Chapter 3

He awoke painfully slow. His body had refused to awaken. Sore and stiff from not moving, along with the dull ache of his injuries. No nightmares had disturbed him this time. He opened his eyes. The was no pain when they opened, but he still could not see. He was blind. Despair washed over him. He wouldn't be able to escape the darkness and see the light ever again. Won't be able to see the sun and sky, the moon and stars, or the graves of his family. The family and friends that he failed to protect. The universe that he failed to protect.

Lifting his hand, he covered his eyes to stop seeing the images his mind summoned from his memories. Memories stained with blood and grief. He realized that the action was futile. He was forever trapped looking into the past. Never able to see his future.

He heard a bird chirp nearby. It broke him from his dark thoughts. The sound so pure and light. Looking in the direction that the sound came from, he heard the hop of little feet. They drew closer and stopped short in front of where he laid. He waited silently and intently. Listening for any movement from the bird. The bird gave another little chirp and hopped around in place a few times.

He moved as if he was in a daze or separated from his body. Slowly reaching his hand out toward the bird, he gave a small start when it hopped onto his finger. He sat up excruciatingly slow so as to not startle the little creature. It calmly perched on his fingers and chirped happily. At least he thought so. But a question rose to the front of his mind.

Why was this bird not afraid to approach him? Even to go so far as to rest on his fingers. It could be a pet or a really spoiled wild bird that has become used to people. He shook his head. It had to be a pet.

"Who do you belong to little one?" His voice just barely came out as a quiet whisper. His throat dry and scratchy that it almost hurt to speak. The little bird gave a few chirps in response. Almost as if it had understood him.

"Toshi! Where did you go Toshi?" Someone called from outside. He turned to listen for the eventual approach of the person. It never happened. They reached a certain spot, called out again and then turned and continued back the way they had came.

He turned to the little bird that fell silent in his hand.

"That's not nice. Someone is obviously worried about you. Why didn't you fly back to them? Back to your friend." The little bird gave a small chirp, and shuffled a little along his fingers. He could almost imagine the bird looking sheepishly around. His feathers a little fluffed out to make him seem bigger.

"Well you can stay here until you wish to go back." The bird gave another chirp. He lifted his other hand and gently found the breast of the small bird, stroking it with the back of his pointer finger. The feathers soft to the touch was nothing that he had felt before. The bird must be taken well cared for.

The bird nuzzled his hand after he was satisfied with stroking the small bird.

He sat there quietly, listening to the bird sing and the wind blow through the leaves of trees that he could not see. He imagined that there was a beautiful garden right outside. Bright, soft green grass dotted with flowers of every kind. Trees placed randomly with no purpose, but were tall and strong. He wanted that to be true, so he could lay in the shade of one of the large trees. With the soft grass tickling the soles of his feet and the summer breeze keeping him cool and comfortable. See the bright blazing colors that were a large part of garden. It would be paradise. Maybe that was where he was. In another after life. It was possible. But not likely. That was to good for someone like himself.

Drawing up the cover of the futon cover. He cautiously made his way to his feet. Moving to what he thought was an open door, his bare toes stubbed against a hard surface. Hissing in pain, he slowly kneeled down with the bird still resting on his left hand.

Softly gliding his hands over the surface of the wooden floor he searched for the object that he had hit. Fingers brushed against cold metal and the clink of a chain reach his ears. He knew exactly what it was that he had hit.

Zangetsu.

His most trusted companion and reason that he continued to defy death. Swiftly finding the hilt, he heard his hollow cursing him out for kicking them like a soccer ball. He apologized mentally and mentioned that he couldn't see them. Both of his spirits grew silent. His hollow then spoke up again. Mentioning that he will be able to see them again, just not right now.

He moved his left hand over to his right shoulder and encouraged the bird to hop onto his shoulder, which it did. Picking up Zangetsu, he moved back towards the open door. His left shoulder clipped the siding of a sliding door. The bird gave a soft chirp of alarm at the sudden movement that set him off balance. His hollow and the Old Man voiced their concern for his wellbeing. He assured that it was nothing, even when his shoulder throbbed painfully.

Toeing just outside the door, he felt that there indeed was an outside walkway. Stepping onto the walkway, he cautiously stepped forward to know how large the walkway was. The bird gave a sharp chirp. He gave another small step forward, and his toes hung on the edge of the walkway. It was about five feet wide. Plenty of walking space.

Why did the bird chirp though? Was it a warning?

Choosing a random direction, he set off to the right. Walking the middle of it and following wherever the walkway leads to.

After quite a ways and not having meet anyone yet, he wondered how many people lived in this seemingly large house. The bird gave another sharp chirp. The bird had done that whenever he got to close to the wall of the house or the edge of the walkway.

It must be a warning. Was the bird trained for this sort of thing?

Reaching out with his right hand he searched for a wall and toed with his left foot to find the edge. Not finding either, he wondered if the walkway turned somewhere. Sticking his foot out in front of him, his toes met another edge of the walkway. Taking a guess that the walkway turned right, he went to the right. His efforts were rewarded when he didn't fall of the walkway and face plant.

He must have been walking slowly around for an hour. But then again he couldn't tell the time. He has yet to come across another person. It didn't bother him though. He was content with the quietness of it all. The bird had chirped happily or in warning once in a while. It was so peaceful. The sun was warm on his skin and the walkway was cool. Although the bandages made him itch.

Maybe he truly was dead. That would be nice, but if that was true. What about his family? Or was he the only one here? Wherever here was.

His spirits assured him that he was not dead. Knowing that, he sent his reiatsu out to search for anything that might be familiar. What he felt came as a shock. He was indeed in the Soul Society. That was without a doubt. The only doubt that he had that it was the Soul Society was that it felt younger somehow. He then felt Old Man Yamamoto's reiatsu in his office, Retsu Unohana's surprisingly in the 11th division, and Shunshui's and Ukitake's sitting together somewhere he didn't know. He stopped and stared into the darkness where he had felt their reiatsu. It was just not possible. They were all dead. His breaths came out in shorts pants, as if he had just shunpoed around Japan. This wasn't real. It can't be. His spirits clamped down on his reiatsu and suppressed it before it raised any alarms. They were the ones who controlled it when he couldn't. Especially now.

People that he had known flashed before his blind eyes. Their death's forever imprinted in his mind.

The cooling sensation of calming reiatsu flooded him. His spirits locking his memories within his own mind without consent.

Ichigo do not think of it. Kisuke Urahara had sent you here for a reason.

Then the conversation his mentor and Ryuken had flashed before his eyes.

"Think about it Kisuke. We don't know if that thing will even teleport him to the past. Also he will be seeing people that have already died. That will be torture. Him knowing them, but them not knowing who he was. And if he changes the timeline, he could possibly not even be born. Would you wish that on Ichigo after all that he has gone through."

Kisuke stood there quietly. He could almost hear the gears grinding in his head, working to solve the problem.

"This has to be done Ryuken-san. We both know it."

Tapping the Hogyoku to his forehead, Kisuke wished out loud for Ichigo to go back before all of this happened. The Hogyoku was cold and hot at the same time. It pulsed gently on his forehead.

"Ichigo, I know this will be tough, but you are the only one who could fix this. I am so sorry for all that I have put you through. You can blame me as much as you want, know that I won't hate you for it. You have my respect and my hope. Good luck and stay strong, and don't blame yourself Ichigo for everyone's death."

It was so hard to believe, but it was the only thing that could have happened. He could be trapped in an illusion, but it would be stupid enough to make him blind in an illusion. He could be in another universe, but the familiar reiatsu's discarded that theory. So it only meant one thing. He had gone back into the past.

How long ago he didn't know, but it was far enough that he couldn't feel any other familiar reiatsu's. Shaking his head, he determined that until he talked to someone to confirm where and when he was, he wasn't going to think about it.

His spirits murmured in agreement.

The sound of footsteps thudded on the wooden walkway further ahead of him. So there were people here after all. He reached out with his reiatsu again and immediately withdrew. The person's reiatsu was very familiar and yet starkly different at the same time. The reiatsu reminded him of Byakuya Kuchiki. Tears almost sprang to his eyes. Zangetsu painfully reminded that it was not Byakuya. His death and the promise he made to Byakuya as he died rang through his head.

Apparently it was a corner because the footsteps were approaching from the right, and then came directly in front of him. A young male called out to someone behind him.

"Catch me if you can Shin!" The person collided with his abdomen, sending them both flying onto their backsides. His midsection burning in pain from the impact. He groaned clutching his abdomen, and the young male groaned too. He stopped and so did the male. The bird had landed back on his shoulder when another person appeared. It gave a happy chirp.

Another pair of footsteps came rushing up from around the corner also.

"I've got you now Masashi!" The second youth froze at the corner. "It's you."


Thank you to Guest and amazinglion29 for the continued support. And shout out to V01DSw0rd for liking how different this story is. We promise to continue straying from the stereotypical.

We hope you enjoy this next chapter. Let us know what you think.

- The Crew