184Ichigo's True Heritage
A.N.: Truth be told, this fic's topic has been sitting in my junk drawer for months. This fic revolves around Ichigo, but the pairings going to be AizenXMatsumoto. I've always noticed in the anime that she has pretty much the same hair color as Ichigo, despite being technically a strawberry blonde, and that Ichigo's odd hair color has never been explained at all. For the record, this takes place after the Bount Arc and disregards the Thousand Year War arc and all of the developments, so don't gripe as I take a sledgehammer to the canon. Isshin's still a soul reaper, but I'm changing the timeline to something different. This is also a test to myself so see if I can write anything meaningful that isn't just smut.
Warning: This is gonna be kinda dark, even by my standards. Canon Divergent!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Karakura Town
Ichigo slumped to his room, feeling stuffed with his stomach full of birthday cake. It was like this every time his birthday rolled around. His father would kick him out of the house for a few hours and when he returned his father and sisters had gathered all of his friends from school and throw a surprise party; even some of his friends from the Soul Society were there to wish him a happy birthday. 'Not exactly a surprise, since he keeps doing it every year…' Ichigo thought as he opened his door.
Though he was against it, his friends had all gotten him presents for his birthday. Tatsuki had given him two tickets, presumably for him and her, to the next big boxing match at the coliseum. Orihime and Uryu had given him a stuffed strawberry with his name sown into it, Ichigo made a mental note to punch the Quincy later. Kenpachi's present was a letter that came through the mail, saying that when they fight again Kenpachi would let him have the first move. Hanataro had thoughtfully given him a book of simple healing kido spells for him to practice. Urahara had given him that stupid headband from when he trained to regain his powers as a practical joke. Chad had given him a new punching bag and Kyoraku had given him a bottle of fine-quality sake, even though Ichigo was too young to drink. Rukia and Renji gave him a photo album filled with pictures of him and all his friends.
As Ichigo headed for the bed, he saw all of his gifts piled onto it, but when he reached it he saw something else. On the windowsill was a small white box, a neatly tied bow on top. "Again? Seriously, who keeps leaving these?"
As he opened it up he found a small silver necklace inside. The necklace was a small replica of his substitute pass, which puzzled him. Beside the necklace was a small card; flipping it open Ichigo saw the same neatly and tidy handwriting that appeared on the previous cards on his other birthdays: Happy Birthday Ichigo. I'll see you soon. ~S.
"That settles that," Ichigo said holding up the necklace. "Whoever it is has to be a Soul Reaper. Who else knows about my medallion?" Every single birthday for as long as Ichigo could remember, he'd been given these small presents by an unknown stranger. Thinking it might be his dad; on his tenth birthday he had set up a small camera, hoping to catch him in the act. But when he'd woken up the next morning the present, that time it was a cool yo-yo, on his windowsill. When he'd checked the camera it had shown nothing, just the present miraculously appearing there. Afterwards Ichigo assumed that he was being visited by his own guardian angel.
"Hmmh, but now that I stop to think about it… a Soul Reaper wouldn't show up on camera." Ichigo nodded to himself as two and two could be put together. "But who's been sending me this stuff? And why?" The thought plagued him as the night rolled by.
Meanwhile….
Squad 10
Toshiro was walking by the squad's officer quarters when he heard… sobbing? Walking closer to the sound he came across his lieutenant Rangiku's door. Knocking first, he asked quietly "Rangiku, are you ok? Are you hurt?" He opened the door and walked in. Before him was a sight he had to see to believe. On the bed, sobbing into her pillow was Rangiku, crying her eyes out. "Rangiku! What on earth is the matter?" He looked around and saw no bottles of alcohol anywhere. That was never a good sign, if Rangiku was too rattled to drink.
"I'm… I'm fine, Captain. It's just been a rough day for me, that's all." She buried her face back into the pillow and kept on sobbing.
The small captain may have been a child, but he was no fool. "Rangiku, every year on this day you constantly act miserable and lock yourself in your room." His face softened, he never wanted to see his friend like this. "Please, tell me what's the matter."
Rangiku shook her head no. "I can't tell you, Captain. I just can't. If I tell you, you'll have no choice but to tell the others, then he'll be killed!"
Toshiro's emerald eyes widened in shock. "Who'll be killed? Rangiku, you can trust me! Please," he pleaded to her, "tell me what's wrong. Whoever it is you're protecting I'll do everything in my power to ensure his safety."
Rangiku sat up quietly sobbed. She knew that one day the truth would come out; she'd known it for 15 years. "It's… It's my son's birthday…." She curled up and buried her head in her knees. "I've been a mother for 15 years, and my son's never known who I am and I've never wished him a happy birthday." She continued sobbing into the pillow in shame.
Captain Hitsugaya sat on the bed, absolutely stunned. "You… you have a son? This whole time?" Rangiku nodded. "But when? How? WHO? WHY?" Rangiku cringed at each question, knowing that her loose lips might sink her son's ship.
"Do you promise you'll protect him? My son's innocent, Captain! He's never done anything wrong!"
"I can't help you if you won't tell me! Please, who is your son?"
Rangiku sat against the wall and looked down. "My son… my son is Ichigo Kurosaki…."
Toshiro almost died of shock. Out of all the people he thought of who could've been Rangiku's child, Ichigo was the last person he'd expected. "Ichigo's your son? But… how?"
"You've never noticed? Ichigo has my hair. And his spiritual pressure feels similar to mine."
He thought about it for a moment and then his mind came across another question before asking it, desperately hoping he was wrong. "His father… is it… is it Gin?"
He almost sighed in relief when Rangiku shook her head no, but her morbid face scared him all the more. "Who's Ichigo's father, Rangiku?"
"…Souske Aizen…."
Toshiro's heart stopped cold. 'WHAAAT!' his mind screamed. It seemed impossible, nay, improbable at the idea that Aizen would sire a son, let alone with Rangiku. Taking deep breaths himself now, Toshiro looked up at his lieutenant and grasped her hands. "Rangiku. Tell me everything! I need to know if I'm to protect Ichigo and you!"
Rangiku took a moment to collect herself before beginning. "15 years ago, while Gin was away on a mission, Aizen came to my quarters and…" she paused as the mere memory of it horrified her. "To my eyes Gin appeared out of nowhere, saying that he'd gotten back from his mission early and wanted to spend time with me. We made love that night…." Rangiku stopped herself before taking a deep breath. "Several days later Gin returned from his mission, when I questioned him about it he looked at me like I'd gone mad. When I questioned Izuru and several of his other officers they told me that Gin had been with them the whole time. I didn't understand what on earth had happened. Several months later I found out I was pregnant; pregnant with Ichigo."
Toshiro looked down and pondered on everything Rangiku had just told him. No doubt the Gin Rangiku had thought she'd lain with that night was Aizen, disguised by his Kyoka Suigetsu. "When did you realize that Aizen was the father?"
"I thought about it real hard. I didn't know Aizen's zanpakuto effect like I do now, but I did know at the time that it confuses and disorients his opponents. Plus…" she paused," every time I saw Aizen he looked at me like he knew something. I couldn't prove it, but I knew. Mother's intuition, I guess."
"But how did you carry a baby for that long?! I, Momo or anyone else would've noticed if you'd been with child!" Toshiro pointed out.
Rangiku gave him a sad smile. "Remember how I asked you for that long tour of duty into Karakura Town? Where I was gone for almost a year?"
Toshiro sat on the bed and did indeed recall that request. At the time it'd struck him as odd for someone of Rangiku's abilities to ask for assignment to a place that rarely saw dangerous hollows but now it all suddenly made sense. "You couldn't go into labor here without causing suspicion. So you put yourself in a place where you could give birth away from the Soul Society at a place of relative peace."
Rangiku nodded, her captain had caught on much quicker than she expected. "I couldn't give birth here, otherwise I'd have to explain about the father and how the conception took place. They'd dragged me off to who knows where if I told him that it was Aizen disguised as someone else." Toshiro could agree with that. Up until his defection Aizen was such a respected captain that if Rangiku had raised allegations of him taking advantage of her, nobody would take her seriously. "Also… I couldn't let the baby near him. I didn't trust Aizen like I used to."
"Wise policy. But how did you give Ichigo away?"
"I ran into Captain Shiba."
Of the many revelations Toshiro had heard in the past 20 minutes this was by far the one that hit close to home. "Captain Shiba? He's alive?"
"Yes. He and his wife, Masaki, took me in and helped me when I went into labor. Knowing my situation, Masaki asked if my child could stay with them and be raised as one of their own. They'd been talking of having children and they promised to love him like he was of their own blood." Seeing Toshiro's hurt face Rangiku said with tears in her eyes, "I've wanted to tell you, Captain! But if I exposed Captain Shiba I'd expose Ichigo!" Toshiro calmed down and knew that she was right, though he still chafed at the fact that his former captain was still alive all this time and Rangiku knew it. Rangiku's eyes teared up as the memory of her giving away Ichigo appeared in the back of her eyelids. "The only thing I could do for him was keep him safe. His name was the only thing I ever gave him," she smiled at the memory of little baby Ichigo all wrapped up in her arms, "All wrapped up, he looked like a cute strawberry…."
Toshiro pulled Rangiku close and hugged her as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Does Aizen know about what happened to Ichigo?" He remembered how Aizen took advantage of Ichigo's sudden appearance and made his power play. "He almost cut his own son in half!" Suddenly his anger towards Aizen got a whole lot hotter.
"This is Aizen, remember? Look at what he did to you, to Izuru, to Momo. But yes, I suspect Aizen has known about Ichigo's whereabouts." She pulled away and looked out the window, tears running down her face. "You're going to tell the Head-Captain, aren't you?"
Toshiro had been a captain for a while now, but he knew that this was the hardest decision he had ever had to make. "If what you said is true, than… I have no choice but to tell him."
Rangiku grabbed his shoulders and squeezed. "Captain, please! Ichigo's innocent! He can't be made to suffer because of Aizen's sins!"
Her captain nodded. While whether or not Ichigo was innocent was up for debate, he did break into the Soul Society and raised all kinds of hell after all; he knew that no child should bear punishment for the sins of its parent. He figured that since Central 46 had been slaughtered the decision would rest on the Head-Captain and the other captains. "Rangiku, if what you've told me is the truth than that could mean that Ichigo's in terrible danger! Now that Aizen's no longer in the Soul Society who knows what his next move is!"
Rangiku kept quiet before slowly nodding. "Okay…" she weakly said.
Toshiro took her by the hand. "C'mon. We need to go to the Head-Captain immediately. He'll know what to do." Rangiku slowly got up and followed him, dreading what was to come….
To Be Continued….
A.N.: WHEW! That got a bit difficult to write since I had a whole lot of explaining to do. I hope that I kept everything straight and not left out any massive plot holes, because that would suck! Not gonna lie, I have no idea where I'm taking this, so enjoy the ride. Till next time!
