Author's acknowledgement to the unknown reviewers:

To unknown reviewer known only as: Golfer guy

I'm glad you like the story, it's nice to know. I am enthusiastic to hear that you think I'm a talented writer, though I'm just trying to do best.

To answer your question yes and no. I say yes because back in chapter 6-9 I was ahead, right now it's no because I'm still working on 16. I think the reason I caught up with myself is because it takes several days sometimes weeks to write 1 chapter (at approximately 7-8K usually more this one was over 10k) but only 5 minutes to submit one. And then I get kinda anxious when I see my reviews (which I do enjoy it's just I wish more people read but that's greedy of me) so it doesn't help unfortunately but hey gotta do my best.

As for the meeting well it's in this chapter…so good luck I guess.

Final note you are actually the second person to write a review from a mobile device, the first being nickstar1991-san back in 11 or 12.

To AfroThunda! [Screams in passion]

…sorry…

Well yeah, but it's Aizen and his planning, not mention that Ichigo did just get out of a rough fight with Grand Fisher and had to contend with a captain who COULD go all the way to 50%. So I hate to say this but defeat was the only believable outcome. Anyway like said meeting is this chapter so enjoy.

Now without further ado, something every gamer has probably experienced at one point or another!


Ichigo's party has been wiped out!

[GAME OVER]

Blackout2010 (throws control to the ground): Damn it! He fucking cheated!

[Main Menu]

New game?

-) Load Game!

Select file:

-) File 1 Ichigo Kurosaki lvl Third Seat: Save point Karakura Town.

Load?

-) Yes

No

Loading complete!

Enjoy your adventure!


Ch. 15 Life and death: New allies!

A fleeting sensation was coming over Ichigo, as he felt intense wind blowing upon him from below and beating against his back.

"up" a voice called out against the screaming winds, causing Ichigo's eyes to squint open against his bodies protest.

"Wake up!" the voice yelled out again much louder than before. Ichigo turned his head and saw the ground slowly approaching meaning he was currently in free fall. His senses slowly catching back up with him, he turned his head forward again, and recognized the passing complexes as the buildings of his inner world.

As he came screaming towards the streets the voice rang out once again. "Ichigo! Wake the fuck up!" the voice easily recognizable as Zangetsu. Ichigo closed his eyes and focused on the voice and before his body hit the ground, his body disappeared from sight.

After a few moments of no longer feeling the rushing wind going on around him, the Shinigami opened up his eyes and was staring into the pale face of Hichigo, who had a smug look on his face.

"Well I'll be damned old man! Looks like that idea of putting away a little spiritual energy for an emergency paid off." The hollow commented, turning towards his other half

"Indeed. Though we're still fortunate enough that Ichigo's body moved on instinct when the slash came otherwise we would be dead for certain."

"Ugghh, what happened?" Ichigo asked the pain he had been feeling still burning inside his body, making his voice sound hoarse

The pair looked back at Ichigo again "Hmph! Simple your stupid ass nearly died, that's what happened!"

The memories of what had transpired began to flood back into Ichigo's mind "Rukia! Senna!" he yelled out having remembered his two friends that got attacked as well

As he tried to get up from the side of the building Hichigo quickly kicked his body back down against the building, causing the man to let out a groan of extreme pain "Tch. Ya see, that's why I should have taken over when those two showed up! I could have at least got you outta there and possible wounded them."

"You know that's…uggh…a no go. If anyone from Soul Society found out that I can let a monster take control of my body… (Pant) (Pant)…they'd kill me on the spot. Especially if that monster is a hollow, we've already discussed this" the man reprimanded to the creature, once again reminding him of their already established cans and cannots.

The 'monster' growled as Ichigo pushed himself back to his feet. When he was fully standing again he looked towards the city sky line and noticed it was a starless night time sky. "What's going on?" the man pointed above him

"It's a small side effect of your near death experience, Ichigo." Spoke the oldest of the individuals "To be precise, you did die, when he attacked you, and we used the spiritual pressure that we had stored for an emergency to restart your heart." He then looked up to the dark sky above "The cold embrace of death turned the sky black, but now that you are alive again, it will return back to its normal colors."

"What about my Soul Chain?" asked Ichigo since the man's strike had come in dangerously close proximity to where it was, which would mean trouble of another kind since if it remained severed he would die.

"It's fine. The son of a bitch almost hit it, but your body twitched enough to cause the strike to narrowly miss." commented Hichigo with his first frown in a long time, though it was mixed with his own feelings of admiration of the captain and his wounded pride from being beaten by said captain. "Anyway forget all the boring details. It's time you get back to the real world, me and pole ass will get you back to running condition."

"Right." Replied Ichigo, as he closed his eyes to return back to the world around him, slowly his body faded and finally disappeared.

Seeing that the king was gone Hichigo scoffed "Tch. Let's hope that jackass doesn't get killed again, we barely had enough power to bring him back."

(Ichigo)

As Ichigo felt himself returning back to the world, he tried to open his eyes to almost no avail, barely opening them enough to see that he was lying on his stomach on the cold ground. Summoning up his strength, he lifted his head a few inches off the ground but inevitable dropped it back down as pain shot through him. Turning his head to look at the ground he saw a giant red pool of blood around him, which he instantly knew was from the ass kicking he just received.

The world around Ichigo slowly started to turn grey and lose its color 'probably because of the blood loss' the Shinigami figured as he felt his consciousness begin to fade again.

The slow pattering of rain began to fall unto his body. 'No! Damnit gotta stay awake!' he chastised as he tried to focus on one thing so he could try and rise again, as he knew if he fell unconscious again he might bleed out and die.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of approaching footsteps echoed down the street and into the downed Shinigami's ears. Ichigo focused his energy on the source, as they kept coming closer. Turning his head to the source he saw the vague form of a tall tanned man with a red amulet around his neck, the man seemed familiar even though he couldn't see the man's face.

The tan man looked at Ichigo behind his glasses, the man then slowly bent over and bowed before the man "Forgive me for this, Kurosaki-san." Before Ichigo could respond back the man's foot slammed into his head causing him to fully pass out from the blow.

The attacker then slowly so as not to agitate Ichigo's wounds any further picked him up and slowly began his long journey back to his destination. Thanking that since it was night time he could use the art of healing kido to heal the man on the trip back.

(SS: Kuchiki Dojo)

Inside the training Dojo of the noble home of the illustrious Kuchiki family, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki was sitting down in a meditative position, with his sword Senbonzakura unsheathed beside him. The man's normal captain attire was gone instead replaced with a simple white robe; his hair was down fully as he opened his eyes with somber resolve.

"What should I do?" the man questioned to the air around him, knowing that no one would answer him as he had ordered for no one to disturb him. The man's normally very handsome face was crossed with deep worry and contemplation, a sight highly unusual for the stoic captain.

His eye closed again as he recalled what had happened that had him in the predicament.

(Flash back)

Word had already spread of Taicho Byakuya Kuchiki and Fukutaichō Renji Abarai return from the world of the living. The two had separated almost immediately upon return to their home, as the captain had ordered that his 'sister' be taken to the penance cell to await whatever punishment would be fall her, the order as expected made Renji's face fall in reluctance but he complied as he didn't want Rukia to wake up and find out aside from what charges would be brought against her but also her good friend was slain for insubordination.

As the man came to the Taichō's meeting hall he was surprised to see that all of the Taichō's we're in line and awaiting his report. The man commenced his trudge to head Captain Yamamoto, along the way he saw the many different facial expression of most of his fellow Taichō's out of his peripheral vision.

He saw the pale sick look of worry on Jushiro Ukitake as he held a certain amount of love and understanding of all Shinigami soldiers which was contrasted by the man opposite of him Mayuri Kurotsuchi would had an insane look of glee on his face from more than likely the chance to examine the corpse of Ichigo Kurosaki and figure out what made him tick.

As he passed by Kenpachi Zaraki and Toshiro Hitsugaya he saw that the young man had a fierce look of thought on his face as the older captain could tell that the boy would hang unto every single word spoken and deduce what would be the best way to prove his good friends innocence if thing turned out unfavorably. The scared man across from him looked like he could care less of everything going on, and only came because their might have been the slight chance this Ichigo fellow and his allies might have more powerful friends to help kill the spirit king.

Passing by them he saw the usually carefree Kyoraku looking with all seriousness a sight that would do his Fukutaichō Nanao Ise proud if not for the tense atmosphere. The man seemed to look back into Byakuya's own eyes and with a reflexive sigh tipped his hat past his eyes in resignation. The blind captain across from his sensed the change in the spiritual pressure of the leader of eight and frowned.

As he passed by his spot, he gave his attention to the giant armored samurai beside him. Though the captain couldn't see into the man's face due to the other wearing a strange helmet, he could sense the larger man was deeply troubled because of the turn of events that seemed to befall Soul Society.

His eyes then landed upon Aizen and Unohana. The woman looked ready to either have an emotional breakdown from all the stress and suspicion upon her idol, teacher and friend. Byakuya knew that his news would only cause more pain for her but if he had to deal with his sister surely she could endure what would happen. The unusually stoic Aizen looked at the man with bated breath for what words he would utter.

Passing by the final gate of Taichō's he noticed absolutely no change in Gin's face as he still had the insane grin on his face as if all the chaos going on was just another day in the park for him. Shifting his eyes back to the other cold captain he saw that while on the surface she held her normal frowning cold indifference, he noticed that she seemed to be restraining herself from someone or something, though even he would never try to gauge what was truly on the mind of the small Chinese captain.

As he reached the end he kneeled down before the Sotaichō who looked intently at the man as he drew a breath and he voiced his thoughts "Tell me Kuchiki-Taicho. After visiting the Human world were you able to confirm if this whole situation was a real threat or was it merely a hoax contrived from a depraved mind of someone else?"

The regal looking man lifted his head up to his superior "Yamamoto-Sotaichō. After going to the human world, I have confirmed that the situation was as such."

The shuffling of feet were soon heard resonating through the dignified hallway, causing everyone to turn and see their 'smiling angel' walking away with her head lowered to the ground in apparent shame. Byakuya himself winced at see the woman seem so dejected, his and everyone else's eyes missed the sharp stab of pain inside the captain of two's eyes.

When the door at the far end closed with Unohana having fled the premises, the Taichō's took a moment to recompose themselves before returning their stare back at the still kneeling Taicho. As Byakuya turned his head back around to stare back at the aged head captain his voice wavered with the tiniest hint of strain "I have arrested one of the perpetrators of this crime, the rest have been dealt with by both myself and my Fukutaichō."

The old man opened his eyes and looked down at the man, his eyes filled with concern, sadness and anger. But Byakuya himself couldn't even begin to fathom why the leader of the Gotei 13 was feeling all of these emotions about the crime. Though he supposed it was because of the level of treachery involved. "Thank-you for your report Kuchiki-Taicho. May I ask the name of the one you brought back?"

The man hardened his eyes for a moment before closing them "…Rukia Kuchiki, sir."

When the words left the man's mouth, a dark calm filtered through the room, as all the captain had either now started to contemplate how far the treachery of Masaki Kurosaki and Ichigo Kurosaki went, the suspicion of fellow Taichō's that might be in on this, a possible fail safe that might lead to a possible second strike, and what to do with the criminal who was revealed to be the sister of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"You are dismissed return to your place." ordered Yamamoto, who Byakuya felt would need to retire soon if more situations such as these were to spread more in the future. As soon as Byakuya returned back to his place the clamor amongst the men and woman gathered ceased as they awaited the words of their leader. "This travesty that has occurred here today, has sullied the name of the Shinigami and right now we don't know who to trust or who is also involved in all of this. So as your leader I am ordering all of you to not let any of this information found here escape this room under possible penalty of death."

"Sotaichō if I may make a suggestion." The ice queen of Seireitei uttered in her blizzard-like tone, her head tilting to show her face which held deep-seated hatred just underneath the surface

"Please speak Soifon-Taichō." The man said, letting slide the woman's outburst since she rarely spoke her mind with the intensity he was sensing inside her soul

"Thank-you Sotaichō." The woman nodded her head before turning fully to face the aged man. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes with a visibly displeased look on her face "I suggest that we make an example of Rukia Kuchiki. If there is more people involved in this then we can't allow them to feel they can get away regardless of social standing, and by getting rid of this person publically it will send a clear message to anyone else who would think of trying something like this in the future."

"If you are opting for the execution of an individual then the only one that befits this crime would be the Sokyoku." The man finished, to which the woman nodded her head. The man looked away from the woman and stroked his beard "All those in favor of Rukia Kuchiki to be executed by the Sokyoku please speak now."

"My vote has already been cast." replied the angry hornet

"She's getting what's coming to her after all, I vote for!" the grinning face of Gin Ichimaru answered

"I could care less. Do what you want with her!" bellowed Mayuri Kurotsuchi personally not giving a damn and just hurrying the meeting along quicker

"I'm with the make up wearing faggot on this one. I don't give a shit unless she's strong, then I'd kill her personally." The bored Zaraki Kenpachi stated, at least getting a self-serving chuckle from messing with the demented scientist. With a sigh Yamamoto split the vote one for each side making things 1 to 3 so far.

"Rukia is a good person, and I don't believe she would ever do such a thing. I request amnesty for her!" answered Jushiro Ukitake, knowing the odds probably wasn't in their favor

"I too call for her pardon." Spoke Toshiro Hitsugaya, getting a surprised smile from Jushiro since he figured himself alone in this "Ichigo Kurosaki, as a friend never involved other he didn't trust and I know for a fact that those two have probably never met before this mission. And I swear if this execution goes through I will be conducting an investigation to prove their innocence." He added, his defiance noted if not futile

"I would normally call for mercy, as it is only the right thing. But to do so would obstruct Justice, I cannot allow that. Please schedule Ms. Kuchiki execution." said the blind Kaname Tosen throwing in his two cents

"I speak for myself and Unohana-chan when I say that Rukia shouldn't be executed, but I do think maybe we can get some information out of her in exchange." proposed Kyoraku, who was really not liking this dicey business he was finding himself in, and wishing he had followed suit like his fellow Taicho and split the moment Byakuya kneeled

"I will have to disagree with you Kyoraku-Taicho." spoke the masked visage of Sajin "We must do what IS right not what our heart FEELS is right. I vote for the execution Yamamoto-dono."

"I too vote for." answered Yamamoto "That leaves us 5 against and 6 for, with only Aizen and Kuchiki to vote."

The serene looking Aizen stepped forward and gazed at Yamamoto "I cast my vote against the execution. She should not have to be dragged down because of circumstances." The man said, unbeknownst to everyone using this calculated move to force Byakuya to choose and knowing he would support the execution due to his sense of honor

"I am afraid I will have to disagree with you Aizen." Spoke the somber voice of said captain, making Aizen smirk on the inside knowing things were going according to plan "She like everyone else is bound to the law. How can we expect other's to follow our laws if we do not ourselves." He turned back to the head captain "Yamamoto-Sotaichō, I bless the execution."

"Very well. This subject shall be passed unto the central forty-six for review. Taichō's dismissed and remember be careful who you trust."

(Flash back end)

Opening his eyes again, the man exhaled his held breathe slowly. He glanced back at Senbonzakura next to him and looked at it for a long moment, before his hand reached up to his robe and undid the center part revealing his chest and abs. With a steady hand he grabbed the sword of his soul and lifted up in front of him with the tip of the blade against his stomach, as he prepared to perform hara-kiri to perhaps save the honor of his family from what Rukia had done.

The blade was still pressed against him about to cut into his flesh when he soon started to think, about Hisana and his parents. He knew that was the reason he was in this dojo about to commit Seppuku for, the very reason for the inner conflict inside of him. That he was either to turn his back on his late wife and her dying wishes or the dying wishes of his parents. The man sighed "What do I do?" he seemingly asked as he lowered the blade back down, hoping for an answered of any kind

'Simple, keep the honor that means most to you.' The spirit inside his blade answered.

"…" not giving an indication he heard the swords response, the man raised his sword again to perform the act, when the knocking on the dojo door got his attention.

"Sir! We need to get to a meeting now!" the voice of Renji Abarai informed to his commander inside, not knowing of his intrusion of the man

"I understand." Answered the Taicho "I will be their momentarily."

Sensing that the man left the handsome leader of 6 picked up his belongings and dressed himself before returning back to duty, the same duty that might have cost him both his sanity and humanity.

(Sometime later: Ichigo)

"Uggh…" groaned out Ichigo as he opened his eyes and saw a dark unfamiliar room to him. Adjusting himself to sit up he pushed the blankets off of him and set his feet against the wooden floor. Pausing for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust he saw that the room he was in had a window across from the bed, which he could see that it was night time out, just below the window was a small work desk that had his Shinigami Hakama hanging from the chair.

The man looked down and saw a white robe was wrapped around him, keeping him decent. Slowly putting some pressure on his legs so he could stand, the betrayed Shinigami collapsed down to one knee.

"You shouldn't move mister." A tiny squeaky voice said

Turning towards the end of the bed where the voice came from, he saw a really young looking girl that looked like the cover page for 'bullied daily'. She was short and scrawny looking with two dark pig-tails sticking from the side of her hair, further adding unto to her darkish appearance.

"Who are you?" his raspy voice questioned weakened from disuse "Where am I?"

The girl was about to speak again when the events that had transpired returned back to the kneeling Shinigami "Rukia! Senna!" he yelled out his eyes looking around the room for any more beds that the others might be in. As he tried to get up fully from his kneeled position the young unidentified girl punched him hard in the gut knocking him back down unto the bed with surprising force

"Sorry, but people are sleeping so you need to be quiet." The girl said quietly, though Ichigo was starting to get the feeling that she was trying to scold him for his outburst. "Please wait here patiently, till I get your doctor."

With that said the mysterious girl turned away and left through the door. Ichigo's hand touched the spot where she hit him and winced since it was the same point that captain's sword had gone through him. 'Better get moving.' He concluded as he unevenly got back to his feet using the desk and wall to support him. When he was firmly secure on his feet he took off the robe he was wearing and put on his Hakama.

After finishing he paused for just a moment "Shit, Zangetsu's missing." He muttered

"There's no need for such foul language sir." A voice called from the entranceway, which was revealed to be the big tan guy with the apron. The man crossed his arms and stroked his chin as he eyed the young man "Hmm, you were able to recover rather quickly; I must say I'm impressed."

"You're that guy from the shop that Urahara runs."

The man touched the walls next to him with his hand and looked up at the ceiling "You mean this shop?" he asked rhetorically and proceeded to push off the wall and walk over to Ichigo

"Where's Senna and Ruk-" he started before he remembered that Rukia…was no longer with them.

Sensing his uneasiness the tan man answered his question "You friend Senna is with her father in the next room over, she been there since yesterday when we picked you up. As for your other friend, I witnessed her being taken away as you we're cut down."

"So you were the one who hit me."

The man nodded "I did and still do apologize but you're moving around would have made treatment impossible, thus you would have bleed out within a matter of minutes and without any spiritual energy to heal yourself with you would no doubt die."

"…"

Tessai uncrossed his arms and extended his hand to the younger man "Since you seem to already know, Kisuke Urahara, the manager wishes to see you. Please come with me."

The two stared at each other for a moment before Ichigo followed the man out of the room. Nothing was said between the two of them as they walked through the hallways. After a few minutes of walking they were back in the familiar room with the table in the center. The revealed traitor sitting in his chair writing on what looked like a newspaper.

"-V.A.N. Caravan. Hehe I'm on a roll." The blond merchant snickered to himself as he continued his cross word

"Ahem." Tessai cleared his throat getting the other man's attention

Kisuke looked up and after seeing them, quietly moved his word scramble underneath the table, so that he could attend to it later, since business came first. "Well, well. Welcome back Ichigo, why don't you have a seat." He offered

Ichigo brushed past Tessai and took the chair across from him, remaining silent to hear what the man had to say "So how you feeling after your narrow brush with death Kurosaki-san?" he asked merrily, when the man narrowed his eyes, the blond leaned back "Still mad I take it."

"What do you want?" he said angrily not having the time or patience to deal with this stupidity

"Calm down." The manager said seriously, flipping from silly and stupid to death serious, which caused some of Ichigo's anger to subside from the sudden whip-lash.

"…sorry." Ichigo apologized roughly tilting his head away from the guy "I was just worried about my friends." He lazily returned his gaze back "So how are they?"

"Well, Senna Kurosaki is still alive; in fact apparently her father was the one I met when I was out strolling the city. Right now I sent him away so he's back at his house, while Senna is resting here since we couldn't risk moving her, and we didn't have any spare place for him."

"How were you just strolling around town without being attacked or sensed by the captain?"

"Well…" the man got up and pulled down his collar which revealed a ruby on a necklace "this necklace, was an invention of mine from a long time ago, it traps spiritual energy within a certain size, this was modified to where it cloaked the person who wore it. So to the other Shinigami I was just another person." He then sat back down in his chair "It's a good thing you showed up first since I figured nobody would ever find me so I had to take these back out again. But I'm getting off track. Senna is fine."

'So was that red gem his invention when he worked with us?' the man pondered silently, marveling briefly at the man's genius. After getting over his silent awe of the intellectual prowess, the recently awoken Shinigami asked "And Rukia?" his worry stoked from their encounter against the captain of six

"Tessai?" the manager asked to his large companion for the answer

"When I had arrived where you were Kurosaki-san, you were alone and dying. If Kuchiki-san was with you, I would assume whatever caused your injuries must have taken her along." The man scratched his beard "Since a Shinigami was close to Senna, I assume that the other one, this Taicho returned to Soul Society." said Tessai drawing an easy conclusion to the missing girl

"Tell me Ichigo what do you plan on doing to rectify the situation?" Kisuke asked, wanting to hear what the kid was going to do now that he endangered pretty much all of the afterlife by letting Rukia get kidnapped since her Gigai contained the Hogyoku and he had sinking feeling of who might be behind it…if it was who he thought it was.

Ichigo turned back "I'm going to clear everything up. This whole thing is just one huge misunderstanding!" he answered since in all honest it was just a huge misunderstanding.

The blond manager lowered his head and shook it in disgust "You fool. Do you honestly think Soul Society is just going to allow you to waltz in there and make your case? In the off chance you forgot they just tried to kill you remember and for what was it that you did exactly?"

Ichigo shifted his eyes away. In honesty he didn't know why his superiors tried to kill him just now, but he was pretty damn sure that silver haired guy had the answerers he needed, since all these events happened immediately after meeting him and losing his communicator and Senkaimon unit. "I don't know, but I plan on finding out."

"Well that's good since I was going to make you get my property that got taken along with Kuchiki-Taicho."

"What 'property' exactly?" asked the strawberry, wary of Kisuke since this sounded like it would be more dangerous than he was letting on

"My Gigai that Rukia has, needs to be returned to me, and since I lost it because of your circumstances that means you need to retrieve It." informed Urahara easily skirting the real reason for needing it, since this kid seemed hot headed enough to go against Aizen and die if he told him the whole truth.

"You're lying. You're mean to tell me that you, ex-Taicho of twelfth Kisuke Urahara, can't make another one." Ichigo responded calling out the scientist's bluff, since the man's brilliance would deem it easier to make a new one rather than enter a lion's den "What are you really after?"

"Does it really matter?" Kisuke queried casually to lull the man's perception with a tactically chosen smoothness in his words, which gripped his attention to not press enough just yet and go along with it for a time. "The way I see it we both need to get to Soul Society, besides you owe me." He reminded the kid of his IOU for saving his life back at the hospital "Think about it, we both know that the reapers are going to try and kill you on sight, so if we're going to both achieve our goals we need to work together."

Ichigo face contorted slightly, knowing that he couldn't talk his way out of this since he had no leverage against Kisuke to make him talk and really needed to get to Soul Society, and couldn't force his way alone since he wasn't strong enough to beat all of the Gotei 13 by himself. "Fine Kisuke." The man grunted begrudgingly "So now that we're going to do this who are we taking and how are we getting there?"

"As for whose going well…a few of us at the shop can go to supervise and assist, Senna Kurosaki can go too, provided both you and her have some training. If you're concerned about actually getting there, I got a Senkaimon creation unit device in the back we can use."

"Wait, you're saying that you had a Senkaimon device this entire time and you never let us use it to get back! WHY!" Ichigo demanded an explanation of the shady Shinigami, since this whole situation could have been avoided if he let them use it when the asked nearly two weeks ago.

The blond lazily waved his hand to Ichigo to relax back in his chair which Ichigo didn't reluctantly. Once again re-sitting and waiting the details Kisuke "Settle down reaper man, the reason I didn't give you guys the Senkaimon unit is because it's the old fashion variety that can't be moved, and is in the training area of our shop, which would require you to see some things I normally can't let you. Then there's the fact that given time the twelfth division could reverse engineer the Senkaimon and discover this location, and regardless of who is here, we can't fight off an unending swarm of Shinigami." answered Kisuke, efficiently and expertly explaining the reason for his earlier lie when the Shinigami team arrived.

"Fine, I get where you're coming from." said Ichigo a moment later, understanding that Kisuke originally assumed that he and his team would get picked up in a few days, without his help.

"Excellent."

"So tell me 'when do we return back to Soul Society?'" the carrot top asked the all-important question

The blond manager got up from his chair and stepped a couple steps away from the table, his mind thinking up a good answer to the question since a lot of variables needed to be taken into account as well as the current situation. "Maybe with a week or so…give or take a few days." He said casually

"A week!" yelled Ichigo pounding his hand into the table "We don't have that kind of time; Rukia could be dead by tomorrow morning for all we know!"

"Sir…" started Tessai breaking the tension between the two of them with a serious look which both of them saw. Finally Ichigo turned his head back down to the table and cooled his jets for a second time, as he awaited a decent explanation from the owner of the shop

Kisuke thanked Tessai with a smirk and wink of the eye before returning back to the disgruntled Shinigami "First off Ichigo, the fact that a Taicho and what I assume is a Fukutaichō came after you means it's something big. So if it's something big it could take a few days before they decide what to do with her. At best they court martial her, drop her a few ranks and put her on probation for a few months, possibly years. Though the good news is that nothing bad happens to her and we get all the time in the world to save her once we're over."

"Always prepare for the worst." said Ichigo, knowing that what he said was the good news, which meant the bad news was coming next

"Right" replied Kisuke as he removed his hat and looked directly into Ichigo's eyes "The bad news." He said darkly "Should they find for something dangerous, they could order her execution. And since they sent a Taicho, it's obviously nothing lenient which means perhaps the Sokyoku, giving us thirty days to get in and get her out."

"The Sokyoku huh?" the strawberry Shinigami snarled 'That's not good. Security will be heavy to make sure she doesn't get out at all.' Ichigo tilted his head back up from the desk to look at his fellow co-conspirator "Who exactly do you plan on bringing, they need to be pretty skilled, since taking a lot of people would be dangerous."

'This guy doesn't trust me in the slightest does he?' Kisuke thought queerly "Well, for your information, I will be going personally since I can't seem to trust you kids with my stuff and more than likely my loving nephew will want to come, and that's really it for the moment."

"So me, you and Uryu. That doesn't sound like our success rate is going to be high, if it's just us." grimaced the soul reaper

"Well, Senna is coming as well."

"No way." interrupted Ichigo "She's a human that-

"They also know her identity." interrupted Kisuke, while somewhat amused that his sense of duty prevented him from recklessly endangering innocent bystander this was not the time nor the place "I'm sure your soul reaper honor and oath of creed asks that you do not endanger innocent souls, but since Soul Society knows who she is, what's to stop them from coming back and dealing with her?" he insinuated, giving just the necessary push needed for Ichigo to sway since essentially if they did die and Senna remained oblivious to the afterlife around her, what was to stop her from being literally spirited away.

The strawberry frowned as he let the information sink in, since there would be nothing preventing Soul Society from sending someone to get rid of her, and while he did want to believe that they would uphold the motto of not endangering others he did have to look at the fact that he and his team [plus one] we're attacked without provocation or to be more accurate set up.

'That means they could just set her up too…' he mentally concluded acknowledging a grim truth

"You have a point." He admitted, getting a casual bobbing of the manager's head for seeing reason. "Still four is not a good number, superstition aside (1)."

Kisuke let out a small chuckle "Don't worry so much. Just get some rest, cause were going to have to do some serious training if we want this to work."

Though he was feeling a myriad of skepticism and uneasiness, the man got up from his chair and bided the men good night, before following the arrows that magically appeared on the floor again back to 'his' room. When he got back to his room, he walked over to the bed closing the door behind him, and laid down on it.

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling, his thoughts scattered yet his mind was focused, focused on everything and nothing. He drifted between the facts of what had happened, the various theories of what may have caused this nightmare scenario, the anxiety of literally charging into Soul Society to save Rukia and clear his name for whatever crimes he was framed for, and lastly his thoughts of how Shaolin was taking this.

The man closed his eyes as he leaned back up and tossed his legs to dangle over the side. His scowling face wasn't the usual 'get out of my face' it typically held but a sad somber look. He gritted his teeth since he knew she was probably angry and most of all disappointed in him, or rather because of the perceived truth of the accusations that probably we're orchestrated by that fox faced Taicho.

'But why?' he asked himself 'Out of all the people in the afterlife, why me? I don't even think I met him before this mission.' Ichigo shook his head and sighed before standing up unto the rug 'well I guess I'll ask him when I get there.'

He walked over back to the doorway to shut the light off when he heard the shuffling of feet, curiously he quietly opened the door to see a man he didn't recognize walk into a nearby door. Opening the door fully Ichigo followed the man into the other room. After entering the room he saw Senna propped up in her bed with the man from earlier sitting next to the bed.

Both of the room's occupants were looking in Ichigo's direction having heard the door open, from what he could tell they seemed to have been in a conversation.

"Ichigo!" the girl yelled as she practically jumped from her bed to embrace the man in a hug, hobbling for a split second from the soreness of her body from yesterday's beating.

"Glad to see your safe." Ichigo let out in a relieved sigh, throwing his arm past her shoulder and patting the center of her back.

"Who are you?" asked the man as he got up from his chair and eyed the apparition who was apparently holding Senna kind of intimately "How do you know my daughter?"

Turning his head Ichigo saw a man who looked to be in his early thirties with spiked black hair and rugged facial hair line. The man was wearing a gray undershirt with a white over jacket and white pants. He had a single small round light blue earring in his left ear lobe and was wearing black shoes. His dark brown eyes narrowed in intrigue before widening just a fraction as if in realization before returning to a normal state.

Senna quickly let go of Ichigo and turned to face her father "Oh, let me introduce you two. Ichigo, dad. Dad, Kurosaki-san."

The man looked at his daughter before slowly a look of horror dawned on his face 'san means '"Mr./s." and he has Sen-chan's last name which means…' the man's face started to contort in anger as he took three hot steps forward and slugged Ichigo in the jaw knocking him to the ground.

When Ichigo looked back at the guy, Senna's dad had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and looked him dead in the eye "You bastard! Who gave you the right to marry my sweet Senna-chan, huh!?"

"M-marry!" a blushing Ichigo stuttered out, not expecting that one, and from the look on Senna's face neither had she.

The man turned around to look at his daughter teary eyed as he appeared ready to start bawling his eyes out "H-h-how could you do that Senna. Waahhh huhuh…sniff. I thought you loved daddy! You even said you wanted to marry me one day!"

"I was six! I couldn't even spell marry back then!" yelled the blushing woman, regretting that her father came to sneak in and visit today. Quietly bringing her hand up in front of her face to hide her mortification.

The man let Ichigo drop back to the ground and stood up and wiped the tears out of his eyes with his sleeve "(sniff) that's ok. I can be a man about it. It's not like having the number one spot in your heart replaced by another meant everything to me."

"Oh dad…" an exasperated Senna groaned out

The man gave a swift inhalation of breath to regain his composure and turned back to Ichigo "You better treat her right, otherwise I'll kill you."

Ichigo lifted his hands up defensively to get the man's attention "I think you have the wrong idea sir. See my last name is 'Kurosaki' as well. So…me and her we're not you know married or anything." The man tilted his head as he seemingly eyed Ichigo gauging the words that were spoken by the Shinigami "In fact we met a little while ago. Some things happened and I ended up saving Senna's life."

"Is that true…?" the man asked turning back to Senna with understood worry, to which she silently nodded her head in confirmation. The man turned back in Ichigo's direction "Well thank-you then, and I apologize for that sir." Senna's dad said briskly as he took a few steps back so Ichigo could stand back up, and be given some space

Once Ichigo was back on his feet, the lone female of the room turned to face her father with a questioning gaze "Hey, dad?"

"Yes, hime."

"Tell me when you could see ghosts?" she asked since she knew for a fact that her father had never once been able to see ghosts before and this sudden ability showing up seemed…off.

"…" the man remained silent for a moment as he went into deep thought as he contemplated what to say. Letting out a tired sigh, he sat down in the chair he had been sitting in prior to when Ichigo entered as he never thought he would have to bring this up. The pair seeing that he was going to speak both sat down on the bed and waited patiently.

"Well Sen-chan I'll be honest…I can't see him-" he started to explain

"But jus-" Senna piped up

The female's father lifted his hand up "Hold up princess let me finish first." Which a nod was given after she looked like she bit her lip to hold back any questions till he was done "Now like I was gonna say. I…can't see spirits, though I can hear them well enough." He said looking directly at Senna "Only reason I know this Ichigo fellow is guy, despite his rather girly name, is because of his voice."

The man scratched his head since he could see that Senna wanted to say something, which was no doubt her pointing out that he hadn't really answered her question yet "I don't know the real reason why I can't see spirits like you, but I think I can tell you why and maybe the reason you two have the same last name."

'What does that mean?' Ichigo thought as he carefully glanced at Senna who was listening to every word spoken intently

The well-dressed man continued noticing Senna's intensity "You see, when I said I adopted you that wasn't completely truthful. You were in fact given to me but…you were handed to me by something I could not see." The man smiled a little "Imagine my surprise to see an infant in a basket floating around in the air, when I went to grab you an intense chill ran through my body and then suddenly I was on my knees."

"Intense chill…suddenly on your knees? That sounds like a death god." said Ichigo which broke Senna from her trance as she looked at Ichigo, as she also started to put two and two together

"Maybe but as I said I couldn't see it, but the voice that spoke to me was definitely a man's. He told that this child was a child born unlucky in the sense that she would be killed back in her home land. It asked of me to raise this daughter as my own even though she had a name."

"B-but you told me that you adopted me from an orphanage…" Senna said in a hushed whisper, her breathing level had elevated so high that it left her winded

Senna's father looked away guiltily "A lie." He said quickly "I didn't want to bring it up as I didn't want to induce unneeded trauma on you at such a young age. When you grew up with the power to see ghosts, I thought it was nothing that couldn't be handled and thought it might go away in time, you know maybe a phase. Guess I was wrong."

Silence followed after the man said his peace. All of the people in the room we're incredible somber, each knowing the others had a lot on their minds as they tried to sort out the truth, lies, and revelations going on around them. Senna's father spoke to again clarify "I'm sorry but that's everything. In fact whatever that had held you that night left me a sword, it's in the back of my hearse and is what I use when I have to perform traditional burials, I can go get it if you don't believe me."

"No, it's not that dad." answered Senna who was still taking all this in "It's just that…for so long I only had you, and then only after nearly dying that I find out I might have a family somewhere." She turned to Ichigo "Does this make us related somehow, Ichigo?"

"I…don't know." A somber Ichigo answered not entirely considering the idea for all it's worth, since he too had believed himself an only child and didn't know of any extended family. Suddenly an idea hit Ichigo, as his brain started to work more and more "Perhaps Isshin."

"Isshin?" asked the purple haired girl, guessing that this Isshin must be a person.

Ichigo shifted his gaze slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable about sharing such information but knew it might be needed to be said "I didn't tell you back at the cemetery, but I have a father…or rather I had a coward who couldn't take responsibility."

Senna frowned knowing what he meant by his words so far while her father, looked away in both shame and loathing. While his eyes quietly glanced to his daughter's back.

"He abandoned me and my mother when I was an infant. So honestly I don't know whatever became of him, but if you have my last name that means you would have needed to inherit it from either my mother, or my dad, and since I was raised by mother that only leaves him. So that would make you either my half or full blooded sister then."

A gasp escaped the human girl at the revelation that she could be part Shinigami, and actually have another living relative…well an undead living relative. The girl looked down at her knees as she started to think of the endless possibilities that could be back in the place Ichigo called home. Maybe there was more family members out there scattered just like she was. "I-Ichigo." She drawled out, desperately trying to control her eagerness

"Yeah…" he responded with interest at seeing something like a small fire burning in her

"C-can I see your home?"

"What!?" the two men yelled out at the same time albeit for two different reasons

The bandaged girl flinched at their tone but didn't let it prevent her from speaking "I want to see your home. If-if we're truly related then I want to know about my true family, I want to know who or what I truly am!"

"It's not that simple Senna." retorted Ichigo as he was feeling exceedingly reluctant to take her to Soul Society, on both the grounds that she could be his last living relative and the fact that they, being him, Ishida and Kisuke, were going on a dangerous mission into extremely hostile territory didn't ease his conscious.

"And why is that!" Senna demanded the answer from the teenager

Ichigo sighed as he leaned against the wall of the hallway cross armed with a neutral expression "I…I don't know why exactly, but Soul Society the place I work for tried to kill us. I'm sure you remember that red headed guy." Senna nodded her head, since she wouldn't forget him for a long time since he almost killed her "And they've taken Rukia back to possibly kill her."

"Then we need to help her!" yelled Senna, not needing another moment or reason to go to Soul Society, since without her she would have died back in the street shortly after cram school.

"It's not that easy, Senna. There are literally hundreds upon thousands of Shinigami, and not a single one of them will hesitate to kill. The chances of our success are pretty low as it is, and we can't afford to have anyone slowing us down."

Having heard enough, Senna got up from her chair and looked at Ichigo with a snarl on her face "You only seem to be giving me reasons to go. You think I'm just gonna sit around and let you possibly die! Brother or not, you're just as important to me as Rukia-san." She quickly darted her head away "As for slowing you down, I promise I won't just give me a chance! Please I beg of you!"

Ichigo sighed since he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to convince her to high tail it, not that she had a choice according to Urahara. Ichigo glanced into Senna's brown eyes and for just a moment he was reminded of Masaki when she was being truly stubborn on something. "…Fine."

"Hold up you two." said a third voice which came from Senna's father, long since forgotten by the two that he was in the room. The intensity that showed on his face reminded Ichigo of a seasoned warrior who was reluctant but resigned with taking to the battlefield again. "If you're taking my daughter, I'm going with you."

"D-dad…" whimpered Senna as she had never seen such an intense or scary side of him like this before. She wondered if that was his own parental instincts kicking in.

Ichigo looked at the man appraisingly, aware that he couldn't be seen and taking full vantage of it, as he continued to observe the man, he didn't sense anything out of the ordinary except for that sudden intensity. Ichigo glanced deeply into the father's black pupils and understood the silent statement they made to him.

Take me with you or as much as I'll regret it, break you in half here.

The Shinigami scratched his head trying to come up with a good way to lose him. As he continued to ponder, he immediately remembered that more than likely they'd end up in Rukongai, he could leave him there when they started things.

"Alright, you can go but I'll need to tell Kisuke." He said finally

"Thank-you, and I assure you, that I will do my best." The dark haired man said, before a thought accord to him "pardon my manners but I don't suppose I've told you my name yet." He extended his hand out in front of his body "Name's Ein."

Ichigo grabbed the hand "Ichigo." Breaking away from the hand shake the Shinigami turned to the female Kurosaki of the group "Get some rest because tomorrow we have a lot of training ahead of us."

"G-got it! I won't let you down!" she said with a smirk as she returned back to lying down upon the bed

"Well…I suppose I should head out as well." Ein chirped since he didn't want to be caught by the owner or his associates since he'd already been escorted off the premises once before

As the two got up and collected their things, they quietly opened the door and left Senna to her thoughts.

'I wonder what's truly out there…' she mused with a tired expression on her face from both the fatigue of battle and after effects of her earlier excitement. Her mind drifted back to the conversation that had taken place in the room 'So I could be the daughter of a Shinigami, and Ichigo is…' she turned unto her side so she could rest 'well…it would be nice. I guess I could call him brother just to annoy him a bit.'

(Ichigo and Ein)

The two men continued through the hallways following the arrows once again, to what each hoped was the exit. After a few more turns Ichigo smirked as the area seemed familiar to him, and adjusting his eyes back up he followed his instincts and came upon the entrance to the Shoten.

Opening the door for Ein, the pair stepped out into the night shrouded parking lot. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" asked Ein, since he wanted a confirmation time to be back by Senna's side and assist his daughter's savior.

A moment of silence passed between them, causing the older man to turn fully back to the young carrot top in curiosity in case he had said a time and he didn't happen to hear him.

"Are you sure you want to do this Ein?" said the Shinigami somberly as he tried to one final time to dissuade the man from going. After all he had a life in the human world and they would be going against death itself.

The black haired man let out a chuckle "I gotta say kid your worries are appreciated but you can stop. I'm absolutely certain that I want to undertake this task. Don't get me wrong if you hadn't helped protect Senna when I was gone, I wouldn't even think twice of offering my help." The man put his hand in his pocket as he smiled "But you did, so I owe ya, kid. So this is the most productive way to help, and if I die, well…maybe you or Senna might live, isn't that what adults and parents are for? Ensuring the future."

The teenager stared at the man before he shook his head, but smiled as well since he couldn't get him to budge an inch. "Alright Ein. You win, come back tomorrow morning and I'll explain how you feel to Kisuke." Ichigo lifted his arm out and clasped the other man's and gave a firm shake

"See ya kid, and whatever happens make sure you don't die." He joked as he turned away and disappeared into the darkness of the night. Seeing that the man was gone Ichigo returned back inside and followed the arrows back to the room he stayed in.

'Zangetsu you in there?' he mentally asked himself to at least know how his partners were doing since he hadn't spoken with them for a while. When no answer was given he decided that a good rest would be all that he needed, removing the upper portion of his Hakama he eased himself unto the bed and within a matter of minutes he passed out.

(Outside the Urahara Shoten)

A figure stood in the night sky looking through one of the windows, spying on its occupant Ichigo Kurosaki. The figure seemed to look on in contemplation, before it glided around whisperlessly, and looked up to the moon hanging in the night time sky.

Slowly a smirk began to break across, the person's face. 'He survived and grew strong yet it seems he hasn't changed one bit. Hmm…I wonder then if my beloved is okay as well. Perhaps I should go visit her…soon.'


1. 4 is the symbol of the underworld as is consider an unlucky number. On a side note some of the more perceptive readers may recall that Senna seating and placement numbers are 4, 9, and 13. All of which are unlucky numbers. Just FYI.


Chapter complete…save game?

- ) Yes.

No.

Saving…

Saving...

Saving complete: Ichigo Kurosaki lvl Fukutaichō: save point Kisuke's Shoten

Blackout2010: Finally geez! (Stretches) alright I'm going out for a walk later…everybody take…a while…

Everyone: Got it!

?: Now, now is my chance!