Hello again everyone, it's Saturday again, and with it comes another chapter. Sadly, my writing has come to a stop as I'm 'still' trying to get past this stupid curse of writer's block. But it's fine, still have plenty of chapters saved up, so you all with still get your promised chapters weekly.

On top of the writer's block, me and the family have been under the weather for the past few days, so that doesn't help either. But went to the doctor and all should be fine with some rest; perfect time to figure out my block problem.

One thing I have decided, since he/she seems to make it a habit, is that with each chapter I'll include something I'll call 'Spade's Corner'; where I'll answer his 'questions'. Jk, lol.

Spades231: As I said, I'm not really sure how soul reapers are payed, or what form of currency they use. Since the soul society seems to follow Japanese customs and culture, I'm guessing that they use Japanese Yen as their default form of currency that they can change to meet their needs.

1: That will be answered in a future story, once this one has been completed. Just be patient a while longer.

2: You'll find out my friend, lol.

3: Basically, yes.

4: No, because as of yet he has not been 'drunk' in Squad 7's barracks.

5: …No.

(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 18

(A New Team)

Karakura Town, World of the Living, Present

Captain Hitsugaya, along with his Lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, Squad 11's 3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame, and 5th seat Yumichika Ayasegawa, walked down a secluded side street; guided by the short, raven haired woman, Rukia Kuchiki.

The white-haired Captain turned to her with an annoyed face. "Kuchiki, you're positive that you know where this place is?" he inquired.

Rukia turned her head to look at the man. "Of course, Captain. It should be just ahead. You don't trust me, sir?"

He turned away with a light scoff. "I didn't say that. I just didn't expect someone like him to live in a secluded area such as this." He admitted.

3rd seat Ikkaku Madarame looked at the woman with a slightly puzzled face. "I actually agree with the Captain, Rukia. Kisuke Urahara is not a simple man. You should know this, seeing has how you've dealt with the man before."

5th seat Yumichika Ayasegawa glanced at his higher-ranking friend. "Yes, but don't forget about what we were told about him. Urahara is an outcast of the soul society, so it would make sense for him to keep a low profile." He pointed out.

Renji scratched his cheek as he glanced to the sky. "True, but what I would like to know is why the Head Captain's having us get our gigais from him and not Squad 12." He said, then tucked his arms into his sleeves.

Rangiku touched a finger to her chin. "I wonder what this other guy is like. You know, that new Lieutenant for Squad 7? What do you think, Captain?" she asked as she looked at the man.

Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure myself. All I know about the man is what Captain Komamura told me after the man's fight with Captain Zaraki."

Ikkaku chuckled as he turned to the Captain. "The Captain told me he was a good fighter; he actually said that he was impressed with him. I can't wait to meet him."

Renji gave him a deadpanned look. "Tetsuzaemon told me the guy's got a bit of an attitude problem sometimes. But then he also said that the guy don't, and I quote, 'tolerate nonsense or time waisted'. Said the best way to deal with him is to just get to the point from the start." He said, then turned to Rukia. "Reminds me of you, Rukia." he teased with a grin.

The small woman turned to him in anger. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Renji?!"

"Exactly how he/I said it." Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika said in unison with deadpanned looks on their faces.

Rukia held a fist up to her face and bared her teeth. "Why I outta…" she started.

"That's enough! From all of you! We have work to do and don't have time for you all to bicker amongst each other!" Toshiro interrupted, shutting them up.

"Yes sir." they all droned out.

The group continued on in silence with Rukia giving Renji an evil glare. 'This isn't over!' she mouthed to him, causing him to shiver.

Ikkaku leaned over to his ear. "You're dead now, my friend." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Shut up!" Renji growled back, then stepped forward a bit to get away from him.

The group came to a small, open lot and stopped to look at the wooden, old style building with various looks. Hitsugaya rose a brow, Rangiku couldn't care less, Renji and Ikkaku gave confused looks at each other, then back to the shop, Yumichika gave a distasteful shrug of the face, and Rukia rolled her eyes, clearly not happy with having to deal with Urahara again.

"Quite hideous. The man clearly has no taste in outward appearance." Yumichika said as he turned away from the sight.

Renji side glanced him. "You find anything that's not decorated by a woman to be hideous." He mocked.

Rangiku turned back to the red-haired man with an insulted face. "And what's that supposed to mean, Renji? Are you trying to insult women?" she inquired.

Seeing a chance to get back at him, Rukia turned to him with a look of fake insult. "Yeah Renji, just what are you saying?"

The man looked at the two women in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? How in the hell could you take that as an insult? I'm merely stating that if something wasn't decorated by a woman, Yumichika would think it's ugly." He clarified.

Rukia rose a brow, then looked at the 5th seat. "He does have a point." She mumbled.

Yumichika furrowed his brows. "Why is this coming back at me? Renji is the one who made the comment about women and decorations. All I did was say that I found the building to be ugly, nothing more." He defended.

A vein pulsed on the Captain's forehead, then he turned to the two. "All of you shut up! We're here on a mission, not to determine if a building is ugly or not!" he growled.

"Yes Captain." They all said in unison.

Hitsugaya turned back to the building, then with a last look dropped his face. "Though it is a little shabby." He mumbled.

Rangiku glanced down at her superior. "Did you say something, Captain?"

He side-glanced her with annoyed eyes. "No! I didn't! Now shut up and let's get a move on." He instructed.

The group continued walking to see a man with a striped hat sitting on the porch and fanning himself. As the officers came to a stop a few feet from the building, the man looked up and smiled widely at them.

"Well, good morning my friends; and hello to you, miss Rukia! Have you come to buy some supplies from my shop this fine day?!" he asked in a joyous manner.

The vein from before pulsed once again on the Captain's head, as well as Rukia's. "Knock it off, Kisuke! I'm sure you can guess why we're here!" she yelled at the man.

The man smiled even more with closed eyes. "Why, my dear Rukia, why would I, a simple candy store owner, know what a group of soul reapers could possibly want?" he said, playing dumb.

Now the man was really testing Hitsugaya's patience. "I'm Captain Hitsugaya of Squad 10. We've been sent here by the Head Captain in response to a recent occurrence. We were told that you would help us. Also, would there be a Lieutenant Durn here?" he inquired.

Kisuke snapped his fan closed and stood up. "Yes, he is. Perhaps we should go inside then. I'll have Tessai make us some tea." He said as he gestured for the group to enter.

Toshiro nodded and led his group in through the front door of the shop, Kisuke following behind them; locking the door and flipping his sign to signal that his shop was closed for the day. The owner turned around and walked through the group, gesturing to the dining room table.

"Please, have a seat and I will go get Tim." he said, then walked down the hallway towards the man's room.

Hitsugaya and his group did as they were asked and sat down around the table, with Rangiku to his left, Renji to her left, and Rukia to the far left; and Ikkaku on his right with Yumichika on the 3rd seat's right. Tessai then entered the room with a tray with several filled cups of tea.

Toshiro looked at the large man with a raised brow. "You were expecting us, weren't you?" he inquired.

Tessai sat down next to Yumichika and nodded. "That we were. We figured after what happened that the soul society would send someone to investigate this matter." The man then turned to the shorter woman. "And hello to you, miss Rukia. It is good to see you again."

Rukia nodded, but the Captain's brow twitched in high annoyance. "He knew we were coming and acted like he didn't? I'm already starting to dislike him." He stated.

The black-haired woman leaned forward a bit and glanced at him. "Join the club, Captain." She said in a low tone.

"Now now Captain Hitsugaya, no need to be so serious all the time. Live a little. And Rukia, you wound me! How could you say such a thing after all the services I've provided for you?" Kisuke joked as he entered the room, with Timothy right behind him.

"Oh for god's sakes, 'please' don't put it like that, Kisuke! You make yourself sound even weirder than you already are." Timothy moaned as he walked around Rukia.

Toshiro turned to the newcomer and raised a brow. "Would you by chance be Lieutenant Durn?" he asked.

Timothy nodded and sat down. "Yes sir, I'm Timothy Durn, the Lieutenant for Squad 7." He replied, then gave a respectful bow of the head, that Toshiro returned.

"I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10. Captain Komamura has told me a little bit about you, Lieutenant; especially about your little…encounter with Captain Zaraki." He finished with a slightly amused grin.

The man rolled his eyes with a scoff. "He started it, Captain. He's the one who came to me, heavily 'insistent' on a fight." He said, then waved the Captain off. "But it's whatever. We fought, I lost, it's over. Anyway, who are the others with you?" he asked, pointing towards Renji.

"These three are Lieutenants Renji Abarai and Rangiku Matsumoto, and this is Rukia Kuchiki…" he said as he gestured to the three on his left, then switched to the two on his right. "…and these two are Squad 11 3rd and 5th seats Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa." He finished.

At the mention of Squad 11, Timothy glared at Ikkaku and Yumichika. "You two aren't gonna try to fight me as well, are you?" he asked in a low tone.

Ikkaku glared back at him. "I will if you're up for it. The Captain told me about your fight with him, he even told me that he was impressed. You should consider yourself honored, very few people manage to impress the Captain."

Toshiro glanced at Ikkaku. "That's enough, Madarame, we're not here to fight each other; we're here to fight the Arrancar. Now, Lieutenant Durn…" he paused to return to the man. "…since you fought against the Arrancar yesterday, could you tell us what you've learned?"

Timothy turned to the shorter man, thinking hard about how to reply. He knew that he needed to be careful on what he said, or he could very well accidentally give up his secret about Nel. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain.

"Well, for starters, there were three of them, Captain. I remember that their names were Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Yammy; Yammy being the one I fought against. Kisuke here fought Ulquiorra, and Ichigo took on Grimmjow. Yammy told me that he was the Diez Espada, which if I'm not mistaken means the tenth Espada. Ulquiorra was the Cuatro Espada, which I think means the fourth, and Grimmjow was the Sexta, I think meaning the sixth." He informed.

"And would you say that these three were powerful?" Toshiro inquired.

"Ha!" Timothy broke out. "Captain, that word is a very serious understatement. No offense to Ichigo, but he got his ass handed to him on a golden plater, as did I. Kisuke was holding his own and likely could have won; but to be honest, if Yoruichi and Tessai didn't jump in when they did, Ichigo and I would have both ended up in body bags. These guys are no fucking joke, Captain. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I doubt even you could handle one of these guys on your own. Neither Ichigo or me could lay so much as a scratch on our opponents." He admitted reluctantly.

Renji turned to him in shock. "You have got to be kidding! You're telling us that Captain Hitsugaya can't take em?"

Kisuke chose now to jump in. "That's exactly what he's saying, Renji. Every word Tim here said is the truth. These were not your average Arrancar, these were Espada; Aizen's elite."

The Captain nodded. "I see…and could you tell us anything about any of their abilities?"

Timothy shook his head. "Not really. From what each of us saw, they only used basic sword skills and Ceros. I'm sure that you can see now just how powerful they are; considering that neither Ichigo or me could hurt them in their sealed states. I don't want to even imagine what it would be like once they've released. But, I can tell you a bit about their personalities. Ulquiorra seems to be a…quiet person, I guess like a tactician. Yammy…well I guess you could say he's a bit of a hothead; he seems to get angry 'really' easily. But…" He paused for a moment.

"Well…the bad news on him is that for some reason, the madder he gets, the stronger he gets." He said as he scratched his head.

Ikkaku gave him a skeptical look. "He gets stronger by getting angry?" he asked.

Timothy nodded quickly. "Oh yeah, I learned that one the hard way. I tried to use the same tactic I used when I fought Captain Komamura, getting him to lose his temper and make him blind with rage. But when I did, his attacks ended up packing a lot more punch behind them. So, if you end up fighting him, try to kill him quickly before he has a chance to get mad. And for Grimmjow, he seemed to be…I guess you could say a calmer version of Captain Zaraki. Going by what Ichigo told me, he seems to enjoy fighting, but he's calmer and more collected than Captain Zaraki is. You'd have to ask Ichigo if you want to know more about him."

The Captain nodded, then turned to Kisuke. "Mister Urahara, if you don't mind, we'd like to ask if you could make up some gigais for us. We'll go and talk with Ichigo once you're done."

Kisuke grinned and nodded. "Of course. I'll have them all ready this afternoon." He answered.

Timothy held up a hand, getting Toshiro's attention. "One last thing, Captain, and this is very important."

Toshiro rose a brow. "Go ahead."

The Lieutenant lowered his hand and took a deep breath as he put the words together the best way he could for what he was about to say.

"It seems that we have a very serious problem on our hands besides the Espada. When those three first arrived, Ulquiorra had some kind of device on him. He used it on me, and…I…I can't really explain 'how' it happened, but when he used it, I couldn't release my zanpakutō." He lied.

Timothy knew that the information regarding what happened to Nel's zanpakutō had to be told to the soul society; and short of risking Nel's exposure, this was the best way he could get that information out without raising any questions regarding its validity.

The eyes of Toshiro and his group all widened at the same time. "What the hell do you mean?! The Espada prevented you from releasing your zanpakutō?!" Renji demanded, getting a heavy nod from Timothy.

"That's impossible!" Toshiro followed.

Timothy glanced at him. "That's what I thought, but he somehow did it nonetheless. As soon as he activated it, I assumed that he was going to attack, so I tried to release my zanpakutō. But, I couldn't reach her, like she wasn't even there." He stated, using what Nel had told him about not being able to reach her zanpakutō spirit as a basis. "I'm thinking that may be why they were here in the first place. They must have known I was still here in the living world and decided to use me as a test subject or something." He paused to hold up a finger.

"But the weird thing, is that as soon as we all split off to our own fights and I was away from him, I could release my zanpakutō again." He added.

"Oh, good catch, Tim." Kitsune complemented.

"Thanks…truth is, I've got no idea what they could, and could not have seen from the soul society. Best to use actual events to help cover the story." He mentally stated.

Toshiro held his chin in his hand. "This is very bad. If Aizen has found a way to keep us from releasing our zanpakutōs, it may be impossible to defeat him."

Kisuke turned to the white-haired Captain. "I've been looking into this matter since they left to try and find a way to counter this new weapon of his, but so far I've had no luck."

"The Head Captain needs to learn about this immediately." The Captain stated.

Timothy turned to him. "I was going to head back to the soul society tomorrow since my three days would be up. I'll give this report to my Captain and he'll more than likely have me report this to the Head Captain personally."

Toshiro turned to the Lieutenant. "You don't need to worry about having to go back right now. The Head Captain has assigned you to this team as well, considering that you were already here. You and I will report this to the Head Captain once we've established communications with the soul society." He paused to look back at his other team members. "Once Urahara has completed our gigais, we'll pay a visit to Ichigo Kurosaki and hear his information on the matter regarding the Espada."

Rangiku and Renji both nodded, then the woman suddenly remembered. "Oh, by the way Durn…"

Timothy held up a hand to stop her. "For the hundredth time, just call me Tim. I'm really starting to hate my own name now." He moaned.

Rangiku smiled at him. "Oh, don't be like that. Anyway, your 6th seat asked me to give you something." She informed as she pulled out a small envelope out from her top and held it out to him.

The man reached out and grabbed it with a light scoff. "For me? Aw, and here I thought he didn't love me no more." He joked.

Her and Renji both chuckled while Ikkaku rolled his eyes. Timothy let out a deep breath as he tore the parcel open and unfolded the paper to see that it was a small letter from Hinata.

Tim,

I'm hoping that you're doing ok, considering the circumstances of having to leave while you stayed behind. Besides the Captain telling me that you are fine and that you were going to

stay in the world of the living a few more days, I was starting to worry.

I know the Captain hasn't said anything about what happened when the team returned to the soul society. I believe he was going to wait until you came back, but seeing that you're part

of Captain Hitsugaya's team now, Minato said you may be gone for much longer.

I've thought long and hard about the best way to tell you this Tim, but the truth is, is that there isn't a best way. Junya didn't make it, Tim, along with the other member who died at the scene.

Needless to say, Yuka is taking it very hard, and I've been trying to help her recover, but of course, it's going to be a while.

Regardless, I really felt that you should know what happened after we left, Tim. Knowing you, you'll likely blame yourself for what happened, just like I did. But Minato keeps telling me that what happen was neither of our faults, 'things just happen' he said.

Like I said, I don't know when you'll be back, Tim, but I hope you're doing alright. And by the way, the two idiots (Kenta and Issei) said hi. So, I guess I should let you go for now. Hope to see you back here soon, Tim, and stay safe.

Hinata

As he came to the end of the letter, Timothy's eyes shot back to the paragraph Hinata wrote about Junya. After reading it once more, he dropped his hands with the letter to his lap and lowered his head.

Kisuke side glanced at him and rose a brow. "Bad news?" he inquired.

Hitsugaya looked at Urahara, then followed the man's gaze to Timothy; tilting his head a bit when he noticed the young Lieutenant was obviously trying to hold back tears in his eyes.

"Lieutenant?" he followed.

Closing his hands tightly and crushing the letter in his grip, Timothy suddenly stood up and took a deep breath. He then spoke without raising his head.

"Sorry, I just need to take care of something. Please, excuse me." He said, then turned to Toshiro with a slight bow. "Captain." He addressed.

The shorter man returned the gesture, then watched as the Lieutenant walked around the group and walked into the hallway. The group faintly heard the sound of a door opening, then closing a second later.

Toshiro turned to his Lieutenant with a raised brow. "What was that about, Rangiku? What was in that letter?"

She looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Captain. 6th seat Minato of Squad 7 gave it to me before we arrived at the senkaimon and asked me to give it to him when we got here." She admitted.

Kisuke waved the two of them off with his fan. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Captain Hitsugaya. Since he's a part of your team now, I'll assume that he's going to be staying here with us for a bit longer. I'll keep an eye on him. Anyway, please help yourself to more tea if you'd like. I need to get to work on your gigais. I should have them done by the time Ichigo gets out of school, so you can meet up with him there, or at his house."

Toshiro nodded firmly. "Very well. We'll be paying for them with the squad's mission budget. I hate to intrude, mister Urahara, but do you perhaps have accommodations for my team and I?" he inquired.

The shop owner stood up and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I only had two spare rooms, with Tim taking one, and my new shop assistant taking the other. My apologies, Captain Hitsugaya. Perhaps Ichigo and his friends would be able to give you a hand." He said, then left the room to begin working on the teams' gigais.


Back in his temporary room, Timothy stood leaning his back against the door with his head low. Both of his hands were still closed in tight fists with the letter crushed in his right hand.

He knew when his team left the soul society to deal with those hollows that there would be casualties, but he couldn't have possibly been mentally prepared to lose a friend in the end.

Timothy didn't know Junya, or his sister Yuka that well, only spending off time with them once and working with them a couple of times during team training. But nonetheless, Junya was still a friend of his.

He felt horrible about the man's death, but now he wondered how his sister was taking it. Did she blame him for getting him involved? Did she now hate him for what happened? Was Junya's death 'his' fault?

The truth was, he did feel that Junya's death was partially his fault. Afterall, he had asked him to be a part of the team, knowing that it was very dangerous.

And what about the other member that had fallen? He honestly couldn't remember the man's name, considering that he would more easily drown in a desert than remember someone's name; but it was still another death on his shoulders.

"Tim, you wanna talk?" Kitsune carefully inquired.

Timothy a deep breath, then slid down along the door to sit down on the floor. "Why? I know what you're going to say, Kit. 'It's not your fault. There was nothing you could have done. These things happen.' Well, I may not have been the one who killed him and that other guy, but I was the one who got them involved." He pointed.

"No, you should stop and think more about that one. You 'offered' for him and the others to join the team. He 'accepted' the offer, on 'his' own free will." She clarified.

He scoffed at her. "Does it matter? Of course he was going to accept, because he saw me as his friend."

"Yes, he did join because you were his friend. But in the end, he knew what the risks were when he decided to join you. News flash Tim, he joined you because he wanted to help you and make sure that you and the others came back safely. The same with Kenta, Issei, Hinata…Yuka, everyone." She yelled at him, now severely agitated.

"Her words…hold great value…Tim…Instead…of feeling guilt…and shame…for his death…you should…be glad that…he had fallen…doing his duty…with his dignity…and honor…intact." 'Johnny' added.

Timothy scowled at them. "Tsk, so what? I'm supposed to be happy that he died? That Yuka no longer has her brother?" he shot back.

Kitsune screamed out. "That is 'not' what either of us said, Tim! And you know it! You blamed yourself for Hetoku's death, though how the fuck you could ever come to think it was your fault I can never imagine, and now you wanna sulk and think that Junya died because you brought him along! Shit happens, Tim! What happened to us, happened! What happened to Hetoku, happened! What happened with Junya and the other member, 'happened'!" she yelled, then paused more a moment.

"Even when we were still alive, you blamed yourself for things that 'I' did! That's always been one of your biggest issues, Tim; blaming yourself for the actions of others. Both of us have that problem. I should have gotten after you about it long ago, but what right did I have to say anything when I was just as guilty? You gave that girl, Nel, some really good advice just this morning; so how about you take your 'own' advice and stop blaming yourself for something you had no control over?" she demanded.

He dropped his head even more, not responding to her ranting. "Whatever, Tim. I've said all I can to help you. If you wanna sit here and sulk, go ahead. When you finally decide to get your head out of your ass and accept what happened, I'll be right here." She concluded, then went silent.

Pulling his knees to his chest and clutching his head, Timothy sniffed as the first tears ran down his cheeks. He held his head tighter as he sat there in the dim room, reminiscing on everything his zanpakutō spirits said.

Karakura Town City Center, Present

Nel gaped at the many tall buildings and random shops that littered the main entertainment sector of Karakura Town. She had been to the world of the living a couple times in the past after she had evolved into an Adjuchas, but that was to feed on human souls and never took the time to stop and look at how things were there.

Yoruichi walked next to her on her right side, keeping an eye on her and watching her amusing antics in her peripheral vision. Even though the golden-eyed woman didn't hold anything against the, now brown-haired, busty woman, she still didn't fully trust her.

Had it been normal circumstances, that might not have been the case. But, considering that it was Aizen that she had fought for in the past, this could easily all be a sham; an elaborate ruse that was part of the man's master plan…whatever that was.

During breakfast, Kisuke had made the suggestion that Yoruichi take Nel out to get some spare clothes and see the sights, considering that she was going to likely be staying with them for a while.

But the shop owner also wanted to get her away from the shop while he and Timothy spoke with the advance team from the soul society. The spiritual pressure cloaking gigai that Urahara made for Nel might hide her from being sensed for what she is, but one thing said at the wrong time could potentially break her cover.

Although she didn't like the idea have having to escort the former Espada around, even she had to agree that getting her away from the shop was a good idea. Besides, with just the two of them alone, and Nel currently unarmed, for the exception of her basic skills, now would be a good time for her to ask more about the woman; verbally back her into a corner and see if she was hiding anything.

Yoruichi turned to Nel with a fake grin. "Admiring the sights, are we?" she inquired.

Nel turned to her and nodded. "It's been a long time since the last time I came here to the world of the living; at least twenty, almost thirty years I think. Back then, I never really took the time to look at how things were here. I'm actually really impressed with the humans." She stated as she looked at a few shops across the street.

Yoruichi hummed in agreeance. "They are a bit impressive, even I will admit that. So, tell me, what's it like in Hueco Mundo?" she asked.

The former Espada held a finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm…first thing that comes to mind is 'boring'."

The golden-eyed woman rose a brow at her. "Boring?"

Nel moved her hand to the back of her head and scratched her scalp. "Yeah, besides the occasional meetings that Aizen had us go to, and the training spars that we had every couple of days, there's really not much else to do; besides read what few books we had or go for walks around Las Noches. Sometimes I would go visit Stark and Lilynette to play chess or have a simple conversation." She informed.

"And who is 'Stark and Lilynette'?" Yoruichi asked with a slightly narrowed gaze.

The brown-haired woman side glanced her. "Stark is the Primera Espada, and Lilynette is his fracción. Besides Pesche and Dondochakka, they were my closest friends. Actually…" he paused and scratched her temple. "…I guess it was a bit more than that." She admitted.

Yoruichi tilted her head. "Care to explain?" she pressed.

Nel waved her hand in the air. "Stark and I were really close. We really looked out for each other. I somewhat considered Lilynette to be like a younger sister to me, and Stark as an adopted brother."

The other woman's eyes slightly widened, clearly not expecting an answer like that. She figured that Arrancar could become close enough to consider each other friends, but not close enough to consider themselves as a part of a family.

The busty woman chuckled lightly, causing Yoruichi to raise a brow. "Sometimes, I would visit them just to keep Lilynette occupied so Stark could go hide somewhere for one of his naps. I even helped him by pointing out some good places to hide…until Lilynette found him again." She said happily.

Yoruichi turned back to the front, but then saw Nel's expression fall a second later. "I know that we're no longer on the same side…but I still miss him. He and Lilynette made life in Las Noches…bearable at least. As a hollow, my life has always been in danger, simply because I'm a female. The males are always preying on the females, either outright killing them, or taking them as slaves or for procreation. An Adjuchas is rare, but female Adjuchas are close to non-existent. I'd guess that, for every twenty male Adjuchas, there's only one female Adjuchas."

The golden-eyed woman turned her eyes to observe the woman next to her. "But Stark, he looked out for me from the moment I came to Las Noches. Harribel did too, but it was more along the lines of…I guess you could say the unspoken code that females should always look out for each other. We got along, but never really considered ourselves as close friends. It was more for survival than friendship. But Stark, he actually tried to get close to me, saw me as a true friend."

Yoruichi then chose to take a shot at the woman's current stance. "So, if you were given the chance to go back to Las Noches and be back on the same side as this Stark guy, would you take it?"

Nel shook her head slowly. "I miss him and Lilynette, and I hate the fact that they could now be my enemies, but…" she stopped walking and dropped her head.

The other woman stopped as well and turned to her with a hand on her hip. "But?" she pressed.

She looked up at the woman and Yoruichi was a bit shocked to see tears in the woman's eyes. "But what Aizen has done…what he is doing, is wrong. He's nothing but a cruel, sadistic man. He destroyed Tim's life, he made me kill my closest friends, he's doing such horrible things simply because he can. I may be an Arrancar, an enemy of your soul society; but I could never go back to serve such a horrible person. I'd rather let the soul society kill me than go back."

Nel walked up and stopped only a foot from Yoruichi. "I know what you're asking, Yoruichi; and I can tell you right now that I have no intention to return to the Espada, nor do I intend to fight against the soul society. If they want to kill me, that's fine, I'll even turn myself in. As long as Aizen pays for what he's done, I couldn't care less." She stated with a serious, but sorrowful stare.

Yoruichi looked the woman in the eyes, trying to decipher if there was any hesitance or deceit in them; but saw nothing. As hard as it was for her to believe, she could actually see that the woman was telling her the truth.

"I see." She finally answered, then grinned. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I could trust you a little bit." She admitted.

Nel lightly smiled and looked down at the ground. "I'm glad." She said in relief.

Yoruichi patted her on the shoulder, regaining the woman's gaze. "Tim and Kisuke seem to trust you, and I trust them. So, I guess we can get along." She said, then waved the woman off. "Anyway, let's get back to getting you some clothes and such. Afterall, we can't really leave you with only the clothes that Kisuke provided." She said as she looked the woman over.

Nel was currently wearing a t-shirt that was obviously designed for someone with much less in stock in the chest department. It was a woman's shirt, but it was easily stretched to its limits because of Nel's rather large assets.

Her pants were no better. Kisuke had fitted her faux body with a pair of 'Daisey Dukes' shorts that clung 'very' tightly to the woman's slightly wide hips. Yoruichi was actually surprised that the man had managed to do the button without it ripping out.

Kisuke Urahara could build a gigai faster than any three Squad 12 members put together, including Captain Kurotsuchi; but when it came to the choice of clothes that he used to cover them, all Yoruichi could say was that the man was one hell of a pervert.

Nel looked down at her clothes, then turned a bit red in the face. "Yeah, I do feel a bit…exposed." She admitted as she tried to pull her shirt's front down a bit.

Yoruichi laughed a bit and gestured with her head towards a clothing store nearby. "Come on, let's get started. We gotta have you looking good for your new boyfriend, afterall." She teased.

The Arrancar raised her brow at her in confusion. "Boyfriend?" she inquired.

The golden-eyed seductress grinned evilly at her. "Oh, come on, you know who I'm talking about. A certain blonde-haired Lieutenant?" She said as she flashed her brows suggestively.

Nel's face began to turn a light shade of pink. "I…He's 'not' my boyfriend! I barely even know him!" she defended.

Yoruichi rose a brow. 'Oh, she is way too easy. I may not be able to toy with him, but I can sure use him as an excuse to toy with her.'

"Oh, is that so? Then what about the little conversation you two had this morning in the basement?" she inquired.

Nel turned her head away, her pinkish cheeks beginning to turn red. "I…I don't know what you're talking about. I was having a hard time about my friends' deaths and he cheered me up. That's all." She insisted.

'Oh, this is going to be so much fun!' Yoruichi mentally stated.

Yoruichi leaned forward to the woman's ear. "That's not what your smile said as you two were heading upstairs for breakfast. You 'like' him, don't you?"

Nel backed her head away and gave her an angry glare. "I do not 'like' him! He's a friend, nothing more!" she hissed back.

The seductress leaned back straight and waved her off. "Sure, whatever you say, Nel. You don't have to be embarrassed about it; it's natural to be interested in a man. Or…" she paused and touched a finger to her chin. "…could it be that you swing the other way?" she wondered in a low tone.

The former Espada's eyes went wide as possible. "W…what?! What…what are you talking about?! I am 'not' interested in women!" she sternly stated.

Yoruichi side glanced to woman while keeping her finger on her chin. "So…you don't like Tim? Is he not handsome enough for you?" she asked, baiting the poor woman.

Nel growled and stomped her foot. "I 'do' like him, and he 'is' handsome!" she yelled just loud enough to get her point across.

'Hook. Line. And sinker.'

The golden-eyed woman flashed a toothy grin. "Oh?!"

'Oh, Kisuke is going to 'love' this! I almost feel bad for the poor woman…'almost'.'

Nel suddenly caught on to what she said, then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, her face now beet red. "I…I didn't say that! I…uh…I meant…he's not ugly, or anything! And I like him 'as a friend'! There's nothing between us!" she insisted through her hand.

"Not yet, at least." The demon woman said as she flashed her brows again.

The Arrancar buried her face in her hands. "I hate you." She moaned.

Yoruichi laughed and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders. "Cheer up, Nel. Once were done here, you'll be looking perfectly ready to take him as your own." She teased.

Nel whined and pushed the woman off of her. "I told you, there's nothing, 'nothing', N. O. T. H. I. N. G. 'Nothing', between us!" he hissed.

Yoruichi smiled wide and pointed at her face. "Then why are you blushing?" she inquired.

The woman quickly turned away. "I'm not blushing, it's just a little warm out is all."

The seductress smiled wider. "I wonder what Tim would say if I told him about this conversation, that you think he's handsome."

Nel flashed her gaze towards her in shock. "You wouldn't!" she said in a low and disbelieving tone. Yoruichi's face didn't change, scaring the woman. "…you would…" she mumbled, getting a snicker from the evil woman.

Yoruichi turned and began walking towards the store, leaving Nel to watch her with wide eyes. The woman suddenly stopped and looked across the street.

"Hey, is that Tim holding hands with a woman?" she wondered aloud.

Nel quickly turned to where she was looking, trying to see if it was true. She looked, but didn't see him, then it clicked in her head that she had been played…again. She slowly turned back to the woman with a deathly glare to see her grinning wide enough that her face nearly split in two.

"That. Was. Not. Funny!" Nel hissed as she blushed more for falling for the woman's trick.

"What's wrong Nel? Jealous?" Yoruichi teased further.

"I'm gonna kill you!" she growled and started running at the woman.

Yoruichi bolted down the street, followed closely by a raging, and embarrassed Arrancar. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, making the woman even madder.

"Get back here, you stupid…idiotic…Ah!" she yelled as she continued to chase the woman down the street.

Five Hours Later

Nel stomped down the narrow side street, growling and her face red while Yoruichi walked next to her with the biggest grin she had worn in over a century. The whole time that they were shopping for clothes, Yoruichi endlessly pestered the poor woman about trying on certain clothes that would 'impress' a certain Lieutenant. The former Espada had never, in her entire life, been so embarrassed.

Time after time the woman, that Nel came to call 'the demon', had hinted to her about 'liking' Timothy. And time after time, she kept falling for the woman's tricks, causing her say things that she really didn't mean to say.

A couple of times, she found herself pleading that a random soul reaper would discover her and take her away to be executed. In her opinion, execution sounded more appealing than having to be mentally, and emotionally tortured by the evil seductress walking next to her.

Yoruichi, who was carrying the bags with the clothes they bought, glanced over at the sulking woman. "Oh, cheer up Nel. We'll be back soon, then you can try out your new clothes and see how they impress Tim." she said happily.

Nel turned her eyes to the woman. "Shut up. I don't want to talk to you right now." She stated through her teeth.

'The demon' simply shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, I guess I won't be giving you any pointers on how to seduce a man."

The Arrancar turned her head fully to the woman. "I do 'not' want to seduce him! How many times do I have to say that there is nothing between us?!" she insisted.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a loud crash. They turned in time to see Timothy rolling back along the ground, crashing into the wall at the back of the lot and landing on his face.

Yoruichi and Nel looked at each other in confusion, then turned back to the shop entrance as they stopped to see a red-haired soul reaper walking up and stopping on the porch with his zanpakutō released and resting on his shoulder.

"Get up, Tim. You're done with your stupid sulking." Renji stated.

Timothy slowly got back up to his feet and glared at the man. "What the fuck, you idiot?! It's 'my' business what I do, not yours!" he yelled back.

Renji turned his head and scoffed. "You're a part of this team, so it makes it my business. The last thing we need is a little crybaby hiding in his room." He taunted.

"Asshole!" Timothy said through his teeth, then turned to see the two women watching the whole ordeal. "Nel? You guys down with your shopping?" he inquired with a raised brow.

Nel nodded, then Renji looked at her. "Who are you?" he inquired.

Yoruichi saw Timothy freeze, then she rested her hand on Nel's shoulder. "She's Kisuke's new assistant. She just recently moved here about a month ago and needed a job, so Kisuke hired her. We just went out shopping for a bit." She said, then whispered lowly to Nel. "Play along and ask me who I'm talking to." She instructed.

Seeing what the woman was getting at, she obeyed. "Uh…Yoruichi, who are you talking to?" she asked with a raised brow.

The golden-eyed woman meekly laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Uh, no one, just talking to myself." She lied.

Nel turned back to Timothy. "What happened to you, Tim? And who are 'you' yelling at?"

Timothy also saw what the two were implying. "Nothing, I just tripped and started ranting at no one in particular because of it."

Yoruichi gave him an approving nod. "Kisuke still not done with his…task?" she inquired, hinting at the gigais.

The younger Lieutenant shrugged his shoulders. "I think he's working on the last one now. Afterall, Renji deserves to be last." He mocked while glancing at the man.

A tick mark appeared on Renji's forehead. "What did you say?!" he hissed.

Yoruichi glanced at Nel. "Go ahead and head inside. If anybody besides Kisuke talks to you, ignore them and pretend you can't see them." She instructed in a whisper.

Nel nodded and took the bags from the woman before walking past Renji and into the shop. Yoruichi turned back to Timothy and narrowed her gaze.

"Now, what's this about, Tim?" she asked in a serious tone.

Renji scoffed and glared at the man. "The guy's sulking because of the death of his friend from his response team." He answered.

Yoruichi rose a brow. "I'm sorry to hear that, Tim. But why would Renji attack you like that from just feeling bad about your friend's death?" she pressed.

"That's 'my' business, Yoruichi." He hissed in a warning tone.

"The idiot thinks that the guy's death was 'his' fault." Renji interrupted.

Timothy glared at him. "Shut up! I was the one who brought him along, and he died because of it!" he yelled as he crossed his arms.

Before he could say anything further, he was sent flying into another wall by Yoruichi, who thrusted a fist into his side after flash stepping next to him. His body fell forward after stopping, but was caught and held up by the collar of his shirt by the woman. He looked up to see a displeased look in her eyes.

"Is that true? Are you really blaming yourself for something you had no control over? Now I can see why Renji had it out for you. Just how did you ever make Lieutenant, Tim?" she said, then threw his body back against the first wall before turning back to Renji. "Take the idiot downstairs and I'll deal with him in a moment. I've gotta talk to Kisuke first." She instructed.

The man nodded, then walked over and slung the, now unconscious, body of Timothy. And turned back towards the shop and glanced at her. "Make sure you give this idiot a good beating. He's just as bad as Ichigo…if not worse." He commented, then walked back into the shop.

Yoruichi crossed her arms as she watched the red-haired man carry the younger man inside. She then shook her head with a heavy sigh.

"Looks like I'll have to train another 'Ichigo'." She said, then followed Renji inside the shop.

Urahara Shop Underground Training Area, 10 Minutes Earlier

After showing Captain Hitsugaya and his team his 'secret' training area, Kisuke told them that they were more than welcome to use it to fine tune their skills. Toshiro was more than happy to oblige the idea, and directed his team to start one-on-one sparring matches.

Currently, he had Rangiku facing off against Ikkaku, while Rukia fought with Yumichika. He was having them fight for around twenty to thirty minutes, then he would switch the teams around while he observed.

Seeing that there were six of them, not including Timothy at the moment, that meant that one of them would have a chance to rest up for an iteration. Renji was the one currently taking a breather and was sitting down on a small boulder next to Toshiro, watching Rukia's fight.

They had been at their training session four a little over four hours now, and the white-haired Captain was beginning to wonder where Timothy was. He figured that whatever was in that letter Rangiku gave him, it was likely bad news; but they had a job to do and he wanted to see Timothy's skills first hand.

With an agitated sigh, he turned to the ladder leading up to the main shop. "Where is he? He needs to be down here training with us." He stated and an annoyed tone.

Renji glanced to the ladder as well with a shrug. "Must have been really bad news that he got. Want me to go get him, Captain?" he asked.

Toshiro thought about it, but eventually decided that the man, regardless of what news he received, needed to be down there with them training.

"Yes, please do." He answered, then turned back to watch Ikkaku and Rangiku's fight.

"Yes, Captain." Renji responded, then stood up and started walking towards the ladder.

In his room, Timothy was sitting down on the floor with his back propped up against the wall near the window. He had his right knee pulled to him and his right arm resting on it; the letter from earlier crumpled in his hand.

He had expected Kitsune to be constantly berating him for sulking this long, but was slightly surprised that neither she, nor 'Johnny' had said a single word to him since he first entered the room.

He then heard a knock on his door, and without moving a muscle, he answered. "Yeah?" he said in a low tone.

The door slid open and Renji took a step in. "Hey, you alright? We're starting to worry about you down there." He said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

Timothy moved his eyes to look at the man. "I'm fine." He said with a hint of annoyance.

Renji rose a disbelieving brow. "Really? Don't look to me like you're fine." He said skeptically.

The younger man narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay, so? I said I was fine, so quit worrying about it and just go back to whatever you were doing." He shot out with a dismissive wave.

The red-haired Lieutenant crossed his arms and stood firm. "What the hell is your problem? Here I am, saying that people are worried about you, and you go trying to toss us aside. What the hell could have happened to turn you into such an ass?" he said, insulted.

Timothy glared at him in anger. "Look, I appreciate that you guys are worried; but my problems are my own." He hissed, then stood up and walked up to the taller man, stopping only a couple feet away from him. "I'm tired of, whenever someone close to me ends up dying, everyone's gotta get in my face." He added.

Renji rose a knowing brow at him. "Oh, I see now, so one of the members that were killed was a close friend of yours. So, I'm gonna take a guess that you're blaming yourself for what happened, right?"

The shorter man then touched a finger to the taller one's chest. "You shut your mouth, Renji! I'm not going to listen to your 'It's not your fault.' speech! I told you that I would be fine, so take that answer and leave me be!"

Timothy lowered his hand and started walking back to his previous spot on the floor. Renji watched him for a second, then scoffed.

"Tetsuzaemon was right…" he started, causing Timothy to stop and glance at him. "…you really 'do' have an attitude problem. I swear that you and Ichigo have 'got' to be related somehow." He stated as he rolled his eyes.

The blonde turned to face him fully with clenched fists. "I'm telling you right now Renji, it's in your best interest to shut your face, before 'I' shut it for you." He warned through his teeth.

Renji had finally had enough. Dropping his arms, the red-haired Lieutenant march up to the young man, grabbed him by the collar, and swiftly pulled him forward. The man's sudden action caused Timothy to lose his balance and fall forward; being held up by his shirt and rolling onto his back as Renji started dragging him across the floor and out of the room.

"What the fuck you think you're doing?! Let me go, you idiot!" Timothy demanded.

The taller man didn't respond, he simply kept on dragging the man through the dining room, and into the main shop area. Stopping momentarily to open the front door, he then threw Timothy out the front entrance and sending him rolling into the wall at the far end of the open lot, right in front of a returning Yoruichi and Nel.

Timothy's Inner World, 5 Minutes Later

With a twitch of his brow and a low moan, Timothy awoke and opened his eyes to a familiar sight; a weed covered field, slightly smoking buildings, and an endless rain that seemed to be a bit heavier than it was the last time he was there.

Rubbing his head as he sat up, he looked around to the large cathedral to see 'Johnny' sitting in front of it with a knee held close to his chest and his arm resting on it. Looking closely, he could see that the spirit had anger in his only exposed eye.

"Well, seeing that I ended up here, I'm guessing Yoruichi knocked me out, right?" he stated flatly. He then looked around and noticed that something, or rather 'someone' was missing. He turned back to the male spirit with a raised brow. "Where's Kit?" he inquired.

Silence followed for a moment before 'Johnny' replied. "She is…avoiding you." He answered in a hissing tone.

Timothy turned his head and sighed. "So, she's still pissed at me, huh? Seems like 'everyone's' wanting to be pissed at me because of how I feel." He said in an agitated tone, then looked back at him. "So, what now? You gonna tell me I'm acting like an idiot for blaming myself?" he asked.

'Johnny' narrowed his glare at the man. "No…it will not…be 'I'…who will deal…with you." He stated.

The Lieutenant rose brow at the answer. "What do you mean?" he inquired carefully.

His eyes widened a bit when he saw the lower part of the spirit's eye rise up, telling him that the being had to be smirking at him through the bandages on his face.

"You shall see…soon enough…Prepare yourself…for this…shall not…be pleasant…for you." The spirit said with, what Timothy could swear on his life was, an amused tone.

Timothy opened his mouth to ask what the man meant, but before he could speak, he was suddenly pulled back from his inner world.

Underground Training Area, Present

Timothy slowly came to as Renji stood hunched down next to him and lightly smacked the man's cheek, rousing him back into consciousness. Toshiro and the rest of his group stood by and watched as the younger man started to stir.

"Yo, I think he's coming to." Renji called over his shoulder.

The blonde man groaned as he opened his eyes to see Renji and the others looking at him with agitated faces. He looked down to see that he was out of his gigai, then to Toshiro to see that the Captain was holding his zanpakutō with his arms crossed over his chest.

The short Captain turned his head to the side. "He's all yours. Just make sure you don't kill him." He said.

Timothy followed the man's gaze to see Yoruichi with her hands on her hips, glaring deep into his eyes with anger.

"Can't make any promises, sorry." She replied.

Toshiro nodded and signaled for the others to follow him as Timothy slowly sat up, holding a hand to his head that was now throbbing.

"Hey, where are you going with my zanpakutō?" he asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that right now, Tim." Yoruichi stated, getting his attention. "I'd be more worried with what's about to come." She added.

Timothy rose a brow at her. "What are you…"

He was silenced when the woman instantly flashed up next to him and delivered a forceful kick to the man's side, launching him from the ground and out towards a large boulder. He crashed into it with a loud huff of air.

The boulder exploded as his body sailed through it, landing on the ground beyond it and rolling to a stop. But before he could collect himself, Yoruichi was already there and sending his body back into the air with another harsh kick.

Toshiro and his group watched from a distance as Timothy's body went flying again, with Renji and Ikkaku scrunching their faces and giving a silent 'ooohh' with each hit.

"Oh, that's gotta hurt." Ikkaku commented with Renji, Rukia, and Yumichika nodding in agreeance.

Toshiro was sitting on top of a boulder next to them with his arms crossed and Timothy's zanpakutō lying on the ground next to him. He nodded as well with a sigh.

"He clearly deserves it. I just hope she doesn't kill him." He commented.

He suddenly felt a rise of spiritual pressure next to him, and turned to see flames coming out of the Lieutenant's zanpakutō.

He rose a brow and watched as the flames gathered on the ground in front of him and solidified into a human sized figure. His eyes widened a bit when he realized who this figure was; the Lieutenant's zanpakutō spirit.

"Are you…" he started, getting Kitsune's attention.

"Yes, I'm Tim's zanpakutō spirit. I'm Moeru Kitsune, nice to meet ya." She said with a toothy grin, then turned back and started walking toward the two in the distance.

Toshiro watched her walk away in surprise, as did the others who just now noticed her. Not only because that she was there in the real world, but because they all knew that if a zanpakutō spirit could materialize on its own, that meant that its owner possessed a Bankai, or was really close to achieving it.

"Captain, is that…who I think it is?" Rukia asked in shock.

The Captain gave a slight nod. "That's Lieutenant Durn's zanpakutō spirit. I had heard that the man has a Bankai, but I honestly didn't believe it. I guess I was wrong." He admitted.

Rukia turned back to look at the spirit with an amazed stare as Ikkaku glanced at her. "My Captain said the guy fought against him using his Bankai. He said that his Bankai allows his zanpakutō spirit to fight alongside him in battle." He informed.

Rangiku looked over her shoulder at the 3rd seat. "If that's true, then that means he's the only one with a zanpakutō like that." She stated.

"Actually, he would be the second person with that ability. Captain Komamura's zanpakutō spirit also comes out when he is in Bankai." Toshiro corrected without turning away from Kitsune.

The woman's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh yeah, that's right! I completely forgot about that!" she said in surprise.

Everyone's eyes darted around to look behind them as Timothy's body suddenly flew right past Toshiro's head and crashed into another large boulder.

"She's 'really' giving it to him." Renji commented, getting nods from everyone there.

Yoruichi stood in place and returned her hands to her hips after giving Timothy another solid kick that sent him past their observers. She then turned her head and rose a brow when she saw Kitsune walking up to her and waving.

"Good to see you again, Yoruichi." She greeted with a smirk.

The woman smirked and waved back. "Hey, Kit. Hope you don't mind if I beat some sense into your partner, do you?" she asked.

Kitsune wave her off and grinned. "Nah, it's about time someone made his ass wake up and quit with his sulking." She responded, stopping next to the woman.

"So, what brings you out here? Doesn't Tim have to let you out?" the golden-eyed woman inquired.

The spirit snickered. "Sorry about that, but I lied. Unlike most other zanpakutōs, I can come out whenever I want; though, I am still restricted with how far I can be away from Tim. Besides, you really think I'm gonna stay inside his inner world and miss the ass whooping that he deserves? Not a chance. So, don't worry about how I feel about kicking his ass, just make sure…"

Yoruichi held up a finger to stop her. "Hold that thought for just a second. Be right back." She said, then flashed away.

The spirit turned to where Timothy's body had landed earlier just in time the see it being sent out and to her right; straight into another large boulder. Not two seconds later, Yoruichi was right back next to her.

"Sorry about that. You were saying?" she said in a calm and polite manner, getting a snicker from the spirit.

"Kisuke wasn't kidding when he said you were fast, Yoruichi. I'm very impressed. But anyway, I said as long as he learns his lesson, do what you need to do." She finished.

Yoruichi nodded, then something came to her. "Oh, now that we have a second to talk, perhaps you could help me with something." The woman said with an evil grin.

Kitsune rose an interested brow. "I'm listening."

Her friend rose her finger up again. "One sec." she said, then flashed away again. After hearing another crashing sound a second later, the woman returned again and let out a deep breath. "He's out cold again, so we should have a few minutes before he wakes back up for another round. Anyway, I wanted to ask for your help with a…a little fun shall we say." She repeated with her trademark grin.

The spirit knew that grin, so she could already tell that whatever the woman had in mind was indeed going to be entertaining.

"Go ahead." She said, returning the grin.

"It would seem that our new friend, Nel, might have a little bit of 'interest' in your partner." Yoruichi said as she flashed her brows.

Kitsune widened her eyes in surprise. "Really? With Tim? You're kidding?" she said.

Yoruichi gently shook her head. "Nope. Every time I joked with her about Tim, she turned red. I don't think she realizes it yet, but I think she's starting to 'like' him. Not only that, I had some fun with her earlier while we were out shopping, and she's just 'too' easy to fool with." She informed.

The spirit narrowed her gaze. "Knowing you, that means you've been making suggestive comments to her all day. So, how is she, compared to Ichigo?" she inquired.

"Worse! Oh, sooo much worse!" the woman answered with a roll of the head.

Kitsune's grin widened exponentially. "Oh, this, I have 'got' to see! If that's the case, you willing to trade out Ichigo as our target for Nel?"

Yoruichi deeply snickered, then smiled proudly. "Honey, you just read my mind. Though, to be honest, I am a bit curious."

"About?" Kitsune asked.

Yoruichi placed her hands on her hips again. "Out of curiosity, how would you feel 'if' the poor woman 'did' have feelings for Tim? I mean…you 'were' his wife afterall." She questioned.

Kitsune took a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling. "That's the thing, I 'was' his wife, but not anymore; haven't been for twelve years now. I'll admit, I probably 'would' feel a bit sad about him being with someone else; but then, I can't expect him to remain alone for the rest of his life, can I?"

The other woman crossed her arms with a heavy sigh. "I can see you still love him, in your own way. But, I do see what you're saying. I gotta say, I don't envy you, Kit. You two are in one hell of a tough spot." The golden-eyed woman then turned to where Timothy's body had landed, seeing that he was still out cold. "Has Tim said anything about feelings for her?" she asked.

The spirit looked over at Timothy's unconscious form as well. "No, nor has he had any thoughts about it. But then again, Tim's as dense at a brick wall. I first met him when I moved to his hometown when we were in the seventh grade. It wasn't until we entered college that it finally clicked in his thick skull that he had feelings for me. Hell, Nel could probably throw herself at him all lovey dovey like, and he would still more than likely not see it.

Yoruichi turned to the spirit with a raised brow. "So, although you might feel a little bad about him being with someone else, you don't have a problem with them being together?"

The spirit turned to her friend with a look of slight sorrow. "I don't have anything against Nel, I really don't. Afterall, she did save Tim's life twice now. And I really do want Tim to be happy, even if that means that he finds another person to love. But, there is that one problem that I'm sure you realize." She said with a stern look.

Yoruichi nodded in agreeance. "The fact that Nel's an Arrancar." She filled in.

Kitsune nodded. "She seems nice, and I'll admit that she has suffered from…unfortunate circumstances, becoming a hollow and all. Like I said, I personally have nothing against her, but if the two of them do end up having feelings for each other, do you think the soul society would ever even 'consider' such a relationship? I highly doubt it. I just…" She sighed heavily and returned her gaze back to Timothy. "I just don't want to see him suffer anymore. You have no idea what he's been through; all the pain he's felt. And to be honest, I seriously doubt he can take much more emotional pain before he breaks down."

"You're referring to what happened between you two and Aizen…aren't you?" Yoruichi inquired solemnly.

The spirit lowered her head and nodded. "It hurt me inside…becoming what I am now. But for Tim…he suffered worse than I did. For twelve years, he blamed himself for what happened; no matter how many times I told him otherwise. In fact, I think he's still blaming himself for it." She closed her eyes and dropped her head lower. "He's always been this way. It was a fault that we both had. I, too, had a high tendency to blame myself for things that I had no control over." She then looked back at the woman next to her.

"Tim is everything to me. He stood by me regardless of what I put him through. I want to see him happy again, even if that means having feelings for Nel. But, let's face it, you and I both know that it's just not possible for them to be together; not while he's a soul reaper. I didn't want to say anything to him and hurt his feelings, but regardless of Tim's hopes, we both know that the soul society will never forgive Nel for being an Espada; regardless of what good she does. Tim's only been a soul reaper for about a month, and I can already tell by how they do things that Nel can never be accepted."

She turned to face the woman fully. "Even if Nel was the one to kill Aizen, even in front of every soul reaper in the soul society, they would still view Nel as nothing more than an enemy to be killed."

Yoruichi looked back to Timothy to see that he was finally coming back to the light. "I wouldn't be so sure, Kit. He may be gruff, and exceedingly stern, but the Head Captain is still very wise, and not without morals. He's most certainly 'not' heartless. Afterall, Ichigo 'did' invade the soul society, causing a good amount of damage; but in the end, it was the Head Captain that pardoned him and allowed him, a human who is still living, to become a substitute soul reaper. Even Rukia, who had committed the very severe crime of giving Ichigo her powers, was pardoned."

The woman glanced over at the spirit. "So, don't be so quick to judge the soul society, Kit. The Captains can be bullheaded, and often blind to things if they're not right in front of them; but they're not as big of fools that you may think. I mean, take Tim's own Captain, Komamura. Even you have to admit that the big guy, even though he 'looks' like a beast, he's one of the more gentle and caring Captains of the 13 Court Guard Squads. Right?"

Kitsune scoffed. "Yeah, he is a bit of a giant teddy bear. But still, do you really think that the soul society would give Nel a chance?" she asked, now looking at her friend questionably.

Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders. "It would be a hell of an argument that we would have to make, but there 'is' that chance." She admitted, then looked back at Kitsune. "For now, I'm gonna get back to Tim's punishment. We'll talk more about Nel's 'own' punishment later." She finished with a grin.

The spirit snorted, then shook her head. "I almost feel sorry for her." She said.

The woman and spirit glanced at each other instantly. "Almost!" they said in unison, followed by heavy laughter.

After a few seconds of their laughing, Yoruichi finally waved at Kitsune and flashed away to continue 'teaching' Timothy about his sulking. Kitsune placed her hands on her hips and shook her head when she saw Timothy go flying again.

She returned her gaze to Timothy's crashing body as she sighed heavily.

'Tim's got a heart of gold, always caring for others before he would ever care for himself. That's why I married him…and why I 'still' love him. If he and Nel did start having feelings for each other, there's no telling what he would do for her. Knowing him, he would likely turn on anyone who tried to come after her…just like I would for him.'

With a last heavy sigh, she dropped her hands to her side, then began to dissipate to return to Timothy's inner world.

An Hour Later

Timothy landed against the side of a small mountain, creating a small indent before falling loose and rolling down the side of it to land on the ground with a thump. He grunted in pain as he fought his muscles to try and get up.

Yoruichi flashed to a few feet away from him and crossed her arms, giving him a serious glare. "Are you done feeling guilty about stupid things yet?" she inquired.

The man flinched in pain as he lifted his head to look at her. His body was completely covered in cuts, scratches, and bruises, and his breathing labored. His left eye was swollen shut and blood threatened to seep into his other eye.

"It's…it's not…stupid!...They…they died…because I…took them along." He said between breaths.

The woman closed her eyes and shook her head in disappointment. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" She raised her head back and held a hand up with her palm facing the ceiling. "Yeah, you took them with you; and yes, they died while you were in charge. But think about it, Tim; did they join your team because you 'told' them to, or did they join because you asked if they wanted to?" She waited for an answer, tapping her foot on the ground as she did. "Well, I'm waiting. I actually expect you to answer me, Tim." she informed.

Timothy pushed himself up enough to make it to a half sitting, half kneeling position. "I…I asked them…if they wanted…to join." He answered.

She rose a brow. "And did they say 'yes'?" she asked further, getting a slight nod back in acknowledgment. She crossed her arms and scoffed. "Well, there's your answer, idiot. 'They' chose to join your team. 'They' wanted to go with you. It's admirable that you feel for their deaths Tim, but it's insulting when you go thinking that their deaths were your fault when it's clearly not." She pointed out.

She gave a deep sigh and walked over to sit down next to him. "Tim, Kisuke told me about those two hollows you and your team fought against. In case you've forgotten, those two were 'not' just any hollows; they were Adjuchas. Just one Adjuchas is powerful enough to prove a challenge for a Captain, but you and your team took on 'two' of them. Even with so many members in your team, with the abilities those two had, you were clearly outmatched." She informed.

She turned to see him with his head down, so she knocked her fist against his temple. "Hey…" she called, getting his attention and an angry glare. "If you want the painful truth about it, none of you should have lived through that; even Kisuke thinks so. In fact, if it wasn't for Ichigo using his Bankai, you all would be dead. So next time, before you decide to go straight into a sulking mood, how about you think it over and see 'if' it was really your fault." She instructed.

He turned away, but nodded. "Yeah." He responded in a low tone.

Yoruichi nodded back and stood up, offering a hand to him. "Good, cause next time you decide to act like this, I won't go so easy on you. Now come on and we'll get those wounds treated." She concluded.

Timothy looked at her in resentment, but nodded once more and accepted her hand, getting pulled up to a standing position.

"Thanks…Yoruichi." He said in a solemn tone.

She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "You need to learn to lighten up, Tim. I know it was the Head Captain himself that made you a Lieutenant, something that I personally have never seen. He did it for a reason, he did it because he must have seen quite a bit of potential in you. And frankly, I see a bit of that potential myself. You just need to learn to stop blaming yourself for everything. Just remember what I said, alright?" she said as she patted his shoulder again.

He sighed heavily, then nodded. "Alright."

The woman then grinned, and thrusted her fist into his side, but not as hard as she had done earlier. He stumbled over and held his side, glaring at her.

"What the hell was that for?!" he yelled.

She planted her hands on her hips. "For making me have to take my time to knock some sense into you." She said amusingly.

The Lieutenant growled at her. "I hate you."

A simple shrug of the woman's shoulders was his only reply before she walked off. Timothy turned to his left to see Toshiro and his group walking up.

"Are you finished now?" the short man inquired.

Taking a deep breath, Timothy nodded. "Yeah, I'm done with my 'sulking'. Sorry bout that, Captain. Not leaving a very good first impression, am I?"

The Captain rose a brow with a smirk. "I already had a first impression about you after I heard about your fight with Captain Zaraki."

Timothy dropped his head with a moan. "How many times do I have to tell everyone that 'he' was the one who started it?"

Toshiro lightly chuckled, then crossed his arms. "Well, regardless of 'who' started it, I will admit that I was impressed with everything I've been told about it. But that's another matter. Right now, we should get back to training." He instructed, then looked at the group behind him. "Renji, you and Ayasegawa will be a team." He said, getting a pair of nods before the two flashed away. "Madarame and Kuchiki will be another." Those two nodded, then left. The Captain then turned to his Lieutenant. "Rangiku, you're on break for the moment."

He finally faced Timothy. "And Durn, go upstairs and have your injuries treated. When you are finished, the teams will switch out and you will spar against Rangiku."

The woman's eyes lit up instantly. "Really? I get to fight the handsome one?" she inquired with a grin.

Timothy rose a brow. "Sorry, but you're not my type; you're too…" He paused to briefly look her over, from her head to chest, then back. "…bubbly." He stated.

Toshiro snorted and turned his head to avoid laughing while Rangiku gave him a pouty face. "Aw, you don't have to be like that. I'm sure we could get 'along' just fine." She insisted.

The man turned to the Captain with a deadpanned expression. "Is she always like this?" he moaned.

The Captain turned his head to him, but his eyes moved on to look at Rangiku. "Unfortunately." He moaned back.

Rangiku swung her head to her superior. "Captain! That's not nice!" she whined.

A tick mark appeared on the shorter man's face, then he glared at her. "Be quiet, Rangiku! Or I'll have you running laps around the entire facility!" he demanded.

Taking a deep breath and huffing, she planted her hands of her hips and turned her head away. "Fine."

Timothy sighed deeply and began walking towards the ladder, stopping next to the Captain and leaning down to his ear. "My condolences." He whispered.

Toshiro turned his eyes to him. "You have no idea." He returned, then took a 'very' deep and calming breath.

Sparing a last glance at the busty Lieutenant, Timothy shook his head and continued his walk to have Tessai heal his injuries.

When he arrived upstairs, he saw Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai, and Nel sitting at the table…with Nel's head turned away from the woman sitting next to her and her face a bit red. Glancing at the woman, who had just gotten finished beating the living crap out of him, he saw her evil grin plastered on her face.

"Yoruichi, what are you doing to Nel?" he inquired in a depressed voice.

Nel fidgeted, drawing his attention back to her to see her face turn even more red. He then sighed defeatedly. "Nevermind…knowing you, you're probably filling her head with lecherous thoughts." He moaned as he waved the matter off and turning to Tessai. "Hey Tessai, could you do me a favor and fix me up a bit?"

The man nodded. "Of course. Let us step into your room, where you can lie comfortably." He said as he stood up.

Timothy returned the nod and walked around the table to follow the man to his room. He stopped in front of Nel and tapped her on the head, getting her attention.

"Just ignore her, Nel. At least you're only dealing with her, and not the vixen that's my zanpakutō spirit." He pointed out.

"Don't start, Tim. In case you haven't noticed, I've actually been keeping quite lately." She warned.

Timothy snorted at her mentally. "I'm only pointing out the facts, nothing more."

He then sighed and looked back down to see Nel with her head now turned away from 'him'. He rose a brow. "Nel?"

She shirked a bit. "I'm…fine. Thank you though." She replied lowly.

"Uh, ok." He returned, then left to go to his room.

Yoruichi rose a brow at the scene and watch as Timothy left. Wow, she wasn't kidding. He 'is' dense. I'll have to find a way to talk privately with her again to find out how to break him. She mentally observed.

She then looked back at Nel to see her with her head down again. With a scoff and a roll of the eyes, the woman slapped the back of Nel's head. The Arrancar held the spot with her hand and turned to her.

"What did you do that for, Yoruichi?!" she whined.

The woman grinned and tilted her head away with closed eyes. "Just making sure that you didn't pass out from being in your boyfriend's presence." She teased.

Nel turned red again, but with a bit of anger mixed in. "He's not my boyfriend! Why do you keep insisting that he is?!"

Yoruichi opened her eyes halfway, turning them to glance at her. "Really? Then why did you turn away from him when he simply asked if you were okay?" She inquired, then turned her head fully to her. "You too embarrassed to look at him?" she added with a flash of her brows.

The Former Espada then slammed her fists on the table with a yell through her teeth. "That's it!" she yelled, then quickly turned to the woman and jumped at her with her hands poised to grab the woman's throat.

Falling back and grabbing Nel's hands with her own, Yoruichi propped a knee up to hold the raging woman off her while she laughed.

"Oh? Defending our boyfriend's honor now, are we?" she instigated.

With a quick thrust of her raised knee, she flung Nel over her head and onto her back on the other side of her. Letting go of her hands and twisting around and up to a kneeling position, the woman watched in humor as Nel rolled herself around and darted at her again.

"I'm gonna kill you! You damn demon!" Nel growled as she was once again held back from her target with the woman's knee.

Kisuke, being the man he is, couldn't resist grabbing his cell phone and start recording the little 'physical encounter' between the two women as he held his fan over his face to hide his wide, and amused smile.

In Timothy's room, him lying down and Tessai on his knees with a healing kidō over the Lieutenant, the two of them stared blankly at the wall with sweat running down their faces. They could both hear the muffled yelling and rummaging around; the wall vibrating every few seconds.

"…I knew it was only a matter of time before Yoruichi pissed her off." Timothy commented.

The two men turned to each other to share an understanding glance, then turned back to the wall just as a loud thump sounded against it with it nearly giving way. It was at this time that Kitsune materialized herself to stand next to Tessai.

She looked at the wall, then down at Timothy. "She's not going to 'kill' Yoruichi…" she started, then turned back to the wall. "…is she?"

Timothy glanced at her. "If she does, then Yoruichi deserved it."

Kitsune then sighed heavily. "She could have at least let 'me' have some fun first." She mumbled.

Her partner turned to her fully. "What do you mean? Do you know what Yoruichi's torturing her about?" he inquired. The spirit froze with wide eyes and he could swear she was sweating. He narrowed his gaze at her. "Kiiiiit?" he droned out.

She slowly, so slowly, turned to him, then sheepishly smiled. "Uhhhh…no?"

Timothy furrowed his brows at her. "What?" he hissed at her.

"Nothing! Oh, look at the time! Gotta go!" Kitsune blurted out, then quickly returned to Timothy's inner world.

He growled, then turned back to the wall. "We're gonna have a talk about this later!"

"…"

"Kit?!"

"…"

"Kit!"

"…"

"Oh, 'now' you wanna keep your mouth shut?!"

"…"

"Johnny', get her out here!"

"I am not…getting involved…in this."

With a heavy, depressed, growling sigh, Timothy finally gave up and laid back down in defeat to let Tessai continue working on healing him. As he did, he began thinking of the best way to get Yoruichi back for all the trouble she's causing the poor 'former' Espada.

'Wait a minute…why am I getting so upset at Yoruichi for just teasing her a bit? If anything, it'll at least help Nel be more associated with us and loosen up. So…why am I so mad about it? It's like I'm trying to protect her from the woman.

Lightly shaking the thought from his head, he took a deep, relaxing breath and waited for the man next to him to finish his healing.

3 Hours Later

After he had been healed enough by Tessai, Toshiro included Timothy in with the team's training session; first being pitted against Rangiku, then Renji (who he really wanted to fight), Ikkaku, then finally Toshiro, who wanted to test out the man's zanpakutō abilities himself.

The white-haired Captain quickly realized that all the rumors he heard about Timothy's abilities being hard to fight against were in fact true. Due to the basis on how the Captain's own abilities worked and how the short man fought, Timothy found it quite easy to keep dodging the shorter man's attacks.

But then again, 'because' of the nature of the Captain's abilities, Timothy couldn't get close enough to land direct hits on him either. In the end, Timothy had to resort to using medium ranged kidō while the Captain had to enter Bankai to increase his range of influence.

After the two fought against each other for almost an hour, and both of them close to exhaustion, they ended up having to consider it a draw. Toshiro had told him that he was impressed, but he made it a point that the Lieutenant's raw sword skills needed some work.

But now that Kisuke had finished their gigais, the Captain decided that it was now time to go and speak with Ichigo about his fight with the Sexta Espada. Timothy had requested to stay at the shop to train some more; and seeing that he had nothing else to report on the matter, Toshiro agreed.

So now Timothy was down in the training area sparring against Kisuke again. And yet again, getting his ass handed to him. No matter what trick he used to get the better of the man, even using a three phased trick, the scientist saw right through it and was two steps ahead of him.

He had been fighting Kisuke now for a little over a half hour, and not taking some time to rest after Toshiro's training session, he was completely beat.

Flashing into place near one of his flames after being knocked away from them, he came to a stop and stumbled; falling to a knee. Panting heavily, he tried to get back up to his feet. But his muscles were so worn out, that he only ended up falling further to lay on his side.

"Get up, Tim. I'm sure you're tired, but you can rest up later." Kisuke said as he came to a stop a few yards away from the man.

Timothy glanced up at the shop owner weakly. "You're…you're worse…than Tet…Tetsuzaemon." He stated between breaths.

Kisuke grinned at him. "I'll take that as a complement. Nonetheless, your spiritual pressure is currently weak, so you need to be pushed to the limit in order to help correct that. From what I can see, you're not quite there yet."

The Lieutenant rose a brow at him. "Kit…said the…same thing…She said…that's…that's why…I can't use…Bankai."

His opponent nodded at him. "That's what I figured, and she's right. I can tell that your spirit energy is quite high, as high as a Captain's in fact. You're able to use high powered kidō numerous times without having adverse effects on you. But I could also tell that those kidōs didn't quite pack the punch that they should have, and on some occasions backfiring; telling me that your spiritual pressure is a bit low."

The man then pulled out his fan and began fanning himself as he continued. "In order to increase a person's spirit energy, that person needs to use attacks that pull on it over and over. Over time, that person's spirit energy will steadily increase. However, spiritual pressure is another matter. In order for a person's spiritual pressure to increase, that person's soul needs to be put under heavy stress, or in danger."

He snapped his fan shut and held it next to his face. "Think of it like this; if you were to run a marathon, your spirit energy would determine for how long you can run; while your spiritual pressure would determine how fast you can you. With the way you are now, you could run several miles without having to stop. However, your running speed wouldn't be that great; more along the lines of a leisurely jog. So, if you wanted to increase your spirit energy, a.k.a. your running distance, you would need to keep running farther and farther each time you ran, increasing your cardio."

The fan was then pointed at Timothy. "But, if you wanted to increase your running speed, a.k.a. your spiritual pressure, you would need to do a lot of sprinting and increase your muscles."

Timothy finally found the energy needed to make it back to his feet; granted that he needed to use his zanpakutō as a crutch.

"So…what you're saying…is that my…spirit energy is the…'cardio'…of my spiritual attacks…and my…spiritual pressure…is my 'muscle'…behind the attack." He panted in clarification.

Kisuke grinned and returned to fanning himself. "Exactly. So…shall we continue?"

With a scoff and shake of the head, Timothy finally nodded. "Now that…I know 'why'…you're trying to…kill me…" He paused to grin at the man. "…bring it." He finished and got back into a fighting stance.

The shop owner snapped his fan shut with a wide smile. "Alright…but you asked for it."

Timothy's grin dropped. "…Oh fuck."


So, Timothy is now on the Hitsugaya Team; although, as usual, he's not leaving good first impressions, lol. Nel and Yoruichi got to spend some 'girl time' away from everyone, and our favorite seductress seems to have found her next target for her teasing streaks. Poor Nel.

Add on to that, it looks like Timothy finally got the lesson he deserved in blaming himself for the deaths of others. Hope you all enjoyed 'seeing' him get his ass handed to him again, after Zaraki.

But, overall, not much action went on this week, just some plot development and a bit of humor. I think it's almost time for a chapter that based specifically on humor… If any of you have read my previous stories, you'll have noticed that I usually have one or two chapters where things just get out of control, to put it simply. Lol

So, I'm heading off for now. Gonna try to feel better and ger passed this damned block I ran into. See you all next week and hoped you enjoyed.