Attraction to Power

Disclaimer: The only kind of Bleach I own is the kind that goes into a washing machine, but if I owned the anime, the god-awful Bount Arc would never have come to pass.

AN: This takes place a little after Aizen and his associates defect but before the Vizards start showing up.

Night had fallen over the Soul Society. Not many were awake at this particular hour, save for the night guards patrolling the vast labyrinth that was the Seireitei…and the captain of Squad Two.

Soi Fon, the current leader of the Stealth Force, was wide awake in her office within the Squad Two area of the Seireitei. Despite the rather late hour, the second youngest captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads simply had too many things going through her mind that prevented her from accepting the sweet darkness of sleep.

Sure there was the whole thing with the three Captains defecting to Hueco Mundo. That was the big thing on everyone's mind, but to Soi Fon, that was put on the backburner so to speak. There was only really one thing on her mind…or rather one person on her mind: the substitute soul reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki.

She thought back to when she first actually saw the orange haired young man. Back atop of the Sokyoku when Rukia Kuchiki was about to be executed.

Ever since that day, Soi Fon made it her business to gather every little tidbit of information regarding Ichigo. What she found was nothing short of fascinating. First, he managed to survive against Renji and Byakuya in the world of the living. Despite the limits placed on them, both Byakuya and Renji were more powerful than the typical human.

Not long after that, Ichigo and the rest of his ryoka friends entered the Soul Society and appeared in the West Rukon District, where he took on and defeated the guardian of the Hakudo Gate, Jidanbo, which was no small feat in its own right. The next couple of days after that were just full of surprises when Ichigo and his friends crashed through the protective membrane that surrounded the Seireitei by way of a spiritual cannonball created by Kukaku Shiba and her little brother Ganju.

Upon entering the Seireitei, the very first opponent Ichigo encountered was none other than Ikkaku Madarame, a powerful Soul Reaper in his own right and one of Kenpachi's top men in Squad 11. After a close fight, Ichigo managed to defeat Ikkaku and started off towards the Repentance Cell where Rukia was being held. Along the way, the orange haired substitute had to run the gauntlet so to speak against almost every member of Kenpachi's squad until he somehow managed to take himself off the radar until late in the day when he faced off with Renji again. This time, Ichigo managed to defeat Byakuya's lieutenant, but much like the battle with Ikkaku, the carrot top didn't come out of that battle unscathed.

After hearing of Renji's defeat, Soi Fon was more than willing to join the hunt for Ichigo…until she and most of the other Captains had gotten sidetracked with Aizen's fake death. As a result, her plans had been derailed for the time being.

The next day, Soi Fon had heard that Ichigo had somehow, someway managed to best the psychotic Kenpachi Zaraki. At first, Soi Fon couldn't believe it. After all, Renji did a number on him less than a day ago, and now, he just defeated one of the most powerful Captains in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads? But it was confirmed by one of her squad members…and the immense spiritual pressure that could probably be felt throughout the Seireitei during the final moments of the battle.

Not very long after that, the last sighting of Ichigo was at the walkway going into the Repentance Cell itself, where he had a small face off with Byakuya before he disappeared. She would later learn that her old mentor, Yoruichi Shihoin, managed to get him away before the head of the Kuchiki Clan could tear the ryoka to shreds.

A couple of days later, Rukia's execution was underway.

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A few days ago – Sokyoku Hill, Formal Execution of Rukia Kuchiki

Within the duration of about a day, the woman born under the name Shaolin Fon was forced to suddenly rethink what was and what wasn't possible.

First of all, everything looked like it going smoothly. Rukia Kuchiki was suspended high in the air, the seal placed on the Sokyoku had been released and the great execution spear took the form of a giant flaming phoenix. It was the most beautiful thing Soi Fon had ever seen, while at the same time, the most destructive thing she had ever witnessed. The Squad Two Captain had only hoped that she would never have to meet the same fate that awaited the Kuchiki girl.

But just when it looked like the Sokyoku was about to do its job, it just stopped. Everyone looked up to see just what was going on. That was when Soi Fon saw HIM for the first time. A young man with spiky orange hair that almost matched the color of the inside of her haori and was dressed in the same kind of garb as any other Soul Reaper. He also wore some kind of a cape, which was allowing him to fly. Soi Fon also saw his zanpakuto, which looked like a very large cleaver that had no grip or guard. She also noted with widened eyes full of awe that he had managed to stop the Sokyoku.

"This can't be." Soi Fon said aloud to no one in particular. "He actually stopped the spear. But the Sokyoku had the power of a million zanpakuto. He couldn't have taken it on with a single zanpakuto, could he? Just who the hell IS this guy?"

Everyone else just look on in shock and awe, though both Head Captain Yamamoto and Byakuya did a fairly good job of hiding their emotions. Soi Fon did manage to overhear Shunsui Kyoraku talking with his lieutenant, Nanao Ise.

"Nanao, do you think it's him? The one the other ryoka was talking about?" Shunsui asked.

"Yes." Nanao replied without a hint of doubt in her voice. "His appearance does seem to match the description from the captains' reports that we received."

After some arguing between the ryoka boy and Rukia, the Sokyoku Phoenix backed up in order to make another charge. Soi Fon managed to hear the Kuchiki girl shout that there was no way the ryoka, Ichigo as she called him, would be able to block the spear a second time and quite frankly, the Squad Two Captain had to agree, but her jaw would have hit the ground were it not for the fact that it was attached to her skull when she saw that Ichigo was actually charging towards the flaming beast.

"This guy is either incredibly powerful, absolutely out of his mind or both! He's actually going to take that thing head-on?" Soi Fon thought.

But just when Ichigo and the Sokyoku Phoenix were about to clash, Unexpected Occurrence #2 happened when a giant rope wrapped itself around the great flaming bird. Everyone looked to see the Captain of Squad Thirteen, Jushiro Ukitake, along with his two third seats, Kiyone and Sentaro, show up with a giant shield. A shield that bore the crest of the Shihoin Clan, which Soi Fon recognized instantly.

When Shunsui appeared beside his friend, they both drew their respective swords and inserted them into the slots in the shield. A wave of energy flowed through the rope holding the Phoenix in place. A moment later, the great flaming bird exploded.

What happened next could only be described as all hell breaking loose in Soi Fon's view. After freeing the Kuchiki girl, Ichigo tossed her like a javelin to Renji Abarai, who had just taken out the monks who had released the Sokyoku's power. He then told the redheaded officer to take Rukia and run. Soi Fon then ordered her bumbling lieutenant, Marechiyo Omeada, as well as the other two present, Isane Kotetsu and Chojiro Sasakibe, to capture them.

But for the third time within ten minutes, the unexpected happened…again. Before the three lieutenants could close in on Renji, Ichigo appeared before them, blocking their progress. The substitute soul reaper then stuck his large zanpakuto into the ground and took a step towards the three highly confused lieutenants.

"First, he stopped the Sokyoku and made it look easy. Now he's taking on not one, but THREE Lieutenants…WITHOUT his zanpakuto? He IS insane." Soi Fon thought. But what happened next, no one could see coming. Marechiyo, Chojiro and Isane released their respective zanpakuto, ready to tear the ryoka to pieces…but before either of them could make a move, Ichigo dashed forward and smashed Marechiyo's zanpakuto, Gegetsuburi, to pieces…with just a single punch by the way! As the large Soul Reaper fell backwards, Ichigo delivered lightning quick knockout blows to Chojiro and Isane.

Before the three lieutenants hit the ground, Byakuya charged towards the ryoka, thus beginning their clash.

So now, Soi Fon was watching Ichigo cross zanpakuto with one of the more powerful Captains in the Soul Society, Byakuya Kuchiki. She managed to catch Kiyone out of the corner of her eye rushing to see if her sister, Isane, was alright. Before the third seat could get far, Soi Fon flash stepped in front of the girl, halting her progress. While she wanted to see the battle between Ichigo and Byakuya, Soi Fon was also aware that she was still on the job.

"Going somewhere?" The Squad Two Captain asked the clearly frightened third seat. Soi Fon narrowed her eyes at the girl, practically daring her to try and get past her. When Jushiro tried to make a move, he was quickly stopped by Yamamoto. Since all eyes were on the old man, Soi Fon didn't really pay too much attention to Yamamoto's little speech and took glances at the battle being waged behind her.

After some words, Shunsui grabbed Ukitake's shoulder and flash stepped away with Nanao right behind them. With a sigh, Yamamoto took off after them a moment later.

"Kiyone, come on. The Captain's gonna need our help!" Sentaro said, grabbing Kiyone's arm before they took off as well.

That only left Soi Fon and the captain of Squad Four, Retsu Unohana, on top of Sokyoku Hill with Ichigo and Byakuya battling it out in the distance.

"Aren't you going to give chase, Captain Soi Fon?" Unohana asked.

"Why bother, Captain Unohana?" Soi Fon replied. "If those two want to act as Ukitake's shields against the Head Captain, then by all means let them. The old man will deal with them."

"I see." Unohana said, turning towards the fallen lieutenants and priests. "Well then, I must be going. Everyone over here needs medical treatment." The head of the Medical Department released her zanpakuto, Minazuki. Within moments, the sword transformed into a giant, green manta ray creature that swallowed the fallen Soul Reapers, except for Isane. Unohana carefully picked up her lieutenant the way a mother would pick up a child and leaped on top of Minazuki. A moment later, the creature floated away towards the Squad Four Treatment Facility.

And so, that only left Soi Fon with a front row seat to quite frankly the duel of the century in her mind. Neither Byakuya nor Ichigo seemed to notice the Squad Two captain looking on like a spectator. After seeing the ominous aura emanating from the two, Soi Fon decided that a different vantage point would be a wise choice. So the Stealth Force leader simply flash stepped over to the small forest of dead looking trees on the other side of the hill where she could watch and not get in the way, but also have a quick escape path as there was a stair case that led down to the ground.

The battle continued as a fairly back and forth battle for a while. She managed to overhear Byakuya say something about Ichigo's use of the flash step. "If this kid honestly thinks the flash step is going to enough to beat Byakuya, he's in for a world of hurt." Soi Fon thought as she watched from a tree.

Now here was where she thought she was hearing things because Ichigo's reply was a demand that Byakuya use his Bankai against him. "He actually WANTS Kuchiki to use his Bankai on him? Zaraki must've knocked more than a few screws loose."

Byakuya denied his request and attacked him with Senbonzakura…which Ichigo promptly countered with a swing of his sword that created a beam of light that not only nullified Senbonzakura's attack, but created a sizable crack in the ground…and managed to wound Kuchiki's left hand.

Even with her keen sense of hearing, Soi Fon struggled to overhear what Ichigo was saying. She did manage to catch the name of the previous attack: Getsuga Tensho. "The Moon Fang that slices the heavens. Interesting name."

Apparently that last attack was enough to change Byakuya's mind about using his Bankai as Soi Fon watched the Squad Six Captain hold Senbonzakura out and then drop the blade into the ground…where it then seemed to sink into the ground as if it were water. A moment later, numerous giant blades rose out of the ground.

"Well, ryoka. You wanted it, you got it." Soi Fon said as the blades scattered into countless pink sakura pedals. What happened next was fairly academic, but Soi Fon had to give the kid credit. He lasted longer than she had originally thought.

When the dust cleared after the sakura pedals drove the boy into ground, Soi Fon was mildly surprised to see that Ichigo was still very much alive. She overheard Byakuya explain how his Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, worked.

"That was pretty stupid of me. Thinking that I could beat a Bankai with just my Shikai." Ichigo said while panting.

"That arrogant mouth of will be the death of you." Byakuya replied. "You speak as if you have already achieved Bankai level."

What Soi Fon heard from Ichigo when he began to talk again made the Squad Two Captain believe for a moment that she really needed to get her hearing checked, because either her hearing was getting very bad…or this Ichigo kid was truly too cocky for his own good.

"Yeah. You catch on quick, Byakuya Kuchiki." Ichigo said

Soi Fon could only imagine the look on Byakuya's face as she was more than positive that it mirrored the look on her face. "He achieved Bankai? That's impossible! But then again, here's a guy who beat down a Who's Who of powerful Soul Reapers practically back to back, stopped the Sokyoku as if it were nothing, took down three lieutenants in seconds without a zanpakuto and managed to hold his own against Byakuya. And now he's saying that he achieved BANKAI? Who is this guy? What is this guy?"

"What did you just say?" Byakuya asked, wondering if he should get his hearing checked himself.

"You heard me." Ichigo said. "I'm not a big fan of repeating myself, so why don't I show you instead?"

And with that, a giant aura of bluish white light engulfed Ichigo and rose to the heavens. Soi Fon could make out Ichigo's shape as he pointed his zanpakuto at Byakuya and said one simple word.

"BANKAI!"

As soon as he said that, the light intensified, causing Soi Fon to shield her eyes. As she was doing so, the Squad Two Captain had to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't some weird ass dream that she just couldn't seem to wake up from. Yet again, Soi Fon found herself questioning just what was possible and what wasn't.

The massive spiritual pressure caused a huge cloud of dust to form, obstructing any and all view for a moment. It lasted a few minutes before it began to clear up.

"Tensa Zangetsu." She heard Ichigo say. If anyone were to see Soi Fon at the moment, they would have noticed that her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Ichigo stood before Byakuya with a slightly different appearance. Over his Soul Reaper robes, he now wore a tattered looking overcoat. However, it was his zanpakuto that had Soi Fon's attention. It was no longer a giant cleaver. Instead, it was now looked a regular Zanpakuto, except the blade was jet black. "This…is…not…happening." Soi Fon thought in pure disbelief.

"Is that it?" Byakuya asked. "That small weapon is your Bankai?"

That remark angered Soi Fon a bit. She remembered when she first reached Shikai level with Suzumebachi and how many of her family members poked fun at her for it because it was so small. It didn't get much better when she reached Bankai level as it wasn't very big compared to the other Captains. Soi Fon overheard Byakuya go on about Ichigo's Bankai offending the honor of the Soul Reapers before he attacked with Senbonzakura Kageyoshi again.

But before Ichigo was engulfed by the lethal sakura pedals gain, he was right in front of Byakuya with his zanpakuto to his throat. "What the hell? How did he get right up in Kuchiki's face like that? I didn't even see him move. It was too fast to even be a flash step."

She heard Ichigo say something to Byakuya. What it was exactly she couldn't tell as they were talking too low even for her to hear.

What happened next was a blur, literally. After he finished talking to Byakuya again, Ichigo jumped back. A moment later, Byakuya attacked with Senbonzakura Kageyoshi yet again, but this time, the ryoka boy was all over the place as he managed to avoid Byakuya's attacks again and again. Eventually, Ichigo was in the air when Byakuya managed to surround him with Senbonzakura's deadly pedal blades. "Alright, ryoka. Let's see you dodge this one." Soi Fon said as she watched with absolute interest.

No one could have seen what happened next as Ichigo began to swing his zanpakuto at impossible speeds, thus deflecting every single pedal blade. "He…he's not human. That's all there is too it. He is not human."

After ending his barrage, Ichigo disappeared and reappeared right behind Byakuya, clearly catching the normally emotionless Squad Six Captain completely by surprise. Ichigo then proceeded to stab Byakuya, but the Kuchiki Clan head managed to catch the blade at the very last second and divert it away from his kidneys.

Although Byakuya was talking too low for Soi Fon to hear him, she had an idea of what the Captain was saying. "Looks like I'm not the only one who just figured out how this kid's Bankai works. There's a reason it's small. It lets him fight at speeds that exceed even the flash step. And who says bigger is better?" Soi Fon thought.

Byakuya managed to push away from Ichigo. "Watch carefully, Ichigo Kurosaki. Watch and behold, the true form of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Byakuya said as the blood on the ground from his wounds began to glow pink and rose up like fire. Within moments, a great pink light engulfed the whole area.

When the light cleared, it revealed countless floating pink swords that circled around both Byakuya and Ichigo. "Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Byakuya stated.

"Now I know I'm happy I didn't chase Ukitake's little pets." Soi Fon said to herself. This was easily unlike anything she had ever seen in her life. And Soi Fon had seen quite a bit go down in her rather long life. The Squad Two Captain got the feeling that Byakuya didn't just pull this little trick for just anyone. She had only heard mere stories about Byakuya's Senbonzakura, but hearing about it was one thing. Seeing it was COMPLETELY different.

The battle continued on. After a while, it looked like the ryoka had finally run out of steam. "Well, regardless. This kid should feel proud. I can't even remember the last guy who gave Byakuya this much of a run for his money."

But, just when it looked like Byakuya was finally going to put the boy out of his misery…and just when Soi Fon thought there were no surprises left…the unexpected happened…yet AGAIN.

Just as Byakuya brought the blade down…Ichigo caught it with his bare hand.

"I thought I told you already, King. It's a big problem for me if you get yourself killed."

Soi Fon blinked several times. "What the hell?" The braided woman said aloud, no longer caring if anyone heard her or not. The voice she and Byakuya just heard sounded like Ichigo, but at the same time, it was different. It sounded…evil.

In an instant, the battle resumed as Ichigo fought Byakuya with renewed vigor. Soi Fon could hear the evil laughter coming from the boy. The leader of the Stealth Force moved a little closer so she could get a better look through the barrier of blades. What she saw made her blood run cold. On the left side of Ichigo's face was what appeared to be a mask of a Hollow.

Just when it looked like the Ichigo Hollow had Byakuya dead to rights, he stopped and began to have an argument…with himself and started to tear at the mask covering half his face.

"STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"I DON'T NEED YOU, SO STOP INTERFERRING!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S INTERFERRING! DON'T YOU GET IT! I WAS ABOUT TO KILL HIM! YOU WILL WIN IF YOU JUST LEAVE IT TO ME! DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU FOOL!"

With a loud scream that sounded like a thousand damned souls, Ichigo managed to rip the Hollow Mask from his face. After a moment, the orange haired seemingly returned to normal.

"Sorry about that. That was an unwelcome interruption." Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head as the remaining fragments of the mask fell from his head.

Both Byakuya and Soi Fon had the same thought. "He called THAT an interruption? What is he?"

"Very well." Byakuya said. "I won't inquire into what that…thing was. But I do not think that either of us has the strength to continue like this for much longer…so let us end this."

"Oh damn." Soi Fon thought as she flash stepped away and back towards the forest of dead trees. It was a good thing that she did as the floating swords seemed to vanish and condense into one sword made of blinding white light.

"Shukei Hakuteiken. The White Emperor Sword." Byakuya said as he held a sword made of energy. There were also two large wings and a halo behind the Kuchiki Clan Head, also made of white light.

"That's incredible." Ichigo said and Soi Fon couldn't agree more. "I'm afraid I don't have anything that can top that. Zangetsu only taught me the Getsuga Tensho thus far. So I guess I have to make it count." With that, Ichigo concentrated all his power into his zanpakuto, engulfing him in a jet black aura.

The scene before her reminded Soi Fon of the classic yin-yang symbol. Hell, this whole fight reminded her of that as these two were complete polar opposites. Byakuya Kuchiki, the calm collected leader of Squad Six and head of the noble Kuchiki clan. Ichigo Kurosaki, a hotheaded young man from the world of the living who had taken on all comers. A small part of Soi Fon's mind registered that the name Kurosaki somehow sounded familiar, but it was filed away for later as she concentrated more on the battle at hand.

"So, this is it. This will be the deciding blow." The Squad Two Captain thought as the two warriors charged. At that moment, Soi Fon wisely got behind a sturdy looking tree. "You don't have to be a psychic to know that what happens next is not going to be pretty."

A moment later, a mammoth explosion of sprit energy filled the air and was visible for miles. And just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Soi Fon poked her head out from behind the tree, which barely held up by the way. She saw Ichigo and Byakuya still standing, but barely.

The ryoka managed to keep himself from falling to the ground by stabbing his zanpakuto into the ground. Byakuya managed to still move, but his zanpakuto was missing.

Soi Fon heard Byakuya say something, but it was too low for her to hear. After a brief back and forth between the two, Byakuya used flash step to vanish.

After a moment, Ichigo Kurosaki yelled to the heavens before he began to fall to the ground as exhaustion finally kicked him…and then, for the umpteenth time that day, something unexpected happened as Ichigo was head butted in the back of his head by a busty young woman in a Soul Reaper's uniform, causing the orange haired boy to fall to the ground, clutching his head in pain.

Soi Fon watched from her hiding place as Ichigo was joined by the other ryoka as well Kenpachi's diminutive lieutenant, Yachiru and some other Soul Reaper who was unfamiliar to the Squad Two Captain. The odd look meant that he was yet another one of the weirdoes from Zaraki's squad. Since they were all together, Soi Fon thought about revealing herself and arresting them all…but as soon as that thought occurred, it was gone.

"He just faced off with one of the greatest Captains in the history of the Soul Society. I think he's earned a break." Soi Fon thought as she flash stepped out of the area and back towards her own barracks.

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Present

Not even an hour after Soi Fon left Sokyoku Hill, she, along with everyone else, was recalled to that very location to discover that Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen had defected to join the ranks of the Hollows in the world of Hueco Mundo.

A couple of days had passed as the injured were slowly but surely regaining their health. The ryoka had been given a full pardon by Head Captain Yamamoto and were deemed heroes.

And so that brought Soi Fon back to the present were she sat in her office, in the dead of the night, unable to get a wink of sleep or get the substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki, out of her mind.

After looking more into the information about him, she finally found out why his last name sounded familiar…and it surprised her. He was the son of Isshin Kurosaki, the former captain of Squad Ten who left the Soul Society about twenty years ago.

It seemed that the more she learned about Ichigo, more questions seemed to surface. But the most important one was why the hell Soi Fon could not bring herself to think of anyone or anything else.

"Perhaps it's the fact that you saw firsthand how powerful he is? And he will only continue to get stronger." A voice in the Captain's mind suggested. Perhaps that was the case. Soi Fon had always been attracted to power. Another thing was that she did notice was that Ichigo had some of the same personality traits that she had, such as not taking crap from anyone, regardless of how powerful they were.

Soi Fon was starting to feel tired as sleep was finally within her grasp. She got up from her desk and began to make her way towards her personal quarters. As she changed out of her uniform and into her sleeping kimono, another thought crossed Soi Fon's mind.

"Another thing could be that you have always wanted a strong powerful man for a potential mate."

That thought sounded ridiculous, but at the same time, the braided woman couldn't help but admit that there was some truth to that thought. Not for the first time, when thinking back on the epic battle between Ichigo and Byakuya, the Squad Two Captain couldn't help but get more than a little aroused at the thought of the orange haired Substitute and his immense power.

As Soi Fon lay down on her futon, one last thought entered her mind before she finally fell into the sweet darkness of sleep.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. I will find a way to make you mine."

AN: My first Bleach story. This was just an idea that I had to get down as I was thinking how my other stories were going to go. As you could probably tell, my favorite pairings in Bleach is Ichigo along with either Soi Fon or Tatsuki. I might do an AU story that has the three of them in it as the main pairing.

Take Care – dthegrimm.