Disclaimer: The whole of Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite!

Note: Sorry this took so long, somehow I haven't been able to upload this chapter. But now here it is, so thanks everyone for sticking to me until now!
War90, your review has just inspired me to a particular scene, though I haven't written it down yet. Thanks!
Now I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 7:

Renji felt reckless when he stepped through the gate to the living world, the darkness swallowing him.

He had never had his taichou's distanced coolness in battle, but rather the stubborn will never to give in and to surpass his own limits that was so like Kurosaki Ichigo's fighting style.

But today he felt the wild desire to kill pounding louder than ever in his veins. Those grey eyes that had entranced him were still swirling around in his head.

The fukutaichou and his five squad members rushed through the darkness of the senkai gate, wondering what would await them on the other side.

Renji shielded his eyes the moment they emerged into the lighted streets and immediately tried to assess the situation. Dust and noise were coming from a house across the street. He gestured for the others to surround it and headed straight for the disturbance.

Drawing nearer above the roofs he could make out three Arrancar chasing a soul through the half-destroyed building. Their evil cackling laughter resounded between the narrow alleys, creating eerie echoes.

"Howl, Zabimaru!", roared Renji and thundered down on them just as his fellow shinigami were doing the same.

The arrancar turned surprised and ripped out their own swords to parry the attack.

Soon the air was filled with the shrill sound of meeting steel and the occasional kido blast.

Renji's Arrancar had released a flock of birds with sharp beaks which now kept circling his head screeching terribly and trying to peck out his eyes. This was one of the most annoying abilities he had ever seen. Every time he destroyed a bird, it would burst into tiny feathers, then reassemble.

With all these wings covering his field of vision, Renji couldn't get a clear shot at their master.

He dodged the last second a burning cero aimed his way. Cursing, he shunpoed away, only to be surrounded by the little pests again.

Then it came to him: what were these birds if not flying blades, not unlike Senbonzakura's? If he couldn't destroy them, he just had to take the blow and bite through it to strike at their wielder.

Having made up his mind, Renji let out a roar of fury and lunged at the Arrancar, completely ignoring the slashing beaks. Through a cloud of metal feathers he descended onto his surprised enemy and sliced it neatly in half. With an ear-splitting cry, the soul was consumed and dissolved into nothingness.

Only when the metal feathers had disappeared, Renji had a chance to look at his surroundings. There was only one Arrancar left, its form reminding him of a giant hooded snake, but with a pang of horror he realized that there was nobody else around.

His comrades were nowhere to be seen. Had they all been annihilated? If so, where were their bodies?

"Searching for your friends, shinigami?", hissed the Arrancar. It swayed its head and let out a sound between a whisper and a laugh. "I have them all, and you shall soon join them."

"What have you done to them?", Renji screamed, his eyes blazing.

"They are not dead, if you were wondering that", the Arrancar continued in its hissy murmur. "They are merely lost."

Renji gritted his teeth. What was he supposed to do? If this Arrancar had done something weird to them, would they simply come back, when it was killed? Should he take the risk?

"Look at me and you will find your answer", whispered the snake.

When its eyes began to glow in a sickly yellow light, Renji realized he had made a terrible mistake.

The blink of an eye later, the snake and the city had gone. Instead, Renji found himself in a damp corridor. The walls were made of dark stone bricks and every few metres, a smoking torch lit the way.

He heard what sounded like low voices from the distance, but could not discern what they were saying.

The red-head jumped, when the Arrancar's voice suddenly rang through his head. "Welcome to your mind", it hissed dreamily.

"Good morning, Byakuya-san."

Byakuya watched his cousin as she sat down, stealing a sad glance at the abandoned chair of his fukutaichou.

They worked for a while, but after her fifth sigh, Byakuya spoke up. "Is something troubling you, Shihana-san?"

"I...", began Shihana and hesitated. Then she decided to be honest. "It's already been three days, Byakuya-san."

"I can assure you, Abarai Renji is a formidable fighter, you need not worry about him."

"Still...you know how it is."

Yes, Byakuya knew. Often enough when Rukia was going on a mission he would wake up in the middle of the night, his brow covered with cold sweat and horrible nightmares haunting his sleep until she was safely back.

"How about some training then?", proposed Byakuya, discarding his brush.

"I'd appreciate that", answered Shihana politely and rose from her seat.

Soon they stood facing each other in the middle of the garden.

"Hado #33: Blue fire crash down!", Byakuya spoke calmly.

Shihana dodged the kido spell easily and reappeared behind him firing a spell of her own. "Hado #31: Red flame cannon!", she cried.

Byakuya flash stepped away and cast a twin lotus. This time, Shihana produced a kido shield to ward off his attack.

The next moment she was moving next to him, a slim knife in her outstretched hand.

A shining spark flew when Byakuya blocked the cut with Senbonsakura.

"Bakudo #21: Sekienton!", said Shihana and red smoke covered her presence.

Reappearing above the smoke on a roof top, Byakuya noticed his cousin already closing in on him, whipping out a black silken fan.

Curious, he awaited her attack.

Waving the fan, she fired a quick succession of crescent shaped light, barely missing the roof when Byakuya dodged it.

Byakuya smiled inwardly. Little Shihana-san had become quite adept at fighting. Let's see how you deal with this.

"Scatter, Senbonsakura", he commanded and the blade dissolved into countless shimmering petals, aiming for Shihana.

She parted the sharp wall with a whirlwind kido and sent a Byakurai through the resulting gap.

Byakuya dodged with ease, but he was interested now, how long she could keep up with him.

They continued in that manner nearly half an hour until a thin red line appeared on Shihana's left cheek, signifying a hit.

Byakuya called Senbonsakura back and resheathed it while Shihana closed her fan, catching her breath.

"Still not good enough", she sighed with a crooked smile. "I'll never be able to put a scratch on you, will I, Byakuya-san?"

"But your battle skills have improved greatly", he said, wiping his brow with a white handkerchief.

"I've been training every day", Shihana stated proudly. "So I'd be able to burn you fingers when you tease me, Byakuya-san." She smirked at him, coaxing a very small smile of affection.

"And also to stand your ground in Rukongai?", Byakuya inquired, eyebrows raised.

Being a Kuchiki, Shihana showed only the slightest bit of surprise. "Why would you think that?"

"I have my sources", he commented calmly and rightening the kenseikan, he started walking back towards the office.

"Well informed, as always", Shihana murmured. "You won't tell, Byakuya-san, right?"

"My lips are sealed", answered the taichou and Shihana thought she caught a hint of mirth in his voice.

How was it? I have the feeling I'm not that good with fighting scenes :( But coming up next is an insight into "Renji's mind" or how the Arrancar has shaped it.
It took me quite a while to get inspired for this part of the story, but once I started it was really fun writing. Keep reading and pleaaaaaase review!