I'm baaaack! I did promise that I would update every Friday, so yeah, here I am. My writing might seem a bit depressing, well sorry, but I am having a hard time as my mother broke her leg, and I fought with my family and all the other teenage shit like love and friends and whatever the hell there is.

So Kubo-senpai is finally writing epicness again. Hope the anime will continue soon. :((

Now for the reviews...

IchigoMoonCutter: Yes, I will tell the story behind the sexy scars. Soon.

Camster3100: YOU give ME a chapter for Endurance! *glare* Enjoy! *Unohana smile*

Chiharu-san: Thanks a lot ^^

27kirune12: They can't be in Rukongai. Their souls were absorbed with the Hougyoku to create the Ouken, with which Aizen had entered the Royal Dimension. About Karin... As Iamsomeone22 said, she might or might not be dead. She is very important in this plot, so yeah. Everything will be explained soon.

Also, for Anonymous Guest and Names :), yes, I will keep the scars, and no harem. Maybe in the sequel, but I'm not confirming anything *mysterious aura*. And it's Karakura Town, and as I already said, the story behind the scars will be told :D. The humans with or without reiatsu were all absorbed by the Hougyoku.

Rate: T, because of Ichi's potty mouth and incoming violence. And me being paranoid. Hints of lemon, a big maybe, but there will surely be no real lemon.

Pairings: IchiRuki, definitely, onesided IchiHime, though that's way lesser. Not many pairings, since I prefer to believe that I suck at romance, but if there will be, others will be revealed in time.

Disclaimer: Bleach not mine. Full-stop.

"Regular talking"

Thinking or pressured words

'Zangetsu-Zanpakutou'

'Shirosaki-Inner Hollow'

'Other mental talking beings'

"Abilities/Demons/Masked Ichigo-Vizards/Hollows"

Without further ado...

Chapter Four – The Encounter

For the first time ever since Ichigo got bound to Hell, he could say out loud his life felt normal again. The past four weeks he trained new shinigami, killed hollows, wrote paperwork and spent time with Rukia. Everything was almost perfect.

Until Rukia told him about Rukongai.

His eyes widened, his eyebrows furrowed to a deathly extreme, and his eyes were blazing so furiously that any weaker shinigami would have wanted to commit suicide before he got anywhere near them.

But knowing Rukia, she was no weak shinigami, and only looked at him with concerned eyes. When he didn't answer she tried to place a hand on his shoulder, only for Ichigo to stand up and vanish. The moment she found him, he was walking out of the 1st Division.

And for the next eight weeks, the 65th to 80th districts of North, East, South and West Rukongai were shaken upside down. Ichigo gathered his 5th to 20th seats and their assigned crews –as well as his lieutenant as he couldn't let her lead his division alone- and patrolled the districts day and night through shifts, promising every unfortunate soul deliveries of food every first day of the week and reinforcing justice were it needed to be. When a lower rank shinigami would have their situation go out of control, a higher one or even the taichou himself –if he was not busy- took care of the trouble.

By the time Ichigo's trial of reinforcing law in Rukongai had ended, the shinigami sent to inspect the situation –including Rukia- had been reduced to tears the moment they reached the 80th district of each section.

Some souls worked on rebuilding the houses, most of which were by now similar to those in the first ten districts. Others were standing behind food stands were the aliments seemed to be given for free –Ichigo had told them that until every soul settled down and found something to work on, they'd give the food and water for free, then they would implant a trade system. Children were running around, laughing without a care. A few souls still did not open up and lived freely, but even they had small smiles on their faces or at least a relaxed expression.

Rukia grabbed Ichigo and pinched him to check if she was still alive –"We were already dead," he protested- and when she knew she was, tears of joy started leaking from her eyes and she hugged him as if for dear life.

Despite the better conditions, when Ichigo chose to return to Seireitei, he still left over at least ten shinigami in each district of each section for patrol, as fights could occur anytime, since they had not arrested all the troublemakers.

He was in the process of making his way back to his headquarters after paying a visit to Yoruichi when trouble truly arose. A Hell butterfly approached him and he stuck out his finger for it to land on.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, taichou of the tenth squad, the Central 46 has requested you come before them. You are to report there, 14 days from now, at 3 p.m."

He raised an eyebrow. It seemed that they finally protest.

…

He found himself in a large chamber, surrounded by 46 nobles, each of them having their identities hidden. The light poured on him, not allowing him to even spot any of them.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, captain of tenth squad, Winter War hero, supposed Lord of Hell," one noble began, his last title being spat. "You cause quite a ruckus ever since you broke in Seireitei. I still don't understand why the Gotei 13 trusts you, but they are just bloodthirsty fools."

Despite the not-so-subtle insults thrown at him and his comrades, Ichigo said nothing.

"Why did you interfere with the higher Rukongai districts?" another noble, a man, asked.

"Because they deserve to live in Soul Society like the supposed 'Heaven' it should be," he answered evenly.

A noble scoffed. "They did not deserve all that food that you gave them. That food was for the nobles of Seireitei."

"That food was bought. So long as it was paid for by someone else, I don't see why it should be yours," he replied.

The nobles gasped at his insolence. "What are your intentions as a captain? Why did you choose to be one?" a woman asked.

"I wish to make afterlife easier for everyone that is a part of it. I want shinigami, nobles and Rukongai souls to live evenly, equally," Ichigo answered again.

"And who gave you the right to change anything? Who do you think you are, Aizen Sousuke?" a younger male, one of the more arrogant nobles, yelled. Some of the others murmured in agreement.

Ichigo opened his eyes to glare at them. Finding the noble who yelled at him, he quickly materialized blood red chains that flew right to the man, grasping his neck.

"Do not belittle me, you unaware idiot. I know each of your souls like a children's lullaby. I know that you are not the saints you make yourselves look like, or attempt to. You," he stared at the one he had in chains. "Committed more sins than I can count on fingers, sins that are most likely to be erased when you are reborn. Knowing this, do you still believe you are higher than any of the unfortunate souls in the Rukongai?" He let the chains disperse, and the man grasped his neck in alarm.

He regarded the entire council. "I have been gifted with full authority over the Gotei 13 and the entire afterlife by the Spirit King," Ichigo said and they gasped in horror. "Fools. I am not the enemy here, but if you force my hand like that, I can chain you to my realm anytime I wish to. Still, I don't like taking souls under my 'custody' so please, realize what you've been doing up until now and cease your wrongdoings. As of now, the Central 46 no longer has final decision over the decisions of the Gotei 13. A Rukongai council will be formed soon too, and these three gatherings will have to decide unanimously before acting."

The nobles had been shocked into silence, and so, the moment he left the chamber, no one protested.

…

"That's my final decision. If you still do not agree, complain to the Spirit King." With that, Ichigo walked out of the captain's meeting, Rukia shortly following him.

"Are you sure it's alright to make all these changes? The Central 46 have been Gotei 13's superiors for centuries, and despite some awful mistakes, they also maintained afterlife peace," she asked him in concern.

He scowled. "But underneath that peace, innocent souls were suffering. You must know how it is, as you've been one of them once," he pointed out. Rukia said nothing more, though a small frown was remained on her face. "Besides, most of the captains agree with me. Change is inevitable, and it's better that we make that change, so that everything turns out better, and not worse."

They walked out of the 1st Division headquarters and headed for his office. "My subordinates told me there's a lost soul looking for me in my office. Assist me?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia nodded and followed him towards his headquarters. In a matter of minutes, they arrived and she noticed a group of low ranked soul reapers lurking around his office. Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo shared a look with his old friend and made his way through his subordinates.

Noticing him, they froze and stepped aside, bowing to their captain as he passed. "So? Who in the Hell could be looking for an old bastard like me?" he asked absently.

Some shinigami snickered, others more down-to-earth frowned in concern. One spoke up, "The girl claims to be a relative of yours, Kurosaki-sama."

A feeling clutched at his mind, another strangling his heart. However, he chose to brush it off and scowled at the shinigami who spoke. "I thought I told you to call me taichou. Only the damned may add '-sama' to my name."

The man stared at him in slight fear and shook his head furiously. "Hai, Kurosaki-taichou!"

Nodding, he advanced towards the doors to his office, and hesitated in opening the doors, gaining a few confused looks, before determinately grabbing the door and pushing it aside.

And he stood there, unmoving.

…

Rukia frowned and touched his shoulder, peeking inside. There stood a girl, slightly taller than her, with long dirty black hair and brown eyes. Her features seemed familiar, but what really opened her eyes was the scowl she was wearing. A scowl that faded when she noticed Ichigo. Instead, wide eyes and tears replaced that.

"Karin…-chan," Rukia whispered. It was Karin! She was alive! She was a bit shaken and dirty and grown, but she was still Kurosaki Karin.

"I-Ichi-nii… I found you… Rukia-san told me you were dead, but I didn't believe her. There, there was no way you'd die like that, without saying goodbye. And then I, somehow died and came here, and Yuzu… Yuzu's gone! I… didn't know what to do… I looked for you, I found these people who said they knew you but they wouldn't let me see you, they threatened me and said I was a liar. But… I… finally…" she ranted, grabbing at her head as tears poured out despite her wishes and looked at him in slight relief.

Then she noticed he wasn't moving. Ichigo only stared at her, mouth slightly parted, no emotion visible on his face.

"Ichi-nii..? Y-you do remember m-me, don't you? Ichi-nii?" she called confusedly.

The next thing happened before any of the people present could notice. One moment, Ichigo started stepping towards her, the next he was hugging her, his arms completely engulfing her, and his head laid on her shoulder.

Karin stared at him a bit, then her eyes softened at the feel of his warm embrace and she hugged him back, laying her head on his shoulder as more tears rolled on her cheeks and watered his shihakusho. She smiled weakly when his shoulders shook and her back watered too.

Rukia watched this with a sad smile. Finally, what was left of the Kurosaki family had been reunited, and Ichigo could rebuild himself now. Despite his usual sarcastic, arrogant and demanding attitude and aura, he was emotionally unstable.

She whacked a few shocked soul reapers before closing the door behind her and waiting for the chance to offer either any kind of support.

…

Standing on the edge of the Soukyoku hill, Ichigo watched the sun climb down to the horizon and closed his eyes, entering his inner world.

The first things he noticed were the usual sideways skyscrapers and a large sun hovering somewhere in between the horizon and the center of the sky from his point of view.

"The sun only shows itself when you are truly at peace," Zangetsu's deep voice echoed from somewhere behind him. "Your mother loved sunsets, and as such, they represent your positive moods, as they remind you of something you love as well."

He stared a bit at the warm sun, narrowing his eyes, before turning to look at Zangetsu. "What's with the silence?"

Zangetsu continued watching the sun. "Your powers are developing well beyond the levels you achieved in Hell. Your newfound agreement with your inner hollow unlocked new abilities for you. He will teach you those abilities. On the other hand, you have yet to master Bankai. Your skill is second only to the supreme leader of the Heaven, as such, your strength will be unspoken of," he murmured.

"As in, God-like strength? Isn't that a bit extreme?" Ichigo asked. "I already mastered Shikai and its abilities. Will Bankai have more?"

The Zanpakutou shook his head. "Your title demands strength. And no, Bankai will not have more abilities, but your power level will divide in two gates. The first you have already achieved, the second I will teach to you."

Ichigo stared at his partner a bit, then sighed. "Alright. A bit too much to take in, but oh well, I guess I do have to make sure I keep undefeatable, don't I?" he joked. "Also, wake the lazy albino ass up when you believe is the time for me to learn all those things."

Zangetsu nodded and they stared at each other. Ichigo smiled a bit. "I'll make sure you'll enjoy more of those sunsets." And with that, he disappeared.

The man in his thirties turned to the opposite side, and studied the sky. There, the gracious moon was climbing its way to the sky, just as the sun left it. One, fleetingly moment, the sun and the moon both fully faced each other, shining bright on each side, before they parted.

"You know, but you try to bury it. You do not notice, however, that it is taking over your life. Cease avoiding it, before you make a mistake you won't be able to repair anymore, Ichigo," he whispered, as the sun completely left the sky, and the moon stopped shining as bright as before.

To be continued…

Oook. Done with this, MST coming in now. You know the routine, Read, Review, and wait patiently for my amazing reply XD

-Datenshii, as always