*Takes place after the Rukia Rescue Arc
"So, you mean not everyone's sword is ridiculously stupid as Kurosaki's?" Ishida asked as a captain began explaining some of the logistics of the Shinigami power.
It had become commonplace for a Shinigami or two to stop by Ichigo's room to see how the teenager was healing. The human was getting by, but he was very tired from the whole ordeal and often just slept through the entire day much to his annoyance. The boy had a lot of energy as many of them saw and knew that sitting in a hospital room all day was not good for his mental health or the physical health of any other forth division officer.
"No, Kurosaki-san's sword is most likely a result of his enormous reiatsu and inability to control it. That being said, Kenpachi-taicho is in a similar state, but his zanpakutou is as normal as everyone else's, so there could be a variety of reasons as to why his is so large," Ukitake-taicho explained. Today, he decided he would visit the ryoka just to see how similar he really was to his late fuku-taichou. Unfortunately, today was one of the days Kurosaki-san decided to sleep for the entirety of the day. However, he was happy to see that the other ryoka were there watching over their friend. As such, he decided to entertain them with answers as he heard the glasses-wearing boy asking why Kurosaki had such a ridiculous weapon.
"I have heard rumors from Abari-kun that Ichigo's original sealed zanpakutou was just an enlarged katana, which in of itself is unheard of. It's only during their shikai state does a zanpakutou change its form. For instance, Kyoraku and I are the only two to have two blades in our shikai state, but they're honestly just normal kido-based blades," the captain explained, ignoring the slightly annoyed voices in his head. He was going to have to explain to them the theory behind hidden dragons and crouching tigers later.
"I see," Ishida commented and stared and Kurosaki's weapon that sat right next to him against the wall. "So from what you're saying, Kurosaki's sword is constantly in in this 'shikai' state then." Ukitake nodded, pleased to know that the human understood his explanation so well. It had been a long time since he last visit the academy to assist in teaching; he had almost forgotten his joy in teaching the youth. In fact, he was so pleased that he almost missed seeing the teenage try and reach for the sword.
"Ishida-san!" Ukitake warned and quickly grabbed the boy's hand. Luckily, the boy was also still recovering, so he didn't have the reflex to avoid his grip.
"What are you doing?" Ishida asked impatiently, disliking the fact of someone touching him, especially Shinigami, unexpectedly.
"It is taboo to grab another's zanpakutou in their shikai state," Ukitake began to explain and breathed a breath of relief that he stopped him in time. "These weapons, when initially released, are an extension of the wielder's soul. To touch it would be very intrusive, especially when one is sleeping. There's no telling of what can happen."
The young boy regarded him as if he was insane. "What are you talking about? It's just a sword! There's no way that it's the 'extension' or someone's soul or whatever." The boy scoffed at the insanity and used his other hand to reach over the weapon. He didn't understand why he was so intent on studying the weapon. Perhaps it was to understand why this weapon was able to pass souls on while his only had the capacity to destroy. Perhaps it was just to understand why Kurosaki was so strong in the first place. Or perhaps it was just to get this nonsense out these superstitious people's minds. Honestly, spirits residing in swords? Did they think this was some kind of fairytale or anime?
As he was just about to touch it, something immediately connected with Ishida's face and he flew off of the chair he was sitting on. Ukitake, a battle experienced soldier, saw the attack coming a few seconds before it landed and promptly released the boy so that he wouldn't go flying with him.
"Kurosaki-san!" the girl exclaimed and the other boy stood up in surprise.
Kurosaki Ichigo was now sitting up in bed, but his eyes were still closed. After a moment, the boy muttered something to the effect of "Ishida, don't touch. Zangetsu would have done a thing. Don't try again." And promptly fell back into the bed again.
"What the hell was that for Kurosaki?!" the Quincy asked in rage but fell short when he saw that the red head had fallen back asleep.
"Don't get to upset over this Ishida-kun. It was probably for the best. There is no telling what would have happened if you had laid a hand on his zanpakutou." Ukitake said as he tried to calm down the angry teen.
"Yes, though I do not condone my wielder's actions," a voice said from seemingly nowhere and then again in seemingly jovial tone, "I would have done much worse."
The group turned towards the source of the voice, and all but Ukitake looked ready to fight. The man in front of them was tall and looming. He wore a dark cloak that enveloped his body and sunglasses that hid his face. He seemed to be in an eternal draft that blew his hair and cloak gently as if he was in an entirely different location all together. He wore an arrogant smile as the group readied themselves in a battle pose. Thankfully, Ukitake decided to stand up to save the children from any dangers to themselves.
"It is an honor to meet you, Zangetsu-san was it?" Ukitake greeted with a bright smile. "It's not very often that a zanpakutou spirit grace others of the physical world with their appearance."
The children then looked at the old man in surprise. The Quincy in particular seemed to be flabbergasted at the realization but quickly recovered his composure. Orihime seemed to be very interested at the fact that a part of Ichigo's spirit had somehow materialized and began asking a thousand questions at once. However, the old man seemed to have little interest in the group. He glanced at the young boy that was his wielder and knelt down.
"Our fourth division is giving the boy the best care possible," Ukitake assured. The spirit made no sound of acknowledgement and kept staring at the boy. It was as if this was the spirit's first time looking at the boy at such peace. The scene probably would have gone forever had the Quincy not felt the need to interrupt the scene.
"Yes, well, this is all nice and all, but why and how are you here?" Ishida asked, still wary that a man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. To that question, Zangetsu began to smile and let out a smile chuckle.
"I shall only let those worthy of my power touch me. The unworthy will face retribution. I was about to cut your arm off as punishment, but it seems that my boy had beaten me to the punch." Zangetsu joked as he brought a hand to his wielder's face to gently move a little tuff of hair in Ichigo's eyes. The teenager shifted slightly to the touch, but let out a breath of air as he relaxed further into his bed. Zangetsu stood above the boy for a moment in silence before speaking again.
"As for how I am here," Zangetsu continued without looking at the group, "Ichigo is a boy of much growth. It does not surprise me that he has the reiatsu to allow me to manifest in order to protect my ward when he is unable to protect himself. Often times, the blade itself will damage the intruder, but I like to face my intruder myself." There was a pause from the old man before continued, "He truly is just a boy. The rate of his growth is simply astounding."
"You make it sound like you don't know much of your wielder yourself," Ukitake joked. At this, Zangetsu turned his head to the aged captain. For a moment, the spirit didn't seem to know whether to smile or to frown, but after a second of a stare, the spirit's lips turned upwards.
"I, as a blade, have no sheath. I represent Ichigo's will to protect, and for him, the fight is never over. What time is there to share such trivial knowledge when in an eternal battlefield, every boy, girl, child, adult, is a soldier?" Zangetsu asked. The captain was about to respond when he noticed that spirit was slowly ripping apart in front of them. With his final seconds the spirit had with his wielder for the time being, Zangetsu once again brought his hand to Ichigo's face. Lightly caressing his face, Zangetsu sighed. The old man's mouth moved, but the words were incomprehensible by the rest of the group. The group could simply watch as the man disappeared into nothing.
After a few moments of silence, the Quincy spoke up again.
"Ukitake-san, you said that zanpakutou are an extension of the wielder's soul?" Ukitake nodded, unsure of what the Quincy was going with this line of questioning.
"If that is so, then what does it mean for Ichigo to have that man as his zanpakutou spirit?" Ishida asked, and for once, Ukitake did not have an answer.
A/N: This is just a little headcannon on zanpakutous I had for a long time. I just love the idea behind zanpakutous (which is why I love/hate the zanpakutou arc), so I have a whole bunch of ideas with them. Plus, there is just not enough fics with Old Man Zangetsu and Ichigo with it. I aim to fix that. Thank you for reading!