6 years later

Kazui Kurosaki. 14 years old. Part time high schooler. And…

"Kurosaki! You're doing it again!" A guy yelled on the soccer field. Kazui looked up, seeing the ball flying above his head. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion for him. His teammates around him panicked that he would miss the opening to receive the ball. Their opponents slowed in their hustle to surround him. Smug looks on their faces. Clearly they thought he was going to let this moment pass him by. Clearly they thought the game was going to end tied, 2 to 2.

Bouncing on the ground, the ball was getting away from him, heading to the goalie. Kazui focused. His team was relying on him. The ball was kicked to him for one reason only, and that reason was to—

Dropping slow, sliding on his side, he kicked the ball to the right to his teammate and friend, Ryuki. Ryuki dived, and with the use of his head, hit the ball in the net past the goalie.

—Score!

The crowed watching the game that supported their team went wild. Kazui's teammates tackled him and Ryuki, full of joy and yelling to the sky. Their opponents hung their heads low. They were stunned and nearly stricken to tears. And some actually did cry. And some held it back with frowns. At the very last moment on the field, both teams acknowledged each other and left the field.

After getting cleaned up and reminiscing the game with his team, Kazui went back out to the field. He remembered the feeling he got that made him lose sense of awareness, stop his track of mind.

He felt a hollow. Somewhere nearby…

"You almost lost the game for your team, because you just couldn't ignore it for one moment." She said.

Kazui exhaled, smiling as he turned around to face Ichika. He wondered why she was there, standing before him. Maybe she just got done from her rounds around the town. Maybe she took care of that hollow? "Hey to you, too, Ichika. I guess you watched the game?"

"Just that final part of it. I found my way here when I was doing my rounds. Figured I'd stick around to see if you'd lose or not. I surely thought you guys were, anytime they relied on you with the ball for the final seconds." She teased him.

His button was pushed slightly, but he didn't let it show. He was the best player on the team, of course they'd trust it to him! She made it sound like he sucked… "I did pass it."

"I didn't get to stick around long enough to see that." She said with a hint of disappointment.

Kazui knew the reason why she couldn't stick around. It was the same reason he zoned out in that very important moment in time. The hollow. She knew very well that he understood why, and so he didn't bother to clarify or ask her too. "It is your job."

Ichika looked defeated as he suddenly threw her arms up out of frustration. "I knooow! But out of all the moments? Seriously, hollows have great timing."

Kazui closely observed her, his eyes noticing beyond the playful outer layer she showed him, she was honestly exhausted of fighting hollows for the day. It was weird… A lot of hollows have been showing up more recently than compared to years ago, when only 1 hollow would show up per week. Now, there were about 4 hollows every day… Ichika was assigned by the soul reaper academy to doing rounds for training. Her and a couple of other soul reapers that were her team in the assignment. She only has one more month of doing this. Afterwards, he might not see her for a long time. When she first joined the academy, he didn't see her for 2 years. She just recently popped back into his life. She'll just as easily leave.

A smirked took over his soft features. "Hmmm. Care to play a one-v-one? You seem like you could use some fun. And the butt kicking."

His confident, playful jab reached her ears, made her almost want to laugh. "Shunpo allowed?"

He nodded. "Shunpo allowed."

"Then you're on!"

Kazui had got a soccer ball from the locker room. He kicked it to the middle of the field. Ichika stood waiting with her arms crossed for him to do the honors. Rolling the ball back on top of his right foot, he lightly tossed it up, then kicked it up to his chest, and then sent the ball flying high above them with the last kick.

Ichika had zero hesitation. At the blink of an eye, she was no longer in front him, but by the ball in the air, getting ready to kick it straight for the goal. Kazui reacted quick, stepping back in a quick flash to the goal. His intention was to stop it by grabbing or blocking it, but the ball was darting towards him at a scary speed.

He was not going to back down.

And so got knocked down with a strong blow back into the net once he received the ball in his hands. His hands stung and had a shade of red to them. She really went all out on the first go.

Ichika flashed by him, laughing. "Doesn't that still count? Technically the ball still went in. You and the ball."

Kazui smiled at her, letting the ball roll out his hands. "Okay. Now that you got that off your chest…"

Her laughing came to an abrupt halt as she stared at him seriously then. It hit her like the speed of the ball that hit him. She felt better. And he knew she wasn't before…

"Let's play for real now?" He asked her.

A small, thankful smile slipped. "Fine. I'll beat you playing it the boring way as well!"

He laughed loudly then. "Ichika, you know you can't dribble at all! That's the only reason why you find the normal way boring."

She snapped at him in embarrassment, slightly pouting. "Shut up, soft eyes!"

His laughing died down a bit. His gaze found the ball.

He's missed this.

They played till the sun completely went down. A full moon hung over them. Kazui had won each round playing soccer the normal way against Ichika. Like he said, she couldn't dribble at all, so every time she had the ball she would either nearly trip over it or do trip over it when trying to juke him out. It was honestly too easy for him, and he did actually offer to play their last game with Shunpo, but Ichika having high pride and determination wouldn't accept the offer. In their last game, she scored on him.

Walking back to his home, they talked about what they've been up to.

"How's the soul reaper academy been for you?" He asked her with the touch of wonder, to hype up the fact of it.

She took a moment to respond, thinking about it. When she first joined, she thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Her mom and dad did try to warn her it wouldn't be a million times, but she didn't really hear them. Not once. But boy did she hear her instructor's loud voice yelling at her when she would badly screw up a Kido spell. "In the beginning it was really tough, I admit… The training regimen was torment, and could run any human into the grave to try again in their soul form…"

That sounded really terrible. Kazui was glad he didn't have to go through the soul reaper academy. Though… his training with Yoruichi and Kisuke was no park walk either. "That sounds really bad, Ichika."

She didn't hold back on the blunt, dry response at remembering it clear as day. "It definitely was." The memory still gave her chills and gratefulness it was behind her. "But, I got through, because you know me, soft eyes. I don't back down from anything!"

"Right."

"Now mainly I'm just doing a bunch of training runs and drills. And these rounds with my squad—" She stopped suddenly, her expression going grim with guilt. "Crap… I forgot to report back to them. They're probably so pissed with me."

Kazui chuckled. "I'm sure they headed back without you by now. But, you may be in deep trouble when you head back."

She didn't want to think about it. She knew she would be… Ichika started walking beside him again. "On a different note, besides soccer, what have you been up to? Are you still training with that cat lady and weird guy with the hat?"

"Yoruichi and Kisuke, you mean?" She nodded. "Yeah. I am. It's been nothing but a nightmare…" Kazui wanted that last part to come out sounding like a light joke, but he didn't do it well enough.

Ichika heard and felt the weight behind it. She wondered if he was okay, if something was wrong that he was keeping from her. He kept his eyes forward so she wouldn't be able to read further into it by looking him in the eyes.

His eyes. She remembered then, that time six years ago when they first met and got in a bad situation with that stupid hollow. There was a change in his eyes. Dark and hollow like. She never forgot. She never brought it up either. To spare him and drop it, she pretended like she couldn't tell at all, and let a small, light laugh go. "Guess we're both being put through the ringer."

He finally looked at her then, but whatever sadness he bared behind those soft eyes of his had already been put away. "Yup." He stopped walking, realizing they arrived at his house.

The second they entered the front door and before Kazui could get his 'I'm back' speech out, Ichika was tackled by Orihime into tight hug. His mom was very glad to see her and expressed it fully.

"I knew it! I told Ichigo it was you with Kazui." Orihime said giddily, all smiles.

Ichika smiled. "Yeah. Hey Inoue."

Orihime pulled back then, a childish frown on her face. She held a finger up. "No, no, no! I've told you this already, Ichika. Call me Orihime. You're family."

Ichika nodded. "Okay. Orihime."

"Awwww! You're just so adorable! Come on, I just finished dinner." Orihime guided her to the dining area. Just a split second before she was out of his view, Ichika looked back at Kazui with an out of place look.

After Kazui took his shoes off, Ichigo approached him as he stepped further into the house. "So Ichika is back around, huh?" Kazui showed him a glad expression, but hidden with solemn. Ichigo already knew what his son was feeling. He pulled him into a one arm hug. "Just enjoy the time you have with her."

6 years ago

In the soul society, Byakuya reported back to the head captain with what he discovered. It was a private meeting. Yamato looked to be ready to hear the worse, even when Byakuya hadn't said a word yet.

"What did you find out, Captain Kuchiki?"

That apparently he has a nephew he never knew existed… Last time he checked, Rukia didn't have a son. Unless, he has long lost siblings somewhere? "The spike of reiatsu belonged to an unknown man. He appeared to be a very young soul reaper of some sort, with a Zanpakuto, but he didn't where a uniform."

"You addressed him?"

"Yes. He said he was here to give Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya revealed the Quincy pentacle to the head captain, "this Quincy pentacle."

Yamato stared intently at it. "Did he say why?"

"No. He left…" In a portal… "before I could investigate him more." Byakuya left out the part of him leaving in a portal. He didn't know what to make of it. Maybe it was a means of teleportation somewhere. He didn't see him use his Zanpakuto to do it, but the band on his wrist, he would assume. There just wasn't a clear explanation too what Byakuya experienced. The man he encountered could potentially be dangerous and a threat to them. However… if he was a threat, why would he have anything to do with Kurosaki? Nothing made sense. Figure it out, he said. Impossible.

Yamato exhaled. It was very strange. They had no information on this mystery man, and apparently he had some ties to being a soul reaper. And Kurosaki Ichigo… Yamato did not like to think of the Kurosaki boy actually working with a new potential threat. By the looks on Byakuya's face, he could see that he felt the same, but his reasons to why completely different. Kuchiki Rukia. If Ichigo turned against them, for whatever reason, would she be able to own up to her duties as a captain and fight against him? A sigh escaped him then once the answer hit him harder than any attack received in a battle.

No.

"Do not give Kurosaki Ichigo that Quincy pentacle. He no longer has any involvement with us. And especially if he's found a new involvement with this new comer."

Byakuya gripped the pentacle completely in his hand. "Am I to keep it?"

"Yes. I'm trusting it to you." Byakuya nodded, turned away to leave. "Kuchiki," Yamato called to make him stop suddenly. "Abarai Rukia is not to know of this. Understood?"

Of course he did. "Understood."

Presently, Soul Society

In the Kuchiki manor, Byakuya sat kneeled on the floor in front his deceased wife's sanctuary. His hands together, eyes closed, he prayed for the continuation of peace for her. Wherever she was. Opening his eyes, he took a moment to take in a picture frame of her before standing. Before tearing himself away from the memory of her.

Book cases to the left of him on the other side of the room, he moved close to one section. Byakuya pulled a thick, wide book out. He stared at what was hidden behind it. The Quincy pentacle that he was given. It was hung up, inside against the back wall of the bookcase section. Every time he gazed upon it, his mind could never stop echoing what that young man told him.

'Figure the rest out.'

But what? What was there to figure out? Figure out how he was his nephew? He had asked Rukia before six years ago if there was a child he did not know about. The conversation made no sense to her, and it's not as if he enjoyed asking such a ridiculous question. The taken back, confused, flustered look he received from her was enough self-feeling-stupidity to last him the rest of his remaining life.

Byakuya grabbed the pentacle to observe it better. Why did it need to be in the hands of Kurosaki? Ever since that day, the man never came back. Not a single spike of reiatsu from him. A person would be thankful of that fact. He possibly wasn't a threat to worry about after all. That just meant, whoever he was, will forever be a mystery. Unless… he gives the pentacle to Kurosaki. Maybe it will all become clear.

"Nii-sama," Rukia's voice softly called from behind him. The thought that crossed his mind was an insane one at hearing her. He shouldn't risk it… Rukia went to the side of him. He didn't bother to try to quickly hide the pentacle he held. The second Rukia's eyes laid on it, they widened. She was confused. "Nii-sama, is that…"

"Yes. A Quincy pentacle."

"Why do you have one?" The Quincies were people that brought war to them. Tried to destroy their worlds. Rukia doesn't like to harbor grudges, but… it wasn't possible to think of them nicely anymore, or at a neutral understanding. They loss people. Dear people to their hearts that they will never get back again, because of them. And when it came to Uryu Ishida, she had to admit to herself that there was a time she couldn't think of him exactly the same. She couldn't be around him without remembering he was part of the reason they almost lost everything. But, as the years went on, she moved on from it, and came to peace with accepting him back fully as person to call friend. To see that her Nii-sama has one of their pentacles… really brought out some unpleasant, painful feelings.

"A young man gave it to me, to give to Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya looked away from the pentacle then to see how she would react. From the looks of it, confused as he still was about it.

She shook her head. "Young man? What young man? When was this?"

"You were in the world of the living when it happened, but there was a high spike of reiatsu that had a resemblance to Yhwach's six years ago. I was sent to find out what or who it was, and it turned out to be a very strange young man… Apparently he knew Kurosaki, and had come to give this to him."

What Byakuya explained was a lot to take in and process at once. First of all, six years ago!? Why didn't anyone tell her about it after she got back? She's a captain for crying out loud! You would think she had a right to be informed. And second, this man had reiatsu similar to Yhwach? How was that possible? He could've been related to him, maybe. She was in the world of the living and she didn't sense anything wrong. Whoever he was, he must not have been looking for trouble right away. Lastly… How does he know Ichigo and why did he need to give the pentacle to him?

"Another strange thing he told me… He said that I was his uncle." Byakuya waited for her to react to that one. She still seemed normally confused, but in the next few moments, what that meant sunk into her.

"Is that why you asked me if I had a son you didn't know about?!"

"Believe me, I didn't want to ask such an idiotic question… but I honestly don't know how else he could be related to me."

What was he saying to her? She just came to see how he was doing and talk with him, but she got herself into an entirely left field conversation. Six-years-old conversation! "Nii-sama, whoever that man was, he was probably lying to get you confused. And from the looks of it, I think it worked."

"Rukia…" He held out the pentacle to her, "that's why I need you to give this to Kurosaki." As much as he hates to admit it, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that whoever the man was, he wasn't lying about his ties to him. For some reason that he couldn't explain, Byakuya felt he was important to him. He didn't even know the young man.

Rukia hesitated a second before taking the pentacle from him. She wanted to decline it, but she could see the look in Byakuya's eyes, that he needed her to do this. He wasn't asking. This for whatever reason, meant something to him. Whoever that man was, meant something to him. And the need to find out, was something he could not let go.

"Okay."