Chapter 8: Ichigo's Pain

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Warning: Angst!

The Next Day….
Karakura Town

A golden Getsuga Tensho erupted from the white, elegant zanpakuto in Ichigo's hand, destroying the Hollow he'd been fighting. He sighed as he sheathed his longsword and turned away. He'd gone out on Hollow patrol after a day of lounging around but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Orihime was inside his Inner World but she'd barely said a word since Ichigo had woken up that morning. Ichigo could tell that something was bothering his ethereal love but didn't know how to broach the subject.

Drawing his zanpakuto blades, Ichigo said their new name and transformed them into their new, sleeker forms. He stared at their new release states and couldn't help but smile. Things were starting to look up again. His zanpakuto blades had been renewed, better than ever. The darkness in his heart had been cleared away. And more importantly, he had Orihime back. No matter what, he wouldn't lose her again.

The subtle rumbling of the ground snapped Ichigo out of his musings. "Another one? Damn, when's it going to quit?" He'd thought that the death of Yhwach would restore the Soul King but these tremors were starting to worry him. Sheathing his swords, Ichigo decided to head on home.

Reaching his house, he found that the home was empty, his father leaving a note saying that he was taking Ichigo's sisters out to a movie. Moving his body, which had remained on the bed where he'd left it, Ichigo laid it on the floor before sitting on the bed. Drawing his swords, he laid them on the lap and performed the familiar pose of Jinzen, entering his Inner World to see Orihime.

Right off the bat, Ichigo knew something was wrong when he saw his friend. Orihime had her back to him, kneeling on the ground. The sound of sobbing filled the silent area, making Ichigo fearful for what was wrong. "Orihime," he called out, walking over to her.

Orihime had not noticed Ichigo's arrival and tried her best to dry her eyes before rising to her feet. The words she'd had with the Soul King that was trapped inside her own dead body had been weighing heavily on her and she didn't know what to do. "Ichigo…" she responded as she turned around.

Ichigo saw the red in Orihime's eyes and knew she'd been crying. "What's wrong?" he asked as he approached her. "I know that it must be hard being here but I promise that I'll find a way to return you to your body. You know that," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders as a show of support.

But Orihime shook her head. Her lower lip trembled as she looked down at the ground, unsure of what to how to tell her friend what'd transpired between her and the Soul King. 'What could I possibly say? I can't break Ichigo's heart. I just can't!'

Ichigo's hand tilted her chin up so that he could look into her hazel eyes. "Orihime, what's wrong?" he asked again. Seeing the love of his life with such pain in her eyes made his heart feel like it was being ripped in two. "Are you okay?"

Orihime merely shook her head again. "No."

"What's happened?" Fear began to creep into Ichigo. Was Orihime fading away? Could she sense something happening to the Soul Society? "You can tell me, Orihime."

Trying her hardest to fight back the tears, Orihime opened her mouth to speak. "I…I don't know how to say it…Ichigo…I-" But whatever words she had for him went unspoken. In the blink of an eye Ichigo vanished from her sight. She blinked for a moment before she realized that Ichigo was no longer in his Inner World. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

As for Ichigo, the boy felt a wave of disorientation as he was ripped from his Inner World. He fell back on the bed, his zanpakutos falling from his lap. His vision blurred for a moment before it corrected itself. Looking around to find the cause of this disturbance, Ichigo was baffled to see who'd interrupted his time with Orihime. "Captain Kyoraku?"

The new Head-Captain of the Thirteen Court tipped his hat to the disoriented Substitute. "Sorry for the rough ride, Ichigo, but I need you and I need you pronto."

Getting up, Ichigo quickly sheathed his swords again. "What's the matter? Is it Yhwach? Has something happened to the Soul Society?" he asked in a panic, remembering the scared look on Orihime's face.

Kyoraku was oddly somber as he held up his hand, silencing the boy. "Don't freak out, Ichigo," he said in a low, calm voice. "This has nothing to do with Yhwach. But it does involve the Soul Society. And the World of the Living."

Ichigo had an idea where this was going. "Is this about the tremors I've been feeling? I thought that everything went back to normal when I killed Yhwach!" he insisted.

"As nice as that sounds, I'm afraid life didn't quite give us the happily ever after we'd hoped for." He turned around and drew his short sword to open up a Senkaimon in the middle of Ichigo's room. "Come with me, Ichigo. It's important."

Putting his body back into bed, Ichigo followed Kyoraku through the portal, scared for what might be happening. Unknown to him, Orihime, deep inside his Inner World, was just as scared as he was, only for a different reason…

Minutes later…
Squad 12; R&D Department

"Captain Kyoraku, why're we at Squad 12?" Ichigo asked. With every second, the butterflies in his stomach became worse and worse. Kyoraku had barely said a word to Ichigo at all on the trip here, seeming more serious than usual. Ichigo knew that the man barely survived his battle with the X Sternritter but he had a feeling that Kyoraku's silence wasn't due to his severe injuries. The man walked with a limp but showed no signs of fragility.

"There's a few people who'd like a word with you," Kyoraku simply said as he reached the end of the hallway. Stopping at the door, Kyoraku turned to face the young man before him. "Ichigo, I won't lie to you. You deserve honesty after what you've done for us. What you see in here…you're not going to like it." He put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "All I ask is that you try to keep calm. Okay?"

"What's in there?" Ichigo asked, unable to hide the fear on his face. Kyoraku was never serious. So for him to be so now threw up a lot of red flags.

"Promise me," Kyoraku insisted, the eye he still had left staring intently at Ichigo.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Ichigo slowly nodded, unsure of what was happening. "I…promise."

Kyoraku nodded in return. "That'll have to do then." He turned around and opened the doors to Kurotsuchi's lab. "Come with me."

Ichigo followed him into the dark laboratory. He saw to his surprise that he and Kyoraku weren't the only ones inside. He saw that most of the remaining captains who'd survived the war present, as well as Kisuke and Yoruichi, all gathered around a table. He realized morbidly that the object on the table was a human cadaver, its face covered by a white sheet. All eyes turned to Ichigo as he entered. More red flags were thrown up as he entered. "What's going on? Why's everyone here?" he noticed how several people were missing. "Hey wait, where's Rukia and Renji?"

"They're helping with the reconstruction efforts. We…felt that it'd be best if they weren't present…" Shinji said, the discomfort on his face apparent.

"Are you okay, Shinji?"

Scowling, the captain of Squad Five pointed to his bandages. "Does this look like I'm okay? First I got blown away by a psycho, then I got smashed into the ground by a giant the size of a skyscraper. In case you haven't noticed, we're all a mess," he admitted, gesturing to everyone. "The old man, Unohana and Ukitake are all dead, Komamura's left us. Most of our lieutenants are either hospitalized or dead. Rose, Love, Hitsugaya and Rangiku got turned into zombies and had their lifespans cut short thanks to Mayuri." Shinji took a deep breath before shaking his head. "Sorry for snapping like that but as you can see, it's been a rough ride for all of us."

Ichigo turned to the remaining captains. "What is this all about?" He felt another tremor and cursed. "Another one? Why is this happening?" He noticed how all of the captains were silent and wished that someone would please tell him what was going on.

Byakuya walked around several of the captains until he was in front of the dead body on the table. "Ichigo, there's something you need to know. It involves Orihime."

"What do you mean? What does Orihime have to do with this?"

"Because of this." Byakuya carefully pulled back the sheet to reveal Orihime's face.

Ichigo put a hand over his mouth and stumbled backwards, trying his best not to vomit in front of everyone. The memories of that day when Orihime died came rushing back to him and he felt his eyes water with grief. All of the pain and sadness came roaring back to him in an instant, the sight of Orihime's dead body a reminder that his true love was dead. He angrily looked at Byakuya, his hands balling into fists. "You sick bastard! Is this some kind of joke?!" he demanded.

"This is no joke, Ichigo. Far from it," came a voice from behind him.

Ichibei Hyōsube, or Osho as he's referred as, entered the room, having recovered from his death and resurrection. The sound of his clogs clacking on the tile floor filled with room as he walked towards the group. The man's large eyes turned to Ichigo and he quickly saw the soul of the girl who's cadaver was on the table. "It's just as I feared."

"What are you talking about? What is all this? ANSWER ME!" Ichigo demanded, tired of everyone being so ominous.

Walking past Ichigo, Osho decided not to hold back the truth any longer. "We are without a king, Ichigo. The worlds are in danger of tearing apart."

"What? Why? I thought that the Soul King would be restored when Yhwach died!" Ichigo insisted.

Osho shook his head. "Wrong. The Soul King was assimilated by Yhwach. There was no recovering him after the man's remains disintegrated, leaving us without an anchor to keep the balance of the three worlds." He reached the table and put a hand on Orihime's head, his fingers grazing her eyelids. "Come here, Ichigo. You need to see this."

The other captains moved aside to let Ichigo walk up to the large monk. Ichigo tried his best to remind himself that Orihime was alive inside his Inner World but it was hard to say that when her dead body was right in front of him. "But if the king's dead, how are we still here?"

"There was a contingency," Osho confessed. "Kyoraku, Central 46 and I devised a backup in the event that we were unable to save the king. The Soul King's body was dead but his spirit would linger for a short while. If the king couldn't be saved then we would replace him with a new one by fusing his spirit with a new king," he turned his eyes towards the Substitute, "You."

Ichigo went white as the sheet covering Orihime. "Me?" He remembered the state that the Soul King had been in, limbless and trapped inside crystal. "You wanted to make me into that?!"

Kyoraku pulled his hat over his eyes, unable to look the young man in the eye. "We're not proud of it. But desperate times called for desperate measures. In the event that it came to pass, I gave your friends and family Soul Tickets so that they could see you if the need truly became apparent."

All Ichigo could do was look at him in disbelief. "I would never agree to that!"

When Kyoraku looked up, the look in his eye made Ichigo feel very small. "You're assuming you'd have a choice in the matter."

Osho interrupted them by putting a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "That was our contingency. But I suppose even the best laid plans can go to waste. We wondered why the king's spirit didn't inhabit your body when you slayed Yhwach since you were the only person capable of holding such power as well as the fact that you were the one who killed the king. What we didn't realize, however, was that there was a second candidate, one that the Soul King chose himself." He pulled back Orihime's eyelids, revealing the eyes of the Soul King.

Ichigo took a step back out of horror, the sight of Orihime with those eyes almost too much to bear. "You mean…Orihime's the Soul King now?!" he gaped, unable to believe this was happening.

Kyoraku scratched the back of his head. "Well…more like Soul Queen. The king must've inhabited her body when they came into contact as a last resort to save himself from Yhwach."

"But Orihime never-" Ichigo stopped himself when he remembered something. He recalled Yoruichi telling Orihime to try to use her powers to restore the Soul King but her Shun Shun Rikka failed to revive him. "You mean…that was what caused it?"

"It was," Osho confirmed. "The Soul King's consciousness is inhabiting Orihime's body. It is what's keeping our worlds together. But I'm afraid that his strength is failing." He turned to Ichigo and decided to get to the heart of the matter. "Ichigo, when Orihime passed away, the King brought her consciousness out of the cycle of rebirth. That's why her spirit lingers on."

"Yeah but…why is she inside my Inner World? And also, why did my Zanpakuto's change when she did?" Ichigo asked.

"I believe it is for two reasons. The first is obvious: when Yhwach stole your powers your zanpakuto became hollow, so to speak. Your swords had power but it was only a shallow memory of what they were. When she encountered you, she took up the empty space that Zangetsu left behind. The other reason," he said with a sad look on his face, "is because your despair and agony drew her to you. Your guilt and pain drew you both together and let her enter your soul."

Ichigo had a bad idea where this was heading. "So…what do we need to do to get the Soul King's consciousness out of her body?" The captains all simply stared at Ichigo uncomfortably. Behind the boy, Soi-Fon and Kensei put a hand to their weapons… "Can we revive Orihime?" he asked hopeful to see Orihime in the flesh again.

Osho looked at Ichigo for a tense moment before shaking his head. "I know what it is you want, Ichigo. But I cannot give it to you. We can restore Orihime to life but it will require her to take the Soul King's place. And the only way to do that," he pointed a finger at Ichigo's heart, "is for you to let her go. You must relinquish Orihime's spirit so that we may fuse it with the king's."

All of the blood in Ichigo's body went cold when he realized what Osho was saying. He understood what they were all asking. "What…what happens if Orihime becomes Soul Queen?" he asked fearfully.

Closing his eyes, Osho sighed. "She will be taken to the Royal Realm for protection where she will rule over the Soul Society. If you're asking me whether or not the two of you can ever be together…" he opened his eyes before shaking his head, "the answer is no. When Orihime is freed from the confines of your soul, we will merge it with her body and the Soul King's consciousness, preserving her in crystal so that she may become the new anchor.."

Despite so many people watching him, Ichigo couldn't stop the tears from falling down his face. His worst nightmare had come true. Even worse, his own friends and mentors were asking him to do the unthinkable, the one thing that he simply could not do: let Orihime go. "No…" he whispered, taking a step back.

Toshiro, who'd remained silent with the rest of the captains, spoke up, hoping to bring Ichigo to his senses. "Ichigo, listen to reason! If you don't return Orihime's spirit to her body, then everything will soon be destroyed."

"No…"

Soi-Fon scowled at the boy. "Ichigo! This is bigger than you! We all know what you've went through but-"

"NO!"

Faced with the unbearable truth, Ichigo did the only thing he could in this situation: run. Turning away from everyone Ichigo bolted towards the door, only for the person who'd been hiding in the shadows next to it to put himself between it and Ichigo.

Ichigo, in a fit of blind anguish, drew his swords. "Kenpachi! MOVE!"

But the massive captain stood his ground, staring at Ichigo with a mournful eye. He respected Ichigo and trusted him like he was one of his own men. But as much as he respected the boy, even he was still bound to his duty as a captain.

With Kenpachi barring his way and the other captains closing in on him, Ichigo gave the man one final warning, tears running down his face as his heart sank into blind despair. "Get out of my way!" he shouted.

"Ichigo, I won't," Kenpachi said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Put your swords down," he commanded. In his hands was his zanpakuto. He wanted to fight Ichigo again but not like this. Still, if Ichigo forced him to act, he would.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Before anyone could stop him, Ichigo unleashed his signature move on Kenpachi at point-blank range. "GETSUGA TENSHO!"

Everyone was shocked and horrified as the blast sent Kenpachi flying, the man colliding with the doors and flying past the doors. Ichigo took advantage of everyone's shock and ran away, moving past the fallen Kenpachi, the man lying on the ground with a large wound on his chest. Ichigo couldn't tell if the man was dead or alive but he didn't care. He ran past the scared scientists who cowered as he ran past them, fleeing the R&D department.

'I can't… I can't lose Orihime again! I won't! I WON'T!'

To be continued

A.N.: The funny thing about this chapter is I didn't even make up the part where Shunsui and Osho planned on making Ichigo the replacement Soul King. That part was revealed in the light novel Can't Fear Your Own World and is technically canon.