AUTHORS NOTE: Okay, this is yet ANOTHER plot bunny that has been bugging me lately.
Basically, I'm slightly frustrated at Bleach currently and here's why. Surely all the shinigami didn't just disappear from the face of the earth for 2 years? I mean, I'm one of those eccentric people who can't rest until I have solved all the possible questions in an instance. I for one, wrote this because I really am curious to find out just what has been happening in Soul Society during the time skip.
Anyway, if you couldn't already tell, MANY things in this are different from the cannon, so excuse me on that, but I will explain the few changes I made to the original plotline.
Thanks for readin' and leave me a review if you can, because I'm curious to know if I should bother to continue with this idea.
PROLOGUE
Block.
He tensed his muscles as he steadied his sword in front of him, blocking the half hearted attack from the hollow. He clenched his jaw as he swung his sword once more; managing to knock back the huge hollow currently pestering him, as well as sending it into a daze. He narrowed his amber eyes into predatory slits, glaring at the hollow, as if somehow placing the blame for all his current dilemmas on the mindless beast it was.
His dilemmas?
Well, for starters, this was the first time he had fought, or even seen a hollow in almost 17 months... Usually, he would use hollows as an effective method of releasing his frustrations, and therein lies the first dilemma. He had been pounding on this hollow for a good half hour, purposely not finishing it off in the hopes that the more he fought, the more it would relieve his pent up emotions, currently at the boiling point.
Sadly, so far the fight had only riled him up further, mainly because his usual method of relief wasn't working in the slightest.
And the worst part?
It was that even in simply killing a hollow, he could feel the changes. It wasn't the same as it used to be... his sword didn't feel the same, though it looked similar, it could never match the sensation of holding Zangestu. Even though he once again could feel the reishi around him, and sense his old friends' reitsu, nothing felt the same as it did before. If was blurry, hazy, as if something was constantly clouding his senses.
He was brought back to reality as the hollow charged at him, its two-toed feet crushing and cracking the concrete as is hurled itself towards what it deemed, 'dinner'.
Parry.
He lunged at the hollow, as it swung its clawed arm towards his face, resulting in an echoing clang as both weapons came to a halt as they crashed together. The force behind his once more knocked the hollow back a good 20 feet as it skid across the ground, struggling to regain its footing. A deep gash had formed on its right shoulder, purely from the supposed human's skyrocketing reitsu. Its skin began the bubble and writhe around the wound as it soon liquefied and melded together, sealing the otherwise dangerous cut.
Instant regeneration...
He mused silently, watching the creature before him. Just a few times had he seen that particular ability in action. Only once had he seen that particular ability used to its full capability, and that was in his fight with Ulquiorra almost 2 years ago. He quickly reeled his thoughts in, immediately stopping himself from reminiscing about the past. That was dangerous territory that he hadn't dared to tread in the past few years. The more he remembered, the more he felt and the more he felt, the more he hurt. Just like the past two years, he decided it was simply easier to feel numb. He really didn't want to open his heart again, after unconsciously doing it all that time ago.
Growling, he lunged towards the hollow thrusting his sword towards its chest in a simple cutting motion without much force behind it. The hollow managed to dodge, not without accidently catching its shoulder on the glinting blade, causing the newly healed flesh to rip open once more.
The hollow snarled, raising its claws menacingly flexing them to indicate it was getting ready to strike. It charged once more, not bothering to change its attack pattern or direction, subsequently squiring itself on the blade of his new sword.
To his slight disappointment, the outlines of the hollows shoulders and arms began to disintegrate, until the whole body followed in suit- including the mask.
Swinging the sword over his shoulder so it lay comfortably resting in the junction between his neck and shoulder, he began to slow trek home as he allowed his mind to drown in memories of the past. He now had enough reitsu to see spirits...joy.
He should be jumping up and down in glee, or at least walking in stride as if he has a purpose in life, instead of his current uncaring slouch. He would have to say, that this was the worst part of the whole 'ordeal' if you'd like.
He was MEANT to be happy after his powers returned, because that's what he was missing the whole time, right?
Wrong.
He knew deeper down that he was hurt by the fact that not once did any of his so-called 'friends' from Soul-Society cared enough to visit his sorry ass. Honestly, one visit from his old partner and a few of her kicks to the face would have saved him from the emptiness that he tried to vainly banish that was rapidly invading his soul. Although he could put together the resolve to pull on a mask in front of others, anyone who could see beneath it would be easily able to tell how NOT-okay he was.
But no, not once did anyone deliver those kicks to the face he so desperately needed. Instead he received pity that he hated, and sympathy that he didn't deserve.
He scowled deeper as he now was only a few blocks from his house.
Why would soul society even send people to check up on him, now that he had lost his powers and was no longer 'useful' in their eyes. Why in the hell would the people he considered 'friends' even bother to visit him, now that he wasn't a pawn in their god damn game of chess?
He growled lightly to himself at the direction his current train of thoughts was currently heading. This was another reason why he attempted to avoid thinking about the past. It brought up a feeling of bitterness and betrayal that he couldn't even begin to comprehend, and the worst part was no matter how hard he tried not to feel that way, it was impossible.
He glanced up and gazed at the dying sunset as the Kurosaki Clinic came into view, peering over the horizon. He truthfully wondered what would happen now. Would Soul Society come barrelling back into his life just because he regained his powers? Would they try to once again, use him for all he was worth then abandon him to fend for himself?
He approached the front door cautiously, all too aware that his father's attacks had tripled recently, and that there was a 40% chance when he opened a door, that he would be 'tested'. He aligned himself carefully, so that he was standing a good few meters back while holding the keys out preparing to unlock the door. He leant forward and bent over slightly in preparation as he placed the key in the lock. He honestly couldn't say he was surprised when half a second later, a white blur crashed through the door, barrelling into the street, only just clipping his head seeing as the tangerine-haired boy had the courtesy to duck in advance.
He casually walked into the house, as if a 100 year old plus ex-shinigami captain didn't just try to tackle him to the ground in what he dubbed was a 'Test of manliness'.
His scowl deepened as he realized both his siblings had escaped the Looney bin known as his house for the night. He knew for a fact that Karin had soccer practice, and then a gamer later and that Yuzu was probably still baking. She had found there was an extra-curricular cooking class that she could participate in, in the afternoons which inevitably left the carrot-top to come home to an empty house, excluding goat-face of course.
He heard the shuffling of feet behind him, quickly recognising who's footsteps they belonged to, before leaning to the left, narrowly dodging another attempted flying kick to the face. With a resounding crash, his so-called father barrelled straight into the kitchen, causing many of the pots to fall to the floor clattering loudly as they went.
"Oh-ho my son, I have nothing left to teach you!" he claimed like always, pointing to his chest while puffing it out proudly so that his ridiculous goat-beard stood out all the more.
"What the hell, are you tryin' to kill me?" the boy responded, pointing accusingly at the elder Kurosaki. It was another mandatory ritual that existed between the two males. The boy glanced over to where he father laid sprawled over the tiles, before tilting his head slightly as if in deep thought.
"You might want to clean that up before Yuzu gets home, you know how she gets with her cooking equipment." He suggested, still frowning at his seemingly unconscious father.
To the boy's utter amazement, his father didn't come up with a witty retort that involved teens, puberty and his room, or charge at him once more to try get a cheap blow, but instead sat up slowly with a surprisingly solemn look on his face. The oldest of the two brought up a topic which left the other cringing subconsciously.
"Listen, son I know you got your powers back, and there's something that I have to tell you."
Judging by the tone of the elder's voice, he is not screwing around here. Whatever he has to say is serious, and by the look currently etched onto his face, it is not an easy topic for his father either. Both the expression and the tone of voice are enough to shut-up the smart-ass retort that was currently being developed by the younger. Ichigo simply nodded his head, signalling for his father to continue with whatever he had to say, as well as signifying that he's listening.
His father started off slowly, his tone weary as if he could already tell this is going to be a tender subject for his only son.
"You might have been wondering why exactly no-one in Soul Society has visited you after you lost your powers..." the elders eyes trailed off, uncertainly darting to each corner of the room, suddenly finding them much more interesting than his sons furious expression. The younger could already tell that his father knew something more than he was letting on, more so, his best bet was that his father knew WHY soul Society hadn't bothered to visits. This, of course caused his furious expression to magnify as his reitsu flickered wildly.
As if reading his mind, the other male replied answering his unasked question.
"No, I don't know why they didn't visit, but I do know something important. Before you start pounding into me for answers, I want you to know that it was decided, not by me, but as a group that you would only be told this after you regained your powers..."
Ichigo honestly had no clue how to respond to that statement. His first reaction is to be downright pissed-off. Not only did people go behind his back, making decisions for him, but for the last 2 years he had been kept completely out of the loop. What the hell? He is about to retort, some 'colourful' words already popping up in his mind to formulate the sentences he needs to express his current frustration and anger. The eldest Kurosaki raised his hand, as if to halt the onslaught of curses that threatened to spill from his son's mouth any second.
"It happened shortly after you lost your powers. We're still not sure what happened, but no one could get in or out of Soul Society. We haven't had a single word of contact in the living world for almost 17 months, and even Urahara couldn't open a gate." He lowers his voice, to an almost deadly tone, letting the orange-haired boy know he was all business. What he is telling his son, was more information than many of his friends had access too, and was only really known in the real world by 3 others excluding himself.
"No one contacted you, because it wasn't possible. We have no idea what's happening over there, Ichigo."
One footstep, followed by another echoed throughout the darkened hall, shadows shrouding the 12 other figures in black. Unconsciously, the first figure fingered her Captain's Haori, the rough material rubbing against her calloused hands. Her right sat precariously on the hilt of her sword, prepared for any sudden movement or attack. Some of the other captains smirked at her supposed anxiousness, while others snarled in disgust. A lone, dull, violet orb gazed emotionlessly at the captain in front of her, while the others flanked around her. Slowly, she bowed to the 'leader', before stalking off to the right, beside the captain of the twelfth division, Kurostichi Mayuri. The So-Taicho, stood tall in front of the other captains, his ever present grin widening as he cast his gaze on the newly arrived 13th squad captain.
"Did you feel that, Rukia-chan?" he drawled, malice dripping in his tone casing the accused to rapidly tense up , but not show any other signs of discomfort.
"Hai." She responded in the affirmative, already knowing where this conversation was heading. Her voice was colder than the frostiest tundra, and could easily make a lesser man shrink in his boots. Her one unblinking, eye clouded over further, turning the once bright amethyst to a dull gray.
"Seems your lil' friend back in the human world has regained his powers." He stated, his face morphing into a twisted grin, finding sick amusement from the given situation. The girl merely nods, not bothering to glance at the captain commander. His footsteps echoed in the room, as the small whispers from the other captains fell silent. Approaching the 13th squad's captain who stood a good foot under himself, he slowly extended his arm and placed his hand on her cheek, using his fingers to lift her chin so her lone eye would meet his crimson. Dull violet hues clashed with glinting crimson, the first showed only indifference, while the latter shone in amusement.
"'s your mission, lil' Taicho. Go and eliminate the threat, we wouldn't want kami to have to get off his throne, now would we?" his melancholy voice filled the room; some snickered at his statement, while the taicho herself clenched her fists and tightened her jaw.
"Hai, we wouldn't want Aizen-sama to worry. The boy is my responsibility, I will handle him." Her monotonous voice once again rings out in the crowded hall, only a trace of bitterness lingering in the tone. No matter how much time passed, the words Aizen-sama left a horrible, putrid taste on her tongue.
"Go now, you leave in an hour, and you are return with the ex- substitute shinigami's head, or will face severe punishment. Do I make myself clear, Kuchiki?" the sick enjoyment he was finding in the conversation was all to evident, as it slowly made the Captain of the 13th's mask crack for a split second, as a disgusted grimace spread across her face.
"Hai, Ichimaru -So-Taicho."
