Motivation (114)

Karakura Town – Evening

So, hum, after totally not blackmailing his brother earlier that day, it was now late in the evening. Sora could be seen walking side by side with Ichigo.

Ichigo had just finished one of his latest training sessions with the Vizards, his control over his Hollow power getting more refined by the day.

Probably because he was determined to get stronger. As long as he was weaker than Sora, Sora would pull all sorts of shenanigans, and Ichigo could do nothing about it.

He refused to be carried over the shoulder ever again.

Sora, meanwhile, was as mischievous as always.

"So, how's the Hollow control going?" The boy asked with a smile on his face.

That smile made Ichigo shudder. Sora was scary.

"I've got it down," Ichigo muttered. He was tired. He couldn't deal with Sora's bullshit right now.

"Oh? You sure about that? Wanna test it out?" Sora was quite eager to see Ichigo's progress.

Ichigo, in the meantime, was not as eager as Sora.

Fuck no.

The memory of Sora completely beating the dog shit out of him in their last sparring session flooded his mind.

The sheer embarrassment of being tossed around like a ragdoll made him pause. He would rather fight Kenny... On second thought, he wouldn't fight either of them.

"Yeah, fuck that," Ichigo muttered. Ain't no way he was fighting any of those two. Respectfully, Sora's strength was a freaking anomaly.

But before Sora could taunt him, the sky above them distorted.

Young boy music could practically be heard playing as what seemed to be a pair of black Timbs stepped out of the portal.

For one second, this almost felt like—anyway, Sora found the perfect dummy.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

And his Fracción.

A massive surge of spiritual pressure flooded Karakura Town.

They could all feel the power of the black Air Force energy.

The fade runner was here, and he wanted smoke.

After watching Ulquiorra get bitched, he wanted to show he was better and wouldn't get bitched like that.

He was ready to run them hands.

However, before anything else could happen, Sora vanished.

— Lichtschritt.

A flicker of light.

The next thing anyone saw was Sora gripping Grimmjow by the face.

"Wha—"

With another flash, Sora teleported back to Ichigo, slamming Grimmjow right in front of him.

Sora acted as if this was just a good old regular Tuesday. It wasn't that Grimmjow was weak... Sora was just... stronger.

By a lot.

Plus, Grimmjow wasn't even top three in the Espada, so his chances of winning were slim—somehow even lower than Aizen being misunderstood.

Ichigo stood there, stunned.

Did Sora just...

Grimmjow, even more so.

Did... did he just get blitzed?!

While Ichigo and Grimmjow were stunned, frozen, trying to understand what had just happened, Sora simply started building a barrier around them.

Yeah, this was going to be good.

He would finally get to see Ichigo's progress.

And to make sure Grimmjow was really going to participate, Sora let his Reiatsu leak out of his body.

Pressure.

A crushing force equal to Aizen's own bore down on the fade demon.

Grimmjow gritted his teeth. This kid... was a monster.

"Alright, listen up. You two fight. I want to see how strong Ichigo is. And you, my dear Hollow friend..." He had a smile on his face as he spoke to them as if organizing a children's game.

"Unless you want the Ulquiorra special, I suggest you cooperate."

Grimmjow hated being ordered around. But at this moment, he knew he couldn't do shit. That pressure wasn't normal. This kid wasn't just some Quincy—he was something else entirely.

The beast growled. Well, at least he understood. Now, onto Ichigo.

Ichigo could be seen holding his Zanpakutō close. It was now or never. He was ready for this.

There was nothing that could make him use more of his Hollow power.

"Oh, by the way, Ichigo—" Sora called, waving his phone around, though in a way only Ichigo could see.

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked. The hell did Sora want?

Sora turned his phone screen toward Ichigo. A video played.

— A close-up of Ichigo kissing Orihime.

Ichigo's soul left his body.

Well, to be fair, he was currently in his soul form. Kon was in his body right now.

Sora casually scrolled to another video.

— A grainy, shaky recording of a certain orange-haired individual in his room. Hand moving rapidly under the covers.

Wait.

Wait.

Ichigo could see the live feed... wait, hold up.

"WAIT, THAT'S NOT ME—THAT'S KON!!"

"Oh, I know." Sora had a devious smile on his face.

Ichigo's face drained of color.

"But..." Sora hummed, tilting the phone to the side. "Would Orihime know?"

Silence.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then—

"BAN-KAI!!!!"

Black and red spiritual energy exploded around Ichigo.

His Hollow mask snapped onto his face instantly.

The sheer malice in his gaze made even Grimmjow take a step back.

This was a man taking zero risks.

"Aww, that's cute. You finally learned what true fear is," Sora added with a smile. Ichigo's reputation was riding on this. Sora had Orihime's number, and it didn't take a genius to guess what he was planning to do.

Ichigo didn't reply. He was already in Grimmjow's face.

—

He would not lose.

A/N Good motivation