Hello readers!
I'll start by warning that this story contains: BAMF!Ichigo, Strong!Ichigo, Arrancar!Ichigo. This story has a god like Ichigo and if you don't like it don't read it. I write this for the purpose of writing and not to please anyone.
I will only be explaining things better in later chapter so there will be unexplained time skips.
There are author notes at the end of the story.
I do not own Bleach or any of the characters, except my O.C personality of Ichigo.
Most stories would start with a beginning. But this is not like most stories, this one doesn't start but instead ends. It starts not by remembering but by forgetting, starts when nothing is known and everything is new.
It's a strange feeling to start anew, to turn the page and to not look back on what you once knew. And it's scary to those who never thought they would one day endure such fate, but what most people forget is that an ending is also a beginning. It's also a start but particularly different than most because it involves you knowing what will happen sooner or later, a perfect example of this would be a movie starting during the final confrontation before the credits roll.
And like I said before this story starts by forgetting and not by remembering, though it could be said that I will be remembering and it will be my character that will be forgetting. I've not been present in any of these events, I'm merely an observer on the sidelines, a non-present narrator and the omnipotent and omnipresent being known as the Writer. Nothing more, nothing less. Simple and easy to remember and it also gives me a wide range of methods to how well I should write this down.
Well, no matter. That's my pet phrase by the way. Not that someone like me could have a real use for one, I mostly use it to annoy the hell out of people.
Ain't it fun? No, we'll no matter.
Rewinding...
Starting anew is such a scary thing, I know this because I've been through it and I've also made a lot of people go through it. I find it highly irritating that most of my characters hate me but I just let it slide. I'm not that bad of a person... I think.
Starting a new beginning is just as scary of losing all hope or feeling as if you'll never be found when you're lost. I know that feeling too but I find it amusing to me, my most sadistic and evil side of me at least, that my character does not. Such a young and innocent beginning turning into what could be called a bitter sweet story. After all, who can certainly say they are happy if they do not remember where or who they were before?
Well, no matter.
Oh, such innocence, such bright future ahead... And I'm going to take it away from him. Just like taking candy from a child, and quite literally too. A young boy of age eight with clear brown eyes and bright orange hair. That had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, seen only by his dear and loving mother and his two sisters.
Twin girls of age two who could look so different than each other and still remain alike.
Twin girls that would, most likely, forget about that older brother of theirs after a few years.
They would not be able to remember what his voice sounded like and they would only remember how he used to look through pictures that did nothing else than to remind them that he was so young when it happened. And their mother? Well, mothers are really hard to forget about but it would eventually all come down to the same end.
Only pictures and memories or even old stories can only do so much for someone who wants something to hold dearly or to tell they love him or her.
Well, no matter.
Life isn't fair and it will certainly never be, so they might as well learn it know and not be disappointed in the near future. And transforming, or reducing, a family of five to a family of three was just the perfect example of Murphy's law.
Whatever bad can happen will happen. No use running from it because it will catch you, and if you hide from it, it will do much worse than before. I know this of course but yet again he does not.
To him the only important things in life are having fun, going to school and loving his family. Survival is not in his instincts, awakened at least, because everyone deep down knows how to survive. That and natural selection...
Well, no matter. And trust my word on this that that lack of survival instincts would cost the poor innocent boy something that was irreplaceable sooner or later.
So I could be thanked for once since I gave him a very important lesson that day. That child, childish, weak and naive boy was completely unaware of the dangers and shadows that lurked in plain sight all around him.
He only knew of what was warm, and kind, and sweet, and safe that stood in the light. But he was a stranger to the reality that was life. Cruel but very much real. It was almost as if he had his eyes blindfolded to the reality around him.
And there was no excuse as to how he was when he had the perfect eyes to see everything around him.
But that would soon change. I had seen, or would see, what will most certainly happen if said child was left to the devices of those pure and warm, kind, people and protected from the shadows. If he continued to walk down the path that was beginning to form he would face enormous challenges and misery. War that could have been easily avoided and precious lives could have been saved.
But there is no use in wondering about what if and instead be focused in accomplishing a or a few changes that would allow a brighter and lighter future to be forged. And if it had to be created through the pain and possible trauma of one child, so be it. I'm not above believing the saying: "You have to lose something to gain something".
Well, no matter. I'm really not going to tell you about what I'll be doing, though, it would spoil the fun, no?
But no need to worry, I don't really believe about killing off main characters. Even if my opinion concerning main characters could be questioned.
But back to the story line.
Continuing my flawless narrative, I will start by describing where the beginning, or end, of the story starts.
The sun was just beginning to rise on the calm town of Karakura, with a few fluffy white clouds drifting across the pale blue sky of the morning, and several households were already starting their routines and falling into the monotonous daily life most of them had.
Light from the slowly rising sun entered the light colored room where it's only inhabitant was still sleeping. Soft snores and a few twitches were the only indicators that the young eight year old was deep within dreamland. But today it the boy wasn't having a that great of a dream.
It had been occurring for a few weeks now and the boy's parents were starting to worry. You see, this boy whose name was Kurosaki Ichigo, wasn't a normal child. He was the oldest son of a very happy and caring parents. Who hid very dangerous secrets and powerful burdens.
The father was Kurosaki Isshin, a former captain shinigami of the Gotei 13, and who belonged to one of the noble houses, namely the Shiba clan, and who had been hiding from his own people. And why he was hiding? Easy, the shinigamis were souls who were very strong and special and that had only two default orders:
- To save and help Plus souls of the dead to cross over to the afterlife.
- To defeat and purify Hollows.
This was by no means easy as it was dangerous to face hollows. Now hollows were once-upon souls that had given in to negative emotions, stayed too long in the living world or had been attacked by another hollow and had lost their Hearts. Losing their hearts made them turn into monsters made only of the most evil and disgraceful things.
It made them forget who they were and made them be consumed by a never-ending hunger for spiritual adept souls. That is why they were dangerous if they were left to run around unchecked. But since they were still souls they weren't killed, so to say, but instead they were slayed by shinigami's swords, called Zanpakutous, who had the ability to purify them and not destroy them.
But such respect and power came with rules imposed with an iron fist and needed to be followed diligently. And those who didn't follow or obeyed those rules were, well... Punished accordingly. As for the rules themselves there are too many to name, so I'll just state the obvious one.
Humans and shinigami are not to enter any type of a relationship.
And Ichigo's father had gone ahead and did just that. Married a human woman, who was not short on her list of secrets. Kurosaki Masaki was her name and she was no ordinary human. She was a Quincy, humans born with amazing abilities and power similar to the shinigamis. With minor differences...
One of them would be in quantity, because quincies were rare and almost non-existing and extinct. Other difference was the choice of abilities, range and power of their weapons. But most of all was the fact that quincies did not simply purify hollows. They destroyed them, erasing them from ever existing or being sent to the afterlife.
That was also the fact that made them being extremely rare these days... The had been almost completely eradicated by the shinigamis. The same shinigamis that they now considered being their mortal enemies and that she, Masaki, had decided to wed and have children with.
How they had met and how they fell in love was enough to create a soap opera. Which equals to me respecting it but not touching it even if I had a ten foot pole.
But anyways, their children did not know any of that and lived peacefully without knowing about their bloodline and ancestry. The two adults were doctors and had opened a clinic where they both worked and lived in.
And though I called their lives peaceful it didn't mean that there were no risks.
They lived in hiding, not raising any suspicion and trying to appear as normal as they could. Easy for the two baby girls who barely had any contact with the spiritual world, worse for the eight year old boy who had been able to see spirits and the whole other mess even before he could walk.
Which was aggravated by having received the full power of both parents plus a unwanted burden and gift from his mother in particular. You see, when Masaki was younger and was dating Isshin she had been attacked by an Hollow, one very powerful and different than all the rest, and she was infected by it. It caused her to be hollowfied, which meant her soul was partially hollow like.
In an attempt to stop this effect they, Masaki and Isshin, sealed the inner hollow soul using their powers, leaving them without any while the seal needed to be in place, and it worked. Partially, as when Ichigo was born the hollow was passed down into him.
But it was different than his mother's, as his had always been part of him since before birth and not a parasite than suddenly appeared. So it was accepted as normal and not as an anomaly. Which in turn was a good thing and a bad thing in the near future.
And the poor boy had just won the lottery, soul wise at least, since being a shinigami-quincy-hollow hybrid was sure to catch unwanted attention. Which made their parents fearful for them because if Soul Society, where the shinigami and souls lived, frowned upon human-shinigami relationships then their offspring were sure to be shamed and hated.
More so since they had Quincy blood to the mix... And like I said, it was rare and Ichigo himself was something that had never been born before.
I won't say there weren't attempts at creating artificial hybrids but let's just leave it at the mention that it didn't work out.
Now going back to the hollows, since it's best to explain this now, are creatures that only want one thing in their lives: Evolve. Hollows evolve into stronger and more unique ones after they have consumed enough souls and harnessed enough power.
First there were Gillians, those were masses of compressed hollows. Basically hollows were fused together creating a Gillian, mindless monstrosities that could easily reach the skyline and destroy a lot just by walking around. Think about a taller Godzilla...
But Gillians are weak, or at least weak enough for a group of trained shinigami to kick its ass, and can only attack by rampaging around and by shooting Ceros's.
Secondly there were Adjuchas who were now individual hollows. They are powerful and since they retain a controlling mind and a few memories they could prove to be a problem in case they are taken lightly. Adjuchas also develop their own set of attacks and groups, no longer mindlessly walking in into battle and now are able to strategize.
And finally there were the Vasto Lordes. They are really rare, only a handful of them actually exist, and very very frightening. The rule was that any shinigami bellow lieutenant and captain level and less than three or two of them were to run at the earliest opportunity. Vasto Lordes were captain level hollows with a complete human mind, if it could be called that, and didn't need to eat souls in big quantities.
So you never knew when he or she would show up.
They were formidable opponents. At first that was the last and final evolution that hollows could achieve but... There was a variant.
A secret evolution that many had long forgotten about. In current times, they were rarer than Vasto Lordes and ten times more powerful and were considered a bad omen to both shinigami and hollows alike.
They were Arrancars.
Hollows that had shattered and ripped off their hollow masks, turning them with a completely human body and their powers took the form of a sword, a zanpakutou. Because Arrancars were, technically, hollows that had received or attained shinigami powers. They released their swords at will causing them to use their full hollow powers.
So you can see why Arrancars were so feared. They were powerful, very much so, and while there was rarely any chance of meeting one in your lifetime, it wasn't impossible. The higher up shinigamis were aware that they existed but showed themselves so arrogant that they believed they were the strongest beings there is.
So they didn't try to control or make peace with the Arrancars, no they ignored them and if they ever met one the order was clear.
Kill on sight.
Arrancars really didn't need to eat human souls at all and could easily function without souls at all but that was unheard by the shinigami. Arrancars had no reason to attack humans or shinigamis, but to them they were no more than regular hollows that only loved to kill and destroy.
A big mistake on their part as the Arrancars would prove to be the key into wining the upcoming war. And I'm not going to make them realize it now, no let them learn from experience, for now at least, I need their big heads to deflate a bit from the shock of realization and not by compassionate feelings or emotions.
I'm not into sappy stories.
Most of the times, anyways.
Well, no matter.
What you think I had forgotten? Fat chance, it's too fun to miss out on.
Turning back to the story, the eight year old hybrid was sleeping deeply while the rest of the household prepared for their day. He slumbered all while his parents cooked and made sure everything was organized and in place.
And while he slept, he had the same strange dream he had been having for weeks. A dream where he would be surrounded by darkness without a way out and weird and distant voices called out to him. He couldn't really hear what they were saying but it left him with the feeling that it was a warning.
Something was coming.
And he would always wake up before he could comprehend any of it. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Ichigo rose from his bed and made his way downstairs. His sisters were sitting in their chairs and his mother, his dear loving mother, was just finishing placing the plates on the table.
A normal routine of a normal family. A normal life that would soon be turned upside down.
Cruel even to my standards...
The morning continued with nothing out of the ordinary, his mother and his father worked at the clinic and he went to school. Learned what little he would learn for a long time before he actually had to once again sit down in one of the uncomfortable chairs made for students to kill their backs on.
The only thing that I, as a writer, find it important to note is that the boy was shy, painfully so, cowering away from anyone that spoke to him. Plus he hasn't had many friend because of his hair color, you see when you have a different something that makes you stand out only two things can happen:
They either find you cool.
Or they hate your guts.
I'm sure you can guess what the got with his luck. So his day wasn't that great for me to narrate through it. I'll just jump towards the important part.
So young Ichigo, wanting to be true to his name, had karate lessons in a dojo near the river that Karakura had. Not that it made that great of a difference since Ichigo was a boy that hesitated to turn to violence. He'd rather have a chat or tea with his bully than to hit him. So to add salt to the wound, Ichigo who means 'one who protects' was often believed to be the other meaning to his name and that was 'strawberry'.
He was mocked by his peers due to his bright hair color and only was truly close to his mother. No matter how sad he was as soon as he caught sight of her he would smile a wide smile just for her and his eyes would light up like a Christmas tree.
So I'll resume my narrative and continue. That afternoon the weather was awful, it seems to have taken a turn for the worse during the morning and the river near the dojo was overflowing. Ichigo and his mother were going back home for the day when it happened. You see, Ichigo since he had been able to see them since birth had a hard time differentiating spirits from humans.
So when he saw a young girl about to jump into the dangerous waters of the river he did not knew that it was a spirit and not a real person. So he ran to try and help the girl, not knowing he was about to fall into the trap of a very disgusting hollow named Grand Fisher.
Grand Fisher was one of the most annoying hollows that I ever got the chance to observe. It was just the type of Hollow to attack and consume any unfortunate soul that happened to run into him. He had already made victim several shinigami and an uncountable number of souls before this day.
And today too innocent souls would be lost because of him. The boy and his mother would both cease to exist in a matter of minutes. Ain't it just mind blowing the fact that someone who you just saw a few moments ago will die shortly afterwards?
Imagine the faces of those too innocent children sitting at their desks and be told that their classmate will never come back.
And their confusion as to why he wouldn't be coming back?
It's something no one should have to go through. Yet life pratically dictates that it has to happen. The brighter note is that he won't be alone. Where he's going there's someone waiting just for the right opportunity to fall onto his lap.
And I'll soon give it to him.
I had watched several different lifetimes before actually deciding to step in myself, but most surprising, or not so much, was that Grand Fisher always had the same role. He is that cataclysm that would start, or end, the once-perfect life and turn it into a nightmare. That would change everything and everyone in the small quiet town of Karakura.
Ichigo watched as the girl was scant inches away from the edge as he ran towards her. He ignored his mother's cries when she realized something was wrong and the painful headache that seemed to be screaming warnings.
The young boy didn't mind them though. He was so close.
He just had time to barely touch a finger to the girl when he reeled back. A shock like sensation zapped him when he finally touched the girl. No, the bait that Grand Fisher used to attract spiritual adept souls. And just as the boy touched it, whatever type of cover he was using to remain unseen was forcefully nullified and he was left exposed. (That sounds so wrong, sorry)
Ichigo stopped in his tracks and he numbly noticed that his mother, not wanting her son to be hurt or worse, ran to him and managed to grab him. He stared wide-eyed at the monster, the really big and scary monster, in front of him. It snarled and tossed its tail towards them.
And even though Kurosaki Masaki didn't have any powers anymore instincts are impossible to be removed. They acted and she pushed her son out of harms way, it was just her 'luck' that at that time there were no passersby nearby. Which proved possible the worst case scenario that the woman was currently thinking of.
Her senses were weaker than they were due to the seal but also for the fact that she had given birth to twins two years ago, and that took a toll on someone who had to manage with a busy work life, parenting and putting up with her goof of a husband.
Yes, Masaki could be called a supermom but even her had limits. Which were now being pushed on edge trying to keep her child safe.
She needed to get him out of here. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the bastard hollow had scented.
Ichigo was frozen stiff against her, and that didn't surprise Masaki at all, even if he had seen spirits since birth seeing a hollow up and close to your face was completely different.
Masaki held Ichigo close and continued to try to out maneuver the hollow but after falling towards the almost flooded riverbank she had a bone-chilling realization.
She was no match for her opponent.
Grand Fisher cornered them and, with a swipe of his claws, separated the souls of Masaki and Ichigo from their bodies. Sending both in opposite directions, the hollow noticed that the boy was dazed and made no attempt to move but the woman just wouldn't give up.
He decided to target her first.
Grabbing her wasn't a problem, keeping her still was a bit difficult but he handled it, and he slowly raised he to his eye level and gave her a mocking glare before he started to consume her soul.
Right in front of the horrified boy...
Inside his head it was chaos.
There are no other words to describe it. The still forming inner world was in shambles and there was next to none that the spirits could do to stop it. Options were running out and not even the level-headed old man could fathom a solution to the problem that could easily end them.
Though he noted with a grim look at the other two spirits, because there was no way he would leave the job to just one of them, could perhaps 'help' the boy without destroying him completely.
Even if the aftershock would leave him unstable and most certainly confused about what happened.
At worst it would kill him...
Giving up on trying to find a safer way out, he released the seal he had cast as soon as he had gained conscience. He would try his best to save the most important knowledge and information to when he deemed the boy ready and he would keep a tight look on what the other, most concerning, spirit did.
The older man weary sighed.
Finally done with consuming the woman's' soul, Grand Fisher turned to face the weak and useless child that had simply remain on the wet ground.
Or where the once weak and useless child had been laying on the ground...
The hollow noted with a twinge of horror that the whole atmosphere around the boy seemed to have dropped several degrees and that it was almost as if he was not in the presence of the child anymore.
It seemed as if his soul had taken a jump start due to the trauma. The burden his mother had passed down to him, plus a interestingly attached spirit, broke free of the cell they were being confined in.
One took immediate control over the body of the young boy while the other focused on shutting down the mind of the boy. He had seen enough already to have to suffer through seeing what they were going to do with the hollow that dared to harm him.
Both of the most violent spirits, resident inside the eight year old, were mad with the hollow for two distinct reasons:
- It had dared to harm her wielder.
- It was going to kill his King.
There were no other reasons they needed to get over their mutual love-hate relationship and focus entirely on sending this... abomination, because calling it a hollow was insulting to them, to kingdom come.
To Ichigo it would seem as if he was suddenly, but oh-so gently, pulled from the control of his body and was suddenly floating amidst empty darkness. But he wasn't alone, no, Ichigo could feel someone's presence near him. He just couldn't see him or her.
With no seal the power that usually was kept away from the boy's aura was released. A hole, a black hollow hole, appeared on the boys chest right where his heart should be.
But the boy no longer took notice of any of that. But Grand Fisher did.
He noticed the white claws that were forming over the boy's hands.
He noticed the chain linking him to his body melting and crumbling in a matter of seconds.
He noticed how the boy's eyes turned cold and unforgiving. Gaining black sclera in both of them but his irises were different. One was almost like molten gold while the other was similar to shining silver.
He noticed the wide sickening grin that appear on his face.
He noticed the bony white mask that formed on his face, almost perfectly divided. On one side, with the golden eye, there were blood red markings across it. While on the other, with the silver eye, there were deep blue wave-like line below his eye and down his chin.
But he did not notice one thing. He couldn't have...
The boy's soul had started a countdown. One that would change everything.
Fifteen...
Ichigo charged towards Grand Fisher with an inhuman speed and slashed his clawed hands across the mask the monster wore. But hitting the blocking arm instead.
Fourteen...
Grand Fisher roared in pain from the slash, and ignoring every instinct that told him to flee, decided to attack back the grinning boy.
Thirteen...
Grand Fisher attempted to crush Ichigo but the boy jumped away from the monster, avoiding the hit and raised both his clawed hands to the monsters mask.
Twelve...
Grand Fisher brought his other arm to block it but Ichigo wasn't having none of that and not wanting to repeat the action again, slashed the arm clean off. Grinning wickedly at the shrieking monster.
Though he managed to push the 'boy' towards the other side of the riverbank.
Eleven...
The spirits knew they were running out of time, that and the fact their patience was running thin and both were worried about the prolonged exposure of their power on their too young wielder.
Deciding not to drag this much longer they started to gather their reioku. Because no matter what that monster was going down.
Ten...
Ichigo raised his hand towards Grand Fisher and locked gazes with the monster. Losing all hesitation and care for the world, the spirits released the cold and deadly presence they had.
Nine...
Grand Fisher did sense the change about the boy but he was stupidly determined to kill him and eat his soul. He made his final mistake as he charged to the young orange haired boy.
Eight...
A single finger was raised in Grand Fisher's direction and from a moment to the next the riverbank was enveloped by a red and dark blast of energy. The town shook, though it went unnoticed by most, and the few that sensed it were worried.
There was not a hint of humanity in that aura.
The observer on the sidelines (apart from me), raised his eyebrows at the scene in front of him. When he sensed that mass of power plus the presence of the wife and son of his 'friend' he had not planned on being too late to save one of them, nor seeing the other fighting and winning against a wanted Hollow.
Or worse, the fact that the boy had seemingly turned into a hollow himself.
Seven...
The blast cleared away and revealed a huge crater and the slowly dissolving mass of black that had previously been Grand Fisher. The too still and too cold body of Kurosaki Masaki was left untouched by the blast.
Ichigo lower his arm and sadly gazed at the body of 'his' mother. Both spirits winced at the thought of telling that to their wielder.
Six...
A tug on their senses warned the two spirits that Ichigo's conscience was stirring. They felt their powers being crammed back inside their own special place in the boys soul, and their hold on his body was slowly taken away.
They stood at the side of the crater and only had time to glance at each other before the boy regain awareness.
Five...
He blinked once and unsure of what to do looked at his hands, noticing they were trembling. He saw shards of bony white matter crumbling from them, though he didn't notice that the mask on his face wasn't showing any signs of dissolving.
Ichigo didn't saw the black portal that appeared behind him.
Four...
Not the hands that pushed him through said portal. The last thing he saw was the stripped white and green hat that shadowed a blond's eyes and the tired smile he had on his face. The boy saw his lips part to mutter the words 'Good luck'.
And certainly he did not notice the slightly visible string of reiatsu that was tied around him before disappearing and leaving the eight year old to realize he was now falling from the sky.
Three...
The headache was back in full strength, images flashed in his mind. Some he knew, some he did not. His life passed in front of his eyes.
He remembered... He was a shinigami.
No... He was just a normal kid. What the hell was a shinigami?
His name was Shiba Kaien.
No, his name was Kurosaki Ichigo.
He had died.
He was alive.
Two...
Memories, emotions, feelings, doubts, strength, family, pain... Everything scattered inside his head. He couldn't think straight, it was just so painful.
There was so much pain. In this life, in the life before, it didn't matter anymore.
That's right... it didn't matter anymore...
Why?
The boy found himself asking that over and over again even amidst the confusion of life and death that was happening inside him. If none of that was important why did he remember it?
- Do you wish to forget?
Did he? Did he really want to forget?
- Do you want to start over?
He did? But how could he start over without knowing anything?
- Not knowing allows you to find who you truly are...
That's right. He wanted to know who he was. He didn't want any more pain. He wanted... He wanted...
- Tranquility.
Yeah. He wanted peace and quiet.
Silence... Time to think. Time to learn. Time to live without worrying about what's around him.
A contradiction...
He wanted to know but wished to forget.
Ignorance is bliss...
Why couldn't he just... restart?
- Is that your wish?
Wishes are sacrifices... I wonder what I'll lose...
- Who knows? Maybe one day you'll find out... Maybe not.
Even with such answer I find it tempting... Just tell me one thing...
- What is it you want to know?
Will I ever remember everything?
- That is up to you whether you want to forget completely or just for a while. It's your choice.
Then allow me to forget but not erase. Lock it and leave the key. I want time...
Yeah, that's what I want most... Time.
- Then I'll grant your wish... Rest now. It will soon be over...
One...
I was dimly aware of my body dropping onto the white sands that stretched endlessly on. My eyes, unfocused, barely had time to look at the dark starless sky where a lone moon stood, contrasting, before my hand grabbed the bony mask over my face and tore it off.
Zero...
At that moment I knew pain...
Inside the boys' soul his inner world was crumbling. He wasn't dying per say... But whatever made him, well, him was being hidden deep inside him as to not disturb his current state.
Which wouldn't do anything much as the boy was already screaming in an agonizing way from the pain of ripping of, unconsciously, the hollow mask that he had on.
He wasn't a hollow because his Quincy Blood prevented it.
He wasn't human because he wasn't alive anymore.
He wasn't a shinigami because he wasn't completely dead yet.
He was just standing in between everything. Sitting on the fence, waiting for there to be a reason for him to pick a side.
But there just wasn't one there yet, so his body did what it did best in a moment of crisis.
It evolved.
The once called weak boy just up and jumped every single evolution Hollows had and ripped his own mask off becoming an Arrancar. One that possessed two souls inside him. One that was being dotted upon by fate itself.
One that chose to forget everything in order to remember.
He who chose to start.
He was no longer Kurosaki Ichigo.
He was no longer Shiba Kaien.
He was nameless.
Boundless and weightless...
He was free.
Yet he was trapped right now.
Well, no matter.
The spirit residents inside him looked upon his frail and shivering body as the tore over so many layers of pain and suffering. They were three very distinct beings that came together under the most surprising of situations.
The first one to awaken was a young girl. Her hair was so long it reached all the way up to her feet, and was blue like the smooth waves of the ocean. But her reflection scared her.
Those who looked at her would see a simple smile and bright gentle blue eyes but her reflection seemed to mock those looks. Her reflection was pale white with cold eyes that bore all the way down to your soul. Black sclera and silver pupils. Hollow.
It scared her. She wanted to cry as to why it had to happen to her but then she remembered what had happened and she froze.
If she was alive... what about her wielder?
Was he alright?
She tried to call him but was enable to. She was confused as to why that was but her answer came soon enough.
They had died. And yet they had been reborn. Her wielder was long gone but she had a second chance at protecting him. And she would do anything in her power to protect him. The gentle and silly orange haired child that possessed the soul of the man, that lovable and caring yet stupid and reckless man, that was once her wielder.
And she waited. And waited for the time where she would be wielded again.
But soon she wasn't alone anymore.
An old man one day materialized...
He was a lean-built, stoic middle-aged man, tall with pale skin and high cheekbones, stubble with long ragged black hair with brown highlights.
His attire consisted of a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants and low-heeled boots, he had a long black overcoat that flared into ragged ends. He had brown-tinted and semi-transparent sunglasses.
It made him seem confident and powerful and even a bit like a wanderer that been travelling for a while. Though some aspects of him made him seem more like a noble. He was... strange.
And he was confused at seeing her. He did not expect there to be another spirit around.
While the girl was ecstatic at finally meeting another spirit. She was weary but part of her just wanted to up and hug the newcomer just because she wasn't alone anymore. But she knew better than that so instead of tackling him the girl started to babble away.
To his credit the man only stumbled and looked absolutely lost for about five seconds before he schooled his features and proceeded in turning around and take off in search of a quieter place.
The girl only took a glance before running to catch the man again. She wanted to know him because, of what little she understood, they might just be roommates for the rest of their lives.
They had been together for about a week, or a month or even a year, before their lives took a turn for the worse. A new 'companion' appeared. A young teenager that was completely bleached white.
White skin, white hair, white shihakushō and a black cloth belt. His eyes were just like the ones her reflection had except gold while hers were silver. The bleached figure also had a blue tongue and black fingernails.
To all honesty their first meeting wasn't that great. You see, unlike her who had been 'normal' before awakening inside Ichigo's soul the teenager only knew this type of him and easily embraced the 'other side'.
Which caused him to deliriously start laughing and summoning his zanpakutou before charging at them as soon as he materialized.
Suffice to say that while the old man and the girl were able to restrain him, the old man found out about the other two spirits real identities. And all hell broke lose...
The old man was the manifestation of Quincy powers, and it seems that hate for shinigamis runs soul deep, and it turns out he was not that keen on letting two hollowfied spirits run amok inside the inner world.
So he sealed them. Together...
Oh, the girl hoped that the noble-like bastard had an headache after the day long shout-out she and the bleached guy had. They didn't have their swords with them anymore so it wasn't like they could harm each other too severely but when the old man finally unsealed them they looked like they had just come out of a cat fight.
Scratched and both looking unreasonably ruffled and torn.
Oh, if looks could kill the old man would have been dead nine times over. That, plus the almost completely hidden smirk that happen to flash in his features after he saw them.
At that moment she would have easily helped the teenager in shaving off a couple of layers of that hair. And perhaps his own 'bonding' time locked with the bleached guy in an isolated room.
See if he liked that.
But the two hollowfied spirits did nothing, well the girl didn't the white teenager just up and decided to fight the old man, and they soon came to an understanding that as long as no one crossed the line about what to do and what not to do they could be kept unsealed.
Though their powers were sealed and no arguments were given by the girl at that.
Yeah, she was mad that the old man, who only appeared after her, was assuming he could boss them around but she had no intentions in returning to the sealed room.
Not that they needed to worry because after the initial reluctance to even be in the same room as them came the acceptance and partnership that 'normal' spirits had. Plus everyone wanted the same thing: Their wielder to be stronger.
So they watched as he grew and slowly started to try and communicate with him in their own special way before that rainy afternoon happened.
Because now everything was in shambles. The inner world was slowly vanishing leaving behind a sole white room that had no doors or windows. They weren't locked but the conveniently placed sofas and chairs indicated that they would be in there for a while.
The three of the sighed before each found a interestingly comfortable seat and either flopped down onto the sofa or gracefully sat on an armchair.
All they could do now was wait and see if someone found their wielder and helped him.
And someone did find him.
The medium-built man with wavy dark brown hair and faded goatee raised his gray-blue eyes towards the dark sky above him. He could sense the massive explosion of reiatsu that suddenly appeared and the faint but still there screaming he could pick up from the slight breeze.
He got up and together with his companion he set out at a fast pace towards the source of power.
The girl beside him which had light green hair that was arranged in a very simple manner plus remnants of a bony white mask that covered her left eye and served as a hat, quickly stood and followed the older man. Her visible light pink eye focused on the expression on his face and wondered just who had caused that reiatsu outburst.
The two of them didn't talk much but to understand each other it wasn't like they really needed words.
After all... they were parts of the same being. They were the same soul. The same being and sole that was so very much lonely that it split in two just to ease the pain that solitude caused.
Both of them wore nothing except for a long torn and worn out piece of cloth that was dark in color.
They walked and walked and soon they came face to face with a sight that no other Arrancar could ever claim to have seen.
Up ahead, right on top of a small hill of sand, was a young boy. He was completely bare and had bright orange hair. His skin was light but the was a darker circle around his right wrist and that stretched over to the back of his hand, causing it to be covered with strange markings.
What made it more strange was that it didn't look like it had been done by scars or anything but simply that it was part of his skin.
He was screaming at the top of his lungs clutching his head with both hands and he was on his knees. He was in pain, unknowingly to the two Arrancars, because his soul was being reconstructed and reformed. In other words, it was being cut to pieces and rearranged. And that hurt, obviously...
His pain was causing his reiatsu to fluctuate wildly and expand outwards to him, making every single creature in the area to feel a 'ghost pain' equivalent to his. So not only did hollows hear his screams they could also feel what he was feeling.
Immeasurable pain.
This caused the hollows in the area to flee from there and scared whatever 'good-willed' one that had the thought of approaching him. But the darker haired Arrancar was not like most hollows. He had known, and knew, pain and instead of being frightened or choosing to ignore the cries of such young... hollow? He was instead compelled to help him.
His own pain of solitude, when he was still a single entity, was fresh on his mind. So, as he would tell himself years to come, he acted on instinct.
He would swear that it had not been pity or compassion that had made him reach out towards the boy, it was not because he looked like a child, and nor was it because he too had been affected by his pain and simply wished to make it stop.
So he would lie through his teeth and tell whoever had asked that he acted on pack instinct and that he only kept the boy because he became his responsibility and surely not because he actually grew fond of having him around...
But that was to come. Now, however, the dark haired Arrancar reached out to the young boy and grabbed him. That was when the cries abruptly stopped and the boy opened his eyes for the first time in Hueco Mundo as his 'new' him.
And tales told about that day would always start like this:
- And the boy opened his eyes. Eyes wide and confused that shone with life and mystery. But those eyes were nothing short of amazing as if one could belong to the purest human, the other could be said to belong to the most powerful of hollows.
One with black sclera and golden iris and the other with white sclera and bronze colored eyes.
They stared at the older Arrancar for a few seconds before he fell unconscious due to exhaustion. The Arrancar blinked a few times to make sure he was truly awake and just looked at the now sleeping child in his arms. He felt the presence of his other half behind him and saw, through the corner of his eye, as she glanced over his shoulder to look at the small boy.
-" What are we going to do with him, Starrk? "- she asked -" We can't leave him all alone, can we?"
-" No, we can't... I guess we'll have to take him with us. "- the Arrancar called Starrk answered -" You don't mind, Lilynette?"
-" No, he's strong! "- Lilynette answered with a smile.
To most people that statement would have sounded weird or out of context but Starrk knew exactly what she was saying.
The two Arrancars themselves were very powerful and that caused every hollow nearby to die due to their power but this boy, small and fragile looking, had managed to bear this power and didn't looked uncomfortable or with any difficulty breathing.
He could be around them without the fear of disappearing.
Getting up and shifting the boy in his arms the two Arrancars resumed their travel. They didn't know a thing about who he was or where he had come from but to them it didn't matter.
-" Get back here! "- a tomboyish Arrancar yelled as she was running after the most annoying Arrancar in the world -" You'll see what I'll do to you after I catch you!"
-" Then why should I go back? "- the orange haired Arrancar asked in a mocking tone -" Catch me if you can, Emilou!"
-" LUCCA! "- she screamed after the other Arrancar as he took off leaving her behind effortlessly.
Laughter could be heard throughout the white fortress called Las Noches. To the annoyance of some and enjoyment of others.
It had been seven years since Starrk had found the orange haired child and now most hollows that knew him had learned several things.
To never be surprised if Lucca did something seemingly impossible.
To never get into a prank war with him.
To never try to make him be respectful towards his superiors.
To never, Ever, disrespect or harm either Lilynette or Starrk.
To never underestimate him.
You see, the once-before Ichigo had been sealed and locked away deep inside his soul so when the boy had woken up he had been blank. He didn't remember anything or even seemed to know what or who he was. So Lilynette, who took upon herself to declare she was his older sister/best friend/comrade, named him Lucca Starrk after a few weeks.
Why Lucca Starrk? Because she was Lilynette and the boy took to Starrk a lot faster than to her. So while her other half, Coyote Starrk, had been temporarily annoyed about his last named being used Lilynette had found 'cute' and 'perfect' the combination.
And it really was cute and perfect as the older Arrancar became like a father figure to the young amnesiac Arrancar. That wasn't all of a good thing, now that I think about it...
Well, no matter...
Lucca broke all rules about what Arrancars could or couldn't do.
Arrancars, supposedly, shouldn't be able to age but the fact that he had gone from looking like a small nine year old to a tall thirteen year old put that theory to shame.
Arrancars were supposed to have a hollow hole but he didn't, not that many knew since he covered it up pretty well. He also didn't really have a visible mask but small chunks of the bony white material that stubbornly clung to his hair. But he did materialize part of his mask as to cover for his complete hollow eye.
That was other thing that was strange about him. Most Arrancars had both eyes seemingly human while in their sealed form but Lucca's hollow eye seemed permanent.
But that was all over looked as he belonged to the Primera Espada's fraccíon and no one wanted to piss off the Primera Espada. Yeah, he could seem like a lazy bum sometimes but he was no push over when it came to Lucca. There was a reason why none of the other Espadas hadn't killed him yet, and the pre-teen had already been there for about five years or so.
And suffice to say that after a mere two hours of being in the same room with Lucca could drive someone crazy. He was a ball of energy, though he had his lazy moments (thank kami), and he was never still in one place.
One minute he could be near the entrance of Las Noches and the next he was running from a group of enraged hollows near the horizon of Hueco Mundo. That or probably pissing off another Arrancar, namely trying to irke Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra was the Cuarto Espada, and he had this unbreakable poker face that remained emotionless and expressionless no matter the situation. Even chasing after the laughing Lucca that always came after a good prank.
It will go down in Hollow history the day that he managed to trap the Arrancar in a room for about three seconds before said Arrancar pulverized said door and moved on to chase the prankster.
Luckily for the thirteen year old that there was an open window nearby that provided a perfect escape route for him because he escaped at the nick of time before the wall beside him was left in ruins.
And today was no different. He was just about to finish his routine of messing with the other fraccíons when he bumped against someone.
Looking up he faced the vulpine smiling shinigami named Ichimaru Gin, a shinigami captain.
-" Hey, it's you Gin. "- Lucca said mildly surprised -" Back already?"- he asked.
-" Yeah, Aizen's callin' for you. "- Gin said with that indirect dialect that Lucca wasn't fond of.
The pre-teen was very direct about everything he wanted to say or though so having another person expertly avoiding to respond was something that did not sit well with him. Not that he complained too loudly.
-" Me? What have I done? "- Lucca asked.
Gin didn't answer but he did give him a look that signified an explicit 'Really?'. Gin, though he was a shinigami and Lucca was a hollow, was in good terms with him. They had surprisingly became 'acquaintances' after Lucca had tried annoying (and succeeding) the other of Aizen's subordinates, the blind shinigami named Kaname.
It was fun the first time and even Gin laughed, or more snorted, at the display of disobedience after Kaname had order him to go call the Espada to a meeting and put his speed to good use. Though he had an earful from Starrk because Kaname had snitched about what he did to Aizen, who then 'talked' with Starrk about his 'unnecessary' behavior.
'Well, screw him too.'- was the boy's answer to that.
But now was not the time for me, the narrator, to be rambling about something that I'll later develop...
-" What does he want with me, Gin? "- Lucca asked when the two started to walk towards the meeting room -" And who will be there?"
-" I don' know the first one but to answer the second... "- he said -"... Could you perhaps be scared of being alone with Aizen?"
-" Afraid?! Of what? Him? "- Lucca spluttered -" Why would I be?"
-" You' probably the only one that can say that. "- Gin tells him, sighing -" Wonder when you' finally gain a bit of conscience to your situation."
Lucca went quiet and avoided to look at the silver haired shinigami.
-" I know... "- was the murmured response to that.
The two of them walked for a bit more, because Las Noches was nothing short of huge, and after a while they entered a simple room where twelve other people waited.
There were the ten Espadas, the stuck-up Kaname, and then there was Aizen.
Oh, Lucca was beginning to have a bad feeling about this meeting.
-" Oh, good. You're finally here. "- was Aizen's comment on seeing him -" Now we can begin."
Lucca raised an eyebrow and mouthed to Starrk 'What is going on?' before sitting in an empty chair near the back. He belonged to a fraccíon and wasn't an Espada so why was he needed in a meeting?
And Starrk wasn't freaking out so he probably wasn't going to be kicked out. Key word: Probably.
Starrk didn't answer so Lucca assumed he didn't know and Gin had already told him he didn't knew the answer. And for all of what Gin was to others, to Lucca at least, he wasn't a liar.
Then there was Kaname, who was impassive as ever, and since he wasn't jumping up and down in glee that meant that he wasn't going to be executed.
-" Then let's begin. The operation to retrieve the Hogyoku is about to start. "- Aizen said -" Kuchiki Rukia is currently in the Living World but after we eliminate the Central 46 and take over command of the shinigami's actions, then she will be brought back to Soul Society."
-" Now, since there's nothing you can do right now, I'll leave you with the task of getting prepared." - he said -" And if you're wondering why a member of the Primera's fraccíon is here, that's because his abilities are needed in this mission."
Lucca looks at Aizen like he just grew a second head.
-" My abilities? "- he asks.
-" Yes. While we take over control of Central 46 I need you to retrieve several documents for me."- he answers.
-" Can't you do that on your own? "- the boy asks.
Beside Aizen, Kaname mutters something about unruly brats and wanting to give out punishment.
-" I can but you're not doing anything important at the time, are you? "- he asks with that fake smile he always wears.
-" I'm not... "- Lucca answers.
-" Then it's settled. We'll leave for Soul Society once this meeting is done. You can wait outside now. "- Aizen says.
If you haven't guessed by now I'll tell you: I like long chapters.
The markings on his hand will be explained and featured next chapter.
I'll tell more about Lucca's backstory later on. Oh, he does have his Zanpakutou(s) (shikai and bankai) and a Resurrection, but again only features and explained in later chapters.
I warn you that I haven't even finished, or reached half for that matter, on the series. I haven't watched beyond the Rescue of Rukia and I don't plan on doing it any time soon mostly because I don't want to change things to accommodate the canon story.
There will not be any romance on this fanfiction or pairings, though I might hint or do some fluff, if I can. There will be different points of view later on.
If you want to know how Kaien's Zanpakutou spirit, Nejibana, looks like in my fanfic ask me for the link.