I made a mistake, updated!
***
"Ugh..."
Ichigo groaned as he woke up in his room. The first thing that greeted him when he woke up was a massive headache. He clutched his head, groaning as he sat up on his bed.
"Shit."
Ichigo felt sick. His entire body was aching and he could feel his bones creaking. The pain was unbearable.
Looking around him, he found himself alone. His father was not here, neither were his sisters or his brother. Only a pot with a lid sat quietly on the table next to the bed.
He took the lid and found a delicious meal prepared inside, with a message on the top of the rice, written with sauce. 'Good job' was the only thing that was written there.
It was a message from his brother, a simple congratulation for completing his training. And the best reward for someone like him would be food.
"What the heck."
It felt so strange and cliched but that was what he had to deal with. Ichigo's stomach growled and demanded to be filled so he began to eat the food, savoring the taste.
Yeah, it felt really lame but he was happy.
The training he did with Visoreds wasn't exactly easy, and the fight with his hollow counterpart was just as hard. But at least he got to learn his hollow power, even though he fainted after following the next training plan.
Shirou's food tasted like heaven and filled his body with warmth and energy.
At that moment, he was reminded of the white-haired man he saw in the inner world. The words he said still rang in his ear.
"Twins shared a deeper connection deeper than anyone else, huh?" He repeated those words in a quiet whisper.
He wondered who that guy was. He couldn't remember ever meeting anyone like that before. He didn't know anyone who looked like him either. But the strange part was that he was very familiar and it felt like they had some kind of history together.
Ichigo put his thoughts away for now, choosing to forget the man. It didn't matter anyway.
It was night and there was no sound from the living room. It was completely dark except for the light coming through his window from outside.
The silence somehow helped him think better.
"Shirou... What's he thinking about?"
His twin brother surely knew about Shinji and about his situation.
However, he never confronted Ichigo and didn't ask him about it. It was as if Shirou had accepted that he would leave him alone to figure everything out on his own. It was the exact same thing as usual.
Even after everything that happened in Soul Society, Shirou didn't ask him about it. Shirou didn't try to pry or interfere. He just waited patiently and let him do what he wanted to do without complaint.
And sometimes helped him without him even realizing it.
Slap!
Ichigo slapped his cheeks, making his face red. His orange eyes turned serious.
"I can't keep dragging everyone down."
Shaking his head, he put the empty pot aside and stood up from his bed. Just staying here wouldn't solve anything and it wouldn't get him anywhere closer to beat Aizen.
"Okay, let's train again."
"Where are you going?"
Just as he opened the door, he found his father standing in front of him. The old goat was wearing pajamas and had a foolish look on his face. Ichigo's face twitched as Isshin made a dramatic pose.
"Are you going to your secret lover or something?"
"What the hell, dad!? I don't have any!"
"Hmm." Isshin didn't say anything and instead just stared at his oldest son with a mischievous smirk on his face.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Isshin finally sighed and shook his head.
"I'm just joking, don't get too angry. You're too easy to rile up. I know that you aren't going to land a girl as easily as your brother, especially when you can't even confess to her." Isshin grinned at his son, making the teen more pissed off than before.
"Whatever! And why did you compare me to Shirou? He also doesn't get a girlfriend."
"You didn't know?" Isshin's eyes widened in clear surprise, "He brought home a girl yesterday. Wow, you must've met her. My future daughter-in-law is a beautiful blonde foreigner with big breasts- Ow!"
A fist flew to his face, sending the father down. He stumbled backward but regained his balance before falling over. His face looked hurt, but his smile didn't falter even once. His grin grew bigger instead.
"Gross! You're drooling, old goat!"
"Ahahaha, don't mind me!" He said cheerfully. "I am just happy that my eldest son is becoming a fine adult. Soon enough, he will have his own family. Hahaha! My grandchild will be born in a few years and I can't wait to hold them."
The orange haired teen clicked his tongue and looked away. He was embarrassed. He didn't like to be compared to his twin brother because of the obvious difference between them.
Ichigo knew that his father was just joking around, trying to annoy him.
"Ichigo, you should be more focused on one thing. If you have a girl, you shouldn't think of another girl. That's the way a man is." Isshin said in an oddly serious tone. "But, I can understand that it might be hard to forget someone you love. Especially since-"
"Shut it." Ichigo said, cutting him off. "I have no time for this."
Isshin looked at Ichigo with a serious expression on his face and nodded. He didn't press further. His face turned into a more serious look.
"I know." He crossed his arms and sighed, "So you want to use the toilet. Sorry but I will go first! Ahahaha, no need to thank me!"
Without warning, Isshin ran past him, laughing and going downstairs. Ichigo watched in disbelief. His jaw dropped open. The old goat really had some nerve to say such a thing after being so serious. Ichigo couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh.
He went back to his room, deciding that it would be best to rest for now.
All the desire to train was gone already and he didn't know where to train anyway.
"Let's just sleep."
***
On the first floor, Isshin stopped and looked at the second floor before sighing. He felt really bad leaving everything to his son without helping. Ichigo was still just a kid. He shouldn't be burdened by such a heavy weight.
The former Captain of the Gotei 13 knew the situation and what was happening in the world.
How could he not now? He was involved in this mess for more than a decade already. It all began with meeting Masaki and continued even until now, where everything started to spiral out of control.
Click!
Suddenly, the light in the living room was turned on and a voice rang.
"Still deliberating whether telling Ichigo the truth?"
"Masaki..." He said softly, turning to look at his beloved wife, "What should I do? Should I just let it continue like this or should I reveal everything? Shirou is aware of everything, but..."
"You're worried Ichigo would be burdened with more than he can handle?"
"I'm afraid that's the case. I can't do anything more to help him. The best I can do now is to protect our home and this town. Everything else is out of my reach."
Isshin confessed with a pained look on his face, "Ichigo is still too immature and emotional to face this, unlike Shirou who unexpectedly mature for his own age. Maybe we forced him to mature too early."
"That's just who he is." She replied. Her voice was soothing and warm. It brought comfort to him, even in such dire circumstances as these.
"Masaki... It has been years since I met you and yet your presence is always here with me." He smiled, "Your warmness never fails to calm my heart down."
"..." Masaki didn't reply and only looked at her husband with a sad smile. "You're so corny."
"Ugh! That's a low blow, you know!" Isshin complained, though his smile didn't falter at all, "I am serious, though."
"I know. Thank you."
Isshin sighed again, scratching the back of his head and letting out a long sigh. He turned around and looked up to the stairs where Ichigo was.
He had to decide on his next move. He needed to figure out how to deal with the situation and what he should tell his children.
"Let's keep it a bit longer from Ichigo. That boy will grow faster if we just push him a little. And he has Rukia, Orihime, and many others to support him."
"If you say so, dear."