Chapter One: Zanpakuto Spirits
AN: Be warned Ichigo will be super OP in this story, also this is a IchiRuki pairing, I hope you enjoy.
Zangetsu will speak in bold and Shiro will speak in italic bold.
Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach
"Mom?" A young Ichigo mumbled to himself softly as he walked along the bank.
He crouched down for a moment to help the fatigue in his legs, he stayed like that for a moment and then got up again and continued. He passed under a bridge and then turned around and continued the other way.
The young Ichigo had been doing this for almost two days now, walking the bank where his mother had died before him.
'I… I couldn't protect her… it's all my fault.' Nine year old Ichigo said this to himself as he walked still searching for what ever it is he came here to find.
"Ichigo, it was not your fault that your mother passed." A strange man said to the orange headed kid.
"How do you know it wasn't my fault?" Ichigo said aloud as he stopped walking and turned around to try to find the strange voice's origin. "I was the only one there, I should have protected her!" Ichigo yelled out when he couldn't find the owner of the voice.
"Ichigo… it was not your fault, there was nothing more you could have done." The strange man said with clear sorrow in his voice.
"That's not true I could have saved her! I should have saved her!" The young Ichigo screamed out to nothing as he clenched his hair in his hands to let out some frustration.
"Do not blame yourself Ichigo" The strange man said in a soft voice still laced in sadness, trying as best as he could to help the child.
Ichigo didn't speak he didn't move he just stood there, 'who even is this guy? Where is he?' Ichigo asked himself half hoping that the voice would answer the questions he asked himself.
Much to Ichigo's surprise the voice responded, "Ichigo, I can not yet tell you my name but you will know soon. And as for where I am, I thought you would have figured that out already, I am inside of you."
Ichigo scratched the back of his head in confusion as he tried to understand what the man meant by inside of you.
'What do you mean inside of me?' Ichigo asked in his thoughts thinking that the voice could hear him.
Proving Ichigo correct the voice again answered, "You will know soon Ichigo, but first you must return home, it's getting late and your father is surely worried for you." as if in response to the voice the sun started to set and the sky grew darker.
Thinking it best to do what the voice said Ichigo turned toward his home. 'Maybe he is right, I have been gone for almost two days… my dad is probably worried.' young Ichigo thought to himself as he walked.
Ichigo laid there in bed recalling the days events, he was almost disbelieving of what had happened when he got home after having the conversation with the strange man.
Young Ichigo walked through the door of the kurosaki clinic expecting to get scolded for staying out so long. Instead what greeted him was his father with a slight smile on his face, "Welcome back, son" his father spoke to him as he came over and gave little Ichigo a small hug.
Isshin soon let go and there was a look of desperation on his face. It was very unlike him to be this serious.
"Sorry I stayed out so long" Ichigo said looking down at the floor in case his dad decided to chide him after all.
Instead of the reaction Ichigo was expecting his father to have, Isshin instead lifted ichigo's face up by the chin and spoke softly, "It's alright as long as you're safe and you stay out of trouble." The usually upbeat Isshin spoke this in an almost melancholic tone.
Ichigo looked up at his father who had removed his finger from ichigo's chin and then spoke again, "c'mon you must be hungry," Isshin then started walking toward the kitchen,
"I'll think of a good punishment for your absence later." His father's usual goofy demeanor starting to get back on track as he continued from the other room. But Ichigo still stood there wondering what to say to Yuzu and Karin.
He hadn't talked to his sisters since his mother's demise and he full expected them to hate him for letting their mother die.
Ichigo walked into the room after his father to see that Karin and Yuzu weren't there, Ichigo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and then found his dad reheating leftovers that had been in the fridge a few days.
Ichigo sat down at the table and waited for Isshin to say something, but nothing came. Ichigo giving up on the hope for some form of conversation just sat there a small scowl etched on his face.
'Why doesn't he blame me?' Ichigo asked himself as he waited for Isshin to come over with the leftovers.
'Because your not to blame.' The strange man inside Ichigo spoke with the same soft and remorseful voice as before.
'You keep saying this but it's not true, I killed her, I let her die. So it's my fault. I should be blamed.' Ichigo responded back to the voice in his head as his scowl deepened.
The man sighed then continued, 'You'll see soon enough, I suppose.' The man spoke softly to Ichigo.
'What do you mean by 'I'll see soon enough.' Ichigo paused but there was no reply. Ichigo decided to try again, 'Hey, are you there?' There was still no reply from the man so Ichigo assumed he was gone and went back to waiting for his father.
Soon enough Isshin turned around with two plates of leftovers, freshly reheated. He started walking towards the table I was sitting at, there was an unexplainable emotion in his eyes.
Isshin kept silent through the entirety of the meal barely even sparing a glance in Ichigo's direction. Though when he did he looked directly at Ichigo both pain and love in his expression. To Ichigo this just served to prove his point that his father should blame him.
He didn't know his father's true feelings toward the subject, and he did not try to understand them.
Now here he lay, motionless, waiting for something to do in the darkness of his room.
'Ichigo we must talk now.' The stranger's voice resonated in Ichigo's mind as he got up into a sitting position.
'Okay, let's talk then.' Ichigo responded in his mind.
'We must lak in person, Ichigo.' The man said back.
'How am I supposed to do that?' Ichigo asked the stranger in his mind.
'You must come to your inner world. And to do that you must meditate.' The voice said simply.
'Okay but how do I meditate exactly?' The young Ichigo asked.
'Focus and clear your mind.' The strange man replied.
'Uhh, okay.' Ichigo said back still a little confused about the whole situation.
Ichigo sat at the edge of his bed and closed his eyes. He started to focus on the voice that had been speaking to him in his mind. He started imagining what he would look like. Soon a fuzzy feeling overcame his senses, it almost felt as though it was easier to breathe.
Ichigo opened his eyes and stared out upon sideways skyscrapers, then he looked the other way to see the streets below him, he was suspended on the side of one of the skyscrapers.
He looked around again to see a figure cloaked in black with long brown hair and a pair of sunglasses on the building next to him.
"Wait… are you the voice I was hearing?" Ichigo asked the man curiously.
"Yes Ichigo, I am the voice you were hearing. I am also your zanpakuto spirit, but I am not alone." As the man in front of Ichigo spoke a white flash zipped passed Ichigo and over to the self proclaimed zanpakuto spirit.
When The flash stopped moving it looked exactly like young Ichigo with white skin and hair and yellow on black eyes. And instead of the clothes Ichigo was wearing the other Ichigo was wearing a strange white shihakusho.
"Heya king." The little Ichigo look-a-like said exuberantly.
"You look just like me?!" Ichigo yelled out as he pointed a finger at the strange boy.
"Yes, Ichigo he does indeed look like you, his nickname is Shiro and like me he is your Zanpakuto spirit." The man in sunglasses said.
"I can introduce myself you know!" Shiro snapped back to the man.
"Wait, his nickname? What's his real name… and what's your name?" Ichigo asked the pair.
"My name is Zangetsu." Zangetsu stated simply. "His name is also Zangetsu, but like I said his nickname is Shiro, he prefers it like that." Zangetsu stated with a hint of annoyance laced in his voice.
"Yeah, and we're gonna help you form us as a zanpakuto!" said shiro while a big grin spread across his face.
"I still have no idea what you guys are talking about." Ichigo said as he scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"Ichigo, It's time you learned the truth about your world" Zangetsu said with a slight smirk on his face.
AN: Sorry this chapter was kinda short, I will try to make the next one longer. Please leave a review, they are my motivation to write more. I will update this story as early as I can.
