Ichigo felt as if he was torn apart.

...But he had felt worse before.

Ichigo cracked his eye open and saw that he was lying in some sort of grassy area.

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pa--

The ginger gritted his teeth and sat up.

He winced briefly when he put pressure on his left arm; he quickly leaned onto his right arm as he sat up.

Ichigo looked at his arm and saw that is was dislocated with a deep gash running from his left wrist to the his forearm.

He looked at the rest of his body and scowled.

'Sh**.'

His side was bleeding profusely and his right leg looked like it was broken.

The hybrid wasn't healing like usual...

'Oi...Hakuryuu.'

'I know! F***! I don't know why I can't heal yo--OI! Don't you dare fall asleep, b*****d!'

Ichigo grimaced.

'I'm...trying not to....'

Zangestu's voice drifted through the hybrid's head.

'Ichigo. Breathe.'

The ginger winced.

Each breath felt like needles were stabbing into his lungs.

With his own will power, Ichigo struggled to stand.

He nearly fell, but a pale hand grasped his forearm.

"Yeesh! You look like sh**, King!"

Ichigo blearily looked to the side and found that his hollow-self had materialized into the real world.

Hakuryuu glanced around the area before lowering Ichigo to the ground, propping his up against one of the trees in the area.

"Sit your a** down, King. I'm gonna try and see what the problem is."

Ichigo coughed and Hakuryuu was alarmed to see blood dribble down the ginger's chin.

"Ah sh**!"

The hollow mussed up his white hair and nearly flipped his sh** when Ichigo started to slowly lose consciousness.

'Oi, oi, oi! Old man! Do you have any idea what's going on!?'

Zangetsu responded.

'I cannot be certain, but I believe that this will only be temporary after such a large time shift.'

'.....How big is this sh**y time shift?'

'...Don't you sense those auras? Especially the ones that had been long deceased? We are much, much farther in the past.'

Hakuryuu stretched out his senses and froze.

'.....No f***ing way......that guy's supposed to be dead...'

'Indeed. Now, release your hollow reiatsu.'

'Why!? Wouldn't that--.......oh.....'

'Yes. Your strong hollow aura will bring nearby Shinigami to check this area out. They'll find Ichigo and label him as a comrade with his shinigami uniform, and they'll presume that he had been attacked by a hollow which had escaped before they arrived.'

'...Welp, I got nothing else to do, and Ichi's losing blood fast. Here goes nothing.'

Hakuryuu glanced at Ichigo once before taking a deep breath.

A black, red tinged aura rushed out and whipped around him; he grinned maliciously.

'Heh! How I'd wish to let loose for real!'

The aura suddenly disappeared when Hakuryuu sensed a few people approaching.

He scanned the trees as he slowly disappeared, returning to Ichigo's inner world.

'Let's hope these guys'll be nice and use their sh**y brains to help out King.'

He vanished completely the moment a Shinigami came bursting through the trees, sword drawn at the ready.

The ravenet scanned the area with his sea-green eyes.

He spotted Ichigo and immediately ran over to the ginger.

"Oi, oi! Are you alright!? F***! Of course you're not! You're bleeding all over the place."

He bent down and slung one of Ichigo's arms around his neck.

Just then, the ravenet's squad burst through the trees.

"Shiba-fukutaichou!"

The ravenet, Shiba Kaien, darted his gaze to one of his men.

"Help me with him. We need to get him to Squad Four's HQ! ASAP! The rest of you will investigate and scout the area for that Hollow energy."

With that, one of the men rushed forward and assisted Kaien in carrying Ichigo.

The three rushed towards Squad Four.

~~

"Oh my.....wherever you found him, he was lucky that you were nearby."

The Captain of Squad Four, Unohana Retsu, looked at Kaien with a slight frown.

"He has a lacerated wrist, a shattered ulna, an ankle that was snapped in two places and a severe concussion. He could've died in the next hour."

Kaien's mouth became dry.

'D***.....it was that bad!?' "How is he now?"

Unohana smiled softly.

"He's out of danger."

Kaien sighed with relief.

Unohana then had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"By the way....Kaien-kun, do you have a brother, or a cousin, I didn't know about?"

Kaien quirked an eyebrow up at that.

"Huh?"

The Captain smiled softly.

"Well, I hope not to alarm you....but the young man you brought in....looks a lot like you."

Kaien's jaw dropped.

"HUH!?"

~~

"Oh sh**."

"Language, Kaien-kun."

"Ah, sorry, sorry."

Ichigo could hear hushed voices beside his bed.

'F***. I'm sure that's Unohana-taichou's voice. The other guy....I have a pretty good guess of who it is...'

The voices continued to speak, and Ichigo listened attentively as he feigned sleep.

"Yikes....he really does look like me."

"Now do you see? So, I ask again, do you have a family member I don't know about, Kaien-kun?"

"Well....maybe....? The Shiba family's quite big...."

"I see....well, maybe we can ask him."

"Eh? Isn't he asle--?"

"Please do drop the act. I don't like it when one lies, Patient-kun."

Ichigo swore mentally in his head.

'Cr**. That's Unohana-taichou for you.'

The ginger slowly cracked his eye open, blinking them rapidly to adjust to the new lighting, before looking at the two people on the right side of his temporary bed.

'Unohana-taichou looks the same as always......and then there's this guy...'

Ichigo studied the ravenet male beside his bed.

'Shiba Kaien......in reality, he really is my cousin since my old man's an Uncle to him.'

Kaien grinned brightly at Ichigo.

"Heya!"

The ginger paused at the greeting before cautiously nodding his head in return.

"Hey..."

Kaien inclined his head, placing a hand under his chin.

"So, since you've apparently heard most of the conversation--according to Unohana-taichou--I would like to know who you are and what squad you're from."

Ichigo stared into sea-green eyes for a moment before sighing; the hybrid leaned back further in the pillows underneath his head.

".......I have no squad. I'm actually an unranked Shinigami. My family were travelers; I had a mom, pop and two little sisters."

Unohana lifted a delicate eyebrow at the tense of his words.

"...'Had'...?"

Ichigo turned his head to the side, looking away from the two.

"Dead."

The single word said so much.

Unohana froze, including Kaien.

The Squad Four Captain quickly murmured an apology.

Kaien frowned.

"So....the uniform?"

Ichigo turned to look back at his cousin.

"My dad was an ex-Shinigami. He retired after getting a severe injury in a battle, and he wanted to spend more time with his family. He gave me his uniform when he...passed away. It was before his death that I....discovered my Shinigami powers..."

Kaien perked up at the last part.

"'Shinigami powers'? So.....you've heard your sword call out to you already?"

Ichigo scowled slightly.

"Not 'sword'," He growled. "Partner."

Kaien quirked his lips up into a small smile.

"Haha, sorry!" 'So he understands that our zanpakuto are not simply tools. Nice.'

Ichigo sighed and relaxed.

"But yeah, I heard them call out and I answered."

Kaien's eyes glowed excitedly.

"Can I see~? Pretty please~?"

Unohana cleared her throat and smiled 'brightly' at Kaien; the fuku-taichou froze and sweated.

"Kaien-kun, may I remind you why Patient-kun is in a hospital bed?  He needs rest."

Ichigo quirked a small smile of amusement as Kaien nodded frantically.

The ravenet turned to the ginger.

"Okay, okay!  Last question then!"

The hybrid shifted on his bed.

"I'm all ears."

"What's your name?"

Ichigo paused.

'...Old man, are you there?'

'Yes, Ichigo, I am here.'

'Would it be alright to use my real name and then have 'Shiba' as a last one?'

'....Yes.  It'll be alright.'

'Okay.' "I'm Shiba Ichigo."

Kaien raised an eyebrow, nearly giggling like a little girl.

"Y-You mean like a strawberry!?"

Ichigo glared at the ravenet as he heard Hakuryuu cackle in his head.

'He's got you there, Kingy!'

"Oh shut up." He said to both his sword and Kaien. "It means number one guardian, doofus."

Kaien grinned.

"S-Sorry!  I'll leave now, but I'll check up on you later, Strawberry-chan!"

Ichigo was very tempted to throw the small nightstand by his hospital bed at the retreating ravenet's head.

~~

Blood everywhere.

Ashes falling from the sky like snow.

She's dying again.

In your arms.

It's this d*** nightmare again.

Ichigo snapped his eyes open and took a shuddering breath.

He stared up at the white ceiling above him.

".........F***....."

'....Sorry, King, I couldn't keep that nightmare at bay.'

'It's not your fault.  Thanks for trying though, Hakuryuu.'

Ichigo ran a hand over his face; he sighed.

'You should try to go back to sleep Ichigo. I know you don't want to....see some memories, but you need your rest.'

'I know. My throat just feels a little dry.'

Ichigo slowly sat up and looked at the nightstand.

'Oh, looks like they left some water. Goodie.'

He reached a hand out and grasped the cup.

He noticed that his hand was shaking.

The ginger sighed and quickly took a sip of water, ignoring his slightly trembling hand.

'How long was I out?'

'Roughly four hours. You need to go back to sleep.'

'I've rested enough then. Let's talk about battle strategy.'

'King. Don't make me knock you out.'

Hakuryuu materialized into the world, a frown present on his pale lips.

Ichigo rolled his eyes slightly and sighed.

"Haku."

"King."

Hakuryuu crossed his arms as he floated above the bed.

"I know you're worried about all the sh** that's going on right now, but you also need to be at your best if you want to be able to do a single f***ing thing."

Ichigo opened his mouth, about to respond before freezing.

He could sense two auras approaching.

"Hakuryuu, get back inside."

The hollow didn't complain and disappeared.

Ichigo set the glass back on the nightstand and settled himself in bed.

Right when he did that, the door to his room opened.

"--Kaien-dono!  Why did you bring me here?"

"I just wanted ya' to get to know a new family member of mine!  Oh, he's awake."

Ichigo stared at the person Kaien brought with him.

'F***....right after that nightmare too.'

A ravenette woman, shorter than Kaien, stood near her fuku-taichou.

Kaien smiled widely at Ichigo.

"Hey, Strawberry-chan!  This is one of the Shinigami in my Division!  Kuchiki Rukia.  Kuchiki, this is Shiba Ichigo!  I think he's a long lost cousin of mine!"

Rukia blushed--nervous--and bowed politely.

Silence filled the room as Ichigo stared at the familiar face before him.

It nearly took all of his will power to not jump out of the bed and hug Rukia to his chest.

Knowing that she was there.

Breathing.

Moving.

Alive.

Ichigo took a deep breath and--

"Midget."

The ginger watched with amusement as Rukia's shyness disappeared and she glared at Ichigo with surprise and embarrassment.

"Wh-Wh-Wha-What!?  What did you just call me!?"

Ichigo quirked a small smirk.

"Midget."

Kaien guffawed and clutched his stomach; he reached over to ruffle Rukia's head before looking at Ichigo with amusement.

"Okay, we're definitely family if we both think that Kuchki's short!"

"Shiba-fukutaichou!"

Rukia flushed with anger and more embarrassment.

Ichigo simply watched the two for now.

He kept most if his attention on Rukia.

'She's here.  Alive.'

'Yep.  And it looks like she's still the midget you know, Kingy.  But a lot less sharp and mean.  She seems to be more relaxed, don't ya' think?'

Ichigo didn't bother to reply; he watched with even more amusement when Kaien got kicked in the shin.

Hakuryuu also found it amusing and cackled in Ichigo's head.

'Uh-oh~!  Looks like the midget still has her fearsome shin-kicks!  You better be careful, King!'

Ichigo couldn't help but smile slightly openly.

Kaien apparently caught it and grinned brightly.

"Hey!  You're smiling!"

Ichigo dropped the smile and frowned at Kaien.

"You were hallucinating."

Kaien gaped.

"No I wasn't!  I just saw--"

"Nope.  Urusai.  You saw nothing."

"Bu--!"

"You never stop talking, do you?  My ears are going to fall off soon and it'll be your fault."

Rukia stifled a giggle on the side; Kaien's jaw dropped.

Things were getting better.

"I thought you were on my side, Strawberry-chan!"

"I'll throw you off of the tallest building if you call me that one more time."

Ichigo felt a spark of hope in his chest.