The Fallen Series: Part I - Victory Falls

by Seth's Kiss

Canon Divergent: 'They made the biggest mistake of their lives. They forgot Aizen always had a back-up plan, with it usually being far worse than the first'. DARK Fic. Rated M (violence, horror, torture, non-con), also has MxM, MxF, FxF and many unstable pairings (for now). Warnings in each chapter for safety. Proceed with caution. BEING EDITED: Chapters may vanish till completion.

3. Part One: Chapter 1

The Fallen Series (a Bleach Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:

A/N:Yaho! I'm back! Sorry I took so long: As a horrid blackout stole my computer's soul, I had to re-write the whole first chapter (yeah, yeah, terrible...) also I noticed that I made a few typing errors in the 2nd part of the prologue which I've fixed: it's nothing too drastic but if you noticed, sorry about that, if you didn't, that's fine (another thing, I briefly mentioned Ulquiorra in the prologue at some point: scratch that because, honestly for such a popular character, his intro was super lame) but I suggest re-reading that part of the prologue...I first off would like to notify that I'll be thanking the reviewers (Yep, I'm that type of person), so bare with me, okay? If you're not interested, feel free to skip this part that I will be writing...

To Liza (my first reviewer): Thank you so much! Your review is very welcoming and so encouraging: I'm honestly glad to know that I'm not the only one to be a loss when writing (Laughs). I know exactly what you mean, btw: You're all inspired and everything but once you sit down to write...it's all gone... I'm truly grateful for your heartening words and I look forward to meeting your expectations. P.S: I'm happy as well to have posted this fic here ;)

To GrumpyTanner: I love the uniqueness of your pseudonym (Does it have a story behind it? Simple sincere curiosity, I assure you...) and thank you for review. Also, THANK YOU so much for pointing out Grimmjow's full name: you're a life-saver! Really! Having watched the series in French and having great difficulties with researching every single character, I completely overlooked Grimmjow's last name (which I now consider to be a big mistake, as Grimmjow is my 2nd favourite character)! I was actually very hesitant when writing it (as it sounded complicated), so I opted for the safest way to write it... Anyhow, thank you again and I apologize for the inconvenience: I corrected it as soon as I received your review. Thanks!

To Peerainbowdog: Thank you! Your enthusiasm is so awe-inspiring, so thank you again! I hope to be able to uphold your anticipation!

To Lilly:Thank you for your review! And I honestly thank you for your remark and hope you'll read this response: So Tetsuya Kuchiki is in fact a playable character in one of the Bleach games so he is considered an O.C, I guess, because he doesn't figure in the manga nor in the series. If I recall correctly, I learnt about him from SpunkOne's fics and, due to the way he was portrayed, I was curious and researched, finding out more about him on Bleach Wikia: he is gorgeous by the way. Also, funny fact, he is married to Kushina Kuchiki who looks a lot like Yoruichi Shihoin. I really do apologize for the misunderstanding and will try to be clearer next time, I promise (any OC characters will be pointed out and for the time being, the only ones are Veneno Luisenbarne and his Fracción, Fleur (and I assure you that there won't be many: they'll be just present to give sense to this fic; though there will be one and only one who'll be rather pertinent and has a history with Aizen)). I'm also grateful for your sincerity concerning your opinion and hope to receive more reviews from you in the future. See you!

Also, a big thank you to all those who have generously decided to follow and/or favourite this fic: you have no idea how honoured it makes me and how I am now motivated to get moving...

Rating for this chapter: Harmless (apart from the occasional cuss words and the vague hint of a non-con assault (it is and stays pretty elusive))

Part One: Victory Falls:

Chapter 1: Slowly Starting Over:

In the Seireitei, within one of the Kuchiki mansion's many rooms:

Soft footsteps resounded gently in the corridors lit by the pale moonlight, slowly coming to a tiptoed halt in front of a room where faint snores were stemming from.

Taking in a shuddering breath, the youngest of the Kuchiki members set her petite hand upon the knob, readying herself…And the door gently opened, letting Rukia cautiously glances in.

Fast asleep and well off their former injuries for the War, Chad, Uryuu and Renji laid sprawled here and there, the latter snoring with a wide opened mouth, causing Rukia's lips to twitch as she shook her head at him.

And then, near to where the three boys had fallen asleep, on each side of Ichigo's unmoving form, still mostly inert apart from his even breathing, Yuzu and Karin lay huddled up beside him, asleep but not without the glint of shed tears upon their features, saddened even in their slumber…and Rukia's heart broke at the sight…

Briefly checking that no one else was in the room and that everyone within it was fast asleep, Rukia soundlessly lets herself in and quietly makes her way to stand beside Ichigo, as she began to wonder how it was possible, despite everyone steadily recovering, that only he remained like this: stuck in this frozen dead-like condition which didn't appear to be getting any better, despite all the efforts put in to help him break out of it.

No matter how hard she struggled, Orhime still wasn't able to undo the damage to rescue him.

No matter how hard they strived, Unohana-taichou and her division still couldn't heal him.

No matter how hard he searched, Urahara still hasn't found anything to save him from his comatose state.

And even worse, a former visit from Kurotsuchi-taichou caused even further despair to them all as he admitted, though with a lot of pain to his pride, that even he…couldn't do anything…

"Ichigo..." whispered the petite Shinigami remorsefully, reaching out to touch the orange-haired's forehead yet stops herself just before coming in contact with him, the guilt gnawing at her core far too much to bear "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be" spoke up quietly a voice thick with grief, making Rukia startle and turn around to see Orihime with tears in her eyes standing at the entrance "I'm the reason this happened."

Looking back towards their comatose friend, the black-haired girl sighed miserably: "It's not your fault, Inoue: it's mine. He and I should have never met."

"Kuchiki-san..." murmured the human girl as she came over to stand beside the female Shinigami.

"Or at least..." continued Rukia as she then locked eyes with the other girl "If I knew back then, that conveying him my powers would lead to this, I wouldn't have done it."

"But Kuchiki-san..." smiled the orange-haired girl softly, letting the other discern an amalgam paradox of envious admiration amidst Orihime's tears "You've changed his life in a good way. He was able to protect those dear to him thanks to you and he's always been grateful towards you for that. That's why he fought so desperately to save your life. But me...next to you...I'm nothing but a burden."

"Inoue..." began Rukia quietly but was instantly cut off by the other who vigorously shook her head.

"No! Don't try to say it's not true!" whispered the human girl vehemently before burying her face into her trembling hands "I...I can't protect myself. I'm weak!"

"Inoue..." the petite Shinigami tried again, reaching out and setting a comforting hand on the other girl's shaking shoulder "You can heal others. You can save lives. How can that make you weak?"

Instead of calming down, Orihime just cried harder: "You don't know what you're saying, Kuchiki-san. Right now, Kurosaki-kun needs to be saved and...And I'm unable to help him! I'm so useless!"

"Are you two done blaming yourselves?"

"Nii-sama?!" startled Rukia as she turned to see her brother standing in the doorway "What are you doing here?"

One of Byakuya's eyebrows rose at the question as he voiced evenly: "You sound as if it is odd for me to appear in our own mansion, Rukia."

"Uh, well no..." blinked the younger of the two Kuchiki siblings before she tilted her head "It's just...I didn't think you'd come out of your way to visit Ichigo."

"I didn't" denied the noble instantaneously as if to quash the simple yet offending assumption "I simply came to show these encroaching acquaintances of his where they should be staying."

"Hey! That's not true! We were just lost!" snarled quietly Tatsuki as to not wake anyone...yet, as if to compensate for not being able to yell, she allowed herself to give the 6th Division's captain a dark glower.

Eyeing her calmly, Byakuya stated matter-of-factly: "Even so, if my memory serves me well, walking straight into my personal quarters without knocking is considered as trespassing."

"Hmpf!" Tatsuki huffed peevishly, as she crossed her arms and gave her back to the noble who just sighed inaudibly: were all of Kurosaki Ichigo's friends as defiantly unruly and unmindful of regulations as he was? He was certainly beginning to believe so.

"Hey Kuchiki-chan!" rushed in Chizuru, grinning with wide shining eyes as she grasped Rukia's hands tightly "I'm guessing your brother is super rich 'cause this place is massive!"

"Yeah!" agreed Mizuiro excitedly "Even my house isn't this big! Here, there are tons and tons of rooms, a labyrinth of corridors - we actually got lost just now - and even a huge pond."

"Though it was empty" pouted Keigo disapprovingly, fairly disheartened as he had been hoping to go fishing with Ichigo when he woke up...despite Mizuiro strongly telling him that it wasn't possible to do in their host's house: it wasn't respectful, he had said, though Keigo still hasn't grasped why it was the case...

The inane brown-haired's disenchanted tone somehow irked Byakuya, who coughed in his hand before muttering under his breath: "Yes, well, sorry to disappoint but I have a certain pink-haired menace to thank for that."

Soft chuckling at his words drew his attention to the one person who refused to go in the room. Sitting in the corridor just outside of where his son rested, Isshin spoke as quietly as he could: "Thank you for letting us take a break here."

"It is nothing" replied the noble with a casual wave of his hand "Besides...You should be thanking Rukia, not me. She's the one who insisted upon you remaining in our mansion."

"Don't worry: I already did" smiled faintly Ichigo's father, as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

Noticing the other's obvious discomfort, the Kuchiki clan leader regarded him with a raised eyebrow: "You do know that the room is big enough for you to find room inside."

Smiling warmly, Isshin shook his head: "I'm all good here. Thanks for the offer."

Byakuya didn't reply, though he did nod vaguely as his thoughts were racing: the last thing he had expected was for Kurosaki Ichigo to actually have an authentic Shinigami heritage. Figures that parents nowadays had a lot to hide from their children, and his own were no different… The noble frowned as he recalled when he previously confronted his grandfather about the conversation he had overheard: Ginrei had at first shown shock, then a fleeting anger before settling for his usual calm demeanour as he told his grandson that it was none of his concern...though according to that very conversation, Byakuya had to heavily differ as to think otherwise as he...and Aizen, were at the core of the discussion itself. It was clear that his grandfather and father were hiding something from him, though what it is was in depth was a blur. However one thing he could definitely decipher from it all was that they feared the immortal within Muken: Aizen had a history with his family upon which he barely knew the details. What he did know was resumed to the poisoning of his grandmother, Ginrei's wife, and the murder of Tetsuya's parents, both accomplished by Aizen…and both feats he didn't even learn from his own family's elders: the first, he learnt of it from Unohana – as she for long held onto the guilt of not being able to save her - and the other, it was Shunsui who told him – as he was there when the bodies were found - for even Tetsuya himself hadn't been aware of it, as he was but a child at that time…Taking all that into account, Byakuya was quite tempted to go ask his father about it but out of respect for his frail condition, he dared not trouble him with it. Besides, Ginrei made sure that Sojun stayed undisturbed, the only ones being capable to visit whenever it was necessary or urgent were Tetsuya, his grandfather, as well as Nowaki(1) and Hitachi(2), Sojun's elder brothers, Byakuya's uncles…

"You seem troubled" uttered abruptly Isshin, startling Byakuya out of his deep contemplation.

The Kuchiki shook his head: "It is nothing. I am fine. You should worry about your son instead."

Isshin's eyes clouded with guilt as he cleared his throat: "Ah...About that, I...Um…"

The young noble voiced softly: "I might not know him very well, but it is safe for me to assure you that he wouldn't hold a grudge against you..."

"I second that" chimed in Rukia with a soft smile, having joined them at the time when Byakuya's was lost in his thoughts.

"Nice one, Kuchiki, Rukia-chan" chuckled Isshin with lowered eyes and a lopsided smile before calling out to the two Kuchiki sibings that had begun to walk away "Say hi to the 27th for me, ok?"

Looking over his shoulder, Byakuya gave a nod: "I'll be sure to transmit him your regards."

"Oh and Kuchiki? I'd watch out if I were you" warned Ichigo's father faintly in a grim voice that caused Byakuya to halt in his steps as his eyes went wide before he carried on walking as if he hadn't heard, though he was now holding a rather deep half-irate, half-confused frown: this wasn't the first warning he was given…but what good were they, if he still had no answers?

Somewhere in the outskirts of Karakura Town:

It was night when a group of three men exit an old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere, wearing proud satisfied expressions hideously that distorted their otherwise youthful features.

"Man" sighed contently one of them with a wicked grin "That was so good."

"Yeah" agreed another as he rolled his shoulders "We should do this more often."

"Mm..." hummed the third with a smirk "Though next time, let's try to keep them alive, hm?"

The other two merely laughed and whooped wildly, as if their friend had just told them a good joke as they continued down the path and not once did the feeling of guilt settle into their shallow minds.

Back in the abandoned house, it was eerily quiet: to an average human's senses, it was empty, with no one within it at all. But to any mystic beings, the echo of faint sobbing could be heard.

In one of the rooms, huddled in a dark corner, was the outlined shimmer of a young girl's soul, crying in horrified shock at the agony, brutality and cruelty she had unwillingly endured, all which led to her demise.

A Senkaimon suddenly appeared in the room, the doors gliding open and revealing a young looking male Shinigami who elegantly let himself in. Highly displeased by the scene in front of him he took in with his narrowed gaze before he shook his head sympathetically and sorrowfully as he saw the girl's spirit huddled up in the corner crying softly, her soul still chained to her now motionless, naked, broken body still sprawled unceremoniously upon the bed... Drawing closer to her cadaver, the Shinigami takes in the damage inflicted: bruises, cuts, burn marks, scratch marks, bite marks sprinkled upon her entire bare body, in addition to her now deathly pale cheeks being stained by uneven blackened marks, her eyeliner long gone with tears of pain and fear, along with the light of life stolen from her currently glazed eyes.

"Such a shame..." whispers the man softly, making the young chained soul jump in shock and trepidation, unaware of his presence until he had spoken "To die so young and in such a vicious way... It's a cruel thing, really..."

The girl just listens with wide eyes; her heart pounding so loud the Shinigami could practically hear it. He gently brought his hand to her body's face and lowers her eyelids: the girl's spirit shivered as she felt that gentle touch. After that, he moves to grab at the bed covers and smoothly drapes them over her corpse.

The man then turns towards the soul, giving her a full view of his face and making her inhale brusquely: he was truly beautiful...not handsome but utterly beautiful as he was, with pale violet eyes adorned with bright amber and ruby coloured feathers, and his alluring features were framed by his lustrous ebony black hair.

He smiled softly at her before speaking in a reassuring and pleasant voice: "Hello there, little one..."

She just blinked at him silently and remained utterly still.

'At least she isn't afraid of me: that's a start... Ok then, as appalling as this is, I don't really have all day, so let's get this over with...' thought the Shinigami to himself.

Keeping his distance but crouching down to her level, he continues in the same tone: "My name is Ayasegawa Yumichika, 5th Seat of the great Zaraki-taichou's 11th Divi..." he interrupted himself when he saw the profound confusion plastered upon her face "I guess that's a little complicated for a someone like you..."

When she realized that he was expecting an answer, or at least a reaction, she nods once in a very stiff manner, but that was enough for Yumichika whose eyes softened even more. The girl opened her mouth to say something but abruptly closed it again as she widened her shining dark emerald eyes in mortification at what she was about to say.

"It's alright" reassured the man with a gentle expression, despite the fact he was beginning to feel slightly impatient "You can say whatever you want, I'll listen..."

"You're really pretty" blurted out the girl spontaneously before she slapped her hands over mouth embarrassedly, her cheeks burning a furious crimson blush as she saw his stunned eyes widen at her.

She was about to hastily squeak an apology when he suddenly beamed brilliantly at her, instantly forgetting his hurry as he was utterly delighted by her flattery: "Why thank you! I do think so too, though I'd rather qualify myself as beautiful instead as the word holds more meaning, but 'pretty' is fine also. To be honest, you're the fourth person to a give me such a sincere praise like that, so I'm rather grateful."

"Only the fourth?" she stuttered still nervous, but a little less frightened than before "But you're the most gorgeous person I've ever seen!"

"Oh dear, you'll make me blush" tutted the man cooingly, as he flipped at his hair "But I did state that your compliment was sincere: I've received many jealous remarks amongst others..."

"Oh..." emitted the girl, not knowing how to answer that.

Yumichika suddenly locked his eyes with hers: "Do you want to know why I'm here?"

The girl stiffened slightly, so he shook his head with a kind smile to soothe her: "Don't be afraid of me: I am not here to hurt you. I'll never hurt you, I promise."

She visibly relaxed at his words, so he continued hurriedly: "I just...need you to understand that you died a moment ago."

The girl just nodded lethargically "Yeah, I know..."

"Ok..." he drawled out, slightly surprised: usually after people died, they were either afraid, confused or in denial.

He regarded her with curiosity before his eyes went wide when he noticed for the first time since he entered the room that the slightly caramel-tanned soul before him wasn't only quite attractive with her large dark green eyes and long hip-length blonde hair, but her reiatsu was rather remarkable and had a quite distinct quality to it that he had encountered only once in his life...

Slowly brushing away his sudden revelation, he carried on in a same tone of voice: "Then you won't object to me sending you to the Soul Society..."

As she looked at him questioningly, he clarified quickly: "The afterlife...in a way."

She then quickly nods her understanding, huddling herself even further in the corner she was occupying and keeping her eyes intently fixated on the floor as she whispers shakily: "Will it hurt?"

"No. Not even a bit" reassured Yumichika kindly, which generally wasn't one of his most utmost qualities yet he kept acting as such towards this girl.

It's not as if he could bring himself to pressure her or to rush this anyway, no matter his hurry...not after what she had just been through. His gaze glazed over briefly as he glanced over at the girls' cadaver: 'After all, I know exactly what it's like to be...'

"Will I be alone?" asked the girl again, her voice even quieter than before, yet still loud enough to interrupt his train of thought.

"Well..." paused the Shinigami, confused by the question "Yes...Like everyone else who is sent there at first...but I'm sure you'll find..."

"I'm..." spoke up the girl's soul suddenly before she hesitated as she bit her lower lip "I'm afraid... I don't...want to..."

"Go there?" offered the other helpfully, frowning when she slowly shook her head.

"I don't..." the girl stuttered, her pale blonde bangs covering her eyes but not the tears flowing freely upon her cheeks "I don't want to...be alone...there... I don't... I don't want it to happen...and go through that all over again..."

She whimpered the last part while lifting her head and revealing her terrified teary eyes...an expression that broke the usual self-centred, narcissistic man's core as he inhaled sharply with wide eyes.

Ayasegawa Yumichika had always been self-absorbed, always... But at some point, he learned to open his heart to a few people and of these few, only five amongst them mattered unconditionally to him and had a retained a rather important place in his heart... He never thought he could add another person... until this very instant...

Yumichika stared at the crying girl, hiccupping away hysterically, before he sighed deeply, coming to a decision...and to hell with whoever didn't agree with it... because living alone in the Rukongai...was by far the worst thing to happen for someone who could easily be taken advantage of...and the idea of her enduring a similar situation all over again...was simply inconceivable to Yumichika.

He got up and approached her, before sitting next to her, making her startle and lift her head hurriedly. Smiling at her yet again, he asks warmly: "Do you want me to look after you?"

She observed him with wide damp dark green eyes, trying to find any malicious intent...and found absolutely none.

Her breath hitched briefly, choking back an upcoming sob before she nodded gratefully and dropped her head upon his lap, nestling her face in his black robes, trying to calm herself down.

Knowing that coming in contact with a victim wasn't ideal, yet allowing her to touch him on her own volition was reasonable, Yumichika just rested his hand softly upon her long pale blonde locks, staying absolutely still with closed eyes, their mutual breathing being the only sound heard in the room, as her sobs slowly died away...

After he let her take her time to calm down, he asked her quietly: "What's your name, little one?"

"Misaki..." she whispered steadily, shifting herself to sit upright and resting her hands upon her laps "Nanase Misaki(3)... Sorry... Sorry about your robes..."

"Doesn't matter... Misaki, is it? It's a very pretty name" acknowledged Yumichika nicely while casually shrugging off the drenched condition his robes were now in, bringing a small smile to the young girl's lips.

"Let me explain to you..." said the man with a sudden serious look, catching her full attention "Exactly how me looking after you is going to work in the Soul Society..."

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"Are you crazy?" deadpanned Ikkaku, his bottle of sake hanging in mid-air, inches from his lips.

He was accompanied by his closest friend who just came back from the Human World while the former was having an early lunch. When he saw the preoccupied look upon the beautiful man's features, Ikkaku invited him to join him and unload.

Setting his chopsticks down, Yumichika regarded his friend calmly before smirking sardonically at him: "I thought we've already established that, haven't we, Ikkaku?"

"That was an entirely different 'crazy', Yumi" clarified the 3rd Seat confidently as he gulped down his drink, missing the gladdened smile that graced Yumichika's lips at his words... Setting his bottle back on the table, Ikkaku wipes away clumsily at his mouth with his other hand before he uses it to point at the 5th Seat who raised an awaiting eyebrow at him while forcing himself not to reprimand his friend for his unbeautiful gesture: "That was more of a...uh... an 'understandable sort of' crazy... But this...this is...this is just a... a...'very stupid idiotic mad kinda' crazy..."

By the time Ikkaku had finished, Yumichika was laughing hysterically making the other gaze at him with a grin before stating it out frankly: "I mean it, Yumi."

"Oh...I know you do, Ikkaku..." his friend sighed once he had calmed down, a sad smile gracing his lips "But think about it for a second, will you? What would you do if you were me?"

"See, now there's a problem" the bald man smirked as he glanced sideways at the other "I'm not you and I could never be. Not beautiful enough, right?"

Yumichika gazed at the other through lowered eyelashes before clearing his throat, slightly embarrassed, and resuming the initial conversation, making Ikkaku's grin grow even wider: "But seriously... The poor girl was terrified, Ikkaku. It's not like I can just ignore her and move on. Not after what happened to her..."

Noticing his friend's expression gradually turning dimmer, the other tried to lighten up the mood: "By integrating her as a Shinigami...in the 11th Division? I'm telling you, Yumi, you're losing it."

"Well..." the 5th Seat hesitated faintly as he tucked stray strands of hair behind his ear, a nervous habit "Why not?"

"Why not?!" echoed Ikkaku with stunned eyes, before exhaling gravely "I'll tell why not. First, the kid's been through a trauma, right? A place where we all go through traumatic incidents daily isn't really a place for her. Secondly, in our Division, we're all a legion of sadistic brutes. Fighting is what we live for, not day-caring... That's the 4th Division's job, not ours. Lastly, she's a girl, Yumi. Our Division has never had a girl within its ranks. This is the last place for her, believe me."

Yumichika remained silent all the while his friend spoke, his current frown having deepened with every word, before he whispers dourly: "If our Division is the way you put, which it is, no doubt there...then what am I, Ikkaku?"

"Baka!" scoffed the other, amused "You may be beautiful an' all, you're not a girl..."

"I was not talking about that" cut off the black-haired Shinigami snappily, instantly telling Ikkaku that he had said something he shouldn't have so he stayed quiet and waited, before he nearly smacked himself when he heard the other's next words "What about me going through a traumatic experience? Does that mean that the 11th Division is no place for me?"

"No, Yumichika, that is not what I said" began Ikkaku firmly, desperate now to drag his friend away from the well of dark memories he was little by little slipping back into "I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about her. It's not the same."

"It is!" yelled Yumichika heatedly, slamming his hand down on the table, causing Ikkaku to wince at that, knowing the 5th Seat had hit hard enough to hurt himself. The purple-eyed man then let out a shaky breath, before hiding his eyes behind a trembling and now throbbing hand, feeling guilty about snapping out like that to Ikkaku of all people: "I'm sorry, it's just...I promised that I'd look after her and never let anything like that happen to her again. Did you not hear a word I said about her?"

"I did, Yumi, I did" spoke the bald man softly, trying to placate the other "But just bare with me, ok? You're not listening to me either. I never said anything against you looking after her. I just think that the 11th Division shouldn't be a good place for her...uh...healing, you know?"

"Worked just fine for me" muttered out the other stubbornly, suddenly too tired to move from his actual position.

"Again, Yumi" Ikkaku sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes "She's not you."

Reaching out and placing a firm yet comforting hand on the black-haired man's other hand, the 3rd Seat stresses out instantly: "No one can ever be you...with or without all you've been through..."

Yumichika slowly lifted his hand from his mesmerizing eyes to plunge them into his friend's steadfast ones and stayed like that for awhile, just staring at each other, until he gently shifts his slender fingers in a caress upon the back of the other's hand before entwining them with Ikkaku's own as he says in a soft voice: "Thank you, Ikkaku. I know you're looking out for me: you always have. But...now...I need to look out for her...Can you understand that, please?"

Ikkaku maintained eye contact with his friend for awhile before huffing out and looking away: "Stubborn as always... Oh well, I least I tried" before he glance back and gave the other a lopsided smirk "Do what you want."

Yumichika's softened considerably as he tightened his grip on Ikkaku's hand before expressing gratitude to his friend again: "I am truly grateful, thank you."

They blinked at each other before they realized that they were still holding hands, so they swiftly withdrew their respective hands: Ikkaku as to use it cough in it awkwardly, and Yumichika to cover his mouth in embarrassment and look away hastily, while they both blushed uncomfortably, very glad that they were alone...or some people just might really begin to view them as a couple...

The 3rd Seat then promptly stood up and held his hand back towards Yumichika, while smirking: "Well, now let's go convince Zaraki-taichou, shall we?"

Blinking in surprise at first, the purple-eyed smirked back charmingly and grabbed Ikkaku's offered hand, allowing the latter to hoist him up to his feet.

Grabbing their zanpaktou on their way out, they both went to face their captain...

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To say that Yumichika and Ikkaku were astonished was an understatement: they were utterly flabbergasted...after all, the last thing they were expecting was for their captain to casually shrug at them and say: "You know, I don't really care: as long as who you wanna bringcan fight. If they can't, they'll learn. And if they can't learn...well, I still won't care."

Both stunned into silence at first, Yumichika was the first to break it: "Ikkaku...sort of thought you might say no."

Their captain raised both eyebrows in honest surprise: "Why'd I do that?"

"Because...well..." began the 5th Seat hesitantly, glancing at Ikkaku briefly before focusing back on Kenpachi "She's a girl..."

The 11th Division's captain blinked slowly before tilting his head to the side: "And?"

As Yumichika no longer knew how to uphold this odd discussion, Ikkaku carried on unsurely: "Um...we've never really had any female members in this Division, Zaraki-taichou."

"Ha? Are you an idiot?" deadpanned Kenpachi straightforwardly "Did you forget Yachiru?"

"Uh...she's just a kid, captain" sweat-dropped the 3rd Seat with a tense grin, before sighing at his own atypical narrow-mindedness "But yeah, you've got a point."

"I was talking about Kenpachi Yachiru, the very first Kenpachi" clarified their captain as he crossed his arms.

"The first Kenpachi?!" blanched the two friends, not expecting that one "Was a woman?!"

"Yep..." confirmed the 11th Division's captain with a smug smirk.

Ikkaku abruptly shook off his amazement to question: "Wait. She was called 'Yachiru' too?"

"I named Yachiru after her" confessed Kenpachi casually with a shrug as if it meant nothing much - but the two friends knew better - before turning his attention to the 5th Seat "Listen, if this kid is that important to you, she can stay."

Yumichika remained wordless for a moment before beaming happily and clasping his hands together: "For real?!"

Sensing the beautiful man's profound gratitude, the Division's captain just waved it off easily: "Sure, what the heck...I've got Yachiru. Madarame has you. You can have whoever you want: it's only fair."

"Uh...Zaraki-taichou?" stammered the 5th Seat embarrassedly with a blush he was currently sharing with his best friend "Can you not word it like that? You're making me sound like Ikkaku's lover or something..."

"Aren't you?" inquired Kenpachi, surprise quite evident in his tone. His innocent question caused Ikkaku to splutter awkwardly and Yumichika's cheeks to burn beetroot red, though neither were truly capable to form any words to deny the assumption...no matter how unlikely it seemed.

Chuckling at their reactions, Kenpachi shook his head as he stood: "Heh, I'll let you two figure it out. As for me, I've to go now: the old man wants us to come over...A meeting or something or whatever...Later."

True to his words, their captain abruptly left, leaving behind two very flustered subordinates...

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The Assembly Room was...unusually crowded, as a new modification to the Gotei 13's law allowed the Divisions' lieutenants to assist to any given assemblies...so that's why nearly everyone was there.

Truth to be told, lots of 'new' had happened, with Rukia Kuchiki having been promoted to be the 13th Division's lieutenant; an ability to have more than one lieutenant (which was now the case for the 8th and 9th Division, the 5th discretely following behind); also, the positions for captain of the following divisions being attributed to: Muguruma Kensei, captain of the 9th Division; Outoribashi Roujuurou, captain of the 7th Division; Hirako Shinji, captain of the 5th Division; and Ichimaru Gin, captain of the 3rd Division.

As Sasakibe listed all this leisurely taking his time, Yamamoto nodded once before declaring: "In addition, Sosuke Aizen's reign of chaos had been brought to a halt."

Humourlessly chuckling loud enough to catch the others' attention, Gin's eyebrows flew up while he stared at them all incredulously: "I know you guys are gullible. Never thought you were this stupid though..."

"Ichimaru!" seethed Soifon at the jibe, about to charge at him only to come to an immediate halt when the Commander raised a hand to prevent her from doing so.

"Is there something underlying that declaration, Ichimaru-taichou?" he asked slowly, cautiously eyeing the other with vague suspicion.

The silver-haired man raised both his hands while he slowly shrugged as if it were obvious: "I needn't remind anyone that we are speakin' about Aizen, right? Since when does he ever go down that easily? Even if I know him but a little, I betcha' all he's got more than just another nasty trick up his sleeve...Probably in play right now...Or even well before 'right now'..."

"Do you know what it could be?" inquired Jushiro with a concerned frown.

Closing his eyes, Gin shook his head: "No, but I do know that there's somethin' goin' down. I overheard Kaname who had asked him if he noted the eventuality of gettin' caught...and he did. He has always and is constantly prepared for the worst after all."

"So you're telling us that you don't know at all?" questioned Soifon in disbelief, her voice heavy with scepticism "I thought he took you in young and raised you to be his right-hand or something like that?"

"Maybe I was..." smiled Gin mysteriously before his expression turned cold "But that in no way means that Aizen trusted me...Or Tousen... As a matter of fact, he doesn't trust any...No scratch that, of those he trusts, neither Tousen nor I feature on the list..."

"...Aizen? Trusting another?" repeated Shinji with wide eyes before stating sarcastically "Sounds pretty doubtful to me."

"Yet he does..." confirmed Gin assertively, before glancing away and raising an eyebrow "Perhaps even with his life."

"Like the Espada?" questioned Mayuri suddenly as he tilted his head eerily.

"The Espada?" echoed Yamamoto with a frown "What about them?"

"They are dead, aren't they?" voiced Renji anxiously, not liking the expression on Mayuri's face that somehow seemed to say otherwise.

"Hm..." hummed the 12th Division's captain noncommittally "But oddly enough, despite being dead, no bodies were found."

"What?" blanched Isane along with a goof half of the others present "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That either someone put their hands on the bodies before our dear scientist..." voiced Rose soberly, earning a dark glare from Mayuri "Or that they didn't really exactly die..."

"Let me just mention that I wasn't insinuatin' any of the Arrancars just now" interjected all of a sudden Gin with a knowing look.

"Then who?" asked Shuhei with a deep frown.

Gin smiled brightly as he supplied helpfully: "It is safe for me to say that they're people I've never met but heard about."

Nearly everyone in the room sweat-dropped at his words, whilst Shinji grinned heatedly: "Ya're exceedingly resourceful."

The silver-haired's smile widened even further: "Why thank you."

"No seriously, Ichimaru-taichou" uttered the Captain Commander demandingly, interfering before the 5th Division's captain decided to suddenly insult Gin.

Losing his smile, the 3rd Division's captain solemnly stated with a raised eyebrow: "I am serious. I don't know them. However, coming back to the Arrancars, it is quite possible that they didn't actually die, like Outoribashi said."

"HA?!" exclaimed the majority within the room, ambience now palpable with terrified unease.

Renji and Shuhei shuddered as they recalled their not quite so easy battles against them, whilst Izuru just sighed exhaustedly at thought of having to combat them yet again.

"All we did...for nothing?!" complained Omaeda dramatically, stuffing his mouth with biscuits to quell his fear.

Soifon glared at him pointedly from over her shoulder: "You didn't do anything."

"Hey! That's not fair, c'ptain!" whined her lieutenant, causing her to shrug uncaringly.

Even Yamamoto was completely disorientated as he regarded Gin: "How is that even possible...Ichimaru-taichou?!"

The man in question was about to admit that he didn't know before a thought occurred to him: "Maybe it's due to dear Inoue Orihime's godlike powers."

A few exasperated groans rose, while Tôshiro rolled his eyes: "Not this again."

Jushiro also showed his discontentment: "Please don't accuse that poor girl any further than she has already been. She's has gone through quite a lot."

"More than you can imagine" whispered Gin meaningfully with a dim expression, surprising half of the room "But I am quite serious when mentionin' her. I mean, if the Arrancars did supposedly revive, I know only one person capable of overcomin' the limits of one's demise. And now that I think about it, Aizen had many meetings with her, remote from us all: who knows what really went down then… He may have enhanced her powers to such a degree that she doesn't have to be present to use her abilities. And as such, she may now be able to cast a regenerative spell upon someone that'll take place moments later, such as when a person dies."

Suffocating silence fell within the room, before Mayuri blinked in astonishment: "She can actually accomplish that?"

"Be it as it may, Ichimaru" voiced Soifon with a sceptical frown "Should it really be the case, how come she wasn't able to heal the Substitute Shinigami from his comatose state?"

"Aizen..." began Gin hesitantly, wondering briefly for the best way to word it before merely continuing with a grimace "...undoubtedly overdid it a bit. She'd always come out from those sessions exhausted as if utterly drained... If he had her use it on every single Arrancar under his orders, how do you think it would take its toll on her? Especially when we sustain this theory, supposin' that she doesn't have to be there for it work, it'll still draw energy from her: you've all seen how long it takes and hard it is for her to regenerate injuries..."

"Poor child..." sympathized Jushiro kindly while Kenpachi grunted in agreement and the others just remained gobsmacked, for various reasons each.

"She should have never joined him" grinned darkly Mayuri, earning a few vividly livid glares from amongst those present, one of them being Kuchiki Rukia.

"It is not her fault!" she exploded with frustration, despite having remained dead silent until now "She was forced to go to him! Aizen threatened Ichigo and everyone else, including us, if she ever refused!"

"What is done can't be undone" interrupted Yamamoto abruptly as to keep things from escalating too much "Now what we should know is how to react to this. Ichimaru-taichou, what would their revival cause in your opinion, if we consider that it did effectively happen?"

"Hm...Trouble, lots of it..." admitted grimly the 3rd Division's captain "Especially if they come here: it'll be chaos. The Seireitei is currently unprepared for them if they attacked full force."

"But what would be their reason for coming here?" inquired Renji in a confused tone.

Izuru regarded the redhead lieutenant incredulously: "Uh...Because Aizen's here? No one can go to war without a capable person in charge..."

"Still...Aizen's motive was the destruction of Karakura Town..." argued Lisa as she crossed her arms "Wouldn't they like go to finish what he started?"

"That's a good question" acknowledged Shunsui with a nod "If taking into consideration that Aizen is locked here and needs to be guarded just in case, it leaves Karakura Town quite vulnerable to any attacks..."

"Especially since Ichigo-kun isn't there and in no condition to help" voiced Rose with a concerned tone.

Scoffing, the 12th Division's captain sneered nastily: "Don't be ridiculous...As if that Substitute Shinigami alone could fight an entire army. Stop speaking about him as if he is indispensible."

Many present, including and especially the Vizards, narrowed their eyes at him or just regarded him with either slight distaste or anger, whilst Shinji lifted an eyebrow as he spoke through clenched teeth: "Remind me who defeated Aizen, hm?"

Mayuri sighed exasperatedly as he rolled his eyes: "Though it pains me to admit it: Urahara Kisuke..."

"Why you ungrateful..." seethed Kensei through clenched teeth, livid with rage.

"Anyway..." spoke up Tôshiro, trying to ease the tension by refocusing upon the topic at hand "As we are unaware of their motives, it is best to be prepared. For now, we should station a few Shinigami in Karakura Town as a precaution and then we'll see."

"That might be a little bit too thoughtless" stated Soifon as she narrowed her eyes in concentration "We don't know if they'll even set foot there. What if they chose to come here instead, like mentioned before?"

"Do you think that an interrogation would make Aizen speak?" asked Yamamoto suddenly in an eerily calm voice.

"He won't speak" stressed out Shinji assertively as he shook his head "Ya want to get a master manipulator to confess? He's more likely to learn somethin' from us instead."

"Are you suggesting we torture Aizen?" interfered Byakuya finally, his voice holding a hint of surprise in it.

"The Commander never said..." blinked Jushiro, aghast by the suggestion made by the noble.

"An interrogation doesn't limit itself to words alone..." stated the old commander in a cold tone as he confirmed the Kuchiki's assumption.

"Commander!" exclaimed simultaneously Rose and Shunsui in slight horror, sharing their sentiment with half of the room: the other half though, oddly enough - or perhaps rather rightfully enough - seemed to be silently approving the thought.

Deeply frowning at the proposal hanging in the air, Jushiro voiced his opposition: "That's slightly inhumane, no?"

"I can easily agree with ya on that, but here's a little quiz question: is Aizen humane to you?" questioned Shinji sternly though quite redundantly, as he knew everyone here knew that no, Aizen was so not humane.

Finding no real concrete say to that particular argument, the 13th Division's captain simply sighed: "It still feels wrong. I mean, true, he may be a monster...but we are not like him."

"I approve" chimed in Rose, raising his hand while doing so "I refuse to play by his methods."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" muttered Tôshiro between his teeth, though he had been loud enough to be heard by the others.

"Yeah...That shit" shrugged Zaraki indifferently, before grinning widely "A few punches sound fair to me..."

At that, the Kuchiki clan leader regarded the 11th Division with unconcealed loathing: "Keep to yourself your barbaric thoughts. This conversation is lethally serious."

Kenpachi's grin grew even wider as he declared dismissively, earning an even darker glare from the noble: "I am being seriously lethal..."

Soifon coughed loudly into her hand: "We are turning in circles. Aizen undoubtedly knows something: he has hinted to it during his trial. So it is best to start questioning him."

The 13th Division's captain looked on horrified as he began to voice:"Commander, this is..."

"We'll start simple" notified Yamamoto evenly, maintaining a determined gaze within Jushiro's disapproving eyes "Should he not relent, we shall be obliged to resort to harsher methods."

Grimly knowing that he no longer had any say in this, the 13th Division's captain turned his head away whilst Kensei enquired without real interest: "And who'll question him?"

"I will" voiced both Mayuri and Soifon at the same time before slowly glaring at each other.

"Interrogating prisoners is part of the Onmitsukido's duty" stated relentlessly Soifon as she lifted her nose high, staring at the other with cold eyes that were demanding to be contradicted.

"Torture is what I specialize in" informed Mayuri just as dangerously, his hands twitching at his sides as if he was tempted to jump on the 2nd Division's captain and disassemble her...just to prove he was right.

"Neither of you will initiate the first interrogation" informed the old commander categorically before the other two got their hopes up "Ichimaru Gin will."

"Ha?" voiced said person as he blinked disbelievingly before pointing at himself "Me?"

"Is that going to be a problem, Ichimaru-taichou?" enquired Yamamoto with a dark look, daring the other to try and say that it would be.

Swallowing nervously and licking his suddenly dry lips, Gin smiles tensely: "No, not at all. It's just that I really don't see why you think Aizen would answer me."

The old commander paused at that before he admitted: "Maybe he won't. But both you and Urahara Kisuke are the sole two people I am aware of who can possibly foresee, if not read through Aizen."

The silver-haired man had to laugh dryly at that: "You are very far off course then."

"At least attempt to..." tried Yamamoto, his voice beginning to board upon desperation.

"That I can, unfortunately, do" Gin sighed in surrender "I guarantee nothin' though."

"That's understandable" the old commander nodded "You'll start today, though Urahara Kisuke won't be able to assist you though: he is trying along with Unohana-taichou to revive Kurosaki Ichigo, as Kurotsuchi-taichou has proven not able to."

While Mayuri's expression darkened at the obvious insult, Renji voiced in a tone of sudden awareness: "Ah...So that's why the 4th Division's captain isn't here."

"Exactly..." confirmed the Captain Commander before shifting his attention to his lieutenant "Now that that's cleared up, what is else there to discuss?"

Sasakibe raised his voice again to announce the following: "As Tetsuzaemon Iba has receded from his post as the 7th Division's lieutenant for personal reasons and has returned to the 11th Division, Outoribashi-taichou is left without a lieutenant."

"That is indeed inconvenient. Kuchiki-taichou" called out Yamamoto, gaining said captain's attention "Does your Division have any capable candidate for this vacant post?"

Byakuya remains silent for a while as he thinks before stating: "I believe we do."

As the Commander was going to ask who the noble had in mind, the doors burst open revealing a breathless Rin from the 12th Division's scientific department.

"Rin?" inquired Nemu evenly, not a hint of worry upon her expressionless face "Why are you here? Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong doesn't even begin to define it..." panted Rin as she shook, before she focused on the members of the Gotei 13 with a terrified expression "Weren't the Arrancars taken care of?!"

"What do you mean by that?" Tôshiro frowned despite the fact he was staring at her with wide eyes, dreading what a question like that could only mean from someone from the Scientific Department of the 12th Division.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Rin nearly shouted her answer: "More than a dozen Arrancars have just exited a Garganta that opened near the outskirts of Karakura."

"WHAT?!" deadpanned the whole room, expressions ranging between utterly taken aback and completely horrified whilst others could only remain speechless.

"OH MY GOD!" screamed Omaeda at the top of his lungs before curling in a corner and repeating it over and over like a mantra.

"Well..." started Kenpachi with stunned expression before grinning like mad "This happened quicker than expected."

Shunsui shuddered at the 11th Division's captain's reaction before smiling nervously: "Can you please not be this happy about it?"

Yamamoto immediately overcame his shock and began issuing orders to the Gotei 13: "Zaraki Kenpachi, Hitsugaya Tôshiro and Muguruma Kensei: take at least a dozen men from each of your divisions and head to Karakura Town this instant. Do not let them carry out Aizen's will. Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Soifon: await them in the Hueco Mundo should they return and ambush them there. Jushiro Ukitake and Kyoraku Shunsui: reinforce the Seireitei's defences in any way you can. I shall assist you. Shinji Hirako and Gin Ichimaru: head over to Aizen's detaining cell and begin the interrogation. Byakuya Kuchiki: go with Roujuurou Outoribashi and present him with his new lieutenant - fear not, we'll deal with the procedures later - and then join Hirako and Ichimaru, whilst you Outoribashi will join us to strengthen the Seireitei. We have to act now."

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Standing before an opened Senkaimon, Hiyori blinked once...twice...before blinking nonstop with, all the while, a vein throbbing viciously upon her forehead. She slowly turns to face the cause of her rage as she inquires with a voice of excessive, syrupy gentleness through tightly clenched teeth that in no way reflected the nasty amount of anger welling from up inside her: "So...why am I here again, Mr. Now-that-I'm-captain-again-I-can-fucking-give-out-orders?"

Slumping forward in exhaustion, Shinji sighed in despair as he rubbed at the back of his neck: "I already told ya, Hiyori. You're goin' with them."

"THE HELL I AM!" yelled furiously the little blonde menace at the top of her lungs, attracting everyone's attention much to Shinji's discomfort "I accepted living here, not working my ass off! I owe them nothing!"

Grinning awkwardly towards his colleagues from the 9th, 10th and 11th Divisions in apology, the 5th Division's captain cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered to the blonde girl: "Come on, be nice for once. Besides, I'm askin' ya to do this for me."

Placing her hands defiantly on her hips, Hiyori glared furiously at the other whilst she fumed: "I owe you nothing either."

Realizing they were getting absolutely nowhere, he gave his back to her as he decided to improvise, highlighting the right words in order to draw her attention: "Well, the truth is, I wanted someone I trusted to go with them. But if ya don't feel up to it, it's totally ok. I can ask someone else...like Love."

"You trust Love more than me?!" shouted Hiyori gobsmacked, falling right into Shinji's trap causing him to grin victoriously at no one in particular before turning back towards the little blonde and shrugging offhandedly.

Swiftly delivering him a kick in the face, the little blonde menace voiced quite heatedly the exact words the 5th Division's captain had been expecting to hear: "I'm fucking going then, whether you like it or not!"

As he crashed to ground in a heap, Tôshiro sweat-dropped before he stated reproachfully: "Are you sure you should let her treat you like that? You're a captain, aren't you? Others should be respecting you, not kicking you around."

"And why's the dwarf here?" scowled Hiyori as she crossed her arms tetchily and raised her nose in the air, sending the 10th Division's captain a 'mind-your-own-business' glare.

"Dwarf?!" seethed Toshiro as a vein throbbed upon his forehead before he pointed in a rather childish manner at the blonde before him "Who're you calling a dwarf?! Aren't you just as undersized, short stack?!"

"Ha! So you don't deny that you're tiny!" laughed the little Vizard heartily, before she abruptly stopped, coming to a realization "Wait...did you just call me 'short stack'?!"

"Will you two stop bickerin' like some old married couple?" Shinji sighed as he rubbed at his temples before cautiously putting his fingers in his ears when he saw the other two blanching.

"We're not married!" they both screamed in horrified denial at the top of their lungs as they threw black looks at the blonde male who was inwardly glad he saved his hearing from them.

"Yeah, stop mimicking Lisa!" exclaimed Hiyori aloud, blushing uncomfortably as she yelled "We don't even know each other, right?!"

"Exactly!" confirmed Toshiro tautly with a rigid nod, his face equally deep red.

Shinji raised an incredulous eyebrow, before looking upwards in a false jaded manner: "Oh? My bad then..."

"Hiyori-chan!" called out Mashiro happily as she rushed over to her friend "We're together!"

"Oh joy..." deadpanned the little blonde with a sigh, bored already.

It did nothing to lower the bubbly green-haired's spirits however as she carried on: "We're so gonna kick Hollow butt!"

Hiyori's eyes brightened at that, a smirk falling upon her features: "Now that sounds fun."

Shinji looked on as the two girls chatted up a challenge to see who would defeat the most before he glanced towards Kensei and whispered inaudibly: "Look out for yourselves."

"Don't you mean look out for her?" corrected his friend with a raised eyebrow "Careful. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're asking me to dedicate myself to babysitting her for life."

"Can ya blame me?" asked the blonde captain with a small smile before he shuddered at his own next words "Ken...She nearly died."

Kensei was about to laugh off the other's worries, but didn't...as it would have been insincere. So he simply patted Shinji's shoulder comfortingly and assured in a steady voice while walking away: "We won't let it happen again. You have my word...and the brat's while we're at it."

Locking eyes with Mashiro's, the 5th Division's captain cracked a thankful smile as the green-haired brat winked at him and flashed him a wide heartening smile. Relieved that he could count on his friends, Shinji turned to leave as he now needed to accompany Ichimaru Gin as to pay a visit to the demon in Muken.

"Oi, Baldy!" hollered Hiyori abruptly, trying to get Shinji's attention as she saw him leaving.

"Huh?!" yelled Ikkaku threateningly, instantly marching over and towering over the little blonde menace "What'd you say?!"

"Not you! I don't even know you!" she snapped back in an annoyed tone, before focusing back on Shinji...who had already departed.

Glaring up at the 3rd Seat staring down at her, she hissed crossly: "Well done, baldy. The baldy I was calling is gone because I was distracted by you!"

Ikkaku grit his teeth as he set his hand upon his zanpaktou: "Say...Bald...One more time..."

Glare darkening in order to rival his, Hiyori opened her mouth to do so but was interrupted by Tôshiro who clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention: "Let us brief you briefly. Pay attention for we don't have much time. Here's what we're to do and what we are going to do."

Within the depths of Muken:

The room was dark, almost black, as it was also windowless. Only a single flickering light was set in the centre of the room, right in front of where Sosuke Aizen was seated, bound from head to toe. He seemed conquered, almost powerless...but Gin knew far better than that...

"Well, well..." rose the immortal's deep voice, a hint of dark malice to it "If it isn't Gin..."

"Aizen" respondedloosely the silver-haired man as he took a seat before the bound man.

"How nice of you to come..." Aizen began with a harsh smile before it turned into an unforgiving smirk "...or when considering the latest events, not quite so."

And Gin was starting to regret not rejecting Yamamoto's order further: "I can agree with that."

Turning his head slightly towards the glass window, Aizen inquired: "Who else is here?"

Eyebrows flying upwards, the other was stunned by the immortal's ever so accurate perception but decided to bluff: "Havin' trouble with your senses, Aizen? I'm on my own."

Aizen scoffed, somewhat amused at the futile try: "It's because I still have my senses that I can tell your not alone. There is someone in the adjoining room...Let me guess...Shinji?"

Gin hissed through clenched teeth at the other's attempts to rile him up...because it was definitely working: "If you know, don't fake guessin'.

"So much in a hurry, are we?" chuckled the immortal "That's unlike you."

Trying to calm down, the silver-haired man said nonchalantly: "What can I say? I've got a life to live."

"You sure do..." confirmed lightly the other before his voice turned menacing "...a short one. Don't think I'll forsake killing you so easily."

Though Gin shivered at the immortal's words, he stated solidly: "I never thought that. But as long as you're in Muken, I'm not worried. I'll start panickin' for real when you get out."

"Oh? You speak as if Iwillbe leaving this place" uttered Aizen with mock surprise.

Sighing, the 3rd Division's captain spoke truthfully: "Eventually? Yeah, you will. Not only it seems impossible to me for you to be held down for long, you yourself admitted to Kuchiki, that you ain't stayin' here forever."

Smirking at Gin's words, Aizen once again drew the conversation elsewhere: "Speaking of Byakuya, he just came to join Shinji next door. The old commander doesn't trust you yet, does he?"

"That really doesn't matter to me" the younger of the two mentioned offhandedly before glaring in the other's direction "Besides...there ain't much I've done yet to earn their trust...Thanks to you..."

Had his eyes been uncovered, dark derision would have been seen in them as he smiled widely: "I'm flattered."

"Of course you'd be" deadpanned Gin in a sudden dry voice, once again wishing he didn't have to be here.

At that Aizen throws his head back and laughs darkly, sending cold shivers down Gin's spine and causing him to enquire quietly: "Care to share the joke, Aizen?"

Calming his laughter to low chuckling, Aizen said teasingly: "Hm, nothing much...I just really wasn't expecting you to be brave enough to face me so soon."

Not understanding where the other intended to go by saying this, Gin frowned in confusion: "It has nothin' to do with bravery. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be here."

The immortal smirked: "Of course not...Why would you? After all I did to you."

The silver-haired captain paled at that but kept his voice steady: "I'm not here to talk about the good ol' past, Aizen. Let's leave it were it is, if you don't mind."

Aizen faked a disappointed sigh: "I domind actually: I was really hoping to enlighten a few but oh well... By the way, I have to admit that your insolent audacity was, as usual, very cunning."

Gin's bafflement returned tenfold: "Why thank you...but what are you talkin' about exactly?"

"Are you asking me to be more specific?" questioned the immortal with a dangerous smile, daring the other to say no.

Gin, however, after all this time, knew better: "By all means, please do."

Chuckling at the young one's wise choice, Aizen relented: "Very well...Does 'violently threatening and brutally harming the Espada soldiers in order to fully bend them to your will' say anything to you?"

"It does" confirmed the 3rd Division's captain, still puzzled"It's what I told Kuchiki when he asked me if I knew anythin' that could be used against you."

"Indeed" stated Aizen before he whispered darkly"Even so, between us, don't you think that it is very lacking in veracity?"

Having an abrupt yet rather strong, horrifying inkling of what this conversation was about, Gin clenched his teeth tightly: "Are you sayin' that I lied?"

Sensing the silver-haired man's increasing discomfort, Aizen laughed again, though it was a lot deeper and darker this time: "No, not at all...I'm only saying that if you really wanted to give anything substantial against me...That confession is far from being accurate."

"It was enough" the 3rd Division's captain stated in a dry tone.

"Not exactly..." Aizen persisted with a knowing smirk "You do realize that truth by omission is considered to be a lie."

Gin remained silent for awhile, mindful of the fact they weren't alone, before confessing in a tense voice what he knew was going to be questioned - and not just by Aizen: "They didn't need to know."

The immortal's smirk widened triumphantly: "Ah...so you did intentionally keep quiet about it. Might I ask why?"

Beginning to feel restless, the younger of two snapped fiercely in a low tone: "You can ask, but I'm not answerin'."

"Bashful much?" goaded Aizen knowingly, relishing in every moment of the other's distress.

As painful past memories flashed in his head at Aizen's seemingly harmless taunt, Gin's face burned with indignation: "I'm here to question you...Can we not reverse our roles, Aizen?"

"Yes, yes..."relented the immortal with a chuckle "You can go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Can the dead be brought back to life, Aizen?" asked Gin suddenly, hoping his straight-ahead question would destabilize the other.

It didn't however, as Aizen just simply tilted his head at the younger one's query: "How would Shinigami and Hollows exist then?"

Gin resisted the urge to roll his eyes: "That's not what I meant. What I want to know is why dead Arrancar bodies have disappeared?"

Aizen once again feigned ignorance: "It's usually called decay. It occurs when dead bodies..."

"Thank you but I know that" Gin interrupted impatiently as he crossed his arms "But decay, like you say, doesn't happen overnight...or hours later."

"Yes, that is very true" acknowledged solemnly the other with a nod.

"Aizen" snarled Gin in a sinister way "You're not answerin' my question."

Scoffing, the immortal stated with a smile: "How would I answer it? I wasn't there, was I?"

"Alright then..." spat nastily Gin, totally fed up -he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible and, damn, Aizen was not making it easy - so he stood and began pacing "How about I tell you exactly what I think happened, 'kay? You used Inoue, right? You forced her to use her powers beyond their capacities to revive your Espada should they die. Am I right?"

The bound traitor remained quiet for a few seconds before smiling with false indulgence: "What an exceptional tale, Gin. Have you been drinking recently? You've always had a rather farfetched imagination when drunk..."

"AIZEN!" shouted the silver-haired in utter frustration, angrily grasping the collar of the immortal's robes in a firm grip "Stop pretendin'! The poor thing would leave sapped out! What else could you have done then?! Just acknowledge it, so I can just fuckin' leave!"

"Leave if you want, I'm not the one stopping you, am I?" voiced Aizen evenly, causing the other the freeze at the familiar words "But tell me, what makes you so sure of this?"

Shaking off his anxiety at the immortal's words, Gin seethed in a low tone: "Me closin' my eyes to you doesn't mean I'm blind, you know?"

"That being so, I'll ask again differently" Aizen smirked lazily before whispering ominously "Why are you so sure of what you claim to have seen?"

"What are you...?" began Gin in confusion before he started to shakehard, so hard that Aizen felt it through the hand still holding his robes "No freakin' way...You…WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"I'm slightly disappointed in you, Gin" the immortal sighed with a condescending smile"Firstly, you should have asked the human girl to get your facts straight before coming here. Secondly, since when have you forgotten about Kyoka Suigetsu, hm?"

Letting Aizen go and backing away, Gin fell into a brief state of shock...not because he had forgotten about Kyoka Suigetsu- no, not that: after all, he was familiar withthe fact that Aizen used it regularly - but because Aizen had apparently used it on Orihime...and not at all in a gentle manner. And to makes matters worse, who knew what she was made to believe?

"I don't...I can't believe you" stuttered the silver-haired captain as his heart thumped wildly.

Aizen's next dreadful unanticipated words however...almost gave Ichimaru Gin a heart attack: "But do believe me. Oh... Another thing: What makes you think that I can no longer use it?"

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Next door, Shinji's eyes went wide, not at all expecting Aizen to correctly guess that he was the one present in the neighbouring room...

'Unless he didn't guess it...' thought the blonde as recalled how diaphanously acute was the immortal's perception: it surprised him though that, despite the bindings which also restricted reiatsu, he could still sense beyond a thick brick wall, inches away from where he was seated.

Shuddering uneasily, Shinji bit his lip and he wondered aloud: "Just how much fuckin' spiritual energy does this beast have?"

"A lot, believe me" answered an even voice suddenly, causing the 5th Division's captain to jump in his skin: he hadn't heard or felt anyone get in "Apart from that, how is it going?"

Shinji held his chest as his heart thumped wildly, before half-glaring at the Kuchiki noble who was regarding him with a raised eyebrow: "Ya're already here? That was fast. To answer your question, it's goin' terribly. Aizen's makin' Ichimaru turn in circles."

Sighing, Byakuya shook his head slightly while he focused upon the monitor showing Gin and Aizen in the other room: "Why I am not surprised?"

"Well, I am" huffed the blonde in annoyance "I was hopin' the old fart's idea would work."

Narrowing his eyes in disapproval, the 6th Division's captain shifted his glare towards the other as he cautioned coldly: "Please be more respectful toward the Commander."

Clicking his tongue, Shinji rolled his eyes and grinned unpleasantly: "Don't wanna."

"Shinji Hirako" spoke Byakuya warningly as he repeated slowly "Be more respectful."

"Or what ya gonna do, prince?" teased the other in a sing-song voice, his grin widening further when he saw the noble set a hand upon his zanpaktou.

Aizen's dark chilling laughter drew their attention back to the conversation within the adjoining room, reminding them that they were supposed to listen carefully to what was being said, in order to be able to catch onto anything that might be valuable to them all...anything that Gin might accidently overlook...

"Care to share the joke, Aizen?" asked the 3rd Division's captain in a quiet voice while harbouring a frown.

Still chuckling, Aizen hummed in teasing manner:"Hm, nothing much...I just really wasn't expecting you to be brave enough to face me so soon."

Gin's frown deepened as confusion revealed itself upon his face: "It has nothin' to do with bravery. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be here."

"Of course not...Why would you? After all I did to you" said Aizen with a smirk, causing Byakuya to raise an eyebrow at that in slight surprise. Gin had told him what the immortal had done to the Arrancars: he hadn't at all mentioned anything like Aizen hurting him directly. It would have been to their advantage he had spoken of it. Then again, maybe it wasn't something he was willing to tell...especially given the fact that Aizen was the one responsible.

As if proving that he guessed correctly, the noble saw the silver-haired man going pale: "I'm not here to talk about the good ol' past, Aizen. Let's leave it were it is, if you don't mind."

"I do mind actually: I was really hoping to enlighten a few but oh well... By the way, I have to admit that your insolent audacity was, as usual, very cunning."

"Why thank you...but what are you talkin' about exactly?"

"Are you asking me to be more specific?"

"By all means, please do."

"Very well...Does 'violently threatening and brutally harming the Espada soldiers in order to fully bend them to your will' say anything to you?"

"It does. It's what I told Kuchiki when he asked me if I knew anythin' that could be used against you."

"Indeed. Even so, between us, don't you think that it is very lacking in veracity?"

As Aizen whispered those words with such a dark voice, both Byakuya and Shinji felt unease as they instantly shifted their now wary gazes onto Gin. Had he forgotten to tell them something? Or had he left something out when revealing all he knew to them? Or perhaps, he had lied to them? If that was the case then...

"Are you sayin' that I lied?" voiced the silver-haired tightly, showing obvious displeasure of being accused of doing as such.

"No, not at all...I'm only saying that if you really wanted to give anything substantial against me...That confession is far from being accurate."

"It was enough."

"Not exactly...You do realize that truth by omission is considered to be a lie."

Gin remained eerily silent for awhile before admitting in a very tense voice:"They didn't need to know."

The 5th and 6th Divisions' captains glanced at each other with wide eyes: so the silver-haired man had hidden something...and it seemed to be a rather crucial information apparently, if Aizen was the one asking about it. But...what on earth was it about? Clearly it was about something the immortal has done or something he was capable of...but what?

"Ah...so you did intentionally keep quiet about it. Might I ask why?"

"You can ask, but I'm not answerin'."

"Bashful much?"goaded Aizen with a knowing smirk that made Gin, much to the other two observers' absolute bewilderment, burn dark red.

There was something underlined that very sentence, despite its miniature size, that had a particular meaning to both Gin and Aizen, whilst both the other two remained ignorant to.

The silver-haired man tried his best to ignore his indignation as he steered the conversation away from the, seemingly, sensitive topic: "I'm here to question you...Can we not reverse our roles, Aizen?"

"Yes, yes...You can go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Can the dead be brought back to life, Aizen?"

"How would Shinigami and Hollows exist then?"

"That's not what I meant. What I want to know is why dead Arrancar bodies have disappeared?"

"It's usually called decay. It occurs when dead bodies..."

"Thank you but I know that. But decay, like you say, doesn't happen overnight...or hours later."

"Yes, that is very true."

"Aizen...You're not answerin' my question."

"How would I answer it? I wasn't there, was I?"

Shinji nearly rolled his eyes in frustration: leave it to Aizen to have an answer for everything.

"Alright then...How about I tell you exactly what I think happened, 'kay? You used Inoue, right? You forced her to use her powers beyond their capacities to revive your Espada should they die. Am I right?"

"What an exceptional tale, Gin. Have you been drinking recently? You've always had a rather farfetched imagination when drunk..."

"AIZEN!" shouted angrily Gin suddenly, startling both Shinji and Byakuya, as they have never seen that man in any waylivid before"Stop pretendin'! The poor thing would leave sapped out! What else could you have done then?! Just acknowledge it, so I can just fuckin' leave!"

"Leave if you want, I'm not the one stopping you, am I?But tell me, what makes you so sure of this?"

"Me closin' my eyes to you doesn't mean I'm blind, you know?"

That being so, I'll ask again differently. Why are you so sure of what you claim to have seen?"

"What are you...? No freakin' way...You…WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Stunned into silence, the Vizard and the noble looked on as horrified as Gin felt when the immortal confirmed the awful hypothesis the latter had made: "I'm slightly disappointed in you, Gin. Firstly, you should have asked the human girl to get your facts straight before coming here. Secondly, since when have you forgotten about Kyoka Suigetsu, hm?"

"I don't...I can't believe you."

"But do believe me. Oh... Another thing: What makes you think that I can no longer use it?"

At those words, Byakuya went rigid and Shinji nearly screamed: this had absolutely no words to define how frighteningly dreadful it had suddenly become...for all of them.

They both saw the silver-haired man stay stock still and quite quiet for a very long moment, before he got up abruptly and dashed out of the room, leading the Kuchiki noble to quickly reach for the door and open it just in time to get a hold of a very pale, panting Gin running for his life...as if hell were chasing right behind him, its flames licking rapaciously at his heels.

"Ichimaru" called the noble softly as he shook the other slightly as the Kuchiki tried to break him from whatever stupor he was in.

When it was done, Gin locked wide alarmed eyes with Byakuya's as he whispered fearfully: "We're all gonna fuckin' die."

"Calm down, Ichi-" the 6th Division's captain began but was cut off by a horrified shaky cry.

"CALM DOWN?!" cried out the 3rd Division's captain echoed before letting out a hollow laugh "No, no, no...You don't get to tell me to calm down! Are you deaf?! Didn't you hear?! He can still use Kyoka Suigetsu?! Despite being bound and imprisoned in Muken?! Do you know what Kyoka Suigetsu does?!"

Gin's panicked outburst had rendered Byakuya speechless: not only was he not expecting such fear from someone usually so calm and collected - even if he didn't know him well, he had never seen him like this - but he also had no words to comfort - comfort which wasn't even his forte - this feeling of dread that he too was experiencing. If Aizen could use his zanpaktou, then that meant...

"We have no freakin' clue if what we're seein' or even livin' is real or just an illusion!" carried on the silver-haired man in distress as he clutched at his hair with a trembling hand.

"Hold it" spoke up suddenly Shinji, drawing the other two's attention on him and they saw that, though he too seemed shaken, he had a rather sceptical expression "Isn't it a lil' quick to think like that? I may be wrong, but Aizen might be bluffin', I mean this is Muken. If it was true, he would have already left this place and be far gone, no?"

The blonde's rational words seemed to calm Gin faintly but Byakuya remained on edge: "We simply cannot ignore both likelihoods, for obvious reasons: we are speaking about Aizen Sosuke. Either could be a doable possibility, so whether what he has just said is true or false, we need to remain vigilant. True, within Muken, using one's reiatsu is not possible, so calling upon the power of a zanpaktou makes it unachievable by logical equivalence, so it seems unlikely. However, due to the Hogyoku, Aizen's boundaries as a merely powerful Shinigami have been transcended, meaning that he may be capable of feats we simply cannot conceive..."

The 5th Division's captain initial scepticism began to falter dangerously at the noble's words: "Ya know...Now ya're sayin' it, I didn't really think about it like that..."

"Anyway..." spoke up Gin suddenly in a quiet but now controlled voice, as if he had never had that terror streak from before "Like Kuchiki said: we'd better be on our guard. We never know. Also, if Aizen had taken in the probability of bein' detained here, he certainly hatched a plan at some point that involves his own doin'..."

Reminding himself, due to Gin's words, that the silver-haired man knew Aizen a lot better than they did, Byakuya questioned cautiously: "What are you not telling us, Ichimaru?"

Upon the other's evident confusion as he wasn't following the noble's train of thought, the Kuchiki leader clarified: "When you told Aizen Sosuke that 'we didn't need to know', what was it about?"

The silver-haired captain lost his colours as to turn white all over again as he whispered through his teeth: "Not only you don't need to, but you really, really don't want to know."

"Uh...Yeah, we do" deadpanned Shinji persistently before he sneered spitefully "We wouldn't be askin' if that was the case, fox face."

When the 3rd Division's captain remained utterly silent, Byakuya asked with apprehension: "What did he do to you?"

Suddenly wearing a small empty smile, Gin chuckled mirthlessly: "That I can answer: He destroyed me. And, if he does get out, you'd better hope he doesn't to the same to any of you."

In the Hueco Mundo, not far from the Underground Forest:

Finding an opening leading downwards to where a large mass of powerful reiatsu was flaring, Loly jumped in quickly, upping her speed as she made her descent into the forest of quartz trees, closely followed by Menoly. As they began to draw nearer to the group, four shadows block their path, causing the two girls to freeze up as they see that one of them...was Veneno...

"And where do you think you two are going?" sneered nastily Escarlata, one of the personal three Fracción accompanying Veneno, while the two others, Fleur and Apatico, began brutally grabbing and shoving the two female to the ground.

"Hey! Knock it off!" protested Loly crossly as she struggled "We're on your side!"

"Really?" snorted Fleur in a mocking tone while pressing the girl even further in the dusty sands "Funny. Last I remember, you were leaving with Grimmjow."

"No! You got it all wrong! We weren't going anywhere!" denied Loly vehemently whilst paling a little: the last thing they needed was to be associated with that Arrancar "Like we said: we're on your side! On Aizen-sama's side!"

Apatico glared coldly at the dark-haired female from where he was holding her friend: "If it was your intention to abide by Aizen-sama, then why did you leave?"

"We came back!" she exclaimed aloud, glancing towards Veneno who seemed to be letting his dear Fracción do all the work.

"Like that means anything" scoffed Escarlata as he rolled his eyes before narrowing them "How do we know it isn't Grimmjow sending you to spy, hm?

Shaking her head, she asserted with a firm voice: "We would never do that!"

Sighing, Escarlata eyed the girl with contempt: "Oh just shut up. You, I know. Your devotion to Aizen-sama is so obvious that it makes my eyes bleed. But don't speak for your girlfriend. Her, I'm not so convinced."

Loly's eyes went wide before she turned towards Menoly who had remained utterly silent as she was now rigid, stuttering quietly: "I...I wouldn't... I never betray Aizen-sama..."

"You'd better not" hissed Apatico warningly in her ear, causing her to shiver before he and Fleur let the two girls go "Now beat it."

As the two female Arrancars ran away trembling, the Fracción turned towards their master awaiting praise for their actions, but Veneno's attention was stolen away when a dark large bat-winged figure landed upon the peak of a tree.

"Veneno-sama?" inquired Fleur softly, gaze flitting over to where their master was staring.

Their master casted his undelings a glance and, just before sonido-ing away, spoke gently: "Give me a moment."

"Ulquiorra-san."

"Veneno" responded said Espada aloofly, his dark emerald emotionless eyes shifting towards the one that just joined him upon his perch "You look awfully well. Not at all seeming bothered by your loss."

The other's eyes narrowed before he stated in a flat tone: "He wasn't devoted to Aizen-sama: his revival wouldn't have benefited our lord. As for his death, it'll be avenged. As his younger brother, I'll see to it personally."

"I feel atrociously sorry for the one responsible" voiced the Cuatro Espada understatedly.

Veneno had to raise an eyebrow incredulously at that: "It isn't like you to feel anything."

Shrugging disinterestedly, Ulquiorra uttered mysteriously: "I've changed."

The other Espada scowled darkly: "I can see that. Is that why you let Grimmjow run then?"

It was now Ulquiorra turn to glare: "That has nothing to with it."

"Oh? And pray tell what does?" pressed Veneno persistently, as he placed a hand upon his hip.

The Cuatro Espada maintained his steadfast demeanour: "That concerns me."

"It concerns Aizen-sama" retorted Barragan's younger brother haughtily as if daring the other to contradict him "I do strongly doubt he'd take to it kindly if he finds this out. What do you think he'll do to you – one of his elite soldiers – for doing so behind his back? Shouldn't your actions question the true status of your loyalty, Ulquiorra-san?"

"Again, it concerns me."

Frowning in disapproval at the dark-haired bat-like Arrrancar's resistence, Veneno seethed in an eerily calm voice: "Be as it might, but always remember, that you belong to Aizen-sama."

Veneno's reiatsu then flared dangerously but Ulquiorra remained completely unphased as he impassively replied to the other's words: "I am well aware. But you need to understand, by definition, that it means that I answer to him only and not in any way to you."

"Am I interrupting?"questioned abruptly a voice withholding various arrogant undertones, though which led to neither of the two Espada staring each other off to take a glance at: after all, they knew without looking who it was.

Clenching his teeth, Veneno whispered irately: "You already have: what is it, Szayel-san?"

The pink-haired mad scientist that was the Octavo Espada smirked as he rearranged his glasses: "We have guests: A quite considerable group of Shinigami currently loitering around above us."

"Well then...I supposed it'd be impolite to keep them waiting, wouldn't it?" announced Veneno as he let his hand thread its fingers through his hair, whist Szayel just shrugged at his words with a smile as he sonido-ed away to warn the others.

Ulquiorra was about to follow when Veneno stopped him by grabbing hold of his arm and whispering menacingly in the Cuatro Espada's ear: "You do the honours then, Ulquiorra-san and show me…just how loyal you are to Aizen-sama."

Back within the Seireitei:

Standing before the front door of the 6th Divison's barracks, Rikichi stared at the building with an air of nostalgia, sighing for the umpteenth time...before jumping with a start by a voice that suddenly began talking to him: "So, Rikichi, I heard you're changing division."

Locking eyes with the grinningred-haired lieutenant of the 6th Division, Rikichi smiled back: "Yeah I guess. I was surprised...to go from 5th Seat...to lieutenant so suddenly."

"I'm sure you'll make a fine lieutenant..." reassured Renji as he ruffled the younger one's hair.

Laughing, Rikichi stated gratefully: "That's an encouraging thing to hear, Abarai-fukutaichou."

Nodding once to acknowledge the thanks, the red-haired questioned curiously: "By the way, not helping out your new captain?"

"I would have but he told me for my first day, setting up protective barriers would be boring. So he told me to take it easy for now and stay with my division before leaving it for good" explained the young boy.

Renji blinked, slightly surprised at the new captain's consideration, before voicing it with a smile: "Huh...He sounds nice."

Nodding, Rikichi beamed gleefully: "He really is...Most of the Vizards are nice, or so I've heard. And you? Why aren't you with Kuchiki-taichou?"

"Ah...He, Hirako-taichou and Ichimaru-taichou went for Muken, so..."

"Oh...Yeah, I understand" hummed the young boy before he sighed forlornly "I really don't feel like leaving this division behind though..."

"Hey, don't sweat" smiled sympathetically the 6th Division's lieutenant "You'll get to come over whenever you have time. And if ever you're in trouble, bullied or whatever, I'll be there for you, ok?"

"Thanks"smiled Rikichi warmly, gazing at Renji with an admiration he'd never give up, no matter where he'll be...

"Nah!" shrugged the red-haired loosely before he smirked "Until then...How about a congratulations match of farewell for now, huh?"

"I didn't know we had one of those" chuckled the younger of the two amusedly as he shook his head at his elder.

Renji grinned widely: "If we didn't, we do now. Come on, kid: Get ready to start kicking."

The game was well under way, when, all of a sudden, a timid voice called out nervously: "Uh...Ex...Excuse me?"

Rikichi stopped abruptly midflight for the ball and turned to the source of interruption, not realizing that his elder had kicked it...and the poor youngster received it square in the face, causing him to crash into a heap to the ground.

"Ah!" yelled Renji as he ran over to help the younger one up "You ok, kid?"

"Y...Yeah..." stammered Rikichi dizzily, before straightening up suddenly as he realized who was giving him a hand "I mean...Yes! Abarai-fukutaichou, yes! I am! Thank you very much for your concern."

Sweat-dropping at the younger one's words, the red-haired lieutenant lifts an incredulous tattooed eyebrow: "Hey, don't get all ceremonial with me, kid...Not when you've just got your face kicked in."

"Ah! I'm so sorry! If I hadn't distracted you..." spoke up the shy voice from before in a sincerely apologetic tone, drawing the two males' attention.

Standing before them, was a young girl with a toffee caramel skin and holding a very worried look in her big dark green eyes, tucking long stray strands of pale blonde hair behind an ear.

Renji simply stared: he had never seen this girl, yet she was wearing the Shinigami uniform.

As for Rikichi...it was love at first as he stood up abruptly to reassure her: "N-No! It's ok, really! I like getting my face kicked in!"

Both the girl and Renji stared at him as if he had lost his mind: "Huh?"

The young Shinigami blushed uncomfortably as he waved his hands in front of him: "No! I mean, that's not what I meant! Uh...It...It didn't hurt."

"Are you sure?" inquired the girl gently as she scrutinized him carefully, searching for any sign of injury.

"Yeah...Not anymore anyway..." whispered Rikichi with a smile as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, causing the unknown girl's eyes to widen before she too began to blush.

She then lowered her eyes and smiled bashfully: "I'm glad then. I was really worried."

"Nah, I'm ok. So...you wanted to ask something?" asked the young boy as he raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

The girl's eyes widened as she snapped her fingers in remembrance: "Oh yes! Thank you. I can be a little of an airhead at times. And because of that, I actually kind of lost my way."

"Ah! Ok then. Um..." uttered Rikichi as he dipped his head in understanding before offering considerately "I can totallytake you wherever it is you wanna go...I mean, if you want."

Blushing again, this time of a deeper red, she smiled delicately: "Oh, you're so thoughtful but I wouldn't want to bother."

"Not at all! What kind of lieutenant would I be if I can't help others out in their time of need?"

"You're a lieutenant?"questioned the girl with an awe-struck look in her gaze.

Rikichi nodded smugly as he crossed his arms: "Yep."

"Wow...That sounds very impressive. According to my senpaï, the rank of lieutenant means you're the second strongest member of your division, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

'Although you've just become one, Rikichi...' thought Renji with a small smile, silently observing their interaction: he might be dense most of the time, but even he could easily tell that these two had instantly clicked.

"Shall I...accompany you then?"

"Thank you so much!" beamed the girl happily, suddenly looking very adorable.

Grinning with a light blush, the young boy straightened up to give a polite bow: "My name's Rikichi, the 7th Division's lieutenant."

"Misaki Nanase, 6th Seat of the 11th Division" revealed the girl, returning the formal gesture.

"6TH SEAT OF THE 11TH DIVISION?!" exclaimed the two guys, now taking her in with wide startled eyes as they began to sweat-drop profusely.

"Um..." blinked Misaki as she tilted her head confusedly "Did I say something wrong?"

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Orihime sighed for the umpteenth today as she stood before a food stand in the Seireitei: usually when she was feeling down, she could easily alleviate her spirits by losing herself in her airheaded thoughts and letting her overactive mindfully take over...but recently, the usually bubbly happy-go-lucky girl was unable to do so. Another thing she did to feel better was to generally comfort herself with food...however even that wasn't able to console her: she couldn't bring herself consume a single bite, despite the exquisiteness of the dishes before her.

The elderly lady holding the food stand gave a kind concerned glance towards the girl: "Somethin' wrong, hun?"

The human girl blinked herself out of her trance before smiling unconvincingly: "No, no, not at all! Thank you! I'm totally ok!"

"You're a bad liar, aren't ya?" rose an accusing voice teasingly, causing to the orange-haired girl to swirl around and lock stares with a certain silver-haired ex-captain, become captain once again, she wasn't exactly fond of...but couldn't really hate either. She regarded the man, accompanied by both Hirako and Rukia's brother, with a hint of curiosity for, when she had heard that all Ichimaru Gin did was done for Rangiku's sake, she couldn't help but feel a certain understanding towards him, as she, after all, had done pretty much the same for the sake of Ichigo: though it hadn't been directly asked of them, they had sided with the enemy and had hurtmany to do so, both physically and mostly, emotionally.

When the silver-haired man motioned to the seat beside her, Orihime graced him with a polite nod but still kept her forced smile: "Hello, Ichimaru-san. Feeling better?"

As he sat down beside her, Gin locked eyes with her and grinned gratefully: "Why yes, heaps better. I have you to thank for that, don't I?"

"Um...No...I mean, you don't have to" chuckled the girl nervously as she brushed off his gratitude absentmindedly with a wave of her hand "I simply owed Rangiku-san a favour, so it's fine. Really..."

"Oh? True that Ran-chan has quite an awful knack of gathering herself good favours" hummed the silver-haired with a nostalgic smile while he momentarily glanced away.

The girl laughed quietly before she blinked at the nickname he used: it sounded so...intimate. She then flushed fifty shades of red as she began to lose herself in her typical vivid imagination: were they...were Rangiku-san and this guy a couple?! It certainly made sense to her if they were: her constantly worrying about him, him protecting her for so, so long...OH MY GOD!

She was broken out of her reverie when the silver-haired man pointed out with a raised eyebrow: "Your face's all red, ya know?"

"Ah! Uh...the food's spicy!" blurted out the human girl, speaking the first thing that came to mind, which caused the old lady to sweat-drop, almost contradicting her: Orihime hadn't eaten anything yet.

Gin just smiled at her before he decided to get down to what they all really needed to know: "Not that this small talk is borin' an' all, but I need to ask you somethin'."

Shifting slightly, Orihime was instantly on the defensive yet didn't let it show...she hoped: "Hm? What is it?"

"Do you have the power to revive another from a distance?" asked the silver-haired man straight to the point, carefully regarding the human girl.

Orihime's wide eyes fluttered before she tilted her head slightly: "I'm not a god, Ichimaru-san."

"But you do have powers that can overthrow death" highlighted the 5th Division's captain "I'm just curious as to how far they can go."

"Not very far..." whispered the orange-haired with a frown as she nervously twirled a lock of her hair around her index.

"Inoue-san...There are speculations that Arrancars have been revived" informed the silver-haired carefully, keeping his gaze upon her features as he tried to read her: so far, oddly enough, it wasn't giving anything.

"Oh no, that's terrible" uttered the human girl in a tone that oddly enough didn't match the tremble in her frame neither the horror in her eyes "Hopefully that's not the case. They're just speculations after all, right?"

Noticing the tone of her voice, Gin stated slowly: "They would be just speculations were they not roamin' around Karakura Town."

"They're what?!" jumped Orihime as she locked startled eyes with Gin's "Why?!"

Taken aback by her reaction, the silver-haired continued cautiously: "We're tryin' to figure that part out. We're also attemptin' to understand how they came back to life, 'cause last time we checked, most of them were pretty much dead."

When Orihime simply nodded absentmindedly at his words but remained silent, Gin asked insistently: "Inoue-san…Do you have anything to do with this?"

Visibly not expecting the question, the human girl's jaw dropped abruptly as she pointed at herself with widened eyes: "Me?! Why would I?"

Regarding her with slight uncertainty, the 3rd Division's captain pressed softly: "So Aizen didn't have you cast a revival spell on the Arrancars should they die, right?"

She stared right back at him as she voiced rigidly: "That never happened."

Gin blinked at the way she answered - it sounded a slightly unnatural, forced - so he decided to push just a little further: "Don't lie: it really doesn't suit you, little girl."

"But I..."

"Look" cut off Gin with a tired sigh while rubbing at one of his temples "It's ok if you're scared of Aizen, but lyin' isn't gonna help anyon-"

"I NEVER did such a thing!" shouted Orihime vehemently as she stood up, knocking her stool over and stunning the others speechless "Do you really think if I had that much power, I would have sided with him?! I would have stayed by Kurosaki-kun's side to revive him as many times as he needed instead, if I knew that I could bring him back from the dead! I hate seeing him hurt but if reviving him again and again would have helped even a little, I would have gladly done it in a heartbeat! You were not in the Hueco Mundo when he...when he..."

Her voice broke up as she recalled the horrifying events upon Las Noches' rooftops: Ichigo's lifeless body tumbling to the floor, the massive hole in his chest, the dead look in his eyes, the...

"You should never have let Aizen Sosuke put his hands on you" muttered Byakuya inaudibly, but Orihime heard him.

"OH SHUT UP!" screamed the human girl now in tears, causing the noble to instantly clamp his mouth shut as he stared wide-eyed at her "I'm tired of everyone telling me that: I didn't have a choice! As if I wanted what happened to have ever happened!"

"Inoue-san..." stuttered the silver-haired captain in disbelief as he stood up with his hands out in front of him as if they were dealing with a terrified animal ready to lunge them in order to protect itself: was this the same sweet timid girl that would always shy away from all the angst...or a mere result of Aizen's doing? He had to ask himself the question again: just what exactly did he do to her?

Whipping her head to glare at Gin and making him gulp uncomfortably, she spoke through gritted teeth: "And like you're any better, by the way! Didn't you do the same for Rangiku-san?! Doing Aizen-sama's bidding and taking all the blame?! Just let me be! I've had enough..."

Sinking to her knees, Orihime finally cracked down into loud uncontrolled sobs, no longer caring anymore who saw her tears. The old lady immediately rushed to her side, however none of the captains dared to move to comfort her, afraid that if they did, she'd blow up all over again.

As his two colleagues gave him a pointed look, the silver-haired sighed before stating apologetically: "I'm sorry, kid. I know you've been through a lot...I just...I'm tryin' to understand what Aizen was really insinuatin'..." when suddenly, a fact simultaneously hit the three captains hard "Wait a sec... Did you just call him Aizen-sama?!"

"Inoue!"called out Rukia all of a sudden as she abruptly shunpo-ed and closed in to take the human girl in her arms, accompanied by Tastuki who straightaway locked the captains with a fuming glare as if unquestionably holding them responsible for her friend's condition...well, she wasn't totally wrong...

Crouching down to the orange-haired's level, the tomboy spoke soothingly as she helped her friend up: "Let's go, Orihime."

"Wait a minute" called out the silver-haired man, drawing Orihime's attention before the other could drag her away "Did Aizen ever use his zanpaktou - his shikai - on you?"

"No...Yes...I don't know" hiccupped quietly the orange-haired girl between her ceaseless sobs "Sometimes I wish he had though: I'd give anything to have not seen what I've witnessed."

Shinji frowned in confusion:"What do you mean? What did ya see, Orihime-chan?"

"Hey. Hold it" seethed Tatsuki bitterly as she glared at the captains "I get you're playing detective or whatever and I promised myself that I wouldn't get involved with your politics, but Orihime really doesn't need your bullshit right now. Leave her alone. Come on, girl."

Orihime nods slowly with a quiet sniffle, glancing briefly towards the captains before lowering her eyes and following her friends.

The blonde Vizard mutely watched the three girls leave before voicing quite reproachfully: "Ya know when Aizen said ya should have checked with Orihime-chan, I don't think he meant make her cry."

"She's on edge…like all of us" noted Byakuya observantly before confessing quietly "I have to admit though that I don't believe she did what you've assumed, Gin Ichimaru."

"Neither do I" agreed Gin pensively before frowning "But I also don't believe that Aizen's bluffin' either."

"Well…" muttered Shinji sullenly as he crossed his arms "Guess that means were back to square one."

The Kuchiki clan's leader gave an assenting nod before stating calmly: "The only chance we have left to sort this out is if Aizen decides to speak."

"Like that's ever gonna happen" jutted in the 5th Division's captain with a roll of his eyes.

The 6th Division's captain completely ignored him in favour to continue, which managed to rankle the blonde: "Seeing as questioning him the easy way failed, according to what the Head Commander said, the torture sessions should begin shortly, maybe even tonight. The more time lost, the more likely we'll be completely taken by surprise for whatever it is Aizen Sosuke has prepared for us."

Calming down from his slight irritation with a deep sigh, Shinji glances away uncomfortably: "I don't know. This whole thing of torturin' him doesn't sit well with me."

When neither spoke up, the blonde raised an eyebrow: "Don't tell me ya two are ok with it?"

Byakuya remained thoughtfully silent for a while before answering firmly: "I'd normally stand against it as I find torture, of any kind, to be ghastly...but because it's him, well..."

"If we manage to prevent Aizen's escape in the end, then it's for a good cause..." shrugged the 3rd Division's Captain casually, not at all remorseful for his words "Besides, it ain't a little hurt that'll damage Aizen, believe me... He's done worse himself..."

"Worse than torture?" inquired the Kuchiki noble in slight disbelief, for he honestly couldn't picture worse than that.

Gin's face darkened as he confirmed it in a faint whisper: "Oh yeah, there's worse than that..."

"Still..." hesitated the 5th Division's Captain, still vaguely against the idea "I mean, I really hate him after all his done - especially to us Vizards - and I get that Aizen's wicked and all, but...I don't know... I wouldn't resort to that..."

"Hirako..." called out the silver-haired man in a firm tone of voice that made Shinji's eyes widen "He would. If our positions were reversed, he would have done it...and never regret it."

Upon one of the many rooftops of Karakura Town:

Various echoes of shunpo resounded over the higher grounds of Karakura as the members of the 9th, 10th and 11th Divisions searched for the invading Arrancars...but so far, found none...

And that's because they were well hidden, upon the highest building the town could offer, they stood, the ones who had managed to escape Hueco Mundo, the runaways, the Deserters...

"The idiots..." sighed Cirucci with pursed lips as she rearranged her drapes and glared in the direction the Shinigami's reiatsu was flaring "They're chasing the wrong Arrancars."

"It's not really their fault. They must be a bit at loss" voiced Nelliel softly, not once looking away from the star-filled sky: there weren't any in the Hueco Mundo so she was simply enjoying the view...and attempting though failing in vain to count them.

Mila Rose snorted dryly: "Like a lot if they're leaving their own world wide open like this."

"What do you mean by that?"questioned Appacci with a frown.

"Isn't it obvious?" uttered Sun-Sung dryly in her usual sarcastic no-nonsense tone, which managed to earn a dark glare from the youngest of Tia's three Fracción "The others are going to attempt infiltrate the Seireitei in order to free Sosuke Aizen. No doubt about that."

Eyes wide with dismay, Appacci deadpanned in a quiet voice: "Well shit."

Though she did wrinkle her nose in distaste at the coarse language, the female serpentine-like Arrancar nodded in agreement: "That is...a rather minor understatement of the situation."

"We really have to find a way to warn the Shinigami then" voiced evenly Tia as she closed her eyes, missing a few horrified stares threw her way at her words.

"Hallibel-sama, you can't be serious!" exclaimed Mila Rose adamantly though she spoke in a respectful tone "Even if we no longer serve Aizen, we are still Arrancars! That in no way makes us allies to them!"

Cirucci was the next one to voice her disagreement: "Exactly, we don't owe them anything! May I remind you that they are Shinigami? Shi...Ni...Ga...Mi! Not too long ago, we were enemies!"

"But not anymore right?" pointed out Stark with a casual shrug "Besides, we kind of are indebted them: we're finally freed from Aizen. Without those guys, we'd be still..."

Finally looking away from sky, Nelliel regarded him with a sudden air of disdain: "You mean it's thanks to Itsugo. He's the one who defeated Aizen."

"Itsugo?" they nearly all repeated collectively, looking at her with baffled expressions.

"She means Kurosaki Ichigo, the Substitute Shinigami that protects this town" informed Tia calmly as she had previously been informed herself by the feline Arrancar when she too had been at loss by the way Nelliel messed up the Shinigami's name.

"Oh..." muttered a few as they looked at each other whilst others snickered at the mangled name, some going as far as to say that it sounded cute.

"Besides" maintained Tia in a solemn tone of voice, having not let go of her previous statement "Would any of you risk falling within Aizen's control again?"

Many of the Arrancars remained silent, they didn't need to answer: if everyone present had chosen to follow Grimmjow rather than remain with Aizen, then it meant that no, they'd most definitely rather not...

Suddenly, Grimmjow, who had remained thoughtfully silent during the whole discussion, stated resolutely: "Look, I don't know 'bout you, but I'm personally indebted to that kid, so I'm gonna warn him. Only him...if he wants to tell the Shinigami, he'll do it himself. Now...who's with me?"

The runaway Arrancars quietly exchanged glances as they each assessed the blue-haired's words, filing them through their own personal points of view and weighing the pros and cons.

Grimmjow blinked at their obvious hesitance before sighing with a faint smile: "Just so we're clear, I'm letting you a have choice, not giving you an order. What you decide is up to you."

"What happens if we don't want to?" whispered Cirucci uneasily with lowered eyes "I mean, no disrespect, but..."

The blue-haired feline Arrancar just waved off the apology whilst smirking: "You go your own way. I'm not Aizen: I'll never force you to do so something you don't wanna do."

"How high-minded of you" said Stark with a raised an eyebrow as he rested his chin upon his hand "I just have to mention that I don't quite see this Shinigami – or any other for that matter - welcoming you with open arms...no offense."

"None taken: I really don't see it either" the blue-haired feline chuckled loosely, as he reminisced how he had brutally botched up the orange-haired each time they had fought "But like I said, I owe him…more than I'd care to admit, actually."

"You've just admitted twice" muttered Lilynette as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

Nelliel suddenly raised her hand with a bright beaming smile: "I'll always be with you!"

"More like you really want to see that kid again" smirked Appacci with an impish snicker.

The childish female Arrancar rolled her eyes as she snorted: "I want to, true. But I'd follow Grimmjow-sama wherever and whenever in a heartbeat."

The feline Arrancar smiled discretely at her words, before he stated in a serious tone: "There's one problem though."

"What?" blinked Sun-Sung with wide eyes, wondering what Grimmjow meant by that.

"I can't sense his reiatsu at all" revealed the blue-haired feline with a bewildered scowl, trying to concentrate his perception even further.

"Huh?! What does that mean?"asked Lilynette with a baffled frown "Does that mean that he..."

"That he isn't here, duh!" informed Nelliel loudly before she whispered with a shaky pout "It'd be terrible if it meant something else."

"Nah. Kid's way too stubborn to die" reassured the blue-haired with a wide grin, glancing over his shoulder at the cyan-haired female Arrancar.

While Nelliel giggled giddily at Grimmjow's comforting words, Tia voiced her thoughts: "He might be in the Seireitei…Celebrating his victory or something like that."

Shaking his head with an amused snort, Grimmjow grinnned knowingly: "He is so not like that. Not at all his style."

"Well…" smirked the female shark-like Arrancar as she stated teasingly "You sure seem to know him well, Jeagerjaques."

"Shut up" snapped the blue-haired male tetchily as he stood up and began walking off, quickly followed by Nelliel.

"What are you doing?" inquired Mila Rose curiously, causing the two leaving Arrancars to halt in the steps.

Nelliel blinked before she tilted her head and spoke up as if it were obvious: "He's in the Seireitei, right? Then that's where we're going…"

Appacci blinked incredulously at the other before she spoke heatedly through clenched teeth: "Uh, hello? Shinigami remember? How do we go there…WITHOUT GETTING KILLED?!"

All of a sudden, a massive suffocating reiatsu came crashing down upon them, causing many to struggle for their breaths due the sheer amount of monstrous pressure it represented and before any of them had the time to think or react, the gleaming edge of a jagged zanpaktou rested menacingly close to Grimmjow's neck...

Wide stunned blue eyes blinked before flickering upwards to meet a bulk of a giant staring down at him through only one uncovered eye whilst wearing a huge thrilled grin as he spoke dangerously: "Found you."

To be continued…

Ta-da! I hope it was worth the wait...and if you're wondering about Ichigo, don't worry; he'll appear in the next chapter. Yeah, awake this time: he rested enough, I think. There'll also be, starting with the next chapter, a decrease in the characters: it's important for the plot...Sorry...

So I'm still writing...on paper (coughs): I type whenever I can and promise to post as soon as I'm done, so please look forward to the rest of the fic. See ya soon!

Next Chapter: The Arrancar's Caveat

(1) Nowaki Kuchiki: An O.C member of the Kuchiki Clan, supposing to be one of Byakuya's uncles. I did this because, in later chapters, the Kuchiki heritage (fictional) will be put in play and basically, apart from the known Kuchiki members, there isn't anyone else.

(2) Hitachi Kuchiki: Another O.C member of the Kuchiki Clan, supposing to be one of Byakuya's uncles.

(3)Misaki Nanase: An O.C side character who is to have a romantic relationship with Rikichi.

A/N: Feel free to read or ignore this rant (though if you want to have a certain overview of the story, it's a good read): I've been thinking...then I noticed something: every fanfiction I've read, although some rather captivating never had that one element that makes it worth while...There's always something missing or the best stories are the ones that halt abruptly, leaving no conclusion or continuation whatsoever and leave us hanging on a thread... Don't get me wrong: there are many good fics that I adore, but for others, I wish I could just kidnap the story and rewrite it, though I had promised myself to never write fanfiction...but here I am (I was also greatly encouraged my friends, so I have them to thank too)... I chose the Manga Bleach for my first try because, well, let's face it: so far, the plot has been very satisfying for us readers and viewers (I haven't gone past the Fullbringer Arc though, I'm waiting for the current one to finish so I can read it as I can't stay hanging on a thread...not with Bleach). I've never really been disappointed by Bleach: there's just one thing, where Tite Kubo focuses too much on some characters compared to others... Then again, doesn't every author do the same with their favourite characters? The real reason for me opting for writing a Bleach fanfiction in the first place, is because I couldn't find any good stories with a plot in which Aizen tormented Byakuya, with the exception of one called: To Protect, but it was never finished (it has 7 chapters) by the one who wrote it, which is a real shame for it was rather intense...far too intense for some though...