Chapter 52: Hollow White: He Called Me Brother?!
Time rewound to last night.
Ever since he accidentally learned that someone could use "blade meditation" instead of sleep, Ichigo had been trying it too.
By now, entering his inner world felt almost like coming home.
"Old man Zangetsu?"
Ichigo glanced around, searching for the familiar figure.
In the next instant, a chill like a blade traced across the back of his neck.
No, it was not just killing intent.
"?!"
Ichigo dropped into a roll, hands hitting the ground as he barely avoided a slash colder than that murderous aura itself. He twisted his body and snapped his gaze toward the attacker.
"...?"
The moment he saw the other person's face, Ichigo's expression froze. His thoughts tangled in confusion.
"Ha. You thought it was that guy who cut you, didn't you?"
The white Ichigo stood at a distance. The sword that had just attacked was connected to his hand by the bandage tied to the hilt, uncoiling like a chain.
"Sorry to disappoint you. The one who cut you was not him. It was me. Zangetsu."
The blade snapped back and whirled around him at a speed Ichigo could not follow.
Wind roared.
Even at that distance, Ichigo's cheek stung faintly.
"What are you talking about… how could you be Zangetsu? Who are you supposed to be? And where did the old man go?!"
… Nice eyes.
Hollow White's lips curled into a vicious grin.
"You're a completely different person from before. Should I praise you for growing up?"
"But in this place, in front of me, the last thing I need is your calm, rational stare."
"Didn't you hear me asking you a question? Where did Zangetsu go… or what did you do to him?!"
"I am here, Ichigo."
A familiar voice sounded from behind. Ichigo jerked his head around and saw Zangetsu, coat fluttering, hanging upside down like a giant bat from another slanted skyscraper.
"Zangetsu…"
Ichigo's shoulders relaxed slightly, but a new question immediately rose in his chest.
Before he could voice it, Zangetsu spoke, as if reading his thoughts.
"You have come again, Ichigo. I know you wish to master Bankai."
"In fact, I am willing to cooperate with you."
"But that alone is not enough."
"You must understand your own power more deeply. Only then will you be able to grasp a true Bankai."
The more Ichigo listened, the more confused he became.
"True… Bankai? What is that supposed to mean?"
Isn't Bankai just Bankai?
He had not even learned a fake Bankai yet. How could there already be something like a true one?
"Heh. Having a dumb master is such a pain."
Hollow White snorted.
"If it were me, I would not have the patience to listen to him whining. Just cut him. If he survives, he will understand. People naturally learn to walk, to run, to eat and drink. It is instinct."
"How is someone supposed to understand this and that just from a few words? Don't joke with me. If they were that smart, they wouldn't need anyone to remind them."
"You…!"
"Do not lose your temper, Ichigo. Arguing with someone who acts purely on instinct is meaningless."
Zangetsu glanced calmly at Hollow White and continued in a soothing tone.
"If you want to know why… it is because he is a Hollow."
"?!"
Ichigo's eyes went round as he stared at the white version of himself, struck speechless.
Hollow White let out a crooked smile and did not refute it.
His silence was admission enough.
"His name is Hollow White."
Zangetsu did not give Ichigo time to freeze up and overthink it. He continued his explanation without pause.
"He is the Hollow that once attacked your mother."
"Your mother died at the hands of a Hollow. You were very young at the time, but now, you can sense the truth."
"But that is not what I wish to tell you."
"Before that, before you were born… she was attacked by another Hollow."
"When that Hollow died, its soul transferred into your mother's body. After you were born, it transferred again, into you."
"..."
Ichigo could not speak. His expression shifted over and over, revealing the turmoil inside.
"As your Shinigami powers awakened and you grew stronger, he revived along with you and grew stronger as well."
"If this continues, there will come a day when his influence will swallow your will. You will lose control, fall into depravity, harm your comrades, be expelled from Seireitei, and live in isolation."
"As a Shinigami, you cannot coexist with a Hollow. You understand this very well after learning the dangers of the Hōgyoku."
"So…"
A shark like sword appeared in Zangetsu's hand.
The next moment, it shifted into a black bow, which he flung down in front of Ichigo.
"Take the bow I have given you, erase his consciousness, and reclaim the nourishment you lost."
"In doing so, you can avoid the outcome I have just described."
"...Yeah, yeah, come at me already."
Hollow White stopped spinning the blade. He caught the hilt, then casually raised the tip of the sword to point at Ichigo, the ambition and malice in his words leaking out in every syllable.
"Otherwise, sooner or later, I will surpass you, take over your body, devour everything you have, and destroy everything you care about."
"Zangetsu…"
Ichigo glanced at Hollow White, then raised his head to look at Zangetsu again.
"You said to reclaim the nourishment he absorbed… but he is a Hollow. Even if I reclaim it, won't it still be Hollow power? Won't Seireitei still treat it as Hollowfication and come after me?"
"That power originally belongs to you. It is not the same as Hollowfication. How you decide the form of that power is up to you. It is a more perfect state than what you call Hollowfication."
Zangetsu answered calmly, as if he had predicted this question.
"As long as you are willing, you can wield two Zanpakuto, representing Hollow power and Shinigami power respectively."
"The dominant power will be clear at a glance. How could that be called using Hollowfication?"
"…I basically get it now. No wonder I have two different Shikai forms."
Ichigo picked up the bow at his feet.
"This black bow represents you, Zangetsu."
"And that guy…"
His gaze shifted to the sword in Hollow White's hand.
"Represents the ridiculously oversized sword form."
"So, if I want Bankai, it is not enough to have your cooperation. I also need to 'subdue' him."
"Not subdue. Erase."
Zangetsu's tone grew heavier.
"The outcome is similar, but the method is more extreme. This is also a trial you, as a Shinigami, must pass. A demonic obstacle you must shatter."
"Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I know you are thinking of me."
Ichigo drew in a slow breath.
"But I have one question… my mother. Did Mom know this would happen?"
"?"
Both Zangetsu and Hollow White paused at the same time.
"Ichigo…"
"Sorry, maybe I did not put it clearly enough."
Ichigo clenched his jaw and pushed on.
"What I mean is… did Mom know she had a Hollow inside her?"
"Did she know that after she gave birth to me, that Hollow would move into my body? I absolutely have to know the answer to that."
His eyes never wavered as he stared straight at Zangetsu. His attitude was unshakable.
"..."
Zangetsu seemed to have expected this. He closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh.
"She knew."
"..."
Ichigo fell silent, then slung the bow over his shoulder and broke into a grin.
"I see. In that case, I cannot just casually erase this guy."
"Huh?"
Hollow White's expression twisted into something spectacular.
"Are you stupid? If you do not use the bow in your hand, if you refuse to use your power to erase me, I will eventually push you into a corner."
"Sure, I understand Hollows better than anyone. But you are someone Mom chose to give birth to, even knowing what would happen."
"Wait…"
"That is why you look exactly like me, isn't it?"
Ichigo's tone sharpened as he continued.
"The Hollow that transferred into Mom's body after dying was basically already dead, right? Otherwise, why would it bother transferring to me? Wouldn't it be easier to stay in Mom's body? An adult is stronger than a baby, after all. So this must have been something that slipped out of her control."
"That Hollow was no longer a complete Hollow. It was more like pure power. That is why it could be passed to me through her blood, then fuse into my power without resistance."
"If I am not mistaken, Mom deliberately left you in me as a trump card to protect me when I was in danger, right? Because if I die, you are in trouble too."
Ichigo copied a certain friend's way of thinking, calmly deducing the whole path.
"Tch… Well, yeah, if you die, it would be a pain for me too, but…"
Hollow White clicked his tongue.
"The reason nothing happened in that car accident is that your mom miscalculated. She overestimated you."
"She did not realize you would need Shinigami power to revive, to grow, and to help me."
"..."
Hollow White's mouth hung slightly open, his stunned face a perfect mirror of Ichigo's own whenever he was hit by too much information at once.
All he was missing was Ichigo's usual catchphrase.
"Zangetsu."
Ichigo turned back to the spirit in the sky and bowed his head slightly.
"Sorry. I know you want me to erase him because you are worried that one day he will make trouble, get discovered by Soul Society, and I will end up executed."
"But this guy is a memento Mom left me. He is basically my blood brother."
"Even if he is a Hollow, I just cannot bring myself to erase him."
"Besides, we have a symbiotic relationship. Other than causing trouble, he is not going to kill me or force me into a dead end. There is no profit in that for him."
"If he really cannot hold back and gets swallowed up by a Hollow's destructive impulses, then I am willing to go all in with him."
"I actually need a training partner anyway. I feel bad always bothering you, Zangetsu."
"..."
"..."
Zangetsu and Hollow White both fell into silence again at Ichigo's earnest declaration.
"I see."
Eventually, Zangetsu let out a breath.
"In that case, we shall change the test."
"When you are ready… try to defeat me with the bow in your hand."
"You will only have one chance. If you fail, I will have no choice but to decide in your place. But whatever happens, I hope to live peacefully in Soul Society."
"Yeah. I will remember that."
Ichigo took a deep breath and nodded hard.
Then his consciousness left the inner world.
Swish.
Hollow White jammed his oversized sword into the ground and let out a half helpless, half amused laugh.
"Did you hear that? He just called me his brother."
"Is there really an idiot in this world who calls a Hollow his brother?"
"But you were born from Ichigo."
Zangetsu's voice hovered in the air.
"Your form, your thoughts, your consciousness… all of them come from Ichigo."
"Tsk. That is exactly why I was willing to help you."
Hollow White sneered.
"I gave him a chance to use your power. To use Quincy power to erase me."
"Yes."
Zangetsu's mood was complicated.
"For Ichigo, who has become a Shinigami, Hollow power is not only dangerous, it is something Soul Society will never accept. Even if I give him Quincy power, his Shinigami power will remain the main axis."
"I hoped you could cooperate with me, but you refused to help unconditionally. So to remove the hidden threat and obtain your strength, the only option was to erase you."
"Unfortunately, Ichigo refused."
"Obviously. Who in their right mind would willingly damage their own Zanpakuto?"
Hollow White bared his white teeth in a grin.
"Looked at that way, though he is dumb, his instincts are pretty sharp."
"Using Quincy power to erase the Hollow consciousness fused into a Zanpakuto…"
He clicked his tongue.
"You are even crazier than I am."
"I have no idea what would happen if we actually tried that. Would I really die? Be sealed? Or come back some time way down the line?"
"Honestly, my agreeing to help you probably has something to do with wanting to see that for myself."
"But anyway, he turned you down, and I am too lazy to cooperate with him."
"So how is that brat supposed to learn some 'true Bankai'?"
"True Bankai? Do not look down on your master so much."
Zangetsu turned over and dropped lightly from above.
"Look at this tilted world."
"If you really see it, you should understand."
"For the master of this world, there is as much power to overturn it as he wishes."
"True Bankai is the same."
"Since Ichigo does not value you, I will continue to grant him the Bankai of a Quincy."
"In that case, you will be even more helpless before him. Once his power fully matures, turning around to make you submit will not be a foolish strategy."
"So how will you choose then? I am very curious."
"What?! You sneaky bastard!"
Hollow White lunged, drawing his sword and slashing wildly. His movements were fast, but his blade carved nothing but empty air.
Zangetsu had already vanished.
"You are lucky you are fast."
Hollow White snorted and then lifted his eyes to the clear sky.
"Brother, huh…?"
"I hope you stay that naive forever."
"That way, no matter how hard Zangetsu schemes for you, you will never be able to beat me in the future."
"Before that happens, try not to die as cleanly as last time."
"No, you should hurry up and lose with the power he gave you. Then I will get my turn to show you what kind of power really matters to you."
"Only that kind of power… is worthy of being called true power."
…
Time flowed back to the present.
The Fifth Division training ground.
"…That is basically what happened."
Ichigo frowned slightly.
"Before I came here, I tried going into my inner world again, but I could not see the old man."
"I know he is waiting for me to be ready so he can be summoned to the World of the Living for a fight, but I only have one chance. I really cannot afford to mess it up."
"If I fail, it will definitely slow us down when it comes time to save Rukia."
"So I was thinking… should I try dealing with that Hollow called Hollow White first and have him team up with me against the old man? That has to raise the odds, right?"
"Takeru, do you have any good ideas?"
"..."
Takeru pressed his lips together. If he relaxed them, his expression would probably turn very interesting.
"Ideas, huh."
"Yeah. You are good at confusing… no, good at handling people."
Ichigo's eyes shone with expectation.
"Let me confirm one thing first."
Takeru rubbed his chin.
"Your Zanpakuto said, 'as long as you hold the bow and defeat him,' right?"
"…That is right."
Ichigo thought back carefully, then nodded with certainty.
"In that case, there is nothing to worry about."
"What are you talking about?"
"What I mean is…"
Takeru stood up, his tone utterly casual.
"Let your body go to the Hollow inside you. Let him fight for you."
"If he wins, you succeed. If he loses, you can observe, think things through, and come up with a counterplan."
"Then you go back in with a perfect strategy and try again. If your plan fails, with how clumsy you are, that Hollow, after tasting defeat, definitely will not be able to resist giving you his own advice."
"As the saying goes, two heads are better than one. With both of you working together, are you really afraid you still will not win?"
"..."
The more Ichigo listened, the brighter his eyes became.
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