Hello everyone, this is my first story on this account. I hope it's a good read. Chapters will be slow coming so don't push, I have a busy life that has to come first but I do love writing this story so they will come as fast as I can get them out. Hope the long chapter will be able to hold you over, review when you're done and feel free to PM me with your thoughts or any suggestions. Have a good read.
Ichigo Kurosaki
He always hated the rain. It was the herald of sorrow and it always rained at the worst of times. It was raining when his mother died. It was raining when he was rejected by his family. It was raining when he killed his oldest friend. He ground his teeth together at the memory, the soothing reiatsu of his inner spirits doing little to ease the pain that gripped his heart. He had done what he needed to. He had gotten strong, but it was all for nothing! He screamed internally at his own failure and even now the only one who had truly understood him was gone, sacrificing himself for Ichigo to have a second chance. A second life. He chuckled at the thought. Chuckling turned to laughter and laughter turned to an insane cackle.
Ichigo had been laying in the rain, giggling, for what felt like hours before he decided to roll over. Rolling onto his back he sighed as the wind blew over his body. It was almost soothing to think about. The plan worked, he was back and it was all thanks to the Hogyoku.
He reached a hand to touch his chest. Hidden beneath several layers of flesh it sat. The purple marble that had the Shinigami fighting for years. He sighed, biting out the name in his head. They had taken everything from him, Rukia, his powers, his life. They had forced him to use that damned technique that had caused too much ruin in his life. If he ever found out when he was he would make them suffer. He would let them feel every loss he had ever felt and then some. They would pay but priorities.
Sitting up Ichigo reached up and swiped away some water from his face. Were these tears or rain? Rain, they were rain. He decided to go with that and move on. No sense dwelling on something like that. Not yet anyway, he would have time to mourn the loss of his friend when he found out where and when he was. Based on the density of reishi and the surrounding grassland he could only guess that he had somehow transported himself to the Soul Society.
Spreading his Pesquisa he could feel many powerful reiatsu signatures but they were all scattered. Strange. Maybe this was before the Seireitei? He did feel extremely drained, he felt his reiatsu and it was disgustingly low. Only about Captain level at best. What a shame. He was weaker in this state than a few of the signatures so he kept his guard up just to be on the safe side. No sense getting cocky before he had a full grasp of where or rather when he was.
Actually taking a second to look around himself aside from his distant surroundings he found that he had flattened the surrounding plant life with several trees having fallen down behind him. It formed a large circle that spanned several meters in every direction.
'You were having a nightmare Ichigo. We tried to hold in your reiatsu but we could only do so much with you subconsciously resisting us.' Ichigo nodded in thought.
'How long was I out?'
'About a week King.' He needed to leave, he could already feel reiatsu, tainted with killing intent, on its way to his location. Not feeling like fighting at the moment he vanished in sonido. A boom in his wake that rustled the foliage before everything stilled. The only reminders of his existence being the large circle of flattened ground and the residue left behind by his dense reiatsu as it clung to the surrounding plant life.
Leaping from tree to tree, Ichigo had travelled to where he felt to be the center of the Soul Society and found a small collection of cottages, somehow making the afterlife seem older than he thought it was. This was troubling, he only meant to go back a couple decades but now it would seem that he is at least a couple centuries back. There wasn't enough proof of that when he felt Yamamoto and Yachiru deep in the Rukon. Now actually seeing the state of what was going to be the Serieitei shook him.
Crouching on one of the many roofs, he overlooked the spirits that passed under his vision. They all seemed simple but from what he saw on his way here, he guessed he had landed in South Rukon around the 40's, these people were far better dressed, maybe the nobles but they didn't have the haughtiness of the nobles of his time. They seemed more interactive but maybe that was just on the surface.
Zipping around the village with small bursts of sonido, Ichigo finished his scouting and vanished for the outer reaches of the Soul Society for some alone time. He needed to speak with his spirits and sort everything out. Make a new appearance for himself. He needed a new identity so he didn't fuck the timeline up and subsequently prevent his own birth. Really all he needed was Isshin Shiba and Aizen and bam but the buildup would be difficult. Already he felt a couple massive reiatsu signatures investigate his arrival point. Both he recognized. The flame dragon and the 1st Kenpachi. Both had sharp edges to their reiatsus and were monstrous but not as much as in his time.
Finding a small alcove around a pond he sat down. Ichigo relaxed his mind and body as he slipped into jinzen and left the outer world for his inner.
Ichigo opened his eyes to look upon what remained of his inner world. A shattered mess of floating building segments and strings of purple light that seemed to be one of the few things holding it all together. The sky above was red with an eclipsed crescent moon that was ever watching over its domain. Below Ichigo was the ground or rather what was left of it, large fractures in the pavement gave way to plant growth that started to consume the world from the ground up similar to the steady destruction that was tearing the buildings apart from the top down. All halted by the flowing strings of purple.
Taking a deep breath he sighed while opening and closing his fist. His power was returning at a slow rate, with it suppressed he could better tell where he was sitting at. Almost double a captain from his time, About where Aizen was while he was under the shinigami's tutelage. The comforting weight of an arm around his shoulder notified Ichigo of the arrival of his first and closest inner spirit. Turning around, he was almost nose to nose with Sangre.
"Nice of you to join us, King." The dual tones that layered Sangre's voice was a much needed comfort. The manifestation of his Hollow and Shinigami powers helped him throughout his time under Aizen-sensei. It was rough and they had formed a kind of brotherly bond even though he knew that Sangre was just an aspect of him. Was it childish to still want the opposite? He guessed it was as he was the anomaly in his relationship with his soul. Ichigo grinned as he gazed out over the wreckage he had landed on when entering his inner world while pinpointing another of his spirits.
Speeding off he met the other aspect of his soul. He was an older, gruff looking man. Sporting a tattered black cloak and full mutton chops. His appearance changed with the death and subsequent absorption of his counterpart. Nodding to the spirit, Ichigo stood beside him and they settled into a comfortable silence. Both understanding and content with enjoying each other's presence. Sangre not so much.
"We gonna stand around all day or are you just here to see us?" Sangre pouted, causing Ichigo to let out a heavy sigh. The hollow really had no patience. Ichigo did concede that it was his own impatience that caused him to develop this way but that didn't mean he had to like it. Curse the younger him all he wanted but it changed nothing.
"Yeah, I guess I can't stay here forever. Either of you see Hogyoku?" Sangre and the cloaked man shake their heads. Ichigo rubs his temple before looking back over the mass of floating buildings that litter his inner world.
'She's probably just trying to fix the damage caused by my little stunt.' Ichigo contemplated checking up on her but decided against it, it would take too long to find her in this mess. Better to let her sort it out then talk. He sighed as he allowed himself to feel a little before slamming his fist into a chunk of building, shattering it to dust. Breathing heavy he opened and closed his fist, releasing the tension that he had been building up since he got here. Since he lost his friend, no, Starrk was more than a friend, a brother.
Shaking those thoughts from his head, Ichigo decided to leave his inner world. Closing his eyes he felt a warning spike in reiatsu from Sangre but he already felt his visitor. She would just have to wait and then suffer for getting too close to him while he was meditating.
Yachiru Unohana
She couldn't hold back the shiver as she felt a massive reiatsu, comparable to her own, on the other side of the Soul Society. The thought of the fight that that kind of power would bring made Yachiru grin like a Cheshire. Any who were nearby were given ample warning of her arrival through killing intent alone. They didn't have to feel her spiritual pressure to notice not to fuck with the Kenpachi. The first holder of the title was truly a terrifying sight to behold. Flowing raven hair that ended at her waist. Eyes as blue as the sky that sparkled with sadistic intent. Any who found themselves under her gaze were little more than cattle for the slaughter but this, this was something that made her excited. The anticipation made her slow down so as to enjoy the weight of this new reiatsu for but a moment longer. She relished the thought of what such an opponent would bring. The very thought made her skin crawl.
Minazuki wasn't far behind in its thoughts. Anticipating the blood that would stain it's blade made the zanpakuto hum at the thought. No matter what happened during this fight or the outcome, this would be a fight worth all those years of yearning. Those years of searching. Those years of waiting for something that would be able to challenge her strength. Something she could sink her blade into without it dying. The both of them bore grins that heralded the promise of pain and destruction so few would be able to stand. She flared her power as she felt another on approach. Damn the Dragon, who did he think he was? This was hers and he could have them afterwards. She found it first so she got to cut it's flesh first.
Approaching the source of the massive reiatsu she was surprised to find nothing. Well nothing wasn't quite the right word for it. The lack of what she wanted. She was standing in a large circle of perfectly flatten terrain. It was as if the source of the reiatsu tried to contain itself. Strange but not really important to her.
She felt the arrival of the Dragon but paid him no mind. As long as he didn't mess with her she wouldn't interfere with him. It was an understanding they had. She could feel his gaze on her before he huffed and vanished in a flurry of Shunpo. Some art he had learned and he wouldn't share with her. She guessed that he kept it so she wouldn't kill even more than she already was. The owner of this reiatsu, she held out her hand to one of the many plants and let the black/red residue that covered it touch her, she had to suppress the chills that crawled up her spine. Yes, whoever did this would give her the challenge she had been looking for. If it managed to survive, she might even make it her pet and they would fight whenever she felt the itch. Yes, that would work out just fine. It had to survive first though, that would be the determining factor for her future plans.
Arriving at the edge of a forest surrounding a pond she found the source of her fascination. Sitting outside the little pond before her was a man with long white and black hair that pooled behind him with orange tips. She walked up to his form and drew her blade and stopped in front of him. Standing at the ready, she felt the fluctuation in his reiatsu, that somehow kept rising, that notified her, he knew she was there.
Slowly opening his eyes, she was shocked that they were different colors. His left was yellow with white sclera with the right being a bright blue that was shadowed by black sclera. His eyes shifted subtly and Unohana's stomach dropped as her instincts screamed at her that she was in the presence of a predator. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time and a feeling she would remember and relish for the next millennia.
"Pleasure to meet you, Unohana Yachiru." She bypassed the fact he knew her name and immediately went to strike down the one thing to put a drop of warm fear into her cold heart.
Ichigo Kurosaki
'Slow.' That was his only thought as he saw the blade on its descent to bifurcate him. Casually rolling away, he jumped to his feet and drew one of the three blades that lay perpendicular to his back. It was a plain black katana with a silver blade and black, manji guard. Twin black tassels hang from the end and slowly move with the steady breeze left behind by the passing blade.
Moving at a speed that the future captain couldn't track, Ichigo swings his blade up to slice her neck only for it to connect with Minazuki. Fighting for leverage they glared at each other, Ichigo with indifference and Unohana with glee. A smirk a mile wide adorned her face. Eyes wide with dilated pupils showing just how excited she was that Ichigo could challenge her. He let the corners of his mouth twitch upwards as Sangre screamed with joy inside him. Allowing his reiatsu to flare, the monsters stared each other down. A swift motion and within an instant their blades crossed again. Both beings screamed with killing intent as they went for strikes at the neck or other vital organs. Deadly blows that were only parried or blocked but never dodged.
Ichigo felt his body screaming with excitement that was shared with the woman before him. His blade humming with killing intent and his heart pounding with adrenaline. A rush he hadn't felt in a very long time, now that he was weaker he could appreciate a fight again and he wished that the feeling would never leave even though he knew that it would once he regained his strength. Picking up his speed he caught her off guard and rewarded her mistake with a deep gash in her right side. Blood sprayed the ground as she held her side. He smirked as he realized that she hadn't learned Kaido yet. It appeared he was farther back than he thought, about 2000 years prior to his timeline if he wasn't mistaken. Aizen drilled the history into his head but he had trouble remembering it all. He was trying to fight a war at the time after all and had to dump a lot of nonessential information.
"What's with the look?" Ichigo glanced at Unohana, she stood tall with that grin. No wonder she was the first Kenpachi, she reminded him so much of the brute. He had to admit that she had more finesse. This version of her was a bit rough around the edges but deadly nonetheless.
"Talkative for someone that was trying to kill me a moment ago." He studies her reaction, noticing the subtle movement of her hand and simply raises his blade to meet hers as she stares at his aloof features. To the untrained eye, they might even seem relaxed but Ichigo knew that she was far from untrained and she knew full well that the strike wouldn't connect. Disappearing in a sonic boom, the hybrid appears several meters behind the Kenpachi. His feet softly touched the ground as blood erupted from her back. Painting the ground with her life essence. She didn't go down though. Twisting around she flew at him with renewed vigor and passion as her reiatsu exploded around her. The visage of a demon at her back as he released his reiatsu in response, the mask of Sangre backing him up. Pushing each other away they stood several dozen meters apart. She was breathing heavy and he had hardly broken a sweat. Pathetic. She and Yamamoto were at their prime and this was all she had. It almost felt wrong to take his revenge on such weaklings.
"Ye *pant* yeah. I'm glad *pant* I came *pant* to kill you." Ichigo allowed his smirk to widen imperceptibly at the comment. She couldn't kill him if he was unconscious. He doubted she could break his heirro, let alone his blut. She flew at him again and they exchanged another flurry of blows before pushing off of each other once more. Ichigo, not even fazed and Unohana looking even worse for wear.
"Big talk for someone who's one foot in the grave." She put her reiatsu at full blast as the ground started to crater at her feet. Minazuki thrummed with power and killing intent as she stepped off the ground to rush her new favorite opponent. Ichigo shifted his foot as he matched her reiatsu and pushed off the ground with a sonic boom in a rush to meet her in the middle. Letting his teeth show as a grin took over his face. Oh had he missed meeting blades with someone so similar, it took Grimmjow beating his head in a number of times before he figured it out and actually started to accept himself but he did it and he was glad for it. As annoying as the panther was, he did serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things.
Bloodthirsty red met an unshakable blue as the two forces of nature clashed in a vibrant display that put Byakuya's Bankai to shame. The aftermath of the clash of the titans was a crater that spread over a km in any direction. Unohana was left bloody as she used her blade as a crutch while Ichigo seemed no worse for wear. The edges of his robes were singed but nothing major to the veteran. Looking up, with the last of her strength, Unohana met Ichigo's eyes.
"That was the most fun I've had in a long time boy." Collapsing into a heap, the woman fell into unconsciousness. Casually walking to her side, he started to heal her using what Kaido he knew. She reminded him of the brute and so he would keep her alive, if only to have some more fun later. During the fight he had felt some more of his power return to him but he was at about an eighth full. What a shame, had she fought him from the moment he had arrived, she might have won but she waited till now and that was the arrogance that he wanted to rid the shinigami of. He would just be back where he was in his timeline if he killed them all and if this is before they even formed then he might as well build them up to be the balancers that the world needed. Maybe then he could right his own wrong.
His reiatsu fluctuated as his other hand reached for his chest to just above his heart where a cavity had formed. Being a mix of all the races had it's perks but it also had it's fullbacks and the hole in his chest being one he had tried to forget the most. A constant reminder of just what he was and why he had to do what he had done.
Ichigo watched as Unohana was stabilized and moved to a tree that had fallen in their last clash. Sitting down he decided to wait for her to fully heal. He didn't know how much his presence would change things but he didn't really care, for better or for worse, he would see to it that he righted all the wrongs of all three races and then he could be at peace. First things first, he needed a new name and new clothes. He couldn't allow anyone to realize who he was when this timelines Ichigo was born. No matter what happened, things would be interesting. That was just the way his life was. Letting a smirk cross his face now that he was alone. This will be fun.
Yachiru Unohana
The first thing she noticed upon waking up was his presence. The reiatsu weighed on her with an edge that served as a warning enough for her to realize that she wasn't the predator here. When she woke it fluctuated. He knew she was awake. Opening her eyes she was met with the dark of night. Had she been out that long? Her hair shifted as she moved, slowly, into a seated position. The man was crouched not too far away, stoking a small flame. It had his reiatsu coming off of it and she wasn't sure how he had made the fire but however he did it, it was a deep red. She jumped when his low baritone cut through the silence between them. Without looking over he rested his hand on his zanpakuto when her reiatsu spiked in response to his voice.
"I wouldn't do that, unless you want to lose a second time." It was a warning and she knew it, between his reiatsu and the subtle threat she figured she might as well humor the man.
"Who are you?" She moved to sit beside him after steeling her resolve. He briefly glanced at her and scoffed.
"I have no name, not yet. I know you may have a lot of questions but I don't want dinner to get cold so I'll answer what I can afterwards." It was then that the smell hit her, it was heavenly, at least she would say that if she wasn't already in what most thought to be heaven. She supposed that her questions would be able to wait till after she replenished her reiatsu. She figured that she would feel more hungry but she pushed that thought aside when a small bowl was set in front of her. It was meat over rice with a soupy mixture to the side. Without thinking about it more she dug into the meal and hummed as the taste hit her. It was a little spicy but it complimented the meat's texture and flavor. She thought she saw a small smirk spread on the man's face but it left just as quickly as it came. For some reason she felt that the smile didn't suit his face as much as the scowl she had seen when she first found him.
"Whab id dith?" Trying to talk with her mouth full, Ichigo shook his head lightly.
"It's a special dish, I made plenty if you want some more." Motioning to a bowl that sat by the fire. She greedily filled her plate up and dug into the food with increased vigor. Slowly looking up she caught the man deep in thought. His guard was down but she felt it would be a bad idea to try something now. He had given her a good fight then healed her somehow and finally fed her. It felt strange, she hadn't been beat in a while, there were those she didn't want to mess with, the Monk, Yamamoto, as well as a few others that were equal with her in strength but this being in front of her seemed to dwarf all of those. She had felt it, the resolve that was. His blade screamed of pain but he didn't do anything till she did. He waited for her and she didn't know if that was weakness, stupidity or strength. Maybe it was all three.
Closing her eyes, she let the last of the curry slide down her throat before letting out a sigh. Looking over at her healer she lifted an eyebrow in question.
"What?" It was a simple question but she didn't really know how to answer it. She hadn't been beaten so badly and she wanted more, maybe that made her a masochist but she didn't care, it felt good and nothing aside from the dragon had done any better against her. There was something else about him too. Something that made her gravitate to him. It seemed silly to think about it but his aura promised protection, he had healed her and if he had an inkling of knowledge on her, which he did have with him knowing her name and all, then he would have left her to die without so much as a second thought.
"What are you going to do now?" She watched as he lay back and stared at the night sky, she could tell he was deep in his thoughts, maybe even communing with his zanpakuto. Speaking of which she found it odd that he had three blades, she had never seen anything like that, maybe the other two were for show but if he had a zanpakuto then it wouldn't make sense to have any blades just for show. She shook her head as she watched the man.
"I don't know, maybe wander, find something to do with my life. Possibly find a strong hollow to fight." He seemed a bit out of place here. She sympathized, she had nothing better to do with her life too, the dragon wanted nothing to do with her but if she was right then times were about to get interesting. She didn't know how she knew but something like whispers on the winds. The very air seemed to say that change was coming and she felt that it started with the man in front of her.
"Whatever you do, I'll help you out-" She hesitated at the end, feeling his reiatsu fluctuate at her statement, she didn't know what to call him and he had said that he didn't have a name. She let out a light chuckled as she thought of something fitting for the fighter.
"What?" Her laughter caught the young man's attention. His raised eyebrow gained nothing more than another round of chuckles as she covered her mouth. Her eyes locked with his as he frowned, moving back into a seated position.
"I figured that if you didn't have a name then I might as well give you one since I am going to be following you after all." Tilting his head in challenge. Her face falling into a semi serious tone. "You're strong, other strong people will be drawn to you. I get to fight you and whoever chooses to fight you while you get to do whatever you usually do, win win." He wasn't about to give though.
"Who said that I would fight you?" Yachiru let her bloodthirsty grin settle on her features as she gripped the handle of Minazuki.
"Then I'll make you fight me Shiroi Kage." Shiroi took a step back at the new name, allowing it to roll about in his head as he got approval from his spirits. Nodding his head he holds out his hand as Yachiru looks at it questioningly.
"It's called a handshake. You grip each other's hands and it moves from up to down." Still looking at it with hesitation, she takes the hand and they shake hands. Shiroi then walks off. Slowly following behind Shiroi, Yachiru nods her head. Yes, change was coming and it started with the man walking in front of her and she would get a front row seat to that change.