Hello All! I know I said, that I would be rewriting PRCR but I have completely lost my muse for that story at the moment. Don't worry because I do promise to update it eventually, but in the meantime I am going to be working on this story as well as a Naruto/Eragon crossover.
In my AU the original 'Old Man Zangetsu' really is Zangetsu. He is just so much cooler than the 'real' Zangetsu.
I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. If I owned bleach, Zangetsu would have been Zangetsu, Hichigo would have been Hichigo, and Ichigo's Quincy powers would have a separate manifestation.
Without Further Ado: Chapter 1!
Ichigo stood in his Inner World, his Zanpakuto Spirit in front of him and his sword in his hand. He had successfully completed Urahara's training to regain his powers, but something felt off, wrong even. He glanced at his sword for a moment before returning his gaze to the man in front of him. "I guess I have my powers back now, or maybe this is even the first time I've had my own powers and not Rukia's," he began, "but I feel as if something is missing. Like a part of something is not there. I just don't know what it is. Behind his glasses, the Zanpakuto's eyes widened, and that moment of surprise was all that the hollow he had imprisoned needed to escape. He had hoped to conceal it and keep it locked away but that dream was shattered in an instant. Ichigo started in surprise as a white blur raced towards him from the side. He dodged a familiar looking sword just in the nick of time. Now that the figure was closer, Ichigo recognized the man as himself, or rather a monotone and twisted version of himself. It even wielded a near identical Zanpakuto to Ichigo's.
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked with a confused expression, heedless of the fact that whomever it was had just tried to kill him. The colorless copy replied with a sneer and growl before slashing at Ichigo once again, this time with an overhead. This time Ichigo blocked with his own weapon and his eyes widened the instant that the swords clashed against one another. In that moment of contact, everything about his opponent was revealed to him, and he witnessed the circumstances of the now identified hollow's creation. Ichigo realized that this was a part of him, a part of his soul. This was the part of his soul that had hollowfied before he reclaimed his Shinigami powers, and once he had, it was ripped from his soul forcefully because of the conflicting nature of the powers. "I understand now" Ichigo whispered softly to no one in particular. "You understand what?" the hollow growled angrily.
He was angry. He was angry because he was a hollow, and because that bastard with the sunglasses had trapped him, and because the brat with orange hair had dodged his attack. He was mad for all of those reasons, but most of all he was angry because he felt empty and hurt, like something was missing, and the kid in front of him just made it so much worse. There was a hole in his chest and he had no idea what he needed to do to fill it, but he knew that he was hungry, very hungry, and he thought that maybe if he ate then the empty feeling would go away. He thought of all of this as he waited for the kid to answer, for Ichigo was took a minute to collect his thought before finally saying, "Why I feel incomplete. Why there is something missing from inside of me. Why I am empty". The hollow's eyes widened in shock, and before he could stop himself he blurted out, "You can feel it too? Do you know how to make it stop?" There was a hint of hope in his voice, behind the rage and anger. "Of course I do," Ichigo replied and the hollow's hope rose a bit more. "I feel it because of the same reason you do. There is a part of yourself missing, a half of your soul… and I am that other half. While I was trying to reclaim my Shinigami powers, I began to hollowfy, but the process was interrupted when I found my Zanpakuto and the opposing natures of my soul caused it to split in half. You are that other half, the one that is hollow."
The hollow shook his head in denial and yelled, "There is no way that I am just your leftovers! An accident!" Ichigo took a step forward and the hollow swung his sword at Ichigo, but it passed straight through him as if he was made of air. "You are no leftovers," Ichigo said in both assurance and gentle reprimand, "you are every bit as important as I am. And you are a part of me. You would not be able to wield my sword if you were not." The hollow immediately looked down at the sword he was carrying before panicking. It realized the truth in his statement and also realized that Ichigo probably wouldn't want another soul down here able to use his sword. He would probably worry about being taken over by the 'evil' hollow. That is why when Ichigo took another step forward he slashed wildly, over and over and over. Ichigo stopped walking and just stood there, becoming immaterial at the slightest touch of the blade. When the hollow realized it was useless, he bowed his head and accepted his fate. He may not want to die, but he had his pride.
It was at this point that the Zanpakuto Spirit approached from behind Ichigo and pulled out a third copy of Ichigo's Zanpakuto. Just as he was about to swing it and end the hollow's existence, a hand was placed upon his shoulder. Stopping, he glanced to the side and saw his wielder shaking his head. "No," Ichigo ordered, "I will take care of him. If you destroy him, it destroys half of my soul too." The spirit nodded in acquiescence and took a step back. The hollow heard the conversation and resigned itself to the fact that it would be stuck in here, alone, forever. Ichigo then did something that neither the Zanpakuto nor the Hollow were expecting. He took one last step forward and hugged the hollow. "Hey, no need to worry. I just told you that I am you and you are me, didn't I? I'm not going to destroy you or lock you away. So you are a hollowfied portion of my soul, so what? Who cares? I for one refuse to run around with my soul split into two pieces. I accept what I am, what you are for what it is. I am, part human, part Shinigami, and part Hollow. I've accepted that. Can you?" And the Hollow could. He could accept anything that meant he wasn't going to be left alone in here; anything that would fill this empty feeling in his very being.
There was a flash of golden light and the spirit covered his eyes because it was too intense, even with his sunglasses. When he was able to open his eyes once more he saw Ichigo, but the hollow was nowhere in sight. Ichigo had also changed a little bit, appearance wise. He was now even taller, by 2 or 3 cm. His previously orange hair was now black with a streak of red in his bangs. Ichigo had also closed his eyes during the event, but now he had opened them and they glowed a menacing yellow reminiscent of a hollows before fading back to their normal brown. His Zanpakuto stared in shock before managing to ask, "What have you done Ichigo?"
Ichigo looked up at the man for a moment before he responded, "I put my soul back together. You heard what I said: regardless of whether the other half had been hollowfied or not, I wasn't going to run around with only half of my soul. I just put him back where he belongs. He was… is a part of me, just as you are. I will not shun him and ignore him. I will accept him and move on." It was with this last sentence that the spirit was convinced of both his wielder's words and that he was ready to hear his name. "Zangetsu" He muttered just loud enough so Ichigo could hear him. Ichigo stiffened in response and similarly to how he learned everything about his hollow when they crossed blade, so too did he learn about his Zanpakuto. He smiled brightly and nodded his head, "Nice to meet you Zangetsu. Sorry to keep you waiting, but now I can help you make sure it never rains again." He finished with a whisper that was only barely caught, but Zangetsu's eyes widened regardless. He regained his composure a moment later and returned the smile with a sort of soft emotion and said, "Thank you. I would appreciate that."
Ichigo waved at Zangetsu while saying, "Well, I'll be on my way then. I should probably let Hat 'n Clogs know that I'm okay." Zangetsu held up a hand and said, "Wait. There is something that your encounter with the Hollow side of yourself that got me thinking. You are correct in your thinking that you shouldn't be running around with your soul in separate pieces. You and I are the same person as you and he are and thus, while it has never been done, I wish to share all that I have with you. My… no, our power, our skills, our abilities, everything. They are already yours anyway, you just don't remember them yet." Ichigo was dumbstruck as he realized what his Zanpakuto was suggesting. "You wish to combine with me like the Hollow did? But…" he was cut off as Zangetsu interrupted him, "I will still be here, I won't disappear into a combination of personas like the Hollow did. We will be one, but we will also still be different and we will still be able to talk with one another, so do not worry Ichigo." Ichigo nodded, and now that he understood he wasn't going to lose his Zanpakuto as a result, he was psyched and wanted to proceed immediately.
Just like a thought, or rather with a thought, the same golden flash erupted once more and Ichigo stood alone. His hair had lengthened just a bit, with the bangs falling into his eyes now, and the maroon streak had lightened up to a scarlet. His eyes were now green with flecks of gold and brown. It was at this point that Ichigo noticed his sword had changed in form significantly. Rather than his previous broad sword he now held a katana of normal width, albeit about 15 cm longer than usual. The hilt was red in color with black cloth wrapping around it leaving gaps where the red could be seen. The blade was wrapped in white cloth that resembled bandages, but with naught but a thought they were removed and he took it in. It was a midnight black but seemed to shine with a faint, almost invisible, white outline. He couldn't describe it, but he preferred it over his previous sword and it just felt right. Deciding enough time had been wasted, he left his Inner World and awakened in the Shattered Shaft. He glanced around, but seeing that nothing had changed he focused on the food that had been dropped down the shaft and quickly ate it.
Once he was finished eating, he stood up and looked up. There was about 300 meters to the top of the shaft, and even though he knew he could bounce from wall to wall to reach the top, he didn't really want to. He noticed his reiatsu output at this point due to his heightened senses, which were likely caused by his hollow side. He focused for a while and after a few minutes, he was able to lower his output to almost non-existent with a combination of Zangetsu's knowledge of reiatsu and his instincts granted by his Hollow. "Very good Ichigo. You have already adapted to having more knowledge available to you than you have actually experienced," Zangetsu praised. Ichigo smirked faintly, but gave a reply, "But I did experience it. We are the same remember?" He could practically see the smile Zangetsu wore when he spoke once more, "Indeed we are Ichigo. Indeed we are. Now, go forth into the world. Let them see the new and complete Kurosaki Ichigo! Move Forward. Go Forward. Never Stand Still. Retreat And You Will Age. Hesitate And You Will Die." Ichigo smirked at his Zanpakuto's speech and agreed completely. "Of course Zangetsu, what else would the one who wields you do?" He then jumped straight up into the air before jumping again and again, using the air as a platform to stand by hardening it with his reiatsu.
Once he reached the top, the group gathered there jumped in surprise because they were unable to sense him coming. Usually he let off so much reiatsu that they could feel him coming from a mile away. Urahara, ever the scientist was the first to ask a question or three, "What happened to you hair, and your eyes, and your reiatsu?" Ichigo just shrugged to the first two as if saying, 'I don't know,' and replied to the last by saying, "My Zanpakuto told me how to rein in my reiatsu though." Urahara nodded, well aware that the Zanpakuto Spirits were often times well versed in the ways of reiryoku and such. "Well then, let's begin step three shall we?" Urahara asked and then immediately stabbed at Ichigo without waiting for a reply. He blinked and he was on his back on the ground. He didn't know what had happened, but those who had been watching saw the whole thing. Ichigo had stepped into Urahara's guard, grabbed his wrist, and then flipped him over his shoulder in an instant. He grinned down at the blonde man and retorted cheekily, "Let's".
I already have the next chapter written, but it is in my idea notebook, and I have to copy it onto my laptop before I can post it. This means that it shouldn't be more than a day before the next chapter is out. Hope you all enjoyed. Review please, and if anyone wants to beta, PM me and we can talk.