CHAPTER THREE [Part One: A Whole New World Opens Up For Me

The results had come back, Unohana had told them she hadn't found anything wrong and that it may be a pigmentation problem but most likely something within the family line that had caused such bright hair. Thus the Shiba's celebrated, Ichigo was completely healthy.

Shiba Compound - 12 Months Later

Ichigo was trying to walk, annoyed with his legs for not letting him stand up properly. He knew he could do it! He felt he could do it before in a different time but it just wouldn't come to him. Seriously, how hard could it be to just STAND UP?! He raged.

"Come on Ichigo, I know you can do it baby boy. Walk to Mommy!" Miyako encouraged. She had been carrying a load of laundry to take outside to dry when she saw her child standing then falling back down onto his bottom. She smiled brightly, her arms outstretched as she sat down on her knees beside him. He smiled and crawled over to her and used her top to pull himself up, his legs shaking as he stood there hands pressed to her upper chest by her collarbone and he giggled when she blew at his nose. "That's very good but you must stand alone too, Ichi." She says taking his hands and making him stand straight, after a minute she let go and he laughed when she clapped then laughed even harder when he plopped down onto his butt again his legs unable to keep him on his feet for too long. "What was that? You went boom!" She teases then starts tickling him. He laughs even louder and then crawls fastly over to the double doors that lead to the hallway when he hears somebody lean against them.

"Well then, you two are full of energy today. It's only five in the morning." Kaien says and Ichigo makes sounds before using Kaien's pant leg to stand on wobbly legs, laughing when his dad tells him to be careful or he would pull his pants off of him. Ichigo snuggles close once he's in his dad's arms and yawns, "I think someone woke up too early." He retorts.

Miyako stands, "He's been up since three this morning, I couldn't get him to lay back down so I thought he could play in the den while I did a load of wash quick." She states, wipes at Kaien's chin then kisses him.

"Was that my breakfast? If so I'm still hungry, may I have another?" He teases and she chuckles but gives in to his demands and kisses him a second time.

"Full yet?" She asks and he smirks, "I don't think that's possible, me? Full? I'm a bottomless pit."

She laughs and kisses him even longer, Ichigo opens his eyes and makes a face and tries to get away. "Aren't you hungry Ichi?" Miyako asks playfully and kisses his cheek.

"No Momma! No, No!" Ichigo says trying to sound as stern as an infant could with such a tiny voice.

Miyako giggles and then both parents look at each other before attacking him with kisses and tickles. Ichigo screeches and laughs trying to get away unsuccessfully. "Please make some breakfast, it is getting late and we have a mission today dear. I'll be along shortly.." She says walking off towards the clothes basket. Kaien smiles lovingly at his wife then takes Ichigo towards the kitchen.

"Alright Ichi, while mom is hanging up tighty whitey's we're going to make some eggs and pancakes!" Kaien announces.

Ichigo giggles, 'What is a tighty whitey?' He thinks confused, then watches in fascination as his dad cracks several eggs into a pan with melted butter. "Scrambled eggs sound great, don't you think bud?" Kaien asks enthusiastically, a wide smile on his face.

Ichigo nods still watching as the eggs cook, making noises at the food because he realized he was really hungry. Ganju and Kukaku walked in a few minutes later still half asleep, "Good morning you two, pancakes or eggs?" He asks.

"Hot tea if we have any left." Kukaku replies.

"Both!" Ganju exclaims licking his lips.

Ichigo wanted to sit on Ganju's lap, "Gahju!" Ichigo shouts hands and arms stretched towards his uncle.

"Huh?" Ganju says still trying to wake up, then smiles at Ichigo and stands up to take him out of his seat only to be stopped by Kaien. "What's wrong Big Brother?" Ganju asks.

"Last time he sat on your lap at a meal he didn't eat, he's going to eat." Kaien replies sternly. Ichigo pouts, eyes tired and stomach growling. Kaien smirks at his son's antics and then hands him a slice of cheese, "Tank you." He shouts and nibbles at the cheese slice. "It's pronounced 'thank you' Ichi and you're welcome." He enunciated. After breakfast Kaien asked Ganju if he'd watch Ichigo while he and Miyako were gone for their mission.

"Sure, the gang is coming over so he'll have tons of fun!" Ganju exclaims smiling wide.

Ichigo watched his father getting things ready and kept putting out his hands when he'd walk passed to grab something from elsewhere, "Up?" He asks when his father passes by again and stalls at hearing Ichigo talking to him. "Up?" He asks again and Kaien smiles a half smile. "Not right now Ichi, I'm busy but I'll play with you later alright?" He says his voice gentle. Ichigo turns his head one direction to the next then sighs and puffs out his cheeks, "O..kay." He tells his father and starts to crawl off towards the door only for said door to open and for his mother to pull him up into her arms and airplane him about the room and making him laugh she kisses his forehead and gives him a big hug before telling him to be good for his uncle today and not cause any mischief while momma is away.

"Can I have some juice though?" He asks her and she hums, "Only if you brush your teeth and tongue. Also you have to take a nap at least one time today." She says holding up one finger to his face so he understands what one means.

"One?" Ichigo asks, reaching out and putting his smaller hand to her single finger.

"Yes, one. Like this Ichi," Miyako says using her finger to make his smaller finger do the same. Ichigo looks at his hand and then nods as she hugs him close, "One." He whispers.

Kaien smiles, he had his back turned and was rushing through grabbing the stuff he'd need. He grabbed his zanpakuto and placed it at his side. Then turned around, "Ready?" He asks his wife and takes Ichigo from her when he reaches for him. "Be good alright bud?" He says holding him up to face level then hands him back to Miyako when he smiles and says, "Yes I will."

Four PM

Ichigo hadn't taken his nap like his parents had requested of him and he had refused to eat lunch or supper. Ganju had yelled at him at least a dozen times which ended up in Kukaku slapping her youngest brother upside the head for yelling at a toddler especially if said toddler told his parents about it while sleep deprived and hungry. So she took over taking care of him, she sat him down in the kitchen and sat on her knees her elbows on his tray and looked at him for a bit. "Just because you're tired doesn't mean you have the right to say no fire work." She told him, using her nickname she'd used since his birth. He may be Ichigo Shiba but he was plain old fire work to her. Ichigo was about to start pouting so she made the same face back and then stood. "Eat and then we can take a nap together sound good?" She asks, finding some fresh garden potatoes and left over butternut squash. She made it quickly, making the potatoes into mashed ones with some homemade butter and freah cows milk and then warming up the squash and sitting down with Ganju and Ichigo to eat. Having to force Ichigo to eat when he shoved his plate away. She stood and slammed her hand down on the table angrily and glared at him, "Listen firework, your mom and dad will be scarier than I am if they find out about you not eating or sleeping. So eat damnit or I'm putting you down for a nap and you can explain why you refused to eat when they get here!" She shouts and pushes the plate back over to him and stares him down until he decides he'd best eat. "I swear, you're as stubborn as Ganju was at your age." She spouts off exasperated. When he'd finished eating Kukaku made him take a bath and gave him his juice, he brushed his teeth afterwards like he had been told too with help from his auntie and when she laid him down and walked out of the room, he closed his eyes. After half an hour, Ichigo fell asleep and was sleeping soundly until something tapped on his window an hour later and woke him up. He made cute little noises as he rubbed his eyes and sat up to look at the window and then started to shake, it was a scary monster, he for some reason knew that the thing outside his window was dangerous and didn't know why. A flashback to a time he didn't know had existed happened a time where a monster in a bone colored mask had taken him into its mouth and had chomped him to bits. The masked like creature smashed through the window and half the wall while howling and crushed it's way through the room. Ichigo was frozen in place, still flashing back to that other similar monster that had killed him some other time. He didn't know why that thought was in his head, he wasn't that old! The monster howled at him again and picked him up out of his crib like bed and scratched him with it's sharp nails, that's when someone slammed the door open and started screaming angrily for the thing to put him down and fight someone its own size. The creature wailed and threw Ichigo against the far wall and followed the person out the room and into the garden.

"Ichi!" Ichigo looked up, blood was rushing down his cut forehead and arm where the creatures nails had dug into him. His vision blurred but he made out his uncle Ganju who was trying to figure out where to pick him up at. The boy had tears in his eyes and Ichigo put out his hand wanting to stop those tears only to go unconscious from the movement.

Inner World

Ichigo woke up in a strange place, he was where he'd been at once before. A small object was glowing gold and seemed to ebb as it went in and out of light. "You're weak, King. Hurry up and grow up already!" Some voice shouted. Ichigo looked down and sure enough he was again in the body of not his own. He had on clothes similar to his parents and he was like an exact yet a bit shorter copy of his father. He'd of thought the image he was seeing in the glass of the tower was his dad except his hair was orange not black.

"Remember King!" The voice shouts again and Ichigo looks around. The world around him… he gasps watching his previous death on repeat thanks to the glowing object then sees himself as he is now. "You weren't supposed to have died that night." An even deeper voice says and Ichigo looks over to see a man with brown curly shoulder length hair and sunglasses, his hair and cloak billowing out with the wind. "That's!" He stops short when he sees his great uncle in weird clothing standing over him and then two little girls crying.

"That is your previous father and those are your little sister's. You were killed by a Hollow at the age of fifteen when a soul reaper messed up and in the process the hollow killed you." The floating man says.

"Hollow?" Ichigo asks standing up.

"The creatures with the bone like masks and the howl that promises death, that is a Hollow." The man says.

Ichigo started to shake, "Why are you telling me this?" He asks wanting to forget the horrors that supposedly have been stalking him no matter what life he's in at whatever moment.

"Because you needed to remember, you almost died tonight because of your forgetfulness. Now go on, your parents are worried." The floating man tells him and suddenly his vision goes black and his eyes slowly open to the real world once again.

"How could you allow a Hollow to get near, no not near, IN! Kukaku, In! the compound?" A familiar voice was yelling. Ichigo knew that voice, it was his father's voice. He sounded not just angry but terrified.

"I told you a half a dozen times already Kaien! I didn't sense it at all!" Kukaku shouted back defensively. Ichigo stared at the ceiling, thinking hard on why the hollows were always following him. Why were they so hard to detect and why were they after him? Who was that man in his head or should he say men? He closed his eyes again when a sharp pain radiated from his back to his shoulder. He felt like he should be much older but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't think about himself as older. This was his life and the voices in his head were most likely just more scary dreams. He'd had dreams since he could remember, always scary and always voices and people telling him he wasn't a child. He sighed inwardly, 'Who am I really?' He thinks then decides to just let it go when it makes his head hurt.

"How could you not sense it when it was that close!? It injured my child, that's how damn close it was Kukaku!" Kaien shouts. "My child is laying in a squad four's healing bed because you couldn't sense a Hollow at point blank range."

Kukaku made a noise, she sounded pissed. "I told you, I didn't sense it at all! You asked Shiroganihiko and Kuroganihiko and they too said they hadn't sensed it! I blew the bastard up with fireworks and sent it to Hell, why are you berating me as if I let that Hollow harm my own nephew!"

"Easy, there are sick people here and we could hear you all the way to the front doors." A soft voice says as a white haired man in a Captain's haori walks through the room door.

"Captain Ukitake, sorry. You know how I am when I get angry. I don't get mad often but this situation has me at my witts end." Kaien says bowed at the waste.

"No one is at fault here, the Hollow was hiding itself rather well. Squad 6 investigated the scene and said they barely felt anything Hollow like in the area besides when it was sent onward and left a single trace." Ukitake clarifies.

"Seriously? But why would it attack a child? Ichigo's reiryoku isn't so high that he would cause them to target him, especially inside the Soul Society. Hollow attacks are rare here if at all." Kaien explains.

"Maybe it was just a coincidence, the Hollow was stalking the area and may have seen Ichigo while hunting and just decided he would be a good meal. You can never really tell what goes through their heads." Ukitake explains trying to calm his lieutenant down even if he wasn't sure why or what was happening. It seemed suspicious, Kaien did sound correct… why attack a child that couldn't even infuse his reiatsu?

Ichigo decided to open his eyes and turn his head to see who had his small hand in between their hands, he saw his mother seated beside him silently crying to herself with her head down and her hands placed over his small hand. "Momma…" Ichigo whispered. Miyako's head shot up and her red rimmed eyes danced with fresh tears. "Ichigo." She nearly shouted the tears now streaming down her face as she sniffs trying to not snot all over her child or herself for that matter.

Ichigo saw his father twist towards where he was laying, so quick he was a blur. Kaien looked as if he had used up his last nerves. He rushed over to the bed and looked down at his son then ran his fingers gently through his orange spiky hair and let out the air he'd been holding. "Hey bud, you feeling okay?" He asks, voice more gentle than it had been for the past few minutes he'd been awake and aware.

Ichigo looks at his father for a moment, "Auntie and Uncle, they were really brave." He says, then closes his eyes again.

"Ichigo? Hey, open your eyes...please." Kaien says trying to keep calm when he doesn't open them to his voice. "Ichi?"

"Let him rest, he's had a rough evening." Miyako says combing through his hair and kissing his forehead.

"You said he didn't take his nap?" Kaien asks turning towards Kukaku who nods her head.

"He fought about eating and sleeping the entire day until I put my foot down and gave him the ultimatum, eat and sleep or face an angry auntie. Ganju sure doesn't help the process, if he says no Ganju simply let's him say no and lets him go on with whatever he's doing." Kukaku defends herself. Kaien sighs putting his hand over his face in exasperation and exhaustion.

"Hey, he's your child. I can't help if he has your attitude!" Kukaku says blushing.

Next Day

Ichigo woke up later than he normally ever has, he sat up and looked down. Miyako was asleep with her head on the bed. He was so small, the bed seemed several times bigger than himself. He smiled then cringed away as a shooting pain engulfed his shoulder, down his arm and across his back. It wasn't as bad as last night, he'd passed out from the constant ebbing pain. Today it felt like a simple ache but still hurt like hell. "Good morning my sweet little ray of sunshine." Miyako says sitting up straight and brushing his spiky bangs out of his view so he could see better. Ichigo smiled a bright and wide smile and went to move to hug her but stopped and started to cry. Upon moving, he felt immense sharp pains radiating up his body. "Ichi? Tell me what's wrong!" Miyako says standing up.

Kaien, who had slept on the couch like seat in the room, was up and beside them in a flash. Ichigo put his good arm out, face scrunched in discomfort and blubbering. Kaien took Ichigo's hand and kissed his tiny knuckles, "I know, Hollow attacks are brutal…just bare with the pain until we can get you healed properly." He whispers. Ichigo pulled his hand away and put it out again, wanting his father to hold him close to which again he was denied.

Hour Later

Ichigo was currently up chucking and crying, he went dizzy for a second and almost toppled. He chocked on his vomit and that scared him so he started coughing and crying at the same time. The pain getting worse again and being so young he didn't have much he could be prescribed for pain and discomfort. Miyako rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Isn't Unohana available yet?" She asks.

Kaien sighed loudly, "Squad Fours Captain is currently treating several wounded and hasn't been able to come this way since this wing is a waiting wing.. We're stuck here until Captain Unohana is available." He says sounding tired.