A/N: BEHOLD! Here the ryoka arc ends and the Arrancar/Transcendent Arc the latter being a creation of my own, begins! We'll see new enemies, new abilities, and maybe even...THAT? Here we will finally see something that has been a long time in coming. As well as an event that will reshape the Bleach Universe as we know it. This is also AU (If you didn't know already) and if Ichigo isn't his usual canon self well, DID YOU READ THE LAST CHAPTER?
Enjoy!
Rememeber, Bleach Ost highly recommended!
Whispers in the Dark
"I hate you." Ichigo grumbled. "I absolutely fuckin' hate you."
"You look decent." Came the not-so-tart reply.
"Godamnit Rukia! I look like a fucking flower!"
"You fool! You should be honored to be able to attend Nii-sama's wedding!"
In the days leading up to Byakuya's wedding, Rukia had made an almost miraculous recovery. Her eyes had a strange light to them, a light that hadn't been there before her capture. Her speech, mannerisms, even all her usual exuberance, all of it, had seemed to return overnight. It was a miracle, and one for which he was most grateful. Rukia was tough of this he had no doubt; and she seemed to have recognized that their lives had been irrevocably changed by forces beyond their measure, and just got the fuck over it.
Now it remained for him to do the same.
Thankfully, Rukia's odd sense of humor just filled in the gaps when an awkward moment -and there were many- appeared between them. Had Ichigo been a naive human, he might have said that Rukia was back to her old self. Unfortunately to say that Kurosaki was just a human would be saying that the sky is green and the grass is blue. He was not, by any means, human.
Kurosaki Ichigo had become a god.
A demi-god really; because a god could warp the very fabric of reality at the slightest whim. Kurosaki Ichigo didn't have that kind of power. He couldn't part the seas with nay but a thought; nor could he rain down gigantic meteors from the sky with his will. That was just absurd. He could, however, shatter the very fabric of reality, which, he was as inclined to do as ever upon taking the blasted captain's exam that now dictated his fate.
Having completed his test, he'd been summoned to the parlor where all the guests were gathered. It was also where Rukia insisted, that he wear something more formal than the tattered white rags that were once his outfit. Now, garbed in a ridiculously green kimono like all the other male guests, Kurosaki Ichigo leered down at the petite Kuchiki chastising him for his insolence.
Rukia was even healthier than she'd been on that first fateful night. Beyond healthy, really. Now, as he fretted and fussed outside the door that would eventually lead him into the wedding ceremony, he couldn't help but wonder at how far he'd come. Only yesterday, it felt as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. There had been many a battle leading up to this; to his assimilation of the Hogyoku and the penultimate power it contained.
He could feel it now, thrumming under his veins, begging to be released. Willfully, he suppressed this power. It wouldn't do for him to ruin Byakuya's wedding. His prescence alone was bound to infuriate the noble. Not to mention walking on eggshells with the rest of the Gotei Thirteen. They were wary of it, of the power of the Hogyoku. As they'd ought to be.
Because Ichigo knew the reason behind Rukia's mysterious recovery.
And Ichigo was certain that a certain orb was responsible for the return of her health. The Hogyoku had done something to her, just as its subsuquent fusion with his soul had left Ichigo all but a demi-god. He had but to wish it, and that limitless power could come wellling out again. But that was not where his attention lay. Not here, not now, while looking at Kuchiki Rukia and that bewitching twinkle in her cerulean violet orbs, as opposed to last month.
He was staring at Zangetsu.
As he could often seen the zanpakuto of most shinigami, so too, could Kurosaki Ichigo see the shrouded man looming over the petite Kuchiki. Always there, always protecting his charge, the grizzled zanpaktou exchanged a glance with the human who had briefly housed his spirit, and nodded in respect. Granted Kurosaki would never know that they had once been one, but he felt that it was better this way. The boy had formed a bond with his Sode no Shirayuki, a bond beyond that of a master and servant. To revoke that bond would be akin to taking Ichigo's life. He was at one with his Zanpakutou, in a way that no shinigami-not even the Captain Commander-knew of.
Looking back, it was hard to believe that he'd ever been mortal to begin with. The ability to see and communicate with spirits should have been the first warning; the first true sign that he was meant for greatness. He'd always held supernatural reserves of energy within his spirit; but by becoming a shinigami, they'd only expanded. Now, with the voices of three different women in his head, Kurosaki Ichigo was beginning to question his sanity. Zangetsu found this to be most amusing. He hadn't expected the boy to lay claim to Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu, but then again, neither had he anticipated the shinigami's fusion with the Hogyoku.
Neither had he expected himself to become so attached to this fiery little shinigami.
"Is something wrong, Ichigo?"
Zangetsu felt his interest abate somewhat as Ichigo turned his attention toward his own zanpakuto. Sitting beside him, dressed in all her white loveliness, her hand in his lap, Sode no Shirayuki gently squeezed the fingers of her master's hand. Ichigo felt his cheeks darken. In all the chaos of Rukia's rescue, he hadn't had the time to think. Only to survive and live to fight another day. Now, with Rukia rescued, the battle against Soul Society was over. What stretched before him now was uncertainty. Not just for himself but for that of his zanpakuto. He'd kissed her. Kissed her! Granted it had been a part of the Bankai training, but still!
"It's nothing." Ichigo lied.
"You needn't lie to me." Shirayuki squeezed Ichigo's hand harder, her frozen fingers biting deep into the ryoka's palm. "Something is troubling you. I can feel it." Ichigo shook his head and maintained his silent vigil.
"Is it about her?" Shirayuki demanded. "It is, isn't it?"
His shoulders clenched, the vizard did not honor her with a response. If there was one aspect of his zanpakutou that he disliked, it was her jealousy. Sode no Shirayuki had never spent all that much time with Rukia before she was swept into his soul. Most of the time she was he normal, peaceable self. At other times her heart was as black as the ice she commanded. It always felt as though she were laying her own insecurities at his feet; demanding that he take them upon his shoulders. Now was another such time as she felt that her position in his soul was being threatened by Ame and, potentially, Kyouka Suigetsu.
'Not again...
Briefly, he allowed his mind to wander on how Shirayuki had once again been manifested for this special day.
(Flashback)
"Did you need something, Urahara-san?"
Urahara smiled.
"Me? No, not at all! In fact, I wanted to show you something!"
"Huh?"
In the wake of Aizen's betrayal, Urahara and Yoruichi had been granted fully access to the Soul Society once more. Add to this the fact that the Senkaimon was currently down and inopperable due to excess exposure from Kurosaki reaitsu, and the former captain turned genial shopkeeper was momentarily trapped within his former home for the time being. So naturally he'd set up shop.
"Behold!" Urahara pulled back a cloth. "Your zanpakutou!"
"Where?"
"Why, she's right here, of course." Without further adeu, he flung the paper rice panel aside, and Ichigo realized that he hadn't been staring at a painting. She'd been standing right in front of him the entire time; she'd just been too still for him to notice until this very moment.
Ichigo swallowed; because his chest suddenly felt thick.
The thought sparked something in him; the faintest of tingling sensations, and of remembrance. Who was it that had eyes like that, again? For a moment, shock numbed him; for a moment, he couldn't believe his eyes nor his ears, nor any of his other senses, all of which were screaming at him, insisting that this was, in fact:
"Shirayuki!" Ichigo gawped, unable to believe what he was seeing. She'd been manifested! And not in some faux gigai that distilled her beauty, but in her true form.
"Y-You look...nice."
Her overlarge eyes swelled with color as did her cheeks -blushing- beneath the nervous remark.
"You look rather...colorful yourself, Ichigo?" she blurted out. Against her will, her eyes were drawn toward the bandages on her master's forehead. She had little doubt he would find a way to complain for her actions – no matter what anyone said. And yet he did not. Ichigo simply held out his arm, and-delighted!-Shirayuki looped her own in his and allowed herself to be led away.
"Be sure and enjoy yourselves!" Urahara shouted at their backs. Unbeknownst to them, his smile soon faded, replaced by a somber expression bordering on melancholy. Had Ichigo seen it, he would have demanded to know what problem plagued his former mentor. As he did not, he failed to notice the depression into which the once jovial shopkeeper had fallen.
"While you still can...
(End Flashback)
Ichigo felt a muscle jump in his jaw as his zanpakutou continued to badger him. Eventually it became to bear. There was only so much the shinigami could possibly take, and as his zanpakutou continued to badger him, something snapped.
"Will you be quiet already!" Ichigo roared loudly! "I don't have time for this...crap."
Too late, he realized he'd spoken aloud.
Once, his words would have done little to rattle the head of the Kuchiki household. Indeed, Byakuya would have done precious little to show his concern. But today, the words seemed to strike a chord somewhere deep withing the normally imperturpable captain. Hosility radiated from him, the weight of reaitsu momentarily quelling the ryoka's anger as he spared his fellow soul reaper a baleful glare that advised against further arguement.
"Putting your intense ire aside, I believe there are more important matters at hand today, Kurosaki Ichigo." He let the statement hang, unadorned between them. Ichigo met that slate grey stare for a moment longer before he allowed his gaze to drop to the floor again.
"Yeah...sorry."
Damnit Shirayuki!
Kurosaki Ichigo knew when to press his luck.
"..."
Now was not that time.
Hostility radiated outward in waves.
(After the reception)
The wedding had been beautiful. Vows and rings had been exchanged as the Head Captain bound both Kuchiki Byakuya and Unohana Retsu in holy matrimony. All in all, it was a heartwarming scene. One dampened by the realization that he'd accidentally irked his zanpakutou. Shortly after the festivities Ichigo somehow managed to sneak away from the grand after-party and find a nice secluded spot with which to converse with his manifest zanpakutou.
Which is how we find our favorite shinigami and his zanpaktou in the throes of a bitter arguement.
"You can't possibly be serious." Sode no Shirayuki said, folding both arms against her bosom. "You want to train to master your hollow powers?" Ichigo hesitated at that, truth be told, he held no desire to associate with Ame any more than was neccessary after their falling out. Integrating Kyouka Suigetsu within his innerworld was also proving to be a challenging and tedious task. Before her arrival, there had at least been some cohesion between Ame and Shirayuki. With her soul now firmly rooted within his own, balance was sorely lacking and as a result, the two had taken to bickering every chance they got. The prescence of the Hogyoku certainly didn't help matters any, now when it allowed Ichigo to hear every word.
But he needed to master his powers. All of them. Ichimaru was still out there. Still dangerous. Still a threat. Unfortunately, Sode no Shirayuki didn't want to have anything to do with him. She was content to have things stay as they were, to remain as a whole, singular entity, rather than becoming one with Ame. She loathed the idea. Ichigo once thought that the two of they could co-exist in the past. Not anymore. He'd feared that she might reject his idea, but he hadn't expected such vehemence on her part.
"No, absolutely not!" The snow princess shook her head. "I refuse to become one with that derranged slut!" Ichigo felt a twinge of anger from deep within his soul but Ame for the most part remained silent. He could even feel Kyouka Suigetsu's silent reproach as she observed the reaction of her partner. Aizen's zanpakutou was likewise incensed, by Shirayuki's pigheaded refusal, but like Ame, she maintained her silence.
"Maybe there's another way." Ichigo ventured lamely, hoping to mollify the anger of his two partners while appeasing the other. "If you don't want to unite with her then we could-
"Oh, so what did you have in mind then, Ichigo!" Shirayuki accused. "Why don't you just go off with her then and be done with me if she means that much to you!" Immediate was his reaction, and immediately, she regretted her words. Ichigo did the one thing Shirayuki never thought he'd do. He spun around, looked his zanpakuto square in the eye as he rounded on her, fury flaring across his face.
"It's because I love you, you idiot!"
"Oh."
Ichigo looked into her eyes and deep within his eyes was something that made her want to gibber like a madwoman. It was like staring at the night sky after learning for the first time that the stars were not mere pinpricks in the raiment of heaven, but each its own sun, billions of leagues distant. To stare into the eyes of this man was to realize just how small one truly was, how utterly insignificant you were when compared to him.
"Oh!"
Shirayuki blinked. Once. Twice. She blinked a grand total of three times before the tears came, before the tears came. She gasped, sobbed. Flew her hands to her face. Took a step back when he tried to say something, and shook her head; simultaneously raisng an arm and placing it between the two of them. Stepping back to her master's point of entry, Sode no Shirayuki pushed the panel behind her and affixed it securely in place. Upon doing so, she reminded Ichigo just how unbelivably agile she was, had become. Indeed, no sooner did the paper rice parchment slip shut than Shirayuki moved.
Sweeping across the room toward her master with blinding speed, Sode no Shirayuki stopped short. Her forehead brushed against his own, inviting a chill as her frozen flesh touched his own. Sode no Shirayuki reached up to cup his cheek in her hand. Hesitated. Reached out again. Her fingers caressed his cheek, leaving cold trails of frost where they lay.
Ichigo shuddered at her touch.
"Did you mean that?" She blurted out, a trace of pink adjouring the pearly white features of her face. She played her hands through her hair, unable to look him in the eye. He'd always been noticeably taller than her –how had she failed to notice that– but now those few inches felt like yards to her, and she, so very, very small under his confused, imposing stare. Sode no Shirayuki wanted nothing more than to melt away into nothingness as she saw the bitter realization dawning within those chestnut brown orbs. His eyes seemed to pierce right through her, moreso than they had when she'd been stabbed by Senbonzakura and reduced to a mere shadow of her former self.
"T-Truly, Ichigo?"
They stared, for what felt like a millenia. When they embraced -she couldn't recall who moved first- they embraced, for what felt like an eternity. Shirayuki was trembling -trembling-as she finally locked gazes with him, enrapt with attention; transfixed by those chestnut brown orbs. She moved a hand to his face. Traced the sparkling lines of her fingertips there and marveled at them. This was nothing at all like the forced manifestation gigai Kisuke had inserted her spirit into once before.
Sode no Shirayuki was manifested. This was her actual body. She could feel him, feel his bloody chill, ever so slightly at her touch, feel her fingertips warm against his cheek. Such a sensation! To truly touch, and hold, and feel! So caught up was she in this sensation that she remained unaware of her hands laying themselves flat against his chest, flat, but not pushing. He stepped back, seemingly of his own accord, and then she was truly, truly in his arms for the first time outside of combat.
She savored the sensation for as long as her soul could bear. Sode no Shirayuki stood upon the stips of her toes and pressed eveything soft and supple and womanly gently, gently against him as she tipped her face toward his and fufilled her own, long awaited desire. How long had she waited for this? Too long. Much too long. Here, away from prying eyes, hidden from those who would see, those who would laugh, those who would mock and scorn and codemn this sensation as frozen lips gently placed themselves upon the warmth of the living and held themselves there.
She squeezed her eyes shut against it, such was the feeling that erupted within her breasts.
The last time they had kissed the moment had been awkward, fleeting. They hadn't the time to think of it, to enjoy what it had meant, or what they had felt. They'd had only a few hours before dawn, and most of that time had been used to recover, to rest, side by side, and the last few hours had been meant solely for preparation, and preparation only. Sode no Shirayuki knew what it felt like to be one with her master, and shinigami who had achieved bankai, knew what that feeling was like for themselves.
But did they know what their zanpakuto felt? Did they know that the slightest swing of mood or disagreement could eskew the flow of reaitsu and ruin a bankai for the zanpakuto, that it could bring an everlasting wave of torment to their spirit, whilst their master felt nothing but joy, arrogance, and euphoria? Idly, Sode no Shirayuki wondered how Renji had "prepared" for his bankai. The way Zabimaru had blushed when questioned about it suggested some level of intimacy at least, but...
Shirayuki shook herself.
Of course Ichigo knew what bankai did to her. Bankai united them. Not so much in the traditional sense of dominating one's blade and commanding them to obey, oh no. That was the way of most, but that was not their way. Ichigo hadn't done anything to dominate Sode no Shirayuki, and that, that was the secret to bankai. Bankai, could be forced through domination, the act of forcing one's desires upon the other and extracting from one what they wanted and then using it for their own wants and needs. It could be forced, yes, but in doing so, the power was drastically reduced to a mere fifth of what it was meant to be, once the shinigami overpowered them and forced their desires upon the zanpakuto.
To most zanpakuto, it felt like rape.
But there had been none of that with Ichigo. Ichigo had figured out the secret. Ichigo had yielded to her, had forced himself to understand her, to know her, and that, that was the secret of the bankai, the second release. By yielding to the desires of the zanpakuto, and coming to understand how they fell into conjunction with your own, a shinigami gained a power that was at the same time the final release, yet something, so much mor greater than any mere release; for releasing implied that the energy would eventually be sealed away again, supressed, and hidden.
Ichigo had learned to surge.
Ichigo did not seal away their bankai, that unstopabble force that united them and made them one, no, no and most certainly no he did not. Ichigo left that conduit wide open, allowing Shirayuki to be present in this, even the most daily of events. She hadn't been able to do this prior to bankai. It was most likely a skill she'd gained once she became Juuchi Yosamu, that infinitely powerful godess who had full reign over the nights and all that was winter. It was an acceptance she had gained alongside the realization that the Getsuga Tenshou was her ninth dance now, and that they had garnered along the way another, final dance that was to be used only as a last resort, as was the Saigo Getsuga Tenshou technique that Rukia would someday inherit from Zangetsu.
Ichigo knew the risks of such a technique and refused to learn it, knowing the consequence. All zanpakuto had such a technique, a final move that olbiterated them so utterly they dangled upon a cold precipice of no return. But Ichigo, though he had welcomed that part of Sode no Shirayuki as well, had politely declined to learn the technique. And it was ultimately that reason that Sode no Shirayuki realized she was completely, utterly, and hopelessly doomed from the start. From the moment she'd leapt into the darkness of his soul, to now, to this quiet evening beneath the stars, she'd been lost from the very beginning of her new life with Kurosaki Ichigo.
Gods, she was in love with her shinigami!
'There are rules against this...
Shame flooded into Sode no Shirayuki.
He cut her off with a kiss, his lips pressing against hers with the repressed passion of a century. She immediately returned the action, her mouth moving on top of his with a feverous desire. Wonderful, so incredibly wonderful. He regretted that he'd never kissed her earlier; her instant reaction to his kiss letting him know she'd been waiting, waiting for him to finally make a move. They remained locked together for what felt to Ichigo like an eternity, his heart swelling within his chest as he tasted her tongue against his.
He finally broke himself away from her, the anguish of the action striking painfully at his soul, knowing that this would be something painful, something terrible, something so wonderful that none of this even mattered anymore, nothing but the tremling and quivering and sobbing woman in his arms. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at him; sapphire orbs welling up, growing large while she struggled to swim through thick emotions. He could feel his own cheeks heat up as warm streaks of water spilled down them, the tears slowly dripping from his chin.
No words were given in that moment, for they would have soiled the flawlessness of this instant.
Mute, she wriggled into his arms and stayed there. She let his warmth drive the cold from her skin, that slight dampness misting into her hair as he
She lowered her lips to his, and the world fell away. She shrugged her already loose robe from her shoulders, and allowed him to feel the bare skin of her neck from the loosed garment. She allowed him to kiss her in the nape of the neck, felt him shudder againt her as he, a creature of the warmth, and she a being of the snow, became warm. Shirayuki warmed to him, her skin that sparkled in the dim lightning of the night, coming alive with a fire she hadn't felt before, a fire that burned and burned and burned until she couldn't bear to wear her garments any longer. She unwound what held her dress together, and the bow fell; the garment growing large around her pristine form as it pooled against the hardwood floor.
He was warm.
She moaned as he cupped an indefatigable portion of her rear; his fingers still warm despite the fabric. Cupped her breasts, kissed them, fondled them, as she lowered herself upon him. He was warm and he was soft and oh how he tasted! His tongue against hers as that blasted kimono rippled off her shoulders and crumpled to the floor in a heap, her hairpieces joining it soon thereafter.
From there, she descended into the throes of true bliss.
"Ichigo!"
She nuzzled herself into his chest, contrite, content, and at long last, whole.
A/N: And now Snowfall joins the ranks of stories that I've updated! Mwahaha! I am truly on a roll! I updated FIVE stories yesterday, and I am aiming for six today! At this rate, everything will be updated within a few weeks! Btw, I hope you enjoyed the little lemon scene there! There shall be more in the future, which is why I might have to make this fic M-Rated pretty soon! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
Here is a preview for next time!
Kurosaki Ichigo was going to fucking kill all of them. Not only had they interrupted the best night of his life, but they'd ruined the morning after! He'd awoken to the sounds of screaming and of children crying and men dying, and, though the sun was still hours away from piercing the horizon, he knew there would be no staying indoors, no, not tonight. Unlimbering his scythes, he let his reaitsu surge, flaring out in a deafening tide of destruction; flattening those of the lesser beings that dared to trespass in his prescence.
He let the shunko boil the cloak from his shoulders, revealing the division haori beneath. Ichigo gatherhed the air to his lungs in a gust of pressure, and with a tearing THWAM his cero gouged out what would be the first of the enemy armada below his feet. Confused as to why a cero had all but obliterated a quarter of their allies, the remainder of Ichimaru's arm turned their heads upwards and toward another great geyser of crimson as another blast of doom came barreling down into their horrified faces.
"Who dares!" He bellowed, drawing all attention to himself in a deliberate and excessive show of force that left him drained and gasping for breath. "Who dares tresspass!" Apparently they did, as the wall of flesh and meat and mask and bone came hurtling towards him. Ichigo unsheathed his sword and thousands fell, severed from the waist down. Ichigo unbridled Kyouka Suigetsu and the rest of them screamed, caught within torment too great to bear, too sinister to name.
"BANKAI!"
Unfortunately, with most of the cannon fodder disposed off, that left the ranks of the upper echelons open to him. Kurosaki Ichigo snarled, bankai bursting from his body in a surge of frozen hell. Within his chest the Hogyoku whined and hissed and spat as his reaitsu forced it to life, and he strode out into the field as a god. Kurosaki Ichigo struck, and entire colonies were obliterated. The release had triggered a freezing of the ground and a summoning of the storm, and Kurosaki Ichigo took that storm and he set it loose upon the hollows like a dog starved for meat.
"Get outta the way," He rumbled though the mask, "You pieces of shit!"
The results were nothing short of spectacular.
He spun, riposted, parried, and struck, all of which to devastating effect. His blood-red-white scythes carved a neverending trough of destruction before him as he waded into the enemy horde. Ichigo flashed left, then right, and hollows perished where they stood. He spun, and entire villages of them evaporated. He was a blur, a streak of bloodsoaked white and tarnished silver, and he was unable to quench his fury, nor the flood of adjuchas and gillian pouring through the tear in the atmosphere.
And then he saw them. Creatures humanoid in appearance, bearing the shattered masks of hollowes. One of them a pale-skinned fellow with eyes of the most disspassionate jade and emerald saw him. He raised an ebony white finger and a pinprick of teal gathered at its tip. With a sonorously low roar it plowed into Ichigo, piercing his heart, and ending his life...
And then Kurosaki Ichigo awoke.
R&R! =D
