disclaimer:Observer Form The Dark does not own the rights to Bleach or any other intellectual properties from other owners that are used in this story, this story is a work of fiction and any and all resemblances to real life people or events are purely coincidental. please enjoy the story

The Tale of The Shaman And The Shinigami

"A what?" questioned a confused Ichigo.

With a small chuckle Kodai replies with "Shamans, they are humans who have entered into a contract with a spirit to gain power." a far off look shines in his eyes, they tell a story of pain and death the likes in which no one should see.

"That's what I thought you said." Sighing Ichigo shakes his head at the idea. "Are you some kind of Shaman then?" Standing up his face holds a stern look as he continues. "And what does that have to do with Shinigami, how do you know this stuff." his hands find perches in his pockets as his hand wraps around the badge that made him an official substitute Shinigami.

The smile drops from the mans face, looking Ichigo in the eye he speaks in a cold voice "Once, I was a Shaman. But that ended when a man out for revenge against someone close to me attacked me to get at my acquaintance. It ended with an event that hasn't happened since."

Put off by the look, Ichigo quickly regains his composure. "What happened"

"A human killed my Guardian Ghost" it took only a moment for the words to process in Ichigo's mind. A human, someone who shouldn't be able to interact with the dead killed a spirit. The first thing that popped in Ichigo's thoughts was how can a ghost die, but then remembers that even spirits can be killed.

"What happened after." know it probably not best to force the memories of the incident from the normally happy fellow.

Sighing, he continues "after that, I kinda lost some time. I'm a lot older than I look you know. Comes with the territory of being who I am. The next thing I remember I meeting a young man. He wore a black shihakusho and carried a katana. I think his name was Gen-something or other" looking to the false sky his story moves along. "At the time I still had massive amounts of spirit energy. So we experimented"

Ichigo quirks a surprised and a little disgusted look.

"Not like that! On if I could reform my spirit." confusion emanates from the listener. "You see, when a shaman forms a pact with a ghost a ritual takes place. This ritual take a piece from the guardian and the shaman and gives each other a bit of their soul. Gen and I thought that maybe since a piece of him was in my soul we could revive him like a shattered zanpakuto." Ichigo nodded along familiar with the process.

"The end results had given me the power in which I want to give to you." at Ichigo's interested gaze Kodai holds out his hand. "this is but a taste of what I'll give you" green flames of spiritual energy form from the air and surround Kodai's hand. Closing his hand around the flames the materialize a flawless Katana with a thick cross shaped tsuba and the handle wrapped in a fine red cloth. Swinging the blade the rest of the fire vanishes harmlessly.

Eyes wide as he witnesses the blade forming, he feels the longing to hold his own soul once more. And he remembers what was said earlier "what do you mean I will never be a shinigami again if I take your power?"

resting the blade on his shoulder Kodai answers "I say that because to do the technique that will allow you to use this you must use the remainder of your zanpakuto as base materials." Turning his back to Ichigo, he begins to walk away. "In other words, we're remaking your zanpakuto into something else. You think on that while I let the info sink in, a shikigami will bring your food to your room."

Looking down to his hands Ichigo begins to contemplate on the possibility to fight again if he gives up ever being a shinigami. Not paying attention he didn't notice until now that he's been sitting in his room for hours. Soon a small white thing comes in with a tray of food in its head. Jumping up on Ichigo's temporary bed the small paper doll places the tray down.

Throwing a quick and quiet thanks to the doll Ichigo begins to eat. Not realizing how long he went without eating. Memories of the winter war and the invasion to save Rukia flashed in Ichigo's mind. Details of the bond he made with Zangetsu strong in his head. 'If I do this, will I ever see you again?'

LINE BREAK

Isshin Kurosaki knew something was wrong. His son Ichigo was missing and in his place a highly advanced shikigami was in it's place. The only man he knows that could make such a thing was Kisuke Urahara. He knew Kisuke didn't have Ichigo because the two of them had been working non-stop for almost a year on a way to get Ichigo his power back.

The only reason he didn't destroy the thing was that it didn't do anything Ichigo wouldn't do. In fact, only his ability to sense that this was a fake was the only sign. To be able to copy Ichigo so readily that meant it was connected to his son, meaning as long as that thing still moved it showed Ichigo was still alive.

So he let the doll be his son. For now all he could do was wait and watch. Oh, and tell Kisuke that he needs to up the security on Ichigo when he gets back. That had to be why Ichigo is missing. And thus Isshin fell into one of the clichés of the universe, when something goes wrong blame Kisuke.

LINE BREAK

Walking into the training room Ichigo sees Kodai laughing and talking to people who Ichigo can't see. He doesn't know whether they're ghosts or Kodai's just messing with him. Walking up Kodai turns his attention to Ichigo. "Well, have you made a decision?"

Looking into Kodai's eyes with no doubts in his mind he decides "I'll do it."

AN: Now comes the decision. Ichigo is going for it! This doesn't make him a shaman. He's using the techniques that Kodai had created after he lost the ability to be a shaman. And for those who need a canon explanation on what a shaman is. think of them as self-made fullbringers who use the combined emotion and attachment of both the shaman and the guardian to determine the for the fullbring, or as shaman call the Over Soul, to make something to fight spiritual beings with. Well i think that i need to stop before this becomes an author note chapter with a little bit of story. enjoy.