Ch 1: The Nel Effect
A huge thank you to my beta Lily D. Cave, who has helped to make this story much better than it otherwise would be.
Note: Crumbling Soul is set soon after Asking For Trouble. AFT is also currently undergoing revision, so if you have read AFT and notice something off in CS, please let me know. I am working on it, but don't want to accidentally miss something and get it wrong.
-C-S-
Ichigo woke slowly, struggling to open his eyes and figure out what was going on. Momentarily giving up on waking, he tried to remember what had happened before he went unconscious. He had finished his work in Soul Society, and had been heading to the Senkaimon to visit the World of the Living. But he didn't remember ever making it there, so whatever happened, must have been on the way. The last thing he could recall was being attacked from behind, then blacking out moments later.
Suddenly panicked, the adrenaline rush gave him the energy he needed to open his eyes and look around. The first thing he noticed was the cluttered lab he was in. The second thing he noticed was that he was trapped behind a glass barrier, and suspended in what seemed to be liquid reishi, though he could still breathe. The final thing he noticed was he had numerous bands around his wrists and neck, which he could feel splitting apart the different parts of his reiryoku. Bringing a hand up to his back and the other to his waist, he was concerned but unsurprised to find both Zangetsu's missing.
'Where is this? It's clearly a lab of some sort. Wait… Lab... Please don't let this be Mayuri's work!' Ichigo silently begged. His hopes were shot down when an unpleasantly familiar face entered the room.
"Well well, finally awake. Now we can begin the experiment." Mayuri stated cheerfully.
Ichigo's current thought process was a rather colourful string of curses, but he managed to work past it to ask, "What experiment? Why have you brought me here?"
"Oh, ever since I found out about the incident that created the Visored, I've been interested in Hollowfication. You are simply the first one I've been able to catch. And what an experiment this will be!" Mayuri explained. "I needed you awake for this, so you could control the side effects that are likely to occur. Shall we get started?"
Ichigo's immediate response was "Hell, no!" But it went ignored as Mayuri started up a series of devices. The bands began to glow, pulling his reiatsu apart. The longer it lasted, the more it hurt. And more reiatsu was continuously pulled out, the black separating from the blue. However, Ichigo had to ignore the pain as a more pressing problem began to manifest itself. Tendrils of black crawled across his vision as fragments of mask began to form on his face. The more unstable his reiatsu became, the faster he began to hollowfy, barely managing to hold on to his sanity.
"What are you doing!?" Ichigo demanded. Mayuri regarded his question with disinterest before responding. "I am extracting the traces of Hollow energy from your power. You are doing a wonderful job of keeping that power from taking over and merging with you. Keeping it separate from yourself and preventing full Hollowfication makes the extraction much easier for me."
Ichigo was horrified at the explanation, not only because Mayuri was splitting his soul, but because he didn't want to lose someone he had come to care about. Then he had another thought. 'You really shouldn't have told me that. If he needs us to stay separate…' He was cut off by another wave of pain, then he turned his focus to his inner world.
"Shiro! I'm going to let you take over, do whatever you can to get us out of here, just try not to kill anyone that's not an enemy! We can't stay separate and let him split us!"
"Che, fine! Let me out then!" There was a burst of distinctly Hollow reiatsu, then a bright red flash of a Cero discharged from where Ichigo had been. Glass shattered and the liquid flew everywhere, then Ichigo was out, now with a whole mask formed over his face.
"You stupid boy! This could have gone so much easier for both of us if you had simply cooperated! Now we have to do this the hard way!" Mayuri cursed. With Shiro now fully in control, he began charging another Cero in his hands, this one stronger than the last. Right when he was about to release it, the blast misfired as the bands glowed brighter, entering the final stage, and the pain became so great it was paralysing. Shiro crumpled to the floor, Ichigo and Zangetsu not faring any better in their mindscape as all of them were consumed. The moment Shiro lost control, he was torn away from Ichigo and formed beside the limp body of his wielder.
The bands shut down as the process finished. Staggering to his feet, Shiro spotted Ichigo's blades across the room. With an unsteady sonido he reached them in a single step and grabbed hold of them. In an instant he dissolved his other half's blade, and used his own to activate his incomplete Bankai. At this point though there was almost no energy left to compress into it, and the transformation was little more than a change of outfit and blade. He ignored Ichigo, who was standing and tearing the bands off, but unable to fight since Shiro had his sword. Now clothed in his white Bankai cloak and demonic looking mask, Shiro raised his thin Tensa Zangetsu and charged at the one who had injured them.
Several blows were exchanged, but then Mayuri struck hard and fast. There was an audible 'CRACK' when Mayuri missed, hitting the mask and throwing the already weakened Hollow into the wall. Shiro fell to the floor in a heap, blood flowing from a jagged wound across his head. Ichigo took the momentary pause in the fighting to grab his Hollow and sword, then shunpo as fast as he could away through the newly created hole in the wall. Shinigami immediately began to flock towards the scene of destruction, and he recognised Soi-Fon leading the way.
Figuring Soi-Fon's squad would be enough of a distraction to keep anyone from following him, Ichigo shifted Shiro to get a better grip and went for the Senkaimon as fast as he could. The Hollow part of his Zanpakuto hung limply over Ichigo's shoulder, and Ichigo wondered if he was even still conscious.
Ichigo kept running until he had made it to the Senkaimon, pausing only long enough to call back his swords and activate his seals that would allow him to enter the Living Realm. In a matter of minutes he had traversed the Dangai and made it to the other world. He went straight to his house and up to his room, depositing Shiro onto his bed. Pulling out a box of medical stuff from under his desk, he looked over to where his Hollow lay. Most of the mask was missing, and there was a concerning amount of blood around the edges of the remaining piece.
Only a small segment with several red stripes remained, the rest of the mask had been shattered and the skin surrounding it violently torn apart. Shiro was also leaking large amounts of reiatsu at an alarming rate, far more than even Ichigo released. It was more like the energy was being lost, rather than simply being emitted by the spiritual body. In fact such a huge quantity had been lost, that the strength of his spiritual pressure was far lower than it had ever been.
Black reiatsu suddenly flared up and covered Shiro's body, only to disappear moments later, leaving behind something that shocked Ichigo. Shiro was now a child with a small cracked mask fragment that started above his left eye, and ended at the center of his face, still patterned with the red markings. A shrunken version of his white Zangetsu had materialised in a sheath on his back, held on by the black rosary strap. Ichigo was immediately reminded of Nel, and how her damaged mask fragment had caused her to become a much weaker child version of herself.
Refocusing on the task at hand, Ichigo took the sword away and opened his box of supplies to patch up the beaten child as best he could. The mask fragment was in the way, but he soon found out it could not be removed, so he was forced to work around it. Putting a bandage around the area was much more difficult than normal, but after a few tries, he managed to secure it anyway. Satisfied the wound was protected enough to begin healing, he cleaned up and placed a barrier around his room that would alert him if anyone came or went.
He gently tucked the blanket around the sleeping child, then sat next to him on the bed, thoroughly exhausted. After several minutes of debate, he pulled out his Soul Pager and sent Rukia a message, asking her to investigate what happened at the SRDI, and to make sure no one from that Squad came to the World of the Living. It only took a minute for her to reply, confirming his request, then asking why. All he told her was that she would find out when she got there, then closed the pager. By now it was dark outside, and he was fighting exhaustion.
Too tired to bother doing anything else, he simply grabbed another blanket from his closet and scooted the child over so they could share the space. Leaving the desk lamp on, he lay down and pulled the blanket over himself, deciding to trust Rukia to keep the others away while he got some much needed sleep. His pager chimed again, and he just reached over to hit the 'silent' button, not even seeing the message that had been received, which read, "I'll be there first thing in the morning. I want to know exactly what happened so I can figure out who to kill first. You better give me the whole story Strawberry, or else."
-C-S-
Ichigo woke early the next morning with a heavy weight on his chest, feeling uncomfortably hot. He reluctantly opened his eyes to see little Shiro laying on him, arms wrapped around his neck. Moving Shiro and sitting up, he ended up sitting with Shiro cradled in his lap and arms. The movement had started to rouse the child, and Ichigo did a brief examination before he woke completely. Shiro was shivering, even though his body was burning up and had a slight sweat going. The bandage had come loose during the night, slipping down to reveal jagged scars forming around the edges of the fragment.
Blinking his tired eyes open, Chibi Shiro sat up and stared at the one who had woken him. His head throbbed, making him reach up to hold his head, only to stop when the touch made the pain worse. He turned and latched onto his much older counterpart, holding onto him and breaking down in tears.
"Ichi-nii! What happened? Why am I hurt? Are you hurt too?" Shiro asked, choking over his words from speaking and crying at the same time. Ichigo, moving past the shock of this smaller Shiro calling him "Ichi-nii", returned the hug. Nonetheless, he focused on Shiro and answered his questions.
"We had a run in with the mad scientist Captain of the Twelfth. You got caught in the middle of the fight with him, then we both managed to escape. You took a nasty blow to the head and your mask shattered, but you should be okay. I'm okay too, you protected me from Captain Creepy. Do you remember?"
Shiro sat in his lap, nervously glancing around while he thought for a minute. "A little. There's lots of pieces, but they don't fit together."
Ichigo felt his heart sinking even before he asked his next question, almost certain of what the answer would be. "Can you tell me exactly who I am and who you are?"
Shiro kept fidgeting, but gave him a curious look. "Why?"
"Everything's fine, I just want to check something." Ichigo replied carefully.
"Oh, okay. You're Ichi-nii, I'm Shiro." Little Shiro said, confirming Ichigo's suspicion.
"What's your real name? Shiro is your nickname." Ichigo gently pressed.
"Um… Something with moon? I don't know. I'm Shiro, right Ichi?" Shiro asked anxiously.
"Of course it is, Shiro is just the short version. Your real name is Shirogetsu, which means White Moon, but I can just call you Shiro if you want." Ichigo offered. He received a shaky nod in reply, and he let the child lean into him again, as if seeking protection.
'He thinks I'm his big brother, and didn't remember his full name. He also seems really jumpy and nervous, although I guess that's not surprising. After all, he did wake up hurt with his memories impaired.'
Ichigo felt a Senkaimon open nearby, and he tried to nudge Shiro off his lap so he could leave, but he was dozing off with a firm grip on his Shihakusho. Rukia landed outside his window moments later and paused with her hand on the glass, taking in the odd scene in front of her. Ichigo was sitting with a tiny pale child in his lap, part of his face hidden from the way he had curled up against Ichigo's chest.
Though she didn't recognize the child right away, she could tell something was seriously wrong with him. Both of them, actually. Ichigo's reiatsu was significantly lower than it should have been, and the child wasn't radiating reiatsu as much as it was… leaking, for lack of a better description. Not to mention how similar it was to Ichigo's. Receiving the okay to come in, Rukia eased the window open and dropped onto the bed.
"What happened to him?" She asked quietly, pointing to the unraveling bandage around the small head.
"Mayuri happened," Ichigo replied bitterly, holding the child closer to him at the name. "I don't know how much you already know, but he tried to experiment on me because I'm a Visored. I let Shirogetsu - you know, the hollow half of zangetsu - take over and somehow we got separated.
"During the fight Mayuri hit him in the face and broke his mask". Ichigo carefully shifted the sleeping child in his arms so Rukia could get a better look. The petite shinigami immediately noticed the mask shard that was still attached to the child's face, as well as the facial similarities he wore to Ichigo.
"You mean this is Shirogetsu?" When Ichigo nodded in confirmation, something clicked in her brain. "When an Arrancar's mask breaks they revert to a childlike form, like Nel. That's what happened to Shirogetsu."
"Yeah. I don't know how I can fix it, and I can't return him to the inner world so he can heal. I can feel him pulling on my reiatsu, but I think he became almost completely separate from me when that bastard split us apart. So until I can figure something out, he's gonna have to hang around like this for now." Ichigo stated.
"Is there any other major injury to him besides the mask?" Rukia questioned.
"Not physical wounds, but there's definitely mental injury, especially to his memory. It isn't gone, it's just… broken I guess. Everything's there, he just can't quite fit the pieces together to make complete memories. And he doesn't really know who I am, he seems to think I'm his big brother." Ichigo explained. "Maybe we could have Dad take a look at him, see if he can help us out at all."
"It's worth a try." Rukia agreed. "I would rather not take either of you back to Soul Society right away. I would rather wait until things settle down, or at until Soi-Fon decides she needs to drag you back to interrogate you."
"That and the fact Captain Creepy is still there." Ichigo added.
"Oh, Captain Kurotsuchi? He wouldn't be able to bother us. The Onmitsukido arrived just after you left, and there was enough evidence left behind, they were able to take him in right away. Right now he's being held until everything can be fully processed, but they got the evidence. It is a major offense for him to have gone after you, and I can assure you he will not get off easily." Their conversation was halted by the sound of loud footsteps rushing up the stairs. Rukia stepped between Ichigo and the door right as Isshin burst in, easily throwing him to the ground.
"My lovely third daughter, why?" Isshin moaned from the floor.
"Uh, Dad? Did you not realise I'm holding someone? If you attacked me, you might have hurt him! Be more careful!" Ichigo scolded. "And here I was, thinking about asking for your help."
"Huh? What's wrong?" Isshin became serious as he sat up and registered the child in his son's lap.
"My Zanpakuto and I had a run in with Mayuri. The Hollow half didn't make it out unscathed though. His mask got broken off and the loss of reiryoku made his body shrink. Normally, we're pretty much identical. " Ichigo gently nudged Shiro awake again, and Isshin took in the gold on black eyes and the shard of bone on the child's face.
'That part of Zangetsu is a Hollowfied copy of you? But his physical age… I had no idea Zanpakuto could regress like that. Aside from colour, he looks just like Ichigo when he was little. ' Isshin thought.
"This is Shiro by the way. We were wondering if you could check him over, I'm not sure if the mask is the only thing that got damaged."
"I can certainly take a look. Let's go downstairs." Ichigo lifted Shiro off his lap, standing next to him and letting the child take his hand as they followed the others down to the clinic.
"Dad, is that you?" Yuzu came around the corner when she heard the clinic door open. "Is someone here?"
"I just have something to take care of Yuzu. Don't worry about it." The three spirits behind him stepped into the clinic while Isshin talked with his daughter. He came in after having satisfied her curiosity.
"No spirit sight today?" Ichigo asked.
"Not today it seems." Isshin replied cheerfully. "Her sight is still developing after all, it's bound to be unstable."
"Isshi-jii?" A small voice piped up.
"Hm? Isshin looked momentarily confused, before realizing who had spoken.
"Yes, Shiro?"
"I don't feel good…"
"I know. I'm gonna see what I can do to make you feel better, 'kay?"
"Okay."
"Alright, so hop on up here so we can get started." Isshin helped Shiro up onto the exam table then turned around to gather some supplies from his spirit medic kit. Seeing the crowded room, Rukia opted to stand out of the way by the door and watch.
"You too, Ichigo. I want to take a look at both of you." Isshin ordered.
"But-"
"Ichigo."
"...Alright, fine." Ichigo sat next to Shiro as Isshin turned back to them. He cleaned the raw and scarring tissue around Shiro's mask, then put a simple antibiotic on it. Using better fitting bandages he recovered the wound and shard, making sure it wouldn't accidentally come off again. When that was done he gave them both a physical examination, then checked their vital signs. Aside from both of them having a slight fever, nothing else seemed physically wrong.
"I've done what I can, but this is more than a physical problem. Something is spiritually damaged, and unfortunately that's not my area of expertise. I wish I could do more to help, but you should go see Kisuke or Captain Unohana about this."
"I guess our next step is Kisuke then. I'd rather not go back to Soul Society right away."
"Kisuke?" Shiro piped up.
"Yeah."
"No!" Shiro clung to Ichigo as his eyes filled with fear.
"We just need Kisuke to see if he can find anything, and then we'll leave. We won't stay long, okay?"
"NO! He's gonna hurt us! He's hurt us before and he'll do it again!" Seeing the tears forming, Ichigo pulled the child into his lap. He allowed him to hold tighter as he gently returned the gesture, wrapped his arms around him in an attempt of comfort.
"Kisuke hurt you? What did he do?" Isshin prompted.
"He cut our s-soul chain and threw us in a deep hole. He l-left us there, for a long time, it- the chain, was hurting us. It t-tore a hole in us, then everything was falling apart." He began to cry harder, the memory having upset him.
"The Shattered Shaft…" Ichigo whispered. "I had no idea it had traumatised him. I don't even remember that. All I know is what Kisuke told me." Rukia stepped into the room, hopping up on the table with Ichigo to try and help. Isshin backed off, leaving it between Ichigo and Rukia to calm his Zanpakuto. Rukia ran a hand through his hair, while Ichigo began rubbing small circles on his back. He slowly rocked side-to-side with him, hoping to calm him down.
"Self defense." Isshin suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"It's one of the mind's forms of defense. If you've had a traumatic experience, sometimes the mind will block out any memory of the event in an attempt to protect itself. You were aware of everything happening, and there was nothing that could have damaged your memory. It is still buried somewhere in your subconscious, somewhere deep inside your mind. Shiro is a core part of your soul, and as such his memory cannot be lost. That is why he is only confused, and not amnesic."
"If you remembered what happened, you would be just as traumatised as he is."
"If it was really that bad… I guess I can see why he's so upset." Ichigo relented. Shiro was starting to quiet down, the emotional outburst having worn him out.
"Even if he knows why," Isshin continued, "the fact remains that it happened, and it left a scar. You can't make a horrific event okay simply by throwing reason into it. You are lucky you don't remember. He unfortunately, was not."
"Yeah… Sorry, Shiro." The apology went unheard, as the exhausted child had fallen asleep from the emotional drain.
"We should still go see Kisuke, even if we don't really want to. He knows enough that he should be able to help us. And now would probably be the best time, seeing as Shiro's sleeping. If we're quick enough we can be done before he wakes up." Ichigo gathered Shiro in his arms once more, sliding off the table to stand.
"Take care of him." Isshin rested a hand on little Shiro's messy hair, a soft but sad expression crossing his face. "And take care of yourself too."
"I will. Thanks, dad." Isshin saw them out to the door, accepting their short goodbyes as they left the clinic. He hoped they could find a way to restore themselves before things got too out of hand.
-C-S-
"Kisuke! Kisuke, where are you?!" Ichigo called into the shop. It's keeper was nowhere in sight, and Ichigo wanted to be done with this before Shiro woke up.
Rukia stepped forward and cleared her throat ready to put in her two yen. "Urahara! Get out here and make yourself useful!"
"I'm here, I'm here." He emerged from a back room, fan in hand. "Now, mind explaining why you come bringing chaos to my shop?"
"We need help stabilizing Shiro. Dad did what he could for him, but he was only able to treat the physical wounds. He said you would be able to help more with the spiritual power part of things."
"You need me to stabilize Shiro?" He noted the child in Ichigo's arms, bearing a striking resemblance to the mentioned Hollow. When he spotted the shard on his face it only confirmed who he was. "What have you all done this time?"
"We got in a fight, and his mask got destroyed. His physical form changed, and I can't return him to the inner world."
"That certainly sounds like a complicated situation. Bring him inside and I will see what I can do for you."
"Alright, thanks.".
"Hm." Kisuke hummed in acknowledgement as he lead them to a room in the back, taking only a moment to get them settled. Then he left, only to come back a few minutes later with a handful of items.
"First things first, he's leaking reiatsu far more quickly than he can generate it. As a matter of fact, I don't believe he's actually producing any reiryoku of his own right now. So we need to contain the leak before too much is lost." Putting on a pair of gloves, he opened a small packet and took out a handful of tiny sticky squares. Tracing a finger along the broken edge of the mask, he was able to find the 'crack' in his reiryoku and started pasting the sticky squares over the source of the leak. They fused to his skin then dissolved into it, leaving no trace they had ever even been there.
"He's not leaking anymore. Did those just seal it up?" Ichigo asked.
"In a sense, yes. Think of the leak as a crack in a container. I've just put a patch on it to plug the leak. However, these are only a temporary solution, they will eventually fade away. When that happens we will be right back where we started unless you find a way to restore him to his original self."
"Will he start making his own reiryoku now that it's been sealed?"
"Unlikely. He should have already been making it, but he wasn't. The only other way he could be sustaining himself is if he is taking reiryoku from another source. Namely, you." Kisuke pointed to Ichigo with his fan.
"Taking reiryoku from me? It makes sense, he's part of me after all."
"There is another problem as well. If part of a soul is this sick and wounded, they should automatically be returned to their Shinigami's inner world so they can heal. The fact he has not done so suggests it is not possible. While he is unable to return, your reiryoku, which is your life force, is trying to support two living beings. The longer he remains outside, the more strain will be put on your life force. If this situation is not resolved, both of your lives are put at risk. And so is Zangetsu's other half." Kisuke retrieved a device from the items he had brought in, fiddling with the band for a moment before slipping it over Shiro's wrist and snapping it closed. By now Shiro was starting to come to, and Ichigo had to hold Shiro to keep him still.
"This is the same type of band I gave Nel to allow her to change forms. If he starts to recover his own reiryoku, this will help him change back. Until then, it would be best for him to stay in a place with a high saturation of reishi to help keep him stable."
"I guess we just go back to Soul Society then. We can't stay away for long anyways, right Rukia?"
"Yeah, we're needed at our squads. And you've been gone since who knows when yesterday. Your Captain's not gonna be happy if you don't show up soon."
"Ugh…" Ichigo moaned in frustration. "I don't want to deal with him in a bad mood. Is Shiro ready to go?"
"Yes. I've done all I can, it's up to you now. Good luck."
"Thanks. Let's go then. Rukia, can you put Shiro on my back?" He knelt down as Rukia did as he requested and Shiro latched onto him.
"Are we going home now?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah. Back home to Soul Society."
Shiro stiffened. "But the bad Captain is there."
"He's been taken care of. We don't have to worry about him, okay?"
"Okay…" Rukia opened the Senkaimon and they stepped through, Kisuke waving a cheery goodbye to them.
-C-S-
A/N: This is going to be different from the typical kid fic. It's not gonna be all humor and fun, it's meant to be more serious. This story will be my primary focus for now. I do have work, school, and the like, but I will do my best to keep up on this.
EDIT: 5/13/18- Ch1 has been completely rewritten, and has been split into two separate chapters due to the added material making it significantly longer than it originally was.