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When Ichigo could no longer see Rukia nor hear Shiro or Ossan, he thought that was the end of it. The end of this part of his life, something he never thought he would lose. It was like someone had taken a spoon and scooped out a core part of his soul leaving him empty and aching.
Ichigo tried to get into a routine, tried to do what was expected and move on. Yet every day that gaping hole in his chest and the silence in his mind grew, watching his friends rush out of class and knowing he had no way to help them. It went against everything Ichigo knew that he represented.
Ichigo found himself drifting around town like the ghosts he could no longer see. Sleep was hard to come by, the crushing silence somehow much worse once the sun set.
On one such night, sleep once more eluded Ichigo. With practiced ease he slipped out of his window and into the streets. Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets and began to wander the streets, his way lit by the bright crescent moon in the dark sky above.
Ichigo couldn’t say why his feet took him to the cemetery, but that was where he ended up. Standing in front of his mother’s headstone, fingers clenched tight inside his pockets he felt a chill go down his spine. Not the usual chill that hung in the night air, but something different, something that made his dulled senses ping.
Something passed in the corner of his eyes and his head whipped to the side out of reflex.
“You’ve finally opened your inner eye, how fascinating.” A melodic voice rang out from behind Ichigo. Ichigo spun around, eyes widened as he took in the teenager floating above him.
The teenager was wearing a red kimono with brown waist length hair that flared out behind him as he peered down at Ichigo with an amused smile on his lips.
“Who are you? What inner eye?” Ichigo blurted out, feeling an immense power radiating from the floating teenager. Yet the power wasn’t overwhelming, it was soothing and everything felt right in Ichigo’s very soul for once since he used the Final Getsuga Tenshou.
“I am Asakura Hao, you are Kurosaki Ichigo and you have begun to awaken.” Hao stated simply and Ichigo stiffened and narrowed his eyes.
“Your soul has been ripped apart, yet something that had been suppressed by your previous powers is beginning to heal those ripped pieces.” Hao mused and Ichigo blinked at the phrasing and hope lit up in his chest at the idea that his soul was slowly healing.
“What do you mean?” Ichigo needed to know if there was even a slight chance that he could get Shiro and Ossan back.
“You’re beginning to see on a different level than before. You are becoming attuned to your Shamanic sight” Hao smiled pleased as he floated down to rest on top of a nearby tombstone, one with the name worn away by weather and time.
“Shamanic sight?” Ichigo felt something ping in the back of his mind at the word ‘Shamanic’.
“You were a Shinigami before, so you could see Plus’s, Hollows and the like.” Hao propped his right heel up on the edge of the headstone, smiling amused.
“Those spirits exist on one plane of existence, you are beginning to see another plane. This plane belongs to those who are Shaman’s, in life and death.” Hao explained as misty forms began to collect around the edges of Ichigo’s eyes, but if he focused too hard they would fade away so Ichigo focused completely on Hao.
“What is the difference?” Ichigo asked, feeling like he did when Rukia first swept into his life.
“Shaman’s are human’s who are attuned to a different type of spiritual power, they can see what is commonly known as ‘ghosts’. Their bodies and minds carry the ability to merge with ghosts to fight or help them complete their unfinished business. It’s called ‘Spirit Unity’ and it’s the first level that all Shaman can use.” Hao explained as he held his hand up and a ball of red flames appeared in his palm, white eyes peering out of the flames at Ichigo for a brief moment before the ball of flames disappeared.
“Does that mean everyone who like me… Everyone who was like me, has Shamanic abilities lying dormant?” Ichigo asked curiously.
“No one is like you Kurosaki Ichigo, you are a unique case, hence why I came personally when I was notified that your Shamanic abilities were awakening.” Hao explained and Ichigo was hit with the sense that this teenager was far more important and powerful than he first assumed.
“Who are you Asakura Hao?” Ichigo asked, feeling his defences rise. The at peace feeling he had been coated with before was giving way to the sense of a predator breathing down his neck.
“I am the current King of Spirits, I have a hand in how the world operates for the next 500 years until the next tournament begins to chose who replaces me.” Hao explained and the name he have carried a heavy weight that Ichigo could feel the ghost of on his shoulders.
"King of Spirits…” Ichigo murmured quietly, eyes studying Hao and his peaceful expression as he balanced on the top of the tombstone. The misty figures that had been so hard to see before were becoming more tangible.
“What does awakening my… Shamanic ability mean for me?” Ichigo asked, trying not to feel hope that his soul may be healed, that he may feel complete again, to not feel so empty anymore.
“The basic ability you will awaken is the ability to see ghosts and gain a Guardian Ghost to partner with. However, you Kurosaki Ichigo… You won’t have the standard Guardian Ghost like most Shaman’s have.” Hao tilted his head, eyes glinting in the light of the moon above.
“Of course I can’t even be a normal Shaman,” Ichigo sighed as he ran his fingers thorough his hair before he squared his shoulders and looked at Hao, bracing himself for the reason why he couldn’t have a standard Guardian Ghost.
“Most Guardian Ghosts are human ghosts or an elemental spirit like mine, the Spirit of Fire. Some human ghosts can even mutate into a hybrid of the two, depending on how they lived their lives and afterlives.” Hao explained before he lifted back into the air, long brown hair floating around him in an invisible wind. Hao’s presence became heavy and larger than life, tugging at every sense Ichigo had and he resisted the urge to kneel before the King of Spirit.
“Because of your special combination of blood, spiritual power and your latent Shamanic abilities. You will gain something more akin to a Soul Guardian, instead of partnering with an external ghost to unify with. Your unification will come from within your soul.” Hao lifted a hand, golden flames swirling around his fingers as he spoke.
“My soul…It’s been torn apart,” Ichigo whispered, admitting what that Final Getsuga Tenshou had truly done to him.
“I know, if you allow me. I can heal that empty ache you have in your chest. However, it will repress your Spiritual powers and your Shamanic power will surge to take its place. There will be no-going back, there will be no way to recover what you have lost. You will no longer be able to see Hollow’s, Plus’ and Shinigami’s.” Hao warned.
“…If I can never recover that part of my power, will I not go to the Soul Society when I die?” Ichigo asked, the fear of something he hadn’t even thought about were hitting him as he was being offered a choice that could change the course of his life.
“You will never be able to return the Soul Society, in life or death. When a Shaman dies, they return to the Great Spirit, it is where I reside, it is peaceful and free of strife unlike the Rukon District. However, in the state you are in at the moment… Kurosaki Ichigo, you have no powers at all. Those with no trace of Shamanic or Spiritual powers, they go to a different afterlife. Either way, you will never be able to return to the Soul Society.” Hao explained, voice calm and a touch of pity, he seemed to understand what Ichigo needed to hear even if it was tough to understand.
Ichigo took a long moment to weigh his options, he had no clue that people with no traces of any sort of Spiritual powers would end up in a different afterlife, that even Plus’ he had helped had even a small trace of power within them. Ichigo had no trace of that spark and if he didn’t accept Hao’s offer, it sounded like his Shamanic abilities would disappear over time…
“What do I have to do to awaken my Shamanic power?” Ichigo squared his shoulders, his decision made and he would move forward with no regrets.
“I will use my flames to send a surge of Shamanic power into your soul, it will encourage your latent abilities to awaken fully. Then your Soul Guardian will awaken properly.” Hao floated to the ground, standing a head shorter than Ichigo, but the height difference didn’t bother the long-haired teen.
“Brace yourself,” Hao warned simply before he placed his golden flame-coated hand to the centre of Ichigo’s chest. Ichigo gasped, heat bursting through his veins as his body was engulfed in a tower of golden fire.
The empty hole in his chest, the ache in his soul was washed over with the golden fire like a warm balm. Ichigo sighed, eyes slipping shut as his head fell back as he felt power, so familiar yet slightly different surge through him.
Ichigo gasped loudly as the flames disappeared, leaving him off balance as he staggered back a step as his hand flew to rest on his chest above his heart. Hao hummed, tilting his head as he floated back up to rest on the tombstone once more.
“It’s warm,” Ichigo murmured to himself, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt.
“You’ve been left in the cold for far too long Kurosaki Ichigo, welcome the world of the Shamans.” Hao smiled as his form began to fade, his time outside of the Star Sanctuary limited and he had to return. Hao had no doubt that Ichigo would adapt as he always did.
“I’ll send my twin brother Yoh to check in on you, to make sure you understand your new powers.” Hao promised before he faded completely. Ichigo was alone in the the graveyard, well alone wasn’t the right word as the misty figures had condensed into proper human forms, Shamanic Ghosts as Hao as explained.
They all were in jolly moods, partying and eating as they would have in their lives when they were still alive, even if them being there and not in the Great Spirit showed that they had unfinished business.
“Ichigo,”
“King,”
Ichigo almost sobbed as he dropped to his knees as two familiar forms condensed into being in front of him, looking the same as they did when they were in his inner world.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please, don’t leave me again.” Ichigo pleaded as he reached out, breath catching in his throat when his outstretched hands were clasped by Shiro and Ossan’s hands, solid if not cool to the touch.
“You can hear our voices again, that is all we could ask for Ichigo,” Ossan rumbled, hair and cloak still blowing in a breeze that didn’t exist.
“Idiot King, pull that shit again and I’ll kill you and take over!” Shiro gave his usual bloodthirsty grin, but Ichigo had never been so pleased to see it in his life.
“Just try it!” Ichigo shot back before yelping when Shiro tackled him and the two tussled on the grass of the graveyard, Ichigo laughing in delight as he realized he would never be parted from these two again.
Soul Guardian’s or Zanpakuto Spirits. Shaman or Shinigami, it made no difference to Ichigo. All that mattered was that hole in his chest was gone and he had what he carelessly tossed away to defeat Aizen had been returned to him. The rest would come later.