Force of Souls Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another Force of Souls Chapter! Training and slaying Hollows continues for the Shinigami. Rukia might need to test her hypothesis out a few times to make sure that her new closeness with Ichigo is what’s helping her powers to return faster. How much longer can a certain someone stand the presence of so many Shinigami? Will that person do something rash?

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 12 – Love and Recovery

We seek each other out; because we need connections
The red string shows us the important ones

This particular morning, Rukia had two things for breakfast. One from Ichigo in bed, and the other when he’d bought her a breakfast wrap on the way to school. Apparently, neither of them could hide their morning activities from their girlfriends as both Orihime and Tatsuki gave them knowing smiles. Orihime even mentioned that they should definitely do that together one morning, making Rukia’s cheeks turn pink.

School was uneventful, just a normal day. Ichigo went to the roof to eat lunch with Chad, Keigo, and Mizuiro, while his girlfriends went with the other girls to eat in the shade of the trees. It was on their way to Matsukura after school that Rukia’s Soul Pager went off. In mere moments, three Gikon were taken, and Rukia was on Ichigo’s back as the Shinigami moved out to deal with the Hollow.

-Kinogaya Ward-

“There it is!” Rukia pointed out the Hollow as they rushed towards the location.

The Hollow had clearly just emerged into the Living World as the dark void it crawled out of closed behind it. It had a reptilian body, spikes going down its back and long tail, a mask that was vaguely reminiscent of a T-Rex skull, and its four limbs all ended in wickedly sharp claws. The beast seemed to notice them approaching and opened it jaws to emit a howling roar.

“Shut up!” Tatsuki blurred forward in a Shunpo, her right leg lashing out in a perfect roundhouse that shattered the head of the Hollow. The Hollow’s body began to break apart and disintegrate as two small, blue souls emerged and were Konsō-ed through Tatsuki’s connection with her Zanpakutō. “That was easy…” She blinked at how quickly she’d slain the Hollow.

“That was so fast, Tatsuki!” Orihime clapped with a smile on her face.

“No kidding, when did you get so good at Hakuda?” Ichigo questioned his girlfriend.

“That was very good, Tatsuki.” Rukia praised, hiding her own shock at how easily Tatsuki had dispatched the Hollow. Sure it was a weak, mindless one, but still. Taking a Hollow out as quickly and easily as Tatsuki had was still a respectable feat, especially with Hakuda alone.

“I wish they were all that easy.” Tatsuki had heard about some of the Hollows Ichigo had to fight, especially the Huge Hollow and Grand Fisher. It would be much better if the Hollows they had to fight were all weak, like the lizard she’d just taken out.

“Well…we still have plenty of time for training since that didn’t take long.” Rukia smiled at her lovers. The four quickly headed back toward Matsukura to spend the rest of the afternoon improving their skills.

-End of June-

“The ship sails west and the herd gallops north. Bend the sea, o’ god of waves and wash away the mountain! Hadō #14: Mōretsu Kyūryū!” Ichigo incanted as he held out his left hand, palm facing towards the back wall of the abandoned hospital’s lot. Water droplets formed, swirled around while gathering more and more volume as they went. In a mere few seconds, a blast of water exploded from Ichigo’s palm like a wave. The section of the back lot he was facing was soaked as the water rushed over it until it hit the back wall.

“Still a bit much, Ichigo.” Rukia mentioned as she watched the pooling water slowly flow down the storm drain.

“Damn, I need to focus it more…but it’s hard to focus the Reiryoku into a small point while still providing enough power to be effective.” Ichigo grimaced as he looked at the results of his Hadō.

“It’ll take practice, that’s all. I know you’ll master this Kidō.” Rukia smiled at him as she held her own hand out, palm facing the same area that Ichigo had aimed at. “The ship sails west and the herd gallops north. Bend the sea, o’ god of waves and wash away the mountain! Hadō #14: Mōretsu Kyūryū!” From Rukia’s palm a pressurized blast of water, akin to a firehose, shot forward. She dragged the powerful spray along the back wall for almost a dozen meters before ending the Hadō. Ichigo noticed the cracks in the stone wall, not enough to really damage the wall, but enough to chip off the outer layer of stone and remove some of the spray paint markings.

“Show off…” Ichigo looked at her flatly.

“I was just demonstrating.” Rukia smiled back pleasantly. Ichigo didn’t believe that for a second as he could practically feel the smugness radiating off of his girlfriend.

“That was great, Rukia!” Orihime pulled the petite woman into a hug with a bright grin.

“You and Orihime have me and Ichigo beat when it comes to Kidō.” Tatsuki shook her head as she stood next to Ichigo. “I can only do a few easily. It’ll never be my forte, that’s for sure.”

“Every Shinigami has their specialty among the Four Arts, yours is Hakuda followed by Hohō. Orihime’s is Kidō and then Hohō. Ichigo’s is Zanjutsu and either Hohō or Kidō, he seems about equal in their application depending on the Kidō in question.” Rukia explained to her girlfriend with a warm smile.

“What about yours?” Ichigo questioned and Rukia took a second to consider.

“Kidō followed by Zanjutsu.” Rukia nodded since her Hohō and Hakuda were mostly used for placement or as a last resort.

“We’ll have to have a Zanjutsu spar when your powers return then.” Ichigo grinned at Rukia, his hand resting on his Zanpakutō.

“Don’t think you’ll win just because you have a slightly bigger than normal Zanpakutō, Ichigo.” Rukia shot him a challenging smirk. “I’ll show you how much experience I have.”

“Looking forward to it.” Ichigo grinned right back at her.

“Speaking of your power, how have the morning meals been helping with that?” Tatsuki teased Rukia with a grin.

“Rather well, actually.” Rukia admitted with rosy cheeks. She and Ichigo had continued to have their morning intimacy ever since that first morning. Her recovery was more in-line with what she had expected when she’d initially gotten the Gigai from Urahara. If it kept up at this pace, she should be recovered by the time the summer break started.

“Lucky~” Orihime playfully pouted, puffing up her cheeks slightly. She giggled as Rukia patted her head and kissed her cheek.

“Finals will be coming up soon too. That’s gonna be a pain to study for and deal with Hollows.” Tatsuki sighed at the upcoming tests before their summer break.

“We’ll make it work.” Ichigo pulled her into a side-hug. “Orihime was third on the midterms, I was twenty-third, you were eighteenth if I recall.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Yeah, but that’s from extra studying.” Tatsuki leaned into her boyfriend with a happy smile.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Rukia’s Soul Pager went off loudly, and she pulled the device out of her pocket quickly. Seeing two orders come in at the same time, Rukia’s eyes widened a little. She showed the phone to her lovers and they all noted the two separate locations. One was nearby while the other was closer to their school. The time differential that was given -a mere ten minutes- would’ve made getting to both Hollows difficult normally.

“Me and Hime will take the one near school!” Tatsuki declared and Orihime nodded as they leapt off and cleared a ridiculous distance in a single leap. The two teenage Shinigami blurred across the rooftops as they headed for their school as fast as they could.

“I guess we’ll deal with the one nearby then.” Ichigo picked Rukia up in a bridal carry and leapt up onto the back wall. Another leap saw them on the roof of a nearby business. Ichigo moved in the direction that Rukia pointed and they ended up getting to the location -a somewhat rundown lot near an Elementary school- with a little time to spare.

“Raaaaaaggghhhh!” A Hollow’s howling roar filled the air as a crack appeared in the sky. From the fissure emerged a fairly large Hollow -humanoid in shape- with a mask that looked like a cross between an ape and a cat. Its dark-blue skin had tufts of hair around the forearms, along the back, and around both shins.

Ichigo drew his Zanpakutō and blurred forward, his swing was blocked as the Hollow raised its forearm and the blade stopped against the fur-covered forearm. Rukia and Ichigo both widened their eyes at the maneuver of the Hollow and the strength of its fur. Ichigo leapt back as the Hollow dropped to the ground dozens of meters below. He was quick to follow it as was Rukia.

“Shinigami…” The Hollow growled out, revealing itself to be of the intelligent variety. “I’ll devour you.”

“Not if I slay you first.” Ichigo held his Zanpakutō at the ready. Rukia took up a position off to the side, out of the Hollow’s sight. With any luck she’d be able to use Kidō to assist Ichigo in dealing with this one.

The Hollow lunged forward, sharp claws emerging from its fingers. That wasn’t nearly as surprising as the arm suddenly stretching to twice its length! Ichigo used his Hohō training to pivot out of the line of the strike. With a strong swing, he slashed at the extended arm, scoring a cut that bled slightly.

“Raaaaaahhhh!” The Hollow roared and lashed out with its other hand. Ichigo leapt backwards, making sure to clear double the length of the arm. He had to hastily raise his Zanpakutō as the arm stretched further than twice as long and slammed into him. He slid across the ground as his sword cut into the palm of the Hollow. The beast let out another pained howl before trying to slam its hand together with Ichigo between them.

“Hadō #4: Byakurai!” Rukia took her shot. The bolt of white lightning struck the Hollow’s mask and made it stagger backwards.

“Got it!” Ichigo leapt forward and used a Suikawari to try and split the Hollow’s mask. Both of the extendable arms returned to their normal size and quickly guarded against the sword. The fur held the blade at bay as the Hollow recovered from the Kidō to the face. “Eldest tree, darkest maw, flash of light. A wizened crow soars above all. Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!” A spark of bright yellow electricity covered Ichigo’s Zanpakutō and passed into the Hollow. The monster’s body spasmed from the Kidō and it hit its knees from the damage.

“Raaaahhhhh!” The Hollow cried out as wisps of smoke rose off its body.

“Disappear!” Ichigo’s Agitowari split the Hollow’s mask in half horizontally. He landed back on the ground as the body began to break apart and disintegrate. He counted six blue souls drifting off before disappearing via Konsō. He sheathed his Zanpakutō and turned to face Rukia.

“We should check on Orihime and Tatsuki.” Rukia was clearly worried about their girlfriends as she hopped onto Ichigo’s back.

“Right!” Ichigo used Shunpo to speed towards his school.

-Karakura High School-

“Sssssshinigami!” A large snake-like Hollow hissed at Tatsuki and Orihime. Its mask fit with the rest of its appearance, being similar to a snake skull. The dark-purple scales along its body looked tough and the fangs lining its mask seemed to drip with a greenish fluid.

“It can talk,” Orihime didn’t look pleased. Intelligent Hollows were far more dangerous. “I’ll keep you safe, Tatsuki!”

“I’ll test its defenses first.” Tatsuki nodded to Orihime as she blurred towards the serpent Hollow. Her Reiryoku-imbued fist met the Hollow’s scales and the snake spat green venom at her. Tatsuki was already gone by the time it hit the ground.

“Too weak…” The Hollow mocked the attack against it.

“Damn thing didn’t even flinch!” Tatsuki grimaced at the lack of affect her punch had on the snake.

“Bare walls, expand and divide. Ten shields holding formation. Bakudō #12: Hiroi Byōbu!” Orihime rapidly finished the incantation and the single, transparent, rectangular shield formed before spreading out until ten were side-by-side. The Kidō formed just in time as the snake Hollow slammed its long tail into the barriers. “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! Hadō #31: Shakkahō!” The orangette used the full incantation to empower her Hadō. The bright-red ball of fire rocketed at the snake Hollow’s mask.

“Slow!” The Hollow whipped its head out of the way of the Kidō easily.

“Who’s slow?” Tatsuki’s wakizashi sliced into the Hollow’s mask from the side.

“Ssssssshhhhhrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhh!” The snake thrashed around, stopping Tatsuki’s Zanpakutō from scoring a fatal hit. The volume of its howling roar was nearly deafening. Seeing Tatsuki falling through the air, the Hollow spat its green venom towards her.

“Shisho!” Tatsuki cast without an incantation. The square barrier formed between her and the venom. The liquid splattered across the surface of the Bakudō. Tatsuki used the successful cast to stand on air just long enough to perform a Shunpo back towards Orihime’s location. The Shisho barrier didn’t even last three seconds, but it had served its purpose.

“Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudō #9: Hōrin!” Orihime cast another Bakudō and from her right hand an orange-hued tendril with a spiraling yellow pattern lashed out as she swung her arm towards the Hollow. The serpent wasn’t able to move its long body out of the way and the Bakudō caught part of it.

“What?!” The Hollow hissed out as it tried to remove the Kidō. Its struggles only seemed to help the Bakudō cover more of its body though. When Orihime formed a second Hōrin with her left hand and lashed out with it, the two Bakudō linked up with each other. The snake Hollow’s thrashing was quickly brought to a halt as the double Bakudō made it stick to itself.

“Vanish!” Tatsuki dropped from the air with a devastating heel-drop. The Hollow’s mask cracked as it slammed into the ground. Seeing the job wasn’t finished, Tatsuki drove her wakizashi into the bone-like mask and then yanked it sideways to split it.

“Ssssshhhhhaaaaahhh!” The snake Hollow hissed out before its body began to disintegrate and twelve small, blue souls escaped the disappearing body. All of them faded away as they received Konsō from Tatsuki’s Zanpakutō.

“Hah…that was a pain.” Tatsuki exhaled heavily. Intelligent Hollows really were a different level than the mindless ones.

“That was great, Tatsuki!” Orihime happily hugged her girlfriend.

“Me? Your Kidō was amazing, Orihime!” Tatsuki returned the hug while praising the orangette. “You managed to protect us and restrain it. That was awesome!”

“You both did amazing.” Rukia praised as she and Ichigo landed near them. “We rushed over after finding out that the Hollow we were fighting was intelligent.”

“You two took down that big Hollow fast,” Ichigo gave them that warm smile that Orihime and Tatsuki loved so much. “I guess we didn’t really need to worry, huh?”

“Maybe not, but we love that you do.” Tatsuki admitted as she sheathed her Zanpakutō with a grin.

“The Hollow we fought was intelligent too,” Orihime revealed with a grimace. “It mocked us and even fought with some strategy.”

“Two intelligent Hollows appearing so close to each other is rare.” Rukia looked thoughtful. “Were they working together to try and devour a few souls before retreating?”

“They were fairly far apart. A single Shinigami wouldn’t have been able to get to both of them unless they took out one of them almost instantly.” Ichigo thought about the spacing between the locations each Hollow appeared.

“Can Hollows work together and form plans like that?” Tatsuki looked perturbed by the thought.

“The intelligent ones can,” Rukia confirmed with a neutral expression. “The reason it’s so rare is because Hollows are inherently distrustful of each other. It is not unheard of for Hollows to even consume one another if the power disparity is large enough.”

“They’re cannibals too?” Orihime looked sick at the thought.

“They can be,” Rukia nodded with a small nod. “Their hunger for souls is unending, if it becomes too much for them they could try to eat even their own kind.”

“I feel better for slaying and purifying them every time I learn something new about Hollows.” Ichigo’s eyes were hard, but all three of his girlfriends could see the sympathy for the fallen souls behind his gaze.

“How about we spend the rest of the afternoon studying?” Rukia offered her lovers. “It’ll take our minds off of this.”

“That might be for the best.” Tatsuki agreed while rubbing the back of her head from the new information about the soul-eating monsters.

“I’ll make snacks.” Orihime offered with a smile.

“I’ll help.” Ichigo pulled Orihime into a gentle embrace. If Orihime had her way, the snack would be some odd combination of foods that really didn’t go together. The girl happily returned the hug with a sigh of contentment.

The four would head back to Matsukura so that Ichigo, Tatsuki, and Orihime could return to their bodies. The Gikon were proving to be incredibly useful every time a Hollow showed up. As they left the school area to head back, none of them noticed a figure watching them. He was dressed in the standard Karakura High School uniform and had semi-long blue hair. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as a silver bracelet with a cross-like charm glinted on his wrist. The most prominent thing about the teen’s appearance was the look of derision and disdain he shot at the four Shinigami.

‘I can’t stand this, not anymore.’ He clenched his fist tightly as a plan formed in his head. He’d need to take something from the old items his grandfather had left behind after his passing. His father kept them locked up and out of the way, but a lock could be picked. ‘I’ll prove that we don’t need the Shinigami.’

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Ichigo and Rukia are certainly comfortable with each other now! What a way to wake up every morning!

Some Hollows taken care of and we see the disparity between Mindless Hollows and Intelligent Hollows! Even though they’re both Average Hollows, the difference in both power and threat is vast!

Our certain someone has decided to do something! I’m sure it won’t have any negative repercussions…right?

Next chapter something else changes from Canon again! What is it?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!