Alone
Once the bright light died down ichigo was back in his cell in azuchi castle. He sat with his back to the cold stone wall he is all too familiar with. This is the wall he sat next to during all his talks with yoruichi.
The moonlight shined on the bared window of ichigos cell revealing the man known as zangetsu on the other side of his cell.
The light from the moon created a grated light positioned right on the old mans face. Though it was still dark ichigo could make out his aged face.
"so im assuming this is hell?"
Ichigo saw Zangetsu stand as still as a statue not even bothering to acknowledge Ichigos question.
"no dumbass your not that lucky, oh and wrinkles stop staring him down like that you look like a petifile"
Ichigo new that voice, it was his friend since childhood well if you could call him that. His mind was foggy at the moment and he did not know where he was but having Shiro he here was a good thing he hoped. although he couldn't see shiro he knew his voice was coming from the wall behind him and he could just see that smug smirk.
"Do not call me wrinkles you fool my name is zangetsu and I'd appreciate it if you used it"
"Alright i got it so are you going to talk to me or fill the king in you know we dont have much time Mr. wrinkles."
Ichigo saw Zangetsus eye begin to twitch and if he wasn't confused as hell he'd probably laugh at Shiros antics.
"I said to.. you know what never mind Ichigo it is true you are no longer among the living but you are not completely dead ether."
"Yea king we still get to kick ass but we're out of time all your memories should be coming back to you when you wake up if you have any questions just ask Mr. wrinkles he knows more about this place than i do."
The thought of blacking out again made Ichigo want to vomit. the shit was ridiculous every time he'd get a sick nauseous feeling.
"WAIT! what do you mean im not dead and where the hell am i going."
Ichigo tried to jump up and show his confusion but the nausea hit him like a brick and his vision was becoming blurry.
"We will see you later Kurosaki"
"Bye king"
Once shiro and Zangetsus said there farewells the familiar coldness took over him.
/Yoruichi's p.o.v/
Thunder sounded above her head as she stood with a large group of people all with looks of happiness but also sadness. The people around her did not know Ichigo Kurosaki but they all shared a great sorrow for his death.
Its funny how a man so anonymous can envoke emotions in people that some dont even feel for there own family.
Rain began to poor out of the darkend sky usually yoruichi would be curled up by the window in this kind of weather she liked it. It was peaceful but seeing Ichigos lifeless body in front of her changed all of that. It made her feel empty
noticing all the people's sad faces her feel something other than sandeness and guilt. Anger thats what it was, how could these people put on those faces and not even know him nobody knows him like her.
Why he saved them what his dreams where, his sense of humor, how easy it was to fluster, him his caring family that was took from him. Nothing yet they show false faces acting like they care, but they just cant what to go on with there lives and forget him.
"Forget him, forget Ichigo, my Ichigo will I do the same. Am I just like these people"ichi-ruichi-yoruichi"
Kisuke snapped her out of her thoughtsby shaking her shoulder his usual care free face held bags under his eyes and the look of sadness evident across his tired features
Yoruichi was in no mood to talk. She simply looked at him her beautiful golden eyes now dimmed with a slight redness from tears, her hair and clothes a mess.
Kisuke could tell she was deep in thought. He could only assume it was about ichigo. Sure he never really new the man but he cared for him in his own way and as much time as Yoruichi spent with him he knew this was going to crush her.
However now was not the time to talk about it. Yoruichi's temper is a force to be reckon with and she looked like she was about to blow. Thank god that the emperor arrived
Kisuke nodded his head towards the emperor turning Yoruichi's attention towards him.
"Thank all of you for coming as all of you know we were attacked today. Many of us lost our families and loved ones. Even myself have lost a best friend but thanks to this man my family lives, our homes damaged yet still stand and our hearts hurt but not destroyed. This one man stood up against an army when we were to scared to move. He is the reason we can live on today a become stronger tomorrow. This man is Kurosaki Ichigo hero of Tokyo"
After the emperor's speech the crowd quickly dispersed and all that was left was Yoruichi and Kisuke. The rain now drenched both of them. Kisuke tried to get her to leave but she couldn't. Her heart was broken and she didn't know what to do. Between all those ass holes that sct like they give a damn and the emptiness she felt. she was frozen then the tears began to run down her face once again.
She felt a hand on her shoulder trying to get her attention she new it was Kisuke and told him to leave her alone, but he kept shaking her.
"DAMN IT KISUKE LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALO!"
when Yoruichi turned around ready to puch the shit out of Kisuke she stopped in shock. The person shaking her wwas not Kisuke but the Emperor. Yoruichi quickly bowed her head and began to apologize but was stopped.
"Stop now young lady there is no need to apologize you are a grieving widow, I should be the one to apologize for disturbing you but I must speak to you."
Yoruichi raised her head and stoped as she was told. Her cheeks held a slight tint of red to them.
"No my lord you were not disturbing me please what can I help you with."
The Emperor gave yoruichi a slight smile and offered his hand to her
"Come let us talk inside where it will be more comfortable"
With that Yoruichi took the Emperors hand and head for his home while Kisuke trailed behind them.
/The emperors home/
The house they entered was now where near the castle they saw in the middle of the city. On the contrary actually this is the cozy little house you expect an average man to have. The warmth and the smell coming from further inside was amazing. And surprisingly the house was not even touched in the attack.
"Please come in my wife is cooking. So feel free to help yourselves"
Kisuke walked up behind Yoruichi squeezing theough her and the emperor. he put his wet clothes on a coat rack and continued further in the house.
"Your friend is quite carefree"
The Emperor supressed a small laugh but the smile still held on his face. He turned from her and went further in to the house.
She figured she may as well move or she would get no where. So she kicked off her shoes and her wet clothes and followed the men inside.
Once she turned into the small living room she saw the Emperor and Kisuke sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Kisuke always trying to lighten a mood was running his mouth about anything and everything. And she had to admit it made her feel like things didn't go to hell five hours ago.
After looking around and taking all the warm features of the house she went and sat next to Kisuke at the table. Now that she was in front of the Emperor she could see he held a little girl in his lap about six years old. She too had a look of sorrow on her face, but Yoruichi did not feel like it was a fake feeling. No the girl had a true feeling of sadness why she doesn't know but it was nice to know people did care about him.
"Nina why dont you go and help your mother with dinner while we talk a little."
The little girl in his lap looked up at him. with the nod of her head she got up and left towards the kitchen. Yoruichi was stuck looking at a flaming candle in the middle of the table.
"He was a lot like a flame. Burning bright in the night, comforting and warm to those who cared for it, but dangerous to those who abuse it."
"I can tell that you two cared for each other."
Yoruichi was taken out of her daze by the Emperor. She caught the sight of his eyes and he too held sadness.
"What has Ichigo done to these people to make them care so much?"
"I know its a little weird nobody in Tokyo even knows him yet me and my family are hurt by his death. Well to answer that he saved my life he saved my family hell he saved my home for that I will never be able to repay him but maybe I can at least comfort his grieving wife."
The slight tint of pink hit Yoruichi's face again. She did not know why when this man called her Ichigo's wife it made her feel warm. Yea she really cares for Ichigo but she wouldn't call it love or would she?
"Thank you for being so kind my lord but Ichigo is not my husband. However I do care for him a great deal."
The Emperor noded his head in understanding such a shame the young man died before being able to experience love with such a beautiful woman.
"I apologize for the misunderstanding but I still intend to help you in anyway you need me if its in my power juat ask."
Yoruichi was amazed at the mans generosity even though Ichigo is dead he still tries to honor him, He barley knew Ichigo. She was about to tell the Emperor to not worry about her but before she could she heard the foot steps of Nina from behind her.
"alright everyone dinners ready"
The Emperor looked at Yoruichi asking her to stay for dinner. To be honest though she just wanted to be alone and rest but she knew Kisuke wouldn't have any of that so she was going be left alone no matter what she did.
She saw Kisuke stand beside her. He held his hand out for her to take which she did. Kisuke pulled her up then let go of her hand and took off to the kitchen.
"Well lets go join that idiot before he breaks somthing"
The Emperor lightly chuckled at Yoruichi's little jab. Shaking his head in conformation he took off to the kitchen. Yoruichi on the other hand huffed to herself and drug her tried body to the kitchen.
/Ichigo p.o.v/
"Aaahhhh, Damn it where the hell am I"
In the middle of the street stood a man with shaggy orange hair that almost covers his eyes, he wore a common Black robe. His right arm had what appeared to be a black chain tattooed from his forearm to his shoulder.
"King will you shut the fuck up your giving me a headache"
"Well why don't you do something like I don't know tell me where the hell I am"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know I've never been hear I would say ask wrinkles but that old fart is MIA"
Ichigo got sidetracked while talking to shiro and bumped into a man with wild red hair. He kinda looked like a red pineapple
"Hey buddy watch where your going"
The man didn't bother saying anything else he just kept walking until Ichigo grabbed the back of his robesrobes
"Wait can you tell me where I am every time I ask someone they just start laughing"
"Seriously its pretty obvious there is only two ways to get here"
"Two ways?"
"Yea ether your born here or you died there"
Ichigo's eyes widened, all that wasn't a dream he died that night. Yoruichi she was real, she was beautiful.
He began to chuckle lightly and scratch the back of his head, lightly ruffling his orange hair.
"so im dead, thought I would have ended up in a worse place to be honest."
"All souls end up here its what you make of it really. Oh and if you dont want this place to be hell I suggest you get the hell outa here its almost time for the cleansing and I heard captain zaraki is doing it this time. Wouldn't want to face him on your first day here. Well i gotta go mabye I'll see you later uhh."
"Ichigo"
"Right I'm Renji so see yeah"
"yeah bye"
With the wave of a hand the man know as Renji took off leaving a dust cloud behind him.
"man wonder whats the rush, hey shiro know anything about what he said"
"na foreign to me but what ever a cleansing is it dosent sound pleasant, so what now?"
"I guess we find our way around and try to avoid this zaraki guy"
/Yoruichi p.o.v/
After they ate Yoruichi and Kisuke began to leave and return to the shop but she felt a hand grab her and turn her around
"Before you leave I wont to give you this"
The Emperor held out a pure black katana with with a small link of chain hanging from the handle
"Is this Ichigo's sword?"
"Yes I was able to retrieve it after the battle I thought you should have. No he would have wanted you to have it"
Yoruichi thanked him and took the sword from him. after saying one final good bye to the emperor and his family they left.
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"Yoruichi you've been staring at that sword for an hour now why dont you unsheathe it?"
"What,why?"
Kisuke stopped walking and dropped his head to the ground
"You really need to stop this i get your upset but we both know Ichigo wasent normal and that sword has a power strong enough for us to feel even when the wielder isn't around"
Its true Yoruichi feels the power radiating off the blade but she never even thought that it could be that.
"You really think this is a zanpakuto?"
"see now your getting it, if thats a zanpakuto then releasing it from its scabbard should do something"
"Fine i guess it couldn't hurt"
Yoruichi held the blade up and placed her hand on the black and blood red handle. With a swift tug the unsheathed the blade and a bright light blinded both her and Kisuke. She felt the handle slowly change shape in her hand, instead of the single handle she felt five smaller ones touch her, They felt warm.
once the light died down she saw a man in a trench coat and sunglasses holding her hand he looked to be middle age.
"Thank you for releasing me my name is Zangetsu and I'm the zanpakuto of Kurosaki Ichigo"
To say Yoruichi was shocked was an understatement Kisuke was right it is a zanpakuto which means Ichigo is a soul reaper
"Zangetsu since your Ichigo's zanpakuto you can communicate telepathically right"
"Miss Yoruichi I already know where your going with this but Ichigo is not use to his powers yet and we are too far away to communicate."
Her eyes darkend she knew she would not see him again his zanpakuto was the only chance she had and they cant communicate there's no way she can find him in the soul society and even if she could going back there would bring trouble.
"Miss Yoruichi please dont feel disappointed I understand you want to see Ichigo and you can but I Need your help"
"What do you need?"
"I have very little Reiryoku and what little I had I used to give a message to Ichigo before he crossed over. Since I'm here i need you to bring me to him."
"Wait why aren't you with Ichigo I thought zonpakuto manifested when you cross over to soul society?"
"That is true but Ichigo was already a soul reaper before he passed so I manifested in the living world. Since I'm binded to a blade made in the living world i can not cross over with my wielder."
Kisuke was foaming out the mouth with all the new intel he was receiving he never knew you could be a soul reaper and still be among the living. Part of him wanted to keep the zanpakuto and see how much more information he could get from him, but he knew this was not his choice to make it was Yoruichi's
She was currently starring and the scabbard in her hand weighing her options. Its was difficult see the man that you came to care for so much in the past year and risk your life as well as his. Or try to forget him and hope hes living a happy life in the soul society
"I will give you time to think"
Zangetsu formed back into a sword the blade was stuck into the wet ground. Yoruichi went and retrieved Zangetsu placing It back into the scabbard.
"You know what ever you choose I'll back you up"
"Thanks but first i need a place to think for a minute"
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Within thirty minutes they were back at the shop Kisuke went to tinkering on his inventions while Yoruichi went to her room with Zangetsu in her hands
She sat Zangetsu down by a window sill. Then sat down on her bed. She closed her eyes trying to figure out what to do. Her heart was tore in two she really wanted to see him but the risk both her and Kisuke were told never to return or they would be exicuted. But would it make her a greedy ass hole if she just wanted to see him again. Then the fact that what if his life is better now no more worries of the real world he probably found his family for all she knows and all she could be to him is a memory of a bad nightmare.
Yoruichi got out of bed and decided to ask Zangetsu one question and depending on his answer she would go. She grabbed the sheathed katana by the window and tugged it open once more. With a flash of light Zangetsu manifested in front of her.
"Have you made up your mind miss Yoruichi?"
"Not yet I have a question to ask you first"
"Well then I will answer it to the best of my ability"
"why me?"
"To be honest part of it was luck that I was given to you."
Yoruichi turned away from Zangetsu that was her answer. As much as she wanted to see him she couldn't risk her life, Kisukes life for luck. she would just find a wondering soul reaper to return him to Ichigo.
"Thank you for you honesty but I can't"
"Hold up now miss, what I said was true but that wasn't everything. I was so glad when I was given to you"
"Why? what makes me so special?"
"I was not with Ichigo very long before he died but for the time I saw his past. The pain he bared from childhood to now he never had many friends but when you talked to him in prison. You made that hell hole a place he looked forward to. in his whole life you where one of the few to make him feel truly happy.
Hearing what Zangetsu said brought back all the memories she and Ichigo shared and she couldn't help but cry. She felt like such a child never has she cried this much. A man she barley knew a year
can do such a thing to her. The strange thing though was the fact that she didn't mind shedding tears for him.
"Zangetsu, I know what to do"
She turned around to face Zangetsu tears lightly trailing down her cheeks and dripping on the floor. The thought of the people that attended his funeral hardened her resolve even more the way she felt was not fake, it is not fake.
"They may forget him but I never will"After cleaning her face Zangetsu no longer saw sadness instead. Her face was steeled with pure determination.
"I'll take you to Ichigo"
/Ichigo's p.o.v/"Hey um King?""little busy right now shiro""yea I get that but you remember your plan right?""yea find our way around and avoid zaraki""Ah glad you remember...""Hey king""WHAT SHIRO!""IF THATS THE PLAN WHY THE FUCK ARE WE BEING CHASED BY A GOD DAMN PSYCHOTIC GIANT!"Ichigo ducked under a serrated katana blade that cut a building in half.
"How the hell should I know"
"GET BACK HERE BOY I FEEL POWER RADIATING OF YOU, LETS HAVE SOME FUN!"
The psychotic man that was chasing him was huge his body looked as if it was chiseled from stone rather than skin. his hair was spiked up in every direction and he wore a eyepatch over his right eye.
The man swung at Ichigo again. The attack caused a cloud of dust to cover his body and hide him from view. Once the dust settled Ichigo stood with the man towering over him struggling to bring his sword down on his face. The giant of a man was shocked Ichigo caught his sword with nothing but his hands and he now had a porcelain mask that had claw marks painted on it. And it turned his eyes yellow.
"Here king use some of my power we might have a challenge on our hands"With a hollowfied grunt Ichigo threw the blade to the side and back stepped away from the giant. The situation just got worse when the man started laughing.
"I new you would be fun. My name is Kenpachi Zaraki Captain of the eleventh division. Im also the one who will defeat you"
"You got to be fucking kidding me"
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A/N: Yes another chapter im slacking a lot but here it is hope you enjoy. part of me wants to drop the story but part dosent. I've been wanting to try other fanfics but we'll see what happens. now about the story im thinking of giving ichigo a different zanpakuto i mean he still has zangetsu just different like not having the sword the same size as his body new abilities tell me what you think.and i struggle with women's emotions im a sucker for romance yet im not in tune with emotions im trying to show how yoruichi cares but not belittle her character, you know make her look like a wimp.and as for ichigo i like his look in the aizen arc with the long hair and chain rapped around his arm so i made it a tattoo.Well as always thanks for likes,favorites,follows,and comments and the story will continue eventuallymight even be an OC in the future ;)
p.s shorter ch shorter update or longer ch longer update you guys decide