"Whoa, so the planet has these plates and they move around and fuck things up?" Ace asked in bed, Ichigo trying to do his homework while Ace read his geography book. "I never knew there were volcanoes under the ocean, even after sailing so long." Ichigo was growing annoyed with his commentary before he looked up.

He asked, "You were on a ship once?" Ace didn't remember what he'd said. He was saying weird things that he didn't remember more often now, but none of it accompanied memories. Still just facts.

"I said that?" Ichigo nodded. Ace got the notebook off his attached table and wrote that down. "I wonder what kind of boat I was on."

"Maybe you were a pirate or something. You fight like someone who was in danger all the time."

"Didn't pirates go, like, extinct or something a long time ago?" Ace asked. Ichigo nodded. "Unless I time traveled, I couldn't be a pirate," the older said. Rukia opened the closet, and asked for them to be quiet. She was tired and wanted to sleep. "Hey, did you know earth has plates under the ocean? Isn't that weird?"

"Please, just be quiet," she sighed, seeming sad. Ace glanced at Ichigo, who shrugged. Rukia closed the closet door, and it was quiet. Kon was sleeping, so that was peaceful. Ace was glad he did as he was told and no longer was noisy at night so Ace could sleep. Looking at his watch on the opposite side of his bracelets, he saw it was getting pretty late.

Ace had work early in the morning, so he went to brush his teeth in the bathroom, and headed to bed, the small lamp on so Ichigo could continue on his nearly late homework. He was so busy all the time, after all. School seemed to be second in importance compared to his shinigami duties.

He wasn't upset with this. He actually told Ace he wanted to kill hollows and protect others. Ace had honestly said he liked hunting them because it was fun, not to save people. "It's the same outcome regardless of whether you enjoy it," he'd said, kind of dismissively. It was nice he didn't see Ace as some asshole who only cared about having fun, even if that was pretty accurate.

The next morning, Ace had cereal for breakfast, showered, and then headed to the new area. Only he couldn't walk there, as it was pretty far. So he had to call a cab once he got to the main street near their narrow one. The taxi driver was talkative, and Ace ended up boring him by talking about the science he learned in his book. It was just so interesting!

When he was dropped off, Ace trotted to the site, and got into his gear. They were just starting at this lot. They were building a tall, tall building from the ground up. Marco was there and asked how Ace was. "I beat up this big ass hollow. It was awesome," he said, glad he could share things with his good friend. Marco said he'd headed home after they met. "Man, you shoulda' seen it. I wonder how I'm such a good fighter. Was I super into martial arts and parkour in my past? That's the only thing I can think of," he explained as they started to loosen the soil so the machines could remove the dirt and earth.

"Do you want to find out?" Marco wondered.

"Hmm, I think it will be interesting. But I also don't know what to expect, y'know? So I'm not sure. Little things keep popping into my head, though. Apparently I was on a ship or something, but I don't know anything more of that. Like, little thoughts in my mind, but they don't go anywhere and never into detail," Ace explained.

They talked some more, mostly about what they were doing that weekend, neither of them having plans, before Tatto and Sukana came over, and asked them if they wanted to go see a midnight horror movie in theaters. A whole bunch of them were going. Ace was nearly 18, only a few weeks left.

He hadn't even heard of Christmas before, so his surrogate family was excited to show him how awesome it was. So he was looking forward to that. He agreed to go to the movie theater, having been there once already, but it was seeing some teen romance movie with Yuzu since nobody else would go with her and Isshin had work. It had been awful.

The showing would be the night after next, on a Thursday. That day they were all off work since they were just informed there was a small change in the architecture, so they wouldn't build anything else until they were sure of the design.

So, Ace walked home around 1:30, and picked up some peaches at the store. He had the taxi drop him off at the market near home, and bought four peaches, choosing to walk the rest of the way home. He ate all the peaches without realizing it until he saw a trash and threw them away. He was about to leave the park when he came to the kid's area, which was mostly grass and some playground equipment Ace raced the girls across.

He did some pretty dangerous things on those bars. Oh well, he'd be fine. So he saw Rukia moping on the swings, and walked over to her. "Shouldn't you be at school?" Ace wondered.

"I'm taking today off. I dislike being around so many immature people." Ace didn't know if she was serious since she seemed sad. "Were you at work?"

"Yeah. I'm going to see a horror movie tomorrow night at midnight," he said. "I won't be home till late." Rukia nodded. "Are you staying here all day? It's kind of cold, isn't it?" He only wore a hoodie and shorts because he wasn't cold at all, no matter what he wore. But he had to make it look like he was at least a little cold.

Rukia said, "I'm fine. It's not that easy to get uncomfortably cold in this body." Ace climbed up onto the bar above near the chains of Rukia's swing.

He asked, "Was defeating the Menos that bad? I didn't kill it, it just ran away, didn't it?"

"I was just very surprised. I'm not used to seeing people defeat hollows barehanded. If you ever come across another shinigami besides me or Ichigo, do not show your abilities. Not the fire or the haki. Not every shinigami is comfortable with unknowns like you."

"What, will they hurt me?" Ace wondered, not sounding scared. "Ichigo stabbed me with his sword, and I was okay. And your magic didn't work either." Her powers, small though they may be, with the incantations were always called magic by Ace, and she'd given up on trying to get him to call them what they were.

"Still. I'm not the strongest of us, not even near. And Ichigo is strong for a beginner and all, but he is still under most professional shinigami. Will you promise to not show your abilities?" Ace could tell she was genuinely worrying and warning him because she cared. He asked if he could punch them normally. "You could still be killed doing that, but if you must, then do anything as long as it gives nothing away." She sounded a bit exasperated by now. "A shinigami tries not to harm humans, but you should not get on their bad sides."

"What about Ichigo? Does he count as a human? Or Ishida?" he asked curiously.

"I would say neither of them count. Even if you have strange powers, you're still a human," she said. "And humans are fools."

"You're just jealous we don't have any stupid rules like shinigami," Ace teased. She sighed at him. "Well, I'm going home. I need a nap. See ya later," and he walked back home. On his way, Marco called him, and they talked about what to bring to the movies. "What? Don't we buy popcorn there?"

"Don't you want candy? Or sodas?"

"Sorry, I've gone vegan."

"Sure. But if you've gone vegan, shouldn't you know that candy and soda don't have meat or dairy in them?" Marco laughed.

"I'm on a paleo diet then."

"Fine, don't bring any snack to the three hour long movie. And I'm surprised you even know what those are."

"I don't know what they are, just that they're diets. I heard some ladies talking about it at the store the other day. All they did was complain about being fat and not happy with those diets. They should just work out, right?"

"Not all people can be or are work out junkies. If you weren't special, you'd be doing damage to yourself. Honesty, give your body a rest sometimes. Have a day where you don't go on a run or do endless pushups," Marco said in exasperation. Ace pointed out that exercise during the day helps him sleep deeper at night. "Still."

"You're only jealous cause you're not buff with tan skin and attractive freckles."

"Never took you as someone trying to impress others with your appearance." Ace laughed, knowing he didn't care what others thought as long as he loved himself, and he was very proud of his sculpted body and would not let it deteriorate. When he got home, he got off the phone and took his nap. When Karin and Yuzu came home before Ichigo, who was probably hunting hollows, like he often did during or after school, he asked for them to have him watch them do their english homework.

Ace wasn't very good at english yet, so it was interesting watching them work on it, even if it was supposed to be easy curriculum. "Is english really that important? Don't we live in Japan?" Ace wondered.

"It's used around the world, I guess. I don't plan on moving, so it seems kind of useless to me," Karin said. "It's stupid homework." When Ichigo got home, he looked tired. Must have been hunting after all. He went straight to their room and didn't come back down until dinner. Rukia was in the closet most of the night, but did ask Ace for some interesting facts about the ocean.

It was very odd. But the shinigami seemed to want to be distracted. Ace had no idea why she was so sad but knew she'd not tell him if he asked. He listed off about deep water currents and other interesting things. Ichigo got tired of that real quick and left the room. Ace went to bed happy about the movie the next night, telling Isshin about it even if he didn't mind where he was at night as long as he called by a certain time.

But he told him anyways in case he worried, even if he didn't show it.

-x-

Ace's eyes shot open, and he woke up to find he was sweating profusely, and the blanket above and below him was damp from it. He put his hand to his forehead, but didn't think he was sick. It was from a dream. He didn't think it was a bad dream. It was intense, whatever it was. He looked to the side, and watched as he walked past Ace, the room suddenly opening up wider, longer.

It was Ace, shirtless and with an orange hat on, a huge tattoo on his back. He was walking beside Marco, who looked older than he did now. They were holding hands. Behind them was the ocean, and Ace could hear the sounds of the sea, but not what he was saying to Marco, or what he was saying back. Ace jumped off the bed to follow, only he forgot he was in the bedroom, and ran into the wall, the memory fading.

Ichigo heard the thump, and woke up to see Ace sweaty and looking confused. "Ace? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ace said quickly, and left to get a new blanket to put over his sweaty one. He looked out the tiny sliver of window he could see out of behind his bunk. Luckily, Ichigo fell back asleep, and there was no movement from Rukia in the closet, her sleeping, too. Ace did manage to fall back to sleep.

When he woke up, he remembered the thing clearly. He left the room quickly and then took a shower. When he got back, Ichigo and Rukia were ready for school. "Ace, are you seriously okay?" Ichigo asked in worry. The older decided to tell the truth.

"I saw a memory," he said bluntly. "It was right in front of me. Like I was watching from third person. The room disappeared and it was like I was there, watching. When they started to walk away, I tried to follow but forgot there were walls and ran into one." Ichigo's brows rose in surprise and then lowered in worry.

"What was it of?"

Ace remembered he was holding hands with Marco, and his face went red. "N-nothing. Nothing you hafta' worry about." Was he gay? Why was he holding hands with Marco? He didn't want to tell him, not knowing about what anyone would think. Was it really Marco, and was it really a memory?

He'd known Marco before he met him. No, he'd recognized him, he seemed familiar. And he also had a weird power, and recognized Ace as well. His red face blanched, and he quickly left the room, running down the stairs, putting his jacket on, and sprinting out of the house. Ichigo panicked, thinking Ace was leaving for something having to do with his past, and ran out after him.

"Where are you going?!" he called.

"To check something! Don't worry!" and Ace zipped around the corner, sprinting all out to Marco's, ignoring a passing hollow. When he got to his apartment, he pounded up the stairs and banged on his front door. Marco opened it, looking sleepy and surprised.

"Ace? What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?" Ace asked in worry. He had to find out, and didn't think Marco would think he was crazy with how vague Ace planned on speaking, asking. The older man open the door for him to come in. Ace had already been to his apartment before then, and sat on the comfy couch. His place was cozy and charming, but there were no traces of photos of family. He said his was gone when Ace asked once.

Marco sat across from him. "Is everything okay?"

"Um… I had a dream…" Marco raised his brows but let Ace continue, not speaking. "It had you in it, only you were older, and I think I was a little older, too. We were near the ocean, on a ship. I was wearing some hat I have never seen before, and there was this big purple tattoo on my face."

Marco had tears in his eyes, and a smile. He wiped them quickly. "Was that a memory? Did you already know?" Ace asked, looking worried and confused. But Marco nodded. Ace felt a flare of anger, but also confusion. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Do you want to remember?" Marco asked, face and voice softer than he'd ever heard before. He had the fondest look on. Ace thought for a moment, biting his lip.

"I… I don't know. I'm happy right now, I don't want to remember a terrible past. I don't think I want to know all of it, but… what were you? In my life?"

"I won't tell you much about your previous life. There's no way to go back, and remembering will hurt emotionally, maybe physically," Marco said kindly. Ace appreciated him not pushing for Ace to remember and be on the seemingly same page. He was so understanding and considerate to him.

"Why? Do they not want me back?" Ace asked, a twinge of hurt in his voice, as he was unable to help it.

"Ace… you woke up here with no memory, feeling like you came out of nowhere, right?" Ace nodded. "That happened to me, too. Only I showed up a few months before you did, even if our departure was near the same time," Marco explained, and Ace didn't dare interrupt, knowing this was important. "We were both killed. We died, and we showed up here. You didn't remember, but I remembered everything. Our previous lives, the people we knew. I know personally how much it hurts to remember but never go back. I wouldn't put you through that pain and give anything away so you don't remember."

Ace's face was pale. "Wait! We died?! Are you cray…" But he didn't think Marco was crazy. Marco nodded, and moved to sit beside Ace, and take his hand. Ace almost jerked away, but didn't.

"I thought I was all alone, but then I found you. I don't know if anyone else from our lives showed up here, and I'm looking for them. But I haven't found any trace in the last year or so."

"Why don't I have my memories, but you do?" Ace asked. Marco truly had no clue. "So… we died, then."

"Yeah," Marco sighed. "I won't go into details, as it was messy and painful." Ace was glad he didn't explain his death. And the teen absolutely believed him. So he asked why he was made of fire, and what haki was. "You're made of fire because you ate a devil fruit. They're fruits that give the consumer powers. Yours is fire, mine is as a phoenix. Haki is another helpful power, though. What you can use right now are observation and armament haki."

Ace assumed his sixth sense was observation haki. "The black stuff is armament haki?" Ace asked. Marco nodded. "Do… do you have it too?" Ace couldn't help but sound eager.

Marco covered his hands in haki. "Yup. You even had the third type, but rarely used it," Marco said, piquing Ace's interest. Marco explained conqueror's haki to him, and Ace was amazed he'd been able to do that.

"Why the hell didn't I use it all the time?" Ace asked.

"What would be the fun in that?" Ace grinned, and agreed that would have probably been how he thought.

"Do I act any different now?" he wondered.

"Not really. You were more broody and sad before. I won't go into detail really, but you had a rough early childhood."

"All the scars?" Marco nodded, but told him it wasn't from abuse or anything. Just him being reckless and exploring. "I don't want to know anymore yet. But I hope if I remember I won't change."

Marco smiled. "We can't go back, so don't force yourself to remember. This is your life now. And there were some things we did that you probably wouldn't approve of, now. But you're just as social and strong and independent as you always were." Ace smiled, and wondered about Marco's age change. "It's pretty great being young again. You deaged as well, from three years. Mine was 23, though, so a big gap," he laughed.

"Hey, did I love you?"

"You did."

"You loved me too, right?"

"Of course."

"Would you love me now, too?" Marco smiled and took his cheek.

"I never stopped, but I won't force you or make you uncomfortable. I promise. You don't have all the memories, and I want you to like me for me, not because we used to be together in a past life."

"I think I could like you like that. And five years isn't as crazy as 23, right?" Ace laughed happily. "But can we not tell anybody? That we're together? I don't know how the others would feel about it, really. I don't think they'd hate me, I don't know."

"It's fine, really. I promise I won't say anything or do anything in public if you don't want me to." Ace apologized. "It's just fine. I'm not offended, this place is different from where we originally came from. It was a shock to me, but I managed to figure it out. I can pay for things because I had some very expensive wrist bands. Just sold all that and came up with a lot of money."

Ace looked at his bracelets. "This was all I had. And a pretty dagger I've never used," he added. "I also had an elbow guard thing. Hey, did I used to have tattoos? Like the one on my back? I saw it, it was huge!" Ace said.

"You had two tattoos. One on your arm and one on your back. If I go into detail, it might not be what you want. But you can handle tattooing after getting one that damn huge."

Ace smiled. "Thanks. For being my friend even though I didn't remember you."

"Even if you never remembered me, and never liked me back, I wouldn't give you up."

"What if I mess up? Or we get in a fight?" Ace asked. "I don't remember ever being in a relationship. Or that I was gay!"

"Relationships have arguments. You were more explosive and I was the calm one, but we never once went to bed angry at one another. Arguments are normal, right?"

"Sorry. If I was explosive and all."

Marco smiled, "It's fine. I was never angry with you." Ichigo called him, and Ace didn't want him to stay worried. Ace had been gone almost an hour now, despite running the whole way. "I'm okay, don't worry."

"Where the hell did you go?!" he demanded.

"Someone from my past is here, too! So I came to see him. He's the only one though, don't worry."

"Can you believe him?"

"Yeah, I saw him in my memories. And he knows about what my powers are, too! But really, don't worry. I'm not leaving you guys, it's not like that, I promise. Sorry to worry you. Are you at school?"

"In the bathroom. I was worried. Jerk, don't go running off like that."

"Heh, sorry, sorry. I'll tell you some about it later, promise." Ichigo agreed, sounding more relieved. Then the call was over, and Marco asked if he could explain the world here a bit more. The monsters and Ichigo in his black outfit with the sword. Ace did his best to explain briefly what he knew and had learned so far.

Marco was interested in it all, and vowed not to spread it around. He spent two hours there, having called Isshin about where he went. He was fine with Ace hanging out with his friend. Ace didn't have work, and he was going to the movies, so he'd probably be gone all day. He and Marco went out to a part of the park abandoned, not holding hands.

They agreed to fight, but without their "devil fruits". It sure was nice to know about them, and the fact that he couldn't go swimming without drowning. That was very important information and he was lucky he didn't find it out the hard way in all the time he was in this place. Really, he died, coming from another world? It was only believable so far because of his fire power and haki.

While Ace was a very good fighter, and had clearly been doing it for awhile, Marco kicked his ass, not holding back. His kicks were especialy powerful. Ace had never been beaten up, not that he could remember. It was kind of relieving, knowing there were stronger people out there. Being the strongest, it would have felt like he had to keep his place. But knowing at least this person before him was stronger and more experienced was humbling.

"You gotta train me!"

"Hah, I already did. Three years I spent training your stubborn ass," Marco joked. Ace beamed, even though their fighting styles seemed different. Ace had just made his his own it seemed. It was a lot of fun, and Marco guarded his body while he napped on the bench at the park. So they went around the city all day, mostly eating new and different foods. According to Marco, he'd always had a monstrous appetite. He was better here, because he felt he should be.

By the time night came, they ordered pizza and Ace showed Marco his favorite shows there. "Never would have pegged you as someone to like moving drawings," Marco teased.

"But they're so cool! It doesn't matter if they're drawings, they're awesome." Marco just chuckled, and promised to watch them all when he had the free time. So when it was time to go to the movies, Ace realized he was still in his sleep clothes. A tank top and shorts. Well, they were good enough to go out in public with all day, a night time movie wouldn't change that.

But he did make sure to make himself smell presentable with Marco's cologne and deodorant. When they arrived, Ace's bag was loaded with candy they got on the way there. The ticket woman was about to stop their group before she looked at Ace, and blushed, letting them through. "Hah, I guess there's perks to being buddies with a young, conventionally attractive man," Totto joked.

"Hey, I work hard to look like this," Ace replied.

When they made it to the theater, since it was an 11:30 movie that would last until 2:30, barely anyone was there. It was also a week night, which dwindled any watchers even more. Only two other people were there, and were sitting apart, so they came alone. Ace passed around the candy while the six of them had two huge popcorn bins so they could each have some.

The movie itself was quite bloody, but Ace wasn't squeamish at all. Even though the bad guy in the movie was terrible and did terrible things, he rooted for him because the other characters were painfully boring and stupid. Ace hoped they all died by the end of the movie. But he fell asleep halfway through, and Marco only woke him a half hour later, and apparently he hadn't missed much.

It wasn't the best thing ever, but it was more fun going with his older friends. They had beers but Ace was a minor so he couldn't drink. Two more years and he could. His friends didn't get drunk, though, so that was a relief.

When the movie was over, they were driven home. Marco didn't have his own car, as he didn't have a license. He had an ID, fabricated his life, but didn't have a license yet. He sure was smart to figure out how to live in this unknown world all alone. Though he was originally much older than 22. Smart and responsible.

When Ace was dropped off at home, he was tired, but he got a bad feeling. Turning around, he ended up trotting down the street to where he felt bad energy. Was it with his haki, or just intuition? Then he felt the presences, and they were both strong. Though not on par with Marco. Ace wondered if he was stronger.

He ended up behind them, peeking around a corner. They were two shinigami he'd never seen before! Wow, there were more here, what a coincidence. One of them had long black hair and white hair pieces on. The other had face tattoos, and red hair in a pony tail. They both had swords. But since he was behind them, he couldn't see their faces.

Then he sensed Rukia coming near. He wondered if they were friends, as they were all shinigami. They seemed to be meeting her on purpose, or just got lucky in the same area. Ace quietly jumped onto the wall to watch from higher above.

Then the one with red hair pulled his sword out, and attacked Rukia. Ace kept himself from helping, needing to know what was going on, but when he saw her cheek was cut from the sword swing she barely missed, he shot forward towards the red head, staying silent as being intangible, but not openly on fire.

He only solidified when he flipped and slammed a haki covered foot - inside his boot - on top of the offenders shoulder. Ace flipped out of the way when he swung at him. The guy was holding his shoulder, and it looked like Ace did some damage. "Who're you?!" he demanded.

"Why did you cut Rukia? Look how helpless she is right now, doesn't even have a sword," Ace said calmly.

"It's no human's business. But I'm surprised you can see me. Who are you?" Ace had dislocated the guy's shoulder as he pushed it back into place himself, hiding a grunt of pain he no doubt felt from that. But he was tough, putting back his shoulder like that. Though Ace never remembered getting hurt in such a way. Ace simply said he was Rukia's friend. "Are you Kurosaki Ichigo?" the red head asked. The guy with hblack hair had a blank, uninterested look on his face. He had a white coat on over his black shinigami outfit. Again, both had those terrible socks and sandals. He knew from experience as he'd tried Ichigo's once and they were god awful.

"I'm not Ichigo, no. Why do you want to know?" Ace asked, arms crossed and seeming so open and easy going.

"He stole Rukia's powers. Because of him her execution is imminent. I'm going to kill him and get Rukia's power back," red head shinigami stated.

"Well, he won't die that easily, and I won't let you hurt him," Ace said.

"Ace! You promised not to fight!" Rukia shouted, sounding worried. Well, Ace didn't plan on revealing himself.

"Abarai. This is the human that nearly took down a Menos with his bare hands," the other said. Abarai looked at him in disbelief before he looked baffled at Ace.

"Aw, everyone knows about me?" he asked, sounding cocky. He wished Rukia would run away while the two seemed distracted.

"There's no way he's a human, Captain Kuchiki!"

"He is a human," Kuchiki said. That was Rukia's last name; so were they related.

"I'm a boring human," he said raising one hand. "Maybe not boring, but not like you guys." Honestly, he wasn't sure how to fight without giving his powers away. And who knew what these guys would do if they knew? Abarai drew his sword to fight, but Captain Kuchiki grabbed his arm.

He said, in his bland voice, "We don't harm humans. Incapacitate him, but don't hurt him." Ace knew blunt hits wouldn't work. And how could he do anything without using his sword against Ace? Was he good at hand to hand combat, too?

"Ace, please don't fight! You can't win!" Yeah, she said that about the Menos, too, didn't she? And look how wrong she was there. Ace shot forward fast, and used haki to dodge any attack, and punched his nuts before uppercutting his jaw, and then twisting to slam his boot into his face, forcing him down against the cement. Ace jumped back far enough out of harm's reach.

"You prick!" Abarai said, amazingly not cupping his crotch; Ace wasn't afraid to fight dirty or attack from behind. He wasn't Ichigo, who was honestly goody goody. But Ace was grinning like a mad man, facing someone strong who wasn't a hollow or a past boyfriend. He shot at Ace, but used his weapon, only it was the blunt side. Ace contorted himself upside down, and then did a flip and on his way up kicked his jaw, throwing him back a bit.

Ace darted away again, his blood pounding in his ears, feeling excited and thrilled. This was fun! "Why do you have to kill Rukia? It's not like she meant to give Ichigo all her powers. It was an accident," Ace said, not out of breath in the least. He was a natural fighter, and he loved that. Abarai's goggles were broken and he had a wound on his forehead. He held his jaw in irritation.

"Because giving humans shinigami powers at all is an ultimate sin! Call Kurosaki Ichigo here so I can kill him." Ace said 'nope'. "Are you sure I can't hurt him, Captain Kuchiki?" Ace felt a familiar presence come over from behind Rukia, on the other end of the street. Ichigo came. How did he know?

Captain Kuchiki said, "Incapacitate him so he's not a nuisance. Do not kill him." Abarai made a small annoyed sound, and claimed he wasn't going to hit any vital spots. He attempted to slash Ace on the leg, but he whipped it behind him and then flipped again and slammed the shinigami's forehead into the ground.

The other, higher ranking shinigami turned and saw Ichigo. "Hey, this is my fight!" Ace called to his friend, who looked pissed.

"Having fun again? Shouldn't you be more focused on helping Rukia?" Ichigo asked in annoyance.

"Well she's the one that won't run from my distraction." Abarai turned around slightly and Ace kicked his back, throwing him forward again. But he lost his cool after this, and his sword changed shape, got longer and more like a whip, able to stretch and move, and it elongated to slash Ace.

While he didn't want his fire to be revealed, he barely moved, and the tip of the blade went through his shoulder. The fire was bright in the late night. "The hell?" Abarai asked in confusion.

"Surprise!" and Ace did a fancy twist and slammed his foot into the junction between his shoulder and neck.

But suddenly, there was a huge pressure on his shoulders. There was nothing there, but Ace was forced to the ground, though he kept only one knee down in a crouch. It was some sort of heavy energy, and he saw the emotionless superior looking down at him. Making angry eye contact forced Ace loweer, but he did not fall. He forced his body against the pressure, and stood up, only to lose all energy, growing heavily fatigued. He finally fell on his front.

Abarai looked embarrassed but mostly furious that he hadn't been able to incapacitate Ace. "God fuck it!" Ace shouted, trying to get up, only it felt his entire body was sapped of all energy. He couldn't even bring out his flames to try and fight. At least he wasn't going to be attacked while he was down. Lucky he was human and shinigami didn't kill humans. They were meant to protect them, after all.

"Ace, please, don't fight anymore!" Rukia begged.

"I can't get up, how am I supposed to fight!?" he said in annoyance. "Ichigo, whoop their asses!"

"So, you're Kurosaki Ichigo. The hell is with your massive sword?" Abarai demanded, seeming confused again, but in a different way than he had been for Ace.

"Huh, it is pretty big I guess. I thought it was a lot bigger than Rukia's. But up until now, I haven't been able to compare it to anyone else!" Ichigo said, looking very angry. Rukia was seemingly unable to fight back, and Ace was pretty much paralyzed and unable to move any part of his body but his mouth to speak.

"They're here to take Rukia away from giving you her powers!" Ace shouted. "Don't let 'em take her, I don't think I'll be getting up anytime soon," he said.

"I don't plan on losing any friends!" Ichigo shouted, and pointed his sword at them. Abarai got over the shock of his huge sword, which must mean something important. But the red head grew furious after passing his shock by, furious that Ichigo was the one to take her powers away. But he hadn't meant to, and it was Rukia's idea.

He didn't shout that, thinking it wouldn't help anything and might get Rukia in even more trouble. If that was possible when she was to be fucking executed. He hated that word. It felt personal for some reason. Maybe because he knew his dad was executed or something. He wasn't sure. As he was watching, he felt that presence again, and started to have trouble breathing.

The captain glanced a him from behind, and Ace could breathe again. "Fuck, this sucks," he mumbled. He did all he could to get on his hands and knees, but it felt impossible. This was a real problem. If more people could do this to him, he'd be useless. He managed to cover his hand in haki, and slowly crush a piece of the ground beneath him.

Pulling up a rock, he attempted to flick his wrist and do something. It didn't work, and he couldn't lift it. Ichigo wasn't easily matching Abarai. He was slower. Ace had his light body, physical and fighting shape, as well as knowing haki. He had done better against the shinigami, but now he was incapacitated with no real pay off.

This was humiliating! Ace turned himself into fire, his body gone, all that was left was a blazing inferno. He could see still, but there were flames all around him, he was flame. Brighter and brighter he forced himself to grow. The pressure was there. I'm not afraid. I have no need to be! I was killed once already, I'm not gonna die again, but I won't be beaten either!

He forced his flames to the left, out of that area of pressure. He crouched behind the wall out of sight, panting to catch his breath. He peeked back around, and then sent a bunch of fire at them. It gave Ichigo an opening, this distraction, no matter how small or short it might be. Ichigo already had an injury, but he was able to cut Abarai and take advantage this time.

"You are being too careless, Renji," Captain Kuchiki said. Ace didn't know what part was being careless, though. Against Ace or Ichigo?

The red head grew irate. "Ace is out of the fight. He has no energy left." Shit, how did he know? Ace was barely able to stand, let alone fight. He wasn't forced to the ground, but he was barely able to move. He felt he was going to have a sleep attack, his mind fogging as his body shouted at him to rest.

"N-No, not r-ight now…" Ace said, fighting the sleep attack. He took a step forward, one more, and one more after that, but the moment he saw them, and wanted to do something, he was unconscious. He'd had a nap today, too! Sure, it was a busy day, and he was way, way past his bedtime.

It wasn't ridiculous to fall asleep now. He was exhausted already from getting up super early. God, what time was it now? And then this fight, and that pressure that drained whatever energy he had left. It was seeping out of him like blood out if you were stabbed. Finally, he couldn't help but succumb to the damn narcolepsy, the biggest weakness he could ever think of, and fell.