Hey everyone, Vertius here with the next chapter of Guardian of the Dead!
I'd like to apologize to everyone for my moment of indecisiveness with the plot of this story. I don't want to make excuses for myself and so I won't. Instead, I'll just promise that it won't happen again. I'd also like to hive a big thank you to everyone who messaged me and reviewed with their opinion on my dilemma, thanks to you all I was able to sort through all of my thoughts and ideas and regain a clear picture of what I want this story to be and where I want it to go.
To any new readers who don't have a clue what I'm currently talking about, don't worry and just enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Highschool DXD, nor any of their respective characters.
Guardian of the Dead
- Chapter 3 -
He awoke to the bitter smell of smoke filling his lungs and the crackling of fires all around him. At first, he assumed that maybe he was still in.. Ichigo paused for a moment, he was just about to say someone's name, but now he couldn't remember it. Actually, he couldn't even remember why he was here for that matter, wherever here was. He had just been.. Ichigo once again paused, what had he just been doing he wondered, 'fighting Aizen..?' he thought uncertainly to himself.
Delving into his memories that was the first thing which came to his mind and the last thing he could remember, but it just didn't seem right. His fight against Aizen felt like such a long time ago, however, he just couldn't remember anything else up until this point in time, it was like a portion of his memories had just been cut out.
He brought an arm up to shield his eyes as the warm rays of the sun which bore down on him from above, the warmth was really helping to ease his baffled mind and calm his frazzled nerves. He couldn't explain why but right now he just felt like something was wrong, so terribly wrong. Glancing down he noted that the uncomfortable surface he had been unconscious on was a white stone slab, spiderweb-like cracks crawled outwards from where his body had lay just moments ago.
He must've impacted the ground there which would explain why he was unconscious, so did that mean he was in a fight? He wasn't sure, that just didn't seem right to him. Then again nothing in this situation seemed right, nonetheless since he had no more information to go on that explanation would have to do.
He glanced down once more, this time at himself, more confusion filled his mind as he noted his current apparel. He was wearing the same torn up Shihakusho that he'd had on after the final fight with Aizen, actually, maybe it was a little worse off than it was back then but that didn't really matter right now so he shrugged it off. Deciding it was time to get some answers he stood and stretched his stiff body out, he couldn't deny how good it felt as he listened to his bones pop back into their correct places.
Giving his body one final stretch he looked around at the surroundings, he released a grunt of annoyance after noticing that the smoke surrounding him was far too think to actually see anything more than a few feet away. As he took a step forward it was like the world reacted to his movement, a gust of wind swept over the land taking the smoke with it and revealing his location. He could only stare wide-eyed, an expression of disbelief on his face as he tried to come to grips with what he was seeing.
It was the Seireitei, of that he was sure, or at least what was left of it. It had become nearly unrecognizable, every structure had been reduced to rubble and dust, the very ground the city the city laid upon was uprooted and ripped apart with many large gashes appearing to have been cut into the land. What could have happened to cause something like this? He couldn't begin to imagine an enemy strong enough that they would be able to reduce the Seireitei to this. Aizen maybe, but Ichigo had defeated him, right?
He blinked, and like curtains opening before a show or a filter being removed from a lens, now he could see the bodies. He couldn't count them all if he tried, innumerable bodies belonging to unseated or low ranked Shinigami, he couldn't recognize any of them but that didn't make them any less important. Some were missing arms, some legs, some a little of both, and some were barely held together at all anymore. The blood was everywhere, splattered over any walls that remained standing, dying the once white streets of this city red.
He had seen some awful things during his time as a Shinigami, but this.. this was a massacre.
His mind was just trying to keep up with what his eyes were seeing, the reality of it was laid out before him, it was just so hard to believe. Mindlessly he stepped forwards, then once again, and again, he wasn't sure where he was going or why he was going there, he just felt compelled to walk forwards and so that's what he did.
The silence was deafening as he gazed over the destruction around him, every now and again he would hear a scream echoing off in the distance but he couldn't be sure if it was real or just his minds way of telling him that this was his fault. He knew he shouldn't think like that, that it wouldn't help anything, but he was unconscious in the middle of all of this with no memory of what happened before that, what if this really was partly his fault?
He didn't know how long he walked for, maybe thirty minutes, maybe a couple of hours, it didn't really matter, nothing changed no matter how many steps he took. Even as he closed in on the centre of the Shinigami city everything was destroyed, bodies lay strewn over the rubble and blood dyed the earth red. The only movement he'd seen so far were the various plumes of smoke billowing out from different sections of the land.
Then, a flash of red caught his attention from the corner of his eye, different to the endless blood around him, it almost looked like.. "Renji?!" Ichigo yelled out, flash stepping over to where his friend lay in the rubble, the fact that he used flash step when he was supposed to be powerless completely lost on him. Immediately his eyes closed in a moment of silent sorrow as he scanned the fallen form of his good friend. The bottom half of the Sixth Division Lieutenant was gone, cleanly bisected at the waist, his right arm was horribly mangled and rested at an awkward angle. His left while not as bad still sported many large gashes and cuts, lightly gripped in his hand was the broken remnants of Zabimaru.
Ichigo couldn't look at the pained expression still latched onto his face for more than a couple seconds without having to turn away, he just couldn't believe it. "Who could have done this?" he whispered out with a shaky breath. He was about to step away, no longer able to stand the sight before him when he felt a burning in his right hand. To his shock he now held a Katana, the blade was chipped along its edge, its circular guard was cracked and missing piece's, the purple hilt was faded and dirty, fraying and unravelled in many spots. This blade felt familiar, yet he couldn't remember why.
He blinked once again and sharply gasped, almost dropping the mysterious blade in the process. It was now covered with blood, the blade, and the hilt, as well as his hand which held it. All the way up his arm and all over his body was blood, and he knew it was not his own, but there were only fallen Shinigami around him, so why? The implications made him want to scream, there was no way he could have done this!
He was brought out of his stupor when his instincts started screaming at him to dodge, so he did, and just in the nick of time too. A blade narrowly missed his arm, leaving only a small cut on his remaining Shihakusho instead. Glancing towards the attacker he couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was Rukia, and she was crying. He could see it clearly, pink eyes and puffy eyelids, she had been deeply crying, she couldn't even meet his gaze as her sword trembled lightly in her grasp.
"Ru- Rukia..?" he called out weakly, attempting to step towards her, the way she stood between himself and Renji's body, it was almost as if she was defending him from Ichigo, but why would she do that? It only took a few seconds for his heart to shatter at the words she spoke to him.
"I always knew you were evil," she began in a low tone, struggling to keep her voice steady, it sounded as if she would break at any moment, "but this?" she continued, weakly gesturing out over the land with her free arm, "Have your delusions of being a God really turned you into such a monster?! I don't know how you escaped Muken, and I frankly don't care, but for you to come back and do this?! Look at all these men and woman! All good people with homes and families of their own! Now they're all dead! Slain by your hand!" she was basically screaming at this point, her voice kept cracking and tears were running down her cheeks, in truth Ichigo felt a couple of his own pricking at the corners of his eyes, but she wasn't done, "And now, for your sick pleasure you would even carve up the corpses of the deceased? Well, I won't let you!" And that was it, with a scream of pure anguish she charged Ichigo.
Ichigo for the most part only realized what was happening after feeling her blade bite into his arm, since then he's just been numbly sidestepping her swings, occasionally deflecting her strikes with the mysterious blade he held in his hands, however, he wasn't focused on this fight at all.
He felt like he couldn't breathe, he could feel his heart racing, the blood pounding in his ears, his brain just couldn't fathom any of this. 'Dreams of being a God? Escaped from Muken? All these Shinigami dead by his hand?'
What- what do you mean?!" he asked frantically, his sanity slowly slipping, his composure nearly gone as this situation overwhelmed his reason, "It was Aizen who want-" he couldn't even finish as another sword screamed passed his head, nearly separating it from his shoulders.
'Byakuya?!' he questioned mentally, looking at the man who now stood next to Rukia, the loathing in his eyes no less than his sister.
"Do not speak Aizen's name so freely, Kurosaki," he spat venom with his words, "He was a great man, a man you took away because of your perverse desires of Godhood. As soon as you got your hands on the Hogyoku and merged it with yourself you eliminated him because he had seen too much. A demon like you has no right to speak of him."
He wanted to object to the man's claims, so badly he did! But just as he began to open his mouth a terrifying burning began in his chest. He was almost afraid to look down, but morbid curiosity won out in the end and just as Byakuya had stated there it was planted firmly in his chest. It almost looked like it was mocking him as it swirled with life, mindlessly he rose a hand up to touch it but immediately retracted it when it burnt him on touch.
"Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
He heard those three all too familiar but terrifying words from Byakuya and narrowly dodged the tsunami of deadly sakura petals. Once again his mind was on autopilot, flash stepping out of the way of Byakuya's Bankai and parrying Rukia's own blade. His mind felt like it was shutting down, he felt like he wanted to cry, to scream, to pull his hair out in frustration, he just wanted to know what this all was, why this was happening. Once again he narrowly missed death as a wave of yellow reiatsu rushed passed him, forcing him to stop in his tracks.
"Che, almost got ya too," a rough voice called out to his left.
"Kenpachi?" the teen called out, more to himself than anything, it was odd seeing this man without his normally psychotic grin etched across his face, in fact, Kenpachi actually looked pissed right now, and it was directed right at him. Despite his crazy battle loving personality, he was quite level-headed when the time called for it, perhaps he could ask Kenpachi what was going on before Byakuya and Rukia returned, though his hopes weren't high.
"Kenpachi! Why are you attacking me?! I'm not your enemy!" he shouted quickly, but as he thought, his hopes were dashed when the man before him just rose an eyebrow, looking at Ichigo like he couldn't believe what he just heard.
"huh? Did you lose a couple screws down in Muken? You come up here and thrash the place, kill thousands of Shinigami, and then say you ain't the enemy?" His grin returned in full after that, "I'm not usually one who cares for such things, getting revenge and all that crap, but even I can't let all this go for nothin' so I'm gonna have to kill ya, no hard feelings, eh?" he asked, but Ichigo could tell that Kenpachi didn't actually care if there were any hard feelings, he was looking forward to striking the teen down.
He could feel Rukia and Byakuya behind him again, Kenpachi still looked at him with bloodthirsty eyes, Ichigo hoped it wouldn't get any worse but it seemed that no God was listening to his prayers right now. Soft swishes of Shunpo filled the air as he was surrounded by friends and comrades. SoiFon, Toshiro, Rangiku, Komamura, Kyoraku, Shinji, Kensei, the list went on and it only got worse when three more soft swishes filled his ears.
His father and two mentors, Isshin, Kisuke and Yoruichi stood there staring at him, their eyes filled with the same amount of hate and disgust as the rest, he couldn't help but let out a muffled sob as he flinched backward. Tears were blurring his vision now which in truth was a good thing, seeing his father look at him like that, it cut his heart deep.
No one moved, the others didn't attempt to attack him yet and he certainly wasn't going to initiate the fight, they all just stood there, waiting. Finally, the still was broken after another distinct sound of Shunpo cut through the silence, this one much stronger than the others. Before the person even appeared in front of him, Ichigo could feel an immense reiatsu weighing down on him. Blinking into existence a few feet away from him and in front of all the other Shinigami was the Captain Commander.
"Jii-san," Ichigo said softly, he didn't know why he did to be honest, at this point maybe he was just hoping for someone, anyone to tell him what was going on, why all of this was happening. Then again, the old Commander would probably be the one to kill him, Ichigo knew he couldn't defeat the old man, not even if he wanted too. Much to his surprise, however, the Commander merely opened his eyes from their usual slits and met Ichigo's gaze head-on. The young teen couldn't help but feel like he had seen something in his eyes, like a hidden emotion, some form of recognition, sympathy, but he couldn't be sure.
"Ichigo Kurosaki," he started, voice gruff, "I do not care how you escaped from Muken, however, this cannot go unpunished, prison will not do anymore, only your own death will be sufficient payment for all of the blood on your hands." He paused for a moment, giving Ichigo another questioning gaze, "So what will you do? Fight against us in an attempt to preserve your life? Or will you let us kill you? He finished.
There was something about the way he said it that confused Ichigo. It wasn't in a mocking tone, as if he was just daring the boy to fight only to fail and die, it was like he was genuinely curious, and that rose the question, would Ichigo just let himself die? Or would he fight his friends and family to preserve his own life that was being threatened by this cruel twist of fate?
He didn't know, no matter how much he thought about it he couldn't find the right answer. It was all just so messed up, Aizen was the one who had done those things, not him, at least he wanted to believe that but, it was hard to.
'This all feels so real, no matter how many times I wish it was only a bad dream and bite the inside of my cheek, I don't wake up. The looks they're giving me, the hate, the anger, it isn't fake, but why? Aizen was the evil one, not me, right?' he asked himself, panic starting to take over as doubt clouded his mind. 'It was Aizen, not me. It was Aizen, not me. It was Aizen, not me.' even as he repeated this his mind was believing it less and less with each passing moment.
'I fought him and he was locked away, but then why did I wake up in the middle of this devastation with no previous memory? Why do they all wish to kill me? Why are they telling me I did all this, why am I covered in all this blood?!' again his hand went to the Hogyoku, 'Why is this in my chest..'
'No, no, no,' he thought quickly, 'it was Aizen, not me..' he felt another pulse from the Hogyoku within his chest and his mind began to grow fuzzy.
"Why do you hesitate, Ichigo?"
'It was Aizen, not me.'
"Just kill them like you did the rest of the Shinigami here."
'Shut up, it was Aizen, not me.'
"Look at all the blood covering you, you are so close to taking the throne.."
'I said shut up! I didn't do this, it was Aizen!'
"Everything we have worked for the past hundred years, two years in Muken was a small price to pay, wouldn't you agree? Now Ichigo, kill them! Then you can finally be God!"
That was the final straw for the young teen, this whole time it had slowly been building and it seemed he was reaching his breaking point. Fresh tears were running down his cheeks as he looked towards Yamamoto once more. Locking gazes he was temporarily stopped when he thought he saw more flashes of emotion in his old eyes, this time it was sadness and regret but he didn't think on it long, his mind was already breaking down. His heart felt like it would burst through his chest at any moment, this was all just so wrong, "It wasn't me! I- It was Aizen! I defeated him for you guys!" he started to yell.
The old man gave him one more pitying look before closing his eyes again, not wanting to watch this anymore, then he rose his cane from the ground, silently giving the order to attack. Even as Ichigo continued to scream frantically, each Shinigami present drew their blade and charged at him.
Ichigo wasn't sure when it had started to rain, but he wasn't really complaining either as it continued to fall on him from above, gradually getting heavier with each passing second. It actually kind of suited the current situation, it was like the sky was weeping with him as his soul cried out in agony. He supposed if there was one complaint he had, it was that no matter how much rain fell on him, soaking into his clothes and freezing him to the core the blood wouldn't wash away, not the blood of the thousands of Shinigami he killed, and not his own.
His body remained still as all of his friends and family attacked him, only jerking slightly every time one of their blades made contact with him. He was a protector, no matter how wrong all of this was, no matter how much it hurt, he would not fight back.
Not as Shinji ran his blade through Ichigo's left shoulder, nearly severing it, not as SoiFon and Toshiro cut each of his legs deeply, not as Kyoraku cut him across the chest nor as his blood gushed out in an ark, not as Rukia's blade nicked his cheek, or as Byakuya's ran along his back. No, he wouldn't fight back.
Not even as his own father ran his blade through the centre of his body did he fight back.
"Rot in hell you monster," Isshin whispered to his son with sadistic glee, their faces only a few inches apart now. Those words finally got a reaction out of Ichigo, his eyes widened briefly before his face set back into neutral indifference and his eyes went blank. Tears still ran down his face as his body went limp and he slid off his dad's Zanpakuto, falling to the earth below with a thud.
Now he lay broken and bloody amidst the rubble, his body motionless, the only movement coming from the slow rise and fall of his chest with every shallow breath he took, each one coming farther and farther apart from the last. The mysterious purple-hilted Katana lay a few inches from his hand, he no longer had the strength to hold it.
His normally warm brown eyes which swam with life were now dull and unresponsive to anything. He was mumbling to himself, most of it was just him repeating the same phrase, 'It wasn't me,' over and over again, there were other words he spoke too although they were just too incoherent to actually make out. He was still crying, his tears came on stronger then ever even if it was harder to tell now with the rain that continually fell on him from above.
Then everything around him disappeared, all of the Seireitei was gone except for the surrounding few feet of rubble that he lay on, other than that there was darkness. Even the clouds overhead were gone, yet the rain still fell on him and the blood refused to wash away.
There was a small eruption of flame in front of him which drew his gaze upwards, his vision had gone somewhat blurry due to the tears and rain, however, a couple blinks cleared everything up enough for him to make out the figure before him.
While human in shape the figure couldn't really be classed as one since that was as far as the similarities went. Its body was formed of what appeared to be molten rock and ash, an eerie red glow continually seeped from his joints. All across its body on the arms, legs, shoulders, chest and probably on its back too were smaller red lines of varying sizes, much like that of glowing red scars. The being had no mouth, nose or ears, just two large horns on each side of its head, both decorated with glowing cracks of red and orange, much like the rest of its body. The most offsetting feature it possessed were the two red-slitted eyes glowing crimson like the strongest of fires.
"Who.. are you?" he wheezed out.
The figure did not reply at first, instead rose its right arm towards the sky. As soon as this gesture was completed fire exploded outwards consuming everything, it stayed that way for a few seconds, gradually getting hotter and hotter until finally the fire died down again revealing to Ichigo a nostalgic scene.
Instead of the rubble which he lay on before, now he was propped up against a blackened rock that lay not too far away for a large and very much active volcano. Even as he lay there, fresh veins of molten rock flowed down the sides of it onto the land, the small rock he was currently on was actually surrounded by the molten slurry now that he looked harder.
Then suddenly, like a barrier had been removed from his mind all of the information of the past few months came back to him, this scene before him being very familiar, 'This is the scene that lay in that painting.. so then he is?'
"Ryu..jin, Jakka?" he asked, voice shaky from his injuries.
"Correct, Ichigo Kurosaki," he confirmed, his voice was fairly deep, but it sounded aged, not like that of a grandfather but of someone who had seen and learned a lot during their lifetime. Ichigo could feel the power reverberating strongly with every syllable that escaped his mouth.
Some of the emotion seeped back into the young teens eyes at that confirmation, he couldn't help but clench his jaw in anger as vivid images flooded his mind, memories of that dream he was made to watch by the being before him, "You bastard, why did you show me that scene in my inner world?" he asked through clenched teeth.
Instead of answering, however, Ryujin Jakka merely turned away to look at their surroundings making Ichigo bristle with frustration. He was just about to call out to the Zanpakuto spirit once more when Ryujin spoke up again, asking a question of his own.
"Tell me Ichigo Kurosaki, when you hear the word fire what is it you think of, what would you associate with such a word?"
'Fire?' he mentally questioned himself a little surprised by the question, however, after thinking briefly about it he came up with an answer. 'Destruction,' that was one word he closely associated with it, forest fires, house fires, a fire was something that could and would burn endlessly if given the chance, something that would consume all without discrimination, it was something that given enough time could bring a whole city to ruin. 'Death,' that was another word he couldn't help but think of when hearing the word fire.
A fire was not protective, it wasn't the same as something like ice that while yes could take lives away, it could also protect them. Ice can be made into a variety of shields or barriers to protect and save lives, but not fire. Fire existed solely to destroy and cause pain.
"Death and destruction," he replied simply.
Ryujin Jakka gave a brief nod in response affirming his answer, then after a few more seconds spoke again. "If you understand that then must I really answer your first question?"
Ichigo's eyes briefly widened in understanding, "You were showing me how dangerous fire can be by itself, but even more so if used improperly by someone else," he replied, coming to the realization after hearing the fire type Zanpakuto's words. However, this confused him as well. "Why did you show me that though? It doesn't make sense.." he trailed off, falling back into thought again, 'The only reason I could think of is that he wants to be wielded by me, why else would he contact me?'
"Do you wish to be wielded by me?" he asked, completely serious and definitely not expecting the response he got in return.
Ryujin Jakka merely let out a humourless chuckle at the question, "What would you do if you had your powers right now, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Once again ignoring the teen's questions.
As annoying as it was Ichigo was getting used to it, this Zanpakuto seemed a lot ruder then the teen would have originally thought. More so, he normally wasn't an overly prideful person, but for Ryujin Jakka to laugh after being asked if he wanted to be wielded by him annoyed the teen. But he wasn't in a position of power right now and thus just decided to answer. After a minute of silent consideration, he replied, "I would protect."
"I don't believe you," he stated bluntly, bringing confusion to the teen's face. "You cannot even protect yourself yet you would protect others? Don't be foolish. You are weak, Ichigo Kurosaki, weak of body, week of will and weak of mind. You are nothing but a pathetic poser who likes to play hero." he finished, leaving the teen utterly shocked.
After getting over the absurdity of what he'd just heard, Ichigo bristled with anger. He wasn't sure why it had made him so angry to hear that as he'd been called weak so many times before and he never let it bother him, but to hear it now, to hear that he was weak after everything he had done, every challenge he faced and persevered through, it infuriated him.
"Weak?!" he couldn't believe it, "I stormed the Seireitei, the supposedly impenetrable fortress after only being a Shinigami for a couple months, and only being informally trained for ten days all to save Rukia, yet I'm weak?" I defeated two lieutenant class fighters and arguably one of the strongest captains in the Soul Society with only my Shikai, but I'm weak?! I learned Bankai in three days and stopped the Sokyoku, the blade said to possess the strength of a million Zanpakuto with my single one then defeated Byakuya with my newly acquired and untrained Bankai, but I'm weak?!"
Even though he will still quite injured Ichigo was almost yelling at this point and running short on breath, however, Ryujin Jakka just continued to look at him impassively which honestly only enraged the teen more. "I stopped the leader of the Bount from destroying the Soul Society! I stopped Amagai and his Bakkoto when he sealed the Zanpakuto's of every other Shinigami! I defeated Muramasa and stopped the Zanpakuto rebellion! I helped Toshiro defeat his old friend Kusaka who had stolen the King's Seal and merged with its powers! I stormed Hell to save my little sister and cut the supposedly unbreakable chains that bind sinners, but I'm weak?!
Ichigo just couldn't stop, for him, it felt like he was finally getting all of his frustrations off his chest that had built up since becoming a Shinigami, it felt too good to stop so he kept yelling.
"I invaded Hueco Mundo to save Inoue, defeating the fifth Espada, Grimmjow and the fourth Espada, Ulquiorra who had two releases and should have honestly been a lot higher ranked then he was! Then, without break, I went back to Karakura and confronted Aizen for the second time. I'll admit he bested me there, however, I didn't let it deter me, I trained for three months in the Dangai and learned the final Getsuga Tenshou, and then once again without rest went to fight Aizen for the third time and weakened him enough to where he could be sealed! Something that none of the other Captains could do! Not Jii-san, not Kyoraku, not Byakuya, Toshiro, Urahara, Yoruichi, not even my Oyaji! I was the one who did it! Yet you call me weak?!"
Ichigo was out of breath and panting now, that was something he had wanted to say for so long, it felt like a weight had been on his shoulders the whole time and now he was finally free of it. Ryujin still stared at him like he hadn't just heard anything Ichigo just said, either that or just didn't care.
Ichigo's eyes widened when the Zanpakuto spirit before him flickered from existence, too fast for him to follow. Time seemed to slow as Ryujin appeared before him, knee stretched out and digging painfully into his stomach. When everything went back to normal Ichigo was sent rocketing backward through the rock he had previously been leaning against, spit and blood leaving his mouth as he flew, only increasing as his back painfully impacted with another pillar of rock further behind him.
He couldn't stop the scream of agony that left his throat, the pain from his previous wounds was still strong enough and that kick didn't make it feel any better, but as if it couldn't get any worse when he landed his whole right arm had been submerged in the flowing lava beside him, and now as it continued to burn away at him his body refused to move, refused to pull away.
He screamed until his throat was raw and voice weak, finally, after the seemingly endless torture, it stopped. The pain was still there, he could feel it through every fibre of his being, but maybe it was because he was bordering on the brink of unconsciousness it didn't bother him as much.
He could see the silhouette of Ryujin Jakka stood before him even though his vision was too blurry to actually make anything out. The only definitive feature he could make out were the two glowing red eyes that seemed to be looking through him instead of at him.
"You are weak, Ichigo Kurosaki," Ryujin said again, Ichigo's eyes widened minutely before closing to their former position right after, the teen was too weak to protest.
"You speak of all those accomplishments so passionately, like they are actually yours but you did not earn them, you were guided through them while holding the hands of your Quincy and Hollow powers. If not for them you wouldn't be here today, you would be dead at the hands of Renji Abarai or maybe Kenpachi Zaraki if you were lucky enough to make it that far."
"You are foolish and naive, you lack instinct, it is as your hollow said, you try to fight with logic and by doing so you are trying to fight with a sheathed sword, how can you defeat an enemy with a dull blade?" he paused for a moment, letting the question sink in, "The answer is simple, you cannot. This is why you are weak, why you cannot win with your own power."
The fact that Ryujin Jakka knew what his hollow said was completely lost on him for the moment, his mind was still pretty overwhelmed by the pain, though his thoughts were getting clearer once again. "I.. did fight.. with instinct," he argued with bated breaths, though was ignored. The more he thought about it, the more the realization hit him. Sure he had moments where he used his instinct, and in those moments he dominated whatever fight he was in but for the most part he ignored them, because he was scared to become like his hollow, and in the end it that fear was the reason why his hollow always had to take over and save him.
Ryujin gave a hum of thought before speaking again, "You fought with instinct? Then tell me Ichigo Kurosaki, even though you could tell something was wrong from the beginning, even though deep down you knew that world you were in wasn't real, why did you let them attack you without fighting back?"
Ichigo's eyes widened briefly once again, 'He's right, why did I let them attack me? I knew deep down it wasn't real, yet I let them almost kill me because they looked like my friends and close allies,' he knew the answer, "I couldn't bring myself to attack them."
Ryujin let out a deep, almost sad sigh at his answer, "and that is why you are weak, Ichigo Kurosaki."
The Zanpakuto was about to turn away when he gave some final parting words, "Earlier you asked if I wished to be wielded by you, the answer had been yes because I had high hopes for you.. now, however, I can see that you are still too young and naive, you are not worthy of my power," and with those last words he was gone in a burst of fire and so too was the world in which he lived.
Now Ichigo was just in darkness, he was still leaning up against something, what it was he didn't know, he couldn't see anything no matter how hard he looked. He noticed fairly quickly that it was really cold wherever he was, whether it was just naturally cold in this dark area he found himself in or if it was because his body was going cold from lack of blood, he wasn't sure.
'Shit..'
'Was I really always so weak?'
'I wonder, would I really have made it so far without old man Zangetsu and my hollow?'
Looking back on it now he couldn't help but accept that the answer was probably no, everyone always told him that he was a scary kid with a monstrous amount of reiatsu, but looking back on it now he hadn't really won any fight without some sort of help after originally being saved by the old man versus Kenpachi.
His thoughts were interrupted when he started coughing up blood once more. 'Shit, once again I'm about to die, only my hollow isn't here to save me this time, maybe it's because I really was too naive but I never thought I would die so young, shit, I don't want to die yet,' he thought, grimacing to himself as fresh tears started coming to his eyes once more.
'hah, that pasty-skinned bastard's probably laughing at me from wherever he is,' he couldn't help but crack a sad smirk at the thought.
"Not exactly, King."
Even though he was so close to death, he couldn't keep the look of absolute incredulity off his face at the sound of that all too
familiar voice, nor the sad smile as he was once more, and probably for the last time able to gaze out over his city of blue skyscrapers.
~ Current time, Outside Urahara Shop
There was a sombre atmosphere hovering around the teens, they had just finished meeting with Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin in hopes of gaining some answers about their missing friend, and while they had received some it was nowhere near what they had hoped for.
All they knew for sure was that Ichigo had once again been dragged into something supernatural that dealt with quite possibly the most important figure in their universe – as far as their knowledge went – the Soul King. But, this also meant that they would have to sit back and wait for Ichigo to return when he was done with whatever it was he was doing. It wasn't as if they could charge into the Soul Palace and demand to speak with him.
They would just have to give him hell when he got back for just leaving so suddenly without a word to anyone, even if he couldn't say where he was going or why a simple heads up would have been nice. They weren't worried though, there was no what if for them, even if the stripped hatted man said there was a possibility he wouldn't come back they just couldn't believe it. Ichigo's friends, especially the ones who had gotten to fight alongside him so far just couldn't accept that, to them, Ichigo was someone that just couldn't lose, he always won, always accomplished what he set out to do.
If only they knew.
"I hope Kurosaki-kun is okay, I know he is strong but with what Urahara-san said I just can't help but worry," the soft-spoken girl said as she held her hands together in front of her chest, almost as if she was praying for his safe return.
Tatsuki gave her a sideways glance, she knew of her bubbly friends near obsessive levels of affection towards her childhood friend and she was rooting for Orihime, however, she already knew that the chances were slim for her. Ichigo had never shown any outward signs of affection towards Orihime even after all they had been through and she knew that despite his appearance he liked to put up he wasn't dense, she was almost positive that Ichigo knew of the auburn-haired girl's affection towards him.
She knew that during his time as a Shinigami he was too busy to even consider such things, heck, he barely even came to school most the time because he was so busy saving the world. There may have been a possibility now that his powers had disappeared but from what she had heard, Orihime, Ishida, and Chad had slowly been pushing him away since the end of the winter war. Not intentionally of course but the fact that it happened couldn't be forgotten, and as much as she hated to say it, to her, that would have killed any chance of a relationship happening between the two.
But telling Orihime that would crush her and so she kept quiet, silently hoping her friend would move on, on her own. 'Even though that's highly unlikely,' she thought with a snort.
"Tatsuki-chan?" Inoue said, directing a questioning gaze towards her friend.
Tatsuki shook her head lightly as to dismiss it, she could see that Orihime wanted to ask something else but luckily she was saved by the bell, or in this case, rolling thunder.
Each of the teens presents shifted their gazes upwards, what had until then been a beautiful and sunny day was now taking a downturn, dark grey clouds were creeping towards them in the distance bringing with it deep grumblings of thunder and a guarantee of rain.
Tatsuki let out a noise of surprise at the sight, storms in summer weren't too odd however those clouds gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, "That looks like a pretty nasty storm coming our way, maybe we should all head home, it doesn't look like it will take very long for it to reach us."
Her comment earned some moans of displeasure, however, each of them resigned and nodded their heads in agreement, it wouldn't do well to get caught out in the rain. "Agreed, I need to get back to my training anyways, I can't have Kurosaki getting his powers back and being stronger then I am," Ishida said with a small smirk earning some from his other friends, he would never call Kurosaki his friend out loud but he would definitely call him his rival.
That seemed to bring a smile to Inoue's face again, "Your right! I can't slack either, I need to be ready to help Kurosaki-kun if another bad guy ever shows up, right Sado-kun?" She asked the silent giant with a bright smile.
He merely gave a grunt of agreement and a thumbs up in return, those that knew Chad well understood that such a small gesture actually carried a lot of meaning for him.
Thus with those final words spoken, the group bid farewell to each other and broke off into their own separate directions. Tatsuki and Inoue going one way, Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru going another as they all lived relatively close and finally Ishida and Chad were going off in their own little group, they wouldn't stay together for long since Ishida's house was quite far off – it being a mansion and all that – but at least for a couple blocks they could travel together.
~ Karakura Town, Soccer Field
Karin had always been spiritually gifted, much more than she let on at least, she'd just never had any interest in actually entering the world herself, especially after seeing how much of a hassle it was for her older brother, that was a headache she just didn't want to deal with. As such, she pretended that she couldn't see anything and thankfully had gotten quite good at it, so good in fact that when ghosts came to bug her, not even they could tell if she was truly able to perceive them or not.
But, no matter how much she trained herself to ignore the supernatural and everything that came with it, whether she liked it or not there were just some things she couldn't get away from. She would get certain feelings every now and then, like a chill down her spine when something related to that world was coming near her, especially if it was something bad. So when the low growl of thunder could be heard off in the distance and she caught sight of some very dark and ominous clouds that really put her on edge she decided it would be best to end soccer practice early and head home. Her friends might not have been happy with the decision but if they could feel what she did they would understand.
~ Karakura Town, Random Street
Even though Yuzu Kurosaki was not a spiritually aware as her two siblings, only being able to sense the presence of ghosts if they were nearby and at most seeing a slight blur in the air, she too decided that it would be best if she got home as soon as possible once she noticed the telltale signs of a storm coming in. Although her reasons were much different then her sisters, she couldn't feel the dark and forbidding feeling that the clouds gave off, no, she was just terrified of storms.
Thankfully she had already finished grocery shopping and was only a couple blocks away from home, like every day she hoped that this would finally be the day in which her beloved Onii-chan returned from wherever he was. Even though she and her sister Karin had been given a brief rundown of the supernatural she still didn't know much about it, only that her brother had once again been drawn into it.
She wished he could just go back to being a normal human again, she didn't like the fact that he risked his life so much, she knew that was probably selfish since he was risking it to save others but she just didn't care, to her, her Onii-chan's safety was most important. She wouldn't know what to do if she ever lost him, sure she was getting older now but there would never be a time in which she didn't want her big brother around her.
~ Takama-ga-hara
The higher planes of heaven, home to the Shinto Trinity and a vast amount of the worlds Kyuubi population was a beautiful place. Lush rolling hills, vibrant flowers, clear water, dense forests. It really was a perfect place to live, it never rained, never snowed, it was always sunny during the day, maybe there would be clouds if the Goddess of the Sun was not as chipper as normal but it was without question always sunny and warm, and that's how the Kyuubi liked it, most didn't even know what rain was, only having heard about it from the elders who had been to the human world.
So one day when the temperature fell and dark clouds blanketed the sky blocking out the sun's warmth and casting an ominous shadow over the land the Kyuubi knew something terrible had happened and their Goddess was grieving. It only took a couple moments after the sky had been blacked out for the first loud claps of thunder to roll across the sky, then shortly after the clouds which had been holding a great weight in them gave way letting the first drops of rain in recorded history fall on Takama-ga-hara.
Though calling it a simple rain would be a great understatement. The rain fell over the land with a roar, the drops heavy and falling in such a magnitude that every little fox hidden in their homes could not even see out past their own front yard. Every minute or so the sky would flash with brilliant white light immediately being chased by a loud clap of thunder that would make the land tremble in fear.
If that was not bad enough, the normally gentle breeze had picked up and now ripped across the land, uprooting some of the older trees which roots no longer held the strength they once had. The trees which were too sturdy to topple merely had all of their leaves forcefully plucked until their branches were bare.
Yes, their heavenly mother was filled with anguish and grieving deeply.
~ Temple of the Shinto Trinity
The God of the Moon, Tsukuyomi and the God of the Sea and Storms, Susanoo had both felt the abrupt change in their sister. Just a little over two weeks ago the former Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki had been given passage to the higher planes for a multitude of reasons but none more so than the simple fact that Amaterasu wished to meet him.
Ever since he was born their sister had been infatuated with him, not in a romantic sense of course but just because of who he was and who he would be. She would always tell them about how he would grow up to be an incredible man who saved many, and from what they had heard of his incredible list of accomplishments so far, he had.
It was truly a shame that he was forced to give up his powers to defeat Aizen, their Shinigami had once again dropped the ball and let them down, however, they assumed that within a couple weeks his powers would be back and all would be right again, how wrong they were.
Unfortunately, they couldn't be present during his arrival due to supernatural related business, peace talks with other factions and all that. The relations between many factions had been deteriorating as of late and thus the Shinto were doing there best to try and keep everyone together, another great war was not something that they needed.
They had both felt her mood immediately brighten and stay much more joyful then it was normally shortly after their most recent departure, as such they had assumed that the young Kurosaki had arrived safely and he was everything their sister had hoped for. Then, the very next day her mood shifted, she was still happy but now there were strong emotions of worry and anxiety as well as frustration. He must have met Ryujin Jakka and begun the test.
Her mood stayed about the same for the next couple of weeks which gave them a good indication of how he was doing, then, once the most recent day broke her mood darkened. With each passing moment, her worry grew and a fear starting building in her stomach until it dwarfed every other emotion present. It seemed the test was not going well for the young man. Both of them had questioned whether or not he may have been too young when Amaterasu suggested her plan to them, however, her confidence in the boy was absolute and thus they went through with it. The two Shinto Gods were starting to wonder if they had been too quick to accept.
Those thoughts were all but confirmed when they felt her spirit shatter and her soul begin to weep.
Immediately after feeling that they returned to their home and it was worse then they thought, a storm that would make even Susanoo proud had the circumstances been different was raging throughout Takama-ga-hara. This obviously wasn't good for the heavenly plains and the Kyuubi, therefore, using his own immense powers Susanoo forcefully fought against it, calming the raging winds to a mild breeze and slowing the torrential downpour to a light sprinkle.
Upon entering their shared shrine both of the male God's felt their own hearts break at the sight of their sister hunched over in her thrown weeping. Her eyes were bloodshot and glossy and even now her shoulders silently shook as little water droplets continued to pool at her feet. As soon as she noticed their presence she stood and gracefully drifted over the floor hugging them both, she didn't need to speak any words, they knew what had happened.
~ Muken
"Ichigo.." that all to familiar, deep, baritone voice called out over the empty city.
The teen craned his head up from his spot on one of the sideways skyscrapers, he was too weak to actually sit up but he needed to see that face again, "Old man Zangetsu.." just seeing his Zanpakuto spirit once more brought his soul a peace that not much else could. The regal man merely inclined his head from his place atop his usual flagpole though Ichigo could see the corners of his mouth slightly turned upwards.
"Oi Oi, don't go forgetting about me now King."
Ichigo could practically hear the shit eating grin on his face, in all honesty, he was even happy to see that nut case once more. "I would if I could, Zangetsu," he responded, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock on his hollows face. If only he had a camera.
"So you finally figured it out, huh? Took you long enough. I thought I'd have to beat you over the head with a sign that said 'I'M ZANGETSU' before you'd get it through that thick skull of yours," even though the smart-mouthed quip both Ichigo and the old man could hear the genuine happiness at finally being recognized by Ichigo, not as a monster, but as Zangetsu.
"Yeah yeah, sorry it took so lo-" he was cut off when once again he began hacking up blood, this time worse than the last.
"You look like shit, missing an arm and all cut up like that, you really are useless."
"Yeah, you don't need to remind me," he noted duly, his voice once more returning to its former state of melancholy. Unknown to Ichigo who was just gazing up at the sky, both of his spirits exchanged a glance and nodded, it was time.
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Ichigo. It was our fault that we never taught you the secrets of battle, we didn't want you to learn it because if you did, it would mean that any chance you still had of living a normal life would be gone. You were lucky in being able to survive this long as you are, but that will not do anymore."
Ichigo merely stayed silent listening to his wise spirit, he was curious what this 'truth of battle' was.
"Tell me Ichigo, do you truly, from the bottom of your heart with to fight again? To put your life on the line for others? To be a protector once more?" the old man asked, more serious than he'd ever been before, even more so than when he fought against Ichigo during the Dangai training.
There was no hesitation from the young man, "I do, ever since that time so long ago when I protected my first soul from a hollow I knew deep down that this was what I was born to do, and I cannot settle for anything less." he said, full conviction in his voice as he gave both spirits a glance. He could tell that deep down neither of them wanted him to keep fighting, it was as they said during the final Getsuga Tenshou training, all they ever wanted to protect was him, but this was his choice and no matter what he wouldn't change it.
"Very well, as I would expect from you Ichigo, however, if you truly wish to fight once more then we will make sure you are ready this time. No longer will we hold anything back from you. It's time for our final lesson Ichigo, it's time for you to learn the art of killing."
~ A/N:
So to start the chapter off we get Ichigo's test from Ryujin Jakka, I hope I wrote it well enough to convey the seriousness of it and the impact it would have on Ichigo. Next, he meets Ryujin for the first time and we learn a little about his appearance and personality. I changed what he looked like from the anime because officially he takes the form of fire. He's literally an inferno that can talk which is stupid so I changed it. After he is left to die he hears a voice he never thought he would again and see's his former inner world.
Next, we go to Karakura and get a little more of the ryoka gang as well as their other human friends after their meeting with Urahara. We have some inner monologue with Tatsuki basically closing off any and all chances of the IchiHime pairing in this story, which let's be honest, no one likes anyway. Also, what would be the point of doing a crossover if I just used the Bleach characters in it, right?
We see a little bit with Yuzu and Karin because even though they won't play a big role in this story if any, they are still his little sisters. Finally, we go to Takama-ga-hara and find out that things aren't doing so good. Amaterasu isn't taking Ichigo's 'death' well and we get some screen time with Susanoo and Tsukuyomi now too as well as some of their thoughts on the current situation.
Also, I was re-reading some of the LN's for DXD to re-familiarize myself with the story and my god, I forgot how bad Ddraig has it right now. From Heavenly Dragon, feared and respected by all, to some perverts tool for gathering a harem.. poor Ddraig.
If you have any thoughts on the chapter than feel free to leave a review, I'm always looking to improve my writing and so constructive feedback is appreciated. If you have any questions then feel free to message me, I always reply when I can.
- Vertius