Hallo all who read things! This is a one-shot called Shattered that I was working on, also any similarities to other fics are completely accidental so nobody get ur knickers in a twist. Slight spoiler alert ahead if you haven't started the Thousand Year Blood War arc in the manga, but it should be AU enough to not make a difference. Anyways I do not own Bleach, and have fun reading!
…
"Hey King! Never thought I would get ta see ya again!"
Ichigo opened his eyes to the sound of yelling, looking for the source. He groaned and shut his eyes again when he saw who it was. "Damn it Shiro! Why the hell are you still here?
Shiro chuckled "Aww, you missed me! But we never left, ya just couldn't talk to us and we couldn't talk to you. The old man has been sitting up there in the same place since ya lost ur power. But I think you should look around first…"
He looked around and realized just how sorry of a state the place was in, glass was everywhere and almost every skyscraper had collapsed. There was only a single building that looked mostly undamaged.
Ichigo hung his head. He knew why it was like this, almost two years of feeling nothing but anger and sadness, honestly he was surprised it wasn't raining yet.
"Hey King, look a little closer at the glass."
He lifted his head to look, before quickly dropping it again. "I did, it's just a lot of shattered glass, nothing special."
His Hollow half sighed, "man ur dense, look at the color ya moron."
At Shiro's use of the word 'moron' Ichigo got up and began making his way through the rubble, not bothering to look at the glass again.
"King I'm being serious. Me and the old man both know ya actually loved 'im, whether you knew that or not remains to be seen *cough*Denial*cough*, but he's shattered now."
Ichigo was furious, "Do not speak about him! It was a mistake sleeping with him all those times,… and I'm not sure if I regret it." While he was yelling, Shiro was walking closer until they were almost touching and whispered,
"Look at the color of the glass king."
Finally looking around at the glass he understood what Shiro meant. Most of the glass shattered around his feet was a familiar shade of blue with bits of orange thrown in.
Ichigo fell to his knees and picked up a few of the shards. The blue color was just as bright as that man's eyes, and the orange was the same shade as his own hair. The two colors were mixed together and stood out against the dark ground, mocking him, reminding him of who was lost and never to return ever again. He threw the shards to the ground as he stood up and turned away from his Hollow half. Shiro let him think for a minute before demanding him to say something.
"Say his name."
"No"
"Say his name."
"No"
"SAY HIS NAME KING"
"Grimmjow"
"And what did you think about him"
"...I loved him."
"Thank you, no stop being a whiny little priss before it starts to rain in here again! Oh yeah, and the old man wants ta see ya, he's sitting on the roof."
So Ichigo made his way to the roof of the building, barely containing tears he wanted to shed. He arrived at the top to see Zangetsu standing on the edge of the building, looking off into the distance.
Trying to keep the sadness out of his voice he asked, "Hey old man, how have you been?"
Zangetsu glanced back, but didn't turn around fully, "It is good to see you again Ichigo, I have been fine if not a little wet from the rain."
He finally snapped, running to Zangetsu and wrapping him in a hug.
Zangetsu knew his cloak was getting wet and heard Ichigo ask, "W-Why did he have to d-die? W-why couldn't he come b-back to m-me?"
The taller man pushed him away gently and put his hands on Ichigo's shoulders. "No one will ever know why for sure, but something appeared in here a day after you defeated Aizen. Its waiting over there for you."
Looking in the direction Zangetsu was pointing he saw another complete building in the distance. "Unfortunately I cannot come with you, this is something you must face alone. Now dry your tears and get your ass over there before it starts to raining! Again!"
Ichigo nodded and wiped a few stray tears away. He jumped off the side of the building and landed gently on the ground, beginning his long run to the building far in the distance.
…
Ichigo stood on the roof of the skyscraper and looked around, his eyes landing on a katana laying on the ground. Its blue grip standing out against the dark concrete of the roof. As he picked up the blade, he heard a low growl behind him. He turned around holding the katana at ready, and saw it was a large bone-white panther. It was crouched and ready to spring at him but soon relaxed after seeing who it was that held the weapon. It walked over to Ichigo and rubbed its head against his hand like a giant house cat, he absently began petting the large cats head, wondering just what the hell he had walked into. Why was he petting a panther and holding an unkn-… It finally clicked. He stepped back from the panther and held the blade in front of himself and yelled,
"Grind, Pantera!"
Reitatsu exploded outwards in a massive burst, and Ichigo felt just as powerful if not more so then when he donned his hollow mask while in Bankai. He was also surprised to find himself to be in a version of Grimmjow's resurreccion, the only thing different was the orange hair and lack of a hole going through his stomach. The panther looked him over before nodding once as if pleased, then faded away as if it never existed. Deciding to test his newfound abilities, Ichigo jumped off the edge of the building and flash stepped through the air. He appeared behind Shiro and attempted a slash at his head, Shiro whipped around and pulled out his version of Zangetsu, barely blocking the blow. He grinned when he saw how Ichigo looked, "I see you found Pantera! Maybe fighting with it will make you not such a wuss anymore!" Ichigo just growled and tried slashing him again, once again Shiro blocked the blow but his arm trembled slightly from the sheer strength behind it. Ichigo grinned much like Grimmjow would have and continued fighting. It was an even match between the two, Shiro soon went into Bankai to keep up but was still not quite fast enough to get a hit in, however Ichigo could not get past his defense. After sparring with Shiro for around five minutes he started feeling slightly drained and sealed the resurreccion. Once again the blue light surrounded him and faded away leaving Pantera in his hands and feeling much weaker, like his power had been sealed away. He slid the blade into the sheath that appeared at his side, surprised at how natural it felt. "Perhaps that is the true manifestation of your hollow powers… Time will tell, but you will have to practice if you want to hold that form for longer, and maybe you can even figure out Segunda Etapa." Zangetsu commented, who had come down to watch the spar. "Yeah!" Shiro said. "Spar with me and we can both get stronger!" He nodded to them both and returned to consciousness.
Ichigo blinked his eyes open and saw his friends and Urahara standing in front of him. Rukia and Inoue both had a concerned look on their faces. Inoue asked, "Ichigo, are you alright? A few minutes ago a blue light surrounded you for a while, what happened?" Ichigo looked down to the new blade at his side and smiled, "I was just checking up on Zangetsu, nothing you guys have to worry about." Inoue was relived but Rukia just nodded, her eyes narrowed, and Urahara gave him a knowing look from behind his fan.
…
Ichigo had used Pantera a few times against hollows, but only ever used resurreccion in his inner world. Every time he practiced with it he could hold the form for longer and longer, and his inner world was slowly rebuilding. It only rained when he was thinking about Grimmjow and the glass was still shattered, it confused him but he didn't think much of it.
…
As soon as Ichigo heard the Hollow roar he excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom. He ran out and pushed his badge onto his chest, forcing his soul out of his body. Flash stepping to the Hollow he drew Pantera and slashed it across the face, cutting its mask in half and watched it disintegrate. Just as he was sheathing the blade he heard the sound of a flash step and heard them ask, "So I see you were using that blade again. Are you sure that is such a good idea?" Ichigo turned to the questioner and found it to be Renji. "I think its fine, a way to honor his memory. Have you noticed that there have been fewer Hollows appearing though?"
Renji nodded, being surprisingly serious. "Yeah we may have to send some scouts out to Hueco Mundo to see what's goin' on over there, but I ain't complainin' too much. I just hope you don't use that blade in front of Rukia very much, you know how she felt about Grimmjow."
Ichigo nodded in response and went to get his body.
…
After a few months training, Ichigo's inner world was completely rebuilt and the panther was a constant companion to both Shiro and Zangetsu. He was thinking about Grimmjow again and it started raining. The glass was still shattered.
…
The Quincys had taken over Hueco Mundo and left the Soul Society in ruins. Ichigo had to get Zangetsu reforged, because as it turned out Shiro was his Shinigami powers, Zangetsu was his Quincy power, and Pantera was his hollow power now. It was really confusing if you thought about it too much so no one tried to, they just went with it and left it at that.
…
"Hey Ichi, I see you were the one who had Pantera. I hope ya have been treatin' her good."
"Yeah I have and its actually my favorite Zanpakuto." Ichigo turned to face the portal and saw Grimmjow stepping out, a blade identical to Pantera on his side. It took all the mental strength Ichigo had to not run up to him but Grimmjow took care of that by marching right up to him and kissing him in front of all his friends. After standing shocked for a second, Ichigo wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's neck, deepening the kiss and desperate to get closer. They ended the kiss when they both needed to breath, but stayed together in each other's arms. Grimmjow was the first whisper, "I missed you so much you know, I think you would have laughed when you saw my face when I realized I truly loved you." He then smiled, not an I'm gonna kill ya and its gonna be fun smile, but a genuine caring smile. "You would have laughed at my face when I realized it too, but I thought you were dead. Why didn't you come back to me sooner?" Ichigo was overjoyed and also confused, but Grimmjow had an answer. "I couldn't create a portal until I was able to materialize my true Zanpakuto, Cielo Pantera. After that I had to stay hidden from the Quincys who were watching you, but I wanted to see you so much." Anything else they would have said was interrupted by Rukia, "Sorry to interrupt such a heartfelt reunion, which we will be discussing later Ichigo and you Renji and Byakuya-nii both owe me some books, but don't we have a few worlds to save?"
Ichigo let go of Grimmjow, not really embarrassed in the slightest. While Grimmjow tried to salvage what was left of his coolness after that corny display. He drew Cielo Pantera and said "Hell yeah! Let's destroy those bastards so I still have a world to kick Ichi's ass in!" He strode forward and a stray wind blew up the back of his jacket, revealing to all a 1 tattooed on his back where the 6 used to be.
And the glass was no longer shattered.
…
{Hope you peeps enjoyed that corny ass love scene but I'm a fifteen year old who never wants a love life, so sue me! Also Cielo Pantera means Sky Panther in Spanish, it fits with his eyes and hair color. Es tut mir sehr leid (I am very sorry) if this was very similar to any other fanfic, it was not intentional and I hope no one gets upset, this was just an idea that popped into my head when I saw a t-shirt one day. Anyways Tschuss!}