Hey welcome! So this story is an AU that takes place after the winter war without the Fullbring arc and everything that's going on with the Quincys in the manga. Ichigo has just been living his life as a substitute shinigami apart from the soul society for the most part. In this AU we're also just going to assume that Ichigo never lost his shinigami powers after his battle with Aizen or that he did lose them and he somehow miraculously got them back. Either way it's not relevant to the plot at all so you pick whatever suits you. Enjoy!
It had been 70 years since the winter war against Aizen, and Ichigo was about to be 87. His soul however, still appeared to be a 17 year old shinigami. He still had the substitute shinigami badge that was given to him by Ukitake to alert him when a hollow would arrive and it did go off every so often, but not as frequently was it once did. Rukia and all the other shinigami visited less and less frequently after the war and it had been years since Ichigo had seen any of his friends from Seireitei.
Beep beep beep
The substitute badge began to sound as he felt a hollow's reiatsu appear. In a flash, Ichigo left his old, frail body behind and sped towards the hollow. As it turned out, he didn't have to travel far, the hollow was wreaking havoc just a little ways down the road from where Ichigo was living. The hollow noticed Ichigo's sudden appearance and charged towards him, knocking over everything in its path.
The hollow would've been considered a strong one if not for the fact that Ichigo had faced much stronger. Ichigo made quick work of killing the monster with a powerful slash across the mask with Zangetsu. When Ichigo turned to return home, he noticed that the hollow had plowed over a telephone pole in its rampage and it just so happened to fall right through Ichigo's roof.
"Oh shit," Ichigo rushed back through an undamaged window. Ichigo's body, left on Ichigo's bed, was completely crushed underneath the debris.
"To think I'd be done in by a small fry like that," Ichigo laughed to himself and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I have to head over to Urahara-san's."
Ichigo made his way towards the candy shop. He had always imagined that he would be a little bit sad when he died but he found that he actually felt elated. The idea of not being tied down to a physical body and being able to see his shinigami friends again was exciting, especially Rukia. They were like partners-in-crime in a manner of speaking. They had left on good terms the last time they saw each other, Rukia had explained that she wasn't sure when she would be able to visit again due to her new responsibilities as a vice captain. Ichigo understood, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time he saw her, whether she visited again or not.
He wandered into the shop in search of the owner who was nowhere in sight.
"Urahara-san?" Ichigo called towards the back of the shop when Tessai walked out of the back room carrying some boxes.
"Ah Ichigo! He's in the underground training room. Feel free to let yourself down."
"Thanks Tessai."
Ichigo made his way down the ladder to the cavernous training room to search for Urahara, who was conveniently perched in plain sight on a large rock in the middle of the field. He appeared to be tinkering with something as he felt Ichigo approach.
"Ah Kurosaki-san! I've been working on a new reiatsu warping device, would you like to see?" Urahara held out what looked like a television remote with a tiny satellite attached to the top.
"Not right now, I'm afraid I have some news about the state of my body." Ichigo cleared his throat. "It seems like I'm finally... dead."
Urahara chuckled a bit and jumped down from the boulder to face Ichigo, "My condolences. If I may ask, what was it that finally killed the great Kurosaki Ichigo? Heart attack?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Urahara leaned in and cupped his ear with a humorous smile on his face.
"A hollow knocked a telephone pole into my house." Ichigo scowled at his feet, suddenly feeling less okay about dying. He was never going to live this down.
"Really? You were accidently killed by a random hollow?" Urahara started laughing, "Did you hear that Tessai? Oh, how the mighty have fallen!"
Ichigo felt his face flush and was very tempted to knock Urahara into oblivion, and he would have if he weren't here to ask for help. Ichigo managed to keep his temper in check and attempted to smile pleasantly but it came out as more of a grimace. "Glad to hear you find my death so entertaining but what do you suggest I do now that I have no body to return to?"
Urahara had stopped laughing and hid his face behind his fan but it was obvious that he was still found Ichigo's demise quite funny, "Well Ichigo, there's only one thing to do now and that's send you to the soul society."
"I figured as much. I'll let you set up the senkaimon then."
"You're mistaken Kurosaki-san, I can't send you there through the senkaimon this time, it wouldn't be fair." Urahara's eyes peaked out from under his hat and glittered with amusement.
"You can't mean…" Ichigo's face fell at the realization that Urahara was going to perform konso on him. How humiliating could this day get? "Are you serious? I think I've grown past needing konso to travel to Seireitei."
"And there lies the problem, sending you straight to Seireitei would be unfair to the other souls who have to arrive in Rukongai." Urahara's grin widened from behind his fan, "Think of this as a rite of passage that all souls must eventually go through, including famous war heroes."
"So what you're saying is you could send me through a senkaimon, but you won't?" Ichigo was losing his composure, "What the hell, Urahara!"
"Take it or leave it Ichigo, but that's how I'm going to send you," Urahara hopped back on the boulder and began to fiddle with his gadget. "If you can find someone else to open the Senkaimon for you then feel free to go and ask them."
Ichigo sighed in defeat. He knew that Urahara was the most convenient way to get to the Soul Society. It was obvious that he was just insisting on konso to get to him, but Ichigo would just have to swallow his pride and cross over like any other soul would.
"Fine, I'll just use konso."
"Excellent!" Urahara jumped off the boulder again with his cane in his hand. "Some advice before you go, you may want to change your appearance once you get there, you're quite famous after the Winter War with Aizen. You also might end up quite far from Seireitei, unfortunately I can't control where in Rukongai you'll end up. Happy travels!"
And with that, Urahara tapped the tip of Benihime to Ichigo's forehead.
Ichigo found himself waking up on a dirt path in the middle of a small town. He picked himself off the ground and realized he wasn't wearing his standard black shinigami uniform that he had grown so accustomed to. Instead he was wearing simple white linen clothing and woven sandals.
"Sandals huh? At least I know that I'm not on the outskirts of Rukongai." Ichigo prayed that he was in one of the closer districts, he didn't fancy having to walk all the way to Seireitei from the outer districts. After noticing his clothes, Ichigo began to take note of his surroundings. People appeared to be well off as far as he was concerned, they were far from nobility but in no way were they poor either. The second thing he noticed was the stares he was getting from the people in the street. Ichigo was used to it, having orange hair and all, but he figured that it was normal for new souls to appear this way. He soon figured out that that wasn't why people were staring.
Ichigo walked over to the nearest person, a young woman carrying a baby, to ask what district he had landed in and which way to start walking to get to Seireitei. He discovered that he was in District 36 and he would be able to reach the gates of Seireitei in about two days if he walked east.
Just as Ichigo was about to thank her and get going she asked him a question that surprised him, "I know this is probably incredibly unlikely but you seem to share many characteristics with the hero of the Winter War. Are you related to him by any chance?"
Ichigo stared down at the woman in shock, Urahara wasn't kidding when he said he was famous in the Soul Society. Ichigo decided that it would be easier to lie, "Sorry but no I've never even met him."
"Oh well, I thought since you both have the same unusual hair color there might be some connection. Good luck on your trip to Seireitei then!" The woman turned and walked away towards whatever business she was on her way to do before Ichigo interrupted.
"It's always the hair, isn't it," Ichigo muttered to himself as he began his trek east. "I can't escape the attention, even in death."
As Ichigo continued to walk through District 36, people couldn't help but noticing the man with the same hair as their beloved hero. He found that the stares were starting to get to him and it finally got to the point where he had to swipe a bamboo farmers hat to cover his head. He felt bad about having to steal but he arrived with no money so he wasn't left with much of a choice.
Once Ichigo fell into a steady pace the districts seemed to fly by. By the time it began to get dark, Ichigo had made it to District 15. Satisfied with the progress he had made, Ichigo found a nice, comfortable spot at the base of a tree to rest at. He tipped his bamboo hat over his eyes to block out the remaining sunlight and quickly drifted to sleep.
That's it for the first chapter! Please let me know what you think! Next chapter Ichigo gets to Seireitei.