Rebirth In Bleach 73 Ichinose Maki

"Itsu- Captain Minamoto! Captain Kuchiki! Captain Hitsugaya!"

Rangiku was surprised at the sudden three intruders as she nearly called Itsuki by his name. Kariya just looked at Itsuki who was standing where the gate was. The rest of his accomplices were surprised as well as they vigilantly looked at the three.

"You must be captain of the 2nd Division, Minamoto Itsuki. Ichinose here couldn't find anything about you apart from your zanpakuto being a lightning and wind one."

Itsuki didn't talk back as he looked at the surrounding bount rake out their dolls.

'The girl with the green hair should be Yoshi, the weird looking one should be Mabashi, the old one should be Sawatari and the one with the mohawk should be Koga Goa.'

Looking at them, Sawatari seemed to have the more annoying ability with the ability to manipulate s.p.a.ce. Itsuki then slowly went into an Iaido stance as the rest also got battle ready. Sawatari had just called his doll, when Itsuki disappeared and appeared behind him. Everyone, apart from the two captains and Rangiku, were shocked by his speed as the old man disintegrated into dust. Seeing this, Byakuya and Toshiro also moved. Mabashi was targeted by Byakuya and Koga Go went against Toshiro.

Yoshi appeared behind Itsuki as her right hand was covered in armour and was holding an energy sword.

"Take this!"

Itsuki dodged and swung his sword at her, cutting her in half. She also dissipated. Byakuya made quick work of Mabashi as he released his shikai. It was the same with Koga Go as he was quickly frozen by Toshiro's shikai.

The bount were weaker than the anime as they never had the abundance of reishi found in Soul Society, although they did drink numerous souls. They had, however, encountered a monster like Itsuki and the two that fought the other captains seemed to have encountered their natural enemy.

Kariya looked unbelievingly at what was happening as his focus was taken by Ichigo clashing into him. A helpless look plastered his face as a determined one replaced it before he started laughing.

"Do you think that this is the end, Shinigami?"

It was stated in the anime that although Kariya looked for revenge upon Soul Society, he truly wanted to end his current immortal life. Ichigo seemed to have already recognised this as he stayed silent when fighting against him.

Itsuki never made his move as he focussed on someone else entirely. Ichinose Maki, a former Shinigami who served under the previous kenpachi. He went rogue when Zaraki Kenpachi took over the role by killing the previous one. He had a strong sense of justice and was unable to follow Zaraki's lead of fighting only for entertainment. He believed those in power should use it for n.o.ble causes rather than for self-satisfaction.

Seeing him sneak up on him, Itsuki swung his sword sending him flying through one of the tunnels. Itsuki then disappeared, following him.

Smashing into a wall, Ichinose coughed out blood as he tried to get up. Pushing himself up, he found a sword next to his throat, threatening to slit it.

"Why don't you kill me?"

Itsuki didn't answer, but he just responded with another one,

"Why do you fight?"

This seemed to trigger something within Ichinose as he shouted,

"Why do I fight?! I fight against the barbaric ways of the Gotei 13, why…"

What followed was his frustrations gushing out. Itsuki waited for him to finish upon asking another question,

"You say you're fighting for a n.o.ble cause, but it's truly for anger isn't it. Anger against just one man for killing your previous captain."

Ichinose was shocked as understanding flashed through his eyes. Itsuki, however, continued,

"This anger allowed people to manipulate you, goad you. Quite naïve thinking from your part, isn't it?"

Back at the main hall, Ichigo had just driven his sword through Kariya. The other's had moved far away to not get caught up in the shockwaves of their clashes. During this, another two figures had joined them, Yoruichi and Soi Fon.

Seeing that the battle had ended, Toshiro turned towards the others,

"You guys okay?"

The group looked at him as Rangiku jumped towards Itsuki who had just come out, completely ignoring her own captain.

"Itsuki."

Toshiro eyebrow's twitched and a vein popped out his forehead as and irritated look surfaced from being ignored. He hated this trip, the two silent buddies, the teasing from Itsuki and being ignored by his own lieutenant had pushed his limits. He was just about to scream when a line pa.s.sed through his head

'Short on patience, short on patience…'

He looked back to Rangiku cuddling Itsuki like a koala bear while he patted her head and Itsuki's apathetic look piercing through him. Seeing Itsuki come up, Soi Fon, Yoruichi and Rangiku dragged Itsuki away among the various looks of the others

Byakuya just stood there ignoring what was happening around him as he looked at Rukia. She seemed to be okay but Byakuya could tell that she was injured looking at her pale face.

"Byakuynii-Sama…"

Rukia looked down when she saw the way her brother looked at her. She couldn't tell if he was worried about her or looking down on her. She was never able to read her brother's thoughts, but she had a feeling that he was worried.

Byakuya seemed to nod at her as the rest of the Shinigami's joined the fray. Renji rushed towards his captain while the rest waited in order to get healed by Orihime. They stayed in the human world until they had properly rested and went back under the lead of Byakuya. The ones who had stayed behind were Itsuki, Soi Fon, Rangiku, Toshiro and Yumichika. It seems Ikkaku would join them later as this calmed Yumichika down.

At first Yumichika was confused as to why he had to stay, but Toshiro told him that he was the most 'idle'. The others were either resting or having fun so he believed that Yumichika should stay. Ikkaku would join him as the two were close.

As the group separated, Itsuki wasn't seen until the next day.