Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Ichigo had never seen anything so extravagant before. Everywhere he looked there were white walls and golden-yellow roofs. Everything here looked impressive and he felt the instinctual child-like desire to touch everything he saw. He gazed at the tall buildings before him. It was a maze, he realized, Seireitei was built like a maze. To confuse their enemies? He wondered absentmindedly. He looked over at the three children who had yet to break off from him. They ran a little further and two more took off in another direction at Ichigo's signal. The two stopped at a fork in the road and Ichigo pointed to the right.

"You go that way and I'll go this way. Try to find your way to the first division." The other boy nodded obediently and took off down the path.

Ichigo sighed and stretched his arms tiredly, sheathing his sword as he slowly made his way down his self-designated path. As he walked further he picked up his pace. Urahara must've gotten here by now, he thinks, I've got to hurry. He ran down the path and ducked into an alcove nearby when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. He grasped a hold of his reiatsu as best he could and held his breath until the footsteps receded, heading down further the way he had just came. Cautiously, he stepped out of the alcove and began to make his way further into the heart.

He was stopped, however, when a crushing reiatsu fell over him, freezing him on the spot. "I would advise you to surrender, intruder." The voice was cold and impersonal, making the young boy shiver in fear. Slowly he turned around to face the voice. The man in front of him was tall and foreboding, his pale complexion contrasted drastically with his long dark hair. His face was set in a serious expression and his gloved hand was resting on his still sheathed zanpakuto. "It would not do well to fight, child. Surrender and tell us your goal in coming here." Ichigo raised his hand to his zanpakuto that was resting on his back by a strap. "Do not raise your weapon against me, boy." The man's grip on his sword tightened as he unsheathed it slightly. Ichigo lifted his sword off of his shoulder, keeping it in its sheath as he held it out in front of him in a nonthreatening manner. Warily, the man sheathed his sword once more and stepped forward, taking Ichigo's sword from his lax grasp. As soon as his zanpakuto was in the shinigami's hold Ichigo fell to his knees, dry sobs racking his frame. The man watched in confusion for a few moments before strapping the child's sword next to his own and walking towards the still quivering boy. He grabbed the child by his stomach and held him under his arm as they made their way towards the first division barracks.

"Sir," Shinji asked, bowing in his new haori to the Soutaichou. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you invite back Urahara Kisuke and Tsukabishi Tessai?"

The old man placed a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Your crimes were wrongly accused. Urahara Kisuke, however, was in control of his actions when he made the Hōgyoku. We invited Tsukabishi Tessai back but he refused to come back without Urahara Kisuke." He patted Shinji's shoulder before removing his hand once more, "Do don't dwell on their mistakes, Hirako-taichou. Their actions were theirs and theirs alone."

Shinji nodded and thanked the captain before walking out of the room. He had asked about Ichigo earlier, wondering why the boy hadn't been invited back like the other visords. Yamamoto had stated that he had never heard of an Ichigo defecting from Soul Society. Something didn't sit right with Shinji after that, he knew someone was lying but he didn't know who. He decided he'd just have to wait and hope the answer wouldn't be too catastrophic.

Ichigo was shaking under the man's arm as he made his way towards the captains that were assembled in the first division. When he heard a small, broken sob the man stopped for a moment, looking down at the tiny package in his arm. The larger shinigami felt sorry for the small child and stopped to reposition Ichigo so he was resting his head on his shoulder. Ichigo's small frame wracks with silent sobs as they continued on their way.

Urahara-san will be mad, he thought, shuddering slightly, I should've fought. Now he's never going to let me see my family again.

Byakuya opened the large double doors and walked as properly as he could with a weeping kid on his shoulder. "Kuchiki-taichou," An old man bellowed from the front of the room. "What is the meaning of this?"

"This boy surrendered." Eyebrows raised as the captain gestured to Ichigo who had his head firmly planted in the hollow of Kuchiki's neck.

A small black-haired woman scoffed, "You mean that this is what has broken into Seireitei? He's just a kid!"

Ichigo raised his head from Byakuya's shoulder slightly and glared at the woman. He took that moment to take a look at his surroundings. There were many people; some had white haoris like the one Kuchiki-taichou was wearing and others were wearing arm bands that stated they were fukutaichous. Ichigo looks around at all of the foreign faces and yells out in shock when he sees a familiar face, "Shinji-san!"

The fifth division captain's eyes widened in shock as he realized who the little boy is. "Ichi-kun, what are you doing here?"

Yamamoto's eyes widened, "Do you know this boy, Hirako-taichou?"

Shinji nodded and held his arms out toward the boy who immediately jumped into his arms. "I do. We took care of him when we were in the world of the living. This is the visord I was telling you about." He looked at Ichigo and set a small, disapproving glare on his face, "What are you doing here, Ichigo? Why aren't you with Urahara?"

Ichigo looked up at him confused. "What do you mean, Shinji-san? Urahara-san is here too." At Shinji's confused look Ichigo scrunched his eyebrows. "He said that you knew and that was why it was pointless for me to try to run away when he sent me to live with you."

Shinji set Ichigo down on the floor and knelt down in front of him. "Why would you want to run away?"

Ichigo's face became sad, "Because I want to go home."

Kensei stepped forward and looked down at the kid in front of him. "Where is Urahara right now, Ichigo?" He crossed his arms and glared down at the boy in front of him.

Ichigo paused and thought, "Um… he said he was going to the big hill. He didn't tell me much because I wasn't going with him. I was supposed to go to the first division and kill as many captains as I could."

"You were going to try to kill us?" Love asked, emblem of the seventh division on his back.

Ichigo shook his head innocently, "I heard the captains were really powerful so I thought that if I met one of them they could help me go home."

"Tell us everything you know, child," Yamamoto said sharply, banging his cane against the ground harshly to bring everyone back to attention. Ichigo jumped slightly and half-hid behind Shinji's legs.

Ichigo was perched on the roof, carefully concealing his reiatsu from the two men below.

"They had no right to do this to us," Urahara said bitingly. "Sure some of our ideas were a little radical but that doesn't mean they weren't for the better of Soul Society. Everything we've done has been in the interests of those ungrateful, low-life, pathetic Shinigami."

"They simply do not understand our frames of mind," Tessai said placidly.

Urahara chuckled darkly making the orange haired child who was hiding above shiver. "And for that they will pay. We will destroy everything they hold dear and reform their precious world in our own image."

Tessai chuckled, "I have no doubt we will succeed. We do have that Kurosaki boy eating out of the palm of our hand."

Ichigo's eyes widened as he carefully stood up and ran back towards the warehouse.

"It's too bad we'll kill him once our mission is complete. His desire for his family will make him weak in our new world."

Ichigo looked down, staring at the floor. "From what I heard, he plans to destroy the Soul Society and rebuild it."

Yamamoto opened his eyes in shock and murmured quietly.

"What about Jinta and Ururu, Ichigo?" Yoruichi asked, pushing off of the wall and walking towards the group gathered around the small boy. "Are they a part of this like you or are they honestly working for Urahara?"

Ichigo looks up at her momentarily as tears began to fall down his face. "They're dead."

Urahara held the young red-head by his bicep and roughly pulled him into the large training area where the other children were gathered. "Today," Urahara began, pulling harshly on Jinta's arm. "I am going to teach you about what happens when you try to defy me." He pulled out his blade and rested it against Jinta's panting skin. The boy's eyes were wide and terrified as Urahara applied more pressure. "You all will find out what happens to those who think they can go against me."

Ururu ran up to the platform the two were on and grabbed onto the blonde's arm, trying to pull the blade away from Jinta's exposed neck. "Please don't do this Urahara-san," She pleads as she continues to pull vainly at his wrist.

Urahara laughed and pointed a finger at Jinta, binding him in a low-level kido. Before anyone could react, Urahara's sword was plunged into the little black haired girl's stomach. Her eyes widen for a moment before they dulled and she choked on the blood that began to pool in her mouth. Jinta's scream could be heard as it echoed across the large expanse of boulders. Ururu fell seemingly in slow motion towards the earth as Urahara pulled his sword from her now red stomach.

The blonde smirked and raised his sword against Jinta's neck once again, "Now where were we?" With a final swipe, Jinta's tear stained eyes glassed over as he fell motionless onto the ground next to his little black haired counterpart.

Urahara pointed to some of the children closes to the platform. "You—get rid of these," He said as he wiped the blood from his sword. "May this be a lesson to all—those of you think you can defy me will meet your own end by my sword."

AN: Okay… Not as many reviews as I was hoping for but I promised the next chapter within a few days so here it is. I know that this style of writing is different but I sincerely hope that you not only give it a try but also give me feedback about my writing. So please review; it will mean a lot to me and if I don't get enough feedback, I'm not going to keep this story up which would really suck because I, myself, am very fond of this particular piece.

Please review.