The Shadows in our Souls

A/N: Yo people! It is I, Merytato, with the second chapter of this story! I'll save the rest of my comments for the end, so kick back, relax, and enjoy! Here's the chapter!

The Shadows in our Souls Chapter 2: Awakening


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"N-No way..." Ichigo breathed, completely stunned. He was expecting some sort of Hollow, or possibly even a rogue Shinigami, but what he was seeing was beyond anything he had imagined.

Standing in front of him was the same creature from his nightmare. The one that had killed Rukia.

'That's impossible!' Ichigo thought frantically, 'This guy's the same one that I saw in my dream! How the hell is he here in the physical world?'

Ichigo was quickly jolted out of his stupor by the creature charging at him with an overhead swing. He felt a slight tingling throughout his body, as if his very being was excited to do battle once again. Ichigo sidestepped, the shock beginning to leave his system, and decided that if this thing was going to attack him, he would make sure that he put up a damn good fight.

Ichigo quickly dropped to the ground and swung his leg out in a wide sweep kick. The creature was too slow at dodging and it fell. However, it caught itself with its free hand and pivoted, turning its fall into a roundhouse kick that sent Ichigo flying backwards into the back wall.

Coughing, Ichigo stood up. He instantly winced at a sharp pain in his back. He probably cracked something on that impact. The creature gave him no time to rest though, and quickly dashed towards him with its sword held out to the side. Ichigo forced himself to wait, then dove underneath the creature's outstretched arm. It quickly reversed its sword, causing it to slash into Ichigo's back, leaving a rather deep cut in his middle back.

"Damn it," Ichigo growled. He tucked and rolled, dodging another swing. Suddenly, Ichigo quickly stood up while pivoting on his left heel and smashed his foot into the creature's face, causing it to stagger backwards, clutching its head.

Seeing his chance to escape, Ichigo ran at the wall. Before he could begin climbing, the hairs on the back of his neck started prickling. He chanced a quick look backwards only to see the creature charging at him at high speeds, sword held out in front of it. Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw that there was no way he could dodge this one. He watched the sword come closer at an alarming speed...

Suddenly, a familiar blue beam of light slammed into the creature, sending it flying into the back wall. Ichigo looked up at the rooftops to see Uryuu standing on the top, his bow held in his hands.

"Get out of here, Ichigo." The Quincy said with an edge to his voice, drawing his bowstring back as the creature began to get up, "We'll handle this."

"Like hell you will," Ichigo yelled back.

Ichigo was pissed. He had finally gotten some action, finally was able to do something useful, and his friends had chosen now to show up. In his anger, Ichigo had forgotten that moments prior, he was staring death in the face.

Suddenly, another figure dropped down from the rooftops and slammed his armored fist into the creature, sending it back into the wall with enough force to crater the stone.

"I know you want to help, Ichigo." Chad said, his back to Ichigo, "But there's nothing you can do against this guy. You're already hurt, and you don't have the durability of a Shinigami anymore."

Ichigo ground his teeth. He knew that his friends were probably right, but out of pure stubbornness he was holding on to his anger and determination to fight.

"Please, Ichigo. You're hurt, and if you fight this thing, you're only going to get hurt worse,"A female voice sounded from behind him.

Ichigo turned around to see Orihime standing where the barrier had once been. He saw the genuine worry in her eyes, and felt his anger ebb away. He realized that his friends were merely worried for his safety, and now that he was calming down, he felt like a bratty child that was throwing a temper tantrum. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Fine." Ichigo jogged towards Orihime while ignoring the pain in his back and head.

Once he reached the exit of the alleyway, Orihime tried to help support him but he shrugged her off.

"I'm fine." The strawberry said, "I don't need any help walking."

"If you're sure that you don't need any help walking, then I won't help." Orihime hesitated uncertainly, glancing at Ichigo's wounds, "But you are hurt. We'll go to my house and I'll heal you, okay?"

Ichigo reluctantly nodded. As they ran out of the alley, he glanced back and glimpsed the battle, and was filled with a sense of longing.


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Despite Ichigo's protests that he wasn't hurt too badly, Orihime insisted on doing a thorough check on him just to make sure. So the ex-Substitute Shinigami followed the orange haired girl back to her house, where, after seating him on the couch in her living room, she took off his shirt and began to work on his wounds.

"Ichigo," Orihime began hesitantly, "Why were you fighting that thing?"

"I saw something suspicious and followed it." He grunted, "It turns out that it was a trap, and it attacked me. I probably should've seen it coming, but I wanted to gather information."

There was a slight pause. "Is that the only reason you decided to fight?" Orihime asked, her voice quiet.

Ichigo became annoyed at that. "That's none of your business," he snapped.

He felt the hands healing him tremble slightly, and immediately felt guilty. "Look, I'm sorry about that, Orihime." Ichigo paused slightly, " If you really want to know, the truth is, lately I've been feeling pretty useless. I mean, you guys go out there, kick ass, and protect the town from Hollows. You guys are putting yourselves in danger every day, while I'm just sitting in my room watching TV or playing games. You know me well enough to know that I want to be able to protect people like you and Chad and my family and even Uryuu, but now I'm too freaking weak to protect anyone! I've become completely usel-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Orihime interrupted forcefully. Surprised at this rare show of anger from the normally overly cheerful girl, Ichigo obeyed. "None of us think you're weak or useless. You may not be a Shinigami any more, but that doesn't mean that you're useless, and you're definitely not weak. You're one of the strongest people I know, so if I ever hear you say something so...so...stupid again, I'll get really, really mad!"

Ichigo was surprised at this statement. He knew he should probably feel guilty for angering Orihime, yet for the first time in months he felt lighter.

"Thanks, Orihime," he said, "That's exactly what I needed to hear."

Orihime felt his tense muscles relax ever so slightly under her palms. She smiled softly to herself. "It's no problem, Ichigo. It's what friends are for, right?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is."

The mood had suddenly gotten a bit too heavy for her liking. "W-Well, that's your wounds done," she stuttered in a high-pitched voice, "Now then, do you want to stay for a snack? I'm making chocolate-covered carrot sticks with salted caramel dipping sauce!"

Ichigo quickly stood up. He swore he felt his stomach turn just from the thought of that atrocity. As sweet as Orihime was, her cooking was something he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy.

"As tempting as that is, I'm going to have to decline," he put his shirt on. "Karin has a soccer game in an hour, and I'm pretty sure my dad would make another attempt on my life if I missed it."

"Aww," Orihime pouted, then perked up. "Well, there's always next time! I'll make sure to cook something extra special to make up for it then, alright?"

Ichigo sweatdropped. "...Yeah. I'll, um, make sure to bring some ingredients of mine to help out." He made his way towards the door, stopping at the entrance. "And thanks, Orihime. For everything."

As he stepped out of her house, the orange haired girl smiled slightly.

"The old Ichigo is finally coming back." She whispered softly.


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Uryuu sighed in relief as the strange creature finally stayed down after a punch from Chad. The thing was much more resilient than he had anticipated, as his arrows seemed to have little effect on it, and Chad's armor fared only slightly better. Although they had somehow managed to come out unwounded, as much as he knew the ex-Substitute Shinigami wouldn't like it, they both knew that if Ichigo had continued to go up against this thing, the orange haired teen would have been killed without a doubt. It was a wonder he hadn't been killed already.

As the Quincy allowed his bow to dissipate, he jumped down to where Chad was standing over the body of the strange creature.

As he neared them, the giant spoke up. "Hey, check this out," he said. Uryuu stood next to Chad and examined the body. It was then that he realized that something was wrong.

"There's no body," Uryuu stated, a puzzled expression finding its way onto his face.

"Yeah." Chad leaned down to examine the robes. He reached inside of them and felt something hard.

"Hey, I found something," the giant announced, pulling it out.

The two looked at the small object resting in Chad's armored palm. It was a medallion, made of gray stone with a silver chain. There was a strange symbol, made of what seemed like a rock similar to obsidian, carved into the stone, looking like two S's crossed diagonally, with a sword going through the middle.

"Have you ever seen a symbol like this before?" Chad held the medallion up to the light, checking for anything else.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Uryuu replied. He dropped down to examine the robes again when he noticed something else.

"That's strange," Uryuu said. At Chad's questioning look, he held up the rather plain sheathe that the creature had been wearing. "Look at this. What's missing?"

Chad inspected it for a second. "There's no sword." He said, "What do you think this means?"

Uryuu stood up and began walking towards the exit to the alleyway, Chad following. "I'm not completely sure," he began, "But I do know who might be able to shed some light on this little mystery."

Chad nodded, already knowing exactly who the Quincy was talking about.

"However, I'm pretty sure about two things." Uryuu continued as they passed through the alleyways, "One, we have a new enemy. And two," Uryuu paused, not liking the words he was about to say, "I believe that their target is Ichigo."


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Ichigo was walking down the street towards his home, thinking about what Orihime had said. Maybe he was being too hard on himself. After all, it had been him who had defeated Byakuya, and assured Rukia's rescue, right? And it had been him that had defeated Aizen, saving the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and his own world in one fell swoop.

'You know what, Orihime's right.' Ichigo thought to himself, 'I'm still strong. I've done a hell of a lot more than any other person my age ever could have without losing my mind.' He felt the guilt from earlier returning tenfold. He had been acting like a child, and a spoiled one at that. Granted, he wasn't stupid, and knew that the loss of something like his powers and some friends were enough to warrant some grieving, but two months of sulking and depression was pushing it.

Now that he could think more clearly, Ichigo wondered about the creature that had attacked him earlier. It was strange, but after replaying the events in his mind, Ichigo was completely sure that it was a well-constructed plan rather than mere coincidence. Whoever was in charge of that thing was definitely trying to get him. He was sure that the creature was a spiritual being of some sort, because nobody else on that intersection seemed to be able to see the gray cloth.

They knew that he would be the only one passing by at that time who would be able to see the cloth, and they also knew that he wouldn't pass up the chance to finally do something after months of feeling useless. They were targeting him from the beginning.

'Let them come after me.' Ichigo thought determinedly, 'Next time, I'll make sure to get some backup before it gets to that point again.'

Feeling substantially better, Ichigo allowed a small smile to appear on his face. Hearing a noise up ahead, he saw two children kicking a soccer ball down the street. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.

"Oh shit..." Ichigo muttered, feeling annoyed with himself. He had been lost in his thoughts, and now realized he was behind schedule. He wondered how pissed his father was going to be now that he forgot about Karin's soccer game.


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"HOW COULD YOU FORGET ABOUT YOUR OWN SISTER'S SOCCER GAME YOU SHAMELESS DELINQUENT?!" Isshin Kurosaki was raging at his son, who was standing in front of his father on the driveway with a resigned look on his face, "THANKS TO YOU, YOUR SISTER'S TEAM COULD BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THE LOCAL CHAMPIONSHIP!"

Before he could continue his rant, Karin stuck her head out of the passenger seat window. "Dad, you can yell at Ichigo later." She interrupted impatiently, "If you keep this up, you're going to be the reason we're late."

Angrily muttering what was most likely insults towards Ichigo under his breath, Isshin grabbed his son and practically threw him in the back seat next to Yuzu, who was blissfully ignorant of the situation due to the earbuds in her ears, which were blasting that happy crap that Ichigo couldn't stand but the young girl loved.

As Isshin pulled out of the driveway, the hairs on the back of Ichigo's neck stood up again. Looking out the window, Ichigo thought he saw a quick flash of gray disappear in the distance. A knot of anxiety began to form in the teen's stomach as he began to think that this soccer game might have more to it than just the local championship.


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A bell tinkled at the front of the shop, causing the shopkeeper inside to put down the magazine he was reading and look up at his new patrons with a smile and a wave of his fan.

"Welcome to the Urahara Shop, where our motto is to serve our customers to the best of our abilities at the lowest possible cost," Kisuke Urahara drawled in his usual manner. It was then that he noticed who his "customers" were and his posture diminished slightly.

"If you're telling your customers that you should be arrested for false advertising." Uryuu smiled slightly, "Or have you actually changed from your money grabbing ways during your renewed career as a Captain?"

Urahara put on an indignant expression. "How could you possibly say something like that?" The newly reinstated Captain of Squad 12 and Head of Research and Development shook his head in mock hurt. "How could you accuse me of not wanting the very best for my valued customers?"

"I never said that you didn't want the best for your customers," Uryuu responded, shifting his glasses up his nose, "I was merely implying that you give them the best for an absurd price."

The former shopkeeper shrugged in defeat. "Guilty as charged, although we're a little shorthanded at the moment, what with Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta back in the Soul Society, so I won't be selling anything for a while." He looked at them from over his fan. "Now, what can I do for you guys today? I take it you aren't interested in my merchandise."

"We're here for information." Chad spoke for the first time since they'd entered the shop.

Urahara's eyes narrowed. "Well, I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that. What kind of information are we talking about here?" Although his words were still casual, both of the teens picked up on the sudden heaviness in his voice.

Chad held out the medallion that they had found, which Urahara took and began examining it. "We found this with the remains of some...creature that attacked Ichigo earlier."

"A creature, you say?" Urahara eyed the symbol on the medallion, "You'd better take it from the top. I'll be able to give you more info after you're done."

Uryuu and Chad explained to the genius what had transpired earlier that day. After a couple of minutes, Urahara put down the medallion and listened with a focused expression on his face. The whole explanation took about five minutes, after which the three sat in silence while Urahara digested the story.

"Alright," Urahara said after a long pause, "I'll tell you what I know. It's not much mind you, but I think I can shed some light on this mystery attacker of yours."

"Any information would be helpful in figuring this out," Uryuu stated. Chad nodded in agreement.

Urahara sighed and held out the medallion. "See this symbol? The one in black?" The teens nodded. "That is the old symbol of the Gotei 13, before there were the modern 13 squads. Back then, there were only three squads. I can't remember the whole thing, but the three squads each represented one of the three alignments that a soul's heart could take. They were Yang, which represented light, Yin, which represented darkness, and Line, which represented shadow, neither light or darkness."

He adjusted the medallion so it moved into the light. "Judging from the gray stone, I would guess that this is a symbol from the Line Division. They were all either killed off or banished a long time ago, so that's strange that one of them could even be around."

"Why were they killed off," Uryuu asked.

"Now that I can't remember," Urahara said, regret finding its way onto his face, "Truth is, this was taught in the history of the Soul Society that all Shinigami of 10th seat or higher have to take, but that stuff bored the crap out of me, so I didn't pay much attention. I knew it would come back to haunt me someday..." Shaking his head, the Captain of Squad 12 stood up. "Well, that's about all I know. Sorry about the small amount of info, but I should be able to tell you more later once I find the book that the legend's in."

Uryuu and Chad stood up as well. "It's fine." The Quincy assured, "At least we know somewhat of what we're dealing with here. I appreciate you taking the time to do this for us."

Urahara waved his fan in their direction repeatedly. "Oh, it's not a problem." He smiled, "It is for my old pal Ichigo after all."

They said their goodbyes, and the two teens left, each wondering why they had more questions than they had before.

Urahara sighed and put down his fan before turning around and heading towards the back of his shop.

"Well, this isn't how I planned to spend my vacation," the shopkeeper mused to himself.


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Ichigo and his family arrived at the soccer field just in time. Karin ran towards her anxious looking team as Isshin and Yuzu went to look for seats. After the look his father gave him, Ichigo decided that it would be much less of a hassle if he just found his own seat, preferably a few seats away from his family.

'Damn dad and his freaking temper.' Ichigo mentally grumbled as he sat down on the bleachers, his head resting on his hand and his elbow resting on his thigh, 'Would it kill him to act his age once in awhile?'

The orange-haired teen looked around for his family. Spotting them sitting a few rows down and to his right, Ichigo mentally marked the location. It could be paranoia, but the ex-Substitute Shinigami had a feeling that this soccer game wasn't going to end well. He felt anxious, and the hairs on the back of his neck were tingling. There was also the flash of gray he had seen on the way here…

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the thirteenth annual Karakura Junior Soccer League Finals!" The announcer yelled, jolting Ichigo out of his stupor, "Let's introduce our teams! From right here in Karakura Town, representing Karakura Junior High, I bring you the Karakura Wasps!"

Ichigo watched as a stream of junior high students dressed in black athletic shorts and yellow and black striped t-shirts came out from the benches and waved to the applauding crowd. Spotting Karin among the team, Ichigo gave a small smile and started clapping with the rest of the crowd. If there is one thing that Karin excelled in, it was soccer. So long as nothing went wrong, Karin's team had this game in the bag.

"And from Fujisaki Junior high," the announcer continued, "I give you the Fujisaki Bulls!"

A somewhat weaker applause broke out as a team of preteens, dressed similar to Karin's team except with brown stripes instead of yellow, ran out to the field.

"Looks like Karin's team is the favorite for this game," Ichigo muttered to himself.

"But of course," agreed a familiar voice from behind Ichigo,"This is a home game after all."

Ichigo spun around so fast he felt his rear get friction burn. "Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?" Ichigo half-shouted, "What the hell are you doing here?"

The shopkeeper merely put on a mask of mock hurt. "We haven't seen each other for almost two months, and that's how you greet me?" Urahara pouted, his shoulders drooping, "I'm hurt, Ichigo."

"Yeah, nice to see you." Ichigo growled, "Now mind explaining exactly what you're doing at my little sister's soccer game?"

"Is it so wrong for a simple shopkeeper such as myself to enjoy the simple things in life from time to time," Urahara asked, his fan in front of his face.

"First of all, we both know that's a load of crap." Ichigo countered, beginning to get annoyed, "And second, you only show up when something big is about to happen. You better tell me what's going on right now, or else-"

"Or else what?" The shopkeeper said with a raised eyebrow, instantly quieting the teen, "In case you've forgotten, your powers are currently nonexistent. You couldn't do any harm to me the way you are now, no matter how hard you try."

By now, Ichigo was beginning to lose his temper. "Did you just come here to insult me, or do you actually have a reason for being here?"

Urahara quietly looked past Ichigo at the soccer field for a minute. "Don't worry about it." He finally replied, "Rest assured, I have my reasons for doing what I do. I would recommend sitting back and watching the game. You've actually been missing quite a bit. Your sister just scored a goal."

Ichigo reluctantly turned around towards the game. Looking at the scoreboard, the strawberry was surprised to see that Karin's team was up by three points.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

As soon as Ichigo looked back at the field, a blinding flash appeared, quickly followed by a large cloud of smoke.

Trying to blink the dark spots out of his vision while ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, Ichigo turned around to ask Urahara "politely" as to exactly what in the actual hell was going on. However, the genius Captain was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a message, burned into the metal seat of the bleachers: "Family First."

"Damn that guy," Ichigo growled, turning to face the smoke, "Damn that guy straight to hell." However, despite his anger, the ex-Substitute Shinigami knew that the shopkeeper was right.

Amongst the screams of panic and the numerous fleeing families, Ichigo began searching for his family, as well as what he knew would be present.

By now a large part of the people who had attended the soccer game had evacuated the premises, and the smoke was beginning to clear. Ichigo's eyes widened as the smoke cleared to reveal at least fifty of the creatures from before spread around the soccer field. His expression went back to normal as he saw them doing battle with a single familiar man wearing a boater hat.

Knowing that area would be fine, Ichigo continued looking for his family and spotted Yuzu standing a fair bit away behind Isshin, who was battling a large group of the creatures. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief as he knew that his father, as immature as he could be sometimes, would fight to his dying breath, and probably beyond that, to protect one of his children.

However, his relief quickly disappeared as he realized his other sister was nowhere to be seen.

"KARIN!" Ichigo yelled, not caring if the creatures came after him or not, "KARIN!"

"ICHIGO, HELP," came a scream from his right. Ichigo spun towards the noise to see Karin being dragged towards the forest to the far right side of the field.

"Like hell you will," Ichigo shouted, jumping down the bleachers and sprinting towards his sister.

The creature seemed to see Ichigo coming, as it knocked Karin out with a swift chop to the back of the head before slinging the girl over its back and speeding off towards the forest.

The daily training exercises paid off for Ichigo as he increased his pace, bolting after the creature as he steadily gained on it. The faceless entity entered the forest, with Ichigo following mere seconds behind.

Upon entering the foliage, the orange-haired teen skidded to a stop. "Where the hell did he go," he muttered, puzzled as he looked around. Indeed, the creature was nowhere to be seen.

He heard a soft impact behind him, and realized too late that he had walked straight into a trap. He turned around, eyes wide, just in time to see a gray blade pierce his abdomen.

Time seemed to stop for an instant as Ichigo stared at the emotionless, featureless "face" in front of him. The creature, still holding Karin in its other hand, slid the blade out of Ichigo and flicked the blood from the blade onto the ground. Ichigo collapsed onto the forest floor, still staring at the gray spirit, which picked up the still unconscious Karin by the neck and began to thrust its gray blade towards the girl's heart.

'No...' Ichigo mentally ground out, trying to get up, his vision fading in and out from the blood loss, 'I... I can't...let her die...I need...to protect her...'

Time seemed to slow as he watched the blade come closer and closer to his sister's heart. Slower, and slower…

With a start, Ichigo realized that the creature was no longer moving. There was no wind, no rustling of the leaves, and even his wounds seemed to stop bleeding.

A familiar shadow began to take shape beside the creature. Ichigo opened his mouth in surprise as he viewed the person in front of him.

"Long time no see, Ichigo," Zangetsu smiled slightly.

"Same to you, Old Man Zangetsu." Ichigo gathered his wits, "This might sound rude, but how the hell are you still here? I thought you died when I used the Final Getsuga Tenshou?"

Zangetsu chuckled. "Died? No, Ichigo, I did not die. I can only truly die, Ichigo, if your soul is annihilated in its entirety. I was merely put into a deep, deep slumber, one that even I did not expect to awaken from."

"So how are you here then," Ichigo asked, his brow furrowed.

"There are two reasons." The Zanpakuto Spirit began to walk towards Ichigo, "The first is that right now, you were put in immense physical danger, and almost killed. This allowed me to regain consciousness as a sort of safety measure. However, it is the second reason that allowed me to appear before you." He came to a stop in front of Ichigo, "The second reason is that you were so strongly reminded of your reason to fight. Do you remember what that reason is, Ichigo?"

"I want to protect my sister," He snarled.

"I cannot hear you," Zangetsu said, kneeling in front of Ichigo, "Has your resolve truly sunk so low that this is all your will can muster?"

"I want to protect as many people as I can," Ichigo ground out, shakily beginning to get to his feet.

"I still cannot hear you!" Zangetsu yelled, grabbing Ichigo's arm as he rose, "What is your reason to fight?"

Ichigo jumped to his feet. "I WANT TO PROTECT!"

Zangetsu smiled briefly, before materializing the familiar blade of Zangetsu in his right hand. "Good." He raised the sword to Ichigo's chest level, "Now awaken, Ichigo Kurosaki, and be reborn once more!" Without any hesitation, he thrust the blade through Ichigo's heart.


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Urahara swung Benehime, his Zanpakuto, in a line, destroying more of the creatures. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Whatever these things were, they were much more resilient than he had originally anticipated.

As he began to charge at the creatures again, the genius felt a strange sensation, like all of the energy in the area was being pulled towards one spot. Then, without warning, a huge explosion of a very familiar reitsu resonated from the forest. Urahara grinned as he faced the creatures once more.

"Old friend, once again you've managed to do the impossible." He praised quietly, his hat tilting to cover his eyes, "I always knew you had it in you."


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At different points nearby the battlefield, Uryuu, Chad, and Orihime felt a familiar, overwhelming presence, and stopped, smiling.

'He's back.' Was the thought that went through their heads as they sped towards the source of the reitsu.


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The Head Captain Genryuusei Yamamoto came into the monitoring facility, followed by the Shinigami who had been sent for him. He looked at the device used to detect abnormal flares of reitsu in areas of interest, such as spiritual centers. The display for Karakura Town was going berserk, displaying a very large amount of a familiar reitsu.

"Get me Kuchiki," Yamamoto ordered. Even though his expression remained neutral, inside he felt a sense of pride for the young Shinigami.


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Just as the creature's gray blade was about to pierce Karin's heart, a massive wave of energy blasted across the forest, causing the sword to get knocked out of its hand. It looked towards where Ichigo had been, only to feel a weight disappear from its left hand. It looked to its left to see a tall figure, clothed in a black shihakusho with an enormous cleaver-like sword on his back, holding its hostage.

Ichigo gently laid the still unconscious Karin down on the forest floor. "I'll be back in a couple minutes." He told his sister as he straightened up, grabbing the handle of his Zanpakuto as he did so.

"Now then," the Substitute Shinigami said, his back to the creature, which was beginning to tremble from the immense pressure the teen was giving off, "I believe I need to pay you back for all the trouble you've caused!"

As he finished his sentence, he spun around, drawing Zangetsu as he did so. He raised his blade in a familiar stance as his spiritual pressure began to skyrocket. The creature began to back up and retreat towards its brethren, which were now heading towards the forest.

"Oh no you don't," Ichigo snarled. His brow furrowed as he swung his sword downwards, "GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

As he swung his blade down, a massive wave of black and red energy burst out. As it saw its doom barreling towards it, the creature, for the first time, felt fear. Then the attack hit, and it felt no more.

Panting slightly, Ichigo grinned at the clear path of destruction his attack had caused. "And that," Ichigo exclaimed, "is why you never mess with my family!" He walked out of the foliage to see at least ten of the creatures heading his way.

The Hero of the Three Worlds grinned yet again, an excited tingling going through his body at the thought of another battle, "Bring it on!" He yelled, charging towards the advancing creatures.

One by one he dispatched the creatures, until he stood panting in the middle of the field, his blade stuck point-down in the dirt. Hearing the sounds of footsteps, Ichigo turned his head to see his father, carrying Karin, Urahara, and his friends approaching him.

The Substitute Shinigami grinned at his friends. "Hey, guys, guess what?" He called, feeling for the first time in two months a sense of belonging, "I'm back."


(=IOI=)-\^/-(=IOI=)(=IOI=)-\^/-(=IOI=)(=IOI=)-\^/-(=IOI=)(=IOI=)-\^/-(=IOI=)


A/N: Well people, that's a wrap! I hope you guys enjoyed that. This one was also content that I had posted previously, but I added and changed quite a few things, so it has a few nice little tidbits that weren't there before. I believe the next chapter is where we start getting into my newer stuff, so look forward to it!

Also, something I wanted to mention. We have almost hit 100 views with this story already! I can't tell you guys how happy that makes me to know that so many of you like this, even though the first chapter was the only one released. Thank you all so, so much for your support, and I hope I continue to satisfy you all with this!

Okay, onto some fun stuff. I have a question for you guys. I won't reveal too much, but I have a plan for Ichigo and Rukia to go somewhere, and I was wondering if you guys would want me to add a third person to their initial group. I already have the person in mind, and it would allow me to do some extra scenes, but I could go either way. I'm leaving it up to you, my readers. I'm planning on putting a poll for this on my profile, so if it's not on there already, it should be soon.

My head… my sanity… it hurts… But at least this is edited… In short: I really don't get paid enough for this.

Oh, hush your complaining. It couldn't have been too bad, could i- *remembers the amount of comments* ...I pay you with love and devotion. (remembers the drinking game) We can discuss payment because, idk, Pretzallotato, but "love and devotion" doesn't seem to be enough sometimes. Well, that's about all I have for now. Until next time, tati bye bye for now!