Hana sat on the balcony of her hotel room in her pajamas. The moon was high in the sky and the sun had long since gone down. A light breeze tussled her short brown hair.

"What a waste of time," she moaned as she leaned her arms and head on the railing. I've been here for almost a month and still nothing, no sign of anything, she berated herself, I came here to find answers and the only thing I've found were more questions. She sighed deeply. On top of that: there are so many hollows, I was forced to take off my Sheishin Hyoushi, the ring that binds my powers. It was the only way to fight the hollow off.

She stood and headed back inside. She readied for bed, brushing her hair and teeth. and climbed into bed.

"I'll find something soon," she reassured herself, "I'll try again tomorrow, I should have more luck then, someone had to have known her."

Her mother was Japanese, but her father was American. Her mother died when she was younger and she didn't know her father. She'd come to Japan in hopes that she'd be able to learn something about her mother. Friends, family, anything. But her searches were fruitless. No one knew her mother, and so far, no school had had her attend.

She took a deep breathe as she stared at the ceiling. Then she closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

…

Rukia waited in the designated location. She stood stiffly and waited for her brother to arrive through the Senkai Gate.

"How long are we going to wait?" Kurosaki whined as he leaned against a tree.

"I'm not sure," Rukia informed, "you must be patient."

Before she'd finished the gate appeared and opened. Three butterflies exited, followed by Captain Kuchiki, Lieutenant Abarai and Lieutenant Hinomori.

"Nii-sama," Rukia greeted.

"Renji, you Rukia and Hinomori will head that way," he pointed to his left, "Ichigo, you're with me. We'll communicate using the Hell's Butterflies."

"Yes, sir!" Abarai said in a nod.

"Remember, this is track and contain," the Captain told him, "but if you believe there is a real threat to yourselves or humans, you may act as necessary."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo demanded, "you may act as necessary? We don't even know what this is."

It had been just over twenty-four hours since he and Rukia had felt the overpowering reiatsu. Rukia had been able to make a recording of it and send it back to soul society, but who or where it came from was still unknown.

"What's that?" Rukia asked Hinomori as she pulled out a device and turned it on.

"It will record the flow of reiatsu," she told Rukia, "that way even if it eludes capture, we can observe the signature and track it again in the future. Basically it's more advance then the device you have, this is still a prototype."

"Wow," Rukia said in surprise, "that's amazing."

"Let's go," Abarai said quickly before dashing off.

…

Hana woke suddenly, she'd had an active dream again, but as usual she couldn't remember it. It was so active in fact that she was sure she'd rolled off the bed entirely. She groaned a little and pulled the sheets up to her, the floor would be fine, less distance to fall.

"I said, wake up, woman!" came a voice from behind her.

Her eyes shot open and she inhaled sharply. She suddenly felt sick, had she left the balcony door open? She searched the darkness for who the voice belonged to, but could see nothing. She tried to keep calm, she would have to get out of the room quickly, but how? Her eyes fell on the door to the hall.

Hana moved to her feet swiftly and headed for the door. But her path was suddenly blocked by a man. He grabbed her forearms firmly.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a sneer.

In the dark she could barely see him, his hair was white, and on his left jaw there was the jaw bones of some animal. "Wha- What do you want?" she asked trying to sound tough as she tried to jerk her arms out of his grasp.

"I have no need to tell you," he informed, his tone cocky and malicious.

She resorted to her last defense, she planted her knee hard into his groin. He let her go and she rushed towards the window, not looking back. She stepped out onto the balcony and then realized that she couldn't go anywhere. She was on the fourth floor.

He moved somewhere inside the room, in the darkness.

She climbed onto the chair at the railing and jumped over the railing, she prayed the pool below was deep enough that she wouldn't break her neck in the fifty foot fall. Hana formed into a dive, and hit the water with almost no splash. She put her hands protectively over her head and face so that she wouldn't smash her face into the bottom.

Hana swam to the edge and pulled herself up, her face burned from the impact into the water. She took a moment to breathe deeply and look back up to her room. No movement, nothing. Had he left? Was he coming downstairs for her right now?

"Behind you," his voice was soft and taunting.

Hana was filled with panic, how had he gotten to the ground? Maybe there was more then one. She didn't move, she was afraid to.

"Good, you understand," he said, his tone still mocking.

"Why?" was all she could say, it was hard for her to breathe, she felt like she was being swallowed by a hollow, a power so strong it was suffocating.

His hand was on her, at the back of her neck, just barely holding her in place.

Hana was soaked from head to toe, her her hair sticking to her face and neck. Her pajamas were heavy and cold, she was barefoot. I can't just not do something, she resolved, I'll have to fight back. Hollow or no, I'm in serious danger.

She slowly moved her left hand to her right and slipped the ring off. She could feel her reiatsu explode in a wave of pressure.

She knew he felt it too, he moved defensively this time. His hands were off of her and she jumped away, turning to face him. She got a better look at him, now with all the street lights around. He was tall, dressed in white and there was a whole in his abdomen.

"A hollow?" she asked almost unbelieving, "how-?"

He bridged the gap between them and slammed his opened hand, fingers first into her shoulder. It pierced her skin and she let out a scream of pain and shock. Blood splattered outward, and she found she was barely able to move. He pulled his hand back and she fell to the ground.

"It's pointless to fight me," he informed her, "you've never come across anything like me before."

She didn't move, she only held her hand over her bleeding wound, her breathing was rapid and panicked.

"Now," he reached down and forced his hands into her chest, "that is not the form you'll do best in."

Hana screamed in agony as she tried to pull away, her hands on his, tears rolling down her face. She felt like someone was ripping her bones out of her body through her skin, as if her skin were a really big bandage he was slowly pulling off. "Stop!" she tried to scream, but wasn't sure it had come out that way.

…

A scream pierced the air and drew their attention. Ichigo stopped. The scream was gone. He dashed off in the direction of the scream.

"Kurosaki!" Byakuya yelled after him.

"Looking for that reiatsu is your job, keeping these people safe is mine," he said as he ran off.

Byakuya followed closely on his heals, knowing he was right.

They both stopped when they saw it, Grimjow had a woman on the ground and he was ripping her soul from her body.

"Is she?" Ichigo started but didn't finish. She woman's soul resembled a shinigami closely. Her black robes, trimmed in white. Regardless, she was still in need of help from the hands of a hollow. "Grimjow!" he boomed, drawing the Espada's attention.

Grimjow didn't look up, he knew who was there. He ripped the woman's soul from her body and tossed her to the side.

She didn't move at first, she only breathed heavily. Ichigo couldn't see her face to see if she was okay, he could only hope he'd made it in time.

"What are you doing Grimjow?" Ichigo demanded.

"Tch, like I have to tell you," he scoffed, then stepped to the unmoving woman, picking her up by the collar of her robes.

Ichigo pulled out his sword, and took a step forward.

Grimjow held the woman up, a sneer on his face. Her body was limp, her head rolled back a little and they could see that she was still moving.

Ichigo recognized the reiatsu flowing out of the woman, it was the same he'd felt the day before. She was the one they were searching for.

Hana lifted her hand up, she slowly placed it on Grimjow's face.

"What are you doing, wo-"but he couldn't finish.

Hana had forced her reiatsu out of her body in a fast and hard shot through her hand, landing a harsh ball of fire on Grimjow.

He dropped her, "you little Bitch!" he spat, coming at her, again.

She shot again, this time the ball of fire was bigger, and it engulfed him. But a burning pain ran through her hand and she yelped in surprise and pain, and dropped to her knees holding her wrist.

Abarai, Rukia and Hinomori had arrived in time to see the move, they all stared in wonder.

"Kido, without any incantation? No summoning name? Nothing?" Rukia looked at the young woman in shock.

"She really is dangerous," Hinomori confirmed, "that kind of power could destroy many things in this world if left unchecked."

Abarai and Captain Kuchiki only nodded, they let Ichigo take care of Grimjow.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled, "stop picking on little girls and fight someone who would be a fair match."

"Tch," Grimjow met his glare, "are you trying to say that you would be a match for me?"

"I'm just saying maybe you should try it," Ichigo challenged.

"Whatever," Grimjow said, suddenly uninterested, "you're not worth it." He turned around and entered a gate to Huecto Mundo, and was gone.

Ichigo stared at the now empty space in anger. "Coward," he said quietly. He couldn't believe Grimjow would just walk away from a fight, it wasn't his style.

Hana got to her feet, rushed over to her body and stared down in horror. "Am I-" something caught in her throat, "Am I dead?" she reached out and picked up her ring from the ground, she tucked it into the waist of her pants quickly.

"You're not dead," Abarai informed her harshly.

"Stay back!" Hana had spun around and held her hand out in warning.

"Take it easy," he told her stepping closer.

"Stop!" she fired nailing him in the stomach and throwing him backwards, "Stay away!" she ordered her hand still out. It burned as if it were on fire, but if that was the only way to defend herself, she would have to do it again.

Hinomori stepped closer and began an incantation, as she finished she watched the woman slump to the ground.

Hana's vision blurred and sleep crept up on her, she tried to fight it off, but was having a hard time. "What is this?" she asked to no one in particular, Soon she was completely on the ground only barely conscious.

"Hinomori?" Rukia asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she answered, "she's fighting the spell. It makes it harder to complete."

But after another moment or so, Hana was completely out.

…

"State your name," came a voice from somewhere.

Hana's head pounded, and her hands felt like she'd put them straight into a fire. It was like a hangover, the light hurt her eyes and her head pounded harder. She draped an arm over her eyes and groaned in discomfort.

"State your name," came the voice again.

Hana wished that the headache had been caused by a hangover, at least then she'd know she'd had fun recently. But as she lay there, her memory returned, the bizarre events that had happened outside her hotel.

"State your name," the voice was more persistent, even irritated.

"Fuck off!" she growled without moving.

"This will be recorded as a failure to comply," the voice said with finality. Footsteps moved away, a door opened and closed and she hoped he'd left.

"Whatever," Hana said as she peeked from under her arm. There was no one nearby and she was in a cell. She laid on a futon on the floor in an empty cell.

For a moment she wondered how long she'd been laying there. Who had brought her to wherever it was that she was? Was she able to get out maybe?

…

"Anything?" the Captain asked without looking up from his paperwork.

"Nothing, sir," the young man said, his back stiff, "but if you give me a little more-"

"How's the Lieutenant?" he interrupted.

"The Lieutenant is recovering in the-" this time the door to the office swung open and Abarai entered. The young man looked flustered after being interrupted again.

"Captain," Abarai put his hands down on the edge of the desk, leaning down so that Byakuya would understand he was serious, "let me interrogate the prisoner."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Byakuya informed flatly.

"Sir," Abarai insisted.

"Lieutenant, I don't think that's a good idea. We've not been ordered to execute the woman," he said finally looking up from his papers, then he added, "and please shut the door on your way out."

The Lieutenant stared for a moment longer, his mouth opened slightly. Then he stood up straight and turned towards the door. He glared at the young man in front of him. "I suppose you'll be interrogating her?"

The young man nodded fearfully.

"Try not to piss yourself," Abarai spat angrily as he pushed past him on his way out. He shut the door behind himself as he left.

Byakuya returned his attention to the papers in front of him. "Do not take anything the Lieutenant says too seriously. His pride has been wounded, he was recently beaten up by a girl."

"I didn't see you stopping her!" came Abarai's voice from the other side of the closed door accompanied by a fitful kick.

The young man nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden realization that the Lieutenant was still listening, but it seemed that Captain Kuchiki knew he was there.

…

Hana had finally regained her grounding, although she still felt as though she might hurl at any given moment. She'd sat up and scooted to the back of the futon, against the wall, pulling her feet up in font of her, and wrapping her arms around her knees.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked to no one. She looked at her hand, it was red and blistered, there was even a place where the skin had completely burned away. It was tender and painful to even move around. Suddenly she realized she wasn't wearing her ring anymore. She'd picked it up, but instead of putting it on, she'd put it away.

She pulled out her ring and slipped it on, wincing as she pushed it across a burn on her finger. She felt almost claustrophobic suddenly. She wasn't sure where she was, or if she was even safe. She knew of the shinigami, but she'd never actually interacted with them. When she'd seen them, she pretended not to. She wasn't sure what they would do to her if they knew she could see them.

On top of all that she knew that she'd brought all of this on herself. If she had just kept the ring on, maybe she could've outrun the hollow, or at least outrun it far enough that a shinigami would notice it, but she'd acted before thinking and exposed herself to anyone who was watching.

The door opened again and she stood up, readying herself for who might enter. A young man came in carrying a food tray.

Suddenly a thought came to her and her growling stomach almost tempted her to stop. As the young man opened the cell door she pushed it quickly into his face. Food went flying everywhere, and the young man went down in a huff and guffaw.

"Sorry," she yelled as she jumped over him and rushed out the door.

…

Hell's Butterflies went out in all directions of Seireitei, spreading the message to every shinigami. They informed them of the escaped prisoner, and her potential to cause great problems, she was a highly dangerous person who must be captured with caution, and alive.

The stealth forces hard already spread out searching. The Third, Ninth and Tenth Squads were to search as a group. The Sixth squad had moved out the minute she'd escaped.

Her reiatsu could barely be felt, no matter where she was, it would hard to find her. The Twelfth quad were busy searching the monitors, and scanning different sections of Seireitei. And the Second Squad had sent out a small number of members in search of the escapee.

…

Hana wasn't sure where exactly she was, at first glance it looked like an old high school stadium, run down in neglect, but she wasn't sure. She'd rushed into the tower, hoping to find somewhere to hide inside. It was run down, the walls were cracked and the stairs were broken in places. She walked up halfway before finding that the staircase ended entirely.

She sat down, leaning against the wall to watch the entrance. There wasn't anywhere to run to in there, but she wasn't sure where it was she was supposed to run to. This was not the real world, she realized that, something was very different.

She could hear people outside, running around, looking for her. Most of it was off in the distance, that didn't bother her. But the closer ones made her a little nervous.

Eventually, she knew, she'd have to leave her hiding place. She would need a better place to hide. She sighed heavily.

"My God," she said in despair, "what is going on?"

She remained quiet for some time, listening to the sounds outside the tower. Her curiosity was getting to her, but she knew better then to leave.

Soon, the color of the sunlight in the doorway began to change. A red tinge began to fill the empty tower. She looked closer at her hands, she wouldn't be able to do much more even if her life depended on it, they felt raw and still ached and burned.

There was movement and Hana looked to the door.

He stood unmoving in the doorway, he knew she could see him, but he didn't move.

Hana's eye grew big and she stood up again, leaning into the wall.

He was tall, with short black hair, a tattoo of 69 on his left cheek, accompanied by a long gray horizontal stripe that stopped after it crossed the bridge of his nose. Three vertical marks ran down his face over his right eye. He had no sleeves on his robes and wore a black choker and arm band.

His eyes met up with hers and she was afraid to move. Frozen in the fact that she wouldn't be able to get away. She'd been at the top of the remaining stairs, it was at least another ten feet till they continued and then nothing. They went nowhere but up and there would be no where to run then.

"Damn," she swore at herself for not thinking.

He slowly walked up the steps, knowing she wouldn't go anywhere. He didn't make any threatening advances and kept all his movements fluid. He knew that if he startled her, there could be a real problem with the buildings questionable stability. They could both be in danger.

She felt trapped, he was halfway to her, and there was no way out. He blocked her only exit. She had only a few steps left behind her, then nothing. She took a small step back, towards the top.

"Lieutenant!" said a man from the doorway.

Hana turned her head, there were seven men standing at the opening. Her breathe caught, each carried a katana and seemed ready for battle.

She touched the wall and forced her reiatsu out into it. With her Sheishin Hyoushi on it wasn't much, but it made the building shake just enough that they looked nervous.

"Don't do that!" the man said, his face was still calm, but his voice was commanding, slightly angry, "this whole place will come down on us."

"Stay back!" she had hoped that maybe that was her answer. The one thing she could use to save herself from them.

He stepped closer again, at the same fluid pace as before, but he didn't say anything else.

She did it again, forcing her reiatsu into the walls of the old tower. They shook again, slightly more violently, enough to startle even her.

"No more," he instructed, his voice deeper, commanding, his face unchanged.

She almost took another step back, but realized there was nothing else. "Get back!" she ordered. He was only seven steps away, almost close enough that he could reach out and touch her.

He took another step.

She forced more reiatsu into the wall and the building shook harder.

"Get out of here!" he ordered his men.

The staircase swayed and began to crumble, at the edges first then creeping inside.

Hana had stopped pouring her reiatsu into the walls, but the shaking didn't stop, and the crumbling continued. She began to panic. "Shit," she said moving towards the wall. He was there, she bumped into him.

"Come on," he told her, but in her fear she pulled away. "This whole building is going to collapse! Let's go!"

He'd begun to usher her down the stairs by the back of her robes and her elbow, but the walls began to fall and she instinctively covered her head and neck. He held onto her tightly and pulled her to the edge to jump down, but they were a few stories up still and she was too afraid to jump.

"Move!" he ordered pushing.

"I can't! I'll never make that!" she yelled back, her voice high with fear and her feet stepping back in self preservation.

The ceiling began to fall in huge chunks around them. The man grabbed her around her chest and held her tight, he almost picked her up, then jumped to the floor below, but as they went a massive stone landed in the doorway.

"Dammit!" he swore.

…

From outside the seven men watched the tower fall, hoping their Lieutenant would emerge unscathed. But it didn't seem that was going to happen. The rubble stopped falling finally, but the tower was no more. It lay in complete ruins before them.

"Go find Captain Kuchiki and report what happened," said one of the men, "the rest of us will dig out the Lieutenant."

For a moment no one moved.

"Go!" he ordered.