If there was one thing that Nimaiya Oetsu had learned the hard way was the fact that although being a member of the Royal Guard and Zero Division was obviously a huge honour and privilege, there was nothing to do! Sure, creating female Zanpakuto and then often having sex with those females was very fun, especially the ones with the well-endowed assets, but he did want some variety. He had tried his luck with Hikifune and Shutara, but the creator of the Gikon had politely rejected him as she had no interest in doing anything with any man while the seamstress bluntly told him to cease his advances or his private parts would be cut off and fed to him, and she said all of that with a sweet smile on her face. That beautiful bitch was definitely a closet sadist, but he would never say that to her face, unless he wanted a slow and painful death.

But the upside to this was that there had been many things that have intrigued him for the past one million years of his existence thanks to the Reio giving him the Oken. Some of those things include the unnecessary sealing of said Reio and his dismemberment, to watching the progress of all three realms (those being the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society) when he was overwhelmed by the arms of the creature called Boredom, and it was relatively easy to be captured by it, and there was nothing he could do to escape it, other than being beaten to a pulp by Mera when there was a new Zanpakuto to be forged, and that process of having to reforge all those Zanpakuto had lost all of its appeal. That was because most of the Zanpakuto he made nowadays were so boring and easy, making it more of a tiring, boring job that he wanted to retire from instead of the energizing fun hobby that he would never want to retire from.

Then Kurosaki Ichigo appeared.

At first, he was intrigued by the dormant powers that lay within that boy, passed onto him by his mother and father, but seeing that the boy would probably never awaken them until someone forcefully awakened them or would die without awakening them quickly made him lose interest. Then the boy lost his mother thanks to the unintentional tag team of the Hollow Grand-Fisher's lure and Yhwach's Auswahlen, which made him gain a hero complex just like Shiba. Then Kuchiki Rukia showed up and changed his life forever, leading to him getting soundly defeated by her brother, awakening his false Shikai and Bankai thanks to that man, and defeating every person that would normally be unbeatable, leading to his fight against Aizen and being betrayed by the very people he almost died to protect. It was then that the Reio made the decision that shocked all of them when he gathered all of them in his crystal room and told him of his plan. He had suspected that the being had been lying to all of them about his memories and intentions, if the dark look he always gave Osho whenever his back was turned was any indication. To be honest, he could understand why the Reio would lie about his memories, knowing that if Osho knew the truth, more drastic measures would ensure that he would never be a threat ever again, and that would not be good for anyone if those measures backfired and the Reio decided to just say 'Fuck it' and destroy all Shinigami, including those who had nothing to do with his torment.

Now, without realizing it, the Reio had unintentionally reinvigorated the Zanpakuto creator's interest in the boy again. Not only could the boy become the most powerful being in existence, but could potentially have the most powerful Zanpakuto in existence in Zangetsu. He was now excited about forging the boy's Zanpakuto, and maybe understand why the Reio was just chilling in Ichigo's soul. Yes, he knew about the Reio being in the boy's Inner World and reawaken said boy's Zanpakuto. He began to think about the pros and cons of that situation. He knew that he would not stop the boy, even at his full strength, if he decided to turn on them. He hoped that the Reio would make the boy spare Kirinji, Hikifune and Shutara as they had no idea about the Original Sin. Him? He highly doubted it. He did not have the Perfect Almighty that the god-like being had, so he would have to wait and see what would happen in the future.

SMACK!

A loud slap echoed throughout his Hooden as he was slapped out of his thoughts by a female hand and a loud yell. "SNAP OUT OF IT, IDIOT!"

He rubbed his throbbing cheek as he stared at Mera and was about to yell at her for slapping him so hard, but his words stopped at his throat before he could even get them out as he closely looked at Mera's face. She, for the first time in a very, very long time, had a look of fear and wariness on her face. The fact that the ground was shaking violently and all of his Asauchi had ran away and hid in the darkest corners of his hut, terrified of whatever was going on solved that puzzle as why she was scared. "I tried calling your name a few times but you were out of it!" She yelled as they both jumped out of the hut. The moment the dark skinned man stepped out, he noticed a few things that were off place and instantly knew that something wrong. First, in the distance, every island was shaking, but none more than Osho's, which showed visible cracks both underneath and on top of the island. Second, there was wind and the entire sky was covered in dark clouds that released red and pitch black lightning every few seconds. Third, in the middle of Osho's island, there was a giant tower of black, blue and purple reiatsu that reached out into the sky and caused this weird weather. Fourth, there was a blood-curling scream within that tower. And finally…

…he was not able to feel anything.

Just like Aizen Sosuke and the Reio.

"What's going on, yo?" He muttered to himself, but his bodyguard heard his question and thought that it was directed towards her, so she answered. "I don't know. One minute, me and the other girls were just sitting at the forge doing nothing, and then the next minute we heard a loud scream and that," she pointed at the tower of reiatsu, "erupted from the creepy guy's island."

Shit. He thought as he gestured for Mera to follow him. What have you done this time, Osho?

X

(Ichibei's Riden)

"Well, that did not go according to plan." Ichibei muttered as he stood on the edge of the island and stared at the pillar of reiatsu while stroking his huge beard. "I knew the boy was sensitive about his mother, but I never expected him to be this sensitive about that matter. Maybe telling him the truth about what happened to his mother while he was not ready was perhaps not the best idea." As he continued to stare at the reiatsu he could not even feel, he felt two Senkaimon open on either side of him and his fellow Squad Zero members stepped out.

"What happened, Osho? Why is the young man screaming in pain and anguish?" Kirio asked.

"I merely told him the truth about the cause of his mother's death, and this happened. It would appear that the boy is still sensitive about her." He replied.

"He was not ready to learn about his roots yet, Osho. You knew this, and not only did you not follow the plan given to us by His Majesty, you skipped parts of it, didn't you?" Senjumaru chastised the leader as the pillar was slowly starting to die down.

Ichibei rubbed his head. "Indeed I did, although…"

"Although what, you idiot?" Tenjiro growled at the ancient monk.

Ichibei ignored the healer and turned his head to Senjumaru. "The power the boy has is too much for all three realms. I fear that if he use his full power, particularly his Bankai, I fear he will endanger the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society. We must use the blood oath in order to contain his power." Senjumaru's eyes narrowed at the obvious attempt at changing the subject, but did not comment on it.

"Look, old man, I don't think we have enough power to update our blood oath, let alone create a new one. That was for five people, not six, not to mention the fact that with that much power, he could potentially seal our power within him and we could never get it back, since he could be an immortal being now." Oetsu added his opinion as the pillar of reiatsu suddenly turn pitch black. Then as they watched in curiosity, the reiatsu began to slowly seep into the orange haired hybrid before disappearing. When all of that was said and done, they noticed that the boy was standing upright, no expression on his face and his eyes were lifeless. Tenjiro quickly reappeared and landed a good chop on his neck, but Ichigo simply fell down on his front side with no reaction.

"Shiiiiit, nice going Tenjiro!" The hype Shinigami shouted while giving a thumbs up to the tall man, who just shrugged and grumbled about idiots and not doing anything. He bent down and put two fingers on the side of Ichigo's neck, feeling his pulse. "So what are we going to do about the kid? He ain't ready to be told anything for quite a while, that much is obvious." He commented.

"Let him rest. Like Senjumaru has stated, the child is not ready to learn about his roots yet, proof of that are the events that just transpired. We will not tell him anything, even if he demands it. We will train him until he is strong enough to handle the news. Now I know that not telling him about his parents was a wise decision. Senjumaru," the woman slightly tilted her head to the side, "the child will be staying with you from now on. While he is resting, I will be busy creating a new blood seal, one that will seal most of his power within him. Tenjiro, he will go to your island first when he wakes up, then Kirio and Oetsu. Is that understood?" A series of head nods and grunts followed as the ancient Monk left them and made his way towards the mountains.

X

Ichigo groaned from feeling pain in his head that was slowly reducing and a lot of small drops of liquid falling on his face. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in his Inner World and that it was raining. He knew why it was raining, and he hated it. He hated the rain. He hated the feeling of loneliness, and he hated that he could not get the truth out of his mind.

His mother Kurosaki Masaki, the sun of his entire universe, was not killed by Grand-Fisher.

She was killed by a man who was in a thousand year coma, who took her power for his own.

He was seething.

He did not understand why his dad never told him about his mother being a Quincy. He had to have known, there was no way a Shinigami, an ex-taicho at that, not know that the woman he married and loved was not a Quincy, and not just any Quincy but one of the most powerful Quincy that ever existed in the World of the Living. What about Karin and Yuzu? Did they have dormant powers of their own? They were seeing ghosts, so maybe. But which powers would they have? Would one twin have their own set, or would they both have a mix of both Shinigami and Quincy powers, making them hybrids like him?

"I see Hyosube has told you the truth about your mother." The Reio's voice boomed behind him. The teen turned around and saw the being sitting on the edge of the roof, looking at the horizon as the raindrops simply evaporated before they could touch him.

"Yes he did, Your Majesty." He looked down at the ground and clenched his fists, an expression of denial and disbelief on his face. "I can't believe it. Deep down I know. I know that Hyosube Ichibei was telling the truth, but…" He did not continue his statement as the heavens cried even harder within his soul.

"Ichigo."

The hybrid froze as he heard a voice he had not heard in a while. He turned around and the ache he felt in his heart after certain revelations almost immediately disappeared and the dark clouds and rain immediately disappeared, revealing a beautiful blue sky with no clouds. The reason for this was because of the tall, middle aged man standing on top of a flagpole, looking at him with his sunglasses.

"Zangetsu no Ossan." He whispered.

Zangetsu let a small smirk grace his lips. He knew how much he missed his wielder and was happy to know his wielder missed him almost as much as he did. He used Wogenschritt to remove himself from his flagpole and stood a couple of feet away from Ichigo. He opened his mouth to speak, but was not expecting the young man to suddenly disappear and hug him tightly. He stood there, stunned for a few moments before returning the hug. It was silent in Ichigo's Inner world as the Reio looked on from his position, smiling at the touching scene until…

"THAT WAS REALLY GAY, GUYS! CUT THAT OUT!" A distorted yell made itself known as the owner of the yell appeared next to the Reio with a sonic boom. "I always suspected you were batting for the other team Ichigo, but that right there just proved my suspicions right. I mean if dicks are what you like and you enjoy taking it from behind, then that ain't my problem. Faggot."

Zangetsu and Ichigo rolled their eyes in annoyance. They forgot he was also here and as annoying as ever. "Missed you too, fuck-face." Ichigo growled, hoping to at least irritate the Hollow but instead of what he imagined, the pale version of himself merely grinned. "Wow King. So not only do you like men, you would also fuck their faces? You're a kinky one ain't ya?"

Ichigo growled. The asshole had not changed a bit. The old man, decided that this was not the time to do this, ended the argument with one statement. "Perhaps Ichigo would not find men appealing if you did not put a certain 'barrier' in his mind."

Ichigo and the Reio raised an eyebrow at this barrier that the middle aged man was talking about while noticing the Inner Hollow tense, as if he were…afraid?

"What barrier?" Ichigo asked.

Zangetsu opened his mouth to answer, but the Inner Hollow interrupted by yelling, "YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!"

Ichigo wondered as to who he was talking to, when he heard a soft giggle followed by a purple light. Ichigo was caught off guard and blinked multiple times and was about to ask a question, when he stopped and his jaw hung low. Standing in front of him was a beautiful woman that was almost the same height as the Reio, two heads shorter than me and Shiro, but was three heads shorter than Ossan, since he was the tallest out of all of us. She wore sandals, had snow white hair that was tied into a long ponytail and skin that was a couple of shades lighter than Shiro's, but it was healthy looking and unblemished. She was wearing a white kimono that had designs of black crescent moons and flowers scattered all over it. The most distinguishing thing about her was her eyes. They were a light shade of purple and always seemed to pierce anyone's very soul.

"Yo, King. I think a fly just went in your mouth." The Hollow remarked before getting punched in the face by Ichigo.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled, before focusing his attention towards the woman, who was gently smiling at him. As he opened his mouth to speak, his words disappeared within his throat. After a couple of minutes of snickering from the annoying white haired Holllow, the teen finally found his voice. "Um…ah…hi. I'm Ichigo."

The woman giggled before answering, "Nice to finally meet you, Ichigo-sama."

Ichigo frowned. "Please don't call me that, and what do you mean it's nice to finally meet me? I'm pretty sure I have never met you before."

"That is true, for you." The woman replied. "However, I have met you before. Multiple times in fact. You may not have seen this form, but you have seen my true form. I was created by two yet served one at the end, embedded in the other's chest to create a transcendent being, one that not only broke the barriers between Shinigami and Hollows, but granted a person's innermost desires. My final task was to be given to you as a gift, knowing that you would use me fairly and not abuse your power. I am-"

"The Hogyoku." Ichigo realized as he stared at the woman. "You were created by both Urahara-san and Aizen, then Aizen took Getaboshi's version of you and merged it with his, creating the perfect 'you'. You were fused with Aizen for all of the battle in Fake Karakura and helped Aizen become a transcendent being, and before Aizen was sealed, he gave you to me." That puzzle was solved as he now understood why Aizen was looking at him that way. He was trusting him, the man who helped defeat him with one of the most powerful objects in recent memory.

If only he knew the other half…

She nodded. "Yes Ichigo-sama. Everything you said is correct. I am surprised that you managed to figure it out almost instantaneously. Your Hollow took a few minutes in order to understand my riddle." She heard incoherent grumbling but ignored it. "It is nice to see that behind that naïve, brash and stubborn person with a limit barrier exists an intelligent man."

Ichigo blushed at the praise. "Thank you Hogyoku-san. I really… Wait, what did you mean 'a limit barrier'?" Ichigo asked. He then felt a sonic boom as the Hollow disappeared. "What the hell is his problem?"

"This." Zangetsu monotoned as he snapped his fingers. Confused, Ichigo was about to ask about his actions when he suddenly felt a dull pain in the back of his mind and heard the sound of something breaking. He shook his head as his vision began to feel hazy and suddenly feeling as though there was a huge weight that had been lifted of his shoulders.

"Are you alright, Ichigo-sama?" The Hogyoku asked.

"Yeah, I think so." He replied as his vision cleared up.

"Are you sure?" The woman asked as she got closer and cupped his face with her soft hands. Ichigo realized then and there that something was not right. The way she addressing him was not bothering him as much as it used to, and...

"I'm not blushing, am I?" He asked without stuttering and averting eye contact, something he immediately took note of. He did not even attempt creating as much distance from the lady as possible.

The Hogyoku smiled. "No, you are not. As much it amused me to see you blush like your namesake in your memories, I prefer this version of you. No embarrassment, no prudish behaviour, no suppressed desires. Just you. The true you."

Ichigo smiled in amusement, surprising the woman as he reminded her of a man she knew. He spoke, "Let me guess. He put the barrier there in order to watch me make a fool out of myself, just for entertainment. And the reason he ran away was because he was scared I was gonna knock his teeth in. Am I right?"

The Reio chuckled. "Indeed, and it would appear as though you have already gotten control of your emotions to some degree. The Hogyoku was right: this version of you is way better than that naïve fool who always jumped into battle without thinking first." 'At this rate, it won't be long before the truth about his father is revealed. I certainly want to see his reaction to the news.' He thought to himself.

"I was an idiot, wasn't I?" He could not help but chuckle. He actually felt calm, cool and collected and his mind did not feel blocked, as if something was removed and feeling a lot more mature than he used to. However, he knew that feeling mature was a lot different than being mature. A sudden pain suddenly made itself known, making Ichigo clutch his head in pain.

"It would appear that removing the barrier after so long is having a side effect." Zangetsu, who had been silent until now. "It would be best if you did not push your mental capabilities just yet and rest for now, until the pain subsided."

Ichigo nodded and prepared to leave his Inner World, but there was some things he had to take care of first. "So, Hogyoku-san, do you prefer to be called Hogyoku, or would you like a new name?"

Her smile slightly widened. "It matters not what you call me, Ichigo-sama. My body, mind and soul are yours to command."

Ichigo merely raised an eyebrow at the not-so-subtle declaration, but spoke, "Then you would not mind being called Ayumi from now on, right?" Her headshake was all the answer he needed. He turned his attention to Zangetsu, who had returned to his flagpole. "Zangetsu no Ossan, tell 'Shiro' that I will kick his ass to next week the next time I meet him, ok?" Without waiting for a reply, he willed himself out of his Inner World, leaving behind a confused Zangetsu and intrigued Reio and now named Ayumi behind.

X

A/N: In the last chapter, Ichibei was speaking in half-truths about his version of the events that happened in the Primordial World, and Oetsu knows more than he lets on.