Matteo stands there for a moment in front of Orihime. "Dammit! Reiku, just hold on a minute!" But it's no use. Reiku continues to charge at her brother. Matteo thinks to himself, "I've got to end this quickly before she loses control."

Suddenly, one of the Arrancars appears in front of Matteo. "I am Shawlong Kūfang, the most powerful of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's Fracción. We all know that you are responsible for the death of our leader and would like to take our revenge against you. So if you would kindly just stand there and let us hack you to pieces, we would be very grateful."

Matteo glares at him. "Sorry, but I can't do that right now. You see, my friend is over there fighting her brother and I don't want her to lose control of herself. If she does, I would be the least of your worries. But I know that I can't just ignore you, so I think I'll just take you all on at once."

All of the Fracción appear in front of Matteo. Shawlong speaks up. "You must be joking, shinigami. No one would be crazy enough to take us all on, much less take us all on and expect to live."

Matteo draws his sword. "Sorry, but I've wasted enough time chattering with you." He then disappears.

Edrad Liones, the second most powerful amongst them, tries to locate Matteo. "Where could that shinigami have gone to?" He soon finds out.

"You five aren't even worth the effort," yells Matteo as they all look up. They see Matteo hovering over them, preparing some sort of attack. Matteo first thinks, "I hope I haven't forgotten how to use this technique." He then says, "Hado 88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)!"

Matteo fires a gigantic electricity blast of spiritual energy resulting in a truly enormous explosion. When the dust clears, not one of the Arrancars can be seen nor felt. Matteo lands on the ground and drops to one knee. "Damn, I need to practice that move more often."

Orihime runs over to Matteo and begins to heal him, so that he can help Reiku.

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­--

While Matteo was fighting the Fracción, Reiku has been fighting against her brother, Uragiru. She continues to slash at him with all the strength that she has.

"Bastard, you should never have come back here! I will destroy you for what you did!"

Uragiru just continues to dodge Reiku's attacks, hopping out of her way before she delivers a slash. "Now come on, sis, I didn't do anything too bad. Did I?"

She just stares at him in anger. "How dare you say such a thing?! You are the one that murdered our entire family, and then you say that you didn't do anything bad. There is no way that I could ever forgive you for what you did!"

Uragiru closes his eyes. "I didn't even ask you to forgive me, sis. In fact, I wouldn't even see the point in you trying. I do not have any remorse for what I did."

Reiku charges at him one final time. "BASTARD, I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Uragiru dodges the attack once again, but this time he counter-attacks. "Hado 73: Sōren Sōkatsui."

The blast emerges from Uragiru's hands and collides with Reiku's stomach. It then pentrates Reiku's body and causes a massive explosion. Once the dust clears, the form of Reiku's hollow, Heiku, can be seen. The sleeves and midriff of her uniform, which reveals her hollow hole, are torn off. Her skin is stark white, with hundreds of small spikes running up and down her body. On her shoulders are two long spikes. Her hair is much longer, reaching down her calves. Finally, her hollow mask adorns her face.

Uragiru takes note of the new appearance. "So this is what was created back then. Reiku should be ashamed of herself for allowing something like this to happen.

Heiku just glares at him. "So you are sister's brother. She has often dreamed of killing you. Perhaps, I should oblige her desires."

Heiku readies Daiguren Tenshou and charges at Uragiru, putting her sword in a stabbing position. However, she does not reach Uragiru. She is blocked by Matteo, who uses his own body to stop the attack. Heiku does not say anything.

"Sorry about this, Reiku," is all that Matteo gets out before he punches Heiku hard in her face. His punch deals such a blow that it completely cracks the mask.

"You are quite skilled," stated Uragiru. "However, we both know that the only reason you were able to break her mask was that she hesitated and become weak."

Reiku's body returns to normal and she falls back out of exhaustion. Matteo catches her, still being impaled by Daiguren Tenshou. He pulls the blade out of his stomach and stares at Uragiru. "Now you listen here, scum. Stay away from Reiku. If you don't, you'll regret it."

Uragiru chuckles lightly. "I don't see how you can make these threats but I will humor you. I will back off this one time...Next time, however, things will be different." Uragiru then vanishes, leaving Matteo and Orihime to care for Reiku.

"He's gone now, Orihime. You can come over here now."

Orihime runs over to Matteo and Reiku to see how bad their injuries are. "We need to get you two to someplace safe so that I can heal your wounds."

Matteo looks down at her. "We should go to Kisuke's then. It's about the safest place I can think of."

Orihime interjects. "But it will take us too long to get there. We might lose Reiku on the way over there."

Matteo grabs Orihime her left arm and holds onto Reiku. "Hold on, I'll have us there in a flash."

And so he does. Matteo's intense speed allows him to transport Orihime, Reiku, and himself directly to the Urahara Shop. When they walk in, Tessai immediately shows Orihime to the best place to heal Reiku. Matteo lays his fellow Captain down on the assigned bed and walks out into the sitting room. A shoots Kisuke a very serious look while saying, "As soon as Reiku is healed, we are going to see the Vizards."

A young voice can be heard outside of the door. "Vizards?" Ace opens the doors and walks in.

"why are you guys talking bout visiting vizards?"

Kisuke doesn't explain but says "Matteo..."

Matteo sighs and with a serious tone "We need to control our hollow powers so we're gonna train with them. And you can't c-"

"i know, Why would i want to come there. I'm having fun here in the shop. haha"

Matteo sighs, happy to not worry about Ace tagging along.

Kisuke looks up at Matteo. "You need to sit down and clear your head, Matteo. You are still worked up over that battle."

Matteo sits down roughly. Ace pulls up a seat at the table as well. The young Lieutenant voices his opinion as well. "Yeah Matteo, you can relax now. Orihime is gonna heal Reiku real quick and then everything is going to be fine."

Matteo fires back at both of them. "You two just don't get what it's like for us! Every second of every day we are afraid of losing control. And with those that we care about most around us, we are having to be even extra careful! So I won't calm down! At least not until we get out powers under our control."

For the first time in a long time, Kisuke willingly removes his hat and shoots Matteo a serious look. "You need to calm down, Matteo. You know that if you don't you are just as likely to lose yourself as Reiku did in her fight with Uragiru."

Matteo clenches his fist for a moment, but then relaxes it and takes a deep breath. "You're right, both of you are. It's just hard for me to do that sometimes.....I've just been feeling like the world's biggest hypocrite lately."

Ace looks up at him with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean by that?"

Kisuke puts his hand up and smiles. "I'll answer that one for ya, Matteo.....You see, Ace. Matteo here has hated Hollows with a passion for just about as long as he's been dead. Whenever the Head-Captain sent him out on missions to kill or purify hollows, Matteo here almost always had the highest count of kills or purifications; and he did all of that while he was a student. When he graduated from the academy, he was considered to be the forerunner in hollow strategics; meaning: that he was, and still is, a glorified expert at killing hollows without remorse."

Ace's eyes widen for a moment as he turns to Matteo. "Is that true?"

Matteo closes his eyes. "Yes, what he has told you is true. In each battle that I fight and have fought, I analyze my opponent's movements and immediately begin thinking of strategies that would be effective in defeating them. It was something that Sensei noticed the first time we met."

Kisuke chimes in. "You never did give me too many details about that. Do you think you could now?"

Suddenly, Orihime pops out of Reiku's room. "She's fine down. It'll just take a while for her rest and get her strength back." She then takes a seat of her own at the table.

Matteo sighs. "Thanks, Orihime.....Alright, I guess I'll tell you guys what happened back then. It was 176 years ago and........."

---FLASHBACK---

Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku were headed for the Head-Captain's office. Ukitake was walking ahead, while Kyoraku was trying keep up. He was having trouble keeping control of the small shinigami that he was carrying over his shoulder. "Calm down, kid. Quit being so stubborn."

The kid, of course, did not listen to Shunsui. He just kept kicking and punching on his captor, trying to reach the sword that he was carrying in his other hand.

They finally reach the Head-Captain's office, to Shunsui's relief, and are greeted with a little bit of contempt. "Shunsui, Jūshirō, why have you brought this boy to me? Don't tell me that he is trying to get me to train him."

The boy, who has been put by Shunsui, looks up at the Head-Captain with a scowl on his face. "As if an old man like you could teach me anything. If I could...get...to...my...sword..." There were pauses in his words due to the fact that he was jumping, trying to reach his sword. It was being held over his head by Shunsui.

Ukitake explains the situation. "Head-Captain, I know this is a strange situation just by the appearances, but please allow me to explain."

The Head-Captain nods his head while looking at the boy, still jumping to try and reach his sword.

"Shunsui and I were at the Sokyoku Hill, looking out at the Seireitei. Shunsui then looks over at the edge of the hill and sees a small boy standing at the edge. He called out to the boy and told him to be careful but it backfired. The boy fell over the edge and was plummeting to his death."

Yamamoto interjects. "Yes, yes, then the two of you rescued the boy and brought him to me."

Ukitake continues. "No Head-Captain, the boy saved himself. He suddenly shunpoed back to the top of the cliff and was carrying this sword. Also, should be noted that he was not wearing a Shihakushō when he fell over the cliff. It can then be deduced that his powers emerged right then and there. That is why we brought him to you."

Yamamoto then looks at the boy. "How old are you child?"

The boy replies, "I'm six years old. What of it, old man?"

Shunsui tells the boy, "Not how old you look, but how old you really are."

The boy stops jumping and kick Shunsui hard in the shin. "I died when I was 2 and I've been in this place for 4 years. So, I'm 6 years old you idiot!"

Ukitake looks on in surprise. He had heard of a few that had manifested their shinigami abilities at that age, but there weren't many.

Then it happens. Yamamoto and Ukitake notice that the boy now has his sword. When he had kicked Shunsui, the boy saw his opening and grabbed the blade. Ukitake tries to take it by diving at the boy, but he misses and lands on top of Shunsui. The boy then draws his sword and charges at Yamamoto. The old man brings his cane up and blocks the strike without even blinking. Yamamoto is surprised by the force that is put behind the attack.

The boy is stunned that the old man blocked the attack. He thought that he'd be able to get by him with no problem; now he was going to have to put in some effort. "Let's see if you can block this, old man.!" The boy then begins shunpoing wildly around Yamamoto, trying to strike him with every movement. However, he does not land a single hit.

Ukitake and Shunsui look on in amazement. They had never seen anyone blindly attack the Head-Captain, much less someone attacking him that fast.

All of a sudden, Yamamoto releases his spiritual pressure and the boy falls hard to the floor. He struggles to get up but can't.

"What did you think would happen, little boy? That you would be able to get by me and get off scot-free? You are sorely mistaken, boy.....I do not have the time nor the patience to teach you how to breathe."

Ukitake notices that the boy is sweating profusely. He would not last much longer if the Head-Captain kept this up. However, he is shocked again. The boy puts the tip of his sword to the floor and uses it to lift himself up. The white-haired Captain thinks to himself, "How can this boy even move a finger, much less stand?!"

The boy begins to force himself over to Yamamoto, taking one step at a time. He is finally able to reach Yamamoto after taking twenty long, grueling steps. The Head-Captain then asks, "What is your name, boy?"

The boy responds slowly. "....Matteo....Ryozuke...." He lifts his sword up and prepares to strike Yamamoto when, suddenly, the strong wave of reiatsu ends and the sword drops behind Matteo.

Yamamoto then says, "You have convinced me, little one. I will take you in and teach you, but the training will be hard and long. Are you ready for something like that?"

The boy says, "when do I start?" before passing out on the floor.

---END FLASHBACK---

"And that's what happened," said Matteo. "And trust me, every day of my training was just like that day. Long, hard, grueling, but worthwhile."

Ace looks at Matteo quizzically. "But how does that show that you can create strategies out of thin air. I don't see it anywhere in you account of that day."

Kisuke smiles. "It was all of those attacks that you made before the Head-Captain released his power, wasn't it. Each time you must have looked at the weak points in his position. That must have been what caught his eye."

Matteo puts a hand behind his had and chuckles. "I honestly don't know. Sensei never really told me why he accepted me. I've just always guessed that's what it was."

Ace just shakes his head at Matteo's attempt at humor but stops when he hears a seriousness in his friend's tone.

"But don't think for a second that I am very powerful at all. After seeing Reiku today, I strongly believe that I wouldn't stand a chance against her in a fight. With or without our hollow powers."

Having been in the room prior to Reiku's injury, Toshiro has remained with the Captain of Squad 3 ever since she was brought back. The white-haired Captain has one thousand thoughts running through his mine, but one stands out. "Why couldn't I have been there to protect her?"

After Orihime had finished healing Reiku's wounds, Toshiro had already decided to remain with her for as long as possible and He winds up staying with her for about three hours. As the third hour ends, Toshiro runs a hand through her soft, black hair and cannot help but think of what happened. "Why wasn't I there to protect her? I should have been able to sense what was going on but I couldn't. However, Matteo was able to. He not only killed the Arrancar, but he also saved Reiku by bring her back here."

With tears in his eyes, Toshiro grasps her hand. "Why couldn't I protect you like I promised you?!"

Toshiro then feels something grasp his hand. It is Reiku. "Why are you crying, Shiro? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something did happen. You don't remember?"

She sits up. "No, I don't. It's really weird." Reiku suddenly feels a great pain in her stomach and clutches it. She then notices the bandages on her stomach. "What happened to me?"

Not wanting her to somehow reopen and of her wounds, Toshiro takes Reiku's arms and puts them around him. "If you feel any pain, I want you to hug me as hard as you need to. We can't have you opening any of your wounds."

Reiku blushes a little and is left a little speechless. "T-Toshiro..." She hugs him back, but controls herself so that she doesn't hurt him.

They break their hug and then look at each other. Toshiro pushed away some of her hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you, Reiku. In fact, I am sorry to say that I couldn't even sense your battle until after it was over."

"Were you with Ichigo during the fight?"

Toshiro, puzzled by the question, answers, "Yes, I was."

She smiles. "Then that explains it. That overgrown caution-cone can't control his reiatsu at all. His enormous reiatsu was probably just interfering with your senses."

"Yeah, your probably right about that," stated Toshiro. He then looks at her carefully. "Do you think that you can stand up?"

She smiles again and says, "There's only one way to find out."

Toshiro helps her up off the bed and makes sure that she is able to stand on her own before letting go. Reiku is able to maintain her balance for a few minutes, but quickly falls forward and into Toshiro's arms. They both receive a bright red tinge on their faces as they stare into each other's eyes.

Reiku takes notice as to how close her face is with Toshiro's and says, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"

Toshiro cuts her off by placing a light kiss on her lips. "You don't have to be sorry for anything...I'll help you into the sitting room."

Toshiro puts one of Reiku's arms over his neck and helps her hobble into the sitting room. When they open the door, they see Kisuke, Matteo, Ace, Orihime, and Nemu sitting at the table. Toshiro eases her down into a seat and then takes his own next to her.

Kisuke is the first to speak up. He puts his fan in front of his face. "Glad to see that you are doing better, Onii-chan!"

"Can it, Blondie!" shouts Reiku. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Mostly about what we are going to do now," stated Matteo. "As soon as you are able to walk on your own, and are able to fight, you and I are going to go see the other Vizards. We can't afford to wait any longer."

Reiku looks at him quizzically. "Why do you say that? Did you lose control of your hollow or something?"

Matteo shakes his head. "I didn't, Reiku. You did."

She looks at him in horror and then looks down at her stomach. "Then that means that this injury is most likely my..."

Matteo then nods his head. "Yes, it is where your hollow hole formed...And I don't want you to get mad at Toshiro for not telling you. We didn't inform him of what happened either because of how bad he already felt."

"What happened to me, Matteo?"

Matteo then tells her everything that happened during the battle. When he finishes, Matteo apologizes to her. "I am sorry, Reiku. Because of the fact that I am capable of accessing hollow powers like you, I should have been able to sense your hollow surfacing and should have been able to stop it."

Reiku looks over at Matteo. "You don't need to apologize, Matteo. We both know that there was nothing that you could have done."

Orihime chimes in. "Besides, those Arrancar would have captured me, or worse, if you hadn't have stopped them."

Kisuke laughs a little. "You two will have to forgive Matteo for being that way. Whenever something bad happenes, he always blames himself for it."

Toshiro finally enters the conversation. "Well, now that we have that settled, I think that you should get some more rest, Reiku."

Reiku smiles. "Yeah, I'll need to be at 100% for my training with the other Vizards."

Toshiro moves to help Reiku up, but Matteo stops him. "Don't even think about moving, Toshiro. I'll get you both back to your room." Matteo then puts his left hand on Toshiro's right shoulder and his right hand on Reiku's left shoulder. All three of them disappear and and then Matteo reappears in the sitting room.

Orihime asks, "What did you do with them?"

"I put them back in their room. Reiku was extremely tired, but she should be better in the morning. We'll wait to go and see the Vizards tomorrow."

Reiku was ready to go as soon as Ace left for the school, she was at the door ready to leave.

"have fun Onii-chan~!" Kisuke called Reiku growled and kicked him in the face.

"damn it! stop calling me that!"

Matteo just shook his head, sighing.

"Shiro, your not coming with us are you?" Reiku asked.

"i am, so i can see what your up against so i can stop it this time.."

"i am too." Nemu spoke

"i warn you two, what you might witness isnt going to be pretty, and whatever happens, dont get in our way when we are in our hollow selves, they will probably use some sort of Barrier but just be catious."

they both nod.

"can we go now?" Reiku asked impaiently.

"yeah we're going dont get your pants in a knot Reiku.. paitence is a virtue."

"whatever lets go!"

they head down to the warehouse where Shinji and the other vizards were, they entered and stood before them.

"Matteo, Reiku and guests, we have been expecting your visit.."

"yeah, we figured no better time then now."

"of course."

'feh i still dont see why we have to help out that over grown Giant and the brat what did they ever do for us?"

Hyori complained.

"well, they are friends of Kisuke Uruhara and Ichigo Kurosaki, any friend of them is a friend of ours."

"i dont care if they are friends with dirt, i still dont see the point of taking care of a brat and a giant."

"watch it blonde, im not afraid to slice you into pieces i am a member of a noble family and captain rank shinigami.."

"keh i dont care if your homeless and you are low ranked shinigami. i can kick your ass anytime."

"heh, for someone so puny you talk so big.. i like to see you try to kick my ass.."

"bring it!"

they both go at it, swing thier swords, Hyori giving more blows then Reiku, she laughed. "come on Shinigami unleash your bankai, only then would you stand a chance against me!"

"no i dont have to i can beat you just the way i am."

"dont be a fool, those Arrancars will kill you if you fight like that."

"i dont take orders from someone like you." Reiku snarled.

Hyori sighs, "you of all people should know that those arrncars are stronger then anything, they'll crush you cause your too afraid to use bankai.."

""shut up! i am not afraid to use bankai!"

"then use it already!"

"i dont have too!"

"keh Vizards arent that different from arrancars you idoit, i could use my full power fair and square and beat you."

"then bring it i can take anything!"

"yeah except for a clue. your dumber then a door nail."

"shut up!" Reiku charged at her though Reiku was stoppped half way by Shinji he held his hand in front of her face.

"now, now Reiku you dont want to waste your energy just yet, you have to save it for your training.."

Reiku suddenly blacked out. she fell forwards and he caught her. "your gonna need everything you got if you want to overcome your hollow.."

he looked at Matteo. "shall we get started then?"

Matteo nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, we need to get this done as soon as possible. Reiku and I won't last much longer in our current states."

Kensei then walks over to Matteo. "You'll go first. Your friend over there is going to need some rest."

"How is this going to work?" asked Matteo.

Kensei scratches his head. "I think it would be better if Hachi explained it to you."

Hachi then steps forward. "To tell you the truth, you two will not be fighting us. Due to the fact that you bypassed the normal method of hollowfication, we must use a new method to train you. Therefore, we are going to separate you and your hollows into separate beings. Once your hollows are their own beings, then you will fight them. If you can subdue your hollow then you will have mastered your powers."

Love speaks up. "In laymen's terms, you're going to fight a physical manifestation of your hollow. If you win, then you're good. If you lose, you're dead."

They all walk down to the Vizard's underground training area. When they get down there, Hachigen puts up a high level barrier around Matteo. The Captain of Squad 12 asks, "How do I bring it out?"

Shinji yells to him, "Enter your bankai and tell it to come out so that you can fight it."

Matteo activate his bankai (bypasses the wolf form) and says, "Come out, Hitteo!"

Suddenly, a blast of white erupts from Matteo's chest. Moments later, his hollow form can be seen standing before him. "Hello brother, sorry to keep you waiting. Now I can finally get the chance to kill you."

They both draw the swords that are behind their backs and begin clashing with each other. After 10 minutes of fighting, Matteo is exhausted, while Hitteo is just fine. Gasping, Matteo inquires, "Why can't I do any damage to you?"

"It's simple brother...you are weak. You are so weak right now that you can barely stand." Hitteo then looks over at Nemu. "I don't know what you see in her. She is nothing but a weak, degenerate girl that will never have a purpose in this life. In fact, she shouldn't even exist!"

Matteo glares at Hitteo in anger. "Don't say another word about her, scum! If you do then I'll kill you."

"That piece of trash, worthless, emotionless, piece of flesh should not even be alive."

Matteo then charges at his hollow with blinding speed, rage engulfs his eyes. "DIE!!!"

Unfortunately, Hitteo is too quick for Matteo. The hollow kicks Matteo in stomach and sends the shinigami flying. He then turns his attention to Nemu, who is inside the barrier. "You are very close to brother. Perhaps, I'll kill you slow, so as to fuel his heart with hatred and revenge." The hollow charges at Nemu, with his blade drawn. As he goes to stab her, a strange entity appears between them and takes the blow. The entity is Matteo, who used the last of his strength to get there just in time.

Nemu's eyes begin to water, while she is on her knees, at seeing Matteo being stabbed by Hitteo. "M-Ma-Matteo?"

Matteo speaks up. "Don't cry, Nemu. It'll be okay."

Hitteo starts to laugh. "It'll be okay? You are wrong, brother. As soon as I kill you, I will kill her and it will be so much fun. Maybe, I'll keep you alive long enough for you to see me slit her throat."

Matteo, enraged, tries to move but can't. Apparently, when Hitteo stabbed him, the hollow had passed his blade through Matteo's spine, temporarily paralyzing him. Hitteo then pulls his blade out of his "brother" and watches him drop to his knees. He readies his sword to behead him. "Now, brother, you will DIE!!!"

The hollow begins to make his strike but is stopped. Matteo hears Nemu call out something but he cannot make it out. Having closed his eyes earlier, Matteo opens his eyes to see that there is a long, thick needle impaling Hitteo's throught. He looks back to see Nemu holding a sword's hilt, with the needle lodged in Hitteo's throat coming from the hilt. "What is that, Nemu?"

She smiles at him. "This is my zanpakuto. It's release command is Coil and Strike. It's name is Hebi (Snake)."

Matteo then notices that he able to move his body again and sees his opening. While Hitteo is being held in place by Hebi, Matteo takes his sword and impales it through Hitteo's hollow hole. Hitteo then begins to glow white and then explodes into dust. The dust is then absorbed into Matteo's body. When all of the dust is absorbed into his body, it is noticed that all of Matteo's injuries are healed. He gets up and walks over to Nemu and helps her to her feet. He then takes a good look at her zanpakuto.

Before it's release, Hebi is a very small blade. The sword itself (hilt and blade) is only 1 foot long. The hilt it 4 inches long and is purple. It has no crossguard and the blade takes up the rest of the length. The blade is in the shape of a rectangle. After it's release, Hebi grows. The hilt is now 9 inches long. It now has a circular crossguard that is 4 inches in diameter. The blade is now a 4 foot-long corkscrew.

"So this is your zanpakuto. Come to think of it, I never did see you use one." Matteo then notices that she is still crying, but very quietly. He then takes her into his arms. He whispers into her ear, "I'm sorry that you had to see that, Nemu. It was a mistake for me to bring you along."

She immediately looks up at him. "No, I wanted to come. I knew that you would need me to help you. I am your Lieutenant after all.....It's just that when your hollow was talking about killing you, visions rushed through my mind about what would happen if he did. What I saw scared me greatly. That is why I started to cry a little...Please forgive me."

Matteo then begins to walk with his arm over her shoulder. She stays close to him as he says, "You don't need to be sorry about anything. It's perfectly natural to cry in that kind of situation, Nemu. Besides that, I was only able to beat Hitteo with your help. You saved my life, Nemu. Thank you."

They both walk out of the barrier and take a seat amongst the other Vizards. Reiku has woken up by now and was able to see the majority of Matteo's battle. She suddenly hears Shinji's voice call out to her. "Alright Reiku, you're up."

She walks into the barrier and enters her bankai. She then calls her hollow out and it appears in front of her. "Hello, sister. Shall we begin?"

Heiku doesn't give her time to react as she immediately charges at Reiku. The two clash their swords together and begin disappearing and reappearing around the barrier. After about 15 minutes of this, Heiku appears behind Reiku and kicks her hard into the ground. There is a large crater made at her point of impact. Heiku then lands on the ground. "I can't believe how weak you have become, sister. You truly are as weak as I told him you were."

Reiku bursts from the rubble. "What are you talking about?"

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­--

Matteo rushes to the barrier's wall. "Hachigen, let me in now! She can't hear what her hollow has to say!"

"No Matteo, you can't go in there," stated Shinji. "You're too weak yourself. Besides, she does need to hear this."

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­--

Heiku just laughs. "So he didn't tell you. Some friend he must be...I told him that your too weak to do anything. You were too weak to save your mother, too weak to stop your brother, you allowed your love for Aizen to drive you into total sorrow, and now you are too afraid to let Toshiro into your life because you don't want to lose him. You are so weak that you cannot bear to think of him being dead, or him betraying you. And because of that reason, I told Matteo that I would kill Toshiro if I ever gained control of your body."

Reiku stands there, stunned. She realizes that everything Heiku said is true.

Heiku glares at her. "What, no comeback? No defiant spat of how you would never be so weak? If not, then I think that I will put you out of your misery."

Heiku charges at her counterpart, who has not moved at all. She puts her sword in a stabbing position. When she finally reaches Reiku, something strange happens. Her sword becomes frozen. She looks up and sees Toshiro standing in front of her.

He glares at her with contempt. "How dare you say such things to her. Reiku has been through so much pain, so much sorrow and you can't help but remind her. You say that she is pathetic and that she is weak, but you are wrong. You are the one that is weak and pathetic. And as for the part of your speech concerning me, I would never betray Reiku for the simple reason that I love her as much as she does me.....Now, it is time to end this."

The ice on Heiku's sword begins to expand. It runs over her hand and then runs all over her body. The only thing that does not become frozen is her head. "What is this?! Why are you able to do this?!"

Toshiro continues to glare at her. "It's like I told you before, hollow. You are the one that is weak." Toshiro turns around and helps Reiku up. "Let's finish this."

Reiku walks over to Heiku and looks into Heiku's eyes. "He's right, you are weak." She thrusts her sword into Heiku's hollow hole and the hollow then begins to glow white.

Heiku screams out. "This isn't over! You haven't seen the last of me!"

The hollow then explodes into a cloud of dust and is absorbed into Reiku's body and the barrier dissipates. She and Toshiro then walk towards the others; Matteo is the first person they reach. He sighs. "Reiku, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before. I just knew that you wouldn't trust yourself around Toshiro if I did."

She lightly chuckles. "It's alright. I can understand what your position was. I don't blame you."

All Matteo says is, "Thanks."

Shinji suddenly appears next to them, Nemu has also appeared next to Matteo. Shinji tells them, "As far as we are concerned, you have completed your Hollowfication control training. But I want you to remember, there will be times that you will feel your hollow starting to gain some control. You need to stick to those closest to you in order to make it through those times. That was the whole point of this training, to prove that you will need help in your fight against your inner hollows."

Reiku speaks up. "I thought the point was to help us control our hollows."

Matteo answers her for Shinji. "I think we did both at the same time, Reiku. By reabsorbing our hollows into our bodies, we have weakened their control over us. But we also needed to learn that we can't fight alone anymore. You have Toshiro and I have Nemu. We will need their help whenever we are threatened. That is why Kisuke sent us to Shinji and the others that are hear. We have been fighting alone our entire lives.....We needed to learn to count on others to help us do things that we can't."

Shinji just sighs. "I really wanted to say that but you took the words right out of my mouth."

They all chuckle and then Matteo says, "Thank you, Shinji. Thank you, everyone, for helping us.....I guess we should leave now."

Hiyori then appears next to Shinji. "Yeah, there's already too many people here as it is. So get out."

Matteo ruffles her hair again and then disappears, along with Nemu, Toshiro, and Reiku. They reappear in front of the Urahara Shop and then go inside. They do not say anything to Kisuke and Yoruichi, who are sitting at the table, and go in their rooms in order to get some sleep.

Kisuke laughs a little and says, "They must have been able to do what they needed to."

Yoruichi nods her head. "We can only hope."

Matteo wakes up early the next morning. Like before, he slept sitting next to Nemu while leaning against the wall. He walks out of the room, goes through the sitting room, and outside to the porch. Yoruichi is sitting out there as well, surprisingly, in her human form. "I see you're up early too, Yoruichi-koneko."

She laughs lightly and says, "You haven't called me that since we were kids. Why decide to do so now?"

Matteo gazes at the rising sun. "I guess because I don't know if I will get to see you again. Outside of the battlefield, I mean."

"What happened to those days; those days of peace?" asked Yoruichi.

"I guess they left the day that I left our little group. At least that's when they ended for me...I still remember not seeing or hearing from the three of you for about 55 years. I guess I dropped under the radar when Sensei decided to make me get serious."

Yoruichi looks up at him. "I know you must have been angered when you found out that all of us had been made Captains and you were given the rank of Second Lieutenant. But believe me when I say this, we never stopped thinking about you when Yamamoto took you away and into his home. In fact, I lodged a formal inquiry to Yamamoto to find out what happened to you. All that I got in return was a note saying that you were too busy to speak."

Matteo laughs a little. "Yeah, Sensei was afraid that if you guys came around me that I would get less serious.....He put me in the Academy at age 11, I graduated at 15, for about 40 years I trained under him personally, and was then allowed to enter Squad 1 as an officer. That was when I saw that you were the Captain of Squad 2 and Tessai was the Captain of the Kido Corps."

"I still remember the day that you returned. I didn't even recognize you. You had gotten to be so tall." Yoruichi shows her usual grin.

Matteo, still gazing at the sunrise, says, "Yeah, me too."

---Flashback---

Yoruichi is running from Soifon, in order to motivate her to get faster. As she rounds a corner, she runs into a tall person and falls flat on her ass. Believing the person to be Sajin Komamura, she says, "Sorry Komamura, I didn't mean to--" She stops what she is saying as she sees that the figure before her is not wearing a mask.

Soifon then rounds the corner and sees Yoruichi on the ground. She then looks up at the tall figure and instantly believes that he attacked Yoruichi. She charges at him while saying, "I'll kill you for harming Lady Yoruichi!"

The figure vanishes from Soifon's view and she stops her charge. She looks around and tries to find the figure, but she cannot. Suddenly, she notices that her shadow is being overcast by something larger and attempts to strike at the being behind her. She makes contact but with two of the figure's fingers. She then realizes that her attack was effortlessly stopped.

The figure smiles and then grabs Soifon's shoulder with his free hand. She expected to be thrown but is, instead, gently set down onto the ground.

"So this is the young Shaolin Fon that I have heard so much about," stated the figure. "She'll be even better in a few years, Yoruichi."

Soifon then tries to punch the figure, but the figure dodges it. "How dare you speak to Lady Yoruichi with such disrespect!"

"Lady Yoruichi???" The figure then gets a good look at Yoruichi after she stands up. "Yep, I'd definitely say that she is a lady now. Boy how the times change. Don't they, Yoruichi-koneko?"

Yoruichi then realizes who the figure is. "Soifon, stop trying to attack him. You'll never be able to hit him."

"But I must defend your honor, Lady Yoruichi," stated Soifon in protest.

The dark skinned woman then places a hand on Soifon's shoulder. "Just calm down, Soifon. You certainly do remind me of someone. Doesn't she, Matteo?"

---End Flashback---

Reiku suddenly walks out the front door and sees Matteo and Yoruichi talking. The sun is already up and it is around 9 o'clock. "What are you two doing?"

Matteo turns around and smiles at her. "Just remembering out childhoods."

Not exactly being a morning person today, Reiku growls at them. "Well, quit it so that we can come up with our next plan of action. We can't stay here forever, you know?"

As they speak, Ace comes rushing in. "Hi, guys, uhh..."

Reiku then realizes that he should be at school, "Hey! Ace why aren't you-" Ace cuts her off, and runs in the room and grabs his zanpaktou.

Matteo worriedly asks "ACE! what is going on?!"

Ace explains quickly as her exits "Well just recently a bus full of people died, and now Hollows are attacking or the souls are turning into hollows..."

"Crap! c'mon Reiku we need to stop them. Yoruichi you can stay we got this."

"are you sure? haha well then I guess more relaxing time for me"

They all run after Ace. They soon stop in a near field where many hollows are manifesting.

Matteo seems to be happy "Gosh what a great way to practice haha"

--------
Ace pulls out his zanpaktou and starts slashing all about. After a while, he decides to use his shikai.

"Take hold, Tsukaite." His katana starts to turn into a purple fog laying close to the ground. His body starts to dissolve into the air. Seconds later, a puppet around the size of Ace emerges from the fog. There are four arms, two with hands holding on to swords, and the other two just bladed arms. A pressure is felt.

Reiku notices the change, "Wow, I knew Ace had shikai and all, but why is there no difference in spiritual pressure?"

Matteo answers with a chuckle "Its because he is holding back, he has such great control"

Matteo walks up next to Ace. Smiling, he says, "I know you want to get some action but we need to finish this quickly. So, just stand back and let me finish this."

Matteo walks ahead of Tsukaite and draws his sword and looks back at Ace. "Did you know that I can use my shikai's special ability without even releasing it? It's a trick that I developed over time.....Shio no Seigyo (Tide Control)."

Suddenly, a river near the crash site rises up and barrels towards Matteo. It stops it rampage and begins to encircle him. Matteo twists his sword and the water just stops. He then raises his sword as if he was preparing to slash something and the water separates into many spheres. He slashes downward and the spheres charge towards the hollows.....After 30 seconds pass, all of the hollows disappear and the water returns to the river. Matteo then walks back to Ace.

"Sorry that I did your job for you but we needed to get it done quickly," stated Matteo. "After all, we'll be leaving soon."

Ace turns around in order to catch up with Matteo. "What do you mean that we'll be leaving soon? We need to stay here and look after Karakura Town!"

Matteo shakes his head and looks down at the young Lieutenant. "No Ace, we aren't going to be staying. Rangiku and Haruko will be staying. They will be joined by Captain Tsadane soon and the three of them will look after Karakura Town. You, me, Reiku, Nemu, and Toshiro are returning to the Seireitei. Orihime Inoue and Rukia Kuchiki are also going to be coming with us so that they can train for the winter war.....Business is starting to pick up, Ace. We need to be ready when the moment arrives."

Matteo and Ace reach Reiku and the three of them shunpo back to the Urahara Shop.

They reached the shop in no time, they entered calmly.

at the sitting room there was Toshiro, Nemu, Yoruichi and Kisuke.

Kisuke greeted with his usually cheerful voice, "oh Onii-chan nice to see that you are unharmed."

Reiku just growls and kicks him in the face, then sits down.

"anyway, i think it's about time we head back home.." Matteo muttered sitting down.

"leaving so soon?" Kisuke asks.

"dont we have to stay here what if the Arrancars invade?" Toshiro reqiured.

"we are leaving the Matsumotos here to watch over and keep in close contact with us.." Reiku muttered

Nemu spoke up in her usual calm quiet voice, "are you sure that's safe?"

"we have no choice, besides, Captain Kiyomi will be joining them at a later time.. perferably after we get back, so Karakura Town is in good hands, i trust Kiyomi's decidions." Reiku sighed.

"you can count on me and Kisuke to asist in any way possible..." Yoruichi muttered.

Matteo nods, "we know you guys would, and plus we have Ichigo Kurosaki to help as well."

Reiku nods her head. then Rukia comes in.

"hello everyone."

"Hello Rukia.."

"i didnt mean to evesdrop but i over heard your conversation, so you guys are heading back?"

"yeah we are.."

"mind if me and Orihime tag along?"

"actually we planned on bringing you two anyway.." Matteo mutters

"why bring them to the soul socitey?"

"so they can train for the winter war.." Reiku sighs

"you really want them involved in the war?"

"what choice do we have? we need everyone we can get, with Nemu and Orihime's healing abilities, we can recover more quickly compared to just entrusting our lives in Squad 4.." Matteo states.

"yes, the more help we can get, the more of an advantage we have, Aizen will surely be hard to conquer, with his army of Espada and Arrancars, the winter war will be a long and vain one.." Reiku mutters

"this works out, Winter break is starting soon, so it gives us an excuse to leave.." Rukia mutters

"yeah, go tell Orihime and get ready to leave.."

"Hai." Rukia goes and leaves.

Reiku stares at the table. deep in thought.

"Reiku is there something wrong?" Matteo asks

"yeah, i know Shinji said we shouldnt fight alone, but i want to take on Aizen by myself.."

"what happens if your inner hollow tries to take control?"

"i'll find the will to stop it. please Matteo, this is my only request of you, let me take on Aizen alone.." Reiku pleads.

Matteo sighs. "i understand, but at least let us asist you if it is nessicary.."

Reiku smiles softly. "thank you."
_________________________________________­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­__

Orihime and Rukia arrive back at the shop where the others are waiting.

"ready?"

they nod.

"alright.. lets get going.." Reiku sighs then Uruhara places his hand on her shoulder.

"what is it Kisuke?"

"be careful, we dont know what Aizen is up to, stay on your guard.."

"alright.."

they all enter the gates and head back.

once they are back, Matteo sighs. "im gonna tell Kiyomi about the plan."

"alright.."

Nemu and Matteo go of, Toshiro sighs, "im gonna make sure my squad isnt a disaster.."

"alright catch you later shiro."

now it's just Rukia, Orihime and Reiku.

Rukia speaks up. "Reiku-sama?"

"yeah?"

"could you asist me and Orihime with our training?"

Reiku thinks about then smiles. "of course i'll help, Rukia."

"thank you Reiku-sama.." Rukia bows.

Reiku chuckles then ruffles her hair, "you dont have to be so formal Rukia.."

It does not take too long for Matteo and Nemu to reach the Squad 2 Barracks. They meet Squad 2's Lieutenant, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, at they entrance and are allowed to enter. Ōmaeda immediately takes them to Kiyomi's Captain's quarters so that they can discuss their plans. After entering and sitting down at Kiyomi's table, Matteo takes a good half-hour to discuss the plans that they have come up with.

Kiyomi responds by nodding her head. "I see. So you seem to think that something is going to happen soon and you want Orihime to be ready, just in case. Did I get that correct?"

Matteo nods his head. "Yes, you are correct. Though Nemu here is an excellent healer, she cannot heal someone's wounds as fast as Orihime. If we can somehow improve Orihime's already powerful healing abilities, then we might be able to turn the tide of the war in our favor."

"Yeah, that's true," stated Kiyomi. "So what do you want me to do?"

"We were thinking of having you go to the World of the Living and watch over Karakura Town for us," informed Matteo. "We are all exhausted and couldn't watch over the town to the best of our abilities. Plus, we can't leave Karakura in the hands of the Matsumotos. If we did that, there would be nothing less for Aizen to attack."

Kiyomi laughs a little and says, "Alright, I'll leave immediately. You guys can leave now. Goodbye."

Matteo and Nemu stand up, bow, and then disappear. After they do this Kiyomi informs Lieutenant Ōmaeda of the situation and heads for the Senkai Gate...and the World of the Living.

Meanwhile, Matteo and Nemu appear in front of the Lieutenant's apartment. Nemu smiles and says, "You didn't have to escort me back. I could have found my own way back."

Matteo puts his arm around her shoulders. "That might be true, but I would have worried about you if I hadn't have escorted you."

She looks up at him, still smiling. "Thank you for worrying about me, Matteo, but I'm fine. However, I am a bit tired so I think that I'm going to go to bed."

Matteo smiles down at her. "Yeah, I think that I'll do the same thing. Bye, Nemu." However, before he leaves, Matteo kisses Nemu for a moment and then disappears.

Nemu, with her cheeks as red as flame, walks into her apartment and immediately goes to bed. She lays there thinking, "He really meant what he said when he told me that he loved me." Nemu then slowly drifts off into sleep.

Matteo wakes up early the next morning. After taking an hour to get himself ready for the day, he notices that it is only 7:30 a.m. He walks out of his apartment and looks down the long hallway. He sees Nemu standing outside of her door. He walks down to see if she is alright. "Nemu, are you alright?"

She jumps at his sudden presence but soon calms herself. "Yes, I'm fine, Matteo. I was just a bit shocked to see you up so early. Usually, you don't wake up until around 10 or 11."

Matteo looks up at the sky and notices that a thick fog is covering the Seireitei. "I can never sleep late when there is a fog. For some reason, it makes me restless.....Anyway, I wanted to go and see how Orihime and Rukia are doing in their training with Reiku. Want to come with me?"

Nemu looks up and smiles at her Captain. "As long as I wouldn't be a burden, I will go."

Matteo puts an arm around her shoulders and smiles down at her. "You know that you never are. Now, let's go" Matteo holds onto her tightly and they disappear.

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­--

In the Squad 13 training area, Reiku watches over Rukia and Orihime's training. Orihime uses her Santen Kesshun to block one of Rukia's Hakuren attacks. As soon as the attack ends, Reiku shunpos down to the training area and punches them both. "No, no, no, the two of you need to listen to what I am saying. Rukia, I told you to use Tsukishiro to try and freeze Orihime in place. Orihime, I told you to use Koten Zanshun to cut through Tsukishiro."

Rukia speaks up first. "But I don't want to wind up killing her. If my attack connects, then she will surely die!"

Orihime agrees. "The same can be said for my Koten Zanshun. If I hit Rukia, then there is a possibility that I could kill her as well."

Reiku punches both of them again. "That is the whole point of this training. You can't be afraid to kill if you want to fight. When Matteo and I were training, we didn't think twice about killing each other. He put his sword to my throat and I put mine to his.....If you have the power to kill then you should also have the power to stop your kill at the last possible second. If you can't then you have no business fighting!"

Jūshirō looks down at them from the top of a hill. Suddenly, Matteo and Nemu appear next to him. "Ah Matteo, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, I see that you two have come to see their progress. From what I have seen so far, Reiku is going to make them into great fighters."

Matteo laughs at the statement. "She hasn't given them the old 'kill or be killed' speech yet, has she?"

Jūshirō nods his head. "She just finished giving it to them...They seem to be taking it to heart."

Ryu puts a concerned look on his face. "I think it's time for a Captain's intervention. Nemu, you stay up here with Jūshirō. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Matteo shunpos down to Reiku and whispers something in her ear. She then announces the new training plan to Orihime and Rukia. "We're going to be splitting into two groups. Orihime and Matteo in one group; Rukia and myself in the other. Orihime will fight Matteo, and I will fight Rukia. Though we will hold back against the two of you, we will still try to kill you. Therefore, you must try to kill us before we do so to you."

Matteo continues for her. "If you can stop your killing blows from killing us at the last possible second, then your training will be complete." He then grabs Orihime by the shoulder. "C'mon little one, let's go." Matteo moves Orihime to the other side of the training area, in order to give Reiku and Rukia some room.

Reiku then gives Rukia a sly grin. "I guess that leaves just you and me."

Hey,its LunaShay....My computer wont work anymore on my file of commenting and stuff on this(idk why)So since my person has mainly died out,i guess ill make a new person lol....Here it is:

Name:Naoko Misume

Age:Human:15,Soul Reaper:140

Birthday:July 8

Gender:Female

Height:4'9

Personality:Shes still like Kiyomi....gets mad when called short and stuff..and short tempered.

Clothes:Soul reaper:squad 2 captains outfit
Human:a dark blue T-shirt with a black long sleeved jacket with a brown skirt,long socks, and brown shoes.or a school uniform but not much.

Hair Color:Black

Eye color:Blue

Hair style:Long and flat(pic at bottom)

she has this sun shaped red neckalace around her neck.She doesnt know where it came from but she thinks it has to do with when she was alive

um...Oh yeah.a cool fact i made up:In the morning,she looks like what i described but at night,Her hair turns red and her eyes turn red.Same clothes but,instead,she had a long black jacket.(ill show another pic).Also,she never shows her spiritual pressure until its night for some reason.

History:Some is the same as before.She died in a fire and stuff and met Toshiro and stuff.But,while she was in the acadamy,she snuck out and has been in The World of the Living.They have searched for her for awhile but no one has found her yet.And there still searching.Also,everytime some one finds her,she kills them.She usually stays with Urahara and nobody knew she was there,not even Ichigo.But when Ichigo finally figured out she was there and was hiding,he got her back into the soul society by tricking her.So now shes captain of squad 2.

Zanpukto is the same so i dont have to describe it :}

oh and the sword:

Shinkai appearance:A normal sized sword with 2 black X's on the handle.inbetween the spaces,its red.Also,red ribbons hang from it.

Bankai appearance:The same shape but longer and instead,knives hang from the bottom.


heres the pic:

and the night form:

As soon as Matteo and Orihime land on the ground, the young human begins to ask him questions. "What are you going to be doing with me, Matteo? Is it going to be hard training or are your going to start off soft? Or are you..."

Matteo doesn't let her finish and softly interrupts her. "Orihime, I am going to be training you in a practical fight to the death. Neither of us will die in this training, but you must treat it as if you are going to die if you lose."

Orihime looks at him quizzically. "But how can I believe it is a fight to the death if neither of us are going to die?"

Matteo removes his sword from his waist. "First off, I am going to reduce the risk of killing you by not using my sword and am only going to use kido and my fists. Though it will greatly reduce the risk of death for you, I will not be holding back....I will try to kill you a different way each time I come at you and I will show you that I can stop my killing blows within half of a second of killing you."

Orihime, thinking that she knows what the training is, states, "So this is going to teach me to show no fear in the face of death, right?"

Matteo shakes his head. "No, Orihime. This training is going to teach you the ultimate amount control that you have over your body and your powers. By being able to stop your own killing blow before it does kill me, you will have true control of yourself."

Orihime then nods her head. "I understand now...So, when do we begin?"

Matteo looks over to her and smiles. "Right now!"

Suddenly, Matteo charges at her. Without thinking twice, Orihime summons her shield but is surprised by what happens. Matteo is able to easily punch through her shield with his bare hands. She closes her eyes and prepares for her death, but it does not come to her. She opens her eyes and sees him standing before him.

Matteo shakes his head. "You need to put more force behind that shield. Your powers are fueled by your emotions and, when you are unsure of yourself, they are weakened...I could have flicked my finger against that shield and it would have cracked down the middle."

Orihime boldly states, "I am doing my best here. I can only do my best!"

Matteo glares down at her, bringing out his intimidating side. "If this is your best then you are wasting my time.....When I trained with Yamamoto-sensei, I tried my 'best'. He told me that I had to give better than my best. If I couldn't do that, then it wasn't even worth him wasting his time to teach me how to be a warrior. So I looked deep into my soul and I proved him wrong. I became a great warrior over many years of training. You and I may not have years to train, so we are just going to have to rush you through it."

Orihime takes her fighting stance. "Alright, I'll do it. If it means that I have to go through rigorous training so that I can learn to protect my friends, then I'll do it."

Matteo smiles. "That's the spirit, Orihime Inoue."

Note:When i explained all the stuff up there,thats my main character but i just redid her since im used to this 1 now.Okay,anyways,lets begin.
_________________________________________­___­___


Naoko is sneaking out of the Squad 2 office from Marechiyo and is about to go get Haruko and Rangiku.But,Marechiyo saw her.

"Hey Captain,where are you going?"

Naoko looked back at him,trying to think of a lie.

"Um....wait,is it any of your buisness where im going?"

"Nope,but youre my Captain,and i need to know where you are, 24/7."

Naoko stares at him,trying to think of another one.

"Im just going to visit Matteo with Orihime,not much.Its just seeing how there doing illl be back sometime tonight."

Marechiyo looks at her,but just says,

"Okay.But dont get into any trouble tonight,got it?"

"Am I the captain,or are you,Marechiyo?"

"...You are."

"then stop commanding me.I should be commanding you."

"...Yes ma'm."

"Okay then,so ill see you later."and she walks out the door.

_______________________________________

Naoko is running around,looking for Rangiku and Haruko.

"Dammit!Theyre exactly alike.Theyre both annoying and dont keep track of time."

Naoko goes to Squad ten barracks,where she finally sees Rangiku.

"RANGIKU!"

Rangiku stops in her tracks,seeing Naoko running to her.

"Oh!I knew i forgot to do something today.Hello Captain Misume."she smiles and Naoko looks at her,checking her.

"Wait,Rangiku,are you drunk?"

"Mmmmm i dont know Captain,am i?"

"DAMMIT RANGIKU!YOU KNEW WE HAD WORK TODAY IN THE WORLD OF THE LIVING AND YOU HAVE TO GET DRUNK!"

Rangiku backs up a little,seeing how mad the captain was.

"Well,if i forget,i forget.I guess we have to go tomorrow."

Naoko sees what she is trying to do,but doesnt fall for it.

"Oh,no.were going,even if you were dying,we would go.Come on."

"Whaaaat?"

and the both walk around to look for Haruko.


_________________________________________­__


"Okay Rangiku,where was the last place you saw Haruko?"

Rangiku thinks for awhile,and Nako gets very impatient"

"Just forget it.Youre no use-"

"Hey!I remember now!I was drinking with her and when i woke up after i drank alot,she was gone."

"Oh god."

"What is it?Is something wrong?"

"No,just that Haruko is out drunk somewhere and no one knows where she is."

"Oh,its not really that bad"she smiles."We might as well forget about the trip,since we cant find h-

"NO!Were still going,whether you like it or not!You cant convince yourself out of this."

"Awwwww"Rangiku whined real loud."I dont want to."

"No you are going end of discussion."

"But-"

"END OF DISCUSSION!"

Rangiku thinks to herself.

"Man,i thought i would be able to convince her,but shes as smart as Captain Hitsuguya.Hmmmm"

As they are walking around every squad barracks,they see a drunk girl at Squad 1 barracks.

"Oh,crap...."Naoko starts running over there."Haruko!Haruko!"

As she starts running up there,she sees her with Lieutenant Sasakibe,giving her some tea.

"Ah,Captain Misuke,you have come.Would you like some tea?"

"Oh,no thank you,but we need Haruko."

"Why?She loves the tea im making."

"What?"she looked at Rangiku."I thought you said she was drunk.

Rangiku smiled"Hehe,i didnt really know.I just thought she did."

"WHAT!"she looked like she was about to exploed."YOU SAID YOU KNEW!"

Suddenly,a hand came on Naokos shoulder.

"Calm down,Captain."

She looked back after she calmed down,and she saw Lieutenant Sasakibe smiling.She then looks back at Rangiku.

"Youre safe...for now"she stares at her.

"Y-y-y-yes ma'm!"

She then looks back at Haruko after a couple minutes.

"Come on Haruko,lets go."

"Where are you going?"

"Im going to see Orihime practice."

"Oh,okay.I wish her luck."He smiled.

"Alright,lets go"and they walk away from Squad 1,going to the serenitei.

(after a couple days of writer's block, i have broken out of it, thanks to a little help from Bleacher1001...)


"R-Reiku-dono?" Rukia muttered slightly scared.

Reiku softly smiled, and ruffled her hair, "dont worry Rukia-chan, i wouldnt purposely kill you, Byakuya-Sama would kill me for killing you, but there was another purpose
i have to for bringing you here to train."

"whats that?"

"well since you regained your powers, i have noticed how you have a hard time controling them, im going to help you regain control over your powers,
it's for the better good, and so i wont have to face Byakuya if you were to die, most likely he would chop me into pieces.."

"right. that sounds like something Nii-sama would do.."

"but Rukia.." Reiku muttered unseathing her sword, "i will come at you as if i am trying to kill you, and you shall do the same.."

"ok. but how will it help me regain my powers?"

"well, if i am predicting this right, you should gain control over them as we fight, the whole point of this is to learn to consintrate your power and energy, you cant
just go and swing your sword around aimlessly, you have to consintrate on your oppoents movements. and to even the playing field, i will simulate this fight as if you are
fighting an Arrancar, but more so a hollow.."

"what do you mean?"

"what i am about to show you, wont be as strong as it is, cause i will weaken this, but you cannot tell anyone about this... i will come at you with most of everything i know.
but i will weaken my power to an extent, are you ready?"

"of course."

"alright... here i come.. Bankai! Daiguren Tenshou!"

Reiku enters Bankai, and comes at Rukia, thier swords clashed, and Rukia tried to hold off Reiku's pressure.

Reiku opened her eyes, and Rukia stared at her in shock, Reiku's eyes werent the same as usual the whites of her eyes were black and her eyes were that of a hollow.

"Focus Rukia! dont let my sudden change of apperence stop you!" Reiku yells and swings her sword back and tries to attack her again.

Rukia barely dodges it, but tries to regain control.

they clash for awhile Rukia taking the most damage.

Reiku simply points her finger at Rukia, "Kishishirou, Raikari.."

a lighting bolt eruppted from the tip off of Reiku's finger, and charged at Rukia.

Rukia barely dodges it, and Reiku flung her sword back, "come on Rukia! consintrate! use Sode No Shirayuki to trap me!"

"right!" Rukia gets up and readies her sword.

"Kuroshi Tenshou!"

Rukia dodges the blast sucessfully and gets back up, Reiku smirked. she looks more determined, good.. she finally understands the concept, now to see if she can do it..

Reiku thinks back to her training with her father back when she was younger, she smiles at the memory.

-flasback-

"come on Reiku!" Satoshi, Reiku's father and head of the Kuroshirou family, yells at his daughter as he tries to swing at her.

she barely dodges it, thier swords clash.

"Reiku you have to consintrate! you will never be able to control your powers if you cant do that!"

"yes father! i will try harder!"

"dont try! do it!"

"yes father!"

-end of flashback-

Reiku sighed, if it was one thing, Reiku was just like her father, it was how she was raised after all, she was mostly raised by him, he taught her everything he could possible teach,
and Reiku took his wisdom to heart, she trained hard every day to keep her father's approval. now she was a captain, and one of the strongest ones at that.

Reiku shook her head and sighed.

"...Sode No Shirayuki!"

"huh? crap!" Reiku cursed as she was almost hit a ice. i shouldnt space out like that, im being a bad example for Rukia doing that, she almost got me..

Rukia kept trying to hit her, but Reiku quickly dodged, being able to indicate her every move, Rukia sighed.

i gotta think, how does she do it? she can predict my movements, how does she do that? if i can focus on her and not let her leave my sights, i can get her.

Rukia kept trying and trying, not ever giving up, she kept trying, and Reiku kept dodging.

consintrate... i just have to focus, if i keep this up, i can get her..

Rukia looked for an opening, and found it, she smirked. "got it."

she ran towards Reiku, Reiku merely kicked her away, Rukia caught herself, using her sword and pined it to the ground.

she tries to attack with a Kido spell, and Reiku merely flash steps out of the way and is standing above her.

"Frist dance, Sode No Shirayuki..." she mutters a blast of ice comes out of the ground and towards Reiku tries to get out of it's reach.

"Crap!" Reiku yelled as the ice started to cover her foot, she tires to break out, but it's too late, she was captured.

she stares down at Rukia and smirks. soon the ice breakes away and Reiku lands in front of Reiku.

"Congrats Rukia, you have sucessfully gained full control over your powers.."

"thanks Reiku-dono.."

"of course, anything for a friend... let's go make sure Matteo didnt do anything to poor Orihime.." Reiku sighs.

Rukia nods and follows Reiku.

Matteo charges at Orihime once again. She raises her shield again and tries to block his attack. Unfortunately, Matteo is able to break through her shield once more and is able to get within striking distance. "Again, Orihime. We will do this for days until you are at least able to block my attack."

Orihime stands there, panting from the loss of energy. "But...you're just...too strong for me to block. No matter...how hard I try, I just can't block you."

He glares down at her like he did before. "Then, you are a worthless fool, Orihime Inoue. If you can't even block one of my attacks then you have no will to live. Instead of keeping myself from killing you, I should go ahead and just kill you. If you are like this in the Winter War, then you will be nothing more than a liability to us!"

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­--

Reiku and Rukia have arrived at the training area that Matteo and Orihime are using and have heard everything that Matteo has said up to this point. Rukia stares down at him with disgust. "How can he say such things to her?! He is being completely unfair to Orihime, Reiku-dono!"

Reiku puts a hand on Rukia's shoulder and smiles at her. "I know how Matteo is, Rukia. He doesn't mean a single thing he is saying. He already knows that Orihime's powers aren't like ours. Instead of relying on reiatsu, Orihime's powers rely on her emotions and he is trying to teach her how to funnel her emotions into a 'tank'. That 'tank' will be able to supply her with enough power to not only stop his attack, but to also send a killing blow his way.

Rukia nods and agrees with what Reiku has said, but she still doesn't like it. "I still say that he is being a bit to harsh with her."

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­--

Orihime stares at him in shock. "Kill...me...but I am trying my--"

Matteo interrupts her. "I have already told you that your best isn't enough, Orihime." He turns his back and begins to walk away from her. "I guess I should have expected this from someone like you though. You are always being protected by Ichigo and your other friends and you never stand up to defend yourself. You are nothing but a spoiled brat that doesn't deserve to walk, much less breathe." Matteo stops for a moment and grins. "But I guess that I should expect it for an even better reason than that. After all, look at your brother. He watched over you for years and you allowed him to become a hollow. He was nothing but a weak fool that deserved.....DEATH."

Just as Matteo says this, a hidden rage is unleashed from Orihime's soul. Matteo can feel her reiatsu begin to fluctuate wildly and turns around to see a bright aura surrounding Orihime. "You can insult me all you want, I don't care about that." She then looks up at him with tears in her eyes. "But you NEVER insult my brother. NEVER insult Sora!"

Matteo smiles and then charges at her again. This time though, when Orihime raises her shield, Matteo is not able to break through. Rather, he is pushed back by a great amount of force. The shield pins him to a rock wall and he looks to Orihime, who still has tears streaming down her face. He thinks to himself, "That's the way, Orihime. Now all you have to do is finalize it!"

She looks up at him and puts her hands to her head. In a calm manner she says, "Koten Zanshun, I reject."

Tsubaki flies towards Matteo's neck at an incredible speed. Rukia attempts to go down and stop the attack but is blocked by Reiku. "Don't interfere, Rukia. Watch and see what happens."

Tsubaki continues to fly towards Matteo's neck and shows no indication of stopping. Matteo keeps looking straight at Orihime and says to himself. "The moment of truth has arrived."

Just as Tsubaki's wing touches the side of Matteo's neck, he stops. Orihime calls him back, her tears still rolling down her cheeks. "I can't allow myself to be ruled by my emotions, no matter what they are. Anger, jealousy, envy, and all of my other emotions must be controlled. Otherwise, I will wind up hurting people that are close to me."

As the says this, Matteo disappears from the rock wall and reappears in front of Orihime. He gives her a small hug in order to calm her down. "I am sorry for what I said, Orihime. Believe me when I say that I didn't mean a word of it. I knew that I would need to draw out your emotions in order for you to realize how much they influence your powers. Please, forgive me."

After Matteo releases her, she wipes away her tears and smiles at him. "Thank you for teaching me, Captain Ryozuke. Even though you didn't have to, you still helped me out anyway."

Matteo begins to laugh and puts a hand on her shoulder. "We are friends, Orihime, so you can call me Matteo. And helping you out was no problem. That is what friends do for each other, they help one another out."

Reiku and Rukia suddenly appear next to them. Reiku is the first to speak. "That was a little bit intense, don't you think Matteo?"

He picks up his sword and ties it back around his waist. He smirks at Reiku. "I'm not the one that initiated bankai and partial hollowfication in order to train my student."

Reiku walks up to him and punches him hard in the gut. He doubles over in pain. "That's what you get for being a smart-ass."

Rukia speaks up for the first time. "So what do we do now, Reiku-dono>"

Reiku scratches the back of her head. "I don't know. I haven't got a clue."

Still bending over, Matteo mutters to himself. "What else is new?" He then receives a punch to his forehead that sends him up into the air and then down into the ground.

Reiku laughs as she cracks her knuckles. "Another comment like that and I'll have to call Nemu down here so that she can take you to Captain Unohana."

Matteo gets up off the ground, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, alright, you've made your point...As for what we should do next, I say we go back to our respective barracks and get some much needed rest.....Orihime, you can take one of the empty rooms in Squad 12 if you want."

Orihime smiles but shakes her head. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary. Rukia has already said that I can stay in her room with her."

"Okay then, I guess we'll see each other later," stated Reiku. And they all part ways.

Reiku enters her appartment and sighs. "what a dragging day that was .."

she takes off her Haori and puts it on a hook, and takes off the black part of her uniform and all that is left is her white Kimono.

she sighs in releif and crawls into bed and falls a sleep quickly.

-dream-

Reiku is traveling down a tunnel, she didnt know why she was or where she was going, but something was drawing her to wherever.

there was this gut feeling, she had to travel down this tunnel, she had a purpose here.

she sees an opening and notices an old friend there.

"Soifon!?!"

she noticed Soifon was injured, "Reiku-sama, help me.."

"Soifon! hang on!"

Reiku tries to run towards her, but she realizes she's not moving forward, she tries again with no sucess.

"Reiku-Sama.." Soifon mutters and reaches out for her.

Reiku reaches out for her as well, trying to grab onto her and pull her towards her.

"Soifon!"

Reiku almost has a grip on her hand when it dissapates, and Soifon herself becomes consumed in darkness.

"Soifon! wait!"

-out of dream-

"SOIFON!" Reiku shouts as she bolts up right sweating and panting.

she sighs, "that was werid.."

she rubs her face off, and gets up and gets dressed. why did i have a dream about Soifon... maybe Matteo could figure it out... it was almost as if, where ever she is she's trying to call out to me... is she in trouble?

sh wanders off the squad 12, thinking about what was happening.

Reiku is greeted at the Squad 12 gates by Akon, who escorts her to Matteo's apartment. When she enters, Reiku sees Matteo and Nemu having a small breakfast. Matteo looks up and sees her before she can say anything to him. "Good morning, Reiku. Did you sleep well?"

She sighs her usual sigh. "Not really.....Do you mind if I sit down?"

Matteo smiles at her. "You can sit wherever you want. What seems to be troubling you?"

Reiku tells Matteo about the dream and is shocked by what he tells her. "What do you mean that you had the same dream?!"

"Just what I said. I had that exact dream about Soi, except of course she was addressing me in mine...I know that she was reaching out to us for some reason, and I think that I know why."

Reiku slams her fist on the table. "What is it?! What does she need?!"

Matteo stands up and walks over to a window. "She needs us to save her...I never was able to figure out what happened to her a few months ago; Yamamoto wouldn't tell me."

Nemu then speaks up. "Why would she want you to save her? From what I knew of her, Captain Soifon would have rather died than ask for help."

Matteo turns around to face them both. "I'm not entirely sure, and I don't want to sound like a jerk for saying this, but I think that the message she sent was meant for me." He turns to Reiku. "I know you were her friend Reiku, but I was as well and possibly a little more."

Nemu's face turns red, due to her newly found overactive jealousy, and she asks, "What do you mean by that?"

Matteo sits back down. "When Yoruichi left the Seireitei, Soifon was devastated. At first, she completely gave up, because of her devotion to Yoruichi, and cried for a long time...Since I was one of Yoruichi's closest friends, she came to me for help and I ended up having to console her. Then, she started to hate Yoruichi with a passion. She drove herself to train harder than Yoruichi ever had and decided that she would kill Yoruichi for betraying her trust." He looks at both of them for a moment and then continues. "I tried to convince her otherwise but she would have none of it, so I decided to help her train. Training seemed to be the only way that Soifon could find solace in her life. But we all know that when the time came that Soifon didn't hold a candle to Yoruichi's power, which I knew from the start."

Nemu finishes for him. "After that, she disappeared and the new Captain of Squad 2 was put in her place within 3 months."

After taking a moment to absorb the information, Reiku looks over to Matteo. "What should we do now?"

He gets up and once again looks out of the window. "We are going to go and see if Kisuke can explain some things. The first being why we both shared that dream. The second reason is that I want to know how we can save Soi."

About two hours later Reiku, Matteo, Nemu, and now Toshiro, have entered the Senkai Gate and have once again appeared in front of the Urahara Shop. Reiku walks up to the door and opens it up. As soon as she does, Urahara greets her loudly. "Hello, ONII-SAN!!!!!!!"

Reiku walks towards him, grabs him by his hair, and throws his face into the floor of his shop. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, YOU DUMB-ASS BLONDIE!" Toshiro then places a hand on her shoulder and is able to calm her down.

Yoruichi walks into the shop to see what the commotion is all about. "What they hell is going on?" She then sees Matteo and Reiku. "Oh, it's just you guys.....You guys take a seat at the table while I pry Kisuke out of the floor."

Reiku, Matteo, Nemu, and Toshiro walk into the sitting room and are soon followed by Yoruichi and Kisuke. Kisuke, still brushing off his clothes, asks, "So what can I do for you guys?"

Reiku glances at Matteo and nods. Matteo then makes eye-contact with Yoruichi. "It's about Soi."

Yoruichi's eyes widen and she leaps up onto the table. She rushes at Matteo and grabs him by the collar. Fearing the worst, she yells at him, "WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!"

Reiku prepares to get Yoruichi off of him, but he motions with his hand for her to not to. He never breaks eye-contact with Yoruichi. "Koneko*, if you let go of me then I will tell you. But you need to calm down."

A tear forms in each of Yoruichi's eyes and she lets go of him. She sits down next to Kisuke, who puts an arm around her shoulder as Matteo tells them about his and Reiku's dream. Yoruichi is the first to speak when he is finished. "Why would she contact you instead of me? Before she disappeared, I was on amicable terms with her."

Matteo looks over to her. "When you left, she came to me for consolation and guidance. She also turned to Reiku for a relationship that I would term as an acquaintanceship that eventually blossomed into a friendship over time...Though she was beginning to trust you again, Koneko, she still may not trust you enough. That's my only guess." He turns to Kisuke. "What about the fact that both Reiku and I received this dream in a nearly identical fashion? Do you have any guesses about how we both received it?"

Kisuke shakes his head. "Sadly, I have no way of knowing how you both received it. Though she probably used Bakudo 77 to transmit the message; it just came across to you in your dreams."

Reiku interjects. "It doesn't really matter how or why we got the message. What matters is that we got the message and we should try to save her."

Yoruichi nods her head. "I agree with Reiku. We should do whatever it takes to save Soifon."

Kisuke shakes his head again. "But we don't even have a clue as to where she could be."

Matteo suddenly speaks up. "She's in the United States."

Yoruichi looks over at him in shock. "H-How can you be so sure that she is there?!"

Matteo smiles and says, "Because I've been there. From the small hints that I was able to see in my dream, she is somewhere in the southeastern United States. It is possible that she is at Pine Mountain."

Reiku stands up. "Then what are we sitting around here for? We should be headed for Pine Mountain immediately!"

Toshiro finally finds a time to say something. "No Reiku, that wouldn't be a good idea right now. We are all a bit tired after the transition from Soul Society to Earth. I suggest we get some rest and then leave tomorrow."

Reiku reluctantly agrees. "I guess you're right, Shiro."

Kisuke smiles his usual smile and unfolds his fan in front of his face. "You are all welcome to stay in the same rooms that you did before." As Reiku and Toshiro go into their rooms, Kisuke turns his head and says, "Goodnight, Onii-san."

Reiku goes back over to him, punches him in the face, and then walks into her room with Toshiro.

Nemu goes into hers and Matteo's room first. As Matteo gets ready to enter his room behind her, Yoruichi walks up to him from behind, turns him around, and gives him a hug. "Yoruichi, what's this about?" He then hears her sniffle a little bit and puts a hand on her head. "Don't worry about a thing, Koneko. I promise that I'll find her and bring her back.....I promise that I will bring you back your little sister."

Kisuke then walk over and escorts her to her room. Matteo then walks into his and Nemu's room, but is met by Nemu's evil-eye. "Why do you keep calling her Koneko, Matteo?"

Matteo laughs sheepishly for a moment and then gives her a serious look. "It is a nickname that I gave her when we were little kids. Even though she was taller than me, I still called her Koneko because of her cat-like reflexes and her cat-like behavior."

Nemu closes her eyes for a moment and then lays down. "I am sorry for having suspected otherwise." She then falls asleep.

Matteo takes a seat next to her bed and props himself up against the wall. He place his left hand in her soft, black hair and says, "It's alright, Nemu. I understand." He then falls asleep, himself.

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­--
For those that don't know, Koneko means kitten in Japanese.

Matteo walks into the sitting room,where he is greeted by Naoko.

"Hey Matteo.I didnt know you were coming again."

"Oh,yeah.Did Kisuke tell you about last night."

"...Nope,not really,i just got back.What was it?"

Matteo tells her about Soi being in the United States,and he saw she had a smile on her face.

"YES!!!Ive always wanted to go there!When are we going."

"Were going sometime today."

"Sweet!Where in the U.S. are we going to?"

"Um....Pine Mountain."

"So what-"

"Okay!I think we need to just wait for you to see"

"Oh,okay."

Reiku walks in the room,greeted by Matteo and Naoko.She sits down with them,and they talk about Soi,until Kisuke walks in.

"Are you guys ready?"

They all stand up.

"Yes,i just need to go wake up Nemu,then we can go."Matteo goes to wake up Nemu,and when they come back,they are all outside.

"ALRIGHT!LETS GO!"NAoko yelled.

Matteo puts his hand up. "Hold on, Naoko. Not all of us can go. We need to leave some people here to protect Karakura Town."

Yoruichi immediately walks in front of him and speaks up. "You can't make me stay here, Matteo. I am going to go and help Soi whether you like it or not!"

Matteo puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles. "Just relax, Yoruichi. I wasn't even going to suggest that you stay here. You're too close to this and would probably come anyway.....The people that are going to be going on this excursion are myself, Yoruichi, Reiku, and Toshiro. Nemu, Naoko, and the rest of you will stay here and wait for us to come back."

Naoko sighs in disappointment. "Alright...We'll stay and keep a watch on the town..."

With that said, the four travelers shunpo away to the nearest harbor. They hop onboard a fishing ship that is headed for the Hawaiian coast and act as unknown stowaways. Toshiro walks up to Matteo after seeing that Reiku and Yoruichi have fallen asleep. "What makes you think that Soifon is at Pine Mountain? A place like that just seems too peaceful for something like this."

Matteo looks up at the starry night sky. "That's what I'm counting on. Pine Mountain is the only place that I can think of for Soi to be, for the simple fact that nothing happens there. I did see what appeared to be a Georgia state park ranger station with the word 'Pine' on it's sign."

Toshiro looks up at the sky with him. "I just hope that we can find Soifon. Yoruichi will be heartbroken if something were to happen to her."

Matteo chuckles for a second. "I never would have pegged you as someone that cared about someone else's state of mind. But I guess spending time with Reiku is starting to melt that frozen heart of yours."

Matteo laughs again, but Toshiro punches him on top of the head. "Say something like that again and I'll freeze you to death, Ryozuke." Toshiro then walks off, sits down next to Reiku, and falls asleep with her leaning up against him.

Matteo rubs the back of his head. "Man, no one can take a joke around here."

The next day, the ship pulls up alongside a cargo ship that is heading for a California port. With this opportunity presented, the group of shinigami hop onboard the California-bound cargo ship and wait one day for it to pull into port. Once they reach land, the group immediately begin their trek to Georgia. Once night falls, they make camp in the woods of Arkansas. At daybreak, they restart their shunpoing to Georgia and soon reach a the town of Warm Springs, just a few miles from the ranger station that Matteo saw in the dream.

Confused as to why they are stopping, Yoruichi approaches Matteo. "Why are we stopping here? We should continue on if we want to save Soifon."

Reiku steps forward. "I agree. We can't just waste our time waiting and resting."

Toshiro puts a hand on Reiku's shoulder. "We are stopping to rest so that we will be at full energy. If we have to fight, then we need to be at our best."

Yoruichi turns around to face Toshiro. "But who would want to fight us?"

Matteo walks forward and puts a hand on Yoruichi's shoulder. "I didn't want to tell you this before, Yoruichi, but I can't keep it from you anymore...Soifon was kidnapped by the Arrancar. That is why I only wanted the necessary people to come on this journey, so that the others could remain in Karakura as bodyguards to the town. Soifon's kidnapping was all preplanned by Aizen in order to draw us away from Karakura Town, while he put into motion some sort of plan. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this sooner, but I wasn't sure if I was right or not until we got here."

Toshiro looks to Matteo. "What made you so sure?"

Matteo looks up to the highest peak of one of the mountains that he can see and points to it. "Because there is an Arrancar holding Soifon over the edge of that mountain and staring down directly at us."

The other three look up to where Matteo is pointing. Reiku and Toshiro are in shock, while tears form around Yoruichi's eyes at the sight of Soifon's condition.

The kidnapped Captain is bruised from hear to toe. The hair that she kept tethered in two long braids is out in the open and is flowing behind her in the wind. There are multiple scratches and slashes on her arms, legs, and face. Her eyes are open but are glazed-over; she has apparently lost the will to fight back.

Matteo looks down at Yoruichi and puts his hand on her shoulder once more. "Let's go get her."

Matteo and Yoruichi begin shunpoing rapidly to the top of the mountain. When they reach the top, they see a tall, muscular, dark skinned Arrancar. "I am Espada number 7, Zommari Leroux. Have you two come here to try to rescue this pathetic excuse for a Shinigami?"

Yoruichi activates her Shunkō. She then charges at Zommari and tries to punch him, but he is able to dodge her attack. He then counterattacks Yoruichi and sends her flying back towards Matteo. "How did you do that so fast? I didn't even see the movements."

Zommari continues to stare at them. "I am the Espada who is most proficient in the art of Sonido. In fact, I have become so proficient at it that increasing my steps even a little will result in quasi-clones."

Matteo makes sure that Yoruichi is able to stand and then sets her down. He then steps in front of her. "You said that you are Espada number 7, correct." Zommari nods yes. "I am Matteo Ryozuke; I am the one that defeated the Fourth Espada, Shirozuke."

Zommari just stares at him. "That is too bad...I hate to inform you of this, but he has already been replaced. The power of Shirozuke does not hold a candle to his replacement. Your brother would have been killed and replaced soon enough."

Matteo then draws his sword and releases Mangetsu Oogama. "I may not be as fast as Yoruichi but I make up for it...Gekkoo Tsutsuku!" A bright blue light flashes from Mangetsu Oogama's blades and blinds everyone in the area, including Zommari. Matteo takes advantage and charges at Zommari. He lodges one of the blades in Zommari's left shoulder. "Sokubaku suru Tsuki (Constricting Moon)!" Both of Mangetsu Oogama's blades begin to circle around each other, continuously impaling Zommari.

The light finally begins to fade and everyone can see that Matteo has Zommari right where he wants him. The Espada looks up at Matteo. "How predictable." Zommari then apparently disappears but then he appears behind Matteo and impales him through his back. All that are present notice that Zommari does not have the wounds left by Mangetsu Oogama.

Matteo, still being impaled, realizes what happened. "You were never even here. As soon as Yoruichi rebounded from your attack, you created quasi-clones to take your place. Then, when you saw an opening, the real you attacked." Matteo grunts as Zommari, who is still holding onto Soifon, removes his sword from Matteo's back.

Zommari moves in front of Matteo to survey the damage that he has caused the Squad 12 Captain. "What did you hope to accomplish by rushing in like that, knowing that I am clearly faster than you."

Matteo just laughs at the Espada. "An opening." Matteo's form suddenly becomes encased in ice and breaks apart.

Zommari looks down to the ground and sees Toshiro with his bankai activated and Reiku with her hands outstretched in the direction of the now shattered Matteo. He then notices that he is no longer holding Soifon. He turns around to see Yoruichi standing next to Matteo, who is holding onto the unconscious Soifon. "I see. Your friends on the ground stayed behind and created a clone that took on you appearance so that you could gain an opening to rescue your comrade...Such a thing would be commendable, if it wasn't for the simple fact that it was a waste of time. That shinigami in your arms will be forever useless to you. She has lost the will to live.

Ignoring Zommari's comments, Matteo hands Soifon over to Yoruichi. "Get her out of her and to a safe place. We will come get you once we get rid of this freak." Yoruichi nods her head and disappears.

Suddenly Naoko and Nemu appear next to Matteo. Naoko puts a hand on Matteo's shoulder. "Sorry we're late, Nemu was being a stickler about coming. However, I was able to convince her to come."

Matteo shakes his head. "I'm not surprised. You have a tendency for making seemingly impossible things a reality."

Naoko laughs a little. "Yeah, that's true...Plus, Nemu was really worried about you."

Nemu, with an innocent look on her face, looks up at her Captain. "Please, forgive me for disobeying your orders. Captain Naoko insisted on coming and Kisuke Urahara told us that he could watch Karakura town for us."

Matteo looks down at Nemu. "It's alright. Besides, I'm glad that you two decided to show up. I think things are about to get a bit 'interesting'."

Zommari snaps his fingers and fifteen Gillians come forth. "Yes, things are about to become very interesting." Zommari levitates his Zanpakutō in front of him horizontally, then claps his hands together. He then twists his head until it's perpendicular to the rest of his body and takes a bracing stance. He says, "Suppress, Brujería." When he says the release command, his sword bends into the shape of a edged spiral. Once in the shape, a thick white smoke emits from the corners of the spiral and covers his body transforming into a thick, white, foamy liquid that mixes with his Spirit Power. In its release, Brujería covers Zommari's entire body with fifty open eyes, and his legs (along with his lower body) are replaced by a pink pumpkin-like (or like a sea urchin) structure surrounded by cyclopean faces that somewhat resemble his own face (In the manga, the entire pumpkin like structure is colored red and the extra eyes are yellow). His neck is covered in a skull-shaped neck brace with an open eye in the front. Black markings also appear on his face, in the form of two downward triangles starting from his eyes. Another five triangular marking appears under his mouth forming what looks like a beard. The eyes cover Zommari's entire body except for his head. However he later reveals eight more hidden eyes above his normal two on his forehead area.

Toshiro and Reiku have joined Matteo, Nemu, and Naoko. Reiku draws her sword. "At least we were able to get Soi out of here. Now let's trash these creeps."

Matteo agrees with her. "Right. Nemu and I will go after Zommari. The rest of you get rid of the Gillians." As soon as he says this, Matteo and Nemu, who has released Hebi, charge at Zommari. They both attempt to strike the Espada, but he has activated his Resurrección Form's Defensive Sphere. He quickly deactivates the Sphere. As soon as he does this, he fires a cero at Nemu but it is blocked by Matteo, who steps in front of her and takes the blast to his back.

Nemu catches him as he falls forward. Though he is still alive, Matteo can barely move. "Sorry about that, Nemu. I should have seen that coming."

Nemu moves Matteo down to the ground and lays him against a tree. "Don't worry about a thing, Matteo. I will heal your wounds quickly."

"I do not believe that I can allow that," stated Zommari as he stands behind Nemu.

The Squad 12 Lieutenant turns around to face her opponent and prepares to attack him; however, something stops her. Matteo looks up at her and tries to get her attention. "Nemu...Nemu...Are you okay?" She does not answer him.

Zommari then clears up Matteo's confusion. "She will not be answering you, Squad 12 Captain." Nemu then turns around to face Matteo. She now has a sun-shaped tattoo on her forehead. "She is now under my complete control. My ability called 'Amor' allows me to control a specific object by focusing one or several of my many eyes to it. If I can focus my eyes on the head of my target, I can completely control a person's body."

Matteo stares up at Nemu in awe and disgust at the ability Zommari just told him about. "You bastard, you make others do your fighting while you just sit back and watch. And now you have taken control of Nemu." Matteo's anger rises while he says this. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

"We shall see," stated Zommari. He looks over to Nemu. "Kill him, but make it slow. I want him to revel in the suffering of having you kill him."

Nemu points her zanpakuto at Matteo and gives it the command to "Strike."

However, Reiku, having seen and heard everything while she was fighting some Gillians, rushes over to Matteo and blocks the attack with her sword. She looks back at Matteo and then looks at Nemu and Zommari. "You just wait here, Matteo. I'll get Nemu back for you."

Reiku glares at Zommari,. "bastard... i'll kill you for hurting Soi, and for doing this to Nemu.."

Reiku takes a deep breath, i have to stay calm, if i let my anger get the best of me, i will most definately hollowfy..

"what is your name Shinigami?"

"who am i? ha! Aizen must have not imformed you, but i am Reiku Korushirou, Captain of squad 3."

"ah.. that name rings a bell, Aizen meantioned you quite alot, he told me i didnt have to worry about you."

Reiku chuckles, "then i guess he made a fatal mistake no one should make... it would be in your best interest to not
underestimate me.."

Reiku flash steps and grabs Nemu and lightly shakes her, "Nemu wake up! it's me Reiku! can you reconize me?"

Nemu just strikes at her, Reiku flash steps away, Nemu turned to look at her.

"Nemu! it's us! your friends!" Reiku yelled.

"trying to make her come to her senses is useless. a waste of time and effort."

Reiku turns to him, "sadistic bastard! i'll kill you for doing this!"

he laughs, "you should pay more attention Shinigami."

"wha?" Reiku turns, just in time to see Nemu charging at her.

Reiku blocks it, and flash steps away. that was close... i have to think how do i get Nemu back?

Reiku looks at Zommari, he's controling her, if i kill him then she would be free..

Reiku readies herself , and goes after Zommari, she tries to swing at him but is blocked by Nemu.

Reiku jumps back and tries again, but fails to reach him, she flash steps 10 feet away.

she sighs and rubs her neck. this is troublesome.... with Nemu in the way, i cant get to him, and i dont want to hurt her... this is truely a pain... i didnt think i would
have to resort to my secret weapons.. what a freakin pain in my ass..

suddenly Zommari chuckles, Reiku looks at him funny. "what's so funny?"

"how Naive you are.. for the daughter of Satoshi Korushirou, your not that very observant.." he mutters.

"huh what are you saying?"

"look down at your left leg.."

Reiku looks down and sees the same tattoo that is on Nemu on her leg, she curses under her breath. damn it! he's got me...

"Reiku!" Matteo calls out, trying to get up.

Reiku looks at her friend, "dont worry about me Matteo, i can handle this myself..."

she looks at Zommari, "so what now?"

"i own your leg now, it belongs to me... hmm lets see take two steps forward..."

Reiku's leg moved, she tried to resist it, but it seemed useless.

Zommari laughed, "resisting is a waste of time and effort, your done for.."

Reiku just smirks. "whatever you say."

Reiku takes in a deep breath, then takes her sword and slices at the spot where the Tattoo was, she grunted as she lost feeling in her leg.

Zommari chuckles. "you are as wise as Aizen meantioned, though i admit i didnt expect you to sever your nerves... but how do you expect to be able to move
with only one useable leg?"

"that is none of your concern, i told you to not underestimate me..." Reiku muttered.

"fair enough you will die either way."

Nemu charged at her, and Reiku flash stepped to behind Zommari. he slightly turned to her.

"hmm. you can still move that fast despite having one available leg? impressive.."

"ha. Shunpo doesnt require my limbs, it reqiures inner strength.." Reiku muttered.

"hm. if you say so, but how long can you last before you are exhuasted?" he inquired.
]
"again none of your concern, you have no reason to worry."

Naoko ran over to help Reiku with her issue with her continuelessly bleeding leg, Reiku sense Zommari's attempt to
try and attack Naoko in some way, and flash stepped in front of her taking a hit, a tattoo simular to Nemu's now formed
on Reiku's right arm due to Reiku blocking her face with it.

"hm. taking the hit for your friend.. how honorable... though honorably irashional.."

"feh, i told you not to underestimate me, i wont let you hurt anyone else this is our fight...."

"but Reiku your leg! it's seriously hurt!"

Reiku slightly turns to Naoko, "dont worry about it. just stay out of the way and help Toshirou.."

Naoko would have stubornly fought back at Reiku, but knew better, after all Reiku saved her life.

zommari chuckles and suddenly Reiku feels pain in her hand as it bends strangely, she grunted in pain and severed the nerves in her arm, her arm fell lifelessly
to her side.

Zommari chuckles again, "now you have to useless limbs... how do you expect to fight me like that?"

"humph. there is a strong difference of power between us, we are as different as heaven and hell.."

"really? for one so small you talk so mighty, and overly prideful.."

"humph. it is the honest truth... and i swear to you, i will take down every last one of you scums. i took down Grimmjow, i can certianly take you down then once all of
you Espada are taken care of, i'll kill Aizen then my brother..." Reiku grunts her usual overly stoic grunt becoming overly arrogant.

Matteo sweat drops, there she goes again... taking credit for something that nearly had cost her life... if it wasnt for me she would be dead..

"that kind of talk can get you killed..." Zommari muttered.

Nemu charged at her again, and Reiku countinuelessly dodged until they stopped and Nemu held her sword against Reiku's throat.

Reiku panted softly, but not showing any signs of giving in. Zommari chuckles, "it's over Reiku Korushirou, captain of squad 3, you've lost.."

Reiku chuckles with a smirk. "on the contrary, you have lost.."

suddenly she disappeared and reappered behind Nemu Reiku temporaily dropped her sword and pointed at Nemu. "Way Of Binding No. 61: Six Rod Prision Of
Light...'

six rods of light surrounded Nemu and restricted her movement. "what is this? why can't i move her!?!"

Reiku chuckles as she picks up her sword, "i constricted her movements to stop her from getting in the way, so i can finish you off without her getting hurt.."

zommari growls lowly, "bitch.."

Reiku smirks. "it's over.... Bankai. Daiguren Tenshou.."

Reiku enters bankai, turns to face Zommari. "Tatsumaki No Kagi."

soon Zommari is surrounded by a tornado of reddish flames, Zommari tries to control it, but fails to.

Reiku chuckles, "you may have 50 eyes, but you cannot control this. there are about a million firey blades, your eyes cant control them..."

Reiku forces the use of her injured hand, and she holds it up and closes her hand into a fist, suddenly the tornado turns into a sphere shaped firey ball.

"now die, worthless scum.."

soon it smashes in, crushing him, he screams in pain, though Reiku could tell he is still alive.

Reiku turns to face him, "so your still living, oh well, at least your wounded... i'll finish you off with one strike of my sword.."

"damn you... damn you! i'll get you!" he yells out in anguish.

he tries to send an attack towards Reiku, she sighs. "Way Of Binding No. 81: Servering Void.."

a barrier shots up, and blocks his attack. he stares at her. "what... what is this?"

"a barrier. i have learned something about your attacks, it's just like Kido.. i learned that i could counter your attack with simple Kido techiniques.."

he attacks again. and again. "Damn it! accept your defeat already! take it! take it all!" he yells.

Reiku simply flash steps to behind him and holds her sword at his throat. "i will never accept defeat from the likes of you..."

Zommari stares at Reiku, he looks into her eyes which are void of any emotion, all he could sense was pure and utter mencying power.

he mutters shakily. "M-Mercy.."

Reiku glares at him, with not an ounce of remorse or any emotion, "Mercy? you expect me to show you Mercy? you make the strongest and the fastest espada weep."

"why? what's with that look? why do you look at me like i am nothing? your face tells me you cannot forgive me, that... that prideful and Menicing face! have you
no Mercy for creatures like us hollows? why do you judge me?!" he yells, pushing her sword away from his throat and flashes a few feet away from her. "this is all
meaningless and empty pride! haven't you ever thought about it!?! how you shinigami cut us down like nothing!?! you shinigami murder us like we do not belong!
like we are nothing but creatures that eat humans that deserve to die! yes we eat humans, but what right do you have to act like it is your duty to kill us!?!"

Reiku just stares at him blankly as he continues with his speech. "who do you think you are?!?! gods that live above all living creatures!?! who gave you the permission
to exterminate us like annoying pests!?! who gave you the right to protect humans from us!?! are we that monsterous to you shinigami!?! who has given you such
an order!?! WHO!?! no one has! you all decide it's your given right to protect humans and kill us hollows off like nothing! you think that this all brings justice!?!
this is all lies! killing us off is empty and meaningless justifed pride! you dont bring justice to anyone but yourseleves!"

Reiku sighs and flash steps away and soon she is behind Zommari, with her sword drawn out and covered in blood. "i never stated that i would kill you simply as a Shinigami, i have killed
you simply because you had pointed your blade at my friends... and my pride.. that is a fatal mistake to make..."

blood sprayed out of Zommari's body, he falls onto his knees the disappates into nothing.

Reiku sighed and sheathed her sword after her bankai had fadded. "it is too bad you were so blinded by your impaitence, that is what lead to your deafeat."

white air comes out of Reiku's arm and leg, and soon they are healed enough for her to move them, she rushes over as Nemu begins to fall forwards, Reiku catches her.

She sighs, and flash steps over to Matteo and softly places Nemu down on the ground as Toshirou and Naoko come over.

"as i promised Matteo... i brought her back... just as i promised, she will be fine.. she should come to any moment now..." Reiku sighs as she looks at her friend.
_________________________________________­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___­___

from a far away distance, two Espada have seen the whole fight from the very begining.

"hmm. Reiku has grown exceptionally well..." the female espada spoke in an amused voice.

"hm? do you know that Shinigami?" the other one asks.

"of course... Reiku and i go back a few 20 some years, i was the one who had given birth to her, and she murdered me.."

the male espada known as Ulquiorra Cifer, who was the replacement of Shiroken, stares at Reiku blankly. "hm. what an interesting shinigami... you must be so proud of her Shizuna.."

Shizuna grinned mencingly. "of course. but she stands no chance alone against us."

"of course not. she will meet her demise soon enough. let's head back.."

Shizuna sighs, "of course. we should report back to Aizen-sama, we already have what he had asked for.. just as he requested, we have obtained Orihime Inoue..."

Matteo, still sitting on the ground, moves over to Nemu. He checks her vital signs and everything appears to be okay. He looks up at Reiku. "Thank you for rescuing her, Reiku. When that cero hit me, it stunned my back and I have been unable to move for a while."

Reiku looks down at Matteo with disdain in her face. "Just be careful from now on, Matteo. I may not be able to help next time."

Matteo just laughs and says, "You've got it Reiku. I'll be more careful next time."

Just as Matteo says this, Nemu opens her eyes. At first, she doesn't say anything to anyone. She takes her time sitting up, so as to not worry anyone. Once she has finally sat up, she speaks to her friends who are all staring at her. "Why is everyone looking at me so strangely?"

Matteo sighs in relief and then explains to Nemu that she was under Zommari's control. He then tells her that it was because of Reiku that she was brought out of the control. Nemu immediately thanks Reiku, but the Squad 3 Captain reassures her friend that it was no trouble at all and that she would do the same thing again in a heartbeat.

After taking a few minutes to recover and waiting for Naoko to apply her limited knowledge of healing to Matteo's back. Both the Captain and Lieutenant of Squad 12 rise. Matteo walks over to Reiku. "We should go and find Yoruichi so that we can get her and Soi back to Karakura Town."

"Do you think that we can find her in a place like this?" asked Reiku.

Toshiro walks forward. "This place is rather large. It might take some time to find them."

"Not really," said Matteo. "I told Yoruichi of several good places to hide before we even got here. The first is a mission church just outside of the town we stopped in.....Let's get going."

Reiku, Matteo, Naoko, Toshiro, and Nemu make their way to the mission church rather quickly. They enter and immediately see Yoruichi tending to Soifon's injuries. Reiku is the first to reach Yoruichi and Soifon. "How is she doing?"

Yoruichi hangs her head down. "Not too good. She hasn't said a word or changed her expression since I got her here."

Matteo then reaches them. "That is to be expected. She has been through a living Hell and it will take her some time to get acclimated to her new surroundings."

Yoruichi looks at he old friend with concern. "You don't mean to keep her here, do you?"

Matteo shakes his head. "No, I meant that it will take her some time to get used to the people surrounding her...Torture like this can have very traumatic effects on the mind."

Naoko walks forward. "So are you going to take her back to the Soul Society?"

Reiku turns around and shakes her head. "That would be unwise right now. The upcoming war with Aizen coupled with this experience could seriously damage Soifon. The best thing for her right now is to be with people that can watch over her and help her to get used to a life without torture."

Yoruichi then picks up Soifon, who has closed her eyes and had drifted off into sleep. "Let's head for home."

Matteo smiles at seeing Yoruichi holding onto Soifon. "As much as she admires you, she would probably be disgusted with herself if she were in her former condition."

Yoruichi chuckles a little bit but becomes serious. "Just open the Senkai gate before I give you a reason to be sent to Unohana."

Matteo takes out his sword and opens the gate. They all walk through it and they appear directly in front of Kisuke's shop. Naoko grabs Matteo by the arm and asks, "Why didn't you just do that before?"

Matteo gives her a serious look. "Because we needed to prepare for the fight. Had we just gone in there without focusing our efforts prior to the battle, then it would have resulted in a few deaths rather than a few injuries."

Naoko puts her hands behind her head and walks into the shop, saying, "Yeah, that makes pretty good sense."

Yoruichi is the next one to walk in. She immediately takes Soifon to her room and lays her down so that her former pupil can get some much needed rest.

Once Matteo, Reiku, Toshiro, and Nemu enter the shop, they are greeted by Kisuke. He looks at them with a concerned look on his face. "I'm glad that you guys were able to get Soifon back, but there is another problem that we must turn our attention to."

Reiku is the first to speak. "What is it now, Kisuke?"

Kisuke hangs his head down and then looks back up to his comrades. "It would appear that Orihime Inoue has been kidnapped by Aizen and his Arrancars. She was trying to get to the World of the Living so that she could help out but was ambushed by an Arrancar in the Dangai. The Shinigami that were escorting her were killed off easily and she was immediately taken away. Ichigo and Rukia are heading to her apartment, where a televiewer from the Seireitei was sent, so that they can contact Yamamoto and try to come up with a plan to save her."

Matteo looks to Reiku and Toshiro. "We need to get over there now before Ichigo says something stupid to Sensei. If he says the wrong thing to Sensei, then any notion of a rescue plan will be thrown away."

The three Captains immediately leave for Orihime's apartment, but they are too late. Ichigo has already talked to Yamamoto and the request for a rescue mission was denied. Ichigo tells them that the team sent to protect Karakura Town was recalled back to the Seireitei and that they are ordered to return as well.

Matteo looks at Reiku and Toshiro for a moment and then looks back at Ichigo. "Well, it looks like we have a choice to make Reiku, Toshiro.....Either we can follow orders and return to the Seireitei, or we can stay with Ichigo here and got to Hueco Mundo and rescue Orihime."

Reiku immediately states that she is staying to help Orihime, but Toshiro is skeptical of the position that they are placed in. "Perhaps one of us should go back to the Seireitei. The one that returns can act as the ambassador for the team headed to Hueco Mundo."

Reiku nods her head. "Sounds good, Toshiro...Since it is your idea, why don't you go back to the Seireitei? You can take Naoko with you in order to further strengthen the Seireitei."

Toshiro nods his head and goes back to the Urahara Shop in order to retrieve Naoko and head back to the Seireitei. Reiku then looks at Matteo and asks, "So what do you think we should do now?"

Ichigo speaks for Matteo. "That's pretty obvious, isn't it? We gather our friends, we get ourselves ready for a fight, and then we go to Hueco Mundo and rescue Orihime."

Matteo nods his head. "Sounds good to me." And they all shunpo away to gather their comrades.

- Hisagi walks into the room

Hisagi: "Captain get up"

Captain Masaki: "Uhhh not now"

Hisagi: "Masaki taicho get up now" as he kicked him

- Captain Masaki rolls over and sits up

Captain Masaki: "i thought i told you to call me Kaien"

Hisagi: "Yea but it doesn't seem right calling my captain by his first name it seems disrespectful"

Captain Masaki: "Your my vice-captain we need to have a solid understanding and a solid relationship if this squad is gonna prosper"

- Hisagi looks out the window into the distance

Captain Masaki: "Is this still about Tosen"

- Hisagi has a flash back "Reap Kazeshini" it sent a shiver down his spine

Hisagi: "No I'm over him now" he lied

Captain Masaki: "Your lying but it's ok"

Hisagi: "You were having nightmares again"

Captain Masaki: "Yea"

Hisagi: "Yea you were talking in your sleep"

Captain Masaki: "Really what did i say?"

Hisagi: "You said no brother please don't go don't leave me her alone"

Captain Masaki: "Oh"

Hisagi: "You suffer from loneliness there was once an espada that suffered from loneliness and he was so afraid to be left alone and he was tired of being alone so he ripped his soul in two so he would have someone to love and cherish"

Captain Masaki: "Coyote Stark and Lilynette Gingerback"

Hisagi: "Correct"

Captain Masaki: "So what's on the agenda for today"

Hisagi: "Squad training and exercises"

Captain Masaki: "Oh fun"

Hisagi: "I'll give you five minutes"

Captain Masaki: "Ok i'll be right out"

((Guess whoooo?! XD
I'm joining, get used to me!

Name: Hikaru Kasumi

Birthday: June 9th

Gender: Female

Affiliation: Soul Society Gotei 13

Rank: squad 3, first seat

Appearance:

Hair Color: Black

Hair Style: Messy, in a lose ponytail

Eye Color: Light brown

Height: 5'0"

Weight: 110 LBs.

Description: She doesn't care how graceful she looks fighting, or how messy it gets, she just wants to get it over with. She sometimes questions why she became a soul reaper, she doesn't like to fight. then she remembers the looks on the faces of whole souls, as she tells them they're going to a good place, before sending them to the soul society, and thinks she'll just have to learn to take the good with the bad.

Personality: She's been told she acts like a cat, when she's calm, she's extremely mello and relaxed, but when she's engergetic, she's playful and funny. When she's in battle, she won't give up till her ememy is dead, but she won't fight anything or anyone but a hollow, no matter how much she wants to.

History: As a child, she was outcasted by other children, because she saw ghost, and everyone told her they were imaginary friends. eventually she convinced herself, They weren't there, and the ghost stopped showing up. then, one day, a hollow attacked her, she was saved by Reiku, who explained everything to her, Hikaru then desided to become a soul reaper.))

Matteo, Reiku, and Toshiro shunpo back to the Urahara Shop in order to explain what transpired with the Head Captain. When they have finished explaining things, Kisuke nods his head. “Yeah, I kinda figured that something like that would happen. The Head Captain isn’t one to deviate from his train of thought for anyone, even an innocent human girl.”

Reiku clenches her fist. “I just don’t understand how he can come up with the idea that Orihime is a traitor. When they invaded the Seireitei, she not only healed her comrades, but her enemies as well....If anything, he should be sending a rescue party out of gratitude for her service to the Seiretei!”

Matteo, who is still standing by the door to the shop, shakes his head. “None of you really understand Sensei’s train of thought on this. He showed his gratitude to her by not killing her after Aizen betrayed us.....As for Orihime’s current situation, even I am having trouble understanding his decision for branding her a traitor.”

“And yet you just said that we don’t understand his train of though,” mumbled Reiku.

Matteo shoots her a death glare. “That’s not what I meant, Reiku. What I mean was that I don’t understand why he is willing to sacrifice Orihime in order to give us more time to prepare for the war...He always taught me that sacrificing the life of someone to better the lives of others is wrong, and yet he is going against his own teaching by doing this.”

Toshiro finally enters the conversation. “Perhaps he believes that by sacrificing one life, he can atone for it by saving the entire Seireitei.”

Kisuke nods his head. “That is most likely his train of thought, even though he knows that he will be going against his own teachings.”

Reiku immediately stands up. “That still doesn’t make it right!” She storms off to her room and Toshiro goes after her, leaving Matteo and Kisuke in the sitting room alone.

“She will never change. Whenever a friend is in trouble, she will always do whatever it takes to save them and shoot down any attempt to rationalize the situation,” stated Kisuke as he shakes his head.

Matteo glares at him. “However, I do agree with her. ‘Killing one to save a thousand’ isn’t right because all of the lives saved will be drenched in the blood of the sacrificed.”

Kisuke sends a glare to Matteo. “I never said that I agreed with the logic, I merely stated that it was good logic.”

Matteo walks over and drops down to the floor. “Anyway, I need you to do me a favor....I need you to get those two together in one place. I have something that I need to talk to them about.”

Kisuke puts on his trademark grin. “Just name the time and place.”

Matteo puts on a grin to match. “The hidden training room in one hour.”

Kisuke gets up and walks out of the sitting room to send the message to the two people that Matteo wants to meet with. While he is doing that, Matteo remains in the sitting room and is soon joined by Nemu. She prepares to sit down but remains standing when she sees him get up. “Where are you going this time Matteo?”

Matteo looks down and smiles at her. “I’m just going to meet some old friends of mine. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for very long but I need to go alone.....How is Soifon doing?”

Nemu looks down at the floor and then back up to him. “She’s doing fine right now. The last time that I checked on her, she was asleep and Yoruichi-sama was watching over her....I guess she wants to make sure that Soifon is doing better without having to wait for Tessai or Kisuke to tell her.”

Matteo nods his head and looks out of a window at the night sky. “Yeah, it nearly killed Yoruichi to leave Soifon one hundred years ago. She looked at Soifon as if she were her younger sister and hated herself for abandoning her....What’s worse is that it did the same thing to Soi.”

Nemu’s face cringed with sorrow for a moment. She could tell that it hurt Matteo to see two people as close as Yoruichi and Soifon to become as separated as they had. “Hopefully, those two can put the past behind them and work for a better future.” She smiles and looks up to Matteo.

Matteo notices her smile and looks back down at her. “Yeah, hopefully they can....But we ARE talking about Soifon here.”

They both begin to laugh until Kisuke walks back into the room. “Well the messages have been sent.”

Matteo nods to Kisuke and walks towards the door. “I’ll be back in a while.”

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­-
(One Hour Later)

Matteo is standing in a large room and in front of the giant window that allows the occupants to overlook Karakura town. He turns around to face the two people entering the room. “It’s been a long time you two. Sixteen years passes by pretty quick doesn’t it?”

The first to walk into the room is Ryūken Ishida. He stares at Matteo with his emotionless face. “It has actually been fifteen years and three-hundred sixty-one days.”

“Jeez, you can never cut anyone slack can you, Ryūken?” stated Isshin Kurosaki as he walked in behind Ryūken.

Matteo puts his hand behind his head. “Wow, you two really haven’t changed at all--at least your attitudes haven’t changed. However, you both sure haven’t aged to gracefully.”

Having heard Matteo’s comment, Isshin rushes over to him and starts flexing his biceps. “What are you talking about, Matteo? I’m just as fit as I was when I was a Shinigami.”

Ryūken pushes his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “However, your mind still hasn’t grown as much as it should have.”

Isshin runs back over to Ryūken and begins arguing with him in the same way that Ichigo argues with Uryuu.

“Like fathers like sons, I suppose,” thought Matteo. After letting Ryūken and Isshin hash it out for a few minutes, Matteo walks over and separates them by raising his reiatsu a little.

Ryūken then stares back at Matteo. “Why have you called us here, Matteo. For you to summon us like this, it must be important.”

Isshin rolls his eyes. “Yeah, you aren’t exactly known for doing things without having a reason for doing them.”

Matteo stands there for a moment with a serious look on his face. “I need both of you to give me something. Isshin, I need you to give me your word that you will protect this town while we are gone.”

Isshin nods his head, while Ryūken stands there with a confused look on his face. “And what is it that you desire from me, Ryozuke?”

Matteo chuckles for a moment before regaining his serious look. “I need you to give me something far more valuable than your word, Ryūken. I need you to give me.....”

-----------------------------------------­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­---­-

It is morning before Matteo arrives back at the Urahara Shop. Nemu, Kisuke, and Yoruichi are all sitting down in the sitting room when he arrives back. When they all turn to see him, they can all see how exhausted Matteo is. Once he finally makes it through the door, he collapses and has to be carried to his room by Nemu and Yoruichi. After they have laid Matteo down on his bed, both of them return to the sitting room.

Nemu looks to Yoruichi. “Do you think he was able to do what he needed to do?”

Yoruichi nods her head and smiles. “He wouldn’t have come back if he hadn’t.”

Reiku bursts into thier room, clearly distraught and angered. "this is not right! Orihime isn't a trader! i outta knock sense into that old man! he's to senial!"

Toshirou sighs and pats her back, Reiku did have a vald point, it wasn't right.

Reiku couldn't contain her anger, almost had hit Toshirou as she grabbed and end table and sharply turned and threw it at the wall, it shattered into pieces.

even though sometimes even Toshirou was slightly scared of Reiku's temper, he really hated it when she was upset.

Toshirou gripped onto her arm, she sighed. "Toshirou. do you really want me to go?"

"i can't stop you from going, you have always been so loyal to your allies. i'm more so concerned of your condition."

"my condition?"

"you still haven't completely healed from your last battle, tht scar on your arm is proof of that."

"that's nothing." Reiku muttered grabbing her arm. "just a scratch."

"it won't be just a scratch once you reopen it." he sighed.

"you said so yourself, you can't stop me from going, i have to do what's right, and what's right is that Orihime is not a trader."

Toshirou sighed, but before he could get a word out, there was a loud crash.

startled, both ran out of the room, and saw Ichigo laying there are bloodied and beaten up.

the all stare at Naien, the apperentence of Byakuya himself.

"well Matteo not much of a change to you I see." he mutters looking at Matteo.

"always a pleasure to see you."

Naien looks at Reiku and smirks. "well if it isn't the lovely miss Reiku.."

Toshirou growled softly, Reiku, still slightly pissed off barks, "SHUT UP YOU ASS HOLE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!"

"by order of the captain commander I am here to take you back to soul society , with or without force it's really your choice..." Naien muttered.

Reiku growls.

Kisuke let out a sigh, " hmmm tough one. we are near my shop i'd hate to see it be wercked."

Matteo sighs,"t's unfortune but ....i'll hold him off after all he's out of your leauge Reiku and Kisuke he's out of yours too luckily we didn't hear.."

it seemed Matteo spoke too soon, there was a song playing and Matteo cursed.

Reiku mutters. "what is that?"

"we're in his world now..." Kisuke sighed.

"like I said get out of here I got this...." Matteo mutters and decends to the sky with Naien.

Reiku scoffed. "tch."

Kisuke turned and looked at Reiku. "well guess we have to listen to him."

"h-h-hey Reiku.." Ichigo struggled to say as he tried to sit up, Reiku calmly walks to him, and supports him. "what is it Ichigo?"

"Orhime... promise you'll save Orihime.."

Reiku nods, "i swear on my life i will do whatever it takes to save Orihime, it would do me great dishonor to myself and my pride if i didnt.. i'll protect her, and end this once and for all.. just rest up Ichigo, and try not to die."

Ichigo smirks. "as long as you dont die either."

"hn. i can only try not to. but i will fight until my last breath to save Orihime, you have my word."

Ichigo chuckled, "i hope so, otherwise you have to deal with me."

Reiku nods, of course."

Name : Kiroku Sakku

Height : 5'9

weight : 200 LBS

Age : 210

Muscel build : Meduim build heavy detail

Body type : Long and lanky ( like Gin ) with a athlectic tone to it

Rank / occupation : Captain squad 3

apperance : Kiroku has long dead staright white hair that comes down to the back of his neck he has always has a strand of hair coveing his left eye his Iris is a lifeless grey color and his pupil and faded black color a strange feature that he has is much like Gin he's always smileing. his Haori has extended sleeve's and he wears a normal soul reaper uniform. over his arms he wears black hand gaurds that go from his fore arm to the top of his hands.


Persnailty : Kiroku is proabily one of the most creepyiest people you'll ever meet he is very playful despite how he get's to play he is always looking for the "perfect playmate" he also use's very dark humor and has a nack for makeing people who are worrying about a loved one worse he does show a bit of kindness towards his divsion also he isn't scared to say what he thinks of people he is also head strong and very Opinative he never hides his playful side he is also always laughing or giggleing he also refurse everything to a game or rules. but like any captain in combat he's a force to be reckond with to most enemyies they are often intimdated by him and what he is capeable of. he also like's to play jokes on people in soul soceity and enjoy's like the prevouis captains before him takeing long walks around soul society is also very Charismatic and enjoy's the little things he also adresses every one in soul society by there propper tittle or he sais miss or mr.


Stats :

Shunpo : 90

swordsman ship : 90

Agilty : 90

Durabilty : 90

strength : 90

Stamina : 90

endurance : 90


Bio : not by choice Kiroku was enrolled in the shinigami acdeamy when he was 5 and graduated and was put into a seated spot when he was 9 he didn't get along with any of the other soul reapers mostly because he slacked off and was a nice little kid not capeable of Violence until when he was sent on a mission with the asstaint captain and 3rd seat of his squad the mission went horrable the captain showed up to see his asstaint captain his 3rd seat and a bunch of hollow dead with a little kiroku with a crazyied smile on his face covered in blood repeating "those who never hide there playful side." as well as crazyied laughter after that indcident Kiroku was never the same he was classified as Mentally insane and Pysopath however the captain commander didn't want to kill or dispose of Kiroku so he was placed as the asstaint captain and later captain of 3rd divsion and within a few years he earned the tittle Dream master Kiroku and is qulified as one of the most deadlyiest captains in the historey of soul society.

now before I start his zanpakuto this is another Ideal Idea on what I would have for a Zanpakuto :P.


Zanpakuto :

Shikai name : wan Izure sezaru chi ( one who has many )

Bankai name : wan Izure sezaru chi tai ( one who has many reailtyies )

Release phrase : play around a little

Sealed state description : in it's sealed state Wan Izure seazru chi is a meduim legength Katana so about 4 or 5 inches longer than a short sword and 2 or 3 inches shorter than a Katana it has a light blue wraping around it's hilt the blade is also a faded midnight black the sheath is a pure ghostly paleish white color.


Shikai description : before the blade enters it's shikai the blade glows a bright white color almost blinding the oppent when it transforms the blade color is a spectrum blue makeing it appear transparnt the gaurd gorws a bit more triangular the blade stays the same legength.


shikai abiltyies :

Shugi hi ikko ( Rule of one ) when this abilty activate feathers made of Kiroku's Reistu glitter off the blade and around him and the oppent for a 4 meter circular raiduis when the feathers touch the oppent it enters there body that is how the abilty is activated. the abilty is like Koga Kuchiki once the feathers enter the body he can now mainipulate the oppents sense of perception such as incereaseing distanceing makeing things appear further way than they really are makeing things appear closer to than they really are. the feathers can be blocked by Bakudo level 10 and up this abilty lasts for 5 minutes and has a 3 minute cool down time .

gi hi ni ( Rule of two ) the user feels like there whole world was just turned upside down than back to right side up once that sensation happens they are now in the backwards reailty where everything is oppsite so if Kiroku cut's your left arm a cut appears on the right side, if you block you get hit if you attack you block only kiroku know's the rule's leaveing his enemey to figure it out them selves this abilty lasts for 5 minutes and has a 3 minute cool down time. Also how this abilty starts is a soft song plays from Kiroku Zanpakuto the song take's up a 5 meter circular raiduis.

Sono soudai Junjou ( the grand rule ) this abilty is going to sound over powered for a shikai abilty however there are great restrictions on this abilty. this abilty starts when the oppents use's there Zanpakuto's abilty a mirror appears and gives a flash than Kiroku is seen with his enemeyies Zanpakuto note the enemey still has there's of wich now Kiroku can use that same abilty to attack his enemey and that abilty only and the enemey can no longer use the abilty he used to attack Kiroku with if the user keeps attacking Kiroku with diffrent abiltyies Kiroku can only keep absorbing and useing them however he must give up the one he is currently copying. this abilty lasts 2 minutes and has a 5 minute cool down time the mirror that appears is a little 3 feet long 3 feet wide circular mirror this abilty can be easyily avoided you litterly don't use your zanpakuto abiltyies the mirror stays for the same time peroid as the abilty does the mirror can also be destoryed by Kido of level 10 and up also he can only copy captain level and lower zanpakuto.

Bankai description : once Kiroku enters in his bankai his sword seems to actually turn into that of a spectrum blade Kiroku as well looks a little transparant but it's barely notice able.

Bankai abiltyies :

Sono Sacchi shiai ( the sense game ) how this abilty activate is four birds made of Kiroku's Reistu appear and bolt toward the enemey at kido speed if the birds hit the enemey the 4 major sense's are now gone for 3 minutes ( sight , hearing,touch,smell ) so it's a survial game you can counter this abilty like tosen you have to catch the blade or touch it however the moment you let go back to the game. the bird can be blocked by level 20 bakudo.


Sono Gyaku emono ( the Opposite Game ) this abilty is a strengthed version of the second shikai abilty only now you see everything upside down and even the way you move is backwards now so you go left you appear right.how everything get's turned upside down is a little 5 foot long barrier and 5 foot wide appears over Kiroku and the user an image of what they where they are fighting appears upside down within this barrier people can't escape from the barrier they have to wait the whole 8 minutes your in the backwards reailty. this abilty has a 4 minute cool down time.

Sono Genkou shiai ( the Copy Game ) when this abilty is activated a Gaint Rectangular mirror that is 5 by 5 ( five long and five feet wide ) appears in front of Kiroku when the enemey attacks the mirror with one of there Zanpakuto's abilty the mirror remains unscratched but the user can no longer use that abilty if the user keeps attacking they loose all there Zanpakuto abiltyies the real power of this is that Kiroku gains each abilty lost an an image of the person's Zanpakuto makeing the enemeyies Zanpakuto look like a fake this abilty lasts for 5 minutes and has a 5 minute cool down time. Kiroku can use up to 3 Zanpakuto abityies of another Zanpakuto and nun of his own when useing this abilty again he can only copy captain level and lower Zanpakuto.

I'm believe i will join.

Name: Kiro Bellam

Height: 6'0

Weight: 175

Age: 20

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Build: Lean

Appearance/ Personality: He wears a Blue sleeveless jacket with no shirt on under neath with shorts that have been torn at the bottom. He is a care free guy who can put down his alcohol when the situation arises. He normally puts on a large grin on his face win he is fighting an overly strong opponent and looks bored when fighting a weak one. Even though he is rather lazy, his speed is second to none.

Shunpo: 92

Swordsman ship: 85

Stamina: 100

Durability: 86

Strength: 80

Background: Known to be a wandering hired sword. He does his job for the money and the fighting that comes with it. He managed to land a job with the soul society to teach new acadamey students how to fight without remorse and teach them basic sword training. He is give a wooden sword because of his carelessness with students. He is called into real action at the most desperate times.

Weapon: A sai that has a three foot long middle blade and one and a half foot long side blades. He uses this weapon because he was never given a zanpakuto and believes that people given them rely to much on the power of their blade.

Throw him in the story and i will pick up from there.

i already posted but here's my character

Name: Kaien Masaki

Hair: Long brown wears metal pieces like Byakuya

Eyes: Brown

Body: Built like Ulquiorra

Personality: funny, goofy, lazy, misunderstood

Rank: Captain squad 9

Bio: First born son of Masaki clan a noble family in soul society promised his father as he died that he would fight to protect what he loved and his father was a shinigami

Sword

Release command: Crystallize

Shikai: Chi Daiyamondo (Blood Diamond)

Bankai: Ten Chi Daiyamondo (Heaven's Blood Diamond)

Shunpo: 100

Swordsmanship: 90

Kido: 60

Stamina: 70

(Oui,Oui oui!!! i'm joining...)


Name: Yahiko Shihōin

Birthday: Oct 6th

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Soul Society Gotei 13

Rank: Squad 9,3rd Seat. (Yes Kaien .....i own u...wait.or is it u own me? >.< )

Appearance: Friendly,innocent-ish look that is probably enhanced because of the look in his eyes.

Personality: Rarely speaks to others..only his captain, Dangerously Arrogant( do not say anything to him....yes i mean Yahiko)....

Hair Color: White

Hair Style: Spiky Hair(sorta like..Ichigo's Hollow)

Eye Color: Blue Innocent eyes....

Height: 4ft 5'

Weight: 85 LBs.

Build: Like Hitsuguya Toshiro

Twin Swords: KazeNenshou (Burning Wind) and Tyfuamadri Fugouri(Inconsistent Hurricane)

Release Command: Mokusatsu and Moeru (Ignore and Burn)

Shikai: ..in development...

Bankai: Tempestual Arrogante Kaze (Tempestual Arrogant Wind)

Shunpo: 350 (fast as hell just like his sister)

Swordmanship: 85

Kido: 45

Stamina: 51

Bio:....in development....but he's the brother of Youruchi
Shihōin

Favorite Phrase: "Justice Over peace is the only option"

(I did not draw this pic..i just like it....)

-Yahiko watches as the captain arrives late for training practice and sighs,he knows the repetitive actions of the captain..his laziness,stupidness and down right foolishness,but he respects him..due to his uncanny ability as a shinigami and looks up to him as an older brother, a person who he respects as an equal individual....it's not like he respects anyone else not even his sister-
Yahiko: ........Captain......

-a couple of the other shinigami whisper among each other..-

Shinigami 1: That Yahiko Boy thinks he's all that because he's a child prodigy..

Shinigami2: Yeah...but he made 3rd seat instantly as he left the acadamy......tch

Shinigami3: Maybe we can make third seat...if we take him out...PERMANETLY....

-The Three Shinigami walk slowly up to Yahiko and snicker amoung each other as the capitain approches yawning and is wearing his uniform on the wrong side-

Reiku stood and looked at Uruhara. "do you have a way to get to Aizen?"

"of course."

"good.. i expect that you keep this place in good shape… and.. if you see the old man.. tell him i'm sorry."

he looked at Reiku through his hat in slight sympathy. He knew by old man she met her father, who would be greatly disappointed in her actions of disobeying her orders as a shinigami.

"Your only doing what you think is right, nobody said it was easy to be a law biding Citzen."

"Kisuke. i'm not just a Cilvian. i'm a solider of my own struggles."

"Don't think your going alone, you idoit." Yoruichi pipped.

"yeah, sorry Captain Kuroshirou. it's our war too." Renji stood.

"i may hate you soul reapers, but he's right."

she glanced at them, and Rukia stood too. "You taught me how to fight again. i want to be by your side, and prove to you. that i'm as strong as you say."

"Toshirou smirked. "baka."

"but whose going to watch this place?" Reiku blinked.

"Don't worry about that. we'll suffice."

she sighs. "what about Soifon? she'll need your help when she gains consciousness.."

Yoruichi smacked Reiku on the head, "listen you uptight nitwit, we're going with you rather you like it or not. like we said, it's our battle too."

Reiku sat there and rubbed her head, then she smiled. "you all are fools.. but i suppose i can't change your minds.. alright let's go. let's bring back Orihime."

______________________________________

Just a small quick post, i'm sorry i had discontinued this for so long, life caught up with me, but.. i decided eh what the heck. also. welcome newcomers :3