Outside of Urahara Shop, Mitsumiya District, Karakura Town

Karasu was struggling to contain his spiritual pressure as he flash stepped in front of the shop. Still seething from the news he was given a few moments ago he kicked through the front door, keeping a hand around his Zanpakuto.

"The door was unlocked you know." a man in a dark coat said with a hint of melancholy.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand Kisuke." Karasu said whilst glaring at him.

The man, Kisuke Urahara, met Karasus gaze. "Well for starters Ichigo isn't dead." he said without breaking eye-contact. Karasu took his hand off of his blade.

"Where is he then?"

Kisuke grinned slightly, "Well if you'd just follow me I'll show you." He lead Karasu through the shop and down the hatch to where his massive training room was located. When they got to the bottom Kisuke pointed to a hole in the ground. "Ichigo is in there at the moment and I'd say he's been there for about five hours now."

Karasu tensed at this revelation. "So you're telling me that you forced him into the trial of the shattered shaft?" he asked tentatively.

"Not at all," Kisuke said, "he chose this for himself."

Karasu was taken aback. "Why?" He asked, "Why the hell would he agree to something so ridiculously risky?"

Kisuke pulled an apple out from his coat and looked at Karasu, "Let me put it in a way I'm sure you'll understand, Ichigo considers Rukia Kuchiki a part of his pack and will do anything to ensure her safety, even if it means waging a one man war on the soul society." he said, taking a bite out of his apple.

Karasu nodded knowingly. So the one that gave him his powers was a member of a noble house, that's certainly interesting. But then something occurred to him. "Yoruichi didn't inform me about what you've been doing out of kindness, did she?" Kisuke smiled at him. "But if that's true then you asked her to do it, which means that you wanted me to come here. So what do you need me here for that you can't do yourself?"

Kisuke threw the remains of his now eaten apple on the ground, and got close enough to Karasu so that only he could hear him. "Tessai and I need to stay on this side to open up and maintain a senkaimon and we both know that getting into the Seireitei isn't exactly going to be like a walk in the park, not to mention that I doubt that he'll manage to just walk in through one of the gates."

A thud was heard from the pit and a short redheaded boy laughed. Karasu sighed and asked, "What would you have me do then? I can't open one of those gates and there's no way for me to blast through them."

Kisuke just said one word, a name, "Kūkaku."

Raven tensed. "Wouldn't Yoruichi be able to convince her to help?"

Kisuke looked up thoughtfully. "Well I'm sure she could but she's also been a cat for a couple decades now, so she's not nearly strong as she once was and besides, having you over there would put my mind at ease."

Raven was staring at Kisuke, trying to find some ulterior motive that he knew Kisuke must have, but he couldn't find anything. "What's the part that you're not telling me?"

"Hmm?"

"I know you, and I know that you wouldn't immerse yourself with something unless you knew that it could lead to something extremely volatile." Raven reasoned, "So I'll ask again, What is the part that you're not telling me?"

Kisuke looked back down and seemed to pause for a second as he matched his gaze. "There is one thing that I need you to do, but I need to know if you are capable of doing it." He stated calmly, adjusting his hat a bit. "So tell me, what are you willing to sacrifice to stop the destruction of the soul society?"

"That's pretty vague Kisuke, but I'd do whatever is necessary to maintain the balance."

"That's good, but you didn't answer my question."

"Fair enough. I guess I'd wager my mind, body and soul."

"You might have to." Kisuke said grimly as he pulled his sword out of his cane. "Now, are you ready?"

"Yeah", he sighed as he drew Kori Okami, "I guess so"

"So be it. Awaken Benihime." The blade transformed into a sleek, black, medium-sized sword with a silver edge that ends with a slanted razor-like edge. The hilt's grip bent slightly forward at it's end had a gentle black-decorative wrapping and a U-shaped guard covering the first three inches of the blade. Kisuke flash-stepped behind Karasu and slashed at his neck. Karasu ducked beneath his attack, grabbed his arm and put Kori Okami to his neck.

"That was sloppy Kisuke, why don't you start trying?" he said as he shoved Kisuke away.

Kisuke seemed to flash out of existence and Karasu felt a slight cut appear on his cheek. He grinned and asked, "Was that so hard?" He turned around and saw Kisuke was regarding him with a playful expression. Karasu swung his sword to his side and said, "Begin the hunt, Kori Okami." His sword remained mostly the same but gained an elegant D-guard and grew a tanto-esque blade on the other end of the hilt, creating an icy white asymmetrical twinblade. Kisuke's smile faded and he swung his sword saying, "Sing, Benihime." launching a curved red energy wave at Karasu who traced a small line over the ground. At the last moment he stabbed the twinblade high into the air and a wall of ice arose to block Kisuke's attack. A loud explosion erupted from the contact of the two forces and the room was filled with mist. Kisuke tried to see through it but found a blade at his throat instead.

"What's going on up there?!" Ichigo called up from the hole. A red haired kid jumped down into it with a basket of fruit.

"Don't worry about him, he's just being stubborn." Kisuke said as Karasu released his shikai and sheathed his blade. Kisuke followed suit and said, "So," he scratched his chin, "have you achieved Bankai yet?"

Karasu looked at the roof of the massive room expectantly and said, "About a week ago, one of us isn't happy about it." He crossed his arms and looked at his friend and found that he couldn't blame him for Ichigo's current position as much as he originally thought he could and sighed. "How long's he been down there?"

"About 70 hours now, give or take a couple minutes." Kisuke answered, not even the slightest hint of worry edging his voice. Karasu's hand instinctively fell to his sword's hilt and Ichigo began screaming from. Kisuke and Karasu flash-stepped to the edge of the hole and looked inside.

Ichigo was emitting immense spiritual pressure and a white substance was erupting from his face. "All right, looks like he's going to become a hollow after all." the redhead said as he climbed out of the hole.

"I've got to help, it's time I rescue him." a black haired girl said with a fist out.

But before either of them could do anything Kisuke said, "Hold it."

"But Mr. Kisuke…" she started to argue but he cut her off.

"Watch him closely, nothing more. Usually when a soul becomes a hollow first the spiritual body explodes and then it reforms but in his case the order is all mixed up. The mask is being created while the body is still a whole, this is a sign that he is resisting, there is still a strong possibility of him becoming a soul reaper. So let's watch a while and see if he truly becomes a hollow. Just a little longer."

Under his breathe Karasu said, "Ever the scientist." and sat down cross-legged with his zanpakuto on his lap and tried to remain calm amongst Ichigo's bloodcurdling screams.

We could help him… Kori Okami said to him. Before he could answer a massive boulder was dropped into the hole. Bankin? he marvelled. The powerful display of Kido was overshadowed by an oppressive spiritual pressure erupting from the hole.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and drew his zanpakuto. An orange ball of light was shooting through the air and bouncing off the walls before finally crashing on the ground into a ball of dust and smoke. Karasu flash-stepped beside Kisuke with the two kids behind them, both of them had their zanpakuto ready. Ichigo's figure started to emerge as the dust settled and they all saw him in a black soul reaper shihakusho with a sling for a his zanpakuto to hang from his back and torn pieces of white cloth stuck to his body with various steel needles from Tessei's kido, but he also had on a hollow mask.

"A shihakusho? And a mask?" the red haired boy wondered aloud after walking in front of the two swordsman before asking the question everyone was wondering, "Is he a hollow, or a soul reaper?" As if to answer the question, the form of Ichigo drew his zanpakuto, or rather the inches of blade that remained and Karasu ushered the boy behind him and took a defensive stance, but instead of attacking Ichigo struck his mask with the pommel of his blade, shattering it enough for him to pull it off and exhale.

Karasu sheathed his zanpakuto and walked to the side to give the two kids a better view. "Hey wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be a hollow?" the boy asked. Ichigo didn't answer.

Kisuke walked up to him clapping and said, "Congratulations! It seems you went and became a soul reaper again!" he pulled out a fan and held it open against his chest, "Well done, lesson 2 completed!"

Ichigo walked up to him and said, "Shut up." punctuated with a strike from the pommel of his zanpakuto. Karusu snorted and got Ichigo's attention. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Shouldn't you be worried about lesson 3?" Karasu asked.

"Lesson 3?"

"Lesson 3 is simple," Kisuke chimed in, "all you have to do is knock off my hat with your zanpakuto." Ichigo reacted immediately with a quick vertical slash that cut Kisuke's hat ever so slightly and jumped back instinctively. "Not bad, considering your zanpakuto is broken."

Whatever else they said between the two went unheard by Karasu as he collapsed and was taken into his inner world.

Karasu's inner world

The scenery changed to a snow covered forest. "Really?" Karasu asked aloud. He walked through the underbrush and heard a few wolves start to growl and follow him. "I thought that we dealt with this already." he said loudly without stopping. There was no reply but the pair behind him got closer. Karasu shook his head and walked into a clearing.

Inside was the rest of the pack. "Asena." he said as one of them rubbed against his leg fondly. The first time he had entered his inner world the pack had consisted of two, himself included, but now it had grown to 45.

A snowy breeze swept through the area and uncovered a cabin on the far end of the clearing and Kori Okami was standing in front of it with her arms crossed. He flash-stepped in front of her and she said, "They're getting restless."

"They'll hunt soon enough." The pack was arrayed behind him calmly, looking at him with yearning and anticipation. Asena rubbed against his leg again and he scratched under her jaw. "Are you okay Kori?"

"I'm fine." she said, giving him the cold shoulder as she turned but was stopped by a hand firmly grasping her shoulder. She turned and his face was inches from hers and was staring intently into her eyes.

"You don't seem fine." he whispered.

Their closeness brought a slight blush to cover her face but she couldn't look away. "I…" she grabbed him and slammed his back into the cabin door, "I need you."

A/N: I've got a few weddings to go to in the upcoming weeks so I won't be able to post anything for the next while but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm really enjoying writing this story, far more than I thought I would to be honest. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the next chapter is going to be but what I have written for it already deals with the relationship between shinigami and zanpakuto...a bit. Don't take my word for it, I'm just a guy who likes to research and write. I guess I've dragged this out long enough. See ya later guys!