A/N: Yeah, took a long time...mutters weak excuses. NOT a one-shot but not going to go past 5 chapters. Hope you enjoy...=)
"Orihime, please stop crying already!" Renji begged. He looked at Ishida and Rukia for support but they only shrugged helplessly. It has almost been half a year since they found Ichigo's mangled body on the streets. It was obvious who fought him and it was also obvious what happened. It seemed like Grimmjow's body turned to dust.
Chad stood off to the side by himself, not talking as usual. Renji glanced at everyone. They were either looking like Chad or they were crying. He himself had been devastated when he received the news that Ichigo had died but it was really no time to mope. Ichigo was a true friend, someone who inspired him almost as much as Byakuya…But there was a war going on here, people die…that's how it is. He was starting to get angry and impatient.
Orihime stood next to Rukia who was holding her hand. She was no longer crying but her entire body trembled. Renji sighed; he felt that all of them were too caught up in his death. Even Ishida was acting weirdly; the Quincy was gnawing on his bottom lip, a habit he obtained since the funeral. Renji took a deep breath.
"Hey, we're all upset that Ichigo is dead—Orihime hiccupped at the mentioning of his name—but I really think we ought to be preparing for the war coming up." Renji gestured wildly, indicating that they had a lot to do.
Everyone ignored him except for Rukia who glared at him. Renji growled in frustration, they were all going to die because they'd rather sulk around all day than train.
"C'mon! He might not even be dead for all we know," Renji shifted uncomfortably when all eyes –including Chad's – turned to him. "I meant that he might turn up in Soul Society one of these days and that's not going to happen Soul Society perishes.
They all stared at him blankly.
"Gah! Don't you get it?! At this rate, Aizen's going to demolish us!" Renji cried, trying to drive some sense into the sullen group.
"Even if Kurosaki does turn up in Soul Society, we have no chance of finding him." Ishida said. "There are too many people in Rukongai. Even if we do find him there, he might be a different person, have a different personality and he might not even be able to fight. He's dead for all we know."
"You know nothing!" Renji pointed angrily at each person in turn. "He's dead, get over it. He was my friend too you know, but we're shaming him and disrespecting his death by killing ourselves."
"What the hell do you mean by 'killing ourselves'?" Rukia demanded sharply.
"Well are we doing anything useful right now? Are we hunting down arrancars like we're supposed to? We're not training or getting better than we were 5 months ago!" Renji replied furiously. "We might as well call ourselves dead!"
"Stop, stop please!" Orihime cried shrilly, covering her ears. "We mustn't fight amongst each other. Ichigo wouldn't be happy to hear you all shouting at one another. We must not fall apart, that's what Aizen wants!"
"Ms. Inoue is correct." All heads turned to the speaker.
Urahara walked up to the small group, easygoing as always but this time, he wasn't smiling. The shopkeeper looked at each of them in turn, his gaze stayed on Renji longer than the others.
"We must make sure that Aizen does not get what he wants. We all know the only person who can defeat Aizen is Kurosaki Ichigo."
"So are you telling us you have a new invention to bring Ichigo back to life?" Renji snorted.
"Of course not," Urahara replied coolly. "We shall use what we have already to fulfill our purposes."
Everyone looked confused by his words. Urahara sighed and scratch the back of his head.
"I'm sending all of you on a mission to Rukongai to find Kurosaki Ichigo." The shopkeeper said.
"I thought we already agreed that it's impossible." Ishida said. "We don't know if he's even in Rukongai."
"Kurosaki-san is not like all the other residences there. He had his hollow attached to his soul before he died." Kisuke paused, letting the information sink in.
"Wouldn't his hollow have been cleansed before going to Soul Society?" Rukia asked, not daring to hope yet.
"Well his hollow isn't the only soul that occupies his body, right?" He replied "There is also Zangetsu to think about. If I am correct, which I think I am, then his soul wasn't completely cleansed."
Everyone stared at him, trying to keep up. Orihime just stood there, looking bemused and sweating.
"Rukia, you saw what happened when Kurosaki-san fought with the sexta espada the second time, correct?" Urahara continued, slightly exasperated.
"Yes." Rukia said. "I didn't know what power he was using but it felt like a hollow's. I assume that he was drawing energy from his inner hollow."
"Correct!" The shopkeeper yelled, pleased that someone was catching on.
"That means," said Ishida. "That…Kurosaki…the…espada…what does that mean?"
"It means that he taking control of his own power!" Kisuke replied. "He fought and forced his hollow to submit to him. Surely all of you noticed that Ichigo had trouble fighting with his hollow acting up all the time?"
Orihime shuddered, remembering the first time the arrancars came to visit. Everyone but Renji nodded.
"What does this have to do with anything? So what if he has hollow powers? That doesn't explain anything!" He snarled. "I think we're just wasting time, hoping uselessly that he's alive."
"How can you say that about your best friend?" Rukia questioned him angrily. "He's the only person who can defeat Aizen."
"I am being realistic," Renji scowled back. "Aizen's recruiting his followers this very moment while we're just trying to bring our friend back to life. This is giving us hope, how? I don't see anyone using their time wisely."
"Why don't you, Mr. Abarai, stop talking so we can work out a plan." Urahara said with an impatient voice. "I'm not the one wasting time right now."
Renji shut his mouth but he continued to glower.
"You all might not know this but Ichigo had to fight for dominance against his hollow self. He did this so his hollow could not take over and guide his soul. The main purpose of defeating this inner hollow was so that Zangetsu could be the one to guide his soul. Zangetsu was a bigger part of Ichigo's soul than the hollow was when he died. Ultimately, I believe that the hollow was not affected when Ichigo's soul was being cleansed, seeing that it was only a small part of Zangetsu. Think of it like an orange. It's easy to get a handful pulp but you'd have to dig deeper to get the seeds, it's harder and not worth it. The cleansing will not clean his soul completely so it's hollow. That completely destroys the purpose of cleaning the soul."
Everyone stared at him.
"Nevermind then..." He sighed. "He is still partly hollow so hopefully, it won't go unnoticed.
"This helps us," Urahara said loudly, not allowing Renji to talk, "because Soul Society can sense hollows. If properly searched for, Ichigo's hollow (therefore Ichigo as well) can be found. If Soul Society does not have the skills to detect a hollow, then I must say this war is already won. And not won by us."
"Questions?" The former captain asked brightly.
"I thought only hollows get cleansed." Ishida said very slowly.
"Yes, but Kurosaki-san isn't completely shinigami ne? Not enough to cleanse the hollow out of his soul but enough that he has to go through the process."
"You make it sound so easy…" said Rukia.
"So you think Ichigo can still be found." Chad spoke, for the first time. It was not a question but a statement.
"Yes, I believe so." Urahara replied with his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat. He wondered if they knew how difficult this was going to be.
"Then we must hurry to Soul Society!" Inoue piped in. The only hesitation she showed was gripping her hands tightly.
Urahara headed back to his shop, smiling. He was going to have no trouble with this group. Maybe Renji though, he's always been a little perky.
"I have everything set up for you to go to the Soul Society. Follow please! " He called over his shoulder.
The small group looked at each other before following, each wondering the same thing. Will this work?
**
Soul Society—Rukongai—
Where the hell is this? Grimmjow wondered. Is this hell?
He walked around the village which was surrounded by people. Everyone was looking at his hair.
"Welcome to Soul Society!" A little girl with pink hair screamed at him. She jumped down from a house and onto his shoulders.
"Yachiru, get your ass over here." A tall scarred man grumbled. "You're not supposed to step out of the Seireitei. Oi, who's that guy you're strangling?"
It was true, the little monkey-like girl was holding on to his neck a little too tightly. Grimmjow was making weird sputtering sounds as Yachiru continued to grip onto his windpipe.
"I found him! He looks like the kitty that Berry-chan fought, doesn't he Ken-chan, doesn't he?" Yachiru screeched, looking delighted with herself.
'Ken-chan' took a look at him while scratching his head. Grimmjow could only glare with the little girl still clinging onto him. His death-glare was ruined when his eyes started water from lack of oxygen.
"He must be trash," he concluded, "or else he wouldn't have died. And Kurosaki was retarted to fall for such a dumbass."
Yeah, this is hell…
**
Soul Society—Seireitei—
"Fukutaicho!" A fifth seat Shinigami rushed into the eighth division. He dropped down on his knees halfway, using the momentum from running to skid in front of Nanao Ise, lieutenant of the eighth division.
"What's the matter? Has Captain Kyōraku been drinking again?" Nanao demanded.
"No! Well, yes but that's not the urgent message ma'am." Said the messenger sheepishly. "There is an emergency meeting for Captains and lieutenants concerning Kurosaki Ichigo. Apparently, there is a plan involving a search for him. Everyone, including Captain Kyōraku, must attended as soon as possible."
"It is understood." Nanao said, her eyebrows furrowed. She refrained from asking why they were searching for a dead person.
"Why couldn't they send hell butterflies instead?" She asked instead. She noticed how tired the messenger looked from running all over the place.
"All of them have been sent to the human world ma'am. They are used to call back all of the Captains and Vice-Captains who have gone to Karakura to protect the town. They should not be needed now because Aizen won't be attacking after the last fight anytime soon." He replied, already standing up.
"Is that all?" Nanao asked, watching how he was tensing up, ready to run to the next division. This must be a very important meeting for Sotaicho to send out a messenger for every division.
"Yes ma'am!" He replied back obediently. She nodded her head and dismissed him. Now she had to go and find the captain.
**
Middle of nowhere—AKA Bridge to Soul Society—
"You guys had to cross this thing twice?!" Renji and Rukia asked simutaniously as they ran in the darkness with only a bit of light ahead of them.
"Our third time actually." Orihime said, sounding more cheerful than she had ever since Ichigo died.
"I want to travel with a hell butterfly." Renji whined, only to be kicked in the face by Rukia.
"OW! You nearly pushed me off the path!" He yelled.
"Stop complaining, there aren't any hell butterflies available! The path is big enough for everyone!" Rukia yelled back at his face. Renji was about to reply when he heard a loud sucking sound, like a huge vacuum. Wind blew past them like a tornado forming. Then, like a giant bowling ball, a furry object started rolling at them from a distance. It started speeding up
"What is—" He stopped, deciding he didn't want to know. No one needed to
"Just run faster," Ishida advised, picking up speed. "Oh yeah, if that thing coming at us even touches you…Well, too bad."
"What'd you mean run faster? We're already running as fast as we can! How can we survive that?" Renji roared, picking up his pace nevertheless.
"All we need to do is run faster than you. Screw the 'we'." Ishida yelled back
"Shut it you stupid looking outfit designer!" Ishida appeared not to have heard. He urged Inoue forward, gently pushing her, when she stumbled slightly over her own two feet.
"By the way, I heard you made a vow with your father huh?" Renji said, his voice much quieter now. "Something about not involving with Shinigami anymore?"
"It's none of your concern. Anyways, I'm not involving my self with Soul Reapers. I'm involving myself with the hollow war, not shinigami war." The Quincy sniffed.
Everyone sweated dropped but didn't question his loyalty any further. Everyone could see that he was breaking his vow to be on this mission.
"We're almost there." Chad stated, his voice almost inaudible.
Everyone looked ahead at the light in front of them. Almost there, they thought.
"Hold on Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue whispered to herself. "We're coming to save you this time."
A/N: Yeah, I know you all hate the notes :P but I just wanted to apologize again for the delay. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes. I was proofreading this myself. 3
