"What the hell is going on?" Kurosaki Ichigo looked completely lost.
Who am I, really?
Am I not Kurosaki Ichigo? Am I not a Substitute Shinigami? But I can undergo Hollowfication, I've mastered Fullbring, and I... I even have Quincy powers.
What kind of monster am I?
The gloomy young prince grew gloomier still.
A rain of confusion fell from the sky, and Kurosaki Ichigo stood beneath it.
Just as he stood there at a loss, an umbrella appeared over his head. Ichigo turned to find Gin Ichimaru standing behind him.
"Gin Ichimaru? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked in surprise.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? This is the entrance to the Third Division. What are you doing here? Don't stand out in the rain. Come inside." Gin led Ichigo into the Third Division.
Ichigo needed someone to talk to, so he poured out everything weighing on him to Gin.
Can someone tell me what I really am?
"So that's what's troubling you." Gin smiled, but his gaze suddenly sharpened, as though he were considering something.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, I know someone who might be able to clear up your doubts," Gin said.
"Who?"
"Aizen Sōsuke," Gin replied.
Ichigo's pupils contracted.
"Why would Aizen know anything about my origins?" Ichigo asked, baffled.
Gin narrowed his eyes and took a sip of hot tea. "You know I spent a hundred years undercover at Aizen's side. I learned plenty of things no one else knows. More than ten years before you were born, Captain Aizen seemed to be researching something. I only found out later that the subject of his research was none other than you."
Ichigo was more confused than ever.
"Before you broke into Soul Society, Aizen had been troubled by his inability to fully merge with the Hogyoku.