What's this? An update and it hasn't been over a year? Blasphemy!

Yeah, so surprise. I actually had a pretty easy time with this chapter and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I hope you enjoy!

Also, thank you so much to everyone that left reviews on the last chapter, y'all make my day!

Ichigo had severely underestimated the sheer size of soul society.

It's been days of her just running as fast as she can while not in bankai, and it barely feels like she's gotten anywhere. She's passed a few more villages here and there, each one progressively better looking than the last, but she made sure to avoid them. She wasn't very keen on dealing with anyone else after that old man.

At night she would stop to rest only to get back up and continue on at dawn the next day. Her white yukata had long since been stained with dirt and grass and whatever else she'd managed to encounter in the forest. It took nearly a week for her to get anywhere near Seireitei, and when she finally made it to the innermost rukon district she sighed in relief.

"Fuckin' finally," groused Shiro. "Been gettin' real fuckin' sick of trees."

Ichigo ignores him as she slows to a walk, absently adjusting Aizen in her arms. Looking around, she's sure that this district is far wealthier than a lot of the others she'd passed through. All the buildings here look well built and sturdy, if a little mismatched. The people here move about with a lively, happy air, milling around a well stocked market. Further up the street she can see a group of children running and laughing, wearing brightly colored yukata and sandals.

It's a far cry from the desolation she'd seen in the outer districts.

She follows the main road, passing several stalls lined with anything from pretty trinkets to food. The smell catches her nose and reminds her that it's been a while since she's had anything to eat, but she pushes the feeling away. Ichigo has more important things to deal with than a little hunger.

Eventually she can see Seireitei, she's still a few good shunpo away, but the distinction between it and the Rukon is striking. She can see where the packed dirt streets she's on give way to neat cobblestone roads. Even at the distance she's at she can tell that the buildings are all the same uniform, pristine white.

Ichigo scowls at it. The obvious difference in quality churns her stomach. Is it really a wonder that so many residents of the Rukon districts seem to resent Seireitei?

Zangetsu sighs. "Now is not the time to worry about this Ichigo. We need to get into Seireitei."

She grits her teeth. "I know."

It doesn't mean that she has to like it.

She shunpos forward, bringing her far closer to the edge of Seireitei before she slows to a walk again. She continues at a leisurely pace, figuring that someone would be heading to her sooner rather than later. The howl of displaced air catches her by surprise and she jumps back reflexively.

Massive walls crash down in front of her, one after another, and send up clouds of dust. Ichigo sputters and coughs, waving one of her hands to try and clear the air. When she doesn't feel like she's choking on dust she glances down at Aizen. He looks around curiously but otherwise doesn't seemed too bothered.

She turns to the walls and is struck with a sense of deja vu. It's been a while since she's seen them, but they were hard to forget, considering everything that happened the first time she was in soul society. But why would they crash down on her now?

"Heh heh, it's been a while since someone's tried to cross the gate without a travel pass," booms a familiar voice. "And I haven't had many guests these days, so welcome to you young lady."

She turns to face him, head cocked to the side. "Jidanbo?"

When the dust finally settles she gets a clear look at him. That's definitely Jidanbo, but he looks… different. For one thing, he's wearing his shihakusho normally, the top half covering both of his arms. His fez is missing too.

He smiles at her. "Ah, so it seems you've heard of me. Then you must know that it's my sworn duty to defend this gate from intruders."

"Uh, yeah? At least I think that's what you told me last time I was here."

"Last time you were here?" He asks, "I'm afraid that we have never met. I'd remember meeting someone with hair like that."

Ichigo's eye twitches as Shiro cackles. "Excuse me?"

"I said that you were mistaken, young lady. We have never met."

"Yeah, I got that part," She snaps, "What I don't get is what kind of joke you're trying to make here, asshole."

Jidanbo's brow furrows. "A young lady should not use language like that."

"Young lady my ass! Where was this bull when you fought me?"

He looks confused at that "Fought you?" He laughs, "Why would a warrior like me fight a helpless woman?" Jidanbo shakes his head, "No that would be the greatest dishonor as a man."

Helpless? Ichigo's eyes narrow, irritation starting to become anger. "You need to knock this off Jidanbo, it's not funny!"

"I do not know what you think is going on, however, I will not allow you to pass through this gate," He turns away from her, heading back to the gate. Glancing back at her he sighs, "It's a shame that you were not stronger, I would not have minded a good fight."

She opens her mouth to snap something at him, one hand itching for her zanpakuto, but Zangetsu stops her. "Leave it Ichigo. Arguing with him will get us nowhere, go back to one of the shops you saw in town."

With a frustrated huff she turns on her heel and marches back into town. "What the hell was that?" She mutters darkly, making some passerby glance at her nervously. "Stupid giant."

"I say we head back there and fuck 'im up, helpless my ass!" Shiro snarls.

"No," Zangetsu says.

"What, ya got a better fuckin' idea?"

Zangetsu ignores him. "Something is not right here. Ichigo, do you remember the last time something like this happened?"

Ichigo stops walking as she thinks about it. The last time? What was Zangetsu talking about? All she could think of was that thing that happened with Rukia a while ago. "You mean those two hollows that could mess with memories?"

"Yes."

"You think they have something to do with this?"

"Perhaps. I do not think we should overlook the possibility of something similar."

She sighs, carding a hand through her hair. "So now what?"

"Our plans have not changed, we still need to get to Urahara and find out what he knows."

"Which means we still need to get into Seireitei."

"Yes."

She starts walking again. "Okay, so we're going over the wall again? Jidanbo's sure as hell not letting us in."

Zangetsu hums, considering. "While I agree, I do not think going over the wall is wise."

"Why not?"

"If you will remember, we previously had use of Kukaku's cannon to get through the barrier to Seireitei."

"So fuckin' what?" Shiro growls, "We got through that shit jus' fine then, we can get through it now."

Zangetsu is silent for a moment and Ichigo gets a faint sense of irritation from him. "While we are stronger now and it might not be dangerous for us , we cannot guarantee Aizen's safety."

Shiro barks out a laugh. "Then fuckin' good riddance! We don' need 'im anyway, let tha lil bastard kick tha bucket."

Her jaw clenches. "We've gone over this. We can't. "

"No, you can't. I'd fuck 'im up in a second if ya let me."

"Enough!" Zangetsu's raised voice stops her up short. "Ichigo is correct. Aizen and the hogyoku are connected to this, and as such must both be taken to Urahara. We cannot allow either of them to be damaged."

Shiro grumbles but subsides. She sucks in a breath, holding it for a moment before letting it go. "So do you have a plan?"

" I do. We will wait till the wall recedes and you will slip under it before it can close again."

"Are we fast enough for that?"

"Yes."

Ichigo shrugs. "Alright."

She gets to an empty stoop, attached to a house that looks older and unused, and sits down, leaning her zanpakuto next to her. She settles Aizen in her lap and looks him over. There's a spot of dirt on one of his cheeks and his hair is a tousled mess, but he looks fine. She takes a clean corner of his blanket and wipes at the dirt smear. His nose scrunches and he tries to turn his head away.

Ichigo snorts, poking Aizen's nose and making him blink up at her. "Honestly, this shit is still weird." She tells him. He giggles, babbling back at her. It makes her smile.

She settles in for a long wait and starts watching the people around her to pass the time. They mill about calmly, peacefully. People smile at each other as they pass, a quick nod to show respect. Life here seems easy.

It's a while before the walls surrounding Seireitei finally start to rise, sometime around mid afternoon. She'd been keeping an eye out for it, but it's not like she could miss it. Massive sheets of seki seki slowly rising toward the sky aren't exactly subtle.

They aren't moving very fast so she sets off at a walk, swinging Zangetsu on her back and tucking Aizen in her arms. "How close should we get?"

"They did not fall until you were near the edge of Seireitei."

Ichigo hums thoughtfully. "So just on the outskirts?"

"Step into shunpo once you are away from the buildings. That should be plenty close enough."

Shiro scoffs. "Fuck that, why ain't we runnin' now?"

"I would prefer , " Zangetsu says, pointedly. "That Ichigo leave more time for the gates to rise. I am confident that we can get through, however, the higher the walls are the better."

Shiro huffs, but doesn't argue. Honestly that's about all Ichigo could ask for at this point. She keeps an eye on the walls as she walks, continuing their steady ascent even as she gets closer. By the time she's on the outskirts of town again she can hardly see them.

Ichigo stops about a hundred feet away from the edge of Seireitei, plenty close enough. She shunpos, once, twice and she's inside. The walls slam back down behind her almost ten full seconds after her feet touch back on the ground. They seem almost delayed.

Over her shoulder Ichigo looks back at the walls. While she trusted Zangetsu, wholey and implicitly, she hadn't been expecting to make it past them so easily. About a year ago she never would've managed. It really is quite scary how quickly she improves.

Ichigo chuckles.

Urahara was right.

Approaching footsteps bring her attention back to her surroundings, shinigami are on their way. She can't sense anyone she knows, or even anyone particularly strong, so it's probably just a patrol. Still, last time something like this happened everyone tried to attack. Better to keep out of sight this time.

Ichigo steps into another shunpo, landing on a nearby rooftop. From there she can see more of the Seireitei over the uniform walls, allowing her to get her bearings. It's not much help, since even then she has no idea where she is.

Seireitei is fucking huge.

Objectively she knew this, she's been here often enough, but in practice it's more than a little daunting. It's made worse since there's no one with her to help navigate. Honestly she has no idea how to find someone in all this.

"Urahara's reiatsu signature."

Ichigo cocks her head. "You want me to track him down that way?"

Zangetsu sighs. "You have been around the shopkeeper many times Ichigo, you should know his signature well enough to track it down."

She shrugs. "You know I've never been great at that. It'll probably take too long anyway."

"Try."

Ichigo sighs, shutting her eyes as she concentrates. She stretches her senses out across Seireitei, searching for a familiar reiatsu signature. It takes her a moment but she finds him.

He's further inside Seireitei, closer to the center, and he's not alone either. There are other captains with him. Ichigo hesitates for a moment, Urahara's reiatsu feels… off somehow. She can't really place it, but it's different from what she remembers.

She shrugs it off, he probably made something that's making his reiatsu weird, the man was a scientist after all. There's not much she can do about it here anyway. With Urahara found she steps into shunpo again and starts making her way toward him. Keeping to the rooftops for ease of navigation.

It doesn't take her long to get as close as she can while running on the roof. She drops to the ground and continues on foot, walking toward the huge hall she sensed his reiatsu in. It's vaguely familiar so Ichigo's pretty sure that she's been here before.

Before she can get to the two massive doors to the hall she's stopped by a pair of guards that she hadn't noticed, path blocked by their crossed pikes.

"Halt!" The one on the right calls, glaring at her, "There is a captain's meeting in progress, no one is allowed to enter."

"But this is urgent." She says.

The guard glares at her harder. "No one is permitted entry while a meeting is in progress without the proper permissions. If this is such an emergency, where is your jigokucho?"

Ichigo sighs. "Look, I don't have one but I need to speak with the captains."

"No jigokucho, no entry." He puffs out his chest, not moving his pike. "Get lost girl."

Her jaw clenches. She forces herself to take a breath, trying to keep in mind that they're just doing their jobs. Doesn't mean he has to be such a dick though. "Fine, have it your way."

With a single shunpo she moves past them, disappearing from their view and making them shout. She kicks the doors to the hall open with a smug smirk on her face. Serves them right.

She darts inside, ignoring the noisy guards behind her and moving toward the captains standing neatly in their lines on either side of the hall. But she draws up short when she realizes that the faces staring back at her are different.

The Captain Commander stands at the back of the hall, as usual, and he's not the only one there that she's familiar with as a captain. Unohana, that Kyoraku guy, and the white haired captain, the one that's sickly, are there too. But the others are different.

Several she recognizes as Visored; Hirako, Rose, Love, and Kensei are there, but they look different. For one Hirako is sporting an extremely long bob that looks terrible . Yoruichi and Urahara are there with them too.

People she's expecting are missing, Toshiro and Byakuya are nowhere in sight. Instead, there's an empty spot where the short captain stands and an old man who looks vaguely like Byakuya in their place. The clown guy is missing too.

Ichigo takes this all in, baffled by the changes. Did they just up and decide to reassign captaincies while she was gone?

"Gramps, what the fuck?" She asks, incredulous.

Her outburst seems to snap them out of their own stupor and Yamamoto slams his staff down. "Capture that Ryoka!"

A split second after his order, Ichigo sees Yoruichi blur, gone from her position nearest to Yamamoto. She's suddenly behind Ichigo, quick as a flash, and Ichigo only narrowly avoids a blow to the back of her head.

She comes at Ichigo again, aiming a kick to her knees, but Ichigo dodges her again. She jumps back but is brought up short by a sword at her back. Her own hand rests on Zangetsu where she'd instinctively guarded herself. Glancing back she sees the old guy that looks like Byakuya, but she's quickly distracted by Yoruichi coming at her again.

She ducks under the punch Yoruichi aims at her and shunpos away, landing next to Kensei. Turning to him, she tries to ask him what's going on, but he draws his sword and attacks before she can say anything. Ichigo jumps back again, avoiding his blade.

Again, she shunpos away, landing next to Urahara, her sword drawn at her side. She rounds on him, teeth bared in a snarl. "What the hell is going on Urahara!?"

His eyes narrow, saying nothing as he draws his sword, attacking almost quicker than she can see. Her zanpakuto clashes with his, locking them in a stalemate.

" Ichigo! Retreat now!" Orders Zangetsu, " We will figure this out at another time, but you must get away now!"

She surges forward, knocking Urahara off balance before abruptly backing away. Ichigo steps into shunpo again, clutching Aizen to her chest as she speeds past the other captains and out the doors. She's not alone as she leaves, taking to the rooftops again as she avoids her pursuers, Old Byakuya and Yoruichi doggedly on her tail.

Over the whistle of the wind in her ears she can hear an alarm sounding. Shouting echoes up to her from the streets as low level shinigami react to the din. Ichigo can hardly see where she's going at the speed she's running, but she can't stop, not if she expects to get out of this without too much trouble.

Luckily the precision used in building the Seireitei makes it easy to find the outskirts, taller buildings giving away to shorter the further she gets from the center. It allows her to easily keep up the fast pace she's set, but it means her pursuers also have an easy time following her.

She manages to keep a decent amount of distance between her and them, but every inch of it is hard won. Yoruichi wasn't called the Goddess of Flash for nothing and Old Byakuya isn't a slouch either. Even the slightest pause, to check for a lading or try and get her bearings, has them gaining on her.

Ichigo's maybe halfway to the edge of Seireitei when she sees the walls start to fall. One after another they smash into the ground and she's too far away to even dream of slipping under them.

Fuck.

Looks like she'll be smashing her way out, wouldn't be the first time.

With that she shoots to the left, heading toward the gate that's closest. Old Byakuya and Yoruichi follow.

When they notice where she's headed they double their efforts, quickly eating up the distance between them. Ichigo keeps seeing glimpses of Yoruichi from the corner of her eyes. She pushes herself faster and faster, straining to keep away from Yoruichi.

Ichigo's so focused on her that she nearly forgets about Old Byakuya. He'd managed to circle around in front of her, coming at her with his sword drawn. Ichigo barely has time to react, throwing her free arm up to block his attack, her wrist stinging fiercely.

She jumps away just as Yoruichi tries to sweep her feet out from under her, booking it away from them. The gate's just up ahead. She's almost out of Seireitei.

Drawing Zangetsu, she takes a split second to stop and steady her aim, charging a nameless Getsuga along the blade. A single swing, hurling the condensed spiritual energy forward, and she's moving again, racing for the wooden gate.

The reinforced wood shatters, sending splinters and shards flying through the air. Ichigo avoids what she can, but some of it manages to catch her arm and shoulder.

She darts through the open space between Seireitei and the town, but she's not alone. In her distraction Old Byakuya and Yoruichi managed to gain on her again. She weaves around a few stray plus souls before jumping up to the rooftops again. It distances her from them but the advantage is short lived.

The more varied structures in the Rukon make for a more treacherous terrain, unexpectedly tripping her up and slowing her down. Ichigo's struggling to keep ahead of them now.

The three of them blur across the top of the town, stirring a heavy breeze in their wake. They try to cut Ichigo off and send her running back to Seireitei, but she just weaves around them, determinedly heading for the forest.

She comes to the edges of town quickly and from there it's just a straight shot to the forest. Ichigo takes a running leap from the last building she runs across, flying forward and clearing half the distance between her and the forest. When she lands, rolling to release the excess momentum, she takes off as fast as she can and disappears into the trees.

Old Byakuya and Yoruichi tear off after her, and she can hear them behind her, but the forest works to her advantage. Without a clear line of sight they have a harder time keeping up with Ichigo and finally she starts pulling away from them. With another push of speed, she leaves them behind completely.

Ichigo continues in the same direction for a while before she turns sharply to the right, speeding off that way before turning again to double back towards Seireitei. With any luck, she'll have left them heading completely away from her.

When she's maybe a few miles out from Seireitei again she finally lets herself slow down. Panting, she leans against a tree, struggling to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. She keeps an ear out for any nearby dangers, but there's nothing outside a gentle breeze.

She sinks to the ground, back against the tree, zanpakuto to her side, and takes a moment to just breathe. Fuck, it's been a while since she'd moved so fast without her bankai, Ichigo had forgotten how difficult it was. She should probably work on that.

When it feels like her heart won't jump out of her chest she looks down at Aizen, bundled in her lap. He stares back, eyes glassy and about two seconds from crying, his little fist in his mouth. There's a couple of small scratches on his cheek, probably from the gate she destroyed.

Ichigo sighs, carding gentle fingers through his hair. "Sorry about that," She murmurs, "Not much I can do about someone attacking us."

He hiccups, tears spilling down his face, but he doesn't start screaming. She'll take that as a win for now.

Ichigo lets her head fall back against the tree, eyes falling closed. "God, this shit's so messed up."

"You have faced worse Ichigo."

She scoffs. "Doesn't help much Zangetsu. Have you got any idea what's going on?"

"Perhaps." He says.

"This cryptic bullshit's gettin' real fuckin' old, old man."

Zangetsu doesn't answer.

"I hate to say it Zangetsu, but this time I'm gonna have to agree with Shiro," She makes a face at that. "What do you think's going on?"

"I cannot simply tell you what is happening Ichigo, I am not all knowing," Zangetsu says, the barest edge of frustration in his voice. "My knowledge of the situation is equal to yours."

"Yeah, but you tend to notice things that I miss."

He sighs. "I mentioned those two plus souls turned hollow earlier. They very well could have a hand in this."

Ichigo frowns, shaking her head. "I don't think they do. Last time they took memories, no one in Seireitei was different they just couldn't remember Rukia. This time damn near all the captains were different."

Zangetsu hums, agreeing. "Urahara was a captain once."

"Pretty sure that was a long time ago, why would someone go out of their way to make him a captain again? It doesn't make any sense."

"I fuckin' told ya it was Aizen, " Shiro snarls, "Ya shoulda killed tha lil fucker when we found 'im."

"It's not him Shiro!" Ichigo snaps. "How the fuck do you think he pulled this off when he's a baby ?" She glances pointedly down at him. "What kind of a threat does he pose like this ?"

"Tha fucker fights with illusions! Ya can't trust a fuckin' thing when it comes ta 'im!"

"And when, pray tell, has Aizen ever put himself in a position to appear so vulnerable," Zangetsu asks, voice flat.

"I don' fuckin' know, but 'e had tha whole fuckin' Seireitei eaten' outta tha palm a 'is hand for years . Who tha fuck knows what 'e'd do?"

Ichigo sighs. "That still doesn't tell me why he'd make himself look like this. Vulnerability doesn't seem like something Aizen would even know how to pull off." She looks down at Aizen again, slipping her finger into his little fist and tugging it away from his face. "What would he gain by making me believe that he's helpless, completely harmless?"

Shiro's sullen silence is all the answer she gets.

"Aizen may not have done this, but something in his influence might have."

"You mean the hogyoku?"

"Yes. If you would pull it out Ichigo, I wish to test something."

She tugs her hand away from Aizen and digging through his blanket, finding the hogyoku tucked in a stray fold behind his back. When she pulls it out and looks at it she's faced with the same iridescent marble that she found with Aizen originally. From what she can tell, there's been no change in it.

"Now try channeling some of your reiatsu into it."

Her brow furrows. "Is that really such a good idea?"

"If I am right, then there will be no danger."

"Alright." She says, skeptical. Taking a deep breath Ichigo lets her eyes fall shut as she concentrates. She directs a small amount of her spiritual energy into her hand, trying to push it through her fingertips and into the hogyoku.

Nothing happens.

He hums, thoughtful. "Try again, use a bit more this time."

She does, adding more of her reiatsu and attempting to channel it through her hand again. Again, nothing happens. The hogyoku remains completely inert.

Zangetsu sighs. " We can safely assume that, whatever occurred, it took enough power that the hogyoku is now nothing more than a pretty stone."

Ichigo stares at it, bewildered. "How is that even possible? Urahara thought it couldn't be destroyed ."

"Evidently he was wrong. Do you remember what was happening before you woke up here?"

She cocks her head to the side, letting her hand drop back to her lap, and thinks back. "We were… we were using Mugetsu, about to attack Aizen with the Final Getsuga. We clashed, there was a flash of light and then nothing. The next thing I remember after that was waking up in the forest."

"Your reiatsu was low when you woke, far lower than it has ever been naturally." Ichigo nods. " Whatever Aizen or the hogyoku did took some of our strength as well."

Her brow furrows. "What could even take that kind of power? Combined Aizen and I probably had the equivalent of a couple hydrogen bombs, hell maybe more."

"I do not know."

She sighs, head falling back against the tree. "What a fucking mess." She sits in silence for a few moments, nothing but the chirping of the evening's first few crickets to keep her company. "What now?"

"It is getting late. I think it would be best that you find someplace to rest," Zangetsu says. "We will figure out our next move in the morning."

With a groan she heaves herself up, slinging her zanpakuto onto her back and heads further into the forest. Ichigo hopes she can find a more comfortable place to sleep then she had the night before.

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