"I... Feel so weak..." Ichigo muttered as he woke up.

It was a normal morning, weeks after the final battle with Aizen had come to a closure. The final Getsuga Tenshou however, left his Reiatsu in a deplorable state.

Day after day, Ichigo felt how his Shinigami powers left him. He was becoming a human, in a slow and painful way.

Once he was physically recovered, he started going to school normally. Everything was how it should be, in theory. Life couldn't seem more plain and boring in Ichigo's eyes, though.

Sure, a normal life was all he ever wanted at the start... But knowing that even his closest friends were risking their lives fighting Hollows and other threats while he was merely doing homework every day and beating up thugs from time to time... was pretty frustrating, to say the least.

Things changed, and he wasn't so sure that it was for the better anymore. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the life he was leading was fascinating. It had its harsh counterpart, he couldn't deny that, but it was also fun and unique in many ways.

The only thing that comforted him was the idea of his sisters being safe, as thanks to the disappearance of his Spiritual Pressure, no more Hollows should be popping up in his area in the same way they did before... But even that wasn't absolute.

Lately, Orihime tried to cheer him up by making him company, while Uryuu and Chad trained with him, so that he could measure how much power he had left. None of those things seemed to improve his mood in the slightest though. As he fought his friends, who were as strong as ever, he realised how he was becoming weaker and weaker as time passed.

Rukia and Renji came about twice a week after the incident to see how things were going. At first, this made Ichigo happy, but in time, he felt that a greater distance was growing between them ever since he started losing his powers.

"...And Hirako-san decided to go back to the Seireitei as well, and even took the position of Captain, on the 5th Division" Rukia finished telling him. They had been talking about the changes of the Gotei 13 in Ichigo's room for an hour.

"Is that so? Wow, I didn't expect Hirako to even go back to Soul Society. I wish I could fight him and Kensei, but in this state..." He looked down in frustration.

"C'mon Ichigo... I'm sure there must be a way for you to recover your powers. And even if your Reiatsu is totally consumed, you wouldn't simply give up, would you?" Renji tried to cheer him up.

"Well, that is true. Actually, I should go see Urahara. Probably he's trying to find a solution" He seriously concluded.

"No matter what happens... Never give up, Ichigo!" Rukia said in a serious tone, like an order, but then she smiled at her friend.

"Tch... I know, I know!" He replied hastily. "You guys gonna come or...?"

"Sorry, but I gotta get back to my duties in the Seireitei. Believe it or not, we are quite busy, but Rukia should be free" Renji said.

"Not really. I wanted to visit Inoue as well" Rukia replied as she thought: "She has been feeling blue lately... Probably due to her fruitless efforts to cheer Ichigo up. But it's understandable, so I can't blame him" She finished thinking as she looked at an already depressed Ichigo.

"It doesn't matter. I'll go on my own and tell you guys how did it go next time"

"That sounds well. I'll be going then. Next time, I want a fight, Kurosaki!" Renji challenged.

"Yeah, I'll do everything I can to give you one" Ichigo replied with a sly grin.

Renji jumped off the window into the street and left.

"Geez, he doesn't know how to act normal in this world, does he?" Ichigo protested.

"You know how he is. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go see how Inoue-san is doing. Do you want to deliver a message to her?"

"Um... Not really" He replied honestly.

"*sigh* Well, I'll be going then. See you soon, Ichigo, good luck" Rukia left the room a bit dissapointed.

"What's up with her? *sigh*" He laid on the bed for a while before going to see Urahara.

~~~~X~~~~

Meanwhile in Hueco Mundo...

"Open a Garganta as fast as you can!" Ordered Harribel to a large group of Hollows and Arrancars escaping Las Noches.

"Where to, Harribel-sama?" Asked Emilou.

"For now, anywhere in the Human world is good enough. Just tell everyone to be careful not to hurt any humans in the meantime, that would give away their location. I know most Arrancars understand this, but for the same reason, we need to asign one to each group to make sure the lower Hollows don't ruin it"

"Understood" Replied her other two Fracción.

"So, that's what we're doing, Queen?" Grimmjow asked with irony. "We're just gonna run away as these Demons and that traitor do whatever the hell they want with our home?!"

"Do you have a better idea? If you want to be blown away to pieces, do as you wish, but I won't make needless sacrifices. In the worst of cases, I'm willing to fight while the rest escapes, but I really don't know how much time that would buy" She replied determined.

"Hrrngh..." Grimmjow growled in sign of defeat.

Suddenly, a giant green Cero was blasted through the palace. It did not harm anyone, in fact, it seemed more like a warning.

"Well done! I knew that you were the fittest to be brought back to life..." A big muscular male demon of red skin, two black horns and orange eyes said in praise.

"I would've rather stayed dead than sell my carcass and betray my race" Replied the nihilist Espada.

"But you have no choice. Yama-sama saw potential in you and saved your soul from an eternal torture. You should be thankful"

"I don't care about suffering. I don't care about living. I don't care about anything..."

"Well, then you shouldn't care about killing some thousands of mortal souls for us" The Demon said with an evil grin, showing his disgusting yellow teeth.

"I don't care about anything" He repeated.

Inside his mind however, a different idea was crossing. "Anything... But what a heart truly is" And he extended his hand as he remembered his final intent to attain what a heart was. The last time, he had seen her.

As the giant Cero flew through the dark sky, Yammy, who was fighting hordes of lesser-Demons, looked above and muttered. "It can't be... Ul...quiorra"

By his side, a trio of arrancars were escaping as fast as they could.

"Keep running, Nel-sama! We left the Demons behind, but not for long!" Pesche said with a tone of fear.

"Oh no, here comes one flying right at us!" Dondochakka pointed at the sky.

Indeed, a flying Lesser-Demon was going straight at them.

"Hehehehehe!" He laughed while preparing his claws to rip the three apart in an instant.

"No! We'll protect you, Nel-sama!" Said Pesche as he drew his sword from under his pants.

The Demon looked confused, but thanks to that, Pesche managed to attack him on time.

"Take that!"

It was wounded, but it could still fight.

"Grah!" It growled, with a severe cut that went from its chest to its left wing.

Even worse, more of them noticed and went to help their brother.

"Those are too many to handle by swords! We need to do it, Pesche!" Said Dondochakka nervously.

"Agreed"

"Cero Sincrético!" Said the two at the same time, and blasted a yellow and purple Cero at the swarm of Demons.

The attack worked. The creatures disintegrated in a flash.

"You did it guys!" Little Nel jumped happily after witnessing the power of her brothers.

It was true that Pesche and Dondochakka weren't natural warriors, but when Nel was in danger it was a completely different story. The fact that they were once part of Aizen's army couldn't be doubted when they showed their full potential.

A bigger Demon of gray skin appeared right away to erase the smile off their faces.

"Feeling lucky after you defeated such scum, huh? Don't worry... I'll show you what a real Oni is like!"

The Demon drew a long rough black sword and was about to swing it when a red light hit him in the fraction of a second.

"BALA!" Shouted Yammy from the distance, then he used Sonido to approach himand cut his head before it could counter.

"Hey you! What the hell are you doing?!" Yammy told them after killing the Oni.

"We're trying to escape the Demons, of course!" Pesche replied bothered by such an unnecessary question.

"Well, you dumbasses are getting nowhere by foot! You're lucky that I was around, though that Cero you did wasn't half bad... Maybe you could come with me to the Human World"

"Human World..." Nel repeated. "Isn't that... Where Itsygo lives?" She remembered.

"I think so, Nel-sama. If I remember correctly, he was only a substitute Shinigami" Pesche replied.

"Let's go! Let's go! Itsygo is so strong... I know he can save us!" She remembered how he bravely fought Nnoitra, even after fighting Grimmjow in his Resurreción. Of course she knew that he had lost that battle, but she heard that it was him who was able to overpower Aizen in the final battle of Karakura, so she could only imagine how strong he would be now.

"Hey, stop talking and get in here!" Yammy ordered as he opened a Garganta.

"Okay" The trio replied.

They entered the Garganta and disappeared from Hueco Mundo.

"Phew... That was a close call" Yammy said as he got out in the same park he entered the first time, when he was alongside Ulquiorra. "Huh?! Hey! Where did you go?! Dammit... But it's not like I need them anyway... That dog better be alive!" He cursed as he noticed that the other Arrancar were nowhere to be found.

~~~~X~~~~

Ichigo went to Urahara's place looking for help.

"Yo, Kurosaki-san! How are you doing?" Urahara greeted him in the entrance to his shop.

"Not really well to say the truth"

"I imagine that has to do with you losing your Shinigami powers"

"I'm gonna say things straight: my Reiatsu is leagues below what it was before fighting the Arrancar, and if this goes on, I don't think I'll be able to even face a Menos Grande by the next week"

"Hmm... And what would you be looking for in here, then? You wouldn't really be hoping that I have a miraculous solution to your problem, which I remind you, it was something you accepted when you used that power"

"Hey, don't give me that crap! If I hadn't used that power your plan would've never worked. There was no other choice!" Ichigo lost his cool.

"Look, Ichigo. I'm not criticising you, don't get me wrong, but you have to be responsible with the decisions you make. It's true, probably there was no other option, but it is a sacrifice you accepted making"

"And I'd do it again if it was necessary, but if things continue to go this way I won't be able to do anything in the future. I'll be a useless human..."

At first, such thought didn't seem so bad for him. He would go to a normal school, have normal friends and lead a normal life. However... That wasn't an option for him anymore. After all he had gone through, he couldn't just forget it all and live in such a carefree manner when he knew that his friends were risking their lives. Aizen was not a threat anymore, but who could say that in that moment there was no one else scheming something terrible from the shadows? He just couldn't let things be.

"Now, now. I know I was a bit harsh, but to tell you the truth, I knew things would be reduced to this in the end... So, come inside. There's something I wanted to show you"

"No way... You-you have a solution?"

"Keep your cool, Kurosaki-san. It's not fully complete, but I guess it should help for now"

"Understood"

Ichigo entered the shop. It was very clean and everything seemed in order. The place wasn't as lively as it was normally though.

"Where is everyone?"

"I sent them to Soul Society buy me some stuff, so they won't be back for a couple days. Of course, I did it on purpose. No one knows I've been working on this" He said the last sentence with a serious tone as he looked Ichigo in the eye under his hat.

"Now you're scaring me. It's rare that you take such measures when doing your research"

"I did it cause I thought I'd have a medium to big problem if Soul Society was to find out"

Ichigo kept following Urahara through the shop, until they reached what seemed like a dead end. It was a large room in which he had never been before, but in front of them, there was only a wall with a couple marks of cuts.

"What is this...?" Ichigo muttered in confusion.

"Hey, Kurosaki-san" Spoke Urahara with a cool tone. "You've never seen my Bankai before, have you?"

"No. I actually gave up on the thought of ever seeing it"

"Well, it is your lucky day. To be honest, I try to keep my abilities as secret as possible, but I doubt we ever have to fight as enemies so, here goes nothing..."

The air in the room became suddenly dense as Urahara drew his sword, held it in the air and pronounced the words:

"Bankai: Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame"

A giant princess with red revealing clothes was summoned behind him. Immediately after, a clean cut of red light went through the wall in front of them, which was perfectly divided in two, revealing a secret room at the end of the long concrete wall.

The feminine figure disappeared as suddenly as it made its apparition.

"So, shall we continue?" The ex-captain looked at Ichigo with a proud smirk, as he knew that he'd be amused by the strange yet amazing nature of his Bankai. Even more incredible, was the fact that it split a wall in two like it was nothing.

"Damn..." Was all he could say.

At the end of the newly opened hallway was a dark room with an illuminated capsule in the center.

Inside the capsule was a white cube with a purple sphere inside.

"Is that...?!" Ichigo recognised it.

"Exactly. It is an incomplete Hogyoku"

Now everything made sense. After all the trouble Soul Society had gone because of that invention, Urahara took the risk and created a new one just to restore his powers.

"Is this really the only way?"

"In your current state, it is"

Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Although it is not what it seems. This Hogyoku is different from the one I made before. This one is not meant to give the user a limitless evolution or something of sorts. It still fulfills the user's wish, but it is limited to give a little push to the existing Reiatsu within a soul. In simple terms, it serves the same purpose Aizen gave it when he started creating artificial Arrancar"

"You said it's incomplete though" Ichigo reminded.

"Yeah. For starters, it's not nearly close to what the original Hogyoku is in terms of power and structure. Replicating that would take a great deal of time, luck and work, even for me! I wouldn't say it is truly a Hogyoku because of this, but its appearance convinced me of calling it that anyways. Now, to the more important matters... You see, I've given it all the Shinigami Reiatsu it could hold, because of the limit I mentioned. The problem is, your powers are not those of a Shinigami alone..."

"I see... So you need Hollow Reiatsu as well"

"Precisely. It's too bad that I'm not friends with a Hollow..." He gave a look at Ichigo.

"What? You think I have a friend in Hueco Mundo?"

"The other day Inoue-san told me a little résumé of your adventures with the Hollows. She mentioned that a beautiful Arrancar became quite fond of you during the journey"

"She couldn't mean... Nel?" He said out loud. "Cause Grimmjow is not a friend and definitely not pretty..." He thought.

"Marvelous, it was true! So, when are you introducing me to this lady, Kurosaki-san? You know, the sooner I meet her, the sooner your powers will return" It was clear that Urahara was more interested in her than in helping Ichigo.

"Stop it, perv. Like I would let you near her!" He yelled. "Actually, even if I wanted, I wouldn't be able to find her. I can't search for her Reiatsu like this..." He finished disappointed.

"Boo, that's too bad. Guess you'll have to wait for me to fill this thing up with the Hollow Reiatsu of the Menos that appear... Or maybe I could ask Hiyori-san and the others to help, though that would probably take a while..."

"I'm not using that crap!" Ichigo was stubborn in using the Hogyoku to get his powers back.

Urahara was about to reprimand him, when he suddenly felt three middle-level Reiatsu of the Hollow kind at the entrance of his shop. "Now this is odd"

"What happened?"

"Don't tell me... You can't even feel it?" Urahara became really worried.

Ichigo focused very hard to get a glimpse of what Urahara was sensing. There was a faint pressence, but he could not distinguish wether it belonged to an individual or a group. It was also impossible for him to tell what kind of Reiatsu it was.

"I can feel something, but I can't say anything sure about it"

"This is more serious than it seemed. Anyway, let's get out of here at once. I don't think it's the best idea, but while I conceal this room, could you go towards the entrance to hold whoever is upstairs back? I feel three medium Reiatsu from Hollows"

"Hollows? In here?! Don't worry, Urahara, I'll go immediately" Ichigo used the Substitute Shinigami badge and turned into his Shinigami form.

"Don't be reckless, Ichigo, that's an order. They could even be Arrancar hiding their Reiatsu"

"Alright..." He replied bothered and exited the room.

He ran in the direction Urahara told him, not sure about what he was going to find.

"No matter what it is... I'm gonna give it my all!" He thought as he grabbed his sword.

And just as he was getting ready for combat, something jumped into his head.

"What the-?"

"ITSYGO!!!"

He fell to the floor as a little girl hugged his face.

"N-NEL?!" He recognized her voice and small body in an instant, but couldn't believe the situation.

"Nel found you, Itsygo! Itsygo! Itsygo! Itsygo!" She had the biggest smile he had ever seen and tears of joy in her eyes as she hugged him and giggled.

"Nel-sama, I think you're overdoing it a little..." Dondochakka pointed out as he saw Ichigo was having trouble to breathe.

But it was just the beginning. Nel was so glad to see him that she lost control of her emotions, letting a giant source of Reiatsu out, along with a pink gas in a sudden explosion.

"No way..." Said her brothers in unison as they saw her in her adult form for the first time after the incident.

Her green piece of cloth was teared in two, conveniently covering her lower part as well as most of her breasts.

Now Ichigo was not only breathless but also bleeding from his nose as Nelliel continued snuggling him.

"It was you! Ichigo..." She looked at him in the eye as she tenderly said his name with a joyful expression.

Ichigo, red as a strawberry, was only able to gulp.

"Woah! I don't know if I should save you or envy you, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara carelessly said as he arrived in the room while playing with a fan.

On the other hand, Nelliel's reaction was cautious. She grabbed Ichigo and used Sonido to exit the shop. She was scared of Shinigami, and identified Urahara's Reiatsu in the moment he appeared. Her brothers followed her, but so did Urahara.

In the instant he appeared, she drew out her sword and used a defensive position, standing in front of her friends with her Zanpakuto in hand.

"Who are you and what do you want, Shinigami?" She asked in a menacing tone.

"Wait a second, there. I don't mean to harm you. I'm Urahara Kisuke, just the humble owner of this candy shop!"

However, Nelliel let a giant amount of Reiatsu out, indicating that she didn't trust him in the slightest.

"Nel, it's alright! He's just a friend!" Ichigo said to convince her.

She looked at Ichigo and put the sword back in the sheath. Then she sighed in relief and said: "Sorry, Ichigo. I didn't know"

"My, my. That was one hell of a Reiatsu you have there, but then again, that 3 on your back explains everything..." Urahara smiled as he grasped his luck.

If it had only been an Arrancar, the process of feeding the Hogyoku would've taken a couple days, but if it was an Espada they were dealing with, Ichigo would get back his powers by the next day.

"I'm Nelliel Tu Odelschwank. I used to be the 3rd Espada, but that was long ago... Nowadays, I only fight to protect my friends, and Ichigo is a dear friend of mine. I just can't risk losing him, and we're still a bit shaken after we lost our home" She apologized.

"Wait a second, Nel. What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course, you don't know why we're here!" She remembered.

"Oh, it was terrible!" Pesche said with great sorrow.

"And they came out of nowhere!" Added Dondochakka, crying like always.

"What?! Who?!" Ichigo was more curious about the problem.

"The Oni invaded Hueco Mundo" Nelliel said.

"No way... The Oni?" Urahara seemed really worried. "Come inside, I want you to tell me every detail, please"

They went to the tea room and Urahara gave Nelliel a yukata for her to change.

"Put this on. It would be a crime to let you wear those ragged clothes"

"Thanks" She replied with a smile, which showed that she understood Urahara wasn't a bad guy.

She went to another room to change, while the shop owner prepared some tea.

"Hey, Urahara. Who are the Oni?" Asked Ichigo, oblivious of the problem.

"The Oni are a race of incredibly powerful Demons. They are the wardens of Jigoku, which is Hell in simple terms. There they torture sinners of different kinds"

"Why would they attack Hueco Mundo, then?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. The Oni are supposed to be controlled by the old Gods, along with the fact that they do not need anything. Their existence depends on the souls they torture. As long as there are sinners to punish, the Oni don't need anything else"

Ichigo was trying to imagine the aspect of an Oni when a sliding door opened.

Nelliel came back into the room wearing the beautiful yukata Urahara gave her. It was made of a silk as white as snow and had cherry trees and blossoms painted on it.

Ichigo was speechless as he saw her. Last time, he didn't have the chance to notice just how pretty she was, but now, he couldn't believe how amazing she looked. Her beautiful face, long wild turquoise hair, perfectly shaped and goddess-size bust, thin waist, curvy rear and long legs were a sight he couldn't help to behold.

"How do I look?" She asked innocently.

"Very good, Nel-sama!" Replied her brothers.

"Wow, that yukata fits you perfectly! You know... keep it. You look dazzling on it" Urahara approved.

"Thanks" She gladly received their words. However, the compliment she wanted to hear most wasn't pronounced yet.

Ichigo, with his eyes hipnotized by Nelliel's appearance could only mutter:

"Gorgeous..."

As she heard that word come from his lips, Nelliel could only giggle as she blushed, and thought that she definitely had to keep that yukata.

"My, My..." Urahara said.

"Huh?" Ichigo snapped. "Did I say something?" He started getting red.

"Just the right thing. I'm surprised actually, hehehehe" The shop owner laughed at him.

"Sh-Shut up!" Ichigo replied as his face boiled.

Nelliel didn't care though, she seemed to be in her own world after hearing him call her gorgeous.

"Well, let's talk about a more serious topic now" Urahara said as he served them all a cup of red tea.

"Right" Nelliel's expression became serious and she went back to the real world. "To say the truth, we didn't witness everything, but the first thing I remember is that we were playing around the desert at night, when suddenly a giant portal different to a Garganta opened above us. From it, swarms of Lesser-Demons came flying. After those, bigger wingless Demons fell to the ground. They had black swords, but I'm not sure if they were Zanpakuto. When this happened, we ran as far as we could to escape, but we weren't able to open a Garganta. We were lucky to come across a strong Arrancar though. He saved us and brought us to this world. As soon as we came here I looked for your Reiatsu and went in that direction. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was you, because it was rather weak, but it doesn't matter anymore cause I found you!" She finished with an excited tone.

"I see. It's probable that you witnessed the opening of a Kimon, a Demon gate. It's rare that they do such thing. They are only supposed to open those when a sinner's soul escapes Jigoku in some way, and even then, a single powerful Demon should do that job..." Urahara explained and kept thinking.

"Why did you want to find me so desperately though?" Asked Ichigo oblivious of what was in Nel's mind.

"Well..." Nelliel started saying with the thought of Ichigo protecting her back in Hueco Mundo. "I doubt there's a single Hollow in Hueco Mundo that hasn't heard of your victory over Aizen. You are the only one that can save us, Ichigo!" As she said those words, her eyes shined in a hopeful way.

"Nel..." Ichigo sighed. "I... I'm not strong anymore. I used a final technique during that fight to defeat Aizen, that meant a big sacrifice. The reason you almost couldn't feel my Reiatsu, is because I have too little left, and it's only becoming less. I'm really sorry, Nel" He punched the floor as he told her the truth.

"Ichigo..." She stood and went to his side.

He looked defeated. After two years being a Shinigami, he always became stronger by merely training more. It was simple: you're weak, you train more. You reached your limit, you have to get a new power. Now, there was no option left but to rely on the Hogyoku, which made him feel so helpless.

Nelliel hugged and pressed him against her chest as she said with a sweet voice: "I'm so sorry for asking you that now, Ichigo. It's just that ever since you came to Hueco Mundo, you were always there to protect me, even when the enemy was stronger. I... I didn't mean to make you feel useless... I'm so sorry...!" She cried as she apologized.

He was surprised to see her so affected by that as well. He knew she was his friend, AND a crybaby, but this time, it was almost as if she could feel his pain.

This transient thought simply made its way into his subconscious as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her, thinking it was somewhat because of him that she ended up like that.

"Nel... It's not your fault. In fact, I think it's no one's fault" He replied whiping the tears off her face.

"There is a way you can help him, if that's what you wish to do..." Urahara told Nelliel.

"Urahara, no!" Ichigo reprimended.

"What do I have to do?" She stood up and asked determined.

"I just need you to feed a certain amount of Reiatsu to a little invention of mine"

"Nel, there's no need for you to do it. Uarahara said the truth, I decided to sacrifice my powers for a greater cause" He stood up as well and touched her shoulder to stop her.

"Listen, Ichigo. If there's a way for you to recover your powers and I can help, I won't doubt it for one second. I would do anything for you" She blushed a little as she finished that phrase.

"Nel..." He felt strange as he heard those words, but he could not describe that feeling.

"Well, to me it looks like she made her decision. So why don't you cut that crap of sacrifice and regain your powers already?" Urahara was now pissed that Ichigo was being so stubborn for no real reason. "And don't use those words against me. While that was true in the start, you're just being a hardheaded idiot considering that there IS a way to get your powers back"

Ichigo groaned a bit, pressing his fists. Urahara was totally right.

"Alright" He finally said. "Let's do it" A part of him didn't want to use the Hogyoku, but another part was willing to do anything to get his Soul Reaper days back.

"Could you guys stay here and look for the shop for a while?" Urahara asked the other two Arrancar.

"No problem" Replied Dondochakka.

"We will take care of this place as if it was our own home" Added Pesche.

"We shouldn't take too long, anyway" The owner replied. "Let's go"

This time, Ichigo knew the way towards the secret room, so he walked alongside Urahara and Nelliel followed them.

"Could you and Nel-chan stay in this room as I open the path? Enough people have seen my Bankai already" Urahara asked.

"Ok. You don't mind, do you?" Ichigo asked her.

Nelliel shook her head.

Urahara went into the next room, which left them by themselves.

"So... What did you do during these past weeks?" Ichigo asked to break the ice.

"Nothing much. After the fight with Nnoitra I went back to my child form and, since you were gone, I guess we went back to our normal lifestyle in the desert"

"I hope you're not angry with me for leaving you at that time..." Ichigo remembered how he immediately went to save Orihime and left Nel in the battlefield.

"No, not at all. Inoue-san healed my wounds and stood by your side as long as she could. It would be very disgraceful of me to be angry because of such a situation" Nelliel replied with honesty.

"I'm glad you understand" Ichigo said in relief.

"I would lie if I said that I didn't miss you after that though" She added with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry to say, I didn't have much space in my head to think about you during that time. It's not that I didn't care, cause you are really dear to me, but there was just so much happening that I couldn't think about anything else than defeating Aizen"

"I understand. I've always had Pesche and Dondochakka by my side anyways, but after sharing so much with you, when you left, it was like a little void inside of me opened up... And it was not my Hollow hole!" She comically finished the sentence pointing at a space between her breasts, which contained the empty space all Hollows had somewhere in their bodies.

"Hahaha..." Ichigo laughed a bit for the bad pun, while blushing a bit due to the place she indicated, quickly looking away in shame. "Although I'm really sorry that you felt that way... If I hadn't been so fixated on my own weakness during the past weeks, I'm sure I would've thought about you as well"

"But that doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that I found you again! Now I'll never leave your side, Ichigo..." She hugged him and rested her head in his chest.

He chuckled in response and thought: "And I'd be really glad if you didn't..." Then he pat her head.

He still had the feeling that she was a kid when she acted that way, but her new proportions and her more analytical thought as he saw earlier, slowly started getting in his head that she was an adult, and probably more than him even.

In spite of that, Nelliel merely felt overjoyed as he did this. She loved the way he caressed her head and hair with his fingers, the warm palm of his hand gently stroking it.

"If only this could last forever..." She thought, purring.

But immediately after, the door in front opened and Kisuke came back.

"Sorry, guys! I took a bit longer in the end cause I decided to just go get this thing and leave everything the way it was, but here it is" Urahara told them as he held a cube-shaped object in his hand.

"G-Good!" Ichigo replied stuttered.

Nelliel was leaning on the wall by Ichigo's side pretending that nothing happened, even though she was clearly blushing.

In fact, she had no idea why she reacted that way. She was so happy receiving his tender touch, then why did it feel wrong that someone else saw her that way?

Urahara noticed the situation, but decided to leave them be.

"This, Nel-san, is a Hogyoku. It is the object that will restore Kurosaki-kun's powers"

"I've seen it before. Aizen used that thing to create Arrancar more easily"

"This one in particular though, was made for a single use. Once Kurosaki-san absorbs its power, it will cease to exist. I made it that way because it was a lot easier and, overall, less dangerous"

"I see. What do I have to do with it?"

"Just raise your Reiatsu as you hold it" Indicated Urahara. "Whatever you do, don't press it. Also, it should take a while. If you feel tired, just stop, and we'll continue later or tomorrow"

"Okay"

Nelliel did as she was told and put the Hogyoku in between her hands. She started letting her Reiatsu out in a powerful but measured way.

The spherical center of the Hogyoku started shining, indicating the process was done correctly.

She continued charging the Hogyoku for about fifteen minutes when a sudden physical change interrupted the process.

"Shit! I forgot this happened!" Ichigo said as he caught the Hogyoku in the air.

Nel became a child again and was covered in the yukata like it was a large mantle.

"Sorry, Itsygo. Nel thought tse could do more, but in the end this happened..." Little tears appeared in her eyes as she apologized.

"Don't worry, Nel. It's my fault for forgetting your adult form only lasts for so long..." He put his hand in her head to make her feel better.

"I think I understand now why your clothes were the way they were..." Urahara connected the dots.

"It's enough for today, Urahara. If her body came back to her child state it's dangerous to continue" Ichigo replied seriously.

"Hmm... That is a little problem if you ask me. Why does that happen, Nel-chan?" Urahara asked her.

"Nel's not tsure, but Nel thinks it has something to do with the crack on her skull. When Nel uses too muts Reiatsu, tse feels how a big amount of it is lost through that crack. Nel used to be an adult, but after tse received that wound during a battle, Nel became a tsild and didn't go back to her normal form... Until Nel's emotsions ran wild when an Espada was beating up Itsygo"

"I see. I'm thinking of a solution for the meantime, but if you want to go back to normal permanently, we should find a way to fix that crack on your head" Urahara thought of Orihime as he said that part.

"How long will this temporary solution take?" Ichigo asked him.

"Oh, it should be ready by tomorrow morning!" The inventor replied.

"No way! So quick?"

"A geniuse's time to complete a project is fully given by its motivation" Urahara poetically replied.

"And what is your great motivation? Cause I don't think that it's getting my powers back"

"I don't know what else could it be... Ahahaha" Kisuke laughed as he thought: "There's no way in Hell I'm letting Nel-chan stay in this childish form! I may be weird, but I'm no lollicon, and neither is him, I hope... And more importantly, she is key to get him back in the game, especially now with this new menace"

Ichigo sighed and offered Nel to climb to his back.

She immediately accepted and was happily riding Ichigo like she used to do in Hueco Mundo.

"Just like in the old times..." She thought happily.

Important: in order to get the full experience, read it in the Fanfiction App, cause I've noticed that some things I add with non-conventional writing style (for artistic reasons) do not appear complete in the desktop and mobile version of the Fanfic page.

And so it begins. During the past week I was aching to start this story, and even now that I finished its first chapter, it pains me to think that I can't publish it until I publish the last Pokémon chapter because of my self-imposed 3 ongoing story rule. Anyway, this story should be of mid to long length (depending on my own inspiration) and I hope you guys like it.

I really love Bleach, but I also know that it has a giant lore that's not simple at all, so if I make any mistake related to conditions, places or powers, feel free to tell me and I will look into it to correct it as soon as possible. The same goes for past events, but these can be changed slightly to fit the story, so I will not always count these changes as mistakes. I'm doing my best to fit the story with the current timeline. In case you didn't notice, this story occurs a couple weeks after Aizen's defeat in Karakura and it's evident that Ichigo's loss of Reiatsu occurred in a critical way in this fic.

I'll try to reply to reviews in the next chapter in which they were posted (if there are any) at the end of this space.

Please understand that I also have other two active stories that I must take care of as well.

Also, just this once... Disclaimer: The Bleach franchise and all its content belongs to Tite Kubo. I just made a story using his world and adding ideas of my own.

Thank you for reading and see you soon!

Evhron out.

PD: Although I love Nel's green hair in the Manga, I just described it as Turquoise in this fic because that way it's the same as in the Anime and videogames, so it's easier to imagine.