The Dark Prince

Formal Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo knows that he has never been normal. He is blessed with the ability to see spirits, and to communicate with the dead. However, on the night he meets Kuchiki Rukia, his true self awakens, and he fully embraces his true identity.

Note: This first chapter follows the first meeting of Ichigo and Rukia very closely, but there will also be major changes, especially at the end. Please read it all the way to the bottom, as there is more to this story than just copying what happened in the Bleach Anime episode 1.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, and neither do I own the various sources of inspiration for this story, like Code Geass. This disclaimer applies to all chapters, and is the only one I'm doing for this entire story.

Chapter 1: Awakening of the Dark Prince

Kurosaki Ichigo was lying on his bed, thinking of the events that had occurred earlier. He had always been able to see spirits, and he had communicated with many of them before. The strangely translucent people with broken chains protruding from their chests had often been friends of his, at least for the short time that they remained on earth. The one thing common with all spirits was that they would disappear after a short while. Ichigo never knew why, but assumed that they moved on to whatever afterlife there was.

However, that day, something else had happened. He had seen some beings he never thought he would see. First, he had seen a monster that was wreaking havoc in the town. He recognized at once that it must have been a sort of spirit, as nobody could see it other than him. The monster had been chasing a young girl's spirit when he saw it. He also noticed that the monster had a pure white mask, and a gaping hole in the place where its heart should have been.

Ichigo was shocked at this, and prepared to run from there, but suddenly, a third spirit appeared. This spirit was a teenage girl, who was rather short, had short black hair and violet eyes. She was dressed in black robes and was wielding a sword. To Ichigo's surprise, the girl jumped forward at a speed unmatched by any human, and slashed at the monster's mask with her sword, saving Ichigo and the young girl's spirit, which had been chased by the monster. Ichigo called out, "Hey, wait!"

But, the girl with the sword simply glanced at him shortly before suddenly vanishing into thin air. Ichigo looked at the scene, unable to believe what had just happened. He decided to simply go home, and ask his sister Karin if she had seen anything like that, as Karin was also able to see spirits clearly. However, she had not seen such spirits before and was unable to answer. Disappointed, Ichigo went to his room and laid on his bed, thinking about what had happened earlier.

For better or for worse, he was not to remain clueless for much longer. For at that moment, the girl he had seen earlier jumped right through his window. The petite, sword-wielding woman from earlier entered through Ichigo's window, one hand on her sword, ready to quickly draw it from its sheath. Ichigo jerked up, and looked at her in shock and suspicion, then cried out, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

To his chagrin, the woman simply ignored him and continued moving forward stealthily. She then used her thumb to slightly push her sword upwards, so that a few centimeters of the blade were exposed. Understandably, Ichigo was shocked by what she had just done, and believing that she had hostile intentions, Ichigo grabbed his pillow and threw it at her. Startled, the girl turned his way, and while she was distracted by the pillow hitting her face, Ichigo shot forward and kicked away her hand, which was just about to draw her sword. Ichigo snapped, "What do you think you're doing, just entering someone's house with a sword and dressed like some kind of Samurai?"

The girl looked at him in disbelief, and said, "You...managed to hit me..."

Ichigo looked at her like she was crazy, then remembered that she was probably not even human. He replied, "Oh, you must be a spirit, if you're surprised that I can see you."

"You can see spirits? That is uncommon amongst the humans. Only one in 50000 humans can see us spirits."

Ichigo looked at her with less suspicion, now that he had confirmed her to be a spirit. He also spoke in a lighter tone. He spoke, "Is that so? I've been able to see spirits all my life. But all the spirits I saw were the normal human spirits, the ones with broken chains coming out of their chests. Today was the first time I ever saw a spirit like you, wearing those black robes and holding swords. Sorry about kicking you just then, I thought you were a burglar."

"I accept your apology, but...to think I was a burglar!"

"Well, it is rather suspicious when a stranger enters through the window wielding a sword. You can't blame me for being suspicious, can you? Anyway, that aside, I have some questions about what happened this afternoon, involving you and that monster. Could you explain what happened back there?"

"Ordinarily, we keep this information to ourselves, and we don't bother explaining to humans. But since you can actually see, feel and communicate with spirits, I suppose telling you would be better than keeping it from you. My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I am a Shinigami."

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. About the Shinigami part – are you serious?"

Rukia nodded, and then suddenly took a sketchpad and started drawing on it. Within a few minutes, she was done, and showed the her work to Ichigo, whose eyes widened. On the paper were very badly drawn things that looked vaguely like rabbits. Some of them were in black robes, some were in normal human clothes, and others had holes in their chests. Ichigo sweatdropped, and said bluntly, "That terrible drawing does not explain anything!"

"Bakudo #1: Sai!"

Ichigo yelled out in surprise, as his arms were suddenly bound behind his back. Looking up, he wondered in shock how the girl had so suddenly bound his arms with something resembling a verbal command. Strangely, the girl's use of the strange technique raised some nostalgia in Ichigo. Brushing it off, he demanded, "What the hell did you do to me? Release me , damn it!"

Rukia ignored him and started explaining Shinigami, normal souls and Hollows, speaking in a cold voice. Ichigo stopped struggling and listened. When Rukia ended her explanation, her face looked thoughtful and she said, "Earlier, I was tracking a Hollow. We Shinigami can sense the presence of other Spirits that have some Spirit Energy. I could easily follow that Hollow, but when you threw that pillow at me, I could no longer sense it."

"Maybe it disappeared?"

"Not likely. There are many souls in this town for the Hollow to feast on. To just give up is not in the nature of Hollows."

"What? If the people in this town are in danger, shouldn't you be out there doing your job?"

"Silence! I won't have a mere human telling me howto do my job. As soon as I can sense it, I can-"

"Rooaaaarrrr!"

As soon as the sound was heard by the two in the room, Rukia's eyes widened in shock, and she ran out. Ichigo looked at her and cried, "What, it's here? Hey, you're not going to fight it by yourself are you?"

"Of course I am! Like you just said, it is my job!"

"Look I was joking! Here, release my arms, and let me help you out!"

Rukia sneered, "Help? You'll only get in the way!"

"Wait!Don't!"

Rukia had already gone down, and was in the living room. She hurried over to the door. Ichigo looked at her desperately. Ordinarily, he would have let the girl go, but this time, something had stirred in the back of his mind, telling him that he had to intervene. Crying out with the strain, he tried as hard as he could to move his arms. Unfortunately, his efforts were futile, since he could not use his spirit energy to break the invisible bonds. Then, at that moment, a small voice in his head muttered, "Imagine energy flowing to your arms. Imagine it flowing like water, from your body to your arms. Don't overdo it, the spell is extremely weak, and using even a small fraction of you power is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer."

Not knowing why he was even listening to a voice that had just popped into his head, Ichigo obeyed, willing power to flow into his arms. In order to control it, he imagined the energy to be like a small flow of water.The next moment, he heard Rukia say, "Impossible! A human should not be able to break a Kido spell! This guy...he just did it without even halfway straining himself!" Ichigo looked down, and found that his arms were free. Rukia was about to ask another question, but the Hollow roared once again, and Rukia ran out through the door to confront the enemy instead of wasting time talking.

Ichigo followed, and soon, they found themselves facing the Hollow. Rukia readied her sword, holding it in a defensive position. She ran forward and struck. To Ichigo's surprise, a thought drifted into his mind: Her grip on her sword is not strong enough. She is not putitng enough strength into her strike. The Hollow can easily overpower her.

Ichigo knew nothing about swordplay, and was taken aback when his prediction came true. Rukia came tumbling to the floor. He shouted her name in anxiety and ran forward to help her. At that moment, the Hollow stepped forward, drooling, its sights set on Ichigo. Ichigo gulped in fright, having never faced such a monster before. The fear clearly showing in his face, he backed up a few steps. The monster growled and stepped forward, moving slowly, to instil more fear in Ichigo. The 16 year old started considering running from there.

"Do not run, Ichigo. Fight."

"How? This Shinigami got beaten so fast, what chance do I have? Who the hell are you anyway? And how can you hear my thoughts?"

"I am your partner, Ichigo. We are bound by an unbreakable contract. We are accomplices."

"Accomplices? I don't even know you!"

"You have known me for thousands of years. You have simply forgotten your past because of your rebirth. I am the one who aids you in battle. We fight alongside each other as blade and wielder. My name, Ichigo, is...Zangetsu!"

As soon as the name was spoken, it resounded deeply within Ichigo's mind like thunder. Ichigo dropped to one knee, with the mental strain. Flashes of memories streamed into his head at an alarming pace. The image of a large palace, a grinning man, who looked around 25 years old, with blond hair, a warmly smiling woman with dark blue hair, who looked 16, and a boy and girl who looked similar to each other, with the same excited smiles and light brown hair, both of whom looked like 12 years old. Then, finally, another image came, this one of a young boy, probably just 6 years old, who looked very scared, and had dark brown hair and lighter brown eyes.

Many more images flashed through Ichigo's head, and these were of many more people. Soon, it stopped.

Rukia looked uncertainly at Ichigo, not knowing what had happened. Even the Hollow had stopped to watch what would happen next. Rukia tentatively called out, "Hey, Kurosaki Ichigo! What happened?"

To her surprise, Ichigo got up, smilig slightly. The Hollow, which had been watching with its head cocked to one side curiously, drawled, "About time you woke up, kid. I hate eating souls unless they're conscious. I love hearing those screams of agony as I rip their guts out!"

Ichigo started walking towards the Hollowwith small but confident steps. As he approached the monster, he asked, "Is that so? You know, I've never hated Hollows. To me, they're simply like rabid animals. And you know what must be done with such pitiful animals, don't you?"

The Hollow stopped grinning, and looked calculatingly at Ichigo. The teen responded calmly, "They must be put down."

The Hollow's eyes widened considerably at the statement, and at the tone with which it had been spoken. This teen, who was close to running away in fright, now confronted him with an air of authority, as if killing Hollows was a regular, mundane thing for him. Before he could even take a step forward to attack, a sword materialized out of thin air into Ichigo's hand. The next second, the Hollow's body was already dissolving, having been cut in two by Ichigo's blade.

Rukia watched it all with growing shock. "A human, simply destroying a Hollow like that? How did he materialize a blade into his hand just like that? And his spiritual pressure – It's off the charts!"

Ichigo examined the sword in his hand, which had a dark blue hilt, a shiny silver blade and a crescent chaped crossguard. He then sheathed it, then turned to the speechless Rukia and spoke in a confident tone, "Your injuries are bad. Come to my house and I'll patch you up."

Looking at Rukia's expression, Ichigo said kindly, "Don't worry, you have my word that I will not allow any harm to come to you while you're with me."

Rukia shook her head vigorously and snapped, "Hold on! What the hell just happened? You're supposed to be a mere human, but you suddenly materialize a Zanpakuto, and kill that Hollow with a lazy strike! And not to mention, your reiatsu is through the roof! It's even higher than a Captain's! Or did you not notice that either?"

Ichigo stared at her for a few seconds, and sighed. He looked Rukia in the eye and said, "Alright, I'll tell you who I am. Everything I am going to tell you now is true, although it may sound unbelievable to you."

Rukia had had her fair share of "unbelievable", and nodded, motioning him to continue.

"Tell me, Rukia. Which is the highest Authority in Soul Society?"

"Central 46. It is like our Government. Every order they give is to be carried out to the letter, and not even the Captain Commander can overrule their decisions."

"Good answer, but wrong. I'm looking for something even higher."

"Nobody's higher than Central 46! Well, there is the Royal Family, but they leave Soul Society's running to Central, so we can't really count them..."

Ichigo smiled in s "bingo!" sort of way, and said, "That's right. The Royal family is the highest authority, and its members are extremely powerful Shinigami. The family is headed by the Spirit King, and he has 5 sons and daughters."

"H-How the hell do you know all this? I don't think even the Captains know what the Royal Family is like!"

Ichigo held up his hand and a small leather card holder suddenly materialized into his palm. He openedthe holder, and showed Rukia its contents. Rukia looked up at him with eyes as wide as saucers. Ichigo smiled and said, "I am Kurosaki Ichigo – Second Prince of the Royal Family of Soul Society."

To be continued

As you would have know by now, this story is about Ichigo being a member of the Royal Family of Soul Society. I have read a few stories that make use of this idea, like Family Duties by Black Sun upon an Icy Sky, and Heir to the Throne by Random Inspiration. I thought that the basic idea behind those stories was great, so when an idea for such a story formed in my mind, I decided to contribute to the list of stories in which Ichigo is a Royal Family member.

In this story, Ichigo is the second Prince, meaning he is the second oldest. He has four siblings, and the people he saw in his flashbacks are those siblings. The blond man is his brother, the eldest sibling, the dark-blue haired woman is his younger sister, and the younger ones are twins, and the youngest of the siblings. These five are extremely powerful Shinigami, each with power greater than that of a captain.

The next chapter will be about Ichigo's memories of his days as a Prince before the event that led to him losing his memories and coming to live in Karakura Town.

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