Disclaimer: This man does not own Bleach.
Kill the Moonlight
"...There's no way in hell are we gonna get to Kurosaki... If we ever go back to Soul Society, we're dead. And both of your little accomplices are well-known criminals of the Seireitei..."
Orihime blinked and turned towards the back of the shop. A blonde man with back-length hair and asymmetrical bangs stepped into the room. His white trench coat over his black dress shirt and pants flowed as he stepped through, along with his tie.
"...Who are you?"
The man's teeth showed through his lazy expression, and he replied, "Me? I'm Shinji Hirako... You could say I'm an...an ally of Ichigo Kurosaki's... At least through Urahara here."
"...Yes... We're not going to Ichigo, now... He's still in critical condition from his wounds he received from Aizen."
Ginjo expression changed into one of shock as he asked, "Aizen? That bastard got to him?"
"...Aizen's had his grasp on him since he caused his transfer years ago... Luckily, Sui-Feng's team was able to react quickly, and Ichigo, along with his charm, was safe."
As he said that, Orihime looked down at the charm that Kisuke was twirling around his index finger. Uryu was quick to note, "I can't believe he's still holding on to that..."
"...I made sure to take it from his body and allow Sui-Feng to give it to him... He thinks it's from her."
After staring at it for a while longer, Orihime called out, "A Quincy charm? Why does he have a Quincy charm?"
Kisuke and Yoruichi both looked towards her, and a voice called out, "Because his mother was a Quincy."
"...Glad you could make it, Isshin."
Orihime, Uryu, and Ginjo turned as a dark-haired man with unkempt stubble wandered into the room. He wore a Soul Reaper uniform, though it had a pauldron with a white, cape-like object. Upon closer realization, Orihime noted that it was a Captain's haori.
The man scowled upon seeing Ginjo in the room, who did the same back to him. He simply walked past him and sat next to Shinji as he looked to Uryu.
"...Is this your daughter?"
Upon the man's nod, Isshin chuckled, stating, "She looks just like her..."
"...Funnily enough, she was also the one who ran into Kurosaki when he had his mission here."
The man blinked as he stared at Orihime, who looked at him and frowned.
"What the hell are you staring at, goat face?"
Isshin stared at her for a few moments before chuckling, which turned into full-blown laughter, much to the girl's confusion.
"You sure she's yours, Ishida!? That definitely doesn't sound like it!"
The stern-faced man glared as he said, "Of course she's mine, idiot."
"...Who are you? You're not... How do you know about me?"
The smirked and asked, "Shouldn't you know about me? I'm sure if Ginjo and Uryu here has told you stories about Ichigo, I should have at least been in one. Or maybe... Maybe they've omitted my name, and simply referred to me as Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father?"
"Captain Mayuri has been stabilized... Captain Kuchiki's wounds are not serious, though his old ones have reopened. Captain Kurosaki's fine, though I slightly fear for his emotional state... They might not be ready to perform their Captain's duties today... It'll be a few days before they are able to."
Unohana read from the list of injuries to Head-Capatain Yamamoto during the Captain's meeting. After she was finished, she stood back in line, and Yamamoto retorted, "Then make sure they become well enough for such tasks... If our former Captain's have allied themselves with the Arrancar, then we need to be at full strength before the next attack... You are all dismissed."
Sui-Feng stared at the back of Ichigo's spiky hair as he rested his face in his hands. She walked up to him in his Division barracks, sitting directly next to him.
"...Kurosaki."
Upon hearing his former Captain's voice, Ichigo mumbled, "I don't really want to talk right now..."
"...Well, I'm here to talk anyway. You're not going to sit here and mope forever. That's something you picked up from Aizen's sissy division, cause I definitely didn't teach you that."
The Fifth Division Captain simply sat there with no response. After a while, Sui-Feng spoke, "Do you wish to know about Aizen...? About why he's after you, and what he plans?"
"...Not really... I don't care anymore..."
The woman looked down at her nails and replied, "I'm going to tell you anyway... Aizen's been after you since they day he met you as a human... You were born with special circumstances..."
At that information, Ichigo's head rose from his hands as he stared at Sui-Feng. The woman stared forward as she continued, "...You were a Quincy... a Fullbringer... and a Soul Reaper in one complete being...containing the Reiatsu of all four races... Only your Soul Reaper powers laid dormant, and inaccessible. Aizen attempted to remedy that by transferring his Soul Reaper powers onto you..."
"...You all...knew about me as a human...?"
Sui-Feng frowned and looked down at her own knees as she replied, "Kurosaki... Everything you've done... Becoming a Soul Reaper...your death...rising so quickly through the Gotei Thirteen's ranks... All of that has been staged by either Aizen...or my master's friend..."
Ichigo smiled without humor as he mumbled, "...So even my Captaincy isn't real, huh?"
She stared at him out of the corner of her eye and replied, "Yes. You are the key to Aizen's defeat, because you hold a power no one else contains. So every action by you has been monitored."
Ichigo stared at her and asked, "A power...no one else contains?"
"Your death was special, you see... Your Human remains died... but your soul was ejected from your Human body before that happened... You are a soul trapped in-between the living realm and the spiritual realm... That makes you more frightening to Aizen than any other Soul Reaper... You are still a Substitute Soul Reaper... You hold his own power... Or at least, his power has combined with yours. You are his greatest fear because his Kyoka Suigetsu holds no bearing over you."
Ichigo's eyes gazed over to his Zanpakuto laying next to him, "...His own power? When he transferred his power to me, I became a Substitue Soul Reaper... But I watched him use it..."
"And you saw both the illusion and himself... You're the only one who can see through his illusions. That makes you the perfect weapon against him, and that's why he and Kisuke Urahara are locked in a Cold War...each trying to obtain the strongest weapon... Yourself."
Ichigo looked out to the distance, where members of his Squad were rebuilding the barracks. He asked, "...So why did Aizen betray us? What is he after by allying himself with the Arrancars?"
"...Allying himself? He is the creator and master of them... They are nothing more than his experiments and military while searches for a way to become like you."
Ichigo blinked and moved to respond before Sui-Feng interrupted with, "As in, the powers your human body has... The ability to maintain the powers of a Human, a Hollow, a Quincy, and a Soul Reaper... That's what he's really after... Aizen wants to transcend above all, and erase the Soul King from his position. That's Aizen's goal, and he needs your body to do so..."
"...But the crest?"
Sui-Feng waved him off as she replied, "That thing has the powers of a Quincy, but he only wanted it to empower his Arrancar army... Nothing more, nothing less... Your body is what he really wants."
"...That sounds way too weird... Just say he's after my Gigai."
The woman giggled, much to Ichigo's shock, as she stood up and replied, "That sounded normal enough, coming from you. It seems you understand?"
"...Not really... I can tell you only told me the bare minimum... Am I going to have to find this... Kisuke Urahara myself?"
She turned away and began to walk off as she called out, "...When the time comes... Soon, the war will be taken to the Human World, and that's where you'll probably meet him... Now stop moping and get back on your feet... You're gonna have to find another Lieutenant soon enough, and you can't leave your Division hanging..."
Ichigo watched as she walked off, and turned back to where his subordinates had listened in. Upon realizing they had been discovered, they rushed away in fear. Ichigo stood up, chuckling as he walked away in the opposite direction.
"No."
Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of the Tenth Division, dropped her jaws as Ichigo stared blankly at her. She slammed her hands on his desk and yelled, "Why not!?"
"...Because I'm lazy, and you're lazy... That match up is trouble in the making... I need a Lieutenant who can do paperwork, not one who'll fall asleep on me."
Matsumoto frowned until a sly smirk appeared on her face. She peeked out to her left and right before Ichigo interrupted, "No amount of seduction will convince me. Any lap dances, and or sexual tension relievers, will be on your own free time, and it will not affect my decision of accepting your Lieutenant application."
The busty woman groaned in frustration before sitting on his desk and crossing her arms. Ichigo sipped at his drink before blinking at her and calling out, "Did Rukia send you here to check on me? There's no way you'd just abandon Toshiro like that..."
She jumped as she'd been discovered and sighed, revealing, "Ah, you caught me... Rukia and I were just trying to see if you were alright... And she wanted me to make sure you picked a good Lieutenant to watch over you... I thought she would have sent you a note..."
"Rukia? There's no way her brother would let Rukia become my Lieutenant... He already denied me when I asked him in the hospital..."
Ichigo stood at the foot of Byakuya's bed as he yelled out, "...I want to ask Rukia to become my Lieutenant! Can she become a part of my Division!?"
The Sixth Division Captain stared blankly at him and replied, "Hell no."
Matsumoto's lips pouted as she thought to herself and asked, "What about Ikkaku? Or maybe Shuhei? Kira would be great as well.."
"...There's no way in hell that I'm going to allow that bastard in my division... He's busy trying to surpass Captain Zaraki anyway... And last I heard, Shuhei is being promoted to replace Tosen... His Bankai testing is today, as far as I'm concerned. And I think the Third Division Captain's being selected as we're speaking."
Matsumoto blinked and exasperated, "Gosh, they never tell us Lieutenants anything! I didn't know that...," though her face fell as she pitifully asked, "So they're...they're finally replacing Gin, huh?"
Ichigo noticed her expression, but continued with, "...Yeah... That mafia lookin' guy from the Seventh Division... Iba, or something? Apparently, his mother was the Lieutenant of that Division, so she forced him to take up the Captain's position..."
Matsumoto solemnly gazed down at her feet. As she stood to her feet, Ichigo called out, "Don't worry about Ichimaru... I promise I'll bring him b-"
"Ichigo... Don't make promises you can't keep, idiot... If he's gone with a traitor... Then the only way he's coming back is in a body bag..."
"...Captain Ukitake?"
Ichigo paused as he nearly ran into the older Captain, as the man practically appeared in his face.
"Captain Kurosaki! I've looked all over for you! I went to your barracks, thinking you were moping, and then I went to the Sixth and Eleventh Division barracks, thinking you were with your friends, and then I went to the Secon-!"
Ukitake's incessant rambling suddenly halted as he began coughing up a storm. Worriedly, Ichigo moved to him and patted his back as the older man tried to wave him off.
"...You shouldn't overexert yourself, Captain Ukitake...! Calm down and breathe!"
The man slightly nudged him away as he coughed, "I'm fine, I'm fine... However, I heard from Rukia that you're looking for a Lieutenant, right?"
Ichigo blinked before looking away and saying, "Not really... Thought I'd...go without one for a while... It'll teach me to be more responsible..."
"...Captain Kurosaki.. Lieutenant Hinamori is gone now, and Yamamoto is demanding the Gotei Thirteen to rebuild their strength... At least think about it?"
His gaze fell to the floor as he cursed the old man for realizing his true intentions. He shrugged and asked, "So who is it?"
"...Well, you see... Captain Kuchiki is finally letting Rukia move to the front lines, and she's going to become my Lieutenant..."
The younger Captain looked up and smiled at the revelation of Rukia moving up the ranks. He now realized why Byakuya denied him.
"That's great! I'm happy Byakuya's finally letting her go!"
Ukitake nodded and continued, "...However, I also have two Third Seat's who've been fighting for my attention for a long time...and they've been slightly unhappy since I promoted Rukia."
Ichigo frowned as he thought about the two Third Seats that were always locked in competition with one another. Knowing them, they were probably more upset at the prospect that someone else was taking care of Ukitake instead of them.
"...I allowed the Seventh Division to have Sentaro... Captain Hisagi's found someone already... Please allow Kiyone to join with your Squad, Captain Kurosaki..."
The orange-haired Captain adopted a thinking pose, though a sly smirk graced his face before he shrugged and replied, "I guess it can't hurt... If she's okay with leaving you, I'll speak to her today."
"Great! She's already at the Division waiting for you!"
Ichigo crossed his arms as he blinked, and then his eyes snapped forwards as he exasperated, "Wait, what!?"
A short woman nervously sat in the Fifth Division Office as she waited for the Captain to show. Out of habit, she grabbed part of her hair and held it to her cheek as she shivered anxiously. She held her on breath as the door opened, and she immediately went into salute.
Ichigo blinked as she stood in front of him, already moving to a respectable stance. He held up two fingers to his forehead as he waved.
"'Sup."
Her own expression visibly dropped as she stared at him incredulously, and exasperated, "'Sup!? Don't 'sup' me! I've waited here for thirty minutes!"
Ichigo blinked again, and he realized that Captain Ukitake had already sent her before he even met with him... The old man was pretty much telling him to go back to his barracks...
'That conniving motherfu-'
"So you're the one Captain Ukitake sent? The Third Seat?"
She furiously nodded, her golden locks bouncing up and down as she stared intensely at the other man. Ichigo glanced back her, noticing the clip in her hair, and noted that her appearance reminded him of someone, though he couldn't put his finger on it...
'Must be someone I knew when I was alive...'
"...Yo? Whatcha staring at?"
From his own position, Ichigo could see sparks from the constant grinding of her teeth, and he briefly wondered if she would be just as hard on him as Momo was.
"...So...?"
Ichigo's blinking seemed to be consistent, and he briefly replied, "So what?"
Her right eye twitched, and Ichigo briefly wondered if she were going to kill him. He also wondered if Ukitake did this on purpose.
"I meant the Lieutenant's position! Aren't you gonna interview me, or something!? A test!? You don't even know my name!"
Ichigo sat down in his desk and said, "Nope... You are right about that one... You probably should have introduced yourself instead of saluting."
Her fingers began twitching as she replied, "It's Kiyone... Kiyone Kotetsu."
"...Your sister's the Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, right? The really tall one with the supermodel bod-?"
He paused in his words as he watched her face glow bright red. He suddenly changed the topic and asked, "Can you turn in paperwork on time?"
"...Uh...Yes...?"
Ichigo looked suspiciously to his left. Kiyone did the same. Then he turned to his right, and she did the same again. After he narrowed his eyes, she finally exasperated, "What are we looking for!?"
"...Can you do my paperwork, too?"
Her jaws dropped as she yelled, "You're unbelievable! How the hell did you become a Captain!?"
In response, Ichigo crossed his arms and grounded out, "...Tch, stupid circumstances and manipulating bastards... Anyway, if you don't want to do it, then you can go."
She blinked and then narrowed her eyes and accused, "You're trying to discourage me from joining! Captain Ukitake said you would do such a thing! He said to stay persistent, or to tell Rukia if you're not being fair!"
'...Uktiake, you son of a bit-'
"...Alright... I'll stop messing around... But I'm serious about the paperwork."
"I've never been to one of these before... Are they really scary?"
Ichigo looked over his shoulder to the shorter girl and replied, "Not really. At first, I kinda was, but after a while, you just get used to it."
Ichigo continued walking, followed by a nervous Kiyone as they walked through the First Division hallway. He placed his wooden tag for his presence onto the stand before looking at the others.
"...It seems Byakuya's back... Along with Mayuri, too... I wonder if everybody's gonna be here this time?"
A voice called out from behind him, "I see you're back, Ichigo. I was wondering when you would show up..."
Ichigo turned around as another Captain entered. He had spiked, dark hair with a pair of shades on the top of his head. An orange bandana wrapped around his neck. He wore a sleeveless haori over his rolled-up Shihakusho, similar to the previous Captains. The bandages, the tattoo, and the scars were enough to give away his identity.
"...Shuhei...? So you did pass the Bankai test? That's cool."
Shuhei stared towards Ichigo and replied, "That's Captain Hisagi to you."
"...Yeah, cool, whatever... So did that Iba guy take Gin's spot? I thought his testing was that same day..."
Another deep, rumbling voice sounded from behind him, causing him and Kiyone to jump from their spots as they turned around.
"He did. I'll be proud to congratulate him when he comes through... Or not... The tab says he's already here."
Ichigo, Kiyone, and Shuhei stared completely up at the tall Captain Komamura of the Seventh Division.
"...That's right... He was your Lieutenant... And you picked-"
The younger girl was quick to scream, "Sentaro!?"
The dark-haired man with the pharaoh's beard pointed and growled, "Kiyone!?"
In the end, the two former teammates were locked in a heated glaring contest, Ichigo and Komamura both sweatdropped as the younger Captain commented, "...I thought he separated you two for this sole purpose..."
"...Such a hideous display of a reunion."
Ichigo looked over his shoulder as Yumichika Ayasegawa shook his head, and called out, "Yo, Yumichika. What are you doing here?"
Shuhei was the one to answer with, "He's my Lieutenant... I think..."
"...Two really is such an ugly number... But I noticed his desperation and decided to act on it."
Ichigo sweatdropped again, "...Lieutenants are the Second Seat, but I really don't think they call themselves that..."
"...It's still a horrible number."
Shuhei smacked himself in the face as walked away from the group, followed by Yumichika. Ichigo raised an eyebrow before turning back to his own Lieutenant, who was being held away from Sentaro Kotsubaki by Captain Komamura.
"Oi! Stop harassing Captain Komamura's Lieutenant! We got a meeting to prepare for!"
"...Ichigo's dad? I thought you would have been..."
The man began laughing as he stated, "Nope! I'm too cool to die! I gotta stay up and running for my lovely little girls!"
"...Aren't Yuzu and Karin both forty-three...with their own families?"
Isshin's head slouched over as he grumbled, "Shut up, Urahara. They still love their daddy!"
"Not really... Karin still hasn't forgiven you..."
He grumbled again as he waved away Kisuke. Orihime, however, moved closer to him and sat directly in front of him, crossing her arms and legs as she stared at him expectantly. He reared back slightly and asked, "...Yo? Whatcha starin' at?"
"...You're Ichigo's dad... If anyone here knows about him, it's you."
Isshin chuckled humorlessly as he turned his head and replied, "...He was an introvert, really... You should already know that I kicked him out of the house and he stayed with him," and he gestured over to Ginjo.
"...I'm really not just asking you... I'm kinda asking everyone, because it seems he's been a part of everyone's life... Now I'm asking to know everything about him...from his birth to his death... I want you all to tell me what you know..."
Everyone looked at each other, and then over to Uryu. He shrugged and replied, "She's too much like her damn mother... If we don't tell her anything, she's gonna run off and do something stupid again... If she really wants to help Kurosaki, then I'm not going to stop her."
Isshin then clapped his hands together and said, "I guess I'll start off..."
My son, born in the darkness...awoke to the light of justice years ago, even if he didn't understand it...
"Ichigo!"
The orange-haired boy's eyes snapped open, and quickly through his hand up to catch his father's foot.
"No!"
Ichigo growled out, "It's too late for that bullshit!" and tossed him towards the window, sending him out to land on the flower bed.
"Damned old man... Always attacking me..."
He slowly pulled himself out of his bed and sat at the edge of his mattress. As he got out of bed, he made sure to grab the charm on his desk as he moved downstairs. Arriving at the bottom, he opened his arms as his younger sister, Yuzu Kurosaki, jumped into his while screaming, "Big Brother! You don't seem too lively this morning..."
As he placed her on the ground, he replied, "It's hard to feel that way when your dad is always trying to kill me."
He walked into the kitchen, deadpanning as his father protested, "I'm not trying to kill you! I'm trying to keep you on your toes...like now!"
The man moved to kick Ichigo, who grabbed him and elbowed him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"...I have...nothing left... to teach you, my boy..."
Ichigo ignored him and stepped over his body, taking his seat as he sat and ate breakfast. The twin to his younger sister, Karin Kurosaki, depressingly munched on a piece of toast.
"What's the matter with you?"
Realizing her brother was there, Karin turned to him and mumbled, "Hey, Ichigo..."
He continued to stare at her until she finally answered, "Fine! A kid from school wants me to go with him to the dance... I don't know if I wanna go."
"You have to go! I want my grandchildren!"
Karin growled and stomped on her father's face, who whined and crawled over to the picture of their mother while mumbling, "My children hate me, my dear Masaki...! Why must the world be so cruel...!?"
After watching his old man cry to the picture of his mother, he turned back to his little sister, smirking as he stated,"...You should go, Karin.. Stop being so tomboyish... I really want to be an uncle at some point."
The girl raged and punched Ichigo in the face, knocking him to the ground as she screamed, "You sound like Dad, damnit!"
Ichigo pitifully grabbed the leg of Yuzu and groaned, "Why does my sister hate me...?"
"Brother! Get off my leg! This is too weird!"
As Yuzu shrugged him off of her foot, he rolled over in the fetal position and cried, "Why don't my sisters love me!?"
Before the darkness arrived...before the horrors of the afterlife, a family lived carefree, anxiously awaiting their next days... They never knew... that the countdown to despair had begun.
Trivia:
-As stated, Ichigo was killed as a human, but his soul was ejected out before then. When Tosen performed Konso on him, he was already a Substitute Soul Reaper, so he was simply transported to the Rukon, with most of his powers, but without his memories. Because Aizen made him a Substitute with his own powers, Kyoka Suigetsu doesn't work on him, which was why...
Seeing the confusion on Ichigo's face, Aizen drop the corpse and called out, "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
The corpse fell, becoming the sealed Zanpakuto of the Captain as it stabbed itself into the ground. Ichigo gazed at it, wondering what had happened as he looked back at Aizen.
...he was confused when he saw it. Aizen recognizes that he is affected by it, but Ichigo can see both the illusion and Aizen.
-Tetsuzaemon Iba's mother, Chikane Iba, was Rose Otoribashi's Lieutenant during his tenure. That's why she encouraged(forced) him to become the Third Division Captain.
-If you didn't get it, Kiyone resembles Yuzu, his younger sister. Her appearance is based off the Bleach Beach Party OVA, which you could probably see by googling Kiyone in images. She's also a reference to the fact that short, petite women (Rukia and Momo) are usually watching over him.
-Sentaro Kotsubaki's father, Jin'emon Kotsubaki, was the Lieutenant of Squad Seven when Love Aikawa was Captain.