Death & Reincarnation

In the streets of Western Tokyo, specifically Karakura Town, a brown-haired lady could be seen smiling as she held a young orange-haired kid's hand.

"Mom, I almost beat Tatsuki!" Ichigo happily exclaimed, jumping up and down and rattling her arm.

"My little boy is getting better and better! I'm so proud of you." She lovingly stroked his hair as they stopped at a crosswalk.

Ichigo silently smiled, closing his eyes and nudging his head into it.

"Aren't you so cute?" Masaki crouched down and kissed him on the forehead before putting her hands on each side of his cheeks. "You know how much I love you, right?" Her gaze was filled with warmth as she stared intently into his sparkling brown eyes.

Ichigo nodded excitedly. "You love me to infinity and beyond!"

Masaki smiled as she stood back up, realizing they could cross the street. They continued holding hands as they finally made it to a riverbank of sorts.

Ichigo suddenly halted as he noticed an influx of information suddenly entering his head.

Causing him to abruptly fall to his knees, grasping his head intensely.

"Ahhhh!" He screamed in agony as he felt a constant sharp pain stabbing his head.

Masaki's eyes widened in worry as she knelt down in front of him. "Ichigo! Ichigo! What's wrong!?"

He didn't answer, screaming until his voice turned hoarse, when he finally relaxed, gasping for air.

Masaki anxiously looked at him, wondering what was wrong.

"What's this feeling?" Ichigo wearily muttered as he stood back up with his mom's help.

Masaki narrowed her eyes at his words, noticing something. 'He has spiritual pressure?! But why were his powers awakened?' She pondered inwardly, checking his body for injuries.

But before she could ask him questions, Ichigo's gaze seemed distracted in the distance as he stared at a lone girl before his eyes came to a realization.

'These memories are of the future!... Just like in the memories, there was a lone girl, and mom died protecting me from some sort of spirit.' Ichigo wasn't sure how he attained these memories, but he realized he needed to take action.

Masaki instantly frowned as she felt something rip from her soul. 'My powers!?... They're gone!'

After a few seconds of deep thought, she finally took action.

She quickly stood up, hiding her thoughts with a calm smile. "Ichigo, let's go hom-"

Masaki stopped talking as she finally noticed a distraught expression on Ichigo's face.

"Sweetie, are you still hurting-"

He suddenly pushed her to the side as she yelped in shock.

"Ichigo what's the meaning of this-"

But once she turned around, she could only gape in horror as her son was being impaled in the air by something invisible.

She quickly broke out of her stupor. 'Damn it! As soon as I lose my powers, a Hollow attacks!'

Masaki immediately got up and ran to her son's airborne position, where blood dripped down.

Ichigo himself had a strained expression as he cried in pain, but he noticed his mom was coming.

'No! No! No! I can't let her fight! By now, she has no powers and will die!'

'Fight, Ichigo! You must fight!' His spiritual pressure flared dangerously as he glared at the Hollow, filled with tears.

"Hahahaha! How amusing for a human to have this much Spiritual Pressure!?" The Hollow's mask was smiling as he had one large hole in his chest, with green fur.

He was so large that he had Ichigo impaled with but one finger through his chest.

"Let go of my son right this instant!" The Hollow looked down as he felt a human punching his leg continuously.

As he was about to retaliate, he felt the kid's Spiritual Pressure becoming even more powerful, as he simply kicked the woman a few dozen meters away.

The Hollow then continued speaking. "Tsk! Seeing as how your spiritual pressure is increasing, you could become a problem, so I might as well finish you now!"

Ichigo grimaced. He wanted to cry more, but once seeing his mom's fallen figure, he was furious with himself for allowing that to happen.

'I need power!'

Until suddenly, a gruff voice resounded in his ears...

"[Ichigo, you must call my name... Z-n-g-t-u]"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. 'I have to remember his name for more power!'

He searched through his memories as he noticed the Hollow was bringing its opposite fist crashing down toward his head...

Everything slowed down as Ichigo used everything in his power to sift through these unknown memories and remember.

His eyes snapped open as the fist was a few feet away...

"Zangetsu!"

Boom!

A large explosion went off, as a blue wave of torrent energy zoomed through the Hollow's approaching arm and into its mask, effectively breaking it in half.

"W-What? H-How did this happen?" The Hollow's hand that was holding Ichigo slowly dispersed, as Ichigo fell roughly to the ground.

It could only stare wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of the large sword that fell beside the kid, as it also slowly disappeared as if never there.

But soon after, the Hollow followed after the sword as it dispersed into small particles back into the universe.

Ichigo's fallen figure had a large hole in his chest as he lay there with his eyes slowly losing the light.

"Ichigo! Ichigo! No! This can't be happening!" Masaki seemed bruised up as she quickly dropped to the ground beside Ichigo and held him in her arms.

"Stay awake, Ichigo! Don't fall asleep! Please don't!" She tried to run, but her leg was broken, as she fell back to the ground with Ichigo in her arms.

'How could I let this happen!? I failed him! I failed! I failed!' Masaki seemed to be in a frenzy, her hands trembling with the blood of her son.

"M-Mom..." Ichigo's eyes got dimmer and dimmer as his voice sounded.

Once hearing him call out, Masaki didn't hesitate as she quickly put his head on her legs as her eyes were filled with tears.

"Y-Yes, m-my little baby boy..." She stammered out, her heart racing but she tried her best to keep her composure.

"I'm h-happy y-you didn't die." He muttered with a hoarse voice.

Masaki's tears fell onto Ichigo's face as she lovingly grasped his cheek. "M-My s-sweet loving boy, don't worry, mommy's going to find you. Okay?"

Ichigo barely heard what she said as his eyes slowly closed, "I'll b-b waiting m-mom..."

His arms abruptly fell limp as his eyes lost all the light in them.

Masaki hugged his body to her chest as she cradled him back and forth.

She tried to silently cry, but she couldn't stop herself as she screamed with all her might.

Tears continuously welled from her eyes.

She grasped his body even tighter as she stared at the raining sky.

Her scream pierced the loud rain, she let everything out as she helplessly sobbed.

After a few minutes, she just silently sat there holding his body as a figure suddenly appeared beside her.

"Masaki."

She seemed to have not heard him as she didn't let go of Ichigo's body and seemed in a daze as her puffed-out eyes stared into the distance lifelessly.

"Masaki." The voice said more sternly.

She slowly glanced up as she noticed Kisuke in his usual green attire, staring at her with a downcast gaze.

But soon after, she saw a running figure who ran past Kisuke, before promptly stopping in front of her.

"Isshin, I failed..." Her eyes turned sad again as she couldn't even face him.

Isshin dropped to the ground as he hugged her, unable to stop his own tears from falling as he firmly held her.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely find him."

Into the depths of the Soul Society, an unconscious orange-haired man in a black Soul Reaper's outfit could be seen lying in the clearing of a forest, with trees all around him.

But his body seemed older than his previous one, identical to his future teenage appearance...

[Image]

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes as he stood up with a gaze filled with confusion, "Where am I?"

Furrowing his brows, he continued to mumble, "Why can't I remember anything other then my name?"

In a state of confusion, he decided to leave the forest to look for people who could answer his questions.

After traversing through the forest, he saw a small village with wooden prehistoric constructs.

He exited the forest and approached it with a curious look.

Ichigo saw some kids in rags playing around, while older individuals calmly conversed with each other.

Noticing an old man with a staff and wearing oversized rags, he approached him.

"Uhm, excuse me?"

The old man glanced toward Ichigo as he nodded. "What can I do for you, young man?"

"I was wondering where I am? And why I don't remember anything." Ichigo replied with a confused expression.

The old man's eyes gained a glint in realization. "You must be new around here... Well for starters, this is the Soul Society. That means you died and were reincarnated here. Losing your memories is but a process of reincarnation, so don't be too worried."

Ichigo seemed to have a bewildered expression as he asked, "So I'm dead? Is there a way to go back? I'm pretty sure I had a life."

The old man chuckled sadly, "I'm afraid once you're dead, there is no returning to the living."

Ichigo sighed, "Then what am I supposed to do now?"

The old man smiled, "Just live your life the way you want to. Seeing as how you look like an adult, you should be able to handle yourself."

Ichigo could only nod in appreciation, "Thank you." The old man simply nodded back.

Ichigo then walked away, furrowing his brows. 'This body feels peculiar. As if I shouldn't have it...' He then shook his head, unable to come to a conclusion...

He had a small smile as he decided on one thing though, "I might as well live my life the way I want to."

Ichigo then walked deeper into the village…

And just like that, seven years passed by in a flash...

[7 Years Later]

In one of the small villages with a large dusty pathway in the middle and wooden constructs on each side, some could be seen running between the crowd of people.

"Excuse me! Coming through here!" Ichigo's slim yet robust figure slipped past all the people as he wore his usual black Soul Reaper's outfit.

People would gasp or shout as Ichigo ran through them.

"Come back here, you bastard!" Right behind him were three other Soul Reapers in matching outfits.

Ichigo smirked as he did a flip over a person and continued to run.

He had a large bag hoisted over his shoulder that was filled with food.

"Why not run faster?!" He retorted as he glanced back while running.

"Damn thief!" One of the Soul Reapers cursed as they saw Ichigo's figure fleeting away in the distance.

Ichigo himself seemed unbothered as he took a turn into a dark alley and seemingly disappeared as the three Soul Reapers caught up.

"Where'd he go?" One black-haired Soul Reaper asked with an annoyed expression.

"I think he ran down the other street!" The other one said as they followed his lead and ran down the alleyway.

Ichigo evidently was on the roof of a building beside the alleyway as he confidently smiled while tossing an apple in his opposite hand.

"Well, that was easy..."

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