So, I'm just gonna say now, there may be a break after the next few chapters because I do have other stories I should probably catch up on as well as one I'm writing for a scholarship (I'm putting it on fictionpress—Neko-chan-the-band-geek…go read it soon…I need feedback) So, fear not, I'm not completely ending the story. Also, I promise that this chapter will be longer than the short crap I've been ashamedly giving you guys.

Haven't said this in a while, but I do not own Bleach. Or its characters.

Ch. 26

Aizen turned his head slowly to look, shocked, at Gin who strode calmly over to his son.

"Sorry I took so long. No one gave me directions. Good to see you're all okay," he looked at them all: bloodied faces with torn clothes as well as Daisuke's broken nose, Kaien's ankle, the marks all over Evee's face and arms and Masaki's useless right arm, hanging limply at her side. "Well, standing anyway."

He turned to face Aizen again, calling over his shoulder, "I'll take care of him. You four go find your parents. Daisuke, tell your mom I made it and I'll see her soon, okay?"

"Got it," said Daisuke with a nod, taking Masaki's hand and leading her from the room. Kaien and Evee followed close behind, Kaien with a heavy limp and Gin turned his attention to the man in front of him.

"Let's finish what we started all those years ago, eh?"

Aizen seemed to be regaining his composure, no longer shocked by the loss of his left arm.

"We already finished it Ichimaru. You just didn't like the outcome."

Gin's smile disappeared. "Everyone gets a second chance at something."

BREAK

Ichigo's eyes flicked between the spot where Grimmjow had been just seconds before to Rukia and back again.

"H-how—when?" he stammered out. "When did you learn Bankai?"

Rukia seemed to snap out of a daze, the scythe dissolving from around her sword, she gave him a sad smile. "I started training after you first lost control of your Hollow around the kids. I thought I should get stronger just in case something happened."

"You mean Byakuya decided you weren't a little kid anymore," said Ichigo with a grin. She scoffed.

"For the most part."

Ichigo pulled her into his arms again. "Don't scare me like that again."

"Got it," she mumbled into his chest. There was a noise from somewhere on their right and Uryu stumbled out of an opening in the wall, his white clothes stained red.

"Uryu!"

Ichigo and Rukia both rushed toward him, catching him under the arms when he fell forward.

"What happened?" asked Rukia.

"Where are the kids?" Ichigo asked.

"They're—hiding," Uryu panted. "I l-lost them when I tried to hold—Aizen off."

He cringed and they set him down against the wall. Uryu's eyes drifted around the room before falling on Orihime unconscious in Ulquiorra's arms.

"What—?"

"Don't worry, she's just exhausted," Ichigo waved him down. "She used up her energy with the Shun-shun Rikka."

"Oh."

Ichigo looked up at Rukia.

"Let's go find the kids. They can't have gone too far. We'll just have to—"

At that moment, the four they were going to look for jogged into the room, holding each other for support.

"No—no more running," said Kaien, flopping onto his back with a huff. Masaki had one arm around Daisuke's shoulders and looked up.

"Mom!"

Despite nearly falling on the first step, Masaki raced toward her parents, Kaien jumping to his feet as well as he could and shooting after her. Ichigo and Rukia pulled both their kids close.

"Next time you guys decide you want to run off, let us know okay?" said Ichigo. Daisuke walked gingerly over to Rangiku.

"Dad's here."

"What?"

"He told me to tell you he'd see you soon," said Daisuke with a smile. "It's just Aizen left now!"

Rangiku, however, looked horrified. "He's fighting Aizen alone?"

And with that, she ran through the opening, dragging her son behind her.

"Show me where you came from!" she shouted as the two of them dashed down the tunnel. Daisuke led her down the tunnel, retracing his path and hearing the sound of more pairs of feet running behind them. He couldn't help but get the feeling that a big fight was about to start. After what felt like an hour, they were finally back in the room. Aizen's arm had long since disintegrated back into reiatsu and now the two men were at each other's throats, clashing swords before jumping backward.

"Well, isn't this nice," said Aizen. His appearance was starting to match his mental state. The once slicked back hair hung in his face and the purple eyes were wide over an ear-to-ear grin. "You can all die in the same room. You only make things easy for me, you know…" his smile faltered slightly as he studied the group. "Where's Schiffer? And the Quincy?"

"On their way out," said Ichigo with a steely glare. He started to draw his sword. "I'm the only one staying, Aizen."

"What?" most of the group chorused behind him. Rukia held onto his sleeve.

"Ichigo, we're not going to leave you in here."

Ichigo scoffed. "Don't worry. As much as I don't like it, we do have Gin on our side—"

"—Good to see you too, Kurosaki," called Gin from across the room.

"Anyway," Ichigo dropped his voice so that only Rukia could hear him. "Look at Aizen. He's slipping. He's strong, but his mind's completely fallen apart. I'll be fine."

"I know you will."

Ichigo smiled. "Thank—"

"—because I'm staying."

The smile vanished. "No."

He saw Chad start to lead the protesting group of teenagers from the room and Rangiku put her hands on her hips, a stubborn expression on her face while Renji let Zabimaru settle against his shoulder.

"We're staying too, Ichigo," said Renji.

"I don't know if you noticed but there were twice as many of us last time and you with your full power and we still didn't kill him," Rukia pointed out. She glared up at him and her violet eyes suddenly grew wide. "Ichigo, MOVE!"

She pushed him out of the way as Aizen appeared out of nowhere, his sword slashing into the dirt instead.

"The fight seems to have started without you, Kurosaki," said Aizen with a small laugh.

BREAK

Chad ushered the four of them out of an opening and into the desert, telling them to stay, before going back to get help Ulquiorra get Orihime and Uryu out. Masaki flopped into the sand with a groan and Kaien sat down next to her, his bad ankle held out.

Daisuke made to follow Chad, but Kaien clumsily got up and blocked his path.

"We need to leave. We're not going to be much help in our state. We'll just get in the way," he said.

"What?"

"Well, just look at Masaki! She can barely stand on her feet and she can't move one of her arms! We need to go home."

Daisuke glared at him. As much as he wanted to help, he knew Kaien had a point.

"Fine. But how will Kisuke know to open the—?"

As if on cue, a garganta opened above him.

"Oh."

"Let's get going before it closes again," said Evee, pulling one of Kaien's arms around her shoulders. He hobbled along beside her. Daisuke lifted Masaki off of the ground again and flash-stepped up to the garganta.

"Daisuke put me down…" she mumbled. He grinned down at her.

"In a little bit."

Daisuke followed the other two, stepping into the dark void, and doing his best to focus his reiatsu in front of him. To his surprise, the small squares of light suddenly turned into a long ribbon leading straight ahead.

"Does that help?"

He looked down at the girl in his arms to see her eyes shut and eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Yeah, it does. Don't push yourself."

"Mm."

"Hurry up you two!" Kaien shouted behind him.

The trip seemed to go faster than before and Daisuke stepped lightly into the basement of the Urahara Shoten, the garganta closing with a loud snap behind him. Kisuke grinned at them from behind his fan.

"I got your message," he said happily.

Daisuke looked confused. "Message?"

Kisuke raised an eyebrow. "Am I wrong in saying that you bugged our Miss Kurosaki?"

Realization dawned on Daisuke's face. "Oh yeah…I completely forgot about that. I didn't expect it to attach to her Shinigami form too. I just stuck it in the pocket of her school uniform…"

Kaien and Evee had walked a few feet away where they both sat down in the dirt, oblivious to the current conversation.

"Where did you get this device from again?" Kisuke asked.

"From…Captain Kurotsuchi," he said the last bit slowly, feeling stupid. Of course. If Mayuri Kurotsuchi made it, nobody really knew what it did except him. Daisuke was brought out of his thoughts by a fist connecting squarely with his chin.

Kaien and Evee looked up from their spot when they heard Masaki shout, "YOU BUGGED ME?" before she cringed, holding her chest.

Masaki lowered her voice, "Why?"

"Because my parents were given orders to have someone watch you, so they picked me," said Daisuke, rubbing his jaw. He felt her reiatsu flare in anger and hastily added, "It was just because you were Ichigo Kurosaki's daughter and when you got your Hollow, Soul Society wanted to make sure you didn't get too strong…y'know in case the Hollow fully took over of something…"

She didn't say anything for a minute before, "Put me down, Daisuke."

He did as he was told and she used a nearby rock to hold herself up, sending a glare in his direction.

"So were you really our friend that whole time? Or was that just a face for your little 'mission'?"

Daisuke's shoulders slumped as Evee stood up cautiously behind them.

"Masaki, you know I was your—"

"And to think I was actually starting to—" She cut herself off, stole a bemused Kisuke's cane and left the basement behind. Kisuke watched her go, a disheartened expression on his face as he lowered his fan.

"She took Benihime…" he muttered. Kaien and Evee stared after Masaki before their gazes turned to Daisuke.

"What just happened?" Evee asked.

Daisuke ignored her, breaking into a run and shouting, "Masaki, wait!"

He caught up with her just as she made it out the doors.

"Masaki, I—"

"Go away, Ichimaru," she snapped over her shoulder, leaning heavily on the cane. She flicked something small and round in his direction. "And take your bug with you."

She started out the door again and Daisuke went after her. They were only a few feet from the door when she turned and leaned against the wall across the street and aimed the cane at him.

"Stop following me," she said sternly, starting to walk away again. Rain started to pour around them, shining in the dim streetlight, as Daisuke reached forward and grabbed her arm, whirling her around to face him.

"I'll stop following you if you just listen to me."

Masaki didn't say anything, but raised an eyebrow which he took to mean 'go ahead'.

"It started out just being the guy that kept an eye on you, but after a while, I really started to like you. I think it's pretty obvious I'd give up my life to save yours and I know you'd do the same…hell, you almost did…" he let out an irritated sigh and set his forehead against hers, whispering, "Please believe me…"

Again, she didn't respond right away.

"Daisuke, there are so many things I'd like to say to you right now, but I don't know how…"

He wrapped his arms around her, setting his chin on her head. "You don't have to."

Daisuke felt something wet on his hands and noticed that the wound on her back had reopened.

"…let's just go home," she said after a pause.

See? As promised, a long chapter. The scene with Daisuke and Masaki I actually wrote during my vacation…while taking shelter from pouring rain, all alone in my two person tent…Oh well, it worked out. And I liked the rain…at least when I wasn't freezing in an air conditioned building because of it…

Anyway, please review!