#ichitatsu

1. NEW OP! The highlights of this one include a look at our stylishly dressed and sexy new cast of villains, and a hero lineup that includes a badass Orihime wielding some kind of weapon. Sadly, none of the Soul Reaper characters. I'm sure they'll return eventually, but I guess this is the Humans Only arc.

2. OOH, Ichi reveals there's been a time skip and he's now a senior! And Hime and Chad revealed to everyone that Ichi's a superhero, so no more secret identity crap. Except he doesn't have a secret id anymore. OK...

3. OOH and Ichi's sisters are getting powers now! Cool, are they gonna fight this arc? AND IS THAT TATSUKI WHAT'S UP WITH YOUR HAIR GIRL?!

4. Ooh and Uryuu's back in focus since he's the only one with powers left. And Ichi's missing Rukia, who - DAMMIT - hasn't showed up to visit her other human friends. Seriously Ruki?

5. OOH and we're dealing with high school stuff. And Ichigo gets good grades? I didn't know that. So he's not the classic, bottom of the class Shonen hero IQ? COOL.

6. "I'm enjoying my quiet retirement" Ichi basically says. Oh damn dude you know that's an invite to IMMEDIATELY have it ripped apart. In film speak that's like saying "DESTROY ME PLOT"

7. And Ichi's still a tough badass, even without superpowers, so he beats up a purse snatcher like the superhero he is. THAT'S OUR ICHI.

8. Though apparently the guy whose purse he saved is evil or something. DAMMIT PLOT HE HAD 3 DAYS LEFT TILL RETIREMENT

9. Tatsuki has a part time job at the dojo! And OOH YES THERE'S MY GIRL FINALLY!! ORIHIME, who struts down the hall like a goddess who everone she passes immediately falls for. And she's got longer hair and she comes in by rolling down a pole!! Tatsuki reprimands her.

10. OMG TATSUHIME IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER. And Ichigo is officially attempting to join their OT3. I legit enjoy all 3 corners of this trio now.

11. ORIHIME IS GETTING TO BE WHACKY AND ECCENTRIC AGAIN. I've missed eccentric Orihime, she's been through so much crap recently we haven't gotten to see her goofing around. And Ichi highlights that her "eyes now look like #3". LOL THIS IS HILARIOUS I LOVE IT.

12. "boss" So Ichigo has a job? And he immediately gets fired. Or quits. And then a gigantic thug team shows up to...threaten him? URYUU SHOWS UP TO THREATEN THEM LIKE A BAMF.

13. And it appears our new villains' boss is a sexy maid. NOICE. And Ichi and Uryuu are bickering about how to handle the thugs in 244. (just kiss already). OOH URYUU IS CLASS REP? I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

14. This really is my week for shipping Shonen heroes with their glasses clad, class rep BFFs.

15. And they get beaten up by a BAMF SEXY LADY WHO IS ICHIGO'S NEW BOSS OMG I'M IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT WHO ARE YOU SEXY BOSS LADY?! YOU REMIND ME OF IZUMI CURTIS.

16. So we meet Ichigo's boss and determine what his job is. It is very strange. His boss apparently has kids and she is able to flop from sexy badass to loving mom in an instant. I LOVE HER.

17. HER NAME IS IKUMI? Screw I'm just calling her Izumi. THIS IS WHAT COMES OF BINGING FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST AGAIN. Everyone is FMA.

18. YAY BACK TO ORIHIME. "Hey did someone kidnap Ichigo? Do I have to go rescue him?" "Nope just his boss" "Yeah that sounds like Ichigo. Always surrounded by weirdos like you and me."

19. Hime apparently has a 6th Ichigo sense. And Hime has a part time job?! OMG LETS SEE HOW SEXY AND WEIRD HER BOSS IS. Anyway Uryu''s got a stalker apparently.

20. Anyway Ichigo's getting hired to track down his own dad apparently? And Karin is training with Urahara. And she's resolved to protecc her big brother. NOICE. This arc needs to end with all the lady BAMFS lining up to kick some ass.

21. Some shit's gonna go down that'll threaten Ichi's family and our new mullet-haired villain or whatever he is warns him.

22. Orihime comes by his window with bread and is now in Ichi's room feeling awkward. "LOL HIME YOU'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE" says Ichi. Oh, do tell? Also Hime and Ichi are now comfortable bickering a little, which is definitely making me ship them hard.

He really should have just quit while he was ahead. But Ichigo, being the stubborn bastard that he was, continued in his erstwhile attempt to impart all of his knowledge one the intricate workings of the afterlife and various types of powers and people that used them.

The opportunity to admit to him that she did indeed know all of this already had long since passed. Ichigo's assumption made sense - how was he to know of the combined efforts of Kurumadani and Urahara to educate his friends on what was supposed to be a closely guarded secret? But Ichigo should have realized long before now that Tatsuki was not just his childhood friend, but also Orihime's. The pair were the single worst secret keepers Tatsuki had ever encountered in her life, and although Tatsuki loved them both dearly, they were also incredibly unobservant at times.

It was the stress of keeping the knowledge from them that had finally caused Tatsuki to break down and confess that she had burgeoning powers of her own, and was able to fully see all of their spiritual hijinks.

After the initial embarrassment, Orihime had been ecstatic and insisted on informing the rest of their friends of this great turn of events, leaving Tatsuki alone with Ichigo.

Which, of course, had prompted Ichigo to follow through on his duty as a senior spirit power user and be as thorough as possible in his explanations in what was no doubt a very confusing and trying time for his long time friend.

Tatsuki couldn't bring herself to stop him. His earnestness and attempt to be reassuring and kind reminded her a great deal of when he was a child. There was a long-missed light in his eyes, and squashing it now would be the height of cruelty. It was better to just let him fumble his way through what he wanted to say.

It didn't hurt that Ichigo was almost adorable when he got this excited.

Hello again anon! I'm glad the answer was satisfactory. As for your new question I ship GrimmIchiTatsu as a poly OT3.

I've always seen Ichigo as Bi, so in terms of ships I like him with both boys and girls. I've always thought that Ichigo would fit well with Tatsuki. Like, I get why Ichihime was endgame and they do have cute moments, but what I think Ichigo needs is a partner (or partners) that aren't afraid to butt heads with him. Orihime's too soft for that, but Tatsuki isn't.

She'd be sweet to him and supporting, but she would also tell him off if necessary. Plus their backstory as childhood friends is one of my fave tropes. I've always had a soft spot for them and wish they got more attention in fandom.

GrimmIchi on the other hand, happened because I'm one big sucker for enemies to lovers stories. These two completely loathed eachother, then they were rivals and by the final arc they're sorta friends. Some of their lines are like soooo shippy! I wonder if Kubo did that on purpose, because dang! does Grimmjow come across as an angry boi with a crush. They understand each other's motivations well, and Ichigo did save Grimmjow from Nnoitra back in the Hueco Mundo Arc. Plus Grimmjow, like Tatsuki would call Ichigo out when he's being a stubborn bean.

I also like Grimmjow and Tatsuki since they'd be a sexy competitive pair. It's crack but the fanart is cute and their strong personalities could lead to chemestry

So in the end I ship all of them together in a happy polyamorous relationship. I do plan on putting Grimmjow on the Roads fics. The thing is each fic concentrates on certain ships. Road to Ruin was mainly Aianna and Ginjo x Jackie, Road to Redemption is Ulquihime and Chadzuka and the next installment is mainly about Ginran, Hitsuhina and Rosezuru. So it'll take until the fourth fic for Grimmy to be added as a main character and for him to get with Ichigo and Tatsuki. It will happen though, because I love this ship and I want to write them

And here me out

In the future, after Ichigo forms a closer bond with Shirosaki, Ichigo's eyes will change to gold/gold + black whenever he's upset or agitated.

Like previously, we saw blue reiatsu glow in Ichigo's eyes. This was way back when he was still suppressing Shiro and they weren't on good terms, plus way back when Ichigo had very little control and access to his true powers.

Now that he has better control, more access to his true powers, and more trust with Shiro, why not have Shiro's eyes slip through every now and then?

It's not over petty, small things, no. Whenever someone/something genuinely pisses Ichigo off, the eyes turn gold and then might bleed black if he's really upset.

Say, someone tries to hurt Tatsuki? Gold eyes, because yes, Ichigo is upset, but it only takes a moment before Tatsuki beats the crap out of the person or before someone (Orihime) sneaks up behind the person trying to hurt Tatsuki and knocks them out.

Then if someone succeeds in hurting his friends, like if Ichigo ever walks in on someone hovering over his friends, and they're unconscious or in pain on the ground? Hi, yes, Ichigo's eyes look like they belong to the devil now.

Plus, if you think about it, Ichigo's notorious for not being able to control his spiritual pressure. So now that he's got tons and tons of it to control, I could see him not even realizing that his eyes changed. (Note: they change in human form too, but only people with high spiritual pressure can see his eyes change colour.)

It's also likely that his mask will form in his Shinigami form. Either clinging to half of his face or maybe his horns start to form.

Okay I'm going to deep in this now, better stop the post here!