Visiting an Old Friend

Karakura Town was in a peaceful state. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and Keigo Asano (for once) was being calm…because his sister knocked him out. The only one who was acting crazy was Isshin Kurosaki, who got his ass kicked to the South Pole this time because, once again, he got on the nerves of his son Ichigo. Naturally, when he got back, Karin knocked him out and had Yuzu's help in tying him to the bed. Karin sent their brother a picture, which got him and the girls laughing.

Right now, at the Black Crescent, Ichigo was in his Soul Reaper form waiting for a Garganta to open. Rukia noticed this and got confused. "Ichigo, I don't see why you have to use a Garganta for your trip. Why don't you use the Senkaimon?" she asked.

"Because, Rukia, the business we have isn't involved with the Soul Society. We're going to Hueco Mundo. I'll bring you something when we get back, okay?" he said, answering back.

"You said 'we'. What do you mean by 'we'?"

"He means that I'm going as well," said Soifon, who was also ready for the trip. They each had scarves similar to the ones Byakuya gave Rukia and Renji. This didn't sit well with Rukia, who was still envious that Soifon would be making this trip with Ichigo.

"I still don't see why you guys have to go to Hueco Mundo. Plenty of Hollows come here and we get to purify them. Ichigo, it's what we've always done for a good time anymore," she said, shedding tears. Soifon could tell that these were genuine; otherwise they'd be streaming as fast as Keigo's over-dramatic tears.

"Hey, relax would you? It's just that I haven't heard from Nel in a while, so Soifon and I are going to see how she's doing. And don't worry," he said, kissing Rukia's forehead, "we'll keep an eye out for Grimmjow."

"Just do me a favor, Ichigo," said Rukia, catching the attention of the two. "I don't care if you bring anything or not. Just come back alive. If Nel pops any of your joints, I'll pop them back into place, deal?"

The Substitute smiled at his petite girlfriend. "Deal," he said before kissing her on the lips. Nemu opened the Garganta and got a kiss from Ichigo as well before he and Soifon went through.

The duo arrived at Hueco Mundo, where there was nothing but sand so far. Still, they knew better than to relax. The two went straight for Las Noches, which is where they last knew the Arrancar to be at. Ichigo knew that Yhwach had it last, so he wondered how bad of a shape he left it in. Every Hollow that attacked them so far, they just struck down.

Eventually, they reached their destination and saw the Fraccion of Tier Hallibel training. "Hey look, it's that Soul Reaper," Apacchi said to the other two. The three of them gathered around Ichigo and Soifon with their swords pointed at them. "If you're here to take Mistress Hallibel, then we won't let you! She deserves better than to be violated by a worthless Soul Reaper!" Apacchi exclaimed.

Ichigo frowned at this. "You're right, Apacchi, she does deserve better than that, especially after the crap that bastard Aizen put her through. I'm not here for her though. I'm actually here to check on Nel and see how she's doing," he said. Mila Rose and Sung-Sun put their swords away while Appachi still had hers pointed at Ichigo's neck.

"Let him go, Apacchi. He's just here to check up on his friend," Hallibel said, having come out of the palace to see what was going on. "At last we meet, Ichigo Kurosaki. And this must be Captain Soifon. I certainly hope that Grimmjow didn't give you much trouble."

"Actually, we haven't even run into Grimmjow yet. I wonder why…"

"Who knows, but I'm glad you made it safe and sound. I didn't want Nelliel to cry about losing you. She'd lock herself in her room with no way for anyone to get in." The Queen led the two Soul Reapers down the palace with Apacchi, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun following close behind. Apacchi was sending death glares towards the back of Ichigo's head. "Apacchi, I can sense the malice emitting from your Spiritual Pressure. Knock it off or I'll send you to your room," Hallibel said to the hothead. That got Apacchi to stop for a while.

After they got to the bedrooms, Hallibel stopped at one of the doors. "This is Nelliel's room. Trust me when I say, Ichigo, that she'll be overjoyed to see you again. Be careful, though. It's a bit of a mess in there."

"Right, thanks a lot," he said. Hallibel and her Fraccion left the two Soul Reapers at Nel's door and went about their business. "Hey, Nel, are you in here? It's me, Ichigo," he said while knocking on the door.

After a bit, Soifon heard some yawning. "It sounds like you woke her up from her nap," she said. The door opened and Soifon was surprised to see a little kid. Nel rubbed her eyes and looked up at the Substitute. She was definitely excited to see the orange-haired Soul Reaper.

"ITSYGO!" she exclaimed happily. She jumped up and gave Ichigo a big hug. "Nel's so happy to see you! I never thought I'd ever see you again! This is great!" Ichigo took notice of her speech patterns and noticed that she didn't sound like a baby anymore even though she was in her kid form. Nel took notice of the other Soul Reaper and grew curious. "Itsygo, who's that?" she asked.

"I'm Soifon, the Captain of Squad 2. It's nice to meet you, Nelliel," said Soifon, introducing herself. Nel decided to have a little fun.

"Ooooh, don't tell me that you're cheating on Orihime, Itsygo," she said with a sly face. Ichigo just smiled.

"Uh, about that…" Ichigo began. "You might want to be in your adult form for this discussion, Nel. It's a long story." Nel nodded and jumped out of Ichigo's arms. She led them into her room and shut the door before concentrating her energy. Suddenly, she changed from the cute little kid to the full-grown, voluptuous woman while still having the mask fragment on her head.

She looked at the two Soul Reapers and saw Soifon's bewildered face. "You seem surprised, Captain. Is this better, Ichigo?" she asked in her lovely voice. Ichigo gave the beautiful Arrancar a nod. "Okay then, about your explanation as to why you're here with Soifon and not Orihime or Rukia."

"I'm actually the center of a harem consisting of more than Soifon here. It includes Rukia and Orihime as well. I brought Soifon with me because she hasn't met you yet. In fact, she was the first one in the harem," Ichigo explained.

"How did that happen?"

"I helped him fix his truck and we kicked the hides off my Lieutenant and his dad," Soifon explained, pointing a thumb at Ichigo when Isshin was brought up. This made Nel laugh a little.

"Okay, what about the others?"

"I got Soifon's mentor Yoruichi Shihoin by dancing with her to one of her favorite songs; Rukia after we talked a bit; Rangiku Matsumoto when she snuck into my hideout and tried to blackmail me; a Fullbringer named Riruka Dokugamine after I brought her to the hideout; my childhood friend Tatsuki Arisawa during sparring practice; Orihime at a Halloween party; Bambietta Basterbine after playing a trick on her at Christmas; and Nemu Kurotsuchi when Rangiku set her up to it. Lord knows Rukia wouldn't even dare. Sorry about Bambietta."

To the shock of the Soul Reapers, Nel just smiled. "It's okay. I don't really mind that she's in the harem. What's the point of holding a grudge when the reason behind it is moot?"

"Why don't you try telling Orihime that?" Soifon joked, knowing that Orihime wasn't too fond of Quincies.

"Maybe I will…that is, if Ichigo would let me join," the former 3rd Espada said nervously.

"Yeah, that's why I wanted you in your adult form. If you don't mind, I would love to add you in the harem." It didn't take Nel two seconds before she tackled Ichigo onto the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Her breasts where pressed against Ichigo's chest as she kissed him.

Soifon smirked at the scenario. "Man, I can tell you're going to have a 'hard' time if you haven't already," she joked as soon as the kiss broke.

"Ha-ha, very funny," he replied sarcastically. The girls giggled at that as Nel got off of him. Ichigo stretched his limbs and found that Nel didn't break any this time. "Okay, good. At least I don't have to worry poor Rukia."

"C'mon. We better get back to the 'Crescent'. You're probably worrying Rukia and Orihime right now."

(Meanwhile…)

Back at the 'Black Crescent', Rukia was pacing the floor, waiting for Ichigo and Soifon to get back, possibly with Nel. The constant pacing and worrying was confusing Tatsuki and Orihime and making Riruka and Bambietta a little ticked. Yoruichi and Rangiku just smirked while Nemu had her usual expression on her. "What's the matter, Rukia?" Orihime asked.

"What's the matter is that Ichigo and Captain Soifon went to Hueco Mundo to check on Nelliel. They haven't gotten back yet, though, and that worries me," answered the petite Lieutenant.

"Well you can quit your whining, Rukia. We're back," Ichigo said as he, Soifon, and Nel exited the Garganta. Rukia, Tatsuki, and Orihime tackled him to the ground and covered him in kisses (and tears in Rukia's case).

"Is it like this all the time?" Nel asked.

"You better believe it," said Yoruichi with a smile. "It's like he's Fred Flintstone and those three are different versions of Dino."

THE END

Okay, sorry that took so long. I've been on a dry spell on this series and it has been taking its toll. Sorry if it wasn't what you thought it would be. I've got one more to work on and then the series will be complete. The finale will have the Kotetsu sisters Isane and Kiyone.

By the way, I hope you got the Fred Flintstone joke.