AN: Here I am again with another chapter. This one is mostly after the manga.

Thank you for your reviews everyone.

Crazy Jae: Thanks and good luck with your stories.

halberd42: Hehe, I can't wait as well to get to the good parts.

nyc2dragon: Thanks, I don't have anything against IchigoxRukia but they don't work as a couple in my eyes, best friends yes, but couple no. I chose Riruka because for some unknown reason I really love her and I think she and Ichigo would make a good couple. I also plan to write about the search teams next chapter for each division.

Well, now onto the chapter.

Chapter 3: Eyes of The Menace

Soul Society

"…ki. Yuki Ryuunosuke!" Kurumadani was trying to wake up the young Shinigami.

"Y…Yes, I wasn't listening." The still asleep boy responded hurriedly.

"I know that. You were completely asleep.*pops vein* How can you be asleep on the first day of a new mission that your senpai is trying to explain so that you can take over for him?"

"I'm sorry*drools* I was so nervous last night I didn't get much sleep, so I can't help it…" the boy was trying to make an excuse but failed.

Now Kurumadani was even angrier.

"What do you mean you can't help it? You make is seem like you had no choice but to stay awake! Besides, I already heard that excuse once when you came in late! See, I listen to everything you say!"

"I expected no less of you, Kurumadani – senpai!"

"Shut up! Just open those damn eyes of yours!"

Finally, Yuki was awake enough so he and Kurumadani left this house. He started walking when he heard a voice.

"You sure know how to make people mad, as usual."

That voice was familiar to him, he tried looking for its source so he looked behind.

"Over here, idiot!" he felt someone slap his face "Owww." He looked at the person and realized that it was his friend, Shino. Then while holding his head he started complaining.

"Please don't slap me like that Shino-san!"

"I have to, or else you won't notice me." She began arguing with him. "Get yourself in gear! You and I are leaving for the mission point this afternoon!"

"I know that…but aren't you scared…?" he avoided eye contact with her.

"Why would you be scared if you're with me?" Shino was confused by his cowardness.

"No, it has nothing to do with that…I just heard that the hollow appearance rate in Karakura is really high…so I just wondered if it's okay for someone like me to go there…Besides, I heard that there is already a really strong Substitute Shinigami there…if that's the case, then why do I need to go…?"

Shino instantly grabbed him and started to scold him.

"Why are you being such a sissy !" she then left him go and continued to talk. "They assigned two people to the town, just so that they wouldn't have to ask for help of that Shinigami Substituite unless they absolutely need it, but then they were relocated! And you were chosen as the #1 replacement! In other words, someone acknowledged your abilities! Why aren't you proudly sticking out your chest! No, wait! Even if they didn't acknowledge you yet, this is the perfect chance for you to prove…"

Shino heard Yuki chuckle in front of her and stopped talking to look at him.

"…What are you laughing for?" she was pissed and confused.

"No…it's just "Why aren't you proudly sticking out your chest… Shino-san doesn't even have a chest to stick ou-" he was cut off by her punch.

Karakura Town – 11:44 PM

On top of a building a shadow appeared out of nowhere and from it emerged Ivan. He looked around him, seeing no one he pulled something out of his pocket and threw it in the air. The object turned into dust then it vanished in air, mixing with it.

A few minutes later a Senkaimon opened in air. Out of it came Kurumadani, Yuki and Shino.

"Alright, we're here!" said Kurumadani enthusiastically.

"Incidentally…" was Shino's only response.

Kurumadani then looked at Yuki.

"What happened to your face, Yuki?" he asked seeing his bruised face.

"Ehh? Is…is something wrong with my face? I'm pretty sure this is the face I was born with!" he tried to play innocent but Kurumadani looked skeptical.

"…really…? Well, if that's what you really think, then I'll believe you, but…"

"He's agreeing with me…What a guy…" Yuki couldn't believe his luck right now.

" I've done my part then! Work hard at exterminating hollows, and don't fight with each other! Got it? No more fighting, you hear? And I'm not trying to use reverse psychology on you, okay? I really mean it…" and with that, he saluted both of them and disappeared with the Senkaimon.

Shino immediately took initiative.

"Alright. Let's begin making the rounds. I'll go north so you go south." She spoke calmly.

Yuki looked at her in disbelief. "Ehh? We aren't going around together?"

"Are you nuts? That would be such a waste of time. There would be no point for us both to be here then." She then realized something. "Wait, don't tell me you're scared. Be honest with me, dammit."

Yuki looked surprised. "Y…yeah I'm scared!"

"Don't get all serious on me, it's pathetic." She decided to leave him be so she took off. "I'm outta here. Go around on your own and try to straighten yourself out!" with that she was gone.

Then, out of all things he could do,Yuki started whining. "Ehhh? But I was just being honest like you said. You're so mean Shino-saaan." He was interrupted by a sound behind him. He turned around to find its source, and came to look at a huge hollow.

Instantly he took off running. "WWAAAAAAHHHH" the hollow was behind him.

"I found one, I found one, I found ooone! I found one, Shino-saaan!"

The hollow started attacking him but Yuki clumsily dodged his large hands.

"Shino-saan! Come on, I need you to make fun of me. Say something like 'You sound like you're advertising a new product' or something, Shino-san!" he turned around a corner of a building and saw a group of hollows, one of them holding a bloodied Shino in its hands.

"Shino-san!…I have to…It's only us here…I have to save her!" he was so scared he didn't notice the hollow that was chasing him behind him, preparing to strike. The attack hit Yuki in the face and sent him flying. He couldn't move anymore and felt his conscience slipping away. "Eh. Her hand isn't moving and neither is her body. No way. Why…How could one hit do that?…Am I going to die in one hit too? So much…blood. NO! I don't want to die. I haven't even saved Shino-san…"

The hollows were preparing to eat them when they were hit by an energy wave, wounding them.

Yuki looked surprised, then saw someone Shunpo in front of him.

"Are you the one who's taking over for Imoyama-san?" the savior asked Yuki. "You better get in gear. You need to be more help tan him, or else you're useless."

Yuki looked at the stranger and barely managed to get words out "..Wh-..Who are you…?"

Well kid, I'll give you a tip. He is a badass deathberry, that's who he is. As for his name…

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami." With that Yuki lost conscience.

Ignoring him, Ichigo proceeded to kill the hollows. Seeing their kind destroyed, the other hollows immediately went for him. No such luck, a few arrows destroyed them completely.

"That was dangerous Kurosaki." Uryu "kindly" told him.

"What are you saying? Your arrows are dangerous. Did you come here to get in my way?" Ichigo started complaining.

"What? You should learn to say "Thank you" once in a while Kurosaki. I just saved you right now"

"Whoever said I needed you to save me. I don't need help to handle a few weak hollows."

As those two argued for a few moments, Orihime and Chad appeared as well.

"I already gave them first-aid treatment, I'll finish healing them when it's over." Orihime told Ichigo.

" Can't be helped then. In that case let's end this." They all took their poses and activated their powers. In just a few minutes they killed all the hollows. Ichigo was first to speak.

"Ok, now that that's been taken care of, what do we do about them?"

"We take them to your house, what else?" was Uryu's smartass reply. Ichigo didn't take kindly to this.

"What? Since when is my house the Living World HQ of Soul Society?"

"They are the Shinigami sent here to protect Karakura, since you are just a Substitute, it is your responsibility to take care of them, Kurosaki." Ichigo looked at him in disbelief.

"I also agree." Ichigo turned to look at Chad. "Not you too Chad."

"Yes, Kurosaki-kun is so kind." Orihime said cheerfully.

Ichigo reluctantly agreed and went to his house. When he got home, he gave his sisters a half-truth story and went to his room. Setting them on his bed, Orihime began healing them.

As Ichigo looked at the glowing shield, he started thinking of Urahara's words, he promised him that he wouldn't tell any of his friends anything. He didn't like to lie to them but for now he will have to comply. Also it seems that his father left early this morning and still wasn't back home.

"Where are you dad?"

Orihime finished healing them and then took off with the others.

Seeing as he wouldn't sleep in his bed tonight, we went to his living room to sleep in the sofa. He made an improvised bed and went to lie in it. He hadn't told anyone about his nightmares about Ginjo and Aizen. He didn't have them every night but they were pretty frequent.

He decided to think of something else to sleep and strangely he started thinking of Riruka. He remembered the first time he met her. She was bringing Chad to the Xcution bar and his first impression was made. At first he thought of her as a loud girl who demanded everything to be done for her. Even now he doesn't know why she fainted in front of him or why her face was red back then. Then came the training, Ichigo had to admit that shrinking to the size of an action figure and getting chased by a teddy pig with the soul of a yakuza was not how he thought the training will start. Nevertheless he completed it and got the first stage of his fullbring.

He remembers the small bicker when she kicked him out when he asked to stay the night. Then he entered the fish tank, he remembered being pretty down back then and was surprised when she didn't look as cheerful as she usually was. Then he didn't see her much for a while. Next time he saw her was when she jumped in front of him and took Tsukishima's attack for him. He was surprised by her words when she talked how he was the one to save Ginjo. After taking her to Urahara's shop both Orihime and Rukia told him what they thought about her. Ichigo learned that she wasn't what he tough, he learned that behind her loud and rude exterior was the heart of a kind and nice girl who only wanted to be loved. He vaguely remembers her talking about her fullbring, how she wanted to be crushed by the things she loved. When she woke up, for a moment he saw the real her and felt her pain and loneliness.

Then she left without a trace. "You know, after I got Ginjo's body, I wanted to get to know you better Riruka, but I guess now it's too late. I wonder, will we ever meet again?" Opening his eyes, Ichigo looked at the digital watch on the table, it was 1:29 AM. He went to sleep.

Urahara Shop

Isshin was sitting at the table with Urahara, Yoruichi and Tessai. All of them were in deep thought, neither of them knowing what to do. They have been silent for minutes before Urahara broke it.

"Isshin-san, I know I've asked you this before but, when are you going to tell Ichigo the truth?"

Isshin kept silent so Urahara decided to continue.

"You were lucky that Ginjo Kugo told him only about the badge, which is the least of our worries, and decided to not tell Ichigo anything about HIM." Another part of Urahara wondered if Ginjo knew about IT or not, but that was for another time.

Isshin turned to look outside the shop at the moon.

" He has right to know Isshin-san, especially now when we are so close to the end."

Silence filled the entire room before Isshin spoke.

"Tell me Kisuke, how can I tell him something like that and expect him to stay calm about it. I lied to him all these years, even after he saw me first time as a Shinigami, he said he will wait for me to tell him, but look at me, I still haven't told him anything. And now, to tell him something like this, I can only imagine how he will react to this, he is still young and brash, he could do something reckless and get himself killed. No, I don't want such a thing to happen to my son." The pain in his voice was obvious.

Yoruichi decided to butt in.

"Isshin, you don't know that. Ichigo matured these past months, he won't be reckless with something like this, not while knowing how much is at stake. Besides this isn't only about Ichigo, it's about us as well. What will we do about this? " she turned to look at Urahara.

Sensing her gaze, Urahara sighed before giving his answer.

"We do nothing, there is nothing we can do about it. It's better to not get Soul Society involved, if the Head-Captain would hear what we are planning, he would execute us himself. Besides, it's been 20 years since our attempt with Isshin-san's Final Getsuga Tensho, that was our best shot and it failed, I didn't anticipate that IT would be this strong. If something like that didn't work, then there is no point in even trying anything else. " Urahara said defeated.

Yoruichi looked mad as she clenched her fists. Isshin decided to speak again.

"The Final Gestuga Tensho, I hoped that by teaching Ichigo this technique he would defeat Aizen, then after he lost his powers, he would spend the rest of his life peacefully. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with such a horrible thing. For how much time we have I just want Ichigo to be happy." Isshin was defeated, all of them were.

"So that's it! We just stand here and wait for our end?" Yoruichi screamed at them.

"Yes, that's all we can do. That is how the world is, the end will come, just like it came in the past, just like it will come in the future. Again and again for all eternity." Urahara spoke sadly.

Yoruichi couldn't handle it anymore, tears started to flow from her eyes as she went to her room.

Both men looked at each other defeated, neither of them could do anything, it was just beyond their powers.

Kurosaki Clinic – 1 day later

Ichigo was pretty bored, he had nothing to do, so he was reading a manga to pass time. Just as he was getting to the good part, he was interrupted by his freeloader.

"Ah! Sorry…I wasn't listening!" Yuki woke up with a start.

"I said nothing.", was Ichigo's only answer not even bothering to look at him. "Now that you are awake, you can leave."

"What?" Yuki then realized he didn't know where he was.

Ichigo then stopped reading and turned around to explain what was going on. But just then his door opened, revealing Orihime.

"Here I am! Bringing some delicious bread! " Orihime announced cheerfully. She then noticed Yuki. "Oh, you're awake! That's great!"

"You sure it's 'delicious'? If they were throwing it away, it must be unpopular." Ichigo said skeptically.

"You won't have any if you keep talking like that." Orihime teased him.

"It's as Inoue-san said. She always looks so happy when she's eating it. You really don't know etiquette." As always, Uryu is there to insult him.

"Yeah." And Chad was there to silently agree with anything. Ichigo having heard enough decided to yell at them.

"Shut up! By the way, why did you all just burst into my house without even ringing the bell?"

"We just happened to run into Yuzu-chan. Why don't you go and get some dishes to share the bread, instead of blabbering." That pissed Ichigo off.

"You shut up! You have no right to order me in my house!"

"It's not an order, it's an advice and I recommend that you follow it."

"Shut up!"

Yuki was looking cluelessly before he just screamed for no reason.

"!"

Ichigo then roared at him "You shut up too!"

"You..You're the guy from yesterday!" he shakily said.

"It did seem weird that you wouldn't say anything. Did you just realize? By the way, it's not yesterday, it's two days ago." Ichigo said, more calmly this time. "You slept one full day."

The events from two days ago replayed in his head.

"Wow, they managed to defeat those huge hollows in a matter of seconds…I heard the Substitute Shinigami was strong, but to such an extent." A plate of bread was shoved in his face. He looked and saw Ichigo handing it to him.

"Here, it's your share. Take it. You won't be able to eat like that so better get in your gigai."

Yuki then notice the gigai laying besides him in the bed, he freaked out seeing it.

"You really are pathetic, getting scared by a gigai." Ichigo plainly said.

"No, I..Shino-san..Is Shino-san alright!"

"I'm back!" Shino came in the room carrying a bag. "I got some cola…" she saw Yuki and started to cry. "Ryuunosuke…" she dropped the bag. Yuki was happy now.

"Shino-san…I'm glad you're ok…" he was cut off by her headlock.

"You're so shameful! Why did you sleep for a full day, even though your wounds were healed?"

"Wait, wait Shino-san, that hurts."

"You shouldn't whine for this, you're miserable." She continued to beat him.

The others decided to ignore them.

"Oh well, let's eat." Typical Ichigo, not giving a fuck.

"I think he might like the roasted Mackerel bread. Let's leave it for him. Oh, she dropped the cola." Uryu was so considerate of others, but Ichigo had his own conclusions.

"I bet you don't want to eat it by yourself." He then turned to Yuki. "By the way, you haven't told us your name."

"You're right." A voice behind Ichigo spoke. They all turned to look at its owner, who was standing on Ichigo's bed.

"You want me to tell you my name. It's Ivan, Ivan Azgiaro. Do you have any other questions?"

"I don't know who you are, but get off that bed." Yep, Ichigo doesn't give a fuck.

Soul Society – Captain Comander Office

Yamamoto was listening to Captain Kurotsuchi's report when his informant suddenly left out a scream of pain. Turning around, Yamamoto saw 7 persons with white outfits, black masks and a strange hat.

"Who are you?" he asked the intruders.

Luders was the first to speak. "We meet for the first time, Captain Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni-dono."

He then boldly told him "We came here to declare war on you."

Chapter end

AN: Ok guys, that's it for this chapter.

Don't forget to review*please*