"Speaking"
'Thoughts'
Flashback
Zanpakuto/Technique
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
Chapter 1:
Ichigo's Dilemma
The war is over. Aizen has been killed, and both the human world and the Soul Society has been saved from total annihilation. And it was all thanks to the young Shinigami who had done anything to fulfill his goal. Kurosaki Ichigo was been declared as the savior of the world, by the Soul Society. And he was praised with gratitude and glory from everyone.
However, the sense of gratitude and glory could not lift his spirit up from the deepest depression that he had received right after the war. A depression that could not be cured in any way. And that depression left a permanent scar in his heart. All because of the one person that he lost. Inoue Orihime.
She had sacrificed herself to kill Aizen for the sake of keeping Ichigo alive. But her death had created a hole in his heart that could not be healed. Not even with happiness and everything that might be joyful.
Her death had changed Ichigo's life for the worse. It was all coming back to him. The death of Orihime... was the same as the death of his mother many years ago. This time, that death was something that he couldn't cope out for an eternity. He had lost the one person who made him happy. And without her, that happiness could not come back.
It was then that everything had begun to go back to normal. The towers that were been set up around Karakura Town had been removed, bringing it back into its normal state. And everyone from the town who had been asleep back in the Soul Society had returned to their home, without any memory of what had happened during the battle in the fake Karakura Town. However, friends of Ichigo and Orihime were all just in time to see that Orihime had died.
A funeral has been set up for her. And everyone were present there. Both the human friends and some of the Shinigamis who were in their Gigai at the time. To some of them, Orihime was known to be the one who helped Ichigo into defeating Aizen. But her death seemed to be their despair, as they lost a valuable ally. But the one who suffered the most of it was Ichigo himself.
And then, life began to move on, after two months. And Ichigo's despair had not disappear from him. He would indeed spend his life with the sense of despair for the rest of his life...
Two months later, after the end of the war, everything went out normally as before. It was a Saturday morning, and the students of the Karakura High were walking through the streets to get into school. Just like any other days, everything went out as usual.
"GOOD MORNING ICHIGOOOOOOOO!!!" cried out the enthusiastic and probably insane Keigo, as he charged inside of the classroom to lunge himself to Ichigo. As he was about to be closer to the orange-haired boy, he suddenly notice that Ichigo was not trying anything against Keigo's charge. And with that, the joyful student immediately stopped himself, as he appeared close to him. As he looked up to Ichigo, he gave out a look of concern. "Ichigo?"
Ichigo slowly turned his head to look at his friend, his face showing no emotion, except for depression. "Oh... Hey, Keigo... How's it going?"
Keigo was hesitant at first. Once again, Ichigo was acting depressed as usual, just like he was two months ago. And that was when they were attending to Orihime's funeral. He wasn't sure if he could answer him, since Ichigo was still using the same depressive air. "Um... Good, I guess. How about you?"
Ichigo didn't asnwer, however. Instead, he just turned his head back to where it was facing before, unable to look at Keigo any longer. "... If you need me, I'll be at my desk..." Ichigo simply said, as he walked away from his friend, going through some desks before reaching his own, where he sat down quietly on the chair.
Ichigo was following the same routine every day, for the past two months. Not even once that he was showing other emotions other than depression. And it was starting to bug Keigo a little, since he wasn't himself for two months. "Ichigo is still not himself, huh, Keigo?" asked Keigo's friend, Mizuiro, as he was walking towards him, witnissing the same scene all over again.
"Yeah. Ichigo's been like this for two months. I mean what's gone into him, anyways?"
"Maybe it's because of Inoue-san's death. It's been affecting him ever since." replied Mizuiro, as he looked over to the orange-haired boy, who just simply sat still on his seat, without even making a slight movement whatsoever.
"True... But that was two months ago. Why can't he just get over it? I mean, sure that Inoue-san's dead, but even I got over her death after a few weeks or so. So why can't he?"
"... Because unlike you two, Ichigo knows much much Orihime is to him." The two boys heard a voice behind them, as they turned themselves around to see Tatsuki, standing there behind them.
"Oh, Arisawa-san! How do you do?" said Keigo, using his joyful voice once more to greet Tatsuki. However, she didn't answer to his greetings, and that led him to pout a little, as he wasn't getting any response. "Aw, come on, Arisawa-san! Don't leave me hanging with an unanswered question!"
"Uh, what is it that you're saying, Arisawa-san?" asked Mizuiro, as he took a step in, pushing Keigo out of the way, just a little.
"I'm saying that Orihime is special to Ichigo. As far as I know, she was the only one who gave him a special feeling, whenever the two of them are close to each other. But with her gone, that special feeling went along with her. And here he is, depressed as hell. All because he lost her..."
"Well, isn't there a way to get him out of that silly depression? Anything at all?" asked Keigo.
Tatsuki just simply look away from the two boys, as she began to walk past them, going to her seat. But not until she said one more thing to them. "... You can't change Ichigo's feelings, Keigo. Orihime is important to him. And with her dead, there's no point for him to live on a happy life without her around. You just have to accept the fact that he won't change, no matter what."
Hearing her words, the two boys were starting to think about it. What if she was right? What if no matter what they do, Ichigo won't go back to his normal self? Mizuiro took another look at Ichigo, and understood his condition of it. "... You know, she's right. Maybe we should just leave him alone with what he's feeling right now. Leave him be, and eventually, he'll start to get over it himself." he said, before he started to walk to his seat as well.
Keigo took a look at Ichigo as well, concern of the condition that he was in. He looked so pale and unemotional. It's as if his life was gone, along with Orihime. Looking at him sadly, Keigo understood that he, as well as the others, won't change him. "... I'm sorry, Ichigo..."
----------
The school day went along as usual, and as the day ended, all of the students of the school were starting to exit it to return to their respectful homes, as they were looking forward for the next day, which was Sunday, meaning a day-off from school.
As they quickly went their way back to their home as quick as possible, only Ichigo decided to go through the long way there, as the depression that he was feeling deep inside of his heart was still there, and that he needed an extra time to go through it out. Needless to say, he always go for the long way just by thinking about the depression that he was in.
After a couple of hours of walking through the streets, he eventually reached his house, as the day had just vanish from the sky, and the night took its place. As he opened the door and got inside of the house, he could only murmured out, "... I'm home."
As soon as he said that, Isshin quickly appeared next to him, delivering a swift circular kick at his son, as his leg got him, sending him sliding down on the floor, where his head eventually hit one of the stair cases, somewhat. "Ah-hah! You're late again, Ichigo! That's what you get for being home so late! Don't try to do the same thing again, you hear me?!" Isshin shouted, expecting some kind of comeback coming from his son.
However, unlike what he was expecting, Ichigo slowly stood up from the floor, supporting himself by holdong onto the wall. As he got up completely, with his back facing his father, he spoke out two simple words. "... Evening, dad." he said, before he walked up to the stairs, going to the next floor.
Once again, Ichigo was feeling down, just like before. And seeing him like that made Isshin sigh. It was then that his two young daughters joined in on him, as they both looked at where their big brother left. "Uh oh. Ichi-nii is depressed again." said Yuzu, who was starting to worry about her brother after the entire morning and afternoon.
"Man, it's been like this ever since we went to Inoue-san's funeral. You don't think that her death is all he's thinking about?" said Karin, as she looked at her twin sister, who just simply shrugged in response, unable to know if it was really the case.
Isshin wanted to try and solve the problem with Ichigo. It had been far too long that he was depressed like that. And he didn't want to go through it with Ichigo again. "I'll go up ahead to talk to him. Maybe I can talk some sense out of him." he said, as he began to walk forward to the stairs.
"What are you going to do with him, Tou-san?" asked Yuzu.
"Oh, what does it look like?!" Isshin stopped walking, as he quickly turned around and push up his right sleeve, before showing the muscles he had on his right arm. "I'm gonna beat some sense out of him! That way, he'll snap out of his moody self and learn to behave normally, and that'll be all thanks to my amazing strength! Hah hah!"
The two sisters had different reactions to it. Yuzu was getting a little more worried, as she thought that beating him up might get him hurt badly. While Karin was getting pretty annoyed, as her father just came up with another reckless idea. "Oh man..." she moaned.
"And now, here I go! here comes your big and ferocious daddy, Ichigo! And I'm gonna show you that it's not right to be mopping around this much!" Isshin shouted, as he quickly ran up to the stairs with a goofy expression on his face.
As he got up to the second floor, he ran ahead until he stopped just in front of Ichigo's room, where the door is closed. Arriving there, Isshin dropped his goofy expression and went back to his normal self, as he calmly knocked on the door of his room. "Hey, Ichigo? It's me. Can I come in?"
"... Sure." He received an answer from the other side of the door. Isshin complied, as he turned the doorknob and opened up the door. Upon opening it up, he saw Ichigo sitting on the edge of the bed, his face still showing no emotion except for one. As Isshin sighed at seeing his son in the same state as before, he walked over to him before sitting on the bed next to him.
"So... Having another bad day, huh?" Isshin asked.
"No kidding, dad..."
"Just as I thought." There was a small silence between them. And that silence was broken, when Isshin spoke out once more. "So... You still can't forget about her death, huh?"
"... How can I forget about that? Inoue is gone... And it's all my fault..."
Isshin sighed once more. "So that's what got you depressed? That it was your fault that you're responsible for her death? Ichigo, I saw it with my own eyes. You're not the one who caused her death."
"... Or maybe you're just not seeing it through. Inoue sacrificed herself when she knew that I'm going to die, all because I've left myself open to Aizen's mercy..."
"She sacrificed herself because she wanted you to live. It's not because of you that she did that. She didn't want you to die. And that's how she did. By killing herself to kill Aizen. Simple as that."
"How would you know about it? If you were in my place, you would feel like you're responsible for her death."
"If I was in your place, I would have gone over the fact that she's dead. You can't continue to live on with the depression you have when she died. You'll only end up hurting yourself thinking about it."
"It's not that simple, dad... I can't get over her death... And I don't know why I'm still alive... I don't deserve to live... I deserve to die, where I was chosen to have..."
"... What's that, Ichigo? Are you saying that killing yourself will bring happiness to everything? Are you saying that by killing yourself, there will be bubbles, butterflies and flowers floating around to celebrate the return of happiness?! Are you an idiot, Ichigo?! If you kill yourself, you'll only bring out more sadness to everybody, including me and your sisters!"
"Then what do you want me to do?!" Ichigo furiously turned his head at his father. "If you think that killing myself won't make everything back to normal, then what do you think I should do?! Pray for the damn Gods to give me the happiness that I don't even deserve?! Do you honestly believe that I'll do just that?!"
"That's not what I'm saying! If you kill yourself, you'll only put Inoue-san's last words in vain! You'll only go against what she wanted you to do!"
"How would you know about her, anyway?!" Ichigo shouted, as he stood up from his bed, facing his father with anger in his eyes. "You don't even know her that much! And yet, somehow, you acted as if you know her well than I do?! What are you trying to say?!"
Isshin was about to protest even further, but he stopped, as he thought that protesting more and more would only get worse between the two of them. He slightly looked away from his son, looking as if he was feeling ashamed. "... I do, Ichigo." he said, receiving a disbelieved look from him. "I know a lot about her, because... Unknown to you... She's your light. She's the only person who made you feel special. She's the only person who you really wanted to protect. She's your everything, Ichigo. She's everything to you... Just like how your mother was everything to me as well, before she died..."
"... My light..."
"I know how you feel about losing your light, Ichigo. And I know that it's hard to get over the fact that she's dead. But sooner or later, you will get over it and start moving on with your life, respecting Inoue-san's last words. Don't blame yourself just because you feel like you're responsible for her death. We all feel responsible for others' deaths. And we all learned to move on from it. And I'm sure that you'd do the same as well."
"... Thanks, dad." Ichigo said, as he slowly turned himself around, his back facing Isshin once more, as he prepared himself to walk away. "... But it's still not that simple. Just like you said, Inoue is my light... But I can't forget about how I lost that light. And nothing you will say will get me over it. Not even in a million years..."
As Ichigo was about to walk off from his room, the two of them heard a knocking coming from behind. As they turned themselves around to see what caused that knocking, they were surprised to see a familiar black-haired Shinigami standing outside of the window, wearing her Shinigami outfit, as she was knocking lightly to get the two's attention. "Rukia..." Ichigo simply said.
As she got their attention, Rukia opened up the window of his room, before entering there, as she then stood on his bed. She let out a small smile to the Substitute Shinigami. "Hey, Ichigo. How's it going?" she asked. Then, she moved her gaze towards Isshin, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Unlike with Ichigo, she bowed to him. "And it is a pleasure to meet you again, Kurosaki-sama."
Isshin smiled at her, as he remembered that Rukia had learned about him being one of the previous captains of the Gotei 13 a while ago. He returned the greeting with a slight nod to the young Kuchiki. "Right back at you, Kuchiki-san."
Rukia continued to smile at Isshin, before she got herself straight up once more, turning her gaze to Ichigo once more. "Hey, you got a moment, Ichigo?"
Ichigo didn't felt the need of wasting some more time talking to someone like Rukia. But since he got nothing to lose, he sighed, as he turned around to face her. "Alright, what is it now, Rukia?"
"Do you mind coming with me to the Soul Society? I've been asked by someone to go and get you so you can meet that someone. And don't worry, I already got permission to enter the human world so I can get you."
"... Why would I go with you to do just that?" he asked, thinking that it would be a waste of time to go and meet someone that he didn't even know. "I'm not going if it's for a stupid reason such as that."
"Oh, come on, Ichigo! You're the savior who defeated Aizen before he could cause any more trouble to both the human world and the Soul Society. And there are still a lot of people over there who wanted to praise you with their gratitude! Don't you think you want more of it from them?"
"Like I said, I'm not going if it's for a stupid reason such as that." he repeated, as he turned around ocne more to face the door, preparing himself to leave. "Aizen is gone. And I have no more business with the Soul Society. Remember, I'm not a Shinigami. I'm just a human with Shinigami powers." He then took a step forward, then taking another step, and then, he was walking to the door, attempting to leave the room.
However, he soon stopped when he heard a beeping sound coming from behind. As he, as well as Isshin and Rukia, turned to see what caused the beeping sound, he could see his Shinigami badge blinking up, indicating that there was a certain something appearing in the town. It was laying down on his drawer chest.
"The Shinigami badge..." Isshin said, remembering the badge that a certain Ukitake Jushiro had gave to his son. "That means that there's a Hollow appearing in Karakura Town."
Ichigo let out a soft sigh. He didn't want to deal with a Hollow attack right now, but when he thought about it, he realized that it had been a while since a Hollow appeared in the town. Two months, in fact. And by dealing the Hollow, he would breathe a fresh air to relieve himself. Knowing that he could kill some time slaying a Hollow, he walked to his drawer chest, picking up his badge, as he placed it on his chest. "Alright, it's been a while." he said, before he suddenly got separated from his body, as it fell to the ground backwards. Now, he was wearing a Shinigami outfit, with his large Zanpakuto strapped on his back. He climbed up to the bed and went through the window, entering the outside air. "I'll be back as soon as I can, dad." he said, before he leaped off from the roof, as he set off to slay the Hollow that appeared in the town.
Isshin watched as Ichigo was leaping away from the house. He knew that it was Ichigo's job to slay a Hollow that appeared in the town, and he promised himself that he would protect it at any cost. But he doubted that slaying a Hollow would get his mind off of Orihime's death. The father than looked up to see Rukia, but upon seeing her face, he looked rather surprised.
Rukia was watching Ichigo going away along with him, but she was seeing smiling, as she watched him go. And that made Isshin feel a little curious as to why she was smiling. "Uh, hey, um... Don't you think that you should help him?"
"I don't think Ichigo needs my help." Rukia shook her head. "But even if he does need any help, it won't be from me."
"Then who might help him out?"
Rukia looked down to Isshin, her smile showing confidence. "Someone that both you and Ichigo might find out soon enough..."
----------
A Hollow attack... It had been two months since he encountered one before. And now, it revealed itself once more in Karakura Town. And he had hoped that slaying a Hollow would get his mind off of things... Things except one in particular that he won't forget.
He was jumping off from building to building, trying to find the Hollow as soon as he could, so he could beat the crap out of it to relieve himself. But where was that Hollow located? It couldn't be too far away, right?
Well, to his luck, there was a large creature flying up to the sky, in front of the building that he had just landed on. Running closer to the border of the building, he looked up to face the creature that just appeared before him, gripping his Zanpakuto from his back.
That creature revealed itself to be a large snake-like Hollow, with a mask similar to a skullhead of a snake. As it was flying up above, it laughed out of joy, as it began to spin itself around in circles around the sky. "Hah hah hah hah!!! Souls... Fresh, human souls...! They're all here! Right in this very town! And they are all mine for me to devour!! Hah hah hah hah!!!"
"... Not on my watch, Hollow!" Ichigo shouted, as he pulled his Zanpakuto from his back, as he moved it in front of him.
Hearing Ichigo's voice, the snake-like Hollow quickly looked down to see him standing on a building. "A Shinigami?! Already?!" it said, as it quickly descended itself down, just until it was at the hiehgt of where Ichigo was. After a few spins, it stopped to face him with its hallowed eyes. "I thought that Shinigamis are a little slow on their feet, since they're still in the Soul Society! But I guess you might be on patrol here! So it's not really much of a surprise, in fact!"
"I don't have time to play around with you... So I'll have to make this quick!"
The snake-like Hollow laughed out, as it felt the joy of fighting a Shinigami such as Ichigo. However, while it was laughing, it took a simple look at him once more, it stopped its laugh. "Wait a minute... That orange hair... That large Zanpakuto..." it said, trying to know if those two things knocked up his mind. Then, it let out a small chuckle of satisfaction. "I remember you! You must be Kurosaki Ichigo! The Shinigami who had vanquished Sousuke Aizen-sama! So you are here in a flesh!"
"... So even in Hueco Mundo, I'm popular with the Hollows... Not in the good way, that is." Ichigo said, as he gripped onto his Zanpakuto harder, ready to face the Hollow at any time.
"Hah hah hah hah!! How amusing! It would be a pleasure to devour your soul! Screw the human souls around here! It's your soul that I want now!" it cried out, as it began to charge its head straight to Ichigo.
However, Ichigo easily blocked that charge with his Zanpakuto, as he was resisting the strength that the Hollow had in it, which ended up making him slide back a little. But not so much to take him down. Ichigo quickly pushed the Hollow's head off of him, but the Hollow retaliated with a swift tail attack to the side. Ichigo quickly dodged it by jumping off from the building. It was also the way for him to jump straight to the Hollow's head.
"Not so fast!" it shouted, as it opened up the mouth of its mask, as a large energy orb was forming inside of it. Then, the energy was shot out into several energy beams, scattering straight at Ichigo.
However, it wasn't enough for him, as he easily blocked the beams that were going to his way off. He continued to lunge himself forward to the snake-like Hollow's head. However, its tail quickly made its way above him and slapped him down straight to the ground. However, Ichigo managed to regain his balance and landed safely on the ground, with a heavy impact. Looking up, he noticed that the tail has been thrown down at him. He quickly jumped off the ground, as the tail missed him and hit it instead. He landed back up to the building, and then, he lunged himself once more at the Hollow.
Once again, the Hollow moved its tail up straight at him. However, as he noticed another tail attack from below, he quickly kicked it down from reaching it, as he got closer to the head. "You're mine!!!" he shouted, as he lifted his Zanpakuto up and swung it down straight at the Hollow's head, who gasped of shock to see him making an attack that close.
But once his Zanpakuto made contact with the head, Ichigo widened his eyes, as he saw that something was wrong.
His Zanpakuto just stopped right on the head. He made his strongest swing at the Hollow, and yet, his Zanpakuto just stopped right into contact with the head. And he was using the sharp side of it as well. "Wh...What?!"
"... What is this?" said the Hollow, as it got confused as well. But the confusion then turned into disappointment. "Your attack... It stopped right when it made its contact with my head. Normally, you would be able to slash through my head, ending me, but instead... Your attack feels dull!" It then quickly pushed Ichigo off of its head, along with his Zanpakuto, sending him flying back a little.
As Ichigo was being pushed back in the air, he quickly recovered and landed back on the building that he jumped off from. He let out a lowly growl, as he looked up to the Hollow again. He also looked down to his Zanpakuto with his eyes showing disbelief of what it had just happen. His Zanpakuto was unable to cut through the Hollow. But why? It wasn't like that before. He could easily cut any Hollow down without any problem. So why now? "What's going on...?!"
"It's as if your Zanpakuto is becoming dull, all of the sudden! But why? Normal Zanpakutos can't become this dull! There is something that we're missing around here.... But who cares! As long as I know that you cannot cut through me, then I will finish you off easily!"
"Damn it...! That Hollow's right...!" Ichigo said, as he believed that his Zanpakuto was becoming dull for some reason. He couldn't tell what the reason is. But he couldn't waste any more time thinking about it, as he thought up another way to finish it off. "If I can't cut you down with my Shikai... Then I'll have to use this one instead!!" he shouted, as he placed his Zanpakuto in front of him, as it pointed at his enemy. He was now focusing his energy into the one ability that he had to rely on for the battle. Once he had gathered enough energy, it was the time for him to release it. "Ban... kai!" he shouted, evoking out his Bankai.
However, once more, there was something wrong with unleashing his Bankai.
Ichigo wasn't transforming. And his Zanpakuto still retained its large form. Not only that, but he didn't felt an increase of energy. And all three of them made him widened his eyes in shock once more, as he learned that he was unable to use his Bankai. "But... What's going on?!" he shouted out.
But suddenly, he was quickly caught into the Hollow's tail's hold, as it wrapped itself around Ichigo and caught him in its grasp, squeezing him tightly, as he groaned out of pain. The Hollow then moved its tail closer to him, so it could see Ichigo in its grasp. "Bankai... That is the second stage of your Zanpakuto, correct? You were just about to unleash it... But what is this foolishness? Why aren't you transforming?! Are you testing out my patience?!"
Ichigo was stump as well. He didn't know exactly why he couldn't transform. He did gather enough energy to unleash his Bankai, but somehow, he couldn't transform. And both the fact that he couldn't slash through the Hollow and the fact that he couldn't transform into his Bankai was something that he couldn't understand. And here he was, trapped in the Hollow's hold because of those facts.
But the Hollow seemed to have the answer of those facts, as it looked at Ichigo in curiosity. "What's this? Your Reiatsu... The energy that you hold inside... It's been messed up. It felt like it was scattering around inside of you, unable to find a way to unleash itself. Is that it? Is that why you can't either transform or cut through me?"
"W... What...?!"
"And the reason why your Reiatsu is like that... there is something that prevented it to be letting out. Some sort of... emotion, perhaps?"
Hearing what he said, Ichigo let out a quiet gasp. Emotion... is the reason why he couldn't cut the Hollow down or transform into his Bankai? Was the thought of Orihime's death by his fault preventing him from unleashing his full strength? No, it couldn't be right. There was no way that something like that could possibly affected him. As he remembered that he was still in the Hollow's hold, he tried to free himself off from its tail, with all the strength it could muster.
The Hollow just simply laughed, as it knew how much of an advantage it had against him. "Hah hah hah! How amusing! Now that I know that you're becoming weak from the scattered Reiatsu, it will be easy for me to eat your soul! And I will be declared the Hollow who devoured the soul of the savior who killed Sousuke Aizen-sama!" it shouted, as it slowly opened up the mouth of its mask, as it slowly moved its tail inside along with Ichigo.
Ichigo was struggling harder against the hold. But each time that he tried to muster out his full strength, he found himself still trapped tightly in its hold. He could have easily break himself free from its hold, but because of his Reiatsu being spreading around, just as it said, he couldn't. And he was about to get devoured by it, as Death's Door was waiting for him in the belly of the beast.
However, just before that Ichigo got inside of its mouth, a clean swipe was slashing at the tail, cutting it from the Hollow, as it began to cry out of pain. With the tail being cut off, Ichigo found himself free from the Hollow's hold, as he was falling down to the ground, with the severed tail still around him. But then, he felt himself being caught by someone from below, as he was being pulled back up to the building, where he suddenly got off from someone's hold, as he fell off on the floor a few inches away.
"Aargh...!! Who... Who did this?!?!" The Hollow shouted out, as it looked down to where Ichigo was. But also, to where someone else was along with him. "Huh? Reinforcements? And it's a female Shinigami?"
After he got back onto the solid ground, Ichigo was busy trying to get the severed tail off of him. Once he was done with that, he looked at what was in front of him. He saw someone standing in front of him, facing the Hollow with a katana in his hand. And that someone was wearing a black shihakusho, just like a Shinigami wears. And hearing from the Hollow that it is a female Shinigami, he had only one person in mind. "Rukia?!" he said, as he looked up to further look at the person who he thought was Rukia.
However, when he looked up, he saw something that made him believe that it wasn't Rukia, but another person. And she had a very, very familiar hair.
Long, auburn-colored hair.
And seeing it, Ichigo's eyes were widened in shock. His mind immediately went through the one thing that came in mind, upon seeing that hair.
"Hmph! No matter! You don't look that strong to me, female Shinigami! So I'll have to devour you as well!" the Hollow shouted, as it began to charge itself straight to the female Shinigami.
With her back still facing the shocked Ichigo, she slowly moved her Zanpakuto in front of her, before shouting out an incantation. "Bloom, Tsubaki!"
Tsubaki...? But that's the name of one of...!
As soon as she said that, her Zanpakuto had begun to transform in a different form. It then became a black katana with the tsuba being shaped as a series of flower petals. The bottom of the hilt had a long black vine, which curled itself right up to the bottom of the blade, wrapping it around in its black nature. If we looked closely at the sword, it almost resembled a flower, in a shape of a sword.
The female Shinigami then lifted her Zanpakuto up, before spinning it around in a full circle. And on that circle lied eight energy spheres. Once she made the full circle and created the energy spheres, she pulled her Zanpakuto back, attempting to unleash a powerful attack. "Sanpatsu Hana (Scattering Flower)!" she cried out, as she thrust her Zanpakuto to the front, as the eight energy spheres all turned into beams of light, as they were all going straight at the charging Hollow. By then, the eight beams quickly spinned itself around each other, as they all formed together into a large beam.
Upon seeing the large beam, the Hollow was shocked. "Wh... What?!" it shouted, before the large beam got through to it, ripping it through, as it cried out of agony. And with that, the slain Hollow dissipated from the town.
After the Hollow was defeated, the female Shinigami moved her Zanpakuto back to her, as it reverted back to its original form. She then sheathed her Zanpakuto into its sheath, signifying the end of the battle.
Ichigo was still shocked, as he was standing up from the ground, still holding onto his Zanpakuto. There was two things that got him shocked. The female Shinigami's hair, and the name of her Zanpakuto. The two things were something that is connected with other parts inside of his mind. But... could it be that... the female Shinigami is...? "Wh... Who are you...?"
The female Shinigami, with her back still facing Ichigo, had her head moved slightly at the sound of his voice. And without any more time to waste, she turned herself around to face him completely.
Ichigo's heart skipped a beat. That face... That familiar face... The hair, the name of her Zanpakuto, and her face... There's no doubt about it! It was...
"... Inoue...?!"
The young, auburn-haired princess smiled gently, as she was able to see a long time friend once more. "It's been a while, isn't it... Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo was still in too much of a shock, as he let go of his Zanpakuto, letting fall to the ground in a loud clinking sound. His eyes were showing disbelief, as he couldn't believe who he was seeing. The familiar friend who he had long lost a long time ago... is standing there in front of him, as a Shinigami. The same as he is. "Y... You...! But... But...!"
"Yeah, I know. I was surprised myself." she said, as she scratched the back of her head and stick her tongue out, in an embarrassing matter. "I didn't know that we get to meet up with each other like this. So I was kinda nervous to see you as who I am right now. But I think it's going rather well, right?"
Her voice... Her sweet voice... How long has it been since he last heard her voice?
"So... How is it going, Kurosaki-kun?" asked Orihime, as she let out another soft smile at him. "I mean, I heard that you were having a rough life, ever since I was gone. So I came here just in time for you to know that I'm--" However, she was cut off, as she felt a pair of hands holding her hips, as she was being pulled in, making her gasp out of surprise. And before she knew, she was in Ichigo's hug, as his arms were clinging around her closely. "K-Kurosaki-kun...?"
"I... Inoue...!" Ichigo choked out, as a certain emotion overwhelmed him completely, as he couldn't help himself, but to pull Orihime into a tight hug. "You're... You're alive...! You're actually alive...!"
"Actually... I'm dead, Kurosaki-kun. And I've been reborn as a Shinigami, you see..." corrected Orihime, as she was still a little surprised that he pulled her into a hug.
"It doesn't matter...! What matters the most is that... You're here...! You're here in front of me...! I thought I lost you forever...!"
"Kurosaki-kun..." She didn't know how much Ichigo had suffered after her death, until now. She could feel how much Ichigo was happy to see her there. And seeing her formed a large impact into his heart, as it was over showered in happiness. When she listened closely, she could hear him sobbing quietly. Smiling widely, she slowly returned the hug, showing him that she was still there with him. "Kurosaki-kun... I'm back..."
Orihime has returned. And as a Shinigami, just like Ichigo. That was all that matters to him the most. And he couldn't be anymore happy than he would ever have.
And so, the heart that's been wounded by the death of the withered flower has been restored, by the return of the flower who blooms anew.
The Black Moon and the White Sun have reunited at last...
End of chapter
Well, I'm done with this chapter. And... the ending seems... a little off. Why? Am I osing my writing touch? Or am I spending too much time on the chapter that I somehow rushed it before the eternal night comes?! How did I messed it all up?!
Anyways, yep. Hope you guys are happy with this chapter. Orihime has returned to the human world for Ichigo! But that doesn't mean that the story has ended. There are more coming up. And I hope the next chapters are more perfect and successful... I hope so.
Well, Ja Ne! And review, Kudasai!