This was originally an idea I got after wondering if Barragan's fraccion do any chores…

The mood is a little serious but it will descend into crack in subsequent chappies~

Don't own these wonderful people and spoilers alert!

Walking briskly down the hallway, First Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise finally caught sight of the captain's office. She noted how much bigger the first division barracks were than the eighth. Gently pushing open her captain's door, she was only met by an unyielding darkness and the smell of alcohol. Sighing, she switched the lights on only to notice a palm-sized scrap of paper on the desk weighed down by a half-empty bottle of sake. Stomping over, she expected her idiot captain to have left with some girl or gone out drinking. Maybe the diligence and the drive to win had worn off for a while. They could barely afford it, anyway; the war against the Wandereich was as tense as it was ever going to be. The recent deaths of some of the captains had made it worse. Snatching the piece of paper up quickly enough as so not to topple the bottle, she read the message and looked nothing short of horrified.

"Getting reinforcements in the World of the Living. Will be back soon."

Just as she had processed the meaning of the message, thoughts intensely swirled around her head.

"Reinforcements? Does he mean…"

Her fellow lieutenant opened the door fully. His grave expression meant he had noticed their captain's absence also. Where could he be in this time of intense war?

Captain-General Shunsui Kyoraku sneezed, throwing his hell butterfly off course. His beloved Nanao-chan had probably found the message he left. Snapping out of his brief reverie, he recalled the purpose of his sudden leave ("No, Shunsui! It's not to perv on those busty girls that live there!"). He had decided to take a huge risk to bring their former enemies back to life, but he had witnessed how powerful they could be…

…and power was what they needed in this war. Aizen had refused to fight for them, so he remained restrained under the first division barracks. Tia Harribel and her fraccion were out of the question, as they were imprisoned in their own home, Hueco Mundo, which was claimed by the Wandereich. Harribel had tried to fight them, to no avail. Her failure had demonstrated that numbers were crucial, and numbers were what he was getting.

The Senkaimon opened at his destination, a shop front with a sign reading "Urahara Shoten". The front door opened to reveal a smirking blonde with a striped hat covering his eyes. "I didn't expect you to come so late, Shunsui! You said you had something important to ask of me; do come in." Shunsui nodded his head in acknowledgement before allowing himself in. Closing the door, he heard a loud meow coming from a large black cat sitting on the low table in the middle of the room. "Your visit is to do with the war, correct?" The cat walked with an agile gait towards the visitor. Shunsui nodded. "I've come to as Kisuke a favour, Yoruichi-san; a very big favour in fact. It's so important that the outcome of the war balances on this." Yoruichi glanced back at Urahara, who was sitting tensely despite the smile plastered on his face. She sighed. "It's definitely important all right; he actually cleaned up that mess of a lab. What did you need anyway?" Shunsui reached into his pockets and produced a folded piece of white paper, not unlike the one he left for his lieutenants. Noticing the paper was for him, Urahara immediately opened it to find a list of names:

Coyote Starrk
Lilynette Gingerbuck
Barragan Louisenbairn
Charlotte Chulhornne
Findorr Calius
Abirama Redder
Ggio Vega
Choe Neng P…

"We need these people brought back. I don't care how you do it; we need them for victory. We are in our most intense part of war and Captain Unohana's death has been a big blow to us. Will you do this for us, Kisuke Urahara? Captain Kurotsuchi is busy with other things; you're the only person I can turn to. The Arrancars were formerly our enemies, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Shunsui wore an uncharacteristically serious expression. All light had gone from his eyes to be replaced by grey stone. Urahara's eyes widened seeing the usually carefree captain with such a look on his face. Abruptly rising from his place at the table, his eyes met Shunsui's. "I'll do it."

And with that, he left the table, paper in hand.

After the war…

Urahara regrated saying that one sentence for… how long now? Five, ten years? The shinigami had barely won the war, and the lasting peace was astounding. For Urahara, though, this experiment was not one he could easily abort, nor one he could bear to abort. This was a revolutionary technology that he, and he alone had designed. The Wandereich were defeated and forever in their grave. The captains had gone back to their usual way of life, and Aizen was still safely locked up. Glancing at one of his numerous pods, a human version of Lilynette had finished forming, a shell for the deceased spirit to occupy once again.

Phase two of his experiment could start.

Typing a password into his newly-developed computer, various graphs and statistics appeared on the screen; they were something only he could understand. The radar next to it glowed blue, sending out signals for the deceased girl's spirit. Arrancars did not ascend into Soul Society like Hollows; instead, they were sent into limbo, with no hope nor anywhere to go. That was the price of using the Hogyoku. They could only contemplate their lives, until now.

"So what do you want us here for?" A young green-haired girl glared at Urahara, her grown partner dozing peacefully on the tiles. "Well," Urahara scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "You were supposed to help in the war against the Wandereich, but you guys came a few years too late. The war is over and that Quincy kid's still as single as a lost earring. So I decided to propose a deal." Aaroniero, who had been revived as Kaien, raised an oh-so-perfect eyebrow. "What deal?" Urahara's smile only widened. "A deal that allows you to go about human lives. You stay out of trouble and in our service," gesturing to the random Soul Society poster, "and we will find a way to allow you into Soul Society at your death. I've heard bad things about limbo… and Hell," glancing at Aaroniero and Szayel, "So this is a deal tipped heavily into your favour. Are you willing to reduce yourselves to humans for a while?" Starrk rose from his place on the floor and rubbed his eyes. "All in favour raise your hands." All of the gathered complied. "Hey, what made you the leader?" Lilynette kicked Starrk in the back, causing him to lose his balance and turn into a mess on the floor. "Doesn't matter, everyone obeyed me." A cough from Urahara turned their attention back to him. "Accommodation will be arranged for you, so do you want to see it?" The Arrancars followed warily behind him, unsure of their future…

How was it? Slightly strange, but limbo had to exist for the storyline to work. I'm probably going to write a LOT about Barragan and his fraccion (maybe a Barragan crack romance) but the Arrancars are going to get jobs, go to school (*cough*Lilynette*cough*) and Starrky just MIGHT become the CEO of a famous company…

Coming up next:
Bumbler Muffin!?
Starrk and Lilynette are on a roll as Lily goes to school, Starrk actually gets a job and becomes famous in the process!

Reviews are appreciated and flames will be used to burn Bya-kun's boxers! Toodles~

PS I know NOTHING about the latest arc… Ironic I'm writing about it, right?

PPS Every time I glimpse the second character book, I always think of Tesla even though Shinji's on the cover…