Chapter 10: How this all started Finale

Karin woke up not too long ago with a bad headache and far too relaxed muscles. She stood up from the floor and looked around the room she was in, remembering that both she and Yuzu were about to go out to look for their older brother before they both suddenly passed out. It was strange how it happened. One moment they were both up and about, ready to search, then the next moment they were both laying on the floor. Karin stood up on wobbly legs and looked around the house feeling something was off. Nothing looked different to her, but something just felt off. She walked over to her sister and checked on her, relieved that she was sleeping peacefully. After she did that, Karin went over to the window and looked outside only to see that there were people passed out on the roads and streets.

"What in the world is going on here?"
She asked herself, not sure what type of answer to expect.

After a few seconds, Karin heard a groan behind her and turned to see Yuzu waking up. She went to her twin sister and helped her to her feet, unaware that they were about to receive some unexpected guests.

"W-What happened?"
Yuzu asked as she stood up with Karin's help only to have to lean on the couch for support.

"I have no idea."
Karin replied as she sat her down so she could regain her bearings.
"But something's really weird here."

"What do you mean, Karin?"
Yuzu asked as she could see the hard look in her sisters eyes. Yuzu knew that Karin only made that look when it involved ghosts or other spirits.
"Something happened with Ichigo, didn't it."
Karin was caught by surprise as she looked to Yuzu only to see her giving a concerned look.
"It has something to do with him leaving for some dangerous place again."

"How did you-"

Yuzu stopped her as she smiled.
"I had a feeling about it for a while now. Whenever he looks lost or depressed, he leaves to fix whatever it is he needs to fix."
She leaned back into the couch and sighed.
"Like the first time he left and then started acting like someone else. I knew it wasn't our brother the moment I saw him looking at those stupid magazines."

"I honestly don't know everything myself,"
Karin sat next to her and got her attention.
"I've seen him in these black robes before and a giant sword on his back. I even ran into others that wear the exact same thing. I really don't get it, but,"
She leaned forward and had a stern look in her eyes as she looked at Yuzu.
"I'm sure Ichigo will tell us if everything's alright or not."

Yuzu smiled at this and was about to say something, but that was when the front door opened on their conversation. They both stood up and went into the hallway leading towards the front door, and they saw their brother standing there in the doorway. He looked different than usual. His hair was a darker orange and slightly longer, reaching the bottom of his neck. He had strange markings on his body, his skin was slightly tanned, and there was a faint glow in his chest. He was wearing the same black outfit he would usually wear, only the top half was torn on the left side. He looked to the two and could see their hesitance. It would have broken his heart if he scared his two sisters like he had done with Orihime.

"Hey guys."
He started as he knew he had a lot to explain.
"I'm sorr-"

Before he could even finish what he wanted to say, the two had rushed over to him. Hugging his waist tightly in relief. He was surprised for a moment before kneeling down to return the gesture. The three stayed that way for a few seconds before letting each other go to enter the house. They were followed by Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Ichigo's friends from school, that Don Kanonji guy, and three people that the twins had never seen before.

Ichigo looked to the three newcomers with a stern look.
"If any of them show, let me know immediately."

They nodded as Ichigo decided to take Yuzu and Karin into another room while the others went about the place to relax or grab some food. He took the two up to his room and closed the door as they sat on his bed and looked to him expectantly.

"I suppose I might as well get all of this over with now rather than later."
Ichigo started as he pulled up his chair and sat in front of the two.
"You both already know that I see spirits and ghosts. There's also these monsters called hollows."

"Like the one that attacked us months ago and left that large hole in the front that was caused by a truck."
Karin interrupted, catching Ichigo by surprise again.

He smirked at that memory. The night his entire life changed and things started to spiral out of his control.
"Yeah. That was a hollow. They're spirits that were corrupted and feed on souls. Though, they do evolve later on."

"Those three we saw,"
Yuzu started as she started to realize something.
"are they-"

Ichigo nodded.
"They are called arrancar and no, they don't feed on souls."

The two nodded as he continued, and continued he did. He explained to them everything he now knew. How their father was a soul reaper and their mother a Quincy. How it was the mad man Aizen who sent a powerful hollow to attack the two and nearly killed their mother. How it was the will of not only Aizen, but also Kisuke and the order of the soul society's head captain and others to create the 'perfect being' to be used in the future. How Their father agreed to it once given the order to impregnate their Quincy mother who was infected with a hollow to create said being. How both of them were next in line to be used by the soul society if Ichigo was ever to be slain during the Winter War. The twins listened to everything and didn't interrupt their brother even once during his explanation. They listened to every word, every name, every event of their lives that seemed to be fabricated by others, every battle Ichigo had been in, every conflict that he was forced into and had resolved himself. It was a lot to take in, but the two began to understand everything, but there was one last thing that they needed to know.

"What about when mom died?"
Yuzu asked with a shaky tone of voice.

Ichigo looked down and had a hard glare to that question. It was the one thing he regretted seeing once he obtained the Hogyoku and asked about his true origin. He saw everything and knew everything involving himself and his growth. He saw the ones responsible for how his life turned out. He knew just what he was created for, and he knew what those men did. Regaining his composure and calming himself down, Ichigo looked to the two with a sad look in his eyes.

"Mom found out about what dad had agreed to with the soul society. She didn't want that life for any of us and tried to steer us into another direction. Most likely becoming Quincy like her and ruining their plans. But,"
Ichigo had to breathe deeply in order to continue, the looks in his sisters eyes being enough for them to put the pieces together, but he had to say for his own sake.
"dad found out and informed the head captain. While Grand Fisher, the hollow that killed mom wasn't their doing, they knew long in advance that that monster was going to be there."

Both Yuzu and Karin were in tears by this point. Their mother was trying to save them from being pawns in someone else's game and paid the price for it. They were distraught over the entire thing and wanted time to grieve, but that was when one of the arrancar came into the room.

"Ichigo, they're here here."

Ichigo nodded.
"Thank you Ulquiorra."
Ulquiorra nodded and left while Ichigo stood up and put the chair back.
"You two stay in the house. Everything's going to be alright."

Before he could leave, Yuzu had grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
"You promise you'll be fine?"
She said through all the tears in her eyes.

Ichigo gave her a kind smile and placed his hand gently on her cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb.
"I promise. After all of this, we won't ever have to worry about the soul society ever again."

Yuzu stopped crying and nodded to her brother, believing every word he said. Karin also nodded to her brother and trusted him to handle everything. Ichigo left the two and went downstairs where he saw the three espadas at the ready, same with Uryu, Chad and Orihime. Ichigo made his way to the front door and took a breath before opening it to see the mass force in front of him all lead by the one-armed and still injured head captain.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."
The old man started in his usual authoritative tone.
"While I congratulate you on your victory defeating Aizen, I must ask you, where is the Hogyoku?"

Ichigo kept his eyes on the old man and scowled as he noticed the other captains who were able to fight subtly prepare for another battle.
"You mean the object that both Kisuke and Aizen created together?"
Everyone gasped, well, all the lieutenants and Toshiro since he was the youngest captain there. Ichigo noticed this and continued.
"The very same object that is the cause for all of this senseless destruction and violence. The same object created for its 'perfect' host."
He exaggerated the word perfect before continuing.
"The same object that you authorized to be created."

That really caught most of them by surprise as the lieutenants, Toshiro and even Yoruichi looked towards the old man in shock. The captains that weren't surprised by this revelation were shocked to hear that Ichigo knew about this and even took a step back as a result.

The head captain looked angered by what Ichigo said to him and tensed his remaining arm a bit.
"Where is it Kurosaki?"
He spoke with that same angered tone.

Ichigo didn't answer as he simply stared at the old man and pointed to his own chest where the markings all converged to. At first, it was just a regular dark circle connecting all of those markings along Ichigo's body, but then the Hogyoku appeared from Ichigo's chest. Everyone tensed at seeing that object that drove Aizen to insane lengths to achieve his goals. The head captain was adamant at first as he saw it, but then let out a tired sigh.

"If that is the case, then I am afraid we have no other choice."
He spoke in a solemn tone now, completely opposite from what he had before.

"You seek to destroy me because you are afraid that I'll turn into what Aizen and Kisuke wanted me to be in the first place."
Ichigo said, surprising everyone there.
"I will not allow that to happen. I have lived a lie because of the soul society, because of my father, because of Kisuke. I am done being a pawn for you all to use to simply discard when it has become to powerful for you to control."

"Then you leave us no choice!"
The head captain shouted as he released his zanpakuto with most of the captains doing the same.

What happened after was a damn-near one-sided battle. While most of the captains and lieutenants could still fight, they were still heavily injured or at the very least still beaten up. All the while Ichigo's crew were one-hundred percent thanks to Orihime's rejection powers.

Throughout the 'battle', only a few refused to get involved in it. One of them was Yoruichi as she decided to hang back after hearing what Ichigo said about Kisuke working alongside Aizen to create not only the Hogyoku, but also Ichigo. It was a shock to her system that not even her Shunko could replicate. The betrayal she felt from her best friend siding with Aizen all those decades ago even after they were exiled because of him was too much for her to bear. She stayed out of the fight as she didn't have any more in her. She knew she would have to apologize to Ichigo when this is over, or most likely have to beg him for forgiveness on her own ignorance in this whole situation. All she could hope for was that. Forgiveness.

The others that refused to fight were the Vizards as they were equally angered and shocked by what Ichigo revealed to them all. Kisuke and Aizen worked together to create the Hogyoku was one thing, but collaborating together to create Ichigo was something deplorable to them all. They trusted Kisuke when they needed to hide from the soul society after Aizen's little experiment. Was that all a ploy? Was their hollowfication all planned from the start? Were they just more test subjects for these men? Those thoughts only angered the Vizards more and more as they watched Ichigo and his crew take down each and every single soul reaper in their way.

Or at least almost all of them.

The last that were not fighting were both Toshiro and Rangiku. Not because of just their injuries, but because of what they heard of their former captain's involvement in all of this. For decades they had believed him to be a good man forced into an almost unwinnable situation by making the most of it. Now, though, they couldn't see the good man they thought he was anymore. If that was what they were feeling, they could only imagine what Ichigo felt right now.

By the end of it all, the head captain stood on shaky legs, his wounds reopened and himself bleeding profusely. The other captains and lieutenants that fought were taken down easily by the three espada with some help from Chad and Uryu providing support when they could. Ichigo had fought the head captain with the same power he used to defeat Aizen all to prove to the old man that he was now far out of their reach now. That if he was cruel and callous enough, he could kill them all with no issue. Even the Soul King right now would be no issue to him, but that's not who Ichigo was. He was no killer. He was nobody's pawn anymore or a tool of destruction. He was his own person now, and he was finally free of the shackles holding him in place by the soul society.

"T-this is,"
The old man spoke while struggling to stand.
"not over, K-Kurosaki."

By this point, everyone else had come out of the house to see the end of it all. Yuzu and Karin were the first out of the door as they watched their brother standing in front of the old man. They were in awe of his power and felt only warmth and comfort from it, something that the soul reapers probably did not feel right now.

"It is over, old man."
Ichigo started as he dispelled his Mugetsu blade once more and reverted back to that dark orange haired form.
"Go back to the soul society, and never interfere in my affairs ever again."

Ichigo turned to walk away to his friends and family, but that was when Yamamoto struck.
"BANKAI!"

Before anyone could react, the entire area was being set ablaze as Ichigo went back into Mugetsu and turned to block the old man's downward slash. It was almost nothing to him as a small crater formed at his feet, yet he stood unmoved by the attack. Yamamoto continued his flurry, sending shockwaves everywhere, uncaring of the collateral damage he was causing.

"Everyone, save the innocent!"
Yoruichi took charge as even she realized that this was about to get out of hand.
"Get any and everyone out of the way, now!"

With those words, the Vizards went to work gathering humans away from the area Ichigo and Yamamoto were fighting at. The espadas, with Ichigo's simple nod, did the same thing. Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Don Kanonji and the rest of the students were hurrying to do the same. This just left Yuzu and Karin back at the house as they stood far enough from the fight to avoid any falling debris or shockwaves.

They watched the entire fight as Ichigo had to block his attacks with true force in order for nothing to get past him and hit the house. He was so focused on doing that, that he failed to realize that Rukia was standing not too far away behind him. She was chanting some sort of incantation and held her sword up as it glowed a terrible golden color. She stood on shaky legs and slowly made her way to stab Ichigo in the back.

"Oh no."
Yuzu said to herself as she noticed how much Ichigo's focus was on the old man and not who was behind him.

Without a second hesitation, Yuzu rushed over to stop Rukia much to Karin's protest. Karin also rushed over to stop her sister from interfering as she trusted Ichigo's abilities. They rushed over and that was when a single shockwave changed everything.

Karin lost her balance and fell over while Rukia was hit by some falling debris, stopping her in tracks and disorienting her for a brief moment. She saw what she thought was her target and closed her eyes as tears were being released by them.

"I'm sorry Ichigo."
Rukia said as she thrust her blade forward and felt it penetrate flesh and muscle before going through the body completely.

She took a breath as she thought it was over, until she heard Karin's shout from far away and opened her eyes to see the horror she had done.

"YUZUUUUU!"

Ichigo heard this and while locked with the old man, turned his head and saw something that would haunt his nightmares forever. Yuzu stood in front of Rukia with her arms stretched out to protect her brother from the attack, and Rukia's zanpakuto was pierced right through her chest.

"Yuzu."
Ichigo said to himself in a whisper not trusting his own voice right now.

Rukia pulled her blade from the girls chest as the golden color from her blade transferred to Yuzu's body. The girl fell back and it all happened in slow motion for Ichigo as he kicked the old man away, reverted to his other form and caught Yuzu before she could hit the ground.

"Yuzu?"
He started as he placed a shaky hand on her wound and saw the golden light in her chest start to move all throughout her body. She started to feel cold as if she was losing her very life.
"Yuzu! Yuzu!"

Karin scrambled over as the two were in tears over what they were seeing.
"Yuzu! No! No please!"

"I'm sorry."
Yuzu spoke in a near hushed whisper that the two could barely hear.
"I just couldn't stand the thought of seeing you hurt. You promised."

"I did."
Ichigo sobbed.
"I promised you."

"I'm glad that you're both sa-"
Before she could even finish, the light had spread through her whole body and vanished, and with that, so did she.

"Yuzu?"
Karin sobbed out as she could see the smile still on the girl's lifeless face.
"Yuzu?! YUZU!"
She hugged the girls cold body and sobbed uncontrollably all the while Ichigo couldn't stop his own tears from leaving his own eyes.

The head captain returned and saw that his final trump card had failed him.
"It seems I have to do everything myself."

With that, he raised his blade high into the air and brought it down. The Vizards, Espada, Yoruichi, Chad, Uryu and everyone else saw the old man bring his charred blade down and feared the worst for Ichigo, but that went away once Ichigo caught the blade with his bare hand. Everyone was in absolute shock as they saw Ichigo stand up and his form began to change once again. His hair had grown longer and was the same length as when he fought Ulquiorra in his Vasto Lorde form, but it was turning bone white. The markings on his body had all changed and streaked across his chest, back, arms, legs and his neck. The markings had all changed from a rough black to a smooth light blue. Ichigo turned around and looked at Yamamoto with tears in his eyes as they had changed from their brown color to a brilliant, ruby red color. He scowled at the old man as he was immediately informed by the Hogyoku what that technique Rukia used was for. Gritting his teeth in sheer rage as all he could hear were the sobs of his remaining little sister, Ichigo snapped the old mans zanpakuto in half, shocking old head captain in the process, before grabbing him by the neck. Everyone watched on as Ichigo's right hand glowed a fierce red and black color, almost like his Getsuga Tensho, but this was completely different and felt so too. Before anyone could say or do anything, the light from his hand flared into a brilliant pillar of dark light and they heard the head captain's screams of pain and agony before all fell silent once more. The light ended and nothing remained of the head captain anymore.

On this day, Ichigo killed Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

Sorry for not posting last week. That hurricane kinda put a stop to my plans as we lost power for a few days. The Internet just came back not too long ago.

With this, the backstory parts are mostly done. The next chapter will have some action to it.

Anyway, stay awesome, and as always...

PEACE!