A/N: Moshi Moshi minna-san. This is Kakashi97 here with a brand new story. But this time, I chose Bleach. Why? Because I find the Bleach Universe interesting a lot of things can be explored and experimented with. Which is exactly what I did with this story. This story takes a very different direction than the canon. The characters and their personality remain the same but I played around with them a little. I'll be putting them in situations where they haven't been in the manga to see how they'd react to that. Also, there will be a lot of plot holes in the beginning, or so it might appear but rest assured, there won't be any plot holes. Things will just seem out of place but everything will eventually fall in order. I might omit some main canon characters due to the direction in which story heads. I won't introduce characters just because they were an integral part of the canon. I can't force characters and situations just for the sake of it. Also, there might be 1 or 2 OC's. Might be. I have a few ideas but I still not sure if I'll incorporate them into the story. There will be spoilers from the manga as well so non-manga fans, be warned. Lastly, I'm bad with pairings so I still haven't decided on them. Although there won't be any serious romance or fluff in this fic, a love interest to the MC always opens up new avenues to explore. So I'll post some pairing options in the endnote. Please vote for which pair you wanna see. Alright, enough rant.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's characters nor do I make any profit of this story. Although the OC's( if I incorporate any) belong to me.

"Bleach"- Speech.

'Bleach'- Thoughts.

"Bleach"- Kido/Bakudo/ Attacks.

'Bleach'- Flashback.

It has been said that something as small as a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. When it's a hell butterfly, the typhoon can be caused in another realm entirely. Something that happened, or rather, the lack of something happening about 101 years ago affected an event which occurred 86 years later which brings us to the situation at our hands now. The situation being, a big-bosomed dark blonde haired woman cursing under her breath while trying to locate her subordinate in the halls of squad 10 barracks.

"Damn that Kurosaki-kun. He thinks he can get away with responsibilities just because he's Aizen taicho's favourite?" Rangiku muttered under her breath while trotting to find her arrogant 3rd seat. She'd been searching for him for the past 20 minutes with no luck at all. She even asked everyone whom she across about his whereabouts but no one gave her a favourable answer. But she wasn't going to give up this time. Nah ah. She was going to find him and when she did, she's going to make sure self-proclaimed future squad 10 captain is buried in enough paperwork that he gives up his dream for good. But that'll have to wait since her chances were looking bleak every passing second. If she fails to find him before she leaves to accompany her captain to the meeting, she can't pawn off the paperwork and she'll be the one to deal with it later.

But her crashing hopes rose up when she heard the all so familiar smug voiced bastard calling out to her. "Looking for me, fuku-taicho?"

She stopped in her tracks and didn't even turn around. A wicked grin spread across her face just thinking about the wails that were soon gonna surround these very halls. Suppressing her rousing sadism, she turned around to face her arch-nemesis at work, Kurosaki Ichigo. Ichigo's most distinguishing feature is his spiky orange hair, a trait he has been ridiculed about for years on end. He is a fairly tall, lean-built man with peach skin and brown eyes and sharp features. He wore the standard shihakusho and both his Katana strapped his left hip. He was laying on a wooden bench facing the seireitei's sky with his hands folded behind the back of his head, not even caring to look at Rangiku.

"Kido?" She asked, already knowing that he used an illusionary Kido, a vein ready to pop out on her forehead. Ichigo just nodded in return confirming her guess and successfully popping the vein. 'Just a nod? He thinks he's hot stuff huh? I outrank him and yet he didn't even reply to me properly? This kid is gonna regret this day for the rest of his life.' she thought while getting ready to wipe the smirk off of his face.

"Also, your boobs are glistening with sweat," Ichigo spoke as he continued to stare at the odd passing cloud in an otherwise clear sky.

"Oh...So you're finally starting to notice them. Little Ichi-kun is growing up. Good for you berry-chan." Rangiku replied with a flirtatious tone. She even narrowed her eyes a little to put on a sultry face.

"Baka...I'm not even remotely interested in your body. I just bought it up so that you'd clean yourself before heading to the meeting. You're going to embarrass Aizen taicho if you show up like that in front of the Sou-taicho." Ichigo replied with a small scowl, still refusing to face his lieutenant.

Rangiku was usually an aloof person. Even as she did take her job as a lieutenant seriously, she maintained a bright and upbeat attitude everywhere. It was just like her to flirt with(tease) almost anyone who notices her ample breasts. She gets drunk during the day but that's usually when she's bored and completely out of any work. Overall, she's an easy-going person who doesn't take most things seriously.

But one thing she definitely takes seriously is her looks. She prides on herself knowing that she's the most desirable woman in the soul society. Even with likes of Yadomaru Lisa and Ise Nanao of squad 8 and Kuchiki Rukia of squad 13 around, she knows for a fact that men would turn in their graves if need be just to get a good look at her. Such is her allure. But this smug punk dared to say he wasn't interested in her. She's been pissed at Ichigo since morning but now, she was mad at him. She wasn't even going to care if he runs to Aizen taicho or Urahara taicho of squad 12 or even Shihoin taicho of the stealth force to cry. She's going to give him a piece of her mind today and nothing will stop her.

As she was about to speak, she sensed a reiatsu which made her stop and turn around immediately to greet him. Even Ichigo, who was laying on bench carefree, stopping himself from snickering while watching his lieutenant's inner turmoil, was up on his feet with an earnest look on his face just behind Rangiku.

"Taicho." Rangiku greeted while bowing a little towards a pleasantly smiling Aizen who was approaching them. Ichigo just repeated the lieutenant's gesture and stood firm in his spot.

"Relax Matsumoto-san. I appreciate your respect but you don't have to bow to me every time we cross each other. You too Kurosaki-kun." Aizen said as he came to a halt in front of them. Ichigo visibly relaxed after that but Rangiku still had a worried face.

"Taicho, I..I was about to meet you for the meeting when I came to find Ichigo to-" Rangiku started to explain herself when she was cut off by Aizen.

"Don't worry Matsumoto-san. It's alright. You don't have to explain yourself. In fact, I actually wanted to talk to both of you before heading to the meeting."

Ichigo and Rangiku were surprised to hear that. The meeting was scheduled to start soon and captain Aizen wanted to talk to his top 2 officers? Did something unexpected happen? Aizen didn't look like that but he was never known to show any signs of concern with regards to an issue. He always looked calm and composed no matter the problem just like he did now. So it was impossible to tell if anything's wrong by looking at him.

"Me taicho? What is it? Anything you need me to take care of for you?" Ichigo asked, not masking his surprise.

Aizen's smile just grew wider at his response. 'Eager as always.' he thought before responding. "Nothing of that sort Kurosaki-kun. I just wanted you to accompany me to the meeting instead of Matsumoto-san. A last-minute change I made so, I'm sorry to put it in front of you so abruptly."

"But Taicho, I'm your lieutenant. It doesn't matter how much you like him, he can't accompany you to the meeting. It's against the rules." Rangiku complained.

"Yes taicho. I don't think the Sou-taicho will be pleased with that. You don't want to piss him off. Besides, those meetings bore me to death." Ichigo said, laughing at the Irony in his last words.

"I know you're upset Matsumoto-san but I think Kurosaki-kun is more suited to the task at hand. You're still my lieutenant and I have no intention of replacing you anytime soon either." Aizen replied, trying to make a joke to ease any tension present. Rangiku made a pout and folded her hands under her breasts which caused them to jiggle a little.

"Fine. As long as we are clear on that, you can do whatever you want to with this orange-haired ape taicho. But I'll be taking the rest of the day off as compensation." Rangiku said before turning around to leave.

"Hey! Who the hell are you calling an ape? I don't care what taicho just said. I'll kick your ass and steal the lieutenant's position for myself." Ichigo cried out loud as Rangiku walked past him without paying any attention.

"Kicking would be the last thing you'd do if you ever get to see my ass berry-chan." Rangiku said as she turned her head and winked at him. Ichigo flustered and his face turned red at her sexual Innuendo. He got even madder but decided to keep quiet. Him shouting back at her will only result in a further embarrassment for him, a thing which he learned the hard way on multiple occasions.

"Now now Kurosaki-kun. Although you are stronger than her in combat, you'll never beat in wordplay. For someone like you, you sure are taking your sweet time learning that." Aizen said as he started walking in the opposite direction. Ichigo immediately fell in line and started following his captain to the meeting.

When Shioin Yoruichi entered the only personal lab in all of the 12th squad, she was surprised to find it empty. She was pretty sure she would find him here. I mean, where else would Urahara Kisuke be if not in the research and development lab, the 12th squad captain's office or his personal lab in the quarters. Then it struck her.' Could he be there? That's his usual spot when he's confused but what could confuse him now?' she thought but then she remembered the vow she made to herself that time and gave up on that thought. The chances were slim but right now, it's the option with the highest success rate. So she headed towards her destination.

Even using Shunpo, it took her a couple of minutes more than it did a hundred years ago. 'Damn. I'm getting slow already? Maybe being the fastest person for such a long time has its own downsides as well.' she thought as she entered the training cave inside the hill. This was the place she and Kisuke used to come together to train and have fun. This was a place they both had some sort of unexplainable connection with. Whether they may be in a joyful or foul mood, this place helped them relax and gathered their thoughts and put them right back on the track. If she didn't find him here, she didn't know where to go.

As the rocky terrain came into her view, true to her guess, she found Kisuke sitting on a top of a boulder and staring into nothingness. "Oye Kisuke, the heck you doing over here? Been searching for you all over the place ya know."

Kisuke turned back to see Yoruichi slowly approaching the boulder he was sitting on with her usual confident smirk on her face. Kisuke instantly smiled a little but didn't seem like it stemmed out of happiness. "Yo Yoruichi-san. Good to know I'm famous as always," he spoke while he returned back to his staring. Yoruichi jumped and landed right beside the genius shinigami.

"What's bothering you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act dumb Kisuke. That smile of yours. You're hiding something."

"You can tell, huh?"

"I can."

Urahara just sighed and took a deep breath. A lot was going on in his mind and he wasn't sure how much of it he could tell her. Not that he didn't trust her, far from it. He just wasn't sure it's the best idea to tell her what's on his mind and let it loom over her head. But he couldn't lie to her either. Not with a straight face. She would sniff it out as the words left his tongue.

"I don't know Yoruichi. I just have this uneasy feeling that something's about to happen. Something big and bad. I haven't felt like this since..." his words stopped.

"Shiba Isshin?"

Urahara just nodded in response.

"Do you think it's about Ichigo?" She asked, her concern rising every second.

"I'm not sure. But if it is, then..." Urahara's face started to look more crestfallen just thinking about it. Urahara always had a soft spot for the young 3rd seat. He was curious to see Ichigo's journey which he knew for a fact was going to be incredible. But above all that, Urahara felt empathetic towards Ichigo. As the years progressed, it turned into genuine concern and he even felt a little responsible for Ichigo's well being.

Yoruichi noticed the change in Urahara's mood. She was the one person who could understand the 12th squad's captain better than anyone in this Seireitei. "Don't worry Kisuke. You know as much as I do that Ichigo is stubborn and tougher than he lets on. He's more than capable of handling himself. Also, he's in Aizen taicho's squad. So zero worries." The stealth force commander said trying to cheer up her childhood friend. Kisuke smiled a little and hoped she was right.

Ichigo was leaning against a wall while waiting for his captain to come out of Yamamoto Genryusai's office. His face displayed the usual amount of disinterest he always did. He folded his hands but was praying from the inside for Aizen to come out fast. It was very uncomfortable for him to be around a person and completely ignore him. Especially when the said person and he shared a very awkward first encounter. His prayers seemed to have been answered as the doors to the Head captain's office opened. Aizen came out walking followed by a captain whom Ichigo had the least amount of interaction with. Kuchiki Byakuya, the current head of Kuchiki clan and squad 6 captain.

Ichigo is and has always been a person who spoke his mind. Never the one to hold back his tongue. Maybe it was because of that or some other reason, almost every captain and lieutenant in the Gotei 13 have been on pretty good terms with him, or at least that's what he assumed. They were either amused by him or vexed and pissed at him. But no one ever ignored him. Except for Kuchiki Byakuya. Ichigo respected Byakuya as much as he did the other captains but for some unknown reason, he never received anything more than an occasional glance. This indirectly resulted in a strained relationship with his lieutenant, Abarai Renji as well. The awkward first encounter was just the icing on the cake.

Renji straightened up as soon as the doors opened waiting for his captain's arrival. Ichigo, though not as edgy as Renji, changed his composure at the captains' arrival. Aizen and Byakuya walked side by side and gestured for Ichigo and Renji to follow them. All the while inside division 1 barracks, they maintained total silence. Once they were outside the barracks, the captains led the confused lieutenant and 3rd seat towards the Shinōreijutsuin, the soul reaper academy. Renji's and Ichigo's confusion only grew when they saw a bunch of students waiting outside the academy gates. The students looked in awe when Aizen and Byakuya stood in front of them.

"Good morning everyone. I'm Aizen Sosuke, captain of squad 10 and this is my fellow captain of squad 6, Kuchiki Byakuya." Aizen spoke while pointing towards the latter. Then he moved aside and pointed towards Ichigo and Renji. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo, 3rd seat, squad 10 and this Abarai Renji, lieutenant of squad 6. These two young gentlemen will escort you to the world of the living for field training. I hope this will be a good learning experience for you." He addressed the group in front of him before turning around.

Ichigo and Renji were beyond baffled. Them escorting some students into the world of living for field training? Isn't that the final year student's job? Is this some sick joke that their captains planned? Renji immediately pushed that thought away. His captain wasn't the kind of person who would involve himself in some practical joke. He glanced in Byakuya's direction and the captain's eyes were enough to tell him that what Aizen said was no joke. Renji just closed his eyes and started praying for good luck. But Ichigo wasn't accepting this without arguing first.

He moved closer to Aizen and spoke in a hushed voice. "Taicho! What is this? If this is your idea of punishing me, then it's definitely working."

Aizen just smiled in returned. "This is a good opportunity for you to learn some leadership qualities Kurosaki-kun. I specifically brought you for this instead of Matsumoto-san."

Now his captain's unusual request from the morning made sense. He was doomed. He wasn't a leader by any means. He was more like a lone wolf. He worked better alone and he got along with very few on the battlefield. His captain's request and intentions made total sense but that didn't mean he would like them. Far from it.

"I know what's going through your mind Kurosaki-kun. But listen to me once. These students are going to be shinigami soon. This is their first advent into the world of the living. The experiences they gain from this will mould them into the kind of shinigami they will become in the future. I know for a fact that Abarai-kun is a great sword fighter. I chose you because unlike him, you're a Kido master. Both of you leading them would provide these students with a wholesome experience about the ways of the shinigami. Also, for someone who claims himself to be future taicho of squad 10, you need to have some leadership qualities to get the recommendations from the other captains." Aizen said.

Ichigo just resigned after hearing that explanation. His captain always made great and calculated decisions. That's one of the reasons why he admired him so much. Winning against his captain in an argument is harder than beating him in battle, the latter which he never heard of happening. "Fine, I'll go." he sighed thinking about how taxing his afternoon just got. Aizen smiled and turned to face Byakuya, satisfied with Ichigo's response. The latter just nodded and both of them left the area with a quick shunpo.

Ichigo glanced towards Renji who looked more irritated than himself. He was stuck with the last person he would've liked. He couldn't be around the guy all by himself for barely 15 minutes before but now, he's stuck with him for the whole afternoon. Ichigo just cursed his luck, if there was any. He saw Renji walk up to him with a disgruntled face.

"Let's go Kurosaki. The faster we get this over with, the better for both of us." Renji said while refusing to face Ichigo directly.

"Agreed," Ichigo said and prepared to open the Senkaimon. Renji gestured the students to follow them through the senkaimon. Unknown to anyone present there, a man in captain's haori was watching them from the shadows.

Rangiku sat in squad 10 captain's office, going through the paperwork she was left with because her captain decided to ditch her in favour of Ichigo. She rummaged through the files trying to sort them in order of importance and urgency while thinking about the morning's conversation. A smile crept onto her face when she remembered Ichigo's remark on her sweaty bosom. 'Like father, like son.' she thought as she remembered how his father made a similar remark to her a few years ago. She was brought out of her musings when she heard someone knock on her door. She snapped her head to see Yoruichi standing at the door.

"Shihouin taicho. Welcome. What brings you here?" Rangiku greeted as she rose up from her chair and walked up to Yoruichi.

"Relax Rangiku. I'm just here for Ichigo. You know where he is? I can't seem to sense his reiatsu either."

"Oh. He went with Aizen taicho to the captain's meeting instead of me. That's the last I saw him either. When he didn't show up later, I just assumed he went away for training or something. We all know how he is when it comes to his Kido practice." Rangiku laughed off.

Yoruichi was a little surprised at that response. "Is that so? Because I'm sure he definitely isn't in Seireitei anywhere." Now it was Rangiku's turn to be surprised. There are only 2 places Ichigo can be found as long as there's daylight in soul society. 1 is the squad 10 barracks and 2nd is wherever the hell he practices Kido. Even she doesn't know where it is and she stopped caring about it after a tedious 3 weeks of stalking him. The surprised look from Rangiku made Yoruichi tense a little.

"Maybe he's with Aizen taicho then. I haven't seen him either since morning. Maybe they both went on a mission after the meeting." Rangiku offered another explanation. It was a guess at best and Yoruichi knew for a fact that it wasn't the case. She was informed to be on stand by should something go wrong with Byakuya and Sosuke's mission. Not knowing about Ichigo's whereabouts clearly made Yoruichi worry a bit, especially after the conversation with Urahara this morning.

"That must be it then. Anyways, thanks Rangiku. See you later." Yoruichi said and waved as left the squad 10 barracks. Rangiku noticed that though the dark-skinned woman sounded satisfied with the answer, she looked far from it. She noticed how tense Yoruichi was and the urgency in the way she walked out. 'If Yoruichi taicho is worried, should I be too?' Rangiku thought. Everyone in the Seireitei knew how close Ichigo was to Yoruichi and Urahara. There was some special bond between the three of them which can only be termed as 'family'. As dysfunctional as the three may seem on paper, the reality was far from it.

'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!' Ichigo cursed inside his head while staring at the scene unfolding before him. He was holding his zanpakuto in his right hand while he held out his left hand to cover the students behind him. 'How the hell did this happen? This isn't how it was supposed to go.'

'Damn. This is just like before. No. This is worse. There's no way this is just a coincidence. Is someone out there to get me? Fuck!' Renji thought while mimicking Ichigo's actions. He noticed that Ichigo too was trying to put on a brave face like him but his quivering arms spoke a different tale. He couldn't blame him either. A prodigy or not, anyone would be terrified to face an army of Menos Grande. Especially with the cursed Gentei Reīn in effect, their fighting capabilities are restricted too. 2 lieutenant level shinigami taking on what can easily be a 50 gillians is an impossible task.

'What to do? There's no way of contacting the Seireitei now either. We rushed here and forgot about the communicators.' Ichigo's mind was racing faster than his heartbeat, trying to come up with a plan to survive this. That was until something finally settled in his mind. 'There's a reason why Aizen taicho chose me for this task, as out of hand as it may have gotten. I'm a Kido master. Renji is a long-range Zanjutsu expert. If we work together, we might be able to survive until the soul society notices something is wrong and sends reinforcements.' Ichigo glanced towards the students behind and saw the terrified look on their faces. His resolve only strengthened and he decided to go with the plan.

"Renji!" Ichigo yelled grabbing the said person's attention. " You're a long-range fighter, right? I'll restrict them with Bakudo and you finish them off while trying to stay as far away as possible from them. 1 cero from them and we're done for."

"You don't need to tell me that Kurosaki. I have more experience than I'd like in such cases." Renji replied. Ichigo just smirked at the dry humour. Whatever differences he and Renji had in the past, it doesn't matter now and he was happy that Renji thought the same way. Ichigo steeled himself for his biggest challenge while looking at the charging Menos in front of him. 'Alright then. Guess I'll become famous throughout the Seireitei or die tonight.'

"Hoero, Zabimaru." Renji roared as he released his Shikai. His katana transformed into a 6-part segmented blade; each segment is wider than the one preceding it from the hilt, with 2 pick-like protrusions on the front and back of each segment, the ones on the front much longer than the ones on the back.

Ichigo lifted his left hand and faced the palm towards an approaching menos. "Bakudo #9: Geki." As soon as the words left Ichigo's mouth, a red light surrounded the targeted menos and it's moments ceased. It was paralyzed by the binding technique which allowed Renji to extend Zabimaru and finish it off in one smooth move.

'Yes!' Both the shinigami thought as they destroyed the 1st Menos. But their victory was short-lived when Menos behind roared. One of them opened it's mouth and a red ball of energy started to form.

'A cero!' Ichigo noticed and immediately started on setting up a barrier. A yellow cube of reiatsu was formed all around them including the students who were covering their heads fearing the cero's impact. The menos released the energy it accumulated in the form of a quick beam. The red beam hit the barrier and it just dissipated, not evening scratching the barrier. The students cheered in joy at the scene.

'Such a strong barrier without incantation at that. He's good.' Renji thought as he admired the barrier as well it's caster for a second.

"Stay right here." Ichigo said to students as he made an opening in the barrier and headed out with Renji right behind him. "Alright. That barrier can hold out another 3 attacks like that at most. So being on the defensive would be bad for us. Let's go on an all-out attack. What do you say?"

"It's like you read my mind. Let's finish them or die trying. I ain't waiting from any knight in shining armour to come and save me." Renji replied, sounding more resolved than before. 'It's time I show him what a taicho level shinigami can do in a real-life crisis. I'm relatively new to this but it's now or never.' "Bankai."

Ichigo was shocked to hear those words from Renji. 'He's already achieved Bankai?' Ichigo thought as a blinding red light enveloped Renji. There was a sudden spike in his reiatsu before the light started to die down. The release of Bankai transformed Zabimaru into a massive version of its Shikai form resembling a skeleton of a snake. Zabimaru gained many more segments, which are much larger resembling a mix between a snake's vertebral column and the pick-like protrusions of his Shikai segments. It also gained a snake-like head about the size of a small car. Renji also slightly transformed, gaining a fur cowl around his neck. The cowl appeared to be the fur of an ape and the ape's skull could be seen over Renji's left shoulder while the rest of the fur extended to cover his right arm.

"Let's go." Renji said as he lunged forward started to handle Zabimaru more like a whip and less like a sword. The long body of Zabimaru coiled around a few Gillains before the segments extended and were held together by a red reiatsu beam passing through them. "Higa Zekko," Renji called out as all the segments detached and started to glow. They surrounded the Gillians and executed an Omni-directional attack of blades of reiatsu. The Gillians subjected to this attack were torn into pieces. Zabimaru promptly reconstituted itself soon after as Renji made a soft landing on the ground beside Ichigo with a smirk on his face.

"Don't get too cocky now. We're still left with more than 40 of them." Ichigo said.

"Speak for yourself. I just took down 5 of them. What was your score again?"

Ichigo just narrowed his eyes while facing Renji. Renji maintained his smirk challenging Ichigo. Without even looking at them, Ichigo raised his hand targeting the Gillians. "Hado # 33: Sokatsui." A long-ranged blue burst of reiatsu was fired from his hand which obliterated the giant hollows in its path. Renji was speechless. His eyes widened at the incredulity that he just witnessed.

'How can a 3rd seat fire such a Kido without Incantation? The sheer scale of that was...massive. It's on a taicho's level. Not just any taicho. A Kido master taicho. Like Kuchiki taicho, Aizen taicho or Urahara taicho. That too with the Gentei Rein seal. How much reishi does he have?' Renji thought as Ichigo just smiled enjoying his companion's reaction.

"That's 6. 1 more than you in just 1 strike. Don't underestimate me, Abarai fuku taicho." Ichigo replied, sarcasm dripping in his last words.

Renji wasted no time getting back to work. He manoeuvred Zabimaru ahead towards the bunch of waiting Gillians. "Hikotsu Taihō." A dense red blast of concentrated reishi from Zabimaru's mouth was fired doing pretty much exactly what Ichigo accomplished with his last attack. Renji glanced towards Ichigo in a challenging manner.

"Hado #63: Raikouhou." A massive wave of yellow, electricity-like energy was fired. It was more concentrated than his previous attack. The beam pierced through the hollows and a second later, they disintegrated into nothingness. The count was reduced to 30 now, but both the shinigami were hiding one major disadvantage under their confident smirks. Their depleting reishis. They were almost at their limits and they had no means to remove the Gentei Rein either. With their reishis locked out, they were left with no options.

Renji then resorted to fight the Gillians in Zanjutsu trying to expend as less reiatsu as he can. But being relatively new to his Bankai, he ran out of gas pretty soon. He managed to take 6 more of those black barbaric hollows before panting in exhaustion.' If only I didn't go Bankai so soon. I tried to show off and now I might not be able to make it out alive because of it. Damn it.'

Ichigo, unlike Renji, continued using Kido. But he made sure he used only Hado and Bakudo under level 40 this time, trying to preserve as much reiatsu as possible. But continuous usage of both Hado and Bakudo back to back drained him quick enough. He managed to take out 7 more Gillians but there were still 12 left. 'I shouldn't have let Renji's taunts get to my head. That Raikouhou did a good number on my reishi level. Damn it.'

"I see you using your mouth more than your sword Kurosaki. What happened? Those two strapped to your hip are just for show? Or did you let them rust in there too much?" Renji taunted.

"With a nasty mouth like that, it's no wonder you can't use Kido well." Ichigo shot back. Renji stared at him for a second before both of them broke out into laughs. The students inside the barrier couldn't find any hilarity in the situation they were in. Both of their laughter stopped when all the hollows began to charge up a cero at once.

"So this is the end huh?"

"Looks that way."

"Well, we did our best but we just couldn't luck out on this." Renji spoke, looking at hollows. 'I have one more good shot of Hikotsu Taiho left. I can negate a couple of ceros at best.'

"We could've been good buddies had we survived this." Ichigo said. 'The state I'm in right now, I can't fend off that many ceros even with that. Damn.'

"You think?" Renji asked with genuine curiosity looking at Ichigo.

Ichigo just turned his head to face Renji and shrugged. "I can be wrong but...I'm usually right." Renji just shook his head in amusement.

'What a guy. This is such a shame.' he thought as he brought forth Zabimaru for his last attack.

'I misjudged him from our first encounter but, what a guy.' Ichigo thought.

When the ceros were fired, both Renji and Ichigo were blinded by the intensity of them, they could barely even sense what was going on around them. Renji, knowing it was going to be futile, fired a Hikotsu Taiho with everything he had. The red reishi bomb was consumed into the multiple cero blast causing no effect.

"Bakudo #81: Danku."

A/N: That's the 1st chapter fellas. Let me know your thoughts on this in the reviews. I know you guys have a lot of questions and doubts and I hope you do. Cause then I can be sure you guys are actually interested in this story and are enjoying it. The timeline will be explained in upcoming chapters. So I request you guys and gals have some patience. And the final agenda for today, pairing options I've come up with.

1. Ichigo X Rukia.

2. Ichigo X Orihime.

3. Ichigo X Nanao.

4. Ichigo X Lisa.

Vote for your favourite pairing. Ja na.