Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Bleach.


Chapter IV: Warning Shots

"Mr Tsukishima? What time do you suppose will it be when we find Ms Arisawa?"

This was why they kept the XCution squads separate. Tsukishima could see how having more Fullbrings on call could help, around ten more were expected to arrive soon, along with some new recruits, but many of them often became rather annoying to be around. Even the sum total of a few hours around these people was near-unbearable, with their damn lack of manner and patience.

B1 had been the person asking the question. Tsukishima could see why Ginjo would think that he could get along with the man, they both had the same coloured hair and eyes and even their clothing was the same business-like style, though B1's hair was much shorter and his eyes hid a look of frustration. The code-names were never used for Squad A, the founders of XCution, and he had little intention of keeping up the farce.

Not even the clear night sky, often quite good at restoring peace of mind, had done little to relieve his headache.

"Relax, James-san," James looked somewhat offended to be referred to by his actual name. His eyes became an actual scowl and glared at Tsukishima. "Why not enjoy the scenery of Japan?"

James seemed to sigh at this, perhaps he had been misinterpreting his frustration. "I prefer keeping to a schedule." He said, seeming to be more like having everything be rushed to fit his own little schedule. "I am enjoying what I'm seeing, it's just a thing I have."

"Of course, I understand completely." James had an attitude problem and no one had the guts to tell him to grow up about it. However, now was not the time to play therapist with the underlings, a united mission statement was more important. "You know why you were called?"

B2 and B3, formerly silent and not really saying anything, perked up at that. B2 was the only female of their little gang, a nice blonde-haired girl with eyes of topaz (in the words of second-rate poets), seemed to be the bravest one of them, and thus just barely more annoying than James had been.

On second thought, perhaps just referring them to their code-names would help with dehumanising them and pretending that they were delusions. Was this what Tsukishima's victims had to deal with? He'd almost felt bad for tampering with their memories if that was true.

Key word being almost.

"Those Vizard guys right?" B2 said, looking agitated. Then again, calling for back-up in XCution was a pretty strong sign of weakness, meaning that the enemy was really strong and one that smart or weak people tried to avoid. "Brian told us everything, these guys are supposed to be tough so you called for back-up."

"Don't be so direct, Katie." B1 reprimanded, although it was difficult to tell whether it was actually her clipped tone towards the man who was their superior or whether it was because she didn't stick with the assigned names. Americans seemed very tricky to handle, though those two were trying more than Brian (B3) was.

Weighing up who he disliked the least, Tsukishima decided to let B2 off the hook, for now. "She did hit the nail on the head." Now for the unfortunate truth, the reason why he was forced to cater to these fools. "We need new members from here beyond that, questions may be raised on why so many foreigners are congregating in a small place like Karakura Town, so less people could be called."

They seemed to understand the logic of such moves, not even asking why Naruki City wouldn't be a better area (even more attention may be gained as police were more likely to be on the look-out for gangs), perhaps there was hope for the other wings of XCution after all. Though it was likely that this hope would be crushed in time, as did many of Tsukishima's hopes during his lifetime.

"Who are we looking at?" B1 asked, relenting on the matter.

"Riruka is going to be sent in to approach the candidates at Karakura High, two of whom are being approached as we speak. We'll need your help with training them and in confronting these people when the war inevitably arrives." They were still trying to track the Vizards without getting caught, something that Squad B had been brought into do in the first place, to little avail.

"Why are they an issue? They've been here for a while, so why are they now the main problem to deal with?"

Ah, B3, how annoying he turned out to be.

Due to flight issues, Tsukishima had the utter misfortune of meeting B3 first out of Squad B, and quickly realised that the man was either an absolute idiot who couldn't obey simple instructions, or the most brilliant trickster in the world. His shaggy blonde hair, large black trench-coat and damn sunglasses stuck out easily in a crowd, thus making XCution's attempts at staying below the radar quite undermined. Yet, the most annoying thing about B3 was that Tsukishima couldn't do anything to him without a good excuse.

Ginjo had told him that all of Squad B would be useful and that it wouldn't present a good image to the others if it looked like their life expectancy would fall dramatically, Book of the End was also forbidden due to 'habits' of his to go a bit too far. B3's skill in finding and taking down people was, somehow, also valued very highly with the use of his Fullbring being good for this sort of thing, Tsukishima was wondering why ability always ended up with the idiots.

He did have one advantage over Squad B, and that was his rank.

"What is the aim of XCution?"

"Increase our strength, crush our enemies and get into Heaven." B1 answered, confused about what they meant.

"Exactly. These Vizards aren't just a bunch of spiritually-aware humans," A nice little dramatic pause to build up suspense. "They're hybrids of Soul Reapers and Hollows, breaking through into a level of power that we may never get the chance to see again, if we were to gain their power, we would be nigh-unstoppable and could even find a way into Heaven."

That was what kept XCution together. Hollows seemed to like power and that had passed on towards the children that absorbed their powers, the reasons often varied but it was all the same, all three of the fools placed their attention on Tsukishima with a more intense gaze. Finally realising that the reward outweighed any discomfort, B1 and B2 seemed to realise that it was better to stay silent.

B3, however, couldn't keep his mouth shut. "And beating them, let alone taking their power, is going to be a tough job. Look, I know you guys are enjoying the whole 'secret club' thing but this would be a lot easier if you let us call fifty of our best and then just rush these guys into the-"

Ten days without an incident. He really hoped that B3 loved doing that impression of a street gangster, because it was going to be the last thing he ever did, if he said another thing that was both already addressed before and was stupid. Having near sixty people, once you factored in Squads A and B along with the new recruits, in one area was something similar to insane and would attract far more attention than needed towards figures like Yukio and Jackie.

"Your questioning was amusing before, now it's not." He told the man, keeping a firm grip on the man's throat. B1 and B2 wisely keeping their distance from him. "Are my orders understood?"

"Yeah, yeah." Was gasped out by the fool, Tsukishima decided to be merciful and let him go. All three of them looked at him as if he was crazy, perhaps hoping that they did not join a group that intended to kill them, but he stopped caring a while back. They would all be gone soon enough and XCution could run as it should be, with different people in different places.

He did wonder if the others were having better luck than him.


"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Mizuiro Kojima needed this. Ichigo had been acting weird these past few months, so had Orihime and Chad, while everything seemed to be getting strange in the sense that his (non-existent) mother actually called him, rather than him trying to call her. Yes, it was just to scold him for not doing well in his exams and that he was wasting his potential, but it was still strange for her to actually care.

Oh and the whole "I see dead people" thing, as well. That was a bit of a shock.

However, he was never one to let such things get in the way of his life. He already ended the relationship with Misa and was looking for someone else to go out with, his inferiority complex forcing him to find some avenue of affection because he was pathetic like that, led to him meet up with this lovely woman. She had an exotic feel to her, being from outside Japan, but also seemed good with the language which eliminated the barrier there.

Not only that, but she also had a friend who expressed an interest with Mizuiro's very good friend, Keigo Asano, a much nicer person than him who probably deserved a date or two. Both dates were in the same restaurant in Naruki City, on different tables though, so that Mizuiro and his date could make sure that their counterparts didn't do anything too silly, which looked to be noticed if Keigo's thumbs-up and his date's angry expression were to be believed.

Now that Ichigo was back, it looked like things were finally getting back to normal, despite the change in attitude being somewhat different. Orihime still seemed as chipper as ever, maybe Rukia having to go home got rid of a potential rival, while Chad himself was the same guy as always. Mizuiro wondered if he was such scum as to think that someone like Orihime would approach the loss of a friend in such cynical terms.

Enough self-loathing for the moment, he didn't want to alienate his date, especially in the middle of the day.

"You really knew a great place to go." He complimented Ms Jackie, the dark-skinned woman looking a bit too neutral for his liking. "It's nothing compared to you though."

That seemed to cheer her up, blushing slightly and thanking him for the compliment. The sounds of laughter could be heard across the room and it seemed as if Keigo had finally made some sort of connection with Ms Riruka, proving that miracles could happen, and it seemed that the site helped Jackie's mood as well.

"I can't thank you enough for also helping my friend get out of the house." She told him, with a slight hint of deception among the sincerity she was trying to show. Mizuiro could understand some girls like that, using the date-less friend as an excuse to repel potentially selfish guys who wanted to get into her bed.

"It was no problem, Keigo was always wondering how he could find a date and we merely showed him the opportunity." He beamed, wondering what was taking the food so long.

Jackie gave him a nice smile, looking like she admired his loyalty to his companion. "You're a really good friend."

"It's a mutual thing." Mizuiro sometimes wondered what his life would have been without meeting Keigo. It was a rather depressing train of thought. "He helped out during a time where I felt really isolated from everything."

"That's sweet, you two seem really close," Jackie had a little giggle at that, Mizuiro's activities with women had prevented any rumours on his relationship with Keigo, but it seemed that said friendship was enhancing his chances of Jackie being even closer to him. "Though not as close as we will be after you read this."

A slip of paper seemed to be pulled out, Mizuiro was willing to play along with this, if it got them back to her place, a warm smile now entering his face. "A love letter? How sweet of you."

Taking the paper, he opened it up, expecting some sort of crude suggestion that went against Jackie's appearance.

Say anything or try to disobey and Keigo Asano dies painfully.

"You seem to have taken this very well." Jackie noted, seeing that her 'date' had yet to even look angry at her. Maybe she was expecting, or even hoping, for a vow of revenge or something just as clichéd, but he wasn't going to play her little game. He turned to see that Keigo got a similar letter as him and was obviously shaking in fear at the threat of death.

"I'm very good at wearing a mask." Women were often more likely to trust someone with a smile than a grimace or a glare, such people caused less of a scene. "Rest assured, I am absolutely furious, and I am having the most violent revenge fantasies right now."

"Whatever, just come quietly and let me handle this from here." Jackie didn't seem very bothered by the implications given, Mizuiro was quite serious about the fantasies, if they were placed in a film it would be banned in multiple countries, but that meant little in the long term. He had to focus on small victories.

"Funny, I was going to say something similar when we reached my apartment." Another smile from Jackie, if that was her real name, came on but she quickly suppressed it, not wanting to show any sign of 'weakness' in the face of her hostage.

The two of them left the restaurant and headed towards a conveniently parked car, Keigo and Riruka not far behind, and the two students were forced into the back as Riruka sat in front of them. The seating arrangement of the car seemed to be based on having three seats in the back while another three faced them, almost as if it was regularly used for interrogating people or allowing them to pretend that they're going backwards.

It was clear that the latter wasn't why Riruka sat there. Keigo had been having a minor panic attack over what was happening and was looking for anything to latch onto, for the sake of mental stabilisation, and had chosen Mizuiro to be his anchor-point, visibly shaking in fear in contrast to the apathy that that being shown by Mizuiro.

"Mizuiro, what the hell is happening?" He asked, looking frightened as all hell, which was understandable when your life is being threatened by two women who may be linked into something very large, it seemed that the two of them had something to attract attention. Did it have anything to do with Ichigo, Orihime and Chad?

"I thought your companion would have told you." That was a lie. Riruka looked arrogant but she never seemed stupid, her ability to pull a façade of being a kind person seemed to be very high-quality when looking at her angry expression in comparison.

"Here's a card, for your troubles." She threw a business-card at Keigo, Mizuiro barely being able to read the word 'XCution' on it, not being the most friendly thing to have on a card meant for socialising. "Though someone as unappealing as you really shouldn't be asking for anything."

Keigo looked hurt at that. Mizuiro had seen that his friend thought that Riruka was actually interested in him, now realising that he was just manipulated into being a hostage for some shady group, and her words were probably designed to exploit that fact. It was becoming very clear why she did not get out that often, judging by how pale her skin was.

"What a bitter soul you must have, behind all that sugary appearance."

That had gained her attention, if looks could kill, there would have been a burnt husk sitting next to Keigo on the way to wherever they were supposed to go. She then reached for an object that had been hidden under the unoccupied third seat in the middle of the car, until Jackie grabbed her wrist. What was the object that was going to be used on him?

"Relax, Riruka, you need to stay calm, if we're going to survive the battles ahead." Jackie advised, Riruka reluctantly putting her hand back where it used to be.

Battles ahead? That never sounded good, unless this was all a very cruel joke by someone at their school, it seemed as if the two of them had found themselves in some kind of turf-war between gangs of some sort. The car had finally pulled up near a building and both Mizuiro and Keigo were quickly blindfolded by Jackie and Riruka's friends, or at least associates, and went through a speedy process of grabbing and tying to chairs.

By the time Mizuiro's thoughts became clear, he found both himself and Mizuiro facing a larger group of people. One of them was behind a bar-counter and preparing a drink, having the standard bar-tender look, another had been a smallish blonde kid who was playing on a handheld console while the last one was a large man with slick hair and a black jacket over his white shirt. He looked somewhat threatening, but also welcoming, with his smile as if he knew he looked dangerous and wanted to give a more safe vibe because of it.

"Hi, sorry about the method of transportation, but welcome to XCution."

Mizuiro didn't buy it for a bit.

"Who are you going to kidnap next?" It was an actual thought on his mind. Ichigo was probably safe at home and Chad and Tatsuki could defend themselves, but what about the others? Orihime lived alone and was vulnerable, Uryuu may be blackmailed by threats to the previous, Chizuru had few actual methods of defence and Ichigo, Chad and Tatsuki would be forced to approach them without resistance if they got the others. Not to mention, Mahana, Michiru and Ryo could be convenient hostages as well.

Laughing from the boss, judging by how everyone deferred to him. "Not kidnap," This was going to be interesting, taking someone to a mysterious location without their consent? He wondered what these guys called it. "We prefer the term, unleashing your full potential."

"Full potential? Mizuiro, we've been kidnapped by a bunch of nutjobs." Keigo was on the ball today, seeing that kidnapping to unleash 'full potential' was often followed by either mass suicide, not helped by the name of the group, or some type of drugging.

None of which was something Mizuiro was that psyched about.

"Come now, surely you've been wondering about some things." The bartender cut in, acting like a mentor wondering why the problem hadn't been solved yet. "Why do mysterious things only seem to happen to you or your group of friends? Why Ichigo Kurosaki seems to either disappear or have a slightly different personality?"

"Stay away from Ichigo." Keigo warned, trying to look as imposing as someone strapped to a chair and having a panic attack five minutes ago could be.

Mizuiro wanted to do his part in warning off these 'XCution' guys. "Harm our friends and we won't be so cooperative." He wasn't expecting anyone to suddenly become afraid or creeped out, especially as he brought in the same smile as he used on his date, but the laughter from the leader seemed somewhat out of touch.

"Harm them? Oh, Kojima-san, you are so much like your father." The bartender replied, maintaining most of his focus on the drink he was producing.

"My...father?"

"Kaji Kojima. I never knew the man, but his profile was public enough to show that he was secretive about his wife and wealth. Died from falling off a building, didn't he, your mother must have been heartbroken."

That got his attention, the Kojima name had mostly been small but affluent. From the internet, his father had gained a reputation for being very effective in building up his fortune from stock speculation but also in trying to gain the notice of a certain woman who did not gain the approval of his family. Oichi Kokujo had been labelled a hussy, a fair estimate in Mizuiro's opinion, who was using her womanly wiles to make the prodigal son be enchanted by her, they were married shortly after meeting and soon had a child on the way.

Unfortunately, his father had his bad luck catch up to him and he would accidentally fall to his death while at a party, his mother had also slipped but had managed to prevent herself from falling. Many others at the same party had stated that they almost fell nearly after seeing something, probably while the family didn't accuse his mother of trying to murder him, with a desire to avoid a public and messy dispute, a blank cheque was offered in exchange for not trying to sully the name further.

Mizuiro's mother agreed and both of them had been doing what they liked since. He was tolerated due to his luck with women and lack of actually spending much, making him appear as a good investment despite poor grades, while his mother was all but loathed due to her extravagant parties and multiple boyfriends. It was mutual, of course.

"My mother doesn't exist." That seemed to get a sigh of frustration from the main guy, who looked as if his point was being undermined.

"Teenage rebel, it's always one of them. Look, didn't your mother ever talk about what they saw on the day he died?" The man in the jacket asked, causing Mizuiro to wonder where he was actually going with this.

"If she did exist, she would be more interested in parties and trips." He rebutted, with a bit more bitterness than he thought, before seeing that the boss of XCution had little intention of playing therapist with the captives. Shame, he might have developed Lima Syndrome and helped them out.

"Well, she testified that both of them saw a strange image that looked like a human head with a bone mask on. That was the thing that got our attention, now we don't really know or care what happened to it, but that makes you special."

Keigo, contrary to his reputation as an idiot, quickly figured where this was going and went on the verbal attack, trying to find out more about why he was taken as well. "What about me?"

"Your parents both survived a Hollow attack." Mizuiro would have wondered what a Hollow was, but had the feeling that it would all be answered soon. "Know what that means?"

"I have the feeling you're going to tell us."

"You're Fullbrings," The man answered, before leaping into a lecture. "Some of the power of those Hollows leaked into you guys while your mothers were still pregnant, it's likely that you guys have these powers inside you as well. We're a group of Fullbrings, all over the world, called XCution, the name's Kugo Ginjo just so you know. Our aim is to gather us all up and make sure that we're ready to stop both those Hollows and the Soul Reapers."

"Soul Reapers?" The opposite to those things on the Kanonji show?

"They're the police of the spiritual realm. When you die, you become a spirit, like the ones that you've seen yourself or the ones on the Don Kanonji show, and you just wonder around waiting to move on. The Soul Reapers, in Japan at least, are the ones who send you guys on your way but they can only get to so many. Those who don't get to move on, if enough time passes, lose all hope and their hearts break down into something else, the mask of a Hollow.

A hole shows up where their heart once was and they essentially just wreck shit out of sheer instinct, the Soul Reapers then jump in and purify the soul, sending it to Heaven. Now that would be fine and dandy, but these guys aren't exactly the most tolerant of types that don't fit in their nice and tidy lines, which means that we need to stay underground and avoid getting caught helping people, unless we want to get gutted.

Our overall aim is to enter Heaven and plead our case. Work something out so that we can do our bit and prevent the death toll from getting higher, you guys can help us out with that. The methods we use to collect Fullbrings together can vary, you're a known player so we had to use the ladies Kojima-san, but the aim is still pretty damn noble. Our most recent enemies are these guys called the Vizards, Soul Reapers who embraced the power of Hollows, who are now getting into our turf and might be our way into Heaven.

We need your help, these guys are at an unbelievable level and we've been forced into getting all the Fullbrings we can find, especially with more of these Hollows hanging about. Ichigo Kurosaki is linked with the Soul Reapers and seems to be having issues, meaning that we need you guys more than ever. I don't suppose you can work with us?"

"Who else is going to be involved?" If they worked together, maybe they would be able to take down these XCution people with enough cooperation, though that may just be seen coming.

Thinking that they were becoming more positive about the idea of working with them, this Ginjo person went on. "We think Sado and Inoue have started to develop their powers and Tatsuki Arisawa could still discover them. Others in your little group aren't showing enough to be considered."

Silence ruled the area. If they accepted, they might be able to help out Ichigo with whatever problems he was having, and they might be able to fight off anything that threatened their friends as if they were a bunch of superheroes. If they didn't, then their friends may be given less choice while the bodies of Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima rotted in a ditch somewhere.

"Mizuiro, we should do this," Keigo finally said, turning to see if it was accepted. "I mean, they might be spouting a bunch of crap, for all we know, but things have been getting more tense. We might as well use this as a chance to prepare ourselves for the worse."

"Such deep trust in us." The blonde person finally said, though he wasn't much bothered by the statement, if his face showed anything.

"You did threaten to murder Mizuiro if we didn't work with you guys." Keigo snapped back, so the life of the other was used to coerce the other? That would explain why Keigo was so jittery, he must have thought that saying the wrong thing would have gotten Mizuiro killed, likely to be while he was forced to watch.

That was unforgivable.

"Fine." Mizuiro finally conceded, the day having gone on for too long, now properly glaring at the members of XCution who had been assembled. "Just hope that things work out, in the end."

The ropes were then cut and Keigo and Mizuiro forced the instinct to flee down. They were told about how they were going to be trained to bring out their Fullbring and how it would then allow them to help in taking down those Vizards, followed by informing them about how tough the process would be and that it would be worth it, in the end. They would have gone on with the prep-talk, had it not been for the sudden powerful force that was dragging them down, and the feeling of multiple tiny things being sent into one place.

"What was that?" Keigo asked, struggling to keep himself up after all the stress that had gone on finally caught up with him. What shocked him, and Mizuiro, was the worried expressions on the face of their captors, as if something went horribly wrong in their designs.

"Oh dear." The bartender said, finally preparing the drink. Perhaps it was time for him to indulge in a dirty habit, at least for today, as he felt that things were about to go off the rails, Keigo looked like he wanted to join him. The more the merrier, he guessed.


"Who are you?"

Tatsuki was getting really pissed off now. She told the rest of the karate team to go on ahead, while she dealt with the foreign guy who had been stalking her for the past hour, but it seemed like she was going to regret not having them alongside. Why? Because she was probably going to need someone to restrain her from leaping at this guy when it became apparent that he was a total stalker, especially with that desperate look he had.

"Ms Arisawa, I assure you that I am completely trust-worthy." And the sky was going to be yellow tomorrow, Tatsuki was actually Santa and Orihime would announce that she and Chizuru were running away to get married in Tahiti, where no one would judge their love affair.

"Then what's with the sunglasses?" That, combined with the trenchcoat and his shit Japanese, made blondie look like an applicant for the 'stereotypical public service announcement bad guy' auditions. Tatsuki was in a bad mood, with Ichigo becoming more and more distant while Orihime and Chad also being a bit distracted as well, and she may be unfairly taking it out on this guy.

But why was he following her then?

Whoever he was, he seemed a bit fidgety while also trying to keep her from speaking too loudly, wanting to avoid attention probably due to his sketchy appearance. "I really need you to trust me he-"

The conversation would have gone on had it not been for the sudden impact that both of them felt, followed by an almost crushing by some invisible force that made Tatsuki's vision go dark for a bit and then she got the chance to feel what it was like to have your very energy get seeped out of you. She struggled to get up again, barely managing to balance herself, and looked around to see if there was any damage to the environment.

"What the hell was that?" She asked herself, seeing that nothing much had changed, although there seemed to be dust coming from one of the areas. Maybe if she checked it out, she would find something that would explain things.

"DON'T GO NEAR THE CRATER!" The stalker all but roared, apparently seeing something that Tatsuki didn't, as he then ran up to her with a shocking amount of speed and began to swear at himself for being so loud. Turning towards the site, his entire face turned white and he began to shake with a lot of fear in his body.

"What is it?" Tatsuki didn't trust this guy as far as she could throw him, which may actually be a fair bit if he weighed less than he looked, but she could feel something ominous and just wrong about whatever was approaching from the crater site.

"Get down." He whispered to her, grabbing her and leaping towards the bushes, she could see something green glow on the ground before a rush of wing slammed on the side of her heard and kept going until they reached the crater site. She was going to protest the carrying and lack of explanation when she could hear his heart rapidly beating. "Holy fuck."

She turned towards the crater site and could see a lot of unmoving bodies on the ground, not even breathing, she forced herself off the stranger's arms and tried to run to some of the karate team members there but quickly stumbled onto the ground. Tatsuki didn't have the energy to force herself over there, cheeks going red over the humiliation of asking someone to walk a few steps to find something out for her.

"Are they alright?"

"I don't think so." He was trying to find a pulse in some of them, to little avail, when he sensed the same wrongness as before suddenly approach them again. The guy approached her and helped her up, looking like he didn't want to stay here long. "Look, we need to get the hell out of here and get somewhere-"

Two figures making their presence interrupted him, their image looking like one of those mirages before it 'solidified' into two people in white, wielding swords on their sides and mask fragments on their faces. The larger one of them had a tan, his mask only covering the bottom half of his jaw with sideburns to complement them, and seemed utterly ripped which only seemed to make the hole in his chest all the more obvious.

The smaller one was much more pale and had tear-like tattoos on his face, where his partner was bald, he instead had black hair which was medium in length. That didn't stop Tatsuki from focusing on the hole in his neck, how the hell did these guys even survive with such things? Were they actually monsters, their lack of reaction to the dead bodies backed that idea up, as did the silent panicking of the guy next to Tatsuki.

"Ulquiorra, qre they the ones Lord Aizen wanted?" The larger one asked the smaller one, who had now focused intensely on the two humans and was probably judging them based on their apparent strength. Maybe this Aizen guy was looking for people who survived their entrance?

"They're just trash, Yammy." Or maybe not.

At that point, the guy next to her seemed to regain his senses and now stood up in a much more firm manner, pulling out some badge that said "B3" on it and turned to Tatsuki, pointing towards the way towards the main part of Karakura Town. That B3 guy then turned once more to the duo and gave her a thumbs-up, she wondered whether he was smiling from the other side or whether it was all an act to prevent her from panicking as he had.

"Right, I think it's time you ran and I fought." His hands made some kind of elaborate gesture before waving across his sunglassess, a green glow now coming from them alongside a strange noise. "See All Things!"

"What's that supposed to do?" The one called Yammy said before charging in for the kill. He raised his fist to strike at the guy and promptly shattered the ground only, BNumber having the same green energy thing gather in his legs to aid in him jumping into the air, he quickly looked down on the giant and smirked at the increasing rage of the monster.

He quickly started falling and landed opposite to where Tatsuki was on the crater, a prospect that heavily pleased the humiliated opponent, but the mysterious stalker seemed unconcerned with the rapid fists that were launching at him. Every fist seemed to be gracefully avoided, with what looked to be very little effort, and one particular punch simply ended with the side-arm being balanced on with little effort being shown again.

"Missed me." Bee3 then gathered green energy around his legs once more, forcing the fist down, and leapt into the air, before he then surged towards the big guy. Once the large monster had regained his footing, he tried to get revenge but the oncoming left hook having been caught with both hands and used as both a hand-stand and momentum for the foreigner to then, once more, gather that green stuff again and land what looked to be a devastating towards the right side of 'Yammy's' head with the use of his left.

A crack could be heard, along with a deep booming laughter.

"You're quick, but far too weak to handle someone of my strength." The giant warned as Blondie now fell back towards Tatsuki, looking as shocked as she was that something that looked so strong had simply caused slight bruising, he tried to stand up but winced in pain. It looked like his leg had taken a beating from trying to break through the skin of that guy, it seemed as if the two were going to have to retreat from the area, although their speed might not be enough if those guys tired that weird teleporting thing again.

That was, until Chad and Orihime had somehow arrived, Chad having something batshit crazy going on with his right arm, while Orihime quickly had a forcefield quickly surround the stranger's leg, looking like it had managed to heal it. She looked up from her work and stared at both Tatsuki and Blondie. "Please, escape this area."

"He's too strong for you." Chad muttered, although it seemed like even he was going to be easily overpowered by that monster. She felt like shit for doing this, running when she had vowed to protect Orihime all those years ago, now she could barely even stand without wondering if she was going to die, as if she was utterly useless to do anything. Which was probably why she almost rallied to B3, or whatever his real name is, standing up and standing next to Chad with determination in his eyes.

"Listen, I had a job and it involved bringing you guys to my bosses." Wait, what? Tatsuki would have to press on the matter afterwards, that is, if they survived this. "And I will not go back and tell them that I lost them to a goddamn Hollow."

Orihime also refused to leave, meaning that Tatsuki wouldn't either, she may not have magical powers or anything but she wasn't the kind of person to just flee when her friends were looking death in the eye. Granted, that may have been a line from Ghost Bust, but it still counted for something! That 'Ulquiorra' person simply stared at them, once again checking to see if anything of them matched the criteria of that Aizen guy.

"All of them are trash, you heard Lord Aizen's orders." Big and Strong seemed to like hearing that, giving a war-like roar as he charged towards the three, none of who looked like they were just going to lie there and take it. Tatsuki wondered if she should run like they told her to, she might make it to safety. But then how would she look herself in the mirror, if they died?


"The Arrancar?" Izuru Kira asked, trepidation starting to crawl up his spine, realising what this meant. "Captain Ichimaru, the-"

"I know, I know." Captain Ichimaru's voice cut the Vice Captain off, looking slightly down that he wouldn't get to see how a Captain Kira would act in the Fifth Division. "The message is already being sent to the team to start mobilising, we may not get there in time, but we can still find out more about these guys."

Izuru turned to the third seat officer he was talking to about administration. He recalled him from his days in the Fifth Division, memories that now seemed so much more sinister with the revelation of Aizen's treachery, and he seemed to be competent enough, especially when looking at his skills with hakuda, kido and zanjutsu, with a decent amount of talent in shunpo. Not much to say compared to a seated officer in the Second Division, but good enough. As if he were designed to be that-

Don't think like that. This was probably what Aizen wants, suspicion directed at the Divisions with the traitors so that discord breaks out, well Kira wasn't going to play that game., he was going to make Aizen regret making the Fifth Division one of the most deadly in Seireitei. Starting with Ichimaru Gin and Izuru Kira, Momo may get hurt (something that had tortured him since he raised his blade on her) but she would be saved as well.

First things first, though.

He turned to the officer of the Fifth Division, looking somewhat awkward in asking him to take over facilities until he could establish communication with Seireitei from the human world. "Third Seat Kuuyo, I know this is all a bit much but-"

"Don't worry, Vice Captain, I'll keep everything under control." A courteous gesture was made by the officer and Kira felt relieved, he had been concerned that the Division would react negatively, but everyone had been trying their best to clear their name. Hopefully, that would continue while Kira was in the human world.

"Good, I'll keep in touch." He replied, quickly moving to the headquarters of the Third Division, leaving the third seated officer with only a smile.

Had he been more attentive, he may have noted the very same officer now adopting a smirk rather than a friendly smile, as he rose from his seat and casually strolled towards the Captain's desk that Kira had been sitting on. The very same one that Aizen used to sit in, before he left Seireitei, the officer maintained his smile and strolled out, wanting to make sure that everything was prepared for the right moment.

"Everything under control." He mused, before walking down a hallway which was now much darker than before.