Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

Chapter 20

More than anything, you're happy. But you're a bit afraid to face Ichigo and Rukia. When you walk out of the room, they both turn. Your first instinct is to follow his wounded palm where he'd grabbed the knife. He catches your stare, lifting the bandaged hand.

"I've had worse." He says with a grin.

"I-I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize."

You stop at that.

"I know you were just trying to protect us, and I am pissed that you tried something so stupid." He stands, and your resolve is breaking. When he's directly in front of you, he places his hand on top of your head.

"I'm glad you're okay."

You look up, and you can feel the tears begin to well in your eyes, but you hold them back.

Rukia, Tarou and Kisuke watch with smiles on their faces.

"Now let's see what you can do."

You finally take notice of the other man, and your face blanks.

"Your outfit is hideous."

"Not you too!!" Kisuke complains.

Rukia laughs under her breath.

"They really are siblings."

Kisuke stands, and you all follow him towards the back. It looks as though he's leading you somewhere, and when the door opens, you're stunned at the wide expanse of space.

There's boulders everywhere, and what looks like the sky. But you were indoors. Kisuke pulls out a ball from the arm of his coat. He dropped it, bouncing it on his foot.

"Here, try this."

He tossed a ball at you, and you caught it.

"Focus the energy into that ball. "

"Into the ball?"

Kisuke smiled.

"Enlighten me."

You weren't sure what he was trying to prove, but it was worth a shot. You closed your eyes, trying to push every ounce of energy you could into the ball. When your eyes opened, Urahara pointed to the boulder.

"Now throw it, right at that rock."

"What exactly are you getting at Kisuke?"

Though he'd explained it all, Kisuke was known for his dumb games.

Rukia doesn't sound pleased. But you follow his instructions. You throw it as far as you can. Everything seems normal, but the minute the ball touches the boulder, you hear a loud rumble. The earth shakes, and they all stare astonished as the huge boulder is split right down the middle. Tarou and Ichigo aren't sure if they truly comprehend what just happened.

"D-Did I...do that!!"

It couldn't have been.

"Yes you did. Your abilities don't just extract reiatsu from living objects, you can transfer that energy into anything you want. Whether inanimate or not. Until now your dear old brother has been trying to repress it as best he could. For a while that worked. When you were younger it made sense. But as we grow, so do our bodies."

It sounds a bit farfetched. 

"You've generated enough reiatsu into your body to maintain your very own energy system. You have an endless supply, and you'll only continue to accumulate more. You don't have to wear those glasses to suppress your spiritual pressure. As long as you can disperse some of the energy that you've attained, then your body will eventually fall back into a state of homeostasis. You won't have to worry about being a danger to anyone. Quite the opposite. If you can train your body to transfer and receive, then you can become quite the formidable force in battle."

For a second you think he's pulling your leg. But his face says the opposite.

Tarou looks stunned.

"She's strong."

Possibly stronger than him.

All these years he'd been so focused on protecting you. Now he's certain that he'd been oblivious to the obvious.

You weren't a child anymore.