The severed half of the Asauchi blade falls to the ground. "...He left, huh..." Anti-Ichi looks over at Zangetsu with a bored expression; he holds up the remaining half of Asauchi, "Oh well... is that all you need from me?"

"...Yes," Zangetsu says, "Sorry for bothering you."

"Don’t worry. Even though he’s that sort of guy, he’s still the ruler of this world," Anti-Ichi carelessly tosses the broken hilt over his shoulder, "It’d be trouble if he doesn’t win." He looks up and smiles at Zangetsu,* "If it helps that cause, I’ll do it even if I don’t want to."

"Now," Anti-Ichi adds, "If my work is done, hurry up and let me go back."

"...Alright," Zangetsu watches as the wind blows by and pulls shreds of Anti-Ichi into the air, causing him to methodically deteriorate into the air.

While the breeze is blowing him away shred by shred, Anti-Ichi says, "...He’s strong, Zangetsu-san... Raise him well." His eyes widen and his voice turns menacing, "Because eventually the power will be mine."**

Anti-Ichi dissappears and Zangetsu closes his eyes, thinking silently, Ichigo, I hate the rain. It rains in this world, too. If your heart is upset, the sky clouds over. If you are miserable, rain will easily pour down. He looks up from the flag poll that he stands on. You know that too, don’t you - that fear of rain hitting this lonely world. For the sake of stopping that rain, I will lend you as much power as possible. A strong wind blows the clouds across the sky. If you believe in me, I won’t let any rain fall on this world.

"Believe me," Zangetsu says. "You will not fight alone, Ichigo!"

Back in the 'real' world, Ichigo stands up with his head bowed and Zangetsu the sword hefted over his shoulder.

…What…!? Zaraki looks back at him in surprise, His aura was beginning to disappear… Then this – this spiritual energy…!!

Yachiru and Zaraki watch in bafflement as Ichigo stands tall and determined, with a fiery aura exploding from him. ***

Zaraki notices something strange about Ichigo's chest wound, His blood… stopped spilling out…!

A moment passes and then Ichigo charges straight at the surprised Captain. Zaraki doesn't block before Ichigo slashes deep down his left shoulder.

Zaraki blocks the second attack with his sword, but Ichigo uses his strength to press his advantage. He’s... overtaking me...!? Zaraki realizes.

Pushed back by the force of the next slash, Zaraki stabs his sword into the nearby wall to prevent himself from skidding back. He's breathing heavily as both shoulders bleed freely - his right shoulder has now suffered the same bloody, vertical wound as his left one.

"Sorry, but I can’t take too much time," Ichigo glares over at him, "...I’ll finish you off all at once."

"...all at once, huh...? That’s too bad," Zaraki looks up and starts to laugh with an intensly manic glee, "We've worked so hard to get to where it’s starting to be fun!!" Zaraki dives back into the battle, "Hey, let’s see if I can last as long as possible!!"

Despite the sword tip of Zangetsu cutting deeply across his face, Zaraki sprints right up to Ichigo with a huge smile.

"...Wha..." Ichigo manages to tilt his head to the side before Zaraki's blade nearly impales his head. Instead, a long gash cuts open along his cheek and he skids back, away from an ecstatic captain.

"Haha!! This is great!!" Zaraki crows happily as he keeps trading blows with Ichigo. "How were you able to revive!? How did you suddenly become stronger!? There’s a mountain-load of things I’m wondering about!! But it doesn’t matter right now!! Right now, let’s enjoy this battle!!"

Shit…!! Ichigo backs away further, seriously disturbed by the bloodied, laughing Zaraki. When it comes to sword strikes and damage, I’m the one with a strong advantage! But I’m the one being forced back!! No matter how much I cut him, why won’t he fall!?

"You’re acting strange!! What the hell’s wrong with you!" Ichigo yells at Zaraki. "Do you like fighting that much!? Aren’t you scared of getting wounded or dying!?"

"...wrong with me...?" Zaraki repeats, amused as he suddenly yells back, "You’re the one who’s messed up!!! For someone so strong, why don’t you like fighting!? Enjoy it! Death and pain!! Those are only small prices to pay!!!"

The rumbling sounds of the battle can be heard even from far way. In another part of Soul Society, Ikakku of the 11th Division sits on a porch under the awning of a house and concentrates.

A voice says behind him, "You feel something?"

Startled, Ikkaku looks behind him and sees his teammate Yumichika peek out from inside the house. Yumichika is sporting an bushy afro which sends Ikkaku into a laughing fit, "BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Who’re you? Yumichika!? What’s with that hair!? HYAHAHAHA!!! Was it the explosion!? Is that what happened from the fireworks explosion!? Hey!!"

"D... Don’t laugh!! Fine, I’ll wear this!!" Yumichika slaps on a wig resembling his normal straight hair over his frizzy hair in frustration.

After his laughter eventually dies out, Ikkaku answers the earlier question, "Nah... I was just thinking that the Captain seems to be having a lot of fun..."

"You’re right..." Yumichika sits beside Ikkaku with his eyes closed, hands raised by either side of his head as he seems to detect what is happening in the distant fight.**** "But... who’s his opponent? This guy has got incredible strength."

"...It’s Ichigo," Ikkaku says. "That bastard... He’s gotten so freaking strong since the last time I fought him that it’s like he’s a different person now..."

"Our Captain... could it possibly be... that he’s being forced back...?" Yumichika wonders aloud.

Ikakku crosses his arms, "...Yeah."

"This is terrible," Yumichika says. "At this rate, no matter what the Captain does, he’ll..."

"You damn idiot. You think that man will lose? He is Zaraki Kenpachi, the strongest of the 13 Divisions!" Ikkaku insists. "We follow under his command because we believe in that!! He won’t lose! Plus... he still has that!"

Meanwhile, Zaraki has his head raised toward the sky, gasping for air and savoring the moment, "This is the best...! A fight between equals! No, to be honest, you’re slightly superior to me!!"*****

What…? What’s with this guy… this strange behavior…? Ichigo thinks warily.

"It’s been so very long..." Zaraki says, "that it’s felt as incredibly good as this...!" He reaches toward his face, "If it’s you... it looks like I can enjoy this fight even by using all of my strength!!!"

Eagerly, Zaraki tears off the eyepatch.


*A friend pointed out to me that Anti-Ichi looks like a panda! Hehehe! XD (sorry, that was kinda random...)

**As I figured, Anti-Ichi seems more evil & powerful than one would expect from a mental counterpart. Is he the true source of Ichigo's power? Is he the wild side of Ichigo or is he actually something completely different? Has he always been a part of Ichigo's mind? Speaking of which, has Zangetsu always been a part of Ichigo's mind? Eep, I'm speculating too much...

***Zangetsu seems larger than before... then again, Ichigo looks much taller than he did at the beginning of the series...

****What are Yumichika's abilities? I've completely forgotten the Ganju vs. Yumichika fight and I still don't have vol. 10 yet...

*****I'm surprised to hear Zaraki admit that. :S For someone obsessed with fighting, he can be so unpredicable...

Notes:
-It's 4:50am... I can't even think straight... o_0

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