Prologue : Of Strawberries and Safekeeping
by Nanako
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
Hitsugaya's voice was flat, serious. The shinigami captain gave the taller human a leveled stare even if the former was a good few feet shorter in height than the latter. He had entered Ichigo's room through his open window. And was now standing in the middle of Ichigo's room, his face grim and serious.
On normal occasions, Ichigo would joke and call the shinigami by his first name just to tease him. But when the said shinigami captain showed up in his room, uninvited, with a no nonsense tone to his voice and a tense, if only slight, reiatsu to accompany that tone of voice, Ichigo knew when he had to be treated seriously.
"Hitsugaya Taicho?"
Hitsugaya sighed and crossed his arms. He didn't want to be the bearer of the news, but he had no choice, he was the one whom the captain commander sent. "The captain commander wants you to go back to Soul Society and stay there for some time."
"Eh?!" Ichigo's air of reverence and seriousness disappeared in that instant. No matter how grave Hitsugaya's tone was, what he said brought out too much surprise in the teen. But who could blame him? Twice he had traveled to Soul Society, the first time he was treated as an invader, the second time he was not warmly welcomed. And now they were inviting him to stay there?!
"Why would they want me back there Toushirou? Everytime I step into Soul Society, they want me out as soon as possible. Why would they want me there now?"
A vein throbbed on Hitsugaya's forehead. Ichigo was calling him by his first name again, no respect indeed. "That's Hitsugaya taicho to you Kurosaki…" he muttered. Then, with a serious, yet less annoyed tone, continued, "I was not told of the reason for your transfer, but this was a direct request from the captain commander…it's an order actually. I was explicitly ordered to not take no as an answer."
"So I have no say in this matter?"
Hitsugaya kept his eyes on Ichigo as he replied, "No, I'm afraid not."
Ichigo sighed and sat down on his bed. He propped his elbows on his legs and rested his chin on his palm. "Do I even get any time before I "obey" this order?"
"The captain commander asked that you be in Soul Society by tonight…I don't think that gives you any time."
"Damn that old man," Ichigo muttered. "I'm not even a full shinigami and he orders me around like I am…" He paused shook his head. "No way out of this huh?" He looked at Hitsugaya again. "Any idea how long I'll be staying in Soul Society?"
Hitsugaya shook his head and shrugged. "I don't think they'll keep you there too long. You are still human after all, and keeping you there for too long would have your family here worried sick about you. I don't think that is part of what they have in mind."
"As long as it doesn't make my family worried…" Ichigo stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "But when I get there, I better get my answers or I will make a way to get back here without that old man's permission."
"Then we better get going." Hitsugaya said. "Oh, and we're taking your body along… although your soul will still be separated from it."
"Like I care. Just make sure my body's safe. I want to get this over and done with," Ichigo grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Alright then, let's go."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Soul Society was, without doubt, a beautiful and serene place. Well, sans some of the impoverished areas, that never seemed to improve at all. that made Ichigo wonder if Seireitei was doing anything about those areas.
Everytime Ichigo came back, the air would bring a sort of calm into his being, like a soothing balm on his wild reiatsu and on his person.
This time, however, even the calming atmosphere of Soul Society could not help in soothing his annoyance at the surname he saw at the entrance of his temporary abode in Soul Society.
"Why the hell do I have to stay here?!"
Rukia placed a finger in her ear in an attempt to tune out Ichigo's yelling. And only when he had finished yelling did she remove her finger and replied. "Because this is estate is big and because, of all the squad members of the 13 protection squads I have known you longer."
"And why are you here? I thought you were assigned to deal with the Arrancars in the real world?"
"I was called back for a few days by Ukitake Taicho," Rukia replied with a huff. "At least be happy you're staying here. Imagine staying in a place where you've only known the Captain in battle. Like Zaraki Taicho for example. Besides the order specifically mentioned that you are to stay in a captain's abode, and not of any squad member only."
Ichigo glared at Rukia. "There is no way I am sleeping next to yours… you'll just get back at me now that I'm the one freeloading."
"You're not freeloading. You're here because you have to be." Rukia's tone turned serious and Ichigo was surprised at the sudden change in mood. "You're here in Soul Society for your own safety as well as for the safety of the people around you in the real world…" Rukia kept the sentence hanging, Ichigo knew what she was talking about.
"It's my Hollow huh?" Ichigo asked, running a hand through his short hair and leaning on a wooden foundation just outside a room in the Kuchiki estate. "Soul Society finally paid attention to it…" he added, a small smile on his lips. "I doubted they would let a Hollow with such reiatsu to just roam free in the real world, even if it is within a representative shinigami."
Rukia looked up at Ichigo and offered him a worried look. "Don't worry about it… Soul Society won't do anything to you. They just want you here to keep you safe…"
"…And to keep Aizen from finding me, I know," Ichigo finished for her. "It's not news to me anymore… Ulquiorra keeps on throwing that shit at me, that there is no reason for his "Aizen sama" to find any interest in me, which implies that Aizen does have an interest in me. But whether it is in me or in the Hollow within me that he's interested in, that I do not know yet."
"And neither does Soul Society," Ruka admitted. "That's why they want you here… they want to know why Aizen wants you… and to observe the status of the Hollow within you. They want to keep you away from Aizen, because he will kill anyone around you without a second thought just to get to you." Rukia smiled and placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "As long as you're here, your family and friends will be safe."
"And I will be closely monitored, I suppose." Ichigo let out a huff and returned Rukia's smile. "As long as the others remain safe, and as long as I don't stay here too long that will make my family worry, then I'll stay here."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Note
I apologize in advance for the shortness. This is a repost, I had to fix the little errors I saw when I was rereading it.
Also, you would notice that the prologue is dialogue heavy. It was intended to be not too descriptive because I wanted to keep it short. So I focused on the dialogue
Don't worry, the next chapters would be more descriptive and are
self-reflection/contemplation heavy