Requiem for the Hollow Rose

by sreshtiyer

After witnessing the death of Pyrrha, white fills her vision and the Rose huntress finds herself in a desolate and bleak place. Confused, lost and still grieving the loss of her friend and her own helplessness, little does Ruby realize that was just the beginning of her arduous journey. Innocent to Mature Ruby. Rated M for psychologically disturbing themes (non-sexual).

29. Chapter 29: First contact

Chapter 29: First contact

Hueco Mundo

(Hollow and Togabito abilities slightly amplified, Quincy and Shinigami abilities slightly dampened)

"Mom, can you tell me something?" asked Ruby, watching the peaceful expression on her sister's face as she lay down on her lap. Ruby felt Yuzu had really outdone herself today, fending off two adjuchas all by herself using only her Quincy arrows. Understandably, dust, rips and tears were present all over her clothing, not to mention the innumerable scratches all over her body. Her laborious breathing and fatigued expression was proof enough of how hard she'd worked. More than the control she exhibited over her reishi and being able to constantly draw reishi from the atmosphere while moving around, Ruby was more pleased by the fact that she no longer showed as much apprehension as she did to fight. Sure, she would wince or squeal in discomfort whenever she struck a particularly nasty wound on her opponent, but beyond that, there was no doubt that Yuzu had steeled herself, simply so that she could be with her big sister. "Perhaps now…..she's ready for Bankai…." She thought inwardly. But while that was a plan, right now, Yuzu deserved all the rest she was getting. And so, Ruby instead passed the time asking Summer about her past.

"Mhm?"

"I never did find out from Uncle Qrow or Dad, but….how was your life back then…? As a huntress I mean" asked Ruby "All that I heard was that you were a 'slayer of giant monsters'" she chuckled as she recollected the fond stories Yang would often tell her.

"'Slayer of Giant monsters' eh? Ahahahaha! Even now, it's weird to think that my little sunshine is the one that came up with that description! I always thought it would be something you'd say! But what's with the sudden interest?"

"It's nothing really, I was just a bit curious" replied Ruby. "And besides, I really have nothing to do when I'm just watching over her". She began stroking Yuzu's head as she began the slow process of healing her injuries. Though her mother and herself by extension knew healing kido, it was by no means as efficient as their proficiency in using bakudo. Normally, healing minor injuries took a few minutes and healing major ones could easily go on for as long as an hour, depending on the severity. Though it wouldn't be much useful in battle, neither complained about it.

"As a huntress you say? It's not something you can really summarize in a few sentences you know? After all, your mom's life as a huntress was pretty epic in its own way! But really, it wasn't all that different from your own experiences as a huntress in training. When I heard you talk about your life at Beacon, I could tell you kids were already going on missions that would qualify as huntsman missions. That four-eyes really was intrigued by you four it would seem"

"By four-eyes…you don't mean Prof. Oz do you?" asked Ruby sweatdropping.

"Hmm…but to be fair, part of that would be your team's fault too. When I hear you talk about team RWBY, it really reminded me of our own adventures as part of team STRQ. As a group, we were a merry band of trouble makers, not always known for being 'Slayers of giant monsters'" chuckled Summer. "But when the situation called for it, we were usually more than enough to get the job done"

"Now you're just showing off" said Ruby, sticking out her tongue.

"Hii hii! Even I have to show off from time to time why I earned the title of super-mom after all!" retorted Summer cheekily.

"Yeah right, super old bag is what it should be changed to"

"Honeybun, you meanie!" pouted the 5th Espada's zanpakuto. If she had her physical form, there would be no doubt one could witness the frantic attempts of the estranged mother to get back at her daughter.

"Kahahahaha! Sorry, sorry! Do continue!"

"As I was saying" continued Summer "Each of us couldn't be more different compared to each member of team RWBY. Ah, those were the times! At least before our team was disbanded that is. I was officially the leader, but if anything, your dad was the one best suited to that role. Many a times, his level headedness and presence of mind was what got us through some of our tougher situations"

"Really...?"

"Yeah. Back then, he was a very different guy. Level headed, calm, charismatic and above all, a kind and considerate guy who always put others before himself…" There was a noticeable pause as Summer's voice droned away.

"Mom…?" called out Ruby, noticing that Summer seemed to be zoned out as she said that.

"…Tai you big DUMMY~~! Why'd you have to get all depressed for?! If I was there now I'd come by and slap you silly!" whined the eccentric mother.

"M…Mooom! Someone's going to hear you…! And you'll disturb Yuzu!"

"That big, big, dummy~~!" cooed Summer, pouting.

"Moom…please…!" pleaded the 5th Espada, looking around to make sure nobody was listening.

"….Hrmmm…fiiinnne…." she cooed again, finally giving up. "Anyways, knowing what happened, I cant really blame him too much. Especially after Oz told us about Salem. Though we wrote it off as 'ah, its just another bad guy…well, girl to take care of', it was clear that it had its effect on the whole team. But….nothing compared to when we actually met her. Our encounter was…..very brief. And nothing particularly significant actually happened. However, it was the first time team STRQ failed a mission so badly. And it was the first time a mission left such a lasting impression on us. Tai would become much more protective, especially for Raven and me. That would be around the time when your uncle would start having more booze in his body than blood. Despite being so bad with alcohol too. Yeah…..your uncle wasn't always good with liquor. Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? And Raven…..she was the most affected of us all. Those two joined us much after your dad and I already met in Beacon. Of course, at first, neither of us knew about their past with the tribe. And at first, both of them wanted nothing to do with anyone. During their first mission, the bloodbath they left behind and the indifference they showed to the same made it very clear that they were not only strong, but also strong willed. Both Tai and I felt it would be best if we avoided them. But fate had a really twisted sense of humor and the next thing that happened was that we get assigned together"

"Raven…..she's.." recollected Ruby. She'd never met the woman, nor did she know that much about her. The first time she actually remembered seeing her was the picture her uncle Qrow showed of their team, and from the visions that the mysterious being showed her. Yang had never openly talked about her too. And Ruby knew that it was a subject that her elder sister didn't want to talk about and she respected that. But all in all, it was technically true that she was Yang's mother, and by extension, her own.

"Dominating. Easygoing but Assertive. Powerful. Proud. Alluring. Flirtatious. Cunning. Ruthless. She was a lot of things. A lot of things that I admired about her, but also a lot of things that I despised about her. Even so, she was always doing things her own way, always taking what she wanted, never letting anyone or anything stop her from doing so otherwise. I can't count the number of times she would shamelessly flirt with Tai, and somehow she would end up roping me in on it as well. Good lord, she just LOVED to pull pranks on my poor darling! Tai was totally hers to toy, tease and play with. And she loved to totally treat me like a play thing too. Though my little sunshine inherited a lot of things from Tai, there's no doubt that she got a lot of things from Raven too." Sighed Summer. "But you know, despite all that, it was really clear that deep down, she cared for us all in her own way. Her semblance speaks volumes about that. Kindred Link…the power that brings her to her loved ones no matter how far apart they have been separated from her"

"You mean her semblance allows you to teleport?!" asked Ruby surprised.

"No, not quite. She can make portals that can take her to those she holds close to herself. She would often use it to sneak into Tai's room at night. Quite often I'd have to barge into his room only to find her there with Tai. Eheheheh I still remember that one-time Tai, Raven and I ended up completely naked in someone's barn right inside this huge haystack. Thank god Qrow was still inside the dorm, otherwise even Raven's semblance couldn't have saved us back then" said Summer sheepishly.

"Ehhhhh….I guess this is what uncle Qrow meant by inappropriate stories back then. This isn't quite what I expected to hear when I pictured Raven….." replied Ruby sweatdropping. Her imagination went back to Yang, picturing her a few years older, acting assertive and dominating towards an unknown male figure. Ruby violently shook her head. Because as much as she knew that was an unlikely scenario, it was equally befitting Yang's personality.

"So then….how come things changed? How come she left you and Yang all by herself…?" asked Ruby.

"Fear. It's funny, how much such a primal and instinctive emotion can corrupt people. If you ask me, more than her powers or her command over the Grimm, I'd say that the biggest thing that Salem has going for her is the fear she induces in others. And even then, just facing her wouldn't have been enough to have driven the likes of Raven to do the things that she did after that. Having faced her myself, I can tell. I'd say that more than Salem, it would be that damn four-eyes I'd be most wary off. Because he did a really good job of hyping that fear of Salem to a ten. So much so that Raven would abandon everything that she believed in only to start running away from all of her problems. Really, all I can say is that I'm disappointed….That idiot, she's always believed that pure strength was everything. She was never one to believe in the power through unity. That was what was drilled into her head as part of the tribe. And the moment she learnt about the existence of a being much, much stronger that she'll ever be, she unconsciously cowered. You know, I don't think there's another person from our world who'd fit in here in Hueco Mundo as much as she would. With her whole philosophy of 'The fittest survive'. That was both her strength and her weakness. Because it allowed her to make decisions that no normal person could, but also made her blind to certain things. Like the fact that she wasn't alone in facing Salem, and that even if she was weak by herself, as a team, we weren't so"

"Somehow…..I feel that I wouldn't be able to understand her as much as I do now. Seeing as how I've practically grown up here following the same ideology" replied Ruby. "The only difference is that I've always had people stronger than me here to point me in the right direction and she didn't"

"She can be sure that the next time I see her, I'll pound enough sense into her that she wont even think about being afraid of the likes of Salem" proclaimed the estranged Shinigami. Ruby could almost picture a scary smile forming on Summer's face.

"The more I hear about this, the more I wonder if Prof. Oz ever had things sorted out" wondered Ruby out aloud.

"After meeting with Salem, I can tell you that was the exact same thing I thought of. Things could've gone so much differently had he not escalated things to that extent. After she left, Tai was just….gone. Just goes to show how much your dad cared about her. He was only a fraction of the man we all grew to love and depended on. Qrow became more reckless and the proud, unyielding woman I'd once known as indomitable turned tail and ran. It wasn't easy to try and bring back things to how they were. Though I tried my best, no matter what I did, I couldn't convince Raven. But at the very least, Qrow and Tai were still around. And though I took care of Yang, I always wished she would come to know Raven too. It's funny how fate can be so ironic sometimes too. Raven, the one whose semblance allowed her to be with those she cared about ended up the most distant of us all, going back to her tribe. And I couldn't stop the one who needed to be there the most from leaving despite my semblance's ability to do so"

"Wait….your semblance?" asked Ruby.

"Uh huh. Hold on…..those two never told you girls did they?" asked Summer sighing.

"Dad and uncle Qrow would usually never talk about you or Raven. Yang would always be particularly upset about it. Since sis spent a lot of time looking for Raven" answered Ruby.

"I suppose…..after I 'died', Tai simply wanted you girls to stay as far away from us as possible. We, who were already too deep into Ozpin's plans regarding his war with Salem. But no reason to not tell you now. Both of us have been through so much after that. Anyways, my semblance allows me to Seal. I can conjure rose petals that can completely stop the movements of anything mobile, be it living or otherwise. It has its limits of course, but in essence, that's what it was. That's why it's ironic. Despite my power to seal, I still couldn't stop her from leaving, which was the very thing that led to our team being disbanded" said Summer.

"Wait…..that's just like…." Realized Ruby. "But also….rose petals….? That's also just like…"

"Yeah…..that's why learning Bakudo came so naturally to me. Healing kido on the other hand, took SO LONG. Ahahaha, I still remember Yachi's face when she'd finally had enough of me pestering her to teach me healing kido despite having no talent for it. Still, in the end, she finally obliged. What can I say, I can be pretty persuasive! I mean, it DOES take smarts to get an earnest guy like Tai to fall for me when his first love just broke up with him, don't you think?" she asked in a self-satisfied smug manner. "But as much as I'd like to continue bragging, don't you think you should greet our eavesdropper?"

"You've been coming here more often" said Ruby simply, turning back the first time since her conversation started with Summer. "And I can see you've been listening in on our conversation as usual" she continued exasperated.

"Even you cannot possibly blame me for listening in when you're talking out aloud" retorted Ulquiorra in his usual monotonic self. "If you want to speak in private, I see no reason why you feel the need to do it all the way out here in Hueco Mundo outside of Las Noches. Lord Aizen wishes you wouldn't venture this far out"

"Yeah right, 'private'" scoffed Ruby dismissively. "The entire place looks like it could be under his surveillance. Anyways, you still haven't answered my question. I'm surprised you have so much free time considering that we're about to be fighting the soul reapers soon"

"I have no active mission at the moment" he replied simply. "Lord Aizen has asked me to convey to you that he has sent Nelliel and her fraccione, the Tres Bestias and Grimmjow to the World of the Living and the rest of us are to await further orders"

"That so? Well, if its them, I'm sure they can handle it. Did he mention for what purpose?" she asked.

"To retrieve something to help unseal the Hogyoku and to test a new method of active communication during battle" he replied. Ruby sighed a breath of relief.

"Looks more like a subtle operation than a frontal assault" theorized Summer. "Ichi and the others should be fine. If its them, there's even less reason to worry about even if Ichi-kun DID decide to get himself somehow"

"Yeah, you're right" she replied. "Anyways, if you're here to see Yuzu, you have bad timing" she said, pointing to the said person who was now fast asleep on Ruby's lap. "But still, you really should work on softening up a little before you talk to her. She wouldn't keep hiding behind me all the time and might actually talk to you that way. Since you're here anyways, why don't I help you with that?"

"Now that I've delivered my message, I have no further reason to be here" he said, heading back. But the slight feeling of disappointment she felt from him told her enough.

"Oh well, he'll learn one day" she said, watching him leave. "Anyways mom, let's get back to what you were saying before. I'm hoping we could talk a bit about your weapon. I remember uncle Qrow said it was a Tessen.…."

---

Karakura Town

World of the Living

(All abilities neutral)

"Kuchiki, what's the situation? Have you found Kurosaki and Arisawa?" blared out Toshiro through the comms. The first thing they sensed right after leaving Urahara's place was that the massive spiritual pressures they sensed focused at one spot began to branch off and go away in different directions. It was a situation that was both advantageous and disadvantageous. Since they were only tasked with reconnaissance, it would mean that even if they did get pulled into a fight, they would only have to face a single enemy. But for the mission itself, they would need to split up into different groups. The kids' abrupt departure threatened to disrupt the plan they had, and so Rukia agreed to follow behind them. And luckily for them, there was a single presence that hadn't moved in the direction they were heading. And so, the others decided to investigate the rest.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had been waiting a long time for something like this, for an opportunity to stretch his limbs and get to do as he pleased. Life in Hueco Mundo wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't the kind of lifestyle he preferred. He'd much rather go back to those days of hunting in the Menos Forest, occasionally meeting up with the rest of those he came to live with for more than a century. He'd often wondered; just how had things come to this point? Since when did he, a lone wolf who cared for naught but finding the next prey to kill come to live with others, bond with them and even socialize? True, the path to that destination hadn't been an easy and quick one. It had taken years, decades until he'd come to accept these new feelings, these new happenings as normal. But still, life back then wasn't bad.

But all in all, her face would always pop up in front of him. The one who was no doubt responsible for where he stood now. It was thanks to her that he was able to learn of those much more powerful than him. And over time, she become one of those that stood above him. It was because of her, that he came to accept focusing on things other than fighting. The first time he found himself getting angry for something that happened to someone other than himself. The first time he'd truly felt frustrated because of the absence of someone, despite strongly believing in the notion that those that are weak were simply that, too weak to live. And when she'd returned to them, beaten, tired, scarred, changed, matured but no doubt stronger than they'd ever remembered her to be, for the first time, he felt relief that someone other than him had survived. And over the six years they'd spent together after that as a complete group, he'd discovered that he was more jaded about his lust for battle and carnage. True, he still got to fight those much, much more powerful than him, even if he was no longer a pure hollow. But they were always done so under controlled conditions and rules. Though Ruby and the others were accepting of such a thing, it left a bad taste in his mind. Because a fight is one where each participant put their lives in line, and nothing else could give one the adrenaline rush, the joy of crossing fangs with another. But even so, he was able to live with it, mostly because he found himself synchronizing with her ways more than he admitted. And that worried him. Because he felt that if this went on, he would find himself completely swept away by their 'humane' ways.

That's why he was particularly exhilarated. Because it was a chance for him to finally embrace his inner desires, his inner instincts as he wished without anyone telling him what to do and what not to do. He felt three spiritual pressures approaching him, and a fourth following closely behind. At first, he didn't bother with using Pesquisa to sense his opponents because where would the fun in that be? Fighting them whilst not knowing anything was much more interesting. And yet, those fools were radiating so much spirit energy that he felt it wouldn't have nattered either ways. Perhaps they were that confident in their abilities. But he didn't care for such things. Even if it would be over before he knew it, at the very least, he could fight as he wanted. And right now, he couldn't care for more.

Ichigo Kurosaki was heading out again, guided by nothing but his impulse. He kept going the way he was initially going, even after the presences split away leaving only one. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he continued on in the direction he was initially headed. Towards the solitary spiritual pressure. It was as if something was guiding him there.

"Ichi-nii…..I don't think we want to go that way" voiced out Karin hesitantly. But her request went through deaf ears and her brother continued going the way he came. It was as if he was guided by something. Whether it was his inner most battle instincts or if it was something else, he would never know. But he had a hunch, that he was heading towards the strongest of them all.

"Ichigo! Karin! Tatsuki!" called out Rukia's voice. A figure landed next to them.

"Ruki-nee….that outfit…!" gasped Karin. Standing in front of them was undeniably Rukia. However, it had taken them a second to realize the same, considering that they'd been so used to seeing her in regular clothes instead of the familiar black outfit of the soul reapers. "Your powers are back..?"

"Yeah….the reishi rich atmosphere in the Soul Society helped me recover my abilities since I no longer used the gigai Urahara gave me. But leave that! You fools! What were you thinking charging into battle without any sort of plan?! And to fight arrancars no less!" scolded the black-haired soul reaper.

"Bu-but…!"

"I don't want to hear it" sighed Rukia, rubbing her forehead "I don't know what you were thinking, but I'll hear it later. Right now, it's good that captain Hitsugaya was able to formulate a plan that incorporated you three dashing off on your own. We aren't here to engage the enemy. Only to observe them from a distance to see what they're up to. Charging in blindly will only get you killed"

"What?! And why the hell should we sit back and do nothing while those guys are out there, planning to do god knows what!" retorted Ichigo.

"And besides, we've seen a vasto lorde arrancar before, Ruki-nee. Sure, there wasn't much we could do, but we WERE able to land a hit. If these are adjuchas level arrancars as Mr. Hat and Clogs said, with you here as well, I'm sure we can manage just fine" argued Karin.

"Come on Rukia, you're not possibly thinking that the arrancars are here now to simply talk, are you? Otherwise, why would they return now?" asked Tatsuki.

"Oh yeah….now that I think about it, you still haven't told me about that have you?" asked Rukia. "Ichigo, how would you compare Grand Fisher's reiatsu and the vasto lorde arrancar's reiatsu to your own?"

"Ruki-nee, Ichi-nii isn't really the best at sensing reiatsu. If Yuzu was here, she'd be able to tell you much more accurately, but I could feel it as well. I'd say that guy's reiatsu was about the same level as Ichi-nii's in his bankai state. Just slightly weaker than Ichi-nii's bankai for sure. As for the vasto lorde's reiatsu, we can't really be sure, since she didn't really display her full power. But seeing as we were able to land a hit, I'd say the difference shouldn't be as impossibly high"

"I see….still, for someone of Grand Fisher's level, that's a considerable boost" said Rukia to herself, deep in thought.

There was a long pause. Rukia looked like she was contemplating the next course of action. Finally, after looking at the stubborn expressions on their faces, she sighed, giving up. "Argh fine! It's good to know that we might have a chance should we engage the enemy. The enemy is still an arrancar, an adjuchas level one at that. I still don't believe that we can defeat such a foe, but when push comes to shove, we just might be able to handle it. But we are still going to take this slow and easy, understood?" she asked. The other three nodded.

It was a sound plan, atleast in theory. But they made one grave miscalculation. Because right after they started moving forward again, it hit them.

"Wh..what is this….?!" Stammered Tatsuki, faltering on the spot. She wrapped her hands around herself, wide eyed and trembling as she fell to the ground.

"Su….such intense killing intent….!" Exclaimed Karin, her reactions similar to Tatsuki's. "And what's with that crazy spiritual pressure?!"

"That twisted spiritual pressure like that of a hollow…..and yet so very like my own…so THIS is an arrancar….! But…." She gasped internally; She couldn't move, her body simply refused to follow her orders. "Is this really the power of an arrancar….?! When they told me that an arrancar like Grand Fisher compared to Ichigo's bankai, I truly believed we might have a chance if we fought together…..however…this is just…too much..! The levels are just astronomically different….!"

"Cap…captain Hitsugaya…..the enemy has appea…appeared….but….." stammered Rukia, holding her ear piece. "This may be….too much for us to handle…."

"Kuchiki! Hold you position and do NOT ENGAGE! Keep your distance! Do you hear me?! Retreat if needed!" But his warnings fell on deaf ears.

Approaching them, as they stood there frozen and paralyzed by fear, was a lone figure. The pressure only increased more and more as the figure approached. The setting sun illuminated his approaching visage. Brilliant blue hair and sharp blue eyes with light green markings under them. His physique muscular and tall. He wore a white colored hakama with a ragged white jacket, a black sash with a blue sheathed zanpakuto and upturned collars. At first, he had a gleeful smile on his face, his eyes darting over all four of them. And then, he stopped seemingly realizing something. He looked at Karin and Ichigo in particular before his eyes went wide with shock. And then, his expression changed again, into one of agitation and irritation.

"Just my fuckin' luck" rasped the figure.

---

"Listen up guys. Our objective is only to escort Orihime, got it? We don't want to stir up unnecessary trouble with the soul reapers just yet. If we engage them and the fight drags on for too long, they might call in reinforcements and that'll be trouble. Not to mention having to deal with powerful soul reapers such as Isshin, Yoruichi and Urahara. Ruby says they were each formidable enough when she fought them, so this is DEFINITELY something we don't want" said Nel.

"You have a point there. But then, how do we go about this?" asked Sung-sun.

"I'll split off from here, going directly to Orihime. Even if I encounter powerful foes ,I should be able to get away. You guys fend them off for as long as you can. Stall them. Do what it takes. I wouldn't recommend engaging them unless they attack first" she replied. "Wait till I give my signal. Once I got her, retreat. Don't linger. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded their heads, but Nel noticed an exception amongst them. AS she predicted, things wouldn't go so smoothly when she was dealing with the most troublesome one of the bunch.

"Grimmjow" she called out patiently. "Did you get all that?"

"I heard you fine the first time, Nelliel. You have your job and I have mine. How I accomplish it is none of your business. So, buzz off" he replied, waving her off.

"Oh, for the love of-!"

"But that's precisely what I was talking about, Grimmjow. I know you've been wanting to have 'fun' for some time now, but this isn't the time" continued the green haired beauty calmly.

"You said you wanted time, and I said I'll give you as much time as you need. How the fuck does it matter to you how I do it?! And besides, they're fuckin' soul reapers! The same fuckin' people whose skulls we're supposed to be crushing!" he growled.

"Look, we have no time to be arguing about this now. Whatever pent up frustrations you have, you can take them all out on me when we get back home. Please, for the love of god, just do as I say for now, will you?" she replied exasperated. Her waning patience was quite evident from the tone of her voice.

"Whatever, let's just leave already" scoffed Grimmjow.

"Please just behave, alright?" she pleaded one final time, before heading away. "As I said guys, observe and don't engage unless they do. Don't try to communicate with me or any of the others unless absolutely necessary. The enemy doesn't expect us to have active communication. Let's keep it that way. After that, try to draw it out for as long as you can. Don't use your full strength. Once I give you the signal, the enemy will be unprepared. Then, we can use the element of surprise to our advantage to retreat. Aizen has provided me a sample of her reishi, so I should be able to track her. Even so, there's no telling whom I might face on the way. But hold out for as long as you can. And of course, this goes without saying, if any of you encounter Ruby's siblings, just retreat and join one of the others. We don't want to be involving them or be involved with them"

---

"That's fine an' all, but what the fuck am I supposed to do when they're so fuckin' weak?! I mean, leave that! It was weird enough that he was sneaking around like Snake does for ten whole minutes before finally deciding he'd had enough. Argh, dammit, I really wish I could've socked this rooster head then, I wouldn't have had to waste all that time awkwardly waiting for this dumbass to do something! And after all that, all I get is this one guy flailing his sword around like a baboon! Arrrgh! Dammit, it's really annoying to pretend he's tough shit!" cursed Apacci internally as she mindlessly parried yet another trailing slice from Renji's segmented Zanpakuto. "Nelliel, I'm beggin' ya, please tell me you're done finding that broad, I'd really rather fight that mad dog when he's grumpy than this weak ass excuse of a soul reaper…"

The red head on the other hand was having thoughts completely different to what his opponent was thinking.

"I can't tell if these arrancars are supposed to be strong or weak…..I released my Zanpakuto and I couldn't even get a single hit in. But what's weirder is that she hasn't been able to cut me either….which would mean that she's probably hard pressed as well. Or she's really good at bluffing. But why would anyone, let alone Aizen's cronies bother with something like that? Come to think of it, why DID they come here in the first place? Dammit, I really should've waited longer to catch them in the act. Captain Hitsugaya's going to be mad at me again" he asked himself. He was getting tired of their exchanges himself, and he seriously considered using his Bankai. But he'd already broken Toshiro's orders and engaged her in combat. Anymore would probably get him into trouble with his captain.

"Dammit, just what is your deal? Why the hell would you come here and do nothing?!" asked Renji in frustration.

"Hey, I'm not the one who attacked first! Here I was, just mindin' my own business when a fuckin' rooster head decides to swing his meat cleaver at me! You tell me who's got their shit mixed up here!" she retorted, delivering a cross slice with her twin chakram like zanpakuto. Renji quickly backstepped a couple of paces, both to avoid her attack and also to allow his zanpakuto to return to its constricted state.

"You're obviously here on Aizen's orders, aren't you? Admit it! And who the hell are you calling rooster head!" he retorted, closing in the gap and delivering a vertical slice to her shoulder, intending to gouge into her flesh. Apacci spun around, slicing into Renji horizontally with her right arm and then finishing off with a vertical slice at his right side. Warm blood seeped into his robes as Renji felt the burning sensation of a fresh sword wound on his abdomen and his right side.

"And why the hell would I tell you something like that?" demanded the doe arrancar.

"At this rate, I won't be getting anywhere! It would be easy if I could overpower her and demand answers, but….just a little bit of time, and Soul Society should be granting our request to remove our limiters. After that, I should be able to turn the tables around. I hope Rukia and the others have been doing ok" said Renji to himself, preparing to hold off his opponent until his limiter was removed.

---

Things were going very similarly for Apacci's partners Mila-Rose and Sung-sun, with some minor differences. Mila-Rose was joined by Dondochaka and found herself face to face with Ikkaku and Yumichika, but rather than wait it out like Toshiro instructed them to, Ikkaku took it upon himself to initiate the first blow.

"Heh, forget all that sneaking around crap! As a member of squad 11, I like things to be plain and simple. You see an enemy, you fight! There's nothing more that needs to be said, isn't that right, big lady?" asked Ikkaku with a grin, using his sheath and sword to strike at her upper left and downwards at her left side in quick succession. Mila-Rose hadn't even bothered drawing her broadsword shaped Zanpakuto, instead opting to avoid and block his hits with her bare hands.

"Do all soul reapers talk so much during a fight?" she asked, effortlessly holding him off. "And for the record, you guys struck first"

"And just what're you blabbering about?" asked Ikkaku, pushing her further.

Yumichika on the other hand, found himself in the awkward situation of having to deal with the bumbling mess that Dondochaka was. The arrancar was holding a huge spiked mace he pulled out of his stomach, but was doing everything with it but attack. Right now, the 5th seat of the 11th squad of Gotei 13 found himself chasing the estranged arrancar, who was comically running away from Yumichika, pleading him not to hurt him.

"This is really an arrnacar? Somehow…my sense of style wont let me take this guy seriously. I feel like I'd lose dignity if I defeated him rather than if I simply left him alone. But oh well, orders are orders. Still…..from what we've been told, I expected the woman Ikkaku's fighting would be a much bigger threat than what I'm seeing her be capable of. Is there something we're missing? Or….is this really how strong arrancars are? After all, holding off Iklkaku with nothing but your bare hands still deserves some credit. And even this guy, for what its worth, did manage to avoid every single hit I tried landing on him with Fujikujaku. Even so, I expected more from beings that even the captains were so wary of" he thought inwardly.

---

"My~whatever could you mean boya? I'm just here for sightseeing, honest" replied Sung-sun coolly, further annoying the white-haired captain. A vein popped in his forehead. "And besides, would you kindly stop waving around your popsicle? Being a snake and all, I rather detest the cold" she said, pointing to Toshiro's shikai.

"Clearly, you have arrived here with some objectives in mind. It's pointless to keep stalling. Even an arrancar such as yourself won't be able to take on a captain and a lieutenant by yourself" warned Toshiro, pointing his zanpakuto towards her. Rangiku on the other hand, looked as if she was about to blow steam any second. Standing in front of her, blatantly observing and definitely not ogling her was a bug eyed pesche flashing a thumbs up.

"….Captain! This pervert's been getting on my nerves since the beginning! How much longer do you expect me to stay quiet?! And she's been annoying us for the last 10 minutes! I still don't see why we aren't fighting!" asked Rangiku irritated. It was one thing for his lieutenant to be carefree and aloof, but it was yet another for someone to annoy her so quickly. But even he admitted that he was getting tired of this charade. "Also, I just received word from the others. Seems like they've engaged with the enemy as well"

"Calm down, Matsumoto. Although, I will say that I understand how you feel" he replied. "Even if she's somehow stronger than both of us, once the limiter on us is gone there should be no reason for us to get so worked up. If they've encountered the enemy, we should minimize communication so as to not affect their battles and only speak when necessary. Dammit, in that heat of the moment, Urahara never told us how we can turn this off"

"Mhm…~~You seem quite confident for a boy, 'captain'. Not to mention, Ms. Big tits has been glaring at me since the beginning as well. Scary~~" taunted the snake arrancar, still maintaining her cool demeaner. "Still, I don't know what you're talking about, boya. This place is precious to my family. I really don't want to fight here. So why don't you run along to your Soul Society. I promise I won't start anything here. Trust me, it causes me more problems if I DID do something rather than if I didn't. So, go on. Shoo shoo" she waved off. This time, veins popped in both of their foreheads. Toshiro's grip on his zanpakuto tightened.

"Captain…you're STILL telling me to hold it in…?!" asked Rangiku, quivering.

"I think we've heard enough, Matsumoto. No point in dragging this any longer when the others have already started fighting. Let's get her" he snapped in an annoyed voice. Sung-sun narrowed her eyes, her hand inside her sleeves. Toshiro said naught a word after, stepping in swiftly and slashing at her with a quick combo of five strikes. Sung-sun swiveled around him, her arms and body moving ever so slightly and yet with such flexibility and control that it put off the young captain's guard. She used the opportunity to strike at him more than ten times, all of which Toshiro could only narrowly block. Sparks rang out as their weapons sliced at each other, and yet, while Toshiro's zanpakuto was visible, hers was nowhere to be seen.

"Captain, the sleeves!" alerted the orange haired beauty. It was then Toshiro noticed the slightest glint of steel from within her left sleeve.

"A concealed weapon!" he thought frantically, and he kept his attention on her left side.

"Tch" remarked the snake arrancar, creasing her brows. Despite his inexperience, Toshiro Hitsugaya was still a captain of the Gotei 13. Though he was formidable compared to most soul reapers, he was still a far cry from the likes of Grimmjow, her master, Starrk, Nel and Ruby. At his current level, even she could defeat him comfortably. Her mouth curved into a small smile.

"And just what's so funny?" asked Toshiro.

"Oh do pardon me boya. I just couldn't help but think that I got such a cute little boy as my opponent. If it wasn't for that haori, I'd have trouble believing that you were a captain" she smirked.

"You talk as if you've seen what I'm capable of, arrancar" he replied, annoyed.

"You're right. But I doubt it'll impress me much after I've gotten so used to seeing and fighting with my family who're leagues above the likes of you both ever will be. Not to mention, even that despicable soul reaper bunch is far stronger than you both. I can see why someone like Aizen would choose to leave the Soul Society" she said calmly, maintaining her same composed and cool tone. Following that, Toshiro Hitsugaya's attacks became fiercer and brash, but more predictable. Sung-sun's smile grew wider.

Meanwhile, Rangiku was having troubles of her own, most notably because her opponent was making it so difficult to stay focused. Whether he was doing this on purpose or if this was purely coincidental, she couldn't tell. But what she DID know, was that she was getting more and more pissed off with each passing moment.

"Wh…who….whoa..!" exclaimed Pesche, swinging his arms around carelessly as he tried to avoid her swings. Following that, he tripped in a rather comical and exaggerated manner, falling right underneath her.

"Oooh hooh, noice!" he said, flashing her an aloof smile and a thumbs up.

"Oh for god's sake, first they have a stuck up snake for an arrancar and now a fucking pervert?! Give me a damn break!" she roared, stomping at where Pesche was. The latter responded by rolling around in a rather comical fashion trying to avoid her. As bizarre as this scene looked, Sung-sun for one was quite pleased with how things were proceeding.

"Now then….that was fairly easy. I hope the others are doing fine. At this pace, we should be out before these simple minded soul reapers ever realize our true intentions. The only one to worry about is truly….that one" she told herself.

---

The blue haired arrnacar was approaching them, his expression one of annoyance and irritation as opposed to the elated grin he sported before.

"Well, it's not my fuckin' problem if they decide to come out and play soul reaper. 'Warned them' my ass. In the end, all that did was the complete opposite. Someone powerful comes out and the first thing these pissants do is chase after the strongest spiritual pressure. She really has grown too soft after looking after them" he said.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" asked Ichigo, pointing his sword at Grimmjow. But Rukia stepped in front of him, trying to maintain a calm demeaner. However, just one glance at her face was enough to tell the arrancar that she was merely trying her best to cover her perturbed psyche. The blue haired arrancar watched as if he was making sure he was really looking at what he was looking at.

"You…..what's your goal? Why is Aizen sending Arrancars to the World of the Living if he wants to invade the Soul Society? Why would you even be here?" asked Rukia, the light quivering in her voice unmistakable. It was an illogical question, and one that even would feel awkward about when she thought about it later. However, she wouldn't get that chance for a long time.

"That's funny" he rasped. "That's what I should be asking. It's disappointing and insulting to think that you'd dare to ask me such a thing, being as weak as you are" he said.

"What do you-"

*SQUEELLCHH!*

Neither the orange haired substitute soul reaper, nor his sister or his companion could even make out the faintest blur as the blue haired arrancar seemingly disappeared from view. It wasn't until they heard a sickening sound did they realize that Grimmjow was no longer present in front of them but right beside them. Right beside Rukia, whose face still hadn't registered what happened. Her frozen expression was one of utter shock, her eyes wide and blank. But what looked even more out of place was the hand that was sticking into her abdomen. Grimmjow's hand.

"Sometimes, you just gotta beat it into them" he rasped, pulling his hand out. Rukia gave one weak whimper before she collapsed to the ground.

"RUUUKKKKIAAAAAA!" roared the orange haired soul reaper, immediately drawing Zangetsu from its cloth wrap and swinging his oversized zanpakuto straight down at the blue haired arrancar's left shoulder. In that moment, when he watched her drop down like a marionette doll after its strings had been cut, something primal, something instinctual overtook all of his other senses. Even the fear, the apprehension of holding his sword disappeared completely.

*THUNNK*

The dull sound of metal hitting against something hard rang out as the meat cleaver came to a dead stop against Grimmjow's shoulder. There was a shocked silence as Grimmjow's unimpressed face met Ichigo's appalled one.

"Not. Good. Enough. Ichigo!" thundered Grimmjow, pounding into Ichigo with each word. Ichigo coughed out violently, his entire body creaking and rattling with each blow rained down on him by the arrancar. With each hit he felt like he'd been hit by a cannon on the face.

"Let. Him. Go!" roared Karin, flash stepping next to Grimmjow and swinging at him, red veins glowing and all, straight down.

*CLUUUNG*

Karin watched with the same expression her brother made as he sword was caught effortlessly with a rather clumsy stance even. Almost as if he wasn't even putting enough effort to 'play' around with them as their sister had. Almost as if all he'd done was merely try to catch a bug that was flying around.

"I guess she forgot to mention that little pissants shouldn't be out fighting!" he snapped, delivering two quick kicks upwards and downwards and then driving his fist right at her core and sending her flying towards Tatsuki. She lost all feeling in her arms as she crashed into Tatsuki with such force that they kept going for a few meters before finally crashing violently at the concrete wall.

"Bankai!"

A violent explosion of reishi erupted from the spot where Ichigo Kurosaki lay, kicking up dust and smoke.

"Bankai, eh? Look's like the punk's still got some spunk left" remarked Grimmjow. With a single wave of his sword Ichigo cleared the dust cloud covering him. He said nothing in response, and merely dashed at Grimmjow and stabbed downwards at him, striking the ground. He followed it up by slicing upwards which Grimmjow evaded by stepping back. But Ichigo wasn't done. Using his momentum, he swung sideways. The blue jaguar watched unabated, catching the obsidian blade with his hand. With a single heave, he pulled both the sword and its master and shoved them both away from him, sending Ichigo crashing through several buildings.

*BZZT!*

Ichigo had no time to recover as an azure blur appeared right next to him, with his right hand curled into a ball, drawn back and aimed at him.

*SCHICK!*

Ichigo disappeared with a quick flash step, appearing behind Grimmjow.

"Still. Weak. ICHIGO!" roared Grimmjow as he turned around, catching his blade one more and then used his left leg as a pivot to spin around and deliver a high kick at Ichigo's face. The orange haired soul reaper barely managed to bring his arms to face level before Grimmjow kicked him again, this time at his abdomen upwards.

*BZZT!*

Appearing above him, Grimmjow then kicked downwards again, sending him towards the ground.

"Know your fuckin' place and stay here like the weakling you are!" he growled once more, using sonido to reach the ground before he did and then kicked him upwards again. Grimmjow kept juggling him back and forth, reprimanding him with every hit.

"This is a Bankai?!" *WHACK!* "Don't make me laugh!" *WHACK!* "All it does" *WHACK!* "Is increase your fuckin' speed a little!" *WHACK!* "Quite conceited aren't we?" *WHACK!* "After what she told" *WHACK!* I thought you might've learned your lesson!" *WHACK!* "I'll make sure to show both her and you" *WHACK!* "That if you want to make a point" *WHACK!* "You simply gotta beat it into them!" *WHACK!*

*WHOOOOSH!*

Grimmjow's juggling was interrupted when a bright orange fireball exploded against his body. It caused him a little more than a pin prick. Tatsuki charged forward along with Karin, her body glowing with bright red veins.

"HAA! HUUARGGH! THCAAAAH!"

"HRRRUUUAAAGH! TAKE THIS! HUUUUAHH!"

The duo continued their assault of flaming fireblasts followed by Karin's barrage of heavy strikes with Shingetsu which was also glowing with red veins. When Tatsuki took her turn to unleash her fireballs, Karin would step back and compliment her attack with a barrage of Blut enhanced arrows. The smoke clouds and noises from the constant explosions made it difficult for them to make out if their attacks were even doing anything. But Karin did feel her blows connect, and her arrows wouldn't really explode unless they were connecting.

A hand emerged from them, grabbing Karin by her hakama. "Done?" asked Grimmjow gruffly, still holding her by one hand. He then grabbed Tatsuki with his other hand and roughly smacked them against each other. Then, he threw Tatsuki aside where she fell right next to the unconscious Rukia. Following that, he brought Karin right to his face, glaring at her.

"If she hadn't told me about you brats, I would've made sure to kill you the second you pissants tried to chase after me being this pathetically weak. So be a good little punk and sleep!" he growled, raising her up and intending to pound her back to the ground.

Karin however brought Shingetsu in front of Grimmjow, holding it against her left palm. She managed to smirk before saying:

"Thanks….now….I can shove this…..right at your face, you ass…" she said with a terse statement. A bright light grew from within her sword. "Getsu…ga…..Ten…shou…!"

Karin jumped away and watched as her attack engulfed everything in front of him with a brilliant red light in the shape of a crescent moon.

"I hardly think that would've been enough to do him in. I should get Ichi-nii, Tsuki-nee and Ruki-nee and get the heck out of here to dad and the others-!"

"N…you're kidding…..right…..?" stammered a shaken Karin as Grimmjow emerged not more than a few seconds later, completely unharmed save for a small scratch on his cheek that didn't even draw any blood.

"You call that an attack…?" he asked, almost disappointed. "Here, I'll show you. Hitting…..is something like this" he said with a serious expression.

*BZZT!*

*KHWHACKHH!*

The raven haired kurosaki twin didn't even see his form approaching and before she knew it, she could feel an intense vibration ring out throughout her already battered body. And just like Rukia had before, she could only helplessly collapse to the ground. And what was more; she couldn't even tell if she was hit from behind or from the front or from her sides. Because the pain seemed to ring out from just about everywhere, even from within her insides.

"When you can take a hit like that, you can start to think about running around playing soul reaper all you want. Until then, just stay fuckin' down" he rasped. No sooner had she fallen down, Grimmjow felt a sudden spike in reishi coming from behind him. Something dark. Something much like himself. When he turned and looked, he saw the orange haired soul reaper back on his feet, bleeding, bruised and battered. Yet, the eyes looking back at him were anything but beaten. They were filled with rage and power. A maroon stained black mist like reishi was gathering around his obsidian blade.

"Getsuga…Tenshou!"

Though the attack was the same, Grimmjow's instincts immediately warned him that it was anything but the same attack as the one Karin launched at him earlier. He immediately put up his arms, crossing them over his chest. The moment it connected, he knew his instincts hadn't warned him in vain. Because he actually felt this one. Nay, it was more than that. It left quite the painful sting across his entire body. Specifically, across those parts of his body where it connected. He could feel the burnt smell of his skin where it made contact.

"What the hell….was that…." He said slowly. "Seems like you weren't all talk after all, Ichigo! But even so…..you're a hundred years too early if you thought that was enough!"

"You…know me…?!" asked Ichigo.

"Forget all that, I think it's time to switch, isn't it partner?!" came his voice from within Ichigo. Ichigo's left sclera began to turn black.

"Stop interfering…I don't need your help….!" Growled Ichigo back, clutching his left eye. Grimmjow's eyes twitched upon witnessing the scene. He then turned away from the orange haired soul reaper, clearly retreating.

"St…stop…! Where the hell do you think….you're going…! Our fight's not done yet…!" called out Ichigo, raising Zangetsu and practically dragging himself towards Grimmjow. He heard a disappointed sigh from the blue arrancar.

"You really wont stay put, even in that condition huh…? Looks like I'll have to really put you out of commission so you wont have to embarrass yourself, being in that state. Perhaps I'll break a limb or two. Or maybe I should just slice off one of those arms that wont let go of that sword even in that state. Atleast then she wont have to wear that weak expression on her face all the time" he growled, reaching for his Zanpakuto.

Just then, the air quivered and split apart. Ichigo and a barely conscious Karin and Tatsuki watched as two figures appeared right next to Grimmjow from within a black void. One of them was a green haired woman with a white mask on her face, grabbing Grimmjow's hand with a serious expression. And right next to her was…..

"Ori….hime….."

---

The moment the skies were filled with their reishi, their presence, Orihime, Chad and Uryu immediately tensed up. Because what they felt was far worse than when the first arrancar visited them, and far worse than the evil reishi Ruby emitted when she arrived. Because it was evident that there were multiple arrancars this time, all of whom were clearly stronger than Grand Fisher, if they could feel it all the way to their classroom. But no sooner had it appeared; their cellphones buzzed. More specifically, the same type of device Urahara gave Ruby before she left. It contained but a simple message. 'Rukia-san and her friends are here, they'll take care of the 'situation'". Meaning they were to remain uninvolved. There wasn't much they could do anyways, they thought, considering how massive the difference in their levels were. But it didn't stop them from worrying about it for the rest of the day, considering that Tatsuki and Ichigo already left much much earlier. Luckily, there wasn't much left of school for the day and they could head over to Urahara's to check the situation.

And so, while Uryu and Chad went their own ways, Orihime left for her home to drop of her things and head over straight to Urahara's. She was just about done refreshing herself and was about to head out, when she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" she answered, heading for the door. She didn't even think twice about whom it might be, thinking it might be Chad or Uryu who decided to drop by. Or perhaps it was Ichigo or Tatsuki. However, when she opened the door, what she didn't expect was to see a curvaceous woman with long voluminous green hair, a tight fitting white outfit with long sleeves and shoulder pads and puffy cuffs. She had a red marking across her face and gentle, hazel eyes. The most notable thing however, was the white, broken mask in the shape of an antelope's skull and the green sheathed katana hung at her waist. She wore a warm smile on her face, looking at Orihime with the kindest of expressions, tilting her head.

"May I come in?" she asked gently.

Her appearance was so sudden, so unexpected, that Orihime could do nothing but stand there, frozen on the spot. Before she could even consider an appropriate reply to her request, she was still taking time to reconcile the fact that an arrancar was right at her doorstep, and was asking her politely to grant entry to her room. She didn't even know where to start with the absurdity of the situation. Her hands immediately tensed, reaching for her hair pins as she instinctively took a step back.

"Wh…who are you…?!" she asked. "Why…are you here…?!"

"Please, relax Orihime-san. I'm only here to talk. I can understand that having an arrancar like me drop by uninvited at your doorstep can be a bit overwhelming. But I assure you, I simply just want to talk. Otherwise, why would I bother knocking at your door? See, I'll even leave my zanpakuto here if it makes you feel better" she replied, taking out her Zanpakuto from her waist and leaving it at the coat hanger. "I apologize for dropping by like this, but I hope we can still talk. Relax, I have no intention to harm you"

"How….absurd…" she thought to herself. Why was an arrancar here, for her? What could there possibly be that an arrancar came to talk to her like this, personally? But then again, Ruby Rose had been a very different type of arrancar too. And there was something in her voice that indicated that she truly meant every word that she spoke. If she could handle things without drawing things out to a fight, even better. And so, she gave a light nod, having relaxed just a bit. But Nel could tell that Orihime was still tense.

"Let's….talk inside" she offered, keeping her eyes on Nel all the while. The green haired beauty gave a small smile before admitting herself in. She even went through the trouble of taking her shoes off, which did surprise the orange haired beauty.

"Oh, this is just something I heard from Ruby. Apparently this is the custom here" she answered.

"Ruby….? You know Ruby-san..?" asked Orihime surprised.

"Yeah. She's like my family. We've been together for a long time. Speaking of which, I should introduce myself. I'm Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, but you can just call me Nel" she said, sitting down by the kotatsu Orihime.

"Nel…san…?" asked Orihime. "Ah! You're THAT Nel?!"

"Oh? It appears you know of me as well. I imagine Ruby filled you all in with a few details. Indeed, I am Nel" she smiled. "Tee hee, I wonder what she's told about me to you guys" she chuckled.

"Ah no..it's nothing like that…she talked quite fondly about you" replied Orihime. "But Nel-san….if I may ask, why.."

"Why am I here? To see her siblings that see her siblings that she talks about all the time of course" she replied cheerfully.

"Eh…?"

"Well, atleast I wish it was. I truly do. And trust me, one day, I'll be here solely for seeing the place and family that she cherishes so much. But as much as I'd like to stay here for that, I'm afraid this time I'm a bit on the clock. So I'll cut straight to the point, Orihime-san. You see, Aizen ordered us arrancars to retrieve you to Hueco Mundo" she replied, her expression serious.

"Aizen…? Me…? To Hueco Mundo…?"

"Uh huh. I was surprised at first too. But it turns out, he needs to use your ability for his plans. Now, I don't know why he sent us specifically, but I'm glad that he did. Because as much as it pains for me to say this, many of my arrancar acquaintances aren't as courteous as I and some of my friends are. Things would have gone very differently if it were so" she replied.

"But…but I cant just…..I wont…..go with you" she replied meekly, her hands on her hairpins again. "Aizen….he's the one who….I don't….I wont help him…". Nel grimaced, offering her a sympathetic look.

"Orihime-san, I completely understand you. Let me tell you that even within the arrancars, not everyone is sympathetic to his cause. Myself and my family for one. Ruby must've told you right? That's why you have nothing to worry about. I wont ever let any harm befall you or those you care about. I've specifically instructed my companions who accompanied me to follow the same. But…..if I return empty handed now, Aizen is sure to send some of the more unruly arrancars he has under his command. And they wont be as nice with you or her siblings for that matter. And even if you somehow win, he wont stop there. Even now, I'm quite worried that a situation might break out between my companions and the Soul Reapers they're fighting. I've asked them not to fight Ichigo and the others, but there's no telling what might happen. It would be fine if you guys could defend yourself. But…..I'm sorry. It's still not enough. I'm sure Ruby told you the same, but the reality is that if some of the other Espada were to get here, there really is nothing you can do to stop them. Even if you somehow managed, the collateral damage would just pull innocent bystanders into danger. However, even with you in Hueco Mundo, it'll be a while before Aizen makes his move. And trust me, one way or another, he'll get what he wants. But by coming with me, I can assure you that things can be peaceful here in Karakura town for the time being" explained Nel.

"But….even if you say that…..I…."

"You can prevent more fighting here by just cooperating with me just this once. In fact, you can even get to be with and look after Yuzu. Not that she needs it of course, considering she has her darling big sister to look after her. But even without her memories, I'm sure she'll be glad all the same. However, if I return now without you, I'm sure that the fights that follow after will no doubt put Ichigo and Karin's lives in danger. Not to mention Tatsuki's. It wont be long, and you wont even have to deal with Aizen" she said once more.

"…" Orihime was lost in thought. On one hand, she found it more and more difficult to disagree with Nel. And to her, she would be more than willing to go along if it simply meant that others wont have to suffer in her stead. But on the other hand, she despised the fact that in the end, this was how she could assist her friends who were out there, fighting for their lives. She couldn't even resist or fight back in the face of an adversary. And the fact that she was seeing Nel as anything but an enemy didn't help either.

"Can I…..talk to Tatsuki….before I give you my answer? And to Kurosaki-kun?" she asked. Nel smiled softly.

"But of course! In fact, I'm a bit worried myself about the one they're facing off against so I wanted to check on them too. Why don't we go there?" she said, offering her hand.

---

And that was how the duo found themselves in the presence of the blue arrancar. Needless to say, Nel was anything but happy with how things went. The shock on her face when she saw Ichigo lying there on the ground, bloodied and beaten, still trying to reach out from Grimmjow was apparent. And she just needed to look a few feet away to see Karin and Tatsuki along with another soul reaper in similar conditions. But more than shock, the first thing that came to her was guilt. Guilt for having assured her that this was a scenario that would never come to pass because of herself. Because the girl decided to come along with her and trust her despite the fact that she was literally asking her to give up without putting up a fight, all in order to save those that she cared about. Nel felt as if she'd broken that trust. And so, without thinking, she drove her fist right into Grimmjow's face, sending him flying several hundred feet.

Orihime on the other hand didn't have any time to consider any of that. Because she'd bolted straight towards Ichigo the moment she saw him lying on the ground.

"Ku…kurosaki-kun..!"

Without even thinking, she'd already cast her Soten Kisshun over Ichigo.

"Orihime…..not me….heal Rukia first…..she's in a much worse condition…" rasped Ichigo, pointing towards her. Right then, Nel appeared right beside Orihime, with an apologetic look.

"Orihime…..I'm so so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I never thought he'd go ahead and do exactly that which I asked him not to do" she replied, bowing her head. "Here, maybe this helps" she said, going over to Rukia, Karin and Tatsuki and placing them next to Ichigo. "You should be able to heal them all at once"

"Wh…who…..are you….?" Asked Ichigo.

"Ah, so you're Ichigo? How lovely! I'm Nel. A close friend and family of Ruby" she said smiling.

"Nee-san's…family….?!"

"I know there's a lot of things you want to ask. But please, just rest for now. I really wish we could've met under better circumstances. But know that I really wished things didn't go this way today" she explained.

"What do you….? And why is Orihime with you….?" Asked Ichigo.

"Oy, Nelliel?!" roared Grimmjow's voice from the distance. There was a loud noise and they could hear the blue haired arrancar approaching them. He stopped right in front of Nel, his expression furious. "What the hell was all that about?! You mind explainin' why you're interfering-guaarrrgh!" he groaned as Nel socked him once more in the face. It was very clear that she wasn't holding back.

"All this time we were trying to hit this guy and she does it so easily while he cant seem to be able to do anything…..!" exclaimed Ichigo wide eyed.

"You shouldn't even need me to explain, Grimmjow. But I'll deal with you later" she glared. She then looked at Orihime again. "Orihime, I know I can't do much for what's already done, but this should give you a clearer picture of things to come. In fact, I'd say that the amount of injuries they've sustained is minimal compared to what would've happened in case Aizen sent even more powerful arrancars. And that's not even mentioning the fact that this one here wasn't even using a fraction of his strength"

"…..if….if I come with you, will Kurosaki-kun really be safe? Will Tatsuki really be safe?" she'd asked, much to Ichigo's dismay. By now, Karin and Tatsuki were more or less healed, and even Rukia was stirring awake.

"Yes. I can guarantee that much. Because Aizen really has no reason to send more of his subordinates pointlessly. At least not until much later. But that was and still isn't something you guys should be worried about" she said, looking at Ichigo, Karin and Tatsuki in particular. "This is the reason Ruby asked you guys to stay away. This isn't your fight, and it shouldn't be. And believe me when I say this that even this guy here shares that opinion, though he might've been a little rough about it"

"'A little rough'?! Are you kidding me?! We nearly died!" protested Tatsuki.

"You're still alive. You weren't even unconscious. I'd say that he was being quite soft on you, given how he normally is" said Nel, cutting Tatsuki off.

"So then…..you're just asking us to stay put?! Because we're too weak?!" asked Karin.

"That's exactly what she's asking you, you little pissant" snapped Grimmjow. He then grabbed Ichigo's face, showing it in front of them. "See this? If you're reduced to this after just one attack when I'm not even using my released form, then you might as well kiss your chances of beating me goodbye. Because no matter how many of those you can release, it wont be enough" he said, showing them Ichigo's blackened sclera.

"That's….!" exclaimed Tatsuki, remembering Ichigo's photonegative version from back when they first saw him during his bankai training.

"It looks…..like a hollow's…..what's going on….?!" Exclaimed Rukia.

"No…." whimpered Karin. Ichigo could only look away guiltily.

"Please…..just stay put for a while. It'll be over soon. After that, I promise I'll bring her along too. Along with the rest of us. I'd love to spend time here sightseeing, in the place where your sister lived" said Nel. "And you needn't worry about little Yuzu as well. Ruby's taking good care of her. She'll be just fine. So just..dont get involved anymore, please. I would absolutely hate to have to fight her family and friends"

"Why….should we believe you…?" asked Rukia, pushing herself up, her injuries still healing. "As someone working under Aizen….what reason do we have to….?"

"You're right to suspect as much, soul reaper-san. But not all of us are with Aizen. Not by choice atleast. Ruby for one definitely isn't. And I'm only doing this because this is the best way things remain peaceful for both sides" she answered.

"Wait…..Ruby…by that, you mean Ruby Rose..?! Their sister?!" asked Rukia, exclaimed. "Why do you…?! What's going on….?!" Nel looked surprised, but after looking at the expressions of Tatsuki , Karin and Ichigo, she got a better picture of the situation. "Ah…..I'm sorry" she said. Orihime however, cut her off. "Fine….I'll come with you, Nel-san"

"Orihime…?!" exclaimed Tatsuki.

"If it means that they'll be safe….i'll do it. I'm sorry, Tatsuki. Ichigo. Karin. Rukia-san. But weak as I am, I wont be of much help. I'll only get in your way. But atleast this way, I can protect you" she said with a weak smile, the light from her shun shun rika disappearing. Their wounds had been healed.

"…alright. Let's get going then. Don't worry, you'll be fine. You made the right decision" she assured. She then went up to Ichigo, Karin and Tatsuki, rubbing their heads softly. "Next time, let's meet under different circumstances. Until then, take care" she said, following which she opened a garganta in front of them. Nel and Orihime stepped in first, and then Grimmjow.

"Wa…wait…! Come back! Our business isn't finished yet…!" called Ichigo, but to no avail.

"Don't you dare come after me looking that pathetic ever again, Ichigo. Next tiem, I'll really make sure you won't be able to go around playing soul reaper again" he said before he too disappeared. Bitter, defeated and humiliated, he didnt even feel like lifting himself from the ground.

Once again, I was too weak to save anyone. He thought to himself. Once again…..everyone I care about leaves me behind. All because I was too weak…..first Yuzu, and then now Orihime….

"….DaammmITTTTT!" he roared, punching the ground. "HUAARRRGH! HAAAARGHHH! HUUAAARRRGHHH!" Again and again and again, he continued pounding the ground, his ears deaf to the pleas of Rukia, Tatsuki and Karin who were asking him to stop. It took them a lot of effort just to drag him back to Urahara's base.

---

And the especially grim mood didn't just stop there. The collective meeting between the soul reapers and the few others present there was particularly tense and not going well at all at the moment. They'd gathered as they did before in Urahara's underground chamber. But unlike earlier that day, the tension in the air was at an all time high since not only had they failed to gain any sort of information from the enemy, they'd also let themselves be outwitted so badly.

"…..the arrancars then used various means to make their escape, such as using ceros, some special technique to camouflage their reishi and presence or other similar methods before opening a garganta back to Hueco Mundo. It was also found that Aizen Sosuke's aim had been Orihime Inoue from the beginning. I have confirmation that she went along with the arrancars of her own volition. It is unclear what his objectives are at the moment. And since the enemy never used their full strength, the full ability of their fighting prowess is unclear as well. But because of that, none of us sustained any serious injuries save for Kuchiki, Kurosaki, Kurosaki and Arisawa. But before leaving, Orihime Inoue healed them before asking the arrancars called Nel and Grimmjow to take her along with them. The arrancars appear to be in cahoots with an individual called Ruby Rose, who from what I hear, is Ichigo Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki's elder sister. It is still unclear what Runy Rose's connection with the arrancars is. Although they claim that their objectives are not in line with those of Sosuke Aizen's, given the latest operation, I find it hard to believe. That is all, head captain" sad Toshiro, lowering his head in shame. Naturally the silence that followed was one that was expected, even for those that already knew what had transpired such as Renji and Rangiku. However, the one who seemed to be particularly shocked by the report was Unohana. The same Unohana who was usually calm and composed. The head captain looked at them with looks of disappointment and fury. Kyoraku shook his head, thinking about the big mess things were at the moment. As for Ukitake, he was the most surprised of them all. Because he was yet to reveal that piece of information that he uncovered at the reishi archives of the Soul Society to Urahara and the others.

"This is bad….really bad news" said Ukitake, breaking the silence. "Because if what you say is true Captain, and if what I've uncovered is really what Aizen is up to, then we're in much more trouble than we can imagine" he informed them.

"That's rare coming from you, Ukitake" said Yoruichi. "It's not like you to sound so troubled. So? What is it?"

"Before he left, Aizen had been looking at the King's key. Specifically how to make one" he said slowly.

"Wait…..what….?!" exclaimed Toshiro, shocked.

"Oh dear me…" said Urahara, troubled.

"What is it…?" asked Ichigo, looking at the others.

"The King's Key. An artifact that is said to grant access to the Royal Palace where the Soul King resides to whoever possess it. The Soul King is the cornerstone that holds our world together. Without him, nothing would exist. In a way, he is literally god. But, it is said that he was sealed away after using his limbs were used to form the dimensions we reside in now. And though he is guarded by the Zero squad, if someone were to enter the Royal Palace, they could….." explained Isshin.

"More than that, what's troublesome is the method to create the King's Key. Because even if one manages to enter the Royal Palace, getting past the Zero Squad isn't easy. Their power is greater than all of Gotei 13 itself. However, the problem lies in the creation. A king's key can be granted by the Soul King himself, like it was for the members of the Zero Squad. Or, you can create one. By using a spiritually enriched zone such as Karakura Town with many souls with high spirit energy and sacrificing 100,000 souls within said zone" answered Kyoraku.

"What did you say…?!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"So you're telling me that….Aizen plans to….!"

"…The seal I put on the Hogyoku isn't one that can be easily dispensed. However, Orihime-chan's power can reverse that seal. It must be why he needs her. However, even if it were to be unsealed, it would still need some time to regain its power. I'd say that we about one month" said Urahara. "Before Aizen decides to create the King's Key. Considering how smoothly he pulled off this operation, I'd say he wants to have the Hogyoku's full power at its disposal before he makes his final move"

"Dammit…..he'd really go that far…" cursed Toshiro.

"….Aizen by himself was quite formidable on his own. And now, we know that the arrancars he has under his command are no pushovers either. At the very least, they managed to defeat Ichigo-kun when he was using his bankai; the very same bankai capable enough to best even Captain Kuchiki" noted Ukitake.

"You're right there, Shunsui. And we still have no idea just how many of these arrancars he has under his command, which makes this all the more troublesome" sighed Kyoraku.

"I'm deeply sorry for my incompetence" said Toshiro. "If only I'd focused and coordinated better, this wouldn't have happened" he said. But Kyoraku waved it off.

"Don't sweat it, captain. These things happen. And besides, no one could've expected the arrancars to be like…..that" he finished. "I expected there might be some who disagreed with Aizen. You know, with him being a soul reaper and hollows not really getting along with us folk? But to be so….passive about it isn't something we can expect. Heck, it's practically a miracle that none of you got any serious injuries"

"Which brings to question, what reason could they have for such behavior?" asked Yamamoto. "And I believe you mentioned the elder sister of the Kurosaki siblings having a connection to the arrancars. Ruby Rose, is that correct?"

"Head Captain, if I may…..I believe that even amongst the arrancars, there are those that don't necessarily share the same hostility as other arrancars and hollows do to others. Evident by the fact that they never directly engaged any of us to the point of seriously wounding us. And this I believe is also due to Ruby Rose. It is true that she's the elder sister of Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu. However, she's also the same vasto lorde arrancar we spoke about earlier today. The one who saved them from Grand Fisher"

"She's what now…?!" exclaimed Toshiro, unable to maintain his composure.

"What is the meaning of this, Isshin?!" boomed Yamamoto. "How convenient of you to neglect mentioning that one of your own happens to be such a powerful foe who could possible threaten the lives of us in the Soul Society?"

"Don't talk about that Ruby-nee like you know her, you old geezer! Ruby-nee would never-!"

"SILENCE!" he boomed, tapping his cane forcefully. "It is you who doesn't know about the ramifications of keeping this fact from us, child. Regardless of who she is, it is undeniable that she and the other arrancars are working towards aiding Aizen Sosuke's objectives. The same objectives that involve the destruction of Karakura Town and its inhabitants for the purpose to destabilizing our very existance!"

"That's….! Nee-san would never….."

"I'm sure she doesn't know…!" insisted Tatsuki. "Otherwise, aneki would never so something like helping Aizen!"

"It matters not! We have already fallen prey to his schemes multiple times and wronged the underserving one time too many! I will not let a single soul, an arrancar of all things, be the very reason for this to happen another time. Regardless of what it is, there can be no doubt that your sister has been, unknowingly or knowingly advancing his schemes. I expected much better from you, captain Shiba. Even if you were not a part of the Gotei 13, I expected you would come clear with us out of concern for your family. And you too, Kisuke Urahara. Yoruichi Shihouin!" he thundered.

Out of all those present, only Unohana was silent. She looked lost in thought, and appeared to be out of focus. As if recollecting something from a long, long time ago. And for whatever reason, whenever the name 'Ruby Rose' was mentioned, her mind nagged at her. And she could feel a very faint but noticeable twinge at her right shoulder. But she pushed aside such thoughts for later. She of all people, couldn't afford to look out of place and aloof. She could think about this feeling later.

"Sigh, this is exactly why I DIDN'T mention it in the first place. Because no matter what she is, she's my daughter. Period. The only reason I didn't go out of my way was because I knew that she can protect herself if needed. But I'm sure that if she were to be aware of Aizen's current plans, she wouldn't be out there in Hueco Mundo, and neither would most of his arrancars" said Isshin.

"And besides Head Captain, the fact still remains that the Soul Society isn't ready to face off against arrancars. We really should use the time we have now to make amends for that" suggested Unohana.

"Hmm…you're right there, Captain Unohana" replied Ukitake. "Well, Kisuke speculates that we have one month before things start moving. We should use that to mobilize our forces in case of an assault. I believe that mastering our skills as much as we can goes without saying"

"Not to mention, we need to make sure that we can keep the battle away from Karakura town. There wouldn't be any point if our battle cause collateral damage to the entire town. We don't want to be doing Aizen's work for him after all" added Kyoraku. "As for the arrancars and their loyalties….well, we can deal with it when the time comes. The important thing is be be prepared to be able to handle any of situation we face"

"A sound suggestion indeed. Which brings to question my previous offer. Captain Shiba. Yoruichi Shihouin. Kisuke Urahara. Will you really not return to the Soul Society to take up positions as captains once more?" he asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but my answer remains unchanged. You guys take care of the Soul Society and we'll take care of things here. And besides, my kids are here. I cant possibly leave them" answered Isshin.

"We work better here in the World of the Living than back there. So I'm afraid I'll have to decline" answered Yoruichi.

"Well, we had to try" sighed Kyoraku. "In that case, could you contact the Vizards? We sent out invitations to them before, but they've outright refused us. Their assistance would be much appreciated and we could really use their help"

"I understand what you mean, Kyoraku-san. But I can't guarantee anything. But that also reminds me" he said, looking at Rukia. "Kuchiki-san, if I remember correctly, you mentioned something about Ichigo's eyes looking like a hollow's" Rukia nodded.

"So it was indeed true then…." Said Renji, shocked. "I remember that Captain Kuchiki filed a report containing something like that but I never thought it would actually be the case…"

"Don't tell me it's Aizen again…" remarked Ukitake.

Kisuke went over to Ichigo, taking a closer look at him. Once he was done, he sighed, lowering his hat.

"I should probably mention this for the record, just in case. But young Ichigo's reishi is more akin to a vizard's than a pure Shinigami. In a way, you could say that this was because of Aizen as well. However, there is no doubt that in his current condition, it wont be long until he's consumed by his inner hollow" said Urahara.

"Wait, is that true Mr. Hat and Clogs?!" asked Karin. "Is Ichi-nii really…..?"

"As alarming as it sounds however, the vizards can help you control that hollow of yours, Ichigo. Normally I would give you a choice. But if we left you alone, you'd be a danger to yourself and those around you"

"Will Ichigo be alright…?" asked Tatsuki.

"Worry not, Tatsuki. The vizards are more than capable of helping Ichigo. After all, they're also a group of soul reapers with hollow powers, just like you, Ichigo" answered Yoruichi to the orange haired soul reaper's surprise. "Aizen's doing of course. And I have no doubt they would help you out. After all, they and Kisuke go way back"

"Alright, it looks like we're getting somewhere now! So in short all we-"

"Wait..!" interrupted Tatsuki. "What about Orihime?! You're telling me we're simply going to forget about her?!"

"I hate to break it to you, Tatsuki-chan. But we cant afford to be worrying about a single human over what's really at stake here" apologized Kyoraku. "And….it doesn't help that she went with them of her own accord. Sending a team to go after her in enemy territory is just…."

"So we're just going to leave her there to die with them?!" asked Ichigo. "I refuse to accept that! If you wont send her, then we'll just go after her ourselves!"

"No you cannot!" boomed Yamamoto.

"What….?"

"Things regarding the arrancars and Aizen Sosuke have been delicate enough as is! We cannot have a petulant boy run after the enemy and endanger provoking them into attacking again! And we need all the manpower we can get here!" he retorted.

"Then….what about when you promised to send a team to rescue Yuzu?!" asked Karin. "How is that 'Not going into enemy territory?!'"

"That's….." said Ukitake.

"That was then. It's unfortunate but the situation is a bit different now. Our priorities have been shifted because of what happened recently. At this point, we need every able bodied fighter we can get. I'm sorry but we simply have our hands tied at the moment. However, if it guarantees some sort of success in hampering Aizen's plans, it would be a different issue but sending someone now is just…" explained Kyoraku.

"And besides, you hardly have the time to be worrying about her, foolish son of mine" said Isshin. "In the state you're in, you'll only get killed if you went out to Hueco Mundo. You really should focus on getting that guy under control first"

"The upcoming battles will affect us all. I suggest we all take time to prepare for the worst, as we've discussed. Captain Hitsugaya and his advance team should remain there for reporting back any active happenings regarding Aizen. And Kisuke-san and the others can coordinate things between them and us here in the Soul Society. This includes training the kids to prepare for the worst. After all, they do have the potential to become stronger and we know that its very likely a situation can arise where they can be in mortal danger. We have one month. Let's use it well" summarized Kyoraku.

"Well said, Shunsui! I believe with this we have nothing left to discuss. I want a full report sent immediately. Captain Hitsugaya, should there be any major developments, you are also to report them immediately. Understood?" boomed Yamamoto.

"Yes sir"

"Then the meeting is adjourned" he said, and the screen faded to black.

---

Though the arrangements were clear to some, there were others still who were equally unsatisfied by how things concluded that day. After that day, Ichigo would have sessions with the vizards to control his inner hollow after being introduced to them by Urahara and Isshin. They were a particularly introverted bunch who didn't really bother talking to anyone but within themselves, but Ichigo would soon find himself getting along with them just fine, but with the occasional bickering and arguments.

Karin on the other hand took it upon herself to pester Ryuken Ishida until he had to give in and teach her the more advanced techniques of the Quincy, something that he hadn't intended to do for the immediate future. Ichigo and Tatsuki had always expected her to work on her soul reaper side more than her quincy side, so it definitely came to them as a surprise. Isshin in particular was dejected, saying how her last daughter had also left his side and decided to side with the 'damned four-eyes' while comically hugging Masaki's poster at the Kurosaki clinic. Ryuken for one was pleased that Karin had made the 'smart choice' and that though her skill was 'passable' compared to her sister, he was still generous enough to tutor her. Uryu was glad to have someone other than his father to practice with.

Tatsuki, on the other hand, had asked quite the bizarre and difficult question, completely surprising Yoruichi and Kisuke.

"Yoruichi…..please. Tell me how I can become a soul reaper" she asked them. Her expression made it clear that she was quite serious about such a thing and that it was weighing on her quite heavily.

"Where is this coming from?" asked the flash master gently.

"When that guy came…..I couldn't even do anything. Despite all the effort I put in to improve myself, if not for those two, I wouldn't be…." She replied. "If I was a soul reaper like them, then I can stand beside them. And maybe this time, Orihime won't run away from me to protect me"

"Arisawa-san, even if you say that, its not that easy. You see, those siblings have always had soul reapers powers, so all they needed to do was to awaken them. In your case on the other hand, we'd have to do it the normal way. By training at the academy for six years and then slowly and steadily training with a zanpakuto until you can learn its name and finally gain soul reaper powers of your own. As you can imagine, that isn't really a practical option" explained Kisuke.

"Then…..what can I do…? Tell me, Urahara-san? If it means I can protect them in aneki's place, I'll do anything" she pleaded.

"Now now, you know I wouldn't let down a student of mine, don't you? Have I ever? You may not be able to become a soul reaper, but there are still things I can teach you" she said. "And trust me, after I'm done with you, you'll be even more powerful than even regular soul reapers. However, don't expect it'll be easy. Expect to go through Hell and back. Understand?"

"I don't care. I'll do what it takes" she said firmly.

"Alright then. If you're that sure, then let's get to it. You'll begin a series of activities for working on different traits that you'll need for mastering this skill. It's called Shunko. But before we even get there, this is what you need to do first…."

Rukia, Toshiro and his advance team on the other hand, would each find places to live in the World of the Living for the duration of that month. Or more specifically, with Ichigo's classmates. Yumichika and Ikkaku stayed with Keigo, Toshiro and Rangiku wanted to stay with their beloved 'captain' however he flatly refused them. So, having no option, they stayed in Tatsuki's place instead. Naturally Rukia stayed with Ichigo, saying how she could never imagine herself staying anywhere else but inside Ichigo's closet, greatly embarrassing and annoying the substitute soul reaper. Karin was more than happy to have her over and Chappy was even more so. Isshin clung on to Masaki as usual, saying how his family felt whole again with Rukia there. Renji on the other hand stayed at Urahara's place, occasionally helping them out with daily chores and sometimes helping out with training Chad and Tatsuki.

And so, one month passed by.

~One month later~

Hueco Mundo

(Hollow and Togabito abilities slightly amplified, Quincy and Shinigami abilities slightly dampened)

In the vastness of the endless white sands covering all of Hueco Mundo, if one observed carefully, one could make out five dots moving across the landscape towards a titanic white palace. If one was viewing the said palace from above, it would be difficult to make out its features amongst the white sands the palace rested on. But the contrast between its white color and the dark night sky that served as its backdrop couldn't be more obvious. And the said five figures were heading towards said structure. Even though the soul reapers were making plans to intercept Aizen currently, Ichigo and the others could no longer wait. Tatsuki for one definitely couldn't. After all, despite Nel's promise, it had been a whole month since Orihime disappeared with them. And considering that the Soul Society was clear about not prioritizing her retrieval, the five running towards Las Noches simply had to find her.

"So…..how long have we been running towards it again?" asked Ichigo, looking at the enormous palace.

"I thought it might be big but this is just insane…!" complained Uryu, panting.

"You sure it was a good idea for you to come along?" asked Karin. "I could've managed by myself you know. We did train together a lot after all. And besides, you'll die if anything happens to that thing" she said, pointing to the arm band given to Uryu by Urahara.

"Wait….isnt that the device that allows you to absorb reishi from this place without feeling its poisonous effects? Your life is literally hanging by a thread! I understand that we don't have the Soul Society's support on the matter but to risk your life like this is…." Asked Tatsuki uncertainly. "And Kari! Doesn't the same apply to you as well?!"

"Nah, not really Tsuki-nee. I'm only half quincy. I wont die, but I doubt it'll be pleasant. In fact, I have half a mind to trash this thing" she said, pointing to her own armband. "After all, if Yuzu could do it, I can do it too"

"Just worry about yourself, Arisawa. I'm more than capable of handling myself. I've to ask you that actually" replied Uryu, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah right. Says the guy literally gasping for breath after a light jog" she retorted.

"Um….you might want to check that…" said Chad, pointing towards a dust cloud that was slowly but surely approaching them.

"What's…?"

"It could be an enemy! Stay vigilant! It could be an arrancar considering that we're quite close to the enemy base!" alerted Uryu, and the rest reached out for their weapons.

The speeding dust trail approached closer and closer. As it came into view, they realized that there were two figures in front of the dust cloud which was being created by the giant, snake like hollow with a gaping mouth.

"What the heck….?" Wondered Karin, squinting her eyes to get a better view.

"They look like….kids..?" said Uryu uncertainly.

As the two approached closer, the group's impression of the scene changed from caution to surprise. The giant snake hollow was chasing after what appeared to be two girls. Both of them were wearing some sort of cloak covering most of their bodies. The taller one of the two was a young looking girl about Karin's age with lime green hair reaching to the base of her neck and a single pink colored eye. The other seemed to be covered by something. The other girl was much younger, wearing a cloak similar to the one the taller girl was wearing. This girl had dark red hair with straight bangs over her forehead and long plaited twintails that fell to either side of her face and round, golden eyes. At her chest there was a lapel in the shape of a rose holding her cloak together. She also had dark red tattoos in the shape of thorny branches on her face. They appeared to be running away frantically from the snake like hollow following after them. At the time, none of them would realize that their bizarre encounter with the odd duo would have a much deeper meaning than they ever envisioned.

---

Ok a long chapter done, and quite a few things happened and didn't happen! Firstly, I apologize for the delay. There were somethings I was really occupied with as well as the fact that this part of my fic is in a bit of a grey area since I only planned a couple of major events and had to work out the rest. I hope it worked out fine. I can assure you that there might be times occasionally when I might get delayed by a week but other than that, normally, I try to update within a week's time. It was a lot of work for this chapter, hope you liked it!

Now, you might be wondering why I didn't expand on Ichigo's vizard training. Well, mostly because the vizards were a group I personally didn't care too much about. But also because it was a training segment and that the chapter was getting too long already. So I decided to do it in the next one. I really wanted to end it with Ichigo and co going to Hueco Mundo and their meeting with a certain someone. I can tell you that Ichigo's vizard training will be significantly different as compared to canon.

Regarding Summer's story, I think I will handle it separately after all. I might throw out bits and pieces of it here and there, but I wont have major chunks of it in this fic. Also, as you saw, I plan to expand on some of the characters from Remnant in a way that wasn't shown in canon. (For ex. Raven). Considering that this is a fic, I think I can take a little liberty. After all, I've already done so with canon bleach.

---

Response to reviews:

Argorok: Thanks a lot for the support as usual!

Spellflame: Maybe. Really depends on the case. If they manifested like a zanpakuto spirit, I don't see why not. But if they manifested more like a fullbring, then maybe or maybe not.

ccl1995: So yeah, decided to do it as a separate fic. But I might throw bits and pieces here and there.

L4 of the WEST: Thanks! Yeah and also, Summer talked about Salem when Ruby and Summer were reunited after Masaki's death.

Kragh: You're welcome and thanks for reading!

Momentei: Thanks! Well, as you found out, he sure is but its not the company you expected to see now is it? Ah, once Ichigo comes to know who he just met….that will be something.

NightmareKnight1: Ahaha thanks! I quite liked that video, just thought I wanted to atleast thrown in a reference.

firewyrm2: Well, in the end, I'll keep it separate after all but still throw in bits of her past here and there to keep things interesting. And thanks for asking, everything's fine! It's just that at times I get really occupied with personal stuff and might get delayed. But a week is the most I'd delay a chapter I'd say.

Lucian Naruto: Possibly. Canon doesn't make it clear when exactly Zaraki met Unohana. It appears to be after the war and Summer disappeared during the war. But then the question is, was Unohana still 'Yachiru' after the war? If not, then its only logical that Zaraki and Unohana met during the war which also means that of course, Zaraki would've met Summer. When the time comes, we'll see.

Vedahzii: Well, definitely. Things wont be pretty for Grimmjow for sure.

Zifryt: Ahaha well, Summer is already trolling him enough. If anybody should troll him that way, it has to be her. And thanks! Yeah, I decided to make it a separate story after all.

Xeno01: Yup. Indeed, that is what I planned when I wrote Ulquiorra and Yuzu. Hoh boy, he did exactly what he was told not to do. I mean, its obvious it would come to that. Given his character, it would be weird if he just….left without saying anything.

NEGATARO: Yeah indeed. And thanks!

epic insanity666: Ah glad you liked it! I'm always elated to know that I was able to bring forth emotions in my readers through my writing. Thanks a lot!

Guest: Well, chapter 8 has always been that point where people either liked it or hated it. And I quite understand why, given the nature of the chapter. Still, I'm glad you read my story.

RandomName3064: I dunno man. Its true that I could do that. But actually, if I can be honest, I don't quite like how they've done things in V8. I've already changed Summer drastically personality wise. I feel like I can take liberty with stuff here and there considering that this is a fic. So far, it deosnt seem like we'll get a big chunk of Summer's story or anything resembling the same. But hey, there's still one more episode left. Who knows, something might happen then.

RedFalconWriter: Thanks a lot! And yea, you're right. This story is already taxing enough to write. I think I want to focus on Ruby here, since that was always my intention. So yeah, I'll probably write a short side story separately for Summer.

Zekken182: Ah sorry I'm late, was preoccupied. But its not often that I have delays so you needn't worry!