Chapter 2

Soul what?!

-Zion

"Come on, Zion! Counter!" I heard someone said. Huh? What's going on? I looked at where the voice was and well… I saw a five or four year old version of me… Fighting a person who looked exactly like me, except she was a bit shorter, her eyes were brown, and her hair was black. Who is she? She's trying to hurt me though… I have to stop her! I ran towards her while she was trying to attack my past version but as soon as I tried to grab her arm, I went through it. Huh? Is it because… This is a memory or something?

"But, Mom! I don't want to do this!" The past version me yelled. Mom?! Wait that's my mother!? As soon as the past version of me said that, our Mom just kicked her arm, sending her flying straight to a wall and hitting her back upon impact then fell to the ground.

"Zion… Come here now!" Mom yelled. Why is she doing this to me? My past version got up to her feet and walked towards her. As soon as she was close enough, Mom punched her on top of her head, leaving a bump.

"OW! What was that for?" The past version me asked as she hold on to the bump on her head.

"Zion, I told you already why you needed to train! Your father and I won't be here all the time and I need to make sure you can protect yourself if anything bad happens to us!" Mom yelled. Huh? Why would she think anything bad would happen to her or Dad?

"Mom you're the strongest one in the whole wide world! Nothing bad can happen to you" The past version me said as she gave Mom a hug.

"Zion… I need to make sure you can protect yourself. Please can you at least try to become strong enough to do that at least?" Mom asked as she smiled at my past version and return the hug.

"Sure Mom… If you want me to then sure. I will become as strong as you" My past self said cheerfully.

"I know you will…" Mom muttered.

"But nothing bad will happen to you or Dad. I know it. I love you both" My past self said.

"We love you too, but you must understand that we won't always be around… But for as long as we are around we will protect you. Because you, Zion. Are our little hope" Mom said as she picked my past self up "Let's go get something to eat" She said before flying away… Wait my mom can fly!? If she can then… Can I fly as well?

"Goodbye Dad" Ichigo said. Huh? What? I opened my eyes and open the closet door, to see that Ichigo wasn't anywhere to be found and that it was night time. What time is it? Wait… I don't think that's important right now... Where's Ichigo?

"Bye!" Ichigo's Dad said. Huh?! His Dad is actually ok with him leaving around this time!? It's like dark outside! I saw the window opened and I decided to check it out. I saw a weird guy with black hair going inside the house, while Ichigo was walking away. Where is he going? I should follow him just in case. But… How am I supposed to get out without his Dad knowing I'm here?! Wait… My Mom can fly… So can I as well? I closed my eyes and focused on flying… Ok I'm going to walk off of this window… If I can fly then I'll be safe… If I can't… Well I need to go to the hospital then because I would broke my legs or arms… Maybe both. I got on the edge of the window, close my eyes then walked off of it, however I didn't fall… In fact it didn't feel like my feet were touching anything. I opened my eyes and saw that there were trees and some towns ahead… But they weren't tall… I looked below me and saw that I was a few feet off the ground. Holy… Oh my gosh! I'm flying!

"I can fly!" I yelled. Oh crap! I can't yell. I quickly covered my mouth, luckily Ichigo or his Dad didn't hear me. I let out a sigh. Well at least they didn't hear me… But still I should follow Ichigo just to be safe. I took a few steps which was super weird… Ok maybe I shouldn't use my feet with flying uh… I should try to do the same thing my Mom did. I focused my energy on flying forward and well it work… To well in fact. I flew to fast and almost crashed into a building. Holy crap… Oh my gosh… Nope not going to focused all my energy like that. I sighed and focused a bit of my energy and started flying a slow… Slow and steady wins the race…

After what seemed like a good twenty minutes following Ichigo. I was getting better with flying a bit and arrived at a weird building that seemed like a store with two weird people in front of the building… Are they his friends? Oh I better hide! I quickly found a place where I could hide and tried to focus on what they were saying

"Hey Chad. What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked. Chad? Which one of them is Chad?

"Rukia saved me once. I want to help her out if I can. I'm going too" Chad said. His voice sounds a bit low.

"Huh?" Ichigo wondered.

"What's the matter? Are you hard of hearing or something?" Someone else said. Is that the other guy with Chad?

"What?" Ichigo asked "Uryu?" He wondered

"I don't take defeat well, especially when it's at the hands of a Soul Reaper. So I'm going too" He explained. What? What's a Soul Reaper? What are they even talking about?! Who's Rukia!?

"So I guess we're all present and accounted for." A girl said. Another person!?

"Orihime?" Ichigo wondered. Is that the girl's name?

"Yes, I got the message too." She explained.

"Hold on a second. Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Ichigo asked

"You're a little slow slow on the uptake, aren't you?" Someone else said. Another guy?! Oh my gosh how many people are there?

"Yoruichi" Orihime said cheerfully. So that's the other guy's name.

"Kid, don't tell me you didn't notice the increase in the hidden powers of these three friends of yours. There have been so many clues. You need to be more observant than that if you want to survive. While you were training to regain your Soul Reaper powers, the three of them were also training in their own way. Instead of asking stupid, meaningless questions, you ought to be thanking them." Yoruichi said. Powers? Can they fly and fire some weird energy blasts too?

"Uh… A freaking cat just spoke to me!" Ichigo exclaimed. Wait… What?!

"His name is Yoruichi and he's not just a cat." Orihime said.

"It is hard to get used to." Uryu said

"I'm still adjusting to it myself" Chad said. What the… Who are these people!? I suddenly heard clapping

"All right, all right. Come on everybody." Someone else said. Are you freaking kidding me!? Another person!? "Let's take this little party inside the store. There are things we can't talk about out here in the open." He said. I suddenly heard foot steps. Oh come on… I have to find out what they are! As soon as I was about to fly again, Ichigo's voice stopped me

"Orihime" Ichigo said.

"What is it Ichigo?" Orihime asked

"How much do you know about what's going on? I mean, this is going to be dangerous." He asked

"Yes, but I gave my promise. I promised that I'd go with you. And I told Tatsuki I'd come back to her." Orihime answered before I heard some footsteps going inside the building. Ok that's it! I can't take it anymore! I quickly flew out of my spot and tackled Ichigo to the ground

"What the hell!?" He exclaimed.

"Ok, tell me what the hell is going on. Who are you and those other people" I demanded.

"Zion?! I thought you were asleep." Ichigo said.

"I was until I heard you saying goodbye to your Dad so I decided to follow you." I explained.

"Well… Look Zion this is something you can't get messed up in." Ichigo said.

"What's going on Ichigo? Who are you talking to?" Uryu asked as he walked out of the building. He had a dark blue hair with black eyes, wearing glasses and some weird white suit with a blue line on the middle. Along with matching white shoes. "Who is she?" He asked.

"I'm Zion, I'm staying at Ichigo's place for a bit because I have amnesia. But right now I want to know who the hell you guys are." I answered.

"Really? If that's the case then how did you find this place?" He asked

"I followed Ichigo" I answered

"How did you even managed to stay undetected by me?" Ichigo asked me.

"I flew" I answered as I showed them by flying into the air. They both looked at me, surprised.

"Did you knew she had hidden powers as well?" Uryu asked

"No, I didn't…" Ichigo answered

"We should inform Urahara about this" Uryu suggested.

"Yeah…" Ichigo agreed.

"So that means I can tag along?" I asked

"For now, come on let's not keep the others waiting." Uryu said as both him and Ichigo walked inside the building. I landed back on the ground then started following them inside.

After Ichigo and Uryu introduced me to the Orihime, Chad, Yoruichi and the other guy called Urahara. We took a weird elevator of some kind and well… Appeared in a weird field filled with rocks and boulders plus… It was bigger than the shop itself. How can anyone keep this a secret!?

"Wow. This is amazing" I muttered as I looked around.

"Yeah, who knew there was something this humongous right below the shop? Isn't it amazing, Ichigo?" Orihime asked.

"I guess" Ichigo answered. Suddenly a guy who is taller than me grabbed both Orihime and my hand.

"Oh, what a heartwarming reaction. It's such a pleasure to have you both on this trip" He said.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Tessai." Orihime said as she smiled at him and closed her eyes.

"Same" I said as I smiled at him as well

"Zion, a word please." Urahara asked. I nodded and followed him.

"So what is going on here?" I asked.

"Are you a friend of Ichigo?" He asked.

"Yup. But I want to know what you guys really are." I answered

"We're just special people who are trying our best to help a friend who is precious to us" He explained. I stared at him with wide eyes before nodding.

"I can see where this is going… I'll help as well. After all I have special powers as well" I said as flew off the ground by a inch before landing back again. He nodded and smiled at me

"Alright everyone, your attention, please." Urahara said. "All eyes right over here. voila!" He exclaimed as he snapped his fingers, making a weird giant thing appear, which also made the ground shake when it appeared. What is that!? "This is the gate that leads to the Soul Society. It's called the Senkaimon, or Tunnel Worldgate. I'm going to tell you all how to successfully pass through it. But first we need to change one thing." Urahara said as he quickly appeared behind Ichigo and hit him with his cane.

"What was that about!?" I exclaimed. Suddenly I saw two Ichigo's "W-What!?" I yelled in disbelief.

"Wow!" Chad, Uryu and Orihime said as they went near the Ichigo that landed on the ground… It seems lifeless.

"Hey, how about giving me a little warning next time Urahara." Ichigo said as he made a fist with his right hand.

"So uh… You're not inside this Ichigo?" I asked him

"Don't talk about me like I'm some kind of doll with changeable outfits." Ichigo said.

"All right, listen up. Unlike normal gates, this one has a spirit particle conversion machine." Urahara explained.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo asked

"I'll explain. As you already know, the Soul Society is a spirit world. Unless you're in spirit form it's impossible to enter. Right now only one of you can cross through as a spirit. Ichigo, a soul reaper The conversion machine will transform the rest of you into spirits as well." He explained.

"So you're saying the gate will let us pass through without extracting our souls?" Uryu asked.

"I would like my soul intact. Thank you very much" I said.

"Yes. Passing through the conversion machine will allow you to stay in your present forms." Urahara explained.

"Alright, we understand. Let's get going" Ichigo said as he walked towards the weird gate, only to get hit on his left side by Urahara's cane. "Ah!" Ichigo said as he stumbled backwards then regained his balance and started holding on to his left side. Orihime and I looked at him, unsure what to say or do.

"But there's a catch. The window of time the gate can be kept open for you is only four minutes long." Urahara said. We all stared at him shocked. Four minutes long?! How can we cross this gate to the other place in four minutes?

"But is that enough time?" I asked

"Ordinarily no." Urahara answered.

"What!?" I exclaimed

"In fact, the whole scheme is a little shaky. Four minutes with the gate is all I can give you. After that it will close and anyone who hasn't made it through yet will be trapped forever in the Dangai, the precipice world between this world and the Soul Society." Urahara answered.

"How will we ever make it?" Orihime asked. I saw a bit of fear in her eyes so I decided to touch her left shoulder with my hand and smile.

"That's an easy answer, we'll go forward" I answered

"She's right, remember what I told you about the connection between heart and soul. You must have no doubt. Have no fear. Do not think of those you are leaving behind. The will to go forward will be your guide. And don't look back. Only those who do these things can follow me through the gate and survive." Yoruichi said.

"Well I don't know what this whole thing we're doing but it seems like this Rukia person sounds very important to you guys so you can count me in! After all it's the least I can do for you letting me crash at your place until I have my memory back, Ichigo" I said

"Thanks. Well we all know that already, Yoruichi or else we wouldn't still be here. Quit with all your preaching and let's do this thing now!" Ichigo ordered.

"And you understand that if you lose, you can never return to this life again, right?" Yoruichi asked

"That won't happen" I said as I hit my hand with my fist.

"She's right, all we need to do is win" Ichigo agreed. Yoruichi looked at us.

"Exactly" He answered.

"To be quite honest it's very weird talking to a cat…" I muttered to myself

"What was that?" Yoruichi asked.

"Nothing" I answered. Suddenly Urahara and Mr. Tessai put this hands on the floor, making the ground to rise with some kind of energy, causing the gate to also shine bright as well.

"So, everybody ready?" Urahara asked "As soon as it opens, run in as fast as you can." He said

"Right" Ichigo said.

"Good luck" Urahara said as we all ran into the gate. As soon as we passed the gate, we all didn't stop running. Oh my gosh, what did I get myself into?! I saw purple liquid next to us, acting like some kind of walls.

"Don't look now, but that section we just came through is collapsing on us. I'm running as fast as I can. But I still don't think we're going to make it through." Uryu said

"Then quit looking behind you, and concentrate your efforts on running. If the restrictive current swallows you up, then it's all over." Yoruichi said. Suddenly more of that purple liquid dropped to the ground and grabbed Uryu's cape

"I knew that stupid outfit of his was going to get him caught." Ichigo said as he was ready to draw his sword out.

"Hold it" Yoruichi said "You mustn't do that, Ichigo. The restrictive current entangles the spiritual body. If you reveal yourself using your Zanpakuto, it'll swallow you too." He explained. We watched as Uryu screamed as he was being dragged towards that weird purple liquid. Suddenly Chad grabbed Uryu and ripped his cape off.

"Thanks for that" Uryu said. Chad quickly picked him off the ground and we all started running again. "Hey put me down will you?" Uryu ordered.

"Hang on." Chad muttered.

"I don't mean to bother you while you're running, but something else is coming." Uryu said.

"What now?" I wondered as I looked back. Suddenly there was a giant purple liquid thing with a yellow light in the middle.

"Ah! Yoruichi, what is that?" Uryu asked

"It's a cleaner. It comes through here every seven days to clear out the passageway. And it's just our bad luck that today is the day. Don't look back at it. That'll only slow you down. Just keep running, or it will crush you to powder." Yoruichi said. What!? I gained more speed and ran a bit faster than the others. Suddenly we saw a strange light. "Go, go! We're almost to the exit." Yoruichi ordered. The Cleaner was quickly approaching us… Dang it… I don't want to die here! If only I can make something happen!

"Guy's I don't think we're going to make it!" Uryu yelled.

"Stop saying negative things!" I yelled. Suddenly Orihime turned around and put her hands near her head. "What are you-"

"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime yelled. Suddenly a weird shield appeared resembling a triangle. As soon as the Cleaner hit it. It caused a bright light which we all screamed because it pushed us out of the gate, making us land straight to the ground at amazing speed. I landed on my back while Ichigo landed head first but his butt was right above his head, Uryu was on his stomach but his butt was up a bit, Yoruichi was on his back and was flat like a pancake, Chad landed on his feet and Orihime was on her knees. "Hey, is everyone alright?" She asked. I nodded. It could have been worse. At least we're still alive. She giggled a bit as she walked towards Ichigo. "Ichigo, the way you landed showed tremendous artistic flair." She said

"Gee, thanks a lot" He muttered.

"Uh… I knew it would be rough getting through that gate. But I had no idea it would take such a toll on my equipment." He said as he got up to his feet. "I wasn't expecting to have to use my spare cape so soon." He said as he took out another cape… Seriously!? Chad, Ichigo and I looked at him, dumbfounded

"Aw, man. Don't tell me he brought a change of clothes." Ichigo said

"Well at least he came prepared." I said

"Guys, isn't this great? We all made it. And everyone's ok." Orihime said.

"It's not great." Yoruichi said as he headbutted Orihime's right eye "We were lucky" He said as he glared at Orihime, who was sitting down on the ground and holding on to her right eye which had smoke coming out of it. She was also crying as well… How hard was that attack!?

"My eye." She cried.

"I told you not to expose your spiritual powers in there. We're fortunate that the cleaner only make contact with the shield area. If it had even touched any part of the six flowers themselves, you'd all be dead now" He said in a serious tone

"I, I didn't know" She said.

"Hey, lighten up. At least we all made it through, besides she didn't know any better." I said

"Yeah, and if it hadn't been been for her quick thinking, we wouldn't have made it through that gate in the first place" Ichigo said. I nodded

"I don't think any of you appreciate how serious the situation really is." Yoruichi said as he glared at us.

"Well we're just saying" I muttered.

"Listen. Doesn't it seem awfully quiet around here?" Uryu asked.

"Well… Now that you've mention it. It kind of does. I would expect there to be a bunch of people around here" I said

"Yeah, is this place really the soul society?" Ichigo wondered

"Yes. And the specific area we're in is called the Rukon district. It's here in the Rukon district that souls come to live when they first arrive in the soul society. As a matter of fact, it's right on the perimeter of the Seireitei, where soul reapers live. It's the poorest section, but also the one with the greatest freedom. And it has the largest population of souls within the soul society." Yoruichi explained. We all looked around a bit

"Well it that's true then where is everybody?" I asked. Suddenly I saw some weird buildings behind where Chad is standing. "Hey guys, look at those weird building" I said as I pointed at them. Which made everyone look at that direction

"Why do they look so different from everywhere else?" Ichigo asked

"Just forget about that" Yoruichi said.

"I know. I bet that's the Seirei…" Ichigo muttered

"Seireitei" I said.

"Yeah that. That must be where all the soul reapers live" Ichigo said as he ran towards the buildings. I sighed and ran after him. "All right, you soul reapers. Here I come!" Ichigo yelled.

"Wait!" Yoruichi ordered "Stop, you idiots. You can't run up to the gate like that. You both will be killed!" He yelled.

"Huh?" Ichigo and I wondered. Suddenly two giant gates appeared right in front of us, making us stop and literally screamed.

"Holy crap!" I yelled. The dust from the ground started surrounding Ichigo and I, making us cough.

"Well, well it's been a long time since anyone tried to pass through the spirit gates without a travel permit" Someone said. As soon as the dust cleared up. Ichigo and I looked at the person who was talking in shock… He's huge! He had the same weird uniform Ichigo had on which is black and white on the collar around the neck and at the end of the arms as well. He had some kind of weird metal on his left arm as well. Weird it seemed all burnt for some reason. He had a giant weird red hat with black hair, including part of a black beard that was tied up. "And I don't get many guests these days. So welcome to you, little man and little girl" He said. Great… Just great… Can today get even more weirder!?

Well here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like this chapter and story. Most of the stuff here happens like in the anime itself. So it's going to be like that for a bit. So yeah. Until next time guys!