Italicized - memories/ thoughts

Bold - Zangetsu talking

Bold/Italicized - Shiro talking

Disclaimer: I do not nor ever will own Bleach (sigh) so let me sit in my corner and cry.

Chapter 1: The memories . . .

"When was it that he stopped smiling?"

"She filled up the center that our family revolved around . . . And I took that away."

Ichigo awoke, gasping for breath and clutching his head. Where was he? Were they being attacked? God, his body hurt. What was going on? Why couldn't he remember? Thousands of thoughts going through his head, thousands of memories.

Relax, king. Ichigo heard his other half say to him. He slowed his breathing and heart rate down.

Shiro? Zangetsu? What's going on? he asked the other parts of his soul.

It was Zangetsu who answered. You do remember that black-robed person who claimed he was the First Shinigami, correct? Ichigo nodded vigorously. Well, I believe he did what he said he would do. We are in the past.

What?What? said both Ichigo and Shiro, before mentally glaring at each other.

Zangetsu sighed in exasperation. Look at your physical body, Ichigo.

Ichigo opened his eyes and looked around. It seemed like his old room, but it felt bigger for some reason. His bed felt right, everything felt right, then he looked at his hands. They were a child's hands, no scars, no strength. What the hell? Quickly he jumped out of bed and ran to the full length mirror. There, staring back at him with eyes far too knowledgeable for his age was a nine-year-old child. This can't be happening. How the hell am I nine years old?!

Hahahaha. King's a chibi boy!!!! Shiro cackled. Ichigo banged his head against the mirror as he stared at his younger reflection. The hollow was still cackling, so out of amusement, Ichigo materialized both Zangetsu and Shiro into his room, a feat he had learned from Muramasa (see current Bleach arc if you don't recognize this name) in order to train by himself.

"Hey how come Shiro's not a child?" Ichigo cried angrily, pointing at the hollow accusingly like the child he was.

Because I'm a part of your soul, and technically your soul is 25, despite the fact that you look like a child right now, Shiro sneered.

Crossing his arms, Ichigo sat down on his bed in a huff, grumbling something about the world being unfair and that the hollow should suffer just as much as him. After he calmed down a bit, he looked at his zankapkto who had been calmly watching their reactions. "What should we do about this, old man?" Zangetsu shrugged his shoulders in indifference. Ichigo sighed. "Well, first I need to find out exactly what part of the timeline we are at and then we need to . . . " He heard someone coming up the stairs, Zangetsu and Shiro vanished instantly. Softly someone knocked on the door before coming in.

"Ichigo, dear it's time to get up," a soft velvet yet very female voice. Ichigo's eyes went wide as he sat on the bed, his arms falling weakly to his side. It couldn't be.

He watched as a brown-haired, amber eyed beautiful woman walked into his room, smiling at him softly. "Ichigo, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Mom.

For a second, he couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All he could do is stare at her. She couldn't be there. No way. He could not be so lucky. Yet she stood there in all her beauty and motherly grace.

"Mom!" he cried out and ran to her, hugging her fiercely and trying vainly to cover the tears that suddenly leapt up with force. She looked shocked at first then leaned down and hugged him back.

"Oh Ichigo what's wrong?" she asked, trying to understand why her young prideful son was crying so suddenly. He sniffled, then drying his tears with the back of his hand, he smiled at her.

"I had a nightmare, sorry mom," he said, hoping that would suffice as an excuse.

She nodded, her eyes revealing some concern and understanding. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. Ichigo shook his head, grinning like a buffoon. His tears had stopped and now he couldn't help but smile. She was here. He could still protect her and his family. They were all still alive. A warm feeling spread over his body as he thought of the future possibilities. He could save them all.

Masaki Kurosaki didn't know what to make of her son and his strange actions. When she went in to wake him up this morning, she had expected him to be excited, after all today he had karate class and for some reason he enjoyed trying to get stronger. Instead, she found him crying like he hadn't seen her in a long while, and then after she asked what's wrong, she realized. He wasn't sad or scared; he was happily crying. So confusing!

Masaki smiled at him. "Well, Ichigo, are you excited about today?"

Ichigo's smile paused for a second. Crap, need cover up. "What are we doing today, mom?" he asked innocently, trying to act like a normal 9 year old.

She frowned for a second. "Why, you have your karate match with Tatsuki-chan today. Did you forget?"

Ichigo's eyes went wide as he realized what this meant before he smiled sheepishly, and putting a hand behind his head, he looked at her. "'Course not, mom. I'll be down in a second, kay?"

Masaki looked at her son, scrutinizingly. Then smiled. "Alrighty, honey, I'll be downstairs with your silly father." And then she left.

Ichigo's smile faded with her absence and for a second, he wanted to chase after her, to make sure she was real, that this was real. Instead, he fell on his bed, going deep within his mind. Zangetsu, Shiro, we need to strategize. The other halves of his soul nodded, accepting his indirect plea for help.

I analyzed your reiatsu already, said Zangetsu. Ichigo smiled. Always the thinker, Zan. It's normal but it is damaging your younger physical body, putting too much strain on it, which is causing your body to hurt. I'm afraid we are going to have to seal some of it away.

Ichigo nodded in agreement, ignoring some of the loud protests coming from Shiro. Okay, that's fine. How?

Zangetsu materialized in front of Ichigo and laid a hand upon his right shoulder. A tattoo similar to the marks on his hollow masks appeared there. Ichigo looked at it, feeling a large portion of his power diminish. Wow, that's amazing, Zangetsu, he said. If he had to guess, he was currently at ten percent. Perfect for the nine year old Vizard.

Yes, because of its nature, the tattoo can only be seen by those with spiritual energy. Also I am in complete control of how much power we channel through it so you need not worry about being caught unawares without enough reiatsu to fight. Zangetsu explained before going into his mind-scape.

Ichigo nodded his thanks then turned his attention to Shiro. Can we still use our hollow powers? he asked.

Shiro frowned, thinking for a second (A task he was not particularly fond of). Yes, even with our power down so much, we can still do some simple things like a cero in this form, . . . it's enough to handle him if that's what you're asking. Shiro and Ichigo shared a feral grin.

God help Grand Fischer should he come across this particular nine year old, thought Zangetsu. How right he was.

Issin Kurosaki, although slightly perverted and weird, was a very loving husband, diligent to his wife's every need. So he knew instinctively as he watched her come down from Ichigo's bedroom that something was wrong.

"Masaki, my darling, what is it?" he asked, while folding up the newspaper he was reading, giving her his full attention. The young twins were sitting at the table as well, eating/playing with their breakfast. Masaki frowned, still in thought as she cleaned the kitchen table.

"Well, I went to go wake Ichigo up, but it seems he had a nightmare. As soon as he saw me, his eyes went really wide like he couldn't believe I was there and then he cried in my arms. I think something's wrong, dear," she said to Issin, who frowned. Ichigo had stopped crying over nightmares a while ago, trying to be the 'man' of the house. Whatever it was must have really scared him.

"I'll go check on him in a few minutes," Issin said, trying to put his wife's mind at ease. She smiled brightly, causing Issin's eyes to explode into lovey-dovey hearts. "You are so beautiful, my angel and I love you sooooooo much." Masaki rolled her eyes at the silly antics of her husband. "Yes I love you too, dear. Now go make sure Ichigo is okay."

Issin nodded before leaping up and running to his son's room in a very overdramatic way. He knocked on the door, softly. Hearing no answer, he opened the door quietly. He could see Ichigo laying on the bed, his brow furrowed, a small scowl on his face, like he was thinking about something.

"Ichigo?" he whispered. Ichigo's eyes snapped open, and he jumped out of bed faster than Issin could blink. Shocked, Issin almost backed up. The look in little Ichigo's eyes wasn't normal; it was wild and feral, glazed like an animal ready for battle. Then Ichigo's eyes refocused and looked at Issin for the first time with wide eyes.

Memories were rapidly going through Ichigo's head, of his dad's super son kick, his dad's perverted comments about his sisters, his dad's silly actions with his mom, his dad telling him he was a shinigami, his dad dying in his arms after saving his sisters from a hollow. That event had almost broken his soul completely and hundreds of hollows had died that day in his grief. Ichigo forced himself to calm down, and smile.

"Ah, hey Dad, good morning!" Ichigo said with as much enthusiasm he could muster. Issin frowned at first (he could obviously tell the smile was forced), then suddenly brought his son into a hug. Ichigo stiffened at the contact, and Issin noticed. "Ichigo what's wrong?" he asked. Ichigo shook his head and almost broke down at his dad's loving actions. Instead, he backed away from his arms and looked at him with serious eyes.

"Dad, d'you promise to protect Mom?"

Although the seriousness in little Ichigo's manner was rather comical, Issin realized there was something deeper in the question so he kneeled down and looked into Ichigo's eyes. "Always."

Ichigo looked serious as he scrutinized his father, then smiled in a child's carefree manner. "Okay, good, then I promise to always protect her too, even from things she can't see."

Issin blinked. "What do you mean?"

Ichigo frowned, realizing his mistake, and smiled awkwardly. "Ah nothing, just that I'll always protect her, okay dad?"

Smiling, Issin nodded then headed out the door, "Okay, son, get dressed then hurry downstairs; your beauuuuuuuutiful mother is making breakfast." Ichigo nodded eagerly then began to take his pajama top off, just as
Issin closed his bedroom door. Sighing, Issin leaned against Ichigo's door, listening to his son quietly. Something was wrong. Besides his son's actions that were a little outside his personality, there were other supernatural things that threw Issin, the ex-captain shinigami, off-guard. 1) His son had reiatsu, which was highly unusual for a normal human, 2) his reiatsu was extremely large, especially if Issin could feel it while still in gigai, (if he had to guess it was low-lieutenant level) and 3) there was some strange tattoo on Ichigo's shoulder. It looked like a hollow's mask. What was going on? he wondered. Frowning, Issin made a decision as he walked downstairs. Looks like I'll have to go see Uehara-san, he thought, smiling. He hadn't seen his old drinking buddy in a while and this made a perfect excuse.

Ichigo felt a chill go up his spine as he put on his karate outfit. This feels like Uehara, he thought, scowling. He planned to stay far, far away from that wacko who would easily sense his reaitsu and want to ask questions, questions that would ruin the timeline. Ichigo heard Zangetsu and Shiro mutter their agreements. Too many times they had been used by that mad scientist in one of his creepy experiments. After putting his karate outfit on, Ichigo eagerly ran downstairs acting every bit the excited nine year old.

"Ah Ichigo,"said Maskai as she continued making breakfast. Issin was already sitting at the table, playing with the young twins both of whom were incredibl messy with their food. Ichigo couldn't help but grin at seeing Yuzu and Karin again and quickly came up behind them giving them a hug which they returned eagerly.

"G'mornin Ichgo," they said, the words barely forming correctly in their newly discovered voices. Ichigo grinned even more. They were so cute. Those smiles, I'll protect them. Then he sat down at the table next to his father.

"Ichigo, I made your favorite," said Masaki, putting his breakfast on the table. Ichigo looked at it eagerly. It was his mother's homemade French toast and eggs, something he hadn't had since she passed away. Again he felt his emotions overwhelming him. God, how was he supposed to act like everything was normal? Swallowing the happiness in the back of his throat, Ichigo grinned. "Thanks, Mom!" He chowed down munching away at the eggs first. Masaki almost laughed at his enthusiasm. Pretty soon, breakfast was over and Issin grabbed the two (now clean) little girls into his arms and headed off to work, telling Ichigo to fight well and giving Masaki a kiss. It almost seemed like a normal family day, if Ichigo didn't know any better.

"Oh gosh, it's raining so heavily," Masaki mentioned as she watched Issin and her daughters leave. Ichigo looked out at the rain, his eyes growing dark at the memories it brought up. Masaki again noticed the change, her son staring at the rain with a horribly morose expression. "Ichigo, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Her voice brought him back to reality, shaking off the dark memories and bringing a steel determination into his eyes. He looked at his mom and smiled. "Nothing, mom, let's go to karate class!"

She smiled back, handing him his raincoat and putting on hers, while grabbing an umbrella. Then hand-in-hand they headed down the road. Masaki noticed that her son was quiet and tense for most of the walk, even pausing and glaring at a certain point before continuing down. At first she thought he was nervous about his fight with Tatsuki-chan, but now she wasn't so sure. "Are you okay, Ichigo? You're not nervous about fighting Tatsuki-chan, are you?" she asked. Ichigo couldn't help but smirk at that. Little 9 year old Tatsuki although a little demon unto herself, was not even on the scale of scary things he had fought in his lifetime. Not that his mother knew that so he just smiled at her then told her he was fine. In all honesty, he was excited and couldn't wait until the end of karate class. It was high past time Grand Fischer met his demise. He heard Shiro and Zangetsu rumble in agreement. Somewhere not too far away, a hollow felt a very eerie chill go up his spine.

A/N: i hope i was able to capture their personalities. If you have any questions or suggestions, just review.

I'm not one to be very diligent with updating, but if you like the idea let me know and i'll be sure to update faster : ) thanks to all those who chose this story as one of their favorites.