100I DON'T OWN BLEACH.
Force.
That was all Ichigo felt all over his body.
A force so immense that it felt as if each and every atom in his body was being teared apart and being rejoined.
But weirdly enough he still had his consciousness intact.
He noticed that he was falling through a pitch black void. Not a single ray of light was visible. He still felt the hilt of the sword in his hand. He tried to let go of it but it seemed like it was attached to his palm.
He tried looking at his hands but all he saw was darkness.
He didn't know how long it had been since he was falling in this void.
But he assumed he had been falling for 30 mins.
(Seriously I cannot hold back and not put some Marvel references into this)
Then he remembered Kisuke.
"I left without him. What will he do there? All alone? I guess I will have to find a way to go back and save him. . ."
Suddenly he saw light. The hilt in his palm had been hit by some sort of light.
No, not only the hilt. His whole back was being hit by something warm.
He tried to turn around with great effort, to see from where the light was coming from. He knew that if he turned now, he might fall face first rather than his back, which was more safer. But something told him that it would be a bit more time until the ground even came near.
So he turned.
Below him was a lake that extended into the unknown. It could have been called a ocean but a ocean was never this calm and serene.
And there were some blurry images that were inside the water, and they were the source of the light.
As he got closer and closer, he took a diving position while some ripples started to form on the glowing water.
The images got clearer and soon Ichigo noticed that the images were nothing but memories of his past.
But before Ichigo could do anything, he fell into the water.
Just like the water in his inner world, he was able to breathe in it. But it still choked him. The thought of seeing those painful memories choked him and he couldn't do anything about it.
Ichigo saw the happy times pass by. He saw him and Rukia meeting for the first time. He saw him and Uryu arguing over nothing. He saw Renji drinking away the bar with Rangiku. He saw the moment when he was made the second lieutenant of Squad 8 and he remembered Lisa pouting in the corner for having to deal with a partner as she scolded Shunsui and asked him if she wasn't enough. He saw his and Orihime's first kiss. He saw Kisuke going crazy with his experiments while Yoruichi scolded him. He saw Yuzu cooking food for everyone while Karin beat up some boys at the corner. He saw his dad hanging off his mother's poster as he fake cried. He saw Yamamoto scolding Byakuya and Kenpachi again for losing their coats. He saw everything he loved in a flash.
Then it was all gone.
That was when it all turned red.
He saw Aiwach torturing his sisters while he was chained back. He saw the deaths of all of the people who were important to him; his captain, his partner, his wife, his sisters, Rukia, Uryu, Renji, Keigo, Mizuiro, Tatsuki, Chad, Yoruichi. . . almost everyone. He felt himself trying to move forward and save everyone. He tried to enter the broken images but failed miserably, just how he had back then.
The images kept changing and changing, becoming more vivid. And he didn't want to go into the details or his time awake will turn into a nightmare, as if it wasn't right now.
He hated this water. He hated the memories it was showing. And Ichigo yelled in pain for all it was worth.
Then suddenly he fell out through the water and continued falling on his back again. Into the black void, darkness surrounding him. His body cold and hungry for warmth.
He felt his lungs working again as he got farther from the lake of memories. The water going away from his line of sight, leaving him numb.
Then suddenly Kami thought that the mental pain wasn't enough and Ichigo felt his whole body tear apart again. Ichigo held onto the hilt tightly as he felt like it was suddenly not stuck to his palm anymore. He then felt his body burning but not seeing a single streak of flame. He yelled and yelled knowing it wasn't going to stop.
Until it was suddenly gone.
'What?' Ichigo thought.
Everything stopped. He wasn't falling anymore. He wasn't being teared apart. Hel wasn't burning anymore. All of it had just stopped.
He felt like he was lying on the ground. . .on grass?
He could hear the sounds of cars blowing their horns and speeding on the roads even on such a rainy day.
Rain.
Ichigo hated the rain. Not only because his clothes got wet or it was gloomy when it rained. It had rained when his mother had died. It had rained when Rukia had died. It had rained when Shunsui had died while trying to save his sisters. It had rained when Yoruichi had died. It had rained when Ginjo had betrayed him. It had rained when he got to know about his fucked up past from his dad.
All in all, rain wasn't his best friend.
Ichigo squeezed the grass with one of his hands as the flashbacks didn't go away. His mind kept going through different scenarios of what he could have done that might have led to all of them, his friends being saved.
Deciding that laying there wasn't going to give him any answers as to where he was or WHEN he was, Ichigo opened his eyes.
The cloudy sky was what came into his view first. The cold water dripping on his face as the clouds rumbled.
The dark sky made him think, just for a second, that be hadn't gone back.
As he sat up, he saw that he was near a river that seemed too awfully similar.
Karakura River.
Ichigo quickly got up and jumped up into the sky and then stood in midair.
He got a pretty clear view of the city that wasn't destroyed or wasn't in a threatening situation in any way.
He gave out a big sigh as he rested both of his palms on his knees and laughed a bit at the situation.
"I-I really came back. . .I can save them this t-time "
"-what are you going to cook tonight?" A kid's voice asked happily.
Ichigo's head shot up as water dripping from his hair got a bit into his eyes and he looked around frantically. He could recognise that voice anywhere.
Who won't be able to recognise their own voice?
Ichigo then face palmed at his stupidity. Even if he heard that voice, the kid won't be able to stand up to where Ichigo was standing, he must look for him at ground level.
Ichigo jumped down on the road. This was a near the train bridge. For a normal person, fighting goons below the bridge was the worst thing that could have happened to them. But to Ichigo, it was one of those places where he had his safest fights.
His motto? It's better to fight goons than half god's or demons.
He tried to find his kid self. He wondered what age he was.
"But I don't want to~" Young Ichigo's voice said.
Ichigo quickly stopped staring at the train bridge and then looked at his right.
"N-No way" Ichigo said as his voice wavered.
Standing in the middle of the road were Masaki and 9 year old Ichigo who were walking down the road while Masaki held the all too familiar umbrella and young Ichigo wore the same yellow rain coat.
Ichigo quickly looked back at the train bridge and looks at the digital sign board on one of it's poles.
June 17th.
'Oh no'
"Wait i will save you!" Young Ichigo's voice boomed.
Ichigo looked back at the scene and saw his younger self running towards a girl that Ichigo clearly knew was a illusion formed by the 'Grand Fisher'.
'No no no no no-'
Then he looked back at Masaki who was holding her arms up in a position that was used to release a arrow. But the look on her face told that she has realised that she isn't able to form a bow.
Then he watches her drop that stance and just jump over the small fence and run towards his younger self.
'She is thinking Blut Vene would work?!' Ichigo thought as he started running towards the scene.
"Are you really willing to change the past or the future?" A voice asked.
Ichigo paused in his tracks and glanced back.
'It can't be-'
Standing there was Ichibē Hyōsube.
"Ich-Ichibē san?" Ichigo's voice faltered.
Ichibē raised one of his eyebrows and said,
"So you must be from the future cause i don't know who you are but you seem to be referring to me with my first name"
Ichibē took in the boy's appearance. He was wearing a standard black shihakusho. But he had a white armour which formed an 'X' shape on his chest. And he was wearing a white hayori tied around his waist using a red Obi.
And he also had a squad 8 lieutenant's batch around his left arm.
(Basically TYBW Ichigo with edits)
What struck out the most was the boy's hair. He had bright orange hair that ended at just some 1.5 inches below his ear which was a pretty normal hairstyle for a teenager but there was a longer braid behind his right ear. The braid was very thin, exactly 1 cm in width and 7-8 cm in height. A small red thread was wrapped around the braid but it left out spaces, enough to see the orange hair.
(I know it's a lot of explanation for a small thin braid. I will tell you why in the end. Refer to P.S.1 and P.S.2)
Ichigo couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew that time travel was going to work like that but. . .
"Y-You are alive? Wait-" Ichigo said as he suddenly remembered his mother.
He turned around and found that her mother was paused in her place, not moving. But it wasn't just her, nothing was moving. Not even the rain drops. They were stuck in mid air.
'No wait, that isn't it' Ichigo said as he noticed that everything was moving slowly. Very slowly.
"What's happening?" Ichigo asked as he looked anywhere but at Ichibē.
Ichibē sighed and smiled at the 'boy'.
"If you are from the future, you must know my power! Why are you so worried boy? I just named time in such a way that it will run slow for everyone except the both of us! I can return it to normal too! So don't you worry!" Ichibē said as he gave Ichigo a bone crushing side hug.
Ichigo scrambled his way out of the hug and took two steps away from Ichibē.
'Why is it so hard to be near him. . .He is here and he needs to know about me. A-And i need to gain his trust and stuff but-' Ichigo thought as he looked away from Ichibē again as he let his hair cover his eyes.
'Why is it so hard to look at him?' Was Ichigo's final thought as his eyes looked at the train that had seemingly stopped as well.
Ichibē looked at the boy. This boy hasn't just lost someone as Ichibē had thought when he had first been ordered by the spirit king to come down here. He has lost himself in the process of finding the 'someone'.
"You see, even though I don't know you but i can tell you that even though time might run slowly, the things that are supposed to happen WILL happen. . . unless someone willingly changes it" Ichibē said gleefully as he looked at the scene where Masaki was just a metre away from getting hit by the Grand Fisher's claws.
"Do you want to save that woman boy? Are you willing to take the risk to change time?" Ichibē asked as a serious facade took over his face.
Ichigo's mind had a million other thoughts running through it. Then he looked back at the kid who was currently below Masaki and then at Masaki, who covered him from the coming attack, her eyes tightly closed as she sensed the upcoming attack.
Ichigo then looked at the kid again and noticed the tears and the fear in his eyes.
"Yes i will save her" Ichigo said without faltering this time.
Ichibē looked at Ichigo for a few seconds and then changed everything back to normal without asking.
A train started to pass over the bridge, cars started honking again and the rain started falling again.
And before Ichibē could process anything, Ichigo was gone.
Ichigo flashstepped there and without thinking twice, he slashed the hollow in two using his smaller zanpaktō.
He then put it back on his waist and the bandages wrapped themselves around the sword again.
"It never gets less better while killing him" Ichigo said as he remembered trying to kill the Grand Fisher the first time.
Even though that time he had only managed to injure him and that too with a lot of effort, he still felt that he had avenged his mother.
'Now that i think about it, he is just another weak hollow with a different ability. How powerless was i around that time?' Ichigo thought to himself as he saw the Grand Fisher's remains turn into reishi and fly off into the sky, apparently on it's way to soul society.
"Sh-Shinigami?" Masaki called out.
Ichigo's shoulders tensed and he continued to look at the river as he heard his mother's calm voice. Safe and sound.
His younger self will never have to face the agony he had. He will never have to see what lies ahead. The war, those deaths. Nothing will happen again. Not on his watch.
But for all of that to start, he has to give a response back.
Ichigo turned around to face the lady and behaved as clueless as he could.
"Y-You can see me?" Ichigo asked.
"Of course i can see you" Masaki said with a calm smile.
Ichigo wanted to cry. He had seen that smile after so long. He had never even thought that he would see it again.
"How is that possible? Humans can't see Shinigami!" Ichigo declared with a clueless scowl.
'Damn i am good at acting. I guess i need to put a bit more rudeness into it, just like how Rukia had done when she met me. Shinigami are just a bunch of overconfident assholes'
~In Ichigo's inner world~
"Ahh Old man, is he forgetting he is a Shinigami too?" Shiro said as he crossed his arms and sat on the building.
"Well, he is less Shinigami than the other Shinigami" Zangetsu said with a shrug.
"That makes perfectly no sense" Shiro said with a scowl
"So does your logic. But do you ever see us complaining?"
"Why you?" Shiro said as he cracked his knuckles.
~Back in the real world~
"Well. . . You see-"
"Go on woman. I don't have all day-"
"I am a quincy" Masaki interjected.
Ichigo had to hold back his smile at the thought of how similar this encounter was to the time when Masaki and Isshin had met.
"Well i guess that explains it. The hollow was probably after your kid because of his high spiritual pressure. Make sure you deplete his high sources by time or else this will keep happening" Ichigo said with a light smile.
He saw Masaki's shoulders relax a bit at the thought that Ichigo wasn't one of the shinigami that hated Quincy.
"Your hair is so similar to my kid's hair" Masaki said with a smile.
"Oh I dyed it alright. And if you don't like it it's fine, I am not proud of it either" Ichigo said as he ran a hand through his hair.
"No, I think it suits you" Masaki said as she started to set her clothes up properly. They had gotten muddy during the fight so the rain was definitely helping.
"Why didn't you use your powers?" Ichigo asked even though he knew why.
"I-I actually don't know what happened. I tried to use my powers but somehow i wasn't able to. I was so clueless that i thought Blut would work. I didn't even think twice that if my bow is not working then Blut wouldn't as well. It was as if all of a sudden i was drained out. . .?" Masaki explained as she rested her hand on young Ichigo's forehead.
'Yeah, i will have to do something about her Quincy reishi depletion. And i will have to take care of Uryu's mother too' Ichigo took a mental note as he noticed how weak Masaki looked now that her reishi was stolen.
"Thanks for saving me today" Masaki declared as she held an unconscious young Ichigo in her arms and stood up.
"Well it's my job-"
"It is your job, i know. But you still deserve the gratitude. Ichigo and i share a strong bond. I would never like him to get hurt in any way. I was careless. I cannot imagine what Ichigo would have to go through if i had died here today" Masaki said as she looked at young Ichigo fondly.
"Yeah, the kid probably loves you alot" Ichigo said as he looked at the ground and tried to compensate the situation.
Masaki looked at the man who had saved her life and smiled. Even though the man in front of her looked like the weight of all three worlds was upon his shoulders, she still felt comfortable with that cause she knew he was stronger than what he was letting up. Not just physically or spiritually.
But she felt that he had a will similar to Isshin and he would do anything to save anyone.
"I would love my son to become a man like you" Masaki said as she started to walk away.
Ichigo's head shot up at the sight of his mother leaving. All he wanted to do was run towards her and give her a bone crushing hug and tell her the truth.
That her 'son' REALLY was a man like 'him'.
Then he looked at younger Ichigo's face that was snuggled inside his mother's neck, smiling.
So he couldn't and he won't. He won't tell her the truth.
Masaki climbed the steep route and climbed over the fence. She then looked at Ichigo one last time and smiled as she walked away.
Ichigo continued to look at her until she was out of sight and then looked at Ichibē who had flashstepped to where he was standing.
"I will have to go after her. I have some more things to do"
"But you do know that-"
"Yes I know that Zero Division will have to take me into custody. But let me finish my work first"
"How can I let you do that?" Ichibē said as he added with a creepy grin,
"For all I know you must have saved people who were going to end up on bad terms in the coming future"
While saying that, Ichibē secretly tried to take a trace of Ichigo's spiritual pressure for a database search.
"You can take my spiritual pressure for testing, you don't need to be secretive about it" Ichigo said with a smile.
Ichibē flustered a bit and then cleared his throat and changed the topic.
"I cannot let you go any further than this alone"
"Then come with me" Ichigo said with a shrug.
"Eh!"
Ichibē had to give it to the boy that he knew how to get Ichibē on his nerves, which mostly no one had been able to do. This made him wonder how long has this 'boy' known him.
"How far into the future are you from?"
Ichigo looked up with a hand under his chin as if he was really calculating it.
"You didn't have a idea of how far back you were going to come?" Ichibē asked with a 'Are you serious?' look.
"Well yeah I kind of didn't. It was kind of an 'on spot' decision"
"How long did you know me?" Ichibē asked.
"Well according to my calculations, I have come back 18 years into the past"
"How did you know how far back you have come?"
"Well the woman I saved was my mom"
Ichibē's shoulders tensed. This boy has to learn to drop the big facts carefully.
"So that kid must be-"
"Yeah it was me. I was a wuss wasn't I?"
Ichibē immediately tried to overlap that Kid's spiritual pressure to Ichigo's and noticed they matched perfectly.
Ichibē must have not realised the little guy also had orange hair because of the little guy's raincoat that covered his head.
Ichibē looked at the boy who just carelessly spat out information which he should have kept to himself.
'Unless he trusts me this much' Ichibē's thought process concluded.
"Still doesn't answer my question, how long did you know ME?"
"Well I knew you for 9 years"
Ichibē's eyes widened and he asked,
"Did you know about my existence for 9 years or were you by my side?"
"If you are indirectly asking whether I lived in the soul palace or not, I don't know. It was kind of a shifting from here to there" Ichigo said as he remembered the times when Aiwach would choose different places to attack so they always had to shift to the new place to protect it until Aiwach chose another area to attack.
This was enough information for Ichibē and instead of choosing to see what kind of spiritual pressure the boy had, he chose to search for something else.
The Ōken.
And when he found it, not just in Ichigo's clothes but in his body itself, he knew what he had to do next.
"Boy you are going to tell me who you are and what's your past. Right. This. Instant." Ichibē said as he took a step forward.
"Name's Ichigo Kurosaki. Substitute shinigami, lieutenant of Squad 8 and one of the 6 members of the Royal Guard"
"6 members?"
Ichigo lowered his head in annoyance.
"Listen here baldy. Now I am not going to pretend that I don't know you that well. I am going to do some work that is going to take me exactly 15 mins. You can wait or come with me" Ichigo said as he tore out a piece of white cloth from the hayori that was tied around his waist and then tied it around his hair and face, only leaving his eyes out.
And before Ichibē could say anything, Ichigo was gone.
"How will I come with you if I don't know where you are going?" Ichibē declared to himself with a sigh as he walked towards the train bridge and stood under it as now it was raining harder.
Ichigo flash-stepped towards where he thought his mother was. It took him a few minutes and he found her outside Ryuken Ishida's home, Uryu's home.
Younger Ichigo was awake by now and was standing beside his mother, asking where they were but Masaki didn't say a thing.
Before she could knock, Ryuken had already opened the door and standing beside him was Isshin.
'Dad. . .'
It had been a long time since Isshin had died as well. For the first time that year when he died, Ichigo had missed his dad's endless rambling and crying in front of his mom's poster.
Masaki stayed quite and Isshin knew his suspicions were correct. Something was wrong.
"What happened?" Isshin asked as he signalled Ryuken to take Ichigo inside.
Attaining assurance that it was okay to go with Ryuken, Younger Ichigo followed the man inside while he talked about how Ichigo should meet his son, Uryu.
The second Ryuken took younger Ichigo inside, Ichigo came out from the old building he was hiding in. It was just in front of Uryu's house.
Isshin patiently waited for Masaki to answer but instead of doing so, Masaki fell into Isshin's hands and cried.
Ichigo clenched his jaw. It was never a good sight to see someone he loved cry out of helplessness.
He thanked Yamamoto again for teaching him how to conceal spiritual pressure completely or else all of his reiatsu would have been flying around by now. He never knew emotions could have so much effect on spiritual pressure.
Then he again paid attention to the scene in front of him. Both Isshin and Masaki were powerless right now so they won't be able to see him. He only has to look out for Ryuken and his younger self.
"You do know that I can see you right?" Suddenly Isshin asked out of nowhere.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
'No there was no way he should be able to see me. Maybe he is just rambling as always'
"I am not kidding, I really can see you" Isshin said as he held Masaki bridal style in his arms. She was feeling so weak that she had fainted.
Ichigo didn't know what he should say in a situation like this. He would probably have to wipe out Isshin's memory.
Which Ichigo would be able to do so he just asked,
"How?"
"Well let's just say that the closer my wife is to dying, the closer I am to gaining my powers back" Isshin said.
And Ichigo acted as clueless as he could and asked,
"Your powers?"
Isshin's eyes softened.
"You do realise that it's raining right?" Isshin asked with a grim look.
'Why the hell is he talking like that? Just spouting random nonsense as always-'
"You have covered your head with a white scarf and it's raining. The scarf is basically translucent now. I can clearly see your orange coloured hair" Isshin finally declared.
'Oh'
"So what goat chin? I had dyed it and I am embarrassed about it so I always cover it up" Ichigo said as he crossed his arms and put up his typical scowl.
He was doing everything he could to make Isshin think otherwise. He knew Isshin was an airhead but he also knew that his father wasn't dumb. Not at all. And if he has figured out what Ichigo thinks he has, then he will be in big trouble.
He will have to ask Ichibē to erase Isshin's memory, which would be a lot of work.
He scowled because the Ichigo this Isshin knew, never scowled. He tried to refer Isshin with a rude name because the Ichigo this Isshin knew, would never do that.
"And i don't have a goatee. . .yet, even though i was thinking of getting one. So goat chin is kind of invalid here. There was no way you should have known I was planning to get a goatee" Isshin added with a light chuckle.
Ichigo's thought process just stopped after that and he couldn't think of another way out.
"What happened . . . Ichigo?" Isshin asked as he now held his serious gaze upon his apparent son who looked broken beyond repair.
Ichigo just sighed, looked at the ground and removed his white scarf with his left hand and let the wet cloth fall on the ground.
'Maybe one last try?'
"What makes you think that i am this Ichigo person? I have no clue of who you are talki-"
"You literally have the same eyes too. So just shut up and tell me what happened" Isshin ordered as he walked inside the house as if he didn't even need to tell Ichigo to come in.
Ichigo sighed and said to himself,
"This will be more than just 20 mins"
But before he was going to take another step in, he thought,
"Or it could just take 30 mins"
'I am not going to tell them anything but I am going to tell them enough' Ichigo thought as he closed the door behind him.
Masaki was in a bedroom, resting. Younger Ichigo was is another room, playing with Younger Uryu. And Isshin and Ryuken were in a dining room with older Ichigo.
Isshin and Ryuken were sitting beside each other while Ichigo sat in front of them.
"So what is it that you guys want to ask?" Ichigo asked casually as he continued to play with a knife set that was kept in front of him on the same wooden table.
Isshin swallowed the knot in his throat and asked,
"What made you come back?"
"It's something which I cannot tell" Ichigo said quickly.
"Then tell me about your past or just your titles or something like that"
"Kurosaki Ichigo substitute shinigami. There, happy?" Ichigo said with a scowl as he got up and got ready to leave.
"How do we know you aren't lying?"
"Well if you don't want to believe that I am from the future, then don-"
"He is talking about how you didn't even bother to tell us that you are the lieutenant of Squad 8" Ryuken interjected as he gazed at Ichigo's batch.
"Fine, you wanna know who I am completely? It would take you years. Damn 18 years more to be exact!"
"At least tell us all your titles!" Isshin said as he slammed one of his fists on the wooden table firmly.
Isshin had expected this Ichigo to flinch just like his younger self would have if he had slammed the table like this in front of him.
But this wasn't a good move at all cause this Ichigo seemed to have a bit of temper.
Ichigo slammed his hands on the table and stood up. A knife in his hand. Ichigo didn't even realise when he had picked it out of the knife stand.
War instincts and raw anger management weren't a good combination.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami. Once a Ryōka to the soul society, now the lieutenant of squad 8" Ichigo said as he turned around and got ready to leave.
"Soul society. . .squad 8. . . Ryōka?! What were you doing there Ichigo?" Isshin asked wide eyed as he got up and held Ichigo's arm before he could go any further and made him sit back down.
Ichigo sighed and decided to calmly explain why he couldn't say anything to him.
"Listen dad I-"
"Don't call me dad when you can't even trust me or your mother enough to tell us what happened" Isshin said viciously as he glared at Ichigo.
Ichigo was taken back. He didn't want his family to think that he didn't trust them and didn't want to be with them. It's just that be couldn't do it right now.
Ichigo pulled back and flashsteppd a few meters away from his dad.
Isshin sighed,
'So getting angry wasn't a good move' he thought.
"At least tell me if I should tell this Ichigo about spiritual world beca-" Before Isshin could complete, a knife missed his head by a centimeter and got through the wall behind him.
"Don't you dare" Ichigo said as rage flowed off him.
Ryuken got up reflexively, Isshin gulped again and thought,
'So one thing is for sure, either he has REALLY bad anger management issues or I am being a total asshole'
"It isn't about trust is it?" Ryuken asked as he kept a hand below his chin, thinking.
Ichigo looked up at Ryuken who just nodded as he did that and said,
"Masaki. . .she hadn't survived that time. Tell me if I am wrong?"
Isshin's eyes widened at that. He didn't think of that, he just couldn't. It was too unreal. He then looked at Ichigo who had a remorseful expression on his face. All of the anger gone in a matter of seconds.
The expression that his son held, it nauseated him so much that he couldn't even think what else must have happened with his son.
"You were 9 when Masaki died. . .just 9? And that too in front of you?" Isshin asked not out of shock but sympathy.
"Yeah. Grand Fisher attacked her cause she tried to save me. I didn't know what had happened in between but when I woke up, Mom was lying over me, dead"
Isshin was going to interrupt but Ichigo continued,
"Then you died when I was 22. And you uncle Ryuken, you died when I was 23. Uryu died when I was 25"
Ryuken and Isshin were taken back.
Now the only sound that they were able to hear for the next few minutes was the light pitter-patter of rain on the window.
"Ichigo,whatever war you are talking about. . .How many survived besides you?" Isshin asked as he walked over to him and held his hand again to comfort him.
Ichigo took a sharp breath in at the warm touch.
Ichigo knew he has to go and fix Masaki and Katagiri's conditions before it's too late. But he couldn't do that without Isshin and Ryuken trusting him. He would have to give them something about the past, so that they trust him enough.
"Kisuke and I were the last ones standing"
Ryuken slowly sunk back into his chair. His eyes wide with shock as he ran a hand through his hair.
Isshin tried his best to hide his shock. Right now his son needed him as a father, not as a shinigami or a person from the past.
"Ichigo, are YOU okay?" Isshin asked with a soft voice.
There was silence for a minute and the sound coming from the crinkling of wood in the fireplace only made the atmosphere more tense.
"I-I am fine" Ichigo said as he got up.
Isshin could have sworn he felt his son's hand tremble under his own touch. Not only that, but Ichigo avoided any kind of eye contact as well.
"Ichigo, just this last question. . .How many?" Ryuken asked as he got up as again.
"How many what?"
"How many wars and how long each one lasted?" Ryuken asked cause the condition Ichigo was in, not physically but mentally, was beyond something that could occur by just one big fight.
Ichigo thought for a second before replying,
"3 wars. First lasted for a month or something. Second lasted for a few days, wasn't that much of a war. Third lasted longer than the first two"
"How long?" Ryuken asked cause he knew that Ichigo was trying to avoid the topic of what happened in the last war at all costs.
Ichigo didn't say anything.
"He asked how long and I expect you to answer him" Isshin said as he glared sternly at his son.
"9 years"
"I am sorry what?"
"It lasted for 9 years"
Nobody said anything and Ichigo knew that he had to do something now or else Masaki and Katagiri would be in grave danger.
"Listen, I need to give mom and aunt Katagiri some of my spiritual pressure so that they have at least enough to replenish theirs" Ichigo said as he started to walk towards the door.
"But what's wrong with Katagiri?" Ryuken asked worriedly cause the last time he saw his wife she was fine.
"Bring her to mom's room. I will explain later or maybe you might figure it out yourself" Ichigo said as he closed the door behind him and walked away.
Isshin and Ryuken looked at each other before nodding and walked away in different directions. Isshin behind Ichigo and Ryuken in search for Katagiri.
Ichigo walked into the room where Masaki lied, still as ever. But not dead.
He went ahead and took a chair from a nearby desk near the window and set it aside Masaki's bed. Then he sat on the chair while Isshin stood behind him, watching his every move.
"What are you going to do?"
"Watch" Ichigo told Isshin as he let out a bit of his spiritual pressure and called out for spirit ribbons.
Suddenly the whole room was filled with white ribbons that glowed a bit.
One of them was red.
"You told me that you were a substitute souls reaper. Then how is your ribbon red?" Isshin asked.
"Even a substitute soul reaper has a red ribbon. A substitute soul reaper is someone who attains his or her powers from another shinigami. It doesn't mean they aren't shinigami. It happened to me but I lost those powers. And then I discovered I had powers of my own because obviously you were a shinigami and that's how biology works" Ichigo said as he kept searching for the ribbon he wanted.
Isshin just looked away in embarrassment but then he noticed a white streak on Ichigo's red ribbon.
"What's the white streak for? In your ribbon I mean"
Just when Isshin had asked that Ryuken had come in with a weak Katagiri by his side.
"The white streak you ask?" Ichigo's overlapped voice asked.
Ryuken's eyes widened as Ichigo turned around his head and one of his eyes were black with a gold iris.
And without a second thought Ryuken shot an arrow towards Ichigo while Katagiri took support of the door frame.
Ichigo caught the arrow in his hand.
"Wait. . .you can't do that unless-" Ryuken started.
"-I am a Quincy" Ichigo said as his black eyes vanished to again to show the normal brown eyes behind them.
'How does he take everything so casually?' Ryuken thought as he glared at Ichigo's head.
Without saying another word, Ichigo turned around to find Masaki's ribbon and then he caught Katagiri's ribbon too.
"That hollow within you is going to be a major problem one day Ichi-" Isshin tried but suddenly there was bright light and both Ryuken and Isshin found themselves in a place they had never thought could exist.
First thing they noticed was that it was raining really hard. Second thing they noticed that they were standing on something made of concrete. Third thing they noticed that they were defying the laws of physics and were standing on the side of a building.
Ryuken decided to think before doing anything but Isshin decided to scream, lie down and think of how he would get down.
Then when he tried to look around the area he saw a old man standing on a pole of the building, wearing all black, even a black coat and shades. But he wasn't falling. He looked similar to someone but Isshin, nor Ryuken could put their finger on who it was.
And beside him stood what looked like a completely albino version of Ichigo. He had everything similar to him, even his little braid. But all of Ichigo's dark cloth colours were his white while his light colours, like the ribbon around his braid or his Obi, they were black. Even the hair albino had was completely white. And unlike Ichigo, he didn't wear a captain's hayori around his waist, he didn't wear the armour and the lieutenant's batch. The only colour he had was his golden irisis.
The cold, rainy, dark and cloudy weather was getting on Isshin's nerves. And what irritated him the most was nobody was speaking.
"Sooo...Kingy sent you in here?" Shiro asked in the same hollow like voice Ichigo had used some minutes ago.
"Kingy?" Isshin asked as he now stood up, realising that he wasn't going to fall.
"He is referring to Ichigo" Zangetsu said.
"Where exactly is 'in here' ?" Ryuken asked.
Suddenly inverted Ichigo started chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Isshin asked.
"Like father like son" Shiro said with a maniacal grin.
"What does that mean?" Ryuken asked carefully.
"He is referring to how Isshin had the same reaction as Ichigo when he first entered his inner world. He instantly yelled and lied down so he won't fall" Zangetsu said with a light smile.
"I-Inner world? We are in his inner world? How is that possible?! Nobody could enter another person's inner wor-"
"Unless they are biologically connected" Zangetsu finished for Ryuken.
"At least that's what happens in the future" Shiro added.
"But how did I enter?" Ryuken asked, no, he tested their knowledge.
"If you are talking about the fact that we don't know that Masaki was your cousin and you are Ichigo's uncle then you need to pull your facts together cause that's a lie" Shiro said with a scowl.
"Okayyy so you DO know everything. But the way Ichigo behaved when his hollow took a bit of his body's control is still on my nerves. Don't you both try to kill it?" Isshin asked the two zanpaktō.
In reality Ichigo having two Zanpaktō wasn't a suprise to him. He had already seen too much that couldn't have been true but here they were.
Shiro looked at Isshin with a 'What the fuck?' expression then burst out laughing.
"Why does he keep laughing like that?" Isshin quietly whispered to Ryuken.
"Maybe trying to fill up your son's stack of laughing. Your son hasn't laughed at all since he met us" Ryuken whispered back dryly.
"You guys are so clueless" Shiro said as he finally found control over his laughter.
"You aren't worried about the hollow within him? It's a threat-"
"Oh don't you worry so much, i AM the hollow within him" Shiro said with a smirk.
Without waisting a second Ryuken drew his bow and released it towards Shiro
Then Zangetsu caught it.
"Oh don't tell me that you are a Quincy" Isshin said with a slight pout.
"What is up with you people and catching my arrows?!" Ryuken exclaimed.
"Indeed I am. Let me introduce myself and him and explain the situation a bit to you" Zangetsu said as he looked at Shiro who just nodded.
"We both are Ichigo's zanpaktō. I am his Quincy half, Zangetsu, while this guy is his hollow and shinigami half, Shiro. Basically both of us are Zangetsu but he named the shinigami side Shiro because it would be easier to refer. He could have easily summoned us outside if he wanted us to meet you but I think his intention was to get rid of you because you both were very irritating and troublesome and were clearly asking him a lot of questions which he cannot answer" Zangetsu said flatly.
"That's. . .a good way to put it nicely I guess" Isshin said as his eyebrows twitched in anger.
"And that's supposed to makes us feel better?" Ryuken whispered to himself.
"And probably because if we come out then we will beat him to pulp" Shiro said as he cracked his knuckles.
"He hasn't talked to us for a year" Zangetsu added the information before anyone could ask any further questions.
"And can't you guys stop this rain? It's irritating" Isshin said as he overlooked the beating part and looked at the massive cloud that covered the sky till his eyes could travel.
"We aren't the ones that put it there, Just like this city. It's Ichigo's inner soul. It rains when he is sad" Zangetsu said while Shiro laughed in bitter sarcasm.
"So he has been sad for what? 6 years?" Shiro said.
"We have had this conversation before. Let's drop this" Zangetsu said and Shiro just 'tche' away.
Isshin stared at the two Zanpaktō spirits that seemed to be worrying too much over their master even though they didn't show it.
Then Isshin looked down at his reflection in the building's window. There was nothing, literally NOTHING good that was happening to Ichigo right now and it scared Isshin. It scared him to death if his son would never be the little Ichigo again. The Ichigo who would laugh and smile all day and would be the happiest kid in the world.
"Don't do that" Shiro said to Isshin out of nowhere.
"Don't do what? It already seems I have done nothing" Isshin said as he sat on the concrete wall (basically the building).
"Don't be guilty for the things you haven't done yet. You were a great father at that time and you still are" Zangetsu said as he jumped down the pole and now stood in front of where Isshin kneeled. Shiro soon followed.
Isshin didn't speak for a few minutes before he asked,
"Was he ever happy?"
Shiro looked at the kneeling man in front of him and then he kicked Isshin's shoulders so he would fall on his back and look at Shiro.
Isshin glared at the boy but he stopped when he saw Shiro smiling. A genuine smile.
"More than you can imagine" Shiro said as suddenly everything turned bright again and Ryuken and Isshin were out of Ichigo's inner world and were now standing at the same places they disappeared from.
Ichigo was still sitting in his chair and he looked tired, sweaty and pale. But both of them guessed why immediately. He had two spirit ribbons tied around his right hand and he let his left hand cover the front of his face as he concentrated what seemed like blue coloured reishi into the ribbons. The reishi was travelling through the ribbons and onto Masaki and Katagiri who were now lying together on bed.
And suddenly Ichigo got up.
Isshin flinched but then sighed in could never get used to this Ichigo's suddenness at anything.
"So what did you do all that time when you trapped us inside your inner world?" Ryuken asked bitterly.
Ichigo who wasn't fazed by the tone said,
"First I went to a person who would help me erase your memories after this. And no, the person wasn't Kisuke. Then I gave mom and aunt Katagiri some of my Quincy reishi that I had to alter in a way that they could absorb it. Just a small amount will help them kick start their spiritual pressure production again"
"Wait, isn't that. . .I don't know. . . impossible? Only Yhwach can do that" Ryuken said as he pushed up his glasses.
"That's what Yhwach wanted you to believe. It's impossible to take the powers back which you have given. That was something only Yhwach could do. But it's not impossible to give powers. 12th squad figured it out after 4 years into the war"
"So you gave them your reishi by altering it a bit so that it's suitable for them? And in that way nobody would be able to sense that it was you who gave them their powers back" Ryuken concluded.
"And that's why you are Uryu's dad. Brains over everything" Ichigo whispered.
"Can you teach me how to give my Quincy reishi?" Ryuken asked as he ignored the snarky comment.
"No, only me and Uryu knew how to do it around that time and we had a good enough reason"
"And that is?"
"I said it was impossible to take Quincy powers back because we haven't figured out how to do it yet. So if someone who knows how to do the first step has a lot of time on their hands might just potentially become another Yhwach" Ichigo said as he finally glanced at the two woman who seemed to be recovering fast enough and then looked back at both the men that were standing in front of him.
Isshin and Ryuken understood the gravity of each and every word Ichigo spoke so they didn't push.
"So it's goodbye for now" Ichigo said as he walked past the two of them and started going towards the main door.
"Wait, you can't just-" Isshin started but suddenly a man wearing a rosary with extra large beads around his neck and a big black beard showed up.
He was bald and looked like someone Isshin should know about. He was standing in front of Ichigo while Ichigo had his back facing the man's back.
Then Ichigo turned his head to look at Isshin again with a knowing expression.
Suddenly the reality hit Isshin like a ton of bricks.
"Ichibē Hyōsube?!" Isshin exclaimed.
"Ah so you finally recognise me Shiba!" Ichibē said giddily.
"B-But what in the world is one of the squad zero members doing here?" Isshin asked with a commanding tone.
"One of the members? Did you forget behind me?" Ichibē said as he laughed loudly.
Isshin looked dumbfounded.
Then he looked at Ichigo with a look of betrayal who just looked away with pity.
Ichibē noticed the tension and said,
"Oh so he didn't tell you that. . .okay"
Suddenly the atmosphere turned awakward beyond repair so Ichibē just sighed and put his hand under his coat to remove something.
Ryuken and Isshin put their guard up but all Ichibē removed was a lighter and gave it to Ichigo.
"A lighter? Ichibē san I would love to have a smoke but this isn't the right time nor the place" Ichigo whispered as he stared at the lighter with confusion.
(Yes people. Ichigo Kurosaki smokes. He is a 27 year old for Pete's sake. Let the man live. Sorry to those who don't like this new quality of his *bows*)
Isshin's anger was now out of the roof.
"You smoke? This kind of behaviour is absolutely-"
"Now wait would you? He is not the little boy you know" Ichibē said with a slight huff.
"B-But!" Isshin wanted to continue but Ichibē didn't let him.
"Don't you recognise this Ichigo?" Ichibē turned around and interjected.
Ichigo stared at the silver lighter in his hands until he realised what it was.
"It's-!"
"Don't say it out loud" Ichibē warned with a smile.
Ichigo just nodded and then looked at Ryuken and Isshin.
"Am I getting blury?" Ichigo asked Isshin as he waved around his arms in front of Isshin.
Isshin just squinted his eyes so that he could have a proper look at what was in front of him.
"I will take that as a yes. This means mom's powers are coming back" Ichigo said as he walked around Ichibē and then stood in front of Isshin and Ryuken. And the lighter in front of their faces.
"What are you planning to do? Burn our faces?" Ryuken asked sarcastically.
"Kind of burn MY face" Ichigo said with a shrug.
Ryuken just gave a look and Isshin finally got a clear view of what was in Ichigo's hand.
"Wait that's a-!"
"Too late" Ichigo said as he pressed the button and there was pink coloured smoke all around the house.
And everyone except Ichigo and Ichibē fainted. Ryuken and Isshin were going to have a dull back ache from falling but they would be fine. Masaki and Katagiri were already out of it. Younger Ichigo and Uryu probably fainted too.
Ichibē and Ichigo flash-stepped out of the house and kept running until they reached the Karakura river again.
"They will forget me completely right? I remember one of my friends having this, she had said that if I meet them again or if they see me again, even if it's by mistake, then they will remember me and the situation that happened, completely" Ichigo asked as he put the lighter in his leather pouch, where he had now kept the useless Hogyōku and that sword hilt.
"Yes, this also works the same. You will have to be careful" Ichibē said and Ichigo just nodded as he stared at his hands that had pressed the device's switch.
Ichibē glanced at Ichigo who looked like he had made the worst decision of his life.
"It's okay you know?" Ichibē started.
"What's okay?" Ichigo asked bitterly.
"What you are doing. It's okay to not look people in the eye and not want them to know who you are. Especially when they had been dead for all these years and you would have to see them again. Trust me, it will get better. As you keep crossing paths with those people, you WILL get accustomed again. It will just take time" Ichibē said as he cast a kidō in the air, as if writing in the air with back ink.
Ichigo looked at Ichibē's face for the first time when Ichibē said that and Ichibē didn't look like he was kidding at all.
Ichigo smiled and said,
"Yeah it will take time"
Then the next moment Ichigo found the big canon, Kakaku Ho in front of them, the zero division emblem on it's face.
"Ready to find a solution?" Ichibē asked.
Ichigo looked at the sky as the clouds finally started to clear out of the sky, letting in a bit of sunshine and then he looked back at Ichibē and said,
"I am ready to find the problem"
Ichibē just smiled and entered the canon.
When both of them were inside the canon and the door closed, Ichigo suddenly remembered something.
"Uhhh don't we need a launch pad similar to the one Kukaku nee san had? How do you plan on launching this thing?" Ichigo asked as he got accustomed to the dark.
"Oh you mean Kukaku Shiba's launch pad? We don't need that old thing! We figured out how to fly this thing without that a 100 years ago!" Ichibē said as suddenly the light inside the canon turned on and they could see each other now.
"But then why did y-"
"We must have not told you that because we prefer no one besides the zero division members know how to launch this thing"
"Then why didn't you guys tell me when i did become a member? And this old thing even has a light switch?! Why the hell didn't you use these things when i was there!" Ichigo said with a scowl.
"It's always fun to launch people in and out of a dimension in a dark cylinder" Ichibē said as the canon rose slowly and then increased it's speed gradually, not being rash in any way.
Ichigo just gave up and sat down while Ichibē did the same.
"So what do you plan on doing?" Ichibē asked Ichigo.
"I literally have no idea"
"Then want to follow my plan?"
"And that would be?"
"Oh i will tell you once we get there! Let's just catch some shut eye!" Ichibē said as he took out a purple pillow from his Hayori and puffed it up.
Then he put it down and without a second thought laid his head on it with the aim of falling asleep.
"How long till we reach there?"
"An impatient one aren't you? We will reach there in an hour" Ichibē said as he tried sleeping again only to be interrupted again.
"You know you shouldn't sleep around people that you have met just a hour ago. For all you know, this time travel thing could be a fake drama and i am a serial killer with a aim to kill the zero division" Ichigo said as he laid down on the other side of the canon but without a pillow.
"Well you may lie to me boy but that Ōken you are made of doesn't. Soul King doesn't just grant the Ōken to anyone. And zero division doesn't add a member without any thinking" Ichibē said as he finally dozed off.
Ichigo decided to not think much about what Ichibē said. He then started counting the number of lavender painted flowers on the inside of the door of the canon. It's not like he would like to sleep anyways. Either the nightmares would trouble him or he won't be able to stay in a steady position of sleeping. So he continued counting the flowers.
And just how Ichibē had said, they reached there in an hour.
Ichibē woke up but didn't get up. He stayed in that position and with the corner of his eyes he observed what Ichigo was doing.
He noticed that with his right hand Ichigo was pointing towards the door. But then he saw his lips moving in a synchronizing manner, as if they were counting something. Then Ichibē noticed how Ichigo's hand was moving in the same manner of his speaking.
'Is he seriously counting the flowers?' Ichibē thought as he moved a bit.
Noticing the moment Ichigo quickly stopped what he was doing and sat up as well.
"Did you sleep well?" Ichibē asked as he got up and walked towards the door.
"Yeah i slept fine" Ichigo said as he followed Ichibē out.
'Liar' Ichibē thought.
As soon as Ichigo put one step out he knew something was going to happen cause just when they were out, Ichibē was out of his sight.
Ichigo looked around as if he was searching for something or as if he was lost.
While somewhere behind the curtains that were made by Senjumaru Shutara in a matter of seconds, everyone was staring at the screen in front of them that was recording Kurosaki Ichigo's actions.
"Well he doesn't seem to know much about the Royal Palace considering he must have lived here if he was a Royal Guard" Senjumaru said while she covered her mouth as she spoke, with one of her golden arms.
"Yeah, what a dumbo" Ichigo said as he rested his arms on his waist with a disappointed look on his face.
"I know right!" Ōetsu Nimaya said as he glanced back and then again stared at the screen.
Then it hit him and he quickly turned behind and it didn't even take him a second to put his sword an inch away from Ichigo's neck.
"How did you get in here?" Senjumaru asked as her own golden skeletal arm held a big needle that can be considered a sword, around Ichigo's neck.
"Oh I saw you sewing this curtain up so I decided to wait until you were done and then I came behind you guys. Honestly it's a hard job to find your curtains, really. They are too realistic" Ichigo said casually as he pushed both of the swords away with his palms.
"You have got some nerve" Tenjirō Kirinji said as he felt his eyebrows twitch in irritation.
Ichigo just sighed and cleared his throat.
Everyone who had been plotting plans in their minds to attack Ichigo if he makes any move, had now pulled their attention to the boy as he cleared his throat and sat on one of his knees, his head bowed while one of his hands touched the ground while the other rested on his bended knee.
"What are you doing bo-"
"I want you to know that I serve you and as a Royal Guard it is my responsibility to tell you anything you want"
Everyone who had been taken back by the boy's action knew that there was a catch to this.
Suddenly Kirinji took the same position as Ichigo and repeated the same words Ichigo had.
A few minutes passed but nobody moved.
"What are the both of you trying to accomplish here?" Nimiya asked as he pushed his sun glasses up.
Suddenly Ichigo stood up and so did Kirinji.
Kirinji was grinning like an idiot and Ichigo had a ghost of a smile on his face as he looked at the ground.
"So you really are the Royal Guards" Ichigo said in a bit amusing tone as his shoulders relaxed.
"What do you mean by 'we really are the Royal Guards'? Didn't you come here cause you believed us?" Senjumaru asked.
"Well I cannot trust anything, that's who I am right now. Fighting with a man whose expertise was illusions gets on your nerves" Ichigo said as he scratched the back of his neck.
"So what was up with this act?" Nimiya asked as he put his sword back.
"What is a Royal Guard's motto?! Do I live with idiots?!" Kirinji yelled as he smacked Nimiya across his head.
"A Royal Guard's motto is to protect the soul king"
"And what did he say?" Kirinji asked as he pointed at Ichigo.
"Well he said that he has sworn on serving as a Royal Guard and he will tell us anything we want to kno- Oh wait" Senjumaru continued as she realised where this was headed.
"You buck headed fools took so long to understand that he wasn't refering to US when he said he has sworn on serving us and he wasn't refering to US when he said he would tell us anything we want to know. He was referring to-"
"The soul king" Ichibē concluded.
"And so I bowed, in a gesture that I am doing a similar job" Kirinji said with a grin.
"So that thing about you fighting a man with ' expertise in illusions ' . . . Does it have anything to do with-"
"Souske Aizen? Yes it does" Ichigo completed for Kirio Hikifune.
Suddenly a grim atmosphere surrounded the area and nobody knew what to say.
Ichigo sighed and started walking towards the Soul King's main island.
And before he could take another step towards the building all 5 members of the Royal Guard surrounded him in a circle.
"So you still don't trust me?" Ichigo said as he looked at the building that was floating in the sky, still wondering how he would get there.
"We would be fools if we trusted you right off the bat" Senjumaru said.
"Well what do you think I can do to make you trust me? If you can't trust me, then I cannot go any further than this" Ichigo said as he sat down on the wooden floor while the members of the Royal Guard stared at him as if he had lost it.
"Okay then let's start with you telling us about the-"
"Nope"
The silence later was almost deafening.
"What do you mean 'no' ?!" Kirinji said as he slammed the floor with one of his legs.
"You were going to ask me about the future weren't you?" Ichigo asked as the atmosphere suddenly turned dead serious just because Ichigo decided it to.
Nobody said a word and it was an obvious answer.
"I told you to make me do something that would involve you trusting me, so that shouldn't involve anything related to my past" Ichigo explained in a calm demanour.
"Why is that?"
"Because me coming back means we lost the war. And I don't think you would be able to trust a person who was a leading cause in losing it" Ichigo said with dry sarcasm.
"Ichigo. . ." Kirio said as worry laced her voice.
"You can at least tell us about your past that has to do with your current plan right?" Ichibē asked.
"Of course" Ichigo said.
"Then let's start with why you wanted to go to the Soul King's building?" Ichibē asked with a smile which everyone knew was fake and deadly.
"I wanted to put a Bakudō spell around the Soul King's cavity, you know, that purple thing inside which he stays-"
"Yeah we know about it. But WHY do you want to put a Bakudō around it?" Kirio asked.
"So that this time i won't slice him in half" Ichigo said casually and it didn't take more that a second to have 5 swords against his throat.
"Say that again but slowly. . ." Kirinji said with a deadly look in his eyes.
"Quick to judgement as always. Did i tell you i was in my own control when i did that?" Ichigo said as he closed his eyes with a tire full sigh.
"So who was the one that was controlling you?"
Ichigo looked at his sword, an image of Zangetsu flashing in his mind, looking like a carbon copy of Yhwach.
"Yhwach"
Ichigo felt the swords moving away from his neck while an aura of confusion surrounded the area.
"But how did Yhwach control you? He can only control the Quincy" Kirinji said.
"That's because i AM a Quincy"
. . . . . *crickets*
"Okay let's consider that our future selves made a Quincy a Royal Guard for a second ha ha . . . But what weapon did you use to kill him? The Soul King i mean." Kirio asked awkwardly as she laughed to lighten the situation.
"I used a Zanpaktō"
. . . . . *crickets*
"Well if you consider your normal swords as Zanpaktō then we don't have a problem with i-"
"No, i used my real Zanpaktō"
. . . . . *crickets*
"Okay that's it! What kind of a FREAK are you?!" Kirinji yelled while Nimiya tried to stop him from hitting Ichigo.
Ichigo's body became tense.
'Freak'
'That's what they are probably thinking i am'
'A freak that might kill them'
'At this rate how am i going to gain their trust'
'I need to do something'
'What if i fail to protect everyone ag-'
"Ichigo!"
Ichigo was bought back to reality as he heard Nimiya yell at him.
He didn't see anyone's faces but he knew all of them were glaring at Kirinji for saying that.
"Uh i guess i. . .I am s-sorry" Kirinji said with half hearted guilt.
"It's okay, really. That is what i am now, a freak. A useless freak" Ichigo said as he stood up.
Kirio looked at the boy worriedly. She felt some of her spiritual pressure coming off the boy. So it meant she must have fed him just a few weeks ago since her spiritual pressure stays inside someone she feeds for months and the one she felt from him was pretty strong.
So it meant that, for Ichigo, she had died just a few weeks ago.
"I may be a freak, but i am a freak with a plan" Ichigo said as he smirked slightly.
"But can you least tell us what kind of shinigami you are?"
"Sure. So let's get this straight, i am not a normal shinigami" Ichigo said and everyone nodded.
"Figured out that much-" Nimiya said with a light shrug.
"I am a Shinigami - Quincy - Hollow - Human hybrid"
"Anddddd didn't see THAT coming" Nimiya continued.
A few seconds passed and then Senjumaru said,
"I think a explanation is needed as of how. . .this happened" as she pointed at Ichigo with ALL of her arms.
"Well how should i explain this, uhh Aizen?"
"That seems sensible enough" Nimiya said as he nodded in understanding.
"Look guys, i don't have much time. I have other things to do" Ichigo said as he ruffled his own hair in stress.
"Things like?" Senjumaru asked suspiciously.
"Oh I don't know? Maybe stop a 9 year long war from happening?" Ichigo said sarcastically.
"Okay so tell us why you need to place a barrier around the Soul King's cavity? I mean i understand that you want to stop yourself from slicing the cavity but wouldn't Yhwach sense the Kidō around it?" Kirio said.
"Because i know the amount of strength Yhwach will be using to make me kill the Soul King, I also know the amount he will be having at that time. So i am going to make a Kidō that he won't be able to sense at that level of powers. That kidō will make a barrier around the cavity whenever a strength that equals to Yhwach may try to attack it and that would also repel my strength when the time comes"
"But can't you do something now that you know that he can control your body?"
"If there is a way that you can remove my Quincy genes from me without removing my Quincy zanpaktō, then sure i would like to avoid getting controlled at all" Ichigo said as he crossed his arms.
"Well there isn't" Senjumaru said in a defeated tone.
Ichigo looked at Senjumaru for a minute. It wasn't in her character to behave like she can't do anything even when she really can't do anything.
Then he noticed some titbits of different emotional characters among the Royal Guards.
At first he had shrugged it off considering that maybe they will become similar to how Ichigo knew them if some more time passed. Cause naturally Ichigo knew them 9 years later from now.
But the difference seemed quite major, for it to occur in just 9 years.
So Ichigo drew out the final conclusion.
"Listen now, i know that you already knew that Yhwach can control me and you can't remove my Quincy blood and shit. So let's not act clueless here. So let's get straight to the point . . . " Ichigo started with a deep sigh and then continued.
"What are you guys. . . stalling time for?"
(P.S.1 I couldn't figure out how to describe the braid properly. So I want you guys to refer to Isane of squad 4, Unohana Captain's squad. She has similar 2-4 long strands. I just gave one to Ichigo, but smaller. He hasn't put anything fancy like rings around his braid. Isane has small rings around her STRANDS. Ichigo has a red thread wrapped around his BRAID. Just a small thread around it that didn't even cover it mostly)
(P.S.2 I know it's a lot of explanation for a small braid but I wanted to describe Ichigo's appearance perfectly because you guys will have to imagine Ichigo like that for the rest of the story. It's not compulsory for you to imagine him like I am doing in the story. But I wanted to depict the changes that have occurred in him after 9 years. It shouldn't confuse you guys as to how I was thinking of him in the story)
(P.S.3
A Queen Among Women: Thank you so much!
DiamondCutterTM: Hoping to satisfy!)