I didn't get to post last week because of all the things going on at the school I work at for Easter and the family parties for Easter. But here it is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. If there are any mistakes in grammar or spelling blame my sister, she is the one who checked my story. Thank you for all the good wishes and patience.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 11 Saturday

Chad and Toshiro arrived at Urahara's Shop promptly at 7 Saturday morning. "You're here right on time," said Kisuke. "Everyone will be here at 8; so that gives us one hour to get ready. Captain Hitsugaya please dust, sweep, and mop the shop. Sado, you can help me in the basement." Kisuke went to the basement, Chad followed him.

"Why do I have to take care of the store? I don't know where the cleaning materials are." Toshiro said to the air.

"Here," said Ururu coming in and giving Toshiro a duster and a broom. "The mop and bucket are in the closet." She pointed to the closet then went to the basement.

"I wish Hyorinmaru was with me; so we could pass the time talking together," Toshiro thought as he was dusting the selves.

THUMP! "Ouch! Stupid box!"

Toshiro looked up and saw Jinta in the doorway trying to get a box off his foot. Tessai walked into view behind Jinta a box up on his shoulder. "We don't have all day. The Boss wants these boxes in the basement."

"I'm trying!" replied Jinta. "But the stupid box fell on my foot."

Toshiro walked over and helped Jinta get the box off his foot. "Thanks, I can take it from here."

"I can help you get it to the basement."

"That's okay," said Jinta walking past him toward the basement Tessai was close behind him.

"Just do what the Boss says," Tessai said as he disappeared behind the basement door.

"What is Urahara up to?" Toshiro wondered, "Probably something illegal."

Toshiro was almost done mopping when Ichigo and Uryu walked in.

"Hi, Toshiro," said Ichigo.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya!"

"Is everyone in the basement?" asked Uryu.

"Yes, but I haven't seen Orihime yet," replied Toshiro.

"It's almost 8 o'clock so I'm sure she'll be here soon," said Ichigo going into the basement.

We'll be going to the basement to say hi to everyone and see what they want us to do," said Uryu.

After Ichigo and Uryu went down into the basement Kisuke came out of the basement. "Are you done cleaning the store?"

"Yes," said Toshiro dumping the bucket of water outside.

"Great! Then you can start on this," Kisuke gave Toshiro a pile of papers.

"What is this?"

"The inventory."

"The inventory?"

"Yes, you do know how to do the inventory, right."

"Yes, But…"

"Great!"

"But why do I have to do your inventory?"

"Thank you," Kisuke said returning to the basement.

"Wait!" Toshiro called after. He pulled on the basement door but it was locked. "What are they doing down there?" He pondered. He looked at the stacks of papers. "I suppose the faster I get done with the inventory the sooner I will now."

One hour later Ururu came out of the basement. "The Boss wants to know if you're done with the inventory."

"I just finished," said Toshiro setting the papers on the table of the meeting room.

"Then you can come with me," she said and she walked into the basement.

"Finally," he said following Ururu down to the basement.

The first thing he noticed in the basement was a large obstacle course that looked to be a mile long. Then he noticed the tables. One table had a sign that said judges and a TV. Three tables had an assortment of food. Last he saw a table with a game of chess on it.

"What do you think?" asked Orihime beaming.

"When did you get here?" asked Toshiro. "I didn't see you come in."

"That's because I spent the night here, so I was here before you," replied Orihime.

"So, what do you think?" asked Kisuke.

"I'm not sure what to think," replied Toshiro.

"That's gratitude for you," said Kon in Ichigo's body.

"I was ordered to protect you, and make sure you stayed in shape," said Ichigo.

"Allow me to explain," said Kurodo. He, Noba and Ririn were in there gigais.

"You! Why do you get to explain!?" cried Ririn.

"Please don't fight," said Orihime.

"I'll explain," said Kisuke "First the obstacle course is to help you stay flexible and it well call for a great deal of thinking. The obstacle course will change after you pass it"

"That's because we'll be changing it," said Ririn.

"Next," continued Kisuke, "is hand-to-hand combat with Yoruichi."

"I hope you're up for the challenge," said Yoruichi.

"I'm not very good at hand-to-hand combat," said Toshiro.

"Next," continued Kisuke "Is chess with anyone who will challenge your intellect. Last, Orihime is in charge of your diet to make sure you get plenty to eat."

"Why is Orihime in charge of the food?" Toshiro asked going a little pale.

"Don't worry," said Kisuke. "Ururu is helping with the food."

"What about the judges table?" Toshiro asked.

Jinta proudly stepped up and said, "The Boss, Tessai, and I will be judging to see who is the best at the obstacle course, hand-to-hand combat, and chess."

"Is this something we will be doing every day?" asked Toshiro.

"No," said Uryu. "This competition is for today and tomorrow only, and I will prove that Quincies are stronger the Shinigamis."

"Is that all you think about," muttered Ichigo.

Before Uryu could reply Kisuke said, "Who wants to go through the obstacle course first?"

"I'll go," said Chad.

"All righty then. First, are all the judges ready?"

"Yes, Boss," said Tessie sitting at the judges table.

"I'm ready to," said Jinta jumping into a seat at the judges table.

"Alright, are all the obstacles ready?"

"Ready," said Ririn from a mountain top.

"Yep," said Noba standing at the left side of the obstacle course.

Kurodo was standing at the right side of the obstacle course as he said, "I'm ready, but I doubt that anyone will make it through. This obstacle course is the…"

Kisuke interrupted him "Alright before we start let's go over the rules. First you are not allowed to use your powers, if you break this rule you are disqualified. Second if you fall out of bounds or get knocked out of bounds you must step aside and wait for your next turn." Kisuke sat down at the judges table. "The first one to the end gets an extra 100 points on their score sheet. Last, do not break any of the cameras if you do, not only will you have to pay for it but you'll have to start over or be disqualified. Are the rules clear?" Everyone agreed. "Alright," He said turning on the TV, "First up is Sado Yasutoru, you may begin."

Chad entered the obstacle course. Toshiro could not see Chad after he entered the course because there was a black curtain surrounding the borders of the course. After 30 minutes Chad went flying through the air at the half way point.

"Chad!" cried Ichigo. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"Oh, there is one more rule I forget to tell you," said Kisuke, "You can't discuss what happened to you in the obstacle course."

"Why not?" said Ichigo.

"Isn't that obvious," said Toshiro. Ichigo looked at him blankly. "So you can't come up with a strategy beforehand."

"I think my arm is broken," said Chad. Orihime ran over to Chad and started healing his wounds.

"Who wants to go next?" asked Kisuke.

"I'll go," said Ichigo. Ichigo left his Zanpakuto at the entrance and went in.

"Quincy, what are the mod soul's abilities?" asked Toshiro.

"I suppose it will be all right if I told you, after all the rest of us have that information. First Ririn, the one on the mountain can create illusions. Next Noba, the one on the left, can teleport himself, other people, or objects. Last Kurodo, the one on the right, can change his appearance. When he changes he has a small fraction of that person's ability. For example if he transforms into Lieutenant Abarai he can use Abarai's Zanpakuto's Shikai, but it's not as strong."

"Thank you."

Fifteen minutes later Ichigo fell through the curtains. "Man this sucks," he said.

"It's not our fault you fell for an easy one," said Ririn.

"I won't fall for it next time," said Ichigo.

Jinta was laughing. "You tripped! I can't believe it! What a sucker!"

"Alright Jinta that's enough," said Kisuke. "Now who's next?"

"I'll go," said Uryu entering the obstacle course.

"When I saw the course from above," thought Toshiro "I saw some swinging axes, fences, and stone pillars. There are probably some booby traps. I can't forget the mod souls. The top of the obstacle course is open so Ririn can see where her illusions should be. Noba and Kurodo are moving in and out of the course, that means I'll have to do battle with Kurodo and Noba could be rearranging objects. Without my powers this is going to be difficult."

After 30 minutes Uryu went flying through the air. "Are you alright?" Orihime asked running to him.

"Yes, But my arm is broken," replied Uryu. Orihime immediately began to heal it.

"Ok, who's next," said Kisuke.

"I'm next," said Toshiro walking to the entrance. "Both Chad and Uryu made it to the half way point, but both of them went flying through the air and got a broken arm. So I need to be extra careful at that point. However I'm the captain of Company Ten if anyone can make it to the end on the first round it's me." "Here I go." He walked into the obstacle course and the black curtain closed behind him "I can do this." He could see the swinging axes form the entrance. "There seem to be more of them then what I saw from above." He thought as he walked toward them. He stopped at the first swinging axe. "There are more of them. That means that half of them are an illusion and can't harm me. But which ones are real?" He watched them swing back and forth, but no paths were revealed. "Ok the real axes where equally spaced apart." He looked up at the bars that held the axes. "They're still equally spaced, but the space is smaller, so that means that every other axe is real. Now is this first axe real or an illusion." He watched the light reflect off the real axes. "The first one is real, so I need to run though them now!" he ran straight through the axes; when he got to the other side of them he started walking.

"I wonder what the next obstacle will be," As he thought this he stepped on a tile that went down. "Oh no," he said as he stopped walking and stood ready to fight. The scene around him turned into a vast juggle. He felt the floor under him disappearing. He quickly ran forward. "Noba must be making the floor disappear, and Ririn has made the course look like a jungle but if I run straight I won't fall off the course." Then he stepped on another loose tile. "Now what?" He didn't have to wonder for long because a tiger jumped at him. Toshiro dodged and continued to run from the tiger chasing after him. "This must be where Kurosaki tripped and fell off the course. The tiger could be an illusion but it might be Kurodo so I better continue to dodge it just in case." Finally he ran into the wood fence. When he did the juggle disappeared and the tiger did too. "Now that that's over, what is with the fence? It must be as tall as a one story house. There's no way around it and I don't think I can climb it. I remember that there were several fences facing different directions but this just looks like one fence." He ran his hand down the length of it and found the end of it. "Of course," He said stepping beside the fence and seeing the one behind it. "It's a physical illusion two items look like one because one is behind the other. These fences must make a labyrinth. Noba might move the fences around, and Ririn might make it look like a dead end when it's not. Good thing I don't get turned around easily." He carefully walked through the labyrinth. He walked through three fake fences before reaching the end.

"I must be close to the mid-point by now," Toshiro stopped when he saw what looked like Renji in the middle of his path. "So Kurodo you're going to attack me."

"That's correct," Kurodo replied. "Roar Zabimaru!"

Toshiro dodged the attack. "I need to get past him."

Kurodo/Renji swung his sword. Toshiro ducked and ran past his open side. Toshiro stopped running when he noticed that Kurodo wasn't following him.

"It can't be that easy," He said looking behind him, but he didn't see Kurodo. "Noba must have teleported him, but where will he strike."

"Roar Zabimaru!" Kurodo's voice came from above. Toshiro jumped back, but he jumped on a loose tile and he was sent flying though the air. His arm hit the rod that held the black curtain and broke his arm.

"Ouch," he said when he landed. "I never saw it coming."

"Are you alright?" asked Orihime.

"My arm is broken," he replied

"You too," said Chad.

"Yeah," said Toshiro.

"At least you didn't get further then I did," said Uryu.

"Well I won't fall for it again," said Toshiro.

"There you go," said Orihime. "Now it's time to break for lunch."

Toshiro didn't touch any of the dishes that looked like Orihime cooked them. Everyone was laughing and talking during lunch, but Toshiro sat quietly a little ways away from them. He barely ate his food.

"Ok," said Kisuke after an hour. "Let's see who can pass the obstacle course. We will go in the same order."

Chad entered the obstacle course, and after 45 minutes he came stumbling out. He had cuts, bruises, and a few burns. Orihime came over and healed him.

"My turn," said Ichigo entering the obstacle course. After 30 minutes Ichigo let out a cry of frustration, "How do I get out of this!?"

"He must be stuck at the labyrinth," thought Toshiro.

Another 15 minutes went by and Ichigo went flying through the air. Orihime went running to him.

"Did you break your arm?" she asked.

"Yeah"

"Let's keep things moving," said Kisuke.

Uryu entered the obstacle course. About 45 minutes later Uryu stumbled out a. part of his cape was on fire. He took it off and stomped out the flames. Orihime healed his wounds and repaired his cape.

"My turn," said Toshiro with a sign and entered the obstacle course.

The axes had switched places, instead of a jungle it was mountains and wolves were chasing him, and the labyrinth had changed. But Toshiro had no problems passing them. Renji/Kurodo stood before him. "Roar Zabimaru." Toshiro dodged him, but this time Toshiro did not run past him. "Aren't you going to run?"

"Not this time," replied Toshiro.

"Oh, Then prepare to die!" Kurodo/Renji charged.

Toshiro stepped aside but Renji disappeared. "How do I defeat him?" He walked around waiting for the next attack.

"Roar Zabimaru!" said Kurodo above Toshiro. Toshiro dodged and his foot landed on a loose tile. The tile popped up making Toshiro fall forward to the floor. "I have you now!" Renji was standing right beside him Renji's Zanpakuto came down and Toshiro rolled over bumping into Renji's legs making him fall down. Toshiro stood up and grabbed the Zanpakuto that was loose in Renji's hand.

Toshiro pointed the sword at Renji. "Do you surrender?"

"Yes," said Renji turning back into Kurodo. The Zanpakuto in Toshiro's hand disappeared as he turned back "You win." Then Kurodo disappeared.

"I should only have two or three obstacles left," said Toshiro walking onward. He reached the stone pillars. All but the first one was in water. "Is the water an illusion?" asked Toshiro as he stuck his hand into the water. "Nope," he said pulling his hand out quickly because a piranha tried to eat it. "I guess I need to climb up the pillar and jump from one to the other, but some of them are probably an illusion, and Noba will probably rearrange them as I go." Toshiro climbed the first pillar. He looked at the pillars. "What's the different between the real and the fake pillars? If I had Hyorinmaru I could just make an ice bridge and walk across." He studied the pillars and saw no difference "Maybe they're all real." With that in mind he decided to jump. He made it safely to the first three jumps. That was when pillars began to move and new pillars appeared and disappeared. "Good thing I have a photographic memory, all I have to do is keep watching the pillars I saw when I started."

"You're not going to make it," said Kurodo sitting on the first pillar.

Toshiro ignored him.

"You're going to fall. Ichigo was better at this part then you are."

"I just need to focus and ignore him," thought Toshiro. "Besides I know Ichigo didn't make it this far into the obstacle course."

"I heard you froze the Soul Society."

"It was an accident," said Toshiro still watching the pillars and jumping.

"I don't know what I would do if I didn't have any powers"

Toshiro ignored him. "I'm almost there."

"I but no one wants to ever see you again."

Toshiro stopped and looked at Kurodo.

"You're probably stuck in the World of the Living forever, and no one in to Soul Society even cares."

"I didn't mean to freeze everything."

"But you did, and now no one wants you around. So why don't you just quit."

Toshiro looked down. "I don't know anymore."

"Then just jump into the water."

"I stop here. Get me out, Noba!"

Noba obeyed.

"Can he really just quit like that?" asked Jinta

"Are you okay?" asked Orhima.

"I'm fine," said Toshiro

"I'm sorry," said Kurodo, "I don't really mean it. I was just doing what Kisuke asked me to do."

"How about we break for dinner then play some chess," suggested Kisuke.

"I'll pass," said Toshiro walking away.

Everyone watch him go.

Toshiro sat on the roof. "What if I am stuck here without powers for the rest of my life?"

"I won't let that happen," said Ichigo coming to sit beside him. Toshiro didn't move. "Why are you so depressed?"

"I'm stuck in the World of the Living without any powers, my Zanpakuto is sealed away in the Soul Society, I can't have any contact with the Soul Society, and I am not allowed to make any friends! How am I supposed to feel?"

"Grateful."

"For what!?"

"Friends who have done everything they can to help you, but you can't see that because you're looking at all the things you can't do, instead of what you can do and the fact your friends prevented Central 46 from sealing your powers permanently. Plus, you have friends here who are trying to do everything they can to help you. So stop looking at the limitations!" Ichigo hit Toshiro over the head.

"Limitations?" Toshiro began as he rubbed his head. "There are no limitations." He said softly almost too soft for Ichigo to hear.

"What did you say?" asked Ichigo.

"Limitations are only there to protect our own hearts and the ones we care about. If limitations become a hindrance then it must be discarded."

"Right, so ignore it and move on," said Ichigo. "Rukia didn't let the rules of the Soul Society stop her. Besides I went without powers for 17 months and after I regained them I was stronger, so I bet you will be stronger when you get yours back."

"You're right. I'm surrounded by friends trying to help me, and I won't be without my powers for as long as you were. So I need to ignore all of Central 46 rules and live my life."

They sat there for a while and watched the city lights come on and the stars light up the sky.

They finally went inside were everyone was getting ready for bed.

"We saved you some dinner," said Orihime.

"Who fixed the plate?" asked Toshiro.

"I did," said Ururu.

"Ok, then I'll eat," said Toshiro. "Oh, I want to thank everyone for trying to help me."

"No problem," said Uryu.

"You would do it for us," said Orihime.

"Yep," said Chad.

"It's been fun," said Kisuke

"It was worth watching Ichigo humiliate himself," said Kon.

"What was that!?" said Ichigo.

While Toshiro ate his dinner, they took turns playing chess and talked until bed.

Me: If you review I will give you some of my mama's fudge. If you don't review I will send Kurotsuchi after you.

Kurotsuchi: I knew that Toshiro is a coward.

Me: He was depressed.

Kurotsuchi: That's not an excuse. A captain must press on even when things are bad.

Toshiro: I am the first one who completes the obstacle course, and I am not a coward.

Kurotsuchi: You're lying.

Toshiro: I'm not lying.

Kurotsuchi: Then why isn't that in this chapter?

Me: It might be in the next chapter.

Toshiro: MIGHT!?

Kurotsuchi: Will you do experiments with me now?