Disclaimer: I do not own, and will not ever own the parent stories of this fan fiction. I will not make money from this and the rights go to the appropriate people. Also, I am not an expert on Japan's various religions. I am mostly using Wikipedia and Google search for my info. If you see something wrong with what I write, let me know with your source, but I might not change it in this story. And yes, I changed the location of Kamiki Village. Tito Kubo said that Karakura was in western Tokyo and if you go far enough west there are mountain ranges so it works (even if it was likely a reference to other towns natives would get the reference to).
Prologue: That Day After the Rain (雨上り)
The goddess most famously remembered as Shiranui in this region (even if the tale was mostly forgotten when Kamiki village and the surrounding territory became Karakura town and other nearby municipal areas as Tokyo expanded and ages passed), was lounging at her shrine that was closer to Sakuya's Konohana great tree now than it had been after the defeat of Yomi; up on the mountain rather than down in the valley. While she could always go the distance to where her other incarnation's descendants stayed (much closer now that they lived near Tokyo) for nicer accommodations, that would probably turn into work and, as the goddess was taking a well-deserved vacation after the domino fall of events the past century, she was trying to avoid that. She had hoped that the political situation concerning modernization and related problems would calm some after the Bakumetsu, though that thought was ruthlessly stomped on after the many wars with foreign powers accumulating in the war known as the Second World War. While the major gods were able to shake off the majority of the damage to their belief caused by the fall out of that last war, a few well timed pranks in broad daylight that would be witnessed by many but censored out of the occupied nation's news ensured that, a lot of the practice of the beliefs waned.
Many shrines not well known or in well lived areas have been forgotten, and even at those shrines, offerings were only sparingly offered if not actively attended. House shrines and large temples were still in use, but often only the bare minimum was done to insure the upkeep as many of the younger generations purposely ignored them when being taught as children and therefore did not pass the knowledge to the generations after as it was old and irrelevant. Sacred knowledge that should have been passed down to dedicated miko, priests, and other mediums were caught in a tug-of-war between cold academia critics to be argued over the plausibility and reliability of the texts, top secret knowledge of the royal family, and plain greed. And while Shiranui knew that humanity was on the knife edge of their science breaking through the veil of myth and magic and seeing that neither side was wholly wrong after all, she also knew that the other side of that edge will likely cause humanity to fall into cataclysm once more.
What caused Shiranui to go on this vacation now was because it seemed more and more that the goddess and her fellows were only causing more problems by being easily available to the mortal government than by being away. After all, it wasn't like her descendants couldn't contact her in case of emergency. They just needed to use their knowledge and training to pick out the hiding Yatagarasu of the flock of crows at the imperial palace. Unless it is truly dire and Yatagarasu seeks her out on his own. Shiranui knew that her and her human descendants disagreed on what exactly dire was so it was better this way. After all, she was a primary goddess of the land of the rising sun, not the one who stands at the beginning and end of time and fixes all problems to a single person or people's benefit. There was a larger system that needed to operate beyond the scope of Japan; a stock market crash caused by another country's economic failure was not cause for calling on all of a nation's kami spirits to curse them, no matter what her children's government thought of both the Russians and what they did in their spare time. It will just cause it to fail again. And again. And…
Shiranui flicked her ears in interest as a distant sound drifted to her. It sounded like a pained creature that had given up survival and only wished for the predators to snatch it and end its agony. The type of creature did not sound like one that normally lived on these lands, nor even those that weaved their own dimensions for their clans to protect themselves from conflict with humans and had done so since before humans were this numerous. It had nearly the same quality of grief, agony, and loneliness that is known for the various yūrie that most of the Shinigami were now just broadly calling Hollows; but there was something lacking in the sound that made the goddess doubt the accuracy of her assessment. If she was in her human form, Shiranui would have frowned but settled with narrowed eyes and laid back ears as she stalked through the woods and undergrowth.
There was a graveyard reasonably close to where this shrine was now; a beautiful location to appease any lingering dead, despite all the cement humans deemed necessary now-a-days. The large majority of those lingering dead that had been there before Shiranui went on vacation were passed, the celestial wolf having blessed the souls with safe passage to the Soul Society and had done some minor tasks for those who lingered for a good reason (desire to know of the fate of a child now orphaned, a budding serial killer's victim desiring justice, etc.), all things that properly trained priests or noukansha would have taken care of in the past before this unfavorable rise in secularism. Normally it takes months or, more normally, years for a dead human soul to fall to its grief and turn into a hollow. Though, it could be an older hollow coming from the valley or the Heuco Mundo thinking that there was an easy snack in the graveyard. However, this was Shiranui's territory, the great wolf of legend; she could defeat any… human child?
The great wolf crouched in the under growth as she watched the small frame of a child not even half way grown scream and flail on the in tantrum. Some might not see a child throwing a tantrum as a noteworthy disturbance to a great goddess (even one in a minor goddess form), but this one was one that the wolf goddess saw as special. This child had, in the past, not only seen her divine markings clear as day, but also could hear her speak as though she had taken a human mortal guise and spoke actual words. When he was younger (before his first Shichi-go-san), he had some trouble sorting through her divine, inhuman speech, missing subtleties the way any one learning a new language would, unimpeded by normal boundaries between mortal and divine. But by the last Flower Viewing Festival (still one of the most important festivals of this region, especially with Sakuya still being acknowledged as an official (if minor) kami as opposed to a just an old and powerful Kodama) the orange haired child had understood everything she said with the fluency expected of a child speaking their mother tongue. To see such a promising child in such despair broke the old goddess' heart.
"Little one," Shiranui questioned softly to the boy as she padded out from the undergrowth. "Little one, what has happened? Why do you cry so?"
The boy hiccupped, stopping the mournful crying and flailing long enough to sit up and look at the white wolf with mud smeared face and red rimmed eyes. He stared incomprehensively at the wolf and sniffled for a moment, causing Shiranui to worry that his faith had shattered to the point that he could no longer see or hear her as she was, before finally responding. "She's dead," he said, hiccupping and swiping his mud smeared hand at his dripping nose. "She's dead and it's all my fault. I killed her. I-I." The boy's voice stuttered as he began to cry again. Shiranui sniffed and placed her paw on the boy's forehead decisively, orange hair falling over white fur, before he lost himself to grief again.
"Speak clearly young one," Shiranui commanded, her dark eyes boring deep into the child's lighter ones. "And do not speak falsely, for I can scent the truth of a situation beyond what humans can perceive."
The boy sniffled again, daunted but unafraid as he looked up into the kami's eyes. "It had been raining for a few days," he started and Shiranui inclined her head in acknowledgement, it had only been safe to forcefully clear the skies completely without meteorological backlash yesterday evening and so made sure that the skies were clear upon the sun's dawning. "The river was starting to run over the banks and I saw a girl overlooking the river like she was going to jump in it. And I had vowed to myself that I was going to protect everyone I could and so I couldn't let her jump in and get hurt so I ran to her to tell her to stop. She was surprised that I could see her, so I thought she might be a spirit of some sort but before I could say anything else, Mom was yelling at me. I don't remember what happened next but I was suddenly waking up and, and-" The boy stopped again, making a sound between a choke and a keen as he started to curl in on himself.
"None of that now," Shiranui scolded gently but firmly, nosing the young one's chin as she repositioned herself to curl around boy to offer comfort. The boy leaned into soft fur almost immediately. "Deep breathes, and then continue where you were."
The boy snuffled some more but was breathing instead of sobbing, which was an improvement. After a few minutes, and a couple of false starts, the boy continued. "Momma was on top of me. Like if she pushed me out of the way of something, but I don't remember what," he said finally. "I didn't want to think that she was dead, so I thought that if I got her home to Daddy that she would be okay because Daddy is a doctor and can fix people. So I carried her as far as I could but I couldn't make it and I couldn't leave her. No one seemed to notice us. Even Daddy when he came looking for us, almost passed us but he saw us when I called at him to help."
The boy sniffled and buried his face into the fur of Shiranui's shoulder. "He's been broken ever since," he whispered so softly, only ones with heightened hearing like Shiranui would have been able to hear it. "Everyone's been broken ever since. It's my fault. I killed her."
"What did I say about speaking falsely?" the wolf reprimanded, poking the boy in the shoulder with her nose.
The boy turned and looked in her eye, face scrunched in confusion. "Not to?"
"Then why did you?" Shiranui questioned gently.
The boy looked at her with wide eyes. "But I didn't!" he cried, aghast. "I wouldn't lie to you, ever!"
"Perhaps you would have not ever meant to," Shiranui agreed, "but it does not change that you did speak falsely." Looking at the child seriously, Shiranui continued. "I can tell when one has taken the life of another, purposely or not, maliciously or not. And you have not markers of either of these."
"But," the boy said incomprehensively, his golden brown eyes were wide and watery, "I was supposed to protect her. My name is Ichigo, 'the one who protects'! I was supposed to make sure nothing bad happened to her ever! And I failed! And now she is dead and gone forever!"
"Perhaps you hold some responsibility, but you hold no blame," the goddess said firmly. "You forget the roles of parent and child. A parent is to ensure, beyond all doubts, that the child makes it to adulthood. To do so at the cost of their life is a victory, not defeat! A bitter one, perhaps, but the fact that you still live is a testament to her strength! To say otherwise is to dishonor her memory. Do you wish to dishonor her?" The boy, Ichigo, frantically shook his head no. "Then accept that her death was her choice and her victory and live and defy all who would wish to do harm to you so when your body finally falls to the passage of time, your immortal soul will greet her in the after worlds and can proclaim 'Look how long it has been since we have last met! See that your sacrifice was not in vain!'
"And know this, young protector," Shiranui continued seriously. "From what you said of no one noticing you until you called out to your father, speaks that your mother must have once been a great miko to have casted a spell capable of hiding you from those who may wish you harm. Perhaps it had been a great many years since she had practiced her powers, many miko only practice before they marry, but in the times that our paths crossed, I could feel strong power tightly controlled in her body. Strong power I can feel echoing from you three fold. A power that many yokai and akuma would see as a tasty meal if they thought they could get away with it."
Ichigo leaned away and looked at the wolf goddess with complete disbelief. "Me? Powerful?" he asked softly.
"Yes," Shiranui said plainly. "Perhaps it does not seem like much now for you have not been taught to use it. A large and bright bonfire in the night that is not so much a danger because of heat than because of its unpredictability rather than a forge that can even force hardest and sturdiest of metals into whatever the master smith desires."
The boy froze for the barest of moments before he scrambled back a short distance, bowing in a perfect kotow. "Please Great Spirit Shiranui, Divine Guardian and Spirit of Spring of Karakura town, previously the village of Kamiki, teach me how to use my powers!" the boy, Ichigo, beseeched. "I have little sisters I need to protect, and if Mom really had been using her magic to protect us, then I need to be able to do so too! Karin can see things almost as good as I can and Yuzu can notice things most can't too and…"
"Do you know what you are asking by asking for my guidance," Shiranui questioned regally, her posture matching her tone as the conversation became deadly serious for any spirit. "There are many who would take advantage of such an open offer and take far more than what you would call fair."
Shiranui could smell the hesitation in the child, but he did not relent. "What would cost of such teaching be?" he asked stoically.
The wolf kami stood and walked around the prostrate boy, inspecting his resolve. And while it appeared that the boy was trying to follow her with his eyes, his only other movement was caused by his breathing. Finishing her inspection, Shiranui returned to stand in front of her prospective student. "If I am to become your teacher in the magical arts that are sacred to me, you will be pledging yourself to become my creature; an agent of my will in the world, as modern and secular as it has become. You will aid me in my care of all those under my protection, whether they be human, spirit, or beast. Your demeanor will be a reflection of me and as such, as my agent, you and those you call family will have my protection.
"There may be times where I will accept your protests to action and duties, if a good argument is presented. There will be others where I will not accept any protests and if you do not fulfill those actions or duties, you will be punished in any manner I see fit. However, I swear that your family will not bear the brunt of my ire if such events were to occur. As long as you follow and heed these guidelines, I also swear that I will always provide you with as much protection, skills, and power needed for you, personally, to defend those who you hold dear, unless such situation call for my direct interference. I will also do my best to prevent my tasks from interfering with your familial duties. If at any time you decide that the cost of my teaching and protection becomes too great a burden and you demand that I cease, I will do so without removing the knowledge of what I teach you from you; but do not mistake this as still having the ability to use them, as what I will teach will require having mine and others blessings.
"Is this an acceptable offer?" Shiranui concluded, hoping that she covered everything necessary; it had been some centuries since she had actually had to construct a deal such as this, but it seemed more than fair from her prospective.
Ichigo was silent as he contemplated. "Will I be required to keep this secret from everyone?" he finally asked.
"No," Shiranui answered. "I would neither ask you to lie to your family nor others that you trust about your tutelage. But remember that in this age, being taught a magic art by an old, mostly forgotten kami would be met by skeptics and derision; so I ask that you keep our meetings discrete and keep silent on the specifics of my art for with all power, there are those who would abuse such knowledge."
The boy was silent another moment before pressing his forehead harder to the ground in aquesstion. "I accept the terms of your offer for my tutelage, Shiranui-sama," the boy, her new vassal, Ichigo, said with appropriate regard.
"Good," the old wolf rumbled, dropping her formality, gently pushing the child out of kowtow and into a normal sitting position. "While I will be bringing official contracts from Takamagahara for you to sign on a later date so you can get the appropriate clearances to areas I may send you later, as well as items restricted for unregistered human use due to increased likelihood of abuse or dangerous side effects to those untrained in spiritual arts (an effect of increased bureaucracy), I can still give you a general overview of what I will teach you that is specific to those of my sect now. While you know of my status as a regional protector kami and a kami of spring, that is not the only thing I am the kami of, especially with the theological collapse that I will go into at a later time. I am also a goddess of the brush, keeper of the Celestial brush techniques that were born when writing and art was more a tool of magic than of general understanding like it is today. For that reason, the first thing you are going to learn is the original means your ancestors prepared the tools needed to do any sort of brush work. First…."
AN: I was reminded of the formatting difference between this website and AO3. hopefully this fixed the problem. expect next chapter next week