Welcome to my new addition to the FemIchi series. If you're new the series - this is where I make Ichigo Kurosaki a girl and set her up with all the handsome men I can find. Why, you may ask. Simple - I play way too many otome games and I need more. Let me know your thoughts - I'm really excited to play with Ichigo in the world of MHA.
Chapter 1 - Musings
Rain pelted down around us. Seeping through our hair and clothes. The dry damaged earth took in the liquid greedily. The uninhabited cliffs watched on eagerly as my heart broke. They watched on, taking in every detail. I was only granted blurry outlines as the blood continued to pool down from my eyes. I couldn't move. His blades pinned each of my hands down in the ever ironic cross figure. It prevented me from reaching Zangetsu. Even if I had the energy to attempt to free my wrists from his blades, the blade puncturing my lung confirmed that I could not move. Not if I wanted to live - was living an option after this? Was this my death?
I felt his hot breath across my face and felt warm fingers wrap around my throat. No. No. If you do that - if you squeeze - with my punctured lung - I'll suffocate.
"I always loved it when it rained Ichi-nee," his finger tightened and I felt my lungs painfully spasm as they continued to fight to bring oxygen in. Despite my failing vision - I could see the vibrance of his green eyes - our mother's eyes - gleefully staring into my dying ones.
"His-a-shi-" I choked out as my lungs gave one last spasm before submitting to the blood filling their entirety. I closed my useless eyes and accepted my fate.
"Auntie Ichi. Auntie Ichi," small hands softly touched Ichigo Kurosaki's face and guided her away from her nightmares. Her memories. Swiftly she was pulled from her subconscious and into the present. Gasping she sat up from her bed. Sweat dampened her skin. The sheets wrapped around her in a claustrophobic's nightmare. Rain pelted across the window in it's usual mocking song. "Auntie Ichi?" the whispers turned into a worried tone.
"Zuzubun," she whispered and forced her eyes to widen and a grin to overtake her face. "What's wrong sweetheart?"
Her nephew, her sweet little Izuku, stood next to her bed in his favorite pair of All Might footsie pajamas. His green curls poked out from under the hood with the yellow bunny like All Might "bangs" poking out on either side of the hood. His wide green eyes - the same color of eyes that were glaring at Ichigo just moments ago in her nightmare - began to fill with unshed tears. In his tiny grip an All Might stuffed toy grinned up at her.
"'Hunder," as if waiting for its que a teeth rattling boom shook the room. The tears that were decorating Izuku's eyes began falling freely.
"Oh no. Did the thunder wake you up?" With a trembling lip Izuku nodded his head and gripped his All Might stuffie closer. "Oh baby, don't cry. Here," with some difficulty Ichigo pushed the wrapped blankets from her body and forced them to untangle. Once untangled she threw them open so that they would settle normally and moved closer to the other side of the bed. Once settled, she lifted the blanket and beckoned for Izuku to crawl into bed with her. Lightning lit up the room causing Izuku to quickly climb into my bed and into Ichigo's awaiting arms. The stuffed All Might pushed aggressively between them - as if that poor creature needed more comfort than Izuku. Letting the blanket fall, Ichigo wrapped her arms around Izuku and curled her body around him protectively.
"I've got you baby. Don't you worry that storm can't hurt you with me around." Izuku's little tears dried up as he settled into Ichigo's grasp. "You know, I don't like the rain much either." she whispered softly into his hair.
"You don't?"
"Nope."
"You scared?"
"No, not scared. It just makes me sad. Sometimes it's a little scary."
Izuku tilted his head up so he could meet Ichigo's eyes. "Are you scared now?"
"Oh no," She shook her head and felt her face pull into a real smile. "Not with you here."
"And All Might."
Ichigo huffed a laugh as Izuku jerkily pulled All Might out of their hug so that she could see that yes - All Might was here. "And All Might." Somehow Ichigo managed to pull him closer. The smell of his baby shampoo reached her and the anxiety from her night terrors seemed to deflate completely. "Now then it's only three in the morning so let's get back to sleep. We've still got to visit with Grandpa tomorrow and that takes a lot of energy." With a nod from her little bunbun - they settled into closing their eyes and matching each other's breaths.
"Auntie Ichi?" Izuku whispered.
"Hmm."
"Are you sad?"
She didn't open my eyes. She also didn't answer right away. Her heart squeezed painfully as the image of her brother's betrayal overtook her senses. She nuzzled her nose into Izuku's curls once again - breathed in his baby shampoo scent - and pressed a kiss to his temple. "No baby, not with you here."
It's been two hundred and twenty-two years since I was born to a soul born soul reaper and a mortal born quincy.
Two hundred and six years since I became a soul reaper. Two hundred and six years since I became the guardian of hell. Two hundred and five years since I became a vizard. Two hundred and four years since I gained fullbringer capabilities. Two hundred and three years since I gained my quincy powers. Two hundred and three years since I defeated my grandfather and his powers of spiritual evolution were transferred to me to protect.
Two hundred and three years since the first child with a quirk was born. One hundred and ninety-two years since I gave up my mortal body and replaced it with a gigai while visiting the World of the Living. One hundred and ninety-two years since I became one of the heads of the Shiba Clan. One hundred and ninety-two years since I became the head of the Kurosaki Quincy Clan.
One hundred and ninety years since the unionification of soul reapers, quincies, full bringers, and the Arrancar Kingdom was finally established. One hundred and fifty years since the laws changed permitting souls to live in the World of the Living permitting proper citizenship. Sixty years since the laws changed to permit soul reapers, quincies, full bringers, and arrancars to act as heroes and use their powers against mortals. Sixty years since the laws changed to permit soul reapers, quincies, full bringers, and arrancars to marry and produce offspring with mortals. Sixty years since the realm commission was established to coincide with the hero commission. Fifty years since soul hero agencies were formed to permit full bringers, quincies, soul reapers, and approved arrancars better access to protect souls and fight hollows. Forty years since the first soul and mortal hero, or realm hero, was properly licensed to use their spiritual powers in soul and mortal situations.
Fifteen years since my brother tried to kill me to take the powers of spiritual evolution. Fifteen years since the truth of my brother's crimes against souls were unveiled. Fifteen years since I defeated my brother and watched him dragged away to the Maggots Nest for a sentence of one-thousand years. Fifteen years since I found out he had a hidden girlfriend in the World of the Living. Fifteen years since I found out she had just given birth to a son on my birthday ironically. A son whom my brother never got to meet. Fifteen years since I left my life in the Soul Society to return to the World of the Living in order to help raise my brother's son, my little Izuku. My boy.
The sharp cry from the tea kettle caused Ichigo to stop her musings in her journal. A hobby she picked up from her brother-in-law many years ago when he gifted her her first journal upon her high school graduation. At the time he wasn't her brother-in-law but rather the annoying stick-up-his-ass Captain Kuchiki that treated her as though she was an annoying peasant come to sneak his sister away for uncontrollable shenanigans; which, granted, she was. It hadn't surprised her that he had shown up to the high school graduation party because Rukia and Renji had also "graduated." It did surprise her when he handed her the wrapped present and not Rukia.
Byakuya had taken her aside and handed her the simply wrapped gift. After gently opening the gift - because ripping it open would have given him opportunity to scold her - she held a simple leather journal. He had explained that in the short time he knew her she had experienced a lifetime of experiences. Writing those experiences helped one not only remember the past but also appreciate the present and prepare for the future. She had forgotten about it until she was setting up her dorm at the University of Cambridge. Missing her friends and family, she had pulled the journal out from its position in her "clutter box" and had sat on her bed with a pen - losing herself in writing about her earliest memories and going from there. Now she had shelves full of filled journals that she'd written during the years.
Rolling her head back and forth, Ichigo stood from her desk and went to her kitchen to pull the kettle from the stove. Ichigo had developed insomnia after years of working various long hours. Despite it being her day off she still couldn't fall asleep at two in the morning. Steeping her sleepy tea that Inko had bought her a few months ago, Ichigo turned towards the television she had on for background noise. A repeat of the earlier news was on for those night workers that missed it's earlier viewing time. The news anchor was going on about some sort of event taking place in the next few weeks. With nothing better to do while she waited for her tea to finish steeping she tuned into the story.
"The expo will be taking place in two weeks so you are going to want to get your tickets now," the chirpy news anchor grineed at the camera as she stood outside the familiar Karakura Expo Center.
"Rhio, as it is the Supernatural Expo Center, do you think some of our supernatural heroes will be attending?" the male anchor asked from her comfortable chair in the studio.
"That's a great question Hikaru. Sources say that some heroes from S-Agencies such as Xcution will be in attendance."
"I'm sure the ghost hunters attending are very excited for that." Ichigo chuckled as she imagined Ginjo's annoyance while being forced to attend by Riruka.
S-Agencies are Supernatural Hero Agencies. Despite those working in the S-Agencies being soul reapers, quincies, fullbringers, and the occasional high ranking arrancar whose sole focus was on the souls - it was decided that they would be classified as "supernatural" and not "soul." Unfortunately the political fighting it took in order to permit soul reapers, quincies, fullbringers, and arrancars from publicly participating in hero work in the World of the Living didn't stop once the Soul Society changed their laws. Now S-Heros have to deal with being considered frauds or "quacks" in the World of the Living. Few S-Agencies had members that had permissions from both the World of the Living and the Soul Society to use their powers on mortals and souls. So the mortals didn't exactly know what it was that these S-heros were doing running around. Sure, the S-heros say they are assisting souls but as the mortals can't see souls... it's led to some tensions. The need for secrecy to prevent any drastic changes in the balance of the souls also caused distrust from society as a whole. S-Hero agency members that were permitted to assist soul and mortal with their powers were labeled as R-Heros. R-Heros had quite a bit more respect from the public but there were so few of them due to the tensions caused by the treatment towards S-Heros. Only one R-Hero was even listed on the hero billboards. In Japan, there were currently only two S-Agencies that had R-Heros under their employment: Xcution and Candy Shop.
Xcution became more recognizable after a run in with the Xcution gang on a ghost hunters television show. Ruriko - who maintained a gigai these days- was chasing after a hollow in an old mental asylum. The hollow was causing all sorts of issues while it hunted a whole soul that had committed suicide weeks earlier. Doors were blown off their hinges, walls destroyed, and at one point all of the remaining windows were blown out. Unfortunately, Ruriko was not aware that Ghost Hunt Japan had cameras set up on a live stream during her little adventure. Ginjo went to assist with the whole soul and was also caught on camera. While a large percentage of the public consider S-heros to be considered quacks, they couldn't deny that something took place in that institute and that Xcution had done something seemingly good that day. So Xcution, Candy Shop, and other S-Agencies were now a part of the Supernatural scene much to many of the S-Hero and R-Hero's annoyances.
"They are all very excited to see their favorite S-Heros, Hikaru."
"Will the R-Hero Black Cloaked Guardian be in attendance? Perhaps he will have his own booth?" The Black Cloaked Guardian was the only R-Hero that was listed on the hero billboards due to their mortal work. They were low down on the listings due to their attempts to "stay in the shadows," but their arrest rates and hero work still earned them a place on the charts.
"Candy Shop could not confirm their attendance at the Supernatural Convention. As you know Black Cloaked Guardian, or Guardian for short, does not usually attend such functions but we all still hope to see him there."
"Like hell you will," Ichigo huffed and finally drank her tea. "You won't catch me within a hundred feet of that convention." See, when Ichigo goes out as Black Cloaked Guardian, she is completely concealed by her black cloak made for her by Kisuke Urahara - the head of Candy Shop hero agency. She also didn't speak. No one outside of the S-Hero and R-Hero circles knew that it was Ichigo Kurosaki under the cloak. For fifteen years she kept her identity secret and prevented any attention to be drawn to Inko and Izuku. Disturbingly enough, her mysteriousness caused the public to assume her gender and she'd been considered male since they placed her on the charts. She remained silent during a lot of the hero meetings she was forced to attend. Allowing Kisuke or others to speak for her. Taking orders and acting out said orders. She'd picked up sign language in her two hundred years so she was able to use that as well to prevent anyone from guessing her gender. Kisuke offered to get her a mask to change her voice but Ichigo felt that was a bit overkill and didn't want to lug around a mask around her neck along with her cloak ties. At this point it was just a long living joke to Ichigo.
The charm on Ichigo's phone went off alerting her of a notification. Ichigo picked up her phone and swiped up to show a calendar reminder of her dinner with Inko and Izuku later that evening as it was already two in the morning. Ichigo smiled fondly at the background picture of her and Izuku grinning at the camera. Choosing to return to the World of the Living to co-parent Izuku with Inko in place of her brother was the best decision she had ever made. That didn't make it easy. Izuku was a Shiba and a Kurosaki through and through. Far too much like Ichigo. As soon as he understood what a hero was he proclaimed to everyone that he, too, was going to be an amazing hero. Ichigo didn't doubt it. The boy had the heart of a hero and had since day one. Eager to protect people and save people - much like herself. Upon seeing All Might in action in the various movies and youtube videos he could find - he declared he would be a hero with a smile on his face. Again, Ichigo believed it. That boy's million watt smile was blinding.
Unfortunately, in a world full of quirks and heros, Izuku was stuck with pre-quirk DNA that caused a double joint in his pinky toe. This meant no quirk for Izuku. Which also meant - the world viewed him as not only quirkless but dreamless. Quirkless people didn't become heroes in society's eyes. It was a crushing day for the boy. When the little boy crawled into Ichigo's lap and asked her when he would get his soul powers - so that at least he could be an S-Hero - Ichigo choked. While the family firmly believed that he would take after herself and her siblings - there was no guarantee. He could live his whole life without ever gaining enough spiritual energy to fight a hollow or help a soul move on. If it did happen, it wouldn't happen until he was much older. Ichigo confronted the topic of Izuku's soul powers the same way she confronted the topic of his villain father - she avoided it. When Izuku asked she told him that he wouldn't obtain his powers until he was much older. As Izuku grew he came to realize that she wouldn't give him a clear answer and stopped asking. No, it wasn't the greatest parenting decision she ever made; but it granted them time. Time for spiritual powers to grow. Time to form answers. Time to develop new dreams. Time to find ways to reach the original dream. One day Ichigo would have to face the topics of despair - as Zangetsu named them. That day was just not today.
"The day draws near," Zangetsu's husky drawl reminds her and Ichigo doesn't have it in her to attempt to converse with her zanpakuto. He was right though.
Izuku was going to go into high school soon and was signed up to take the entrance exam for all hero based high schools. For years Ichigo was able to encourage Izuku's dreams without getting too involved. Now, she would need to have a sit down conversation with him on how he intended to fight villains with quirks without a quirk - and if that was truly a path he wanted to take. If it was then she would need to completely train him to be a quirkless hero. She would have to be ruthless. If that was the case he couldn't attend UA. Not yet at least. He would need at least one year under her strict tutelage in the Soul Society. The time difference between the Soul Society and the World of the Living would make it so that he could be on an equal playing field as the rest of his class without a quirk within one years time. If he had decided to take a different path then the intense training would not be necessary. Ichigo and Izuku had made a pact on his fifth birthday and her two hundred and twelfth birthday that when he turned fifteen they would sit down and he would tell her what path it was that he would take. She would then ensure that he could walk that path. The destined birthday was coming up. Did he still have the heart to take on such a difficult path of hero-hood?
"Earlier today in Mustafu a villain named Sludge Villain caused an uproar," the name of Inko and Izuku's town directed Ichigo's attention back to the news. "As you can see with the footage we caught - the villain had taken middle schooler, Katsuki Bakugo, hostage and was attempting to invade the boys body. Katsuki Bakugo heroically tried to fight the Sludge Villian with his quirk allowing the villain to focus solely on himself and not the public." Now that caused Ichigo to set her tea down harshly on the granite countertops. Katsuki was Izuku's childhood friend. Ichigo had babysat the boy in the past. Did shopping sprees with his mother and Inko. Ichigo checked her phone again- she didn't receive any messages from Mitsuki or Inko about this. Was Katsuki okay? It hurt to watch the brown sludge wrap itself around the boy Ichigo had come to consider a nephew of sorts. "While hero's struggled to get to the boy on time a young man attempted to remove the sludge monster from his classmate unsuccessfully."
Now wait just a damn minute. Ichigo quickly grabbed the remote and hit rewind. Her eyes must be tricking her. That was not a flash of green on the screen. That couldn't be. Hitting play Ichigo watched the recording again while she tuned out the news anchors report. Sure enough, the green she had just watched running up to the sludge villain was her very own Izuku. The familiar determined face was even caught on camera as he threw his backpack at the sludge and attempted to claw Katsuki out of the mess.
Ichigo blinked bewildered at the screen. Her Izuku? Her precious boy? Why had Inko not called her? They wouldn't be showing this if one of the kids had been seriously injured or killed, right?
Ichigo's heart felt as if it was in her throat as she watched and rewatched her boy run head first into danger. Was this how her father felt when she'd run off to fight hollows and break into the Soul Society?
"All Might arrived at the scene and successfully saved the two boys and captured the Sludge villain," the news anchor finished reporting and instead cut to an interview with All Might after he successfully defeated the villain. Ichigo hit rewind again - for the last time she told herself- and rewatched the scene where her nephew ran into danger in order to help his friend. Her quirkless nephew. Her powerless nephew. Her precious nephew. Her cinnamon rolll too precious for this world - nephew.
"Damn," she sighed as Hichigo roared with laughter at the amount of karma that just hit her. "Damn," she shook her head as if trying to dislodge what she'd just seen from her brain. She didn't even need to wait for their shared birthday to hear what he had decided. He chose the path of a hero despite everything. "Damn."