Karakura Town Center

“Trust me, attacking me would be a poor choice. I must insist that you stop before one of us gets hurt.” Gin had his hands up in a mock pose of surrender and he was shaking his head vehemently from side to side and still the young Shinigami seemed determined to bring him down. Cocking his head to one side as he easily dodged the young man’s attacks without using flash steps, Gin could only wonder what they were teaching them in the Shinigami Academy these days. Didn’t they know never to attack a superior opponent who also held the height advantage? It was quite elementary. The only thing for you to do would be to run like hell.

Sighing in slight annoyance at the Shinigami’s persistence, Ichimaru released his reiatsu slightly, overpowering the young man’s abilities and senses and knocking him unconscious. “I told you…one of us would get hurt. Poor little guy.” His annoyance turned to amusement as he watched the man’s unconscious body crash into the ground far below. Idly wondering if he survived the fall or not, Gin turned around and flash stepped to cover the remaining distance in short time.

He appeared next to and a bit behind her, floating in mid-air as well. Gin hadn’t bothered hiding his reiatsu. She was an Espada and the third ranked one at that. Her powers were superior to nearly all of those in both the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. Attempting to hide from her would be insulting and an exercise in futility. There was simply no point to it.

“Oh, it looks like someone is being a naughty girl.” Ichimaru wagged a finger at his Espada-comrade before hiding his arms within the folds of his snow-white robe. “Halibel, my dear, it’s been a while and I must say, you look like you’re doing well. I trust that you’ve been keeping busy, yes? Ah, I suppose it doesn’t mat-” Gin was cut off abruptly as two Shinigami below them fired off kidos at him.

Suitably entertained, Ichimaru easily dispelled both low-level attacks with his mere hand before mockingly addressing his assailants far below, “Sneak attacks are hardly honorably. Tsk tsk.” The look on their faces was one of pure shock and horror. It was impossible to them that Gin didn’t even have a mere scratch on him. Incredulously, they brought their Zanpakuto up into the standard stance and hesitantly advanced, stopping suddenly at they saw their opponent’s grin widen. That was the last thing they ever saw.

Sheathing his Zanpakuto, Gin held a hand to his mouth as if dismayed, “Oh my, I suppose that was a sneak attack on my part. How rude.” Turning back to Halibel, he waved and said, “I suppose I should get going. Lots of work to do, after all. I’ll see you around, Halibel. Stop by my room sometime and pick up your plushie, the line is almost done. Bye bye now...”

Snapping his fingers, Ichimaru summoned forth a portal to Hueco Mundo. With one last smile aimed at those still fighting, he walked through and was gone.

Gin, Aizen's right hand man, Ex-captain of the shinigami divisions, and branded traitor of soul society.....was a strange one indeed. For the life of her, she couldent figure out whether the man was sincere or just playing with your head whenever he spoke. She held no ill will towards him and had no reason to do so, even respecting him to an extent knowing that there was a 'reason' he was once a captain of the enemy.

Halibel ignored his comments for the most part, the words *Stop by my room sometime and pick up your plushie* managing to stick in her mind as she began to move towards the ground, the fighting beginning to come to a close as shinigami straglers refused to backdown. 'Plushie?' she thought absent mindedly as one of said straglers charged her with a battlecry, only to be sent back across the street and through a wall with a shatterd skull from the force of Halibel's backhand. Yes, that gin was a strange one indeed, "...but I suppose it wouldent hurt to be a little curious..." she said to herself as she stopped another soul reaper's swing, catching the blade inbetween two gloved fingers before pulling it forward then reversing and ramming it back into its owners head with a flick of her wrist.

Yoruichi and several Special forces members arrived 20 minutes after the battle had first begun, several buildings already fallen and broken, the remaining forces of the 10th and 13th division's scattered and trying to regroup with the arrancar mercilessly attacking and cutting them down. "Taketsu, Take your men to grid D5 and engage the enemy, protect our flank at all costs! Nami, Take your group to grid G8 and provide support to the remaining 13th division members! The rest of you, with me! Watch your backs and do NOT take stupid chances! MOVE!" Yoruichi commanded to her squad, a collective "Hai!" resounding in the air followed by multiple flashsteps. They were in a bad situation here and she knew it, they all did. From the information they were given before they arrived, half of the previous forces were wiped out by a single arrancar along with one of the ex-captains. The only arrancar strong enough to tear though that many men were the Privaron Espada and the Espada themselves.

They would do what they could for the time being, but she didnt know if it was enough to turn the tide of this conflict, givin the current situation. As she flashed from rooftop to rooftop towards the main battle field, she prayed they were not too late, and prayed that the presence she felt at the moment was not what she thought it was.

Halibel felt the other before she saw her, a captain rank shinigami judging by the concentration of Reiatsu. It was about time someone or something provided more than just simple target practice. Turning her gaze from the soul reaper she held up by the throat towards the direction of the incoming enemy, she snapped his neck and tossed him aside before rising into the air above, her emerald eyes locking onto her next target almost immediately. There were five of them, four insignificant shinigami lead by her prey, flashstepping across the rooftops in their attempt to assist their comrades in time. It was almost instant, the gathering of spiritual energy, channeling from her fingertips and into her open palm as she raised it towards her target and let it loose like a cannon.

Advanced Cero~ Cost: 300 Sp
A stronger version of the basic and improved cero's. These attacks focus and suppress a much larger amount of spiritual energy into the beam, allowing for much more destructive results against an opponent. Cannot be blocked or stopped by anyone rank 7 or lower.

Yoruichi was so caught up in her thoughts about the present situation that she barely noticed the incoming attack in time, a large red beam tearing through the air towards her and her men. "Get down!" she shouted as she launched herself over the side of the building they stood, the shockwave of the cero's impact forcing her down into the street to slam roughly against the hard pavement below. Moments later, Yoruichi grudgingly lifted herself off the ground, clutching her right arm which took the brunt of her harsh landing, and turned her gaze upon the now ruined building.

Testing her comm, she called out to the four group members who were with her at the time only to recive static and the sound of the building collapsing on itself. "shit..." she cursed low to herself as she no longer felt the presences of her team members, it was obvious at this point that they hadnt been as lucky, she herself barley escaping the deadly attack in time.

There was no time to worry or mourn for the loss of her subordinates however, as through the rising smoke she spotted a blond haired figure silently levitating in the air, clad in a white jacket and hakama, watching her impassivly.

Halibel hung there in the air above, not entirly satisfied that she wasent able to take out all five of her targets, then again one of them was a captain after all. Standing there and observing the wreckage of the building for a moment, she turned her gaze towards towards the captain, expecting this one to put up more of a fight than the other's she had left lying broken across the human city. It seemed like minutes had passed as they simply watched one another, waiting to see how the other would begin the impeding fight as other smaller battles waged around them.

Finally, with a slow and practiced movements, Halibel reached her right hand over her right shoulder and looped her index finger within one of the circular rings on the guard of her zanpakuto...and slowly drew the blade from its scabbard.

The feeling of the other spiritual pressure tingled across yoruichi's skin as her amber eyes kept watch on the other, pushing aside the slight pain in her arm as she drew her wakizashi and moved her body into a fighting stance. The strength of that previous cero and the simple feel of her opponents reiatsu, which was much more than that of a mere privaron, told yoruichi all she needed to know to gauge the rank of her attacker. 'Espada', the word echoed in her mind as she watched said enemy draw her own weapon, a flat broadsword shaped zanpakuto with a hollowed out center, a strange design indeed. Deciding to test herself, Yoruichi sped forward, her wakizashi pointed towards her opponent in a stabbing position as she jumped to the right and kicked off the nearby wall to gather momentum. As she neared the espada, she brought her blade upwards and moved to impale the other, hoping to use her speed to her advantage....thats if the espada herself wasent faster.

It was amusing to say the least, this one proved to be much more stubborn than the others she'd faced so far...but it would only delay the inevitable if she continued. The fighter before her breathed labordly in exhaustion, clutching her shoulder and fallen on one knee as Halibel stared quietly, her blade stained with the blood of said captain from an earlier attack. Halibel herself hadnt escaped completely unscathed during the fight however, recieving a cut along her waist from the speedy captain along with a pair of bruised hands from blocking some sort of technique used by said captain which allowed her to double her attack power from what she could tell. In the end it was not enough, and while Halibel commended her opponent on her determination, she was becoming very annoyed.

Raising her zanpakuto over to her left with her arm crossing her chest, Halibel began to gather her spiritual power into the hollow of the blade, the zanpakuto beginning to glow with charged energy as she prepared to finish things.

The force of the reiatsu was incredible. Even from over a mile away, it was interfering with his five senses and slowing him down. Haishiro gritted his teeth and kept pushing himself to draw closer and closer to this all too familiar spiritual pressure. How long had it been since he’d last seen her? It had been exactly thirty-six years since he’d left the Soul Society – or rather, was exiled and branded a traitor. He’d seen her that same day, right before he left for his mission into the Severing World. Imitsu still remembered that stupid smirk she always had on her face, even when they were holding each other…

Actually, that first date hadn’t been all that bad. By that time, Haishi had stopped being such a serious individual when he was around her and while he was still a bit shy, at least he succeeded in making his feelings for her known. Shockingly, Yoruichi had responded in kind and the two had shared their first kiss. Imitsu could still remember every little detail about the way she looked, the way she moved, the way she smelled. The warmth of her body against his was never far from his mind, even after he had hid himself in Karakura Town and to think, after all these years, they were finally going to be reunited. It was a miracle.

Running until he felt like his lungs were going to dry up into little husks and die, Haishiro was stopped in his tracks by a particularly strong release of spiritual pressure. Holding his arm up to help ward it off, he felt a strong sense of unease. It was obvious that Yoruichi was fighting someone. What worried him immensely was that it seemed like her opponent was just as strong, if not even stronger than her. The only opponents that could give Captain-level Shinigami trouble were a select group of Vizards and the Espada. He didn’t recognize the second reiatsu so he could only assume it was an Espada.

Imitsu wouldn’t be able to do anything to help Yoru, but that thought barely crossed his mind before he disregarded it and continued forward, summoning his hollow mask at the same time. As he donned it, the crushing reiatsu seemed to lighten a tad and he felt a bit better. The aches and pains subsided a miniscule amount and Haishi felt confident that now he could make it to her in time.

Minutes later and there she was, locked in a vicious battle with an Espada that was strangely attractive…in a deadly, I’m-going-to-rip-your-head-off, kind of way. Haishiro stood there, his left arm hidden in the folds of his pocket, while his right arm gripped his unsheathed Zanpakuto. His white tie fluttered loosely in the breeze while his black dress shirt clung to his body as he began to tense himself for the possible escalation of the fight. Unruly, purple hair could be seen showing around his Vizard mask as he gazed at Yoruichi, unable to move. It really was her.

Haishi felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart. Oh god, he’d missed her. Every little thing about her had been so cute, so perfect, so damn annoying but at the same time, endearing. To see her like this, injured, bleeding and wounded nearly drove him to despair. He wanted to run up to her and just hold her, tell her everything was going to be ok and spend some time together, just like they used to. But, his feet seemed glued to their current positions. Imitsu couldn’t quite move and he didn’t know why. He couldn’t even speak, even though he wanted to call out to her, warning her about the attack coming from the Espada. His eyes widened in terror as he realized it was going to be a killing blow…

Unseen to those below, a yawning void of swirling, black energy had appeared high above them and the grinning man that stepped out was saying something quietly to himself…

“Hadou 63…Raikouhou.”

Reiatsu collected in his right palm, channeling into a denser entity before being released as a destructive burst. The reiatsu hurtled towards the three individuals below Gin and he waited patiently as his Hadou burst with explosive energy between Halibel and Yoruichi. Before the dust settled, he’d already dashed in closer with a burst of speed and was seen glancing around with a worried expression on his face. He sped from location to location, as if he was looking for something.

“Oh, well this is embarrassing. I seem to have misplaced my sewing supplies I picked up earlier. The last time I remember seeing them was around this area but you two ladies seem to have turned this location into a warzone.” Wagging his finger at them as if scolding them, he said pleasantly, “This will just not do. Halibel, would you be a dear friend and help me search for my things? It was a bag about this high and this wide.” He spread his arms, showing her the dimensions.

Waving happily to Yoruichi, he commented on how nice it was to see her again. In fact, Gin even suggested that the two of them meet some time for tea and catch up on things. Using his Zanpakuto as leverage, Gin pried up broken pieces of buildings here and there, looking under them with great care. He really hoped the two combatants hadn’t blasted his supplies with one of their high-powered attacks. If that was the case, he might actually have to hurt someone and he didn’t want to do that, now did he?

“Ah ha!” Holding the bag up triumphantly, Gin padded over to where Yoruichi was, showing her the contents of his bag. “See? I have all kinds of materials in here for my line of Espada dolls. Maybe if you ask me nicely, I’ll make a plushie for you, too.” He gave her his best smile, eyes twinkling with delight as his entire being oozed with a mocking aura. Noticing Haishiro standing there as if frozen in place, Ichimaru waved at him. “Oh, look…a Vizard. That’s some heavy stuff. Your mask is really scary, isn’t it? You should join Yoruichi and I for tea and you can teach me how I can get a mask, too. Well, it looks like I have what I came for. Halibel, my dear, you ready to go?

Flash stepping back a few hundred meters, Gin clapped his hands together twice and the portal back to Hueco Mundo materialized as a thin black line before growing tall enough for him and Halibel to pass through with ease. With a final grin and wave, he sauntered through and was gone.

Yoruichi glared defiantly at the blond haired espada as said arrancar began to gather a final attack, a finishing blow meant to end her own life. She was in pain and the places she'd been cut were nowhere near random, it seemed this espada knew just where to cut someone to slow them down completly. Her legs were badly cut, the left side of her waist had taken a vicious slash along with her right shoulder having a vertically deep and grievous wound, it all just hurt like hell. Unfortunatly for Yoruichi, the espada didnt look like she was done yet. You know that old saying that your life flashes before your eyes when you know your about to die? Something akin to that very saying forced it's way into the mind of Yoruichi as she stared down her own death.

Haishiro, a simple name and yet the one who used it was very much unforgetable for the dark skinned captain. Time seemed to slow to a stop as the memory of her day with him when he brought her to his own private get away passed through her thoughts, followed by the memory of that first date which she refused to let go of, even after all this time. It seemed as if it were only yesterday that she and Haishiro had last been together. The amusement and the strange giddy feeling she felt when he first confessed to her was like no other, a genuine feeling of happiness that welled up within her as he nervously spoke from the heart. Better yet was when she responded to the words he spoke with the pressing of her lips to his own and she returned his revealed feelings, sharing their first kiss under the moonlight of the Seireitei.

Yoruichi was heart broken when she recieved the news of Haishiro being branded a traitor, go so far as to challenge the ruling on the vizard hunt herself with the support of Ukitake before the wise men and judges of the ruling 46. Her efforts were all for naught, however, as she was commanded out of the chambers under the threat of insubordinate punishment and removal from her position as division captain. The damned fools believed Haishiro to be a traitor without even giving him a chance to defend himself or providing any proof that he or the other vizards intended harm on soul society.

Yoruichi knew it couldnt be true, she knew Haishiro would never turn his back on soul society even after his hardships, that he wouldnt...turn on her of all people. On what grounds the ruling 46 charged his so called 'betrayal', they refused to give, claiming they had no need to answer to her or Ukitake. It had been thirty-six years since the last time she saw him, and here she was thinking about him, even on the verge of being cut down by the enemy.

Just as the espada prepard to swing her blade to unleash her attack, a high-powered kidou attack slammed into the ground between them both, effectivly surprising the espada and interrupting her actions. Both sets of emerald and amber colored eyes locked onto the smiling form of someone neither expected to see. It was Gin, ex-captain of the 3rd division and 'rightfully' branded traitor of soul society. What the hell was he doing here? And why did he save her just now?

It was all Yoruichi could do to watch at the moment with her wounds sending painful spikes of agony through her body as her vision began to blurr, she knew wouldnt be able to hold her consciousness at this rate. As Gin seemed to be talking nonsense to the espada about sewing supplies, yoruichi assumed that she must have been suffering from her bloodloss because who talks about sewing supplies in the middle of a battle field? She watched with a slightly pained expression as the white haired traitor began to search the nearby wrecks and recoverd a strange bag from the rubble and exclamied with that mockig smile of his. Her eyes widened a bit as the strange man actually showed her the contents of the bag, offered to make her a plushie, and suggested they 'catch up' sometime and have tea. At that point, Yoruichi decided that perhaps she was delusional from her injuries, this thought was only reinforced when gin waved to someone he described as a vizard above on a nearby building.

At the end of his mocking speech, gin turned on his heel and left through the void of a newly formed garganta, calling for the espada she now knew as 'Halibel' through the swirling darkness of the portal. She was just saved by gin, and she could hardly believe what just happend. At soon as Gin and the espada stepped through the gate and it closed behind them, yoruichi's strength slowly gave out from under her as she turned her head to regard the vizard gin waved to earlier, able to fully feel the other presence now that the pressure from the espada was gone. As she began to lose her connection to the world of consciousness, she breifly looked up from her kneeling position and into mask of the mysterious figure. This mans presence was familiar, a little too familiar, and she began to recognize the feel of reiatsu almost immediatly as she finally gave out. The name "H-haishiro?..." passed through Yoruichi's lips just moments before her eyes began to close and she fell forward, entering the world of dreams.

“Baka…didn’t I tell you that only people that don’t like me call me Haishiro?” He said quietly as he flash stepped over to her, catching Yoruichi gently in his arms as she collapsed, sinking into unconsciousness. Haishi cradled her carefully, taking care to mind her wounds before picking her up and pressing her close to his body. The eyes that were behind the Vizard mask shone with a watery sheen as a thin line of tears worked their way down one cheek, collecting on his chin before dripping down onto Yoru’s clothing, one pain-filled water drop at a time. To see her in such a condition was heart-wrenching and it was all Imitsu could do just to maintain his composure.

Unfortunately, there was just one teensy little problem for Yoruichi at the moment. Immediate medical attention was not available for her. Haishiro never really studied any medical kido and the ones he did know were more for himself than for using on others. Plus, they were more for dealing with poison then a multitude of grievous open wounds that were bleeding like a turned on faucet. This only left one option open for Haishiro…he had to take her to see Kisuke Urahara. Crap. Of all the people that it could be, it had to be Kisuke. Imitsu wasn’t sure what the guy could do but that crafty salesman always had something up his sleeve.

He hesitated slightly before setting off for the Urahara Shop. He hadn’t been able to do anything to protect her. While he’d had the heart, his skills and strength were easily out-classed by both her, the Espada and Gin Ichimaru. It hadn’t even been a contest or a question of whether or not he was willing to try and save her. The mere amount of reiatsu in the air had paralyzed him, freezing him in place to such an extent that he was still panting heavily. It was only after they had left that he’d been able to move to catch her before she hit the ground. Perhaps visiting Kisuke was a blessing in disguise. If Haishiro wanted to be of any use to Yoruichi in the future, he had to train with Urahara. It was as simple as that.

Flash stepping away from the site of the warzone, he dispersed his hollow mask, letting its spirit particles fade into the air about him. For the first time that night, Hashiro looked upon Yoruichi with his own two eyes. They were eyes that were still in shock; yet, relieved and abounding with joy. They were eyes that spoke of a great deal of love…and they were eyes that blazed with anger at the Arrancar. Holding Yoruichi tight as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, Haishi whispered softly to her, “I’m so sorry, Yoru…”