Chapter 4 now up. If you do not think the story has enough detail then please tell me so I can change the story once finished. RRE.


"Talking"
'Thinking'

'Zanpakuto'


"So Soi-Fong. Would you like to tell me what happened?" asked Yoruichi. Both Yoruichi and Soi-Fong were seated next to Ichigo's bed in the barracks of Squad 4.

"I don't know what happened" she replied.

"Well start from the beginning then"

"Well yesterday I was following Ichigo around" Soi-Fong noticed a glint in Yoruichi's eyes but chose to ignore it. "He stopped next to the clearing where you found us and he just sat there all day. He barely moved all day and I couldn't take it anymore. I asked him what he was doing and all he said he was talking to Zangetsu" then he told me he had 2 souls. 1 of them was Zangetsu and the other-"

"Was his Inner Hollow" finished Yoruichi "So I take it you seen his mask" it wasn't a question.
"Yes he showed it to me. After explaining it to me he reverted back into his regular form saying we should leave. Before he could take another step though…this happened" she said pointing at Ichigo.

"I see" said Yoruichi.

"Do you know what it is?"

"No Im afraid not but I think Kisuke might know. I'll have to go to the World of the Living to see him" she got up off her seat to leave. "I'll be back in a day or so" she said leaving.

'Please hurry' thought Soi-Fong. 'Wait why do I want Lady Yoruichi to hurry? Why am I worried about him?' she thought a little annoyed and curious at the thoughts. 'Im probably tired'


It was now 8 in the morning and Ichigo still hasn't woken up. Soi-Fong remained at his side, she couldn't get any sleep for some reason.

"He still hasn't awakened?"

Soi-Fong slightly jumped at the voice. She turned to see Captain of Squad 4, Retsu Unohana. "Oh Captain Unohana. No he hasn't woken up yet"

"This doesn't make any sense. I have used my Bankai to heal him because nothing else would yet it didn't make any difference"

"How can that be?" asked Soi-Fong worried.

"You seem awfully worried about your Lieutenant"

"Im only worried about him not recovering. If he does not recover then I will have to get another Lieutenant. A weaker one at that" she said the last part quietly although Unohana heard.

"You think Lieutenant Ichigo is strong?" she asked.

The question caught Soi-Fong off guard. "If he's my Lieutenant then he has to be"

"But anyone else would be weaker" she said.

"Well…yes"

"How strong do you think he is?"

'Stronger than the Head Captain probably. Wait where did that come from?' "Stronger than most people think" she said. "Why are we talking about this?"

"I just thought you seemed to care about him a lot more than you care to show" said Unohana leaving.

"I only care about him as if he was any other subordinate" said Soi-Fong. Unohana just smiled whilst her back was turned.

'Why would I care about him any other way' thought Soi-Fong annoyed.

'Its because you like him' said Suzumebachi.

Soi-Fong then scowled. 'What do you want?'

'Come to your inner world and you'll see' said Suzumebachi.

The Captain of Squad 2 sighed. She got into a comfortable position on her seat, laying her Zanpakuto on her lap and closed her eyes.


"Finally you're here!" shouted the Zanpakuto. Soi-Fong opened her eyes to find her self in her inner world.

"Right Im here no what do you want?" she asked annoyed.

"Look around. What do you see?"

"Trees" she said simply.

"Dead trees!"

"So what?"

"Your inner world is practically dying"

"Why?"

"Because your unhappy. If you stay like this then there's no telling what will happen!" said Suzumebachi.

"So what if Im unhappy. This doesn't make a difference"

The Zanpakuto sighed. Then she got an idea. "Look over there" she said pointing to a tree.

Soi-Dong gave an aggravated sigh and looked. "That one is full of cherry blossoms"

"Exactly! You inner world use to look like that until Yoruichi left" Soi-Fong was barely listening, all she was doing was staring at the tree. "Ever since then you've been unhappy. That is until you were beaten by your Lieutenant" this snapped Soi-Fong out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"The first cherry blossom that bloomed was when you were beaten by him" said Suzumebachi.

"Why did it bloom when I lost?" she asked looking at the tree again.

"Because you realised you could lose" she said.

"So wait all I have to do is lose so I can bloom?" said Soi-Fong.

"No. Its Ichigo that can make the trees bloom cherry blossoms"

"Why him?"

"Wow your full of questions" Soi-Fong glared at her Zanpakuto "I don't know how but I think he can make it happen"

"Im leaving" said Soi-Fong disappearing.


Soi-Fong opened her eyes to see nothing changed. She looked at Ichigo, who was still asleep. 'How can he make the trees bloom?' Just then Yoruichi came in followed by Kisuke Urahara. "Lady Yoruichi" she said.

"Hello. How's Ichigo?" asked the former captain.

"He hasn't changed"

"Let me take a look at him" said Kisuke walking over to Ichigo. He took out an object that looked like an Iphone. "This will let me see any strange reishi that may have accumulated" 5 minutes later and there was a beeping sound coming from the reishi detector. "I found something"

"What is it?" asked Soi-Fong.

"It's the mark on his chest. Usually reishi can make us stronger and can heal us. As far as I can tell though…it's doing the opposite to him"

"How?" asked Yoruichi.

"I think it has something to do with his inner hollow but Im not sure" he said.

"So he's dying is that it?" asked Soi-Fong.

"Im not sure. But he might be" he said.

Soi-Fong didn't say a word but just left the room. "I should go check on her" said Yoruichi. "You stay here and see if there is anything else" Kisuke nodded.


'its because you like him' Soi-Fong was remembering what Suzumebachi said. 'I don't like him. Why should I?'

"Soi-Fong are you here?" called Yoruichi. They were now in the barracks of Squad 2, in Soi-Fongs bedroom.
"Yes I am here Lady Yoruichi" said Soi-Fong opening the door to let her in. 'This must be important if she isn't coming in through the window'

"I just came to check on you. You left without saying a word"

"Im fine Lady Yoruichi"

"Why did you leave?"

"There was no reason for me to stay" she said.

"This is my last question and I want you to think about it ok?" Soi-Fong nodded. "Do you care about him?" was all she said then she left Soi-Fong to herself.

Soi-Fong was staring at the door that just closed. 'What kind of question is that?' She scoffed as she went to her bed and sat down. 'Do I care about him? Why should I?'

'Because he's helping you realise' said Suzumebachi.

"What now?" said Soi-Fong.

'Do you care about him?' asked the Zanpakuto.

"No" said Soi-Fong getting annoyed.

'You don't believe your own words do you?' Soi-Fong didn't say anything (She's been doing that a lot) 'Fine don't answer. But you know the truth'

"Leave me alone"

'Just do me a favor'

"What is it?"

'Name all the good things about Ichigo'

"Why should I?"

'Just do it!' shouted Suzumebachi.

"Fine!" she took a deep breath and thought for a second. "He's…strong"

'Is that it? Keep going!'

"He's strong, fast, kind"

'handsome, cute, has a hot bod-'

"Wait! What are you doing?"

'Just listing the good things about him same as you. Why got a problem with my list?'

Soi-Fong blushed a little. 'Whats happening'

'Now name the bad things about him' Soi-Fong was thinking for a minute before Suzumebachi snapped. 'Well!'

"I can't think of anything that's bad with him!"

'And why not?'

"Because I like him!" shouted Soi-Fong. She instantly blushed and clamped her mouth shut with her hand when she realised what she said.

'Took you long enough!' shouted a happy Zanpakuto. 'You have to see your inner world now'

Soi-Fong could only nod and close her eyes. She opened them to see a lot of trees with cherry blossoms. "Its…"

"Beautiful right?" said Suzumebachi.

"Yeah" replied the Captain whilst looking around.

"Come here a second" motioned the Zanpakuto for Soi-Fong to sit on the grass.

Once there she could only feel nervous under her Zanpakuto's gaze. "What?"

"Can you tell me something?"

"What?"

"Why do you like Ichigo?"

"Huh?" said a blushing Soi-Fong. "Why are you asking?"

"Because I want to know? Please tell me"

"I guess I like him because he's strong…" she trailed off. She looked to see Suzumebachi giving her a 'Say more than that' look. "What?"

"There has to be more"

"Well-Wait did you hear that?" asked Soi-Fong looking around.

"Thinking there's something here isn't going to work"

"No listen" and indeed there was a sound. It sounded like metal hitting metal. "Someone's fighting but where?"

"It's coming from someone else's world"

"Who's?"

"I don't know there too far away. Why don't you go walk around and I'll tell you if you're near the person"

"Alright" said Soi-Fong leaving her inner world. She got up and walked to her door thinking 'Please Ichigo. Be ok'


I hope you liked this chapter because I know I did. Once this story is finished I will be making it better by making more details and fixing mistakes so don't worry. Thank you for reading, please review. Criticism is welcome.