Lesson 3: Today's Schedule

Yamamoto sighed heavily as Ichigo and Rukia showed him what they had found on his lap top screen. The old Shinigami leaned back in his chair and looked to the side as if to reminisce, "I gave you this disk for a reason Captain Kurosaki…"

"Commander… what is that thing?" asked Ichigo quietly.

"We don't really know. Meiun and Norichou were its first victims, and then it went on to kill many Shinigami, which those videos depict. My hope is that your young and naïve eyes will be able to catch something that we missed."

Ichigo scowled at the naïve remark, but the old man only smiled at his reaction, "That's a bullshit reason, why me?"

Rukia glared, "Ichigo, don't talk to Yamamoto-sama like that, you should…"

Yamamoto held up his hand and Rukia fell silent, "Because you are the most likely to find something. It may have been pure luck and charging into the situation, but you uncovered Aizen's plot and saved Seireitei, then you annihilated a Menos Grande when it attacked Rukongai. Ichigo, the only person more powerful than you within the Seireitei is I, and you may not look it, but I think you can solve the case that we failed to many years ago."

Ichigo frowned and looked to Rukia, who merely nodded silently and shifted her stance, "But the freak told me that the case was solved centuries ago."

Yamamoto scoffed, "Kurotsuchi? That old fool? He was the one I appointed to find out what was happening, when the attacks stopped he merely declared the case solved and shut away the files."

"That bastard, how come you haven't fired him?!"

"Finding new captains isn't an easy job Kurosaki. It is your choice on whether you wish to continue to pursue this case or not. I have already seen the videos for myself, there's probably nothing new to find."

Ichigo nodded softly, "I'll watch the files in my free time."

"Very good," said Yamamoto with a curt nod, "Be sure to let me know if you find anything captain."

"I will."

The streets of the Seireitei were eerily quiet as Rukia and Ichigo walked back. The old style walls that were on both sides only served to magnify the minor claustrophobia, and the blinding white and orange shingled roofs served as the repetitive aspect, "How did you live in a place this boring for a hundred years?" asked Ichigo.

Rukia scowled, "You live here too now, idiot, so I don't want to hear you complaining."

Ichigo grinned and Zangetsu twitched in its sheath, he grasped the handle and pulled upwards, letting the huge broad sword fall to the ground, "Run Zangetsu," he whispered.

"Ichigo, what are you…"

Before she could finish her sentence Ichigo's Zanpakuto had already widened, the hilt was replaced by a wrapping of bandages and the blade slightly darkened, taking on a curve at the cutting edge. He promptly turned and swung it in an upward arc, destroying a good chunk of the wall to his right, "There," he said cheerfully as Zangetsu returned to its original form and he sheathed it once more, "Now it looks better."

Rukia kicked him… hard.

Ichigo sighed as he looked down at the last paper… his eyebrow twitched, "How come I have to fill out a stupid piece of paper every time something little happens?" he muttered begrudgingly.

Honestly, who cared if his twentieth seat killed random hollow C? It just didn't make any sense to him that they had to keep track of trivial things. He reminded himself to go talk to old man Yamamoto as he signed and dotted the last paper, putting it on top of a pile that was well over a foot by now. He pulsed his spirit pressure for a second, and minutes later his vice captain walked through the front door, "I just got done with the papers for today," he said, but before Momo could walk forward to claim them he continued, "Do you know anything else about what's going on with that disk that Kurotsuchi gave me?"

Momo looked down at her feet and shook her head, "No, I'm sorry Captain Ichigo."

"What about that strange thing you said? The origin of souls, know anything about that?"

Momo grinned, clearly excited that a superior wanted to delve into HER knowledge, "Well, a long time ago, when everything began, it was said that all souls were equal. There were no Shinigami and no Hollows, just souls, and Rukongai and the Seireitei didn't even exist yet."

"I see, so even this world had a beginning, huh?"

"That is… in theory it did. A lot of our science heads, especially Kurotsuchi-taicho, try to debunk this line of thinking."

"How about Mr. Hat and Clogs? What did he think of it?"

Momo tilted her head and looked at him as if he had just sprouted a third arm, he shook his head and smiled, of course she wouldn't know that nick name, he never used it around her, "Urahara-san," he continued, "What did he think of it?"

Her look lost its confusion and she continued, "He sought out to prove it, but as you know, he didn't have much time in Soul Society, it was only temporary for him. He went back to the living world before he could finish his research."

"Where's that research now?"

"You have it Captain; it's all on that disk, videos, text, history, all of it."

Ichigo nodded, "I see, go ahead and take the rest of the papers and have a good rest of the day off will ya?"

Momo nodded and marched forward, pulling the pile from Ichigo's desk and walking quickly out the door. Ichigo wondered how she could carry all that without her arms hurting. He leaned down and pulled the lap top from his drawer again, deciding to spend some time on this research he was presented with. Ichigo found several questions running through his head. If all souls were originally created equally then why were there Shinigami, to fight the hollows? Maybe a hollow was made and the other souls decided that they needed a way to fight this new monstrosity. His thoughts and curiosity deepened as he opened the disk folder once again before going to the video files.

'Archive Date: 1101 AD'

'Recorder: Rikei Migoto'

'Recorder Status: Deceased'

"Meiun Kuchiki and his friend are dead."

Ichigo frowned; well THAT was a cheerful opening.

"The monster… it was my fault, I should have never dabbled in affairs that were not my own. It was… pathetic of me to think that it could've been controlled with research and time, but I should have seen that its powers were too great. I do not deserve to be captain of the twelfth Gotei, I am much too pathetic."

Ichigo couldn't see where it was being filmed. It was as if wherever the man was there was no light whatsoever.

A bitter laugh, "I thought I could contain it. Right now I cannot even recall how I created it. However, whoever is watching this tape, I can be sure of one thing, and I am going to disclose it to you so that it may help you in the future. This beast… this thing. It feeds on happiness. You can tell when it is near, suddenly, the air becomes cold. If you think thoughts of the one you love… or family, it is of them dying. I am surprised Meiun stayed that level headed before they were slain. If it was not for his Kuchiki blood he would have been as panicked as Norichou.

"It seems I have unleashed something that cannot be stopped, I am afraid that even Yamamoto-sama will fall victim to its power. I remember one thing…"

Ichigo leaned forward in his chair, intently listening to this man as he rushed on about his so-called experiment.

"I wanted to recreate the process of a Hollow in my laboratory. The subject, he was a twenty year old male and had fallen from a cliff face. He was still shaken from his death when I showed him my laboratory. I told him the process of the experiment, and that it would be painful, but I assured him that once I was finished I would purify him with my Zanpakuto and he would be back in Rukongai again.

"I intended to save lives with this experiment, so he reluctantly agreed to help me, and I admired his selflessness. He truly was a hero… however, I got ahead of myself, and something terrible was released…"

The video archive ended and Ichigo leaned back in his chair.

Suddenly, the air became cold in his office and a frown permeated his features. When he thought of going to see Rukia on this latest development, he saw her lying in her own blood. He quickly retreated from his office, deciding that he needed to go see Urahara as quickly as possible.