Summary: Somtimes Ichigo misses fighting Ulquiorra.

Note: I just really wanted to describe Ulquiorra's fighting style. We miss him. He had a very clean fighting style. Plus his voice was nice and he's hot ._.

...We need him back!

It was a bit bizarre but... sometimes Ichigo misses fighting Ulquiorra.

It was bizarre because Ichigo never actually defeated him on his own... and fighting that Espada was a psychological turture, for both of them.

But the guy wasn't crazy about moving unnecessarily; jumping, leaping, swinging... or dancing in the middle of a fight. He never moved a limb during a battle if he didn't have the need to use it. He could launch at you with his sword and leg and keep his back completely straight and still keep a graceful stance.

His movements were always quick and clean, almost automatic but it only seemed rigid — he had no problem using his limbs to throw a kick or a slap out of nowhere when he saw an opening, unlike Shinigami like Renji and Ikkaku, and even Grimmjow, who seemed to relay more on their swords and fists and completely miss the opportunity. Even Ichigo relied on his sword more than martial arts in his Shinigami form.

Ulquiorra didn't care about prefered Zanjutsu. You have legs and tails and wings, why not use them? if your hands are full with swords and Ceros. It was a simple logic.

Oh, and the Cero, too. Ichigo remembered. He also had a habit of shooting surprise Cero attack when you least expected it. He could make a clean attack and you won't even see him pointing his finger at you because he didn't bet an eyelid or looked your way.

Well, it's all in the past now. He's gone.

Ichigo sighed. Everyone he sparred with seemed so damn passionate at fighting him, sometimes he'd wish he could fight someone who's not really trying. Someone who isn't that interested but is still strong enough to keep him away from getting bored and whose moves are clean and only slightly predictable with that bit of spice to keep him craving for more.

Not someone who's aiming to have a long, heated battle to see who's the best. With these kind of people Ichigo's wrists were seriously beginning to hurt. With Ulquiorra he had to divide his strength and speed equally between his hands and legs and preferably the brain else he would have gotten his head chopped.

With Ulquiorra his mental skills actually got better, not just his Sword skills and wrist muscles.

The last person he fought with that wasn't for victory was Urahara-san. It was practice, to get used to using a sword. Fighting just for the hack of it.

Even Byakuya had taken a liking to sparring matches, trying to outbest him.

Eh, well, it was more Kenpachi than him, anyway. Ichigo was just really glad they seemed to be more interested in kicking each others ass than his.

The best he got was from Hitsugaya. Since the shrimp was notably smaller than most of his opponents he used his speed and flexibility to deliver surprise attacks. He tended to punch you in the gut with his knee before you saw it coming, and if you pissed him off enough he'd stop caring about his skull.

And yours. The headbutt could be pretty harsh.

Also, ever had Captain midget kick you between your legs? Ain't a pretty sight. Though Toshiro would never normally do it, as it was a very low blow.

...Unless you really, really, really piss him off.

. . .

Well, fighting Ishida was also a challenge, and he didn't have a sword. Avoiding his arrows was a good excercise.

But Ichigo would never do it again. Ever. Fighting Ishida wasn't fun.

...It was a survival match. Ishida was the knife-thrower, and Ichigo was the maiden-target strapped to the board, and the damn Quincy enjoyed it way too much.