The Adventure Begins

[Long] Author's Note:

The story begins a few months after the end of the Winter War. I may be referencing a few things that happened in my previous fan fic: "What is Kindness?" This is technically the sequel to that one, but nothing in the original contradicted cannon, and not a lot was added, so it's not necessary to read that one before this one.

I suggest you watch the Shinigami Illustrated Guide (the after-credits scene) at the end of Bleach episode 288 before reading.

As with my previous work, for those unfamiliar with Japanese honorifics, I offer a very brief explanation of those that I use:

"-sama" means "Lord" or "Master"

"-san" means Mr, Mrs, or Miss, as the case may be or it may be used to show general respect

"-kun" and "-chan" refer to a friend, dear one, or sweetheart

"-taichou" means "Captain"

Please note that there are far more meanings and connotations in the original language; this is only a brief explanation of them as they appear in this story.

One more thing: in Japanese, they would write the "family name" first and the "first name" last, so I'll write "Inoue Orihime" and "Kurosaki Ichigo" etc rather than the other way around.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Kubo Noriaki does. (Look it up.)

"Iiiiiiiii-chiiiiiiiiiiii-goooooo──!"

"Oi, Keigo."

The teen picked himself off of the floor, rubbing his smashed nose.

"Ow! What was that for?! I was trying to give you a friendly greeting! I was even going to ask you to come to the concert tonight. You never think about──"

"I'm busy," interrupted Ichigo, walking away.

"What?! I can't believe you won't even take time to──"

Ichigo ignored his apparently indefatigable friend and continued on his way, leaving the other to bemoan his sad, lonely fate in rather loud terms.

"Ichigo," came the much calmer voice of another friend. "Will you be at the concert tonight?"

"I'm busy tonight, Mizuiro," replied Ichigo, maintaining his scowl. "I've got a lot of homework."

"Ah, well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Ichigo!"

Ichigo waved a hand disinterestedly as he walked away.

Once outside, walking down the sidewalks toward his home, Ichigo allowed his scowl to deepen, showing a bit of self-pity as well. Today had been especially hard. Twice, he'd seen Ishida run out of the school building, and once Chad had gone too. Even Orihime had been tense, though she'd hid it well. It was so hard not to be able to help them anymore, but it was even harder to know that he couldn't even sense when they were in danger.

After the fight with Aizen, his Shinigami powers had remained for a time. Eventually, however, as predicted, they had faded, until he was a normal human again. At first, he'd enjoyed the peace and quiet. Afterward, he'd simply accepted it. In time though, he'd come to hate not being able to help, especially at times like this when he knew that the Hollow count was unusually high. There was nothing he could do. He had to just sit back and watch. Except that he couldn't even watch.

Ichigo kicked at a pebble in his path. He never knew now whether his friends were fighting; whether they were in danger. He couldn't even sense the Hollows, let alone see them. That point was suddenly driven home quite forcefully when he was thrown to the ground by an invisible blow. With a cry, he struggled to get up, but a massive weight seemed to be holding him down, crushing him into the sidewalk.

"Damn it!" he gasped, knowing exactly what was happening. He couldn't sense a thing; he couldn't see or hear anything; but he knew what it was. Pressing his hands against the pavement, he pushed with all of his might. Slowly, the weight lifted a little, but before he could pull himself away from it, Ichigo felt something sharp like massive talons rip across his side. He cried out as the blood spurted out of the wounds and soaked through his shirt.

Where's Ishida or Chad when I need them? he thought, hating himself for even thinking that. I have to get this thing off of me!

Grabbing his book-bag in desperation, he swung it at what he assumed was the leg holding him. The bag made contact. It clearly didn't hurt the beast, but the weight lessened a little. Yanking himself from under it, Ichigo dashed forward.

No! he thought. I can't outrun it. It'll just play with me before it kills me. What do I do?!

Whether it was his instincts or just plain luck, Ichigo swerved to the side just as claw-marks appeared in the sidewalk where he had been running. From the distance between the gashes (about a foot each) as well as the weight and apparent size of the foot that had held him, he guessed it was a medium-sized Hollow, probably about twice his own height. I have to defeat it, he thought. I can't see it, but I can hurt it. I'm stronger than a Hollow this size. Unfortunately, his vision was starting to grow blurry. He realized suddenly that he was still losing blood. Cursing again, he pressed his hand against one of the three, long claw-marks in his flesh. Now what? I don't know where it is!

Taking a wild guess, Ichigo spun around suddenly and leapt forward, swinging his fist with a loud cry. He missed.

The claws again ripped through him, connecting with his back this time. Ichigo was thrown to the ground, bleeding profusely now. No! he hissed to himself. I will not die to a low-level Hollow!

It looked like he wasn't going to have a choice. He tried to lift himself again, but his legs were no longer responding. Did it sever my spinal cord?! he wondered in horror.

Struggling against the paralysis, Ichigo tried to sharpen his senses, looking around for even the slightest movement of the air currents. He could imagine the Hollow standing over him, laughing at his helplessness as he lay, bleeding out on the sidewalk, unable to fight back. I will not die like this! he told himself again.

Starting a short way in front of himself, Ichigo then saw claw-marks appearing in the pavement, moving toward him. He couldn't move. He couldn't get out of the way. It was going to kill him! There was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, something snatched hold of him and yanked him backward. Ichigo felt himself flying through the air, but it was only for a second. Then he was flying through absolute darkness. There was nothing there! Everything had vanished in a single flash, and he found himself surrounded by nothing.

He struck the floor of the nothingness painfully, uttering another cry, quickly suppressed. What was happening? He started to lift a hand, but then he felt something touching him. Instantly, he struck out at the object, and his fist made contact. He felt the being thrown away from himself. Yes! he thought. I can't see, but I can feel.

The feeling of exuberance was short-lived, however, when a strong hand with sharp claws took hold of his face. Again, he tried to strike the being. Again, his fist made contact with something, but whatever it was could have been made of stone for how hard it was. A sudden blow struck him at the base of the neck, and Ichigo lost consciousness.

As he gradually came to his senses, Ichigo groaned.

"Ah! Kurosaki-san!" cried a strangely familiar voice. "You're awake! Are you alright?"

Ichigo forced his eyes open and looked up into the face of a pitiful-looking Shinigami.

"Hanatarō?" he managed to ask, sure that he was in some bizarre dream.

"Ah! You're alright!" the other exclaimed, smiling broadly. "Please be careful, Kurosaki-san; your wounds aren't completely healed, but you can sit up now, if you like."

This, Ichigo did, cringing only slightly as he felt the soreness and stiffness all over himself. To his great relief, however, he found that he could again move his legs.

Looking around, Ichigo found himself even more confused. This wasn't Soul Society, but it didn't look like the World of the Living either. It was like a white expanse, or like many huge, white rooms, all mashed together. There were steps, cliffs, walls, and pits, all made from a shiny, white surface. Every corner was a perfect right angle, whether it went up, down, or to the side. (Clearly, the designer was OCD.) All over the place, there were stacks of semi-transparent cubes of varying sizes, all with a purple tint. There were great piles and small piles, and a few scattered around by themselves. (Okay, maybe the decorator wasn't OCD.) Apart from these cubes, however, there was nothing but himself and the short Shinigami.

"What . . . is this place?" asked Ichigo in wonder. "Am I dreaming?"

"It looks like that, doesn't it?" chuckled Hanatarō awkwardly. "I know that it's strange, but no, this isn't a dream. It's in a place outside of Soul Society."

"Outside of Soul Society?" repeated Ichigo. "You mean Rukongai?"

"No, not outside like that. I mean outside altogether. Outside . . . like how the Land of the Living is outside of it."

"You mean another world?"

"Yes, something like that, but it's a very small world. I don't think that half of the Seireitei would fit inside, it if was all flattened out."

"So, what are you doing here? Wait, how are you still alive? From what I heard, you never made it back from Hueco Mundo after the Winter War."

"Well . . . ." Hanatarō chuckled nervously. "I did run into some trouble there. It seems . . . I think that they forgot me. I got separated from the other Shinigami, and I couldn't find them. I wandered around for days, but by the time I found where the battle had taken place, there was no one there. So . . . I think that I got left behind."

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He wasn't entirely surprised, but he knew that it would be rude to say so. Of all the people likely to be overlooked, Hanatarō stood prominently at the top of the list.

"So how did you come here?" asked Ichigo. "And where is here?"

"I'm not quite sure 'where' it is, except that it's outside of Soul Society and every other place I've ever been. And, as far as how I got here, well . . . ."

He trailed off, turning to look over his shoulder, and lifted his eyes high above them. Following his gaze, Ichigo felt that his eyes would pop out of his skull.

There, on a high, white ledge, staring down at them silently, was a thin, black and white figure. Sharp clawed feet marked the ends of black-furred legs which led up to a pure white torso, in the middle of which was a Hollow hole, from which a thick, black liquid appeared to be oozing. The white arms turned to black fur also just above the elbows, ending themselves in strong hands with long, demonic claws. Behind the alabaster shoulders could be seen massive bat-like wings, half-folded but still impressive in their size. All of this, however, was ignored by Ichigo as he stared into the empty, emotionless yellow and green eyes.

"Ulquiorra," he breathed.

It could have been an hour that he stood there, staring at the silent figure above him, or it could have been only a few seconds; all of the emotions that had passed through Ichigo's brain made it difficult to tell, seeing that there were so many, and yet they moved so quickly. First was fear: here was the powerful Espada whom Ichigo had slain in cold blood, and now Ichigo himself had no way to defend himself, even against a minor hollow. Next came disbelief; after all, this Espada had died, vanishing into dust before his eyes. There was no way that he could still be here. Then came horror: if Ulquiorra had been killed and was here, and if Ichigo was also here, then Ichigo must have been killed as well. Then came confusion: this wasn't Soul Society, and it wasn't Hell, so they couldn't be dead. Was it a dream? Wait. Why was Hanatarō here?

Ichigo was so completely absorbed in his own thoughts that he scarcely heard the voice of the little Shinigami at his side.

"Kurosaki-san? Kurosaki-san?" Hanatarō's voice finally broke into his thoughts.

"Eh?" muttered Ichigo, turning back to him. "H-H-Hanatarō . . . what's he doing here?"

"Ulquiorra-sama is the one who brought me here," replied Hanatarō. "I was attacked by a group of Hollows in Hueco Mundo, and Ulquiorra-sama rescued me, just like he did with you."

"Ul . . . quiorra . . . sama?" repeated Ichigo in disbelief. "You── Wait, he brought me here?! How?"

Ichigo looked from the Shinigami to the Hollow and back as he asked this, but Ulquiorra still gave no indication that he wished to converse with him. He continued to watch them silently, sitting with one leg drawn up, one arm resting on his knee, and his tail hanging down the wall, the tufted end twitching from time to time like a cat's.

"It was by means of these," explained Hanatarō, indicating one of the lavender cubes. "These show the other worlds." He rubbed his hand over one face of the box, and the interior lit, revealing a scene of a field. "You can see what's happening in the Land of the Living, and in Hueco Mundo, and in many other places. Only," he trailed off, sounding sad. "It seems that there are none that can see Soul Society. That's why I'm still here."

"Huh?" asked Ichigo, confused. "Can't you go to Earth and get back from there?"

"I don't have a Hell Butterfly. If I go to the Land of the Living like this, I'll be accused of desertion. I . . . I'm stuck here now."

"So, how does this work?" Ichigo rubbed his own hand over the box, but the picture vanished. "Huh?"

"Here," pointed Hanatarō, walking to another pile of cubes. "These show the area around Karakura Town." He lifted one, activating the view.

Looking over the other's shoulder, Ichigo could see the street that ran behind his own high school.

"So, you can see anything from here?"

"Almost. Look." As Hanatarō moved the cube, Ichigo was surprised to see the view move also, displaying more or less of the street, and moving to other nearby places.

"Ah!" exclaimed Hanatarō suddenly. "A Hollow! Ulquiorra-sama!"

Ichigo started, looking up at the Espada above him, but the latter still didn't move.

"It's attacking a human soul," cried Hanatarō. "Please! It──" Suddenly, he gasped. "Oh," he said calmly, then chuckled in embarrassment. "Never-mind."

Ichigo was again looking over his shoulder, and he saw Chad enter the view, attack the Hollow and overcome it. He turned then to the soul of the little boy, offering him comfort. It wasn't long before the local Shinigami (I never can remember that guy's name, thought Ichigo) likewise entered the view. Ichigo saw that they were preparing the Konsō, then he started back in shock himself.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "I can see them! I saw the Hollow! I──" He spun around, staring up at Ulquiorra again. "I can see you!"

"Ulquiorra-sama gave you a little of his reiatsu," smiled Hanatarō. "When you first came, you couldn't see us. You . . . well . . . ."

"You attacked the Shinigami," came the emotionless voice from above, finally breaking his silence.

"You . . . ." Ichigo stared at him in horror. "I . . . I have . . . your reiatsu in me?"

"I will withdraw it before sending you back to your world," replied the other calmly. With that, he slipped forward, dropping silently to the level on which the other two stood. "It would seem that you are sufficiently healed to return now."

"Wait! You still haven't explained what's going on! How are you still alive?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!"

Ulquiorra simply looked at him in silence, but Ichigo wouldn't back down.

"Seriously, what happened to you?" asked Ichigo. "How are you alive? How did you get here? Where is here? And what the heck is he doing here with you?!"

For a long moment, Ulquiorra continued to regard him silently.

"You're not going to answer?" asked Ichigo.

"How did you lose your own reiatsu?" asked Ulquiorra abruptly.

Ichigo blinked. "What?"

"If you will answer my question, then I will answer yours," replied Ulquiorra calmly. "How did you, Kurosaki Ichigo, lose your reiatsu entirely?"

Ichigo sighed and lowered his gaze. "I guess it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"It is obvious that it is gone," affirmed Ulquiorra. "You would have been killed by a minor Hollow. Knowing that you were able to defeat even me not long ago, it is only natural that I should want to know what has happened to you."

"I . . . I lost my powers as a result of my fight with Aizen," replied Ichigo, still looking at the floor. "To be honest, I don't think I've fully come to grips with it yet."

"Did you defeat him?"

"Yes."

"I see."

Both were quiet for a time. Looking up then, Ichigo gave a forced grin.

"Okay, so I answered your question; now you answer mine: how are you still alive, and what is this place?"

"Those are two separate questions."

"Yeah, well, I just answered two, so, what gives?"

"I do not know how I am alive," answered Ulquiorra calmly. "I can only assume that my body rebuilt itself because my soul was left intact."

"Huh?" asked Ichigo, thoroughly confused.

"Had you slain me with your Zanpakutō, my soul would have been purged and sent to the next world. Had your Hollow form consumed me, as would most Hollows, my soul would have merged with yours. Had the Quincy slain me, my soul would have ceased to be. None of these things happened. My soul was simply left as it was, but with no form. I can only assume that my regenerative abilities, over a significant period of time, were able to reform this body, even though it had been destroyed. I had not thought it possible. Even now, I do not know whether that is the case. It is, however, the most probable supposition."

"So . . . the only reason you're still alive is because I didn't kill you when you asked."

"I do not know, but I believe so."

At that, Ichigo grinned broadly. "So you owe me your life."

"I asked you to take my life, if you recall."

"Yeah, but I didn't."

"I owe you nothing."

"I didn't kill you, so the only reason you're alive is because of me."

Ichigo continued to grin smugly as the Arrancar eyed him emotionlessly. Interrupting the silent stares came the hesitant voice of a small Shinigami.

"Um, Kurosaki-san," stuttered Hanatarō. "Ulquiorra-sama saved your life too, when that Hollow was going to kill you. So, if you did save his life, then I would say that he has already repaid you."

Ichigo's grin faded. In its place came a frown.

"Well . . ." he muttered. "Why did you do that anyway?"

"I had my own reasons," replied Ulquiorra, turning away from him.

"Hey! I get to ask another question!"

"You asked what this place is," Ulquiorra spoke over his shoulder as he walked away. "The Shinigami may answer that question. Then I will send you back to your home."

Ichigo watched him go. The Espada was different. He couldn't quite identify it, but somehow he was different. The way that he walked; the way that he moved. Even the look in his eyes was different. What was it? Ichigo had never been good with people, so it was often hard for him to tell what others were thinking. Inoue had talked about her Hollow guard: how he was always silent, morose, and unfeeling. Even so, he just seemed . . . off somehow.

When he came back to the present, Ichigo realized that Hanatarō had already begun the explanation of the place in which they were. He had missed the beginning, but he didn't want to offend the little Shinigami by telling him that he hadn't been paying attention. Instead, he just tried to piece together the story from what came next.

It seemed that this was a sort of different dimension, designed and maintained by some unknown person who must have abandoned it at some time. Ulquiorra had come here, also through some unknown method (unless that was the part that he missed), and it was he who had brought Hanatarō as well. Hanatarō explained that the lavender cubes were not viewports; they were actually gateways. Ulquiorra had the ability to open a path through them to whatever one could see on the other side. (Ichigo, remembering the other's ability to open the Garganta at will to and from wherever he liked, believed this.) He had originally brought Hanatarō here to learn what had become of Aizen and his army. Unfortunately, Hanatarō had known only about what had happened in Hueco Mundo; he hadn't learned the fate of Aizen himself. Finding that he couldn't get back to Soul Society from here, Ulquiorra had offered to send him to the Land of the Living. Hanatarō, afraid of the punishment he would likely receive for being in the Land of the Living without permission, without a gigai, without a Hell Butterfly, and without the ability to open the Senkaimon, had opted to remain here for the time being. Ulquiorra had been indifferent to this and had allowed it.

As he came to understand the cubes, Hanatarō had begun watching the Land of the Living with interest. When he found a soul being attacked by a Hollow, he had asked Ulquiorra to help by retrieving the soul, much as he had done with Hanatarō. At first, Ulquiorra had ignored the request. When it was repeated each time there was a Hollow attack, the Espada had finally relented and had assisted. Hanatarō had healed the injured soul and used his own Zanpakutō to perform the Konsō, after calming the other.

This had eventually developed into a sort of routine. Ulquiorra would sit silently by himself, never speaking to Hanatarō, never interested in what was happening in the Land of the Living. Hanatarō would be always watching, always on the lookout for those who needed help. When one was found, he would call Ulquiorra, and the latter would (usually) come and bring the soul through the gateway.

It was a strange sort of partnership between the Hollow and the Shinigami. Ichigo admitted to some confusion. Why was Ulquiorra doing this? Hanatarō answered that he wasn't sure of Ulquiorra-sama's motives, but he was happy that he himself was able to help in his own small way.

"You should come back with me," said Ichigo, after Hanatarō had finished the explanation. "Urahara-san could fix things. Besides, anyone who knows you would believe your story; no one could think you'd be a deserter."

"I've heard of Urahara-san," nodded Hanatarō hesitantly. "The Gotei 13 always said that he was a traitor. They said that he was the former captain of squad 12, before Kurotsuchi-Taichou. I . . . I think that that sounds frightening."

"He's nothing like that freak!" exclaimed Ichigo. "No worries there."

Hanatarō simply chuckled nervously. "It's alright, really, Kurosaki-san. I'm happy to stay here. I can help souls, just like the other Shinigami who are assigned to the Land of the Living."

"Yeah, but for how long? You know, it might seem nice to help people, but the longer you stay, the worse it'll be when you go back, right?" Ichigo turned to look up at Ulquiorra who had returned to his perch, high above them. "What about you? How long are you going to stay here?"

The Espada didn't answer.

"You having fun playing God?" taunted Ichigo. "Sitting up there on your throne, watching over the world, and jumping in wherever you feel like it?"

"Kurosaki-san!" exclaimed Hanatarō in horror. "Ulquiorra-sama isn't doing that! He helps when I ask him to help. He's not trying to──"

"I have no need for you to defend me, Shinigami," came the cold voice of the Arrancar.

"Oh! Forgive me! I'm very sorry!" exclaimed Hanatarō, offering a quick, humble bow.

Ichigo was about to interject, but he saw Ulquiorra's eyes close as the other seemed to emit a quiet sigh. Confusion gave way to a smirk on Ichigo's face.

So, he's not playing God, he thought. Looks like he doesn't even care for the "worship" of his single follower. But why is he leaving Hanatarō alive in the first place? Well, apart from the fact that only a heartless monster would kill someone so pitiful. Wait, isn't that what a Hollow is? What is so different about him? It's driving me crazy!

"Ulquiorra," called Ichigo, feeling that he was crazy for saying what he was about to say, but deciding that this was the kind of crazy he needed after the last few months of maddeningly monotonous normalcy. "You should come too. Both of you. Take a vacation, and come to Karakura Town for a while."

As expected, there was absolutely no reaction from the Espada. He continued to sit, staring down at the former substitute Shinigami without a word.

"I know that I couldn't fight you," grinned Ichigo, deciding to push this, "but Ishida might want a rematch. Inoue healed his hand, by the way, so that handicap wouldn't be there. Hey, Inoue might even want to see you. She talks about Hueco Mundo sometimes; she says you were the only Espada who was actually nice to her."

"She is a fool," replied Ulquiorra. "I was not 'nice.'"

"Okay, well, tell her, not me. Come on; what have you got to lose?"

Ulquiorra stared at him for a brief moment longer then dropped to their level again. Walking past them, he lifted a certain cube, activated the scene within, and manipulated the view. A single swipe by his clawed hand traced a jagged crack across the cube, through which the scene could be seen in greater clarity. Looking at it, Ichigo realized that it was a view inside his own bedroom.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "You have one that looks into my room?!"

"It's not quite like that," said Hanatarō. "The view has to be very focused to see something so closely. Any of these can do that, but usually──"

He cut off as Ulquiorra suddenly reached forward and took hold of Ichigo by the face. Ichigo gasped and started to fight back, but the Espada simply looked at him calmly.

"Goodbye, Kurosaki," he stated tonelessly.

Almost immediately, all sight and sound faded as the small amount of spiritual energy that he had been lent was sucked from him. Ichigo found himself again surrounded by nothing. He could still feel the clawed hand on his face, however, so he grasped at the wrist, meaning to yell at the Espada as soon as the latter let go enough for him to be able to speak clearly.

He wasn't given that option.

The hand snapped to the side and thrust him forward suddenly, and Ichigo found himself falling through space. Instantly, he was in familiar surroundings: he was in his own room.

"Ulquiorra!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. He looked around himself, but there was no indication of a gateway through which he'd just come. "Ulquiorra! I know you can hear me! Or . . . you can see me! I'm not through talking to you! Oy!"

There was no response.

A/N: Seriously, if you haven't already, go watch or re-watch the Shinigami Illustrated Guide after episode 288. That's what gave me the inspiration for about half of this chapter. Poor, darling Hanatarō!