Disclaimer: Do we really still need these? *Sigh*...alright...*Raises hand to the air as lightning strikes behind me and I laugh a horrible, souless laugh*...FOOLISH MORTALS! I DO NOT OWN BLEACH! BUT I STILL OWN...YOUR SOULS!


Chapter 7: Espada


It was June 17, cold and raining in the town of Karakura. Odds were, no one would be out walking today , but even if they were he knew no one would have seen him. To the outside world he was invisible. The only people who would be able to see him were not here, not today.

He stood at the edge of the bridge...of course he knew that there were plenty of bridges in Karakura, but to him this would always be the bridge. The bridge where, six years ago, his entire life changed totally and utterly. There was no use thinking about how things might have been different had it not happened. How he might never have met Stark and Lilinette, how he might even have eventually joined the wretched Shinigami rather then combating them as he did now. His fate was his own, and nothing was going to change that. He was an Arrancar, and he liked his life. He liked Grimmjow and Stark and his loudmouthed little sister, and while he may not have liked Aizen very much, he wouldn't deny that he owned everything to that man. Would he have grown up to be a normal boy? Maybe, but then maybe not. Nobody could possibly know how things 'might have been', and honestly he liked it that way.

His name was Kurosaki Ichigo, and he was the Quinto Espada.

Ichigo looked down at his reflection in the pool and, not for the first time, marveled at his new appearance. On his outside appearance, few people would ever have guessed that he was anything other then a Shinigami. His tight-fitting white coat with it's long, billowing tails looked to be the very essence of sophistication, while still looking as though it were well suited for battle. His eyes were normal looking enough, brown in color though with a hidden strength held barely at bay, just beneath the surface. His hair was of medium length, orange-blond in color, and slightly wild in nature. His Zanpakuto, an ordinary Katana shape, was strapped to his side, it's handle wrappings jet black and it's cross-guard shaped like an ordinary rectangle, one of only two things that would betray him as anything other then a human if you couldn't sense spiritual energy. The other thing which showed his true nature was the small bone fragment which adhered to the left side of his face, little more then a long, thin strip which contoured to the angle of his jaw-line. Attached to the very back of this fragment was a short, L-shaped curve which ended in a single large tooth.

Ichigo reached up to his pure white coat and opened up it's front, revealing his hollow hole, directly in the middle of his chest, right in-between his two pecs. On his left pectoral muscle, directly over where his heart should be, was a stylized number 5, signifying his rank as the 5th strongest member of the Espada. It wouldn't stay that way for long of course. He and Grimmjow were so close in strength that they were constantly switching back and forth. Every week or so they would fly out over the sands of Hueco Mundo and attack each other with everything that they had. Aizen had Szayel Aporro set up their tatoos so that they would shift beween their two numbers depending on whoever happened to win the last fight. Currently, Grimmjow had managed to best Ichigo last time, which meant that he had the right to be called the Cuarto.

As for the others, well, there as never any doubt that Stark would be the Primera, his number 1 tatooed to the back of his right hand.

Barragan had, much to Ichigo's annoyance, become the Segunda, his tatoo placed on the back of his scarred eye (Ichigo assumed that he chose this place because it insulted him to be thought of as the second strongest Espada, on top his commander being a Shinigami, and he didn't want people to be able to see it).

Tia Harribel had claimed the title of the Tercera, and she was just as provocative in her Arrancar form as she was as a hollow, wearing skimply clothes and having her number tatooed on the underside of her breast.

After that, the Sexto Espada was a new being whom Ichigo had never met before, an Adjuchas by the name of Ulquiorra Cifer, a strange little nihilistic man who had the tendency to creep Ichigo out and who had his own tatoo on the reverse side of his chest as Ichigo himself did.

The Septimo Espada was a remarkably pretty woman with green hair named Nelliel Tu Odelshwanck, more commonly referred to as "Nel". Ichigo liked Nel, and she seemed to like him. She didn't seem to have any of the more ruthless and bloodthirsty qualities that so many of the other Hollows (including his friend Grimmjow and even occasionally Stark) posessed. Because of that, Ichigo would occasionally spar with her, though their fights were usually quite short and always ended in Ichigo's favor. Her tatoo was large and placed directly over her back.

The Octavo, Noveno, and Decimo Espadas had recently been replaced. The old group, whom Ichigo had never really talked much to, but had been clearly worlds weaker then any of the Espada above them, had been named Dordoni Alessandro del Somethingoranother, Cirucci Sanderwicci, and Gantenbainne Mosqueda. The new Espada however were significantly stronger, though in general Ichigo had preferred the older Espada. To his great suprise and chagrin, the new Octavo was Ichigo's old enemy Nnoitra Jiruga, just as foul and unpleasant as ever (and for some reason absolutely hateful of Nel), with his tatoo placed directly on his triangular tounge. The new Noveno Espada wasn't so bad, a calm and quiet sort of fellow named Zommari Leroux, whom Ichigo didn't know all that much about, except that he had a wicked fast Sonido for being the 9th Espada. The Decimo however was worse then Barragan and Nnoitra combined as far as Ichigo was concerned. A completely moralless and compassionless creep named Szayel Aporro Grantz, who fancied himself a scientist. Well if the average scientist were anything like this guy, Ichigo didn't want to have anything to do with them. He wasn't as strong, but he was as disturbingly creepy as Gin and as sadistic and vicious as Nnoitra.

Ichigo supposed that his new little family had it's bad eggs as well as it's good. Lilinette was happy as Stark's Fraccion (she had wanted to be Ichigo's Fraccion, but Ichigo had insisted that Stark would be better able to keep her safe from harm), Ichigo's and Grimmjow's rivalry was stronger then ever, and those whom Ichigo didn't like he could avoid easily enough.

And as he said before...he might still dislike Aizen, and he might still think that the guy was evil, but he owed him everything. Because where becoming a Vasto Lorde had failed, becoming an Arrancar had succeeded. He could now stand here in Karakura town, without any worry of ever having to possibly bring anybody to harm...without any worry of even harming the Kurosaki family. Did he still feel the draw to feed and to kill? Yes, he did, just as any human feels the draw to eat. But he wasn't a beast any longer. He could look his insticts in the eyes and say 'to hell with you'!

Ichigo grinned. Life...er...Death was good!


Uryuu jumped into the air just in time before Chad's fist hit the ground where he had been standing, leaving a small crater in the ground. He reached up to his bow and pulled the string back, an arrow ready to fire at his friend and sparring partner. Before he could release the attack, he felt a second presence behind him, and swivled in mid-air. Tatsuki was floating above him, standing in a boxing pose with both her fists raised and ready to punch, a pale glowing light around her fists.

"Take this!" Tatsuki yelled, throwing a typical one-two boxing punch. With each jab, a gust of high-pressure air shot foreward at her foe.

Uryuu fired his bow, the arrow passing straight through the air shots without either attack being effected, and again pivoted around in mid air. He felt a surge of satisfaction as he heard Tatsuki let out a hiss of pain as his arrow grazed across her shoulder. Her own attacks barely missed Uryuu, instead flying past him and slamming into Chad, who grunted as the force of the attack pushed him back, though he didn't allow his feet to leave the ground.

From the sidelines of the battle, Orihime sat smiling and cheering, "GO TATSUKI! YOU CAN DO IT!"

This day was much like any other day. Uryuu would spar with Chad and Tatsuki, Orihime would watch, and when they were finished, she would heal up their injuries. In the middle of these spars, Uryuu would commonly throw out bits and pieces of advice, but now that they all knew the basics of controling their spiritual energy, there really wasn't a lot that he could do. It was mostly just a matter of constant practice. To Orihime it was all quite fun, so long as she knew that no one was seriously trying to hurt each other. All three of her friends had made improvements, but Uryuu was still the best, and always came away with the least amount of injuries. Tatsuki was the most talented fighter, and Chad was the strongest in terms of sheer muscle, but neither of them had experience using spiritual combat as Uryuu did, and it showed.

Orihime quite enjoyed this time spent with friends. It was new to her. She wasn't sure what it was, but something other then just her gaining her new powers had happened that night. She was happy now, almost all the time. But she still felt as though she was waiting for something. What that something was, she didn't really know.

Suddenly, Uryuu froze. A look of shock appeared on his face and his two sparring partners ceased their attacks as they noticed that something was wrong.

"What is it Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked, concerned.

"I-I sense a Hollow." Uryuu responded, his voice almost pained.

Tatsuki scoffed, "Is that all? I thought that it was something dangerous. We've handled Hollows before."

Uryuu slowly shook his head, a bead of sweat rolling down his face, "You guys really need to learn how to sense spiritual energy. This isn't like any Hollow that I've ever felt before. It's power is...unreal."

Chad and Tatsuki glanced at each other, both conveying looks of apprehension, and began trying to locate this power for themselvs.

It was Orihime however, who found it first. Her eyes opened wide with shock as she felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity wash over her. Somehow, the same force that had Uryuu terrified with fear, filled her with comfort. Something clicked in her mind as she remembered the feeling that had washed over her the day that her powers had awoken. This was the same, though on a much lighter scale. She felt a sudden urge to seek the source of this comfort out.

Without warning, she dashed off towards the source. She could hear her friends yell out in shock after her, but she didn't care. Her instincts were telling her to find where this feeling was coming from, and she was going to do it.

Back with the group, Uryuu was staring after Orihime's diminishing form in shock. He couldn't believe that Orihime would dash off in the exact same direction as this terrible power. Surely she wasn't suicidal!

"Come on! We have to go after her!" he heard Tatsuki yell, and watched her and Chad dash off in the same direction that Orihime had gone. They didn't sense the power yet, but they would soon. Even if they were unskilled at sensing reiatsu, a power this huge would make itself known soon. His body didn't want to move. Still, these people were his comrades...perhaps even his friends. That wasn't a term that he was used to using, but he knew what it meant. Against his body's shreiking protests, he wiled his legs to move after them.


Ichigo turned his face down to glance at the 4 energy sources which were heading his way. They were not Shinigami, certainly, nor Hollows, although one of them seemed similar to a Hollow. Quite frankly, he wasn't sure what they were. All four of them were dismally tiny, normally too small to bother with, but his inability to recognize them had peaked his curiousity. One of them, the closest one, seemed unusually pleasant.

He turned his head down as a small group of people appeared in his peripheral vision on the side of the road that lead up to the bridge. He didn't recognize any of the people who were coming up to him, but it was clear that they could see him. The girl with strawberry blond hair in front in particular was staring right at him, something akin to awe on her face. He usually didn't care about these things either, but she was strikingly lovely, even to him.

"Who...who are you?" she asked.

Ichigo wasn't quite sure how to answer that. He wasn't even sure if he should answer it, considering that he had no idea who this person was.

Before he had a chance to respond however, the other three tiny powers caught up to the girl, "Orihime! Get away from there!" an annoying, slightly nasily voice called out, and a small bolt of energy shot towards him. The power was so pathetic that he didn't even feel the need to dodge or deflect the attack, simply allowing it to glance off of his face, his hierro not even scratched.

A remarkably large mexican man, not quite as tall as Nnoitra but far bulkier, dashed up to the girl that they had called Orihime and grabbed her by her waist, slinging her over his shoulder and retreating.

"Wait a minute Sado-kun!" she called out, indignantly, "I wanted to talk to him!"

The large man spoke in a remarkably calm voice for someone his size, "Please Orihime. I can sense him now, and Uryuu is quite right. He is clearly dangerous."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. He was only dangerous to people who had a reason to fear him, "Who are you people?" He asked, "You're not Shinigami, so why are you bothering me?"

The pencil-thin man with the dark hair spoke up, "I am Ishida Uryuu, the last of the Quincy, and we are the protectors of Karakura town. You're reiatsu is like that of a Hollow, but you don't look like a Hollow. What are you?"

Ichigo grinned his feral grin, "Wouldn't you like to know." he shrugged, "A Quincy huh? I thought that they were all wiped out by those bastard Shinigami?"

Ishida's eyes narrowed, "You thought wrong." he said, his fingers clearly itching to fire the large bow made of energy which he held in his left hand.

Ichigo, in contrast, rolled his eyes, "Obviously. You did just say that you were the last of them. So what are you doing here?"

Ishida responded by raising his bow, pointing it directly at Ichigo's forehead. Ichigo raised his eyebrow, "You gotta be kidding me. If you want to fight me, fine, but come back when you're good strong enough to not get creamed."

The Quincy was clearly angry now, but he was also clearly terrified. Ichigo could see the bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, could hear his heart beating violently in fear, could even smell the terror on him like he had been bathing in it just a moment ago. All things considered, Ichigo was impressed that the Quincy was able to stand so calmly, with a look of such determination on his face. All that was left to be seen was which would win out over the other, his fear or his determination.

Ichigo didn't know Ishida very well. The Quincy took only a moments diliberation before he jumped up, catapaulting himself into the air until he was hovering directly above Ichigo, "It doesn't matter how strong you are Hollow! I am the protector of Karakura town, and my Quincy pride will not allow me to run away!" and be began firing more arrows at Ichigo, one after another as fast as his fingers could move.

Chad and Tatsuki looked on in awe. They had never seen Uryuu go all out before with such abandon. His speed was impressive, and each arrow seemed to be stronger then the last. The arrows were hitting not only Ichigo, but the pavement all around him, causing small explosions of dust that obscured their vision. But they couldn't believe that anything could take that kind of onslaught. Most Hollows fell after just one arrow.

After firing at least 100 arrows, Ishida seemed to let go of his hold on the air and gently continued on the path of his original arc, landing a few feel behind Ichigo before swivling on his heel and firing a final arrow into the dust cloud.

The tension in the air was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Tatsuki and Chad stared, their eyes wide with anticipation. Orihime looked on with worry and apprehension. Uryuu's face was unreadable. They all watched as the dust slowly began to dissipate and settle.

Suddenly, Uryuu's eyes opened wide in shock. He fell to his knees and clutched his gut with one hand, steadying himself with his other on the ground and hacking up a splot of blood on the paved road. Ichigo seemed to faze into existance a fraction of a moment later, standing behind Uryuu, the tips of his right-hand fingers covered in blood. No one could even tell what he had done, except that he had, so fast that they hadn't even seen it, attacked Uryuu and then appeared behind him. He appeard to be uninjured

Chad charged first, his armored right arm charging up one of his enormous power strikes. Ichigo waited lazily and, a moment before Chad reached him, shot his hand out to grab onto his foe's fist. The energy contained in the large boy's arm exploded outward, making Ichigo's coat whip about as though in a heavy wind, but left the Hollow himself unharmed. The next thing that Chad knew, Ichigo's knee had been violently introduced to his own kidney, and he fell to the ground, his teeth clenched in pain.

Tatsuki tried next, hoping that her own ramarkable speed would give her an edge. She activated her wind powers, causing blade-like whirlwinds to engulf her hands and feet, and a ribbon-like stream of wind to roll over her eyes, strangely sharpening her vision. Knowing that she would never get anywhere playing defensively, she went on the attack, her martial arts training serving her well as she punched and kicked with expert precision.

Ichigo grinned as he shifted his body around each of her strikes effortlessly, "Hey, you're actually pretty good, as far as combat skills go." his grin shifted almost imperceptively into a smirk as he deflected one of her punches and, with blinding speed, struck at her tricep with the back of his hand. Tatsuki bit her lip and clutched at her now throbbing arm with her remaining hand. Ichigo didn't waist any time sending her a strike to her jaw, sending her flying up a few feet before falling back down.

Ichigo grinned as he stood over her, "You seem to be pretty well into hand-to-hand combat, female." he said with a smirk, "You're pretty decent at it too." Tatsuki glared at him, his patronization simply enraging her more, "So here's a little tip I learned from my dear old dad," Ichigo continued, "Attack your opponent's attacking arm or leg. It's usually the worst defended part, and it can do wonders for disabling your enemy."

Without any warning Tatsuki swung her leg up at him, sending the swirling blade of wind flying from her foot and into his face. The blow didn't even cause him to flinch, though he did look annoyed. Slowly he raised his hand up to his face and began rubbing his eye with his thumb.

"You got dust in my eye." he said, and he gritted his teeth and snarled, "You really need to learn when to quit." he raised his foot as though to stop it into her gut. Tatsuki felt a shiver of fear roll down her spine, though she refused to show it on her face.

"Please stop Hollow-san." a pleasant voice said, and Tatsuki was surprised to see Orihime, standing resolutely between the attacking Hollow and herself. She was so close to the Hollow that she could have leaned forward and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Orihime, run!" she yelled desperately, "This guy will tear you apart!"

Orihime simply shook her head and smiled, "No he won't...he isn't like that." Tatsuki stared at her friend as though she had lost her mind.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "How would you know what I'm like?" he asked

Orihime shrugged, "I'm not sure...I just do."

Ichigo looked confused for a moment, but then he simply rolled his eyes and placed his foot gently back on the ground, "They said your name is Orihime, right?" he asked.

The girl nodded, her smile seeming to grow even larger then before, "Yes, I am Ino'ue Orihime.

The Hollow smirked and wordlessly turned away from her and began walking away. Orihime looked confused at his retreating figure. After he had walked a few feet, he stopped, "Well Orihime..." he paused for a moment, before vanishing with a strange sound like static noise. A fraction of a second later, he was in front of her, his sword drawn and placed at her temple, "You really shouldn't trust me so much."

Orihime didn't flinch, recoil, or give any indication that she even noticed the deadly piece of metal which was placed against her head, "You won't hurt me." she spoke knowingly, and she placed a single hand on his sword.

"Get away from Orihime, you monster!"

Uryuu had risen back to his feet. A remarkable accomplishment considering the thin, but deep hole in his gut. For a human, which is essentially what Quincy are, he shouldn't be able to have forced himself up. A thin line of blood rolled down the corner of his mouth and even more leaked from the injury which Ichigo had given him. His bow was pointed directly at Ichigo's head, but with Orihime directly behind Ichigo in the path of the arrow, he dared not fire it.

Ichigo calmly walked up to the Quincy, his face frowning now as he saw Ishida's hands which were shaking with the effort of trying to keep his bow strung. Ichigo continued to walk until his forehead was less then half a foot away from the tip of Ishida's arrow. Ishida didn't mean to, not yet, but his hand was weak and he let his arrow slip out of his hand. The glowing blue bolt shot towards Ichigo's head, but never reached him. Ichigo's free hand shot up faster then the eye could follow and caught the arrow between two fingers. After a moment he snapped the bolt as easily as if it had been a toothpick and continued walking.

Ishida tried to take a step back, but his legs gave out on him and he fell to one knee, clutching in pain at his wound.

Ichigo continued to frown, "You really should have known not to attack me. You must have realized that I was completely out of your league." He smirked and took few more steps, passing Uryuu by without so much as a glance, "If you want a rematch...get stronger first. I'll be waiting."

He swung his arm lazily and the garganta appeared in midair before him. He stepped into it and waved his hand again, causing the gaping maw in the air to close up behind him. A moment before it dissapeared completely, the Hollow boy thought of something and turned back, "By the way, my name is Ichigo." and he was gone.

Orihime stared for a moment at the place in the air where he had vanished, her mind contemplating everything that had happened. She then remembered Uryuu laying on the ground, injured, and rushed over to him.

"Are you alright, Ishida-kun?" she asked, her voice laced with worry, "Please don't move for a moment, 'Soten Kisshun, I Reject!'" Her hairpins began glowing and transformed into two of her fairy helpers, Shun'o and Ayame, who formed into a small elliptical energy field over Uryuu's wound. The damage immediately began healing.

Chad and Tatsuki, both of whom were now back on their feet, walked over to Orihime. Tatsuki placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Orihime, why did you run off like that?"

Orihime smiled sheepishly, "I don't know...I just felt it. It felt so comforting to me."

Tatsuki glanced at Chad and they exchanged a look of worry. Before they could say anything however, Uryuu rose to his feet, Orihime's healing powers having mostly revived him, though his movements were still labored. He began to walk down the street, still clutching his chest in pain.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime called out in shock, "You shouldn't be moving so soon!"

Uryuu ignored her, "He'll be coming back." the Quincy spoke, his voice full of anger at the world and himself, "That hollow will be coming back, I can tell. When he does, we need to be ready. No more half-hearted training to make incrimental improvements. We need to push ourselves to our limits...I need to push myself to my limits."

Chad nodded and stood, "What do you want us to do?" he asked.

Uryuu grimaced, "I want you three...to go talk to this shopkeeper, Kisuke Urahara, so as that he can train you all properly. I will be training alone."

Tatsuki looked astounded, "What do you mean, 'training alone'?" she asked, "You're just going to ditch us!"

Uryuu turned his head slightly back to look at the girl, his face set in a look of stony determination, "What I shall be doing is personal...and while I'm doing it, I can't do anything for you three."

And with that, the pround young Quincy turned back and began walking down the street through the rain.


Kisuke Urahara smiled knowingly and mischeviously as he watched everything that had transpired from a nearby rooftop, his own spiritual pressure carefully concealed. Kurosaki Ichigo was certainly the most interesting being that he had ever met. His careful analysis of the boy's reiatsu had shown him some remarkable results. It was that of a Hollow, definately, in fact it was an extremely potent and concentrated form of Hollow reiatsu, even for a Vasto Lorde, though rather turbulent in nature. However there was another, more surprising form of reiatsu which was underlining that.

It is important to note that reiatsu never actually leaves a being totally. It can change form, be overrun by a different kind of reiatsu, even be mostly replaced by certain types of transformations, but it never went away entirely. As such, even the oldest and strongest Hollows still had some form of human spiritual pressure within them, even if it was such a tiny amount that it took an advanced tool of Urahara's own making to find it.

Urahara had expected to find some human siritual pressure component within Ichigo's reiatsu, but not nearly as much as he had, and certainly not Shinigami as well. But that was exactly what he had found. Over 1 in 2000 parts of Ichigo's reiatsu was human, and nearly 1 in 4500 was actually Shinigami spiritual energy. This was increadible when you considered that most Hollows had about 1 in 100,000 parts human spiritual power, and absolutely no Shinigami power whatsoever. There was only one possible explination. He already contained both an unnaturally high concentration of human reiatsu when he was alive, easily explaining why he was able to see spirits even when he was a living child, as well as a certain amount of Shinigami power, which could only concievably come from his father.

The problem with this theory was that Kurosaki Isshin was not the first Shinigami to forsake his own duties and claim a life on earth. None of the past children of these people had anything unique about them other then a uniquely strong spiritual pressure for a living human. What made Ichigo different had to be that he had not only a special father, but a special mother as well. Somehow, being the child of both a Shinigami captain and an Arrancar, allowed him to develop portions of both types of reiatsu. He had confirmed this by taking a sample of both Karin's and Yuzu's reiatsu. Both had confirmed the same thing.

Urahara smiled sagely as he watched his four protoge's down below, young Uryuu Ishida walking away from the others, his walk filled with determination. Urahara knew what he was going to do, and he wasn't about to stop the boy. It was dangeorus, true, but it was what Uryuu needed.

And as for the girl...yes...that was certainly an interesting case. Somehow, she was immune to Kurosaki's crushing and destructive reiatsu. Actually, she was more then immune to it, she seemed to be drawn in to it like a magnet, or more accurately like it was some sort of powerful pheramone. Urahara was immensely curious as to what exactly was the cause of this phenomenon, the likes of which he had never encountered before.

They would come to his shop, and he wouldn't turn them away. Something was brewing, and though he couldn't be sure exactly what, he knew that they needed to be ready. He supposed he might call in a favor from Yoruichi for one of them. She might be happy with that, or she might not be, but she would do it either way. It would be good for her. Tatsuki would be a good choice for that. They were not dissimilar in character, and Tatsuki's specific abilities would probably mesh well with Yoruichi's teachings. Sado would be more difficult. He supposed that he could train the boy personally, though he honestly wasn't sure that he would be the best mentor for the boy.

As for Orihime...she would be kept a very close watch on.


Ichigo walked back through Las Noches as a pace slightly faster then strictly necessary. A moderately powerful force was following him, and he knew exactly who it was. And quite honestly, he wasn't in much of a mood to put up with Nnoitra's antics at the moment.

"Kurosaki." he heard the worlds biggest ass call out to him from a few feet behind. He heard the guy well enough, but decided to pretend that he didn't. "KUROSAKI!" Nnoitra now yelled at him.

Ichigo sighed and turned back, crossing his arms over his chest, "What is it Nnoitra?"

The taller Espada looked annoyed to say the least, "Lord Aizen has called a meeting. He said that we're all supposed to attend. Seems like some important shit is about to go down. I was supposed to gather everyone up..." Nnoitra looked as though he was angry to have been reduced to a mere messenger man.

Ichigo nodded, relieved that Nnoitra wasn't trying to pick a fight again, "Fine, I'll be there in a moment."

Nnoitra nodded and started to turn away, "Oh, go fetch Nelliel for me, will ya? I'd rather not bother with that b**** outside of combat."

Ichigo glared at Nnoitra's crude words, but he nodded his consent. Nnoitra scoffed and sneered at him, before turning away. Ichigo turned towards Nel's own palace within Las Noches. A moment before Nnoitra was out of range, Ichigo thought that he felt something very much like killing intent, but he brushed it off as his imagination and continued on.


Ichigo walked through the Nel's own personal palace, searching for the girlish Espada. He sensed a pair of weaker spiritual pressures ahead of him, just behind a nearby L turn. Ichigo passed it by and saw two familliar figures.

"Lord Ichigo!" Peshe exclaimed, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Yeah! How are ya?" Dondochakka added in.

Ichigo smiled at Nel's two Fraccion, "Hey guys, I need to find Nel, if you know where she is. Aizen is having a meeting of the Espada."

Peshe nodded, "Of course. Master Nel will be thrilled to see you. Right this way."

Ichigo followed the two Fraccion, Dondochakka asking him question after annoying question, Peshe apparently thrilled to be bringing someone whom Nel was fond of to her. They we'ren't the strongest, or exactly the smartest guys in Las Noches, but they were absolutely loyal, friendly, and meant well, so Ichigo liked them well enough. After a few moments, Ichigo sensed a pulse of Spiritual energy, significantly stronger then Nnoitra's, though nowhere near as intrinsically repulsive.

A moment after that, a second power, stronger still, entered his sensing range directly next to the first. This one was extremely familliar to Ichigo.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked, confused, "What's he doing here?"

Peshe looked confused as well, and somewhat annoyed, "Lord Grimmjow? I was unaware. Master Nel will not be happy."

That was an understatement. Ichigo didn't know why, but Nel seriously didn't like Grimmjow, almost as much as she didn't like Nnoitra, "I'd better run ahead and make sure they aren't fighting," he said, "Thanks for taking me this far." and he dashed off as Peshe stated that he was happy to do so.

Ichigo heard his two fellow Espada before he saw them, "You are a beast, not a warrior! How dare you try to lecture me on what true strength is!"

"Watch who you're calling a warrior, woman! Don't forget which number it is that you have on your back!"

"You may have more power then me...but you will never understand what true strength is."

Ichgo reached a clearing and saw the two familliar figures of Grimmjow and Nel stading a few feet away from each other, Grimmjow with his hands clenched into clawed fists, Nel with her arms crossed over her chest. Both were looking at the other with something along the lines of contempt.

Ichigo called out to them, "HEY! What the heck is going on around here!"

Nel turned to look at Ichigo in surprise, and her expression immediately transformed from anger to sheer joy, "ICHIGO!" She called out, dashing at him and wrapping him in a tight, almost painful hug, "It's so good to see you!"

Grimmjow, by contrast, actually looked upset about something...his eyes were narrowed in mistrust as Ichigo tried to pry Nel off of himself, "What the hell are you doing here, Ichigo?" the panther Espada asked.

Ichigo shrugged, "That bug, Nnoitra, told me that Aizen has called a meeting of the Espada. He asked me to go get Nel."

Grimmjow scowled, "Why would he tell you that? I already volunteered to go get Nel. He knew that."

Ichigo shrugged, "Why does he do anything? He's an ass who just likes messing with people." Although in spite of what he said, Ichigo too felt that it was odd.

Ichigo suddenly realized that Grimmjow was still glaring at him as though he didn't trust him.

"Are you angry with me Grimmjow?" he asked, confused. He couldn't see what Grimmjow would be angry about. Sure he seemed to have been having a fight with Nel, but Grimmjow loved a good fight. Usually it just put him into a better mood.

Grimmjow simply scoffed, "Don't be stupid!" he growled, "I'm always mad at someone. Let's go." And the Quarto Espada began walking away, in the general direction of Aizen's central tower.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Nel, who simply crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Grimmjow's receeding form, "Don't try to understand him Ichigo. The chaotic actions of a beast are not something which civilized people can understand."

"SHUT UP!" Grimmjow screamed, suddenly and unexpectedly, "CERO!"

Ichigo's hand shot instictively towards his sword, but Grimmjow hadn't aimed his blast at either himself or Nel. Rather, a large cone of blue-ish white energy flew towards a random structure, quickly rendering it to dust.

Before anyone could react, Grimmjow's Sonido had moved him up within a few inches of Nel's face, "What gives you the right to judge me?" he seethed, his hands forming into claws, but held slightly behind himself, as though he were trying very hard to refrain from strangling her, "Nothing! Maybe I am a beast, but that doesn't give you any right to judge me!"

To her credit, Nel didn't budge an inch, simply continuing to glare at Grimmjow, "When this meeting is over," she said, "You're going to fix the damage that you just did."

Grimmjow growled and snarled like a jungle cat for a moment, but then quieted down, "Yeah, fine." he said, and turned back around. He took a few steps and turned to look at Ichigo again, "Like I said, let's go."


Ichigo sat down at one of the two remaining empty seats at the oval table, after Nel and Grimmjow had taken their own. Most of the rest of the Espada were already here, not that this surprised him, considering how much time his two fellow Espada's argument had taken. Only Stark hadn't arrived yet, which surprised Ichigo even less, lazy as he knew that his adopted father could be.

Ichigo looked over the dark room impatiently. Waiting had never suited him well, and he was currently drumming his fingers on the marble table in front of him. Aizen or not, this was boring as heck.

A large door opened in the back of the room, a silhoette in the doorway obscured by the large differnce in light between this room and the next. Ichigo almost scoffed. For a guy who seemed to have no fear or need for humanity, Aizen sure liked to make an entrance.

"Good evening my Espada," Aizen spoke, "How are you all today?"

The responce to this, Ichigo noted, was varied. Ichigo himself didn't so much as move, Grimmjow and Barragan simply glared even harder then they had been, while Nnoitra clenched his teeth, Ulquiorra gave a slight nod but otherwise remained expressionless, Halibel, Nel, Zommari, and Szayel Apporo were the only ones who politely responded that they were well.

"Excellent. I notice that we seem to be one short." Aizen turned and directly addressed Ichigo, "Do you know where Stark is?" he asked.

Ichigo shrugged, "Havn't seen him today. But knowing him he'll probably get here in his own sweet time."

Ichigo noticed Halibel glare at him, as though to say that he shouldn't be speaking with Lord Aizen in such a familliar manner. Ichigo shrugged as if to reply 'what do you care?'.

Aizen waved his hand dismissedly, "No matter," he stated, "I'm sure that someone else can inform him after the meeting."

"No need Lord Aizen, I am here."

Everyone present turned to view Coyote Stark as he slowly approached the table from the entrance opposite the one Aizen had entered from, his trademark bored look plastered across his face. The Primera Espada took a few steps into the room and gently sat down at the only available seat next to Ichigo and placed his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers. Ichigo smiled at him and he gave a brief smile back before focusing on their Shinigami master.

Aizen smiled pleasantly at Stark as well, "I am glad that you could join us Stark." he said as he nodded. Ichigo smirked. If anyone else, even Ulquiorra or Halibel, showed up late, they would be in very big trouble.

"I am sure that you are all wondering what I have called you all here for today." There was a round of general consensus at this statement by the Espada before Aizen continued, "I am happy to inform you that the object of our desire, the Hogyoku, has been descovered."

The reaction, again, was varied, ranging amongst the group from excitement to indifference. Grimmjow was the one who spoke up first however, "Yeah? And what does that mean for us?"

Aizen didn't move his head, but his eyes flicked over to Grimmjow as he replied, "It means, Grimmjow Jagerjaques, that we will soon have the means to build up an army great enough to wage war on Soul Society. You will have your battle soon enough."

Grimmjow grinned, but Ichigo wasn't so sure, "You said that you know where it is," Ichigo noted, "Not that you know how to get it. So where is it?"

Aizen smiled his evil smile, "In a place that you should be quite familliar with, Kurosaki Ichigo, which is precicely why I am tasking you with retrieving it. The Hogyoku is currently in Karakura town."

Ichigo felt for a moment as though he had stopped breathing.


Reviews!

Chyseilas: Uryuu having a crush on Orihime? I didn't mean to imply that. He's just a gentleman by nature, and cannot stop himself from helping people who are in need of it, especially girls. Doesn't mean that he has a crush on her.

Firebane5: I am aware that sometimes my writing is not totally polished. I am making strides to fix that. Razeal's arm is sort of like the T-1000 from Terminator 2, in that it can shape itself into any shape or form imaginable. However it is just his arm, and not the rest of him. He does have an advantage over the T-1000 in that he can also charge his arm with spiritual power, thus allowing him to form cannons, turn small pieces of it into a super powerful explosion, or energize his blade like so that it can cut through almost anything. And don't worry, Ichigo's form will change, but not too significantly :)

Tia'RaHu: Thanks for the input. No, Ulquiorra will not be staying at the rank of the 4th Espada. Grimmjow's jump from Adjuchas to Vasto Lorde has made him significantly more powerful then any Adjuchas Arrancar, which is what Ulquiorra is (at least in my story). However, that doesn't mean that Ulquiorra can't hold his own. He is still the strongest of all the Adjuchas, and eventually does graduate to a Vasto Lorde form (his second released form). Also, just because Ichigo is a bit stronger then him, doesn't at all mean that he isn't a danger and a threat. Don't forget that the then Octova Espada was able to trick the then Tercera Espada to break her power and get her thrown out of Las Noches ;)

Livin'A-Chain: Really? I always thought that Aizen was his given name. Darn Japanese style messing me up ,'( I still aren't totally sure about which one of Zaraki's names is his first.

silverspetz: Hey silver :D, I'mma back...again...huh, a beautiful bastard? Never been called that before. I like it! Yeah, Stark was totally OOC in the flashback, but that was exactly the point, to help explain why he is the way that he is now. As for the Karakura group, I think that I have given a bit of a teaser here as to what they are going to be like when they finally storm Seireitei. Ichigo doesn't really like or dislike them at this point, though he is curious about them.

As for how Stark and Ichigo will feel about Aizen...Ichigo still knows how evil he is and still hates him for it (Hollows can just sense those things, you know), but he also feels that he owes Aizen his life for what he did for him. Without Aizen, Ichigo would still be a monster, and so Ichigo is indebted to him in a way that, at least for now, he feels that he will never betray Aizen. Stark is still wary of Aizen, and doesn't think as highly of him as he did in the cannon story (because in this version, he already had a family and thus Aizen didn't give him so much), but Stark is also increadibly intelligent (like a genius of common sense I suppose you could say) and is willing to stay with Aizen for now.

Doubleblade Miriko: Thanks a lot. Your analysis of everything that I have done is spot on. Urahara, Grimmjow, Ichigo, and Stark, they all have their parts to play, not to mention Isshin, Orihime, Aizen, Nelliel, Uryuu, Chad, and Tatsuki. Yeah, honestly I don't think that it was ever confirmed what any of the Espada were outside of Aaroniero who was a Gillian, and Grimmjow who was an Adjuchas. But I've always figured that Stark, Barragan, and Halibel were Vasto Lorde, while everyone beneath them (not counting Aaroniero) were Adjuchas. All this is true in my story as well, except that Grimmjow was driven to greater power due to his rivalry with Ichigo and became a Vasto Lorde as well.

BTW, I read on your profile that you placed my story onto your list of "legendary" stories...and I must say that I couldn't possibly be more flattered. Thanks a lot :)

Somerlia: Thanks a bunch, and you don't have to worry. Orihime will have a major role in this story, and she will very much fall in love with Ichigo all over again. Ichigo is still himself in regards to this, but being a Hollow, he is much more in tune with his instincts and so probably will react to her adoration much sooner. But don't expect him to be all lovey-dovey either. That's not Ichigo, really XD.

Everyone else: Thank you all so much :D I hope that you all realize just how much I appreciate the kind words. I love writing, but more then that, I love giving people a piece of literary art which they can enjoy.