oh god hello guys ;;_;; im sorry for ditching you guys for a good 6 months but I have very important exams coming and now that it's over, I can finally post stories! This is major cause I felt like a part of my life was taken away! I hope you guys forgive me for this and I've set up a rule for myself too!

1. I will now post every two weeks on Friday, possibly at 20:00 hours JST

2. If there is a delay, I will private message all fans who reviewed, favourites and followed this story. So if you want to be notified on why I am posting late, do follow this story as I can message you on the reasons.

3. I will not write anything about Bleach that may contain spoilers of the series from this chapter on. This story will be pure fanfictions and has no ties to the actual plotline... hopefully xD

okay I think thats all for now... I'm even thinking of venturing outside the ichihime bubble and explore the many ships out there.

Now start reading, everybody!

When Ichigo closed his eyes a moment ago, he was certain he wouldn't make it. He braced himself for the rave of the Kototsu. He took in his last breath, holding it in. His thoughts spun around, branching into all he held dear. Did he die a hero? He would never live to know how people would describe him. Did Ichigo die an honorable death? Would people honour someone who was killed by 3 faulty Arrancars? He sighed. It wouldn't matter anymore. He had let everything attached to him go... Even his princess. He closed his eyes, knowing that even the mad man under his skin surrendered...

But he felt something vacuuming him out. He was sucked through something. It was like a sudden gush of wind that slapped his back, raw and accelerating, and certainly, very alive. His mouth opened and the air inside his lungs let go in a heap of desperate loud gasps. He tumbled onto solid ground with bodies around him. The air smelt of blood, confusion and terror. Ichigo tried to shake the dizziness from his head as his eyes adjusted to the view. Was this... The blue sky? What are these things in front of me? People? He blinked furiously to clear the fuzzy images.

Hands.

He looked up, greeted by Shuuhei's concerned stare. Beside Shuuhei were shinigamis, people he knew and people who he hadn't met.

Suddenly, everything inside Ichigo had collapsed. He made it out alive! He made it to see the day... Tears seeped through the corner of his eyes. He made it out alive, and there would be a chance. A chance to meet his princess, a chance to meet his family, a chance to rebel against the will of Soul Society.

Ichigo took Shuuhei's arm as he pulled him up. "Take it in slowly... Great job, man." Shuuhei gave a brotherly bear hug as Ichigo rubbed his sore puffy eyelids. Ichigo gathered up his composure. "Not a great job, really. Many were sacrificed." He glanced at the men that fought alongside him.

"They'll be fine. They're not dead." Shuuhei signaled a medical team from behind the Old Man and they came rushing to get the injured to the 4th Squad barracks.
"Executed excellently, Kurosaki Ichigo..." The Old Man stroked his beard, nodding slightly at Ichigo. "Lieutenant Hisagi, take him to a calm place, let him rest." Shuuhei bowed at his command and brought him towards the shade of a tree. The Captain Commander took one last glance before joining the medical team, taking the injured to the 4th Squad barracks.

Ichigo slumped against its rough bark. The heart that was beating past the speed of sound had slowly began regulating. He let out a sigh. "Hey, want to tell me what went wrong in there? You came out 3 minutes late." Shuuhei sat across from him.

"Something went wrong obviously." Ichigo laughed. "I went Vasto Lorde and killed one of the three. But then these two boys became emotional and started doing everything they can to kill me. The Kototsu arrived by then, and it crushed one of the two, leaving the last one mental and psychotic. I have no idea, maybe it was their relationship but i have never seen an arrancar with so much human emotion..." Ichigo stopped for air. "and it kind of took me aback. Speaking of which, i have wounds!" He looked to either of his side, checking if he was bleeding to death. "No wounds from what i can see." Shuuhei glanced at him questioningly.

"I swear it did! He punctured my side! I'm injured!" Ichigo threw his hands up. "Just get on with it." The black haired young man waved it off. "Okay. The last one was crying and throwing fits at me, but suddenly he just stopped. I guess it was a few seconds before the Kototsu crushed him and he realized he was too late, but he stopped and just stared at me. The weapon left his fingertips and his mouth went wide. I saw a tear rolling down, and then him and I were just blinded by the darkness."
Shuuhei thought it through. "But still, you were brilliant. No wonder they want you to be the Soul King." Shuuhei slapped Ichigo's back for good measure. Ichigo's lips tighten after this. He leaned his head against the tree.
"Well, I'll leave you alone. Give you another 15 minutes of privacy." Shuuhei got up, dusted his uniform and walked away to a group of shinigami's who were waiting for him.

Ichigo tipped his head and looked up across the blue sky. It felt so weird to know that in this exact minute, someone would live a life so much more different than his. When he was risking death against arrancars, others would be planting crops in their fields. When he closed his eyes preparing for death, others were laughing happily about their day. Ichigo shook his head and pulled his tears back into his sockets at the thought of Inoue crying while he rested at the exact moment.

Shuuhei came to Ichigo. "Hey." Ichigo hugged his knees as Shuuhei sat in front of him again. "Hey." The orangette peered to the side, avoiding Shuuhei's gaze. "Regarding your Responsibility Trial... In my opinion, i don't think you passed." Shuuhei rubbed his biceps while continuing. "Why?" The issue caught Ichigo's attention, catching Ichigo wide eyed at the sudden information.
"Like I said, responsibility. I can tell that you felt responsible for so many injuries, but did you take charge of the situation inside the battlefield?" Shuuhei's eyes were made of fire, burning through every defense Ichigo had. "No way..." Ichigo trailed.
"Until we have an opinion from the injured, i can't let you leave this place. Good luck, Kurosaki Ichigo." A hard squeeze was left on Ichigo's shoulder as Shuuhei walked away.

Under the tree, Ichigo broke into two. What was miserable had become twice as unbearable. Ichigo wanted to die right there and then. No, Ichigo thought, I can't stop here... Not when I went through so much trouble... I can't stop here! Ichigo's fist balled up, veins popped to the surface of his skin as he buried his head in between his knees. Shit, he screamed at himself, he was so close and everything went like the plan would, but now this? This was all that was needed to stop him? Just a small stupid, bloody mistake?

Ichigo cursed and blamed himself as he sat there wishing he could shrink into bare nothingness...

Hichigo's P.O.V

I honestly don't know what's going on. I swear that damned king has been acting like a victorian woman since hours ago. Can't he ever be stable for two seconds? Jelly fucking babies, even i'm sick and tired of his shit!
Like really, if I were him. I'd be proud to be whatever Soul King of whatever Soul Society. And it's not like that bitch of his wouldn't ever be here. Sure, it's gonna take a very long time for her to get here, but she would eventually arrive like anyone else.
I'm just gonna sit back and wait for her to arrive and then i'll take her with me and crown her the Soul Queen. That's easy right? Wasn't that fucking hard if he could be patient, damn.
I could be feasting in hallways full of food, have pretty ladies change my clothes and bathe me cause fuck, i'm freaking royalty! That could be our charming fate...
If only...
If only...
I spread my limbs out like a starfish in the pure darkness. I haven't told the king about my change yet. Should i tell him? What if i do? What if i didn't? To be honest with ya, i don't even know what's happening to me. One second i'm all bold and wild, the next second i'm all delicate and reserved.
Does the king know already? I sure hope he does, cause if he didn't, i would be screwed. But... The king has so many problems already, and i just had to add another one to the mix? That's rather unkind of me...
Fuck.
For the first time in my somewhat under-a-rock life, i finally understood anxiety.

"Come on, we have to get to Captain Kyouraku." Shuuhei grabbed Ichigo by his limp forearm and started walking. "It's the... Last trial of the day right?" At that moment, Ichigo looked more like a zombie than a soul. His eyes had sunken, his skin paled, he looked tired. "Just bear with it for a while. It'll be over."

How many times had Ichigo encountered his fear today? How many times had Ichigo cried today? He was devastated, he was exhausted. He didn't want to deal with it anymore. He would have gave up if it wasn't for his lover.

Ichigo sighed. "Alright..." He stood straight and rubbed the redness from his eyes before continuing with Shuuhei.

The walk was long and silent, as if Ichigo was attending a funeral burial. The sky was starting to turn orange, red and purple. Ichigo looked up, but didn't find the sky's beauty astonishing. He shuffled behind Shuuhei, his mind like a broken engine.

In front of the 8th squad barracks were The Old Man, Rukia and Renji. "Yo, Ichigo" Renji whispered at him while Rukia managed a good luck smile. He smiled in return and nodded at Renji before entering Captain Kyouraku's office. It was getting cold outside, but Ichigo wasn't appreciating the sweltering hot condition inside the office.
"Nanao~ Where's the sake~?" The drunk captain's voice echoed from a paneled door. "Yes, captain." The paneled door was opened by Nanao who was startled by Ichigo's presence. She bowed at the pair before heading back to the captain. "Captain Kyouraku, Kurosaki Ichigo has arrived." Nanao ushered them in before closing the paneled door.

"Yo~ Kurosaki-san?" The goateed captain sipped from his cup of sake. "Yes sir."
"Hisagi-san, you can leave." He raised his cup at Shuuhei, who bowed and left Ichigo to fend for his last task of the day. The Captain coughed.

"Well, loosen up, big man. This task has nothing challenging in it at all. After all, you certainly need a break." Kyouraku poured himself more sake. "Want some?" He dared Ichigo to get drunk before the mission. Ichigo bravely shook his head. "Your challenge is..." He sent a chilling glare up Ichigo's spine.
"Nanao-san~! Sort out my paperworks before you leave!" The drunkard shouted at nothing. "Anyways, your mission is to play a game of chess with me. English chess." He took a set from under a small table. "Not that hard, I presume?"
"No, sir." Ichigo look puzzled. He considered himself an average chess player in class, but he could never go against a captain! "Ah, but there's a twist." Of course there's a twist-Ichigo thought-My life won't be mine if it isn't twisted!
Captain Kyouraku placed his cup away and played with the Pawn piece in the chess set. "Each of these pieces represent someone important in your life. Friends, family, lovers, even rivals. You hold their fate in this game, you control them." He placed it on the centre of the board. "Give them a name, Ichigo. Tell them why you chose them. I've already chosen mine this morning~...it took so long!" The seriousness was washed away by Captain Kyouraku's inevitable drunkenness.
Ichigo thought hard at it. What should he name them? How did their role match with the ones on the board? Who could protect him? Who could be his secret weapon into defeating Captain Drunk?

He scratched his head.

"Can I opt not to… you know, play with their lives?" Ichigo said after some time. "Hmm, fine~ But I know I have named them" Captain Kyouraku leaned in, cocking an eyebrow. "You sure, young man?"

"I'm sure."

"Let the games begin!" Captain Kyouraku cheered out loud, so loud that Ichigo clapped his ears shut. He placed a white pawn on e4 and looked at Ichigo. Ichigo, who was still shocked from knowing he had to win a game against a captain, placed his black pawn on e5 as a reflex. The atmosphere was dense and quiet, concentrated with intelligence and game strategies.

The captain placed another pawn, now on f4. Ichigo pushed a pawn to d5. "Haha, wrong move, Ichigo-San~" He laughed out and killed Ichigo's pawn, taking his own pawn to d5. Ichigo cursed under his breath, pushing his second pawn to e4. "I can't win this…" Ichigo croaked in demise.

"Of course you can't! What do you expect, tough guy?" Captain Kyouraku muttered back, putting his knight to c3. Ichigo placed his knight on f6. The captain then responded with a pawn to d3.

"Dammit!" Ichigo shouted, balling his fist. His pawn got killed again! Wait, Ichigo thought, didn't the captain say he named all his chess pieces? "Captain? I thought you said you used your people to play this game…" Ichigo asked, curious to see some chess battle action.
"Shhh…. Concentrate, buddy." The captain frowned upon Ichigo's tanned face.
Ichigo sighed and pushed his bishop to b4. Swiftly, Captain Kyouraku positioned his bishop to d2, protecting the king. "You almost got me there, Kurosaki Ichigo-san~" He laughed, snapping his fingers. He then took a swig of sake before continuing the game.

Ichigo thought hard this time. If he performed any other actions, it won't help him win the game. This is great, Ichigo thought, this is just what I wanted after a long stupid day of battling strong forces, I could just lay back and play a game of death cheddar with this man, great.

So he pondered about his next action, could he use another bishop? Perhaps use a knight? Let a pawn step forward? He bit his lips, wanting to surrender. "Just move ya e4 pawn to e3 ya piece of fucktard" Ichigo heard his demon speak, as if the demon was watching him all along.

So he moved as he was told to do so, even though he knew the pawn was a sacrifice. Blind trust, he said, blindly trusting the evil within.

Captain Kyouraku wasn't impressed at all. He killed the e3 pawn with his d2 bishop, taking its place. His eyebrows were knitted, questioning Ichigo's every move.

Ichigo was aware of the sudden situation, seeing how far the game had advance into. He could win this game, he was sure of it! He switched his king to g8 and his rook to f8, creating an open space for the captain's king. Captain Kyouraku took his e2 bishop and returned it to its previous place, d2.

Ichigo laughed internally, using his b4 bishop to kill the c3 white knight. He was performing a trade, but the Captain look too confused to understand it well. And so, the Captain did what he could, placing a b2 pawn to kill off Ichigo's black bishop. He thought he could save his white bishops using such a method, but he was wrong.

Now, Ichigo moved his rook to e8 which was followed by an f1 bishop to e2 from Captain Kyouraku. The Captain was having a hard time understanding Ichigo, so he took action by defending his king as much as he can. Ichigo didn't look up, he wanted to focus on the epic gess battle they were having, so he placed a c8 bishop to g4, taunting the Captain. The Captain had no choice but to move his c3 pawn to c4, trying to keep his extra pawn on d5 safe.

"Ah this is bad…" The Captain mumbled, taking another giant swig. Ichigo placed a pawn from c7 to c6, trying to impose an attack on the white pawns. The Captain attack the c6 pawn with his d5 pawn, but little did he know…

Ichigo used his b8 knight and crushed the d5 pawn, the one Captain Kyouraku thought could have been saved, before positioning the knight on c6.

Captain Kyouraku emptied the bottle of sake and shouted "Nanao, another one!" he looked pissed to be caught off guard so many times by Ichigo, ultimately losing. He moved his white king to f1, allowing the bishop on e2 to attack.

Ichigo scoffed and placed his e8 rook to e2, killing the bishop. Now, the white knight was moved to e2, ending the rook's life, making Captain Kyouraku smile.

"Captain your sake." Nanao bent down and placed a few bottles before leaving silently, aware that she should not know what the two were doing with the chess board inside. Captain Kyouraku popped open the lid of the sake bottle and began drinking as Ichigo watched. The orangette moved the c6 knight to d4, ganging up on the poor defense of the whites.

The white queen on d1 was removed from its position, fleeing to the sidelines on b1 to avoid being a victim of the game. The black bishop then takes the life of the white knight on e2, prompting the king to move from f1 to f2. Captain Kyouraku was red in the face, not able to come up with a single strategy against Ichigo. Ichigo's black knight moved from f6 to f4, cornering the poor white king.

Ichigo took his d5 knight to f3, sacrificing it to the white pawn of g2. The Captain jolted at the action, sitting upright and spilling some sake onto his flowery haori. "You are one naughty player, I can tell." The Captain wiped the sake from his mouth and stared at Ichigo. Ichigo moved his black queen to d4.

Ichigo was wiping his sweaty hands on the Shinigami uniform but it was a useless attempt. His hands were like wet sponges and it felt disgusting. He was so close to winning, he couldn't even comprehend the sweat forming all over himself. Captain Drunk moved his white king to g2, letting Ichigo move his queen to f2. Their fists both balled up for the epic hide and seek of the white king and the black queen.

Captain Kyouraku let his king run to h3 while Ichigo placed his queen on f3. When the white kind lands on h4, the black knight on g4 moved to h6, leaving the whites defenseless. The Captain then used his white queen on b1, placing it on g1 for support. It was a fatal move for the Captain and it did not sit well in his sake-filled belly.

Ichigo's black knight moved to f6, awaiting the poor king to arrive. Since Captain Kyouraku was bound for doom, he went along with Ichigo's plan and brought his king to g6, to which Ichigo cornered with his black queen to h6.

"Checkmate…..." Ichigo muttered. "Holy shit CHECKMATE!" He cheered, punching the air in triumph as he rolled over on his back. "I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT I WON YESSSS!" He never acted so childish before and this time, he didn't blame himself for doing so. Today was over, the trials were over, he could go to bed, he could watch his love again, he could sleep and rest and finally plan his great escape to the living world.

"Morphy's massacre, yeah? That was a good one. Alright you pass, Ichigo-san~" Kyouraku stood up and slid the door open for Ichigo, watching him go with renewed energy and brighter hazel eyes.

"Coast clear." Kyouraku said when Ichigo reached a far distance with Renji by his side. "That was some dirty acting, Shunsui…" Ukitake sighed, climbing through the window along with Mayuri, Kenpachi and Yachiru, Toshiro and Shuuhei.

"Why do you need to loosen up on that scrawny thing? Get him to fight like a real man!" Kenpachi huffed, pouring himself a cup of sake. "Yeah! A real man!" Yachiru cheered on.

"I have to agree with Captain Zaraki and Lieutenant Kusajishi, this is no way to train the next soul king…" Shuuhei folded his arms, shaking his head.

Mayuri was busy checking out the chess board, trying to find new information about the future soul king while Toshiro looked on.

"I know, Shuuhei-kun… But it seems pretty unfair to take away a living teenager's life so that he could be Soul King." Kyouraku sighed, shutting the panel door. "He isn't a living teenager, he never was, Kyouraku." Toshiro frowned at the goatee captain.

"He is a being made from everything. Part Shinigami, part hollow, part quincy, part fullbring, part human…. Too much to recount. I need Nemu here to help me gather these informations."

"Right…" Ukitake half smiled at Mayuri before continuing, "Shunsui, none of what you did and said to him was truthful. You can't just lie to him saying that he has to cast names onto the chess pieces. You didn't even give it your all…"

"I just want to make it easier for him…" Shunsui sat down with Kenpachi and poured a drink.

"I want sweets! Give me sweets!" Yachiru snatched some candy from Ukitake's pockets before he could realise it. "You can't go easy when you have to proof the next Soul King is suitable for the throne!" Ukitake exclaimed.

"But you and I know he won't ever be the Soul King if she isn't around. He'll escape, that's for sure." Shunsui poured more for Kenpachi.

"Nice, man." Kenpachi cheered to both the sake and Kyouraku's strategy.

"I know…" Ukitake replied, glancing at the moonlight shining upon them.

oh this is a long chapter. I'm surprised you made it here! Tell me what you think about it and don't forget to favourite and follow me!

Also, the chess battle is confusing so I'll give you guys the link: /YGU2r0gf_QU

As always, thanks for reading :D