'Man, what a day it was,' I thought idly as I was walking down the street. I was reading manga on my phone, so I wasn't exactly paying attention to my surroundings.
That's when I heard engine noise and people shouting. I turned around, and all I saw was a blinding light, followed by unbearable pain—nothing like anything I had ever felt before.
Then… nothing.
I opened my eyes and looked around curiously, wondering why I was still alive. I soon noticed that I was sitting on a zabuton in a traditional-looking Japanese room. The room itself was floating in a white void.
Sitting across from me was an old man—a strange mix of Gandalf and Dumbledore—with a ridiculously long white beard.
My first thought was, 'Am I dead?'
My second thought was, 'Where am I?'
My third thought was, 'Will I be reincarnated? How many wishes do I get if I am?'
~Yes, that happened. If you haven't figured it out by now, I was an otaku—and proud of it.~
As soon as that line of thought ended, the old man spoke.
"Respectively: yes, you are dead. You are in my house. And yes, you will reincarnate. You don't get any wishes, but I will allow you to choose where you reincarnate."
I looked at him in disappointment. I had been expecting three wishes, like in the manga and fanfiction I had read. ~God, I really was a loser back then.~
I thought for a few seconds before deciding.
"Okay, I've decided. Thank you for waiting, old man. I want to be reincarnated as Ichigo Kurosaki from the Bleach anime."
"I see. Then you are ready to go. I left you a little surprise there. Good luck, kiddo."
He said that right before pushing me into a portal.
"What do you mean by surpriseeeee—?!"
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I was thinking, 'Ugh… my head. Where am I?'
When I looked around, I froze.
I was standing on the window of a goddamn skyscraper. As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, the skyscraper itself was standing sideways. And as if that still wasn't enough, I was surrounded by a massive metropolis filled with thousands of skyscrapers—all twisted and floating like this.
When I looked at my reflection in the window below me, I couldn't help but swear.
Because what I saw wasn't my reflection.
It was the reflection of someone I knew very well.
Or rather—something.
'I LOOK LIKE ZANGETSU?!' I screamed internally.
~Yeah. The old man's "little surprise" was turning me into Ichigo's Zanpakutō spirit—a being born from his soul, so technically, him.~
I looked exactly like Zangetsu: about 1.75 meters tall, pale skin, black sclera, yellow eyes, a blue tongue, and a young but undeniably handsome face.
A deep voice spoke from behind me.
"I see you're awake, Hollow."
I turned around.
Standing there was a tall, thin, scruffy, middle-aged man with dark hair and orange glasses.
It was none other than Yhwach. My other half as Zangetsu.
"Who are you, old man?" I asked—though it sounded more like an order than a question, which wasn't what I intended.
I needed to understand what was going on. Although I already had a decent idea, I needed to know what he knew and what he was planning. The best approach I could think of was to play dumb. ~Yes, I was such a fool that I thought I could fool a thousand-year-old man. God, what a dumb fuck I was.~
"My name is Zangetsu. Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakutō," he said, as if it were a fact.
"Oi, stop lying, old man. I'm Zangetsu."
"Yes, you are. But Ichigo doesn't need to know that, Hollow."
I snapped.
"Bastard, what do you mean 'he doesn't need to know'? Who the fuck are you to decide that?"
"As I said, I am Zangetsu. And as Ichigo's Zanpakutō spirit, I decide this."
"Son of a bitch, why are you so obsessed with stealing my place?!"
"I want to protect him."
"So you're saying I can't protect him?!"
"You can't protect him from him."
"…Who the fuck is him?"
"Yhwach."
"Who is he, and why should Ichigo be protected from him?"
"He's me—from a thousand years ago. And the father of the Quincies."
"…Wait, wait, wait. So you're telling me you want to protect him from… yourself? Explain yourself, fuckface, before I rearrange your face with my blade!" I yelled as I raised my sword. ~I know I was swearing a lot, but believe me I outgrew it. Thinking back on it, that bastard—my younger self—really played dumb well. Maybe because I actually was dumb back then.~
"Yhwach can give a part of his soul to normal people and make them Quincies. That is why he is the father of the Quincies. A part of his soul exists in every Quincy, and I am the part within Ichigo's soul. Normally, I couldn't manifest like I do now, but thanks to Ichigo's unique nature, I can.
My theory is that the original Zangetsu split into two and merged with his Hollow part and his Quincy part—thus, we manifested. All of this is to protect Ichigo from him. He wants to destroy all Shinigami. Ichigo has enormous potential; he will be involved in this war whether he wants to or not. With power like his, I can't allow him to take part. All I can do is suppress his powers and hope he never gets involved."
"So you are telling me we are both Zangetsu! Fuuuuck, why my other half is a dumb fucking old man. Stop the bullshit, fuckface! Suppressing his power won't protect him—it'll just turn him into cannon fodder. Even if I somehow let you suppress his powers, he'll never be insignificant. I won't allow that. So what's your plan, shithead? Because you'll need something better if you want to live!" ~No, I wasn't like that before the accident. I thought I got the role of Hollow Zangetsu. It took more than I want to admit to finally realize I was merged with the original Hollow Zangetsu—and that was why I was acting like a Hollow that well. BECAUSE I AM A FUCKING HOLLOW!!!~
"…I don't know," he said desperately. "I don't know what to do."
"I might have a plan," I replied. "But I'm sure neither of us will like it."
"What is it?" he asked, hopeful.
"We will make him strong, forcefully. You will introduce yourself as only Zangetsu—like you tried earlier. And I'll play the role of a bloodthirsty, psychopathic, war-loving, maniacal monster trying to take over his body and hurt everyone that he loves." ~Yes I know, my younger self practically stole old man Zangetsu's future self's idea before he could think of it. I gotta admit it was a clever thing to do.~
"Why? Why do you want to do something like that?"
"Because motivation can make miracles on someone. And nothing motivates him better than a monster threatening to take your body and hurt everyone you love with it if he doesn't get strong enough quickly." I say with a proud tone, looking down on him. ~God that dumb fuck still acted like a child. He still didn't have a clue when the canon would start, and he didn't even consider if it would start like in the anime or something entirely different would happen.~