First of all, I apologize for the late update. I'm really, really, really sorry. XD
Thank you for the readers and reviewers ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach...yet. LOL

Now, to the story...
Enjoy.

The Espada

"Are you...afraid of me?" inquired the man.

"...I'm not afraid. I'm...not afraid," answered the woman. The man then reached out to the woman with his right hand.

"Now...I see. Her heart...was right...," mumbled the man as he let out a contented smile which is rarely seen on his teal tear marked face. The woman then did the same thing; reaching out to him, though, before their hands met, the man dissolved into ash, blown by the wind.

'...In my hands'

The amber eyes opened. The owner then covered his right eye with his right hand as he panted hardly.

"...Ulquiorra..." he mumbled. The teenager, however, was dragged back into reality by a voice, a cheerful one, that echoed in his room.

"I-Ichigo..." the light-brown haired one mumbled, though, she followed his mumbling by exclaiming, "Ichigo! Thanks God! Do you have any idea how worried I am? Geez..."

"Uh...sorry," replied the other teenager, "How long have I been out?"

"Nearly two days..." replied the girl. There was a brief pause before finally she spoke again.

"Are you...okay? You look so...pale..." inquired the concerned girl as she headed towards Ichigo with a bowl of porridge on her right hand.

"Uhh...yes...of course. I'm perfectly fine..." replied the orange haired one as he let out a fake smile.

'It was...Ulquiorra, wasn't it? I'll never forget that incident. Damn! It's my entire fault! If only I was able to control my inner hollow...dammit!' thought the male teenager before the girl, Hikari, poked him with a bowl of porridge. It took one...two...three seconds before finally a groan can be heard.

"That's hot dammit! What in the hell are you doing?" exclaimed the teenager.

"Whoa...that's slow..." mumbled the astonished teenager, "See? You even start spacing out. What's wrong with you?"

"It's...nothing," answered the orange haired one with a regretful expression on his face.

"...if you don't want to tell me, it's fine. Just tell me when you feel like to," said the light-brown haired one as she smiled gently, "Here, eat this. You must be hungry right?"

The girl then handed the bowl to Ichigo, though, he didn't show any will of eating it.

"You'll get sick if you don't eat anything," said the girl as she started blushing, "...or...do you want me to feed you?"

"...WHAT! You're kidding right?" said the other teenager nervously.

"Hmph...of course I am. You really are fast at this kind of thing huh?" replied the giggling girl, "Anyway, what happened to you?"

"Well, it seems like I've regained my memories..."

"...all of it?"

"Yeah..."

"That's...weird. You're not supposed to regain your memories until I give them back to you..." uttered the girl, "Well, that's not important. So, what do you remember about Aizen? Like his loyal servant maybe?"

There was a severe change of expression on Ichigo's face upon hearing those words. His skin even looked paler than before and his amber eyes filled with regret. Then, the awkward silence fell on the room.

'Uh-oh...looks like I've just stepped on a mine...' thought the panicking girl before she finally said, "W-well, i-it's okay if you...sorry. I should've not asked that..."

"...Do you know Espada?" asked the orange haired one, breaking the awkwardness.

"H-huh? It's the Spanish for...sword...right?" murmured the light-brown haired one.

"That's not what I meant..." replied the other teenager as he sweatdropped, "Espada is a group of ten strongest arrancar, hand-picked and ranked by Aizen himself, and is as strong as the captains."

"W-what? The captains? There are even ten of them..." mumbled the girl as her amber eyes widened.

"...yes. They were ranked from 0 to 9. The only Espadas I know are Grimmjow, the sixth, Nnoitra, the fifth, Yammy, the strongest, and..." Ichigo paused before he finally continued, "...and Ulquiorra, the fourth."

"Ulquiorra? I think I heard you saying that name right before you passed out..." said the girl.

"...I did," muttered the amber eyed teenager, "It's him."

"Uhh...what?"

"It's him, dammit! It's his freakin' reiatsu! I'll never forget it..." said the male, half yelling.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"It was him. It was him who released the reiatsu before I passed out...it was...him."

"Wait. You mean he was in the real world?" inquired the girl.

"...unfortunately, yes."

"That's...impossible..." mumbled the shocked girl, "But how? From what I've been told, Aizen isn't supposed to move until the incidence at the Soukyoku Hills occurred. Plus, the other me managed to seal him away right? There's no way for him to do all these; even to simply form the Espada is impossible."

"You're right...it's impossible for him to – wait. Who told you that?" inquired the orange haired one.

"M-my childhood friend did...is something matters?"

"...look, I've never told anybody about that. The only ones who knew about that are only the shinigamis, Aizen and his subordinates themselves, and us; those who came to save Rukia. The shinigamis shouldn't even know about your clan, since I've been searching through their documents and found nothing about you. That left only...Aizen," he explained, "Damn! How come I didn't think about this back then? Dammit!"

"W-what? What are you talking about?"

"...Aizen...he...might have made a contact with that friend of yours before I came to your place. The worst case, he might even have made a contract with her –"

"It's a him," interrupted the girl.

"Why you – geez. Fine, him. Say, is it just you who know that the time is being reversed?"

"Nope. Those who are my kind know since we aren't bound by the time we controlled."

"...this is not good," mumbled the orange haired one, "For god's sake, this is not good, damn!"

"C-calm down..." uttered the light-brown haired one.

"How am I supposed to –"

Before the amber eyed one could finish his protest, the now crimson eyed teenager casted a spell on him, successfully putting him into another deep sleep. She then sighed, "...shut up will you? Being agitated will just worsen the situation, baka."

###

"Ugh..." moaned the teenager as he moved his left hand to turn off the alarm. It really was a peaceful morning since no yell was heard, no door was thrown off from its hinge, and no window was shattered, it was like a miracle. The former shinigami was asked to go to the nearby town regarding his job. There was a hospital that was running out of medical personnel, so they ask him to go there, leaving his two daughters alone with their big brother.

"Finally, a morning without any –"

"Ichiiiiigooo~!" exclaimed a light-brown haired girl as she "opened" the door, and later, spoke in a sweet voice, "Mornin'! Hehe…"

"W-what the…" muttered the shocked teenager.

"Well, it's not like I want to yell and break the door though; your father told me to do so when he was away…" explained the girl.

"Uhh…my father? How do you know him anyway?"

"It's a secret!" replied the amber eyed one with a cheerfully.

The other teenager then sighed, "Then, I'll change the question. Why are you here?"

"Well, to do your father request, of course," answered the amber eyed midget.

"Geez, that old man…"

"Anyway, get ready, or you'll be late for school," said the girl.

"Late? But it's only – damn! It's already this late?" cried the other teenager as he jumped out from his white sheeted bed and rushed towards the wardrobe and took his uniform, "What're you doing? Get out so I can change!"

"S-sorry!" she apologized, soon followed by her leave.

'Geez. Anyway, it's been a week since I felt his reiatsu but nothing happened," thought the orange haired teenager as he changed into his school uniform, 'Was it really…my imagination? But that's –'

"Ichigoo, I'm going to leave you," exclaimed the amber eyed girl from downstairs.

"Okay, okay, I'm going! Geez…" he replied as he ran past his two sisters, "I'm goin', Karin, Yuzu."

###

"So, what happened?" inquired the orange haired one as he walked casually.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the light-brown haired one back.

"You came to my house on purpose right? Don't tell me…"

"Nothing special, really. I was just do what your father told me to," answered the girl.

"W-what? So you were serious about it?"

"Of couse I was!" she said as she protruded her tongue and later let out a smile.

"…you've changed," mumbled the orange haired teenager.

"Hmm?"

"You've changed. You used to be one clumsy, shy, and reticent girl, but now…" uttered he.

"Uhh…well…about that, there's a reason behind it. Haha…" replied the girl as she tapped her head with her right hand and smiled.

"A rea –"

"Hey, let's race. Who gets to the school first is the winner!" uttered the enthusiastic girl as she started running.

"Ch-chotto ma –"

Ichigo's words are interrupted by the release of a vast amount of reiatsu. The culprit was, unmistakably, the same guy from last week.

'T-this is…Ulquiorra?' thought the teenager which soon was followed by an exclamation, "Damn! At the time like this! Tch…"

The orange haired teenager then took out a green colored pill from his right pocket, rubbed it against his shirt, and swallowed it. A second later he was already in his spiritual body, separated from his physical one.

"Oi, Kon! Go to school and don't do anything stupid, got it?" exclaimed the substitute shinigami as he flied away.

"Aye sir!" said the Kon-called one, though, he later let out a suspicious smile.

"O-oi, wait for me, Ichigo!" cried the light-brown haired one as she followed the orange haired one.

###

A substitute shinigami was seen to be jumping from a rooftop to another at an unbelievable speed.

"O-oi, Ichigo! Wait up!" exclaimed the amber eyed midget who ran on the street below, trying to catch up with the shinigami.

Ignoring the girl, Ichigo was lost in his own thought, 'Damn! What is he doing here? I must get there as fast as I – wait. Come to think about it. Do I...know where he is?' He then sweatdropped and began grumbling, 'Geez, where is that rabbit maniac?'

"Rukia went to Soul Society yesterday, remember?" uttered the now-crimson eyed girl tonelessly. A second later, unfortunately for the strawberry, a layer of wind appeared before him, blocking his path. The orange haired teenager then, ungracefully, bumped on the layer and, again, ungracefully, fell onto a rooftop.

"O-ouch...what's that for?" protested the shinigami which led towards a quick reply from the girl.

"For leaving me behind and not listened to me," she said as she shot a death glare towards the poor teenager.

"U-uhh...s-sorry...ma'am," he mumbled.

"...pardon?" said the other one as she let out a gentle, yet ghastly smile.

"N-nothing, Haha..ha..." the orange haired one replied briefly as he forced a smile.

"...anyway, we must hurry."

"R-right. So, do you know where he is?" asked the male one, successfully made the girl sighed.

"Of course, baka!" the girl then, again, sighed, "I won't believe that there is someone like you if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"S-shut up!" cried the shinigami, "Let's go."

###

"So...this is the place...right?" inquired the orange haired teenager as he landed on the park outside the town

"...apparently, yes."

"...then why there isn't even any freakin' soul here?" uttered the amber eyed one with an unusual tone as he tried to hold his rage.

"...don't ask me."

"Don't give that! Geez..."

"...sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated with a regretful look on her face.

"W-well, It's not that I'm angry or – argh! Just forget it," uttered the other one.

"If you two want to act love-birds, don't do it at public places," said a familiar voice.

'T-this voice...it's him. It's him! It's Ulquiorra!'

"Long time no see, Kurosaki Ichigo," said the teal tear marked one, as usual, vacantly. The owner of the voice was a slender man with a melancholic look, fairly short, messy black hair, pale white skin, and a pair of teal colored eyes.

"Hmph...so, I was right," mumbled the orange haired one, "Ulquiorra Schiffer..."

"...so, you remember my name," said the teal eyed one.

"I'll...never forget you..." muttered the sad looking amber eyed one as he clenched his right hand, "Never..."

There was a slight pause before the pale one finally spoke as he unsheathed his katana from its green scabbard, "...anyway, let's finish our fight."

"W-what?" the orange haired one said, "I...have no reason to fight you. Back then in Hueco Mundo, I must fight you in order to save Orihime. But now..."

"...then die," muttered the black haired one as he dashed towards Ichigo at an unbelievable speed.

"Ichigo!" exclaimed the light-brown haired one as she pushed the orange haired one away.

Translation
Reiatsu: Spiritual pressure
Baka: Idiot
Chotto matte: Wait

Ulquiorra is here! Yay! XD

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Ja ne.