Chapter 5: The truth comes out

I was asked a little while ago why this Ichigo wouldn't be in my crossover story and the answer is very simple: this Ichigo is basically god-like in this story. Out of all of my stories that have Ichigo in them, this one is truly unbeatable in every way. It would make the story a lot shorter than it should and really undermined the entire premise. Hopefully that answers an unasked question from some of you guys and gals.

Enjoy the chapter.

Both Rukia and Renji looked down to Ichika with wide eyes. Said girl looked up to them with a hint of both curiosity and fear. Curiosity because of how very little she knows about this whole situation and fear because she had never seen her parents react like this before. Whatever it was that had them so afraid to tell her the truth was very apparent right now.

With a heavy sigh, Rukia looked to her husband and saw him seldom nod.
"Ichika."
She started as she looked her daughter in the eyes.
"What happened back then is going to sound very..."
She paused to find the right words.
"wrong, so just listen to what I tell you and don't interrupt. Okay?"

Ichika nodded and sat down on the bed as her mother recalled the events of that fateful day.

13 years ago, Karakura Town

Everything was going to hell quickly from what Rukia and the others saw when they all finally arrived in the relocated city. Chad, Uryu, Renji, Orihime and Rukia had managed to get out of Hueco Mundo with the help of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's makeshift garganta and were now standing together along with a few of the kids from school, that afro soul reaper Zennosuke Kurumadani and Don Kanonji. On the ground still was one Gin Ichimaru with Rangiku still crying over his dead body.

Following them into the city were the ones able to actually move in the fake town. Right now Kyoraku, Ukitake, a beaten but still standing Komamura with his lieutenant and Hisagi at his side, a still recuperating Toshiro with the help of both Kiyone and Isane at his side, Soi-Fon and her lieutenant, most of the Vizards minus Hiyori and Mashiro, Yoruichi who was standing next to Orihime now, and somehow through sheer willpower most likely was the head captain. They all stood together as they saw the massive black wave that had encompassed the mountains mere moments ago fade away completely now. Whatever happened must've ended the fight between the two somehow. Rukia and a few other had made a move to go and see what had happened when they felt the pressure from Aizen return along with several other spirit energies that definitely weren't Ichigo's.

Whatever happened must not have worked and they all rushed over as fast as some could to the battlefield. Yoruichi was the first there as she still had the strength to use flash-step, but everyone else showed not that long after. What they saw was Aizen on his knees while Ichigo and several arrancar stood in front of the rogue.

Ichigo looked different than he normally would. His hair was a dark orange and long. His skin was tan and had several markings along his arms and back, and he wore a hakuma made out of dark, flowing energy.

"Whoa."
Keigo started as he looked to his best friend in shock and awe.
"He didn't look like that earlier."

"What the hell is going on down there?"
Toshiro started as he wanted nothing more than to go down there and end Aizen once and for all.

Before anyone else could say anything, they saw Aizen stand up with an angered glare directed right at Ichigo and the various arrancar behind him. The ones behind him being the forth espada, Ulquiorra, much to Orihime's and Uryu's shock as they saw him turn to dust. Also standing next to the emotionless espada was the first and third espada's, Stark and Halibel, much to Kyoraku's and Toshiro's shock. The three stood behind Ichigo in their resurrection forms and glaring hatefully at the man they had once served loyally.

"How?"
Toshiro started with a glare and through gritted teeth.
"I saw Aizen cut her down."

"And I was the one who killed that fellow with the guns earlier."
Kyoraku spoke, clearly in shock at what he was seeing.

"This doesn't make any sense."
Rukia started as she stood next to Uryu.
"What did Ichigo do?"

Back at the fight, Aizen was seething as he struggled to stand up on his own power only to fall to one knee.
"You insolent human!"
He shouted out as he lost all sense of composure right then and there.
"I will not be beaten by you! I created you, and I should not be able to lose to you!"
This caught everyones attention as they listened to the man continue his rant.
"All this time and resources were so you could be a simple experiment! Nothing more! So why has it chosen you over me! Tell me! TELL ME!"

Everyone was shocked to hear Aizen, the man who was usually always calm and collected scream and shout towards the unfazed form of Ichigo. The very sight of it all was completely foreign to them all.

When He received no response, Aizen continued his rant.
"You think that this is the end of me human!? That this is how I die!"
By this point, several lights flared out of his chest and began to grow and encase his body all while Kisuke stood a far distance away from both him and Ichigo.
"This is not how I lose! This will not be my end Ichigo! I will have back what you have stolen from me!"
The energy began to grow around his body even faster now.
"I will return and I will-"

Before he could continue, Ichigo had appeared in front of him and grabbed him by the jaw. Everyone was astounded by this as no one, not even the head captain saw when the teen even moved. Because of his interference, the energy stopped dead in its tracks before it could cover Aizen's head. Speaking of Aizen, he was forced to stare into Ichigo's eyes as he could finally see they were pitch black with nothing else visible to him. It was almost like he was staring into an abyss and it was staring through him. He tensed before a look of utter terror swarmed his body as he tried to move to run away from those eyes. Those horrible eyes.

"You my have been the reason for my existence,"
Ichigo spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear in a deep tone that shook everyone to their cores.
"and I thank you for that, but this is the last time we will see each other Aizen. Because the next time we do meet, I will personally ensure that there won't be even a molecule of you in existence to regenerate again."
Ichigo let go of the mans jaw as the energy continued to capture the terrified mans head.

The last thing he saw and couldn't take his own eyes away from, were those soulless dark orbs Ichigo possessed. Whatever happened to the Ichigo he had spent years molding and controlling for all of those years had evolved into a being he would dare not challenge for the rest of his meager existence. With that, Sosuke Aizen was completely encased by the energy and was sealed away within it. That was the last day that anyone saw the man at least till recently that is.

Ichigo stood there, unfazed by the large seal in front of him or even caring for the the dirty blond man walking next to him.

"I-Ichigo?"
Kisuke started as he was genuinely afraid of Ichigo's current form now.
"A-are you-"

He didn't get far as Ulquiorra appeared in front of him, Lanza in hand and aimed towards the man. Everyone else tensed up, thinking that the fight was not over yet, but that changed when they heard Ichigo's next words.

"Ulquiorra."
He started in that same tone, getting the espada's attention.
"That's enough."

Ulquiorra nodded and his Lanza dispersed, further shocking everyone that this espada that used to work for Aizen was listening to his former masters enemy now. Just what the hell was going on here?

"Ichigo."
Kisuke started as he walked over towards Ichigo, wary of the three espada's in the process.
"What's going on here? I thought that you learned the Final Getsuga Tensho and lost all of your powers."

Ichigo, who still had those eyes on the seal Aizen was in, sighed.
"Figures you would know that Kisuke. But then again,"
He turned his attention to the former soul reaper and saw Kisuke widen his eyes in fear.
"what don't you know?"

"I-I-Ichigo?"
Kisuke stuttered out as he unconsciously took a step back.
"What did you do?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare at Kisuke, almost as if he was piercing the mans very soul with those eyes. With another sigh, Ichigo spoke up.
"I know everything now, Kisuke."

Kisuke visibly tensed at this.
"What do you-"

"The Hogyoku."
Ichigo interrupted, noticing Kisuke relax subtly at those words before continuing.
"I know that you originally created half of it with Aizen creating the other half to complete it, and I also know that it was no accident or coincidence that that was the case."
Ichigo walked away from the seal and towards the other espada's.

Kisuke caught the subtle notion that Ichigo knew the truth. The real truth, and tensed up, sweating bullets at this point.
"Ichigo, I'm sure that whatever Aizen told you-"

"Was a lie?"
Ichigo interrupted as he stood away and took a deep breath as he looked up to the blue sky as all the clouds parted from his attack earlier.
"Like how you and my father have been lying to me this whole time?"
Ichigo finished as he heard Kisuke and a few others gasp on top of a hillside.
"Tell me Kisuke, was it worth it in the end? Was this the result of your ambitions that the both of you were hoping for? Was this what you both hypothesized for your little experiment?"

Kisuke was shuddering with each passing question as the sky began to darken much to the surprise of everyone present. Some had started to question just what Ichigo was talking about. Others, what Kisuke did. None of that mattered to Orihime though as she decided to walk down the hill to the protest of the others. Rukia was the one to grab hold of the girl before she could go any further.

"Orihime, what are you doing?"
She asked, fear and uncertainty clearly in her voice.

Orihime, completely uninjured as compared to Rukia's still recovering form, pulled away from Rukia and ran down the hill to get to Ichigo. Rukia could only watch along with the others as she left, but she was soon followed by Tatsuki, Keigo, Chad and then Uryu. When Orihime reached them, she stopped when she saw Ulquiorra standing in front of her in his second resurrection form. The two locked eyes for a second before he looked away from her and towards Ichigo.

Orihime, noticing what he was doing, walked on past him and towards her friend. As she walked on, she saw Stark look her way and tensed for a moment. The lazy man nodded to her and held his head down, almost like an apology without words on his part. She nodded and walked on, being completely ignored by Halibel in the process. When she reached Ichigo, she felt a sensation sweep through her body as she shook heavily. Ichigo turned to her and was alarmed as he eased up on his spirit energy.

Orihime let out a breath as she stood on her own two feet once more to look Ichigo in the eyes. She was afraid at first when she saw them, the darkness and emptiness she saw nearly made her cry in despair at what exactly happened to her friend and secret crush. Her eyes began to water for a moment, surprising Ichigo for a moment as he did not expect for Orihime of all people to see him like this. He looked away from her in shame as he knew this was how she saw him again, as a monster.

Orihime surprised him by placing a hand on his cheek and bringing his face towards hers. She smiled at him as tears flowed down her face.
"I'm so happy you're okay, Ichigo."
She hugged him as Ichigo went wide eyed and his eyes changed back to normal. The dark clouds that had appeared suddenly vanished from the area as Ichigo hugged her back.

By the time his friends got down there and saw what was going on between the two, Ichigo had already lifted her off the ground in his strong arms and held her closely. They smiled at this as Ichigo and Orihime continued to hold on to each other.

Ichigo set her down and looked her in the eyes as she noticed they had gone back to their normal color. She smiled at this as everything seemed fine now, but unfortunately that was very far from the truth.

Ichigo looked to his friends and smiled to them before looking up to the soul reapers above. His smile left him as he saw them all standing there with both a look of fear and uncertainty clearly written on their faces. He let go of Orihime as he turned to Kisuke once more, seeing the man tense heavily towards even the normal eyes Ichigo held onto him.

Ichigo scowled to the man before speaking once more.
"Stay, away from my family. That is your only warning."

Everyone was of his friends were confused as to why he spoke to the man like that, such a harsh and unforgiving tone that didn't go unnoticed to them. Before Kisuke could rebuttal, Ichigo, the espada's, Orihime, Chad, Uryu and the rest of the classmates along with Don Kanonji all disappeared from sight. Everyone was in a state of shock at what they had just seen and how it was even possible for them all to leave without a trace at first.

It took them some time, but they were able to locate Ichigo and the others as they had just approached the Kurosaki residence. The head captain, now healed to an extent by a returning Unohana, had went towards the door and right as he was about to knock, the door opened to reveal Halibel standing right in the doorway. The woman was back in her sealed state and scowled at the man that had defeated her fraccion. She wanted nothing more than to destroy this old man in his weakened state right now, but stopped that thought when Ichigo appeared behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked to him as he motioned for her to head back inside. She nodded and left as Ichigo stood there in front of the old man. The look in his eyes, although normal now, looked like they could cut through steel. Ichigo knew everyone was there minus Kisuke, most likely somewhere else cowering in fear now, but didn't care as he kept his eyes on Yamamoto.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."
The old man started in his usual authoritative tone.
"While I congratulate you on your victory defeating Aizen, I must ask you, where is the Hogyoku?"

Ichigo kept his eyes on the old man and scowled as he noticed the other captains who were able to fight subtly prepare for another battle.
"You mean the object that both Kisuke and Aizen created together?"
Everyone gasped, well, all the lieutenants and Toshiro since he was the youngest captain there. Ichigo noticed this and continued.
"The very same object that is the cause for all of this senseless destruction and violence. The same object created for its 'perfect' host."
He exaggerated the word perfect before continuing.
"The same object that you authorized to be created."

That really caught most of them by surprise as the lieutenants, Toshiro and even Yoruichi looked towards the old man in shock. The captains that weren't surprised by this revelation were shocked to hear that Ichigo knew about this and even took a step back as a result.

The head captain looked angered by what Ichigo said to him and tensed his remaining arm a bit.
"Where is it Kurosaki?"
He spoke with that same angered tone.

Ichigo didn't answer as he simply stared at the old man and pointed to his own chest where the markings all converged to. At first, it was just a regular dark circle connecting all of those markings along Ichigo's body, but then the Hogyoku appeared from Ichigo's chest. Everyone tensed at seeing that object that drove Aizen to insane lengths to achieve his goals. The head captain was adamant at first as he saw it, but then let out a tired sigh.

"If that is the case, then I am afraid we have no other choice."
He spoke in a solemn tone now, completely opposite from what he had before.

"You seek to destroy me because you are afraid that I'll turn into what Aizen and Kisuke wanted me to be in the first place."
Ichigo said, surprising everyone there.
"I will not allow that to happen. I have lived a lie because of the soul society, because of my father, because of Kisuke. I am done being a pawn for you all to use to simply discard when it has become to powerful for you to control."

"Then you leave us no choice!"
The head captain shouted as he released his zanpakuto with most of the captains doing the same.

The present

Ichika listened to her mother in shock at the implication of what Ichigo said to them. If what she heard was right, then that only meant that...

"What happened after that mom?"
She asked as she saw her mother look away from her daughter eyes.

Rukia didn't want to finish this story s it brought on too many painful memories to count, but she had to. For her daughter.
"Everything else is a blur to me and your father."
She continued.
"After what Yamamoto said, the captains drew their zanpakuto's and urged us lieutenants to do the same. We were reluctant at first, but then told that Ichigo would simply become like Aizen with Hogyoku. The old man played on out fear and uncertainty, that we relented and attacked as well."

Ichika went wide eyed at hearing this and looked to her father who was also looking away from her eyes. She looked to the others around that were there and saw more than a few had the same distraught looks in their eyes. That was all Ichika needed to see from them.

"After we did that, Ichigo and the espada with him fought us."
Rukia continued on, getting her daughters attention.
"I'm sure he told the three to hold back since they weren't fight us seriously at the time. We were in no shape to fight while they were completely fine and in top shape. The battle, if you could call it that, lasted a few minutes as Chad, Orihime and Uryu stayed inside with the others and Ichigo's sisters."
Rukia paused for a moment as she mentioned the two sisters. She held her head down as Renji held onto her hand as she mustered the courage to continue.
"Everything was moving so fast. One moment we're on the street, the next I crashed inside the house. Ichigo didn't like that and tried to get inside, but the Yamamoto had his attention as he was about to unleash his Bankai. Ichigo was so occupied on him and the others in the house weren't paying me any attention, so I steeled my resolve in the hopes that I could end this and save my friend."
Tears came out of her eyes as she recalled what happened next.
"I tried to be as careful as possible and tried to kill him when he wasn't focused on me, but Yuzu..."
She choked up and sobbed into her husbands shoulder.

Ichika didn't want to press the matter any further as she was pretty sure what happened next. The girl couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe what her mother did back then. It was no wonder that Ichigo hated the soul reapers. The took away everything from him.

But for the red headed girl, that still left to many questions in her mind. She wanted to know more, to really understand just what really happened that day, and their was only one way to find out for sure. To go to the source itself.

Ichigo Kurosaki.

It's been awhile since I've updated this, so I hope this is a good enough chapter for ya'll. The next chapter will have Ichigo and Ichika speaking to one another this time for the full story of what happened during the Winter War and how Ulquiorra, Stark, Halibel, and even Grimmjow are still around.

Till next time, stay awesome and as always,

PEACE!