InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Grenade ❯ Chained to You ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Reading Guide:
'Words written like this are Inuyasha's youkai talking.'
'Words written like this are Inuyasha replying to his youkai.'

'Words written like this are Ichigo's Hollow speaking,'
'Words written like this are Ichigo replying to his Hollow.'


Chapter Two
Chained to You

Ichigo Kurosaki was a fifteen year old substitute Soul Reaper. He had battled within the heart of Soul Society to rescue Rukia, the imprisoned friend and Soul Reaper responsible for introducing him to the world of monsters and Shinigami. In the process of rescuing the girl he had earned his current rank as well as the respect of many highly ranked Shinigami. Then he had gone through the battle with the Bounts, vampire like beings who fed on the souls of humans rather than blood, defeating their leader Gin Kariya and gaining even more attention from the 13 court guard squads. These squads were the pride of the Soul Society, this was where the Soul Reapers were organized. Ichigo had no squad to call his own. After all the Soul Society had no room for a living Shinigami, he was only useful when there was a direct attack, or when their was trouble in the living world. Ichigo was a protector and he was content with that.

Now though after all of his achievements he was faced with something so incredibly daunting he assumed if any of his fiends ever found out his secret he would be abandoned, or worse hunted down and executed. He though Rukia might suspect the truth, it had been her words that had him finally hunt down his current teachers. Still he wasn't sure how aware she was of the full extent of his new power.

He was strong enough to scare himself now. The power he had was enormous, but with that came an even greater risk of loosing control of the monster inside him. His Hollow had been right, while he did fight to protect and defend, he couldn't deny the thrill he got when fighting. That spark of determination that kept him fighting past what should have been his limit. This new strength meant he could better protect his friends, but it also meant he was capable of hurting them worse than any Hollow.

He looked down at the mask in his hands. It was white and skull like, with three red stripes arcing across the left side of the face and over the forehead. It was ironic such a darkly powerful thing should be mostly white, but here it was. The face of a monster, the face of his shame, the mask of a Hollow, and it was his face that would be hidden behind the mask. This was his power now, and his curse, all rolled into one mind numbing mass of confusion and madness.

Hearing soft foot steps behind him, Ichigo carefully dispelled the mask back to the hidden part of his mind, ready to summon it again when he had need of the Hollow power the mask invoked. Turning slightly to see who the steps belonged to he was greeted with the sight of a very tiny person wearing green and white clothing. “Toushiro what are you doing here?”

The child like Captain exhaled sharply, his hackles rising, “It's Captain Hitsugaya to you, and I felt the presence of a Hollow nearby, its Spiritual Pressure has disappeared now. I thought that was your doing, but if you're here, than who?”

“Where are the others at?” Ichigo asked, cutting off the prodigy before he could go any further.

“On the other side of town, only the two of us are supposed to be here, something strange is going on.” Toushiro replied, not protesting the interruption, as that would just cause an argument and get them nowhere.

“Alright, do you think you can find where the Hollow was at before it disappeared?” Ichigo admittedly sucked at sensing Spiritual Pressure, his own was usually clouding his senses, he relied on luck or the others around him to point him in the right direction.

“Yeah I can, it wasn't far from here,” With that Toushiro started hopping from roof to roof, following his memory to the place the Hollow was recently at. Ichigo was lucky the smaller man had went ahead, so he missed the relieved sigh he couldn't suppress.

Ichigo had been frightened that Toushiro had sensed him when he summoned his mask in order to contemplate his situation. He knew his spiritual pressure changed when he was wearing the mask, but didn't know how strong it was with him just holding the mask. He blamed his own careless inattention for forgetting the young Captain's presence. Of course a Captain of the 13 court guard squads would be able to sense the change in him, but it seemed luck was on his side tonight with the larger anomaly calling Toushiro's attention.

When they reached the place, even Ichigo could tell the Hollow that was killed had been powerful. The lingering damage from the battle that killed the beast had left its mark on the normally orderly park they found themselves in. Toushiro was already inspecting the ground of the scene, analyzing what he could of the battle that had been fought, trying to piece together what could have killed the Hollow, and yet not set off his internal alarms to the presence of Spiritual Pressure.

It was Ichigo that saw the flash of red out of the corner of his eye, and before he could think he had his Zanpakuto in his hands and was rushing to meet the colorful blur that had been speeding towards the fully engrossed Captain. His shock at being met by a sword that was both not a Zanpakuto but that could still block Zangetsu's swing was obvious. “Who are you?” The question was already out of his mouth before he got a good look at the man standing in front of him.

The man was tall, maybe an inch taller than himself, and he was decked out in billowing red clothing that made him appear much larger in bulk than the slender form truly was. For a second Ichigo wasn't quite sure the figure in front of him really was a guy until he looked a little closer. His long white hair and glowing amber eyes confused the Soul Reaper until he got a good look at the masculine set of the jaw and the irritated scowl, no definitely not a woman. Then Ichigo's eyes raced back up to the top of the man's head. There, he hadn't been hallucinating, there really were two white fluffy dog ears on the top of his head, partially shielded by the thick hair. “Better question, what are you?”

The man stopped his charge, but didn't withdraw the massive sword holding Ichigo at bay. “Why should I tell you?”

“You were about to attack my friend, you at least owe me your name if we are going to fight. I am Ichigo Kurosaki.” Ichigo fired back, leveling Zangetsu at the strange new person, just as the other's sword was poised at him.

“Inuyasha,” The man grunted, before charging again, Tetsusaiga ready for a fight after the many years of peace. It was a demon forged blade, and would never be completely content with peace.

'King, you may have bitten off more than you can chew with this one,' Shiro was laughing at Ichigo now. The Hollow knew the truth.

'What do you know Shiro?' Ichigo demanded, knowing his Hollow loved to gloat, and he would eventually learn the truth, Shiro would tell him just to prove his superior knowledge.

'That is a Hanyou, and his blade is made from a demon's fang. Or more likely two fangs as the sword has two demonic auras not just one. Oh, wait, one of the aura's is his own, he probably used his own fang to strengthen or repair the sword at some point.'

'What's a Hanyou?' Ichigo asked as he avoided another blow by the demonic sword in front of him.

'A half-breed demon. Think Captain Komamura, you didn't think it was normal for a Bear to walk on two legs with the same or more intelligence as a human did you? This one is half human though, makes him a tad unpredictable.' Shiro passed on his knowledge, for two reasons one was definitely the desire to rub his knowledge in Ichigo's face, and the other was if his host died so did he. Then he would never get a chance to take over the body completely.

The hanyou Inuyasha stepped up his attacks then and Ichigo had to cut off his conversation with his Hollow, he needed to concentrate or this half-demon was going to slaughter him. “Why have you come here?” He shouted trying to understand this attack, Hollows attacked out of hunger and madness, this creature seemed to have no such drive if he was capable of holding off his attack long enough to give his name.

“I don't have to tell you!” Inuyasha replied indignantly, where did this guy learn to fight? Questioning him when the time would have been better spent on countering his attack, so far all this man had done was block his strikes.

“Why not? You might as well tell why you attacked us out of nowhere!” Ichigo shouted, trying to distract Inuyasha from Toushiro who was circling around the Hanyou, his Zanpakuto drawn and ready.

“I'm looking for someone.” The red clad figure finally grumbled out, as he shifted his weight and turned to face Toushiro's first attack on him. Inuyasha took one look at him and lowered his blade just enough to block the strike but also avoid harming the small body. “Get back! I do not have any desire to fight children!” Inuyasha warned.

“I am no child!” Toshiro practically growled in anger, he hated being seen as a child just because of his size. “I am Captain Hitsugaya leader of squad ten of the 13 court guard squads in the Soul Society, and far older than you!” He sneered, taking Ichigo's place in fighting the Hanyou. Inuyasha had managed to invoke his anger.

“You may have a title, but your body language says differently, get back boy!” Inuyasha really did growl then, maybe the Hanyou got more than his ears from a canine?

Toushiro Hitsugaya was not gonna stand for this, he was about to release Hyourinmaru when the tip of a black sword pierced the Hanyou's shoulder clean through to the hilt. Ichigo in full Ban-kai stood behind the startled Half-demon. “Inuyasha, stand down, I do not like killing if I do not have to!” Ichigo commanded, deciding to give the Hanyou a chance to explain himself before he killed him. This was too much of an oddity to just let him go, or kill him outright, something bigger was going on behind this seemingly random attack.

Inuyasha was beyond replying though, the moment Ichigo's blade has entered his skin. Came in contact with his blood, his Youkai started going crazy. 'He is one of them! This wound is not enough, this blade is not at full strength. Stay near him. He can help us!” Inuyasha could feel the demon inside him pushing against the barrier Tetsusaiga invoked to protect his sanity. He wanted to be closer to this new source of power, sword or no sword.

“Calm down! He will kill us before he can help us if you force me to transform now!” Inuyasha barked to his impulsive inner self. His Youkai might have lived a few more lifetimes than his own, but Inuyasha was still the dominating personality, and right now the Hanyou felt like that might not be a good thing.

Finally pulling himself away from his internal dialogue once his Youkai settled at his words, he was able to lower Tetsusaiga and respond to the orange haired Soul Reaper. “I will stand down, that is if you tell me one thing. Do you know anything about Vizards?” Bingo, the cinnamon colored eyes just widened and the strong jaw dropped, a look of panic setting in.

“What do you want those exiles for?” The young boy who claimed he was a captain spoke up first though, but Inuyasha did not fail to notice the wince that came over the taller Shinigami.

“Toushiro, I think we need to get that wound of his treated before we start grilling him too deeply.” Ichigo stopped his friend from further antagonizing the now injured Hanyou. He had been careful to strike a non-lethal area, but it was still bleeding quite profusely and should be treated as soon as possible.

“It's Captain Hitsugaya,” He snapped automatically, before saying more, “Ichigo you don't understand, Vizards are just as dangerous as the Arrancars, they are the opposite, instead of a Hollow gaining the power of a Shinigami, they are Shinigami with the power of a Hollow. They are ruthless and hate Soul Reapers, anyone associated with them can't be good news.”

“Stop, just stop, as the one who hates people jumping to conclusions about you, it seems you make a habit of judging others too quickly. I know it upsets you when people call you a child, but this time I think maybe you should give him a chance.” Ichigo didn't know why he was defending Inuyasha so intensely, after all the half-demon did just attack them, but Toushiro's comments on Vizards had thrown him off his stride.

“Alright Ichigo, but he is your responsibility, if he harms a single hair on anyone's head I will have every Soul Reaper in the Seritei after your ass.” Toushiro must have felt Ichigo's words hit a little too close to home, he was giving in far easier than Ichigo had been expecting.

Ichigo nodded, “Alright, I'll keep him in line.” Ichigo agreed and before he could say anything else the young Captain flash stepped out of the clearing, wanting to be away for a little while and think over what just happened.

“Keh, as much as he protests he still practically screams child with his actions.” Inuyasha commented, bringing Ichigo's full attention back to him.

“Yeah, and I think he knows that. He is a prodigy where he is from and advanced very quickly, too quickly I think, power sometimes isn't enough. He is a good Captain though, and is extremely dedicated to his job, I don't use his title to remind him that there are more people than just him fighting this war. Now enough about him for the moment, what exactly do you want with the Vizards?” Ichigo felt he had babbled a bit too much about Toushiro but he wasn't sure he was comfortable confronting this issue just yet, but it had to be dealt with one way or the other.

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side, as if debating whether to tell him or not. “I need their help to gain enough strength to control a dangerous part of myself.”

“I can understand that,” Ichigo mumbled below his breath before saying louder, “I may be able to help you, but as you saw there are obstacles to that. My team has no tolerance for Hollows of any kind, even half-hollows like a Vizard.”

Inuyasha wondered just how hard he would have to push to get Ichigo to admit the truth. “And you don't have this problem?”

“Oh, I have my own bone to pick with the Vizards, I just wish my team wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, it would make telling them things a lot easier.” Ichigo explained. “Now, if you follow me I can take you to my house and get you fixed up, my family runs a health clinic, and I doubt your the sort of person who wants a lot of run ins with normal doctors.” Ichigo offered with a pointed glance at the non-human ears.

Inuyasha didn't feel like completely lying to him, so he let him know, “With my heritage I will heal much quicker than a human. There is no point in you wasting your time.”

“I wont be wasting my time to get it cleaned up and bandaged so you can heal that much quicker. Shinigami have a fast healing rate too, doesn't make it instant. Plus,I promised the person in charge of this little mission that I would keep an eye on you. So quit complaining and let me see to that wound, I caused it, I may as well help you deal with it.” Ichigo insisted, leading the Hanyou towards his home knowing his family would be in bed, and shouldn't pose any problem for him treating Inuyasha.

“You don't need to ask what I am?” Inuyasha inquired warily, he hadn't been expecting this kind of treatment at all.

“No, and I doubt I need to tell you what I am either. I will keep your secret if you keep mine.” Ichigo bargained.

“No deal, mine is too visible, someone is going to ask.” Inuyasha rejected instantly.

“You don't just have one secret, I will keep your reasons for seeking out the Vizards to myself. My team will not know that you are dangerous, and need them to keep you under control. I will do that much for you, that should give you a small hint of exactly how much I do not want them knowing the truth.” Ichigo pressed.

“Alright, that seems a little more even.” Inuyasha agreed. “Now tell me, why do you talk about Vizards like they are something different than you?”

Ichigo's flinch was all the confirmation Inuyasha needed, but his words cemented it even more, “I am slightly different than they are, just like I am slightly different than a Shinigami. All the others you meet have already completed their living world lives, and are on their Soul Society ones. I am the only living one of the bunch.”

“Still, I am right aren’t I, you are a Vizard not a Soul Reaper correct?” Inuyasha asked, getting some small amusement out of seeing Ichigo squirm.

“Yes. Now come on I don't want to get into another fight tonight, whether its you, or a Hollow. By the way, it was you who killed the Hollow earlier wasn't it?”

“You mean the big ugly thing tearing up the park? Yeah, Tetsusaiga hasn't been used for awhile, just making sure it was awake.” Inuyasha smiled contentedly, patting the hilt of the now sheathed fang.  

“Tetsusaiga is your sword I take it? Its a very interesting blade, but why does it have two auras?” Ichigo was  content to let Inuyasha think the information came from him being a Soul Reaper and not because he had spoken to his Hollow.

Inuyasha sighed, and stroked the hilt again before answering. “It was originally made from my father's fang, but it was broken in a fight so had to be repaired with one of my own.”

“Ah, that explains it, you must be very attuned to that blade.” Ichigo observed as he felt the familiar weight of Zangetsu hanging from his back.

“Yes, this sword has brought me through a lot, just as yours has I can imagine.” Inuyasha was not so unobservant he couldn't tell the bond between sword and owner with Ichigo.

“Without Zangetsu I would be dead many times over, so yes we are very attached to one another.” Ichigo admitted. “We will be at my house in a few minutes, my sisters and father are probably asleep, we will need to be quiet so we don't wake them up.”

Inuyasha nodded, deciding words were unnecessary as they drew closer to the Kurosaki household. This could end up being interesting, and it was definitely the kind of distraction he needed right then. This would be good for him.
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