The first thing Toshiro noticed was the pain. He was experiencing a great deal of it.

'I'm alive.' he realized.

"You're also awake, it seems."

Toshiro blinked. He must have fidgeted, but it was more than a little creepy that the speaker had known what he was thinking.

"Hat and Clogs." Toshiro whispered.

"The one and only." Urahara said, bowing slightly.

"You saved me?"

"Of course! How else could you still be breathing after fighting a captain?"

Toshiro frowned and looked around the room he was in. The design was old, being made entirely of wood without any plaster.

Toshiro was shirtless, and his chest, shoulders, and back were covered in bandages.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?" Urahara asked.

"Why should I?" Toshiro scoffed. "As usual, you waited until the fight was over to make an appearance. With all of you helping I might have stood a chance."

"Ah."Urahara said, pulling the brim of his hat down. "That is exactly why I did not interfere. I wanted you to see the difference between their strength and yours."

"I'm sick of these games of yours!" Toshiro yelled, sitting up quickly. He hunched over as the sudden movement caused a sharp pain in his chest.

"Don't overstrain yourself." Urahara cautioned. "You'll reopen your wounds."

"Sure," Toshiro breathed, holding his chest, "now you care. What about when Rukia and I were fighting for our lives? What would you do if we were killed while you watched? Uryu and I were left for dead, and Rukia was taken away!"

Urahara glared at him from under the brim of his hat, but spoke softly to show that he was not upset. "How does that saying go? 'The more you know, the more realize how little you actually know?'"

Toshiro returned Urahra's glare, only actually meaning it. "Are you saying that you saved Rukia and Uryu too?"

"The Quincy is fine. I was able to fix him up on the spot. He's home now."

"And Rukia?"

Urahara sighed. "I'm afraid she's been taken back to the Soul Society to be executed."

Toshiro sighed, closed his eyes, and laid back down.

"Not the reaction I was expecting." Urahara observed.

"What were you expecting? For me to start yelling about the need to go recue her? I know a lost cause when I see one. That man, Rukia's brother. He said my powers are gone."

"They are." Urahara admitted.

Toshiro slammed his fist into the ground to his right.

"And even with my powers I was useless!" He sighed again. "Real Shinigami are in a totally different league from me at my best."

"Filthy human."

'She sounded so angry when she said that.' he reflected. 'Like that's really what she thought of me.'

"Did you already forget what I said?" Urahara asked. "That I let you go into this fight to show you the difference in strength?"

Tosho tuned his head towards Urahara again. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your powers can be restored. If you so choose, you can go to the Soul Society to save Miss Kuchiki."

Toshiro's eyes widened.

"You're serious."

"Deadly serious."

Urahara turned around and began to walk out. "Don't make your decision right now. Give yourself a day to heal, and to think. You may decide that you no longer want to be a Shinigami. No one would think less of you if that was your decision."

Left alone, Toshiro sat up and began flexing his hand. He no longer felt the same strength flowing through it.

'I'm not a Shinigami anymore.'

It was the last day of school before summer vacation, but unlike the other students, Toshiro was not thinking about camp or the beach or spending weeks doing nothing but sleep.

'I never wanted to be a Shinigami in the first place.' he thought as he walked to school. 'It was forced on me on and I hated it.

'I'm still just a kid.' he reasoned later. 'Why should I risk my life all the time? Uryu can handle most of the hollows that would come around. There's no need for the town to have its own Shinigami.'

At the beginning of class, Toshiro noticed two empty desks: Rukia's and Uryu's. As the teacher read down the attendance list she paused at Uryu's name.

"Ishida's absent again? Hmm…It's a shame that a student like that should miss the last day.

"Next, Misora."

Toshiro started. He was sure that he had not heard correctly. The teacher had not skipped over Rukia's completely.

But it was the same throughout the day. Everyone wondered what was up with Uryu. No one even noticed that there was another student missing.

It was unnerving. Rukia was not only gone, but all traces of her presence had been removed as well.

'It is bad enough that she's been taken to be killed, but for it to be like she never existed at all…It's wrong.'

Toshiro walked home from school very troubled.

"Toshiro!"

He turned his head. "Oh, Orihime."

She looked at him seriously.

"What is it?"

"Toshiro, what happened with Rukia?"

He stopped. "What?"

"She didn't show up to school, and no one even remembers her! Why?"

Toshiro shrugged. "I don't know."

Orihime shook her head sadly. "Don't play games with me, Toshiro. I know you're a Shinigami."

Toshiro spun around in shock.

"How-"

"I've seen you and Rukia and Uryu fighting those monsters."

Toshiro groaned and ran his hand through his bangs. "Can't keep anything a secret anymore."

"So what happened to Rukia?"

Toshiro looked away, unsure of how to answer.

"She went back to where she came from."

"Oh." Orihime said, relieved. "I was worried it was something worse."

"She could die."

Orihime bit her lip as she internalized what Toshiro had said.

"What are you going to do?"

Toshiro turned away, looking at his toes.

"I don't know."

"You-you wouldn't leave her like that."

He looked up. Orihime had said it as a statement of fact, not as a question.

"Thanks. I've got to get going. I need to think."

"All right."

Toshiro looked in the direction he had been walking, towards his home, and then in the direction of the Urahara Shop.

'If Orihime could still remember Rukia, it must be because of her high spiritual power. So the fact that I still remember Rukia must mean that I still have a strong spiritual power too.

'Even without my Shinigami powers, I'd still see spirits and hollows. I'd still see them attack people. I can't just sit by when that happens.

'And there is still the matter of the Grand Fisher. I promised I'd kill him for Momo, though any psychologist would tell me to forget about it. Still, he will be coming for me again someday, and that is one hollow I can't count on Uryu to stop.'

"You wouldn't leave her like that."

'I'm not as certain as Orihime that that's the sort of person I am. I know I wasn't just two months ago.

"Don't be selfish!

"Shinigami must treat all souls equally. Wanting to save only those you see in front of you, this line of work is not that convenient."

'Is that what you meant back then Rukia?'

"So you've decided." Urahara said when Toshiro entered his store.

"I have."

"Then come downstairs."

Toshiro followed Urahara through a trap door in the back of the shop. Toshiro squinted as they entered a room that was brightly lit.

"Whoa!" Urahara exclaimed. "Who knew that there was such a big space under my store?"

Toshiro's eyes began to adjust to the light, and he saw that they were in a vast expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. While it was already nighttime above, in the strange, rocky world beneath Urahara's Shop there were somehow clear, sunny skies. Close by were all of the employees of the Urahara Shop.

"Psst." Urahara whispered. "This is the part where you say something in admiration."

"Let's get on with it already." Toshiro said.

"All right." Urahara walked a small distance away, then began to speak in a serious tone.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Toshiro, but if I'm not mistaken, you began having strange dreams soon after your sister was murdered by a hollow. Dreams involving a voice."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Am I wrong?"

"No."

"I thought so. You, Toshiro Hitsugaya are perhaps the most interesting human in existence, in that you began to manifest Shinigami powers even before ever encountering a Shinigami."

"You don't know your sword's name."

"What does that mean?" Toshiro asked, matching Urahra's seriousness.

"It means that when Byakuya Kuchiki stabbed you, he only removed the powers you gained from his sister, not those you were already developing on your own."

Toshiro nodded. "I've noticed that my reiatsu is still well above that of most people."

"Good." Urahara came close to Toshiro again. He raised his cane and poked him in the forehead with it. Toshiro fell out of his body.

But this time was different. Unlike when he had turned into a Shinigami, Toshiro's soul form wore the same clothes as his physical body. He also had a chain connecting his chests together.

"But as you can see, having higher than normal reiatsu is not the same as having Shinigami powers. We're going to have to wake it up."

"How?"

Suddenly, an axe, swung by Tessai, came down between Toshiro and his body, severing the chain keeping Toshiro alive.

Before Toshiro could even scream in protest, a giant sink hole opened beneath him, and he fell all the way to the bottom.

Toshiro screamed as Tessai cast a binding spell on him to hold his arms behind his back in a straightjacket-like material.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Toshiro screamed, struggling against the bonds.

"Climb back up here!" Urahara yelled from the top of the hole. "If you can do that, your Shinigami powers will return!"

"How is that supposed to help!?" Toshiro yelled back. "And how am I supposed to do it without my arms!?"

Urahara ignored his questions. "Oh, and you've got three days before the chains eat themselves! When they're gone you'll turn into a hollow, and we'll have to kill you! So no pressure!"

"Eat themselves?" Toshiro looked at what several feet of chain still connected to his soul form. The end links has begun to sport mouths that were already chewing their way through the next links.

"Oh crap."

Toshiro bent his knees and leapt with all of his strength. He jumped nearly ten meters before falling back down to the bottom of the hole.

'Damn.' he thought. 'Didn't even come close. This kind of jump would be child's play if I had my powers back, but just having above average reiatsu won't cut it.'

Toshiro looked at the top of the hole.

'Even if I could jump that high, it doesn't make sense that that should restore my Shinigami powers. It must be that I'm supposed to jump out after getting them back, not as a prerequisite, but how?'

"You don't know your sword's name!"

"Dreams involving a voice."

"That's what Toshiro said?" Chad asked.

"Yes." Orihime answered, standing in his doorway. "This has got to be what Mr. Urahara was talking to us about the other day. Toshiro's going to go rescue Rukia, and he may need our help."

"I don't see how we can be of much help." Chad said. "We still don't even know how to use our powers."

"Then why don't you learn how?" a male voice said behind Orihime. She turned around, but there was no one there.

"Who spoke just now?" Chad asked, looking from above her.

"Down here." the voice said again. Chad and Orihime looked down to see a black cat standing in front of them.

"Did that cat just talk?" Chad asked in a monotone voice that belied his shock.

"My name is Yoruichi." the cat said. "If the two of you wish to use your powers to help Toshiro Hitsugaya, I can teach you how."

Jinta looked over the edge of the hole. "What's he doing? It looks like he's fallen asleep."

"Indeed he has." Urahara said. "Tessai!"

"What is it, manager?" the large man asked next to the sleeping Toshiro.

"Cut off all but the last five links!"

"But if I do that, he'll turn into a hollow almost immediately! He needs more of a chance!"

"No." Urahara declared. "He needs more of a push."

Toshiro opened his eyes and looked around. He was in dark, frozen plain.

"I made it."

"So you have finally come of your own free will."

A wind gusted, knocking Toshiro over. The great blue dragon had approached.

"So you're my Zanpakuto." Toshiro said, getting up.

"It has taken you far too long to realize that, boy."

"Sorry. I honestly thought these have been nightmares."

Boom!

The wind suddenly increased in intensity, and the ground began to crack. Shards of ice rose into the air as the world shook ferociously.

Toshiro fell down again.

"Stop that!" he yelled.

"I am doing nothing, boy. This world is falling apart because you are transforming into a hollow even as we speak."

"No." Toshiro breathed. "I can't be yet. It was supposed to take three days!

"Hat and Clogs." he growled.

Toshiro was screaming in agony as a white liquid began to swirl around his face. The liquid began to settle above his left eye, solidifying into part of a mask.

"Manager!" Tessai yelled. "It's too late! He's transforming! I must eliminate him now before he completes the transformation!"

"Not yet!" Urahara yelled. "Give him more time! He can still do this!"

Toshiro collapsed to all fours.

"This-this wasn't supposed to happen. This was just about getting my powers back."

"Why do you despair of that goal?"

Toshiro looked at the dragon, his eyes full of fright.

"You are not yet a hollow, and the collapse of this world has freed the power that became dormant when Byakuya Kuchiki defeated you."

"Freed it?"

"Yes. Do you see these ice shards that fill the air?"

"Yes."

"Inside one of them is your power. All you must do is find it."

Toshiro looked around. There were thousands, maybe millions of the ice shards all around.

"How?" he asked, panicking.

The dragon turned away.

"Perhaps you are too young to wield the power of a Shinigami after all."

Toshiro slapped his own cheek, trying to force himself to remain calm.

'It's got to be something simple, something as easy as finding a red spirit thread among white ones.'

His eyes widened.

'Wait. Could it really be that easy? The red threads are supposed to symbolize Shinigami powers.'

He closed his eyes in concentration, and around him white threads shot out of each ice shard.

Toshiro looked around frantically. 'There's so many! I may still never find it!'

He leapt through the threads, desperately looking for a hint of red. The ground was beginning to pull itself apart.

"There!"

Toshiro saw it. The red thread, no more than five meters away. He leapt again, grabbing it and pulling on it.

The ice shard the red thread was connected to burst, revealing the hilt of a sword, a hilt with a four pointed guard.

'That's it!'

Toshiro turned to the dragon.

"What is wrong? You have found me. Grasp the handle."

"I know."

"Then hurry! There is not much time left before this world is destroyed completely!"

"I can hear you much more clearly this time." Toshiro said. "Is it because I chose to come?"

"Perhaps, but what does that-"

"Before I go, tell me your name."

The mask was almost complete on Toshiro's face.

"I cannot wait any longer, manager!" Tessai yelled. "It must be now!"

He cast another bakudo spell, this one creating a large stone weight above the hole.

"Hey!" Jinta yelled. "That'll kill him!"

"I have no choice!"

The weight dropped directly onto Toshiro, and a bright light erupted from the whole. Urahara grabbed Jinta and Ururu and pushed them back to shield them. The light hit the ground fifteen meters away, creating a cloud of smoke.

The first thing the employees of the Urahara Shop noticed in the smoke was the black outfit. The second thing they noticed as the smoke began to clear was the white mask with the demonic markings.

"What happened?" Jinta asked. "Is he a Shinigami, or a hollow?"

Toshiro raised a hand and pulled the mask off of his face. He threw it to the ground contemptuously and glared at Urahara, who smiled.

"Good! You've got your powers back just in time!"

"Um, Mr. Urahara?" Ururu said. "He looks scarier than before."

"Oh, that's just because he's mad at me again. Though I don't think he'll stay that way. You can't argue with results!"

Toshiro said nothing, raising his hand to the blade sheathed across his back.

"Hyorinmaru."