Chapter 2: Answers
Ichigo looked at the boy with wide eyes. He had just defeated Aizen not too long ago, so how is he suddenly standing here as a kid? This made absolutely no sense to the confused teen, and he knew it had something to do with the marble sized jewel in his chest.
Sosuke watched as Ichigo stared at him with his jaw dropped. He didn't know what he said but this was definitely confusing to the boy.
"Are you alright Kurosaki?" Aizen asked him after a few awkward seconds.
Ichigo shook his head to bring his senses back to himself and answered. "Yeah. Yeah, it's just that you-" Ichigo was cut off when he felt two spirit energies approaching them. One felt like a low level lieutenant while the other felt like a normal soul reaper. Aizen felt it too and turned his head in time to hear the buzzing of shunpo appear in front of them. They were two regular soul reapers with one of them wearing an official teachers badge on his shoulder. The man with the badge was an old man with white hair that was tied up.
"Sosuke." The old man started. "Were you the one that did this?" He motioned to the dense reiatsu in the air.
"No. It was actually-" The moment Sosuke turned around, Ichigo was gone. There was absolutely no trace of him at all. "How did he-"
"I do not appreciate being lied to Sosuke." The old man interrupted. "Whoever was here must have left long before you showed up boy. Now report what you saw back to captain Hirako immediately."
Sosuke was apprehensive at first, but sighed in defeat as walked past the two and flashed away from the whole scene. He was both frustrated and confused by this whole thing now. There was no way that Ichigo could've left the area without a single trace of spirit energy in the seconds that it took the two to show. It was impossible, was it? Before Sosuke could even think of it any further, he felt the familiar spirit energy right in front of him. He looked up and saw Ichigo standing there.
"Kurosaki?" Sosuke stopped and looked at the man with confusion in his eyes. "How did you get here so fast?"
Ichigo smirked at the boy and crossed his arms. "I'm a lot faster than you think, Aizen."
Sosuke looked at the the man with even more confusion and asked him. "Why did you leave before they could ask you any questions?"
"Because I didn't want them to see me." Ichigo responded while turning to the side. He looked up to the sky as it was covered with the leaves of the trees around them. If this really was the past, then at least he wouldn't have to worry about Aizen trying to mess with his head every time he said a sentence. Meaning that he could pretty much talk to Aizen any way he wanted and get away with it completely.
"Um, Kurosaki?" Sosuke started. Ichigo looked over to him and waited for a question. "Where did you come from and how did you get so much spirit energy?"
Ichigo could tell that Aizen wanted to know many things right now. He watched as the boy was trying to get as much information out as possible. Ichigo scoffed and looked away from the boy before answering with a vague answer.
"Where I come from isn't important anymore. How I got this much power is something that you'll never be able to learn without making powerful enemies in the process." Ichigo looked back to the boy and saw that he had his jaw slightly dropped. "Tell me something Aizen." Sosuke perked up at the statement. "What squad are apart of and who's your captain?"
"I'm part of squad 5." Sosuke started. "My Captain is Shinji Hirako. Why do you need to know that Kurosaki?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes and groaned. "Listen, you can call me Ichigo, alright. And I'll call you Sosuke. Deal?"
Sosuke tilted his head a little at the sudden change from formal to informal greetings. He was always told to call a superior by a title name or their family name, but now to be told to call someone by their name was pretty jarring.
"Okay then, Ichigo." Sosuke hesitated. "Why is my captain and squad so important?"
"Just asking a basic question, geez." Ichigo said to him. Now that he really thought about it, he did need to know all of the captains if he was truly in the past. It would give him a sense of who he'd be up against in the future. "Sosuke, I need to know every single captain right now."
Sosuke was about question why, but the look on Ichigo's face told him that Ichigo was in dire need of this information. Sosuke sighed out, but decided to answer nonetheless.
"The captain of squad one is head captain Yamamoto." Sosuke started. The head captain is still a formidable opponent no matter what time you're from.
"Squad two's captain is captain Yoruichi Shihoin." Hearing that name made Ichigo perk up a bit at one of his old mentors being here. Sosuke continued with his list.
"Captain Rose Otoribashi is squad three's captain." Rose huh? Another familiar face.
"Squad four has captain Retsu Unohana." She is one of oldest and strongest captains without a doubt. She'll be a challenge.
"Squad five is my captain, Shinji Hirako." Shinji won't be too big of a problem this time.
"Captain Ginrei Kuchiki of squad six." Hmm. Someone related to Byakuya and that bitch Rukia.
"Captain Love Aikawa of squad seven." Another one of the visoreds.
"Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of squad eight." Another of the four oldest and most powerful captains.
"Captain Kensei Muguruma of squad nine." Kensei won't be too much of a problem, especially without his mask.
"Isshin Shiba is captain of squad ten." The mention of his father brought up the last memory Ichigo had of him. He helped in making Ichigo the man he is right now. When he told Ichigo of his true name in the Dangai, Ichigo vowed to right the wrong of the Shiba's brought on by Aizen.
"Squad eleven has Kenpachi Kiganjo as its captain." That was a brand new player in the game. Maybe this could give Ichigo an advantage in his endgame since the role of captain in squad eleven passes with the killing of the previous captain. That, and he could gain the title of Kenpachi in the process.
"Squad twelve has captain Kirio Hikifune." Another new face? This one could be interesting, but Ichigo knew he would need Kisuke and the department of research and development.
"Last is squad thirteens captain, Jushiro Ukitake." As much as Ichigo still didn't want to believe that this peaceful captain was involved in the betrayal back in the future, Ichigo couldn't take the chance.
After hearing the current captains from Sosuke, Ichigo had to figure out some kind of way to destroy them for what they did to him in the future, or at the very least stop some future events from happening. He already had Sosuke Aizen right here and he had the complete Hogyoku. That's already one big problem down, now all he needed was a way to get into the Seireitei without being detected by a few individuals.
Kisuke Urahara was number one on that list. Ichigo remembered asking Kisuke once when he invented the Hogyoku and remembered him say that he made the first half before he became a captain. If that's true, then he should be the only one who could possibly feel the Hogyoku's presence on Ichigo, and that meant the Ichigo would have to be very careful.
"Um, Ichigo?" Sosuke started, getting Ichigo's attention. "Why did you need to know all of this? Are you planning something that involves them all?"
Smart, even when he was a kid. Maybe now was the best time to know just what his real reasoning for the Winter War was all about. Ichigo sighed and stretched himself out before sitting under a tree. Sosuke stood there and watched him with a hint of annoyance.
"So are you going to tell me or not, Ichigo!?" He yelled out when Ichigo started to cross his legs and close his eyes.
Ichigo looked up at the boy and had an annoyed look on his face. "Before I answer that, let me ask you one last question."
Sosuke sighed in frustration but shrugged his shoulders. "What?"
"You want to know a lot about me so you can use my power later on to get some kind of revenge on the soul society, right?" Ichigo said as he closed his eyes again. He heard Sosuke gasp and smirked at how accurate he was. "So then Sosuke," he motioned his hand in front of him and Sosuke sat there. "Tell me, why do you want this revenge?"
Sosuke sat there and started off at the teen for a while. He had just made his vow only a few minutes before Ichigo showed up. He had made up his mind then and there and knew that it would take a very long time for him to gain the power and strength necessary to get his revenge. But now, with this man sitting in front of him with his extraordinary power and curiosity for who every single captain was made Sosuke question just what to do. He was lost and knew it. He had craved for power ever since that day, but now instead of just power, he wanted something else to honor his vow. He wanted something that could truly help him achieve his revenge. He needed a mentor, and Ichigo seemed to be the one to do so for him.
Taking a deep breath, Sosuke started his story.
"Before I joined the academy, before I knew just what my powers could do, I grew up with my parents. They were two of most gentle and peaceful beings in this world and cared for everyone, no matter if they were a soul reaper or even a snobbish noble. They were so innocent." Sosuke paused as he remembered just what happened that day. he took another breath and continued. "One day, like every other day started, we were outside farming crops. It was sunny and peaceful that day. And then it went from peaceful to a blood bath. These group of hollows attacked our village and murdered everyone there. My mother locked me in a secret cabin far away from the village and told me to stay quiet. I waited for five hours for her. Five of the worst hours of my life. I was scared, terrified even. I couldn't find the courage to leave or the will to act, so I waited. And then I heard her scream."
Ichigo could feel Sosuke's energy begin to waver and fluctuate at recalling the memory. He could feel how the memory mad him feel like he was worthless and powerless, but that still doesn't explain why he wanted to destroy the soul king.
Sosuke wiped away the one tear that ran down his face and continued. "Against my better judgement at the time, I found the strength to break the lock on the door and went to find her. But when I did, she was hanging by the neck from the mouth of a hollow. She had been dead before I even reached her along with everyone else. The hollows left as fast as they arrived and I was left there, holding what was left of my mother in my hands. That's when I found out about my spirit energy. It was captain Hirako that found me after a few hours of me releasing energy uncontrollably, and he took me to the academy. I excelled in everything aside from zanjutsu, and graduated within a year. It wasn't long after I graduated and joined squad five did I find out about the attack on my village. It took some digging, but I found out that the central 46 knew about the attack all along. That's why I vowed to destroy them for what they allowed to happen to my family."
As Sosuke finished his story, Ichigo opened his eyes and looked at the boy with compassion on his face. He knew just how much this must've hurt Sosuke, considering the fact that he lost his mother to a hollow when he was a child. Even now with his centuries of life and experience to him in the future, he was just a boy who lost his mother to a hollow, just like Ichigo.
Ichigo sighed and looked up to the sky again. "I take it you really want to go through with this do you Sosuke?"
Sosuke looked at Ichigo with wide eyes and clenched both his teeth and hands into fists. He stood up and stood in front of Ichigo quickly before saying. "They let my family die for their own selfish reasons! They don't care about the weak and helpless out there in the Rukon districts Ichigo! And they nearly damned me for being some trash that passed through the academy in a year!" Ichigo was surprised by how fast Sosuke lost his composure, but continued to listen nonetheless. "If I had the power that you possess then I could take my revenge right now!"
"And then what?" Ichigo asked him. Sosuke looked at him in confusion. "Say you do get power like mine, and say you do kill the central 46. You'll be running for the rest of your life from the soul reapers, and they will either kill you or put you in the Muken for all eternity." Ichigo stood up and looked at Sosuke with a fire in his eyes that Sosuke had never seen in anyone's eyes before. "If that's all you're planning, then you should just give up right now! Charging in blindly can and will get you killed or captured! How do you expect to face a captain-class soul reaper when you don't even know zanjutsu!? Or the fact that you don't even know what your zanpakuto's name!?"
Sosuke didn't know what to say. He was at a total loss for words as Ichigo continued.
"No. You're not ready to go and take your revenge yet. You'll need help with this if you really wish to change the spiritual world, Sosuke." Ichigo continued while placing a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm the guy who's gonna help you. Understood?"
Sosuke nodded his head with some enthusiasm and was actually starting to figure out that he had finally found someone who he could truly look up to.
That Does It For This Chapter. The Next Will Have A Little Time Skip To It And I'll Be Going Over Everything In A Sort Of Quick Highlight Type Of Thing. It'll Cover A Few Things That'll Happen In The Next Chapter.
Really Appreciate All The Awesome People Who Helped Me Figure Out Who All The Captains Were For This Time Line. Those Guys Are: hevenlydemonknight, Y-T3cH, and Delightfully sinful.
Thanks Guys, That Really Helped Out A Lot.
Anyway, Follow/Fav, Review And PM. All That Jazz.
You Guys are Awesome, And As Always,
Stay Sexy Out There, PEACE!