Chapter One: Me, the Captain-Commander?!

Seventeen months since using the Final Getsuga Tenshou; seventeen months without battle. Ichigo had no problems with that, it was calming. Sure, he still had to deal with the gangs and such, but he didn't have any battles that were life or death anymore. Hell, his grades had even improved, so, much to Keigo's chagrin, he was now in the top ten at school. With grades like that he could do just about anything he wanted after graduating. The proposal before him was NOT on his to-do list

"So, let me get this right," said Ichigo, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he examined the source of said proposal. "You want to train me to take your position when you die?"

"That is correct," replied the old man across from him.

They were sitting at the table in Urahara Shoten, where so many meetings regarding shinigami matters had been held, but this was entirely new.

Seventeen months of peace of peace, and the hard-headed Captain-Commander of the Gotei Thirteen wanted to ruin it for him.

"No," said Ichigo flatly. "I've enjoyed not having to fight for my life, or anyone else's, all the time. Over the past year and a half I've come to realize that my hollow was somewhat right, after all, who doesn't enjoy a good fight every so often, but..." Ichigo trailed off, sending an expectant look at Yamamoto.

"It is good to have a rest, a sabbatical, so to speak, so we can come to terms with what we learn about ourselves and the world," replied Yamamoto, shrugging.

Seventeen months of quiet. None of the sounds of destruction, none of the screams of Hollows, Arrancar, or the wounded Shinigami.

"Look," said Ichigo, leaning forward to show his lack of enthusiasm for the proposal that Yamamoto had offered him, "I've enjoyed not having to clean up Seireitei's mess all the time, because of the idiots you have over you."

"I understand your position, we did rely on you more than many of our own taichous in many battles."

Seventeen months without Zangetsu, which tore a hole within his soul that was a silent void.

That was the root of the problem, no Zangetsu. Ichigo could deal with the fighting instinct by beating all the stupid thugs into the ground, but the silence that rang throughout his soul hurt. "Hell, even the bloody Hollowwould be a welcome change," thoughtIchigo. He hadn't known it at the time but Zangetsu had always spoken to him, so the resulting silence felt unnatural.

Ichigo was distracted from his thoughts by the Captain-Commander's voice.

"I would not make the offer unless there was a way to restore your shinigami abilities."

The remark piqued Ichigo's curiosity and interest. "How?" asked Ichigo, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Tensa Zangetsu told me that they would be gone and, well, here we are."

"That is true, but did he say anything about it being permanent?"

Ichigo's eyes opened in realization, as he recalled the conversation. Tensa Zangetsu hadn't said anything about the lack of Shinigami power being permanent.

"Your father used that same technique on another of Soul Society's enemies long ago and has regained much of his power, though he still has a way to go until he is back at full capacity," stated the old man. "We can't wait decades for your's to return if, as I hope, you take my offer."

"How?" Ichigo was understandably skeptical.

"The same way you first gained your Shinigami powers, however we will use the process to kickstart your own." The ringing silence that followed that statement was gravid with thoughts from both of them.

"I thought that was illegal," Ichigo replied. Both men were thinking of the series of events THAT specific law had lead to.

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I was a lot stronger when I lost them, so that begs the question: will it work? I mean that would require some serious power," said Ichigo, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Yamamoto stared at Ichigo for a while, making the teen nervous, before answering. "As you said, I do not mean to sound arrogant, but I believe that the combined power of all the taicho, fuku-taicho as well as the Visard and a few others will take care of that particular problem, and as for the law, it would be a disgrace to Soul Society's honour if we leave our debt to you unpaid." Yamamoto was serious about the response. Ichigo was stunned he was almost certain that so much power had not been gathered for one goal since the battle against the traitor, Sosuke Aizen. He was thoroughly humbled that it was for him that such power was gathered once again.

After a moment to regather his composure, he quietly replied, "thank you for the offer, but I am sure there are more qualified people for the job."

"We will return your power even if you refuse my offer, but you said you didn't like cleaning up our mess. Yes, Ukitake and Kyoraku are far more experienced, yes, they are the obvious choice, but do not think that I was not aware of the "mess" you mentioned. I consulted with both of my former students on this course of action before approching you. We are offering you a chance to change Soul Society for the better. What say you?"

Ichigo sighed, but grinned. "There's going to be a mountain of shit to clean first isn't there?"

"Correct, and Central Forty-Six are likely to be a massive hindrance. They do not like change, as it is easier to control power and the people when you can see what tomorrow brings."

Ichigo sat in thought for some time before replying, "This isn't just my decision to make, it affects my family and friends, mind if I consult with them and think?"

"Of course, such a decision is not easily made," agreed Yamamoto.

His mind full of thoughts and ideas Ichigo rose and headed for the door as he walked out, he paused, "You do realize that I'll create a whole other mountain of shit if I take this, right?"

The old man gave a rare smile, admitting, "I am hoping for it."

"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it Kurosaki-san?" said Urahara as Ichigo closed the door behind him.

"You knew about the offer beforehand, didn't you, Getaboshi? Thanks for letting us use your shop for the meeting, because even after seventeen months I still can't see a way to talk about this to Karin and Yuzu, so home wasn't possible," replied Ichigo, bowing to Urahara, who was tapping his trademark fan in thought. Urahara finally replied, "I suggest you find a way, and soon, because, as you know, Karin has been able to see Plus souls and Hollows for some time now, and it's gotten to the point that I've had to start providing her with certain items to help with them, though she has no real idea of what she's stepping into, and just the other day I saw Yuzu looking straight at a Plus, so it won't be very long before Hollows become a real problem for them."

"You've been keeping an eye on my sisters?" asked a shocked Ichigo.

"Of course, your father and I are old friends, besides it's not just Soul Society's mess you'd been cleaning up, have you forgotten who created the Hogyoku? I owe you much, Kurosaki-san. Protecting your sisters after you gave up your power to stop somthing I made was the very least I could do."

Ichigo wasn't sure how to respond to that. The best he could manage was a simple, "Thanks," but the gratitude was obvious in every line of his face.

"Well, you did say you would give an answer after talking to your nakama, so I suggest you get going," replied Urahara snapping the fan open to cover his lower face in his usual manner.

After what Urahara had said, Ichigo wasn't sure who to talk to first. His sisters needed answers, they had already waited over a year, or his friends, they wouldn't take the separation easily, they had all come to rely on one another even without the brutal battles to force them together. Ichigo had spent plenty of time training with Tatsuki and Chad, and they still watched each other's backs like brothers. Hell, Ishida of all people had joined them. More than once the new head of the student counsel had stepped in against a gang to help out Ichigo and Chad. The grades he had was a direct result of studying with his Quincy friend and Inoue who, despite the ditzy atittude, was an intelligent and insightful young woman, Hell, she was even a black belt in karate due to Tatsuki, though still very rarely fought. How would they all be without Keigo and Mizuiro to lift their spirits and reducing the stress level around test periods and liven up every day life? His loss of power had done nothing to weaken his bonds to the group, if anything they had all grown closer than ever from relying on each other to cover weaknesses that would probably never fully disappear. Pulling out his cell phone, Ichigo made a few calls to everyone and headed home, he would explain to everyone at once. It was a daunting prospect but he couldn't see a better way, and he only wanted to say it once.

One by one, they arrived; Chad, Uryu Ishida, Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa, Keigo and Mizuiro joined his family for a discussion they had all known was coming sooner or later. Someone like the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 didn't go unnoticed by by anyone even remotely aware of the spiritual realm. When everyone had arrived, Ichigo still had no idea how to start, but he was saved the need to by his father.

"So, have you decided what to do?" the man asked with an unusually serious attitude, it seemed everyone bar him and his friends knew about Yamamoto's offer.

"No, I told him this affects more then me and need some opinions before answering," replied Ichigo, shooting his dad a sideways look.

"Good, I wanted to talk to you about this anyway."

"Talk about what? What's happened, Ichi-nii?" asked Yuzu, looking back and forth between Ichigo and Isshin, confused.

Ichigo looked at his sisters. Yuzu, kind and caring, and Karin, active and outgoing, neither of them walked down a street and subconscious analyzed every angle of attack, they didn't see a crowd of people and think about the best way to control the flow if a fight broke out, not like he still did. How long before Hollows came after them?

Ichigo sighed heavily, before asking, "How much do you know about spirits and shinigami?"

"I can see them," Yuzu replied excitedly, she had always wanted to be able to, like her brother and sister.

"I can see spirits and shinigami, but I can see the others as well," replied Karin, "but I don't know much about them."

Ichigo sighed again. How do you explain to your younger sisters the nature of Hollows and the millenia long war between them and the shinigami? Any decent older brother would want to keep them well out of it, keep them safe. He didn't want them to be like him, to have to see the bloodshed and violence that he had not only inflicted but taken some measure of joy in.

Seeing his sons dilemma, Isshin said quietly, "I think it's time I told my story, Ichigo. I should have well before now, right back when you first got involved, but I was scared, I still am, but I've failed as a father in this area long enough."

Chad and the rest got up to leave the family in privacy but were told to sit by Isshin saying that this had some relevence to them too.

"I suppose I should start by saying that your mother wasn't the one to see spirits, well, not the only one, anyway," started Isshin.

This statment alone shocked the twins, Ichigo remaind silent. Isshin continued after turning to his little girls.

"You know people continue to exist after death, but had you thought about the system in place to look after them? Or deal with those who commit grave crimes?"

The girls shook their heads. "This sound a bit like a sermon to me," Karin said.

Isshin smiled, and remarked, "Every legend has a few grains of truth behind it. I suppose the easiest way to explain this, would be to show you. Pass me your badge, Ichigo."

Ichigo complied, and in the blink of an eye there stood Isshin in the full regalia of a shinigami taicho. He didn't reign in his reiatsu like Ichigo used to, and the others always did, he wanted to have the most effect on his daughters possible, he could see no other way to fully inpress on them the weight of his next words. It also appealed to his need for dramatics.

"I was once a shinigami. One of those that guide lost souls to Heaven." He saw the girl's eyes light up at the prospect and continued, "But we have another duty. The souls that get lost or cannot move on become a creature of base instinct, a monster that has lost its heart and in many cases its very identity as an individual, called Hollows. It is a shinigami's duty to hunt down and kill these monsters."

For the first time, the twins took note of the sword sheathed at his waist.

"For people that have commited intolerable crimes, we send them to Hell," he finished with a grave voice.

The twins' faces were a mixture of shock, horror and fear, and for the first time Karin understood why Ichigo had said nothing. Yuzu making the connection to her older brother and looked at him with questions brimming in her eyes.

"Ichi-nii, have you ever fought a hollow?" Yuzu asked.

"I've killed hollows and sent more then a few to hell, but not all of them are mindles animals, some are brutally cunning, or violently insane, others don't want to be what they are but when you lose your heart all you have is emptiness and they try to fill that any way they can, mostly by eating other souls," was Ichigo's quiet but steady reply.

Yuzu and Karin were horrified by his answer. Is that what their older brother had been doing when he was away or hiding in his room? Fighting inhuman monsters? How many times had he been hurt? How many times had he almost been killed? The questions went on and on. Looking around they remembered Ichigo's friends and a small glimmer of hope appeared in their eyes.

"But, you weren't alone when you were doing this were you, Ichi-nii?" Karin asked, indicating his friends. Ishida and the others looked at each other, in the end it was Inoue who answered.

"Most of the time no, but against the most dangerous ones, yes. Tatsuki-chan, Mizuiro-san and Keigo-san couldn't help and I was useless, so the only ones who could help were Chad-kun and Ishida-kun, those three were a trio of monsters in their own way," said Orihime quietly.

"What makes you think you were useless, Inoue? How many times would we have died if you weren't there to heal us? Just because you didn't kill doesn't mean you're useless, look at Unohana! I've never seen her fight, but how many lives has she saved?" Ichigo rebuked her gently.

The young woman's face shone with gratitude even if her eyes showed that she didn't really believe his words. Karin and Yuzu looked at their brother, picturing him in the same black and white robes their father was wearing, with a blade in his hand. Combined with the fierce look they knew he could have in a fight it made for an awe inspiring image, till they both imagined him before them ready to kill and for the first time in their lives they felt a shiver of fear run up their spines from his gaze. Ichigo, who's eyes were trained to follow the slightest muscle movement at supersonic speeds didn't miss it, neither did their father.

"He did what he had to. Do you remember that short plague that killed a whole lot of people last year?" Isshin asked.

The girls nodded.

"That was no plague, and they didn't die over a few weeks, it all happened in a few seconds. Shinigami modified the memories of the town shortly after to cover it up," Isshin continued.

Both waited silently for him to continue.

"They were killed by a creature known as an Arrancar, a type of advanced hollow. Your brother fought against them and others like them. He only ever killed where he had to."

The twins were ashamed of their feelings even if it had been for only a moment.

"But why cover it up?" Karin asked.

"Simple, if people died from something most can't even see, how long will it take before society panics? You would have read about the fear that dominated early human history, they were afraid of hollows. Society would not exist as it is if they didn't cover it up as disappearances, plagues and gas explosions. The major advances in the past centries have only happened because Soul Society started to hide them," Ishida answered.

Silence reigned. It was like hearing from a man that he traveled the world only to find out that it was because he was in the military. He told you about the great deserts and mountains, the food and people, but he never mentioned the blood and war or faces that cannot be forgotten.

"So what brought this on? It's been over a year since this all started right?" Karin asked, as afraid of the answer as she was that her brother and father might clam up now the basics were explained.

"I got an offer from the Captain-Commander of the Gotei Thirteen," Ichigo said. He saw his sisters open their mouths to ask about that bit of infomation but cut them off. "It's a military force of shinigami, we can discuss them later, he wants me to join them offically as his replacement-in-training."

Isshin couldn't help but laugh at the looks on everyone's faces even ichigo's habitual scowl vanished for a full blown smile at the shock displayed.

"The old fool's gone senile," ishida commented. "Why would he want to do that?"

"He said he was looking for someone who could change the Soul Society for the better, I asked about it, too," Ichigo answered reluctantly.

"So... if you take the offer, you're not going to be around are you, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked sadly.

"You're my family or close enough, what does everyone think?" Ichigo asked, finally reaching the reason for the gathering. Everyone sat in thought for what seemed an eternity before...

"I think you should take it," Ishida answered.

"Well, of course you would want to get rid of me, Ishida," Ichigo replied, smirking.

"I'm serious, he said he wanted someone to change the Soul Society and it desperately needs to. It's supposed to be Heaven, but some parts are little better then Hell and we both know that from experience."

"What, Hell or the lower districts?"

"Both Kurosaki, we all know Kuchiki's history, she grew up in the 78th District and look at Zaraki, he's from the north 80th District! We have all seen Rukongai for ourselves even if all that is put aside, I still have the Shinigami/Quincy alliance my grandfather hoped for, you and I are a living example of what our two peoples can do if they work together, and thats not even looking at Inoue-san and Sado-san!"

"You gained power to protect people, this will let you protect more," was Chad's short reply.

Ichigo looked around the room, the position of his friends clear on their faces. The only people who had an obvious problem were his sisters, Inoue, Keigo and Mizuiro, but Ishida's words made too much sense. Sighing, Ichigo thanked them for the help in deciding before saying goodnight and heading to bed. As much as he wanted to help people, he couldn't bear the thought of leaving everyone.

Ichigo stood in basement beneath Urahara Shoten with Yamamoto and his mentor, Kisuke Urahara, who were waiting for his answer.

"Okay... I'll do it. At least, I will try to make the changes I see are needed. I still have no real interest in taking your job though," Ichigo stated firmly, but the currents of sadness in his voice were easy to hear.

There was silence for a few seconds. "I understand how hard it is for you to make this decision, I, too, once had to leave my family behind," Yamamoto consoled the young man.

"Well... Let's go," Ichigo said, heading for the Senkaimon to Soul Society.