From the window of his office, Robert Accutrone overlooked the entire city of Tokyo with a troubled look on his face. A demeanor reflected in the gray clouds overcasting the horizon as thunder raged from within them.

A storm was coming, figuratively and literally, and the entire city will soon be caught right in its center.

'So... you still have doubts about his majesty's plan, Robert?' Cang Du said while sitting on a green sofa next to a coffee table in front of his white metal desk. At the same time, the older sternritter gave a frustrated huff.

'I have been a loyal soldier for Yhwach for over a thousand years, Cang. Even though I always respected his judgment, I have often questioned his more dubious decisions,' Robert explained while the shad-wearing Sternritter closed his eyes.

'I will admit that bringing an alternate version from another reality had its great share of risks,' Cang said before taking a deep breath. 'But isn't this why we decided to bring that Ichigo to the soul society, to begin with, to explain our situation to him? After all, if this Ichigo's desire to protect is as strong as his majesty said, it is. Then we have nothing to fear.'

Accutrone then remained quiet for a few moments and then closed his eyes.

'This isn't the first time Yhwach made a mistake Cang Du... or have you forgotten the incident involving Barragan, the ancient god-king of Hueco Mundo?'

The sternritter of Iron then frowns before lowering his head.

'...When his majesty confronted Barragan, he toyed with him, humiliated him, treated the Vasto Lorde among Vasto Lorde's as a child despite him being far older, and allowed him to retreat to the barrens of Hueco Mundo out of amusement and pity. For him and many of us who were confident and arrogant in our power at the time. Barragan was but a mere hollow. A king who had just as much power as vermin had over its waste at best...' Roberts's eyes then narrowed darkly.

'And by the time his majesty looked into the future with his eyes, he saw that vermin would become a monster and lay waste to everything. But by then, it was too late for even him to change the outcome of his choice, and the world of the living paid the price for that very arrogance,' Robert lamented, and Cang turned his head to look towards the fan on top of the ceiling.

'I know...' the younger sternritter lamented. 'The people of both worlds were divided evenly on the matter. One blames Barragan for being a sour loser, and the other side blames Yhwach for not killing that horror when he had the chance. With some Quincy and humans even protesting, our emperor gets replaced by another who knows how to do their job.'

Cang then growled. 'As if his majesty's thousand years of service didn't mean jack shit to them...' The sternritters eyes then soften. '...but then again, given what happened to them by that one mistake...I can't blame them for their anger either'

Robert then hummed in agreement. 'That is why I doubt Cang Du, especially regarding this Ichigo. For a while, his majesty may have seen the future. The future is never one set in stone, and even he cannot see all of them or not all the time.'

The elder sternritter then sat at his desk and folded his hands. 'By tomorrow when Kurosaki arrives at the silver fortress with White Prince Uryu. We will explain everything to him and see what decision he makes.'

Then suddenly, a loud thundercrack vibrated from the clouds, and shortly after, a mass of rain began to pour down from the sky and on top of a nearby building. Then A bald African with a black hood over his head looked down upon Robert and Change with a stoic yet focused expression on his face and his arms wrapped around him. As if waiting for something or an order to be made to him.

Meanwhile, in downtown Tokyo.

Ichigo sat on his double bed mattress in his room at the hotel. Like the ones in his world, it had modernized fancy furniture, a large flat TV screen, and a window leading out to the balcony. But regardless of this comfy place. He was hyperventilating from the stress of meeting finance.

'Oh, dear freaking infinite universe, what am I supposed to do?' Ichigo thought to himself in dread.

'I never been in a relationship before, or even kiss a before, and now I have to who knows what else to keep my cover!' the troubled youth then laid on his bed and placed both hands on his head.

'I am not some scum to take advantage of this to settle my sick desires. Maybe I could convince her to be in a non-sexual relationship or put it off until the wedding...' Ichigo then realized what he was talking about before screaming into his head.

'DAMN IT; Why am I thinking about sex suddenly! I don't even know how I am supposed to act in front of the woman and if she manages to see through my cover...' Ichigo then went quiet in his head and closed his eyes in despair.

'I... don't know what to do anymore,' Ichigo spoke aloud but only in a whisper. Before getting himself out of bed and then turning his head to face the window, he noticed that it was raining.

'Figures that on the most turbulent day of life, it rains...' Ichigo then sighs. 'I fucking hate the rain.'

However, just before Ichigo could walk out to the balcony to decide what to do next. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, which made him away in shock.

'UH, WHAT TH-!?' and then Ichigo saw a girl, or rather a woman, right in front of him. She had long orange hair, brown eyes, fair white skin, and a blue hairpin on the left side of her head. A bright heart-melting smile suddenly made him let go of all his despair and while she may be wearing a business casual outfit, the boy still recognized one of his dear friends.

'Orhimie? Ichigo spoke almost dumbly, and the women smiled innocently.

'Good to see Kurosaki. I hope that I didn't intrude on anything. Said asked playfully, which made Ichigo blush in embarrassment.

'Um, no, I was just thinking about something...' Ichigo and Orihime then leaned forward to him.

'Oh, and that something is?' she pondered innocently, and Ichigo was at a loss for words.

'Was it...' She pondered as he put her right finger on her lip. 'Getting an engagement present for Riruke?' Orhimie guesses.

'I will... Wait, Riruke!' Ichigo spat in disbelief. 'She is my fiancée!'

'Yes, Ichigo...' her voice then went somber. 'I mean, both of you have been going out since you were children and since your coronation is starting soon. It's only natural you would want to go out of your way to get something special to remind how the two of you cherish one another.'

'Oh, uh yeah, that was what I was thinking,' Ichigo said, still blushing and stuttering his words, and immediately decided to change subjects.

'So is the rest of the gang here like Keigo, Tatsuki, and Mizuke?' Ichigo asked, and Orhimie nodded.

'Uhm, Ichigo, and they are waiting to hang out with you in the living room,' the orange hair beauty said, and the young male youth couldn't help but smile in return in relief.

However, when he entered the room, he was greeted by the sudden face of Riruke. Stopping Ichigo dead in his tracks and was rendered speechless at what to say. However, she only cast him a confused and dismissive look and then moved out of Ichigo's way upon seeing Orhimie giving her a sheepish grin. Riruke then looked at her in disbelief for a moment. Before sighing and deciding to go along with the ruse.

'Well, what are you waiting for, my future husband? Get yourself out of here and hang out with your buddies or whatever, while I talk with, my friend here' she said, and Ichigo seeing his cue to leave, thankfully took it and walked out of the room.

Riruke then closed the door behind her and stared at Orhime with a suspicious expression.

'All right, you husky, why did you have to lie to Kurosaki like that?' the redhead questioned and Orihime just smiled with feigned cluelessness.

'Whatever do you mean?' she falsely asked, and Riruke just gave her a deadpan expression.

'Don't play dumb with me, Orhimie; why did you lie to Ichigo that I was his Fiancé unless it is some stupid prank'

The orange woman smiled and looked sadly at the rain outside, now pouring down much harder.

'Well...He seemed so nervous and agitated that lying would have been the best course of action over telling the truth,' Orihime explained and Riruke then growled.

'Really? It's not like admitting it wouldn't be any more of a lie either' Riruke countered and Orhimie breathe in and sigh.

'I know...but it still wouldn't feel right. After all, I can tell by that man's expression and body that he didn't feel right pretending to be someone that he is not

Riruke then blew her lips. 'Then why not just tell him the truth instead of waiting for him to get to the soul society? I mean, it's not like it will make anything difference'

Orihime then remains silent for a long moment. 'Maybe...But I instead prefer Ichigo hears the truth from everyone, and besides I rather not place the Ichigo that I love with another version of him...even if he is here to stay

Riruke then stared at her friend with a flat but sympathetic expression and then huffed and allowed herself to fall onto Ichigo's double bed.

'Fine, whatever, I will pretend to be his finance for now. But only if you eventually tell him the truth'

'I will,' Orihime promised and then lowered her eyes. 'And besides, I think there is someone here who deserves the truth more than me….'

Meanwhile, in the living room.

'Yo Ichigo,' Keigo as he patted his friend on the back while Ichigo gave an uneasy laugh. 'Nice that you two are going to the soul society with us.'

'Yeah,' Ichigo nervously said while smiling at the fullbringer, 'it sure is something.'

'I mean, it has been only a couple of months since I visited the place. But man, it sure does feel like a lifetime since I went there. I wonder how Ms. Aura, Chad, Tsukemeni, and Ginjou are doing. I bet they are surprised to see their trainee visiting them,' Keigo happily replied while Tatskui groaned.

'It's more than just a stop and fellow greeting, Keigo. The board directors of xcuation are both extremely concerned about your last reckless act and whenever or not they want to prompt you,' The woman explained, and Keigo just gave her a pouty look of disproval.

'Oh, like they need to drag my butt to the black city to be something like or even a minor promotion,' Keigo casually dismissed with condescension. While Ichigo just looked at everyone in confusion. But avoid asking questions to prevent his cover from risking being blown again.

But this didn't go unnoticed by Uryu.

'Say Mizuiro, forgive me, but my memory seems to be lacking a bit lately. Would mine explain the inner workings of Xcuation' Uryu asked? Which made Mizuiro raise his eyebrows in confusion.

'Really? You seemed to have a good track record regarding this stuff Ishida. Since you are the white prince, after all, but okay' the shorter teen said and began to explain.

'The Xcuation is an organization founded in 1986 by the Volterburg company to train, recruit and deploy fullbringers who had been often drafted since birth due to having a piece of the Reio inside of them'

Ichigo's eyes then perked on hearing what Mizuiro just said, and they couldn't help but speak out.

'A piece of the Reio?' He repeated, and Mizuiro nodded.

'Indeed, Ichigo, usually in the past, membership was voluntary. But we're forced to be drafted due to the repeated attacks from the invading hollow army and serve as the main line of defense within the living world alongside the Quinces'

'And I can presume they are lead by a board of directors?' Uryru asked, and Mizuke nodded.

'They served as the main heads of the organization itself, with Aura being the chair-women, Tsukishima being in charge of interrogation and infiltration, Yukio, in charge of fiancé and intelligence, Chad in charge of security and enforcement, Ginjo head of recruitment and training, Riruke in charge of housing and décor and Orihime being in charge of the medical department and relief and along with other directors'

Ichigo's eyes then slightly widened in pleasant surprise on hearing that all of them, especially orhime, were in respected divisions.

'Interesting…' Ichigo thought. 'From Hisgai, I heard they became a huge religious cult that committed mass suicide to expose the truth of the soul society to the World of the Living. But here they seemed to have become another branch of the soul society. Like the stealth and kido corp and for Orihime, to be such a big shot...I can't help but feel proud of her.'

Tatsuki then stretched her arms over her head. 'And since we are on the subject of reeducation. Don't forget that agents that proven themselves tend to be promoted to the rank of special agents and be allowed to take up any minor and major missions across the world, and if given permission by associates of the holy kingdom, the soul society.'

She then pushed up her shoulder sleeve to reveal a black band with a silver metal X., 'And this here symbolizes our rank.'

Ichigo then stared at the X and remembered the gold metal symbol on Orhimie and Ruiki and, later on, the white logo on the back of Keigo's black shirt and the other fullbringers back in Kakara town.

'I remember now so the X represents their status by both material and number. With regular field agents just having a printed letter on the back of their shirt, special agents have silver-made embelin that they can put anywhere on their body and golden ones go to the directors' Uryu to review the information openly. While Ichigo eyed the prince.

'Why do I get the feeling that he just feigns ignorance, but If so why?'

Ishida then turns to face Ichigo, and from his subdued yet stern expression, Kurosaki can tell that the prince guessed what he thought of him. But before anything more could come of it, Keigo then spoke out.

'Oh yeah, the silver mark,' Asano said cheekily.

'You know there have been many times I tried to get the promotion myself. I mean, I studied, passed all my tests, and even bested many of the senior agents too in combat due to me and my best buddy here training with each other!' he spoke happily while wrapping his right arm around Ichigo, who either couldn't decide judo flipping in out of annoyance or allowed Keigo have his moment in fear of being flipped over in retaliation.

Yet Tatsuki and Mizuiro gave Keigo an unimpressive stare.

'Oh, don't be more of an idiot than you already are, Asano, 'Tatsuki said while wrapping her arms in disproval. 'It was clearly stated that due to your extremely dangerous fullbring and reckless nature with it on the battlefield. You were denied the promotion because of a lack of responsibility on your part!'

Mizuke then gave Tatsuki a questioning look. 'Well...that may be true, Tatsuki, however, given that that Asano does have among the most dangerous fullbrings known... they might send him to...that division.'

On hearing that, everyone in the room besides Ichigo paused at what Mizuiro said. Even Uryu looked somewhat surprised, and as for Keigo, he looked absolute stun.

'Wait...' he said almost fearfully, yet had a slight tinge of excitement. 'You don't mean-'

'THUMP!'

Suddenly without warning, a massive wave of spiritual pressure flooded the entire room, to the point that it made the air heavy, and the whole hotel itself seemed to break apart from its force alone. At the same time, the rest of the group was shocked at the very nature of the spiritual power itself.

'Arrancar and... Hollows in the city!' Uryu screamed in his head as he felt and analyzed the immense power. 'But how is this possible!? There should be no way that any of them could get into the city. At least not without sounding the alarms when they breached the barrier!'

But then Ishidia's thoughts were put on hold when he noticed a swirling purple vortex of spiritual power outside the balcony window of a nearby building.

Only to realize to his horror that the vortex was, in fact, a Gran Ray Ray Cero. Charge by an unknown Espada dressed in a black hood.

But Uryu's realization came along too late. As the Arrancar then launched the king of all ceros at him and his friends and in an instant everything faded into white.