entering the Soul Society

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Bleach

"Wow this is so incredible, who knew there was something this humongous right beneath the shop, isn't it amazing?" Orihime says happily after the group, consisting of her, Ichigo, Chad and Uryu are shown the training area underneath Urahara's shop.

"What a heartwarming reaction. It's such a pleasure to be having you on this trip my dear." Tessai says with tears of happiness.

"You're coming?" The group then hears Yoruichi shout happily.

"Meh, Urahara asked me to and it's about time… I'll be doing things my own way however, before you get any ideas and want me to babysit." They hear as reply and see a greenhaired man, looking to be around his mid-twenties sit up behind a rock.

"Who's that?" Ichigo asks with a tickmark at the mention of babysitting, glaring at Zoro, who's getting up from his nap.

"He's an old friend. You can trust him. He might be rough around the edges but he has a good heart and will help us save Rukia." Yoruichi tells them, jumping on Zoro's shoulder, rubbing her cat self against his head with him stroking her back gently while he's making his way over to the group, being dressed in dark green pants and boots while wearing a low hanging open black Yukata, revealing a large scar going across his chest diagonally while three swords clink at his waist with every step.

"Alright everyone attention here. This is the gate that leads to the soul society. It's called a zenkaimon. I'm going to tell you all how to safely pass through it, but first we need to change one thing…" Urahara says and ejects Ichigo's Shinigami-soul from his body.

"Listen up. Unlike normal gates this one has a spirit particle conversion. Soul Society is a spirit world afterall… which means Ichigo can enter as a Shinigami but the rest of you wouldn't normally be able to enter, with the particle conversion that becomes a possibility however." Urahara tells the group.

"However we will only be able to open the gate for four minutes." Urahara tells them.

"Is that even enough time?" Uryu asks.

"Ordinarily no. However four minutes is all I can give you." Urahara tells them.

"How are we going to make it then? Orihime asks worried.

"Go forward, have no fear and don't dwell on things you leave behind. We'll be your guides, just follow our lead." Yoruichi explains, wrapping her tail around Zoro's neck.

"Uhm, Excuse me. What should we call you?" Chad asks Zoro politely.

"Zoro. Now let's go." Zoro replies curtly and goes into the gate with the others following after him quickly, finding themselves in a dark tunnel with walls collapsing in on them just moments after they pass them.

"Uhm, what is that?" Orihime asks, seeing a light coming from behind them at extreme speed.

"It's the cleaner. It comes through here every week, too bad it's coming now. Pick up the speed everyone!" Yoruichi yells and the group barely make it through the opening, leading to Soul society before the cleaner crashes into them.

After going through the opening Chad, Uryu and Ichigo come crashing out of the portal in the middle of the air while Zoro recovers in the air with Yourichi grabbing onto his neck while the green-haired warrior catches Orihime before she crashes into the ground like the others.

"Thanks. Hey that wasn't so bad…" Orihime says happily.

"Yeah, well he only caught you!" Uryu yells at her while the boys pick themselves off from the ground.

"Alright everyone, we're in the Soul Society. In the Rukong district to be exact. Here come Souls, who get send to Soul Society and it's at the perimeter of Seireitei, which is where Shinigami live." Yoruichi explains, hopping off Zoro's shoulder after licking him over the side of his face once.

"It's the largest district, however it's also one of the poorest ones but provides a lot of freedom." Yoruichi continues.

"Then where is everyone?" Uryu asks.

"Hey, I bet that's the Seirei… or whatever it's called where the Shinigami live." Ichigo yells, running towards the white buildings in the middle of the area.

"Wait, stop you idiot!" Yoruichi yells after him but Ichigo continues on ahead.

"Alright, it was nice to meet all of you… But I have business inside so I'm going ahead. And yes Yoruichi, I'll try to keep them alive when they arrive inside." Zoro tells the group before disappearing in a blur.

"Where did he go?" Uryu asks shocked.

"He's already inside." Yoruichi tells them with a smirk, having been able to see a glimpse of Zoro as he ran past Ichigo.

|The next day|

After laying low while Ichigo caused a ruckus by beating the gatekeeper and challenging Gin Zoro is walking around Seireitei in a uniform with a cloth around his green hair, belonging to an now unconscious and tied up Shinigami from the fourth squad, who are often tasked with cleaning barracks.

After being confident that no one suspects him like this Zoro makes his way across Seireitei, heading for the 10th squad's officers' chambers. When he arrives there he asks one of the squad's members where the captain and vice-captain are and they inform him that they went to a meeting and that rumor has it that it's because the captain of the 3rd squad left the ryoka's aka. Ichigo live.

After getting filled in about the general idea of the situation Zoro decides to head to the officers room to wait there and he promptly falls asleep on a couch after staring at a bouquet of 10 flowers kept in a vase on one of the desks in the room.

"Captain, do you think it was coincidence that the Ryoka's second attack started when Gin was about to be trialed?" Rangiku Matsumoto, a bosomy orange haired woman with a beauty mark beneath her lip asks her captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya who looks like a young teen with white spiky hair and is famed as a genius.

"I don't know, what should it matter though? Even if he and the Ryoka's are working together and try to revolt they'd stand no chance against all of." Toshiro replies, opening the door to their office with Rangiku following behind him.

"But isn't it worrisome…" Rangiku starts to say until Toshiro approaches the couch in their office while drawing his sword with a vein popping out on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here?!" Toshiro shouts angrily, poking the sleeping Zoro, waking him.

"Who's making such a ruckus?" Zoro asks with a yawn, causing Rangiku to stiffen, having the feeling that she knows the voice.

"Just who do you think you are? Get the hell out of my office and back to your post. We are under attack afterall!" Toshiro growls, snatching the cloth from Zoro's head while the green haired man sits up.

When his short green hair is revealed Toshiro hears his lieutenant gasp while tears start to form in her eyes.

"What the hell is going on here?" Toshiro asks Rangiku annoyedly, while she completely zones out, focusing on the green haired man sitting on their couch and runs around the object, coming to a halt on her knees In front of him to get a look at his face.

"Hey Ran-chan, I see you've found my birthday presents." Zoro greets her with a warm smile, looking over to the flowers in the vase.

"Zoro!" Rangiku shouts, throwing herself at him, hugging him as strongly as she can while tears stream down her face.

"What is going on here?" Toshiro asks confused.

"Uhmm, reunion of long lost friends?" Zoro replies as if it were obvious.

"Urgh, I'll leave you two alone. Rangiku won't be any help in her current state anyways." Toshiro grumbles, leaving the room after giving his weeping officer another look.

"How? How is this possible? I was there when the captains took you to the human world and send you to hell." Rangiku asks while crying.

"First of all, calm down Rangiku. I'm not going to leave you again, I promise." Zoro tells her gently, caressing her back while she is clinging onto his clothes.

After the beauty calmed down to some degree she joins him on the couch, grabbing onto one of his hands with all her might.

"What happened?" She asks him with a sorrowfull expression.

"Well… after I saved you from that hollow and lost my spiritual power by sealing shut your soul chain, it was as you said I got send to Hell." Zoro tells her, brushing one hand over the Ring resting above her breasts with a necklace on it and a single chain going down into her cleavage.

"There I managed to stay alive a year or so, it was rather hard to keep track… until I came across this sword in the lower levels of hell." Zoro says, pulling out a black sword with a purple pattern running down its middle.

"Well after I found the sword, I struck a deal with the ones running hell. To set free every soul in the blade and become its wielder with the chance that if a pure soul was killed by it I could follow it out of hell. They jumped at the chance to get more victims to torture, since the souls in the sword were sought after for as long as they could remember." Zoro explains.

"Then why are you here only now? You said that it took you a year… It's been almost a hundred years." Rangiku asks sorrowfully.

"Well, I followed a soul out of Hell but when I reached the in-between of the realms I ended up in Hueco Mundo. At first I didn't know where I was until Hollows tried to eat me day and night… To survive I had to eat them instead since it's the only form of nourishment in that place." Zoro explains, freeing his hand from hers after giving her a confident nod and slides down the stolen Shinigami garb as well as his black yukata, revealing what appears to be a multitude of rings of bones around his left arm.

"Zoro! That." Rangiku says on guard, reaching for her sword while jumping off the couch.

"Yes, you are correct. I am a hollow now. If you want to kill me go ahead, if it's you I won't resist." Zoro tells her calmly.

"How did this happen?" Rangiku asks, gulping nervously before releasing the grip on her blade and slowly joining him on the couch again.

"When I ate the hollows, I gradually turned into one myself, something I didn't know until it was too late." Zoro explains.

"How long where you there?" Rangiku ask him, fearing the answer.

"Up until 10 years ago. Someone found me there and gave me a way to the human world. I came to visit you every year on your birthday… But I never had the neve to reveal my existence to you, especially because of this…" Zoro explains guiltily, looking at the bones covering a third of his upper arm.

"Why are you showing yourself to me now?" Rangiku questions, looking at him with sad eyes.

"On my last visit… I saw that you never got over what happened. And when I was asked to join the Ryoka's on their attempt to safe Rukia from a fate similar to mine… I just couldn't live with you not knowing any longer." Zoro tells her, lightly brushing over her hand.

"The Ryoka's? Are you really going to make yourself an enemy of the Soul Society again?" Rangiku asks worriedly.

"What other option is there at this point? I never harmed anyone but hollows… But as much as I don't like to admit it, I am one of their kind." Zoro tells her saddened.

"Zoro, come with me to my captain. I'm sure we can find a way to show them that you're still you…" Rangiku begs him.

"Ran-chan I'm sorry but I can't do that. Afterall I am also hear to help this Rukia. I may not know her, but I know that what's being done to her isn't right…" Zoro tells Rangiku, pulling his yukata back in place over his arm.

"But Zoro, if you do this and make yourself an enemy of the Shinigami again, we'll be separated again." Rangiku says with tears in her eyes.

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere… Unless you don't want me around." Zoro tells her with a smile and a wink.

"Of course, I want you around. I love you… I've loved you for a long time and this doesn't change it if you were truthful and haven't hurt anyone." Rangiku tells him, grabbing onto his left arm, just under his hollow mark.

"I have never lied to you Rangiku and I never will…" Zoro says with a pause.

"Well except that one time. I always found you attractive back then, I just didn't want you to get angry at me." Zoro tells her with a smile.

"Back then? So you don't find me attractive now?" Rangiku asks with a small laugh, her mood having improved by leaps and bounds while shoving her chest against his lightly.

"Be careful or I might not be able to contain myself and ask you to make up for lost time…" Zoro whispers in her ear while giving her ass a light squeeze before giving her a wink and seemingly vanishing in front of her eyes, but she sees him look back at her from across the courtyard of her squad before jumping over the wall.

"Is he gone now? What happened here?" Toshiro asks entering the room a few minutes after Zoro left and sees the fourth squad's uniform lying at the foot of the couch.

"Something good." Rangiku says with a genuine smile, looking at the flowers Zoro gifted her over the past 10 years.

"You seem happier than I've ever seen you… Are you drunk again?" Toshiro questions accusingly.

"Humpf." Rangiku grunts upset and leaves the white-haired captain to do his work without her help.

'I hope Zoro can stay this time… I know it's just wishful thinking, but he promised me.' Rangiku thinks while walking to her room.