The new world that they all found themselves in, was an interesting one to say the least. Partially because there were actual monsters running, flying around all over the place unhindered. And partially because each of them had underwent some...changes themselves.
For instance, their physical appearances changes. Some of them appeared to be a little bit younger, while others stayed their current age. And Ichigo...remained the same with the exception of her eyes, build, and hair.
Her eyes turned a citrine yellow color that was just...stunning.
Her body had become curvier, almost like Orihime's own. Though her breasts weren't quite as big. Her hair had taken on a more copper color that was very fetching too. It had also lengthened so that it no longer fell down to her shoulders in a bob cut as well and instead hung down her back almost to her waist.
Honestly, it was a good look for her.
Ichigo now appeared to look exactly like the God that she was. Ethereal.
And as shockingly beautiful as she was, Kisuke also knew that her appearance would draw men to her like flies to honey. He quietly lamented over just how many dumbasses he'd likely be disposing of during their new life as everyone else took stock of their newness.
After that, they made camp where they were and planned on what to do next since one of the first things that they would have to do was establish themselves and build a new home.
But since Ichigo wasn't human anymore, they would have to take that fact into account and figure out a way around it. In the end, it was Rukia who came up with the idea of making their own Kingdom. She even suggested different positions for everyone too.
Though Byakuya seemed to think that he would make a much better king than Kisuke would.
Of course, the Kuchiki quickly changed his tune once he was informed that whoever sat on the throne would also act as Ichigo's guardian or parental figure.
After that, he didn't bother to complain anymore.
Mostly because everyone could tell that the mere idea of being Ichigo's parental figure and possibly being called dad or any variation of the word would drive him completely and utterly mad.
And while some of the others thought that it would be fun to have her call them 'dad', Kisuke somehow still wound up being not only voted their 'king'. But Ichigo's parental figure too.
To say that his girl was slightly taken aback by the bizarreness of the situation/conversation, would be an understatement but said nothing about it aloud. So, they moved the conversation on.
It took a bit of doing, but in the end, they decided on stealing a kingdom from an already reigning king. And because of this- the plan came with certain specifics to make sure that no good and decent people were screwed in their undertaking.
One of the specifics was, that the present king and ruler of said kingdom had to be a tyrant whose people were suffering. To be clearer about the meaning, one could say that they would be gathering some intel for a short time. And checking on things like whether or not their people lived in poverty. Or suffered from being heavily taxed.
Apparently, you could tell a lot about a person's character by those things since a good ruler would have happy and thriving people of all kinds. Not just the wealthy.
After that, it was simply a matter of finding said place. A feat that they had decided to get started on while exploring their new world a bit along the way.
It took them about a month or two, but they found a kingdom. Of course, the state of it was less than ideal since everything was falling apart with the exception of the palace.
There were also dead bodies lying all over the place. Commoners mostly.
But the evidence more or less spoke for itself. Right?
Taking the kingdom was disgustingly easy for them.
The sad fact of the matter was that the present ruler was an idiot beyond compare. He taxed his people and killed the ones that couldn't pay his ridiculously high taxes. Which left huge gaps in the kingdom's security and weakened the place by leaps and bounds.
They didn't really have to fight anyone either. Everyone, even the current king's own knights wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. So, they basically walked in, told the upset people that they would be taking over and were led right to the throne room.
Everything was literally said and done within ten minutes. And once he was seated on the throne, he started to make decrees.
Ichigo was the kingdom's new royal princess, his ward and adopted daughter. No one would ever harm her. Yoruichi, was his oldest friend, second only to Tessai. And as such she was assigned as the new co-captain of the guard. She would work alongside Byakuya.
And yes, he knew just how much trouble that would case. He simply didn't care for the moment.
Renji and Rukia would act as Ichigo's personal guards. While Chad's job would alternate between his music- since no one felt it was right for the man to give up his dream of being a musician indefinitely- and being her shadow.
Orihime and Uryu were both the palace doctor's/healers.
Tessai would work in the kitchen as well as act as a secretary. The man was only too happy to comply with his king and friend's desires. Ginta and Ururu were both still kids. So, their jobs were basically to do as they had at the shop and help out where they could.
Aside from that, everyone was pretty much free to do as they liked.
Once he was done with his decree's, he thought it would be a good idea to start helping the citizens that were suffering right then. Their money was immediately returned. And along with their money, came a team of people to help clean the corpses up before everyone wound up with an epidemic of some kind on their hands.
Which is what led them to discover one of Ichigo's new abilities. Resurrecting the dead. It wasn't terribly unlike Orihime's own ability. But at the same time it was because unlike Orihime, Ichigo could truly bring people back to life after they had died.
Whereas Orihime merely restored them to a previous condition.
Kisuke wished that he could say that it was a neat ability. But in actuality it did nothing but cause his poor girl grief.
Though the fact that she suffered was pretty paramount in his mind... There was more to it than just simple suffering.
No one could ever claim that Ichigo ever did anything by halves even before becoming a God. After all, most didn't realize it at first, but she was a very detail-oriented gal.
But now- now was just... Well, they all started to wish that she did things by half. Just for once in her life.
Sadly, it simply wasn't to be. The first time it happened, her body destroyed itself and regenerated in nearly the same instant. It happened in minutes but to them, seemed like a lifetime.
Everything slowed to a crawl as terror and fear clawed at their insides as they watched her destroy and regenerate over and over again until her power finally faded and she fell to the ground unconscious.
They had each done their best to help her. To protect her. But the more the people of their kingdom seemed to realize that there was someone within their new royal family that could bring the dead back to life- the more reckless people became.
Rumor's started to spread and before any of them could stop it; outsiders had come to their home to see Ichigo. Some merely wanted to sate their curiosity and lay eyes on her.
They were fairly harmless since they understood that there was a terrible price that had to be paid for bringing the dead back.
It was the others though, the less harmless ones. The ones who were driven by lust for power and other things- that decided that since she could resurrect the dead- then she should share her gift with them. They didn't care about the price that she would pay for doing as they wanted.
They didn't even care that it was possible for her ability to kill her.
Something that Kisuke and the others had steadily grown more and more fearful of every time that she used the ability.
No- they simply wanted her and her power at their beck and call. They simpered, stroked his ego and flattered him, even tried to get him to sell her to them. After all, she was a living treasure worth her weight in gold. So, why not?
It went without saying that those people were dealt with swiftly and harshly.
He didn't have to kill them to stop them. All he had to do was silence them. Which he did. Either by removing their tongues or their hands. In many cases, depending on the offense, he did both.
After that, it was only a matter of keeping Ichigo safe from those fools and waiting for others to get the message and let the rumor's die down.
It wasn't easy. And in the end, it was decided that Ichigo would leave the kingdom with her guards and find a place somewhere else where no one had ever heard of her to live.
She was reluctant to leave the rest of them at first but understood that keeping her locked away was no way to live. Not for her. And certainly not for them.
So, after taking the time to pack what she would need/wanted to take with her... She finally left.
Though Kisuke didn't like her leaving anymore then she did. He knew that she would be okay without him right beside her. If anyone was a survivor- it was his girl. But he also knew that if she ever needed him, he would come running along with the others.
They owed her that much no matter what she might think to the contrary.