21: Home Calling - [Battle For Bond]
I've written another parody oneshot. Check it out on my profile!
The mile-high office's floor-to-ceiling windows filled the room with warm sunlight. The actual weather of the day– without any dust-explosions– being cloudless and sunny. The light caught on the glass floor and the smooth shifting gears inside, casting a bright shimmer in the churning clockwork.
Ozpin looked down at the hands that had slammed onto his cog-work desk, and frowned.
"What do you mean I'm not gonna get paid in full!? This place is rolling in it! You print all your worksheets in colour ink, for crying out loud!"
The Headmaster's gazed rose back up, to find the man that had a knack for derailing everything. The conversation had already run on for a good while.
"Mr Kurosaki. I didn't say you wouldn't get your dues, just that it would be waged out in portions over time, and exposure. As a public figure, I can't just give away millions of taxpayer money on the spot. Do you know how questionable that would seem to the Vale council?"
Ichigo stepped back, straightening to his full, six-foot-plus height. He'd returned to his corporeal body, single-horned and human-eyed in the full-black suit of his funeral attire. Standing in the room with him were the teams RWRN and PJYB, alongside Deputy Glynda Goodwitch.
"In addition, we are a tad pressed when it comes to asking for any more funding, at the moment. We have as much income as we always do, but asking for any more right now is a no-go. Importing heavy amounts of dust from Atlas to fix and secure Mountain Glenn means the council can't just give away money freely, and I'd hardly call them generous in the first place."
"Fine..." Ichigo begrudgingly accepted, "...but it'll be the full amount, right?" He wasn't really the greedy type, and he would've done it for free if he knew how bad Mountain Glenn's state was– but not getting the agreed upon amount for a job rubbed him the wrong way. As if it had been an order, rather than a deal between equals. He hated the idea of being used like that; like some grunt with no say.
"You know, I'd have thought Headteacher Ozpin would've been the one demanding things, not the guy getting to live in his castle– for free, might I add." Blake commented dryly.
Glynda Goodwitch nodded. "I feel the same way. I hardly think you have the right to ask anything of Beacon when you've disappeared for so long, with such a delusional excuse."
"I'm being honest about the time travel!" Ichigo snapped. "And I just ran pest control on an entire city! One that you couldn't take back on your own, and never would. Excuse me if want a little reward..."
"I hardly think millions of Lien counts as 'a little'..." Glynda sighed.
"And you lot!" Ichigo grumbled at the students behind him. "Back me up, here! I'll share it!"
"Really?" Jaune gasped. "Sir! Ichigo was just bunking off at my house for a while! He didn't disappear!"
"That's such an obvious lie! You're not helping me with a story as half-assed as that, you idiot!"
"It's true, professor, Ichigo actually just got lost for a really long while on the way here." Yang fibbed along. Her smile betrayed how much she was cracking up inside.
"That's even worse!" Ichigo growled. "Don't make me sound stupid enough to miss an entire city!"
"It's fine, Mr Kurosaki. I believe you, really." Ozpin reassured. "Qrow told me of what you showed him. I've seen it myself. It's hardly that out there." Not to mention long ago, he'd witnessed the effects of those portals first-hand... they really did distort time.
"You do?" Ichigo settled down. "...Thanks."
"Hold on... you believe him?" Jaune did a double-take between the mysterious ginger and the Headmaster of Beacon. To the side, Ms Goodwitch raised a brow but didn't comment.
"You haven't showcased your abilities to your friends, Mr. Kurosaki?" Ozpin prompted.
" 'Course I have." Just not all of them. "It's not my fault if they don't believe me."
"I believe you, Ichigo!" Nora reminded.
"I appreciate it, Nora." Ichigo thanked her without looking. He meant it.
"Eh, it wouldn't be that out there, at this point..." Yang decided on the spot. She shrugged. "Either way, does it really matter?"
"It should matter." Glynda declared. "...But the Headteacher has already made his decision. I think there's no point in continuing this. Ichigo, will you continue your Weapon Mechanics course?"
"Yep. I'm trying to get something out of it."
"Well, at least you're actually going to be doing something educational..." she muttered. "We can accelerate it, if you want. Seeing as how you can spend all day focusing on the course."
He considered for a moment, then answered. "I don't see why not. I'll take you up on that offer." The sooner he figured it out, the better.
"Good to hear. That will be all, then." Ozpin leaned back in his strangely-shaped seat. Every time he visited the office, Ichigo was struck by just how weird the scorpion-chairs looked. "I'm expecting a rather important call."
"No problem," Ichigo gave a wave, then turned around and strode over to the lift. Pressing the elevator-button, he stood aside waiting for the chrome doors to open. "Bye."
"Hold it..." Weiss shook her head, flabbergasted. "That can't just be it! You just waived away an entire two months' worth of absence?"
"Geez, whose side are you on?" Ichigo asked dryly.
"There are no sides! You're agreeing with each other!"
"Why must you expect such animosity between us?" Ozpin gingerly reached for the dark green 'I-heart-Beacon' mug on his desk, and took a sip. "Mr Kurosaki is undeniably a hero."
"Yeah. What's the problem with not getting worked up? It's not as if I blew up a warehouse, or several tons worth of dust, or anything..." Ichigo jabbed slyly.
"He does have a point..." Ms Goodwitch pointed out. Everyone in the glass-walled office looked at Weiss expectantly, giving her the feeling she was suddenly inside a pressure cooker of waiting gazes.
"I– I paid for all the damages! Don't look at me! It wasn't even my team who did those things!"
"She's right, actually." Ren spoke up. "I clearly remember it was..." he looked at the blonde to the left side of the room.
"Yang, apologise." Pyrrha smiled politely.
"B-but Pyrrha, it was Jaune who–!" she gawked and protested.
"Yang, apologise." Pyrrha smiled harder.
She slumped over. "Sorry..."
A light ding from the metallic doorway rung out as the shiny elevator opened up.
The students bundled in, and Ichigo was the last to enter.
"Bye professor! Bye miss!" Ruby waved cheerily.
"Goodbye, Ruby." Ms Goodwitch returned warmly.
Just as he stepped into the lift, Ichigo remembered to ask something.
"My room is still mine, right?"
"Of course," Ozpin informed, "It has been upkept by the cleaning staff. I made sure. You received a package while you were gone, which I left on your bed."
A package? From who? Ichigo nodded appreciatively. "Thanks for that." The elevator slid shut, and the lift began its mile-long descent behind the closed doors.
Ozpin tapped at his desk, activating its holographic display.
- –—{}—– -
["So, Oz... as for the Fang, how credible do you find the angle they're pushing?"]
"A split within their own ranks? That Adam Taurus is seeking to branch off, and enter politics?" the Headmaster figured. "I must say I'm more hopeful, than anything else. What about you, James?" he took a sip from his dark green mug. Glynda Goodwitch sat to the side of the room, listening in.
James Ironwood's hologram flickered as he frowned. ["I can't afford to be hopeful about this, Oz. It's my home kingdom they're trying this in. I just can't believe it, not at face value. The White Fang dropped any semblance of diplomacy a long time ago, when Ghira Belladonna left. Adam Taurus has killed my men in the past. The worst part, though, is that I'm forced to entertain their ruse, because I can't just claim I don't believe them and attack."]
"...Because they could point to that as an example of reaching out for peace, failing, and turn even more faunus across Remnant radical?"
["Exactly. It'd be terrible optics on our side, too. That'd be playing right into their hands. They'd claim we just hate them, for no reason at all.]
"Do you?" Glynda asked tentatively.
Ironwood was silent for a short while. ["...Is hate with reason, as bad as hate without? They've killed our soldiers before. Am I to tell my men not to hate those who took their brothers-in-arms away? Tell their families not to hate them?"]
"I wasn't arguing..." she told him. "...Just asking. I understand who these people are."
Ozpin chose this moment to speak up.
"But on the off-chance that they are being sincere..."
["Oz... If the White Fang are sincere about this..."] Ironwood's voice was grave, yet he made an empty smile as he shook his head. ["...Then that might be even more troublesome for us than if they weren't."]
Ichigo scrolled through the news of the last month, on his... scroll.
His feet were kicked up on his desk, the legs crossed over and stretched out, resting on the solid oak as he reclined.
His suit's black fabric bunched up, relaxing as he typically did at home as he scrolled through the typical Remnant news.
Or maybe not so typical, it seemed. The retaking of Mountain Glenn was still a hot-topic in the newsphere, with articles still giving regular updates on the process of re-settling the city. Charges of carefully-laid out Atlesian earth dust were being detonated, creating artificial mountains to fill in the gaps of the range that gave the Glenn its name. An artificial, yet natural barrier, supplemented by new walls, turrets and defences all around.
Even knowing the history of the settlement, it seemed a steady stream of new citizens were steaming in. He wasn't all that surprised. The house prices must be dirt cheap at the moment. That's people for you. As soon as the coast was clear, they'd move back in, even decades later.
But they wouldn't let tragedy befall again. Ichigo hoped it wouldn't, too.
As he read through the articles, his eyes narrowed somewhat. Had he read that right?
The photo is attributed to Adam Taurus of the White Fang, who allegedly worked alongside the renowned Qrow Branwen and new huntsman Ichigo Kurosaki to—
He was... named in the article? But he could barely be seen in the photo, so who could've possibly told them–
"...waged out in portions over time, and exposure."
Exposure.
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.
Ozpin. It had to be Ozpin. Adam Taurus was trying to take as much credit for himself and the White Fang as he could, and Qrow just wasn't the type to say anything. What was the old wizard's angle on this? Was this celebrity promotion actually going to get treated as part of his reward by that stingy bastard? He should've haggled more...
Ichigo thought on it. Maybe it was a loose effort to locate him? By making his name famous, even if his face wasn't, anyone who met him would start talking about it. That could be used to find him, when he'd been missing for months on end. A public figure was a lot more traceable than some rando in the street, after all. It made sense.
It made sense, but he still didn't like it. On the bright side, nobody had a clear, front-on photo of him, so he would only be recognised in public if he gave his name.
Another thing he didn't like, was the package on his bed. Except it wasn't really a package, not even a box. More of a padded-out letter. One in an official, stark white envelope.
"Ichigo! Get off your scroll! It's rude! And aren't you gonna open it?" Ruby waved it in his face, over his shoulder.
Ichigo took his legs off the table, and swivelled his chair around as he growled. "What are you all still doing in here!? Don't you have your own rooms to go to?"
"You've been missing for ages." Jaune replied, as he leaned over a game board in the middle of the room. "Do you really think we're just gonna ignore you now?"
"But why are those guys here?" he gestured over at Neptune and Sun, who looked to be playing some videogame together on their scrolls. They glanced up at being called out, sitting on his bed.
"Your friends are the only people we know here, and they all came here, so..." Neptune trailed off.
Sun shrugged. "Does it really matter?"
"Yes it does matter! Don't put your feet on my bed!"
Sun shuffled over, but still defended himself. "But you had your feet on that desk."
"I don't sleep on that!"
"C'mon, Ichigo!" Nora invited happily, pulling his attention away. "Join in!"
Ichigo sighed. "I don't know the rules though. Anyone care to explain?"
"Sure!" Pyrrha clapped her hands flutteringly. Ichigo never really got used to her schoolteacher-esque mannerisms, ones that seemed out of place in a seventeen-year-old's body. Must be something to do with her career as a cereal mascot. "I'll help you out! We'll be in two-player teams, with one three-player team because we're odd-numbered. You can be in mine and Jaune's!" her voice lowered slightly. "Just be warned though, he gets... competitive."
"I'm not that bad..."
And so Ichigo joined them, sitting down on the smooth, polished flooring, the wood so clean it reflected the warm ceiling-light in a pool of shimmering yellow. Beacon's staff were truly something else.
"Hold it!" Ruby declared before they began to play. She whipped the envelope right back in front f Ichigo's face again. "Open it! I wanna see!"
"Fine, fine, I got it." Ichigo caved in. "I was gonna get around to it eventually..."
He tore open the white paper roughly, getting a disapproving pout out of Weiss. He ignored it. Reaching into the packet, he pulled out a sleek black bar, with two red diamonds on it, along with an attached note. All that was neatly written was a single sentence.
I know you deserve it now.
He pressed at one of the red diamonds on the bar, and a rectangle of golden-yellow hard-light dust projected from the side of the device.
NAME: KUROSAKI, ICHIGO
LN: 02001–20160–00001
PLACE OF ISSUE: VALE
AUTHORITY: BEACON ACADEMY
RESTRICTIONS: CLASS S
A huntsman licence.
Ichigo closed it, put it in his pocket, and returned his attention to the game board.
"Hey! Don't just put it away!" Ruby yelled. "I saw what that was!"
Ichigo opened his mouth, then closed it, and realised that even if he didn't really care about it all that much, for his newfound friends around him, this was their life's ambition.
"Alright, come and see."
He pulled it back out, and reactivated the holographic card even as he was dog-piled by ten other students competing for a closer look.
"You're licenced!?" Ruby exclaimed.
"Congratulations!" Pyrrha cheered.
"How'd you get one? Aren't you supposed to be a third year?" Sun asked hurriedly.
"What the heck! Not fair!" Yang complained.
"What even is that class rank? I thought it only went up to A..." Blake wondered aloud.
Ichigo slipped out the pile from the back, and let the rest of the students continue wresting over it.
"I've got no clue how you usually get a licence, but I'm pretty sure Ozpin gave me one." he guessed.
"You conventionally get one from graduation, you dolt. And why would our Headmaster suddenly give a licence to a man who disappeared off the face of Remnant for months on end?" Weiss tilted her head inquiringly.
"Maybe it's got something to do with clearing out an entire city of grimm?" Ichigo poised rhetorically. It'd be foolish to not licence him officially after crediting his name with helping purge Mountain Glenn, after all. If the media had found out he was technically a civilian until now...
"Did you really pull it off in one night?" Ruby scooched around to face him. "I know you had uncle Qrow with you, but still..."
"Yeah. All in one go. There's a reason the pay was so high. Licencing me isn't a favour at this point; more of a formality." he clarified laxly.
"Ichigo... you're really strong, aren't you?" Nora raised. Her voice was uncharacteristically stiff.
"...Yes. The strongest." he answered firmly. She could tell, from the glint in his amber-brown eyes, he truly believed it.
Nora thought on that. If Ichigo was capable of that... then could he slay the Nuckelavee?
"I'll remember that." she told him. She would.
"If you're really that strong, then it makes sense why your restrictions are so low." Neptune remarked. "I don't even know what this class is."
"Probably some sorta secret service type stuff." Sun surmised. "You getting recruited, Ichigo?"
"Not on your life." Ichigo denied.
"It's missing a photo..." Jaune pointed out, the holo-card in his hands. "...at least your emblem is there!"
"It's meant to have a photo?" Ichigo stretched his hand out, and Jaune gave it back. Sure enough, there was a conspicuously empty rectangle under the words HUNTSMAN LICENCE – VALE that ran along the top of the projected card. Faintly, behind all the information, a familiar stylised logo of a skull in a spiritual aura could be seen.
"Of course it is, dummy." Yang leaned back, stretching her arms over her head. "Just take a photo on your scroll and transfer it over. You can't smile, have even lighting, all that jazz."
"What's with the skull? It doesn't seem all that... official."
"You don't recognise your own emblem?" Ren sounded incredulous. "How do you even sign things?"
"It's like a signature?"
"It's more than just that. It's part of your identity." Ruby thumbed the silver rose that formed the buckle on her belt.
Part of my identity? "You mean like..." he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his pentagonal combat pass.
Ozpin remembered it that well? How closely had he paid attention to it, to copy it from memory?
The skull in the x-cross stared back at him. Personal symbols seemed to bear significance in Remnant's culture. In looking at his combat pass, Ichigo could understand why.
"You really got a licence after just one mission?" Jaune huffed, crossing his arms. "And I've gone through all this effort to make my way in here..."
"Jealous?" Ichigo smirked coyly.
"Yes, actually." Jaune huffed. "Who wouldn't be? Can we just get on with the game, now?"
Remnant: The Game turned out to be a strange combination of Risk and Monopoly, one that Ichigo could sort-of keep up as the rules were explained to him. They sat there, losing track of time as the factions on the board shifted about, their territories waxing and waning with each tactically sound and poor decision. He was surprised by just how good Jaune turned out to be at it. He consistently made the best calls turn after turn, taking more and more of the board over time.
Ichigo himself was almost getting into it, but found himself drifting off mentally, letting the rest of his team play on with minimal input on his part. Something kept pulling at the corners of his thoughts, until his mental rug was pulled out from under him completely, and his mind fell down the rabbit-hole beneath it.
"How long do we have until things... start falling apart?"
"Three Years. Five at most, and I'd say two at least."
"Well Ichigo? How about you? You seem content with the title of substitute Soul Reaper, but how about substitute Soul King?"
Was he doing the right thing? Just sitting here, playing a board game whilst his home, and the homes of everyone he knew were on a doomsday timer. He once had a similar conversation with Renji in Captain Hikifune's Squad 0 palace, but that had been explained away with the fact that they were recuperating and about to train hard. He'd been about to reforge Zangetsu, and undergo the Irazusando.
Here, he was already rested. He wasn't all that tired, and he wasn't hungry, either. He'd gotten a late lunch at the cafeteria, and returned to his room to find his friends waiting for him. There wasn't anything here that could train him, other than Zangetsu. And even then, what would getting stronger even do? This wasn't a problem he could just cut. He could research further, but for what? What would he even go looking for? The Relic of Knowledge? Where would he start? He felt so... helpless. And not in a sense of power, but of awareness.
Ichigo sat there, ignoring the light chatter around him. Eyes distant, his mind lost in the depths of thought, when—
#If you wanna see some action#
#Gotta be the centre of attraction!#
"What's that?" Ruby asked over the music.
"It's my ringtone." Ichigo admitted nonchalantly. Who could even be calling him? He reached into his pocket, only to realise it wasn't his phone, nor his scroll. It was his denreishinki.
#Make sure that they got their eyes on you, like the face that you see on every magazine~#
"Pfft, so cheesy." Yang giggled.
"Shut it. Get some better taste." Ichigo retorted, as he flipped it open, and answered it. The sleek black casing unfolded, and a orange rectangular projection was beamed onto the cream wallpaper over his bed, just above the wooden panelling that covered the lower half of the wall.
"Whoa!" Ruby uttered in surprise, shuffling back to get a better angle. "What model is that? Handheld projectors are really expensive!"
Oh crap. If he'd known it wasn't gonna be a normal phone-call, he wouldn't have answered it in front of everyone. He grimaced. Too late now... hopefully this wouldn't get too awkward.
When the picture on the other end became clear, his anti-awkward hopes were dashed immediately.
["III—chiiiii—goooooo!"]
Oh man.
"D-Dad!?"
'''Dad!?''' Everyone else in the room took the on-the-spot, out-of-nowhere reveal of Ichigo's eccentric father with the grace of a gaping fish. Their jaws were as slack as one, as they rubber-necked between the two men, back-and-forth.
It was a tall, muscular older man in a flowing lab coat, with a green floral shirt underneath, along with neatly-pressed black trousers and a shiny buckled belt. Different-coloured pens were clipped into his lab coat's breast-pocket, and his spiky hair was matched by a black goatee. He was sitting in a sunny living room, which was odd, because it was evening on Beacon's side.
["It's been a while, my wayward son!"] Isshin Kurosaki greeted grandly. ["I knew you were alright! I didn't doubt you one bit!"]
Ichigo was pretty sure Urahara would beg to differ about that, but he didn't care to nitpick. He was happy to see him, too. "I'm glad you made it back home. You doing alright?"
["Oh yeah, I made it back fine."] Isshin shuffled about on the brown sofa. Ichigo noticed where his dad was sitting. He still refused to sit in the spot that Tsukishima had greeted him on that one night, no matter how much time passed. It just bugged him to this day.
["...But you know..."] Isshin rubbed at his chin with a smirk. ["I'd say that you're doing a whole lot more 'alright' than me, eh~?"]
["What do you– tch."] Ichigo realised what he was talking about, when he felt the girls pressing against his shoulders for a better look. He scooted back awkwardly.
["Just don't get into anything serious, okay! You'd just be stringing them along, otherwise. Unless she can come back here, that is..."]
"I'm not stupid!" He flushed. "I'm not forgetting where I am! Don't take me for some braindead playboy whose brain is steered by his stick!"
"Is he uh... really your dad?" Blake asked blankly.
"For better or worse, yeah." Ichigo introduced. "This is my dad, Isshin Kurosaki. Don't let his goofiness fool you. He's ridiculously strong."
["You lack confidence, my boy! You could totally pull if you wanted to! Hell, you already do, and you're not even trying!"] he posed with his chin to the side, showing off his chiseled jawline. ["Trust me, you inherited my looks!"]
"You know, he's not lying..." Neptune assessed, framing his fingers around his eye, inspecting Ichigo's face.
"I wish my dad gave me advice like this..." Jaune slumped.
["So, who're the new friends?"] he grinned encouragingly.
As they were introduced, Ruby was taken aback by just how... smile-y Isshin Kurosaki was. It was as if he was a one-man party. Sure, Ichigo smiled too; but not all the time like his dad did. He was more sarcastic, more dry. What made them so different? It made her feel... sad, almost, that Ichigo couldn't be the same way. She could kinda imagine an Ichigo that walked around like that, cheerfully livening up everywhere he went, but would that really be Ichigo? It would be funny to see, at least.
"Didn't Urahara give you the rundown? I'm—"
["Ichi-nii!"]
["Ichigo!"]
Two girls, both the same height, slipped into view from the sides of the live picture. One was light-haired, with dark blonde pigtails and soft brown eyes, wearing a pastel-pink dress. The other girl had raven hair in a short ponytail, large dark eyes and wore green shorts under a white t-shirt. They leaned in from either side of the frame.
"Yuzu, Karin." he smiled. "It's been a while. You must've been worried, huh?"
["It's been more than just a while, Ichigo..."] Yuzu frowned. ["And what's with that horn thing!"] she pointed.
["Hush Yuzu, it's rude to point out things like that."] Isshin soothed. ["I'm sure your brother is just trying out a new look! Like a piercing, you know!"]
"That's..." Ichigo closed his mouth. "Okay, let's just go with that."
["It's definitely not that, is it?"] Karin suspected. ["There's no way. You're too pure."]
"How on Earth is that your reason for doubting it?" he grumbled. "Never mind. How long has it been, anyway?"
["You've been gone for like a month, on our end. The worst part is that you apparently came home, visited dad,and left without saying a word to us!"] Karin pouted.
"There was... a situation." Ichigo rubbed at his neck stiffly. It sounded like he'd only skipped time on Remnant, then, and man was he glad about that. From his perspective, the Blood War had lasted about one month, too. Time in his own world had still passed normally.
["Save it."] Karin jerked her thumb at their father beside her. ["Dad finally came clean and gave us the rundown... on everything."]
"Everything? You mean–"
["Yep, everything. All the stuff to do with Soul Society, the Quincy, mom and more."] Karin crossed her arms.
["I thought it was only fair at this point..."] Isshin laid a hand on the back of his head. ["That, and the fact that I knew you'd be away for a while again, so they'd ask things, and I had to tell them about Soul Society eventually..."] he vertically smacked his fist down into his palm. ["So I reasoned it might as well be done properly."]
"I get it... that's good, honestly." Ichigo decided. They were better off knowing, it was only fair.
"Soul Society?" Ren asked puzzledly.
["Oh, don't they know about this stuff? I thought they were some fancy-dressed shinigami."] Karin supposed.
"Have you ever seen a shinigami not wearing black?" Ichigo jibed. Good thing the Beacon students had no clue what that meant. "In case you guys couldn't tell by now, these are my sisters, Yuzu and Karin."
["We're twins!"] Yuzu waved cheerily. Karin was a lot more subdued in her greeting.
["So, who are these people?"] she looked them over.
"Don't you know that your brother's in a Huntsman Academy?" Weiss frowned confusedly.
"This is Beacon. We're students here." Pyrrha greeted politely.
Ichigo gave his sisters a 'play along' look. It was usually good enough for getting them out of trouble. "They're... natives. I'm a little ways away, as you can tell."
["But can't you come back now?"] Yuzu cried. ["Dad told us the trouble was over..."]
"Trouble?" Blake glanced at Ichigo questioningly. He didn't flinch.
"Nothing too serious." he brushed off, nonplussed. "Sorry, sis, but I've gotta find something here."
["Buy why!?"]
["That's something... personal for Ichigo."] Isshin declared. ["He has to learn to leave the nest at some point, doesn't he?"] He met Ichigo's gaze with eyes that didn't match his voice.
They both knew what he was talking about, even as everyone else involved in the inter-dimensional group call was left muddled by the exchange. Ichigo nodded to his father, subtly. No way in hell was he gonna let the matter of the fallen Soul King hang over his sisters' heads. They didn't need to worry about that. If things worked out, they never would.
"Personal, huh~" Yang elbowed him in the side with a smirk, wiggling her eyebrows. Ichigo just rolled his eyes, welcoming the misdirection at least.
["Tell you what, why don't you two tell your brother what you've been up to, eh?"] Isshin suggested chipperly, seamlessly changing the subject.
["Oh, right!"] Yuzu bounced up, pulling out a pentagonal cross with a ring through its spokes.
A Quincy Cross.
["I've been using this for a little bit, now! It used to be mom's, too! I can make small shapes with it!"] she rambled. ["Uncle Ryūken is teaching me Seiren!"]
Ichigo beamed proudly at the news. "That's really good, Yuzu! It's great that you come that far already."
["O-oh yeah! I've gotten a practice sword from the Hat-'n-Clogs shop!"] the other sister blurted out. Ichigo smiled. Classic Karin. Too cool until she feels left out. ["It's an asauchi, isn't it? Dad's teaching me to use it!"]
"Oh wow! Are your sisters going to become huntresses too, Ichigo?" Pyrrha guessed.
"Probably not as a career." he turned to Karin. "An asauchi? That's impressive. But uh, dad, you're making sure they're safe, right?"
["Obviously. Who do you take me for? They're fourteen, Ichigo."] Isshin shrugged off flatly.
"You let me run around town and go to freaking Hueco Mundo on my own when I was only a year older!"
["Hey hey, that was your idea, wasn't it? Don't go blaming your old man for your wacko teenage benders."] Isshin argued poorly.
"Does anyone else not understand half the words they're using, or is it just me?" Jaune muttered, completely lost.
"You had 'wacko teenage benders'?" Nora bobbed animatedly.
"Nope. Not the kind you'd imagine, anyway." Ichigo denied wryly.
"So, uh, hi?" Ruby spoke up. "Can I just ask, um, what are you talking about?"
"I've been places." Ichigo answered brusquely.
Ruby blinked at him. "And...?"
"...Some places are more wacko than others. Some people are more wacko than others, too."
"That's wack." Yang butt in.
"You don't know the half of it." Ichigo muttered.
"And, may I ask, what did you do at those places?" Weiss pressed. "What is a Soul Society?"
Ichigo thought on it for a moment, probing his mind for the simplest explanation. He could just tell them it was dimensional stuff, but then they'd want even more questions answered, and that'd just be a hassle. Plus, he just didn't want to tell them about the afterlife, if he could help it. It'd probably depress them all. So how about...
"I'm an... exorcist. Of sorts." It was true, in a way.
["That's one way of putting it."] Isshin chuckled.
"Yep. It runs in the family."
"But... w-what?" Weiss gaped.
"Seriously?" Sun straightened up. "For real? But you don't look all that goth, to me. Where's your edgy chains and prayer beads?"
"I know a couple guys who use those, but I don't need 'em." Ichigo thought of Shuhei and Ichibei. He sure was selling them short. "I told you ghosts are real, didn't I?"
"But what are you doing at Beacon, then?" Ruby asked, with a wavering voice. "Don't tell me... Beacon is haunted!?"
"Oh no! Is this gonna turn out like Gasper the Friendly Ghost?" Nora worried aloud, huddling up to Ren with her arms bunching up her knees against her chest.
"That wasn't a scary movie though? And don't you mean Casper?" Ichigo pointed out, deadpan.
Was Remnant a world of off-brands, or something? Practically everything he came across was some sort of weird pun from home. Didn't he see some movie posters in Vale starred by Spruce Willis, too? If he kept noticing these things everywhere it would probably take him down an existential rabbit hole he wouldn't be able to escape from.
"Besides, you don't need to worry about that. You school's not haunted." Not anymore, anyway.
["That's right. Ichigo would've taken care of it already."] Karin supported.
"...So why're you here, then?" Jaune asked evenly. As much as he wanted to, he wouldn't be starting another 'ghosts aren't real' argument right now. This was one of the few times he'd actually gotten a chance to learn anything significant about Ichigo.
"I'm... researching. Something pretty important, to help me out back home."
Jaune noted the difference between the sunny living room of his family in the call, and the late evening light that filled the sky outside the Beacon window. 'Home' must be pretty far, then. Another continent entirely, maybe? That would be one expensive flight home.
["Looks like it's getting pretty late for you guys."] Isshin deduced. ["We won't hold you up anymore. Get some sleep, Ichigo."]
["Ichi-nii! You have to call us as much as you can, okay?"] Yuzu ordered. ["And, ah, don't get hurt, please. And don't get tricked by strange women! You're too innocent about that stuff!"]
"You shouldn't be saying things like that!" Ichigo scolded. "And I'm not totally unaware, either!"
"Don't worry, I'll take all the bad heat off you." Neptune offered. "It's what friends are for, aren't they?"
"You wish, jackass." Sun nudged.
["Bye, Ichigo. Try not to get into trouble."] Karin reminded. ["But if you do, then knock their blocks off. Don't lose."]
"You know I won't." he promised. "I'll see you soon, alright?"
["Yuzu's right. Call us back, right away."] Isshin instructed. Ichigo caught on, and let the soul phone close itself as the wall projection shut off.
"Your family seems really nice!" Ruby praised.
"Your dad is... something else." Neptune summarised.
"You don't know the half of it..." Ichigo replied ambiguously. "But whenever I needed to talk to someone, he was there. He's helped me out of spots when I had nowhere else to turn. He's my dad, y'know?"
"I get it." Yang nodded. "Our dad is pretty cool too. He taught me to fight, even though it was awkward having him as a teacher back at Signal. Did your dad teach you swordsmanship?"
"It was mostly hand-to-hand, but he did help me learn something pretty... intense."
'Intense' was the very least you could call the Final Getsuga Tenshō, in all honesty.
"Your sisters are pretty sweet. They remind me of Ruby, when she was younger." Yang reminisced, as she leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows.
"But isn't she fifteen?" Jaune reminded her.
"Exactly! They remind me of Ruby last year!" she giggled.
"Hey! They're starting their training way later than I did!" Ruby fussed.
"Eh, it can't be that bad... I only picked up a real sword at fifteen, myself." Ichigo relaxed against the bedroom wall, resting against it elbows up, with his fingers interlaced behind his head.
"You did?" Jaune was suddenly interested. "And you're that strong? How?"
"I'm just built different, I guess." Literally. "That doesn't mean time and dedication don't matter, either. It's just that when you can spend days at a time learning something, without having to worry about school, food, or even sleeping, things go a whole lot quicker."
"That just sounds like a fast-track to destroying your body." Ren commented.
"Exactly. For normal people, anyway." he waved at himself. "I'm not exactly normal."
"And what about normal people? Can they just pick something up late, but still succeed?" Jaune asked, with an urgent inflection.
"You talking about yourself?" Ichigo deduced. "I thought the whole reason you're here is to learn to fight anyway. You'll be fine. Most people just coast through these things. If you actually focus on it, you can catch up to them, no sweat."
"Didn't you go to combat school, Jaune?" Ruby asked innocently, inadvertently putting him on the spot.
He squirmed, before he hung his head and gave a quiet answer. "Uh... Do you think I did?"
"Not in the slightest." Weiss suspected, her condemning words both frosty and scalding. "I cannot believe it took me this long to connect the dots..."
"How did you even get in?" Nora wondered. "Blackmail?"
"What!? No! I managed to fake my way in, just like everyone else."
"...Fake?" Ichigo's eyebrow wasn't the only one in the room to rise at that. Jaune's nerves rose with them.
His ocean-blue eyes widened. "Make! I meant make!"
"You faked your way in? That's wild." Sun congratulated, slapping his back.
"It would explain a lot..." Ruby aired quietly.
"I would say I can't believe it, but too many factors line up for it to be anything but the case." Weiss grit her teeth. "You criminal!"
"It can't be that bad, can it? People we know have done way worse!" Jaune protested.
"He's got a point, Weiss." Ichigo mused. "Wasn't Blake a literal terrorist?"
"Yes, she was!" Nora reminded the room.
"Don't make it sound so extreme..." she groaned, her silken bow flat against her head.
"I... suppose you have a point." Weiss conceded, but still narrowed her ice-cold, judgemental eyes. "But PJYB don't seem all that surprised, suspiciously enough."
"Eh, we've known for ages." Yang replied lazily, toying with a lock of her blonde hair. "Doesn't bother me. Do I look like the type to mind the rules? Jaune's a chill guy."
"And I... can't really chat." Blake summed up.
"Jaune told us just after the first week. He's quite honest like that." Pyrrha praised.
"I'm sorry... but I've actually been able to beat someone in combat class!" he reasoned, "So if I'm at least better than one guy trained normally, then I deserve to be here, right?"
"What am I, a teacher?" Ichigo rested his head on his hand. "Nobody here's gonna snitch, Jaune. Honestly, I'd be impressed by anyone who managed to fake their way into college, back home. Didn't know you had the stones to pull it off."
"Er, thanks?"
"That being said, this ain't a normal college. You mess up, your teammates die. If your friends are ever hurt because they had to pick up your slack, then I want you to know that it was all your fault. Remember that."
"I'll remember it! I swear!" he promised, trembling in place.
"Is that good enough for you, Weiss?" Ichigo prodded snidely.
"It's a start..." Weiss deigned, tilting her head up to the side snootily.
"Can we just call it a night, or something?" Jaune begged, both hands in his hair.
"Hwaaahh..." Ruby yawned, stretching her arms overhead, and murmured something that was vaguely in agreement.
"She means yes." Yang translated, as she folded up the game board.
"Hey, hold on, we didn't say who won!" Jaune protested.
"It's fine, I counted." Yang reassured. "I was in the lead."
"You're totally lying..." Jaune groaned, as he stood along with the others. "I was keeping track too."
Ruby reached under the bed, and pulled out something that surprised Ichigo.
"I do wish that you didn't insist on bringing that everywhere..." Weiss nagged.
Ruby stuck her tongue out at her. "You wouldn't get it. Leaving Crescent Rose alone just feels... wrong."
In her grip was a scythe. Jet-black and rose-red, with a diamond-patterned shaft, that was capped on the bottom by a winding grip. Just below the head, wrapped around the staff were twin flowing ribbons, ending in rhombus-shaped tips. Its curved blade was dark, with a keen crimson cutting edge, matched by a series of circles that ran from the tip to the centre. The final circle was not red, but instead hollow, a ring that had vines wrapped through it, growing into a living, blossoming flower with lush green leaves below its vermilion petals; a rose.
"That's the new scythe you forged, isn't it?" Ichigo pried. It felt... "How is it?"
Yeah, there was no mistaking it.
How had that even happened? He'd been there, sure, but it wasn't as if he knew anything more than Ōetsu had show him when it came to forging zanpakutō. It didn't add up...
"Crescent Rose is awesome!" Ruby hugged it against her chest. "He's a whole lot better than my old ones, now."
"I'd have thought you'd never touch a weapon that can't shoot." Yang leaned against the wall. "Are you even the Ruby I know? That thing should be basically unholy to you."
"Don't say that!" she stomped her foot. "And I can totally shoot stuff out of him! You'll see tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" Ichigo raised.
"We've got combat class tomorrow, against exchange students in mixed grades from across Remnant's kingdom's, like—"
"Like us!" Sun thumped his chest. "You wanna try me, tomorrow?"
"Sure, why not. But if I find someone who really catches my attention, then I'll have to bail on you."
"I doubt it. I'm the most attentive guy around!"
"That's not what that means, Sun..." Neptune facepalmed. He strolled over to the doorway. "We'll see you in the morning."
" 'Night." Ichigo saw the rest of the huntsmen out the door, locked it, and turned to face his empty room. He sat down on his bed, the soft covers squishing under him.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his sleek, black denreishinki, and unfolded it. Time for another, more private call.
Holding it up to his ear, it only rung for a few seconds before it was picked up. He must've been waiting for him to call back.
"...Dad?"
#"Ichigo."#
Isshin's hello was subdued, and to the point. It was still a hello.
"Did Urahara tell you about the Soul King?"
#"He did."#
Ichigo tried to speak, but couldn't think of what to say. "...You know?" he swallowed. "About what it means?"
#"I know."#
"...So what do we do? I'm supposed to look for something, here, but I don't even know where to start."
#"Ichigo, you've got two years at minimum. You'll be fine. We'll work something out, —and it won't be replacing the Reiō."#
"I know, I know, but it's just... to think we've gone through all this, and we're still at risk." His hand rose to hold the bridge of his nose, as he sighed. "It just feels like it was all for nothing..."
#"Nothing is ever for nothing, Ichigo. It's always either for better, or worse. Never for nothing."#
"Hah..." he fell back, laid out against the soft bed.
"When I was in the Royal Palace, when I underwent Irazusando, I learned things. The truth behind everything, really. It's still messing with my head even now. But from what I can understand, is that the Reiō let that happen to him. He let himself suffer for eons... and I don't think I can do that. Is that selfish?"
#"Of course it isn't, Ichigo. It's human. Don't ever let yourself consider it, okay? Think of Yuzu and Karin. How would they take it? How would your mother?"#
"...It would break their hearts."
#"It would break my heart, and I understand the situation. Just think of how your sisters would see it."#
"I... I get it. Thanks, dad. Thanks. I needed that."
They both let the line go quiet for a while, thinking to themselves. It was Isshin who broke the silence.
#"Can I just ask, about that horn..."#
"Don't you already know? It's a piercing." Ichigo poked coyly. "A hollow-style new look."
#"It does look pretty cool..."#
"Really? You think—" Ichigo coughed awkwardly. "Of course it does."
#"Ichigo, what I'm trying to say, is that you've got plenty of time. You missed out on a lot of normal, teenagery things even by shinigami standards, and I feel bad that you did."#
"You don't have to feel guilty..." he frowned. "Not as if any of it was your fault, really. Besides, fighting is fun, anyway."
#"In that case, how's things on your end? I've told Yuzu and Karin the basics, that you're in another dimension we can't visit, but do you at least have a place to stay?"#
"I'm at a big school. More of a university, really. I just took on a big job for them, so I've got cash to spare."
#"Oh really? How much?"#
"A couple million, that'll get paid over time." he grinned. "So I'm guessing six figures."
#"A couple million?"# Isshin gasped. #"Ichigo, you gotta figure out a way to bring that over here! Don't burn it on the frivolous whims of a youthful fool!"#
"Obviously not. I'm gonna buy gold, or something. Then I'll bring it over. We'll have to hide it from people, obviously..."
#"That feels pretty shady, but I'm a doctor with a fake degree, so who am I to judge!"# Isshin guffawed.
"Don't say that out loud, old man..." Ichigo groaned.
#"Seriously though, enjoy yourself. Urahara told me there's not really anything that can challenge you over there, so just treat it as a big 'ol holiday. You're rich now. Buy a sports car or something, then hit the beach and pick up chicks, I don't know."#
"I don't want gold-diggers! Who do you take me for!"
#"Geez, calm down. You see, this is why I think you need to relax. Treat it as some time away; you've just fought in a war, after all."#
"I guess I can take it a little easy. But I'll still—"
#"Look for a solution. I know. That's good. You have to. But just enjoy yourself along the way, okay? You've made some new friends as well, so take this chance whilst it lasts. When you come back, you'll be an adult, so see this as the last hurrah of teenhood before you start having to pay taxes and all that raff."#
"Do you even pay taxes? I swear you just carry around one of those memory-replacing things you bought at Urahara's shop, for whenever the collector arrives."
#"That's besides the point! And it's called a kikanshinki, for your information. It's not as if I'm actually a legally existing citizen. Didn't you see Rukia use one, way back when?"#
"So? You hardly act all mature yourself. What's with this sudden deep speech you're pushing on me?"
#"Being an adult doesn't just mean you have to act mature. It means you have to be mature, Ichigo. They're separate things, and you're pretty damn good at the former."# Isshin explained. #"Maybe you'll figure the latter out while you're forced to live on your own, for a change. You have to manage your own situation now, and that includes the clean-up. So that means no overkill world-shattering calamities, okay?"#
"What do you think I'm gonna do? The stuff I've dealt with have hardly been my fault up until now, anyway. I can be neat and subtle; you'll see."
#"I won't be seeing it, though? I can't go over there."
"You know what I mean."
#"I'll take you word for it. Now get some sleep, and eat your vegetables, too. And remember to shower. And vacuum your room. And change your underwear—"
"Okay, okay I get it!" he growled. "I'm gonna hang up now!"
#"Love you!"#
He flushed beet red. "...Love you too." he ground out quietly, and closed the clam-phone shut.
Ichigo yawned lightly, covering it with a fan of his hand. Right, human body. His father was correct; he should probably get to bed. And he was already lying down, so...
It couldn't hurt to sleep as he was, just for one night.
...
- –—{}—– -
Morning came with calls of sonorous birdsong filtering in through Ichigo's arched casement window.
He slunk off the bed, feeling the creases in his black suit from overnight, and stretched with a yawn.
He walked over to his en-suite bathroom, and opened the door. His toothbrush was still in its place, and he rinsed it off as he reached to grab the... he reached to grab the... huh. Where was the toothpaste?
His eyes scanned over the bathroom, scouring the soft-blue checker tiled walls, the pure white porcelain, before he opened the cupboards searchingly. No dice. Looking about, he uncovered an even greater problem.
Where the heck was all his stuff? No soap, no shampoo, hell, there wasn't even any toilet paper. Had it just been removed by the staff? But his toothbrush was still there...
With a huff, he took the toothbrush with him, and walked out. Crossing his room and out the front entrance, into the dormitory hallway he walked right across to the other door. It hadn't been occupied when he first arrived at Beacon, but it seemed that now, judging by the spiritual pressures inside, some exchange students had boarded there.
He knocked twice, then waited for the metal door to slide open. The warm light from within illuminated the dark early morning hallway, creating a frontal shadow cast from the teenage figure in front of him.
"Mercury! Who is it?"
A silver-haired, silver-eyed pale boy looked up at Ichigo, but not by much. He was a bit shorter, with combed-back hair left unkempt at the front, and a slim, athletic build holding him up. A flat slate-grey and black zip-up jacket covered his upper half, with darker sleeves leading down to fingerless gloves combined with vambraces. A single-notched belt with a dark sash hanging over it held up black trousers over thick black boots over black socks.
Black and grey. Another colour scheme to cross off his mental list. Hardly anything too crazy; especially by Remnant standards. When was orange and purple going to show up?
"Just some guy!" he called back, then turned around with uncaring eyes. Reaching for the door, he started to close it. "Sorry, buddy, but we didn't order any pizza—"
Thunk. "—You got any toothpaste?" Ichigo held the electronic door open, having caught it with his bare hands. "And, uh soap and toilet paper to spare?"
'Mercury' blinked. "Jeez, man, you make it sound like your room is as bare as ours was when we first came to stay here. What crappy service. We had to take stuff from an empty room across from us back then, y'know."
Ichigo's temple twitched at that. "What was that? About the room across from you?"
Ah, dammit. Mercury cursed internally. "That was your room, wasn't it? Well, it's not my problem. Can't blame us when you've been gone for months."
"That doesn't justify stealing my stuff!"
"It's not your stuff though." Mercury rolled his eyes. "It's the school's. Just ask for more stuff from the main office."
"I'm not going there now! It's the first thing in the morning! Just let me use your bathroom!"
"No way, tough guy. Get it through your head, whoever you are—"
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
He froze.
Mercury Black was an assassin, through and through. Born into it. Forced into it. A professional, by both nature and nurture.
So when he heard that the man in the doorway's name was Ichigo Kurosaki, his mind immediately made the connections to what was once forgotten. Their briefing, before coming here. He'd forgotten the minor details in the two months since then, but he'd eavesdropped as Cinder herself fretted over the man's absence from the school in private.
"There is a certain young man in Beacon, older than either of you, with bright orange hair and horns on his temples. Do not engage him. Ever."
"Ichigo Kurosaki." the young man with bright orange hair and a horn on his temple said tersely. Yeah, it matched up.
"Oh, shit." Mercury replied.
"What?"
"Nothing. Come on in."
"Really? Thanks."
Ichigo entered the opposite dorm, finding it bathed in a warm, reddish-orange light. The velvet curtains were drawn shut, and instead a pink-tinged lampshade bathed the room in its glow. It gave the gloomy space a dark air. Or a suggestive one, but he tried to avoid thinking that.
There was a maroon shaggy rug on the floor, and the beds were neatly made, even the one with someone lying on it. Square cushions were arranged on the bedspreads. Had they bought those, or did it come with the room? No posters, pictures or photos hung from the walls, even though it did look as if they had been there a while. No memories on the shelves. Nothing traceable. If they were to leave, it would have been impossible to tell who had even stayed in the room at all.
"Oh great, did you have to bring him in here?" a girl whined. "How hard is it to tell someone to piss off?"
The girl complaining was a teenager, slightly shorter than Mercury with dark skin like a South Asian, with ruby-red eyes. Her hair was a light mint green in an even bob cut, with a straight fringe and bangs, with two longer locks hanging from the back. An crossing series of white overlapping straps over an olive-green crop-top left little to the imagination, much less her exposed stomach. Her hands had matching olive-coloured archer's gloves that only covered her middle fingers, contrasting against a few odd rings on the other digits. An intricate string of beads rested above her left wrist, and three golden bands further up the arm. She sported white trousers with dark brown chaps, hooked onto her loose brown double-belt, ending in high-heels.
The more Ichigo looked at her, the more he wondered whether Beacon even bothered with a dress code at all. Because come on, even Rangiku had more tact than that.
"It's someone Cinder was gonna have to meet eventually, Emerald. She'd rather have it happen on our own turf, trust me."
Mercury walked up to the bathroom door, and knocked.
"It's not locked;" Ichigo pointed out. "Aren't they just brushing their teeth?"
"Our leader doesn't appreciate being disturbed, for anything." Mercury responded in a tired drone.
The door opened, and out stepped Cinder Fall.
She was a fair-skinned young woman, looking to be slightly older than Ichigo. Locks of wet, ashen-black hair matched an onyx eyepatch of what looked to be moulded glass over her left eye, and her uncovered right was an orb of acrid bright orange, like distilled venom. She was dressed in a silken crimson shoulderless v-neck minidress, with a string tying it together over her bust, and golden-yellow patterns running along just under the edge, and all the way down the sleeves. The sleeves themselves tied around her middle finger, and her right hand's fingernails were painted a dark red, the colour of dried blood. Her left hand was concealed in a sable-black fabric glove.
She froze for several moments, before she seemingly rebooted in place and she smiled a sultry, shallow smirk. As she strutted up to him, her ebony-black glass high-heels rapped out a steady rhythm against the wooden flooring. Her dress ended in an inverted triangular tail, just above her knees, with pitch black shorts underneath, and her right side had a yellow feathery accessory on it, squished when she jutted her hip out and laid a hand on it. When she looked up into Ichigo's amber-brown eyes, her golden earloop rocked about. It ended in a black gem, matching the anklet on her right leg and the pitch-dark detached collar around her full neck.
Ichigo looked at her blankly. Was she expecting something?
But then, something caught his attention, and he looked at her again. He closed his eyes. Then he looked at her closer. Not physically; but spiritually.
He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked in surprise.
"...Amber?"
Cinder Fall smiled, exposing her teeth. "Ichigo! I missed you so much!"
NEXT: 22 - SEASON'S GREETINGS: AUTUMN - [Pain]
Author's notes:
Crescent Rose design: imgurDOTcom/a/chep3vi
I spent 10,000 hours in MS Paint to draw Crescent Rose's Zanpakutō design. I hadn't really envisioned it properly until now, but I'm pretty happy with it. I think I'll add it to the cover pic soon.
The new episodes of TYBW just keep getting better and better. The fights are clean, and that red sky looks kino AF. Shinji's bankai was great, if a bit short, and that final scene with Ichigo makes me think I might have to rewrite some things really soon, but I'm not complaining at all. New lore is always cool to see.
About the end of the chapter, firstly, before you complain, pay very close attention to the names I'm using in those very final sentences, and the descriptive language I'm using. Think about who it means is talking, there. As for the rest of the chapter, this is just a chill one that I'm using to build for the future. Ichigo's got enough income now that he can reasonably take off at any time, so I need a reason for him to stay at Beacon for just a bit longer. I decided on having the villains be his bathroom-raiding neighbours out of sheer coincidence to throw things off. How evil... time for a super edgy revenge arc full of blood and gore! Just kidding. Guns won't go blazing straight away, but things WILL get messy. It's just that this isn't exactly a dark fic or anything, moreso whimsical. Did you know I originally planned for this to be an Ichigo who got screwed over by Tsukishima and left abandoned on Remnant? It would've been one of those 'the MC is so depressed he resembles Shadow the Hedgehog more than his canon self' stories. There's a load of those already, so I took the lighthearted approach instead. He'll still kill somebody at some point, however. Just leaving that out there. Ruby will get to show off Crescent Rose in depth later, too. But for now, character interactions, because those are the core of a crossover.
I'm just gonna say, Isshin Kurosaki gets way too much disrespect in most stories I read on this site. Even discounting his powerlevel, he's a single dad who raised three kids and runs a business. And in the series, sure he's a gag character at first, but if you think about it, most of his one-on-one conversations with Ichigo were serious and on pretty deep stuff. His comic scenes become fewer and fewer as time goes on. Whenever Ichigo wanted to talk to him, he was there, even up to the TYBW. He's a good father, and a great character.
Thanks for 1410 favourites, 1820+ follows and 606 reviews!
To Shatter Fate has hit 200,000 views, and I'm blown away by how many people that is! I can't thank you all enough for that, and all I can say is that I'll keep writing!