Disclaimer: not mine
Used an online translator for a phrase in this, so it may not be 100% accurate.
Chapter 6
Hachi looked towards the door. "Kisuke is here," he announced, glancing at Shinji who nodded, so he allowed him past the barriers.
Kisuke strolled into their warehouse, looking the same as normal, except for a thin cut on one cheek that was still healing.
"Yoruichi get ya?" Shinji smirked and Kisuke frowned in confusion so Shinji motioned to his cheek.
"Ah, no, that would be from my new sparring partner," he admitted, motioning to Shinji who got up and lead him out of the main room.
"New sparring partner?" Shinji asked once they were alone.
"Kurosaki Ichigo," Kisuke answered and Shinji stared in surprise.
"What?"
"For someone with ne real experience against an armed opponent, he's rather good."
"Kisuke!"
Kisuke sighed and took a seat but for once didn't bring his fan out. "Plans will need to be seriously rethought," he admitted. "Ichigo is…damaged, from the accident. He spent time in a coma and has days where he suffers from relapses. He's had to re-learn a lot of basic life skills and it appears his speech has been permanently damaged, although his ability to understand seems intact from our conversation. Isshin has told him everything. I offered him the use of my training facilities since he does hunt Hollows, I also ensured he knew that Aizen will still likely be curious about him." Kisuke continued to explain and speak of the skills Ichigo had shown in their fight. "I think you should officially meet him."
"Oh?"
"Because there's something he could teach you," Kisuke smirked knowingly.
"And that would be?"
"How to get along with your Hollow."
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Isshin knocked on Ichigo's bedroom door before pushing it open. He moved to the bed and gently brushed loose hair off of his sons face to no reaction. He heard a knock downstairs and sighed but carefully lifted Ichigo so that he was reclining against the headboard and pillow before turning his radio on softly. Ichigo may not be consciously aware but he had noticed he seemed to come out of the state quicker and easier when gentle music was played.
Isshin went to the door to find Kisuke and Shinji. "What do you want?"
"I was hoping to introduce Shinji to Ichigo, I assume he told you we had spoken?" Kisuke answered and Isshin scowled but stepped back, allowing them inside.
"Ichigo can't speak to you at the moment."
"Oh?" Shinji was watching him closely.
Isshin hesitated, he knew how Ichigo hated being stared at but…seeing him in that state may press home how useless it would be to include his son in any plans. He went into the kitchen to grab Ichigo's breakfast, minus the blood for now, before walking towards the stairs. He motioned them to follow and headed back upstairs, opening the bedroom door and walking over to the bed. "Breakfast time," he murmured but Ichigo didn't react, empty eyes fixed on the window. He slipped an arm under Ichigo's shoulders to bring him even more upright to avoid choking, and the carefully went to work feeding him the shake.
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Shinji watched as Isshin lovingly tended to his unresponsive son, ensuring he took in food despite his state. No wonder Isshin had retreated and kept his family close. The poor kid. He glanced at Kisuke, seeing the horror in his eyes. Kisuke had spoken with the boy, spared with him, so it must be even more shocking for him to see Ichigo in this state.
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Kisuke stepped closer to the bed once Isshin had finished feeding Ichigo. The boy didn't react at all to anything happening in the room, his eyes dull and empty. Ichigo had told him but seeing it was very different. "May I?" he asked Isshin, indicating Ichigo and Isshin frowned.
"You don't have the needed power for any Shinigami techniques Isshin. Perhaps I can find something to help him."
Isshin looked from him to his son and back again. "Alright, you can look him over but nothing more."
Kisuke nodded and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He was no Healer, but he knew a bit more than the basics. Lab accidents happened and so he had insisted everyone in his Division have some knowledge of Healing for safety. Tessai generally covered their medical needs but that didn't mean he'd let his own skills become rusty. His hands glowed softly green as he held them up to Ichigo's head since that seemed to be where the problem was.
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Isshin watched closely, would Kisuke pick up on his vampiric nature? His scans were of Ichigo's head so he hoped not. It was Ichigo's decision who learnt the truth of his condition.
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"Odd," Kisuke murmured.
"What is it?" Shinji asked curiously, he always reminded Isshin of a cat because of it and that grin of his.
"I am not detecting any physical damage to his brain, not in the areas that would cause this kind of ongoing disability or even his speech problems. Yet something is disrupting the signals in his brain." He removed his hands and gently tipped Ichigo's head up to look into his eyes, seeing no sign of awareness in them. "How often does this happen?"
"The longest he's gone without this is two and a half months and the longest he's spent like this since coming out of the coma is a week and a half. Usually it's no more than three days in a row, every four or five weeks. There isn't any real pattern, we've kept records. There also doesn't seem to be any sort of external trigger," Isshin offered.
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Ichigo lay sprawled on his back beneath the flagpole, Shiro curled against him, the Old Man watching over them. They both started at the feel of foreign power, Shiro readying to attack but then he paused as he realised who the source was and what it was doing. To both of their shock, Ichigo twitched, the first time he'd ever reacted when drawn back under what the He had done to him.
"Ichigo?"
The boy did not respond but his fingers flexed against Shiro's arm where his hand was resting.
"Keep goin' ya crazy shopkeeper!" Shiro called, would enough power help rouse Ichigo?
Unfortunately it soon stopped and Shiro grumbled as Ichigo fell utterly still again.
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Isshin watched them leave before heading back upstairs to find Shiro lying beside Ichigo, white fingers playing with some loose strands of hair. "Shiro."
"King twitched, when the shopkeeper was doing whatever he was," the Hollow announced without preamble.
Isshin's eyes widened. "Really? He's never reacted to Ryūken."
Shiro shrugged. "Quincy and Shinigami are different right? They use external power and you use internal."
"So was it Kisuke specifically?" Isshin wondered.
"Like I know?" with that he faded away.
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Rukia smiled and waved as she spotted Ichigo with another teen in the park, sitting under a tree, the stranger playing an instrument. Ichigo saw her and waved back, the other teen looking over at her and she realised he could see her too. Then again, she had the feeling a few people in this town could see more than they let on. Why? Then gain Karakura was situated on the current jūreichi, perhaps that influence caused the living to become more spiritually aware. She walked over to join them, seeing no harm in it. "Hello Ichigo," she greeted and was granted a small smile.
"Hello Rukia." He then looked at his friend. Yasutora Sado, Kuchiki Rukia," he introduced them. "Keeping busy?"
"Very much so," she admitted. It was exhausting but satisfying work. She pulled out her Denreishinki as it beeped and sighed.
"Stay safe," Ichigo told her as she took off.
She found two Hollows, the smaller trying to get away from the larger which was cackling as it went after the little one. Was it…crying? She readied herself and then launched herself at the larger Hollow, cutting clean through its Mask before it realised she was there, even as it was spitting some kind of leech things at the smaller Hollow which dodged. She landed and they both watched as the gates appeared, the small bird like Hollow cowering away, and yes, it was crying. They watched as the larger Hollow was dragged into Hell before she turned to the small Hollow…and it really was small, childlike. She felt sick.
It looked up at her and cowered away. "Want Mommy," it whimpered and she hesitated. Was it a trick to lure her in?
"Where is your Mother?" she asked, she didn't sheath her Zanpakutō but she also didn't raise it against the small Hollow.
"He killed her…I messed up. I just had to stay away and he would have brought her back."
Rukia swallowed, suddenly wishing she'd drawn that Hollows death out. "He lied to you, no one can bring the dead back."
"Did she…those doors…"
"Those only take those people who do really evil things in life."
"Then Mommy?"
"Is in Soul Society, where I am from," she told him. "It is a peaceful place for Souls to wait before being reincarnated. Would you like to go there too?"
"Monster," he cried.
She stared at him, she had a pretty good idea how he had become a Hollow, consumed by grief and guilt for his Mother. "That isn't your fault," she whispered. "Do you remember your name?"
"Shibata," he answered and she smiled at him.
"You can't stay here Shibata, will you let me send you on?"
"Will it…hurt?" he asked timidly.
She hesitated, normally she would slice through the Mask but that would be very traumatic for the child Hollow. Would Konsō work? "I will press the hilt of my sword to your Mask and you must want very much to move on. It is not the normal way to send a Hollow on but you aren't fighting me."
"The other way…like you did to him?" he asked and she nodded. "O…Okay."
Rukia approached slowly, turning her Zanpakutō so that it was hilt first. "Ready?" she asked and the Hollow looked around before nodding and closing his eyes. She pressed the hilt to his Mask and for a few seconds nothing changed but then the Mask disintegrated, the Hollow form following, to reveal a small boy.
"Thank you," he whispered as his soul was sent on its way. She smiled sadly and then moved to continue her patrol.
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Kisuke pressed Ichigo hard, never relenting in his attack, forcing the younger male on the defensive.
Ichigo leapt back and shifted his grip on his blades. "Zenshin shite tengoku o hikisaku, Zangetsu," he commanded firmly and Kisuke leapt backwards.
He raised Benihime "Okiro, Benihime." There was no way he was facing Ichigo in Shikai without his own. 'Go forward and tear the Heavens asunder', perhaps the longer phrase was due to the two blades? Ukitake and Kyōraku had longer, poetic, release phrases after all. Though that did beg the question, if Ichigo was having a worse day than normal, would he be unable to release the blades?
"Getsuga Tenshō," Ichigo called and Kisuke's eyes widened in alarm and awe.
"Chikasumi no Tate," he quickly brought up the crimson barrier to block Ichigo's attack, seeing it shatter after a few seconds, forcing him to dodge. He looked to see Ichigo panting and then turned to see the rather massive trench carved into the rock floor of the training room before pouting as his hat fluttered to the ground with a chunk missing. "You killed my hat," he pouted and Ichigo blinked at him before falling to a knee. Kisuke moved to his side, catching him under the arm to support him. "Easy," he murmured. "First time trying that in the real world?" he asked and Ichigo nodded. "Training's done for the day," he decided, awkwardly sheathing Benihime and supporting Ichigo until his blades vanished, helping him over to the hot springs. He helped the teen strip off, not surprised he wasn't shy about it, he was probably rather used to being helped. He got him into the water and Ichigo sighed, leaning back.
"Nice."
"The waters are healing too, so soak for a while."
"You?" he asked and Kisuke was surprised. "You're limping."
"Are you okay with that?" he asked and Ichigo nodded, politely closing his eyes, so Kisuke stripped off and sank into the water. "Safe," he told him and Ichigo opened his eyes, looking tired. He met amber eyes and felt that strange sensation again, Benihime reacting defensively before Ichigo looked away, shoulders hunched slightly. Hmmm….was Ichigo the cause? How?
"Yuzu can fix hat," Ichigo offered and Kisuke shrugged.
"I have more. That was a very impressive attack," he told him and Ichigo smiled shyly before yawning, shaking his head to stay awake. "I think you overpowered it a little," he chuckled but then moved to sit beside him. "You can sleep, I won't let you drown," he promised and not even a minute later he found a head resting on his shoulder, Ichigo falling asleep against him, shocking him a little with the trust such an action showed.
Three sparring sessions and some discussions and it seemed Ichigo had accepted that Kisuke once planned to use him as a weapon against Aizen without his consent. He didn't understand how he could trust him so easily, especially when so vulnerable. He stayed in the water as long as comfortable and then scooped Ichigo up and got out, drying off and redressing the both of them before carrying Ichigo out of the training room and to an unused guestroom. The teen was surprisingly light given his height, no problem at all to carry with a Shinigami's strength, even in a Gigai. He then went and rang Isshin to keep him from coming looking, thinking the worst on Kisuke's behalf.
Ichigo's condition puzzled him, even with all the research he'd done since looking him over. Something was obviously causing the episodes and the speech difficulties but he couldn't find a physical cause. Maybe Unohana could but there was no way to get her to examine him.
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Ichigo walked up the hill with Yuzu and Karin beside him, their Dad just behind. He hated June but the 17th was the worst day in his life, the only day to come close was the day He had taken him. Despite everything the older vampire had done to him, he would go through it a million times rather than loose his Mom again. He looked up at the trees and frowned as he felt something familiar…Rukia? What was she doing here? There was something else as well…camera flies, he really hated those things but he couldn't just take them out, not if he didn't want to rouse suspicion.
The day was bad enough, with Rukia and Aizen's surveillance in the area it was only going to get worse. He quickly got the girls attention, fingers flickering quickly to warn them and then he dropped back beside his Dad to make sure he knew too.
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Rukia frowned as she looked around the cemetery. She had received an alert and yet nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The place was empty of both the living and the spiritual. Had there been a mistake? She checked the message again; it said an attack would occur within the next half hour…and then she heard faint voices. She took to a tree and looked down to see four people walking up the hill…the Kurosaki family. Well, that alert suddenly made more sense, if anyone was going to be attacked while out, it was that family due to the power levels of the children. She wondered what brought them, then remembered seeing a memorial poster, the lack of any adult female in the house.
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Ichigo spotted Rukia in a tree and signed that he was going to go talk to her before jogging ahead of them. "Rukia," he called when closer and she dropped down from the tree.
"Ichigo," she smiled softly at him, still looking around. "I received an alert for here, be careful. Can you come back another day?" she asked and he shook his head. "I see. Ichigo…is it…your Mother?" she asked tentatively.
He hesitated but then nodded. "Eight years ago."
"I'm sorry," she offered and then squawked in indignation when he reached out to ruffle her hair.
"Long time ago," he managed a small smile.
"May I ask, how?"
Ichigo hesitated, looking back at the mass of graves. "My fault," he whispered, hands balling into fists, feeling his fangs itch but he forced the sensation back, last thing he needed was showing her how abnormal he really was. "Been raining, the river was high. Saw a girl on the edge…didn't know it was a ghost. I ran to help….woke up and Mom…Mom was….just lying on me, there was so much blood."
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Rukia listened in silence to his broken words, fighting back tears. She reached out to touch his arm and he flinched. Despite the heat of the day his skin was cool but she shrugged it off, gently squeezing his arm. "I'm so sorry Ichigo," she whispered and he glanced at her before looking away. It sounded like a Hollow using a lure but if that was the case, how had Ichigo survived? "It wasn't your fault," she offered and he shrugged out of her hold. "I don't think that was a ghost, it sounds like a lure," he hesitated then. "Even if you hadn't approached, the Hollow likely would have attacked anyway. Though…"
"Urahara came," he answered her unasked question and she started. The shopkeeper? Ichigo managed a shaky smile. "Could feel me, was curious."
"Ah," yes, she could see that happening. They heard an obnoxious whistle and he grimaced.
"Dad calling us, I'll tell them to hurry." He waved half-heartedly and walked away.
She watched him go, feeling sad for the family, first their Mother was killed by a Hollow and then a few years later Ichigo barely survived an accident that had left him permanently injured. She wished there was something she could do for them. She was about to check the alert status again when she felt it…a Hollow! Powerful and close!
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Ichigo froze as something skittered across his senses….Hollow…familiar…he blanched and then snarled; he knew that feeling. Near it….Karin and Yuzu! He turned and ran at full speed towards it, not caring if anyone noticed. He would not let it get his sisters! He felt Shiro and the Old Man stirring within his Soul, their own anger adding to his own. He came out in a clearing to see Rukia defending the girls, Yuzu pulling a battered Karin to her feet, the words of the highest level Kidō she could successfully cast coming from her as fast as she dared. No! not with Aizen watching! "Yuzu!" he yelled, distracting her.
"Ichi-nii!" she cried in relief as he darted in, grabbing both girls and carrying them away.
"Run to Dad," he ordered as he set them down. "Go!" #Careful, Aizen watching.# he signed before returning and running back to where Rukia was facing his Mother's killer.
He ran out to find Rukia stumbling back in horror, the lure she had mentioned no longer looked like the girl he remembered, it looked….like him…but with black hair and dressed like a Shinigami.
"Kaien-dono," his supernatural hearing picked up on her horrified whisper.
This was what Shiba Kaien had looked like? His Dad was right, he really did look a lot like him. "Rukia!" he yelled as he saw the Hollow move, something rushing towards her and he didn't hesitate, didn't think, he just moved.
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Rukia blinked, seeing Ichigo standing with his back to her, blocking her. The Hollow laughed and she shifted to the side, gasping in horror as she realised what had happened. Ichigo had saved her life. The tentacles impaling through his torso…would have been right through her heart due to their height difference. "Ichigo," she whispered. She looked at the lure…seeing how similar they looked and it hurt.
Ichigo coughed up blood and collapsed to his knees, the tentacles retracting as the Hollow laughed.
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Kisuke moved at his top speed towards the graveyard. He recognised the feel of that Hollow, he had been too late eight years before, he would not be too late again! He came out of the trees and then froze as he saw Ichigo on his knees, blood around him, tentacles pulling free of his body, Kuchiki standing just behind and to the side, her face white in horror. No.
TBC…
I've seen many phrases used to give Ichigo a Shikai release so I combined two of the more popular ones to make one phrase. This Ichigo has been training for a few years so he has better control of his powers and a sealed Zanpakutō.
The two Hollows were Shrieker and Shibata. I figure two years later than canon, the kids grief and despair at falling to keep away so his Mum would be brought back were enough to turn him into a Hollow.
