2 – Black and White
Then his thoughts caught up to him.
The most beautiful zanpaktou spirit he had ever seen? When had he seen a zanpaktou spirit other than Zangetsu?
Despite feeling as if he should know the woman in front of him, he couldn't recall ever meeting her before.
"Who are you…?" He asked.
"Hm…my name is…" Her words trailed off into an indistinct sound he couldn't hear.
"I can't hear you. It's just like with Zangetsu before I achieved shikai...but I don't understand. I thought Zangetsu was my zanpaktou spirit!" He glanced back at the cloaked man behind him.
Zangetsu jumped over and landed in front of him.
"Zangetsu…that name doesn't belong to me yet, Ichigo."
The cryptic words confused him even more. Were his dreams actually wrong? It wasn't the future?
"That doesn't make any sense! It's the name you told me yourself! We achieved shikai and even bankai together!"
The zanpaktou spirit of his dreams merely shook his head. "Not with me, you haven't. The possibility exists, but it is only that: A possibility. Right now, she is your zanpaktou spirit." He glanced towards the woman in the air.
Ichigo looked lost and a silence filled the air. He stared back towards the blurry woman, unspoken questions evident on his face.
"I thought you were supposed to be quite intelligent. Aren't you at the top of your class without even trying?" She floated down gently to the building they were on. "Who gave you your Shinigami powers, Ichigo?"
Who gave him his powers? A sudden realization came over him.
"You're Rukia's zanpaktou spirit? Sode no Shirayuki?"
And with his declaration of her name, her features came into full clarity, her sheer beauty taking his breath away.
Her silver eyes blinked with a deep curiosity before she floated forward, leaning towards his face as she grabbed his chin.
The touch sent a shiver of cold through his skin, but it was a pleasant chill like eating ice cream on a hot summer day.
Behind them, Zangetsu held out a finger to catch a falling white flake. "Oh? It's snowing…better than the rain, I suppose."
"You're a strange one, strawberry-kun. You couldn't hear it, but you already knew my name. Did you learn it in the future? That's what you were dreaming about, right?"
"A-ah. Yeah," he said, barely getting a hold of his nerves at the close proximity to such a beautiful woman. "I saw Rukia releasing your shikai."
"How intriguing. There must be something to these dreams then." She retracted her hand. Then she turned to face the spirit who claimed not to be Zangetsu.
"And you. You sound like you might know something about this. I didn't think Zanpaktou spirits could have a form before they had a name. And if you aren't this 'Zangetsu' yet, then why do you know that name, whatever you are?"
There was a pause before not-Zangetsu answered.
"You could say that I am one part of Zangetsu. The other part has not yet awakened—there is a strong spirit pressure suppressing it. As for Ichigo's dreams, I have only suspicions. That power, perhaps…but it doesn't quite fit."
Ichigo started to speak as Zangetsu trailed off in thought. "Old Man Zangetsu—"
"Do not call me that, Ichigo. Until that possibility becomes fixed, that name is not mine to use, and calling me by that name will only limit your potential. For now, you may call me Gesshokuro."
The new named rolled off Ichigo's tongue as he tested it. "Gesshokuro…got it. Okay, Old man Gesshokuro, what power are you talking about?"
"In your visions, did you not see what I represent in you?" Gesshokuro asked in return without answering.
"Huh?" Then it hit him. "That man! You look just like that man, except for the creepy eyes! He called me his son in that dream, but I don't remember anything about why we were fighting or where he came from. Unless that was you, materialized? You broke when we fought against him…although come to think of it, your sword form looked weird too."
An inscrutable expression flitted across Gesshokuro's face.
"Curious. If it really is the power of Almighty, it has expressed itself in an unusual way."
Ichigo couldn't make any sense of what Gesshokuro had said but the word Almighty sent another shock through his soul.
"The Almighty…the Spirit King…!" He muttered as the memory surfaced unwillingly. "Is that why they chose me?"
This time the unflappable Gesshokuro's eyes widened.
"Ichigo…" a soft whisper escaped his lips as his face turned to pity, an expression just like the one Ichigo had seen on that man. "So I couldn't protect you after all. I'm sorry…"
"The hell you talking about, Old Man? You were with me every step of the way! We've been fighting together in every battle after Byakuya destroyed my powers when Rukia was taken away. I would be nothing without you! Whatever the heck that vision was, I know it wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself!"
"Is that so…?" Gesshokuro looked confused, as if he couldn't understand why he would have done the things Ichigo described.
"What are you speaking of, Mister Gesshokuro? What is the Almighty?" Sode no Shirayuki asked.
Zangetsu hesitated as he assessed her, then turned his gaze back on Ichigo with a solemn look.
Ichigo found comfort in that familiar expression, a pillar of strength that always knew what to do.
"Ichigo, do you wish for her to hear this?"
"I don't mind. Rukia's the one who saved my life and gave me the power to do what I've wanted to do. To protect. She's my friend, so her Zanpaktou is too."
Sode no Shirayuki's expression didn't change, but somehow he could feel that she was pleased by his answer.
"Very well." Gesshokuro's sunglasses flashed as he closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he held out a hand.
"First, you must understand that I am not primarily a Zanpaktou spirit. I am the manifestation of his Quincy powers."
The explanation seemed to be directed towards Sode no Shirayuki, as if Gesshokuro expected Ichigo to know already.
Reishi gathered from the air, and quickly condensed into a spirit bow in Gesshokuro's hand.
"I have Quincy powers?" Ichigo said incredulously. The scene looked somehow familiar, despite his disbelief. As if it reminded him of something in his visions, but the memory was already mostly faded.
A vision of a white version of himself—his inner hollow, another of a Shinigami explaining how Asauchi blades—the blank swords that turned into a Shinigami's Zanpaktou—were made with the dead souls of many Shinigami, and a disappearing Gesshokuro.
Gesshokuro turned sharply to him at his outcry.
"So you never learned the Quincy arts in the futures you saw," Gesshokuro said. A flash of guilt crossed his face. "Then what you meant was…I see."
"What's with that look, Gesshokuro? What are you thinking now?"
"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I believe I have done you a great wrong. If I never taught you the Quincy arts, you must have fought with Shinigami powers and believed that I represented them."
The last sentence threw Ichigo for a loop. It was as if Gesshokuro was saying he wasn't the source of all his Shinigami powers.
"What? But that's…impossible," he said. "You're saying you're not the source of my Shinigami powers? But you're my zanpaktou! We achieved Shikai and even Bankai together!"
"I'm afraid I must have lied to you, Ichigo, if that is what you believe. I am only one part of Zangetsu, and a connection with only me is not enough to achieve your true Shikai or Bankai. It would be similar to the effect of using the wrong name for your release. If you believed that I alone was Zangetsu, you would achieve only a fraction of the true power of the release."
A terrible sense of loss hit him then, and an inexplicable feeling of fear arose.
The scene of Old Man Zangetsu disappearing replayed over and over in his mind, becoming clearer and clearer.
He realized that in the vision, the old man had been saying goodbye, and was disappearing because he thought wasn't needed anymore.
No! That's not true!
"Look, I don't get what you're saying but that doesn't matter! You said it yourself, right? You are Zangetsu! Even if you're only one part, you're still my Zanpaktou! So what if you didn't teach me the Quincy arts in my visions? None of that even happened yet! It's all in the future, one that I'm going to change anyway! We're here, in the now, and you told me the truth just now! That's good enough for me. So stop beating yourself up over something that hasn't even happened yet!"
Zangetsu looked stunned, but soon he smiled in a rare display. "I see. Thank you, Ichigo."
"You're the strangest Zanpaktou I've ever met," said Sode no Shirayuki.
"So what's up with this Almighty thing anyway?" Ichigo asked.
"Eyes which can see the future are the mark of a true Quincy. That is all I know of it, from the memory of your Quincy blood. But it is strange…if you had used that power, as the manifestation of your Quincy powers I should have sensed your use of it. Yet, I did not notice."
"Then maybe it's something else?"
"Hm…"
"Wait, if you're my Quincy powers, then who was that man I saw that looked like you? Was he related to the Quincy?"
"The one you saw must have been Yhwach, the one whom all Quincy are descended from, whom all Quincy inherit their powers from. That is why I look like him. He was the Quincy king a thousand years ago, and the son of the Spirit King. Both of them wielded the Almighty."
"1000 years ago? But if I saw him in the future…does that mean he's still alive?"
"There was a great war a thousand years ago between the Quincy and the Shinigami. The Quincy lost, and Yhwach died. If he somehow revives himself in the future, I do not know how, though perhaps I should not be surprised that a wielder of the Almighty can revive himself, considering that the Spirit King is not fully dead even in that state…" The spirit mused as if speaking to himself.
Ichigo grimaced at Zangetsu's explanation. There was a whole lot more about the Spirit King and Soul Society that he saw in those visions, but he was trying very hard not to think about it. If he thought about it, it would lead to that horrifying experience of being forced into becoming the new Spirit King and being mutilated and cut into pieces—
"Ichigo!" Zangetsu's strong voice and hand shook him free of his spiraling thoughts. He realized he was hyperventilating and struggled to bring his breathing back to normal.
"Perhaps it is best if you returned to proper sleep, Ichigo. You can return here at any time. But right now, your mind needs rest from what you have experienced," said Zangetsu.
Before he could protest, his Inner World faded away and all was dark.
The next morning…
He woke up to Rukia's voice again.
"Ichigo! Let go of me before your dad comes to wake you up!" She struggled in his arms as he opened his eyes groggily.
"Alright, alright…"
A certain stuffed animal jumped onto them. "Eehh? Ichigo you bastard! When did you get so close to Rukia Nee-chan?!"
Rukia's palm came up and slapped him away.
"Omphf!" He smacked into the ground and bounced a few times before coming to a stop.
"Shut up and behave, Kon. You can have my body today, don't make me regret stopping Urahara from disposing of you," said Ichigo as he got up and stretched.
"Huh? You're being suspiciously nice today…" The stuffed animal with a mod soul inside it picked itself up, narrowed its eyes and held its chin in an exaggerated pose.
An hour later on the southern outskirts of town…
"This should be far enough," said Ichigo as he glanced around. They stood at the edge of Karasu river as it ran through the forested mountains on the south side of Karakura town.
Nobody else was here, and Ichigo couldn't sense any spiritual beings either.
In her gigai wearing a casual dress, Rukia stood a short ways behind him, catching her breath.
"You okay?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm fine. So let's talk. What's your plan, if you weren't just talking crazy last night, o' great prophet?" She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.
"I was going to start by training my shikai and bankai, but I did Jinzen and found out a few things last night." He drew out his huge sword from his back.
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Jinzen…another thing you can't possibly know…so what did you find out?"
"This sword isn't actually mine. This is Sode no Shirayuki," Ichigo said, observing his sword closely.
Rukia's eyes bugged out and looked at the huge sword with a hint of hurt. "Wha—you learned the name of my zanpaktou?!"
"Calm down. She's not the one that told me. I just saw you releasing in my visions. And I'm pretty sure I can't release her shikai. That's actually the problem. Since I'm using your Shinigami powers, I can't train my own yet. I need to transfer her back into you…somehow."
The currently powerless Shinigami felt relieved that Sode no Shirayuki hadn't decided to leave her.
She had been getting worried, with her powers over the last month not recovering as they should have.
"As far as I know, the only way to do that is that same way I transferred it to you…but it takes very skilled spirit pressure control, and it can only be done when the Shinigami has achieved shikai. If you can't release her shikai, then it'd be impossible," she said.
Ichigo scrunched his eyes. "Seriously? But weren't you supposed to recover your powers naturally? How does that work, if we can't transfer it back unless I achieve shikai, which is obviously impossible because it's your zanpaktou?"
"I am supposed to recover my powers naturally. A normal human can't host Shinigami powers for long. They would disappear on their own and return to me. But your powers are getting stronger, not weaker, while mine are getting weaker instead. And you weren't supposed to take almost all my powers either, only a small portion. I wasn't supposed to lose Sode no Shirayuki in the first place," she said, clearly annoyed.
"I know why you aren't getting your powers back. Looks like this might be harder than I thought." He sighed, moving a hand through his hair.
"You know why? Then why aren't you telling me?" Rukia glared at him.
"Hold your horses, I was just getting to that. It's because that bastard hat 'n' clogs gave you a spirit pressure draining gigai instead of a normal one. If you stay in it too long, you'll turn into a human."
"What? Why would he do that to me?!"