Barely Concealed

The Beginning of The End

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. So, please don't sue me.

Chapter 1: The Beginning of The End

Kisuke Urahara frowned as he stared at the dismantled NerveGear. This was impossible. No man should have been able to do this without anyone noticing. He sighed to himself. Well, there's not much he can do about it now.

"Ururu, go and call Isshin for me,"

"Hai,"

It was a quiet day in the Kurosaki household. If you were to ask the neighbors, they'd say it was too quiet. And they would be correct, seeing as though for the longest time, there wasn't a time that the Kurosaki's were quiet.

Something was wrong, that much they knew. What is was, was another thing all together.

A black haired teen entered the house. Now this wouldn't normally alarm them, seeing as though the older of the two Kurosaki twins was both black haired and would normally dress like a boy. No, what alarmed them was that the man's features were that of Ichigo Kurosaki's. But that was impossible. Ichigo would never dye his own hair, he said so himself.

Perhaps something or someone bigger was in play?

Six Months Ago

"It ends here, Aizen Sosuke,"

A black blade formed in his hand. He lifted it up and swung down, "Mugetsu,"

"No! No human could possibly defeat me! Hogyoku, finish what has started!"

A several beams of purple light met the incoming force. Still, it was not enough as the Mugetsu broke through in the end. Aizen screamed in agony as his body was evaporated into reishi particles.

It was over.

Aizen was dead.

He was going to be powerless.

He sighed to himself. That was the catch, wasn't it? There was always a catch. That was the price. To protect everything he cared about with the last bit of his power. He was supposed to be satisfied.

So why wasn't he? Maybe it was because he was never going to see his Shinigami friends again? Maybe that he would just be able to watch from the sidelines as his comrades fought what he had fought before?

Or maybe, just maybe, that he was going to miss everything and everyone?

"Ichigo,"

He turned his head, staring at his partner as his form materialized, "Tensa. Never thought you'd be able to do that,"

"It was quite simple, actually," he said quietly with a small smile, "But that is not the reason I am here," his smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"You don't have to lose your powers,"

Ichigo's eyes widened, "How?" he simply asked, still skeptical, "By merging with me and the Hollow," he answered, "Doing so, however will cause us to cease existing,"

Ichigo turned away from Zangetsu, his mind running a hundred miles an hour. On one hand, he'd be able to protect his friends and family once more. On the other hand, he'd lose the partners he had spent so long with. With a sigh, he faced his Zanpakuto.

"What do you want?"

"You already know the answer to that,"

Ichigo nodded his head, "Do it." A sudden burst of pain seared through him. He screamed silently in agony, and for what seemed to be an eternity, he finally collapsed from the pain.