The Long Forgotten King
Chapter 3
Hey hey hey you beautiful people. So yeah chapter 2 was fun to write. Same basic skeleton of the original but I decided to change it around a bit, make it all a bit less silly and have the Tatsuki Kurosaki revelation happen cleanly and done by Isshin as opposed to Yoruichi. Doesn't mean to say that she won't be involved again, but I felt that the canon explanation with a bit of adjustment was perfect.
Anywho on with Chapter 3.
I don't own bleach, Tite Kubo does.
Soul Society, Captain's meeting room.
All of the available captains were present, Captain Kuchiki as well as lieutenants Abarai and Kuchiki had all returned no less than an hour ago and every one of them were wondering what the gathered attendees had planned.
Orihime Inoue, fresh from healing those half of the wounded that could be whipped back into shape in a day or two was present as was the Fullbringer Yasutora Sado.
Urahara had rounded up some other helping hands, the Fullbringers Kugo Ginjo, Tsukishima, Yukio Hans Vorarlberna and Riruka Dokugamine had been drafted for their abilities to manipulate time and the space between worlds. And he'd also recruited the two remaining Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Nelliel tu Odelschwanck.
"So then" Kyoraku spoke, stepping forward draped in his floral Haori, his hat hiding the damage he'd taken to his eye. "It seems we're at full strength, with the notable and unavoidable exception of the fact a bunch of us have no access to our Bankai."
The younger captain's frustrations could be felt. All of Byakuya, Soifon, Komamura and Toshiro had lost their Bankai to the invading army. The Vizards hadn't been targeted for such attacks and the elder shinigami rarely used their ultimate weapons in any fashion.
The impression of being weak weighed heavily on Soifon's shoulders, of all those who had been beaten she felt the most ground down by it.
She hadn't been ready upon her ascension to the captaincy of squad 2, she'd been too young and too raw. The only real reason she'd been able to beat the position and her squad into submission had been the reason she had the job in the first place.
Yoruichi Shihoin had been both her world and its undoing. The unwavering loyalty she had had for the noble head of the Shihoin clan had allowed her to gain training and a position that was untouchable, even the great Kisuke Urahara was third seat whilst she was lieutenant, it was also a huge weight over her when the goddess of flash saved Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi and was forced into exile due to Aizen's manipulations.
She had been forced to become a leader as opposed to a Taicho's confident and disciplinarian of the entire Gotei 13 but the fact that her mentor had taken on another pupil, one who Soifon had to begrudgingly accept was in a league of his own in terms of combat ability meant she doubted her own all the more severely.
Yoruichi Shihoin had trained the one most likely to save the soul society, one who had saved it previously even. For if not for the boy then Aizen would be the one fighting against the Quincy for domination, yet she could take some solace in the knowledge that they had defeated one wanna be overlord and they had the chance to do it again. But Soifon hoped that this time another one of Yoruichi's prodigies would play a huge part.
"I'm afraid I have no inkling of what is to come next in the theatre that is this millennia old grudge between Yhwach and the Soul Society. But I'm going to let Urahara and Kurotsuchi Taicho handle the plans that have been put in place." As Kyoraku conceded the floor to the two scientists Kurotsuchi spoke first.
"Good well to begin with we need to make it a bit brighter around here." And with a smack of Kisuke's cane the four walls of the room, the roof and the floor all shone bright light, enough to stun initially but not enough to completely remove the ability to see what was going on.
"Mayuri and I came to the conclusion that the Wandenreich were a bit too friendly with us, and as such they must have been listening in on all of us." Urahara began
"Yet I'm so methodical in my approach and in the sterilisation of my own labs that the Quincy's should have had no way of knowing what I was doing at all, any recording devices would have been spotted immediately." Kurotsuchi continued, and everyone could understand the frustration in his voice. What the captain of squad 12 got up too nobody wanted to know.
"So the only way they could be listening in would be if they were in the room, but we'd notice that if they were standing in the open, so they had to be hidden, or invisible."
Those gathered were still none the wiser as to why the pair of scientists had lit the room up like a Christmas tree but they could all feel a reveal ready to roll off of the tongues of the two geniuses.
"The Quincy are in their hidden realm, Silbern, but upon conversing with our lovely friends from Naruki City." Kisuke gestured to the gathered Fullbringers "It's become apparent to myself and Mayuri that the Wandenreich is in soul society, in the shadows and that's why we don't feel any real entry or exit portal, and the results seem put on for us to find. This way we'll be hyper reliant on those readings after investing key time into it when they can step out of the shadows when they wish"
"Hence the light." Captain Kuchiki added
"Yes Kuchiki, hence the light." Kurotsuchi responded snidely.
The head captain stepped forwards, drowning in the light from the R&D departments counter to the Quincy's abilities. After a few moments he began to speak.
"If I'm correct then this is the first time I've been able to speak in an official capacity to you all since taking over from Yama-jii, in which case I'll make this as clear as possible." Shunsui had the room in his hand.
"This war could be the end of us and as such I think we'll all need to be aware that any move, no matter how little or seemingly insignificant will be the difference in this. I'm not as experienced in full commands as I am as being in charge of my own squad but I'll make this clear, you all need to step up to the task at hand."
"Shunsui is right" Unohana carried on "There aren't many people outside of this room who can make the difference, obviously excluding former Taicho Isshin Shiba and his son Ichigo Kurosaki. For that reason everyone here will be made aware of what we know, Kisuke if you will?" she noted the surprise from a few present that Isshin Shiba was Ichigo's father and therefore Ichigo was rightful head of Shiba clan after Isshin's fleeing. Rukia Kuchiki obviously reacting over the link to Kaien Shiba.
As Unohana conceded the floor to Urahara Kisuke he was hesitant, and one thing Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck could say from her limited experiences with the scientist is that he visibly secreted confidence and understanding, this wasn't the man that she had been recruited by nor the man who she knew had trained Ichigo. Dropping the name of the orange haired substitute had been enough to get her and Grimmjow to join this excursion, although for vastly different reasons.
Whilst Grimmjow wanted to get in on his fourth fight with the hero of the winter war, Nel wanted again to be reunited with the man who had allowed for Nel tu to truly change back into the woman who had once been Aizen's original tercera espada. She believed she owed Ichigo that much, he had fought for her and she for him although her vast personal shame in the fact she hadn't been able to truly overcome Nnoitora in time for her not to regress back into her original form and protect him as he had her.
Thankfully as a sweetener on the deal to help Ichigo, the scientist had given her a wristband that allowed for her to remain in her adult form until Orihime Inoue could properly heal the scar that had allowed so much of her reishi to leak from the spiritually open wound.
"Thanks Unohana, now there appears to be, as has already been mentioned, a clear gap in the abilities of some of the sternritters and our own so upon conversing with the head captain, the royal guard and some of the elder captains here we believe we may have found a way of gaining the upper hand and helping to strengthen the Gotei 13 in the long run."
A look along the line from the teal haired arrancar showed the elders who knew what was going on, the one at the end of the line next to Rukia with the long white hair clearly knew what they were referring to as did the ones with hollow reiatsu in them and the behemoth that was the Kenpachi.
"We've all come to the conclusion that we should attempt to contact the Thirteen Head Captains"
At that Byakuya saw red.
"This is treason. Those people committed an unforgivable act against all of the soul society, and you all know this yet you stand by allowing for this to continue, for this notion to be banded around like it's completely normal is beyond my comprehension." he rounded on Kyoraku " Head captain I plead of you to see reason and to halt this before it goes too far. They cannot be trusted."
A hand touched his shoulder beckoning him to calm down, as the furious captain of the Sixth division turned to see his mentor Yoruichi Shihoin, eyes urging him to calm himself. Stepping back into line, Byakuya collected his emotions, regaining his noble mask.
"My apologies Soutaicho, forgive my outburst."
"Forget about it Byakuya, as a head of a Great and Noble clan you'll of course be privy to records that others here aren't aware of. But for everyone else present they, whilst being incredibly powerful warriors that founded the Gotei 13, are also believed to have killed the first soul king and in doing so the first sin. In the legends following this it's believed the original sin created the first hollows and Quincys and also spawned the soul king that we have now."
"So you're telling me that me and Nel, both exist because of what these guys did? "
"It can be argued they are the spark Grimmjow yes" Urahara clarified.
"Great we have them to 'thank' for the unending torment of being hollow."
"There were beings before just as deadly if not more so than even the strongest arrancar but they saw all of them off, these people are warriors who we really need right now. Besides the orders out of my hands, the royal guard have already prepared to brief Ichigo Kurosaki on his task." Kyoraku spoke with a sense of finality.
"You're sending Ichigo?" Rukia and Orihime asked at the same time, catching each other showing concern for the orange haired substitutes wellbeing
"Apologies Soutaicho" they both chorused again.
"Yes it's the order, don't worry though from what I hear he's got some back up with him" Kisuke comforted the two.
Who the person going with Ichigo was unknown. Sure his father was an easy suggestion, but a former Taicho, one who was capable of taking down Aizen, even momentarily, with a mere flick was a necessity for the coming turmoil.
Anyone present was ruled out, and that had included all of the invading Ryoka barring Ganju and according to the Fullbringers he was protecting the Rukon district with Kukakku, the arrancar were here and so were all of the Soul Reapers Ichigo knew.
They all hoped whoever it was, was able to watch his back.
Karakura town
Ichigo Kurosaki was the son of Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Shiba, a Doctor who ran his own clinic. He had two beautiful sisters in Yuzu and Karin, his mother died in a hollow attack and he himself had taken upon the mantle of being a soul reaper, and in turn had saved the afterlife and his town from destruction.
But now Ichigo Kurosaki wasn't that person anymore.
Ichigo Kurosaki was the twin brother of Tatsuki Arisawa, the children of Masaki Kurosaki and Isshin Shiba, a captain of the Gotei 13 and head of the noble clan of Shiba. He still had the two brilliant younger sisters in Yuzu and Karin, but his mother's death was as a result of the Auschwalen that the king of all the Quincies, Yhwach, had used to empower himself as he returned to consciousness.
Had Ichigo known that his twin sister had been his best friend throughout his childhood he doubted they'd have been any closer, but over the past few years he'd drifted away from the solid support of someone he'd grown up with for those more, how could he put it. 'Spiritually inclined'.
The signs Tatsuki was different were always there, Kon had told him she had an aura of fire when he went to school as Ichigo the first time, and when he had returned from the dangai precipice world after three months of training she was able to withstand the immense pressure he was capable of without turning to dust as Coyote Stark was once capable of for hollow's.
Now he was at a crossroads, he knew that he wanted to protect his friends and his family more than anything and that they were what pushed him to get stronger. Yet he also knew that Tatsuki wanted in before, but now she'd demand to be allowed in.
"So kids, I'm sorry for keeping you too apart and for not telling you all this sooner, but when Ichigo was sensed to have the hollow that poisoned Masaki inside him we decided he was the one we needed to watch. The Arisawa's were friends of Masaki's from childhood, and they couldn't have kids so we thought to keep her safe and to give them the chance to raise a family this worked out best."
"So why not just let me and Ichigo both go and live with my parents in safety? We should have been together from the start! Tatsuki was livid, she'd never had a little brother or sister to look after, but knowing now that her closest friend throughout most of her life, the boy she enjoyed beating in karate and the little boy who loved his mother more than anything was her twin. There was also a little resentment over the karate thing, that she took joy in beating a little boy who'd go crying to his mum, her mum. Masaki had watched them fight numerous times, she'd seen her daughter pummel her son, and Tatsuki was realising how hard that must have been for her to keep the secrets bottled up.
"Look Tatsuki, we weren't happy that we lost you as our daughter but Shunsuke and Kumi were far more stable than me and Masaki, I was new to living in the world of the living and Masaki would have had to raise twins. By the time Yuzu and Karin were born we were financially stable, I was a proper Surgeon and all in all better for raising a family. I can't say I'm not frustrated with watching from afar but I'm proud of who you both are, hell I'm proud of all four of my children."
"But OtÅsan, Tatsuki's one of us, does she have anything that I have? Anything that we have?"
"I can sense it, be it the initial restriction that myself and Masaki placed on you both being destroyed or coming into contact with you or Aizen in Karakura, either way she's got Soul Reaper and Quincy in there but she doesn't have a hollow like you so you must have taken all of Masaki's infection Ichigo."
He felt something inside him. That all the cards had aligned, that every piece of the Jigsaw had slotted into place. Suddenly the words of the royal guard made sense. He didn't know all the real elements of his soul, he hadn't known who else he was protecting, he hadn't known what was allowing his phenomenal growth in the first place, and he hadn't known his origins.
"There's one final thing I need to tell you." Again the twins turned to their father and waited with baited breath. Tatsuki because she wondered what else there could be to learn, whilst Ichigo's breath intake was because of the fact this was his last confession. If Isshin had waited till the end to say this it meant that he had been thinking how to say it.
"Spit it out dad, I know you're struggling now."
"When you were both born, you were the first born of a Quincy and a Shinigami, so when you were born you were a pair of unknowns and as such we didn't know what would happen. Unfortunately we definitely didn't expect that you'd be born as a pair of Souls."
They both stared at Isshin gobsmacked. The man had just dropped on them that they were born dead and weren't mortal as everyone else.
"Dad, thats the big secret, we were born dead? Pretty big secret!" Ichigo was fuming but Tatsuki was livid, her flame reiatsu showing just as Kon had said.
"You mean to tell me you say I was the safer child but I'm already dead Isshin!" She threw her fist at her birthfather and as she came into contact with his soul form her bones crunched, like hitting a brick wall.
"You were both placed straight into Gigai and through the genius of Kisuke Urahara-"
"That creepy shopkeeper?" Tatsuki queried.
"Yes he's a soul reaper like me, but he's a genius. He made you both mortal and when Ichigo had his soul chain cut by him he became a soul again, but the moment he used the final Getsuga Tensho he weakened himself so much that he became mortal in his body once more, until of course we gave you your powers back"
The silence was long, and Ichigo knew now that he was ready, ready to stand up and defend the realm he was born in as well as the one he was destined to live in.
"Dad, I've got a favour to ask"
"What is it Ichigo?"
"We need a way to get back to the soul palace, I know what he meant he needed me to do now."
"I'm coming too, I've been left out of this too long Ichigo and if i can do half of what you can do then that is enough reason for me to come along." Tatsuki stated, standing by his side, determination in her eyes. She'd watched everyone else go off and save the world and this time she was going to help.
"Looks like there's no room for argument here, thankfully as the former head of the Shiba clan, I still know how to summon the royal guard." With that Isshin drew his zanpakuto and pointed it to the sky "Ten No Hashi."
As Isshin spoke a senkai gate opened in the sky, unlike a regular Senkaimon this one wasn't backlit with the regular white light, it instead was black as night and looked out of use.
"This technique is taught to the head of our clan, Kukaku won't know it as I never passed on the knowledge, hence the portal being left to look in disrepair."
Ichigo put his hand around Tatsuki to carry her up through the portal and as he motioned to set off Isshin grabbed him for one final word.
"Once the two of you do this, the moment you go through this portal, your human bodies will cease to be, Tatsuki will be a soul like you and me, whilst you get no more resets, no more second chances." Isshins downtrodden expression was depressing for Ichigo, his father had held back secrets for the right reasons but he had needed to know all of this prior to the confrontation with Yhwach. "I love you son, but I know you need to do this."
"You okay with this Tatsuki, the thought of living for millennia in the soul society?"
"Well" She began "I'm already the strongest girl in Japan, may as well be the strongest in the soul society as well."
With a shared grin, they both shot into the portal, leaving their father behind.
"Well Ichigo, you better do this right, because i've got some recruiting of my own to do"
And thats this chapter done. Took a bit longer than i'd have liked but its here.
Have a great day!
