Finally…after weeks of pain and suffering, mainly suffering, my finals are done and over with. No idea what my final grades are yet, but they should be good. A quick and hearty thanks to all of my readers for the luck and best wished they tossed me, it looks like it really helped.

But now that summer is here, the writing can continue. I hope everyone's week went by without any problems, but if it didn't, well at least I can give you all the next chapter of our story. Sadly, again, no reviews, but that's okay. As long as you all enjoy reading the story, I'm happy.

A quick side note before we begin though, THANK GOD FINALS ARE OVER!

(I DO NOT OWN BLEACH; ITS CHARACTORS, NAMES, LOCATIONS, OR STORY! THAT HONOR BELONGS SOLELY TO TITE KUBO AND HIS TEAM! ONLY THE OC, AND RANDOM NAMES NOT MENTIONED IN THE BOOKS OR ANIME ARE MY OWN!)

Chapter 14

(Hollows and Arrancars)

World of the Living, Karakura Town, Present

Ichigo Kurosaki flew through the air in repetitive flash steps as he headed towards the hollow near the edge of the city. He was still in one of his afternoon classes when the alarm in his substitute soul reaper combat pass had gone off, so he quickly excused himself from class and left his body, hiding it in some bushes on the school grounds.

Luckily for him, the hollow appeared during his English Literature class; his least favorite by far. It was sometimes a struggle for him to pay attention to the teacher while she taught her class; considering that it was a boring class that was in the afternoon right after lunch period, and the occasional nightly hollow excursions he had to do; like last night.

He was a little on edge after his large, cleaver-like zanpakutō on his back, Zangetsu, had told him that he felt something odd about the hollow's spiritual pressure. Ichigo himself couldn't feel any difference in the pressure, his ability to sense spiritual pressures being lackluster at best; but he knew that Zangetsu would never steer him wrong.

"So, what's so different about this hollow's spiritual pressure, old man?" he asked his zanpakutō spirit.

"I cannot answer that at this time, Ichigo. I would advise you use caution while engaging it." Zangetsu answered.

"Tsk, great. First that guy Hiroku…or whatever his name was, and now some weird ass hollow. Any more surprises I should be aware about?" he complained.

"You know as much as I do at this point, Ichigo." His spirit stated.

"Whatever, this guy should be just up ahead, right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, a few more blocks and you should see him." Zangetsu affirmed.

"Right." The orange haired teenager said aloud with a scowl.

After steeping of the top of a building, he flashed into place to see a slightly larger than human sized hollow with four arms and a grey body going after a lone male soul. He reached back over his shoulder and grasped the hilt of Zangetsu, its wrappings unfurling and shortening in length as he drew it from his back.

"He don't look so tough." He commented to himself.

He blazed forward with his blade held behind him as the hollow got close to the soul, ready to swing down to kill it. Ichigo swung sideways as he came to a stop in front of the hollow, cutting it across its abdomen.

The hollow gave out a slightly feminine roar in pain, causing Ichigo to smirk a bit; but his smirk quickly fell when the cut he had just made quickly began to heal itself. Within a matter of only a few seconds, the hollow's injury was completely healed.

"What?!" he choked out.

The hollow looked at him and swung its two left arms to hit both Ichigo's head and side. He reflexively held his giant blade facing down and against his side. The two clawed hands struck the side of the blade, the force of the attack throwing Ichigo off his feet on onto the ground a few yards away.

The soul ran off to find cover as the hollow turned to face her new prey. She glared at him as he got back to his feet, coughing.

"Well, look what we have here; a soul reaper that's come to be my lunch." She commented.

Ichigo stood up and got into a wide and tall stance, a deep scowl on his face.

"Ichigo, be careful with this hollow; I can feel the spirit energy around it being pulled towards it." Zangetsu warned.

Ichigo's eyes widened a bit. "What? What do you mean? And how the hell did it heal itself like that?" he asked in worry.

"The hollow is somehow absorbing the spirit energy around it; and with your inability to control your spiritual pressure, it is only making the matter worse. It would seem that this hollow is using that energy to heal itself at a rapid pace. You must be careful to not exert too much spiritual pressure while you fight against it. Doing so will only allow it to heal that much faster. I recommend that you defeat this foe quickly, Ichigo." The old man advised.

"Tsk, just great!" he growled.

The hollow narrowed its gaze at him and chuckled. "My, you seem to have quite a large amount of spirit energy. I can feel it flowing from you like a raging river; it makes my skin tingle with delight. Please do me the favor of dying quickly, so I can enjoy feeding on it that much faster." She said in a happy voice.

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "Tsk, I don't think so, hollow scum! Time to end this!" he stated.

"I couldn't agree more." She returned.

The two beings then charged at each other; the hollow readying to swing down while Ichigo readied to swing up. A quick change of direction with Zangetsu's blade allowed Ichigo to slice one of the hollow's hands off at the wrist.

The hollow roared in pain and swung with both arms on the other side, with Ichigo again getting batted to the side. Fortunately, he managed to stay on his feet, sliding across the ground to a halt. The hollow was holding one of its remaining hands on the injured limb.

Ichigo was shocked again as he watched the hollow's missing hand started to regenerate itself within a matter of seconds.

"This is bullshit! How the hell am I supposed to kill something that keeps fixing itself?!" he complained loudly.

The hollow's hand finished its reconstruction, then she turned to him. "You are starting to annoy me." She pointed to him.

"I'm' starting to annoy 'you'?! You keep healing yourself!" he yelled as he pointed back.

"Shut up! I'm done playing games with you!" she yelled back.

She charged at him again with all four arms out stretched, moving to try and stab him through. Ichigo scoffed and held his blade up again in a defensive posture. Three of the hollow's arms were stopped by his blade, but one got by and grazed the side of his sword arm.

Ichigo grunted in pain and got ready to move to counterattack. But a sudden crash from behind him stopped him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a red skinned version of the hollow in front of him, about to stab him with its two right hands.

"Damn!" he growled out. "I can't dodge it!" he panicked.

"Hadō #33, Sōkatsui!" a voice yelled to his right.

A blue bolt of raw energy suddenly impacted the grey skinned hollow, throwing it to the side a few yards away.

"Hadō # 31, Shakkahō!" a different, and feminine voice yelled further, also from the left.

A red ball of fire energy sailed through the air and towards the female hollow to Ichigo's front. The hollow jumped away backwards, the kidō just missing her and sailing into a nearby tree.

Ichigo turned to the direction of the voices to see at least ten soul reapers running in his direction, led by a short man with blondish hair.

Timothy drew his Susan's zanpakutō, the others drawing theirs as well, and pointed at the red skinned hollow.

"Hinata, take six members and go after the red one; I'll take the other five and help the substitute with the grey one! And remember, no kidō! We managed to catch em by surprise this time, but that won't happen again!" he instructed.

She nodded at him with a stern look and pointed at her chosen team members. "You six, with me!" she commanded.

"Yes maam!" they replied in unison, then followed her to their target.

Timothy turned to his team. "Again, don't use kidō, or it will just heal itself! Yuka, I want you to hold back for communications; and put a request in for an area freeze around me, Hinata, and the substitute! Fifty units each!" he instructed.

She nodded at him and stopped in place to relay the order. Timothy turned back to the front and held his blade in front of him.

"You ready?" he asked Susan.

"Yeah, but remember that you 'can't' release me!" she reminded.

"Got it!" he confirmed. "Tease, Moeru Kitsune!" he called out.

His blade began its transformation as Susan spawned her flames, scattered around the battle field. The blade finished its transformation as Timothy darted forward, swinging at the female hollow.

The hollow dodged to the side and swung out at him, but one of his team members swung out as well, cutting the hollow's lower left forearm. She growled from the pain and struck out in retaliation.

"Damn you!" she yelled.

Another member blocked the attack while the two remaining team members each got a hit in on her side. She howled more, then faced the two and prepared a red cero.

"Look out!" the second member yelled.

The two members the hollow was targeting flashed away as the beam of energy erupted from the hollow's mouth, hitting the ground and creating a small crater. Timothy then turned to Ichigo.

"I'm Lieutenant Durn from Squad 7; we're here to give ya a hand!" he introduced.

Ichigo nodded and jumped in on the fray. Timothy turned back to the hollow and was shocked to see that all of its injuries were completely gone.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he yelled, then vanished into one of his flames.

He reappeared a few feet behind the hollow and prepared to stab out. But stopped when the flame he appeared from suddenly vanished. He glanced behind him to see that it was gone, then looked around to see the rest of his flames had vanished too.

He looked down at his blade. "What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

"It's not me! The flames are going out on their own!" she yelled back in a panic.

His eyes widened, then he quickly looked back at the hollow. "Is it absorbing the flames as well?!"

"I think it is, that's the only thing I can think of that explains it! And if that's the case, you can't use my abilities!" she warned.

Timothy growled at the sudden change in the scale. "Shit! Do you think it'll affect the other's releases?!" he asked.

"No idea, Tim; but I would recommend against it!"

He moaned in annoyance, then turned to his teammates. "Guys!" he yelled, getting their brief attention. "Don't release your zanpakutōs! The hollow is affecting mine! It might affect yours as well!" he instructed.

"Yes sir!" they answered back, then continued their assaults.

He then turned to Yuka. "Relay that to Hinata's group as well!" he ordered.

She nodded, then flashed away.

Timothy turned back to the hollow when Ichigo flashed in next to him, a scowl on his face and pointing at the creature.

"Care to tell me what the hell this is about?! The damn thing keeps fixing itself!" he demanded.

Timothy turned to him. "That hollow is one we've been looking for over a week after it killed several squad members. It can somehow absorb spirit energy to heal itself. And what about that grey one? We were only told about the one."

"No idea, it just showed up outta nowhere! I didn't even sense it!" the substitute growled.

"Neither did we; it was like it wasn't even there. And what the hell is your problem? Why the hell are you spewing your spirit energy everywhere? All you're doing is helping the hollow at this point." Timothy barked.

Ichigo turned to him with a growl. "Oh, shut up! It's not 'my' fault I can't control my spiritual pressure!"

Timothy sweat dropped at his statement. "You have 'got' to be fucking kidding me! You mean to tell me you don't know how to control your 'own' spirit energy?! Are you stupid or something?!"

Ichigo's temper then flared. "What the hell did you say?!" he asked with a fist held up.

"You heard me! How can you be so stupid to fight a spirit energy absorbing hollow when you can't control your own?!" Timothy shot back.

Both men glared at each other, ready to drop down. Timothy finally scoffed and turned back to the hollow, now holding off three of his team members.

"Whatever, lets just kill this thing quickly so we can take care of the other one!" he said with a growl.

"Fine!" Ichigo growled back, then they both charged at the hollow.

With Hinata

Hinata quickly stood back up after being flung to the ground from the grey hollow's counter attack. She wiped a bit of blood from her mouth with the back of her free hand and was about to charge back in when Yuka flashed in near her. She turned to her friend.

"Tim said not to release you zanpakutōs against the hollow! The other one is somehow affecting his release and making it stronger! Also, an area freeze has been placed around you, fifty units; so you don't need to worry about the souls nearby!" Yuka yelled.

Hinata nodded in understanding. "Alright, got it!" she answered, then turned back to the hollow.

'No sword releases?! This bastard's is tough as hell; so how are we supposed to kill it?! What's worse, I can't even feel it! If I wasn't actually looking at it right now, I wouldn't even know that it was there!' she pondered in her head.

"Issei!" she called out, gaining his attention. "Take Junya and Mori; distract it on the left and we'll hit it from the right!"

The friend nodded firmly and left to do his task. Hinata then turned to other two members. "You two, with me!" she followed.

The two members nodded and flashed away with her to get into position.

Issei, Junya, and Mori paired together and started attacking the hollow in full force; switching out with each attack to prevent it from getting a chance to counter. It seemed to them that this hollow had a much tougher skin than the other one.

Where the grey one would take damage somewhat easily and would try to dodge attacks, this one was instead using its arms to block their attacks; their blades only causing mild cuts. But they also noticed that this one for some reason 'wasn't' healing itself.

Issei came in low while Mori jumped off the ground for a high attack. Issei swung at the same time Mori did; but the hollow used its lower right hand to catch Issei's blade, and its upper left arm to block Mori's.

Junya came in from the right side at a run to try and run his blade into the hollow's flank. The hollow saw this, so it dropped its upper right arm down; letting Junya's blade run into it a few inches; the hollow grunting in pain.

Hinata saw this as the perfect opportunity, so she and her two teammates dashed out at full speed right back the hollow's back. The hollow glanced over its shoulder, seeing the imminent danger; so, it quickly pushed Mori back with force, tossing him back to the sky.

It then swiftly pulled its arm away from Junya's blade, immediately grabbing it afterward. Turning its body and pulling with its two right arms, Issei and Junya were pulled from their places; and thrown towards the incoming group.

Hinata gasped and dropped to the ground, Junya's body flying past her overhead and into a tree; while Issei's body flew into one of the other members, sending them both onto the ground hard.

The hollow darted forward, right at the other standing member and swung down with both left hands; the claws slashing across the man's chest and throwing him back. Hinata quickly got back up and went at the creature as Mori returned from behind it.

Hinata swung down on it's now outstretched right arms, cutting deep into the lower one. Mori came up and swung down at the exact same spot, landing on Hinata's blade, still inside its arm; the extra force proving just enough to finish the job and cut the lower right hand off midway down the forearm.

The hollow yelled out in pain as it swung down with its other right hand in a fist, catching Hinata in the shoulder in sending her straight down to the ground. Mori struck out at the hollow's exposed back, giving it a mild cut along its back from shoulder to hip.

It then reached back around with its lower left arm, grabbing Mori's blade, then thrusted its right fist at his face. Unable to move without letting go of his zanpakutō, Mori was forced to take the force of the hit; causing him to release his grip on the sword and falling to the ground.

The hollow, still holding Mori's zanpakutō by the blade, lurched forward and rammed the blade through his stomach, effectively pinning him to the ground. Mori yelled in pain from the attack and grabbed the blade with both hands.

Junya, now recovered from his collision with nature, ran up to the hollow with Issei right next to him.

"Go low, I got high!" Junya said, getting a nod from his friend.

Junya leaped into the air, holding his sword to the side, while Issei ran in for a stab at its abdomen. The hollow turned to see the attack, growled, then grabbed the hilt of Mori's zanpakutō.

He yelled as the hollow yanked it from his body. It then turned and kicked out at Issei, causing him to jump to the side; forcing him to abandon the attack. Looking up, it saw Junya with his eyes wide after seeing that he was now wide open.

The hollow scoffed, then swung high and to the side, the blade sailing right across the man's chest. The attack sent Junya back with a gasp as a stream of dark red blood erupted from the open wound.

"Junya!" Hinata yelled, now back on her feet and slightly dazed.

With Timothy, 10 Minutes Earlier

Timothy and his group, along with Ichigo, were having a very difficult time trying to land a lethal blow on the grey skinned hollow. It would take damage easy enough, but the problem was that it just kept on healing itself before they could land another hit.

One of the members were down and unconscious, the other had a bleeding gash on his sword arm and leg, Kenta was bleeding from a cut on the top of his head with blood running down the side of his face, Timothy had a similar cut on his head and a wound on his right flank, and Ichigo had a long slice on his chest.

All of the standing individuals short on breath.

"This bastard just won't stay down!" Kenta growled as he swung down, cutting its lower left arm of at the midway point of its upper arm.

Ichigo immediately swung out at its back as the arm began to heal. The hollow swatted his blade away and was about to swing down on him with a fist, but Timothy jumped in and blocked the attack with his blade held out.

"Don't let up!" he yelled to the others.

"Get back!" Ichigo yelled as he held Zangetsu above his head with both hands.

Timothy glanced back to see the substitute's blade edge starting to glow. He gasped and quickly shunpoed a few yards away.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled out, sending a bright, blue, giant burst of energy straight at the hollow.

"You idiot!" Timothy yelled at him.

The large force of energy sailed straight into the hollow, creating a giant explosion. Timothy held his arm up to shield his eyes from the debris that the force of the attack started kicking around.

Dust covered the area as Timothy flashed over to stand next to Ichigo. "Are you fucking stupid?! The hollow absorbs energy! What the hell do you think that attack is gonna do to it?!" he yelled in the teen's face.

Ichigo glared at him. "Shut the hell up! Your attacks didn't do anything! At least 'I'm' trying!" he yelled back.

Timothy slapped a hand to his forehead. "For god's sakes, how can 'anyone' be this incredibly stupid?!" he blasted out.

"Why I outta…" Ichigo started, but stopped when the female hollow started laughing.

Both men turned to see that, while the substitute's attack had caused a good amount of damage, the hollow was quickly regenerating. Timothy quickly turned back to him with a hand gesturing to the creature.

"See what I mean?! You only helped it heal faster!" he accused.

"I'll have to agree with your friend, orange haired soul reaper." The hollow spoke out, getting their attention back. "Hit me with that as many times as you want; I don't mind the extra boost. I rather enjoy it; it makes me want to eat your soul even faster."

"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled to her.

Timothy turned to him. "No, 'you' shut up! Why don't you make yourself useful and go sit behind a tree somewhere?!"

Ichigo growled at him, then turned back to the hollow. "I've had enough of this crap." He moaned loudly, then held Zangetsu out in front of him, his free hand now resting on his right forearm. The wind started swirling around him as his spiritual pressure began to rise at an alarming rate.

Sensing what he was doing, Timothy quickly jumped back away from him.

"Don't release, you fool!" he yelled out after he landed a few yards from him.

"Bankai!" Ichigo yelled out.

Timothy's eyes widened as Ichigo became engulfed in a swirling mass of pure spirit energy. The wind blew past Timothy at high speeds as everything started to get pushed away from Ichigo's position.

After a moment, the mass of energy vanished, revealing Ichigo, who was now wearing a black overcoat that looked similar to the standard shihakusho, with the back extending down to his ankles.

His zanpakutō had also changed in shape, but not the way that Timothy had expected. What was once a giant cleaver, was now what appeared to be a standard zanpakutō. The hilt, guard, and entire blade was all a solid black.

"Tensa Zangetsu." He called out sternly.

Timothy was now confused as hell. "Please tell me that your bankai isn't as pitiful as the blade looks." He pleaded.

Ichigo turned back to him again. "Shut up! I ain't got time to argue with you any further!"

Timothy scoffed at him. "Then stop being an idiot!" he demanded.

"Just…shut up and watch!" the substitute said, then vanished from sight.

Timothy's eyes widened. "What the?!"

His attention was drawn to the hollow when it suddenly started screaming in pain. He looked to see that its lower left, and both right arms were now separated from its body at the shoulders.

"How…" he chocked out, then caught a very brief glimpse of Ichigo's form passing by behind the hollow.

Dark blood erupted from the hollow's back, causing it to yell even more. Ichigo then flashed into existence right next to Timothy. The Lieutenant turned to him with shock.

"What the hell was that?!" he demanded.

Ichigo turned to him with a scowl. "My bankai gives me a ridiculous amount of speed; there's no way that hollow could ever keep up with me."

Timothy was now very pissed. "Why the hell didn't you start out with that, stupid?! This would have been over a long time ago!"

"Look out!" Kenta yelled.

Timothy turned just in time to see the hollow was now right in front of them, its regenerated arms swinging down on both of them. Timothy held his blade up to block, but once again its arms were separated from its body; and Ichigo no longer standing next to Timothy.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" the hollow yelled as it swung its remaining hands down on Timothy.

He held his blade out to block the attack, but then noticed Ichigo was now charging through the air towards the hollow from behind.

"It's over!" he announced.

With a swing that Timothy barely caught sight of, the hollow's body split apart down the middle. The female hollow let out a dying yell as it began to dissipate as its body fell backward.

Outskirts of the Park, 2 Minutes Earlier

Nelliel entered the park to hear people yelling and what sounded like a hollow yelling in pain. She had sensed the numerous amounts spiritual pressure signatures a few minutes ago, so she decided to investigate.

She may have been betrayed by Aizen, but soul reapers were still considered her enemies; and she knew that she would need to help the hollow defend itself. Afterall, she was once a hollow herself at one-point years ago, before she evolved into a Gillian, so they were technically kin.

She came to a wooded area and could sense at least ten soul reapers in the clearing just ahead of her. She drew Gamuza from its sheath and walked quietly while suppressing her spirit energy to avoid being detected.

In her current condition, there was no way that she could take on more than a couple at a time; so a surprise attack, as much as she hated it, would be the only option.

She walked along quietly, using the trees as cover and jogging from one to the next until she could now start to see the battle ahead of her. She came as close as she dared and hid behind a tree, glancing around it to see the situation.

She counted six soul reapers fighting a single, red skinned hollow, likely an Adjuchas judging by its looks and spiritual pressure. One of the soul reapers was lying on the ground, out cold; while the rest were in pretty rough shape.

This surprised her, considering that two of them had high spiritual pressures; the orange haired one having the most, and it was enormous. Watching the battle for a few seconds longer, she could then see why they were having such a hard time fighting it.

Every time that one of them landed a hit on the Adjuchas, it quickly healed itself right back up, like it was never touched in the first place. Using her pesquisa, she could feel that all of the surrounding spirit energy, especially the energy emitted from the soul reapers, was flowing towards the Adjuchas.

'That's strange…it feels like that Adjuchas is somehow using the spirit energy around it. Is that how its healing so fast? It's obviously not the standard instant regeneration…' she mentally observed.

She looked at the other soul reaper with high spiritual pressure standing next to the orange haired one. It looked to her like the two were arguing between each other. The man's head was turned away from her, so she couldn't see his face.

With two of the soul reapers bickering with each other, obviously distracted, and the other two in bad shape, she figured this was the best chance to jump out and help the Adjuchas. She brought Gamuza up and held it ready for her attack.

She was just about to jump out, when the unknown man suddenly turned his head just enough to where she could now see his bleeding face. Her eyes widened as she came to recognize who the man was.

It was the same man that she had seen in the recordings during Aizen's meeting a couple days ago; the man that Aizen had cruelly used his wife as a test subject with the Hōgyoku.

Her sword arm began to droop down as feelings of regret and sympathy began to flood her mind. She remembered how horrible she had felt for the man that he had to endure such a travesty. To have everything taken from him and placed in a world of suffering.

She immediately felt that she couldn't raise her blade against him. After everything that Aizen had done to him, it felt wrong to try and kill him. She pulled back from view and lowered Gamuza to her side with a heavy sigh.

'I can't kill him…not after everything he's been through. It wouldn't be right.' She concluded.

"Bankai!" a young and deep voice yelled out.

Nel immediately turned back to see a vortex of raw spirit energy swirling around were the orange haired soul reaper was standing a minute ago. The man she had felt bad for was now standing a few yards away from where she was, his back to her and holding his arm up to shield his face.

'This spiritual pressure is enormous!' she observed as she looked at the, now vanishing whirlpool.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked closely at the orange haired reaper's new form. His kosode had changed into a sort of black jacket, with a tail that dropped down to his ankles; and his large zanpakutō was now much smaller than before.

'Why is his weapon so small? What purpose does it serve to be that small?' she wondered.

She was shocked when the young man suddenly vanished and three of the Adjuchas's arms were now falling to the ground. Not even a split second later, the man was now right next to the other man. Her eyes widened in amazement at the man's speed.

'He…he was so fast that…I never even felt him with my pesquisa! My pesquisa is the second highest, second only to Ulquiorra, and he got past it?! To be able to do that, his speed has to be astronomical!"

She watched as the two men started arguing with each other again. The Adjuchas, its arms now recovered, charged at the two men while distracted.

"Look out!" one of the other men called out, getting the two bickering men's attention.

The fast soul reaper then vanished again as the Adjuchas started to swing down on the other man. The man attempted to block the attack, but it proved to be a pointless gesture as two of the Adjuchas's arms were once again removed from its body.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" it yelled out.

The orange haired reaper suddenly appeared high above the Adjuchas, flying down to slice the poor creature in two.

"It's over!" he yelled as he swung down; the Adjuchas splitting in two and disappearing as it was purified.

'Unbelievable…I can't believe he's so fast.'

She continued to observe the group as the speedy soul reaper walked over to the man she recognized to talk for a minute, likely arguing again; then they ran off further into the clearing and away from her in a hurry.

'If they are hurrying like that, it must mean that there's another battle somewhere nearby. I can feel more spiritual pressures in the distance, but I can't sense who they are fighting. I should follow them and get a closer look at this.' She concluded, then carefully started moving from tree to tree.

With Hinata

Hinata was starting to panic as she looked around at her teammates. Two of the members were unconscious on the ground, Mori and Junya were both in very bad shape, and the last member had been killed.

It was now down to her and Issei; neither of them in good shape either. The hollow had a decent amount of damage inflicted on it, but it didn't look like it was going to go down any time soon. She looked over to Junya, who was laying on his side with an open wound on his chest and bleeding profusely.

'This is bad…it's only me and Issei left, and we don't stand a chance against that thing. Junya and Mori need immediate medical care…but what can I do?" she fretted in her head.

She was brought out from her thoughts when the hollow darted towards them, its two left arms stretched out behind it to swing out at her. Issei dashed ahead in order to cut off its movements and allow Hinata to get a hit in.

Seeing his intent, she dashed forward as well, but a bit to the right. The hollow turned to Issei and swung out at him, Issei holding his blade up and blocking the attack. The force pushed him back a bit, but it still left the hollows flank open enough.

Seeing her chance, Hinata suddenly changed direction midstride straight for the hollow's side. The hollow saw her coming, but didn't react quite fast enough. Hinata's blade caught the hollow's side, cutting it just under the ribcage.

But this turned to be bad luck for her because her blade caught the lower rib, stopping its movement. She lightly gasped to see that her blade was now stuck in the hollows side, leaving her effectively trapped against it.

The hollow rotated its torso a bit and raised its upper left arm to bring it down on her head. Her eyes widened as she quickly tried to think of what to do. If she held on to her zanpakutō, the hollow would no doubt land a critical blow on her; but if she released her blade, she would be without a weapon.

She was broken from the thought when she saw the hollow's fist flying towards her at full speed, right for her face.

'Shit!'

The hollow's fist was now mere inches from her, but somehow it never made contact. She widened her eyes more to see that the fist, instead of flying for her face, was now dropping to the ground.

'What?' she thought.

The hollow roared in pain as it slapped its remaining right hand over the area where its upper left hand 'used' to be. It turned to see Ichigo standing tall a few yards away from it, his zanpakutō to his side.

"Hinata!"

Her state of shock was broken when Timothy yelled to her. Now seeing the immediate danger she was in, she quickly tugged on her sword, trying to free it. Luckily, the hollow's movement caused certain muscles in its side to loosen up a bit, allowing her to be able to pull it free.

She then flashed away, now standing right next to Timothy and Kenta who were looking at her rough shape with concern.

"You alright?" Kenta asked, but she shook her head.

"No, Junya and Mori need medical care now! And I've also lost one of my team members!" she cried out.

Timothy nodded, then turned to Ichigo. "Hey! Substitute!" he yelled, getting Ichigo's attention. "Hurry up and kill that fucker, we've gotta get these casualties outta here!"

Ichigo nodded, then disappeared in a flash. Hinata's eyes widened at the ridiculous speed the teen possessed. Before she could say or comment about it, the hollow suddenly yelled out in agony.

She turned to see that the foul creature was now reduced to a single hand, its lower left. Ichigo then appeared right behind it, ready to cut it in two just like the one before. The teen swung down hard at the hollow's head, but just a few inches before the blade made contact, the hollow vanished with an audible 'buzz'.

Ichigo recovered his swing and landed on the ground, now looking around like everyone else at this point.

"Where'd the hell it go?!" he asked in surprise and annoyance.

Everyone was looking in every direction as they got into their guard stances.

"I can't feel it…" Timothy stated.

Hinata glance to him and nodded. "Yeah, this one can somehow remain undetectable."

Timothy growled. "Now I know how these guys must have killed Hetoku. The grey fucker must have distracted him while the red one, unable to be detected, came up behind him and took him out." he observed.

She nodded back. "I think that's the case as well. But I also noticed that this one wasn't healing itself, and it didn't feel like it was pulling spirit energy to it, like the other one. I think this one just has a tougher skin, but can't absorb spirit energy."

He nodded back. "I noticed that too."

Hinata turned to him fully, lowering her blade. "But Tim, we can't stay here; Junya and Mori 'need' medical care 'now'!" she pointed out.

Timothy lowered his guard as well. "Agreed; Yuka." He called. She flashed into place next to him, then he turned to her. "Get a senkaimon here immediately. Tell them I want the exit placed directly at Squad 4's doorstep. Also, have a message sent to Squad 4 telling them to prepare for two critical patients and five with multiple lacerations and head injuries." He instructed.

She nodded and pulled out her communicator as Timothy turned back to Hinata. "You take everyone back as fast as possible. I'm going to stay here with the substitute and see if we can find the hollow. If it's true that it can't absorb spirit energy like the other one, we should be able to handle it. If I'm not back within an hour, tell the Captain I'll send him a message soon."

She nodded as she sheathed her zanpakutō, then ran off to start getting the injured ready for the return trip. Timothy turned to Ichigo as he walked up, no longer in his bankai and clutching his head.

Timothy rose a brow at him. "You alright?"

Ichigo scoffed, but nodded slightly. "For the moment. I'm gonna have to leave; I left my body back at school, and I know I'm gonna hear it from my teacher for being gone so long."

The Lieutenant sighed and nodded. "Could you spare ten minutes to help me look around for that fucker?"

He scoffed again. "Yeah, I'll help ya out for a few. But that's it."

Timothy turned to see a senkaimon appear a few feet away from him, then open up. He then glanced back to Hinata and Kenta.

"Hurry up and get going." He called out, then Yuka walked up to him.

"Squad 4 received you message, and have their emergency personnel standing by." She relayed.

Timothy nodded and pointed to one of the downed members. "Carry him back."

She nodded back and ran over to the man he pointed to.

A few minutes later, everyone had walked into the senkaimon, with Hinata taking up the rear, carrying Junya on her back and her shihakusho soaked with his blood. She paused to look at him with worry.

"Be careful Tim." she pleaded.

"Don't worry about me, hurry up and get him to Squad 4." he demanded.

She nodded, then walked into the senkaimon, the portal closing behind her and fading away. Waiting a few more seconds, Timothy turned back to Ichigo, who is clearly annoyed.

"You good?" Timothy askes.

Ichigo sighs, then nods back. "Yeah, let's just get this over with."

"Alright, let's split up. You head out towards the east, I'll head west. Head out about a half mile or so, then circle around clockwise. Hopefully, we'll find it soon." Timothy instructs.

Ichigo moans and turns to him. "Yeah yeah, whatev…" he suddenly stopped midsentence as his eyes widened when he saw the large red hollow standing right behind Timothy with its remaining hand pulled back to run him through from behind.

"Look out!" he yelled, as he brought Zangetsu up to charge in and block the attack.

But as he did so, the realization hit him that there was no way he was going to get there in time; and Timothy had his back fully to the hollow's incoming attack. Timothy gasped as he quickly turned over his shoulder to see the incoming attack, aimed straight for his back.

'Shit!' he thought in panic.

"No!" a strange voice called out.

With Nel, 3 Minutes Earlier

Nelliel continued to observe the group of soul reapers from behind a tree about fifty feet away. The battle had just ended when the red Adjuchas that looked just like the grey one had retreated using a sonído.

As she looked around at the different soul reapers, she could instantly tell that one had been killed; and judging by the fading spiritual pressures of two more, she knew that they were not far behind.

She watched as the blonde man, the one that Aizen had tortured, spoke with one of the female members for a moment before another female appeared next to him. The man spoke a few words to her, most likely instructions, then she pulled out a small device; holding it to her ear.

After speaking with the first female for a few seconds longer, the woman took off and ran to one of the dying members. A couple minutes later, Nel saw the soul reaper's senkaimon appear near the blonde man.

She faintly heard the man give out more instructions before his team walked into the portal. The portal then closed its doors and vanished, leaving the blonde and orange haired men the only ones left.

The two men waited for a few seconds before they began speaking to each other, likely coming up with a plan to find the remaining Adjuchas.

But Nel's eyes became wide with shock and worry when the Adjuchas suddenly appeared right behind the blonde man; its last hand ready to jab into the man's back. The younger man had noticed the Adjuchas, but Nel knew that there was no way that he would be able to save his friend.

'He won't make it!' she concluded.

"No!" she yelled aloud.

With a buzz of sonído as fast as she could manage, she quickly reappeared between the man and the Adjuchas; holding Gamuza in a guard to block the attack.

The hollow's outstretched fingers collided with the side of the blade. Normally, she would have been able to withstand the attack without so much as flinching, not even letting her blade fall back a millimeter; but with her extremely weakened state, she didn't have the strength to hold out against the force of the strike.

Her blade was forced back against her chest, two of the hollow's clawed fingers digging deeply into her chest just under her breasts. Her eyes became wide as saucers as she gave out a breath of pain; her body being pushed back and into the man behind her.

She barely felt one the man's arms wrap around her upper body and shoulder, bracing her against him as they both fell back a bit from the force of the blow. The man used his other hand to grab ahold of the Adjuchas's wrist, pinning it against them.

"Kill it, NOW!" he yelled near her head.

Not even a split second later, the orange haired reaper was behind the hollow and swinging down. The hollow tried to pull away from Nel's body, but the man behind her held on tightly; not daring to let the creature go.

The young teen's blade made contact and cut clean through the Adjuchas's head. It gave out a loud death cry as it began to vanish from existence; the blonde man releasing its wrist at the last second and allowing the hand to withdraw from Nel's body.

She gasped in pain as the hand pulled from her, and her sword arm fell to her side before Gamuza fell from her grip. Her vision began to fade as the little bit of strength she had left her. Her body quickly started to go limp, causing her to drop out of the man's hold before collapsing on the ground.

"Hey, substitute! Help me!" she heard the man yell, his voice now droning out as her vision completely failed, leaving her in darkness as her consciousness left her.

Timothy quickly returned Susan's blade to its sheath as Ichigo replaced Zangetsu onto his back before turning and dropping down to a knee next to the woman who had saved him. He rolled her onto her back just as Ichigo knelt down next to him to see the damage the woman had received from the hollow.

"It looks bad." Ichigo observed.

Timothy carefully unbuttoned her top and opened it just enough to see the damage without exposing her breasts. He rose a brow when he saw that she already had a bandage on her chest made from what appeared to be part of her clothes.

He looked down at her legs to see that the fabric of her pants had been ripped off from a little bit above her knees. The lower half of her top was also ripped off, telling him that she had indeed used her clothes as makeshift dressings.

"Worse, I think she's been attacked before. Look at this." Timothy stated.

Ichigo hesitated, a blush combing his cheeks at seeing her chest nearly uncovered fully.

"I'll…uh, take your word for it." He said as he turned his head away.

Timothy turned to him with a stern look. "This ain't the time to be a prude, you fool! She's dying after saving our asses! Now get over here and give me a hand!" he demanded.

Ichigo scoffed and hesitantly turned his head back to her, blushing even further upon looking at her chest again. Timothy growled, then planted his fist on the top of the teen's head.

"Quit your damn blushing and help me!" Timothy demanded further.

Ichigo looked at him and clenched his fists. "I'll get you for that!" he growled, then turned to the dressing Timothy was pulling aside; trying his absolute hardest to not think about the woman's near bare chest.

"What the hell happened to her?" he asked with wide eyes.

"No idea, but her skin is pail as hell; likely from severe blood lose from the look of that wound. If we don't treat this new one soon, she's dead." Timothy pointed out.

Ichigo turned to him. "Who the hell is she? She's not a soul reaper, is she?"

Timothy shook his head. "No, but she ain't human either. Plus, there's that sword of hers and this skull thing on the top of her head." He said as he pointed at the mentioned adornment.

"Is she a hollow?" the teen asked.

The Lieutenant turned to him in disbelief. "Does she 'look' like a hollow to you? I don't know about you, but I have never seen, or even heard of a hollow that looks exactly like a human woman. But that's beside the point; we need to figure out how to help her. I can't take her back to the soul society without knowing what she is, and I don't know any medical kidō. You?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I don't know how to use kidō, never tried."

Timothy growled and turned back to her. "Well we've gotta do something…"

Ichigo finally let out a sigh. "I know someone who could help, I was just hoping I wouldn't have to deal with him."

Timothy quickly looked at him. "Who?" he half pleaded.

The teen scowled deeply. "His name's Urahara; he has a candy shop, or whatever it is, about a half mile from here. I can give Orihime a call and have her meet us there."

The blonde rose a brow. "Friend of yours?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, she's got this cool ability to heal any wound really fast."

"Good enough for me. You call her while I pick up the woman." Timothy concluded.

"Crap…" Ichigo said as Timothy started to pick the woman up.

"What?" he moaned as he turned to the teen.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "My phones with my body back at school. It will probably take a bit longer to get her there."

Timothy growled at him. "Whatever, just lead me to this Urahara guy and use his phone to call her! Now help me get her on my back." He demanded.

Ichigo got up and walked around behind the woman as Timothy buttoned up top back up and returned her weapon to its sheath. Spreading her legs apart and kneeling down between them with his back to her, Timothy nodded for Ichigo to lift her up and set her on his back.

"Careful, those previous wounds are still fairly fresh and looked like they can still rip open. We can't afford for that to happen." Timothy notified.

The teen nodded, then lifted up her upper body; readjusting her arms to rest on both shoulders and resting her head on Timothy's right shoulder.

"Alright, hold her body against me while I grab her legs up." Timothy instructed further.

Reaching down, Timothy snaked his arms under the woman's knees, lifting them up and holding them against his flanks.

"Alright, I'm gonna try to stand up." He said.

Going slowly so he wouldn't lose his balance, Timothy came to a standing position. Giving her body a quick shuffle, he repositioned her to where her body was now more secure to him. He could already start to feel her blood being soaked into his shihakusho, telling him that they needed to move quickly.

Timothy turned around to face Ichigo. "Alright, lead the way; and try not to go too fast. I'm not exactly a master at shunpo, and I've never carried anyone while doing it."

Ichigo nodded, then both men, with the woman in tow, disappeared in a flash step.

Squad 4 Medical Center, Seireitei, Present

"Take these two to intensive care immediately." Captain Unohana instructed the members pushing Mori and Junya, now lying on stretchers. She then turned to her Lieutenant. "Isane, please ensure that the others are treated quickly, and send word to Captain Komamura that his team has returned."

Isane swiftly nods to her. "Yes maam!" she answers and runs off to complete her job.

Unohana then turns to Hinata, who was overseeing that her team was received properly. "Miss Ogawa, please have one of my staff treat your wounds." She insisted.

Hinata turned to her and bowed. "With all due respect Captain, I would like to make sure my team is taken care of first." She replied as she rose.

Unohana smiled at her warmly. "That will not be necessary. Your team members are already being looked after; so please have yourself looked at. What has become of Lieutenant Durn? Did he not return with you?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, he stayed behind to try and find the last hollow. The substitute soul reaper was with him."

The Captain nodded. "I see, so he is with Ichigo Kurosaki? In that case, he should be just fine. They are both strong warriors, and not likely to be taken down by this hollow. Now please, go ahead and get those wounds treated. I will alert Captain Komamura of any changes."

Hinata shook her head. "Please Captain, Tim put me in charge of the team when he is not around; so please keep me informed as well."

Unohana smiles deeply at her. "Of course." She finishes.

The younger woman bows at her superior, then leaves to find someone to look at her injuries.

World of the Living, Urahara Shop, Present

"Hey! Hat n clogs! Open up!" Ichigo yelled as he pounded on the sliding door.

For some odd reason that Ichigo couldn't fathom, although he should have expected it, the shop keeper locked his front door and had a sign out front that said, 'CLOSED FOR THE DAY'. Just like the lazy man tended to do, he managed to pick the worst time to have his shop closed.

"Is it really just our bad luck the guy's closed today?" Timothy dead panned.

After another minute, they heard the clicking sound of the lock being undone, then the door slid open; revealing a blonde man with a white and green striped hat and a careless smile.

"Well, good afternoon Ichigo! How can I help…" he started, but was interrupted by Ichigo's fist being planted on the top of his head.

The shop keeper huddled on the ground clutching his head and moaning lightly. Ichigo's anger jumped a few notches.

"Quit playing around hat n clogs! What the hell are you closed for in the middle of the day?!" the teen demanded.

Urahara stopped his moaning and looked up at him. "Come now, did you really want customers to show up while we take care of your lady friend there?" he asked calmly.

Timothy's brow rose. "You knew we were coming?" he asked in surprise.

Urahara shot back up with a wide smile, his hat covering his eyes and now holding a fan to his face.

"Of course not! It's just a simple coincidence!" he mockingly assured.

Ichigo and Timothy both sweat dropped. "Sure it is." They moaned in unison.

"Hm. Come on inside and set the cute lady in the back room." The shop keeper said as he walked inside the store.

Timothy glanced at him. "Is he always like this?" he asked, praying against the answer he was sure to come.

"Unfortunately." Ichigo confirmed, then walked in as well.

The Lieutenant gave a heavy sigh, but nodded and followed the teen inside the shop as well, Ichigo closing and locking the door behind him. He followed Ichigo as he led him to a small dining area, then turned left to a hallway with rooms on either side.

Walking in to the first room on the left, Timothy saw a small futon laid out on the floor in the center of the room.

"Just set her down over there and I'll get Tessai to begin healing her." Urahara instructed.

Timothy nodded, then walked over to the futon and turned his back to it. With Ichigo's help, they gently laid her back down onto the soft bedding, then Timothy turned to see that she had lost all color in her face.

"This is really bad. You need to get your friend over here now, substitute." Timothy advised.

The teen turned to him with a scowl. "My name is Ichigo, not substitute." He clarified.

Timothy nodded and held out his hand. "Sorry, but you never did say your name before now. Again, I'm Timothy Durn; but you can just call me Tim."

Ichigo took the man's hand and shook it. "Got it. I'll go call Orihime now. She's probably about to get out of school. I need to see if Chad can grab my body and drop it off here."

"Another friend of yours?" Timothy asked, getting a nod back.

"Yeah. He's a big guy, but he's as gentle as they come." He answered and left the room.

Timothy turned back to the woman, now getting a good look at her features. He was surprised by her bright teal hair that was spread out on the bedding. She had a soft face with a pinkish red line that ran across her face under her eyes and over the top of her nose.

As his eye went down a bit further, his face lit up bright red as he noticed the rather large assets on her chest. He quickly turned away and tried to think of something else to get rid of the blush.

He had noticed the large curves of her chest when they were in the park, but because of the situation they were in he didn't have the time to worry about such things. The woman had saved him, and he needed to do what it took to help her live.

He turned around when he heard footsteps enter the room to see a rather large, and broad-shouldered man with glasses and a large, thick mustache. The man walked up, kneeling down next to him, and began to heal the woman with his kidō.

"My name is Tessai, I'll look after her until Miss Inoue arrives." He advised.

Timothy nodded. "Timothy Durn, but Tim is fine." He returned.

Tessai looked at him and nodded back. "The boss would like to speak with you in the dining room. I have put some tea out if you would care for some."

Timothy sighed heavily. "Tea would be excellent right now. Thanks for your help, Tessai." He said with a bow of the head.

The man nodded again and turned back to the woman. Timothy turned and was about to get up, but then saw the woman's weapon still tucked in her sash.

'Best not to leave her armed for now, at least until we figure out who, or what she is.'

Reaching over to her side, he pulled the weapon from her sash before standing up and bowing to Tessai once again.

"Thanks again for the help." He said.

Tessai nodded, then Timothy left the room, closing the door to a crack. Walking through the hallways, the woman's weapon in his hand, he came back into the dining area to see the owner sitting down at the back, sipping tea.

"Ah, welcome back kind sir. Please, have a seat." He said as he gestured in front of him.

Timothy nodded, then walked over to one of the pillow seats. He slightly winched in pain as he came to a sitting position, setting the extra weapon down next to him.

"Do you need some healing, mister soul reaper?" he asked joyfully, keeping his cheeky smile.

Timothy waved him off and sighed. "I'll be fine for now, it's nothing too bad. I'll let Tessai, or Ichigo's friend fix me up after the woman is better."

Urahara nodded, then set his cup down and unfurled his fan, starting to lightly fan himself.

"So, might I ask your name?" he pressed.

Timothy scoffed at himself. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's been…a busy day. I'm Timothy Durn, the Lieutenant for Squad 7. Urahara, right?"

The man grinned a bit. "You are correct. Kisuke Urahara; the proud owner of the Urahara candy shop! Need any unique soul reaper items during your stay, look no further! We handle…" he advertised, but was stopped by Timothy waving him away.

"Yeeeaahh, I'm good. Anyway, thanks for giving us a hand with this." The Lieutenant said.

Kisuke lightly chuckled as he fanned himself more. "So, tell me, what brings you to the world of the living today?" he asked nonchalantly.

Timothy sighed heavily as he ran back through the day's events. "My team and I came here to find and kill a hollow that the soul society has been looking for for about two weeks now. It turned out that it was a 'pair' of hollows, not one. The two had killed a seated officer and multiple other members from my squad."

Urahara lowered his face a bit to conceal his mouth. "All this for a hollow? Isn't there more to it?"

Timothy nodded. "I would guess that the hollow's ability had played a role in its importance. This hollow somehow had the ability to absorb spirit energy."

This caused Kisuke to raise a brow. "Interesting…that 'is' quite unique. So, I'm guessing you were successful?" he inquired, already knowing the answer.

The Lieutenant lowered his head a bit. "Not entirely…it killed one of my team members…maybe two more." He said in a low voice.

Urahara's look softened a bit. "I'm sure they will be fine, mister Durn." He tried to reassure.

"Tim is fine, Kisuke. Anyway, we managed to kill one of them, but the other took off. I sent the rest of my team back to the soul society to get medical care while I stayed behind to try and find the bastard. Damn thing waited until I was distracted talking with Ichigo until it showed back up, trying to get me from behind. Almost succeeded too." Timothy said.

Kisuke lowered his fan a little, his mouth now exposed. "I'm guessing this is where the woman comes in?"

Timothy nodded and crossed his arms into his sleeves. "Yeah, she took the hit for me, then Ichigo got behind it and killed it."

Their conversation stopped for a moment when Ichigo walked into the room. "Orihime's on her way; she'll be here in about ten minutes."

Urahara nodded, then Ichigo sat down next to Timothy. "So, spill it Kisuke, I know you know something about this." The teen demanded.

Timothy turned to the shop owner with wide eyes. "You do?" he asked in surprise.

Urahara waved Ichigo off with a smile. "Now why would you think I know anything about this, Ichigo? I'm just a humble shop owner."

"Cut the crap, hat n clogs! Every time that something happens, you've got your nose all over it! Now quit messing around!" Ichigo growls out.

Kisuke's face instantly turned to a deep frown. "You're so cold, Ichigo." He observed, causing the teen to growl louder. "Ok, ok. The hollow you were facing was likely an Adjuchas class menos." He informed.

"A what?" Timothy wondered aloud, never hearing the name before.

The shop owner snapped his fan shut and pointed towards the door while looking at Timothy. "As you know, the hollow you two fought were not your everyday average hollows. Standard hollows are everywhere, in enormously vast numbers. They can range from many different sizes and shapes, but typically they're all fairly weak. Just about any soul reaper can handle them. With me so far?" he asked, getting a nod from them both.

"When a large number of hollows gather together, they can merge together to evolve into a single, much larger and more powerful hollow, called a Gillian; the lowest class of menos. As I said, they are very large and have far more power than typical hollows; but they are also very slow and incredibly unintelligent. Still with me?" Again, they nodded, so he continued.

"Once hollows have become a Gillian, it will start seeking out other Gillian to consume. Some Gillian may stay as such forever; but there are some that can, after consuming enough of the other Gillians, evolve into something further; an Adjuchas. Adjuchas are vastly more powerful than Gillian; and highly intelligent. They're smaller in size, usually around the size of an adult human, but can be a bit larger than that sometimes. They also develop their own, unique abilities. What you fought today was most likely one of these."

Timothy dropped his head a bit. "So, there are more of those?" he inquired with worry.

Kisuke waved him off. "Not likely. Menos class hollows rarely leave Hueco Mundo, unless a strong spiritual presence attracts them here. Those two are likely the only ones you'll see for a while. And it's a good thing too. As you have seen, Adjuchas are very powerful; powerful enough to have a slight chance against a Lieutenant, or even a Captain."

Timothy and Ichigo's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me." Ichigo whined.

"Unfortunately not, Ichigo. But there are stronger ones still." Urahara informed.

"Stronger than that?! Bullshit!" Timothy yelled in disbelief.

The owner looked at him. "Nope, not kidding. Although they are very rare, the next level is Vasto Lorde; the strongest in Hueco Mundo. Their intelligence far exceeds that of a human's, and they are unparalleled warriors. They look similar to a human; the same height, body build, some even have facial features."

He was stopped by the sound of tapping on the front door. "That must be Orihime." Ichigo observed, then stood up and walked away to let her in.

He opened the door, where a teenage girl with long, thick, orange hair, slightly darker than Ichigo's walked in. She swiftly jogged up to the table where Timothy and Kisuke sat.

"Ah, thank you for joining us, Miss Inoue. Tessai is in the back with our patient. Please see that she is taken care of." Urahara said with a wide smile.

She nodded at him, then turned to her friend. "Hey Ichigo, Chad took your body to my place; so you can come get it when your done, ok?"

He smiles and nods back. "Thanks, Orihime."

She smiles back, then takes off into the hallway. Timothy waits until she is in the room before turning back to Kisuke.

"So that woman, is she a Vasto Lorde? It looks like she has a hollow mask on the top of her head." He asked.

Urahara gently shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. She had a zanpakutō with her, didn't she?"

Timothy nods, then grabs the weapon and draws the blade for him to see. "Broken too. Whatever happened to her, she was in a rough fight." He observed.

"I see…then that confirms my suspicions." Kisuke stated in a low tone.

Timothy returned the blade to its sheath and sets it on the table. Ichigo gives the man a glare.

"What do you mean?" he asked sternly.

The shop owner droped his fan hand to his lap as he dropped his head. "Tell me Tim, do you know about the Hōgyoku?"

The Lieutenant's eyes widened, then turned stern as he glared at the man. "Yeah, why? What's that got to do with this?" he demanded in a growl.

Urahara's gaze returned to him. "Judging by your expression, it seems that you know it quite well." He observed.

Timothy growled evilly at him. "That is 'not' something we will get in to, now tell me what that…'thing' has to do with this." He demanded again, but much firmer.

Kisuke sighed in defeat, then opened his fan and blew air at his face. "As I've said, the Vasto Lorde are the strongest in Hueco Mundo; there is no evolving past that stage. But that was until Aizen took 'his' Hōgyoku there."

Timothy rose a dangerous brow. "Wait, by 'his', do you mean to tell me that there are 'two' of those things?!"

Urahara nodded slowly at him. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I had created my own a long time ago. Aizen used my research to do the same and make his own. The one he stole in the soul society was mine that I tried to hide." This statement earned a loud growl from Ichigo. "Over the years, long before he stole mine, he used his Hōgyoku on the Vasto Lorde that he came across. By using its power, he essentially forced a further evolution upon the Vasto Lorde. He was somehow able to use it to remove their hollow essences from their bodies, then seal those powers in a zanpakutō."

He then closed his fan and pointed it in the direction of the room where the woman was. "If my theory is correct, that woman in there is one of these newly evolved Vasto Lorde, what are called Arrancar." He then pointed at the weapon on the table. "And this is the zanpakutō that contains her hollow powers."

Timothy held up an open palm. "That doesn't make sense; if she's a Vasto Lorde, or Arrancar, or whatever, why the hell would she jump in front of an attack to save me? Hollows, menos…Arrancar, they all would jump at the chance to kill a soul reaper. So why save one? Why would she save me?" he asked in confusion.

Kisuke returned to fanning himself. "I can't really answer that one. We'll just have to wait until she wakes up to ask her."

Ichigo slammed a hand on the table. "Why the hell would we wait for her to wake up? If she as strong as you're saying, we can let her stay alive." He pointed out.

"The soul society would greatly agree with you, Ichigo. But there is something you should keep in mind; Arrancar are vastly different than hollows or menos, besides the impressive jump in power. When a soul becomes a hollow, their soul essentially becomes empty; hence the name 'hollow'. They lose all of their emotions, except for hunger, anger, and hatred. But something changes when they are forced to become an Arrancar. They somehow regain their human emotions, basically almost becoming human again."

He looked to see that he was having a hard time understanding. "Think of it like this Ichigo; they are pretty much a human with a hollow hole, a mask, and a zanpakutō housing their hollow powers. They think, act, even eat the same food as a human. They regain their individual 'being' so to say. And besides, Tessai put up one of his strongest barriers the moment you stepped through the door with her. She couldn't leave no matter how hard she tried; she won't even be able to use a garganta in here. And seeing how her zanpakutō is currently broken, I don't believe she has access to her sealed hollow powers."

Timothy jumped in. "You said their hollow powers are sealed in the zanpakutō; so I'm guessing that they can release them again, just like a soul reaper's release?" he inquired.

Kisuke smiled at him. "Very astute, Tim. Yes, an Arrancar 'can' release their zanpakutō similar to how a soul reaper does; but for them it's called Resurrección. When they release, they regain their former powers to use at will. But at this point, I don't have anything further than that. For now, I would advise we talk to her once she wakes up. She may be able to give us some information about Aizen's intentions."

Timothy rose a brow. "Why would she do that? Isn't she working 'with' Aizen?"

Urahara shrugged his shoulders. "One can only guess at the moment. But think about the situation; she saved you from being killed 'by' an Adjuchas, and let that Adjuchas get killed instead. She was also severely wounded from another fight before you found her; and judging by the way the old wounds looked, it was only a few days ago. With that last one in mind, why didn't she return to Hueco Mundo? Why stay here and nearly die from the injuries; which she should have, if not for bandaging herself? I believe that there is something else going on, and we can only get the answer by asking her directly." He concluded.

Ichigo leaned back from the table, crossing his arms with a growl. "I don't like it." He stated.

Timothy turned to him. "Neither do I, but the guy does have a point. I think that we should look into this." He then turned back to Urahara. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stick around for a few days or so to figure out what's going on. If she did work for Aizen, we simply can't pass up this opportunity to get some information on him." He commented.

Kisuke nodded. "That will be fine, Tim. I'm sure Ichigo would appreciate a few days off from his soul reaper duties." He said, smirking at the teen.

Ichigo growled at him. "Shut up!"

Timothy held out a finger, pulsing a bit of spirit energy into it. A few seconds later, a hell butterfly appeared from nowhere and landed on his finger.

"Captain, I report that the hollow had been killed; but there was a second one as well. Hinata can give you the full details in the matter. However, something has come up that warrants looking into. Requesting a few extra days in the world of the living to look into the matter."

After giving the insect its message, he mentally told it where to go and let it fly off. After the butterfly disappeared again, he turned back to Urahara. "I've requested from my Captain to remain here a few days. I've left out the details regarding the…woman. If the soul society found out about her, they would likely come over and kill her without a second thought."

Kisuke nodded. "I agree; for now, we should keep this between ourselves." He turned to the teen. "Ichigo, you should probably head back home. I'm sure the teacher has contacted your father about your 'disappearance'." He advised.

Ichigo nodded and stood up, where Timothy turned to him. "Thanks for the help, Ichigo."

The teen nodded. "Yeah, and sorry about your loss. I hope the other two make it out alright." He offered, getting a nod in return. He then turned to the hallway. "Hey, Orihime. You done yet?" He hollered.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" she yelled back.

He turned to the shop owner. "Later Kisuke. Keep me updated on the Arrancar or whatever." He said just as Orihime walked in from the back room.

She turned to face the men still sitting down. "Don't you need healing as well, sir?" she inquired to Timothy.

He waved her off gently with a smile. "It's Tim, and it's not that bad. I'll ask that Tessai guy to help me out. Thanks though."

The teen smiled and before bowing. "It's nice to meet you. I hope you feel better. Bye." She said.

He nodded at her with a smile, then the two friends walked away and left the shop. Timothy turned back to the owner as Tessai walked in as well.

"She is stable now boss, but it may be a while before she wakes up." He notified.

"Thank you Tessai. Would you please prepare a room for our guest here, and help him with his wounds?" Kisuke asked.

The large man nodded and walked back into the hallway.

"Thanks for the room. I'll pay ya out of my pocket for it." Timothy stated.

The owner simply waved him off. "Nonsense. You're a friend of Ichigo's, so I'll let it slide. Let me know if you need anything."

Timothy nodded. "Alright, but I still gotta wait and see if my Captain lets me stay here though." He reminded.

Kisuke opened his fan again and waved it. "Of course. Care for some tea while you wait?"

He nodded again and sighed as he closed his eyes and waited for a response.

Squad 4 Medical Center, Seireitei, Present

Hinata stood in the hallway of the critical wing of the squad with Sajin, giving him a detailed report on what happened. His head was lowered as he was just told about the death of one of the members.

It was at this point that the hell butterfly carrying Timothy's message appeared and hovered around Sajin's head. He held out a finger, allowing the insect to land and deliver its message. Hinata waited semi-patiently until the butterfly had done its job.

"I see…permission granted. I expect a daily report on your findings. Good luck." He said to the insect, then it flew off his finger and out a nearby window to do its job. Sajin sighed and turned to Hinata. "That was from Tim, he's staying in the world of the living for a few extra days to look into something. He and Ichigo Kurosaki managed to kill the second hollow. Now please, continue." He said calmly.

She was about to continue her report, but stopped when she saw Tetsuzaemon walking up. He came to a stop next to the Captain.

"I came as soon as I heard the team returned. Any casualties?" he asked.

Sajin sighed again and nodded. "One death, two more in critical condition. Miss Ogawa was delivering her report while we waited for word on their status." He informed.

Tetsuzaemon turned to her. "How bad was it?"

"Bad. It wasn't one, but two hollow's we were looking for. The first one was just like the reports said; being able to absorb spirit energy. My group took on the second one, but it was really tough. Its skin was almost as hard a metal. Was made it even weirder was the fact that we couldn't sense it. It was like it wasn't even there. Tim and I both think that that was the hollow that killed 5th seat Hetoku; it must have snuck up on him while he was fighting the other one."

Sajin nodded. "Then they must have been Adjuchas." He stated, then turned to Tetsuzaemon. "Just like we thought."

"Adjuchas?" she inquired.

The Captain turned back to her with a nod. "It's a class of menos, much stronger that normal hollows. That was why I had so many members assigned to the team. I was hoping for eleven-to-one odds, but we never thought that a second Adjuchas would be involved. If we knew, we would have sent a lot more members, or I would have gone instead. Considering your opponent, you should be grateful that the casualties were not more severe." He reassured.

They were stopped when they saw Captain Unohana approaching them from further down the hallway. Their thoughts turned sour when they noticed that she had a frown on her face. She continued walking up and stopped a few feet from them. Hinata and Tetsuzaemon gave her a polite bow, while Sajin nodded.

"Captain Unohana, please tell us you have some good news." He pleaded.

She waited for a moment, then looked him in the eyes with sorrow. "I am sorry, but squad member Junya Sano has passed. His internal injuries were too severe to recover in time." She sadly announced.

Hinata gasped with wide eyes as tears began to form. "Does…does Yuka know?" she choked out.

The woman turned to her. "She has not been informed yet; I assumed that you would want to tell her." She offered calmly.

Hinata lowered her head as she hugged her arms to her chest, her tears running down her cheeks. After a few seconds, she nodded. "Thank you…I'll…I'll tell her. Please excuse me." She finished with a quick bow.

She quickly turned and began walking away to find her friend, pondering and trying to come up with the best possible way she could tell her friend that she had just lost her brother, her 'true' brother by blood.

Sajin watched her as she turned the corner, then slowly turned back to the other Captain. "And the other team member?" he inquired.

Unohana sighed and closed her eyes. "It is too soon to tell at the moment. His injuries are not as severe at squad member Sano's. I am afraid I must leave you now, so I may return to helping with his care."

Sajin nodded at her. "If you require anything from us, please let us know." He offered.

She bowed to him, then turned and walked back to the surgery room. Sajin turned his face front and lowered his head as he crossed his arms. Tetsuzaemon walked over to the wall and sat down in one of the chairs next to an empty room.

"Damn…and what about Durn?" he inquired.

"Tim is still in the world of the living, looking into something. He will return in a few days." He informed.

The man nodded then stood back up. "I guess I better return to the squad." He said with hesitation.

Sajin sensed it, so he turned to him. "I'll keep you informed if anything changes, Tetsuzaemon." He assured.

The Lieutenant nodded, then flashed away back to his squad, leaving Sajin alone in the hallway. He let out a deep sigh and began a slow walk towards hit squad as well.

As he came to the front entrance, he saw Hinata and Yuka sitting side by side in some chairs to the side of the door. Yuka had her head buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking and obviously crying. Hinata had her head lowered and was rubbing the sobbing woman's back, trying to comfort her.

He closed his eyes and let out a very heavy sigh before walking towards them. He came to a stop standing in front of them where Hinata looked up at him, her eyes red from crying and her cheeks saturated with tears.

"Miss Sano." He addressed calmly.

The woman looked up to him slowly, her teeth clenched, and her eyes flooded. "Captain?" she returned.

Sajin took a deep breath before continuing. "I apologize for your loss. From the report Miss Ogawa had given me, your brother fought well. The squad has lost two very good men." He tried to comfort.

She dropped her head, then after a moment nodded. "Thank you…Captain." She answered in a whisper.

He sighed again, then turned to Hinata. "Miss Ogawa, please remain here to receive any reports on the conditions of the other members." He instructed calmly.

She nodded at him. "Yes sir." she answered in a low voice.

He nodded back and walked towards the door. He then stopped for a moment and rested his hand on Yuka's shoulder. "I am sorry." He said again, then continued on.

The two women remained in their seats while Hinata continued to try and comfort Yuka.

World of the Living, Urahara Shop, Present

Urahara poured Timothy another cup of tea before Tessai came in and took the pot away to make some more. The shop owner and Lieutenant were enjoying a simple conversation, mainly Urahara telling him a bit more about Ichigo and his friends, and a more in-depth detailing about Aizen and the events leading up to his treachery.

"So, the man had this planed out for quite a long time, huh?" Timothy confirmed.

Kisuke nodded as he fanned himself. "Yes, at least for the past hundred years; but I am quite sure that it has been much longer than that. Aizen is a man with exceedingly high intellect, like myself. If you should ever come across him, do not take him lightly. He has a habit of having everything set in his favor, and a single misstep will play you right into his hands." He advised.

Timothy nodded, then turned when he heard the sound of a hell butterfly enter the room. The insect flew over to him where Timothy allowed it to land on his finger and deliver its message. Kisuke waited patiently while Timothy listened to the message as Tessai came back into the room with a plate of snacks for them to much on.

After a few seconds, Timothy nodded and mumbled a reply before the hell butterfly left his hand and flew away. Timothy turned back to the man with a relived sigh.

"Good news I imagine?" Urahara inquired.

"Yeah, the Captain's letting me stay here for a few days, as long as I give him daily reports on anything I find." Timothy answered and picked up one of the small cookies.

"I assume you plan to leave out anything regarding our female friend?" Kisuke asked as he held his fan up to cover his mouth.

Timothy took a bite and nodded, chewing a bit then swallowing before answering. "Yeah, I think it would be a bad idea to let him know about her right now. As I said before, I'll get you back with my own money once I return."

Kisuke waved him off. "I already told you, don't worry about it. You can stay here without any cost for the next few days. But I would like to ask, do you think you'll have need of a gigai while you are here?"

Timothy rose a brow. "Gigai?"

Now it was Urahara's turn to raise a brow. "You don't know what a gigai is?" he wondered in surprise.

The Lieutenant shook his head. "No, sorry. I haven't been a soul reaper for long, and this is the first time I've ever been back to the living world since my death twelve years ago." He informed.

The shop owner lowered his fan back down to his chin. "I see. Well, a gigai is a faux body; a vessel for the soul reaper's spirit form to use in order to temporarily become a human. It's not normally used by the soul reapers assigned here for patrol duties, but rather for any soul reapers that come here on assignment where interaction with humans is required. If you are not already aware, humans cannot see you, or sense you; you are a spirit after all. Think of it like being a ghost; you can walk through walls and things similar to that. You can interact with your surroundings if you wish, but you can't do so with humans."

Timothy nods. "So, by using it I would become human again, but only while I'm using it?"

Kisuke gives him a short nod. "Correct. Normally, gigais are built and supplied by Squad 12 before the soul reapers leave for the world of the living; but since that's not the case here, I can provide one for you. I'll even give you a discount on it." He finished with a broad, toothy smile.

Timothy rose a brow at him for a moment, then tilted his head back to think about it. It had been twelve years since he died, and now that he thought about it, his curiosity as to how much the world has changed since he died was starting to bug him.

He looked back at the man. "You know I won't be able to pay you until I get back to the soul society, right?" he reminded.

"Of course. I'll just send you a bill after you leave." He assured.

The man's smile and tone of voice was starting to make Timothy skeptical. 'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' he wondered.

"Seeing as how it's a body, even a fake one, I assume that you would have to take care of it just like humans do with their own bodies; like eating, sleeping and all that stuff, right?" he asked.

"Yes, you would pretty much be a normal human while inside it and would have to take care of it; even while you are not in it. That's why they are normally destroyed once the soul reaper is finished using it. Maintaining it during long periods of disuse becomes problematic." Kisuke answered. He saw the younger man with a skeptical look, then sighed. "Ok, I'll give ya a package deal; pay full price for the gigai, and I'll toss in a mod soul for free. Sound good?" he offered.

"What's a mod soul?" Timothy asked.

"Its official name is Kaizō Konpaku, but it's usually called mod soul for short. It's an artificial soul that is in the form of a pill that the gigai user swallows. The artificial soul then takes over the body, and forces the soul reaper's own soul out. Its normally used when the soul reaper gets into a fight, allowing them to fight in their normal form while the mod soul keeps the gigai safe." The owner schooled.

Timothy started scratching his jaw while he thought over the man's new offer. He had only been a soul reaper for a couple weeks, and had not even gotten his first pay yet; and he didn't even know how much it was going to be. For all he knew at the moment, this could very well be a purchase that would take months to pay off.

"I don't know, Kisuke. I don't know what my pay will be, and I have no idea what your body thing would cost in comparison. Besides, what purpose would the body serve if I have no money on hand to take care of it, or to get a few things?" he fretted.

Kisuke closed his fan and waved it at him with a wide smile. "Oh, come now Tim, I'm a respectable business man here. I wouldn't do you wrong or cheat you in any way. And I'll even loan you some money as well, so you can do the things you want to." He pressed.

Bells started to go off in Timothy's head, warning him that he was not in pleasant waters at the moment.

"Oh, come of Tim. Let's go have some fun for once." Susan begged.

"Your idea of fun is usually not the same as mine, but you do have a point. It would be nice to see how things have changed and enjoy the living world for a bit."

"Alright, I'll get the gigai and soul from ya. So, do they all look the same, or is there some variation?" he accepted.

"That's the best part, the gigai is molded to be an exact replica of you. Your height, weight, skin color, body shape, hair, eyes, all of it. Though, if you want, I can make some special alterations to it. Perhaps better hair?"

Timothy rose a brow. "What the hell is wrong with my hair?" he asked in a stern voice.

The man opened his fan and covered his entire face, except his eyes. "Why, nothing my dear friend; nothing at all. Just an inquiry is all." He mockingly reassured.

The younger man scoffed at him. "Whatever. I guess if they are supposed to be exact copies of the user, then I guess make it look like me." He moaned.

Urahara chuckled at the man's tone, then stood up and left the room. Timothy sighed heavily and placed his head in hand, shaking it.

"Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to start hating him soon?" he moaned, then sighed.

"Tim, now that things have calmed down a bit, we really need to talk." Susan informed.

"Not now." He declined.

"Yes Tim, now. This is important and can't wait any longer. Also, seeing as how this Urahara guy knows so much about that rock Aizen had, he needs to be a part of this too."

Timothy glanced down at the blade. "You want me to tell him about you? What the hell for?"

"Tim, your zanpakutō already told you about my situation; and it's for that reason that we need to talk. But Urahara seems to know quite a bit more than he's letting us believe. So, I think it would be best to talk to him about this."

Timothy let out a deep sigh. "Are you absolutely sure about this? You know that once we tell him, we can't take it back."

"I'm aware." She confirmed.

The Lieutenant ran his hand down his face, then turned to where the shop owner went. "Hey, Kisuke! Could you come back here for a minute?!" he hollered into the hallway.

A few seconds later, the humble shop keeper walked back into the room. "Yes? Did you need something, Tim?" he inquired.

Timothy gestured for him to sit down. "We need to talk. Does Tessai know how to use barriers that block out noise or voices?"

Kisuke sat down as he nodded in affirmation. "Hey, Tessai!" he called out. The large man entered the room with the now refilled tea pot. "Could you put up a noise barrier around us? It seems Tim here has something privet to discuss." He said with a smirk.

"Of course, one moment." The man answered.

He walked back to the doorway where the kitchen was and held his hands together. He quietly mumbled an incantation that Timothy couldn't pick up the words on. A few seconds later, a transparent, bluish hue, box-shaped barrier appeared around Timothy and the shop owner before disappearing from sight.

Urahara turned back to the young Lieutenant. "So then, what was it you wanted to discuss?" he asked.

Well, there's my first multi-conflict fight sequence. To be honest, I'm kinda torn in two on it. Part of me is yelling that is was a bit rushed, while the other part is saying that it's good as is. I'll let you all be the judge, and once the story is complete, or I find some extra time, I'll touch it up.

Anyway, so now we can see that, while Ichigo and Tim would likely get along, they would also argue between each other a lot. Not only that, Tim got the displeasure of seeing Kisuke's usual antics first hand, and clearly left him unimpressed. Oooohhh…I wonder what would happen once he meets Yoruichi…lol. I can tell you this much, the good times are coming my friends. They. Are. Coming.

Well, that's all for this week. So I hope to see you all next Saturday, and I'll even be nice and give ya a brief overview. Basically, Tim finds out a way to save Susan from dying. But that's all I'm gonna give you, and not even sugar cookies with help you, lol.

Later friends.