Chapter 1

The Past

Ichigo was unlucky. He had always known, but this truly took the cake. He truly had the worse luck ever.

It had all strarted with the end of the winter war.

Not only had the memories of the war haunted him, but with the lose of his power, Ichigo had felt weak and unable to protect his friends anymore.

The nightmares had kept him awake at night and the stress of keeping a strong front up at day.

For a long time, that had been his everyday life.

Then he straightened his back, looked forward and learned to cope.

The numbers of the nightmares slowly decreased and the stress reduced with the believe that his friends could handle themselves.

That did not mean that he didn't care or didn't worry about his friends safety, but he knew they were strong and would be able to handle any kind of situation.

The lose of his mother had thaught him that life went on, with or without him. Zangetsu and Shiro had thaught him to allways move forward, to never stand still. He would not disrespect their sacrifices by going against everything they had thaught him.

And anyway, he was not alone, he had family and friends that supported and loved him.

He could not - no - would not life in the past, make them all worry about him. He would life on and find another way to protect them, may that be directly or indirectly.

Well, that had been the plan, till that day.

flashback:

To tell the truth, his day had started like normal.

He had been awakened by the goat-face, had sent him out of his window and had had breakfast with his family, before getting ready for school.

On the way to school it had happened. His body suddenly started to spasm.

Falling to the ground, holding back his scream as pain shoot through his body, Ichigo could only focus on the unbearable pain.

He didn't know how long he lay on the ground, spasm and bitting his lips to hold back his screams, but slowly the pain receded and the spasm stopped.

He lay there for a few more seconds, panting and collecting his breath, before he slowly dared to rise, using the fence near him as a crutch.

His thoughts were tumbled. A scary notion overcame him. 'What if the lose of his reiatsu had more adverse effects on his human body then what they had believed.'

'NO! He couldn't panic now!'

Ichigo collected his thoughts. 'He needed to know what had happened to him and why. He needed to go to Urahara. Urahara would propably know what and why it had happened, if he wasn't the cause himself. It had happened often enough that hat-and-clogs had something to do with his problems. '

Arriving at Urahara's shop, he was met with many familiar faces. His friends seemed to have gathered. Maybe they had gathered because another world ending event took or would take place, but it was very unlikely

They were smiling at him, well most. Ishida just gave him a curt nod, but ichigo noticed that he looked almost satisfied with something or another.

Ichigo didn't know why they gave him such smiles, but was relieved. He had been worried. They had been blaming themselves for the lose of his powers and hadn't given him such honest smiles since said event.

Urahara came forward, infuriating smile and fan in place.

"Congratulation Ichigo, it looks like your reiatsu is slowly but surely coming back"

Ichigo was to shocked to react, or he would have surely hit hat-and-clogs for such a blunt statement and that infuriating smile, definitely for that infuriating smile.

In this case he only stared in shock before he shock himself back to reality and hit hat-and-clogs anyway.

Anyway, thought Urahara had been able to tell him what had taken place, no one had any explanation as to why his reiatsu was now slowly coming back, not for lack of trying on hat-and clogs part.

From this point on, things started to look better. Still he should have known that with his luck, the happiness wouldn't last forever and things were bound to become problematic really soon.

It took a few weeks, but Ichigo had finally recovered enough to be able to enter his inner world and hear Zangetsu speak.

There he was finally able to find the explanation for why.

Zangetsu explained it to him.

ichigo's soul had in an unconscious move of self preservation, stored a small fraction of his powers in the deepest part of his soul, were even he himself couldn't reach.

There this small fraction of his powers had stayed, untouched, till his soul had healed.

It had taken months, but slowly all the wounds, all the injuries had healed. Than the lock had been lifted. The sudden influx of reiatsu in his reiatsu starved body had caused it to go into shock, which had caused the spasms.

Ichigo didn't care about the pain he had suffered anymore, he was just glad that he was finally whole again.

He had felt empty since the lose of his powers. Zangetsu and Shiro were both a part of him and he had lost them with his powers. It had torn him apart, leaving only a third of what he was and what he represented. They were all part of each other and to lose them, had been the hardest part.

The had left something like an echo, a phantom limp, something that had been there and a part of him, but had gone missing, leaving only the pain as reminder behind.

Even thought he had tried to deny that his hollow was a part of him at the beginning, Ichigo believed that on some baser instinct he had allways known.

Now he had long since accepted him.

He had missed them, all of them. He was even glad to bicker with Shiro, which for him was a new personal low. Which Shiro, while glad that he had been missed and was welcome, had used on every opportunity too tease him.

It took some time for his reiatsu to finally recover.

When it had, the problems started.

His reiatsu didn't stop growing. They tried to explain this continued growth through Ichigo's acceptence of Shiro, but one didn't need to look hard to see the flaws of this theory.

Then it got harder and harder to leave his body, till the point were he coudn't leave his body at all.

Ichigo didn't let it affect him. He quickly accepted the fact that he wouldn't be able to leave his body, that still didn't stop him from trying to help as best as he could.

It was sometime later that he got pulled into his inner world and was given an explanation.

He was greeted by his soul parts. At first Zangetsu tried to explain the occurences in his language, meaning he spoke in riddles that he wanted Ichigo to figure out himself.

Zangetsu way of speaking in riddles often confused the hell out of Ichigo to no end.

Ichigo had even tried to explain it to Zangetsu once. Zangetsu hadn't even found his statement worthy of an answer and had given Ichigo one long stare, which was an answer in itself and told him that Zangetsu wouldn't even grace that statement with anything, even if Ichigo waited till the end of time.

"Our soul is merging, Aibou" Shiro quickly intervened, which Ichigo was most grateful for, since he propably would have taken hours before he truly understood what Zangetsu wanted to tell him.

"Now normally that wouldn't happen, but normally you don't just get your powers back, so there."Shiro gave him a smug look. Zangetsu gave a sigh and continued where Shiro had left off.

"The pull to merge exists in every soul, but normally it is not strong enough to truly bring soul pieces together, or it would happen to every Shinigami. Now you are a special case, Ichigo."

"like Always" Shiro just had to rup it in his face.

Zangetsu just continued as if Shiro hadn't just interjected. "Through your use of Mugetsu, which joined our soul, the pull only increased. Normally even that is not a problem since after using Mugetsu most shinigami lose their powers and with them, the strength to merge."

"heard that king, you are abnormal" Shiro just had to give his two cents to everything, didn't he.

"but you Ichigo, you managed to preserve your powers and the pull has slowly, albeit steadily pulled us together."

Ichigo felt his world falling apart. The sky above him darkened, clouds started to cover the sky, thunder was heard in the distance and rain began to fall.

'He had just gotten them back and now he would loose them again. He didn't want to feel so hollow, so empty again. He didn't want to!

Zangetsu and Shiro both gripped one of his shoulders, squeezing it in reassurance.

"We will not simple disapear or cease to exist Ichigo. Do not worry, you will not feel the emptiness again. We will become one. We will become something that no one had managed to fully reach before. We will reach copmpletion." Zangetsu seemed to almost smile at that, almost.

"Ichigo, do you think that the state of our soul is normal? Our soul is separated into three different pieces. Till now, we have never met a human, hollow, shinigami, vizard or otherwise that had a whole healthy soul." Shiro had joined Ichigo in looking shocked some time ago and now they just listened dumbfounded as Zangetsu mentioned something that had never occured to them.

Which thinking about it was funny since they were all part of a whole.

"Ichigo, without most knowing all living beings strive for one thing and one thing only: completion! They search for it, giving it many different names such as as ascension and enlightenment, because they know that they are not whole, that they are broken and a broken soul can never truly find higher understanding and true happiness." The weather had steadily cleared throughout the whole eplanation.

"So do not worry Ichigo. We will become whole, not empty. You will not miss us as we are you and you can not miss yourself. What ones was one, seperated into three and now,finally it will become one once again."

The sun broke through the clouds, bathing them in its warmth.

Ichigo was not sure if he would never truly miss them, even thought they would become one, but at least now he was reassured that that the emptyness would not return.

The merging was becoming more and more apparent.

He noticed that soon his hate for the rain had strengthen and his boredom over most things that before had only seen as annoying started to make itself noticeable.

His lust for battle against strong enemies had also started to arise and every time someone weak tried to challenge him he noticed that he gave them a bored stare and just left them alone.

Except when a huge group of weaklings and pathetic wimps, and he even called them such, came to him. When that happened he gave them one of his hollows smiles and they all scrammed before he even lifted a finger.

Ichigo began finding such reactions funny as hell and sometimes even chuckled a little about it.

'Not good', it seemed that he had even gotten Shiro's humor. A hollow's humor could never be a good thing.

He had even initiated a prank war with his old man. The first time he had pranked the old goat face he had almost collapsed laughing on the floor when he saw the look on the old mans face.

Ichigo almost smiled smugly when he thought about his wins. He had never lost, not even ones against goat-face.

Still even thought Ichigo had changed, he was still the same. He still scowled most of the times and his resolution, his wish, his determination to protect everyone stayed the same.

All in all Ichigo enjoyed his life, at least the short time it lasted.

Then his sister Yuzu was kidnapped and he needed to go to hell to rescue her when everything started to change. If he had believed in destiny he would have probably said that the wheel of destiny had started to turn.

flashback end

The memories of the event still flashed through his mind now and then. (Many quotes of Bleach movie 4, so if you still haven't seen it and don't want any spoilers, than just don't read)

"That girl belongs to us now."

"Why you bastard! Who are you show yourself."

"That place is where even shinigami couldn't approach, a prohibited place...step there and you will die."

"That place...don't tell me..." "Yes...hell"

"Our wish is to be released from hell."

"When the seal is broken and the two world connect, humankind will be destroyed."

"I am about to open the gates of hell."

"You better prepare yourselves."

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to hell."

"Destroy the world and then we will gain freedom."

"I can't lose...Those precious people...I'll definitely protect them, I have to win even if I have to exchange this life for it!"

"There is no time to hesitate."

"Leave here to us."

"In hell do anything but hollowfy...you will go out of control, and will never be able to return."

"Hell is to dangerous for Kurosaki."

"I don't care what will happen to his body - I will protect - protect - I'll protect!"

"My sister was killed. So I set out to kill the guys who did it in return. It felt great for a second. But my dead sister couldn't come back to life. No matter how much I thought of her, my thoughts didn't reach her. That's why... I set out to make everyone know the same pain as me. But why do I have to be sent to Hell for that?"

"Enforcing your will while experiencing everlasting despair. That's what 'hatred' means. The desire for revenge made me strong."

"There are times when a person needs to embrace the darkness for the sake of the people they love."

"Who would...want to become a monster?"

"Because you can't get what you want...You wanted revenge?"

"You are just making other people as miserable as you."

"Revenge is just the path you took to escape your sufferings."

"I wanted to save my friends...but I won't sacrifice innocent bystanders to do it"

"Ichigo...run...ICHIGO!"

"I swore on my life that...I would fight!"

"What...is that form?"

"What did you do?"

"Kokuto, did your sister want revenge?"

"You can't fight hate with more hate!"
"Can't you see? Hell is clinging to me. It would even go to the extent of helping an outsider like me, to prevent your escape!"

"Hell is helping a human?"

"Those chains are your punishment for going against hell."

"Kokuto! Fall to the depths of hell, and repent for your sins one again!"

flashback

Through Urahara's help he had been able to switch his soul with his body, so that the soul was outside while the body was kept inside and save.

After the preparation were done he and his friends entered the gates of hell, meeting someone on the way he thought he could trust. That thought soon disappeared when, after he had killed the lord of hell, he hated that person by the way, he was betrayed and his friends were held hostage. He was rescued in the last second taking his sisters soul with him.

Still that didn't stop him from going in a second time, not giving up on trying to rescue his friends. When he came face to face with the person that had betrayed him, he found out that his hollow powers could destroy the chains that were holding him in hell and that that person wanted to use Ichigo to free himself. It didn't go as planned.

Ichigo resisted his hollow powers that were trying to manifest themselves through the strong air of hell and let himself be touched by one of the guardians. Hell itself saw him as worthy and gave him the power that he needed to protect his loved ones, the armor of hell.

Hell gave him the power over the guardians of hell and hell itself, giving him all the help it could give to stop the sinner before him from reaching his goals.

With the new found power Ichigo quickly found his friends and was able to help them as well as stop Kokuto.

He came out victorious, unknowingly receiving the title "King of Hell".

His sister had not been so lucky. Her soul and body had separated and her chain had been broken, hell's atmosphere had been to poisonous for her to survive.

Ichigo knew what to do.

Through the armor of Hell that he had been given, he now had control of this dimension. He also had unknowingly, like so much that happened to him in his life, received all information of the Soul Society, Human World, Hueco Mundo, and Hell.

He knew that he could resurrect his sister's soul and mend her broken chain of fate, because of the facts that she had been brought to Hell when she had still been alive, against her will, and without having committed any sin.

They quickly went to the living world to retrieve both Yuzu's body and soul and returned to hell. Ichigo moved through hell as if he had lived there since his birth, moving through the hallways like he knew exactly where he was going and his friends even thought surprised trusted him and followed him even if that meant their own death.

They quickly arrived in a room that Ichigo had named the 'resurrection room'. It looked like a scientists labor and Ichigo knew exactly what to do.

He lay Yuzu' body on a bed that was at the end of the room and laid her soul on the bed next to it. Between the two beds was, what looked like a small bath tub with a silver golden liquid in it, somehow resembling honey from the color and the thickness. Ichigo quickly put a mask over Yuzu's body so she would be able to breathe even in hell when she was complete again.

He grapped both parts of the chain of fate from Yuzu; the one that came from her body and the other end that came from her soul and dunked them into the silver golden liquid.

His friends watched in fascination how the two ends of the chain of fate started to connect and mend again. It was soon after that Yuzu's soul was able to enter her body again.

Soon they were on their way back. It wasn't long before they stood before the gates of hell and on their own account they seemed to open. The group went through; well expect Ichigo, who still had his sister in his arms.

When he tried to move through the gates he seemed to run against a wall or a barrier of some kind. His friends seeing this came back, but they didn't seem to have the same trouble. They seemed to grip right through the barrier.

Even when they tried to pull him out they were met with a barrier that seemed to stop Ichigo from getting out. It was when Ichigo noticed that the gates were slowly starting to close again that he quickly pushed Yuzu into Chad's arms and told them to get out.

The gates were almost closed when Ichigo shouted that they should take good care of his family and that they all shouldn't think or worry to much about it.

At least all of them were still alive and that - truly - was enough for now. He would probably someday find a way to get out and when that time came, they would all have a big party and have much fun together.

flashback end

Now here he was, sitting on his throne, watching over his dimension.

Truly, he probably had the worse luck ever.

Hope you like this new version better. Please comment, give tipps, proposals for betterment and so on.

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