I do NOT own Bleach or Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin

Ichigo let out a deep sigh as he put away his math homework. After an hour and a half, he was finally done with it. As he opened his desk drawer, he saw his Substitute Soul Reaper badge. There hadn't been any Hollows lately, something he was thankful for. The only downside to not having any Hollows to deal with was the boredom that came along with it.

It wasn't only him either. Uryu, Chad, and Orihime also thought it rather dull. Heck, even Tatsuki and Chizuru felt the same way-Keigo, not so much.

Laying down on his bed, his phone buzzed. He picked it up from his desk and read the message.

To: Kurosaki Ichigo

From: Inoue Orihime

Hello, Ichigo! I hope I'm not disturbing you! I just wanted to let you know I have extra bread from the bakery again! Would you like some?

Ichigo was a little surprised at first that he got a message from Orihime. They had exchanged numbers a little bit before she was taken to Hueco Mundo, but despite it being almost two years since then, she had only contacted him a few times.

He remembered when he had asked her for her number, she had turned red and had begun stuttering. Even to this day, he still didn't understand why she reacted like that.

He remembered telling his sisters how puzzled he was regarding Orihime's reaction, only for Karin to roll her eyes at him while calling him an "oblivious idiot" while Yuzu just shook her head in disappointment at him.

It was just an exchange of information, wasn't it?

Coming back to the present, Ichigo couldn't refuse. The bread at the bakery was always a treat and Yuzu would kill him should he refuse the bread…and Orihime.

~With Orihime~

Orihime was shifting from one foot to the other as she awaited Ichigo's response. Maybe he was asleep? She slapped her forehead for disturbing his rest.

Oh, I'm so foolish! I hope Ichigo won't be upset with me if I woke him up! She thought, while pouting cutely. Just as she had given up with a sigh of defeat, her phone buzzed. Her mood changed instantly.

To: Inoue Orihime

From: Kurosaki Ichigo

Yeah, that'd be nice. Come on over.

Orihime became redder than a tomato and before she knew what she was doing, she was happily skipping towards Ichigo's house/clinic.

~With Ichigo~

Ichigo didn't know why, but being around Orihime was oddly enjoyable. Sure, she was pretty weird, but he figured that was what set her apart from all the other girls…and from his friends…and people in general. He sweatdropped.

After a few minutes, he heard a doorbell and got up from his bed. As he approached the stairs, Yuzu zoomed past him and opened the door to reveal Orihime.

"Orihime, welcome! Come in, come in!" Yuzu said happily.

"A-Ah, n-no! I don't want to intrude; I can just drop them-!"

"It's fine, Orihime, come on in." Ichigo said.

Karin pulled her in, who bowed in thanks. She took her shoes off and handed the basket to Yuzu, whose eyes were sparkling at the deliciousness. Karin raised her eyebrows, impressed with the display.

Orihime didn't move from her spot before the door. The last time she did this, they had to deal with the Fullbringers. Ever since then, she became paranoid about bringing bread to Ichigo's home/clinic, until Tatsuki punched her out of it.

"Come on up." He casually said, making her flustered again-to which he didn't understand why. Before she could respond, her stomach let out a long growl. She quickly wrapped her arms around her stomach, apologizing profusely. Karin just smirked, while Yuzu smiled sympathetically.

"Don't worry, dinner's almost ready Orihime." She said, before heading to the kitchen with her twin sister.

Orihime bowed in gratitude and made her way up the stairs, her body slightly trembling. Ichigo didn't notice, already making his way to his room. He took a seat on his desk chair and gestured for Orihime to sit on his bed. She almost had a heart attack.

"S-So…h-how have you b-been?" She asked nervously, fidgeting like crazy.

"Fine. Why are you fidgeting so much? You did this a lot last time you were here."

"W-Well! I-It's like last time w-where I didn't expect you to invite me in!"

"Oh. Well, we're friends aren't we? I don't see what the problem is." He said. A knock came at the door. Ichigo got up and opened it to see Isshin holding a tray of snacks and tea.

What disturbed Ichigo however was the weird, wide grin on his father's face. Ichigo took the tray, kicked his father in the face, and slammed the door shut.

"Stupid Goat-face," he muttered. "Sorry about that. Here we go." He set the tray down at the edge of his desk. Orihime shyly thanked him before picking up her cup.

After a while, Yuzu called them down for dinner. As they made their way downstairs, Orihime could hear her heart pounding against her chest. What made things even worse was that Ichigo's family had decided the two sit next to each other. But while the dinner went along smoothly, Orihime was waging a war with herself.

After dinner, Orihime stayed a few more minutes to allow her food to settle before thanking the Kurosaki family once again.

As she was putting her shoes on, Ichigo popped up next to her with his already on. She stared at him confused.

"Hurry, I'm walking you home. I don't trust you being out there by yourself. Something might happen again." Ichigo said, referring to her being kidnapped by Ulquiorra and then being slashed down by Tsukishima.

"N-No! It really is fine!" She said. Yuzu and Karin looked at each other and nodded.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Orihime." Karin said, earning the two teenagers' attention. "There have been some incidents happening at night lately."

Yuzu nodded, making Orihime 'eek', to which Ichigo just opened the door and waited outside. Not wanting to him keep him out too long, she hurried with her shoes, bid his siblings a goodnight, and met him outside.

The walk home was quiet but nice. Orihime kept glancing at Ichigo from her peripheral.

"It's been quiet lately, huh?" He suddenly asked. Orihime looked at him confused before understanding his question.

"Oh…yeah, it has." She said softly. "I somewhat prefer it this way."

"Yeah. It's nice not having to fight every night."

"It's not just that...," She said.

He turned to her, "What do you mean?"

"We get the chance to be normal teenagers again." His eyes softened in understanding. "Going to school, going to work, going home, doing homework, going to sleep at a proper hour…It's nice."

"Yeah, it is." He said.

After a few minutes of silence, Orihime made an 'O' with her mouth, "Oh yeah, we're still going to Soul Society tomorrow right?"

Ichigo nodded, to which Orihime giggled gleefully. "I can't wait to see everyone! It's been so long."

Ichigo waited for Orihime to unlock her door before bidding her a goodnight. She watched his retreating figure for a few more seconds before going inside.

Ichigo yawned as he walked back home. Orihime's house was about 15 minutes walking from his, so it wasn't too bad.

~The Next Day~

Ichigo, Yoruichi, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu watched as Urahara set up the Senkaimon for transport. After a few seconds, it opened up and the group stepped inside.

"Don't forget to get me a souvenir Yoruichi!" Kisuke called happily.

"The only thing you'll get is my foot in your face if you say something stupid like that again, Kisuke."

"A-ha, you love me." He teased. He immediately regretted his actions when a rock came crashing into his face.

"We'll be back soon!" Orihime called. Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, and Kisuke waved goodbye, ignoring the fact that the shopkeeper's nose was bleeding profusely. But as soon as the Senkaimon closed, Urahara felt a chill run down his spine. Tessai looked at him.

"Boss, is something wrong?"

Urahara hid his face behind his fan, "…I hope not."

~The Dangai~

The group made their way through, conversing (Orihime, Yoruichi, and Chad) and arguing (Ichigo and Uryu) as they did.

"God, will you shut up already Ichigo?!" Uryu yelled.

"Why don't you do us all the favor of shutting up?!" he countered.

Yoruichi watched the two in amusement before feeling a chill run down her spine. She immediately went into serious-mode and began looking around, trying to find any abnormalities.

Was I just imagining things?

~Shinigami Research and Development Institution~

Akon was looking over new data when something started blinking in his peripheral. He moved over to the super computer on his right and began typing in codes.

What he saw shocked him, "Get Captain Kurotsuchi immediately!"

~The Dangai~

"We're almost there," Chad said, getting everyone's attention.

"Good," Yoruichi responded, walking ahead, "let's go." Everyone followed suit. As they exited the Senkaimon-atop Sokyoku Hill-they were welcomed by a few friends.

"Rukia!" Orihime said happily, running to hug her. Renji, Rangiku, Toshiro, Byakuya, Soi Fon, and Ukitake were also there.

"Hey Orihime, long time, no see." Rukia hugged her back. Rangiku came and hugged Orihime.

"Rangiku! I missed you!" she said.

"And I missed you, too!" The lieutenant said happily.

"I love the way you cut your hair!" Orihime smiled. Rangiku did a hair flip.

"Thanks!" she winked.

"Yoruichi-sama! Was your journey alright?" Soi Fon walked/skipped up to her master.

"It was a piece of cake, Soi Fon." Yoruichi smiled.

"Hey Uryu, hey Chad." Renji greeted. Ukitake, Toshiro, and Byakuya seemed puzzled.

"Where is Ichigo?" Toshiro asked.

All four of them suddenly froze before turning to see the Senkaimon close and disappear.

"Ichi…go?!"

~Shinganshina, Wall Maria~

Ichigo opened his eyes, coming in contact with a crescent moon. As he sat up, he noticed he was on a slab of concrete. He groaned, settling onto his butt. He massaged his temples, cursing under his breath for whatever was the causing this growing headache. He was also really exhausted for some reason.

"About time you woke up, King." Came a voice behind him. Ichigo froze and quickly prayed he was in a dream. As he turned around, his eyes widened. Sitting down casually on a broken house was his Hollow counterpart, smiling evilly at him.

"You…?!"

"Me." His smile widened, eyes having a crazy look in them.

He suddenly jumped into the sky, taking out the new Zangetsu and dropping down onto Ichigo. The teenager had to no time to react, only being able to close his eyes and shield his face. He waited, but the blade never came. He opened his eyes when he heard his Hollow snickering.

"Sorry King, but now's not the time to be killing you. You need to fix the shit you got us into this time."

Ichigo stood up, though it required some effort, "What's going on?! How are you even here? Where are we? Where are my friends?!"

"Fucking hell, what makes you think I know? I only came out when I couldn't feel the Old Man anymore. All I knew after that was this wasn't Soul Society."

"What do you couldn't feel the Old Man?" Ichigo then began to concentrate, only to feel nothing inside him other than his Hollow's reiatsu. Ichigo began to panic as he looked over at his Hollow with a scared look.

"Don't worry King, I'm not going to do anything…for now." Ichigo scoffed, "Besides, I'm more concerned with where we are, because this sure as hell ain't Soul Society."

Ichigo looked around, "Where are we then?"

"Again, why do you assume I have the answers? I'm even more confused because of that." The Hollow pointed, making Ichigo turn. He saw the top of a large wall far away from them.

"A wall?"

"A wall within a wall."

"What do you mean? I don't see any other wall."

His Hollow rolled his eyes, "I have much better senses than you do, King. Though it's been fucked up, we're surrounded by a large wall right now too."

Ichigo didn't bother trying to see, it was pitch dark and the moon hardly provided any light with the clouds obscuring it.

"This wall is destroyed, but that one isn't. Safest bet would be to go there."

"Are you kidding me? We don't know what's on the other side!" Ichigo half-yelled.

"Fine. Let's wait here. In the dark. In the middle of fucking nowhere."

Ichigo scowled, and without a word, turned on his heel and Shunpoed towards the wall. His Hollow chuckled as he easily caught up, until he grabbed his sleeve, making Ichigo stop.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo demanded. His body was giving out as it was, he needed to get out of the wide open area they were currently in.

"Something's up."

"Huh?"

"Pay attention, idiot. We're surrounded by hundreds of souls." Ichigo went eye-wide as he began to look around, suddenly sensing a very large number of Pluses.

"Where are they though? I can't see them."

"That's why I said something's up. They're here, but they can't be seen. They're all scared of something…What a bunch of pussies."

"Don't be an asshole!" Ichigo glared.

"Whatever, we can't do shit for them anyway. Let's go." His Hollow counterpart began to make his way towards the wall again.

"Hey, wait! I have to perform a Konso!"

"King, this isn't our world, so a Konso might not work. Besides, ya can't even see the damn things and honestly, ya really wanna crowd up Rukongai even more? Not that I care, but seeing as you get all emotional over dumb shit like that, I'm not too sure you'd be up for it."

The slums of Rukongai suddenly appeared in Ichigo's mind. He decided against it. These souls were terrified as it was. Putting them there would make matters worse…and make him feel really guilty.

"Okay…," he said, feeling sorry for them, "let's go." The two made their way to the wall, with Ichigo using Shunpo and his Hollow using Sonido.

As the two approached, they finally realized just how tall the structure was.

"Holy shit." Ichigo whispered. He could hardly see, but he could tell from the much darker shade of…whatever, that he was staring up at the wall.

"It's only about 50 meters, get over it." His Hollow smiled as he jumped up, not waiting for Ichigo.

"Wait, dammit!" He shouted, jumping up after him. When he got to the top, Ichigo was out of breath, but his Hollow was nowhere to be found. Ichigo suddenly felt a pull and realized his Hollow had retreated inside him.

"Good...," He muttered. He squinted his eyes, trying to enhance his vision as best he could.

Hold your ground, King. You're surrounded.

Ichigo froze as he heard his Hollow's words. He then felt the faint presences of souls; his Hollow was right. Ichigo could tell these people were just ordinary humans, so there was no need to pull out Zangetsu.

He walked along the wall, until he heard a small stomp and quickly turned around, his hand on Zangetsu's hilt. A few whizzing sounds were heard, confusing him, and a figure suddenly launched above him, two blades in hand.

"Oh hell no," Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu and deflected the attack with ease. Two more came from behind, but Ichigo was more than ready for them. He evaded an attack and kicked one person against a crate, while side-stepping the other and disarming them. Three more came, but Ichigo was prepared. He parried them with Zangetsu, taking mental notes of what they were saying to one another.

"Stop this intruder!" one ordered.

"Take him down!" another said.

"Get the rope ready!"

These guys…aren't necessarily trying to kill me. Ichigo thought. So what should I do?

Kill them.

"Shut up," Ichigo muttered, "Please, wait!" Ichigo held his hands up in surrender, shoulders heaving up and down. Damn, his body was going to give out any second. He found it embarrassing that humans were able to get the jump on him like this.

"Halt!" Came a voice. Ichigo turned to the source, but because of the darkness, he couldn't make out a face. All he knew was that it was a male.

"Intruder, are you friend or foe?"

"I could ask you the same thing…You guys just started…attacking me." Ichigo quipped.

"Where do you hail from?"

"…Karakura Town."

"What the hell is that?" someone whispered.

"Where am I? What is this place? What's with the hugeass wall?"

"Hold on…are you from…beyond the walls?" A person on Ichigo's left asked.

Agree, King.

"…Yeah."

"I see." Came the voice once more. "Then, please come quietly."

"How do I know you won't try anything?" Ichigo asked.

"I am a man of my word." Ichigo narrowed his eyes but put Zangetsu on his back and surrendered. "Thank you." Ichigo's wrists were cuffed, "Apologies, but this is for safety measures. We can't have you threatening the civilians."

"I'm not…gonna…"

"Huh? What'd you say?" a soldier asked.

Ichigo was about to respond when he collapsed, letting the darkness engulf him.