Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter Two

Ichigo was falling.

He screamed as he fell down into the abyss. His head felt like it was being filled to its breaking point. All around him images of the four captains swirled around him, showing him the lives of Zaraki, Unohana, Toshiro and Byakuya. His head felt like it was about to burst. "MAKE IT STOP!" he yelled, thrashing, trying to escape the memories. Every couple of seconds his eyes would be shown a scene from one of the captains' lives, weaving in and out from one captain's memory to the next.

Just when Ichigo couldn't take anymore, he finally hit the bottom of the abyss.

The pain in his head faded and he blinked. Sitting up, he looked around. "Rukia? Renji?" He called out, trying to remember what happened. He recalled Mayuri's experiment, Byakuya and Unohana being drained of their spirit energy and his attempt to stop it, getting zapped by the orb.

"Where am I?" he asked out loud.

He saw that he was no longer in Mayuri Kurotsuchi's lab. Instead, he found himself standing in the middle of a meadow, the blackness of night wrapping the sky. "Where is this place?' he wondered. "It looks like the Rukon District but…"

He began to walk, hoping to figure out where he was. Shivers ran down his spine when he saw something littering the ground: bodies. "What happened?" He knelt down to check one of the bodies but saw that he didn't need to check. He knew that he was dead. They were all dead. "Who could've done something like this?" he asked.

The sound of footsteps startled Ichigo. Standing back up, he whirled around to see someone walking by him past a huge mound shrouded by the night. The figure's back was turned but Ichigo instantly recognized who it was by the back of her head. "Captain Unohana!" he gasped in surprise. "You're okay!" But he was confused. Why was she wearing a Haori with the number eleven on it instead of four?

He ran up to the woman and called out to her again. "Captain Unohana!" When she didn't respond Ichigo, he reached for her shoulder…and watched in bewilderment when it went right through it. "What?!"

Unohana stopped, not noticing the phantasm behind her. Ichigo walked around to try to get her attention. But when he did, he realized that this wasn't the Unohana he knew.

The most obvious thing was Unohana's lack of her trademark braid. Instead her hair hung down her shoulders. The look on her face also perturbed Ichigo. There wasn't the usual kind smile on the woman's face, only a look of irritated disdain.

"Wait a minute…" Ichigo started putting two and two together. "Am I…in Captain Unohana's memory?"

"Captain Unohana!"

Ichigo turned to see a squad member walk towards them. As he approached, rain started to come down on them, though it merely passed through Ichigo. "I couldn't do it," he told his captain. "No matter how much I looked…I couldn't find in the Rukon District strong enough to satisfy you."

Ichigo was completely lost. "Satisfy?" he repeated in confusion.

The cold, indifferent Unohana merely turned and looked at her subordinate with a look of boredom. "You realized my true intentions?" she asked the man.

The Soul Reaper nodded, hefting his zanpakuto on his shoulder. "Of course. Your mission of 'Eradicating vandals in the outskirts of the Rukon District to preserve the peace of the Seireitei' You'd never propose such an idea if that wasn't your reason!" He kicked one of the bodies. "Slaying these hoodlums will amount to nothing." He then gestured to something that Ichigo hadn't noticed before, something that truly startled him. "The size of that pile of bodies is the size of your dissatisfaction!"

Ichigo turned and his jaw hung in disbelief. What he'd assumed was a mound of dirt was a massive pile of bodies. And as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that they were all carrying sword wounds. He turned back to Unohana, hoping that the woman wasn't responsible for such an atrocity.

To his surprise, Unohana showed a modicum of confusion herself. "That pile…" she gestured, turning back to her man. "How long has it been there?"

The nameless man blinked. "Huh? Didn't you slay these men?"

Ichigo turned back to inspect the pile, wondering if there were any survivors. His attention was caught when something moved on top. Ichigo thought it was one of the hoodlums killed but realized that it was not the case. It was a boy.

But when lightning flashed and Ichigo got a good look at the child, his shocked expression only grew. That shaggy black hair. The eyes that lusted for battle. The chipped zanpakuto.

The boy was Kenpachi Zaraki.

In the blink of an eye, Kenpachi had leapt off the pile and lunged for Unohana. Ichigo whirled around. "Captain Unohana! Look out!" But he saw that the woman had a bored look on her face. She drew her zanpakuto and met Kenpachi's blow.

It was something of a marvel for Ichigo to watch. He'd never seen Unohana in combat nor had he ever seen Kenpachi fight the way that he did now. The way their blades clashed made even the air shake. "They're…so strong!" Ichigo said in awe.

Just as fast as Kenpachi had started to fight, his sword knocked aside Unohana's. Ichigo let out a shocked scream when Kenpachi's sword sank into her chest. He expected a look of shock on Unohana's face but instead he saw something that truly puzzled him: jubilation.

Suddenly the image of Kenpachi striking Unohana froze. Before Ichigo could even blink the memory dissolved like sand. Color swarmed Ichigo's vision as he struggled to comprehend what the hell was going on. When his eyes came back into focus he found that Kenpachi and Unohana were gone. He was no longer in the Rukon District. Instead, he found himself standing on top of one of the buildings of the Seireitei. "Where am I now?"

He heard chatter behind him and turned around. On the rooftop across from him he saw three people huddled together, all wrapped in thick cloaks to protect them from the winter chill. He hopped across and landed next to them. He saw that it was Rangiku, Momo and…

"AIZEN?!"

Immediately Ichigo reached behind him for Zangetsu out of a sense of alarm. But when his hand only grabbed air he remembered that he dropped Zangetsu when he'd lost consciousness. Upon further inspection, Ichigo realized, like with Unohana, this wasn't the Aizen he knew and despised.

Laughing heartily, the captain of Squad Five, Souske Aizen, smiled happily as he conversed with the two lieutenants. His appearance was the same before he defected from the Soul Society, with his bookish glasses and finely combed hair.

Ichigo looked up to see Captain Hitsugaya join them. "Hey! Here he is!" Rangiku chirped merrily.

Toshiro seemed to be just as confused as Ichigo. "Huh? Why are Momo and Aizen doing here?"

Momo's face turned red. "Toshiro! That's CAPTAIN Aizen!" she insisted.

"Then that's CAPTAIN Hitsugaya to you…" Toshiro scoffed. He turned to his lieutenant. "Why'd you call me up here?"

"Don't be dumb. It's your birthday! See? Look!"

When Rangiku pointed to the sky, fireworks began to erupt, introducing bright color to the night's black canvas.

Rangiku turned back to her captain and gave him a gentle smile, one that Ichigo wasn't used to seeing. "Fireworks in winter are nice. It'd be even better if it were snowing."

Toshiro rolled his eyes. "It'd be freezing then, you idiot."

Ichigo was once again caught off guard when Aizen spoke. "Happy birthday, Toshiro," he said with a warm smile.

But Toshiro didn't seem to appreciate the appreciation. "Birthdays don't mean much to us from the Rukon District…" he lamented, looking off in the distance. Ichigo frowned, wondering what was going on in that head of his. "We aren't born here like nobles." His eyes turned back to Aizen, who was giving him a knowing look, like a parent encouraging him to continue. "We're all the same. Nobody remembers the day he was born. We all have to trust another's word on the matter."

Ichigo looked around and was saddened when he saw that both Momo and Rangiku became saddened, their happy mood brought down by Toshiro's cynicism, especially Rangiku, who looked lost in reflection. He turned back and suddenly saw Toshiro in a different light. "Toshiro…"

Aizen merely continued to smile. "It doesn't matter if it's true or not. Just having a birthday…makes one happy, I think."

Ichigo stared at the man, not knowing how to take all of this. This…this was so unlike the Aizen he knew. The warm smile on his face, the kind eyes full of understanding, the soft voice that brought warmth even in the dead of night. It was almost too much for Ichigo to comprehend. This was the Aizen they knew?

But apparently Aizen's words had their intended effect. Continuing to watch the fireworks light up the sky, Toshiro nodded. "Thanks Aizen…Momo…Rangiku…"

Once again the image suddenly froze. Even though he was ready for it this time Ichigo was still blinded as the world around him shifted and blurred with color, restructuring to another memory.

Reeling from the disorientation, Ichigo rubbed his eyes, his legs wobbling. When his eyes came back into focus he recognized the surroundings. "Wait…this is…"

He found himself in Byakuya Kuchiki's room. He saw the captain sitting next to a woman, laying in bed. "Byakuya?" When the man didn't take notice he knew that he was in another memory. Walking over to him he looked down to see who was in bed, only to stumble backwards at the sight of Rukia bedridden. "Wait, Rukia? Why is she…"

But the words died in his mouth as he figured out a few things. He realized that this wasn't Rukia, the woman looking slightly older than his friend. "Wait…if she's not Rukia…then that must mean she's-"

"Hisana…" Byakuya whispered softly, holding his wife's hand. Ichigo knelt down next to the man. A lump formed in Ichigo's throat when he saw the pale, sickly look on Hisana Kuchiki's face. Ichigo didn't need to be the son of a doctor to know that the woman didn't have long for this world.

Turning her head, Hisana began to speak, her voice soft but strained. "Lord Byakuya…please find…my sister," she pleaded to her husband. "But when you do…" her hand squeezed Byakuya's, "don't tell her that I was her sister. Just use your power to protect her…" Her eyes showed pain, making the lump in Ichigo's throat go bigger. He felt sick, knowing that he could only watch and not be able to do anything, to tell her that Byakuya would keep his promise and protect Rukia. "I abandoned her. I have no right to call her my sister. But please…allow her…to call you brother."

As she continued speaking, Ichigo saw tears begin to well up in Byakuya's eyes. Never had Ichigo ever seen the man look so vulnerable.

"Even now I'm causing you trouble." Hisana smiled. "I'm sorry I cannot…repay the love that you gave me. The five years I spent with you were like a wonderful dream."

"Lord Byakuya…"

All Ichigo could do was watch silently as Hisana slowly passed away, her hand slipping from Byakuya's hold. The man, now a widower, hung his head and grieved for his wife. Ichigo wanted to say something, anything, to try to tell Byakuya how sorry he was. He opened his mouth, forgetting that it was pointless to try to speak when he was just a ghost in a memory.

And then he woke up.

Opening his eyes, Ichigo sat up straight, sweat covering his face as he struggled to breathe.

"Isane! He's awake!"

Ichigo found himself in Squad Four, in one of the medical centers. In an instant he saw Rukia and Renji rush to his bedside. "Ichigo! Are you okay?"

"I…" Ichigo couldn't even begin to comprehend what had happened. How could he tell them what he saw? Especially what he saw from Byakuya's memory? "What happened?"

Renji crossed his arms and scowled. "Captain Kurotsuchi happened. His experiment went out of control. Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah. I remember the experiment going haywire. I attacked it and then…nothing."

"From what Mayuri told us, the Synthesis Orb took in too much energy. When you struck it with your Getsuga Tensho, the feedback caused it to go into overload and respond by hitting you with a charged blast of highly concentrated spirit energy."

"What about your brother? And the other captains?"

Both lieutenants looked at each other before shaking their heads sadly. Renji stepped out of the way so Ichigo could see behind him. He saw Byakuya, Toshiro, Kenpachi and Unohana in beds beside him.

"They're all still in comas," Rukia told him, saddened almost to the point of tears. "My brother hasn't woken up yet. None of them have…"

Renji put a hand on Rukia's shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be alright, Rukia," he said, trying to cheer her up.

"What's wrong with them?"

The other captains' lieutenants were all by their respective captain's bedside. Standing next to the unconscious Kenpachi, Ikkaku looked up, a look of anger on his face. "Whatever that psycho did, it drained them of their spirit energy. They've got a pulse but they haven't recovered any at all. It's like…" His hands balled into fists. "It's like they've become empty shells!"

Standing next to him, Yumichika looked at the Substitute peculiarly. "Speaking of which, Ichigo, do you feel any different. You were blasted by the combined energy of all four captains. How are you feeling?"

Ichigo looked down at himself and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't feel any different."

Yumichika pointed at the table containing the five Soul Reapers' zanpakutos. "Well the reason I ask is…well…take a look at your zanpakuto."

Getting out of bed, Ichigo walked over to his table and stared in disbelief. Zangetsu had completely changed. It resembled his original zanpakuto now, returning to the shape of an oversized katana. Due to the effects of the Synthesis Orb, Zangetsu now had attributes from all four captains. It had Byakuya's purple hilt, Toshiro's star-guard, Unohana's curve and Kenpachi's chipped edge. He picked up the huge sword and tried to contact his spirit within. "Zangetsu? Zangetsu, what happened?"

No sooner did he try to contact Zangetsu did another swarm of images pop into his head. Zangetsu slipped from Ichigo's hands as the boy staggered backwards, his hands going to his head. "Arghh!"

"Ichigo!" Everyone rushed to his side. Rukia put a hand on his arm to try and calm him down. "Just take a breath. What's wrong?"

"I keep…seeing images."

Rangiku put her hands on his shoulders to steady the boy. "We don't know what that thing might have done to you. Just try to take it easy for right now until we can figure out what's wrong with my captain and the others."

"Right…" Ichigo nodded. He turned to look at the four sleeping captains and grew more concerned, wondering not only what was wrong with them, but what was wrong with him…

Meanwhile…

"Ughhh…" Toshiro groaned as he opened his eyes. "What on earth? What happened?" he mumbled before sitting up. "I remember Mayuri's orb…then I grabbed Byakuya…then…"

"It would appear that Captain Kurotsuchi's device had an unintended side effect."

Captain Unohana walked over to the boy and helped him up. "I am glad to see you are alright, Captain Hitsugaya. I was starting to worry you would never wake up."

"Thank you but where are the others?"

"We're here."

Byakuya and Kenpachi walked over to the two, both men having woken up already. "Seems like we're all here," Toshiro said before looking around. His sense of bewilderment overwhelmed him when he took in their surroundings. "What? What the hell?"

Annoyed by this bizarre world, Kenpachi shouted what they were all thinking.

"What is this place and WHY IS EVERYTHING SIDEWAYS?!"

To be continued