Kisuke stood once again in the basement, across from Yoruichi, looking down at the two Visoreds holding the still unconscious arrancar between them. The two were arguing about Hiyori's 'raise' and the best strategy for staying alive in Hueco Mundo until Ichigo woke up.

Yoruichi chuckled softly, and he looked over at her, one brow raised. She smiled, flashing her white teeth, "They're just...so cute together."

Urahara gave a small smile. "Don't let either of them hear you say that. They haven't figured it out for themselves yet." Turning his attention back to the bickering couple, he called down to them. "Hey! You two ready to go yet? I do have other things to be doing-"

"Shut it, baldy! This is your fault, for suggesting this insane idea in the first place!" Hiyori yelled up at him, and Kisuke grinned. She hadn't changed one bit.

Finally, it seemed, they were ready to go, and Shinji gave them a thumbs-up.

He faced Yoruichi and sharpened his focus on opening the garganta.

Then they were gone, and he sat down on the platform with a sigh.

"Are you getting too old for this, Kisuke?" Yoruichi smirked at him, flipping her hair over one shoulder.

"Not as old as you, my dear."

A hard punch to the face reminded him why he was never supposed to tease a woman about her age.

Especially not when that woman had mastered the art of flash step and packed a punch harder than a flying ton of bricks.

xxx

Renji stared helplessly as the enemy Hollows broke down crying in front of them. "NEL-SAMA! THEY'VE STOLEN NEL-SAMA!" he scratched at the back of his head, lowering Zabimaru and glanced over at Ishida and Chad, who seemed just as surprised as he was.

"I don't know who this Nel person is," he took a step forward, "but come on, I can't take you seriously if-"

"NO! PLEASE DON'T KILL US, EVIL SHINIGAMI!" he froze, eyes wide as the Hollows scrambled backwards from him.

Ishida sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Look, Hollows." all three turned to him, still sniffling. "We aren't going to kill you. You're not worth our time. We're just trying to get directions to Las Noches. I promise we didn't steal your Nel-sama."

The purple-clothed Hollow took a step closer to him. "Re-really? You'll help us find Nel-sama then?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever-" the Quincy murmured before being tackled by the Hollows.

"Oh thank you so much, evil boy! Thank you so much!"

Renji blinked, glancing over at Chad, who just shrugged. This was going to be a long day. He started towards the dog-pile, intent on helping Ishida out of it when something rammed into the back of his legs. He fell forward, looking up at a little girl leaping over him to the Hollows.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM, YOU EVIL SHINIGAMI!"

The red-haired man frowned.

A very long day indeed.

xxx

Toshiro stiffened in front of the head captain, not quite sure he had heard right. They were sending four captains into Hueco Mundo. Four. Captains. That was four out of the remaining ten. With the inevitable war upon them, was it really a good idea to send four captains away?

But, he supposed, it was for a good cause. Abarai and Kuchiki had already gone with the two humans Ishida and Chad, and he knew that they didn't stand a chance of getting out alive unless they got backup. And he didn't want them to die, he actually liked them pretty well.

It was just that Aizen's plans had finally become clear to them, and Karakura town was to be the battlefront. If they didn't protect the town, at least a hundred thousand people would lose their lives and their souls, and Aizen would have the key to the Soul King. And then, presumably, more people would die once Aizen took him out.

If there was ever a more appropriate time for the saying, " caught between a rock and hard place," he didn't want to know.

For now though, he had to focus on training. His bankai wasn't ready to stand against Aizen, and he was sure that Matsumoto was even less prepared.

They needed to be ready for battle.

xxx

He hadn't meant to get involved. Not really. But he just couldn't stand it. The girl was practically helpless, and though he was all for natural selection, survival of the fittest and all that, he couldn't let them kill her.

He reasoned with himself that it was just because he owed her, and that Aizen needed her alive.

So when Grimmjow busted the wall apart to find the two female fracciones standing over the human's still body, he didn't really know what he would do.

It only became clear when the orange-haired girl was screaming at him to stop, and he blinked, looking down at his hands. They were covered in blood, and in one he was grasping a...was that a leg? The stench of burnt flesh made him curl his lip and he turned to see a blackened corpse still smoking. Huh. He looked back at the leg, and then down at the paralyzed fraccion who was bleeding severely. He narrowed his eyes and threw the leg away, crouching over the other.

"Aizen needs her alive. You can't kill her, Loly. Do you get that?" the girl whimpered, and Grimmjow snarled, grabbing her by the head and tossing her against the wall. "Keh." His cerulean eyes slid to the human girl's who shrank away from him in fear. "You don't have to thank me, or anything." She bit her lip and nodded, seeming to be holding back tears. The Sexta sighed, wiping his hands on his pants and reaching a hand out to her. "Come on, Ulquiorra might throw a fit but I sure as hell ain't leaving you here in this mess."

She hesitated before grabbing his hand and pulling her self up. "Yes, Grimmjow-san," she murmured, keeping her eyes down.

He didn't notice the emerald eyes glaring at him from across the hall.

xxx

"Well, I really don't feel like explaining it again, ok?" the white man muttered. "You- you explain it," he called over to the other figure, and Ichigo turned his head.

"Ichigo, you're the soul reaper part of the combined soul. Zangetsu there is your Hollow and zanpakuto. You're technically in charge, as you've begun to master your soul reaper powers in favor over your Hollow form. Make more sense now?"

The Quinto nodded and sucked in a deep breath, sitting up and pulling his knees close to him. Zangetsu had finally goten off of him, apparently sure now that Ichigo wasn't going to argue or run off. They eyed each other warily, and Ichigo tensed, suddenly sure that this was going to turn into a fight.

"Oh? So you realized it then, King?" the white figure grinned. "When you started pushing me aside, it really hurt my feelings, ya know? I liked you better when all you did was kill in your quest for power." Ichigo barely had time to scramble to his feet before a sword was thrown in his direction. "So get ready, King. It's time I challenged your right to rule."

He should have been expecting this, given every other stupid thing that seemed to happen to him for no reason.

He just wished that he had had more time to prepare.

XXX

Alright! With this, we're caught up again to the days. Only two more chapters for the daily posting- and then it will either be weekly or every other week, seeing as how I really need to write and post for Hollow. Most likely I'll alternate the two.