The white sands felt cold under the endless night sky of Hueco Mundo. Vast expanses of dunes with occasional petrified trees or brush were the only things to indicate that there was life, or what could pass as life. This was the realm of the Hollows and Tamotsu Toshiyuki was in the heart of it.

He had betrayed and fought against the Soul Society. He would be deemed a criminal, he knew that much. But at least here he could be safe for a time.

There were few Hollows he passed as he ran over another dune. A few were medium sized, but most were small. Creatures that appeared to be small rodents and lizards normally felt skittish around anything larger than they were, but without his bracers Tamotsu's reiatsu flowed freely. This would keep many of the weaker Hollows at bay, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before the larger ones were attracted to him.

Running through the expanses of sand there were some places that felt familiar to Tamotsu, as if he had seen them before. Possibly from another lifetime? He had sparse memories of being a Hollow, but nothing as complete as Naomi Kanagawa. He would have time to figure everything out later. But right now he had a mission.

In the distance Tamotsu could see sand being kicked up as someone, or something as the case may be, was on their way to intercept him. They were moving fast and Tamotsu could see that it was a woman with long brown hair. Expanding his senses, her reiatsu felt familiar to him.

When the two were within twenty feet of each other they both slowed to a stop as if by some unheard command had compelled them. Tamotsu could see the woman clearly now. A long white dress with slits up the legs and a mask that appeared to be a blank masquerade style.

"Hello, Kisaki," Tamotsu said. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You-" Kisaki said. "Tamotsu?!"

"You look well. Were you in a battle? It seems your mask has a crack in it."

Kisaki raised her hand to touch a hairline crack that spread across one side of her mask, then stepped backward and drew her sword. "Why- What are you doing here?" Although she tried to appear confident, fear was clearly the dominating emotion.

"Calm yourself, Kisaki," Tamotsu said as he raised his hands in a non-threatening posture and took a step closer. "I am not here to fight. I only wish to talk."

"No... No! You're a Shinigami and you have trespassed into Hueco Mundo! You are an invader!"

Tamotsu stepped closer and closer, ever so slowly. "It would seem that I have become an outcast of Seireitei. Treachery, treason, and the belief that I have gone insane."

Kisaki's hand was visibly trembling as Tamotsu approached, the sword clattering noisily. "Why then... Why have you come here?"

Tamotsu reached out and touched the top of Kisaki's blade and gently lowered it before looking into her yellow eyes. "Because I need your help."

The infirmary was quiet despite the recent harsh activity in Seireitei. There were a few minor injuries, but that did little to ease Hitsugaya. Tamotsu had betrayed the trust of the Soul Society.

"How is she?" Hitsugaya asked as Captain Unohana exited the room. Her expression was grim.

"I am sorry, Captain Hitsugaya," Unohana said. "But it would appear there is nothing I can do for her wound."

"What? But you are the most skilled healer in Soul Society. Surely there is something-"

Unohana silenced Hitsugaya by raising her hand. "I said there is nothing I can do."

Hitsugaya did not press the matter. He didn't know all the details of healing Kido, but it seemed unusual that there was nothing that could be done. "May I see her?" he asked.

Unohana stepped aside and Hitsugaya entered the room. There were little furnishings, but a hospital room was not intended to feel homely. Rangiku sat on the bed, a white kimono covering her body and the several layers of bandages around her chest.

Hitsugaya winced as he remembered what he saw. She had tried to stop Tamotsu from his rampage, but he turned and fired a Kido spell at point blank. Even with Rangiku's strength, he was surprised that she was not injured further.

"Matsumoto..." Hitsugaya said. "Are you doing all right?"

"Captain..." Rangiku said. "What happened?"

"It was Toshiyuki's rampage. He attacked the Captain Commander."

"I know that much, Captain. But how did I obtain this wound? Captain Unohana said that it could not be healed. I don't remember how I got it." Hitsugaya approached the side of Rangiku's bed. She had been staring out the window, then turned to him with tears in her eyes. "Where is Kiyoshi?"

"It was... Toshiyuki who gave you that wound."

"What?"

"I saw what happened. We all did."

"No. I don't believe you. Kiyoshi... He wouldn't..."

"After he attacked the Captain Commander, you tried to stop him. But he turned on you. In his Hyper Mode, he struck you with a Kido spell at point blank range. In all honesty, you are lucky to be alive."

"You're lying. Kiyoshi would never-"

"It can be confirmed by all the other Captains, Matsumoto. After attacking you, I engaged him. His power... Its driven him mad. Before I was able to stop him, Toshiyuki fled into Hueco Mundo using a Gargantua that he himself opened."

Rangiku's eyes were wide in disbelief, the fear clearly present.

"As of right now, Tamotsu Toshiyuki is the most wanted man in all of Seireitei."

Tamotsu approached and was met by Tier Harribel, the current ruler of Hueco Mundo. He extended his hand and she took it, closing the deal which they had made.

"It is settled then," Tamotsu said.

"Yes," Harribel said. "We shall join you against our common enemy."

Ending the handshake, Tamotsu looked over the vast expanse of desert, now filled with Hollows of every class. Revenge, it seemed, was an excellent motivator with the Hollows. He clasped his hands behind his back and stood tall. The forces of Hueco Mundo were his. The first part of his plan was successful.

"I just don't understand it," said Jushiro Ukitake. He sat at a table with Shunsui Kyoraku, who was drinking a small cup of sake. "Tamotsu would never attack someone like that. Its just not in his nature."

"There's a lot going on with him we just don't understand," Kyoraku responded. "We all knew he was getting into all sorts of trouble, but I do agree with you about that much."

"But why? Why would he attack Yamamoto like that?"

"I've been thinking about that a lot myself." Kyoraku took a sip from his saucer and took a deep breath. "Actually, it seems that Yama-Jii hasn't been himself lately either."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters he sure seems to have taken a liking to Mayuri a lot. Seems that last week he gave him a large sum of money for research into the Reincarnates. That and... he seems to have been hiding his reiatsu."

"You mean suppressing?"

Kyoraku sighed. "No, I mean hiding. Its been a while since I've actually felt his presence."

"I see..." Ukitake sat down across the table and rubbed his chin. It was then that Unohana entered.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"Not at all, Retsu," Kyoraku responded. "Come on in. Take a seat."

"Thank you."

After a moment of silence, Ukitake spoke. "Tell me. How is Rangiku's condition? Will she recover?"

"It is... difficult to say."

"That bad, huh?" Kyoraku said. "Well, she did take it full force to the chest."

"Its not like that, Shunsui," Unohana said as she took a deep breath. "The wound is... unusual... to say the least. I can see it. I can feel it. And yet when I try to heal, I cannot sense it. Its almost as if there is no wound there at all."

"Well this certainly keeps getting better and better." Kyoraku leaned back in his chair and tipped his hat. "I'm starting to think there's more to this than appears on the surface. Could Tamotsu have seen something that we didn't?"

"That's one possibility. But I've been studying his condition. I have witnessed a similar outburst with him, and it seems that he sometimes gets lost in his past memories. When this happens he believes he is in that past lifetime."

"I see what you mean," Ukitake said. "And with so many lifetimes it would be hard to pin down exactly what was happening with him. Could it be possible that there was one lifetime where he and Yamamoto were enemies?"

"That is also possible, but we can't know for sure since he escaped."

"But why into Hueco Mundo? We all saw it. He opened the Gargantua on his own."

"It makes sense, actually," Kyoraku said, lifting the tip of his hat. "That's the one place he could go that we can't readily follow him. He must have realized what he was doing and escaped there."

Ukitake leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. "That would leave two possibilities then. Either Tamotsu is mad, or there is something bigger going on. What should we do?"

Kyoraku leaned back and placed his hands behind his head and sighed. "Honestly, I'd say doing nothing would be the best bet."

"Excuse me?"

"I agree with Shunsui in this circumstance," Unohana said. "If there is something bigger going on and we leave to find Tamotsu it will alert the other party. But if we approach Yamamoto, Tamotsu could be pressed into making rash decisions. And with how unstable he is right now, either approach is dangerous."

"Its settled then," Kyoraku said. "We'll wait for more information. There's just one more thing that's been on my mind since Tamotsu's attack. I just can't seem to shake it from my mind."

"What is it?" Ukitake asked.

"Well, its about Rangiku. When has she ever addressed him as Toshiyuki?"

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

Okay, so the next few chapters will probably be a bit shorter than I'd like but I've got a lot of jumping around to do and a lot of explanations to do.