Brief: Just over two years after he lost his Soul Reaper powers, Ichigo starts being able to sense spirits again, but what else will emerge as his powers start to re-emerge?
Spoiler Warnings: Post 423: Farewell Swords
Note: If you are looking for the continuation of my After the Winter War series, this is not it! This is separate to my other works!
Pairings: IchiRuki (of course), IshiHime, possible others include RenTats, ByaHis
Darkest Side of Me
Chapter 1: The Soul in the Road
"And remember, class," Ochi-sensei shouted over the unruly group as they packed their bags to leave the building. "That assignment is to be handed in on Monday morning without fail! That means you, Asano!"
The orange-haired 18-year-old slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the room, his free-hand shoved into his pocket. The ex-substitute Soul Reaper had changed by a fair amount in the last two and a bit years since his powers had faded away. He had let his hair grow out a bit to the stage where it was like the shaggy locks he possessed after his training in the Dongai and he had grown a few inches taller, but his muscular physique had remained, a cruel reminder of his previous experiences. He had told his friends about what he had been doing and why he had acted so strangely shortly after he lost the very thing which made him do those strange actions. They had taken it well and supported him through the difficult time; the one who had protected them countless times without them knowing had needed the morale boost as the loss of his powers meant he could no longer protect people, and that hurt him deeply.
He walked towards the main gate and stopped with his friends. Keigo was planning yet another trip for the group to 'hook-up', so to speak, but no one was really up for it, especially Uryu and Orihime, who were already together. Ichigo looked at them enviously, remembering the night when the Quincy had finally admitted his love for the girl;
Ichigo sat in the restaurant with Orihime, who finally plucked up the courage to ask him out, staring at her as she babbled on for a while about something she and Tatsuki had been talking about during school the previous day. It did not take long for her twig that he was a little distant.
"What's wrong, Ichigo?" she asked. His eyes seemed to tell her that he was in a state of depression. "You aren't enjoying this, are you?"
Ichigo looked her in the eyes and held her hand which was outstretched on the tabletop, running a thumb over the back of the appendage.
"I'm sorry, Orihime," he replied softly, his tone regretful but sincere. "I know this isn't what you had hoped for, and I'm to blame for that, but I don't think we are meant to be. You are a wonderful girl, and someone very lucky will be the one to have you as their girlfriend, but I'm afraid that someone won't be me."
Orihime looked a little crestfallen, her eyes broke contact with his, but her tone was stable; she was not as cut-up as he had expected.
"I had a feeling that this wouldn't work out," she said resolutely. "But thank you, Ichigo, for trying at least. I hope we can still be friends after this."
Ichigo smiled at her, accepting this, and handed over some money to cover the meal, then apologised again and stood to leave, when he bumped into someone. Looking to the person, he saw Uryu, and apologised for knocking into him.
"What brings you here, Ichigo?" the archer asked politely, pushing his glasses up his nose a little.
"Well, I was here with Orihime, but I'm on my way out now," the orange-haired male replied. "It wasn't working out, and we both knew it." He paused, seeing the look of slight joy in Uryu's eyes. "Hey, do you want to take my place instead?I know you like her, so why not make your first move now?"
Uryu seemed to think about it briefly, then accepted and Ichigo left the two at the table.
And ever since, they had been inseparable and madly in love with each other.
"So, you gonna come, Ichigo?" Keigo asked suddenly. Said male turned to his friends.
"No, I promised to look after Karin and Yuzu while dad goes to one of those overnight medical seminars again," he responded, bringing Keigo's mood down into a spiral whereby he went about his business more sulkily than usual. "Anyway, I've got to get home. See you, everyone!"
As he walked off, Ichigo's friends gazed in his direction.
"He's still really down about it, huh?" Keigo said seriously. "I would have thought Ichigo would bounce back pretty quickly from losing his powers, but I guess not, huh?"
"Keigo, it isn't as easy as that for Ichigo," Chad explained. "He enjoyed his powers because they allowed him protect his friends and his family, but now that's gone and he feels powerless in more ways than the obvious."
"Yeah, I know, but it happened over two years ago; when's he going to get over it?"
"He won't," Tatsuki sighed solemnly. "He was like that as a kid too; he won't get over something until it's been overcome, he just suppresses it and keeps it inside. He won't ever start to feel more like himself until he can sense spirits and has his powers back, and that weird guy with the store said that might never happen."
Keigo sighed and looked down the road, Ichigo's orange locks just disappearing into the distance.
"I guess there's nothing we can do but hope," he muttered sadly.
Ichigo trudged onwards, his mood made no better despite the pleasant weather. In his hand was a bunch of flowers which he had bought en route to where he was; the lamp post where a spirit girl was, the vase he had kept there for some time still in its place. Even though he could not see or hear the spirits which floated aimlessly around the World of the Living, he had made a promise to the girl and still kept it. He placed the flowers in the vase and gazed at them with a melancholy smile on his lips.
"They look nice," he said quietly to no one in particular.
"Yes, they do," came a faint voice beside him. Ichigo frowned and turned his head to the right, almost toppling over when he saw the faded image of a brunette girl with a chain jutting from her chest. She smiled to him. "Thank you for keeping up your promise, but you don't have to keep doing this."
"Wha-Wh-" Ichigo gaped. "I can... see you?" His words sounded like gibberish to the gril, who let out a small giggle.
"Of course, how else would we be talking?" she asked.
"But... Then that means..." And then he felt it; a spark in the air around him, like someone had reached out and given him an electric shock. He felt her pressence. "My powers are coming back."
"What's wrong, mister?" the girl asked, cocking her head to one side in a confused look, but Ichigo was already moving quickly.
"Sorry, I'll be back again tomorrow!" he shouted, his mood changed from depressed to upbeat.
He ran to the river bank and gazed out at the river, watching the suns reflection dip in the sparkling mirror-like surface. A smile pressed itself over his face, but then the sound hit him; a sound he had hoped and dreamt to hear again; it was the voice. Her voice.
"How I wish you could see me, Ichigo," the faint voice whispered. "I know what I said that day, but I can't stand you not being able to see me..."
Ichigo turned and acted as if he were just walking passed the place where he knew she was, when he whispered two simple words to her;
"Wish granted."
The Soul Reaper's amethyst eyes shot wide open in shock when Ichigo responded to her plea. She whipped around and found Ichigo facing her, hand in her pocket and a smile on his lips.
"I- Ichigo?" the bemused woman questioned. "You can... You can see me?"
Ichigo responded by walking forwards and wrapping his arms around her small frame. Though he could only see her faintly, his eyes were fast adjusting to her faded form and he could gradually see her more clearly.
"When?" she asked.
"Just now," the human replied, removing his embrace from Rukia. "You mind walking home with me, or are you on a mission?"
The raven-haired woman shook her head and smiled at him.
"I'd like that," she said gratefully. The two walked down the lonely, deserted streets, talking softly to one another. "You let your hair grow out I see."
"So did you," Ichigo returned, gazing at her again. "Is it me, or did you get taller?"
"Yeah, I guess I have grown." Rukia looked at him and Ichigo remembered the last time they had met;
The group had stepped out of Ichigo's house, the orange haired male staring down the street, but he could not see or even sense any spirits. He frowned inwardly and turned to face Rukia as she walked towards him.
Even Rukia's presence, he thought, is fading away a little bit at a time. I'm really gonna lose my powers.
The two were now stood away from their friends and a few feet apart.
"This is farewell, Ichigo." Rukia said softly with a weak smile, a hurt look in her eyes, but she suppressed it as best she could. He returned the sad smile.
"Seems that way, doesn't it?" he replied, trying to stay strong. Rukia seized the moment to lighten the mood a little.
"What's this? Don't look so sad," she mocked, her arms folded over her chest. "Even if you can no longer see me, I will still be able to see you."
Ichigo put on an irritated look, but he inwardly smiled sadly. I'm going to miss times like these, he thought, but he refused to say it out loud, instead opting for;
"What the hell? That's nothing to be happy about. And I don't look sad!"
The two stayed quiet for a moment, both looking down as Rukia's uniform and form began to fade by her legs. This was it.
"Tell everybody I said hi," Ichigo mustered, the sadness leaking over his being.
"Sure," Rukia replied softly as her chest began to disappear from Ichigo's sight; they only had seconds left.
They turned to look the other in the eyes, both serious now and the saddened look evident in both pairs of eyes. Rukia was finally fading completely, her hair slowing being blotted away.
"Bye, Rukia," the orange haired boy managed as his friend vanished. He stared out at the space she had been, wanting to tell her how he felt, but he could not manage it. "Thank you."
And with that, he had returned to his friends, who consoled him for a while, but he asked to be alone after a while and, once locked away in his room, he let those drops of emotion out finally.
I'm never gonna see her again, he had thought sadly as he lay on his bed, curled up protectively, as if he were shutting out the world from himself.
But he had been wrong. Now he could see her, plain as day. Her hair had grown out to her mid-back with a few clusters draped just over her shoulders. The stubborn bang she always had had was still there, but it was longer than before. And the top of her head now reached Ichigo's mouth as opposed to his shoulders. She looked just as good as ever, and Ichigo would have pinched himself to check he was not dreaming, but he did not want to wake up if it was a dream; waking up to realise Rukia was not there would mean his sanity would have been all but lost.
"Did you ever think about me?" she asked suddenly, breaking his chain of thought and sparking another memory;
"I wonder what Rukia's up to," Keigo asked suddenly. The pair had been stood on the roof and the question had been a surprise to Ichigo.
"What made her suddenly pop into your head?" he asked suspiciously.
"Well, it'd be nice if she stopp by and said 'hi' once in a while, wouldn't it? She hasn't shown her face once since all that happened. That's kinda cold, isn't it?"
Ichigo refrained from kicked ten types of crap out of Keigo simply because that would make his feelings obvious, plus he had elbow-dropped him that morning.
"No, it isn't," he explained. "She's not even in charge of Karakura Town, so it's normal for her not to stop by."
Despite his words, Ichigo could not help but wonder what she was doing and if she did ever stop by to check on them. He had found it hard to believe that she would disconnect herself from all her friends as well as himself over the situation, but he never asked about it because it would be too painful for him, and he knew it must have hurt her too. Keigo turned his head to Ichigo and frowned.
"You don't miss her?" he asked, slightly surprised.
Of course I do, you moron! We were good friends, how can I not miss her? All this and more poured through his head, but he would never bring himself to say them. He instead looked away before replying;
"There's no reason to."
His words felt unwelcome as he spoke them in an unusually cold tone. As much as he did enjoy the lack of spirits bugging him left right and centre, he also missed Rukia greatly, and would happily trade his normal lifestyle for a chance to see her again and to speak with her like they always used to. Keigo did not seem to believe his answer, but he did not pry and just accepted it; he knew full well that, even one and a half years on, Ichigo was still healing over the loss of his powers and the inability to see his friends in Soul Society.
Ichigo smiled a little reminiscently.
"Everyday," he answered. "That's not an exaggeration either; there wasn't a day I didn't think about Soul Society or my powers or even hollows, and all of them made me think of you again." The smirk Rukia was giving him made him smile a bit. "I've missed this, Rukia; you know, us talking about everything and nothing..." He paused and gazed at her again. "Why are you back in Karakura suddenly anyway?"
"Head-Captain Yamamoto's been sending Soul Reapers to check up on you since the incident; Urahara explained that there was a chance you would regain your powers, so he took interest in your reiatsu level. I've been going back and forth for the last year and a half, stopping by every week or so."
"God, you sound like such a stalker."
"Baka!" Rukia's eyes narrowed in irritation. "You asked! You're lucky I can't hit you!"
"Alright, I'm sorry. But why you?"
"Since it was me who awoke your Soul Reaper powers all that time ago, the Captains felt that there was a better chance of my reiatsu restarting yours than anyone else's."
Ichigo nodded, taking it in.
"Makes sense, I guess." He stopped as they had reached the Kurosaki Clinic, standing out in the road, smiling to one another. "How long are you hear for?"
"I have to go back to report this new development to the Head-Captain, but I should be back soon," she replied. Ichigo grinned.
"Alright. Tell Gramps I say hi," he chuckled. Rukia stifled a laugh; he had not grown any more mature since they last met. They stopped and he waved to her as they parted. "Bye, Rukia."
The Soul Reaper smiled and waved back, then unsheathed her blade and disappeared through the Senkaimon, leaving the orange-haired young man to walk inside, a look of happiness evident in his eyes as he walked in and was greeted by the twins.
Lying on his bed, Ichigo smiled at the memories of the day he had just had. He felt happier than he had for the last two years, and it was all because of Rukia's return.
"My powers are finally coming back," he mused, when a dark voice echoed through his ears.
"You mean our powers are finally coming back, King!" the voice of his hollow shouted. "You may have been doing nothing, but I've been training these last few years, and I will take over your body! It's just a matter of time!"
The insidious laughter faded slowly, leaving Ihigo slightly worried by the sudden resurfacing of his hollow, but he had had a feeling it would come back with his powers. He rolled over and closed his eyes.
I sure hope Rukia gets back soon, he thought before his tiredness caught up and ensnared him in sleep's gentle grasp.
To be continued...
Another Fanfic juggling session has just started!
Alright, I had this burning up my thought power all week, so I've put this in priority over Black Bloodlust to clear my head.
I'm working on both simultaneously, but Black Bloodlust is the follow on from After the Winter War. For that Fanfic, here's the link; .net/s/6722221/1/Bleached_Souls_Black_Bloodlust
Anyway, I'm off for now.
By for now and rock on!
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