3

Ignorant and Distrustful

…

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo demanded.

The only answer was for Grimmjow to charge at Ulquiorra while Kaeliel, Ira, and Ari watched stoically. Ulquiorra threw up his blade in front of him, blocking Grimmjow's strike. The full force of the blue-haired former Espada pushed against him. Ulquiorra broke away and managed to free a hand. He brought it to his face as if he'd been injured, but the hard downward motion of it caused alert.

As he moved, half of a bone helmet formed.

Ulquiorra had restored his Arrancar abilities.

From the distance, Toshiro gasped in shock. How was that possible? Katashi's Arrancar abilities should have been gone. They'd fallen to pieces right after the fight with Aizen and Soul Society had not been alerted otherwise. Then there was that motion…it was the same one Ichigo used in coordination with his Viazard powers.

Speaking of which, Ichigo didn't appear surprised at all. That led Toshiro to the conclusion that Ichigo had known about this. How long? Toshiro looked back at his brother. He fought as fluently as he spoke. There was no sign of struggle with his inner Hollow. This, Toshiro decided, must have been what Katashi was keeping from him and why he and Ichigo had agreed not to have him come along. Toshiro wondered what they were afraid of, but then a plausible answer came to him. Katashi and his past were so clouded with Hollows ruining everything-was it possible that Katashi was afraid about how he would react or if he'd go tell Soul Society?

Toshiro felt so confused. No, that was an understatement. He needed answers here-real answers. Answers which Katashi seemed to feel suitable to hide from him. There must have been something he was missing: a puzzle piece in the big picture. Maybe, he thought, there was something that he was forgetting.

Or something he never remembered in the first place.

As Toshiro thought over his missing memories, Ulquiorra fought on, still unaware of his younger brother's presence. He dodged a swipe from Grimmjow's permanently transformed arm. The claws missed him by barely an inch. Suddenly, Grimmjow pulled back and nodded.

"I was making sure," he said calmly, "that you hadn't lost your touch, Ulquiorra."

"What do you want?" Ulquiorra questioned, his voice level. Ichigo nearly shivered. Looks like it was the battle of the emotionless ones.

"Are you the ones causing all those Hollows to come?" Ichigo demanded.

Kaeliel scoffed. "As if anyone could control those crazy, low-life ba-s."

"What he is alluding to…" Ira began.

"…is that Hueco Mundo has been in complete chaos since Aizen died," Ari finished. The dark-silver-haired twins cast identical looks toward Ulquiorra.

Ichigo cursed. Rukia was right after all. In that case, there was no one he could beat up to solve this mess.

"We," Ira continued, "have been wandering solitarily-"

"Well, mostly," Ari cut in.

"Yes, mostly solitarily until now," Ira agreed. "It's quite obvious that there is no hope for order, seeing as all of us have either tried for it or hidden from the pandemonium."

"Basically, creepy twin one and creepy twin two are saying that Hueco Mundo's a mess with no one to control it and now a bazillion of the stronger Hollows are trying to create their own empires," Kaeliel translated. "All we've been able to do is put down those Aizen wannabes."

The two child-like Arrancar glared at Kaeliel. In sync, they protested, "Creepy?"

"Oh, shut it!" Kaeliel argued. "You two are practically mini versions of that Gin Ichimaru. Get a different haircut and learn to squint your eyes and there'll be no freaking difference."

"We object!" they snapped, violet eyes filled with fire.

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the court," Kaeliel drawled.

In the midst of this, Grimmjow remained unfazed. Ulquiorra couldn't help but think that he should have been acting more like Kaeliel. It was as if in Ulquiorra's absence, Grimmjow had moved to take his place, Kaeliel had moved to take Grimmjow's, and the twins…well, he wasn't quite sure where the twins fit into this equation, but Kaeliel did have a point: they bared a slight resemblance to the former Shinigami captain of Third Division.

"This still does not specifically address the reason for your entrance into the World of the Living," Ulquiorra pointed out.

Grimmjow finally spoke up, sounding like a robot. "As much as I would not like to admit it, we have come to the conclusion that in order to reach our goals, we must conspire with you Shinigami…and Ulquiorra, whatever you have become."

"And why the h- would we help you?" Ichigo growled.

"You obviously haven't been paying attention," Grimmjow and Ulquiorra said at the same time. The strangeness of this did not go unnoticed.

"The deal will work to both of our benefits," Grimmjow continued. "We get our peace and you get to decrease the number and size of Hollow invasions."

"Is that all?" Ulquiorra questioned.

"Yes."

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Ichigo asked. "With Hueco Mundo subdued, it would make it that much easier for you to continue what Aizen started and take over yourselves."

"He thinks we will double-cross him," Ira noticed.

"Did you forget who helped you escape?" Ari responded. "Without our help, your mangled bodies would have been left there to die and rot."

"If we did not create opposition to you killing Aizen then, when it would have been simple to kill you and take up him regime, what makes you think we will do so now?" Grimmjow challenged.

"So we're supposed to believe that you sincerely want to make this deal with the Shinigami?" Ichigo asked.

"I told you, this if for our benefit as much as yours," Grimmjow responded. "Do we have a deal?"

…

Toshiro thought that it was getting rather crowded in this stuffy little room. He sulked in a corner, Katashi close by his side like a guard, as four Arrancar in complete gigai mulled around. He could sense his brother's tenseness beside him, even if it was well hidden. Sighing, Toshiro reluctantly let his mind replay the event.

"Do we have a deal?"

Ichigo and Ulquiorra simply floated there for a second, still armed and ready, but not sure what to say.

"We'll have to think about it," Ulquiorra finally answered. "Not to mention, we will also have to speak to Urahara."

"He gave you a second chance, didn't he?" Ari asked.

"It would only be fair," Ira said, "to do the same for us."

"They do have a point," said man's voice suddenly acknowledged.

"Urahara!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"How do ya do?" he greeted in his usual lax manner. "I overheard the whole conversation. I must agree: it would only be fair to offer them a second chance as well, wouldn't it, Ulquiorra Schiffer?"

"I suppose so," Ulquiorra agreed.

"Besides,"-the ex-Shinigami smirked and tipped his hat over his eyes-"I figured this was coming."

Toshiro, who was still watching, couldn't believe this. It was one thing to bend the rules for a single ex-Arrancar, but to willingly do this without Soul Society's permission for the sake of four, fully-powered ones? Urahara should have at least consulted Ukitake on this first, especially since, apparently, he expected it. Then again, since when did that man ever play by the rules?

The young captain followed the conversation intently and was beginning to pick up on notes of finality when he felt himself being restrained from behind. His heartbeat jolted. Was this a trap?

Up in the action, there were a variety of emotions going around. Ira and Ari smiled triumphantly, Kaeliel looked aggravated, and Grimmjow remained impassive. Ichigo, as far as anyone could tell, was still confused and unsure. However, slight notes of worry had picked up on Ulquiorra's otherwise stony features. He was closely observing the group of Arrancar, especially Kaeliel. After all, had it not been the purple-haired maniac that had attacked Toshiro only a month ago? In fact, Ulquiorra didn't want any of them getting near his younger brother. He was already making mental plans to hide the younger from them. Maybe, he thought, Ukitake…

"Hey, Kisuke!" Yoruichi's voice broke in. Everyone's heads turned toward the woman. She wore a mischievous smile with pride. She waved one hand, the other behind a building. Then, she reported, "I think we have a rat."

She pulled her hand out from hiding to reveal Toshiro on the other end of it, being held tightly by his uniform. The small boy caught sight of his older brother's gaze. Katashi's eyes were silently fierce. It was at that moment Toshiro knew without a doubt that he was in deep trouble.

"Well," Kaeliel said, "if it isn't Little Captain."

Yeah, he was doomed.

Since then, Katashi had not let Toshiro out of his sight, nor had he allowed any of the Arrancar to get anywhere near the boy. Toshiro could already hear the lecture coming. So for now, he resigned himself to mentally protesting about the occurring events.

Ichigo leaned against a wall, Rukia right next to him. After the carrot-top had located his vertically challenged little side-kick, both had insisted on staying for another hour or so. To observe on behalf of Soul Society, Rukia assured (as if Toshiro himself, captain of Tenth Division, wasn't there). Also, it was vacation, so there was no need for them to get up early.

"Now," Urahara said, ready to go over his plans, "as I have told you, this is merely a precaution. We did the same with Ulquiorra over there. You can't escape from the gigai without me deactivating the devices inside and it does restrict your abilities. However, since most of you"-here, he glanced at Kaeliel-"have so willingly agreed to this, I can see that your intentions were true. Things will only stay like this until we can get Soul Society's help and devise a plan between all of us. Also take note that while in these gigai, no Shinigami can track you by your reiatsu. In the worst case scenario, you will still be able to escape out into the World of the Living without much risk of them finding you. You all understand?"

One by one, the Arrancar nodded their agreement to these terms.

"Okay!" Urahara clapped his hands. "Then Grimmjow and Kaeliel will be in the first room to the right. Ira and Ari, you're in the second."

Toshiro's curiosity perked when he realized that this would mean giving away the room he had been sleeping in as well as Katashi's. He cast a quick side glance toward the other, but it was not returned. No sooner had this transaction had transpired did the doorbell ring. Urahara ushered the Arrancar away and ran off to get it. He greeted the person on the other side warmly. The newcomer was immediately recognizable.

"Captain Ukitake?" Toshiro asked.

Katashi moved noiselessly, pulling Toshiro to his feet by the wrist and guiding him over to the door. "Mr. Ukitake," he explained, "has offered to let us stay in his apartment during the course of these events. I am also making sure that you spend most of your time with him rather than around here."

Which basically meant that Katashi didn't trust him to be able to take care of himself, Toshiro concluded bitterly.

"Thank you for this, Mr. Ukitake," Katashi said. He nudged Toshiro gently.

"Thank you," the young boy parroted.

"It's no problem, boys," the white-haired man replied. He seemed all too happy about this.

The three of them shuffled outside, where the sun was just beginning to rise. The streets were empty as the odd trio walked through them. Katashi remained silent and stern. Finally, about half-way through, Toshiro couldn't take it anymore.

"If you're going to reprimand me," he said, "get it over with already."

"I believe you already know how idiotic and dangerous what you did was," Katashi answered.

"No more so than what you were doing," Toshiro fired back.

"You specifically heard Kurosaki and I speaking about keeping you out of this," the older stated, "and yet you still came."

"Do you blame me?" the younger asked. "You would have done the same thing."

"Toshiro, there is a lot you don't understand and I thought you knew better."

At this point, Toshiro was shaking in frustration. "You, too….I knew it. All you see when you look at me is that little kid you used to have to look out for; to be responsible for. I'm not that child anymore. I've changed since then. Maybe, though, you don't want to let that go."

"Hey, hey, boys," Ukitake cut in. "Let's bring this down a notch, shall we?"

"No, he's right," Katashi admitted. "I do still see that small child that needed my help and I do still want you to be able to be that child sometimes. Relatively, Toshiro, how old are you?"

"I'm not going to answer that question because it holds no point in this matter," Toshiro resisted.

"I personally think it does. Do you know why I think this? It's due to your recent display of complete disregard." A tamed anger raged within the green-blue depths of Katashi's eyes. "You chose to act childishly, not like the sensible captain you have proven to everyone else that you are. You did so at the wrong time. You put yourself in danger. I do not think you can even fathom…"

"I put myself in danger every day!" Toshiro argued. "That's my job. It's part of being a Shinigami and protecting people. I thought you of all people should know that protecting others often comes with risk to yourself and…that's it, isn't it? You just don't want me to follow in your footsteps."

"I told you, there are some things that you are not ready to-"

"You're the one who's not ready!" Toshiro cried. "You're not ready to accept the fact that I've grown up. That's why you keep hiding things from me. For instance, why did you fail to mention that you got your Arrancar powers back? How long were you going to keep that a secret?"

"Truthfully, for as long as I could," Katashi replied. "Seeing your reaction, I now believe more than ever that my assumptions were correct: you were not well enough prepared for all of this. Toshiro, one day, you will learn that there are some things you are better off not knowing. When that day comes, I will mourn, because it will hurt you and that will be the day that you truly lose all traces of your childhood. At this moment, though, I know you are not ready to face that realization just yet and I would personally appreciate it if until then you would trust in my judgment."

"Things I'm better off not knowing…?"

Katashi shook his head. "I have to attend work today and there was an errand I planned on running beforehand. Mr. Ukitake, may I have your permission to meet you at the destination at a later time?"

"Of course," Ukitake agreed.

Katashi pushed his hands deeper into his pockets and strolled off. "Make sure," he called over his shoulder, "that Toshiro gets some rest. I think his mind is overworked."