"Old man Yama must be losing his patience," Kyoraku told Ukitake as they strolled towards the lieutenant's Assembly Room. "We haven't found him in two years and now he brings in help. Talk about timely."

"We just have to trust his judgment, Shunsui," replied Jushiro. "If they came with Vados, then they must be promising." He smiled back at Trunks, who followed behind them. "Tell me, Trunks. How old are you?"

"Oh, I'm nineteen, sir," he answered.

"Ah, you're not that much older than Ichigo. I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

"And how old would he be, sir?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe that he's seventeen and entering his last year of high school."

"I sure miss my time in the sun," sighed Shunsui as they turned the corner into the Assembly Room. "What I wouldn't give to be young again."

"We had fun in our youth, Shunsui," replied Ukitake. "And the sun is still shining down on us."

The three of them entered the Assembly Room. The room had been devoid of any other lieutenants, save for Nanao Ise and Rukia Kuchiki. Upon seeing their captains, they walked to greet but shared a confused expression when they laid eyes on the young man that stood behind them.

"Ah, my sweet Nanao," Shunsui said as his lieutenant approached. "I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Trunks."

Trunks gave a smile and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you."

She shook his hand as she gave a half-hearted greeting, still perplexed at Trunks' identity, as well as his strange clothing.

Her captain stepped in. "Now, I know you're very confused right now, but I'll be happy to explain on our way back to the barracks." Shunsui waved his goodbye. "Try not to beat up Ichigo too badly."

Trunks chuckled as Kyoraku and Nanao departed. Jushiro turned Rukia's attention to Trunks.

"Rukia, Trunks will stay in the World of the Living to train with Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm going to need you to escort him and introduce the two. I'm sure Trunks will explain things to you on your way there."

Rukia bowed her head and replied, "Yes, Captain."

"I'll also allow you to stay there for a little while," he added. "It's been a long time since you've seen your friends in Karakura Town."

Rukia gasped. "But Captain, who will look after the Squad if I'm not present?"

Jushiro grinned and waved his hand. "Don't worry, I'm feeling a lot more energetic these days. Kiyone and Sentaro can take over just in case."

Rukia bowed her head again in joy and thanked her captain. Ukitake wished them both well and departed back to his barracks. Trunks smiled as Rukia beamed at the prospect of returning to Karakura Town.

"You seem pretty happy," Trunks said. "You must be good friends with Ichigo."

"Well, he saved my life and let me live with his family." Rukia shot her hand out. "Sorry, I should've introduced myself first. I'm Rukia Kuchiki: Lieutenant of Squad Thirteen."

"I'm Trunks Briefs. It's nice to meet you."

"We'll be heading to the Senkaimon, so we'll have some time for you to tell me what's going on. Maybe you should start with who you are."

"Me first, huh?"

"Well, you are the stranger here."

"Fair enough. It's gonna be a long one, though."

Rukia started walking out of the Assembly Room. "Good, I like long stories."

Trunks followed her out. "Well, I guess I should start by saying I'm not actually from your universe…"

While they walked through the Seireitei, Trunks did his best to explain the structure of the two universes, and how the hierarchy of the multiverse operated. He found out from her that most Soul Reapers didn't know of other life existing outside of Hueco Mundo, the Living World, and Hell. In fact, he speculated with Rukia that only 3 people in the Soul Society besides Yamamoto and Sasakibe had been aware of this. Judging by their willingness to accept the Supreme Kai's plan, it had to be Unohana, Kyoraku, and Ukitake, backed up by the fact that they had been the oldest captains alive.

He then talked about himself, his half Saiyan and half Human genetics, and how his father hailed from a planet that a space dictator had destroyed. He then told her about his daily life, his college life, and how he didn't have an interest in fighting and training as much as his dad did. Rukia appeared fascinated by his story, but he deferred to her to tell him more about herself and the world she lived in.

She started with the physical aspects of the Seireitei, such as the Shakonmaku that surrounded it, and how the walls were composed of Sekkiseki. She then talked about the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and their responsibilities.

Trunks asked if she had any relation to Captain Kuchiki, to which she replied he was her adopted brother/brother-in-law. He then asked her about the female captain with short black hair. Rukia told him it had been Captain Soi Fon, leader of Squad Two and commander of the covert operations group known as the Stealth Force. When she inquired why he asked, he said that she had seemed interesting, to which Rukia raised an eyebrow and asked if they observed the same person.

Elsewhere in the Soul Society, Captain Soi Fon marched back to the barracks with her lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda, who feasted on a bag of potato chips. She still felt bothered by the captain's meeting, and thinking about it hadn't soothed her in the least bit.

To her, it was inconceivable. The last threat to the Soul Society stole someone's powers, so the next thing logical thing to do was to turn around and had them away? Why would the Head Captain give away Hitsugaya and Kurosaki's Zanpakuto to those two misfits from who knows where? And then that boy with the purple hair had the nerve to gawk at her like that. Who the hell did he think he was?

Soi Fon stopped dead in her tracks, and Omaeda, consumed with finding the bottom of his party-sized bag, bumped into her. She didn't move nor did she seem bothered, but a surprised Omaeda stepped back.

"Hey!" He swallowed a mouthful of chips. "Why'd you stop, Captain?"

She grunted, then replied in a low tone. "I'm leaving. You're in charge."

"I'm what?"

"And, Marechiyo, if I find out you've had another barbecue while I'm away, you're a dead man."

Before Omaeda could get a word out, she vanished. He shook his head left and right to find her, but to no avail.

"Aw, that's not fair, Captain," he shouted into the air. "You know I had plans today!"

Trunks and Rukia continued their journey towards the Senkaimon, as Rukia shared more anecdotes about her life in the living world and her adventures with her friends in Karakura Town. They approached the gate to the living world, and the Kido Corps already stood in preparation to open the gate. Rukia noted that this had been Ukitake's doing. They stopped, and she asked him if there was anything else that needed to be done before they left.

Trunks sensed something in the distance, prompting him to twist his head around. "What the…"

"Is something wrong?" Rukia asked as she looked concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing," Trunks said as he turned his head back to Rukia. "Sorry, I thought I heard something."

They both approached the Senkaimon and walked through the sliding doors before stepping out into the sky of Karakura. As soon as he planted his foot outside of the gate, Trunks dropped towards the Earth. Rukia tried to grab him but missed. He only fell for a second before he stabilized himself.

"Thanks for the heads up," he said as he floated with his back towards the earth.

Rukia gave a nervous giggle. "Hehe, sorry. I forgot to mention that one. "Wait a minute. You're not standing on air. Are you flying?!"

"Well, yeah," he replied. "Aren't you?"

"No, I'm just using my spiritual pressure to walk."

"That's interesting. Maybe you should get on my back so we can get to our destination faster. Plus, we'll have an aerial view of the city."

Though reluctant, Rukia agreed, and they glided into Karakura Town.

"By the way, Rukia," he asked. "What's time is it?"

"I don't have a watch on me," she replied. "But I'd venture to say that it's about 8 a.m."

It must've been 5 a.m. in West City. Trunks made a mental note that he should be mindful when calling home. They he glided over Karakura Town, but he noticed that many of the technological advancements he became accustomed to had not been present.

"Sorry for asking again," Trunks said. "But what's today's date and year?"

"It's the sixteenth of August, 2016."

"Really? We're in Age 785. I didn't think there would be that big a difference in years between us. At least the days are the same."

Rukia shrugged. "You know, for someone that can fly, you're not that fast."

"Hmph, not that fast, huh?" Trunks smirked. "Well, you better hold on tight."

"Wait, what do you mean-"

Before she finished, Trunks lapped around the Earth within a second. When he arrived back at his starting location, he turned back to Rukia. "Fast enough for you?"

With her head lowered, she whispered, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Trunks laughed. "Sorry, but you asked for it."

"A little warning would've been great, you jerk!"

"Hey, you shouldn't have called me slow."

"Gosh, you're just like Ichigo."

Trunks' laugh died out. "Speaking of Ichigo, are we gonna go meet up with him?"

"Not right now. I'm not sure where he would be." Rukia pointed out a one-story house in the distance. "You see that house with the sign on it? That's where we're headed."

Trunks flew to the house and landed in a dirt yard. Outside of the house sat two children, a boy with spiky red hair, and a girl with black pigtails.

"I swear Ururu," the boy said. "When school starts, I'm gonna wallop that kid so bad, he's gonna be the only guy in the Soul Society with a wheelchair."

"You can't be so violent, Jinta," Ururu said in a reserved tone.

The two kids lifted their head to Rukia and Trunks. Jinta told Ururu to go inside and alert Urahara.

"Well, well, well," he said with crossed arms. "If it isn't Rukia. That better not be another moocher with you."

"Now, now Jinta," a voice said behind the door. "That's no way to treat our guests." The door slid open, and the man spoke. "Hello Rukia, it's nice to see you again, and I see you've brought company."

"Kisuke, this is Trunks," said Rukia. "And Trunks, this is Kisuke Urahara. He used to be a captain."

"That's ancient history, my dear," replied Urahara. "But now I'm the happy owner of this shop. Come inside, we'll talk over some tea."

The two followed Urahara inside. Jinta gave Trunks a dirty stare, which Trunks ignored. "Weirdo," Jinta muttered to himself, opting to stay outside.

Trunks, Rukia, and Kisuke sat in a room separated from the shop, as his employee, Tessai, poured them all a cup of tea. Once he finished, everyone thanked him, and he sat down as well. Trunks then spotted a black cat entering the room.

"Yoruichi," said Urahara to the cat. "Come join us. We have guests."

"It's always nice to see you, Rukia," the cat said.

Trunks drew his head back. "Huh? You have a talking cat?"

Urahara turned to Trunks and said, "Well, she's only like that part of the time."

Trunks stared in confusion, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cat transform into a human woman. "Wait, but how did you… what?"

Urahara motioned her to sit. "Look what you did, Yoruichi. You got the boy all flustered."

Yoruichi fell over, laughing. "Sorry, you know I love to do that."

Trunks settled himself and likened her ability to Puar's. Yoruichi sat down, and they exchanged formalities.

"Captain Ukitake already contacted me," Kisuke said. "So I won't ask you to explain your situation, as you've probably done multiple times today. However, Ichigo is at work and won't be leaving for another hour. He's supposed to be coming here to train." Urahara sipped his tea. "In the meantime, I'd like to know a bit more about you, Trunks."

"Well, what would you like to know?" Trunks asked.

"Oh, nothing too personal, but Ukitake said you possessed a great deal of talent, so I'm curious about your powers."

During their entire conversation from Soul Society to Karakura Town, neither Trunks nor Rukia spoke of their abilities. Because of this, Trunks tried to go into as much detail as possible, explaining how he could control his energy, or Ki, at will. In addition to this, he could manipulate his energy for defensive and offensive purposes.

He held up a small energy ball in the palm of his hand as an example. Kisuke compared this to Kido spells and found them to be very similar, even though Kido seemed more versatile by design, while Ki appeared more destructive and easy to use.

Trunks then told them about his Super Saiyan transformations. He explained many forms and variations existed, but he only had access to three. His first Super Saiyan form increased his power by 50 times its original amount. Super Saiyan 2 doubled his power from Super Saiyan. Goten and Trunks were the only ones to obtain this last form. They called it Pseudo Blue, a form he described as a powered-up Super Saiyan 2 with the infusion of god Ki, energy used by gods and angels.

Though the form possessed a power that stood in a league of its own compared to the previous ones, he noted that it only existed because they lacked the training to become Super Saiyan Gods and further beyond. Trunks offered to demonstrate his abilities, but Urahara asked that he save his optimism for when Ichigo arrived, lest he attract Hollows with a massive spike in energy.

Urahara took a minute to soak all of this new information in before he asked Trunks if he knew about a Zanpakuto's Shikai and Bankai. When Trunks replied he did not, Kisuke gave him a quick lesson about these forms. In Ichigo's case, his Shikai always remained active. He also gave him a lesson on Kido, divulging into Hado and Bakudo spells, though he remarked that with Ki, Trunks didn't need to learn this unless he wanted to.

Trunks tried to absorb this mass of new information, but he detected something far away. "Hey, do you guys feel that?"

"What exceptional senses you have, Trunks," Urahara said. "Yes, it feels like a few Hollows have appeared."

"You two should go," Yoruichi said. "Rukia, if Ichigo shows up, make sure he doesn't fight Trunks, at least not in public."

Urahara handed Rukia a folded piece of paper. "As an added measure of insurance, give this to Ichigo when you see him, just in case he gets feisty."

Rukia nodded. She climbed onto Trunks' back once they exited the shop. However, he tilted his head to the buildings on his left.

"Hey!" Rukia called out. "The Hollows are the other way."

Trunks turned his head around. "Right, sorry about that."

Ichigo Kurosaki made his way out of Unagiya's Shop and met three of his friends on the street.

"Hi, Ichigo!" said a girl with long orange hair. She gave him an excited wave. "How was work?"

"Hey, Orihime," he replied. "Work is always rough when that lady feels like working me to the bone." He yawned, then looked at the other two people with Orihime. "Wow, you even got Chad and Uryu out of the caves?"

"Hmph," Uryu replied as he pushed up his glasses. "We have jobs, too, you know. The hospital is a very stressful work environment."

"Yea, I bet," Ichigo said as he turned to Chad. "How about you? How's construction treating ya?"

"It's fine," Chad answered.

"I thought it would be nice if we all got a quick bite to eat," said a cheerful Orihime. "I feel like it's been so long since I've seen all of you."

"It's only been a week, Orihime," Uryu said.

She giggled. "Oh yeah, I guess I just wanted an excuse to go to that new donut shop down the block."

"Sounds like a plan," Ichigo said. "I need a stress reliever, anyway."

As they walked along the sidewalk, shrieking echoed in the air. "I guess donuts will have to wait for a bit," remarked Ichigo as the group ran toward the horrid sound.

Once they arrived at the scene, three monstrous creatures prowled in the area, searching for human souls to devour. They appeared larger than average, but it was nothing to fret over.

Ichigo pulled his combat pass out of his pocket and turned to Uryu. "Hey, I know you don't wanna start problems with the Soul Society, so could you hold my body while I handle this real quick?"

"Hmph, whatever," Uryu replied.

Ichigo shoved his combat pass into his chest, and his body fell back into Uryu's arms as he took on his Soul Reaper form. Ichigo drew Zangetsu from his back and faced it forward. "Sorry, I forgot Kon at home today, but I'll make it quick."

"That's not fair," remarked Chad. "You killed the Hollows last time."

Ichigo turned around and faced Chad. "You guys have been fighting Hollows without me for a year and a half, so I think it evens out."

"Oh, I know!" Orihime exclaimed. "How about you guys decide with Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

"I guess that works."

Chad shrugged, and the two boys stuck their fists out and started chanting. "Rock, Paper-"

As they shook their fist down for the third time, the Hollows shrieked and disappeared. The group gasped and swiveled their heads to find the person responsible. A flash of spiritual pressure brushed Ichigo's senses. He shot his head to the sky. A man with lavender hair floated down ten meters away from them. He held a Zanpakuto in his right hand and a scabbard in his left.

Once he tucked his sword away in its scabbard, they both disappeared. Ichigo widened his stance and gripped Zangetsu tighter. Chad summoned Brazo Derecho del Gigante. Uryu put down Ichigo's body and readied his bow and arrow, and Orihime brought out her Shun Shun Rikka.

"Ichigo," Uryu whispered. "Could this guy be another Fullbringer?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "It doesn't look like it, but keep your eyes peeled."

Across from them, Trunks stared back at the group with their weapons drawn. What the hell! She left me on my own to deal with this? They all look like they wanna kill me. Alright, Trunks, say something before it gets awkward.

"Uh, hi!" he yelled to the orange-haired Soul Reaper. "Are you Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Yeah, and just who the hell are you?"