"Urahara-san!" Ishida exclaimed as he found the ex-Shinigami curled on the floor where he had left him. Where Urahara had appeared in his normal green, black, and white attire before Ishida had left him, now he had nearly been bleached out. There was still gray and pale green lingering in his clothing, but everything else was now completely white.

Ishida knelt beside him and placed his hand on Urahara's side. "Urahara-san! I found it!"

Urahara gave a shudder and slowly uncurled himself. With great difficulty, he looked up at Ishida. The Quincy forced himself to remain expressionless even as he was horrified by the expression on the shopkeepers face and the condition that he was in. Blood was trickling from his nose and corners of his mouth while deep pain lines showed across his face. Looking into his eyes, Ishida knew that Urahara was nearly at his limit. A quick glance at the soul chain confirmed that there wasn't a lot of time left.

"Urahara-san, I've found the center." He repeated.

With a shaking arm, Urahara reached out to Ishida. "Take…me…" he forced out.

Taking his arm, Ishida hauled Urahara's pain wracked body over his shoulders and half assisted, half dragged the man over to where the echoes of Shinigami were gathering. By the time they reached it, most of the echoes had already disappeared into the whiteness, including Ichigo's.

"Here," Ishida said as he indicated the place.

Urahara opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a cough of blood. Ishida lowered the man from his shoulders until Urahara was on his knees and Ishida was propping him up.

"What do I need to do?" Ishida asked.

Taking a few shuttering breathes, Urahara finally managed to force out some words. "You can't… I have to… use… Benihime."

Ishida looked and saw that Urahara was still gripping his cane in his right hand. "Can you do that like this?" Ishida asked, highly doubting the man was going to be able to be of any use in this condition.

"Must… try…" was the response. He tried to reach over and pull the wooden shaft from his sword, but his hands wouldn't cooperate. Ishida reached over and to remove the outer casing of the cane, revealing the Zanpakuto that was concealed inside.

With a gulp, Urahara said, "Stand… behind."

Ishida nodded and got up and stood behind Urahara, keeping his hands on him to help keep him upright. The ex-Shinigami planted the tip of his sword in the center of the area and muttered, "Sing…Ben…i…" Suddenly the whiteness flared in intensity and Urahara let out a scream of agony, releasing his grip on the sword and pitching forward.

"Urahara-san!" Ishida cried, still holding the man upright, but having to use all his strength to do so.

"Can't… can't…con…cen…trate," Urahara was muttering through the waves of pain.

Ishida saw that Urahara's chain was rapidly disappearing. Time was about up.

"Urahara-san, can you reverse it so that I take both of our pain?" Ishida asked as he knelt in front of Urahara.

The shopkeeper tried to look at Ishida, but couldn't manage to keep his eyes focused. "Kill…you," he whispered.

"I would estimate that you would have about thirty seconds before I would become a hollow," Ishida told him. "How long do you need?"

Urahara somehow managed to pull the corners of his mouth up in an attempt at a grin before breathing, "about… thirty… seconds."

"What do I do?" Ishida asked.

"Switch…cap…" his hand stated to point towards the cap that he had placed on Ishida's chain, but he couldn't manage to hold his hand up.

"Alright… Hold on, cause you better be ready as soon as I switch this."

Ishida leaned Urahara against him as he took a hold of both of their chains and brought the ends near each other. Taking a deep breath, Ishida quickly pulled the cap off of his chain and snapped it onto Urahara's

With a sudden flash, Ishida crumpled to the ground, completely engulfed in agony. If a thought could have entered his mind he would have wondered how Urahara had even managed words while in this state. All that he was able to do was scream as he laid on the ground in spasms.

The moment Ishida switched the drain, Urahara snatched up Benihime from the ground. He located the center again and concentrated. He could feel the flow of the particles through Benihime and was able to understand how it worked. As soon as he knew what needed to be done to reverse the flow, he traced a circle on the ground and said, "Sing, Benihime."

With a red flash, the circle that he had drawn on the ground suddenly became black. The black was quickly expanding outward as Urahara reached down and snatched up the ailing Quincy. He ran a short distance away from the circle before yanking the cap off of his soul chain and reattaching it to the tiny partial link that was left on Ishida's.

He staggered to his knees as he felt a wave of pain again through his body, but it was slackening. Soon there would be no draw on him at all. Ishida coughed and slowly straitened to be able to stand. He looked back and saw the blackness radiating outward towards them.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"I've reversed the flow. I think that we should be all right at this distance… to close and the sudden reversal would have overwhelmed us." Urahara was getting back up to his feet and watching as the blackness came nearer.

"Hold on! That's going to blast this place wide open! Isn't that a little dangerous?"

Urahara turned and smiled at Ishida. "What's life without a little danger?"

Damn it, Ishida thought to himself. This guy is more like Kurosaki that I realized.

The expansion of the black was moving faster now and wouldn't be long before it reached them. Suddenly there was a cry of anger as Akiyo appeared beside them. "What have you done!" he exclaimed.

"I am very sorry," Urahara said to him. "I assume you are the manifestation of this lovely Zanpakuto. I do hate to have to harm such a beautiful sword, but you haven't left us a choice."

"You… You… You've done this! You're killing me and all you have to say is you're sorry!"

Urahara bowed his head and replied sincerely, "I am very sorry, Akiyo. But you have given your wielder far too much power. It is your job to make sure that your Shinigami doesn't go too far, doesn't slip down the wrong path. But you have only encouraged his anger as a means to gain more power for yourself."

Akiyo glared at Urahara. Slowly his body was beginning to take on color now. There was a dim hint of red in the eyes and streaks of black began to show in his hair. The cloak that he wore was taking on the hue of black as well and the shirt and pants turning a very dim blue. "I will kill you for this…" he said very softly.

Urahara sighed as he saw how very close the black was to them now. "Who knows, perhaps you will. But you must realize that what I have said is the truth. You have betrayed your master by pushing his need for revenge. The betrayal of a Zanpakuto is the worse offence there is."

He then shifted his foot forward and allowed a toe to touch the black. There was a snap and he pulled his foot back as a slight puff of smoke curled up from his toes. "Yikes!" he exclaimed, pushing Ishida back as he also moved away. "That's a little more powerful than I expected."

Ishida gapped at him, stunned that Urahara was taking all of this so lightly. "More powerful!" he snapped. "That's enough to kill us!"

Urahara looked at him and grinned, "But Ishida, We're already dead. What more could happen?"

Ishida was only able to stare blankly at the shopkeeper. He's mad… He's completely insane, he thought to himself.

Akiyo was laughing at them as they continued to back away from the black circle. "At least I'll know that you went down with me. You set this in motion and now it will destroy you."

Urahara turned and looked at Akiyo. He stared at the Zanpakuto with a look of sadness. "I am sorry, Akiyo," he said softly.

At that point, he and Ishida couldn't go any further; they had reached their limit. Ishida looked at the blackness, wondering what would happen to his soul when it hit. Would that be the end? Would he be annihilated?

Urahara was standing in front of him, the rim of the black almost touching. At the last second, he turned and faced Ishida, grabbing the boy and pulling him down. "Sing, Benihime," he said. A hexagonal dome of red light surrounded the two of them just as the black had reached their location. There was an explosion and a shockwave that knocked Ishida unconscious. As his awareness drifted to black, he marveled at how different it was from the white world he had just came from.

XXX

From below, Nova looked up and watched the explosion. In the middle of the blackness, he saw a red blaze shooting through the air. Inside he could see Urahara wrapped protectively around Ishida. The red shield had crumbled in places and was continuing to fade even as they flew through the air.

With not much more than a thought, Nova created a portal that snatched the two souls from the air and delivered them gently beside him. As they were deposited beside him, the last of Urahara's shield crumbled away. From the look of it, Ishida's soul had been mostly unharmed, just knocked unconscious. But Urahara appeared to have taken some of the blast himself. Parts of his outfit had been singed and power burns showed on one side of his face and on his back and arms.

Nova quickly pulled the two souls apart and looked over Urahara. Both of them needed to be reattached to their bodies before anything could be done for them. Nova reached into Ishida's uniform that he was wearing and pulled out what looked like a short piece of soul chain that was three lengths long. The two end links were left slightly open.

He looked around for Kon and spotted him some ways away, still limping over to where Inoue was, carrying Rukia. He quickly teleported Kon and Rukia next to Inoue and then prepared to move Ishida, Urahara, and himself there as well.

As his portal expanded, a hand shot out in the rush of blackness and grabbed a hold of Urahara's wrist. The shopkeeper's soul was snatched out of the portal, even as Nova and Ishida vanished through it. Across the field they reappeared and Nova jumped up and was about to teleport back when Cloud put his hand on Nova's arm and said, "No, wait!"

The blackness was dissipating and as it vanished, they could see the materialized form of Akiyo standing several meters from the unconscious form of his Shinigami. He held a katana in one hand, which was set at the throat of Urahara's soul that he held up with the other hand.

"Urahara!" Ichigo cried out as he saw what was happening.

He started to move towards Akiyo but the Zanpakuto looked at him and said, "One step and I will kill this soul."

Ichigo froze where he was, uncertain what to do.

Akiyo looked around the practice field and spotted everyone that he had been battling with as a sword not that long ago. Hitsugaya was still hovering in the air, not far behind Ichigo. He had blood running down his right arm and looked pretty beat up.

Rukia was still unconscious in Kon's arms and the mod soul was sitting on the ground with is leg at an awkward angle. Inoue had just dismissed the healing dome on Chad, and though it appeared that his injuries were now healed, he was also still unconscious. Cloud and Nova were the only ones that didn't appear to have sustained much damage.

Glancing back at Ichigo, Akiyo saw that the substitute Shinigami was still greatly weakened and just staying up in the air where he was was costing him even more energy.

Finally, Akiyo looked over at his master. He was bloodied and bruised all over and his uniform had been blown to shreds. He lay on the ground, unconscious and unmoving. "You were too weak…" Akiyo muttered to Makoto. "You were unworthy of me."

"He was your master!" Ichigo yelled back at Akiyo. "You were created by his soul! How can he be unworthy of you!"

"He failed me. I offered him the power to achieve his revenge and he failed! He lost that power and now I have to get it back!" He tightened his grip on the sword and pressed it a little harder against Urahara's neck. "Starting with you…" he whispered to the unconscious shopkeeper.

"No!" Ichigo yelled as he took another step towards them.

But it was Makoto's voice that caused Akiyo to pause. "Stop, Akiyo," he said softly. Makoto was struggling to get up as he slowly came back to consciousness. "Release him."

Akiyo glared at his master and asked, "You would deny me power? You would deny yourself power?"

Makoto glanced up at Ichigo before saying, "The pursuit of power is what has gotten us to this point. Kurosaki Ichigo is right, we have been destroying ourselves in the pursuit of pointless revenge."

Akiyo barked out a laugh before asking, "What about your brother? Doesn't his death deserve revenge? Or do you believe this boy's lies?"

"Whether or not I believe him is doesn't matter. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I do believe that it is possible of my brother to have died from desire for more power. But whether or not that is true, it does not excuse what I have become. I have murdered far more in my desire for power than I have accused Kurosaki of murdering. I have lost myself in my pursuit of vengeance and your lust for power."

Akiyo stood there, glaring at his Shinigami. "I was right, you don't deserve me. And I will take every last drop of not only this soul's power, but also everyone here to prove that to you. And when I have defeated you, I'll steal your power as well."

"Stop this!" a voice rang out behind Akiyo. The Zanpakuto looked over his shoulder and saw Ishida standing there, full bow aimed at his back, drawn and ready. "Release him, Akiyo!" Ishida demanded. "Or you'll be the next one to die."

"Ishida!" Ichigo exclaimed. It was actually Ishida, in his body, that was standing there. He could sense his friend standing there, very much alive.

Akiyo continued to look over his shoulder at the Quincy before scoffing. "You're still too weak to be able to threaten me. I nearly drained every last drop of your reiatsu. It was only because of this man that you're even still human." Akiyo indicated Urahara.

"Which is why I am telling you, let him go!"

Urahara's soul groaned and started to move his head at that point. Ichigo, who could see Urahara the clearest, saw that the ex-Shinigami seemed to be in pain, but couldn't manage to quite return to consciousness.

"Let him go?" Akiyo said. "I'll let him go… as soon as I have taken back what he stole from me."

Ichigo noticed that the last four links that remained on Urahara's chain were beginning to fade. He was suddenly reminded of the time when Urahara had been training him after he had lost his Shinigami powers. Ichigo's own soul chain had begun to corrode much like that, causing him incredible pain.

"You bastard!" Ichigo cried and launched himself at the Zanpakuto.

Ichigo was suddenly brought up short when Makoto stepped in his way. "I'll take care of this, Kurosaki. It is my Zanpakuto, I should be the one to stop it."

Ichigo stared at Makoto's back, stunned at the turn of events. He wanted to cut down that Zanpakuto. He wanted to stop the pain that it was causing his friend and to take revenge on it for all the suffering that it had caused all of them. But Makoto was right. It was his Zanpakuto… it was a part of his own soul. He had a right to be the one to put a stop to it.

"Put him down, Akiyo," Makoto told the sword. "Let us finish this, just you and me. We'll see who is worthy of whom."

Akiyo grinned at his Shinigami, tightened his grip on Urahara for a moment, and then cast the soul aside. "Let's see then…"

Ishida watched as Urahara's soul was cast aside, released from the threat of the Zanpakuto. As soon as the Quincy saw that the danger had passed, he crumpled to his knees, bow and arrow disappearing in a flash. Akiyo had been right, he didn't know if he had the strength to fire a single arrow in the condition that he was in, but he knew that he had to try.

Ichigo also had been waiting for Urahara's release. As soon as his friend's soul was let go and Akiyo launched into an attack on his Shinigami, Ichigo used his Shunpo to be at Urahara's side in a flash. Gently, he picked up the soul from the ground and then flash stepped his way over to where Kon, still in Urahara's body, sat.

"Kon!" Ichigo called as he laid the soul on the ground beside him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Kon said, but sounded more worried than he was letting on. He reached into a pocket and brought out the same three links that Nova had. Taking the end of the soul chain in his chest, he linked one end there. As soon as the chain had been attached, the half open link seal itself closed. As soon as that was done, Kon attached the other end to the chain on Urahara's soul. As the link also sealed itself, Kon's spirit pill was suddenly ejected from Urahara's body.

It was Cloud that reached out and grabbed it before it hit the ground. He gently placed it in a pocket along with Nova's.

Ichigo then lifted Urahara's soul again and laid it into his body. Slowly the damage that had been done to the soul began to show on the body. "Inoue!" Ichigo called.

The girl nodded and came over and took Ichigo's place beside Urahara. She created her healing dome around the shopkeeper's body and all of them waited to see some result.

Ichigo glanced around and saw that Rukia, though still unhealed, was again conscious. Hitsugaya had also made his way over to them and seemed just as anxious for the former twelfth squad's captain.

As he continued to look around, Ichigo noticed Ishida had made his way back over to them. He was kneeling on the ground, looking completely drained. Ichigo wanted to say something to him, but he just didn't know what.

The Quincy looked up at him and their eyes met. "Ishida…" Ichigo started.

Ishida looked at him a moment, but when Ichigo couldn't find the words, the Quincy looked away as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "I already told you, Kurosaki, none of this was your fault."

"But… Ishida, I…"

"Kurosaki… You didn't fail me. I failed to protect myself. It was you and everyone else that didn't give up on me and has brought me back. Thank you, Ichigo."

Ichigo stared at Ishida with mixed emotions on what the Quincy had just said to him. Ishida thought that he hadn't given up… but the truth was that he had, if only for a moment. Ichigo was going to try and explain this to Ishida, but just then there was a moan from under the golden light of Inoue's healing dome.

"Urahara-san!" Cloud exclaimed as the ex-Shinigami began to open his eyes.

He weakly cracked his lids open and blinked a few times before finally looking up at Inoue. "That bad, huh?" he asked her when he saw her serious expression.

She didn't respond other than to increase her concentration on her rejection powers. "Urahara-san," Ichigo said quietly. "Are you alright?"

Weakly he looked over at Ichigo and gave him a thumbs-up just before his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious again. Ichigo sighed. Yeah, it looked like Urahara was going to be just fine.

"Inoue-san," Ishida said quietly. "Please take good care of him."

"Mm," was the only response she gave as she nodded her head.

Ichigo glanced at Ishida sideways. It wasn't like the Quincy to show suck outward concern, especially for a Shinigami. What had happened inside that sword between these two?

But everything seemed well in hand here for now. Turning around, Ichigo looked to see how the fight between Shinigami and Zanpakuto was going. The two were on the ground, facing off to one another. From the looks of it, both had already sustained quite a bit of damage. They were both breathing hard and had blood dripping from multiple wounds.

Ichigo realized that they were both about to go for a final strike as they eyed each other across the practice field. "Let's end this, Akiyo," Makoto said, bringing his katana up.

"You would kill me? You would kill a piece of your own soul after I offered my help to avenger your brother?"

"Offered help? Now that I am thinking clearly, I seem to recall that it was you who convinced me that vengeance was needed. Wasn't it you who told me that it was my duty to avenger Hanza?"

"It was what you wanted, you just needed help to see that."

Makoto shook his head and spared a slight glance in Ichigo's direction. "No. I think I always knew that Hanza had been the one in the wrong. I just didn't want to believe it. But you wanted me to see Kurosaki Ichigo as the villain because I would be forced to become stronger. And the only way for me to become stronger in a hurry was to turn on my fellow Shinigami. It was your lust for more power that convinced me to turn on them."

Akiyo glared at the Shinigami and brought up his own katana. "You're right, Tadaaki, let's end this."

In a flash, both combatants launched at each other. Both of them were going all out, giving everything they had left in this final stroke. A thunderous clang rang out through the field as a plume of dust obscured them from everyone else's vision.

When the dust settled, both men were still standing, frozen in a tableau with swords still raised after carrying through their strikes. Suddenly a spurt of blood showered forth from a slice across Akiyo's front. The Zanpakuto staggered and then fell to the ground.

Makoto slowly lowered his sword and turned around to look at the manifestation of his sword. "I am sorry, Akiyo. But we won't be parted for long." Another fountain of blood suddenly sprayed from an identical slash across Makoto's chest.

As the Shinigami began to fall over, Ichigo jumped up and ran to him. "Makoto!" he called and dropped down beside him.

"It's over," Makoto muttered into the ground.

Ichigo reached down and turned him over. Blood was quickly soaking the ground below him. Makoto was right; it was over. "Makoto…" Ichigo said, not sure what to say to the man.

"Thank you, Kurosaki. You pulled me back in time. Now I can die knowing the truth and repentant for what I have done."

"Makoto, I was wrong. You are nothing like your brother…"

With a slight sad smile, Makoto laid his head back as his eyes slowly drifted closed.

Ichigo glanced up at Akiyo and saw the body slowly fading away. Sword and master had killed each other.