Chapter Two! These will come out pretty quickly, since I'm in the process of writing the ending of the story even now. It should be around 30, 000 words when all is said and done. I do have to get back to my Naruto story soon after all!

Hope you're enjoying! ^^ Reviews are appreciated so that I get some feedback and can improve for you guys.

They stayed in that room, silent and still, until someone jogged down the hall towards them and voices raised again in protest. There was a loud "Silence!" that sounded like it might be Gramps and then another shorter figure appeared in the door. Urahara stood up to face them, face loosing some of its tension.

The figure huffed in air before rushing out their words. "They're unsealin' Ichigo and releasin' him!" Ichigo startled slightly and raised his gaze. He felt Urahara's steady hand land on his shoulder.

It was Hiyori. She obviously had returned to Soul Society, judging by her robes and the Lieutenant's badge on her shoulder. And by the fact that she was, well, here. A few of the Visored had been allowed back in.. That was good. She turned her menacing gaze onto him. "Oi! Didn't ya hear me, idiot? They're gonna release your sorry ass. 'Bout time too." She grinned at him with her crooked smile.

Ichigo felt his mouth twitch very faintly in response before he turned to Urahara. He could hear Zangetsu and Hichigo's relief, and felt the warning Zangetsu was directing at him.

I got it, Old Man.

He had to clear his voice again before speaking. This sucked, he thought. He couldn't wait until he gained some strength, even if it was just enough to speak properly.

"When?" He asked the blonde Shinigami beside him. He knew from experience that talking to Hiyori was a pain, so he just ignored her.

"Probably very soon, they'll have begun preparations already." He smiled slightly at Ichigo. Ichigo finally felt the corner of his mouth lift in what was a poor attempt at a smile. He knew what was about to happen, after all.

"Urahara-san. I would clear the floor if I were you." He murmured in his odd, scratchy voice. "I'm not sure exactly what will happen when they release the seal." Urahara's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"I realize how powerful you were before you were sealed, Kurosaki-san, but you won't regain your full reiatsu right away I'm afraid." His voice was faintly amused. Ichigo stared back, a half smirk still in place, which seemed to make the other man falter.

"Do you know what I've been doing for the past couple of years, after I spent the first two months waiting around for someone to come for me?" Urahara shook his head uncertainly. "I've been in my inner world, training. With Zangetsu and my hollow." The older man's eyes widened in realization, but Hiyori interrupted from the doorway, tired of being ignored.

"What's it matter if you were trainin' there, dumbass? You had no reiatsu. Can't do much without that." She snorted, until Ichigo turned towards her.

"How was I able to train if they took away all of my reiatsu? If I was sealed properly I shouldn't have been able to enter my inner world at all. They were careless." Ichigo actually had to pause a moment before he could continue. This was getting old already.

"There's no way you can completely seal away a Shinigami's reiatsu unless you have their actual sword to draw that power from. My Zanpakuto was gone so they couldn't touch all of the reiatsu I have inside me. They just sealed whatever they could reach. Which is why they made a mistake sealing me in here with nothing to do for twenty six months." He knew his gravelly voice was tinged with bitterness, but he didn't care. Not anymore. He was about to be free of this godforsaken place.

"Anyways," He continued, gripping the chair arms and shifting his weight in preparation. "You'd better clear the floor. Because when the sealed reiatsu returns it's going to go nuts when it joins with what I've been building. I won't have any control over it." Urahara nodded, already striding towards the door and ushering Hiyori out despite her protests. Ichigo listened to muted voices raised in surprise, fading as they moved farther away. He supposed it was lucky that each floor of this tower held only one prisoner each. The most dangerous were kept in the regular prison underneath the city, but they kept one 'special interest' inmate per floor up here so they didn't sully themselves by entering the vaults below the prestigious halls of Central 46 when they wanted to monitor them.

Soon the floor was empty and he could only hear his own heart beating in the silence as he waited.

It wasn't gradual. It was like a storm. There was a snap to the air and he felt the oppressive pressure of the seal stir slightly in response. He could feel his spiritual energy and soul racing towards him, closer and closer, until the power of it slammed into him, slapping him back into his seat. At the same time his seals released, the black words and symbols inked into his skin ripping away into scattered fragments. His hands convulsed tighter on the arms of the chair, as if he'd been electrocuted, and his head was thrown back, tendons straining in his neck. He was pretty sure he was screaming. It was excruciating, and at the same time dizzying and nauseating. Wind buffeted him from all sides, making his shaggy orange hair lash his face, white prison robes flapping in the tempest. Suddenly it all died down, his reiatsu swirling languidly around him, Ichigo's harsh pants filling the silence. The seal was gone.

Prepare yourself, Ichigo. Zangetsu's voice, stronger than ever before. Hichigo was cackling in utter delight.

He pushed himself straighter in the chair, knowing it was the calm of the storm. The power inside of him was building up to frightening levels, while the circling reiatsu closed in. As soon as it touched his skin, the two separated energies merged in a spectacular beam of light. The hair-raising force lifted him above the chair until he was hovering, feet dangling above the ground, skin glowing as he was filled with a familiar power and warmth. The great yawning emptiness that had been plaguing him was erased as the absent portion of his soul returned. He was grinning as a joyful laugh escaped, and then he felt something else.

Zangetsu was reforming.

The reiatsu took on his familiar red and black shades, escaping from the swirling mass around him in sharp bursts. He could hear glass breaking and stone cracking with the sheer force. It kept building, ripping away the tasteless robes he'd been forced to bear, covering him in dense heavy black. His Shinigami uniform. Still the pressure built until he felt the solid weight of a sword hilt in his palm, fingers automatically closing over it, and his feet softly touched cold stone.

The world exploded. As the excess pressure released and stabilized in his revival, it was like a bomb went off, blowing away the room he was standing in. Reiatsu cascaded outwards and upwards in a great tide, touching the clouds above and rippling down the edges of the building. A whistling noise pierced the air, and after a moment of complete silence a shock wave thundered out from him, decimating whatever was still standing around him in an instant. He watched the sky suddenly open up above him in wonder.

Holy shit, King! This is more like it. Ichigo couldn't agree more.

As the air settled, his reiatsu released in it's full and fearsome enormity. It was so sudden that he actually stumbled sideways. It reminded him of when he'd fought Ulquiorra, that unbelievably heavy force that filled the air. He fought to gain hold of it, to reel it back to a manageable level. He'd never been good at controlling it but he'd have to if he had any hope of moving under this pressure. He heard Zangetsu's soothing tone in the back of his mind, and tightened his grip on the warm solid hilt in his hand. He took a deep breath, concentrated, and felt his reiatsu settle slightly. He was panting with the pure effort of restraining it. Best he could do until his body toughened up and he got some training in, he thought. It was like when he'd first used his Bankai. His body hadn't been able to keep up with it until he'd conditioned it to.

He glanced around, brown eyes widening as he took in the destruction around him. He must have been on the top floor because everything was now open to the sky. He was surrounded by rubble; no walls, ceiling, or roof to contain him. Particles and dust hovered in the air in great circles around the top floor of Central 46, with Ichigo standing at the dead center. He felt a soaring sense of freedom, something he hadn't felt in too long, standing here high above Soul Society. He also felt a vicious satisfaction that he'd decimated this room. As his new robes fluttered in the strong, biting breeze, he glanced down with a smile at his reformed sword.

It was different from the one he'd fought with twenty six months ago. It was longer and the width of it had grown. Ichigo raised it up with some difficulty, gazing along it's gleaming black length. The back of Zangetsu was no longer a straight line of steel, nor was the sharp edge a simple curve. Instead the back of the blade near the point formed a sharp peak that then sloped in to form the tip of the sword. The tip was longer as well and swept backwards in a graceful arc. This was matched by the two new points on either side of the flared base, which was much wider than it's previous design. The front spike at the bottom of the sword curved back towards the thick hilt, which was wrapped in deep red. A long black chain trailed from the base, more like Tensa Zangetsu than the white wrappings that had hung there before. The biggest difference was the cutouts in the blade shaped like crescent moons, starting near the hilt and decreasing in size as they ran halfway up the sword. It was a proud, strong sword, and Ichigo smiled.

A fine Zanpakuto, Old Man, he thought, and heard the almost silent agreement. He could feel Hichigo rolling his eyes and laughed briefly, speaking aloud this time to his hollow.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll need to build up some strength before I try Bankai or your mask, Hichigo. Just be patient, if that's possible." He heard him curse and smirked.

With a sigh he lowered his sword. Well, he'd better go and face the people he was sure were waiting for him. He could feel their reiatsu now, down at the front of the building, lined up and waiting near the front steps of Central 46. Ichigo had no idea what he was going to say to them all, if anything. It wasn't like he wanted to go on a rampage, but he didn't want to stand there and listen to them either. Whether it be excuses or apologies, Ichigo wasn't ready to sit down and have a polite conversation. He just wanted to.. be.. as lame as that sounded. He'd been in the darkness so long. His eyes pricked, but he shook his head resolutely and walked towards the stairs.

He hadn't gained any strength, but his returned powers had erased the drained feeling he'd been plagued with and filled him with adrenaline and energy. He could walk out of here on his own two feet. As for anything else, he figured it'd be awhile. If he'd been here in his human body, he would have died from sitting in that room so long.

Ichigo froze as he began lifting his foot to begin his descent. His free hand raised and gripped his robes in front of his chest. Something felt.. off. He was about to shrug it off, since he'd gone through so much today it was probably natural that he felt weird, but then a sharp pain stabbed into him. He hunched over, gasping as the piercing sensation repeated itself. It wasn't a wound to his body.. so it was his soul? Why would it hurt like this if it was whole once more? This felt like it had for all of those endless months: constant grinding pain that was the result of a damaged soul. But it felt even worse right now. The only time he hadn't been subjected to that agony was moments ago when his powers had flooded back through him.

Ichigo remembered the gaping black maw that stretched vertically down one edge of his inner world like a giant scar, shocking him when he had first returned. Zangetsu had said that it was most likely the representation of what they had sealed away. A bead of sweat ran down Ichigo's face as he breathed through the waves of discomfort. Finally it abated enough that he could stand straight once more.

"Hey, Zangetsu, what was that?"

As we suspected, they tore out a portion of your soul in order to seal you away, since they did not possess the tangible form of a Zanpakuto. Tearing a soul into pieces is a dangerous practice, it seems. I suspect that the process of a soul attempting to heal itself is what causes your pain. Here inside of you the emptiness is whole once more, but there is still one edge that has not sealed together. I do not know more than this, Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded thoughtfully. It seemed he had a lot more recovering to do than he'd previously believed. He would ask Urahara-san about it later. Although, he supposed, he was Captain Urahara now. He would always be hat and clogs to Ichigo, though.

The fabric of his new Shinigami robes still ruffled slightly on their own accord as he walked down the flights of stairs leading to the main floor. His reiatsu had surprised even him, and it still fluttered around his body in prickly discomfort, unable to be completely contained.

He glanced down at the strange new robes that had manifested. There was a red collar around his throat, and more red in the form of crosses over his chest, wrists and ankles. On closer inspection, they were actually made to look like.. chains. Ichigo grimaced. How was that for irony? At least it wasn't the same as the ones everyone else wore. Still, being chained in any way right now was grating to him.

He shook off his mood as he reached the front doors. Looks like all of the Central 46 employees had escaped outside, Ichigo thought derisively, as he scanned the deserted front hall.

Ichigo took a deep breath, mustering his strength. He didn't want to show weakness in front of anyone outside, despite how weak in body he actually was at the moment. He was sure he looked pretty rough, with his ribs sticking out and his muscles reduced so heavily. But showing them that was another thing altogether. As he prepared to go forward he was stopped by Zangetsu's cautious voice.

Ichigo, I must warn you not to speak so casually with us in front of others.

His brow furrowed, but he obligingly spoke in his mind rather than aloud. Why?

It is not normal for Shinigami to be able to converse with their Zanpakuto without meditating and entering their subconscious first. Being able to speak with us at all times is unheard of. I can only speculate, but I am sure it has to do with the effect the sealing process had on your soul.

His hollow chimed in with his usual brashness. Yeah, dummy, you ever been able to talk with us like this before? Maybe you did go crazy in that place if you can't even remember that.

Now that he thought about it, once in awhile he'd been able to hear them, but that was only when Ichigo was in danger of dying or when his hollow was trying to take over. He'd never constantly had them there in the back of his mind. He scratched his head, then shrugged. Well, I'll keep it quiet. Don't need to give them any more reasons to lock me back up. Let's go get this over with.

Ichigo re-gripped Zangetsu in his right hand and he shoved the tall, heavy wooden doors open, striding out into the sunlight.

Something in his chest lightened as Ichigo scanned Soul Society from the stop of the steps. He was no longer entrapped in the walls behind him. He inhaled the warm, fragrant air, its breeze gentle now that he was on solid ground once more. It was spring time, judging by the scents of sunshine and flower blossoms. For some reason that made him want to cry. Instead, he straightened his shoulders belligerently and paced slowly down the steps, finally taking in the crowd of people below as he affixed a blank mask over his face. He ignored the brief spattering of murmurs that broke out as he approached.

All of the Captains and Lieutenants were there, along with the Captain-Commander. Off to the right, farther away, were the council members of Central 46. Some were staring with no emotion, while others glared heatedly or refused to meet his eyes altogether. The head judge, who he remembered from his "trial" as the leader of the group that wanted Ichigo sealed away, was standing just behind the Captain-Commander. The man gazed accusingly at him and Ichigo made sure to stare him down as he continued his descent, until the other man looked away.

Ichigo then turned his gaze to scan the lines of white and black figures bracketing each side of the walkway. When he reached the base, he started forward towards his goal of getting the hell out of there. Unfortunately he had to walk between the now silent lines of the elite Gotei 13 to do so. But if that was the price, then bring it on.

He couldn't figure out most of the emotions emanating from the Captains he passed, since they were adept at hiding their feelings, but Kyouraku and Ukitake looked unusually grim. Kenpachi was grinning maniacally as always, a light of challenge in his eyes. Probably from feeling Ichigo's spiritual pressure moments ago. To his surprise Kensei and Hirako were there bearing Captain uniforms. More Visored than Hiyori were here then, and they had been made Captains no less. Good for them, he thought, as he exchanged glances with the two men. Hirako sent him a look of sympathy along with his signature sly smile as Ichigo moved onwards.

The Lieutenants were more easy to read where they stood slightly behind their superiors, but Ichigo's gaze went straight to Rukia and Renji. They looked as if they wanted to say something, but they were held back by protocol. He really couldn't deal with this, with them, right now anyways. He felt too raw, like he was an open wound. He sent only a curt nod to his friends, ignoring the way their faces fell as he continued his steady course to where Gramps blocked the exit by standing in the middle of the pathway. Ichigo paused a few feet away and waited for him to speak, feeling increasingly anxious to get out of there. It didn't help that Hichigo was yelling at him to attack them all, to wreak vengeance upon them. He kindly told his other half to shut the fuck up.

Finally the Captain-Commander cracked open an eye and his grumbling voice rang throughout the courtyard.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. We of the Gotei 13 offer our apologies. There is nothing we can say to make up for such an injustice to the man who helped to save us all."

Ichigo stared at him in silence, unable to reply. What did they want him to say? He forgave them? He hadn't even been out of the place for thirty minutes yet! Instead he asked a question that had been bothering him. He ignored the winces on a few faces around him at the sound of his crackling, mistreated voice.

"What happens now?" His voice was quiet and seemed unnatural to him. He was more messed up than he'd thought if talking made him feel this deeply unsettled.

As the old man was about to reply, he was interrupted by the leader of Central 46 behind him who began to rant angrily. "What happens is that we will hold a trial to reinstate your sealing, Kurosaki Ichigo! You're a monster.. if you're this powerful right after being unsealed, then there is no doubt that we were right to keep you confined!"

Shocked and outraged whispers could be heard from around him, but Ichigo tuned everyone out. He had had enough. He was tired, in pain, and weary right down to the center of his soul. And he was absolutely furious, which made him do something uncharacteristic of the old Ichigo. He snapped.

His face darkened dangerously, going cold and hard while his eyes fired with fury. He glared down at the man who had thrown him in prison, resulting in twenty six hellish months and the death of his human body and his future plans. His tenuous control over his fluctuating reiatsu slipped completely and it slammed down on everyone around him like a hammer. He saw a handful of Lieutenants drop to one knee from the corner of his eye, and even a few Captains wavered slightly. The council members of Central 46 stood no chance, dropping to their knees under the pressure.

The sound of his energy seemed to roar deafeningly around them and even the Captain-Commander's eyes widened imperceptibly. The force of his anger coloured his reiatsu so that it was even more powerful than when Zangetsu had reformed. The leader crashed down on one knee struggling not to keel over, face going damp with perspiration, eyes wide in his pale face.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu to point at the man, the chain clinking with the movement.

"You try to put me back in that hole. I will bring Central 46 to the ground before I ever set foot in it again." His voice was low and scathing, and he finally got to speak a few of the words he'd been denied during his trial. "All I've ever done has been to help Soul Society. Maybe I'm not under your thumb, but I've never let this place down before. I would never hurt the friends I've made here. But if you try to do this again, bastard, I will fight it no matter what."

Ichigo was panting in strain, and Zangetsu's warnings rang through his mind even while Hichigo howled his approval. However, he was too weak for this right now and the pain was increasing. He worked to reel in the power once more, the atmosphere lightening with every beat of his heart. Finally it was back to its former barely controlled state. Ichigo swayed, slamming his blade into the earth to keep himself upright. Sweat ran down his face as he gripped his sword. He was so done with this shit.

"I'm out of here. I'll send a message in a few days if you want to meet then, but I don't want to see any Shinigami for a few days." He grated roughly. He gathered his strength one last time, pulling Zangetsu from the stone and affixing him to his back with a faint clank as he strode out of the front gate leaving everything behind for the moment. He ignored the brief protests to his departure and just kept striding away.

Ichigo was sure anyone could find him using his reiatsu, but he hoped they would give him a few days peace. He walked endlessly, too wiped out to use Shunpo, but too stubborn to stop while he was still in the main city. He kept going blindly: out of the last village, out into the forest, beyond. Finally he reached a stand of boulders situated at the edge of a steep cliff. He lowered Zangetsu to lean on the stone next to him as he flopped onto his back with his arms flung out to the sides.

First he just breathed steadily until his muscles relaxed one by one. Then he opened exhausted eyes, unable to close them once he caught a glimpse of the sight above him. So many stars. Night had fallen during his escape.

He'd missed the stars the most, out of any sight in this world or the next. He used to sit with his mom and stare up at them for hours, looking for the ones that streaked across the sky. His mother would point out constellations to him in her warm voice. He didn't recognize any constellations here in Soul Society. Just a dizzying array of bright pinpricks.

He wondered what had happened to his dad, to Karin and Yuzu. And his friends, who he'd left in such a bad way when he'd gone off to war. If his body was gone in the real world, then they would have been told he'd died somehow, right? They'd had so long to mourn him already, there was no way he could pop in now. With his dad it was different since he was a former Shinigami and knew everything about the Winter War and Ichigo's hidden lifestyle. But his dad would stay in the human world until he died, and Ichigo was stuck here until he died.

What he would do now? Join the Academy or a squad? They must believe that he's dangerous and unstable after spending so much time in that place. Maybe he was, he thought, wincing at the memory of threatening the leader of the council. There was no way they'd leave him alone after that. It wasn't like the man hadn't deserved it, and Ichigo had been threatened less than an hour after getting released. But Ichigo also knew something about the unfairness of Soul Society's laws and customs.

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, just listening to the ambient sounds around him. At some point he fell asleep, fingers curled around the hilt of his sword.

When Ichigo awoke it was to a grumbling stomach and a throat so parched he was sure his voice would sound worse than yesterday. He'd forgotten what real hunger felt like as a soul. It was a hell of a walk back to the nearest district so he'd better get going. He groaned as he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position.

Ichigo shaded his eyes from the mid-morning sun with the long fingers of his left hand, the other reaching upwards as he stretched. He put his sword onto his back, and strolled back the way he'd come. He would get some food and water, then come back out for a few days. He needed to get his strength up and work at dampening his spiritual pressure a bit before he felt ready to face the Gotei 13 again. He also needed to give his soul time to heal.

Several hours later, Ichigo was finally back at his cluster of boulders, a sack over one shoulder. He'd spent an hour helping out a poor shop keeper in exchange for provisions. It wasn't like he'd had any money, fresh out of prison and all. The man had been leery of Ichigo's appearance at first but had grudgingly accepted the younger man's help. He was grateful, because he wouldn't have felt right stealing anything. He hadn't blamed the old man for being nervous. Ichigo had caught a glimpse of himself in a dingy glass window and had recoiled at the sight. His bright orange hair had grown longer, brushing over the collar of his robes and falling into his eyes. His face was gaunt, thin and pale from his enforced stay indoors. Brown eyes dull and heavily shadowed with strain. Just one more thing he didn't recognize about himself.

He propped the burlap bag against the rough stone and grasped the familiar hilt over his shoulder, bringing his sword forward. Shinigami usually recovered quickly from wounds and exhaustion, but over two years of neglect and his body needed more time to heal than normal. So he'd do some light training today to begin getting back into shape. Zangetsu practically vibrated in anticipation and in the back of his mind he felt Hichigo prowling around restlessly.

It was more difficult than Ichigo had expected. His muscles remembered the movements, the swings and blocks and stances: but they had none of his usual power behind them, muscles trembling just from the weight of his Zanpakuto. Ichigo just clenched his teeth and continued well into the afternoon until he had to sit or risk passing out. He gasped in air, chest heaving, as sweat ran down his face. Damn, this sucked.

King, I want a turn. I've been bored for so fucking long, I feel as old as Zangetsu looks!

Ichigo huffed, not really surprised. "Shut up, idiot. If I'm this wiped from basic training I can't handle using hollow powers in this shape." He ignored Hichigo's snort of disdain and continued his train of thought. "Besides, I should learn more about healing my soul before I try usin' any real power. Who knows what will happen." He sighed, and pushed up to his feet, knees threatening to buckle on him.

That is right. I'm glad that your incarceration has at least cooled your tendencies to rush headlong into danger, Ichigo.

He gave a halfhearted snort himself, and began crossing the field towards a small river he'd spotted nearby. He got two steps before pain exploded throughout his body, running in waves from his chest outwards.

Ichigo cried out as he crashed to his knees, clutching his chest. He planted a trembling hand in the grass to keep from falling on his face and tried to breathe through the agony. A cough clawed it's way up his throat and he covered his mouth as it was ripped out of him. He felt something splash onto his hand as he fell onto his side. He thought maybe he heard his name being yelled but the pain speared through him once more and he thankfully passed out.