I swear this was the most frustrating chapter to write...EVER! I warn you in advance that it is dull...It won't be too much fun to read but you have to understand that I had to write this in order to progress with the plot.

Well I hope you won't lose interest and still enjoy it! Thank you in advance for the read and for reading so far. Thank you to all those who posted reviews until now! I appreciate every single one! XD

So ENJOY and remember to review! X]

8

The strike was too fast for the eye to see. Even Rukia, who was more experienced with field work, missed the movement until she was in its grasp. Like a cobra attacking a mouse, the calloused fingers closed around her petite head. The big hand easily enclosed half her skull and the sharp nails bit in her flesh like fangs.

Shards from the broken ice prison exploded around her. Their delayed reactions finally kicked in and both she and Ichigo turned a terrified expression towards the owner of the muscular arm. The flight or fight hormone was coursing through their veins and it was screaming one thing. Run.

Ichigo was still too weakened to do anything more than look stupefied. The two Shinigamis had enclosed themselves in a false bubble of pretend safety. They didn't expect for the Arrancar to get free so quickly. Now they would pay with their lives for their foolish assumptions.

Half his body was still enclosed in frost however breaking the rest would be a piece of cake. Grimmjow's stare was filled with nothing more than pure malice. His eyes narrowed while his pupils shone in a certain way that showed only cruelty and no mercy. The eyes of a true born killer.

It enraged him that this pathetic Shinigami woman dared to confront him for a second time. He thought she was dead and the truth of her survival did not please him at all. She wasn't even strong. And to think that one of his Fraccions, Di Roy Rinker, was killed by such a laughable attack.

The daggers his intense eyes threw were entirely directed at Rukia. He forgot about Ichigo, his prey, for the time being. All he desired to do was blow her pretty little face into nothingness. The terror in her wide, big eyes appealed to his killer's instinct.

'Who do you think I am, Soul Reaper? Did you think you could take me out by giving me a bad cold? Well think again!' Except that she would never have a second chance.

Rukia's lower lip started to slightly quiver as the Cero gathered in the palm still pressed against her face. A blast so close to her would not only blow her head into smithereens, but her whole body. There wouldn't even be a trace of her existence, not even a corpse to bury. She would be reduced to a pile of ash scattered to the four winds. Crippling fear engulfed her and tears prickled at the corners of her eyes as the glow shimmered one more time before the Doom Blast would be fired.

'RUKIA!' Ichigo's yell fell on deaf ears. The other two were too engaged to pay any attention to him; Rukia with her terror and Grimmjow with his killing.

He yanked his hands, pulling with all his force trying with renewed vigour to get free. He ignored the pain rendering his limbs numb and useless as the blade only dug deeper into his flesh. He didn't care if he had to cut both his hands off as long as he could stop Grimmjow and save Rukia. When other lives were at stake Ichigo always found new strength to keep fighting. That was the sort of person he was.

Unfortunately this time it wasn't enough. No matter how much strength he piled together from unknown hidden reserves in the depth of his being, he was too late. The Cero was complete and the red light stopped pulsing. All he had time to do was scream one last protest before the deafening explosion happened.

Grimmjow felt a burning sensation around his wrist and he reflexively pulled it back. He wondered stupidly for a second why his own Cero burned him before he realized that this was not his work. A Cero was released, and debris as well as cinders surrounded him, but the source of the blast was unknown. It had to be a hollow since they were the only ones with that particular ability.

Beside him Rukia fell to her knees and her head slumped, not understanding that she was out of eminent danger. Ichigo looked as stupefied as Grimmjow while he followed the smoke rising from the Arrancar's freshest injury.

'Geez….' Both the hollow's and the Shinigami's eyes shot up to identify the speaker. 'I really hate getting involved in Soul Reaper fights….' Shinji declared from his elevated position atop the roof of a nearby house with his zanpakuto resting over one shoulder.

Grimmjow didn't know what to make of the new arrival. His presence was strange. It resembled Ichigo's and in a flash of insight he understood why it felt familiar. The blond man was one of the two he felt before, searching for Ichigo's location. The female, Rukia, being the other.

'Ah, well….' The wind made Shinji's tie float on the breeze like the hem of his knee-length coat. His blond, straight strands of hair were dancing just as energetically. 'With you guys making such a ruckus so close to me I can't very well ignore it, can I?'

Grimmjow stayed his ground, still held in place by the disintegrating crystals, measuring his new opponent. This one was different. He was strong, very strong. Ichigo was not even close to his level yet and the boy did put up quite a fight. If Grimmjow wasn't a battle maniac he would have felt apprehensive.

Instead he felt a fresh current of anger. Another interruption. It irked him the way those pesky ants kept getting in the way of his fun. However this new anger was the calm type. He realized that he had to be careful. He was conscious of his wounds at the hand of Ichigo's hollow-like abilities.

If the Reiatsu was anything to go by, the man had the same ability at his disposal and he would be able to use it better than Ichigo. Grimmjow didn't think he could survive another encounter with that mask thing, definitely not a stronger one.

'What are you? Are you with them?' Grimmjow was referring to the Shinigamis, his eyes not leaving the new threat for a second.

'Why would I be?' A look of disgust crossed Shinji's face as if the question was an accusation. Obviously there was no love lost between the two.

'Then what are you?' He asked this more out of curiosity. He did want to know how Ichigo, barely a boy, managed to achieve such an increase in strength in such a short time.

'What's it to you?' Shinji's calm golden eyes looked at the Arrancar who met them with an equally cool look.

'You're right.' This back and forth exchange of meaningless words was pointless. Grimmjow's fingers twitched with the anticipation of another fight, this one more worth his time. All his previous caution disappearing, washed away by his wild nature and his instinct to be savage. 'I don't really care.'

With one fluent motion he griped the hilt of his sword and pulled it out electing a wet sound as the metal slid through bone, flesh and blood. He didn't look back to see Ichigo's pained frown. Grimmjow sprang, like a taunt bow, shattering the rest of the ice surrounding his legs. The mad crazed look was back in his eyes as he directed the full force of his murderous intent towards this next target.

'I don't need to know who you are to kill you!'

The blade hit the roof of the house where moments ago Shinji stood, and the building sustained serious damage. The Vizard leaped out of harm's way with an elegance befitting his slender long legs. Frustrated, the Arrancar hit again only to have Shinji slip between his fingers for a second time. The same thing happened the third time.

'C'mon man. Don't you have any control? Every time I dodge your attack, you destroy something.' He wasn't out of breath at all. His calm features didn't slip an inch. His clothes still didn't have a single wrinkle on them. 'It makes me think twice about dodging them'

'You actually think you're dodging them?' Grimmjow didn't hesitate to strike wildly again, even though this tactic was clearly not having any effect on the energetic Vizard. The way he moved from roof to roof had the Arrancar comparing him to an oversize grasshopper.

'Sheesh.' A new form of calm seemed to settle over Shinji. Grimmjow sensed something was amiss but it was too late to stop now. He was already in mid-jump. The blonde gestured with his hand over his face in the same way Ichigo did whenever he was about to use his mask. 'You really are a hot-head.'

With a definite thug of his tensed fingers, Shinji conjured his bone white front which resembled a pharaoh's visage. The sclera of his eyes darkened instantly to a perfect black, bringing the pale shine of his irises out in perfect contrast.

Grimmjow didn't have time to blink before the pretend pharaoh was on him, sword cutting the air with expert precision. The Arrancar was strong, much stronger physically than a human or even a Shinigami, but he had to flex every fibre in his toned arm to ward off the attack. And Shinji was just getting started.

'That mask...So you are one of them!' It was hard to talk properly when even the muscles in his jawline were tensed.

'How many times do I have to tell you?' Not a single waver in the voice, each word ringing true like a bell. 'It doesn't matter who I am.'

It was hard to miss the finality of that statement. Grimmjow's previous fears came true and he received a taste of Shinji's serious side. He jumped back, barely evading the danger of injury, sliding backwards against the invisible soul particles. Distracted as he was, he took his vigilant eyes off of the other. Big mistake, right out there with 'turning your back on the enemy'.

'Sorry Arrancar.' Gawking eyes couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Grimmjow was stunned mute. The thing this strange creature was about to use was a Cero. It had to be and at the same time it was impossible. Even if he was witnessing it with his own eyes he couldn't bring himself to believe that something else other than a hollow could use a Cero. Who were those guys?

'You seem fairly strong so I won't hold back.'

True to his word, Shinji let the energy shoot like a cannon blast big enough to destroy a large group of hollows. The vibrant explosion radiated against the pale sky. The Vizard had been careful to draw Grimmjow far enough away from any buildings, and especially from Ichigo and Rukia, precisely so he could unleash a large force such as this without fear of catastrophic consequences. As expected, the wild impulsive Arrancar fell for the ruse.

However Shinji didn't expect for his opponent to be as resourceful as he turned out to be. In the last second, realizing that this Cero would prove fatal, Grimmjow tried something desperate. He blocked the blast with his own Cero not nullifying it, but weakening it enough for him to survive. He wasn't untouched though. In fact his body was just about ready to give out from the continuous assaulting onslaughts.

'Blast!….You….!' Broken words escaped from ground teeth and between breathless gasps. Fresh cascades of blood flowed freely all along his length. It was his turn to kneel before someone else. Grimmjow seethed with rage sparked by his wounded pride.

'You blocked my Doom Cero with your own at the last moment. Not bad.' Shinji was impressed and he had no problem with recognizing that. His distorted voice made the sentence sound harsh.

To him Grimmjow wasn't a sworn enemy but rather someone he had to fight in order to make sure that Ichigo didn't get killed. He had no intention of waging a war against the Arrancars and he certainly didn't want to get involved in Shinigami business. For the time being at least.

Grimmjow on the other hand wasn't the type of man to go and lick his wounds, then come back for a rematch. With him it was all or nothing. If something or someone didn't intervene he was ready to keep going even if his life hung in the balance. The notion only served to incite him, actually. He hated being made a fool of, and praise from an enemy? That was just insulting.

'Eat rocks!' Fuck Aizen's orders. Fuck his plans. He didn't give a shit. All he cared about was killing and seeing the blood flow from the masked man. He sheeted his zanpakuto and immediately started pulling it back out.

Shinji understood that something was happening but didn't know what. However he knew that a cornered animal always had the sharpest claws.

'Grind!' Grimmjow's voice commanded while rapidly drawing the blade out in one fluent motion. The Vizard practically felt the atmosphere shift. This sensation was incredibly similar to a Bankai. The thought of the already strong Arrancars getting stronger both unsettled and intrigued the ex-captain. He heard Ichigo shuffle behind him. He was as much in the dark as the rest of them.

Grimmjow was about to utter the name of his zanpakuto when the summoning caught in his throat. A pressure on his hand made the sword slide back in the scabbard. The long, almost feminine fingers held his hand elegantly but with a much greater force than visible to the naked eye. The pairs of surprised eyes gawked at the new arrival.

'Ulquiorra….'

'Mission complete. We're going back.' The brunette didn't even acknowledge the other two still openly startled individuals. He saw no need to waste his time with trash. His beautiful green eyes, the colour of wild forests, locked with Grimmjow's telling him silently that he was in charge. If he wasn't as beat up as he was the Sexta would have definitely argued but instead he complied.

The clouds parted making way for the fresh tear in the delicate fabric of the sky. A wave of white light shot out like a darting tongue, falling around the two Arrancars. Ichigo recognized it as the same thing that Aizen used to escape Soul Society.

'Negacion!' His mouth uttered the name of the transporting light reflexively.

Grimmjow vanished from sight first, sucked in by the void between the clouds that would bring him to Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra hovered at the edge of the celestial gate for a moment. He looked down at the beaten, defeated boy that kneeled before him. Ichigo Kurosaki. He remembered him from Grimmjow's report. He was stronger this time but still weak.

'I sense traces of new spiritual pressure. It seems you acquired a new power. But it's so insignificant.' He turned his back on the insulted youth. Lord Aizen was waiting for him and he couldn't afford to waste more time in the presence of an ant. However he left Ichigo with his last parting words.

'Anyway, it's over. There's nothing you can do now. The sun has set. This day was ours.' The finality of his comment was emphasized by the closing of the Negacion.

Ichigo kept his eyes glued to the spot in the sky where two people, or rather hollows, vanished seemingly into thin air. He didn't know what to feel. Anger at having lost. Relief at having survived. Fear at what was about to come. Or all the above with many, many other emotions thrown into the mix just to make matters more confusing.

Suddenly it became too much to bare. His adrenalin reserves finally hit rock bottom and he felt like he was being crushed under the weight of all the responsibility resting on his young shoulders. His brain just switched off, like the off button on a remote controller, sending him into the dark abyss that is unconsciousness.

Peace and quiet.

Rukia tried for the fifth time to call Orihime. No answer again. Ever since Soul Society where they parted ways, when she went ahead to help Ichigo, she had been worried for the human girl. She was as close to her heart as Ichigo, a younger innocent sister.

The trail of thought brought Ichigo into her thoughts again. Rukia raised her head to look at the bandaged sleeping boy. He was in really bad shape. If Orihime were there he would have been perfectly healed in a matter of minutes. She considered calling again but Rukia knew it would be another waste of time.

Worry gnawed at her, for both her friends. Ichigo especially. After the battle was finished, and she managed to get a reign of her rampaging emotions, the first thing she noticed was Ichigo's battered frame. Shame as well as guilt ran through her nerves alongside the fear still fresh in her mind. In the face of one Arrancar she had been useless. She jeopardized her safety as well as Ichigo's because she had been careless.

Rukia didn't know what to do. Her mind was all in a mess and if it wasn't for the stranger, who called himself Shinji, and a group of further seven taking care of Ichigo he probably would have died. The loss of blood was already at a critical level. And all she would have done was stay frozen and watch as the light of life was slowly extinguished from Ichigo's human candle.

The strangers introduced themselves and the one who took care of Ichigo explained why he wasn't able to heal the wounds, but she didn't pay attention. All the finer details were a blur to her. All she could remember was the constant drumming worry. But despite her state of mind, she picked up on their strength and strange Reiatsu.

She didn't know what they were or who they were. She didn't know if they were trustworthy. She didn't know what to think.

'Ichigo who were those guys? What kind of power are you about to gain? Why did the Arrancars suddenly break off their attack and withdraw? I don't understand any of this!'

She looked once more in desperation at the calm boy. She wished he could offer some answers but he was in a place where she couldn't reach him. Ichigo's face was at peace, calm, finally getting the rest he deserved.

Thank you very much for the read! I'm sorry if it was boring (I did warn you XD) but I can promise you that the next chapter will be anything but boring. I think it's time for HIchigo to take the spotlight! X3