Chapter 9
He moved to grab the handle of the front door to the house.
"Stop right there young man. Where do you think your going? You have fireworks to finish for the festival." He turned to look at his grandmother. She stood there with her hands in her kimono sleeves with a stern expression on her face.
"I'm going out to look for Ichigo. He's not on the Shiba estate, and he could be anywhere." Grandmother's expression turned into a frown.
"What are you trying to do with that boy? Keeping him locked up within the estate and hidden from the other clans will not be good for him." He gave her a pained look.
"Grandmother, he's hurt and blind."
"That doesn't mean you need to treat him the same as Kameko. Kameko's a child, Ichigo's a warrior. He can protect himself. How would you feel if you couldn't leave the house?" He relaxed his grip on the door handle and let it fall uselessly at his side. Grandmother was right. He certainly wouldn't like to be stuck in one place. What allowed him to control Ichigo? He just wanted to protect him. To keep him from getting hurt. He had seen the pained and hollow look in Ichigo's eyes.
"I just don't want Ichigo to get hurt anymore. I can tell he's been through hell. He's been through more than he deserved." Grandmother's frown turned into a small upturn of her lips.
"You always try and protect those who needed it. Your father was the same way when he died. Protecting citizens from a hollow attack. What you are trying to do with Ichigo is to much though." He gave a small painful smile.
"I guess your right as always Grandmother." She gave a soft huff of air.
"Of course I'm right. Besides I've already called off the search team. You can look for him at the festival. I'm sure he will be around for that." She shooed her hand at him. "Now go finish those fireworks."
The market was filled with the sound of people. Ones who shouted out their wares, the murmur of gossip, children running around playing. It was all so overwhelming. He could almost see it.
Talk of a festival floated through the air. He wondered what the festival was about. He turned to Katsumi who held his right hand.
"What's this about a festival?" Katsumi became excited and bounced up and down, simultaneously tugging on his hand.
"Ichigo-sama it is one of the best festivals. The summer festival has so many things to do. There is dancing and singing. Free food. People telling stories. There are even going to be fireworks, curtesy of the Shiba clan. That's the supplies we are going to collect. Even nobles will be out and about."
"That sounds like it will be fun. Are you and the others going?"
"Yeah. We go every year. Akihiko-san gives us each a little money to spend on whatever we want. Akihiko-san is so kind. You are too, Ichigo-sama. I hope you can come with us to the festival."
His shoulder bumped into someone before he could reply. He stopped and looked towards the other person. They had stopped too. His small amount of reiatsu jumped in surprise. He must have noticed his eyes.
"Sorry, I did not mean to hit you." He heard a deep chuckle.
"No problems. It's not your fault anyways, but be careful though. This place can get very busy around this time of year." One of the girls tugged on his sleeve. This reiatsu belonged to Shizuka. He turned to her.
"Is there something wrong, Shizuka?" Little arms latched around his leg and a face buried themselves on his thigh. The head shook back and forth in a no. A tug on his other side alerted him.
"Shizuka is just shy around strangers." Katsumi explained. Tadashi interrupted from behind him.
"Ichigo-sama, I shall help Hikaru to gather the supplies needed. Call my name if you need anything." He nodded towards the man.
"Thank you Tadashi." The man from before gave another chuckle.
"You seem to have your hands full. Are they all your children?" He shook his head.
"No. They are not mine. I just came to get some fresh air and came with them to gather the supplies needed."
"You don't seem to be the type to go out shopping. Are you one of them nobles? Cause you got yourself an attendant shopping, while you are talking to me." He shook his head again.
"No I am not a noble. Tadashi is just helping out. I will be leaving shortly though." He placed his hand on Zangetsu. "I just protect those that I love. But there is no need for that anymore, so I'll go where my feet take me."
Or where I'll take you King. You know to where all the fights are. He mentally scowled at his hollow as Shiro manically laughed.
The man before him gave a hum in thought.
"Are you sure your not a noble? That's something that the Shiba clan would say. I think that they are the best out of all of the oldest clans. They strive to keep the peace between everyone, even at the cost of their own life." The man slapped his back and laughed. "Even if you aren't a Shiba, you sure look like one. Would you like help gathering your supplies, Shiba-sama? You can call me Michio." He tried to protest.
"Michio-san, you don't need to trouble yourself over me. I am sure you have many things to attend to. There is no need for you to call me a Shiba." Michio gave another loud bout of laughter. He was a very happy man. There probably wasn't a single mean bone in his body, if his reiatsu was anything to go by. It held nothing but happiness, contentment and excitement.
"Nonsense Shiba-sama, just call me Michio. There's no need for the san. Let's go find your other friends and help them out. I'll carry everything for you."
"I will not be able to pay for your labors."
"That is alright Shiba-sama. In exchange, you must stay for the festival that is happening tonight. I would like to hear some stories if you don't mind. I bet you have some exciting ones, right?" He gave a small exasperated smile. This man was as stubborn as the Shibas themselves.
"Alright. I will stay for the festival. And yes there are many exciting stories that I can tell."
"That's great. I also want you to meet my daughter tonight at the festival. I could even show you around if you would like. " The man grew silent for a moment. "How about you come to my house for lunch and stay until the festival starts this evening. My wife would love to have you over and to meet you Shiba-sama. And I'm sure that my daughter, Yuko, would love to play with the children who are with you." Katsumi, Akemi and Shizuka began tugging on his sleeves and bouncing up and down.
"Yuko! Do you mean a girl with brown hair and green eyes?" Katsumi blurted out.
"Yes. Tell me how do you know about my daughter?" Michio said cautiously.
"We play with Yuko all the time at our secret hiding place. She's told us about you and your family. She loves to talk." The male gave a tired sigh.
"That sounds like Yuko. I always wondered where she would run off too. Besides she would also talk about a group of friends that she had. Thank you for looking after Yuko. I can see that she is in good hands."
"Please Ichigo-sama, can we go? We want to go see Yuko." He turned to Akemi. A frown upon his face.
"That would trouble Michio-san and his family."
"It's honestly alright Shiba-sama. Besides your family always provides the fireworks every year for the festival. It would be an honor to have you dine with us." He sighed. So stubborn.
"Alright. Lets go finish shopping for supplies." The girls hoorayed and took off without him with silent Shizuka in tow. That left him to follow with Michio.
He struggled to keep from bumping into anyone, but wasn't having very much luck.
Sense the reiatsu of those around you Ichigo, and avoid them.
He scowled both mentally at Zangetsu and physically at how he didn't think of that. Shiro howled with laughter.
That's because you can be so dense at times King. You either need things told or beaten into ya. Sometimes you do it subconsciously though.
He scowled even harder. Concentrating on those around him, he moved to avoid those closest to him while trying to maintain a relatively straight line towards where he felt Tadashi and the children's reiatsu. Michio was following silently behind him. The small amount of reiatsu he exuded showed surprise.
He reached the stall where the others were at as the vendor thanked them for their patronage.
"You all left me behind." Katsumi gave a guilty squeak.
"I'm so sorry Ichigo-sama. We did not mean to leave you alone. We were just so excited to finish shopping so we can play with Michio-san's daughter." He waved it off.
"It's okay. I know you guys are excited." There was a collective sigh of relief from the children. Tadashi took this moment to speak up.
"Ichigo-sama all the supplies have been gathered, and I have heard that you have been invited for lunch from the children. Is this true?" He sighed.
"Yes it is. Michio has kindly offered to house me in his home until the festival tonight. I have a feeling he just wants to hear some stories before I tell them at the festival. Isn't that right Michio?" He turned to the other male who gave a light guilty laugh.
"Ahh, I guess you caught me huh? You don't have to come if you don't want to." He shook his head.
"No I have already promised to come."
"Ichigo-sama since you will be going, I shall accompany you. Hikaru and the others can run the supplies back and catch up with us. I assume that they know where Michio-san's house is?"
"Yeah we do. So we'll be right back." With that Hikaru and the others dashed off at breakneck speeds.
"Shall we go?" He nodded and followed as Michio lead the way. He lead them through the markets and onto a dirt road. He heard the rustle of leaves above them. There must be trees around. Farther down the road he sensed three other reiatsus. One was older and decidedly more feminine as it bustled around a house. There was a small child near her and an older child that was outdoors moving as if tending to a field.
Coming up to the home, the older child stopped then ran inside bringing out the lady of the house. They stood there waiting as we came up the walkway. Michio's reiatsu flared with happiness and he rushed ahead to meet with the woman standing there.
"Sachiko we have some guests that will be staying with us until the festival tonight. Come, come. You will be surprised at who our guests are." Michio gently pulls his wife over to them. He stood there with Tadashi at the fence line. "Sachiko this is Shiba-sama. I had bumped into him on the street as he was gathering supplies for the festival tonight. Shiba-sama, this is my wife Sachiko." He bowed as best as he could towards Michio's wife.
"Very nice to meet you, Sachiko-san. It is very kind of you to let me into your home."
"Shiba!" Sachiko squeaked. She started pulling her husband away from them. "Please excuse us for a moment Shiba-sama." They stood far enough away to only be able to hear them whisper but not make out what they were saying. Sachiko was whispering furiously at her husband who attempted to placate her. Looking to his right he felt the children come running up.
"What is it Ichigo-sama?"
"The children are coming." As soon as he said that the children came barreling over towards him. Shizuka latched onto his haori sleeve, Hikaru stood at his side, while Katsumi and Akemi stood leaning against the fence.
"Yuko!" Both girls shouted slightly breathless. He could almost imagine them waving furiously at the girl who stood near the house. The girl's reiatsu gave a jump in surprise, then came running up to greet the girls. Michio and Sachiko had gone silent to watch the scene.
"Katsumi! Akemi! What are you all doing here?" The girls giggled.
"We came because we meet your father at the market as we gathered supplies with Ichigo-sama."
"Why are you with a noble?" Blatant disgust showed through her words. Sachiko came dashing up.
"Yuko! I apologize Shiba-sama, my daughter will be punished for what she said. Please forgive her."
"Ah, Sachiko-san it is quite alright. I'm no noble, so it does not offend me if she does not like them. There is no need for you to apologize or punish Yuko for what she said." Everyone had become silent and he expected them to be staring at him. Michio then burst out laughing.
"Shiba-sama, you are definitely not a regular noble are you? Why don't we all go inside for lunch?" Michio ushered them all in. Yuko and the two girls rushing ahead. Shizuka still clung to his arm, and Hikaru walked on his other side. He looked at both of them as the made their way to the house.
"You both can go play with your friends if you want. You do not need to stay with me on my account. I will be fine." Shizuka reluctantly let go to dash off after the girls. Hikaru adamantly stayed by his side. "Hikaru you can go too."
"Naw, I would rather stay with you then play with girls." He almost let out a chuckle. This boy was just like any other boy.
"Alright, you can stay with me if you want. I will just tell you now that it might become very boring for you, so I won't be offended if you leave to go play with the others." Hikaru remained silent.
"You are very good with children, Shiba-sama. I'm surprised that you do not have any children of your own." He stumbled, righted himself and turned around to face Michio. He felt a light blush rise on his cheeks.
"No, I don't have any children. I had to raise my little sisters. That's were I learned to work with kids." Sachiko came up beside him and gave him a little pat on his shoulder.
"Well I'm sure that my children will love you." With that she lead the way into the house. The children were talking in a circle around what he could assume was a table. Sachiko rushed around the kitchen prepping food. He moved to help her in the kitchen.
"Sachiko-san is there anything for me to help with?" Sachiko stopped.
"No, no, no, Shiba-sama there is no need for you to concern yourself with anything. You are my guest and do not need to do anything. Please just sit down and relax. Lunch will be done shortly."
"There must be something for me to help with later. You are housing me in your home for today, I would feel terrible if I could not help you in some way." Sachiko stood there in stunned silence. Michio gave a short snort and tried to conceal it by coughing. Sachiko was probably glaring at him. Hikaru then spoke up.
"Ichigo-sama likes to do things himself. He would work himself to the bone if no one stopped him." Sachiko gave a sigh.
"Alright, you can help me with the laundry later, but first you need to sit down and let me serve you." She forced him to sit at the table. The small child was placed on his lap. "You can look after Rin while you wait."
He moved through the crowd, trying to spot any sign of orange hair in the throng of people. He had heard rumors through the crowds that there was a noble telling stories. Stories that were completely different from the ones that were told before. A noble that had bright orange hair and was blind. It had to be Ichigo. There was no one like that that he knew of.
Entering the square of the market place, he noticed a large crowd of people standing in a half-circle. Moving closer to see what was going on, a large smile appeared on his face. There in the center was Ichigo, sitting on a wooden stool and is dark blue haori highlighted his long orange hair. He was telling something to the children that sat in front of him. Their eyes lit up in excitement as his hand moved to help show what he was talking about. Parents and other adults stood there raptured by what Ichigo was saying.
"She awakens from her sleep to find her lover dead at her side. He had stabbed himself to be with her in death. Crying, she took the danger in her hands and killed herself so that she could join him in death. The families of these lovers had found them, the priest told the story how they died. The families came together and ended the feud that killed their children. The end."
Women began sobbing. Men and children stood there is quiet silence. Then all at once applause broke out and everyone whooped and cheered. Ichigo to a bow on the stool. The children started begging for more.
"Get out of the way! Move it! You are standing in the way of the great noble Ryodoji-sama!" A male wearing a shihakusho shoved his way through the crowd to where Ichigo was sitting. Ryodoji had moved to stand behind him. He frowned. That man was a horrible noble both outside and in that had oily black hair and snake like eyes. He hated the man, and apparently so did the citizens. All of the citizens had moved to give a wide berth around them. They didn't want to get caught in a nobles wrath, but the concerned glances that they made towards Ichigo meant that they cared for the orange head.
Ryodoji's attendant pointed at him, and he began shouting again.
"Peasant, how dare you tell stories in the middle of the street. What gives the right to stand in Ryodoji-sama's path. Move before I force you." A group of children stood up in front of Ichigo, shielding him from the haughty man. He gave a start. It was the new trainees that he had welcomed into the Shiba estate. The boy, Hikaru, spoke up.
"Ichigo-sama did nothing wrong. He is allowed to tell stories if he wants too." The attendants face twisted into a terrible looking snarl.
"How dare you talk back to me street rat?" The man raised his fist and brought it down to strike the child. He went to move, but he knew he wasn't going to make it. As fast as lightning, Ichigo moved Hikaru and took the blow himself. The whole crowd gasped. He could feel the fear from the citizens change into anger. This would not be good. He needed to intervene. Moving through the crowd, he entered the ring.
"What is going on here?" Ryodoji turned to him, and gave him and evil smirk.
"Nothing Shiba-san. My attendant was only putting a dog back in it's place." Ichigo scoffed. Ryodoji snapped his head to glare at Ichigo. This is bad, very bad.
"Your the one who needs to be put in their place. What gives you the right to boss others around? Is it your self-acclaimed noble blood or the fact that you don't need to do anything because an attendant will wipe your ass for you?" Ryodoji's face contorted into one of hatred and disgust before returning to his normal smug expression. The attendant beside Ryodoji turned purple in anger. He when to strike Ichigo again. He moved and caught the man's wrist.
"That will be enough. I will handle it from here. Everyone please go back to enjoying the festivities. The fireworks will begin shortly." The crowd slowly dispersed with many backward glances at the group. A family stayed behind, a man and a woman with a ten year old girl and a small two or three year old boy. He then noticed that Tadashi was standing there waiting to jump in. The children stood behind Ichigo. Two off the girls were crying and the other was clutching tightly to Ichigo's haori. Hikaru stood there stunned. Once he knew that the attendant wasn't going to lash out he let go and got between him and the others.
"Ryodoji-san why don't you continue with enjoying the festival. I will deal with him." Ryodoji gave another evil smirk. His eyes narrowed into slits.
"Yes of course Shiba-san." He moved to walk past them and stopped beside him. "You may have saved him today, but I will not let this insult go unpunished. All of those who rebel will be punished by death." Ryodoji hissed in his ear and left in a flourish of dark colored fabric. He knew that this wasn't over. This was just the very beginning and Ichigo was in the tick of it.
He sighed and turned around. Tadashi moved and stood in front of Ichigo, grasping his chin and inspecting the damage, all the while ranting at him and the children for doing such foolish things.
The family still there came closer. The man moved over to him.
"My name is Michio. I apologize Shiba-sama. I did not mean to cause so much trouble for you." He raised his eyebrow at the man.
"What do you mean?" The man rung his hands nervously together.
"I had asked Shiba-sama to tell stories at the festival. I did not mean to anger anyone."
"It is not your fault Michio-san. Please tell me how you meet Ichigo." Michio's face lit up with a large smile on his face.
"I meet Shiba-sama at the market place. He stayed with me and my family for the afternoon. He was a very kind guest and even helped around the house. You are very lucky to have him in your family. You should not let him leave." He looked back at Ichigo. He was trying to escape Tadashi's mother hen side.
"Yeah, but it is his choice wether to stay or not." He turned to Michio and his family again, and gave a bow to them. "Thank you for taking care of Ichigo." Michio smiled softly.
"It was my pleasure Shiba-sama. Please tell Shiba-sama that he is welcomed at my home anytime." Michio bowed with his family and shortly departed. He smiled softly at the leaving family before looking at his own. All of them being scolded by Tadashi. He gained their attention as he walked up to them.
"Let's go home."
A shout out to:
MistyPaws: Here you go this is the next chapter for you. We are very happy that you enjoy that this story is very different from other stories. We wanted to give an early chapter as a gift to all of our readers for the holidays.
innocent94: The next chapter is now up for you to enjoy. We hope you think this one is interesting also.
Ichiro Kurosaki: This chapter is now up for your enjoyment. We do have one question for you though. Do you, by any chance, happen to be related to the Kurosaki family?
hornet07: We are happy that you shared your thoughts with us. Do you mind telling us where you got these unpleasant vibes? We can also assure you that there won't be any yaoi or yuri in this story. Other characters will have romance. Ichigo will only have friendships. He will not have any sort of romance in this story.
NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: In this chapter, Ichigo will be able to see in a sense. But he won't be using just his quincy powers, but the combination of all of his powers. He can only see so much and that is because his powers are sealed within himself. As for the hell armor, we believe that it will be put into the story in later chapters when he will be fighting.
amazinglion29: We believe that you will be disappointed about the secret hideout in this chapter. Thank you for giving us a gold star for our story. Orihime does have her child, but Rukia does not. Both of them and their children die shortly after each other. This is very hard on Ichigo mentally to have all of his friends continuously dying.
Dragonblaze66: Thank you for PMing us. Yes, Ichigo does arrive before the fight with young Juha. Juha will be something that comes up later in the story also.
Frozen in Idaho: Thank you for enjoying this story so far. Ichigo will have a hard time healing both mentally and physically, because of all the trouble that he seems to get himself into.
Reddolution: Two words - Thank you.
Ongaku: You don't need to wait any longer. Here is the next chapter for you. We are really glad that you love this.
We apologize to all of you that read this story. We did not mean to update so late. Thank you to those who have reviewed and commented. Thank you to all of the silent readers that continuously read this story. Thank you so much for being patient with us and just for everything. We will update on time on Wednesday. Let us know what you think.
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