Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

The afternoon light gently washed over Ichigo as he slept, unawares in Urahara's shop. He shifted slightly in his sleep, rolling slightly and murmuring.

"No, don't...come back."

"I haven't moved." A voice suddenly penetrated his mind and he shot up, looking around for the source. His eyes rested on the relaxed form of a woman resting against one of the panelled walls.

"Yoruichi? What are you doing? Where am I?" He looked around briefly before turning his attention back to her, all he got was a small smirk in response, and a new voice interrupted him.

"So cruel, Kurosaki, have you forgotten about me already?" He turned to the new speaker, and found himself looking at a grinning Urahara, who was standing in the doorway of the room.

"Hat-and-clogs?" He gave the room another once over before turning back to him. "So I'm in your place?"

"Ah, I see you haven't forgotten, that's good news. I wouldn't want to feel unloved." He got a chuckle from Yoruichi at this, who was now looking at him.

"I don't recall you ever feeling unloved whilst I was here, Kiske." He tipped his hat to her and took a step into the room, sitting down next to Ichigo.

"True, true. Maybe I have forgotten and need some reminding." Ichigo finally caught the topic that they where discussing and his face turned red.

"Wha-Shut up! Don't talk like that here." Both the adults turned to give him an amused look.

"You always where shy, Ichigo. I would have thought being eighteen would change that, but it looks like you still react the same as when you saw me-" Yoruichi started before he cut her off.

"SHUT UP! It wasn't my fault, you just randomly changed." Urahara pouted at this and gave Yoruichi a sad look.

"Hey, you said you would stop doing that." He got a non-committal grunt in return from her and she continued to smirk at Ichigo.

"It's not like he was going to do anything, Kiske. Besides his expression alone was worth it, plus I get the advantage of saying I was the first woman he saw naked, it's a win win." Urahara didn't look convinced but nether the less he turned to Ichigo.

"Anyway, I'm sure you know why your here, Ichigo." The thoroughly embarrassed Ichigo gave him a questioning look for a split second, before it all came back to him.

Hollow, death, Zangetsu...power.

"I have my shinigami powers back." Urahara just nodded at him before continuing.

"Yes, and I'm sure that this will not go unnoticed by the soul-society." Ichigo scoffed at this, and Yoruichi and Urahara shared a knowing look before she interjected.

"Something the matter, Ichigo?" She said, knowing full-well what was on his mind.

"The soul-society is hardly going to be keeping tabs on me, I've served my purpose after all." His scowl was noticeable now, as was the bitter tone in his voice. Yoruichi sighed and stood up without him noticing.

SMACK

"What the hell was that for?" Ichigo roared, from his new position: lying at Yoruichi's feet.

"Quit moping about you baby, you got your powers back: you are a shinigami. Isn't that what you have waited for all this time, and your still stuck in self-pity." He growled and pushed himself of the floor to stand face to face with her.

"Well, it's hardly my fault that bastards decided to not even visit once! Not even R-" He caught himself before he finished and looked back at the floor, taking deep breaths to attempt to calm himself.

"Oh, so is it not just your lack of contact on your mind, but a certain shinigami?" Ichigo just scowled back at her before responding.

"I don't know what your on about, Yoruichi." She rolled her eyes and walked over to the wall besides Urahara.

"Whatever you say, Ichigo. But trust me when we say they will be coming for you now." He shot them both a questioning gaze, but neither was giving anything away and he just continued to scowl at them.

"You should really be getting home now; I phoned your father, but no doubt he already knew the good news. Regardless, you should really be getting home." Urahara continued to talk as he moved out of the room, with Yoruichi lazily trailing behind him.

Ichigo followed the two out to the front of the shop, where Urahara stopped next to a small package and picked it up."Now you are a shinigami again, your going to need this." He handed it over and Ichigo unwrapped it curiously.

"W-where did you get this?" He said in shock: it was his substitute soul reaper combat pass. He had thought it lost after a particularly irritating day. He had thrown it across his room and It had fallen out of sight, since then he hadn't been able to find it.

Yoruichi spoke up now, leaning on the counter with a bored expression.

"I found it lying behind some junk in the corner of your room, had to mover some furniture, so make sure to move it back." Ichigo looked up from the badge in shock.

"You what? What if someone had noticed?"

"Well, your dad did, but I just told him I was looking for my stuff in your room-" Ichigo almost feinted, his father would have a field day.

"YOU DID WHAT!" Urahara was chuckling along with Yoruichi as they looked at the enraged boy.

"I knew that would get a good reaction, you better get back quick before Isshin gathers even more steam for the idea." He didn't need to be told twice as he shot out of the store. He heard the start of Urahara's response to Yoruichi.

"Now, that was cruel Yoruichi, and damned funny..." The rest was cut off as he got further away from the store, intent on punching his father the first chance he got.

'Serves him right for being a pervert, no wonder him and those two are friends.'

Rukia stood in the grounds of the Kuchiki manor, blankly looking out at the zen garden. There where numerous similar gardens around the grounds, but this one was always her preference.

She had found herself here more since she had returned to the soul-society, it was calm and it kept her out of contact with those that she didn't feel like dealing with. She just felt less inclined to work, she had less passion for her job as a shinigami.

It was just like before Ichigo was catapulted into her life.

It hurt to see him so far gone. That was shy she pulled out of the world of the living; at first she made sure she was with him a fair amount of the time, but over time she noticed that he changed. His reiatsu (which she could still feel, no matter how small it was), slowly darkened and became almost smotheringly oppressive.

She could feel his depression and could only watch, helpless, as he started to lose his spark, and the energy visibly drained out of him. It was terrible for her to watch it, and that was why she was no longer stationed there. She had requested to be reassigned after a year of watching him destroy himself.

It wasn't like she had wanted to leave him without contact, she was given an order directly from the captain commander to not interfere with the life of Ichigo. She had tried a few times, attempting to get a gigai and go to see him for even a day to try and snap him out of it.

It hadn't worked.

Urahara had flat-out refused, saying that it was impossible for him to help her this time, since he was now under direct observation from the soul-society and at least for the moment, he should see how he turned out. He wasn't the only one who had stopped her, Byakuya had expressly forbade her from using a gigai at all when she went to the world of the living, even going so far as to send a member of the sixth squad to sense the reiatsu of her and report if she attempted to use a gigai.

'Ultimately...it's useless'She thought, looking down at the grains of sand in lines beneath her feet.

She wouldn't see him again until he was finished in the world of the living, and died. She sighed and pushed it from her mind, she did not want to dwell on how much she would miss the orange haired boy.

As she thought this, she noticed a hell butterfly, floating towards her and she automatically stood up straighter and held out her finger to receive the message.

"Rukia Kuchiki: it has come to the attention of the soul-society that substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki has regained his powers recently. Your mission is to retrieve him and bring him back to the soul-society, before awaiting further instructions." Rukia stood in shock as she replayed the message over and over in her head.

"Ichigo..." She breathed out. He had his powers back, she would see him again. A smile spread across her face as she started to flash-step towards the squad thirteen barracks.

When she got there she quickly made here way to the captains office, before stopping before the door and composing herself to her normal, controlled image. She knocked on the door and awaited for a response from the man inside.

"Come in." She quickly walked in and knelt down before her captain.

"Please, no need to be so formal Rukia." She stood and started relaying her mission to him.

"Sir, I have orders from Captain commander Yamamoto to go to the world of the living." Captain Ukitake nodded and smiled at her.

"Why would that be?" He noticed her eyes light up, even though her face remained stoic.

"Substitute shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki has recovered his powers and I have been asked to bring him back to the seireitei." Ukitake smiled widely at this: he had noticed that she had not been the same since the boy had lost his powers.

"Well, lets see what the captain commander had ready for him this time." He nodded at her and motioned for her to leave, to which she bowed and quickly left the room.

Quickly she jumped over to the main seireitei gate and jumped through it.

"Ichigo, I imagine you will be getting a visitor shortly" The only response he got was a moan from the sleeping boy, who rolled over in the recovery bed.

"Piss of...bloody dad..." He mumbled, before settling down in the bed. Urahara sighed and walked out of the room, if he wanted to stay in bed he could for all he cared.

"Yoruichi! Make sure to take Rukia to Ichigo's room when she arrives, he won't wake up." He didn't get a response but he assumed she heard him.

Urahara settled down at the till, listing to Jinta and Ururu playing outside. He was brought out of his musings by the familiar reiatsu of the petite shinigami emerged in the world of the living once more. She appeared at his door and he grinned as she made her way in.

"well, well. The soul-society sent you did they?" Rukia gave the shop owner a small smile and flicked her eyes in the direction of Ichigo's reiatsu.

"Yes, I suppose it's because I've been here before and spent some time with Ichigo before." She said as Urahara got up and moved to show her to Ichigo's room.

"He's asleep at the moment, but you should go in anyway, give him a nice surprise!" He pushed her in to the room and slid the door shut behind her.

She frowned in irritation at the ever persistent shop-keeper, but her irritation was gone when she looked down on the sleeping boy. He looked older, and even when sleeping he seemed to have gained a small frown as he slept.

She bent down besides him and looked at him for a second longer before she smirked as a sense of familiarity washed over her, and she shoved her arm into his stomach.

"THE HELL DAD ! You ba-" His eyes widened as he saw the familiar face smirking down at him.

"R-Rukia?" He looked with disbelief at the figure in front of him, even going as far as reaching out a finger to poke her. She batted it away with irritation.

"I'm real you fool, though it is nice that you thought you might be having hallucinations about me." She shot him another smirk and he could see the amusement dancing in her eyes. Scowling he stood up, his tall form towering over her.

"Yeah right, more like nightmares of being chased by an angry midget." This earned him a bruised toe as she stamped on it in irritation.

"I am not a midget!" Ichigo hopped around on his other foot for a while before the pain subsided and he gave her a once over with his eyes.

"It's been a long time, Rukia." There was definitely a bitter tone in his voice now, and rukia was torn between being angry at him and feeling guilty over not trying herder to visit him.

"Maybe for you, Ichigo." He gave her a questioning look and she sighed and mumbled something to the floor.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you from up here." Her foot quickly found his shin and he fell onto the floor clutching it.

"God dammit Rukia!" She glowered down at him before responding in a huff whilst crossing her arms over her chest.

"I said that I saw you last Thursday when I came to check up on you, but it seems my time was waisted on someone like you." Ichigo widened his eyes in shock and slowly rose to his feet, his eyes not able to meet hers as she looked away.

"You've...been checking up on me?" She nodded in response, still not meeting his eyes. "for how long?"

"When I left the world of the living a year ago, I made sure to check up on you each month to see if your situation had improved. Obviously it hadn't, until tonight." At this she finally looked into his deep brown eyes, and he looked into her violet ones. The moment of understanding was broken as Ichigo furrowed his brow.

"Why did you leave me alone? Why didn't you visit me?" His tone was softer now, but it was more accusatory and there was an edge of sadness to it.

"I wanted to, believe me. But the captain commander gave direct orders to everyone in the seireitei to not interrupt your life any further." He was about to interrupt but she gave him a glare that stopped him and continued. "Before you ask, yes, I still tried to visit you but I could not find away around the precautions in place...I'm sorry." The last part was so soft that Ichigo thought he might have imagined it, but one look at her face told him otherwise: her eyes where looking at the floor and her head was dipped towards him.

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his hands on his face: all the anger he felt was pointless now, at least any directed towards the woman in front of him. Then he slightly surprised himself as he responded to her.

"Idiot" Rukia's head shot up; she had been expecting him to hate her, to cast her out of his life for good. But he just stood there with an exasperated look on his face and his shoulders slumped down.

"Ichigo, I-" She was cut of by him.

"Listen to me, Rukia. I may have felt a lot of things over the time that you have been gone, and yes, it hurt me when I was abandoned by the soul-society. But I know what you think, and I don't hate you." Rukia continued to avert here eyes and he ran a hand through his orange hair before he muttered something under his breath and took a step towards her.

"You have helped me plenty of times and been there when I needed you, now it's my turn. Stop pissing about and blaming yourself midget, I won't ever hate you." Now it was his turn to look away as she looked back at him with a shocked expression, his cheeks heating up.

"Ichi-" He cut her off again with a wave of his hand.

"Shut it, I'm never saying that again." he continued to grumble under his breath as he went to retrieve his shinigami badge, only to be punched in the stomach when he returned.

"Ow! Why dammit!" He grunted as he hunched over, holding is stomach in pain. Rukia just rolled her eyes and pushed him towards the door.

"That was for interrupting me, strawberry, I haven't decided what to do about your repeated insults to my height yet..."

"It's not an insult it's a fact." He almost gulped at the intensity of the glare she shot him when she turned her head, not stopping to insult him back.

"Your only making it worse on yourself, Ichigo." Her voice had an edge to it that promised pain, and her flaring reiatsu was not comforting him in the least, she almost seemed like she was actively trying to smother him with it.

'Damn his strong reiatsu, if he was weaker I could have him on his knees.'She almost whined inside her head, still flaring it towards him.

The pair arrived outside the gates to the shop, and met Urahara and Yoruichi there, the duo stopped whatever they where talking about when they caught sight of them and two smirks replaced the noise.

'What are they up to'Ichigo wondered, but couldn't pursue the thought as Urahara started talking.

"It looks like you where able to get Ichigo up and ready then, I take it you will be opening up a Senkaimon?" Rukia nodded in response so he continued talking.

"Well then it looks like this will be good bye for now, Ichigo, I'm sure you will be kept busy up there, so don't worry about coming to visit when you get back for the brief time that you are." Ichigo didn't get a chance to question him as Rukia had already opened the Senkaimon to take them to the soul-society.

Sliding her Zanpakuto back into its sheath, she gave a quick farewell to the two observers before grabbing Ichigo and pulling him through the Senkaimon. "Bye, Urahara and Yoruichi."

As it closed the remaining pair looked at each other with a knowing look and started to head back into the house.

"How long do you think?" questioned Urahara.

"Knowing those two? A while, what about the task ahead of him?" At this Urahara broke out into a broad grin and a mischievous glint shone in his eye.

"Oh, I'm sure Ichigo will be very happy with what's to come."

"Well, we can always go and visit him and find out for ourselves..." Her tone now gaining an amused quality as the two started to plan ahead.

As Ichigo was pulled out of the senkaimon he ripped his robe out of Rukia's grasp and turn to glare down at her. "Why the hell where you pulling me?"

"You could have taken ages, and I was given a direct order to get you here!" She returned his glare with equal intensity and put her hands on her hips.

"That doesn't mean you have to drag me along, I thought you where a noble with exquisite manners." He returned in a sarcastic tone, earning a punch in the arm from the smaller shinigami.

"Like you would know manners if beat your sorry ass!" Ichigo was about to respond when a voice interrupted their argument.

"Did you two realise that your out already?" They both turned to find the sound of the voice, only to find all of the Gotei 13 captains watching them. Rukia instantly went to her knees in front of the group whilst Ichigo just stood and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, hey-" was all he managed before Rukia punched him in the stomach and pushed him to the ground.

"What is it now, you bitch." Ichigo moaned, holding his much abused stomach.

"Shut up, idiot. Show some respect!" Rukia hissed at him, only to have him scoff as he stood back up.

"Yeah, you do that. I'll continue standing thank you very much." Her retort was halted when Yamamoto brought his staff down to hit the ground and created an echoing thud that interrupted them.

"You have achieved your goal, Kuchiki, now I ask that you step to one side." Rukia hesitated briefly before moving over to stand besides captain Ukitake.

Ichigo watched her go, before turning his attention to the old man in front of him. "Did you want something now that I am usefulagain?" his tone was hostile and Rukia had to bite her tongue not to lash out at him. However this did not seem to phase Yamamoto as he stood forward.

"Ichigo Kurosaki: in light of everything you have done for the soul-society, including saving it and defeating Aizen during the winter war, I would like to offer you an official post within the Gotei 13." Ichigo looked at him sceptically before responding.

"And what post would that be?"

"Captain of squad five." There was silence for a moment before Ichigo blinked and stuttered a response.

"W-what? You want me to be a permanent captain here?" Yamamoto nodded before elaborating.

"We cannot have your unmanageable reiatsu in the world of the living, and there is already more than enough protection in Karakura town." Ichigo pondered it for a second before straightening his back and responding.

"What about the living world? Will I be able to return for visits to my family?" Even as he said this his mind was starting to shift towards one answer.

"Yes, but only with permission and use of holiday, and your power will be put under the same seal as all other captains and lieutenants." Ichigo nodded before he glanced at Rukia, then over at the Seireitei towering high in the distance. Finally he turned to look at the captain commander and a small smirk grew on his lips.

"Very well, I'll do it."

(A/N) So now he's captain :D and I chose the fifth squad because of the lovely idea of him taking over where Aizen left off, and the squad would suit him anyhow. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for those who reviewed, and please review to those who didn't! I promise to respond to ever one :P