DISCLAIMER: Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Osilly – Thanks. I'm glad you liked it, but sorry I can't write that fast (especially with summer school, festivals, movies etc etc getting in the way…hehe). But here's a new one.

Outsune – Ack! Please don't 'die' yet. Here, look at the pretty death butterfly…see the nice wings. (I know I'm trying so hard to escape the fact that there's not much update being written) Hehe. But thanks.

Sinmay – Wow! I really appreciate your detailed look at my work. I'll put up the changes tho I wish the site can update real time so I don't have to wait if the corrections went thru or not. As for the Rukia dodging Hollow-Ichigo's attack, I forgot that it should be the second attack she didn't get away from.

Lestat – I can't answer your question yet. I haven't the slightest idea where this story will turn (twist and bite itself on its behind). We'll cross the bridge when we get there ne?.

Thanks again guys for all the reviews and for simply reading the story. Sorry if I've taken my time updating the next chapter. This is actually a filler chapter (hides behind something solid preferably a big, thick wall to protect self from projectiles and whatnots…hehe) I know, but kindly bear with me. I'm still writing Ichigo's fight scenes and it's so dang hard! Argh! Anyway, I hope this will keep you sated for a while.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Uneasy Conversation

'Where are all these Hollows coming from?' thought Urahara, while slicing the hollows with Benihime. It had been awhile since he fought hollows and longer still since he fought this many.

He gave Yoruichi and Isshin quick glances. The two were also busy dealing with Hollows. 'Something big and terrible is going to happen,' he said to himself, trying to figure out what the sudden hollow infestation of the human world was all about.

Earlier that day when he was in his shop and checking inventory, he felt spirit pressures so huge it almost brought him down to his knees. He couldn't make out whom those spirit pressures belong to but he got a distinct feeling of dread from it, much like a bad omen quietly announcing its entrance.

Yoruichi felt it, too, and immediately told him that they should investigate. He didn't like going out of the store that much, but when Yoruichi said it might have something to do with Kurosaki Ichigo, he didn't have a choice. Somehow, he felt responsible for the orange-haired shinigami's well-being.

They have been talking about the boy and the mask that Yoruichi had kept away from him when they were in Soul Society. At the back of his mind, he toyed with the possibility that Ichigo will go down that path. Or at least, be forced to. He tried to dismiss it from his mind but it lingered there like a bad dream waiting to happen.

Inside he knew he had made a grave mistake. He had put too much on the line for the greater good and he didn't think much of the consequences it would have on the people he had involved. He was so intent at hiding that blasted device from evil hands that he failed to use his heart. What he did to Rukia have gone too far and it endangered her, Ichigo and his friends' lives. And this thought weighed down heavily on his conscience.

Yoruichi noticed him deep in thought. "We taught the boy every fighting skills we know. But I don't think we can teach him how to overcome this one thing," she said to him in an attempt to ease his mind.

Urahara sighed deeply. "Hmm…perhaps. It's just that when I look back, I sometimes feel that we may have been wrong in our decision to put him hrough the risks of those trainings with us and to let him go to Soul Society."

"Eh? It's not in your character to feel guilty in the choices you make, Kisuke," said Yoruichi calmly. "We did what we had to do to help him. Besides, if we didn't decide to train him the way we did, he would probably go down that path easily."

She looked at the bowed head of Urahara and felt how empty her words must have been to her close friend. She didn't blame him for what he did. It was a very difficult choice to begin with. But had he chosen not to do what he did, this world and the next would have long been gone. Gone to the world of the hollows. By then, nothing would have mattered, not even their lives.

"Still, I couldn't help but think that it would have been better if he hadn't regained his shinigami powers, not undergone our trainings and just…just led a normal teenager's life in this world," Urahara said, his eyes filled with uncharacteristic softness. "He is, after all, only human."

The typical Yoruichi in her would have said, "And what? Let Aizen have his way and get the Hou-gyoku that easy. Without Ichigo's help, there was no way to get both Rukia and the device back safely here." Instead, she held her tongue. This was no time to rebuke her friend who had been feeling remorseful lately. "And what? Let him live on and deal with the knowledge of Rukia's execution?" she asked, rather matter-of-factly. "I don't think you would be able to erase his memory of her no matter how many memory-erasing merchandise you have here. I've sensed how deeply he cared about her despite his façade of indebtedness even before we went to Soul Society."

Urahara pondered her words and said, "I thought so, too. Or else, he wouldn't have gone to great lengths just to save her. He would probably have gone even without my help because that's the kind of stubborn fellow he is. I guess, it was better for him to get help from us than to receive it from…" he hesitated as if debating to himself whether to give out a name or not. "…from the Vizards."

He looked out the window as if the word stung him. "But I do hope when the time comes to choose between the two paths, he'll make the right one and survive. For both our worlds' sake." He let out a sigh. Now that Aizen had gotten what he coveted for a long time, a war would be inevitable and he hoped against all hope that Ichigo would not find himself fighting on the wrong side.

Yoruichi just nodded. She, too, had the same fervent hope.

Now, it seemed a long time ago since they had that conversation. When Isshin came to the shop that evening, telling them about his son's sudden change of behavior and a certain shinigami named Kuchiki Rukia earnestly trying to find him, Urahara couldn't help feel that same dread. So they set out to find him.

However, the hollows arrived – a lot of them. It was as if they were trying to hinder their progress at finding Ichigo. 'No matter," Urahara said, coming out of his recollection quickly. 'We'll defeat every single one of them!'

He felt another spirit pressure, this one distinct and familiar. It had grown stronger the last time he remembered it. But when he realized who it was, he felt a surge of worry.

They have to get through the enemies as fast as they could.

A few moments later, he once again felt that familiar spirit pressure fading like the receding twilight. "Isshin, Yoruichi!" he shouted to his companions. "We must hurry!"

Yoruichi gave him a quick look that seemed to say she knew what he meant. She felt that same spirit pressure diminishing in strength.

Urahara hacked away in earnest. Isshin also sensed this urgency and fought vigorously as well. But it was no good, the hollows kept coming and multiplying.

"Yoruichi! You have to go without us! You have to go NOW! Isshin and I will cover your back," Urahara said.

"All right, Urahara, Isshin! Just don't get killed," she said as she flash stepped her way out of the crowd of hollows. She finally recognized that familiar spirit pressure and wished with all her heart that her heels had wings.

--

To be continued…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Author's Note: I wanted Urahara and Yoruichi to get involved in this story somewhere because they were the ones who helped unlock Ichigo's spiritual powers in the Soul Society Arc. In a way, it was as if they knew that this would happen to Ichigo sooner or later. As for Isshin, he is a father, after all, and I could see him becoming more involved with his son's shinigami affairs now that he has become a shinigami once again.

Update on the next chapter: Well, I've been looking over some of Ichigo's fight scenes both in the manga and in the anime to give me some ideas on how to go about it so I won't go OOC too much. But the truth is, I've also been trying to stay away from this particular chapter, it was almost like I didn't want to continue on with it. It was difficult to write since I have to put myself in his shoes. It's mind-boggling. In fact, I've written the chapters that are supposed to follow that crucial one. But I guess, I can't keep running from it forever, especially if our fan lives are at stake, right? Hehe.