As the day went by with the sun still high up t,he figure of Orihime was seen running down the streets, as she managed to sense Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure, as she'd had difficulty sensing it earlier. She was running over to where she could sense him, wanting to tell him about what happened, having returned to her apartment just in time for what was supposed to be a meeting with the Head Captain and Toshiro, along with Rangiku. She stayed there, as the Head Captain insisted for her to stay, as she too needed to know the information he was going to give.

Everything he said after hadn't surprised her very much, but it still gave her chills when she heard the news anyway. The reason why she hadn't been so surprised was due to hearing the news from Ichigo last night.

The Orange haired lass laid down on her bed covered by her blanket, having just put on her pajamas and brushed her teeth. After everything that happened these days, she really felt good about going to bed now. Just as she closed her eyelids and began to sleep she then heard tapping on her window, and Orihime looked over to see it was Ichigo on her window in his Soul Reaper uniform.

Confused as to why Ichigo was here, she got up from her bed before getting to her window, opening it up and letting the orange haired Substitute get in. "Hi, Ichigo." Orihime greeted him. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, being rather unsure as to how he would tell her the news, having just been finished with taking care of a Hollow. "This is gonna be a bit out of blue… but there's something I'm gonna have to tell you."

"Uh… what is it?" Orihime asked, being curious to know what he wanted to tell her. But some of her thoughts ran elsewhere. 'I wonder what it could be? Wait! What if he came here because he knows how I feel about him! Ahhh, I don't think I'm prepared for this right now!' she frantically thought to herself.

"Do you remember when I fought against that big bald guy the other day?" Ichigo asked, as he sat down on her bed. He saw Orihime nodding her head, albeit still confused as to where this was going. "As you know, before our fight I jokingly made a bet with the guy, but as it turns out Aizen took the bet seriously..."

Blinking, she tried to understand what he said as Orihime sat down next to Ichigo. "What… was the bet that was made again?" While all she knew was that a bet was made because of how loud Yammy was, Orihime never heard what the bet entailed. Was it just something silly or something so interesting that Aizen had to completely give up on his plan with the Arrancars because Ichigo said so in a bet?

"Simply that they would give me information on what the Arrancars are and what they want." He trailed off as he dug his hand into his pocket before taking out an ordinary 16GB flash drive. "So later that day another Arrancar came and she handed me this"

Orihime blinked as she takes hold of the data holder. "But this is normal pen drive, wouldn't they hand you a paper report or just tell you?" She said as she tilted her head to the side.

The Orange haired teen frowned as he pondered on the answer. "Considering what I've seen from the Soul Reapers here, it really seems like they're out of touch with the current time we have. When I went by the city I spotted them causing a ruckus because of it."

"Yeah, and Ms. Rangiku takes a really long time picking out clothes for herself since every new clothing in the World of The Living is so much different than what she was used to in Soul Society." Orihime smiled as she remembered her trip with the curvy Lieutenant to the shopping mall and how much the woman just had her jaw on the variety of new items.

Ichigo made a small chuckle before he looked at the drive, and as he recalled the information within the files he frowned. As she noticed his expression, Orihime's own expression frowned. "What's wrong?"

"This file is about the Arrancars and how their system works. When I first saw the Arrancars I already had a clue on how they worked but this confirms it." He breathes in as he recalls the information. "Arrancars are Hollows that broke their masks and managed to retain their human shape and attained powers equivalent to ones that Soul Reapers use."

"Their masks break?" A flash from months ago snaps in her mind, remembering a certain event that happened to her brother. "Does that mean… Sora became one of them?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I thought about that too, but I remember Rukia saying that all Sora did was temporarily reject the hunger from his empty heart. Arrancars on the other hand are able to overpower that hunger and managed to not only break their mask, but even regain their bodies with only fragments of their masks left indicating they are still empty. They just have consciousness of what they're doing now"

Her shoulders hanged down in disappointment, there really was no other way for her brother at that point then. "I guess that makes sense." She quietly spoke, and Ichigo couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt. "So that's how they become Arrancars… but is that about it?"

Shaking his head once again, the Substitute continued. "No, if they just changed shape and gained abilities like Soul Reapers it wouldn't be a problem. But upon acquiring the Arrancar state, they gain a further boost to their fighting capabilities, some more than others…"

"Which fighting capabilities?" She asked, as the vague term puzzled her.

"Some get more brute strength, some are more resilient and some get faster. And there are some that gain regenerative capabilities but most of the time that gets exchanged for pure power even in an overall increase of the three capabilities I said before."

The girl sat back on her bed as she couldn't help but feel nervous about the news. "So… is that all there is to it?"

"Pretty much. They also receive something called a Release State, unfortunately there wasn't much information on those aside from the fact that Aizen noted it to be something I would find familiar." Ichigo scoffs. "And if that isn't enough there is a numbering system for them. Arrancars 11 to 99 are called Numeros and 1 to 10 are called the Espada. That last group are supposed to be his top dog soldiers, at least from what I understood."

Her eyes blinked in question. "That's… kinda ominous…" She trailed off as it was obvious Aizen wouldn't give more information about his army than that. "Still...why were you even allowed to get a hold of such information?"

"Uh… I'm as clueless as you are about that." Ichigo answered with a shrug. "All I can say is that this just screams like an imminent disaster. Especially when he plans on destroying Karakura Town." he stated stated as he looked through the window over to the town.

Orihime's brows furrowed before her frown deepened. "He… really plans on doing that?"

Ichigo nodded his head. "I really didn't want to believe it when I read the file, but that's what it said. He really wants to reduce a 10th of my town just to slaughter this Royal Palace that exists somewhere in the Soul Society." His tightened his fist as anger built up at the thought of what Aizen was gonna do. ''I swear that I'm going to stop this guy, one way or another."

"Well… either way… thank you for telling me this too." Orihime said in response.

"No problem…" Ichigo got up from the bed and made his way to the window in order to leave. "Anyway, sorry to bother you at a time like this. Just make sure to get a good night of sleep."

Chad fired his energy blast at Renji, who proceeded to dodge it by leaping onto another mountain, with Renji already being in his Bankai. "Poor, Chad! What's the matter?! Are you already getting tired?!" Renji taunted, as both of them were located in Urahara's underground training facility.

"No, not at all! I'm fine!" Chad exclaimed from down below, trying to keep up as much energy as possible.

Not too far away, Urahara was watching both of them duking it out, all while holding his fan that shadowed some of his face, remembering how this went down in the first place. It was mostly him who persuaded Renji to train with Chad, who refused to leave his place until getting trained. After managing to make an offer to the Lieutenant, Renji then agreed to train with Chad ever since.

Back at the training, Renji swung his snake-like Bankai against Chad, who tried to stop it with his armored arm, except Chad got pushed aside easily before crashing onto a mountain. Chad fired another blast at Renji but he missed by a mile, with the dust clearing itself, Renji could see Chad was panting to which Renji took advantage off as he leaped in the air, swinging his weapon back at the human.

"For all the fuss Renji was making, it sure seems he's really getting into this." Kisuke commented, still seeing the sparring from far away.

Boulders and small mountains were crumbling down as Chad was running away from the large snake. "Come on! Running away won't make you stronger!" Renji yelled out. Chad stopped running before turning around to use his blast to hit the Bankai snake, but Renji turned it around as he was about to hit Chad with it. Chad barely managed to leap high in the air before landing on a cliff.

Chad did a battle cry as he punched the ground beneath him, causing large rocks to fall on Renji which he managed to roll out of the way. "Give me a break, will ya?!" Renji exclaimed, moving his arm as his Bankai attacked Chad, giving him a hard hit as he fell down on the ground.

Urahara was watching with keen interest, as he more so focused his attention towards Chad. 'Chad… there's still room for your power to grow.. that much is for sure, and by repeatedly fighting against a Bankai you'll certainly advance to the next level' Urahara thought as he watched the two of them charging at one another. 'Unlike that of a Soul Reaper or a Quincy, your power seems to take things around in a more instinctive manner, almost like a Hollow's. If I were to say it, your power is a—' Urahara's thoughts were interrupted by Chad's blast, as it grew much more powerful than before.

As Ichigo was thrown back by a strong blow he forced himself up but his Hollow mask suddenly shattered to pieces, shocking him as he hadn't expected it to burst apart so quickly. Hiyori got in front of him before she kicked him in the chin, making Ichigo roll backwards onto the ground before crashing into a boulder and getting trapped by the ruble.

"I told you not to release your Hollow mask without permission!" Hiyori yelled as her own mask was at the side of her face, running towards the strawberry haired teen.

Ichigo shook off the rocks as he glared at Hiyori. "I didn't! It just fucking timed out!" he called out.

"Shut up, dumbass!" Hiyori kicked Ichigo in his chin again, sending him through the same thing as before. "Next time listen as to what I have to say!"

"What?!" Ichigo yelled out as he shook off the rubble again.

"If you wanna fool around then quit!" Hiyori exclaimed before kicking Ichigo away again.

"Well they're getting along swimmingly..." Rose said sarcastically as he saw the training from afar, sitting on a boulder with Love right next to him.

"Oh yeah... definitely" Love commented with amusement in his tone, as he held a sandwich in his hand.

Orihime finally managed to reach the destination that held Ichigo's Spiritual Pressure, as she was seen outside the Vizard's hideout. 'This is it.' she thought as she watched a cat walking to the warehouse, before it started to walk away as something disturbed it. 'That cat… it looks like it's walking against an invisible wall, nothing will go near it. The birds and all the other living things can't get near it because there's a force field there.'

Orihime looked up at the large bright shield in front of her, as she brought her hand closer to it before being in contact with it. 'And what an incredible barrier, it's very powerful and it's similar to my Shun Shun Rikka shield.' she thought as she managed to get her hand through it, breaking it in the progress. 'I can do this'

"Faster, Ichigo! Again!" Hiyori ordered.

"Shut up! I know what to do!" Ichigo replied with annoyance, and once more he summoned his Hollow mask, right before Hiyori made a Flash Step behind him, to which Ichigo managed to block it in time by blocking the kick with his wrist.

"Your first move after you put on your mask is too slow! If the fight were decided by the first move, you'd be done for!" Hiyori exclaimed as she kept kicking Ichigo's arm, to which Ichigo backed away with Hiyori following him.

"His retention time isn't increasing… very quickly." Hachi commented as he saw the sparring from the sidelines, with Shinji sitting next to him. "But nonetheless. Progress I guess?"

"Well it's not a simple thing." Shinji replied as he watched Ichigo's Hollow mask shatter again.

"6 seconds." Kensei remarked as he kept an eye on his watch the timing of Ichigo's mask. "Should have been 7 by now…"

"Only?!" Shinji remarked incredulously. "I don't get it, what's going wrong?"

"Hey, how come you're making the carrot top kid go through all of this?" Mashiro asked from behind.

"It's practice so he can maintain his Hollow form for longer periods of time. You did it too." Kensei said.

"Oh no, I didn't~" Mashiro teasingly remarked.

"What? You liar." Kensei was annoyed by the answer.

"It's true actually." Shinji spoke up. ''Mashiro was able to Hollowfy for over 15 hours from the very start, and she was the only one who didn't have to go through the training."

"Is that how it was? I forgot all about it…" Kensei grumbled under his breath.

"See, Kensei, you big grouch? You're such a jerk." Mashiro insulted him.

"You mind repeating that again?!" This provoked Kensei as he got up from where he sat and looked as though he was about to attack Mashiro.

"Now, now—" Hachi got in between them to stop a fight from ensuing, but then his eyes widened in shock when he looked over in another direction.

"What's the matter, Hachi?" Shini asked seriously, seeing his ally get disturbed.

"Something unexpected occurred… someone just broke through my force field and entered the building." Hachi informed everyone about this, which shook all who were present with him.

"Is it a Soul Reaper?" Love asked, with a clear tone of edge heard in his voice.

"It couldn't be. The Hachikyo Sogai I put around this location is a technique that I devised on my own when I became a Lieutenant. It can't be broken by a Soul Reaper's Kido." Hachi explained.

"Then who is it?! Are you suggesting that it's a Vizard like us?!" Kensei asked.

"I don't know…" Hachi put his fingers under his chin. "The spiritual signature is similar in the Hollow tint, but it does not have the Soul Reaper signature like us, yet even then, it was able to break through my barrier..."

"Then what the hell is it?" Kensei was starting to get on edge, being confused on just what potential enemy they would have to be up against.

It was then that they could sense the unknown figure approaching closer to where they were, and since they left the hideout plain open, the enemy's advances made it easy for it to find them. ''Here it comes…" Kensei spoke as he formed a fighting stance. Tense moments passed by, and by now they were hearing soft footsteps coming by large stairs before the figure revealed itself, it being none other than Orihime. Needless to say, the Vizards were flabbergasted by this. "A human?!"

Orihime scratched the back of her head, now feeling nervous. "Uh… hi there! Excuse me but… I wanna know where the restroom is… just kidding!" she chuckled, trying to make an attempt at lightening the mood.

"Say what?!" Kensei was aggravated by this, growing a tick mark on his forehead.

"She said she was just kidding. It's a joke, don't get so worked up." Lisa remarked blankly.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't kid around if I was in her situation." Love commented as he folded his arms.

Orihime continued to chuckle nervously before she saw some smoke building up next to where she was at, and when it cleared she saw Ichigo lying on the ground.

"What are you doing, Ichigo?!" Hiyori berated.

"Damn..." Ichigo cursed in annoyance as his Hollow mask shattered again.

Orihime was surprised to see him from here. "Ichigo, it's you!" she exclaimed.

Ichigo looked up from where he was, seeing Orihime which spread confusion over his face. When did she get here? More importantly, how did she even find him in this place? "Orihime?"

"Oh… so that's why you're here. Well thanks for informing me." Ichigo remarked, having been allowed to take a break from his training, as he and Orihime were sitting together on a rock. ''I'm sorry that I didn't tell you where I was gonna go without a word, but you don't have to worry about that. I'm getting stronger now. I can really feel it now, I appreciate your concern but there's no need for that." Ichigo said, as he got up from the rock, smiling at Orihime before walking over to Hiyori, getting back to his training.

'Ichigo...he's so busy getting stronger that it doesn't matter what Aizen is planning. Ichigo knows exactly what he has to do. And he's not afraid… he really is getting stronger.' Orihime got up and started to head back. 'It doesn't feel heavy like before, but it also doesn't feel as nice. It's such a strange feeling…'

"Just what the hell was up with that girl?!" Kensei grit his teeth in annoyance as he saw Orihime leave their underground base.

"She talked to Ichigo for a while and then just left in a blink of an eye." Lisa said.

"If you ask me, I think she and Ichigo are close friends." Rose commented with a smile on his face.

"Pfft, something like that, remember what happened before when Hiyori talked smack about them?" Love asked with a chuckle.

"Heh, he did go ballistic on her." Lisa said, as she put her hand behind her head while holding one of her magazines. "Ohhh? Nice…"

"The hell you mean, Lisa!? Want me to go there and kick your ass!?" Yelling from the sidelines was Hiyori, who heard everything.

"Don't take your eyes off me!" Ichigo shouted as he made a downward strike, to which Hiyori dodged.

"Hey, Hachi, be honest… you know I think your barriers are flawless, there's no doubt about that." Love said.

"Of course." Hachi nodded his head, and was starting to see where his colleague was heading with this.

"So how was that girl, Orihime, able to find this place? And moreover, how was she able to get inside?" Love asked.

Hachi thought about it. "I am not entirely sure… However, having examined her Spiritual Pressure at close range, I believe she possesses a type of force field and ability that are somewhat similar to mine. That could explain how someone like that could find a barrier and slip right through it… although I must say, it does seem incredible that a human being could actually possess such powers…"

Uryu was panting as his arm was supporting him against the wall, barely holding himself together as his body was shaking immensely. He saw a Quincy arrow heading straight for him, to which he barely managed to dodge in time, except his foot caught the edge of the roof and he started falling, but Uryu quickly took some Ginto to save his fall by summoning a chant. He managed to save himself as smoke got covered before Ryuken walked over to where he was at.

"So you had some Ginto stashed away? Well, haven't you become a cautious one..." Ryuken remarked, hinting mockery in his tone.

Uryu continued his pants. "It sounds to me… like you're calling me a coward."

"Exactly." Ryuken fired multiple arrows at Uryu, to which he did a Hirenkyaku to get away. Ryuken looked over where his son was standing now. "What's wrong?! You call that running away?! Your dodging speed has gotten slower! Have you reached your limit?!" Ryuken said, as he continued his onslaught of arrows with one arm at his son, to which he could do nothing but dodge and get away.

'It's true... I have reached my limit.' Uryu thought as one arrow nearly struck him in his arm, which he rolled back, hitting his back against the wall. 'My arms and legs are so weak they can barely move anymore. But his Spiritual Pressure is definitely getting weaker. He said if I continued to dodge his arrows, my powers would come back. But so far there's no sign of that happening. I don't know how much Ryuken told me was true, but at this rate he's going to kill me.' Uryu thought as he was running away from the arrows. 'I'm at my limit, I have no choice but to try and stop his movement and end his training! And my only chance is—' another arrow was fired at him, which created smoke. Ryuken couldn't see where Uryu was at, but it was then he saw Uryu jumping at him, throwing his last Ginto and summoning a chant and successfully managed to trap Ryuken. 'I got him!'

But to Uryu's shock, Ryuken easily managed to destroy it as he was pointing his own arrow at Uryu. "What a shame for you… that it's now over." Ryuken said, as he fired his arrow at Uryu's chest, piercing him, which made Uryu's eyes wide open from the pain he felt.

'He got me… damn.' Those were Uryu's last thoughts before crashing down on the ground, his eyes closed off as his glasses fell on the ground.

Ryuken started to walk over to his son's fallen form. "Push the body and the spirit to their utmost limits and while in that exhausted state, attack with a shot from the spiritual bow, exactly 19 millimeters to the right of your heart. That is the only way to reclaim the Spiritual power of Quincy's final form." Ryuken explained as he knelt down to Uryu's side. "Why didn't you use your Heizen? If only you would have used that back then instead of Grits, I would have at least been injured, if not defeated. You made a stupid choice… you're so frustrating. You make me sick." Ryuken said, with disgust heard in his tone before getting up. "However... I'll let you live… This time."

"Well, hello! Long time no see, Orihime!" Urahara cheerfully exclaimed, waving his ever-present fan with a wide grin plastered on his face. Orihime hadn't said anything yet, rather she was wanting to know why Kisuke called her here in the first place. Yoruichi only stood on top of a boulder from there as she folded her arms as she observed the conversation. "Well, I'll tell you that I've been surrounded by these two filthy men for so long that it just brightens everything right up to have a woman in the workplace again. I'm glad you're here" Urahara jokingly said for the most part.

"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? Guess you don't see me as a woman anymore then." Yoruichi replied, amusingly rolling her eyes.

"Oh come now, Yoruichi, I was talking about down here on the training ground! Because of your feminine charms, it's always bright and cheery upstairs in the shop!" Urahara exclaimed.

"Yeah, right…" Yoruichi wasn't convinced at all, not because of what Kisuke was saying but what he was doing. She was sure he was about to say something very imprudent.

"Please, Orihime, sit down right over here!" Urahara said, as he grabbed a table out of nowhere and put it down on the ground.

"Uh… okay?" Orihime looked more confused, still not understanding why she was called here. It was then a crash occurred to everyone's ears, turning around to see Chad jumping away from Renji's Bankai. "Oh, it's Chad! And Renji too!"

"And they're being just as loud as usual." Yoruichi simply remarked.

Ignoring the two for now, Orihime turned her attention back to Urahara. "Mr. Urahara… what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" the young girl asked.

All the cheerfulness that was previously seen from Urahara now disappeared without a trace. "Well a little while ago, Rangiku Matsumoto came by for a visit. So you know about the Ouken and the dangers that lie ahead? This new situation is sudden and a little unexpected. But whatever the case may be, all of us, including the Soul Society will focus on preparing for this upcoming battle by the end of the year. From here on out, it's going to be an all out war. Both we and the Soul Society will need more offensive power than what we already have."

"Oh... I see then." Orihime nodded her head in understanding, after all she spent her time training with Ichigo and Yoruichi in order to get stronger. ''In that case, I wanna help out by becoming stronger too! I already am training with Miss Yoruichi and even Ichigo helped us a bit, and if it isn't enough then I'll even double my efforts!"

"Is that so? In that case, I'll say when war breaks out, I want you to stay out of the battle." Urahara bluntly told her, and in doing this Orihime paused in confusion, along with Chad and Renji stopping their sparring when they heard this. "Tsubaki is your only offensive attack, which you rarely ever use."

"W-what? I mean yeah, Tsubaki is my only offensive ability so far." Orihime slowly nodded her head as she looked down on the ground. "But that doesn't—" Before she could continue Urahara cut her off.

"So in battles you mostly rely on your shield and your healing, but hardly utilize the offensive one of your powers, which makes you vulnerable, so it's only reasonable." Urahara added on.

Chad did not take too kindly to those words. "Hold on, Kisuke, that's not fair! Orihime is our friend! Don't forget she fought successfully against the Soul Society and the Bounts as well! If she says she wants to get stronger, then you can't just cast her aside so easily!"

"You should think about this, Chad. Do you want her to get killed?" Urahara asked.

"No! She has defensive and healing powers as well, which is more important than attacking abilities!" Chad argued.

Urahara sighed as he tipped his hat. "The defensive power of Santen Keshun is quite limited. It would most likely be no use in the upcoming war. As for healing abilities, we have Squad 4, and this time Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu squad members will be on the front lines. They will be compensated many times over Orihime's absence."

"But I don't understand—"

Urahara interrupted Chad. "That's enough. A warrior who has lost his strength will only end up getting in our way."

"But—"

"It's okay…" Orihime spoke up, as she had her hand wrapped around her left arm.

That was it for Yoruichi. "No, it's not okay..." She made her voice known to everyone there as she hopped off the boulder, landing only a few feet away between Kisuke and Orihime. A stern gaze appeared on her face as she looked at Kisuke who had a questioning stare in his own eyes, shadowed by his hat as always.

He then tipped his hat as he responds. "What would you mean 'it's not okay', Yoruichi? Are you telling me that I should invest in such a faulty move against Aizen?" He asks as he raised a sharp gaze.

But that was not enough to make her back down. "Think about what you said just now. A faulty move?" She said it with sarcasm. "That's rather odd… aren't you the one who decided to kill a kid and then proceed to almost kill him after that, for 5 days straight with no proper sleep in between, make me train his friends as well and then send us to stop a execution with almost no preparation because you forgot to check for the damn train, that as far as I'm concerned even Head Captain Yamamoto would get torn to pieces if he was thrown in front of it." Her tone grew somewhat irritated. After all, no Soul Reaper would like to be chased by The Cleaner even once… let alone twice.

Kisuke blinked a few times before settling down. "That is true… but you do remember that predicting the Cleaner is a complicated matter even for me sometimes—"

The dark skinned beauty wasn't having it. "That's not all, remember? Your plan to have Ichigo get his Soul Reaper powers was by throwing him into that damn hole I ended up falling in that you told me that you were gonna cover it up." She scowled as she walked up to Kisuke and grabbed his shoulder. "But that doesn't matter… what matters is that by doing that, you risked that thing running around instead of trying something else. You had 17 days, Kisuke, and don't bullshit me otherwise. We both know you could have come up with something at that time…" Everyone could feel the ground trembling. Orihime, Sado and Renji took a few steps back with how tense the atmosphere was getting, even more with how frighteningly calm Yoruichi was. "So all of that was fine for you, even though the only reason we survived is actually thanks to Aizen, ironically."

At the mention of it, Kisuke quickly shook Yoruichi's hand off. "No, it wasn't—"

There came a crack in his defense. "Yes, it was. After all… look what happened when you let them fight the Bounts. Most of the Captains didn't even improve too much after the execution, yet did you see how many times they would have died against the Bounts? Especially Ichigo and even Uryu? The latter who has no powers as of now?" Breaking through someone's shell was not an easy task, especially when it came to someone like Kisuke. With a situation like this, it was a necessity, be it for information in a interrogation or to make someone wake up and realize they're doing something stupid. "So come in the Arrancars with the announcement of war and Orihime here got shot. Or did you somehow not know that?"

"But that's exactly why she shouldn't be involved…" The blonde shopkeeper tried argumenting one more time, but once again he got shut down.

"And yet Yasutora and Abarai get to train as much as they want to? All the while you sit back and do nothing?" Her eyes narrow as she can't hold back what she is going to say next. "We've got Aizen finally deciding to be on the move after all this time. If you think he's going to be anything like he was back over a 100 years ago, then you have actually gone rusty."

As she watched on from the sidelines, Orihime herself couldn't help but feel like she had no air to breathe. It was so… different to see someone like Yoruichi defend her like this. She was convinced by Urahara that she would end up coming to bother yet this somehow got Yoruichi to intervene?

"And another thing… you say we have Squad 4, yet I guarantee that they won't be enough. They only have so many capable members, and I am more than sure that most injuries we will receive would require above the likes of what lower Seat Officers in the Squad can handle. So better to have back up and have something in the arsenal ready to use it." She then stopped for a brief moment before letting out a sigh. "You can continue to help out Abarai and Yasutora if you want, but in doing so I am doing what I can to train those two and I will keep doing that, no matter what you say and no matter what Shinji says either…" The former Shihouin heiress then turned around as she walked away. "I'll be going now…" As she passes by Orihime, the redhead just stared as the purple haired beauty walked away before she shook her head.

"Miss Yoruichi, wait up!" The redhead then ran in order to catch up with the Flash Goddess, leaving three men behind, completely speechless.

Renji was the first one to speak up after a long time. "Well… that was incredibly awkward."

Urahara could only sit back, not literally, and watched with a weird feeling about what just happened. 'This is… is it possible?' He thought to himself as he looked at the fleeting figure of his best friend rising up the stairs.

As both lassies reached the top floor, they made their way to the door as Orihime entered the store portion. She then got to the front door and slid it to the side, however just before she could run off any further, she saw Ichigo standing right in front of her, both of them being dumbfounded when neither were expecting to see one another.

"Orihime?" Ichigo was stunned to see her, as he came over to check up on how Renji and Chad were doing. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?" Looking close to her side he saw Yoruichi standing right behind her. "Yoruichi, you're here too? What's going on? Were the two of you training or something?"

Orihime wanted to say something, but all she could muster up was her voice cracking up, and tears began to stream down on her face. Ichigo began to be concerned over this. "Hey! What's the matter?! Orihime, what's wrong?!"

Yoruichi then came to the forefront as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ichigo, let's go somewhere more private, ok?" The teen nodded as an unsettling look formed on his face.

Not too long later, the trio had come to one of the warehouses where Yoruichi trained both Sado and Orihime for the first time. Having told him everything that happened at the shop just recently, Ichigo was not the least bit happy with Kisuke now

"That sandal hat wearing asshole…" The redhead cursed under his breath as he cracked his knuckles in response. "I'm so going back and having a few words with him."

Yoruichi shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Ichigo. I know what Kisuke said was dumb, but honestly what would beating him up accomplish? Besides, did you even hear what had been said?"

Looking back at the dark skinned beauty he couldn't help but frown, it's not like he could have changed what happened. "But I just can't let it go away so easily. Hell, just let me go there and talk with him if that's all I can do. I'll try not to beat him up while I'm at it." He said as he turned around with the intention of leaving.

"No…" Orhime stopped his tracks as she spoke. ''It's okay... but you know what? Mr. Urahara may be right. I'm not strong enough as of now..."

As Yoruichi watched she couldn't help but look down to the floor, no matter what she said, Urahara tried to break her confidence and she was pretty much believing in it despite what Yoruichi herself vouched for.

"Don't say that! Orihime, that's not okay at all! You fought by our side all along… aren't you even the least bit angry at him for casting you aside so easily like that?!" Ichigo asked profusely as he waved his arm to the side.

"No…" Orihime buried her face between her knees. ''It's fine, really…"

Ichigo sighed from this. "Look, you don't have to lie—"

"She isn't, Ichigo." Yoruichi interjected immediately.

The redhead was taken back by that. "What? But how—"

"I'm not really lying! I feel lonely, but not mad!" Ichigo widened his eyes as Orihime looked back at him. "I… being lonely isn't nearly as bad… as being in the way." she started sobbing again. "I feel lonely because when everyone else is fighting, I'll be all alone, but if I'm gonna be a burden to Mr. Urahara and everyone else who is fighting, then maybe it's better to just be lonely instead..."

"Then… maybe we can work this out together." The lad said as he leaned back on the wall. "Just like how we were already doing it."

"Huh?"

Ichigo knelt down to Orihime's side as he put his arms on her shoulders. "Listen… you're doubting yourself too much because of what he told you, right?" The girl nodded. "Then you just can't let that hold you back, he told you aren't strong enough? Well that's what we were training for, he said you wouldn't be of much help because Squad 4 already exists? Well sorry to burst his bubble, but most of the Squad can't recreate entire limbs on the fly."

Yoruichi had a small smile on her face when she saw this, Ichigo was encouraging her and it felt nice to see it.

Orihime was hesitant about the decision. "... Ichigo, are you sure about this? I mean, you're already training on your own and you have so much on your hands right now. I wouldn't want to—"

"Nah, don't worry about it. You won't be a burden. I know it won't happen. I'm going to prove hat-n-clogs wrong, because we are going to improve what you're having trouble with, no-one is going to be left behind." He then looked at Yoruichi with a smirk on his face, he already knew her answer but he just wanted confirmation. "You gonna help with that?"

With a smirk of her own at the audacity the kid had in making her need to even answer she crossed her arms and let out a chuckle. "You think that wasn't the plan? Ichigo I was making the schedule in my head already…"

A small laugh escaped his lips at that. "Yeah, I should have figured." He then set his gaze back to the Orange haired teen. "So? What do you say? Wanna join in on my training?"

"Alright…" Orihime showed a smile. ''I will, thanks Ichigo." She then stood up as she looked up to face the woman who helped her. "Thanks for your words back there as well, Yoruichi."

Yoruichi waved it off. "Yeah yeah, I know. I had to do something about that."

It was at that moment when Hiyori came crashing down on the roof, something that took both Ichigo and Orihime, except Yoruichi, by surprise. Hiyori grabbed the collar of Orihime's school shirt. "You're coming with me! Hachi wants to talk to you!"

"Who's Hachi?" Orihime asked in confusion, but Hiyori merely leaped in the air, taking the girl with her and ignoring her pleas.

"Hey! Hold on a second here! Where the hell are you taking Orihime?!" Ichigo yelled as he went after Hiyori, using his Combat Pass to go into his Soul Reaper form as his body was caught again by Yoruichi who simply followed suit.

Yoruichi groaned as she knew this was gonna be an annoying night with the Vizards.

Hiyori set Orihime down on the ground hard, which made the girl since as she rubbed her behind. "Ow… that hurts." Orihime complained, as she and Hiyori were back to the underground base with the Vizards.

"Hey, Hachi, I got you the one you wanted!" Hiyori exclaimed.

Ichigo then arrived with a Flash step as he stared angrily at Hiyori. "Do you mind explaining what the hell that was all about?!" he demanded to know.

"Doesn't matter! Your break is over now!" Hiyori then kicked Ichigo's face, sending him back through a mountain.

"You bitch! I was asking a fucking question!" Ichigo remarked in anger, right before he charged at Hiyori.

Orihime watched this unfold as she laid down, but then she heard footsteps approaching her, and turning her head she saw Hachi standing in front of her, and the man's sheer height made her a bit uncomfortable.

"Hachi is just a nickname, my real name is Hachigen Ushoda, nice to meet you." Hachi greeted the girl properly, showing a gentle smile.

"Ehehe… it's nice to meet you." Orihime greeted him back, before the man sat down like she was. "Uhhh… so what was it you wanted to see me about?"

Hachi put two of his fingers on Orihime's head, turning her head around with Orihime frantically trying to pull Hachi's massive fingers away from her, comically crying out to stop. "It's just as I thought. Your hairpins are the real form of your powers. They do appear to be somewhat similar to mine. I've been curious about these ever since you came here earlier to speak with, Ichigo."

"Ok, you can let go of her head now..." Kensei bluntly told Hachi from behind.

"I don't get iiiiiit! This makes no sense!" Mashiro complained as she started rolling over the ground, kicking her feet as if throwing a tantrum. ''Why is Hachi so willing to fix that girl's weapon and why is she here all of a sudden?! She's annoying! I can't stand her!" she continued her rant.

"Will you shut the fuck up?!" Kensei yelled at Mashiro, with an ever-growing tick mark shown on his face.

"Well, Hachi seems to be happy." Rose said, which stopped Mashiro's rant. "Yes, because I don't think we ever met anyone who's powers resemble Hachi's, even if by a small margin. It… it sort of makes me feel like our family is growing. And I bet Hachi feels that way as well."

"You guys are still so weird…" Yoruichi commented from her spot above a boulder as she yawned. "Why is that brat so bad at training people?" She asked as she looked at how Hiyori tried to train Ichigo.

The Vizards were surprised to say the least, when did she even arrive here?

Shinji was the first step up. "How long have you been there, Yoruichi?!" He shouted as he pointed a accusing finger at the beauty

Yoruichi merely deadpanned. "I've been here for some time before snaggletooth appeared with Orihime…" She said as if she was talking about a simple weather.

Lisa then blinked. "What? How, but...We couldn't sense you."

A small smirk came up to the woman's features. "Well, I was the Captain of the 2nd Division and the leader of the Stealth Force. You think I wouldn't be able to fool all of you?" Her comment made Shinji yell "Hey!" which made her snicker. "I mean, if you wanna prove me wrong, then come and get me."

After politely asking Orihime if he could borrow one of her hair pins for a closer examination, and along with Orihime giving out an explanation to her side of the story of the upcoming war, and asking for a suggestion for an improvement of her abilities.

"I see, so because of the hesitance of your will to fight, you were asked to stay out of the upcoming battle. Did I get most of that right?" Hachi asked for confirmation as he examined her hairpin.

"Uhm… well it's not exactly the whole thing, but let's just go with that." Orihime answered.

Hachi continued to observe on the hairpin, and upon spending more time on it, the more his eyes widened. Orihime could notice the look on the large man's face. ''Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing at all." Hachi quickly replied before his barrier disappeared and handed the girl her hairpin back. "Although... I may have to disagree with the others. It may be for the best if you didn't fight alongside others, however this is something for my personal thoughts. Despite everything you were told, do you still wish to grow stronger?"

Orihime looked down on the ground for a moment, and remembering Ichigo's words of them training together, she looked back at Hachi. "Yes… I still wish to fight."

Hachi looked uneasy for a second before smiling down at the smaller girl. "I see... We will start tomorrow." Orihime nodded her head, and bowed in gratitude towards the giant before she started to leave once more. 'You have not mastered your own abilities yet, Orihime. But surely there is a means for you to fight.' Hachi thought to himself. 'However... I cannot help but grow worried. Having a direct examination of your powers, your power is nothing like a Vizard's like I originally thought. Now that I've invested this amount of time, I can now say your power is closer to a Hollow. But the thing is... I don't understand how that's possible...'

"You are impossible!" Shinji once again shouted in exasperation as he tried catching Yoruichi, who simply out maneuvered him as if he was in slow motion. "I don't get it, you said yourself you didn't train and only travelled around the World of The Living for 100 years and only came back now, how are you still this good?!"

Yoruichi then frowned. "I mean, I'm moving like an amateur though…" She back flipped, landing on her arm on top of another boulder before turning and jumping from it, Shinji close in pursuit. "It's just that you suck even more, Shinji." She stated in a matter of fact tone with a grin on her face, just to piss off Shinji.

And it worked. "COME ON! You're like 300 and you still act like a teenager!"

Yoruichi landed with almost perfect grace as she stood with her hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised and a head tilt. "I mean, aren't I though?" She spoke like she was correcting a small mistake, like letting a pillow on the ground.

"No! You're not! 300 year old Soul Reapers aren't teens!" Shinji was acting like he was witnessing someone cut pizza in the completely wrong manner.

"Normal Soul Reapers, sure. Nobles? I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Things are a bit different with us, besides have you forgotten Captain Unohana?" She grinned.

"SHE DOES NOT COUNT!"

In the throne room of Las Noches, the former captain of the fifth division could be seen laid back on his throne, quizzically reading at a holographic screen in front of him, watching Orihime summoning her shield to block Yammy's attack, and using her healing power to heal Chad's broken arm.

The man grew a grin on his face, showing a keen interest as he continued to watch the girl's powers taken to work. Now having given a close study on how Orihime Inoue's powers truly worked, he couldn't be more eager to continue with his plans. "You have a very interesting power, young lady…" Aizen said. "This can be useful for later but for now...I should take notes of how the boy is as of now."