Ichigo looked around himself very clearly uncomfortable right now, this action did not go unnoticed by Urahara as he looked around the room too, and he had just brought him into a room that he had always held conferences with people in, nothing had changed at all.
"You seem somewhat worried about this room Ichigo, What is wrong?" Urahara asked as Ichigo turned to him finally and Urahara was shown the extent of Ichigo's pain in those eyes. It took Urahara aback slightly, something that surprised even him; Ichigo looked completely defeated, almost as if he had lost his will to fight. "Ichigo?" Urahara asked again as Ichigo simply stared at him with those almost dead eyes.
"I'm a failure Urahara-san" Ichigo said to him with an entirely monotonous voice which left Urahara completely speechless.
"What do you mean Ichigo?" Urahara asked him after he finally regained his voice and was given his chance to voice his question. Ichigo seemed like he was not going to respond as his head had fallen again and he stared at the ground.
"I hurt my friends, I hurt my family, I brought pain and fear to those I care about and now I even have hatred running through many people that I used to regard as my allies, I can't blame them but that does not make it any easier to accept" Ichigo finally responded even though he did not lift his head from staring at the ground.
"That may indeed be true but then that means that you have to work to get their trust back don't you?" Urahara asked Ichigo as the boy's head looked up finally revealing brown eyes slightly moist.
"It's not that easy though" Ichigo answered as Urahara looked at him with a smile crossing his face.
"Of course it is not that easy, if it were that easy then there would be no real reason behind it then would there? It would just be another pointless adventure during your life" Urahara spoke as Ichigo looked up fully and Urahara could see that he was not far away from tears, that would have been something new for him to have seen, Ichigo crying.
"I guess you're right, Hogyoku said much the same thing" Ichigo answered and missed the way that Urahara's face changed from a smile to a surprised expression. He was about to respond when another voice beat him to the punch line.
"What did you just say Ichigo?" came the feminine voice of Yoruichi as she made her way into the room and sat next to Urahara directly opposite Ichigo.
"Yoruichi-san? I thought you were not going to get up?" Urahara remarked in surprise before Yoruichi had smacked him across the back of the head.
"That hurt Yoruichi-san!" Urahara complained childishly as he held his head in pain, Yoruichi paid him no mind but instead studied the form of Ichigo who sat in front of her.
The man who sat before her was not the teenage boy that she had trained in order to attain Bankai any longer, no he was a fully matured man now, he had seen the hardships of life, and death for that matter too. His eyes showed of his great sorrow and the pain that was evident within his soul, he was crying out for help but unable to actually voice those cries. He had physically changed too; his body was now much more profound, since his days of breaking into Soul Society. Back then he had a well formed body for someone of his age, but now his body just seemed to be permanently hardened into position, one of the things that did disturb her was that Ichigo's skin was not perfect. Over the area of his heart was entirely encased within what looked like crystal that didn't so much as seem to cover the area but in fact be the substance of that area.
"I said that Hogyoku thought it best that I try to reconnect with my friends" Ichigo answered her as he gained a frown while answering her, noticing that her eyes were not even trained on his face. Yoruichi then reached her hand out towards him and the area that the crystal had taken over on his body. Before her hand could touch the shimmering surface it was grabbed by one of Ichigo's large hand and she was then forced to look up to his face again.
"Do not touch that area of my body under any circumstances, I do not understand it fully yet and want no-one touching it until I do" Ichigo almost demanded of her as she nodded her head and drew her hand back from Ichigo's.
"Does that mean that you have talked to the Hogyoku? Are you and the Hogyoku one now?" Urahara asked in more anticipation than he entirely wanted to ask, he wanted to know but he didn't want to sound like an excited child when finding out.
"Yes, I think when I became a hollow I consumed Aizen and because he had fused with the Hogyoku I gained it too" Ichigo answered before he finally came to terms with what he had just said, he had committed one of the worst crimes to nature that he could think of, he had committed cannibalism. Not only had he committed it once on a human like being, but he had continued doing so on creatures much like himself in the realm of Hueco Mundo.
"I am a monster" Ichigo finally admitted to himself as he sat on the ground and his head fell again, this reaction took both Urahara and Yoruichi by surprise, Ichigo was not one to give up like this, nor was he one to say such things about himself.
"You are not a monster Ichigo" Yoruichi tried to tell him but as it seemed her words were not going to have any effect on him she got to her feet, moving around the table in a few strides she grabbed his neck into her slimmer right hand and lifted him into the air, quite the achievement because of their height differences.
Urahara had already guessed at what was going on, without even appearing too surprised at all he took his cup of tea into his hand and raised it to take a drink, with his other hand he absently reached to the floor and raised a hatch revealing some steps that descended into a wide open area. Without any time wasted Yoruichi jumped over the table and down the hatch with Ichigo still within her grip. As she neared the ground she released Ichigo towards the ground with more force in order to make him think and land on his feet. This did not happen however as Ichigo did not even try to move from his current position and slammed right into the ground below him, creating a large plume of smoke to rise and engulf Yoruichi as she herself descended.
Landing on the ground at the side of the crater she had made with Ichigo's body, Yoruichi stood still waiting for the smoke to die away to see the extent of injury dealt to Ichigo. As the smoke cleared Yoruichi was surprised when she found Ichigo just lying on the ground covered in some fallen debris, he had surely fallen if he was not even willing to stand again. Ichigo then slowly began to lift himself out of the debris, white spiritual pressure danced around him as he done so, swirling into a vortex.
Yoruchi's breath was taken away from her to say the least, what was happening before her was nothing less than pure power brimming to the surface and warming up all around him. He was nothing monstrous, this feeling that he gave off was far from monstrous, it was more comforting, the feeling that you got when you had a blanket draped over you. She felt this way as Ichigo was fully encompassed within the white brilliance of the light and completely shielded from view. As the level of spiritual pressure began to rise, ironically the amount of visible spiritual pressure faded as it instead made its way over to Ichigo's body and dug right under his skin. Yoruichi gasped slightly when she saw that happening to Ichigo and when his body took on its all too familiar white form. What surprised her most was when the last of the white material began to make its way to his face and began forming what she had been fearing, a mask.
The horned mask took place on Ichigo's head in under a few seconds and once it had finished no more spiritual pressure danced around him anymore as he stood in the form that he had been in a few months ago when he had again tried to target Orihime. Ichigo turned to regard Yoruichi and she took a step back in almost fright, she may have been an ex captain of the Gotie Thirteen and the heir to one of the four great houses in Soul Society, she still would not deny on her titles that the look Ichigo gave through those dead golden eyes of his scared her.
"You still believe I am not a monster Yoruichi-san!" Ichigo roared at her as he closed the distance between them in a quick Sonido burst and appeared right in front of her with his right fist completely covered in red spiritual pressure and primed to shoot forward towards her. He sent it crashing forwards into the face of Yoruichi. He should not have underestimated her as she merely twisted around his outstretched arm and delivered her right elbow right into the side of his mask, causing him to grunt in annoyance.
"Yes I do believe you are not a monster Ichigo" Yoruichi answered as she distanced herself from the form that Ichigo had taken, it scared her to say the least, she was just glad that her proficiency in Shunpo was almost unrivalled and was able to move as quickly as she had otherwise she feared that she may very well be sporting a large bruise on her face.
"Then you are deluded Yoruichi-san, I have done despicable things in my past as a hollow, I am a monster!" Ichigo roared as he aimed his open hand in her direction, within his palm a large cero began building up in size until it reached the size of his hand at which time he released the cero, the red that had begun building up finally released in a pillar of energy. Yoruichi had plenty of time to dodge the attack so done just that and jumped high into the air above the path of the offensive cero. It was too late that she realised she was not alone in the air and that Ichigo had appeared right next to her. His fist came shooting right towards her, only this time she was able to deflect his forearm with her own, with his arm outstretched over her right shoulder she delivered a strong punch right into the ribs of Ichigo and sent him flying through the air until he collided with a nearby mountain.
Yoruichi was beginning to get rather annoyed now, if Ichigo was going to attack her he could at least make it look like he was trying to hurt her instead of just trying and failing miserably to hurt her, then again it did add fuel to her argument.
"Why won't you hit me Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked the man as she walked through the air in the same path that Ichigo had earlier flown through. When she finally reached Ichigo's position still stuck within the side of the mountain she looked down on the form of the person who had not a few months ago threatened to kill everyone, was now bowing his head in submission after being beaten over two hits, not even at full strength.
"I can't" came Ichigo's weak reply as his entire white visage released from his body and became spiritual pressure before finally evaporating into the air. Once Ichigo was back to normal with his tanned skin and mask less face he did not even look up as Yoruichi made her way over to his position. It was not until Yoruichi forcefully grabbed his chin and made him look up at her did he even lift his head at all. When Yoruichi saw his eyes she could see just how defeated he was, he had tried to show her that he was a monster and prove to her that he was too dangerous. Worse than that though was that Yoruichi realised Ichigo was trying to prove to himself that he was the monster he remembered, trying to make peace with his already troubled mind.
"You aren't a monster Ichigo" Yoruichi began as she made her way to the place in the mountain that Ichigo had been imprinted into. Once she reached him she grabbed his shoulders and brought him into a tight hug, the kind of which one would only expect a mother to give someone. "You're cursed with memories of a time that you were unable to comprehend things that were going on, your primal thoughts and instincts ran you. They are a means to keep you alive Ichigo, even if it did hurt those you care for" Yoruichi finished off as she could feel Ichigo beginning to hug her back and then finally as he gripped her tighter she could feel his body move as he began to cry. This was the second time that she had to go through with this she lamented silently to herself.
Yoruichi heard it all, of how he felt towards those that he had so obviously hurt, he knew that although most people seemed unopposed to him when he returned that they were all still secretly sceptical of him. It hurt him deeply and Yoruichi found herself almost weeping at the mental outpouring of the teen. He talked of how sorry he was and that he would take back what he had done if he could, he spoke of his sorrows at hurting his close friends like Sado, Uryu, Tatsuki and Rukia when he had went on his rampages in the past. Then when he got to Orihime that was when Yoruichi was the closest to tears.
"When I finally got my memories back I couldn't believe how horrible I had been to everyone, but my memories of Orihime and the ways that I had talked to her sickened me. How else could I think of myself other than a monster after that? I have absolutely no idea how I can ever make it up to her. She may act like things are alright because that is just the way she is, I can just tell that behind her fake smile is fear just as evident as everyone else" Ichigo finished off as he looked to Yoruichi who had just silently listened to him as he poured his heart out to her. He was grateful that she was there because keeping that all to himself in the short time that he had was really beginning to wear him down.
Silence took over after he had spoken of Orihime and Ichigo had just sat within Yoruichi's embrace enjoying the feeling of what was most like the motherly hug that he missed so much. With a deep sigh Ichigo signalled that he was done and Yoruichi released him from her hug that she herself had gotten to the stage of enjoying, honestly she liked her hugs. She and Ichigo made their ways back to the ground of the underground training area only to find Urahara standing at the bottom of the mountain with a body lying at his feet slightly propped up against a rock.
"Well you took your sweet time, honestly Yoruichi if you are sick of me and prefer the younger men you could at least t…" Urahara was unable to finish his fake hurt felt speech as Yoruichi had hit him on the top of his head with her clenched fist. "Ouch" was all Urahara could respond to such a harsh movement with.
"You know very well it was nothing like that Urahara" Yoruichi told him in a neutral tone that told Ichigo either this was normal or Urahara had done something to make Yoruichi a very unhappy kitty. Urahara rubbed at the back of his head innocently as he laughed nervously at the glare that could kill being sent his way.
"Yes of course I do" Urahara began as he lowered his hand and turned to Ichigo who he noticed had red eyes, he had obviously given in to his emotions, that was good it meant that he was not going to become a problem in the future. One can only go so long by bottling everything up. "Anyway, Ichigo I have here what you came here to retrieve" Urahara indicated the body on the ground before turning back to Ichigo. "I did not retrieve your own body for obvious reasons, decomposition being chief amongst them, this Gigai will however work to synthesise what you look like currently, it will basically mimic your true appearance as your 'normal' self" Urahara explained to Ichigo but upon seeing his confused expression Urahara sighed before simplifying it. "What you look like in this form, you'll look like in human form" Urahara simplified, glad when he seen Ichigo look like he comprehended what had been said.
"How did you know that I came here for that?" Ichigo asked suddenly interested as to how he could have guessed as much, he had made no obvious statements, he had actually basically broken down in the middle of their talks after he realised he was basically a cannibalistic murderer.
"Call it my own intuition told me that you'd probably be interested in going back to school, am I correct?" Urahara asked him as he turned back to head out again, not before looking at Ichigo and giving him a wink.
"Yeah, I got an entire year that I got to catch up on so I guess that I had better start as soon as possible, it'll help me in later life too when I'm going for jobs to have some grades under my belt" Ichigo explained sounding much more confident and happier than he had been sounding not too long ago.
"You sound better now Ichigo" Urahara remarked as he stopped and turned back to the young man, who to his surprise had an honest smile on his face and if Urahara could look right into his eyes he would not miss the faint blue glow that appeared whenever his resolve had been hardened.
"Much better, I'm going to make sure that I prove to everyone that I am the Ichigo that they remember, I will be that man again or I will die trying, my talk with Yoruichi has helped me see along with yours and the Hogyoku's advice that anything that comes easy is always nice but things that are harder to come by are usually worth the effort" Ichigo answered as a satisfied smile made its way onto the faces of both Yoruichi and Urahara at that moment and time.
"I guess now is the time to see what I'm going to look like when I get into this Gigai then isn't it?" Ichigo asked nervously as he walked over to the blank Gigai that sat at the feet of Urahara. He didn't understand why he was so nervous, it was only supposed to take on his form as he was now wasn't it? With a deep breath Ichigo lay down onto the prone form of the Gigai and allowed his spirit to seep into it. After a few seconds he could feel that he was becoming awake, sitting up groggily he looked to the shocked faces of both Urahara and Yoruichi.
"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked slightly worried that he had some form of mutation or something that had them both looking at him like he had just suddenly sprouted an extra arm, actually they might not look quite like that if he had. Neither could answer him so instead Urahara pulled out a small pocket mirror and handed it to Ichigo. He held it right opposite his face and found himself already annoyed as he saw that his golden eyes with black sclera were in place. Panning out slightly he could see that his orange hair was slightly longer but it was as if the new length was now red so he had orange hair with red tips. As he panned out fully he got a glimpse of his chest and to his horror found that it had the tribal tattoos that his hollow form used to have. With a sigh Ichigo was left to accept the changes that had been applied to his body. It was only then that Ichigo realised he was stark naked and tried to conceal himself, hiding behind a rock outcropping.
"You wouldn't happen to have any clothes would you?" Ichigo asked almost nervously as Urahara laughed finally with Yoruichi joining in. Urahara threw some clothes to Ichigo who caught them. Underwear, black pants, white short sleeved shirt and a black trench coat strange combination of clothes but with Ichigo out of no other choice he just put them on. Walking out of the place he had used to change both Urahara and Yoruichi stood waiting for him and looked at him with surprise when he finally revealed himself. He had worn his bottom half as normal as expected, yet his trench coat sleeves had been rolled up to the same length as the shirt, the shirt had been buttoned from the bottom until it reached the top three buttons. They had been left open and even revealed some of the tattoos.
"How do I look then?" Ichigo asked both of them as he stood in front of them with his arms spread wide open, only now was his entire changes visible. His tattoos were visible through the shirt, his eyes were the discernible black sclera with golden irises and the red coloured tips of his orange hair were made apparent in the light away from the shade of the rock.
"I have to admit with that random collection of clothes that I gave you, you managed to make it look good on you Ichigo" Urahara answered him first as he nodded his head in an affirmative manner. At looking at Yoruichi he could tell by the ravenous look that she was giving the form of the young man she approved. She was not for one second going to deny that he looked absolutely gorgeous; it was as if his face was made to perfection by the soul king himself.
"Thanks" Ichigo answered with a smile that almost had Yoruichi melting on the spot. "Urahara-san what time is it by the way?" Ichigo asked concerned that he might not even get any sleep in before he had to go to school. Urahara looked to his watch and smiled when he read the time.
"It's only one thirty in the morning Kurosaki-san, you can go home and get some sleep before you have to wake up for school tomorrow" Urahara answered him with a smile on his face, even when he looked to Yoruichi and could see she still had to tear her eyes away from Ichigo he felt his smile widen further.
"Okay thanks Urahara-san, and thank you for listening to me Yoruichi-san it helped!" Ichigo said before he turned tail and made his quick retreat away out of the underground training ground.
Once Ichigo was safely out of earshot Urahara made to move away but was tightly gripped around his arm.
"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Yoruichi asked him dangerously as she rounded on him with those hungry eyes that did not seem to leave her just yet.
"Maybe I did" Urahara answered her mischievously as he smiled to her before he felt his arm getting grabbed tighter and he looked directly into those hungry eyes again.
"Well unfortunately for you I have now counselled two children and have felt close to them, so I tell you now after you have gotten me in this mood too, I want a child!" Yoruichi proclaimed to him as she began to drag him towards an area at the back of the training area.
"Don't I get a say in this!" Urahara screamed as he tried to release himself of her vice like grip.
"Nope! I want a child now and you are going to give me it for getting me like this in the first place!" Yoruichi argued as she continued to drag an 'unwilling' Urahara away.
"It was Kurosaki that got you like this though!" Urahara whined as he had attempted to stop her by digging his heels into the ground, which did not work as he just made two long lines in the ground all the way towards their intended destination.
"I don't get to do to him what I'm going to do to you though" Yoruichi said to Urahara in a much more seductive tone as he came out of his unwilling stance and looked at her. The look she was giving him promised him great pleasure but also great pain later on. Right now though, he could not give a damn about the future there was just him, Yoruichi and the here and now, he grinned widely before he and Yoruichi walked hand in hand to their intended destination.
Ichigo walked home with a little but more of a happy step to his walking. His earlier more depressing thoughts had been discarded, he was going to think in the optimistic for now on, he would make things with everyone alright again, if it was the last thing that he done. He knew that things would be hard but like three separate people had told him, the things that are hard to come by are those that are most worth the time and effort put into them.
Ichigo walked by a street that instantly caught his attention, as he looked down the street that was this time now illuminated by the light of the luminous moon he thought of the large feeling of nostalgia that hit him. This had been where he had fought those three guys that had knocked over a little ghost flowers to honour her. He smiled as he walked down the street to the lamppost where the small bottle that used to hold her flowers used to be, to his utter surprise the bottle was still sitting there with some withered flowers within. Ichigo knelt down and waved his hand over the small flowers within the bottle, releasing a small amount of his spiritual pressure as he done so. With this action the flowers within the bottle came back to life but seemed to glisten in the lunar light. Ichigo had encased the flowers in tiny crystals all over the flowers, forever immortalised.
He then continued his trek on homewards as he continued to think about all of his friends and how he could possibly make it up to all of them whenever the time came. He knew he would do it just not how. As he got into his home he was just about to ascend the stairs to his room before he remembered that not only had Orihime now taken over his room but Sachi and Kyota were probably deep asleep in that same room and he really did not want to wake any of them up if he could really help himself.
He instead made his way to the location that many men found themselves when there was no other replacement for a bed. The couch. Since he was finding himself too tired to even look out a blanket he decided that his coat would do for now and that he was going to sleep fully clothed tonight. He'd fix everything tomorrow, for now he just wanted to go to sleep and finally allow his mind that had been on alert for the better part of over two weeks to finally relax a little. The second that his eyes had closed he was asleep and away off to his happier dreamland.
Well here is your next instalment of Hollow Kingdom, I hope that you guys will enjoy it as I think I'm beginning to get back into the swing of it all, I will hopefully have longer chapters now that I am beginning to get used to all of this again=] I hope you enjoyed my attempt at humor with Yoruich and Urahara, and i stress the 'attempt' bit=] anyway as always I hope that you enjoy and for those who have been reviewing my work I thank you and I shall see you in either the next instalment of either this or my Naruto Fic. As always if you could R&R that would be lovely, goodbye and in my case goodnight, until next time my friends =] – Varrukh