Update: just fixed some minor errors.


Ichigo blinked awake a few hours later. Tensa had moved from his chest to somewhere else in the house. Ichigo turned onto his side and reached for his bag. Luckily, his couch wasn't too far from where he'd dropped his satchel earlier. It toppled over and the flap opened. Ichigo stuck his hand into the pocket of his bag where he usually kept his phone. When the phone wasn't there, he checked his back pocket.

Retrieving the phone took a strange motion consisting of Ichigo shifting around and lifting his hips from the couch. He brought the device to his face. It was 9:37, and someone had messaged him.

It was an unknown number. "Come to me."

Ichigo blinked in utter shock. He turned the screen off and placed the phone gently down on the floor.

"Honestly…" He breathed after a minute, deciding the text was simply a prank.

Ichigo retrieved the journal from his bag. He found the page he had left off at and continued reading.

July 20th, 1882

I finally have a chance to write in this after two days of traveling.

I cannot seem to sleep tonight, which is the only reason I am not writing this tomorrow morning. After two days of travel, one would think I'd be exhausted.

Alas, I cannot shake the feeling of being observed. There is also a feeling of being beckoned which accompanies the first sensation.

I think I'm simply excited to venture into the pyramids tomorrow. Surely, once I have been inside, this feeling shall disappear.

Perhaps I should find a means of distracting myself until then.

The stars are very beautiful tonight. Even though I am in a new- no, not new, very ancient – I am in an unfamiliar land, the stars remind me of home. So does Yoruichi's snoring. I hope my writing and my candle light does not wake her. She would not be pleased.

I see that many other tents remain lit. Shunsui and Jushiro are outside, like me. Yamamoto remains within his tent, but his lantern is burning brightly. They are the oldest out of everyone here. They may simply be star-gazing or over-thinking the situation as I am. Regardless, I am not the only one who cannot sleep this night.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.

The next entry almost seemed like a mistake.

Ichigo had to squint at the date to convince himself that he was reading it correctly.

July 24th

I must write quickly.

I am concerned that I shall not have another opportunity to write again for some time.

The events since my last entry shall be impossible to believe. If someone is reading this, although I still do not intend for eyes to ever reach these pages again, then please do so carefully. If it were not for the artifact we have successfully retrieved, I would think the past few days were a hallucination.

Four of us died: Soi Fon, Yamamoto, Kenpachi and Mayuri. They were amazing explorers and brave until the end. I should hope their sacrifices to never be forgotten.

This journal should remain undiscovered. The contents of this journal should never reach another's eyes. A false story shall be told about the four who have passed on, but the truth shall remain in this journal and in the survivors' minds only.

We should never have gone after the artifact – the Hogyoku. It is too dangerous.

Ichigo stared in shock at the book in his hands. His two fingers pinched the page, ready to turn it over, but he found himself too scared to.

"Come on…" He murmured. "It's just a book."

"Mrow?" Tensa called. He jumped into Ichigo's lap.

Ichigo screamed. Tensa flinched but otherwise didn't budge. He curled up in Ichigo's lap.

Ichigo sighed and pet Tensa.

"Alright, thanks for your support…" Ichigo flipped the page over and continued reading.

The Hogyoku belongs to the Egyptian God of Shadows, or rather, it has become the God of Shadows. He tells me he was sealed away in this artifact by Ra himself! I cannot write down his name. It is too dangerous. Though, he tells me, in my tongue his name is Shiro.

Those of us who remain shall get rid of this artifact. It is powerful. I can feel the weight of it in my heart even as I simply hold it in my hand.

Several lines later, written as an afterthought was:

I have hidden the artifact. It shall never be discovered again.

Ichigo glanced at the next page. It was blank. He scowled and flipped through the remaining pages of the diary. All empty.

He returned to the last entry and slid his finger down the crack between the two pages. He could feel it, the fuzzy remains of a torn piece of paper. Someone had ripped out a page from this book.

"Mrr!" Tensa half purred, half growled.

Ichigo realized he had squished Tensa's tail. "Sorry, pal…" He immediately shifted his leg so that Tensa could be free. The kitten marched away from Ichigo's legs and plopped down on his chest. Ichigo chuckled, "Yeah, yeah… stay away from my legs. Their deadly traps, you know?"

The kitten curled up and started to sleep.

Ichigo sighed and shut the journal. Then he placed it on the ground. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and began to drift to sleep.

"Ichigo…"

The young man shifted in his sleep. Tensa snorted and hopped off of his grumpy owner.

"I want you."

Ichigo reached forward. He was in a dimly-lit hallway, the walls made of crumbling stone. He shuffled forward, towards the whispers that caressed his ears.

He noticed the ground was slowly beginning to tilt downwards. When it was almost too steep to stand, a rope appeared by his face. Ichigo grasped the rope in his hands and began to climb it.

He pulled himself up onto a ledge, this one tilting upwards. He hiked up its slope until a chamber appeared.

Ichigo's heart raced. He knew this was where he wanted to be.

He entered the room, but it was empty. Dust and a stone coffin were all that remained.

Ichigo turned to leave when a whisper graced his ear again. He looked back around only to find that the wall had vanished, and on the other side was a golden box. Ichigo approached with caution. He took the box in his hands and immediately felt a sense of power.

The orangette snapped upright on his couch. He could feel his shirt glued to his skin with sweat.

Ichigo tossed off the blanket and stood up. He assessed the silence of his house and viewed the room to make sure that nothing had changed. Once he was certain everything was fine, he hopped in the shower.


"If you really want my opinion," Rukia said, "then I think you're just exhausted. You work long ass shifts at the library, then you take home that journal… it's all getting to your head!"

Ichigo huffed and flipped through the pages of journal once more, stopping at the last entry. "But look here. Just after he gets the artifact, a page is missing. I swear Rukia, there's more to this!"

"No way," Rukia scowled. "You're nuts."

Ichigo frowned and examined the page one last time. "What if there's really something to this?"

"What if!" Rukia set down her coffee with vigor. "What if you're wasting your time on a dead man's journal? What if the missing page was taken out years ago and never to be found again? What if the missing page was a map and someone else found the artifact? Or, what if this thing really exists, and it's really cursed, and you get into trouble?"

Ichigo blinked. Then he smiled, "Aww, Rukia… I didn't know you cared so much!"

"Don't change the subject!" She pouted. "I'm telling you unless you hire some expert or find the missing page, this is just a dead end."

Rukia marched off to go scrub down a table. Ichigo leaned across the counter and sighed. The weight of Rukia's truth crushed his shoulders and his spirit. Although, part of him knew why he'd come here, and why he waited in the café until closing time once again in order to speak with Rukia. Because Ichigo knew that Rukia would snap his head back into reality, that's why he trusted her so much. She would also give him her honest opinion.

"You're so close…"

"Huh!?" Ichigo jumped.

"What!?" Rukia questioned.

"Did you hear something?" Ichigo questioned.

Rukia shook her head. "Nothing. Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," Ichigo mumbled and slid off the stool. "Is there anyone else here?"

"No, it's just us." Rukia threw the cloth at Ichigo's head. "Knock it off!"

"What?" Ichigo ripped the cloth off his face.

"You're scaring me!"

"I want you…"

Ichigo flinched and his head turned towards the kitchen door. He knew he heard something this time. "Who's there!?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia snapped, "There is nothing there! There is no one here! Now knock. It. Off!"

Ichigo ignored her and moved towards the back. Rukia sighed and shuffled along behind him. Ichigo entered the kitchen and looked around. When he wasn't satisfied with this room, he moved into the pantry. He knelt and examined the ground. Different smells attacked his nose and stung his eyes. There was one smell in particular that stood out: cinnamon. Rukia flicked on the lights and Ichigo was able to see a bunch of it spilled across the floor.

"Damn it. Renji can't fuckin' clean up after himself," Rukia muttered. "Hold on. I'll get a mop or something."

Ichigo nodded and got back up onto his feet. Rukia returned with a mop and began to clean up the mess. As she began to scrub the wooden floor, one of the boards came loose.

Ichigo and Rukia shared a look.

"No," she warned. "If it's nothing, and you rip up the floor, I'll get into trouble!"

"Just blame Renji," Ichigo joked before he dropped down and yanked open the floorboard.

Inside was what looked like a scrunched up piece of paper.

"No. Friggen. Way," Rukia said. "That can't be."

Ichigo grabbed the paper and found it surprisingly heavy. It came open and a glass ball spilled out of Ichigo's hands. He tensed, expecting a loud shatter, but the ball never touched the floor. It hovered about a foot from the ground. Rukia gulped - loud enough to hear through the silent café. She set the mop aside and reached for the glass ball with her cloth. She wrapped it carefully before turning to Ichigo.

Ichigo took this as his cue to do something. He felt the paper still scrunched in his hand. He carefully opened it. "This is it," Ichigo murmured. "This is the missing page."

Rukia nodded. "Well? What does it say?"

Ichigo read:

February 18th, 1921

I am sick. Shiro fears I may die soon. I know he is right.

He urges me to give him my soul so that I can live eternally. He and I have become great friends. I refuse anyway. I do not fear death.

Shiro knows I shall never say yes. His offer was more one of friendship than of seriousness.

I have realized I can no longer keep this journal a secret. Someone must read what has gone on, it would be an insult to the others if their story is not told. That being said, I am extremely selfish for placing this burden upon anyone reading this – you must be warned.

I've spent my entire life trying to keep the world away from Shiro. He has been kind to me despite this. He's the only friend I have since Yoruichi passed 2 years ago.

The Hogyoku rested with it's previous owner, a pharaoh. He too made no contract with Shiro and vowed to hide the Hogyoku well beyond death. The tomb was cursed so that anyone who entered it would be killed within a year. Evidence of Shiro's honesty. Shiro's power warded off the curse for me and Yoruichi for some time. It's the only reason we lived longer than the others.

If you have found this page, then I know you have a pure soul. Only those who are kind hearted can hear Shiro's whispers and discover the Hogyoku. Shiro will no doubt attempt to seduce you into giving him your soul. If you do this, he shall walk the Earth again. He must first make a contract with you, and then he becomes your shadow. He is opposite to you but remains his own person. It is difficult to explain. The greater your soul shines, the more opposite his becomes, and the darker his soul, then the more powerful he becomes. Perhaps, if you choose to make a contract with him, you'll gain a better understanding.

I have learned there are two other ways of acquiring Shiro's power. If you should give your soul to Shiro, then have the artifact stolen from you, and have the thief kill you, then the thief shall inherit the Hogyoku. Shiro's power shall still be a shadow of your soul, and so the thief does not have to give up their soul in order to use Shiro. This may sound bad for you, but do not fear. Shiro is powerful and shall not allow you to die. The second way of gaining Shiro's power is much scarier. Should Shiro be killed, you and he shall both vanish and the murderer shall become the new God of Shadows. They shall also be free of the Hogyoku. Fortunately, this cannot happen without the murderer knowing Shiro's true name, and his true name can't be revealed to you unless you make a contract with him. If you know Shiro's name and utter it as you kill him, you may become the God of Shadows, but if you recall, killing Shiro also kills anyone he is in contract with. You must understand what I am saying. Ra trapped Shiro with the intention of never allowing his power to fall into the wrong hands. Shiro thinks this is unfair, but I think he knows deep down that this is for the best.

So you see. If you have evil intentions, then your soul is not pure and Shiro shall gain no power from your soul. It would be useless to you. If the Hogyoku was found only because it called out to you, then you have a pure soul and shall continue to protect the Hogyoku. Please, keep it and Shiro safe. Try to find a better hiding place for it. Hopefully, one that is better than mine. Pray to the gods that it remains safe until another pure soul finds it, and they keep it safe again.

Do try to be kind to Shiro as well. It may seem that all he wants from you is your soul, but I know that he is suffering and could use some companionship.

Best wishes, Kisuke Urahara.

Ichigo lowered his arms once he was finished. The paper was held loosely in his fingers.

Rukia locked her gaze on the ground. "Well, that was certainly… something."

"Something for sure," Ichigo replied. "How much of that did you catch?"

"Enough." She shook her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you totally heard this thing calling out to you."

Ichigo felt his gut clench. "No, I don't think..."

"You know you did," Rukia insisted. "Just before now you followed a voice that only you could hear and it brought you back here. And…" She looked up at Ichigo's face. "You did just, sort of, wander into here one day… That's how we met. You looked so lost, like you were searching for something."

"What do you mean?"

"The first time I saw you. You walked right into the café, and you were carrying a duffle bag! Shit, Ichigo! You don't remember? You marched right into the café after just getting into town. You told me that your gut said this would be a great place to stop by on your first official day in town. I sat for five minutes waiting for you find your wallet. Ichigo, that was your first day in Karakura, and you didn't make it to your house before you were drawn here!"

Her words almost didn't reach Ichigo's ears. "Rukia… this is insane!" he protested.

"Just take it home," she said, holding out the orb. "Maybe it is nothing, or maybe you just found something really awesome! You're into these kinda things. It doesn't belong here, that's for sure, and it's creeping me out! If you just want to donate it or sell it, that's fine, but you'd be doing me a favour by taking it away from here."

Ichigo eyed the strange gem one last time. He nodded and took it and the cloth from Rukia. He tied the cloth around it then he stuffed it in his bag. He placed the paper next to it. "Happy?"

"Very."

Ichigo sighed. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Just what 'Kisuke' told you to do, keep it safe."

Ichigo nodded and tightened his grip on his bag. "Great. I guess I'm going home now."

Rukia grabbed her mop again. "Good luck Ichigo."

He turned towards the exit. "Thanks…"