.
.
.
.
'I loved my mother.
I never saw her cry or get mad.
Not even once.
Parent's moods have a big effect on their kids.
I think she knew that.
Whatever happened to me, if I was with her I was okay…
Not just me. Yuzu and Karin who were four at the time…and Dad…all loved her as much as I did.
She was the center of our universe.
I didn't see it at the time it was actually happening, but that axis in my world was slowly tilting.
Maybe that was a lie, that I never saw her cry.
Just once…I saw her cry just once.
There were no tears on her face, she wasn't even frowning, but somewhere inside me I knew…
She was crying.'
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"Happy birthday Ichigo!"
Ichigo was hoisted up onto the chair so he could see the bright red and blue frosted cake. In its center a wax number six stood tall with a smaller number fifteen burning brightly behind, to play on his name. He wasn't really fifteen; he was six, that's what the six was for.
"BIRHTDAY BEATS!!!"
And considering his mean old Dad that was probably a good thing too.
"Isshin!" his mother cried out in protest, a smile still on her face and unable to contain the warm laughter after her six year old son managed to duck, jump down onto the floor, tie his father's shoes together and subsequently trip him when he ran away.
"Oh, son! Do you not love your father?! Why, son, why?!" The man wailed as Ichigo ran back to his mother and hugged her leg. "But I see you have also improved…! I have nothing left to teach you…"
Ichigo's father slumped on the floor with that but Ichigo highly doubted having nothing left to teach him would stop his crazy dad any. With a giggle his mother seemed to agree.
It was a wonder his baby sisters hadn't woken up and started crying yet.
He was lifted back up and Ichigo stared down at the three beautiful flickering flames. Like the people in his family; Mom, Dad, Yuzu, Karin. Like tiny stars…
Yes, people wished on stars…
"Make a wish Ichigo," His mother told him in her melodic voice. She always talked like she was singing a song to him. It made him happy.
"Mommy…?"
"Yes Ichigo?"
"Is there something that you wish for mommy?"
And that's when he realised he had made her cry.
His first thought was that he shouldn't have asked that question. Then he shook his head because then that would mean he was being selfish, his job was to protect her not himself. His ugly monster of guilt threatened to come alive and devour him. He surely deserved it. If his mother was sad then what he had to do was to protect her from that sadness not run away from it. The only way he could do that though was to know what caused it. It was too late for him to turn back.
"Mom...my?"
"…ah, I'm sorry honey, Mommy's just thinking…"
A hand came down on her shoulder and both mother and child looked up to see Isshin staring down. He wore a grave expression Ichigo had only seen on the bad days with the clinic. His eyes met with his Ichigo's mother's.
"Masaki…we should…tell him now…I think…"
.
.
.
"We were told that your brother died just after he was born. We never really got the chance to see him…people were being rushed about…He…"
"Somehow or other, he went missing. We looked all over and had investigators come in, but we never found him."
"We had no pictures to search for him, and we had no body to give him a grave."
"We…weren't sure when best to tell you but…Masaki convinced me a long time ago that you deserved to know about your brother." The said woman smiled softly up at her husband.
There was a cold silence. That was the only way Ichigo could describe it.
Ichigo stared down at his knees, something in his brain not connecting to what his father was saying. In his head he could only see his mother's crying eyes. Ichigo's fist clenched.
"…Does… Mommy wish…for him back?"
Isshin's eyes ran over his son, sadly. "…Ichigo…"
His mother smiled and closed her eyes hiding her tears. "I'm just happy I have you, Ichigo. The only thing I want is for you to grow up and be happy. That's all I wish for."
Ichigo's eyes met his mother's with a determined frown. The young six year old turned and ran back to the kitchen table. He climbed up onto the chair on his own, ignoring his parents. When he straightened, his eyes found the forgotten birthday cake and he let the breath he'd been holding slip out as his stomach dropped.
The candles had already burnt out.
He'd seen the wish in his mother's eyes but it was too late now. He couldn't make the wish.
'I wish Mommy could have my brother back…'
Ichigo bit the inside of his lip. And brought his hands up to his eyes to try and push back the tears that he felt where coming. His throat closed up painfully and Ichigo whimpered. To him, his tears were monsters bigger monsters than his guilt. They sang all his failures in his ears and slowly crushed him in their claws. He couldn't fight them. The more he tried the tighter they squeezed him, the louder they spoke. He had no chance against them and they beat the child down as he cried. Ichigo shook his head harshly. At the very least he had to be strong for Mommy. He had to…he had to be happy…he had to make her happy… the tears came anyway but he wouldn't let her hear him.
Ichigo slid down in the chair, keeping his back turned to his family. He hiccupped and cried. Why was he crying? He didn't know who the boy they called his brother was. He wasn't one of those kids that got upset because they got all sisters instead of brothers or any of that silly stuff. He felt nothing for this boy. But his mother did.
That was why. Because he'd seen her crying. That's why he was upset. Maybe…maybe he could make her feel better. He could try and make up for it. He could protect her just like he'd always wanted to.
But first…"Mom-my…w-what was his n-name?"
He felt two arms pull him up and wrap around him. Not wanting them to see his face, he buried his head into the shoulder of the one who held him. "…His name was-"
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"I hope Ichi-nii-chan and Shiro-nii-chan are okay…" Yuzu mumbled worriedly, gripping the bag of food they'd ordered for the mentioned brothers as she stepped out of the car. Karin followed beside her with her hands behind her head, a satisfied smile on her face though her eyes were contemplative.
"I'm sure they're fine," she dismissed. "I just can't believe neither of them told me about that car."
"Is that all you care about Karin? Is that the only reason you came to dinner? To ride in Tensa-san's car?" Yuzu cried.
Karin shrugged. "What can I say? The old man's got style." If either girl had looked behind them they would've noticed the old man smirk ever so subtly. Yuzu's hand came to reach around the handle of the front door and she turned it open with a click.
"Ichi-nii-chan, Shiro-nii-chan, we're ba-"
"SHIRO!"
The two twin sisters jumped as their older brother slid in front of them from around the corner. His eyes were wide with distress and his eyebrows had managed to squash his even closer together than they already were. The panicked teen took in the sight of the returning group, spun on his heel and entangled his hands in his spiked orange hair.
Yuzu sprung into action. "O-Onii-chan, what happened!? What's wrong!? Where is Shiro-nii-chan?"
Ichigo couldn't speak for several moments and the sisters felt a sinking inside them as they took him in. He choked, trying to form a response, covering his face with his hand, completely unaware that his own nails were digging into his skin. They could see his clenched teeth and the two sisters recognized the choking pain he was trying to hold back, feeling it prepare to try and burst in themselves. Finally he lifted his hand away, placing it onto his hip. He spoke through gritted teeth. "The bastard took off on me…"
Yuzu gasped and brought a hand up to her mouth while Karin's and Zangetsu's eyes widened. Ichigo moved to let the group inside, and paced off to the side while the group settled in. Zangetsu quickly stormed off to the clinic room and Yuzu ran off to throw the bag of food on the counter and follow after the man. Thankful her sister was out of earshot, Karin turned on her brother.
She paused for a moment, thinking how to word her question in a way that wouldn't cause her brother to go berserk or fall apart. Her brother was so fragile in that sense, though she would never tell it to his face. That would only cause him to crumble faster.
"…Ichi-nii…do you think…it could've been…?" She trailed off but Ichigo understood. He shook his head, as if to shake away a bad memory.
"I don't know," he groaned. "I don't know where he went or why he would've-" He cut off sharply and his eyes widened in shock and realisation.
"Dammit!"
"Ichi-nii!?"
Karin went unheard-her brother had already flown out the door.
.
.
.
.
Rukia's heart pounded loudly in her ears. Her mouth moved slowly, trying desperately to from the name that refused to leave her lips. Questions spun though her mind, moving too fast to allow her to ponder on just one. How had this happened? What had Shiro…? What had happened to him in the month she was gone? Was this even Shiro? Or-the most disturbing question-, was this the something he had been all along?
Rukia's throat tightened and her fists clenched. Had her faith in the snowy haired albino boy wavered in the month she'd been gone? Could it be that she'd never been as close to him as she first thought, thinking she knew him when really she'd only peered through the crack of his broken exterior and had unwittingly found another layer of falseness? Was the boy-because that was what he truly was, a boy- nothing more than a bunch of collective shells and masks compiled together to cover the…complete nothing, the hollow within? Did she really believe he was a hollow now?
Well, wasn't he?
Rukia mentally cringed at the thought. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.
Not again…
She felt as if she had disappeared into nothing as she watched her friend-he was still her friend…at least until she was sure- be hauled up off the ground by the large man in green. The limp, white, red-tipped tail dragged along the ground until the man draped him completely over his shoulder- though even then the tail still trailed. If she spoke up now and ran in front of the group of four-Urahara, Tessai, the creepy blonde, and the pink-haired man- would they even realise she was there?
"So Kisuke, got any plans on what we're gonna do? It'll break out of that kido in a matter of minutes once it wakes up and we don't have any other way of keeping it from attacking long enough so that you can ask them questions of yours and finally tell us what's going on here. At least, not without killin' it."
The shop manager hid his face from behind his fan, thinking, then turned over to the two forgotten shinigami, staring off from the side. "Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san, may I ask that one of you bring the body of Kurosaki Mashiro with us to the underground training room?"
The two shinigami jolted at the address of their names. Rukia's still wide violets turned to the body and, wordlessly she walked over to it. Renji stepped in front and picked up the body in the same fashion as Hachi and nodded solemnly down at his nakama who could only stare wide-eyed.
The shop manager walked forward into the shop but turned his head slightly back so he could speak with the other blonde who had raised an eyebrow. "For some reason that hollow had been residing within a living human body when I'd first discovered it," He explained. "Since the body is material-and perhaps due to some other forces- it was capable of keeping complete hollowfication at bay, but as you can see that did not work out quite as per normal."
"Oh, and Tessai-san, would you go find Jinta, Ururu, and Kon-san? It's time for them to come back now," Urahara said. Tessai nodded briefly and then headed off.
"The hollow was livin' in a human body?" The lanky blonde man repeated incredulously. "And it didn't kill it? How?"
"I'm not sure, Hirako-san," Urahara replied. "But I have a theory. I just need to confirm it. It'd be best if get to the training grounds before we do this." Hirako simply huffed in agreement.
Urahara lead the silence rendered group into the ruined shop. Perhaps instinctively, the two pairs-the shinigami and the two unknown men- stayed a ways apart. The group stepped around the haphazardly thrown away gigais and then watched the manager open up a secret compartment in floor leading downward to the inevitable location of the training room. Rather than making use of the ladder the group followed after Urahara's example of simply leaping down and using the reihei in the air to land softly.
"Oh, by the way," Urahara said suddenly making a vague gesture over his shoulder to the separated group. "Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san, meet Hirako Shinji and Ishoda Hachigen. Ishoda-san, Hirako-san, meet Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji."
Shinji turned a toothy grin on the two shinigami. "Yo."
The larger man nodded to the pair respectfully, not allowing the unconscious hollow to slide of his shoulder as he did so. "You may call me Hachi if you wish."
Rukia and Renji could only nod in response. The two turned away and Renji hitched the albino teen higher up his own shoulder, as Rukia's eyes moved over to its hollow counterpart slung on Hachi. He still looked the same; that was the worse part, she thought.
His feet had become tri-jointed; something like a claw grew off his ankle. She could see the pattern of swirling red reaching up underneath the remains of a shredded white hakama. Her eyes took in the blood dipped tail, the sharp white spikes, and stopped to linger on blaring hole in his back that inevitably lead out to his chest. Rukia could see all these things but it wasn't enough to stop her from recognizing the boy. He still looked too human, hollow but far too human. It was like he was purposefully lingering between forms, removing her will to kill him but taking her hope that he was still…him.
Renji tore himself from the swimming confusion in Rukia's eyes and focused on the ceiling of the room, painted to look exactly like a sunny blue sky. Around him was what appeared to be a massive canyon made of a dusty orange rock. The landscape stretched on, making him feel as if he were somewhere totally different than the basement of a shop.
The group stopped. Hachi lifted the hollow up off his shoulders and Rukia gaped as the tangles of white hair shifted for a split second to reveal a mask-less human face with two blood red markings curving up under the eye on the one side. He carefully placed the hollow face down on the ground, unable to put it on its back because of the tail and spikes. Renji followed suit by placing the human body up against a nearby rock. The group took several steps back.
"You ready Hachi?" Shinji asked after the large man sat down and folded his hands together with a focused expression. With Hachi's answer of yes, Urahara waved his fan.
"We'll need him conscious to answer any questions so I'll need someone to place Shiro-san within that body there," Urahara responded.
Renji walked back forward. "I'll do it."
A silence fell back over them and Renji carefully dragged the limp hollow over to the body. He was vaguely aware in the back of his mind how much he disliked even being this close to it. It was cold, like touching a dead body. He hoisted the hollow up by its arms and dropped the soul onto the body. It fell inside it and merged like fluid until the hollow had essentially disappeared only leaving a boy behind. The albino teen twitched visibly but had Renji's throat in his grasp, slamming the shinigami to the ground with a furious scream, faster than anyone could blink.
Quickly recovering, Renji threw a punch at the albino and connected with his face sending him stumbling back. Shiro snarled and wiped his face with the side of his arm. It was clear his initial burst of speed attacking the red-haired man was all he had. His body swayed and he dropped to one knee. Ignoring Renji, he turned a glare on the silent shop keeper. "You…you set me up," He hissed.
Urahara mocked surprise sending an unpleasant jolt through the already tense atmosphere. "Now Shiro-san, I did no such thing! I had no idea you'd be so reckless as to try an break into my shop while I was away!"
Shiro twitched in aggravation. "Oh, really? You mind explainin' how you showed up in the nick of bloody time? Or how come fucking Hirako is here? Or how about why the fuck my hollow form's all messed up?!"
Five pairs of eyes widened in that moment, including Urahara's, which Shiro could see even despite the shadow cast by his hat. Shiro ground his teeth together.
Urahara's expression of surprise settled into an unreadable mask, which was partly unnecessary because most of his face was hidden by his hat and fan anyway.
"Ah, so it's true then…" he sighed.
Shiro's body tensed. "What's true…?"
"Shiro-san did you realise that perhaps you are not the only soul occupying that body?"
"What?" Black and yellow eyes narrowed while Rukia's and Renji's widened. Hachi and Hirako weren't particularly surprised by this information and made no change in face.
"What're ya' saying? Ichigo's not with me," Shiro growled. The two shinigami's shock changed to confusion.
Urahara raised a brow from under his hat. "Kurosaki Ichigo-san? No, I mean another soul."
Now everyone looked confused. Shiro's eyes searched for the answer in the blonde haired manager but found nothing. "…wait, are you talkin' about the kid's soul? Cuz' if you are it ain't here. I've already checked."
"Shiro-san, I'm sure you know already that it's possible for a soul to break into separate pieces, into halves, let's say," Urahara said suddenly. Shiro narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not answering but Urahara was able to confirm it by his face.
"It takes some interesting circumstances to cause such a thing but it happens. Were you aware of the small fraction of Kurosaki Mashiro's soul living within that body the time you entered it?"
Shrio's, Rukia's, Renji's, even Hirako's and Hachi's warped into varying degrees of surprise, shock and disgust.
"Perhaps not, but it seems clear to me what has happened."
Hirako Shinji's reiatsu flew suddenly and he drew the sword he'd been carrying within its sheath. He flashed in front of the weakened hollow and held the sword at its neck. A glowing barrier rose up from the ground, cutting the two shinigami off. Shiro's furious expression merely became slightly more impassive. The only thing that betrayed him was his piercing half-lidded eyes, but Rukia couldn't sense what the emotion she thought she saw was, swimming within the deadly saffron pools.
Hirako's expression easily matched the hollow's with the same unreadable fervour in his voice. "I don't know what th' fuck's going on here, or who you are but I'm not gonna hesitate to kill ya' just because you have another soul. There is no reason to allow you to live when you'll only end up causin' more trouble than you're worth. A human soul cannot survive being a part of a hollow soul and if there is no way to save the shinigami within you, then I'll just have to kill you now."
A harsh bitter laugh escaped from the hollow and Rukia felt her skin crawl at the smirk that made his way across his face. At the same time her mind was trying to keep up with everything that was being said. There were some things that she couldn't grasp at all, like Shiro having 'a shinigami within him'. She wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.
"Che…of course you'd say that. Everyone always assumes. Don't you think it's rather hypocritical to be sayin' somethin' like tha', Hirako?" The albino laughed again, "Just so ya' know, I didn't kill him. He beat me. But if it makes ya' feel any better, I plan on killing him eventually, just as soon as I get back to him."
"If you didn't kill him, why do you not have any shinigami reiatsu?" Hirako tested him.
The hollow growled. "I don't have him. He's probably still in the real world, training with you vizards." Hirako's eyes widened.
"Real world?"
"Yes, the real world, the one where I came from, where my shinigami half is still probably parading around in without me."
"You separated," he said, making it more into a statement than a question.
Shiro frowned. "You could say that."
Hirako's eyes narrowed. "How?"
The hollow smirked. "No idea."
"Kisuke, this is nuts! What th' fuck kinda information are you expecting from him?" Shinji snapped over his shoulder, calling to the man outside the glowing orange barrier. He did nothing to respond to Shinji.
"What was the last thing you remember doing Shiro-san?" Urahara questioned calmly. Shiro looked over with a raised eyebrow, those sharp eyes catching the two watching shinigami again, and then turned a taunting grin back onto Hirako.
"An inner world battle."
It couldn't have been any less powerful to Hirako than a freight train. Rukia wondered if she'd ever been this confused in her life and Renji wondered if maybe he'd slept through a chunk of shinigami academy, neither one understanding what the three were talking about. The man, Hachigen Ishoda, though focused on holding the barrier, seemed absorbed in the conversation with the same emotion as Shinji.
"And your motives?"
"Excuse me?" the hollow asked, the smirk completely wiped off his face.
"Did you come here on purpose? What are your motives?" Urahara repeated.
Shiro scoffed. "I have none. Can't you tell what I am? I'm a creature of instinct. A motive is just an excuse."
"Then what are your instincts telling you to do?"
Shiro grinned tightly and his irises glinted. "The same as every other hollows' are."
"And yet for the past few days you've made no violent action against anyone, denying instincts that would've overwhelmed any other hollow by now, and have been easily falling into place with average life," Urahara asserted resolutely. Rukia wasn't sure if she'd merely imagined her friend's wince.
"You people ask a lot of questions. As usual, no one bothers to answer anything I ask," Shiro tched. "To answer you, I said I was a creature of instinct, not a moron. If I want to get back to where I came from I might need those people later, and maybe I just wasn't feeling that particularly hungry at the time. As for falling in, no one ever seems to acknowledge this, but I was human once too ya' know."
Rukia shifted uncomfortably beside Renji at the sharpness of the statement. There was no mistaking the accusation in his voice but at whom was it directed? She was missing so much of the story but the story was already burning before her eyes. Everyone else seemed to react similarly but this only caused the Shiro's eyes to narrow even more.
He pointed over at the fan-waving shop manager. "Now you, you say that the kid's soul is still in this body but you failed to explain how that has anything to do with my hollowfication so let me ask again; Where. The fuck. Is my mask?"
He wasn't making the situation any better for himself. Rukia could feel her doubt in her friend winning her over. This person in front of her was not Shiro.
'But he recognized who you were,' a voice reminded her. 'How else could he know you?'
'…Yes, but he's so different' she thought back. 'He's changed so much…in only a months time of being away…'
"Shiro…what happened to you…?" she breathed. The sharp gold irises shot to meet hers and for just a split second she saw it. He covered it up so quickly she doubted he even realised it had shown through at all and turned back to whom he had directed his question to. No one else seemed to have heard her or seen the sliver of something in his eyes, not even Renji who stood beside her.
'He's still in there somewhere…thank god…'
Urahara's voice cut through her relief. "It is a rather interesting phenomenon that something like this should happen but I have reason to believe that what's left of Kurosaki Mashiro's soul has formed some sort of shell around your soul, preventing some of your hollowfication and the death of its body. As for your mask, well, if you fill a glass up to the top and then pour the exact same amount of water in after words, then the water spills out by exactly that much that was in the cup. But if you only pour in, say, three quarters of that, only three quarters spills out."
"Hmph, a metaphor, you've been watching me haven't you?" Shiro grinned tightly, irritation flitting across his face. "So what you're saying is my soul split when I came here and I left a part of me-including my shinigami half- behind?"
"Essentially," Urahara nodded. "That is the only way that the body could encompass two souls without containing an inner world to keep one of the souls in. The result of this is what leaves your hollowfication so humanoid and why you lack a mask."
"So the fucker stole my mask too after taking everything else from me. And to think I was gonna let him use my power." Shiro shook his head. Hirako noticed his slight movement and tightened his stance, pushing the blade closer to Shiro's neck.
"Kisuke, if that's true, why hasn't the human soul worn away yet? If spiritual entities fuse together like that, the human soul will eventually become hollow as well or be devoured by the actual hollow."
"Anti-coalescence pill!" The insane shop keeper cried jovially, extracting a bottle of pills from within his haori and holding it up, simultaneously making everyone jump. "Stops any merging of spiritual bonds ands strengthens individual souls as well as the physical body! Made especially for this particular situation! But no worry Shiro-san! I'll just take it off Kurosaki Mashiro-san's paycheck."
The hollow's eye twitched. "That's what you drugged me with earlier? Why do you even give a damn about Ichigo's brother?"
Urahara's eyes vanished within the shadow of his hat. "I told you; I'd hate to lose valuable workers."
"Che…"
Hirako looked the hollow over once more then over at the shop manager and frowned. The barrier glowed and shattered around the two, making the hollow blink in surprise. Shinji turned his back on the group.
"I came here because you said that he seemed to be an inner hollow. We've spent an entire centuy dealin' with our own. I don't feel like dealin' with this one anymore than this. Call us when you actually feel like sharin' some answers, Kisuke. Let's go, Hachi."
The pink haired man looked like he was about to argue but then sighed. With one shunpo, the pair vanished. Urahara, again, made no comment. The two shinigami turned to stare at the speechless hollow. The hollow stared after the spot Shinji and Hachi had just stood.
The hollow shook his head and griped his spiky white tresses of hair. "What is wrong with this place?!"
The albino boy stood and stormed toward the ladder leading out of the training grounds.
"H-hey! We still have some questions!" The red-haired man snapped, finally finding his voice and running after the other male.
"Really? Well isn't that wonderful," Shiro responded coyly. He didn't stop.
"What makes you think you can just leave?" He kept on walking.
"The fact that I already am, maybe."
"Wait a minute!"
"Shiro!" Rukia called, adding to Renji's protests, though she too was ignored.
"Kuchiki-san, please make sure that Shiro-san takes this when he goes," the shop managed requested, appearing behind the aforementioned shinigami and throwing her the bottle of pills. His dark green haori floated dramatically as he turned away. "It seems I have more work to do."
Rukia's brows furrowed in confusion but then she recalled the escaping albino boy. He had climbed up to the top of the ladder and so Rukia decided to use a quick shunpo to catch up to him, nodding to Renji to do the same. They both caught the albino teen in the dark ruined shop front and grabbed his shoulders to stop him from moving any further.
They spoke in unison. "Where are you going?"
He didn't turn around. "Where do you think? I'm going home."
Renji raised a tattooed eyebrow, caught slightly off guard by the other's statement. "Home?"
Shiro shook them off. "No, the dentist. Yes, home! Fucking idiots…"
Shiro stormed ahead again and reached to pull aside the broken door. "Wait Shiro, you-!"
The albino froze and Renji's eyes snapped wide with surprise. From behind the 'door' stood a shocked, worn looking copy of the albino. Only it seemed perhaps that this one might've been the original for he was the same in every aspect except perfectly human and in no way albino with his bright orange hair, tanned skin, and amber, human eyes. The teen looked slightly crazed, with wide worried eyes, complete with pronounced darks circles beneath them. In an instant of him registering the albino twin, the teen's worry morphed into fury.
The albino twin grinned awkwardly. "Hey… King…"
"YOU COMPLETE JACKASS!!!"
"Eh-heh- OW! HEY!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!"
The two shinigami sweat dropped.
Okay, first things first I must let everyone know that Klecks is one of the best people ever! Thanks to her Juxtaposed now has fanart! Can you believe that? She totally rocks! Check out ze awesome here: http : // urrea . deviantart . com / art / Shiro-nii-chan- 135271945 (take out the spaces) or go to my profile page, you'll know what te scene is right away. Check out her other stuff while you're at it. It's all awesomsauce.
And tell me everyone reading this has seen the new fillers by now. Seriously, September eighth 2009, hell froze over for the third/second week in a row. Shiro and Ichigo actually worked together. OMG, I was flipping out. I was so excited I rambled to my mom about it for three hours afterwards at an incredibly high speed, so much so my thoughts weren't keeping up, confusing the hell out of her, and all because I couldn't hold it in for any longer (and I have no Otaku friends to ramble properly to). It was that awesome. "He may have been a hollow once…but now he's a part of me." *insert infinite fan squeal here* Not to mention the purebred dogs and cats. XD (funnily enough, I already had a piece including a garden and Zangetsu planned for earlier, before I knew it was canon.) I hope Kubo had every part in this because if he did then there really is hope for a canon redeemable Shiro. :3
Okay, now for some seriousness. This chapter hated me. Still hates me. It felt kinda anti-climatic. I'm not very happy with it. And yet, it's longer than any of the other chapters. WTF is with that? I confuse myself.
Sooo, I think that's a lot of the questions answered. I'm hoping I did okay with describing the difference in the hollow form, it being more humanoid, but just in case, it looks similar to the picture here: http : // tinypic . com / r / 2mhaih0 / 4(except for the things I made sure to clearly describe, like the red markings, tri-jointed feet, etc) Please don't steal it or try to post it anywhere else, the artist specifically asked that no one use it without permission so please, just look, nothing else. I'm trusting you all.
Personal note about the flashback at the beginning of the chapter: Now I don't know about other people but when I was a kid I thought things in much the same ways I do now. I can remember things-things I saw, things I thought, things that were said to me- from way, way back (oldest memory I have: two years old and I had the best bathing suit ever.). I've always been hyper aware of peoples feelings and thoughts and when I didn't understand a person or an emotion I would do my best to figure it out. My elementary school said it was empathy or something. It used to always bother me that no one else seemed to take this courtesy on any one else but even more so that, because I was young, they didn't think I could. Its things like "we can't tell them such-and-such because they're little. They won't understand."
I've had family die when I was young and people who were closer to me than family die too (laugh all you want, but this included my cats as well) and sometimes in very brutal ways (you know, getting your head smashed/murdered-I found that one-, hanging, stuff like that). Its upsetting yes, but nothing is more insulting to my intelligence than lying to me about it or out straight not telling me how it happened, because I was 'too young'. The funny thing is I was never told the truth as I got older. I figured it out from somebody else who didn't know I didn't know. To me, that was wrong and I'm not sure I'm ever gonna be able to forgive the person who lied to me just because it's happened too many times now. And neither time did it help at all, more, it seems like they had two deaths, both unpleasant kinds too. But that is why I had Isshin and Masaki tell Ichigo the truth, because-although Isshin wouldn't- Masaki would understand that knowing the truth about something like that is important and Ichigo despite being only five (six) would understand. So yes, there was a little self projection this chapter. So sue me. :P
Now review response! Yay! I love you guys! XD
kyra windwood: LOL I really liked your review. I'm horrible aren't I? XD Hopefully this chapie explained…a little bit… *glances nervously from side to side*.
TealEyedBeing: *blushes* aw, thank you! Good job for catching on to that little impossibility. Before it was even pointed out too! Are you psychic? *narrows eyes*
SendMoreParamedics: Hm, that's a good point….ah, well, don't go without a parachute! Or is that the wrong sport for a parachute…
PychoFreak17: Che, whatever, I was Queen of newbs at one point XD. I have no problem with anything. I've decided not to write this with any pairings simply because, as you stated for yourself, no one really likes IchiHime that much (sometimes just not liking Orihime) and there really are too many people who feel the same for me to care about it anymore (I can save my shipping of that FLOL or something) and then I have a bunch of readers who really aren't into yaoi like yourself. This way both no one and everyone wins! :D (I was sooo tempted to put RenRuki in though. I tried to write them as just friends but I think I slipped just a teensy bit. Hopefully no one noticed. O.O )
Thank you for such an in depth review. I'm surprised to see you say that I had no spelling mistakes; usually typos end up devouring my stories. Glad you appreciated that little piece of fan info regarding Shiro and as for Zangetsu being a badass? I think he practices, I mean, how can a spirit of a sword NOT be badass? Besides, he has to deal with two bickering teenagers all day, potentially for the rest of his existence, one being a stubborn idiot protector and the other being a lovable but homicidal maniac. He deserves this. XD
Yays4Pie: Your welcome. And kill off Shirosaki-sama?!? That'd be terrible! What would I live for then? I'm not that evil…possibly… .
Barranca: No it definitely didn't XD (Since I am at the current moment in control of his universe, he really hates me now. But hey, at least I'm nicer to him than Kubo! *listens as Shiro grumbles in the background about evil demonic writers giving him the worst luck in the whole freaking universe*).
Asuki-chan: Another long delightfully enthusiastic review. Have I told you how much awesomesauce you are made of yet? *glomps you* [P.S. A Konso is a soul burial. It's that thing that the shinigami do to send whole souls to the soul society. It's that thing that puts a little stamp on their forehead with the end of their sword.] I tried to write this new chapter as fast as I could. I really hope I didn't kill anyone off from waiting. ^^;
Yes, it drives me crazy when they just use him as a tool for evilness. Even if he's not a good guy, I think it's good to at least explore why. I'm a huge supporter of empathy for characters and real people. Inner feelings and thoughts, as you put it, make my world go 'round. XD Thanks for being so awesome. 3
Thanks a bunch also to PaperBagGhost & Kai-Chan94, plus all those who favourited this story or put it on alert. 3
Last chapter got nine reviews, the most reviews so far. It was quite exciting. We stopped at 49 reviews. It'd be really cool to reach 60 this time. If so, I will give virtual Shirosaki plushies to everyone. Thanks for being so awesome you guys!