Sorry for the wait, classes have started. On top of that, I'm currently playing Skyrim, which really eats up what free time I have.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Isshin Kurosaki sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor, his expression tinged with sorrow and his eyes clearly showed he was tired. He barely slept at all the previous night, his son's fate weighing heavily upon his mind. He could still hardly believe how he'd failed his son and his beloved Masaki in allowing this to happen.

On some level, he still had trouble believing it. His son, transformed not just into a Hollow, but according to what Yoruichi later told him, one straight out of the Soul Society's worst nightmares, and now wandering Hueco Mundo… he kept asking himself how or why this happened, but received no answers. What would happen to his son? Would Aizen find and recruit him? Would he run into an Adjuchas and be devoured? He didn't know which fate would be worst. Although he hated to think of the prospect of having to face his son and knew of the potential damage he could cause if he became one of the Arrancar soldiers Aizen planned to make, the thought of him being consumed, becoming nothing more than a piece of another entity until both were purified by a Shinigami's blade, hurt him even more.

Corresponding with Yoruichi and his old friend, the father of Uryu: Ryuken Ishida, Ichigo's body had been taken to the morgue at the Quincy's hospital. The pair of doctors had needed a cause of death that would leave no injury on the body. Ultimately, they'd ruled his death as the result of an aneurysm that had stopped his heart.

The only thing he was thankful for was that his daughters wouldn't have to learn the truth of Ichigo's fate. Between the event with Grand Fisher and meeting Don Kanonji, the two were aware of spirits and Hollows. Considering that he knew Ichigo, he had no doubt that at least Karin had some limited knowledge of the existence of Shinigami too. The thought of having to tell them that their brother had become one of the soul devouring monsters they'd seen was horrifying to Isshin.

After a few more minutes, he looked to the clock once again. 11:00 am. He decided he'd put it off long enough. It was time to tell his daughters. He took a deep breath before he rose to his feet and made his way to the door.

As he neared the stairs, he could hear his daughters talking in the kitchen.

"I wonder what's taking dad so long, he's usually up and about by now." He heard Yuzu say. As he got closer, he could also hear a sizzling sound and knew she was probably cooking breakfast.

"Eh, you don't need to worry about old goat chin. He probably just thinks he can sleep in because he doesn't have Ichigo to bother." Karin's aloof voice reached his ears before he just barely heard her sigh. "Geez, it's so boring around here this time of year. There's never anything to do until the festivals start."

The conversation stopped when they heard him start walking down the stairs. When he reached the bottom and stepped into the kitchen area, he found both his daughters looking at him. Yuzu, who worked so hard to fill the void Masaki left behind, was hard at work at the stove cooking for them just as she always did. It amazed him sometimes how strong she could be, finding time to act as the mother of the family and still have time to be a normal kid and without ever asking for a break.

And Karin, who shared much of her brother's personality, hardening herself and always striving to keep from being a burden. Who's always there for her siblings no matter how she feels herself.

"There you are! You're sure up late." Yuzu greeted her father with a smile, which faded when she noticed the seriousness in his expression, which also had Karin frowning. This wasn't the quirky, energetic, jovial father who could make light out of just about any situation, or even who he was when there was a serious medical situation at hand and he dropped all pretext of his usual goofy behavior. There was a grimness in his countenance that told the sisters something was wrong. "Is something the matter?"

"What's wrong with you, old man? You look like someone stole that poster of mom you're always carrying on in front of." Karin asked, tilting her head back as she leaned back in her chain, one arm thrown over its side.

"Girls…" He began, his eyes failing to the floor in grief. "There's just no easy way to say this… Ichigo… he… died."

Yuzu and Karin gasped, the brunette sitting up straight as Yuzu took a step back, dropping the pan she was holding as her hands flew to her mouth, which clattered on the floor spilling the scrambled eggs she'd just finished.

Karin stared at her father, her expression one of open mouthed shock. Yuzu's face mirrored hers for a moment before it shifted to one of sorrow and loss, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"I got the call last night… I didn't think I should wake you." Isshin began, hearing the beginnings of sobs from Yuzu. "He just… had a sudden arrhythmia. In a little while, I'm going to head to the hospital and start making funeral arrangements, as well as identify the body."

He looked up at the sound of rapid footsteps to see Yuzu throw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and crying into his stomach. He wrapped his arms around her and looked at her for a moment before looking to Karin, whose hands were balled up on the table and trembling, her head tilted forward and hiding her expression.

"Karin…" Isshin spoke quietly over Yuzu's sobs, continuing even though he saw no reaction from the young brunette. "Don't try to hide what you're feeling or bottle things up, like Ichigo did after your mother passed. It wouldn't be a burden to share your feelings with us. It's what family's for, and it's times like these that you can't just keep things to yourself."

At that, Karin began to choke back sobs as well before raising her head, her eyes shining with unshed tears and her face twisted as she clearly struggled not to cry. She tried, she wanted so badly to be strong for her sister, but the pain of losing her brother was just too great.

Isshin adjusted slightly and got down on one knee as Karin jumped out of her seat and ran to join her sister. The ex-captain wrapped one arm around both his daughters as they cried into his chest.

As his family mourned his loss in the living world, Ichigo rested on the branch of one of the massive quartz trees of the Forest of Menos, his eyes scanning across the area, seeing no signs of life within his range of vision. His gaze wandered up, wondering what lied above the ceiling of the forest, but thus far he was unable to find anyway to escape its confines.

Seeing that there were no Hollows to attack him and nothing to do, he brought one of hic clawed hands to his face, covering his left eye, and began to try to organize his thoughts, searching through his mind for clues of his past.

While they were still fuzzy, his memories were gradually becoming clearer as he thought about them. He could see brief scenes from his human life. He saw his family; aloof younger sister and her soft spoken, empathetic twin, along with his goofy father. He could see the man try to wake him up in rather… violent ways. He could see a single vision with a woman with hair that matched his… his mother… a memory that caused a brief flash of pain to radiate from where his heart should be. He also recalled a short, raven haired girl, with large, purple eyes. Beyond that, everything was still a blur.

Part of him wanted to go see his family, but he could see no reason to. His transformation had changed him a lot. Far more than when he was alive, he wanted to fight. The instinct to battle and slaughter one's enemies was hardwired into the mind of every Hollow, and he was no exception. The being he'd become loved battle, better yet if the opponent was a worthy foe, something he'd yet to encounter. He felt a sadistic sense of amusement when the life bled out of his opponent's eyes.

But other parts of him remained the same. Anything that he claimed as his or had ties with him, be it subjects, comrades, family, whatever, he would protect, and he could best protect his living family by staying away from them.

As he sifted through his memories, gleaming as much from them as he could, his head jerked up as a flare of reiatsu washed over the forest.

He twisted his body to look in the direction of the reiatsu, sensing the presence of multiple hollows gathering together as their roars echoed throughout the underground forest.

Grinning behind his mask, Ichigo pushed himself off the branch, falling forward until he planted his feet on the trunk of the tree-like structure and kicked off.

He shot through the air, eventually landing and rushing towards the ever-growing presence ahead of him. Soon enough, he neared his destination and the source of the reiatsu entered his line of sight.

A mass of Hollows of various shapes and sizes, from humanoid to animalistic to simply odd ones, was gathering in a large clearing of the forest. They seemed to be in the middle of a feeding frenzy. All of the fallen souls were covered in blood, dripping from their claws, if they had them, and from their mouths, and many had large chunks simply missing from their body. They were drawn together by one overwhelming craving; the hunger to consume souls, the desire to consume each other.

Ichigo shot forward so quickly he became invisible to the naked eye, his mouth opening as he released a growl of excitement. He ripped a huge chunk out of the neck of another hollow as he sped by, causing it to release a gurgling death cry before falling forward as he came to a stop and chewed on his meal.

Sensing danger behind him, he leapt into the air and a hulking hollow which seemed to with a form akin to a green skinned wild man slammed its palm into where he'd stood a mere moment ago.

Turning his body around in midair with a malicious chuckle, Ichigo fell back into the brawl, his claw pulled back as he released a battle cry.

Uryu Ishida found himself confused as he walked down the streets of Karakura, his gaze briefly flickering towards the black cat that walked along the tall wooden fence at his side, balancing herself perfectly on it. He felt the slight urge to shudder as he looked at the feline. Even with all the different spirits he'd seen, the hollows he'd slain, it still creeped the hell out of him.

Seriously, who ever heard of a talking cat?

Taking his eye off the odd creature, his gaze washed over the surrounding area as he wondered, and not for the first time, where he was being taken. The cat had just shown up in the middle of his training and requested he accompany her. Of course, he declined, but she had stressed that it was of the utmost importance and finally, he agreed, but she'd been silent as to what it was she had to tell him.

"Where do you think you're looking?" The voice of the cat (who he believed to be male) spoke up, causing him to train his eyes on her. "Pay attention." With that, the cat jumped off the fence and walked to a nearby alleyway. "We're here."

Peering down the alley, he saw the unassuming Urahara shop. Recalling that as the name of the odd Shinigami who offered to help him, he followed the cat through the alleyway and into the building.

They soon reached a room within the shop and slid open the door. Sitting on the Tatami mats inside were his classmates and comrades in their upcoming rescue mission; Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora. Sitting on the other side of the room was Kisuke Urahara, his fan covering his face as usual and the shadows of his hat covering his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.

As Uryu quickly looked over the occupants of the room, he noted that Ichigo wasn't there.

"Oh, Uryu!" Orihime greeted cheerfully. "You came. How've you been doing on your own?"

"Just fine. Thank you for your concern, Orihime." Uryu replied with a nod.

"Well, looks like everyone's here." Urahara said, moving his fan to the side and revealing a wide smile.

Uryu's eyes narrowed, knowing something was wrong while Orihime looked a little confused, placing her finger to her chin as she said, "Um… but, Ichigo isn't here yet."

Urahara's jovial smile immediately fell, replaced by a look of seriousness as his grey eyes became visible in the shadows of his hat as he closed his fan with a snap and set it down on the table before him. "Well that's actually part of the reason I've called you here. Suffice to say, I would have invited him if I could." He turned to Uryu. "Please, sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

Uryu did as asked, taking a seat beside Orihime. The Quincy's brow furrowed as he stared at the man before him, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here and where Ichigo is." He said, his gaze briefly downcast and directed at the table before it rose to meet the trio. "I'm sorry to say this but… Ichigo Kurosaki… has died."

Orihime gasped, her hands covering her mouth while Uryu and even the stoic Sado reeled in shock, their eyes wide open. They stared at the man, looking for any hints of deception, but found nothing. Everything pointed to his words being the horrible truth.

"No!" Orihime cried. "How can you say that!? Ichigo… Ichigo's the strongest person I know! He would never… he wouldn't…" She said before falling silent, struggling with herself as tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Uryu, his own usually calm and composed expression twisted with a slight sense of grief at the loss of his rival, gave her a concerned look and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. This caused her to breakdown completely, leaning into him and crying into his shoulder as he did his best to comfort her.

While Sado's expression remained largely the same, his eyes expressed pain from the loss of his closest friend as his hands trembled. The quiet teen only spoke a single word, "How?"

Kisuke sighed, his head tipping forward, causing his eyes to vanish once more, keeping them from seeing the anguish in them. "I'm afraid that would be my fault." He looked to the trio once more. "As you should know, Ichigo was training under me in order to regain the Shinigami powers taken from him by Byakuya Kuchiki. In order to do so, he needed to complete a series of three exercises. I explained to him that there were risks involved, but now I think I should have been clearer, both about the risks and the objectives of the trials. The first was relatively simple and with little risk. He passed with flying colors and things seemed to be going smoothly. But it was during the second that things went south… in ways I had never imagined."

He paused a moment, letting his words sink in as Orihime quietly sobbed. His gaze washed over the two more composed teens, seeing them urging him to continue on, both wanting to know the whole story, if only so they could get the pain over with as quickly as possible and deal with the grief of their lost friend. "The second exercise was known as the Shattered Shaft. This… is where I made my mistake. I should have explained it more thoroughly… especially before we passed the point of no return. You see, the Shattered Shaft involves cutting the prospective Shinigami's Chain of Fate."

Uryu gasped, his expression a mask of shock and horror as he quickly worked out what must have happened. Kisuke didn't miss this. "I see you understand what this means. Yes, it's as you fear."

'You fool…' Uryu thought, his face contorting slightly in pain. How could Ichigo have risked… He knew he was reckless, but to go that far… Then he remembered Kisuke's words and glared slightly.

Exactly how much had he told him? Had the man essentially thrown Ichigo to the wolves without any warning? As irresponsible as Ichigo was, this man seemed to take it to heights that the orange haired teen would never have dared.

"After the chain is severed, the person undergoing the trial is thrown into a deep pit filled with a special gas that accelerates the rate of its corrosion, known as the Encroachment. Once the Chain of Fate fully corrodes away, the person becomes a Hollow." Uryu blew out a breath as Sado and Orihime gasped in horror at the prospect.

Ichigo? The boy who'd always been there for his friends, who'd do anything for his family, turned into a Hollow? It was inconceivable.

"You see, the objective of the exercise is for the person to escape the pit while their arms are bound behind their backs. Obviously, the only way to do this is to rediscover their Shinigami powers. While it's possible to awaken as a Shinigami before the chain erodes, it's very unlikely one would succeed." Looking at the trio, he could see Uryu give him a look of outrage. Sado seemed to be torn between grief and anger at those words while Orihime was still sobbing. "You see, at the moment the victim begins to become a Hollow, if said individual possesses latent Shinigami powers as Ichigo did, they resist the process. At this point, it would be easiest to awaken your Shinigami powers. In the end… he failed this task."

Uryu blew out a breath to calm himself and focused his eyes on Urahara. "So, I take it you purified him."

"Unfortunately, no." The ex-captain replied, leaning forward and placing his hand to his forehead. "I vastly underestimated what he would be capable of. I'm ashamed to say, he escaped to Hueco Mundo before I could finish him. I'd hoped to get another chance, but he's yet to emerge from it."

"What!?" Uryu almost snarled.

"I know… you don't have to tell me anything." Kisuke stopped him, leaning forward, his face completely covered by his hat. "There's no excuse for the mistake I made." He paused for a moment, giving them time to work through whatever they were feeling before sitting up. "If any of you want to back out of our rescue mission now that Ichigo is no longer with us, I'll understand. If not, I've got more to discuss with you." He closed his eyes as he continued. "After this, I don't want to take anymore chances of having another child's life on my hands. Stick around so I can explain the reality of what you're up against."

There was a moment of silence before suddenly, everything that the stoic Sado was bottling up exploded. With a roar of rage and anguish, he drew his fist back through the air, translucent liquid pouring out of it and surrounding his limb, before slamming it into the table between them, releasing a shockwave of reiryoku that obscured him from sight and blew everything in the room away and knocked over the nearby cabinet as Kisuke and Uryu leapt backward, the Quincy holding on to Orihime and pulling her with him.

All three were shocked into silence by the stoic Mexican teen's outburst. Jinta tore open the nearby door, he and Ururu having been alerted by the reiatsu and noise, and gaped at the damage done.

When the dust cleared, a huge hole had been torn through the floor revealing the training ground underneath. Sado's arm had transformed, not into the form that they'd seen before, but something new entirely.

The black color of his transformed arm remained, but the magenta color had lightened and become more intricate while the shoulder extension had become elongated and become more pointed.

'Ichigo…' He thought as he clenched his transformed hand into a fist and grit his teeth. 'I swear to you… I'll finish what you started… and protect your family.'

"I'll go." Sado said firmly as he stood up, staring at his arm. "Ichigo sacrificed himself trying to save Rukia… I won't let it be in vain."

"I'll go too." Uryu said, his eyes narrowed. While he refused to admit it out loud, he did want to save Rukia. After all, he wasn't going to just let her die, even if she was a Shinigami she was still a woman. Besides, he needed to make them pay, for defeating him, for his grandfather and now for Ichigo.

Kisuke's gaze wandered over the pair, thinking for a moment. "Ok…" He then stared at the hole Sado had created. "… But I think we might want to have this conversation elsewhere… after all, the gaping hole in my floor might be a little distracting."

Minutes later they'd moved to a guest bedroom. Orihime had gone home, promising to hear from the others and still come with them to Soul Society. Kisuke was a little worried the girl might have a breakdown, but she had friends who would be there for her. He was sure Tatsuki would be there for her once she heard the news.

Turning to the two remaining teens, the scientist began, "Now, I know you two have probably been putting your all into your training, but I think you might need to step things up," He turned to Sado. "From here on out, I'll be personally overseeing your training." His eye narrowed. "You should know beforehand that I'm not as nice a teacher as Yoruichi." Aside from a slight furrowing of his brow, the Mexican teen gave no response and Urahara turned to Uryu. "As for you, I think you may want to go pay a visit to your father. I'm afraid you won't get where you need to go without his help."

Uryu was visibly taken aback by that before he responded angrily. "What the hell are you going on about, Urahara? My father abandoned his heritage a long time ago."

"My my." Kisuke replied in a jovial tone, pulling out his fan and covering his sly smile with it while averting his gaze. "You really need to pay more attention. How do you get such good grades when you don't listen to what people say?" Hearing Uryu's scoff, he turned to look at him with a single eye. "Tell me, did he ever say, in his exact words, that he didn't possess the powers of a Quincy?" Uryu seemed surprised by that question and didn't respond. Thinking about it for a moment, he realized he didn't. With a serious tone, the Shinigami said, "There's a lot about Ryuken that you don't know. Despite his attitude, he's actually one of the most powerful Quincy who ever lived and has mastered all that your grandfather could teach him. He told me in the past that those powers are so deeply engrained that he couldn't discard them if he wanted to."

Uryu's jaw dropped slightly at that. After a few seconds of struggling to find the words he wanted to say to the meddling Shinigami, he glared at the ex-captain and said, "Even if that's true, he obviously has no desire to teach me. And I have no desire to learn anything from him."

"Oh really? Well, this might change your tune." Kisuke replied. "Do you remember how powerful the Shinigami who so easily defeated you was?" Seeing the calculating look on the Quincy's face, he continued, "That man was a lieutenant of the 13 Court Guard Squads that make up the Shinigami's military force. Each division has ranked soldiers known as seated officers ranging from 3 to 20, with the lieutenant taking the place of second and the captain first. There's always a huge gap between the power of a lieutenant and that of a captain, but that's not always the case with the lesser seated officers. There are some cases where third seats are equal in strength to lieutenants. Now, you probably think that you will be able to handily defeat the man you fought by the time you head to Soul Society, but let me tell you exactly what your up against. Whenever a lieutenant or above is sent to the Living World, in order to keep them from influencing living souls with their reiryoku, as Ichigo did, they're required to equip a Gentei Reiin."

Uryu frowned. "Gentei Reiin?"

Kisuke nodded. "It's a seal which limits the Shinigami's power to a level that won't unduly affect their surroundings."

The self proclaimed Last Quincy didn't like where this was going. "Limits?" By how much?"

After pausing for dramatic effect, Kisuke answered, "It lowers them down…" He paused again, finally sparing them the agony of expectation after a few more seconds. "… to about 20%." Both the teens' eyes widened at that. "In other words, in the Soul Society, the man who defeated you will be roughly 5 times stronger. But that's not all. While you were down, I assume you learned of the Shinigami's Shikai?" Receiving a nod from the bewildered teen, he continued. "Well, that's just the first stage of a Shinigami's sword release. Beyond that is what's known as the Bankai. It produces a much larger effect than the Shikai which is always related to said Shikai's power, and it amplifies the user's strength by an average of five to ten times."

"Five… to ten?!" Uryu asked as he and Sado reeled in shock.

Kisuke nodded. "So, if that lieutenant, Renji Abari, were to possess Bankai and you fought him in the Soul Society, he'd be at least 25 times stronger than when he fought you and Ichigo. And though not many lieutenants have the ability to use Bankai, nearly all captains do. The sole exception being those rare few who are so obscenely powerful that they can contend with another captain's Bankai with just their Shikai, but of course, that doesn't put you in any better position." Silence followed this declaration until Kisuke stood up. "Think about what I've said. Sado, your new training begins in the morning. And Uryu, don't worry about your father. A mutual friend of ours is going to speak with him. Whether or not it'll help your case, I can't say, but at the very least he'll explain the situation to him." With that, he walked towards the door and opened it before turning to look at the pair who rose to their feet, still somewhat shocked by what they'd just learned. "Oh, and just to let you know, there'll be someone joining you with you in place of Ichigo." With a smirk, he added, "Trust me; you'll be pretty surprised when you find out who it is."

With a growl, Uryu glared at the scientist. "I think we've had about enough of your surprises, Urahara!"

"Don't worry about it. It's a good surprise, I promise."

Ryuken stood in the heart of a large, metallic chamber; the secret training ground he constructed under Karakura Hospital, his spirit weapon held at the ready. Though the room, constructed of Reiryoku resistant soul synthesized silver, was undamaged, he'd just finished an intense training session. While he would certainly wished discard these powers, even if he could it just wasn't the sensible thing to do. One must always be prepared and vigilant. While he had come to despise his heritage, there may come a day when he needed that power.

And so, here he was keeping these hated skills of his sharp in this training ground he constructed at a time when he'd been proud to carry the title 'Quincy'.

With a sigh, he released his bow, allowing it to break apart into particles of reishi before he began to make his way out of the hidden area, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a box of cigarettes as he walked to the door, extracting a single one before putting it away and reaching for his lighter, only to stop when he sensed a presence at the door.

Raising his head and looking to the door, he saw none other than Isshin Kurosaki, wearing his Shinigami garb with his old, tattered captains haori fastened on his arm just under his left shoulder, his arms crossed as he leaned on the silver door frame.

"Hey." The former captain greeted. "Nice to see you're still keeping your skills sharp after all this time."

"What are you doing here Isshin?" Ryuken asked before he blinked in surprise as he noticed the Shinigami attire and reiatsu. "Wait, that form… Have your powers returned?"

"Yep." Isshin replied, hooking his thumbs in his shihaksho. "Looks great, doesn't it? Takes me back to the old days."

Ryuken, with his ever-present sense of calm, closed his eyes as he placed his cigarette between his lips and pulled out a lighter, bringing its flame to his cigarette as he commented, "It makes me sick."

Isshin, nonplussed by his response, gave a half hearted, "Thanks."

Taking the cigarette away from his mouth and blowing out a puff of smoke, Ryuken stated, "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Isshin's expression became serious and after a short pause, he answered, "I came here to talk to you about Uryu."

Ryuken scoffed at that. "You should be more concerned with your own children." Isshin frowned at that and looked away, and the stoic Quincy winced before adding. "Kurosaki, I'm sorry about your son, but what makes you think you have any right to come here and tell me how I should handle mine?"

Isshin chuckled ruefully and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm not arguing against that. I know that between the two of us, I'm easily the worst father." He looked back to his old friend, "But I have to ask, are you really just going to let him go off to Soul Society as he is now? You know he won't stand a chance if he runs into a captain or something."

"Not if he uses Letzt Stil." Ryuken answered, and Isshin's eyes widened before they narrowed.

"So… you're banking on him being forced to cast aside his heritage?"

"If he knew what I did, I doubt he'd be as eager to cling to it as he has all his life." Ryuken replied, taking another puff of his cigarette. "Besides, if it comes to that, he may finally get a life in the real world. Leave the spirit world to the Shinigami."

"You say that, but here you are, practicing those same powers you hate so much." Isshin observed.

"It's only practical to do so. If there's ever a threat to the living, I must be prepared. Should Uryu have need of his powers again, I can easily restore them, and by that time maybe he'll have moved on a little." He looked out the nearby window, his expression unreadable. "Ever since father passed away, he's held fast to his Quincy lineage… the idealized history that father taught him. If this continues, he'll never be able to function among the living."

Isshin closed his eyes. He could understand where Ryuken was coming from. The boy was ignoring the world around him, focusing entirely on his ancestor's legacy… and knowing what he did, he knew this wasn't good for the boy. However, there were things Ryuken didn't know. "What if I told you… that if we're right, not just the Living World, but specifically this town, is in danger?" That got Ryuken's attention. The white haired man turned his eye toward him as Isshin met his gaze and continued, his expression and tone grave. "Do you remember what Urahara told us… about the Hogyoku?"

Footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the otherwise silent halls of the Central 46 compound, a lone figure moving through the barely lit hallway leading to the meeting room. Soon enough Gin Ichimaru, captain of squad 3, emerged from the corridor, wearing his usual wide grin as he walked across the silent chamber, ignoring the smell of death that permeated the chamber where the Soul Society's ruling body, second in authority only to the usually silent king, convened, and its source.

All across the room, at their seats in various positions, some slumped forward on the table before them, some with their unseeing eyes pointed to the ceiling, were the corpses of the respected Central 46. Blood had pooled around their bodies, but had long since dried.

They'd never seen it coming. No alarm or warning had gone out. As far as Soul Society knew, they were simply spending an extended period of time in important meetings. None would question their authority.

Of course, it helped that anyone else coming down there would never see the bodies. No, for anyone but the participants of what had obviously been a massacre, everything would appear as usual, all due to the absurdly powerful illusions of the mastermind behind this act of betrayal.

Gin walked by the bodies without a hint of concern or notice. The one he was looking for lied deeper in the compound. He made his way through the darkened halls until finally, he emerged in the daireishokairo, the repository of all knowledge within the Soul Society. All the history was documented, all the Twelfth Division's systems intrinsically linked so that all new experiments and discoveries were constantly updated and all monitors in both Soul Society and the World of the Living could be viewed from within its walls.

Standing before the central hub of the library, basking in the majesty of the near infinite knowledge within, was the Sosuke Aizen. The man turned as the footsteps of his right hand man reached him.

"Greetings, Captain Aizen." Gin said as he stepped into the room.

"Well, this is a surprise." Aizen commented. "Something interesting must have happened if you deemed it necessary to come to me here. So, what have you brought for me, Gin?"

"My my, so impatient." The grinning Shinigami replied. "I just heard a most fascinating report from our friends in Hueco Mundo and figured you'd want to hear about it right away."

"And what is it?"

"Oh, come now. Wouldn't you like to take a guess? The least you could do is be a bit more welcoming." Gin complained in a slightly mocking tone, though his expression didn't change as he waited, seemingly hoping for his fellow captain to indulge his antics.

Aizen, while slightly amused, said nothing, simply waiting patiently for the man to tell him whatever it was he came to. He had to admit he was intrigued. Arturo did so loathe reporting to him. He seemed to prefer to imagine himself the one in charge. It must have been something big for him to send an unscheduled message. "Recently, a rather powerful Hollow has appeared within Hueco Mundo. It's quite unique, possessing power on par with most Adjuchas despite being a newborn."

Aizen closed his eyes and turned back to the monitor, his usual, serene smile playing across his lips at this new development. "Is that so? It sounds as if he'll make a wonderful addition to our army, provided he evolves quickly."

"Oh, but there's more." Gin said, causing Aizen to half turn to face him. "Arturo noticed some similarities to a certain boy we told him to keep an eye on, and it turns out his hunch was correct. The Hollow is one Ichigo Kurosaki."

Aizen's eyes widened for a brief moment at that, his mind racing at the implications, wondering how this had happened. He had fully expected the boy to regain his Shinigami powers with the help of Kisuke Urahara. Even had he failed, he expected him to arrive in Soul Society soon in that case, he'd never expected him to be able to escape from the Urahara Shop. A smile, one slightly more malicious than his normal one, grew on his face. "I see." He closed his eyes. "The poor boy." While his tone sounded sincere, the smile made it clear he didn't actually feel any sense of sorrow.

"I suppose the term, 'not according to plan' would be appropriate here, eh Captain Aizen?"

"Indeed." Aizen replied. His original plans for the boy were no more. Aizen was a man who always planned for every possibility, but even he had never considered this turn of events. Even had he failed the to regain his Shinigami powers, which there was only one real way to do, he had expected him to be killed and purified. Not even he had anticipated the possibility of Ichigo escaping from Urahara. A shame. He'd hoped to see him eventually become his equal. However, who's to say that was no longer a possibility? As an Arrancar, his potential could very well be greater than it would have been before. Yes, it might be far more beneficial this way.

The more he thought about it, the more curious he became. Part of the reason he was so interested in the boy was because there'd never been a hybrid like him in all the history of the Soul Society. How would his heritage affect his new powers? Would the Hogyoku be able to draw out even a small fraction of those abilities? This may very well turn out to be far more entertaining than his original plan.

"So, is a change of plans in order?" Gin questioned, curiosity clear in his tone.

"Perhaps… no." Aizen decided after a moment. "We should continue on with the plan. That will give him more time to develop as a Hollow. We could always simply help him along, but I'm curious how far he can make it on his own." Though he'd have to instruct Arturo to help Ichigo evolve past the Gillian stage, if he hadn't thought of doing so already. The mindless Gillian, even their instincts dulled due to the countless psyches fighting their futile battle for control, wouldn't fight back against one of their own, at best simply moving away from their attacker. There was no merit in evolving past it, it just took time. He turned back to the monitor. "Besides, it'll give us an opportunity to observe the ones Kisuke Urahara sends to retrieve the Hogyoku. I must admit, I'm curious to see how the boy's former companions will develop."

Ichigo let out a battle cry as he thrust his hand forward, his claw tearing through the throat of a slightly taller, green skinned humanoid Hollow, causing it to cough up blood as it gurgled out its dying breaths. Pulling it towards him, Ichigo tore a chunk out of its shoulder before tossing it to the ground with a flick of his arm.

His instincts warned him of danger and he swiftly ducked under the swipe of a large, wolf like Hollow, aiming to tear his head off, not that it would have worked on his thick hide. He whipped around; lashing out with his tail and striking the offending Hollow, sending it spiraling to the ground where Ichigo promptly stabbed it through its mask, taking a brief moment to take a bite out of his victim. Rising up and releasing an almost insane sounding laugh, the orange haired hollow charged towards his next target.

The lizard-like being's forearms were covered in the blood of his freshly slain foes. He was tearing through them like a hot knife through butter, and yet, the all out feeding frenzy showed no signs of slowing down. No matter how many Hollows fell, more were drawn in to take their place as the reiatsu that enveloped the area continued to rise.

Not that this mattered to Ichigo. Even if he'd stopped to think about it, he'd be perfectly content with continuing with the seemingly endless brawl.

As Ichigo charged towards his next intended victim, rearing his claw back to slash at the creature, the world seemed to freeze. The reiatsu that had been bearing down upon all the Hollows suddenly exploded, multiplying exponentially as their reiryoku flared, kicking up the sand and spiraling around them as the various signatures and colors began to blend together. Trembling with the effort to move, Ichigo managed to throw his head back and let out an outraged roar as his body refused to obey his commands.

Then, he felt his body begin to crumble away. Struggling, his golden orb turned down to see that his hand was disintegrating into red particles, the effect spreading up his entire form. The other Hollows were all undergoing a similar transformation until finally, all had completely broken down, the crimson reishi fusing together and twisting, rising higher and higher.

Ichigo suddenly found himself without any form, floating in a sea of countless awareness along with the minds of the Hollows he'd been competing with, their voices whispering and screaming around him. He refused to lose himself to the psyches of the other souls in his form and began to, for lack of a better word for it; swim, rising higher and higher until finally, he breached the surface, subjugating the countless souls.

In the real world, the twisting mass of reishi turned black and took on a liquid texture as it continued to grow and take shape until finally, it settled into the shape of a Gillian, much like the one Ichigo had taken down shortly before his powers were taken from him, but with one noticeable difference on Ichigo's new form.

His mask was identical to the one he'd worn as a basic Hollow, but rather than the three red marking that once covered the upper left side of the mask, its entire left half was now covered in nine crimson lines. His mouth opened and its triumphant roar echoed throughout the forest.

He turned, hearing loud footsteps approaching, to see a mass of Gillian, all with identical masks, heading its way. It was odd that they'd all approach him in such a manner, almost like they were being herded, but with his mind dampened by the presence of the other Hollows in his mind, all hopelessly locked out of control but still fighting against him, and a new, stronger hunger than he'd ever felt before, he wouldn't question their presence.

With lumbering slowness, Ichigo began making his way to the horde of Gillian, intent on sating his appetite.

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