Hey! Welcome to the first chapter of What We Thought We Knew. Please note that this is NOT a romantic fic, and there will not be any pairings other than those expressed in the actual anime/manga.

Chapter 1

0x0

A rare smile graced his lips as they walked down the brightly lit streets of Rukongai. Rukia was in a purple Kimono littered with pale snowflake designs, Inoue wore a soft pink yukata with blue petal and blossoms dancing across it with a white shawl, Renji wore a red kosode un-tucked from white hakama with a black shawl with a brown fur lining along with a black bandana to cover his tattoos and keep his head warm; as for himself, he wore a black yukata with a light grey sash and matching shawl decorated with cherry blossoms and snakes that Byakuya had lent him when he was spontaneously invited to the festival by Rukia.

Even more shockingly, the stoic aristocrat had allowed Inoue to borrow his late wife's yukata, claiming that is would be better appreciated on the form of a young woman than lying folded in an unused room. He would have to thank Byakuya later for it. He hadn't seen an honest smile from Inoue in a while, and it was good for her to take a break from the chaos in Karakura.

"Oi, Strawberry." And the smile was gone. Just like that, happy moment ruined.

He wouldn't answer to that name again.

Nope.

Not gonna happen.

"What do ya want, Pineapple." So much for that idea, at least now he wasn't the only one with an annoyed tick on his brow.

Renji remained annoyed for all of three seconds before his shoulders relaxed and he gazed up at the sky with an odd expression. Odd for Renji that is, it would be completely normal for say, Ukitake. It made him look like an old geezer, really. He himself relaxed unconsciously, it was a routine by now. Renji would insult him, he'd insult him back, they'd be angry, and then like two bipolar chicks, would go from pissed to content in seconds.

It was almost comical really.

"You ever try Pong Bashing?" He asked him. Ichigo paused for a moment.

"Pong Bashing?" He asked incredulously with a raised brow. What did that even mean?

Renji smirked.

"It's-" He was cut off by an elbow to the gut courtesy of Rukia.

"A stupid game he came up with with some of our friends in the 78th district." She said with finality as Renji glared up at her while he tried to catch his breath, hands on knees.

"Oka~ay." He said, unsure how to react to Rukia's avoidance of the 'game'. He chose to ignore it, and Renji's mumbled cursing for the remaining time it took them to reach their destination.

As soon as they got there the girls quickly rushed over to a fish scooping game hosted by a large elderly man while he and Renji stood back and watched them.

"So," he said conversationally to his red haired friend, "what's Pong Bashing?" A grin that could rival no beat the Cheshire cat spread across Renji's face.

'I should have just ignored it.' He thought with a bead of sweat trickling from his brow.

0x0

Ichigo and Renji hid behind a few barrels as people fled down the street in hysteria past them. Indiscreetly Ichigo glared at Renji as they squatted behind the barrels.

"This was your grand idea?" He said just above a whisper, his voice comically cracking in places.

A small bead of sweat travelled down Renji's cheek. Until he quickly turned the tables on to Ichigo.

"You weren't supposed to put that much reiryoku into it!" He said vehemently to his younger friend. Ichigo huffed in response.

"You know I have terrible control. Everyone does!" Ichigo said, acid practically dripping from his tongue.

Renji looked bashful for a moment.

"I didn't think you were that bad." He said, looking in-between the cracks of the barrels as a blush covered Ichigo's cheeks.

"I-I'm not, it's just that I have trouble with little things-" He paused when he noticed his friends ashen appearance. Then looked to where he was staring at the enraged face of Rukia.

'Oh.' Ichigo thought blandly, color seeping from his face to make an odd pale peach that would look unhealthy on Ukitake.

"Y-" Rukia's fists shook with anger. "You idiots!" She said as she violently grabbed them both from their hiding places as people ran past them in a frenzy.

They both held their hands up in mock surrender in hopes that the enraged midget would be merciful as Inoue stood in the back quietly pleading with Rukia.

BOOM

As luck would have it, they didn't have to hope, or pray, for mercy thanks to Seireitei's alarm system.

All four of them looked towards Seireitei in worry. It wasn't often that the alarm went off, and it usually meant one of 12th divisions experiments had gotten loose, Kenpachi was drunk, or some idiot was trying to invade Soul Society. Again.

Upon the horizon, the telltale signs of garganta littered the sky, and with it, shocked gasps from the female populous in their four man group.

Renji's eyes bugged out of his head, and his jaw clenched tightly in time with his body.

"Not possible." He breathed out, red hair blowing as a hollow landed behind them with a 'thud'.

They all turned around, Ichigo and Renji reaching for zanpakutō that weren't present.

A bell like sound unique to Inoue's powers sounded with a low mutter of 'Tsubaki' just moments before the hollow was purified. Ichigo nodded to Inoue in thanks as they all relaxed.

"We need to get our zanpakutō." Rukia said as she started heading toward the Kuchiki manor. Ichigo nodded towards Renji and grabbed Inoue around the waist, going into a fast shunpo as Renji mimicked his movements with Rukia.

"Oi!" Rukia yelled as Renji hefted her onto his shoulder. Inoue hung surprisingly silent as a small blush, unseen by Ichigo, rose to her cheeks.

"We need to stick together and get this done as fast as possible." Ichigo said while Renji nodded in agreement with him.

"You didn't have to-!" Rukia began, only to be cut off by Ichigo.

"When was the last time we had time?" he asked her over his shoulder. Renji rolled his eyes at him.

"It's not like Aizen's starting another war, ya idiot." Renji said mockingly, almost dropping Rukia in the process.

"Hey, watch it!" Rukia yelled from his shoulder, smacking Renji atop the head. Renji grumbled but otherwise remained silent as they passed through the Kuchiki gates and hastened into the room they had left their zanpakutō.

"What do you think it could be?" Inoue asked once she was set down. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me, it'll probably be sorted out by the time we get there. Jii-san's been pretty thorough since Aizen." Ichigo said as he strapped Zangetsu onto his back. Renji nodded from beside him as he got Zabimaru in its proper place.

"It's gotten even tighter since the hell fiasco." Renji said.

"Oi!" Ichigo said as he opened the door to go out. Renji shrugged.

"It's true. You're lucky the Captain Commander likes you." Renji said as he jumped onto the roof of a near-by building.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked as he followed him.

"Aren't you supposed to get the girls?" Renji asked as he pointed to the vacant spot where Rukia and Inoue were moments ago. Ichigo raised his brow as he pointed to the girls heading towards the center of Seireitei.

"You were saying?" Ichigo asked smugly. "Why are you going back to the festival anyway?" He asked; brows furrowed in confusion. Renji faltered a bit.

"Sh-shut up." Renji said as he began to shunpo after the girls.

"Idiot." Ichigo said as he watched him go with a fond smile. Another rumble shook the ground, and without a moment's thought he took off towards the center of the mayhem in a quick shunpo, face hardened with resolve.

0x0

Ichigo paused as he made it to the center of the chaos. Rukia and Renji had to go attend to some division stuff and Inoue had been asked to help Unohana-taicho to take care of the wounded.

Yamamoto stood beside Ukitake, Kyōraku, and Isshin of all people. Nameless shinigami ran to and fro as Ichigo approached the congregation.

"Dad? What's going on?" He asked, a worried frown marring his face.

Isshin turned to him in all seriousness, and instantly Ichigo felt his gut clench tightly. The last time his father was this serious was when he taught him the final getsuga tenshō. Ukitake put a hand on his father's shoulder and shook his head.

"Elsewhere, Isshin." Ukitake said soothingly, and his father nodded in agreement. It didn't help to alleviate the youth's anxiety though.

His attention was taken away from his father as Yamamoto approached him. But something went wrong. Before any of them could blink, a yellow beam encompassed him, taking them all off guard.

"Ichigo!" Isshin yelled, but Kyōraku held him back this time. Yamamoto opened his eyes and glared at a spot behind Ichigo.

Ichigo turned around in the negación, and froze in horror at what he saw.

Standing there in his own solitary beam, with a triumphant smile was Aizen Sōsuke holding the Hōgyoku. He looked back at his father pleadingly, hoping against reason he was knocked out by Renji's crazy game and having a nightmare. His father looked right back at him and smiled. But it didn't reach his eyes.

"You'll do fine Ichigo." But they both knew better, he was still recovering from having his powers returned. At best he would be able to cut Aizen down, but he wouldn't have the strength needed to resist the Hōgyoku for another two weeks.

0x0

A/N: I'll have the next chapter up shortly. Tell me what you all think, and if anyone's interested in doing beta work for me, I'd be ecstatic. ^^

Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.