Chapter 11

Ichigo found himself covered in snow. As he picked himself up he found that he was almost entirely covered with the frost, he lifted his head to his utter amazement he couldn't see past his nose. He was in the center of a blizzard, all around him was snow. The sky was a grayish blue and snow whipped around like a winter wonderland except for the fact the snow was piling upon inches in a rather quick time. He looked down at himself and realized his wounds from that beating had gone. He must've died. He looked down at his feet and saw his Zanpaktou lying between them almost obscured by the falling snow. He found himself walking aimlessly until the statue of a mighty beast stood before him. It took him a moment to realize the statue was not a statue? Upon closer examination he could tell it was the Demi Hollow he had been fighting but encased in ice. He looked at it in all and held his hand up to inspect it but the moment his fingers grazed the ice a thunderous voice said, "SHATTER!" The Hollow exploded into millions of ice particles that simply fell into the knee deep snow.

"Ichigo..." a soft voice cooed. Ichigo turned and through the blizzard he could make out a faint silhouette that seemed to be walking his way. He lifted his katana to attack but he felt his own weapon become heavy. He eyed the blade and to his confusion noticed a heavy concentration of snowflakes around it.

"What the hell is going on?" he spat.

"Ichigo. Relax." the voice whispered again. He turned and there stood Rukia. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His mouth dropped, quite literally as his eyes couldn't turn away from her. She wore a long white gown that seem to be fused with the snow around it along with white fur hemming on her wrist cuffs and neck. She wore a hood that also had white fur lining around it and what really surprised him was her figure was clearly evident. Her curves ranging for her chest to her waist to her thighs revealed that she was indeed a woman. Her demeanor changed as well. The way she held her Zanpaktou was weird. She held it with both hands, which had been covered with black gloves, behind her back and her hips leaning to one side. Sort of like a lusty pose in a sense. She stared at the ground, her black hair now revealing strands of white that fluttered in the cold wind. Ichigo leaned slightly to get a better look of her Zanpaktou which had also changed for the exotic. The tip of the blade curved upright dramatically and the ribbon that had once been tied at the end was even longer but now it was wrapped snuggly around her right arm. She finally lifted her head to him, her cheeks bright red.

"I hadn't expected this." she said. Her voice resonated throughout the area like an echo under a bridge. Ichigo could only stare. His mind totally absent. Rukia noticed quickly and in a quick motion snapped her katana from its sheath and forced it in again. This slight motion caused the blizzard to suddenly fade away. However, it did not stop Ichigo from staring at her. She began to grow annoyed.

"Ichigo!" she shouted.

That seemed to snap him out of it.

"Yup? Yeah? What are we going to do now? I think we should head that way or something..." he said stumbling through his words. She could only shake her head.

"Idiot..."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" he snapped.

"Apparently you." she retorted.

"Anyway," he continued trying not to linger his eyes on her body, "What do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? We need to find out why they're appearing all of a sudden." she said turning from him.

"Oh, It would seem as if you killed my children..." said a darkened voice. Both shinigami turned to see Orihime standing several feet behind them.

"Inoue, nice of you to join us. Hell, I thought you skipped town." said Ichigo. He went to take a step forward in her direction but was soon stopped by Rukia who stepped in front of him.

"Wait, Ichigo. Something is not right." she said gripping the hilt of her Zanpaktou with one hand and the sheath with the other.

"What you talkin' Rukia? It's Inoue." he said. Rukia lowered her hood.

"Ichigo, don't be an idiot. I can feel my bitch-o-meter going haywire and it's coming from her." she said.

"I'm a bitch, huh? That's too bad. I was beginning to like YOU!" she bellowed. A black aura formed around her and from the black depths a pair of sinister hands emerged.

"Holy shit... I was not expecting that..." whispered Ichigo.

"I told you. Something is up. The Demi must have control of her. We are going to have to fight."

"Are you kidding me? We can't hurt her." he said.

"Ichigo, if you honestly think we're going to get anything accomplished we have no choice but to fight and hope Inoue doesn't get that hurt in the process." she said.

"LIKE HELL YOU CAN!"

The dark hands materialized sharpened swords and held them for attack but before either could strike another person joined the fray.

"B-brother?" said Rukia. Before them stood Byakuya holding his Zanpaktou in hand. The sudden entrance of another shinigami caused Orihime to take a step backward. She hadn't anticipated the arrival of another shinigami.

"How the hell did you get here. There's a spiritual matrix all over this continent. How did you manage to get through?"

Byakuya looked at the estranged woman and said, "You fail to realize that a spiritual matrix blocks communication and not travel. Even a simpleton wouldn't be able to make that mistake."

"Fuck you!"

She launched an attack but was quickly thwarted when several more unexpected guests appeared itching to pick a fight.

"Yoruichi? Urahara?" said Ichigo.

"There's no use fighting here." said Yoruichi, "She's only a distraction. We need to go now."

Ichigo couldn't understand. A distraction? A distraction for what?

"What the hell are you talking about, Yoruichi?" he asked but his question was quickly ignored as she turned to Urahara and said, "You sure you can handle this?" He nodded as he adjusted his hat and withdrew his Zanpaktou.

"I take it you're ready, Kuchiki?" he said. The shinigami only nodded as he withdrew his own Zanpaktou. Yoruichi turned to Ichigo and Rukia who stood confused and slightly annoyed.

"Let's go. I'll explain later."

Moments later Rukia and Ichigo found themselves at Urahara's shop not knowing the exact reason they were being called there for. Both of them had already gone back to their original states as they entered. They followed Yoruichi as she lead them down to Urahara's training grounds. The question that kept entering both their minds was what the reasoning behind the sudden intrusion in their fight? How come they didn't show up when the attacks first began? Ichigo could only think as they finally entered the training grounds only to hear the chatter of many people talking. As they climbed down the ladder to ground level of the grounds he turned and what he saw next nearly caused him gasp in both surprise and awe. Thousands upon thousands of Shinigami stood. All thirteen divisions were there and many upon many of the trainees and other associates. Ichigo could see Kenpachi sitting, holding his sword in a bored manner whilst other Gotei commanders stood in wait for further instruction. Soifon, Retsu, Sajin, Shunsui, Toshiro and Mayuri all stood in a rather anxious stance. He scanned the area again and saw both Chad and Ishida as well.

"Yoruichi. What's all this? You building an army or something?" he asked. Yoruichi turned to him and said, "That's exactly what we're doing."