A/N: Ichigo isn't missing exactly. He's just off to parts unknown on business. Apparently because Soul Society is so big, when captains do that, it sometimes takes a while to find and get in touch with them.

I had to invent my own villains here, but considering how many filler arc villains the actual show has, I don't think they'll get too far away from what could possibly be canon. Although I didn't want to go ahead and invent my own race, so I got a little unoriginal and went with Arrancar.

To the person who said I do a lot of research, thanks ^^ I don't have a beta, so I actually do it by myself, but you'd be amazed how much info you get just by fact-checking on the Bleach Wiki.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. At all.

Chapter 25: A taste of battle

Toshiro was waiting for them outside of the Senkaimon. The two Kuchiki siblings arrived first, Yuzu trailing along behind them. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, catching her breath quickly as the three of them walked over to the Tenth Division captain.

Toshiro had a serious expression on his face as he waited for them, although if he was impatient—which, Yuzu realized, he probably was—he didn't show it.

"The Academy students were led by Senda Sayuri and Furutani Katsuo," he said. "They passed through the gate at 0800 to conduct routine drills. They maintained hourly communication with the library until just over an hour ago."

Byakuya nodded. "Last known location?" he asked.

"The standard first class training grounds," replied Toshiro.

"The gate is ready to be opened," said one of the waiting Kido Corps members, walking over to them. "Are you ready to leave?"

Toshiro frowned at Byakuya. "Kurosaki?" he asked.

"Away on business," replied Byakuya, coolly. "We are working on tracking him down."

"Alright," said Toshiro. His eyes landed on Yuzu for a moment, but he turned away, deciding not to comment on it. He turned towards the Kido Corps member. "We're ready," he said.

"Then, Kuchiki-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, Kuchiki-fukutaicho."

The three officers nodded, facing the member of the Kido Corps that stood in front of them. As Yuzu watched, bright flashes of light flared up on each of their chests, fading into a shape that resembled a flower. For Byakuya, it was the Sixth Division's camellia, for Rukia, the Thirteenth's snowdrop, and for Toshiro, the Tenth's daffodil. The light faded away, and Rukia frowned, placing a hand on her chest.

"Are you alright, Rukia-nee?" asked Yuzu.

"Aa," said Rukia, lowering her hand. "I'm still not used to how that feels."

"The limiter is a necessity," said Byakuya. He nodded at the Kido Corps member. "Open the gate."

The Kido Corps member bowed, motioning for the gate to open. The Senkaimon began to glow, and Yuzu felt herself hesitate, stepping back slightly. She hadn't been to the world of the living for six years—not since she left it. The Dangai had been frightening back then. Would it be the same way now?

"Walk between Hitsugaya-taicho and myself," said Byakuya, and it took Yuzu a moment to realize he was talking to her.

"H-Hai," she said, quickly getting in place. Rukia walked beside her.

Together, the four of them passed through the gate.

The Senkaimon opened into a desert, nothing but shifting sands as far as the eye could see. Yuzu shielded her eyes from the sun on reflex, but surprisingly, it wasn't as scorching hot as it might have been. She had learned in class that her current body was more durable than it had been when she was alive, but this was the first time she had truly noticed it.

The sounds of battle hit her almost as soon as she stepped out of the gate, and the two captains and one vice-captain that were with her immediately turned towards it. A large group of Hollows were swarming around the air and the ground, a group of Academy students in red and blue uniforms fighting their way through it. The three shinigami officers immediately drew their swords.

"Stay close," said Byakuya, glancing once at her. He raised his sword up to eye level, turning the blade. "Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The katana dissolved into several sakura-like shapes, sweeping towards one of the Hollows. Rukia and Toshiro raised their swords as well, a wave of cold emanating from them as their eyes narrowed.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

Yuzu stared, her own hand falling to the hilt of the nameless blade at her side. The Hollows were everywhere, the feeling they gave off reminding her of that night, six years ago. But that night, she had only been able to feel them. This time, she could see them.

Karin was here somewhere…

Her eyes narrowed at the thought, and she took a deep breath, drawing her sword into her hand and trying to keep her calm.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

A pillar of ice rose up in front of Yuzu, trapping one of the larger Hollows inside of it. As Yuzu watched, the ice shattered, the Hollow collapsing to pieces. Rukia whirled around, slashing through a Hollow that was creeping up behind her. A second Hollow moved towards her, but it was quickly decimated by a whirl of pink sakura petals.

Yuzu raised her sword, blocking a Hollow's claws as it bore down on her. She grit her teeth, jumping back as it slashed at her again.

The mask…she reminded herself, drawing her sword into a guarding position. Its weak point is the mask.

She jumped up into the air, drawing her sword back and thrusting quickly at the Hollow's mask. Her sword cracked and shattered a portion of the mask, but it didn't break through it completely, and Yuzu screamed as the Hollow raised one of its paws, swatting her to the side.

An arm wrapped around her as she tumbled through the air, setting her gently on the ground. Yuzu looked behind her, her eyes falling on Toshiro. He had his zanpakuto in his hand, an ice dragon formed at the end of it.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Hai," said Yuzu, getting shakily to her feet.

"Nameless blades don't have as much power behind them as actual zanpakutos. Stick to kido if you can," said Toshiro. He jumped away from her, swinging his sword at one of the Hollows.

The Hollow thrashed around, holding the hole in its mask and growling. Furutani leaped into the air above them, spinning his zanpakuto over his head. It was in the shape of a halberd, but with blades on both ends. He brought it down, easily cutting through the Hollow.

"Furutani-sensei!" exclaimed Yuzu, lowering her sword.

"Kurosaki," said Furutani.

To his left, Senda-sensei flipped into the air, raising her hand and catching what appeared to be a giant shuriken as it flipped end over end, coming back to her. She landed nimbly on the ground, the two aerial Hollows she was facing dissolving into black dust.

"Keep up, Furutani!" she yelled.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" shouted Furutani back. He jumped into the air, swinging one blade of his zanpakuto at one of the Hollows.

"Kurosaki-san, look out!" yelled one of the Academy students.

Yuzu whirled around, quickly jumping back and out of the way as another Hollow brought its claws down, stabbing down at the ground. Two Academy students rushed in, one of them using a released zanpakuto as they closed in on the hollow. She raised one hand to eye level, taking a deep breath and focusing her reiatsu as she jumped into the air.

"Bakudo # 4," she cried. "Hainawa!"

A golden whip formed into life around her fingers, shooting towards the Hollow and tightening around it. The Academy students quickly ran in on both sides, slashing at it with their zanpakuto and killing it. She landed on the ground, the cord fading away.

Byakuya stood in the center of a storm of pink petals, directing their movements with his hands. The petals cut through their targets easily, relieving two different groups of Academy students of separate Hollows. Behind him, the ground cracked, a worm-like Hollow bursting out as it shot towards his head.

"Nii-sama!" shouted Rukia.

Yuzu quickly brought her hands in front of her.

"Hado # 4, Byakurai!"

A bolt of white lightning shot just above the sixth squad captain's shoulders, slamming into the Hollow. It let out a roar of pain, blue energy crackling around it as it was knocked back. Byakuya turned around in one smooth motion, raising his hand. Senbonzakura's petals skirted back around him, slicing the disoriented Hollow to pieces. He turned his head. Yuzu stood a few feet away, traces of blue energy arcing around her hands as she lowered them, breathing heavily. Byakuya nodded once towards her, before turning towards Furutani.

"Furutani-sensei, is this the entire class?" he asked.

Furutani shook his head, landing on the ground next to him with his back turned. "Almost," he said. "We're missing Kurosaki and Ankoujin. They were off scouting ahead when the attack hit."

Toshiro paused in the middle of his attack, looking up.

"Which direction?" asked Byakuya.

In response, Furutani jabbed his thumb to the right. "East," he said.

Toshiro flash stepped over to them. "Kuchiki-taicho," he said.

Byakuya nodded in acknowledgment, and Toshiro flash stepped again, disappearing from sight. Yuzu stared after him, gathering her courage.

"A-Ano…Ku—." She took a deep breath. "Kuchiki-taicho!"

Byakuya glanced at her, then nodded as well. "You may accompany him."

Yuzu let out a sigh of relief, a smile spreading over her face. "Arigatou," she said, flash stepping away as well.

The noise of the battle became quieter as they moved away from it, an expanse of desert stretching out ahead of them. Yuzu gulped down deep breaths of air in the quick moments between flash steps, doing her best to keep up with Toshiro. He moved quickly, scattering sand in his wake each time he landed. The white-haired captain held Hyorinmaru in one hand, his green eyes narrowed in a look of determination.

Yuzu was having a difficult time keeping up, but she didn't slow down. The thought of Karin and Masaryu being off on their own was enough to make her heart pound and her blood run cold.

They needed to get there, and fast.

They had gone about half a mile when a wave of spiritual pressure tore through the air, very nearly knocking Yuzu off her feet. She landed on the ground in a crouched position, taking deep breaths. Toshiro didn't stop, jumping into the air and swinging Hyorinmaru downwards at the ground, sand scattering everywhere. A figure jumped out of the cloud of sand, very nearly avoiding Hyorinmaru's fangs as he landed on the ground.

She stared. The figure was clad in black white, a single piece of bone pulling his dark hair away from his face on the right side. In one hand, he held a sword.

She had studied pictures of people like that in class, and knew in theory what they were. She didn't think she would ever wind up encountering one.

Arrancar.

Toshiro landed on the ground beside her, apparently unfazed. He held his sword out in front of himself, the ice dragon coiling upwards. Yuzu straightened up, facing him.

"Well," said the Arrancar, grinning. "For such a young-looking kid, you sure have a lot of power. Hitsugaya Toshiro, right? We've heard of you." His eyes flicked towards Yuzu. "She's got some interesting reiatsu herself."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed, and he immediately stepped forward, extending an arm out protectively in front of her. His reiatsu crackled around him, and Yuzu felt the temperature in the area drop several degrees.

"Yuzu."

She looked up. "Yes, Hitsugaya-kun?" she asked.

"There's a canyon about a mile east of here," he said. "If Karin and Ankoujin were looking for a place to take shelter, they would go there. Be careful."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she nodded once. "Hai," she said. "You be careful as well."

Toshiro nodded once, not turning to look at her. Yuzu took a deep breath, then used shunpo, flash stepping away from the two of them. Behind her, reiatsu flared as the two clashed. She could see bright flashes out of the corner of her eye. She didn't want to leave them, but she knew that she would only just get in the way.

Finding Karin was more important right now.

The canyon loomed up ahead of her, her shunpo quickly eating up the mile that lay between her and it. The sand had worn down the cliff face, a river twisting and coiling around its base and feeding the sparse grasses that grew there. The river was shallow now, opening up the base of the canyon.

There were a lot of places to hide, if necessary.

And a lot of places to fight.

"Karin! Masa-kun!" called Yuzu as she stepped into the canyon. "Karin, are you here?" Her voice echoed against the canyon's walls. "Karin!" she called. "Masa-kun!"

Gravel crunched behind her.

Yuzu's eyes widened and she turned around, freezing in place. A large Hollow stood behind her, pawing at the ground. There was a wound on its side, but that didn't seem to bother it, its eyes immediately fixing on her. It roared, charging towards her.

She jumped back, drawing her sword and blocking its claw as it bore down on her. The Hollow pressed down and Yuzu grit her teeth, widening her stance and trying to remain standing. It roared, raising its paw and striking down, sending her flying. Yuzu landed on the ground and pushed herself up, backing up quickly as she raised her hands in front of her.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." she said. "Hado # 33, Sokatsui!"

An orb of blue fire shot forward from her hands, slamming into the Hollow's mask. It cried out in pain, sliding back. A cloud of dust and smoke rose up around it, obscuring it from view. She lowered her arm, taking deep breaths as silence fell for a few moments.

Then the Hollow roared again, charging out of the smoke.

No way! thought Yuzu, her eyes widening in shock as she reached for her sword.

A sharp voice rang out through the canyon.

"Slice open the sky, Setsuyoku!"

Several silvery darts burst out of the smoke, plunging into the Hollow that had Yuzu cornered. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. The darts burst out of the other side of the Hollow, trailing black smoke behind them. The Hollow staggered forward and fell, bursting into motes of shadow. The shards of liquid silver rose into the air, turning around and shooting off into the distance.

Masaryu stepped out of the dust and smoke, holding a naked sword hilt in his hand. The shards swirled towards him, forming a blade of liquid metal at the end of the hilt. The metal blade continued to shift and shimmer, as if it was still not completely solid.

He lowered his sword, looking across the field at her.

"Masa…kun?" she asked, surprised.

TO BE CONTINUED

Setsuyoku (切翼) – Setsuyoku is Masaryu's zanpakuto. Its name means "cutting wings". Its shikai form is a liquid metal blade that can solidify and divide into different shapes. I went with the Great Houses = 5 Elements theme here on this one, since Kaien (former Shiba clan head, water) had a water-type zanpakuto, and Byakuya (Kuchiki clan head, wood) has Senbonzakura.