Morning everyone, or evening I guess, depending on where you're at, lol. Been a bad week here at home, family all got sick, including myself. So, we've all been pretty much doing nothing but resting and getting better, which we are now.

After two weeks of being stuck with writer's block, I unfortunately had to make the decision to go back a few chapters and do a total rewrite, but at least the writing is back in session. I guess sometimes you just have to accept a loss in order to make a gain.

So, I guess it's time for 'Spade's Corner', lol.

Glad you liked the chapter, and I agree it was a bit confusing to read in a few spots; I guess I'll tidy it up when the story is all done. So let's hit up your 'questions'.

1: I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that statement…

2: Easily Stark.

3: Either Aaroniero, or Zommari.

4: Definitely Stark as well.

5: Does high school prom count? If so, then yes.

6: No, he hasn't.

7: My eye's went wide at the realization of the close resemblance. I honestly never even noticed, lol. I guess he probably would…

8: Yoruichi was actually taking it easy on Tim's 'punishment', so not many.

Well, time for us to get to the chapter, and I hope you all enjoy. Catch you at the end.

(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 19

(Unknown Feelings)

Urahara Shop, World of the Living, 9 Days Later

Over the past week and a half, Timothy's schedule was beginning to become monotonous. Every morning, before anyone had woken up and Captain Hitsugaya's team arrived for their daily training, Timothy would be down in the training area working on his zanpakutō abilities and improving his spiritual pressure.

After training for about an hour, Nel would come down to watch for a moment, talk with him for a few minutes more, then they would both go upstairs to join the others for breakfast. By the time they had finished eating, Toshiro and the rest of his team would arrive, and they would begin training.

After having a little talk and with the recommendation from Kisuke, Toshiro agreed that Timothy should be forbidden from releasing his zanpakutō during his spars. He was an avid fighter, but that was only 'if' he was using his zanpakutō's abilities; so, he needed to learn to fight without them.

The young Lieutenant tried to argue the fact that there was no way he could fight against his peers while they were released, and he wasn't. But after Toshiro made the suggestion to have him fight against Yoruichi, he quickly dropped the subject with a defeated moan.

The others could see that Timothy was still bothered about his friend's and the other member's deaths, but other than a few occasional depressive sighs, his sulking had stopped. In fact, Toshiro and Kisuke had noticed when either of them sparred against him, that he was using their deaths to push himself harder.

Their training would sometimes get interrupted by a sudden hollow attack, and they would have to put it on hold to go deal with the situation. They would have let Ichigo deal with the hollows, seeing that most of the attacks were during times when he wasn't at school, but lately no one has seen him.

After coming by the shop a couple days after Timothy's 'beatdown' to let them know that he was going off somewhere to train, no one had seen him, or heard from him since he left the shop. Kisuke assured them all that Ichigo was fine, he was just in a place where contact was not feasible.

Timothy had his own training as well. Toshiro's training sessions for the team normally lasted until lunch time, where they would stop to eat, then continue for a couple hours longer. Afterwards, per Timothy's request, Kisuke would take the young Lieutenant and spar with him until the shop owner 'determined' that the man could no longer continue.

As with his previous sessions with the man, Timothy's spar with Urahara was more along the lines of being pushed to his limit, before his opponent would come at him with the full intent to kill him.

At first, Timothy argued that there was no point in asking the man for help if all he was going to do was try to kill him. But after only arguing the fact twice, he gave up on the whole matter and instead focused on trying to stay alive.

It's now been ten days since Kisuke had first sparred against Timothy; and even though the man's spiritual pressure has indeed gotten much stronger than when he first arrived, nearly twice as strong, it was still nowhere near where it needed to be.

Yesterday, after Kisuke had beaten Timothy to within a quarter of an inch of his life, the shop owner commented to the Lieutenant that, if he had to guess, Timothy's spiritual pressure was currently at the level of around a fifth seat. He estimated that the man was about a third of what a Lieutenant 'should' be.

The session then ended the way it did every other time that the two trained, with Timothy falling unconscious and the shop owner having to carry the man back upstairs to his room to rest and allow Tessai to heal him. This was the case for today.

Kisuke walked into Timothy's room, carrying the man's limp form over his shoulder, and setting him down on top of his bed. Usually, the man would wake back up in a few hours; a couple of times not waking up until the next morning, much to the man's chagrin.

After setting the man down on his bed, Kisuke remained in his kneeling position next to him and glanced over to the Lieutenant's zanpakutō with a curious glance.

"Can you hear me, miss Kit?" he inquired quietly.

A second later, his zanpakutō started smoking as flames left the sheath to gather on the opposite side of Timothy's body from the man. The flames solidified into Kitsune's spiritual body, kneeling down next to Timothy.

"Yes, need something?" she inquired in a low voice.

The man nodded gently. "I was hoping you and I could have a chat, if you don't mind." He said politely.

She nodded back, then looked down at Timothy's sleeping form to brush a strand of hair away from his face.

"He'll be out for a while, and 'Johnny's' keeping him occupied for a bit; so, we can talk for a moment." She responded, then stood up with the man and followed him out of the room.

The shop owner led her to the dining room table, where he had a cup of tea prepared for her, and gestured for her to sit down. She did as such and took a sip of the tea in front of her, sighing afterwards.

"So Kisuke, if you're wanting to talk to me without Tim, I'm guessing it's something you don't want him to know about…right?" she said as she placed the cup back down on the table.

"You're quite observant." Kisuke observed with a grin.

Kitsune returned the grin. "Thanks. But, whatever it is you wanted to talk about, I suggest you make it quick; before Tim realizes I'm not in his inner world anymore. He's dense, but not stupid. He'll know right away that somethings up." She advised.

The shop owner nodded and began fanning himself. "I agree. So, let me start with this, how is he doing…mentally? We can all see that he's still a bit upset about what happened to his team, but you're the one who can see his thoughts." He inquired.

She crossed her arms and sighed. "A lot better than before, that's for certain. As you know, zanpakutō spirits, like me and 'Johnny', don't sleep like you do. When Tim is sleeping, we're both awake. He's had a couple of nightmares about what happened, but from what we can see, it doesn't look like he's viewing it as his fault anymore. I think…I think he just needs a bit more time to come to terms with it."

Kisuke drank some tea and nodded as he set his cup down. "That's understandable. What happened is not an easy thing to overcome. I expect he'll be like that for a while. So, moving on…" he started, putting his free hand in his sleeve. "…do you think he's ready to handle your Bankai?" he asked with a raised brow.

Kitsune sighed as she scratched the fur on her cheek. "He's gotten stronger than he was before, I won't argue that; but to be honest, I'm not sure if he'll be able to handle it or not. I know that some zanpakutō abilities require large amounts of spirit energy to use, while others require a decent amount of spiritual pressure. Mine is a mix of the two. My abilities require a lot of spirit energy to use, but my Bankai requires a lot of spiritual pressure in order to handle it; along with the energy to use it."

She dropped her hand down to her lap. "Tim clearly has to energy to use it; but right now, I can't say for certain that he has the power to handle the strain it'll put on his body. If you want my opinion, I'd recommend waiting a bit longer."

Kisuke lowered his head a bit in thought. "Normally, a soul reaper would never learn of their Bankai until their zanpakutō spirit feels they are ready for it; meaning that it wouldn't be possible to learn it until the spirit allows it. When the zanpakutō feels that they 'are' ready, they normally set an extremely difficult goal that the soul reaper must attain in order to learn it." He paused to look back at the spirit.

"Your case is vastly different, miss Kit. Technically, Tim has already acquired Bankai; not needing to fulfill a certain requirement that you set for him. So, I'm curious as to how it will work for him to be able to use it. I'm sure you are aware of your Bankai's name?" he inquired.

The spirit nodded. "I am. And to be honest, I'm a bit curious on how this would work as well. He hasn't used Bankai because I haven't told him its name, but I'm wondering if that's all there is to it. I'm not sure if simply telling him its name is enough for him to use it, or if there's more to it." She admitted.

The shop owner held his fan over his chest with a serious expression. "If it's alright with you miss Kit, I'd like to ask that you train him to use it, starting tomorrow." He instructed.

Kitsune rose a questioning brow. "Are you sure about this, Kisuke? You should know this ain't no simple matter. If he's not ready, and he uses my Bankai, it would put a great deal of strain on him. I may not have been a zanpakutō spirit for long, nor did I become one by conventional means, but I do know what happens if a soul reaper uses a Bankai when his or her body can't handle it. It puts the soul at a risk of destroying itself…meaning that it could kill him. You really sure about this?" she asked carefully.

Kisuke turned his eyes to look over the spirit's shoulder at the wall behind her where Timothy's room was. "Tim is a strong soul, one who refuses to give up if something he loves is at risk. He needs the push to become stronger, and my training can only go so far. I believe that this will benefit him greatly." His gaze returned to the spirit. "Afterall, if something was to happen, and you discover that he can't handle it yet, couldn't you disperse it as you did before?"

The spirit crossed her arms again with a deep breath. "Risky. With last time, as I'm sure you felt, for the few seconds after I became a part of his inner world, his spiritual pressure was sky high; likely because of the amount of pain and suffering his soul was going through during the event. For that brief moment, his spiritual pressure was just high enough to handle being in my Bankai state; but it was quickly dropping as his soul began recovering from the ordeal. I managed to drop my Bankai before his pressure became too low and threatened to hurt him, but you saw what it did anyway; it left him unconscious for hours."

"So, you're saying that if he uses it, and his body can't handle it, you might not be able to withdraw your Bankai in time?" Kisuke asked in clarification.

Kitsune nodded. "Yes. And if I can't drop it in time, it will likely kill him. But again, we have no idea what all would be involved in allowing him to use Bankai; won't know until we try it. So, with all this in mind, I have to ask again Kisuke; are you really sure we should try this now? If this doesn't work, there might not be a second chance for him." She asked cautiously.

Kisuke gave her a solid nod. "I am. As we both know, Tim works at his best when under heavy duress. This may be the push he needs." He informed.

Sighing heavily and rubbing her temples, Kitsune finally agreed. "Alright, Kisuke. I have no idea how long this will take, nor do I know what will happen when we try it, so I think it would be best if you keep the Captain and his group from training downstairs tomorrow."

"Agreed. However, I'd like to ask you do this at the far end of the training area. While you are working with Tim, I'll also be down there on the opposite side working on another project." Kisuke informed.

Kitsune rose a curious brow. "What's that?"

Kisuke waved her off with his fan and a smile. "It's best if I not say anything about it for the moment. I would like you to just focus on training Tim tomorrow."

The spirit nodded, then picked up her cup and finished her tea. "Well…" she started, then set the cup down and stood up. "…I need to get back. If he hasn't already, Tim will see that I'm gone real soon. But Kisuke…" she paused, getting the man to look at her. "…I really hope you're right about this. Tim is everything to me, and I just can't afford to lose him." She informed, then turned to walk back to Timothy's room.

She then stopped and glanced back at the shop owner with a knowing grin. "Before I forget, what the was the result of Yoruichi and Nel's little…talk?" she inquired.

The man grinned widely before reaching into his robe and pulling out his phone, holding it up between his index and middle fingers. "Care to see for yourself?" he asked.

Kitsune widened her eyes at him. "You recorded it?" she asked in surprise. The shop owner's expression didn't change, causing her to snicker. "Oh, I would 'love' to!" she said as she walked around the table while Kisuke opened the phone and pulled up the video of the two women going at it.

Three Hours Later

After waking up with a serious headache, which normally happened after waking back up from his training sessions with Kisuke, Timothy walked out to the front porch and saw Kisuke sitting down with Nel next to him.

"Hey Kisuke, Nel." He greeted as he walked up to the edge of the porch and sat down.

Kisuke nodded as Nel turned to him with a slight smile. "Hi, Tim. How are you feeling?" she inquired.

Timothy laid down on the porch, with his legs sticking out over the edge, with a heavy sigh. "Like I've been run over by a damn freight train full of liquor. I'm telling you Kisuke, I don't mind the sparring sessions we have, but I could really do without the throbbing headache that comes after." He moaned.

Nel smiled more, reaching over and patting his leg. "It'll be fine, Tim. Afterall, it 'is' to help you get better, right?"

The Lieutenant turned his head over to look at her with a deadpanned expression. "But are the headaches 'really' necessary? Even my worst-ever hangover wasn't this bad." He stated, then turned his head back. "Speaking of hangovers, mind pouring me a drink, Kisuke?" he asked.

Kisuke chuckled and obliged the man, grabbing one of the unused saucers and pouring him a drink before handing it to Nel to give to him. Timothy sat up, causing him more pain from the sudden movement, and took the saucer from the woman.

"Thanks." He said, then took a long sip; giving a disgusted face immediately afterwards. "I'll never get used to this stuff." He stated with a sigh. He then turned back to Nel. "You drink, Nel?" he inquired.

She shook her head gently. "Not really. I used to sometimes have a drink or two with Stark when I visited him and Lilynette, but I don't drink regularly. But I'll join you for one now, though." She answered, then poured herself a saucer.

"I used to drink a lot, not excessively, but a good amount when I was younger…and dumber." Timothy admitted.

Kisuke held his fan over his mouth. "Care to explain, Tim?" he asked with a grin.

Nel turned to him with a raised brow, also interested in what he meant. Timothy snorted and took another sip.

"Where to start? I was like the other underage drinkers of the 80's; getting into drag races with old, beat up trucks, avoiding the cops by tearing through corn patches, just acting stupid like most kids. If anything, Susan was a lot worse." He stated.

As if in response, Kitsune materialized herself to stand in front of Timothy with her arms crossed and an insulted look on her face.

"I was not!" she defended sternly, then looked at Nel. "Hey, Nel." She greeted.

Nel chuckled at her, then took a sip before glancing at Timothy. "So, how was 'she' worse?"

Kitsune turned back to Timothy and planted her hands on her hips. "Yeah, how was 'I' worse?" she demanded.

Timothy gave her a deadpanned expression. "Try thinking it's a good idea to break into the college pool to go swimming."

She simply shrugged her shoulders. "So? Everyone does that. It still doesn't explain how it makes me worse."

He narrowed his gaze at her. "With all of your clothes still on?" he added.

Kitsune threw her hands out to her sides with her fists clenched tightly. "I couldn't get the damn jeans off! I was too drunk to undo the stupid button!" she yelled.

"And getting caught by security because you wanted to hear your 'horrible' singing voice echo in the halls?" he stated, adding further insult to injury.

She flinched and began to sweat. "Well…I was…I just felt like singing…that's all." She said in a quieter voice.

"You nearly got us kicked out of college, dummy! We were lucky that it was the assistant dean that talked to us!" he hissed.

Nel suddenly started laughing, causing Kitsune to turn to her in anger. "S…Shut up Nel! At least I don't turn red every time Yoruichi says something!" she mocked.

The Arrancar immediately stopped laughing, turning a bit pink and glaring at the spirit. "Don't you 'dare' go there! That woman is nothing more than a damn demon! And don't turn this around on 'me' because Tim called you out and proved it!" she shot back.

The spirit crossed her arms and gave the woman an evil glare. "Oh really?! You wanna play that way?! Fine!" she said, then slowly walked forward.

Nel flinched a bit, expecting the spirit to attack her, but rose a brow when Kitsune leaned forward and got close to her ear.

"A little birdie told me that you have feelings for my partner over there." Kitsune said in a whisper.

The former Espada's face turned beat red from both embarrassment and anger. "I…I do not! Yoruichi's lying to you!" she whispered back.

Kitsune backed up just enough for Nel to see the wide grin on the spirit's face. "I'm not stupid, Nel. Yoruichi might not see it fully, but 'I' do. And you wanna know something?" she paused, causing the woman to lean back a bit, not liking what might come. The spirit leaned forward to her ear and cupped her furry hand around the woman's ear. "I'm Tim's zanpakutō, so I can hear 'every' thought that crosses his mind."

The spirit paused to snicker lightly. "And I can tell you, that you're not the 'only' person who has feelings for another."

She had just told the woman a blatant lie. Kisuke could just make out what was being said and knew it was a lie, but Nel didn't. The man held his fan over his face, only exposing his eyes to avoid giving the lie away with his amused smile, while the former Espada's eyes widened and her face began to steam up.

After the shop owner showed Kitsune the video of Nel attacking Yoruichi because the woman teased her too much, Kitsune immediately declared to herself that she needed to get in on this as well.

Nel's muscles then began twitching as she responded in a stutter. "I, I…I don't know…what you're talking about! You're bluffing! You're just trying to make fun of me!" she said.

Kitsune rose a brow at her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her. Yoruichi was not, in any way, exaggerating when she told the spirit that Nel was an easy target. She almost felt sorry for the poor woman…'almost'!

"Oh? Really? You seem to forget that I was once Tim's 'wife'. He may be dense, but after having to spend years trying to win him over, I learned how to tell when he has feelings for another. So, trust me when I say that he apparently has feelings for somebody right now. I can only wonder who that someone might be." She lied further.

In reality, Kitsune honestly had no clue as to whether or not Timothy 'really' did have any feelings for the Arrancar. She liked Nel, and hated messing with her like this, or at least this bad; but the woman had the nerve to call her out, and she was 'not' going to let her win this one.

The phone inside suddenly started ringing, so Kisuke swiftly stood up and walked inside to 'answer' the phone. A few seconds later, he called out to the porch.

"Tim, it's for you." He stated.

Timothy rose a brow, wondering who the hell would be calling for him there; but simply sighed and stood up to answer the phone. Kitsune looked inside to see a smile plastered on the shop owner's face and his open cell phone in his hand, and knew right away what happened.

She looked back at Nel to see her with her head turned away. Kisuke had given her a perfect opportunity to have a bit of fun, and she was 'not' going to let it go to waste. Waiting only a few more seconds to ensure Timothy was gone, she continued her teasing.

"So, tell me…" she started, causing the other woman to turn her eyes to her in reluctance. "…are the feelings mutual?" she inquired with a toothy grin.

Nel lowered her head. "Why are you doing this? Why are you and Yoruichi trying so hard to make fun of me?" she asked in a whisper.

Kitsune rose a brow at her. "Why? Because it's obvious you care for him, don't you?" the spirit inquired.

The Arrancar set her, now empty, saucer down and pulled her knees to her chest as she turned her head away from the spirit fully. "Of course I care about Tim. He's done so much…risked so much to help me, to protect me. He's putting himself at risk of being punished by the soul society to help me. 'Me'. An Arrancar. Someone who he's supposed to hate and kill. I was his enemy, but he still risked everything to help me."

The woman turned back to the spirit, surprising the anthropomorphic woman when she saw tears in the Arrancar's eyes.

"I 'do' care about Tim! He's doing for me what others wouldn't! I don't know what the hell I'm feeling towards him, because the truth is, I really don't 'know' what I'm feeling! You and Yoruichi are both adamant that I have feelings for him, but I have no idea what that truly means!" Nel hissed back.

The spirit's eyes widened as she realized what the woman was saying. "Wait…are you trying to tell me you have no idea what love is?" she inquired.

Nel shook head, then rested her arms on her knees and her head in her arms. "I'm a hollow, Kit. I lost all of my humanity when I became one. All we know is anger, hatred, and hunger. When a hollow becomes an Adjuchas, it gets 'some' of its humanity back; it regains 'some' of its lost emotions."

She paused and glared at the spirit next to her. "This…feeling that you call love, isn't one of them. So no, I don't know what love is, Kit. You say that I have feelings for Tim, right? Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. How the hell should I know if I do or don't, if I've never experienced it before?!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

Kitsune took a small step back at the Arrancar's voice. There was no 'almost' to it now; now she 'really' did feel sorry for the poor woman. The whole time that she and Yoruichi had teased her about feelings towards Timothy, the woman had actually had no idea what they were talking about.

Now feeling a heavy guilt on her shoulders, Kitsune took a step forward to place a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Nel, I…"

She was stopped when Nel pulled away and stood up. She stood there for a moment with her fists at her side and shoulders shaking.

"Just…go away." She demanded in a low, shaky tone, before swiftly turning around and walking into the shop.

Because she had her head down, she bumped into Timothy, then looked at him. The Lieutenant's brow rose when her saw tears running down the woman's cheeks.

"Nel? You alright?" he asked.

She dropped her head again. "Sorry Tim, I didn't mean to bump into you. Good night." She responded, then quickly walked around him and down the hallway to her room.

Timothy watched her leave, then when she was out of sight, turned to his zanpakutō spirit to see her with a look of extreme guilt. "What did you do?!" he demanded.

Kitsune turned her head away and held her arm to her side. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." She whispered back, then dematerialized to return to Timothy's inner world.

He then growled in anger. "Oh, 'hell' no!" he said in a low and dangerous tone.

He turned back and stormed over to the kitchen where Tessai was cleaning the dishes from dinner. The large man turned and rose a brow when he saw the look in Timothy's eyes.

"Ah, Tim. Can I help…"

"Where is Yoruichi?" he hissed.

The man, who was easily twice the Lieutenant's size, began to sweat at the evil aura that bellowed from the smaller man.

"I'm…afraid she's not here at the moment. She left a few hours ago. Is there something you need?" Tessai asked cautiously.

"Where did she go, and 'when' will she be back?" he demanded.

"I'm not sure where she went, nor do I know when she'll be back. I'm sorry." He said as he held up his dripping hands in surrender.

Timothy rose a brow. "I see. Well, when she comes back, tell her she had 'better' come find me." He 'requested', then turned around and walked to the hallway to find his next target.

The Lieutenant slammed the door to Kisuke's room open to see that it was empty. This made him far madder, considering that he knew that he saw the man come this way. He was quick to figure out once he saw Kitsune's face, that the 'call' he had was a ruse to get him away from the two women.

The 'humble shop owner' was 'clearly' a part of this whole thing. And if he thought that he was going to get away with Nel's torture, even though the man was only an accomplice, he had another thing coming to him.

"Where are you, Urahara?!" he yelled out.

"Excuse me…" a voice said from his side. Timothy glanced over to see Tessai. "…I'm sorry, but the boss is not here either. He said he had a few errands to run and left just a few minutes ago." He informed.

Timothy narrowed his gaze at the man. "Oh, I'm 'sure' he did. What are the chances of that? Awfully convenient that he 'suddenly' had 'errands' to run. So…any idea on when 'he' will be back?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"I'm afraid he will not return until tomorrow, Tim. Would you like me to…"

"Tessai…" Timothy interrupted in a dangerous tone. "…I'm warning you, if you had 'anything' to do with Nel's torture, I'm gonna be mad at you. I don't mean to quote the 'Hulk' here, but you 'really' don't want to deal with me when I'm mad." He warned.

The larger man swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Understood. I assure you, I am not associated with Lady Yoruichi's, or the boss's actions regarding miss Nel." He insisted.

Timothy nodded firmly, then walked past the man and up to Nel's door. Taking a deep breath to try and calm down, he knocked gently on her door. After a moment with no answer, he knocked once more.

"Nel?" he called, but still received no answer. "Nel, it's Tim. You alright?" he asked. Waiting a few more seconds, he gripped the handle to the door and tried to slide it open a bit; but the woman had locked the sliding door shut.

"Nel, please let me in; or at least show me you're alright." He pleaded softly.

"I'm fine, Tim." her muffled, broken voice sounded through the door.

He closed his eyes and took another deep, calming breath. "You sure?" he pressed.

"I'm sure. Thank you." She responded lowly.

Knowing that she wasn't going to open the door, he had no choice but to let her be. "Alright. Let me know if you need anything, Nel."

He waited for a reply, but when he didn't receive one, he sighed heavily and walked away from her door towards the dining room. He sat down at the table with a heavy plump, resting his elbows on the table and cradling his head in his hands.

"Damn that Yoruichi!" he moaned into his hands.

"And you're no better, Kit!" he mentally berated her.

"I'm…I'm sorry Tim…I didn't mean to hurt her. I was only trying to…"

"To what? Torture her? Well, congrats to you; you succeeded! You and Yoruichi both berated the hell out of me…shit! Yoruichi tried to fucking 'kill' me for me blaming myself for Junya's death. Yet, here you two go, pestering and torturing the poor woman and putting 'her' in the same damn mood you two beat the shit outta me for being in! Talk about double fucking standards!" he yelled at her.

He then leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms with his head hung low. "The 'only' reasons I haven't stuffed you under the damn bed is because; one: you're stuck in my damn head, so it wouldn't make a difference. And two: because 'Johnny's' innocent in this and you 'both' share the same sword! What the hell did you say to her anyway?! And don't you 'dare' tell me 'nothing'!" he demanded.

"I…I can't tell you Tim…It's not my place to say…" she stated hesitantly.

He flashed his teeth with a growl. "Don't give me that shit! You and Yoruichi both have been pestering her about something personal; and knowing the two of you, it was something suggestive! Now, either you tell me, or it's going to be a 'long' fucking night!" he threatened.

"Fine! We were teasing her about feelings for you!" she shot back.

Timothy's eyes shot open. "…What?!"

"Me and Yoruichi were 'pestering' her about having feelings for you…we kept making suggestive comments to her that she 'liked' you." She admitted.

"…You…have got…to be kidding me…" he said in shock.

"No Tim, I'm not. Yoruichi started making comments to her the other day about her having feelings towards you, then tonight I did then same thing. But…" She then choked up, causing Timothy to raise a brow.

"But what?!" he pressed.

"Then she made me mad! She laughed at me after you…you proved I was worse than you when we were younger!"

"So? What's that got to do with this?" he demanded.

"I…I wanted to get back at her for it. So, I…I told her that…you had feelings for her too."

Timothy froze, trying to make sure he heard right. "You said…what?" he asked in disbelief.

"I told her that…you had feelings for her too."

"Why…the fuck…would you tell her 'that'?!"

"Because I wanted her to feel uncomfortable, to just mess with her. It's not uncommon, Tim. You know this." She pointed out.

"Ok…regardless if that statement was true or not, I don't see how that would make her mad. If she 'really' did have feelings for me, don't you think that she would be 'happy' that the feeling is mutual? What are you not telling me, Kit?!"

"…Do you remember…what Kisuke said about when a soul becomes a hollow?"

"Yeah…"

"Remember that he said…hollows lose their emotions and humanity?"

"I do…"

"Well…When Nel became what Kisuke called an 'Adjuchas', she apparently regained some of her humanity and emotions…but not all."

Timothy rose a brow, beginning to see what she was getting at. "…I'm listening." He said in a calmer voice.

"Well, it seems that…Nel doesn't know what love is…or rather, she doesn't know what it feels like."

The man sighed with a moan and rubbed his temples. "Are you telling me, that you and Yoruichi have been pestering Nel about having feelings for me, yet she doesn't even know what these so-called feelings are? That makes no sense. The other day when her and Yoruichi got into it, she was obviously blushing and wouldn't even look at me. If she doesn't know what it feels like to love someone, how the hell do you explain that?"

Kitsune had to think that one over, but only managed to come up with one possibility. "Tim…I think…she might have been feeling one of the emotions that she 'does' have."

He rose I a brow in question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean embarrassment, Tim. Yoruichi told me the kind of things she said to Nel about you being her 'boyfriend'…"

He flinched, and his eyes went wide. "…She didn't…!"

"Yes Tim, she did. Anyway, she said that every time she mentioned about you being her boyfriend, she was always embarrassed, constantly denying it."

"Ever think that it's because it 'true'? That I'm 'not' her boyfriend?" he pointed out.

"I never…thought about it until just now, but I think what happened is that, while she does not know about the emotion 'love', she does know 'embarrassment'. I think that, the whole time, she's actually been telling the truth; that she really 'didn't' know what Yoruichi and I were saying. But, because of 'what' we were saying, her mind caused her to 'naturally' feel embarrassed. Now that I think about it, remember that night her and Yoruichi fought each other? You asked her if she was alright? She wouldn't look at you and kept turning away. Did you notice that she not only looked embarrassed, but she also looked…lost…confused."

Timothy turned around to look at Nel's door. "So…she was embarrassed…but didn't know 'why'?"

"Considering what Kisuke said about Arrancar's not having 'all' of their emotions, I really think that might be the case. Tim…I really had no idea…it didn't even occur to me what Kisuke said about hollows and emotions. Believe me, I honestly didn't mean to hurt her, Tim. You know I like Nel." She pleaded.

The man turned back and lowered his head. "Regardless, you saw what happened the other night between her and Yoruichi. You should have known that she can't stand being harassed like that. She may be an Arrancar Kit, but even they have feelings; and frankly, you and Yoruichi just destroyed hers. That's always been your biggest fault, Kit; you have a tendency to mess with others without taking their feelings into account. Now leave me be, you've done enough for one night."

"I'm sorry." She said for a last time before fading into silence.

Timothy cradled his head in his arms and sighed heavily. Kitsune and Yoruichi obviously didn't mean any harm towards the female Arrancar, they even considered her their friend. But the fact was that they had gone too far with their teasing.

And now that he had calmed down a little, it began to dawn on him that even though Kitsune had badly hurt the woman's feelings, there really was no way she could have known exactly how the woman was really feeling, considering her unique situation.

"Hey 'Johnny'…" he called out to his other zanpakutō spirit.

"What…is it." He replied in his slow and low tone.

"If Kit is materialized, can she hear things I say or think?" he inquired.

"No…When a…zanpakutō spirit…enters the real world…they are no longer…in their…inner world." He answered.

He gave a gentle nod into his arms. "Thanks."

"Hm." The spirit replied, then retreated into silence as well.

Timothy stood up from the table and entered the hallway. Stopping briefly at his door to glance behind him at Nel's own door, he then entered his room and walked over to his bed. Lying down and pulling the covers over his body, he rolled onto his side and stared out the window at the cloudless sky.

Using what 'Johnny' had said, he mentally decided that he would go talk to Nel in the morning after he had Kitsune materialize herself and remain in the room; which would allow him to talk with the poor woman in private.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly to relax, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him away.

The Next Morning

Timothy had woken up before everyone else did, just like he normally did, and was back downstairs in the training area underneath the shop. The only thing was, he really wasn't training as hard as he normally did.

While he had released Kitsune's abilities, spawned a few clones, and was transitioning between flames, launching into a series of sword attacks and kidō chants, his mind wasn't completely focused on the training itself.

His mind kept going back to the event from the night before, and to Nel. He was still quite upset at Kitsune, Yoruichi, and Kisuke for making her feel the way she did, but he couldn't quite blame them entirely when they didn't know how she truly felt about their constant teasing.

A sudden electronic beeping noise caused Timothy to stop his training and turn back to his gigai that he had set to the side and out of the way. Nel always came down to get him for breakfast at around the same time, so he had set an alarm on his faux body's digital watch to let him know that he had about five minutes before she came down.

He did this for one reason; to try and catch Nel off guard and surprise her. Sometimes it worked, giving her a good morning scare; but then, sometimes it didn't, and Nel would get the better of him and give 'him' a morning scare.

After the first few days, it sort of became a friendly competition between the two of them to see who could sneak up on the other more. Currently, and although Nel refused to admit it, Timothy had the upper hand on her; having gotten the jump on her seven times to her two in the last ten days, with one day ending in a draw.

Although he felt really bad for Nel after what happened, he was still looking to make his eighth 'kill' that morning. This time, he planned to cheat a little by using his mod soul, that was 'playing dead' in his faux body, to get the jump on her.

Five minutes passed…then six…seven…his watch now signaling that it was now eight minutes since the alarm had gone off. While keeping up with his 'training', he was constantly eyeing the field and looking for any signs of his prey trying to sneak around.

But it was now ten minutes after his 'warning', and he still didn't see any sign of her. 'Either she's trying to be 'really' sneaky, or she's running late today.' He concluded.

He then heard the sound of footsteps behind him, causing him to grin. 'There you are.'

The footsteps kept getting louder and louder as Nel got closer and closer, obviously trying the direct approach from behind. By the sound, he could tell she was hiding behind the boulder that was just behind him.

Another footstep, and he knew she was now right behind him. 'Nice try, Nel.'

He quickly swung around with his blade and stopped a mere inch from the woman's neck…or at least, what 'should' have been her neck. Instead, his blade was less than an inch from the left flank of a rather large man.

Timothy slowly looked up at the large man and rose a brow. "Tessai? What are you doing here? Where's Nel? She's the one who normally comes and gets me." He stated, then pulled his blade back to hold it at his side.

"I'm sorry, but miss Nel has not woken up yet." The taller man informed.

The Lieutenant tilted his head. "Not woken up yet? You mean she's still asleep? That's not like her."

Tessai gently shook his head. "Miss Nel has not come out of her room yet, so I assumed that she was still sleeping. I will go wake her now."

Timothy held up a hand to stop him. "No, it's fine. I'll get her. Thanks for coming to get me. I'll be up in just a sec." he said as he sheathed his zanpakutō.

The large man nodded and left. Timothy walked over to his gigai and got back in it, coughing up the soul pill and wiping it on his shirt before putting it in his pocket to wash it later. He then walked over to the ladder and began climbing back up to the shop.

When he returned to the shop, he walked through the dining room and noticed that Kisuke was not there like he normally was.

'I guess the coward is still hiding.' He inwardly mocked, and continued through the room and stopping at Nel's door.

He gave the door a gentle tap. "Hey Nel, breakfast is ready. You up?" he called through the door. A few seconds passed, but she didn't answer. He knocked on the door again, but a bit firmer. "Hey, Nel. You awake?" he called again, but still got no answer.

He tried to slide the door open, but it was still locked. He gave a heavy sigh and thumped on the door to make sure he got her attention. "Nel…come on and open the door. Please?" After waiting a few minutes, he turned to Tessai, who was putting the food on the table.

"Hey Tessai, you got a key to this room?" he inquired.

The man looked to him. "Of course. One moment." He said, then walked back into the kitchen.

Timothy turned back to the door and knocked again. "Nel, please open the door, or I'll have to have Tessai open it for me." He threatened. He still got no answer, and Tessai then walked up with the key to the room.

"Here you go." he said as he handed the key to Timothy.

The shorter man took it, then gave one last attempt at calling Nel. "Nel, I have the key to the room. So please open the door, or I'll have to open it myself." He said again in a clam voice. Not getting a response, he gave a heavy sigh and put the key in the lock. "I'm coming in Nel." He warned, then twisted the key and slid the door open.

He walked inside and started looking around. When he did, his eyes widened. 'Oh shit…'

Karakura Town Park, Present

Sitting on one of the many park benches surrounding the edge of the main park of Karakura Town, Nel watched the many passing humans as they went about to start their day.

She was unable to sleep for most of the night, but finally succumbed to it sometime around midnight. When she had woken up, she found that, for some reason she couldn't figure out, the barrier around the shop had been dropped.

Not wanting to be around anyone that morning, she used the opportunity to leave the shop and go for a long walk to clear her mind. It didn't take her long to come across the same park where she had taken the attack from the Adjuchas that was meant for Timothy.

That was well over an hour ago, and the streets were still a bit vacant then, except for a few early risers like her. But now the streets were packed with humans of a wide variety of ages; from school aged teens, to the elderly; it being Sunday and all.

Even when she was an Adjuchas, which was the last time she had been to the world of the living, she had found the humans to be interesting. For such a weak, and powerless race, they could be quite intelligent and strong, in their own way.

Every now and then, she would see two humans, a male and female, walking by and holding hands, or clinging to each other; she even saw two couples embracing each other briefly. She had seen it before, but the actions still confused her a little. She honestly saw no point in it.

For hollows, the closest thing that could be considered 'romance' was when the hollows mated. There really wasn't any 'romance' behind it, it was simply for copulation and breeding for those that 'could' reproduce.

But humans, this was something else entirely. Where hollows would take a mate and really pay no attention to them, except to protect them and to engage in sexual actions, these humans were actually showing excessive actions of attraction to each other.

There were a couple of books on humans and their unique behaviors in Las Noches that she had read, and both of them had mentioned briefly about humans 'loving' each other. But she always found that strange and thought nothing of it.

But now that she was seeing it with her own eyes, it baffled her. Why show such needless acts of affection? What purpose did it serve? What did kissing, holding hands, embracing, all of it, have to do with being a mated?

Humans were very weird creatures she concluded. She pulled her knees up to her chest with her feet posted on the edge of the seat. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her head on her knees and let out a heavy sigh.

'What 'is' this feeling that Kit called 'love'? Is that what those humans keep doing…showing 'love' by holding onto each other like that? If that's the case, why show it? What does it have to do with being together? It's stupid. Humans really are weird.' She thought, then tucked her head into her legs.

She remained in that position, ignoring the occasional looks she got from people walking by, until a voice spoke up.

"Hey, are you ok?" a young and feminine voice asked.

Nel lifted her head towards the voice and was surprised to see the young girl that was a friend of Ichigo's.

"You're…Orihime…right?" Nel inquired.

The girl widened her eyes a bit in surprise. "Y…Yes, but…how do you know my name?" she fretted.

Nel smiled at her warmly. "It's me, Nel. I'm in my gigai, so that must be why you don't recognize me." She informed.

"Oh! I'm sorry, you just look a bit different. I guess it's the hair, seeing that the last time I saw you, you had greenish hair and that mark on your face. So, this is your gigai?" the teen asked with interest. The Arrancar nodded in acknowledgment. "I see. So…if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here? I though mister Urahara wanted you to stay inside his shop."

The Arrancar dropped her head a bit. "I just…needed some time away is all. I had a lot on my mind." She admitted, then turned her head away from the girl.

Orihime tilted her head a bit. "Are you…ok, Nel?" she asked in worry.

The woman tightened her hold on her legs. "I'm fine." She answered in a low tone.

The teen walked up to the woman and maneuvered her head around to see the woman's face. She became more worried when she saw sadness in her eyes.

"Are you sure? You seem upset. Do you…want to talk about it?" Orihime offered.

Nel turned her eyes to her. "Why? So, you can make fun of me too?" she hissed.

Orihime's eyes widened. "W…Why would I do that?! Why would someone make fun of you?!"

The former Espada continued to stare at the teen for a moment, but finally sighed and dropped her head in her legs. "I'm…sorry about that. It's just…I'm just tired of people making fun of me." She admitted.

The teen walked around and sat down next to Nel. "Who would make fun of you? Did you…do something?"

Nel shook her head. "Just being what I am." She said, then faced the teen. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Orihime. But…after several days of Yoruichi teasing me, and with Kit making fun of me…I couldn't take anymore."

Orihime's brows rose in shock. "Yoruichi was teasing you? Why?"

The woman turned away again. "Don't worry about it, Orihime. I'll deal with it on my own. Thank you though."

The teen observed the older woman for a moment, then with a heavy sigh, she stood up and grabbed Nel's wrist. The action surprised Nel, so she quickly turned her head and rose a brow at the teen.

"What are…" she started, but stopped when Orihime gave her a wide smile.

"Come on, Nel. Let's go get some ice cream and talk. You'll feel much better if you talk to someone about your troubles."

Nel tried to speak in protest, but a sharp tug on the woman's arm silenced her, pulling her off the park bench and forcing her to follow her teen captor. Nel's face was plastered with a shocked look, while Orihime's was full of cheer.

"I know the best place to get ice cream! It's actually close by!" the teen said happily.

Nel managed to get her footing and started walking next to the teen reluctantly. The former Quinto Espada could easily overpower the young girl and pull her arm away, but the teen was only trying to help; even if Nel didn't really want it.

With a defeated sigh, the Arrancar didn't resist as Orihime led her away from the park.

Ten minutes later, the two women were sitting in a booth at a decent sized ice cream and desert parlor. Nel wasn't quite sure what ice cream was, so she went with a simple bowl of a few scoops of vanilla and chocolate.

But Orihime, given her rather…unique taste buds, went with a raspberry, wasabi, and red bean paste sundae. The teen was happy as a clam, but Nel just stared in ridicule at the young woman's choice. Nel may not have known what ice cream was, but she was pretty sure that those things were not meant to be eaten with it.

Shrugging her shoulders, Nel grabbed her spoon and scooped up some of the vanilla ice cream, putting it in her mouth. Her eyes widened at the cold, yet very delicious taste of this human desert.

She quickly grabbed another spoonful and lightly moaned with closed eyes in pleasure at the taste. She then took some of the chocolate, and quickly found she liked that flavor even more than the first.

"Soooo gooood." She said in a long whisper, then grabbed another bite.

Orihime stopped her eating and stared at the older woman in amazement. "You've never had ice cream before?!" she inquired.

Nel quickly shook her head and took another bite, leaning side to side as she reveled in bliss. Orihime started laughing at the woman's actions, then smiled proudly.

"I'm glad you like it! Ice cream is my favorite! Although…" she paused and held a finger to her lips. "…their pastries are very good too. Maybe we should try those next…" she wondered aloud.

"If they're as good as this, I'm all for it!" Nel stated happily and took another bite.

Within five minutes of the first bite, Nel's bowl was completely empty, so Orihime ordered her another one. Nel quickly held up her hands.

"No, I can't make you keep paying for me!" she stated.

Orihime waved her off. "It's fine, Nel. I can see you really like it, I don't mind." The teen said cheerfully.

"I couldn't! It's not fair to you!"

"I said it's fine, Nel. Really. I'm glad you found something you like here." The teen insisted.

Nel moaned in defeat, seeing that the young woman was not going to let it go. "If…if you're sure…"

Orihime nodded firmly. "I am." She stated, then took a bite of her…'desert'.

A few minutes later, the waitress returned with Nel's second bowl, but this time with strawberry and chocolate chip. Nel raised a brow at the new flavors, then glanced at the teen.

"Uh, how many flavors are there, Orihime?" she inquired.

Orihime raised her head and hummed in thought. "A lot, actually. There's vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Neapolitan…there's so many that, I really don't know. You can even mix and match if you wanted." She informed.

"That's unbelievable." Nel replied in shock.

The younger woman nodded, then turned a bit stern. "So…can I ask what happened exactly that made you so upset?"

Nel froze with her spoon hovering in front of her open mouth to glance at the teen. Closing her mouth and setting the spoon down in the bowl, she took a deep breath.

"It's…nothing." She stated.

Orihime shook her head. "No Nel, it's not 'nothing'. It's only 'us' here Nel, so you can tell me. I promise I won't say anything. I swear." She pressed.

Sparing the teen a last glance, Nel then dropped her head and rest her hands in her lap. Taking another deep breath, she began telling the teen about everything that happened; Yoruichi's teasing about Timothy being her boyfriend, Kitsune's comments about Timothy having feelings for her, and what Nel had told the spirit not knowing what love was.

Orihime listened carefully and intently, every now and then gasping in shock at what the woman told her. By the time that Nel had finished telling her friend everything, Orihime also had her head down in sorrow; now feeling horrible for the woman.

Neither of them now cared that their deserts were melting and no longer looked desirable to eat. They both sat in silence, one feeling depressed, the other sorry for the other. Orihime used the back of her hand to wipe tears out of her eyes with a sniff.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Nel. That wasn't nice of Yoruichi and Tim's zanpakutō to make fun of you like that. It's…it's horrible that you don't know what love is. I feel so bad for you, Nel." The teen said in a sorrowful tone.

Nel shook her head slowly. "It's…not your fault, Orihime. I know Yoruichi is just being her herself, the same with Kit. But…it still hurt. Not really the teasing, but…" She paused as her voice locked up.

Orihime lifted her head to look at the Arrancar in front of her. "It hurts knowing you feel something, but don't know what it is?" she finished.

The woman nodded lightly. "With my aspect being Loyalty…"

The teen tilted her head in confusion. "Aspect?" she wondered.

Nel looked at her with sadness. "My aspect of death. Every Espada has one. It basically governs our personalities. Mine, is Loyalty. I always have the desire to be faithful to the one I serve, doing so makes me happy and content. When I served Aizen, even though I disagreed with his methods, I always felt a deep connection to him; that serving him would always make me happy. But, after he told us what he did to Tim, and what he…" she paused and dropped her head.

Orihime took a deep breath when she saw Nel crying. "…what he did to my friends…I couldn't…take it anymore…I couldn't serve him anymore." She said through a chocked voice. She sat there for a moment, then looked back at the teen. "But then I met Tim…he said he would look out for me…protect me. I suddenly felt that feeling again…the desire to serve. I wanted to…be loyal to him, I guess." She then took a deep breath before continuing.

"But after the first couple of days, before Yoruichi started teasing me, I noticed that that feeling felt…different. It didn't…It didn't feel like I wanted to serve him, but rather…I really can't explain it clearly, but…like I wanted to be 'with' him. I didn't think anything of it at first…" She paused again, and Orihime nodded.

"Yoruichi started teasing you about him being your 'boyfriend'." Orihime filled in.

Nel looked down and nodded. "All I know about the term 'boyfriend', is that you humans use it to describe a possible future mate. That's why I got so embarrassed about her statement, thinking that she was suggesting I wanted Tim as a mate. But then she kept pressing me about 'feelings' for Tim. I really didn't know what she was talking about at first; but over the past week, I started thinking about what she said, and how my feeling of loyalty to Tim felt off. I started to wonder to myself if this…odd feeling towards him was what she meant."

She then returned her gaze to Orihime with tears in her eyes. "It wasn't Yoruichi's and Kit's teasing that bothered me, Orihime; it was the fact that they kept pressing that I had feelings towards Tim like it's a good thing, and I can't experience this 'good thing' because I don't know what these 'feelings' are. It hurts, Orihime. It hurts and scares me that I'm feeling something, and that I have no idea what it is. What if it 'is' true; do I really have feelings for Tim like that? Can 'you' tell if I do or don't have feelings for him? And if I do, what do I do about it?" she pleaded, then rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.

Orihime swiftly got up and sat back down next to Nel, rubbing her back with her hand. "I am the former Quinto Espada…the fifth strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo…and here I am…scared of my own feelings." Nel said mockingly to herself.

The woman next to her sighed heavily. "You may have been the fifth strongest, Nel; but even that means little against something you know nothing about. I can't say I know anything about Arrancars, Nel, but I can say that, from everything you've said, that…I think you 'do' have some feelings for Tim. I can't say how deep those feelings are, but they are there." She informed.

Nel lifted her head a little and side glanced the teen. "And what am I supposed to do about these 'feelings'? I know nothing about what humans call 'romance'." She admitted reluctantly.

Orihime started scratching the back of her head. "I…can't really say, Nel. Because the truth is…I…uh…" Nel rose a tearful brow when the young woman started blushing.

The Arrancar quickly figured out why she paused. "You have these feelings for someone?" she inquired.

The teen twitched and froze, but timidly nodded. "Y…Yes."

The truth was, Orihime had had a crush on Ichigo for years; but only she, and her best friend Tatsuki knew about it. She had been trying for years to gather the courage to ask Ichigo out, but would quickly choke up whenever she tried.

Nel dropped her hands to her lap and sighed. "I won't ask who…just…tell me what…it feels like to you." She gave the teen a serious look. "What does it 'feel' like with him?"

Orihime scratched her cheek as she tried to think of the best words to describe what Nel was asking of her. The two women sat in silence for nearly a minute, then the younger woman took a deep breath.

"It feels like…I want him." She finally said.

The former Espada rose a brow. "Want him?"

The teen turned to her and nodded. "It feels like I always want to be around him, that I want to stay with him. Every time I'm near him, I feel…warm inside. And when he leaves, I suddenly feel…empty inside; like something's missing. Being near him makes me the happiest." She explained, then Nel turned her head away to look out the window. "Is that…what you feel…with Tim, Nel?"

The woman didn't answer her, she was so suddenly flooded with thoughts and realization that she honestly didn't even comprehend the question. Everything Orihime described to her, also described how 'she' felt around Timothy.

She couldn't believe that what Yoruichi said to her was true; she apparently 'did' feel something towards Timothy, even if the woman didn't know it for sure. But now she was left with a big problem; what to do about these 'feelings'.

She did like Tim, a lot. But he was a soul reaper, and her an Arrancar; two completely opposing forces of the spiritual world. Should she look deeper into these feelings, possibly establish a relationship with him?

Honestly, she wasn't completely against the idea; but is such a relationship even remotely possible? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Tim; especially after seeing how badly he responds to negative emotions.

But if she decided to ignore these feelings and just…let them fade away, then would she feel bad about it? Would she regret it? Could she even 'do' it?

"Nel?" Orihime pressed, getting her attention.

"Sorry Orihime, I didn't hear you." Nel responded.

Orihime leaned back and sighed. "You do feel that way about Tim…don't you?" she inquired.

Nel turned back to the window, then nodded slowly. "I do…and it scares me. So now…what do I do about it? Tim's a soul reaper…and I'm a hollow." She pointed out, then returned to the teen. "I don't think it's possible between us, Orihime. I owe Tim…I don't want to see him hurt anymore."

The teen's eyes widened a bit. "But…didn't he have feelings for you too?" she asked.

The older woman looked out the window again. "I don't know. Kit said he did…but I think she was lying just to tease me. If he does, it's only going to make things worse."

"How so?" Orihime asked.

Nel swiftly turned to her. "Tell me the truth, Orihime; do you honestly think that an Arrancar and a soul reaper can be together?"

The young woman nodded sternly. "If you two really do care for each other, I don't really think it matters what you two are."

"That's not what I meant, Orihime. I am an enemy of the soul society; 'something' to be destroyed. Tim is a soul reaper, who is a 'part' of that soul society. So, let me ask it another way; do you honestly think that the soul society would ever allow an Arrancar and a soul reaper to be together?" Nel corrected.

Orihime dropped her head. "I see your point, Nel…you're right. I feel so horrible that you're being judged 'only' because of 'what' you are…and not 'who' you are. It's wrong."

"It's life…and how things work, Orihime." Nel jumped. She gave a last, heavy sigh and shook her head. "I should be heading back; Tim is likely going crazy now that he's, or at least I'm sure by now he has found out that I'm not at the shop anymore."

Orihime looked at her friend closely. "And what do you plan to do about…your feelings for him?" she inquired as she stood up and out of the way to let Nel out.

Nel then dropped her head. "Nothing…As much as I like Tim, we can never be together…so it's best to just…let these feelings die." She answered, then stood up as well.

The teen looked at her with concern. "Are you not…even willing to…try? Just…dropping these feelings…it's only going to hurt you, Nel." She cautioned.

The Arrancar nodded. "Better me…than him. The last thing I want, is to see Tim in pain again. You weren't there, Orihime; the last time he felt bad. I do not want to be the cause of him being in that state again." She stated, then held her hand out to the teen. "Thank you…for everything, Orihime."

Nel was surprised when the teen suddenly wrapped her arms around the woman in an embrace. "It's no problem, Nel. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help to you."

With a small smile coming to Nel's face, the woman returned the hug. "It's fine. I'll figure this out on my own."

The two women separated were Orihime smiled brightly. "Please let me know if there's anything I can help with. And don't worry about Yoruichi. She likes to tease, but she really doesn't mean any harm. I'm sure if you talk to her, and let her know what your problem 'really is', she'll let up. She may even be able to help you, Nel." The teen advised.

Nel smiled more. "I'll think about it. Thanks again, Orihime."

The two friends left the booth and walked to the front of the shop, waving before going their separate ways. Nel took a deep breath and started going back on what she and Orihime talked about.

Now that she knew what exactly she was feeling, and what Yoruichi and Kit were talking about, she felt a little bit better in that regards. But it now left her with a whole new problem; dealing with those feelings that she now had for the Lieutenant.

He was nice, always caring about others before he would himself. No, it was more than that; he would put himself at risk in order to help others. Even someone who was blind could see the fierce loyalty that Timothy possessed towards those he cared about; and that was why Nel admired him so much.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to get to know him more…and that worried her. The harsh reality of the matter was that it just wasn't possible between the two of them. The only way to prevent more pain, was to simply stop it before it got worse.

And it was at this point that Nel had made up her mind. She was going to put a stop to these feelings towards Timothy and make sure that the two of them wouldn't end up being together.

She lowered her head as she held back tears that welled up in her eyes. "He's doing so much to try and protect me…so I should do the same for him." She whispered to herself, and continued on back towards the shop.

Urahara Shop, Present

Timothy was now in a suppressed form of panic mode; mainly because Toshiro and the rest of the group were now downstairs in the training area starting their morning routines. It's been close to an hour now since he discovered Nel being gone, and there was no telling 'how long' she had been gone before he noticed.

He wanted to go out looking for her, but Tessai had made a very valid argument; stating that she couldn't be detected in her gigai, and it would be ridiculous if he thought he could find a single 'human' in a large city, amongst thousands of other humans.

Not only that, but the Captain expected him to train with the group, and would likely suspect something if Timothy avoided training to go out 'somewhere'. That was the only reason he was currently training with the others, to avoid that suspicion.

He was currently facing off against Rukia, who was already in her released state. She was proving to be a challenge to fight against because of her zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki's freezing abilities.

If he was allowed to release himself, those abilities would be no problem. While powerful, her 'dances' took a moment to complete; giving him plenty of openings for his own abilities. But Captain Hitsugaya had still denied him from using those abilities.

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" Rukia said after stabbing the ground four times with the tip of her zanpakutō.

A large beam of ice shot forward in front of her, right towards the Lieutenant. He quickly learned on the first try that nothing he had would stop that beam; after trying to use a Raikōhō to counter and the kidō being blasted apart by the beam, completely unfazed. The only option he was left with was to use shunpo to dodge it.

He flashed into place over to Rukia's left, where she quickly swung her sword out at him.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

The ground under his feet began freezing up, and he knew what that meant. "Shit!" he said, then quickly flashed away again just as a beam of ice shot up to the ceiling from the ground where he was just at.

Rukia was quick to turn back around in time to block against Timothy's counter attack. She held him back and gave him a serious glare.

"You're distracted, Lieutenant." She observed.

He flinched at her calling him out. "I am not!" he yelled at her, then forced his blade harder against hers to push himself back away from her; landing a few yards away. "Come on, even you know it's hard to fight against a damned Shikai while still sealed! You clearly have the advantage, and I need to take my time fighting you! So, cut me some slack!" he yelled.

She scoffed and stood straight while resting her pure white blade on her shoulder. "Forgive me for saying this, Lieutenant…"

He growled at her. "For the last time, stop with this 'Lieutenant' shit. I asked you to just call me Tim. In case you didn't notice, I'm a relaxed type of person, so you don't have to be so uptight with me. If the Captain wants to be a hardass, that's his problem. Now, what were you going to say?"

Rukia smiled and shook her head. "You know, you're a good man when you're not sulking around." She pointed out.

"Shut up! I thought we were over that!" he retorted.

Letting her zanpakutō return to its sealed state, she sheathed the blade and started walking towards him. Timothy returned his blade as well and sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. Rukia stopped when she was less than a foot from him.

"What's wrong, Tim? I may not be a seated officer, but I'm not blind. I know something's bothering you." She pressed as she crossed her arms.

He looked at her to see that her face was calm with a bit of worry buried underneath. He crossed his arms as well and sighed.

"It's nothing important, just something that had me bothered earlier. I'm fine, Rukia." He insisted.

She rose a disbelieving brow at him. "Really? And why do I not believe that? I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and say that you're worried about Nel?" she inquired.

Timothy froze, and his eyes widened. "I…don't know what you mean. Why would I be worried about Kisuke's assistant?" he attempted.

Rukia rolled her eyes with a scoff. "You don't need to hide it, Tim. I know about Nel and her little 'secret'." She informed.

The Lieutenant reached out and grabbed her by the collar. "How the fuck do you know about her?!" he demanded.

She smiled at him, clearly unfazed by his action. "Ichigo told me." She answered in amusement.

He flinched and began growling with his head down. "I…am going…to 'kill' him!" he hissed.

Rukia placed a hand over his own that was holding her collar. "Relax, Tim. Ichigo trusts me, and so should you." She advised.

Timothy glared at her. "And 'why' should I trust you? As far as you are concerned, I've committed treason by keeping her a secret. So why should I believe that you won't just go turn me in?" he questioned.

"Because' Ichigo trusts me, and 'I' trust 'him'. Now, can you please let me go and I'll explain?" she pleaded.

With a heavy scoff, he released her and returned his arms across his chest while she straightened her kosode.

"Now…Ichigo told me about Nel because he trusts me to know. After everything that's happened lately, I've learned not to be too quick to judge others. I've known about Nel ever since we first arrived, and have been keeping an eye on her. Although I've never spoken to her, nor seen her speak to anyone else except Kisuke, I can tell she's not a bad person. In fact, I actually agree with you about her being a valuable ally against Aizen. And let's face it Tim, you're going to need all the help you can get to defend her case when she gets discovered by the soul society; and you know they will." She stated.

Giving her a heavy sigh, he finally nodded. "Alright, I'll trust you, Rukia. And you do have a point; I will need all the help I can get. Does the Captain or anyone else know?"

Rukia shook her head. "No, and to be honest, I really can't say if they would help Nel or not if they did know. Captain Hitsugaya is a bit stern, but he is very understanding. Renji would more than likely fight for Nel as he trusts both me and Ichigo; although he can be an idiot sometimes. Lieutenant Matsumoto would likely help her; but Yumichika and Ikkaku, there's no telling. I didn't say anything to Renji yet, but I would advise you include him in this."

Timothy placed a hand to his forehead and ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. "Rukia…you know damn well that, just by 'knowing' about Nel and not reporting it, they could get you for treason, right? I'm willing to take that risk simply because it's who I am, and I refuse to abandon my friends." he inquired.

She simply shrugged her shoulders with a grin. "Wouldn't be the first time I've been tried as a traitor; what's a second time gonna do? Besides, I think you're right about Nel and that she's really changed sides. If we can make the soul society see that she's not as bad a person that they think she is, they might allow her to go. You never know, Tim." she assured.

He opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of approaching footsteps got his attention. He turned to his right to see Tessai walking up calmly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping that Tim here could give me a hand with a delivery that miss Nel brought back." He lied.

Timothy knew what the man was saying, and he was relieved. It meant that Nel was back at the shop now. Rukia turned to the man as well.

"It's alright Tessai, I know about her." She informed him.

Tessai looked at Timothy with a bit of worry, but relaxed when the Lieutenant waved him off. "Long story, I'll explain later. I'll be up in just a sec. She didn't have any 'problems' with the delivery, did she?"

"I don't believe so, she seemed to be fine to me. She's upstairs having a late breakfast and tea. Would you like me to make you some?" Tessai offered.

"Yes, please." Timothy answered.

"Make that two, Tessai." Rukia followed, holding up two fingers, then turned to Timothy. "I have a few things I'd like to ask her real quick. I'll let the Captain know we'll be upstairs 'helping Tessai'." She stated.

Timothy nodded, then followed the large man back to the ladder and up to the shop. He walked into the dining room to see Nel sitting down on the seat she normally did. He sighed heavily, getting her attention.

"Where were you? You really had me worried, Nel." He said in a calm voice as he sat down across from her.

She lowered her head a bit and nodded. "I needed some time to think about things, so I stepped out. Sorry to worry you, Tim." she answered.

That's when it dawned on him. "Wait, 'how' did you leave? I thought Kisuke had a barrier around the place that prevented you from leaving." He inquired.

She looked at him and shrugged. "No idea. I woke up this morning and the barrier wasn't there. It was there when I came back, but it seems it only keeps me 'in', not 'out'. I walked right through it and came back inside."

Timothy shook his head. "Whatever. Just hold on a second." He said, then closed his eyes.

"Get your ass out here, Kit." He demanded before reopening them.

The two of them watched as Kitsune materialized herself to stand next to Timothy. Kitsune dropped her head at seeing Nel, while Timothy glared at the spirit.

"Got something to say?" he inquired/demanded.

The spirit took a deep breath and looked at her. "I really am sorry Nel…I really didn't mean to hurt you like that."

Nel nodded at her. "It's fine Kit, I know you didn't mean it. You didn't know everything about me, so I can't blame you. I just ask that you please don't do it anymore." She pleaded.

Kitsune nodded firmly. "I won't." she stated, then lightly chuckled. "But Ichigo's still fair game, right?" she asked to Timothy.

He simply waved her off. "Do whatever you want to the fool, as long as you leave me and Nel out of it. Now, if you don't mind Kit, me and Nel have something personal to discuss. So, could you please step out of the room for a moment?" he asked.

"I'm here." A voice said from behind him.

He gave a defeated sigh and shook his head. "Never mind, Kit. I guess go ahead and head back inside." He said.

Rukia turned to glance at the spirit with a raised brow. "Actually…it 'might' not be a bad idea to have her in on this, if she's able to stay out long enough."

Timothy turned around to her for a second, then looked back at Nel, who seemed a bit worried. "It's alright Nel, Rukia knows about you." He informed.

Her eyes widened at the short woman, who nodded. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Rukia Kuchiki." She greeted.

Nel looked at Timothy to see him nod at her encouragingly, then back to Rukia. "Um…Nel, nice to meet you too." She returned, then looked at Timothy again. "You sure about this?" she asked.

Timothy nodded again. "Ichigo's the one who told her. We both trust Ichigo, and if he trusts Rukia enough with knowing about you, then I guess we can trust her. Though, I really wish he would have said something first. Anyway, Kit can stay I guess; so, both of you have a seat. And none of your damn games, Kit, I mean it." He added, now giving the spirit a very serious look.

She held up her hands in surrender. "I won't say anything, promise." She stated and sat down next to him while Rukia sat down next to Nel.

"Alright Rukia, what did you want to talk about; and are you sure the Captain won't come looking for us?" Timothy asked.

She nodded firmly. "I'm sure. I told him it would be about a half hour, so that should be long enough for what I wanted to ask." Timothy nodded and gestured for her to begin. The woman turned to face Nel. "First off, I have to ask, but why did you turn against Aizen?"

Nel's head dropped and Timothy turned to her. "That's not a very comfortable story for her to tell, Rukia." He informed.

Nel held a hand up to stop him. "It's…It's fine, Tim. If she's going to trust me fully, she needs to know."

He rose a brow at her. "You sure? I know it's a…very sore subject." He said in worry.

She nodded at him and took a deep breath before looking at the small woman. "Aizen used his illusions to…to trick me into killing my friends." She said sadly.

Rukia's eyes widened a bit. "How?"

Nel turned her head away from her. "He made me think that 'he' killed them. I was so filled with rage, I ended up attacking him and Nnoitra, the Espada who was helping him. I ran my blade through Aizen, and fired a cero at Nnoitra…but it…was all an illusion."

The short woman's eyes were now saucers. "It…It was your friends instead?!" she asked in shock.

The Arrancar flinched, then nodded meekly. "Yes. I…I killed them with my own hands…thinking it was Aizen and Nnoitra."

Timothy tilted his head. "I never asked this, but why would he do that to one of his Espada?" he inquired.

"He must have realized I was having second thoughts about fighting for him after…after he told us about you, Tim. You and Su…I mean Kit." She quickly corrected.

Rukia turned to the Lieutenant. "What does she mean 'about you'?"

Timothy dropped his head now as Kitsune looked at her with sad eyes. "You have to promise not to say anything, Rukia. If this got out…it could be very bad for Tim." she pleaded.

The woman nodded at her. "I won't, promise." She swore.

Kitsune sighed and turned to look at Timothy. "I wasn't always his zanpakutō spirit, Rukia. Before Tim came to the soul society, I…" she paused for a second, then looked at Rukia again. "I used to be Tim's wife, Susan." She finished.

Rukia quickly turned to look at the saddened Lieutenant. "What do you mean?! How is that possible?!" she demanded.

"It was Aizen…he did this to her." Timothy answered, then faced her. "Aizen used the Hōgyoku to change her into a zanpakutō spirit. Ever since then, she's been with me as such. But at first, she didn't have an inner world. We were bound to each other somehow because of the Hōgyoku, but not as partners. It wasn't until when I first came here to Kisuke's shop that he showed me a way to bring her into my inner world and make her my zanpakutō spirit." He said sadly.

The woman shook her head quickly and gave then a concerned look. "But…she's your wife…isn't she?"

"No…not since I was turned into this. And before you ask Rukia; no, there isn't a way to change me back. This is who I am now. But as long as I can be with Tim, I really don't care about it. He and I are partners now, nothing more. So, you don't need to worry about us, Rukia. We've both accepted it now." Kitsune stated firmly.

Rukia spared Timothy a last, concerning glance, before returning to the spirit and nodding. "I understand. I'm sorry that something so terrible had to happen to you."

Kitsune waved her off politely. "Thank you, but it's fine, Rukia. Besides, I kinda enjoy being in his head now. That way I can torture him all I want." She stated with a grin.

"Torture him?" Rukia inquired, but Nel quickly slapped a hand over her mouth with a panicked face.

"Please' don't encourage her!" she pleaded.

"Yes, please don't." Timothy enforced, then turned to Kitsune. "And you promised to behave." He berated.

She turned to him in a pout. "I didn't 'do' anything! All I said was I like to torture you!" she defended.

"And one thing leads to another with you! Be quiet, or you can go back inside! I can handle you, they can't!" he hissed back.

She crossed her arms with a huff. "I didn't do anything." She mumbled, then Nel removed her hand with a sigh of relief.

Rukia turned to the Arrancar. "Is she…" she started, but Nel placed her hand back over her mouth and held a finger to her own lips.

"Not. A. Word. Rukia." Timothy warned.

The woman nodded; still very confused on the matter, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Nel again removed her hand and kept a close eye on her 'new friend'. Timothy then cleared his throat to get them back on track.

"Anyway, after what happened with her friends, Nel was attacked by this Nnoitra guy and was forced to run. When my…my team and I came here to take care of the Adjuchas, one of them was about to kill me. But Nel jumped in the way and took the hit for me. So, that's the story of how she ended up here." He finished.

Rukia nodded, then went back to Nel. "Sorry about what happened, Nel."

The woman nodded. "Thank you…Rukia." She responded.

"Another thing I wanted to ask, once Aizen has been dealt with, what do you intend to do?" Rukia asked further.

Timothy answered for her. "I've told her that I intended to help hide her from the soul society with Kisuke's assistance. As you can see, she can already remain undetected with several Lieutenants and a Captain in the same building as her. So, hiding her shouldn't be that hard, as long as the soul society remains unaware that she even exists. Me and Kisuke had talked a couple times about setting her up with a normal life here in the world of the living. If she can help us get Aizen, she deserves 'at least' that much."

Rukia hummed. "I agree. Now here's a question for you, Tim; say the soul society 'does' find out about her, what do you intend to do? Like you said, they'll likely know you were hiding her, and will try you for treason." She inquired.

Nel quickly turned to him with wide eyes. "You…You never told me that! I can't let you go through that for me, Tim! That's not right!" she yelled.

Timothy glanced at her warmly. "I'm not concerned about it, Nel. You know how I am. I'd rather burn at the stake than abandon a friend in need." He stated with Kitsune nodding in agreeance.

"But…I wasn't your friend when you made that promise, Tim! I was your enemy!" Nel pointed.

The man held up a finger at her. "Was'…'Was' an enemy. You saved my ass from the hollow, so I owed you that much. Understand this, Nel; I have absolutely no problem, or regrets, saying that I'd gladly leave the soul society in order to protect my friends."

Rukia eyed him with caution. "That's a bold statement, Tim. You know that, right?"

Timothy nodded at her. "I know, but here are the facts; if Nel is discovered, I'll be tried for treason and either executed, or imprisoned. In either case, Nel's dead. But if I end up leaving the soul society, of course I'll be hunted by the soul society, but at least I'd be able to protect Nel. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation, Rukia; so, it all comes down to the lesser of two evils."

Nel then suddenly stood up with her head held low. "I'm sorry…but I can't listen to anymore of this. I think the less I know, the better. Please excuse me." She said, then walked out of the room, and by the sound of it, into her room.

Rukia retuned her gaze to the man after following Nel's movements. "Seriously Tim, 'why' are you fighting so hard to protect her? Would you honestly go through with all this for anyone…or is there something special about her?"

Timothy narrowed his gaze, then glanced at Kit, then back to her. He leaned over the table and gestured with his finger for her to come closer, which she did.

"If you are implying that I have deep feelings for her, drop it. Kit has already played that stupid game with her, and I'm not going to let it go any further. Whether or not I have feelings for Nel is irrelevant; I'd do the same thing for 'any' of my friends. Unless you really want to end up on my bad side Rukia, I strongly suggest you don't doubt that again. You can say anything you want about me, but don't 'ever' question my loyalty to my friends. I have already lost enough friends, and I'll be damned if I lose another without already having utilized 'every' possible measure to try and prevent it. We clear?" he asked in a deathly voice.

Her eyes went wide, and she quickly nodded. "Good. Now…" he started, then leaned back. "…I think we should head back downstairs. We'll talk again later about whether or not we should talk to Renji. I agree that he's a bit of an idiot, but I can tell that he's a man that can be trusted."

Rukia nodded in agreeance. "Alright. Let's go."

Timothy nodded, then pointed at the spirit. "And I'm still not done with you, Kit. We'll have our own talk later as well." He informed.

She threw her arms in the air. "What did I do now?!" she whined.

He held his hand in front of him and clamped the fingers and thumb shut like a claw, signaling for her to stop talking. She growled at him, then huffed in defeat before dematerializing back to his inner world.

"She really 'is' a handful, isn't she?" Rukia stated as she stood up.

Timothy side glanced her. "Unless you want a taste of it, keep quiet." He instructed.

She held her hands up in surrender as she chuckled. "No, thank you. I'm fine. So, let's get back downstairs." She concluded, then walked past him to the ladder and began her descent.

Timothy moaned and began rubbing his temples, feeling a headache quickly approaching. "What have I gotten myself into?" he moaned.

So, a bit of character development in this chapter. Obviously Nel is feeling something towards our hotheaded Lieutenant, but she's not quite sure what it means yet. I have a feeling that Kitsune is not quite done with her 'games' yet, so I'm sure more pain is to come, hint hint.

In case some of you may be wondering, yes, Ichigo did go to meet with the Visoreds, although he was introduced by Kisuke 'off camera'. As his training is essentially going to be the same as it was portrayed in the series, I don't plan to show anything about it.

Now Rukia knows about Nel's secret, but I wonder how the others would respond when they discover her… I guess we'll find out soon. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all next week.