It was difficult telling how much time had passed down here, with the ceiling only having the daytime sky painted on it. I didn't have my phone on me, so I couldn't even check that. It had to have been a couple of hours by now.

"Oi, Jinta?"

"What?" The redhead grumbled at me, laying somewhere against a rock.

"How long has it been?"

He groaned in annoyance, but raised his hand to check the timer he had on him. "Eighteen hours"

Eighteen hours, huh? Time really goes by when you're bored out of your mind. I turned onto my side, facing towards the hole on who's ledge I was laying on. I peered down at Ichigo, who was taking a break since the encroachment had temporarily stopped.

"How are you doing kid?" I yelled down at him, I saw his head lift up to look at me.

"Great!" He was lying, of course. Encroachment was a draining process, on top of trying to climb out of a hole with his hands behind his back.

"Why don't we pass the time?"

He looked a bit more curious now, or I think he did. Ururu really did a good job with this hole.

"How?"

"How about I let you ask a couple of questions? I'm sure you're dying with curiosity" Oh, I could feel the irritation radiating from him. Probably not the best choice of words.

"And you'll answer all of them?"

".. No. It's not entirely my story to tell, after all. But I'll answer as much of them as I can"

I could see his head bob, and after a couple of seconds, he asked his first question. "Are you a shinigami?"

"I thought it might be obvious, but yes"

He pondered a bit longer for the next one, but when he asked, I realized why. ".. is dad a shinigami?"

"No" That wasn't a lie. Isshin hadn't been a shinigami in twenty years. He was as powerless as Ichigo was right now"

"But you are siblings, right? Then how can only one of you-"

"It's a long story, Ichigo. And not entirely mine to tell, remember? All you need to know is that I'm a shinigami, and Isshin isn't"

He was irritated, I could tell. But he was too tired to really fight me on it. "Are you a human with shinigami powers?"

"... No. I was never human. I was born a soul, in Soul Society"

His head snapped up so fast I'm surprised the kid didn't get whiplash from that. "Soul Society?!"

"Yep" I confirmed, popping the p. "I only came here twenty years ago, to be with Isshin"

It as quiet for a while after that. I'm pretty sure finding out about all of this was something hard to process, so I was content to let him take the time he needed. It's not everyday you learn your aunt is a shinigami from another realm, after all.

"Is that why Rukia was so weird when you two met?"

Right. That day over a month ago, when I couldn't dodge the Kuchiki anymore. I had obviously tried to play my part of Ichigo's boozy human aunt, but I could tell Rukia recognized me. She always was too observant.

"Partially" I sighed. "Rukia and I use to know each other back in the day"

"What?" The surprise in his voice was clear.

"Yeah. We use to be on the same squad. We were even friends..."

"You were friends?" He put emphasis on the 'were'

"We... drifted apart. Eventually I transferred to another squad. Then I left to come here"

"Is that why you're helping?"

"Partially. But mostly, it's to keep an eye on you"

"Why?" He scoffed. "I can take care of myself"

"I know" I sighed softly, before hesitantly deciding to reveal something a bit more personal to him. "Your dad isn't the oldest. We had an older brother" I knew Ichigo would try to interrupt, so I decided to be quicker. "He's dead. He died a long time ago. But he had a son, my first nephew"

I hadn't talked about him much lately. Mostly because thinking about him made my heart ache. He was my nephew, but I was born on the late side, so there wasn't much of an age difference between us. We were raised together, and he was more like a little brother than a nephew.

"He was an amazing shinigami. Definitely talented, just like you are. But he also died, at the hands of a hollow. I was out on a mission at the time, so I wasn't there..." I laughed bitterly. That was always the case, wasn't it? I was never there when the people I loved needed me. "I don't want that to happen again. I don't want to lose someone I love because I wasn't there when they needed me"

The air had taken a somber turn. I could tell Ichigo was processing alot right now, it was alot of information to take in. I probably shouldn't have told Ichigo any of this, but I felt the kid needed to know Eventually.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Enka"

"For what?" I frowned.

"For making you remember that"

Oh. "You don't need to apologize for that, Ichigo" My own mind made me remember that incident too frequently for my liking. "I should be apologizing to you. For keeping all of this from you... but your dad and I just wanted the three of you to have normal lives. Away from all this shinigami bullshit"

"I understand" I hoped he did. The shinigami life wasn't what any of them wanted for the kids. But fate decided differently for them.

"Hey kid, don't tell your dad, okay?" He tilted his head back to look up at me quizzically. "Isshin will probably tell you his side when he's ready. But until then, just pretend I never said anything, okay?"

"Yeah, I promise" He waved me off.

No more words were spoken between us, but that was because the encroachment process had started again. Eighteen hours had passed, and there were 54 more left.

Great.

•••••

According to Jinta, another twenty two hours had passed. We were now on hour forty, already over the halfway point and Ichigo still hadn't gotten out of the hole. I didn't want to admit it, but I was starting to grow concerned.

In that time I had sparred with Baku,went up to make some food with Tessei, called Isshin to let him know how things were going, and sparred again with Urahara. At least I brought some magazines down with me to keep me entertained while we waited.

I had brought some booze too, of course, in the form of some clear sake in a water bottle. Isshin had tried getting me off the stuff for the last twenty years, but it wasn't a habit that I was going to break any time soon. I've been drinking for the last hundred years, after all. Besides, it reminded me of him.

It brought back memories of all the nights we spent together. Our difference in ranks had made it a bit difficult to find time to just relax, but we had made it work. Isshin had use to call him a bad influence, but he just taught me how to relax. Being a noble meant that there had always been alot of expectations placed on me, and if it wasn't for him, I'd have probably burned out a long time ago.

I had to admit, it was nice thinking of the good memories again. For a long time, my memories had been tainted by the fear that they hated me for leaving. But as time went by, I remembered that it wasn't the kind of people they were. Although they most likely didn't hate me, I know they must have been deeply hurt by my betrayal. That wasn't something I could forgive myself for.

•••••

We reached seventy hours, and I was now ready to admit that I was terrified. Ichigo was now starting to enter the final stage of encroachment, which was the worst part.

I felt hand on my own, and I looked up to see it was Urahara. He gently pried my hand away from my arm, and I only then noticed that I was digging my nails into my arm, leaving angry red marks on my skin.

"You need to relax, Enka" He said softly, and I could see the concern in his eyes.

"It's bit difficult at the moment" I sighed. "I thought he'd have finished by now"

"He'll make it" He tried to comfort me, but it wasn't really working. The encroachment process was almost finished, and with that thing inside of him...

"What if it escapes?"

There was understanding in his eyes. That thing had been kept under lock and key for so long now, I don't know what we'll do if it escapes.

"It won't escape, Enka. Ichigo is a strong kid, and it won't be much longer before he comes out. You said it yourself, your nephews are exceptional"

"I know..." I sighed.

Before any more words could be spoken, their attention was grabbed by Ichigo's screams. I pulled away from Urahara and immediately went over to the edge of the hole and looked down. My eyes went wide with horror as I saw Ichigo was in the beginning of the hollowfication process.

No.

No no no!

This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't! Ichigo was too strong, too determined. There's just no way. He couldn't be...

Oh my God. This is all my fault. I'm the one that cut his chain of fate! I'm going to lose another nephew, and it's all my damn fault. I was hyperventilating, I knew that. But I couldn't control my body, it was refusing to listen to me. All I could do was watch in horror as my nephew turned into a hollow.

"Wait" It was Urahara's voice, but it was his hand on my shoulder that shook me out of my stupor. I thought he was speaking to me, but his gaze was on Ururu.

"Watch him carefully" He said in reply to Ururu's confused look. "Usually when a Plus becomes a hollow, the spiritual body first explodes, and then reforms"

He was right. I've seen the hollowfication process before, and this isn't how it happens. The fact that the mask is forming first could only mean one thing..

"He's resisting"

"That's right" Urahara confirmed. "There's still a possibility that he could become a shinigami again. Let's just observe a little longer, and see if he truly becomes a hollow"

"Just a little bit longer.."

Urahara eventually had to drag me away from the shaft, as Ichigo's screams were only making me worse. I had panic attacks before, but only once before had it been so bad as now. Urahara had to take me as far away as he could, and had me sit down on a rock.

"Look at me, Enka" He spoke softly, his hands on the sides of my face to keep my attention on him. "Breathe with me now"

Urahara took a deep breath in, and I copied him. We held our breaths for a couple of seconds, before he released first. We repeated the actions a couple times more, until I could feel myself start to relax a bit more. Once I felt that I was fine, I took his hands and removed them from my face.

"I'm okay now, Urahara... thank you" I gave him a weak smile, which he returned. He knew how to radiate comfort when someone really needed it.

"I haven't seen you have one of those in a while..."

I nodded my head.. "Yeah... I haven't really had a reason to have one of those in a while..."

"Are you sure you're feeling better?"

I gave his hands a squeeze before releasing them with a nod of my head. "I'm fine.." I wasn't panicking anymore, but I definitely wasn't fine. Not with Ichigo becoming a hollow nearby..

"He'll be fine, Enka"

"How do you know that, Urahara? You've seen what's happening.."

"Because he has your blood, and you're a resilient bunch"

Probably, but Ichigo was only fifteen years old. He's still a child... We've already lost so much, I don't know what will happen to us if we lost Ichigo as well. Isshin would never forgive me. I would never forgive myself..

"I want you to stay here for a while, alright?" Reluctantly, I nodded. I wanted to be witn Ichigo, but I definitely wasn't in the state to be around there right now.

Urahara gave me a kind smile and gently patted my head. "Yoruichi will stay here with you. Just let her know if you need anything, alright?"

Again, I just nodded. I didn't have it in me to even say anything. Urahara then left, but his presence was soon replaced Yoruichi's. Still in her cat form, she climbed into my lap and started purring. I put my hand on her back and gently started stroking her.

"Kisuke's right, you know" came Yoruichi's deep voice. "Ichigo will be fine"

I really wish I could believe them.

•••••

Something was happening. Tessai's reaistu was flaring more than I had ever felt from the man. I stood up, much to Yoruichi's annoyance, and turned in the direction of the shaft, just in time to see a yellow light shooting up into the sky.

My eyes going wide, I immediately flash stepped over to the shaft before Yoruichi could stop me. I found Urahara protecting Jinta and Ururu from the energy coming from whatever had shot out of the shaft.

For now, there was a massive dust cloud hiding whoever was there. The four of us stayed frozen, but it was Jinta that eventually took the first steps.

"Hey, is that you?" Nothing. "Answer me, orange head!" Silence had never been more deafening. "If you're alive, answer me!"

As the dust started to settle, a shadowy figure became visible. It was human shaped, which gave me some hope. But that immediately died when a pair of red glowing eyes stared at us.

Eventually the dusted faded enough for us to finally see him, and my heart immediately dropped. He was wearing a shihakusho, but his face.. on his face there was a hollow mask

"Is he a shinigami?" I could just barely hear Jinta's voice over my heart pounding in my ears. "Or a hollow?"

When he moved, I was jolted out of my stupor. He was reaching for his zanpakuto, and I immediately went to do the same. I never wanted to turn Baku on my own flesh and blood, but if Ichigo had turned into a hollow, then it's my responsibility to take care of him.

He pulled out his zanpakuto, which was broken. Right, it had been broken by Byakuya when they had taken Rukia. Instead of turning his sword on us, however, he slammed the hilt into his mask and it cracked. When he grabbed the bottom of the mask and pulled it off, and I could see Ichigo's face, it felt like all the tension had immediately left my body.

My legs gave out from underneath me, and everything went dark.