Hello all! Long time no update, huh? *laughs nervously* hehe, eh. Yeah, sorry about that. Life's been... yeah. So, sorry. Um, hope you enjoy the chapter though! And thanks a million to those who haven't given up on the story! I uber appreciate it!

The entire eleventh squad had been assembled. Yumichika was now standing next to Ikkaku, awaiting orders from their invincible captain. Finally, Zaraki arrived, towering above all others in the room.

"Listen up!" The room immediately went silent.

"We just got word of a flood of hollows entering the real world, all Menos level and above. We've been assigned to destroy all hollows along with finding out where they're coming from. Got it?"

Kenpatchi grinned as he was met with prompt agreements. The squad then followed him as they exited Soul Society and entered the real world. Even as he was barking orders, all could see their captains excitement at the prospect of a possibly challenging battle.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were a bit disappointed when they were assigned to take the east side of town as appose to closer to the center when the stream of hollow, and their captain, would be. However, they were never ones to question orders and understood that their strength was needed elsewhere.

As they traveled, Yumichika took in the state of the town. This was going to be a mess to fix. There were parts of the town that were completely in ruins. Menos firing ceros off at random, sometimes as a group. Adjuchas ordered the Gillian to do their will, ripping apart the landscape to reach their victims. The humans in the area ran and screamed in confusion, not understanding the destruction that, to them, appeared to have no source. For a moment, Yumichika thought he caught a glimpse of a certain orange-haired shinigami, but the next moment he was gone.

Ikkaku and Yumichika landed outside a shopping mall, humans flooding out of the building that, unknown to them, was covered with adjuchas. The third and fifth seat immediately set to work, first focusing on saving the souls being attacked.

"Grow, Hozukimaru!"

"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika winced as he heard a frustrated and indignant screech in the back of his mind. He quickly shook his head and ignored it, concentrating on the battle ahead.

Yumichika and Ikkaku split up, each taking a separate side of the damaged mall. Ikkaku swung his staff down hard at an adjuchas that had a screaming woman in its hand. The creature cried out as the now-severed limb fell to the ground, the panicked woman running as far away from the building as she could. With a few quick strikes, the furious adjuchas was no more. Soon, the surrounding adjuchas met a similar fate.

Meanwhile, the feathered shinigami found himself on the roof, desperately trying to kill as many foes as he could. He had noticed as he ascended the building, that despite the many people exiting the mall, a good deal were still inside, trying to find loved ones, lost, trapped, or simply fighting to get through the crowds. The structure had taken a lot of damage from the adjuchas' attack, and Yumichka wondered how much longer it would stand before collapsing. As such, He knew that they would have to win this battle quickly.

However, this was soon becoming a problem. Yumichika yelped as he was sent flying forward by a scaly tentacle that cracked against his back like a whip. He rushed to pick himself up, turning around to see the tall monster that had attacked him. With a few swipes of his sword, the hollow was no more. Yet he still found himself on the ground in pain mere moments after. This time he found himself facing a very large, clawed creature, somewhat resembling a horrific bear. Again and again, Yumichika would defeat one enemy, only to find himself being attacked from behind my one of the numerous others. There were just too many.

Time passed. Too much time. The soul reaper wondered if his friend was having as much trouble as he was, only to have his question answered moments later when Ikkaku crashed through the floor beside him, groaning in pain.

Rising from the ground, the two shinigami stood side by side as they were swiftly surrounded. They were both bruised and bloody and were now encircled by towering adjuchas. Their were so many and they were so strong. Yumichika looked at his companion and knew the situation was worse than he thought. Ikkaku had made a mistake. He had gone into this battle determined as ever not to reveal his bankai. And as a result, now that he really needed his bankai, he no longer had enough reiatsu to use it even if he wanted to. He said some colorful words under his breath, cursing the whole situation. Yumichika looked at Ikkaku worriedly.

You can win this you know.

Yumichika almost jumped at his swords voice. He growled slightly.

Not now, Kujaku.

Yes, now. Before you allow yourself, your friend, and innocent people to be killed.

The soul reaper bit his lip. He knew his sword was right, but… He glanced over at Ikkaku. He remembered all the times he had been shoved aside, practically threatened if he even considered assisting him in a fight. He remembered all the rants about pride, and dying honorably. He remembered the harsh words against Kido. But then he remembered something else… something he had heard the gentle thirteenth division captain say. There are two types of battle…

He looked at Ikkaku again and realized, this had nothing to do with pride. It was not some battle that his friend had thrown himself into hoping to have a decent opponent. Heck, this wasn't even really Ikkaku's fight. It was a mission, both of theirs, together. One that if they failed they would pay for with their own lives as well as others. And he had to do something.

Please…

Yumichika felt as if he couldn't breath. His lungs simply wouldn't take in enough air. He wondered, if the price was too much. If he really would rather die that have Ikkaku look down upon him. Actually, he knew he would rather die than have Ikkaku look down upon him. But he also could not live if innocent people died because of him. If Ikkaku died…

Yumichika squared his shoulders, fixing his gaze ahead and raising his sword above his head. Out of the corned of his eye, he saw Ikkaku looked at him, confused. The lack of oxygen returned and he felt his resolve weaken slightly, his eyes suddenly downcast and clenched shut. But he did not stop the word that came out of his mouth.

"Split and Deviate."

Ikkaku's eyes widened slightly.

"…Ruri'iro Kujaku…"

CLIFF HANGER!!! Oh, I'm so mean. Hehe. Actually, If I had to guess, there's probably only going to be two or three more chapters and possibly an epilogue. I pretty much know what I'm doing from this point, so It shouldn't take that long to finish. Thanks you all for reading and if you feel like taking it one step further, just click that lovely 'review' button down there! Thanks again all!