"I see," Rukia said, oddly not as surprised by the news about the Arrancars as she thought she should be. Perhaps it was because of her familiarity with Ichigo and his reiatsu, but she wasn't one hundred percent sure about that. She was then concerned about what Urahara said. "Your hunch?" she asked, both afraid of the answer and curious about it all the same.

"My dad already took care of it and created a set of false records for Asami, under the pretense that she is one of your cousins Hoshi," he said, getting a smile from both of them. "I guess my dad can be useful for somethings after all." He then stiffened as he felt several Hollows at once.

" I hope I'm wrong about this. But if he want to amplfy the souls of Karakura , he wants to destroy it.He would then be able to make a copy of something called the Oken. It's a key that opes up the Royal Dimension. Or at least that what we think it does. It may even have the power to open Hell. Like I said ,I hope I'm wrong." He knew he probably was right.

" That's great! " Hoshi said with a smile. She knew she had to help The Kurosaki's when they needed her help. It was only fair for her to do so.Hoshi shivered again. She didn't know why she did this around Hollows.

Asami gave Ichigo a hug. She also noticed something in the air

Rukia was surprised at what Urahara was saying. If he was right... "Then we better make sure that Aizen doesn't get his hands on Hoshi," she said, subconsciously clenching her blade so hard that it made her knuckles white. "I should probably get going. Knowing Ichigo, he'll go out to fight them and leave Tatsuki protecting Hoshi or something like that."

" That sounds like a good idea. When you see Ichigo , tell him that the necklaces are ready for Tatsuki and Hoshi. Be careful out there." He said.

"Thanks, and I'll tell him when I see him," she said before heading outside. If needed, she would activate her bankai, but only if she needed it.

Tatsuki noticed how both of her friends stiffened as she assumed they felt the mass amounts of Hollows around them. Unfortunately for her, she could hear them moaning. Knowing that at the moment both Tatsuki and Hoshi couldn't do anything, she frowned but told Ichigo to fight.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked before getting a pointed look from the dragon girl. He chuckled awkwardly before taking his badge out and pressed it against his chest, his shinigami form appearing as his body fell to the floor. "That's going to smart..." he mumbled before leaving the badge on top of his body, just in case either of the girls needed to transform into their shinigami form before heading out.

Hoshi watched Ichigo leave. She knew the next time she would be going too. She saw that Asami had reacted the same time she did and wondered why that was. If he needed help Hoshi would go but would wait until she was needed.

Ichigo headed towards the area where he felt the most hollows, already seeing someone starting to fight them. Seeing that a few of the members were tempting to mob her, he quickly gathered energy to Zangetsu and shouted two words, "Getsuga Tenshou!" as he said it, a blade of black energy made its way into the crowd, taking several Hollows out in one shot, making his way towards the Shinigami that was fighting them.

"Show off," Rukia muttered as Ichigo stood behind her.

"Hello midget, long time no see. Looks like you got in a little over your head...not that its hard for that to happen," Ichigo quipped, causing a growl to come from Rukia. Ichigo then blocked something that looked like claws.

" You think we'll know if Ichigo needs us?" Hoshi asked Tatsuki. She didn't want to be captured if she did go out to help. She knew there would be plenty of times they would be needed. Hoshi would wait, that's what her instincts told her to do.

"I don't know honestly, but I think he'll find a way to know how to summon us into battle if we're needed." Tatsuki answered truthfully, honestly not knowing if they would be needed for this battle.

Hoshi hoped so . She wouldn't relax until he came back. She kept focus , doing her best to hide her reiastu . She didn't want to be found if the Hollows were a distraction.

Ichigo moved into the fray of hollows, quickly slashing several hollow masks, making them disperse into ashes before grimacing lightly as three claw strikes make it into his back, drawing three thin lines of crimson across his back. He quickly shrugged the pain off and continued battling.

Tatsuki knew what Hoshi was doing and tried focusing and to hide her Reiatsu as well, knowing that it would not be helpful if they found them because of Tatsuki's flaring reiatsu.

Asami wondered what her friends were doing. Hoshi told her to keep focus on her surroundings . She said that would hide reiastu. She did as she was told to do . She didn't want to be the one to expose them since they were hiding . She hoped it would work.

Taking a glancing hit for Rukia, Ichigo decided that he had enough of this craziness and used three Getsuga Tenshous one right after the other, giving him enough time to activate his bankai. Sure it was overkill, but the overwhelming numbers were starting to piss him off.

Hoshi continued to wait with Tatsuki and Asami. She still felt the Hollows outside. She hoped Ichigo was alright. She was getting a little nervous. She would ask if they could train a little bit tomorrow. She wanted to be stronger , so she could help fight.

Aizen knew this was the time to act. With Tetsuya away, he only had a week to get Hoshi. He sent hollows tonight , but Wednesday would be the day he would have her captured. He needed her a little stronger before he acted .

Rukia blinked as she saw the black blade of energy spiral just a hair's tip above her. "Damn it Ichigo, watch where you're flinging those things!" Rukia shouted at Ichigo before she turned around quickly froze a set of hollows behind her

"I am! If you were taller I'd tell you to duck!" He shouted back towards her, causing her to scowl, even if he couldn't see it. He then saw a glint of metal in the night and quickly brought Zangetsu out to block the overhead slash, sparks flashing between the two blades. "Who are you?"

The Arrancar let his strike be blocked .He slashed at Ichigo again. He wasn't going to let this battle end easily. He knew this might be his final battle but he knew that there would be others of his kind that would accomplish Lord Aizen's objective. He was just the beginning of the troubles . Others would get the girl and they were much stronger than he was.


Hoshi was feeling tiered . She knew Ichigo was safe . She wanted to go out to help, but knew it would be a bad idea.

Ichigo blocked the slash and growled, moving backwards to give him a small amount of distance and time to slip his Hollow mask on. He then went to slash the Arrancar again, knowing that Rukia could hold her own against the Hollows around them.

Tatsuki noticed the slight yawn that came from Hoshi and told her to go ahead and get some sleep, promising the girl that she would wake her if Ichigo needed their help, and to keep an eye on her in case Aizen tried attacking. Not that I can take him or anything but I can at least try... she thought to herself.

" Thank you Tatsu." Hoshi said and laid down on the floor. She hoped everything was going to be alright until Ichigo came back.Hoshi knew that if Aizen attacked, they wouldn't have a chance to fight or escape.

The Arrancar charged forward and continued to do what he was ordered to do. He knew this battle wouldn't last much longer. This battle would confirm what Aizen needed to know.

"No problem kiddo," Tatsuki said, "It might actually be better for you to sleep on the couch, don't you think?" she asked.

Ichigo continued attacking the Arrancar, knowing that he couldn't do this forever. He quickly charged reiatsu into his blade and put both hands on Zangetsu, charging it with as much reiatsu as he could.

" Sounds like a better idea." Hoshi said a little embarrassed .She got up and laid on the couch to sleep.

The Arrancar knew this was the end . He had achevied his goal. He had wanted this battle to be too easy . Once he died ,the Hollows would also. This was only the beginning of what Aizen wanted.The next few days would be when things really began .

Tatsuki watched Hoshi slowly fall asleep, and kept an eye out for her, as well as the rest of her surroundings.

This is to easy... Ichigo thought to himself, before he sensed a hollow behind him. He quickly moved behind it using the speed his bankai gave him and skewered it through the mask, noticing that all of the other Hollows stopped and started fizzling away in ash, as he heard a hollow (no pun intended) chuckle coming from the Arrancar.

" Glad you had fun fighting me. Trust me when I say this: I was only the beginning , others you will fight won't be as easy to defeat." The Arrancar said as he himself turned to ash. The Arrancar was now gone , but the threat had only just begun.

Ichigo growled lightly and cursed before taking his Hollow mask off. He knew that the fighting had just begun and knew that other battles wouldn't be this easy. He then sighed and turned towards Rukia, "So midget, where have you been these last couple of days?" he asked.

"Around. Why do you ask Baka? Miss me?" she asked with a coy grin. "Urahara wanted you to know that those necklaces he talked about were finished and ready for pick up," she said, causing Ichigo to grin.

Aizen knew the battle was over. He would make his move soon. He knew he only had a few days before Tetsuya would be back. Aizen wanted to fight his former 4th seat, to test how strong Tetsu really was and to make sure he wouldn't be able to help save Hoshi.

Hoshi continued to sleep on Tatsuki's couch. She hoped she would be awake before Ichigo returned.

Tetsu had finished his final evaluation. Now he had to head to Squad 12's barracks. He wanted to help but he had to be careful what he said there.

Ichigo brought his blade back into its shikai mode and placed it on back where it stayed when he wasn't fighting, feeling the tassel wrapping around the back of his shoulder and keeping it in place. "This was too easy..." he muttered aloud as Rukia nodded. "Anyways, you said Ryu and Star's necklaces were ready?" He asked, which he got a nod from the smaller shinigami. "Alright then, let's go," he said

Tatsuki felt the Hollows vanish and sighed lightly in relief. She knew that this was only the beginning of the storm though, and vowed to get stronger. She needed bankai...she didn't want to admit it, but she needed the extra power in order to help Ichigo and the others to protect Hoshi. She just hoped that Orihiime and the others were training to get stronger as well. She then pulled a pillow off of the seat and placed her head on the pillow before falling into a dreamless sleep.