There were many things that you could call Ichigo Kurosaki. Brash, hot headed, stubborn. However. Stupid was not one of them. He had known he was being followed from the moment he has stepped out of the school and had begun to make his way home. From the feel of the person and the fact that no one else seemed to notice gave him more reason to believe that they were from the soul society. 'But why are they following me?'
Turning down an alleyway, he made sure that no one was around before turning around and facing the alley entrance as he waited for whoever it was following him to appear. He did not have to wait long before the figure rounded the corner and stopped a few feet in front of him, Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, his customary scowl in place as he studied the person in front of him. They were covered from head to toe in black, only their eyes showing from underneath the face mask that they wore. From what he could tell by general body shape, it was a man hidden underneath the thick layers of robe.
"Oi, why the hell are you following me? Did the old man send you?" Ichigo demanded and his scowl deepened when the ninja didn't respond. Instead, he reached into the sleeve of his robe and pulled out a small tanto. Ichigo took a step back in confusion.
"Hey, what are yo-" His question was cut off by the black-clad ninja lunging towards him, swiping the dagger towards Ichigo's throat. He jumped backward, barely avoiding getting his throat slit, the dagger nicking his collarbone.
Ichigo stumbles backward with a curse, bringing up his hand to clutch the place the dagger had scraped. "Hey! What the hell is your problem!" he shouted, his other hand reaching down for his soul reaper badge that was hooked onto the belt loop of his jeans. The ninja made to strike again when a gray and blonde streak blurred in front of him. There was a clang of metal followed by a grunt of pain and the black-clad ninja fell to the ground dead. Shinji turned to him, his telltale grin missing from his face as he looked Ichigo over for injuries.
"Are you hurt?" he asked. Ichigo shook his head, frowning down at the dead soul reaper.
"What the hell is going on Shinji? Why are guys the soul society attacking me?" Shinji let out a tired sigh.
"Seems like the Soul Society found out about your hollow," he said. "They are attacking you for the same reason that they sentenced us to death." His foot nudged the fallen body and he pursed his lips. "Although, this guy must have been acting against orders. I doubt they would have sent only one Onmitsukido to take you out, especially knowing how powerful you are."
"But-" Ichigo started but Shinji cut him off feeling several high spiritual pressures coming towards them.
"We have to go Ichigo. Things will be explained later. First, we have to get out of here." Ichigo clenched his jaw tight, his hands balled into fist.
"Fine, but I'm not going anywhere until I find out whether my family and friends are okay." he crossed his arms stubbornly and Shinji felt a fond smile make its way to his face.
"I swear to you they are, Urahara has them in a safe place. He and Yoruichi collected them earlier," he promised. There was a spike of spiritual pressure and they both tensed at how close it was.
"I'm trusting your word on this Shinji, Let's go." They both took off down the alleyway using Shunpo. 'I'll have to remember to thank Machiro for teaching me how to do this in my human body.' Ichigo thought as he followed closely behind Shinji. They'd made it halfway when Ichigo felt a familiar presence. Shinji stopped and glared at the small shinigami that appeared in front of them.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Toshiro." He studied the white-haired Captain, hand reaching for the shinigami badge at his waist in case he needed to quickly jump out of his body. Toshiro stood there stoically, his face not giving away any of what he was thinking.
"Are you here to betray me as well, Toshiro!" Ichigo demanded angrily and this time Toshiro wince. His eyes went to the unfamiliar blonde standing protectively in front of Ichigo.
"Who are you?" He questioned. Shinji gave him a humorless grin.
"Who I am is not important to you, Shinigami." He spat the word and Toshiro stared at him for a long moment before he finally spoke.
"Go, they have most of squad two looking for you and your friends, Kurosaki." His voice was cold as he settled teal eyes on Ichigo. "I'm really am sorry Ichigo, but know that not everyone agrees with what is happening."
Ichigo gave him a sad smile, "Thanks, Toshiro."
Toshiro's lip quirked into a small smile. "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you, Kurosaki," he said. All of their heads snapped up at the spike of spirit energy that was heading their way. Toshiro's eyes hardened. "I never saw you, now go!" he ordered. With a grateful nod, both Ichigo and Shinji shot off.
They changed routes several times before they finally reached the warehouse that was the Vizard's base. When they finally entered inside, Ichigo noted the worried expressions on everyone's faces that quickly morphed into ones of relief once they spotted the orange haired teen. Ichigo looked around the group noticing that his sisters or any of his friends, including Tessai, the kids, or Yoruichi were not there.
His eyes wandered until they landed on his father and what he saw made his jaw drop. There standing next to Kisuke was Isshin, dressed in a shihakusho and a white garment attached to one side, the remnants of a captain's haori. Isshin caught his son's gaze with a guilty expression.
"Look Ichigo, I was going to tell you-" Ichigo cut him off with a raise of his hand.
"Don't, I think I understand. You have your reasons for not telling me, I get it. Tell me when you're ready." Isshin could only stare at his son in amazement before he gave him a soft smile of gratitude.
"Where are Karin and Yuzu?" Ichigo asked and Kisuke stepped forward, his tell-tale fan in place hiding his expression.
"Worry not Ichigo, I have them with Tessai and Yoruichi. Your friends are there as well, it's a secret location I created just in case something like this happened." Ichigo's eyes narrowed.
"In case something like this happened? You were expecting this. Hell, I still don't understand completely what's going on here. All I know is that the Soul Society sent a bunch of assholes out to "exterminate" me and my friends!" Ichigo scowl deepened with his angry, those caramel orbs hard. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall, a sharp wave of dizziness hitting him. He clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath hoping to ebb away the nausea that had decided to make itself known, he rubbed his shoulder where a dull ache had began to form.
"So can someone please explain to me exactly why the Soul Society has decided to make it their unlife mission to kill me." They all exchanged looks causing Ichigo to raise a brow. Isshin spoke up.
"Look Ichigo, there are a few other things that we should explain before that." He said. Ichigo's brows rose even higher at that.
"Explain? Explain what?" He questioned. From the shadows of the room, a tall figure emerged.
"I think they mean me, Kurosaki-Kun." Ichigo's eyes widened at the figure of Sosuke Aizen.
"The fuck?!"