The Head Master's eyes looked back down to the paperwork he had been doing when Ruby burst through his office doors. This was indeed a major problem that needed to be seen to, but at the moment there was enough for him to do without questioning the head of the Safety Committee. He and his former mentor were close, or at least felt close, to discovering a way to prevent Hollows from opening a Garganta on the inside of the barrier. This would leave the Hollows already on campus effectively stuck until they would be slain by the shinigami and prevent more from showing up.

"Just one thing after another;" with a sigh.

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter;" a smile grew on his face as the doors opened "I trust your trip was successful, Tsukune-kun. You won't be…" carefully thinking of how to word his question "having a relapse any time soon?"

"The training worked Head Master;" he replied seeing where the man was going "and no sir, I won't be having a relapse."

"Excellent. There is a matter I need you to take care of rather swiftly; do you remember the Lilith's Mirror?" the boy nodded "it would seem that Kuyo has taken the mirror from storage for some reason or another. I need you to retrieve it from him, no matter what it takes" in a slightly dark tone suggesting a death might be a result.

Without realizing it, Tsukune gave a small gulp as he nodded his head. He had all of his memories back and knew what the mirror was capable of; it nearly caused the barrier to collapse even before the student president had a whack at it. This item of legend was not something that could just be simply handled either. It needed to be covered by a special cloth to prevent its power from being unleashed.

"I would suggest putting your new zanpakuto away first though," as he leaned back in his chair "such a weapon seems unbecoming of your true personality."

"It looks good on Tsuki;" Yachiru objected "don't do it Tsuki!"

"It makes me feel a little uneasy Yachiru-chan;" Tsukune admitted "I'll put it in my room before talking to Kuyo-san."

Tsukune walked out of the office after the Head Master dismissed him and Soifon, ignoring Yachiru's attempts to talk him into keeping the scythe where it was. Ruby had to bite her tongue to keep from asking the hooded man how it was possible for Tsukune to have gotten a new zanpakuto on top of the one he already had. She knew something was off but decided it was best for her crush to tell her when he was ready too. The look that was on Tsukune's face, however brief, when the Head Master asked Tsukune to retrieve the mirror from Kuyo told her enough; he remembered everything from when he was alive.

It wouldn't be a problem if Tsukune had a normal student life while attending Yokai Academy, but he had the opposite. Nearly every week Tsukune was faced with a new problem, and each one seemed to build off the last. When Kuyo had taken him into custody, he had also taken Mizore, Kurumu, and Moka; then tortured them all in some form. Kuyo was a relentless person that saw his own goals worth doing whatever he wanted obtain. The god-like Yokai attempted to kill Tsukune publicly, nearly succeeded at it, and ended up putting a spear of fire through Tsukune's lung in an attempt to ruin what the academy stood for.

She knew that Tsukune was going to be metaphorically chained to the fear he felt when he first met and faced Kuyo. Such a fear was not something that could be overcome easily; it was going to test her closest friend's resolve.

-Tsukune, Yachiru, and Soifon-

"You realize that the sou-taichou will most likely send at least one taichou to escort you back to the Seireitei?" Soifon said breaking the numbing silence that had plagued them.

"Yes," as he stopped fighting Yachiru's tugging at his hair "and I don't regret disobeying his orders to save my friends. I will answer for what I did and hope for the best."

"The worst is twenty years in the Maggot's Nest" Soifon responded "the best you could hope for is being sent back to the Rukongai outside the Seireitei."

"I'm sure it'll work out;" with a smile.

The petite taichou took a deep breath before nodding and vanishing with a burst of shunpo; she didn't want to think about it but knew it wasn't something that could just be ignored. The list of things that could happen as a result of Tsukune's breaking the rules prior to joining the academy alone was long enough to cover her desk back in the Seireitei. Add on to that the list of things he's done since then and that list pretty much rolled out the door.

Tsukune took off to his dorm with a quick step of sonido and getting back into his room. Yachiru, always eager to have him use sonido with her on his shoulder, begged him to do it again; after telling her he'd do it again once he put the scythe like zanpakuto away she quieted down. He pulled out the badge the Twelfth Division taichou had given him and pressed it to his chest. As his soul form left the gigai, a thought hit him; how did the Head Master know about the second zanpakuto? A small shiver went down his spine at the thought of how creepy the man really was. The seal master was just that and probably had seals in his office that would let him see anyone's true form while they were in there; it didn't make it less creepy though.

Sliding the scythe underneath his bed for the time, he knew he'd need to find a better place to keep it; or at least a place where it wouldn't be easily located or stolen. While it was Ghoul's zanpakuto, Ghoul was still a part of him thus making the zanpakuto a part of him too and he didn't want to lose it. It would be about like Ghoul losing Akasha's blade; Tsukune wouldn't be in the best of moods discovering such a thing.

"Now we go talk to Kuyo-san;" as he reentered his gigai.

-Safety Committee Office-

Kuyo sat at his desk looking over some paperwork about the fight that had happened yesterday between a visiting parent and the half breed covering for Aono. This Kurosaki had handled the elder pure bred vampire like he was nothing when he changed his form into that demon looking thing; based off what he managed to see, the form Kurosaki had taken was that of a hollow. The creatures were still foreign to him and he wasn't sure what the humanoid form meant, but he assumed it had something to do with being able to nearly demolish the vampire.

He was tempted to pull an item from the drawer in his desk and use it to help relax but had been advised against it by the one over him, saying it could give him away. Keeping up this charade was already taxing him; meetings, subordinates, breaking up fights, dealing with the students. Normally he was very patient and could do something under the radar for weeks before he got bored, but this was different. His superior had claimed he needed to go to an emergency meeting. The man shook his head as there was a knock at the door.

"Enter;" he barked before the door opened "Kenpachi, what a surprise. Good to see you're finally done with your vacation" with a growl "that delinquent you had covering for you caused a major uproar yesterday that almost ended with the death of a parent. I hope whatever it is you had to do was worth it."

"I'm sorry;" with a bow "the assignment was important and it was worth it."

"Your youki seems to be a bit more stable than when we fought;" he noted.

"Thank you; the Head Master sent me on a training assignment;" he half lied "I already reported to him. He mentioned an item had been taken from his storage unit yesterday too. He" with a gulp "believes you might be in possession of it; the Lilith's Mirror."

Kuyo stood up in a calm manner, a creepy smile grew on his lips moments before Eiyu was sent flying out of the office with a single hit. He knew it had been a matter of time before he was discovered, but he thought he timed the theft perfectly to gain another day before discovery. As he ran through the door he grabbed the covered item from the cabinet next to the door. The time had come to put the plan into action, something he had wanted at least another few hours for.

"Chocolate-hair;" Yachiru said as she smacked his face "he's gettin' away."

The teen pulled himself from the wall and chased after the Kitsune Yokai. For some reason he felt as though his body was heavier, his legs were slower to react to commands than before, chest felt as if his lungs were on fire, and a slight trembling found its way to the surface. His mind was bombarded with images of what happened the first time him and his friends challenged Kuyo. Gritting his teeth, he used a burst of sonido to catch up to the fleeing Safety Committee officer; when he appeared in front of the target, he drew his zanpakuto and went to slash at him horizontally. Kuyo drew his own blade with his free hand, blocked the attack, and spun around just before sending his elbow into his attacker's face which sent him bouncing across the ground.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance shinigami!" Kuyo shouted as he took to the sky.

Tsukune's eyes widened; Kuyo knew who he really was. He put Yachiru on the ground and compressed spirit particles under his feet to continue his chase. As he approached the Kitsune he fired off a Shakkaho, nailing the man in the back and sending him falling towards the ground. The item he had taken from his office bounced on the ground and started to come unwrapped, revealing a golden edging. Before he could grab the item, he had to block a kick that was thrown at him from Kuyo.

The Kitsune blended a barrage of kicks, punches and sword swings at the shinigami as he backed him away from the mirror. He noticed members of the Safety Committee rushing towards them to see what was going on. Gritting his teeth, he landed a powerful kick to the side of his opponent's face; which knocked him far back enough for Kuyo to take his hybrid form. There was little anyone could do to him while he was like this, only the shinigami taichou, fuku-taichou, and Arrancar could defeat him now.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know who you are AONO?!" he laughed as he continued his assault on the boy "you escaped death once, but your precious Newspaper Club isn't here to protect you this time!"

Tsukune barely managed to stay on his toes and block the fury of attacks. His arms were deciding to move slower than he wanted them to for some reason; not some reason, he knew what was wrong. He couldn't shake the fear of what happened the first time he faced Kuyo, even though he had fought the Kitsune only a couple weeks ago and nearly won while in his gigai. It was his fear that was holding him back. Kuyo's blade slashed into his shoulder just before the Kitsune used two of his tails to bat him away like a fly.

Pain filled his body as he slammed into the tower of the mansion. He patted as grabbed one of the spikes jutting out from the corner to steady himself. Before he could wonder why the Charm ability he gained from Kahlua wasn't working, he was greeted by Kuyo's foot being planted in his chest and sending him through the tower. He couldn't bring his zanpakuto up fast enough to keep the incoming sword from slicing into his side. A pained cry escaped him as Kuyo punched him to the ground.

A crowd had started to form at a safe distance from the battle that had begun. Many were questioning if it was just training or if it was an actual battle. Those with a good view managed to see enough to know that it was an all out fight and started wondering what sparked it. A couple students accidently started a rumor that Kuyo was punishing Eiyu for going AWOL for the pass week. Others weren't sure what to think as the Kitsune grabbed something from the ground that looked like a mirror.

"Let's show everyone who you truly are!" Kuyo laughed as a blinding green light came from the mirror and even caught many from the crowd.

When the light faded, Tsukune was out of his gigai in his shinigami uniform and many students were forced into their true forms as well. Ichigo looked into the crowd and was glad that the light hadn't hit him; there was no telling how much damage his hollow could do if he were let loose. Before he could turn his attention back to what was happening, he felt someone grab his face and yank him down to plant their lips against his; apparently Orihime had gotten hit by the light, causing her to act strangely.

Kuyo's laughing came to a halt as he looked at the teen in front of him. He had been told that using the mirror would possibly cause Aono to change into his hollow and join them, but it wasn't happening. His eyes shook as he thought of one possibility to why it didn't work; the Visoreds he had heard about. Aono must have been with them for the previous day to gain control over it. From the corner of his eye he could see the shinigami's allies approaching the battlefield.

"Perhaps if I put more youki into it;" as he held the mirror high over his head and the blinding light returned bathing everyone that was watching the fight.

When the light died down, several students started attacking each other over grudges or simply because it was their nature. Orihime's fairies had been forced from their places on her hair pins; Tsubaki started pulling on the girl's hair and yelling at her for summoning them. Ichigo began to swat the aggressive fairy only to hear a familiar voice.

"Dafuq you looking at half pints?!" Hichigo snapped at several students that were staring at him "da hell's going on?" as he saw Ichigo.

"We're too late;" Ruby said in fear as more fights began to break out while she flew down from the sky.

Grimmjow looked around and could see that whatever was happening was because of the light the mirror had let off. He looked down and saw that he had been forced from his gigai just like Tsukune, Soifon, Rangiku, and Yachiru had been. While usually an aggressive person, he had plenty of practice keeping his violent urges suppressed to keep from pissing off those stronger than him. A low growl came from behind him; as he turned he was tackled to the ground by a white panther. The creature bit into his arm and vanished with a burst of sonido; at that moment he knew what, or rather who, had attacked him. It was none other than Pantera.

Kuyo looked at Aono with shaking eyes; the mirror had failed again. He grit his teeth in anger as he realized what this meant; this plan had been for nothing. It had been fruitless since he had been told what to do, and now it was nothing more than a distraction until help came.

"Fujisaki and that woman said this would work;" as he kneed Tsukune in the chest "he insisted that you have great power within you. Then let's see it Aono! Show me the power you killed Fujisaki's living form with!"

Kuyo continued his brutal hits refusing to let up for even a second. Each hit left a red mark but no damage aside from that; his Hierro was absorbing most of the impact. The Kitsune could feel the shinigami's Arrancar ability resisting the hits against his knuckles and legs. He was doing everything he could think of to try to have the shinigami show him his true power; then an idea hit him.

"Do you want to know why the Safety Committee didn't do anything to try to keep your friends safe?" he asked with a smirk as he flew into the air and charged a flame wheel "because I ordered them not to; I'm a part of the organization that kidnapped them!" he laughed as the wheel grew larger "that organization's name is Fairy Tale!"

He launched the wheel of fire at the shinigami while laughing like a manic at the fact that Aono tried to shield himself from the raging inferno with his hand. Flames exploded from the point of impact and engulfed the immediate surround ground in a fire that burned hotter than anyone could imagine. He continued laughing as he landed and looked into the flames to see if the job was done. After deeming it was, he turned to face the crowd, a psychotic grin on his face, and could see the harem of girls that used to follow the human around glaring angrily at him. Youki could be seen around them as they changed to their true forms.

"Do you really think you can defeat me? I just killed your precious Aono like it was nothing" he laughed "I figured they must have been mistaken in his abilities. To think that he could kill someone as powerful as Fujisaki-sama, what a joke!"

"You should look behind you Yellow-eyes" Yachiru warned.

Before the Kitsune could think to retort to the child sized fuku-taichou, he felt a strange youki pressing down on him. Everyone in the crowd saw an explosion of visible youki come from the center of the flames followed by a strange mask forming in the youki. A high pitch screech/cry seemed to come from the mask just as it dissipated and the flames were suppressed by the youki. Kuyo didn't have time to look back as he felt a massive gash form on his back; in front of him stood Aono with his left arm heavily burnt and hanging limp at his side. The burn led up to his neck where it seemed to just stop, his shinigami uniform was smoldering from the light damage it had received, and parts of his hair were clearly burnt.

He went to ask how he had survived, only to be cut off by the shinigami continuing to attack. Something was different now, that much he could tell; while he had finally seemed to have gotten under Aono's skin, everything about the boy changed. The shinigami was attacking with aggression he didn't think he had in him, his eyes seemed to be cold and void of emotion, and even his youki had a killing intent about it. Kuyo managed to block the zanpakuto swings with his own weapon while back stepping, but he couldn't get an opening to retake the offensive in the fight. Another cut formed on his chest as Aono started to throw a kick, but changed to a sword swing once Kuyo went to block.

Moka, Mizore, Kurumu, and Yukari started to go to help Tsukune, only to be stopped by Soifon and Ichigo. The girls started to yell angrily at them only to have Soifon look at them with a glare.

"This is his fight;" she snapped at them "he spent the past four days training his ass off so he could protect you and was absent when you needed him most. He isn't the weak human you remember him as; by reiatsu alone he is easily fuku-taichou level."

"We've always protected him;" Moka shouted at her.

"You really don't get it;" Ichigo said causing the group to look at him confused "he wasn't here to fight against the ones that kidnapped Mizore. So he feels responsible for it; when that Kitsune said he had a part in it," as he watched Tsukune kick his opponent in the side "that made it personal. Tsukune and I are alike; he's not going to back down from this. I sure didn't when I confronted the hollow that killed my mother."

Kurumu, Moka and Yukari were stunned at what the orange haired shinigami had just told them; the person Kuyo was fighting really was Tsukune and not the Kitsune just trying to get under their skin. The one they loved had been back for weeks and had to deceive them; while they were angry at that, they were glad he was back at all. They watched as he blocked an attempt to cut his chest. The two combatants had their blades locked and pushing against each other with as much force as they could manage.

"Hado number one: Sho;" Tsukune said as he held out his index finger towards Kuyo.

The spell forced the two combatants to separate from their locked position and allowed them to recollect themselves. Kuyo's breathing had become heavier in the past minute; he didn't realize that Aono had this much of a fight in him. Tsukune's breathing had slowed down since he became more focused on the fight, remembering everything he's learned from his mentors. He ignored the ruckus that the students were making from their own side battles and focused primarily on Kuyo.

Tsukune put the tip of his blade into the ground and used his now free hand to remove his top; tossing it aside. He could feel the material was trying to stick to his skin which was only going to hinder him in this fight. Right now he needed every bit of mobility that he could get.

"Do you really intend to keep fighting me with only one useful arm?" the Kitsune asked.

Without hesitation, Tsukune used his zanpakuto to slice into the injured limb deep enough to draw blood and let the blood pool on his blade; he could hear his friends gasp at what he had just done but paid no mind to it. As he removed the blade from the wound, he could feel his damaged arm ever so slowly begin to heal. It was a slow pace for now, but it was much better than just letting the injury linger and end up doing more harm because of a useless limb. Centering his zanpakuto on his body, he showed he had every intention on continuing to fight.

A burst of sonido put him behind the Kitsune ready to bring an over head swing down on his opponent, who spun quickly to the side and went to kick the shinigami. Just before the foot would've made contact, Tsukune vanished with another static like boom and appeared over the blonde bringing down an axe kick. His attack barely missed as Kuyo leaned backward just enough and retaliated with a punch to his exposed midsection; Tsukune clenched his jaw in frustration as he compressed spirit particles beneath his feet to keep from skidding too far.

Kuyo threw spears of fire at his enemy only to have the teen easily dodge them without the use of sonido; just by side stepping he was able to avoid the dangerous projectiles. He ceased launching the flaming spears as Aono began to charge towards him ready to make a horizontal slash across him. As he blocked the brown haired teen's attack, said boy twisted his body and landed a powerful kick to the side of his face that sent him skidding to the side almost uncontrollably.

The opening he had just let happen cost him dearly; the shinigami teen continued to use a blend of kicks and sword swings that kept him on the defensive. He was going to give Aono this, his skills had improved greatly since they last fought; it was a shame that they were on opposite sides of what was the start of a new war. From what he heard though, the Aono boy wasn't one to hold grudges for long without a good reason; maybe in the future they could be allies.

Kuyo's line of thought was cut off as the ringing of metal hitting metal sounded in his ears. The shinigami and Kitsune pushed against each other's weight hoping to get the advantage and go on the offensive. The Kitsune grit his teeth in frustration as he realized that he was having trouble against his opponent who only had one arm to fight with. His training had been for nothing in comparison to what Aono was capable of; getting thrown around and battered for a week was worthless in this moment.

"How much longer do you think you can last;" Kuyo asked as he side stepped and let the weight shift throwing Aono off balance "you can't cast any kido spells without a free hand" as they locked blades "with just one…"

Kuyo's question had been cut short by a fist he never would've thought to keep an eye on; Tsukune's left one. His eyes shook as he wondered how this was possible. The shinigami's left arm should've been completely useless after taking the damage it did from his flame wheel, but he had just been hit by it with almost enough force to crack a lesser yokai's jaw. His time was cut short as Tsukune raised his left arm and an orange hued tendril came rushing towards him.

"Bakudo number nine: Horin" Tsukune said as he whipped the tendril at Kuyo.

The Kitsune jumped back and launched a small wave of fire to intercept the spell that had just been used; not wanting to find out what it was capable of. As the two met, a small explosion happened that followed the tendril back towards the caster. Tsukune's eyes went wide for a second before he threw his arm to the side and let the spell disconnect from him; the explosion still caused enough smoke to impair his vision. Kuyo took advantage of this and charged towards the shinigami ready to remove a limb.

Tsukune's Pesquisa picked up the incoming reiatsu of Kuyo and he raised his zanpakuto to block. The sound of metal scrapping metal sounded as the two dragged their blades against each other's putting them back to back. Neither one missed a beat as they quickly spun around and locked blades; Tsukune's eyes remained focus and his face void of emotion, while Kuyo's showed anger and a cocky grin.

"Naginatas" he said.

Before the shinigami teen could wonder what the Kitsune was planning, the sword in Kuyo's hands changed into a naginatas just as he commanded. The sudden weight redistribution threw Tsukune off his center of gravity, allowing his opponent to drive his knee into Tsukune's gut and cross checking the boy in the face with the new weapon giving him a black eye as he skid backwards. Kuyo laughed as he used the opening to push forward with a fury of aggressive offensive attacks.

"Didn't you wonder why my blade was able to hurt you outside of your gigai?" as he jabbed repeatedly causing Tsukune to backpedal as he evaded "this is a Bake-bake bat! Fairy Tale wouldn't send anyone up against a spirit creature without one; never mind a shinigami."

Using a burst of sonido, Tsukune put some distance between him and Kuyo. His eyes narrowed as he retook the offensive; there was something off about how Kuyo was fighting. It wasn't something anyone could notice without having fought the Kitsune before; where he had favored punches just a week ago, he was now using an even blend of punches, kicks and weapon attacks. It was as if he was fighting someone else instead of Kuyo. Ducking down beneath a swing of the staff like weapon, he came up with an idea to see if he was right.

Doing a sweeping kick to Kuyo's feet, he watched as the Kitsune do a quick back flip to keep his ground. As the head of the Safety Committee landed, he saw Aono charge up an indigo cero in his left hand while fast approaching him. Thinking fast, he used his naginatas to slash at the building attack in order to make it unstable. When the edge of the weapon nearly hit, the cero suddenly dissipated and Aono grabbed a hold of the blade; the shinigami tossed his blade to the side and began charging another cero in his opposite hand. The indigo colored attack didn't get a chance to fire as Kuyo flipped to the side while kicking the hand into the air making the cero fire harmlessly into the sky as he landed and put distance between them.

"Who are you?" Tsukune asked as he took a Hakuda stance.

"You didn't give me a chance to introduce myself last time;" with a smirk "why should I do it now?"

Tsukune's eyes narrowed further as he realized who he was fighting; the doppelganger from last week.

-Grimmjow-

The panther Arrancar had large gashes across his chest, arms, and back from Pantera. The zanpakuto spirit seemed rather pissed about something and was taking it out on his wielder. Grimmjow's breathing was heavy while his zanpakuto spirit's was steady; was this really how strong Pantera was? There was no questioning if the creature was his zanpakuto spirit based off of how aggressively it battled, but to be this much stronger than him; how had he missed that?

The panther jumped at him with a burst of sonido to attempt a tackle causing Grimmjow to side step out of the path. As the panther went past him, he could see what damage he had managed to cause to his zanpakuto spirit; a decent number of cuts along its front legs, a few shallow ones across its back, and a nick to its face.

"I'm King;" Grimmjow growled as he blocked the massive paw with his blade "I'm the strongest" as he kicked the panther in the face "I won't be showed up by my own fuckin' zanpakuto spirit!"

Pantera dug its nails into the ground and skid to a halt with little effort and let out an angry roar as it launched itself at its wielder. As it jumped, Grimmjow raised his blade up and blocked both paws holding off the spirit in mid-air while it attempted to claw at him with its hind legs. Grimmjow kept his zanpakuto spirit at just enough of a distance to keep from feeling the fury that was its hind quarters; a mistake he made the first time Pantera did this that he wasn't going to make again.

The panther snapped its jaws at its wielder as its back legs came back into contact with the ground, giving it leverage to push. Grimmjow grit his teeth as he felt his feet slide against the ground; he knew that if he lost balance for even a second it would cost him dearly. He couldn't let the spirit get all four on the ground either because that could cost him just as much; if not more. Just as his vision began to slightly blur as a result of the blood loss, Pantera was suddenly removed from the blade that held it back.

Refocusing his eyes, Grimmjow saw a woman wearing an Amazoness style grass skirt and animal skin styled as a makeshift bra. She had black hair that was long enough to reach to her lower back and around her ankles and wrists were grass anklets and bracelets respectively. In what seemed to be no time, this woman had incapacitated his zanpakuto spirit and had tied it up with a vine rope that had been hidden by her skirt. Her back still to him.

"I didn't ask for yer fuckin' help" Grimmjow snapped at her as she secured the last knot.

The woman stood up and vanished with a swish of shunpo; the next thing the Arrancar knew he had a blade across his throat and his head was jerked back by his hair.

"You weak willed fool;" she berated him "you can't even keep your own zanpakuto spirit from being forced out of you by a mere reflective piece of glass. Even Aono, who was having his ass handed to him and filled with fear, managed to keep his zanpakuto spirit from leaving him. You claim to be a king, yet you can't even keep control of the thing that gives you part of your strength. How pathetic."

Grimmjow jabbed his elbow back causing the woman to let go of his hair and swung his blade at her; only to miss as she vanished with another use of shunpo. He tried to locate her quickly, but felt her hand on his throat and the butt of her blade in the center of his back.

"This is a part of what I'm talking about;" she hissed at him "you can't even thank the one that just saved your sorry ass. Instead you go on an ego trip and try to prove you're stronger. Even when Kurosaki, who you tried to kill three times, sparred you and even had his girlfriend heal you, you refuse to thank either of them for taking you out of that kami forsaken desert and giving you refuge in the Fourth Division's clinic. No; instead you chose to 'thank him' by challenging him to a fight every chance you get, insulting him when he defeated the man that was going to betray everyone that followed him, and attempted to grope every female shinigami that treated you while in the Fourth Division's clinic. At the rate you're going;" as she tightened her grip around his throat "you will never know your true strength."

"Bitch" he growled as he felt the butt of her weapon pressed harder into his back.

"You have no idea" she whispered into his ear just before she vanished via shunpo.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired shinigami vanished with a burst of sonido as the doppelganger attempted a barrage of jabs at him with the sharp end of the naginatas. He couldn't get back to his zanpakuto thanks to his opponent staying effectively between him and it. Without knowing more kido spells than he already knew, he couldn't catch the copycat off guard long enough to use sonido to pull his zanpakuto from the ground.

"Let me tell you a secret" the doppelganger said as he punched Tsukune in the gut.

The doppelganger could feel that he had broken his wrist against Aono's Hierro, but thanks to the training he had put himself through for as long as he cared to remember he was able to ignore the throbbing pain. It was only a mild annoyance for the moment; as long as he didn't do anything to make the damage worse it would stay that way. This fight was taking far too long.

"It wasn't me that attacked your yuki-ona friend. It was my idiot of a friend who always overreacts when someone stumbles upon us. If anything," as he blocked a kick with the staff "I kept him from killing her on the spot."

He could see the mildly shocked look on the shinigami's face; it didn't surprise him too much though. When they had first fought he told the boy that 'he didn't remember everyone they killed'. That one line that somehow managed to slip out of his mouth ended with a large cut in his side; luckily it had been treated by time he woke up after the fight.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tsukune asked as he blocked a kick with his arm.

"Because I want to;" he admitted as he used his second leg to pinch Tsukune's head and threw him with a twist of his body.

Compressing spirit particles under his feet, Tsukune managed to keep from hitting his head on the ground from the throw. He needed to think of a way to be able to get to his zanpakuto. Then it hit him.

"Hado number thirty one: Shakkaho!"

The kido spell hit its mark dead in the face and exploded; smoke quickly plumed from the point of impact.

"Fire based attacks won't harm me while I have Kuyo's form" the doppelganger said with a laugh.

"It wasn't meant to;" he heard from the other side of the smoke.

He jumped back as fast as he could in anticipation of what was coming and was glad he did. Instead of having his arm cut off, or worse being bisected, by Tsukune's blade coming down, he managed to only get a quasi deep cut from shoulder to waist on his right side. Tossing the bake-bake bat to the ground, he took to the sky as he charged another flame wheel as fast as he could. He watched at Aono held out his now nearly perfectly healed arm and charged a cero to counter. Not wanting to find out how fast the teen could charge his own attack, the doppelganger threw the flame wheel at the boy with as much force as he could manage.

Everyone that wasn't involved in their own fights watched as Tsukune stood in place while the flame wheel came at him. In a split second, the teen narrowed his eyes and fired the cero he had been charging at the spinning wheel of fire. When the two collided, the flames were snuffed out completely and the indigo colored attack continued to race towards the doppelganger. No one missed the look of fear that was in his eyes just before he was hit by the cero and became surrounded by smoke. The Kuyo look alike fell from the smoke cloud and slammed onto the ground causing everyone watching to wince; they didn't need to, or want to, feel the pain to know that it hurt like all hell.

Moments after the doppelganger hit the ground, he struggled to pick himself up. Every part of him ached; he had severe burns from the cero all over his body, he landed on the already broken wrist making the injury worse, his left knee cap shattered when he hit the ground, and a lung had been punctured. As he stood up completely, he felt the form he had taken begin to regress and he took his normal form. A doppelganger's most human form, without copying someone's, was slightly disturbing; a number of teeth weren't aliened, his hair had multiple bald spots and was thin where there was hair, his back hunched over, eyes sickly yellow, and his fingernails looked like they belonged on a decomposing corpse.

"They said this was going to be easy;" as he put all his weight on his good-ish leg "and Yokai say doppelgangers are the greatest liars. That bitch Gyokuro promised me the strength I needed to make my kind respected" his eyes locked on Tsukune "I'll take your form and use your power to kill that lying bitch!"

The doppelganger charged as best he could towards Tsukune. The young shinigami closed his eyes for a moment; he needed to stop his opponent from going down a path that would turn him into a hollow. As he opened his eyes again, he raised his zanpakuto over his head and built reiatsu around it.

"Ketsujin" he said in a monotone as he brought the blade down.

The blood based attack flew from the edge of his blade towards the doppelganger. When it hit, it knocked the look alike backwards as it sliced into his torso from waist to opposite shoulder. Moka, Mizore, Yukari, Ruby and Kurumu just looked at their friend in disbelief at what he had just done; this was a side of Tsukune they never would've thought he had. He had just killed someone; or so they thought.

"Why?" the doppelganger asked barely auditable.

Tsukune sonido over to his opponent and kneeled next to him.

"It isn't worth becoming a hollow;" in a sad tone "you need medical attention."

"It's too late;" with a chuckle as his eyes closed "but thanks for the concern."

Tsukune went to pick up the doppelganger to take him to Orihime, but felt his body lockout in pain as his Charm ability began to wear off. He didn't intend on killing the doppelganger, he only wanted to knock him out at the worst; guilty tears began to run down his face as he clenched his jaw to keep from yelling at himself. Yet again, a person died by his physical hands and he didn't even know his name. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the tears to stop flowing.

"I believe this" the Head Master said as he finally made his appearance and picked up the mirror "has been released for long enough."

The exorcist covered the mirror with the cloth that kept its power in check and the students that had once been fighting in their true forms suddenly reverted to their human ones. Pantera faded from the physical world and returned to Grimmjow's inner one, Orihime's fairies took the form of her hairpins again, but for some reason Hichigo seemed to remain; this caused the hooded man to raise an eyebrow. Instead of the hollow version of Ichigo laughing and starting to act like a hollow, as he originally expected, he simply stared at the sky. This caused the exorcist himself to look that way; a hollow was a creature of instinct, if something didn't seem right by Hichigo then something was off.

"The air's too calm;" as he reached for his photonegative of Zangetsu.

That exact moment numerous Garganta ripped open revealing dozens upon dozens of Gillian class Menos with fully charged ceros ready to fire onto the campus.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Isshin was hit in the face by a pot that his black haired daughter had thrown at him for being annoying, yet again. As the former taichou cried to the picture hanging on the wall of his deceased wife, there was a knock on the door. He heard Yuzu answer it and call for him. Straightening himself out, he went to see who it was. His eyes narrowed and became serious as he saw who it was.

"Yuzu, you and Karin go pack for an overnight stay at Urahara's" he said as he rubbed her head "I might need to be gone till morning."

The blonde girl nodded and went to tell her twin. Ever since she learned about their shinigami lineage she had become more understanding of why Ichigo had constantly disappeared during the school year and his grades fell. Family life was still rather simple though and she was thankful for that.

"He needs a favor; now?" Isshin asked as he looked at the bus parked on the street filled with familiar faces.

"If he felt those there were enough for what he saw in the crystal ball I wouldn't be here;" the bus driver said "he regrets pulling you from your family considering everything that's happened recently. Were there any other way, you know he'd take it."

Isshin sighed as he heard his daughters coming down the stairs. After putting them on the bus and arriving at the Urahara Shoten, he pulled out something that looked familiar to Karin; a red glove that had a skull in blue flames on the back.

"Do you know how to use it?" Isshin asked her as he handed it to her and she put it on.

"Yea; Ichigo told me how Rukia-nee would do it" with a grin "I want to try something different though."

Before the former taichou could ask, he was punched in the face by Karin's gloved hand and was sent head over heels into the side of the bus in his shinigami form. She was still pissed about the goat face hiding their lineage from them which could've gotten Ichigo killed because of the lack of proper training.

"Why are my children so mean to me?!" he cried as he picked himself up.

"That wasn't nice Karin-chan" Yuzu said as she went to check on their father.

"At least you love me;" with fake tears going down his face as he stood up.

The next thing he knew, he had been kicked in the nether reigns and was being pulled by his ear around the bus.

"Go do your damn job;" Karin said as she tossed the old man into the bus.

The bus driver laughed as he closed the door and put the bus into drive. Many of the passengers on the bus were stifling a laugh; even the one he considered a friend.