"Friends are a good thing, even if they tread a different path.” — Jūshirō Ukitake.

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Kaien and Miyako stood tensed, a foot distance between them, as they waited for Luppi to get up.

The air thickened with Luppi’s anger and they could clearly feel how pissed off the Hollow was.

“I don’t think he’s going to take it easy from here on out.” Kaien said with a bitter smile.

“No doubt-” Miyako replied before her eyes widened behind her mask. She felt how Kaien stiffened beside her after hearing how demonic her voice sounded. She felt how his hands tightened around Nejibana.

“Get ready. He’s coming.” She let out a bitter smile as Kaien cut her off before she could say anything else.

As they readied themselves for Luppi’s reemergence, another Reiatsu made itself known, this one more malevolent than the two other Espada they’ve met.

“Seriously? What the hell is going on? It feels like a Hollow parade is taking place somewhere nearby.”

As if to further ridicule their grim situation, the rubble around Luppi exploded and they could feel his Reiatsu climbing up and up until it got to a boiling point.

“I think it’s the best time for you both to retreat.” Like a phantom, Itachi appeared before them looking the most serious Kaien has ever seen him.

On his shoulder was Junpei who he passed to Kaien who still looked a bit shaky.

“Should I call the Seireitei for reinforcements?”

Itachi was about to say no but reasoned against it and thought it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. This was Aizen’s work after all.

“If you can get to them then do so. At the very least I trust Mayuri to have the sensibilities to make a sound decision.”

The both of them retreated with Junpei leaving Itachi to face the two threats in front of him.

More than Luppi, it was the newcomer that had most of Itachi’s attention due to how overwhelmingly potent his Reiatsu was.

‘Now this seems like what he would do. I guess I should count myself lucky that this one wasn’t being serious with Junpei and the Lieutenant.’

He didn’t doubt for once that Luppi was more than capable of killing both Kaien and Junpei without them being able to put up any kind of worthwhile fight. Despite Kaien’s more than capable abilities, he just wasn’t on the level of these Arrancars. Anything short of the Captain level was a liability against them.

‘Maybe now that old man will finally be forced to consider new Captains for the open spots.’ Amaterasu sneered.

Tsukuyomi countered. ‘The only way he can do that on such short notice will be to heavily compromise on quality and overall prowess. Unfortunately, it’s not such an easily fixed problem.’

“So what is the point of all this?” He asked, “If he went through all this trouble of revealing his newest projects then it’s only reasonable that there is something worthwhile for him to gain.”

“His objectives are not for you to decipher.” The new Hollow, Ulquiorra Cifer, replied. “Luppi, were your orders not to retreat should you be confronted by any Shinigami Captain?”

Luppi seethed in rage as he glared at Ulquiorra but knew he couldn’t really do anything about his anger now that Ulquiorra was here. For better or worse, Ulquiorra was both their warden and back-off card should they face a more troublesome foe, just like this Captain that seems to have killed Nnoitra.

“We didn’t expect to face a Captain when we arrived. Other than the group of failures and the weak Shinigami squad, we didn’t sense anyone else. Definitely not a Captain.” That part was practically forced through his closed teeth. His glaring at Ulquiorra intensified with accusation. “If you knew he was here why didn’t you warn us?”

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Seeing Ulquiorra being silent at his question, Luppi’s glare contorted into a mocking sneer. “So you’re blaming me when you didn’t even sense him? Nice try trying to shift the blame on me, you bastard!”

From the beginning, Ulquiorra’s eyes that never once fully left Itachi narrowed at Luppi’s words. “You should choose your next words more carefully, Luppi.”

“Or what?”

Sparks flew in front of Luppi’s eyes as Itachi’s blade and Ulquiorra’s clashed a blade’s width from his neck.

Itachi had taken the moment he was preoccupied in his verbal clash with Ulquiorra to go straight for his neck.

Getting himself together, he tried to blast Itachi away while he was in a deadlock with Ulquiorra, disregarding Ulquiorra’s warning for him to retreat immediately, only to eat a Kidō blast directly in his face.

“An illusion? No, a clone.” Ulquiorra commented on the surprising but somewhat expected turn of events. “Impressive. I didn’t see when you created it.”

He fired off red compressed Hollow bullets, Bala, an exclusive technique of higher evolved Hollows, at the clone to stop him in his path which in turn allowed Luppi to finish him off with his tentacle-arms and two blasts of Cero.

Seeing his chance, Ulquiorra disengaged from Itachi and landed near Luppi.

“You are strong.” He said and sheathed his sword. “Unfortunately it is not part of my orders to fight you.”

A Garganta ripped open behind them and those perpetual darkness colored it, Itachi could sense two more Reiatsu not at all inferior to Luppi inside it which was why he didn’t press on the attack against Ulquiorra and Luppi.

The two of them he was sure he could take, their unknown Resurrección not changing much of the outcome, though it would make his odds to quickly kill them even steeper. But there was no way he was fighting off four Espada Arrancars, not when they all had the Captain’s equivalent of a Bankai. Even he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could take on four Captains with their Bankais.

“We will meet again, Captain Uchiha.” Ulquiorra said as they both stepped inside the Garganta.

Itachi stayed on the same spot for a full minute still feeling malice-filled eyes staring at him from the closed Garganta and only sealed back his Zanpakutō when he felt them finally withdraw.

He also didn’t seal back his Reiatsu just in case Aizen decided to follow up his initial attack. He doubted the man would do something that stupid but with unruly subordinates like that one couldn’t be too sure.

The other Shinigami that came with them had all already gone through the Senkaimon back to the Soul Society, leaving only him, Kaien and Junpei in the human world.

When he arrived at where they were cooped up, he saw them, Kaien and Miyako, staring at each other. One in abject hurt and the other with repentant distrust.

“Captain Uchiha, what is the meaning of this?” Kaien asked, now staring at Itachi with creeping distrust.

“It is exactly what you think it is.” Itachi said simply and went to check up on Junpei. He sat beside the knocked out Shinigami and started healing him.

The estranged couple, seeing that the only person who knew about whatever it was that was going on between them silently butting out of the drama, looked at each other unsure of how to act and what to say.

Miyako was about turning and leaving in sorrow when Kaien finally called out to her. Though there was heavy reluctance and disbelief in his voice, the fact that he could call her and take a step towards her was more than enough for Miyako’s Reiatsu to go all sorts of haywire and undid her Hollow transformation, showing her tear-filled eyes to her equally tearful husband.

“… Kaien.” She called in a whisper, afraid that her voice was still raspy but that didn’t matter as Kaien was now in front of her, holding her shoulders with so much strength that even if she wanted to hide her face from him she couldn’t.

“Miyako…” He called out again, this time a level of certainty in his voice. “It is really you.”

She could hardly say yes when he pulled her into one of his warmth filled hugs. Oh how she had dearly missed this. Suffice to say, this was the most warmth she’s felt ever since that dreadful night.

“Oh Kaien… I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry!” At this point, there was no way either of them could stop the torrent of salty drops.

“Shh. Don’t say anything else.”

While the couple were having a tearful reunion a few feet away from him, Itachi wrapped up with healing Junpei and only needed to wait a few seconds before the boy awoke with a startled jump. Itachi had to commend him the way his hands immediately went for his blade and his fingers a moment from firing off a Kidō spell before he recognized the person in front of him.

“Oh, it’s just you.” He said to himself before sighing in relief, all the while discreetly glancing around and registering who was with them and where they were before finally relaxing his guard.

“Is he dead?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Now that got a surprise reaction out of him but before he could voice out his obvious question, Itachi answered him.

“There was another more powerful one with him and two more waiting to bail them out.”

Junpei’s face darkened when he heard what Itachi had to say. Three more Hollows as powerful or more powerful than Luppi was a bit too apocalyptic for his thought processes to imagine.

‘Best to leave it to the powerful overthinker.’ He thought and conveniently pushed them as far back into his mind as he could, most content with leaving Itachi to deal with whatever complications such thoughts posed. Instead he focused on the more surprising development taking place in front of him.

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