While I waited, I decided to continue working on a design for an AI to integrate into my next upgrade to the proto-device. Nothing super advanced, well super advanced compared to what I might eventually be able to create, but it would be enough to get something that would let me give a command and have it carried out rather than the current setup which was just a fancy interface.

Still it was coming along nicely. Building the thing might be tricky since I will need to add some new hardware to support the new AI, but the design seemed to come together just fine. Maybe I should look into making this version more modular, so when I figure out how to improve something I don’t need to rebuild the thing everytime.

Something to think about at any rate.

Sighing, I closed the notebook I was using and slipped it back into a pocket before heading out the door. It had been a few hours since my run-in with the Squad 2 team and I figured it was pretty close to when Ichigo would be passing through the area if nothing butterflied from me being here.

I started making my way back to the stairway from earlier. I planned to cycle past each of the entrances to the plaza until I spotted Ichigo there, but it turns out it was unneeded.

The first corner I turned put me face to face with the orange haired Soul Reaper. Unfortunately for me, both of us were sprinting so I had just enough time to see Ichigo’s eyes widen at my sudden appearance before the two of us collided and crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

“Damn it Ichigo! Watch where you’re going!” I snapped, throwing him off of me before I got to my feet.

He also jumped to his feet, one hand going over his shoulder to grab the handle of his sword. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going, you bi-” He shouted back, before recognition set in. “Alexandria? What are you doing here?”

“You know this person Ichigo?” One of the two following Ichigo asked. He was tall and powerfully built. He stood out mostly due to being the first person I’d seen recently not in a Soul Reaper uniform with a green bandanna and vest, white undershirt, and puffy black pants. On his forearms and shins was some kind of abrasive looking guards. The occasional white symbol of the Shiba clan on the outfit would have tipped me off if I didn’t already know his name, but Ganju Shiba looked entirely the same from what I remember in the show.

He also looked like a mess. He had large areas covered in blood from sword wounds, and while they looked treated it was clear he wasn’t far from exhaustion.

I glanced at the other member of Ichigo’s little party.

Standard Soul Reaper uniform, save for a white satchel with a green strap running from shoulder to hip. Limp looking bluish-black hair split down the middle framing his face. Nothing really special looking about him really, except for the fact that he looked extremely weak in terms of both his personality and physically. So much so I partially thought the reason he didn’t have a zanpakuto with him was that his wrist would break trying to hold one. And even if that wasn’t the case I really doubted he would be able to swing it at anyone seriously.

I frowned slightly. I was expecting him to be here but for the life of me, I just couldn’t remember his name.

“Yeah Ichigo, why don’t you introduce me to your friends.” I said.

“Uh, yeah sure. That’s Alexandria Cross. She’s a friend of Yoruichi who came to help us save Rukia.” He turned back to me, “I thought Yoruichi said you couldn’t get past the walls and that’s why you stayed behind?”

“No Ichigo, I couldn’t use the same method to get by the walls. I came in a different way. And before you ask, no it wouldn’t have worked for the rest of you.”

Ichigo pointedly closed his mouth.

I turned to face the other two again, “Going by the symbol I assume you are with the Shiba clan? And what’s the deal with the Soul Reaper here?”

“Yeah, the name’s Ganju Shiba. And um... he uh… he decided to help us out?” Ganju said before trailing off. He glanced over to Ichigo who just shrugged.

Guess they really just kinda dragged Hanataro along and didn’t question his motives after his offer to help then?

“Um, excuse me, Miss Cross?”

Hanataro pulled my attention to him, “Yeah? And just call me Alex.”

“Oh, okay. I know it might seem strange that a Shinigami would want to rescue Rukia. And your right, even Ichigo asked why I wanted to help...

When she was imprisoned in the 6th squad holding cell, I was assigned there on janitorial duty. Over the past month she told me so many stories about Ichigo and his friends and all about the world of the living. She was so kind to me even when she didn’t have to be and even though she is from such a noble clan...

And I don’t want her to die, so please, please let me help you!” He exclaimed before bowing deeply.

“Jeez, we already said you could help. No need to get so worked up.” muttered Ganju.

Christ, the kid was so earnest it almost felt like I was kicking a puppy if I said no. Good thing I was fine with him tagging along and said as much.

The entire group started walking towards the stairs while we talked about what we had been through today. Hearing about Ganju’s fight from his perspective was amusing. Especially since I remembered snippets from the show, and calling it a ‘thrilling battle of skill and determination’ between him and the ‘sissy Soul Reaper’ where he managed to triumph when he used a secret technique to knock his opponent out with a powerful explosion seemed like a bit of a stretch.

“So you ran around trying to lose your opponent in the surroundings and blew him up with one of the fireworks the Shiba clan specializes in?” I smirked.

Instantly the bravado vanished from Ganju’s face and his shoulders fell.

“Yeah, maybe. Is it wrong to want to sound a little cooler after a battle? I should just be glad you didn’t meet my big sis, she does the same thing whenever I tell a story near her too.” Ganju admitted.

“She sounds fun. I’ll need to drop by after this to meet her then.”

“Hey guys, I think I see the way up!” called Ichigo from the front of the group. Looking ahead I could see the cliff was just ahead of us and we would be in the open soon. Ichigo increased the pace until we were at a brisk walk.

Then at a jog.

And again until we were running to keep up with him.

We ran past the walled corridors that had been a constant for most of my time in the Seireitei and made it halfway across the empty area in front of us before we all slowed to a halt.

Towering buildings stood at the top of the cliff. Each had another slightly larger one peeking out from behind. Many of them were either grey boxy buildings or white square towers with orange tiled roofs. But the one that stood out the most was the single circular white tower with a conical roof. It easily dwarfed the surrounding buildings by thirty feet or so. It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t reserved for people waiting to die.

It was the closest I had been to the center buildings and the sight of them made me feel insignificantly small. It was the same reason I hated walking around in big cities. When you look up and see buildings towering over you, you just feel smaller somehow.

“We’re so close already” Ganju said next to me. “It sure looks enormous… and we’ll probably have to fight our way up there from here on out…” He had a smile on his face, but it was obvious he was nervous about our chances.

“If you think it’s too much, you can hang out here.” I teased.

“Hmph.”

Despite the surliness, the teasing seemed to relax him a bit.

I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back for that, only for Ichigo to suddenly tense up.

“What’s up, Ichi-”

Ichigo threw up a hand and cut Ganju off, “Someone’s there.”

Sure enough stepping out the mist hugging the cliff-face was a red haired Soul Reaper with a heavily tattooed face. The only other thing that stood out besides that was the futuristic looking visor. I was a little surprised by the lack of a lieutenant armband, but it was a distant thought.

The Soul Reaper moved through the last bit of the mist before stopping at the base of the stairs.

“Long time no see…” he said, moving the visor to cover his forehead. “I hope you can still remember my face?”

“Renji Abarai...” Ichigo growled.

“That’s a surprise… you even remembered my name. You have a good memory.” said Renji.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

The two of them seemed to ignore the rest of us during their little reunion. Which was probably a good thing.

Ganju was sweating heavily and looked nervous but was holding his composure well enough.

“W-who is this guy? He’s not like any of the guys we met before… he’s on a completely different level…”

“Aah… t-that… that person is Renji Abarai… Lieutenant of squad six!” Hanataro stammered out.

Looking at him, he was a mess. His entire body was shaking, tears were gathering in his eyes, sweat was pouring off of him, and he was having difficulty breathing.

After he announced that the last of Ganju’s composure broke.

“A Lieutenant!?”

In the meantime Renji and Ichigo were off in their own world ignoring the rest of us.

“I must admit I was surprised to see you. I was certain you would be a deadman after I saw Captain Kuchiki attack you like that.” said Renji as he advanced on us.

Ichigo also started to move forwards to meet him.

“Hey Ichigo wait! Don’t go rushing in!” yelled Ganju, but went unheard.

“Don’t bother Ganju,” I said. “This is a grudge match for those two.”

“A grudge match?”

“Yeah, the two of them fought in the world of the living, but it was interrupted so I guess they want to pick up where they left off.”

“I don’t know how you managed to survive that, but it seems there is more to you than I first believed,” Renji continued drawing his sword. “But as I told you, I’m going to kill the one who stole Rukia’s powers. So this is as far as you go.”

Ichigo said nothing but grasped the hilt of his sword.

“Because as long as you live, Rukia can never regain her powers!” said Renji accelerating into a run.

Ichigo matched him. “What do you care about that, when you just sentenced her to death!” he shouted, pulling his Zanpakuto off his back and swinging it to meet Renji’s.

The two blades met in a fierce clash before the two of them ground to a halt. Both of them pressing against the other trying to physically overpower his opponent. Sparks occasionally flashed where the two blades met, but in the initial clash both of them were evenly matched.

They disengaged briefly before Ichigo pressed the attack, catching Renji on the defensive. With a loud shout Ichigo overpowered him, pushing until Renji was pushed up against the cliff.

“He overpowered Lieutenant Abarai…” said Hanataro somewhat disbelievingly. “Ichigo… what kind of person is he…?”

Ganju seemed stunned as well, “Yeah, I’d like an answer to that myself.”

I said nothing, keeping my eyes on the fight.

Sure enough the flow of the battle shifted as Renji shoved Ichigo backwards, releasing his shikai and sending him skidding backwards with a continuous thrusting attack. I watched impassively as Ichigo skidded towards us, held in place by the force of Renji’s attack and unable to stop or deflect it.

Ganju and Hanataro dove out of the way, but I allowed Ichigo to crash into me absorbing some of the force, while at the same time I traced Bakuya and swung upwards, deflecting Renji’s Zabimaru up into the air. Both Ichigo and I slid back a few more feet from the force of the attack, but we didn’t hit the building behind us.

“You alright?” I asked.

Ichigo pushed off of me, getting back into a ready stance. “Yeah, thanks for the save, but leave him to me from now on.”

I gave him a quick nod and moved back over to the other two.

“It seems like, you thought you understood my strength after just one fight,” said Renji, his sword collapsing back down into itself as he approached. “But let me tell you something. When Lieutenant level Shinigami or higher go to the world of the living severe limits are placed on their powers so they don’t adversely affect the souls living there.”

He came to a stop.

“Right now, I’m five times stronger compared to the last time we met! There is no chance of you defeating me.” He said confidently.

Ichigo smirked at him, “Heh, If that was the best you got, than I think I can handle eleven more like you, no problem.”

I gave him a quick look-over. He was definitely bluffing hard right now. Even with me minimizing any damage from the first strike, he was still wobbly on his feet. I wouldn’t step in immediately, but I would keep an eye out for when he couldn’t continue. Afterall I had no assurances that Ichigo would win this fight, canon or no, but at the very least I would see that he doesn’t die from it.

Renji went on the attack again

Zabimaru extended out in a wide arc that crashed into Ichigo’s side. Ichigo barely managed to get his sword into position to block before he was launched further away from us.

With a huge leap into the air, Renji followed after him using his extending blade to keep Ichigo on the defensive. Slowly pushing him up against the buildings in the area and penning him in.

Ichigo wasn’t making it easy for him though, he deflected and dodged with an impressive level of skill, not allowing himself to overcommit to a block or corner himself.

The flow of the battle was slightly against him however as hits started stacking up. It was pretty obvious Ichigo was hurting in terms of stamina right now. Blood loss generated anemia by the look of it. The signs were more noticable the longer they clashed, Ichigo was taking more hits being slower to get out of the way.

Renji used a crushing overhead attack that kicked up a cloud of dust and debris that forced Ichigo to jump up out of the way only for a sweeping upward attack to intercept him, which he barely managed to block. In fact the attack not entirely blocked as a spurt of blood erupted from Ichigo’s shoulder where the block was too shallow and he got nicked.

The battle shifted up to the roof of a nearby building and we temporarily lost sight of them.

Hanataro was shaking again, stuttering out half words without actually saying anything, “...T-this isn’t good… he’s being completely overwhelmed! T-trying to t-ta-take on a Lieutenant like this? It’s madness!” he eventually managed.

“Ichigo will be fine,” I reassured him, eyes still scanning the rooftop following the new signs of destruction. “He’s too stubborn to be taken out this early in the game.”

“He’s stubborn alright, but this isn’t the kind of game you get second chances in.” Ganju said as the building the two had been fighting on collapsed into rubble.

I nodded, conceding his point. I was still waiting for the moment that Ichigo was completely out of the fight, because if he didn’t pass his limit here…

Well fighting Zaraki would be interesting if I needed to get involved.

With that line of thinking in the background, I noticed both Ichigo and Renji standing in the rubble shouting something at each other. They were too far away for me to hear them clearly.

“I don’t think he can keep this up much longer.” said Ganju worriedly.

“Yeah”

“You’re one of his friends right? Shouldn’t you help him out right about now?”

I gave him a tight smile, “Teammate if anything, and not yet.”

“Not yet?! Why the hell not!” he yelled back.

“Ichigo isn’t done with the fight just yet. Until he gives up or can’t fight anymore I won’t step in.”

This was hard. I was fighting between the knowledge of a show I had watched in a different universe mixed with the duel mentality everyone seemed to unconsciously follow I picked up at some point, and the desire to step in and not let a fifteen year-old get cut to pieces in front of me.

It was a fine balance between the two, waiting only winning out because I knew saving him now meant he wouldn’t be ready for threats down the line.

Renji continued his assault. More hits raining down on Ichigo, even if they were all turned away it had to be burning up the last of his energy.

Suddenly, Ichigo shot forward sprinting at Renji in a bid of going on the offensive. Renji responded with a long distance thrust, Ichigo ducked to the left allowing it to go over his shoulder. Again with a thrust, this time a sidestep to the right. The third thrust was faster than the previous forcing Ichigo to parry it into the air, but once again he avoided the attack.

Renji was left off balance and perfectly open. Ichigo raised his sword for a finishing blow…

Only to miss as Renji shifted to the side at the last moment.

“Ichigo!” both Ganju and Hanataro yelled, as Renji capitalized on the opening to cut Ichigo from shoulder to hip.

More blood exploded out of the battered teen as the Lieutenant stood over him, sword raised for the final blow.

I muttered a curse while tracing my bow. An arrow was ready to go, but that last niggling doubt remained, and I couldn’t bring myself to release the string. If I interfered now, Ichigo doesn’t consciously use his full power and then he would be entirely unprepared for Captain level combat.

But if I was wrong that wouldn’t matter.

Because Ichigo would be dead.

The decision was taken out of my hands when Renji’s sword fell. I cursed again, dismissing the arrow before forming one much more dangerous than the enchanted electric one I initially had. If I played this badly then at least I wanted Renji to feel the full impact of his mistake.

Both of our mistake… I certainly didn’t feel blameless standing around like I had.

Thankfully, I hadn’t butterflied this particular moment as Ichigo caught Zabimaru by one of the spikes that protruded out of the blade. The sudden reversal seemed to stun Renji so badly that he was blown back from the sudden outpouring of power from Ichigo.

Renji was sent skidding back a few feet, still off balance, the shock on his face clear even at the distance between us.

Ichigo was now standing fully upright, all traces of his earlier exhaustion seemingly vanished as he raised his sword in preparation to attack. Thankful that I hadn’t killed Ichigo through inaction I dismissed my weapons and turned to Hanataro.

“You have anything that would stop bleeding in that pack of yours?” I asked despite knowing the answer.

Hanataro didn’t even look at me, eyes still firmly on the two combatants, “y-yes, all squad four members carry medical supplies during an emergency.”

I nodded, “Good, we will need to help Ichigo qui-” the shouts of both Hanataro and Ganju made my head snap back to where Ichigo was fighting.

Both combatants had collapsed. Renji was now covered in blood from the one attack he received and his sword had been shattered. Ichigo wasn’t in much better shape, but at least he was alive.

“Okay, move you two. We need to get him treated or he’s going to bleed out.”

As a group, we all rushed to Ichigo’s side and got our first look at how severe the damage really was. It was concerning, naturally, since he was bleeding from several severe sword wounds.

Ganju started to move Ichigo into a more accessible position, but Hanataro was just kinda standing there, staring at the fallen lieutenant.

“Hanataro.”

“Hanataro.”

“HANATARO!” I ended up yelling.

Finally he started out of his stupor, “Ah, y-yes?”

“Get over here and help!”

“Y-yes! Right awa-” he suddenly stopped and looked off in the distance. If he didn’t have a good reason, I’d feed him a greatsword. “Someone’s coming. Three people… no four, maybe even five!”

Dammit that’s a good reason.

“That’s bad, we can’t deal with that many people right now.” said Ganju.

I nodded to that, “Right change of plans, we’re leaving. Ganju, grab Ichigo. Hanataro, I assume you know a deserted place we could go?”

He nodded rapidly.

“Great, we’ll follow you then.”

With that the four of us disappeared back into the maze of corridors that made up the Seireitei.