It was finally over. Yes, the war that had once threatened all beings in the living world and both unliving planes was finally over. It had been a long grueling fight; one that in retrospect maybe shouldn't have happened to begin with had a select few individuals be contented with their station in life and done their duties without complaint or overbearing ambition. Now here Ichigo Kurosaki, the teenage hero of the winter war, was in deep thought about the one thing that had disturbed him the most over the course of the fighting. Even amongst the cheering crowds from not only Seireitei's Shinigami and Rukongai souls screaming his name, Ichigo couldn't help but think back on the words that came of that sick bastard's mouth moments before being slain by Ichigo.
(FLASHBACK)
Ichigo's brown eyes continued to watch Aizen cough up blood as he lay against one of the many roof tops of Karakura, the smug god wannabe could only grin madly as he looked at Ichigo with a measure of pity and sick glee in getting the last laugh in a cruel joke only he seemed to get "One day…you too will know…what it's like, you'll s-stand…where I am." he paused to cough up some more blood from his mouth and put his grin back on his face "hahh…we're the same, you and I…I don't have a doubt I may die here today, but…I have shown you the breaking point…and so…I shall…crow in triumph." he smirked one last time before closing his eyes and died. Ichigo continued to look at the immobile body in puzzlement.
He had no idea how right Aizen was. How doomed the teenager was soon to become.
(Flashback end)
He thought over those very words for hours at a time wondering what he meant it would be the simplest things like 'what does he mean I 'have won…' he died right?' and then soon discover it was just part of some other plan he had or simply shoot down the claim of being the same with a simple 'No, I won't ever become like him… we are not the same'. But what really worried the man the most was the simple fact of how much those words got to him…
The only other time someone ever presented such a question to him was when his own inner hollow had asked the difference between a king and his horse back when it was vying for control over his soul. The orange haired hero could tell that just like that one, the one Aizen had implied would mean so much more than just a superficial response of 'we aren't the same' or 'I won'.
"Tch. This is getting me nowhere." Ichigo said to himself and so he put the thought out of his mind and decided to turn back to Kukaku's, the place he would rest at for the night. He would soon be returning back to the world of the living, and the daily boring nature of everyday life, and decided to mark that by putting all the memories of Aizen and his cryptic words out of his mind and life forever.
But little did he know as soon as he would leave, the powers that be in soul society would only need a little time before they planned his death, having already sent envoys to wipe out some of the ones they deemed too dangerous to live, and cripple him before it would soon become his turn.
(Few hours earlier)
As the hell butterflies raced across the soul society it just said this message to its many recipients "All captains report to head captain this is an emergency meeting, tardiness is unacceptable." just as soon as word got out to them. All the captains were lined up and waiting for orders, but what they would soon hear shocked them beyond belief and cast a small ripple of dissention amidst the court of pure souls.
"We are here today to discuss one topic, Ichigo Kurosaki." said the wise man at the head on the room, gaining a few smirks and positive looks from the assembly since they had assumed it might be about the empty captain seats needing to be filled, and their first candidate being proposed.
They would be disappointed to say the least.
"It has come to my attention that the central 46 believes he is a severe threat and must be taken care of. While his Vizard status is unknown due to his strange appearance that has been noted by several officers some of which are in this room, we must be vigilant and prepare for the worst." The bald man proclaimed as he then looked over to the tenth captain and continued "Toshiro Hitsuguaya you will take 5-6 of your forces most skilled officers and assassinate Mr. Kurosaki's family to prevent future threats by the two children Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki. While the 13th division will go and acquire him by any means necessary, as seeing their corpses would no doubt send his reiatsu into uproar making him an easily sought beacon." Yamamoto ordered calmly
While the captains tried very hard, they couldn't entirely hide the look of shock on their faces. Sure some of them didn't like the kid for his attitude or beliefs, but they had all fought at one point or another in the war together, even side by side and gained varying measures of respect. It was mostly because of his assistance they had won the war at all and here the central 46, the main ruling body of soul society and practical voice of the spirit king himself, was asking to kill their friend, kill someone who was as loyal an ally as the captains themselves, while some did not agree with the seemingly rash decision from their ruler, some didn't even care and some thought it was outright unjust, but most didn't speak out their opinion vocally about the issue except for one.
The captain of squad four stepped from her place beside Soifon and spoke fiercely "If this is Soul Societies idea of justice…then I want no part of this. I refuse to watch one of my fellow captains go and hunt down the boy's family and kill them, then go for Ichigo himself. Why…that line of thinking and course of action will make us little better than Aizen and the hollows we fought so desperately against. Ganging up, on someone stronger out of fear!" shouted Unohana from her spot visibly troubled by this plan if it could be called such "How can we just kill someone who has helped us from the very start? Who had done no wrong excluding the invasion of Seireitei which was even then all planned by Aizen!" She finished while sending her best glare to the head captain who didn't flinch in the slightest under its powerful gaze
"It is ultimately not my decision captain Unohana, these are practically the words of the spirit king himself who I will remind: You, I, and every Shinigami here serve. However I will ignore what you just said, as treasonous as it sounds." answered the head captain as he looked at her with a glare of his own that said to 'drop it or else' and she did whether or not she agreed
The woman stare lingered for another second before she excused herself back to her spot with a neutral expression. 'This is barbarous…' she thought to herself, clearly not agreeing in silence.
"But sir why now of all times?" the male pint sized Taicho asked, his eyes reflecting his cold disposition on this particular matter "Did they, or should I say the king, really wait until the war was over to do this? Are you saying we just used him as a tool and nothing more? That he and all of us are just as expendable despite our loyalties? Merely because of the way he is?" Captain Hitsuguaya asked fiercely as he broke eye contact with the old man since he doubted it would change the traditionalist's opinion and instead cast his gaze over the assembly "As for the rest of you, aside from Unohana herself, do none of you care about this at all or have an opinion? Are all of you seriously ok with what we are even thinking of doing here?" he asked causing some doubt to build within others even though everyone remained impassive on the outside.
"Well at least I might get a new test subject. It's been rather boring since that Arrancar Syzareal has stopped being responsive to my tests." Mayuri Kurotsuchi said with a rather sadistic grin on his face. The mere thought of having someone of Ichigo Kurosaki's caliber was practically a fantasy made true with these orders.
"Tch, I could care less if I'm order to do it or not, everyone in this god forsaken room know I'd fight him to the death in a heartbeat." Zaraki tsked in annoyance since he was now itching for a fight and just got the mother of all battles handed to him and a green light to cut loose from the king no less.
He wasn't gonna pass this up unless something better came along…which he doubted
"ENOUGH!" Yamamoto roared as he banged his cane against the wooden floor, trying to bring this meeting back to order. The numerous dissenting outbursts were to be expected, but he was still firm in his belief to remain silent and obey the orders since it was for the greater good.
From her spot the captain of squad two took a small step forward. While she would normally fall unquestioningly with the laws of Soul Society and Spirit King, Ichigo did talk to the Ryoka girl Orihime shortly after the death of Aizen, who despite Soifon's own protests in seeming weak from being assisted promptly shut up after he brought up Yoruichi possibly being worried and allowed her destroyed arm to be restored to perfect condition. So she was in her opinion honor bound to both Ichigo and Orihime to at least try and return the favor: thus why she was remaining neutral…for the moment.
"Sir, I have a question that I feel you can satiate." Yamamoto turned his head in Soifon's direction letting her know he was listening "Say everyone goes along with these orders unanimously, what happens when Ichigo finds out about his family being slaughtered and we pursue after him? Do you think he won't put up a fight sir? To be frank it wouldn't be a stretch to say he could beat just about all the captains here, as I'm sure captain Kuchiki, Zaraki and even I myself can attest to his impressive power and abilities. If anyone would have to face him…then the only one who could manage that would be you…and even then it would still require great support from us.
Her words hung around the room, while no one said anything they all thought the same 'she's right'
It didn't take a fool to see that Ichigo was and still is powerful and his power still grew everyday their faces said it all, even some had some fear in their eyes from remembering how the boy destroyed Aizen after he had defeated them near effortlessly in the skies of the fake Karakura.
The powerful old man blinked impassively before opening his eyes and speaking with authority "I do understand what you are saying, and rest assured I will deal with the problem; however, he must be maneuvered into a position and place where I can deal with him without restraint as it will take no less than that to defeat him. That is why I am ordering you to do as I commanded, either we can deal with this, or face the spirit king and his judgment upon us, I am merely choosing the lesser of two evils and the one that provides a continued prosperous soul Society. If there are no more personal opinions, you have your orders, dismissed."
(4-hours later in the world of the living)
"Come on, it's been 4 hours can't we just take a break or something?" whined Ichigo as he blocked another blow from his inner hollow
"Fuck no, unless you want to get your ass kicked again! In case you don't remember king allow me to reiterate so your brain can handle it. Where ever you go I go so if you decide to get weak and get killed naturally, I'm gonna have to follow your body into the hereafter!" Hichigo yelled as he looked at Ichigo with a new found disgust that no doubt came from the fact that since Aizen was dead he no longer had a reason to get better
It was a damn shame now, and the hollow almost wished the bastard was still around.
"Whatever, you're lucky I just don't decide to wipe the floor with your ass like I did last time." Ichigo murmured
"What was that…?" Hichigo said in a hard tone as his eyebrow twitched from the insult, as he started to spin his sword in a circular motion feeling very tempted to toss it at him
"N-nothing" Ichigo said quickly as he put his Zangetsu back in its spot, and changed the topic to lessen the deranged hollows killing intent "So, besides all the warm ups and practice, what new stuff did you want to talk about or teach me? You seemed more excited than usual."
"Glad to see you caught on so well. To be blunt I came here to present you with a deal king." Hichigo said grinning sadistically as he stopped spinning his sword and planted it in the ground to Ichigo's hidden relief
"Deal huh? So what is it." asked Ichigo since this indeed was new by his standards when it came to interacting with Zangetsu
"This deal will help us both, I become you and you become me, with this merger your powers will increase tenfold and you gain new abilities and you won't have to worry about me bothering you and you stay in control forever BUT," the white Ichigo said letting him know that the fine print was going to be read "Your appearance may change into looking a little bit like me. You will gain hollow instincts and my powers, your eyes will look just like mine, but you can see the fear in people and because of my instincts if you wanted to…do just the right things to torment people."
Hichigo then let out a crazed laugh "Like Teacher like student eh? Also you can kiss that orange mane of yours goodbye since it will become as white as that midget captain's snowflake shaped hair. But with all these bad things you'll still remain mostly you, just a little bit more me involved."
'It sounds like a great deal on paper and I can become more powerful…it would be easier to protect my family, though I really don't want have to explain my eyes and hair or any weird tendencies I might pick up like bullying people or arson considering who I'm merging with.' The orange haired teen mentally weighed to himself
"What's the down side?" he asked to make sure that something else was gonna come up like him having to eat other people or be weak against sunlight or some other crazy crap the hollow might think up.
The hollow brought his finger underneath his lips and thought hard "Well…soul reapers might mistake you for a hollow," he then shrugged nonchalantly "but hey that's what your mouth and Zangetsu for…what else…ahhh…nope that's all I can really come up with, but come on when have I ever tried to cheat you king, you're my partner I'd never do you like that."
"Apparently you don't seem to recall trying to kill me on more than one occasion or the various times you've tried to take over my body or use your power and consume me." Ichigo dead panned clearly remembering the many times it had happened in the past and course of the winter war
Hichigo stopped smiling and thought it over and smirked his mad grin having remembered the many incidents "Alright you got me on that one, so I'll sweeten the deal if you promise to let it go." When Ichigo merely rolled his eyes the phantom continued "How about every time you kill a spiritually empowered being you take some of their spiritual power and add it to your own stock pile, and gain their major or trade mark ability, for instance that bastard Aizen. You killed him so you'll gain the power to weave illusion, but of course you'll still have to train a little bit to perfect it, but we got all the time in the world and this place could use a few more lovely female Zanpaktou spirits to spruce up this dead city, but you gotta accept first." He then leaned forward his grin still intact and extended his hand out "So king, what's it gonna be deal or no deal?"
Ichigo looked at the hand and thought hard before making the deal with the devil. On the one hand he did acknowledge that this would be a huge benefit to not only himself but for everyone around him and would greatly aid him in protecting his friends, though he did think back to Aizen and how the megalomaniac tried to destroy the world with his perceived ultimate power.
We're the same, you and I…I don't have a doubt I may die here today, but I have won!
The last line of Aizen before his death rung in Ichigo's head causing him to scowl 'No, I'll prove you wrong Aizen. I won't fall into believing myself superior like you with power, and I'll do it starting now.'
"Alright, but make it quick." Ichigo said firmly as he sealed the deal with his hand shake, as the creature in front of him dissolved and a dark smoke started to work around his body
(3-hours later-ichigo's house)
"DAD I'M BACK!" Ichigo yelled he noticed the change in his voice now, as it sounded a little more colder than before but not by much 'hope they won't be too shook up with my appearance' he prayed to himself having looked at his reflection in Zangetsu's blade after the transformation was over.
"DAD!" he yelled again and was met with silence again, which was rather peculiar given the craziness of Isshin "Old man? He said a little softer as he still heard nothing "...Yuzu?...Karin?...Anyone?"
The now white haired Shinigami was now feeling ill at ease, since his family was quite aware he'd be returning today, but the strange calmness was unsettling and very disturbing for the man. Going with his gut instinct he transformed into his Shinigami state as he proceeded carefully through the house.
As he walked through the hallway he opened the door leading into the living room. As the door slide open Ichigo's golden eyes widened considerably at the sight he saw. "No…" he whispered as he saw the sight of his family dead "This can't be happening…" he said as he stepped through the door way. The dead body of Karin was lying against the floor near the stair case, her sister Yuzu was beside her with her doll Bostov at her side. From what Ichigo could tell they seemed to have been trying to flee.
'No, no, no, no! What the hell happened!' he mentally screamed as he saw many slash marks all over the furniture of the room 'Did a hollow get in here? What were the Shinigami doing!'
He then heard the faint sound of a groan, Ichigo rushed over to the source of the noise only to find Isshin dying his arm missing from his body "Dad! Hang on, I'm gonna get some help!"
"Don…bot…her…too late…fo…that." The man wheezed out as he was pulled slightly from his pool of blood
Ichigo however was far too concerned about him "Don't give me that old man, just stay with me. I'll get Rukia real quick or Urahara…just don't leave me," he exclaimed "Stay with me damn it!" he yelled as Isshin's head started to bobble a little less
"Listen…stupid…soul..soc..ety…attack…us…st…y away fr..om theeem…sa…ve Yuz, Karrrin…Mas..aki." the dying Shinigami said before closing his eyes "Live…son…"
The teenager's body started to shake as he felt fear begin to creep through him "dad?" he said as he shook the man's body no response. "Dad." He said more forcefully as he lifted his body up closer to him panic in his voice "DAAAAD!"
As he laid his father's body back down against the pool of blood, hot tears of anger and sadness began to pour out of his eyes as his reiatsu spiked out ward "Those bastards!" he yelled as he started to stand up from the ground "I'll kill them…every single one of them who had a hand in this. I'll wipe them out for what they've done!"
Ichigo looked down at his father's remains and glanced back at his sisters 'I suppose I should at least bury them for now. I only hope Yuzu and Karin don't get caught in soul society…or worse.'
After collecting the dead bodies he started to exit the building when he remembered his own body. He was about to get back in it when he stopped. The thought of the police questioning what happened if and when they encountered the scene and all the blood and Ichigo's body was missing. He wouldn't be able to hide from Soul Society as they could just pursue the police and eventually wind up at his door step. "I guess this is the end of one life…" Ichigo said as he departed letting the police think he died of a heart attack from seeing the scene.
(An hour later)
About two miles outside of Karakura, Ichigo took the bodies of his family to the place they visited every summer to pay respect to his mother. As he continued walking through the forests he finally came to a hilly overview of the entire area, and proceeded to create a grave for them. As he continued to work the clouds above him had turned a stormy gray and flitted down it's rain upon the man. He continued to work in silence until his task was done.
With an exhalation of air, the Vizard bowed his head in respect "Dad, Yuzu, Karin, Mom…I promised to always look out for you…and now, for all the power I've gained to protect you, it turned into the power that took you away from me. I've…decided to put my power to another use. I know you might not agree, and maybe it's just emotions talking, but I can't just stand by and pretend you meant nothing, I won't just let Soul Society take away some of the people I care about the most, after all I've done for them. I'm going to make them pay…" he then raised his head up with a sad frown "Don't worry, I won't be like Aizen. I'm just gonna make those who deserve it pay, and maybe one day I'll be back, and have some friends from both Soul Society and this world with me, those who accept me."
Ichigo bowed his body this time and gave one last glance to the three mounds of earth, before returning back to Karakura town, this time to make a statement to his so-called allies.