Ichigo leaves the moment she feels the last of Dordonii's reiatsu disappear, sensing the creepy skull-freaks coming, the Ex-whatever they were called. She dimly remembers that Rukia fought the leader, but very little else regarding them. She scoops Nel up and takes off. Last time, Dordonii bought her enough time to get away and his body was claimed by Szayelaporro and, later on, Kurotsuchi. Even if they do investigate the room, all they will find will be traces of Kisuke's reiatsu. Any further investigation would lead them to conclude that Dordonii had either been claimed for examination and experiments, or that he'd been sent to another realm to ensure he stayed out of the way. Either assumption would work for now.

Most of her friends were fighting and she feels the moment they overcome their opponents. She feels Cirucci and Gantenbainne fall, and she feels the moment Nnoitra goes after Chad. She feels Chad go down and nearly trips, but she keeps going. She knows he is fine, she does, but feeling him fall pulls at something in her. And to feel Rukia fall soon after, to feel her so close to death... the only thing that keeps her going is the fact that she knows they will be fine. Feeling the others cross into Hueco Mundo reinforces that.

"You noticed, then?" Ichigo jerks around, her eyes going up to see a figure standing at the top of the steps. "I thought you had nothing but power going for you, but...you seem to have surprisingly sharp senses, too. It's been a while, Shinigami."

Ichigo stares, she can't help but to. She wants so much, in that moment, to charge him and have that rematch they never got around to. She wants to fight him and find out just which of them is really stronger. But, she realizes, even if they did, she is not the same girl who'd fought him before and now was not the time to even attempt a mockery of the battle they'd be having shortly.

"Ulquiorra," she finds herself saying.

"So you remember my name." Ulquiorra is descending the steps, as composed as ever. "Though, I don't recall introducing myself to you. Well, it matters not. Kuchiki Rukia has died."

Ichigo gives him a stern look. "Not yet, she hasn't."

"To be precise," he continues, as if she hadn't spoken, "she and the Noveno Espada killed each other. She was slashed all over and her body was pierced by a trident. She can't be alive."

"You'd be surprised what you can live through," she says softly. "Especially with the right motivation."

Last time, she'd been untrained and had lashed out, but she and the others had talked about this in depth. While she could fake and hold back with most of her fights, she couldn't do it this time. They had to keep as close to the original timeline as possible, but they couldn't afford for her to reenact her first battle with Ulquiorra.

You die by that little bat's hands again, Shiro growls. And I'll take over for good, Joō.

Ichigo holds back a snort. Next time I die might be for good since I'm not tethered to the material world anymore.

All the more reason I'll be able to take over, Shiro cackles. Now get your ass movin'. I wanna fight Blue some more.

Annoying little shit. But he is right, she needs to get moving.

"Where are you going?" Ulquiorra asks.

"Right now I'm thinking of going to check on Rukia," she replies. "Maybe stop to check on Chad while I'm at it. After that, we'll go for Orihime."

"I've already told you that she died," Ulquiorra says.

"And I don't believe you."

"Stubborn, aren't you? You don't think that you need to kill me first?"

"No. I don't have any reason to fight you." Ichigo gives him an apathetic look. "You may be an enemy, but you, as an individual, haven't hurt any of my friends."

"Even if I said that the person who abducted Inoue Orihime to Hueco Mundo was me?"

She tightens her grip on Zangetsu but keeps in control. "My friends mean everything to me; they're not just nakama, they're every bit my family as anyone of my blood." She looks over her shoulder at Ulquiorra. "As much as it pisses me off that you took her, that you threatened her and scared her so bad that she chose to come here, that she was labeled a traitor because of your underhanded tactics, I also know that it was on Aizen's orders."

"Taking her may have been my orders," Ulquiorra admits readily. "But the way in which I took her was not. I could have taken her in the precipice world but I knew what effect it would have to give her the choice that I did."

"Be that as it may, I doubt you've done anything to harm her." Ichigo grins. "You may have threatened her and you may even have pushed at her, but you haven't done anything to cause her harm. Have you?"

Ulquiorra doesn't offer any answer and Ichigo knows that she'd been right. "As I said, I have no reason to fight you. The question is if you're going to force the issue. Are you going to let me go or are you going to make me fight you here and now?"

From what she remembers, and what she'd learned of him over the years, Ulquiorra could go either way here. She is hoping that he is willing to let her go. That, or at least drag things out long enough for Grimmjow to interrupt.

"You are willing to abandon your friend, when you know she is expecting you to come for her?"

"No," Ichigo answers sharply, glaring at the Arrancar. "As I said, all of my friends are important to me. I won't give up on a single one of them, not as long as I can help it. Right now, Orihime is safe, but Rukia is dying. As much as it galls me to have to make her wait longer, Rukia is in more imminent danger."

It is the truth. If Retsu assigned Hanatoru to watch the drop point that meant that he wouldn't be brought to Hueco Mundo and sent to care for Rukia. While Ichigo trusts Retsu to handle things right, there is no guarantee that help will get to Rukia in time. If she can get around Ulquiorra, she should have enough time to check on Rukia before Grimmjow corners her for their 'battle'.

Ulquiorra charging a Cero dashes that hope.

Cursing, she tightens her grip on Nel and brings Zangetsu up, charging a quick barrier of reiatsu. She still goes flying from the force behind the blast but the damage is relatively minor. She pulls Nel close to protect her from their fall, rolling into the impact with the sand and coming up running. Ulquiorra is beside her in an instant and Shiro growls as she lets herself go flying again.

All she knows is that Grimmjow had better hurry his ass up. She isn't letting Ulquiorra punch another hole in her chest; two were more than enough for her. And Nel is awake this time and Ichigo refuses to let the child-Arrancar see something like that.

Unburying them from where they'd crashed into a tower, Ichigo is grimacing as half a dozen minor injuries make themselves known, attempting to heal themselves. Ignoring them for now, after checking to be sure Shiro won't heal them, she focuses on Nel who is shaking in fear.

Ichigo relaxes her grip, giving Nel a quick look over, "You alright?" Nel gives a shaky nod.

When she looks up, Ulquiorra is already standing in the hole, watching the two of them coolly. "Not only were you able to guard against my Cero, but you used your reiatsu to cushion your impact, diminishing the damage. You have an impressive reaction speed. But it is not enough. Give up."

Nel is hiding behind Ichigo now and she makes sure her body blocks the little Arrancar from Ulquiorra's gaze. She brings her sword up, pressing it against where she knows his number lays.

Ichigo looks Ulquiorra in the eyes. "I'm not giving up. I never give up. Especially not when it concerns those I care about. I will keep fighting until the day I die and even then, if I'm still needed, I will try everything imaginable to come back to ensure no one needlessly dies."

"Then you are a fool." He grabs her blade and moves it to slice open his top, revealing his number. "I am the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer. We are ranked according to power; that means there are three others ranked above me."

"Don't mean jackshit when it comes down to it."

Ulquiorra doesn't have time to react as Grimmjow appears behind him, an arm sliding over his shoulder to slip a Caja Negación into his Hollow hole.

Nel freezes behind her, her little body shaking. "Sexta... Espada... Grimmjow-sama..."

Ichigo's eyes dart to see Grimmjow standing in front of them with that damned smirk of his firmly in place as he holds Orihime under one arm. His eyes flick to Nel for a quick moment before he turns them back to Ichigo.

"You're more beat up than I'd thought you be."

"Ulquiorra wasn't willing to let me pass," Ichigo shrugs carelessly before her breath is suddenly snatched away as Nel latches onto her, blubbering and crying.

"I thought you died!" Nel is crying against her. "I thought you died, Itsugo! You shouldn't be trying to fight with that torn-up body of yours; you're pushing yourself too hard! You keep protecting Nel and getting hurt all the time. Nel was really worried about you!"

She continues crying and Ichigo tries calming her, placing a hand on her mask. "I'm sorry, Nel, but I'm fine. I promise."

Nel looks up at her, tears streaming and snot running free. Ichigo grimaced as Nel sucks it all back in and swallows it down. As disgusting as it is, it is nice to know that even when the circumstances changed, some things stayed the same.

Grimmjow scoffs and drops Orihime, pushing her closer to Ichigo. "Fix her."

Orihime looks her over even as she summons her Rikka, her face pulling down into one that Ichigo recognizes instantly. For all that there isn't much she could do about it, Ichigo hates that look. Orihime always got that look when she thought Ichigo had been particularly careless. Ichigo hated whenever she did something, no matter if it really was stupid or something that had to be done, and Orihime would get that look on her face.

And Nel never really helped matters either, Ichigo mentally sighs as Nel starts blubbering again, slowly inching closer to the barrier and Orihime.

"Itsugo was protecting me and took a direct hit from a Cero!" Nel blubbers. "Itsugo was protecting me and took a full-on kick! N-Nel got in Itsugo's way! If Nel wasn't here, Itsugo would have been okay! It's all- it's all Nel's fault. Please! Nel wants you to save Itsugo!"

"Oi, I'm not dying!" Ichigo snaps. Nel's crying starts tapering off and Ichigo offers another sigh before she scoots forward and scoops the girl onto her lap. "I'm perfectly fine, Nel. And things would've happened the way they did whether you were here or not."

Nel is sniffling now, rubbing fists against her eyes.

"It could've been worse," Grimmjow sighs. "At least that fucker Ulquiorra didn't beat you down enough to punch a hole in your chest."

Ichigo scowls at him, "Yea, because another hole in my chest is just what I want."

"Just shut up and get healed already," he grouses, leaning back on a piece of rubble. "Jeez, what's taking so long?"

Orihime casts him a sidelong glance and Ichigo sighs even as Grimmjow pops back up and glares. "You're going slow on purpose!"

Orihime's eyes jump from Ichigo to Grimmjow. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"What's it look like? I brought you here to heal her so that she and I can finally see which of us is really the strongest right now."

"No."

The word is spoken so quietly that Ichigo barely catches it. Grimmjow gives Ichigo a faint look of disgust. Ichigo rolls her eyes at Grimmjow before they go to Orihime. "Orihime, it's fine. You trust me, right?"

Orihime gazes at her for a long moment before her gaze hardens and she nods. "Of course, Kurosaki-kun!"

When Orihime is done healing her, Ichigo gets to her feet and sets Nel down, motioning for her to go stand by Orihime. Ichigo gazes down at Nel who is looking up at her tearfully. She offers her a reassuring smile.

"I promise I'll be fine, Nel. Neither of you should worry. Either I'll win or Grimmjow will kick my ass. No matter what the outcome is, I won't die. Grimmjow doesn't have it in him to kill me." She glances to Orihime. "Hime, cast your shield to protect you and Nel. And whatever you do, no matter what happens, don't let it drop."

Orihime looks hesitant, looking from her to Grimmjow. "Now, Orihime."

The girl jumps at the snapped command and Ichigo might've felt bad if she wasn't worried. She remembers how bad the fighting got last time and she doesn't want to chance any blowout coming back on either of the girls. Orihime summons her Rikka though and Ichigo offers her a tight smile. She turns to Grimmjow. "You ready to go?"

"I was just waiting on you, dumbass," he grouses. "Now, if you're done gossiping, let's get down to the good shit."

"Lead the way," she smiles. "Just remember how it went last time."