"Give everyone my regards."
"I will."
"Bye, Rukia... and thanks..."
A year and a half later
Ichigo was happy, truly happy. He didn't regret being a Shinigami, he regreted losing so many friends at once, but he had a normal life now. He could never have a peaceful existence for as long as he was a Shinigami. And peace was something he could appreciate; knowing that he was responsible for stopping Aizen and brining peace to Soul Society brought him satisfaction.
His school work was going well, he even went on a few dates occasionally but none of the girls that he went out with impressed him much, mostly since he had seen a lot of different women during his short Shinigami career and the high-school girls he took out seemed so plain to him. Too normal even.
So he placed romance on hold for a while, he would keep one eye open for any possible love interests, but other than that he concentrated on school mostly.
...
"Ishida, anything new happen in Soul Society?" Ichigo asked while they were on the school roof, Ishida recently got back from a trip to Soul Society. Ishida was used to this, however this time it would be different.
"Madarame-san was... killed in action..."
...
He just got back from his trip to the city, he had decided to frame his badge. The frame was pretty looking but simplistic. He hung it up over his desk with a smile on his face.
4 years later
College. Life was tougher, but manageable. His sister were sad to see him moving out but his dad was his usual exuberant self, yelling about grand-kids, third daughters and such.
The fact that his life had an actual routine was a welcome experience to him.
It was now mostly consisting of several things, working out to keep himself in shape, studying, thinking about his future profession and an occasional date every now and then.
Girls here were a lot smarter and had a lot more depth to them, one of them even survived a 4 month relationship with him, however it failed miserably.
His friends were all over the place He was in Tokyo studying, Ishida was studying to become a doctor, also in Tokyo. Inoue wanted to work with kids so she was slowly becoming a teacher both in mentality and on paper. Tatsuki made herself a career out of Karate but was going to college anyway. Chad is touring with his band, they had become semi-popular and were earning some good money. Mizuiro found himself a good-paying job in some company, but that was probably just to pay his expenses with girls. Keigo surprisingly wanted to become a police officer.
5 years later
7 year ago, he wouldn't have believed anyone who would tell him that he would one day become a Literature professor. The thought was just crazy, yet here he was.
Kurosaki Ichigo, professor of literature.
It had been a while since he had seen his friends, so he was surprised to hear that they were organizing a private reunion.
He was once again, really happy. He got to Karakura a week early, to introduce his family to his girlfriend, Arai Michiko.
She was the one, he knew it, he didn't want to spend his life beside anyone else.
...
Ishida managed to become a doctor and was working alongside his father at the hospital, things were still tense between them but it was better than before. He was also engaged; the story was really funny to Ichigo,
"...And so, after so many failed relationships I ended up with Shizuka."
"So, let me get this straight; you were looking for a girl that would want a serious relationship, and Shizuka was your close friend at the time and was helping you despite the crush she had on you? And after so many failed relationships, you finally see what you have... that's almost... stupid of you."
Ishidas eyebrow was twitching violently,
"Kurosaki, need I remind you that I still have that bow, and my aim isn't any worse than last time?"
...
Inoue was dating too, from what she told them, he liked her cooking and was really shy, Ichigo and Ishida silently agreed that he's either crazy or plain imaginary.
She was now working in kindergarten and she loved it. Ichigo noted that if she was working with older kids, boys would probably have trouble focusing on the blackboard.
...
Chad was having trouble dealing with fame, his band became really famous over time, and he arrived to the reunion with a high collar, large sunglasses and a cap to hide himself from the ever present menace of fan-girls.
Chad had decided that he would move to Mexico sometime in the next few years.
...
Tatsuki was having fun being the Karate champion and was arranging everything for the next Olympics.
She said that she didn't have time for dating.
...
Keigos personality changed completely, he was working at the police department in Karakura, keeping the streets safe of all mortal threats.
His luck with women, though, hasn't changed at all.
...
Mizuiro was apparently working in the company of his parents, still jumping from one girl to another.
...
"I've heard that Abarai-san finally proposed to Kuchiki-san." Ishida said
"What? No, you must've got that wrong, I think it was more like Rukia proposing to Renji not the other way around." Ichigo replied with a smile, making everyone laugh.
1 year later
The wedding was beautiful. Seeing Michiko in her wedding dress left him breathless; Chad, his best man, simply placed a hand on his shoulder.
This was one of the happiest moments of his life, it's been days since he last thought of his Shinigami life.
1 year later
"Congratulations, they're twins!"
Ichigo looked at the two bundles and smiled, he gave the boy to Michiko to hold and he held the girl.
"What will we call them?" he asked.
"I was thinking... Masaki for the girl and Tamotsu for the boy."
"Those are great names, Tamotsu and Masaki; our son and daughter."
10 years later
Ichigo was standing on a riverside, staring out into the water.
Oh, how fate liked to toy with him, he had lost his mother on a place likes this and here he was standing on the riverside where he had lost his wife last year, next to a river in the evening, just like his mother.
'Death by stabbing' they said, but as soon as he saw the wound he knew what sort of creature would cause that kind of damage. Fate made it so that he would lose his wife in the same way his father lost his, by a Hollow.
He remembered those days... (flashback to the previous year)
He was asked to identify the body but he knew it was her, he had felt it that night, the strange emptiness that took over his heart. Despite that he would have to go there and make himself look into her dead face.
When he went to the morgue he was joined by someone he hadn't seen in a long time, Urahara Kisuke. He joined Ichigo silently and after everything was done they talked for a short while.
"I've collected remnants of it's reiatsu signature, I'll be able to tell you if the hollow has been killed once I compare it with the others in Soul Society." Ichigo nodded, there wasn't anything he wanted to say about that right now.
"...Are you now back in Soul Society?" Kisuke gladly took the change of topic.
"Yes, after Mayuri managed to blow himself up I was asked to take back my previous position. I still spend some time down here but I'm mostly in the 12th now."
That year was a mess, Tamotsu and Masaki were very dependant on their mother, and after a few weeks of complete chaos, Ichigo decided to temporarily move back to Karakura, Yuzu and Karin moved out with their own husbands already and Isshin was still working at the clinic so it would be manageable.
...
"Son, I would tell you not to blame yourself but I can't, I blamed myself for your mother and telling you not to do the same wouldn't be fair of me; I will however say one thing, keep the kids safe and happy. That's pretty much all you can do now and that's what I was trying to do once your mother was gone." Isshin got up from the sofa and left for the kitchen, leaving Ichigo contemplating his fathers words of wisdom.
...
He was now temporarily working at the same high-school he went to, this time as a professor. It felt strange at first but he got used to it soon after.
(flashback end)
He turned around and got back to his car. After arriving in Karakura he took off in search of the man he needed to see, he had a favour to ask for.
Urahara shop, it hasn't changed at all in the last 2 decades. As he walked in he noticed the light layer of dust that covered some stuff around the shop.
"Ah, Kurosaki-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Urahara-san, I have a favor to ask."
5 years later.
It was evening in the Kurosaki household, Tamotsu and Masaki would be back from school soon.
Ichigo was in his room, looking at the substitute badge on his wall. From what Urahara told him, the time has come, he wanted to protect his family but he didn't want to get dragged into the business of Soul Society. He also didn't want to affect his son and daughter in any way with this.
Become a Shinigami again and try to avoid the Soul Society or continue ignoring the fact that Hollows exist and are a danger to everyone?
...
Tamotsu swung his sword and purified the Hollow, running back to help Masaki with her oponent.
"There's a lot of them tonight!" Masaki yelled, dodging another claw.
"We have to finish this quickly, we only have 15 minutes before we have to be back home." Tamotsu replied cutting off an arm from a Hollow.
Suddenly a giant reiatsu covered the entire city of Tokyo, they all paused their battle to figure out what was happening. It disappeared soon after, leaving them wondering what was happening.
A strange sound was heard from above in the sky; they looked up to see a dark crack forming.
"That's a... Menos Grande! Masaki, we have to go, we can't deal with this thing, we'll get seen by someone!" Tamotsu swung his sword, purifying the dazed Hollow. He took Masakis hand and started running to where their bodies were. The Gillian was fast however, a lot faster than they expected and it got out of the garganta. Since their reiatsu was the highest around, it went after them, but they were running away. So it charged a Cero and aimed it in their general direction.
Masaki tripped and fell to the ground, Tamotsu turned back to help her up but it was too late, the Cero was ready to fly at them, he held Masaki close to him and watched as it flew towards them.
It never connected, they looked up to see someone wearing a shinigami robe with a giant sword in hand standing in front of them. The face was hidden but the hair wasn't, there was only one person in the world that had that kind of orange hair.
"You two are grounded." Ichigo swung his butcher-knife-like sword in the direction of the Gillian and it fell into two pieces, disintegrating. Ichigo turned around to the scared kids.
"Dad..."
"Home. Now."
They knew that look, that was the look he had on his face whenever they did something really really wrong, stupid or both; most of the time it was both.
...
"How long?" he asked, seated across from them in their living room.
"What?" Tamotsu chose to answer.
"For how long have you two been doing this?" his voice was straight, his eyes narrowed and his reiatsu wild even in his human body.
"For a few months." Tamotsu replied, Ichigo noticed something in his voice and turned to Masaki,
"For how long?" he always had a better effect on her,
"Al-almost a year..." He nodded slightly and turned to Tamotsu again,
"Who taught you?"
"Um, no one taught us..."
Ichigo was suspicious, really suspicious of a certain man, he eyed them both and said.
"Urahara Kisuke." the shock on their faces told him all he wanted to know; he got up and went to the phone.
...
"Geta-boshi? Hi, it's been a while, I know, listen; since you helped me out a few times in the past, I'll give you a head start. What am I talking about? Oh, nothing much, just the fact that my kids are now Shinigami that Soul Society probably doesn't know about. You might want to know that my skills aren't rusty and that I plan on killing you, see you in a little while!" his voice was happy the entire telephone call, and Urahara really had no other choice than to run.
Ichigo turned around and took out his badge, his body fell to the sofa and his soul threw the badge to Tamotsu.
...
After about half an hour of shunpo while carrying his kids, they landed in front of Uraharas store.
They got in and saw Tessai cleaning some mess.
"Ah, Kurosaki-dono, it is good to see you again, I'm afraid you just missed the manager, he left in a rush."
"The 12th?" Ichigo asked, getting straight to the point. Tessai just nodded.
"We need a senkaimon."
...
Ichigo breathed in, the spiritually enriched air felt so good.
"Stay behind me, don't stray and don't draw your swords." Ichigo told Tamotsu and Masaki and started heading towards the wall.
"Oh, who dares come before the great Jidanbo?"
"Jidanbo! It's me, Ichigo! Open the gate!"
"Ichigo! It's been so long since I've seen you. I would love to open the gate for you but you know I'm not allowed to."
"Do you want me to break your axes again?" Ichigo asked seriously.
"Um, no... right, I'll open up for you, but only you..."
"These are my kids, Tamotsu and Masaki, don't worry, they're not here to cause trouble."
"...Right; I'll open..."
...
Ichigo had Zangetsu drawn and was walking determined towards the first division, he sensed that all the captains were there, including Urahara, meaning that they were in the middle of a meeting.
He had noticed a distinct lack of something inside his soul, like there was something missing but there wasn't a gap to show it. He guessed that his Hollow side merged with his Shinigami side and that was the reason for the different look he had. The chain that held his sword on his back was usually red, it was now completely black, same as the cloth that wrapped the hilt of his sword
Whenever he noticed someone getting close to him, he flared his reiatsu in that direction, making them stop, there were now already a couple hundred Shinigami either following him from a distance or trying to track him down and ambush him.
Tamotsu and Masaki were partly cowering behind their dad and partly staring at the sights of Seireitei.
...
In the first division
"The intruders have been spotted heading towards the first division. Seeing how they are avoiding every Shinigami they encounter, we will wait for them here." Yamamoto ordered.
Hitsugaya was standing next to Urahara and noticed him fidgeting, in fact, he was strange the entire meeting. He was about to ask him but a hell butterfly flew inside and landed on Yamamotos hand.
"They are here."
A large reiatsu was felt right outside the door and the door was slammed open. All captains had their swords in their hands, except for Urahara who knew what was coming for him.
Since he was the captain of the 12th, he was on the end of the line to Yamamotos right. That also meant that he was the closest one to the door. Ichigo walked in, followed closely by Tamotsu and Masaki.
The faces in the crowd were hilarious, but Ichigo wasn't looking at them. Everyone was speechless and most of them were gaping at the sight of the Kurosaki Ichigo.
Ichigo walked over to Urahara who instinctively took half a step back and brought his hands in front of him to try and stop an angry father from killing him right there, he also tried to smile but that failed.
Ichigo grabbed him by the front of his robes with his left hand and turned making Urahara lose his balance and fall on his behind.
"You two stay here." Ichigo said to Tamotsu and Masaki while Urahara was waving away the captains with a goofy grin on his face,
"Don't worry, I probably deserve thi-" he was cut off when Ichigo took him away via shunpo.
For a few more seconds everyone was silent and looking to the spot where the two of them just were.
They were brought out of their trance when Yamamoto banged his cane on the floor, making everyone turn to him.
"It would seem that one of the 'intruders' is someone we know; however, you two are not known to us." Tamotsu and Masaki bowed,
"I'm Kurosaki Tamotsu."
"I'm Kurosaki Masaki."
Once again, shock all over the room, their Winter War hero had kids, and they were right therein front of them.
"Am I right to assume that Kurosaki Ichigo is your father?" Yamamoto asked and they both nodded.
"And what does he want with one of our captains?"
"Well, he mentioned that he'll... castrate him." Tamotsu didn't want to say anything about all the other threats his dad made to the man on their way here.
Shunsui and Zaraki were openly laughing now, while many of the captains were at least chuckling.
"Captain Kuchiki, gather Kurosakis former acquaintances and bring them here."
"Shunsui, Juushiro, make sure they don't kill each other."
"Captains Hitsugaya and Sui-Feng, call off the patrols and lower the alarms."
"Captain Unohana, take them to the 4th and give them a medical check-up."
"Rest are dismissed, I expect you to be back here in half an hour, we need to give a proper welcome to Kurosaki Ichigo."