I have to do is beat you and move on."

"I see. You aren't as stupid as you look." the bald Shinigami commented, as this sounded like it was going to be an interesting fight for him to have, though before he did anything he glanced at the other person that was standing nearby, as he hadn't said a word yet and had been observing their every move, "And what about you? Why didn't you run away when your friend ran away?"

"Because there was no reason for me to do so." Sombra replied, to which he glanced at the two Shinigami that were standing near him and Ichigo, while at the same time knowing that Ganju was long gone at this point and that it would be some time before they found him again, "Running is meaningless when an enemy has found you, so it's best that we stand our ground and simply take the two of you down here and now, and then we can continue with our mission."

"Those are some rather big words," the feather wearing Shinigami commented, almost as if he and his partner didn't believe that the two of them could be defeated in battle, which seemed to annoy Ichigo while Sombra merely raised an eyebrow, "surely you don't think that you can best the two of us?"

"Well, I did cut Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's chest while he was in the World of the Living," Sombra answered, because he believed Yoruichi's assessment of his skills, that anyone that was lower than a Lieutenant would be easy for him to take out, certain Lieutenants might give him trouble, and Captains would push him to his limits if he wanted to have any hope of beating them in battle, "and I also cut Captain Gin Ichimaru's left arm when he attacked us at the Gate of Pure Souls. Since neither of you seem to be Captains, much less Lieutenants, I'm pretty sure that I could take the two of you on and not even break a sweat... though one on one would be fair, since that would give Ichigo a chance to improve his own skills without having me take care of everything."

"Is that so? Then allow me to introduce ourselves," the bald Shinigami said, though that was when he rapidly drew his Zanpakuto and swung down on where Ichigo was standing, forcing him to move in the process, before he grinned as he stood up once more, "The name's Ikkaku Madarame, and I'm the 3rd Seat of the Eleventh Division. That there is my partner, Yumichika Ayasegawa, the 5th Seat of the Eleventh Division, but don't let his appearance fool you, he's just as strong as I am."

"So we're fighting two Shinigami that are on the same level, perfect." Ichigo replied, though that was when he drew Zangetsu from the cloth that was wrapped around it, which undid itself like it always did, and rushed to attack Ikkaku, who used the scabbard that his sword had been inside a few seconds ago to block his incoming attack, before he dodged the incoming attack by kicking off the sheath and did a backflip before touching the ground once more.

"Should we fight as well?" Sombra inquired, as he had no idea whether or not Yumichika wanted to battle him first or wait for his partner to come to a conclusion with Ichigo, but he felt that it was best to ask the Shinigami what he wanted to do before he drew his blade.

"No, when Ikkaku fights, and I'm not busy, I prefer to watch for a few minutes before getting to work," Yumichika replied, though at the same time he brushed some of the hair out of his face as Ichigo went on the attack and started swinging at Ikkaku, showing that he was more interested in what his partner was doing instead of what the other invader was doing at the moment.

Sombra guessed that he could get behind that decision, as Ichigo didn't need his assistance in this fight and he could tell that Yumichika wasn't about to move from where he was standing, so he crossed his arms and watched Ichigo as he swung at Ikkaku, who was using both his sword and his scabbard to lash out at Ichigo in return. It was an interesting fighting style, as he hadn't actually seen someone fight like this before, and he was taken aback by the fact that Ikkaku was grinning like a madman while he was attacking Ichigo, showing that he was someone that enjoyed fighting and that he wasn't about to let them go until he had his fun or they were defeated. Of course after Ikkaku started to use his scabbard in addition to his blade, and exchanged a few blows with Ichigo, the two of them swung at each other as Ichigo flipped through the air once more, though once it was all said and done Sombra noticed that Ikkaku was cut above his right eye, while at the same time Ichigo was cut above his left eye.

"Let me ask your name, just in case." Ikkaku said, his tone indicating that he was pleased with the beginning of the fight and could tell that things might improve as the two of them continued to fight, though at the same time he locked eyes with Ichigo as he spoke.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo replied, though he was being polite, because Ikkaku had been nice enough to give him and Sombra both his own name and his partner's name, but as he did that he kept his attention on his opponent, as it appeared that his friend was keeping an eye on what Yumichika was doing.

"Ichigo, huh?" Ikkaku repeated, because he was thinking about something the moment he heard Ichigo's name, but at the same time Ichigo nodded his head, confirming that Ikkaku hadn't heard him wrong, which only seemed to make him smile even more, "That's a good name."

"You know, that's the first time anyone has ever complimented my name." Ichigo commented, because most people tended to make fun of his name and that got him angry, or they were like Sombra and made no comment, as they either didn't know what to say or didn't care, but this was the first time he heard someone say they liked his name.

"Yeah, people say that people with 'ichi' in their name are handsome guys, bursting with talent." Ikkaku stated, though Sombra had no idea what handsome had to do with this conversation, but he did agree that Ichigo was bursting with talent, especially after what he had seen when they were training with Kisuke, "As two 'ichi' men, let's be friends."

"Sorry, I don't think we'll be able to be friends." Ichigo replied, as he couldn't imagine being friends with the people that had kidnapped Rukia and were plotting to execute her for her crimes, something that he couldn't stand since she had done what she did to make sure his family survived that first Hollow attack.

As the two of them stood there, staring at each other, Ichigo took his left hand off of Zangetsu's handle and wiped the blood from above his eye, seemingly stopping it for a moment and prompting Ikkaku to call him an amateur for doing something like that, only to follow that up by undoing the bottom of his Zanpakuto's hilt and using a bit of the ointment that was uncovered to patch up his own cut. As Ichigo started to call Ikkaku a cheater for using that, however, his opponent said that he was using his battle knowledge to his advantage, before he charged forward and started testing Ichigo's reaction speed as he swung both his sword and his scabbard at his opponent. It was clear that Ikkaku was impressed by everything he was seeing from Ichigo, even complimenting his skills and reactions as the two of them fought for the next few moments, before he forced them to separate from each other and observed Ichigo as he stood there for a few seconds, as he was thinking about something.

"You're too good to be written off as a fight-loving amateur with good instincts." Ikkaku commented, showing that he was studying Ichigo's reactions and skills, coming to a swift conclusion about his opponent, before he decided to ask the question that had come into his mind while he thought about all of this, "Who's your master, Ichigo?"

"I only learned from him for ten days, so I honestly don't know if I can call him my 'master'," Ichigo replied, as he had to think about what Ikkaku was asking for a few seconds, because he wasn't sure what title he could give to Kisuke, before he thought about Sombra's relationship with the seemingly ordinary shopkeeper, "but he did teach me fighting. If anything the one that would be able to call him 'master' is Sombra, who spent an entire month learning from him before meeting me and my friends, and his skill reflects just how much he learned from the man that taught me to fight. The man's name is Kisuke Urahara."

"So that's it..." Ikkaku said, as he was surprised to hear the fact that Kisuke Urahara had taken on some new students, meaning that they were even stronger than what he originally gave them credit for, and he glanced back at the creature that was standing near Yumichika, who nodded for a moment, before turning back towards Ichigo, "He's your master... then killing the two of you without going all out would be seriously rude. Grow, Hozukimaru!"

Before Ikkaku stated his Release Call he took up a new stance and brought the top of his scabbard to the base of his Zanpakuto's hilt, all horizontal, which was followed him his issuing the words to release his shikai, where both the scabbard and the blade glowed for a moment before transforming into what appeared to be a spear, or a yari as Sombra soon discovered, and Ikkaku let the head of the blade pierce the ground in front of him. Ikkaku then declared that Ichigo shouldn't misjudge what was coming next and charged at him, using both the bladed end and the bottom end of the weapon to attack Ichigo, who parried the attacks that were coming at him as he looked for an opening that he could exploit. Not even a few seconds later Ichigo found an opening as he blocked one of the attacks and started to charge at Ikkaku, where his opponent revealed the truth about his Zanpakuto, as there was a second command, 'split', that turned the spear into it's true form, a three sectional staff and the blade pulled around to cut into Ichigo's right arm, which he raised to defend himself with before Ikkaku pulled the weapon back to him.

Sombra noted that, as Ikkaku talked about the truth about his weapon, Ichigo used the seemingly infinite cloth that was wrapped around the handle of Zangetsu to bind his own wounds for a moment, though once his arm was ready to go he tore the cloth off the makeshift bandage he had made and charged at Ikkaku... though the force of his next attack surprised both Ikkaku and Yumichika at the same time, as he carved open a section of the wall that he had hit when Ikkaku dodged his attack. In the following moment Ichigo informed Ikkaku that their fight was only just beginning and that he shouldn't underestimated him because he hadn't shown his true skills yet, which only make Ikkaku a little irritated as the two of them charged at each other once more, or rather Ikkaku attacked Ichigo by using one side of his staff as a distraction before using the other to hit Ichigo, causing Sombra to sigh in annoyance as he watched what was going on at the moment. He knew that Ichigo needed experience in combat, as it was taking him awhile to adapt to how Ikkaku was using Hozukimaru, something that make Yumichika smirk as he watched the battle rage on in front of him, and he continued to smirk as Ichigo destroyed another section of a different wall and took a direct attack from the base of Ikkaku's weapon.

It was Sombra's turn to smile a little when Ichigo got up and revealed that not only was he fine from the incoming attack, but he had also taken off most of the hair that was attached to Hozukimaru's base, annoying Ikkaku for a few seconds, though that was before they picked up the battle as Ichigo went on the attack. As Ikkaku raised his weapon to defend himself Ichigo swung down, with his sword pulsing with the power that he used when he accidentally fired those waves of energy, and cleaved part of Hozukimaru off of the rest of it, while at the same time cutting a vertical slash down from the left side of his neck down a good amount of his chest, spilling a good amount of blood on the floor in front of him as he stared off into the distance, completely shocked by what had just happened. That seemed to snap something inside Ikkaku, as he charged at Ichigo once more without concern for his own life, though Ichigo growled as he swung Zangetsu again, cutting a gash front Ikkaku's right wrist all the way up the length of his arm, surprising him in the process... though as he fell to the ground, however, Ichigo let a few drops of blood fall from his right hand as well, as Ikkaku had managed to cut his arm a little before he was hit.

With that done, and a look of surprise was plastered all over Yumichika's face as he stared at his defeated friend, Sombra stepped forward and drew Shokyo from her scabbard, though when he was a good distance from the second Shinigami he turned around and faced his opponent, as it was their turn as Ichigo tended to both his wounds and the wounds he had dealt to Ikkaku.

"That Ryoka said you were trained by Kisuke Urahara, isn't that right?" Yumichika asked, as he was interesting in confirming or denying what the people that had beaten Ikkaku had said, to which Sombra nodded his head, causing the Shinigami to sigh as he pulled out his Zanpakuto and raised his hand to the blade, "Very well then, I shall take you seriously as well... Bloom, Fuji Kujaku."

Sombra watched as Yumichika's Zanpakuto transformed from a katana and became what appeared to be a sickle-shaped blade, a falx if he recognized the blade correctly, before the single blade split into four identical blades that were evenly spaced as his opponent prepared himself... and, thanks to the fact that he was more connected to Shokyo than other Shinigami were to their Zanpakuto, he noticed that Yumichika's blade didn't feel like Ikkaku's Hozukimaru, as if Yumichika had done something different than what his partner did.

"So, you're starting with your shikai released," Sombra commented, as he had assumed that Yumichika would have followed Ikkaku's example, testing his opponent's strength for a few moments before releasing his shikai, though at the same time he sighed as he raised Shokyo and pointed her at his opponent, "I guess that, since you're going to take me seriously, I might as well do the same thing... Shimmer, Shokyo."

Ichigo, who was standing nearby and was using the ointment that was in the hilt of Ikkaku's blade, and had found that it had reverted back to it's original form, watched as Sombra's Zanpakuto took on it's crystalline broadsword form, which shocked Yumichika for a moment, as he clearly wasn't expecting that to happen at all. He remembered that feeling well, back when they were training with Kisuke and he released Zangetsu, which was when Sombra revealed that he also had a Zanpakuto spirit and knew her name, transforming his blade into a beautiful and deadly weapon that was shocking those the Arrancar battled against when they first witnessed the transformation take place. He knew from experience that this Zanpakuto was dangerous, without whatever powers Shokyo might have taught Sombra during their training together, and he already knew that Yumichika was in trouble before the battle even started, which was why he took a seat near where Ikkaku was resting so he could watch what was going on.

"That... is a beautiful blade." Yumichika said, as he wasn't expecting a Ryoka to have such a beautiful weapon in their possession, though at the same time he readied himself, because he knew that the battle was going to be starting soon enough and wanted to avoid taking any damage.

Sombra nodded his head before he dashed forward and swung Shokyo at Yumichika, who raised his Zanpakuto to block the incoming attack and immediately frowned as he felt the force behind the blow, before Sombra applied a little more pressure and knocked him to the side. As Yumichika was forced away from him, and landed on the top of the wall that was near where Sombra was standing, it was clear that he was also shocked by the sheer strength that he was using and that he was thinking about what he needed to do before attacking again. Sombra stared at him for a moment before he jumped into the air, surprising his opponent once more as he was tracked into the sky, though as that happened he held out his empty hand and his reiatsu flared for a moment, which was when he formed a spear made from the same crystal that made up Shokyo's shikai state. As Yumichika stared at him, however, Sombra hurled the spear through the space between them and watched as the Shinigami jumped out of the way, allowing the crystal to break the roof of the wall that he had been standing on and destroy part of the wall at the same time. Fortunately that attack was usually a diversion, as it distracted his opponent and caused them to focus on something else, because it also allowed him to move before they zeroed in on him once more... though as Sombra appeared behind Yumichika, who turned to face him, he swung his weapon and sent the Shinigami down towards the ground.

As Yumichika touched the ground he glared up at Sombra and charged up at him again, where Sombra blocked the incoming attack and stopped himself from being moved, like he had done to his opponent when the battle started, before he kicked him in the chest and sent him back towards the ground. Sombra followed that up by following after his opponent and landed on the ground in front of Yumichika, where the two of them attacked each other and their blades clashed between them, where Sombra found that his opponent, once again, was struggling to push him back. Sombra knew that Ichigo was watching them battle, if it could even be called that, and that he was likely wondering why he wasn't ending the battle in a few moments, since he was able to wound two Captains before this moment, though that only caused Sombra to sigh as he applied a little more pressure and knocked Yumichika's arm out of the way. As another look of surprise appeared on Yumichika's face, indicating that he was shocked by what was going on, Sombra raised Shokyo up for a moment and cut a diagonal gash into his opponent's chest, going from his left shoulder to his right hip... though while it was a light wound, since he wasn't about to kill his opponent, it was more than enough to make someone fall his knees in defeat.

Not even a few seconds after that happened, and Sombra could tell that Yumichika wasn't capable of continuing, he sighed as he allowed his Zanpakuto to revert back to her base katana form, which he sheathed as he watched Yumichika's blade revert as well, though at the same time he gently pulled the Shinigami up onto his feet and carried him over to where Ikkaku was resting. As he did that, and made sure that Yumichika was in a position where he wouldn't bleed to death, Sombra discovered that Ichigo had used all the ointment on both his wounds and Ikkaku's wounds, even though he didn't need all that much, causing him to sigh again as he showed Ichigo the proper amount he should have used and took some from Ikkaku's chest so he could close Yumichika's wound as well.

"Why did it take you so long to beat him?" Ichigo asked, as he always found some of the Arrancar's actions to be confusing and needed to have them clarified in some manner, though at the same time Sombra glanced over at him after he applied the ointment to Yumichika's wound, where he assumed the Shinigami was faking it because he didn't want to deal with Sombra anymore, "Based on how quickly you went into battle with those Captains you fought, and wounded before something happened, I expected you to make short work of him."

"Truth be told, I was curious as to how a 3rd Seat compared to a Lieutenant and a Captain," Sombra replied, knowing that the reason Ichigo seemed so relaxed was because he wanted information from the Shinigami that they had just defeated, but while Yumichika was going to play dead, even though he could still feel his reiatsu, he guessed Ichigo was hoping that Ikkaku would come to soon and give them the information they needed, "but, since we're stressed for time, I eventually decided that I might as well finish the fight quickly and knocked Yumichika out before he could really show off his Zanpakuto and it's abilities. Let's hope that Ikkaku wakes up soon so we can get out of here... there's no telling how many more Shinigami we might encounter before we catch up with Ganju, wherever he ran off to."

Ichigo nodded and remained sitting on the fragment of the wall that he had broken, waiting for something to happen, while at the same time Sombra stood on top of the wall and looked around the area, clearly sensing where the other Shinigami were located as he sought out their friends, who seemed to be safe at the moment. Fortunately it appeared that they wouldn't have to wait too long for one of the two Shinigami to awaken, or stop faking being knocked out since that was what Yumichika was doing, because Ikkaku was the one that opened his eyes, causing Ichigo to shift his gaze towards him while Sombra finally jumped off the wall.

"I'm... not dead?" Ikkaku commented, as he was utterly confused as to what was going on at the moment, as the last thing he remembered was battling Ichigo and then he was cut down, as he underestimated his opponent's strength and ability to adapt to the situation.

"Oh good, you're awake." Ichigo said, though at the same time both he and Sombra watched as Ikkaku moved his eyes around until he was staring at the two of them, even though they were sort of upside down for him since he was unable to move without undoing the work of the ointment that was on his chest.

"Ichigo... Sombra..." Ikkaku replied, showing that, despite his eagerness for battle, that he did remember their names and could repeat them easily, even though he was clearly stunned by what he was seeing, as he expected to find himself in a relief station if he survived, not surrounded by his enemies, "Why are you two still here?"

"What, I wasn't going to leave you in the middle of this street, bleeding until you died," Ichigo answered, to which he picked up Hozukimaru for a moment and walked over to where Ikkaku was resting, where he set the Zanpakuto down near it's owner before returning to the wall he had been sitting on, which was where he turned back to the wounded Shinigami he had beaten, "I've got to tell you, whatever medicine you guys put in that ointment works wonders."

"Damn, I thought it was weird that I didn't die from bleeding out." Ikkaku commented, as that explained why he was able to come back so easily, because his opponent was much more caring than he originally believed him to be and had gone out of his way to make sure he survived to fight another day, which was an odd thing to think about, "Surviving by being helped by you, what a disgrace!"

"If it makes you feel any better, you weren't the only one that lost their match." Sombra said, though that was when he noticed some sweat roll down the side of Ikkaku's face, indicating that he had moved his head and discovered that his partner had been knocked out, even if he was faking it, and that he had emerged without taking a single hit, "You both get to survive and fight another day."

"Honestly, I don't care as much as Sombra does." Ichigo stated, now showing his hand that he had an ulterior motive behind helping the person that had tried to kill him, even though Sombra knew this had been coming from the moment he understood what Ichigo was doing, "I just wanted to ask you a few questions before we moved on... especially since your friend over there hasn't woken up yet."

"I figured that it would be something like that." Ikkaku replied, sounding like he knew that this was the reason why he had been spared, even though Sombra had the feeling that he was just acting and honestly didn't care why Ichigo had saved his life, "I've got no luck today. Fine, what do you want to know?"

"I want to know where Rukia Kuchiki is located." Ichigo said, because if he and Sombra were given the general direction of where they needed to go, as the Shinigami could be keeping Rukia anywhere in the Seireitei, they could cut their search down and get to their destination all that much faster.

"Oh, that death row inmate." Ikkaku said, revealing that he knew something about what happened to Rukia, drawing the attention of both Ichigo and Sombra this time around, as they were both focused on him at the moment, "What do you people what with trash like that?"

"We're here to save her." Sombra answered, because at this point there was no reason to hide why they were here, as Ikkaku and Yumichika would likely spend some time here before someone found them, meaning that the Captains wouldn't know what their goal was until sometime later.

"How many of you did you bring?" Ikkaku asked, though while his tone revealed that he found the entire thought to be funny, especially when he started to chuckle and disrupt the ointment on his chest, he also revealed that a normal invasion would have needed a large number to get anywhere, "I bet you brought seven or eight along."

"Yeah, we brought eight people along for this mission." Ichigo replied, as he also found no harm in telling Ikkaku the truth, not when it would be some time before someone found these two and asked them what happened to them, where he hoped they would be long gone by the time that happened.

"If you go straight south from here, you'll find the offices for each of the thirteen Divisions." Ikkaku stated, revealing that, despite the fact that he and Yumichika had tried to stop them earlier, he was going to give them the information that they were after, "At the west end of the offices, there stands a pure white tower. She should be in there."

"Is that so?" Sombra asked, as he expected that the Shinigami had a training exercise or something that indicated that if an invasion were to happen, and one of them were bested in combat, they would lead the attackers into an ambush and wipe them out, which was why he was being careful.

"What's with that look on your face? I'm not planning anything." Ikkaku said, as he was staring at the thoughtful expression that had appeared on Sombra's face for a moment, something that he recognized from the many different opponents he had fought over his time as a Shinigami, "I don't care what they do to that prisoner, and I most certainly don't care what you do with her either. If you want to save her, than go right ahead and do that. Though if you stick around here for too much longer the others will find you first."

"He's right," Sombra commented, as he had been keeping track of the other Shinigami that were in the immediate area, though while they were still a good distance away from where the two of them were standing they were getting closer by the second, which meant that they needed to get out of here before they were found out, "I can already feel more Shinigami getting closer to this exact area."

Ichigo nodded, as while he couldn't actually feel everything like Sombra could, which was a good thing that they had been paired up in such a manner, he trusted that the Arrancar was telling the truth and immediately turned to leave, but just as the two of them started to move he heard the sound of Ikkaku moving.

"Wait a second, there's something I wanted to ask the two of you." Ikkaku said, causing both Ichigo and Sombra to turn back towards him for a moment, where they found him staring at them as they paused in their steps, as they were curious as to what he could ask them before they left, "Whose the strongest fighter in your group?"

"Honestly, it's hard to tell." Ichigo replied, as he knew that both he and Sombra were strong in their own ways, but the problem was that he had no idea which of them was actually the stronger of the two, and it seemed like Sombra had no opinion on the matter, "It's either me or Sombra... but I couldn't tell you which of us is the strongest."

"That so?" Ikkaku commented, though at the same time he closed his eyes, as he already knew which one of them was the strongest and had the feeling that the person in question knew it as well, only they didn't want to say anything since they didn't care to boast about their skills, "In any case, watch out for the Captain of my Division... he's not interested in weaklings in the slightest. If the two of you are the strongest in your group, like you claim you are, then the people he'll come after are you two, make no mistake about that. When you meet him, you'll see just how strong he is... that's if you live long enough to comprehend his power. His name... is Zaraki Kenpachi."

Sombra knew that, from the way Ikkaku said the name, that the Captain of the Eleventh Division, Zaraki Kenpachi, was someone that they would have to be careful with if they came across him while they headed towards the white tower that appeared to be in the middle of the Seireitei, especially since Ikkaku said the name like his Captain was the greatest person to grace Soul Society in a long time. Now that they were warned that one of the Captains would definitely be looking for them at some point in time, and the fact that there happened to be additional Shinigami getting closer to their position, the two of them headed down the street and started to follow Ikkaku's instructions, as they seemed to be the best course of action to follow at the moment. Sombra hoped that they wouldn't bump into any additional enemies for some time, as he felt that leaving a trail of bodies would tell the other Shinigami where they were going and how dangerous they were, but he guessed that they would find out how many enemies they would have to fight in the near future. He also knew that their first order of business would be to find Ganju and the others as soon as possible, that way they could all head towards the tower together and face whatever was waiting for them as a group, instead of alone, but that was another thing he'd have to wait and see if he was right about it.

Ikkaku, on the other hand, watched as Ichigo and Sombra started to walk down the street they were on before starting to run, allowing them to quickly disappear from his field of view, to which he sighed as he shifted his head and looked over at where Yumichika was resting.

"What do you think, Yumichika?" Ikkaku asked, as he knew his partner well enough to know that he had sensed the difference in power between him and his opponent, which was why he had chosen to fake being taken out, though at the moment he didn't care about that at all.

"Ichigo is strong, there's no doubt about that," Yumichika replied, though he was thankful that the pair had left when they did, as he had no idea how long he was going to be able to keep that charade up, before he glanced in the direction their opponents had gone in, "but Sombra is stronger. His reiatsu was stronger than what I was expecting it to be... and it felt similar to a Hollow's reiatsu, as odd as that sounds."

"Sounds like he's the one that Captain Zaraki will want to fight." Ikkaku said, though he was curious as to why Sombra's reiatsu felt that way, as he had never felt anything like it before, before he decided that now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things, especially since they needed to relay all this information to their Captain.

An enemy that was able to wound Captain Byakuya in the World of the Living, wound Captain Gin by the Gate of Pure Souls, and emerge from a fight with Yumichika, whose power rivaled that of his own, and he was the 3rd Seat in the Eleventh Division, told Ikkaku that he might have found the perfect person for his Captain to fight... he just needed to tell him the news and his Captain would seek him out until he had a battle with the person that was known as Sombra.

Comments

[Emperorxeno]

Kenpachi was always my favorite character. Also good job!

[Silent_Knight]

I like how you diverted Yumichika's path so he would fight sombra instead of chasing after ganju. I always felt his talent was stained ever since he "lost" to ganju and this fight was a way better use of him than getting a firework to the face and an afro

[Black--Soul]

"Oh, that death row inmate." Ikkaku said, revealing that he knew something about what happened to Rukia, drawing the attention of both Ichigo and Sombra this time around, as they were both focused on him at the moment, "What do you people what with trash like that?"

want

[Black--Soul]

Great chapter! You sure have a Talent for adding characters into existing storys. Sombra is there and helping but don't steal or halt the progress of his allies that are normaly do what they did in the original.