Ichigo fell to the ground in a miserable heap. He could not get up. He looked over at the mangled thing he saw that was once his enemy. He felt bile rise up in his throat.

No...That wasn't me, that wasn't me, that wasn't me..

But Ichigo knew the repeating a lie wasn't going to make it the truth. He had been the one to that. It was one thing to kill someone, but it was way worse to carve up the corpse. Except, Ichigo hadn't given Ulquiorra the satisfaction of death. He had done the second step far ahead of death...and it sickened him to the core. Nobody deserved something like that...

He heard the clang of metal plunging into the crust of the floor of Hueco Mundo. Ichigo looked up instinctively. It was his sword. Ulquiorra's mangled form slightly ahead of it.

"Finish our battle" The Espada said in a voice far too calm for the state he was in.

"I did that to you..." said Ichigo, struggling to find his voice. "I stabbed Ishida with my sword...If it was I that cut your limbs, Ulquiorra..."

Ichigo grabbed the hilt of his sword and slowly got up, his weight supported by his sword. He swayed dangerously, but did not fall. He took out his sword and pointed it at Ulquiorra.

However, his intent had not been to fight.

"Then cut off mine!" he yelled.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue said; her eyes as wide as saucers. Ulquiorra gazed at Ichigo with an almost amused expression.

"I was unconscious when I fought you...when that thing took control over me...That wasn't me!" Ichigo insisted. "It wouldn't be a fair fight unless I'm in the same state as you!"

"Stop it, Ichigo!" yelled Ishida from where he sat. "Do you realize what you're saying?! Ichigo!"

Ulquiorra however, seemed to have different ideas. "Very well then. I shall comply, if that is your wish"

He spread out his wings, ready to lunge at Ichigo. However, as soon as he spread his wings, they started withering away. Ulquiorra looked at his wings, and made a very audible tsk. "I'm that far gone...?"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the sudden occurrence. Ulquiorra stared Ichigo dead in the eye.

"Kill me"

Ichigo's eyes were now as wide as Orihime's. "Wh-what?"

"Hurry up. I no longer have the strength to walk...You will never finish the fight if you don't kill me"

Ichigo gritted his teeth, his face a sea of emotions. He uttered one word before the darkness enveloped him.

"No"

The first thing Ichigo registered was falling. He was falling at a very fast rate, his body limp. His body felt fragile, as though just touching it would cause him to shatter to a million pieces. He turned around mid flight, and spread his body into the typical skydiving styled fall.

He was very high up. He could tell that by the nearing of clouds. At least he had Zangetsu with him...right?

Still in his tattered Bankai outfit, Ichigo gripped Zangetsu as tightly as possible and braced for his fall. He would maybe survive it if he hadn't been in a fight. He literally had no idea on how he was going to survive this.

As soon as he passed through the clouds, Ichigo got a view of what he was falling down to. It was a city, a pretty big one, maybe twice the size of Karakura. In the middle, was probably one of the hugest buildings of the place.

Ichigo could make out people coming out of this huge building. He couldn't make out who they were, or how they knew he was falling. He closed his eyes, and hoped he'd live through this.

Fairy Tail had just won the Grand Magic Games, and was feeling pretty content. Even for a guild as bustling as Fairy Tail, they needed their rest. Even Natsu and Gray weren't fighting, which certainly amounted to something.

Lucy Heartfilia had just gotten back from a mission that had taken her out of town to some perverted old man's estate. The mission had been to find a set of rather immature magazines that had been stolen by some monsters. Why the monsters had stolen it? Lucy had no idea. But she was tired, as they had walked all the way (Gray and Natsu had insisted on it, as they had made a bet about who would reach there first. There was no Erza around to curb them, as she had gone on a mission alone. It ended with both of the said mages collapsed near the entrance of the Guild Hall)

"Mirajane...be honest to me...Just why are they always so competitive?" uttered Lucy in an exasperated tone, to which Mirajane simply laughed jovially.

"They've been like that for as far as I can imagine! Besides, they are the life of the party"

"Yeah...You could say that" mumbled Lucy. "Has Erza arrived yet?"

"Nope. She went on an S-ranked job and still hasn't returned. Give it time. Her job is probably destroying another one of Zeref's monsters"

"Like Deliora" said Lucy, remembering the monster Natsu had caused to fall apart (All though it hadn't been due to his power).

"Oh well. I think I'll go home to my ho-"

It happened instantly. Everyone in the Guild felt it. A vast amount of magical energy was being exerted, making it difficult for most people to stand. Most of the mages like Mirajane, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Lucy didn't suffer as badly as the considerably weaker members of Fairy tail, but they felt it. Natsu and Gray quickly got to their feet, applying extra effort due to this alien source of power.

"Can magic be used that way?" Mirajane asked, looking over at the Guild Master who had just come out of his room.

"I haven't felt like this in a long time" muttered Makarov. "Everybody! Outside! From the pressure I'm feeling, the origin of this source is from up..."

And so, the member of Fairy tail went out. The mages weren't the only one who felt the power. People were outside, gazing at the sky.

"There" said Alzack, pointing at the sky. His eyesight was pretty good, considering his wife and he were marksmen "You can see it, can't you, Bisca?"

Bisca nodded. "A human. He's falling fast...He's...got a sword in his hand?"

"That can't be right" said Makarov. "I could have sworn some demon was emitting this...No human should be capable of that..."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to save him, of course!" said Lucy. "He can't be doing this on purpose. He probably fought someone in the sky..."

"Maybe he's a dragon slayer! He could have fought a dragon!" chimed Natsu, suddenly interested in this boy.

"None of us can fly. The ones who can probably can't help him. Where's Panther Lily?!" Makarov demanded, looking at Gajeel, who simply shrugged at the question.

"Master. I can fly with Satan Soul" said Mirajane. Makarov nodded.

"Tell that man to stop emitting his magical energy like that while you're at it. If he tries to attack you, take him down"

Mirajane nodded, and activated her Satan Soul take over. She had never seen Makarov this scared, the one time being when he had seen Acnologia. Mirajane spread her bat-like wings, and flew towards the falling boy.

Ichigo was gaining a little bit of his energy back. Still not enough to prevent him from falling though. He squinted his eyes as he noticed something come towards him. Something vaguely humanoid.

"Great" he yelled, for the wind made it impossible for him to speak otherwise. "A Hollow. Just great" he gripped his sword and watched as the figure drew closer.

Mirajane frowned as she looked at the boy clearly. He was about her age, give or take maybe two years. He had orange hair, and was half naked. His shirt had been torn off completely, except for a circular piece of cloth around his waist.

Mirajane had not expected to see him. She had expected to see some sort of powerful being. It was tough getting close to him. It felt like a huge hand was pushing her away.

"Stay back!" she made him say that much. She rushed towards him, and stopped flying, so as to mirror his falling style.

"Stop emitting so much magical energy! It's hurting us!"

"Like hell I will, hollow!" he said, and did a rather pathetic attempt of trying to cut Mirajane. The blade didn't even come close to Mirajane.

"Hollow? What the hell is that?"

"Nice try!" the boy growled and swung again, this one far weaker than its predecessor. Mirajane sighed.

"I don't know what this hollow thing is, and nor am I going to act like I care. Do you want to live or not? Because you are in NO condition to argue. All I want is for you to stop letting out so much energy!"

"I have no idea what you're on about!"

Mirajane sighed. He wasn't much of a threat, so she decided to just do what Master Makarov had asked. She grabbed his arm and instantly, the boy stopped falling. It was truly...odd. Mirajane hung up in the sky with the boy dangling. They slowly descended down.

As Ichigo's feet touched the ground, his figure completely crumpled. He fell to the ground, exhausted. His vision was a big blur. He felt two pairs of hands picking him up by his arms.

"What the...Stop" Ichigo muttered, his head now spinning. He was being carried somewhere.

"Let go..." his voice was weak. He hated it when got beaten. He hated it when he could not protect the people he had sworn to. He hated the fact that he had carved a living soul.

All in all, Ichigo hated himself. He hated himself more than anything, more than the Arrancars, more than Urahara's stupid expressions, more than Yoruichi's constant teasing, and more than Aizen. He guessed Aizen had succeeded.

He had broken Ichigo Kurosaki, and Ichigo feared he might never come back. For the third time in the span of twenty four hours, he blacked out.

"He's waking up!"

"Brilliant! Can I fight him now?"

"Of course you can't, idiot! Look at him! He probably can't handle himself in a fight, in the condition he's in. Just how thick are you, Natsu?!"

"Shut up, Perv! Are you allergic to clothes, or something?"

"Make it stop" Ichigo moaned. His ears were paining at the yelling.

"Good. So you can speak" Ichigo's eyes fluttered open. He was lying down on a pretty comfortable bed. He got up, and faced a dozen people. Each and every one of them looked so odd. For starters, there was a blue flying cat. Ichigo frowned at the person who had spoken to him, a man about half of Rukia's height.

"Am I dead?"

The man snorted. "Far from it. You're alive, but barely. If it weren't for Wendy here, you'd be dead" The man gestured to a petite blue haired girl, who also seemed to be accompanied by a flying cat. She looked at him shyly. She appeared oddly familiar. Ichigo had a lot of questions, however the first thing that came to mind was

"I've never seen a flying cat before!"

"It's because we're so awesome, that you barely see us!" The cat answered.

"You can talk too?" He looked back at the short old man. "You sure I'm not dead?"

"I'm sure" promised the boy.

"Um. Mister, if you don't mind, can you tell us what you were doing in the sky? You were letting out so much magical energy..."

"Magical energy? You mean Reiatsu?"

Everybody around him frowned.

"You mean this?" He said, and allowed the little Reiatsu he had out, imitating the technique that Zaraki usually displayed. Everyone around him nodded, although it barely affected them anymore.

"Sorry. I can't control that when I'm..." his voice trailed off. He was about to say 'When I'm fighting' but for some reason, it appeared to be a delicate. He saw that everyone was waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"So um...Do you mind telling me where exactly the hell I am?"

"You're in Magnolia! If you want more specifics, you're in Fairy Tail!"

"What's that?" said Ichigo, searching the room for Zangetsu. It was propped on a table at the far end of the room. He heard someone spit something. He turned to look at a woman drinking alcohol straight out of the barrel.

"He's joking right? He hasn't heard of us?"

"Damn it, Cana! You mind aiming before you spit out booze?"

"Why would I bother aiming my spit, Gray?" She snarled at a half naked boy. He smacked a pink haired boy in the face when he heard the boy laugh. They both stared daggers at each other.

"We're a guild! In fact, we're the strongest guild in the country!"

"You guys?" asked Ichigo, not all too impressed at the group of people.

"Yep! We're a family. Our very purpose is to nurture friendship and keep looking forward!"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. These clichéd dialogues hurt his already throbbing head.

"You shouldn't move around a lot. You've still not recovered fully!" the blue haired girl said.

"You still haven't told us what you were doing up there!" A blonde girl stepped in and asked him. Ichigo frowned. Despite the stereotype, this girl didn't seem dumb at first glance.

"I'd tell you if I knew. Truth is, I have no idea how I got there, nor do I know of a place called Magnolia. I'm from Karakura town...You people heard of it?"

They all shook their heads.

"Thought so"

"Except you've come from a town! We're the strongest guild in Fiore! How can you NOT know us?"

"Simple, ain't it? I'm not from here. I have no idea how I got here, and I've never heard of a place of Fiore"

"When you say 'You're not from here'. What do you mean?"

"I don't know' Ichigo frowned. He had a feeling he was going to repeat that sentence quite a lot in the future.

"What's the last thing you remember before falling?"

"Well...I was protecting a friend of mine" said Ichigo. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as he remembered why he had been in Hueco Mundo.

"My sword!" he yelled. "I-I can't stay here! I need to go to Hueco Mundo, I need to save Orihime! I-I..."

But Ichigo knew, that right now, there was no way in hell he could fight Aizen. Heck, Ulquiorra had shot a hole through his freaking heart! If it hadn't been for his hollow, he'd be dead.

"You're in no condition to move, nonetheless fight. Saving can wait"

"You don't understand!" growled Ichigo. "She's my friend! I need to protect her!"

"Protecting can wait. Until then, why don't you join us? Fairy tail is all about protecting our comrades!" said the small man, repeating his previous sentence.

"I thought I told you! I can't wait! I have to get out of here!" The people around him were beginning to irritate him.

"You know what? Fine. If you can walk till the end of the door without collapsing, we'll let you go..."

"Fine!" said Ichigo, and got up. The pain was instantaneous. He felt like a spiritual pressure a thousand times that of Kenpachi was fighting him, although he knew there was nothing of that sort. Fatigue was getting to his brain, and it was climbing there fast.

He fell back on the bed. "You win' he grumbled.

"Well then. Now that that's worked out, I insist that you think about our offer. Fairy Tail is a family, a family worth protecting. You never did tell us your name. I'm Makarov, head of Fairy Tail guild"

"My name...is Ichigo Kurosaki. Glad to meet you, Makarov. I'd offer you my hand, but I doubt my body's ready for that"

A burst of laughter was heard from behind him. He frowned and looked at who it was. It was the pink haired boy and his friend, Gray. (The one the girl had spat booze on).

"Natsu! Gray! What're you laughing about!"

"His name...Haha~, his name is Strawberry! Who'd name him that?!"

Ichigo quickly frowned. Stupidity was a disease, and it became contagious when his name was mentioned.

"It means 'One who protects', rosemary!" Ichigo growled at the boy named Natsu. Natsu instantly frowned.

"You wanna go at it, boy?"

"Bring it on!" Ichigo growled, glaring daggers at the pink-haired mage. It took him a moment to remember that the boy would probably pummel him in the state he was in, right now.

The blonde girl slapped her forehead. "As though two of them weren't enough...We've got to put up with three of them, now? I'm Lucy Heartfilia" She said, and held her hand up in a friendly gesture. Each of the people around him introduced themselves to Ichigo.

"So, you're joining Fairy Tail right?" asked Mirajane, the girl who had saved him from falling (All though she looked entirely different now. If someone hadn't told Ichigo she was the person who had flown towards him, he probably would have never known. The only resemblance was the Silvery hair)

"For the time being, yeah" said Ichigo, nodding. He guessed he had to. Despite what Makarov said, he was right. Saving was going to have to wait. He just hoped his friends were safe.

"Well then, where do you want the Guild insignia? Everybody has one!"

"The guild insignia?" Ichigo frowned as Mirajane took out a small stamp.

"People need a way of knowing that you're from Fairy Tail, right? I stamp this into anywhere you want"

"Hm" Ichigo said. He dug around his pants and retrieved his Substitute Soul reaper badge. "You mind putting it here?"

"Not at all!" Mirajane smiled. "What colour do you want it to be in?"

Ichigo thought about it a little, and then smiled a little, for the first time since he had landed here. "Does it come in black?"

Author Notes: For those of you have read the manga alone...

So yeah, I'm making a few changes here. This is set in the Ulquiorra arc, so Ichigo doesn't really know that he's a Quincy or anything like that. He doesn't know that a technique called the Final Getsuga Tenshou exists or anything of that sort!

And this is set right after the Grand Magic games arc. I'm making a few tweaks to this, though. In this Ichigo is around nineteen years old. It's probably a huge leap, but meh, why not?