BLEACH, Night of the full moon

Episode VIII: Two moons

We were cut from the same cloth you and I. If I'm strong then so are you. If you're weak, so am I- Episode VIII synopsis

“What are you yammering about, Uryu? I have my reiatsu completely under control.” Ichigo argued to everyone’s surprise. “And besides, I also have these gentei ren…”
He showed them the two squad badges on his chest.
“My reiatsu is below 20% right now.” He explained further.
“Kurosaki-kun…”Orihime yammered with her eyes wide open in awe.
“Ay, Inoue…you look great, how have you been?” He asked her.
“Kurosaki-san, we need to get you into a gigai as soon as possible.” Urahara suggested with caution.
“Why the rush, Urahara-san? Everyone can see me.” Ichigo protested.
“People might get hurt and hollows are about to start converging in Karakura…” Urahara warned. His deductions were never wrong and Ichigo knew that better than most.
“Alright Urahara-san, let’s go.” He agreed. They all moved to the Urahara store and continued the reunion over there.

After Ichigo had occupied his gigai, his reiatsu settled and they were all finally able to catch up over a cup of tea courtesy of Urahara. It had been a while since they had gathered as group so; there was a lot to talk about.
“Say Kurosaki-san, What brings you here? Is everything okay in the soul society?” Urahara asked.
“Yeah, we had a little problem sometime back…Omaeda, died in it. But everything is fine now.” Ichigo responded.
“Omaeda? How is Soifon?” Yoruichi asked with concern.
“It was really tough for her as you can imagine but she pulled through. Or at least she acts like she’s fine.” He answered.
“Ichigo…why haven’t you come to visit in such a long time?” Tatsuki asked.
“Kyoraku said I couldn’t or rather…I shouldn’t.” Ichigo answered while scratching his head. “He said my reiatsu might be a problem.”
“I actually came here without informing him.” He revealed to everyone’s amazement.
“Oh, Kurosaki-kun, why did you?! Do you want to become an outlaw?” Orihime asked in her usual annoying tone.
“It’s nothing like that, Orihime. It’s just that Karin returned here earlier today and I know she hasn’t been fine lately…that’s why I followed her.” Ichigo explained.
“Keigo, where’s Mizuiro?” Ichigo asked.
“He got married and moved to the big city a few years back.” Keigo answered.
“Got married? That fool! He didn’t even invite me to his wedding!” Ichigo complained.
“It’s not like you would have showed up any way.” Tatsuki pointed out.
“Why are you so moody, Tatsuki. Did you get married too?!” Ichigo teased her.
“I’m still waiting for you to propose.” She responded playfully while blushing. They were good times catching up and chatting. The conversation went on deep into the evening. They talked about anything and everything that came to mind.
“Thanks for everything guys, it was great seeing you all again.” Ichigo said as he bade them farewell.

It was a very cold evening and the streets were completely deserted. As he strolled through the streets, he remembered everything he had done to protect his town including one time giving up his shinigami powers. And yet he felt that he owed more than he could ever repay to this place. Karakura had given him friends and it was for them that he always wanted to get stronger. He wondered if one day he could fail to protect what was so dear to him. ‘When you protect someone, don’t let them die…’ He remembered what Urahara had once told him but was it that simple? He raised his hand and knocked on the door of the Kurosaki house.
“Karin, can you get the door?” Yuzu requested from inside the house.
“I’m on it, don’t worry.” Karin responded.
“Ichigo!” She exclaimed when she saw her brother.
“What are you talking about, Karin?! Ichi-nii is in the soul society!” Yuzu shouted from inside the house.
“No, Yuzu. He’s right here!” Karin responded.
“I know there’s something that has been bothering you for some time now. If you’ll not talk to me as your captain, maybe you’ll talk to me as your big brother.” Ichigo said to her. Yuzu, who had ran to the door, jumped and hugged him.
“I missed you very much, Ichi-nii.” She proclaimed with tears in her eyes.
“Sorry I couldn’t come earlier but I’m here now.” He said as he patted her on the back. Yuzu grabbed him by the hand and pulled into the house.
“Come and sit down.” She said. “I’m going to make you your favourite meal.”
“I’d like that very much.” Ichigo responded. “And then you can come and tell me all about how you have been. You’ve done great keeping this place up!”
“Thank you, it was not easy you know.” Yuzu responded.
“You can tell me all about it, I’ll be all ears.” He assured her. “Karin, come and sit down here.”
“Tell me…” He implored her. “What has been bothering you?”
Karin remained silent for a while as if contemplating how to begin to tell and all that time, he waited for her to speak. It was like someone had told him once; ‘I don’t know how to ask you without trampling on your feelings…’
“During the battle with the arrancar…” she began to divulge once she was ready. “I froze. I couldn’t even release my shikai. I was too afraid to lose that I failed to fight!”
“From that day, I have been thinking…maybe Omaeda wouldn’t have died if I had mustered the courage to fight. Maybe…I was not meant to be a shinigami.”
“I have felt like that too a lot of times.” Ichigo counselled her. “I fought and lost so many times. I almost died…no, I died fighting but I always came back to life   because I was always fighting for justice and the fight is never over until the goal is reached. I trembled in the face of adversity, lost the will to fight…I would have given up too if it wasn’t for her. I have always been lucky to have a very good friend like her.”
“On that day when Aizen defeated all the captains and the visored plus Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san and dad…that’s when I was most hopeless. Yamajii was the strongest shinigami born in a whole millennium and Kyoraku-san…all the other captains were a lot stronger than me but he had beaten them all alone! I didn’t think I stood a chance where they had failed. I wasn’t that naïve. I was ready to give up, I had given up. But then dad told me; if you don’t do anything, you’re going to spend the rest of your life crying about another thing you couldn’t protect… ”
“That was the scolding I needed in that moment and it gave me the courage to carry on. I lost my shinigami powers that day but I overcame Aizen. When I lost my powers, I realised how much I enjoyed being a shinigami. I don’t know if you were meant to be a shinigami or not but I know that, just like me, you’ve have always wanted to fight for justice and for your friends. That’s what being a shinigami is all about and what it has always been about for me.”
“Onii-chan, Karin…dinner is ready.” Yuzu shouted.
“We’ll be right there, Yuzu-thank you.” Ichigo responded.
“Thank you, Ichigo.” Karin expressed her gratitude to her brother.
“There’s nothing to thank me for.” He said to her with a smile.

Dawn in the human world was dawn in the soul society too. There was something about the dark night, it seemed unusually darker. Five hooded figures appeared on the hill of shrines and their unholy intentions were not hidden by their dark hoods.
“Well, this is it. It is time to shake the soul society to its core.” One of the figures proclaimed in a very calm political voice. He retrieved a sword from his cloak and struck it into the ground. Strokes of lightning branched out from the point where the sword struck and connected to various shrines shaking them violently. It was clear that a dark day was upon the soul society and yet they had no idea.

Hello, Thanks for reading. I will be concluding this story in about 12 parts. Have a great day.
-Constino.