Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.
Title: in awe of that which cannot be seen
Rating: K+
Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo can't see ghosts like his sisters but he doesn't really mind because at least he could see the old man.
Author's Notes: And now for Hollow!Ichigo. For those who aren't up to date with the latest manga chapters (SPOILERS!), we find out that the Hollow was a part of Ichigo since birth. So I thought it would be interesting to have him appear before the training with Urahara. For the purpose of this story, I will be incorporating Hollow!Ichigo as closely as the original manga as possible, though with some changes.
As much as Ichigo was impressed that Orihime and Chad's powers had been developing at a rapid pace, there was still some envy on his part that he wasn't able to develop anything at all.
The old man didn't appear when he called and despite Yoruichi's many attempts to get him to focus his minimal reiatsu, he still couldn't see any ghosts or summon the old man. It left him frustrated and on the bad side of Yoruichi's temper.
He was still aching and sore, recovering from the effects of the battle, that he later discovered from Urahara that it was Rukia's brother Byakuya was the one who attacked him from behind. He was bedridden for a week and he moved gingerly afterwards, his muscles groaning at any action. Yuzu hovered worriedly over him, believing he had caught the flu and he let them believe that he did. Even his dad didn't try to deliver his usual morning or evening greetings when he noted how pale and sickly Ichigo had become.
It would have been worse if it wasn't for Urahara's medication that slowly helped him to build his strength back up. He suspected if it wasn't for that, he would have unable to move for months.
Urahara declined any training in the meanwhile, at least until his strength was back up. " Besides," the older man drawled. " It wouldn't be much of a training for either of you if your zanpakuto didn't appear."
" Save your strength, boy," Benihime had also added in a surprisingly kind tone. " It wouldn't be much of a fight if you keeled over at the start."
So here he was, with Orihime, Chad and the black cat Yoruichi, in an abandoned building, trying to reactivate the powers they've previously used. Though Orihime and Chad's method of yelling and pumping their arms in the air didn't appeal to him or Yoruichi.
Who exactly Yoruichi was mystified Ichigo. When Urahara introduced his friend, it took most of his mental ability just to comprehend the fact that there was a talking cat (Orihime was far too busy gushing about how cute the cat was and Chad was ambivalent as usual).
But if Ichigo looked carefully enough, there was a shadowed figure following Yoruichi and sometimes watching them through the window or right by the door. It was impossible to tell if it was human or an animal, if it was male or female. It moved too silently and quickly for Ichigo to identify any distinguishable features about it.
(he thought he caught a glimpse of what looked like a feline creature with multiple tails but it could have just as easily been a swish of a cloak with its sleeves fluttering behind it)
It must be a zanpakuto, Ichigo slowly realized, since Yoruichi or Urahara didn't seem to sense it and Orihime and Chad never noticed it either. But how could a cat be ashinigami? Was that even possible?
" Are you paying attention, boy?"
He yelped, abruptly disturbed out of his thoughts when Yoruichi slapped a paw over his head.
" As I was saying," the black cat continued as Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. " Think back to what you wanted to protect at that time. What or who was it that you wanted to protect?"
" I wanted to protect Tatsuki," Orihime murmured, eyes glazed over as she remembered that day.
Chad said nothing but his brow furrowed, deep in thought.
Ichigo frowned. There wasn't anything in particular he wanted to protect that night the old man appeared. And even before then, the old man was always there. As far as Ichigo could remember, the old man was right by his side from the very beginning. If anything, it was him the old man wanted to protect, causing him to take a physical form to defend Ichigo from that Hollow.
But the question of why lingered.
A sudden cackle rang about in the room, causing him to spin around. An inverted identical version of himself stood there, smirking an oily grin (which Ichigo hoped that he would never show have such an expression on his face), hair, face and skin bleached white and eyes gleaming gold.
" Who are you?" he demanded.
" What a stupid question," not-Ichigo sneered. " Use that brain of yours for once. I am you."
" Where's the old man?" he chose to ask instead, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that they repeated eerily similar words to the old man before.
Not-Ichigo casually waved his hand around as if swatting away a fly. " Out of commission. Those shinigami did a real number on him." He twisted a corner of his mouth as if tasting something unpleasant. " You should know."
Ichigo shuddered, remembering the sensation of a blade slicing through his back, the pain spreading like wildfire. Byakuya knew exactly where to hit to cause the most damage. Urahara had assured him his medication would remove all traces of scaring but if he chose to check, he could see his skin stretching and knitting together into a pale contorted line, a reminder that he nearly died.
" You were weak," not-Ichigo continued. " You should have called me instead. If I was there, the shinigami would be the ones who are dead."
" I don't even know who you are. I never met you until now."
" I've been here since the beginning. Same for the old man or whatever you call him. He happened to be nosier than me."
" Nosy?" Ichigo repeated in confusion. " What does that mean?"
" He got curious. Wanted to know you. Me? I don't need a reason. I already know who you are. I am you after all."
" And the old man isn't?"
Not-Ichigo grinned, revealing sharp teeth like a shark's. Ichigo knew for a fact his teeth didn't look like someone had taken a saw to them and hacked away at them. " He will be back soon enough," he deliberately chose to say instead. " In the meanwhile, I'm here. And I'm not as nice as the old man. You see, the old man only comes out to protect you. But I don't care for things like that. All I want to is a good fight. Just give me someone to rip to shreds, someone to destroy, someone to eat."
" Someone to eat?" Ichigo looked horrified.
" Why not? We need something to sustain us." Not-Ichigo was amused. " That dumb expression on your face is hilarious. This is nothing new. You and your friends eat every day."
" We don't eat people," he flatly said.
" There is always the predator and the prey," not-Ichigo cut in. " The one at the top and the one at the bottom. The king and the horse. Which one will you be?"
" That – that doesn't make any sense."
" Of course it does. And you know it. "
Silence descended. Not-Ichigo was watching him with a knowing smirk. Ichigo sighed, feeling drained. The old man never wore him out like this. He absently wondered if Benihime or Zabimaru did the same to their masters. Sode no Shirayuki, he didn't even consider. She was much nicer than the rest of the zanpakuto he had come across put together and she surely wouldn't cause Rukia any grief.
" What's your name?" Ichigo finally asked. " I would hate to call you 'the other me' all the time."
Not-Ichigo sighed dramatically. " Still can't hear me, huh? You're just pathetic. And your naming skills suck by the way."
" I hear you just fine," he bristled, ignoring the jab about his ability to name people.
" Not with those plugged up ears of yours. You didn't hear me until I called out to you. You shouldn't have to ask me my name because you should already know my name."
Ichigo glowered at him. " Why do you and the old man have to be so cryptic? If you really are me, I wouldn't have made it so difficult to understand what you two are babbling about!"
This made not-Ichigo throw back his head and laugh. The unexpected apparent hilarity at Ichigo's words took Ichigo back, leaving him awkwardly rooted in place. He gritted his teeth as he impatiently waited until not-Ichigo was ready to talk again.
" Your face when you said that," not-Ichigo wheezed. " This is going to be more fun than I thought. I can't wait to screw with you more later on."
" Don't know how you could be so different from the old man," Ichigo petulantly muttered to himself.
A sudden thought struck him and he frowned contemplatively. " If you are a zanpakuto like the old man, how do I have two of you? I thought shinigami only have one. Or a two-in-one animal thing like that Renji guy."
" You aren't a shinigami, idiot. The old man kept telling you and the others that. Weren't you listening?"
" Then what am I?" he demanded.
Not-Ichigo bared his teeth again, in an oddly frightening yet reassuring manner. " That's for you to decide."
" Kurosaki-kun?"
Startled, he spun around to face a concerned Orihime. " Are you all right?" She didn't need to say he was talking to himself for a long period of time. " Was it your zanpakuto? Did he come back?"
Chad was also looking worriedly at him. Yoruichi had an unfathomable expression.
Ichigo glanced about in the room but he didn't need to use his eyes to know that the ghostly version of him was gone.
" Sort of."