A/N: Hello, and thanks for reading. As said in the summary, this story will be somewhat AU. Though the universe will still be largely the same, some details have been changed and everything from the point Rukia runs away from Ichigo and Kon will be different from the canon. Some similarities will remain, but a lot of the fights and certain major plot points will be altered.

There is also no real "main character" in this story, and though there is an OC in this fic, neither he nor Ichigo will be the center of the story. Instead, this story will be told from multiple viewpoints from many different characters, though a couple characters will feature more prominently than others.

Anyway, thanks again for reading.

"Where are you going?"

Rukia stopped abruptly and turned around to see Uryu Ishida. The dark-haired high schooler was still dressed in his school uniform, though he was also carrying a plastic bag in one hand. His eyes gleamed suspiciously behind his glasses.

Rukia tried to brush away her tears and attempted to put on a straight face.

"U-Uryu? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Uryu looked at her as if she were stupid. "What does that have to do with anything? I asked you a question, didn't I?"

Rukia didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him that she was running away from everything, running away from Ichigo, because she knew she was being hunted down by the Soul Society. That would only cause further trouble, and she had caused more than enough of that already,

A streetlight flickered over the largely-deserted road, and a full moon stood in solemn watch over the night sky. A gentle breeze passed through, and Rukia still could not come up with an answer.

Uryu sighed. "Fine, if you really can't -"

"Rukia!"

Both Rukia and Uryu jumped in surprise as they saw Ichigo in his black shinigami uniform bounding towards them. The orange-haired youth was out of breath by the time he sprinted up to them, and he paused for a moment to gather his bearings. He then looked up at Rukia, his eyes resolute.

"Where are you running off to?" he asked her.

By the way Rukia's face fell, Ichigo knew something was wrong. He turned to Uryu.

"Ishida, what's going on here?"

Uryu shrugged. "How should I know? You soul reapers are all insane."

He paused for a bit but then began talking again.

"... But from what I can gather, it appears that Rukia is running away, most likely out of fear of punishment by her superiors. It's logical that the Soul Society wouldn't want one of their agents running around rogue for too long, right?"

Uryu and Ichigo both looked at Rukia, and she stared at the ground.

"... Yes," she finally admitted.

Ichigo frowned. "Then why are you running?! Stay here! I'll help explain everything to them. You didn't do anything wrong!"

Rukia looked up at him, her violet eyes brimming with tears.

"You don't know the Soul Society like I do, Ichigo! They'll never let his go unpunished. Never..." she concluded, her voice softening with sadness.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the sky as a doorway materialized out of nothing. The doors opened, and out of them came three figures, all of them dressed in the black soul reaper uniform.

Rukia's eyes widened in fear. She turned to Ichigo and Uryu.

"They have come, you two have to leave!" she demanded.

Ichigo and Uryu shared a glance before shaking their heads.

"We won't leave you here," Ichigo said, his tone serious.

"You don't understand! You won't be able to defeat them!" Rukia shouted, desperately trying to get them to leave.

Ichigo and Uryu only watched as the three shinigami descended.

The first of them was a petite woman with glasses and light-brown hair. Next to her stood a short young man with dark hair and tan skin. He wore a cocky smile on his face and had a black tattoo above his left eyebrow. The third member was a tall man with long, red hair in the style of a spiky ponytail. He had a band tied around his left arm, presumably to signify his position as leader of the group.

Rukia stared at the red-haired man incredulously.

"Renji?" she asked.

The red-haired man nodded to her. "Rukia. It's been a long time."

"You know this guy, Rukia?" Ichigo questioned.

Renji turned his attention towards Ichigo, clearly unhappy that Ichigo appeared so familiar with Rukia. "Shut the hell up, human. You're about to die here."

Ichigo grit his teeth and unsheathed his sword, and Uryu formed a bow in his hands and aimed it at Renji.

Renji made a move to grab his zanpakutou, but the smaller, blue-haired man stopped him.

"Don't concern yourself with them, Lieutenant. We'll handle them!" he declared.

Renji relaxed his muscles and nodded. "Go ahead, Rikichi. These guys shouldn't be much of a challenge."

Rikichi and the woman soul reaper drew their blades and rushed at Ichigo and Uryu.

"Renji, stop this!" Rukia demanded, but her cry fell on deaf ears.

Rikichi's blade met Ichigo's, and the brunette shinigami barely managed to deflect one of Uryu's arrows as she rushed at the quincy.

However, Ichigo easily overpowered his opponent and cleaved him in two with one swing, and Uryu sped behind the woman with hirenkyaku and decapitated her with an arrow to the neck,

The bodies of the defeated shinigami hit the street, and Renji stared with a mix of horror, surprise, and anger.

Ichigo pointed his now-bloody blade at Renji. "I guess you're next, lieutenant,"

Renji cursed as he yanked his blade free. He rushed at Ichigo, and the two met with a clang of steel. Renji noticed that the quincy had decided to hang back and provide support from a distance.

Ichigo attempted to bisect Renji with a lateral cut to his midsection, but the red-haired lieutenant easily flash-stepped out of the way and caught Ichigo in the left shoulder with a savage slash.

Ichigo stifled a cry of pain as he swung blindly at Renji, but his blade met nothing but air. Renji then appeared in front of Ichigo and thrust his blade towards Ichigo's abdomen, but the lieutenant's zanpakutou was deflected by an arrow.

Renji scowled in annoyance as he kicked Ichigo away and whirled around to face Uryu.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

Ichigo watched in horror as Renji's zanpakutou acquired a serrated shape and extended outwards, slamming into Uryu and cutting him up pretty badly.

"You bastard!" Ichigo rushed at Renji with his zanpakutou raised.

Renji lifted his own blade to block Ichigo's downward-moving strike, but the impact was so strong that it sent him to his knees. Before Renji could get back up, Ichigo had already swung again, this time at Renji's neck.

The Sixth Division lieutenant managed to flash-step away, but when he landed he felt a stinging sensation in his neck. He raised his hand to the spot and found that he was bleeding. It wasn't a deep wound, but Renji was amazed at the fact that someone like this 'Ichigo' could even manage to cut him.

Renji's eyes hardened as he thought about what his captain would say if he were here.

Ichigo ran towards Renji, his zanpakutou once again raised to strike. However, before Ichigo could bring down his sword, he felt a searing pain course through his body.

As Ichigo fell to the ground, he could faintly hear Rukia screaming in the background. Warm blood poured out of his stomach, and his vision began fading to black.

Rukia rushed over to Ichigo, but her path was blocked by Renji's stained blade.

"Stop, Rukia."

Rukia glared at Renji, her beautiful eyes filled with pain and anger.

"Why are you doing this!" she demanded.

Renji sighed. "You know why. You illegally transferred your soul reaper powers to him, and now he's gone and killed two of my squad members."

Rukia looked away, not wanting to see Renji's face nor Ichigo's mangled body.

"It's time to go back, Rukia," Renji said.

"Fuck you, Renji!" Rukia yelled in an uncharacteristic outburst.

Renji was taken aback by the sudden burst of anger, but he quickly recovered.

"I didn't want to have to do this…"

With a swift strike, Renji knocked Rukia out cold. He picked up her small, unconscious body and hauled it over his shoulder, opening a senkaimon in the process. As he headed towards the gate, he glanced back at his fallen comrades.

Rikichi… Mihane… Thank you for your sacrifice.

He then looked at Ichigo and felt hatred course through his veins. Even so, he could not squash the niggling of respect he felt in the back of his mind. The human had fought for someone he cared for, despite the fact that he was outnumbered and outmatched. He had also managed to scratch Renji Abarai, a lieutenant of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Ichigo… Even if you die here, I will remember your name.

The sound of battle cries, screams of pain, and fury-soaked yells echoed around him as Harukaze made his way through the sand and towards the dilapidated tower that jutted out from the desert sand.

He and his squad had finally made it to the building given the codename 'Grey Tower,' also known as the command post for the hollows in the Western Sector. After years of fighting, this was the closest any squad in the Soul Society's Expeditionary Force had ever got to the Grey Tower.

A strong spiritual pressure emanated from within the tower, and Haru narrowed his gray eyes as the wind picked up and blew sand into his face.

He wore the standard black shihakusho of the shinigami, and he had long, messy black hair. Covering his hands were the fingerless white tekko that denoted nobility, and bound to his left arm was the worn-out insignia of the Eight Division. He stood about six feet tall, and his face was slender and elegant.

As he got closer to the tower, a four-legged hollow rushed at him. Haru slipped his zanpakutou out of its sheath and cleaved the beast's head off, its dark blood staining the sands. He stepped over the headless corpse and continued onward.

Soon enough, he had reached the entrance to the tower.

The inside of the tower was relatively dark and empty, but the strong spiritual pressure undoubtedly belonging to a hollow remained. Harukaze had decided that it would be best for him to defeat the commander of the hollows in this sector so that the battle could be won easier, so he headed straight for the Grey Tower once the fighting started. However, now that he was finally inside, he couldn't find anyone.

"Looking for me?" a suave, pompous voice inquired.

Harukaze whirled around and saw a tall, slender figure approach from the shadows. The hollow had pink hair, golden eyes, and a mocking smile on his face. He was dressed in white, and a sword rested at his side.

"So you're a Vasto Lorde, I presume?" Haru asked as he moved his hand towards his sword.

The hollow's smile grew wider. "No, not exactly."

Haru's eyes narrowed. He had never seen a hollow that appeared to be so human-like, and he had definitely never felt one this powerful before.

"I'm an arrancar," the pink-haired hollow continued. "As I am sure you are wondering, an arrancar is a hollow that has removed its mask. It now possesses both the power of a hollow as well as the powers of a soul reaper."

Haru regarded the hollow skeptically. "I've never heard of such a thing before."

The hollow laughed. "Of course not. Someone with your level of intellect could never hope to have discovered the existence of arrancars on your own."

"Is that so? How is it that you are so familiar with my 'intellect'?"

"Is that a joke? I know all about you, Harukaze Kuchiki," the hollow replied.

"Was that supposed to impress me? It's no surprise that you know my name, considering how many hollows have come to fear it over the past couple years," Haru taunted.

The pink-haired arrancar smiled again. "I know much more than just your name. I know you are the former lieutenant of the Eight Division, and I know that you are the younger cousin of Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the Sixth Division and head of the Kuchiki noble house."

"That's not exactly top-secret information," Haru countered. "Now, tell me more about you arrancars."

The arrancar laughed once more. "Curious, are you? Unfortunately, I think that I have told you enough. It's about time that I took my leave."

Haru pulled out his zanpakutou, but the hollow had disappeared in a particularly well-executed sonido. Soon enough, the pink-haired arrancar's spiritual pressure was completely gone.

Damn it, Haru thought as he turned back towards the entrance of the tower. Might as well go out there and help finish the battle, I suppose.

However, when he exited the tower and entered back into the light, he saw the desert sands littered with the broken corpses of the hollows. Most of his squad was still alive, though many of them were injured. Even so, they had defeated the enemy and taken control of Grey Tower, a feat that no Expeditionary squad had accomplished since this hundred-year war with the hollows in the Western Sector had started.

Harukaze sheathed his sword and watched as the surviving shinigami began tending to the wounded and setting up a basic camp. Reinforcements and supplies would be arriving soon as well.

Spiritual pressure suddenly flared up behind him, and Haru turned around to see a messenger kneeling in the sand.

"Urgent message for you, Squad Leader Kuchiki," the messenger said as he handed Haru a rolled up scroll.

Harukaze nodded in thanks as he unfurled the document and the messenger flash-stepped away. Haru's eyes widened as he read the contents.

"What you got there, Kuchiki?" a gruff voice asked.

Haru looked up from the letter to see a tall, burly shinigami with a long, brown beard looking down at him.

"That was fast," Haru remarked as he looked back over to the main site of the battlefield and saw reinforcements pouring in.

The man shrugged. "Well, you guys were pretty quick yourselves. We didn't expect the battle to be over by the time we got here. Some of my men are pretty disappointed, you know."

Haru shrugged. "That's what you get for filling your squad with Eleventh Division members, Hagoro."

"Hey, are you bad-mouthing the Eleventh Division? You're well aware I used to be the fourth seat," Squad Leader Hagoro retorted.

"Take a look at this," Haru said as he handed the letter over to Hagoro.

Hagoro squinted as he read the letter, then let out a low whistle. "Wow, they're calling you back already? And they're planning on making you a captain? Damn, that Kuchiki influence does get you far."

Haru snatched the letter back. "I don't like what you're implying. It's my skill that's led me to this point, not my name. I am one of the only members of the Expeditionary Force capable of performing bankai."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of that. It's not like you remind us all of that fact every two seconds," Hagoro complained as he rolled his shoulders. "Anyway, how are you becoming a captain if there are no available spots open?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're sending someone up to Zero Division, or maybe the Captain Commander has finally decided to retire. The Seireitei has been peaceful as of late."

Hagoro snorted. "Yeah, they get to live in peace while we're out here fighting a pointless, never-ending war."

"Stop complaining," Haru told him. "You've only got a year left of your time here, and our victory today proves that this fight isn't pointless."

Hagoro yawned. "Yeaaah, whatever. Have fun at home, Kuchiki."

The big squad leader then walked off to supervise his men, leaving Harukaze alone with the letter.

He allowed himself a small smile as he looked once more at the message.

It's been five years since I've been home… I wonder how everyone is doing…

He thought of Captain Kyoraku, Byakuya, and, of course, Rukia.

The wind picked up again, and his black hair danced in the desert breeze. He looked out towards the horizon, over the sand dunes and into the vast, blue sky.

Finally.

Ichigo awoke and found himself lying in bed. He managed to sit up, but the screaming pain in his abdomen protested the whole time. He grit his teeth and turned his head to find Ishida in another bed next to his. The quincy was busy reading a book but took a second to glance over at Ichigo.

"So you're awake," Uryu simply said.

"Yeah…" Ichigo stared at the walls and found that he recognized the place.

Kisuke Urahara's shop.

As if on cue, Urahara walked into the room at that exact moment. The shopkeeper smiled at Ichigo as he entered and leaned against the wall opposite to the beds.

"Glad to see you're awake, Ichigo," Urahara said.

Ichigo rubbed his head as the memories of his previous fight came flooding back. Despite the fact that he had been utterly destroyed by that red-haired soul reaper, Ichigo couldn't get his mind off the fact that he had failed to stop Rukia from being taken.

"You alright there?"

Ichigo's head snapped up at the familiar voice.

"Dad?" Ichigo asked in surprise as his father entered the room.

Shit. How am I going to explain this now.

"Don't worry about explanations," Isshin said as if he had read Ichigo's mind. "Kisuke told me everything."

Ichigo stared incredulously at Urahara. He must have come up with a damn good excuse.

Isshin started speaking again. "Ichigo, if you're thinking about going to the Soul Society, don't. It isn't worth it."

Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "Y-you know about the Soul Society?"

Isshin smiled wistfully. "Do I know about it? I lived there, actually."

Before Ichigo could even fully understand what his father just said, Urahara interrupted.

"Ichigo, don't you think it's a bit strange that you have such natural talent at being a soul reaper?"

Ichigo stared at his father. "S-so you were a soul reaper too?"

Isshin nodded. "Captain of the Tenth Division, actually. Needless to say, I no longer have my powers, but the point still stands. You cannot go to the Soul Society to save your friend."

"Speaking of Rukia, do we actually know what her punishment will be?" Uryu interrupted, seemingly unfazed by the events unfolding in front of him. Ichigo assumed that Uryu must have heard all this already while Ichigo was still sound asleep.

"My sources tell me she will be executed," Urahara answered.

Isshin glared at him. "Thanks for being so helpful, Kisuke."

Urahara raised his hands defensively. "What, you want me to lie to them?"

"Of course not," a new, deeper voice said. A man with white hair and a striking resemblance to Uryu entered the room. "They should be given all the information and then be allowed to make their own decisions."

"Are you insane, Ryuken?" Isshin said. "If they go to the Soul Society, they'll die."

Ryuken Ishida's expression remained stoic. "Then they die."

"No one here is dying," Ichigo broke in. "Not me, not Ishida, and especially not Rukia. We're going to the Soul Society to rescue her."

Everyone turned to look at Ichigo, but his eyes remained resolute. Rukia had saved his life and his family's lives, and he could never repay that debt. She knew what the consequences would be if she helped him, yet she did it anyway. Now it was simply Ichigo's turn.

Isshin looked into his son's eyes before sighing. "You're not going to back down on this, are you?"

"Never," came Ichigo's curt reply.

Isshin smirked. "I knew from the very beginning that I wouldn't be able to convince you. However, don't expect that this will be easy."

Urahara nodded in agreement. "You two will need training, and lots of it. Your father as well as myself were both captains in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads at one point, so we know how powerful they are."

"I agree," Uryu said, "but I would imagine that this type of training is going to be very intense, and we don't have the time to wait for our bodies to heal before we begin."

"I thought you might say that," Urahara replied. "Orihime! Come in here please!"

Ichigo and Uryu watched with surprised expressions as their classmate Orihime Inoue entered the room. She waved nervously at the two of them.

"Uryu, Ichigo! Good to see you," she greeted.

"O-orihime?" Ichigo stuttered.

"Both Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora have been training with me for the past couple weeks after Uryu caused that massive hollow attack," Urahara supplied. "I guess they didn't tell you guys."

Orihime walked over to Uryu. The blue pin on her shirt began to glow, and soon enough an orange force field appeared around the quincy. Even Uryu looked stunned at the sight.

"You're healing his wounds?" Ichigo asked, his expression one of awe.

Orihime nodded. "Don't worry, Ichigo. I'll heal yours next."

"Both Chad and Orihime possess innate spiritual abilities," Urahara explained. "Both of their powers work differently, but they are both formidable if used in the right situations."

"Powers? What do you mean?" Uryu asked.

"It's called 'Fullbring.' The short version is that these select few individuals are capable of drawing out the spiritual power of certain objects that they are very attached to," Urahara said.

"Chad and Orihime have both been training hard," Isshin began. "You and Uryu will need to do the same, Ichigo."

Ichigo clenched his fist. Rukia.

He remembered the first time he met her. He remembered when she was willing to listen to him talk about his mother. He remembered when Lieutenant Renji had come to take her away. Most of all, he remembered her eyes when she saw him fall.

Ichigo grit his teeth. I'll never let that happen again. Never.