Return

It has been Two hours since Ichigo brutally beat down Ririn. Since then, he has been completing orders sent from Soul Society.

He had just purified his 10th Hollow when suddenly a piece of paper dropped in front of him. Ichigo picked it up and read the contents written on it.

'Destroy ths gate within thirty minutes. '

That was what the paper in Ichigo's hands stated. Ichigo looked up to see a giant red skeletal gate appearing in Karakura Town. It was more massive than the ones he saw before.

"When I see your dodgy ass, Urahara, I will knock your eyeballs out and burn that goofy ass hat of yours." Ichigo muttered and used Sonído to get closer to the gate.

He unstrapped his claymores and stared at the gate without any hint of feat or nervousness in his eyes.

"Hehehe."

Ichigo looked at the base of the gate and widened his eyes a little. He saw a fully healed Ririn with Kurōdo and Noba besides her.

"Isn't this amazing?!" Ririn shouted joyfully. Ichigo kept quiet and just stared at her.

As the wind begins to intensify and pull objects off the street, Ichigo takes a deep breath in and out.

"Give up! You can't escape this!" Kurōdo shouted at him. Ichigo entered the Selfless State.

He let himself be sucked into the skeletal gate.

.

.

Some time later, Ichigo slowly stood up and looked around him. He seemed to be at the Study Chamber beneath the Urahara Shop.

Ichigo grabbed his claymores which were lying on the ground and started walking around the place.

He was alerted by a giggling Ririn. He turned around and saw her standing atop a nearby rock formation alongside Kurōdo and Noba.

"Wow! You survived! I didn't think it was possible!" Ririn mocked him. Ichigo narrowed his eyes but stayed silent.

The mist around her clears to reveal Orihime bound to a post behind them. Orihime was unconscious. Ichigo gripped his weapons tightly.

"For surviving this long, I will now reward you!" Ririn grinned at him. She called down a large, sand-filled hourglass, the open bottom half of which covered Orihime and the post she is bound to.

"Kurōdo and Noba will be participating in this stage. You have five minutes to defeat them both! And that starts now! " Ririn declared. Ichigo disappeared and appeared in front of Noba and slammed his fist into his chest.

*BAAAM!!!!*

Noba widened his eyes. He was blasted back and slammed into a boulder. His unconscious body dropped to the ground.

"Haa!!!!" Kurōdo shouted and transformed into an Ichigo lookalike. Kurōdo grabbed the claymores strapped on his back and tried to swing it at him.

Ichigo looked at him. He stabbed his claymores to the ground and raised his left hand.

Ichigo stopped the blade with his left index finger. Kurōdo watched in horror. Ichigo smirked.

"A cheap copy cannot even dream to beat the original." Ichigo muttered. Kurōdo widened his eyes as blood splurted out of his chest.

Ichigo had sliced his chest open with his right hand. Kurōdo exited his transformation and dropped to the ground falling unconscious.

Ichigo grabbed his claymores and looked at a nervous Ririn who was beginning to back up.

Ichigo appeared in front of the hourglass and smashed it into pieces with a punch.

Ichigo untied Orihime and carried her bridal style. He did not forget to steal Urahara's hat that Ririn was wearing.

Ichigo laid Orihime on the ground. "C'mon, Orihime. Wake up. I have the green tea ramen that you wanted." Ichigo tried to wake her up. Orihime suddenly opened her eyes and sat up.

" Really?! " Orihime shouted at him. Ichigo chuckled and shook his head.

"No I don't, sorry. But hey, at least I woke you up. " Ichigo smiled at her. Orihime pouted.

" Liar. " Orihime grumbled. Ichigo rubbed her hair and kissed her on the lips. They shared a much needed kiss that lasted for a while.

When they released the kiss, Ichigo got up while still holding Urahara's hat.

"Come out, Urahara. Your end is near." Ichigo announced. Slowly, Urahara came out behind the wooden post. He grinned at Ichigo.

"Congratulations, Ichigo! You defeated them— Ack!!!"

Urahara bent over clutching his gut, feeling all sorts of pain he never felt in a very long time. "Fucking hell..." Urahara grunted weakly as he slowly knelt onto the ground.

Ichigo who just punched him, clenched his shoulder tightly.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you for the things you've done." Ichigo muttered while looking at him with a threatening glare. Orihime looked between Ichigo and Urahara. She was able to piece things together.

"Urahara-san.... You were the one who orchestrated this whole thing??" Orihime asked him. Urahara looked at her and smiled weakly. Orihime frowned. She felt hurt.

"That was low...." She whispered to herself.

"Why .... I thought we were friends?.. Friends don't just kidnap each other just for fun..." Orihime looked down at the ground.

" I.... I.... " Urahara was speechless. Ichigo looked at Orihime.

"What did he do to you, Orihime?" Ichigo asked her. Orihime looked at him.

" Nothing. I didn't even know he was a part of this whole thing at all. When I got here, I only have tea with Ririn-san and played shogi with her. Right, Ririn-san? "Orihime looked at Ririn for confirmation. Ririn nodded.

"She's right. I must say, your girlfriend isn't very good at playing shogi." Ririn teased Orihime. Orihime blushed.

"I only just started playing, Ririn-san." Orihime whispered shyly. Ichigo sighed and looked at Urahara.

"C'mon man. I didn't expect this from you. I don't even know if I can trust you anymore." Ichigo crouched and looked at Urahara's eyes.

" Tell me, Urahara. How can I be sure that you won't do something dodgy like this to us again? " Ichigo asked him. Urahara looked back with a serious face.

" Give me one more chance, Ichigo. And I will regain the trust that I lost from you two. " Urahara promised.

" First, you will explain why you did this in the first place. " Ichigo replied to him. Urahara sighed.

" Originally, it was supposed to be a teamwork exercise with your friends. Those games I created are supposed to make you guys work together. I didn't expect you to go Solo though. " Urahara muttered that last part to himself. Ichigo chuckled.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Yoruichi and the Gotei 13 are investigating something together! " Urahara revealed. That caught Orihime's and Ichigo's attention.

" There seems to be an ominous phenomenon occurring, though I don't know the specifics, but it seems to be very important that Soul Society temporarily closed its Senkaimon to start an investigation. " Urahara explained.

"They're not investigating about Aizen right?" Ichigo asked him. Urahara shook his head.

"No, the Hōgyoku will need more than a year to mature it in order to wield its full power, which means that she will likely not make a move for some time. " Urahara answered truthfully.

" But in your current state. I fear that even if you use the full power of your Shikai, you cannot match Aizen when she's using her full power." Urahara looked up at him.

" I request you to learn Bankai, Ichigo. " Urahara requested. Ichigo snorted.

" You don't get to request dogshit from me. I'll learn it when the time comes. " Ichigo grumbled. Urahara smiled and slowly got up.

"At least I have your word that you will learn it one day. " Urahara whispered.

" Kisuke! "

Everybody looked up to see a clothed Yoruichi leaping down from the hole in the ceiling connecting to the Urahara Shop to the ground.

She landed gracefully in front of them.

"What's wrong, Yoruichi?" Urahara asked. Yoruichi had a serious face on.

"A Bount has appeared, Kisuke.....

To be continued....