Run. Attack. Run. Dodge. Attack. Dodge. Masaki couldn't bring herself to say that her husband, the man who would willingly make himself a fool in public, was a better fighter than she was. Isshin was much quicker than what she would have guessed. It was almost impossible for her to keep up with all of the attacks. She was witnessing the captain of the squad eight being pushed to his heels.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he husband yelled and released a energy wave powerful enough to destroy the arch behind the captain. But even then, the captain refused to bring out his sword and fight seriously.

"You know, even though a battle is happening right in front of you, you shouldn't leave yourself wide open for an attack from behind. Someone else could be around and attack you from behind," a calm voice commented.

The mother turned around, grabbing hold onto her charm and prepared to attack.

"You can relax. My captain wouldn't like that I have taken up the opportunity to fight you and possibly kill you. He would probably reprimanded me for even thinking the thought of killing someone, especially a woman," the young girl said, standing by her calmly. She made no move to reach for any type of weapon.

Masaki relaxed slightly but sill had a strong hold on her charm. She watched as the once serious young girl turned into a calm, peace-loving lieutenant.

"You are Ichigo's mother, am I correct?" Nanao asked. Masaki nodded, unsure how they gotten on that topic.

"He talked a lot about you. Especially when he was younger. Sometimes I had to wonder if you were actually real. He kept going on about how you were the best mother in the world and that you always tried to keep a smile and would do superhuman tasks like save him from beastly creatures." the glasses wearing lieutenant smiled, "He was quite the storyteller at his age."

Masaki was surprised that her son thought so highly of her. While he was in the World of the Living, he wasn't exactly like the son she had when he was nine. He was more mature and didn't seem to relax for very long. He was also very quiet talking about his past. So to hear that he was so comfortable talking about his family got Masaki thinking about her son's past in Soul Society.

In the background, the swords were suddenly clashing. Apparently Shunsui finally brought his dual swords. Finally when Isshin couldn't take the captain's dodging any longer, he let out another Getsuga Tensho. Kyoraku dodged it easily with a Flash Step and landed right behind the ex-Shinigami.

"Hmm? Isshin? Why are you so serious? It isn't good to show your wild side to your beautiful wife. She might get scared of you," the captain asked. Both of his blades were already in Shikai, but it was apparent that he didn't want to kill the intruder.

The ex-captain stayed still and saw that his wife was very close to the lieutenant of the eighth squad.

"Is she ready?" Isshin asked.

"My Nanao is always ready," Shunsui smiled and made a quick movement with his hand.

Nanao caught the slight movement and took hold of the mother's wrist and then Flash Stepped away. Masaki gasped at the sudden kidnapping and struggled against the movement. But despite the struggle, they Nanao managed to escape the battle scene exactly on schedule.

"Really Isshin. You should really trust your wife a bit more. She doesn't look the type to get hurt that easily. Especially with that little charm with her," Kyoraku sheathed his sword as he spoke. Isshin looked towards the direction his wife was taken to.

"I didn't do it to protect her physically. I did it to protect her mental state. There is no way that she would accept what had happen to Ichigo so calmly," the father stated. He closed his eyes and mouthed a silent prayer for her safety.

"And what exactly happened to your son?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Isshin asked, confused that the one of the wisest captains wasn't aware of the state his son was in.

Kyoraku shook his head, signifying that he had no clue what the man was talking about.

"What has happened to Ichigo was the same thing that had happened to your previous lieutenant, Lisa," Isshin answered. The captain widen his eyes and mentally smacked himself for not noticing earlier.

"And do you know who exactly did it?"

"Who else? Sosuke Aizen," Isshin stated and walked away from the captain. Kyoraku frowned and hid his face within his straw hat's shadow.

"Well, I'm afraid you're a little late. Word has gotten out and around that the captain of the Fifth Squad had already died. Unless, you think otherwise,"

"Anyone who can hide a person's hollowfication for this long wouldn't go down that easily," Isshin said, walking passed the straw hat captain.

"He's not in his cell anymore. He's probably somewhere around the city, making havoc. Probably already have a couple of captains after him," Shunsui stated

"I know that. He's my son, isn't he?"

"Like father, like son it seems. See you around, old friend," The eighth squad captain turned his back as the father went out to find his so-called criminal of a son.

-(Divider)-

Dead end. Dead end. Dead end. Why did Seiretei have of so many dead ends! It was hard enough to get into this place, so why would the roads become dead ends? Doesn't anyone get lost in this maze? To make matters worse, Ganju could have swore that he had dropped the only sticks of dynamite he had somewhere along the run. It didn't make it any better that a high level Shinigami was chasing him too.

'Maybe I lost him at that last turn,' Ganju though and turned his head around.

"The way you run is ugly," the fashionable Death God criticized and ran at a faster pace. Ganju turned his head back and saw that he had landed in a dead end. He thought quickly and remembered a chant from a scroll he read.

"Turn into sand, Seeba!" His moved his hand in a circular motion and slammed his hand onto the wall, turning a portion of the wall into sand. He quickly jumped through the newly formed hole and found himself in another problem. There was no more ground to walk on ahead of him.

"Too, Too, Too dangerous! If I fall down that pit, I'll die for sure!"

"It used to be an execution place. We used to put Hollows into that pit and let criminals fight against them while we watched from the stages on both sides," Yumichika informed, startling the youngest Shiba brother slightly. The fifth seat stood casually behind him, watching to see the next move be played.

"Hmp, Shinigami hobbies are so cruel," Ganju noted, smirking a bit.

"It's nothing compared to watching your face throughout this battle. Of course, that kind of cruel punishment has been abolished a long time ago," the eleventh squad officer said.

"... I think, you've run and talk enough. It's time," Yumichika brought out his zanpaktou, "I'll let you choose. Would you rather I kill you in beautiful way or would you like to jump into that ugly pit and die pitifully? And please look the this way and show me your expression. I want to see how ugly you can get. Because, it doesn't matter what your choose, you're going to die either way."

The Shiba Clansman didn't answer right away. The action apparently angered his soon-to-be killer.

"I can't stand it when people are in a life and death situation and they don't know what to do," the feathery Shinigami stated. While he was talking, Ganju reached out for a small object.

"When I said your hobbies were cruel, this is exactly what I meant," Ganju smiled and created distance between the two of them by setting off a small fire cracker. They jumped away and gave Ganju a perfect chance to bring out his blade to fight.

The moment Yumichika saw that Ganju was ready to fight seriously and not run away again, he came charging at full strength. At the first swing, Ganju dodged. By the time the second swing came, he already had a counter attack planned. He didn't expect the third swing to come so quickly and that led to many other swings causing him to be shallowly cut on his head and leaving several scratches on the rest of his body.

From a distance, he could hear a building collapsing from an explosion. At first, he thought that Rukia had lost and her opponent was crushing her under the building. But he remembered the resolve she had to save Ichigo and knew that she wouldn't have lost so easily. Even if her opponent was stronger than the one he was facing now. He began to focus, trying to sense a bit of her spiritual energy to reassure him he was right.

"Sound like it's getting pretty lively over there. It looks like we're going to have to finish it right here. My partner never likes it when he has to wait for me to finish," Yumichika observed and Ganju grimly agreed.

"Don't sound so carefree. Looks like I'm going to have lead you along to your death. Won't you try and beat me and my Fuji Kujaku?"

Ganju smiled as he reached for something behind him once more. The fifth seat watched carefully as he pulled out another object, but it was so small he could identify it.

"Just stop now. Your friend already lost, don't you know that? Ikkaku is one of our best fighters in our squad, which also makes him the one of the best of the whole Gotei Thirteen. Rukia Kuchiki, despite having that beautiful name, isn't even a seater officer. There's just no chance that she won that fight,"

What the Shiba clansman pulled out was a red smoke bomb. He smiled.

"You Shinigami better have some classes in detecting spiritual pressure or something. Because even I can tell that the battle is already over, and your Shinigami friend lost!" Yumichika widen his eyes in disbelief. He was stunned for the moment. Ganju took the opportunity and lit the firecracker on fire at the fuse. He threw the bomb onto the fashionable Yumichika and created more room between him. He took the opportunity to create a trap as the smoke began to disappear.

'Keep stalling. He still underestimates me,' Ganju thought. The eleven squad officer walked forward and tried to stop Ganju from what he thought was trying to cast one of his strange earth spells. It was when he was almost pushed off the ledge again did the tables turn.

"What a shame. I would think if one was born ugly, he should at least die beautifully," the fifth seat said, overlooking the so-called ugly man.

"I guess that we were taught different things. Because what I was taught that who ever survives was the finest of them all!" The fireworks apprentice began his trap by leading his opponent to fall into the pit by unleashing another Seeba attack. As expected he caught onto the ledge. Ganju used Yumichika's head to climb back onto land.

"Why you! Don't you dare touch me!" The flamboyant officer was ignored as the Shiba youngest brother unleashed his ultimate attack.

"Shiba Style Rock Wave Secret Move!" Ganju shouted and had the ground become under a certain area of cement become sand, successfully moving that area of ground Yumichika was standing on into the pit. The officer moved out of harm's way and appeared in the sky.

"You fool. You think that attack will finish me? Where are you?"

"Hey Shinigami! Take this!" Ganju threw a bomb at him. He smirked and ran away, only fantasizing what was to be left of his opponent. It wasn't particularly strong, so it wouldn't kill him. But if it would make that man's face as ugly as a boar and that alone made this whole entire battle a huge success.

-(Divider)-

"Kuchiki, where are you? You wouldn't want to keep your brother waiting," Ikkaku sang, almost too happily. Rukia was currently hiding in the shadows of a dead end trying to silence her hard breathing. She knew she couldn't face him head on and expect to live. It was a wonder that Ichigo managed to live through all the sparring matches he had with the bald third seat.

The sound of footsteps became louder as she wasted time remembering past memories of her lieutenant. The raven haired Shinigami had to think of some kind of plan quickly. She scanned her surroundings, desperately hoping something will spark some kind of inspiration in her mind. When her eyes landed on what seemed to be her only hope, she prayed that her decision wouldn't come and haunt her later.

She grabbed the few sticks of dynamite that must have been left by Ganju seeing as he was one of the only people to leave the destructive bombs lying around so carelessly. The footsteps suddenly stopped. Rukia hid the dynamite within her sleeve and prayed that they won't fall out while she tried to execute her plan.

"Found ya'" The third seat said. He held his sheathed zanpaktou over his shoulder and wore a smug grin on his face. Rukia held her breath from feeling the killing intent of his reiatsu. She had to get out of the corner she was trapped in. After that, she had to hope that Ganju also left some kind of match to use.

"Che. You look like a helpless little kid. Where was that spunk you had back there? Weren't you Ichigo's student too? Don't tell me that this was all he taught you," Ikkaku comment. Rukia didn't say anything and tried to look for an opening to escape.

"I think we should just end this quickly. Yumichika probably is already finish with the other one. And he really hates waiting for me," the bald man said, "Grow! Hozuikmaru!" Ikkaku slammed the hilt of his sword to its sheath. The action caused the blade to become a spear. At the end opposite of the blade was a red feathery tail. The petite Death God remembered that Ichigo had told her that Ikkaku was not someone to underestimate.

'A spear may be slower to attack with, but with Ikkaku, that's far from the truth. You always have to be prepared for an attack you won't see,'

Just when the bald third seat was about to attack, Rukia saw an opening to escape. She dashed to the right of the man under his arm and ran as fast as she could. There had to be a match somewhere around here. Why did her zanpaktou had to be a ice-type and not a fire-type!

But before she could even make five feet away from the dead end, Ikkaku had already caught up with her using Flash Step. He appeared front of her to show that she couldn't outrun him. Rukia looked up and saw that Ikkaku's head shinned in the sunlight and that gave her a brilliant idea. The noble adoptive silently thanked Ichigo silently for teaching her a few tricks from the World of the Living.

"You're really lucky that you have your brother's protection. But I don't think he'll mind if I were to 'accidentally' stab you with my blade. As long as you're still living, I think I will get away from it," Rukia didn't say anything. Her gaze was steadily focused on the blade of the spear and its position from the sun. He lifted the weapon above his head and the raven haired Shinigami brought out the dynamite secretly.

"Have any last regrets, Kuchiki?" Ikkaku asked, his spear sill above his head. The sun's rays were in the perfect position and hit the blade. A chain reaction started and the reflected sunlight hit the fuse of the dynamite and lit it on fire. When smoke began to appear, the noble took saw it as a word of caution to run away.

'As long as you have something that can reflect the sun's rays on to a specific point, you can light anything on fire. It's a simple trick my dad taught me,' Ichigo's words echoed in her mind. She felt proud that she had listened to what he had to say that day.

Ikkaku had already widen his eyes and tried to escape the bombs' range. But Rukia refused the action and toss the sticks towards him. A second later, they blew up. The explosion was large enough to cause a nearby building to fall down. Rukia could only hope that Ganju had as good of luck she did and that Ikkaku did not die from a building falling upon him.

In the background she heard fireworks being fired. The only person dumb enough to cause such an explosion in the open was the Shiba clansman. She smiled and ran to reach her ally, but was stopped by an unexpected visitor.

He grabbed her wrists without a second of hesitation and Flash Stepped masterfully out of the scene. Rukia didn't yell. All she could do was stare at her kidnapper's unusual hair. She was suddenly put on her kidnapper's back. And neither of them said a word until they landed inside a dark warehouse.

"Been a while, hasn't it, Rukia?" the voice seemed to be watered down.

"Ichigo..." The noble could only say her friend's name as she watch him reach for the mask that was on his face. It was a white mask with red stripes running down its left side. In his hand was a Hollow's mask.

Has anyone seen the most recent Bleach chapter? 409? It's awesome.