Days passed and everyone in the thirteen Gotei fell into a state of grim anxiousness that nothing seemed to alleviate.

It was as if they each had a dark cloud hanging over their heads. It simply seemed to affect everything. Their moods. Their behavior. Those who were usually very energetic became listless, and simply sat somewhere out of the way so that they could stare blankly at random things.

Why some even locked themselves in their rooms and refused to face the world until Ichigo Kurosaki was finally there. Which meant that certain duties went without being done. Not that the head Captain cared any right then.

He had been sitting at his desk for the past few days with a bottle of sake next to him, and several others littering the floor of his office as he tried to think of what to say to the human child once she arrived there.

Especially now that he had all of the information that he had been lacking the other day when he'd spoken to Renji. They were the reason that Ichigo was dying. Well, maybe not direction responsible. But they were at least part of it.

The truth of the matter was that Ichigo's physical body had sustained quite a bit of damage ever since she had gone to Hueco Mundo to save her friend Orihime Inue from Aizen's grasp. And while there, she hadn't been able to shed her human form quickly enough when she had been attacked and had been forced to fight while still entirely human.

Sure, it wasn't exactly her fault. After all, she had probably believed that she would be able to change into a Soul Reaper fast enough to prevent so much damage from being done.

But since she wasn't able to...the damage to her body and her organs had been substantial. It hadn't helped her any that her usually quick ability to heal had taken a massive hit when she had cast her powers aside to stop Aizen.

And without her abilities to cycle through her body as it should have because it had become weaker and weaker before eventually vanishing altogether...the loss had simply made her already precarious situation that much worse.

It was still upsetting to him to know that the child hadn't bothered to tell anyone this. Not even after her abilities had been regained during the Kugo incident. But there was nothing that anyone could do about it now.

Her body was giving out and had been for more than two years.

Two years that had been wasted because she didn't want them to know about what was happening to her. Yamamoto couldn't help but wonder if she had refused to let anyone know because she had simply wished to die once she became powerless and couldn't do anything for any of them anymore. However, his more sensible half doubted that they had been a true contributing factor.

He had always believed her to be an intelligent child. One filled with such hope and promise. Her future should have been her own!

So why? Why had she allowed herself to deteriorate so much without reaching out to them for help? He had thought that she knew that they would do all that they could for her if she truly needed them. But perhaps he was wrong.

All he knew now was that the situation could have maybe been diverted, and her life spared. At least for a bit longer. She needn't have to die while still so young.

It was painful for him to admit, but he figured that maybe she hadn't reached out to them and sealed her fate because she simply didn't wish to bother them with her 'human' business.

After all, they were fairly busy with their jobs. Killing Hollows and maintaining the balance between the worlds and stuff.

Even so, he was fairly certain that if he ever found out that that was the actual reason for her death, he was going to destroy something. And he knew that he wasn't going to be alone in his sentiments either. He would likely be joined by everyone that knew the girl and considered her a friend.

Which was a very large number of people. All of whom were already disturbed by the fact that she would be joining them soon.

Sighing, he glanced over at the bottle sitting within his reach and idly thought of going ahead and finishing it off. But was reluctant to do so since he worried that the girl may just appear while he was sloshed. And that wouldn't be good since someone had to talk to her and let her know what had been decided.

He just hoped that she didn't mind all that had been decided since there was a reason for it. But he also knew how willful she could be as well. But he was already sure that he wouldn't hold it against her if she questioned his motives or decisions.

It was her right to do so, after all.

Sighing for a second time, he went back to eyeing the sake bottle again, thinking that it looked awfully good to him right then. Especially since he was beginning to give himself a headache and just wanted to drink a bit and see if it helped him any.

However, the moment that he reached for the bottle, a Hell's Butterfly came fluttering into his office to announce that Ichigo Kurosaki had finally passed away. And gritted his teeth against the flood of various emotions welling up within his chest, he ruthlessly shoved them aside to focus on his next task. Assembling the others so that they could all be present to greet the girl when she finally made her appearance.


A life full of promise and potential- gone. She thought to herself as she waited outside of the hospital for everyone to clear out of the room that she had been residing in for the past month or so.

But from the way that everyone inside kept wailing and carrying on, it was likely be a while before the room was finally cleared.

Not that it mattered any to her though. Right then she was simply waiting for Kisuke to show up so that she would have someone to help her get to the Soul Society since she was so weak now due her injuries that she knew that if she tried to go ahead on her own, then she likely wouldn't make it very far before she collapsed.

Thankfully, her godfather didn't keep her waiting for very long and appeared next to her a few seconds later. Probably because he had just received the call from her dad to let him know that she was ready and waiting for him to escort her to the other side.

He looked at her with a grim expression on his face and didn't even say a word. He didn't need to. She knew damned well that he was sad and hurting over her human life being cut so short. Yet even so, he still opened his arms and stood there waiting for her to come to him.

And once she did, he wrapped his arms around her too thin body and hugged her tight. Both of their hearts aching from the new task ahead of them, he held her for a few heartbeats, just letting her tremble in his arms before then sweeping her up into his arms and then disappearing into the night.

She could remember very little after that with the exception of passing through the precipice world with her head resting on Kisuke's shoulder, and her eyes glued to the pathway behind them. For some reason, she could recall that very clearly.

Yet once they finally made it to the Soul Society, she had trouble remembering much of anything at all.

Which was...weird. But she could at least recall being told a few times before by Rukia and several others that newly deceased souls, had their memories of their previous lives stripped from them to make adjusting to being dead easier on them. That way when their time came to reincarnate, they had no remaining or remembered bonds to prevent them from doing so.

And as worrying as that would typically be to her, she could still recall her friends and family. So, obviously that wasn't why she was having some issues recalling her trip.

She wasn't sure how Kisuke knew what was bugging her. She'd always wondered if the man was capable or reading minds since he always seemed to know what was bothering or upsetting her without her even saying a word. So, she wasn't very startled or freaked out when she heard him suddenly say, "You're disoriented, Ichigo. It's been theorized that the disorientation helps to make the journey seem shorter. It's supposed to help distract you from your worries and woes."

"That's stupid." She muttered, earning a slight huff of laughter from him as they cleared the gate and found themselves standing in the courtyard of the thirteen Gotei.

"We're here." Kisuke said as he stared at the many, many people gathered there to greet Ichigo and felt as if his heart were trying to break all over again even as he said in a faux cheerful tone as he set her on her feet. "And look, a lot of your friends came to see you."

She looked around and gasped softly upon seeing that each of the Captain's and all Lieutenants had each been assembled in the courtyard to wait for her arrival as Kisuke took the opportunity to quickly explain.

"Rukia and Renji both have mentioned that as a Substitute Soul Reaper- as well as the one who stopped Aizen- that you would be afforded a hero's welcome by the entire Gotei thirteen's Captains and Lieutenants once you died."

She vaguely heard Kisuke speak because her attention was on the large gathering as the head Captain stepped forward and banged his cane on the stone underneath their feet and shouted, loudly. "Ichigo Kurosaki, defeater of the Bounts, Aizen and his Espada, as well as Ginji Kugo- hero of the Seireitei, we bid you welcome to our ranks at last!"

A loud chorus of cries rose up from the others once he finished speaking, the sound of it startling Ichigo so badly that she nearly jumped out of her skin. Whereas Kisuke remained eerily silent and watchful even after silence gradually returned and the head Captain turned to address the others.

"We of the thirteen Gotei welcome our young friend and allie, Ichigo Kurosaki into our safe keeping. For though she had been human, there has been no braver, nor more courageous person than she! And we have gathered here today to recognize her many deeds for the sake of Soul Society and the other worlds, formally."

There was a murmur of agreement amongst the Captains and Lieutenants as the elder then turned back to face her and then closed the space between them and finally stopped walking once he was within reaching distance of her.

Yamamoto took a moment to look the girl over, absently noting that the injuries that her body had sustained from her multiple battles had done a great deal of damage to her being.

She was much thinner than he recalled her being. Her body had lost a considerable amount of weight, and now gave her the appearance of someone who hadn't seen a bite of food in many years. And the girl's usually healthy sun kissed skin was paler than usual as well. She also had dark bags underneath her sunken in eyes, indicating that she had likely suffered many, many days and nights from pain of some sort.

It was shocking to him just how much she had changed.

Ichigo had become frail and fragile during the last few months of her life. Yet despite that frailty that the elder could so plainly see- there was still such strength and fire in her that his lips quirked a bit at the corners as he reached out his hand and asked her in a hushed tone, "Do you trust us, child?"

He expected her to scowl at him. Maybe even to slap his hand away and curse them for allowing her to wither away and die in such a pitiful way. But she surprised him by merely lifting her chin and looking him in the eye as she replied, "You know I do." As she slipped her hand into his grasp.

The second that her hand was in his own, the small contact elicited a sudden roar from the others that had her jumping again while Yamamoto smiled in amusement and gently tugged her forward so that he could escort her to the meeting hall as he called over his shoulder, "Come along Urahara." As he began to guide her away.