AN: Ok, so sorry for taking so long, but as you'll notice this chap is VERY long. I hope you like it, I worked extremely hard on it. it should come off as either touching or funny. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own bleach, naruto, death note, fma, or any other anime that might appear. Nor do I own the characters.
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Chapter 14- 5 days left (part 1)
Day 1- Look after them.
The next day, Uryu was preparing to go on patrol duty as he rubbed a massive headache out of his head. Why, now of all days did he have to be sent to the rukongai. On top of that it was predetermined that he'd be gone for 2-5 days. What if he didn't get back in time to see Ichigo off.
So many problems, so many preparations, and the worst headache ever. He couldn't find anywhere quiet, he had gotten into a fight the last night and was hit in the head, and on top of that he had been in the middle of a hangover thanks to orihime's booby trapped lips. NOW he was trying get ready with a drunk lieutenant and an angry captain bickering at at maximum volume in the next room.
Finally, he shot up and marched next door, "PLEASE! No disrespect to either of you, but could you please keep it down." he shouted so he'd be heard just before calming down, "look, I'm sorry for yelling, but I've got a horrible headache and I have a mission that I need be to prepared for in 30 minutes. So, could you maybe... keep it down a bit." he added in with small sigh.
Rangiku, being as out of it as she was, laughed as she trotted over behind him and draped her arms over his shoulders, "Oh I'm sooooooo sowy, but I cant *hic* I cat... wait what was I gon' say?" She slurred with a small giggle as her head fell on his shoulder.
Uryu quickly placed a hand over his nose and mouth, not takeing any chances. If he could pass out from a kiss, whos to say the amount of alchole in his liuetenants breath wouldnt at the very least make him tipsy. As she seemed to begin to zone out on his shoulders, he glanced over at Toshiro, "At least she's quiet now, but there are a few problems with her laying on me."
Toshiro sighed at the disruption, and gave a small smirk, "Sorry for all the commotion Ishida. Go ahead and get ready, it should quiet be now that she's out of it." he commented in annoyance as he helped Uryu get Matsumoto off of him and on to the couch.
As he made his way out the door he brought his hands up to apply pressure to his temples, trying to relieve some of the pain. "Damn migraine, to bad aspirin doesn't exist here." he grumbled to himself, pretty much saying the same thing he had always said when he had a headache as he trudged down the hall.
~"What's asiprin?"~ came a whimsical little voice from behind. Uryu turned and saw a rapidly fluttering, glowing, white butterfly circling Ichigo's head.
"It's medicine, it makes it so you stop hurting." Ichigo said as he reached out and swiftly pinched the child's wings shut.
Uryu removed his hand and adjusted his glasses, "You mind explaining? I mean, I heard about the whole white butterfly thing and I understand that much but whats with the treatment, children are fragile at that age you know?"
Ichigo gave a small chuckle and looked over at his friend, "Don't worry, we found out last night that my reishi is like caffeine for the kid, and he or she just got done with breakfast. This is just my method of saying calm down, it seems to work and apparently the little one doesn't seem to mind." He explained with a slight smirk as he let go and the child flew over to rest on his shoulder.
Uryu just sighed as he turned and continued to walk back to his room, motioning for Ichigo to follow him. "So have you decided on a team yet?" he asked as they arrived and in the room and sat down to talk.
Ichigo's expression dropped a bit at the topic. Glanceing over at the butterfly he gave a small smile so as to avoid suspision, "Why dont you go burn off some of that extra energy outside for a bit, I need to talk to my friend here about something." he said as the child futtered an ok and raced off, flying out of the room and up and down the hall jingling with laughter.
Looking back over at Uryu, Ichigo gave a slight glare, "Who told you, and why would you bring that up when... never mind." he said as slowly calmed down. he let out a sigh as he brought up a hand to pitch the bridge of his nose, "Look Uryu, I Haven't told anyone ok. I mean, Rukia got it out of me last night but..." he trailed off as he relaxed and took a breath. The whole thing was putting a lot of stress on him right now.
Uryu leaned in and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Ku...Ichigo, look, I get it, you didn't want us to worry, but we were going to find out eventually. Yagami san told Inoue and me about it yesterday and if I remember correctly Renji was there too. so now there's really only one person who doesn't know and if you don't tell them they're going to be devastated when you leave." He explained as he glanced out the door as he finished speaking.
Ichigo wasn't that dumb, he knew who Uryu was referring to even without the glance. How was he supposed to explain such a situation to a child though? "I know, and I will but... not yet."
Uryu stood up and walked over to his desk to search for his radar, "Well you only have 5 days so i hope you build up the courage to try something soon. Look, I have patrol duty, and I'm not sure if I'll be back before you leave. So, since I need to leave now, and I only know about two of the four people going with you." hes said as he finished packing, "do me a favor okay, please don't take Inoue as your medic."
As he made his way to the door Ichigo sighed and glanced over at his friend, "I didn't plan on it. I would never make her revisit that place, not if I have a say in the matter. I actually came by to ask if you could watch over Rukia while I'm gone." He assured him in a concerned tone.
Joining him at the door, the two left the room and began to walk down the hall and the little butterfly fluttered over and landed on Ichigo's shoulder. Uryu glanced at the child that seemed to be mellowing out as it's wings opened and closed slower each time, most likely falling asleep. "We intended on it, but I'm glad to hear it crossed your mind" he informed him as they approached the exit. "Its likely I wont be back before you leave so I'll go ahead and say it now, so long Ichigo, and come back safe." he added as they split up and went their separate ways.
- 2 hours later at squad 13
Having but a week to left to not only get things in line for the trip to Hueco Mundo, but also to spend with his child, Ichigo decided that he may as well kill two birds with one stone and take the little one to his office with him. As he was just finishing the recruit list for his team a small jingle was heard from his right. Glancing over to the now, slowly fluttering butterfly he gave a small smile and brought his finger up to it for it to move to. "Well I see your awake. I hope you slept well." He said as he brought the now glowing child in front of him.
~ I did. Otou san, where did your friend go I wanted to ask him about that strange energy he had?~ the child sang as the glowing got a bit more intence.
Noticing not only the glow but the tickle of his reishi being absorbed, Ichigo gave a small sigh. "Don't over do it, to much and you'll make yourself tired again." He warned, as if his energy had caused, and most likely did cause, a sugar high and crash.
The butterfly just fluttered its wings slowly with a jingle of a nod as the glow dimmed down a bit.
"Uryu had to go to work, but don't worry you'll have plenty of time to ask him when he gets back. He's a good friend of the family, I've known him almost as long as I've known your mother, so he may as well be another uncle for you." Ichigo explained, answering the child's question as he placed his signature on the list.
Fluttering over and landing on the ink jar, the child looked over at the four pictures on the profiles that were fanned out beneath the list, ~Otou san, who are these people?~ the butterfly chimed in curiosity.
Looking over at the pictures, Ichigo shut his eyes for a brief moment and sighed before giving a soft smile, "Their just a few important friends of mine, we're about to start a big project together so I''m checking their files to make sure their going to be able to work on it." He half lied to cover the fact that he was leading them on a year long mission. It was still to soon to tell the child, there was no telling how it'd react. "Now come on over here, it's time to go home, I'm sure your mother misses you" He added as the butterfly fluttered over to rest on his shoulder and he collected the files as he made his was out.
~Otou san, can you tell me another story?~ The little one suddenly chimed as they made their way back to the Kuchiki household.
Ichigo chuckled a bit at the child's enthusiasm, "Alright then, what do you want to know?" he asked as he brushed a few strands from his face.
Slowly fluttering its wings a few times, silently, the child thought for a moment. Soon enough it jingled a small question, "Last night you said that you met Okaa san when you were still alive, can you tell me what it was like to be alive? what did it feel like?" The child chimed in a bit of an excited tone.
Stopping for a moment, Ichigo glanced over at the little flutter-bug on his shoulder. "It's been two years...but...to remember what it was like... it feels like its been longer because I can barely remember anything." He uttered softly as he started walking again, "I do however, remember those close to me, it's important that no matter what, you never forget them." He said with a smile.
The butterfly flew up to burrow a nest in Ichigo's hair, ~So, you remember your friends? That's all?~ it questioned with curiosity.
Thinking for a moment, Ichigo gave a light sigh, "Only a few, and my sisters. Now that I think about it, I can't seem to recall the feel of a living body either, but I do remember that when I was alive I was very different from how I am now."
~Really, how?~ the child jingled as it seemed to do a little hop.
Finally Ichigo had a cheerful face on once more at his child's never ending curiosity, "Hmph, yeah. Arrogant, naive, persistent. I couldn't control my energy and I always acted without thinking." he reminisced as the child just listened.
The butterfly jingled a small laugh, ~wow, but your nothing like that now, what made you change?~ it asked, still curious as ever.
"Actually, When it's just the few people that I was always around back then, like Uryu and your mother, I'm still the same. If you want to know what changed me though, It was your uncle. He said that if I wanted to be with your mother, I needed to change." Ichigo explained with a small chuckle. "Now no more questions, we're almost home." he added to calm the child down a bit as they approached the residence.
Day 2- What is chakra?
It was half past noon and Minato was in his study, struggling to figure out a salution to this crisis. All of the captains had been informed of the war in Hueco Mundo, and they had all agreed that they would be effected in one way or another. Whether it be that negative side won and they in a state of emergency forever, or the positive, and they be at peace with the hollows for quite some time. It was decided that the best idea was to assist the positive side in their battle. Of course, why wouldn't they try to raise their chances at a truce with Hueco Mundo.
So it was because of this that the captain of squad 3 was stressing over his research on those they had been informed of for the past 32 hours. So far he had recognized 8 faces, or at least what was revealed of their faces. Two of them assured him that this was going to be a very deadly war. As he messaged his temples he heard a small knock on the door, "Come on in." he said, still rubbing the pain of sleep deprivation from his head.
The door slide open and Ichigo stepped inside baring a red mark on his left cheek, and a butterfly nuzzled in his scarf on the right. "Good afternoon Captain Namikaze, have you come up with anything yet?" He asked quietly as he closed the door behind him.
The blonde looked up at him and gave a light sigh as he brought his hands down, "It's true that these particular hollows are from the same world as me, and I do recognize them, but I'm not the one the fought them so I'm afraid what we've been told is what we know." He explained, motioning at his research.
Ichigo brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and removed it soon after and sighed, "That's alright, I understand. But could help me with one more thing?" he questioned calmly as remembered something else.
"What ever it was I'm sure you deserved it." Minato joked as he started cleaning up his desk.
Ichigo just rolled his eyes and brought a hand to his cheek, "I was stating a fact. How was I supposed to know she would get mad?" He stopped and thought for a minute, "Forget I said that, but shes so small it surprised me."
The captain looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "Alright what happened?" He asked in a bit of a father type tone as he stopped with the cleaning and payed attention to the upcoming story and motioning for Ichigo to sit.
Taking a seat, Ichigo removed his hand and took a confessing breath, "I woke up this morning and noticed something a bit different about Rukia. I decided to it was nothing and just let it go, but before I came down here to talk to you she almost fell in the koi pond and when I caught her I... may have mentioned she was a bit heavier then usual." He explained, struggling to admit to the taboo of speaking to women about their weight.
Minato just burst into laughter, "You cant be serious. Ichigo you NEVER say that to a woman, no matter how true it is. I said that to my wife once and she hit me so hard, the village had to lead itself for 3 days. Then again, she was probably the second strongest woman in the village." he said as he started to calm down. "Look, Ichigo, It's probably just the extra reishi she has now." he suggested as he got a few more small chuckles out.
"Extra? What do you mean extra reishi?" Ichigo asked a bit confused.
The blonde smile and pointed at the butterfly in Ichigo's scarf, "The extra reishi she's producing for that little guy on your shoulder. It's making her heavier. Like liveing women eat more for the child they carry and it makes them gain extra weight. In fact, that was the same situation I was in." he explained with one more small laugh as he remembered everything he was talking about.
Taking it all in Ichigo sighed, "Well, I guess that makes sense." He said quietly, having solved one of his questions. "this isn't what I wanted your help with though." he admitted, redirecting the conversation to business.
Minato's face became serious again, tired, but serious, "Alright lieutenant what is it?" he asked, more focused now.
Ichigo looked him in the eye as he rested his chin on the back of his hands, "The 3rd seat of squad 12 mentioned something called chakra. Some sort of special energy from your world. Is there anything you can tell me about it, what does it do, how do I fight it, anything?" He asked, trying to get and information he could.
The captain sighed and scratched the back of his head. How was he going to explain this, they were from two different worlds. "Ok look, the thing you need to know about chakra is, well yes it is another kind of energy. In fact It's quite similar to reishi, but due to the fact that it involves physical energy as well as spiritual," pausing, he held up a hand and formed, what Ichigo could only assume to be a swirling ball of chakra, in the palm of his hand, "I've realized that it's much stronger. This here is technique I invented myself, I try not to use it unless absolutely necessary now days. I didn't want everyone knowing about it." he finished up as the energy dissipated from his hand.
Ichigo nodded in agreement to keep his secret, "So then, the hollows from your world are going to be twice as strong?" he asked, as if to clarify.
Nodding, Minato narrowed his eyes a bit and leaned in, "Look Ichigo, believe it or not, I know what your really like and I know that because of that I can trust you with what I'm about say." He said as if he were full of secrets, which he was.
Raising an eyebrow out of curiosity, Ichigo let out a sigh. He could tell that by the time this was all over he'd know so many secrets he may not be able to speak without getting someone in trouble. "I guess I shouldn't ask why so many secrets huh?" he mentioned in his normal, sarcastic somewhat arrogant tone.
"That would probably be best." Minato responded with a light chuckle at Ichigo's personality switching, "The truth is, even when I died I knew what was happening in the world I was from. For 16 years I watched the world through my son's eyes." He admitted with a small smile as he remembered him.
Ichigo immediately had a shocked expression on his face, what did he mean by watching the world through his son's eyes, was that even possible? "Sorry captain, but I don't quite follow."
Minato closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of how to explain. When he opened them again he reached over to his desk and grabbed photo of himself and Kushina that they had taken after finding each other again and looked at it, "In my world there are creatures known as the tailed beasts, to harness their power we seal them away in hosts called jinchuriki." He began slowly to be sure Ichigo followed. When he saw him nod he continued, "My wife was a jinchuriki and now that position has been passed to my son. I was the one who sealed the beast inside him, along with the last of my chakra. Because of that I've had a connection with him up until the emergency meeting last year." He finished with a somewhat sad sigh as he put the photo back.
Thinking back to the meetings they had in the previous year Ichigo did happen to recall Captain Namikaze being a bit distracted during the first one. "You don't have the connection anymore?" he asked, a bit intrigued.
"I had set a safety seal over the main seal. If it ever was removed incorrectly or to early I would be summoned to stop it. That happened during the meeting last year, because of that though, the little bit of chakra that was sealed within my son was used up, I no longer have the connection." he admitted with a small smile that somewhat said "you got me".
Ichigo just looked at the captain and felt a bit sorry for him, he was also starting to realize why he had so many secrets. Some were to keep him out of trouble, like this one, and some he was assuming were regrets, if people knew then there would be rumors. "I see, but, what does this have to do with my chakra question?" He finally asked, having held it off long enough.
The captain stood up and went over to open the window. As soon as it was completely open he grabbed a jug of ice water and dumped it outside as a small smirk crawled onto his face and a loud yelp was heard. "Kushina, mind telling me what your doing outside my window?" he said as a soaked, angry redhead stood up, wringing out her hair.
Ichigo couldn't help but laugh as the woman shivered and laughed herself. "I take it this is your wife." he said as he noticed something fly out the window. It didn't take long to realize it was the now awake butterfly, and smiled, guess the little one wants to spread it's wings. he thought to him self.
Kushina looked over at Ichigo after watching the butterfly flutter off and smiled, then at Minato, "Well I came by for a visit but then I heard some of you discussion, and want to say this right now Minato. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, we did what we had to and he turned out fine. He's a hero, or so he told me." she said in a somewhat quiet yell.
Minato just sighed, "That's true, but I still wish I could have been there for him. And from what I saw Sensei wasn't any help either." He argued.
Ichigo stood up and brushed off his hakama, "I know you too must be having a moment right now but you never answered my question captain, and now that the butterfly's awake I'm almost out of time." he interrupted, receiving a brief angry glare from Kushina that soon became a light smile.
Minato looked at Ichigo with a serious face again, "My son fought, or encountered all of the hollows that your about to fight from our world. They're strong and they each have special chakra abilities. Compared to that, the chakra I displayed is nothing. Chakra has natures, and some can extend further than that. To learn about it though, I suggest speaking to the 3rd seat of squad 6 or the lieutenant of squad 2." He suggested just before the butterfly came back in and landed on Ichigo's shoulder.
"I see, well thank you for all of your help. And don't worry, your secrets safe with me" Ichigo assured him as he turned to leave.
Kushina, who had now hopped in through the window, looked at the butterfly on Ichigo's shoulder with a sad face, "Lieutenant, you need to tell the child you know? don't make the same mistake we did."
Ichigo just stopped and sighed, "I will, when the times right, I will." and with that he walked out and made his way to the squad 6 barracks.
The butterfly gave a small chime, ~What do you need to tell me? Where are we going now?~ the child's curiosity was endless.
Shutting his eyes for a brief moment as he made his way down the hall he thought of how to answer. " We're going to visit your uncle." he finally said as he gave a small smile to the little question bug.
Squad 6 barracks-
The cool, late, winter breeze blew in the window of the noble captain's study, flipping the pages of the research book in front of him. He let out a small sigh as he flipped back to his page and went over to close the window. Just as he got to it however, he noticed his new brother-in-law had done so as well and was standing on the other side looking slightly worried. "What happened?" He questioned, hiding the small bit of worry he was obtaining himself.
Ichigo brushed off the question and scanned the room nervously, looking out for the slightest flutter, "The butterfly flew away a moment ago, I thought I saw it go in here." he said.
No longer worried, Byakuya turned to take a look around the room, "I didn't see anything but..." He stopped when he spotted a small flutter of the tips of white wings over by the book he was just reading. Seeing this left and brief sudden shock in his face that instantly vanished as always.
Also spotting this, Ichigo gave a soft sigh of relief, "Sorry, its real hyper when it feeds of my reishi and apparently very fast too." He explained as he saw the butterfly fly over rest on the ink jar. supposedly it liked resting on those.
Byakuya looked back to Ichigo, "I suppose that makes sense, your reishi is quite uncontrollable." he stated in his usual tone. "So what brings you here Ichigo?" he asked as he turned to go back and put the book away.
"I need to speak to your 3rd seat." Ichigo responded in the same tone as he watched the butterfly flutter circles around its uncle, jingling with whimsical laughter, and he could've sworn he saw a smile.
Glancing over at the other, Byakuya gave a light sigh, "I take it you plan to recruit him for your team." he said as he placed the book on the shelf. "He's out training in the feild right now."
The cool air blew once more, causeing some loose black strands to fly into Ichigo's face. Brushing it away and back behind his ear, he watched as the butterfly flew back over to him and landed on his shoulder. "Thanks for letting me know,I don't plan on recruiting him, I just need to talk to him."
Byakuya just took a seat at his desk and began reviewing his notes, "If that's all, then I would much like it if I could get back to work. I'll see you at home later tonight." He stated in manner that sounded more like a dismissal than a goodbye.
With that said, Ichigo shut the window as the captain was intending on doing himself and took his leave. As he got closer to the training field he had to start holding his balance again the strong sudden gusts of wind that would come all angle in front of him, causing his hair and scarf to blow everywhere uncontrollably. He held a protective hand up to his shoulder to keep the child safe as the force got stronger the closer he got to the field. "Something tells me these arn't just normal gusts of wind." he thought aloud, sensing a strong reishi from each blow.
~Otou san, what do you mean not normal wind?~ the child chimed, once again with the questions, though this time it was barely heard under the protection of Ichigo's hand.
Ichigo was just arriving at the field, realizing that he had been right when he saw that the third seat's training was causing the strong forces of wind. He had to be honest, he was impressed. He knew that the third seat was good but also knew that he was a rookie, this would be his first time meeting him. "Pardon me," he said as he carefully approached the boy. When the other stopped his drills and looked at him Ichigo noticed his were stragenely white and seemed void of life. "You're Neji Hyuuga, third seat of squad six correct?" He asked, finally bringing his hand down.
Stepping out of his stance, the boys eyes became normal and black in color, and a sealed zanpakutou appeared at his hip. "Yes, and your Lieutenant Ichigo Kuchiki of squad thirteen if I'm not mistaken." He answered, introducing himself. When Ichigo nodded he continued, "Congratulations Lieutenant." He added.
He couldn't tell if he was being congratulated on his marriage or the butterfly, so Ichigo simply gave a faint smile and thanked him. "That's a very interesting zanpakutou you have, would you mind if I asked you a few questions about how it works?" He asked, looking around at the cratered fields and broken boulders with serious eyes as the butterfly flew off to explore on it's own.
Neji could tell the lieutenant was wasn't just curious, he was worried, possibly scared. It was all clear to him, he could see the anxiety in his eyes as they scanned the field. Seeing that the butterfly was gone, he put it bluntly, "You aren't really here about mine, are you lieutenant. Lieutenant Abarai mentioned something about your recruiting a team, but you seem to nervous to be here for that. The next reason you could be asking is because my old enemies are the same as your new ones and you want to find out what to expect and how to fight them."
Looking back at Neji, Ichigo went into a brief, sudden shock. When he regained his composure he gave a light sigh, "Have you ever been told that you're a genius, Hyuuga?" He complemented in a half stoic, half sarcastic tone.
"Many times lieutenant." The boy answered with small smirk, "So what is is it you need to know?" he asked as the cool midwinter breeze blew past, cause a few black strands to brush his face.
Ichigo let his eyes scan craters in the feild and then looked back to Neji with narrowed eyes, "First, where your from, how common is it for damage like you've done here?" he asked, rather worried, but definitely serious.
"This damage was a result of my shikai, but there are others with similar strengths and others more-so" Neji explained in a professional tone that made Ichigo realize why Byakuya was so fond of him.
Pondering what had just been said, Ichigo let his eyes fall on Neji's sword, examining the strange energy it emitted from the opal colored, smooth, round hand guard. No doubt it was the so called chakra that he was investigating. Looking back up at the boy, he took note that his eye color had changed from white to pitch black. "Perhaps as an example, you could explain your shikai" he asked as the butterfly came back and landed on his finger that he had held out for it.
Neji gave a light smile at cheerful energy radiating from the spirit child and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "My family, we have a special bloodline skill called the Byakugan. For those in the head family, they keep it even in death. Those of us in the branch family however though," he paused and looked up as some birds flew by, "we lose it when we die." Looking back at the lieutenant Neji sighed, "My uncle was the head of our family, at one time he admitted that I was good enough to have been part of the main family, he even entrusted the safety of his daughter to me." As he spoke, his mind seemed to drift off to an old memory that almost seemed as if he was regretting something. "I died in a war, taking a lethal blow for both her and Naruto, our village hero. It's possible that could be the reason that through my shikai, my byakugan was returned to me."
It took some time for it to sink in but finally, Ichigo started to catch on to the point of the story, "Every zanpakutou is different, no two are ever the same." he thought aloud to himself as he glanced down to the side. He looked back up at the third seat, "So your the only one that has your family's abilities then, not even a hollowfied family member would have it." he stated, putting the pieces together. That gave them on advantage to some extent.
Nodding, Neji spoke again, "If they were from the branch family, yes. Though, I doubt many main family members would have ended up hollows anyway." Closing his eyes to focus for a moment, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before opening them again. "The byakugan allows us to see chakra, because of that our fighting style doesn't focus on physical blows, but instead, we attack the chakra system and internal organs directly by injecting our chakra into the enemy. That's what my shikai does, it lets me fight the way I used to. This damage is simply because the chakra blasts and defense training i was doing. I'm sure there will others that you'll face though from my world, with their own bloodline traits, I should warn you to take heed against those from the Uchiha clan. They can be quite deadly if you get trapped in there illusions, or fire for that matter." He explained as another breeze blew by.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the name Uchiha. He was never all that goo with names and faces but he knew that it sounded familiar. Brushing aside the thought, he nodded at the warning and information, "Well thank you for your time Hyuga." he said as he brought up a hand to shield his face from another cool late winter breeze, slightly stronger this time and causing the butterfly to flutter into Ichigo's scarf to stay snug and warm. He was about to leave when he had a sudden thought, "Oh, now that i think about it, you said you died in a war right? Then... is it possible you might be able to give me some information on a few hollows I was told about?" He asked as he brought his hand down.
Neji gave a nod as he motioned for ichigo to follow him to the barracks and talk inside out of the cold. "Its possible but it depends on who they are." he said as they walked.
Evening at the Kuchiki estate-
The newlywed's room was filled with nothing but jingling, ringing, and high pitch chimes that's sounded nearly like hollow screeches as the butterfly dashed around the room, emitting a strong, bright light. ~TELL ME! tell me tell me tell me!~ the child screamed as the tantrum went on.
Receiving death glares from Rukia and a migraine from the screeching, Ichigo jolted straight up to his feet and let his reishi flood the room even more-so then usual, to the point where the butterfly froze up and fell where was, caught by Rukia whom was struggling to not collapse herself. "Quiet." he practically demanded stern enough to tame a wolf. "I won't have you waking the whole family with you silly tantrum just because you don't get your way." He continued in the same tone, pulling back a little to make sure Rukia could move and the child wouldn't get crushed by the pressure.
Rukia, now able to stand on balanced feet, walked over to Ichigo and handed him the butterfly. "You really should listen to your father, be grateful he's not as bad as your uncle." she warned in a similar stern tone as the butterfly almost seemed to by panting in the palm of ichigo's hand. She then looked up at Ichigo, "And you need to stop procrastinating."
Ichigo sighed and lowered his reishi level down to normal, and he had to admit, he was prolonging the inevitable. "Alright, come on we're going for a little stroll in the garden." He said as he brought the butterfly to his shoulder and made his way out the door. When stepped outside, he turned to see Byakuya standing outside the room.
"I see I didn't need to come down here, you handled that quite well." Byakuya said as he walked by. "I do hope there wont be anymore tantrums little one. The next time your disciplined may be more harsh then this one." he added, speaking to the butterfly this time as he walked off.
The child stayed silent from intimidation as Ichigo continued to walk towered the garden. When Ichigo finally stopped, they were at the snow covered sakura tree and the only thing heard was the relaxing, repeating, metronome-like 'thunk' of the shishi-odoshi, and occasional splashes of Koi. Breaking the silence, the butterfly finally brought of the courage to speak again, ~Sorry...~ it said in a whisper, still afraid of getting nearly crushed again by Ichigo's spiritual pressure if it spoke to loud. ~I just don't understand why you wont tell me...~
Ichigo cut in, silencing the butterfly by pinching it's wing shut at the tips, gently. "I know, and you not understanding is the reason I wont tell you. I promise though, I will tell you, but later, when your ready to hear it." He explained as he sat down against the tree, and the bamboo struck the stone once again. "But that's not now." he added with a sigh as the calming sounds of the garden began to relieve him of the pain in his head.
A few more moments passed and the butterfly flew up to rest on Ichigo's shoulder, ~Otou san, can I ask you something else then?~ It asked in a whimsical child-like tone. When Ichigo nodded it continued, ~When you got mad, I couldn't move, and it hurt, and i felt very tired. And Okaa san almost couldn't stand.~ It uttered, seeming frightened at the thought.
Another tap was heard as a cool breeze blew past and Ighigo brought up a hand first shield the child from the wind and once it past, brought it up further to brush some stray hairs from his face. "You want to know what I did right?" He said as he shifted his gaze to the right to look at the now dimly glowing butterfly. It made sense that the child would sneak a snack after all of that, it must be exhausted. A small chime was given as a nod and Ichigo gave a light chuckle as he hid an inward smirk. "I released a small amount of my reishi, not enough to hurt you, or at least I thought, but enough to teach you lesson. Your mother's felt worse then that, which is why she didn't mind." He explained with a hint of pride.
~But, doesn't that tell people how strong you are? If that was just a little... Otou san you must be really strong.~ The butterfly chimed as it fluttered excitedly out in front of Ichigo.
Holding his index and middle fingers out as a perch, Ichigo smiled and nodded as the child landed on them. "What you felt was slightly more then what it was when I was alive. I've gotten stronger since then though."
~Otou san, will I be as strong as you? maybe?~ The child asked with hope.
Ichigo gazed at butterfly, bright and glowing with happiness, for a short while before giving another smile, "I have no doubt. As long as you have someone or something to protect, someone you love, you will always get stronger." He said in a soft voice that made certain the words sank in, as yet another tap was heard from the shishi-odoshi next to the edge of the other side of the pond next to tree.
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A/N: Ok so that took forever even for just the 2 days out of 5. Anyway i realized that its taking a while to write and I know I have waiting readers so I'm stopping here. BTW my beta reader is concerned that some of you wont catch on to some things so if at any time in the story you ever have a question about it, simply ask me in a review and i will explain. I can answer any question. XD well tell me your opinions id love to hear (read) them.