Katsurou looked towards other parts of the battlefield.
The smoke from SoiFon's Bankai disappeared and revealed that her opponent was still alive, the only injury he had was that the skull that was his face had shattered slightly.
Tōshirō's ice then shattered to reveal his opponent who also was alive.
"This isn't good. We'll never be able to take them down in the conditions we're all in"
The Arrancar then made some sort of noice that made the giant creature blow out the fire around Aizen, Gin and Kaname.
"Okay, now we're really not going to be able to handle this"
"Not so fast, said a voice"
Everyone looked in the direction the voice came from and there stood a group of people.
"So this is were they all have been for the past 100 years"
After exchaning a few words, the eight of them put on what looked like Hollow masks and went towards a bunch of Gillians that the giant creature had released.
Once all Gillians were defeated, the eight of them split up and two of them appeared next to Katsurou.
"Mind if we step in, said one of them"
"I appreciate the help Rose, Love"
"How do you know our names?"
"Oh that's right, I was just a kid last time we meet"
"Wait, Katsurou Ukitake, said the one named Rose"
"That's right. It's been a long time you two"
"Indeed it has"
"Let's see what the past hundred years have taught you kid, said Love"
"Right, let's do it"
All three turned their attention to Starrk.
"He looks strong, I'll give him that, said Love"
"He is, Starrk over there is the 1st Espada, the strongest of them, said Katsurou"
"What type of powers does he have, Rose asked"
"He's really fast so be on your guard at all times. Those guns of his also fire Ceros so be carefull if he aims them at you"
"Right"
Starrk then aimed his gun at them and fired a Cero which all three dodged. They started to circle around him to avoid getting hit by his Ceros.
He then fired his Cero Metralleta which knocked Rose down to the ground and the other two landed close to him.
They then looked to the side were one of their friends had defeated the second Espada.
"So Hacchi did it huh, said Rose
-His opponent looked really powerfull too"
"Yeah but I would have liked it if we had settled things a bit sooner, said Love"
"Why is that, Katsurou asked"
"You don't know kid?
-Once your comrad falls in battle, you're gonna want revenge"
"He doesn't seem like that type to me, said Rose"
"Rose is right, Starrk doesn't seem to be the person that likes to fight, said Katsurou
-He even wanted Shunsui to pretend fighting him earlier just because he didn't feel like fighting. However, that may have changed since he entered his Resurrección"
"That's what's unnerving about him, said Love"
He then leaped into the air and released his Shikai which he used to block Starrk's Cero blasts before slamming the Espada down to the ground.
Rose and Katsurou then appeared next to Love.
"You got him, Rose asked"
"Not exactly. He's just not moving around yet. He's either watching us or planning something.
-Whatever he's up to, we can't make a move until all that dust clears"
Suddenly, multiple Ceros came from the dust to clear it away.
"Why is he shooting like that, said Love"
He then went towards the ground were he clashed with Starrk. While he was distracted by Love, Katsurou appeared behind him and tried to attack but Starrk used Sonído to get away.
The two then appeared directly above him but Starrk leaped into the air to dodge the attacks.
But both caught up with him and tried to attack but he dodged again.
"Why don't you attack us Starrk?"
"Are you to stricten with grief?"
"Something like that, said Starrk"
Love then swung his Zanpakutō while Katsurou crossed both of his swords. He moved them down in an X-shape and the dark energy around the blades formed an X that hit Starrk at the same time as Love's Zanpakutō hit him.
The hits made Starrk fall towards the town below them.
Love then swipped a hand across his face so his Hollow mask appeared before he started to clash with Starrk.
As the Arrancar fired multiple Ceros towards him, Rose released his Shikai which took the form of a whip while Katsurou sent a pack of his wolves to get rid of the Ceros.
"You two are late! There's no point in fighting him three on one if we don't cordinate our attacks better"
"Bossy aren't we Aikawa, said Katsurou
-Besides, it's three against two since he technicly has Lilinette in the guns"
"And as I've explained to you earlier, there's art in making an impression in any kind of situation, said Rose"
Rose then made a motion with his hand so his own Hollow mask appeared. He then began to swing his whip towards Starrk who leaped up to dodge it and when Rose followed him with the whip, he shoot at it.
"That blast of yours is not powerfull enough to knock out my Kinshara."
The whip came from the dust created from the blast and Starrk quickly dodged.
"Nice work Rose"
Katsurou appeared next to Starrk and created the same X of black energy as earlier which forced him back.
"Nice, said Love"
He then appeared above Starrk and fire surrounded his Shikai.
"Hifuki no Kodzuchi"
Love sent a fireball towards Starrk which made him crash to the ground below and got engulfed in flames.
The trio then landed a bit away were the two removed their masks. But just as they did that, Starrk appeared in the air above them with a pack of wolves behind him and his hands were empty.
He then sent some of thw wolves against the trio who tried to attack but they reformed after each blow. Some of them then bite onto Love's leg and Kinshara before they exploded.
It caused damage to the area and the trio jumped out of the dust created from the explosion.
"Hey you two, said Love
-I've figured it out. They're Ceros"
"I don't think that's the case, said Katsurou
-If they had been Ceros, then the damage to us would have been less, especially you two since you have your masks. No, I think there's more to them than that"
Suddenly, wolves appeared around Love and exploded.
When the dust from the explosion cleared, it showed that all three had been injured.
Starrk formed more wolves that went towards the trio and exploded. It caused Rose and Love's masks to break and was powerfull enough to force Katsurou out of his Bankai.
The three of them then fell ontop of a building and Starrk went down to them.
"This game is over. Run and I'll let you live"
"We don't run, said Love"
The trio slowly got up on their feet and looked at the Espada as he dropped down onto the building. But as soon as he landed on the roof, a sword pierced right through his chest.
"Kageoni, Katsurou thought"
The sword retreated into his shadow and from it, Shunsui rose up and revealed himself.
"I knew it"
Starrk turned to face the captain and placed a hand on his chest were his still had a wound from the sword.
He and Shunsui then took their battle to the air while the other three stayed on the roof, watching them.
"You can do this uncle Shunsui"
And he was right, after quite a long fight, Shunsui emerged as the winner.
The three of them went up to him were Love and Rose bowed.
"I'm glad the three of you are safe"
"You haven't changed at all, said Love
-You still tend to ignore the basic coat of honor"
"Only amatures would give up a victory for the sake of a coat of honor. As a captain I can't afford such luxury. There's rarely a clear cut determination of a good side and a bad side in theses battles. It's hard to pinpoint ho caused what exactly
-Once war breaks out, both sides becomes evil"
His swords then turned back to their sealed form and the blood that was still on them dripped from the tip.
"You did a good job there Suro, holding him off on your own after we were taken down"
"Thank you"
"It just shows how powerfull your Bankai has become durning all these years since you mastered it.
-Now, go to the other lieutenants and rest up or go down there and find Jūshirō. The choice is yours but stay away from the battle for a while, you deserve it after this fight"
"Yes sir"
Katsurou went down to were Izuru and Tetsuzaemon were sitting inside a barrier and Izuru was healing Rangiku.
"Let me take over Izuru"
"Are you sure Katsurou? You just fought one of the Espada and you yourself are injured"
"These wounds are nothing. Besides, you deserve a break so allow me to heal them"
Izuru hesitated but moved away and let Katsurou take his place.
The three of them then watched as the others confronted Aizen.
Then, Ichigo burst through a partially opened Garganta and tried to attack Aizen from behind but it failed. The others joined him and attacked Aizen one after another.
"Such spirit energy, said Tetsuzaemon"
"It's strong and it's not just captain Hitsugaya, said Izuru
-Captain Komamura, captain Kyōraku, everyone here. They're all raising their spirit energies to the limit"
"This might be too much. Being exposed to this much spirit energy could hurt Rangiku and Momo even more"
"You're right Tetsuzaemon, said Katsurou
-But even with all this power, I wonder if it will be enough to stop that traitor Aizen"
They kept watching the fight until Tōshirō stabbed Aizen through the chest.
"They did it, said Izuru"
"They sure did, said Katsurou"
"The captains, they finally did it, said Tetsuzaemon"
-They defeated Aizen. Now we've got something to celebrate"
The barrier around them then disappeared and Momo sat up before she started to walk away. Izuru and Tetsuzaemon followed her but Aizen appeared and attacked them.
Once he had gone back to the battle with the captains, Katsurou got up and ran over to his friends. He knelt between them and healing Kidō glowed around his hands.
As he healed their wounds, he heard Izuru say Gin's name before looking to the side were Rangiku was running. He tried to move but didn't get far since a hand was placed on his uninjured shoulder.
"Take it easy Izuru. You and Tetsuzaemon stay here and rest. I'll go after her"
The older lieutenant stood up and before Izuru knew it, he had disappeared in a quick Flash Step.
"Rangiku don't do what I think you're doing. Izuru and I together have managed to heal you enough to keep you alive but one bad injury and you're done for"
Katsurou soon stopped and was right in front of Rangiku.
"Where do you think you're going Rangiku? Your injury is not even near fully healed"
"Katsurou please get out of the way"
"Why are you in such a hurry?!"
"I..."
"It's about Gin isn't it?"
"Huh"
"I've heard about you and Gin over the years. You grew up in Rukongai together and entered the academy together. I know how much you care for him"
He took a deep breath and sighed before looking at her with kindness shining in his eyes.
"So if you promise me that you won't get too injured, then I'll let you go after him"
"Really?"
"Yes. Besides, I have someone I need to find as well"
"Oh thank you Katsurou. And I hope you find your captain"
She ran past him and a sad smile appeared on Katsurou's face before he looked up at the sky.
"I hope so too. His spiritual pressure is very weak so I need to get going"
He drew his sword and released his Shikai before creating some of his wolves.
"Find my father and fast"
The wolves nodded and split up to search.
One of them soon came back and Katsurou followed it to the area were they had fought against Starrk. There on the ground was Jūshirō.
Katsurou quickly ran over to him and saw the terrible wound left from the Arrancar. He felt panic rise up but remembered what he had been taught by Retsu to never panic when someone is wounded.
"Bakudō #73 Tozanshō"
Once the spell had formed around them, Katsurou took his still released Zanpakutō and struck it into the ground. One lone wolf came from the energy around it.
"Find captain Unohana and tell her I need her help"
The wolf growled slightly before it ran to find the 4th division captain who Katsurou could feel not far away from them.
Katsurou then took a deep breath to calm himself and he thought back to his lessons with Retsu. He checked his father's injury and came to the conclusion that turning him over would probably make things worse.
So he placed both hands over the wound and focused all his energy on healing it the best he could.
The wolf he had sent soon came back with Retsu behind him.
Notes:
Gillian: the lowest level of Menos Hollows
Kageoni: A technique of Shunsui's Katen Kyokotsu. He can hide himself in shadows and control them to attack opponents by attacking the shadow they stand on.
