A.N.: This is a request by Draxon.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Days later….
Las Noches

"Aww! Please, Master Halibel!" Apacci whined. "Why can't we go with you?"

"I should think it obvious, Apacci," Halibel scolded. "He's still wary of me. Until I fully gain his trust, it'd be best not to introduce him to the three of you. He might get the wrong impression if the three of you gang up on him."

All three of the Tres Bestia groaned before lowering their heads in disappointment. They could tell that this human that Halibel was meeting with had caught her attention and they wanted to see him with their own eyes. They wanted to meet this human that made their master so obsessed with him. When Halibel talked about him they could see an almost tender look in her eyes, making them wonder what Halibel saw in this Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Don't worry," Halibel said. "When he's ready, I'll introduce him to you."

"Can we have fun with him?" Apacci asked hopefully only for Mila Rose to bonk her one the head. "Yow!"

"Idiot! Could you keep your legs closed for five minutes instead of acting like a whore?" the dark-skinned Mila Rose chastised. "The boy belongs to Master Halibel!"

Halibel crossed her arms and gave her subordinate a disapproving look. "Mila Rose, Ichigo is not some possession to me. He does not "belong" to anyone." Her words fell on deaf ears, however, since the two girls started to bicker and argue in front of her, getting into a fight.

As Apacci and Mila Rose quarreled, Sung-Sun walked over to her master. "Forgive me if I speak out of turn, Master Halibel, but…what is this boy to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Over the past few months, I've noticed that you've become quite fond of this Ichigo Kurosaki. I can tell that you've become very interested in his power after a while. You seem almost…happy," she dared to say, knowing that she was walking a very fine line right now.

Halibel turned away and contemplated Sung-Sun's words. 'Is that what my time with Ichigo has resulted? Is this happiness?' As a Hollow, Halibel didn't think she could feel true feelings since Hollows' hearts were removed from them. Hollows, even Arrancars like herself, were by their very inception to be heartless.

And yet, Halibel couldn't help but smile upon reflection of her time with Ichigo. It was more than just his growing power that drew her towards him. To be fair, Ichigo was still Halibel's inferior in both skill and power, in spite of all of his training. But he was showing signs of his growing potential and that excited Halibel. But again, it wasn't just his strength that compelled Halibel to return to him. She may have been longing for a companion but she wasn't that desperate.

"He is…an opportunity," Halibel replied carefully. She didn't want her subordinate to get the wrong impression.

Sung-Sun looked at her master confused. She didn't understand what she meant but then, judging by the expression on Halibel's face, neither did Halibel.

Not wanting to continue this conversation, Halibel walked away. She looked at the small clock on the wall, depicting the time in Karakura Town. She frowned behind her mask when she saw it wasn't even close to evening. If there was one thing she hated to do, it was waiting.

But she was willing to be patient if it meant seeing Ichigo again.

Meanwhile….
Karakura Town

Ichigo walked home from school, bag in hand and Rukia walking beside him. To say that it'd been a harrowing few days had been an understatement. While trying to destroy Hollows, he'd run afoul of his classmate, Uryu Ishida. The boy had revealed that he was a Quincy, one of the last of his kind.

To make matters worse, Uryu let his pride get the better of him and he put Ichigo into a position that put many lives in danger. Thankfully, the archer came to his senses and had worked together with Ichigo to destroy the Hollows that had swarmed the town, drawn to his Quincy bait.

If only that had been their only problem…

Walking along beside Ichigo, Rukia looked at her friend with eyes filled with suspicion. She'd noticed for several weeks that Ichigo's skill with a blade had tremendously increased. She knew he had potential, certainly more than she did when it came to Zanjutsu, and while she had trained him on the basics of combating Hollows, she knew that something was up. She'd been training Ichigo to fight in her stead for almost two months and yet, Ichigo's growth had been almost explosive. And his spiritual pressure was also increased, leading to more confusion.

Stopping for a moment, Rukia decided that she wasn't going to get answers unless she forced them out of Ichigo. "Ichigo," she started, "is there something that you're not telling me?" She looked at Ichigo with accusing eyes, her arms crossed as she tried to understand what was happening to her friend.

Ichigo fought back a shudder from the glare Rukia was giving him. He'd hoped that his rise in growth had gone unnoticed but it appeared that Rukia was sharper than he gave her credit for. "What do you mean?"

She looked around to make sure that nobody was near so they could talk uninterrupted. Leaning back against a wall, Rukia continued to stare at Ichigo. "Don't play me for a fool, Ichigo. You've gotten better at fighting Hollows."

"Why does that bug you? Of course I'm getting better! I've been fighting them for almost two months!" Ichigo interjected.

Rukia gave a small nod. "Yes, but I've noticed that your swordplay has gotten better. You've gotten good, Ichigo, I'll give you that. However…" she looked back up and her eyes narrowed. "No Substitute with only two months of experience could kill a Menos Grande. That is something that only the most skilled of Soul Reapers can accomplish."

In addition to the legions of Hollows that swarmed the town, a new horror had presented itself to Ichigo and his friends: a Menos Grande. The huge, towering Hollow tried to blast Ichigo to atoms with a Cero. To the watching Rukia and Uryu, Ichigo used his spiritual pressure to deflect the attack up into the air. Filling his zanpakuto with all of his spirit energy, Ichigo had leapt into the air and cut massive Hollow in two, bifurcating it down the middle.

"I got lucky, that's all," Ichigo said in his defense.

"Uh huh…" Rukia said, not buying it. "And I suppose you using your spirit energy reflexively was just luck?"

Ichigo cursed. Under Halibel's tutelage he'd learned to use his spirit energy as a buffer. He hadn't realized that he'd done it reflexively. "I've…" he struggled to come up with an excuse. He knew what Rukia's reaction would be if he confessed that he was being trained by an Arrancar; she'd be absolutely livid. "A little while ago, when I was fighting a Hollow, I felt my spirit energy. Ever since then I've learned how to hone it." He figured it wasn't a lie since a Hollow did teach it to Ichigo.

Rukia frowned. "Ichigo, why didn't you tell me?" When it came to Ichigo's training she only kept it to the bare minimum, not wanting Ichigo to become too used to his new role as Substitute. She had no idea Ichigo's powers were growing. If anything, they should be receding while her own powers returned. Yet in spite of logic, neither had happened. She looked at Ichigo sadly. "You should have told me. You know you could come to me for help." Her eyes flicked over to the bracelet on Ichigo's wrist and not for the first time she wondered where he got it.

Sighing, Ichigo nodded. He was a little ashamed of himself for not trusting Rukia with his secrets. "I know. I'm sorry."

Getting off the wall, Rukia turned and began to walk away. "Well from now on, no more secrets! Let's go, Ichigo."

Ichigo smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He was able to get out of this jam but how many more times would it happen before Rukia found out?

Later that night….
Ichigo and Halibel's Training Ground

"So you destroyed a Menos Grande?" Halibel asked as she and Ichigo dueled. Earlier, Ichigo saw the jewel on the bracelet glow. He quickly got out of his body and sprinkled the dust over Rukia before heading out like he always did. Halibel had been waiting for him when he arrived as always and they began to train, Ichigo telling her of his encounter with Uryu and everything that followed.

"Yeah. Barely. I passed out right after I cut it in half," Ichigo admitted.

"Let that be a warning," Halibel chastised, kicking Ichigo's legs out from under him. "Your spirit energy isn't infinite. You got lucky in taking down the Gillian. If you focus all of your strength into one blow and your opponent is still standing, you're going to be in a worse position."

"Right," Ichigo nodded. Halibel helped him up before he asked his next question. "Wait, Gillian? I thought it was a Menos Grande?"

"It is a Menos Grande," Halibel explained, figured Ichigo should know more about her kind. "Menos Grande are the strongest breed of Hollows but they have their own hierarchy. Gillians are like the one that you destroyed. They are our foot soldiers and are the weakest of our kind."

Ichigo paled. "Wait, that thing was a foot soldier?! That thing almost killed me and Uryu!"

"Quite. You are still inexperienced and have not yet hit your full potential. As a warning, if you should encounter another one you should run. Even if it is a Gillian, as you are, it might prove too much. You're strong," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "but do not let pride get in the way of your reason."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile. It warmed his heart knowing that Halibel cared that much about him. "You said there were three types of Menos Grande."

They sat down on a large stump as Halibel explained, "Yes. Menos Grande come in three varieties. To put it simply, Ichigo, the smaller one is, the more dangerous. Gillians like the one you fought are huge and hardly differ. Then they are the Adjuchas. They are smaller than Gillians but are varied. Most take the form of animals or hulking brutes. They are incredibly dangerous but their strength is paltry compared to a Vasto Lorde."

"Vasto Lorde?"

"They are the strongest of Hollows. In essence, they are human-shaped and quite intelligent. I am among their ranks."

Ichigo's eyes ran over Halibel's beautiful body and nodded. "So you were a Vasto Lorde before you became an Arrancar?"

"Correct. Be grateful that Grand Fisher didn't become a Menos Grande before he became an Arrancar. Had he taken the extra step, your battle with him would've been much different," she warned.

Shivers ran down Ichigo's spine as he considered what his fight would have been if Grand Fisher had been smaller. "Are your kind really that powerful?"

Halibel gave a warning nod. "Yes. Be wary, Ichigo. Aside from myself there are two…no, three Arrancars more powerful than I," she said. "But that is enough of a break, let us continue."

Getting up, Ichigo nodded and drew his sword. The two began to spar again but little did they know, they were not alone….

Hiding within the trees was a stunned Rukia, her mouth gaping as she watched her friend train with a Hollow. "Ichigo…what have you done?" she murmured, horrified by the boy's interactions. She'd been suspicious of Ichigo all day and tonight proved her fears that the boy was keeping something from her. Pretending to be asleep, she let Ichigo sprinkle the powder over her face but didn't breathe it in, merely rolling over and snoring to sell the deception to Ichigo. As soon as Ichigo was gone, Rukia brushed the powder off her face and scrambled out of the closet, taking off after the boy.

Following him up the mountain, Rukia was shocked beyond words to see who Ichigo was meeting with. 'That's a…a Hollow!' She recognized Halibel for what she was, an Arrancar. Listening to their conversation she understood where Ichigo's sudden growth came from and how he knew things that Rukia had never told him.

Rukia felt betrayed. For all Ichigo had done to accept her help and tutelage in battling Hollows, here he was learning from one!

Turning away, Rukia turned around and walked away, not knowing what to say to Ichigo when he returned home. "We're going to have a long talk, that's for sure…."

Meanwhile….

Unknown to Ichigo and Rukia, a Senkaimon opened up in Karakura Town. From it came two hooded men dressed in Shihakushos. One of them removed his hood, revealing a head of fiery red hair. The other removed his, revealing long, jet black hair. Both men looked at each other and nodded. They were there for one thing and one thing only: the traitor, Rukia Kuchiki.

To be continued

A.N.: Quick question: What was the point of the hoods that Renji and Byakuya wore when they were introduced? Nobody ever wore them again so what was the point?