'...despite the above points'! 'You can see that he was being held hostage by the intruders'! 'He was both mentally and physically coerced to obey them'!!" Kotsubaki Sentaro, the 13th Division's 3rd-in-command, dutifully reads out the report in his hands as loud as his lungs can possibly allow. His fellow 3rd-in-command, Kotetsu Kiyone, stands beside him with her hands covering her ears, glaring daggers at him. "'I greatly anticipate that 4th Captain Unohana's tolerant disposition will shine through'!" Sentaro hollers with unnecessary force. "That is all of 13th Captain Ukitake's conveyance report!!"

"...I understand," Unohana stands at the top of the steps, having listened to the entire report in her usual calm, stoic manner. The young man whom Kiyone and Sentaro brought to her is standing at the foot of the steps below her. "However..." She addresses the young man directly, "the intruders who received your cooperation caused large amounts of damage. Considering the responsibility attached to your rank, I do not think I can overlook your behavior... You understand this, don't you."

She looks down at her subordinate and addresses him by his full rank, "Squad Leader of Rescue Team 14 and 7th in rank within the 4th Division - Yamada Hanataro."(1)

(Intro- Kira Izuru is featured in this one. Minor side note: Although I previously wrote his name as Itzuru, I've decided to just write it as Izuru now. Everyone seems to adapt better to that way of reading his name anyhow and it's no skin off my nose. ^^;)

Down the staircase of the Recovery Station in the 4th Division headquarters, there is the location of the underground recovery cell #075. The only window in the cell is a narrow opening near the ceiling which shows the barest glimpse of daylight through the grass growing outside.

Inside the cell, Ishida Uryuu slowly regains consciousness in bed with his bandaged arms locked together by handcuffs. He carefully sits up. ...Where am I...? he wonders. I'm... alive...? How - his thoughts are cut off when someone suddenly pops down from the bunk above him - someone whose head and face is completely wrapped up in white bandages.

"Oh!" the makeshift mummy exclaims, "You're awake!"

"...uh... UWAAAAAAHHH!?" Ishida yelps. "Wha-wha-wha-what the, who are you!? A burglar, huh, you bastard!?"

"No, no," the mummy-man swings down from the overhead bunk bed. "What is there to steal from injured guys in a prison cell?" he yanks the bandages away from his eyes and mouth, revealing several stitches underneath as well, "It's me, see!"

"Gah... Ganju-kun!?" Ishida stares at him in amazement, "You're alive! That's great! You didn't seem particularly strong, so I was certain that..."

"I could say the same about you, y'know," Ganju growls back.

"In any case... why have we both been treated for our wounds?" Ishida wonders aloud. "We are intruders... their enemies. There isn't any reason for us to receive treatment from Soul Society..."

"...The situation has changed..." a third cellmate speaks up.

"Sado-kun!!" Ishida is surprised to see him sitting in a chair on the far side of the room. Chad's chest is heavily bandaged and, like Ganju and Ishida, he is wearing a white robe with his hands bound together by black handcuffs.

"I overheard the guards talking..." Chad explains. "It seems that a Captain within Seireitei has been assassinated. The culprit is unknown... that means we intruders are their key witnesses."

"...So they're letting us live for the sake of an inquiry, huh..." Ishida concludes.

"That's how it is," Ganju holds up his handcuffed wrists irritably. "If my spiritual energy wasn't being sealed away by these damn things, we'd be able to slip out of this cell quickly by using my 'Sand-Strike.'"

Ishida looks down at his handcuffs, I see... These seal spiritual energy... He recalls his grandfather sadly, No... even without these things, my abilities are already...

"In any case!" Ganju continues. "We survived, but it sucks that we're stuck in a cell with our powers sealed! At least there's one thing that we can be certain of... that our enemy has no intention of killing us here, so the rest of the group is definitely alive!!"

"For us to be detained like this," Chad says, "it's best to assume that Inoue-san, who isn't fit for battle, has already been captured somewhere. All who remain are Yoruichi-san and Ichigo."

"I am waiting for Ichigo," Chad folds his hands on his lap patiently, unwilling to move from this cell. "He will definitely come here. All we can do until then is mend our wounds and prepare for the next battle!"(2)

~*~*~

"Ugh!" The blade shatters like glass in Ichigo's hands. He tosses the useless weapon away with a curse and takes off running again. "Shit!!"

Zangetsu stands there with a blade in his hand, watching Ichigo sprint for another sword. "...That's the 18th one..." He starts forward as well, chasing after Ichigo.

Ichigo scans the surrounding area before he finally catches sight of the one that he's looking for, "There it is!!"

He leaps down near the edge of a cliff and snatches up a sword that is completely identical to his usual hilt-less Zangetsu blade. "Just as I thought," Ichigo grins eagerly as he turns to face his opponent, "the 'true' form is the only one!!"

Zangetsu appears in front of him and shatters the blade easily with the flat of his hand, "How dull." He swings his blade in a wide arc, slashing Ichigo across the chest.

"I thought I told you, Ichigo," Zangetsu steps back patiently as Ichigo struggles to regain his footing. "All of the blades here are fragments of your spirit. This is a test for you to find the one fragment, out of all these, which was shaped for battle. Right now, you tried to depend on me - 'Zangetsu'," he indicates the recently shattered blade on the ground.

"That's a fragment of the 'fragility' of your spirit," Zangetsu criticizes him. "If you can't even see through that much, then there's no point in speaking of the 'Bankai'! Now, go for the next one, Ichigo! This isn't the time to back down!"

Ichigo reaches for the nearest blade and stands up to face Zangetsu with a feral grin, "Of course it ain't!"

Yoruichi observes them from a distance with quiet intensity.

~*~*~

"Oh my~~! What a surprise that was!! To think that Vice Captain Kusajishi would do us the honor of picking us up back there!!" Maki-maki scratches the back of his head and blushes, "I, Aramaki Makizou, am flushed with sublime emotion!!!"

"Well, it's not like I had a choice," Yachiru is sitting against the wall, looking as cute and innocent as ever. "That girl is an intruder, so she has spiritual energy that's similar to Icchii's. I noticed that and went to check it out, so it was just by chance, Ara... Ara... Ummmm...?" She looks up at him, easily forgetful.

"Oh! My apologies!" he jumps in. "It's me! Maki-maki! You thought it would be cute to give me that nickname 10 years ago!"

"Maki-maki..." Yachiru tests out the name and giggles, "AHAHA! What a weird name!"

"You gave me that nickname!" Maki-maki freaks out, pained by her thoughtlessness.

Orihime notices the pair from the other side of the room, but Ikkaku speaks up to draw her attention back to the main conversation.

"...Well?" Madarame Ikkaku, 3rd rank in the 13th Division, asks. His friend, Ayasegawa Yumichika, sits beside him on the couch, biting his thumbnail and glaring at Orihime intently while muttering "So beautiful..." under his breath.

"What happened to him, Orihime-chan?" Ikkaku folds his arms behind his head and sits back in his chair. "Is that Ichigo guy still alive?"

Orihime looks over at Ikkaku and squirms in her chair nervously, "Umm... I don't really know all that much..."

"Quit asking stupid questions, Ikkaku," A third speaker enters the conversation. "He's alive. I know it. He's alive and he's trying to get even stronger."

Like a barbarian king on his throne, Zaraki Kenpachi sits comfortably on the side of the bed with his chest wrapped in bandages along with his restored Zanpaku sword, which is leaning against his shoulder. He has a new eye patch over his right eye and bandages wrapped over the scar on the bridge of his nose - but he's still the same Zaraki with spiky hair and bells. "This is gonna get interesting," he grins eagerly.(3)

"Lend us a hand, girl," Zaraki addresses Orihime, who appears dwarfed by his huge presence. "If we work together," he grins down at her, "we'll probably get to see Ichigo very soon."


(1)I know Hana is a talented healer, but I certainly didn't expect him to be the 7th strongest healer in the 4th Division. Don't even get me started on that whole 'squad leader' thing - I'm still baffled by that... (When he first appeared, he certainly didn't seem like a squad leader of any sort... I wonder what his subordinates are like...)
(2)Chad's faith in Ichigo is incredible... I wonder about those two sometimes. :P
(3)YES!!!!! XD SEE!? SEE!? WOOHOO!! FINALLY!! XD

Notes:
-Well, I'll be surprised to hear anyone ask what their favorite character is doing to right now - KT pretty much has everyone covered... Except maybe Ukitake, Hitsugaya, and Byakuya... where the hell are they...? -_-;
-The stuff Zangetsu says in this chapter about fragments was very confusing and obscure... hopefully things start to make sense next chapter.
-My sense of time in this storyline is getting very mixed up... some things are happening too fast, too slow, at different times, at the same time, ect... It feels like they've been infiltrating Seireitei forever, but I think it's only been a day and a half or so.
-Ganju the Mummy is funny as hell. I'm relieved he's alright, though it seems like it'll take a while for those stitches to heal over... >_<;
-I ♥ Hanataro! ^^
-I miss x. T_T

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