Down

by Star Slightly To The Right

When their eyes met, something changed and shifted. The world, it seemed, was in their hands. AU

4. struck

…

…

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.

Kisuke, in return, smiled.

Yoruichi crooked a slender brow, darting her golden eyes between the two.

For the third time, Urahara asked pleasantly, "Are you sure you're not thirsty or perhaps hungry, Ich—"

A vein throbbed in his temple, "NO! Goddammit! I DON'T WANT ANY TEA OR FUCKING DUMPLINGS!" Slowly, the plate filled with said groceries in Urahara's hand lowered. Back to his cheery self, Urahara smiled again, waving his fan playfully at the thoroughly agitated Kurosaki Ichigo.

Yoruichi blinked and randomly raised her own platter of food, "How about some cake?"

"NO!" Ichigo hollered, beyond furious now with the two. Yoruichi exchanged a glance with Urahara, and they both shrugged in sync. The vein in his temple thrashed angrily. "What is wrong with you people?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, the purple-haired woman snorted, "I should be asking you the same thing. We offer you food and you refuse. You know, that's considered rude in most countries."

"Are you retarded?!" Ichigo raged.

"No. If I wanted to, I could become a lawyer." Yoruichi replied casually, offhandedly.

Ichigo was almost ready to yank his hair out.

"Now, now, Yoruichi. Let's not be so rude to him." Urahara cut in lightheartedly, "After all, he's Masaki-chan's son."

"Sou ka!" The purple-haired woman tapped her fist lightly to her open palm, "You remind a lot of her. You know, with the eyes and everything," She stared intently at the teenager, who glowered back at her, "She was also very stubborn."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Ichigo averted his eyes, "Shut up. Would you not bring up my mom for at least a few moments so I can concentrate?"

Urahara tilted his head innocently, "Sumimasen. Is it bothering you?"

Yoruichi waved it off, "Whatever."

"Anyway," Ichigo prompted, trying to keep his eyes from traveling all across the odd room. It was as big as his room, but the walls were steel and the door slid open just as the last one, with a handprint scanner and everything. To the right, there were large tubes of some kind of green essence and bulky pipes running out of it onto the ground, and into some sort of machine with many buttons. Ichigo was almost afraid to touch anything. They all sat at a basic table, white, and the line shined down on the surface. Ichigo licked his lips nervously, and tightened his hands into fists.

"I want to know what's going on."

Ichigo was still furious with the two from earlier Before he could even talk to the redhead beauty just moments when he came in, Kisuke had promptly knocked the orange-haired on the noggin and dragged him from the room, the curious strangers watching and Yoruichi followed. When Ichigo had regained his senses, he yelled at them both.

"Do you really?" Yoruichi asked with a sly smirk, "Everything we tell you is pretty heavy."

"Yes," Ichigo nodded firmly.

She heaved a heavy sigh, and glanced towards Urahara, who was staring at Ichigo severely. "Ichigo-san," he started slowly, "I made a promise a very long time ago that I would always protect you. Every day, since you were born, I've kept that promise."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, "As I said before, getaboshi, I don't know you."

Kisuke smiled again, but it did not reach his eyes. With one thin hand, he took a cup of green, steaming tea, "That's fine. Your memories are buffered after all."

"Dammit!" Ichigo fumed, "Stop saying that!" He flailed his arms about angrily as Yoruichi scooped up a sweet dumpling, her cheeks puffing out from the food.

"But it is true, you know?" Yoruichi mumbled through a mouthful of dumplings, "When you were taken up by Ichimaru, I had no idea if you would die or live. After Kisuke found you, you freaked out and ran away."

Ichigo blinked in surprise. Of course, he had no recollection of being kidnapped or ever harmed by a man named Ichimaru, nor did he remember 'freaking out' over Urahara. He'd never met any of these people in his life, right? But instead of giving his usual protest, he listened with open ears. After seeing all this, after battling the monsters, after meeting Orihime, he decided it wasn't so crazy to believe what they're saying.

His eyebrows merged irritably, but he did not reply.

Kisuke lowered his head, "It was raining that day."

Ichigo's eyes shot up.

"When we found her, you were…" Urahara cupped his hand around his glass firmly, "And all that blood…"

"My mother died in a car accident," Ichigo whispered, his voice tighter than his throat, "And I—"

Yoruichi's chair hit the floor loudly, and all eyes snapped to her. Her own gaze was blazing furiously, passionately, "Is that what they replaced your memories with? Is that why—"

"Yoruichi," Urahara placed a hand on her shoulder, and she clenched her teeth hard, "Let me explain this." They locked eyes. Ichigo watched as something passed through them, Yoruichi's hands clasped into fists, and Kisuke's eyes tightened slightly.

"Fine!" She snapped, and whisked in the other direction. Placing her hand on the palm-reader, it scanned, and the door slid open. She was gone the next second. Ichigo frowned at her departure, but Kisuke continued to smile freely.

"Sorry about Yoruichi-san," he put in, "She can be very emotional when it comes to Masaki-chan." He took a sip of his drink, "Where were we? Ah! How about I start towards the beginning?"

Ichigo glared hard at him, "That would be great."

"Well, let's see…When Masaki first joined us, she was very young. Just thirteen, in fact. But she was smart and she caught on fast to most things. Good at hand-to-hand combat, excellent swordsmanship, beautiful looks and intellect. It was very easy to get lost in her." Kisuke grimaced for a moment, "But Isshin-san took a liking to this woman, and everything went downhill from there. You see, it wasn't good to fall in love in the S.S."

Ichigo crooked a brow, "S.S.?"

"The Soul Society. From the way we saved people, Masaki-chan wanted to name it that. You see, our guild is all about the aiding of people. Well, at first, it was. Then, when we discovered a traitor in our group, we could not allow this to go unpunished. He left, soon after he retrieved what he wanted. Along with a couple of good comrades. There wasn't much we could do after that…" His frown deepened, "Sorry. I'm getting off topic, aren't I? It's very hard to explain with so much to say."

"What was his name?" Kisuke peered up at him in confusion, "The man who betrayed you."

Urahara tipped his hat further down his head to shield his eyes, with a sly smirk, "Aizen. Aizen Sōsuke."

A cord struck in Ichigo.

He snapped his jaw tight, a muscle jumping.

Aizen.

Why is that name so damn familiar?

A hand was placed on his shoulder, "Don't stress yourself, Ichigo-san. After all, you have a lot of time."

Ichigo, thoroughly irritated, and pushed the hand away from him, "I'm fine. Keep going."

Kisuke didn't hesitate, "Well~ we'll get to Aizen later. After Isshin-san and Masaki-san met, there was no stopping the instant attraction. When they got married, Isshin and Masaki decided to leave the S.S. It was surprising to the most of us. Of course, Yoruichi-san and I were the only ones who considered the possibility."

"I don't…" Ichigo breathed out roughly, "I don't really understand where this story is going. What does this shit have to do with my memories? My mom's death? Everything?"

"Your memories…" Urahara smiled again, softly, "Well, I guess I should start once again. Before your mother gave birth to you, she was almost killed by a hollow. With this, we were forced to put her under for a while."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, "Put her under?"

He nodded, "You see, when a Hollow attacks, it puts its energy into that said attack, and when it swipes at you, it expects a clean kill. Yet with your mother, she fought back. And when the claws entered her, so did the Hollow's main power source. We placed her in that tube over there." Ichigo watched as he lifted a hand and pointed it towards the green, glowing large tube on the side. She was to stay put in the machine until you were born. The tubes were made by Ishida-kun, someone you will meet if you are willing to, and they were created for hollows. For years, we've been testing hollows, to revert them back to normal."

"Normal?" Ichigo repeated dumbly.

"Hollows are made from humans."

"Humans…?"

"Haven't you been watching the news? The disappearances of people all across the globe? And when they are taken up, they are mutated into different kinds of monsters. There is nothing we can do besides kill them. But when Ishida-kun puts them to test, we can find out some interesting things. We almost reverted a hollow back to a human, until the young lady unfortunately died from the Hollow Spread. And that is why we still fight to this day. When we figured out Masaki-chan was attacked, we put all of our strength into curing her so she would not die, and nor you. But, instead of leaking out the power from her, we leaked it into you." Urahara locked eyes with the teenager.

If it hadn't been for Urahara, Ichigo would've fallen out of his seat. Truly, this was almost too much for him. Mashing a hand against his suddenly heavy head, Ichigo gritted his teeth, "You're telling me I'm a hollow?"

"No. Of course not, Ichigo-san. The powers, of course, rest inside of you. Did you not see how you wielded that sword? Or perhaps the power you were able to bestow?" Urahara asked gently, releasing the boy's arm.

Flashes of the night before wafted through his brain. Licking his lips, he threaded his fingers into his messy, thick hair.

"I-I…thought that was—"

"It was not a dream, Ichigo-san."

"What is she?" Ichigo whispered heatedly, "Is she like me?"

Urahara did not need any further detail. He knew who Ichigo was speaking of, "I suppose you can say that. I found Orihime-chan when she was very young. A toddler. She was dying, and I did not know why or how. I am very sure she is far from human. We were not sure how to treat her so she was in a tube for more than eleven years. Ishida-kun says she is mutated, altered into something he is not sure should exist. When she was released from the tube, she did not remember much, she could not even speak. Though, whenever we taught her something new, she would answer properly and correctly. It was amazing how much she could learn in less than hour. I am not entirely sure what she is, Ichigo-san, but Aizen has a very keen interest in her."

Ichigo's fist clenched tightly. "And my mother? What happened to her?"

"Your mother died when you were young." His voice was deeper, "She had just finished touring the underground Sector Three with you, and as you were passing the Western Gates, Ichimaru-san did not hold back. It was raining when we found her. And you were…gone. Ichigo-san, when we recovered you, you did not remember anything."

"Mom!"

So much blood.

It rained.

"Mom! P-Please, answer!"

The blood spread under his small body and spilled from the heavy wound.

"Mom!"

And it rained.

"It was as though you vanished from the face of the earth. Your father dropped all contacts with us after Masaki-chan's death."

"And of my sisters?" Ichigo grunted, "What're they? If my mother gave birth to them, wouldn't that give them the Hollow Spread also?"

Kisuke's fan snapped shut, "Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan are not your real sisters." Ichigo did not flinch or respond to this, "They were found when they were born, and the mother died giving birth. Yoruichi-san did not want anything to do with them, but Isshin was the one to take them in. I'm sure they have no recollection of their birth parents or Masaki-chan. After all, we did scan their minds many years ago."

Ichigo lowered his head.

"I understand if this is a lot for you to take in, Ichigo-san and I'll stop if you want—"

"No." Ichigo muttered, raising his eyes to his, "Actually, this isn't coming as much as a surprise anymore."

He had powers.

He wasn't completely human.

He wasn't sure if his family was real or fake.

And he had a huge Geometry test tomorrow.

Sighing heavily, Ichigo braced his hands on his knees and hoisted himself up, "I still need time to think."

"That's perfectly reasonable. After all, we can still erase your memory of this and you can live on." Kisuke implied.

"No. I want to keep it like this. And I'm sure that is not the whole story."

"Just the beginning~"

"And what about me?" Ichigo murmured, "Why was I able to dismantle a gun? Break that girl's arm?"

"You were trained as a young child. Masaki-chan had ordered it, for she knew you were special. There are a lot of things you do not know about yourself." Without warning, Kisuke raised a small device, a red button in the center and smirked, "Allow me to demonstrate."

"Wha—" His exclamation was cut off as a shrill alarm casted off. The room blared red and Ichigo's eyes instantly adjusted to the new environment. To his slight surprise, his body tensed, ready for anything. Something dark was thrown towards him and he caught it fluidly, barely registering it was a Glock before the right wall started to slowly ascend. When he turned his head, he was not surprised to see three different hollows growling at him.

"Don't worry," Kisuke called to him, "Allow your body to do the fighting. Not your mind."

Even though Ichigo had no idea where he was going with this, he did not feel the need to argue with the weird man. Pulling back the lever, the gun clicked into place, and he held it in his hand familiarly, as though his body was already used to it.

Go with it.

His eyes narrowed as the hollows were released and they roared, the sound burning his ears.

—"Your power is not about you. It's about the people you help, and how you use it."—

Whipping his head around, he was able to see the third, smallest hollow rushing towards him, a killing intent shining in its golden eyes. Without further instruction, he lifted the gun, aimed, and fired. The bang did not deter him, nor did he flinch back like he would before. The white-blue bullet sprang from the weapon, and landed right between the hollow's eyes, cracking through the mask, and it dissolved a second later.

Another growl caught Ichigo's attention. Somehow, his body was faster than his mind. In less than a quarter of a second, his legs launched powerfully and he was at least five feet from where he was originally. He gritted his teeth as he watched the hollow slam its fist into the ground, only a moment where he'd been. Its narrowed eyes found his and it howled at him angrily. Ichigo met the stare dead-on, his gaze tightening dangerously.

With that, the first and second lunged towards him. Bullets fired towards the right, catching the second in its arm. It did not stop it though and it hurled itself off the ground, its teething snapping inches from Ichigo. He raised his gun to its head, and blasted. It was vaporized by time he blinked. The third was equally as pointless and thick-headed, and when Ichigo landed his foot into its jaw, strapped his gun his its mouth and fired, it was gone.

The red light was turned off, and the alarm paused. Ichigo blinked a few times, and glanced down at the gun in his hand. Clicking the safety on, he threw it over his shoulder. Urahara caught it quickly, and smiled.

"Very nice, Ichigo-san. I see your skills still remain, even though you are not sure how to use them." He twirled the gun on one finger casually, "If you want, I can continue with—"

"No thanks," Ichigo cut in, "Not today, anyway."

"Then shall I lead you back to civilization?" Urahara asked. Instead of answering, Ichigo walked towards the door. He glanced at the hand scanner uncertainly. When Urahara walked behind him, he grinned and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure it remembers you."

Placing his palm on the pad, he tried to not shudder as it scanned his hand thoroughly, and then uttered,

"Handprint accepted. Good afternoon, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo decided it was best not to question this.

Wrapping an arm around Ichigo's broad shoulders, Urahara led the teenager down the long slim hallway – clean floors and wide windows that took up either wall. Ichigo did not miss the people that walked past them – they appeared to work there, some wearing white lab coats and others dressed naturally, in street clothes, or even school clothes. Some were old enough to be his grandfather while others were young enough to be in middle school.

Ichigo did not meet of any of their eyes, but they all said the same thing.

"Hello, Kisuke-san."

"Good afternoon, Urahara-sama."

"How are you today, Urahara-chan?"

"Good seeing you, Kisuke!"

"Ohayoooo, Kisuke-tan~!"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched as Urahara greeted just as happily, waving his free arm freely at the others.

"Is it like this all the time?" Ichigo asked as another person welcomed the blonde

"Of course, Ichigo-san, we're all a family after all." he replied.

"How does this place work exactly?"

"Well, there are different groups. The S.S. is only on this earth to help people in need. Aizen, after all, is throwing over this world bit by bit. No one knows we exist, so it's best if we stay how we are, Ichigo-san. Well, for ours groups we have Ikkaku and Yumichika in front of the vehicles. They can build a full engine, create amazing weapons on minivans, and they're not bad at driving," he giggled at his own joke, elbowing Ichigo in the ribs, "And then we have Byakuya and Rukia in swordsmanship, while Momo and Renji are weapons, such as guns. Kenpachi is good with combat skills, while I would say Yachiru helps Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu with the health, though Uohana seems to have that under control. Toshiro-kun usually helps Ishida-kun with the technology, and Rukia is there almost every day to check on Nemu-san, but then Ishida-kun might get angry and you don't want to get Renji in the mist of it, and then—Oh! Ichigo-san, are you alright?"

Truth be told, Ichigo was having a hard time standing. All these names and people were almost too much to take. And this secret organization, planning to save the world and shit, and this evil guy…It was almost as if they took it from a manga.

"I…I'm fine," Ichigo grunted, pushing the man away, "Can you please show me the damned exit so I can get out of here?"

"Papa!"

Ichigo's ears perked up and his head turned just in time to see large silver eyes, perfect, pale skin, and long amber hair. Ichigo paused, but his heart didn't. It went into a frenzy in fact, and he could practically feel her, even though she was about three feet away.

"Oh! Orihime-chan~!" Urahara practically sprinted over to her, and latched onto the young woman. If it hadn't been for a bald man and a petite, white-haired young boy, she would've been on the floor.

"Don't touch Orihime-nee without permission, Urahara!" The bald man snapped, placing his hand on his bokken, "You know how mad Rukia gets when you're too friendly."

Urahara rubbed his aching shoulder, "So rough, Ikkaku-san~!" he waved his fan at the two playfully, "Are you in charge of guarding Orihime-chan today?"

Ikkaku smirked cockily and wiped a thumb over his nose, "You could say that. I volunteered. You know how clumsy she is."

"I was heading for lunch, and she followed me." The small white-haired grumbled, "And she won't stop touching my hair."

"Well, it is fascinating, Toshiro-kun," Urahara said, tilting his head, "Don't be so put down." He dug into his robes and soon revealed a pink, round lollipop, "Here~!"

"NOT YOU TOO!" Toshiro hollered, flailing about. He smacked the treat away from his face and huffed angrily, "I'm going to lunch!" He ran surprisingly fast with his tiny legs. Ichigo, though, was not distracted.

She was fine, it appeared. There were no scars or scratches or bruises to speak of, and she stood with the same pureness he'd seen just a day ago. He watched as she blinked her attention away from the two in front of her, and her eyes slowly met his.

Ichigo watched as she stared at him curiously. And then without warning, she beamed at him, so bright and happy that he flinched back from the intensity.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. A small body knocked into his chest. Ikkaku's mouth fell open, and Kisuke blinked as the whirl of russet hair fell past him and onto a slender back. Thin arms wrapped around Ichigo's middle. She smelled like lavender, the sun, and very sweet. His arms were by his sides awkwardly and he glanced down to see her firmly attached to him, her face smiling brightly, beautifully.

"U-Um…"

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and pulled back, though her arms stayed around him. She stared up at Ichigo with her large ashen-hued eyes.

"Where have you been, Kurosaki-kun? I was worried and then Yoruichi-san said Papa was digging out your brains and I thought the colorful men would be there to help, but they weren't and so I followed the Moon-sama and stars and found you here, but then Papa tried to hug me and the Moon-sama saves everyone!"

Ichigo blinked.

A dark aura was beginning to surround Ikkaku.

Urahara frowned curiously, "Is the Moon-sama supposed to be Ikkaku-san?"

Suddenly, Orihime hopped backwards, a few inches from Ichigo, "O-Oh no~!" She clenched her tiny hands into fists under her chin, "I-I wasn't supposed to come near you! Rukia-chan is going to be very upset!"

"W-Wha…?" Ichigo's hand found her slim arm, "Orihime."

Instantly, her eyes found his and locked. The sensations coursing through his body were baffling. She brought unfamiliar memories, unfamiliar feelings.

—"If you open your eyes, Hichigo, maybe you'll see what is in front of you."—

"A-Ano…," Orihime stammered quietly, her eyes becoming even larger on her pretty face.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ichigo tried to not pull her closer than she already was. He could still feel the heat of her arms around him, and the way she said Kurosaki-kun had his mind in circles. It sounded oddly warm, comforting.

"S-Sorry," Ichigo let go of her arm, slowly and reluctantly. Their eyes did not leave each other's, nor did she take a step back. Instead, she beamed and clasped her hands behind her back.

"I'm glad you're back, Kurosaki-kun."

"Yeah," Ichigo murmured, feeling the smile tug at his lips gently. The smile she would always bring. "Me, too."

…

…

Sorry this is so late. I hope that wasn't too confusing for most of you. I have such a weird thinking process and imagination that it goes everywhere. Of course, this story would be nothing without meeting everyone and the action. Lots and lots of actions, but with the Ichihime moments. Ichigo and Orihime haven't been fully exposed to exactly what they are. I could only get out the basics, but I mostly wanted to get into why Ichigo and Orihime were made this way, and how they were born and created to work together, more of made for each other.

Aizen, as per usual, is the bad guy, and I still have to explain the Hogyoku, the betrayal, Masaki, and Isshin, along with the rest. Right now, let's just settle for Orihime and Ichigo.

I hope you liked this chapter. It was really hard to write, with everything to explain, and I at least rewrote this chapter three times. Such hard work.

Please review, it'll make my day. I've been trying so hard to please random people in school and out of school. I could really use the support. Thanks for reading.

-Star