Hey guys, sorry I haven't been livin' up to the standards of updatin' once a week. My schedule hasn't really permitted me enough free time ta do anything. And don't expect the updates to be as frequent as they used ta be, especially when 2nd semester means courses get harder. Especially when I'm expected ta get all A's by my dad. Not easy when I'm barely pullin' a B- outta my English/ Language Arts class.

However, I'm tryin' really hard ta get this story out to y'all. So have some patience, please. I'm gettin' busier as the year goes on, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Be nice ta Hyou pwease. Thank you.

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Chapter 8
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Isshin turned the last corner on the way to his clinic and home. He stopped aburptly, sensing a stir in the sky, an appearing reiastu he could place, but couldn't name.

Glancing to his right, a small black gash was forming, just above the street. An average sized, skinny, ant-headed hollow seemed to be pushed out of the garganta. A large, in both height and weight, followed, looking nervous. Finally, a small child-like arrancar popped out, and landed on his feet. All of them looked nervous, the two larger ones more than the smaller one.

Nell was the first to notice that they were being watched. He also noticed that it was someone he knew, Ichigo's father.

"Itthhin-than!" Nell jumped at the tall black haired shinigami. This action triggered Isshin to do the same.

"Nell-chan!"

Isshin hugged the small arrancar tightly, and Nell was laughing. Pesshe and Dondochakka sighed in relief. They were safe, for now.

- - - - -

Rukia woke with a start, her upper body shotting up perpendicular to her legs. Where was she? How did she get here? Who brought her here? Why? And where the hell was Shirayuki?!

"Ah, I see you are awake, Kuchiki-san."

She turned to the tall dark figure sitting next to the shogi door, in a respectful position.

"Te-Tessai?!"

"Yes, Kuchiki-san?"

"Where am I?"

"You are at the shop, why?"

At that moment, Urahara burst through the door in a dramatic fashion, his fan covering most of his lower face. "I see our 'noble princess' is finally awake! Good morning!"

"Morning?!" Rukia jumped out of her bed, blown away by the time of day it was. "How long was I knocked out?! Who brought me here?!"

"Well, you've been unconscious for about ten hours, so it's about one in the morning." Urahara beamed as if he had revealed the secret to immortality to all the mortals of the world. "And Isshin-san brought you here barely clinging to life. You were lucky to receive my special care." He continued in a humorous tone.

Rukia tossed her pillow at the blond shop keeper, using all her internal strength to keep from beating the shit out of him. That was no menial task, because the urge came in waves, not allowing the anger to wash away.

Everyone's attention was averted when Jinta opened the door, looking irritated. "Urahara, Prickly wants to talk to you."

"'Prickly?''"

Isshin peered into the room, looking serious for a change.

"Aa, Isshin-san. What can I do for you?" Urahara said in his usual, cheerful tone.

"There's someone who wants to see you."

"Who?"

"Actually, everyone should see him. It could be important."

- - - - -

Pesshe and Dondo were shaking in their seats, while Nell examined the tea the was given to them. He had never drank a liquid like this, and was curious as to what it was. Taste-testing all of the tea, in every cup.

"Ano, Nell-san..."

The tiny arrancar looked up from his work, his hand in his mouth, drool flowing like a flooding river during a storm. "Mmmrhf?"

"The tea isn't poisioned or anything, in fact, it's Urahara-san's favorite." Ururu said in her quiet and meek tone.

"Indeed it is." Urahara stated, appearing behind the small girl. Pesshe and Dondo jumped back and tried to melt into the wall; Nell on the other hand, smiled and waved his soaked hand at the shop owner.

"Hi, Kith-than!"

Urahara walked over to Nell, placing his hand on his head before shaking it. Nell laughed, grabbing Urahara's arm with both hands. A glint of disturbance flashed through the shop owner's eyes before anyone saw it, then it was gone.

Nell let go of him, landing on the cushion a few inches under him. The whole group sat around the table, except Dondo and Pesshe.

"C'mon Dondo, Pethe. They'th not gonna hurt uth." Nell said cheerfully.

The pair slowly inched over to the rest of the group, still petrified by all the people who could kill them. Everyone smiled at them in a friendly manner, before turning to Nell for answers.

"Nell-kun, why are you here?" Urahara asked.

"Oh, right. Ichigo-than thent uth. Told all three of uth to come and tellth you guyth thingth."

"What kind of things?" Rukia asked, automatically interested since it involved Ichigo.

"Thingth about Aizen, and hith arrancar. They'th back, and twying to bring backth the war."

All of them – other than Pesshe and Dondo – looked shocked at the mention of Aizen. They were sure that Ichigo had killed him a couple of months before the war officially ended. It was a very bloody day, one none of them would forget anytime soon.

"They're back?! I thought Ichigo killed that bastard!" Rukia yelled, anger and shock intertwining her words.

"They were never gone to begin with, from what Ichigo-than thinkth. Aizen ith creating more forceth to attack the human world."

"We know that much, all the arrancar that were sent aren't in the city anymore. They all seem to have gone back to Hueco Mundo," said Isshin.

"They already came?!" Pesshe screeched, afraid of what Ichigo would do to them if he found out.

"Yeah, didn't do anything too bad, fortunatly. Why?"

"Oh, Ichigo-san is going to mad, yansa," replied Dondo.

"Why would he be mad? You came and told us about Aizen an-"

"We were supposed to be here before Aizen's forces got here. If Ichigo-san finds out, he's gonna hit us." Pesshe said, shaking.

"Now, now. I'm sure Ichigo wouldn't do that." Rukia assured.

"Who are you kidding?! You've known him longer than us, and he hasn't changed!"

"So, he's still the overprotective, depressed boy I raised?" Isshin asked.

"Yeah, except he's more depressed. He won't tell us why."

The mood of the group darkened quickly. Rukia glanced away, pushing old feelings down and under again. She knew why Ichigo was so down, but what surprised her was that he was still sulking over it. Renji would laugh at him if he was still around.

"He'll tell you when he's ready," said Isshin, calmly, with a hint a sadness in his voice. "It's not something he'd toss out in the open. The boy sulks for too long on things like this. Hell, I'm willing to bet he's still sulking about his mother a little." A little sarcasm lacing his last sentence.

"Poor Ichigo-than..." whimpered Nell, tears forming. "He needth to open up more."

"Haha, that he does. By the way, where is Ichigo?" Isshin asked.

"Ichigo-than wen to 'see' Aizen. That'th what he thaid at leatht."

"Why the hell is he doing something so reckless?! I thought he learned his lesson during the war!" Rukia yelled.

"He theemed confident..."

"He's always confident when going to a fight!"

"Oh. Tho... Nell did bad?"

"Nah, no one can stop Ichigo-san when he gets like that." Urahara said.

- - - - -

"Ah, welcome, Kurosaki-kun." The brown haired arrancar leader said.

Ulquoirra bowed, and left the two to their supposed business. He figured that if the orange haired hybrid was there, he was there for a reason only Aizen knew. Blowing it off as unimportant at the moment, he went to check on the new arrancar Grimmjaw should be supervising.

'Hopefully he hasn't killed too many of them.' He thought while walking down the white hall silently.

- - - - -

"So, do what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to visit me?" Aizen asked casually.

"Look, I came to tell you to stop. This little obsession over becoming a inhabitant of heaven ain't going to happen. I really don't care what you do, as long as you don't hurt my family and friends."

"Do I get to go through them if they defy me?"

"No. You hurt any of them, directly or indirectly, I will cut your head off this time. I figured you would have noticed that I let you live last time."

"Ah, yes. Never thanked you for that did I?"

"I'm not asking for thanks. I'm demanding that you stop and live a some-what regular life."

Aizen got out of his chair, turning his back to the wall of screens. Not all of them were projecting images, courtesy of Ichigo destroying the cameras. The former 5th division captain walked toward Ichigo, the fake smile from before the war adorning his face.

"I don't think I will stop."

Ichigo's scowl deepened, his brows creased more, and he held his ground. Aizen continued his closing in on the hybrid, who stubbornly refused to move.

"Kurosaki-kun, why not join me? I know you haven't had any 'outside' contact since you moved here. You seem to hate the shinigami, why not fight them?"

"I may not like them, but I'm not going to fight them. It's not worth my time."

Aizen was starting to get closer to Ichigo, closer than the orange haired hybrid felt comfortable with in this situation. He unconsciously took a step back, fear and hatred trying to show in his features, but not succeeding. His hand started to move back, ready to grab Zangetsu, in order to put distance between him and Aizen.

"Now, now. No need to bring Zangetsu out, is there?"

"Back off." Ichigo said, anger clear in his voice. There was something else in his tone that Aizen could pick out, it was uneasiness. This should be interesting.

He didn't respond to the warning, and continued his trek to Ichigo. The boy was taking steps back now, and they were both aware of that now. Ichigo still held an air of confidence around him, his reiatsu slowly unlocking and surrounding him.

"Why so cautious all of a sudden, Kurosaki-kun?"

Aizen took another step closer to Ichigo, backing him into the cold white wall. He stood about a foot and a half away from the orange haired hybrid, his smile still in place. Ichigo, on the other hand, looked ready to fight or flee depending on how Aizen moved.

"I said 'back off.'"

"That's not nice, Kurosaki-kun."

"You think I care?"

"You were never one for manners, even now."

"Stop talking like you think you know me. You don't."

"Really now? You think I don't know you?"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, as he slowly brought his reiatsu into his right arm. "What are you talking about?"

"I've been watching you for over two decades now. I knew when you were born, who you were born to, who suggested the killing of you at a young age – which failed, an-"

"What do you mean 'killing me at a young age?'"

"I was the one who had control over the hollows who manipulated Grand Fisher. I'm sure you remember that fat blob of goo. Made you pretty useless when he dug into your memories."

The orange haired hybrid's eyes widened in surprise and rage. Aizen was the reason his mother was dead?! Or was this one of Aizen's games?

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I was the one who ordered his transformation into an arrancar - even if he was incomplete. Then your dad had to go and kill him."

This caused Ichigo to snap, he knew the was over a fifty percent chance Aizen was lying, but his words were getting to him. His arm glowed a dark purple before becoming completely black. When it receeded, his arm was that of a hollow, pale green with red gashes. Ichigo jumped at Aizen, drawing blood from him.

"Shut up. What you're saying is a load of bull, and your idea of getting into my head is shit. I'll kill you before it gets to that."

"Haha," Aizen laughed lightly. 'I'm already inside his head.'

"What's funny?!"

'King, he's in yer head. Calm down.'

'Fuck.'

'Breath, King.'

'Shut up.'

'Breath, dammit! I don' wanna die because you were stupid enough ta le' 'im get inta yer head!'

"Having a nice conversation with your hollow? Or should I call him Kuroji?"

"Damn you..." Ichigo could feel his temper raising, which he knew wasn't a good thing in this situation. He couldn't help it, Aizen always had a way to piss him off, and he hated that fact.

'Calm down, Ichigo!' Kuroji yelled in a tone that demanded respect, and laced with anger. He also sounded a little like the Kuroji of the war, digging up old memories for his partner and host.

The command startled Ichigo, giving Aizen enough time to get behind him using shunpo. Ichigo turned his head, eyes wide and mentally cursing himself for letting his guard down.

"Bakudo: 99..."

'Shit!'

"Bakenokawa."

A beam of almost clear light hit Ichigo square in his just turned head. He was sent flying into the white walls, giving them splatters of red. Blood trickled out of his mouth and scalp.

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Not much to say about this chapter. Sorry it took so long to get out.

Review please!