The rise of the Quantum Reaper:
'What the hell is this?' he thought to himself.
Of all the things to happen to him, he wasn't expecting this, mainly since he died in his soul form instead of inside his body.
All around him was something heavy, it made him feel terrible.
(?)
'...'
Darkness…
'...am…am I dead?...'
Pain… Despair…
'I died… trying to protect someone…'
Sadness… regret… depression…
'I failed…'
Failure… turmoil… hopelessness… conflict… {the rain…}
'...no…'
{Do you know why I/we hate the rain?}
He tried to turn his head to look for who those voices were coming from, but he couldn't budge an inch.
{Because when your heartis in chaos… the sky becomes terrible easily}
He tried to move his mouth and let out a sound. He tried to breathe, but no oxygen could enter.
{Can you understand?…}
He tried… forced… demanded to open his eyes…
{The horror of being pelted by rain in this solitary world?}
Ichigo's eyes open in what seems to be the bottom of an ocean. He tried to swim out of it… but he couldn't move his arms, but he wasn't drowning… at least physically.
He feels such a devastating pain in his chest, not from the death blow Byakuya dealt him, but from losing someone he called a friend, someone he swore to protect, and just like that… he died right in front of her… from a cheap shot from Byakuya, her brother.
"No," Ichigo then gained some mobility as he tilted his head to see a city below, but it was underwater just like him.
"NO!" Ichigo then forced his body to move as he was slowly forcing himself to get up out in the real world… but as much as he tried… he couldn't do it alone.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! Don't fail me, stupid body!" He could feel the darkness creeping towards him. He wasn't afraid of it… he despised it.
"As long as I am still alive, in any way… I HAVE NOT DIED!"
He felt something destroying him from the inside and out… he didn't care.
"As long as you're alive and safe… I HAVE NOT FAILED!"
He could feel his body… no… not just his body… his soul as well, breaking down and disappearing from existence.
Every tissue, every last cell, every little atom, every single tiny piece of essence… it didn't matter!
"As long as they believe in me…"
He sees several flashes of all his friends: Tatsuki, Chad, Uryu, Keigo, Mizuiro, Kon, and Chizuru.
He sees several flashes of her: Orihime.
He sees several flashes of him: Kisuke.
He sees several flashes of his family: his father, Isshin, his sisters, Karin and Yuzu… and his mother, Masaki Kurosaki.
He sees several flashes of those he hates: Grand Fisher, Renji, and Byakuya.
He sees several flashes of people he has never seen or met, people from his world and other worlds, other dimensions that no one can get to, yet knows they will all cross paths.
He sees the one who he will never lose again in a million years, the one he will never leave again: Rukia…
The flashes then end on two figures he had never seen before, they were both silhouettes of what they were, yet one of them looks so familiar: ?, ?.
Before his very soul, before everything could crumble to nothingness…
{If only to stop the rain…}
Both silhouettes turn to look at him, one with glowing yellow eyes, the other with pale blue eyes.
{We shall lend you any strength… to survive… to protect…}
"Because I want to protect you… all of you… as long as you all believe in me… I WILL FOREVER EXIST TO HELP YOU AND NOTHING AND NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME! NOT EVEN DEATH!" Ichigo roared as he felt his body go through a change and felt energy coursing through him.
{You can't hear our names, but even if that were the case, we'll still protect you… King.}
(Urahara Shoten)
Urahara wasn't having a good time.
[A few minutes ago]
First, the bills came in. Second, one of his best customers was taken. Third, he went on a stroll, and it was raining the hardest it could ever be in a long time. And finally, Ryuken Ishida and Isshin Kurosaki's boys were both laid out on the ground, Uryu barely breathing, and Ichigo… the boy who looked up to him as a second father… was dead.
He wanted to cry; he didn't want to believe that his unofficial son had been killed. But the signs and facts were there for all spiritually aware beings to see. A giant slash wound reached deep enough to cut his ribcage and lungs… leaving Ichigo with an expression of agony on his face.
Not even the hard rain was enough to wash the blood away.
Some many long years of hardship, of being a soul reaper, of being a captain, the former captain of squad twelve in Research and Development and dealing with several terrible experiments, and finally being banished and almost executed along with several innocent soul reapers…
Kisuke Urahara cried, yet while his face showed sadness and his sobs could easily be heard, his tears were washed away by the rain.
[now]
Kisuke had Ichigo lying in a futon bed, he didn't want Ichigo to be in any way, shape, or form of pain when it was time to bury him.
"I should have done something, I could have done something, I could have trained you into becoming a better Shinigami, I could have done so much to help you… and I failed." Kisuke then got up from the chair he was sitting on as he was going to call Isshin about what had happened.
Uryu had left a while ago, wanting to go train to get stronger, but they both knew it was to try and release the anger that the Quincy tried to bottle up inside himself. Someone precious to him has been taken by the Shinigami again, and he couldn't do anything.
'How do I explain this to his family, how do I explain this to his friends, how do I explain this to his girlfriend…'
"How can I explain Ichigo's death to anyone?" Kisuke repeated to himself.
He then felt a hand on his shoulder, a voice he didn't expect to hear very close to his ear said…
"Explain what to who, Hat n' Clogs?"
Kisuke turned around swiftly and could only call what he was seeing right now a true miracle. Ichigo Kurosaki was alive. Without giving the boy a chance, he hugged Ichigo for dear life, hoping above all else that he wouldn't disappear like an illusion. He then fell on the floor after feeling Ichigo's surprisingly cold, yet moving body within his arms, only for the man to phase through the teen as if Ichigo were a ghost.
He looked back at the boy and noticed a few more subtle changes about him.
Ichigo looked like he was in a similar state as his zanpakuto, glitchy and phasing in, and out of existence. His skin was pale from a sign of blood loss, yet he looked fine. The spots of his skin that couldn't be healed normally, had some blue circuitry to replace the missing tissue and flesh.
"Ichigo…?" Kisuke asked.
"I made a promise, that I will never die again, never fail again, that I would be there to protect everyone I care for no matter what state I'm in…" Ichigo then took off his hood to reveal his now longer spiky-orange hair that reached a little below his neck, brown hazel pupils with his left eye having black sclera, and his right eye with light blue sclera.
"...that I will never leave you all again like that."
"How… how are you alive? I'm not complaining in the slightest, but I just can't understand…"
Kisuke questioned.
Ichigo got into a thinking pose as he leaned himself against a wall.
"I don't how I am myself, I wake up in this place underwater, and all I could feel were these troubling feelings that hurt… and then I started to hear two voices, one distorted, the other normal, yet deep… then I began to think of everyone I swore to protect, those I love, those I hate and willed myself to live… yet I don't knoooowaaahh!"
Ichigo then fell and phased through the wall he was propped up against as his body was glitching which caused him to become intangible on accident.
"Ichigo, are you okay?" Kisuke worried.
Ichigo then raises a thumbs-up through the wall as he replies, "I'm alright."
Kisuke couldn't help but laugh as even after dying and coming back to life, Ichigo still seemed to be himself, even though it felt like Ichigo seemed to be livelier.
Ichigo then got off the ground, luckily while he was intangible to walls, he could still touch the ground.
"Anyways, we need to get to business…" Ichigo had gone full serious mode, as did Urahara when he could tell there was no room for games.
"First off, how many people know I died?" Ichigo started.
"Only me, Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, Ryuken who is Uryu's father, Uryu himself, and Kon."
"Okay, second, how is my original body?"
"Kon arrived saying that he could feel your body dying and looked a lot worse for wear…" Kisuke then pointed to the side of the room to see Ichigo's human body on another futon bed, but it looked nothing like Ichigo does in his soul-form body, if he is in a soul-like form.
"I have a bad feeling about going into my body… we might have to come clean about this with everyone else." Ichigo theorized.
"I believe that we might not have a choice if I'm thinking what you're thinking." Kisuke guessed.
"Third, how do I gain my soul reaper powers?" Ichigo asked.
Kisuke then raises a fan to his face. "Don't you mean 'regain', Ichigo?" Kisuke corrected.
"No, while the blade felt right in my hands, the feeling I got from it felt like Rukia, it was almost like I was forcing my spiritual energy inside Rukia's zanpakuto, and some of it was accepted," Ichigo confirmed.
"I see… well there is one way to access your soul reaper powers, but there is a great risk…"
"And? Rukia is going to be executed and I don't have time to waste! If the risk is something like me dying again, I'll come back! If I turn into a hollow because of it, I'll find a way to break the cycle of endless hunger a Hollow has and become the strongest hollow and save Rukia if I must." Ichigo declared.
"That's what scares me…" Kisuke started.
"Huh?"
"Your willingness to protect others, it's so deep within your very core that you truly have no self-care to the point where you would commit suicide just to keep everyone safe… it is your greatest strength, yet your greatest flaw… you would vehemently deny your own safety for their own… but what will happen when you run out of lives to come back, all those people you became friends with, the family you have, the woman you love… they will all miss you… so please, Ichigo…"
Kisuke then puts both of his arms on Ichigo's shoulders.
"...Spend the time you have with them instead of spending it defending 24/7, it is not a sin to help others, but soon, they'll have to one day learn to protect themselves when you're not around," Kisuke stressed.
Ichigo didn't say a word but just nodded. (He had a lot to think about)
"Now then…" Kisuke got up and he walked out of the room. "...follow me."
(Underground Training Ground: Kisuke's)
"Holy Shit!"
After Kisuke gave the good news to Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta about Ichigo, they then showed Ichigo to the underground training room Ichigo would be training in for his Shinigami powers. And to say Ichigo was shocked was the understatement of a lifetime.
"You built all of this, Hat n' Clogs?" Ichigo asked.
"Not just me, Tessai had a big part in this too," Kisuke answered.
"Cool…"
"I thank you for the compliment, Ichigo-san." Tessai bowed.
"No honorifics, it's just Ichigo."
"Now then… let us begin… the Shattered Shaft training" Kisuke then slammed his cane onto Ichigo's forehead, but the problem was that Ichigo wasn't in his human body. When the cane slammed into Ichigo, upon contact, Ichigo began glitching and spasming uncontrollably until a soul chain appeared on his chest, whereafter, Ichigo was back where he was standing before Kisuke smacked him with his cane and gave Urahara a questioning look.
"Umm… are we starting?" Ichigo asked.
"What the hell!? Didn't you feel the cane slam your big head?" Jinta asked in his casual manner.
"No…" Ichigo then looked down to see a soul chain that led back into the shop to where his body rested. But the weird thing was that the chain was rusted.
Kisuke then cut the soul chain in half, seeing its condition and wanting to make sure things didn't get bad too quickly.
Tessai then performed a Kido spell which created a giant hole directly under Ichigo.
"...Mother," Ichigo yelled as gravity took its course and he fell into the hole.
[From the top of the hole]
"Alright Ichigo, this is the only chance you'll get to gain your soul reaper powers… or you will turn into a hollow." Kisuke then explained how Ichigo must reach into his very soul, find his soulscape, grab onto his Reiraku (spirit ribbon) which should be red, and become a soul reaper before the soul chain eats itself into nothingness and Ichigo becomes a hollow and get out of the hole. Simple… right?
[bottom of the hole, a few minutes later]
Easier said than done!
Ichigo only had a few chain links left and he was approaching hollowfication fast, he started with enough chains to even use them to grapple his way out of the hole, 9 minutes later, it was now as long as his arm. Ichigo was starting to get worried, but it felt like it would all work out in the end.
[an hour passed]
'Meditation doesn't even work! Come on!'
Ichigo was more pissed than freak out that the chain had reached just two links left. Jinta tried to scare Ichigo about becoming a hollow, but that did nothing to worry the carrot top one bit.
Tessai was on standby in the hole with Ichigo in case of hollowfication, which seemed to be drawing near.
"I'm starting to think my soul wants me to experience a bit of hollowfication before I become a soul reaper at this point," Ichigo complained.
"Patience, Ichigo." Tessai chided.
"But I have been patient! I even tried meditating and even you said I was doing it right." Ichigo argued, then grouched.
"It probably has something to do with what happened to me." Ichigo referring to his glitchy body, didn't realize that all the chains were gone until he looked down.
"Tessai, use Kido, now!" Ichigo then had a bleach-like substance burst out of every possible exit from his body. Tessai then used several strong Kido sealing spells to keep the hollowfying Ichigo down as he got out of the hole.
He, Urahara, Jinta, and Ururu watched as Ichigo went through hollowfication, but what scared them was that the Kido binding spells (Bakudo) Tessai used… didn't work… no, they were working perfectly, the problem was that Ichigo was phasing through them like a phantom.
(Ichigo's soulscape)
Ichigo woke up to see he was staring at the sky. He looked around and realized that he was standing sideways on a skyscraper and right behind him was a city that was technologic-themed… in fact, everything seemed cybernetic in this world except for the sky and…
{hello Ichigo} said a familiar voice.
"It's you… you were the voice I heard a few weeks ago on my second day as a soul reaper and one of them who was in that place with me," said Ichigo.
On a flagpole, stood a teenager who wore a long black cloak that seemed to be ripped in some places, he had an athletic build, pale blue eyes, brown messy hair, and black boots.
{we have no time right now, you must find your spirit ribbon, once you grab it… say my name}
"Just one question…" Ichigo wasn't going to budge if he didn't have this answer.
{what is it?} the young man obliged.
"Why does it feel like you belong, yet don't belong here? As if someone else was supposed to be telling me this, but it's not you." Ichigo asked.
{I told you this wouldn't work!} another familiar voice called out.
Ichigo turned to see another teenager, what caught him off guard was the fact that this guy looked almost just like him, the only difference being that this guy was completely white and wore a completely white outfit similar to Ichigo's (white ripped hoodie/cloak, but the sleeves are ripped off), had yellow eyes with black sclera, and wasn't glitching like Ichigo was.
"Who are you?" Ichigo exclaimed.
{We'll talk about this later, King. For now, go find that spirit ribbon thing and become a soul reaper…}
Just as the white Ichigo said that. The technological world that was Ichigo's soulscape began to crumble and lose power, the area getting darker.
Ichigo looked around and saw that the pale white him and the other guy were gone.
He also noticed that a bunch of boxes appeared with several ribbons coming out.
'If I remember correctly, Uryu said a soul reaper's spirit ribbon is red…'
"SO WHY THE FUCK ARE ALL THE RIBBONS RED!?" Ichigo looked around in circles as every ribbon around was red, which meant that either he was guaranteed to become a soul reaper, or they were all fakes.
Ichigo was about to just hope hollow life wasn't too bad until something got his attention. He then shifted his direction to the sensation and saw a box surrounded by all the others, but this ribbon wasn't red, black, or blue.
It flashed in several colors, yet none of them meant anything as Ichigo theorized what it meant.
"When I came back to life, my body changed and now I can phase through walls. And I seem to fade in and out of reality… like a computer glitch! Wow! Rukia was right… I am an anomaly…"
Ichigo then felt the place start to rumble as he rushed to the glitching ribbon.
"...But hey! Sometimes being normal gets boring, and I am not normal at fucking all!" Ichigo grabbed onto the ribbon and pulled on it without difficulty as both the ribbon and the teen were glitching.
Ichigo then saw a sword come out of the box and he marveled at its beauty… only one thing came to mind.
"Zangetsu."
(Outside world)
An explosion of a foreign, yet familiar energy erupted from the hole and a figure jumped out.
It landed on the ground, right in front of Jinta.
Everyone waited for the dust to clear, and they saw a young man wearing a familiar Shinigami shihakusho that had a hoodie in replacement for the usual wear. The young man's hair was long… orange, spiky.
His build is lean, fit, and athletic. A zanpakuto blade that was in the shape of the sharpest cleaver knife blinked in and out of existence, the hilt is that of many bandages, no guard.
His body and sword, semi-transparent, partly electronic, blinking in and out of reality, the entire presence screamed death, but not to those around.
His face was covered by a white mask, sharp animalistic teeth, and red markings on the left side where an eyehole was present. A blue tribal line goes down the right side of the other eyehole. The mask itself, glitched like the young man himself, as if it was trying to spread and break off at the same time.
The man was not breathing, as if he had died standing up. He then raised his hand to his face, took off the mask, and let it break in the air.
His face is now revealed to show Ichigo Kurosaki's face, hazel pupils, black and blue sclera, and cybernetic blue sci-fi patches where pieces of his skin should be.
There was one difference this time. He had what seemed to be two images on each side of him, one red on his left, the other blue on his right. Ichigo had a calm, happy, and relieved face.
"It feels good to be dead… well, not dead dead… but you know what I mean, right, Urahara?" Ichigo spoke in three voices, his normal voice, a higher-pitched voice that was distorted, and a deeper voice with a calming aura around it.
"I couldn't agree with you more." Kisuke grinned excitedly.
"Now then, let's start with a training regime." Kisuke then began to describe Ichigo's training regime as Ichigo pulled out a pen, paper, and a notepad out of nowhere, his afterimages performing the same actions at the same time.
"We will start in training your Reiryoku and Reiatsu to help you control it better since your new soul seems to have its… ups and downs… we will hold off on Kido since the effects of you using one might go wrong.
Next, I'll be training you in Zanjutsu to get your sword fighting techniques up to par with several shinigami at captain level.
I'll have a friend of mine and myself teach you how to use Shunpo and Hohō (flash step and high-speed fighting). That very same friend will teach you how to use Hakuda (unarmed fighting techniques) when she deems you ready.
Finally, I will also be helping you with your Shikai (released zanpakuto) and when the time comes, and you find out if there are more things to learn… come find me and I will help you in your training in any way possible…"
Kisuke then puts his hands on Ichigo's shoulders as they look into each other's eyes, grey eyes, and white sclera looking into the mixed color eyes of Ichigo and his afterimages.
"...You can trust me, please don't try to push me or others away when you have too bad a feeling about something." Kisuke then hugged the boy again with one arm, feeling Ichigo wrap an arm around him and feeling the afterimages wrap their arms around him too.
"Sure thing, hat n' clogs," Ichigo said in his normal voice.
Kisuke was so fascinated with these impossible feats Ichigo had reached that he couldn't help but grin in anticipation for what the quantum-glitching substitute soul reaper would pull off in the future.
(a few days)
Ichigo and Kisuke were trading blows, Zangetsu clashing with Kisuke's released zanpakuto, Benihime as Ichigo trains in Zanjutsu.
"(pants) I gotta ask, Hat n' Clogs… I have this feeling like there is more to Rukia getting this unjust execution sentence for…" Ichigo dodges a swift strike. "...just giving me her shinigami powers, I mean…" He uses the flat side of Zangetsu to block a vertical slash. "...Byakuya got rid of her powers from my old body, so shouldn't her sentence be cleared?" Ichigo finally got out as he phased through Urahara when the shop keeper slashed horizontally where Ichigo would have been.
Kisuke then decided to stop with the spar as he began to explain.
"Ichigo, do you want to know who I, Tessai, Yoruichi, and some fellow shinigami were banished from Soul Society?" Kisuke asked.
"If it helps clear things up, then I guess," Ichigo said.
"Alright then… it all began with a man named Sosuke Aizen, and a creation of mine known as the Hogyoku…"
(skip)
"So let me get this straight… These guys: Sosuke Aizen, Kaname Tosen, and Ichimaru Gin are responsible for trying to hollowfy several past captains and lieutenants, turning them into Vizards with his version of the Hogyoku.
You then saved them by using your own Hogyoku at the risk of allowing them to have the ability to use hollow powers.
You and Tessai were framed for their actions, and Yoruichi got you out safely… Now Aizen is roaming around Soul Society, acting like a good person for his quote-on-quote, Shinigami allies while he is out doing something to try and overthrow the Soul King using the power of the Hogyoku… did I miss anything?" Ichigo finished.
"You missed the fact that the Gigai I made for Miss Kuchiki has my Hogyoku inside it and she is still inside said Gigai." Kisuke included.
Ichigo then palms his face when he hears this. "Great, so now the enemy has the thing he needs in his territory… fucking great, Hat n' Clogs!"
Kisuke couldn't help but feel shame as he covered his face with his fan that he pulled out of nowhere.
Ichigo felt good, he was ready for anything. Ichigo and Kisuke were slightly worried about what would happen if Ichigo were to go in his human body, luckily, the only problems were that Ichigo's body in human form would glitch whenever he was startled and that he felt like shit as if he survived getting ran over by a truck.
Ichigo spent some time with his family before he had to go save Rukia. On the day he was ready to leave, Isshin, came to him and found out he was leaving and wanted to give Ichigo something very important.
"What's with the bag, old man?" Ichigo asked.
"This 'bag' is a good luck charm made by your mother, it's been sitting around, collecting dust for several years… I want you to have it, for good luck." This was one of the rare moments when Ichigo and Isshin acted like son and father.
Isshin then hugged his son with one arm, not expecting him to hug back. He was shocked when Ichigo wrapped both arms around him.
"Thanks… dad." Ichigo then kicked Isshin in the groin as the man doubled over and suplexed him over his body.
"What's wrong? Getting a bit rusty old geezer?" Ichigo mocked as he ran to Urahara's shop.
Isshin then burst out laughing in a strained, high-pitched voice as he knew Ichigo wasn't just his mother's son… he was himself and a perfect blend of his father and mother.
(Urahara Shoten)
"You promise you'll bring Rukia back? Right, Ichigo?" Kon, who was in Ichigo's ragged body, worried incredulously.
"Yes Kon! Don't worry your little pervy head." Ichigo joked as Kon tried to deny being a pervert.
Just before Ichigo could ask Kisuke to open a way to Soul Society, he senses four people at the doors of the shop. He turns and sees…
"Chad, Yoruichi, Uryu, Orihime? What are you all doing here?" Ichigo asked confused.
"Isn't it obvious, Kurosaki?" Uryu began.
"We're here to help rescue Rukia!" Orihime shouted in excitement to try and calm her nerves.
"Mm-hm," Chad added as he gave a thumbs-up.
"Did you think you would be able to get through the Soul Society all on your own?" Yoruichi chided.
"No… I just wasn't expecting Orihime and Chad to come along, I'm not trying to be rude but…" Ichigo stopped as Chad sweat dropped and Orihime had a rain cloud pouring on her and her six fairies as they all drew circles in the ground.
After getting the two humans out of their depressed states, Urahara got the portal ready for the substitute death god, Quincy, humans, and cat.
"Alright everyone, once we enter, get ready to run!" Yoruichi warned.
"From what?" Uryu asked, but before the cat could answer, Ichigo began to walk to the Seikaimon.
"What are you doing, Ichigo?!" Yoruichi exclaimed.
Ichigo and the two images on his sides then looked back at Yoruichi with determined glares.
"You said "run," right?" Ichigo began.
"Then that's all I need to hear… don't give us a list of instructions, just start with one and we follow, we don't have much time and I am not going to waste it." Ichigo then jumped in as Yoruichi yelled for him to wait, only for Chad and Orihime to jump in next. Yoruichi then decided, "fuck it, I'm jumping in." which the cat did.
Uryu then awkwardly went in as he wasn't expecting everyone to just go in without proper instructions. The seikaimon then closes.