Disclaimer: I'm posting this on a fanfiction website. I think it's obvious that I don't own Bleach.

AN: This is the first fanfic I've ever gotten out of the mental planning stage and actually put up. Please provide feedback. Spelling mistakes, things that don't make sense, etc. Please enjoy the first chapter of Not Quite as Planned.

Ichigo was starting to wonder why he bothers get up in the morning. If it wasn't the normal thugs and morons looking to kick his ass, it was Hollows trying to eat his friends. If it wasn't Hollows, it was Shinigami trying to kill him for gaining the power to fight Hollows. He just could not catch a break. Case in point, his current attempts to regain his powers as a Shinigami.

So far today he had had his Chain of Fate severed, nearly gotten flattened by a little girl smaller than either of his sisters, dropped to the bottom of a stupidly deep shaft, watched what was left of his Chain of Fate eat itself, and finally been told by an old man that if he didn't figure out how to get his powers back before the city in his mind finished collapsing he would become a hollow. Even by his standards this was not shaping up to be a good day.

Come on, Ichigo! Think! According to the old man, his powers were in one of the boxes falling around him. Unfortunately, there were millions of boxes and it wasn't like he had time to search all of them. There's a way to pull this off! There has to be! But he was drawing a complete blank.

Outside Ichigo's mind, the residents of Urahara's shop watched as white fluid erupted from the boy's mouth and eyes, beginning to form a mask. This was both good and bad. It was bad – obviously – because the mask meant Ichigo was turning into a Hollow. It was good because normally when a Whole becomes a Hollow the spirit's body explodes, then reforms as a Hollow. The mask forming first showed that Ichigo was fighting the transformation.

Hurry up, Ichigo. Urahara was starting to get worried. If you don't regain your powers as a Shinigami, we'll have to kill you. Granted, purifying him would certainly get Ichigo into Soul Society, but there was no telling where in the Rukongai he would end up, and there would be no way he would get strong enough to save Rukia in time.

Urahara looked back into the hole as Tessai started chanting the incantation for Bakudo 99. As strips of cloth mummified the transforming body that was once Kurosaki Ichigo, Urahara caught a glimpse of a leering completed mask. Damn it. Sorry, Ichigo.

Ichigo had finally remembered the words Ishida Uryuu had said when he introduced himself. The Spirit Ribbon of a Shinigami is red, as opposed to the white of a normal human's. It stood to reason that the box containing his powers would have a red ribbon. He found the ribbon and pulled open the box, revealing the hilt of his Zanpakuto. As the old man – whom Ichigo was starting to realize was in fact the embodiment of his Zanpakuto – shouted for him to draw the blade, the final piece of his mental city fell.

Urahara sensed the explosion of power building moments before it happened. He grabbed Ururu and Jinta then dove for cover. He was certain Tessai would be fine. He heard Jinta yelling about something emerging from the pit and focused his senses on the object as it careened off the ceiling and impacted the ground.

The shopkeeper could feel both Shinigami and Hollow reiatsu emanating from the dust cloud. That was okay; he had expected that. What he had not expected was that there was considerably more Hollow reiatsu than Shinigami. Urahara kept a hand on the cane that hid his Zanpakuto, ready to draw the instant whatever Ichigo had become turned hostile. The trio watched as the dust cloud started to clear.

Ichigo was conscious. That was a good sign. He also wasn't running off on a feeding frenzy. That was even better. He was human shaped and could feel the oversized sheath on his back. Some things seemed a little off though. For one, his Shinigami uniform was wrong. Looking down, he could see the usually black kimono was white. For another, he could feel something over the upper left of his face, covering his forehead and left eye. He reached a hand up to feel it, but stopped when he saw the skin of his hand was paler than it should be.

This…is not good.

Ichigo then noticed one more important detail. He couldn't feel his heart beating. Gulping, afraid of what he would find, he shakily reached for his chest.

Urahara and the kids stared as the dust settled and Ichigo's form became visible. Like Ichigo they noticed the reversed colors of his uniform, the red and white fragment of a mask covering the upper left of his face, and the unnatural paleness of his skin. What Ichigo could not see was the color of his eyes. Ichigo's eyes had been brown before he went into the Shattered Shaft. Now they were amber, set in a field of black. Urahara had only seen eyes like that on Hollows.

Outwardly, Urahara seemed the picture of stoicism. On the inside he was cursing up a storm. The method used to return Ichigo's powers had been intended to make him a Vizard, a Shinigami with the ability to call on the powers of a Hollow. What Urahara was seeing matched the description of the Vizard's opposite number. He watched as Ichigo pulled open his kimono and looked at his chest. Oh, shit.

"Hey, Urahara. I think we've got a problem," Ichigo said. His voiced sounded like he was moments away from freaking out. To be honest, Urahara couldn't blame him. The former Shinigami Captain and newly formed Arrancar both stared at the fist-sized hole in Ichigo's chest.