Chapter Twenty-three: Ascension

Ichido and Ulquiorra stood on top of a building, looking down at the Kurosaki residence. A cold wind blew through their hair, sending it flowing around them. After a moment Ichido looked to Ulquiorra. 'So what's the plan now? Ichigo doesn't have his powers, and now neither does Kuchiki.'

'Events are already in motion.' said Ulquiorra.

'Yeah, you know when you get all vague it only makes the suspense worse.' said Ichido.

'I am not here to satisfy your curiosity, Ichido.' said Ulquiorra. 'Merely to fulfill my orders.'

'Whatever.' said Ichido.

Rukia and Ichigo were walking to school the next morning, much to Rukia's displeasure. This was the third day in a row. She carried her bag with irritation radiating from her. 'I can't believe I have to do this.' she muttered.

'Hmm?' said Ichigo.

'Go to school! Again!' said Rukia. 'This is demeaning!'

'What do you want from me?' asked Ichigo. You're the one who decided to make your secret identity a schoolgirl. Now that you don't have your Soul Reaper powers you have to go to school.' He paused thoughtfully. 'He,y Rukia?'

'Yes?' asked Rukia.

'When do you think the Soul Society is going to send someone to check up on you?' asked Ichigo.

'I don't know.' admitted Rukia. 'Soul Reapers sometimes get lost for a few months now and then so it could be awhile.'

'You're kidding me.' said Ichigo.

'I'm not.' said Rukia. 'See the area between the Soul Society and the World of the Living doesn't exist on the same time scale. When you are passing between it, it isn't unheard of for you to get lost for a bit. Time shifts around a bit while you are in there.'

'So could you use it to travel through time or something?' said Ichigo.

'Not exactly.' said Rukia. 'See traveling through the dangai puts a lot of strain on the person doing it. We also have special defenses meant to prevent someone from doing just that. Our job is to maintain the balance of the worlds, after all.'

'Right.' said Ichigo. 'Do you hear that?'

'Yeah.' said Rukia. Then she looked up, as though sensing. 'A hollow. Come on!' She grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

The creature swooped out of the sky. It had a mask like a vulture and surged toward them. They threw themselves to the ground just in time, and it shot over them. Looking up, Ichigo saw it turning around for another pass.

'Here it comes.' he said.

They stood and kept running. Several times they had to duck and weave to evade it. Then it stopped coming after them, and Ichigo looked back.

'Help me!' cried a little girl's spirit. 'Someone help me!'

The creature was swooping down toward her. Ichigo knew he should run while it was distracted. It was the only smart thing to do. So why was he picking up a rock and hurling it at the creature?

The rock hit, and it stopped in mid-air to look at him.

'Hey ugly!' he called. 'Catch me if you can!'

Then he grabbed Rukia, and they ran. 'Well, you got its attention! Now what?' asked Rukia.

'I don't know!' said Ichigo. 'Maybe we can find Chad!' Suddenly Rukia tripped and hit the ground. 'Rukia!'

And then a serious contender for worst dressed man of the year award was there. He swung his cane, and the hollow screeched before fading into nothingness. The shopkeeper adjusted his had and turned to them. 'Well, well, Rukia looks like you and your friend needed some help.' He had long blonde hair and wore a striped green and white hat.

'Who the hell are you, Hat and Clogs?' asked Ichigo.

'The names Kisuke Urahara.' said the man 'I'm a humble shopkeeper who makes his business supplying soul reapers.'

'He's telling the truth, Ichigo.' said Rukia 'He sold me my gigai.'

'Right, well, thanks for the assist.' said Ichigo, helping up Rukia.

'No problem.' said Hat and Clogs 'Of course I'm only treating the symptom.'

'What do you mean?' asked Ichigo.

'Haven't you noticed that the number of hollow appearances jumped up a lot since you met Rukia?' asked Hat and Clogs 'They've been attracted to your spiritual pressure like moths to a flame.'

'Shit.' said Ichigo 'I forgot about that.'

'Yeah, and with Ms. Kuchiki out of commission it looks like there isn't going to be anyone to protect Karakura Town.' said Hat and Clogs.

'You're trying to manipulate me, aren't you?' asked Ichigo.

'You catch on quick.' said Hat and Clogs with a smile. 'See, I'm a businessman, and I've got to keep my hours. That means I'm not really in a position to do much about these hollows.'

'And?' asked Ichigo.

'Well you seem to be pretty concerned about what happens here.' said Hat and Clogs 'Why else would you run after Rukia when you were supposed to be carrying her body.'

'Don't listen to him, Ichigo!' said Rukia. 'There are rules about this kind of thing! The Soul Society doesn't like ordinary humans getting powers!'

'Relax, plenty of people slip under the radar.' said Hat and Clogs. 'As long as you don't do anything stupid, there is no reason you couldn't live to a ripe old age. And in the meantime, you can save people. Or do you think the hollows will stop just because you put your head in the sand?'

'…I need to go to school.' said Ichigo. 'Can I get back to you?'

What the man said was true. But Ichigo was getting a bad vibe from him. He obviously had some other agenda, and Rukia clearly didn't trust him.

Hat and Clogs smiled and drew out a card. 'Sure. Here's my card, it's got my address at it. Don't take too long, though.'

And he walked off, spinning his cane cheerfully.

'Could he be any more obviously sinister?' asked Ichigo.

'Ichigo, I don't think you should do this.' said Rukia.

'You said that before.' said Ichigo. 'Do people often slip under the radar?'

'Well, yes.' admitted Rukia. 'You see the Soul Society has become overtaxed. It is policy to let spiritual powers remain alive, so they can reduce the population of hollows. But it is technically illegal.'

'Hmm, good thing I don't acknowledge the Soul Society's authority.' said Ichigo. "Japan is a sovereign nation."

'Ichigo!' said Rukia in a scandalized tone.

'I'm just going to see what he's offering after school, okay.' said Ichigo. 'I haven't made a decision yet.'

Afterschool came much sooner than Ichigo had expected. Time seemed to fly by. Soon he was approaching a run down candy store with two children. One was a red-haired boy, the other a black haired girl with pigtails, sweeping the outside.

'Excuse me, is this Urahara Shop?' asked Ichigo.

'Yeah it is.' said the red-haired boy 'I'm guessing you're Ichigo Kurosaki.'

'You guess correctly.' said Ichigo.

'Ururu you get Urahara.' said the red-haired boy.

'But you were supposed to be on the watch for him, Jinta.' said Ururu.

Jinta whacked her on the head with the broom. 'I'm giving the orders here. Now-'

Ichigo whacked the kid over the head with his fist.

'Hey, what the hell!' said Jinta.

'You don't hit girls.' said Ichigo 'And I'll go meet Urahara myself.'

He walked on by, entered, and rang the bell. Hat and Clogs arrived shortly, hat in hand. He had bags under his eyes and looked like he had been sleeping. 'Oh, so you're here. I'm glad you accepted my invitation.'

'I haven't accepted anything yet.' said Ichigo 'I want details.'

'Fair enough, but first let's move this somewhere where we can move around a bit more.' said Hat and Clogs.

He led Ichigo into a back room and then down a ladder. Quite abruptly, Ichigo found himself in a huge underground wasteland. Complete with fake trees and giant cliffs. 'What the hell! How did you build all this?!' said Ichigo.

'Digging, obviously.' said Urahara.

'Do you actually have a permit for this?' asked Ichigo.

'Of course not.' said Urahara 'Now if you'll just walk right this way we can begin.' He made his way a little way in and offered Ichigo a pair of gloves and a headband. 'Put these on.'

'What for?' asked Ichigo suspiciously.

'They're for your protection.' said Urahara 'You are going to fight Ururu.'

Ichigo looked to the demure little girl from before and wondered if he was joking. 'You expect me to hit a little girl?'

'Don't say I didn't warn you.' mused Urahara.

'Please put them on, Ichigo.' said Ururu. 'I don't want to kill you.'

Ichigo obeyed reluctantly. 'Fine. Now what?'

'Now say: Amazing power of Justice protect me!' said Hat and Clogs.

'No.' said Ichigo.

And then he barely ducked in time to avoid a lightning fast strike by Ururu. Her fist sailed over him and smashed a hole in the ground, creating a huge crater.

'What the hell!' said Ichigo.

'Say it quickly!' said Urahara.

'Ichigo!' cried Rukia, who had just climbed down the ladder. But before she could reach him, she was stopped by Urahara. 'Stay where you are! There is a method to my madness. Say the words.'

'Amazing power of justice protect me!' said Ichigo as he ran.

'Well what do you know, he actually said it.' said Urahara.

Ichigo ducked under a punch from Ururu and responded with one of his own. It grazed the girl before he was promptly sent flying by a punch to the gut.

'Okay, you pass.' said Urahara as he gasped for air.

'But I just lost.' said Ichigo.

'She may look like a little girl, but Ururu is at the level of most lieutenants.' said Urahara. 'The purpose of the fight was to test to see if you could react.'

'And if I wasn't able to?' said Ichigo.

'Then you would have died.' said Urahara. 'Now-'

'Fuck you, I'm leaving.' said Ichigo, standing up.

'What?' said Urahara. 'You can't just leave-'

'You put me into a life or death situation with no prior warning. You humiliated me with this stupid headband chant, and now you expect me to keep working with you?' asked Ichigo. 'I'm doing you a favor by volunteering here, and you treat me like this?! Fuck you hat and clogs; I'm out!' And he walked over to Rukia.

'So do you just duck and run from all your problems?' asked Rukia.

'Pretty much. It's worked out so far.' said Ichigo/ 'You were right Rukia, this was a really stupid idea.'

'Well if you'd just listened to me in the first place it wouldn't have happened-'

Urahara was suddenly in front of them. 'Yeah, no.'

'…Just for the record, everyone knows where I am.' said Ichigo 'You disappear me and people will know where to start looking. And Rukia's brother is pretty damn important. Are you sure you want to do this?'

'I'm sorry Kurosaki,' said Urahara 'but I don't have the luxury of asking.'

He made a movement with his cane and knocked Ichigo on the head with the tip. Then Ichigo was standing outside his body again, connected only by a long chain. 'What the hell!' he said 'What are you-'

'Do it.' said Urahara.

At that moment, Ururu brought down an axe that cut the chain.

'Ichigo!' screamed Rukia.

'Congratulations Ichigo Kurosaki. You have made the first step to becoming a Soul Reaper with the severing of your chain of fate.' said Urahara, covering his face with a fan. 'You are now officially, 100% dead. Now-'

'We get it!' snarled Ichigo. 'You're a deranged sociopath! Now shut up and get on with it!'

Urahara sighed. '…Fine.'

Ururu was suddenly on him again, locking his hands behind his back. Then Urahara tapped the ground with his staff, and then Ichigo was falling into a giant pit. He landed with a crash. 'You have twenty-four hours to become a Soul Reaper. If you don't, you will become a hollow, and we'll have to destroy you.'

'Yeah, that is not helpful.' said Ichigo. This was bad. Very bad, in fact. He was dead, and he had only Kisuke's word that there was a way out. 'Okay, okay, so Kisuke is a complete sociopath. Rukia! How did you get your powers?!'

Rukia ran to the edge. 'It's all about learning to manifest your zanpakto spirit.'

'As in like, inner power?' said Ichigo.

'Yeah.' said Rukia.

'Okay, I'll try meditating.' he paused, closing his eyes. 'Okay, reach deep within yourself. How did Tatsuki do this whole meditation thing again?'

He reached deep within himself and was suddenly standing on top of a glass skylight. In front of him was a dark cloaked man in sunglasses standing at the tip of an upside down flag pole.

'Why are you standing upside down?' asked Ichigo.

'What are you talking about?' asked the man. 'You're the one whose falling.'

It was then that Ichigo realized he wasn't standing on a skylight, but the side of a skyscraper. And then, like in a looney tunes cartoon, he found himself falling down towards a sea of water far below.

'What the hell?! What is going on?' said Ichigo.

He landed in the water, and the man appeared above him. 'You seek my power, do you not?'

'Um, are you like a spirit animal or something?' asked Ichigo.

'I am your inner self.' said the man. 'If you seek my power, then you must find it. In these.' And a whole bunch of white boxes appeared around him. There were hundreds of them.

Ichigo looked around. 'Boxes. Is there some kind of point to this?'

'In one of these lies my true power.' said the man' You must seek it. If you cannot do so before the water fills this world, then you will die.'

'Nice, nice.' said Ichigo 'I don't suppose I could just give up and go home?'

'No.' said the man.

'Darn.' said Ichigo 'So how long have I got?'

'Several days.' said Zangetsu.

'Well,' said Ichigo 'I guess I'll start.'

He opened a box. 'Is this it?'

'No.'

He opened another box. 'Is this it?'

'No.'

This was a really stupid spiritual test.

Ururu approached Hat and Clogs, feeling awkward. 'Mr. Hat and Clogs do you think Ichigo will be okay?'

'Hard to say.' said Hat and Clogs 'Right now he is in the midsts of a struggle with his very spirit. I can only imagine what kind of incredible tests of character he is going through.'

Ichigo opened a box.

'Is it this one?'

'No.' said the man.

He opened another box. 'What about this one?'

'No.' said the man.

'How about this one?' asked Ichigo.

'No.' said the man.

Ichigo sighed, 'Is there some way to fast track this process?'

'Well, you could rely on instinct to find my power. But that comes in response to a need, rather than a desire.' said the man. 'Since you are not in any present danger, the answer is no.'

Ichigo opened another box. 'How about this one?'

'No.'

'What gripping insight into my mind this is.' said Ichigo. 'What about this one?'

Hat and Clogs turned away from the pit. 'At any rate, it should be a couple of days before he-

There was an explosion of reitsu, and Ichigo Kurosaki surge out of the hole to land before them. Urahara blinked in surprise. His garb was that of a soul reaper, and he carried a huge zanpakto over one shoulder.

'Hi.' said Ichigo.

'Ichigo,' said Rukia, 'you became a Soul Reaper?'

'Yeah, I figured that sitting around trying to scramble up to the top of a pit wouldn't help.' said Ichigo. 'So instead, I meditated and tried to get in touch with my spirit animal. Then I ran into this guy with sunglasses, and he asked me to open boxes until I found his power.

'So I opened boxes until I found it.'

'That is… somewhat anticlimactic.' mused Urahara 'These things usually take-' Ichigo punched him in the face. 'Ow. I suppose I deserved that.'

'Yeah,' said Ichigo, 'you did.' And he walked on past toward his body.

'Hey, where do you think you're going?' asked Urahara.

'Home, where else?' asked Ichigo.

'Don't you want to accept further training?' asked Urahara. 'Learn to master your powers?'

'Go die in a fire.' said Ichigo. 'Let's go Rukia.'

Urahara sighed. He'd had to be a bit more aggressive than he had planned. 'I suppose I could let him hunt hollows on his own for a bit. Experience is a great teacher. It's not like there is a rush.'

The two figures watched from above as Ichigo and Rukia made their way out of the shop. They didn't look any different on the surface. But Ichido could sense the change in Ichigo's spiritual pressure. It had finally worked.

'Well it finally happened.' said Ichido. 'What now?'

'Now begins the rush.' said Ulquiorra.

Authors Note:

Okay so this chapter took forever and a day to come out. I apologize for that I severely lacked motivation. I do mean to finish this fic at some point. Hopefully, I'll be able to update faster in the future.