The rain always creates the catalyst; the event where Ichigo truly becomes what he always is, a protector. It destroys what he once knows as safe and brings him only despair.

The rain always brings death to the Kurosaki and Ichigo will never be an exception.

The clouds were almost pitch black; the storm, while it hasn't happened yet, will be a horrible one. Opal colored eyes glare up at the foreshadowing clouds, pupils dilated in terrified fury. Their third eyelids blink before the ryu head turns to the right. Slitted gold eyes looking in two completely different directions are directly in his face. A long, blue tongue flicks out and licks one of the eyes.

Solinus gives the dragon his version of a deadpan before puffing out a small burst of fire. The red dragon screeches and scrambles back, only to screech even louder when he falls off the bed. Solinus screeches when the blanket he is laying on is suddenly pulled off of the bed, taking him with it.

He moans and grumbles, shaking his head frantically to get the blanket off of his head. He growls at the red dragon as he cackles. Solinus roars and pounces on him, making Angelo screech loudly.

"Solinus! You better not be attacking Angelo!" Masaki shouts from her and Isshin's bedroom. Solinus growls loudly, his jaws clenched around one of Angelo's legs, before he releases the brat from his punishment. Angelo laughs mockingly after scrambling away from the older dragon, making Solinus growl even louder.

"Angelo, don't go antagonizing your big brother! If he attacks you again, I won't save you!" Masaki calls out again. Angelo whimpers and scampers away, giving Solinus his turn to cackle. Solinus is Masaki's favorite, being the oldest and more mature than the other dragons. Key word: more. He definitely isn't mature enough, but he doesn't know that.

Solinus looks back out of the window with one more glare before he leaps up into the air and flies out of Ichigo's bedroom. He screeches loudly in delight and zooms right towards Masaki. The woman laughs softly as she lets the dragon barrel into her before quickly wrapping around her neck like a five foot scarf made of scales.

"Excited to go and pick Ichigo up?" Masaki asks with a hand gently running down Solinus' lilac scales. He purrs against her neck, burrowing further into her warmth.

Masaki giggles and starts to walk down the hallway once more. "You're lucky that I only need an umbrella today. You can't fit inside the raincoats anymore."

Solinus lifts his head to glare at the woman, making her hide a smile. He could and would fit inside a raincoat. He didn't grow that big; but he is in denial about it, so take his word with a grain of salt.

Masaki walks down the stairs with a hum and a bright smile. She blows a kiss to Isshin, who was speaking animatedly on the phone; hand gestures, dramatic facial expressions, and all. She glances up and nods her head, sensing Yuzu's sunshower reiatsu and Karin's volcanic spring reiatsu up in their room with Emilia and Egeon. Masaki sighs quietly in her exasperation.

She thought her son would stop bringing in every injured or lonely dragon after Egeon... and then the twins came across Balthazar, who had been hit by a car, and they ran to their big brother, and then Angelo just suddenly appeared in Ichigo's dragon cuddle pile the one night Masaki let him keep his window open. She didn't have the heart to tell him that five dragons were too much. And she knows she won't have the heart to tell him a sixth dragon will be way too crowded.

"You are all so lucky you are almost as cute as my children," Masaki speaks with a small pout pointed at Solinus. She slides on her shoes and grabs the umbrella before opening the front door. "If you weren't, Isshin and I wouldn't be planning the destruction of our backyard for a small home for you and future dragons."

"I'll be back soon! Isshin, dear, please remember to take the chicken out of the fridge for me!" Masaki calls over her shoulder, glancing around the living room.

Masaki closes the front door behind her without another word. She looks up at the clouds when she hears a faint clap of thunder and frowns. Solinus growls softly in agreement with her frantic instincts.

"...something isn't right with this storm..." She mutters to herself. The woman sighs softly and begins her trek towards the dojo. The faster she gets Ichigo, the better.

"What're we having for dinner?" Ichigo asks brightly, swinging his and his mom's hands back and forth between them. Masaki hums thoughtfully, looking up at the stormy sky. It only started to drizzle... but she has a feeling it'll only get worse.

"Hmm... something with chicken, I suppose!" Masaki smiles down at her son as they stop at a crosswalk. "Do you have any ideas?"

Ichigo frowns, deep in thought, making Masaki smile. Oh, her son is just too adorable.

She checks to make sure there are no cars coming before she walks across the street, leading her distracted son. She smiles in greeting when she sees a faerie dragon peek out from Ichigo's raincoat. Balthazar is almost as cute as her son; she could just be biased, but she'll never admit it out loud.

Ichigo gasps in delight and jumps up with his hand raised. "Yakitori! Yakitori! You can make yakitori!"

"Mm! What a good idea!" Masaki comments with a bright smile. Ichigo practically beams at the compliment. He glances to the right and suddenly moves closer to his mother to avoid hitting a ghost.

"Excuse me!" Ichigo calls out over his shoulder before he's already looking back up at his mother. "You should make curry too! I want curry and yakitori!"

"Those are two completely different meals, you know," Masaki points out, making Ichigo puff out his cheeks. She giggles softly and lets go of his hand to run hers through his hair.

His reiatsu seems to be continuously expanding for the past couple months. She sighs softly, internally bemoaning the increased amount of groceries she will most likely need. She'll have to discuss it with Isshin too... Ichigo will need some training or he'll be in constant danger. And with the twins constantly around that increasing reiatsu, their reiryoku, and their reiatsu, will increase as well.

"Once the weather clears, your father and I are going to be installing something in the backyard. I don't want you and the twins to peek, okay?" Masaki changes the subject before Ichigo could ask for crazy food combinations or her stomach could continue to get pierced by her uneasy intuition.

"Really?! What's it gonna be?"

"It's a surprise! So, don't peek outside when your father and I tell you, okay?" The auburn-haired woman says instead of answering.

Ichigo puffs out his cheeks before he nods his head. "Okay... I won't. But, the dragons can still play outside, right?"

"Of course... but I've already told them that they aren't allowed to tell you or the twins what we're doing." Masaki giggles at her son's scowl at his thwarted plan. "I promise it won't take long. Urahara will even be helping us."

Ichigo perks up silently at the mention of his favorite creepy geta-bōshi—his nickname for the shopkeeper stuck despite Masaki trying so hard to get the boy to be polite—and nods his head with a toothy grin. Masaki smiles back with her eyes closed. Her son is too adorable for her; she's going to die, literally, from his cuteness.

They continued walking in silence, Masaki humming softly as they made their way home. She glances over her shoulder, barely keeping her smile on her face. They were almost home—they just have to get home, where it's safe.

Masaki tightens her grip on Ichigo's hand, only noticed by the two dragons who were just as highly alarmed as she is. Ichigo looks around with bright eyes, knowing all of the buildings and trees around them by heart, but still so excited to see it all.

HOLLOW

Masaki narrows her eyes and snaps them to her left peripherals as she steps onto the bridge. She watches the Hollow's bait simply stand at the very edge of the riverbank. It takes everything in her to keep walking like nothing was amiss. Her son is with her, she can't risk his life. She will never risk her children's lives to simply kill any Hollow she comes across.

Unfortunately, being so focused on the Hollow to make sure it doesn't attack her and her son, she doesn't realize Ichigo had looked over at the bait; she doesn't see his panic-stricken expression, nor does she see him jump forward... until he wrenches his hand out of Masaki's.

"Hold on a second!" Time goes by slowly as Masaki watches her wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, kind son jumps onto the bridge railing before he jumps over. Masaki reaches out with widening eyes, her fingertips brushing across Ichigo's raincoat, but not grasping.

No. No. No, no, no, no, nonononononononononononononono—

Masaki holds out her cross. Solinus charges forward with a scream. The Hollow bait turns around.

"WAIT! ICHIGO!"

CRAAACK—BOOOOM!

There was some kind of whining scream. It made Ichigo want to plug his ears. He slowly opens his eyes, his head pounding like a hammer was beating against it.

Red. There was only red. It covered his eyes and his face and his body and his mom—

There was some kind of whining scream. Ichigo doesn't even hear it. He can't even breathe.

There's red everywhere. He's trapped beneath his mom. Why isn't she breathing?

"M‒" Ichigo can't speak; he can't breathe. Why isn't his mom breathing?

Solinus is still screaming—or maybe he's hurt too? Where's Balthazar? Ichigo needs to—

The red was sticky and made his eyes blur with red. He can't see. He can't breathe. He can't feel—why can't he feel his mom? Why can't he feel her autumn rain during a soft morning? Why can't he feel it? Why isn't she breathing? Why—

"M-Mom—Mom. Mama? M...Mama..." Ichigo can't get out from underneath his mom's body. His hands are numb as he tries shaking her awake.

Why isn't she waking up? Why is she asleep? Did she pass out? Did that–that monster—

Ichigo starts to cry through his attempts at breathing. "Mama! Mama, wake up! Mama!"

The rain is pouring down. With the blood blurring his vision and the stars blinding him from his pounding headache, the rain would have equally blinded him if was able to see at the moment. So, he didn't notice the black and red blur rush down towards the ground like a bullet.

Solinus screeches loudly somewhere above the boy before he's suddenly thrown back. Ichigo tries to scream, but a hand is wrapped around his throat and slams him back against the ground. Slitted amber eyes, so unlike their usual glittering brightness, are all he sees before he's knocked unconscious.

Auburn hair, messy and falling out of the low ponytail it had originally been put in, falls off of a blood-soaked shoulder when a head is tilted. The slitted pupils dilate before tears start to fall down Masaki's—or the being in Masaki's body—face.

Something... is wrong. Something is wrong. What's wrong? She has to... do something. She has to go somewhere. Where...? What...

Masaki stumbles, but doesn't collapse. She can't... she can't collapse... but why? She has to go somewhere... but where?

The rain pelts against her skin, yet she feels completely numb—well, maybe more like disconnected from her body. It's so wonderful to feel the rain once more.

This was strange. She doesn't—remember? No. She—where—

This was exceptionally strange. There has never been a human capable of retaining any amount of their soul. And yet here one is; a human who is also supposed to be dead.

Dead? No. No. Masaki isn't—she shouldn't be dead... no, wait. She–she... she's supposed to be, because...

Masaki stumbles again and falls against some kind of rough surface. She tightens her arms around the thing she's carrying. Carrying—she's carrying something? What?

She has to go somewhere. She needs to. Her son is in danger. Her son... her son?! Ichigo!

It's only a child; a child clearly not capable of handling his own soul.

Her son is in her arms. Her son is dying in her arms. She needs to—where does she need to go? Where? Where?!

Hm... what an impossibility. A human capable of retaining their thoughts and soul after being completely taken over... a failure, most likely then.

Masaki pushes off against the surface she was leaning against and starts her unsteady trek once more. She has to... she has to go somewhere. She has to go to someone... to save—her son needs to be saved and the person—Urahara. Urahara can save him—must save him.

BOOOM!

Masaki stumbles over her own feet, feeling the thunder hammer against her brain. Her back is searing—she shouldn't even be capable of walking, yet she is. Why? She's injured? But, Blut—Blut Vene—power—her Quincy powers. What—

She collapses to her knees, always careful to keep her son secure in her arms. Masaki tilts her head back and stares up at the weeping sky.

"Aus...wäh...len...!"

Blood wells up Masaki's throat and spills out from her lips. Crimson falls and douses Ichigo in a baptism, blessing him in hallowed violence. Masaki rubs her thumb across, smudging the blood deeper into his skin.

Ah, no wonder. This isn't a normal human. Definitely a failure, then. How unfortunate.

Masaki slowly stands onto broken feet. She stumbles to the side, almost falling into the street as a car zooms past. She doesn't hear the honking nor the screech of tires.

She can't hear anything except for Ichigo's lack of breathing. She has to go somewhere. Somewhere—Urahara. She has to go to Urahara.

There's a weeping screech. Masaki whips her head around. A flare. Danger—death. Someone is going to take her son away from her.

A piercing scream is released from Masaki's throat and blood spills out like a broken faucet. She stumbles back, leaving a bloody trail in her wake as she holds her son closer to herself.

Her teeth are bared and her son is still not breathing and someone is going to steal him away from her—

"GET AWAY!" Masaki screams, raw and wild. There's some kind of red flash, but she can't see past the rain.

"—saki-san! Kurosaki—Masaki! Please!" There's a voice, pleading—horrified. It sounds familiar, but someone is going to take her son away from her.

Her son—her children. She has to protect them. She needs to. Auswählen—they need to train. Before–before he takes them from her.

"Masaki–Masaki, it's me. It's me." There's a flash of green and white and Masaki continues to stumble back. Her foot slips off of the curb and she falls.

Green and white. Green and white—Urahara? Is it–Urahara?

"U-Ura...ha..ra...?" Masaki struggles to speak past the blood spilling from her throat.

She can't see past the rain, but there are silver eyes, blurry and faded in her sight, but she can see them. And hands—calloused and rough, and they grab her arms and her back is in agony.

"Masaki, what happened?"

"B-breath–ing. Breathing. Breathing. He's not—help... help him. I—" Masaki sobs, choking on her own blood. She holds out her son, garbles coming out of her mouth in lieu of words.

The rain becomes too loud and the streetlights are blaring into her eyes and the rain is piercing through her skin and her arms feel so heavy and Ichigo is still not breathing.

The moment Urahara takes Ichigo from her arms, she falls forward. Her own hands catch her fall, yet she didn't want them to.

Masaki feels something stir inside of her, literally. Her back sears, burning like hot coals, and it makes her gag.

Relax, human. It takes too much energy to find a new corpse. This isn't going to be the end.

Her eyes roll into the back of her head and Masaki passes out. Before she's fully unconscious, she feels something scaly and warm wrap around her torso.

Out of anything he could have calculated and expected, this is not something he prepared for. Not in the slightest and it makes his blood boil. A Hollow attack was to be expected with Ichigo-kun's recently expanding reiryoku, but Kurosaki-san's fractured soul and Ichigo-kun's almost soul suicide because of this attack is something that should not have happened.

Hollows cannot fracture a soul like this. They can eat a soul, and they can infect a soul, but they cannot tear one. Hollows cannot rip a soul in half.

If Solinus hadn't flown to his shop—if the dragon hadn't made Kisuke's ears bleed with his scream, he might not have made it in time. That cannot happen. Absolutely not.

"Boss."

Kisuke doesn't look up from where he was healing Kurosaki-san's exposed spine. Benihime hovered over him, her fingers deftly adjusting the threads attached to Ichigo-kun's soul. Currently, she's the only thing keeping his soul from completely destroying itself until it can stabilize itself or Kisuke can stabilize it.

"He'll be on a rampage. Make sure he doesn't do anything foolish and keep their daughters safe," Kisuke orders shortly.

There's a loud slam not even a second later and Kisuke immediately puts up a barrier around Ichigo-kun before a humid and sweltering heat blows through and fills up every crevice of Kisuke's lab.

"What. Happened?"

Kisuke only spares a glance towards Isshin before he focuses back on healing Kurosaki-san. "What do you think?"

The sweltering humid air turns almost broiling. Kisuke hides a wince at the phantom feeling of boiling water burning his skin off, but he still gives the ex-Shinigami a highly unamused glare.

"If you don't control yourself, you will kill your son. Calm down, Shiba," Kisuke orders only once. Benihime croons softly, her half-lidded eyes tilted towards Isshin in threat.

Isshin swallows back a growl, but still bares his teeth. He breathes deeply before he stalks closer.

"How?" Isshin snarls, though he manages to suppress his reiatsu. Good. Even Kisuke's barrier protecting Ichigo-kun may harm him if it's active for any longer.

Kisuke releases the barrier and Benihime hums a gentle tune, attaching more threads to Ichigo-kun. Kisuke frowns and glances at the lifeless boy.

His skin was pallid and his lips were blue. His chest is barely rising, but at least it was rising. Kisuke hadn't had the time to clean Kurosaki-san's blood off of her own son, so he's still covered in it and there is a dark bruise forming around his neck.

"I... don't know," Kisuke spits the words out with a small growl. "But, I do know that Ichigo-kun wasn't hurt—by the Hollow attack anyway, but his soul is severely destabilized and Kurosaki-san's soul had been ripped in half."

"...what?"

Kisuke sighs quietly and stares down at his hands slowly working to fuse Kurosaki-san's skin back together. Thankfully, only a few of her vertebrae had been fractured; though, Kisuke's sure it was from her walking around after she had been so severely injured.

No. That's not right. She had been killed, most definitely by whichever Hollow had attacked the mother-son duo—Kisuke hasn't had a chance to go check his tracking systems—and some of her spine had been torn out. She should not have been able to walk, let alone survive. And her eyes... when Kisuke was finally able to see them, they looked like—

"If you can't help me, then leave," Kisuke speaks bluntly, hoping the ex-Shinigami will listen. He has to make sure, and Isshin won't be okay if it's accurate.

"Not in a million fucking years, Urahara," Isshin snarls as his reiatsu comes back with a vengeance. "She is my wife and Ichigo is my son! I'm. Staying. Here."

Something black moves out from below Kurosaki-san's lungs. Kisuke leans forward to get a better look. A disguiser; he was right.

"Tessai-san!" Kisuke calls out urgently. Isshin can't know about this. Not yet.

No wonder Kurosaki-san survived her soul being ripped in half and the Hollow attack. A dragon is inhabiting her body.

"Isshin-dono, please come with me. The boss is doing everything he can to save them," Tessai, ever the mediator for Kisuke's stilted emotions.

"I am not—"

"Your daughters are alone and most likely scared. Wait with them or I will have Benihime keep you out." Kisuke glares at the ex-Shinigami. He doesn't want to use up precious time by restraining the foolish man, but if that's what it takes to keep him away, then he'll do it.

Isshin falters at the reminder. His other children; Yuzu-chan is likely crying herself into a panic attack and Karin-chan is probably already wandering the streets trying to find their father. They need to be protected. If that Hollow comes back...

Kisuke casts those thoughts to the back of his mind. He needs to prioritize Kurosaki-san and Ichigo-kun. His questions will be answered after he, hopefully, saves them both. At the very least, Ichigo-kun cannot die. He's too important. To his parents and to Kisuke's plans.

...hopefully, if—when Kurosaki-san wakes up and she finds out, Kisuke will at least have time to give an explanation before he is killed by the overprotective mother.

There was a humming buzz coming from somewhere. It vibrated the air around him and made the ground below him shake. It felt like a blanket, wrapped tightly around him to keep away the danger and the monsters. He could easily fall back asleep to this, if his body didn't hurt so much.

Ichigo didn't know where he was... but he was so tired. He was in so much pain; he can't move. Or... he's not allowed to move?

"Why's he—can't be—needs t' go—" A heavy smell of petrichor and blood; feral and sharp. It feels obsessive. It feels protective.

Ichigo feels his head being ripped open like some kind of pistachio. A whimper tries to escape his throat, but nothing comes out. No sound, no air, nothing.

Why can't he breathe? It hurts, but it hurts so much more to even try to breathe. Laying down hurts his body, but he doesn't want to sit up because it'll hurt so much more.

"If he goes—die. We must keep him—" A lull before a storm on a moonless night; dark and merciless. It feels possessive. It feels secure.

Ichigo doesn't know where he is, but it feels safe... but it feels like he isn't ready to be here. He'll die if he's here any longer.

"He's not ready! King's not—bitch is working t'—can't keep 'im here!"

Ichigo doesn't want to die. He's in agony and he doesn't want to die, because he still has to protect. He's so very tired... and he feels safe, but he has to protect.

A sigh leaves his mouth, making his lungs, and his chest, and his heart weep in agony. The humming buzz stops, and so do the voices. Ichigo whines, feeling his head be ripped to shreds at the silence.

Bring the voices back. They helped his head not hurt. Please.

Something cold touches his forehead before sliding back, threading through his hair. It felt rough, but gentle. Ichigo instinctively leans back into the touch despite it making him gasp in pain.

"Hush now, Ichigo. It will be alright," The lull before the storm on a moonless night speaks softly.

There is a huff of air somewhere to the left before something touches Ichigo's cheek. It felt too warm to be a human, yet it was soft to the touch like bone. Ichigo turns his head and lets it fall into the touch caressing his cheek.

"Yer not ready, but we'll be waitin' here, King. Now, go an' wake up," The petrichor and blood speaks next.

Ichigo tries to open his mouth; to speak, to voice some kind of answer, to do something. Nothing comes out.

The lull before the storm on a moonless night sighs quietly. "Soon, Ichigo, we will be able to speak. Now, wake up. You cannot stay here any longer. Your soul cannot handle it."

The humming buzz comes back, sounding more like a woman's voice than an actual buzz. Ichigo relaxes to the soft humming and barely feels his body sink through the ground.

His stomach rolls as he falls. The air whips past him and cuts into his skin, but it doesn't hurt. It felt like threads weaving in and out of his body, embroidering designs of beauty across his skin. They must be beautiful.

A chuckle echoes through his mind and pierces into his eardrums like needles. Fingers, sharp and thin, card through his hair and slice up his scalp.

"You amuse me so, little weapon..." Gold eyes slowly open as sharp fingers slide down to gently caress his cheek. "So, protect without mercy. That is my gift to you, little weapon."

Heyyyyyyy! I hope you all like the new chapter!

Holy fucking shit. The amount of bullshit that has happened these past three weeks that have prevented me from WRITING EVEN A COUPLE OF WORDS!!!!

The pipes froze at my work during the first week. I got sick the second week to the point that I couldn't even look at my phone for more than an hour, because I was so dizzy. And then I got fixated on Stardew Valley the third week, which, isn't really bullshit, but it is to me!

ANYWAYS, here's a chapter that I was 75% finished with before the impromptu three week hiatus. We've got one more chapter of child Ichigo before we get into the start of Bleach, or my version of it.

I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! And Merry New Year's! Bye.

WhovianWhoudini