Thanks to DeathKnightArmory for editing this chapter.

Reviews:

Guest Q: Also what was with the inner voice? So similar to a Sacred Gear, I don't know what's going on and I hope you have things figured out.

A: The real Zangetsu

Hogoromo Senju Q: Do you intend to use Fullbring?

A: It is not planned currently.

AnimeA55Kicker Q: So does the father want his daughter to date ichigo or not? He's being a little contradictory here.

A: He doesn't want Ichigo taking advantage of his daughters, he wants his daughters courting him.

Radioktive9999 Q: is the pairing character from canon or OC?

A: No comment.

Some of you guys were correcting me on the Nekoshou massacre, which admittedly, thought was canon. So, I'll take some liberty and make a bit of an AU, it isn't going to be big and while be a minor change. Don't worry, it isn't going to be a crazy cliche reason as to why.

Also the regards to power scaling... I suppose I shouldn't touch on that really. Instead, when fights begin, which trust me will, I will try to do as much info gathering as I can and decide on the outcome. (I don't plan out how who fights who, I instead let the story flow and when I feel a fight should begin, I begin the fight)

Also... I apologize for the false notification, I accidentally clicked "Publish New Chapter" instead of "Replace Chapter."

Chapter 4

Pax Tempestas

Walking in the house, he had just taken off his shoes and was moving to his room when he heard the door he had just entered through, open.

Turning his head slightly, he paused as he took note of who was there.

Souichiro and the Nekoshou who cut his hair.

The Nekoshou had introduced herself as Jinsoku and her stay was for political shelter.

The reason for the lack of people within the administration and the city, in general, was political tensions.

On one side was the isolationists Yokai, led by Yasaka, who wanted to keep the supernatural out of the normal human world as much as possible. To Ichigo, this side was more sensible, while it is indeed frustrating to hide your true nature, the reveal of the supernatural throughout the world would cause chaos throughout.

Then there was the Yokai supremacist, a group mostly consisted of the younger generation, and their goal was in their name. They were sick and tired of hiding from the world, they wanted to rule over the Japanese as masters. They also hoped that many religions, especially the Biblical, Hindu, Buddha, and Muslim factions would take from example and do the same.

The reason as to why Jinsoku was staying with them was due to the decree by Yasaka, herself, that all near-extinct species of Yokai be hidden in shrines in the case of a civil war. The reason for picking a shrine was simple, fighting was prohibited within the grounds of the shrines that were dedicated to the Shinto Gods.

It was more or less what an embassy was to the Human nations, an attack on itself.

Right now, the Shinto Gods were remaining neutral so an attack on a shrine was basically incurring the wrath of the whole Japanese pantheon.

"Why doesn't the Shinto Gods interfere? Aren't the Yokai their children?" Ichigo asked, his anger restrained.

Souichiro was the one to answer that. "All people born in Japan are their children, especially Lady Amaterasu," he explained, "it would be seen as favoritism if they interfered."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the answer he was given. "If the Yokai supremacist takes over, wouldn't that mean more of their 'children' would perish, especially us Humans?" he asked.

Souichiro didn't have an answer for that and thus replied, "You must as the Gods themselves if you want a concrete answer."

Asa came in with a tray of tea and cups.

"Thank you," Jinsoku said in appreciation as she was handed a cup. Asa nodded before moving to give everyone else one. "And thank you all for your kindness in housing me." She then bowed her head.

Medeia, who had a careful eye on the Nekoshou, was the first to speak. "This place is seeming more like a refugee or homeless shelter than a shrine," she said with a smile.

"I'm going to take a nap," Ichigo declared before walking out and going straight to room.

He flopped on his futon and closed his eyes, his mind trying to sort out the information he had learned. "I still have to learn more about this world..." he muttered.

Aizen held a key, an Oken, and stood on a pile of countless bodies. Ichigo recognized the faces of the ones that weren't blurred.

Keigo, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Chizuru, and Don Kanonji were the most recognizable of his friends.

Then he became horrified as he spotted Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin.

He opened his mouth to shout, to yell out of anger, to let his anguish into sounds. Yet, no sound was heard, instead, Aizen simply smirked and activated the Oken.

Once the light settled, he wasn't in a pitch black world, instead, he was in something more recognizable.

His inner world.

"Zangetsu! Juha!" he yelled, his anguish letting out.

Suddenly he was grabbed by the throat what looked to be an older version of Juha. "After 900 years I shall regain my pulse, after 90 years I shall regain my intellect, after 9 years I shall regain my powers, and after 9 days I shall conquer the world."

Suddenly, the Juha-look-alike turned his head to the side only to be hit by a massive kido dragon.

Turning his head, Ichigo discovered who fired it, Aizen.

"I am the new Soul King, therefore, I am the new protectorate of the world," Aizen declared.

Despite his initial confusion in Aizen's and the Juha-look-alike's words, rage overcame Ichigo at seeing the man that killed his family and friends.

Suddenly, a white pale hand clasped his shoulder. Turning his head, his rage mysteriously disappearing, he faced Zangetsu, or formally known to him as Hollow.

"The time isn't right, as much I hate to admit it, don't give in to your anger, King," Zangetsu said. "Let your royal stead protect you for a while."
Ichigo panted heavily, his breathing erratic as he frantically looked around his room. Finding nothing out of place, he subconsciously calmed his breathing.

Finally, coming to his senses and calming his breathing slightly, he clasped his head.

Zangetsu? Juha?

No answer as always.

"What was that dream...?" he asked himself, feeling insecure.

He heard soft footsteps from outside that stopped right on the other side of his room

The door slowly creaked open to reveal Asa with a bowl of curry. "Um... You didn't eat dinner yet so I came here to give you your food... It's curry," she stated as she moved inside and set the tray down next to him.

"... Who are you?" he asked bluntly, his gaze inspecting her. "The Asa I know is shy, clumsy, and stuttering mess."

Every word Ichigo described her as shot an arrow into her heart. "I'm not normally that shy!" she roared, her total change of tone shocking Ichigo. "I'm not a nervous wreck! It's just that..." her face turned red and she instantly turned around, the tray pressed against her face. "I-It's just that..."

Ichigo blinked at the changing personalities. "Do you have a double personality or something?" he inquired bluntly.

Asa turned on her heel and faced Ichigo once again. "I-I do not!" she roared, her face burning bright red. "Jeez! I just gave you food and you become this ungrateful!"

Ichigo's eye twitched in agitation.

"Huh! Got nothing to say? Well, that's just pitiful," she scoffed, feeling that she had won.

"Who you calling pitiful you two-face?!" Ichigo roared back, his agitation getting the better of him.

Asa surprisingly turned redder but didn't back down. "Who are you calling two-face, you idiot?! The only reason I'm nervous around you is that you are so damn handsome!" she said without thinking.

Silence ensued between them as Ichigo stared blankly at Asa and Asa staring at Ichigo, her blush growing scarlet with each passing moment.

Finally, Asa gave in to her embarrassment-induced flight-or-fight mechanism and ran. "Idiot!" she screamed.

"Hey!" Ichigo called out indignantly.

Day 16

"300... 301... 302... 303..." Ichigo counted, his arms straining to keep him from flipping. He was doing basic exercises out on the courtyard, trying to find his limit and hopefully expand on it.

The dream greatly concerned him, as well as the treatment Asa gave him: the silent treatment. Hell, she didn't fidget when he asked something he apparently more aware of.

He found it weird now that he truly pondered on it. Now with this "awareness", he could instantly tell that Orihime, a girl he simply thought as a friend had a crush on him. It was weird just finding out that someone who you've known for a couple of years had feelings for you since the beginning.

Perhaps this was the result of his Q-

No, the is the result of his Quincy powers. Every new feeling he felt was the result of his "full heritage", as Juha called it, awakening.

He sighed, he couldn't exercise with all this on his mind and righted himself. He looked at his hands and clenched it, he wasn't strong enough. I let everyone down. He thought to himself, dream or no, he knew the truth: Everyone that resided Karakura Town was dead, used to form a key to the Soul King's Palace.

He ran a hand through his long silky bangs and moved outside, not even bothering wiping himself as he didn't break a sweat from the workout.

However, before he could step out of the gates, a voice called out for him. "Ichigo, right?" a slightly familiar voice asked from behind.

Turning, he was met with Jinsoku. "What's up?" he inquired, his red eyes staring into the Nekoshou's yellow eyes.

"I was wondering, how powerful are you? You are powerful for a mere human, even for a Kannushi. Yet, I simply do not feel anything from you," she asked, her eyes analyzing Ichigo's instead of simply staring. "Even the weakest of humans have a presence, perhaps near non-existent, but if you stand near them long enough, you would feel theirs. So, how are you able to hide your presence to the point of being a void within the atmosphere?"

Ichigo was not expecting that question, as no one, not even Medeia had asked such question. He had presumed despite being in his Final Getsuga Tenshou state, he was so weak compared to the form he took when he faced Aizen that his power was felt by them.

Seeing no immediate answer from him and seeing his confused expression, Jinsoku decided to take another poke. "When I confronted Misses Kazuki, as well as Mister Kazuki, on this matter, they told me not to pry, so I have decided to ask the source directly."

Ichigo was left stunned at the revelation, they knew about this yet didn't question it? Suspicion replaced his shock, as he formulated a response. "I was under the impression that they could feel my presence," he admitted to the Nekoshou, "as to why... That's complicated."

Jinsoku gave him a suspicious stare. "So they were hiding this fact from you?" she asked, receiving a nod from him.

Something hit him, figuratively, as he remembered something. "... Now that I think about it, is it strange for a Kannushi to offer an apprenticeship to people that had no previous background?"

Jinsoku raised an eyebrow. "You had no previous background?" she inquired.

"That's why I was at the Yokai city, I had to take a photo for registration."

"So that's why you stopped by my store... You needed a haircut," as she said this, her eyes glanced at his hair. A smirk graced her lips. "Not that you needed it," she commented light-heartedly.

Jinsoku broke into a fit of laughter, having been reminded of Ichigo's rather particular hair problem.

Ichigo cracked a smile.

Calming down eventually, Jinsoku left immediately afterward, moving back into the housing unit to get some rest.

Ichigo looked to the sky, before looking to his watch: 12:03 P.M. He supposed that now was a good time to begin his walk.

The sun was still overhead, which made him slightly wonder why Jinsoku went in early, but he immediately discarded the thought in favor of thinking of other things. He paused as he saw Yuzu and Karin playing with each other, and Isshin watching them with a smile.

The soccer ball they were playing with was suddenly kicked towards him and landed with a few bounces before stopping directly in front of him. He picked up the soccer ball and was about to walk towards them before stopping.

A vision of Karin and Yuzu sleeping soundly before a bright light engulfed them. Once the light settled, their chests didn't rise in breathing. Instead, their bodies laid emotionlessly on their individual beds.

Another vision of Isshin slowly getting up and coughed up blood, his face full of grime yet with determination. Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Don Kanojo, and the afro Shinigami stood around him. His dad sighed in relief before looking to where Ichigo knew where he had fought Aizen last before a massive light engulfed him. The last expression Ichigo saw on his dad's face was acceptance and sadness before it became slack, his body already falling down.

"Hey mister, could I have my soccer ball back?" a childish voice that did not belong to either of his sisters asked.

It was Yuzu that asked him, yet the image of his innocent little sister dissipated to reveal a brown haired, chocolate eyed, and long-haired girl.

"Right..." He handed the ball to her. He looked to the other girl and instead of Karin, he saw black haired, brown eyed, and crop-cut boy. His gaze desperately turned to the man watching the kids, which was not Isshin, it was simply an old man with a bigger stomach than most men his age.

'Am I going insane?' The thought echoed throughout his head as he turned around and resumed his walk. He clutched his head in a sudden spike of pain which mysteriously replaced any thoughts of insanity, with a single phrase:

Do not look behind until the behind is in front of you.

He stopped in front of a bench and sat down. He was tired, exhausted, and doubted he could make the journey back to the shrine without exposing the supernatural to the populous here.

He wasn't physically exhausted, far from it in fact. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted. From overthinking things to visions that seemed all too real to him. He supposed this was his brain's way in telling him to cease thinking and let it reset.

The sun was only starting to fall when he finally decided to check his watch to reveal that he spent 3 whole hours sitting. Standing up and dusting himself of some grime that had seemed to found itself on him, he made his way back.

As he walked, he paused as he heard a surprised shout from behind. "Ichigo?!" the voice was familiar, after all, he had a headache after their last confrontation.

Turning, he found that Asa was walking with two other girls, which he assumed were friends that were coming over. "Oh I didn't see you there, Asa," he said with as much kindness his usually scowling face could muster. 'Wait, when was the last time I scowled?'

"U-Um..." It would seem he was dealing with the shy Asa for now. "I-I was going home with my f-friends..." Her two friends, having never seen their friend like this, gave her weird looks before blushing themselves a bit when they took a look at Ichigo.

Luckily, it would seem the trio of girls were still walking so Ichigo slowed his pace to let the girls catch up. But the girls were having none of it, slowing their pace adjacent to his.

It honestly irked him a bit, having slowed his pace until he was barely walking and yet the girls refused to pick up their pace.

Whispers and mutters exploded between Asa's friends, which Ichigo was, unfortunately, able to hear.

"-God Asa, I didn't know you had a hot cousin!" the one on the left said.

"He's not my-" Asa began to say but unfortunately her words became an inaudible stuttering mess.

"Wait?! He's not your cousin?! Is he your secret super hot boyfriend you never tell us about?!" the right one exclaimed. (Just realized never used the word exclaimed before in any of my stories)

Asa turned beet red with embarrassment. "O-Of course not!"

By now, Ichigo completely turned around and walked towards them. He was calmer thanks to the random bursts of calmness he experienced whenever he got irked or angry.

"Oh my god! Look at those muscles!" the right one yelped.

It was going to be a long day.

Chapter 4 End

Admittedly not a whole lot happening, but this WILL be the last fully slice of life genre chapter.