I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORY LINE AND THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW FROM THE ANIME/MANGA!

Chapter Thirteen

The Jig is Up

"Hiyori, move!"

Shinji came to a stop at the voice, holding up his hand for the others to follow him. The voice didn't sound like Miyuki's or Kensei's or Mashiro's so that meant only one thing. Ayami Takora.

"Stop it! It's me! Ayami!"

"Stop trying to talk to them! It's not going to work!" Hiyori's voice roared as the sound of crashing reached them.

Shinji followed the voices and jumped in front of Hiyori just in time to block the attack of one of the creatures.

"Ah, Shinji?" Hiyori sounded shocked.

"You fools," Shinji only had to take one look at the duo to see that they were running away instead of fighting. "Why haven't you drawn your swords yet?"

"How?" Ayami cried. "How are you supposed to fight that!?"

Having never met Ayami before, Shinji took a quick look at her long red hair and blue eyes before glancing back to the enemy. The clouds passed over the moon, giving Shinji sight of what the two women had been running from.

The first form was large and muscular, bulky humanoid, with armored hands and skeletal feet. There were a number of thick, cylindrical protrusions on his back and forearms and it seemed to make him hunch over. The face was covered by a flat mask with six, slitted eye holes with three extensions on either side to cover the sides and back of his head. It wasn't hard to see that this had once been Captain Kensei Muguruma, especially with the large 69 tattooed on his abdomen.

The other form was sleek and slender, and he recognized the sword-like earrings from Miyuki earlier that day. She had been transformed much like Kensei. The mask on her face was dragon-like with horns and teeth that made her look like a monster as a set of large wings grew out of her back.

"Kensei," He gasped, his eyes moving between the duo.

"Hey, Shinji!" Lisa's voice made them all turn to look as the rest of the group finally caught up to them.

"Hiyori! Ayami, are you all right?" Love asked the women. They all then froze at the sight of the two Hollow's before them. "K-Kensei."

"Is that Miyuki?" Hachi asked. Ayami slowly nodded her head.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Love demanded.

"You think those things are really the two of them?" Rojuro asked. "With that mask and spiritual pressure, it's almost like they've become Hollows."

"I'm not sure what to think, either," Shinji commented. "There's a chance that it's Kensei and Miyuki, but maybe not. Anyway, there's one think I'm sure of. If we don't draw our swords right now, we'll be dead."

At that moment Kensei reared his head back and gave off a huge roar, his pressure sending the others back and he ran to attack Love.

"Stop it," Hiyori cried from Shinji's grip. "Don't you get it? It's Kensei and Miyuki you're fighting against!" She cut her words there and began to cough, wincing in pain.

"Be quiet, Hiyori," Shinji told the small woman. "Our mission here is to stop them. If they are Kensei and Miyuki, then our mission is even more vital."

"Shinji is right, Hiyori," Rose commented. "Kensei is very important to us, and I'm sure that Miyuki is to her Squad as well. That's why we have to subdue them."

"There's no need to worry about this," Lisa commented, drawing her blade. "We know a mountain of ways in how to stop these guys without having to kill them. We'll cut all his tendons. How about you take his left side?"

Rose gave a grimace. "All right."

"I suppose I'll handle Miyuki," Ayami closed her eyes for a moment and drew her own blade. "I'm sorry, friend."

As the two battle went on, neither of the Soul Reapers seemed to be doing any good against Kensei and Miyuki, and things only got worse as a third Hollow joined in, knocking Rose into the ground.

This form was small with green hair, making Shinji agree withat it was Mashiro Kuna, Kensei's Lieutenant. She wore a white mask in the shape of a hornet but that seemed to be the only difference on her form.

"Mashiro," Shinji growled. His voice grabbed the Hollow's attention and she dove in for an attack. Shinji lifted his blade to block it, but Mashiro never made it to him. She was caught in the air by another blade.

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't like! Friend or not, you're not going to lay a finger on my Captain, Lieutenant Kuna!"

Shinji blinked, staring up at the woman above him, several feelings traveling through him. "Natora?! What are you doing here?!"

Natora wanted to turn around and look at Shinji to explain to him why she had gone against his orders and followed him but now was not the time for that. "Stay back," She called over her shoulder. "I can handle Mashiro."

With Kensei's Lieutenant being one of her spar partners the last 10 years she was surprised by her strength. Her legs held a force behind them to be reckoned with, forcing the other Shinigami back. Shinji gave a cry as the foot landed across Natora's face, He went to run forward to help her, Hiyori still in his arm, but Hachigen beat him to it, using his Gochutekkan to restrain her. He also grabbed Kensei and Miyuki with his Sajo Sabakku, saving Love and the others.

"Boy, I have to say you guys really run quickly." Hachi was gasping for breath and helped Natora up to her feet.

"Thank you, Hachi," She told him.

"I'm sure glad that I caught up with you," The man spoke as he calmed his breaths down. "Shinji! I'm quite confused about this situation! What's going on here? Kensei and Miyuki and Mashiro, what has happened to them?"

Before they could answer him, they all watched as the Kensei and Miyuki began to break from their holds and the attacks began again. Lisa, Love and Rose were getting their asses handed to them by the Kensei while Natora helped Ayami fight Miyuki.

"What is going on? Why are they changing into…into this?" Ayami growled.

"I'm not sure," Natora panted, holding her Zanpakto tightly.

As the fighting continued they found that when Kensei was in moment of being struck Miyuki would leave behind her own fight and block his form from the other Soul Reapers. The same was with Kensei when Miyuki was attacked.

"We have to keep them apart," Natora told the others. "If we take down one then we can take on the other."

"Will that work, though?" Lisa asked.

"It's the only idea I've got. If it doesn't work then we'll have to think of something else."

"Yes," Hachi nodded. "If you can distract one of them then I can restrict them."

"Ayami and I will keep Miyuki busy." Natora told the large man. "Love, can we count on you?"

"Of course," The man nodded.

"We'll help," Lisa agreed and Rose gave a nod.

The plan worked. When Miyuki tried to go and help Kensei against the other three, Ayami jumped in the way with Hado number 4, Byakurai.

Kin was used to bind Kensei and it didn't take too long afterwards to do the same to Miyuki.

"God she's a pain in the ass," Ayami growled, dropping her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Indeed," Natora nodded.

"You," Shinji's roar made Natora bit her lip as she turned to face the blond man that was approaching her. "I told you to-"

"Now is really not the time for this, Shinji," She told him. "We can argue later." She turned to look at Hachi. "Is there any way we can reverse them?"

"Even if I could, I'm not what got them this way. I might damage them even more before returning them to normal." He glanced at Hiyori as she began to cough.

Shinji glanced at the small woman he was holding. "What's the matter, Hiyori."

"The problem is you holding her like that," Ayami relied, moving towards him. "She needs to be healed. The trio had been beating her up when I arrived to help. You holding her like that is not helping!"

Shinji looked taken aback by the woman's tone and went to reply but Hiyori calling out Shinji's name made him glance back at her. Ayami reached forward to grab her friend but both her and Shinji received an attack across their bodies, sending the two of them back away from Hiyori as a white mask crawled over her face as well.

"Oh my God," Natora gasped, watching the young woman transform.

Hiyor's mask held a prominent horn in the center on her forehead and a row of diamond shaped markings over the eyebrows as the sclera of her eyes went black and her irises remained brown.

"What's happening to her?" Love demanded.

They all moved forward to try and subdue Hiyori before she could attack the fallen Shinji and Ayami again but they lost sight of everything as a veil of darkness passed over them.

"What?"

Natora heard the grunts of the others quickly as they were attacked around her and she gave a gasp as she felt a blade slash across her back. "Bastard!" She growled, whipping around. She couldn't help but give a grin as she felt her blade strike someone, the grunt deep, making her sure that it hadn't been one of the others that she had struck.

As he blade hit the man the veil of darkness fell and her eyes widened at the attacked. "Tosen?" She cried in shock.

It was Kaname Tosen, Seat 5 of the 9th Division; Under Kensei.

"Traitor," Ayami growled, staring up at the man. It seemed that only Shinji, Natora, and she were conscious.

"Why?" Shinji stared up at the blind man in shock as Ayami pushed herself to her feet. "You…betrayed Kensei…Your own Captain…"

"He didn't betray anyone." The voice made them turned to see the trio walking up behind them. It was Aizen, Gin, and a woman.

~Hiromi?~ Natora thought to herself. ~Is she…~

"He's quite loyal. In fact…he obeyed every order that I gave to him. Please don't get angry with him, Captain Hirako."

"Aizen…? I knew it!" Shinji stared at the two behind him. "H-Hiromi?!" Shinji demanded in shock.

"No," Natora could tell the difference as she clutched at her chest. "Not Hiromi."

"Hitomi!" Ayami cried out. "What are you doing?" Hitomi stayed silent, just staring at the other woman before turning her eyes away.

"Ayami," Shinji began. "Who is this?"

"A traitor," The woman growled. "How, Hitomi? How can you betray her? How can you betray your own sister?!"

"S-sister?" Natora's eyes grew wide. ~Hiromi had a sister? But how? Why…how did I not know? Why didn't she ever tell me!?~

"Betrayal?" Sosuke smirked, shaking his head. "I wouldn't call it that."

"So, you started all this!" Shinji hissed as his Lieutenant.

"Then you noticed?" Sosuke paused in his steps. "I'm not surprised."

"Of course we did," Natora growled, turning from the silent woman.

"Since when?"

"Since you were kickin' around in your mama's womb." Shinji told him.

Sosuke closed his eyes and tilted his head as Hitomi gave a small laugh. "I see."

"I always…knew you were dangerous; that you weren't a man to be trusted. That's why we agreed to let you become my Lieutenant in Natora's place. It was so we could watch you, Aizen!"

The man in question lifted his head with a small smile. "Yes, and I'm most grateful, Captain Hirako. Thanks to your constantly doubting me, you never even realized."

"I just said that I did!" The blond man glared at his Lieutenant.

"No, you didn't see a thing. For this whole month, I wasn't the one walking behind you." Shinji gasped. "I can…make my enemies believe anything I want them to. That's my Zanpakto's, Kyoka Suigetsu's, true ability." Hitomi glanced down at the blade Sosuke lifted up. "I refer to its power as…absolute hypnosis."

"Absolute hypnosis?" Shinji and Natora asked together.

~Is that what I had been feeling?~ Natora asked herself. ~That strange feeling I have been getting from Aizen these last few days?~

"You're a clever man, Captain Hirako. Same goes for you, Natora. But if you would have treated me the same way the other Captains treat this Lieutenants, you might have seen through it. But neither of you ever tried. Since you never trusted me, you always kept me at arm's length. You never opened your heart to me, never shared any information. You never tried to know me." Sosuke sheathed his blade. "And that is why you never noticed when I had someone else take my place. I had my substitute memorize my behavior patterns and the way I interacted with you and the other captains. If you had truly formed a relationship with me, you would have noticed slight differences in our tricks and mannerisms." He blinked. "The reason you're down on the ground right now is all because you never bothered to get to know me." Shinji clenched his teeth as Natora hung her head. "Did you understand all of that, Captain Hirako?"

"Aizen…" Shinji growled.

"And one more thing. You said that you selected me as your Lieutenant so the two of you could keep an eye on me. But that's incorrect."

"What?" Natora lifted her head again.

"Just as Captains have the right to appoint their own Lieutenants, the candidate has the right to reject the offer. Of course, that's hardly ever happened. But nevertheless, I had the option of not becoming your Lieutenant. So why did I take it? Because you were perfect. Your suspicious nature and caution around me created the ideal environment for my plans. Now do you understand? You didn't choose me. I chose you, Captain Hirako. You should take the chance to apologize to your friends. They're on the ground, bleeding and unconscious because I chose you."

Shinji and Natora jumped to their feet together, ready to move in for an attack but Shinji froze as a strange, flowing liquid came spurting out of the left side of his face. Natora froze in fear, turning to help somehow, fearing what had happened with Hiyori, when the same began to happen to her from the lower-half of her face. Ayami was on the ground herself now, the same happening to her, too.

Sosuke grinned. "Thank you for letting my little taunts anger you."

"Damn it! Us, too?!" The Captain demanded. Natora fell to her knees, trying to pull the white stuff off of her but it burned her hands, making her pull back with a scream. The pain seemed to spread through her entire body, digging deep into her skin and bones. She felt like she was going to go insane.

"Aizen!" Shinji demanded. "What's going on?!" He gave out a scream himself as Kaname moved over to join the three of them in silence.

"It seems that Hollowfication proceeds quicker if the subject is agitated." Sosuke noted.

"Hollowfication?" Shinji muttered. "What's…that?"

"You don't need to know." The Lieutenant replied. They all watched as the Shinigami before them succumbed to the Hollowfication. "Kaname."

"Yes, sir." The man answered. Without a second thought, the blind man turned and sliced his blade through Hiyori. Shinji moved forward, attacking the blind man.

"I don't get what's going on," Shinji began. "But I wouldn't assume everything's gonna go according to plan just yet."

"You got that right!" Ayami had pushed herself up from the ground; the white substance had taken over half of her face as well. "I'm not…just gonna sit here!"

Sosuke looked impressed. "The Hollowfication's already progressed so far, and yet…"

Natora wanted to stand up to, she struggled to get to her feet, but she fell again as the burning just grew worse and worse.

"What would you like me to do?" Kaname asked.

"You may proceed. It only amounts to the loss of one or two samples," Sosuke replied.

"A sample, eh?" Shinji turned to look at him. "What an interesting choice of words." Hitomi watched for a moment as the two men began to fight, her blood pounding in excitement.

"It looks like he's holding back," Gin grinned.

"Yes, it does." Sosuke frowned.

"You didn't forget about me, did you!?" Ayami's voice cried out. They all turned to see the woman running in for an attack but Hitomi grinned, deciding that now was her turn to respond. The look on the woman's face just seemed to get worse and worse as the battle went on. The white substance was beginning to take shape; almost like a lion. "What are you doing, Hitomi? What has he done to you?"

"Done to me?" Hitomi asked. She shoved another burst into her arms and swung Kudja as hard as she could; the blow made Ayami's knees buckle. "He hasn't done anything to me."

"Then you are willingly betraying Hiromi? Your own sister!?" The woman cried.

Hitomi backed away, an uncertain look on her face. "Betraying Hiromi? No, I-"

"Hitomi," Sosuke's voice cut through her thoughts. "If I need to-"

"No," Hitomi shook her head and firmed her grip. "I can do this."

"Hitomi, please!" Ayami insisted. "Stop this. Aizen is tricking you, using you, can't you see that? I don't know what his plans are but he's just using you to get to them!"

"Using me…" She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.

Hitomi didn't say another word. She just moved forward in her attack again, catching the other woman off guard.

"A-Ayami," Natora groaned. "Shinji…" She turned her head to see Shinji fighting Kaname. She ffelt so…so weak as she just laid there in pain, watching them. And she could see the others there with them going through the Hollowfication themselves.

She closed her eyes. ~What…what happens now?~

"Good job, Hitomi." Sosuke smiled as Ayami fell.

Kaname pushed himself out of the rocks. "My greatest apologies. I will…kill him shortly."

"No worries, Kaname." Sosuke smiled. "I had already anticipated this. Besides, the duration of the Hollowfication process varies from person to person." Moans escaped from Shinji as more of that white liquid escaped from his mouth, covering the rest of his body. "You've been most fascinating to watch. But I'm done with you now." Shinji growled at him. "Let's put an end to this, Captain Hirako. Here's one last thing for you to learn." Sosuke unsheathed his blade. "There is no fear when one expects to be betrayed. What's truly terrifying is when betrayal is unexpected, Captain Hirako. Farewell." He raised his blade into the air. "You made wonderful test samples."

Shinji gave out another scream and Sosuke smirked. But there was something about that scream…something that wavered Hitomi's thoughts for a moment. She turned to Aizen.

"Wait, Sosuke." She placed herself between him and Shinji. "I don't think…"

Sosuke smiled at her. "I understand how you feel. But this is all for the greater good. Don't you believe me?"

"Kudja doesn't like it when we're lied too," Hitomi grunted.

~Kudja?~ Shinji raised a brow.

"What is there to lie about?" Sosuke asked her. "I've been truthful to you from the beginning." He gave the side of her face a stroke. "Don't you trust me?"

Hitomi glanced away. "Y-yes, but these people…" She glanced at Shinji and the others before her face firmed and turned back to the man. "I want answers when this is all over!"

Gin gave a small chuckle and Sosuke smiled. "Of course. When this is-"

The man came flying out of nowhere, head-to-foot in black. Sosuke wrapped his arms around Hitomi and jumped out of the way, Gin right behind them. The man landed and they turned to face him and his companion.

"I see," Sosuke mumbled. "We have even more interesting guests."

"C-Captain Urahara…" Hitomi's voice shook at the sight of the man her sister loved. She knew right away that this was not going to end well.

"Hitomi…" Kisuke closed his eyes. "What would your sister think?"

The man beside Kisuke was Tessai Tsukabishi was a tall man with tan skin. Dressed in the Shinigami robes and an ornate dark blue robe with an upturned collar and the symbol of the Kido Corps on it. He carried a Shakujo in his hands with a black mustache and cornrowed hair.

Hitomi turned her head; Sosuke's arms tightened around her. "I think her sister would be proud."

"Proud?" Kisuke glared at him.

"Yes," Sosuke smiled at the woman in his arms. "Proud that her sister is no longer confined to that house. Proud that her sister is strong."

Kisuke looked at Hitomi again for a moment before taking a deep sigh. He opened his eyes again and glared at the group before them.

"Oh no, they found us." Gin grinned.

"I'll kill them." Kaname went to draw his sword.

"No," Hitomi pulled from Sosuke and looked at Kisuke. She stared for a moment before hanging her head. "No, don't," Sosuke smiled before swiftly pushing her behind his back.

"But sir," Kaname dropped his arm a bit.

"Kaname, I think I made myself clear."

Hitomi tilted her head to the side at the look of fear on the man's face as he dropped to his knees and apologized. She moved towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head to look at her,(though he was blind) and she wore a smile as she gently tugged on his arm, asking him to stand.

"Kis-uke," She turned at Shinji's demonic-like voice now as the man struggled to walk towards the two new men in the field. "Why'd you come here?" He gasped. "You're such an idiot."

"Shinji?! What is up with that hideous mask?" the Captain asked.

"You don't know the half of it." Shinji replied.

Kisuke glanced over all the bodies with the Hollowfication process covering them and Hitomi crossed her arms as a cold wind blew, sending a shiver down her back.

"So, Lieutenant Aizen," Kisuke began.

Natora wanted to know what happened next but she finally lost what was left of her consciousness and faded away into the darkness.

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