A/N: Part two for chapter 34. Don't need to read it to understand what's going on in this one, but it certainly does add some context. Also, got some Kisuke POV here :)
Ichigo returns from the Spirit King's palace like a deity descended from the heavens, and frankly, Kisuke things that analogy is not off the mark.
Everyone who had been battling up there had already relocated to Seireitei with the bulk of them at least temporarily restricted to the fourth but even with the throng of people milling about, he's absolutely certain that the orange head had not come down with them even if Kisuke couldn't exactly sense his student anymore, so it was more of an instinct telling him than an absolute certainty of this notion.
He's proven right when Ichigo arrives half a second after a bolt of blue lightning strikes the skies and smokey black clouds start trailing patterns in the courtyard as if walking towards the entrance of the division building that slowly condenses into the shape of a human and then, upon closer inspection, the form of their missing Substitute Shinigami.
It's him, unrefutably and undeniably him but also… not.
Ichigo, the Ichigo they know doesn't have black shadows trailing his movements as if the world was distorted by his mere presence, he doesn't have eyes that shine gold and purple in the light nor does he have lightning crackling at his fingertips when he twitches them or red-burgundy little flames twirling around his head almost like a crown. He's not sporting his shihakusho anymore, and while he's not wearing anything impressive per say, the deep blue kimono just looks other on him, as if it's something that was not meant to exist in this world or any other.
As Kisuke pays more attention to not just what he can see, but what his other senses are telling him, he can hear a light jingle in the air like the sound of kagura bells with every third step he seems to take and there's a slight scent of dry leaves in the Autumn and moist dirt that seems peaceful if out of place.
He doesn't know what to say, but even with his words caught in his throat, Ichigo turns in his direction as if sensing the gaze on him and blinks inquisitive but cloudy eyes at him.
Now that Ichigo is looking his way, it's interesting to see that the orange head also bears some black markings in his forehead that Kisuke can't make heads or tails of.
"Yes?" Ichigo asks, not exactly impatiently but not very interested in waiting for Kisuke to say something first.
"Kurosaki-san," Kisuke uncharacteristically blurts out. "what happened?"
Ichigo narrows his eyes and tilts his head as if these words are foreign ones he has never heard before and twitches a finger that has blue sparks dancing across the tips.
"Kurosaki-san?" The orange head asks almost detached. "Do you have me confused or…?" he trails off, and frankly, Kisuke is too busy panicking internally to notice the way Ichigo starts whispering to himself before focusing outwards again. "Oh, me." He corrects himself. "Sorry um… Urahara-san. Still a bit disconnected. I can't focus on keeping the world from collapsing and being conscious very well yet. Just call me Ichigo, I know I know that one is me."
"Ah." That makes sense, frankly, after seeing Ichigo single handedly stop the fighting the way he had, it's no surprise he's so off balance at the moment. "Do you require assistance Ichigo-san? Where were you heading?"
The orange head nods, almost as if answering a question Kisuke can't hear before tilting his head and then turning back to focus on Kisuke with eyes more gold then purple now.
"I'm looking for the Captain Commander." Ichigo reveals, his voice slightly airy as he seems to listen to something ' ! "Mountain man, he's Commander right?"
Kisuke pauses, trying to decipher this odd God-Ichigo speech to normal Soul speech. "Mountain?" he says out loud and finds his brain slotting into place. Mountain, Yama. "Oh, Yamamoto. No, it's not him anymore Ichigo-san, remember?"
Ichigo hums, not confused or showing signs he's upset to have the information wrong before his eyes gain more purple and he seems to perk up a bit. "Right right, the old man died. It's Kyōraku now; Kyōraku no Jirō Sakuranosuke Shunsui, correct?"
That, Kisuke thinks to himself in growing puzzlement, is both the most coherent and Ichigo thing he's said while also being the clearest but frankly terrifyingly knowledgeable thing too.
"Yes." Kisuke agrees and tries not to show outwardly how he's piecing everything together. "I believe I saw him out in the rubble of the first division earlier."
"No he's-" Ichigo cuts himself off as purple overshadows the gold now in a disturbing manner that means Kisuke can't miss it. "Wait, he was over there but he's meant to be here too and… no that's twenty minutes in the future, not now so where is- why is?"
"Ichigo-san." Kisuke stresses the word and only barely stops himself from putting a hand on this eldritch entity's shoulder. "Try and breath?"
The orange head pauses, almost as if the words escape him before he mumbles a quiet oh and takes a breath in. Kisuke is so far passed his insanity meter for the decade, but it keeps going on as the realization that Ichigo wasn't just not breathing because of the rambling or panic but because it seemed he literally forgot.
"Sorry about that." Ichigo says clearly, and the purple and gold are back to equal quantities. "I'm not grounding myself right."
Kisuke finds a baffled chuckle escaping him as he notes the shadows are less, only noticeable in the right light while the crackling electricity seems gone entirely and the little flames like will-o'-wisp are fading away.
"Maybe continue breathing for now Ichigo-san." He recommends, not having much advise to give to a literal God.
The orange head nods, takes another deep breath that cements his form more solidly before he squares his jaw in the stubbornly familiar expression Kurosaki Ichigo wears when he's determined to follow through in a way that the world will have to bend itself to accommodate his goal. It was terrifying back then, and it's more so now when you consider the fact that Ichigo can probably do that with a mere thought.
"Kyōraku-san and Ukitake-san are over by the first still." Ichigo asserts, his eyes only flickering a bit more gold for half a second before it's back to a balanced level. "I need to discuss the ramifications and new implementations we'll be making to Soul Society that should have the worlds working more efficiently and fairly."
Kisuke pauses, looks back to his once apprentice and now God with something akin to expectation at the chaos that Ichigo will sew.
"Have any plans?" he asks instead of blurting out his excitement like he half wants to -wait until Shinji finds out.
"Hm." Ichigo hums as he exits the fourth division and starts making his way towards the general direction of the first. Kisuke follows of course. "Probably fix Central 46 first. Might need to kill a couple."
Kensei, who is walking past them and into the fourth trips on absolutely nothing and turns to stare at them fast enough to get whiplash with absolute horror at what he's just heard while Ichigo continues walking with a straight face as if nothing had happened and Kisuke frantically suppresses his chuckle and laments the loss of his hat in the war.
"We'll find better ones." Ichigo adds as if he's replacing the curtains on a window and not actual people. "Off the top of my head, there's Byakuya's great-aunt Hotaru. She's a woman to be reckoned with, I'm sure she'll keep a lot of them in line if she agrees."
Kisuke doesn't tell Ichigo that no one would dare deny him if he were to ask and it only has a little bit to do with the fact Ichigo is now for all intents and purposes their God.
"Will you stay?" Kisuke finds himself asking before he even notices and comes to the realization that Ichigo is somehow affecting him enough that his brain to mouth filter is more lax and honest then he usually allows himself to be. "Being in the palace sounds…"
Ichigo makes a gesture with one hand and the spirit particles condense enough to repair a bridge that was in shambles which they could have jumped, but now didn't need to.
"He lost sight of his being by doing that." Ichigo whispers in almost regret. "The previous Spirit King; that God was long dead ages ago. I can't do that- I won't."
Kisuke nods, finding inconsistencies slotting into place as if the picture had always been complete and he just wasn't paying enough attention.
"We'll do our best." He finds himself promising.
Ichigo's eyes flicker purple once, twice and then balances out again, but his eyes still leave Kisuke feeling bare. "I know. The universe owes me that much." He reveals, and if it were anyone else at the hem of this un- quantable power, Kisuke would have lamented at the fact they were doomed.
Instead Kisuke finds himself lowering his head and pressing a palm to his heart with solemnity he rarely shows; the words come tumbling out of his mouth as if they were branded into his very soul. "As you so wish my Lord, King of Kings and Master of Duality."
"So it shall be." Ichigo whispers back, his eyes even and balanced as one hand cups blue electricity and black shadows -meant to destroy, consume- and the other holds white spirit particles and the red flames that pulse like a soul -meant to create, build.
So it shall be.
Not to be continued…