A/N: I'm sticking to my schedule! YAY! Also, hurrah for Urymu/Ishimu/Nemida fluff. (personally I like Nemida)/That's what I want to say, but because the mysteries of the internet are numerous and manifold (and I think it hates me) this chapter was not posted when I thought it was. So you get a double chapter tonight, and one more sometime next week.

Reviews:

Balmung: Thanks for reviewing at all!

Demon: He is awesome isn't he?

Chapter 21: Interruptions

"And this makes 5. Only one more to go." Sozo examined them, making sure they would work. "Excelent job."

"Yes. The last one will be a bit more difficult to obtain, the soul is in hiding from a hollow in the area. The hollow is uniquely difficult to track, but destroying it should make the soul visible once more."

Excelent work Kaku. "Everyone be prepared to make the jump at a moment's notice, as soon as Kaku has his, he will initiate the plan. I will track him with Yomitomoi and when the window opens, we must not miss it."

"Yes we get it. We've heard this plan several times already. You worry too much; it's definitely going to work."

Sozo nodded. "I just want to make sure everyone understands the danger. As soon as we cross over we will be attacked. Kaku will do his best to hide our presence, but his concealing powers are limited if we are moving. We will need to split up, and avoid conflict. Stay low. I will approach Yamamoto first, and he will either take our side willingly or over time as my newest weapon."

There were nods of agreement all around. "Go, Kaku."

"Uryu. Uryu. ISHIDA!" The yell was accompanied by a loud slam which finally managed to shake Ishida out of his daze. Nanao was standing in front of his desk, not looking at him but looking very annoyed. "Well are you going to answer my question or just gawk?"

Ishida continued to gawk for a moment before straightening his glasses and asking "I'm sorry what was it that you asked me?"

Nanao's anger was made all the more evident by the vein bulging on her forehead as well as the increased shaking of her fist. "Your addition to my squad was one of the oddest and most unexpected appointments I've ever seen, not to say that I'm not grateful, the ease with which you have picked up performing the tasks I have appointed you as well as your attention to detail and reliability has made you into one of my most trusted subordinates but if this has all been an act and you are nothing but a day dreamer who was just trying to get a good position by working will early on I will not except it." Ishida made may attempts during this speech to interject, but Nanao just kept right on going. As she finished she spun and with an evil glare in her eyes "AM I UNDERSTOOD!?"

For the first time since starting here, Ishida understood what the others meant when they said she was overbearing. "Yes, I was just caught in my own thoughts, I apologize."

"Right then, as I was saying. Do you have those reports done?"

Uryu quickly looked down and scanned his desk. He found the one she was looking for, and it only needed authorization from Kyoraku. He quickly faked the signature and handed it over to her.

She examined it. "Good. Now get back to work, there is still a lot more paperwork coming through here."

Ishida continued to work but he also continued to think about something else. Something that had been on his mind for a long time now, or at least what seemed like a long time to him. 'Nemu…' Today was Saturday. Some inconspicuous prodding during times when he could meet with other squad twelve members had revealed to him that these were the days Mayuri choose to rest, which meant that tonight would be when she would show up again. She would be there tonight, and he still had no idea what he was going to do. His zanpakuto's message had made sense from every rational position he could think of. The debate should have been over.

But it wasn't. Every time he considered blowing Nemu off and denouncing her as a spy, his heart would wrench at such thoughts. He cursed his chivalry while also praising it. 'Nemu…so pitiful, with such a sad life, who could be so monstrous as to cast her away?' And then there were the other feelings he had which were even more conflicted. 'Nemu…a beautiful young woman…deserving of happiness…' Just two days after his zanpakuto's warning he had begun to think such things. Anticipation, excitement, elation. He understood all the signs. After all, it wasn't the first time he had had a crush on a girl.

'Damn…What's going on out there?' Ichigo was sitting in class fidgeting and tapping his ankle over and over again. On and off all day he could sense a hollow. One of the first hollows in quite a long time too, as most hollows had stopped coming around after Aizen's plan had started to circulate. But it was just a half day, so the teacher was being really stingy about letting him out for a bathroom break, and someone had disabled the fire alarms after his last stunt, so that wouldn't work again.

Finally class ended, and none of his friends questioned him as he raced out to go take care of the hollow problem.

With his body safely tucked in a bathroom stall he started looking around town, but he couldn't pick up anything on this hollow.

After several laps around the city he finally picked up its reiatsu and started dashing for it. Oddly enough though, it seemed like it was already in combat.

This was confirmed when he arrived on the scene, and saw that there was already a Shinigami battling the hollow. Determined to be of assistance Ichigo drew his sword and leapt at the beast. Just before he could connect the creature disappeared. Ichigo's momentum carried him through where the monster should have been, and right toward the Shinigami, who defended with his own sword.

Ichigo's mind froze. The Shinigami he was looking at was one of the ones from the other day. The one he couldn't sense. "YOU!" With a roar he pushed Kaku back with his sword. Kaku landed and held his sword up in a combat ready station. "You're gonna pay for what you did!"

"What I did? I believe you mean what Sozo did, or more what he tried to do, I understand that he failed, and that Inoue-san is fine."

"That's beside the point. You don't think I'm going to go and kick the rest of your friends' asses too?"

"Perhaps you should calm down, and worry more about this hollow. It's a unique adjuchas class that has several peculiar traits."

"I can kill the hollow on my own after I beat you into the ground." Ichigo started to run forward but stopped when he heard a hollow's screech. Kaku quickly took off in that direction, and Ichigo gave pursuit. When they found the hollow again it was sniffing around the ground through the large snout like hole in its mask.

Ichigo took a moment to more thoroughly examine the hollow this time, noting its enormous oversized ears and strange cracks all over its purple body that seemed to crackle with black and white coloring. Besides a pig snout, its hollow mask lacked a lower jaw structure, instead the top row of teeth were large and went down long enough to cover the entire face. "De shoul ish neervy. Annoying Shinigami…Leave Romani alone…" He stretched his arm out at them and the cracks along his body spawned a large blast of dark grey energy. Kaku and Ichigo dodged away from the blast.

Kaku paid close attention, noting how the energy type was non-destructive, it didn't even dent the stone ground that was everywhere in this city. He also noted that the energy formation didn't move out and then expend itself, but rather it retracted back into the hollows body. "Kurosaki-san, avoid those attacks."

"Really now, like I needed to be told that!" Ichigo charged at the hollow again, leaping over another blast and swinging his sword down right where the hollow's head should have been. "Damn how the hell does it move so fast?"

"It doesn't. It just hides in its own stomach." Ichigo gave him a strange look. "The energy pulse he gives out is a transportation effect; it engulfs targets and then pulls them back into the hollow's body, thereby directly fusing them into its stomach. At a moments notice he can create such an area around his entire body and disappear into his own dimension. He can reappear at any time so keep your guard up."

Ichigo glanced back over at Kaku, whom a dark grey blot had just appeared behind. "Get down! Getsuga Tensho!" The hollow fully appeared ready to attack Kaku, but was instead met with a blue energy blast bashing into its body and sending it flying away. Kaku as well spun and pointed his hands forward. He muttered some incantations and two giant blasts of bluish energy flew out, slamming into the stunned hollow.

When the smoke cleared the hollow was still standing but its body was burnt in a few places. "Shinigami sho…bitter…Romani want other shouls…" He vanished.

"Damn him." Ichigo started looking around. He looked over at Kaku who was walking away. "Hold on. I still need to settle something with you."

"Are you a Shinigami Kurosaki-san? Because if you are, all other tasks, vendettas and all, are secondary to saving a soul from a hollow." Kaku turned and looked right at Ichigo.

"Alright then. You got any bright ideas?"

"Yes. I'll find it, you kill it. The surface of its body has a continual dimensional flux around it, zanjutsu will work better then kido." Kaku knelt and released his zanpakuto, the leather band wrapping around his arm. "I will locate it and then transport you to it, you will have one strike." He took a deep breath while tracing a circle in the ground with one hand and pointing his zanpakuto arm at Ichigo. "Bakudo 58, summoning of the tracking sparrows!"

Ichigo waited. A flash of light from the circle that Kaku had drawn told him to prepare himself. A beam flew out of the zanpakuto arm's fingertip and hit him square in the chest, but it didn't hurt, instead the world just blinked out of existence for a second before reappearing. He was in mid air, barely 4 feet away from, above and behind the hollow. As he started to fall he swung the sword and cleaved the hollows head off.

Quick, clean and simple. Except now he had no idea where Kaku was. He started frantically looking around to figure out where in town he was and where he had just been but before he could figure it out he heard a noise behind him. When he turned to look it was just a little girl. A little girl with a chain sticking out of her chest. "I guess she's the soul the hollow was after." The girl, like most residents in Karakura town did seem to be an abnormally powerful soul. "Right then, better do the konso… Hey kid, come over here, I'm gonna help you out."

"Do…Do you mean it? No more monsters?"

"Yeah sure I promise…!" Kaku had appeared behind the little girl, holding his zanpakuto above her head. "HEY!"

Kaku brought the sword down, placing the hilt against her head. She spun at the contact and saw him standing over her, as he looked down at her solemnly. "Enjoy your next life, little one…" The little girl began to fade into a blue portal, while a black butterfly started to appear. As the two processes came to a close, Kaku reached out and took a gentle hold of the butterfly. "And that makes 6."

Not really minding any of what Kaku was saying Ichigo pointed his zanpakuto up at him. "Alright now. Time for you to talk. Orihime told me about that little visit you had last night. So tell me, is that all Sozo has over you all, you're all just too frightened to fight back!?"

Kaku sighed. "No, the others are genuinely loyal. Mai respects his strength, Seijin honors his goals, Suba as well, but to a much greater extent, and Ayame, is…in love with him. I am the only rebellious entity."

"You know I'm going to beat him right? What will you do then?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry Kurosaki-san, I would love to continue this conversation, but I am needed elsewhere. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Ichigo leapt at him but he shunpo'd away, once more becoming untraceable. "Damn him."

Darkness and still no sign of her. And still no idea what to do if she showed up.

It was just his luck that at that very moment Nemu arrived. She leapt casually through his window without a word and landed with the softest tap of her sandals against the ground. He was just looking at her, wide eyed and nervous. He shook himself out of it and stood to greet her. "Good evening, Nemu-san."

"Hello. I should probably go now. Thank you." She bowed and turned to leave.

"Wait, what do you mean leave?"

"I was quite certain that you would have changed your mind about spending time with me. No one much enjoys my presence."

"That's not true!" 'Do I mean that? Yes, yes I do.' He stood up and walked closer to her. "I would actually very much like to watch the stars with you."

Without turning to face him Nemu nodded and began moving towards the window. She grabbed the roofing outside and flipped up onto the roof. Ishida went to follow her, giving only one glance back at his zanpakuto, propped up against a wall.

On the roof Nemu just looked up at the sky. Ishida was a bit more active, he looked around at the city surrounding them, he looked at the sky, but what he looked at the most was Nemu. 'She's not saying anything. Is that good or bad? How can I tell? Huh?' Ishida glanced back up at the sky and noticed something. He started tracing lines in the sky with his finger. Eventually his actions caught Nemu's attention, and she turned her head to stare at his odd behavior. When he noticed this he laughed nervously. "It's just something I've never noticed before, Soul society has the same night sky as the human world, all the constellations match up, even Polaris is in the same place."

Nemu went back to looking at the stars. "Soul society is in effect a parallel of the human world, this place shares the same spatial position in our individual universes, so we have the same sky, seasons, even the progression of day and night are identical."

"I see. I wonder if Hueco Mundo is the same way."

"No, Hueco Mundo is its own unique and individual universe, its ecosystem is supernatural, with no sun, and no daylight, but warmth enough for most creatures to still be able to survive. The hollow world is in many ways still a mystery to us, the few expeditions into that place have all been disastrous."

"Unfortunate, seeing as it is the battle field in the coming war."

There was another momentary silence. "Ishida-san, are you doing this because you love me?"

There was silence between them but Ishida could feel a very loud thumping noise coming from his chest.

Nemu was the one to break it. "Forgive me; it's not my place to ask such strange questions."

"S-strange? What do you mean?"

"I should not encourage affections. I know well enough what they are. As my father instructed me that they were useless and should be abandoned."

'Abandoned?' "Nemu-san, emotions and affections are never useless, they are what make us human, without them we would be no better then the very monsters we must destroy. You have feelings don't you? I seem to remember once seeing you smile before, at the thought that your father would live."

"Yes…"

Ishida glanced over at her, and she was smiling again, an incredibly small smile. "Thinking about it again."

"That day, Yes…but not about Mayuri-sama. About you. Thinking about you makes me feel the same way…only, different down here." She wrapped her arms around her gut.

When she said that, he had a sudden burst of confidence. Ishida reached out a hand and rest it on hers. "I know that feeling."

It took a long time. He had to scoot in next to her, until their sides were against each other. Then he flipped her hand up, so that they held together, palm to palm. And then after an eternity of inching he finally managed to kiss her on the lips. 'So soft…' When he backed away and looked at her he could see her blushing and her eyes confused but joyous. "Nemu-san I…"

"ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDERS IN THE SEIREITEI!"

Zennosuke was just sitting on a roof, whining as he always did. "I never have anything to do! High school kids always killing all the hollows and the one time it looks like there's gonna be some action I get told to stand back as back up while a bunch of captains show up to take care of it all! I need to ask for reassignment."

In the midst of his rant he heard a noise behind him, so he stood up and prepared to draw, praying it was hollow he could fight. But he couldn't sense anything so he gave up on looking. Then he heard a voice, right behind his ear. "Food…"

Once more he spun, only this time he could plainly see the hollow staring right in the face. The monster reared up and swung its arm at him in a wild punch. Zennosuke just barely managed to dodge away and draw his sword. "Alright hollow freak, you wanna fight you gotta fight! HYAAA!!" He rushed forward and slashed, but the hollow caught his weapon in its right hand, blocking the blade with just its skin. "No way!" The creature pulled the sword back and punched Zennosuke in the face, releasing the sword and sending him flying.

He stopped himself in midair. "Wow, tough one, I'll actually need to try against you! OHAYO!! Tsuchinamazu!!" His sword transformed into a chakram with a long purple ribbon. The hollow wasn't deterred and leapt up to attack him again. "You never be able to block my Tsuchinamazu! Ooooowahhh!!"

Once more it defended with its right hand, easily blocking the blade. It grabbed hold of his hand by the chakram and swung him around before releasing him into a nearby building. Zennosuke pulled himself out of the rubble and his behind a wall. "There's no way I can beat that thing! Where's a high school student when you need him? I need back up!" He pulled out his phone and started dialing. "Hello! Hello anyone!"

"Hello Kurumadami-san, what is it?"

"I'm being attacked by a very nasty hollow! I need back up immediately!"

"Are you sure? I'm not reading any spiritual pressure in that area but yours."

"I didn't throw myself through the wall! You gotta get someone out here to help me or get me outta here!"

"I'm sorry but at this time we can do neither, Head captain Yamamoto has put a freeze on the senkaimon, emergency use only."

There was a roar from the hollow as it burst through the ceiling, glaring at Zennosuke through its mask. Zennosuke dodged another punch before leaping out the hole his body had made earlier and beginning to fly as fast as he could. "This is an emergency! Ask one of the captains! Ukitake, Kyoraku, Someone please!"

After a few moments pause the voice on the line came back. "Alright we just received special permission to open the gate from captain Unohana, but we can only allow it to be open for ten seconds, so hurry up."

"No problem."

Following behind Zennosuke, just within earshot to hear that conversation, the hollow nodded under its mask.

"It's done, Kaku succeeded. Get ready to go home everyone." The five of them prepared their hell butterflies while Sozo held his sword out to open a pathway into the senkaimon the instant it was opened. "Home, I'll finally be home again…Now!"

He twisted his sword, and the doors appeared before them.

A/N: I swear to abide by the weekly schedule, especially since we're getting into the crazy fast paced action part where everything is revealed in maelstrom of suspense and an avalanche of shock!