Ichigo sat lightly on his bed, thinking about the times he had spent with Rukia. He missed having her around, and going out on missions with her. But because he had lost all of his Soul Reaper powers, all of that was gone. Now Karin had all the spiritual power, and he was just some relatively average Joe. He still had all of the physical strength that he had gotten from all of his Soul Reaper training but that was about it.
Standing up, he began getting ready for school. Grabbing his bag, he moved toward the door. Before his hand touched that handle, a strange sound drifted over to him from his window. Glancing back, he saw two or three human shaped apparitions. He couldn't see them clearly, but he could hear them perfectly .
"I still can't believe that he lost all of his powers. I wish he could still see us, if only to wipe that sad look off of his face. And so I could give him a big hug."
"I know me too. But we have to go. We have a mission to carry out here, and we don't have any time to waste."
"Yeah, let's go. He can't see us, so let's just forget him for now." As the apparitions left, Ichigo realized that he knew those voices. They had belonged to Rukia, Renji, and Rangiku! Shaking his head, Ichigo took off for school. Uryu, Orihime, Chad, and all of his other friends were waiting for him.
"Hey," Ichigo greeted his friends. "Come on, let's go. If we don't leave now, we're going to be late." Nodding his friends followed him, all talking at once to each other. Tatsuki was defending Orihime from Chizuru, Keigo was complaining to Mizuiro about not having a girlfriend, and Uryu was talking quietly to Chad. All was peaceful, for now.