Chié and Cruz wandered around in the building, obviously bored. The betrayal of Yukiko had come as a shock, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. As they walked through the many corridors of Location Neo, they spotted Amaya walking in a rhythmic pace up the stairs, her long hair dancing behind her. The two glanced at each other, and decided to follow since there was nothing better to do. They would've questioned Yukiko, but she was in high-security lockdown and Kanna wouldn't let anyone get near her without approval of Ulquiorra.

After a few minutes of following, it was clear Amaya was headed to the roof. Coincidentally that was also where Luna was relaxing. It seemed as though the Primera had decided to abandon her room permanently and claim the roof as her own territory. Since there were no hiding spots to spy on her, Cruz and Chié were left with nothing to do. But now they could at least overhear a conversation, but they had to be stealthy. Something that wasn't one of Cruz's strong points.

When they finally got to the roof, they stayed behind the door and listened closely. For a few seconds, nothing was said. There were some footsteps, but other than that only silence. Eventually, Amaya spoke.

"Hey, you look lonely. Where's Denetsu?" another silence. It seemed Luna was reluctant to talk. "So, I heard you made a new friend." Amaya continued in a cheerful, almost child-like manner. The two spies heard someone moving, probably Luna standing up.

"Who told you that?"

"Is it true?"

The two spies knew they were talking about Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it's none of your business."

"What are you doing, Luna? You know you'll get locked up like Yukiko if anyone catches you. Doesn't that concern you?"

"All I did was talk to him. You're making it sound like I slept with him or something."

"Do you want to?" Amaya chuckled and there was a loud, frustrated sigh from Luna.

"If you want a serious conversation, I suggest you stop being annoying."

"I still want a rematch." both Chié and Cruz were now tense. If these two started to fight right now, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand the reiatsu and collapse on the ground.

"But that's not what you came here for. You didn't even come here to talk about Ichigo."

"You're on a first-name basis? You work fast."

"Stop avoiding the point." Luna, obviously, wasn't in the mood for games. She seemed agitated for some reason. Amaya decided not to dance around the issue any longer.

"What happened between you and Aurelio?" another cold silence. Chié could easily sense the change in Luna's reiatsu. She was getting angry.

"That doesn't concern you." she said in an unusual cold tone. It was unlike her to be so icy, usually she would start raising her voice and get in a defensive stance. However, Amaya disregarded this quickly and replied to her.

"Actually, it does. He's planning to kill you, you know. Or, at least, take over your rank."

"Yeah, I know. What else is new?" Luna seemed to relax a little again.

"Doesn't this bother you?"

"Not in the least. He's been trying to ever since… never mind." Cruz could imagine a bitter smile plastered on the Primera's face.

"Skullak is into it too." There was a brief silence before Amaya continued. "Though it's more likely that he only wants you gone, presumably because he thinks you're an unfit leader."

"He's right. I don't lead, I don't follow. I don't even understand why I'm still here. Aizen can rot in Muken for all I care."

"So you run to the enemy for comfort?"

"For a fair fight."

"I could give you a fair fight!"

"You're still a child."

"Look who's talking." Both Cruz and Chié now peeked outside. They saw Luna standing in front of Amaya, a smirk displayed on her face. Amaya was smirking back. But then, Luna's face turned serious, and she sighed.

"You don't understand."

"Enlighten me!" Amaya seemed cheerful still.

"I want a fight to the death." The Segunda's smirk faded away and she seemed startled by this and looked at the Primera in bemusement. Luna looked away, her eyes off into space and blank. "There's nothing left for me here. There's no reason for me to go on. When I first met you, I thought you would be able to-"

"-To kill you." Luna smiled bitterly when her sentence was finished. Both Cruz and Chié gasped at this sudden revelation. Not once had they got that impression that she was suffering as was apparent now, but then again, Luna hadn't been close to anyone but Denetsu.

"Exactly. But I knew you wouldn't be able to kill me without a reason. You're good-natured. So I thought maybe the enemy could put an end to my misery. If he can defeat Aizen, he will have no problem finishing me off." Amaya looked shocked.

"You're… why would you want that?" Luna turned her back on her and walked to the edge of the building, sitting back on her original spot. "Luna, what did Aurelio do?"

"Leave."

"No! I want to know why-"

"-Then I'll leave." Luna got up, and opened a Garganta. It seemed she'd finally learned how to open one. Amaya frowned deeply.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?"

"Luna!" it was too late. The Garganta closed behind her. Amaya was left behind, partially frustrated and partially still puzzled. Cruz and Chié Sonido'd away before Amaya came back, and a few stories down they stopped and stared at each other.

"This is… this is really serious." Cruz muttered uneasily, scratching the back of her head. "What should we do?" Chié bit her lip.

"Maybe we should talk to Aurelio."


Yukiko stared down at the ground. So, so stupid. Why had she done that? Just why? Why did she have to care? She almost banged the back of her head against the wall. Now she was stuck here, chained down to the ground both hands and feet. Who'd seen her? That question plagued her mind constantly as she stared at the menacing white floor. Now she knew how Tōshirō had felt when being locked up in a place like this. The silence was unbearable. The walls seemed to be creeping towards her, the little cell she was in becoming smaller and smaller with the second.

She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep but that didn't help. She would have to wait until Aizen got back and decided her punishment which could be being degraded to be a Privaron or worse: execution. The only 'company' she had was Kanna, who just ignored her. Yukiko imagined it to be frustrating to the Tercera to be guarding her. Suddenly, she spoke.

"Why did you do it?" Kanna asked, her voice penetrating the walls and being heard by Yukiko, who was very surprised at this.

"He didn't deserve it." was her answer. Her ass started to hurt. She wished Ulquiorra had at least given her some sort of pillow to sit on. And her useless father wasn't here either. He didn't even protest when she got arrested.

"Do you like him?" another unexpected question from Kanna, and Yukiko could hear the curiosity in her voice, together with the uneasiness. It was obvious she wasn't used to asking such personal questions.

"We're friends."

"You know that's not what I meant." Yukiko looked at the window on her right. It was a very small window with extremely thick glass. She couldn't even reach it with the chains holding her back, reiatsu-sucking chains, mind you.

"Maybe I do." she answered eventually. The Shinigami was endearing, but not in a child-like way even though he was one. She wasn't sure if it was 'love' as humans and Shinigami called it, but she sure felt an unexplainable feeling when she thought about him. He was cute, intelligent, and didn't view her as a monster. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine him smiling.

"Doesn't it bother you that he's a Shinigami?" Kanna asked, now not hiding her curiosity any longer.

"No. Not at all. Strange, huh?" Yukiko replied. There was another silence. "Why did you want to know?"

"General curiosity."


Aurelio leaned back, playing chess with Skullak as his Fracción were behind him doing random stuff and the usual arguing. He tried to stay one step ahead, but eventually, Aurelio was checkmate.

"Damn, you're good." he complimented him with a smile. Skullak just glanced at him, then continued to keep an eye on his Fracción, to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

"Thanks." he muttered as he stared at Cirucci who'd just yelled at Ggio for seemingly being an idiot. Aurelio looked around. Other than them, there was no one here. He'd noticed the Neo Espada had all formed their little 'cliques' ever since things started to get heated up. With exception to Luna and Kanna, everyone had their little group. He frowned slightly. Cruz and Chié had been hanging around Luna a lot lately, he couldn't afford them to interfere. Suddenly, Denetsu entered the room, without Luna. That was odd. Usually Denetsu was around his superior, but not today.

"Hey, Denetsu! Where's Luna?" Aurelio asked.

"I don't know. I saw her open a Garganta, but she disappeared before I could ask." Denetsu said with a shrug. Aurelio smirked and got up from his seat. Perfect.

"Skullak?"

"Hm?"

"Time for us to go." The two Neo Espada stood up and left. Denetsu couldn't believe his plan worked out this smoothly. All he did was say one line and things would easily play out without further aid!

"Psh, and they think I would screw up!" Denetsu muttered contently, and sat down on the couch, relaxed. He did wonder what would happen, though. Considering Aurelio and Luna's past, it could get very nasty.

But what did he care? As long as his plan worked out, everything would be just fine.


He walked down the river, heading home after having trained for over seven hours with Ginjō and Riruka. He'd skipped school entirely. Not only because he wanted to protect his friends and family, but also because he wanted to live up to his promise. He'd explained his entire situation to the others, and they had understood. Of course, Ichigo wasn't the only one who'd been attacked with questions. Hitsugaya had been interrogated by his subordinates for a while now, and it was obvious they couldn't fathom how he'd befriended an Arrancar. Ichigo did understand. He'd befriended Nel, and it seemed he and Luna had come to some sort of understanding. She was a very peculiar Arrancar, though. What did she really want?

"Hey." a familiar voice interrupted his train of thought. He looked at the river and saw Luna standing there by riverside, staring at him with a little smile. How coincidental. Ichigo stopped walking, and remembered what Takashi had told him a day ago. Was she really out to kill him? She certainly didn't look like it.

"Hey." he responded back. She seemed a little off. Different from when he'd last seen her.

"Still didn't get your powers back, huh?" she remarked. He shook his head, then smirked.

"Don't worry, I'm working on it."

"Good." Ichigo frowned slightly.

"But that's not the reason you came here." he noted. She didn't answer, and sat down on the grass. Ichigo took a few steps towards her, and could see she was contemplating something. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know." she responded honestly as she plucked at the grass absently. She seemed puzzled. "I just felt like coming here. I guess I needed a place to think." Ichigo sat down across her, not even noticing what he was doing himself.

"About what?" he tried not to be rude but he was just curious. Luna continued to pluck the grass.

"Several things. But I guess they don't matter."

"Then why think about them? You should do something more useful with your time, like prepare for our battle." Ichigo told her with a frown. She looked up at him, and suddenly smiled. The way she was staring at him caught him off guard, and he didn't know where to look or how to behave.

"You remind me of him." she muttered. Her smile faded away, and she sighed.

"Of who?"

"Just someone I used to know. Always so curious. Constantly asking questions." Her gaze shifted to her knees as her frown deepened.

"Is he dead?" Ichigo asked carefully. She nodded gloomily. "Did you love him? I… I mean uh…." He wanted to hit himself for asking such a stupid question, and Luna chuckled when he turned red.

"Yeah, I did. Very much. He meant the world to me."

"What was his name?" she looked him right in the eyes. Ichigo felt like those two bright blue eyes could see right through him, and started blushing again. Why was he blushing? Why was he being such an idiot? Luna opened her mouth to answer, but then she froze, her eyes widening. Suddenly, someone stood right behind her, a sword came down but she dodged it right on time with Sonido. Suddenly Ichigo felt someone grabbing his shirt, and in a split-second he was across the street, Luna having pulled him out of harm's way. Ichigo recognized the red haired man from earlier, Aurelio. This time, there was another man with him, one he did not recognize.

"Kazuo." Aurelio answered Ichigo's question, staring right at him. "His name was Kazuo." Beside him, Luna had a blank look in her eyes, which was more frightening than her intense glare.

"What are you doing here?" the unknown man asked Luna. She didn't answer. Ichigo looked from Luna to Aurelio.

"She's betraying us, that's what she's doing. I should've seen this coming the moment you started hanging out around that human." Ichigo frowned, wanting to say something, but Aurelio continued. "Not you. Kazuo." Ichigo was dumbstruck. He looked at Luna who hadn't even flinched the entire time.

"He was human?" Aurelio laughed at this question.

"Oh, she didn't tell you that, did she? She fell in love with that feeble human. It was pathetic!" he snarled. "She preferred that weakling over me, so I decided to teach her a lesson. She now knows what happens when you engage with a weakling, and yet she comes here to hang around you! It's disgusting."

"You killed him just because you were jealous? You're the only thing that's disgusting!" Aurelio narrowed his eyes at Ichigo's statement.

"It seems like she still hasn't learned her lesson." The Cuatro started to walk towards them, holding his sword firmly. Ichigo took a step back, but then Luna unsheathed her sword and stood in front of him.

"You should run." Luna told him. Ichigo scowled.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, just go!"

"But-" Luna blocked Aurelio's attack with one hand easily, their swords clashed and created an unpleasant sound. But Aurelio wasn't aiming for her, he was aiming for Ichigo.

"What are you doing? You know this is treason. You won't be allowed to return."

"Frankly, I don't care." was Luna's cold response. Suddenly, Aurelio got out of the way and the other Arrancar attacked Luna. Ichigo watched, but then he froze when feeling the sharp edge of a blade being held against his throat.

'Shit. This is bad.' Luna immediately stopped fighting and looked at Aurelio and Ichigo.

"Let him go!" she demanded. Aurelio smiled slyly.

"Surrender. You may be fast, but even you aren't fast enough to stop my blade from cutting his head off."

"What stops you now?" Luna responded coldly.

"Like you said, I wouldn't want to take away Aizen-sama's revenge, unless you force me to." There was a tense silence. Eventually, Luna threw her sword on the ground. "You've always been too sentimental for your own good, Luna." In an instant he was right in front of her. Ichigo didn't know what had happened until he saw blood dripping on the ground. Aurelio's entire blade had impaled her stomach. Ichigo wanted to do something, but he was almost powerless. There was nothing he could do.

'I'm so damn useless.'

Aurelio removed his sword, but then cut her again, from her right shoulder to her left hip, and another horizontal cut on her waist, almost cutting her in half. She fell down on the ground, incapacitated.

"Aurelio, there was no need for this!" the other Espada spoke aggravated. Aurelio shrugged.

"She's a traitor, isn't she? Besides, I didn't kill her." he sheathed his bloody sword while looking down at Luna who had her eyes closed, then looked at Ichigo who was frozen on the spot. "Well, see you later."

They opened a Garganta and left as Ichigo finally rushed over to Luna's side who was still breathing. Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Inoue, I need you, now!"


"Wow, you didn't screw up." Shiro commented. Denetsu smirked widely and proudly. After news had gotten out that Luna was a traitor, he'd been ordered to substitute her rank as the Primera since he was her Fracción. Amaya walked right past them, overhearing that part of their conversation and seeing how Denetsu was gloating about it. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't stop as she joined Roxette outside. She was watching Mai and Cruz spar while Nel was sleeping next to her.

"You heard what happened?" Amaya asked her, and the Octava nodded slowly. "I warned her, and she didn't listen."

"Amaya!" Saturo joined them randomly, but Amaya and Roxette ignored him.

"So, what do we do now?"

"First we need to make sure if they were also behind Yukiko disappearing, though I doubt that." Roxette looked at her in question as Mai was smashed in a rock right next to them.

"How so?" she asked.

"AMAYA!"

"WHAT?" the Segunda gave Saturo an annoyed glare, and he backed down.

"Sorry. Never mind." she sighed.

"I noticed Denetsu gloating about how he's the new Primera. Isn't that a little strange?" Roxette shrugged.

"Some Fracción just don't care about their leaders. You may not understand that, but that's how it works most of the time." she told her, and Amaya bit her lip, still not convinced.

"There's something wrong with those three Fracción."

"What are you getting at?"

"Nothing." Amaya walked off again, back into the building. Her place was taken by Chié, who started chatting with Roxette. Saturo followed her, curious, but didn't ask any questions. When she walked upstairs to the first floor, she heard voices nearby.

"…have to do with anything?"

"We should gain a little knowledge on our enemies before we fight them, don't you think?" she recognized Takashi's voice and stayed hidden, gesturing Saturo to also stay quiet.

"So we're leaving to Soul Society? As in, right now? How are we going to do that with the-"

"-I temporarily shut down the system of the building. No one will notice us opening a portal."

"See, Den-chan? Takashi always thinks about everything before he does it, unlike you."

"Don't call me that, stupid grasshead!"

"Don't hate on my hair color. You know you want it too."

"As if!"

"Settle down." Takashi interrupted. "We need to be stealthy if we want to leave without being found out."

"What are you staring at me for?" Denetsu snarled grumpily.

"Let's just leave before Den-chan gets a temper-tantrum."

"Shut up!" There was a silence, a few footsteps, and then nothing. Amaya sneaked up the stairs, and found a white hole that was slowly closing.

"Amaya, are you-"

"-Stay here. If I don't come back, tell Mai and Roxette what happened." Saturo pouted.

"But Amaya-" she went through the white hole, and it closed behind her. She was gone.


Neo Espada Encyclopedia

The lights went on, revealing Ulquiorra again.

"Today, our subjects are Kanna and Kaito Itō." he spoke in a monotone voice. The two popped up, Kanna just staring at the screen and Kaito smirking.

"Yo!" he greeted.

"They are twins and generally get along well, but since Kaito is a weakling he is her Fracción."

"Hey! Fuck you." Kaito glared at him and Kanna smirked amused.

"As you can see, Kaito is also the rude one."

"I am NOT rude!"

"And hot-tempered."

"Lies!"

"And more likely to deny truthful accusations."

"Is it let's-bash-Kaito-day or something? Pick on Kanna!" Ulquiorra stared at Kanna, who stared back evenly.

"She's alright."

"Ass-hole!"


I TOLD U I WUZ GOING TAH UPDATE TODAY! :D

Nao, bcuz I've been so awesomesauce and have updated WITHIN A FREAKING DAY, I expect a WHOLE BUNCH of reviews, because my fingers are hurting D':

Hey, this was a pretty romantic chapter :O

RVWZ. NAO.

Bye bye :D