Three figures walked through the alleys of the Court of Pure Souls, unable to find a single Soul Reaper moving around.
"Where is everyone?" One of the figures spoke aloud, a young man with bright orange hair and light brown eyes. His enormous zanpaktou trapped to his back by a thick red strap, his Soul Reaper uniform differing from the norm with a collar and black X's along his arms and ankles.
"Calm down, Ichigo." A dark skinned woman with long purple hair and bright amber eyes replied with a roll of her eyes. Her black pants fit tightly, the orange shirt over the black top somewhat looser. "Remember, they're busy at the moment."
"Right, something about a prince." Ichigo Kurosaki scratched his head.
The woman, Yoruichi Shihon, turned to their third member, Kisuke Urahara. The eccentric man had a green and white striped hat over his blonde hair, covering his eyes in shadow. His shirt and pants were green, a black robe made to look like an inverse colored Captain's robe fluttered behind him while he stood on tall sandals.
"Kisuke, what are you thinking?" Yoruichi questioned.
"Oh, nothing much." Kisuke grinned, hiding it behind his fan. "I just thought I would very much like to meet the young prince."
"Young prince? Do you know who it is?" Ichigo paused and looked at him.
"I have a hunch, nothing more." Kisuke kept walking forward.
"Kisuke." Yoruichi said in a low warning tone, putting a firm hand on the shopkeeper's shoulder.
"Surely you noticed it too, Miss Yoruichi." Kisuke turned half way, glancing at them seriously. "Shiro isn't anywhere in the Court of Pure Souls like the other Captains."
"Toshiro is the Soul Prince?" Ichigo couldn't help but gape. "I knew he was tough for a kid, but I never imagined this."
"Neither did I, but it's safe to say they found their prince." Yoruichi sighed. "Guess it was a waste coming here then. I'll drop in on Soi Fon and Byakuya for a tease, you boys get moving."
"Hey, I was going to see Rukia and Renji." Ichigo crossed his arms.
"You two have fun; I have a store to manage!" Kisuke waved at them with his fan, grinning widely, before promptly vanishing back to the gate.
"Ichigo." Yoruichi called out seriously before the Substitute could vanish. "I know you and Hitsugaya grew rather close during his stay in Karakura Town. Not to mention his apparent attraction to your sister Karin." She smirked as the teen grumbled under his breath. "His crush aside, perhaps you should ask Rukia and Renji about what all happened between them calling us in and him leaving. That way you can tell Karin something about why he doesn't visit her anymore."
"Yeah, I guess. She had been hoping he'd come play soccer with her and the team Saturday."
With one final nod to each other, they went their separate ways.
As the years had gone by, Ichigo had finally learned how to sense Spiritual Pressure from a good distance away, and found he was lucky enough that the pair he wished to talk to were already together and close by. He let them know he was coming before darting in. They both were looking at the spot he'd appeared in.
"Ichigo, it's been a few months." Rukia Kuchiki smiled, violet eyes shining and short black hair barely waving in the wind, the part between her eyes shifting over to the side.
"Sorry, college has been hell." Ichigo grumbled, approaching to sit next to the black haired Soul Reaper. She pecked him on the cheek then turned to the red head with them.
"Yeah, you would know how that was, wouldn't you?" Renji Abarai smirked. His long red hair was up in a ponytail the tattoos above his brows and on his arms looking fiercer than ever, though the ones on his forehead were covered by a visor of some kind.
"Not something I want to remember." The young man snapped back. "Anyway, I caught wind of what happened. So Toshiro is a prince now, right?"
They both nodded solemnly.
"He had no idea either, looked really uncomfortable with it when he came to say goodbye." Renji explained. "Not to mention Momo is distraught now, she'll be out of commission for a few days at least."
"Damn."
"But he had to leave." Rukia stepped in. "The Royal Guard was with him when he came, and they said someone had been sent to kill him."
"Kill him?!" Ichigo gaped. His gape widened as his friends nodded. "Man, Karin won't be happy to hear that."
"Don't tell her that part, idiot." Rukia frowned. "I'm sure Captain Hitsugaya wanted to say goodbye to her as well, but he wasn't allowed to leave the Soul Society. It was too dangerous."
"Probably didn't want to get her involved." Ichigo nodded in understanding. "Well, he's gone now. Wish they had waited for me."
They sat in silence for a moment, taking in the fresh air and enjoying each other's company.
"Oi, Ichigo." Renji said suddenly.
"What?"
"Since you're here, how about a spar?"
They grinned wickedly at each other and Rukia rolled her eyes. There they went again.
After managing to make Byakuya at least growl fiercely at her, Yoruichi had let him be and went to Soi Fon. The Squad Two Captain was ecstatic to see her, and after admiring the woman for a moment, explained the situation with Toshiro to her former Captain.
"Trying to kill him? Sounds like someone wants the throne and is willing to kill Toshiro to get it." Yoruichi mused.
"I have no doubts about that." Soi Fon agreed. "That's why they were in such a hurry to leave with him. Now the problem is who we are going to get for the Squad Ten Captain position. It's even harder than normal since the Lieutenant is Rangiku, so we need someone who will make her work."
"The only other Soul Reapers with Bankai at the moment, that I know of, are Renji Abarai and Ikkaku Madarame." Yoruichi began to pace. "But Ikkaku won't leave his squad and Renji doesn't seem willing enough to get Rangiku working at a good pace."
"We're searching every possible candidate, but so far those are the only two choices. Either we convince Ikkaku to leave his beloved Captain or we train Renji to be a stronger leader. He argues too much with others to lead them." Soi Fon added on.
"Very true." The two women thought carefully about who they could pick.
"There was one Soul Reaper, the Third Seat of Squad Five, who had recently mastered Bankai. They were thinking of having him take place of Lieutenant Hinamori, but now that there's a Captain seat open he may be able to take it."
"Well, let's see who this man is and see if he's Captain material." Yoruichi grinned like a Cheshire cat and took off, Soi Fon close behind.
The man in question was at the Squad Five training grounds, working to keep up his strength. He was about to use Bankai to practice that when he sensed the Squad Two Captain approach, along with another person he didn't recognize.
The two women appeared and Yoruichi scanned over the man for a physical assessment on the spot. He was tall and well built, if a little thin, with shaggy silver hair and ice blue eyes. Upon closer inspection the silver turned out to be dye, as the man actually had blonde hair. His zanpaktou was currently in Shikai, a long black katana with shadows seeping off of it.
"Kadin Thane?" Soi Fon questioned with authority in her tone.
Realizing a Captain was speaking to him, Kadin quickly bowed.
"Yes Captain, that's me."
"Word has it you've mastered Bankai, if only just a few days ago."
"I…I have." Kadin stood back up, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Is this for the vacant Captain seat?"
"There are three current candidates, one of them being you." Yoruichi explained. "One of them probably won't leave his squad, and the other probably can't handle Rangiku."
"And you think I can?" Kadin grimaced. "To be honest, ma'am, I don't know how Captain Hitsugaya got her to do ANY work."
"Well then, let's hope you don't get the job." The purple haired woman smirked before turning to the smaller Captain with her. "Well, might as well tell the Head Captain that we have another possible Captain."
They vanished, leaving Kadin alone in the field again.
"Oh boy, something tells me I won't like this." He scowled. Sighing, he returned to training. His shadowy blade morphed into a broadsword and he practiced swinging that around some, and then switched it to a short sword.
"Power over shadows?" Yoruichi mused, watching the Third Seat from a distance. "Pretty far off from ice, but I see potential. Maybe he'll get along with Rangiku after all."
"I don't understand." Soi Fon tilted her head.
"Not sure if Rangiku is afraid of the dark but I'm sure Kadin's shadows could give her enough of a scare to get her on track, don't you think?" Yoruichi grinned and took off once more.
Though many were unhappy with the absence of Hitsugaya, life was still moving on and a new Captain was soon to be chosen. If all went smoothly, Toshiro may just pass from their thoughts altogether. A certain pair of Lieutenants begged to differ; Rangiku and Momo both refused to forget the white haired child they knew so well, and a girl in the World of the Living wasn't about to let Toshiro off the hook until he at least came to say goodbye.
Just a little of what happens after Shiro leaves for the Soul King's Realm. Kadin is another OC of mine, as I wasn't confident with making one of the others Captain. Though, he'll probably make someone angry. Oh well, I can't please everyone. Anyway, just spoiled that. The next few chapters will be focused on Toshiro so the Soul Society will be kind of...unknown for a while. Don't worry, they'll come back. Enjoy!