"So that really is your decision." Uryu commented. Ichigo nodded, but no one in the room looked surprised. The others had all assumed it would come down to this. However they wanted to make sure their friend had completely thought this through. It wasn't a decision that only effected the foreseeable future, but the rest of his life.
"And your family? Tatsuki and the others?" Orihime asked. Ichigo smiled.
"Apparently Shunsui went and saw them before the Quincy's invaded the final time. He gave my dad, my sisters, and our friends all tickets that allow them to come and go from the Soul Society whenever they want. And if you guys want to come visit me, Urahara can always help." Ichigo said. They nodded.
"Well, if this is what you want." Sado said calmly. Sado had been with Ichigo the longest. He had only started fighting again to protect Ichigo and their other friends. He had spent the last few years backing up every decision that Ichigo made. He would continue to do that now. He had actually predicted that Ichigo would decide to stay in the Soul Society and join the Gotie thirteen. After all, Ichigo was the type of guy who wasn't happy unless he was doing what he knew he was best at, protecting others. He could never just go back to being a simple human again.
"I assume you're going to ask me to take over protecting the town again." Uryu huffed, trying to sound annoyed with the decision but ultimately failing. They could all tell he supported Ichigo completely as well. Not only was it what Ichigo wanted, but he knew it was for the best as well. Ichigo had trained so hard to be able to defeat Yhwach, and because of that his reiatsu was on a whole other level now. He couldn't just go back and live in the world of the living any longer without being a threat to those around him. That was why Shunsui gave Ichigo's family and their friends the tickets in the first place. He knew he may not be able to just let Ichigo go back.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Ichigo said, but from his tone and the smile on his face, they all knew he wasn't sorry in the least. Yet Uryu didn't really mind. He had taken over as protector of the town before, he could easily do it again.
"Well, have you decided what division your going to join yet?" Renji asked, genuinely curious. After all that happened, the Seireitei was in pieces. The Shinigami were physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. However with Ichigo staying around, it could just be the big moral booster that helped pull them through. Ichigo became that dark horse they all bet on, and in the end came through not only once, but repeatedly. To them, he was a hero.
"Fool, isn't it obvious." Rukia yelled, kicking Renji for asking such a stupid question.
"It's the thirteenth division isn't it." Orihime said. Ichigo nodded. How could it be anything else? Orihime knew just how deep Ichigo's devotion to Rukia went. If it wasn't for Rukia, Ichigo would never have been a shinigami to begin with. She opened him up to a whole new world. Actually, she opened all of them to a new world. If it hadn't been for Rukia, they wouldn't have formed the group that they did. She probably would never have really gotten to know Ichigo, or Uryu, or Sado. She would never have gotten to go on the adventures that she had, develop the powers to save the people that she had. She wouldn't have gotten to meet Rangiku or the other Shinigami. Then there was the matter of Yhwach. He would have taken Uryu, and may have succeeded in destroying the whole world.
Rukia was someone Orihime knew she could never compete with. She had loved Ichigo a lot, but his heart was not hers. Rather it was Rukia's. At first Orihime thought she was fine with that. She tried to trick herself that she could easily accept that. However when the arrancars began showing up, she realized she wasn't alright with that. She wanted to be there for Ichigo, to be his equal. Now, two years later she was finally on the same ground as the others. They saw her as someone they could depend on, and not just go to after the battles had ended. Yet even though her and Rukia were now equals on the battlefield, they were not equal in love.
Orihime wanted to speak up, to tell Ichigo about how she felt. She knew this would most likely be her last chance. Yet she didn't. She just smiled. She knew that it would only bring pain to them all. A hand came on her shoulder and she looked beside her to see Uryu. He wasn't looking at her, but at Ichigo and Rukia who were now talking with Renji about different divisions. She smiled and put a hand over his, showing her thanks for his support.
"So, when do we all want to go home?" Kisuke asked with a sing-song voice, hiding a black eye behind his fan.
"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you, what happened to your eye?" Ichigo asked. He couldn't remember Kisuke having that when he visited the man in the hospital.
"Let's just say he meddled in affairs he shouldn't have." Yoruichi said, holding up a fist to say she was the one who did it.
"Urahara, can I ask you something." Uryu suddenly spoke up. His tone was different now, a serious one. Kisuke nodded, closing the fan to match the new mood.
"Yhwach said he can move through time, that he would come back in the future when we were the happiest. Do you think..." Uryu started, but Ichigo lightly hit him upside the head.
"There's no need to worry about that now. If he does ever come back, we'll just beat him up and send him back." Ichigo said with a smile. Uryu glared, as if to say Ichigo was taking the situation all too lightly. They were only able to kill Yhwach by using the arrow from his mother's heart. They didn't have such a resource in the future.
"Not to worry, I'll thoroughly investigate the matter. For now, you should worry about your own lives." Kisuke scolded lightly. He didn't need seventeen year-olds worrying about the future.
xxx
Shunsui sat down to have a drink on the couch, looking over the reports. As of now all the officers were awake and ready to act. The divisions were running at the highest capacity they could afford. The Shino Academy was ready to pull out the files of all the graduates who had never been assigned to divisions so they can start re stalking their manpower. Reconstruction was already under way, and recruiting to bring in new people was at its fullest. Ichigo and his friends were also a huge help. He could also close the book on all the missing officer cases, knowing that the last one had been found. It wasn't a bad start after the hell they had all been through.
"It's not healthy to drink alone you know." Lisa said as she plopped down next to him, grabbing a cup for a drink herself. Shunsui smiled. He usually drank with Jushiro or Rangiku, but now Jushiro was gone and Rangiku was busy. He refilled both his and her's cups.
"I need to get new officers placed quickly." he said. She nodded. "The eighth has no taichou or fukutaichou at the moment." he said. Her eyes narrowed at him.
"Don't even ask." she shot down. He pouted.
"Why not? You would make an excellent Taichou. My old third seat Tatsufusa Enjoji is a good man. He would help you out." he said. She scowled.
"We were forced out of the Seiretei, what makes you think I'll come back so easily?" she asked. He gave her a sly smile.
"Because I asked you to." she threw a cushion at him. "Besides Shinji, Rose, Kensei, and Mashiro are already here. I was planning on offering Love the position of the seventh Taichou. After all, Iba is a good kid but I don't think he's ready to be Taichou yet." he said. Lisa sighed, and he could tell she was already caving in.
"Don't you have fukutaichou's with bankai's?" she asked. Shunsui sighed.
"We do, but they are pretty fickle guys. Renji won't leave Byakuya's side. It's the same with Shuhei and Kensei. I'm sure Ikkaku has a bankai too, but he hides it so he won't have to leave the eleventh division. Unfortuantly you can't just order someone to be a taichou, it's a promotion opportunity and they can refuse it." Shunsui said. Lisa threw back the drink she had.
"I'll talk to Love, but I don't think he's as easy to convince as I am." she warned. He smiled.
"Wonderful. I hope you can both get back soon, I really want to get things moving again." he said. Nano came in and paused, seeing Lisa.
"Sorry, I'll come back at another..." she started.
"Don't be silly Nanao, get in here." Lisa dismissed the concern. The young woman smiled and nodded as she came fully into the room, ready to deliver the next report.
xxx
"I wonder what Ichigo and the others are up to about now." Ikkaku mused as he leaned back on the porch. Yumichika sat beside him, looking at the ground.
"Who knows. Taichou seems really upset right now, and there's not much else to do." he agreed. Kenpachi had indeed been withdrawn ever since he woke up after treatment. They didn't know all the details, but the two officers knew one thing for sure. Yachiru was gone and she wasn't coming back. Kenpachi didn't really explain it, but from it sounded like, Yachiru was actually his zanpakuto. To be honest, both males missed her a lot about now. Yachiru was the one who brightened everything up in the dark world. She had such a happy disposition, and the child innocence of having her around made things much more lively. Now the entire eleventh were down.
"Maybe we could go see if there's anything we can do." Ikkaku mentioned. Yumichika gave a small nod. They were not injured anymore, so they could do something to assist in the recovery. Even if the eleventh only specialized in fighting and killing. Ikkaku then looked at Yumichika. "What were you about to do?" he asked suddenly. Yumichika was confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"When I got hurt against Hitsugaya, you went to call your zanpakuto. That wan't the usual command to release it." he said. Yumichika had nearly forgotten that. In his panic at the idea that Ikkaku was about to die in front of him, Yumichika was going to release his true zanpakuto. However he got beat down before he even had the chance.
"I don't know what you're..." he started.
"We're not idiots. We know you've been hiding your real shikai. I don't know what it is, and frankly I don't really care. I do know that you don't like it, but you were willing to use it to help me. Thanks." Ikkaku said with a smile before getting up and walking away. Yumichika watched him go, then turned red. They knew! He had been so careful to hide it too! However they didn't reject him like they thought they would. They still stood beside him. That alone made him happy.