The arrancar fell dead, the ice around its body shattering with its impact on earth. Toshiro Hitsugaya landed on earth, his face calm, staring at the disintegrating spiritual particles.

"Captain, your arm." His lieutenant rushed to his side. He looked down at the long gash that ran the length of his forearm.

"Its nothing. Are you alright?"

"Yes Captain."

The ice wings faded and he sheathed his sword.

"Are you sure you're okay Captain, you look very pale."

"Rangiku, I said I'm– "

Hitsugaya stopped talking, all colour from his face faded, and he swayed.

"Matsumoto..." Crimson spewed from his mouth and he reached out for her just as he fell. She caught him just in time, kneeling with him in her arms.

He looked up at her, terrified. "Ran–gi–" but he only coughed up more blood.

"Where are you hit?" she said, frantically pulling back his robes, and patting him down. But there was no wound to be found. She grabbed his arm and inspected the wound. It looked normal.

He was choking now, the torrent of blood coming up his throat was suffocating him. His small hand knotted in her robes, his eyes desperate.

Rankigu did not heistiate. She opened the senkeinmo and dove through, bearing her captain.

...

It took twelve hours to save Hitsugaya's life. Unohana emerged from the operating room, her robes stained with blood, her face covered in sweat but she took no time to recover, she knew the desperate lieutenant was waiting.

"Captain Unohana." Rangiku shot up, her eyes ringed red, every muscle in her body tense.

"He's recovering."

"What happened to him?"

"The arrancar injected him with some sort of poison. In simple terms, it was destroying him from the inside out. If you hadn't gotten him here as soon as you did–"

"What does that mean, Captain? How bad is he?"

The healer sighed deep, she could not avoid the truth. "The poison attacked his organs, many were severely damaged. We've purged the poison from him and done our best to repair his organs, but after such violent trauma to so many vital organs..."

"Is he going to...?"

"We have to wait and see."

Lieutenant Matsumoto did not ask permission to enter the room. She swept past Unohana and through the swinging doors.

Her feet froze and her breath stopped. Hitsugaya was hooked up to several machines, one breathing for him, one pumping blood into his veins, another supplying medications...The mess from the surgery was not yet cleaned up, his blood was everywhere, the tools still lay soaking in a tray.

There was nothing that could contain her sobs, or the scream that escaped her body. Unohana came in behind her, slowly slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a comforting embrace.

...

Rukia closed her phone. She sat between Renji and Ichigo on the roof of the school.

"What is it?" they both asked when they saw he grim expression.

"There was an incident. You know that arrancar earlier?"

"Yeah." Renji said, clenching his own soul pager. "The one Captain Hitsugaya took down yesterday?"

"Well it seems there was a problem. Captain Hitsugaya was gravely wounded."

Renji stiffened. "No way, we would have sensed it. His riatsu was steady for the whole battle."

"It happened after– he was poisoned, it did severe damage to his insides. They don't know if he'll..."

"No way..." Ichigo breathed. They sat in silence.

The simultaneous ringing of Renji and Rukia's phones made them all jump. The two soul reapers read the messages on their pagers.

"An emergency recall of all soul reapers." Rukia murmured, Renji was already standing.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"All soul reapers are to abandon their posts and return to the soul society at once."

"Wait, what about this world?"

"Ichigo, I'm sorry, there's no time." Renji already had the senkeimon open. Two hell butterflies floated up to Renji and Rukia. She dropped her gigai, they disappeared into the yellow light and were gone.

...

It took Ichigo five minutes to run flat out to Urahara's shop. Using his soul badge, he jumped out of his body ignoring that it tumble to the shop floor. Kisuke stared at him, his hand half raised holding a cup of tea.

"Open the gate now!"

The shop keeper knew something was terribly wrong. His voice was serious.

"What's happened?"

"There was a recall or something, all soul reapers were called back to the Soul Society." The tea cup dropped, Urahara was already rushing to the basement.

"What is it Kisuke?"

"Never. There has never been a recall."

"What does it mean?"

"Something very bad Ichigo." His hand slid into his pocket as he leapt down the basement steps. His fingers whizzed over the buttons and it was at his ear.

"Yoruichi, answer." But it seemed he got no answer.

"Was she in the soul society?"

"Yes."

"Kisuke."

"I'm sorry Ichigo, I can't wait, this is bad. Wait for me here."

"Wait, what?"

But the hat and green coat fell along with the rest of Urahara's gigai. Benihime appeared in his hand, his white robes flowing behind him.

"No, don't!" but again Ichigo was left behind as the senior soul reaper disappeared.

...

Urahara emerged, fully expecting to be accosted by heavily armed soul reapers. He had not had time to conceal his spiritual pressure properly, anyone could have sensed him.

Then he saw the first of them. Bodies, four or five, fallen as if they had never seen the enemy coming.

A dark thought struck him. He moved further into the Soul Society. The deeper into the Seireitei he moved, the more bodies he found. Even in squad twelve, the one Captain he had thought might be alive, was slumped in his chair, his black and white face staring in shock at his monitors. He had seen something before it struck.

"But they can't be dead." he said, his fingers against Kurotsuchi's throat. There was no pulse, but then, he thought perhaps he wasn't the best test subject. Kisuke took a moment to glance at the monitor but he could perceive no irregularity, so he moved back into the squad ground.

Pulse after pulse, there was nothing. But it didn't make sense. When a soul reaper dies, his body does not remain.

"They aren't dead, but as good as."

Urahara turned slowly. Aizen smiled at him.

"What did you do?"

"Simple really, they never even knew they inhaled it." he raised a hand and let a fistful of white powder drift through his fingers. Urahara covered his face but he knew it was already too late.

"Thank you for saving me the trouble of finding you, Kisuske Urahara." He waited to feel pain, to feel weak, but there was nothing. He was simply fine one moment, and then on the ground the next.

"Good work, make sure to get all the zampakutos." Aizen called over his shoulder to Gin, and Uluquiorra. The two disappeared from sight.