Instinct Released (Ichigo X Hichigo) EDITING

Chapter One

(Author's note:

1.    This story has been rewritten using British English. Sorry, Americans, if I accidentally spell something like 'color' as 'colour', etc.
2.    This takes place as though the Soul Society arc and the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc take place side by side, and all the arcs between them do not take place.
3.    I will be switching between Ichigo's POV (his thoughts in the first-person perspective) and general third-person perspective throughout this entire book. To clarify the switch, Ichigo's thoughts will be placed between two apostrophes (' ').

Apologies if this gets disorientating, I will try to keep this as simple as possible.

I hope you can still enjoy this book!)

'Post-Muramasa's death, it appeared that all the soul reaper's zanpakuto's had returned to their normal sword forms and became united with their wielders once more. You'd think that the Soul Society's inhabitants would thank me, right? I was their hero - for the second time.'

'Nope, not at all. They instructed me to go straight back to Karakura town, live out my 'normal' life as though nothing occurred.'

'Just like that, every soul reaper that inhabited the world of the living seemed to disappear, scrambling back to the Soul Society like they always did. Only to come back around then fuck up people's lives when another 'threat' came back around.'

'Usually, I would be screaming and throwing a small hissy fit about them not giving me the recognition and praise I deserved, but... I just had a lot on my mind. I didn't care at that point, I just went back home like I was their lap-dog, grabbing my body and returning with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū.'

'I suppose that I wasn't much of a talker during the trip back home, I only responded if I was addressed to directly, yet, even then my words were quite blunt and short.'

'Poor Muramasa,' Ichigo thought to himself, 'All he wanted to do was serve his master, going to so many extremes, only to get tossed to the side like a piece of trash. This should never happen again, to neither sword nor wielder.'

'Once Chad and Uryū separated from me and Orihime, I walked her home, the atmosphere dampened more than usual. I had my reasons, all of which were expected after witnessing such a disheartening battle, so I assumed that she was reflecting my negativity; she was an empathetic person after all.'

'However, once we arrived at her front door, she turned to me, a look of great sadness in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, yet no words greeted me. I was more than compelled to ask.'

'I looked at her, a hardened yet distressed expression contorting my face a little, "Orihime, are you okay?" I queried softly as the sky began to weep rain above us, mourning our blissful days, long before this entire mess started.'

'As soon as my concerned words reached her ears, a forced smile grew on her face. She closed her eyes, it was as though she knew how revealing the eyes became if one attempted to display a false emotion.'

'Scratching at the back of her head sheepishly, she giggled a little, "No, I'm fine," She truly didn't relent her false portrayal of happiness, "It's just that a lot of things have happened recently, I'm still trying to make sense of it all." As true as those words were, I knew something was bothering her.'