Chapter 5:

Ichigo banged his head against the wall outside Ukitake's office. It wasn't that he hated the idea of going to the city in America. He just wished that he had been given a little more notice. Though his sisters were used to him disappearing all the time, Ichigo felt bad about not telling them that he was leaving. To the best of their knowledge, he was coming right home after school. He hoped they wouldn't worry.

He banged his head again. He wished they would give him the information about this mission rather than leaving him in the dark like this. What was this mission about? Why did they need so many people? Why did they have to travel so far? What was going on?

He dragged his forehead along the wall until he hit the support beam. It would be nice to see Linnette again after so long. And she did have a nice house. Victor and Cedric would handle everything. Just being around them seemed to ease whatever stress there was in the atmosphere. Linnette always made a game out of everything. Her childishness helped Ichigo to calm down and remember what it was like to be a kid again without any cares or worries. Just play.

"Oh, Ichigo. There you are."

Ichigo took his head off the wall and looked up. "Yeah?"

Ukitake handed him a piece of candy. "I haven't seen Akon for a while, but I hear that he's working so hard. I passed him by earlier today in the hall but he was in a rush. He was carrying some food with him. Poor guy must have to eat in the lab because of all the work Squad 12 is doing. I was hoping that while you're waiting for everyone to arrive, you could take that to him as a gift. I promised him that I would get him something. It's not much but I wanted to cheer him up somehow."

Ichigo took the colorful piece of candy from the Captain and nodded. "Oh. Sure. I guess I could do that."

"Thanks. I would do it myself but I haven't been feeling my best lately. I don't want to collapse and have everyone worry about me."

"No, that's ok. I'll do it. Not a problem." Ichigo stuck the piece of candy into his pocket and left. Thanks to what had happened a few months ago, Ichigo was pretty familiar with the 12th Division's laboratory. He knew how to get there without being told.

Ichigo walked all the way to the Department of Research and Development by himself, the candy tucked safely away in his pocket. He would have made better time had he been in Soul Reaper form, but he didn't feel like changing and leaving his body laying around somewhere. He entered the lab. He blinked letting his eyes adjust to the darkness after coming in from a sunny afternoon. Everyone was rushing around, calling out orders to each other and assembling large objects. It was impossible to tell what they were until they were completely put together.

"Excuse me," he called to a Soul Reaper. "Have you seen Akon?"

"Over there, in that lab room."

"Thanks." Ichigo walked over to the room. Before he entered, he could hear Akon's voice barking orders to another Soul Reaper.

"Take those over there. And you, bring that to research room 45b."

Two Soul Reapers left the room, brushing past Ichigo on his way in. There was Akon, talking with another Soul Reaper with brown hair. He was helping him assemble a cylinder machine in the middle of the room. "Over more. Over, over… Lift up. With your knees. That's it. Over, over. Set it down." The large piece fell into place with a heavy thunk. "Good job. Nice work. Now would you bring me those jars over there, please? And that hammer?"

The Soul Reaper went across the room to a table in the back. Akon stood up, cleaning off his hand on a rag. He started over to the table near the door where Ichigo was standing.

"Hey, Akon."

He looked up. His eyes widened when he saw Ichigo. "Uh…" He looked over his shoulder and then back at the teen in front of him. He tossed down the rag and ran up to him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Captain Ukitake asked me to give this to you." Ichigo pulled out the candy.

Akon didn't even look at it. "I don't want it. I don't care. Leave. Now, Go!" He started shoving Ichigo towards the door.

Ichigo wiggled away and stood on the other side of the table. "What the hell? Is there something you don't want me to see?"

"No. Nothing like that." Akon kept making nervous glances toward the Soul Reaper in the back. "You can go now."

"At least take the candy. I don't want it."

"Ok, I'll take it. Just leave now, ok?"

Ichigo started to walk around the table. "Sheesh. What's your problem?"

"Here are the things you asked for, Akon."

Ichigo stopped. That voice…

"That's good. Set them there, ok?"

"Ok."

Before Akon had a chance to stop him, Ichigo turned his head towards the familiar voice. He knew he had heard it before. He looked towards the Soul Reaper by the next table, setting down the jars and hammer he was asked to bring.

Ichigo's eyes widened. He looked at the face revealed behind the shadow of brown hair and lost his ability to speak. Seeing that face again caused his limbs to stiffen.

That wasn't a Soul Reaper. Though he may have been dressed as one, Ichigo knew better. That was no Soul Reaper. It was an Arrancar.

It was Veneno.

His pounding heart felt like a caged animal trying to burst free from his ribcage. Each heartbeat caused a piece of his memory to come flashing before his eyes. That face. That sad lonely face. That twisted sadistic face. That angry pained face. Veneno's face. The face of the man he killed.

Now he was standing right in front of him, alive and well.

Akon grabbed Ichigo's arm and pulled him away. Ichigo in turn grabbed Akon's and held him in place. "What the hell is going on around here?" Ichigo hissed. "It that… Is that Veneno?"

Akon bit his lip. "Yes. It is."

"How?!" Ichigo's heart was pounding in his ears, making him feel dizzy. "I thought… I thought I killed him. Didn't I?"

"Well…" Akon looked down momentarily. "More or less."

"How did this happen? What happened? How is this possible? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with this decision. This was all Mayuri's idea. He's the one who did it."

"Why the hell would he do such a thing? What the hell is wrong with him?"

Akon twisted his jacket free from Ichigo's fist. "He wanted to see if he could. Look, I wasn't given the details. I have no idea if the Captain brought him back to life or if he had cloned him or what. All I know for sure is that he is not of Gigai technology. His mannerisms and physical being aren't consistent with it. One of the other two must be it…"

Ichigo couldn't believe it. The man he killed… the man who had brought suffering to so many people and brought the Soul Society to its knees and turned so many people into Hollow Reapers… was alive again. Ichigo had always regretted killing Veneno, taking pity on him after how much he had suffered and continued to suffer, but knew that he had no choice. He had killed him. And here he was, walking around as if nothing had happened.

"I don't… understand…" he breathed. "How… could… Why..?"

"It's like I said. It was the Captain's idea. Not mine."

"But why would he want to? Surely he knows how dangerous he is!"

"Actually…" Akon moved closer to whisper to Ichigo. "This isn't the same Veneno you knew before. He has no memory."

He stopped breathing for a moment. "What?"

"Total memory blank. He has no idea about anything. Clean slate. Hell, I had to show him how to eat. Thank God he knows how to dress himself now. I've been keeping an eye on him and taking notes on everything he's been doing."

"So…" Ichigo looked over at the man cleaning up a spill on the table. "He doesn't remember anything..? At all?"

"Not a thing. So it's safe to say that he doesn't know what happened those months ago. You know… The Hollow Reaper thing."

"What about his powers? His cloning ability and infecting other people?"

Akon shrugged. "Actually, I don't think he has those powers anymore. He didn't have a sword with him when he came to, so I doubt he would be able to. He hasn't shown any ability to do so…"

"Won't the other Soul Reapers get a little, I don't know, panicky when they see a freaking Arrancar walking around who turned them all into Hollow Reapers and had them attacking their friends and whatnot?"

"Actually, most of the Soul Reapers had never seen him in his Arrancar form so no one knows what he looks like. And if anyone does, everyone has a huge memory blank so they wouldn't know anyway."

Ichigo lowered his head. That made sense. As long as his mask fragment was kept hidden no one would know. Besides, his Spiritual Pressure was strange. Most of the time it was as if he didn't have any Spiritual Pressure. He was dressed like a Soul Reaper so everyone assumed that he was. This could work.

"Just don't tell anyone, ok, Ichigo? This experiment was supposed to be kept a secret. If word gets out Mayuri's going to be in a crap load or trouble and I can only imagine what's going to happen to me just for following orders. Can I trust you not to say anything, Ichigo?"

Ichigo frowned. "Well…"

"Promise me!"

"Ok, ok! I promise," Ichigo said without thinking. Now that he had given his word, he couldn't go back on it. "I won't tell anyone. I promise I won't say a thing."

"Good." Akon let go of Ichigo's wrist which he had been holding this entire time. "Thanks."

"Yeah." Ichigo looked over at the new Veneno. This one did appear different. It wasn't his outfit. It was his expression. He actually looked… happy. Ichigo had never seen him like this before. "So… he doesn't know anything? He doesn't remember anything from that time?"

"That's right." Akon scratched his ear. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Uh…"

Before he could answer, Akon called him over. "Hey, Veneno. Come here a second, would you?"

Veneno set down what he was doing and hurried over. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I want you to meet someone." He pushed Ichigo forward. "He's a good friend."

Veneno stepped forward and then stopped, staring at Ichigo. He looked Ichigo up and down. When he got to Ichigo's face, he stopped, staring. There was something about this boy that was so familiar to him but he couldn't understand why. They had never met before. Right?

Akon placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "This is Ichigo."

The moment he heard that name it was as if someone had stung him in the back with a high voltage wire. Veneno went rigid and began to tremble. His eyes widened, staring into Ichigo's brown eyes. Ichigo watched as Veneno's pupils rapidly shrank and then… he screamed.

"Huraaagh!" Veneno clasped a hand to his skull as if in terrible pain and hunched forward.

"Veneno?" the two said at once.

Veneno cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Ichigo ran forward and took Veneno's shoulders in his hands, trying to comfort him.

"Veneno? Are you ok?"

Veneno's free hand reached up and grabbed Ichigo's wrist. "Ichigo… Kurosaki..!" he snarled, sounding as if he were about to tear into him like an angry bear. Then Veneno's grip went lack and he slowly lifted his head, looking up at him.

Ichigo expected to be met with the surly eyes of the Arrancar he once knew, but instead he was met with soft green eyes, almost child-like. Veneno tilted his head to one side and slowly let his arm fall to his side, his fingertip brushing his bangs off his mask fragment for a moment.

"Are you ok?" Ichigo asked, genuinely worried about him.

"Y-yeah… I think so…"

Akon came and knelt beside them. "What happened to you just now?"

"I don't know. My head started to hurt really bad. But it went away now."

Akon took out a notebook and a pen. "Does that happen a lot to you?"

"No, not really. Why?" Veneno suddenly looked worried. "Is that ok? What does that mean? Am I sick or something?"

"Uh… No. No. You're not sick. Just a headache. Everybody gets them."

"Really?" Veneno seemed to take Akon's word for it. Ichigo helped Veneno to his feet and brushed him off. Veneno looked back at Ichigo's face, studying him. "It's strange…"

Ichigo looked into his green eyes.

"It feels like… I've met you before somehow." He moved closer. Ichigo could feel his hot breath on his chin as Veneno leaned into his face. "You're name is Ichigo, right?"

"Yes," Ichigo answered.

Veneno moved back. "Ichigo…" He looked down and repeated the name three more times to himself before looking up with a smile. "My name is Veneno."

Akon flicked Veneno in the back of his head. "Are you ok now? No pain?"

"Not anymore. I'm fine now."

"That's good to know." Akon wrote something down then closed the notebook and tucked it back into his jacket. "As long as you're ok…"

Ichigo looked Veneno up and down. He really didn't remember him. But that headache was strange. Ichigo didn't like it. It looked excruciating. That was unlike any headache he had ever seen before. His hand brushed against something on the table and he remembered the whole reason he came here in the first place. "Oh." He handed Akon the piece of candy. "This is for you. From Ukitake."

"I said I didn't want it."

"I'm just the delivery guy. Take it so I can leave."

Rolling his eyes, Akon took the piece of candy. He glanced over at Veneno who was eyeing it curiously. "You want it?" he asked, holding up the wrapped piece of candy.

"I don't know what it is."

"It's candy. You eat it." He handed it to Veneno. He sniffed it and opened his mouth to take a bite. "Uh, you have to unwrap it first."

"Oh. You don't eat this part?"

"No. That's just the wrapper."

Veneno held the candy in his hand and started to poke at the wrapper.

"It's easier if you open it like this." Ichigo held up his hands, holding an invisible piece of candy between his fingers. "See. Hold it like this. Hold those parts in your fingers. And then give it a pull, like this." Ichigo pulled his hands in opposite directions.

Veneno mimicked his actions and unwrapped the candy with ease. He reached inside and took out the brown ball in his hand. "Now I can eat it?"

"Yup. Go for it."

He looked down at the piece of chocolate and popped it into his mouth. He started chewing. This flavor was new to him. His eyes lit up with glee. "This tastes so good. What's it called?"

"Chocolate."

He swallowed the candy with a smile. "Do you have anymore?"

"Not right now."

"Oh." Veneno looked disappointed.

Ichigo remembered where he was going and knew that Linnette always stocked up on sweets. "But I can bring you some later. If you don't mind waiting a while."

Veneno looked pleased and nodded. "Sure. Bring more, please. I really like it."

"Sure thing."

More Soul Reapers entered the room. "Is Ichigo in here? Rukia is looking for you. Something about an assignment."

"Oh, yeah!" This had taken longer than he had thought. "I've got to go. See you guys later."

"And remember…" Akon drew a line across his throat. Ichigo got the message and left giving him a nod. He was to tell no one.

"So is everyone clear on this mission?" Hitsugaya asked the group of Soul Reapers waiting by the gate.

Ikkaku balanced his sword on his shoulder, looking the other way. "Want to give me the gist of it again?"

Groaning, Hitsugaya went over their mission once more. "You are going to enter the World of the Living and keep an eye out for strange Hollow activity. Understand? So stay together and keep an eye out."

"But so far?" Yumichika said, brushing his hair aside with a flick of his wrist. "We've never really had to travel this far before. I mean, most of us have never been to New York. I know I've never been."

"Actually you-" Ikkaku threw his hand over Rangiku's mouth before she could say anymore. It was a long time ago, but Yumichika had indeed been to New York before when he was possessed by a Hollow. After the Hollow abandoned his body, Yumichika was left with no memory of his time doing the Hollow's will. They all decided that it was best not to tell him. Rangiku remembered that that information was supposed to be kept a secret and fell silent. Then she gave Yumichika a big smile, clapping her hands together. "I'm kind of looking forward to it! New York city is supposed to have great shopping centers and a wide variety of stores."

Yumichika's head turned. "Really?" The promise of new clothes and styles was too much to pass up. Within a matter of seconds, Yumichika's smile was about a wide as hers. "Well, alright, then. Now that you say that, it could be nice to go on a little trip and do some shopping."

"This isn't a vacation," growled Hitsugaya. "You are going on a mission, not a shopping spree."

"Aw, Captain…" pouted Rangiku. "Can't we do both?"

"Just do as you're told for once and stay out of trouble!"

The Senkaimon opened up behind them. Everyone turned.

"We've arranged everything. You're going to be dropped off in the city. Stick together and don't do anything stupid."

"Why are you looking at me, Captain?"

"I wonder…"

Rukia bowed to Hitsugaya and took the lead. "Don't worry, Captain Hitsugaya. We'll all be very careful. Won't we?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ikkaku started through the gate. "Let's get this over with."

Yumichika followed after him with Rangiku not far behind. Ichigo was the last one to enter. There was a lot weighing heavily on his mind. He still couldn't believe that Veneno was back. He was more worried than he was surprised, he soon realized. He didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

The gate closed behind them and Hitsugaya stepped back with a sigh. "I can't believe they actually bought that…" he said to himself. That mission was a bluff. He and the other Captains were ordered to tell that lie in order to get Ichigo out of Karakura Town. Those Soul Reapers were sent with him for protection.

Something strange was happening and no one was sure what it was. Whatever was happening, it had something to do with Ichigo. Hopefully removing him from Karakura Town would keep people from getting hurt.

Anyone think it's a good idea to let this group wander the streets of the big city? Yeah, I thought so...

Please review! ^-^