Greetings! Welcome to the sequel of The Man who Played with Fire! XD Written by yours truly! I hope you like it. Review please!

Disclaimer:I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

POV: Ichigo and Kenpachi

1. Hollow Festival

The people within the crowd filled the air with laughter, conversation and humor while some traditional flutes served as background music to the colorful festival that had interrupted daily routines on Karakura Town. Children, holding hands to their parents, looked amazed above them. Red lamps floated in zigzags against the blue sky. They were held in knots on kiosks' cornices that sat in each side of the road up ahead.

It was midday. Small groups of people pulled over in front of booths that sold out food on sticks. Their giant boards were high above the crowd exposing their names to the customers. The smell of barbecue filled the air along with the scent of traditional candy and smiles.

As this took place a group of teenagers crossed the festival, all of them from the same High School class. It consisted on the fairest of friends: Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa, Yasutora Sado, Uryu Ishida, Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki. The friends were glancing at the atmosphere as new-comers, spreading their views all through the place were once the park they used to get to school was. As they amused themselves with the event Rukia's face was glued to the small cell phone on her grasp. Her fingers pressing in an amazing speed the cell phone's buttons. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched as he slowly turned to scorn at his partner, "Cut that stupid beeping out. It's getting on my nerves"

Rukia's finger's stopped moving. She shifted her view to the Substitute Soul Reaper, "What did you say?"

Ichigo frowned, "I said, what are you doing with the Soul phone? Can you at least take a break?"

Rukia glared at Ichigo momentarily, "Hollows never take a break" she hissed, and after she returned on her texting she added, "Besides, I was just checking if there weren't any more of those Hollows we took out the other day."

Ichigo distracted his view with a booth that sell geisha dolls, a lot of girls tugged their mothers to make a stop at gazing those dolls, "Which ones?" he asked.

"The ones with the tough hierro…The ones you had to use bankai to kill. Remember?"

Ichigo shook his head, recalling the event, "Oh…yeah. Those guys", he said, wearily, "What makes you think there could be more?"

Rukia was texting fast again and answered late, "…Well. It's just a thought really, I am not sure…"

"You did send the message to the Soul Society didn't you?" asked Ichigo.

Rukia closed the Soul phone and drew it back to her pocket, "Yes. On Valentine's Day"

The Substitute received a thunder bolt of memory, remembering the Kiyoshi from Zaraki entrance to the Seireitei that took place on that same day, and then commented "…No offense but that didn't end up as the perfect day to send a message to the Soul Society"

"…But the ryoka was killed, right? They probably received the message later'

"Probably"

"By the way, what's really bothering me is this odd familiar Spiritual Pressure I keep sensing around. I was checking if the Soul phone traced any hollow but…there's none."

"…Really?"

Kuchiki frowned in surprise, "You mean you can't sense it?"

"No. I-" he raised his thoughtful eyes to the kiosks' rooftops on each side, expecting to see a mysterious shadow gazing down at them with malice but…there wasn't any such shadow, "But that you mention it, we should keep our eyes open-"

"IIIchiiigooo!"

Kurosaki, as if he had eyes, on his nape, stepped aside. Thanks to this Keigo Asano hit down the cement with his face, his talons above his butt.

"What's up Keigo?"

Asano, within an eye blinking second, stood on his feet, leaning uncomfortably close to his orange haired friend's face, "Ichigo! Ichigo, you wouldn't believe what happened!"

Ichigo's face was as emotionless as a robot, "What?"

"I was like playing this awesome game on a booth that got hot prizes if you won,' his face was awfully dramatic, "and I was this close to win it when a freakishly weird evil little girl with pink hair beat me on the game!"

Mizuiro popped out of no where next to Ichigo, "Yep. Beat up Keigo big time" he said to Ichigo.

"Shut up, Mizuiro! Didn't you saw the huge monster slash bodyguard that was with her? Ichigo, he looked like if he just came out from jail and was accepted to the Yakuza!"

Muzuiro looked thoughtfully at the sky, "…He looked more like an Arnold Swazeneiger to me"

"ARNOLD SWAZENEIGER!"

"But with long and black hair"

"Um…so?"

"What do you mean so?" echoed Keigo grabbing Ichigo by his shirt, "You've got to help me find her! She took two prizes: a pink and enormous dragon and the prize I wanted!"

"Oh, c'mon, Keigo. It's no big deal. Are you expecting me to steal a toy from a little girl? How long have you lost your sanity, dude?"

"Wait, Ichigo"

"What?"

Kuchiki leaned to Ichigo and murmured, "Does the description seem familiar to you?"

"… What description?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow to him, "Scary and huge man with a small girl with pink hair?"

"Uh…Doesn't ring a bell. You know them?"

Rukia scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "You're hopeless. Never mind"

"Rukia!" a girl called behind from Keigo, it was Orihime Inoue, "You want something to eat? I'm buying!" she said, waving her hand.

"Sure!" she said, unaffected by Keigo's tragedy expression when she past by him.

Ichigo sighed, returning to Asano "Sorry dude. Can't help you out this time. Go find something else out to play with"

"Good luck with that" Mizuiro's comment was followed by Ichigo diverting Keigo Asano's dropped mouth stare as he past by him just like Rukia did.

"B-b-b-but-! IIICHIIGO- YOU HAV-!"

A hard wave of pressure precipated to the surface. Ichigo snapped his eyes open holding his breath. Rukia Kuchiki froze in place, her eyes round in horror. Uryu Ishida pushed his eye glasses up his nose, frowning. Orihime gasped and Chad behind her lifted his stare in surprise. The others continued unnoticed of such struck when the four friends raised their faces to the blue and cloudless sky in reaction. Their hearts on their throats, their hands closing on their sides.

And just when their nightmare felt surreal a small and black crack snapped against the blue. The friends gasped when, like spider webs, the cracks made their way lengthwise above them. Ichigo's hand was already retrieved on his back pocket, his fingers trusting their way on the corners of his Substitute badge. Rukia gripped her Soul Candy cylinder pack. Uryu's hand on his wrist bracelet. Orihime's finger on one hairpin. Chad fist closed on his side.

With a loud shatter the crack broke outward. Pieces of blue sky spun down to the ground when a dozen of beastly cries assailed the ears of the teenagers below.

Hollows rushed down towards the surface, their long and purple tongues exposed between their square and thick teeth. Translucent lines of saliva were sent behind them by the wind pressure, and their claws stretched out in front of them, ready to tare.

Ichigo pulled out his insignia and took it to his chest. A hand retrieved his wrist before the badge reached his shirt, "What-? Rukia! What are you doi-?"

The short Soul Reaper had her eyes glued on the crowd up front, an alert expression crossed her face, "…Wait" she murmured, "…This…spiritual pressure"

Uryu glanced around, lowering his hand, thoughtfully.

Orihime and Chad waited dumbfounded. Ichigo was about to complain when his eye caught something in front of a red booth next to him. A small kid with white hair pulled out a round and green candy out of his pocket and threw it into his mouth. Another tall man not so far away that carried a small pink haired girl above his shoulder also digested a green candy. Another two other figures also swallowed something tiny.

The hollows cries made their way closer and closer to the festival when one by one, their bodies rejected a double of themselves, dragging electric waves on their sides before disappearing in a move the human friends knew all too much. Ichigo could only reach to see that all of them wore the same black and white haori uniform.

"We are not alone" grinned Rukia when Ichigo was about to react at what he saw.

Orihime opened her mouth to ask something when another wave of spiritual pressure came down to them. Raising their views to the sky… they saw them.

Four Captains slashing their way through the mass of hollows. Cutting their skin and sending blood on red lines to the air before vanishing like ashes. Their fighting techniques could be easily recognized by Ichigo from miles away.

One Captain killed so swiftly and gracefully that gave a second meaning to the phrase the art of killing. Byakuya Kuchiki pace was hard to follow.

Another one whose tiny frame trusted his way through hollows as he cut the air flying. Toshiro Hitsugaya was good in getting the work done.

The third one was so elegant that from far down below Ichigo could devise she didn't have any murderous intent. Retsu Unohana slashed her sword through hollows without moving from her spot.

And the fourth one was enjoying himself chopping red hollow flesh as if it where no tomorrow. Kenpachi Zaraki's laughter could have been confused by a maniac's or the enemy's triumphal enjoyment as he slaughtered the monsters.

Ichigo didn't noticed he had been holding his breath for so long that when he was about to say something his words got stuck on his throat.

"…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL STARING AT? SOMEONE PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!" Keigo's voice was herd by deaf ears.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Tatsuki asked trying to follow their view to the sky, completely oblivious of what they were glancing at.

Orihime abruptly shook her head, not capable of getting rid of her overwhelmed thoughts, and said to her friend, "Oh! Nothing! No, no…we are, em… playing a game! Yeah! He-he… Hey wanna grab a snack! Okay let's go!"

"Uh… okay"

Rukia opened her Soul Phone. Ichigo had his eyes glued on the Captain's slaughtering act. The black haired Soul Reaper nodded thoughtfully, "I see… So those are the Esquinas"

Ichigo shook his head puzzled, "A what?" he lowered his face to his partner.

"Remember the hollows that we've faced these past weeks that you had to use your bankai? The ones with the strong hierro?" she didn't wait Ichigo to nod, "I investigated on the Seireitei's archives and I accessed a secret data uploaded by Kisuke Urahara about a strange group of hollows that had been appearing recently in the World of the Living… the descriptions fit perfectly with what we confronted and came to the conclusion that all of these hollows aren't the ones we are familiar to…They are something else. Something we, as you saw the other time, it cannot be killed so slightly."

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, Uryu next to him with narrow eyes.

"The Esquinas. Hollows with incredibly hard hierro" Rukia said.

"Weren't they extinct?" Uryu's eyes were frown.

"None lightly" she pointed out, "They were just regrouping, becoming stronger…" she raised her eyes to the sky were the Captains were almost concluding their extermination, "Until they gathered the enough strength to defend themselves from us. And if the Captains are here then it means that the Soul Society has decided to step in some desperate measures"

"Very extreme you might say…But why the Captains? We could handle it ourselves. Why go to all the trouble?" asked Ichigo.

"Because it means that by now the only ones that could kill the Esquinas are the Captains, you idiot"

On the sky Byakuya Kuchiki threw a small translucent box inside the crack into Hueco Mundo and this, after shacking abruptly, it slowly zipped close.

"Who the hell gave you that shinny box?" Kenpachi Zaraki was glaring at the Captain of Squad Six while he withdrew his sword back to his hilt.

"Kisuke Urahara" Byakuya answered, without having the need to look at his comrade, "It's a seal."

Kenpachi hummed with his nose a nod and he walked over the air with one hand over the tilt of his sword grip on his belt. Unohana was kneeled next to the Captain of Squad Ten. Red stains filth his shoulder as Retsu with her hands healed his wounds with a green spell, "Zaraki" Hitsugaya called unto him.

The man with black hair raised in spikes halted and turned his head towards the kid, "What now?"

"We should report this to the Head Captain before we do anything else so stay close" the kid said.

Kenpachi shrugged. His eye caught the woman healing him, her porcelain and gentle face concentrated on the curing process, oblivious of Zaraki's gaze. Regardless of a chest ache he felt at this, he nodded to the kid prodigy, "…I know. Don't tell me what to do, twerp.", at this he turned on his heels ignoring the kid's glaring eyes.

"We should probably get going, everyone" Byakuya said, "The faster we move the better."

Unohana's spell ceased. Hitsugaya budged his shoulder up and down, regaining strength and skin, "Marvelous healing as always, Captain" he said to her opening and closing his fist.

Retsu smiled, "Just doing my job."

Kenpachi a few feet away said to the others, "Alright. Let's move"

The other Captains nodded and followed their second in command down to the surface. At this Ichigo regained consciousness and began to run towards the nearest Captain falling from the sky. The festival had been completely unaffected by the bloody killing below them and by now the crowd condensed. Ichigo pushed his way through the people with his arms and shoulders. The Captain's dark frame disappeared just before landing and Ichigo founded himself in front of a tall man with a red T-shirt under a green sleeveless army style jacket, black leather jeans and long and black hair landing on his back. His back was facing him, but Ichigo knew all-too-well who he was.

"Kenpachi!"

The man shrugged. Turning in half he peeked back. His eyepatchless eyes open widely in overwhelm, "Ichigo?"

Just in that a pink haired girl with a violet skirt and khaki jacket popped her head from behind his tutor. At gazing Ichigo a big smile lighten her face, "Ichi-nii!"

"Well, hello there Ichigo" Kenpachi grinned at the Substitute, "How's it going?"

"How's it going?" echoed Ichigo, "What the hell is going on? Why are you here?"

Kenpachi scoffed, "Why do you look so upset for? It's no big deal not being able to be the hero once in a while, kid. Everyone has his days…"

"I meant why are you here? All of you… Did the Old Man sent you."

Zaraki couldn't help but to smile malignly at the desperate human, "I wish I could tell you, really, but-" he leaned very close to Ichigo's face, his shark-like-white teeth exposed, "-it's a secret."

Don't forget to review!

Second Chapter coming soon!