Bleached

Chapter 11: Promotion and love part 1

Disclaimer: me No own, bruh.

§ Captain's meeting, after the battle §

Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni was staring at one Shiba Ichigo. As was the whole of Gotei 13's Captains, though Shunsui's stare could be qualified as amused. Yamamoto knew that the Shiba Heir had seemingly riled the easy-going captain, but he also knew that Shunsui had been acting angry to amuse himself. That man was truly exasperating. The soutaicho shifted his attemtion back to the subject of his confusion, wariness, amazement, and curiousity. Truth to be told, Yamamoto was wary of this young infant more than anything. He'd proven that he was clearly stronger than every shinigami to ever walk, including Yamamoto himself. In fact, the soutaicho wouldn't be surprised if the Reiou didn't send a summon for this young man this instant. Noticing that the relentless staring was finally getting to the young man, Yamamoto tapped the floor with his stick to gather the attention of all present.

"Fukutaicho Shiba Ichigo, the power and courage you displayed today was truly impressive. If you would explain to us exactly why you were able to see through Aizen's illusions, and why you have such power, that would be insightful." Yamamoto asked the orange haired prodigy. Ichigo blinked, and then rubbed his forehead in a tired motion. Ichigo was truly tired. He was still in bankai, not having a chance to lower reiatsu and sealing his zanpakouto. He needed to be in controlled environment to lower his reiatsu, as to not eviscerate some poor sod when he fell out of his semi-transcendant state. Defeating his life-long enemy for one last time was, with the knowledge that he could never be resurrected was a weight off his shoulders. But now thoughts about the consequenses were plaguing his mind. The most prominent thought was of Karin and Yuzu. They were likely never going to be born. He'd sworn to protect them! And now he was the cause of them not even getting to be born. What kind of a big brother was he? In his mind, Shiro seemed to have enough.

"Get your motherfuckig act together, King! They've been waiting for your answer for the past five minutes. Your sisters would want you to move on, and do what was better for the whole of the Universes. I'm pretty sure Karin would want to smack you, and Yuzu would give you that disappointed look you hate. So, for them, answer the old man!" his couterpart's words seemed to have an effect on Ichigo, kicking his ass into gear. The orange haired man steeled himself and answered Yamamoto's query.

"Well, soutaicho-sama, I don't know how I could see through Aizen's illusions, but according to my zanpakouto it is because Aizen didn't know me, and vice versa, before today. All of you have been subjugated to his illusions before today, and I have not, giving me an advantage. I don't know any more than that. About my power, well, I have always been like this. My reiatsu has always been strong, and attracted hollows. Father trained me, but I surpassed him quickly, learning shikai when I was 15, I think. I have been striving towards bankai ever since, and I got it last year. In fact, when Kaien found me, I had defeated my zanpakouto, and fell unconcious because of the wounds. I have been perfecting my bankai ever since. The reason I didn't tell anyone was because you guys seemed pretty amazed by my shikai, so I figured that bankai would be overkill." the half-truths and lies fell out of Ichigo's mouth effortlessly, stunning everyone. Yamamoto was now scrutinising Ichigo further, not entirely believing the orange haired man. Ichigo got ready to answer more questions, but that seemed to be unrequird as Shiba Isshin suddenly appeared in the doorway. Even Yamamoto looked surprised.

"Excuse me for interrupting this meeting, soutaicho, but the Reiou has ordered me to bring Shiba Ichigo to the Palace. Why, I can't say, but it is urgent." Isshin said in impassive tone, stunning all present, including Ichigo. Yamamoto sighed, and dismissed the meeting.

"I want a word with you after you are back, fukutaicho Shiba. Meeting dismissed." Ichigo nodded, and moved towards Isshin, who grabbed his arm and opened a portal, or senkaimon, if you will, to the Royal realm. The prodigy sighed. What to do now?

§ Royal Realm, meeting the Reiou §

Ichigo hesitantly sipped the tea a servant had poured him a moment ago. The Reiou was different from last time, looking much healthier, and more importantly, alive and moving. In the old timeline, the king had become a statue because of the constant drain his powers were going through in the cause of holding the crumbling dimensions together. Last time Ichigo had seen the Reiou, he'd been consumed by Juuhabach. It was a relief to see the lynchpin alive and kicking. Though it was slightly uncomfortable being stared at by the Royal Guard. For three hours. Constantly. Oh, well, it wasn't everyday someone was summoned into the Royal realm. The Reiou, who was sitting on his throne, looked totally unaffected by the tension in the room. As he'd done for the past hour. Ichigo's eye twitched. Isshin sent him a sympathetic look. Finally, finally, the Reiou began to talk.

"Shiba Ichigo, fukutaicho of Division 6, Heir Lord of the Shiba Clan..." he said in a curious tone, looking thoughtful. Ichigo waited. The Reiou smirked, though it was unnoticable.

"Or should we say, Kurosaki Ichigo, time-travel extraordinaire. " A slight widening of Ichigo's eyes was all the response he got. Isshin made a peculiar noise. The Reiou looked amused, though his expression changed to one of annoyance pretty fast.

"Do you know the head-ache you have caused me for the last year? There is a reason why time-travel is strictly banned. Though Urahara Kisuke is to be blamed for this, you could at least have tried to keep a low profile, letting the events play by. But no, you just had to play the hero. Now the future is clouded even to me. Explain yourself, Kurosaki." the Soul King said in a commanding tone. Ichigo just looked at him with a dead look in his eyes, making everyone in the Royal Guard uncomfortable. Isshin was surprised to see that look in Ichigo's eyes. Normally, the orange haired man's eyes were filled with all kinds of emotions. To see him like this was highly worrying for Isshin. In fact, Isshin himself was surprised at how worried he felt for this kid, who might have swindled himself to being an Heir. Ichigo began to speak.

"If you that I am a time-traveler, you must know of the circumstances I come from, Reiou-sama." the prodigy said in an impassive tone. Now, the Reiou looked slightly irritated.

"No, I don't know. I did know until a while ago, but the future now is totally impossible to see. What I know of your past is because I looked into your soul. I cannot see further than the fact that it was Urahara who sent you back. Anymore than that is clouded. Why don't you tell us your story, Kurosaki Ichigo?" the Reiou practically ordered. Ichigo looked genuinely surprised, before he began talking. The dead look was back in his eyes.

"Very well. I am Kurosaki Ichigo, son of the quincy Kurosaki Masaki, and Kurosaki Isshin, now known as Shiba Isshin. I-" Ichigo was cut off by Isshin making a choking noise, and then promptly fainting. Silence. The Reiou snorted, and told someone to wake him up. Once the poor man had regained conciousness, the Reiou motioned for Ichigo to continue.

"My father sacrificed his powers to be with my mother. I was born in 1995 AD, on the 15th of July. Being the son of two highly powerful beings made me able to see ghosts from a young age. When I was 15, I had high enough spritual pressure to equal a Vice-Captain. But I was unaware of it, as I didn't know anything about the spritual world, so I had no knowledge of the reiatsu I was spilling, and the hollows I was attracting..." As Ichigo continued to explain about how he got his powers, how he lost them, and how he regained them, and how he fought the quincies and then about Aizen, Isshin became more and more sick and frustrated about his own role in those conflicts. Even though he'd only know Ichigo for some months, he'd always a protective instict towards him. There was an old tale about spirits being able to recognize their loved ones even after death. Apparently the bond was ingrained in one's soul. Isshin thought that there was truth in that tale, and maybe that's why he was so eager to believe Ichigo. And maybe that's why every shinigami was keen on trusting Ichigo.

"..and the next thing I know is Kaien asking me all kinds of ridiculous questions. That's why I chose to change the timeline, and that's why I killed Aizen. To prevent him and Juuhabach from destroying everything again. " Ichigo finished his explanation, looking as impassive as ever. The Reiou was silent, before he smiled.

"Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo. It seemed like your breaking of the cosmical laws was to preserve the universes. I would like to offer you a place within the Royal Guard, as I do to every Shiba that achieves bankai. Do you accept?" the Reiou asked with a knowing glint in his eyes. Ichigo smiled dryly.

"I am afraid I must decline, Reiou-sama. I must fulfill my mission first, and to do that, I have to remain in Soul Soceity dor the next centuries. Maybe after that." the prodigy answered. The Reiou just smiled.

" Very well. But do accept this haori as a token of my respect of your deeds, even if they technically never happened. Shiba Isshin, please escort him back to Soul Soceity." With that, the meeting was dismissed. Isshin approached Ichigo, who looked slightly guilty, and started to explain.

"I am sorry, but I couldn't tell anyon-" he was cut off as Isshin embraced him in a bear hug, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe.

"It's okay." Isshin said in a thick voice. Ichigo looked surprised.

"You mean, you're not mad?" he asked hesitantly. Isshin answered immediately.

"Of course not! I understand why you woul hide you past from everyone. But Ichigo, you have to decide if you're ever going to tell anyone. When will you tell Kaien? And more importantly, Byakuya?" Isshin said in response. Ichigo blinked, and the gave a wry smile.

"Soon, I guess. Now open the senkaimon. Yama-jii is waiting." Laughing at Ichigo's name for the strongest shinigami to live, Isshin opened the senkaimon. Ichigo sighed. He did not look forward to tomorrow.

Next: Promotion and love part 2

AN: Sorry for the delay...I will probably not update for the next month or so T_T. Anyway about the quincy-shinigami , well you see, when I wrote that because he was on his height of his shinigami power, he could only shoot one quincy arrow. reason being shinigami and quincy powers don't go well together. see it as when the percentage of reiatsu that is shinigami based is over 33,3%, it converts the quincy reiatsu into Shinigami powers, therfore dimishing the quincy powers. the potential is still there, but kind of pushed i the backseat. So to balance that Ichigo can only shoot one arrow when in bankai, and vice versa in Vollstanding.(he can only shoot one getsuga in vollstanding) BUT; that doesn't mean he loses his zanpakouto swords. In fact, he will be able to alternate between sword and bow. not sure about the crossbow, though. Hope it cleared the misunderstanding. And also, he will be able to achieve higher power when he fuses both vollstanding and bankai. He will likely not do it before a theoretical apocalypse, since the reiatsu output would turn big parts of the three worlds unhabitable, very much like Chernobyl. Phew!

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-iamAdisco