Cruel to be Kind
Hello people, this is my second story, a "what-if" story revolving around Ichigo Kurosaki. In this story, Ichigo's nature will be different from his nature in the official manga storyline. In here, Aizen's well kept, more-than-100-year-old secrets are little compared to the secrets that Ichigo has to keep from his important friends themselves, the secrets that will eventually culminate in the fall of the self-proclaimed "God" himself.
There will be one OC in this story, a silvered hair, spiritually aware girl around Ichigo's age called Yin. Some of you might already know a girl of this description from the anime series Darker than BLACK. It is the same character, I couldn't resist bringing her in, but that's where the crossover ends. No further characters crossing over from DtB. For those who don't know her, I shall provide a background to Yin in the official manga storylines' perspective in the chapter where she first appears, as her personality in this story will be the same as her personality in DtB.
As the title implies, Ichigo, in this story, holds true to his motives in the manga: to protect his friends and those important to him, but he goes about it her in a different manner, because he has been trained by his father to do so. The training is a secret, a secret kept from not just enemies, but also friends. There is no romance in this story, but a relationship between Ichigo and a certain character that might not necessarily be romance, but very deep. More details about this later.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Darker than BLACK. This is the only disclaimer I'll be doing for this entire story.
Story Proper
"Mom! Mom!" came the cries of a young distressed boy at a river bank, who was pushing a woman's body desperately, and yet, gently. The woman was beautiful, with a kind face, but one that showed pain during her last moments alive. The boy pushing her was young, not even past ten years of age. He had a distressed face, one that used to hold a bright, goofy grin, and a more striking feature of his, was his bright orange hair. Passers-by paused to look at him, shaking their heads sadly, reflecting about the boy's great loss at such a young age. One person immediately called the police and an ambulance. Another man stepped forward and looked kindly at the boy.
"Hello child, what's your name?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki sir"
"I see Kurosaki-kun. Could you please give me your father's phone number? I'll call him and you can speak to him. Or would you like me to do it instead?"
Ichigo sniffed, at a loss for words. The man looked at him sadly and offered to make the call himself, to which Ichigo nodded with a slight look of gratitude in his eyes.
"Hello, is this Mr Kurosaki? My name is James Lee, and I'm at the Karakura River now. I regret to tell you that something terrible has happened. It was an accident involving your wife and son. The police and an ambulance have been called. Your son is alright…I wish I could say the say the same for your wife…but I'm sorry I can't. Please come here soon sir. I'll watch your son until you reach here."
With that, the man who had helped Ichigo, James Lee waited with Ichigo, sitting in the rain in silence, waiting for the ambulance and Ichigo's anxious, tearful father, who came soon. When Isshin came to the scene, at the same time as the ambulance, he was shocked, when he detected traces of hollow reiatsu at the spot where Masaki's body had lain. Immediately a wave of regret washed over him.
If only I had reached this place faster…I could have protected her-the love of my life and the mother of my children, dead because of my powerlessness…
He immediately went over to Lee and Ichigo and embraced his son, offering what words of comfort he could to the grieving boy. After a few moments, he stood up, greeted Lee and thanked him for being kind and making the call. Lee offered a few words of regret to Isshin politely, and then left, politely declining Isshin's offers to compensate him for spending time with his son to protect him in Isshin's absence. After that, Isshin went back to Ichigo.
Ichigo: She'll live won't she?
Isshin knew how Masaki had died, and also the reason why. He had protected his spiritually aware son from the true ways of the world since his birth nine years ago, but with the current circumstances, the truth would have to be told. He would wait a while more for his girls. He had left them with a friend instead of bringing them to the river, hoping to postpone the pain they would feel, even if just for a short while. The burden of knowing the spiritual world could wait a few more years for them.
Isshin: I won't lie to you Ichigo, your mother is no longer alive. It will be painful, but we will have to go on living, day after day, without her care and precious smile.
Ichigo: It's…It's my fault isn't it?
Isshin: Don't say that Ichigo, it's not your fault! If anything, it's mine, for not getting here in time!
Not wishing for Ichigo to continue blaming himself for Masaki's death, he decided to leave things there to the coroner; he decided to go home with Ichigo, to inform Karin and Yuzu.
Back at the Kurosakis' home
After a painful session with his whole family, Isshin had explained what had happened. He had given them the whole truth, leaving out only the true cause of death. Later, he tucked the two girls into bed, then took Ichigo with him to the basement. There, he pushed away a wardrobe, revealing a hidden room. He opened the door after looking behind his back to make sure that no one else was there besides Ichigo, and then led Ichigo inside.
Ichigo: hey dad, what is this place? How come we never heard of it?
They had just stepped into a very large underground room which had walls that were coated in what seemed like silver. The room was big enough to fit several building levels inside and was reasonably well lit.
Isshin: Ichigo…I brought you here to tell you the full details of your mother's death. I really don't want to tell your sisters about this, so I brought you here alone. But before I begin, I'll give you a choice. What I'm about to tell you will be difficult, so you can refuse to know this if you want.
Ichigo: No, I want to know the truth behind mom's death. I at first blamed myself for this, but I've now realized that this won't do any good for me. I need to know this, so I can protect my loved ones in the future. Not knowing might remove a burden from my back…but I'll be a useless kid who can only watch and regret.
Isshin: Well spoken, Ichigo, I'm proud of you. Now, let's begin. You can see spirits can't you? Now, you must know that every human being has a soul inside their bodies. If a human dies, the soul gets forced out of the body. A chain usually connects the soul to the body and keeps it within the body. Upon death this chain breaks, leaving souls with a broken chain protruding from their chests. It is the job of a Shinigami to perform a ritual called Soul Burial, or Konso, on the souls-a process that will send them to the afterlife, Soul Society.
Ichigo: Shinigami? Soul Society? What are they like?
Isshin sighed, and told Ichigo the story of how he himself used to be a Shinigami, and one of the more powerful ones at that. He also explained how his powers were sealed away before he married Masaki, and about the structure of Soul Society.
Ichigo: So Soul Society is basically a civilian population, as well as a military organisation, which is split into thirteen divisions. The division heads are captains and are the most powerful Shinigami. You used to be one of these captains, but accepted a human life, and the loss of your powers to be with mom.
Isshin confirmed this.
Ichigo: You know dad…that makes you one of the bravest people I've ever met. It's not easy to give up power, especially a captain-level power. Tatsuki and I always tried to become stronger. I can't even imagine giving up that strength now.
Isshin was surprised.
Isshin: That's pretty insightful, Ichigo. I'm glad to see that. Now, I must tell you one more thing. This is the most important of all this. But before that, I want you to promise that you won't tell Karin and Yuzu about all we have discussed. Whatever is said in this room stays here. This information is a heavy burden and I wish to spare them, at least until a few more years when they are older. Then, I promise I will tell them everything.
Ichigo: Alright dad. What else do you have?
Isshin: The cause of your mother's death. Not all spirits are saved by the Shinigami. Sometimes, they arrive too late, and they might miss the spirit. The soul chain of spirits can erode, and when it completely disappears, the soul will turn into a Hollow. Hollows are spirits that have lost their heart, to speak in an emotional sense. To fill the void created by their lack of a heart, they eat other souls. Now, we shouldn't blame them, because they're like animals, driven by a will to eat other souls. The second duty of Shinigami is to purify hollows. Everytime a hollow is killed by a Shinigami's blade, the sins it was forced to commit as a hollow are cleansed, are its soul is sent to Soul Society.
Isshin looked at his son meaningfully as he said those words, not wanting him to hat hollows, as they were practically forced by their instincts to kill.
Isshin: However, it is possible to control hollows. Masaki was killed by a hollow, and that hollow was acting on orders.
Ichigo looked shocked. In a dry voice, he said, "Whose orders?"
Isshin: A terrible man named Sosuke Aizen. He's the captain of Soul Society's 5th Division now, but the sole reason he's working for them, is to steal information from them and use his authority as a cover while secretly engaging in illegal activities. Soul Society has no clue of his true intentions believing him to be a good man. Two other captains are also working with him, while pretending to be concerned with Soul Society's well-being. It was him who sent a powerful hollow to kill Masaki, although I don't know why.
Ichigo was speechless. There was a man he didn't know anything about, and that man had given the order to kill his mother. What kind of a bastard was that man? Ichigo could not begin to comprehend the extent of the man's malice.
Isshin: Ichigo, you have great potential, and you could become a powerful shinigami in time. I may no longer have your powers, but I can still train you in theory. Will you accept my offer to train you?
Ichigo: I have to get stronger, and defeat that man. For mom, and our family's sake. I accept, dad.
Isshin: Alright, son, go get some sleep, training starts tomorrow. And remember, please do not tell your sisters about this. We will tell them in several years' time. A soul as powerful as yours can go without sleep for quite a while if you eat enough to replenish your energy, so we can train in this special soundproof room at night, so that your sisters do not suspect a thing. You can still concentrate at school even if you spend more than half the night training.
And with that, the two went off to sleep, having spoken about all this.
End Chapter 1
Author's note: Isshin seems skilled in all four areas of Shinigami combat: swordplay (zanjutsu), hand-to-hand fighting (hakuda), demon arts (kido), and footwork (hoho), judging by his attacking Ichigo in the anime, and his fight in the manga. He'll be a fine teacher, even without his powers. Ichigo becomes a Shinigami at 9 years old, and trains hard. No one knows about his training, not even Kisuke and his group, not Soul Society, and definitely not Aizen.
