Wooooo! This chapter took me a while to do. For most of it though I was just too lazy to work on it. But I finally forced myself and finished it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Bleach. All I own is this story.

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Change of POV, location, and time

Bleach- Retold Story Chapter 10

Normal POV

A few of days have passed since the incident with the Hollows. Life, for the most part, seemed to return to normal. Ichigo and Rukia returned to school the day after the incident. But when Ichigo went to get Rukia when it was time to go to school she seemed troubled but denied it. She got up like usual and headed out before him by climbing out of his window.

As Rukia walked to school she met up with Orihime. Orihime told Ruika of the up coming fireworks festival and invited her to come along with her and Tatsuki and said that they should invite Ichigo as well. Rukia took note in Orihime's new reaction to Ichigo. She believed that Orihime was afraid of him before but now she doesn't seem to be. Orihime's reason was that she said that Ichigo actually has a funny face if you look close enough. Rukia laughs and tells her she'll think about the festival.

Later in the day when everyone else was in gym class Rukia leaned against a window in a class room a few floors up. She was watching everyone with a sad expression.

'I can't stay here anymore. It'll only cause more pain…'

When the bell for class rang everyone came back. Once everyone was settled the door slid open for one more student. Uryu walked inside and he had bandages going from his fingers to the end of his forearms. He said he hurt himself by falling down some stairs. It was hardly believable but the teacher accepted and told him to go to his desk. After class was over it was time for lunch. Ichigo decided to invite Uryu to join him and his friends. Uryu was going to reject the offer, but when he heard that Keigo was going to pay he accepted. Ichigo looked for Rukia but she was nowhere to be found. So he and the others headed for the roof to eat.

Rukia sat against a tree out in the courtyard of the school. She thought about how she has had Soul Reapers come for her and that she didn't have much time left. Rukia was brought back from her thoughts when a couple of girls asked her to join them for lunch.

Hiei would find himself checking on Ichigo and Rukia more often then before. He told Koenma what had happened. It was obvious that he was interested but he still didn't say that Hiei could return.

Hiei was now sitting on the roof of Ichigo's school, on top of the door that led to the stairwell. He waited for Ichigo and Rukia to show up. Since he was watching them they mostly came up there for lunch together. After a few minutes of waiting Hiei heard a bell and not long after two people showed up. Ichigo and Uryu walked through the door, carrying their lunches.

"Hn. So how has your wounds been treating you, substitute?" Hiei asked with a smirk.

Ichigo spun around in surprise and Uryu lazily turned and looked at him. When Ichigo saw that it was Hiei he eased up.

"Well this is a first. What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.

Feeling the need to look away, Hiei looked out to the horizon before answering.

"There aren't any Hollows around to kill."

"So you decided to check on us? I find that to be a little suspicious," Uryu said.

"Hn. Think what you want,"

Ichigo looked to Hiei's left arm. He remembered that Rukia had told him about how he injured it in a fight with a Hollow.

"I guess Rukia's kido worked?" Ichigo asked.

Hiei stared at him blankly. He then realized what he was talking about.

"Her spell only sped the healing process. I would have recovered on my own."

Hiei was beginning to bore with this conversation.

"Where is she?" Hiei asked.

"Who, Rukia? I don't know. I thought she was going to join us up here but she disappeared on us before lunch," Ichigo said while looking away.

When he looked back to Hiei he was gone.

"What the? Where'd he go?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know. When you glanced away he just fazed out," Uryu said as he walked over to the edge of the roof.

Dismissing it, Ichigo followed him.

Hiei watched them from a distance using his Jagan. Why he felt he needed to stay closeby he didn't know, but he did know that something wasn't right. He just couldn't figure out what.

'Hn. What's the point. He has proven that he is strong. So why?'

Later That Day

Hiei followed Rukia and Ichigo back to his house. During their walk he sensed an uneasy feeling coming from Rukia. She seemed tense about something, but he had no clue what it could be about.

The sun was setting and casting an orange glow over all the buildings when they reached Ichigo's house. Ichigo had took notice to Rukia's slight change.

"Hey Rukia. You've been acting a little strange lately. You ok?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia jumped in surprise. She was deep in thought when he spoke to her.

"I'm fine. Why would something be wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know. Just asking," Ichigo said as he reached for the door.

Rukia snuck around to the back of the house started to climb up to Ichigo's room window. She heard his door open and heard him say it was safe. When she was in she walked over to the closet and closed it behind her. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her behavior. Kon's voice could be heard from the inside, but it then slid open slightly and he was kicked out.

"Rukiaaa! Why did you do that?" Kon whined.

Ichigo stared blankly at the closed closet door.

'What's bothering her?'

Later That Night

Ruika quietly slide the closet door open. She looked to Ichigo's bed and saw that he was sound asleep. Stepping out and carefully closing the door behind her, she placed a letter on Ichigo's desk and headed for his door, but stopped when she head a croggy voice say her name. Looking behind her she saw Kon rubbing his eyes. She quickly snacthed him and covered his mouth while he kicked everywhere and tried to ask her what she was doing.

Finding some ducktape, Rukia took Kon to the bathroom, taped his mouth shut, and taped him to the back of the toliet. When she was done she snuck out of the house, making sure to lock it behind her, and started to run down the street. As she ran down the road two mysterious figures appeared in the sky by Ichigo's house.

One scanned her using a pair of special sunglasses. When it was done he knew for sure who it was. Lifting the device from his eyes he rested it on his forehead.

"Rukia Kuchiki. Yes. We finally found you," he said with a smile.

The one that had scanned her has long red hair pulled back into a ponytail, but his hair stayed in place, going into various directions, making many long spiked pieces of hair and he was dressed in a traditional Soul Reaper outfit. He seemed somewhat wild. But the one behind him seemed to be more collected and of higher authority. He was dressed the same as the other one, except for a scarf that was wrapped around his neck that hang down to his waist in the back. In his hair were two ornaments. The one on top of his head split the bangs in front of his face into three pieces and held them to the left and the one on the right side of his head did the same, but held them to the back and only two.

As Rukia continued to run memories of her time in the Human World played through her mind. She remembered from the time when she first met Ichigo and gave him her powers, to the time she's spent at his school. Then memories of when she first met Hiei came to her mind. For a brief moment she felt sad, but she pushed that feeling away.

'If I'm going to leave these feelings will only be a burden. Passion, friendship, and affection… there're a nuisance. All these feelings aren't necessary for a Soul Reaper. They're unbecoming of me. I've remained in this world for far too long. It's time to move on.' Rukia thought to herself.

Rukia continued to run as fast as she could, unaware of her followers. A voice catches her attention and she froze in place. She turned and looked up to the voice and spotted someone, a Soul Reaper, couched on top of a telephone pole. He said a few more words to her as he drew his sword. At the end of his speech he said her name. Still shocked to see him she said his name, Renji, obviously they both know each other. Without warning Renji jumped from the pole and came down to her, his sword held high. He smashed his sword into the ground with it covered in a green energy and Rukia stepped back in shock, barely avoiding being hit.

When his attack ended the pavement was smashed. After Renji pulled his sword from the ground he accuses Rukia of giving her powers to a human. Rukia questions why Renji believes that he gave her powers to a human and he tells her he knows because of the human expression on her face. Once again she shows surprise, but it didn't stay for long. Renji then went on about how they were from the same poor area, but she was adopted into the royal Kuchiki family and how they went through the effort to make her an elite. He ended his speech by addressing his captain.

"Isn't that right, Captain Kuchiki?" Renji asked, looking behind Rukia.

This time Rukia could not hide her surprise. She slowly turned around to see her stepbrother not too far behind her. Cherry blossoms slowly floated by, filling the area.

"Byakuya, it's you brother," Rukia said in a low voice.

He stared blankly at her, showing no emotion whatsoever. The only thing he did was say her name. Up from behind her Renji shifted his sword, prepared to strike again.

With Ichigo

Ichigo had woken up to go to the bathroom. When he was finished and about to leave he heard a muffled cry. Freaked out by it Ichigo searched the bathroom. When he looked behind the toilet he found Kon taped to the back. After he freed him Kon began going frantic when they were back in Ichigo's room. He directed Ichigo to the letter on his desk. In the letter was a message but he didn't understand it. She left him a clue to help him figure it out. When he figured it out she didn't say where she had gone to but told him hide for a while if possible.

Ichigo was confused by the letter and its meaning. Kon however figured out the real meaning for the letter and explained to Ichigo. Ichigo thought it over and came up with the decision that he would go and find Rukia, but in order to do so and help her he needed to get the pill out Kon's stuffed body so that he could change. After a short struggle from Kon, Ichigo managed to catch him and started to dig in his throat for the pill. A voice from behind him stopped him.

"Hi there. Boy, it looks like to me like you're in a bit of a bind this evening. Is there anything I can do to help speed things along here?" Urahara asked.

Ichigo didn't know why or cared why Urahara was sitting in his window, all he cared for was the fact that he could now change into his Soul Reaper form.

With Hiei

Hiei lay asleep on a branch in a tree in a park, but was stirred from his sleep when felt a power surge. He sat up and scanned the area around himself.

'What was that?! Where this power come from?' Hiei thought to himself.

The power that he sensed felt like Ichigo's. It had just suddenly skyrocketed. Feeling that this could be something serious Hiei headed to where he felt Ichigo's power as quickly as he could.

As he continued to run across the rooftops he felt Uryu's power, but it felt like it was slowly fading, not because he was moving away but because it felt like he was dieing. Cursing to himself, Hiei picked up his pace.

'What the hell's going on! I sense two other powerful spirit energies, but where did they come from? Could they belong to other Soul Reapers?!'

More and more questions continued to run through Hiei's mind, as he pressed onward. He was nearing Ichigo's energy, it was flaring like crazy, it slightly pained Hiei's mind as he continued to focus on it.

'Almost there!' Hiei told himself.

He was coming to a hill lined with trees. Just below them next to the road he could sense them. When Hiei was about to reach the trees he froze briefly. Ichigo's incredible amount of energy just suddenly began to drop at an abnormal rate. Wasting no more time, Hiei jumped next to one of the trees and saw what had happened.

Hiei saw Ichigo laying face first on the ground, a small pool of his own blood slowly sipping out around him. In front of him kneeled someone that Hiei had never seen before. A man dressed as a Soul Reaper with long red hair. He held a massive sword that had blades extending from the front of it and the top extended blade went the outermost. But it was the man that stood behind Ichigo that really caught Hiei's attention. The man rested his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

It was at this time that Hiei noticed that Ichigo's sword was broken in two. He scanned the area and found Rukia standing at the side of the road; worry practically radiated off of her. Not too far behind her he saw Uryu laying face first on the sidewalk wounded, but not nearly as bad as Ichigo. Hiei cursed to himself for arriving too late. When he was about to jump down he saw Ichigo grab onto the man's pants as he walked around him.

'Fool! He'll get himself killed for sure that way!'

Hiei leaped down and landed on the road near Rukia. His entrance distracted the man from making the finishing blow. It had also stopped Rukia, for she was about to try and interfere, even though she knew it would have been pointless.

"Hiei! What are you doing here?!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Hn. It doesn't matter why I'm here. Just stay out of my way," Hiei said.

After taking a few steps forward to close the gap between them Hiei stopped. He could hear Rukia telling him to run and not to get himself involved in this.

'I believe it's a little late for that. I've been involved since that damn day I was sent here,' Hiei thought to himself.

By this time Renji was back on his feet and pointing his sword at Hiei.

"Alright, just who the hell are you?! Where did you come from?" Renji yelled.

Renji was frustrated at how this mission had turned out so far. First some kid gets in the way, and then the one that took Rukia's powers shows up and pins him down with an incredible amount of Spirit Energy, and now this. Byakuya glanced over to him and told him to calm himself. Reluctantly Renji obeyed and lowered his sword. Byakuya looked back to Hiei. Hiei glared at him as he continued to stare.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Hiei asked.

"Now I know where I've seen you. You've also been showing up in the Stealth Force's reports. Even longer than that boy in fact," Byakuya said.

Hiei's glare deepened at this new bit of information.

'Stealth Forces?! Damn it.'

"Aside from your appearance and some small notes on what you might be capable of, not much is known."

"Hn. How unfortunate for you," Hiei said.

Without warning Hiei made the first move. He drew his sword and dashed forward in a zigzag pattern. Coming up to his opponents left Hiei swung his sword. When his sword was about to make contact Byakuya disappeared.

'What?!' Hiei thought to himself.

Sensing someone behind him, Hiei turned and slashed his sword. It made contact with Byakuya sword, but something that Hiei didn't expect to happen, happened. When their swords collided Hiei's broke right on contact. Hiei's eyes widened in shock and Byakuya paused briefly to explain.

"That sword of yours broke because it is too weak. It holds no power in it and succumbed to my own. You stand no chance of beating me," Byakuya said.

Hiei gritted his teeth together. Throwing away what was left of his sword Hiei tried to punch him. Byakuya dodged him effortlessly and reappeared behind him, prepared to do to him what he did to Ichigo. Doing what he could Hiei tried to jump away and turn to face him. He was unable to avoid Byakuya's attack and received a deep gash on his lower abdomen. After the attack hit Hiei hit the ground with a thud and rolled a few feet away.

'Hmm. He's faster then I thought. I missed his chain link,' Byakuya thought to himself.

Rukia watched as Hiei clenched onto his wound and struggled to get up. She had no idea what to do. One by one the ones she called friends were being killed, all because of her. She couldn't take it anymore and before she knew it she found herself running to Hiei's side.

'Wait a second. Since when did I consider Hiei a friend? Since we've known him he's been a complete mystery and a jerk. Argh!! Who cares? Now's not the time!' Rukia thought to herself.

When she reached Hiei she stood between him and her brother.

"That's enough brother! There's no point in continuing this any longer. Please, just let them go."

It seemed like Rukia's pleas were falling on deaf ears as Byakuya took another step forward. Rukia was going to try again when Hiei pushed her out of his way.

"Move!" Hiei said through clenched teeth.

Speechless, Rukia stepped to the side without thinking. It was only after she stepped back that she realized what she did.

"Hiei! You have to get out of here while you still can. There's no way that you can beat him."

Hiei pulled his right hand away from his wound and looked at it. After looking at his blood soaked hand he clenched it into a fist and held it at his side.

"You don't know what I must do. I've screwed up already and he's making a fool of me."

'Screwed up? What's he mean?' Rukia thought.

"I'm not one to run from a fight. I'd rather die then surrender. So best prepare yourself," Hiei said as he charged forward.

"If you wish to die then hurry up. We've wasted enough time here," Byakuya said.

'Because of this damn worlds limits on me I have hardly any power left. If I'm going to die then I'm putting it all out,' Hiei said to himself in his thoughts.

He tried the same thing as before and made a zigzag pattern towards Byakuya. When he was close enough he cut off and began to run circles around him, leaving behind afterimages.

'He's trying to confuse me, but I can see his every move,' Byakuya thought to himself as his eyes continued to follow Hiei.

Deciding that was enough, Hiei stopped and dashed at Byakuya. Pulling together what little energy that he had left Hiei's fists burst into flames. When he was close enough he pulled back his right fist and punched as fast and hard as he could. But it was all for nothing, as Byakuya saw his attack, sidestepped it, and dragged his sword across Hiei's stomach.

The flames around Hiei's fists went out and only a choked gasp for air escaped him as he fell to the ground. Blood spat from his mouth in tiny drops as he fell to his knees. As blood slipped through his clenched teeth and spilled from his fresh wound, Hiei glared up at Byakuya. Then he collapsed to the ground.

Since he was still breathing, along with Ichigo, Byakuya started to walk over to Hiei. He readied his sword for the final blow when Rukia blocked his path and stopped him.

"Move Rukia."

"No. There's no need for you to attack them any further. They'll both die on their own anyway," Rukia said.

Ichigo strained to push himself up off the ground and looked at her like she was crazy. As he continued to try and move Rukai shouted at him. She told the both of them to try and enjoy their last moments before turning her back to them.

Byakuya commanded Renji to open the gate so that they could go back to the Soul Society. Doing as he was told he walks by Rukia and him. When he stood in front of them he appeared to be focusing his energy into his sword, which started to glow. He then stuck it into the air and it disappeared, as if the air had absorbed it. Renji then shouts the word "unlock" and turns the hilt of his sword like a key. Suddenly a door appears and opens. Three black butterflies flutter out. Before they started to walk inside Renji pulled his sword back, returned it to its normal form, and sheathed it. Once he was done they walked inside.

The door disappeared and Ichigo pounded his fist on the ground out of frustration for being protected again. He looked over to Hiei to see how he was doing and saw that he was struggling to keep his eyes open. It wouldn't be long now before he died from blood loss. That was when he heard footsteps. Before he passed out, Ichigo looked to where he heard the footsteps and saw Urahara. He was holding up an umbrella and a black cat rested on his shoulder. Ichigo wanted to know why he was there but fainted before he could ask.

Spirit World

Koenma sat at his desk, shifting through papers. Lately he has been feeling troubled with what has been happening with Hiei. Also another thing that was bothering him was the disappearence of some of the spirits that informed him about the supposed crisis in the other world.

It seemed odd. Why did they keep telling him that he had to keep Hiei there. From what Hiei has been telling him it seems like he doesn't need to be there.

'Is it possible that there is some other motive here? If that were the case then what could it be? But what really makes me suspicious is that they won't show me their faces.'

Koenma looked through the reports of Hollows that were provided to him by the spirits. Nothing seemed wrong from what he could tell. But yet he still felt there was more.

"What are you up to, Koenma?" an eerie voice spoke from behind.

Koenma froze where he was. It seemed like no matter how many times it did that it would freak him out. But something was different about it. It sounded almost sinister.

Koenma turned slowly and faced the spirit. Like every other time it presented itself to him it had a hood on, covering its face.

"What are you doing here?" Koenma asked.

"I've come to see the progress that the demon that you sent has made."

"Before I answer I want to know where the others that were with you have gone. I haven't seen them for some time now."

The cloaked figure straighted itself out. It now stood straight up whereas before it was hunced over. Koenma raised an eyebrow.

"Hehehe… Alright then. Since you're of no further use to us I don't see any harm in revealing myself," it said.

"What?!" Koenma exclaimed.

Two hands resembling a humans came out of the sleeve of the robe and reached for the hood. Koenma watched in anxiety as it slowly pulled it back. When its hood was off Koenma gasped both in fear and surprise. What stood before him looked human, but part of its face had a Hollow mask. His complete left side of his face, except for his eye, was covered by a Hollow mask. He had light blue hair that went out in short spikes and went down to his neck. His eyes were a piercing gold.

Koenma tried to back away in fear but fell out of his chair. He squeezed his eyes shut from the pain as he rubbed the back of his head. When he looked up the enemy was standing right in front of him.

"Wha… what are you?!" Koenma asked.

With a smile on his face he answered, "I am a proto-type Arrancar. My name is Ichiban. By your face I can tell that you are confused, but it doesn't matter."

While looking at Ichiban, Koenma tried to back away on his hands and feet. Ichiban seemed to get amusement out of Koenma's struggle and let him continue to run away. When he felt he was far enough Koenma stood on his feet.

"What did you mean when you said I was of no more use to you and why did you need me to begin with? What are you after?"

A low chuckle could be heard coming from Ichiban. But it didn't last long when his face became disgruntled.

"The reason you are of no more use is because you messed up my masters' plan from the very start without even realizing it. To add to that annoyance lately you have been trying to find some information on what's going on. Normally that wouldn't matter because of how far along we are, but, we can't leave anything to chance. As for the rest of your question, I don't feel a need to answer that," Ichiban said as he took another step closer.

Before Koenma knew it he was backed up against a corner in his office. Just when Koenma was going to accept his death, by the miracles of his prayers, the door opened. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Botan all walked in, but stopped when they saw what was going on. Yusuke was the first to react.

"What the hell!? Who are you?"

Ichiban turned and looked at them with a smile on his face.

"Ah! So the famous Spirit Detective finally makes his appearance. What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same, freak," Yusuke said, glaring at him.

Kuwabara took this time to take note of Ichiban's face.

"AHH! What the hell's up with that guys face?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

Ichiban only but smiled at Kuwabara's reaction. Slowly he started to walk towards them. Botan hid behind Kurama, as he and the others got ready for battle. Yusuke brought up his fists, Kuwabara summoned his Spirit Sword, and Kurama pulled a rose from his hair. Ichiban stopped some ways before them. He still had his smile and said with complete confidence, "If you're all going to attack me then you better all at once. That way you might have a slim chance of hurting me."

Enraged like he had hoped for, Yusuke and Kuwabara charged forward while Ichiban just stood there with his left hand hanging limply at his side and his other pulled back, ready to deliver a punch. Yusuke jumped in the air with his right fist pulled back and ready while Kuwabara charged forward and held his Spirit Sword at his side, ready to thrust it forward for a stab. Before Yusuke was even close enough Ichiban punched quickly with his right fist and a small ball of dark red energy shot from his fist and knocked Yusuke across the room and through the wall. Kuwabara paused his charge out of shock and to see where Yusuke went.

"Where are you looking Kuwabara!? Watch out!" Kurama yelled as he tried to run over to him.

Kuwabara franticly turned around to only see Ichiban's face inches from his own. Desperately, Kuwabara tried to put some distance between them but Ichiban took it upon himself to do that for him by kneeing him in the gut and sending him back to where Botan was at the door. He landed flatly on his back. Ichiban smiled at his work when he turned his attention over to Kurama.

When Kurama was close enough he stretched his right hand over to his left, over his shoulder, and transformed the rose in his hand into his signature weapon. He swung his arm and his whip cracked the ground where he was once standing. Ichiban had jumped over Kurama and landed not too far behind him. He held out his right hand and pointed his forefinger and said, "Hadou number four: White Lighting."

A bolt of lighting shot from his finger and towards Kurama. Caught by surprise, Kurama was slow to react and the bolt struck him in his right shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon. Kurama screamed in pain. When it was over he fell down to one knee and gripped his right shoulder with his left hand.

'What was that? Lighting? What else does this person know?' Kurama thought to himself.

"Kurama! Are you ok?!" Botan exclaimed from her place with Kuwabara.

"I'm fine," he squeezed out.

He looked up to Ichiban to see that he was walking over to him. Reaching down with a shaky hand Kurama picked up his weapon with his right hand and got up onto his feet. Ichiban smiled confidently at him.

"Is this all? I was hoping for more. That's way I've been holding back."

Kurama glared at him.

'This is not good. If he's holding back there's no telling how powerful he is. Our only chance to win is to catch him by surprise. But the question is how will we.'

"Hey! Did you forget about me!?" Yusuke yelled as he ran back into the room through the hole his body made in the wall.

Yusuke encased his fists in his energy and started to punch randomly at Ichiban. Ichiban calmly dodged every attack, only taking a couple steps back because of Yusuke's advance.

"Damn it! Stop moving!" Yusuke yelled.

With one final punch he lunged forward with his right fist, hoping that with the extra distance and force he would hit. Shusha swiftly stepped to his left, brushing Yusuke's punch out of the way, and kicked him in the gut. Reaching down as fast as he could Yusuke took hold of Ichiban's leg when it hit him.

"What?!" Ichiban exclaimed.

Yusuke pulled him over with his left hand while he pulled his right fist back and powered it up. Unable to defend himself do to the close range or move because of Yusuke holding onto his leg, Ichiban received a full-powered punch. The impact caused him to slip from Yusuke's grip and through the wall on the other side of the room. Kuwabara sat up from his position on the floor by the door.

"Alright Urameshi! You got him."

"Well of course. When you piss me off you gotta expect to get your ass beat," Yusuke said, milking his praise.

"Yusuke, I don't know if now is the time to celebrate. You may have injured him but I don't think it's close to being over just yet," Kurama said as he walked over to him.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked.

"It means exactly what he said. You have hurt me but now I know not to be careless with you again," Ichiban said.

Ichiban walked back through the hole that now his body made in the wall. He almost appeared unharmed, with the exception of a few scratches. Yusuke clenched his fists in aggravation.

'Damn! What's it going to take to kill this guy?' Yusuke thought to himself.

Yusuke and the others watched as Ichiban pulled off his tattered cloak. What he was wearing was a white jacket, a black sash, a white hakama, and black socks and white sandals (think an inverted Soul Reaper outfit). At his left waist was a sword. Yusuke tensed up, having a strong feeling that things were suddenly about to turn bad.

"I must admit though. I never thought that you would have been able to hurt me, let alone even landing a hit. But now I'm only going to play with you a little longer because I'm very busy and I have a mission to finish," Ichiban said, looking over to his right.

He looked to where he had last seen Koenma but he was not there anymore. Not seeming to be too concerned about it he calmly reached for his sword.

"I don't think so!" Yusuke yelled as he charged forward.

Kurama tried to stop him but was too late. Yusuke had reached Ichiban and was already throwing punches like crazy. Getting onto his feet, Kuwabara summoned his sword again and ran towards them. Not being able to just stand there and do nothing while his friends could be killed, Kurama joined them.

Koenma poked his head out from behind Botan. When he had found an opening he had ran from the corner of the room. By this time from all the noise ogres with clubs and some with swords where standing outside the door, ready to defend him.

"Koenma sir! We're here and ready to fight," one ogre said.

"Stand back. This is not your fight. We must leave it up to Yusuke and the others to fight this opponent. If you interfere you'll only get yourselves killed," Koenma said.

Obeying his order the ogres all stood and watched. Botan knew that the one in white was the cause of this mess but didn't really know what was going on. So she looked down at Koenma and asked.

"He, Botan, is a Hollow, or so he says. It said that it is a proto-type Arrancar. I had no idea what it really was until now. I feel so foolish for being tricked like this," Koenma said, looking down in shame.

"What's an Arrancar?" Botan asked.

Koenma explained to her what he was able to find out, which wasn't much. But it did answer her question enough for her to be satisfied with it.

"Why does he look like a Soul Reaper, well except for the colors?" Botan asked.

"I don't know. That worries me even more…"

Yusuke jumped to left but wasn't able to dodge the attack and was knocked away. Taking up his place was Kuwabara. Kuwabara held his Spirit Sword high above his head and swung down with all of his might. Ichiban drew his sword and blocked Kuwabara's attack. Sparks and energy flew everywhere from where energy and metal met.

"That's an interesting weapon that you've got there," Ichiban said with a smile.

Kuwabara gritted his teeth in aggravation and pushed Ichiban back. He ran forward and tried swinging his sword to the right this time, but it was blocked again.

"Is this all? I thought that with a weapon like that you might have put up more of a challenge," Ichiban taunted.

Kuwabara broke away from him and tried again. The same result came every time. Ichiban jumped and back a little bit to get away from Kuwabara. He held out his left finger, ready to cast the same kido on him that he had used on Kurama. In one last attempt to get him Kuwabara stabbed his sword forward and it broke apart into many tiny blades.

"What?!" Ichiban exclaimed.

"Meet my Spirit Shuriken!" Kuwabara yelled.

The tiny blades of energy shot forward. Ichiban was left to defend himself but it was near impossible. He received deep cuts all over. During the assault he disappeared and Kuwabara stopped his attack.

"Where'd he do?" Kuwabara asked.

All he heard was the others screaming for him to move. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened in fear. Diving forward he was still unable to avoid complete harm. Ichiban had reappeared behind him and attacked him with his sword. When Kuwabara dived Ichiban was only able to cut a long deep gash across his back, but that was sufficient to take him down.

Enraged, Yusuke charged at Ichiban. Ichiban glared at him as he got closer. He tried to turn his body to face him but his body was almost unresponsive. Worried, he brought a shaky arm up and got ready. When Yusuke reached him he didn't even think twice about the sword in Ichiban's hand and attack him with a barrage of punches. Unable to protect himself, Ichiban was pummeled by Yusuke's frenzied attacks.

"This is going to end it!" Yusuke yelled.

Yusuke punched Ichiban away and sent him gliding across the ground and began to charge up his Spirit Gun. Ichiban stopped when he rolled across the floor and hit the wall. He was somehow still able to hold onto his sword and used it as a prop to hold himself up. As he sat there hunched over his sword he coughed up blood and felt dizzy. Struggling to he looked up to see what was going to happen next. He saw Yusuke posed for one final attack and it filled the room with a blue glow. Not being able to accept defeat Ichiban prepared for one final attack of his own. A red ball of energy started to form in front of his mouth and it quickly began to increase in size, it too filled the room with a red glow. Their conflicting energy caused little bits of lighting to crackle between them.

"Yusuke! Now is the time to shoot. Hurry up and fire!" Kurama yelled.

Nodding his head in agreement Yusuke focused on the last bit of energy that he was putting into his blast. He closed his eyes to help him focus more. When he was ready he opened his eyes and said, "This is for all the trouble that you caused and for what you did to Kuwabara, you bastard. Spirit Gun!"

Yusuke released all the energy that he had built up in one giant blast. But Ichiban was ready as well. The ball of energy that he had formed disappeared briefly and reappeared as a beam of energy and blasted towards Yusuke. Both of their attacks collided. When the two energies hit they created a brief but powerful gust of wind. Everyone watched in awe. Kurama helped Kuwabara, careful of his back, to his knees so that he wouldn't strain his wound.

Everyone continued to watch in both excitement and anxiety as both attacks continued to push one another. It seemed like an eternity but after awhile there was final some result. Slowly but surely, Yusuke's energy was beginning to advance forward, pushing through Ichiban's energy.

"Yusuke's winning!" Botan cheered.

"Yeah… go Urameshi," Kuwabara struggled out.

Kurama smiled and looked away as he helped Kuwabara to his feet so that they could get away from danger and take care of his wound. Shusha began to panic as Yusuke's energy got closer.

'No! I can't lose here! This isn't fair!' Ichiban thought to himself.

During his worried thoughts he lost his concentration and his beam weakened, allowing Yusuke's to advance even more. Out of desperation he raised his hands to try and block Yusuke's energy, but it didn't work. The last thing they heard before the explosion was a horrified scream. Debris and black smoke was blown everywhere. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the smoke and rocks. When it calmed down enough they all looked to where Ichiban had been. After it cleared up the only thing that they could see that was left was Ichiban's sword, but that began to fade away. Now there was nothing left except for a large crater and destroyed walls. Yusuke smiled at the site of his victory.

Behind him he could hear the others releasing their breaths. He turned his back to the site and walked over to Koenma and the others.

"Way to go Urameshi. I knew that we could beat that guy," Kuwabara said.

"Yes Yusuke. You've done a splendid job. But did you really have to go that far?" Koenma asked as he looked at what remained of his office.

Yusuke smiled sheepishly at him and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well it was either that or let him kill us. Would you have rather that he did kill one or all of else?" Yusuke asked.

Koenma let out a sigh. He knew Yusuke was right. If he hadn't done what he had then they would all be dead. It was at this time that he remembered what the Arrancar said. Koenma ran past Yusuke and over to what was left of his desk. He rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. Putting the remote towards the ceiling above where Yusuke and the others were he pressed a button and panels on the ceiling opened. A huge monitor screen descended. Koenma tried to turn it on but for some reason it refused to work.

"Come on! Why won't this stupid thing work?" Koenma asked no one in particular out of annoyance.

"What are you trying to do Koenma?" Kurama asked.

"I need to get a hold of Hiei. He could be in great danger!"

Everyone got a look of shock on their face when he said that Hiei could be in danger. He explained to them what Ichiban had told him and that it led him to believe that since they didn't need him and since he seemed to have messed the plans up for whomever, it led him to think that they were going to go after Hiei, if they already hadn't. But no matter what he pressed, the monitor would not work.

Koenma ordered for some workers to get to work on the monitor as soon as possible. He dreaded what could happen from this point on. His only hope was that he could figure it out soon.

END CHAPTER 10

How was that? There was something I wanted to say but I can't seem to remember so oh well. Please leave me reviews. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.