After Ichigo was sucked down that garganta, he hoped he could pull himself together and form a reiryoku path so he could walk as he did when he went from Hueco Mundo to the human world, but, for some reason, he wasn't able to and just dropped into the endless dark void.
It was then that he spotted a light at the end of the tunnel and braced himself for whatever was on the other side.
Once past the light, he felt the wind being whipped against his face as he continued to fall.
Acting quickly, he turned to stand and stood on air as if there was solid ground.
"Phew. Finally. Now let's see where… What the hell…?" asked Ichigo in shock.
He had expected that garganta to take him to Hueco Mundo or even the Soul Society, but he hadn't expected to end up in an urbanist city with airships flying around.
What struck him most, however, was the huge column of light that reached into infinity.
He didn't know why, but he could sense something about that column that felt familiar, but one thing was clear about it all.
"Ok. Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore. Ugh. I never thought I'd get to use that phrase. How did I end up here?" asked Ichigo before recent events flashed through his mind. "I remember now. I hit the garganta directly. *Sigh* I can already imagine Rukia scolding me for that." began Ichigo with a palm to his face. "Anyway. First things first. I have to find out where I am and if there's a way home." said Ichigo before landing on the ground.
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he decided to land in an alleyway and as soon as he got out of there, he started walking through the streets, looking for something that could tell him where he was.
Considering that he was in shinigami form, he was sure that no one would be able to see him, so he was able to walk through the streets without attracting attention.
Ichigo spent a couple of minutes walking the streets and the first thing he noticed was that while the city looked quite modern, it was in an era before his own due to the appearance of the vehicles.
"Great. It seems I've traveled to a world whose main theme is Steampunk. I think Keigo told me a bit about it once." said Ichigo.
That's when he felt his legs bump into someone and he stopped.
"Oh, sorry, I…" began Ichigo before realizing he was talking to some sort of bipedal frog with butterfly wings.
"Ugh. That's the third time that's happened to me. No more walking for me." said the frog angrily before flying away from the place.
Ichigo stared at the creature with wide-eyed surprise for a moment.
"Was that… a spirit?" asked Ichigo, for upon seeing it, he could sense that its essence was similar to the spirits he encountered throughout his life.
Taking it as a matter of course for him, he continued on his way.
However, shortly thereafter…
"Excuse me…"
Looking to the side, Ichigo saw another spirit that looked like a turtle, but the curious thing was that he was talking to a normal man.
"Could you tell me where the Dragon Flats borough is?" asked the spirit turtle.
"Sure. Just go straight down this street and then turn right at the second intersection." said the man.
"Thank you." said the spirit turtle before continuing on his way.
Ichigo was clearly surprised, as he hadn't expected to meet someone who could see spirits and if he could see them, then…
"Uh… Sir." began Ichigo approaching the man, to which, he caught the man's eye, which, surprised him, as that meant he could see him too. "Did you get a glimpse of that spirit?"
"Huh? Of course I can. I mean, who wouldn't notice all the spirits in city?" asked the man with a shrug before walking away.
It was then that Ichigo began to look around him carefully.
Everywhere he looked there were creatures of various shapes and sizes and it was clear to Ichigo that they were spirits, but what was most surprising was that some were interacting with humans.
"Where the hell did I end up?" asked Ichigo.
It was then, when he began to hear voices coming from an alley near where he was.
"Give us all the money you have." said a man.
"B-But I…" began a terrified girl.
Ichigo crept closer to the entrance of the alley to see two men cornering a woman who was holding her purse protectively in her arms.
"Come on, you'd better cooperate with us. You wouldn't want that pretty face of yours to get messed up, would you?" asked the other man creating a flame in his hand.
Ichigo was shocked to see that, as he had never seen a human with powers, at least, like that.
It was clear that he wasn't going to let them hurt that woman and taking advantage of the fact that they could see him…
"Hey, you guys!" exclaimed Ichigo getting their attention. "Leave her alone."
"Huh? What's it to you? This is none of your business." said the second man.
"It just became mine." said Ichigo starting to walk towards them.
"Oh, someone who wants to play hero. Just know that we are the Komodo Rhinos gang and if you think we're going to do what you say, then…" began the first man before getting kicked in the face sending him crashing into the wall at the end of the alley.
Needless to say, that surprised both the woman and the other man, who growled in rage.
"Damn you!" shouted the second man throwing a flare towards him, but Ichigo quickly moved out of the way before walking up to him and punching him in the stomach followed by an uppercut that knocked him down in the process.
After that, he turned to the woman who was trembling slightly.
"Are you all right?" asked Ichigo in a calm and kind voice.
That was enough to reassure her.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much." said the woman.
"You're welcome. Be more careful next time." said Ichigo before leaving the alley.
The woman stared at the direction he went before remembering the situation and quickly leaving.
With a grunt of effort, the first man stood up and looking up, saw his partner lying on the ground.
"Hey, man!" began the first man before walking over to his partner and shaking him lightly, causing him to wake up and sit up. "You okay?"
"Argh. No. I think that brat broke my jaw." said the second man as he rubbed the part under his jaw.
"What do we do now?" asked the first man.
"What do you think? Let's go tell the boss. That brat lied to the wrong people and he's going to pay for it." said the second man before the two left the alley to fulfill their plan for revenge.
"Okay. There's definitely something weird about this world." Ichigo said crossing his arms as he stopped to think about what he had discovered so far.
For starters, he would never have imagined a world where humans and spirits got along as if they were neighbors and such a thing was impossible in his world except for special people like him and his human friends.
As far as he knew, humans and spirits had remained in different worlds, unable to interact with each other unless you passed on or the spirits got a way to physically interact, but that wasn't happening in that world and he couldn't help but be curious as to why.
Then there was the fact that just a moment ago he was confronted with a man capable of expelling fire from his hands.
Did the presence of the spirits affect humans or only a few? Can they do more than expel fire? Why were the spirits so good with humans?
Several such questions circulated through his mind and it was then that he turned his gaze to the pillar of light, which gave him a familiar feeling.
"I have a feeling that thing has the answer to my questions." said Ichigo before walking off towards the place where the column of light originated from.
/
A couple of hours had passed since Ichigo started his walk and he felt that he was getting closer to the column of light.
All the while trying not to draw attention to himself.
Now that he knew that the humans in that world could see and hear him, he had to make sure he didn't cause trouble to avoid being chased by the authorities like what happened in Soul Society.
He could simply fly, but a glance at the sky made him notice the presence of the airships, so he would draw attention just the same no matter how high he took.
As he was walking through the streets, a black satomobile pulled up in front of a jewelry store.
Three men got out of the vehicle and entered the store, making the clerk nervous.
That caught the attention of the substitute shinigami who decided to stay and watch from the window of the storefront.
"H-How can I help you gentlemen?" asked the clerk nervously.
"Oh, come on. You know why we're here. You're late with this month's payment." said the leader of the trio.
"I-I'm really sorry. It's just, lately business hasn't been going too well and I…" began the clerk nervously.
"Oh, don't worry about it. We understand the situation very well, so don't worry, there is another way to pay." said the trio leader.
"Really?" asked the clerk very nervously, worried about what that other way would be.
"Yes. We'll take some of the merchandise you sell." said the leader of the trio.
"B-But that could ruin me." said the clerk.
"Then you'd better come up with enough money or next time, you might be left with no store to run." said the trio leader as one of his lackeys levitated a stone in his hand for emphasis.
Seeing that there was no other choice, the clerk lowered his head in surrender and began stuffing the jewelry into a bag.
Having seen enough, Ichigo, even though he didn't want to draw attention to himself, wasn't about to let those thugs get away with it, so he went inside, causing the bell to draw the attention of everyone inside.
"Sorry about that, buddy. It's closed at the moment." said the earthbender footman.
"That's funny. I didn't see any signs saying so." said Ichigo.
"Wait a minute." began the leader of the trio. "Orange hair. Black clothing. Oversized sword with no hilt. You're the guy who beat up two of ours?"
"Those three-quarter thugs? Are you from the same gang as them?" asked Ichigo with an arched eyebrow.
"That's right. Personally, no wonder you took them down. I can see you're a great fighter and they weren't exactly the strongest." said the leader of the trio.
"And that makes you stronger?" asked Ichigo.
"Of course. After all, we are the 'tax collectors'. So I'll do you a favor and we'll forget what you did if you leave and pretend it's nothing." said the trio leader.
"It's a good offer, but I have to turn it down. I'm not interested in making deals with riff-raff like you." said Ichigo with a frown.
"It's a pity. You could have walked away without a scratch, but it looks like you're going to get one or two or worse. In any case, don't blame me for that." said the leader of the trio before snapping his fingers.
That served as a signal for the earthbender lackey to lift a tile off the ground and hurl it towards the substitute shinigami, who dodged the tile by ducking to the side, causing the tile to shatter the storefront glass.
"No! Stop!" pleaded the sales clerk.
Seeing that such a scuffle could cause more wreckage, Ichigo quickly exited the jewelry store through the hole in the display window.
"After him!" began the leader of the trio as he and the others exited the jewelry store, only to find him standing in the middle of the street. "You know? I thought for a moment you were going to run away."
"I hadn't even thought about it. I just didn't want to trash the place." said Ichigo.
"Very considerate of you, but that won't get rid of us." said the leader of the trio.
The other lackey launched a pair of fireballs from his fists, but Ichigo quickly dodged them.
The leader opened his jacket, revealing a pair of canteens and using waterbending, he drew water from the canteens to launch an ice wave, but Ichigo leaned back to dodge it.
"Water, earth and fire. It seems the people of this world are more talented than I thought." thought Ichigo.
The earthbender stomped hard, causing a huge stone to rise from the ground and then kicking it off the ground.
The stone went flying straight towards Ichigo, who did nothing to avoid it, which made the earthbender smile at the thought that he had it, but then, Ichigo gave the stone a hard kick that shattered it into pieces, not only to the earthbender's shock, but also to the other two.
Before they could react, Ichigo quickly stepped in front of the earthbender and knocked him down with one punch.
With a growl of rage, the firebender began to throw fireballs and waves of fire, but Ichigo quickly dodged all the attacks as he advanced towards him and when he got close enough, he slid his leg through his own, causing him to hover for a few seconds which Ichigo took advantage of to give him an axe kick that slammed him into the ground hard.
The leader of the trio was shocked, as he didn't expect this boy to be so strong and so fast.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the trio leader.
"Just someone you shouldn't have messed with," said Ichigo.
"You think you're going to get away with this? As soon as the boss finds out, he'll move every stone in this city until he finds you and when he does, he won't be benevolent like us. I'm telling you. He'll tear you to pieces." said the trio's leader.
"In that case, tell him I'll wait for him sitting down." said Ichigo.
The leader of the trio growled a little before creating around him several icicles which he shot towards Ichigo, but he quickly dodged them.
Trying to defend himself, he created a large water whip with which he tried to hit him, but Ichigo dodged it.
Soon after, however, the whip curled around him, to the evil joy of the trio's leader, who made the whip lift him high to then, slam him to the ground hard.
For a moment, he thought he had broken several bones or worse, which, would be good for him, but then, his jaw dropped open when he saw Ichigo getting up from the ground without difficulty and without a scratch.
"Honestly. I expected something more from someone who claims to be strong. Though I can't blame you given everything I went through." said Ichigo as he dusted off his clothes.
"I-Impossible! How come you didn't break anything?!" asked the leader of the trio.
"I'd explain it to you, but…" began Ichigo before standing in less than a second in front of him. "I don't have time for that." said Ichigo before kicking him in the face that sent him crashing into the black satomobile, creating a dent in the process.
Before he went to do anything else, he started to hear police sirens and that's when he realized that there were a lot of people around the area where the fight happened and they had been watching the whole thing.
"Great. I'd better get going right now." said Ichigo before using shunpo to move so fast that he seemed to disappear, much to the surprise of the onlookers.
The next instant, Ichigo appeared on the roof of a nearby building, where he saw the police arresting the criminals and questioning witnesses to find out what happened.
"So much for not drawing attention to myself. Now the whole city will know about me." began Ichigo before turning his gaze to the pillar of light. "I guess speed up the trip a bit." said Ichigo before using shunpo to move quickly from rooftop to rooftop.
In a few minutes, Ichigo stood on the roof of the building closest to where the column of light was located.
There he could see that the column originated from the center of a huge crater from which several roots emerged and circulated through the ground and the surrounding buildings.
In addition, he could also see a barrier around the crater, as a safety measure for the citizens.
"Incredible. Up close it's more impressive." said Ichigo.
In fact, the closer he got, the more he could feel the familiarity of the power of the column and could understand why.
It was almost similar to the Soul Society's environment, which raised the next question.
"Will this be… the way back?" asked Ichigo with slight hope of returning home with the others. "There's only one way to find out."
Without hesitation, Ichigo flew straight towards the pillar of light, piercing it in the process.
The feeling he got when he passed through the column was similar to when he passed through the senkaimon, which increased the thought of that being some sort of portal to the Soul Society.
However, as soon as he reached the other side, he expected to reach the Seireitei or the Rukongai, but his eyes widened when he saw that, around him, there was only a field of flowers, as well as a forest and mountains beyond, plus the sky was a bit colorful.
"What is this place? It doesn't look like Soul Society." said Ichigo looking around.
Despite feeling that the surrounding environment was very similar to the shinigami's home, the appearance was totally different, although it's not like he knew every corner of that place, but he could feel that this place wasn't where he wanted to go.
"Excuse me." said an elderly voice calling his attention.
He quickly turned his head to see that the voice came from an old man with a very long white beard.
"Can I help you with something? You look lost." said the old man.
The instant he saw him, Ichigo knew it was a spirit, but this one was normal compared to the ones he had seen roaming the city.
At one moment, he thought about refusing, but remembering his situation, he considered that he could answer all his questions.
"Well, yes. Actually, I'm a bit lost. I have no idea where exactly I am." said Ichigo rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh, in that case, why don't you come and have tea with me?" asked the old man pointing to a small table with a table with pastries, two cups and a teapot. "Conversations are better if you have some tea in the process."
Ichigo was a little confused by that, but shrugged and accepted the offer.
The two sat down in the chairs and the old man poured some tea into both cups.
"And tell me, what do you want to ask first?" asked the old man.
"Well, for starters, what exactly is this place?" asked Ichigo.
"This place is the spirit world, where spirits live peacefully, as well as those who pass on to a better life." said the old man.
"So, it's like the Soul Society." thought Ichigo sipping some tea.
"Now, if you don't mind me asking, what is a shinigami doing in this place?" asked the old man.
That made Ichigo almost choke on the tea he was drinking.
"Do you know what I am?" asked Ichigo with surprise.
"Of course. You are a shinigami, messenger of life and death. A guide for the souls who have lost their way to paradise, as well as the one who fights against those darkened souls." said the old man.
Ichigo was really surprised that this old man knew so much about the shinigami despite being in another world.
"How come you know about them?" asked Ichigo.
"Hehehe. It's something that many spirits know. By the way, the shinigami are supposed to inhabit another realm apart from this one. What are you doing here?" asked the old man.
"That's what I'd like to know." began Ichigo folding his arms. "Just now, I was sleeping in my house, then facing a group of hollows and before I knew it, I ended up in another world where spirits walk among humans and these possess special powers."
"Well, it looks like you had a full day, didn't you?" asked the old man with a smile.
"In fact, now that I mention it. I gather you know a lot about this world, don't you?" asked Ichigo hoping to gain more knowledge about the world he was in.
"Not everything exactly, but I'm willing to help you in any way I can." said the old man.
"Thank you." began Ichigo with a smile. "First question. since when did humans and spirits live so closely together?"
"Well, young man, that's a story as old as time. You see, a long time ago, the spirits were the dominant species on the planet. In fact, it was they who granted the humans the power of bending." the old man began.
"Bending?" asked Ichigo.
"A martial art that consists of the manipulation of one of the four elements. Air, water, earth and fire. People who possess that skill are known as benders while those who don't are known as non-benders." said the old man.
"Interesting." said Ichigo.
To tell the truth, after all kinds of powers he saw throughout his time as a shinigami, he wasn't that impressed by a power that allowed one to manipulate some element, but still, he was impressed by the fact that some humans had that ability when, in his world, only very few humans had special abilities as is the case with Orihime.
"For years, humans and spirits were at war over territory until Avatar Wan appeared." said the old man.
"Avatar?" asked Ichigo.
"The Avatar is the result of the fusion of a human with the spirit of light and order, Raava, which allows him the unique ability to manipulate the four elements in their entirety." said the old man.
That did impress Ichigo to know that there was a person fused with a spirit that gave him an ability superior to others.
It was like in his case and that of the vizard, who had an internal hollow and by controlling it, obtained a power greater than that of a normal shinigami.
"Avatar Wan managed to appease the war and proposed as a solution that humans and spirits should live in separate worlds, so he made all spirits return to the spirit world and then closed the portals." said the old man.
"Wait, you mean portals like that?" asked Ichigo pointing to the column of light.
"Well, yes. For 10000 years, the portals remained closed, separating humans and spirits." said the elder.
"And I guess Avatar Wan decided, then, to open them, right?" asked Ichigo.
"Well, yes, but Avatar Wan died centuries ago. The one who did was his current descendant, Avatar Korra." said the old man.
"Descendant?" asked Ichigo in confusion.
"When an Avatar dies, their spirit is reincarnated into another person through a cycle of reincarnation that has no end." said the old man.
Ichigo was becoming more and more surprised and interested by this Avatar.
At first, he thought the Avatar was like a shinigami, who lived for many, many years, but it turns out that, despite his enormous power, he was still a human with a limited lifespan and when it ended, the charge and power passed on to someone else.
"So, Avatar Korra decided to open the portals?" asked Ichigo wanting to know more.
"Well, it wasn't exactly like that." began the old man recalling certain events from the past. "But after thinking about it, she decided that it was time to enter a new era, an era where humans and spirits could live together in harmony."
Ichigo was truly impressed by this person, for she had accomplished something that many in his world would consider impossible, humans and spirits living side by side.
A part of him wanted to go meet her in person, but alas, there were more issues to deal with.
"One last question, do you know of a way for me to get back to my world?" asked Ichigo.
At that moment, the old man's kind smile turned into an expression of slight sadness and sorrow.
"I'm sorry to tell you no. As I said, the shinigami live in a realm apart from this one. I'm afraid you're trapped." the old man said.
Ichigo sighed in frustration that there was no current way he could return to his world.
He began to think of all the people who would be worried about him.
Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, Kisuke…
Wait a minute.
Kisuke Urahara!
If he knew Rukia well, and he knew her well, surely, the moment he was sucked down the garganta, he went with the others to inform her of the situation and, knowing how smart he is, he would find a way to locate him, open a way for the others to come to his aid and thus, be able to return.
A small smile formed on the substitute shinigami's face as he saw that there was a possible way back.
"It's alright. I'm sure my friends will find a way to get me back." said Ichigo positively.
"I'm glad to hear that." said the old man.
With all said and done, Ichigo stood up from the chair.
"Thank you for everything. I appreciate it." said Ichigo bowing in thanks before setting off towards the portal.
"A word of advice." began the old man causing him to pause. "Enjoy that world while you can. Like I always say, the only thing better than finding something you're looking for is finding something you're not looking for."
"Heh. I'll keep that in mind. I hope we meet again, old man." said Ichigo before crossing the portal.
"Old man, huh? Hehe. I guess I don't look as young as I used to. Hehe." said the old man before continuing to drink his tea.