…The True Heir…
/Warning/: This chapter contain, fluff, a little bit of violent(?), flashback(?), and who knows what!. All reviews are appreciated.
"Talking."
"thinking."
…flashbacks or dreams…
"Zanpakuto or Hollow talking."
Chapter 4.
Ichigo remembered Byakuya's fourteen birthday, after all he had tried hard and hard to find a perfect present for the boy. Ichigo had been searching for months for the perfect present, until one day he passed by an abandoned cave. Strangely, the glowing stones around the cave had cut the Reiatsu in his hand once it passed through. At first he had frozen, then he pulled his hand away only to see that his Reiatsu was still there, after some experiments on his part, the eighteen years old had discovered that the stone was able to suppress his Reiatsu. Ichigo was excited about that, a stone that could suppress his destructive power is just what he needed! Especially with his and Byakuya's raising power, there was no doubt in his mind that they would need it soon in the future.
With that Byakuya's present was found.
When Byakuya's fourteen birthday had rolled in, Ichigo had already made them two beautiful necklaces from those stones. Sekkiseki stone, as he heard some of the merchants say. It was an OK birthday, considering the two of them didn't have a thing other than a few clothes they owned, and a few other things now and then.
Ichigo had hoped that the day would end well for them, but with their shitty luck he knew it won't, because right after he had given Byakuya his present, a hollow had attacked. And it wasn't any ordinary hollow. No. It was a powerful one that even Ichigo was having a hard time dealing with. 'Shiro'. He had called himself, what was really strange was that the hollow had left Byakuya alone, and only cared about attacking him. But that was definitely an OK by Ichigo, because it will buy time for Byakuya to run away.
"Ichigo!" a frightened Byakuya had called out as he saw the hollow throw his brother away with a kick in the ribs. Tears were running down his face as he saw his brother trying hard to stand up and protect him once again, yelling at him to run away, to save himself, to just leave him to die so he could LIVE. Byakuya cowered away from the hollow and growled at himself for being weak, for running away when Ichigo was fighting for them since he was a child! It wasn't fair! He wanted to protect Ichigo too! For once in his life he wanted the power so he could protect Ichigo and not be a princess that needed saving at every step of the way!
"Do you want the power, master?"
Asked a voice making Byakuya jump and look around, only to find nothing, he then looked at Ichigo who was using Zangetsu and fighting with everything he got. But Ichigo had made a mistake, he had frozen when he had seen that Byakuya was still here, and he didn't run away, the hollow had used that to slash at Ichigo's side, making Byakuya screech at tried to run and help him only for Ichigo to shout at him.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE STILL TOO YOUNG TO BE FIGHTING HOLLOWS!" Ichigo had screamed as he side-stepped one of the hollow's attacks that keep coming and coming like no tomorrow. "WAIT UNTIL YOU WAKE YOUR ZANPAKUTO TO DO SOMETHING THAT FOOLISH! RUN! RUN AND NEVER LOOK BACK, RUN!" that's what made Byakuya freeze in his place.
Ichigo didn't say he was weak or anything, but his words had said that for him, his brother was going to die. He will fight and fight that hollow until he will die at his hand, and Byakuya was too weak to stop it!
"I can help you if you want."
He heard that voice speak once again making Byakuya sniff and look around the place for the person who spoke to him, until he saw a samurai leaning against a tree crossing his arms over his armor. "How?" Byakuya had asked desperately, wanting to save Ichigo from that hollow that was about to kill him.
The masked man raised his head at him and hummed softly. "It is easy really." The samurai told him and sighed looking up at the tree he was leaning on. "You've got to be, wherever you are, like a flower, you've got to blossom where you're planted. You cannot eliminate darkness. You cannot banish it by cursing darkness. The only way to get rid of darkness is light and to become the light yourself." The man said making Byakuya furrow his brows at that.
"I…. I d-don't un-understand." He had sniffed wiping his tears away and wince as he heard Ichigo shout at him once again to run. He glared at the ground then at the samurai who cocked his head at him and laughed a hollow laugh making Byakuya hiss at him.
"Then you won't be able to understand why he is sacrificing himself for you." The samurai said after he had stopped laughing and headed to Byakuya. He stood near the kid and took his mask off, making Byakuya freeze as he saw himself! An older version of him, maybe in his 30s or late 20s but that was clearly him! His clone smirked at his look and kneeled before him. "The closer we come to the negative, to death, the more we blossom. So do it! Say my name! My name is….."
"Senbonzakura…" Byakuya finished, making the samurai smile at him and then glowed, the sound of a breaking glass reverberated, and tiny petals of Sakura's blossoms surrounded Byakuya, making him look at Ichigo with a teary grin. He then growled as he saw that hollow come near Ichigo, and hissed before he swung his hand at the hollow making the blossom follow his command and attack the hollow.
Ichigo who was kneeling on the floor gave a tired grin and then snorted… That kid will be the death of him. Ichigo then looked at the hollow who had turned his back to him, and growled – It is now or never! – Just when Ichigo was about to stand, the hollow was able to break from his prison of Sakura petals, and ran to Ichigo at full speed. Sensing the danger headed his way, Ichigo was about to move away, but his reflex to the impending doom was not fast enough, and the hollow's hand pierced his heart.
The world suddenly froze as Ichigo coughed blood and looked at the hollow's golden eyes in shock. Ichigo could hear Byakuya's cries of despair as he saw that sight before his eyes. Ichigo just close his eyes and gave a tired smile. 'I am sorry…. Byakuya'. With that he opened his eyes and thrust his Zanpakuto into the hollow's mask breaking it, if he was going to die then he was going to take that hollow with him to hell! With that he passed out leaving Byakuya shrieking at him to wake up.
…
….
…
"Ichigo!"
Ichigo twitched as he heard someone shout his name near his ear. He then opened his eyes to growl at the fucker who did it, only to see Byakuya smiling innocently at him, that made Ichigo blink. He sighed softly, ruffling Byakuya's hair, making him squeak and back away with a glare.
Renji and Rukia snorted and laughed at that, making Byakuya huff and growl at them in a manly (Cough cute cough) way. Ichigo just grunted and scratched the back of his head and look around with sleepy eyes, it seems like he had fallen asleep not a long time ago, in his favorite sleeping spot which was near a white Sakura tree that was in the forest near the academy.
"What is going on?" Ichigo yawned as he stood up stretching and looking around the place. His eyes then fell upon Zangetsu, who was leaning against the tree making Ichigo hum at that. Ichigo took his sword and looked at Byakuya, who was still scowling at him. Ichigo just rolled his eyes at that, and grinned at him. "Come on Byakuya~" he said while lowering his voice, adding a rough edge to it. Ichigo smirked as he saw Rukia and Byakuya flush at that, though that made Renji growl at him.
Byakuya scrunched his nose at him. He sighed before speaking. "First of all, stop using that voice on me, on a second thought, stop using it completely! Secondly, we are going to be late for classes, so hurry up!" Byakuya sassed Ichigo back making the older man blink at that, and then he started laughing.
Ichigo didn't know if he should kill Rukia or not. After the four of them had become friend months ago, Rukia had started teaching Byakuya how to be a sassy little shit. Sometimes Ichigo wondered where that cinnamon roll disappeared to, and from where that sassy little shit appeared from. But as long as Byakuya was happy and safe he was acceptable of what Byakuya wanted.
"Fine, bouya, you won. So, let's go." With that the four of them went to their next classes.
IXB
"Today, we are talking about the different between soul mates and soul bonds." Said their teacher, an old Shinigami by the name Ai. She just smiled at them and wrote the two words on the board making everyone look at them. Ichigo raised his brow at that, and rest his head in the palm of his hand while looking at the woman, who was looking at them. Byakuya who was sitting beside him awed. That maked Ichigo hum.
Ichigo saw a girl raise her hand making Mrs. Ai smile at that. The girl stood to explain the meaning of a soul mate to the teacher. "The one person, who can always make you smile, who shares your hopes and dreams, who makes you whole. Folklore claims that when a soul descends to earth it splits in two, each half of the soul inhabiting a separate body. These two people are forever after their 'soul mates', and will never be complete until they find one another." She said making half of the females 'awe' and 'oh'.
Mrs. Ai just sighed at that and said, "That is what the living world believe in." she said making the females look at her in confusion. Mrs. Ai just turned around, and started explaining. "Soul mates are actually a non-romantic bond. It could range from a parent-child relationship to strangers meeting on the streets. As long as you are comfortable with that person, feeling safe and any other emotion like that. It means that you are soul mates. Usually when soulmates find one another, half of the cases end with their marriage. Because a lot of people prefer the living world explanation over the real one. There really isn't anything wrong with a person being with their soulmate, but if the said person had a soul bond, then there is a serious problem." She explained making the rest of them look at her in shock. "Ok, who can tell me about soul bond?"
Silence. And Ichigo didn't really blame them after all no one know about soul bond, not even him. Mrs. Ai just hummed with her motherly smile. "It is the most sacred bond in all of soul society." That made people look at her with shocked faces and a look of denial grazed on some of the faces. "It is when two soul love each other so much that they create a bond between them. The two of them then will live together and die together at the same time. Then they will reincarnate over and over again, only for the two of them to find each other once more and have a second chance again." She hummed at the awing faces the teens looked at her with. "You should know that the soul bond is sacred, because it only happens once every hundred years, sometimes hundreds. After all it is hard to create a soul bond, unless you opened the core to your soul for the other person, which by the way could kill you the second you do it. It takes years upon years until the bond is created. "She then looked around only to see Byakuya raising his hand. "Yes, Byakuya?"
Ichigo looked at Byakuya making him flush but he just stood up, and cleaned his throat. "Is there a way that a person will be able to know if he was a soul mate or a soul bond to another person?" Byakuya asked making the other students whisper among each other. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and hummed, it seemed like Byakuya wanted to know what kind of bond the two of them had. He won't lie, he was curious too.
Mrs. Ai sighed at that, and looked down for a little bit and then at Byakuya. "Soul mates… It doesn't really need some ritual to discover who is your soul mate. It could be one of your family members, or friends, or a stranger on the street. But for a soul bond, there is only one way. Both of the soul bond have to cut the palm of their hands with each other Zanpakutos, after that they have to join the winds together. It should be done on a full moon night in a quiet place, where the two of them will find an inner peace. When the moon shine on them there will be a sign for them to know what they truly are. If their blood turns pale blue, then they have only lived one lifetime as a soul bond, and they could leave each other before the bond is too strong to break. But if it turns into a royal blue, which had only happened once and it was 2000 years ago, then the two of them had shared a lifetime that was considered as a thousand lifetimes, or they had lived a thousand lifetimes and they only meet in this lifetime once again."
Ichigo hummed and closed his eyes, today was going to be a full moon night. He was sure that Byakuya would want to do the ritual as soon as he could. Ichigo didn't know if he wanted to know what kind of bond he had with Byakuya. But whatever was the nature of the bond they shared with each other, nothing will change between them, he will still love Byakuya and protect him to the end of the earth.
IXB
Ichigo sighed softly as he felt Byakuya drag him for God knows where. Though he did blink when he saw that the two of them were near his favorite sleeping spot beneath the Sakura tree. He wondered for a second if he should really go with Byakuya's insane plan, but looking at the boy's hopeful eyes, he knew that he was fucked.
After they reached the spot, Byakuya turn to Ichigo with an innocent smile making Ichigo hum at him. "You heard what Mrs. Ai had told us, right?" at that Ichigo nodded and Byakuya grinned. "Then sit down, you know the ritual."
Ichigo just snorted at that, but he sat down. Then, Byakuya sat across him. The two of them looked at each other for a long time until Byakuya chew his bottom lip and sighed, giving Ichigo his Zanpakuto. Ichigo done the same and gave Byakuya his heavy Zanpakuto. The two of them cut the palm of their hands. Then they held each other hands and closed their eyes, waiting for the moon to shine upon them while they tried to find their inner peace.
An hour had past and Ichigo heard Byakuya's sighs of sadness and he opened his eyes to look at Byakuya who was looking at him with a sad pair of eyes. "I don't feel a thing." He muttered making Ichigo nod and close his eyes at that. There was no point in lying to Byakuya, so he told him that he too did not feel anything, maybe they weren't anything but brothers after all-
"Ichigo, your hands."
Ichigo heard Zangetsu's voice making him blink at that, and look at their hands, only to freeze as he saw a puddle of royal blue color that was shining radiantly. "Byakuya… down…" Ichigo choked at that, making Byakuya look down and freeze too.
Five minutes passed in total silence that the two of them didn't dare to break, again it was Byakuya who was brave enough to look at Ichigo. "That mean we are lovers, right?" Byakuya asked and Ichigo gave him a shaky hum while looking at Byakuya.
Ichigo wasn't against being with Byakuya in this way, if Byakuya wanted that. After all, the two of them weren't real brothers by blood. So that meant that they had a hope of being together as lovers. But the question here was – Does Byakuya too wish for that? "What do you want, Byakuya?" he murmured softly making Byakuya look at the blood, then at him, and back at the royal blue color that painted the ground.
Then Byakuya looked at him with a soft smile, and inch closer to him until they were nose to nose. "I want my soul bond back." With that Byakuya gave Ichigo a small kiss on the lips.
With that, the fate was sealed for them.
So what do you think?
I am alive!
I am sorry for the late update, but school has start and it is trying to kill me!
Not fair T^T
Read and Review.
and let me knew what you think. I am always open for suggestions.
Nazaki-Sama.