A thousand years
One-shot
A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters. If I did, it would've ended differently.
I don't usually put an author's note (apart from the disclaimer) at the beginning of my fic but here's a little heads up: I made Aizen Sousuke the Soul King here. Why? Because I just picked up an earth-shattering skill from The Great One last week. It's called trolling. And I'm trying it out in this fic.
A tall orange-haired man in a black yukata stands before the huge double doors of the Reiokyu. He recalls vividly what happened the last time he crossed this threshold so many, many years ago after the war ended and this new King was sworn in.
"Kokuo heika will see you now, Kurosaki-san," a royal guard tells him, bowing lowly.
Ichigo returns the gesture, takes a deep breath, and follows the guard into the King's royal chamber. This is it, he thinks. He has waited for this moment since he last stepped foot here.
As the guard leads him to where the throne is, he takes a good look around before they stop in front of the King. The guard bows when he receives the cue to leave and does as ordered.
Ichigo sits himself down on the floor in a seiza and then, completely lowers his head to the ground in reverence for the King. "Aizen-heika," Ichigo addresses.
"You may rise, Ichigo," the King orders.
The man who once saved the worlds gets up on his feet but his head remains bowed in respect for this person whom he fought against once upon a time.
"You are here earlier than expected, Ichigo. You must be very eager," the King comments.
Ichigo looks up with his fiery eyes, which have matured over the centuries. It is dull and weary from long years of anticipation. "Of course. You know how long I've been waiting for this day."
The King smirks. "A thousand years. You were very obedient to your calling. I suppose I should let you go now. Your chains have been broken."
"Thank you, Aizen-heika." Ichigo bows again and turns on his heels with a spring in his steps to walk out of the King's throne room.
"Ichigo," Aizen calls out, causing the younger man to halt his strides and look over his shoulder. "You've earned your new life. Now live it to the fullest."
"Che," he smirks. "You don't even have to tell me that."
Aizen inwardly smiles as he watches Ichigo's retreating back. The boy deserves this, he thinks.
Ichigo remembers his anguish when he walked out of this place a thousand years ago. His mind goes back to the conversation he had with the King, that had caused his world to crumble. But he knew, at that time that he had to follow the King's commands in order to have the life he wanted.
"You have got to be shitting me!"
"Be careful with your choice of words, Ichigo. You are addressing your new King," Aizen reprimanded him.
"I don't care who you are. You can't mess with my life like that. After all I've done for Soul Society, don't I deserve even an ounce of happiness?" Ichigo questioned defiantly.
"And you shall find that happiness in these five lifetimes!"
"How will I, when it isn't what I want?"
"Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the things our hearts desire," the King replied.
"You are one to talk about the desire of the heart! You crushed Hinamori-san's!"
"Silence!"
Ichigo had his brows tightly knitted as the King glares back at him.
"You will fulfill Inoue Orihime's wish and live five lifetimes with her as her husband. You will make her happy and have a family with her. You will grow old with her and die a happy death in each of these lifetimes. After which, I will unchain you and release your string of fate again," Aizen said with a mighty voice, gritting his teeth and emphasising every single phrase.
Ichigo winced before he sighed in defeat. "How will I know how many lifetimes I've lived when I will not remember my previous ones?" he asked.
Aizen cleared his throat and began calmly, "You will remember. Your soul is unlike that of a normal human's. It will never die and will continue to age regardless of how young or old your human body really is. You will never forget your purpose of living those five lifetimes. Inoue's memories of her life, on the other hand, will be erased every time she passes on just like everybody else."
Ichigo ran his fingers through his orange locks as he pondered on this. He had no other choice. It didn't matter if Aizen made him do this just to screw with him or because he had a soft spot for Inoue. Ichigo had to obey him simply because he was the King.
If it were anybody else, Aizen would probably have struck down the person right there and then for showing disrespect to him. But his acquaintance with this brash boy told him to spare his life. After all, Ichigo had always been a very important ally to Soul Society.
Ichigo swallowed the lump in his throat. "Will she... Will she still be here when I return?"
Aizen knew whom he was asking about. "Yes, she will. I shall personally see to it that she is always protected until such time when you can come back to reclaim that role of protecting her."
The humans had returned to the living world the next day. Ichigo had opted not to speak to Rukia about it because he didn't want her to feel obligated to wait for him. He didn't know how long it would take to live five lifetimes. It seemed like forever to him. But if that was what he needed to do to finally be with her for all eternity, he would do it. Even if he was too late and she could no longer be his when he came back.
After the war with Yhwach, the royal palace built an easier gateway for everyone to travel to and from Soul Society. However, they would need a special security pass, which is only obtainable from Hyosube Ichibe – the commanding shinigami of the Royal Guard.
As Ichigo walks through that gateway, a small satisfied smile graces his usually scowling face. He has fulfilled Inoue's entire wish by being with her for five lifetimes.
In the first life after they returned from the war, she had become a nurse and assisted Ichigo when he took over Isshin's clinic. She had once bought everything the ice-cream man had for the children she taught in the kindergarten in another life. She had bought doughnuts from all the different shops when she was working as a food critic. She had her own bakery in one of her lifetimes. She didn't get to become an astronaut but she got to sit in a space shuttle when she lived in Russia. Being born in five different cities around the world, she had eaten all kinds of food in her hometown and whenever she travelled across the globe. Most importantly, she had fallen in love with the same man over and over again. They were born as different people every time but he would always look for her.
Ichigo knows he made Inoue happy in all those lives. He had put his whole heart into their marriages to accomplish that because it was part of fulfilling that wish. They had children of their own and grew old together before they died natural deaths. And in each of those deaths, Ichigo was happy because it meant he was one lifetime closer to being with Rukia for good – something he only let himself remember minutes before every last breath, otherwise his happiness with Inoue would seem feigned.
The shittiest thing about all those lifetimes was that after every death, it took over a hundred and fifty years of wandering in the Rukongai before his soul would be assigned to another human life. During those times, he had watched Rukia from afar whenever he felt her familiar reiatsu in the districts. He didn't dare make himself known to her for fear that he would eventually cause them both heartbreak when it was his time to return to the human world.
He can still remember how he struggled not to show the stabbing pain he felt when she visited the human world with Renji and their daughter, Ichika ten years after the war. He shouldn't have felt betrayed but he did, even though they never spoke of their feelings for each other. Deep down, though, he had always known there was something there. They always had this uncanny ability to read each other's minds. And Rukia seemed to understand his situation in the silence of her heart.
There was once when he was watching her from behind a shed in the 2nd District with his reiatsu carefully masked, she had suspiciously turned around and looked into his direction. He immediately kept his head down under the sakkat, which he had on to disguise his bright head.
During his previous stay at the Rukongai before he was reincarnated for the last time, he came upon her at the hill where her three childhood friends were buried. It was only when he saw the fourth headstone that he knew Renji had passed on. How? He didn't know but he is going to find out soon enough, he tells himself as he walks towards the barracks of the 13th Division. Renji was a very close friend of his even though they had not seen each other since the redhead performed konso on him at his first death. It will be kind of weird not seeing him around tailing after Rukia like a lovesick puppy.
As Ichigo approaches his destination, he slows down to a stop a block before the 13th Division office. His reiatsu is still cloaked because he wants to be fully prepared before he sees her.
Taking a deep breath, he is about to start walking again when the shoji door of the office slides open and out comes that midget who's not quite a midget anymore. She is much taller now – about the height of Tatsuki a thousand years ago. Who knew one such chibi could still grow?
The only thing he could do is stare at her form from where he is standing. She is as beautiful as ever, her oversized captain haori flapping about with the gentle breeze as she looks around the yard with the grace of a trained noble. He notices the kenseikan in her hair and the Kuchiki symbolic scarf around her neck. No doubt, she is the 29th Head of the Kuchiki Clan. He wonders what has happened to Byakuya.
His heart beats fast as he continues to watch her, a gush of questions burst through his mind. What if she doesn't accept him after all these years? What if she refuses to see him again? What if she has remarried or is seeing someone else?
Ichigo is snapped out of his reverie when she turns to look at him with widened eyes. She has felt him. And he realises that he has unknowingly lifted the shield off his reiatsu after being struck dumb by the sight of her.
"Ichigo," she gasps and places a delicate hand over her mouth to cover the 'O' that she cannot refrain her lips from forming. The way her eyes sparkle as they bore into his makes all his doubts go away.
This is it, he tells himself again.
Time stands still and the only beauty he sees is her. This time, he will not let anything take her away from him. Because every breath and every death has come to this.
"Rukia," he calls out, taking a step closer.
Before he moves again, the raven-haired taichou of Squad 13 has thrown herself at him. She must've mastered her shunpo to rival Byakuya's after all these years.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her tightly against his chest and kisses her on the crown of her head. Years ago, he would have needed to bend much lower to do this.
"I take it you're here for good," she says when they break apart, their arms still around each other.
He nods with a grin. It's his first wide, genuine grin since after she thrust the zanpakutou through him to return him his powers all those years ago. The muscles around his mouth are going to hurt tomorrow.
"A thousand years, Ichigo. I've been waiting a thousand damn years. Do you know how hard it was for me to not have someone to annoy all those times?" she chides playfully, slapping his shoulder.
He chuckles. "What, you think it was easy for me? I had to fight the urge to call every puny creature your name," he teases.
And then, he is down on the ground, his body curled in as he nurses his shin. Damn, she's fast!
"Violent midget!" he grunts.
"I'm reaching your cheekbones, strawberry. You can't call me that anymore," she says, folding her arms across her chest, one foot tapping on the pavement.
In mere seconds, Rukia yelps as they both find themselves in her office where Ichigo has shunpo them over. "Not nearly as fast as you but I'll get better," he says, not letting her go. She weighs slightly more than before but that's only because of her height.
Rukia scoffs, pushes off from him, and plants her feet on the ground. He doesn't let go, both arms around her waist now. Her body feels so right against his, they both think.
He studies the face of the woman up-close. She has aged a little with time and it is evident in the faint crow's feet at the corner of her eyes. Those eyes reflect years of toiling over paperwork, training, parenthood, and most definitely clan pressure. But apart from that, she still has that mischievous youthful look upon her smooth ivory skin. Beautiful, he thinks again and proceeds to convey that through his eyes. Her cheeks tint a light pink when her violet orbs catch the message. Like many, many years ago, they are able to communicate through eye contact.
"You waited," he says.
She nods. "I knew." Guilt flashes through his eyes and she reads it. "Don't," she reprimands with a finger to his face before he gets to apologise. "It would not have worked out without the string of fate."
Ichigo sighs. That is probably true. But he's missed her so much for a thousand years. The King now owes me a thousand more years with Rukia, he thinks.
"What happened to Renji, though?" he asks.
Rukia's smile is far away when she replies, "He was killed in Hueco Mundo when a new breed of powerful Hollows started to appear 200 years ago. Nii-sama was there, too, but he survived. Barely."
"Is that why you're the head of the clan now?" He fingers the kenseikan on her hair.
She nods and Ichigo can tell she is holding back tears. Whether it is for Renji or Byakuya, he doesn't know.
He remembers her daughter. She must've been shattered at the death of her father. The images of his children from his past lives ran through his mind: how they cried at his funeral even though they were already parents themselves. "How is Ichika taking it?"
"Like a true Kuchiki," Rukia snorts. "She has been taking care of her favourite uncle since the tragedy."
Ichigo furrows his brows.
She sees his question. "Nii-sama was paralysed after the battle with the Hollows. He will be able to walk again but it will take years for his reiatsu to recover before that can happen. So Ichika removed herself from the Fourth Division to be his full-time nurse."
The once substitute shinigami cannot help but wonder if these things could've been avoided if they had awakened his powers to help them.
These thoughts, she also sees. "Kyouraku-soutaichou did not want to involve you. He knew you were living a normal life so he wanted you to have your peace. He would've summoned for you, though, if you had been in Rukongai instead at that time."
"I'm sorry," he says, cupping her cheek with the palm of his hand.
She shakes her head and takes his hand in hers. "There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't know. We didn't want you to."
"I'm talking about Renji. It must be really hard for you these past 200 years," he admonishes.
"Oh," she winces. "Yeah, it's still a struggle to go through each day knowing I'll never be able to see him again. I mean, we were best friends for a very, very long time even before we were married. I miss him a lot. Not really as my husband but as my companion from the days in Inuzuri."
He understands, kind of. Well, not really. Losing a partner and losing a parent are two different things all together. Inoue had only died before him once and during that lifetime, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's long before she died. But he did see how devastated she was every time he passed on.
He and Rukia are sitting on the couch, hands entwined. It is to comfort her more than anything. He doesn't feel the need to speak because their silence has always been solicitous. After a while, he feels her head on his shoulder and he tightens his hold on her hand.
"I'm really happy you're here, Ichigo," she sighs. "I'm getting so exhausted doing all these on my own."
Ichigo reaches his free hand over and runs his fingers through her long, ebony hair before slightly turning his head to give her a chaste kiss on the forehead. "I'm here now. For a thousand years or more."
1
Nope, not a fan of Twilight. Just thought I'd do something with this song when I heard it on the radio and said to myself, "How appropriate..."
2
You know what? I just realised Kubo and Aizen may or may not be two separate personalities. Troll, troll, troll your ship. Gently down the sea. Throw your readers overboard. Then you'll hear them torch.
3
I promise, this is the last response/reply/reaction fic I'm writing for 686. Promise. In true Kubo fashion.
4
I don't know why I need #4.
Rant of the century:
(I'm going to blog this on tumblr. But I'm also leaving it here for your reading pleasure.)
I watched the second episode of BLEACH earlier today. It was the first time I watched the English-dubbed version of it. And now, I get why there are so many IchiHime fans out there, especially outside of Japan. All these while, I've been watching the Japanese version of the videos with English subtitles because this version offers a more accurate translation from the original language.
What I noticed is that the characters are all addressed by their first names e.g. In the English version, both Yuzu and Inoue call Ichigo by his first name. Ichigo also addresses Inoue by her first name. In the Japanese version, Yuzu calls Ichigo 'Onii-chan' which means big brother. Inoue addresses Ichigo as 'Kurosaki-kun' while he calls her 'Inoue'. They both address each other by their family names, which in the Japanese culture, tells a lot about the relationship between two people.
For the Western world, it may be all right to address just about everybody by their first names and sometimes calling someone you're familiar with by their last name can mean you're not happy with that person or you're being sarcastic.
As Asians, however, we address our family members and the people around us by their ranks. We call our elder brother 哥哥 (ge ge), younger brother 弟弟 (di di), elder sister 姐姐 (jie jie), and younger sister 妹妹 (mei mei). We even address (in English, as well) the female friends of our parents 'Aunty *name*' and the male friends of our parents 'Uncle *name*'. We're not allowed to call people who are older than us by their first names without some kind of honorific because doing so would be considered rude.
This practice is even stricter in Japan where you only address someone by their first names if you are very, very familiar with them or you have a close bond with them. (I often imagine this as a 'within arms length' connection.) Ichigo and Rukia have one such connection. And that is why they call each other by their first names in the Japanese version. Inoue and Ichigo on the other hand do not have that 'within arms length' connection. I don't think I've ever seen (please correct me, if I'm wrong) any part of the manga where Inoue did not address Ichigo as 'Kurosaki-kun' or where Ichigo did not address her as 'Inoue' (except 686). We're talking about the Japanese version here. The correct translation has to be regarded with vital significance here.
The reason why there are so many IchiRuki fans in Japan is that they see the strong connection and easy bond between the two in the way they address each other, which is probably seen as something very trivial for people who are not familiar with the Japanese culture.
That said, I still insist that the IchiRuki ship still sails. The captain, however, has either sunken to the deepest ocean or has been captured by pirates.