Chapter 4: The Path We Walk (Soul Society Part 1)

"Rukia!" a young man with orange hair laid on the ground bleeding out from the whole that was now in his chest. Tears fell from his eyes hitting the cold and wet cement paving that he was forced to lay upon. The woman in mention stood in a dress that matched her skin color in the beautiful snow white but this priestliness of hers was ruined by the sadness etched onto her face as she looked down towards the Strawberry that attached itself to place in her heart that she thought was frozen away with no thought of thawing out her pain that lied in that untouched place fearing that she could not bear to see someone like him die again.

"Ichigo please, I'm asking you as your friend stop moving just stay there so that you can live to see Yuzu and Karin even all your friends will mis you if you die so stop being so selfish with your life." She shouted him not being able to handle seeing him in pain. "If you don't want to live then how can you want to protect anyone if you will only give your life away for meaningless things." She turned looking him in his eyes but the shiver that she felt going up her spine could not be hidden in his eyes she saw a determination she has only ever seen in one man. "If you even think of coming to save me, I will never be able to forgive you." Hid eyes they never changed but hers did a crystal-like tear fell from her eye.

Ichigo couldn't help but blame himself her Crystals should not be wasted on someone who could barely stand up to ask for her forgiveness. "Rukia believes me I will find a way into Soul Society even if I have to die, I'll make sure that I can see you again even…even if I have to bring the entire place down with me!" Ichigo announced with the same determination as he had the night they met.

She could only turn around to avoid having seeing his eyes piercing hers. "Hey, if you think you can even defeat an unseated officer then you have another thing coming Kurosaki Ichigo, just give up so that Rukia doesn't have to suffer because you made a mistake." Said a tall man around Ichigo's height with spiked up red-hair.

"Leave him be Renji the human will not live to see the sunrise." Said a man who was forcing the other man now known as Renji to leave Ichigo. A small sigh of relief exited Rukia's small mouth.

Renji proceeded to listen to the man who was clearly his superior. "Yes Captain." Said Renji turning to give his full attention to the captain who had so swiftly defeated Ichigo.

"Renji open the Senkaimon we no longer need to be here." The captain told his subordinate with a stern face before turning towards the fallen man below him. "Heed this warning human if survive this night of useless bloodshed… and somehow make it to Soul Society I will not on the name of the Kuchiki clan hesitate to cut you down just as swiftly as I did now for you a mere human who dares to fight on the same level as the Gods of Death can not be allowed to live a life of peace." Said the man looking down at Ichigo.

Ichigo felt an invisible pressure way him down. "Why did you spare me then?" Ichigo asked looking up at the man whilst trying to avoid the pressure weighing him down." I will not waste dirtying my Zanpakuto with your blood." Told the captain with a cold face no emotion breaking through that hard expression.

Renji stood in front of his captain and stabbed his sword into the air and then turned it in a motion one uses to turn a key and a doorway appeared in front of Renji as he moved aside whilst pulling his sword from the doorway. "Captain the Senkaimon is ready for you to use." Said the tall red-haired man.

The captain walked through the door with Rukia following behind him not meeting the gaze of the fallen strawberry. "Goodbye Ichigo." Renji soon found his way to the Senkaimon.

There he laid with no power, no will to live and a huge whole in his heart.

XXX

"Oh my…oh my what do we have here, a little Strawberry laying useless on the ground." Said a woman in a green outfit.

XXX

"Huh…what…where…am…I." a groggy Ichigo sat up on the futon he was laying upon as he looked around, he saw himself in a bare brown room. Fear started to set in. he did not know where he was the last thing, he remembered was laying down bleeding from his chest with no-one there to help him.

"Calm down little Kurosaki no-one is here to hurt you." A soft soothing voice filled his ears. It reminded him of his mother when he had a nightmare in the night. Turning towards the voice he saw a woman who he remembered seeing when he was a child. "I see you recognize me I am a family friend you can just call me Urahara Kisuke."

"I see." Said the young man.

"Now that's not the reaction I was expecting from the brat I just saved." Said the woman with that damn fan covering her mouth.

"So, what happened to me?" asked Ichigo a confused look passing his face whilst ignoring the woman's words.

"Well, you were laying on the ground passed out like a wis then I picked you up carried you here had someone heal you and then here we are." Said the woman whilst looking down at her fingers counting down all the events that led to their situation.

"No what happened to Rukia…do you know what will happen to her?" asked Ichigo desperate for an answer. Urahara looked down at the boy a piercing glare was what the boy found as his answer.

"She will probably be executed in a months' time…" said the woman with shock appearing on his face from the realization that hit the boy like a rock.

"Wait there has to be someway that we can stop them from killing her." Asked the kid who was desperate to get an answer.

"There is only one way and that way is to get you your powers back through mock hollowfication." Said the woman seeing the confusion appear on his face.

"Hollowfication?" the ginger asked in confusion.

"It is where I sever your Soul Chain from your body and let you undergo the process of turning into a hollow where if you lose your will you will turn into a hollow but if you are able to fight it and reach your Zanpakuto in your Soul you will be able to survive but do not be mistaken there is only three days to get your powers and then another seven to train you." Spoke the woman with a serious looking face but that serious soon turned to shock as she saw the drive in his eyes.

"Fine let's do it."

XXX

It was way harder than he ever thought it could be. He almost died because of that crazy woman and then there was that weird mask that kept appearing on his person as he turned to his left, he saw a sword come straight for him as the sword came down, he blocked it with his Zanpakuto.

The Shikai state of his Zanpakuto looked more like a giant cleaver than anything else. A black blade with a white edge, there was no handle to hold on to and no hilt either only covered in cloth. Ichigo blocked Urahara sword and pushed the woman away before lifting his sword above his head and brought it down whilst releasing a crazy amount of Reiatsu. A large beam of energy escaped his blade going straight towards Urahara.

She looked in shock as the blue beam came close to her only for her to dodge it by a hair. "Well done little Kurosaki you got my hat to get of my head." Said Kisuke with a beaming smile on her face as her blonde hair fell down her face still somehow covering her eyes as she picked up her hat, she saw a large gut in it.

"Well, I believe that is enough training for now don't you think." Spoke Urahara with that fan covering her mouth.

"Hey, Kisuke stop playing with the boy he needs to heal so he can go to the Society." Said a loud masculine voice who Ichigo could not see where it was coming from. Looking at Urahara he saw her pointing down at a small black cat looking up at him. "What are you looking at brat?" asked the cat in a deep voice that made Ichigo jump back in shock.

"Eh! How is that cat able to speak?" asked the boy in confusion while pointing and looking at the cat.

"You fight monsters every other day and this is what you find shocking?" asked the cat with a tik mark on its forehead.

"Now Yoruichi calm down we are meant to make the kid stronger not scared." Said the woman in a scolding manner.

'Tip' 'Tap'

As Ichigo looked up, he saw his friends walking towards him. Yasutora Sado is a teenager of Mexican and Japanese descent. He is dark-skinned with pronounced cheek-bones and has wavy brown hair with bangs that generally hangs over his brown eyes. He is a muscular and extremely tall man and appears to be much older than he actually is. He wore a white tank top with a large red stripe going down from his left collarbone till his left waist. He wore a pair of grey jeans. Orihime Inoue is a teenager of average height. She has brown eyes and long, waist-length, burnt orange hair. Her most noticeable physical trait is her slender yet curvaceous figure for a teenager, especially in terms of her large breasts. She wears her hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins, which she only removes to sleep, as they are worn in the memory of her brother. She wore a red-shirt and a pair of grey pants with red stripes going down the sides. Uryū Ishida is a bespectacled teenager of average height and slender build. He has straight, chin-length black hair framing both sides of his face, and is fair-skinned with blue eyes. he typically dons white Quincy clothes, with blue stripes representing the Quincy cross, and a mantle. They all wore a fierce determination on their face.

"What did you guys want… you don't need to throw your lives away to help me." Spoke Ichigo with desperation filtering his voice. All three of Ichigos friends had the face of a person who was not willing to give up no matter what.

"Don't be selfish Kurosaki…we are here on our own reasons…Rukia is our friend also so don't think your all that." Said Ishida with a smug grin on his face. Inoue turned to Ishida and gave him a pout. "Do not be rude to Kurosaki-kun he has been threw a lot." She said as turned her back to Ishida only for him to apologies and a happy grin to appear on her face.

'Crash'

They all turn around to see Urahara fall of a giant…door "What?" they all asked seeing all portal open when Urahara connected all the wires.

"Okay, you guys gonna go through here and if you see a gigantic thing that looks like a train don't touch it." And that was the last thing that they heard before they all were kicked into then portal and Yoruichi jumping in after them.

"Now that the kids are gone Urahara; we need to start preparations form Project Invincible." A figure from the shadows announced with a deep and calm voice.

"Understood." Replied Urahara with a frown spreading down his face and a hand on his cane. "Have you talked with the Visords yet?" the look on the shadow figures face told it all.

"Hehehe…not yet." The figure started to scratch the back of his head seeing the people around get tick marks on their head. "I'll go talk with them now." The figure left with a flash of yellow leaving a baffled room.