Kurosaki Ichigo was only the slightest bit concerned when his body started slowing down and the slightest exertion left him fa

Title: Limitations

Disclaimer: The plot and characters of BLEACH is the intellectual property of Tite Kubo. Kunoichi Yumemi has no claim over the characters or plot of BLEACH and makes no profit off this work of fiction.

Summary: It was a little known fact that Kurosaki Ichigo's body was weak to begin with. The sudden death of Kurosaki Masaki led a young Ichigo to fight tooth and nail to overcome that weakness so he could protect the people he loved, and by the time he turned fifteen, he had emerged victorious over his body's weakness. And then he met Kuchiki Rukia. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine the long term effect that this meeting with would have on his life…

Note: AU. Completely disregards recent chapters of BLEACH.

A/N: Wow! I'm really pleased with the turnout for this story! In anycase, unlike many of my other stories, Limitations was never meant to be an epic, and so I am both pleased and sorry to announce that this story is drawing to a close. Including the epilogue and excluding this chapter, we have two more to go! Now, please enjoy the story.

Chapter 2

Ichigo was surprisingly well behaved as he entered the Senkaimon with Unohana and Isane. He was the very picture of a proper son of the nobility as he bowed and greeted Shunsui who was waiting on the other side for his nephew, his Vice-Captain standing quietly behind him. Ise Nanao noted wryly that the teenager's control over his reiryouku had improved. Hopefully, everything would turn out alright.

Shunsui watched smugly as Byakuya's eyes widened slightly in surprise as Unohana explained Ichigo's health problems, and he stated quite calmly that should the teen choose to allow his illness to run its course, he would gladly take over as the primary guardian of his younger brother's only son once Ichigo arrived in Soul Society. The Eighth Division Captain noted with some amusement as Ichigo's lips twitched slightly at the gathered shinigami's surprise, though his face did not change from the prescribed bland mask of the aristocracy.

The news spread through Seireitei like wildfire. Kurosaki Ichigo was the eldest child and only son of the former Eleventh Captain of the Tenth Division, Kyouraku Isshin, the younger brother to the current Eighth Division Captain, Kyouraku Shunui. Even more shocking was the news that the teen's body was deteriorating due to the duties of a shinigami which the boy had taken upon himself complete, and he had not much longer to live. Kyouraku Shunsui was ready to take in his nephew once his body failed him, and had assigned his Vice-Captain the duty of tutoring the boy in the various lessons that a shinigami learned in the academy that the teen had not learned.

News did not filter over into Hueco Mundo from Soul Society or the Human World easily, as Aizen had very quickly found out, but it was more than simplicity to find a way to transmit information he wanted from across worlds. And it was through that very same method that he learned some very interesting news. The only question was; how could he turn this most recent development to his advantage?

Ichigo was in the process of being tested in how much of his lessons with Nanao had been retained when the first signs that his illness was much worse than anticipated hit. Ichigo had sparred with Renji before, and taking Zabimaru's hilt to the gut was nothing new to the teen, though the onset of the coughing fit and the splatter of red from his lips to the ground were not.

Shocked silence raced through the audience, and Ukitake winced in sympathy, understanding full well how it felt when the wrong move would render a person helpless. Shunsui placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, his eyes unreadable as he watched Ichigo retch and spit out more blood onto the stadium floor. Renji had jerked back, staring at the teen with something akin to fear while Unohana and Isane darted into the ring to examine the substitute shinigami's health.

The day ended with the remainder of Ichigo's tests being postponed while Ichigo's illness was treated by the Fourth.

Unsurprisingly, the duration of Ichigo's recovery was spent discussing the pros and cons of each particular choice he could make with not only Unohana or Shunsui, but the Sotaicho. The Sotaicho's presence was not so much a surprise, but the man's insistence that the teen live his human life through most certainly was. Considering that Seireitei was at war and that Ichigo was widely acknowledged, even by the aged Captain-Commander himself, as the person most likely to defeat Aizen, the Sotaicho's stance, one would have expected Yamamoto Genryusei Shigekuni to be all for the teen's making of Seireitei into his permanent residence.

When Kyouraku Shunsui mentioned it in passing, the aged captain gave his student a wry look.

"Kurosaki is a child, Shunsui," the aged captain said, "No matter how powerful a shinigami he is, he is a child with a life ahead of him. I would rather he live that life than throw it away for the dead."

And that was the end of that.

Three days after his presentation before the Captains of the Gotei 13, Ichigo was officially presented before the nobility of Seireitei as a Son of the House Kyouraku. Byakuya and Rukia's faces were priceless when they realized that of the three brothers, only the youngest, who was Isshin, had sired any sons, and thus Ichigo was automatically Heir of House Kyouraku. Renji's rant when he realized that he was loosing yet another friend to the ranks of the nobility only served to add to Ichigo's amusement.

Despite that, Ichigo was less than pleased with the news, for with the fact that he was the only male Kyouraku Heir meant more lessons would soon be added to his already loaded schedule. Rukia's unrepentant laughter at his glum remark about his schedule made Ichigo wish that his position in Seireitei was still only that of a Human Shinigami so he could growl and sulk, rather than turn his eyes forward and move on, heedless of his friend's gleeful laughter, uncomplaining, and blank faced, as was expected of an Heir to a Noble House. Soi Fong's approving nod when his face went blank and he turned his back on Rukia's laughter and slogged through his studies did not lift his mood any.

By the end of the week, Ichigo had completed all of his assessment tests and was scheduled to return to the human world. The results would be sent to Shunsui, who would then forward them to Isshin who would pass them on to his son.

A small russet haired figure rushed through the darkness, her hand clutched in the slender hand of a slightly larger dark haired figure. The russet haired child painfully sucked in her breath as her sister yanked her along the path of the Severing World. The pendant bearing the crest of her father's family bounced against her chest with every step she took, and it was only her sister's grip on her hand kept her from stopping to catch her breath. She didn't dare complain, unsure of what might happen if she asked her sister to let her rest when they needed to get to their uncle and the Healer. What if they were trapped there in the darkness? What would happen to their brother if she and her sister were trapped here? A single crystalline tear shimmered as it slipped down her face and splashed onto the floor behind her as she followed her sister through the darkness, racing as fast as their legs could carry them toward the light that would lead them to their father's elder brother, and hopefully, their brother's continued hold on life.

A Senior Officer's Strategy Meeting was in progress when an unexpected visitor arrived. The unauthorized Senkaimon spat out a pair of girls, one of whom Hitsugaya Toushiro recognized almost immediately.

"Kurosaki?!" the diminutive Captain stared in shock at the middle Kurosaki child, "What are you doing here?!"

"Daddy sent us!" Yuzu said, "He said to find Uncle Shunsui and Lady Unohana because Nii-san won't wake up!"

"What?!" Renji barked. "But Ichigo was just fine when he went through the Senkaimon two weeks ago!"

"A Human Soul does not always immediately reflect the physical illnesses or injuries of a body," Unohana said, "I am assuming that Kurosaki-san's body must have been deteriorating faster with his soul seperating from and rejoining with the body."

"As it is," Yamamoto said, "Unohana-taicho and Kotetsu-Fuku-Taicho, go tend to Kurosaki. Kyoraku-Taicho take your nieces home to rest, and in four hours, escort them through the Senkaimon to their father."

TBC….

SanadaSayuri: Dun dun dun!! What could have caused this sudden downturn in Ichigo's health? Will Ichigo wake, or has his choice been made for him? Find out next time, on Limitations!

Anyway, about BLEACHed Elements… I'm still waiting for a response from Deragonmaji, and knowing what school is like, I'm not gonna pressure her. Updates will continue to be sparse as I have lots of homework and projects to get through, and if rumors are to be believed, Mom and I might be moving again soon. Well, either way, updates will be scarce.

Well, I've gotta go. Please leave a review!