Orihime's breathing became quick and shallow as she jogged down the street. The battle was still raging but most of the hollows had been eliminated. She could sense many near the park and a few making their way into town. Her eyes narrowed, determined to get there in time to help her comrades. She was so focused she didn't even see the thin boy she was about to run into.

"Ouch! I'm so sorry!" Orihime cried out as they collided. She shook her head out of the impact, slightly jarred.

"Where are you running off to, Inoue-san?"

Oops. She was so fixed on finding Ichigo she hadn't even sensed Ishida. There he was, the proud Quincy, adjusting his glasses after their collision. He looked at her with those same eyes she saw in the photo of him and it shook her to the core. Why hadn't she seen it before? Had she been so jaded by her crush on Ichigo she had never noticed?

Orihime cleared her throat to focus her thoughts. "Can't you sense them? I'm going to help."

"It's a simple hollow attack, Inoue-san. They can take care of it themselves." Ishida always seemed calm and collected.

She nearly scoffed at his attitude, nonetheless. "Don't you care? They're our friends. I want to help." Orihime closed her fist tightly across her heart.

"What for? The threat is gone." Ishida cocked his head to the side to gauge her reaction.

She dropped her mouth in order to retaliate, but quickly closed it. He was right. She could sense the hollow numbers dropping rapidly and her friends' reiatsu returning to its normal steady state. Orihime felt her knuckles turning white as something bubbled up inside her. "Why do you always do that Ishida?!" she practically shouted.

Orihime's sudden outburst felt like a slap across Ishida's face. He didn't even notice she had dropped the formal suffix on his last name. His brows narrowed in confusion.

"You…You always hold me back! Do you think that I'm not strong enough? That I can't handle a fight on my own?" Orihime couldn't even look at him as she spoke. She must have really been fuming. Ishida wondered how long she had been holding this in. When Orihime got mad, it was rare but deserved.

Ishida blinked. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell her now, not like this. How could he? How could he explain that he couldn't stand to see her in pain? How could he describe what seeing her lively face meant to him?

Orihime bit her lip and closed her eyes to simmer down. "I see," she spoke softly. "Your silence says it all." She turned on her heel and walked back to her apartment. The only things Ishida could hear were her footsteps on the sidewalk and his heart pounding in his ears.

"Inoue-san," he started. Orihime put a hand up to silence him.

"Don't," she spoke flatly over her shoulder. "You've already said enough."

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The last of the hollows were slain and Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. What a crap fight this turned out to be. Because of that reckless strawberry-head and the idiot red pineapple the battle dragged on longer than necessary. She sucked in air through her lungs, glad to have not resorted to completely unveiling her zanpaktou. With a thud of the ground, a slightly tired Ichigo sat next to her.

Rukia froze. How was she supposed to act around Ichigo now? It was bad enough she found herself sprawled on top of him in a compromising position, but then he saw… Rukia felt her cheeks grow hot at the memory.

Ichigo chuckled and patted her knee as a friendly gesture. "It's okay, Rukia. I won't tell Byakuya if you won't." He grinned deviously. "I'm sure you didn't really mean to flash me."

Goddammit. Rukia stuck a fist straight out of her side, easily slamming it into Ichigo's temple.

"Fuck! It was a joke, woman!" Ichigo rubbed the side of his head, his face twisted from in hot temper. "It's not like I was trying to look there. Why would I want to?"

Rukia wasn't sure why, but his last statement stung. She gritted her teeth and began to walk home. "Oi, Rukia!" she heard the Shinigami Substitute shout behind her. She quickened her pace into flash steps and was at home in a matter of minutes.

"Rukia, come on, it was a joke!" She heard Ichigo try to explain. Damn, his shunpo was also as fast as Yourichi's.

Ichigo perched in his open window and watched Rukia silently grab Chappy, quickly shifting back into her gigai. She never looked back at him as she exited his room in a huff, slamming the door behind her.

"Daaang, Ichigo," Kon said speaking in Ichigo's body, "What'd cha do this time?"

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"Seriously, that kicked ass," Renji said to the breathless Tatsuki. He patted her back the way a comrade would congratulate a sparring partner. "The only other human I've seen kill a hollow with a single punch is Sado."

Shaking, Tatsuki lifted her hands up to her face. Her right hand was bruised and the skin on her knuckles was cracked, already caking with blood. Then something dawned on her. Tatsuki's head spun so fast Renji thought it would fall off. "Where is she?" Tatsuki questioned frantically.

"Where is who?" Renji scratched his head and propped Zabimaru on a muscular shoulder.

Tatsuki looked at Renji like he had "stupid" written across his forehead. "The little girl," she spoke in a tone that sounded a lot like Duh, Moron. She looked around and searched the streets with her eyes. "She was right here. Ben-Ten. She was lost and I was trying to help her. Then those freaking hollows showed up."

"Woah, slow down," Renji put his hands up in defense. "I didn't see anyone here except for you cowering in the middle of the street."

Tatsuki narrowed her eyes and tried to comprehend what he was saying. "What?"

"Yeah, it was just you." Renji raised an eyebrow. The motion rippled all the way up the tattoos on his forehead. His eyes suddenly sparked with recognition. "Wait, did you say 'Ben-Ten?'"

"Yeah…" Tatsuki slowly let out. Talking to this big oaf was as bad as carrying on a conversation with Ichigo.

Renji slapped an open palm against his face, covering his eyes. "Urahara's going to kill me." His voice was muffled as he dragged the hand down his face.

"Why? What does that shop keeper have anything to do with Ben-Ten?"

Renji stopped his gesture, startled to find that Tatsuki knew so much about his connections. "Sorry, official Shinigami business," he mocked.

Tatsuki rolled her dark eyes. "Whatever. I just wanted to know what she was. It's obvious if I saw her and you didn't, that she's not human."

Wow, another point to Arisawa, Renji thought. The girl had great intuition. Renji slightly grimaced, ready for another biting comment. "We…don't know for sure."

"Heh," Tatsuki scoffed, "Some official Shinigami business. You're about as useless as Ichigo as a sparring partner."

Renji shook his head, not sure how to respond to her quick wit. Not surprisingly, she began to depart since he had nothing more to offer her.

"Oh," Renji heard her say as he turned to leave. "By the way, they don't know."

Renji looked at her with curiosity. "Orihime, Ichigo, none of them," Tatsuki explained. "None of them know that I can see hollows. Or that I know about what happened to Kuchiki-san in Soul Society or Orihime in Hueco Mundo."

Renji stood completely stunned by her suddenly vast knowledge. She pointed a steady finger in his direction. "And I expect things," she paused, narrowing her eyes, "to stay that way."

Still in shock, Renji couldn't find the words to say, so he simply nodded.

With one final wave over her shoulder, Tatsuki said, "Have a good night, Abarai-fukutaicho." She grinned to herself, knowing full well that Renji was standing there with his mouth gaping open.

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Chad leaned on the railing of the small balcony leading down to the steps of his apartment. He knew there had been a fight recently, feeling his comrades' reiatsu shift and spike as they battled. But he found it disturbing that he couldn't feel the presence of hollows. Was it a fluke? Or was it something more? Things hadn't felt exactly the same since coming back from Hueco Mundo and learning the source of his spiritual power.

He sighed, resting his head on a strong hand and gazed at the sparse starlight. Chad felt a pair of eyes watching him and turned his attention to a nearby tree. Amazingly, a beautiful woman stood lightly balanced on a delicate branch. He saw a bright green garter snake slither in her hand. She caught his eye and her silver eyes were hypnotic. Her deep plum hair whipped around her barely covered body. The snake whispered in her ear and she smiled at him.

Chad blinked, and she was gone.

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REVIEWS ARE LOVE ^_^

NEW Update Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday!

My beta didn't get a chance to get back to me on this one yet, but I read over it again to fix any spelling/grammar.
Anyway, this story is coming along insanely fast, so I'm updating 3 times a week now.
Even I'm getting anxious to update quickly ;)

Plus I will be starting on a Byakuya/OC/Hisana story, so my mind is begging me to get NoS finished. Enjoy!