5 Chapter 5: Entering the Soul Society

Hado #4: Byakurai.

"Zanpakuto speaking"

'Zanpakuto thinking'

"Character talking"

'Character thinking'

Chapter 5: Entering the Soul Society

Ichigo woke up the next day around 6 AM remembering the conversation he had with Alucard in his inner world while he was asleep. He remembered Alucard touching his forehead and that sent him out of his inner world. He laid there in bed thinking about everything Alucard said to him, he turned his head to the side a bit and could see that the sun was just beginning to rise. It was a quiet morning, and it did not sound as though anyone was up yet so Ichigo decided to get some more sleep. Just as he closed his eyes to go back to sleep a bucket of ice-cold water was poured on him. He immediately shot up from the bed and screamed.

"AHHHH!" yelled a soaking wet Ichigo. As he looked up, he saw a smiling Kisuke Urahara with a bucket in his hand waving at him.

"Good morning Kurosaki-Kun!" said Kisuke in a cheerful way. "I noticed you did not shower before bed, so I decided to help you out this morning. You can thank me later" said Kisuke "Oh before I forget there is breakfast ready for you." with that said Kisuke left a soaking wet and incredibly angry Ichigo in his room.

"KISUKE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" yelled Ichigo from the room.

After Ichigo got dried off, he returned to his body and did his morning routine then joined Kisuke and Tessai for breakfast. The two kids Jinta and Ururu were outside the shop sweeping so it was just the three of them at the small round table. Tessai and Kisuke were drinking small cups of tea while in front of Ichigo were some toasts and a cup of tea right next to it. Kisuke had his fan covering his face while looking at Ichigo. Tessai was just sitting here with his hands on his lap looking at Ichigo through his glasses. Ichigo was eating the toast and drinking his tea all while looking at the two men. When he finished the plate of toast he spoke.

"So, Mr. Urahara, what are we doing today?" asked Ichigo as he took a sip of his tea. Kisuke closed his paper fan and his face became serious before he spoke.

"Well, I was planning on increasing your skill level in zanjutsu however, seeing as how your zanpakuto is a ranged weapon I feel it is best if I first increase your hakuda skills or in other words your hand-to-hand combat skills," said Kisuke as he reached for the cup of tea to drink.

"That sounds good." said Ichigo nodding before he added, "My zanpakuto spirit said that my Shikai can also fire Kido, both Hado and Bakudou. So, I was wondering if you could teach me some?" Kisuke looked at Ichigo for a moment before grinning and saying

"Kido eh?" he chuckled "Tessai would be a lot better at teaching you kido than me," said Kisuke as he looked from Ichigo over to Tessai who spoke for the first time since Ichigo sat down.

"It would be my pleasure to teach you kido Ichigo," said Tessai genuinely happy about the thought of training someone in the art of kido.

"Well then it is settled from 6 am to noon you will train with Tessai in kido and from noon to 6 pm you will train with me in zanjutsu and hakuda," said Kisuke. Ichigo nodded his head before he heard Alucard's voice.

"And when you are asleep you are going to be training with me to use your Shikai," said Alucard. Ichigo mentally nodded to Alucard before he asked Kisuke a question.

"When are you going to open the gate to the soul society?" asked Ichigo.

"The gate to the Soul Society will take ten days to open because of it not being an official gate. So, we have ten days to get you ready for what will be there waiting for you," said Kisuke as he bent his head slightly, so his hat is shadowing his face. Ichigo for his part was going to make the most of these ten days and get all the training he could.

"If you are ready Ichigo," Urahara said as he stood up and grabbed his cane "let us begin your training." with that said Kisuke took his cane and thrust it forward hitting Ichigo in the forehead and his soul separated from his body. Ichigo now stood there with his soul reaper form with his sealed zanpakuto strapped to his side as he began walking towards the trap door that leads to the training ground and instead of taking the ladder, he jumped in. Kisuke just saw this and shook his head and chuckled.

||Time skip: 10 days later||

Down inside Urahara's underground training ground is Ichigo and Kisuke standing ten feet away from each other panting heavily with both of their Shikai out. Kisuke could be seen with cuts and bruises on his face and body, his clothes were all cut up and his hat was laying on the ground a few feet to his right which looked like it had seen better days. Ichigo was not in any better shape than Kisuke, his trench coat looked all dirty and battered, he had his hood off, so you could see the amount of sweat pouring off him and the number of bruises on his face. No one could see his eyes though, during the week Ichigo had gone into the shopping district to buy two identical pairs of sunglasses as Alucard had suggested. He both two pairs of extremely dark Ray-Ban club master sunglasses with a mirror reflector lens on the outside so when people looked at his eyes all they would see is themselves. The frame of the glasses was black with the ray ban logo on the sides of both arms, it also had a thin line of silver running under the lenses. He bought two of them so that he could have one for his body and one for when he is in his soul reaper form. Kisuke had to do something one of them to allow them to work with his soul reaper form, it took a few days, but he did it. Ichigo looked like he wanted to pass out from exhaustion, he was wondering how much more till he was going to get a break. He was about to ask but Kisuke spoke first.

"I think that is enough for today Kurosaki-Kun." said Kisuke as he bent down and picked up his hat before continuing, "you should go home and get some rest and you should go spend some time with your family after all..." Kisuke sealed his Shikai, placed the hat on his head before he spoke in his more serious voice "You may not see them again." Ichigo stood up straight, sealed his Shikai before nodding to Kisuke. Ichigo had not seen his family for ten days now, he did not call to let them know he is okay or anything of the sort. He began thinking about how worried his two sisters would be, especially Yuzu. Karin would be worried too but she will not show it as much as Yuzu. He decided he should head home quickly.

"Okay, Urahara I'll head home," Ichigo said as began walking towards the ladder but stopped when he heard Kisuke's voice.

"It is very important that you have your window open at 1:00 am, okay Ichigo?"

"Yeah, sure thing," said Ichigo not really wanting to know what Urahara had planned. With that said Ichigo left and headed up the ladder. He went to the room that he slept in while he was at Urahara's. At the corner of the room was his body lying there, he picked it up and began to enter it. After about five seconds Ichigo was back in his body. He then stood up flexed his muscles a bit and stretch his boned. After he finished getting re-adjusted to his body, he left the room and walked out of the shop saying bye to Tessai and the two kids on his way out. While walking Ichigo could not help but think about the training he went through the past ten days with Kisuke, Tessai, and Alucard. His training with Tessai was the easiest when compared to the other two. Ichigo could now perform both Hado and Bakudou up to the number 63 without incantation. Anything beyond that he needs to say the full incantation, Tessai had said that Ichigo seems to be a prodigy for Kido. His training with Kisuke was by far the hardest due to him always getting sweaty cut up and in serious pain but by the fifth day Ichigo was starting to defend himself a lot better against Kisuke to the point where he came out of their training sessions with minimal injuries. Kisuke had commented that Ichigo's improvement in hakuda and zanjutsu far surpassed his expectations and the chance for success just increased dramatically. His training with Alucard was not as hard as Kisuke but at the same time, it was not as easy as training with Tessai. Alucard taught Ichigo how to properly hold, aim, and shoot his guns. He also taught him how to utilize his eyes to analyze his enemy's techniques and movements as well as taught Ichigo how to use Kido with his guns, it came as a surprise for Ichigo how different kido was when firing them from his Shikai compared to normally casting them.

Before Ichigo had realized it, he was in front of his house. The sign "Kurosaki Clinic" was visible outside. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door, he reached up grabbed the doorknob and turned, as he opened the door he heard "WELCOME BBBAAACKK IIICCHHIIGOO!" as soon as he heard his dad say those words Ichigo immediately moved to his right, and his dad flew through the air missing Ichigo completely going out the door and landing flat on his face. Ichigo simply shook his head and continued into the house leaving his dad there. As he entered, he immediately came face to face with his two sisters who had worried looks on their faces as they looked at Ichigo.

"Ichi-nii!" they screamed as both ran towards Ichigo. Both had tears in their eyes, and they hugged their brother tightly.

"Where were you onii-chan!" Yuzu said while looking up from the hug and tried to look Ichigo in the eyes, but his sunglasses were in the way.

"I was away with my friends. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you guys," Ichigo lied.

"You could have called you know." said Karin letting go of Ichigo and trying to act tough, "and since when you wear sunglasses?"

"Since now, I think they look pretty cool," said Ichigo not wanting to explain his eyes but sadly for him when he looked at Karin, Yuzu from her position of hugging Ichigo could see his eyes from under the glasses. She gasps.

"Ichi-nii what happened to your eyes?" she asked getting more worried. Ichigo mentally cursed before he sighed and took his glasses off.

"It kind of changed colors," he said as he looks at them with his now blood-red eyes, "I bought these glasses because I didn't want to scare the two of you." he finished. Both Yuzu and Karin looked stunned. Neither one of them could begin to think about how someone's eyes can change color. Neither Ichigo nor the girls noticed their dad standing in the doorway narrowing his eyes at Ichigo.

'Kisuke just what did you do to my son' Isshin wondered. He senses that his daughters were about to question Ichigo about his eyes, so he decided to help his son out a bit.

"Girls! Why do not you let your brother go take a shower and relax, he must be tired," said Isshin trying to get the girls not to ask too many questions. Yuzu being the caring little sister decided that her father was right.

"Dad's right onii-chan must be tired, and he definitely needs a shower," she said while letting go of Ichigo, " I'll make dinner so go get ready Ichi-nii." Ichigo just smiled at his two sisters and looked at his dad mouthing 'thank you' before he headed upstairs to take a shower. After finish showering, he had dinner with his family and spent some time watching tv with his sisters before they fell asleep, so he carried them to their beds and tucked them in before going to his own room and wait for when Kisuke was ready. Finally, 1 o'clock came, Ichigo slid his window open and looked outside saw nothing. Five seconds later he saw something shine in the distance before a small ball flew into Ichigo's room and collided with his wardrobe and a red blood-like substance poured out and wrote a message on the wall that read "Urgent meet us outside of Urahara shop Immediately" Ichigo could help but think this looked like one of those things where the message is written in the victim's own blood. Before he could continue his thought more of the message popped up, "P. S if you think this is one of those messages written in the victim's own blood, then truly you have no sense of humor." Ichigo could not help but sigh before he made his way out of the house. As he closed the door, he heard his dad screaming his name.

"GOOD MORNING ICHIGOOO!" his dad yelled from the roof as he jumped down and tried to tackle Ichigo, but Ichigo moved out of the way and he fell headfirst on the pavement.

"What is wrong with you? is that how you said goodbye to your son?" Ichigo asked

"Before you left Ichigo I wanted to make sure you had this to take with you," Isshin said as he held up a small sack tied to a string with some weird markings on it.

"What am I supposed to do with some dirty old charm?" Ichigo said while holding the charm.

"Watch your mouth, your mother gave that charm to me long ago and it has always brought me luck now maybe it will bring you luck," Isshin said. "Think of it as a gift from your mother."

"Thanks, Dad," Ichigo said clutching the charm and began walking away.

*At Urahara's shop*

As Ichigo arrived in front of Urahara's shop only to see Kisuke standing there with Ichigo's friend Chad (I know his real name is not Chad, but Chad is way easier to say that Sado). Ichigo could not help but wonder what Chad was doing here.

"Well right on time Kurosaki-kun." said Kisuke

"Hey, Kisuke, Chad what are you doing here?" Asked Ichigo

"Rukia saved me once. I want to help her out if I can. So, I'm going too." said Chad Ichigo was surprised.

"Huh?" was all Ichigo could get out.

"What are you hard of hearing or something?" came a voice from behind Ichigo. When he turned around, he saw it was his Friend/ rival Uryu Ishida wearing what he would describe as a ridiculous white and blue outfit.

"What? Uryru, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked in a surprised voice.

"I don't take defeat well. Especially at the hands of a soul reaper. So, I am going too," he said in a monotone voice.

"So, I guess we are all present and accounted for." came a female voice. When Ichigo looked to the side he saw it was Orihime, another one of Ichigo's classmates.

"Hold on a second can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?!" Ichigo screamed.

"You're a little slow on the uptake, aren't you?" came another voice. When Ichigo turned around he saw that it was the cat that Kisuke was holding when he came out of the shattered shaft. "kid, don't tell me you haven't noticed the increase in hidden power between these three friends of yours."

All Ichigo could say was "A fucking cat just talked to me!'

"That is kind of disturbing," said Alucard from inside Ichigo's head.

"His name is Yoruichi and he isn't just a cat," said Orihime while Holding Yoruichi.

"It is hard to get used to." yes Uryu

"I'm still adjusting to it myself." said Chad. All the yelling was stopped by Kisuke clapping.

"let's take this inside, they are certain things we can't discuss in the open," he said and with that, they all went down the underground basement. Once they entered the training ground Orihime commented on how surprising it is to have something that huge under the shop which brought Tessai to tears as he thanked Orihime for her kind words.

"Alright everyone your attention right over here," Kisuke said as he snapped his finger and a large rectangular gate-like thing that appears to be made of some kind of a stone showed up, "this is the gate that leads to the soul society, it is called the Senkaimon or tunnel world gate. I am going to tell you all how to pass through it but first we need to change one thing," he said as he raised his cane and thrust it forward into Ichigo's forehead separating him from his body.

"Hey how about giving me a warning next time." Kisuke just laughed as he saw Ichigo's friends poking his body.

"Okay now listen up, unlike other gates this one has a spirit particle conversation machine. As oh right now only one of you can pass through a normal senkaimon and that's Ichigo because the Soul Society is a spirit world only spirit can pass through. This one will allow all of you to pass through just as you are." Kisuke paused to make sure they are all paying attention before continuing "However there is a catch, the window of opportunity that the gate could stay open for is four minutes." As soon as he said that everyone stared at him wide-eyed.

"So, you are saying we only have 4 minutes?" Ichigo asked to which Kisuke nodded "Guess we are going to have to pick up the pace then huh?" Ichigo said with a smirk to which Kisuke chuckled. Yoruichi simply narrowed his eyes at Ichigo.

"If you can't make it out in four minutes you will be trapped in the Dangai forever," Kisuke said.

"Can we get this over with already Urahara?" asked Ichigo in a bored tone

"You do know if you fail you won't be able to return to this life ever, again right?" asked Yoruichi.

"Then all I have to do is win then," Ichigo said with a lot of conviction in his voice.

"Exactly," said Yoruichi, as he said that Kisuke and Tessai both kneeled in front of the gate and pressed the palm of their hand on the ground and the entire gate lit up with a bright light coming from the center.

"As soon as it opens run straight through and don't look back, good luck!" as he said that the gate shone brighter and the five of them disappeared. "I'm counting on you...Ichigo" Urahara said.

**Inside the Dangai**

Ichigo, his five friends, and Yoruichi were running through the Dangai with Yoruichi leading them.

"Keep running and don't look behind you it will only slow you down," he yelled from the front. They continued to run until the restrictive currents of the Dangai starting to collapse and trying to capture whatever was in there. Everything was going smoothly up until Uryu's cape got caught in the restrictive currents, it began to suck him in, luckily Chad was quick enough to rip the cape off him and pick him up to carry him. Once again, they were running until Uryu pointed out something.

"Hey, guys! I don't mean to bother you while you're running but something else is coming!" he said while looking on from behind Chad. Out of the currents, a bright like was coming then the thing connected to the light came out of the currents. It was big, purple, and looks to be covered in fur and it was moving fast.

"AAHH! Yoruichi what is that?" Uryru asked/yelled.

"It is the cleaner! It comes through here every seven days to clean the Dangai! It just so happens that today is one of those days!" he yelled from the front. "Just keep running and don't look back!" and that they did but the cleaner was creeping up on them faster and faster. Orihime turned to look and saw that they were not going to make it, so she acted.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" she yelled and from her hairpins came three fairy things that formed a shield with which the cleaner connected with. As it connected, he blasted the five of them out of the Dangai and through the opening to the Soul Society. In the sky above inside the Soul Society, one could see a pure white rectangular gate open before five blurs seemingly shot out of it and landed roughly in the ground. When the dust cleared the only one who seemed to have landed on his feet was Ichigo as he stood there with his usually impassive face examining his surroundings.

"So, this is the soul society?" he said not really wanting to believe that this was where people come to when they die.

"Yes, and the specific area we are in is called the Rukon District, it is here that soul first come to live when they arrive in the soul society, it is the perimeter that surrounds the Seireitei, the place where all the soul reapers live. It's the poorest section but also the one with the most freedom, and the largest population of souls in all the Soul Society," Yoruichi said.

"If that's true then where is everybody?" asked Uryu. The entire place looks deserted, no one on the streets, shops, or even peeping from their window. It was completely deserted.

"HEY! where are you going?" screamed Yoruichi getting Chad, Orihime, and Uryu out of their wondering. They turned around to see Ichigo walking toward a set of buildings that are a lot nicer than the ones where they were standing.

"You said this place is called the Rukon District then this place right here," he said pointing to the set of nicer buildings, " must be the Seireitei, where all the soul Reapers live so I'm headed there." he said as he continues walking.

"Don't go there you'll be killed" Yoruichi yelled, but as she was yelling Chad Orihime and Uryu ran past her heading towards Ichigo. 'I hate kids' he taught sorrowfully. Ichigo continues walking when he suddenly stopped and looked up. From the sky, large walls started to come crashing down forming a wall around the Seireitei. Ichigo had his hand over his face to block the dust when he wondered

'Where in the hell did that thing fall from' he wondered. He was about to continue wondering when a deep voice brought him out of his thought.

"Well, Well, it has been a while since someone tried to enter the Soul Society without a travel pass." said the voice. As Ichigo looked up he saw the biggest man he has ever seen in his life. There stood an extremely large, muscular man, who easily towers above most Soul reapers. His hair is tied into a ponytail, which extends down his waist. He has long sideburns, which continue down onto his neck and long enough to be tied up in small ponytail like tufts. He wears armor on his left shoulder and upper arm, plus a red hat with tassels. The left side of his chest is left exposed by his uniform. He seems to use twin axes in battle.

"Yoruichi who is this guy?" asked Ichigo in a bored tone as though he is not fazed by the size of his opponent.

"He is known as Jidanbo. He was chosen from the absolute best warriors the soul society must guard the gate. In the 300 years that Jidanbo has served as the gatekeeper, countless intruders have tried but not one of them has ever beaten him. He is a legend of power and strength."

"You know I only wanted to know about his name," Ichigo said as he unsheathes his zanpakuto while looking at Jidanbo. Chad was about to run and help Ichigo when Jidanbo brought the butt of his ax down to the ground and broke it apart blocking Chad's path.

"You need some work on your manners. What is your country Bumkins or something?" he asked "Battles in the city is always fought one on one." Chad was about to ignore that to help his friend but then Ichigo spoke.

"Relax Chad I can handle this," Ichigo said as he looked at Chad through the cracks.

"Okay Ichigo," Chad said as Orihime, Uryu, and Yoruichi joined him to watch.

"Let's get this over with already big guy." said Ichigo holding his zanpakuto in one hand.

"Very well little man." with that said Jidanbo brought one of his axes down with incredible force and speed. Ichigo simply stared at it coming towards him for a bit before he swung his zanpakuto to meet Jidanbo's ax. When the two blades finally meet the utterly unexpected thing happened in everyone's eyes excluding Ichigo's of course. Ichigo's zanpakuto sliced right through Jidanbo's ax like a hot knife through butter. Jidanbo's blade was cut in half however, the half he was still holding connected with the ground and the force from it caused the rocks blocking Chad and the rest of them from properly seeing what was going on to crumble. When it crumbled away, they saw Ichigo still standing in the same spot as before, still holding his zanpakuto in one hand looking at a wide-eyed Jidanbo who was holding now half of an ax.

"Was that it?" Ichigo asked in a bored tone.

"Wa...wa... impossible. I... I am not done yet. I just need to bring out more weaponry!" As he said that he reached into his shihakusho and pulled out a second ax.

"Let us see how you handle my ultimate attack. Jidanbo Banzai Strike Festival!" he yelled as he brought both his new ax and the half ax down onto Ichigo. Ichigo looked at him and said,

"Sorry pal, but I'm going to have to destroy your axes." With that Ichigo put some spiritual energy into his zanpakuto and swung it to meet both of Jidanbo's axes. When they made contact, both shattered like glass. Everyone's eyes were widened by this.

"Such power." said Yoruichi as she just witnessed Jidanbo lose for the first time. Ichigo's friends looked just as stunned as the rest. Jidanbo then fell on his butt and started crying.

"My axes they're ruined... Why did you do it... why did you ruin my ax!?" Jidanbo sobbed like a baby. Ichigo was stunned and confused.

"Look I'm sorry about your axes but I couldn't let you keep swinging them at me. My bad." Ichigo apologized

"In all my 300 years of guarding this gate I have never been defeated you are the first and because of this I Jidanbo grant you passage through the gate." Jidanbo said standing up and stop crying. "Now stand back I will own the gate for you." Jidanbo then walked over to the gate, stooped down, and began lifting the gate. The others including Ichigo were impressed by how strong he was. Suddenly Ichigo noticed that Jidanbo was frozen as though he saw something that shocked him. So Ichigo decided to ask.

"Hey Jidanbo, what's wrong? why did you stop?" asked Ichigo. Jidanbo started stuttering while looking inside the Seireitei, so Ichigo followed his line of sight to see a man walking towards them.

"Who is that?" Ichigo asked narrowing his eyes at the man.

"That is none other than the captain of squad three Gin Ichimaru," said Jidanbo sounding scared.

**Chapter end**

This chapter turned out longer than I had planned. I hope you all enjoy it

NEXT CHAPTER GIN GETS A SURPRISED

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