Summary: Ichigo continued to frown, confusion making the lines cut deeper into his face. "I thought Urahara said we would be returned to our younger bodies?"
Sousuke hummed, his stance relaxed as he watched the fight continue in front of them. "To be fair, I didn't have an actual body. I imagine since we went through together, it spit us out at the same place." Implied Sousuke/Ichigo; Time Travel one-shot
let it be known that i stopped watching bleach around the time that grimmjow was first introduced. so. yeah.
ichigo and sousuke come from a mostly canon future, except ichigo has his duel blades (though they arent mentioned) and there's a bit of a time skip before hand because it would take a hot second for ichigo to fall into a relationship with aizen sousuke of all people, amiright?
Blind Spots
Ichigo glances around, taking in his surroundings, before frowning, his brow pinched in confusion. Sousuke is standing next to him, his uncovered eye roaming over the battle they had found themselves in.
Ichigo continued to frown, confusion making the lines cut deeper into his face. "I thought Urahara said we would be returned to our younger bodies?"
Sousuke hummed, his stance relaxed as he watched the fight continue in front of them. "To be fair, I didn't have an actual body. I imagine since we went through together, it spit us out at the same place."
Ichigo considered this for a second before shrugging. It threw a wrench in their plans, sure, but Ichigo was good at improvising and it wouldn't take Sousuke long to reconsider everything. Ichigo tilted his head and winced at the violent blast of cold air hit them, the building they were standing on crackling dangerously beneath their feet. In the distance, Hitsugaya Toushirou had released his bankai and was informing the Aizen in front of him that he had come to violently kill him
Sousuke, the one beside him, let out a faint snort and Ichigo couldn't help but roll his eyes at the man. Sousuke caught the action and just simply shrugged, the corner of his mouth coming up in dark amusement.
Ichigo watched in concern as the captains and the Vizards worked together to try and beat Aizen. "We should step in. There's no point to this."
Sousuke makes a noise in the back of his throat, like he disagrees with him, but he follows Ichigo when he moves forward, not saying a word as they shunpo towards the fight.
"When I talk about power," Aizen says as they grow closer, "this is what I'm talking about."
Captain Komamura Sajin attempts to put up a defense, but Ichigo knows it would be too weak to stop Aizen's attack. Ichigo doesn't need to say a word to Sousuke, both of them moving at the same time. Ichigo grabs the captain, flashing away a minor distance, before turning to watch the spectacle that is surely about to happen.
Everyone around them is staring in confusion and shock as a blandly smiling Sousuke stops Aizen's attack while only using two fingers against his zanpaktou. Ichigo feels a flash of amused irony at the sight. Serves him right.
"What?" Aizen hisses out, his usual composure lost for a second.
Sousuke just continues to smile blandly at him, unamused, before he collects reiatsu in his finger tips and fires it, causing Aizen to jump back in order to get away from the focused blast.
The others are staring at Ichigo now, finally noticing that there isn't just a single person's double walking around. He ignores them, never taking his eyes off of Sousuke. The man looks so bored, so unamused by their situation, that it makes Ichigo cackle. Zangetsu is equally amused, his own cackle echoing inside Ichigo's head. Sousuke obviously thinks that the ensuing fight he is about to have with his past self will hold no challenge to it. Granted, he's kind of right. Sousuke grows unbelievably powerful during his time locked up, even though his powers had already seemed god like. While Aizen is strong now, stronger than even Ichigo once the Hougyoku starts aiding him, Aizen is not stronger than Sousuke. It will be fun to watch the only person who can beat Aizen kick his ass: himself.
"Kurosaki?"
Ichigo turns at the question, taking in the battered Vizard beside him. Shinji is grimacing, look back at his younger self and then back to him.
Ichigo smiles and replies, "Stay out of it. Sousuke has it handled."
Shinji's eyebrow immediately raises at that. "Sousuke?"
Ichigo doesn't drop his grin, instead he makes his way over to Sousuke. "Do you need me to handle anything?"
Sousuke hums, considering his words, before he shakes his head. "No, Ichigo. Let me take care of this pesky little butterfly." Sousuke flashes away the next second. Ichigo glances behind him as the illusion around Hinamori begins to fade, the young Shinigami battered, but still alive. He can hear the loud choking gasp that Hitsugaya lets out at the sight of her prone form and he quickly turns back around to watch Sousuke.
The man has landed in front of a retreating Hinamori, whose image has slowly melted away to reveal an irate Aizen. Ichigo could see him the entire time, he's still immune to Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities, and it was vaguely interesting to watch a shimmery Hinamori overlapping Aizen's more solid image.
"What is this supposed to be?" Aizen asks, the irritation leaking into his sharp tone.
Sousuke sighs, like he's trying to explain something simple for a child to understand, and Ichigo snorts, not bothering to hide his amusement from the others around him. "This is your wake-up call," Sousuke explains, brandishing his zanpaktou, "and your subsequent execution." Then, in a brilliant move that leaves Ichigo delighted, Sousuke springs forward and pushes Aizen back and away in the exact same move Ichigo had used on Sousuke during their own battle.
Ichigo leaves Sousuke to it, trusting the man to do what has to be done. Sousuke wants his past self out of the way just as much as Ichigo does. Aizen hasn't gone through the transformations Sousuke has, and if Sousuke can kill him before he does, Aizen should stay down for good. When they first were coming up with their plans on what they were going to do when they arrived in the past, Urahara and Ichigo weren't sure what this would do to Sousuke. He would be traveling with Ichigo, after all, so would he simply dissolve once his past self is killed?
Sousuke, because he's arrogant and loves to brag, assured them succinctly that he would not in fact fade, simply because he was no longer a simple soul. He had transcended past boundaries that the past version of him had not quite reached yet. Ichigo had rolled his eyes at his condescending tone, but he had felt relief nonetheless. He didn't want to fight Yhwach and the others on his own. He needed Sousuke by his side to get anything done.
"What the hell is going on?" his own voice breaks in.
Ichigo turned and came face to face with his past self, the ever-present scowl making him look constipated. Ichigo gave a brief thought to wonder if he always looked like that, before he waved it away. It wasn't the time.
"Sousuke and I were sent to the past. We were supposed to be integrated with our past selves, but it seems like nothing can ever actually go the way we plan it."
"Sosuke?!" his past self chokes out. Ichigo gives him a concerned look. He wasn't going to start foaming at the mouth, was he?
There's a violent explosion from behind them, a blast of debris raining down on top of them. Several of the people around him are pushed back, but Ichigo doesn't even budge, nor does he bother to look behind him.
"Kurosaki," Hitsugaya grunts out, a glare on his face, "why are you working with him?"
Ichigo can feel his face shutter at the question. It's a valid question. To them, the ones who are currently having an all-out war with Aizen, Ichigo's appearance with an older version of him must be confusing and disheartening. One look at Sousuke proves that Aizen would have survived this battle and any other fights he would get himself into.
"Something worse comes along," he answers vaguely, though truthfully. There's another explosion, this one more violent than the last, and it's followed by a truly absurd amount of reiatsu coming down upon them like a wave. Ichigo doesn't flinch like the others do, far too used to being surrounded by that crushing weight to react to it.
"Worse than Aizen," his past self spits, his voice incredulous.
Ichigo grimaces and grimly replies, "Far worse."
Sousuke is next to him the next second, his stance nonchalant. He's slightly singed, Ichigo notices, but he's unsurprisingly left mostly unscathed by his battle against his younger self. Ichigo wants to be more surprised by how quickly and efficiently Sousuke has managed to take down Aizen, but Ichigo can't collect enough shock for it. None of them know just how powerful they would have to get in the near future to be able to do any damage. Aizen's power wasn't something to laugh at, but it wasn't the hardest challenge they would come to face.
Several zanpaktou are being pointed in their direction, all of which Sousuke expertly pretends not to notice. "He has been taken care of."
"Did it feel good?" Ichigo asks with a mischievous grin.
Sosuke raises an eyebrow at his question, a narrow look being sent his way accompanying the action.
"To get your ass kicked," Ichigo explains with a saccharine voice, cackling loudly when Sousuke turns away from him, refusing to give his attention to Ichigo after his comment.
Ichigo is still faintly cackling when he's leaping in the opposite direction that Sousuke is, a charged attack sweeping in between them.
Urahara had arrived then.
The infamous striped hat is pulled forward, shading his eyes from view, as he appears next to their little group alongside Yoruichi and his dad.
"This isn't exactly the scene I thought I'd stumble upon, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara states, glancing up to eye Ichigo and Sousuke up.
Ichigo shrugs in response. Sousuke rolls his eyes, finally turning back to face the others after his silent fit. Ichigo knows Sousuke won't say anything, especially when he's more liable to get stabbed than listened to by this collective group, so he bucks up and steps back towards the group, meeting Sousuke in the middle as they turn as one to face everyone.
"We're from the future," Ichigo explains again, taking some satisfaction at the jerk of surprise Urahara makes at the declaration. "We've got some things to discuss. Something much bigger than Aizen is coming."
This catches everyone's attention. They probably can't comprehend it, the idea that something bigger than Aizen is out there. They had been summarily getting their collective asses kicked when Sousuke and Ichigo had shown up, and the idea that there was something even stronger out there must send a chill down their spines.
They'll need to go somewhere private, somewhere secret, before Ichigo and Sousuke can even start to explain the situation, but Ichigo is already feeling more confident. They didn't have information last time, had been at a severe disadvantage, but they know more now. Another advantage they hold, Ichigo thinks with sadistic satisfaction, is that their actions have inevitably messed with time, causing a ripple effect. Yhwach will still have his future sight, but it will be distorted with every action Ichigo and Sousuke take. They're from a time Yhwach can not see, because he no longer exists at that point. They've effectively become a blind spot in the all-seeing ability.
Ichigo's looking forward to Yhwach discovering that little tidbit.
"Perhaps we should retire to my shop," Urahara starts slowly, tilting his head in consideration. "That way you and your… companion can give us more details."
Ichigo nods in agreement. He glances over at Sousuke to find the other man already looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Ichigo raises an eyebrow, a silent question asked.
Will you follow me?
Sousuke stares back at him, his eye sharp.
Of course.
i just love time travel and the team up between ichigo and aizen makes me weep