Blue Thread of Fate part 3
Title: Blue Thread of Fate
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: PG13
Genre: Romance, drama, supernatural, shonen-ai, angst
Disclaimer: Do not own BLEACH nor am I profiting from this fic in any way.
Synopsis: Semi-AU. Ichigo is a shinigami sent out for patrol. Bored of work, he seeks out interesting reiraku (spirit threads) and discovers a blue colored one. It leads him to an interesting human with blue hair. Ichigo learns more about him and soon finds himself forming feelings towards the man. Fate, however, decides to play a cruel trick on them.
Part 1
Part 2
-----------------------------
Fifty years had passed since the betrayal of Aizen and Grimmjow’s death. Ichigo had risen to the ranks of a captain, having attained Bankai and was automatically listed into the Captain Proficiency Exam. He passed it without any problems and was made to take the empty slot of the 5th division, whose former captain was the traitor Aizen Sousuke. Ichigo didn’t mind it, but had thought that Lily of the Valley flower insignia of the division was probably mocking him in some way.
It symbolized ‘sacrifice, danger, pure love’. Each word only reminded Ichigo of him. The young captain shook his head slightly as he attempted to forget once again, and put on his haori before he made his way to the captains’ meeting.
Ichigo had gotten over Grimmjow’s death. Or at least, he had willed himself to think that he had. Shinigami, having extended life spans, could feel that a few years were just a few weeks. And thus the fifty years were probably still not enough time for Ichigo to forget about the scene he had come across that night. It was etched in his memory. The faded blue hair that was covered in blood, and the empty lifeless eyes that were once filled with the passion to keep on fighting and living...
Ichigo shoved the images of that night away from his mind the moment he stepped into the meeting room. All the other captains were there and they were still of the same line-up. Ichigo was the newest addition. The old man Captain Commander Yamamoto stood at the end of the two rows of captains where Ichigo quickly stood where he was supposed to.
“If you haven’t heard,” the Captain Commander began. “Aizen Sousuke has begun to make his move.” Nobody spoke and waited for the man to continue speaking. Ichigo just fidgeted a little uncomfortably at the mention of the traitor. He felt anger bubble slowly inside him at the thought of what the man had done. “From the half of the century since he has defected, we have not been able to enter Hueco Mundo. But what we believe is that he has been gathering and evolving an army of Hollows. Possibly Vasto Lordes, even.”
Despite the mention of very rare yet powerful hollows, the captains did not speak, but Ichigo could still see they were disturbed. The elderly captain continued.
“Ever since he has had his hands on the Hougyoku - an object of power made by the exiled Urahara Kisuke - we are to face the possibilities of him having made an army of hollows that can be even more powerful than we expect.”
Ichigo wasn’t scared, but he was a little nervous. He had only been a captain not too long ago, and now he might have to lead his men to war? With such powerful hollows? And they have yet to learn what results in using the Hougyoku. Confiscated reports of the exiled 12th division captain had said that he had the most knowledge on ‘hollowfication’, where a shinigami acquires a hollow’s powers. The man had researched in secrecy, and had probably done some experiments involving human subjects that had led him to exile. Well, hollowfication in itself was a crime great enough for execution. Ichigo wondered how the man escaped that punishment and had gotten away with his life.
“If the Hougyoku is able to allow shinigami to acquire hollow powers, we are to expect the same for the opposite,” the bearded old man said. Ichigo noticed Captain Ukitake and Kyouraku flicking their eyes at each other at the sentence, as if they knew something. “After much discussion and investigation from the murders in Central 46 Chambers and the history records in the Library, we have learned of Aizen’s true objective.”
Ichigo awaited the continuation nervously.
“The Royal Key.”
At that moment, a few captains were murmuring with each other. “Is he planning to kill the king?” Ichigo asked out loud. The key would unlock the space where the royal palace of the Reiou - the Spirit King - was situated at.
“Probably. But the main issue now, is that he isn’t trying to locate the key. He is trying to create it,” the Captain Commander replied. The captains had gone silent and was back to listening intently. “The problem lies with the materials he needs to create it - 100 000 human souls, and a 4km spirit radius of Juureichi that indicates a singular spiritual point in the human world.”
“And that is?” Somebody said impatiently, but Ichigo didn’t care who. He already had a feeling where it was.
“Karakura Town.” Ichigo closed his eyes and contained himself. First the person he cared for, and now the whole place, the whole town that held memories of him? Ichigo seethed silently.
Ichigo could hardly pay attention to the meeting anymore, but at least got to catch that they were to stop it with all their strength. The war would begin in four months, something about Aizen preparing the Hougyoku before he could use it, but Ichigo didn’t care. In these four months he’d prepare himself too, and he’d kill that bastard.
“Captain Kurosaki Ichigo.” Ichigo looked up to the old man’s call.
“Yes sir?”
“I would like you to go to the human world,” the elderly man said, and Ichigo’s eyes widened with mixed emotion. “I want you to seek out Urahara Kisuke, and negotiate with him for an alliance to work with us.”
“...Yes, sir,” Ichigo replied, and wondered why the old man chose him out of all the others.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ichigo stepped out of the Senkaimon, accompanied by a Hell Butterfly. The spiritual insect fluttered away as Ichigo walked slowly along the empty corridor among the familiar background of apartments. Ichigo thought he’d visit the area where Grimmjow’s apartment was before he would go look for that Urahara, and then thought that, yeah, he probably could never let go. Especially with the guilt he carried ever since that night.
Ichigo stopped in his tracks when he faced a different building. But, he thought, this was where Grimmjow’s apartment building used to be. He then remembered that it had been fifty years after all, and he gave a sad smile to his realization. Humans advanced so fast. Could they forget something as easily and fast as well? Ichigo wondered. He just looked at the building in front of him with a sense of nostalgia, until somebody spoke from behind him.
“Oya, what do I see here?” Ichigo whipped around, feeling that the voice was directed at him. It was a man with a green-striped bucket hat accompanied by traditional dark green wear with wooden clogs. His eyes were shadowed by his hat, giving him a shady look, and in his hand he held a foldable fan that he covered the bottom half of his face with. Ichigo regarded him with a suspicious look, but the man showed no hostility. The man would have looked like a normal human if he wasn’t looking directly at Ichigo.
“And you are...?”
“The guy you’ve been looking for, Urahara Kisuke,” the man smiled. He didn’t look like anything Ichigo had expected of an exiled criminal. And Ichigo was surprised to have the man find him instead of the other way round.
“How did you know about the Gotei looking for you?” Ichigo asked.
“I have my means, newly appointed 5th Division Captain Kurosaki Ichigo-san,” the man said. Ichigo only raised his brow with interest, but didn’t bother to pursue the matter further. “I’m curious to know why you’re so interested in this building, if I may ask.” Ichigo frowned at him.
“It just holds some memories,” Ichigo said slowly. Urahara took that answer with a nod. “...Since you knew about me coming here, does that mean you know the reason as well?”
Urahara turned to him with another smile that reminded him of Aizen, but it wasn’t sinister. It was just that they both gave him a certain level of feeling that was similar. Ichigo wasn’t sure to trust the man or not, but he decided to keep his guard up at all times at least. “Let’s not talk here, we’ll be more comfortable talking at my shop,” Urahara said and led the way.
They ended up at a small shop that was situated at a corner. The sign on it read ‘Urahara Shoten’ and as the apparent shopkeeper slid open the entrance door Ichigo could see rows of candies. Why candies? Ichigo thought in amusement. He entered the shop and was greeted by a little girl with double ponytails and a constant sad expression, and a rowdy boy with reddish hair. A tall, muscular man in a t-shirt and an apron stood at the end of the room with a tray of tea at the ready, as if he had anticipated their arrival. His rectangular glasses framed his stern eyes and his thick moustache wiggled as he opened his mouth to greet the two, “Welcome back, manager.”
“Thank you Tessai!” Urahara replied chirpily and turned to Ichigo. “Please come in, come in!” He led Ichigo into a guest room where a short table was and had seating cushions by it. Ichigo kept quiet, both amused and annoyed by the man’s unnaturally happy behaviour but followed him anyway. The two kids watched them nosily, but did not enter the room they were in, where the moustached man slid the door close. He set down the tea and sat on the floor right behind Urahara who was still smiling. “Now that we’re here, we can talk.”
“Aizen is going to destroy Karakura Town to create the Royal Key,” Ichigo said, straight to the point. He waited for the other man’s reaction, but did not get any more than a slight drop in his smile. Urahara set his fan down on the table.
“Yes, I am aware of that.”
“So would you help us?” Ichigo asked. Urahara rubbed his chin in a mock act of thinking.
“I won’t help the Gotei 13,” Urahara said and raised his hand when Ichigo wanted to speak. “But I’d like to help you, Kurosaki-san.”
“Excuse me?” Ichigo stared at him with a puzzled frown. Urahara leaned forward and a smirk returned to his lips.
“We are... a little similar,” Urahara began. “We have an attachment to this world. Though I am not saying that the Gotei are ruthless people who actually do not care about the 100 000 souls inhabiting this town, I do believe that they are doing it more out of duty. I would rather help someone with a bit more... compassion.”
“And that’s supposed to be me? Just because I said I had memories stuck in this place?” Ichigo’s temper was rising for some reason. Perhaps it was because they were treading close to a certain subject.
Urahara gave him another smile but it was a little different - a knowing yet sympathetic one. “I can see in your eyes it meant a lot more to you. And that something is driving you to seek vengeance against Aizen himself.” Ichigo kept his lips sealed tight in a deep frown, and felt his brows furrow together so hard his facial muscles ached.
“But look at the bright side,” Urahara said again, taking a lighter tone this time. “You’re part of the Gotei 13. If I help you, it means I’m helping them as well, so you have nothing to worry about when you report back to old Yamamoto.” Ichigo nodded slightly in agreement.
“... I suppose you’re right,” Ichigo replied. And that was it; his mission was just to acquire the co-operation of the exiled captain. He began to move to leave but Urahara stopped him with a question.
“Kurosaki-san, I would like to ask, why is your zanpakutou still in its shikai form?” Ichigo was caught off-guard by the sudden question. He hadn’t been asked that question in a long time that he forgot about how different it was compared to the others.
“I think somebody said something about me having a very large amount of reiatsu?” Ichigo replied, asking himself whether that was what was really said. “No matter what, Zangetsu doesn’t return to his katana form.” Urahara looked very interested at his reply.
“I see... thank you, Kurosaki-san,” the shopkeeper said. Ichigo took a sip of the given tea before he bowed to the man in thanks before standing up. “Gramps will contact you whenever needed. And thanks for the tea.” He nodded to the burly man behind Urahara, who returned the nod. Tessai, as he was called by Urahara, stood up and opened the door for Ichigo, allowing the young man to walk out. The two children were still staring at him as he walked out. “You may visit us anytime, Kurosaki-san! I’ve got lots of goods to share!”
Urahara watched the young captain walk away, with his fan covering the lower half of his face as usual. His expression darkened slightly but he held the smirk on his face. “What do you think, Tessai? With an amount of power like that, I don’t think Kurosaki-san needs the Hougyoku at all.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple of weeks passed since the confirmation of cooperation from Urahara Kisuke. Ichigo had been going in and out of the human world to act as the mediator for Gotei 13 and the exiled captain. He had gotten familiar with the town once again, and remembered every step he’d taken fifty years before. Of course, it meant that he had to remember every memory of him too. Not that he’d ever forget, but to relive the memory of someone who had passed would always be a mix of joy and sorrow. To bury it all back, he had taken up Urahara’s offer of training him in his own unique way, and was glad he did because he actually learned a lot despite already a captain himself.
For the training, he met another exiled captain that he had heard of, the royal blooded legendary Goddess of Flash Shihouin Yoruichi who was once the 2nd Division captain and head of the Onmitsukido, the Special Forces. She was a slender dark-skinned woman with dark purple hair and golden eyes, and she did fit the image of royalty. The two of them seemed very close, and the woman had both a very authoritative yet fun and easy-going aura that surrounded her and she earned Ichigo’s respect immediately. Ichigo never understood how such nice people could be exiled criminals and had one day asked Urahara about it. The man looked at him with a mildly surprised look, but didn’t seem to have any negative reaction towards it at all.
“Well, who else could send a handsome, perverted shopkeeper like me into exile but the man we are preparing to stop in a few months from now?” Urahara said as he fanned himself with that paper fan he always seemed to have with him.
“Aizen again? Looks as if he’s planned everything from the start... but if that were so how did you end up in exile?”
“As you’ve said, he got it all planned out,” Urahara replied with a smaller smile. The man then shrugged with a smug smirk. “He ‘s just jealous that he couldn’t create an amazing thing like my Hougyoku.” Ichigo couldn’t help but feel amused at the man’s humour, but the mention of the orb had him thinking.
“So this Hougyoku of yours,” Ichigo began. “Can really give Shinigami Hollow abilities? And the other way around too?”
“It’s is not about giving one being the other’s powers, but it is simply to dissolve the line between them,” Urahara explained. “Though it’s still a powerful tool, I didn’t get to perfect it when they arrested me and confiscated it, so up until now, I’d say the Hougyoku is still incomplete.”
“And have you perfected it now?” Ichigo asked with a raised brow. Urahara merely gave him a smile. “Right... but I heard about human experiments being involved.”
“That’s Aizen talking again, but it’s not entirely false,” Urahara admitted. “But to know what I mean by that, you will wait and see what I mean.” Urahara left it at that.
It was nearing a month since then, and Ichigo was in Seireitei, hanging out with Rukia and Renji. They were talking about a particular shopkeeper who sold candies being Ichigo’s personal mentor. The two of them had accompanied Ichigo to the shop before and had met the man under the cover of assisting Ichigo in his usual ‘mediation’ efforts. They were now well acquainted with each other, and were fond of being guinea pigs to the man’s unusual inventions just for kicks whenever they weren’t training or preparing for the coming war.
“You should know Karakura like the palm of your hand now, right?” Renji asked.
“I guess I’m reaching there,” Ichigo replied with a grin. “When I’m bored as usual, I’d go exploring, so next time I’ll take you guys there.” His two friends seemed excited and they laughed and cracked jokes again.
“Ah but compared to the fifty years ago you were there, the whole town has completely changed hasn’t it?” Renji asked and Ichigo seemed to stiffen at the mention of the fifty years but it was only for a brief moment. The two of them noticed but said nothing, only that Rukia was glaring at the tattooed vice-captain who gave a sheepish, apologetic look.
“Yeah it has changed a lot, everything, everywhere,” Ichigo replied normally, but the choice of words definitely meant something. The atmosphere among the trio changed into an awkward one but Renji was trying to continue the conversation when a Hell Butterfly came fluttering to their group and interrupted their get-together.
An order from the Commander came from the black winged insect, “Captain Kurosaki, there is an emergency in the human world. As you were in-charge as mediator between that world and ours, you are to go there and investigate a unique Hollow activity that has just begun.”
“Yes sir,” Ichigo said and immediately stood up. But the old man’s voice continued talking.
“Vice-captain Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia, you will follow and assist Captain Kurosaki. Ikkaku and Ayasegawa of the 11th division, and Captain Hitsugaya and his vice-captain Matsumoto of the 10th will be there to assist you as well. The report from the 12th division warned of extremely high reiatsu and the recommendation to practice caution. Now go!”
“Sir!” the trio replied and immediately headed for the Senkaimon, which would bring them to the human world.
They were in Karakura Town within minutes; it was night time. There was no sense of chaos or unknown reiatsu for that matter. But the youngest captain of the Gotei 13 was there, looking grumpy as usual with his ample bosomed vice-captain. Rangiku was teasing her captain as usual, and Hitsugaya merely scowled and ignored her, while Ikkaku and Yumichika immediately greeted him upon his arrival. “Oi Ichigo! Renji and Kuchiki too! It’s been a while!”
“Ah, Ikkaku, Yumichika,” the orange-haired captain greeted back with a raise of his hand. He turned to the 10th division and greeted them as well. “Yo, Toshiro, Rangiku-san!” Hitsugaya glared at him.
“I told you countless times, Kurosaki, call me ‘Captain Hitsugaya’,” the young captain grumbled. Rangiku only teased him further for his reaction. Renji and Rukia went to entertain them while Ichigo turned back to his former superiors.
“Yeah, it has. Been busy with the assignment Yama-jii gave me. How’s Kenpachi?”
“Oi, oi, just because you’re a captain now doesn’t mean you can forget respecting him!” Ikkaku scolded him but was grinning. Ichigo replied him with the same expression, and was about to retort when a burst of unfamiliar reiatsu took them by surprise.
“What was that?” Renji said, already in his defensive mode.
“Is this a Hollow’s reiatsu?” Rangiku asked in disbelief.
“It’s... so strong!” Rukia gasped. Indeed it was. It took all of their breaths away momentarily when the burst of reiatsu went through them.
“There’s six of them,” Hitsugaya informed them. Ikkaku was looking excited while Yumichika took on a reserved expression. Ichigo felt a sense of recognition slip in for some reason when he skimmed through the six different reiatsu. They were gathered together at a certain point, but then they seemed to disperse. The young captain began to order, “Each of you, take on one of them! As the Commander has said, don’t underestimate their strength!”
With that the group too dispersed, each of them heading towards a different entity that was headed into different corners of the town. Ichigo just rushed towards the one body that had the familiar reiatsu emanating from it. And as the nearer he got to it, the faster his heart beats. Yet Ichigo didn’t know why. He suddenly lost track of the reiatsu, thus losing the location of where the possible Hollow had went. Ichigo landed on the streets below and looked around. This is the place where Grimmjow was killed, Ichigo realized, and only took a few steps before a sudden powerful burst of reiatsu exploded on his once again, but this time it was much stronger than the initial burst. It even had Ichigo breaking into cold sweat.
Yet the sense of familiarity with this hostile reiatsu continued to grow to the point where Ichigo couldn’t deny it anymore. As he looked up, a white clad figure descended from the sky slowly. Ichigo immediately took in the nostalgic shade of light blue hair and the shocking cobalt eyes that were now lined with teal markings.
Grimmjow was standing right before him with that predatory grin he used to wear.
Only difference was, the man now had a broken piece of jaw-like mask on the right side of his cheek and a gaping hole through his stomach.
-------------------- Part 3 end ---------------------
Part 3. How is it going so far? I know, I know, I’m totally unoriginal for using the canon storyline, but as I’ve told someone before my aim was to twist and play around with the original storyline by the awesome Kubo Tite. The good thing is I’m not getting any profit from this so… Hooray?
Uh, but I’d like to hear what you guys think about it though. Thanks for reading :)
Oh, and ch 2 of Killer Instinct might be up soon.
Pairing: Grimmjow/Ichigo
Rating: PG13
Genre: Romance, drama, supernatural, shonen-ai, angst
Disclaimer: Do not own BLEACH nor am I profiting from this fic in any way.
Synopsis: Semi-AU. Ichigo is a shinigami sent out for patrol. Bored of work, he seeks out interesting reiraku (spirit threads) and discovers a blue colored one. It leads him to an interesting human with blue hair. Ichigo learns more about him and soon finds himself forming feelings towards the man. Fate, however, decides to play a cruel trick on them.
Part 1
Part 2
-----------------------------
Fifty years had passed since the betrayal of Aizen and Grimmjow’s death. Ichigo had risen to the ranks of a captain, having attained Bankai and was automatically listed into the Captain Proficiency Exam. He passed it without any problems and was made to take the empty slot of the 5th division, whose former captain was the traitor Aizen Sousuke. Ichigo didn’t mind it, but had thought that Lily of the Valley flower insignia of the division was probably mocking him in some way.
It symbolized ‘sacrifice, danger, pure love’. Each word only reminded Ichigo of him. The young captain shook his head slightly as he attempted to forget once again, and put on his haori before he made his way to the captains’ meeting.
Ichigo had gotten over Grimmjow’s death. Or at least, he had willed himself to think that he had. Shinigami, having extended life spans, could feel that a few years were just a few weeks. And thus the fifty years were probably still not enough time for Ichigo to forget about the scene he had come across that night. It was etched in his memory. The faded blue hair that was covered in blood, and the empty lifeless eyes that were once filled with the passion to keep on fighting and living...
Ichigo shoved the images of that night away from his mind the moment he stepped into the meeting room. All the other captains were there and they were still of the same line-up. Ichigo was the newest addition. The old man Captain Commander Yamamoto stood at the end of the two rows of captains where Ichigo quickly stood where he was supposed to.
“If you haven’t heard,” the Captain Commander began. “Aizen Sousuke has begun to make his move.” Nobody spoke and waited for the man to continue speaking. Ichigo just fidgeted a little uncomfortably at the mention of the traitor. He felt anger bubble slowly inside him at the thought of what the man had done. “From the half of the century since he has defected, we have not been able to enter Hueco Mundo. But what we believe is that he has been gathering and evolving an army of Hollows. Possibly Vasto Lordes, even.”
Despite the mention of very rare yet powerful hollows, the captains did not speak, but Ichigo could still see they were disturbed. The elderly captain continued.
“Ever since he has had his hands on the Hougyoku - an object of power made by the exiled Urahara Kisuke - we are to face the possibilities of him having made an army of hollows that can be even more powerful than we expect.”
Ichigo wasn’t scared, but he was a little nervous. He had only been a captain not too long ago, and now he might have to lead his men to war? With such powerful hollows? And they have yet to learn what results in using the Hougyoku. Confiscated reports of the exiled 12th division captain had said that he had the most knowledge on ‘hollowfication’, where a shinigami acquires a hollow’s powers. The man had researched in secrecy, and had probably done some experiments involving human subjects that had led him to exile. Well, hollowfication in itself was a crime great enough for execution. Ichigo wondered how the man escaped that punishment and had gotten away with his life.
“If the Hougyoku is able to allow shinigami to acquire hollow powers, we are to expect the same for the opposite,” the bearded old man said. Ichigo noticed Captain Ukitake and Kyouraku flicking their eyes at each other at the sentence, as if they knew something. “After much discussion and investigation from the murders in Central 46 Chambers and the history records in the Library, we have learned of Aizen’s true objective.”
Ichigo awaited the continuation nervously.
“The Royal Key.”
At that moment, a few captains were murmuring with each other. “Is he planning to kill the king?” Ichigo asked out loud. The key would unlock the space where the royal palace of the Reiou - the Spirit King - was situated at.
“Probably. But the main issue now, is that he isn’t trying to locate the key. He is trying to create it,” the Captain Commander replied. The captains had gone silent and was back to listening intently. “The problem lies with the materials he needs to create it - 100 000 human souls, and a 4km spirit radius of Juureichi that indicates a singular spiritual point in the human world.”
“And that is?” Somebody said impatiently, but Ichigo didn’t care who. He already had a feeling where it was.
“Karakura Town.” Ichigo closed his eyes and contained himself. First the person he cared for, and now the whole place, the whole town that held memories of him? Ichigo seethed silently.
Ichigo could hardly pay attention to the meeting anymore, but at least got to catch that they were to stop it with all their strength. The war would begin in four months, something about Aizen preparing the Hougyoku before he could use it, but Ichigo didn’t care. In these four months he’d prepare himself too, and he’d kill that bastard.
“Captain Kurosaki Ichigo.” Ichigo looked up to the old man’s call.
“Yes sir?”
“I would like you to go to the human world,” the elderly man said, and Ichigo’s eyes widened with mixed emotion. “I want you to seek out Urahara Kisuke, and negotiate with him for an alliance to work with us.”
“...Yes, sir,” Ichigo replied, and wondered why the old man chose him out of all the others.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ichigo stepped out of the Senkaimon, accompanied by a Hell Butterfly. The spiritual insect fluttered away as Ichigo walked slowly along the empty corridor among the familiar background of apartments. Ichigo thought he’d visit the area where Grimmjow’s apartment was before he would go look for that Urahara, and then thought that, yeah, he probably could never let go. Especially with the guilt he carried ever since that night.
Ichigo stopped in his tracks when he faced a different building. But, he thought, this was where Grimmjow’s apartment building used to be. He then remembered that it had been fifty years after all, and he gave a sad smile to his realization. Humans advanced so fast. Could they forget something as easily and fast as well? Ichigo wondered. He just looked at the building in front of him with a sense of nostalgia, until somebody spoke from behind him.
“Oya, what do I see here?” Ichigo whipped around, feeling that the voice was directed at him. It was a man with a green-striped bucket hat accompanied by traditional dark green wear with wooden clogs. His eyes were shadowed by his hat, giving him a shady look, and in his hand he held a foldable fan that he covered the bottom half of his face with. Ichigo regarded him with a suspicious look, but the man showed no hostility. The man would have looked like a normal human if he wasn’t looking directly at Ichigo.
“And you are...?”
“The guy you’ve been looking for, Urahara Kisuke,” the man smiled. He didn’t look like anything Ichigo had expected of an exiled criminal. And Ichigo was surprised to have the man find him instead of the other way round.
“How did you know about the Gotei looking for you?” Ichigo asked.
“I have my means, newly appointed 5th Division Captain Kurosaki Ichigo-san,” the man said. Ichigo only raised his brow with interest, but didn’t bother to pursue the matter further. “I’m curious to know why you’re so interested in this building, if I may ask.” Ichigo frowned at him.
“It just holds some memories,” Ichigo said slowly. Urahara took that answer with a nod. “...Since you knew about me coming here, does that mean you know the reason as well?”
Urahara turned to him with another smile that reminded him of Aizen, but it wasn’t sinister. It was just that they both gave him a certain level of feeling that was similar. Ichigo wasn’t sure to trust the man or not, but he decided to keep his guard up at all times at least. “Let’s not talk here, we’ll be more comfortable talking at my shop,” Urahara said and led the way.
They ended up at a small shop that was situated at a corner. The sign on it read ‘Urahara Shoten’ and as the apparent shopkeeper slid open the entrance door Ichigo could see rows of candies. Why candies? Ichigo thought in amusement. He entered the shop and was greeted by a little girl with double ponytails and a constant sad expression, and a rowdy boy with reddish hair. A tall, muscular man in a t-shirt and an apron stood at the end of the room with a tray of tea at the ready, as if he had anticipated their arrival. His rectangular glasses framed his stern eyes and his thick moustache wiggled as he opened his mouth to greet the two, “Welcome back, manager.”
“Thank you Tessai!” Urahara replied chirpily and turned to Ichigo. “Please come in, come in!” He led Ichigo into a guest room where a short table was and had seating cushions by it. Ichigo kept quiet, both amused and annoyed by the man’s unnaturally happy behaviour but followed him anyway. The two kids watched them nosily, but did not enter the room they were in, where the moustached man slid the door close. He set down the tea and sat on the floor right behind Urahara who was still smiling. “Now that we’re here, we can talk.”
“Aizen is going to destroy Karakura Town to create the Royal Key,” Ichigo said, straight to the point. He waited for the other man’s reaction, but did not get any more than a slight drop in his smile. Urahara set his fan down on the table.
“Yes, I am aware of that.”
“So would you help us?” Ichigo asked. Urahara rubbed his chin in a mock act of thinking.
“I won’t help the Gotei 13,” Urahara said and raised his hand when Ichigo wanted to speak. “But I’d like to help you, Kurosaki-san.”
“Excuse me?” Ichigo stared at him with a puzzled frown. Urahara leaned forward and a smirk returned to his lips.
“We are... a little similar,” Urahara began. “We have an attachment to this world. Though I am not saying that the Gotei are ruthless people who actually do not care about the 100 000 souls inhabiting this town, I do believe that they are doing it more out of duty. I would rather help someone with a bit more... compassion.”
“And that’s supposed to be me? Just because I said I had memories stuck in this place?” Ichigo’s temper was rising for some reason. Perhaps it was because they were treading close to a certain subject.
Urahara gave him another smile but it was a little different - a knowing yet sympathetic one. “I can see in your eyes it meant a lot more to you. And that something is driving you to seek vengeance against Aizen himself.” Ichigo kept his lips sealed tight in a deep frown, and felt his brows furrow together so hard his facial muscles ached.
“But look at the bright side,” Urahara said again, taking a lighter tone this time. “You’re part of the Gotei 13. If I help you, it means I’m helping them as well, so you have nothing to worry about when you report back to old Yamamoto.” Ichigo nodded slightly in agreement.
“... I suppose you’re right,” Ichigo replied. And that was it; his mission was just to acquire the co-operation of the exiled captain. He began to move to leave but Urahara stopped him with a question.
“Kurosaki-san, I would like to ask, why is your zanpakutou still in its shikai form?” Ichigo was caught off-guard by the sudden question. He hadn’t been asked that question in a long time that he forgot about how different it was compared to the others.
“I think somebody said something about me having a very large amount of reiatsu?” Ichigo replied, asking himself whether that was what was really said. “No matter what, Zangetsu doesn’t return to his katana form.” Urahara looked very interested at his reply.
“I see... thank you, Kurosaki-san,” the shopkeeper said. Ichigo took a sip of the given tea before he bowed to the man in thanks before standing up. “Gramps will contact you whenever needed. And thanks for the tea.” He nodded to the burly man behind Urahara, who returned the nod. Tessai, as he was called by Urahara, stood up and opened the door for Ichigo, allowing the young man to walk out. The two children were still staring at him as he walked out. “You may visit us anytime, Kurosaki-san! I’ve got lots of goods to share!”
Urahara watched the young captain walk away, with his fan covering the lower half of his face as usual. His expression darkened slightly but he held the smirk on his face. “What do you think, Tessai? With an amount of power like that, I don’t think Kurosaki-san needs the Hougyoku at all.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A couple of weeks passed since the confirmation of cooperation from Urahara Kisuke. Ichigo had been going in and out of the human world to act as the mediator for Gotei 13 and the exiled captain. He had gotten familiar with the town once again, and remembered every step he’d taken fifty years before. Of course, it meant that he had to remember every memory of him too. Not that he’d ever forget, but to relive the memory of someone who had passed would always be a mix of joy and sorrow. To bury it all back, he had taken up Urahara’s offer of training him in his own unique way, and was glad he did because he actually learned a lot despite already a captain himself.
For the training, he met another exiled captain that he had heard of, the royal blooded legendary Goddess of Flash Shihouin Yoruichi who was once the 2nd Division captain and head of the Onmitsukido, the Special Forces. She was a slender dark-skinned woman with dark purple hair and golden eyes, and she did fit the image of royalty. The two of them seemed very close, and the woman had both a very authoritative yet fun and easy-going aura that surrounded her and she earned Ichigo’s respect immediately. Ichigo never understood how such nice people could be exiled criminals and had one day asked Urahara about it. The man looked at him with a mildly surprised look, but didn’t seem to have any negative reaction towards it at all.
“Well, who else could send a handsome, perverted shopkeeper like me into exile but the man we are preparing to stop in a few months from now?” Urahara said as he fanned himself with that paper fan he always seemed to have with him.
“Aizen again? Looks as if he’s planned everything from the start... but if that were so how did you end up in exile?”
“As you’ve said, he got it all planned out,” Urahara replied with a smaller smile. The man then shrugged with a smug smirk. “He ‘s just jealous that he couldn’t create an amazing thing like my Hougyoku.” Ichigo couldn’t help but feel amused at the man’s humour, but the mention of the orb had him thinking.
“So this Hougyoku of yours,” Ichigo began. “Can really give Shinigami Hollow abilities? And the other way around too?”
“It’s is not about giving one being the other’s powers, but it is simply to dissolve the line between them,” Urahara explained. “Though it’s still a powerful tool, I didn’t get to perfect it when they arrested me and confiscated it, so up until now, I’d say the Hougyoku is still incomplete.”
“And have you perfected it now?” Ichigo asked with a raised brow. Urahara merely gave him a smile. “Right... but I heard about human experiments being involved.”
“That’s Aizen talking again, but it’s not entirely false,” Urahara admitted. “But to know what I mean by that, you will wait and see what I mean.” Urahara left it at that.
It was nearing a month since then, and Ichigo was in Seireitei, hanging out with Rukia and Renji. They were talking about a particular shopkeeper who sold candies being Ichigo’s personal mentor. The two of them had accompanied Ichigo to the shop before and had met the man under the cover of assisting Ichigo in his usual ‘mediation’ efforts. They were now well acquainted with each other, and were fond of being guinea pigs to the man’s unusual inventions just for kicks whenever they weren’t training or preparing for the coming war.
“You should know Karakura like the palm of your hand now, right?” Renji asked.
“I guess I’m reaching there,” Ichigo replied with a grin. “When I’m bored as usual, I’d go exploring, so next time I’ll take you guys there.” His two friends seemed excited and they laughed and cracked jokes again.
“Ah but compared to the fifty years ago you were there, the whole town has completely changed hasn’t it?” Renji asked and Ichigo seemed to stiffen at the mention of the fifty years but it was only for a brief moment. The two of them noticed but said nothing, only that Rukia was glaring at the tattooed vice-captain who gave a sheepish, apologetic look.
“Yeah it has changed a lot, everything, everywhere,” Ichigo replied normally, but the choice of words definitely meant something. The atmosphere among the trio changed into an awkward one but Renji was trying to continue the conversation when a Hell Butterfly came fluttering to their group and interrupted their get-together.
An order from the Commander came from the black winged insect, “Captain Kurosaki, there is an emergency in the human world. As you were in-charge as mediator between that world and ours, you are to go there and investigate a unique Hollow activity that has just begun.”
“Yes sir,” Ichigo said and immediately stood up. But the old man’s voice continued talking.
“Vice-captain Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia, you will follow and assist Captain Kurosaki. Ikkaku and Ayasegawa of the 11th division, and Captain Hitsugaya and his vice-captain Matsumoto of the 10th will be there to assist you as well. The report from the 12th division warned of extremely high reiatsu and the recommendation to practice caution. Now go!”
“Sir!” the trio replied and immediately headed for the Senkaimon, which would bring them to the human world.
They were in Karakura Town within minutes; it was night time. There was no sense of chaos or unknown reiatsu for that matter. But the youngest captain of the Gotei 13 was there, looking grumpy as usual with his ample bosomed vice-captain. Rangiku was teasing her captain as usual, and Hitsugaya merely scowled and ignored her, while Ikkaku and Yumichika immediately greeted him upon his arrival. “Oi Ichigo! Renji and Kuchiki too! It’s been a while!”
“Ah, Ikkaku, Yumichika,” the orange-haired captain greeted back with a raise of his hand. He turned to the 10th division and greeted them as well. “Yo, Toshiro, Rangiku-san!” Hitsugaya glared at him.
“I told you countless times, Kurosaki, call me ‘Captain Hitsugaya’,” the young captain grumbled. Rangiku only teased him further for his reaction. Renji and Rukia went to entertain them while Ichigo turned back to his former superiors.
“Yeah, it has. Been busy with the assignment Yama-jii gave me. How’s Kenpachi?”
“Oi, oi, just because you’re a captain now doesn’t mean you can forget respecting him!” Ikkaku scolded him but was grinning. Ichigo replied him with the same expression, and was about to retort when a burst of unfamiliar reiatsu took them by surprise.
“What was that?” Renji said, already in his defensive mode.
“Is this a Hollow’s reiatsu?” Rangiku asked in disbelief.
“It’s... so strong!” Rukia gasped. Indeed it was. It took all of their breaths away momentarily when the burst of reiatsu went through them.
“There’s six of them,” Hitsugaya informed them. Ikkaku was looking excited while Yumichika took on a reserved expression. Ichigo felt a sense of recognition slip in for some reason when he skimmed through the six different reiatsu. They were gathered together at a certain point, but then they seemed to disperse. The young captain began to order, “Each of you, take on one of them! As the Commander has said, don’t underestimate their strength!”
With that the group too dispersed, each of them heading towards a different entity that was headed into different corners of the town. Ichigo just rushed towards the one body that had the familiar reiatsu emanating from it. And as the nearer he got to it, the faster his heart beats. Yet Ichigo didn’t know why. He suddenly lost track of the reiatsu, thus losing the location of where the possible Hollow had went. Ichigo landed on the streets below and looked around. This is the place where Grimmjow was killed, Ichigo realized, and only took a few steps before a sudden powerful burst of reiatsu exploded on his once again, but this time it was much stronger than the initial burst. It even had Ichigo breaking into cold sweat.
Yet the sense of familiarity with this hostile reiatsu continued to grow to the point where Ichigo couldn’t deny it anymore. As he looked up, a white clad figure descended from the sky slowly. Ichigo immediately took in the nostalgic shade of light blue hair and the shocking cobalt eyes that were now lined with teal markings.
Grimmjow was standing right before him with that predatory grin he used to wear.
Only difference was, the man now had a broken piece of jaw-like mask on the right side of his cheek and a gaping hole through his stomach.
-------------------- Part 3 end ---------------------
Part 3. How is it going so far? I know, I know, I’m totally unoriginal for using the canon storyline, but as I’ve told someone before my aim was to twist and play around with the original storyline by the awesome Kubo Tite. The good thing is I’m not getting any profit from this so… Hooray?
Uh, but I’d like to hear what you guys think about it though. Thanks for reading :)
Oh, and ch 2 of Killer Instinct might be up soon.