"Here!"

Ichigo gets a plastic candy dispenser with a duck head tossed at him. He turns it over in his hand, then shakes it. "What is this?"

"Gikongan," Rukia says. "I got them especially for you. It'll get you out of your body in case I'm not around."

"Really?" Ichigo says. "Looks like candy to me."

"It's an artificial soul," Rukia says. "When you swallow it, it'll push your soul out of your body, then animate it and follow your commands. So you can get someone else to deal with your body for you instead of leaving it lying around."

"I don't really get it," Ichigo says.

Rukia crosses her arms. "Try it and see!"

Ichigo dispenses a small green pill into his palm and studies it. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Perfectly!" she says. "Now hurry up, stick it in your mouth and see what happens!"


"I knew this was a bad idea!"

"You whine too much," Rukia says, running without bothering to look at him.

"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo says. He stops and grabs Rukia's arm to drag her to a stop. "Forget it, we lost him." He spins her around. "You were saying something about a mod soul. What does that mean?"

Rukia sighs. "This'll take a bit to explain."


"So," Ichigo sums up, "it's an illegal experimental soul that's part of some secret project something-or-other of Soul Society?"

Rukia nods. "And where did you get this thing again?" Ichigo says.

Rukia flushes. "It may not have been the most reputable venue, but there aren't any alternatives in this world! Otherwise I would never have turned to that shady shopkeeper son-of-a—"

"Ah," Ichigo says. "You got it from Urahara."

"Wait," Rukia says, "how do you know—"

Ichigo turns on his heel. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Huh?" Rukia stares after him as he marches off. She dashes after him. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"We're taking our complaints to the owner!" Ichigo calls back without slowing down.


CRASH!

"Urahara!"

Tessai, rummaging through some boxes in one corner of the shop, looks up and doesn't bat an eye from Ichigo kicking the door in. "Ah, Kurosaki-san. The boss is in the back. You can rest assured he's working on your problem."

"He better damn be!" Ichigo says. "Now tell him to get his ass out here—"

"My, my, if it isn't the new substitute shinigami!" Urahara emerges from the back of the shop, hat tilted on his head, fan covering his grin. "I hear you've been having some difficulties on the job?"

"If you don't deal with the crazy mod soul possessing my body, you'll be having difficulties," Ichigo snaps.

"Wait, hold on!" Rukia steps between them, looking from Urahara to Ichigo as if she's not sure who to glare at. "You two know each other?"

"Kurosaki-san and I go way back," the shopkeeper says glibly.

"Don't talk like that!" Ichigo says. "It's barely been over a year!" He crosses his arms. "Forget that. What are you gonna do about the mod soul?"

"Patience, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara says. "We just have to prepare a few things here, then we can track it down and neutralize it. It won't be difficult. You're welcome to have some tea here while you wait."

Ichigo's tone shifts. "Neutralize it? What do you mean by…"

"We'll take it back through any means necessary," Urahara says. "Hopefully without having to resort to violence, but I will fully reimburse you for any damages to your body—"

"And once you have him," Ichigo says, his frown deepening. "What happens?"

Urahara shrugs. "Why, we're going to destroy it, of course. We can't have a potentially dangerous thing like that running around. Soul Society would have my head if they found out."

Ichigo is silent, scowling at the floor. Without warning, he whirls around and strides toward it, throwing it open.

"Wait, Ichigo." Rukia starts after him. "What are you—"

"C'mon." He marches out the door. "We're gonna find the mod soul."

Rukia glances back into the shop. "Before Urahara does, you mean."

"Yeah," Ichigo says, looking out over the rooftops of the town. "I have some questions to ask him."


"So that's why I refuse to kill anything!"

Ichigo looks thoughtfully at the mod soul. He huffs and turns away, leaning against the railing.

"Big philosophy for a little pill, huh?"

"You probably think it's silly," the mod soul says, pouting. "Well I think—"

"I don't think so," Ichigo says. "Sometimes you just gotta find some belief to cling to, cause nothing else is sure in this world."

The mod soul looks down and remains silent.

A wooden sandal clacks against the ground to Ichigo's right. "Oh, what's this?"

Ichigo looks up to see Urahara standing over the mod soul, who suddenly looks mortally terrified. Urahara raises his cane and jabs it through his head, ejecting its green pill form, which bounces along the ground before rolling to a stop. It's a very lonely-looking green pill, Ichigo thinks.

Urahara bends over and scoops it up, tossing it up and down in his hand. "Okay, mission accomplished! Let's go home."

"Hey!" Ichigo leaps up. "That's not yours!"

Urahara glances at him from under the brim of his hat. "It certainly is my responsibility. I'd be in hot water if word of this incident gets out."

"Now," Suddenly Rukia is standing behind him, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground. "I seem to distinctly recall paying for that item. Are you in the habit of confiscating a customer's belongings?"

"Kuchiki-san!" Urahara turns around. "I'd be happy to give you a refund—"

"That won't be necessary." Rukia gives Ichigo a measuring look. "We'll keep it."

Urahara shrugs and tosses it at Ichigo. "I do hope you two know what you're getting yourselves into."

"I can handle it," Rukia says.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Ichigo says, pocketing the pill. "If Soul Society comes knocking at my door, they won't know what to arrest me for first."

Urahara huffs a breath and tilts back his hat, watching the two of them walk off.


It's raining. The street is dark. The deluge pounds the town into submission.

What is he doing here, again?

The town seems so empty. It's like he's the only living human here, like the looming houses and shadows around him are populated by ghosts. His footsteps stand out from the white noise of the rain. He could swear he's inviting attack.

From what? What's out there, waiting?

He's so tired, but he can't stop. If he stops, it's over.

He's looking for something, isn't he?

What?

What's he searching for?

Ichigo cracks his eyes open. He's staring up at his bedroom ceiling in the dark.

He rolls onto his side, shivering, pulling the blanket tighter around him. It feels like the chill of the rain has soaked into his bones.

'It's a dream, king,' his hollow says.

A dream? He scrubs the back of his hand across his eyes and half-rises from his pillow to grope for his alarm clock. He blinks at the lighted display until his eyes focus. It's 4 o'clock. He collapses back in his bed, slinging an arm over his eyes.

'It's tomorrow.'

"I know that," Ichigo mutters.

He shifts his arm aside, staring blearily at the ceiling. "I don't really want to go to school."

'Then ditch,' his hollow says. 'You're never any fun.'

Ichigo rolls over. "I think I should just do the opposite of whatever you say."

The hollow scoffs. 'Are you going tomorrow?'

"I don't know," Ichigo mutters.

'I know you don't know.'

"Then why are you asking?" Ichigo says.

He hums. 'Your sisters don't like going without you. They worry about you when you get like this.'

"You're saying I should go."

'You've avoided it for long enough, don't you think?'

He hadn't gone last time. He'd locked himself in his room until he was sure he'd go crazy if he stayed there any longer, and then he called up the Visored and he and Hiyori spent the rest of the day beating the crap out of each other. Hiyori is useful for that.

Ichigo stares out his window at the inky black of the night. "I don't know how to face her."

'Your parents' deaths weren't your fault, King.'

"I know that," Ichigo says. "You've said that enough times."

'You better check the forecast,' the hollow teases. 'There's an excuse to not go, if it rains.'

"It's not going to rain," Ichigo says, staring at the sky as if his saying it will make it come true. He dares it to rain.


He ends up lying awake for two hours. In the morning, Rukia pushes open the closet door with a yawn of "Good morning."

She blinks and looks at him. "Ichigo? You don't look well."

Ichigo scrubs at his face. "I'm fine," he says, then because she doesn't look convinced, "I didn't get much sleep."

"That so?" Rukia says.

Ichigo turns over and draws the blanket over his head. "Leave me alone."

Rukia shrugs and heads downstairs for breakfast. He had introduced Rukia to his family, which went a lot better than he expected, and Yuzu had taken to her immediately and insisted on cooking for her. Meanwhile, Karin makes snide jokes about how Rukia insists on sleeping in his room. By now, Rukia is acting like she belongs here.

So that's how they adopted a shinigami.

Ichigo sighs and sits up. He just has to get moving, or he'll be stuck here thinking forever. He just has to pretend everything is fine for this one day. Tomorrow can be tomorrow's business.

He throws on the first clothes he finds and heads downstairs.


Yuzu pokes her head out of the kitchen. "Hi, Ichi-nii! What do you want for— oh."

Ichigo is standing in front of the giant poster of Masaki on the wall. He has a hand laid on it, staring unseeingly at Masaki's smiling face, her eyes so filled with life.

He hasn't had the heart to take it down. It reminds him of his father. Reminds him of that day. His mother lying on top of him, blood cooling in the rain, and his father falling to a hollow with a smile across his face.

Both his parents died for him. Why? How can he call himself a protector, if he's too weak to save the people he cares most about? What exactly is it he protects?

'Gain strength,' the voice in his head murmurs. 'Become strong enough so that no one can ever hurt you or yours again. I'll stand beside you.'

Ichigo nods. "Yeah," he croaks, staring at the poster.

He turns and staggers away from the wall, only to stop as he finds Yuzu in his way. She throws her arms around him and buries her face in his shirt. Ichigo tenses. He raises his arms and, not knowing what else to do, folds them around her.

"Don't be sad, Ichi-nii," she whispers against his shirt. "We won't mind if you don't go."

Ichigo glances away. "I'm alright."

"But you look so sad," she says, looking up at him earnestly. "You always pretend, but you don't need to do that here."

Ichigo sighs, but a smile plays at his lips. "I can't get anything past you."

He gently unwraps her arms from around him and she steps away, watching him worriedly. His hand lingers on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll go this year."

She perks up, her eyes brighten, and her face as a whole seems much lighter. "Really?"

Ichigo gives her an awkward smile. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

He turns toward the kitchen, and she trails him there. She hums as she throws herself into preparing breakfast.


Yuzu is pouring over a checklist with a worried intensity. "Did we pack enough water?"

"We're only going across town," Ichigo says, perched at the table next to her.

"Umbrellas," Yuzu says, looking up from the paper. "What about those?"

"How could it rain?" Karin says. She's lounging at the other end of the table, head propped up in her hands. "The weather's been great lately."

"You never know when it might rain," Yuzu says sagely. "We should pack umbrellas." And that's case closed for Yuzu.

"Don't worry so much." Karin flaps a hand. "We've done this before, hey?"

"I'm not worrying," Yuzu says, picking up the checklist and poring over it again as she walks away from the table.

"Get a good night's sleep!" Ichigo calls after her. "It's a long hike tomorrow."

Yuzu makes an answering sound.

"That goes for you too," Karin says, getting up. "Sneaking out whenever to kill hollows—don't think we don't notice."

"Jeez, looks like I'm caught." Ichigo smiles sardonically after her. He heads upstairs after the two of them and lets himself into his room. Rukia is sitting on his bed, kicking her feet idly against his mattress.

"So," she says brightly as he walks in, "you're ditching school tomorrow and going on a picnic or something?"

"It's family business," Ichigo says.

"That's admirable," Rukia says. "It's good to see a family so close."

"Rukia." Ichigo catches her eye. She looks questioningly at him.

"Could I take a day off on my shinigami duties tomorrow?"

She looks affronted. "What? No, of course not! What's with you, Ichigo? You've been acting strange lately."

He supposes he has. He turns away, looks out the window. "It's the anniversary of my mom's death."

"Your mother is dead?" Rukia says. "Is she the woman on the poster?"

Ichigo nods. Rukia smiles slightly. "She's beautiful."

"Yeah," Ichigo says. He wanders his way to his bed. "Night, Rukia."


Tomorrow is, by all rights, a beautiful day. It's so different from that other rainy June six years ago. The sun is glaring down even this early in the morning, and Ichigo is relieved when they reach the shaded path of the forest.

They get to the detour in the path, where Ichigo lingers behind his two sisters. Yuzu glances over her shoulder at him.

"You two go on ahead," Ichigo says. "I've got something to handle."

"Huh?" Yuzu says. "What do you mean?"

"Sure thing, big bro," Karin says, hooking Yuzu's arm in her elbow and marching off. "Come on, let's leave Ichi-nii alone. I think he has some personal stuff to deal with."

"What? Wait!" Yuzu says, getting dragged off by Karin. They round a bend, and Ichigo immediately hears them start whispering in none-too-quiet voices.

Ichigo turns around, crossing his arms and looking at the trees just off the path. "Why are you here, Rukia?"

There she is, dropping from a branch and landing lightly on the ground. She takes up a posture mirroring Ichigo's. "I'm here in case you need me."

"And why would I need you?" Ichigo says. He realizes just after saying it that it's a bit rude, but Rukia's being a bit rude.

"In case a hollow attacks," Rukia says, stepping out onto the path. "It could happen, you know."

"I don't need your help to deal with a hollow," he says, turning away. She falls into step behind him.

"What's that now?" Rukia says. "You don't need your shinigami powers? Do you think you're going to punch a hollow to death?"

"Watch me," Ichigo says, deadly serious.

Rukia smirks. "Oh, my. I'm sorry I questioned the great Kurosaki Ichigo, who's been a shinigami all of two weeks."

"Cut it out," Ichigo says, but can't summon up much real ire. Her being here, even her sneaking halfway to the cemetery with them, isn't all that bad when it comes down to it. He already feels less tense with her around.

They round a bend and catch sight of the entryway to the cemetery. Rukia lingers outside.

"I'll wait for you," she says. "I know I said all that about hollows attacking, but try not to think about them. This is your day."

Ichigo nods, walking ahead into the graveyard. His feet take him on the familiar path between the headstones almost automatically. "See ya, then," he calls back.

Try not to think about hollows? She has no idea, but they're all that's on his mind.


"His mother died when he was nine. It was an accident, they never found the cause.

"He didn't come to school for a while. I found him near the river where she died. He had his little backpack on, walking up and down the riverbank from morning to night. It's like he was looking for her.

"I couldn't stand to see Ichigo like that…"


Ichigo stands in front of the grave, staring at the stark black kanji across gray stone.

Mom… could you ever forgive me?

I'm sorry. I say I'm going to protect everyone, but you two died to save me.

Urahara told me. Who you were and how the two of you met. He's training me to use my powers. I don't know if you'd be very happy with that, but this is something I have to do. I want to stop running away. I want to get stronger for the people around me.

Even though it seems all I do is fight for myself…

I'm a shinigami now. Rukia gave me her powers. Maybe if I can use them to help people, to save souls, the sacrifice you made would have been worth it.

His hand clenches into a fist at his side. I swear someday, I'll find the hollow who killed you.


"He was fourteen when his father died. This was just a year or so ago, the October before last. They said it was a car accident, but…

"I asked Ichigo once and he said it wasn't an accident. Then he told me to drop it and he never talked about it again.

"He missed school for a few days and when he came back, he didn't act like himself. He was wild, angry, lashing out at everyone around him. Some kids mocked him and he put them in the hospital. He never hurt his friends, but he pushed us away. I was so worried."

Tatsuki leans back on her hands, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh.

"In the end, none of us could help him. It was some man who showed up out of nowhere, claimed to be a family acquaintance—Urahara-san—and a gang of his friends. I think that Urahara guy took charge of their family's affairs and might've become their legal guardian. I can't imagine how.

"Ichigo dropped out of school for about a month. He was spending all his time with them. He called it training, but he never answered any questions about it.

"He eventually returned to school and he was acting a lot better and maybe he was better. But something seems different about him now, and there are so many secrets, so many things that'll make him clam up if you ask. It feels like there's such a distance between us now.

"And what I'll never be able to forgive myself for… Ichigo was hurting, and I couldn't do anything for him. It was a bunch of strangers he just met who helped him. I don't know how I can call myself his best friend like this…"


Rukia sits perched on a ledge overlooking the graveyard, her feet dangling over the edge and her dress fluttering in a light breeze. She can pick out Ichigo easily below her, standing at his family grave. There's mingled grief and regret in his face and weariness held in the set of his shoulders, of a kind she usually sees in people decades older.

He doesn't look like the teenager he's meant to be. He often doesn't. He's a human who's barely gone up against half a dozen hollows, yet the way he acts in battle doesn't speak of inexperience. He carries himself like a warrior.

Rukia sighs and looks up at the sky. Ichigo is full of mysteries. Rukia might never puzzle them all out, but at the moment, that doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes Rukia feels like they've known each other forever, and sometimes she realizes she doesn't understand him at all, but there's always an unspoken trust between them she can't explain.

A dark sensation ripples through the air. Rukia tenses. She gets to her feet, looking around.

A hollow? But she's heard nothing from her phone. She looks to Ichigo. He's also on alert and glancing around.

She's in the process of digging in her pocket for her phone when it rings. She flips it open and curses. The order's come late. Damn the scanners at twelfth, they fail at the worst of times.

She looks up to find Ichigo is gone.


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