Summery (Full)
After the Loss of his power, Ichigo Kurosaki, Powerless and broken, is sent to Tokyo for the year with family and friends. However, it seems like the year of healing he is going upon might do a little more than "Heal". with Shadows around all corners and the threat of corrupt adults and their palaces running wild through the city, and he and his new friends being the only ones to be able to stop it. But then again, what else is new? The contracts have been sealed, and the deck may be rigged, but maybe this time it is rigged in their favor, as they cast themselves into Blinding Lights.
Chapter 1: Nothing Can Be Explained (Inst-Part One)
Written By: Ethorthecinderace_TCC_
Well… you wanted me to start at the beginning… Fine. Guess I will.
(November First, 2015, Ichigo Kurosaki POV)
It was a fierce battle together, it only took a matter of… Kami knows how long time went on for me, but to everyone else, it was a quick set of battles. But It felt like an eternity to me. With each of Aizen's pathetic blows, it felt like an hour as I watched each one land upon my sword. Each blow felt… sad. The man who claimed to be beyond soul reapers and hollows was so… pitiful. It was funny that only three months before I feared this man, but with everything… I felt a sense of pity upon him. But after another transformation, and another attack that did next to nothing to me. And then I had enough.
"Is this all you got?" I said coldly
I batted his hand away with my arm. I could see his eyes widen from behind my bangs, but I didn't even care, inwardly. I was saying my goodbyes once again, "Let's not waste anymore time Aizen, I am sick of your crap."
I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I could almost feel my hand moving toward my swordhand, I could feel my power about to tip the proverbial cup, to overflow, it was like I was about to go into Bankai, one final time I supposed, "I will show you,"
An aura of darkness erupted around me, and with one final internal goodbye, I said, "Let me show you, the final Getsuga Tensho"
There was no aura, no blinding light. Just the single feeling of nothingness. That is all I felt as my eyes bore into Aizen. He was afraid, truly so now. But I didn't care, how could I? I was looking back upon the memories of my training with them, both of them within my inner world, and Tensa Zangetsu's training for this accursed form. But there was nothing he could do to train me to stop him in any other way, and then the memories temporarily faded away into nothingness.
"Using this technique means… I lose all my soul reaper powers." I said, "That is why it is the final one"
I grabbed at something, Aizen was spouting some crap about something I did not care about… and then, I finally spoke the words that sealed my fate.
"Mugetsu (Moonless Sky)"
And then… fate was sealed.
(3RD POV)
It was December 22nd, it had been a while since that day, the day that he finally beat Aizen. And Ichigo could only think back to what happened a month before, the loss of his powers… all of it. It haunted his dreams, but he went on about his days.
"I am home!" Ichigo shouted before dodging an incoming attack from his father and locking the door behind him.
"Welcome home big bro!" said Yuzu
"Yo," said Karin from the couch.
Ichigo smiled at his sisters before walking over to where Yuzu was where he began to try and help his sister when it came to the cooking… before his father burst into the door shouting, "ICHIGO! Why are you not in formal dress wear? Didn't your sisters tell you to get dressed already!?" asked Issen
"N-no? Why do I even need to anyway?" asked Ichigo
"Well, some guests are coming soon! And they are sticklers for professionalism!" said Issen, "So get ready, they should be here in an hour or two!"
Ichigo sighed before walking over to the bathroom, showering, and then running over to his room and putting on the only "nice" dress where he had, which was simply black dress pants, and a black dress shirt under a purple wool knit sweater vest. Hell he even did the pleasure of combing his still-long hair, sadly he was also forced to use one of his sister's hair bands… he needed to get his haircut.
He walked downstairs, and was about to speak to his father once again when the doorbell rang through his ears, "I'LL GET IT!" said Ichigo, he was the closest to the door after all, he walked to the door and opened it saying in a lackluster tone, "Hi?"
On the other side of the door were two women, one with silver hair and the other with brownish-black hair. One of them, the woman with silver hair, wore a pure black suit with a black turtleneck under her black suit jacket, which was also under a brown winter coat over her outfit.
The other woman wore Black pants and a turtleneck, a pair of brown knee-high boots, and a blue jacket.
"Hi. I guess you two are the guests that the goat-chinned fool back there invited." said Ichigo, "Come on in, it is freezing out there."
"Thank you." said the older of the two women
They both walked through the door, with Ichigo's own father flinging himself into the arms of the older woman, acting almost like a father who had just seen his daughter come back from war.
"What the"
"You get used to it." said Ichigo before he held a hand out, in a sense of asking her to shake it, "Ichigo Kurosaki, what is your name?"
"Niijima… Makoto Niijima." said Makoto
They shook hands, "Can you help me out? Sis wanted to bring gifts and she… went overboard I guess."
"Sure," said Ichigo before he walked out and found the presents, there weren't many, just four or five altogether, but they looked to be decently large, "If this is what you think is overboard you will be shocked when goat face brings out his Christmas gifts."
"I don't doubt it, considering what Sis told me about him," said Makoto
"Please, if anything you were under-informed." said Ichigo, "So, if you don't mind me asking, are you guys like… family friends or something?"
"Yha, at least that's what I was told. My father was a friend of your mother's when they were in school." said Makoto, "My father went off to the police academy, and she went off to start her acting career, and the rest is history."
Ichigo only sighed, before he nodded. 'Yha sounds like something mom would do, make friends with a future cop." Ichigo nodded for a second as he said, "Your pop must be a good man."
"So must your mother. Speaking of, where is she? I have only seen your father."
Ichigo sighed, "She has been dead for years."
"Oh… I am sorry to hear that," said Makoto
"It is fine, you didn't know." said Ichigo, "I am assuming that your dad is too?" he asked
"Yes," said Makoto
"I am sorry to hear that," said Ichigo
"It is fine, it has been a while since it happened," said Makoto
Both of them picked up the presents and brought them into the house. Putting them under a small tree that sat under Issen's massive picture of Misaki Kurosaki looking over it, Ichigo had felt his eyes water when the tradition started five years ago, but he just got used to it over the years. Instead, as the presents were placed by the tree, he stood tall and bowed at the little (not so little) mural of his mother, all before he joined the others at the dinner table, Makoto had taken a seat next to her sister, while his sisters were currently chatting with her, Issen on the other hand was speaking with the assumed elder sister from his seat at the head of the table. Ichigo took a seat soon after, thanking his sister for the food in the process.
"So, Ichigo?" asked the elder sister of the recently named Niijima siblings
"Yes miss?"
"Your father tells me you are fairly intelligent, if you don't mind me asking what you are looking for in your academic career?"
"I want to be a translator, I already know multiple separate languages but I want to be a translator for English tourists." said Ichigo before saying in shaky but still eloquent Spanish, "También para turistas de España. (Translation: Also for tourists from Spain.)"
"I see, buen trabajo Ichigo. (Translation: I see, good job Ichigo)" said the elder Niijima sibling
"And what would you say about your grades? Are they suitable?"
"If I remember correctly," said Ichigo, "I am a fairly average student all around from what I have been told."
"I see, have you ever tried tutoring anyone in the learning of languages before?" she asked
"I never have tried to." said Ichigo, "Don't get me wrong, if my Sisters wanted to for some reason I would try to, but I don't have any experience in doing so."
"I see." she then continued speaking to Issen, almost as if they were plotting something.
His thoughts were clouding his mind again, but this time it was massively different.
"What were they talking about?" Ichigo thought
The night went on mostly as expected. Karin and Yuzu began to play video games in the living room, Makoto and the elder Niijima sibling, who he learned was named Sae, spoke to each other, and his father was working on the dishes… this time however, not on his own.
"Yo, Gigi, need some help?" asked Ichigo
"Oh! Of course kiddo!" said Issen
Both of them got to work on the dishes, but Ichigo could tell that his father was thinking of something. "What are you thinking about Gigi?"
"Oh…" he smiled as he spoke, "I knew you might have noticed soon," He sighed, "I was thinking about you."
"Eh? What about?" asked Ichigo
"I was thinking about what happened, how you lost your powers… and how you are, after all of that," said Issen
"Gigi. I am fine," said Ichigo
"No you are not Ichigo." said Issen, "you never smile anymore."
And just like that, Ichigo stopped moving. Shocked… How did his father realize that?
"You never hang out with your sisters the same way, you never react to my training the way you used to anymore, your friends are avoiding you when spirits are involved, you are lost… Trust me, I was too when I lost my world." said Issen, "I had people to help me through your mother's death, just like you did… but it is not easy to lose a Zanpakuto Spirit, it never is. They are you after all. But I refuse to watch you destroy yourself, and I don't want you to just watch as your friends do something they did not intend to do to you. So I asked the Niijima siblings to take you in for a year or so, just long enough for you to at least have a better mental state than before you self-destruct. I am sorry for just dropping this on you, but I am doing this for your good."
Ichigo only nodded. If he wanted to punch him in the face, he could have… but he realized something for himself, "You have not woken me up with any training in over 20 days"
"I did not."
"Gigi, I will get better… you know I will… Giji."
Issen nodded, "You will have a few days to get to know them and say goodbye to your friends. The 26th to be exact. But please, get to know them."
"They will all be fantastic friends."