Rukia quickly took out her phone.

"There's six of them," she said.

Toshiro reached for his substitute badge. "Yesterday there were only two."

"Yesterday there were no ranked Shinigami officers either."

"So, it's escalation again," Toshiro said as he transformed into his Shinigami form.

"They're splitting up," Rukia said as she examined the signals on her phone.

"Any of them coming here?"

"No," Rukia said in confusion. There seemed to be no logic in the enemy's movements.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"All the Shinigami are keeping their reiatsu hidden, so the Arrancar are going after humans with strong spirit energy!"

"That means they're going after Chad and Orihime!"

Chad ran out of his house into the street.

'This is bad,' he thought. 'There's so many of them, and I'm not fully recovered from yesterday.'

He braced himself as two figures appeared in front of him, but relaxed when he saw their black kimonos.

"We made it in time," Toshiro said in relief.

"It's a good thing we were already on the way here," Rukia replied.

"You're back," Chad observed.

"We don't have time to catch up right now," Rukia said. She and Toshiro turned around and drew their swords.

"It's my lucky day," a high-pitched male voice said. "Two little Shinigami and a big human. A whole bunch of weaklings to kill."

The newcomer approached. He wore the same white outfit as Ulquiora. His skin appeared normal compared to the Arrancar Toshiro and Chad had faced before, but his mask was more prominent than theirs had been and was shaped like the head of a hammerhead shark. He wore it on his head like a large hat.

The Arrancar leered. His teeth were also shaped like those of a predatory shark.

"Why don't you all come at me at once?"

Toshiro looked at Chad. "Are you up for another fight after yesterday?"

Chad summoned his arm and clenched his fist. "Of course."

"Could the two of you do me a favor," Rukia asked, "and leave this to me?"

Toshiro and Chad looked at her in surprise.

"It's been far too long since I fought. I could use the chance to stretch my legs."

Toshiro continued to look at Rukia in surprise.

'I never realized that Rukia liked fighting,' he thought. 'I guess she's more like other Shinigami than I thought.'

He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. Ukitake and Rangiku were at Orihime's house protecting her, and none of the Arrancar had approached Toshiro's house or Uryu's.

"All right," he said after he determined there was no need to rush to his other friends and family.

"So it's ladies first?" the Arrancar asked. "Fine by me!"

He launched himself at Rukia, attempting to impale her with his hand. Rukia raised her blade to block and was pushed back five meters.

Rukia leapt back, using a lamp post to launch herself back at her opponent. She raised her blade over her head and swung downward, only for the Arrancar to block it with his forearm.

"Rukia!" Toshiro yelled. He leaned forward, preparing to flash step over to her, but Chad put a hand on his should to stop him.

Toshiro looked up at the large teenager. "What are you doing?"

"This is a battle of pride," Chad explained. "Rukia's fighting to prove something, just like you were in the Soul Society. She'd be hurt a lot worse if you interfered."

Toshiro grimaced and looked back at the fight. "Dammit."

"Now you know how we all felt when you fought Renji alone."

The Arrancar pushed Rukia back again and continued to leer.

"I'm Arrancar 15, D Roy."

Rukia assumed her battle stance again. "I'm Rukia Kuchiki of Squad-

"Who cares?" D Roy spat, cutting her off. "If I had to listen to the names and titles of everyone I was about to kill, I'd never get anything done."

Rukia scowled. "I see. Well, D Roy, if you don't care to learn my name, you should at least learn the name of my zanpakuto."

She held her sword to the right at a ninety degree angle.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

Rukia turned her sword counter-clockwise as its hilt and blade turned completely white. A long cloth extended from the end of the hilt.

D Roy looked apprehensive as Rukia bent her knees and pointed her released zanpakuto at him.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" she yelled.

A white circle appeared on the ground around D Roy's feet. Ice began to crawl up his legs to envelop his body.

"What the hell is this?" D Roy muttered.

When the ice reached his waist shattered it with a yell and leapt into the air.

"Hahaha!" he laughed in triumph as he hovered in the air.

"Tough luck for you, Shinigami!" he gloated. "The sky is my domain! It's where my true strength lies! A sword that can freeze the ground is worthless up here!"

Rukia stood up as the circle on the ground began to glow. "Who said my zanpakuto only freezes the ground?"

"What?" D Roy asked. Before he could say another word, a pillar of ice shot up from the circle, engulfing him and reaching the heavens in an instant.

"Everything within this circle, both earth and sky, are within Sode no Shirayuki's frozen domain!" Rukia declared as the pillar shattered and disappeared.

Above, what remained of D Roy's body disappeared in the manner of all defeated hollows.

Toshiro and Chad approached Rukia once the battle was over.

"So you've also got an ice-type zanpakuto," Toshiro observed. "That makes a lot of sense."

Rukia grinned at him. "My Sode no Shirayuki is considered the most beautiful zanpakuto in the whole Soul Society."

She took out her phone again. "All right. Let's see if any of the others need our-"

She stopped as a shockwave seemed to pass through them. The air became heavy and she felt her knees buckle. Even Chad, who had stood up to the reiatsus of Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchiki, was forced to lean forward as if bowing to the source of this reiatsu.

"What the hell happened here? D Roy's been killed? Oh well, in that case it looks like I'll have to kill the three of you!"

They looked up to see another Arrancar floating above them. He was tall and muscular, with spiky blue hair and blue eyes. The right jawbone of a hollow mask remained on his face.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Arrancar Six, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

'This reiatsu,' Rukia thought. 'He's an Arrancar like the last one, but that guy was arrogant and inexperienced, and he paid the price. This one's power is incredible!'

Toshiro drew his blade.

"Bankai!"

Rukia gaped as Toshiro powered up. She had not gotten a good look at his Bankai form before, as Aizen had knocked him out of in under a second back on the Sokyoku Hill.

'Toshiro's Bankai really is magnificent. Between the two of them I can't tell who's reiatsu is stronger!'

Grimmjow lowered himself to the ground and grinned at Toshiro. "I guess you're the strongest, then."

He looked at Rukia and disappeared.

Toshiro reacted on instinct. He launched himself in front of Rukia, folding his right wing over his shoulder to strike the Arrancar with it, knocking him across the street and through the wall of a nearby house.

'I couldn't even see him move,' Rukia thought in a panic. 'If Toshiro hadn't been there he'd have killed me!'

'Why did he attack me?' she wondered. 'Does he know I killed D Roy, or was he just trying to pick off the weakest opponent here?'

Grimmjow emerged from the broken wall without a scratch on him.

"That's some decent speed you've got there, kid. But your attacks are going to need a lot more stopping power if you want to beat me."

Toshiro leapt up, taking to the sky. As he hoped, Grimmjow followed him, leaving .

Grimmjow closed his fist and attempted to punch Toshiro, who blocked the blow with his blade.

The impact produced a sound like thunder and a wind which knocked Rukia down. Chad bent down to help her up.

"Are you all right?" Chad asked.

Rukia did not answer. Instead she looked up in horror at the battle above as Grimmjow blocked a strike from Toshiro with his arm, producing another thunderclap.

'I've never actually seen a battle between two captain class warriors before. There's literally nothing I can do.'

Toshiro broke off and backed up. Grimmjow continued to grin at him.

"What's the matter? Is that all you've got?"

Toshiro raised his sword.

"Guncho Tsurara!"

Two dozen small spikes of ice appeared before Toshiro and launched themselves at Grimmjow.

The Arrancar kicked his legs out, breaking all of the spikes in quick succession with his legs.

He looked up to see Toshiro bearing down on him while summoning a great winged ice dragon.

The dragon swallowed Grimmjow whole, enveloping him in ice.

Toshiro gritted his teeth in frustration as Grimmjow broke out of the ice, immerging without so much as a scratch on him.

"Hmph," Grimmjow complained. "Looks like this is going to get boring pretty quickly."

Launched at Toshiro, aiming a powerful kick at the boy's head. Toshiro dropped back and allowed himself to fall to avoid the attack. He spun and righted himself, rising as fast as he could and coming up behind Grimmjow.

"Hyoryo Senbi!"

Grimmjow looked surprised as the crescent of spiky ice bore down on him from behind.

There was a flash of light as the ice shattered, causing Toshiro to squint. When the light faded he saw that Grimmjow was holding his sword behind him precisely where Toshiro's attack would have struck.

"So you got me to draw my zanpakuto. Guess you're a little tougher than I thought."

'Dammit,' Toshiro thought. 'I can fly instead of walking on air like he does, but that extra maneuverability won't do me any good if I can't hit him!'

Grimmjow's white jacket rustled in the wind, and Toshiro saw the number six tattooed on his lower back.

"What's that?" Toshiro asked.

"What? My tattoo?"

"You said you're the sixth Arrancar. Does that mean you're the sixth most powerful?"

Grimmjow bared his teeth in a wide grin. "That's right, boy. I am one of Lord Aizen's ten greatest warriors, the Espada. We are the most powerful hollows in existence."

"Are you a Vasto Lordes?"

"You know about them, do you? Sorry to disappoint you, but I was an Adjuchas when I was turned into an Arrancar. But don't worry, I'm still powerful as any Vasto Lorde!"

Grimmjow spun around, slashing his zapakuto with amazing speed and ferocity,

Toshiro barely blocked the blow, but before he could react Grimmjow slashed out with a spin-kick, striking the boy in the side.

The force of the blow sent Toshiro spinning towards the ground. He was unable to regain control over his momentum before he struck the ground at several hundred miles an hour.

The impact shook every building within a mile radius.

"Toshiro!" Rukia screamed, holding on to Chad to stay on her feet.

'After all these months I've finally got my powers back,' she thought, 'but I'm still as helpless as ever!'

Lying in the center of a large impact crater, Toshiro struggled to rise. He coughed up blood from several internal injuries.

"Come on," Grimmjow said, hovering above him. "Don't tell me one kick was all it took to take you down."

He sheathed his sword. "Maybe Ulquiora was right. Maybe you're really not worth killing."

Toshiro finally stood up, breathing heavily.

"At least you'll die on your feet," Grimmjow scoffed. He launched himself at Toshiro one more time.

Toshiro thrust his blade forward, releasing a bolt of lightning from the tip.

The bolt struck Grimmjow head-on, making him scream in pain and stop in mid-air.

For several seconds Grimmjow stood completely still, his mouth wide open in silent pain and shock. His white clothes were blackened in places and numerous burns covered his body.

Regaining his composure, Grimmjow looked down at Toshiro and grinned.

"Now that's more like it. Ulquiora didn't mention an attack like that in his report, Shinigami. Not a word."

Below, Toshiro was still breathing heavily.

"Didn't even … knock him out … of the sky …"

"How about you let me take a spin? This guy's obviously too much for you."

'Maybe I should,' Toshiro thought. 'I don't think I can fly anymore with these injuries, and he's even stronger than Byakuya was. There's no other way to protect Chad and Rukia.'

"All right," he said to himself. "You want him, then take him."

Toshiro's sword hand suddenly froze. He hunched over, clutching the side of his face with his free hand.

"No. I was giving you control. Why are you doing this?"

Above, Grimmjow looked confused.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?"

Toshiro still could not move.

'I don't understand. If I die then he dies too. So why won't he let me move?'

"All right," Grimmjow said, "I guess I'll just finish this now."

He reached for his sword again.

"Time to die, Shiniga-"

He stopped as a figure appeared behind him.

Grimmjow turned around in fear.

"Tousen!"

"Put your sword away, Grimmjow," the former Spuad Nine Captain commanded.

"You invaded the world of the living on your won, and you took five Arrancar without permission," Tousen said in an accusing tone. "Then you lost them in battle!"

"You disobeyed orders. Lord Aizen is quite upset with you, Grimmjow."

Tousen gestured and opened a portal behind Grimmjow.

"Come. Your punishment for these acts will be decided in Hueco Mundo."

Grimmjow sighed. "Fine. Let's go."

The two disappeared into the portal.

Toshiro collapsed to the ground, his wings shattering.

"Toshiro!" Rukia and Chad oth yelled as they ran over to him.

Rukia knelt next to him. "I'm sorry. I was so busy showing off, but when the real enemy arrived, I couldn't do a thing."

"You're both ok," Toshiro replied with a strained voice. "That's all that matters."

He looked at his sword hand, which was still shaking.

'What was that?'