Chapter 8 : The boy meets his hero once again
Same day, Captain Commander office
In his office Yamamoto was signing and checking some documents, making sure that everything was in order. While he seemed calm, the truth is he was excited, in a few minutes the Shogun will enter this room and the little kid he was back then could finally thank him personally for all these years. Only a few papers were left at the left side of his desk, on the right side was a pack of papers for the Shogun to see and modify if he wanted to.
The shadow from the pillar started to darken to a complete black where you couldn't see the wooden floor, Yamamoto on his guard got up from his chair, a hand on his sword halfway out of its sheath, he didn't sense anyone around except the usual guards who themselves didn't seem to notice anything. From the shadow a figure comes out of it, it was humanoid but was cloaked in darkness, when the figure put its feet out of the shadow all the darkness retreated to the shadow who turned back to its original color.
There standing in front of him was the Shogun himself, smiling again despite having the Captain Commander ready to strike who he thought was an intruder. The black-haired man was confused as to how the Shogun did that and why, by the Soul King, didn't he just use the door or shunpo directly inside.
As if reading his mind Ichigo says " Did you forgot what Reio said, I cannot be seen unless he or I decided to. Also, I might travel using this method once in a while, I just wanted to warn you by showing you. "
Of course, the Shogun wasn't an official member of the Gotei 13, only the Central 46 and the captains knew of his identity " While I am sure that nobody below the level of a captain could see you and that you are faster than everyone, I won't question it. Now, what can I do for you, Shogun? "
The said Shogun looks at the desk and spots the papers, his smile widens a little bit " I want to speak to you but it can wait, please finish your work first. "
" It is not important, if you need me now, I can finish it later. "
The Shogun shakes his head " I would prefer if you didn't have any late work before our discussion, please finish it, I can wait. " As he said that he turns and walks to the balcony and sets his eyes on the construction of the Seireitei with the sun cut in half by the horizon. Yamamoto sits back on his chair and continues where he left. When he finishes he stands up and joins his superior at his right who didn't stop smiling. They both stayed there for a while, enjoying the peace as the sun finally disappeared behind the land.
And then Yamamoto looks at Ichigo, his first question at the tip of his tongue, the second ready to go right after " Shall we talk about the modification you wanted to have? "
Ichigo shakes his head with his constant smile " I wish to speak with the little boy if he's still there that is. "
Right after he finishes speaking Yamamoto unleashes his second question " How strong are you? " This simple question was always on his mind, the speed and the tone he used was an indication of the desperation to know. After Ichigo left all those years ago, he trained with the sword for so long and so hard. At the time, he thought that he finally had a chance to stand beside Ichigo, but there was this feeling within him that questioned that though. He was young, inexperienced, and weak, he wasn't able to measure Reiatsu very well, but when Ichigo landed on the Soul Society he could finally see if he was even just a bit close to the same strength as his hero.
Again it was crushed when Ichigo appeared in his office using a technique unknown to him. The moment he stepped out of the darkness Yamamoto automatically analyzed him since his sense was still on high alert.
First of all, he didn't have his black coat on him. Second, he realized that Ichigo was not emitting any Reiatsu, as well as his presence, if you close your eyes one would think they were alone. The way he walked seemed to make him seem weak and to make his enemies underestimate him, but being the Captain Commander and having personal experience of Ichigo's strength he knew that those enemies would only be killed as if they were manipulated, lured in, and trapped by a snake, even more, was the fact that aside from his voice his sandals didn't make any sound, not even the wooden ground he was stepping on was creaking as if he was as light and quiet as a feather.
Third, if he remembers correctly, behind those long orange locks there were brown eyes of wisdom that could change into powerful ruby red ones, and you would see your very own soul in them like you were an open book. His smile seemed permanent, inviting, making you attracted to him, blindly trusting him, every woman would want that smile to be for her, his scar emitted like some kind of energy, by the shape of it, it looked like a vertical slash. Having training and battle experience himself he could see that the body in front of him was trained with a perfect balance for every muscle, to the toes from the fingers, he could see some scars on his forearms, but seeing through the shihakusho he could tell there were more scars from battles beyond his mortal understanding.
In other words, he was powerful, had knowledge beyond imagination, was handsome for both genders, and pushed his body to its limit and maybe above. Yamamoto felt like he would lose every kind of battle against Ichigo, be it a physical fight, a long war, debate in politics, or a simple shoji game.
To finally answer his question the Shogun just said " If you want to know, come tomorrow at the Sokyoku Hill, I promised a fight with Yachiru, if you're not satisfied then you can fight me. "
" What was that technique you used on the red beast? "
" Oh that, it is a skill that needs precision, advanced inner energy manipulation, and very hard trained muscles, you just push your inner energy at the center of the target but you have to be careful that your target's inner energy doesn't enter or interfere with yours before, the moment and after you do it. "
" What about the shadow technique? "
" Shadow, it allows me to travel within the shadows, I can also take people with me below 15. And before you ask, no, Shinigami cannot use it. "
" How did you get to have Captain Kenpachi to fight you? "
The smile was like he thought, permanent, but there was sadness coming from it. " Just like you she asked me questions, the difference was that she wasn't pleased by the last answer. "
" What was her question? "
" … Why wasn't I there for her instead of leaving her for all those years. "
" What was your answer? " he really was curious.
" Responsibilities that she couldn't understand, come to Sokyoku Hill to unleash her pent-up wrath if she wanted to. "
" Enough about that, we have a few more hours left, let's talk about business. " The Shogun walks and takes some papers, Yamamoto is again impressed at the speed he goes through the papers, in less than fifteen minutes all the papers that he took hours to sign have been checked. " Everything seems to be in order. I won't modify everything but I would like to add a thing or two for the Seireitei and a lot of stuff for the academy before it starts. "
Talking about the academy, " Why do you need the Onmitsukido? " he just can't for the life of him find the reason.
" Oversight and caution. " Seeing as Yamamoto looks confused, Ichigo continues " Imagine that one Shinigami is using their ability for horrible things to someone, let's say to rape using a Bakudo on a woman, what do you think happens next? "
Yamamoto simply said " The woman would hate the Shinigami. " Ichigo didn't respond, he only looked at him, Yamamoto took that as a sign to think more than this, so putting a hand on his chin he continues " The Shinigami would go on with it, I suppose the woman would maybe tell someone but they wouldn't believe her, or maybe she won't tell anyone because she would be traumatized. "
Now Yamamoto thought that he answered wrong because Ichigo wasn't smiling at all and had his arms crossed " Good job, " the captain was taken aback by the answer " years or maybe months later you are now against a group from the Rukongai seeking revolution against the Gotei 13. " Yamamoto couldn't comprehend how this happened all of the sudden. Ichigo sighs and shakes his head " This is more complicated than I thought. "
He looks back at the Captain Commander " Like you said, the Shinigami simply goes on with his life BUT, the woman tells someone, or a member of her family notices something isn't right, through tears and despair. A man, maybe her husband, is filled with rage. At a bar he shares the story with other people, some then rise to say that this isn't the first time they had to suffer because of some Shinigami abusing their power and nothing is done about it. Then suddenly, one idea is planted inside someone's mind, then it grows and it grows, it spreads to other people everywhere like vines, it connects them, they then decide to assemble somewhere, and the husband from before is there with a sword in his hands standing high in front of many, giving a speech. The vines suddenly grow thorns, and a revolution arises, its shadows looming over the Seireitei, they attack the Gotei 13, the battlefield filled with corpses everywhere, and in time, some members of the revolution think 'when will this end, why did we do this'. All of this because of a lack of oversight. "
When Ichigo finish he looks at Yamamoto, the soldier simply has his eyes widen in shock and his face shows that he fears for such a future to happen, while he would like to deny such stupidity he can't as he now understands that the Shogun must have thought of all the possible danger, and has made complicated plans, only for the safety of the Soul Society. After a while, the soldier asks " How, how do we stop this from happening? "
" That's what we'll find out with Captain Hirohide. "
Later, Night
The two warriors were now walking in the night, getting closer to Yamamoto's mansion.
" Thank you for your time, Shogun. "
" No problem, it was a pleasure. " As they got inside the mansion Ichigo spotted a hallway leading behind the mansion. After walking through the hallway he is now standing in front of a beautiful garden under the light of the moon, one sakura tree standing in the middle of it. " What a sight. " Ichigo said, he sits down on the wooden floor, his feet barely touching the ground.
Yamamoto joins him and sits to his right " The tree was a gift from Captain Kuchiki a long time ago. " And they sat there, again, enjoying the silence of nature and the sight provided by the night.
" Genryusai. " Ichigo had dropped his smile when he sat.
" Yes? " he said without looking.
" I hope that one day the Shinigami will become as strong as I hope. "
Now that got the Captain Commander's attention. What did he mean by that, how strong did he want them to be, they were respected and feared in all the afterlife. " We are already strong enough to protect the afterlife, but if you want us to be stronger then I will make it happen. "
Ichigo smiles at that " Good, but you're gonna have to be careful and less arrogant. "
" What do you mean? "
" The Soul King has given me a lot of responsibilities and goals, with free reign on how to achieve them, he and I have great plans that will come to light so you better prepare your Shinigami. Plus you thought that just because you work to defend the balance that there won't be anything going against you, with the answer you gave me in your office then it will be a hard mission if the Gotei 13 is occupied because of the people they swore to protect " he said at the man with a mustache.
Yamamoto nods at that, understanding that he must think carefully from now on, they couldn't protect the balance and fight against all Rukongai, but a question comes to him " What are those responsibilities, I could probably understand, after all, I do have an army to take care of and to "prepare". "
Ichigo giggles at the use of his own words, but it stops suddenly as his smile is replaced by a little scowl, he stands up " No you don't and you cannot, you have people to protect from Hollows, but one day you will understand. "
" How can I not? "
Ichigo walks slowly forwards the sakura " I protect every human in the living world, every soul in Soul Society, even Hollows in Hueco Mundo, I protect all of you from threats that existed before you were even born, I even protected other races far away from here, making decisions that I didn't like, seen different kind of hells, much more different than the one we have. "
At the mention of his birth and everything Yamamoto has another question, he stands up and asks " How long have you been a Shinigami? " he was expecting him to be a few centuries old compared to him.
" I was a Shinigami for about … two years. "
" … That's not possible, and what do you mean "was"? "
" I was a Shinigami before, but now I'm not, not in the way you think. "
" Then how old are you? "
" How old do you give me? "
Yamamoto thought about it, he didn't change since he met him as a kid, knows the Soul King for very long, and has great knowledge. " I would guess a few thousand. " the oldest soul known in the Soul Society was 1784 years old, a few centuries older than him, it was a very old woman, who was currently stuck in a chair, the doctors said that she had less than a century.
Ichigo stops " Don't tell anyone but I'm 100. " he decided a long time ago that among his friends one day he would speak about the Other Side but for now it will be his age, and it won't be Yachiru, nor the two other Royal Guards, nor anyone else but three people, one of them would be the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, the strongest Shinigami.
Yamamoto must have heard wrong, Ichigo might be saying 100 decades or something, it was impossible for him to be only 100 years old. " 100 what? "
Ichigo turns his head to the left, the light of the moon and the scenery only adding to his beauty, his red eyes activated and glowing, a work of art that could only be seen in unique circumstances. " 100 and a million years old. To me you are not even developing inside your mother's womb. " at that he shunpo away from the mansion to go to the Royal palace discreetly, leaving only a silent Yamamoto.
To Be Continued
Behind the scenes
A chair turns around and the author is sitting on it " Helloooo, and welcome back to Behind the scenes! I'm TheAbsoluteZero, the God-slash-author of Before Everything. "
" And I'm the main character, Shogun Ichigo Kurosaki. " his co-worker sitting beside him.
" You were pretty wise in this chapter my dear Ichigo. "
" Who said I had to stay the same idiot, prude, stuborn teenager, 100 and a million years does a lot. By the way what was that about me not being a Shinigami anymore? "
" Ah, you are a Shinigami but not a pure one so no, plus I got a suprise for that. "
" Oookay, next topic, MGonz201 says: Ichigo x yoruichi paring or a harem with yoruichi, well I- "
The author slam his hands on the desk " My friend, I understand, truly I do Ichigo x Yoruichi is my one of my favorite pairing, I UNDERSTAND YOUR PASSION, however while I do have plans for Yoruichi an offial pairing is not a part of it, she will have an important place within Ichigo's life, but I am struggling as to make this pairing or not, if you can change my opinion that do your best, I'm very stuborn. "
" What do you mean an improtant place? "
" Not telling. By the way, I have a pairing in mind but even that is not sure because the story will change dramaticly depending on this specific couple, so it's 50-50. "
" Ugh, fine. Next is Daniil Altuhov, who's message is too long to write, basicaly says: I want Ichigo with any Shinigami or Arrancar female except Orhimie and Rukia, what about Aizen, who will be a Shinigami Substitute instead of Ichigo. "
" I don't really like spoilers, but those who really, like REALLY wants to know send a PM and I'll respond to you. "
" But for the rest of you, all I can tell you is that: 1) My creator has big plans for Orihime and she will not be with Ichigo, that is 100% offical, same for Rukia but currently not with the same big plans. 2) Like I said before, if you want a couple or more then explain in details how, why, when, and try convincing me. 3) Something will obviously happen about Aizen, all I can say is that it won't be short and there will be an Arrancar arc, just not in the way you expect it. 4) Substitute Shinigami, a lot of you already know who it will be I can tell. "
" Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoy, continue to review it helps. I'm Shogun Ichigo Kurosaki. "
" Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, I'm TheAbsoluteZero, ... baby reindeer.
