Ichigo chased Rukia, running as fast as he could. Much to his irritation, she kept running faster, trailing butterflies behind her. "Slow down!" he yelled.

She giggled. "And make it easy for you?" Ichigo could've sworn she sped up after speaking. Suddenly, a shadowy figure jumped into his path with a banana in its hand. He knocked it out of the way with the celery stalk in his hand and shoved the figure out of his way. Rukia laughed. "You're falling behind!"

A smirk on his face, Ichigo dashed flat out at her.

"Ichigo."

Closer…he was getting closer…

"ICHIGO."

He leaped at Rukia, flying towards her. But as he wrapped his arms around her in a rough tackle, she turned into…

"ICHIGO!"

"Applesauce!" Ichigo called out, lurching forward. Then he noticed his eyes were closed. He opened them, growing confused at his surroundings. The interior of a home…but what home, again? "Where am I?"

"The Shiba clan home," a gruff voice said behind him.

Ichigo turned around. Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm in the Soul Society. And that's Ganju. "Oh, hey. Whadda you want?"

Ganju snorted. "Me? I was the one trying to prepare for our launch when you started talking in your sleep, ya dumbass!"

Sleeping? When did I fall asleep? Then it came back to him…after finally perfecting forming the cannonball (which had taken a while, even with Ganju's advice and Zangetsu's warning about concentration), he hadn't felt hungry, so instead of boring himself with Spirit Core training, he'd picked up Zangetsu and done a little physical training (or maybe it was spiritual, seeing as how he was in his soul form…). After a while, it had got tiring, so he kneeled down to catch his breath, and then everything had gone black. And then he'd dreamed. Great. Here I am trying to get stronger, and I fall asleep during training. I'm lucky Zangetsu ended up on the ground instead of through my stomach. He scratched his head, yawning. "How long have I been down here?"

"Coupl'a hours. Sis said there was no point in messing with you, especially with launch preparations and all."

Ichigo heard the door behind him open up. He turned around, seeing Uryu looking at him with a smirk. "Well, you're finally awake, Sleeping Beauty. C'mon, we're ready to go."

"Hmm? Already?"

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Yoruichi looked around at the group. "Well, it seems everyone's here now. You kept us waiting, Ichigo."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, I had to get that whole cannonball thing right. Took me a while." He formed one to demonstrate, and made sure to gently dissipate it.

Orihime beamed. "Well done, Ichigo! I guess all that practice paid off!"

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Never fear, Ganju is here!"

Ichigo frowned at the panting man standing in the doorway to the house. "What's with the outfit?"

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Ichigo's mouth dropped open as Yoruichi formed a cannonball on the first attempt. No way! I spent hours trying get that right, and someone who hocks up hairballs gets it right the first time?! Man, I'm glad Dante's not here to see this.

After Yoruichi stepped away from the Spirit Core, Ichigo turned to the rest of them. "Hey, guys…any of you getting kind of antsy about this?"

Orihime looked confused. "Huh? About what?"

"The whole 'human cannonball' thing."

Uryu chuckled. "Getting cold feet, Ichigo? It's not like this is a brand-new concept: they've had human cannonball routines in circuses for centuries."

Ichigo frowned. "This is a little different. Not to mention they have safety nets in circuses."

"We'll be alright, Ichigo," Chad said. "If we work together, we'll be inside the seireitei in no time."

Ichigo nodded. Yeah, but in how many pieces?

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Dante looked at the building in front of them, confused. "Hey, wait…doesn't this warehouse look familiar?"

Nero sighed. "It should. We've been past it twice now."

"Damn it, Lady! What's the big idea?"

"It's not my fault, okay?!" she snapped. "Every single building here looks the same, not to mention we don't even know where we're going!"

Dante rolled his eyes. After all, she'd been the one to suggest they start out at the crack of dawn to get a head start. But without any directions, they were quickly becoming very lost. Just as he prepared to shoot back an insult, he went very still. "Hey, guys…did you feel that?"

Lady looked at him funny. "Feel what? I don't-"

"Yeah."

Lady looked at Nero, surprised at his response. "You too? What's got you both acting weird?" He didn't respond at all, even when she stared directly at him for a full minute. As she looked at Dante, it happened again. She swore if he was a dog, his ears would be set back in alert.

"There it is again," Nero said. "It reminds me of an earthquake, but different."

Dante nodded, turning to Lady. "It's like a sonic boom, but without the speed."

Lady looked up into the sky, confused. Then she gasped. "Look!" She pointed up towards a strange object in the sky. Dante and Nero followed her finger. "What is that thing?"

Nero closed his eyes, focusing. "I think…it's the rest of the group!"

Dante gave a half-smile, but it barely lasted a second. "The old human cannonball trick? They've got guts, all right."

"Human cannonball?" Lady asked. "That's how they decided to get over the wall? Why didn't they just climb over?"

Before Dante could answer, the cannonball slammed into what seemed to be a massive, near-transparent bubble around the seireitei. He smirked. "Well, that's why. Gotta say, I'm kind of surprised we didn't run into that problem."

Nero thought back on their entrance through the gate. "Probably because that gate was an intentional hole to let Soul Reapers in and out. Even the best fortresses need a door."

The cannonball seemed to struggle against the barrier. The barrier flexed, shuddered, and then finally buckled enough to let the cannonball through…at which point it promptly broke apart, sending its passengers floating around with gravity seemingly having no effect. Dante clenched his fists. "Damn it. We gotta do something or they'll die!" But as he flexed his legs to jump, a voice called out to him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Nero turned to the voice, and snarled when he saw its owner. "YOU!"

Dante and Lady turned to its direction, and received equal levels of shock. "You…" Lady began.

"BASTARD!" Dante finished. "You're the one behind this, aren't you?!"

The man in the black cloak chuckled. "Me? I'm not behind what's happening right now. They're trying to get into the Soul Society, and they will."

Dante growled. "I don't have time for this! I'm going to save them!"

"You'll only reach them by using your Devil Trigger, and if you do that, you'll rip their limbs out."

Nero looked at the man with a mixture of surprise and rage, but mostly the latter. "I oughta…"

The man held up his hands. "They'll be fine, don't worry. They'll all land safely. Your main concern should be what happens after they land."

Dante, in a rare moment, was at a loss for words. "How…do you know about…?"

The man frowned. "Now is not a time for explanation, Son of Sparda. Let's just say I've kept track of you." His eyes widened. "Oh, that reminds me!" He pulled out a small, wrapped package from his cloak. He tossed it to Dante, who caught it with his right hand. "Just in case you need some advice."

Dante snarled. "I've got your advice right here!" He pulled out Ebony and pointed it at the package.

"I wouldn't do that. After all, it belonged to your mother." Seeing Dante's surprised look, he grinned. "This is just like a birthday! Open it up!"

Before Dante could, an explosion went off above them. They'd been so distracted by the reappearance of the sorcerer that they'd nearly forgotten about the cannonball. As the Devil Hunters looked up, the passengers that had occupied the cannonball shot off in four different directions. Lady scanned the comet-like objects frantically. "I can't tell who's in which one! Who do we go after?"

Dante tried to discern who was in each comet, but they were too bright and moving too fast. "We don't know who's in what comet. Hell, maybe they've got a plan to meet up with each other. But we need to search for Rukia on our own; the more time we waste trying to find them, the closer her execution gets."

Nero nodded, then looked around in confusion. "What the…where'd that sorcerer go?"

Dante and Lady looked around as well, but found no sign of the black-cloaked man. "Dammit!" Lady exclaimed. "And now that psycho's disappeared again. Dante, can you…Dante?" She looked over at him; he was staring at the package with an expression she'd never seen before. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Dante opened the package slowly. Nero waved his hands at him. "Hey, wait, hold on a second! What if it's a bomb or something?" Dante ignored him, pulling off the wrapping paper. His eyes went wide when he saw what it was. Nero, however, was confused. "Huh? A box?"

Lady looked at Dante with worry. She'd finally figured out what the look on his face was. It's like he's seeing a ghost. What's so special about that box?

Dante ran his hands along the box's purple sides. "No," he whispered. "There's no way…"

"Dante?" He finally turned to look at Lady. "What is it?"

"It…I think it's…my mother's music box."

"Her music box?"

He nodded. "She used to play us a special tune before we went to bed. It was her song. But there's no way…I thought it was destroyed with the rest of our home when they…" He suddenly stopped speaking.

Nero looked at him cautiously. The "us" must mean him and his brother. Why am I getting this feeling of déjà vu? I feel like I know the tune that the box will play.

Dante looked at the tiny crank of the box. "If this really is my mother's, we'll know. My father had it specially made to play a unique tune." He prepared to turn it. Half of me wants it to be a fake. Because if it is, then that means that I can kick that sorcerer's ass without asking questions first. He turned the crank gently. Lady watched with amazement. After all, she'd seen him wade through hordes of demons, cutting through them with glee; she'd seen him smash through obstacles she thought immobile; it was amazing to know he could still be in complete control when he wanted to.

After he'd finished cranking, a soft tune began to emanate from the little box. It was smooth and beautiful; Lady had never heard anything like it before. Nero didn't know why, but as the song played, he felt a strange sensation in his right arm. If he'd had to describe it, it would have been a heavy sensation; as ridiculous as it sounded, it was as if his arm was sad. Though he'd never heard the music before, he felt as if he did, somehow.

As the music stopped playing, Dante's head drooped. Lady looked at him. "What? What is it?"

"Twenty years…I haven't heard that tune in twenty years…"

Nero looked closer at the box. "Hmm? Hey, Dante, there's a note on the bottom."

Dante turned the box over, pulling off the small white note. It read:

Aww, you didn't get the hint? Well, I suppose it's no surprise; I'll bet it's been a while since you've seen this. If you're wondering how to cover your tracks, stall Soul Reapers, and keep from getting lost at the same time, think about the words of the song, especially the fourth line. That's almost giving it away, but I suppose it's the least I can do.

Lady scanned the note after Dante had read it, then passed it to Nero. "Words?" she asked. "What does it mean by that? That box only played the music."

Dante shook his head vigorously. "No. No, no, no."

Nero looked at him curiously. "Huh? Whaddya mean, 'no'?"

"It's impossible. There's no way he could know the words. Only three people ever knew them, and I'm the only one still alive."

"What about your brother? Did he tell anyone?"

He snorted. "Vergil? He sided with our father more than our mother, and talking about that kind of stuff to demons is like wearing a sign that says 'Wimp'. He wouldn't have lasted as long as he did by giving that away."

"Then what about the other person?"

"My mother was killed in front of me, kid. She didn't tell anybody but her sons."

Nero gulped but didn't falter. "Well, what does it mean, then?"

Dante cranked the music box again. He mouthed the lyrics, and Lady read his lips. In a field so green and so free…seeds gaze up…the ground keeps them from the light…and the sky cries white tears of snow… He stopped mouthing lyrics, even though the song wasn't over. "What does he mean by that?"

Lady thought back to the note's instructions. Think about the words of the song, especially the fourth line. "How does that help us?"

Dante thought for a moment. "Would that really work?" he said softly, almost to himself. "But even if he knew, how does that cover our tracks?" He didn't speak for a minute.

"He-llo? Anybody in there?" Lady said, irritated.

He straightened up. "His hint is 'white tears of snow'. But I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean."

Lady thought back to their fight in Temen-Ni-Gru. "Wait, what about that one Devil Arm you had that had ice powers?"

"Huh? Cerberus?" He pulled out the sanchaku. "What about him?"

"Well, doesn't it make ice and snow?"

"Yeah, but how is that supposed to keep us from getting lost?"

Nero shrugged. "Well, we could use the ice to mark where we've been."

Dante nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. But how does it cover our tracks?"

He thought for a moment. "Hey…you know how Ichigo and Urahara had those zanpakuto? And how they both had special powers?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, if someone passed by the ice, they might think it was a Soul Reaper using those powers and ignore it."

Dante thought for a moment. "Hmm…you may have something there." He smiled. "And if we meet a big group of Soul Reapers, we can just freeze 'em in their tracks."

Lady breathed a sigh of relief. Now that they'd solved the puzzle, Dante's spirits seemed to be lifting. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's save Rukia!"

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Ichigo eyed the shouting bald man warily. He looks dumb, but looks can be deceiving. I should know; I got kicked around by Ururu during training. "The hell?"

"Hey, Ichigo," Ganju whispered.

"What now?"

"Shut up and listen. I'm makin' a run for it the first chance I get."

"Running away from a fight? Pansy."

"These guys have too much spirit energy, you damn idiot!"

"Whatever. Just make sure to find Dante or Nero if you can."

"What d'they look like?"

"Dante's wearing an all red trench coat, Nero's wearing an all blue one. Can't miss 'em."

"Hey!" the bald man shouted. "What are you two arguing about?"

Ichigo shrugged. "We're havin' a little trouble. We're tryin' to decide our battle strategy, so could you give us a minute?"

The bald man's partner (Ichigo wasn't sure if it was a woman with a male voice or a really feminine man) considered it. "Well, it would be amusing to see what you come up with. But then again, the more time we waste, the greater the chances of other Soul Reapers coming here and stealing our glory."

The bald man grinned. "Why don't we set a time limit, then? Before we fight, I can-"

"If you wanna fight, be my guest!" Ganju shouted as he took off full speed in the opposite direction. Ichigo smirked. He may not be brave, but at least he's fast. As the bald man's partner ran past him, Ichigo turned around to look at the remaining Soul Reaper. Finally. I've been dyin' to kick some ass.

Yeah, it's been quite a while since the last chapter. Between mid-terms, a three-to-five page paper, a ten minute power point presentation, and the fact my computer tried to electronically eat itself, the quality of this chapter is pretty low. But have no fear! This may be my only chapter for this month, but take solace in the fact that next month...I'll post two. So read, and if you want to, review! Writers love to hear feedback; I personally like to know what I'm doing wrong so that I can fix it. Thanks for reading this chapter, and I'll see you at the resolution of this cliffhanger! (cringes at angry booing)