Katsurou and Akira stepped out of the Senkaimon.
"We made it through without problem, said Akira"
"Yes. And it looks like we've ended up in Karakura Town"
"Karakura Town huh"
"We should get moving"
"Why? The Soul Reapers are back in the Soul Society and it will take a while before they wake up and come after us"
"It's not them I'm worried about"
"Huh"
Right then, a rain of arrows camed towards them but both managed to dodge.
"What was that, Akira asked"
"I knew they'd come here as soon as they noticed the Senkaimon opening"
"Who?"
They looked up and saw Ichigo's gang stand a bit away.
"Ichigo, Rukia, everyone"
"Lieutenant Ukitake why are you doing this, Rukia asked"
"So you know huh. I guess Renji told you or something"
"That's right"
"Katsurou tell us why you went against the Soul Society, said Ichigo"
"Soul Reapers only care about keeping the balance between the world of the living and Soul Society.
-You know what they do when the balance is threatened?"
"Not really"
"They send out their men to Rukongai in order to kill those of us living there, said Akira.
-When Katsu and I were kids, we lived in fear of being the next victims of the Soul Reapers and we were taught that they only think of themselves"
"I've never heard that and I'm from Hanging Dog which is worse than the district you came from, said Rukia"
"Maybe they thought you guys lived in conditions bad enough for you to die on your own"
Akira then reached for his sword.
"Katsu, let's take care of these guys and get out of here before the Soul Reapers finds us"
"Right"
The two drew their swords while Rukia did it as well, Uryu raised his bow, Chad's arm transformed and Ichigo took Zangetsu off his back.
"Should we split up like earlier, Akira asked"
"No, let's stick together. If we work together, we may be able to defeat them"
"We're gonna be the ones who defeats you, said Ichigo in slight anger.
-Getsuga Tenshō!"
"Dance Sode No Shirayuki.
-Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"
"El Directo!"
"Licht Regen!"
"Koten Zanshun"
All five attacked at the same time and their different techniques went towards the two.
"Akira!"
"I know"
"Bakudō #39. Enkōsen"
The two stood next to each other and both generated a shield that stopped the attacks.
"I forgot that lieutenant Ukitake is a kidō master, as long as he has that, it won't be easy to get past them, said Rukia"
"Then we'll just have to hit them fast.
-BANKAI! Tensa Zangetsu!"
Spirit energy surrounded Ichigo and when it died down, he stood there in his Bankai.
"Katsu, who is that guy?"
"His name is Ichigo Kurosaki, he's a substitute Soul Reaper"
"Substitute Soul Reaper?"
"He's actually a human who was given Soul Reaper powers by Rukia over there.
-You know about the Ryoka invasion, right?"
"Of course"
"After that whole thing happened and after Aizen left the Soul Society, Ichigo became an ally to the Gotei 13"
"And those other guys?"
"They're allies as well"
"And their powers?"
"The one with glasses is Uryu and he's a Quincy"
"I thought those guys were destroyed 200 years ago"
"They were but a few seems to have survived"
"I see.
-What about those other two?"
"Yasutora Sado and Orihime Inoue. Their powers are still a bit of a mystery to us but they are humans with spiritual abilities"
"Two humans with spiritual powers, a Quincy and a substitute Soul Reaper.
-The Soul Society sure has some interesting allies"
"Yes but don't take them lightly. They are all powerful"
"Let's see how powerful they are against this
-Shine Like the Sun, RaitoKuma"
Akira held up his sword and the blade shone with a bright light.
"What's going on, said Ichigo"
"It must be his Zanpakutō's true form, said Rukia"
"That's right, said Akira.
-Katsu, I know you said we shouldn't split up but I wanna see how strong these guys really are so I'll leave the Substitute and the other reaper to you"
"If you're sure about it"
Akira then Flash Stepped away and Ichigo told Uryu, Orihime and Chad to follow him.
Uryu fired some arrows to make Akira stop running.
"Didn't you say you wanted to fight us? So why are you running?"
Akira just chuckled.
"I didn't want to get in the way of Katsu's fight. After all, haven't you noticed that the sun is going down"
The three looked up and saw that the sky was getting orange as the sun began to set.
"Ukitake's powers get's stronger when it's dark, said Uryu"
"That's right Quincy.
-Seeing how my Zanpakutō is a light type, I didn't want to be too close to Katsu's fight in case my light gets too bright for him to use his powers"
He then swung his sword, making multiple small blades of light go towards the trio.
"Santen Kesshun"
Orihime touched her hairpins and three of the pieces formed a shield in front of her and the others, protecting them from the blades.
"She has a shield huh"
"Thanks Orihime, said Chad"
"No it's our turn, said Uryu"
He picked up four small containers and threw them towards Akira.
"Heizen!"
A transparent, rectangular beam of energy was created between the containers but Akira dodged it.
"Not bad Quincy"
"Chad now!"
Akira looked up and saw Chad's left arm get covered in some sort of white armor white red stripes.
"Brazo Izquierda del Diablo"
Chad made his hand into a fist but Akira jumped out of the way so he hit the ground instead.
Uryu then took his chance and managed to hit him with an arrow.
"Not bad. Katsu was right saying that you guys are strong but not enough"
Akira raised his sword above his head and the light from it got brighter.
"Kuma no ikari!"
A giant bear made out of light came from the blade before attacking the trio.
Meanwhile.
Ichigo used the speed of his Bankai to get closer to Katsurou, their blades crossing.
"Katsurou stop whatever you are doing!
-Whatever that guy has told you is nothing for you to listen too!"
"Don't tell me what to do Ichigo"
Katsurou pushed Ichigo away from him before dodging an attack from Rukia.
"I don't know what Renji told you or what ideas you have about this but this is my choice alone. Akira has nothing to do with it"
He then activated his Shikai and sent a pack of his wolves towards them.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro"
Rukia used her attack and the wolves got trapped in a pillar of ice before it shattered.
"Hadō #73 Sōren Sōkatsui"
"Rukia watch out!"
Ichigo used his speed to get in front of Rukia before sending a Getsuga Tenshō towards the attack to cancel it out.
"Thanks Ichigo"
"No problem.
-So, any ideas on how we can get through to him?"
"No. This behavior is something I've never seen.
-Lieutenant Ukitake never attacks someone without reason and he's never talked about Soul Reapers in that way before since he grew up as the son of the kindest man in the Seireitei"
It was then her Soul Pager began to beep.
"What now?"
Katsurou took that chance to send some of his wolves towards them but Ichigo sliced all of them.
"It's Renji"
"Well tell him to call you later"
Ichigo went towards the lieutenant, their blades clashing while Rukia answered the call.
"Renji I'm kind of busy right now"
"With what? A Hollow?"
"No, lieutenant Ukitake and Akira Takahashi appeared in Karakura town"
"THEY DID WHAT?!"
"It's true. They opened a Senkaimon and appeared here in town"
"Okay. Keep them there as long as possible. I'll tell the captain and we'll be there as fast as we can"
"Alright"
Rukia put down the Soul Pager and leaped into the battle.
"Ichigo! Renji and Byakuya are on their way here so keep the lieutenant in this area until they get here"
"Got it"
Ichigo began circling around Katsurou put before he knew it, a yellow energy chain was wrapped around him and he saw Akira stand a bit away.
"Not so fast substitute"
"You. What did you do to Chad and the others="
"Don't worry. They're just knocked out"
Akira released the chain and Ichigo landed next to Rukia.
"Tell me something Akira, what is it that you're trying to acheive?"
"My goal is to find a way for Lord Aizen to get the information he needs to get to the Soul Palace so he can stand at the top of everyone"
"So you're with Aizen huh, said Ichigo"
"Yes. He saved me from a Hollow many years ago and in secret, he gave me an Asauchi, a nameless sword and trained me in using it.
-I gained the power of my RaitoKuma just a year before I entered the academy"
"So you went to the academy with a fully developed Zanpakutō, said Rukia"
"Yes but Lord Aizen told me to keep it a secret. So I entrusted my blade to him for the time being and pretended that I didn't have it.
-I then joined the 5th division and became his closest ally after Gin was promoted to captain and left the division. He told me his plans and how he planned to achieve them"
"So you were ready to go against the Soul Society just for him, said Rukia"
"The Soul Society never meant anything to me or at least the Seireitei. My only loyalty was to Lord Aizen and his plan to one day stand at the top of the Soul Society.
-For him, I'm ready to do anything"
He then turned to look at Katsurou.
"Let's take care of these guys Katsu"
Suddenly, a wall of flames surrounded them.
"Hold it right there"
Everyone turned around and saw Yamamoto stand a bit away.
"Head-captain Yamamoto, said Rukia and bowed"
"Old-man, said Ichigo"
Some other Soul Reapers then appeared next to Yamamoto.
Byakuya, Renji, Sajin and the five lieutenants that Katsurou and Akira had defeated back in Soul Society.
"Looks like we arrived just in time, said Renji"
"Surrender both of you, said Sajin"
Akira looked at the the gathered Soul Reapers before he started to laugh.
"Well well well, the head-captain himself came all the way here just to catch us.
-Katsu let's take care of these guys. Without the head-captain, we can take over Seireitei in the name of Lord Aizen"
Everyone looked at Katsurou who's eyes were on the ground.
"I'm sorry Akira but I won't do that"
"What?"
"Remember what I said when you found me in district 60, that I would follow you to achieve my own goal.
-I never told you what that goal was..."
He then turned around and pointed his sword towards Akira.
"My goal was to have you believe I was on your side in order to bring you back to Soul Society so you can face the crimes you commited by leaving last month and by following Aizen"
His true goal has been revealed.
Now, shadows and light will clash.
