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.

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Chapter 4

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Yamamoto-Genryuusei Shigekuni was an old man, and like any other old man, he liked his sleep, and everyone knew it. His two favorite students knew better than anyone that waking the old man was undeniably difficult, and even if it was managed, it had better be important or they would be meeting the sharp end of the Captain-Commander's Zanpakuto. Yamamoto had been awakened by Kurosaki Isshin and Kyoraku Shunsui, and it was only their frightened and distressed reiatsu washing over him in turbulent waves that kept him from giving them a new bodily orifice and burning them to a crisp. It only took him moments to interpret the two sibling's frightened and angry words, though it required some effort as both men were talking over each other, and immediately sent them both to call an emergency meeting.

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"We cannot allow the child to remain in Hueco Mundo at the moment of his death," Yamamoto said, "The possibility of his hollow taking over while in a place where it will have an advantage is too great. Even if it were not so, we cannot allow Aizen to have Kurosaki Ichigo's power. As such, a force must enter Hueco Mundo to retrieve the boy."

"Translation:" Zaraki Kenpachi muttered, "Kurosaki Isshin and Kyouraku Shunsui dead scary where their flesh and blood are concerned and are members of the same noble house and if it gets out that Ichigo was left in Aizen's hands in his current condition, Yamamoto will be in deep shit and Isshin will probably find a way to get the old man dragged up in front of the living world's authorities for child endangerment."

Soi Fong couldn't help the amused smirk and Hitsugaya snorted. Ukitake faked a cough to cover his laughter, Byakuya's lips twitched, Kurotsuchi out and out grinned, and Unohana's smile widened a tiny bit. Yamamoto gave the Eleventh Division Captain an annoyed look even as Komamura flicked an ear and a low rumble of laughter came from his throat. Shunsui rolled his eyes, feeling some of the tension leave his shoulders. So perhaps the joke was not the best one, but certainly, it had come at a good time. At least now they would be planning Ichigo's retrieval with clearer heads than when the announcement had been made. It would also explain why the aged Captain-Commander had not reprimanded the wayward Eleventh Division Captain yet.

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Ichigo woke suddenly as a cough caught in his throat, and cool hands lifted him as the teen felt something viscous and somewhat liquid rising in his throat. A small basin was moved in front of him and he spat, only slightly concerned to see that whatever it was, it was flecked with redness. Then there was some pressure in the back of his neck, and he only had a moment to realize that he was in a lab of some sort and definitely not in his father's house when everything went dark again.

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Byakuya hated Hueco Mundo. It had been difficult enough getting out of the twilit world the first time around, even then, it had been a close call. It had been sheer luck that they had all happened to gather at the tower where Inoue Orihime had been held, and for Kurotsuchi to realize that there was nothing to block the opening of a Senkaimon or garganta in that chamber. Otherwise, it was very likely that they would not have escaped at all. He frowned at the fortress that loomed out of the sand, the white walls reflecting the moonlight coldly, and snuck a glance at Isshin, whose scowl was nearly as cold as the fortress they stood in sight of.

"He'll be alright," Byakuya attempted to reassure his senior, "Kurosaki is foolish, but not stupid. And even if something happens, he should know that he has friends who won't stand by while he is in Aizen's hands."

Isshin gave Byakuya a bland look and said, "And if it is an Arrancar wearing his face that we meet?"

Byakuya closed his eyes and said as calmly as he could, "Though it will not be necessary, if it comes to it, I will do as Kurosaki requested of me."

Isshin gave the raven haired noble a hard look. He had known from the beginning what his son had requested, and had understood why Ichigo had chosen Byakuya. But despite all of that, the third Kyouraku son could not help but resent the Kuchiki. He knew that Byakuya's Zanpakuto gave the noble an advantage over Ichigo, whose Zangetsu was only one blade, and Byakuya was much, much faster than Ichigo and had many more years experience, not to mention that Ichigo's kido was adequate at best, poor at worst, and Byakuya was well known for his own proficiency in Kido, and thus, the noble would be more likely to defeat the hollow if something were to happen. Isshin also knew that he was more than likely to freeze at a crucial moment than Byakuya, but still he was displeased over the fact that Ichigo had trusted the purification of his soul to Kuchiki Byakuya who had tried to kill the teen no less than three times. But it was his son's dying wish, so who were the two nobles to refuse the child?

"He trusts you more than I believe he should," Isshin said dryly, "But I'll entrust my son to you for this. But if a single hair on his head is unnecessarily harmed…"

Byakuya resisted the urge to wince. Why, oh why had he been the one gifted with the Zanpakuto that could give him an advantage over the boy, hollow or no, and why had the boy chosen to use that brain of his just as he was dying when he'd never used it before in the past? He pushed the petulant thought away and nodded briskly in acknowledgement of Isshin's unspoken promise. Isshin snorted and looked away.

The dark haired noble gave his vice-captain a nod, and Renji muttered into his communicator, and a wave of black marked here and there by white standards bearing the division symbols and numbers poured into Hueco Mundo. It was an impressive sight to see as a sea of shinigami began their march across the desert landscape to retrieve one of their own.

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In his fortress, Aizen's head jerked up as his attention abruptly shifted from his paperwork to the sudden weight of hundreds of powerful reiatsu aimed directly at his fortress. He had considered many consequences to taking the ill child, but he had dismissed many of them as improbable and whimsical. Never had he ever given any serious consideration to the fact that Seireitei would be furious enough actively invade Hueco Mundo! But no, the familiar reiatsu of the captains of the Gotei 13 said otherwise, and the inclusion of several retired captains brought the traitor to consider that perhaps stealing the boy from his father's own house had not been a very good idea in the least. But that was not what he was focused on. He had to defend his fortress; he needed to move the boy. He didn't care if his Espada died, he could make more, but he could not let this potential new weapon escape!

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The army had not gone far before they were attacked by both hollows and Arrancar. Immediately, captains and vice-captains split away from the main group to take on the Espada while other officers and unseated officers dealt with the lesser Arrancar and miscellaneous hollows. The Captains themselves were preoccupied with the Espada and the two defected captains.

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Aizen stalked down the halls of Las Noches toward Sezyal's lab as quickly as he could without outright running. He had been content to allow the boy to die in his own time, but there was no more time for waiting. He needed the boy to die now, and for the hollow to take over now, because he needed a powerful Arrancar who would make the Gotei 13 pause and he needed to convert the boy into an Arrancar immediately or the chance would be lost. Aizen had the full weight of the Gotei 13's fury aimed at him, and he was going to take every advantage he had, and achieve his goals. He would have Kurosaki Ichigo as one of his Espada, and no one, not even all the Captains of the Gotei 13 would stop him.

He pulled up short as the boy's reiatsu, for the past day, had been weak and fluctuating as his illness consumed him, suddenly shifted, swelled, and exploded in a massive wave over the fortress. He laughed and started forward again.

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Umm… King?

Ichigo…

What?

Isn't it 'bout time ya woke up?

What?

We cannot lie here and wait to be rescued. You still have some strength. Will you not fight back?

C'mon, King. Let's give 'em hell! Now's gonna be the last time ya can pull crazy shit and get nothing more than a scolding and a slap on the wrist!

Guys, I'm really tired.

We know, but this may well be your last chance to fight Aizen on your own terms. Once your body dies, you'll be fighting on the Sotaicho's terms. Will you not exert your will while you still have the chance?

If ya ain't gonna do anything, then I will, King.

All right! I'm up! I'm up! Geez, for a horse and a sword the two of you sure are bossy.

Only 'cuz you're lookin' kinda pathetic just lyin' there, King.

Chocolate colored eyes cracked open.

A pink haired Arrancar entered in time to see the teen lever himself into a sitting position, taking long, slow breaths to keep from coughing. Then, a massive wave of reiatsu crashed over Sezyal Apporo Granz, driving him to his knees as he struggled to draw breath, and eradicating his fraccion by sheer pressure alone.

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The Shinigami, sensing the surge in the teen's reiatsu, increased both their pace and the ferocity of their fight. There was only so long that Ichigo could maintain that huge storm of reiatsu in his condition before his body gave out on him, and they had every intention of reaching the boy before that happened and the Arrancar moved him out of their reach.

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Aizen smirked as he drew nearer to the labs. The closer he got, the more intense the boy's spiritual pressure became. Truly the boy was a magnificent specimen of a shinigami-hollow hybrid. The door swung open and Aizen staggered slightly as the full blast of the teen's reiatsu was no longer held back by the net of spirit blocking stone that was imbedded in the door. He held back an exhilarated laugh.

"How long do you think you can hold that pressure up boy?" Aizen said.

The teen's only reply came in the form of a massively overcharged shakkoho.

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Outside of Las Noches was pandemonium. Ukitake repressed a cough as he cut through a hollow and turned to take the report from the hell butterfly that fluttered down toward him. Hold on, Ichigo-kun, he thought fiercely as he felt the teen's power swell and a massive explosion blew out one of Las Noche's towers, Help's on the way…

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Aizen couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips. The boy, ill and exhausted as he was, took every advantage he possessed, and though he was outmatched, still fought furiously. An overcharged shakkoho had destroyed a good portion of Sezyal's lab and Sezyal himself. Aizen leisurely drew Kyoka Suigetsu even as the teen called upon his hollow and zanpakuto. The boy's powers, having been unleashed in their entirety, were intoxicating.

Another overpowered shakkoho hit the ground between them, throwing up dust and debris as a smokescreen, and Aizen smirked as he felt the teen's reiatsu fluctuate as the boy shunpoed away. The traitor shifted, then moved.

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Outside, the fighting paused as another part of Las Noches blew outward in a spectacular explosion, immediately followed by a quick up swelling of Ichigo's powers. Seconds later, another explosion occurred, and then Ichigo's powers dropped.

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"And where," he said conversationally, amused by the widening of the teen's eyes, and the quick, shallow breaths the boy was taking in his effort to stave off a coughing fit, "did you think you were going? Do you really think you can outrun me in my own fortress?"

Aizen found he had to evade the Getsuga Tenshou the boy threw at him, and the angle and speed of the attack meant that Aizen had to stop and move backwards to avoid being hit. Not to say the former captain couldn't block the attack, he just didn't want to.

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The moon moved overhead, and Byakuya finally cut down the Espada he faced. Renji gave him a tight nod and a curt reply as the sixth division captain left his subordinates under his vice-captain's care, and left to rescue an ill substitute shinigami. The noble remembered the teen's father's unspoken threat and quickened his pace. How he hoped that nothing would happen that would necessitate having Kyouraku Kurosaki Isshin follow through on his threat from earlier. Of course, that meant reaching Ichigo before he did something stupid, and Las Noches was still quite a ways away. Byakuya would never openly admit it, but that man, when angry as he was now, frightened him.

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He was weakened by his illness, and yet his power didn't change, and his fighting skills were as fierce as before his illness had been discovered. The addition of kido and the refining of the teen's shunpo and his zanjutsu had done wonders for his combat capabilities. The hollow's power doubled that combat capability, and somewhere along the lines, the boy had developed some strategic and tactical senses, and his newly refined reiryoku control increased his capabilities just a little bit more. Aizen all but salivated at the thought of the strength of the Arrancar that could be developed from the boy's combat capabilities. He simply couldn't wait.

The former captain disappeared and reappeared and Ichigo collapsed as blood sprayed from the wound that ran across his chest.

"Don't worry," Aizen said, "Hollowfication doesn't hurt one bit. And the sequence to convert a hollow into an Arrancar is only a little uncomfortable."

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Byakuya pushed himself to move faster as he sensed Ichigo's reiatsu fading. The teen's supercharged kido had Marked approximately where he was in Las Noches, but his fading aura was the only guide Byakuya had, and the noble knew without a doubt that he was racing against time as he sensed the child's reiatsu shifting and fading. Dear god, he hoped he made it in time, because skilled as he was, Byakuya doubted that he would be able to stand his ground against both Kurosaki Isshin and Kyouraku Shunsui.

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How can it end like this?

Hang on, King! Help's on the way!

Be strong, Ichigo.

One more attack, King! Take my power! Hurry!

We are here.

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Isshin cut apart his opponent and looked toward Las Noches, where he felt his son's reiatsu fading even as it spiked and another explosion demolished yet another part of the white fortress.

"Bring him back, Byakuya," he whispered. "Keep him safe."

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"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast!" he whispered, shielding his attack under the pretense of struggling back to his feet, channeling as much of his reiatsu as quickly and subtly as he could, "Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!" It was all he could do to shift just enough so he could aim the gathered energy at Aizen. "Hadô Rokujuusan: Raikoho!"

Aizen blinked as the hado hit him full on.

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That's right, Kurosaki, Byakuya thought as he turned another corner even as he felt the teen's reiatsu pulse, Keep fighting. Give me something to trace you by, and don't give him a chance to convert you into a hollow.

The noble turned a corner and pressed himself against a wall just in time to avoid the blast that sped past him, smashing through the walls. Once the blast had faded, he stepped through the opening made by the teen's overcharged raikoho. As he made his way toward the collapsed teenager, he was peripherally aware that Aizen was likely buried under the debris he was walking over. He was much too busy marveling at how the teen could still manage to overcharge his kido when anyone else in his position would be lucky to be able to be able to form a functional sokatsui.

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Darkness was creeping over his senses even as warm arms clothed in black picked up the bleeding and exhausted teen. Ichigo tilted his head back and tired chocolate eyes met with cool slate eyes.

"I can stand," Ichigo said once he was sure he wouldn't break into a coughing fit.

"You are exhausted," Byakuya said calmly. "Rest."

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Aizen hauled himself out of the debris, shaking his head slightly, an amused smile on his face. Really, weak and dying as he was, the teen's spirit was quite admirable. He walked over the large hole in the side of his fortress and looked out after the pair of shinigami rushing out toward the sea of black clad shinigami in the distance. Very well. He would cede this battle over to Seireitei for now. There would be other chances to get what he wanted, and less costly ways to achieve his goals.

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"So they all just backed off?"

It was two days since Ichigo had been rescued and Renji had just finished telling Ichigo about the battle. The teen looked concerned.

"Most of the Arrancar were defeated, and a good number of the hollows, but yes, basically whoever was left just turned and ran," the redheaded vice-captain confirmed.

"That's not right…" the teen's musing was cut off as a coughing fit descended on the teen, and his ribs appeared to rattle even as his entire body shook. Though it seemed to have become a normal occurrence, the orange haired teen never missed how the shinigami around them winced and looked away, Renji among them.

Almost immediately, Unohana swooped down on the teen, and Isane shooed the Sixth Division's Vice-Captain away. Renji gave Ichigo an apologetic look as he left and the teen responded with a wry smile.

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Almost a week after Ichigo woke up in the Fourth Division, he was sent home. His father hovered and Byakuya somehow managed to seamlessly blend into the daily life in the Kurosaki Clinic. Isshin had even arranged for an extra bed to be put in Ichigo's room so Byakuya could keep an eye on the teen.

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Time passed. Having been bedridden since his health took a sharp downturn after his return from Seireitei---having his body converted from flesh and blood to spirit particles and back apparently didn't agree with him---the Ichigo and Byakuya somehow struck up a strange friendship that revolved around sarcastic wit, dry humor, and prodding one another until one or both snapped. During that time, Ichigo found that he was sharing more about himself with Byakuya than he'd ever shared with anyone else, and vice-versa, and Byakuya realized that Ichigo, despite how brash and hotheaded he seemed actually tended to over think things before acting and was capable of staying still in companionable silence. Both realized that they were more similar than they thought, and so the teasing and dry humor that would have normally sent one or the other into fits of fury, actually gained sarcastic and witty rejoinders that ultimately ended in amusement for the pair, and confusion for everyone else. Needless to say, time passed quickly.

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Kuchiki Byakuya woke up one morning two months after Ichigo's rescue from Hueco Mundo to realize that his roommate's reiatsu was dangerously low and fading fast.

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TBC….

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SanadaSayuri: One more chapter to go!

Anyway, about BLEACHed Elements… I'm still waiting for a response from Deragonmaji. Well, either way, updates will be scarce. Please leave a review!