Me: thank u 4 all the reviews! I am so glad ppl like the story! –SQUEAL!!!!!- -deep breath- now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, only the characters that will show up l8r on that no 1 has heard of. U'll find out whom eventually.
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Ulquiorra rose from the bed, the covers slipping down his slim shoulder slightly as he looked around with blank eyes. He couldn't figure out what, but something didn't feel right and it was bothering him. His stomach rolled and twisted slightly, but he ignored it. He knew what was wrong there and knew it wasn't what was bothering him and that the nausea would pass in a moment.
There was a knock on his door before Ulquiorra allowed the person entry. "Hey," Grimmjow greeted as he walked in. "You okay? I felt a spike in your energy."
"I'm fine," Ulquiorra replied, lying back down on the bed, not caring that his torso was exposed.
"Don't feed me that bullshit," the teal-haired Arrancar muttered as he went over to the bed and sat down at the foot. "What's wrong? You're energy doesn't spike up like that for no reason."
The pale Arrancar sighed slightly, turning his head a little to look towards Grimmjow. "I sense something is wrong, but I can't figure out what."
"Think it's that?" Grimmjow asked, looking towards Ulquiorra's stomach before the other shook his head.
"No," he replied. "I'm sure it's not."
"Then what?"
"I don't know."
Grimmjow blinked in surprised a couple times. Ulquiorra never admitted to not knowing something. Even if it was something he couldn't figure it out, he eventually did and only left the questioner alone in silence. This was unusual.
"Any thoughts?" he asked.
Ulquiorra was silent for a moment, his eyes staring into the wall with thought. "Ichigo," he said after a moment's silence. "I've only felt like this once before and it was because something happened to him. Remember?"
"Yeah," Grimmjow sighed. "We found him surrounded by all kinds of Hollows and he was getting tired. Damn idiot, testing his strength out like that when it was still brand new to him."
"I think something may be wrong with him," Ulquiorra interrupted. "We should go see if it is him or not."
"And if it's not?" the other scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Then I don't know what it is," was all Ulquiorra said before he threw the covers off his nude form and went over to his wardrobe for some clothing.
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Kon shot up, breathing in gulps of air. He felt every pain that was inside of Ichigo's chest as soon as they would switch. He could feel the lungs burning for oxygen and was surprised Ichigo didn't suffocate to death from the delay of the switch. Maybe it was just his energy keeping him alive until they could. He let out some hard coughs to clear the throat before realizing that he and Ichigo were not alone in the room and hesitantly looked towards the others.
They were all wide eyed at Ichigo's appearance. He was completely dressed in white clothing with black trimmings, similar to an Arrancar's outfit. It was opened on his chest, showing a hole exactly where his heart should have been. A fragment of his mask was covering the right side of his forehead and right cheek, barely reaching out towards the center of his face. There was a pair of red lines stretching from under his hairline to about an inch from his nose, going into a point. Zangetsu, despite how large the zanpakuto was, wasn't seen anywhere near him.
Kon's eyes went towards Isshin with his head down, thinking that this was the worst situation for Ichigo personally. Ichigo still didn't know about his father being a former Shinigami. And he knew he was going to get an earful from the other if he told them anything.
"Kon," Rukia choked out before he looked over to her. "Please tell me that this is just a joke of some sort."
Kon chewed on his bottom lip, eyes going towards Ichigo for a second, before he slowly shook his head.
"How the hell is he an Arrancar?!" Renji yelled out. "He wasn't a Shinigami long enough to even get close to Hollowfication! And he wasn't attacked by any Hollow strong enough to turn him into one!"
"I can't say!" Kon whined. "He made me promise!"
"You knew about this?" Hitsugaya asked with a raised eyebrow. "And didn't tell anyone?"
"He made me promise not to tell anyone," Kon said, lowering his gaze to the floor. "I had to keep my promise to him."
"How long as he been an Arrancar, Kon?" Isshin asked, looking up at him.
"A couple months, I think," Kon replied in a low, quiet tone. "And if certain pair figures out that you all know about this, they're going to think you're gonna try and kill him and overreact about things before they get an explanation."
"Just explain this to us, Kon," Rukia sighed, leaning against a counter to keep herself up. This was too much for her to handle.
"I don't know everything," Kon stated. "Ichigo didn't tell me much. He just said he lost control one day and when he turned into a Hollow, he was already strong enough to be turned into a fully developed Arrancar and Aizen found him some time after he turned into a Hollow and turned him into an Arrancar."
"So he works for Aizen and he's been playing with us this whole time?" Renji growled out.
"No!" Kon yelled at him. "Ichigo didn't tell any of you because he didn't want to hurt you. He figured that if he told you what had happened, you would automatically assume he worked for Aizen and call him a traitor. He didn't want that. And for your information, Ichigo isn't like those other Arrancars, who have only Aizen. He's independent and Aizen knows that if he pushed Ichigo too far, he'll leave.
"And in case you are wondering, every single time Aizen tried to give him a mission that involved spying on or fighting against you guys, Ichigo always refused. He told him right from the beginning that if he made him turn against you guys or anyone else he cares for, he will leave."
"Kon," Rukia sighed. "Can't you just tell us everything you know about this?"
"No," Kon replied. "I don't know much other than he used to be a Vaizard."
"What is a Vaizard?" Renji muttered with a roll of his eyes.
"A Vaizard is a Shinigami that crossed over into the realm of Hollows to gain their powers," Isshin replied. "There are a few around here that used to be captains and vice captains. I take it they were training Ichigo how to control his Hollow half." He looked up at Kon, who nodded in response. Isshin sighed heavily. "Now I understand why his body was rejecting him."
"It does every week he's in it," Kon said. "That's usually when we switch for a week so he could give his body a break."
"This body isn't made to withstand the spiritual pressure of an Arrancar," Isshin muttered lowly under his breath. "Just as far as a Vaizard."
"Aren't they sort of the same thing, only opposites?" Rukia asked.
"In a way, yes," Isshin replied. "Vaizards are stronger than the average Shinigami because of their Inner Hollows. But an Arrancar, depending on what kind of Hollow they were before and what their original strength used to be, can be much stronger than a Vaizard, especially spiritual pressure wise. And Hollows that used to be Shinigami were already more powerful than the average Hollow, so an Arrancar made from a Vaizard that went through Hollowfication would be extremely powerful."
"How strong should Ichigo be right now?" Hitsugaya asked. So far, he was the only one keeping a cool head, beside Isshin, who strangely didn't seem bothered by the fact that his son was now an Arrancar.
"Judging by his original strength and power, then the slight increase when he turned into a full Vaizard," Isshin muttered lowly under his breath before his eyes spotted someone on the back of Ichigo's neck. Curious, he tilted his son's head to the side a little bit before seeing the large bold zero.
"Zero?" Renji said, lifting an eyebrow at the number. "Why does he have a zero on his neck?"
The others though for a minute until Kon sighed in slight defeat. He knew they wouldn't let him go unless he told them about everything he knew about the situation. "It's the Espada Rank," he stated. "I remember Ichigo mentioning that the lower the number, the higher their rank is. Their rank also says who is stronger than who from one through ten. If Ichigo has a zero on his neck, that means he is an Espada and he's the strongest Arrancar."
"Then he has to be considered as a threat to Soul Society," Hitsugaya hesitantly said, closing his eyes. "He knows too much as it is. He could be an inside source for Aizen."
"Why would I do that?" a scratchy voice asked before everyone looked over at Ichigo, who was rubbing his unmasked eye. "How much do you know now?"
"Plenty," Rukia replied.
There was an uneasy pause. "Look, guys," he sighed. "I didn't want you to find out because I didn't want you to think I chose him over you. I didn't want to hurt any of you by this. And by the way, dad, hanging around the Espada, one tends to learn how to keep the ears opened when unconscious. It saves us from pranks." Isshin lowered his head in shame. "I don't care if you kept all that from me. I bet you originally did it to protect me from all of this. Didn't turn out the way you wanted, huh?"
"Unfortunately, it didn't," Isshin lowly chuckled.
"Chad, Uryu, Inoue," Ichigo called. "Don't think I don't know you're listening through the door and wall. Stop it. Come on in. I won't bite." A few seconds past before the door opened and the three stepped in, their eyes going wide when they saw Ichigo. "I know. This is a shock."
"How did this happen to you, Kurosaki-kun?" Orohime asked with her hand over her mouth.
"I should wait until the others come in so I don't have to repeat myself," Ichigo sighed as he got to his feet. "I give them three seconds." They stared at him unusually before a heavy thud was heard hitting the outside wall of the clinic. "Especially with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra out there." He took a couple testing steps to see if he would be stopped, but the only one that tried to stop him was Hitsugaya.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo," he said. "But with you as an Arrancar now, we can't risk you going back to Aizen."
"Because for all you know, I could be an inside spy, right, Hitsugaya-taichou?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow. "You shouldn't be sorry. You're doing your job. I should be sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you as soon as this happened. I'm sorry I kept it a secret. I'm sorry for being weak enough to allow my Hollow half enough control for Aizen to find me as a Hollow and turn me into an Arrancar. And I'm sorry, but I won't fight you unless you give me no choice. I need to get to them. If you stand in my way, then I have no choice."
"Why do you feel like you need to get to them?" Rukia asked before a loud crash was heard.
"Because Grimmjow has a temper and Ulquiorra is probably worried as hell," the orange-haired teen sighed as he stepped around the short captain and headed out the room.
"What the hell?!" they heard Ikkaku's voice exclaim when Ichigo was in the hallway. The others left the room, ready to battle if they needed to.
At the door stood both the Sexta and Cuatro Espada. Grimmjow had his zanpakuto unsheathed, gripped tightly in his hand. Ulquiorra wasn't too far from him with blood smeared on his hand and a couple of droplets of red on his cheek.
"They found out," Ulquiorra said.
Ichigo nodded, even though he knew it was not a question. "We can't always keep secrets a secret now, can we, Ulqui?" he asked.
"Not unless you're really good at keeping them," Grimmjow commented, sheathing his weapon.
"What are you two doing here?"
"I sensed something was wrong and figured it had something to do with you," Ulquiorra replied. "I was right. Your friends found out about you."
"They don't know the whole story yet," Ichigo pointed out with a low sigh and a shrug of his shoulders as he calmly went over to them. He gave Ulquiorra a peck on the lips before Grimmjow wrapped his arm around Ichigo's waist.
"Okay, officially confused!" Matsumoto commented.
"Grimmjow," Ichigo sighed. "Let go of me. We don't want to traumatize anyone." Grimmjow glared at Ichigo's friends, reluctantly releasing the hold he had on the other's waist.
"Ichigo," Hitsugaya spoke, already separated from his body with mod-soul controlling his gigai. "We can't allow you to leave."
Ichigo smirked slightly. "Can't?" he repeated, looking towards Grimmjow before Ulquiorra and finally the others, who all were separated from their gigai for the exception of his father. "Then catch us if you can. If you can catch us, then I'll go along without a fight. If you can't, then we're safely in Hueco Mundo and you guys give up."
"Sounds like an interesting challenge," Ulquiorra commented. "Where's the meeting point going to be?"
"We didn't even agree to this!" Renji pointed out in a yell.
Ichigo ignored them as he thought for a minute. "At the school," he replied before looking over at the others. "And you can't race ahead of us to corner us. You won't know how long it would take us or what we could be planning. Accept?"
"When did this turn into a game for you, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.
"When you found I am the Arrancar Prince and when I said I won't fight you unless you give me no choice," the orange-haired Arrancar stated with a low sigh. The others were confused at the little 'Arrancar Prince' part. "I'm trying to give myself an option other than fighting against you guys and hurting you more than you already are." He looked at the other two Espada before smirking slightly and glancing back towards the Shinigami. "Catch us if you can."
"Wait!" Orohime yelled out before the three Arrancar shot out the door and into the sky.
"He's not going to make this easy for us," Hitsugaya sighed. "Ikkaku. Yumichika. Matsumoto. Right now, try and catch Ichigo. We'll fill you in on everything else later. Let's move!"
"Yes, sir," the others said before they ran out the clinic and chased after the Arrancars.
Ulquiorra turned his head slightly to see the Shinigami chasing after them before looking back over to Ichigo. "What do they know so far?" he asked.
"That I'm an Arrancar, my dad is the one who I got my original powers from, I have a Hollow half, and that Aizen found me and turned me onto an Arrancar when he found me," Ichigo replied before looking at the pale Espada with a smirk. "Anything else, I wasn't paying attention."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Grimmjow chuckled before Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and laughed out loud.
"Gin!" Ichigo yelled out. "I know you're watching us on your monitors! Get someone ready to open a gargantuan for us when we get to the school!"
"Think he'll pay attention?" the Sexta Espada asked.
"He better or I'll kick his ass, no matter what Aizen says or does to me," Ichigo replied with a smirk.
"Well I don't think he's going to risk not listening," Ulquiorra sighed as they picked up the speed.
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Gin smirked when he watched Ichigo yell out into the sky, talking to him. How he knew Gin was always watching the monitors, he never could figure that out. But it was always amusing to watch the Arrancar Prince yell out into thin air.
"Well, better do what he asked!" Gin chirped before calling, "Noitra! Szayel! Got something I need ya to do!"
A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal the tall Fifth Espada and pink-haired Eighth. "What is you need us to do, Ichimaru-sama?" Szayel asked with a small smile.
"Ichigo was found out!" Gin exclaimed cheerfully. "Be ready to open a gargantuan for him above Karakura High. He's playing a game with his Shinigami friends."
"Sounds like him to avoid harming them," Noitra muttered before turning around and walking off.
"Noitra!" Szayel whined, running to the taller Espada. "Wait up!"
"Why do we both need to go?" Noitra asked when Szayel was next to him.
"Because we may be needed in case a Shinigami tries to come through the gargantuan," Szayel sighed. "Besides, he knew you wouldn't do anything unless I was there with you. And he wouldn't send me alone in case a Shinigami came through because you're paranoid that something will happen that will result in damaging my physical health."
"I am not paranoid, damn it!" Noitra stated.
"You are," Szayel chuckled slightly, waving his finger side to side. "You just won't admit it."
"What did I do when I was alive or when I was a Hollow to be stuck with you forever?" Noitra joked, earning a small smack on his arm. "Didn't hurt."
"Wasn't supposed to."
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"That the place?" Grimmjow asked, nudging his head towards a building not too far away from them.
"Yeah," Ichigo replied with a nod of his head. "Now that we're so close, they're going to try harder to capture us."
"We can easily beat them," the teal-haired Arrancar scoffed.
"I would rather avoid physical fighting against them, Grimmjow," Ichigo sighed with a couple shakes of his head. "Why is it that Ulquiorra can understand that, but you can't?"
"Because you're both submissive," the other stated with a smirk. "You're mine and he's yours. I'm the main dominant of our relationship."
"And he's the main submissive and I'm stuck in the middle," Ichigo added with a roll of his eyes before looking over to Ulquiorra, who seemed to have been looking around for some reason. "Ulquiorra? Something up?"
"I'm not sure," Ulquiorra replied, still glancing around.
Ichigo lifted an eyebrow before glancing down at the area they were above. "Damn," he swore. "This is where the Vaizards normally are. Keep an eye open. Even the Vaizards don't know of my change."
Grimmjow and Ulquiorra nodded once before they heard a, "Howl, Zabimaru!"
"Should have said no attacks," Ichigo commented as he dodged the fanged zanpakuto. Ulquiorra tilted to the side a little bit when the weapon went back towards its wielder while Grimmjow just glared at them, his hands clenched into fists.
"I really want to just turn back and kill them all!" he growled out, popping his knuckles.
"No!" Ichigo yelled. "They are to receive no harm, Grimmjow!"
"You're so soft," the teal-haired Arrancar snorted before Ichigo grabbed his arm and picked up the speed, trying to put more distance between them before Grimmjow decided he wasn't going to listen to orders. Ulquiorra kept pace. "Hey! I don't need to be dragged around, damn it!"
"Unless you want to fight against Hirako again, yes you do," Ichigo commented, letting go of Grimmjow's arm. "Just keep your speed. We're almost there. And I can see the gargantuan opening." A smirk grew on his face when it opening was large enough for him to see who was there. "He sends Noitra and Szayel."
"Better than a fraccion member," Ulquiorra commented. "If those Shinigami do catch up to us, I doubt us three and a fraccion member or two would be enough to fight them off long enough for us to enter the gargantuan and close it before one of them enters."
"Why do you doubt we could handle them ourselves?" Grimmjow asked with a faint glare.
"Because Ichigo doesn't wish to fight them and you know exactly why else, Grimmjow," the pale Arrancar pointed out.
"You two hiding something from me?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"His thing to tell," Grimmjow replied, pointing towards Ulquiorra.
"It's amusing that we can have a conversation like this while we have Shinigami after us," Ulquiorra sighed before a single twitch met the corner of his lips.
"I think he almost smiled!" Grimmjow exclaimed with a single laugh before Ulquiorra rolled his eyes with a shake of his head.
Ichigo just snickered slightly before noticing something in the air surrounding them. "Oh shit," he said. "Forgot about her zanpakuto." He turned his head to see Matsumoto holding the hilt of her sword, but the hilt held no blade.
"What's up with all this ash?" Grimmjow asked.
"It's Matsumoto's zanpakuto's ability!" Ichigo stated. "The ash is a weapon for her! Pick up speed and clear out of it before she uses it on us." His warning came a little too late before Ulquiorra gasped out loudly and clutched his now bleeding side.
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Me: not as long as the first chapter, but it'll do and it has a cliffhanger! –evil laugh- I'm playing, but seriously, the more u review, the faster I'll get the next chappy up. K? deal? Then review!