I call out in the darkness but but hear nothing.

I search for warmth but only find the endless cold.

Would I disappear if I never saw light?

Would I be frozen in the infinite if I never felt the Sun's rays?

In the midst of Emptiness I hear a steady beat.

Like drums of emotion, they call to me.

If I am the Void am I able to know what a Heart is?

The air had an eerie calm to it.

Ever since their final victory was achieved, it felt too quiet like something was lurking just out of their senses' range. Ichigo couldn't place his thumb on it but it became more apparent since he slew Rana Zolinder. He knew it could have just been nerves but it could be something that he simply forgot that happened in hours prior during their haphazard invasion of Aizen's borders.

Though, that hardly seemed to hold his attention as he felt the bare presence of Nelliel's upper body over his wounded back.

"It feels so warm yet...I know this is an embarrassing scene if they came back too quickly," The Substitute Shinigami blushed hotly with this thought, knowing that he was devoid of the shreds of Reiryoku infused cloth. Having insisted on restoring his health while the others went to recovering Captain Kurotsuchi and those he went to assist -more likely study in his case- they allowed Nelliel to stay with the Ally of the Gotei on Ichigo's consent. He didn't realize she'd use so much full body contact but he was hardly in a position to argue. "I don't want Orihime to exert herself too much on my sorry self all the time. She still needs to help heal others away from here. I'd rather her do that than focus too much on me-"

"What are you thinking, Ichigo?" Nel finally asked as her arms slid smoothly over his burned arms.

Wincing at the healing salve exuded from her skin over his own, he regained his sense of present awareness; at least enough to answer her. "I just was wondering how long it'd take for them to make contact back with the others. I don't know the difference of distance between us since Las Noches crumbled..."

"I think," The Former Tres Arrancar began to respond, her hands rubbing around his biceps and triceps as she gingerly responded as much as she tended to his wounds. "Between me using Cero Oscuras, and your fight with Rana, it caused too much structural turbulence. A fortress of such spread-out Reishi was bound to collapse sooner or later with such battles taking place."

"Sorry..."

"Huh?" Nelliel turned her head to look at him from the side, watching Ichigo's blush recede as legitimate shame took hold of him. "Sorry for what?"

"I wasn't strong enough before to keep you from being hurt. I wish I was, but-"

"All is forgiven!"

"Hey!" Ichigo turned to scowl at her, ignoring the mere inches that separated their eyes. "You can't just forgive so easily!"

"Why not?" She tilted her head with an innocent query.

"I-It's not that simple," He turned away, his gaze purposefully drawn away from her arms and peculiar stare. "Faults like mine aren't easily forgiven."

Huffing, Nelliel pouted her lips as she kept staring at his turned away visage. Maneuvering around his backside, she aimed her face to slide into his far-off gazing face, causing him to recoil with surprise. "Why are you always so hard on yourself? There's no reason to be this so downtrodden when you just came out of a victory."

"Sor-"

"Stop," She interrupted, causing him to open his mouth with an agape expression. "Just, explain. I want to know more about you anyways so, now is as good of time as any why you're beating yourself up more than your injuries have."

"It's a long story-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Nel replied with a smile.

Sighing, the eldest of the Kurosaki family finally relented. She seemed more stubborn than even Rukia could have been. Turning away from her to look at her hands rubbing his burnt wrists, he saw as much as he felt his hands ball up into fists. He knew where it all started, and he might as well explained from the very beginning.

"I'm the oldest of three, my younger sisters being in middle school -it's kind of like pre-high school if you know about that kind of thing- and we live in a Medic Clinic that doubles our home," He began to explain, his eyes shifting to see if she looked confused. Surprised to see her patiently listening without any expression telling him she had no knowledge of such things, he went on without worry. "There used to be just my dad, myself, my sisters and my mom. That was...until the day my whole world shattered. The day I let my mom die."

"How?" She asked in as neutral of tone as she could.

"I...I saw a girl. A girl by the river," He quivered out, his memories starting to relive before his eyes with a far more vibrant potency than before. "She looked like she was about to fall and I wanted to keep her from doing that. I couldn't hear my mom's cries in time. It all happened so fast that I didn't know things were in motion. By the time I woke up...my mother...she-she was splayed over me, her body covered in blood and her life ended by a creature who lured me out. A Hollow."

Grinding his teeth together, his eyes twitched with a glare aimed at himself. His hands clenched so tightly he just now noticed pus and blood leaking between the cracks of his fingers. Not even bothering to look at Nelliel for a reaction, he vented aloud, "I was such an idiot! Why couldn't have I noticed something was off?! I was so stupid; that stupidity cost my mother her life!"

Heaving aloud, Ichigo felt his body shake with anger and self loathing. Even now, as a Substitute Shinigami, he couldn't find any means of gaining closure for himself. Grand Fisher disappeared, his mother's murderer, and he had yet to find him. He vowed to settle the score but was too wounded at the time to do anything about it. Still, all this time he got stronger and he had not let this part of himself go.

It wasn't until Nelliel's breath tickled the outer right ear and along his scalp that his breath hitched. Her hands slid over his bleeding hands, the moisture of her healing sweat mingling with the ebbing crimson escaping his tightly clenched hands. When she whispered, he could see through the periphery of his vision her eyes staring at him seriously.

"It's not your fault," She spoke matter-of-fact, watching him turn to look over his shoulder to look back at her with mingling disbelief and surprise. "Human children, as I've come to understand, are supposed to be easily swayed. It is what makes learning and growing a benefit of those in the living world. Just because a Hollow had targeted you doesn't make you at fault."

"But I should have thought better than to-"

"Are you questioning your instinct to help others? That's not the Ichigo I know," She corrected him smoothly, making him briefly shift his gaze away before her words anchored him back to her own. "A desire to help you was instilled within your being far sooner than you think. The fact you wanted to save a girl you had no knowledge of doesn't mean you're to blame for your mother's need to protect you. Just be thankful her sacrifice wasn't misused or in vain, otherwise the life she saved was meaningless. You've lived a life meant to help others, including your family's. Isn't that what you want?"

It took long while for Ichigo to think about what she said. In a way, she knew she was right. His desire to save or protect was linked back to his childhood, but only grew into a stronger need when his mother died. The fear of losing someone close to him was born that day he lost his greatest light in his life. He thought by confronting Grand Fisher after he gained the power to protect was given to him, but now in the arms of another who cared about him he realized he hadn't completely let it go.

"You're going to lose things in life, Ichigo. That's a part of living. You can't gain things without being hurt or watching others be hurt. People die, they get sick and they cry but it doesn't make you any less of a person for them experiencing that kind of pain," She soothingly told him, her fingers managing to snake between his now unclenching digits, now wrapping tightly with his own grip in a tender embrace. "I appreciate life more now than I ever did then. I felt hurt and suffering but I've grown to love life more than I ever have. My only regret is that Nnoitra threw his life away and that my hands had to be the ones to take him out of this world. Sin as well."

"You did what you had to. You can't blame yourself when someone comes for you with malicious intent," Ichigo reassured her in a somber tone, realizing his own words holding relevance to himself. "Even if you did something regrettable, you shouldn't let that weigh you down. You have to keep moving forward and let the experience make you stronger for it."

"Hm," She mumbled, leaning her face against his, causing it to heat up at the skin contact but didn't move away. "Thank you for saying that. I hope you can learn to let go of your own pain so you can truly become stronger."

"Heh, if you keep talking like that to me, then we might be seen as a couple," He joked with a laugh.

"What's a couple?" She asked, suddenly blinking a few times at the thought.

"Ah! Well," The Substitute began with a stutter, trying to think of a way to change topics. Remembering something that was kind of vital, he turned to look at her with a sheepish grin. "Can we put that topic on hold for a sec! There's something about Hollow abilities I'd like to test out."

Huffing at having the question ignored, Nelliel released him from her touch causing him to almost fall over. After redressing herself, she grasped what remained of his top she held onto his kosode that had very little left other than half of its sleeves what was left was tattered with burns and shredded pieces. Keeping it in her grip she turned to look at the now standing Ichigo with a smile, "What do you wish to know?"

"Uh, Ceros to be exact!" Ichigo raised a hand up, knowing this was an ability he just recently began to use. Holding out a hand towards her, he emphasized the issue as plainly as he could. "I've been using them ever since I fought Ulquiorra the first time around. While I think I got the whole generation and firing aspect down, they don't seem to be...uh...that good."

"Well, if you're not skilled in using a Cero you're not going to be able to use it to its maximum yield," She responded with a nod, knowing a great deal about the Hollow and respectively Arrancar technique. Knowing little about Visoreds, she knew that it had to be a special ability Ichigo must have when donning a mask. Raising a hand up, she created a golf ball sized orb of Reishi in the color of rosy pink. "A Cero is the perfection of charging your Reiatsu into a Reishi spherical shape and then making sure its quality is of a high extent instead of making it simply just large. Otherwise, there's no difference between an Arrancar's Cero to a Menos' Cero."

"Ah, so that's why that Cero wasn't that strong," Ichigo thought out loud, cupping his chin as he pondered his first encounter with a Cero. The Menos Grande he fought when he first had obtained Shinigami powers had a crazy strong beam but he realized it was far too large and wide to be like the Cero that Grimmjow, Ulquiorra or even Nelliel used. Each of them had varying colors but none of them seemed to be close to the size of a Menos' Cero. His own Cero wasn't as large but he could tell something was off. "Maybe I'm not charging it properly? Opponents seem to brush them off pretty easily."

"Why don't you show me?" Nelliel asked with a bright smile.

"Ah, s-sure," Ichigo nodded, feeling his cheeks warm up a bit as his body was still moist with her sweat that had rubbed over him. Even her smile was making him feel a bit jittery and he didn't want to dwell on it. Turning around, he raised a hand to concentrate his Hollow Reiryoku over his face.

With a ripping gesture, the Reiatsu of black with burgundy outlined hue created a white mask. While he didn't see it, Nelliel could tell that the mask's appearance was different in coloring. While still white red lines seem to be running from the top over the eye slits to the set of exterior teeth.

"Wasn't it a set of lines on the left side of the mask?" Nel queried inwardly as she saw a crimson glow emerge from his hand. While the red overcast colored the background, Ichigo raised his while hand up, practically unseen in the wide sphere that had encompassed his wrist. Blinking at the unwieldy look of the Cero charge, she leaped to Ichigo's side and pulled his back to her chest and wrapped her hand over his wrist one more.

"N-Nelliel?!" Ichigo stuttered in his hollowfied pitch.

"Calm down, Ichigo," She whispered in his ear, making his skin flush underneath the mask brightly. For once he was glad his real visage was incapable of being seen at this point. "You're wasting too much Reishi doing it like that. It might initially be powerful on a kickback side, but it won't harm a high level opponent. Breathe deeply and lower your Reishi projection."

"For some reason I feel like this is the cannon ball exercise again," Ichigo thought as he tried his best to lower his power in his hand. He knew it was vastly different harnessing it through his Zanpakutō as it helped regulate the control over his Reiatsu that it absorbed. But with his own hand, unless he did a quick burst, he was incredibly awkward with controlling it. Taking her words under advisement he began to slow his breath and gradually shrunk the aura of Reishi enveloping his hand.

"That's it, you're doing good, Ichigo," She encouraged, watching it soon come into the exact area of his palm. "Now, keep it this size and keep priming it."

"Okay," The Substitute Shinigami replied, his voice and his form feeling more confident than before. He almost didn't know he was completely in the embrace of someone who slid her skin around his own. Shaking his head slightly to banish those thoughts, he refocused his concentration. The sensation was almost like holding a molten ball of slag, his own Hollowfied senses giving him an indication he could feel the heat coming off his own energy sphere. But without the pain of holding such a projectile, he knew it was about as much a part of him as Zangetsu was. Closing his eyes, he reopened them as he shouted out loud. "Here it goes. CERO!"

Before Nelliel could object, Ichigo unleashed his Cero. Firing off like a spiraling crimson beam that glistened of white at its epicenter that bled off a piercing red outwards. Scorching the sands it blasted through dune after dune before hitting a higher elevated part of the desert far away. The result came as an enormous explosion that enveloped the distance, creating a shockwave that imitated a seismic wind that rivulets through the air. The consequence, however, was that Ichigo was knocked off his own feet and was forcing Nelliel to be kicked back by the kinetic force that struck him.

Twisting in the air, the Arrancar barely assisted in Ichigo's fall, landing in a sideways crouch. Turning to see Ichigo was in her arms, much like how she rescued him from Nnoitra the first time, she couldn't help but smile at the masked Shinigami. He blinked as she again thought to compliment with a soft voice, "Well, I think you got the Cero problem solved. Just keep control and you can create a far stronger attack."

"Y-Yeah," He uttered normally, his mask unfurling to show his blushing face. Even as the echo of the explosion died down from the distance, he couldn't help be entranced by closeness, the feel and the intimacy between the two of them at this moment. Thinking back to her question, he thought to pay her back by answering her as reasonably as he could. "A couple. You wanted to know what that was?"

"Yes," She replied with a whisper, once again eliciting a nervous reaction from him.

"It's, uh, when two people are close romantically and emotionally," He explained his eyes unable to leave hers by an unknown power within him.

"So," Nelliel suggested with a soft smile as she slid around him, her face close to his as their eyes met and a flush growing around her own face indicated what she felt. "If I happened to feel...romantically...close to you, then it'd be alright to assume you feel the same with me?"

"Dammit, Sasakibe! I blame you for this!" He inwardly swore, now feeling himself backed into a corner. Realizing there was no one around that he could sense he felt no reason to simply make excuses. Lamely, he nodded his head in response, getting a positive reaction out of Nelliel through the appearance of a growing smile.

"Then," She leaned forward, her parted lips mouthing her words as she gained proximity to him. "You wouldn't mind if I had my first kiss with you?"

"What is going on?! I mean, I like her and I think she's a great girl -body and mind- but is this the right to-?" Ichigo wouldn't find time to finish his train of thought. With his eyes closed he suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of relief follow the sense of euphoric pleasure that came with Nelliel's mouth covering his own. It was a simple kiss, but to him it lit his entire being on fire within. His injuries might have been nonexistent at this point cause he was too loss in the moment to care.

"Huh...why was I so afraid of this? That wasn't so bad," He thought as his lips finally parted from hers, both of their expressions revealing just how taken aback by what they felt.

"I...uh," Ichigo began to mouth out dumbly.

"Wow," Nel breathed out, reaching up to touch her lips with a smile. "That was...amazing."

"Uh yeah," He agreed with a hesitant smile.

"Can we do that again?" She asked as she leaned forward, her bare breasts mashing into his own healed yet equally as unclothed torso.

"Waitshoudln'twe-MPH?!" The young man was about to protest until her lips melded into his own for a deeper kiss. This time he simply resigned with his eyes closed, leaning into her form with his embracing her. At this moment, he didn't care who found them just that he met someone he respected and cared for who felt the same about him.

"Pardon me, Ichigo Kurosaki," A haunting voice interrupted their kiss, causing both's blood to go cold as their lips left with a palpably loud smack. "But I think you're going to find now isn't the time to let your guard down."

With both pairs of eyes turning to look, Ichigo's breath hitched while Nelliel's mouth dropped open. There, in the flesh, was none other than the current Cuatro Espada, whose clothes were in slight tatters thanks to his brief scuffle with both Ichigo and Grimmjow. His wounds, however, were nowhere to be seen unlike before. Eyes filled with a rare venom that overpowered his composure showed the only form of raw emotion his still face could make.

Following an ignition of Reiatsu coming off his body in a titanic wave of friction, the sand itself dipped down and then blew back from his feet in tidal waves. Sending a scrambling Ichigo and a tumbling Nel backwards, Ulquiorra casually pointed his index finger at the body of sand he caused to flow backward. A whirring sound of a Cero being primed was in sync with the turquoise light that gleamed around the compressed sphere.

The wordless shot was fired, and the Substitute Shinigami tried his best to find footing in the backward rolling wave of sand. But instead of finding the power of Ulquiorra's Reishi hitting him directly, a now fully clothed Nel -who had quickly grabbed thrown his top back to his hands in the confusion- stretched out her hand to catch the blast. Following a cyclonic suction, the Arrancar unleashed a follow-up rosy hued Cero that made the Esapada employ Sonido to evade the onslaught of pyrotechnic display.

Appearing above Ichigo and the descending wave of sand, his hand swiped down to chop his unsuspecting cranium. But once again, he was intercepted by the other Arrancar's swiveling heel, causing a quaking decompression in the air between them. As the Substitute Shinigami cursed at being sent sprawling flat into the ground below, a pair of swords were heard drawn followed by a loud clash that created a vibrant display of pink and green Reiatsu bodies struggling against each other.

"It pains me to see a former comrade of mine pine for such human trash," Ulquiorra murmured as his blade ground against Nelliel's. "You can always walk away, Tres. I'm sure Lord Aizen could forgive you if you swear allegiance now-"

"I've seen what service to Aizen does to the best of us. I'm not about to surrender my will to him now, not when I've found something precious to me worth protecting," She declared in an even tone almost akin to Ulquiorra's as her eyes locked onto his past the waves of alight Reishi permeating between the two. "Worth dying for!"

"I see," Ulquiorra intoned, pulling back just long enough to swing a towards her left cheek. When she pulled back, he turned the lock on his sword to knock her off balance, twisting his body around to use his other heel to strike her in the back. When she crashed to the ground, he landed gracefully in front of her rising form, his sword held aloft as Hueco Mundo's starless night gave an eerie overcast onto the right hand Arrancar of Aizen's. "Then I'll make sure you die together, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck."

Chapter 11 - Strength of the Heart

"...and that's how my genius handled this situation," Mayuri finished regaling Captain Kuchiki among the other officers in his presence.

"I fail to see how that has any relevance to the situation at hand, Captain Kurotsuchi," Byakuya coolly commented as he noticed the bound Espada Octava and his fetal positioned Fracción. To him, he saw the prior had a large swollen bruise covering most of his face while the other sported light lacerations and bruises of his own. The latter seemed more in a psychologically withdrawn state, unable to even look anyone in the eye as his gaze focused on nothing with a disturbing intention.

"If you paid attention, Captain Kuchiki, you would have known that already," The R&D Head exasperated his fellow Shinigami's title with a roll of his eyes. Gesturing to them, he drawled out in an impatient tone. "That Espada is what's supposed to amount to Aizen's scientific genius. I have his lab under custody and being searched by Nemu. Whatever was going on in there birthed that Mod Arrancar that's curled up in a ball over there, thanks to a dose of my Amnesia Solution. He'll regain his memories over time, but right now he's as harmless as a small child that he embodies."

"So you're saying you have them properly detained. Sounds adequate," He replied in a curt tone, aligning his gaze to see a group of injured combatants huddled under the human girl's phenomena rejection barrier. All hints of abnormal effects from the drugs Renji Abarai took, his and the others' injuries -including the two mutilated Arrancars- were being undone. All except Nemu, who was busy scouring through Szayel's lab, were present before them.

That is, except for the notably absent Lieutenant Sasakibe they haven't seen during their swift trek here. On top of that he was inwardly anxious that Rukia had gone missing as well. Other than blood, tattered clothes and scorched sands, there wasn't a sign of her or the Lieutenant.

"If that's all, then I shall be busy recovering what useful things I can salvage from this poor excuse of a scientist underground," Mayuri waved dismissively, trotting off towards the hole nearby that Nemu had carved neatly through the hardened pockets of sand. "Keep an eye on those two would you?"

Silently, Byakuya turned to look at Szayel and Crisol. To him he could feel their reserves of Reiryoku had run low, but could still put up resistance if they had the will. The mad scientist looked far more relaxed with a hint of a wry smile donned behind the swollen state of his visage. For this reason, the Captain walked closer till his shadow encroached over his person, cast by the lunar rays of Hueco Mundo's sole source of light.

"Hm? A Shinigami? No, a Captain," Szayel murmured aloud as he noticed the hawk's gaze that Byakuya fixated upon him. For some reason it made his smile even more sly than before. "I have nothing to say to you, but it seems you have something on your mind. By all means, speak up and I might feel like answering."

"You seem quite candid for someone who suffered a loss," The Captain curtly commented, all the while narrowing his eyes specifically at the collar wrapped around the Espada's neck. He recognized it as a Reishi dampener, similar to the kinds that prisoners wear in the Seireitei prior to execution. But instead of a red color, this one was black with a white skull emblem inscribed on its center, the mark associated most often with the Gotei 13's operations' special equipment. "Care to elaborate on things you're keeping close to the chest?"

"Oh, how tempting," The Scientist drawled out with a cruel grin that made his captor's gaze grow sharper. "I think I remember a Lieutenant -what was his name?- mention that as well. He wanted to know what I know. But that's no fun to ruin the surprise is it. I guess I can let you in on a little peek into the gift wrapping, as it were?"

"My patience is waning, Arrancar," Byakuya raised his stern toned voice, showing how much he didn't like being played with.

"Were you looking for a young Shinigami by the name of," He drew out, his smile becoming thin and his eyes becoming half lidded as he finished in a guttural manner. "Rukia Kuchiki?"

The sound of the blade couldn't even be heard before the feeling of its edge bit into the flesh of the Espada. Despite the swift movement that seemed to be unseen before the Arrancar's eyes, his pleased expression hadn't wavered when the Captain motioned. In fact, he chuckled as the edge of the sword made the side of his face bleed down his jaw.

"What do you know?" He inquired in a surprising bout of composure. "Speak out of turn, and I might feel inclined to make this interrogation much more painful than a nick on the cheek."

"Scary!~" He exclaimed with a loud laugh. "I guess I shouldn't let me guard down around you, Captain."

A distant explosion that sounded like thunder caught the notice of everyone present. The flicker of Reiatsu was similar to Ichigo's and produced a sizable plume of smoke kindled by a crimson glow. But as soon as it happened, it died down, leaving everyone present all the more perplexed.

"What was that?!" Kiyone cried out in unison with Sentarō.

"It felt like Kurosaki," Uryū groaned, finding himself crouched with everyone else within the golden dome that Orihime had constructed. His wounds and fatigue were undone the quickest as he suffered the least damage. Nemu had declined the offer since she commented that her own injuries are recovered quickly on her own. The Officers were already restored by her but the Arrancars suffered the most damage along with Renji and Aaron-Chad. While they journeyed on to find them Nelliel offered to stay and protect him while restoring his own injuries. "What is he thinking using a blast like that? Is he wanting to be found or is he goofing off?"

"Hey, maybe Ichigo is just training his Hollow powers?" Renji suggested, letting out a sigh as the last of his injuries were undone.

"If he did, then that's just like him to," The Quincy grunted, raising a hand to massage the bridge of his nose. "Can't he do that without setting up a flare with his Reiatsu? His control is so awful I can feel him from here!"

"All of the Espada have been defeated, so I don't think it matters one way or the oth-" Nanao began to reassure him until they heard a follow-up sound. This time it created a distant roar that rose two distinct signatures; in the forms of both Nelliel and another only a few could recognize.

"You were saying?" Uryū asked dryly at Nanao.

"Oh no! Mistress Nelliel!" Dondochakka cried out, his body practically revived back to health from the point of the horrid torture wrought on him.

"W-We have to help her!" Pesche added, both of them standing up at once. Unfortunately, with the barrier still up, their heads hit the dome's top and were shocked back onto their faces. "Ow..."

"You two wouldn't be much help anyways," Renji added with a blunt tone.

"B-But-"

"He's right," Szayel chuckled out, causing all in attendance to glance at him, Byakuya's sword still held against his bleeding face. "That's Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer. He's far beyond any Arrancar in Lord Aizen's Army that you've faced thus far. He'll crush you all, and leave nothing behind. But, I rather not get in his bad side by leaving you all to him so..."

The sound of shattering restraints followed by hands clapping caused a sonic wave of exploding pressure knocking the Captain back. While everyone felt an unsuspecting ring in their ears and a blast of sand filled wind, Byakuya would find his back running into a spiraling tendril that constricted him from the wrist and waist up to his shoulders.

"CAPTAIN!" Renji cried out as everyone went into a state of alertness.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" The Espada laughed out loud, standing to full height as the rest of his tentacle was visible as it emerged from the sand. "Did you all believe I was beaten? Fools! I bid my time as I weakened these pathetic restraints. On myself, and my beautiful Crisol."

With a snap of his left fingers by his hips, the restraints popped off the Mod Arrancar's own wrists. His eyes opened wide and his body rolled to the side, casting a shocked stare at Szayel. One that made his master blink curiously at him. It'd be answered by very confused words echoing in his mind.

"Who are you?"

"Tch, he still doesn't have his full cognitive functions yet," He hissed, turning to look away with disgust at his still immobile captive. His smile returned as he saw no one had yet made a move yet with Byakuya in his grasp. "No matter. I have my hostage and I can easily deal with the lot of you at my leisur-"

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Following Byakuya's verbal release of his Zanpakutō a shimmering wave of blossom hued razors swam through the air in a twister dance around his bound person. In seconds, the tendril was cut apart in a shower of blood and tissue. Ushering a cry of surprise from the Arrancar at having not knowing the weapon could be activated without movement.

"You showed your hand too soon, Espada," The Captain intoned as he regained his footing while the other Arrancar stepped back with apprehension. "I'll find out the information I seek on my own. I don't see the benefit of having someone so untrustworthy for a prisoner. Disposing you is the wisest course of action now."

"Like I would let you!" Szayel madly shouted, waving a hand towards his other enemies. Within a few moments, a scarlet ebbing black dyed orb of whirring energy formed around the center of his palm. Without looking away from Byakuya, he shouted out loud the name of his inevitable attack. "Cero Oscuras!"

Yet, as the man shouted with words spewing from his mouth, a whistling came through the air before a hissing crunch was heard. The Cero's premature existence was cut short as Byakuya's Senbonzakura severed his arm in a blood soaked swarm, just in time for the Quincy's Heilig Pfeil struck the Arrancar's temple. With his eyes open wide with shock and his mouth agape, the Espada fell back in a bloodied heap, unmoving and still.

"That was for earlier, you bastard," Uryū growled as he lowered his bow, promptly deactivating it with a simple gesture.

"Damn, kinda wish I got a shot in," Renji murmured to himself with a scratch to the side of his head. "But nice shot."

"Now the only question," The Quincy began to intone as the Officers took steps forward to rally behind the Captain, only furthering the Mod Arrancar's visible fright. "What are we going to do about his petri dish experiment?"

"Stay away!" Crisol telepathically shouted, his body ejecting a wave of palpable Reiatsu that was enough to kick up the sand and force the Shinigami to raise arms to defend themselves. The boy's own limbs raised up in a trembling fashion, eyes widened with terror and confusion, he cried out loud. "I don't know you...or who I am...but keep away!"

"Damn, it looks like he isn't going to budge," Sentarō deduced as the wave of spiritual pressure continued to beat on his skin and flapping uniform.

"What should we do?" Kiyone asked with a few turns of her head.

"We terminate him," Nanao suggested coldly.

"I-Isn't that a bit extreme?" Momo asked with a shiver, wondering if someone of such incredible power could be beaten so easily. Let alone she felt guilty seeing such a small boy, even as an Arrancar, be taken down like any ordinary Hollow. She felt bad for it as contradictory as that seemed to her own role as a Shinigami.

"She's right," Byakuya answered stoically, the only one of them unflinching in the face of such power. With his Shikai returning into the form of a solid, sealed blade in his grip he took a few steps towards the trembling Arrancar. Watching him look up in fright with unmoved callousness, he adjusted his sword angle so that he could make a precise thrust through a vital point. "Killing him is the only thing we should do. He's too dangerous to be left unchecked."

"B-But-"

"NO! PLEASE STAY BACK!" Crisol shouted through their minds, his body shaking as Byakuya drew closer. To him the silhouette of the man looked more monstrous than anything. Seeing him casually kill the man who freed him but also sneer at him imbued a sense of apprehension around such a man. He didn't know what he was, but even as he told him to stay back he was ignored and had a weapon drawn. While he had none to rely upon as he knew it, he closed his eyes and repeated in a trembling psychic tone. "I-I'M WARNING YOU-"

"WHAT IS ALL THIS RACKET ABOUT?!"

Crisol stopped dead in his tracks when he heard that voice. With his Reiatsu ceasing to be vented from his being, he turned around to look to his right at a hole that had been meticulously carved within the sand. There a man with a painted face and a cobra's motif headdress came into view ith a uniform not unlike the one who intended to kill him. When his eyes met his, both with confusion and a slight ample amount of fear he had no recollection about, the Shinigami went from livid to annoyed.

"Go back down your hole, Captain Kurotsuchi," Byakuya commanded firmly, his eyes carrying over to glare at him as he clicked the handle of his sword visibly to subtly supplant his authority. "Your sad excuse of Reishi restraints were undone by the Espada. We had to deal with him accordingly and now I'm going to kill his creation. Do you have a problem with tha-"

"Obviously!" Mayuri yelled out in a near shrill tone, his arms waving out with an exasperated manner. "You have NO right to tamper with MY test subjects and MY specimens. I wanted to dissect them while they were alive, not when they are dead! Now what what am I supposed to do with his deteriorating carcass?!"

"Forgive me if I don't have the same amount of care to your research as you do for our duty here," Captain Kuchiki sarcastically apologized while maintaining the coldness in his voice.

"MY duty is to gather things of WORTH here, Captain Kuchiki! If you'd take a few moments to look out of your small box you call a brain, I'll have you know-!"

"U-Um," Crisol nervously interrupted, his eyes shifting slightly away but tried to maintain a stare at Mayuri whom now looked at him with a curious light. Seeing that he wasn't disgusted right away, he grasped one arm and muttered through his telepathic voice. "I-I don't mean to interrupt...but...do I know you?"

It only took a few seconds for Mayuri to recall what he had done to the boy. While it was surprising to see the boy moving and nary a scratch from all of his culminated injuries from his battle, it wasn't nearly as peculiar as him recalling the Shinigami researcher if only vaguely. Smiling widely so that his golden plated teeth were on display, he waved his arms out in a beckoning manner as he walked slowly towards him.

"Yes, you should. After all, you're my beloved possession after all," He declared with a silver tongued voice that sounded inviting to the Arrancar boy but those who knew him felt shivers run up and down their spines. All of course except the reserved Captain Kuchiki.

"Possession?" He asked with a tilt of his head, not sure if he knew the meaning to that word.

"Indeed!" He raised a hand dramatically, swinging it around to point at the bleeding dead corpse of the late Espada. "He created you, misused you and put you through so much pain. But, through his death, you were freed from his treacherous unintelligent grasp and into my benevolent arms. For as someone who can truly appreciate your potential and skill you surely would like to feel belonged with someone who'd keep your best interests at heart."

Crisol seemed to blink slowly, his gaze turning from the dead man who looked at him with disgust and the one who opened his arms to him. Hearing his words they all made sense in a way. While things were still unclear in his head, something in him said that it'd be much safer to be beside him. A quick glance at the other man's drawn sword revealed to him which was the better route.

"Okay. I'll trust you," Crisol murmured within the pleased scientist's mind, walking over to him. Much to most's disgust, he leaned into the embrace of the Captain, witnessing his twisted grin of victory. Even more so as he whispered aloud in a way that they all could hear. "Just please keep me safe."

"Of course! I keep all of my possessions quite secure and well guarded," He added with a pat to his back. Ushering him to walk with him back down the hole Nemu carved, he looked over at Byakuya with a taunting smile as he ferreted his new catch down unseen in the darkness below.

Sighing aloud, the said Captain sheathed his sword in a fluid motion, turning on his heels with his back facing the distant thunders of pressures colliding with each other. While he past by the officers who gave him a wide berth, Nanao was the only one who kept a vivid stare towards the horizon. This was discouraged when Byakuya chose to give them their next orders.

"We need to find Rukia and Lieutenant Sasakibe at once," He announced to the Shinigami present, his back to all of them concealing the hint of worry etched into his brows. The words of the late Espada echoed in his mind, making him doubt of his adopted sibling's safety. Shaking it off, he turned his head to look at them with a cool glance. "Once we find them, we'll find a way to return to the World of the Living and assist in combating Aizen's army."

"Understood, Captain," Nanao responded forthright, while the others silently nodded their heads to show their compliance to the order.

"Very well," Byakuya replied with satisfaction, turning to look at Renji whom stood shoulder to shoulder with Uryū. After a bout of silence crossed between them, he closed his eyes and began walking beside him. He only passed on a few words as his Lieutenant turned to follow his retreating form. "Do as you wish, Lieutenant. Join us when you've concluded any personal matters involving the Substitute Shinigami and his allies."

"Yessir!" He replied stoutly, not showing any surprise or emotion slip out to lose this chance. He wanted to see what this other Espada he was feeling was capable of, as well as try to keep Ichigo from getting himself killed. He'd never let him live that down if that ended up happening.

With the Officers in Byakuya's company, they left in a bout of Shunpo, leaving only a small trace of movement that fluttered in the wind with barely a sound left behind. This all but left them on their own with Nelliel's Fracción and the other two humans with Renji. Then Uryū thought to speak up as he looked around his shoulder, tapping Renji as he noticed something odd.

"Here's a dumb question I'd expect Ichigo to ask," Uryū began, his dryness filtering his words enough to make Renji force a suppression to his chuckles. "But where's Orihime?"

At that moment, the Lieutenant gasped. The golden dome was gone and the Arrancar themselves seemed just as surprised. Stomping over to Pesche and Dondochakka, he planted a few punches on their heads, crying out to them, "What the Hell were you doing?! Taking a nap?! Where did the girl go?!"

"W-We saw her take off above your heads," Pesche answered with a wince, rubbing his head as it comically swelled. "But we didn't know what to do with that scary Captain around!"

"Please don't hit us again!" Dondochakka wept exaggeratedly.

"Oh just shut up," Renji growled, turning around to stare neutrally at Uryū. "She went to see Ichigo, regardless of that intense fight we're feeling from here."

"That's just like her, too," He grumbled, turning around to cast his gaze in the direction he knew she'd be at. "Then let's not waste anytime. Let's go after her."

Nelliel was surprised.

While it had been years since her departure, Ulquiorra's form and posture had evolved since the last time she saw him. The familiar one-handed technique with one hand resting at his side or in one pocket of his uniform, the acrobatic twirls and rapid use of Sonido in short bursts, even the resolve to not reveal emotion while in the heat of battle. It felt like a perfected variant of her own style of combat, one with a resolute defense and fluid aggressive counteroffensive that could appear at any given moment.

So fixated on the nostalgia that she almost didn't notice how his fist jutted out with the sword, shooting off a shrieking Bala that she narrowly deflected with the flat of her blade. The kickback from the shockwave was enough to send her aerial frame to skid back a good distance from the casually striding Espada. Panting as subtly as she could, she didn't want to know that their exchange -however brief- was starting to take a toll on her.

But, casting a gaze at a desperately glaring Ichigo whom was on the rise of a nearby dune of sand made her realize she couldn't worry about her own well being. She had something worth fighting for. And as she told Ulquiorra, something worth giving up her life.

"You seem lost in thought, Tres," Ulquiorra commented as he stoically stared at her strained expression past the mask she donned to hide her thoughts; a mask not so well made if he could see through it. "Are you still dwelling on the past with Lord Aizen's army? Do you regret your rebellion?"

"I rebelled against no one," She coolly replied, taking a strong standing posture with her sword held parallel to her ankle. "I was betrayed by a comrade and left to die alone with no one but my Fracción, no, my friends to care for me. I would have perished long ago if he took their lives."

"Ah yes. I do remember Lord Aizen stating your Aspect of Death was Love, after all," He intoned with a verbal drawl, almost at the brink of rolling his eyes. "We, heartless beings that Hollows are, shouldn't feel such a petty and useless attachment. That emotion very much befits the race of Shinigami."

"But you have the body of a Shinigami too, don't you?" She asked rhetorically, her gaze growing harder as his lip curled slightly at that statement. "Don't you know what it means to feel? Even after all this time, have you not found a meaning other than emptiness?"

"I am Nihilism. There is nothing for me to feel, as you put it," He explained in a muted voice, his steps finally taking him closer to his target. "For example, as I could tell you that I am disappointed that despite the time we shared and your service for Lord Aizen is now for naught, but I can only imitate it. Humans, Pluses and even Shinigami may feel but as a Hollow I cannot. Even with the body that possesses such senses I cannot understand what you'd understand as a Heart. I am what a Hollow really is. Empty, null and void of anything related to what many call the Feelings from the Heart as that insufferable woman put it."

"Woman? Is he talking about Ichigo's friend, Orihime?" Nelliel thought with a few confused blinks. What was the way that made her old friend twitch and sounding rather aggravated that annoyed...or rather, unnerved him? The fact of the matter is that she saw more emotion on his body than he ever revealed in the years she was an Espada while mentoring him in his youth as an Arrancar.

But through her observation of his bodily emotions, his movements happened to slip past an unfocused Pesquisa. A thrust aiming for her chest was narrowly redirected to nick her shoulder. During the spasm of pain he casually lifted his right leg to connect with her lower left abdomen, creating a loud expulsion of air to perforate their surroundings. As her body bowed with the force of his kick she grasped his extended ankle, using the momentum of his attack to swing around and perform a toed kick into his left jaw. Sprawling around in the air to land on three of all fours, she watched him smash into a dune face and cause the particles to scatter as he pierced it out the back.

Leaping forward with a remarkably timed Sonido, her sword slashed for his head as she was to his back. A loud clang of two blades causing enough friction to produce a gout of Reishi lightning between their weapons, creating a crevice within the sands they were flying by. All done without turning his head, Ulquiorra seemed to evaporate in front of Nelliel's eyes, reappearing directly in her soaring path to land a knee kick into her forehead. Such concussive force that lanced through the air it reversed the velocity to send her lurching back. Yet, even then she managed to swing a Bala infused punch into his solar plexus, causing him to fly back at a screaming crash just as she did.

Grinding through the sand with her back she grimaced at the pain as fresh blood began to fly out from the gash created by his knee cap. Halting her backward momentum with a expelling wave of her own Reiatsu, she witnessed Ulquiorra appearing as a downward phantom of black in the opaqued overcast the hanging moon created on him. A single swing downward and the white earth was obliterated in a flash of turquoise, creating a reverberating gale force wind that blew apart most of the higher elevated mounds of grained earth.

Turning from his crouched posture to cross blades with a two-handed slash of Nelliel's, creating once again a powerful friction between the two. With a look of tension spread across her normally unmoved brows, Ulquiorra looked at his peer with nothing but a blank stare of disappointment. No matter how much she pushed him he gained a slow incline till he stood eye to eye with her, his hand only slightly twitching in the struggle of dominance against his former senior ranked Espada.

"You forgone your style for a powerful stroke. Futile, if it wasn't already apparent your borrowed power is about to expire," The Cuatro Espada stated, causing a look of surprise to flash across her face. "Sadly, that choice just cost you this fight."

Unrealizing what he meant until a turquoise glow in the wake of a high pitched whine indicated what was going on. From the point of his free hand's index finger jabbing straight at her solar plexus, the entirety of the Reishi wave overlapped her being. As steam emanated from the fingertip and the sands that the energy wave carved into he saw a impact crater in which he saw from the curdling smoke a rising Nelliel. She was covered in burns and reduced to wearing her old shredded green garments, the uniform she once donned now gone as scuffs and burns were shown across her form.

"It seems you used the last of your Reiryoku that you stole to create a buffer, a mock shield of Reiatsu to dampen the blow of my Cero. As expected of some one of your talents in Reishi control," Ulquiorra stated as he tread closer, his eyes unmoved as the look of her heavily panting and sweating visage did nothing to slow him. "Even if you were at full strength, as you were before or even back then, you couldn't hope to challenge me. The rank of Tres belongs to another far stronger than I am. I'm sure you know of the one I speak of."

"Even still," Nelliel spoke resolutely, contrary to her trembling and beaten frame. With a stubborn gaze locking onto his emotionless slits, she cried out with a raised sword. "I'm prepared to fight to the bitter end! It's why I'm here, defying him, fighting you. It is the only reason I need to pick my sword up for someone else I care for!"

"And that is why you will die, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck," The Fourth Espada declared uncaring, stepping forward enough to invade her space past her guard. Thrusting up towards her throat he whispered out loud. "Farewell."

A faint sound followed by a tearing of air pressure caught the Arrancar's attention a moment before the tip touched her neck. Twisting his hips and backwards leg in a sweeping gesture, his blade came into contact with what he could tell was a hilt-less blade of bleak hue of shadows. When it crashed into the projectile, an explosive recoil happened enough to send him reeling back on his heels, unintentionally crashing into Nelliel by the chest. While she spun around and landed unceremoniously onto her rear flank, he skid to a halt ten meters away, a look of dull realization as to who it was.

"You," Ulquiorra pointedly stared at the distant Ichigo, his arm outstretched and a faraway grimace of failure was noticed by his gaze. "You attacked me with my back turned. How uncharacteristic of you. But, judging my your appearance, your Reiryoku is still spent from an earlier fight. If that's the case-"

In a sudden flourish of movement, Nelliel's mouth opened to shout for the Substitute to evade. But as the words began to crawl out of her throat, her voice cracked. Even she could see his blade thrust through his middle, completely bypassing the wearied Shinigami's senses and using maximum prejudice to deal with him.

"-I'll deal with you now before you become a reoccurring headache," He declared with a slash, cutting outward from his piercing position his blade had. With a shower of blood caking the sand, Ichigo growled with blood crawling up his throat, causing him to cough. Turning around with a roar, his wounded chest was struck by a well placed kick, convulsively spearing him a few meters away from Nelliel with a thunderous crash.

Buried in a hole, Ichigo struggled to get out but felt himself wedged in tight with the bloodstained sand. Cursing at his own strength deprived state, he looked up in horror as Ulquiorra wasted no time in presenting himself in front of the Shinigami. Raising a sword up over his head, he spoke in a sincere manner, "Be honored that I considered you a threat, worthy of my sword, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"U-U-Ulquiorra-!" Ichigo stuttered out, trying to will himself to rise and fight back. But in the instant his arm was on the verge of moving he noticed Nelliel's bruised and injured frame whizzing in front of him. Her body splayed in a way that'd cover him completely, her sword abandoned during her crash into the attacking Arrancar, just stretched her arms out in an X posture in hopes of at least slowing his blade. The very sight of it reminded him as a child, the lifeless blood soaked body of his mother who died protecting him; then the memory of her smile, her words and the kiss they shared. Eyes dilated to the size of pins and his mind could only scream in protest at the harsh reality that was befalling him. He was going to lose someone he loved right before his eyes again, and he could only watch it happen. One thought was let out as the cool steel swung towards her body instead of his own. "NO! NOT HER! DON'T KILL HER! ULQUIORRA!"

When his arm came down, all that was felt was a dramatic whoosh of air. No sound of lacerating flesh, no cry of injury and no movement made immediately after. The only thing that seemed to catch everyone's notice as the Cuatro Espada's shock-ridden eyes saw nothing but a stump of a blade. A soft plop was heard to his left, the sight of his blade's main body seen where it should have been on the sword. Turning around, his gaze met someone that he least expected yet somehow kept seeing at every turn.

"Orihime Inoue," He whispered with an annoyed growl, raising back to full height as Nel and Ichigo turn to look with both wonderment and welcome surprise. The sight of the living hairpin Tsubaki moved around at near unseen speeds before landing promptly on her shoulder, the other spirits seeming to have created a triangular barrier that she used as a glider of sorts to reach them. Panting more out of worry than exertion, she stood up as the barrier leveled with the sand and her feet carried her towards the three of them.

"O-Orihime?!" Ichigo let out a gasp, still beside himself at the near death experience that he had with his Arrancar adversary. That and how close he lost someone so important to him right in front of his eyes again. Then the spasm of pain came back as he coughed up more blood, his body leaning back into the pit he was pinned in. "D-Dammit!"

"I'm here!" She cried out, wordlessly commanding her Shun Shun Rikka spirits to fly over around both Ichigo and Nelliel. Creating the barrier with a momentary, "I Reject," chant the glittering golden shield soon erected over them and began denying the phenomena that was their injuries and loss of strength. Stopping short of standing beside the two, she saw Ulquiorra take a few steps to stand between her and the two.

Launching his foot against the shield, he watched with surprise as he was jolted back with a spasm of pain running up and down his leg. Grimacing only slightly, he looked up at her and glanced at his broken sword then down to his injured foot. Sighing, he resumed his mute visage as he conversed, "I shouldn't be surprised, yet I find myself being just that. It wasn't but days ago that Yammy and I encountered you. He was able to swat your spirit with one hand and then smashed your barrier as if it was tissue paper. Now, it hurts when I strike it and you broke my sword faster than my eyes could follow. Who gave you this power? Where did it come from?"

For awhile, Orihime couldn't answer him. She herself didn't understand how strong she was or how unbelievably stronger she felt herself becoming. Lilynette's actions and words spurred her own more than she thought possible. Yet, she knew, it was something more meaningful and deeper than simply her snapping or just stumbling upon it. It was always there, but for the first time, she wasn't getting it through help but rather helping herself.

"Someone told me that I wasn't believing in myself. That I listened to others too easily and was swaying my perspective of my powers. I thought I needed to be saved or rescued by someone I loved," She said seriously, her eyes drawn to a flabbergasted Ichigo. "Then I realized, that love wasn't true. By sacrificing myself I wasn't proving anything. I was surrendering and it wasn't until I found myself alone with what I believed to be the scariest people that I felt strong. You were sent, being one of the strongest Aizen had to make sure I'd come, not trusting anyone else could. But it wasn't because I was a possession, or that I was all that special. It's because my power came from the Heart, and it always had."

Remembering the moment her powers came into being at the sight of Tatsuki's head being split open by that horrible Hollow, all weakness melted away as the resolve to stand up for herself became imbued inside of her. Her ideal to becoming strong was only hampered by her perspective. Now that she was here, in a battle of life or death, she found the love she had for others helped empower her. The scared, weak Orihime was gone and now she was reborn as strong as she ever felt if not stronger than she could imagine.

As she encouraged herself, she saw Ulquiorra had grown very quiet and his emotionless canvas of a face had yet to even twitch. It was unnerving to see but she stood strong, knowing she could fight.

"The Heart, you say," Ulquiorra drawled out, his hand twitching slightly at his side as he began to step towards her across the sand. "You humans and Shinigami seem to toss that word around like it can be grasped physically grasped in the palm of your hand," Stopping partway, he slowly rose his free hand to gesture to his left iris in demonstration, still keeping a brisk approach. "My eyes see everything. There's not a single thing that goes unnoticed from my gaze. So if I cannot see it, it simply doesn't exist."

Stopping in front of her, Orihime almost felt intoxicated by his proximity. The intensity coming from his stare and voice combined was palpable, even if it wasn't emotionally invoked in a way she was normally used to. With an outstretched hand that made Ichigo lurch in place, a hand of his own trying to push through the barrier but had it snap at him enough to recoil, he could only watch as attentively as Nelliel did with her own widened gaze.

"Tell me, what is a Heart?" He asked, his fingers barely grazing the outer covering of her bosom as his eyes kept a constant stare with her eyes. "If I tore a hole in your chest, would I see it? If I ripped open your skull," He furthered with his fingers being a mere inch away from her widened eyes, her breath coming out in a hitch of surprise. "Would it be there?"

"Ulquiorra...!" Ichigo snarled, his grip on his sword tight enough to make it rattle in his hand.

"I've never seen Ulquiorra obsess over anything like this before," Nelliel realized as her thoughts reeled as much as her shock at his peculiar actions. "Why does he have a fascination towards Orihime and the aspect of a Heart? What is he after?"

"It's not the kind of thing someone just sees with their eyes," Orihime finally responded, her voice overcoming the tenuous situation she was plunged in by staring headlong with a seriousness that even surprised the Arrancar. "It's something that they experience, that they learn and understand through time. You only know about it when that moment you feel a bond is born. Good or evil it exists between everyone. The Heart is what compels us, drives us, and imparts all things we want, question, or believe in."

"Is that so?" Ulquiorra asked, his hand still yet to move away from Orihime's face.

Nodding slowly, she replied with a hardened glare at his stubbornly still expression, "Even if you could see what a Heart is, would it exist?"

Hearing this made his eyes finally widen and his fingers withdrawn from her face. The context of such a question took him aback, as if he never considered such a concept. As Orihime let out breaths of relief that he had backed away even if only a little, he renewed his fervent stare. "There is something I want to know. Tell me-"

A singing whistle was heard through the wind, flowing forth in a blur of blue. Swiveling his arm appropriately, his hand grasped what looked like an arrow of Reishi. Crushing it into tiny bits in his hand his left eye turned to see a disc hovering Quincy heading straight towards him, with a red haired Lieutenant in tow. He thrust his sword out, silently compelling his Zanpakutō to Shikai as it stretched out to strike him where he stood. Turning to parry with his less than fully formed blade, the weapon bundled up and crackled with ricocheting force as he was completely unmoved by the assaults.

"Thank goodness we got here in time!" Renji cried out as Uryū took aim to fire another Heilig Pfeil at their established enemy.

"Looks like trash came to save the Fake," Ulquiorra murmured, his left hand reaching for the stump of the sword. With a sweeping gesture and a glow of turquoise the blade was renewed back to full length as if nothing happened. As Renji readied to release his Bankai and Uryū prepared to fire an onslaught of arrows, he scoffed out loud. "No matter how many of you there are, the result would be the same. Just leave before I'm forced to dirty my hands on you-"

"ORIHIME!"

Squeaking slightly at hearing Ichigo shout her name, she turned to reply a meek, "Y-Yes, Ichigo?"

"Let me out of this barrier," He commanded, an angry fire bore out of his eyes and towards the slight turn of the Arrancar's face. "You've out did yourself and healed me up. Even my Bankai is renewed back to normal. I don't know what you went through to do it, but I thank you for being so strong."

"Th-Thanks," She flushed slightly at the compliment, smiling warmly at gaining recognition. While it didn't have the same weight as she thought it would, it was nice knowing a dear friend of hers gave her such a compliment. With a mental command, she undid the barrier, happy to see even Nelliel's person was unharmed after the phenomena rejection.

As he took a step forward, Nelliel grabbed his arm tightly, "Ichigo, you don't need-"

"I do," He corrected her, his eyes meeting hers while a smile spread over his face. "You already did a good job, protecting me. Now it's my turn again, okay?"

Blinking owlishly, she smiled brightly at the phrase he used for her. Nodding, she whispered as she slowly let him go, "Promise me you'll win, Ichigo."

"Of course," He said confidently, ending with a sigh as he strode out to meet the Arrancar.

Ulquiorra could tell something dramatic had occurred. Other than what he knew was the Phenomena Rejection that had transpired over Ichigo's person he seemed to boast even more passive Reiatsu than before. He could almost see it as his Pesquisa felt it. When he was nary but arm's reach, the two seemed to be given a wide berth as the company knew a titanic battle was about to emerge.

"Let's skip the warm-up, Ulquiorra," He suggested with a rare confident smile. "I want to crush you with all of my might with nothing held back!"

"Want to punish me, do you? Fair warning, Ichigo Kurosaki," He monotoned as his body began to become encroached with a bright turquoise light just as Ichigo's was in a burgundy black mantle of Reiatsu. "Tread lightly, for you'll be getting far more than you bargained for!"

A/N: And like that, the Chapter finally ends. Phew, I almost made that a bit too long. Thankfully the minimized action helped make the read a bit more bearable for those who are usually casual readers. I say hope cause this still might be too long but hey, what can you do?

This was a long time coming for me if only for a lot of things being resolved here. Szayel's death is as pathetic as he deserved, Crisol being ferreted into the perverse care of Mayuri (I shudder to think what he has planned for the poor Mod Arrancar!), Nelliel and Ichigo's bonding time, Nelliel versus Ulquiorra (even if short, it's still there) along with some more development of Ulquiorra's character by way of a much stronger and confident Orihime! A lot happened and I hope with the next Chapter we can conclude our business with the Cuatro Espada and move onward with the story.

Thank you all for your continuous support by way of views and Reviews. They help encourage me in more ways than one and I thank you so much for that. And as for such a special treat for you all, I will be uploading the next Chapter this weekend! So not only will you get some character development but also a kickass fight in the making! I hope you're all excited about it as I am.

With that said, I wish you all a continued Happy New Year and have a very good week.