A foggy morning in humble Karakura Town, the town found itself bathing in the rising sun, so the thick mists began drifting apart in the dull orange rays. Alleyways and courtyards, nooks and crannies of the town were still being sat upon by the mist however and showed little eagerness in losing the fog. Such was the way of fall months here, an air of reluctant activity as if the town would rather go back to bed and let the day sort itself out.

Such an air reflected the attitude of many people here, but their lazy resolve, or resolve to laziness, was broken like most any other day by a variety of hellish tools designed to rouse them from the land of dreams where they would dance in their wildest fantasies. Dogs were a common tool of torture, but the one unifying hell was the alarm clock.

Alarm clocks have a vital role in society, and yet they are regarded by many as instruments of pain. So it was common to wake up, yank the clock out of the wall socket – or silence it by other percussive methods – before returning to their dreams.

It was nonetheless unusual when an alarm clock went flying out the window of a little emergency clinic.

Sadly for the alarm clock it did not land on the street. It streaked through the air like an arrow fired from a Quincy bow, and did not stop until it crashed into the wall of another house, shattering into all its bits. It was safe to say that the occupants of that impacted house were awoken by the noise, as were the occupants of the emergency clinic. That was one of the many oddities of the town, someone being woken up by an alarm clock thrown from several blocks away.

"Good riddance."

A man in the emergency clinic had followed the clock's trajectory with eagle eyes. He hadn't seen where it landed and he frankly could not bring himself to care. He had gone to war with the clock and his victory had just been claimed. For all he knew the clock landed on Uryu just as he had been leaving his own house and left him with a concussion.

Wait. If that happened then Uryu would probably fire an arrow back at him. It wouldn't be the first time. But he had thrown the clock in a different direction than Uryu's house, so unless the guy was standing in a very unlucky spot, there would be no arrows. Which for him meant that it was time to get ready for the day. The first step was taking a shower, and then shaving.

He ran his hand along his cheek, and sure enough there was the fuzz that felt like the roughest sandpaper. That wouldn't do at all, he had sworn to never grow a beard and he intended to keep that.

On his way to the shower he heard a grunt from the bed. He stopped. A long, brown-haired lump was pulling the rest of the covers over itself. Now that he was up the covers were easy pickings for her.
He smiled at the sight of her pulling the covers up and over her head, disappearing in the warmth. The deep sounds of snoring signaled that she was indeed still asleep. Somehow. When he emerged from the shower she was still asleep and still snoring away. It was a miracle. Not only could she reject physical injuries, she could reject all sound.

Today was going to be a fun day, so he went for simple clothing. Jeans would do, as would his sneakers. He didn't need a button up shirt, so he settled on a black t-shirt and a red zip-up hoodie. He checked himself in the mirror. Everything looked in order, and his hair was growing out nicely. He made for the door.

"Mph." A grunt from the bed stopped him. The snoring beast had stirred.

He looked back and saw that an arm was now hanging off the edge. The arm twitched, like it was waving him over, with another grunt. He sighed. She wasn't asleep anymore, but she was definitely in no hurry to wake up either.

"Good morning." he whispered. He took her hand in his own. With his free hand he lifted the covers. He peaked, and saw a big chestnut eye looking at him, half closed.

"Morning." she mumbled.

"Do you need coffee?"

She shook her head, though it was hard to tell because she only shook by about one half a millimeter. She must have had her hands full this week at school, so she wouldn't be out for a good long while.

"First day training?" she asked, to which he nodded.

"I've got a nice spot lined up, we'll bring food, take breaks, all worked out." She muttered something faintly sounding like "okay." But she wasn't done. Her gripped tightened on his hand. She had to say something important.

"Go easy on him." she said.

He titled his head.

"I mean. . ." she grunted again. "Your training was tough."

He nodded. Tough was one way to put it. His first real training had gotten him stabbed, wrapped in bandages, nearly crushed by a stone pillar, and to put the cherry on top he had awakened his hollow. And that was just to start with in a long string of life-or-death training.

"I'll go easy on Kazui." he chuckled. "I promise I won't put him in anything dangerous."

She nodded with the sleepiest of smiles. "Good." she squeezed his hand again. "What's planned?"

"I decided on something light; Zanpakuto meditation. Maybe running laps or push ups."

"Mhm. You two have fun."

He smiled and turned to leave, but he felt the hand of his sleepy wife keeping him from leaving. He saw that she was puckering her lips, still looking at him with half-closed eyes.

"Won't let me go huh?"

"No. Kissy. Now."

"Alright, you win." he groaned. But he couldn't help but smile as he leaned in and placed his lips on her own. She was so warm that he could feel the heat radiating off her as they kissed. They broke it, and she sighed, giving a contented grin.

"Love you." he whispered.

"M'love you too."

He pulled the covers back up over her neck. He slowly rose to his full height, looking down on his wife. All the life-or-death training, all the battles and danger. All of it had been worth it to be at home, safe, with his family. Seeing Orihime curled up in their bed was a cherry on top of the sundae for him. Then the thought of food made his stomach growl. It sounded like a Hollow.

If he didn't know better, he'd have thought that Zangetsu had control of his gut and used that to torment him. Sly spirit.

Thankfully it was a simple matter to zip downstairs without making any noise. Strangely he smelled fresh coffee already, and when he turned the corner into the kitchen he saw who had made it.

"Hey Ichigo."

"Morning Karin." he replied.

"Coffee's good to go." she said. Judging from how she was wrapped in a blanket she wasn't exactly eager to be up either.

"Great. Thanks caterpillar. Have you seen my sister?"

Karin gave him a glare that would've given Kenpachi pause. Ichigo decided to find something to do, and luckily his thermos was resting near the sink, nice and clean. He grabbed the pot and poured. The smell and steam wafted to his nostrils.

"Were you out late? We didn't hear you come in."

"I was out with friends. We went out to party." she groaned. "Way, way too much. It feels like. . .Like."

"Like a Menos Grande stepped on your head?"

"Are those really heavy?"

Ichigo paused. "Well, their steps shattered the ground if I remember right."

"Then yes. I feel like I got stepped on by a Menos."

Ichigo nodded. "Kind of miss that feeling." He reached into the fridge and pulled out two big lunchboxes. He placed them on the kitchen table to check their contents. Everything looked to be in here. Kazui hadn't eaten his food either, so it was all good. He took no small pride in his lunch set aside the lunchboxes and slumped down in his own chair across from Karin. He noticed her stare, looking at him like he was a madman. He shrugged as he sipped his coffee.

"You miss feeling like you got stepped on by a Hollow?"

"Well, not literally stepped on. I miss the ache of an intense fight. I'm glad I'm not getting chased by Hollows. . .Or Captains. . .Or Arrancars. . .Or Quincies."

"Or Bounts?" Karin chuckled, but Ichigo groaned. "Funny, I rarely hear stories about that incident."

"We kind of agreed to not talk about it."

"We?" she asked.

"The Gotei 13."

'Why?"

"Because we don't talk about it."

Karin sighed. "You're all weird. Go on, you were saying."

"Thanks. I just kind of miss a good fight every so often. Nowadays when a Hollow comes its usually an easy thing, and that's if it's not taken down by you or Uryu. I'm not going to run off to Soul Society-"

"Good because Rukia would kick you back."

"-but I miss a challenge, I suppose."

"I understand." Karin nodded. She looked a little bit less hungover now that she had sipped more of her coffee. Luckily one of the benefits of spiritual power was a resistance to most physical ailments. Diseases kind of died when they came into contact with a spiritual person, and Ichigo truly could not remember the last time he had a hangover. Which made Karin's hangover all the more astounding that it had somehow defeated her spiritual power.

"Do you fear your skills are getting dull?" she asked. It was with a look that overcame her previous sluggishness. "Do you think you might not be able to protect people you care about?"

"No." Ichigo spoke without hesitation. "I'm stronger than ever."

"Good. So you're bored."

Ichigo leaned back in his chair. That was it. He missed the adrenaline.

"Yeah. A bit. But you know what?"

"What?"

"If my biggest problem right now is that I'm bored, I'm okay with that." he smiled. "I can bear it. It's a lot better than having Kenpachi show up on my doorstep for a fight."

Karin nodded. "Words of wisdom, dear sage."

"Good to know the hangover hasn't dulled your sarcasm." Ichigo laughed.

He was cut off when two fingers slammed into his lips. Karin's hand had shot to him instantaneously like she was Yoruichi with a plate of milk. Karin's eyes burned with a silent inferno that threatened to burn him alive.

After several tortuous seconds she retracted her hand of pain, and sipped from her coffee, cradling it like a baby in her hands. It wasn't the weirdest thing that Ichigo had seen, but it was somewhere up there, just below seeing Kon in his plush body for the first time.

"Well I'll leave you to your hangover, I've got to go get-"

"Morning dad!" Rapid footsteps alerted Ichigo to his little oni running down the stairs at top speed. Before Ichigo had even put down his thermos, Kazui had lept down the last flight of stairs and landed in the kitchen. His impact shook the table slightly and made Karin jump in her seat. Kazui didn't seem to notice. He spun to attention in front of Ichigo. Arms at his hips, standing straight with pride. He was fully dressed already and had his backpack and computer bag with him. Ichigo noticed that Kon was in his left arm, and snoring away.

Ichigo was impressed with his sons enthusiasm, while Karin, judging from her groans, was about five seconds away from releasing her Zanpakuto and blasting the town into ash for some peace and quiet.

"Well good morning, sleep well?"

"Yes I did. I'm all ready to get going!"

"Kazui," Karin's voice was like nails on a chalkboard. "please keep it down. Aunt Karin has a very mean headache."

"Sorry Aunt!" Kazui chirped. "I'm just. . ." Kazui dropped his voice. "Dad and I start training!" The kid somehow zipped up to Karin's side. Just as quickly he pulled his aunt into a hug. Karin's grump was not broken by the affection, but Ichigo could see that her grimace lightened, just a little bit.

"That's great Kazui." she said. She tapped his forehead with her head, like she was patting him.

Ichigo rose from his chair, thermos in hand. While Kazui zipped to grab his own lunchbox, Ichigo checked his watch to see that it had just turned eight. Perfect. He snatched up his lunchbox. His backpack, with his computer and some medical notes, was slung over his shoulders. He didn't expect to have much free time during training aside from a lunch break, but he might be able to get in some work.

Kazui was already at his side, beaming at him.

"If I didn't know better I'd say that you could already flash step."

"That'd be quieter at least." Karin said. "I'm going back to bed."

"Good night Aunt Karin!" Kazui cheered,

Karin groaned from Kazui's voice but continued to slink up the stairs, still wrapped in her blanket.

"Sleep well caterpillar. Ichigo said

Karin waved him goodbye, though she raised only one finger as she did so.

"Come on you," Ichigo tousled Kazui's hair much to his annoyance. "today we start training."

While life in Karakura was mostly boring for Ichigo, the place was a home that he loved dearly, a place he could be comfortable in. Unlike the cities it was pretty quiet, and aside from the occasional Hollow attacks – and Kenpachi – not a lot of crazy stuff happened here. While the lack of random explosions and "earthquakes" meant that the construction crews had little to do but pave and repave streets, it had made it a lot easier to relax for everyone, especially for him and the others.

It meant that now his family could go on the occasional picnics to the river without the sky opening to drop hundreds of Hollows on them. They could go to a festival without those weird Blank things coming in for deadly group hugs. No Arrancars blasting Cero left and right for them, just the obnoxious pigeon.

He had all he needed here. A home, a loving wife, his two sisters, and his little Oni.

"Dad, dad, dad, can you tell me about the time you first used your bankai?"

"I'm not telling you that story until you're older."

"But Aunt Rukia told me the first time you used it was on Uncle Byakuya! He's really strong!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Kazui's endless curiosity never failed.

"I won't tell you the story because it involves a lot of violence." Ichigo stopped. "That probably just makes the story sound even interesting doesn't it." He was not surprised to see Kazui nodded with a grin etched into his face. "I promise I'll tell you when you're older, fifteen at least."

"Fine." he sighed. "Can you at least tell me what your bankai did? How did it work?"

"Sure sure, oh, just down this alley. We'll be going to that old courtyard." They slipped down the alley. This was a spot he had scouted out with Yoruichi's help. It was quiet, isolated, and had some old rubble and assorted junk to mess around with. He seemed to remember it was one of the spots that had been damaged with the Second Arrancar Invasion, yet hadn't been restored since then. It would serve a nice spot for their training for the time being.

"At the time my bankai made me fast. Really, really damn fast. I could leave several dozen afterimages when I wanted to mess with someone. My strength went up as well, and Zangetsu fired a black and red Getsuga Tenshou that was a lot more powerful."

"Red and black? Cool!" Kazui cooed. "Did you beat Uncle with it?"

"Well, eventually I did. I almost lost though." Ichigo looked around as they emerged into the courtyard. There was more grass and weeds than he remembered, but he couldn't complain. It looked serene here. The sun was just beginning to pierce through the fog in here, making for an appropriate start to the new day. There was a small pile of rubble to their left. It looked like a nice place to sit. He placed his backpack and lunchbox next to the pile, and Kazui did the same.

"I didn't have much experience with my bankai before that fight, which made it a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's kind of embarrassing but my bankai's power was crushing my body at the time, which slowed me down and made the fight more difficult." he could only shrug, but Kazui cringed.

"Did it hurt?"

"Well, you know how it feels like to be carrying textbooks? It was kind of like that."

"That doesn't sound too awful." Kazui offered. To this Ichigo nodded with a chuckle. Being slowed hadn't hurt that much. Now being shot through the shoulder with a kido, that had hurt.

Wait a second, this was a teaching opportunity.

"I didn't have much time to practice, so I had to learn on the fly and missed some of the basics. I didn't go through the normal method of getting a Zanpakuto until I was seventeen."

Kazui looked confused. "Then how did you get one before that?"

"It's a long story that I'll tell you in due time. But the point is that I missed a lot of important stuff that probably would have helped me out in battles. For example, I did not know a single Kido spell for all that time. I know, it's shocking. But while it was hard for me, we're going to make sure you learn the basics of being a shinigami."

"Yes sir!" Kazui made a salute. "Where shall we start? Zanjutsu, Kido, Hakuda? Ooh can we learn how to do flash steps!?"

"Slow down you." Ichigo said. "You're forgetting the first step." Ichigo unzipped a pocket in his backpack, and pulled out a dispenser that had a cartoon rabbit head. "Here you go." Ichigo tossed the candy to Kazui. At the same time, Kon was sent flying into Ichigo's open hand. He could see that the dopey little lion was still asleep. So that left only one option for him.

He squeezed the plushie like a tube of toothpaste. Kon made a sound like he had burped, and then the soul candy rolled out of his mouth, leaving it for him.

"Ready to go son?" he asked.

"You bet dad!"

Ichigo rose, and saw his son in his Shinigami form, standing proud. His black Shihakusho was, as they all somehow were, a perfect fit. The loose sleeves were gently pushed by the cold morning breeze, along with the thinning mist. Kazui's Zanpakuto – with a hilt resembling Tensa Zangetsu's – was mounted on his back with a dark gray cord that went from the top of his right shoulder back down to his left hip.

His little Oni, a soon-to-be-Substitute Shinigami.

"Dad?" Kazui's question shook Ichigo from his thoughts. "Something wrong?"

"No, no. Just a bit of nostalgia." he laughed. "No time to dwell. Chappy, if you would?"

Kazui's body skipped past them both with a smile on its face. The Artificial Soul took up its position behind Ichigo, and for some reason took the pose of a Sumo wrestler.

"Ready sir, hop!" it said, with a piercingly high tone of voice.

"Right, well, here goes." Ichigo tossed the soul candy in his mouth, and swallowed.

There was the familiar sense of falling into water, before his spirit body decided to follow the laws of spirit gravity and he stood tall in front of his son. He heard the sound of Chappy squeaking in effort. He turned to see Chappy hefting his snoring body by the shoulders.

"Dad, how does Kon remain asleep even when he's put in a new body? Aunt Rukia's Chappy always said it felt like getting splashed with cold water."

"Well, there are some mysteries we have yet to understand, such as the meaning of life and whether aliens exist. Kon's resilience in sleep is one such mystery that is better left to the doctors of the world to solve."

". . .But, dad you are a doc-"

"Just place Kon on that pile Chappy. Thanks." Ichigo took a moment checked his gear.

His one Zangetsu was mounted to his back, a expected. The shorter was at his hip. The white armor and cloak he had been given by the Royal Guard still fit like a glove, and they looked rather awesome in his opinion. He couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered all the Vandenreich and Captains looking at him in shock when he returned to Soul Society. The Royal Guard were. . .Quirky, but they could make an impressive set of armor.

Of course, nothing compared to Zangetsu, his lifelong comrade. Ichigo pulled the larger one from its cloth sheath, which unraveled and contracted into a manageable strip that hung from the handle. As usual he barely felt any weight from the weapon. He let it drift in a downward cut. He turned the blade so that it moved back up in another slash, smooth as ever. He felt at ease with the sword in hand, as if it was an extension of his arm, as it should be between Shinigami and Zanpakuto.

"Hey dad?" Kazui's voice came quiet, in awe. "Can I ask another question?"

"You can ask me as many questions as you want to. What's up?"

"Uh, well I heard Hat and Clogs once mention that your Zanpakuto was just one. And I heard from Uncle Renji that dual Zanpakuto's are really, really rare."

"You're wondering why I have two of them." Ichigo said, to which Kazui nodded.

"Well. I did have one when I started out. Then I lost it along with my powers, then it came back different. Then my bankai broke and I needed to get it fixed and I got two swords. Then the new Bankai got broke and I lost my powers again. Then at the end my bankai kind of reverted back to the original shikai, then I convinced a skinny creep to do me a favor and restore my old powers, and then-"

"I get it I get it." Kazui said. "Please dad you're hurting my head."

"Heh. Sorry son. I'll tell you the full story later."

"Much later please." Kazui joked. "So, what do we start with?"

"Meditation." Ichigo dropped to the ground, and crossed his legs to rest Zangetsu on them. He looked up, and Kazui clearly looked confused. But after a few seconds he came a bit closer and dropped to mirror his dad's posture. He drew his Zanpakuto and placed it on his lap. He looked ready, but letdown.

"Don't worry." Ichigo patted his shoulder. "We can probably do a bit of flash step training after lunch." That seemed to brighten his son's mood, judging from how he regained his posture from that slump.

"Now, what can you tell me about Zanpakuto?"

"Well I know Zanpakuto are given to Shinigami when they join the academy, and that they have to spend every moment with their swords in order to sort of imprint on them and form a bond."

"Very good. Do you know what we use them for?"

"We use them to fight and kill hollows, as well as sending souls to the afterlife."

"Good. What happens to a Hollow when we kill them with a Zanpakuto?"

To this Kazui opened his mouth, but no words came from his mouth.

"I. . .Uhh." he scratched his head. "I know this one. It's the. . ." he sighed.

"It's okay to say 'I don't know' if you want to. I barely knew anything when I started."

Kazui shrugged. "What does happen when we kill a hollow?"

"It's purified." he said. Kazui raised an eyebrow.

"When we kill a hollow, we cleanse it of the acts that it committed as a hollow. This purifies the hollow and reverts it to a Plus, and allows it to reincarnate in Soul Society, given a fresh start. We fight to protect others of course, but we also fight to purify the hollows of their misdeeds. Make sense?"

"I think so?" Kazui scratched his head, and to Ichigo looked thoroughly confused. "How do you mean we purify them of their misdeeds?"

"Well. . .Hmm. Ah, I got it. You remember that time you spilled food on your white t-shirt, and mom used bleach to clean it up?"

"Yeah. . ." Kazui nodded slowly. "Yeah I think I got it."

"Alright, explain it back to me."

"Well, when we kill a hollow we remove the stains on its soul, the sins it committed as a hollow. We wash it clean and allow it to pass on, free of sins." Kazui nodded. "So it does work like bleach."

"Pretty much. Well said. Think of it like bleach."

Kazui smiled, looking like Orihime.

"Now," Ichigo coughed. "we'll be learning how to talk to our Zanpakuto through meditation called Jinzen. This will let you get to know your Zanpakuto, which lets you eventually learn its name and form a relationship. Now be warned, they can be rather moody."

"How moody dad?"

"Well, they may try to kill you."

". . .What!?"