Ah . . . It feels strange to be writing again. I haven't written in over two years, I think, and I gave up on that fic. Now, first of all, I just got done playing the first bit of Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, and that game scares the shit out of me. However, they have souls and shit like that as well as means of exorcism; sort of like Bleach. Then, I realized the main plot involves twins, and I was sittin' there, with my heart pounding and snapping photos of mangled women and skin-and-bones men wielding torches, I thought "Y'know, Hichigo and Ichigo are sort of like twins . . ." and that gives me inspiration for this fic. If you've played the game, you'll understand most of it right off the bat and even recognize the character references. You don't have to, but, if not, go watch it on Youtube or play the game or something. It's worth it. Oh, yes, and this is HichiIchi, so if you don't like it, go away. While I ignore flames, they do clutter my inbox, so don't bother. Other pairings include GrimmNell, Ulqi,Hime, slight RenRuki, and rare/slight ShuuheiKensei (I just so happen to think they're hot together, though they won't be seen a lot, unless its' requested)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Nashi Hideki, my gameboy, Ipod, and the music I splurged on (and am now regretting)

Prologue

Leaving the Cocoon

Ulquiorra thought deeply as he strode through Las Noches. Every night, since that ningen was brought to the castle by Aizen's decree, he'd been waking up at night with new feelings and memories of things that never happened to him. He was beginning to not trust himself; he, for some inane reason, wanted to comfort the woman and help her. Why, he did not know. All he knew was that this urge was a powerful one. Then reports of familiar reiatsu in the halls were confirmed. Neliel tu Oderschvank was once again roaming the halls of the white palace. Her and Kurosaki Ichigo. Apparently the vaizard was in a fight with Noitora at the moment, and he was making his was to him; after all, Orihime was with him, and he had that unexplainable urge to protect her. A seemingly-worried Grimmjow trotted along behind him, his hair still laughably long as a remnant of his Ressureciỏn. Grimmjow's clothes were tattered and there were a few wounds still left on his body. The current cuarta espada was only slightly regretting his decision to attack the orange-head.

Grimmjow was being led around by Ulquiorra for a different reason. Before Nell had left, they were in a . . . relationship. As a Vasto Lordes, Nell had found him, and they had achieved the rank of Espada together when they had been made into arrancar. Then, completely out of the blue, she disappeared. Her fracciỏn had left with her also. When she left, everyone had noticed an increasing violent tendency in the bluenette. He had been growing more and more irrational, as well as angry. As word was passed to him that the arrancar brat Kurosaki was toting around with him was Neliel, courtesy of Ulquiorra, he immediately went to aid the Espada in 'escorting' the intruders out of Las Noches, Hueco Mundo, even. Of course, the two would be going with them and hope for the best once they arrived in the living world. He was worried because, well, they flares of energy weren't from Ichigo; they were from Neliel. And she was loosing power – fast. On the other hand, Noitora still didn't stand much of a chance to her.

The two Espada stopped for a moment when Nell's reiatsu suddenly dropped back down to what it had been before. Breaking into sonido, they began to hurry to the vaizard, parivon (?)-espada, and the human girl.

Ichigo ran at the giant arrancar, crying out in rage. After getting his ass handed to him by Nell, the bastard had to go and attack her while she was in her little state. Then, he tripped. What was so bad was that he couldn't find the strength to get back up again. "No . . ." he grunted, "I can't die, not yet."

Noitora stared for a moment, before smirking and walking up to the shinigami while raising his axe at the same time. He began to chuckle. "So it looks like you're done for, shinigami. Hope, ya had fun, 'cause now I'm gonna take pet-sama back and have a good time with her."

Ichigo's eyes widened at the implications, and struggled to keep his rapidly fading vision in focus. But he couldn't; darkness swallowed him, and he knew nothing. Noitora's smirk grew larger, and he began to bring his massive weapon down. There was a loud boom, and a debris cloud obscured his sight. To his surprise, when the veil of dust cleared, the scythe was held back by a grey hand. A pale arm ran out of its wrist and connected to an ash-colored boy. Hair the color of clouds fell into eyes that were pools of ink with a thick amber ring set into them. A hollow mask sat on the upper left-hand side of its head, above it's ear, and it was glaring at him. A nasty scowl was set into his face.

"Don't you touch my king," it growled in a syrupy voice that sounded like it echoed, despite the wide open space. Noitora's eyes opened wide and he jumped away as a bala wave was shot at him. He had managed to dodge, but the albino had gotten away with his prey. Who in the hell was that, an arrancar? He did have a mask, but he had a shinigami body.

The hollow landed near Orihime, who looked at him with a bit of fear. He sat Ichigo down and frowned at her. "Oi, bimbo, heal the king, why don'-cha. Do Nell while ya at it. I 'spose I'll take care of th' hentai over there," he jerked his thumb at the monster of a man, who was making his way towards them.

Orihime nodded rapidly, "H-h-h-hai, H-h-h-hollow-san. Demo . . . naze? You're a hollow, you should be eating us." The spirit stared at her, and then answered.

"Because I . . . tha's for me ta know an' you to find out."

"Oh, well, I like your kimono!" She gave him dazzling smile. The hollow was wearing an ankle-length kimono, with sleeves that passed over the knuckle and the flaps draped down to his knees. A crimson obi was tied around his waist, and the thong of the dark wood geta between his black tabi was blood colored. He blinked at her a moment, before smiling timidly, shyly, at her, as if he wasn't used to that kind of smile.

"Arigatou."

Then he vanished; the low static rumble of sonido in his wake. Orihime nodded, and returned to her work of keeping Ichigo from dying. She smiled when she noticed that his wounds were healing very quickly, and then frowned in confusion. His cuts and scraped were stitching themselves back together much faster than her Shouten Kisshun usually healed, almost as if there was some other power helping him recover. He was healed in just under a minute, and then she moved on to Nell-san.

Uryuu glared at Szayel who smirked back. He and Renji were worse for wear, and there seemed to be no sign of some sort of breakthrough to defeating him. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, a bolt of blue rocketed through the Espada's head, and they were released. The arrancar dissolved, and an estatic voice cried out, "Yatta! BOOM, headshot!"

A man who was shorter than Ishida, but had the same build ran up to the quincy, shinigami, and the two hollows. He grinned widely at them. He was wearing a quincy uniform, and had shinigami hakama beneath it. In one hand was a large, ornate black longbow. He had a lengthy ponytail of reddish-brown hair and large celadon eyes. He also wore a visor similar to the one Renji had before Ichigo broke it.

"Who're you?" Renji asked bluntly. Ishida winced.

The small man grinned at them, "The result of Aizen's experiments of trying to combine an arrancar and a quincy! I just recently escaped, and am going to try to get us back to the realm of the living!" Renji blinked owlishly trying to imagine the bouncy, young-looking quincy/hollow in front of him to be strong enough to destroy an espada in one shot.

"He's experimenting with quincy?" Uryuu asked this one. Hadn't Soul Society still been looking for new ones when they left for Hueco Mundo? Then two fat arrancar bounced over. The man turned and raised his bow and drew the string. An slender arrow that looked like a needle of blue light was drawn and he aimed. Releasing the string, it flew as a dart of cold lightning, causing the hollows to be obliterated.

"Well of course!" The archer replied without missing a beat. He held out his hand, "I'm Nashi Hideki." Uryuu shook it uncertainly. He then moved on to Renji. "One of the reasons I'm stronger that an average quincy is the fact that I'm a soul, not a body, so my rate of conversion for reiatsu is limitless and my body cannot be hurt if I take in too much. Besides, hollow powers are easier for some things as well, such as sonido instead of hirenkyaku. Oh yeah! I forgot, but that Kuchiki Byakuya guy is here, I saw him on a security camera. Maybe, if you don't want to be forced to go right at this very moment, we should leave before he finds us. Also, Ichimaru Gin is coming our way, and with Tousen hot on his trail."

Renji scowled at the names of the traitorous taichou. Ever since their betrayal, everything in Soul Society had been more difficult. Three of his closest friends, all of whom were of fukutaichou rank like him, had lost their taochou, as well, in some circumstances, their mentors or friends. He couldn't find it in him to not hate them. Unless they had a damn good reason, he would show no mercy.

"Ano . . . shouldn't we keep going, you know, to save Inoue-san?" Hideki shook his head, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry, Quincies, Abarai-san, but I can't let you go just yet," all three of them turned around to see the ever-smiling, yet creepy face of Ichimaru Gin.

Rukia was draped over the points of Nejibana, and her vision was clouding. The horrible creature wearing Kaien's face grinned at her. It's true, monstrous form beneath his stolen body, writhing and waiting to eat her. Then, the sound of cloth tearing echoed in the chamber, and a Garganta was opened. Out of it came two people. One was a man in a suit with a frilly shirt, and the other was a girl with a black braid and a blue themed sailor fuku. The woman with glasses held a short silver ankh-cane in her hand, and she came down, slashing it through Aaroniero. Kaien fell backwards out of it, and landed on the giant purple body. The long-haired blond snached her off the trident, and gently let her one the ground. Then he turned, raising his zanpakutou and stating: "Entwine, Onibara"

Rukia watched with widened eyes as the sword changed into a long, green rod with what could only be called thorns. He swung in a whip-like fashion, and it became segmented, like Renji's, shooting through the air and stabbing into the Espada. It popped out one place, arced, and went back in, until Aaroniero was covered in thorny rose vine. Then the man pulled back slightly, and all the ropes drew together tight, slashing Glutonieria into hunks. The thorns then broke off of the cord and all pierced into smaller, un-released arrancar. His body dissolved, and the man smiled at her.

"Daijobu desca?" He asked. She could only stare; not only was she surprised, she was too weak to speak right now. The girl made her way over.

"Leave her alone right now, Rose, I bet she's near dead. And why are saving her anyways, she's shinigami."

Rose answered, "Shinji wants us too, probably because of Ichigo-kun. You heal her with kidou, I'll go and grab Kaien-fukutaichou." Rukia's eyes widened at that. Did these shinigami not know Kaien was dead? And, why do they not want to save shinigami, if they don't like them?

The sailor knelt down. She gave a wan smile and began to use healing kidou on her. Rukia felt the puncture holes in her begin to close, and she closed her eyes, finally resting. Hearing a thunk near her, she glanced over. Kaien was lying there, unconscious. She smiled a bit to herself; now Kaien-dono was back. Rose spoke to her again.

"Are you fine enough to talk yet?" The blond asked.

"I . . . daijobu. I've been hit with worse before." Rukia sent a grateful look towards Lisa and Rose. Rose smiled back at her.

"Good."

"Ok, almost done. You should be good to go, and then we will be leaving. Shinji wants us to bring you guys back to our hideout, so that the Seireitei won't find you and has time to cool down. Though I'm not sure what we should do with Kaien-fukutaichou. . ."

Rukia was still puzzeled. Why did they still call him that? It wasn't as if he still had rank. She decided to voice her opinion. "Do you guys know he was eaten by a hollow at least 75 years ago?"

The two looked a little shocked. Rose sighed and Lisa scowled. "So we've been gone longer that half a century now, probably longer, I suppose. Stupid Kurosaki-taichou."

Rukia gasped a little bit. "Kurosaki-taichou? Ichigo isn't a captain!"

The pair looked at her as if she was insane. Rose spoke up, "Of course not, we're talking about Isshin-san.You didn't honestly think Soul Society would implement a new captain without all of the shinigami knowing, did you? Isshin was around before Gin became captain. I at least know about that."

Rukia looked down, thinking. Isshin . . . that was Ichigo's dad's name. Could that be why he has so much power? Had he inherited it? And, ISSHIN WAS A CAPTAIN!? That was unexpected. But why didn't she know about him? Did Soul Society try covering it up?

Banishing her questions, she stood up. Lisa stood as well, and Rose leaned down, and flopped Kaien on his back. When he stood, his arms were underneath Kaien's knees and Kaien's arms were around his neck. Lisa moved over and pulled out a bit of string so that she could tie his wrists together and prevent him from falling off. Then, the couple of vaizard lead Rukia out the door from whence she came, heading back to outside of Las Noches. The great doors opened, and standing on the bridge was Byakuya. Rukia's saviors started at his appeareance, and Byakuya looked surprised at the three, most especially Kaien.

He began to walk towards them. "Rukia, soutaichou has given us orders to bring you and Renji back safe. Your friends are optional, but they're being rescued as well. Come with me, and the consequences will be less severe. However, I doubt they would be that terrible, as progress has been made towards defeating Aizen."

Rukia stared for a little bit. She was startled at her brother-in-laws appearance, but that reassured her of her friends safety. She let out a sigh, and they all crossed the bridge into the stairwell. A low rumble alerted them of somebody else's presence. Turning around, they saw a large, dark-skinned man with horns lining his head and a jaw-collar. He was an arrancar. And by his reiatsu, which was stronger than Aaroniero's, an Espada.

Lisa stepped up. "Rose, take Kaien-fukutaichou and the girl and continue with the plan. You got to fight the last one, so I'll take on him."

Byakuya placed a hand on her shoulder. "I won't allow you to fight. You need to leave as well."

Lisa frowned. "Shut up and get your hands off me," and with that, she pulled a mask down out of thin air and covered her face. Byakuya's eyes widened, and he pulled away.

"I see you're like Kurosaki Ichigo, then, being able to don hollow mask. I won't prevent you from fighting, then. However, I will still take part."

Lisa rolled her eyes. She spoke again, but this time her voice was different, it was higher and seemed to . . . gurgle? Yes, gurgle was an appropriate word. "Fine, but don't get in my way, or I'll blow you're head off."

Byakuya nodded, and held up his zanpakutou. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." The other two, plus the one hitching a ride on another, ran.

Noitora disintegrated in a flare of red light. Ichigo's Hollow sighed, and paused for a moment to catch his breath. Then he returned to Orihime. His king was healed, and in normal shinigami shihakushou, not his bankai coat. However, he was stable, and that was a good thing. Nell was under the golden dome of Shouten Kisshun and it was currently filled with smoke.

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra suddenly zipped up near them. Grimmjow had a concerned look on his face. "Hey, woman, Neliel's under there, right?"

Orihime smiled nervously at the man. "Hai, Grimmjow-san. She's doing fine under my care."

Grimmjow gave her and unnaturally gentle look. Then he turned his back to Shouten Kisshun. "Good," he murmured.

The near carbon copy of Ichigo glared at the two espada. "If ya even think 'bout hurtin' king, I'll tear yer heads off!"

Ulquiorra stared unwaveringly at the hollow. "How do you expect to beat me if your "king" couldn't?" The other hollows glare intensified. His reiatsu flared, and Ulquiorra noticed that it felt the same as Kurosaki's when he put on that mask of his. He then noticed the same marking on the mask were tattooed on the albino's skin where they would be on the mask anyways. His eyes widened a miniscule degree as he realized that he would probably be able to actually harm the Cuarta Espada. The sudden absence of light alerted the melancholic man to Neliel's release of Orihime's healing ability. She was restored to her true self, not that of a young girl, but that of a woman. She was garbed in her arrancar uniform.

She unexpectedly leapt up, pulling out her sword and glaring forwards. "Yosh, Noitora, stay ba . . . Grimmy-kun!" and she proceeded to glomp the other hollow. They all started when a small tear cut open in the air, and then two people stepped through it. Both were blond, one male and the other female. The man was wearing a button-up shirt and a tie, nice slacks to go with it. The girl, as she didn't look old enough to be a woman, was wearing a red jogging suit with the jacket opened to reveal a white tank top.

Hiyori stared at Ichigo. "Tch, looks like he couldn't even save his own ass once we left him on his own. Do you suppose we'll have to keep on training him, Shinji?" Then she noticed the one who had his arms around our strawberry-shinigami. She gasped softly and took a step back. The hollow smirked at her.

He stood, letting go of Ichigo but staying very near him still, and grinned wide, allowing a mask to materialize on his face. "Ya remember me, bitch? I remember ya, bein' real scared and all quiverin'. Imma not gonna kill ya, but ya better not go pickin' on mah king, or I will," he let lose a shriek of insane laughter once he noticed Hiyori's panicked expression. The other three hollows looked at him with a bit of apprehension.

Suddenly he stopped, and stared them down with a serious look. It was a glance of warning, sent their way as he knelt back down again and took Ichigo in his arms. Nell sighed. "Look, Grimmy-kun! They're Supah Kawa-i! I always though Ichigo was gay, too! He didn't seem like the type to go for ladies."

Grimmjow smirked, "Ma, Neliel-chan, I had my guesses too, but this proves it!" They began to laugh, and posed together, standing shoulder to shoulder with their hands interlocked. Ulquiorra sighed, but for a different reason. He decided to explain.

"They were always like this, before Nell was weakened."

The two blond vaizard were watching the two arrancar. Then Shinji randomly let out an "oh" of realization. "Oi, aren't you that one espada that I fought back in Karakura? You're that one I shot the cero at!" Grimmjow stopped his own laughing and backed away from Hirako, nervous. Shinji continued, "And, if you and the emo-guy are espada, why are you not trying to kill us or Ichigo?"

"I was given orders to protect Orihime-san, even though it will be deceiving Aizen-sama's trust, I must carry out my instructions," Ulquiorra answered. "Though I'm not sure why Grimmjow is with us, or why he isn't attacking. You should ask him."

Hiyori turned to the bluenette expectantly. He nervously scratched the back of his head, "Ano, you see, I want to, um, live with Nell, and if Aizen is gonna kill her, then I can't exactly 'live' with her, right?" Nell perked up with stars in her eyes, exclaiming: "You want to live with me?!"

Shinji contemplated this for awhile, and then nodded. "Ma, I suppose if you're going to stay together and are trying to get away from Aizen, and with you having similar powers to us, we might be able to have room at our place. Would you guys like to stay with us?"
At the moment he was completely ignoring Hiyori's outraged outbreaks. Grimmjow stared at his outstretched hand, and then shook it.

"It's a deal," he declared.

"Of course," continued the shinigami outlaw, "you'll be the meat shields, on the front lines, if Aizen comes for us, and if he comes for you, then you will fight and not reveal our location to him. Agreed?"

"Agreed," deadpanned Ulquiorra. "Now, should we leave, because Kurosaki has what he came for, namely being Orihime, and we don't need to waste time waiting for Aizen to find out about our betrayal and come to 'retrieve' us?"

Hiyori scowled, before turning and cutting the air behind her. It was slashed open, as if fabric and they could see the vaizard training grounds behind it. She jerked her thumb in its direction, "I'll go with you so Hachi and Mashirou don't attack you. Orihime'll come along too, since she can leave by going through the barrier. I can tell be his reiatsu levels that Ichigo won't be able to go through just yet, so Shinji, you'll stay here." And with that, she and those she decided to take with her walked through the vaizard version of garganta.

Shinji waved her out, "Ja ne!" Then he turned and found him at the tip of a zanpakutou. He blinked and lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. The hollow grinned maliciously at him.

"If ya not gonna keep ya word, Imma gonna devour ya! Ya prob'ly just sent 'em away so tha' I wouldn' get no help from th' others!" Shinji blinked, confused and trying to figure out what the hollow was talking about – as well as decode his accent.

"Ah, no, Hollow, I'm just concerned about taking Ichigo through the hole. You see, he doesn't have enough reiatsu at the moment, and taking him through could cut him to shreds. All garganta are that way, unlike the safe passage the shinigami use. You'll just have to be patient."

The hollow frowned, but kept his mouth shut, focusing more on the distant reiatsu that was coming in their direction.

Rose stopped suddenly, and Rukia nearly ran into him. The blond glanced at her a moment, and then tossed Kaien's body at her. She screamed in surprise, and almost missed catching him. His weight was surprising to her, and she nearly fell over. Rose slashed into the air, and some sort of garganta opened, showing a landscape similar to that of Urahara's training ground. Rukia scowled at the man.

"If you could do that, why didn't you just tear apart the world from the first place?"

"Because Kaien needed time to gather enough reiatsu so that he could survive the transition between worlds. He had been absorbing energy, both yours and mine, as well as that of Las Noches and Hueco Mundo. I expect that when he awakens, he will be a vaizard, like Lisa and myself. He most probably won't be allowed to return to Soul Society, because, despite being unintentional or not, we're all criminals in their eyes. However, considering your strength, you night get to take Shiba-san's absent position."

The faint glimmer of hope in Rukia's eyes died out when Rose told her about Kaien's supposed future. Of course, she knew that she wouldn't be promoted to fukutaichou. Byakuya would insure it. Then again, maybe, after a demonstration of her strength here, she just might. (1)

When she noticed Rose walking through the portal, she snapped out of her musings and scrambled to drag her mentor through as well. Is sealed up behind them, and she found herself in the vaizard training area. Then her eyes befell two familiar people. She turned to Rose with a horrified espression. "You delivered me from one arrancar only to die at the hands of some others!?"

Rose's eyebrows drew together and he frowned. Hiyori raised a brow at her. "They're not going to hurt you. They decided a bit late to join up with us. Besides, we get to kill 'em if they try anything funny. Better yet, Rose, they're – specifically, the men – our chore slaves as long as we offer them protection!" They little soul looked excited at the prospect.

"Oh," was all Rose said. He then got the attention of Orihime, whose healing powers they all knew to be greater than Hachi's. She looked over at him. "Orihime-san, could you come here and help Kaien-san, please?"

The busty redhead smiled and nodded, walking over and placing her Shoten Kisshun over the unconscious man. All of the vaizard in the controlled dimension looked up sharpley at the name, while Grimmjow scowled.

"Oi, isn't that Aaroniero? He's such a bastard, why'd you let him here to? And what's with this Kaien shit?" To say that the patronizing looks the vaizard and Rukia were giving him were harsh was an understatement. He shrugged in defense. "Hey, I don't know 'im."

"Kaien was a great fukutaichou of the 13th squad of the Gotei Thirteen! He was killed by a hollow and his body absorbed by your 'Aaroniero". You will not talk of him that way!" A placating had suddenly come to rest on her shoulder. The Kuchiki turned to see the girl in the white-and-orange jumpsuit with green hair.

"None of us have any doubt of Shiba-san. You don't have to worry, we'll take good care of him here. From your story, he's likely one of us, now. We vaizard take care of our own, even if they don't happen to join us," she reassured her. Rukia caught the last part of the sentence, wondering if that meant that somebody had hollow powers but didn't join up with the ex-shinigami.

Shuuhei ran at a decent clip through the halls of Las Noches. He and some other shinigami had gotten inside by entering the hole they had discovered in the walls. What had unnerved him was that Kurotsuchi Mayuri had decided to come along with him. Not with one of the others, like Byakuya-taichou, or Zaraki-taichou. All in all, Mayuri freaked everyone out, not just him; even the people in his own division were slightly afraid of him.

Soon, they had come across a fork in the hall; well, more like two forks, making four paths. Kenpachi took the hall that had remnants of Ichigo's reiatsu, while Byakuya took the path Rukia took. Mayuri selected a hall that had a lot of reiatsu flowing out of it – it was arrancar, hollow, quincy, and shinigami. Meanwhile, Hisagi got the one that a quincy apparently took, but nothing was going on down that one. So, with a sigh, he jogged along down that one.

As the man found himself passing a doorway, he found that there had been a battle that had taken place, if the smashed pillars were any sign of a fight, unless Aizen just liked his stuff to be broken. He began to run again. However, he found a broken hole in the wall, just like the one they used to enter this desert palace. In it were two people that made him freeze. Tousen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin. Gin seemed to be defending Renji and the two quincies, one of which Shuuhei recognized as the one who broke into Seireitei.

"Gin! You'll be killed for your treason against Aizen! I shall bring justice to you, you traitor! Shishi o tsubusu yo, Suzumushi!" Tousen swung his sword, sending blades flying at Gin, who wasn't smiling now. He released his own zanpakuto and spun it around, creating a fan-like shield. Anger boiled up in Shuuhei, and he quietly released his own zanpakuto, whispering softly: "Senkou, Itadaki-rai." His sword slimmed and extended in a soft violet glow, becoming a long, dark staff that was ever-so-slightly crooked, giving it the appearance of a thin bolt of lightning. He leapt down at Tousen, his rod raised high, and swung. (2)

Sensing a presence behind him, the dark skinned shinigami used shunpo to escape, however, the end of the plow just barely brushed against his right shoulder. Instantly, the whole arm went numb and he dropped his sword. Scowling at his incompetence, he pointed in the general direction Gin was, and let lose with a byakurai kidou. It missed, but only just. In a matter of minutes, he was completely immobilized by Itadaki-rai, and at the mercy of the people in the room. He felt the Quincy that Aizen had captured approaching him. "Gomenasai, Kaname-san, but we can't have anyone telling Sosuke about this whole ordeal," said Nashi, and he shot an arrow at the man, effectively killing him.

After Tousen was killed, Hisagi turned to Gin, pointing his staff at him. "You better have a good reason for me not to fight you . . ."

Gin merely smiled, "Of course, Hisagi-kun! I was trying to find the soul of my long lost brother, and Aizen promised to help me search for him. Eventually, he used his zanpakuto to make me think he had him here in Las Noches, but he didn't, so I want to go back to Soul Society now, even if it means execution or being stripped of my shinigami powers. I kinda miss Ran-chan, too . . ."

The fukutaichou of the ninth devision blinked, and was about to say something, but a voice interrupted him, "Gin, you asshole, Aizen-sama's isn't gonna like this." It was that huge arrancar, Yammy. He was smirking, powering up a cero. However, a huge flash of flight engulfed the hulking man, and Muguruma Kensei walked through the cloud of dust and debris. Shuuhei sucked in a breath.

The vaizard seemed surprised, and concerned, "Shuu? What are you doing here? It's not very safe."

The punk shinigami glared, "If that wasn't the afterlife's greatest understatement . . . I already know that. Did you think Aizen's fortress would be anything less?"

Now Kensei frowned, "Jeez, no need to snap at me, I was just worried . . ."

The two were now standing right in front of the other, scowling at each other's faces. "I have every right to 'snap' at you! I have a list of reasons; do you want to hear them? Ichiban! You go and try to get yourself killed. Niiban! You don't let anyone come into the room you were recovering in. Sanban! You go and leave without telling anyone. Yonban! You don't tell m-!" Kensei cut him off by covering his mouth with his own. When he pulled back, he grinned at the shinigami's expression.

"Urasai, baka. I tell you everything later, okay? Promise."

That seemed to sedate the man. Laughter was heard from behind them. It was Love. While he thought the entire situation was humorous, everyone else was shocked (besides Nashi and Ishida, and Dondachakka and Pesche who don't know Shuuhei that well.). Neither Renji nor Gin had ever guessed Shuuhei was gay.

"Alright, then, let's go," was all that Love said as he tore open a rip in the air. "Shall we leave?"

Flipping the bangs that escaped the grasp of his hair tie, Hideki sauntered forwards, slipping through the gap. Kensei and Shuuhei were next, followed hesitantly by Ishida and Gin, and even more apprehensively by Renji, Dondachakka and Pesche. Love walked in last, sealing it up behind him. Of course, that meant, when Kurotsuchi got there, there wasn't anybody around, save the unconscious form of Yammy. Had he been awake, he would have been shivering in fear at the expression on the mans face.

"Okay, then, I think Kurosaki-san is ready to go through my portal!" Hirako declared. He cut open his own little hole in reality, and the hollow stood up, adjusting Ichigo so that he was in a piggyback style of carrying. When he walked through, Shinji followed, carrying Chad, who had been brought there while they were waiting for Ichigo to recover.

Kenpachi Zaraki arrived ten seconds too late, and thus just missed the three. Scowling, he cursed. "Where'd everybody go? Did I miss all the action?"

Their fight was over. Byakuya turned and confronted Lisa. "Where have you taken Rukia?"

Lisa frowned. "Ano . . . Gomenasai, Kuchiki-sama, but I cannot reveal her location. She is safe, and will be returned to Soul Society shortly. Please, don't worry, and try not to find us; it's impossible. Sayonara," and with that, she split open a garganta and vanished into it, leaving an annoyed and worried Byakuya.

"You had better hold out on your promise, vaizard."

Orihime, as well as many of the others in the vaizard training area, were surprised at the influx of people coming in. First it was Rose, with Rukia-san and Kaien, of all people. Then came Kensei and Love, with a whole bus-load, that included two quincy, three shinigam and two hollows. After that was Shinji, with Kurosaki-kun, pale Kurosaki-kun, and Sado-kun. Either way, Inoue had her work cut out for her, healing this many people in one go. She was unsure, but with a few words of encouragement from Rukia, she expanded Shoten Kisshun to cover all the new people. To her delight, everything was going along just fine.

"Maa, Shinji, let's go. I don't want to be around the lovebirds any longer. It's getting on my nerves," grunted Hiyori. She was referring to Muguruma and Hisagi, who were now making out passionately, giving meaning to something she had heard someone say, once: "Time away only increases love and desire."

Hirako agreed, taking Love, Lisa, and Mashiro with him. They needed to go shopping for beds, what with all the people that were going to be here for awhile. Making a weird face, he began to walk up the stairs with the rest of them, allowing those he had taken to escape the giggles and other noises the pair were making. Rukia and Uryuu were staring intently at the hollow, who wasn't paying any of them any attention. He was focused on his king; petting his hair and stroking his cheek.

The albino glanced over at Orihime, and addressed her, "D'ya think he'll give me a name, when 'e wakes up?"

Orihime stared at him a moment, before smiling brightly, "Of course! Kurosaki-kun is a very kind person, and I don't think he would deny you of such a thing. You shouldn't worry so much, Hollow-san." The hollow smiled at her words.

"I don't know about that, Hollow," said Grimmjow. "You're his inner-hollow, right? He probably hates ya and'll try to stuff ya back inside his mind when he wakes up." Now the spirit frowned. Neliel smacked the arrancar on the arm, glaring.

"Look, Grimmjow, you hurt his feelings!"

Not really, the hollow thought, but thanks for the telling me the truth, Grimmjow.

Authors Note

Rukia did kill Aaroniero, in actuality, so that means she does have enough power. I mean, if Hitsugaya, a captain, couldn't defeat even a numeros without using bankai and having to release his reiatsu seal, then that means she's actually very strong, but of course Byakuya gets in the way of her promotion. Not to mention I think Hitsugay ais rather low on the power scale. After all, isn't he supposed to be a captain, an elite of shinigami? Well, this isn't the place for a Toushirou rant, so I'll quit right here.

When I wrote that sentence, I thought, Oh, God, did I really just right that? Read the script carefully. Maybe you'll get the innuendo.

On regards to the story, after writing the beginning, I'm not sure if I can turn this into a Fatal Frame horror or not. I like a good thriller and disgusting amounts of fluff, and right now I can't weigh the two and figure out which one would be better for how this goes along. Remember, reviews are the lifeblood of an author, so please give me constructive criticism and not flames about pairings or yaoi. I would appreciate ideas and votes on how the story should turn out – whether it should be a horror carnival or a smut/fluff fest. You're vote decides! (Unless I get a major inspiration for either of the choices, in which case, I'll go with what I feel like writing) Please review, my lovely, lovely readers!

Sincerely, Pointlessness.

P.S. Oh, and tell me if you want to see more of a pairing, some of which I haven't evolved yet, and just thought of whilst writing. Other than the ones listed at the header, please, give me suggestions, like Hideki/Uryuu or something else. Oh, yes, and happy Easter! (to those that celebrate it)