Hi, everyone. As you can see, this is the story that I've been working on for the past few months. I have written eight complete chapters for this story, so you shouldn't have to wait long for the next chapter. I will update at least once a month, and will try to write chapters ahead of time. However, I will now try to update my other stories.
Please understand that this is Severely AU, and Ichigo's Zanpakuto's will have AU powers. If you don't like that, please, for both of our sakes, don't read this story. People will also be rather OOC, partly because of the way Ichigo's life goes after Masaki's death, and how he changes people. Ichigo will also be OP, mostly because of his training, and because of Zangetsu's powers. But to tell you anything more would to spoil this chapter!
If you do continue to read, please have fun and enjoy!
Prologue
Ichigo sat in his room, knees drawn up to his chest, tears streaming down his face. His mother had just died because of him. If he hadn't run after that girl then they wouldn't have been attacked by that monster, and his mom would still be alive.
"No, you didn't kill her, the monster did. You were just trying to be nice and save that girl," a voice in his head said.
'But if I hadn't tried then Mom would still be alive!' Ichigo argued. He was too far lost in his grief to realize that there shouldn't be a voice in his head, and that he shouldn't be talking back to it if there was.
"If you hadn't tried, then you wouldn't be you!" the voice said.
'Then what should I do?' Ichigo asked.
"Train to kill that monster and any others like it," the voice answered.
'How?' Ichigo asked.
"Remember the power that flooded through you when you saw that monster? Train to use that. You can do many things with that," the voice said.
Ichigo nodded. 'Okay, I will! I will avenge Mom!' he declared.
"Good," the voice said, an uplift in his voice, like a note of triumph.
III
The next day, Ichigo found a secluded spot in the forest to train in. Upon following the advice of the voice - "Sit down, Meditate, and search for a blue orb of light." - he saw a huge orb of blue light. It was bright, but it didn't hurt his eyes. It was hot, but it didn't scorch him. He tried to touch it, but it moved back, avoiding his hand.
"C'mon, please? I need you to work with me here. Please allow me to draw you out?" he asked.
It stayed still, so he tried again. It allowed him to touch it, and he grabbed a hold of it. He then directed it into his chest, just as the voice in his head had told him to do. He tried to do it slowly, but the energy took control and pushed itself into him.
It felt warm, and then hot, almost hot enough to burn him. As it pushed, the area around him became bright. Too bright. It hurt his eyes and forced him to close them. When the flood of energy stopped, and the light was no longer too bright, Ichigo opened his eyes.
What he saw was an odd sight. It was a sideways city, with gravity pinning him to the side of a skyscraper, as if it was the ground. Thanks to him realizing this he didn't freak out. The wind carried voices to his ears.
"Are you sure, Ossan? This could hurt him. You should tell him the truth," a voice that sounded like it came from underwater spoke.
"What else can I do, Shiro? He needs to be strong if he is to face me one day. How else can we do this but to hide you for now?" the voice responded.
"You can tell him the truth! If he knows why he must fight, if he knows the truth about his mother's death, if he knows the true extent of his powers early on, won't he fight better, have a drive to get stronger, faster?" Shiro asked.
"Hmm, you could be right. Well, he should be here soon. He is a natural at this type of stuff, afterall," Ossan said.
Ichigo decided to speak up. "I'm here, and I heard what you said. What truth are you hiding from me? Why were you going to lie to me?" he asked.
Two people appeared in front of him. One looked like an albino him, but with black eyes and gold eyes instead of white and amber.
The other one was an older man who wore black, had black hair and black eyes.
"Well, Ichigo, this guy thought that he should protect you by not telling you about me, a Hollow. But I'm not just a Hollow, I'm also a Zanpakuto. Your Zanpakuto. Well, your second one, because so is Ossan. I'm Mugetsu, he's Zangetsu. Did you hear me correctly?" Shiro asked.
"Mugetsu? Zangetsu? But aren't your names Shiro and Ossan?" Ichigo asked, curious.
"My Hollow name is Shiro. There's a long story behind that. As for Ossan, he asked me to call him that, as he no longer wishes to go by his old name. He hates it. There's a long story behind that, too. Would you like to hear my story?" Shiro asked.
Ossan looked shocked. "You're going to tell him? Even if it means that he'll hate you?" he asked.
Shiro scowled at him and nodded tersely. "Yes, I am. With the King, honesty is always best. If he comes to hate me, then so be it. No matter what, everything that I am is his to use, if he can prove that he has the power and control to use it," he said.
Ossan looked thoughtful. "I see," he said, before falling silent.
Shiro looked back at Ichigo. "Well, King, ready to hear my story?" he asked with a half smile.
Ichigo nodded. "Yes, I suppose so," he said.
Shiro nodded back. "Okay then, let's begin. I'm not sure what year it was, so I can't give you an exact date, but your mother was eighteen, so that might help you. Anyway, to begin I must tell you of the four worlds that are in this dimension. There is Soul Society, which is basically the Afterlife, though it is far from perfect. There is Hell, where the Sinners go. There is Hueco Mundo, where the Hollows live, and then there is Earth, where the Humans live.
The first three are for the dead, Earth is for the living. In Soul Society there are beings called Shinigami. These Shinigami are supposed to purify Hollows, so that the spirits that make up the Hollows can go to Soul Society as well.
Hollows are originally spirits, spirits who have strong negative emotions, such as sadness or regret, even anger, when they died. These Hollows are filled with an eternal Hunger, so they eat. What they eat are other souls, be they other Hollows, Shinigami, or Spirits.
By eating other souls they grow stronger, continuously evolving into better and stronger forms, until they become the strongest evolution of Hollow, a Vasto Lorde.
I was a Vasto Lorde when I was captured by a Shinigami that was stronger than me. I do not know his name, but he looked nice at first, when instead he was pure evil. He experimented on me and sent me after Shinigami in the Living World. Your Father snuck out to deal with me, but I was stronger than him, smarter too, so I quickly defeated him.
I was about to devour him when your Mother shot her arrows at me. I dodged, but she outsmarted me, lured me close, and shot me through the head with her Quincy Arrows.
If I was a normal Hollow I would have dissolved, ceasing to exist. But, because of the experiments, I pushed my essence into her body and went to devour her mind so that I could take over her body. Your Father stopped me and I was sealed away somehow... until you were conceived and I merged with you, or, more specifically, Mugetsu.
As Mugetsu I mellowed out a lot. I no longer felt hungry, and felt no desire to devour souls. I felt happier, because of you. I have been watching over you your entire life and I feel as if you're my younger brother. But there was also one other person here.
Ossan, or Zangetsu if you prefer. He was – is – your other Zanpakuto. He is Mugetsu's brother Zanpakuto. But Ossan wasn't always a Zanpakuto, wasn't always Zangetsu. However, that is his story to tell, not my own.
Are you okay knowing all of this, Ichigo?" he asked.
Ichigo thought about the question for a minute before deciding. "Yeah, I'm fine. Tell me, what exactly is a Zanpakuto? And is the monster that killed Mom a Hollow?" he asked.
"To your second question, yes. That Hollow is called the Grand Fisher. He uses the souls that he's devoured as bait for more food. That girl that you saw was what he was using as a Lure. You saw it and thought that she would drown, not knowing what she was. Your mother knew that she was a ghost and didn't want you to get hurt, so she ran after you so that you wouldn't get hurt," Shiro explained.
"So, she did die because of me?" Ichigo asked sadly.
"...No, you had nothing to do with it. I killed her. Or, rather, my other version did. Will you hear me out, Ichigo? Will you hear my story?" Ossan asked.
Ichigo didn't know what to feel. This was turning into a long day. He had woken up feeling that his mothers death was his fault, despite what Ossan said. Then, during Shiro's story, he began to think that maybe her death wasn't his fault afterall. Then he began to think that it was his fault again, but now Ossan was saying that Ossan had done it?
What was the truth? He had to know, so he nodded. "Go ahead," he said, no emotion in his voice to betray his thoughts.
"Thank you for this chance. My real name is Juhabach, though I am also known as Yhwach. I am the memory of the real me from one thousand years ago. The real me is still out there and he just woke up. He is gathering power so that he can destroy Soul Society and become the Soul King. He is – I am – the Quincy King.
Your Mother was not just killed by a Hollow. She was also killed by my real form. He absorbed her energy to strengthen himself, along with many others, and the Hollow finished her off. I wish that I could have stopped this, but I couldn't. Instead, I can only hope that I can train you to kill him," Ossan said.
"That was much shorter than Shiro's," Ichigo commented.
"I am not mincing words," Ossan said.
"I see. I have a few questions, of course. What exactly are Zanpakuto? You didn't answer that one. You said that my father was – is – a Shinigami. How? Why did he leave Soul Society? How do you know? What is a Quincy? What are the rules of this world?" Ichigo asked, surprisingly calm.
"Yer not gonna ask how we merged with yer Zanpakuto?" Shiro asked, amazed.
"Well, I was, once I knew what they are," Ichigo answered.
They nodded. "Zanpakuto are translated into – roughly of course - "Soul Slaying Sword". They are what purify Hollows to allow the souls trapped inside to enter the Soul Society. However, if the Hollow, or person, cut by one – killed, really – was evil, or sinned, they would be sent to Hell. So, in a way, it is a Judgment Sword.
But there's more to the sword than just those abilities. Each Zanpakuto has a spirit inside of it, sometimes two. These spirits are half of the Shinigami's soul, so to kill the Zanpakuto, or even to cut it off from the Shinigami, would weaken the Shinigami severely.
The better the relationship between Zanpakuto and wielder, the more powerful they become, being able to amplify the others power far beyond their normal limits. Each spirit has a power of some sort, be it Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, or draining someone else of their Reiatsu. It can be many other things, or all of them at once. You will need to train with us so that you can begin to use, and then master, these powers.
Onto the next question. Your father was born into a Noble Family in Soul Society, the Shiba's. There were five Noble Families in all: the Shiba's, the Shihoin's, the Kuchiki's, the Ukitake's and the Yamamoto's. That is, there were five until Isshin left.
He was the Clan Head of the Shiba Clan. Since he left without naming an Heir, the Clan was made to drop the Noble title. The only thing that can revive the Clan back to Noble status is to have a lot of money, and a lot of strength.
Anyway, since he was a Noble, he was put into the Shin'o Academy so that he could become a Shinigami. He graduated in two years and was part of the Tenth Squad. He was later taken up to be a Royal Guard for the Soul King, before he went back to Soul Society to become the Captain of Squad Ten.
He left for Karakura Town when he received word of myself, and you know that part of the story. He fell in love with your mother and married her, settling down here to have a family.
Now, every Noble Family has a family of Zanpakuto assigned to them. You'll notice the resemblance in our names, Zangetsu and Mugetsu, and your father's, Engetsu. We watch over the Family until we find one that we want to partner with. Well, Zan and I both wanted you to be our wielder, so we both went instead of fighting it out.
A Quincy is a human who can make weapons out of Reishi that are very effective at killing Hollows. They were given a portion of Yhwach's soul to heal them and they gained his powers, and those powers were passed down through the Generations.
The rules are: have your comrades back's, never let them be hurt if you can help it, and obey the laws.
As for our merging, I'm not exactly sure how it happened. I was Shiro and I was Mugetsu. I was fighting the other and then we found ourselves merged. I didn't even notice when it began, or when it was happening. I only know that it did. Same for Ossan," Shiro said.
Ossan nodded in agreement.
"I see. Tenth Squad? How many Squads are there? What is the Royal Guard? How can you better the relationship between Zanpakuto and Wielder? What are my powers? When can I start training in them? I would like to avenge my Mother, and give my Father back his place as a Noble, if you'll let me. You are my partners now, so I want to get along well with you two. Will you let me? We can get strong together!" Ichigo said with conviction.
"There are Thirteen everyday Squads. The last one, the Zero Squad, is the Royal Guard, tasked with protecting the Soul King. Treat us as people. The way to better a relationship with us is the same way you would with a friend, it's simple. My powers as Shiro are limited to a Hollow's powers. As Mugetsu I can also control Bones, and I have an affinity for speed," Shiro said.
"And I can control the Forces of Nature, as well as use my Quincy powers, and I have an affinity for speed," Ossan said.
Ichigo's eyes widened. "That's a lot! Wow!" he said.
They nodded. "As for your last question, Ichigo. Yes, we will let you," Ossan said.
Shiro nodded. "That we will, King!" he said.
Ichigo grinned and nodded. "Can we get started?" he asked.
They nodded and began his training.
III
Chapter 1
Time Skip – 1 Year.
"Ossan? Shiro? Can I talk to you?" Ichigo asked, appearing in his mindscape.
"Sure, King! Don't be so nervous! What do you need?" Shiro asked with a smile.
"Well, don't get angry, okay? I was wondering, since I need to make lots of money to get Dad back to his Noble status, that maybe I could use your powers to make money?" Ichigo asked, sure that he was about to get yelled at. When he wasn't, he looked up to see two thoughtful faces.
"How would you go about that, Ichigo?" Ossan asked.
"Well, a couple of ways, really. You know how I've been practicing with Earth and Bones? Well, with the Bones, I can create an aged Fossil for one of my Reishi Clones to sell. With the Earth, I can do many things. I can open some Sand Baths, I can open a Jewelry store, and I can sell stones, and Crystal Figurines, using some more Reishi Clones. I'm sorry if I've angered you," Ichigo said.
"Angered us? No, you have not. Merely, we have only thought of the ways that our powers can be used in battle, not outside of it," Ossan replied.
"I'll admit, King, that your idea is brilliant!" Shiro said.
"So, you'll let me?" Ichigo asked hopefully.
"It's a good way to practice your powers over them at any rate. Yes, we will allow it," Ossan said.
Ichigo grinned and thanked them. He left his mindscape to get started on the Jewelry and Fossils. To his surprise, he saw a Hollow standing there, patiently waiting for him to notice it. Ichigo immediately got ready for battle.
Instead, the Hollow raised its hands up in a 'I mean no harm' gesture. "Ichigo, do you remember me?" it asked. Its voice was male.
"I don't know. You could be any soul that I tried to help, or that tried to kill me. Maybe you could tell me your name?" Ichigo asked, slightly confused.
It nodded. "My name is Grimmjow Jagerjaquez. You helped me three years ago. I was about to go to Soul Society, but I was eaten by a Hollow. When that Hollow became a Menos Grande, I took my chance and became the one in charge of this body. I then evolved into an Adjuchas, which I am now, before I opened a Garganta and came to find you. I haven't repaid my debt to you, but I intend to. So here I am. I will be your bodyguard from now on!" he said.
Ichigo blinked. "I remember you! I'm sorry that you became what you did. Okay, if you are insistent upon this, then you need to get strong with me. I will not tolerate a weak bodyguard!" he declared.
Grimmjow grinned. "Thank you, Ichigo. I won't disappoint!" he said.
Ichigo nodded.
III
Time Skip – 1 Year.
Ichigo watched as Tatsuki and Orihime walked into his Jewelry store, Sora Inoue following them.
"You need to move on," Ichigo said in a low voice as he stood next to Sora.
"She asked me to not leave her," Sora replied.
He watched as Orihime browsed the shelves, looking at them with obvious delight. "She seems happier, though," he commented.
"She's trying to be, so that you won't be worried about her. She wants you to rest in peace," Ichigo said.
"Are you sure? She seems to be forgetting about me," Sora said sadly.
"Ooh! Tatsuki-Chan, look! This Topaz necklace, it's so pretty! It reminds me of Sora-Nii-San. His eyes were this color, so was his hair," Orihime said, smiling sadly.
"Don't worry, Orihime. He's probably resting up in Heaven, happily watching over you," Tatsuki said in comfort.
"Do you think so, Tatsuki-Chan? I can feel him sometimes, and he's always sad. I don't want him to be sad because of me, I want him to be happy. So I try to live happily, so that he won't be sad or worried because of me. I want to show him that I can take care of myself, so that he can rest in peace," Orihime said, still looking at the necklace.
Sora was amazed. "You speak the truth," he said to Ichigo.
Ichigo nodded.
"What would you say to him, if you could?" Tatsuki asked.
Orihime didn't even have to think. "I would say to him what I should have the night that he died. 'I'm sorry, have a good day, Nii-San!'" she said.
Sora smiled and started to glow. He sank into the ground and he was gone.
'There! That went better than I hoped!' he thought.
He walked up to Orihime. "Are you going to get that necklace, Inoue-Chan?" he asked.
She looked up at him with wide eyes for a minute before she looked at the price tag. She shook her head and put it back. "No, it's too expensive," she said.
Ichigo picked it up and went over to his clone, who was working the register, disguised as an older man. "Oi, Ojī, deduct the amount for this off of my work! Tatsuki, you pick out something, too," he said.
The girls looked at him in shock. "But why would you do this, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.
"Because you're my best friend, Tatsuki, and she's yours. That's enough for me. Besides, I work for this place, doing deliveries and the like, so it won't cost me any more than I'm willing to work for. And if you don't pick something out for yourself, I'll pick for you!" Ichigo said.
Tatsuki smiled and hugged him. "Thank you so much, Ichigo! But if you use this as an excuse to say that I'm a girl, I'll pound you into pulp!" she said.
Ichigo laughed. "No chance of that! You may be a girl, but you're not a girly-girl!" he said.
She grinned back and then went to browse the shelves.
Orihime walked up to him and he took the necklace from his clone and put it on her neck. "There, now you'll always be reminded of your brother!" he said with a smile.
She grinned a wide, happy grin. "Thank you so much, Kurosaki-Kun!" she said, hugging him.
"Think nothing of it! I'm glad to help you," he said.
She let go and went over to Tatsuki, talking a mile a minute about her new necklace. Ichigo smiled, happy to see her happy, and remembering a time that she wasn't. He lost his smile at that, remembering Sora's death and how he comforted her, one month after his mother's death. Then he smiled again as he watched her smile and laugh with Tatsuki.
"That was a nice thing that you did," he heard Grimmjow say from next to him. He was a Vasto Lorde now.
"What else can I do? It makes them happy and I like to make my friends happy. And I know that Inoue-Chan would be happier with her brother happy, instead of him being unhappy," Ichigo said in a low voice.
Grimmjow nodded.
Ichigo saw Tatsuki walk up to him with a pleading look on her face, a box in her hands. He saw that they were the Amethyst earrings that he'd made, and he smiled. "It looks like they were made for you," he said. The truth was that he had thought of her while making them, so his statement could be true.
She grinned.
He walked up to the counter and the clone punched it in and 'deducted' the amount that Ichigo had 'worked', then he put it in a bag and gave it back.
"Thanks, Ojī. Do this again if they come back in, okay?" Ichigo asked.
The clone nodded.
"What?! What do you mean, 'do this again'?! We can't take away your hard earned money!" Tatsuki protested.
"Yeah!" Orihime agreed.
"And you're not. I just wanted to give you two something. Tatsuki, I missed your Birthday twice, and I missed your Birthday twice, Orihime. Think of this as a Birthday present if you're really uneasy about it. Please? You don't have to come in to buy something too often, if you don't want," he argued.
He didn't know why, but he wanted them to buy his Jewelry. He also remembered a lesson on women that he got from his money. Namely, all women loved Jewelry. So, why were they protesting? He'd never understand girls.
"Just because you missed two Birthdays doesn't mean that you have to make it up by buying us really expensive things!" Tatsuki said.
Ichigo frowned, feeling sad and frustrated. How could he make her understand?
"Tatsuki-Chan, I think that it would hurt his feelings if we don't do so once in a while. I think that the Birthday reason is an excuse. I don't know his real reason, but I can see that he really wants us to accept this gift," Orihime said.
Tatsuki and Ichigo looked startled at her accurate reading.
"Is this true, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah," he said.
She paused for a moment before she nodded. "Okay, I'll accept it. Thank you," she said.
He grinned. "You're welcome! Both of you!" he said.
Grimmjow snorted. "My little brother, the Lady Killer!" he said.
Ichigo decided to ignore him the best that he could.
III
Ichigo nervously played with the boxes in his hands as he walked up to Tatsuki's house. Since Tatsuki's and Orihime's Birthdays were so close together, they were celebrating them together this year. He really hoped that they liked the gifts that he'd made them, under the guise of three of the gifts for each coming from his dad and sisters. They did come from them, he just made them.
He knocked on the door and walked in, being met by Tatsuki. They smiled at eachother. "Hi, Tatsuki. Happy Birthday!" he said.
"Thanks, Ichigo! Come on in," she said.
"Thanks," he said, going in to set his gifts on the living room table.
He noticed Orihime looking at him from the other side of the room and he smiled at her. "Hi, Orihime. Happy Birthday!" he said.
Her face brightened and she grinned at him. "Thank you, Kurosaki-Kun!" she said.
"You can call me Ichigo. I don't really like formalities," Ichigo said.
He heard a faints snort from outside, where Grimmjow was, followed by, "Understatement!"
If possible, her face brightened even more. "Thank you, Ichigo-Kun!" she said. She looked like he had just given her the best present ever.
He sat down to talk with her while a few other people came in, setting their gifts next to Ichigo's. Tatsuki sat next to them when she was done greeting the guests.
"I really hope that you like my gifts. I made them myself," Ichigo said, nervous again. He had no reason to be, he knew that they liked his Jewelry, but he was. Maybe it was because they knew that he made it this time.
Orihime looked delighted, while Tatsuki looked curious. "You did?" she asked.
He nodded.
She grinned. "Well, now I can't wait to see what it is!" she said.
He smiled back.
After playing some games, and eating cake and ice cream, it was time for the presents to be opened. Most of it was candy. Orihime got Tatsuki a new Brush and Comb set, while Tatsuki got Orihime some hair ties and ribbons. Then they turned to Ichigo's presents. They opened the ones labeled by him first and gasped, eyes wide.
For Orihime, Ichigo made her a set of earrings to go with her necklace, each in different sizes and cuts.
For Tatsuki, he made her a necklace to go with her earrings.
"Ichigo... you made these?" Tatsuki asked breathlessly. Both girls looked at him with curiosity.
He nodded. "Yeah. The Jeweler took me on as an apprentice, so I learned how to make them, and I made these for you two. Do you like them?" he asked, fidgeting.
"No," she said bluntly.
His face fell until she hurried to continue speaking.
"I love it, Ichigo! It's great! It looks like a master made it, it's so beautiful! That it's made by you, a lifelong friend, makes it even more special! I'll always wear it!" Tatsuki said, a big grin on her face, her eyes suspiciously wet, but no tears.
"They're wonderful, Ichigo-Kun! I'll wear a pair every day!" Orihime said happily.
They suited action to words and put them on/in. Then they picked up their next gift. This one said, 'From Karin'. They were pearl bracelets. Tatsuki's was an Ocean Blue, while Orihime's was a Sunrise Orange.
"I didn't know that Pearls came in these colors!" Orihime said, surprised.
"Well, they're pretty rare alright. Still, worth it," Ichigo said. It had taken him a bit of effort to make them into these colors, but he'd done it.
"Tell Karin 'Thank you', alright?" Tatsuki asked.
He nodded with a smile.
They opened Isshin's gift next. They were little statues made from wood, painted in the right colors. Tatsuki's was one of herself in her Karate gear. She was holding a trophy up high, sporting a big grin. Carved in the bottom were the words, 'Karate Queen of Karakura'.
Orihime's was of herself and her brother. Sora held a book open and he was seemingly reading to the younger Orihime, who was snuggled into his side. While Tatsuki was grinning, Orihime was silently crying.
Ichigo panicked. "I'm sorry, Orihime! I didn't know that it would make you sad! You just wanted something of your brother, so we got that made for you! If it upsets you, you don't have to keep it!" he said, eyes wide and sincere.
She shook her head and beamed at him through her tears, hugging the statue to herself. "I love it! It's perfect! This is exactly what we used to do, and I loved every minute of it! Thank you! Thank Isshin-San, too, please!" she said.
He smiled in relief. "Of course!" he said.
"You said that you got these made?" Tatsuki asked.
"Yes, and your next gifts, too. They're from Yuzu," Ichigo said.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "These were your ideas, weren't they?" she asked.
Seeing no way out other than lying, and she would see right through that, he nodded. "Yes, but they are from who they say they are," he said.
She smiled. "That's okay! I can't wait to see what the last one is!" she said, picking up the last present.
Orihime reluctantly put her wooden statue down and picked up the last one.
They opened them and gasped again. They were made from colored crystal, and they were figurines. Ichigo noticed instantly how much care they held with them.
Orihime's was a fairy princess in her likeliness with six fairies circling her, each fairy looking different. It was colored exactly like her, with her hair, eyes and skin, but with a different dress. The statue-her was also barefoot. The statue held amazing detail.
"It looks lifelike!" she said in awe.
Tatsuki's was, again, of herself in Karate gear. But this time she was in a ring, with her opponent on the ground, held under her foot. She grinned again and both looked at Ichigo in appreciation.
"These must have taken quite some time to make, getting the colors and features just right," she said.
"Well, it took a little bit of time, yeah. But it was worth it, to make the both of you happy," Ichigo said with a kind smile.
He could hear Grimmjow outside, busting a gut with laughter. He ignored this the best that he could, focusing instead on Tatsuki and Orihime's grateful smiles. For the rest of the party, the two girls often looked at their presents, making sure that they were still there and undamaged.
As he was leaving, Tatsuki stopped him. "Where did you get those statues, Ichigo?" she asked.
"The Sakuroki Statue Store. I can take you both there tomorrow after school. I'm not working tomorrow anyway," he said, smiling.
She nodded and bid him goodnight.
He saw Orihime waiting at the end of the walkway, where he'd asked her to stay so that he could walk her home. He saw Grimmjow standing next to her, guarding her for him.
Ichigo smiled at them. "C'mon, Orihime. Let's get you home," he said with a gentle smile, holding out his hand.
His mother had always said that when walking a Lady home you held their hand, so he was trying to make his mother proud, by following all of her lessons about girls and ladies.
She took his hand with a smile.
He noticed her other hand carrying her presents and he held out a hand to take the bag. "Here, Orihime, let me carry them for you. Mom always said that Gentlemen carry a Lady's things when they're walking together, and I'm a Gentlemen," he said.
She giggled and handed him the bag carefully. "Thank you, Ichigo-Kun," she said with a smile.
"You're welcome, Orihime-Chan. And don't worry, I got the Crystal figurines made with thicker sides than most, so they won't break as easily. Does that help?" he asked.
She nodded with a bright smile. "Yes, it does! Ichigo-Kun, how did you know what my brother looked like when he wasn't dying?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you but the truth. Please don't think that I'm crazy, alright? I can see ghosts. I have always been able to. When you asked him to not leave you, he didn't, not completely. He came back as a ghost, and he didn't leave your side until that day at the Jewelry Store when you picked out that necklace, and had that conversation with Tatsuki.
When you said those things about wanting him to see that you can take care of yourself, wanting him to be happy, saying that the Topaz reminded you of him, and saying what you wished he could hear you say, those words that you wished that you could have said the night he died. When you said those words he went up to Heaven, finally at peace. So I saw what he looked like, and we just guessed his everyday clothes. Sorry if they weren't correct," he said.
She smiled at him and his worried look. "Don't worry! Even if they weren't correct you still put so much effort into getting it right, and I'm grateful!" she said.
He smiled back. "So I was right? We hoped that we were," he said.
"Yes, you were right," she said, giggling.
He smiled wider, feeling happy. He was glad that he'd listened to his family and Zanpakuto and had not stayed hung up on his Mothers death. A big part of that was that he no longer believed himself to be the cause of her death. Now he was free to enjoy life, and smile and laugh, and be happy, like he was right now. He was happy to know that Orihime was happy with his efforts.
Ichigo looked up when Orihime's porch light flickered on. He walked her to her door and waited for her to unlock it before handing her her bag. "Orihime, before I leave, I have a question. How much of your Orphan's Allowance do you use to pay for this place?" he asked.
She looked thoughtful. "About fifty thousand yen a week, I guess," she said.
He kept his anger hidden. That was theft! Not legally, but an orphan only got one hundred thousand yen a week. Add onto that their bills and they had basically nothing left at the end of the week. No wonder why Orihime ate such weird things, and was so thin!
He smiled for her, showing none of his inner thoughts. "Thank you. See you tomorrow, okay? The three of us can eat lunch together!" he said.
She smiled brightly in response and nodded, before shutting her door.
"Grim, can you scout out her Apartment for me? And can I read your memories of it when you get back?" Ichigo asked in a low voice as they left.
"Sure, Ichigo. Be back soon," Grimmjow said, leaving as soon as he finished speaking.
Ichigo used his unique form of High Speed Transportation, Hishundo, which was a mixture of Hirenkyaku, Shunpo, Sonido, Shundo and his speed, which he normally called Flicker, to get home quickly.
"I'm home!" he announced as he walked through the door.
"Welcome home, Ichigo!" Isshin yelled as he attempted to roundhouse kick Ichigo into the wall.
Ichigo simply ducked under the kick and stepped into the kitchen, where he gave Karin and Yuzu a hug.
"Ichi-Nii!" they said, happily greeting him.
"Hi. Did you have fun while I was gone?" he asked.
"No," Karin said bluntly.
Ichigo frowned. "Why not?" he asked.
"You weren't there to play with!" Karin and Yuzu said together. The three of them laughed together.
"Also, Goat Chin was being stupid again!" Karin whispered conspiratorially.
Yuzu giggled and Ichigo chuckled.
"Did you have fun, Ichigo? Did they like our presents?" Isshin asked.
"Yeah, they loved them! I'm glad that we found a place that was so cheap!" Ichigo said.
"Lucky that you had the idea, Ichi-Nii!" Yuzu said.
Ichigo nodded. "I'll be out again tomorrow afternoon," he said.
"I thought that you weren't working," Isshin said.
"I'm not, and I'll be back for dinner. I'm taking Tatsuki and Orihime to Sakuroki's tomorrow so that they can browse. They really liked the statues, so they want to look at some more," Ichigo explained.
Isshin nodded. "Just... spend some time with your family too, alright?" he asked.
Ichigo nodded. "Sure! I'll bring stuff home with me, alright?" he asked.
Karin and Yuzu nodded, but they still seemed sad.
He paused. "Am I really gone that much?" he asked.
They nodded. "I know that you've got work an' stuff, Ichi-Nii, but we really miss you," Karin said.
Ichigo nodded thoughtfully. "How about this, four nights a week I'll help you with your homework, two of those nights I play with you, and the other two I'll help cook and stuff. Is that okay?" he asked.
Their faces brightened. "Really?!" they asked.
"Really," he said, nodding.
"Yeah!" they cheered.
"Are you hungry, Ichigo? Yuzu cooked tonight," Isshin said.
"I'll eat a bit, but I'm pretty full. Can I take some with me in a Bento for lunch tomorrow?" Ichigo asked.
Isshin nodded, heading into the kitchen.
After he ate, Ichigo sat down on the couch to read to Karin and Yuzu. They could read, but they still preferred for him to read to them. They fell asleep as he read to them and he smiled before putting them to bed.
He heard his father upstairs, snoring in his room, so he turned off all the lights, heading to bed himself. He met Grimmjow in his room and saw Grimmjow's memories of Orihime's Apartment.
He scowled. It looked nice on the surface, but only that. He would do something about that. He had an Apartment Complex that he owned via Clone. He would have the Clone send her a letter, inviting her to live there, setting the Rent quite low, and she could live there from now on!
He thanked Grimmjow and went to bed.
III
The next morning he made his Clones, one at a time, each one holding a set of instructions for the day. The one in charge of the Complex would write that letter right away once he got to his office. The one who was the owner of Sakuroki's would make some special figurines for his family.
Thanks to Zangetsu and Mugetsu, or Ossan and Shiro, he knew what Engetsu looked like, both as a blade and as a spirit, so he wanted to give Isshin that.
He was going to give Yuzu a figurine in her likeliness with butterflies flitting on or around her, while standing in a field full of flowers.
He was going to give Karin a miniature soccer field figurine, with two full teams of soccer players, Karin included, and she had the ball.
He then went downstairs to eat breakfast and get his lunch. He found Karin sitting at the table, looking at her math papers with frustration clear on her face.
"What's the problem?" he asked, standing behind her with some toast in his hand.
"I hate this stuff! I can never understand it! How am I supposed to multiply this and then divide it?" she asked.
He sat down next to her and walked her through the steps, but it was clear that she still didn't understand it when they'd finished.
He smiled as he had an idea. "I'll be home by five. I'll help you with this then, okay? It'll be really fun, I promise!" he said.
"Okay, Ichi-Nii," she said doubtfully.
"What's Yuzu having trouble with?" he asked.
"Geography. I can't say that I blame her, it's confusing to me, too," she said.
"When I get back we'll have fun while I help you with this stuff," he repeated.
She nodded again, still not looking convinced.
He looked at the time and headed out the door. "See you later, Karin!" he said.
"Yeah! Thanks for the help, Ichi-Nii!" she called after him.
"You're welcome!" he called back.
He wrote down a list of what he would need for that night as he walked and then he hurried to school. He got there just as the bell rang for the first time. He hurried up to his classroom and sat down in his seat, waving at Tatsuki and Orihime as he did so. At lunch he sat with them, and Orihime looked excited about something.
"What is it, Orihime?" Tatsuki asked curiously.
"I got a letter this morning from another Apartment Complex! It said that they took in orphans and set them at a low rate. They heard about me from an unnamed source and they offered to let me live there for five thousand yen a week!" Orihime said.
"That's great news, but be careful. It might be a trap!" Tatsuki warned.
"It's not. I told them about her. This place is genuine, I promise," Ichigo spoke up.
They looked at them. "First the jewelry, then our presents, and now this? Do you ever stop with your miracles?" Tatsuki asked, shocked.
"No, but they're not miracles, either. I'm just helping my friends. And it makes you happy, that's the only reason that I need," he said.
Orihime hugged him. "Thank you, Ichigo-Kun! You've really helped me out! I couldn't afford much before this," she said.
He smiled as he hugged her back. "Well, now you can afford much more, I promise," he said.
She nodded as she let go.
III
Ichigo came home pulling a wagon loaded with boxes. It would have looked odd if he came home carrying them, so he made the wagon.
"What's all that, Ichi-Nii?" Karin asked curiously.
"The supplies that I need to help you learn and have fun!" Ichigo said with a grin.
"Okay, but what does flour have to do with this? And this cookbook?" she asked.
"Well, by doubling a recipe you learn Fractions. By figuring out how many cookies each batch would make, you learn Multiplication. By dividing the cookies between us, you learn Division! By playing Monopoly, you learn how to use money. By playing Risk, you learn Geography. By playing Knowledge, you learn things about different subjects. By playing Clue, you learn deductive reasoning skills. By playing Scrabble, you learn how to spell. Get it?" Ichigo asked with a smile.
She smiled back. "That does sound like fun! Can we play soon?" she asked.
"Sure! But first, here, open this," he said, handing her a wrapped package.
She opened it carefully and gasped at what was inside. She pulled out a soccer field from the wrappings to get a better look at it.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
It was about a foot long and six inches wide, with the people one inch tall, each in full color, along with the field and goalposts.
"It's beautiful, Ichi-Nii! This is for me?" she asked.
He nodded.
She set it carefully on the table and hugged him, hard. He chuckled and hugged her back.
"I love it! Thank you so much!" she said, a big grin on her face.
She pulled away and inspected the figures. "Wow! There's me, and all of my teammates! And there's the team that plays against us most often! How did you get them to do this?" she asked.
"Well, I draw a lot, so I drew one of your soccer games and had this done," he said.
"It's so lifelike!" she said.
"What is?" Yuzu asked, coming into the kitchen.
Karin pointed and Yuzu inspected it. "Wow! Now I'm jealous!" she said.
"Don't be. Here's yours," Ichigo said, holding out hers. It was also done in full color.
"Wow, it's so pretty! You're the best Big Brother ever, Nii-San!" Yuzu said, a big, beaming smile on her face as she looked up at him.
"Yeah, I agree!" Karin said.
"What's going on in here? Wow! Those are really pretty! Ichigo got those for you?" Isshin asked as he stepped through the door, done with work for the day.
"Yeah!" the twins said.
"Um, this is yours, Dad. A man with black hair showed me a picture of this, and I had to get this made for you," Ichigo said, hesitantly handing Isshin his.
Isshin carefully unwrapped it and seemed stunned at what he found. It was Engetsu, holding his sword. "This is... really well done. Did the man happen to say his name?" he asked.
"No," Ichigo said.
He was interested to hear Isshin mutter names under his breath. "Love, or Tessai?"
Isshin then smiled. "Well, I love it! Thank you, Ichigo!" he said with a smile.
Ichigo smiled back. "You're welcome, Dad," he said.
He then started three batches of cookies that would make two dozen each, working Karin and Yuzu through each step. When the cookies were done, they were divided between the four of them.
After eating cookies and drinking lots of milk, the family of four went to play Risk to help Yuzu with her Geography troubles. When the game was done, Ichigo made dinner with the twins helping him. They went to bed very happy, grateful that they still had eachother, even if Masaki was gone.
III
So, to those of you who got this far, thank you for enduring that. I originally wrote this at the request of my brother, who wanted to read an Overpowered Ichigo story, one that wasn't also a Time travel story. I wasn't going to Publish it, but at the encouragement of my Beta, and friend, Aleksej36, I did.
If you can think of any way it can be improved, please tell me. By Chapter 4 it will be caught up to the Start of Canon. Also, it may look like this will be a Harem story, but it won't be. Either I'm sorry, or you're welcome, but I didn't want to write a Harem story, because I suck at those. I just can't make it believable.
Also, I know that Grimmjow is way OOC, but there is a reason for that. In Canon, he paid his debt to Orihime by rescuing her from Loly and Melony. Here he is paying his debt to Ichigo, and he became kind by living in a home with a kind family. There's also one other reason, but that will be explained in another chapter.
Let me know if there are any scenes that I missed that you would like to see. I'll post them as a Side-Story.
Anyway, that's enough of this long Authors Note. See ya next time!
Aisu.