Chapter 6
He didn't know what to make of the male sitting on the walkway. What he said revealed many things and yet nothing at the very same time. Ichigo is the one person he can't get a reading on. His wife was easier than this. He can always tell what others around him are feeling by just sensing their reiatsu, but this boy either had none or it was locked up so tight that none escaped. He glanced back at the now silent male and gave an exasperated sigh. Standing up, he ruffled the boy's orange mane, making said male scowl in response.
"Just relax Ichigo. You can let your guard down here. Because this is your new home." The boy's shoulders tensed and his fingers twitched, causing him to tickle his daughter and have her burst into a fit of laughter. The male remained silent and moved his head to shake off his hand that still remained on his head. This was going to be a lot of work. He looked over to Masashi.
"Masashi would you please not speak of meeting Ichigo. I plan to surprise all of the clans when I bring him to the gathering." Masashi gave a nod.
"Of course, if that is what you wish, then I will not say anything until then." Turning away from him, he headed back to his office to maybe finish his paperwork. Which will never happen.
"Chiyo-san is there no way for me to be able to leave in peace." He knew that the people here had seen his response to Akihiko. He just wanted to disappear and think about all of this. She gave a chuckle.
"No I don't think you will be able too. Kameko is attached to you, and since so few are allowed to be around her, it is hard to take care of her. When she was first born, she would not let anyone hold her except for Akihiko, and he was still mourning for the death of his wife who died during childbirth. I tried my best but it was not enough. Thank Kami-sama when Ran showed up about a month after Kameko was born. Kameko immediately latched onto Ran, and Ran was appointed as her caretaker. Now that you are here and Kameko likes you, Akihiko will not let you leave." He gave a sigh at her explanation. He was getting a headache. Zangetsu reassured him that this will not be so bad and advised him to get some rest. His hollow cackling in amusement at having been turned into a babysitter. He scowled even harder.
"I am going to rest." She took his retreat in stride.
"Very well, but your room will not be done quite yet, so why don't you rest in Akihiko's study. It will be quiet there." Helping him up, she lightly grasped his elbow and lead him through the house. He tried to map out the house in his head, finding it very difficult, be in the end succeeded in memorizing the way to the back of the house. Walking into the room, he was lead over to a couch. He sat there leaning against the back of it with Kameko still in his arms. She had gotten tired from all of crying, laughing and babbling and was now quietly sleeping.
"What brings you here grandmother, Ichigo?" Akihiko was in two thirds of the way back. He could hear the shuffle of paper, then stop as he looked at them.
"Ichigo is going to rest here until his room is ready later." Akihiko was quiet. He must have nodded. A hand patted his knee making him jump. The hand quickly withdrew.
"I'll be off dear. If you need anything or want Ran to take care of Kameko, just tell Akihiko." He nodded. Pulling his feet onto the couch, and shifted so his back was in the corner between the armrest and the back of it. He moved Kameko onto his chest with his arms resting on her to keep her in place. Closing his eyes, he entered his inner world. As soon he arrived, a strong presence stood behind him, a large hand covered his eyes from behind. He struggled, but the other arm wrapped around from behind and across his chest, holding him in place.
Ichigo do not fear. It is only I. I just do not want you to see the state of your inner world.
Zangetsu. He couldn't breath. His chest was constricted with fear. He started panicking. This was the only place that he could. The place were his emotions could be felt to their highest degree without the seals in place. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. All he knew was that he couldn't stay here or anywhere. Not in his world. Not in the Shiba house. Not in this world. The arm wrapped tighter around him, and held him closer to Zangetsu. Who blanketed him in calming reiatsu.
Calm yourself Ichigo. Think rationally. I know that it is hard. I'm sorry. I wish I could protect you from all of this pain. This is my fault. He took in a shuddering breath. His thoughts becoming more coherent for his two spirits.
No, it's not. It's not your fault. It's mine and mine only. Zangetsu we can't stay here. We will mess up the timeline too much if we stay.
If that is your choice then I will follow. He knew that they would follow him through anything, but he wanted to hear their thoughts on anything and everything. Especially now that he had no one else to confide in. His hollow popped up from somewhere. He could feel his reiatsu.
You are not thinking of leaving are you King? I like it here. Zangetsu hummed in agreement. By the way King what are we going to do about Aizen and Yhwach?
Indeed what are you going to do about the timeline? He thought about it. There was only so much he could do at the moment, especially if he can't see. Don't worry Ichigo, you will be able to see in about a year. The hollow is having trouble with healing your eyes, because of the many restrictions we placed on your reiatsu.
I think we need to find a way to stop both of them from the shadows. Maybe even prevent the creation of the Hogyoku, but I'm not sure how to deal with Yhwach. He was strong and it was nearly impossible to defeat him. I need to get stronger.
And you will, but you need to recover from your injuries first.
Yeah King, how did you end up the way you did? You arrived here with more wounds then the last battle when you killed Yhwach.
I believe I have a theory on that. I believe that the Hogyoku reversed your wounds healed from the hollow in the final battle. He could believe that. It did make sense. All of the wounds he had now where from that final battle. His hollow bristled in anger.
I'm going to smash that thing when I get my hands on it. It doesn't go around hurting my King and getting away with it. He was pleased to hear what his hollow had said. He knew that he could count on both of them.
Thanks Shiro. His quiet mental reply made his sprits freeze.
There's no need for you to say any of that Kingy. Your making me blush. His hollow then stopped. Did you just call me Shiro?
Yeah, I thought you needed a name. And since we are going to be together for a long time now, might as well have a name to call you by. Zangetsu gave a silent chuckle that he felt though his back. Shiro grabbed his hand gently and pulled him down, he kept his eyes closed because of the wishes from his spirits. Shiro laid him down with his head resting in his lap. Shiro ran his fingers through his long orange hair. Making him relax and finally notice how exhausted he was. Soulfully, mentally and physically.
Sleep King. We will watch over you.
He didn't know what to make of it. His new family member resting in his study with his daughter sleeping on his chest. The boy's face was relaxed and different from the pained, scowling person he seemed to be. He looked even younger now. He rested his head in his hands and sighed. Getting this boy's trust was going to be the most difficult part. Peaking through his fingers at the pair, he smiled. At least Ichigo trusted his daughter and vice versa.
Getting up, he grabbed his red and gold clan haori from the chair and covered them with it. The boy tensed but did nothing to move away. Moving away from them, Ichigo settled back down.
Moving back to his place at his desk, he went back to his paperwork.
Not even half an hour later, the door to his study opened and Kirinji burst into his office. Startled with the sudden intrusion, he stood and was about to yell, but caught himself. Looking to see if the noise had woken Ichigo or his daughter, neither had moved. He gave a sigh of relief. Kirinji had caught on to his anxiousness and had looked too. He was surprised. He could tell that much. Motioning for Kirinji to follow him, he moved out of his office and out into the clan gardens.
Once out of hearing range and away from the sleeping pair, Kirinji turned on him.
"Why did you not alert me that he was awake?" He gave a sigh at that question.
"I did not have time. There were many things that had happened." Kirinji pulled up an eyebrow, but let the excuse slide. He looked back at his study.
"He trusts you enough to sleep near you? I expected him to be more distrustful. Especially when he was stumbling around your house in an attempt to get away." He gave another sigh at Kirinji's statement. He looked at the oak trees that littered the garden.
"No, he doesn't trust me. Not yet anyway. He is just accepting whatever is thrown at him. I wish that he would at least tell me what he thinks about all of this." Kirinji tilted his head in confusion.
"What do you mean" He thought about it for a minute then came to a realization. "You forced him into your family didn't you? That's so typical of you to do something like that." Kirinji accused. He gave a small guilty smile that answered his question. Kirinji threw his hands up in disbelief and walked in a circle. Then stopped and glared at him. "Akihiko do you realize what you are doing to him?" He only raised an eyebrow in question. Kirinji dragged a hand down his face tiredly. "By you not giving him a choice is the same as what his captors did. He is forced to accept whatever you push onto him. You stupid Shibas don't think any of this through. Now I am not telling you to take back what you said to him, just think before forcing anything on him." What he had said finally started to sink in. He felt ashamed. He did not even think what might have been the best for Ichigo.
"Do you think that being here is the best for him?" The best one to tell him that would be Ichigo, but the boy might just say that he wished to leave, and he couldn't let him do that with his conscience. Kirinji's opinion would have to do.
"I think that he would do just fine here. I believe that is better than him going back to where ever he came from."
"Grandmother believes that he is a Shiba. She is very adamant about it. I can understand how she can think that. He does look similar to a Shiba. The orange hair is a surprising difference, but not in a bad way."
"Do you believe that he truly is a Shiba?" He gave a sigh. Why did Kirinji always have to ask the hard questions?
"I can't say for certain, but yes I do believe that he is a Shiba. Not because of his looks, but because of his nature." Kirinji looked at him.
"His nature? Do you mean when you feel someone's reiatsu, you can tell what kind of person they are and what they are feeling?" He gave a nod in affirmation.
"Yes and no. I can't feel his reiatsu, so I can't tell for sure. But he is very gentle with things that cannot protect themselves. He handles my daughter with so much care, it's as almost if he is the father or an older brother." Kirinji smirks.
"Yeah I saw that. She is completely smitten with him. If he is around when she is older, I have no doubt that she will call him big brother." He frowned at that, then clung to Kirinji.
"No, my new family member is going to steal my daughter away." Kirinji tried to pry him off.
"I thought you grew out of this phase. Get a grip Akihiko." Finally disengaging from him, Kirinji stepped back from him. "Now I have to get back to my squad. I will come by tomorrow to check on him when he has rested some more. Make sure he doesn't overexert himself. You go back and look after him." Kirinji shooed him with his hand and flash stepped away. He shook his head in exasperation at his friend. At least he was honest with him. There were so few these days.
Returning to his study, he looked over to the couch. Where Ichigo rested with his daughter clutching his yukata in her sleep. He started to cry crocodile tears silently.
"My children are being taken away from me."
A shout out to:
Loli-Hype Ichi: We are very happy that you have enjoyed our story so far. Later Ichigo will meet Hisana in a very interesting way. As for Senna we are still debating whether he will met her or not.
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Yellofang: Thank you for enjoying our story so far. Yes, physically Shin is older than Ichigo, but mentally he's got Shin beat by decades. The whole aging process will be completely explained in a later chapter. You will just need to wait and see.
NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: Thank you for enjoying and commenting. Ichigo does have many powers at his disposal, but because how many he has, they need to be sealed away. That is to protect those around him. Ichigo is practically immortal now and that will reflect later on in the story. Don't worry like the typical stubborn person he is, he will get stronger to protect others. We hope you enjoy this next chapter.
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