Ichigo's only thought when he saw Byakko was that 'That is one annoying cat.'

He brought out his spirit sword, and let Byakko make the first move. The tiger didn't blink, but rather sent some makeshift demons to test the waters. He wasn't an idiot.

Ichigo cut them all in half with his sword,not even phased by there appearance. He ran towards Byakko, not even caring about the distance.

Byakko jumped down and started to suck in the kid's energy, only to blink. Why wasn't the sword growing smaller? It wasn't until he knocked Ichigo off the parapet that things really got interesting.

"Ichigo!" yelped Yusuke.

Am I going to die?

…

SCREW THIS! I AM NOT ABOUT TO LET AN OVERSIZED TIGER KILL ME THAT EASILY!

Perhaps now you are finally ready. My name, Ichigo, is...

"ZANGETSU!"

The explosion of power did three things.

One, the sword in his hand became much more solid and had a cloth tied around the hilt. Some of it even flapped in the breeze.

Two, Ichigo was back on the parapet, and his power was calmly swirling around him in a wave. He was stronger than before.

And three, Ichigo was no longer wearing his tee shirt and jeans that were ripped open at the knee caps. Instead he was wearing the standard uniform for soul reapers, with an odd brocade along his back. It was red, and from what Hiei could tell it would allow Ichigo to wear his sword on his back.

"Hope you can survive this Fluffy, because I really can't control this quite yet," said Ichigo calmly.

Byakko growled at the nickname, but was caught off guard when a blast of pure spirit energy hit him like a wall.

The demon was so taken aback that it took him a bit to get to his special hell room. Like Ichigo said earlier, he allowed Kuwabara to go after him. He knew it would be easier for a weakened demon to be taken out by the weakest member of the team.

"You are a real idiot," said Ichigo. Kuwabara had won by the skin of his teeth...almost literally.

"While I agree, there is something I've been meaning to ask you Kurosaki. You called your sword Zangetsu after you fell off the castle. Why?" asked Kurama.

"Oh...that's because my sword is a Zanpakuto. I had to call out his name for me to release any of his real power. I've been sparring with Hiei for weeks now just to hear his name."

"You're a soul reaper?" asked Kurama surprised.

"Genkai called me Shinketsu...which I have no idea what that means."

"It means 'True Blood'. That's the term given to the children of both soul reaper and the living. They're extremely rare since generally they can't handle the strain of their powers in the living world, so they tend to die rather quickly...unless they're eaten of course," said Hiei.

"They are also considered abominations by the soul society. In terms that you can understand, the nobles of the soul society regard them with the same attitude as the Koorime do male children," explained Kurama.

"Fox..." growled Hiei.

"Looks like you had more in common with Ichigo than I thought Hiei."

"So, Hiei, does your sword still complain?" asked Ichigo, changing the subject.

"Yes, though recently I've been hearing the voice more often. He keeps trying to give me a name, though I can only hear bits and pieces."

"I think it's a zanpakuto just like Zangetsu. Maybe you'll get a power up once you hear his or her name."

"Hnn. It would be interesting to see how the Soul Society reacts to a demon with a zanpakuto. They're notorious for being intolerant of demons in general for some reason, and their leading judicial body is notorious for being idiots," said Hiei.

"Great..." said Ichigo sarcastically. Hiei smirked at him.

It was Hiei's turn next...Byakko had barely survived and yet Seiryuu killed him without a second thought simply because he had lost. And in doing so he pissed off Hiei.

The foolish ice demon was sliced and diced before he could realize that his powers were useless against the Hi-Koorime. Only Ichigo was able to keep up with each stroke of the blade, and that was from months of sparring with the demon.

Hiei and Ichigo got along for many reasons, but the primary one was because Ichigo was like Hiei in many ways. He would kill to protect family, even if it meant having to do some unsavory things in the process. Hiei was still searching for his twin Yukina, and Ichigo had given the demon his promise that if he ever needed help in rescuing her, he would do everything in his power to assist him.

And if Yukina needed a place to recover, they could leave her with his family, since Isshin had actually met Hiei before and had taken a shine to him. Hiei had great fun punching Isshin in the face for being an idiot.

Naturally the fiery demon got along great with Karin.

Hiei was about to put his sword back up when he noticed something.

He could hear the voice clear as day.

Alright then, who are you?

It's about damn time! Do you know how boring it was being stuck with a soul reaper who already has a sword and or in that damn armory? I thought I would never be heard again!

Name please.

An impatient demon aren't you? Very well, my name is Ensui. I have the ability to take in water and turn it into a blade. Hot, cold or liquid. I can bring out the Koorime blood that has been lying dormant inside you, making you much harder to beat.

Interesting. Perhaps I won't snap you in half like I had originally planned...

"Hiei, you alright?" asked Ichigo.

"The sword finally deigned to talk to me," said Hiei.

"Swords can't talk," said Kuwabara, as if speaking to a child.

"Normal swords can't, but Zanpakuto can," said Kurama.

"Zanpak-what?" said Kuwabara.

"Zanpakuto, or the weapons that Soul Reapers use, are part of the soul and therefor have the ability to talk to their wielder. In most cases their primary function is to send souls to the afterlife or to hell, depending on whether or not the soul had committed crimes in life. Most of the time spiritually aware people with the right wavelength will see them running around town taking care of fallen souls called hollows," said Kurama.

"You mean those weird demons with holes in their chests and white masks?" said Kuwabara.

"They aren't demons," said Hiei defensively.

"Hollows are not demons. They are human souls who failed to be taken to the afterlife in time or were eaten by other hollows. While some can be as strong as demons they certainly aren't like Hiei and I," said Kurama. Inwardly he was just as offended as Hiei. Comparing a mere hollow to a demon... the very nerve!

"So what's the deal with Soul Reapers?" asked Yusuke, opening the door. The could talk while they walked.

"Soul Reapers are entirely different from ferry girls like Botan. They have their own society called the Soul Society and they live in the Seireitei, or Court of Pure Souls. A soul that has been lead to the afterlife by a soul reaper goes to the soul society instead of the Reikai like you did. The one in charge of the soul reapers is a man named Genryusai Yamamoto, and he is over a thousand years old," said Kurama.

"How do you know all this stuff?" said Kuwabara.

"There have been altercations in the past and there was almost a war before Enma put his foot down and laid down an agreement with Yamamoto. Now, soul reapers can only go after hollows and the Reikei can only go after demons...though there was an incident a few hundred years ago when the soul society nearly wiped out a group of spiritually aware humans called the Quincy because according to them they were 'disturbing the balance of souls'. The Reikai was pretty upset because living humans fall under their jurisdiction. According to some of the records I looked up at Koenma's request, Enma told Yamamoto if he had that much of an issue with the Quincy he should have brought it up to them," said Kurama.

"Though to be fair, the Quincy were living mostly in Seireitei territory that Reikai," said Hiei.

"They have territory?" said Ichigo, blinking.

"They split Japan into districts to keep the peace, since there are other afterlifes and soul societies out there. Karakura for instance is Seireitei territory whereas Yusuke's town is Reikai. It's actually a bit of a nightmare whenever a wanted demon slips into Seireitei territory or a hollow slips into Reikai space...though generally the biggest issue is with demons, because hollows have their own world and the Soul Society seems to have trouble keeping them in, unlike the Reikai, who simply put up a barrier to keep the higher levels in the Makai," said Kurama.

"Sounds like a pain in the ass... Turn right, the demonic energy seems to be coming from the third door on the right," said Ichigo.

"Yeah, I sensed it too," said Kuwabara. What he lacked in skill and fighting potential he made up for in his ability to sense energy.

It was pretty much the only reason that Hiei had yet to kill him, despite the teen being the weakest of the group.

(Ichigo was the strongest, followed by Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama and finally Kuwabara.)

"We have to kill pod people to go ahead... is this guy serious?" asked Ichigo.

"I have an idea..." started Yusuke.

"If it involves jumping on the shoulders of everyone else, forget it. No way in hell am I letting you do that when you have kami-knows-what on your shoes from walking around here. Hang on...Zangetsu's saying something... Really? Huh...useful," said Ichigo after a moment.

"What did Zangetsu tell you?" asked Hiei.

"He said soul reapers can walk on spirit particles."

"Oh, that. Soul reapers have innate control of spirit energy. Sometimes they use it to run or stand on thin air. It's mostly used in the living world, because there's too much of it in the soul society for any real control to be possible," said Hiei.

"So basically I can fly," said Ichigo.

"No, you can walk on air. Flying takes a specific device or a ferry oar," said Kurama. It was almost dripping in sarcasm.

Ichigo grabbed Yusuke's collar...and started running. Zangetsu told him how to control the spirit particles in the air to walk on them, and with a few tentative steps the teen was air bound and running up to the window past the pod people. Kuwabara was gaping while the two demons started to work on the pod people, as Ichigo put it.

Ichigo leaned out the window.

"We'll meet you at the top!" he shouted down.

"GET GOING ALREADY!" shouted Hiei back.

The trio arrived just in time for them to see Ichigo killing a brightly colored bird that had the flute in it's claws. Yusuke was out cold and Suzaku was dead from a spirit attack.

"Damn bird," said Ichigo as he stomped the flute flat.

"What happened to him?" asked Hiei looking at Yusuke.

"Used up his reserves. Any of you know how to do a transfer?" he asked.

"I do," said Kurama sighing. Yusuke was beyond reckless. Ichigo supplied the power (Kurama had a bit of trouble regulating it until Ichigo figured out how to cut some of it down) and once he was done, he leaned down to pick up the teen. Kuwabara was about to pass out on the spot.

Kurama looked at Hiei.

"Flip a coin?" he said.

"Heads," said Hiei. Kurama took out a single coin and flipped it. Ichigo caught it and said "It's tails."

Hiei cursed, but knocked out the redhead before putting him in a fireman's carry.

"Ow..." said Kuwabara. Both Yusuke and the foolish Kuwabara had practically worn themselves down to their lowest during the last mission, and unlike Ichigo they didn't have naturally large reserves to fall back on.

Ichigo was healing Chad, who had his hands full dealing with the insect possessed teachers trying to kill Botan and Keiko. Once he was done here, he was going to meet Hiei so they could spar with their swords.

He had learned an interesting fact about his new uniform and sword.

Whenever his clothes turned to soul reaper standard, he was invisible to everyone who couldn't see ghosts. Which made hiding the massive cleaver a hell of a lot easier.

Zangetsu remained a massive cleaver and refused to revert back to a standard katana. Strangely, while Ichigo had no trouble lifting him, Hiei had nearly collapsed under his weight when Ichigo allowed him to inspect the sword.

According to Kurama, it meant Ichigo's sword was permanently in shikai, or initial release, state.

Isshin confirmed what Kurama had told them about the soul society and the reikai, though he was more familiar with the soul society for obvious reasons.

Now that Ichigo had managed to bring out his sword without ditching his body (made it a lot easier to explain that Ichigo had merely stepped out or left than trying to hide his body every time he needed to do something) Isshin signed him up to work with Tessai on kido.

It was only a matter of time before the Soul Society learned about Ichigo, and he would rather his son be prepared for the worst.

Ichigo was about to head out of his house when he heard the commotion down the street.

At first glance it appeared to be Yusuke and Kuwabara beating up people...which made absolutely no sense because those two were practically bed ridden.

"The hell?"

Ichigo popped into Yusuke's house and heard him cussing out his mother again. So that wasn't him down there.

(Isshin had all but adopted Yusuke as a son, considering he was a better parent and less terrifying than Atsuko to the Principal. That being said, he could care less about Yusuke being a complete delinquent, considering the school already considered his son one as it was. Ironically enough, the fact Yusuke acted like a second older brother to Karin and Yuzu actually meant they had some protection from the neighborhood bullies. Not that Yuzu ever took use of that fact...Karin on the other hand had Yusuke and Ichigo on speed dial.)

Ichigo went outside, took one look at the imposters and grinned.

It had been far too long since his last beat down of the morons.

"AHHH!"

"SWEET MOTHER OF KAMI! HE'S A DEMON!"

"NOOOOO! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BEND THAT WAY!"

"WILL YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP?! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" yelled Yusuke, before he looked down and spotted a familiar head of orange hair.

He took out the special item Ichigo had asked Koenma to hand him and the others. He had a feeling that they would end up in hot water again, and it would be easier if they had a way to contact each other just in case.

They looked like cell phones, and according to Botan, Koenma got them from the Soul Society. They were mostly used in the field to find Hollows, but these were calibrated to locate demons.

Ichigo's had a duel-function, so it could find both.

Yusuke deftly located Ichigo's number (it had numbers already in it, he just had to find them) and dialed it. He never had to pay for minutes, but he did have to charge the damn thing.

"Yo."

"Who are you beating up down there?" he asked grinning.

"Some idiot demons decided to take advantage of the fact you and Kuwabara were out of commission for a while to ruin your rep and cause trouble. I...persuaded...them to fuck off," said Ichigo. Spending time around Yusuke had added to his vocabulary.

"Ah. Carry on then," said Yusuke, yawning.

"Go back to sleep Urameshi," said Ichigo with a snort.