R & R

home

And so another day had come and gone in Seireitei Kingdom. For many who resided there, the return of their orange-haired Court Guard lifted their spirits to the skies and set happiness in their spirits.

That very Court Guard, Ichigo, burrowed comfortably under his soft, warm comforter, woke up when it proved unable to keep the morning sunlight from reaching him.

Yesterday, he had gone out to see everyone he had missed while he was away and then came to the clinic. It took so long catching up with them that when he'd come home to greet his family, he found they were all asleep on the couch waiting for him. But that wasn't so bad because today, the first thing he would see would be their smiling faces.

Something soft jumped onto him and then walked up to where his head rested under the sheets.

"Ichigoooooo! You're baaaack!"

Said boy cringed at the sound of that familiar high-pitched voice. "Ugh…"

"Come out from under the sheets and face me!"

"Kon, leave me alooone!" he responded groggily.

"Now how do you like that?! I'm here in this lonely bedroom of yours for a whole week waiting for you to come home, avoiding that crazy little sister of yours like the plague, and this is the greeting I get?!"

Kon, one of the four stuffed plushies who had been imbued with Reiatsu by the Twelfth Division of Seireitei's Court Guard Squads, and therefore given life, had been given to Ichigo a few months ago. He didn't know exactly why Urahara and Kurotsuchi had created Kon, or why Rukia passed him along as a present to him, and he felt like he never would.

If he was honest with himself though, Kon did keep him company on those days when he was at home alone for an extended period of time.

"Kon… leave me alone… I'm trying to relax…"

"No way! It's time you learn a lesson in-"

A knocking on the door made the plushie whip around and stare at it anticipatingly.

"Onii-chan? Are you in there?" Yuzu, the younger twin of Ichigo's sisters, called from behind the door.

"Oh kami…!" Kon whispered fearfully.

Ichigo quickly sat up and threw his sheets back, sending the stuffed lion flying across the room. "You can come in, Yuzu!" He responded.

Kon was out in the open. The boy smirked deviously because he knew if Yuzu saw him, she was going to take him to her room and give him the punishment he deserved: being dressed in girly clothes and suffocated with affection.

When the door opened, Kon bolted to hide behind the dresser in the corner and began praying for dear life.

"Onii-chan!" Yuzu exclaimed happily when she saw her brother in all of his bedheaded glory.

She ran over to him and threw her arms around him lovingly, saying how much she, Karin, and their father missed him.

"Yuzu… I'm fine."

"I- I know! But when they filed that missing person's report, everyone was so scared! We thought you were lost out in the desert… or kidnapped, or killed!" the girl cried out through a shaky voice. She was clearly on the verge of crying.

"I'm home now. There's no need for you to worry so much. Have some faith in your older brother." Ichigo said consolingly.

While Yuzu had her face buried in Ichigo's neck, Kon saw his chance and made a break for the closet. However, when he heard Karin and Ishiin coming down the hallway, he made for the quickest hiding spot: underneath Ichigo's bed.

"Onii-chan!" Karin said as she entered the room, her expression and voice both heavy with relief.

"Karin, Dad…" Ichigo said with a warm smile.

Ishiin came in and leaned his bulky frame against the wall before returning that smile. "I'm glad you're home, son."

"Oniiiii-chaaaaaaan!" Yuzu cried, her arms still wrapped tightly around her older brother.

Karin, seeing that Ichigo needed to get ready for the day ahead of him, walked over and put a gentle hand on her little sister's shoulder. "How about some breakfast, Yuzu?" she asked.

"R- right! Onii-chan! What would you like?! I'll make anything you want me to!" the double pigtail-haired girl said after unwrapping her arms from around Ichigo's neck.

"Anything you make will be fine. You know that, Yuzu."

"I'll cook something special for you then!"

"Sounds good to me." The boy said with an adoring look.

Kon watched as Yuzu's socked feet touched the floor and left the room with Karin right behind her.

Ishiin, however, stayed leaning against the wall.

"Dad…" Ichigo said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Ichigo, I… I heard about your fight with that Espada. And I just have to say… I'm so glad you've come home in one piece. I don't know what Yamamoto will do about this, but-"

"The old man's not going to do anything. Aizen already laid out a punishment for Grimmjow."

"Grimmjow… That was his name, huh?"

"Yeah." Looking down, the boy brought his hands together and twiddled his thumbs nervously, "Dad… I didn't win. He beat me and then almost killed Rukia and Renji... I can see now I'm not strong enough… If the kingdom were to go to war, I wouldn't be of any use to anyone-"

"Ichigo," Ishiin interrupted, "You're home and safe. That's all that matters to me. You lived to fight another day, and to everyone here, that means more than you realize."

"… I'm going to talk to Urahara to get him to train me some more."

"Don't."

"What? Why?"

"Well, you wouldn't find him anyway because Urahara isn't in the kingdom at the moment. He's out doing research and won't be back for a while."

After hearing that, Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed hopelessly. Urahara was supposed to be his answer. He was supposed to help him get stronger, so that next time he saw Grimmjow he wouldn't lose. But if he was gone, then what did that mean? "I guess… I'll have to find another way to get stronger then…"

Ishiin turned to leave, but stopped when he remembered something.

"Why are you hiding your Reiatsu by the way? Afraid of being found by everyone?"

"Oh… um… no, that's not it. It's just best for me to keep it hidden for now…"

"Hmm, well whatever will help you recover, go for it son. I'll always believe in you, and in the choices you make. I know your mother would, too if she was still here." The man said, and then exited the room.

Now completely alone, or, at least free of human interaction, since Kon was still cowering under the bed, Ichigo unintentionally took in the sounds of everything around him. He noticed the little things, the birds chirping noisily outside, the sound of the flowing pond in their neighbor's back yard, the sound of the gentle winds blowing against his window, all of it. Looking out his window at the kingdom that sprawled itself almost as far as his eyes could see, he sighed.

Being home was very different than being in Grimmjow's room.

"Grimmjow…" he muttered.

What was he doing right now? And more importantly, how exactly had Aizen demoted him?

"Thinking about whoever that person is?" Kon asked, and then jumped up onto the bed comically. Ichigo remained quiet as the little lion walked over to him. "I'm curious about where you were for all the time you were missing. Were you lost in the desert? Eaten by a giant scorpion? Or held hostage by desert bandits?!"

"No… I was none of those things…"

"Then where were you?"

"I was nowhere."

"Don't lie to me, Ichigo! I'll find out the truth! And stop masking your Reiatsu! I can't tell if you're lying when you do that!"

"If you can't tell if I'm lying without sensing my Reiatsu, then how can you say I was lying?"

"Because you sounded like you were lying! The only reason I'm mad about this is because you left me alone in here for so long! I almost started talking with your sneakers for crying out loud!" the stuffed lion exclaimed accusingly.

"… Can you leave me alone, Kon? Please? I have some thinking to do…"

Kon folded his arms, said "Hmph! I'm losing interest in this whole mess," and then jumped off of the bed. "If you want to sulk around all day, I won't stop you! I'm going to get some rest in my favorite corner of the closet."

Ichigo sighed.

He wanted nothing more than to get on with his life, to move on from what happened in Los Noches, but something was holding him back.

For now though, being with family and friends would help him to just forget… He hoped.


Over the course of four days following his return, Ichigo had found that everyone was just as normal as he'd left them.

Chad still ran around the kingdom early each morning as a part of his daily exercise. He was also still as overprotective as ever. The moment he'd seen Ichigo, he asked him if everything was okay. Then he asked if the Espada would continue to be a problem. Although he knew Chad would never, ever be able to defeat Grimmjow, it was still nice to hear that caring tone of his.

Ishida was still working at his father's hospital, and he was still as condescending and over-analytical as ever. But it was nice to see that someone wasn't coddling him like a baby since his return. All he did when he was told about the fight was suggest that he train some more so he wouldn't lose again. Then he told him if he wasn't going to help in the hospital that he should leave. On his way out, Ichigo switched some clients' clipboards, which had minor illnesses listed on them, just to mess with him. That'd surely cause an uproar later.

Senna remained slightly aloof about the entire situation after finding out about the battle. She wasn't really a fighter, but she didn't like to lose, ever. So the things she told him confused even her when she said them. But in any case, she was glad that he was back. Now she had her buddy who bought her subs whenever she wanted because he was just that nice. He'd spent a few hours with her at the monthly fair that was coincidentally set up in the kingdom. She did a tightrope trick and earned the attention of some guys, but shooed them off saying that Ichigo was her boyfriend.

It was embarrassing… As were most situations the two of them often found themselves in.

Rukia and Renji were back to normal, too. Yamamoto had decided to give them a few days off to let them recuperate emotionally. Rukia decided that while she had some time off, she would brush up on her Kido. So she trained with Byakuya when he was, surprisingly, free. Other times she was off on her own in the garden of the Kuchiki mansion. Renji trained on his own, too in one of the fields near the eastern border of the kingdom. Ichigo had gone with him twice to train with him before deciding to train on his own.

The one person who broke the returning calmness in Ichigo's life, unexpectedly, was Inoue; his bubbly, beautiful friend of five years.

The days when he was out training near the lake, he made sure to hide his Reiatsu so no one would see just how hard he pushed himself. His training was too intense for any of them to be involved, and he also didn't want anyone saying he was overdoing it.

One day towards the end of one of his sessions, when his stamina had completely left him, he fired a few Getsuga Tenshous into the air. He intended to counter and dodge as many as he could, but his legs had given out on him as soon as he fired them and he fell to his knees, completely helpless. Just as he was about to be torn asunder by one, Inoue tackled him out of the way and threw up her Santen Kesshun for safe measure.

"Kurosaki-kun, are you okay?!" she asked while looking down to the boy sympathetically.

The attacks cut into the ground around them, leaving deep scars in their wake.

"Inoue…? *huff* What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked and panted at the same time. Though he was glad she had saved his life, there was no way she could have found him. He'd been masking his Reiatsu since before he entered the kingdom a few days ago.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and then helped him sit up.

"How did you find me?" he asked after catching his breath.

The girl retracted her dome-like golden shield from around them and smiled, "I followed your Reiatsu, of course! I had to concentrate really hard to do it, though."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow in complete confusion, "But…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing… I guess…"

"Do you need me to heal you?" Inoue asked after closely observing the boy's beaten and exhausted condition.

"I'd appreciate it. That'll help me train some more." Ichigo responded with a smile.

"Okay! Sōten Kisshun, I reject!" she said.

Ichigo watched as Ayame and Shun'ō, the two manifestations of Inoue's Shun Shun Rikka who were capable of performing the healing technique, shot out from Inoue's hairpins and flew around him with friendly smiles. The familiar bright, sunset golden light of the protective barrier of the technique appeared, causing his wounds to heal and his stamina to return to him. The boy looked up at Inoue, who looked a little disturbed. "Hey, what's wrong, Inoue?" he said.

"I… Um…"

"You can say what you're feeling. We're friends. You don't need to hold back with me."

"Kurosaki-kun," the girl began hesitantly. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt before continuing. "There's a… kind of dark, unfamiliar Reiatsu mixed with yours. I noticed it when you came to visit me a few days ago, but I didn't want to ask about it while everyone was celebrating. What happened to you in Los Noches…?"

The orange-haired boy was shocked to the point of being flabbergasted. He was surprised at Inoue's adept Reiatsu awareness, but he was also surprised because he thought after all this time of training and recovering that his Reiatsu had returned to normal. The fact that it had not was beginning to irritate him.

"I, uh, fought with an Espada. I guess the battle was so great that his Reiatsu stuck to mine. But I'll be back to normal soon!" he said, trying to assure himself more than the concerned girl in front of him.

Inoue smiled and shrugged innocently, "It's not a big problem! I just thought it was a little strange. I hardly noticed it, really."

Ichigo stared at his friend. The fact that she could tell at all, when he had been doing all he could to hide it, said it wasn't as small a problem as she thought. If he had been revealing his Reiatsu, she probably would have said something about it the moment she saw him, that's how big a problem it was.

"Inoue, what do you know about Reiatsu mingling?" he asked.

Perhaps she knew something he didn't. Like Nel seemed to.

"Well I don't know much… I just thought it was weird to see someone else's laced with yours… I've never seen that happen before, but I think it's making you uncomfortable. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, no! Thank you. If you hadn't said anything, I never would have realized this is more important than I first thought it was."

"Kurosaki-kun…"

"I think I'm all healed up for now." The boy turned and said to Ayame and Shun'ō.

They both nodded in response, and then took the golden barrier down. After saying their goodbyes to him, they returned to Inoue's hairpins that were latched onto her thin sweater.

"Thanks for healing Rukia and Renji by the way."

Inoue was shocked by his words, "Of course! I'll always heal you guys! You know that. It doesn't matter how hopeless the situation seems, if there is breath in my body, I'll call on my powers for you!"

Ichigo smiled at the girl. Honestly, the little talks he had with her always seemed to cheer him up. It was really nice just knowing she and his other friends were behind him.

After a few seconds of sitting in her company, the boy stood up and walked over to Zangetsu to pick him up. With the wind blowing against him, he stopped and looked to the endless blue sky above. It looked the exact same here as it had in Los Noches. And for a moment, he felt like Pantera would come and sit next to him.

"Hey, Inoue…"

"Hmm?"

"I need to keep training, so I think you should go back. I don't want you caught in the crossfire."

"Okay." The girl said, and then stood and brushed her skirt off. She stared at Ichigo's back for a moment before she turned to leave. Something told her he wouldn't be staying much longer. "Good luck, Kurosaki-kun. And be careful." With that, she left the training field.

Ichigo stared down at Zangetsu and figured maybe he could help him figure some things out.

"Zangetsu, I need to talk to you." He said, before sitting down in a meditative pose next to the sword.

From the natural world to his own inner world the boy traveled, in search of the manifested spirit of his sword.

He traveled over hundreds of inverted, glassy skyscrapers before he laid eyes on the man. "Zangetsu!" he called.

The tall, handsome, dark-haired, sunglasses wearing man known by that name was someone Ichigo always knew he could come to when he needed guidance. And even though Ichigo was his master, Zangetsu had much more wisdom to share. They had met when he was training with Urahara and his crew to obtain him, and at first, he didn't trust him. But now he was the one person the boy knew would always be truthful to him.

"I figured I would see you soon, Ichigo." The man said, and then turned to face his master.

Ichigo stopped when he got close and bowed to the man. "I need to talk to you."

"What's on your mind?" Zangetsu replied, and then returned the bow.

The orange-haired boy looked around his world for a moment. Knowing this would be a long talk, he took a seat and suggested Zangetsu do the same.

For a few minutes, he stared off in the distance where the blue skyscrapers faded on the horizon trying to figure out how to begin. He looked down at the one he was sitting on, and then sighed heavily. "Zangetsu, I have a problem."

"I know, I've been watching you. I'm aware of your issue with the strange Reiatsu you cannot shake."

A vein appeared on Ichigo's forehead, indicating his irritation. "Then why did you ask 'what's on your mind' if you already knew?!"

With a bellowing laugh at the boy's reaction, Zangetsu put a firm hand on his shoulder. "I'm just waiting for you to say it. It's the polite thing to do, after all."

Shaking his head disapprovingly, Ichigo sighed. "I should have come to you sooner than now… I… I don't know what to do, old man. Grimmjow's Reiatsu is all over me and I can't even feel it! I'll never get rid of it if I can't even tell it's there…"

"Hmm, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques... He is definitely a powerful one. I could feel a lot of malice in his blade when he struck me." The man replied seriously as he recalled the battle they had fought against him.

"I know… He has some issues he needs to deal with if he wants to be the king of Los Noches. Oh, by the way… Nel said that his Reiatsu is mixed with mine because it is fate that we cross paths again."

"Ah yes, the gypsy girl. A devoted one, she is."

"I didn't know you would go out of your way to help her… or anyone besides me." Ichigo said with a small smile, "Guiding her to Seireitei was very nice of you, so thanks old man."

Zangetsu shook his head, "It was nothing. I knew that if I helped her save your friends, you would be happy. Even while we were separated, I could feel your anguish, your pain. I just wanted to give you some relief for the time when we met again."

"Thanks." When he remembered the next thing she had told him, Ichigo's tone changed from an appreciative one to confusion, "She told me you stopped guiding her when you got close to me. Why'd you do that?"

All of a sudden, the mood between the two of them became heavy and serious. Zangetsu stared directly into Ichigo's eyes before speaking, "The reason I stopped guiding her was because I couldn't tell which person you were. Your Reiatsu and the Reiatsu of the Espada we fought were exactly the same the moment we got close to the palace that night. I could not tell the two of you apart, so I stopped guiding the girl altogether. If I led her to the wrong one, she could very well have died."

"But… Grimmjow and I were together in the same spot… Our Reiatsu were right next to one another… even if they were the same…"

"I did not want to run the chance of her dying. Besides, you were unarmed as I was not at your side. If she appeared with me, the Espada probably would have killed her and there would have been nothing you could have done to save her."

Ichigo looked down in confusion. "Wait, if our Reiatsu were exactly the same, then why is mine back to normal? Inoue said his Reiatsu was barely noticeable when she visited me."

"I think you know the answer to that." Zangetsu said, and then avoided eye contact with a faint blush on his cheeks.

Ichigo blushed as well and looked away to hide his embarrassment. "When we were…"

"It's okay if you like that kind of thing, Ichigo. As your Zanpakutō spirit, and as your friend, I will never judge you."

"I don't!"

"The reason your Reiatsu mixed, and the only reason they were impossible to differentiate at that moment was because you enjoyed it. But… you should know that such a thing only happens if both parties enjoy the act…"

"I didn't enjoy-" Ichigo stopped mid-sentence and bent forward quickly, "You mean…! Grimmjow liked it, too?!"

"Does that excite you?"

With a deeper blush than before, the boy sat back down and folded his arms defensively. "No! It absolutely does not!"

"But you said 'too'…"

"I did not!"

"Ichigo, you need to deal with this directly, instead of simply ignoring it. I think you should discover your own feelings through meditation and training. That gypsy even has me convinced that you will see the Espada again. And I feel like it'll be sooner than you think. You'd best prepare yourself for what the future holds pertaining to him."

"… Right. Next time we fight, I won't lose to him!"

"I'll be at your side, always. No matter what happens, Ichigo." Zangetsu said with a smile, before standing up.

"Thank you, old man Zangetsu."

"Until next time." The tall man said, and then departed.

When he could no longer see the deep black of Zangetsu's overcoat, Ichigo got into a meditative position and then closed his eyes.

He came to in the real world and looked around to get his bearings. He'd spent a little bit longer in his inner world than he intended to, but his talk with Zangetsu was definitely worth it.

For a while, he sat there in the grass, just observing the training grounds. "He was enjoying it… He was enjoying having sex with me…" he thought, unable to tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

"No, I don't have time to think about that." He said, remembering his priorities.

Without concern about others finding out about Grimmjow's unshakable Reiatsu on him, he exposed his energy as fully as he could to continue his training. After taking a moment to make sure Inoue wasn't in the area, and finding that she was safely back home, he picked up his ebony sword and decided he would do this on his own since Urahara wasn't around to help him.

And just as he had his heart set on that…

"Well hello there, Ichigo." A man said lazily from behind him.

Said boy turned in the direction the person acknowledging him was coming from.

This person was… well… from first glance, he seemed rather lethargic and uninterested. With a sword propped over his shoulder, this fellow with blonde, shoulder-length hair was approaching him with a slow stride. His attire seemed pretty formal, consisting of a black button-down shirt, gray slacks, a white tie, and a well shined pair of dress shoes, but his expression gave his ill-fitting personality away.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Ichigo asked, and held Zangetsu up defensively.

"He was right, I wouldn't mistake you. That loud, orange hair of yours, standoffish attitude, and uninviting demeanor are impossible to miss."

"I asked who you are."

When the strange man got close, he took a seat in the grass and sighed. "Man, I wish I could've talked to that pretty girl some more. She seems way too sweet a person to be hanging around you…"

"You're talking about Inoue…?" Ichigo asked. Who the hell was this guy?!

"That's her name?! I'll be sure to run into her again..."

After gritting his teeth, Ichigo pointed his sword in the man's direction. "That tears it! I'm going to have to-"

"Don't bother. You'd never beat me the way you are now."

"How do you-"

"You sure are clueless… Urahara sent me to help you train while he was away. He assured me your power was great, but I can tell I'm much stronger than you."

"Urahara sent you? Who the hell are you?!"

"The name's Hirako, Shinji. I'd say the pleasure's all mine, but this whole interaction we've had has been kind of annoying and unpleasant. So let's just skip the niceties. That move you just pulled, exposing your energy haphazardly, alerted most people in the area with Spiritual Pressure awareness to your position. It's usually done when you're in danger or are lost. But I guess you don't know that. And that's where I come in. I'm gonna help you train to control that overbearing Reiatsu of yours."

"My Reiatsu…? I have control over it."

"Not much, kid. Trust me. Also, I can also sense that other Reiatsu latched onto you. There's nothing I can do about that. It's something you'll have to take care of on your own time… unless you want to eventually end up bearing a chi- uh, well… never mind…"

"Can I get rid of it?" Ichigo asked, completely disregarding that last part. He was too busy hoping he could free himself from this nuisance, which is what he hoped Shinji meant by 'take care of'.

"I don't really know. I've never encountered anyone who has bonded, for lack of a better word, with someone so closely that this happened. I think only time will tell what your future holds. But that's completely irrelevant to me as it won't interfere with me training you. My comrades and I have a similar power to the one you have, mixed breed."

"Mixed breed…? What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Sheesh, you're such a half-wit…" Shinji said while shaking his head. "If you want to learn the truth about yourself, and if you want to get stronger, you'll come with me. Otherwise, you'll remain in the dark about what you are and you'll never be able to protect those friends of yours… let alone defeat that Espada who has accidentally marked you."

"Hirako… Shinji… What are your motives in helping me? What are you getting out of this?"

"Absolutely nothing. I owed Urahara a favor and he called me on it. Helping you was what he wanted me to do. That's it."

Ichigo stood silent, contemplating this situation. This man, and his so-called comrades, were willing to help him train and expected nothing out of it? It seemed a little shady. But… if Urahara trusted these people to help him while he was gone, then perhaps it wasn't that inauspicious. Plus, this guy knew something about him that he apparently didn't.

He wanted to find out what it was.

With his mind made up, Ichigo sheathed his sword and stuck out his hand to the man.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked.

"I'm trying to help you up. If Urahara thinks me going with you is okay, then I will." The boy said with a smile.

"Save the benevolence for Hiyori. She's not nearly as friendly as I am." The blonde said, and then stood up on his own.

Once Shinji began walking, Ichigo took his place beside him. Noting that it was uncomfortably silent, he decided to make small talk. "Where are we going to train?" he asked.

"Somewhere you won't have to keep hiding your Reiatsu to keep that other one on you a secret."

"Right…" Ichigo said.

The fact that Inoue, and now Shinji, knew left him feeling a bit embarrassed.

Shaking his head, he realized there was work to do. With the help of these people, he felt that maybe he would be ready the next time he faced Grimmjow Jaegerjaques.

Don't think I've forgotten Grimmjow! I know many of you are curious about what's going on with him, too.