"Why are you here?! I told you not to come!"
Kurosaki Ichigo's voice flared with irritation. He was certain his family was definitely getting the wrong idea about him right now.
"Idiot!" Rukia snapped, glaring back without an ounce of backing down.
"What if a Hollow shows up while Kon and I aren't around?!"
"Exactly!" Kon poked his head out of her bag and agreed righteously.
"Big Sis Rukia is right! Ichigo, you're really ungrateful!"
"There's no way a Hollow shows up every single day!"
"The possibility isn't zero, is it?!" Rukia took a step forward.
"As a Soul Reaper stationed in the Living World, this is my duty!"
"That's right! Ichigo, listen to Big Sis—"
"Shut up!" they yelled in unison.
Two voices, one large and one small, struck simultaneously. Kon only had time to let out a muffled squeal before zipping back into the bag, not daring to show his face again.
The bag shook violently twice before returning to silence.
Asakura Yoh squatted on the grass a few steps away, resting his chin in his hands as he quietly counted ants.
A black ant was struggling to carry a piece of food debris two or three times its size, moving forward with great difficulty.
It was difficult to intervene in this scene; it felt like a married couple of many years having a spat.
An outsider's best choice was to pretend they didn't exist.
Feeling bored, the boy extended a finger, watching the black ant navigate around his fingertip before stubbornly crawling back in its original direction.
He didn't actually find it boring.
Emptying his mind and feeling nature was actually a form of training for a Shaman.
It was just that today's location made the act feel somewhat out of place.
"You said your mother and Asakura's parents were killed, right?!"
Kuchiki Rukia's voice rose, her tone bordering on urgent.
She turned to Kurosaki Ichigo, her eyes flashing with the characteristic calmness and persistence of a Soul Reaper.
"Did I say that?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked back blankly, not even looking at her.
"Must have been a slip of the tongue. You forgot."
His tone was flat, but that deliberate lack of emotion was exactly what made his state of mind so worrying.
"You said you've been able to see spirits for as long as you can remember." Rukia refused to yield, pressing further.
"In that case, I want you to tell me... was it a Hollow that killed your family?"
She paused, as if organizing her words or adding weight to her speculation.
"It's entirely possible. Since your spiritual power has been higher than average since childhood, you would have been an easy target for Hollows—it's very likely that a Hollow intended to attack you, but accidentally killed your mother and..."
"Rukia!!"
Asakura Yoh called out her name directly for the first time.
The voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as ice.
Kuchiki Rukia froze.
She turned her head and met eyes that currently held no warmth.
It was an expression she had never seen on Asakura Yoh's face. The usually lazy and nonchalant boy seemed enveloped in an invisible chill.
"Maybe in your Soul Reaper society, it's fine not to consider others' feelings," Asakura Yoh said, each word slow and clear.
"But this is human society."
"What you wanted to say just now was—Ichigo's mother and my parents died 'in place' of Ichigo, right?"
Rukia's pupils contracted slightly.
"You..." Asakura Yoh looked at her. His tone wasn't accusatory, yet it felt heavier than any reprimand.
"Can't you understand how cruel those words are to Ichigo?"
Those words hit Kuchiki Rukia's chest like a sledgehammer.
Her breath caught.
This was something so easily perceived, so why had she only just realized it? When had she become so cold-blooded, so dull?
Was it when she entered the Shino Academy? Or the day she became a Soul Reaper? Or perhaps... the day she took on the name Kuchiki?
"Ichigo... I... Ichigo?"
She turned her head in a panic, wanting to apologize, to say something to make up for her stupidity.
But what she saw was Kurosaki Ichigo's frozen profile.
He was staring intently at the top of the stone stairs, his eyes filled with disbelief.
The blank shock in his expression made it clear to anyone watching—he had seen something capable of shattering his sanity.
His lips trembled slightly, and his face turned pale in an instant.
At the same moment, a piercing killing intent surged from Asakura Yoh.
That killing intent was sharp as a blade, nearly physical, yet he forcibly kept it contained within his body. Only the ants nearest to him suddenly froze, curling into tiny black balls, not daring to move.
A child stood at the top of the stone stairs.
Wearing a white cloak and with hair styled like a Zashiki-warashi, they looked like an exquisite doll.
In Kurosaki Ichigo's mind, scenes from six years ago surged violently—
That rainy day—
Ignoring his mother's protests, he said he was going to help a 'child.' Then he lost consciousness. When he woke up again, all he saw was—
The cold corpses of his mother and Yoh's parents.
And—
Asakura Yoh's eyes, so hollow it was as if his soul had been ripped out.
That was a look he would never forget. That emptiness, that silence, the feeling as if the person had been completely hollowed out, was more heartbreaking than any loud wailing.
The child in the white cloak met Kurosaki Ichigo's gaze for a moment before turning to leave.
The speed was not at all what a child should be capable of. Or rather, it wasn't a speed humans should possess.
"Wait—!"
Kurosaki Ichigo bolted after them, but Asakura Yoh didn't move.
He didn't chase after them with Rukia, nor did he even look in that direction. He simply turned slowly and walked toward the nearby gravestones.
Rain began to fall.
A downpour just like six years ago.
Asakura Yoh squatted before his parents' graves, reaching out to brush away the mud splattered on the headstones.
The stone was cold, cold enough to drain the warmth from a person's heart.
His mother had been a violent person. In that sense, she was a bit like Tatsuki. She was also a very interesting person. In that sense, she was a bit like Inoue.
When he was little, he would secretly call her 'the Great Demon King' every day. Although he always got beaten badly for it, it was never boring.
His father was an extremely gentle man. Asakura Yoh had never seen him angry.
As long as his father was around, even his hot-tempered mother would become much calmer.
Because they were both there, the old Asakura Yoh often forgot one thing—
He didn't actually belong here.
He came from another world, one where he knew the future of this world. He had read the Bleach manga, knew Kurosaki Ichigo's life path, and knew who would die and when.
He originally could have avoided that tragedy.
He didn't remember the exact date, but he clearly recalled that 'Kurosaki Masaki died in the year Ichigo was nine.'
So for that entire year, whether it was going to school or returning home, whether at school or the dojo, he had thick-skinnedly insisted on staying glued to Ichigo's side along with his parents.
Because he knew that even if Kurosaki Masaki lost her Quincy powers during the battle due to Yhwach's Auswählen as in the original plot, his parents would surely be able to handle a creature that wasn't even a Menos Grande.
That's how it should have been...
It was a heavy rain just like this back then.
Rainwater slid down Asakura Yoh's hair, blurring his vision. He reached out and gently touched the characters on the gravestone.
"Mom, Dad," he whispered, his voice drowned out by the rain.
"I'm sorry."
A girl's scream echoed from the distance—it was Yuzu and Karin.
Asakura Yoh stood up slowly, gave the gravestone one last look, and turned toward the source of the sound. He walked at a steady pace, as if merely going to an ordinary appointment.
He didn't need his senses to know that Kurosaki Ichigo must have already rushed over first.
He didn't intend to interfere until Ichigo had completely lost the ability to fight.
Because he knew the other boy needed this battle.
The battle took place in a clearing within a small woods. Through the curtain of rain, two figures were locked in a fierce struggle.
That Hollow—Grand Fisher, the murderer of his parents—was grappling with Kurosaki Ichigo.
Its massive, baboon-like body, the pale mask covering nearly half its face, and those eyes that were forever hungry. Rain pelted its body, sliding off the distorted mask.
Kurosaki Ichigo was covered in blood, with hardly a patch of uninjured skin left. His swings of the Zanpakuto were growing slower, and his footsteps faltered, but he fought on desperately.
Kuchiki Rukia stood to the side, her nails digging so deep into her palms that they bled. She wanted to rush in, but she knew that with her current power, it would be suicide. Seeing Asakura Yoh appear, hope instantly flared in her eyes.
Urahara Kisuke had said that Asakura Yoh could easily handle a Gillian-class Menos. Dealing with Grand Fisher, who wasn't even a Menos yet, should be more than enough.
"Asakura!" She practically lunged at him, grabbing his arm with surprising strength.
"Thank goodness! Quick, help Ichigo, he's at his limit! Look at him—"
Asakura Yoh followed her gaze. Kurosaki Ichigo was sent flying by one of Grand Fisher's claws, crashing heavily into a tree. The trunk let out a strained groan.
He didn't move.
"I won't step in until Ichigo falls."
"What are you talking about?!" Rukia's voice went up an octave, sharp and piercing. "Aren't you childhood friends?! Are you going to just watch him get killed by that Hollow?!"
"It's precisely because of that that I know I shouldn't interfere yet."
Asakura Yoh's voice was calm. It was as calm as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him. But his eyes remained fixed on Kurosaki Ichigo.
"If I interfere now, Ichigo will lose his dignity as a warrior and a son."
"Can something like dignity possibly be more important than a life?!"
The moment those words left her mouth, Kuchiki Rukia froze.
A powerful sense of deja vu hit her.
She had once screamed those exact words at her captain, Ukitake Jushiro. And the one fighting back then was her former lieutenant, whom she respected and admired immensely—Shiba Kaien.
Scenes from that day flooded her mind—
Lieutenant Kaien's back as he faced the Hollow alone.
Her despair when she wanted to rush in but was held back.
Captain Ukitake's hand on her shoulder and the words he spoke.
In a daze, Shiba Kaien's fighting figure from back then perfectly overlapped with the blood-soaked youth before her.
The same determination, the same sorrow, the same—
Breathtaking spirit.
Rukia's lips trembled, and she couldn't squeeze out another word.
"Ah! I remember now!"
Grand Fisher's massive mask twisted wildly, as if recalling an extremely unpleasant memory. Its pale face wrinkled, and a light mixed with anger and fear burned in its hollow sockets.
"You, and that brat watching over there—I remember now! Six years ago!"
Its voice was sharp and grating, mixed with a beastly roar that sounded especially eerie in the rainy night.
"One woman... two maniacs! Yes! And you, you little maniac!"
It stared intently at Asakura Yoh, its massive body shaking with agitation.
"Don't screw with me! I paid such a heavy price that time and didn't get to eat a thing! And now you dare show up again?! Aaaah!"
New and old grudges simultaneously slammed against Grand Fisher's sanity. Meanwhile, Kurosaki Ichigo, who was too far gone to care about anything but the fight, seized the opportunity to land a heavy slash on it.
A bloody wound opened.
Black blood sprayed out, mixing with the rain.
"You brat—!"
Grand Fisher was utterly enraged. Recklessly, it grabbed Kurosaki Ichigo's Zanpakuto with both claws and threw him violently into the sky.
Ichigo felt his body become light, followed by the sensation of weightlessness—Earth's gravity was dragging him back down. He was covered in injuries and barely had the strength left to grip his sword.
"Die! Kurosaki Ichigo!"
That spear-like tongue lunged toward Ichigo in mid-air.
Kuchiki Rukia's eyes widened, her heart nearly stopping.
At that critical moment—
An orange-red meteor streaked across.
"Aaaaagh!"
Grand Fisher let out a sky-rending shriek. Its tongue, capable of piercing solid rock, had been severed, and orange flames burned at the stump.
Instead of being extinguished by the rain, the flames seemed to find fuel, burning even brighter.
They wouldn't go out.
No matter what, they wouldn't go out.
Even in the heavy rain, even as it desperately clawed at the ground and rolled around, the flames showed no sign of dying. Instead, they spread upward from the stump.
Kurosaki Ichigo slammed into the ground, kicking up a large spray of mud. He didn't care about the pain, or even about standing up. He forced his head up to look at the figure radiating immense light in the rain.
The silhouette of that figure was so warm it made him want to weep.
Those orange flames... they were like—
Like what?
He wanted to believe, but he didn't dare.
But—
"As a friend, I cannot interfere in your duel."
A voice, clear and beautiful like the warm sun, rang out. It pierced through the rain, through six years of time, and struck straight into his heart.
Hearing that voice alone was enough to make Kurosaki Ichigo, who had long since forgotten how to cry, burst into tears.
"But as a mother—"
The figure slowly turned around, the orange flames behind her forming the gentlest of backdrops. Rain falling around her was evaporated into white steam by that warm light.
That face.
The face that had appeared in his dreams countless times.
"I will always have the right to stand up and protect my child."
"Kurosaki Masaki—Oversoul!"
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comment means the world!
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