Ichigo went flying across the ground, his soul rolling over and over, followed by a chain. When he finally came to a stop, lying on his back moaning, I noted that the chain was attached to the centre of his chest.

"What was that for?!" Ichigo shouted angrily at Urahara. Ichigo went to stand, but his face paled and his legs quivered, before he dropped to a knee, a hand splayed on his chest.

"Well? This is the first time you've left your body without becoming a soul reaper," Urahara stated. "It's hard to breathe, right? You'll find it hard to move, too. You're just a konpaku now."

Surprised, a panting Ichigo watched Urahara move closer. I surveyed the scene, realising that the same thing might be happening to me next.

"Byakuya Kuchiki destroyed the source of your spiritual energy – your hakushi – and it's booster, the saketsu," Urahara explained, arms folded, staring down at Ichigo. "Now you're just a regular, disembodied spirit from a regular human with no spiritual powers. Now, if you want to fight the soul reapers, your spirit energy must be restored. It's the only way."

Ichigo only panted, staring ahead with wide, worried eyes, sweating beading on his face.

"First, you need to learn to control your konpaku body. Spirit energy will give you that control. The more of it you have, the better your konpaku body will respond. And when it can move better than your material body, you'll have recovered your spirit energy."

"Sounds complicated," Ichigo said. "So what am I supposed to do, pilates?" he asked mockingly, but I could hear the current of panic lingering on his tone.

"Please," Urahara drawled, grinning. "Maybe you learn better by doing." He cupped a hand around his mouth. "All right! It's time!"

I swung my head in the direction Urahara was looking and saw Ururu standing forlornly to the side of us. Her skirt was acting like a bag, holding what looked to be like safety equipment. She bowed before us.

"Hi," she said meekly. "It's a pleasure to train with you."

With? I highly doubted that sweet, little Ururu, the same girl who got picked on by Jinta every once and a while, would be able to withstand whatever plan Urahara had cooked up inside his head.

"Huh?" Ichigo was just as surprised.

"Here's the first lesson." Urahara grinned, seeming pleased with himself. "Hit her."

"What?!" Both Ichigo and I said.

"The rules are simple," Urahara continued on. "The session ends when one of you can no longer move. Knock out before you get knocked out."

"Are you sick?! You want me to hit a little girl?!" Ichigo screamed in Urahara face, grabbing the front of his shirt.

"Well... it's not as easy as you think," Urahara mused. "Not with that body."

Irk marks appeared at the corners of Ichigo's eyes. "What?!" But his wrath was interrupted by Ururu dropping fingerless gloves and a padded headband.

"Hey! Hold on! I'm not-" Ichigo started to protest, but Ururu's soft voice silenced him.

"Please... put them on... or you'll get killed," she stated, her own helmet and gloves on her body already. She punched the thin air several times before fixing her big eyes on Ichigo.

"Ichigo..." I was getting a funny feeling in my stomach, especially with the way Ururu was watching him, "I think you should put on the equipment." The minute I finished my sentence however, the ground at Ururu's feet exploded into a cloud of dust and broken ground and she was gone.

As quick as snake, she appeared before Ichigo, arm drawn back for a punch. The explosion that followed rocked the surface of the room and Urahara snapped open his fan. Shocked, I stared at the damage being created by Ururu.

"See. What did I tell you?"

Ichigo didn't reply and the dust began to settle, revealing a standing Ururu.

"I don't see him," Jinta commented.

"Is he dead?" Tessai asked.

"Who knows?" Urahara answered.

"Well, you better hope he's alive," I muttered, watching the cloud of dust for any signs of movement.

"There he is!" Urahara cried happily, pointing to our right.

Ichigo came rolling and flipping out of the dust cloud, before he skidded to a stop on his face. A split second of silence, before Ichigo jumped to his feet. From here, it was hard to decipher his facial expression as he turned and ran back towards Ururu at a full sprint.

"He's charging her!" Urahara noted.

I watched Ichigo run straight at Ururu, kind of surprised that he was still wanting to fight her after that first punch... until he ran past him, chain tailing him.

"And he's passing her..." Urahara added, as we all watched Ichigo scoop the headband into his hand and continue running.

~

After a very hilarious situation where Ichigo made a fool of himself with the "Headband of Justice" as he had called it, he continued dodging the powerful attacks from Ururu. I don't know how long they battled for because time didn't seem to really exist down, but it had to be a while because I was getting very hungry.

"Hey Jinta," I said to the red head.

"Yeah?" he answered back, eyes glued to Ichigo and Ururu fighting.

"You got any food?"

"No food," Tessai stated suddenly, giving me a fright.

"Aw, why not?" I whined, turning to him.

"The Boss has banned food down here for the meantime, until the first phase of training is complete."

My stomach grumbled loudly in response to that before I flicked Tessai's nose. I thought that a better option than punching the guy in the stomach. "Meanie."

"Hey guys! He got a hit!" Jinta shouted excitedly.

I spun just in time to see Ichigo's face turn fearful and Ururu's eyes turn wide and animal like. As quick as lightning, so fast that I barely even saw her move, Ururu was standing on Ichigo's outstretched arm, other leg drawn back for a kick.

"Ichigo, watch out!" I screamed, running forward, but it was too late as Ururu's foot came round and blasted Ichigo into the side of a rock, a shockwave rumbling the ground.

I stopped in horror, watching the dust clear, my stomach uneasy at the thought of seeing what remained of Ichigo after such a powerful attack. What I did see thought startled me.

Urahara was holding Ururu's ankle, smiling widely and saying "safe." My eyes drifted over to where Ichigo would have landed, seeing blood on the side of his face but that was the only real damage. Tessai's body cocooned Ichigo's impact into the rock, his hands holding Ichigo's arms tightly.

"Oh..." I heard Ichigo mutter as I got closer, standing beside Urahara and Ururu. "I... lost?" Ichigo questioned, rising to his feet slowly. Hands on knees, he raised his head defiantly. "Darn..." he muttered. "Let me try again! I'll beat her this time!" he shouted at Urahara, but unable to meet his eyes.

"No," Urahara said sharply. "It's congratulations time."

I blinked a few times at Urahara. Congratulations?

"That's lesson one... you passed!"

"WHAt?!" Ichigo shouted, mouth hanging opened. "How? She beat me like I owed her money!"

"Well, yes. I only said knock out before you're knocked out. I never said you had to knock Ururu out to pass, did I?" Urahara explained.

You sneaky bastard, I noted, smiling to myself and shaking my head.

Ichigo's reaction was a bit different. "What?!"

"This girl has soul reaper- level combat skills. A human konpaku doesn't stand a chance against her," he said, a hand on Ururu's head. "Are you still having trouble breathing, Ichigo?"

Whatever words rested on Ichigo's tongue died as his face went blank, before he patted his chest and throat. "Hey, actually..."

"And moving?" Urahara continued onwards. "Better, isn't it? How long?"

Ichigo thought for a moment. "A little while..."

"Of course. This lesson was about one thing – whether or not you could survive the first blow. That's all," Urahara stated. "You see, spirit energy is increased most quickly when a konpaku is placed in a life- or- death situation. So we exposed you to mortal danger. If your spirit energy increased, you would evade the subsequent punches and live happily ever after."

"What if it didn't increase?" Ichigo asked, pulling off the headband.

"You'd be dead," Urahara stated frankly.

"Why, you... no skin off your nose, eh?" Ichigo muttered angrily.

"Come on! It was worth the risk! Your spirit energy did increase!" Ichigo didn't seem impressed. "So, let's celebrate! By going straight to..."

"Huh? A dinner? A part?" Ichigo tried to guess.

That's when I saw Tessai moving forward, an ace in hand. What the?

Promptly, he swung it into the air and down onto Ichigo's chain of fate, severing it in half.

"What the..." A shocked Ichigo watched his severed chain flick into the air, the end of the links cracked and split.

"Straight to lesson two!" Urahara exclaimed proudly.

~

"URAHARA!" I screamed at the clogs wearing man, grabbing him and shaking him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL HIM?!"

"I'M GONNA DIE!!" Ichigo shouted continuously, running around like an animal with no head, while I continued shaking Urahara.

"Calm down, Kera," Urahara said, his voice jovial, which just made my anger and panic flare.

"Don't tell me to calm down," I snarled at him. "Are you trying to kill him?"

"Do you have to make so much noise?" Urahara directed at Ichigo, ignoring me. Disgusted, I threw him away and he stumbled, before righting himself.

"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?! YOU GUYS JUST CUT THE CHAIN OF FATE! I NEED THAT!" Ichigo shouted, shaking his divided chain at Urahara.

"I know that," Urahara said smugly.

"You do?!" Ichigo's voice reached a higher pitch, before Tessai sat on him. I would have laughed had I not been shaking with so much anger. What did Urahara think he was doing, subjecting Ichigo's soul to this?

"Yes. And now that your chain of fate has been severed, Mr Kurosaki... the encroachment of the chain will begin soon. When it reaches your chest, a big hole will be eaten there and you'll become a hollow – the end."

"WHAT?!" Both Ichigo and I shouted.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked quickly, struggling to get out from underneath Tessai. I was too numb to move. "I'll become a Hollow if this disappears?!"

"Oh. You didn't know?" Urahara looked surprised. "How awkward," Urahara whispered to me, but then he must have seen my face. "You didn't know either?"

"I course I wouldn't know!" I snapped at him. "Soul reapers don't normally go around separating humans from their bodies and severing their chain of fates for fun."

"Don't worry. There is a way to survive after your chain of fate has been cut. But only one way." Urahara's expression turned serious. "You must become a soul reaper." He paused, watching our expressions. "That's right. Lesson two is about regaining your soul reaper powers! When it's over, you will be a fully functional soul reaper again. Well, shall we begin the lesson?" His pointed finger came up near his face. "SHATTERED SHAFT!" he shouted, before pointing away. All our heads turned. "GO!"

The ground rumbled slightly, before an elongated scream issued behind me. "Heh, surprised? That's my highest level fake out," Urahara commented, looking down the hole that Tessai and Ichigo must have disappeared down. I fell to my knees at the end, listening to the endless screaming of Ichigo, trying to see them in the blackness.

"It's pretty deep, huh?" Urahara commented.

"I worked really hard," Ururu replied gleefully.

"What the hell are you playing at?" I said through gritted teeth, turning to face Urahara. "What are you planning?"

He held up at hand to me. "Give me a second to explain some things to Ichigo. Go stand over there," Urahara stated, waving me away.

Anger pounding in my veins, I stomped away from the side of the hole. When I clenched my hands into fists, however, I realised that they were shaking. In fear. Maybe coming here hadn't been the best idea; not after seeing the madness of Urahara's plans.

"Kera."

So engrossed in my fear and anger, I hadn't heard him approaching. I spun on my heel, glaring at him. "What sick joke are you playing? Are you truly helping us or using us?"

"Helping," Urahara stated. "I said I would and I will."

"If Ichigo turns into a Hollow, I'm going to kill you."

"I think you might want to think of yourself at the moment." His comment caught me off- guard. He raised his head slightly, his eyes showing through the shadows of his hat. "You're the one who's going to have to decide whether they want to be a Hollow or a soul reaper."