Hello again! It's been a while, no I haven't disappeared and no this story isn't abandoned. At the end of this chapter in the authors note I will tell you why there was such a long wait for this chapter as well as some other information, so if you guys want to hear that then make sure to check out the authors note at the end of it. But, for now, enjoy chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Highschool DXD, nor any of their respective characters.

Guardian of the Dead

- Chapter 5 -

~ ORC Club Room, Kuoh Academy

Each of the members of the Occult Research Club, who also made up the current pieces of Rias' peerage were sat quietly, their eyes briefly scanning the hunched form of their King as she let out another long sigh. Just a couple days prior she was called in for an emergency meeting with her brother, one of the four current Devil Kings of Hell, and that alone was cause for concern considering the whole deal with Riser and her arranged marriage they had just finished dealing with.

Upon returning the next day she had visible stress lines around her eyes and it looked like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night. This was how she stayed for the past couple of days, just sitting at her desk lost in thought, unaware of the worried gazes that lingered on her. Akeno, her queen, had attempted to talk to her but was quickly turned away saying the time wasn't right yet, and thus the tense atmosphere continued. Not even Issei, who's perversion was rivalled by none dared to make unnecessary trouble right now.

Finally, after much waiting Rias shifted in her seat, back straightening again before briefly locking gazes with each of those present, her eyes not doing anything to hide the seriousness of the situation. Sucking in a deep breath and taking a brief second to collect her thoughts she started. "Everyone, as you know the fallen angels have been moving about in secret for the past few weeks stirring up trouble and causing concern to rise within the higher-ups of the three factions," she started, earning small nods from everyone and a troubled look from Akeno.

"Thankfully, they don't believe that any of this is Azazel's doing, most likely it's just one of his subordinates who is leading a small group of rebel Fallen Angels against his will for purposes still unknown, but, for quite some time now he has been very elusive and hard to contact, and while this kind of behaviour isn't exactly abnormal for him, the timing of it all is what the higher ups are worried about," she paused momentarily, letting that information sink in, this was a fairly serious matter, however, nothing compared to what she had to say next. It seemed that Kiba caught on as well.

"President, while I agree that is a serious matter, to me it doesn't warrant the vast amount of stress you have been displaying recently," the blond-haired knight stated, concern clear in his voice.

Rias gave a sort of crooked smile at his comment, she was proud of his intelligence, however, she couldn't find it in herself to truly be happy right now, "You're right, the topic I discussed with my brother recently was of a completely different matter. The Shinto Faction, lead by the Shinto Trinity, the Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu, the God of the Moon, Tsukuyomi, and the God of the Sea and Storms, Susanoo, have long since kept to themselves, not actively partaking in the happenings of the world. However, roughly a couple years ago they emerged from seclusion and started slowly remaking connections with the various factions of this world."

"Um, President?" Issei spoke up signalling that he had a question, upon seeing her nod at him he continued, "Why do the Shinto keep to themselves? Being led by three God's means they probably pretty strong right? Wouldn't it be better if they played a big part in the supernatural?"

Rias gave a soft chuckle at that, Issei always had such a broad and optimistic view about everything, it was honestly kind of refreshing, "Very strong is an understatement, Issei. Tsukuyomi and Susanoo aren't called God's just for the heck of it, their power is incredible, and Amaterasu is said to be someone who trumps even both of them. As for why they keep to themselves I cannot say. It's rumoured that only a handful of people know the true reason why they do so."

"You said they only started to reemerge a couple years ago, why did they do so? Something major must have happened to make them, right?" Kiba asked, causing each of his fellow peerage members too perked up, they too were curious about this.

"Unfortunately, no one knows the answer to that either, the Trinity is very reclusive," she replied with a sort of apologetic look although it quickly changed back to one of seriousness. "The current problem, however, strives from the Shinto Faction, the Shinto and Devils have never had a close relationship, more of a neutral one only for the sake of maintaining peace. Regrettably, ever since their re-emergence the relationship between them and us has been on a small but steady decline," she paused after that, almost not wanting to continue, the members of her peerage weren't stupid they could already tell where Rias was going with this.

"To make matters worse a few months ago things took a sharp turn downwards and until two weeks ago they had been deteriorating rapidly. I say until two weeks ago because about that time they abruptly cut off all contact with us again, and the other factions aren't saying anything definitive either."

"Because we are devils..?" the white-haired nekomata asked this time.

Rias couldn't really deny her statement, it wasn't a secret that the Devils weren't a favourite faction among the rest of the world, even still no one would start any trouble with them because of the power they once held. They, much like everyone else suffered mass casualties due to the Great War happening, because of that they only possessed a fraction of their once great power, there were only two super devils left and a small amount of high tier ultimate class devils. Sure the former Dragon King Tannin was on their side but really that wasn't enough to make them untouchable again.

"Well that's partly it, however from what our intelligence group has gathered it seems as if the Shinto have cut off everyone and not just us, so I suppose that's something to be hopeful about," she finally answered.

"But the negatives still outweigh the positives, right?" Akeno spoke this time, voice sullen, a tone which Rias' matched.

"Yes, it's unfortunate but my brother and the rest of the three Satan's believe that very soon a war will break out between the Devils and the Shinto Faction, if this does happen it is likely that the Devils will be completely wiped out," this statement was followed by many sharp intakes of breath, her peerage could tell that the situation was bad, but this?

"W-wiped out?!" the current Red Dragon Emperor squeaked out, a look of fear and panic evident on his face.

"That's what my brother told me, yes," in truth Rias herself was quite stricken by fear however she couldn't show it, not to her peerage members at the least because in most cases she was the one who saved them and thus they looked to her for strength, if she gave into the fear then they would have no hope to hold onto.

"It's not that I distrust his judgment, but surely the Shinto Trinity alone cannot overpower all of the Devil Faction, right?" Kiba spoke up, a contemplative look on his face, something wasn't adding up. He knew that the Devil's were a lot weaker then their former state however Super Devils could be considered power wise in the top fifteen, maybe even top ten of the supernatural, and with two of them in the Devil Faction surely they couldn't be overpowered so easily.

"I don't really know, my brother was being very elusive on the subject. It seemed like he was hiding something, but I can't just force him to talk," before she could say anymore a small flash of Red took over the area in which they were all seated, drawing all attention towards Issei's left arm, where the boosted gear now sat.

[It goes without saying that the Trinity alone couldn't single handily defeat the Devils. Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub while in their true forms can both be considered as part of the top ten strongest in this world and as powerful as Tsukuyomi and Susanoo are, they cannot defeat a Super Devil.

Amaterasu, however, is a truly frightening woman, she is the only one who could defeat a Super Devil though it is unlikely that she could defeat the both of them, and even if she somehow managed too she would lose her life in the process, something that in the long run wouldn't be worth it.]

"..then why are they so adamant that we would lose?" Koneko asked.

[Hmm, well the diplomatic answer would be that most of the factions in this world would side with the Shinto over the Devils if both were to go to war, and while that is true to an extent, it isn't the real reason the four Satan's fear extinction.]

Rias stiffened at that, understanding the meaning behind the Red Dragon's words, "So what's the undiplomatic reason?"

There was a small moment where Ddraig did not speak, only a small hum could be heard coming from the gauntlet, it was obvious to the young devils that this wasn't something they were really allowed to hear and Ddraig was most likely weighing the positives and negatives of telling them.

A deep grumble could be heard from the gauntlet as the Dragon of Domination finally made its choice and prepared to speak again. [Normally I wouldn't disclose such things as it's not my place to do so, but since my current partner is a Devil I believe that it cannot be helped,] Ddraig started, now knowing he had the utmost attention from those present, he wouldn't be able to say everything, but he would give enough to hopefully help their chances of survival in the coming months.

[This is a story from about three millennia ago before I had been slain and sealed and was still dominating the skies as a true Heavenly Dragon. It is common knowledge that Dragon's are prideful and arrogant creatures, and as a Heavenly Dragon, knowing that my power was surpassed only by the Divine Pair.. well quite simply it made me a lot worse than a regular Dragon, my arrogance knew no bounds.]

[I had been flying around what is now known to be modern-day Japan terrorizing the lands and the animals which inhabited them, all for the sole purpose of goading the Shinto Trinity into battling me.] There was a small lull in the story at that point, Ddraig could sense the incredulous looks that were being shot his way and in truth it was making him feel slightly bashful. He would never have done so in his younger days but now he would admit he had been rather foolish back then.

[Ahem.. anyways, it didn't work exactly as I had hoped it would, but in the end, I cannot say I was disappointed with the outcome. I was met with an unknown man who wore a black Kimono and a white Haori, and at his waist was a simple, purple-hilted Katana. Of course, upon his arrival I immediately disregarded him believing him unworthy of my attention, however, what happened after that I will forever remember.]

".. what happened?" Issei asked, completely entranced by Ddraig's tale.

The Red Dragon Emperor let out a small chuckle before responding, [What happened? We fought. We fought recklessly, without care for our surroundings or ourselves, we fought with every ounce of power we had. I couldn't believe it, myself a Heavenly Dragon, and this unknown human who wielder fire hotter then any I had ever felt before were fighting as equals.]

Ddraig paused after that, letting everything sink in, he could feel the looks of absolute shock and astonishment on each of their faces. A Heavenly Dragons power was something that only the crazy would wish to fight. And, to now hear of this mysterious man who fought toe to toe with Ddraig and even made him feel fear caused a haunting chill to run up the spines of everyone in the room. It was but a reminder how insignificant they truly were in this world.

"So what happened after that?!" Kiba asked, his tone did nothing to hide his amazement.

[Well, fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it we were unable to finish. Amaterasu herself interrupted the fight calling the man back, I demanded to know who he was and how he was affiliated with the Shinto, my pride as a Dragon would never allow such a worthy warrior to remain nameless. She told me, and it was at that moment that I learned of the existence of the Shinto's recently formed 'Royal Guard' of which that man was a part of.]

[It is the mystery behind this so-called Royal Guard that brings fear not only to the Devils but every other faction who knows of its existence. To have that one man alone who can fight on par with a Heavenly Dragon is enough to cause worry, however, it is the fact that there could very well be more people just as strong or stronger than him that the factions cannot take a risk on. Imagine if they had even twenty soldiers at that level of strength? The Devil race as a whole would be gone and erased from existence in no more than a day.]

Silence enveloped the room, Rias and the members of her peerage were trying to wrap there heads around the story they had just been told and the implications of it. They could only nod dumbly when Ddraig spoke up once more, telling them of the importance of keeping what they had just heard a secret.

~ Soul Society: One month after Ichigo's disappearance

Yamamoto couldn't help but let out a long sigh, one that went unnoticed by the various Captain's and Lieutenants filling out the meeting hall. For the past twenty minutes or so they had been bickering amongst themselves about the unknown whereabouts of Ichigo Kurosaki and what immediate measures should be taken to find him. It had already been a month since the boy vanished from the human world, well vanished to those who didn't know where to look.

Yamamoto himself was one of the few who knew the truth of this world and thus had always known where the boy was. However, it was because of his knowledge and connection to the higher planes that he found out about the boy's unfortunate death at the hands of his very own Zanpakuto a short while ago. Unfortunately, due to the need of secrecy, he was unable to tell anyone else what had actually happened which lead to the currently heated discussion from his most talented officers of how to find the currently deceased young man.

Gazing onto the faces of all those present he could see fire and passion burning deep within their souls, even the Captain's and Lieutenants who had yet to really talk with Ichigo Kurosaki and get to know him were demanding that search teams be sent throughout all the three worlds. It was incredible to Yamamoto the amount of loyalty that young man had inspired in all those he met. Even the formerly two coldest members of the Soul Society, Byakuya Kuchiki and SoiFon were actively participating in this conversation and had been since the announcement of his disappearance.

It brought a pang of sadness to his heart knowing the unfortunate truth of the situation, no matter how hard they looked they would never find him again. Nonetheless, until the news was broken through Kisuke Urahara, Yamamoto would have to play the part of a concerned Commander who wished to find Ichigo Kurosaki as well.

Thus, deciding that the discussion had become a little too heated he hefted his cane up and tapped it lightly on the ground immediately bringing silence to the room and drawing all attention to him. "I agree that finding Ichigo Kurosaki is our top priority, however, right now our options are limited. Kurotsuchi-taichou has been closely monitoring the three worlds and has yet to pick up anything out of the ordinary. I believe our first course of action should be making contact with Kisuke Urahara. He has feigned ignorance so far but I believe he may know something." Multiple nods of agreement quickly met that statement, it would be far more unbelievable to everyone if Urahara didn't actually have something to do with this whole situation.

"Do I have any volunteers to head to the world of the living and meet with him?" and just as expected, there were quite a few hands that went up in the air. Yamamoto had to choose carefully in case the truth were to come out during this meeting, it would have to be someone who could keep a level head even if told the unfortunate news about the young man. For that reason alone SoiFon was already out, Yamamoto could see the sadistic glee in her eyes, and she would probably beat on Urahara even if the boy was alive.

'Kuchiki-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou would be good for this reason, they have experience in the world of the living as well. Then again, Shunsui had actually grown very close to Ichigo Kurosaki during the months he was a Shinigami, perhaps it would be alright to send him instead. This could also be somewhat of a tricky situation, having someone like Shunsui there could be beneficial in more ways than one,' he thought to himself, quickly pondering the many scenarios that could play out, normally a Captain of Shunsui's level wouldn't be sent to the human world unless it was to fight, but this case was unique. Nodding to himself he tapped his cane once more on the floor, ready to give his orders.

"These are my orders as Captain Commander of the Gotei 13. Upon dismissal of this meeting, Kyoraku-taichou is to make preparations for departure into the human world as soon as possible, upon arrival you are to make contact with Kisuke Urahara and try to ascertain the location of Ichigo Kurosaki, and using your own judgment you are to determine if he is telling the truth or not. After completing this task you will return to the Soul Society where another meeting will be held to discuss your findings."

It was disappointing for some of the Captains and Lieutenants to hear they wouldn't be allowed to go, mostly for those who were closest to Ichigo, and it was a little surprising that Kyoraku was picked if they were being honest, but their Captain Commander was no fool and always had a reason for doing the things that he did, so everyone would go along with it easily enough.

Tapping the floor once more he dismissed the meeting, allowing everyone to leave and return to their divisions except for Kyoraku who he asked to stay behind for a moment.

The easygoing Captain of the eighth division looked curiously at his teacher. Shunsui found it odd that he was being sent on this mission, normally someone of his level wouldn't be selected for missions in the human world unless it was for a fight against an opponent no ordinary Captain could match., the battle for the fake Karakura Town quickly entered his mind at the thought. "What's going on, Yama-jii?"

"Shunsui, I have no the time to discuss it deeply right now, however, I will be having a discussion with both you and Jushiro at a later time, for now, please just do as I'm about to ask without question," Yamamoto stated, drawing an even more suspicious look from Kyoraku, but, he could see that his student had quickly accepted the situation, and after seeing a nod he continued.

"I believe that I already know what has happened to Ichigo Kurosaki, and it is not a good fate. While my theory may be true it still needs to be confirmed and thus you are the one I have chosen for this task. When you meet with Kisuke Urahara do not ask too many questions, just ascertain the fate of Ichigo Kurosaki and return. Upon returning come straight to my office, do not stop for anyone and do not tell anyone of what you have learned before speaking to me, is that clear?"

Now Shunsui really knew something was up, but he trusted Yama-jii and thus would do as instructed, with a small nod to his teacher he turned and headed right for the Senkaimon. He had no need to detour at his division, asides from a lack of power Nanao was already Captain material, she could effortlessly keep everything functioning without instruction from him.

~ Human World, Inoue's Home

Today was the day that the Karakura group would be heading back to the Urahara shop, it had been a month since Ichigo disappeared and two weeks since they had been given some information on the subject. It's no secret that they would've liked more, but, they could also understand that some things cannot be said to just anyone and in terms of the supernatural pecking order, they were pretty far down on the list.

The group today only consisted of Inoue, Tatsuki, Chad, and Ishida. Chizuru, Keigo, and Mizuiro who went with them to the Urahara Shop the first time decided that it wasn't really someplace meant for humans like them, thus they would let the supernatural members of their circle of friends do their thing, and when they found out information about Ichigo they would share it with everyone else. Tatsuki was the one exception to this, while she too held fear for that shopkeeper and would be damned if she let herself get on his bad side she refused to be left behind again.

She understood that she was just a normal human, and her Karate skills alone wouldn't have helped anyone in the battles the Karakura team fought, so she was no longer angry that she was kept out of the loop for so long, but now that she could play a more active part, she wouldn't be left behind.

She had already been considering asking that shopkeeper if there was anything she could do to get stronger, even if it was only to protect Karakura town from basic hollows she would be happy, she just wanted to do something. Moreover, she had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that Ichigo wouldn't be coming back. Obviously, she didn't suspect that he would die, it was more along the lines of him becoming a permanent member of the Soul Society where he could play a more active part in improving the world.

She knew Ichigo very well, and she could tell right after he'd lost his powers that he wasn't happy, no matter how much he acted otherwise. After experiencing the world that he did, and having a taste of the immense power that he had, the power to protect, she knew he would never want to go back to being normal.

It was for this reason that she hoped Inoue would move on soon, they just weren't compatible. Inoue was bound by the laws of mortals and would die after living her human life, it may be a bit longer than normal due to her abilities but nonetheless, she will die eventually and there will be no guarantee she will keep her memories when she passes onto the Soul Society. On the other hand, Ichigo will get his powers back long before he dies a mortal death, and when he does, and furthermore becomes a Shinigami once again he will live for a very, very long time.

Tatsuki had been told a lot about the Soul Society, souls and just generally how it all worked, and if Ichigo was as ridiculously strong as Inoue, Chad and Ishida said he was then he would be alive for far longer than any of them. A relationship between one person who is bound by mortal laws and will live for maybe a hundred years at most, and an already dead person who will live for hundreds if not thousands of years would never work, and that was something that Inoue needed to realize already.

Tatsuki scoffed to herself, 'and wasn't that a shock to hear?' That damn Ichigo's already been dead for almost two years now, who would've guessed?' it wasn't too surprising that she freaked out when that bit of information was told to her. For him to give up his mortal life to save someone he had only known for a couple months was ludicrous to her, but after hearing the impact that Rukia had on his world she really could understand it.

Glancing up from her place on the couch she gained a look of pity upon spotting Chad and Inoue on the other side of the room chatting. Well Inoue was talking at a thousand miles per minute and judging by her wide and random arm gestures it was a pretty interesting story she was telling, and poor Chad looked like his brain would stop functioning at any moment. The gentle giant was desperately trying to keep up with the active imagination of Inoue.

Letting a small smirk find it's way onto her face she looked towards the other occupant of the room, Ishida, who seemed completely oblivious to what was going on right now, a look of serious contemplation on his face. Normally Tatsuki would pass it off, everyone knew that Ishida was a very serious person and often a stick in the mud, however, there was a sort of grim undertone in his eyes that made her want to ask what was up.

Leaning forwards slowly as not to draw Inoue or Chad's attention she spoke under her breath to him, "Oi, Ishida, whats wrong with you?"

His eyes briefly widened at the sound of her voice, he had been very deep in thought. He met her gaze briefly, trying to get a feel for her current mood, she liked to tease him a lot about how serious he was and thus he wished to make sure this wasn't another one of those times before acknowledging her. He noted happily that her gaze was completely serious for once. In truth there wasn't anything wrong so to speak, "I may just be over-thinking but I've had an ominous feeling poking at the back of my mind for quite some time, that's all."

Tatsuki merely nodded in acceptance, one thing she learned from Inoue's lessons was that people with above normal amounts of reiryoku had a sort of extra sense to detect when things aren't quite right in the supernatural world, she herself wasn't at that level so she had no way of knowing what Ishida was talking about, however, she knew that the Quincy wasn't one to mess around when it came to serious matters and thus would trust him when he said something was off.

Before she could respond Inoue spoke out to the room, it looked like her story was finished – much to the apparent happiness of Chad – and they would be heading out now towards that scary shopkeeper's place.

The walk wasn't too long, as the group of four closed in on the candy store it was easy to see signs of unease marring their faces. There was such an oppressive and depressing aura practically oozing from the Urahara Shop and it turned what was supposed to be a positive outing in which they would get an update on their friend into something much worse.

After opening the front doors to the shop and hearing the familiar chime of a bell which alerted the Urahara Shop employees that they had a customer they could here a small shuffling sound in the back and clumsy footsteps which got closer with each passing second. When the door leading to the front of the store opened revealing a tired and dishevelled looking Urahara, the four teens felt their hearts sink, something was wrong.

~ Soul Society

Shunsui Kyoraku was one of the friendliest and most easygoing Captains in the Seireitei and was very easy to approach, it didn't matter if you were from his division or not, anyone was welcome to come up to him to ask a question or for his advice. However being arguably the second strongest Captain under the Captain Commander himself coupled with his older age and vast wisdom meant that he was often given tasks by the Captain Commander or Central 46 that no other Captains could handle except for him, and it was very easy to tell when he was on a special task, and the wide space that all the other Shinigami were keeping around him was proof of that.

Gone was his lazy and slouched form, now he was walking with purpose at his full height, his sakkat was tilted down covering his eyes, his mouth remained visible though if you caught a glimpse of it you would just see a thin line, and finally both of his sealed blades were sat on his left hip meaning that right now there was business to be done and Kyoraku would complete his task with the utmost seriousness.

'I believe that I already know what has happened to Ichigo Kurosaki, and it is not a good fate.' Kyoraku's mood darkened further as that same line continually ran in his head. Just what the hell was going on that Yama-jii knew and no one else did? Had Ichigo been taken by a supernatural force that he was unaware of? If yes, then why? It was more than possible that Ichigo had made his own fair share of enemies during his short time as a Shinigami, however, there should be no hollows capable of entering the human world without Soul Society knowing, and with the heavy surveillance they kept Ichigo under the thought of his getting abducted was just too unlikely.

Could it have been a Quincy? Kyoraku wanted to instantly deny the possibility but he was no fool, and he knew that there was always a possibility. The moment Yama-jii failed to kill Yhwach all those years ago opened up the possibility that he could return, of course, it was highly unlikely, but still, the possibility remained.

Even then, Kyoraku didn't think a Quincy had something to do with it, but if it wasn't hollow nor Quincy then what? Clearly, Yamamoto and Urahara had some idea, was there another race out there that only select few were allowed to know about? It would certainly make sense as the Captain Commander would be allowed to know things normal Shinigami wouldn't be, and clearly, Urahara much like Aizen had ways of finding out about things that they probably weren't supposed to, so he could understand that. Now that only rose the question of who or what it was that took Ichigo, and what had happened to him.

Honestly, Shunsui felt like he had become somewhat of an uncle to the brash teenager that stormed the supposedly impenetrable fortress of Seireitei with only a couple humans and a cat all those months ago. And, to think that the young man with so much heart could be dead, it brought a feeling up in Shunsui that he hadn't felt in a long time, and one he did not enjoy.

As he approached the Senkaimon he gave a brief nod to the two guards on each side, only stopping briefly for the gates to crack open wide enough for him to step through. Once he was inside the dangai he stepped up the pace, going fast enough to close the distance between the gate to the human world within seconds but not fast enough to actually use Shunpo as using reiatsu in the dangai was equivalent to a death sentence.

Upon breaking through to the other side he didn't even pause before flickering from existence, there was nothing for him to look at anyways. The air in the Soul Society was much cleaner, and while the large buildings in the human world were interesting Kyoraku found the scenery in the Soul Society to be much for favourable to him and as such had no need to gaze around. He had come out a fair distance from the Urahara Shop but with his Shunpo proficiency he could cover the distance in a couple of steps and did just that.

Touching down outside he could see four people there, three of them he knew quite well being Ichigo's friends, the fourth however he didn't know. While she had a little more then average reiatsu he didn't think she had powers of any type and was probably just friends with the group.

Ishida was the first of the four to notice him, evident by his turning around first, the surprise was clear on his face, "Kyoraku-san, what are you doing here?" he asked, Chad and Inoue quickly followed suit and greeted him, the fourth member of their group was looking at him curiously.

"Hello Ishida-kun, Sado-kun, Inoue-chan, and Ms.." he trailed off, glancing towards the unknown member of their group.

"Tatsuki Arisawa," she replied stiffly with a small bow, obviously a little intimidated by him.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Shunsui Kyoraku, the Captain of the Eighth Division." he finished with a small smile and a tip of his sakkat. "As for why I'm here, I suspect it's the same reason as you four are." he finished earning knowing looks from the four and simultaneously they each turned back towards the shop where Urahara stood still looking as tired and disconnected as before.

The shopkeeper said no worlds, just gave a small, lazy gesture of his hand for the group to follow and without checking to see if they complied headed back into the depths of his store.

~ Realm of Fire and Ash

In the world where most would be unable to set foot due to the immense heat, things had finally settled down once more. No longer did a crushing weight press down on everything, splitting the rocks and warping the lava which flowed infinitely. Fires once more howled and roared in the distance, this time, however, they weren't threatening to consume everything, now they were under the fine control of one of the occupants of this world, well almost.

Ryujin Jakka, who had been stood silently for many hours now just watching his newest wielder meditate twitched once, then again, and decided that this silence could no longer be held and thus spoke up, breaking the concentration of his counterpart, "I have been alive for thousands of years, Ichigo."

The acknowledged teen merely cracked open one of his eyes so he could glance up at his new Zanpakuto, curious as to where he was going with this random thought, "Yeah, so what's your point exactly?"

There was a small pause before an answer was given, "In those thousands of years, I have never met someone as poor at controlling there own reiatsu then you are." the Zanpakuto replied finally, its voice as neutral as ever, however the same could not be said for his partner who hadn't appreciated such words.

"Huh?! What the hell's that supposed to mean?! It's not my fault I have all this reiryoku, besides, I'm doing pretty well now, look at the fire in the distance, it stopped advancing completely!" Ichigo replied proudly, believing that it had actually been all of his doing.

The strongest fire type Zanpakuto merely sighed and shook its head lightly, "I thought you would have caught on already but it seems not. Ichigo, there is no such thing as having too much reiryoku to be controlled, just look at Shigekuni or Sosuke Aizen, their levels of reiryoku are currently still higher than yours yet they have masterful control over it." he then paused, letting that sink in before continuing. "Unfortunately, your old mentor Kisuke Urahara merely told you that you had too much reiryoku to get out of the tedious task of teaching you to control it."

Ichigo bristled at that, left eye twitching in frustration, "That bastard, I hope he likes fire because if not he'd better run when I see him again," he said while touching the hilt of his Zanpakuto, an evil grin set onto his face, however, there was no real malice in his voice.

Ryujin, who was now connected quite deeply to this wise but hot-headed and brash teen could feel a strong melancholy deep within him which had been present since their training began. After everything had settled down and Ichigo had time to sort through his thoughts, the reality of the situation sunk in. Currently, Amaterasu at the very least probably thought he was dead, and he knew that through Takama-ga-hara Kisuke would find out eventually thus leading to his friends and family finding out that he had indeed died. The biggest problem was that while they knew he had died, they didn't know that he had actually returned from the dead once more and was, in fact, doing quite well.

Upon realizing this he wished to return to the higher planes but Ryujin immediately turned it down. Although the hole in Ichigo's soul had been plugged so to speak his reiatsu was still too wild and violent to be safe around normal souls or even ones with small amounts of power.

The main problem Ichigo faced was the nature of his reiryoku. His had always been very dense and aggressive, further corrupted by the hollow within himself making it quite dangerous to weaker souls that were in his presence for more than a short period of time. If this hadn't been problematic enough, now his Zanpakuto was one which had complete authority over fire and changed his souls signature further, giving it the characteristics of said element which wanted to consume and destroy everything.

Unfortunately, because of this Ichigo's power that he got to protect those he cared about and so much more could very well do more damage to them than any other enemy he could face in the future. It was because of this that he needed to learn the basics of control at the very least before returning to the other worlds.

Ryujin had to admit he was impressed with Ichigo's determination, even though there were many outbursts of anger and frustration he never gave up, and in just a few hours had learned basic control over his own energy. It would still be quite a while before he could subconsciously suppress it completely himself, and even when he did next after that would be the much more difficult task of keeping it under control while in the heat of battle, something that would test both Ichigo's and Ryujin's patience greatly,

"Do not despair, you are close to being able to return so let us continue your training Ichigo," the Zanpakuto was pleased to see that same fire light back up in his wielders eyes again as he retook the meditative position. "Remember what I told you Ichigo, take calm breaths and relax your mind, then calm down the raging inferno in your soul, if you wish to control the power within you first you must calm it. An out of control power will never obey its master.

He was pleased when after no more then a few seconds the energy within his wielder started to slow and settle, he had gotten very good at quickly reining it in, however, subduing his energy in a calm environment like this and out in the real world were two very different things. Ichigo still wasn't ready for Ryujin's Shikai but that would come soon enough, and Bankai wasn't even up for discussion.

The old Zanpakuto couldn't help but shiver lightly at that thought, if Ichigo were to release Bankai right now he would instantly die and the resulting release of energy from within himself would be nothing less then catastrophic, so no, there would be no talks of Bankai for a while.

Some might think it is unsafe to deny Ichigo both Bankai and Shikai, but those would be the people who didn't know Ichigo's true strength. Currently, the power Ichigo wielded in his sealed state added with the Hollow and Quincy techniques he had learned from Zangetsu would be enough to push every Shinigami save for a handful into their Shikai state. And, as for the Lieutenants like Abarai who had recently earned their Bankai, well they'd better be willing to go all out from the start lest they want to lose their life.

His new wielders power and potential were frightening, but that was a good thing, because if Ichigo was anything less than a monster he wouldn't survive across the parallel.

~ Urahara Shop, Karakura Town

The normally active candy shop which carried a sense of happiness and excitement was now dark and closed up with no movement to be heard within. The atmosphere surrounding the store had become quite gloomy and had been that way for a few days. The usually eccentric shopkeeper was sat in his back room, lazily slumped against the wall in the dark, his hat set down over his eyes shielding them from the small light that crept through a crack in the window. This was how he had been since receiving word from Takama-ga-hara a few days ago.

Two weeks ago he noticed the odd clouds that quickly blanketed the sky, bringing with them the record-breaking amounts of rain that fell over Japan for over a week straight. Hell, every news station you could think of was still raving on about the unprecedented amounts of precipitation that fell in such a short period of time, there was still mass flooding in many places.

He could feel the anguish and despair that laced every drop of rain that hit the ground and he knew right away that something terrible had happened or was coming, from where he wasn't sure, but he knew he would soon find out. For the week or so that it rained he could feel his patience thinning, he had thought of every possible situation or scenario that could cause such feelings of unease in him and no matter how many times he ran over it they all led back to Ichigo.

Sure enough, about a week later the rain finally slowed to a slight drizzle and a couple days after that finally stopped, it was then that he was contacted. Immediately his fears were realized when it was not Lady Amaterasu that reached out to him, but the God of the Sea and Storms, Susanoo, who was on quite good terms with the pesky shopkeeper. As soon as the conversation ended he found himself hiding in the dark, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to think, the same few words just kept cutting at his heart further. 'Ichigo had failed Ryujin Jakka's test.'

Even for someone as old and experienced as Urahara was, even though he knew that no one was truly invincible, even he couldn't imagine the thought of Ichigo ever dying. Ever since he had met the boy- no, that man, he had been completely blown away over and over again by Ichigo's freakish levels of power and growth rate. Every time he lost he got back up stronger than before and kicked whatever enemies ass that needed kicking at the time. To think of Ichigo losing, and losing completely, it was just something that he had a hard time trying to fathom. Honestly, for the first few hours, he found himself in a state of denial, it was just ludicrous.

It was only when Yoruichi returned from her latest information gathering trip to the soul society and he told her of the new did it finally hit home. If the situation was different, it would have almost been amusing to see such a look of utter disbelief and bafflement on the woman's face though any thoughts of amusement were quickly shattered upon seeing the tears falling down her cheeks.

Though neither of them wished to be the ones to do so, they knew that had to tell Isshin as soon as possible, that was his son and he more then anyone deserved to know right away. He would need to hear the news and compose himself enough to tell Yuzu and Karin, and boy did that thought just hit Kisuke and Yoruichi right in the heart, it was no secret how much those two loved their older brother.

Kisuke could still remember it vividly, he had called Isshin, telling the man that he needed to head over as soon as possible. Isshin probably understood the seriousness of the situation by the tone of his longtime friend's voice and thus not even five minutes later the man was outside his shop in soul form, clearly having utilized Shunpo to get there as fast as possible.

Urahara was sat cross-legged on the wooden step right inside his shop and Isshin stood in the doorway, it was dark outside and thus the dim light inside cast a soft, ominous shadow on everything around them. They both stayed still for a moment, reading the other's emotions in their eyes.

Isshin had simply closed his eyes and exhaled softly, nodding his head a moment later giving Kisuke the go-ahead to tell him all that needed to be said. The hatted man's response was short and would have seemed vague to anyone not aware of the situation, however, Isshin understood. 'Takama-ga-hara contacted me.'

Isshin fell to his knees hunched over like a puppet who had just been cut loose from its strings, his body shaking lightly as small droplets of water fell from his shadowed face. Urahara still did not move from his spot, nor did he offer any words of comfort, there was nothing he could say. In not even a span of ten years, Isshin had lost his wife and only son.

The sound of a bell ringing brought him from his thoughts, that would be Ichigo's human friends now, here to hear the latest report about their friend, though it definitely wouldn't be the one they expected. Unfortunately, this time he would be delivering the news alone, Yoruichi had disappeared after they told Isshin and Tessai was currently out on a supply run for the shop.

Ever so slowly he got up, his body stiff from his lack of movement lately, and not even bothering to stretch out his muscles he trudged towards the front of his store, his steps lacking their usual gracefulness and precision.

He really wasn't in the mood for this but he knew it needed to be done, but it seemed it would only get worse. As the front door to his shop opened revealing the four teenagers he felt the familiar pulse of energy that accompanied a Senkaimon opening up, meaning that the Shinigami too decided this was a good day to come for a question and answer session with the scientist, 'oh joy..' he mused to himself.

He instantly recognized the reiatsu signature, and while he was curious as to why such a powerful Captain had come he wouldn't question it, there was no time to anyways, within seconds the man was in front of his shop exchanging greetings with the Karakura Team plus one.

When all attention turned back to him he just gave a lazy wave of his arm meaning to follow him and trudged back towards his meeting room. He fell back down onto his cushion ungracefully, Kyoraku taking the one opposite of him and the four teenagers splitting up, two on each side of the table, each gazing expectantly at him.

Without any of his normally jovial tone and way of speaking he got straight to the point, "You're all here for an update on Kurosaki-san, am I right?" the four teenagers instantly nodded, Kyoraku was the only one who verbally replied.

"Mm, well I'd say my reason for being here is more for confirmation," he answered cryptically, the teenagers didn't understand the meaning behind those words but Urahara did.

'I see. I suppose Yamamoto-soutaichou would know since it was his Zanpakuto that did the deed, he, however, cannot announce this and is most likely just sending someone for formalities.' the shopkeeper huffed quietly before speaking once more. "I see, well I'll be frank. I don't know too much about the situation and honestly I'm not permitted to say all that much either," as soon as he said that he could see understanding pass through Kyoraku's eyes, he was someone who would understand the laws of don't say things you shouldn't unless you want to pay the price. "Nonetheless, I will confirm this to the five of you right now. Ichigo Kurosaki has died."

There was a tense and sad silence, Ishida, Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki each had looks of disbelief. Inoue was the only one with tears forming in her eyes, the other three had their fists clenched and varying looks of pain on their face. Kyoraku nodded sadly to himself before tipping his sakkat towards Urahara in a message of thanks and farewell, who dipped his head in response, he was sad as well but he wouldn't let the emotions get to him right now, first, he would talk to Yama-jii and go from there.

~ A/N:

Firstly before I get onto the explanation for my absence I'd like to go over a couple things for this story and the chapter. There have been a couple people confused about whether or not Yama-jii still has his Zanpakuto and I will clarify that yes he does, just because Ichigo has Ryujin Jakka now too doesn't mean that Yama-jii's version suddenly vanished into thin air. This story's Zanpakuto theory is loosely based on the Bleach movie the Diamond Dust Rebellion where Toshiro and Kusaka both had Hyorinmaru, now in this case both Ichigo and Yama-jii have Ryujin Jakka. Ichigo is mostly going to be spending time in the DXD side of the universe though so it doesn't really matter if Yama-jii still has Ryujin Jakka or not.

Second I'd like to briefly talk about power levels, obviously, since I'm joining the Bleach and DXD universes together there would have to be some power tweaking to make this work. To start, yes I buffed Amaterasu a lot but I feel she deserves it as the Goddess of the sun and head of the Shinto. Plus, with the Shinto playing a part in this story they can't exactly be weak, can they? Also, I will say that no the Shinigami aren't going to be overpowered super soldiers who curb stomp everyone, they will be a strong faction but not the strongest.

Currently, right now Yamamoto and the Zero Division are the only ones who could really make a dent in the DXD power list. You have to remember this is before the thousand year blood war so Kenpachi doesn't have his Bankai and everyone is still pretty weak. I know someone is going to have something to say about me implying that Yama-jii was as strong as a Heavenly Dragon and I'll just say this, the keyword is was. Yama-jii in his prime 3000 years ago was as strong as a Heavenly Dragon, however, age has crippled him a lot and he is nowhere that level of strength anymore, so don't worry, like I said, the Shinigami aren't going to be super overpowered nor will they be weak.

As far as Ichigo goes he doesn't have access to Shikai or Bankai but he will get Shikai soon. He has Hollow and Quincy techniques to give him that extra strength now that he lacked before. In terms of power, like I said in the story sealed Zanpakuto Ichigo could force most Captains except for like Yama-jii, Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana to release their swords. So he's strong but not the strongest. I want him to progress as time goes on.

Now finally the reason for my absence. It happened about a week and a half to two weeks after I uploaded Ch.4, quite simply my laptop kicked the bucket and I lost everything. I lost the original Ch.5 and small parts of 6 and 7 that I had thought of, as well as my outline for GOTD. Even more then that I lost hundreds of thousands of words worth of other stories and one-shots I had written, and although I probably wasn't ever going to upload any of them they still meant a lot to me.

Basically losing everything that I worked so hard on like that killed any motivation I had for writing fanfiction and it has been that way pretty much this whole time. It was only a couple weeks ago that I started rewriting this chapter. Even right now my motivation to write isn't at the same level that it was before but I knew I had to come back because the support you guys have shown for this story so far is absolutely incredible and I couldn't leave you hanging.

Guardian of the Dead is already on page one for favourites in this crossover section and we nearly have 400 favourites now as well as nearly 500 follows, that's insane! Thank you all for the continued support and I promise I am not abandoning this story.

If you have any thoughts on the chapter than feel free to leave a review, I'm always looking to improve my writing and so constructive feedback is appreciated. If you have any questions then feel free to message me, I always reply when I can.

- Vertius