Ichigo Kurosaki was not, in any way, shape or form, amused at the moment.

And he was missing the reason why the hell everyone else was.

It wasn't his fault that Aizen seemed to think running him through was a good idea. Just as it wasn't his fault he never knew his father was a Shinigami at some point. And it really, really wasn't his fault that, convinced he was going to die, he had confessed his feelings to that damn midget of a Shinigami only to discover that she felt the same way when she pressed his lips to hers. Along the line of things that were not his fault, surviving was one of them. Sure he was alive, in some regard, but he was about as useless as the unconscious Gin Ichimaru. Frankly if his family continued to plan his wedding any longer he had a feeling he was just going to take Zangetsu and finish the job Aizen had started. That would be far preferrable to listening to their incessant chatter, not to mention correcting them that even if Hitsugaya was dating Karin he was not going to be a groomsman.

"And then, my son, you will give me grandchildren," Isshin declared.

"Dad!" he felt his face heat up but it was nothing compared to the soft laughter in the doorway

.

Rukia Kuchiki were standing there and suddenly he thought his Zanpaktou was much to far away to do an effective job.

"Come on," Yuzu said finally dragging Isshin to his feet, "we can't plan a wedding if they haven't even gone on a date yet," she pointed out dryly.

And then they were alone.

He swallowed thickly. This was unfamiliar ground for him. Of course he had dated girls before but not ones he had actually really cared about, not ones like Rukia. She stood in the doorway in all of her understated glory, the white hospital robe she wore far too similar to the one that she had worn to her execution for his liking. He could see the bandages on her body, the discoloration of her left eye and the way she favored her left leg slightly but to his eyes she had never looked more beautiful. He knew the scars she'd forever carry on her shoulderblade were his fault. She had protected him and paid a high price for it. Guilt welled up in him along with the positivity that Byakuya Kuchiki was, once again, going to kick his ass. Only this time he had a feeling he was also going to be forbidden from even thinking about Rukia, much less dating her. He stopped, he didn't even know if she wanted to date him. It was one thing to profess love on a battlefield when you were convinced you were going to die, it was quite another to actually make a relationship work. He looked down at the sheet that covered his legs, unaware she had moved until she was next to him.

"Ichigo," she began. He looked up at her, unsure of what to say. As usual Rukia seemed to know far better what to do because she leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. That was fine for Ichigo who leaned as much as his bandages would allow and returned the kiss, one of his arms coming alongside her waist as he supported his weight on it, "feel better?" she asked breathlessly when they broke apart after a moment.

"Until your brother puts me back here," he said with a grin.

She smacked him.

"What the hell was that for?!" he cried indignantly.

"You got yourself in this position trying be a hero!" she shouted.

"I was trying to save the world!"

"You rushed off into battle like an idiot! You deserve to be lying here! And furthermore if you're going to date me you'd better try to get along with my brother!"

"I do try!" he shouted.

"Try harder!"

He growled and leaned forward, seizing her lips with his own. She pressed back harder, using her better health to push him back onto the pillows and take control of the kiss. He fought back but not as much as he could have. After all, having Rukia pressed against him, kissing him so soundly, well he could think of a lot worse ways to re-open some wounds. She sat back on her heels and gave him a satisfied smirk that had her violet eyes dancing. He decided right then and there that dating Rukia Kuchiki was deffinitely a good idea, especially if this was how they were planning to end all of their arguments from now on. At the sound of Kensei's angry voice though, the outside world caught up and he reluctantly drew away. Rukia settled herself on the bed next to him and looked up at him until their eyes locked. She saw the unspoken fear in them. He was, after all, a Vizard himself. Even if they were seeking a cure it would undoubtably come at a terribly price and not one that she was sure was worth it. Nel may have appeared as a fully grown woman but inside she still acted like the little girl with the crush on Ichigo who had glared at her furiously.

"They'll be okay," she said softly, "they survived this long."

"I know," he said with a sigh, one of his arms looping about her shoulders and pulling her closer as if he needed to touch her to reassure himself that she was still there, that was fine with her since she need just as much reassurance as he did.

Break

Halibel struggled against the overwhelming desire to remain sleeping. Whatever this idiotic fool of a scientist had doped her with was doing its job since it felt like the remnants of her mask were now over her eyelids instead of her jaw. Somewhere to her left she heard Nel whimper and curl tightly around herself, the paper of the exam table she was on rustling under her body. She tried to make a fist, to move, to do anything but her entire body felt numb, especially around her Hollow Hole. She felt the brush of a cotton swab poking but it was just a dull pressure, like it was running along the outside of her skin. As quickly as the pressure had come it was once again gone. She caught the sound of protest, of need for contact, before it had a chance to escape from her lips.

"Yes, yes, yes," she heard the voice of Mayuri come to her ears, "oh yes, Nemu! Nemu get in here you failed creation!" someone entered the room, "go give this to that idiot Kisuke. Tell him we've got bone marrow forming now and that within a few days, when I accelerate this properly, I'll be able to stimulate muscle tissue and tendons and then we should have two nice, whole Shinigami on our hands."

"What will happen to them?" a cool voice asked softly.

"They'll be Shinigami," he said, exasperation clear in his voice, "its not like we're just going to kill them off, we're short handed as it is."

That, more than anything else, was unsettling to Halibel but she had no time to ponder as the pull of sleep became overhwelming and, against her will, she succumbed to it.

Nemu watched the olive skinned Espada relax on the exam table and hoped that knowing her fate was not sealed had given her some small measure of comfort. Mayuri turned back to his work and she walked over to the green haired Espada. She looked far too childlike for Nemu's comfort. It was true what he was saying, her eyes could pick out the barely visible lengthening of the bones that lined her Hollow Hole. They were growing rapidly and would continue to do so as it began to fill in. The green haired girl looked at Nemu with water-filled eyes and she found herself pitying the poor creature. Her lip trembled and she looked down before looking back up at her.

"I'm cold," she whispered curling tighter into a ball.

"Hold on," Nemu walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a blanket before grabbing another.

"What are you doing?!" Mayuri hollered at her.

"Making sure your creations don't die!" she barked turning around and glaring at him. His eyes widened in shock at her outburst before narrowing to slits, "this won't interfer," she added, softening her voice and lowering her eyes, "but if they do die this will all be for nought."

"I suppose your right," he said after a moment's consideration, "they aren't as strong as you anyway," he waved for her to continue, turning back to his notes.

Nemu walked over to the green haired Espada and spread the blanket over her, making sure she was far more covered. She turned to go and cover the olive skinned one but the green haired one's hand tugged at her wrist.

"Is Halibel okay?" she asked softly. Nemu realized she was asking about her friend and could only nod, "what about Ulquiorra a-and Grimmjow?" she questioned, "and Ichigo?"

"They are alright," Nemu answered finally, "Ichigo as well."

She nodded, her green hair falling over her face.

"What's your name?" Nemu demanded before she could stop herself.

"Neliel, Nel," she amended with a yawn, "do you have a name?"

"Nemu."

"Pretty name," Nel murmered before she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Nemu quickly turned and covered the unmoving olive skinned Espada before hurrying out of the room before her father could scold her for the brightness of her eyes. She had felt much to her creator, not much of it good, but she had never truly been disgusted with him before this. But at the moment that was what she felt, disgust and horror and a handful of other emotions that had caused her to verbally lash out at him as she could never remember doing before. She saw the strange looks people gave her as she hurried towards the Research Institute and knew she must look terrible. She rarely looked like anything. Her pace quickened as she kept her eyes on the ground. She had made the run between the two places so frequently in the past few days that she knew it by heart. The ground was getting blury underneath her eyes and she realized somewhat belatedly that she was crying. Not sobbing, not yet but it was a near thing if the lump in her throat was any inidcation. She hadn't cried in years, she didn't know that she could cry anymore. Apparently her body had set out to prove that she could and was very nearly about to.

She was stopped by someone. She murmered an apology she wasn't sure they heard and tried to sidestep them. The moved with her, blocking the way. From her viewpoint all she saw was that they had big feet. Big, familiar feet. Her head flew up to make out a balding head and a pair of eyes bright with confusion at her current state. Before she could question why she was doing what she was doing, she had thrown herself against his chest and begun to sob openly. If he was shocked, he knew better than to say anything or heasitate as he gently put her injured arm out of his embrace so that he couldn't hurt her as he hugged her properly. She felt him hook an arm under her legs and stand up, carrying her as though she weighed nothing. Without a backwards glance he carried her all the way to the 11th Division and slipped into his room, kicking his friend out and closing the door behind him before sitting on his bed with her in his lap.

"What's wrong?" Ikkaku asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"We're not that different!" she sobbed into his shoulder, "they're not different and what if, what if he does that to me one day?"

"He won't," Ikkaku said, his grip on her tighening, "I won't let him."

He felt her head bob against his shoulder.

"You need to sleep," he said, his voice regaining some of its gruffness, "you've been running around for days now," she began to protest but her eyes were so heavy and he smelled so nice, "sleep," he pleaded, his voice firm.

He looked down at the bundle of woman in his arms and sighed. He had been meaning to track her down but there was so much to do. He knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself but had never stopped to think about how seeing other so called 'failed creations' would affect her. The answer was clear and he mentally kicked himself for not going to her sooner. He didn't want her to think he was going out of his way to check up on her anymore than he wanted Yachiru to keep asking him if his 'girlfriend' would get upset if she continued to suck on his head. Moving gently he laid her down and pulled the sheets over her body. She curled on her side, cradling her injured arm to her chest. He sighed and brushed one the pieces of hair away from her face before getting up. He had to go and tell Urahara that she wanted something and hope the newly re-appointed President of the Shinigami Research Institute would know what the hell it was about.

Sighing he got to his feet and walked to the doorway, looking both ways before he exited. In the battle he had been an idiot and used his Bankai. Now he lived in perpetual fear that someone was going to come and demand he fill the sudden shortage of Captains. He had wound up in a dumpster two days ago when he saw the Commander General coming down the street. The 11th Division was luck not to loose many members, probably because they had gone into battle so gung-ho and with such brute force that the Fraccion were pretty soon non existant. He was thrilled about that and he did not want to leave the 11th Division, to go to another place so filled with sadness and the pain of loss. So now he was getting very good at stealth and sneaking around the Divisions.

So good that he managed to stumble across another one sneaking around. He had never really known Momo Hinamori except first as Aizen's innocent little Vice Captain and then as the woman he knew no-one in Soul Society would ever betray again. Still he found it rather odd that someone else had found his hidden route and was sneaking along with just as much stealth as he was. Their eyes locked and she clapped a heavily bandaged hand over her mouth before wincing and letting it drop. He immediately cursed the fact he had found her when he noticed the puffy red surrounding her eyes. If he was about to comfort another crying girl he was going to, well, he wasn't sure what he was going to do but it would involve anger and probably giving away his location.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice a gruff whisper.

"Hiding," she said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah I got that," he rolled his eyes, "you just killed your former Captain in cold blood, why the hell are you hiding?"

"I--" she looked at the ground, obviously wishing she could toy with the hem of her robe but unable to because of the bandages, a blush crept up her cheeks in shame.

"Hinamori!" a very familiar voice sounded and her head flew up, eyes wide with something akin to fear, "Hinamori where are you?!"

"Hiding from him?" he looked at her with disbelief, "what the hell are you doing that for?"

"I can't face him," she whispered, "not yet."

"He's waited a hell of a long time for you to wake up," he said gruffly, "the kid was distraught, when you called him when we were in the real world--" he shook his head, "he was really broken up about it."

"I know," she said, her tone obviously frustrated, "and now he's got Karin Kurosaki to comfort him. I'll face him soon, just not now," he opened his mouth, "why are you here?" she challenged.

"I don't want to get promoted," he said looking down angrily.

"I don't either," she admitted softly, "everyone's saying I will be but," she looked up with wide eyes that he had a feeling had seen to much to be as innocent as they were, "but I'm not ready to be a Captain, not of the Fifth Division," not of Aizen's Division.

He nodded, hating how much that made sense. He wanted to tell her to get the hell out there and talk to the boy who had spent hours--no days going over everything that had happened to try and figure out what he had done wrong. As unwilling as Hinamori was to see what Aizen had done he was just as unwilling to see that there was nothing that he could have done, that the battle was not his to be fought. He glanced at the whisp of a Vice Captain next to him and then back to where he knew that Captain Hitsugaya had been. He knew he should respect her wishes but he had never been one for runing away from his problems, nor letting others do so. Before she could stop him he let out a burst of Spiritual Energy, just enough to alert anyone within a five foot radius. It wasn't enough to give away his precious hiding route but it was enough to alert him and have him come instantly.

"Hinamori!" he skidded to a halt.

"S-sh--" before he could stop her she had taken off like a deer, unable to face her one-time best friend.

"Damn it," Hitsugaya hissed, ice rapidly forming under his foot.

Ikkaku couldn't help but agree.

Break

The gentle rise and fall of Ulquiorra's chest was almost hypnotic for Orihime. Within hours of their Hollow Holes beginning to fill in, the four Espada had quickly been moved to the Fourth Division for better monitoring. Their respective Holes had been bandaged but thin wires snake out of the bandags, revealing the ammount of monitors that sent their readings to the scientists studying them. She had found herself in the doorway of Ulquiorra's room even though it was well past nightfall and far past any semblance of normal visiting hours. She couln't say why she felt the need to be standing there but she felt it all the same. She knew that she had drawn strength from her friends, from the knowledge that they would come to rescue her, but Ulquiorra didn't have that. None of the former Espada had that and for that reason she was standing in his doorway watching her former protector sleep.

Had he been her protector? Part of her seemed to say that no, he had been her captor but part of her listed off the fact that he had never hurt her or let harm come to her. Grimmjow as well, to a lesser extent, but he especially. He had always been there, making sure that she ate and slept and did all the things that she wouldn't do willingly for herself. Frankly after she slapped him she had been convinced that she would never hear from him again, that one of the other Espada would be her protector, but no, he had come back as though nothing had happened, as though she hadn't slapped him like an angry lover. After all, even when Ichigo had come in like some rightous angel, she had begged him not to kill her former captor. She didn't know why but the sight of the Espada falling in a heap in the ground at the death of his creator was something her heart could not accept. But now that he and the others were being so, well, so destroyed, she wondered if it wouldn't have been better to just let them die.

"You don't have to stand there woman, you need rest," Ulquiorra's uncharacteristically soft voice came, slightly muffled by the oxygen mask strapped to his face.

"Ulquiorra," she gasped, "I didn't know you were awake."

"Now you do," he opened his right eye rather lazily and looked over at her, "why are you here?"

"They don't understand," she said finally looking down, "I can't tell them," she looked up at him, "they won't understand how different eveything is," he raised an eyebrow at her statement, "you understand--" she bit her lip but he said nothing, "you were there and if I have to pretend for another instant right now I think I might go crazy."

"You can come in," he said finally, his eye drifting shut.

She wasn't bothered by his rudeness anymore than she had been those long months in Las Noches. It wasn't that he was necessarily trying to be rude, only that he was acting like he always did. For that, if nothing else, Orihime was grateful. She stepped fully into the room and walked over to his bed. Even in the moonlight she could see that his skin was slowly turning from chalk white into a more normal skin tone. She could also see the Cyan lines from his eyes fading slightly. She wondered if his 4 tattoo would also fade. It was odd enough to see him without his mask and she knew that he probably had a scar like Grimmjow, his hair just covered it. At the moment he looked far less doll like and far more like one of her injured commrads. She knew that her power couldn't negate Hollowification for some reason and that if she healed him now she was going to get in trouble and force poor Shinji to stay in his odd form longer. She lowered her hands an looked at Ulquiorra almost sadly. He opened his right eye again and studied her, turning his head slightly to see her better with his right eye. She noticed the slackness of his left eye and bit her lip.

"Did something happen to your left eye?" she asked

"An ability," he said with a sigh, "I imagine that Grimmjow is currently rather feline like at the moment," he said, "it will be back by morning."

"O-okay," she nodded her head before looking back at her hands and then back up at him, trying to tell herself that she was not tired, that she was not dreading going back to her room.

If she did she'd have to pass everyone. Someone would be awake and they would look at her with that horrible pity and sadness in their eyes and she'd be forced to smile and reassure them. She didn't want to. She wanted to hit them and make them see tha they had lost people, that things were different now and they had to deal with it, not hope that everything was the same. Then she'd feel horrible for thinking such things. People had been lost, good people who didn't deserve the deaths they had been given. All her friends were still around, in some form. She looked at Ulquiorra. Was he her friend? Captor seemed to be the wrong word for what he was, especially now that she was the one sitting there looking at him. She wasn't sure what he was, just that she was very glad that he, Grimmjow and Nel were not dead. Halibel as well, she added, even though her interactions with the olive-skinned Espada had been more limited than the other Espada. She had heard about her beating the tar out of Nnoitra though and that, if nothing else, made her like the Espada.

She wondered if it was bad that she was thinking of the Espada as friends instead of enemies. Not friends, exactly, but not enemies anyway. Maybe she was as crazy as everyone thought she was. After all, she had been kidnapped and forced to stay against her will. But no harm had come to her, Ulquiorra had seen that even when he and Grimmjow were fighting. She felt her lips tug up into a smile, for some reason she was reminded of Renji and Ichigo fighting about Rukia before they had gotten along. The smile turned inot a yawn, as she fought off sleep.

"Get some sleep woman," he said after a moment, not opening his eye.

"I'll go now," she said getting to her feet with a heavy heart.

"I said to get some sleep, I didn't say you had to leave," he countered before she could take a step, one of his unbroken fingers motioning to the cot that Urahara had left, "the scientist isn't going to be back anytime soon if his cat woman has anything to say."

"Is it okay if I sleep here?" she asked biting her lip.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, not bothering to open his eye.

Orihime nodded and pulled the cot closer to Ulquiorra's bed before settling herself on it, pulling the blankets to her chin.

"Goodnight Ulquiorra," she said.

"Goodnight, woman," he returned.

She fell asleep with a smile on her lips.