'Alright, we are about to approach the entrance to the soul society, ' Uryu called out to the rest of the group. 'I can only hope that all of you will give proper respect to the sternrriters and directors when we arrive.'

Ichigo then raised an eyebrow. 'Wait, a lot of hotshots are already going to meet us at the entrance…that seems a bit much.'

Uryu then pushes up his glasses. 'It is only to be expected. Considering that you did save both Tokyo and Karakura town from the Espada and that there are other star knights of the holy kingdom that wish to see an alternate version of their black prince in person.'

The teen then scoffs. 'So what, I am a celebrity now?'

Chad then walked next to Ichigo. 'Technically, our version of you was always a celebrity.' He commented, 'Who had the respect of many Quincy and fullbrigers as a war hero…along with a hoard of admirers. Which then made the young shingmai sweat in embarrassment.

'R…really?' the orange head said with a blush, which didn't go unnoticed by Orihime.

'Oh, come now, Ichigo, I am sure you were also famous in your world, right?' The girl asked, and the teen turned his head away. Who was now flushing to the point that his face turned bright red?

'Maybe? I don't know! I never asked or visited the soul society that often,' the flustered orange head youth shouted out nervously and immediately began to speed up his walk. 'Can we just please get to the other side of this bridge already!?'

The rest of the group then chuckled to themselves at the young man's insecurities and walked beside him. Then within a few minutes later, they finally arrive at the Sun Gate that leads to the soul society, which is represented as a massive white glowing doorway.

'You know Ichigo,' Keigo asked, and the shingmai nearly froze up as his…former friend spoke to him. 'You never told me how the soul society is in your world…is it nice?'

Ichigo then looked at Keigo in silence and scratched his head, unsure how to respond.

'Well..' he begins to say with hesitation. 'It's nicer than what the world of the living is in this reality…which I can assume is the same for this soul society?'

Keigo then smirked. 'More than you know, the agent then turns to face the gate. 'Come on!'

Ichigo followed Keigo out into the gate, and when he reached the other side, he stepped into the dimension…

He was rendered speechless.

In his homeworld, the soul society was a realm fashioned in style reminiscent of feudal Japan. Divided into the Rukongai districts, where the commoners and poor lived, the Seireitei were the nobles resided. Along with having plenty of technology that was much more advanced than the world of the living. Yet it was mainly restricted to shingmai use only, and ultimately the realm itself wasn't all that much better than the world of the living.

But this version of the soul society… felt less like entering into a historical piece and more into a live simulation of the future.

Upon stepping out of the door port, Ichigo found himself on an open tower balcony. That had elegantly carved walls, arches with silver trims, and floor tiles made of white marble. While around him, Ichigo saw quinces, fullbringers, and humans looking at hologram tv screens that hover over the walls. At the same time, others were walking in and out of the tower by several massive bridges.

But when Ichigo looked out through the tower's arches to see the rest of the realm. His mind was further blown away.

While none of them have the tapings of the architecture of the world of the living, all the buildings were none the less were beautiful in their like European design while still feeling modern and new as the environment in contrast with the barren waste of the living world. It was lush with greenery, to the point that vines and vegetation grew over several structures. At the same time, the clear blue sky was filled with flying jets and other aircraft that soured through the air.

Yet even that pales to the glorious sight of the massive metropolis that stood in the center of the land itself and stretched out as far as the eye can see, containing high-tech factories, office buildings, and majestic mansions of elegant design. While a massive castle with a large tower stood in the center of the city, and to Ichigo's wonderment, he saw a beam of light shooting out of the tower's roof that led straight up to the sky above.

'Quiet amazing, right?' Keigo asked Ichigo, who then slowly turned his head to face him.

'Due to humans and quinces sharing their ideas after the hollowing night, a massive technology revolution sped up both societies' advancement by several decades. To the point that some of that technology had been implemented into the world of the living itself,' Keigo explained as he wrapped his arms around his head. 'And I have to tell you. No matter how many I visit this place…it always felt like I was being taken away to paradise.'

'Paradise…' Ichigo muttered, and in a way, he could see the man's point. While his soul society was only a paradise depending on which part of the realm you end up at. This place looked precisely what people wanted from heaven, and while he wasn't so naïve as to think this place didn't have problems…he could perfectly understand why so many people wanted to move out from the world of the living and into here.

'Well, aren't you a sight for sour eyes?' A female voice spoke out, and Ichigo turned his head to see where it came from and widened his eyes in surprise.

I was standing in front of one of the bridges that exited the open tower. Were four sternrritter and two directors.

Of all the star knights, Ichigo recognized three of them as people he once fought against in the Quincy war.

The spiky blonde-haired woman was recognized as the sternritter who had power over lighting. He looked virtually unchanged, aside from sporting two lighting shape earrings; the sternritter who could conjure fire had now had a full head of messy spiky hair while wearing a pair of stud earrings, and the blond man who acted as Yhwach's right man now had medium-length hair instead of the long main that overflowed his shoulders.

As for the fullbringers, he recognized one of them as Giriko Kutsuzawa, who also looked unchanged save for his eye patch, which had been replaced with a monocle, and his hair more fully grown. Yet the other one was a woman whose hair was purple and cut short. She wore a black business suit with a light brown scoff covering her neck. At the same time, the left side of her chest held the emblem of xcuation. But instead of being made of silver or gold…it was made out of pure platinum.

'Well, ain't it good to see you too, Candance?!'' Tatsuki called to the lighting-wielding sternritter, and the two immediately had a vicious staring contest,' still sitting your little ass here in soul society.'

'At least I didn't get my ass handed to me by a low-tier Espada and needed his wimpy boyfriend to save him!' Candice shouted back, only for Tatsuki to laugh it off.

'Oh, like would know anything about having a boyfriend?' The fiery fullbringer bashed her forehead into the arrogant sternritter, and the latter responded in kind. At the same time, aside from Ichigo, the rest of the group ignored them.

'Uh…what's up with those two?' Ichigo questioned, and Sado moved next to his ear.

'Don't worry about them, Ichigo. Tatsuki and Cadence had always had a rivalry with one another on just about everything, and this is just one of the many times they tried to one upon each other. One of the main reasons why Arisawa trains so hard are so that she can become a director and get on an equal footing with Cadence.'

Ichigo then lowered in eyebrows dishevelment. 'Wait, so you mean Tatsuki wants to become a director just so that she could get in bragging rights?'

Sado hummed in acknowledgment. 'I am afraid so…but then again, our alternate counterpart had quite a few rivalries himself.'

The shingmai then huff in annoyance. 'And yet I don't find that all surprising,' he said, and then Ichigo looked at the purple-haired woman talking to Orhime, Riruka, and Ichigo couldn't help but notice how charming it sounded.

'Okay, so who is that woman over there? Ichigo asked, and then mizuke walked beside him.

'That Kurosaki is Aura Michibane. The head chairwoman of the entire Xcuation and the most powerful of all fullbrigers within the organization. Being the one who personally trains Ohrime and Rirukia herself,' the teen proclaimed, and Ichigo then stared at the women in interest.

'She must be strong then?' the shingmai mused, but Mizuiro shook his head.

'Massive understatement. She's pretty on the same level as Yhwach's Schutzstaffel. Who together are all more potent than the entire sternritter order.

Ichigo then widened his eyes and gave an impressive nod. 'Damn…just like the royal guard that I know of…well, that at least explains why Ohrime herself is so powerful.'

The Shingmai then turned his head away and saw a blond-haired sternritter talking to Robert Acctrone alongside the one with the pink-haired buzz cut.

'And who are those two that Robert is talking to?' Ichigo asked.

'That Ichigo is Jugram Haschwalth, grandmaster of the sternritter order, and Bazz B or going by his real name Bazzard Black. Who is one of the regional commanders' Mizuiro answered

'Regional commanders...So you say there is a certain chain of command among the sternritters?' Ichigo questions, and then Uryu steps in.

'In a way...' the white prince explained as he looked towards Bazz-B and Haschwalth. 'Each sternrriter, upon being promoted, is assigned to a specific area to watch over and protect. For the world of the living, it is the shielded towns and cities, and for the soul society, it is the districts of the Silberstadt (the silver city) and the holds that lie outside of them. The regional commanders oversee them. With Robert Acctrone being the commander of the world of the living and Bazzard Black as the commander of the sternritter of the soul, society.'

Ichigo then hummed in interest. 'I see...so the sternrriter in this universe has a similar command structure to that of the captains of the gotei thirteen. However, instead of being limited to divisions, they are assigned to watch over entire areas among the realms of the living and the dead.'

The soul reaper then tilted his head in thought. 'I wonder what the sternritter of their medical division is like...assuming they even have one.'

'So you must be the alternate Kurosaki Ichigo ?' Jurgram called out to the orange-headed youth, who turned to face the grandmaster of the sternrriter order.

'Uh, yes?' Ichigo answered with hesitation, not used to being greeted by the face of the man that once snapped his Bankai in half. But he was made even more uncomfortable when the grandmaster bowed to him.

'Then please allow me to welcome you to the Soul Society as our honored guest,' Hashwalth said respectfully while Ichigo looked away awkwardly.

'Well, um...thank you,' the shingmai said and then looked back at the grandmaster. 'So are you going to take to see your king or...'

'Oh course,' The Jurgram answered as he stood himself up. 'After all, his majesty Yhwach has been expecting your arrival and wishes to see you personally within the royal palace above...' the grandmaster then paused. 'Unless you wish to go on a tour first?'

Ichigo then thought about that for a moment, looked around the realm for a bit, and then shrugged. 'I don't see why not.'

Hashwalth then gave the barest hints of a smile to Ichigo and then turned himself around and began to walk out to the front exit bridge.

'Then let us not waste time,' he urged Ichigo to follow him. But before he did, he turned his face at Keigo, wondering if he was going to follow him.

Only for the latter to smile warmly at the soul reaper.

'It's okay, go on and have your tour and meeting. The rest of the gang and I have our own business to take care of' Keigo, and then his face turns sour. 'And after you meet up with Yhwach and everything...I promise I'll take you on a night to make up for being such a jerk to you.'

Ichigo then remained silent for a moment and then returned the smile.

'I'll be waiting then.'