Empathy

Scowls were clearly adorning nearly everyone's face at Ayumu's return. "He comes back quick," Shinji observed with narrowed eyes.

"Why didn't the dagger work?" Kensei asked Urahara, clearly trying to wrap his mind around the idea that a spell existed that could tear a soul apart.

Urahara opened his mouth to make an educated guess, but Karin beat him to it, her Eyes of the Oracle still active. "Ayumu's reiryoku was able to resist Ichigo's because Ayumu is an existence that Ichigo doesn't comprehend."

"It's the same as why we can't sense Ichigo-kun's reiatsu unless he allows us to," Urahara expanded. "His soul has grown far enough down multiple paths that we truly cannot understand his existence unless we follow him down them. In the same way, how can we understand a man who became a god capable of creating his own world, of changing what happens when a soul dies? The only way to understand such a thing would be to follow his path and do so ourselves… or maybe to wield eyes such as Kurosaki-chan's."

Everyone turned to look at Karin, who was steadfastly watching the feeds. "So… you guessed," she said quietly, then turned around and activated her power. Her eyes turned white once more as she gazed upon the people gathered. Karin stood her ground as nearly every person there was laid bare before her. She saw Rukia's quiet feeling of helplessness stemming from once again being unable to help the man who had taken her world and shaken it until it was something that Rukia had hardly dreamed possible. She saw Urahara's feeling of vindication that he'd gotten it right, and his curiosity to the limits of her power, if there even were any. She saw Shinji's mind putting the pieces together and contemplating how to use the knowledge. She saw her father's pride in her, saw him preparing to step in should they attempt to use another of his children. She saw so much that it was impossible to wrap her mind around it all. There was too much to see, too much for her to understand at once. The most she could do with this many subjects, unless she focused on individuals, was to see their current feelings and thoughts.

Karin took a deep breath, steadying herself. "These eyes of mine, the Eyes of the Oracle… allow me to see the truth. Who you are, what you feel, your motivations… nothing is hidden from me if I turn my eyes on you. If there is something Ayumu is hiding, I will see it! I will help my brother in any way I can." Her gaze met Rurichiyo's. "My powers do not lie in war. I don't have the strength to fight alongside my family. But I will make their burden as small as I can. If this is all I can do, then this is what I will do."

The Kasumiōji princess gave a small, gentle smile and the slightest of nods. Nothing needed to be said – Karin and Rurichiyo understood each other perfectly. Seeing that, Karin turned around to watch Hell once more, focusing the power of her eyes on her family's enemy.

Yuzu, standing beside her as they watched Yamamoto and Ichigo face Ayumu, took her hand gently. Karin squeezed it, taking strength from her twin's presence. They were so different on the outside, she knew. But their hearts, their feelings were one. Yuzu was praying for the safety of Ichigo and their mom, and so was Karin.

"Any ideas?" Ichigo asked Yamamoto, just loud enough for Yamamoto to hear him.

Yamamoto remained silent for a moment, eyeing Ayumu critically. "Have you improved your Bakudō? It appears I alone cannot catch him."

"Yeah, I've got a few Bakudō I can cast reliably. Mostly ones working with ropes or chains."

"That will be sufficient. This time, you engage and I will break the barrier. Then we will bind him together."

Ichigo nodded resolutely. Bringing his hand up to his face, he ripped his mask into existence and reached for the well of Hollow power within him. Black fire flowed swiftly up his body, and a second later he was in his Resurrección form. "Let's go then!" he yelled, lunging for Ayumu as he charged Tensa Zangetsu with a Getsuga.

"It useless!" Ayumu declared, dodging before flickering to another location several meters away. Then, just as Ichigo registered his new location, Ayumu flashed away again. And again. And again. "Your strategy before relied on accurately piercing my barrier without killing me. As long as I move quickly enough, you will not succeed. And every time you kill me, I come back stronger!"

"He's right," Urahara agreed, speaking to them with the interdimensional communicators. "He's not a whole soul yet, but it appears he's recovered more of his soul during that last death you inflicted."

"Well, that's annoying." Ichigo commented, watching Hell carefully, looking for a pattern, for some hint of where he was going to be. "So, you're relying on speed, then? And the idea that I don't have the speed, power and accuracy to do the job myself? Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you picked exactly the wrong opponent to try this with."

"How's that? You may have the power to break the barrier, but you'll have to catch me first. And you're not nearly fast enough."

"Surely you've noticed that my Bankai is not like other Shinigami? It compresses my power to increase my speed, strength, and reiatsu. The more power I have, the greater the effect." There! Ichigo smirked behind his mask. He had the pattern now.

"So?" Ayumu asked mockingly. "You've been using your Bankai and your Hollow powers this whole time. Have you suddenly learned how to use Quincy power-up techniques as well?"

"Nothing like that," Ichigo admitted, bringing his left claw up to open his Bankai coat, exposing the two crescent moon seals over his heart, which were glowing black and white against his skin. "Just a simple limiter seal. Let's see how you do against my real power. Gentei Kaijo!"

As a pulse of black reiatsu swept over the area, Ayumu paused for a brief instant to reevaluate his opinion of Ichigo's threat level. That instant was an instant too long, as Ichigo materialized right in front of Ayumu with a sonic boom, a Getsuga-enhanced Tensa Zangetsu already in motion to stab through the barrier.

Ayumu barely managed to dodge to the side, flashing away, only to once again be cut off by Ichigo. This time, he deflected Ichigo's stab with Asahi no Kagami and lashed out with a kick, sending Ichigo back a few feet. "I admit, I underestimated you. At my current strength, you will inevitably catch me and break the barrier. However, you have forgotten one thing."

"And what that?"

"I recover more of my soul every time I meet my demise. And there is nothing stopping me from killing myself." In a single, swift motion, Ayumu flipped Asahi Kagami around and cut his own head off.

Ichigo watched in stunned disbelief as Ayumu's corpse fell to the ground, bleeding for several seconds before disappearing. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered. "This is like Aizen all over again." He tapped his communicator. "Guys? Ideas?"

"The other parts of his soul, the Kushanāda, must be stored somewhere for easy slaughter," Urahara spoke quickly. "His lieutenants are likely able to detect his death and are killing the Kushdanāda within the timeframe for the soul fragments to rejoin."

"Soifon-taicho, Zaraki-taicho, you are to locate and eliminate the lieutenants," Yamamoto immediately ordered. "Do NOT kill the Kushanāda if it can be avoided. Everyone else remain at the portal site."

"Hai!"

"In the meantime, we'll just have to deal with Ayumu with whatever strength he's got now," Ichigo said with a groan. "This is going to suck."

"You have no idea," Ayumu agreed as he appeared before Ichigo once again. "Now that I've seen your full strength, I am satisfied. With a little more training, I believe you could stand against the Reiō's guard. Now I need you out of the way for a while." He raised Asahi no Kagami, and it shone brightly for a moment.

An instant later, Ichigo was once again surrounded by illusions. He immediately extended his senses, trying to locate Ayumu… but the king of Hell had apparently set his reiatsu to its evolved state, making it impossible for Ichigo to sense him. "Urahara! Where is he?!"

"He appears to have fled, with Yamamoto-sōtaicho and your mother in pursuit. I assume you have been hit by one of Ayumu's illusions? Break it, and then follow."

Thoroughly fed up, Ichigo flared his reiatsu. "Enough of the goddamn illusions already! What more can you throw at me?! You've already covered pride, trust, self-worth, guilt and betrayal!"

"How can you condemn me for trying to do the same thing you are on a grander scale?" Ayumu asked calmly. It was obviously an illusion, as it had no barrier shimmering to protect it. "You want to eventually build your own world, a haven for your family and friends. Isn't it selfish to restrict heaven to those you know? I'm trying to make heaven on earth for everyone. It's not my fault that humans have to change to make that happen."

"And if you succeed, what then?!" Ichigo snarled. "What then could humanity possibly aspire to?! If everything is perfect, then why bother thinking at all?! How could we possibly improve upon ourselves if we believe the world is perfect as it is?!"

"And what of your world?" Ayumu pointed out with narrowed eyes. "For all your criticism of my plan, yours is hardly any better."

An illusion of Ichigo himself stepped beside the king of Hell, who nodded at him. "Our name is Ichigo. Dad said it meant 'He Who Protects.' We often said it came from 'Ichi' for 'first prize' and 'go' for 'guardian angel.' Ichigo, 'Number One Guardian'. But we can't be everywhere, can we? We can't protect everyone if they're in different places. We learned that when trying to save Mom, Karin and Yuzu sent them to Hell."

"Obviously the answer is to keep them in a safe place," Zen'i mused aloud. "Which is why you thought of making a world to begin with."

"What are you going to do, Ichigo?" Masaki asked softly. "You know that I can't just let people suffer if it's in my power to help them. Even if you make your world, you know I won't stay there."

"Will you force us?" Isshin questioned soberly. "You know that we don't have the power to stop you. If you put your foot down, we would have no choice."

"What about our lives? Our friends, all the ties we have to the living world," Yuzu asked with a slightly choked sound in her voice. "I don't want to leave it all behind."

"But then, how can you keep us safe?" Karin voiced Ichigo's own feelings. "The only other way you can think of is Ayumu's way, by changing all of humanity. Are you really so different? All Ayumu wants to do is protect humanity, just like you want to protect us."

"Enough," Ichigo whispered, his voice pained.

"That is what I wanted as well," a vision of Aizen spoke up, standing next to Ayumu. "Sacrifices must be made for peace. Anything worth having has a price. Was it so wrong that I wanted to turn Soul Society into a real heaven, one where souls who died painfully may find hope and peace instead of being forced to live in the more lawless places in the Rukongai? One hundred thousand souls for the Ōken, in exchange for heaven for all. Doesn't that seem like a reasonable trade?"

"You traded the people of the Rukongai in exchange for Karakura town's safety," Ukitake reminded him. "And when you made that deal with Aizen, you intended to keep it. Nameless strangers would die, but you would be able to keep the bonds you had held precious."

"So what makes you different from them?" Soifon demanded sharply. "From Aizen and Ayumu? Aizen wanted to create a utopia for Soul Society. Ayumu wants to create a utopia for all the worlds. You want to create a utopia for your family and friends. The only difference between you all is the matter of scale. Why are you right, and they wrong?"

"Please…" Ichigo breathed. "Enough. I get it. I know that eventually, Karin and Yuzu won't need or want me to protect them. I wouldn't dream of forcing Mom or Dad into anything. I know that Ayumu is doing what he thinks is right, that he's pursuing the only option that he can see. I know that Aizen did the same. I know I am doing the same. I know we're so alike in some ways. But even so, even though I understood Aizen, I couldn't let him kill innocent people. The same thing applies to Ayumu. And if I ever end up like that, then I pray someone does for me what I do for them. The concept you're using… is empathy."

And just like that, the illusions vanished, leaving Ichigo standing alone.

"…concept you're using… is empathy."

Everything was silent for a moment. Then, finally, Shinji spoke up. "Well, damn. Ayumu's forced Ichigo to empathize with him? He knows what he's doing."

Urahara nodded. "Emotional manipulation. Even though Ichigo knows that's what Ayumu's doing, that doesn't mean it's not working. Ichigo can't afford to hesitate when he fights Ayumu again."

"Dad? Why wouldn't we want Ichi-nii to protect us?" Yuzu asked her father, biting her lip.

Isshin knelt and ruffled her hair gently. "It's part of growing up. Someday soon you'll want to do things on your own, to live your own life and take care of your own problems." He threw a meaningful glance over at Karin before returning his gaze to his other daughter. "Life for most people never really gets any easier, Yuzu. You won't be 11 forever. As you get older, more and more responsibility will be put on you. You might resent it, you might appreciate it, but your priorities will change as you mature into a beautiful young woman.

"In time, you might find his, and my, presence stifling, or maybe you'll feel like we don't trust you to come to us if you do need help. That's natural. Ichigo knows that that day will come, and knows that when it does he'll have to step back for your own happiness." Seeing Yuzu's uncomprehending face, he smiled and shook his head. "I don't expect you to get it just yet, but remember that we're here for you, alright?

Yuzu nodded silently, returning her attention back to her brother, who was reaching up to tap the communication device he wore in his ear.

"Yamamoto. Where are you?"

"We followed Ayumu into the desert level. I have used Bakudō 26: Kyokkō to render your mother invisible, and she is preparing an attack. Have you escaped the illusion?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"It was unavoidable. I do not expect one as young as yourself to be completely at peace with yourself."

Urahara watched the feed as Ichigo began Shunpo-ing down to rejoin the fight. "Ichigo, with any luck Ayumu isn't aware of how quickly you threw off the illusion. Try to remain hidden. Yamamoto-sōtaicho, are you able to break the barrier without killing him?"

"Yes."

"When I give the signal, do so. Ichigo, at that moment you need to use your strongest Bakudō."

"Got it," Ichigo acknowledged.

Yamamoto was playing it cool, Ayumu noted. The sōtaicho had reverted to Shikai and was constantly probing Ayumu's defenses with fire. Every other second or so, Yamamoto was casting purple concentrated flame spells at the most evident weak point, severely cracking the barrier but not breaking it. What was he up to?

"So, you sealed my other self on this level," Ayumu observed, breaking the silence. "I can sense his seal. Quite impressive, really. When I finish killing you, I'll have to have you be the one to seal the Reiō. It'd be inconvenient for him to die, but he's in the way. Sealing him is an elegant solution."

Yamamoto remained silent, continuing his repetitive yet ultimately useless work.

"You do realize that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results?" Ayumu pointed out. "Unless you do something different, you're not going to get through my barrier. All you're doing is wearing yourself out. Why do you not use your Bankai?" Still Yamamoto said nothing. Ayumu's lips twitched downwards. "Are you really so determined not to speak with me?"

Finally, Yamamoto opened his mouth. "It's pointless to say something if you already know it. It's counterproductive to explain the purpose of my actions to you. You already know why I do not use my Bankai. And if you do not know the reasons behind my actions, then I shall not tell you."

"It is true that I know why you are not using your Bankai," Ayumu mused aloud. "The intense heat it creates… your Bankai is designed to utterly destroy your enemies. That makes it worthless against me, as you do not want to kill me on accident. But what could be your purpose, attacking my barrier but not breaking through…?"

Without warning, Yamamoto flashed into Shunpo and reappeared behind Ayumu, his spare hand crackling with electricity. "Byakurai."

Ayumu was taken by surprise, but still managed to evade the bolt of lightning easily enough. But he was completely unprepared for the powerful arrow that shot through his barrier on his other side a split second later.

Four chains lashed out from behind and wrapped up Ayumu from his thighs to his shoulders. Ayumu twisted his head to see Ichigo in Resurrección form, the chains held in his left hand. Ichigo channeled more and more reiryoku to his chains, struggling to keep them whole as Ayumu tried to break through with sheer brute strength. "Yamamoto! Hurry!"

"Rikujōkōrō!" Even as the six bars of light impacted Ayumu's midsection, Yamamoto was already in action. The sōtaicho stabbed Ryūjin Jakka into the ground and formed a hand seal. "Bakudō 99: Bankin! First song: Shiryū! Second song: Hyakurensan!"

The white fabric conjured by Yamamoto's Bakudō wrapped around Ayumu, covering him from head to toe just in time for the cloud of metal bolts created by Hyakurensan to impale Ayumu.

"Final song: Bankin Taihō!" A giant metal cube materialized above Ayumu and began to fall, only to suddenly explode, sending metal shrapnel flying in many directions.

"Oh for fuck's sake, what now?" Ichigo groaned.

"You must be Kurosaki Ichigo and Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni," Ayumu's voice came from above.

Yamamoto grit his teeth, spotting the origin of the voice. "Another avatar!" he snarled. "Kurosaki, seal the one we have as well as you can! I'll keep this one busy!"

"Ah, I think not." Yet another Ayumu appeared out of nowhere and with a slash of Asahi no Kagami, the avatar that they had captured was freed from the fabric and chains that had ensnared him.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ichigo commented, completely exasperated as he leapt back and tried to figure out what to do next. "Three Ayumus?"

"Did you really think I would stop at one spare me?" the almost-captured Ayumu asked mockingly.

"One of us for each of you, and a spare to unseal us if we were beaten," another explained as the third one landed next to them. "By the way, Yamamoto… that seal you used on me was truly something special. I'll see if I can give you an experience equally pleasant."

"Yamamoto, Ichigo!" Urahara's voice said urgently. "The three here comprise the entirety of Ayumu's soul!"

Yamamoto and Ichigo shared a glance. With all the trouble they had with one Ayumu, each of them knew that if there were three working together it would be nigh-impossible to succeed. But if there were just one, even if that one were three times as strong, then there was a chance. They had to kill all three Ayumus at once. Ichigo wasn't sure he was capable of it. But he could see in Yamamoto's eyes that the old man had an idea. Ichigo nodded, ready to support Yamamoto as best he could.

Yamamoto's lips twisted into a grim smile. "Bankai. Zanka no Tachi."

Ichigo was forced to take a step back from the sudden rush of superheated air, but cut his hand lightly as a Cero spiraled into existence between his horns. A few drops of blood floated swiftly up to the Cero, and Ichigo prepared himself to fire a Gran Rey Cero even as he began spinning Tensa Zangetsu by the chain, charging up a Getsuga.

Yamamoto lightly stuck Zanka no Tachi into the ground, and the Ayumu who had been sealed by him paled slightly. But it was too late. "Zanka no Tachi, South: Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin!"

The ground opened, and once again thousands and thousands of ash skeletons stood upon the desert of the damned. Yamamoto pointed Zanka no Tachi at the three Ayumus. "Hold them down!" he commanded, and the undead surged in like the tide, bony hands made of ash gripping ankles, arms. The various avatars were very quick about dispatching them, but sheer numbers ensured that they were unable to escape. "Now, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo's eyes had gone very wide, but he was ready when Yamamoto called his name. Hollow and Shinigami lunged at the avatars of Hell, techniques at the ready.

"Zanka no Tachi, North: Tenchi Kaijin!"

"Gran Rey Cero! Getsuga Tenshō!"

The barriers that all three Ayumus conjured were wiped away as if they were nothing behind the sheer destructive force of the most powerful Shinigami and Vizard team. When the sand settled, Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief – all three had been killed in one shot.

"What is that?" Yamamoto demanded, pointing at a rather large hole in space. It was closing slowly, but Ichigo immediately knew what it was.

"That's… a tear in the fabric of the space-time," he said slowly. "It happens sometimes when I use Gran Rey Cero."

Yamamoto nodded, but there was a calculating look in his eyes that had Ichigo a little worried. "How many more times can you use it?"

Ichigo checked his reserves. "I could use it another two or three times in short succession and still be able to fight. But if I'm given a few minutes to recover some reiryoku between shots, I could fire as many as you want. I'm able to recover my reiryoku by absorbing some of the reishi in the environment. Pretty sure it's a combination of my Quincy heritage and Hollow powers."

Yamamoto nodded again. "Kurosaki, I want you to use your Gran Rey Cero as frequently as you can. The Hell dimension is Ayumu's world. He is linked to it intrinsically. Put simply, damaging the fabric of his world means damaging his soul. At worst it will be an unwelcome distraction. At best, it could give him crippling pain, enough so that we could seal him."

Ichigo nodded with a fierce grin behind his mask. "Got it. I can do that."

"Well done," Ayumu greeted lightly, stepping forward with Asahi no Kagami at the ready and a barrier already conjured. "You managed to kill all three of me at once. You do realize I was expecting you to finish unifying my soul? It was truly your only choice. Why do you think we purposely stood next to our other selves? Now I have a grasp of your most destructive techniques."

"So what?"

"So it means that they will not harm me anymore," Ayumu replied. With a gesture towards his body, he materialized the same armor that Zen'i had been wearing during his later fights with Ichigo. "I created this armor eons ago. It negates spiritual attacks that the bearer understands. The more I understand them, the better the negation. For Zen'i, who understood the Getsuga Tenshō completely, your Getsuga was worthless," he continued, gesturing towards Ichigo offhandedly. "For me, this armor is the ultimate expression of the power behind empathy. Now that I understand your techniques, they cannot harm me. Please, feel free to take a few minutes. I'm interested to see what plan you can come up with."

Ichigo scowled behind the mask. This could be very, very bad. "We've got to get that armor off of him," he muttered.

"I concur," Yamamoto murmured. "Have you any ideas?"

A random, insane thought ran through Ichigo's head. He highly doubted the possibility, but there was always a chance that some idiot had created it. "Oh, I know I'm gonna regret asking this… I don't suppose there's a Kidō to remove clothing or armor?"

It was a mark of how serious the situation was that not one of the assembled people in the living world made a joke about other reasons Ichigo might want to know a clothes removal Kidō. They watched tensely through Ichigo's feed, praying that the answer was yes.

Yamamoto merely stared disbelievingly at Ichigo for a second, but sighed. "With the number of… eccentric… Shinigami in the Gotei and the Kidō Corps, I do not doubt its existence. However I have never had reason to learn such a thing."

With an exasperated growl, Yoruichi flashed up to machine where Urahara was waiting, microphone in hand. The scientist gave it to her wordlessly. "The Kidō exists," Yoruichi reported. "When I transform a cat, my clothes don't change with me. Kisuke helped me learn a clothes-destruction Kidō to handle it. Bad news is that it's not something I can teach you in the span of a few minutes. Keep him busy, boys. I'll be there shortly."

Shoving the microphone back at Kisuke, Yoruichi vanished and reappeared right in front of the barrier being maintained by the two Kidō masters. Tessai glanced back at Urahara, who nodded grimly.

"I'm going alone," Yoruichi said aloud, halting several of Ichigo's friends who were halfway to joining her. "Unless one of you is a master-class assassin and has somehow hidden it from me, you'll only slow me down. As it is, even I will only be useful to them for one thing. Can any of you claim to be able to fight on their level?"

The frustrated silence said it all.

"Take this," Urahara said, throwing an earpiece at her. Yoruichi caught it and in one smooth motion, put it in her ear. "And this," he added, lobbing a slightly larger device in her direction. "It's a mobile camera. Once you reach the desert level, push the button on the side and it'll activate. It's programmed to track the largest sources of reiatsu at a distance, allowing us to see more of what's going on. Maybe it'll see something Yamamoto or Ichigo can't, something we can use."

Nodding at the scientist, Yoruichi returned her attention to the barrier. "Only open it for a second," she ordered. "No. One quarter of a second. On my three count. One. Two. Three!"

The barrier dropped for a fraction of a second. And then the Goddess of Flash was gone, diving into Hell.

"Leave Hell with me for the moment," Yamamoto ordered Ichigo. "I will keep him occupied. Go use your Gran Rey Cero as we talked about."

"Right."

"You two sound like you have a plan," Ayumu commented. "Well then… shall we begin?"

Ichigo flashed away just as Yamamoto thrust his hand outward. "Daichi Tenyō!"

The desert sands lunged at Ayumu, appearing almost as a tidal wave of sand from all directions. Ayumu gave no reaction until the second he would have been crushed by the sand, at which point he carelessly swung Asahi no Kagami. The pressure behind the swing blasted away the sand easily, leaving him untouched.

However, Yamamoto had been hidden in the sand, had used it to get close. "Shō!" Ayumu's eyes went wide the incredibly simple spell punched right through his barrier just in time for Yamamoto to grab him by his arm and fling him unceremoniously up into the air, whereupon Yamamoto promptly Shunpo-ed directly above him. "Sōkotsu!" he bellowed, using a two-fisted punch to send Ayumu careening down into the desert. Yet the old sōtaicho was not done yet. "Raikōhō!"

Lightning crackled down his arm and then flashed down through the air, impacting Ayumu right in the chest before causing an enormous explosion. When the smoke cleared, Ayumu remained there on the desert sand, apparently unharmed, but his expression was quite clearly one of surprise.

Yamamoto stood there in the air in all of his fiery glory, his reiatsu billowing off of him. "I am the sōtaicho of the Gotei 13! There is no stronger Shinigami than I! What does it matter if you understand one technique? I have dozens, hundreds of techniques that I have mastered in the millennia I have lived! Your armor may have saved you from my flame, but do not presume to think that you have defeated me!"

Just then, a Gran Rey Cero fired nearby. Ayumu winced and clutched his heart, and Yamamoto allowed himself a ferocious smile. "I may not succeed in sealing you, but I will keep you from getting to Kurosaki Ichigo. I will buy him the time he needs to tear your soul apart!"