"Koten zanshun!"

The shout reverberated across the still of the Hueco sky, reverberating inside the espada's core. The words were the sound of sweet salvation, to think a hollow like him was afforded salvation at all. Slowly, the tip of Ichigo's horn slid off, severed cleanly in two by Orihime's shun shun rikka. The ball of red energy safely dissipated, as the rest of the hollow contamination crumbled from the human boy.

Orihime wasn't quite sure where the spell came from. Grimmjow tried to show her the reality of Ichigo's condition. Orihime thought she had accepted Ichigo as he was, but to witness this animal with the familiar strawberry hair, she found herself wishing that she were anywhere but in this place.

And she had to stop it.

Ichigo lost consciousness, and he began to fall. Orihime, paralyzed, watched with shocked eyes. Fortunately, Ishida was there, having recovered and he caught his classmate and carefully laid him down.

Ulquiorra was the most shocked of all. Whether this girl had meant to or not, she had interrupted his execution. Turning to Kurosaki who now laid beside him, he wondered if it was the heart that the girl had talked about. He slowly got to his feet, wobbling in the process and gripping his right shoulder.

The humans looked at him in apprehension, aware that they were now at his mercy. No doubt the girl was wondering if she had made the right decision in sparing his life, unintentionally or not.

Ulquiorra for once did not know what to do, let alone say. Not that this situation called for any verbal resolution. He should just finish them all now. However, the weak part of him that he tried to stamp down questioned why he would want to go back to the loneliness that was existence before.

Before he met the girl.

"Take Kurosaki and leave," he ordered.

Orihime was shocked even further, and Ishida was suspicious.

"But-" she mumbled, unsure why she was protesting. They were being permitted to escape. She should be happy to depart as soon as possible!

However, something in the espada's eyes concerned her.

"When will we see you again?" she asked, boldly.

Ulquiorra furrowed his brow. The question was so absurd he almost didn't justify it with an answer. "Woman, I do not want to see you or Kurosaki or the rest of you humans again. Do not come back here."

He began to walk away as if that settled the matter.

"Wait!" she cried. Then aware of Ishida's bewildered stare, she added quietly to herself, "If you ever have more questions, you know where to find me."

"Um, Inoue, we have a problem." Ishida repositioned Ichigo in his lap. He made a note that at least their friend was breathing. Unfortunately…

Ulquiorra paused and glanced back.

"The hole. It's not healed." Ishida never felt more empty words leave his mouth.

The girl dropped to her knees, desperation clinging to her features, as she first confirmed the movement of his chest. Then she felt for a pulse, and they all waited in silence for the obvious to be confirmed.

"He's gone," she whispered.

Ulquiorra joined them once again, drawn in by the concept of Kurosaki as one of them, and rebuked her. "Your friend Kurosaki is not gone if you acknowledge that he was never one of you to begin with. I know what a human is, and I assure you, from the time I first saw Kurosaki, he never was. The fact that he did not die the first time I pierced his chest is a testament to this. I suggest you get used to the idea."

Ishida squeezed his fists. For Inoue's sake, who looked like she was about to cry, he retorted, "What would you know about being human? You're the worst hollow we've met! Were you even human in the first place?"

Ulquiorra slowly blinked and looked away. "The hollow mask. The one Kurosaki wore. Do you know what they are for? They are there to disguise the hollow from their former relatives as they are stalked and eaten. Are you still comfortable with the thought of your 'human' Ichigo?"

"That's enough," Ishida grit, worried about Orihime. She had a blank look on her face, as she seemed to lose the battle to come to grips with the situation.

Ishida, especially with the history of his own people and the suspicion that created, wondered what to do. Would Ichigo be safe with the shinigami? Or would they see him as just another hollow?

Was Ichigo going to wake up the same person in the first place?

Ishida realized their best chance lied with Urahara. Sighing, he realized they had no way to get back. Not without going through the shinigami.

They were stranded.

Ulquiorra guessed from the quincy's visible consternation that he had arrived at the same conclusion as the espada. Kurosaki would most likely be no longer welcome among the shinigami. The shinigami were not known to be an understanding race.

Something inside him was pleased that this was the fate of Kurosaki, but that would require him to admit that the boy affected him.

"I will take you to Karakura. Or at least the town that is supposed to be Karakura. You will find your friends there, and the shinigami will be too distracted to bother you."

Ishida and Inoue looked up simultaneously, caught off guard by the strange offer. It was uncharacteristic of the fourth espada to go out of his way to do anything that wasn't required of him by Aizen.

"Do not be mistaken, however. Your friends and the shinigami are engaged in battle, and some, if not all, will die versus Aizen's forces."

"Actually, I have a better idea." Ishida adjusted his glasses. We cannot predict yet how everyone will react. It would be better to wait and see rather than run the risk. We can go to the Soul Society. It is large enough to hide him at least for the time being. Can you do that, espada?"

Ulquiorra nodded.

Inoue sighed forlornly. There was a feeling in her stomach that started when Ichigo was shot a point-blank range and worsened when the truth of his existence was revealed. She was nauseous and it felt like her feet and hands were numb. "We have to hide him."

Ishida frowned. "Oh. You mean?"

The quincy retrieved his bag and searched through the supplies. He brought out a roll of medical gauze and handed it to Orihime. "I'll hold him up if you wrap."

Ulquiorra simply observed as the two suitably covered Ichigo's condition.

Upon completion, Ishida gently laid Kurosaki down again and considered their dilemma.

Orihime questioned, "What about his spiritual pressure?"

Ishida pulled out three of the cloaks that Yoruichi provided them which concealed their signatures. "Glad I held onto these."

Inoue worked to get the cloak around Ichigo.

"Why are you being so helpful?" Ishida wondered aloud to the espada. Orihime was interested in the answer as well.

"Kurosaki is no longer Aizen's enemy. It is as simple as that. I have no reason to help or harm you."

Orihime interjected, "Then why send us to the Soul Society?"

Ulquiorra truthfully did not know. Ever since that woman saved him, he was not feeling like himself. "I changed my mind. I will not leave until you have taught me more about this heart. You shall do so at your earliest convenience."

Inoue was reminded of just how bossy this espada was. She imagined him ordering her to clean the dishes or some other menial task.

Ishida furrowed his brows. "But you told us earlier Aizen left you in charge of Las Noches. Wouldn't you be disobeying him?"

Ulquiorra was beginning to feel annoyed. "Las Noches has fallen. As we speak, four of the shinigami captains are finishing off the last of the espada. And I was given no mandate to interfere."

Ishida shook his head. "So, you're going to accompany us to a place where there's going to be even more shinigami? Are you not afraid?"

Ulquiorra looked at him blankly. "Should I be?"

The quincy grimaced. "Let's go then." A thought occurred to him. "What are we going to do when we get there?"

Orihime volunteered. "We find a place to hide him. Then one of us goes to get Urahara."

Ishida grudgingly admitted that was as good as plan as any. He studied his rival and his evolving signature. Even before Kurosaki…changed, his presence was feeling more and more sinister, as much as he disliked putting it that way.

Ishida tried to lift Ichigo, but his strength was entirely spent. Orihime had used her powers to heal Ishida's body, but it did not restore his energy levels.

Ulquiorra reached down and unceremoniously threw the unconscious boy over his shoulder.

Both Inoue and Ishida wondered if the day could get any weirder.

"Let's go, trash."

The last thing Ichigo expected to see when he opened his eyes was Ulquiorra in a dusty and tattered outfit. The espada was at the door of the hovel they were in, staring out at the street where people walked by.

"Wha-"

"Oh, Ichigo, you're awake!"

"Shh, Inoue. Don't be so loud when you use our names." Ishida was also in the room knitting some clothes to their right.

"Guys, where are we? And why is Ulquiorra here and not trying to kill us?"

Inoue took a deep breath. "Ichigo, there's something we have to tell you."

Ichigo frowned, unused to this somber side of Orihime. "Well? What is it?"

Inoue looked at Ishida momentarily searching for something, but she didn't find it. "I'm sorry, Ichigo, but we don't think you're a shinigami anymore."

Ichigo gave a short laugh. "What do you mean? My zanpakutō is right over there against the wall."

Ulquiorra chose that moment to speak up. "Zanpakutō's are not exclusive to shinigami. They are simply the imprint of a being's soul upon an asauchi. Normally, hollows do not have them because it takes a heart to make an imprint. But you imprinted when you had a heart."

Ishida stared quizzically at the espada. "How do you know all that?"

"Gin told me."

"Hold on," Ichigo raised a hand and grimaced at the pain in his elbow and shoulder. Speaking of pain, everywhere seemed to hurt. "Are you implying that I am a hollow?"

Inoue looked down at her hands.

Ishida simply hung his head. "Look at your chest, Ichigo."

Ichigo looked down and saw the bandages. Her carefully unwrapped them to the point where there was only emptiness where his flesh should be. "This can't be-"

"It's not the end of the world!" Inoue shouted, a creepily optimistic expression on her face.

Ichigo guessed it was meant to reassure him, but it made him worry instead. "I'm a hollow. That means I eat people. What do you mean it's not the end of the world?" He sat up and grabbed both her arms. "I won't let myself eat people, Orihime!"

"You won't eat people," Ulquiorra informed him. "Probably. You were not an adjuchas when you turned. You were a vasto lorde. They don't need to consume souls."

"Because they reached the pinnacle of evolution," Ishida clarified.

"Yes and no," Ulquiorra corrected. "True, they reached the pinnacle of their evolution, but that is not why they don't have to feed. They don't have to feed because they rejected the idea of attaining power in such a way. Why do you think there are so few of them?"

"This is a nice little academic discussion you two are having, but let's talk about the elephant in the room, the fact that I am for all intents and purposes, dead. Am I right?"

"As soon as you attempt to enter your human body," Ulquiorra explained, "your chain of fate would begin eroding away. Quickly. So yes, you are dead as you put it."

"Great," Ichigo leaned back. "Why are you here anyway?"

Ulquiorra returned to monitoring the street.

Ishida shook his head at Ichigo's questioning gaze. "It's a mystery to us too."

Inoue and Ishida still had to eat. Therefore, they went to the market the following morning. They didn't have any currency, but that was partly the reason Ishida had been knitting. He had a couple thrown-together pants that he hoped he could sell. It would be better than stealing.

"Well," Ishida noted, "at least no one should hold their nose up at my work." He was referring to the overall destitution of the district. They chose one of the higher numbers, figuring the further away from the Seireitei the better.

They found someone willing to take the pants for a really cheap price, but it was enough to purchase a few bananas and delay their hunger for a day.

On the way back to their little abode, they came across a man in a gi outfit with the symbol for death on it, threatening a little girl with a watermelon in her hands.

Ichigo immediately found himself getting worked up at the sight, but before he could push Ishida's arm out of the way, Ulquiorra was walking towards the ruckus.

Ulquiorra did not attempt to address the thug when he began to verbally accost him. Instead, he got close enough and then had the thug's neck in his pale hand. Before the gathering crowd could react, Ulquiorra had removed the man's head from his shoulders as if it took no strength at all.

"Ulquiorra," Ichigo whispered, kind of shocked by the brutality. Orihime meanwhile, was bent over, hurling into a nearby plant.

Ishida grabbed both their hands. "We got to go."

They departed the scene, leaving Ulquiorra behind.

His presence was not missed for long though when the espada showed up at their hovel twenty minutes later.

"Were you followed?" Ishida asked urgently, looking up and down the street.

"I am not stupid like Kurosaki here. I made sure to lose everyone that was attempting to monitor me."

Ishida sighed. "Why did you do it? I mean, I never considered you as the vigilante type."

Ulquiorra resumed his position, leaning against the frame of the door and watching the street. "I saw Kurosaki flinch and it is not hard to guess what was going through his primitive mind. He was going to attract attention and that is the last thing you need right now."

Ichigo shouted, "And how is what you did not gathering attention! You straight up killed a man out there in an unforgettable way!"

"Out of everyone here, my description is the only one that would not arouse suspicion from the military. The people here will only consider it another act of gang violence."

Ichigo deflated, realizing he had a point. He was getting tired of the disparaging comments though. If Ulquiorra didn't watch out, they would end up finishing their fight.

"Well," Ichigo sighed, "We're settled in and everything. What's the next step?"

"Now Orihime goes back to Karakura and gets Urahara's attention," Ishida supplied.

"You should go too," Ichigo told him.

Ishida glanced at Ulquiorra. "Are you sure?"

Ichigo nodded. "She might need your help. And I can take care of Ulquiorra. Just be quick about it, okay. The sooner I see my sisters the better."

Ishida agreed, a determined look on his face.