A/N: I am so very sorry to everyone who has read even one chapter of this story. When college hits, it hits hard and it tends to make you forget about everything else you had going on. At any rate, I managed to crank this out and I'm pretty pleased with the storyline. Hopefully I'll have another chapter typed up by tomorrow so you'll have something else to read before I go dark again. I'll try to stay on this, but like I said college hits hard. Read, enjoy.

I don't own Bleach or its characters.

OoOoO

Moments after Grimmjow's body dissolved and became one with the expanse of black desert, a triangular section of the white stone upon which the two powerhouses had battled rose out of the ground. Ichigo found that beneath the slab was a staircase and he could only surmise that this unorthodox doorway opened when it sensed the disappearance of a powerful reiatsu. No matter. The Soul Reaper would not look a gift horse in the mouth and cautiously descended the white staircase. His head was barely below the level of the arena when the levitating block dropped into place. The spiral hallway was now bathed in darkness and Ichigo had to siphon a bit of his Hollow energy into his eyes to be able to see effectively. He began to worry that marching into this particular opening had not been such a good idea, but his gut told him that he needed to head down these stairs.

"Just wonderful," he griped. But, not one to ignore his gut, he pushed onward, determined to find his comrades.

As he descended further into the darkness, and as he had nothing better to do, his mind wandered to Rukia. She had been acting strange as of late and he was worried about both her emotional and physical states. While Ichigo knew she could handle herself, he also realized that she was recently distracted, for lack of a better word. Whenever he saw her, her eyes were glazed, as though she were thinking about something. Her lips would turn down in a cute pout every once in a while and her fingers would twitch.

Ichigo's eyes softened and turned sad as these thoughts continued. He knew that he felt something that was far more than friendly affection for the smaller shinigami, his companion and battle consultant for the better part of the last century. In fact, he would go so far as to all it love. Every time he was in her frosty presence, he could barely contain himself. He wanted nothing more than to sweep her up and never let her go. It was only natural; they had shared so much of their souls with each other over the years, it would be insane to think that they were not strongly connected. However, Ichigo had to keep his feelings in check. That hardly had anything to do with the fact that he was her superior. Rather, he knew that Renji had, subconsciously or not, laid his claim to her years ago. Ichigo saw the way his friend looked at her, saw the glares he sent to every male that dared to make a pass at her. And for all he knew, Rukia felt the same way about Renji. After all, she had known him since childhood.

There had been a moment that day - when she came to him in the infirmary - when her normally frigid reiatsu had warmed and gravitated toward his own. But the change had been fleeting and Ichigo chalked it up to friendly concern.

Ichigo hardened his gaze again and scowled deeply. There was no use in getting emotional. He could only hope that she was safe with the rest of their party. She had no business being dragged into this, and the Captain of the Third Division was beginning to think that something was sorely amiss. Grimmjow was put in his path for a reason, he was sure of it. As if the deity that reigned over the realm of Hell knew that Ichigo would have to go through the deceased Arrancar. The old Arrancar had said as much. The only way to confirm his suspicions was to find Renji and the others and devise a plan of action.

OoOoO

Elsewhere, Kanaye was engaged in heated combat with Ulquiorra Schiffer. The former Espada was gauging his opponent's movements, reading his strike patterns. Though he would never admit it aloud, Ulquiorra was the slightest bit worried. The shinigami had given up his weapon in favor of his bankai, which appeared to be of a sort that fused with its wielder and acted as an amplifier. It was pure, unrefined energy that stretched and contracted with Kanaye's movements. Originally, Ulquiorra surmised that this would prove to be Kanaye's undoing, considering that all of his previous attacks were directed with his sword. Quite the opposite. The shinigami Captain was well versed in hand to hand combat, more so than in zanjutsu. All of a sudden he was a thousand times quicker and a thousand times stronger. Every punch was a shot from a cannon, every kick a rock solid pillar of destruction. Ulquiorra was having difficulty blocking him. That said, he was holding back most of his power in order to judge his adversary's strength and he was confident that he could end this fight with a strike from his Lanza del Relampago. He used sonido to increase the distance between them and focused his energy into the green weapon.

Kanaye stared him down, still in a fighting stance and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Ulquiorra expertly twirled his lance and aimed at the Soul Reaper.

"Goodbye, trash," he said, unleashing the lance. It flew straight and true, faster than any bullet, detonating on impact with the ground in front of Kanaye.

Orihime guarded herself and Uryuu with her shield, but was barely able to hold it up against the onslaught of green energy. Between the massive explosion and Kanaye's obliteration, the shield collapsed as its master broke down in another fit of tears. She had been hopeful when Kanaye had revealed his final release, hopeful that the fighting would end soon and she and her comrades could find a way back to the Seireitei. But now... Now all she could do was cry. She was numb to everything surrounding her. She didn't even notice that Uryuu had fainted as the onslaught of reiatsu aggravated his concussion.

Ulquiorra turned to them and charged another lance, pleased with his victory over the three shinigami. Soon the girl and her companion would feel no more and they would be incinerated like the garbage they were. But as he took aim, something solid and searingly hot collided with his ribs, sending him tumbling head over heels into a mountain of sand. In a flash, he was back on his feet, almost disbelieving the information his eyes were feeding him. The shinigami Captain was alive and well, but his irises were glowing red and his sclera were black even without the presence of a mask. His reiatsu was still incredibly dense and suffocating with a heavier quality to it, but it was calmer and more controlled as opposed to the raging mass it had been minutes ago.

"Your reiatsu," Ulquiorra began, setting aside his disgust for the time being, "is much less barbaric than it was." As he spoke another weapon materialized in his hand.

Kanaye grinned a feral grin and flexed his claws. "My bankai is...unstable at best. It's unique because it must be controlled with an unusually high level of reiatsu. Unfortunately mine alone isn't enough to keep it under control for more than a few minutes," he explained. Ulquiorra was taken aback by the warble in his opponent's voice but prepared his next strike all the same. "Your little stunt accelerated the process and I lost focus for a second. Had to use my Hollowfication to stabilize my bankai." Ulquiorra lunged at Kanaye, using his incredible sonido to close the distance and thrust his lance at Kanaye, intending to land a killing blow.

To his surprise, he found that the tip of his energy weapon was being held steadfast by the shinigami, the rings of flame around the Soul Reaper's wrist bursting to life as the bankai absorbed and discarded Ulquiorra's power. He was so surprised that the indifferent mask upon his face slipped and his eyes widened.

"How?"

"You didn't let me finish."

Kanaye grasped Ulquiorra's windpipe with his right hand, the orange fire around his wrist flaring wildly, and the former Espada immediately felt the sensation of having liquid fire poured down his throat. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but sputter as his adversary lifted him easily off the ground. His tail was frozen in place as were his wings. What was this power?

"My bankai needs to be contained because it doesn't operate on my own power."

Ulquiorra's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Kanaye's reiatsu skyrocketed beyond anything he thought could possibly erupt from a lowly shinigami. Simultaneously, he felt his life force draining from his body.

"It produces this amazing output of strength and speed because it absorbs the reiatsu of my enemies and converts it into power that I can use for my own. Your mistake was feeding your lance into my bankai, allowing me access to your energy. In a few moments you'll turn to ash and I'll absorb your power."

What he said was true. The seconds ticked by and Ulquiorra's body took on a deathly grey hue. His eyes sunk into their sockets and his bones showed through to the surface of his skin. Kanaye, although still grinning maniacally, gazed sorrowfully upon his opponent.

"I take no pleasure in this, but you forced my hand. Your power is mine now."

Ulquiorra's body turned to ash and Kanaye's bankai absorbed what was left of Ulquiorra's reiatsu. As it did so, Kanaye struggled to maintain his composure, the addition of such a powerful spirit something he was unused to. The bright flames attached to his bankai grew and died erratically, coping with the intense onslaught of Hollow energy as well as they could. Slowly but surely the flames stabilized and the molten orange coursing through the black bankai settled into a happy glimmer. Eventually Kanaye managed to calm his bankai enough to seal it into its shikai form and he replaced the sword on his back.

He turned back to his comrades and frowned when he saw that Uryuu was finally unconscious and Orihime was trembling in fear.

OoOoO

To say that Orihime was terrified was an understatement. That voice and his blood red eyes, she had seen those traits before. They were the telltale signs of a shinigami infused with a Hollow. Ichigo had been her introduction to that particular sort of being and it had been unsettling, but bearable. Simply put, it was Ichigo and at that point in her young life she believed she loved him. However, the gentle healer never really adjusted to the idea that the likes of the Vizards were able to control and harness the power of the monsters that lived inside of them. Perhaps it was because her first true experience with a Hollow unfortunately coincided with the death of her poor brother. Whatever the reason, Orihime still feared the awesome abilities of those who had undergone Hollowfication and made a point of avoiding them whenever she felt their unique qualities in action.

In this case, however, her uneasiness was multiplied tenfold. She barely knew the man who had just saved her life and she and her lifelong friends were more than once betrayed by someone considered to be an ally. Coupled with her frazzled state and her shock over seeing Ulquiorra again, that feeling was not one that she was handling well.

Kanaye was making his way slowly towards her now and it took all of her willpower to fight the instinct to raise her shield. He still reeked of Hollow energy; the main difference between shinigami and Hollow reiatsu was that Hollow reiatsu was plain evil. As he stepped closer, Orihime focused on the shifting sand beneath his feet instead of on him, attempting to displace the fear that was creeping up on her.

Suddenly he was directly before her, kneeling in the sand next to Uryuu. She chanced a look and gasped when Kanaye lifted the fallen archer over his back and nodded for her to follow.

"We have to head for the tower. No telling what else is waiting out here for us. You can heal him on the way," he said in a low, rumbling voice, almost as if he were assuaging the tangible fright within the younger shinigami. And somehow, as Orihime responded with an emphatic affirmation, she thought that he didn't seem quite so scary anymore. That certainly didn't mean that she trusted him, but the fading Hollow reiatsu was merging with his restrained shinigami energy and the darkness intertwining with the light made for a pleasant warmth as they continued on their journey.