Chapter 7: Back to the Land of the Living
Feeling the weight above him lessen slightly, Ichigo wriggled free of the mass of bodies, crawling as fast as he could to get away from the inevitable confrontation. With a frightened start, he ran into a massive pair of denim covered legs. Looking up slowly, Ichigo gazed into the glasses of Tsukabishi Tessai, which were currently glowing with fury.
"So…" Tessai ground out with agonizing slowness, "You think this shop is…'shitty?' Do I understand you correctly, Kurosaki-dono?"
"N-no, Tessai-san!" Ichigo stuttered, bowing low to the ground, "I was just trying to knock off Urahara-san's hat!"
"I see…" Tessai said, stroking his mustache, as Ichigo waited with bated breath, "Then…I suppose, under the circumstances, I can forgive you."
Ichigo sighed with relief, sitting up and wiping the sweat off his brow.
"However," the former Kido captain continued, causing Ichigo to freeze, his eyes widening, "because of your underhanded tactics…I would have you assist in maintaining Urahara Shōten, so that no one will ever mistake it for a rundown establishment."
Ichigo gulped loudly, nodding helplessly.
"If that is acceptable to you, Tencho?" the big man asked, glancing at Urahara who was busy brushing the dirt out of his hair.
"Certainly!" the Urahara exclaimed, looking up and giving Ichigo his first real look at the man's face, "It will give Kurosaki-san the perfect excuse to come here after school to train!"
"Huh? What now?" the new shinigami blinked, puzzled.
"Oh, that's right! I forgot to tell you: you can return to your normal life!"
"What?!" Ichigo cried in surprise, "Then what was all this for? If I can just return to life-"
"Baka!" Jinta interrupted, shoving Ururu off of him and standing up, "That's not what he said! Nobody can come back to life, that's impossible!"
"Yes, so sorry for the mix up Kurosaki-san," Urahara said amusedly, "You see, when a shinigami must interact with humans or has to recover his or her strength after a particularly difficult battle and cannot return to Soul Society, they use a gigai, which is an artificial body that can be seen by living people."
"So…my friends and family will be able to see me again?" Ichigo asked hopefully.
Urahara nodded, "Correct. You will not be alive, but you can…act…like you are. Also, you'll need to take care of any hollows that might appear." Looking around absently, he frowned. "Now where's my hat?"
Ichigo, who'd been happily exulting to himself about his return to his former life, was suddenly struck by something, "So…how do I fight a hollow anyway?"
"Hm?" Urahara mumbled vaguely, taking his slightly damaged hat from Ururu and giving the girl a pat on the head, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you've just shown me how to fight with a zanpakutō right? But hollows don't carry those, do they?" Ichigo said, crossing his arms.
"No…" the blonde man drawled, his eyes now shadowed once again beneath his striped hat's brim, "Hollows don't carry zanpakutō…but if you ever did meet a hollow that had one, I would advise that you immediately run away."
Once again, Ichigo got the feeling that his teacher was not being entirely forthcoming with him.
Coughing, Urahara continued, "As you may or may not know, all hollows have a common feature: the skull mask. This is their weak spot. If you can, aim there, for a hollow will only be purified when their mask is destroyed."
"Purified?"
"Ah! Again, I've neglected your education Kurosaki-san. A zanpakutō is not meant to kill a hollow in the traditional sense. Since hollows are merely souls who are consumed by regret, killing them would be monstrous. By destroying the hollow's mask, you would be cleansing their souls of all the sins they have committed after their death and sending them to Soul Society. Although, should the soul have committed crimes before their death, they will be sent to Hell."
"Huh…" Ichigo frowned going over the newly acquired information. Destroy the mask…so wait…does that mean...
"What happens when something else destroys the hollow's mask? Like something that's not a zanpakutō?" he asked.
"Ah, that's right! You can also destroy a hollow's mask with kidō, which consists of both binding and destructive spells," Urahara explained, his eyes twinkling, "Tessai is an expert in it, as I'm sure you know by now…"
Ichigo nodded ruefully, watching Tessai warily as he ascended the ladder back upstairs, Ururu and Jinta at his heels. "Oh, I know, trust me. But that's not what I was talking about. I wanted to know about the Quincy."
Urahara's looked at him sharply and for the first time, Ichigo felt as though he'd actually surprised him.
"Quincy?" Urahara queried, his eyes narrowed curiously, "Where did you hear that word?"
"There's a guy in my class who said he was one. He shot some kind of arrow thing through this hollow that attacked me when I visited school. He also said he was the last of his kind because shinigami killed all the rest…" Ichigo said, almost accusatorily.
"Mmm, yes…" the ex-shinigami sighed ruefully, taking a seat on a large rock, "I won't deny that they were killed. It could have been handled more tactfully than it was. Allow me to explain. Quincy are, or were, a group of spiritually aware humans, much like you before you died."
"What?!" Ichigo interrupted, "How could you possibly know that I could see ghosts before I died?"
"Oops," Urahara said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oops? What you do you mean, OOPS?!" Ichigo shouted, "Have you been stalking me or something?"
"No, no, nothing like that! And don't try to change the subject!"
"You're the one changing the subject!" Ichigo growled, shaking his fist.
"Now then," Urahara continued, to Ichigo's chagrin, "Quincy, as you can imagine became angry when they saw their loved ones killed by hollows. Eventually, they discovered a way to fight back and kill hollows. However, unlike when a shinigami destroys a hollow, when Quincy destroy hollows, it is absolute eradication. As I said before, hollows are, for the most part, misguided souls who have committed no sins of their own volition. To destroy them utterly, without allowing them into the afterlife, is not something that Soul Society could allow in good conscience. Many attempts were made to convince the Quincy to stop, but in the end, another solution was conceived…"
"I see…" Ichigo wasn't sure what to make of all this. On the one hand, he could understand how the Quincy felt. On the other hand…I don't like the idea of just disappearing into nothingness…
"Can shinigami…die?" he asked.
"Yes, but it takes a much longer time than for a living person, especially if you have a lot of reiatsu, as you and I do," Urahara said, pulling out his fan and waving it in an attempt to cool down.
"And where do you go after that? I mean…you're already dead, right?"
"After one dies in spirit form, you are reincarnated here on Earth."
"And if I get killed by a hollow?"
"Then you'll reincarnate sooner!" Urahara mocked, grinning behind his fan.
Ichigo rolled his eyes, sighing. Just then, his stomach growled loudly.
"Agghhhh!" Ichigo yelled, "I'm hungry! Does that mean I'm turning into a hollow again?!"
Laughing, Urahara stood, shaking his finger at the panicking orange haired teenager, "Of course not. I would have bound your hands and feet again if you were. You see, not even shinigami can keep going without some fuel. Our reiatsu needs recharging from food like any living thing."
"Oh," Ichigo heaved a sigh of relief, "That's good!"
"Yosh! Now, let's go see what Tessai can whip up for you…"
Ichigo swallowed nervously. "Great…"
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"I'm hooome!" Ichigo shouted, slipping into his house, later that day. He was promptly greeted by his father, in the usual fashion.
"Too slow son!!" came his father's greeting-slash-war cry, as his foot came flying at his progeny in the form of a bicycle kick. Grabbing Isshin's outstretched leg, Ichigo, hurled it out of the way, sending his crazed parent into a nearby wall.
Leaping up, the Kurosaki patriarch shouted, "You punk of a son! Is that any way to treat your father who's been worried sick about you for three days??"
"Me?! What about you?! Attacking your own son who just spent three days tracking down the trash who wrecked our house??" Ichigo responded angrily, sticking to the version of events his family seemed to believe. Urahara had explained to him how shinigami used devices to modify people's memories.
At least Karin and Yuzu don't have to remember any of what happened to them.
"That's my son," Isshin said, switching gears instantaneously, tears streaming down his face as he gripped Ichigo's shoulder fervently, "Chasing after evildoers!"
A cry came from the kitchen, "Ichi-nii!" and Yuzu hurried in, tearing off her apron and giving Ichigo a big hug. "We didn't think we'd see you again!"
"For a while there, I didn't think you'd see me either…" Ichigo mumbled, squeezing Yuzu back.
Karin approached, leaning against the wall and fixing Ichigo with a hard stare. "Don't ever leave us alone with him, again!" she growled, her eyes flicking to Isshin. Smirking, Ichigo nodded.
Their father chose that moment to pull all of them into a viselike group hug. "Kurosaki Family Huddle of Love!" he exulted, clutching his brood together awkwardly.
"Shut up!" Ichigo and Karin yelled simultaneously, wrenching away and punching Isshin in the chest, knocking him down the hallway.
It's good to be home… Ichigo thought contentedly to himself.
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"Iiiiii-chiiiiiii-ggoooooooo!" Keigo's exuberant greeting echoed down the hallway. It was soon followed by an all too familiar smack, as Ichigo's elbow met his friend's face.
"Morning Keigo," Ichigo acknowledged, stepping over his prone friend's body, grinning inwardly.
Huh… Ichigo thought, flexing his fingers, This gigai thing still feels a little weird…I suppose I'll have to get used to it. His attention was abruptly diverted by a loud squeal that rang out as soon as he entered Class Three.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried, waving excitedly, "Welcome back!"
"Morning Inoue," Ichigo smiling embarrassedly, which had the effect of alarming anyone who knew him.
"What?" Ichigo said nervously, glancing around at his classmates who were all staring at him, "Do I have something on my face or something?"
Approaching warily, Tatsuki spoke for the entire class, "Are you…feeling okay Ichigo?"
"Yeah…why?" Could they know? How could they know?
"You smiled just now," Tatsuki said, looking at Ichigo as though he might explode or, at the very least, burst into maniacal laughter.
"Did I?" Ichigo asked, relieved that his fears had been unfounded, "I guess I'm just glad to be back. Three days of chasing after the jerk who drove into my house and I'm just glad to see some friendly faces."
Everyone seemed to buy this and continued on with their conversations. Tatsuki, on the other hand, was looking at him doubtfully. "So, what did you do to this guy when you caught up with him?"
"Huh?" Ichigo stumbled a bit, trying to remember his story as he took his seat, "I kicked his ass of course! Then…uh…then I made him pay for the damages…yeah."
"Is that right?" Tatsuki drawled, leaning against her desk, "And he didn't charge you for assaulting him or anything?"
"Nope," Ichigo grinned wolfishly, "I can be very persuasive."
Shaking her head at Ichigo's roguish attitude, Tatsuki took her seat just as their teacher entered, pulling a bedraggled Keigo by the ear.
"Really Asano…you shouldn't get in so many fights," Ochi chided, turning a deaf ear to Keigo's protests. "Now then! Oh…look who's back: Kurosaki! Did you think you could just skip school for the week? Are you in a gang? Did they pressure you to do drugs? Were you wacked out all week?"
Ichigo tried to refrain from rolling his eyes at his teacher's increasingly outlandish accusations. "No, Ochi-sensei. I went chasing after the guy who drove a truck into my house one night. When I caught up to him, I made him pay for the damages."
"What?!" Ochi cried, "Who would believe that story? It can't have taken three or four days to do that!"
"Er…" Ichigo hesitated, unsure what to say, as yet another hole was poked in his narrative. It was then that he recalled his promise to Tessai. "Actually…on my way home, I got roped into helping a guy out at this shop. In fact…I was kind of forced into getting a job there…"
"Really? Well…maybe a job will help you become more responsible, Kurosaki-kun," his instructor mused, turning back to the class at large, "Well, now that that's cleared up I'd like to get to today's lesson which is-"
"My apologies for my tardiness, Sensei," came an interruption from the doorway, in the form of a spectacled student, "It will not happen aga-"
The student broke off, his heading whipping around sharply to look at Ichigo.
As their eyes locked, the only thought going through Ichigo's mind was, Oh shit! He knows I'm dead!
"Something wrong?" Ochi asked, looking at her top student curiously.
"…Nothing," Ishida said finally, going towards his seat.
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Class that day, although tedious as usual for the students, was punctuated by occasional bouts of unmistakable tension. As one, the students breathed a sigh of relief as the lunch bell rang.
Ichigo hurried out the door and up the stairs to the roof, closely followed by his Quincy classmate.
"Look, I can explain…" Ichigo began, but he was soon cut off.
"You are a shinigami!"
"Wh-how did you know?" Ichigo stumbled, taken aback.
Reaching out his hand, the air around Ishida became distorted, forming into familiar looking threads. Reaching out to grab the closest one to Ichigo, the Quincy hissed, "Because you're red!"
Ichigo blinked. That red one…it's the same as my zanpakutō thread…
"Kurosaki, why did you have to become a shinigami?!" Ishida demanded, grabbing the front of his shirt, "They killed my s-…they killed the rest of the Quincy!"
"Listen…uh…er…what was your name again?" Ichigo asked, losing his momentum.
"It's Uryū," Ishida said coldly, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Ishida Uryū."
"Right, Ishida," Ichigo said, shoving Ishida away and fixing him with a hard stare of his own, "I became a shinigami because it's my only chance to make sure my family aren't all killed by a hollow. I'm dead. I didn't have any other options. Besides, I'm not even taking orders from that Soul Society place."
Ishida opened his mouth to retort, when Keigo burst through the roof's door, shouting, "Lunchtime!"
His face fell upon seeing the two clearly angry individuals in front of him. "Ahhhh….." he gurgled, his mouth hanging open in a combination of puzzlement and nervousness.
Mizuiro soon joined him, quirking his head at the strange scene. "Are we interrupting something?"
"No!" both of them said immediately.
Frowning, Ishida whispered, "After school. Here." Adjusting his glasses in irritation, he brushed past Keigo, whose teeth were now chattering from the tension.
"That…that was terrifyiiiinnnngg!" Keigo cried as soon as Ishida had disappeared down the stairs.
"Baka," Ichigo rolled his eyes, leaning heavily against the large fence surrounding the roof, "It wasn't that bad!"
"So," Mizuiro said, sitting down cross-legged next to Ichigo, "what did you do to get on Ishida-kun's bad side?"
"Huh? Oh…that? That was nothing important," Ichigo lied, opening his bag and taking out his lunch.
Mizuiro gave him a sideways look and said, "It didn't look like nothing to m-"
"Kurosaki!" a voice shouted from the stairs.
Flanked by several cronies, Ooshima Rei stood in the doorway, sneering at Ichigo.
"So, you think you can out-cool me, huh? Skipping half a week of school won't make up for the fact that you're copying my look!" the bleached teenager jeered.
"O-ooshima!" Kiego stammered, waving his hands in what he assumed was a calming manner, "We don't want any trouble…"
"Shut it Asano!" Ooshima growled, shoving past him, "If you don't have your hair dyed by tomorrow Kurosaki, I'm gonna' kick your arse!"
"Arse?" Ichigo snickered, "I had no idea you were so old-fashioned Ooshima!"
Mizuiro snorted, nearly choking on his milk.
"Bastard!" the bully roared, cocking a fist back, "I'll just have to beat you up tod-"
He was interrupted by a large brown fist coming down on the top of his head, knocking him to the ground.
"Chado!" Keigo sighed with relief, as Ooshima's lackeys dragged his unconscious form away.
"Mmm," Chad rumbled in greeting, "I'll always have your back, Ichigo."
"Huh?!" Keigo cried, staring tearfully at his tall friend, "What about me and Mizuiro?!"
"You two…know how to stay out of fights, Keigo," Chad replied, taking a seat and setting down the birdcage he'd been carrying.
Staring at the bandages wrapping Chad's hands, Ichigo asked, "Oi…Chado…why are you injured? And what's with that bird?"
"Hmm? Yesterday, a steel beam fell on me."
His three companions stared at him.
"And the parakeet……I also got yesterday," he finished.
"Whoa, whoa!" Keigo interjected, pointing an accusatory finger, "There was more to that story, but you left it out! That's a bad habit to get into! Ichigo's already got it bad and now you?!"
"Hmm?" Chad raised an eyebrow, "What about Ichigo?"
"Well, Ichigo told this pretty outrageous story about why he's been gone," Mizuiro explained, "Right Ichigo?"
But Ichigo wasn't paying attention. Instead, his attention was focused solely on the parakeet sitting next to Chad. Something…something's wrong with that parakeet…Could it be…a spirit? But...why can the others see it?
"Ichigo?" Chad questioned, following his gaze to the parakeet.
"Hu-wha?" Ichigo shook his head, looking up, "What was the question?"
"Chado wanted to hear about what you did while you were gone," Mizuiro prompted, "Are you feeling okay Ichigo?"
"Yeah," the orange haired boy assured, although his mind was still on the strange bird, "Okay, so it all started when this asshole decided to drive a truck through my house…"
"Wait a minute," Mizuiro butted in, "You've never said what the guy's name was."
"I haven't?" Ichigo said, nonplussed. Casting around for a name, he smiled devilishly. "His name was…Urahara Kisuke."
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Later that day, Ichigo returned to the roof to meet with his Quincy classmate. Opening the door with great reluctance, he scanned the roof for Ishida. Not seeing him, Ichigo muttered, "Tardy Quincy jerk…"
"It's you who's late, Kurosaki!"
Jumping in surprise, Ichigo turned and saw Ishida standing on top of the stairwell, eyes boring into him.
"What'd you do that for?!" Ichigo shouted in irritation.
Leaping down nimbly, Ishida sneered haughtily at him, "To prove that you are unnecessary. The fact that you could not even detect me proves that you aren't worthy to protect the citizens of this town."
"Look, Ishida, like it or not, I'm here to stay. And for the record, I know all about the Quincy and why they were killed. I don't agree with it, and besides, I had nothing to do with it!"
"That's ancient history. Of course you had nothing to do with it," Ishida said dismissively.
"Then why-"
"Enough! Let us have a contest, shinigami. Whoever wins, will be worthy of watching over Karakura Town."
Ichigo stared. "You've got to be kidding me!" he said, laughing derisively.
"Do you not think me a worthy opponent? I wouldn't underestimate me, if I were you, Kurosaki."
"I'm not underestimating you! You're overestimating me, you moron!"
"Excuse me?" Ishida growled, a vein twitching on his forehead.
"I've been a shinigami for one day! I haven't even killed a hollow yet. And you've known how use your powers for how long?"
"…Most of my life…" Ishida admitted, grudgingly.
"So, of course you're going to beat me at whatever contest you've got cooked up," Ichigo finished, shaking his head.
"Are you…admitting that you're weaker than me?"
"Who said anything about that?" Ichigo grinned, "I'm gonna' get stronger. Then we'll see who's weak!"
"Very well," Ishida said, satisfied for the moment, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for handicrafts club."
Much to his annoyance, Ichigo's barking laughter followed him down the stairwell.
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A/N: This is kind of a transitional chapter, but on the other hand, it's my second longest so far. Reviews would make my day! And please try to put a bit more into them than "That chapter was good!" If it's good (or bad) please tell me why. Tell me what you'd like to see more of, less of, etc. Who knows what ideas you might spark! You could send the story in a direction I hadn't even considered. You never know…