AN: …..really? Something like 105 of you bastards voted on the poll but only 15 reviewed….buttholes.
Haha I'm joking somewhat as admittedly there wasn't much to review as there were only a few changes, but hopefully when I start changing more shit you guys will get more vocal.
I'm a little surprised that Yoruichi is dominating that poll with such a huge lead though. I would have expected her and Nel, maybe Orihime to be neck and neck but damn you people love your cat girls.
That's about all I got to say which makes this possibly my shortest AN to date…yay?
Ichigo landed on his bed with a sigh of pleasure at finally being able to relax.
He had been running around damn near the entirety of Karakura chasing down Hollows and wandering souls trying to fulfill the requirements of his newly acquired job of being his hometown's Shinigami protector. When he had accepted the "job" he had known that he would have his work cut out for him with a few Hollows and a lot of souls, but figured that he'd be done before the sun set.
He was completely wrong.
The amount of Hollows, even weak ones, wandering around Karakura was ridiculous and the number had made sure that in the span of a few hours Ichigo had gained enough wounds and battle experience that he could be counted as a war veteran. If this had been some RPG style game he was sure that from today alone he would have gone up at least five levels.
Of course the question had been raised - why were there so many Hollows wandering around Karakura in the first place?
He had in turn questioned the only person he thought would know. Despite the annoyance that she was he admitted that the petite Soul Reaper was the more knowledgeable of the two in regards to all of this afterlife business. Ichigo was thusly pretty irritated when all he got from Rukia as a response was a rather casual shrug.
To her credit she had only been sent to Karakura town on regular patrol duty and so knew very little about the town or the modern world for that matter. She had then made up for it by commenting that Karakura did have an oddly high concentration of spiritually aware people and an almost unnatural concentration of Reiryoku - for a human settlement.
Of course her little "cellphone" then interrupted the discussion by giving off the – by then – annoying ringing that signified a Hollow was nearby.
And that was what had constituted most of Ichigo's day, both during and after school. Of course during those down periods of waiting for something to happen Ichigo would either be studying to keep up his grades or be questioning Rukia on the finer details of the after life. Ichigo found it a little odd how fast he was able to just pick everything up, like this was what he was supposed to do. It just felt comfortable for him to be wielding the massive blade that he had learned was called his zanpakuto.
With said blade being a part of his very soul it only made sense that he would feel comfortable wielding it, but there was more to it than that. Ichigo had always felt somewhat…unfulfilled. Of course as a 15 year old high school student that was to be somewhat expected. However there had always been this itch at the back of his mind that made it feel like he wasn't living up to his full potential. This however - the feeling of wielding the rather large blade that was his zanpakuto and protecting the lives of the living and dead by defeating Hollows - just felt…right.
'Bah! Gotta stop all this unnecessary thinking before I turn into an old man or something,' Ichigo thought with a tired yawn before turning over to fall into the realm of the Sandman.
…at least that was his plan. Said plan was interrupted when his closet door was slammed open and sitting there on a futon was none other than the girl he had come to "affectionately" refer to as midget.
Every fiber of Ichigo's being was near screaming at him to yell at the seemingly oblivious Shinigami who had apparently commandeered his closet and made it into a bed for herself. However he knew that his family was still awake and if he yelled loud enough he would surely attract the attention of his father and Yuzu who would both give him a hard time over there being a girl in his closet, though he couldn't fault them really. After all there was a girl in his closet.
Instead of openly venting his frustration the teen instead just slammed both hands onto his face and with his hands still covering his mouth tiredly mumbled, "What the hell are you doing in my closet?"
Either ignoring him or not hearing him due to the fact his hands had muffled his words Rukia instead only said, "Two Hollows and a Plus just disappeared not too far from here."
Now that piqued Ichigo's interest. He had thought he made sure to clear out the area around his home and school of any Hollows and had made a valiant attempt at helping a number of the nearby Plus souls properly pass on. It may have seemed a little selfish but he wanted to make sure his friends and family were safe first and foremost before venturing away into the other areas of Karakura.
Apparently not one, but two Hollows had managed to escape the extermination which did not sit well with him at all.
"What do you mean they disappeared? How is that even possible?" Ichigo inquired with his usual scowl even more prominent.
"My only guess is that the Hollows took the Plus with them back to Hueco Mundo (Hollow World/Sphere). Why they would do that I don't know," Rukia replied as she played around with her phone, a look of deep concentration etched onto her face.
Hearing the petite Soul Reaper's answer only caused Ichigo to raise a brow in questioning, "Hueco Mundo? The hell is that?"
Rukia looked up from fiddling with her "cellphone" with questioning eyes only to snap her fingers in recognition, "Right I never told you about Hueco Mundo! Well Hueco Mundo is the home of all Hollows, though not much else is known about it as no Shinigami has ever gone there and been able to come back."
"So this Hueco Mundo place is pretty much the Hollow equivalent of the Soul Society right?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia only shrugged, "More or less. Again we don't exactly know much about it as travel to Hueco Mundo is only possible if one is a Hollow themselves."
Ichigo nodded in understanding, "Well what about the Plus? Why would they take a Plus with them and not just eat it when they had the chance to?"
Rukia only shook her head, "Your guess is as good as mine Ichigo. For now all we can do is get some rest and prepare for tomorrow. It may be a weekend but that doesn't mean we get to rest. Besides that we also got to go pick up some supplies we may need for later."
Ichigo would have questioned what kind of supplies would help them combat the twisted souls that were Hollows but chose not to ask, too tired from the day's activities to bother. With a tired "Goodnight" from both Ichigo turned off his room's light and made himself comfortable on his bed.
Before the orange haired teen entered the realm of Morpheus a stray thought struck him, 'How the hell did she get into my house and set up a bed in my closet without anyone noticing?...'
"So where exactly are we going?" Ichigo calmly asked as he and his "boss" made their way through Karakura town, headed for wherever Rukia was getting the supplies she needed.
He had been rudely awoken by his father like any other day and was surprised to find Rukia gone from her – hopefully temporary – sleeping quarters. None too bothered by the Soul Reaper's absence Ichigo took care of his morning routine and sat down to enjoy breakfast with his family.
Said breakfast was interrupted by a ringing doorbell which was answered by his bubbly sister, Yuzu. The young brunette came back and trailing behind her was a smiling Rukia. Ichigo had to resist the urge to facepalm as Rukia introduced herself to his family and told them that she and Ichigo had made plans for the day…together.
Of course her wording made it sound a lot less like friends hanging out and more like a date which sent both Yuzu and his father into hysterics, his father crying to the poster of their mother that, "Our boy is growing up so fast, already wooing beautiful young maidens".
Before he could do anything his sister Karin began to violently stomp on their father's back, berating him for making a scene for no reason.
All the while Yuzu fretted over her elder brother and asked if Rukia and he were dating which he calmly explained to her that they were not dating and were in fact just friends, if that.
Once Ichigo had dressed and made his way out of his home - stepping over the still beaten form of his father and hi-five-ing Karin on the way out - Ichigo was caught off guard as Rukia offered an oddly serene smile that spoke of happiness.
She offhandedly commented on how happy his family seemed to be and how well they all got together. In exchange Ichigo showed one of his rare smiles, a small one that made his normally cold brown eyes glitter with the smallest hints of happiness and pride.
"Yeah, they're pretty odd, but I wouldn't want it any other way."
Ichigo had turned his gaze to the brunette next to him and was surprised to see a look of longing on her face, a look he knew all too well. It spoke of loss, but not just any loss, the deep scarring hurt of losing a loved one, of someone who was near and dear to one's heart. Ichigo chose not to comment or ask, knowing very well that such a topic was very personal and would only bring up topics that he wasn't ready to divulge to Rukia just yet.
He may owe his and his family's lives to her for giving him the power to protect them, but that did not mean he was comfortable with telling her about the day that had so etched itself into his memory and had scarred his life so egregiously that neither he nor his family were ever the same again. That was knowledge that only a very scant few outside of his family were privy to and he would like to keep it that way.
Ichigo shook himself from his small reverie when he realized that Rukia was talking to him.
"It's a small shop that all Shinigami stop at to receive their Gigai as well as a few other useful tools that help us in fulfilling our roles while here in the living world," Rukia said as she observed her surroundings.
This was her first visit to the living world in her long after life and seeing all the modern wonders first hand was a very awing experience to her.
Ichigo only chuckled and shook his head as Rukia looked like Yuzu had when they had gone to a nearby amusement park for the first time. The look of barely hidden childish glee shining in her eyes was a bit of an odd experience for Ichigo as he had long since become a little jaded towards the world that had taken away the light of his young life.
Before his thoughts could stray into darker territory Ichigo's attention was turned on the form of a girl about his age smiling and waving at him from a distance. Of course he knew the girl as she was one of the very few who he would call a friend.
Her name was Orihime Inoue and she was well known throughout Karakura High as being the very bubbly and very ditzy beauty that not one person could dislike in any way. With orange hair only a shade or so darker than Ichigo's own that fell in smooth waves to frame her face and cascade down to her mid back and curves that had no right being on a barely fifteen year old high school-er, Orihime was adored by many. She of course was far too naïve to really care or realize how much attention she received on a daily basis and so both Ichigo and Tatsuki had become her "bodyguards", making sure that Orihime was kept safe from those with less than savory thoughts.
However Ichigo was possibly the closest to the young beauty as they shared a bond born from knowing the loss of a loved one. While Ichigo had what was left of his small family to fall back on and his younger sisters to care for Orihime did not have the same luxury.
When her brother had been brought to his family's clinic Ichigo had been there to help his father as best he could, but unfortunately it was all in vain. At the age of 12 Orihime had lost her only true family - her parents not really counting with how unfit they were to even be parents in the first place. The girl was left broken and distraught at the loss of the person who had pretty much raised her. Ichigo had seen the state she was left in, a state he himself had been in when he was much younger and had reached out to the girl. He had been her pillar of strength when she needed it most and they had since become close friends.
She was then introduced to Tatsuki through Ichigo and the two had hit it off instantly. Nowadays it was the norm to see the bubbly young teen in the company of either Ichigo or Tatsuki, though her and Tatsuki had their own group of friends at school as well.
Shaking himself from his little stroll down memory lane Ichigo allowed the smallest of smiles to spread across his lips as he nodded and lazily waved back.
Orihime began to make her way across the street to greet her friend and the girl next to him when she saw Ichigo's wide and worried eyes as all the muscles in his legs tensed and powered him into a dead sprint, racing to reach Orihime.
Turning her head Orihime soon realized why Ichigo was running as fast as he could, a semi-truck was quickly speeding towards her, going far too fast for the brakes to do much of anything. In a very surreal experience Orihime's world seemed to slow down allowing her to come to the full numbing realization of what would happen in only a few seconds, far too short a time for her to move out of the way or for Ichigo to make it to her.
Orihime closed her eyes and hoped that whatever pain would come to her that it would be over quickly.
Time seemingly resumed itself as Ichigo began to unconsciously push small amounts of Riatsu into his legs, pushing his body past its physical limitations so that he could have the slimmest of chances to save one of his true friends. To his shock though as he pushed his body to move even faster than he already was he saw something that he would not have believed in a million years.
Right as Orihime was about to be slammed into by the massive semi, a red and black almost Medusa like Hollow appeared from seemingly thin air only to do the unexpected and grab Orihime by her calf and forcibly pull her away from the path of the truck, saving her life in the process. Due to the force of the pull she was instead sent hurtling away from the middle of the street and towards the side walk where she would no doubt tumble and possibly break a bone or two – though better that than the alernative. Still not wanting any sort of damage to come to Orihime, Ichigo ignored the Hollow, sparing it the briefest of glances before he adjusted his own path.
With reflexes and strength honed from years of street fights, basic martial arts training, and his father's antics Ichigo was able to wrap his arms around the speeding orange bullet that was Orihime, saving her from hitting the unforgiving hardness of concrete. Of course Ichigo's footing wasn't exactly as solid as could be and so he was sent falling onto his back with enough force to cause him to wince in pain as his spine collided harshly with concrete.
Despite the pain Ichigo sighed in relief when he felt the still breathing and conscious form of Orihime begin to move around in his arms.
'A bruise on my back in exchange for saving Orihime from a few broken bones? Definitely worth it,' Ichigo thought with a sigh.
Soon the other pedestrians and even the driver of the formerly speeding truck came to see the two teens as Ichigo pulled himself into a standing position along with a shaken Orihime.
"You ok Inoue?" Ichigo asked as he gave the girl a once over, searching for any signs of injury.
"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked as she opened her eyes.
When she realized that she was indeed still very much so alive and that it was Ichigo who had saved her – from her view of things – Orihime instantly hugged the life out of Ichigo, pressing her face into the chest of her much taller male friend.
"Thank you Kurosaki-kun! I thought I was a goner for sure!"
Ichigo blushed and rubbed the back of his head nervously as the gathered crowd of onlookers began to applaud him and his act of bravery with the occasional comment of "What a cute couple!" and "What an amazing young man!" heard here and there.
Orihime blushed a bright red as she realized that they did indeed look very much so like a couple and buried her face even deeper into Ichigo's chest.
Luckily for the both of them one Tatsuki Arisawa forcefully made her way through the crowd and saved her two friends from further embarrassment by dragging them away from the eye of the crowd.
"Orihime are you alright?" Tatsuki asked in a deeply worried tone.
Orihime was after all her closest friend outside of Ichigo and she like him had made a promise to keep the girl safe from harm.
"I'm fine Tatsuki. Kurosaki-kun managed to save me just in the nick of time like a knight in shining armor," Orihime happily spoke, though she soon devolved into a fit of giggles as her imagination brought up the image of a scowling Ichigo in a medieval suit of armor riding an equally grumpy white horse.
While all this was happening Ichigo's eyes were trained on the clawed mark that looked to be almost burned into the skin of Orihime's calf, the obvious mark of the Hollow who had been the one to really save Orihime. Not only did the mark itself bother him, but the fact that had it not been for the Hollow interfering he would have had to watch as yet another person was taken from his life as he did nothing but look on was raging in his mind.
Tatsuki turned her eyes to Ichigo knowing that he would be able to spot if anything was wrong with their friend better than any of those present. She was of course curious as to why Ichigo seemed to be glaring at a spot on the ditzy teen's leg, as if there were something there that was just not right yet when she looked there everything seemed fine, only Orihime's flawless skin being seen.
"Hey Ichigo you ok there? Is Orihime fine?" Tatsuki asked as she waved her hands in front of Ichigo's face.
Hearing Tatsuki's question Ichigo shook his head and nodded, "Yeah she should be fine, though she should probably take it easy for the rest of the day and not try and do anything too strenuous."
Eyes narrowed in suspicion Tatsuki asked, "How did you even manage that Ichigo? I mean I know you're fast but to have been able to grab Orihime ad pull her out of the way like that? That's almost inhuman."
Ichigo internally winced, but maintained his poker face, "I guess it was just the adrenaline pumping through my body that helped me do that."
He trusted Tatsuki above anyone bar his family but just like he had not told his family he was not going to tell Tatsuki about his new occupation as a temporary guardian of Karakura's paranormal business. He knew that Tatsuki would instantly demand that she help in some way or that he not risk his life to fulfill his duties and he just could not pull anyone close to him into his affairs and obligations.
Even with his newfound powers in his soul form there was just too much danger to make it ok for him to tell anyone about his job as a temporary Soul Reaper. Even with these powers he had almost failed to protect one of his friends, scratch that he had failed to protect his friend and that made him feel weaker than he had felt in years, a feeling he was not ok with.
'Something here isn't right. There's no way Ichigo was fast enough to grab Orihime. And it looked like she was thrown away from the truck. He's hiding something, I just know it,' Tatsuki thought to herself.
While she would normally press the situation and try and force whatever secret Ichigo was keeping out of him Tatsuki knew that Ichigo was made of tough stuff and could more than take care of himself. Besides that Orihime had just had a near death experience and she would need some company more than anything right now.
With a nod towards Ichigo Tatsuki threw an arm around Orihime and began to walk away, "See ya later than Ichigo. Don't do anything stupid!"
Orihime turned her head and offered a smile, "Thanks again Kurosaki-kun! See ya at school on Monday!"
As the two girls faded from view Rukia walked out from a nearby alley way, "I take it you saw it too?"
Ichigo kept his eyes on the direction Tatsuki had walked away with Orihime, "Depends on what you mean. Are you talking about the Hollow that saved Inoue or the mark it left on her leg?"
Rukia only nodded her head, confirming what Ichigo had thought.
"We'll keep an eye on them later. For now we should just hurry and get to the shop so I can get what I need and we can start our patrol."
Ichigo just nodded and turned and began to follow the short Soul Reaper as they walked further into the outskirts of Karakura town.
"….a rundown candy shop? This is where the people in charge of maintaining the balance between the living and the dead come to get their supplies?" Ichigo asked with a sweat drop trailing down the back of his head.
"My my you teenagers are sure getting meaner and meaner with each generation," came a voice from behind the duo.
Turning around Rukia was the first to react by bowing at the waist, "Nice to see you again Urahara-san."
Ichigo only turned with a raised eyebrow as he examined the man that stood behind them. From what Ichigo could see the odd man was only a few inches taller than Ichigo's impressive height and was garbed in one of the strangest get ups he had ever seen in his life.
Urahara's face was mostly hidden by the shadow his green and white pinstriped bucket hat cast, only allowing for the almost mocking smirk that was present on his grizzled face to be seen. Of course that too was partially hidden by the small fan he casually waved in front of his face. His other hand held a plain looking walking stick though judging by the carefree way he held it and leaned on it, it was probably more for show than anything else.
What really caught Ichigo's eye was the over abundance of the color green in the odd man's clothing. The only exception to this was the black coat with a white diamond pattern on the bottom half that trailed down and billowed around his knees. Underneath that he wore a dark green shirt and matching pants. As foot wear he donned a traditional pair of wooden geta that contrasted heavily with the style of the modern day.
Despite the odd look and seemingly carefree manner in which Urahara carried himself Ichigo was weary of the mystery man. Ichigo was not the most of observant of people however he was far and away from being oblivious to the people and things around him, something he had his weird father to thank for. For this odd man to be able to sneak up on not just him but a trained Soul Reaper like Rukia, powers or no, was not a task easily accomplished by just anybody.
On top of that Ichigo was getting an odd vibe from being around him, like he knew too much, which was something Ichigo could justify with the way Urahara was looking at him.
'There is no way that this guy is normal. He has to either be a Soul Reaper himself or something. There is just no way that he would be trusted by the Soul Society to help them out without him having some pretty heavy connections to them,' Ichigo thought.
Deciding that voicing his thoughts probably wouldn't be the smartest of calls Ichigo followed his instincts, "Who the hell are you geta-boshi (Hat and Clogs)?"
Urahara only struck an overly dramatic pose, clutching his chest in feigned pain.
"Oh how disrespectful the youth of today is! In my day we would have never said such a thing!"
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in frustration, 'Great not only do I have to deal with my dad acting like an idiot there's this fool.'
Quickly switching back into the carefree persona from before Urahara waved his small fan and spoke, "But allow me to introduce myself. I am Kisuke Urahara, owner of this fine establishment. How may I be of service to you young folk?"
Rukia chose that moment to speak up, "Nothing too much. I just need to have you look my Gigai over and possibly pick up some Mod Souls if you have any laying around."
Urahara began making his way to the front door of his shop with Rukia and Ichigo following behind him.
"Mod Souls eh? Why Rukia did I not give you one when you first came to my humble shop? What ever would you need another for?"
Ichigo had the strong feeling that the shop owner was smirking behind that fan of his.
"Well you see I ran into some…complications and as of right now can't fulfill my duties so I instead made Ichigo here my Substitute," Rukia nervously said, fidgeting as Urahara's gaze turned to her and then Ichigo.
"Hmm so this young lad is now your partner? I do hope you know what you're doing Rukia. You and I both know what the consequences of your decision could mean," Urahara said in an uncharacteristically serious voice.
Walking into the shop Urahara gestured for the two to take a seat at the table that sat in the middle of the small room.
Ichigo was intrigued by that tid-bit of information though, "Wait consequence? Why would Rukia get in trouble for doing what she did?"
Urahara turned a grin on Rukia, "So you did not inform our young human friend about what exactly you have done eh?"
Rukia only began to fidget under the combined gaze of the two males.
Taking note of Rukia's nervous state Kisuke chose to speak up, "Well what Ms. Kuchiki here failed to tell you is that the Soul Society, The Gotei 13 and Central 46 more so, do not exactly look fondly upon bringing mortals such as yourselves into our little world."
Ichigo's eyes widened at the new information, "Wait so what Rukia did was illegal?"
"Well no not really. You see Central 46 and the Gotei 13 would rather not involve mortals, even those who can see spirits and such, in what is their job. While it's not really illegal to enlist the help of a mortal it is not something that is looked upon in a good light. I wouldn't fret though. The most Rukia will get is a slap on the wrist, especially with the backing she has."
"Who are the Gotei 13 and the Central 46? Why do they have a say in all of this?" Ichigo asked.
All traces of humor left Urahra as he lowered his fan, his steel gray eyes becoming noticeably hardened, "The Gotei 13 or the Thirteen Court Guard Squads is the main military branch of the Soul Society and is divided into thirteen different squads with different duties, specialties, and a Captain that is in charge of that squad. The exception to this is Squad One which is headed by the Captain-Commander, the head of all of the Gotei 13. His squad is made up of only the best of the best. The Central 46 is the political governing body of Soul Society that dictates the laws, policies, and other such political decisions."
'That's it. This guy has got to be a Soul Reaper. There is no way that he knows so much about the Soul Society and its inner workings otherwise,' Ichigo thought with narrowed eyes.
A smile slowly made its way onto Urahara's face as he spoke, "But enough of that serious business. Tessai!"
In came a man that easily towered over Ichigo, with muscles that bulged and made him look like he would easily blend in with a some biker gang or weight lifting competition. The cornrows and handlebar mustache only served to further this opinion.
The blue apron the tall muscular man donned however contrasted that thought.
"Yes Mr. Urahara?"
"Could you please make some tea for Ms. Kuchiki and Mr. Kurosaki while I go and retrieve the items they need?"
"Of course sir."
The man was gone in a blur with Urahara following at a more sedate pace, whistling some tune and twirling his cane like a baton.
For awhile neither of the two spoke, Ichigo wrapped up in his thoughts and going over all that he had just learned and Rukia still somewhat nervous about what Ichigo would think. She wasn't close enough to him for his opinion of her to really matter to her all that much but he was still her "associate" when it came to their job and the last thing she wanted was for it to be awkward for the two of them to work together.
"...thank you," Ichigo whispered.
Rukia turned curious eyes on the tall orange haired teen.
"What? Why you looking at me like that?" Ichigo asked with his usual scowl and gruff speech coming to the forefront.
Rukia only shook her head, "Why are you thanking me? I pretty much blackmailed you into doing my job."
Ichigo sighed as he relaxed his posture and ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, while I'm not exactly happy about that I'm thanking you because you helped me save my family. And although you're making me do all this Hollow hunting and crap you've also given me the power to be able to protect my family and friends and for that I am grateful."
Rukia could only shake her head in disbelief. Most people would either be angry at her or outright hate her for throwing such big responsibilities on them in such an underhanded way but Ichigo seemed to be more than happy to do so as long as it meant that he could keep those he cared about safe from the dangers of the world, living or otherwise.
It was at this time that both Tessai and Urahara waltzed back into the room, the former carrying a tray with cups of warm tea.
"Unfortunately it seems that I no longer have any Mod Souls in stock so you'll have to make due until I can get some ordered and delivered here," the odd shop owner said.
Ichigo turned a curious eye on the knowledgable blonde, "So what is a Mod Soul exactly and why do I need it?"
Urahara only grinned that infuriating grin of his, "Well a Mod Soul is an interesting little thing that not only ejects your spiritual body but also carries a manufactured soul that inhabits the vacant body so the user's body is not just left out on the side of a street when they need to do battle."
The concept and usefulness of such a thing was not lost on Ichigo, especially with him still technically being human and having to attend school and other things. However something Kisuke had said had caught his interest,"Wait, manufactured soul? As in souls made in like a factory or something?"
"Indeed," was Kisuke's curt reply.
Ichigo flinched at the thought of such a thing. The idea that the Soul Society had the ability to manufacture sentient and self-aware souls at will seemed just wrong. It violated the very laws of nature in such a way that it was actually kind of disgusting. Again Ichigo could clearly see how the Mod Souls could be useful tools for any Soul Reaper who was performing a mission out in the human world, but the fact that these damn near human souls were seen as just that, tools, left a bad taste in his mouth.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought so as both Urahara and Rukia both bore looks of shame and guilt.
After enjoying the delicious tea Tessai had made for them and with Ichigo getting fed up with the antics of the eccentric shop owner Rukia and Ichigo thought it best that leave.
However as Ichigo was about to exit the door he turned serious honey brown eyes and stared straight into the steel gray orbs of Urahara.
"I have a question...more like a favor to ask of you."
Urahara merely grinned, hiding his face behind his fan, "And what could I, a humble shop owner, do for a youngster like you hmm?"
"Cut the crap geta-boshi. I don't know exactly what you are but sure as hell aren't a normal human. I also know that you're strong and know whole lot about this whole Soul Reaper business. What I want to know is can you help me? Can you help me get even stronger?"
"Say that you're right and that I can indeed help you get stronger. Why would you want to? Why would I want to waste my time to train you?" Urahara asked in a deadly serious voice, all traces of his usually goofy persona gone.
Ichigo looked down and clenched his fists, "I can't give you a reason why you should take the time to train me, but I will tell you why I want t-...why I need to. I need to get stronger so that I can protect my family and friends."
Memories of the day he lost his mother flashed in his mind's eye, followed closely by the night not only a few days ago where he had almost lost his sister Karin, and then came the events of earlier today - watching helplessly as he tried, in vain, to try and save Orihime only for a Hollow to step in and do what he could not.
For awhile neither said anything, the gravity of Ichigo's words filling the silence with the weight of the power and emotion that were carried in them. Had anyone outside of Ichigo's family and close friends seen this display of raw emotion they would have been shocked to see the scowling youth with a dangerous reputation show such a deeply emotional side.
Though Urahara was caught off guard with Ichigo reaching out to him for some thing like training he was not at all surprised by his reasons for doing so.
'Isshin your boy really is something else. Masaki would be proud of the great person he's grown into...'
Despite the joy his thoughts carried Urahara's face showed no outward signs of said nostalgia, keeping up the serious facade for a little longer.
"Be here tomorrow before sundown and we'll talk about setting up a schedule for you."
Ichigo just nodded in response, the fires of determination burning in his eyes.
'Things are going to be getting even more interesting around here,' Urahara mused to himself as he watched the young teen walk off with Rukia.
AN: A rather shortish chapter but I did say I wanted to have this out soon and the next things I want to write would extend this to about 10,000ish words or so, which I suppose most of you wouldn't mind. However I don't feel like prolonging this any longer and this contains quite a few significant changes to the overall story that I think are good enough to stand on their own.
The whole Orihime and Ichigo thing, yes I know that's not how it goes. I intentionally tweaked that bit. Tatsuki and Orihime are no less closer than they were canonically, it's just now Ichigo played a significantly larger role which I think is only fitting.
As you can see I'm also sticking pretty close to the canon timeline but I hope that the changes I've made are enough to keep you interested in reading.
Also unless Nel gains a massive boost or something it looks like Yoruichi has won the poll. I'll leave it up for a little longer just to give the others a slight chance to take the lead, though I doubt that will happen with Yoruichi so far in the lead.
On another note there is a link on my profile that takes you to my youtube channel where I record things. As of now it's all guitar covers that I've done and I would appreciate it if you could go over and watch some of them and spread the word about em.
And lastly I am finally back in school and due to the fact that my campus is about a two hour commute I have quite a bit of time to spend on writing. Thanks to that you can expect a little more frequent updates of my stories which I'm sure most would appreciate.
Be awesome and leave a review telling me what you think. Criticism is welcomed and flames will be met with derisive laughter then shared with friends to give us something to laugh at.
Until next chapter!
Peace out!