"So…this is where Captain Urahara set up shop, hmmm…?" an older gentleman asked his larger compatriot. "It doesn't look as good as the one in Karakura Town…" he remarked. "It's too gaudy." Disinterested in the flashing neon sign and glass windows and allowed a view to the closed shop interior, the man sighed at all of the toys and candy on display. Glancing over to the behemoth standing next to him, the older man leaned some of his weight onto his cane, more out of habit than out of necessity. "Mikio…I want you to do a good job here; kill anyone who gets in your way…"

"Really, Ainiki? What happened to bringing that Vizard over to our side?" the large bearded man exclaimed in surprise. "Don't you want revenge and-" he stopped when the smaller man raised his hand, like that of an owner hushing his dog.

"Plans have changed, Mikio…" the older man sighed. Tapping his cane against the street, he somewhat felt satisfied by doing so. "I have had enough games…this ends today…wouldn't you say so as well, Suzume?" Glancing at the group exiting from the candy shop, Kazuhiro smiled over the three's reactions. The blonde girl, despite being the smallest, immediately jumped forward into a defensive posture. The other two men followed through with similar ones soon after. Hanging from a chain, a yellow lion plush swung to and fro in a lifeless manner. "I'm sorry for your loss-"

"Fuck you, Kazuhiro!" the small plush finally yelled out. Baring cloth teeth, the plushy unhinged its chain and jumped down to the street "I know what you did, and I'll never forgive you!"

"Eh? Don't say stuff like that! It's going to get us killed!!" Kon's voice yelled out from the plush as well in a cowardly tone.

"Interesting tactic, Urahara…" Kazuhiro mumbled to himself. "Mikio, ignore them…" he finally said. "Go straight for the source…"

"Sure thing, Ainiki…" the large man grinned. Pumping his arm, he pushed out of his body, revealing a blue skinned monster, covered in bleached bones and a broken mask. "Straight for the source!!" he screamed in happiness as he slammed his fist through the ground.

END GAME (Part 1)

The dust began to settle, allowing only faint distinguishable silhouettes to be seen through the now murky underground training cavern. The exchanging of snowflakes and dust particles dancing through the air was a poignant reminder of a snowcapped mountain ready to explode; shedding its preconceived form to reveal its true nature of a cataclysmic volcano. Still coughing, Aiko felt an arm draped over her in a protective manner. Glancing above her, she saw Chin's face contorted from pain. Clenching his teeth, he noticed the young girl's eyes on him, to which he attempted to give a reassuring smile back as he continued to hunch over her like he did instinctively when the ceiling first showed signs of giving way.

A subtle stream of red dripped from his brow to the rocky surface next to her, making a plopping sound like that of drops of water escaping through a tightly closed faucet. "H-hey there, kid…" Chin weakly smiled as he felt her hand's subtle trembling against his own, to which he used to prop his form in an umbrella-like fashion over Aiko. "I don't remember this being in today's forecast…" coughing instead of smiling, Chin refused to give way until he was sure that the ceiling above them was stable enough for them to move again.

"Y-you big…dummy…" was all she could whisper out. Cursing softly at herself for trembling from the sudden shockwave of falling rocks, she timidly tried to push the bushy haired shinigami off of her, but to her dismay, realized that he wouldn't budge from her unspoken request. "You…you need help…" she tried to whisper sternly to the man hunched over her, trying to imitate the forceful voice that her mom would use against her dad to do chores. Despite the agitation and fear from him ignoring her a second time, a softness settled on her despite the tenuous safety of the situation.

"Shhh…" he sternly replied, to which Aiko surprisingly responded to immediately. Something in Chin's eyes was urgent, as he placed his index finger against his lips. Cautiously trying to control her heavy breathing, all she could hear was the sound of crumbling pebbles from above crashing to the floor below. She felt Chin move above her as silently as possible, groaning softly as he reached out to something slightly out reach. She could not see anything around her, because the dust skewed her view.

…A single crunch of pebbles nearby.

Someone or somethingwas close to them. Anxiously, Aiko yearned to scream out for her parents and anyone else, not knowing where they were at all. But Chin, despite the gruesome looking injury that he had taken, observed the area with a serious watch. He asked her to be silent, and that was what she planned to do until something changed.

…a second crunch now, from the same vicinity.

Those were definitely footsteps now. Coursing through her mind, Aiko blinked only once more as she tried to observe the area opposite of whichever Chin looked toward. There were more footsteps approaching them, along with snarls.

'Snarls…?' Aiko inhaled shaply at the thought. 'I didn't sense any Hollows…'

"Aiko…" she heard the man above her whisper, "…on my signal, run as fast as you can straight ahead, ok? That's where I sensed where your parents are…" She only nodded in reply, which was more than enough to issue a grin on his face. Pushing off with his right arm, Chin spun upwards to his feet, displaying two swords in each of his hands. "ERODE, TAMOTSU!!" He waved the blade in a circular motion from his right hand. Tossing the sword from his left hand, Aiko pushed upwards as well, deftly catching Yukiko and ran straight like he said. The clouds of sand shrank and grew dense, eliciting pained screams all around her as she continued to run.

A single break in the wall of sand opened in front of her, as a handful of Hollow dispersed into particles from the sand's onslaught crushing them. A cluster of rockets spewed past her and exploded into the air, destroying the attacking Hollow as they fell down from the sky. Aiming her weapon against the attacking monsters, Ururu continued to fire projectiles until Aiko managed to rush straight behind her. "Where's my mom and dad!?" Aiko screamed out, panting and confused.

Although the purple haired woman did not reply as she continued her defense, Aiko gasped in realization. Her parents had gone, and she had just left Chin to fight the amassing group of Hollow alone.

--

"Aiko!" Ichigo screamed out in distress as the ceiling caved in above them. He rushed to where his daughter and Chin were, only to be forced to dodge a massive boulder that crashed against the floor that would have crushed him, had it not been for a swift shunpo to his left. "Damn you…" in a flash of orange, he repelled the sword that flew toward him.

"Ichigo!" jumping backward to avoid the projectile rock, Rukia unsheathed her zanpakuto, ready to attack at a moment's notice. To her dismay, she heard a soft pair of footsteps approach her calmly, and a third hollowed sound, belonging to something like a pole, or a cane. Turning around, she focused her glance as the elder mustached man approached her, his face serious all the while.

Smirking a merciless grin, the blue skinned behemoth of a monster snarled at the smaller orange haired shinigami in front of him. Tilting his head to the left and right, the looming creature cracked several small bones in its neck in succession, followed by cracking its knuckles as well in preparation. "Now, time to pick up where we left off…" without warning, a second swipe brashly flew by, sending debris skipping outwards from the gash in the ground that shattered from his attack. "What's wrong, shinigami!?"

'It's that same one…' Ichigo scoffed as he shunpoed and attacked from behind his opponent, '…the one that attacked our store before…'watching as the blue skinned beast defended, then counterattacked, Ichigo slashed upwards to deflect the behemoth's downward strike. "You're…with Kazuhiro, aren't you…?" he growled angrily, pushing back to create space between them. "Tell me where he is!!"

"You're Kazuhiro…right…?" she asked the man still approaching her. Furrowing her brows, she exhaled deeply as a feeling of unease settled on her. Rukia watched, but couldn't believe the image of the man heading in her direction. He looked exactly as she remembered him the last time he attacked, but something wasn't right. Suddenly, she smirked. Outstretching her arm, Rukia kept the guard and blade parallel with that of the ground. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki…" slowly turning her arm downward, a pure white sleeve grew out from the sword's hilt, outlining a circular shape as she completely turned the blade upward again. "First dance; white moon…" her voice echoed as she called out her attack, causing a circular light to brighten around her. Increasing in brightness, a pillar of ice shot out from the ground straight into the air.

Seeing the attack, the old man jumped away to evade, but was barely caught by the upward motion of the ice pillar. "Oh…it looks like you saw through my illusion, little shinigami…" the now insectoid-Hollow hissed. Clutching onto the frozen left side, it tilted its head in a questioning manner. "How did you know…?"

"It was your shadow…it loomed more than it should have for a man his size in this light…" Rukia responded, now aiming the tip of the blade directly toward the Hollow. The very air around her began to grow cold now, as Rukia glared down at the injured Hollow. "Next dance; white ripple…"

"You want to know where Ainiki is, eh?" arching an eyebrow, the blue skinned giant smirked even more. He suddenly frowned though, when an icy cold breeze blew behind him, shortly followed by a pained scream that was quickly cut short. Scowling and clenching his teeth, Mikio roared as he turned his attention to the shinigami behind him.

"Oi…don't forget that I'm your opponent, remember?" Ichigo growled, pointing his sword tip to the back of Mikio's neck. "Now, where the hell is Kazuhiro?"

--

The porch was a nice addition to the house since he last saw it; perhaps it was just over a year since then. Before he could move close enough to press the doorbell however, a firm hand gripped at his shoulder. Craning his head to see who had grabbed him, Kazuhiro couldn't help but to scoff. The two men standing behind him were quite an unexpected appearance. The one on the left, though grinning, had much as a killing intent as the bespectacled man next to him. "Yo…why didn't you tell me you were in town?"