I do not own Bleach, the awesome Kubo does

Set after they're done fighting the arrancar that come to Karakura town

Please review!!! It helped keep me motivated to write more chapters if I know people are reading it

Ichigo panted as coughed and glared at the arrancar. He glanced at his comrades around him. Ishida was losing a battle to a huge, leering arrancar that was toying with him. Sado was barely standing, but he was holding his ground. Inoue lay on the ground, unmoving, and Rukia was swaying as she stood above Inoue, trying to protect her. Urahara was going against three arrancars at once, and although he was at captain-level, he was losing his ground. Renji had already lost one arm, but he and Zabimaru were fighting till the end. This…could not be happening. Where was the rest of Soul Society? Why hadn't they come yet? The buildings around them lay in ruins as the city night sky slowly turned dark. The clouds hung from the sky and the dry wind howled around the fighting figures. Blood colored the gray pavement and rubble.

" You bastards! What do you want with us?" shouted Ichigo in a last desperation. He already had multiple wounds and arrancar was still unhurt.

" tsk tsk. You shouldn't be whining when you're about to lose. Well, since you do look extremely piteous, let me tell you. Aizen-sama sent us here to practice. We were getting bored in Hueco Mundo, so he let us have some fun and practice our skills. I wasn't expecting much from mere Shinigamis but this is even worse than I thought." Laughed the arrancar. He swung his released zanpaktou again and Ichigo tried to dodge it but it caught his shoulder and ripped it apart. He fell down on his knees, gasping in pain as quarts of blood shot out.

" This is the end you pathetic shinigami. Remember my name well, Arrancar No. 5, Shishino!" The arrancar gathered his reitsu and swung the sword with all his might on the defenseless Ichigo. Ichigo tried to make his body move, but it was past its limit and he saw the sword come at his at incredible speeds. Is this really the end…?, he thought.

Suddenly, a bright red flash appeared out of nowhere and hit the arrancar's sword with such forced that it was forced off its path towards Ichigo.

Byakuya walked calmly along the destruction towards a shocked and relieved Ichigo. Ichigo looked behind him and saw Soi Fon was just behind him. Ukitake stepped out of the gate along with Shunshi. Kenpachi crashed down from the sky and roared " Where the hell are my arrancar? Which one of you wants to play?",and started charging at the nearest arrancar. Byakuya glanced down at Ichigo and said "We will take it from here." Ichigo was relieved but he was angry that he wasn't able to fight off the arrancar and protect his friends. He suddenly heart Ishida shout in horror and quickly turned around to see what was going on. His heart stopped.

A sword had pierced Rukia's chest, right where her heart was. The arrancar grinned evilly and twisted his sword around in her body before roughly pulling it out and stabbing her again. Ichigo suddenly shot up from where he was kneeling and ran towards her with strength that appeared out of nowhere. No! he shouted and attacked the arrancar who barely knew what hit him before taking Zangetsu in his head and he began disappearing. Ichigo caught Rukia's limp body before it hit the ground. Her eyes were half closed and she whispered his name.

"Help!" he shouted but the rest of the shinigamis and his friends were busy fighting their own enemy. Ichigo had no healing powers and the blood pouring out of Rukia's wound was frightening.

" Ichigo", she whispered again, " Stop yelling. It's okay. It' no use."

" No! Don't talk, save your energy, I'll get Inoue to heal you"

" Ichigo, Inoue's unconscious and hurt herself. She can't help us now. Ichigo, I…."

"Rukia!"

" Say goodbye to everyone for me. Tell Renji and Nii-sama I love them both…"

" Rukia, stop talking like you're going to die"

"and Ichigo…you….stopped the rain in my heart too. I lo-" Rukia eyes closed and her hands fell at her side.

"Rukia! Rukia!" Ichigo shouted with all his strength as if he could call her back. No…this couldn't be happening. This was all his fault…he couldn't protect here, again. No, no this is all just a bad dream. He hugged her cold body and tears began to slide down his cheeks. Ichigo held Rukia and cried into her robes.

As the shinigami finished the last of the arrancar, Shunsi cheerfully turned around and said " Well that's done, Everyone lets go back for some sake! Nothings better than…" He stopped as he saw Ichigo. Byakuya turned around to see what was stopping Shunsi. His heart grew cold as he saw what Ichigo held in his arms. His own hands began shaking and he clenched his fist. He broke his promise to Hisana. He couldn't protect Rukia either. He gritted his teeth and slowly walked towards Ichigo.

Renji was motionless. His eyes registered one thing, but his heart refused to believe it. Zabimaru fell on to the ground. Blood rushed to his head and his feet wouldn't move. That wasn't Rukia, that couldn't be Rukia.

While the earth was silent, the skies began to open. It began to cry, and the rains poured down from the heavens, washing away the blood that stained the ground. It rained harder and harder, but nobody moved. Nobody breathed. They just stared, paralyzed.

1 Year Later

Ichigo looked up from Rukia's grave. Just one year ago. As he stood up, his captain's coat blew gently in the wind. The wind rustled the green trees that surrounded the graveyard. A few leaves blew off and landed at Ichigo's feet. At her funeral, he swore to work even harder and that he will never let anyone he cared about die ever again. He requested Yamamoto-san to provide him with serious training from each of the captains, and from there he grew with such speed that it frightened everyone around him. His scowls grew even deeper and he rarely smiled anymore. He gave up his life on earth and decided to spend most of his time in Sereti to train. It was difficult leaving his sisters, but he needed to protect them too. Aizen had attacked a few more times after that, but they were just for the same reasons. Seretei was preparing for his invasion at any time. He sighed at got up. Renji got up too, and picked up his captain's coat. They looked at each other and back at the grave. Yamamoto decided that after the first attack, the three captain-less squads needed a leader immediately. Ichigo was appointed captain of the 3rd squad, Renji to the fifth, and Shuuhei, who just recently obtained his bankai, was ninth.

" Meetings in ten minutes" said Renji monotonously. Rukia's death had a similar impact on him, but it shattered one of the most important aspects of his life. He no longer felt the drive to surpass Byakuya. He didn't see the reason anymore. He felt hollow, like a shell.

" yeah, lets go" replied Ichigo

In Rukongai At that Time

Suki opened her tightly closed eyes. Her body was still shaking from the impact onto the ground. What was going on?! Why was she in this dust-covered village that looked like it dated back to the ancient times. Why was she wearing a traditional kimono? She glanced down at the muffled voices. She released her grasp on her two younger sisters. They looked around in just as much shock and they were also wearing kimonos. What happened to their regular clothes?

" Nee-sama, what's going on?? Where's mommy and daddy? Where are we? Whats going on!?" shrilled Yokana. Yokana was tall and skinny ten year old who had a long, beautiful dark tresses. She wore glasses and held her hair up in a clip. Sakura didn't say anything, but clutched Suki's hand so tightly that her hand was numb. Sakura was the youngest, just nine, and she was extremely adorable, with bangs, full lips, and imploring eyes. Suki didn't like talking about her physical features. She thought she was extremely plain fifteen year old, but the only aspect of herself that she liked was her hair. Her shining, black hair was amazingly smooth and soft, but besides that Suki didn't like anything else. She had long legs, but they weren't as slim as she wanted them to be. She was a bit on the flat side. Suki was very strong and straightforward, and she immediately evaluated their situation.

" I don't know, but be quiet. I don't like how these people are looking at us. Sakura, Yokana, get up and hold my hand." They silently obeyed her. What was going on? The last thing she remembered was that they were driving down the freeway while it was raining and then there was loud honking noise and she remember a loud crashing noise, glass breaking and screaming. She instinctively grabbed her sisters near her when that happened, then all went black.

The villagers were whispering amongst themselves. Who were these newcomers? They had new arrivals all the time but these children were strange. The villagers felt a strong aura of power around them and they felt like they were being strangled. The village leader walked up next to an apprehensive young man.

" Sensei, what are these children? Why do we feel such strange auras around these children?"

" I believe its called reitsu, the power needed to get into Seretei, and the power held by the Shinigami. A few of our villagers had some and they were tested into Seretei a while ago, but none of them has such strong power like these children. I've never felt anything like it"

In Seretei, inside the 12 division building

" Akon! What the hell? Stop messing with my computer. I'm suppose to STILL be on guard for arrancar."

" stop stressing, the chances of an arrancar showing up in Soul Society are zero so come on, lets go out and drink."

"I told you, if Mayuri-san catches me, Ill be-" Green lights started to flash and alarms shrilled in panic. " Akon! Look at this. Am I hallucinating or is the computer correct?"

" My god, no. The computer is correct" He picked up a microphone. " Attention all 12 squad members. An arrancar will be arriving in Rukongai in a matter of seconds. Alert all other squads now. Repeat, an arrancar will be arriving soon."

" What are the chances of this not happening again, Akon?

" Shuttup and find Mayuri-san NOW"

In Rukongai

A streak of light shot from the sky and hit the roads of Rukongai. A massive wave of dust blew out in all different directions. Suki shielded her sisters with her body until the winds calmed down and the dirt settled some more. When she looked up, her eyes widened in shock. There stood a man with a huge hole in his stomach, wearing white robes, and grinning at her in such a way that sent shivers down her spine. His hair was pure white and short, spiked up at the top like those wannabes she used to see.

" What the hell? This is weird, why aren't you guys knocked out by my reitsu by now? I thought this was Rukongai. This place isn't supposed to have such high spiritual powers. Hmm… it doesn't actually. It's just you three girls. I am lucky! I was angry about not getting something to eat, and all I would get were souls with barely any reitsu, but here you are! And you're not even shinigamis. You look tasty" He licked his lips and stared hungrily at the frightened girls.

Sukis mind felt like it was about to burst. She had no idea what was going on, where she was, who was infront of her or anything else for that matter. Now, this freak wants to EAT them?!

" Now, which one of you three has the most reitsu…Ahhhh the older one. Thought so. I'll save you for last. Now you two little ones, come here quietly and eat you quickly so you don't feel too much pain" He walked towards the girls. Suki, whose rational thinking had shut down by now from such overwhelming events, ran in front of her sisters.

" who the hell do you think you are, you bastard. Stay away from my sisters!" she shouted. The arrancar stopped in disbelief. Then he began laughing insanely.

" Amazing. You don't know who I am, do you? You have no idea"

" You're right I don't know. But I do know I will kick your ass if you touch my sisters!" She talked brave, but she didn't feel brave. Damnit, she thought, I shouldn't have quit karate. She got into a fighting stance and said to her sisters, " you two, stand back" The arrancar laughed again.

" You want to fight me? You must be more stupid than I thought you look." He launched a punch at her, and she quickly dodged it. She was truly frightened now. Never in her life, did she need to fight someone and be in a situation where her and her sisters' life was on the line. She didn't even know how to properly fight! This man was twice her size. But that didn't matter. She needed to focus on the fight now.

The man with the hole tried to punch her again, and this time she barely dodged it and she rolled over on the ground. She quickly got up and saw a chipped katana lying near her. Strange, she thought, but she picked it up anyways.

" Ha! Now the human has a sword. This is really interesting. What are you going to do, stab me?" he mocked. Suki took up the sword with both hands and ran at him with all her might. He swung his hand and hit her so that she flew up in the air. When she hit the ground, all she could think about was how much her body hurt. Nevertheless she got up and stood her ground again. The man sent another punch and this time she swung with all her might and her sword came in contact with his arm, but she couldn't cut him. What's going on?! She thought. Why can't she cut him? The man grabbed her by the neck and slammed her onto the wall. She choked in pain and tried to gasp for breath. The sword dropped from her side as she tried to pry his fingers off. Suki finally got the idea to use her legs to push against his chest. She kicked will all the strength she had and he released her. She fell to the floor, gasping and tearing from the pain. The man snickered and walked towards her sisters. No! She though and she grabbed the sword and ran at him again. This time, the point of the sword rammed into his back, but still did not pierce him. He turned around and punched her straight in the stomach. She coughed up blood and fell to her knees. He turned around and headed towards her sisters again. Her body was now in so much pain, she was about to pass out, but she wouldn't let herself. She wasn't this weak! She needed to protect her sisters so she can't pass out now. Once again she took her sword and ran at him with all her might, yelling in determination. His arm shot out and caught her head. She flew about fifty feet before crashing into stone wall. Get up! She though, but her body wouldn't move. The pain was about to kill her, but she didn't let it.

" Now for you two. How to eat you." He grabbed them both by the neck and held them up.

" NEE-SAMA!!" they shouted and tried to squirm out of his grasp. Tears streamed down their faces and they couldn't talk anymore.

" Food shouldn't talk," he said and he squeezed harder. They screamed. Suki tried to get up again but her legs wouldn't move. Yokana! Sakura! They needed her! GET UP she screamed to herself. She couldn't let them die, no matter what.