He never saw the car hurtling in his direction. All his skills, his speed, his instincts as a Shinigami couldn't save him in that moment. All he heard was a resounding crash before he experienced pain like never before… not even when Zaraki cut him, or he felt the slash of Byakuya's Senbonzakura, did he feel the same agony. Because this time he knew – he knew that there wasn't some miracle that would save him now…

When his eyes finally flickered open, he struggled to make out anything through the unfocused haze… when he finally did, eyes he knew too well were staring back at him. Those eyes… So big, so beautiful, brimming with unshed tears… so out of place…

"R…Ru…kia" The blood in his mouth made it hard to speak. He took laboured breaths that sounded so shallow and weak to his ears. His broken ribs had pierced through his lung…and he could feel the numerous other fatal injuries he had.

"Shhh, Ichigo. Don't speak. I've come to take you… home." Her voice wavered on the last word, cracking slightly as tears started dripping silently from her eyes, falling on his bruised and broken face. "Oh, Ichigo… I'm so sorry."

"H-Home…?" What did she mean? Where was home? Did she come to save him, like she always did? Or did she mean…? He was tired… His brain couldn't process what was happening. So sleepy…

Ichigo struggled to keep his eyes open, hearing the faint wailing of sirens in the distance. He had to stay awake… Kazui…He couldn't leave him yet… The time he spent with him wasn't nearly enough... Not yet… Please… But no matter how hard he fought against it, his eyelids finally grew too heavy, slowly closing…covering blank, unseeing eyes.

"Yo."

Ichigo turned his head in the direction of the voice, surprised to feel no pain whatsoever. In fact, he felt amazing. Was that just a very realistic dream he had? But when the owner of the voice came into view, his stomach dropped…So it hadn't been a dream after all.

It was the first time he wasn't happy to see her. Somehow, she seemed even smaller than usual, her white captain's haori swallowing her tiny frame. Her shoulders sagged, and her eyes were red and swollen, with tears still glistening on her long lashes.

"No." He simply said, while sitting upright. "No." He repeated more forcefully, glaring at her. He got to his feet and walked over to her. "What's the meaning of this, Rukia?" He grabbed her by the shoulders, gripping her tightly. "Why are you here?"

Rukia's eyes roamed over his face, before lowering them to the floor. "I think you already know." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she rested her hand on his own.

"Am I… Am I dead?" He finally asked the question he dreaded hearing the answer to. Rukia simply nodded. With that simple nod, all the power drained from Ichigo's legs and he dropped to his knees in front of her. "But how? How can this happen? Rukia… Please." He stared up at her with tears running down his face.

"You are a human… Not an ordinary human, but still one none the less. And humans die…Even extraordinary ones."

"But… I thought…" He couldn't find the right words to express his thoughts.

"That as a Shinigami you were somehow exempted from death? As I told you before, even Shinigami's die, Ichigo."

"I know… but Kazui…Rukia, give me another chance."

The pleading tone in his voice broke Rukia's heart. "You know it doesn't work like that. And look – the chain has already been severed."

Ichigo's looked in the direction she was pointing to see a piece of chain dangling from his chest. "I…" his voice sounded flat and defeated. "Shouldn't I be in my Shinigami form?" He felt silly asking such a stupid question at a time like this, but somehow, he felt like this was the most important thing in the world.

"No, it's the human part of your soul that died, therefore you are in that form. The Shinigami part lives on."

Ichigo nodded slowly. "Geez, what a lame way to put it." He got to his feet. "Honestly, your drawings would have explained it better and you know how much those suck."

"Sh- Shut up, Ichigo! You idiot! Everyone else loves my drawings."

Ichigo gave her a sad little smile. "Let me ask you this then… Why are you here?"

"I already told you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah. I meant you specifically… Isn't this a little below a Captain's pay grade?"

"I…I…" Rukia's pouted a little, looking embarrassed. "I wanted to be the one to perform the konzo…to take you back. I thought it would be easier for you if it were a familiar face. Besides you probably would have tried to fight anyone else."

"So, everyone in the Soul Society knows I can't say no to you, huh? And they decided to use my weakness against me?"

"What! No!" Rukia blushed a little when he referred to her as his weakness. "You're so stupid, Ichigo!"

"Well, let's get it over with."

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your family?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think it would be better if I didn't…"

"Are you sure?"

"Normally people don't get a chance to say goodbye and I want them to grieve like normal people would. I'm not coming back this time… and that's something they have to realize and accept. It may not make a lot of sense but… I don't think I'd be able to go through with the next part if I did. Hopefully, Kazui will understand. I'll explain everything to him when he's older."

"I understand." Rukia unsheathed her sword and smiled up at Ichigo. "I guess it's time… or do you want to hear the whole speech first?"

Ichigo got to his knees again. "There's no need for that. I already know where I'm going. And that everything's going to be alright…because I'll be with you again…Rukia."