Force of Souls Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another Force of Souls Chapter! A Huge Hollow has appeared! Can Ichigo defeat it with only two months of training? Will he bring the even less-trained Orihime and Tatsuki into the battle? Will he have any say in the matter at all?

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 9 – Huge Hollow

The conflicts of Life are what shape the soul

“RAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!” The Huge Hollow let out a powerful howling roar as it examined its surroundings. The lumbering beast felt the discrepancy of Reishi in the air from Hueco Mundo and took some time to acclimate. The eternal hunger began to gnaw at its mind once again and it took a step forward to seek out food.

-On the way to Kinogaya Ward-

“Ichigo!” Rukia hollered as the world blurred around her. “Ichigo, stop!” She tightened her hold on her boyfriend and substitute’s back. “You can’t fight this thing! A Huge Hollow requires multiple Unseated Shinigami to slay it or a Seated Officer!”

“We don’t have that here!” Ichigo hollered back as he put his all into his Shunpo to cross the distance and confront the Huge Hollow. Rukia had told him about Huge Hollows before. They were massive, lumbering beasts that devastated areas and consumed countless souls whenever they appeared in the Living World. Ichigo wouldn’t let that happen! He promised he would protect Karakura!

The duo came to a stop on top of a three story building when they felt the Reiatsu wash over them. Ichigo’s eyes widened at the pressure. It was nothing even close to what Hat n’ Clogs had demonstrated, but the fact that he felt the weight at all gave Ichigo pause. Rukia gripped onto Ichigo’s Shihakushō as she felt the Huge Hollow’s Reiatsu bearing down on them. She was worried for him. Her concern warred with her desire to fulfill her duty.

“RAAAAARRRGGGHHH!” The Huge Hollow turned to face the two strongest sources of Reiryoku in the area as it lumbered towards the Shinigami. Their arrival had made the Huge Hollow deviate its course from the apartment buildings it had been heading for originally.

“Ichigo!” Rukia cried out as Ichigo vanished from beside her. He had slipped out of her grip entirely and the violet-eyed woman felt fear rise up in her heart.

“Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!” Ichigo poured his Reiryoku into the Hadō while going through the full incantation to empower the spell further. The Huge Hollow seemed confused for a brief moment when Ichigo reappeared directly in front of it in a blur. The bright-red ball of flames swirling in the palm of his right hand barely registered to the beast. “Hadō #31: Shakkahō!”

The shot of red fire slammed into the Huge Hollow’s mask and exploded violently. The Huge Hollow howled in pain while attempting to swat Ichigo out of the air. Ichigo blurred and dodged the wild swing. He was still really shaky on the whole ‘standing on air’ trick that Rukia had showed them a few days back. With his feet back on solid ground and the Huge Hollow dazed, Ichigo tried to figure out the best way deal with the massive monster.

“Bright lights. Threads bound. The autumn is gathered. Bakudō #4: Hainawa!” Ichigo incanted and the bright yellow Reiryoku leapt from his hands to tie the massive feet of the Hollow together. The Hainawa transformed from the crackling Reiryoku to the tough Reishi rope around the Huge Hollow’s feet.

“Raaarrrggghh!” The Huge Hollow didn’t seem perturbed by the Bakudō as it broke the rope just by taking a step forward.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Ichigo growled at seeing his Bakudō overpowered so easily. He blurred out of the way as the Huge Hollow’s fist slammed into the ground. The dirt and grit that flew into the air from the force of the blow obstructed Ichigo’s view. The Substitute Shinigami stared at the crater that had formed in the ground from the blow.

“Raarrggghh!” The Huge Hollow looked at Ichigo and swung its other massive hand at him.

“Damn it!” Ichigo dodged backwards but the sheer wind pressure the swipe of the large limb caused almost upset his balance. “Even the Hadō to the face didn’t do much!” He ground out at seeing the only damage being some blackening of the bone-white mask where the spell had struck.

“Ichigo move!” Rukia’s scream tore him out of his thought in time to see the huge blast of red Reishi coming at him. Ichigo blurred and the explosion rocked the area.

“What the hell was that?!” Ichigo demanded of the Huge Hollow even as it turned to face his new position. “I’m taking you down before you wreck this whole area!” He drew his Zanpakutō and blurred forward. The Huge Hollow felt something touch its forearm and looked down. Ichigo stood on the limb with shock on his face. His Suikawari had barely cut the Huge Hollow’s skin!

“Raaaarrrggghhh!” The Hollow slammed its hand down on its forearm to try and crush Ichigo, as one might swat a mosquito. Ichigo had been able to retreat in time and was now trying to come up with a different way to bring the Huge Hollow down.

“Kidō didn’t work, Zanjutsu didn’t work, and I don’t think my Hakuda is going to do much against this thing either.” Ichigo ran through what he knew before he noticed the bright-red Reiryoku gathering in the Huge Hollow’s jaws. “Oh fuck!” Ichigo cast a quick Shisho and blurred as he moved backwards to get out of range of the incoming blast. He watched as the Reishi blast passed through his hastily cast barrier as if it was paper. The explosion shook the area again as the red blast tore up more of the ground.

“RAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” The Huge Hollow howled out its rage at its prey still struggling against it. The massive thirteen meter tall behemoth stomped towards Ichigo ready to finish him off.

“Hadō #4: BYAKURAI!!!” Rukia screamed as she poured as much of her Reiryoku into the spell as she could. A beam of lightning speared through the air and slammed into the side of the Huge Hollow’s masked head.

“RAAAARRRRGHH!!!” The Hollow bellowed in pain as its large hands came up to cover its mask. Ichigo noticed a few small fragments of the bone-like mask falling to the ground. His eyes widened as he saw Rukia nearly collapse from on top of the building he’d left her on.

“Damn it,” Ichigo cursed himself for not being able to handle the Huge Hollow. Rukia was in no shape to be using her Reiryoku like that! He needed to be better! He needed to be stronger! He felt his Zanpakutō shake in his hand and blinked. His sword was trembling slightly and Ichigo was filled with the sense that he could take down the massive Hollow. “How?” Ichigo asked his Zanpakutō, not feeling the least bit odd for speaking to his blade. Rukia had explained how Zanpakutō worked. He knew there was a consciousness within the sword, a part of his very soul. The answer he received wasn’t in the form of words, but in an single feeling, a focused desire. “Cut?”

“RAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!” The Huge Hollow shook the air with its howling roar as it turned to face Rukia’s exhausted form. The bright-red Reishi filled the monster’s jaws again as it prepared to kill the one that had cracked its mask.

“Stillness, silent, the dawn breaks. Rushing forward, the whispers become a roar.” Ichigo incanted the Hadō he was about to use. A bright, powerful aura of Reiryoku burst into life around him sending out a massive wave of Reiatsu to press down on everything in the area. The Huge Hollow turned to face Ichigo in shock as the orange-haired teen’s power spiked incredibly. Without a moment of hesitation the Hollow unleashed the Reishi blast at Ichigo. “Hadō #18: Kaze Kiru!” With a powerful Suikawari strike, the titanic blade of wind and Reishi was blasted towards the Huge Hollow. It cleaved the red Reishi blast in half, dispersing it into particles, before striking the Huge Hollow. The Hadō stalled for a moment as it met the Reiatsu inherent in the massive beast. The struggle gave way as the Hadō passed through the Hollow and disappeared over a dozen meters behind its back.

“Ichigo…” Rukia stared in shock at what her Substitute and boyfriend had just done.

The Huge Hollow split vertically down the middle and fell to the ground in two pieces. The dust kicked up by the massive beast falling obscured Rukia’s vision of Ichigo for a moment. When it cleared she and Ichigo both watched as the Huge Hollow disintegrated into particles and what had to be dozens and dozens of tiny, blue souls rose from the dissolving monster. Ichigo exhaled heavily at using so much of his Reiryoku all at once. He watched as the dozens of small souls began to disappear as Konsō sent them on their way to Soul Society.

“Thank you.” Ichigo looked at his Zanpakutō with a small smile. The sword didn’t respond in anyway but he still sheathed it with care. Inhaling and then releasing his breath slowly, Ichigo couldn’t help but be thankful that he’d succeeded. The Huge Hollow was gone, Karakura was safe, and Rukia was safe. “Oh crap, Rukia!” The teen blinked before he blurred and reappeared on the roof they’d arrived on.

“Ichigo…” Rukia stood up slowly as she met his gaze.

“Rukia.” Ichigo walked towards his girlfriend with a grin. His grin was wiped off his face when Rukia raised her hand and flicked him on the forehead. “Ow!”

“You stupid, foolish, idiotic, brave, moron!” Rukia pulled him into a hug and buried her face into his chest. “Don’t you ever worry me like that again!” The Shinigami woman held him close as she let the tension leave her body.

“I’ll try.” Ichigo replied as he returned her hug. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Let’s get back to bed.”

“Yes,” Rukia agreed as she climbed onto his back. “I used way more Reiryoku than I should have.” She laid her head on his shoulder as Ichigo began making his way back to his home. By the time he arrived, Rukia was already asleep on his back.

“Goodnight Rukia.” Ichigo smiled as he gently placed her into bed. He re-entered his body and pulled Rukia close. The petite Shinigami rested her head on his chest. A small smile appeared on her lips as she heard his heartbeat. Ichigo gently ran his hand through her hair for a little while before falling asleep himself.

-The Next Morning-

“You did what?!” Tatsuki demanded of her boyfriend with wide eyes.

“I didn’t have a choice.” Ichigo looked into her dark-eyes with his warm brown.

“Mmm.” Orihime had a worried look on her face as she wrapped her arms around Ichigo’s left arm. The orangette wasn’t keen on letting Ichigo go after hearing what had happened last night.

“You could have called us, we would’ve helped you.” Tatsuki sighed with hurt clear on her face.

“I could barely hurt it, Tatsuki.” Ichigo told her as he took her hand in his right. “Rukia had to use up a lot of her Reiryoku just to do any damage. I didn’t want to bring you two into a battle against that thing so soon.”

“I didn’t want Ichigo to have to fight one so soon.” Rukia spoke up from Orihime’s other side. “Honestly I’d have preferred that he never have to fight one at all. But I wasn’t against his decision not to call you two. The thought of you two facing a Huge Hollow terrifies me.” The worry in her violet-eyes near-instantly cooled any embers of anger that Tatsuki could have at being seen as too weak to fight the Huge Hollow.

“I get it,” Tatsuki exhaled as she gently squeezed Ichigo’s hand. “The two of us haven’t had as much training. We don’t have Ichigo’s insane Reiryoku either. We just aren’t ready for a Hollow like that.”

“You will be, in time.” Rukia reassured the Martial Artist turned Shinigami with a gentle smile. “I have no doubt in your potential, Tatsuki, or in yours, Orihime.”

“Thank you, Rukia-chan.” Orihime smiled brightly at her girlfriend, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

“I’ll make sure to train harder and kick Ichigo’s ass during our spars.” Tatsuki let go of any lingering anger to smirk at her boyfriend.

“You think so?” Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at the ravenette.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Tatsuki had a challenging look in her eyes as the two stared each other down. Ichigo leaned forward and stole a kiss from her lips with a smirk. “Hey!” She pouted for a second before pulling him to her lips for a proper kiss. “If you’re going to kiss me, kiss me right.” She teased when they pulled apart a moment later.

“Kisses!” Orihime giggled as she smiled up at Ichigo. The two orangettes locked lips for a bit.

“That’s just cute, right Rukia?” Tatsuki grinned at the two kissing.

“It is.” Rukia nodded, only to feel Tatsuki’s fingers on her chin. Her eyes snapped over to Tatsuki’s just as the other girl leaned in and captured her lips. “Mmm~”

The foursome had to speed up slightly for the rest of their trip to school. They’d all gotten a little distracted sharing affection for a bit. Now they were sitting in class and listening to Ochi-sensei’s lesson. Rukia checked her Reiryoku and noted the recovery progress she’d made. She still needed more, but she was making steady progress again. She hoped with all of her being that she’d regain her full power before any other threats appeared in Karakura.

At lunch later, Rukia went up to the roof to eat with Ichigo. The couple was greeted by Chad and Mizuiro who were already there. Ichigo opened his lunch and then pulled out a second bento identical to the first. He handed it to Rukia who smiled at him. Ichigo made his own lunches when Yuzu was too busy with her schoolwork and didn’t have time in the mornings. Making a second one for Rukia wasn’t hard and his petite girlfriend enjoyed his cooking, so it was a win-win.

“Ichigo, you lucky jerk.” Keigo had crocodile tears as she saw Rukia sitting close to Ichigo as the two ate. “Why do you have all the beautiful girls, huh? What’s your secret?!”

“I’m not a weirdo who spazzes out at every pretty girl he sees.” Ichigo practically shot an arrow through Keigo’s chest with his blunt reply. Mizuiro chuckled at Keigo’s defeated look and offered to teach him how to be more desirable to women.

“You’re my only true friend, Mizuiro!” Keigo declared dramatically making Chad shake his head while Ichigo sighed. Rukia giggled quietly behind her hand at the teen’s antics. It was never dull when she ate lunch with Ichigo.

“Hmm?” Rukia blinked as she heard a beep and felt her Soul Pager vibrate once. Pulling the cellphone-like device out of her pocket she flipped it open. Seeing that she had a new message from Soul Society she opened it with slight trepidation. Reading over the short message, she released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. A smile worked its way onto her lips as her tension bled away.

“What’s up?” Ichigo whispered so they wouldn’t attract attention from Keigo being his usual self. The brunette teen did a good job of keeping Chad and Mizuiro’s attention.

“See for yourself.” Rukia turned the screen so that Ichigo could see it.

“Okay,” Ichigo started to read the message.

[Huge Hollow Bonus Paid – 10,000 Kan to Tenth Seat Kuchiki Rukia]

[Keep vigilant and perform your duties well, Tenth Seat Kuchiki.]

“Standard message for the purification of any Hollow with a Bonus; I got a similar one when you dealt with Shrieker.” Rukia whispered to him as she closed the Soul Pager and put it back into her pocket.

“What’re you going to spend that money on?” Ichigo asked curiously.

“Necessary supplies first, after that?” Rukia looked thoughtful. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Good enough.” Ichigo shrugged as he finished his lunch. Rukia smiled as she leaned into his side and Ichigo put his arm around her.

“They’re doing the cutesy couple stuff again!” Keigo pointed at the couple with jealous tears in his eyes.

“Keigo…” Ichigo locked eyes with his buddy. “Shut up.”

Keigo slapped both hands over his mouth and backed away from Ichigo quickly. Mizuiro chuckled with a shrug while Chad could only sigh at Keigo’s antics. The brunette teen would never change it seemed. A jokester he was when they’d met and a jokester he’d been since then. Keigo was nothing if not consistent.

-Matsukura ~ After School-

“I told you, Ichigo!” Tatsuki had a wide smirk on her face as she pushed Ichigo onto the defensive in their Hakuda spar.

“We’ll see!” Ichigo parried her left straight punch and struck out with a knee. Tatsuki raised her own knee to block and grappled onto his Shihakushō before pivoting and hip-tossing him. Ichigo brought his legs down and caught himself, negating the fall as he spun back upright with Tatsuki’s wrist firmly in his grip.

“Tatsuki is really into it today.” Orihime giggled as she watched her boyfriend and girlfriend spar.

“That’s not a bad thing.” Rukia grinned before focusing back onto Orihime. “But back to Shunpo practice, you made it to the other side of the hospital in twenty-three steps last time. This time let’s aim for twenty.”

“Yes, Rukia-sensei!” Orihime gave a salute as she got ready to try again. Rukia couldn’t stop the small laugh that Orihime’s adorable salute drew from her. She adored the bubbly, airhead.

During a break for Ichigo, the Substitute Shinigami was looking through the old notebook full of Kidō that the dreadlocked man from Urahara Shoten had given them. He was looking through the various Kidō, both Hadō and Bakudō, for any spells that he would want to learn. He’d made note of two so far from the Hadō side, #11 Tsuzuri Raiden and #14 Mōretsu Kyūryū both looked like they could be of use. Not to mention the fact that they could pair well together. The Bakudō side had one stand out to Ichigo, that being #39 Enkōsen.

“I wonder what that one does though?” Ichigo flipped to near the back of the old notebook. Seeing the page that Rukia had been so shocked about he read over it again. ‘Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi. Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny. Grow numb and flicker. Disrupt sleep. Crawling queen of iron. Eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite. Repulse. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness.’ He looked over the description of the spell’s effect and blinked at what the spell did. ‘It alters gravity?! Seals the target into a black box made of Reishi and applies crushing gravitational forces from all directions. Weaker variants without the incantation have been known to leave deep lacerations across the entire body of the target that are usually fatal. Failing to cast this Hadō properly can result in the caster being trapped within the coffin as well, resulting in their severe injury or death.’ Ichigo closed the notebook as he took in what he’d just read. Level Ninety Hadō seemed like last resort moves. They were overkill in the extreme at the very least. What kind of Hollows existed that required such powerful Kidō to deal with?

“Ichigo, time to practice Kidō!” Rukia called out to him. Ichigo placed the old notebook back into the bag that Rukia brought and stood up. He’d just stick with the Kidō that Rukia was teaching him. He highly doubted he’d ever need a Level Ninety Kidō to defend Karakura.

“I looked through the book like you asked, I found a few Kidō I’m interested in.” Ichigo informed Rukia as he got to her. “Number eleven and number fourteen both look useful. I think they’d pair well together too.”

“I know Tsuzuri Raiden, so we can start with that one.” Rukia gave him a nod. “Did you memorize the incantation?”

“I think so,” Ichigo recalled the words. “What do we practice this spell with? The description says it passes electricity through an object.”

“You can use your Zanpakutō,” Rukia motioned to his sword. “Or for a drop in power, you can use your hand to channel the current. I’ll demonstrate this method first.” She moved a few steps back for safety before beginning the incantation. “Eldest tree, darkest maw, a flash of light. A wizened crow soars above all. Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden.” Rukia’s hand began to spark with white-yellow bolts of electricity. They didn’t extend far from her hand, but when she placed her hand on the concrete bollard nearby Ichigo watched as electricity sparked around the post for a moment before Rukia ended the spell.

“Let’s see…” Ichigo channeled his Reiryoku to his right hand and drew his Zanpakutō. With a steadying breath to help his concentration, he began to chant. “Eldest tree, darkest maw, a flash of light. A wizened crow soars above all. Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden.” Ichigo focused his Reiryoku into his Zanpakutō and watched as electricity danced along the blade. He held the spell for a few moments to get a feel for it before stopping the flow of Reiryoku.

“You’re control is improving.” Rukia praised him with a smile. “You’re able to get most simple Kidō to work after only one or two tries now.”

“I need to keep improving,” Ichigo sheathed his sword. “I wasn’t able to do much of anything against the Huge Hollow until I basically hit it with everything I had left. I can’t rely on nearly exhausting myself on every strong opponent.”

“Good to see that you’re thinking ahead.” Rukia grinned up at him before standing on her tip-toes and placing her hands on his chest. Ichigo leaned down slightly so they could kiss each other. “Your desire to improve and how you learn from every battle is very attractive.” She told him with a lilt in her voice that made Ichigo want to hold her close. “Ichigo?” Rukia blinked as she was pulled into a hug.

“Group hug!” Orihime declared as she jogged over and hugged Rukia and Ichigo with her arms wide.

“You heard her.” Tatsuki laughed as she hugged all three of them as best she could.

“Fine…” Rukia huffed playfully as she enjoyed being in the middle of the group hug. “But only for a little while, we still have training to do today.”

“Okay~” Orihime smiled before her hands wandered a little.

“Orihime!” Rukia blushed as she felt the orangette’s hands on her breasts.

“What?” Orihime had the most innocent look on her face.

“Tatsuki!” Rukia yelped as she felt her ass groped.

“What?” Tatsuki had a devious grin on her face as she squeezed Rukia’s nice cheeks again. Rukia felt a gentle hand underneath her chin as she was made to look upwards and to the right slightly.

“Ichigo…mmph~” Rukia was cut off as her lips were captured by her boyfriend as her girlfriends got their fill of teasing her body. The violet-eyed woman closed her lovely eyes as she kissed back. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy this.

“Rukia-chan~” Orihime looked into Rukia’s eyes once the Shinigami woman was freed from Ichigo’s lips. “There’s something we’d like to show you, when you’re ready to further our relationship.”

“What’s that?” Rukia blinked to refocus from the pleasure she was being given. She tilted her head to give Ichigo more access as he gently kissed her neck, making a pleasant tremor shoot through her.

“We’ll tell you once you’re comfortable being naked around us.” Tatsuki promised before claiming Rukia’s lips for herself.

“Naked?” Rukia questioned as Tatsuki released their kiss. “Do you mean…”

“Not that, Rukia-chan~” Orihime shook her head, knowing where Rukia’s mind probably went at that statement. “Something else.” The orangette was the next one to kiss Rukia and the ravenette moaned into Orihime’s mouth.

“Okay~” Rukia agreed as she felt Ichigo’s hands move down to her ass while Tatsuki switched to her breasts. She could wait to find out what they were talking about later. She was enjoying this group hug turned Cuddle Pile too much now.

“Lucky girl.” A certain black cat muttered from the top of the abandoned hospital building. The cat watched on as the teens pulled Rukia onto the blanket and deepened the make-out session. Truly the Kuchiki girl had been blessed to find such love in the Living World. “Now, how will Isshin respond to this? Or more amusingly, how will Kūkaku react to this?” The cat chuckled, thinking about the reaction of the current Shiba Clan Head.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the Wheels of Fate had already turned. Plans that were a century in the making were already coming apart at the seams.

-End Chapter-

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So the Huge Hollow was dealt with, that’s good!

Did Ichigo just make his first connection with his Zanpakutō?

Methinks things will continue to change as we go along. It’ll be June soon, and we all know what a certain day of that month means for the Kurosaki Family.

There’s also a certain Hollow that makes a move that day.

Ichigo has something he needs to get off his shoulders. A weight that’s been on him since that day so long ago.

Maybe killing the one responsible will help alleviate that? Only one way to find out.

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!