Thanks for the reviews like normal.

Chapter 13:

It was quiet. Too quiet. Ash, Tōshirō and Ichigo sat amongst Urahara and his gang in complete and utter silence. After the events of the previous evening, the general power of the Captains had been seen and Tōshirō had his doubts in taking them on. Byakuya Kuchiki was that particular captain's name. Kisuke had informed them that, despite the man seeming to beat them all with ease, he used quite a bit of power to take down Ash.

"What are we going to do?" Ash asked to break the silence. "Ichigo isn't a shinigami anymore and we have no way to save Rukia." He said with a scowl.

"Ash, he can just do the same thing we did. That whole "hole" thing." Said the white haired brother a few feet behind him. "Besides I'm almost 100% sure that Urahara has some kind of way to get us there."

"Now, now Hitsugaya-kun you think so highly of me." Kisuke said with a pleasant grin.

The room went silent again. A few moments passed before a red head walked into the room, ignorant of his surroundings. Ash glared at the boy but said nothing. Ichigo scowled and stared at Urahara. "What is this "hole" thing?"

"My my, dear boy, I thought you would never ask. Well it's basically why Kita-kun and Hitsugaya-kun have their zanpakuto and you do not." Ichigo seems surprised at that very obvious fact. Ash and Tōshirō sighed that Ichigo hadn't noticed that up until now.

"We have to save Rukia and if this "hole" this is what will give me the power to do so, then fine." Kisuke couldn't help but smirk at the boy's resolve and lead him and Yoruichi away. It was at this point that Jinta realized the occupants of the room and why he felt such dread upon arriving home. Ash somehow shunpoed from his laying-down position and appeared right behind the boy.

"Listen and listen to me well. You will not have any form of interaction with Karin or Yuzu Kurosaki. If I even have an idea inside my dream that you planned to speak to any of them, I will slaughter you. I have been meaning to kill you ever since that day, do not give me a reason to make your death more painful." Ash said with a tone Tōshirō had only ever heard him use one time. Without waiting for a response, Ash shunpoed away with Tōshirō in tow.

-The Great Sakura Tree-

"Shirō, how did we get into this? I mean, for the past few months, the threat of death has never been so high." Ash said, he spotted his body where he usually put it, at the base of the tree bit decided not to enter it now. "But hey, this is the life we chose."

Tōshirō sighed and joined Ash on his favorite branch. "I know, and it seems like us dying will become a regular thing. With this whole "Going to the Soul Society to save Rukia" thing. Also, your threat to Jinta was pretty funny; terrifying but funny." He said with a smirk.

Ash chuckled. "We are a pretty scary family when you think about it. You and I have the power to level a city. And we very overprotective of the Kurosakis."

"Yeah, I can remember a time when we only ever talked to each other, now we have friends to annoy us." Tōshirō said with a grin at the end. Ash chuckled once again and sighed.

"When will we ever have this much peace again?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Tōshirō said, "Meh probably not."

Realizing his brothers words rang true, he fell into silence. Both brothers gazed up into the sky and into the stars, quietly enjoying the peace. If they is indeed their last moment of ease, at least they were together like they always were.

"Shirō. That boy, Jinta. I don't want him around Yuzu."

"I know you don't. So what are you going to do?"

"Like I can do anything, I'm not her boyfriend Shirō. And we not being here won't make me feel better." Ash said with a sigh.

They sat in silence for the rest of the night. Only making a sound when they saw a massive beam of light shoot out of Urahara's shop, to show that Ichigo was ready, willing and able to save his friend. This shall be interesting. Tōshirō thought about the battle that they would go through. They knew next to nothing about the Captains not there abilities, but he figured they knew nothing about them either.

Tōshirō pondered the thought for a second before Yoruichi appeared before them in her human form. "Is this where you guys stay? Good taste. Come to the shop, Kisuke has a plan." She said with a smirk. She shunpoed away, very closely followed by the two brothers, their pace shocking her. She may have been 100 years out of practice but she was sure that her skill hadn't deteriorated that much, if at all. She inwardly smiled at the two beings behind her, they had amazing potential.

Arriving at the shouten at way less time than expected, they were greeted by Ichigo facing off with the little girl who's power seemed to be limitless, Ururu. They were about 100 meters apart until the gap was instantly closed by the little girl, who brought down an immensely powerful punch onto the shocked strawberry. The ground shook from the blow and a massive cloud of dust appeared. Ash silently thought Ichigo had died right then and there, but he was proven wrong when the orange-haired teen emerged from his hole with a scowl, but unharmed.

"What the fuck, Urahara?" Ichigo said in fury. The older man simply chuckled and gestured for all three teens to meet in the center of the basement.

"Now now boys! This mission will be dangerous, and I cannot promise that you'll make it out alive" The man clad in green started seriously. "So you'll be going in there with the strongest of the strong. Beings so powerful that even I, do not with to engage them in combat."

Ash and Tōshirō raised a brow in unison, as they so often did.

"They are… Chad, Orihime and Uryū." He finished, tilting his hat.

"…."

"….."

"….No. They aren't coming." Ichigo protested.

"Aw. Why not Kurosaki-kun?"

"They're human with no powers. I know Uryū can hold his own, but I'm sorry, what can Chad and Orihime do?" Tōshirō said before the yelling could continue.

Instead of speaking, Chad calmly walked up to a random rock formation and his hand began to glow white. He, with one punch, leveled the playing field, literally. Ichigo's eyes widened as Tōshirō and Ash just stared on. Orihime cheered and Uryū continued to stare on in apathy. He had a few cuts and bruises on his hand, and Orihime used this to display her power. She said something that I do not feel like typing, as this is Orihime we are talking about, and a golden orb appeared over Chad's massive arm, making the wounds disappear almost as though they were never there to begin with.

"A tank, and a super fast healer." Tōshirō pointed out. "Well, that could be useful."

"What about you three?" Uryū started with distain, "What can you three do in battle?"

"Anyway!..." Kisuke interjected. "We shall leave tomorrow." Not wanting to stay any longer, both Ash and Tōshirō shunpoed away, leaving everyone else there to discuss whatever they will.

-A few hours later-

"Where are you taking us?" Karin asked for the third time. Tōshirō ignored her once more. He knew why Ash chose this place to carry them, and he also knew the reason for carrying them there at all, but he refused to answer for his own reasons.

"Karin. They're doing that "mysterious" thing again." Yuzu said with a pout. A few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the Sakura tree that Ash had so affectionately called "Heiwa" . Meaning peace. The girls were awe-struck.

They had seen the very top of the tree at a distance but never have they been this close. The wind gently blew to the east, with their clothes and various leaves that fell off. Ash had his hands in his pocket with Yuzu on his back. Karin had gotten tired of walking and Tōshirō picked her up bridal-style, despite her many protests. "Hold on." Ash instructed. He wait until she had a firm grip on his neck before jumping. Karin, seeing this, panicked and buried herself in the white-haired teens chest. He too jumped and after a few seconds they arrived at Ash's favorite spot.

It was a beautiful clearing that had a view of the setting sun and Karakura's river. "We need to talk." Ash said with a sigh.

"Shirō, Ichigo and I, are going to be MIA for a few days." He started.

"What's MIA?"

"Missing in action. We won't be here basically." Tōshirō explained.

"Oh. Why? Where are you going? How long are you going to be gone?"

"Easy easy. And we sadly can't answer any of those. Don't worry, we'll be back." Tōshirō said to soothe the twins.

An unspoken 'Hopefully' hung between both he and the red-eyed one but neither decided to voice it.

"Is there anyway to change your minds?" Karin asked, fully realizing that asking Ichi-nii would be pointless. Tōshirō shook his head and studied the girl for a moment before turning away.

"Just come back safely. Okay guys?" Yuzu more or less demanded. "Also.. Ash-kun, I noticed that, you don't seem to like being around Hanakari-kun." Hearing her add the suffix made Ash's eyes glow bright red. He quickly turned away from her and look at the setting sun.

"No," He began. His tone was something that Yuzu hated to hear. Calm, uncaring and vaguely suppressive would be the correct terms to use to describe it. It only meant one thing; Ash was pissed beyond comprehension and he didn't want to speak about why. This was the one thing that Ash did to really upset her. "Everything is fine."

Everything was, indeed, not fine.

"But, Yu-chan. Distance yourself from the boy. Do not speak to him. Karin-san, ensure that he does not communicate with my Yu-chan at any cost." He continued to stare on, allowing them all to lapse into an uncomfortable silence.

'His Yu-chan' The brunette thought repeatedly. She drowned out the rest of te conversation on solely focused on that statement.'

"We've got to go Ash. Let's carry them home." Tōshirō said with hidden anxiety.

-The following evening-

As the group stood in front of the shining gate that is said to lead to the Soul Society, Ichigo couldn't help but wonder…what exactly would they be up against. Urahara hadn't revealed much, and truth be told, he didn't need too. With the combined powers of Ash, Tōshirō and himself, this would surely be an interesting and unforgettable venture.