Bleach (c) Tite Kubo

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Chapter 17

Previously:

Everyone expect for Kisuke and Shinji went up the long ladder.

"Now then...Kisuke, whaddya think of the lil' girl? She was definitely wearin' a captain's haori. And wasn't it Isshin's old division number?" Shinji said.

Kisuke looked over to Ulquiorra. "I don't know." He then turned around. "I think she's very adorable!" Kisuke joked and then looked back at Ulquiorra. "But she is definitely strong." Kisuke said seriously. "For her to capture an Arrancar easily, like this, it makes me wonder sometimes about me. But..." Kisuke walked over to the barrier. "I will have very much fun with you. Ulquiorra Cifer."

Ulquiorra looked up to Kisuke when he said his name. He narrowed his eyes slightly. He had been utterly captured by a shinigami. But he didn't care for much in being captured by shinigami. But the girl who caught his so easily did catch a bit of interest to him. Rare for himself to even have interest in things. The girl who turned into an older person, she sounded much like Nelliel to him.

Location: Soul Society – Seireitei – Tenth Division Offices – Hitsugaya Toushirou

"Ne Taicho!" Rangiku came in slightly drunk since she didn't have to watch Lexy no more.

"What, Matsumoto? And don't come in drunk."

"Do something about Karin! She seems on edge! I don't even know why! Oh wait...it might be about Lexy's disappearance...but Taicho! Karin is holding in her fears! At this rate, it may kill her! I talked to Yuzu about this and," Rangiku hiccuped, "she said that Karin has always been like this."

Toushirou looked up at the drunken Rangiku.

"Taichooo! It's nervewracking to see her like this! Dooooo something." Rangiku's words became slurred.

"What can I do about it?" Toushirou asked, thinking it was a natural reaction for Karin to act like she did. Although, he did feel a bit of concern for both Lexy and Karin, but it wasn't like he was going to admit it...yet.

"Obviously to console herrrr! You're supposed to be there for herrr!" Rangiku said, pulling out a bottle of alcohol.

"Matsumoto!"

"Yikes Taicho. Sorry. But I'm really worried about Karin right now. That's all. See ya!" Rangiku left the office.

Location: Living World – Karakura Town - Urahara's Shop

"What's in this room, Ichigo-nii-chan?" Lexy opened a door. "Wah! It's Karin-nee-chan and Yuzu-nee-chan!"

"What!?" Ichigo came to look at the room as well. "So this is where their bodies are at!?"

"Idiot. Of course they were safe! The two aren't really dead." Yoruichi said.

"Eh? Where are they then?" Orihime asked.

"Soul Society." Yoruichi said, closing the door and leading the group to another door.

"Soul Society? Where the shinigami-sans go?" Nel asked.

"Now then...we'll talk in this room." Yoruichi sat down.

Everyone followed in suit.

"Ichigo, you have a lot of explaining to do. First the girl and the arrancar, then the hollows, and the encounters met in Las Noches." Yoruichi started to lead the conversation.

"...Hmm...this is Lexy. I heard from Rukia that she's the 'guardian' of Karin. Maybe a zanpakuto spirit or something. I don't know. She seemed like...Ow!"

"No selling Itsygo!" Nel pinched his cheeks.

"Alright! Alright! Anyways, it seems she caught Ulquiorra Cifer. And these hollows, I met them before. They were the ones that lead me to Hueco Mundo. This is Nel, Dondochakka, and Pesche. Anyways, I only met Ulquiorra when trying to get Orihime back. Dad put up a barrier to ward off any weak hollows. Other than that, everything went good. We got Orihime back and we even have Ulquiorra in our hands." Ichigo finished.

"Hmm...Orihime."

"Y-Yes!"

"We're going to get you changed out of those clothes."

"Yes!"

"Yosh! We're here!" Kisuke stood at the door, looking at the group with Shinji.

"Did we miss anything?" Shinji said with a smile.

"No. I think we're done. But Aizen may want his arrancar back..." Yoruichi said.

"I got that handled~!" Kisuke said happily. "Now I have to take care of the shop again. You guys can go home, except for Ichigo, Orihime, and Lexy."

"Ah, yes." Orihime said, knowing the reason for her stay.

"Tch, it' not like I can go back home now." Ichigo said.

"Okay!" Lexy said with her arms up.

"Wait! Where will we go!?" Nel asked.

"Yeah! We have nowhere else to stay!" Pesche said.

"And we don't know how to open up a garaganta to go back home!" Dondochakka said.

"Oh, I forgot you guys were here too. Sure, you can stay, but you'll be staying downstairs with Ulquiorra." Kisuke said, closing his fan and walking away.

"Then, see you guys later." Sado said.

"Hmm...seems you didn't even need me this time, Ichigo." Uryu said, getting up.

The two left the shop.

"Jinta! Stop! Don't go inside!"

"Shut up! I can go inside if I want to! You don't tell me what to do!"

Everyone in the room wondered who was outside...not.

Location: Soul Society – Seireitei – Tenth Division Training Grounds

"Sorry I'm late Toushirou!" Karin said, running over to the still tall Toushirou, who was waiting patiently with his arms crossed.

"If you were late for being called for backup, I would have already died." Toushirou said.

The two were still continuing Karin's training.

"Yeah...sorry..." Karin said.

Toushirou noticed she didn't say anything much after. He then remembered when Ichigo told him about Karin trying not to worry other people because of her.

"It doesn't matter. Let's get started, you'll release your shikai and fight me." Toushioru said.

Karin looked up. "Alright, but what about your shikai?"

"Don't underestimate me, Karin." Toushirou had slowly gotten used to calling Karin by her first name, dropping the 'Kurosaki' but in front of other captains, he would still be respectful as ever.

"Right, right. Because you're a captain and all. Come, Shakunetsu no Taiga!" Karin's zanpakuto changed it's form again, revealing the grace of the flames that appeared on her sword from the strings of fire, the sword being from the medieval era of Europe. This time, on Karin's left shoulder, a paw print of a tiger could be seen. "Ready when you are, Toushirou." Karin said, feeling proud of her shikai, forgetting about many things in the world.

"Your first to hit." Toushirou said.

Karin shrugged. "Alright."

Karin jumped towards Toushirou, her sword ready to be swung towards him. Karin was on the offensive as Toushirou was on the defensive. It kept going on for a few more minutes before Toushirou stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Karin asked, looking up at Toushirou.

"You know how to attack, but you don't know how to defend." Toushirou said, taking notes of Karin's attacks. Sure they looked beautiful, but they wouldn't defend Karin in a fight.

"Well, all I need to do is fight and I'll win."

"No, you need to learn to defend yourself. If you want to live and protect your close ones, then you will learn to defend yourself." Toushirou remembered how protective Karin was of Yuzu. His mind drifted off to Lexy again, still wondering why she wasn't back.

Karin looked at Toushirou. "Hmm...even when your tall, you still have the same mentality." Karin laughed lightly. "I guess that's true. My mind has been on a one train stop only. I forget to see farther than that."

"Think of yourself as...the goalie in soccer. You defend the goal so the soccer doesn't get past you. Much like your defending people behind you, don't let the enemy get past you." Toushirou said.

Karin looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "When did you learn the rules to soccer again? And also...that makes sense...does that mean that I'm on the defensive this time?"

Toushirou avoided the first question. "Yeah, I'll teach you how to defend yourself from basic attacks and from kido attacks."

Karin smiled. "Then let's get started."

Rangiku was looking at the scene in front of her. Her captain was really actually trying to get things off of Karin's mind! Rangiku celebrated by drinking a bottle of sake in the distance.

"Hah~! I wonder though...where is Lexy." Rangiku said to herself, making her way back to Kyoraku Shunsui for more sake.

Location: Las Noches – Hueco Mundo

"Oi Aizen." Ichimaru Gin called to the man sitting on a throne.

Sosuke Aizen looked up to him. "What, Gin."

"It's about that girl and Ulquiorra. None of the other arrancars can find them." Gin said.

"What?"

"Yeah. It's almost like...they disappeared."

Aizen's hands clenched slightly. "Ho~. It seems..."

"That they've captured Ulquiorra." Gin finished. "Or Ulquiorra could be a traitor. Whichever works."

"I guess I should go visit them myself." Aizen said, getting up.

"Or, we can have one of the Espadas to go look for them."

"Time is ticking and the Hogyoku is just about finished. We will do a full on attack on Soul Society the next few days. Tousen, gather everyone for battle."

Kaname Tousen nodded his head and walked out the overly large room.

"I think it's about time we showed them to bow down to me." Aizen said with a smile on his face.

Location: Soul Society – Captain's Meeting

"I have been informed that...Ulquiorra Cifer, an underling of Aizen, has been captured by none other than Urahara Kisuke." Yamamoto Genryusei said.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri raised an eyebrow. "That man who can't be called a scientist no more caught an arrancar?"

"Ulquiorra Cifer...don't know him. But I feel like I wanna fight him." Zaraki Kenpachi said with a smile.

"I wish for him to be handed over to the Twelfth Division for research purposes." Mayuri proposed.

"No, I can make him forcefully obey us." Kenpachi proposed.

"No. At the moment, he is under Urahara Kisuke's held by a trap. And this information came from...Kurosaki Isshin."

Isshin stepped out of the shadows. Everyone stared at him intently.

"Aizen is planning to attack Karakura Town. I'm sure of it. He just lost one of his strongest espadas and he probably doesn't want to risk waiting any longer for the person who caught him to show up." Isshin chose his words carefully, knowing who really caught Ulquiorra.

Genryusei was listening intently. If Aizen did plan to attack Karakura Town, the Hogyoku would be complete, from what he had heard. A fake Karakura Town...that way, the only way to get to the real Karakura Town was through Soul Society. He explained his plan, allowing the Kido corps that could create illusions and such to create this fake place.

"We will attack him when he reaches the fake Karakura Town. Gather your forces together." Yamamoto said. "Dismissed."

"Yes." Everyone present said before disappearing.

Location: Living World – Karakura Town - Urahara's Shop Basement

"And there you have it!" Kisuke said, clapping.

"I see nothing wrong with it but...that just means we have to travel back to Soul Society." Ichigo said tiredly.

"That's the whole point! Don't worry though, I'll be going too. Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai will watch over the shop, Orihime-chan, the hollows, and your sister's bodies."

"I'm coming too ya know." Yoruichi came jumping in.

"How could I ever forget you!"

"Wah~! The talking neko again!" Lexy yelled.

"Gah! Alright! Let's get going. I gotta send Lexy back to Karin after all." Ichigo said defeated.

"We're going back to see Karin-nee-chan and Toushirou-nii-chan!? Yay!" Lexy cheered.

Yoruichi laughed lightly. "Ara, isn't she an upbeat one."

"Yes, she'll make a fine shinigami." Kisuke said, before getting the gate ready once again.

Four hell butterflies came in front of each of them, leading them to Soul Society.

Location: Soul Society – Seireitei – Tenth Division Offices

"What? We're going to fight Aizen and the hollows?" Karin asked for confirmation.

She learned who Aizen was over time. Three captains who were traitors and one lieutenant in prison for helping them. She...also learnt that it was Toushirou's childhood friend, which she avoided to talk about as it was a touchy subject, much like the death of her mother.

"Who is 'we'?" Toushirou asked. "You and Kurosaki Yuzu will not be participating in this fight."

This ticked Karin off. "What? But you're telling me that Ichi-nii will be fighting?" Karin scoffed. "Please, I'm just as good."

"No, you still haven't learnt to defend yourself from attacks, especially powerful ones." Toushirou said.

Karin couldn't fight back with that one. She just gritted her teeth. "I'm going. Whether you allow it or not, Toushirou." Karin said before angrily stomping out of his office.

"Toushirou, I believe this is where we will kill Aizen..."

"Yeah...but who...will be our sacrifice?"

"Lexy had mentioned something among, whether it was good or bad. That could mean that we an use an enemy's reishi and kill Aizen. But what was it about Aizen being invincible? I do not get that."

"...it might have something to do with the Hogyoku."

Toushirou continued his work.

"Toushirou, I do believe we need Kurosaki Karin's strength in this fight."

"No."

"The Kurosaki's have been proven to be strong. Especially Kurosaki Isshin."

"I will not allow Karin or Yuzu to fight."

"...Is it that, or you won't allow Karin to fight at all."

"Hyourinmaru."

"I am sorry."

Karin was walking around the Tenthi Division Barracks now. She stopped when she felt a familiar reiatsu.

"I-Ichi-nii is back. And Lexy!?" Karin shunpo-ed quickly to where she could feel the reiatsu.

She appeared in front of some type of gate she had seen before. She stumbled her way to her brother, who was lifting Lexy up and walking tiredly inside.

"I-Ichi-nii! Lexy!" Karin screamed, but she saw sight of Kisuke and a cat...

"Oh? Good timing Karin! I uhh...I have Lexy?" Ichigo said awkwardly.

"Karin-nee-chan!" Lexy jumped into the arms of Karin.

Karin felt overly relieved. Lexy was safe and her brother was also safe. So it was true that Lexy had just gone with Ichigo. Her eyes shot into a glare at Ichigo.

End of Chapter

AN - ...Uhm, so I'm kind of back to writing this fanfiction now. And I had this written up like...a (2) year(s) ago? I didn't edit it for mistakes or anything, but I'm just reading this and thinking how terrible it is. Thankfully, the next chapter will have a better flow to it.

Okay! I'm alive! Yes! This story is still going on! I know! Woo! I'm late. But a few updates. Would anyone like me to post the sequel story to this? It's based hundreds of years later after the ending to this story (which I have yet to get to) and it focuses on Lexy (OC) X Ulquiorra. Thoughts?

And also I might consider moving the story over to my Quotev. But any thoughts about the story so far for those of you left?