Unexpected Assistance

Orihime has never liked the sand. It's coarse, rough, and it gets everywhere, but it's the only entertainment here. There are no TVs or video game consoles or ingredients, so Orihime can create her famous weird dishes. As she stares out the window, she wonders if anyone will come to save her. The door to her room opens and Ulquiorra enters it.

"Ulquiorra, why are you here?" asked Orihime.

"Lord Aizen wants you to wear this. This outfit fits in with the rest of ours," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra walks over to Orihime and hands the nearly all-white outfit to her. Instead of just leaving, he stares at Orihime.

"What's wrong?" asked Orihime.

"What does it mean to have a heart?" asked Ulquiorra.

"Everyone has a heart," said Orihime.

"I mean what does it feel like? If I would put my hand through your chest and steal your heart, would I finally have one?" asked Ulquiorra.

"If someone has a heart, they are kind and sympathetic. You're either born with a heart or grow one. I can tell that you don't have a heart yet, but if you try hard enough, you can have a heart just like me," said Orihime.

"How long will it take?" asked Ulquiorra.

"As long as you cause it to take," said Orihime.

After hearing the words of insight, Ulquiorra starts to walk away. He reaches the door and stops walking.

"Your friends are coming to save you. I won't kill them if I don't have to. Think of it as a favor," said Ulquiorra.

"Thank you," said Orihime.

"Don't mention it," said Ulquiorra.

As Ulquiorra exits the room, Orihime walks back to her window and stares out of it.

"My friends have come to save me. Hopefully, they don't have anything blocking their path," said Orihime.

Back on the other side of Hueco Mundo, the rescue team is currently facing off against the Hollow made out of sand, Runuganga.

"I received a message that intruders have entered this world. I didn't believe that bugs like you would help these intruders, but I will still turn you all into sand," said Runuganga.

"If you want to turn us into sand, you're going to have to train for a thousand years!" exclaimed Kuroi.

"You bugs are cocky," said Runuganga.

"Enough talking! Getsuga Tensho!" exclaimed Ichigo.

Ichigo brings down his blade and launches a Getsuga Tensho. The Getsuga Tensho hits the Hollow and splits it in half.

"That was a surprise attack! That's cheating! You are the bad guys!" exclaimed the Hollow family.

"I just saved you. You could show a little more appreciation," said Ichigo.

"I don't think you beat him," said Chad.

Ichigo turns his head and sees the Hollow slowly regenerating.

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Ichigo.

"A Hollow made out of sand. It's pretty obvious," said Kuroi.

"Intruders, you will not be forgiven!" exclaimed Runuganga.

"So, how do we beat him?" asked Ichigo.

"My arrow will just put a hole in him and he can easily just regenerate," said Uryu.

"All Chad and I can do to him is punch him and that won't kill this guy," said Tatsuki.

"Maybe I can use my Bankai to heat him so much that he will just melt into liquid," said Kuroi.

"That could work. I doubt that he could come back from being a liquid," said Uryu.

"Can you guys hurry up! He's coming!" exclaimed Pesshe.

Kuroi jumps and darts towards the giant Hollow.

"Bankai," said Kuroi.

Kuroi's Zanpakuto enters its Bankai state and he lands on the Hollow. He stabs his blade into the Hollow and it immediately starts to burn. The Hollow burns for a few seconds before it turns into nothing but liquid.

"He burned longer than I expected," said Kuroi.

"You should have waited for us!" exclaimed Rukia.

Kuroi turns around and sees Rukai and Renji standing behind the group.

"Dad sent you two already. That's surprising. He's usually late," said Kuroi.

"We're supposed to be allies, but you didn't wait for us to come and help. My feelings have been hurt," said Renji.

"Put a sock in it, crybaby. We have to get to Las Noches and save Orihime," said Kuroi.

Renji and Rukia join the team and hop on Bawabawa. Bawabawa starts to move as they continue on their trip to Las Noches.

"There are more soul reapers. That means more bad guys want to hurt Nel's friends," said Nelliel.

"Bad guys? Who even are these people?" asked Rukia.

"They're a family of Hollows," said Kuroi.

"Hollows can have families? I didn't know that could happen," said Rukia.

"Anything happens in Hueco Mundo," said Kuroi.

Thirty minutes pass. The rescue team finally reaches Las Noches. The group hops off Bawabawa and approaches the wall.

"This place looked better from a distance," said Uryu.

"The important thing is that this wall is not made out of Sekkiseki," said Rukia.

"What does that mean?" asked Tatsuki.

"We can bust it down with brute force," said Kuroi.

Renji, Ichigo, and Kuroi pull out their Zanpakutos and bust down the wall with ease.

"Did we break through it?" asked Ichigo.

"Obviously, dumbass. Wind is coming through it," said Renji.

"What the hell is you doing! If you needed a gate, there's one a three-day travel from here!" exclaimed Nelliel.

"We don't want to show up at their front door. Plus, we don't have three days," said Renji.

"Nel, thanks for us this far, but this is goodbye. This is no place for children. See you later," said Kuroi.

As the group runs through the hole, the little girl refuses to stay put and chases after them.

"Nel, wait!" exclaimed Pesshe.

"You can't leave Nel and her brothers here! Aizen may have foreseen it and will order his Spada to kill us! If yous leave us here, Nel'll cry! Waaaaaaaaaaah!" exclaimed Nelliel.

"If she doesn't shut up, she'll just draw them to us," said Renji.

"Fine! Just stay behind us and be quiet!" exclaimed Kuroi.

Nelliel stops crying and her and her brothers join the team. The larger group continues to run down the dark hallway.

"This is a long hallway," said Rukia.

"I wish I could see where I'm going," said Kuroi.

"Don't worry. I can light the way. Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!" said Renji.

Instead of making a large red ball of energy, the experienced soul reaper creates a small one instead.

"That's a small light. I didn't know that you were the conservative type," said Uryu.

"Hada Number 31: Shakkaho," said Kuroi.

Kuroi one-ups Renji by creating a correct version of the Kido spell.

"This is how you use a Kido spell. I can teach you if you want," said Kuroi smugly.

"Shut up," said Renji.

The group continues to run through the hallway until they reach a corridor. This corridor has five different entrances.

"It seems that we have reached a crossroads," said Uryu.

"This is a pain in the ass spot to be stuck in," said Renji.

"Nel, this is time for a goodbye. Espada are nothing to play around with. I refuse to let a child get hurt," said Kuroi.

"But-," said Nelliel.

"Just listen to someone for once. You will die if you come with us, so please just stay here. We can deal with them," said Kuroi.

The expression on Nelliel's face non verbally expresses that she wants to follow Kuroi and his friends, but Kuroi won't allow it.

"There are five paths, so what do we do?" asked Chad.

"We can start at the door from the left and go to the right," said Uryu.

"That would take too long. We need to split up," said Rukia.

"Split up? The first rule of any horror movie is to never split up," said Tatsuki.

"This isn't a movie. This is real life. Splitting up will help spread out the Espada and help us get to Orihime quicker," said Rukia.

"I second that plan. Even though everyone here isn't super strong, I believe that we're strong enough to defeat whoever stands in our way and save Orihime," said Ichigo.

"As the leader of this operation, I also believe that splitting up is the best idea. The only problem is that they're seven of us, so there will need to be a couple duos. Ichigo and I will team up. We're the strongest here, so we will be the most likely to get to Orihime. Tatsuki will go with Uryu. he will need some help," said Kuroi.

"What does that suppose to mean?" asked Uryu.

"It's nothing personal. I'm just increasing our chances of success," said Kuroi.

"Alright! Before we go, let's do a little chant before we head into battle," said Renji.

"A chant? Really?" asked Kuroi.

"It's a Gotei 13 tradition. Even though it's kind of going out of style, I believe that it would be necessary for a mission like this. Now, everyone put your hands in the middle," said Renji.

Everyone puts their hands in the middle.

"We, at this moment, head into the decisive battle! Have faith that our blades will not shatter! Have faith that our hearts will not waver! Even if our paths diverge, we will share a heart of iron! Swear that even if the ground beneath us should be rent asunder, we will live and return to this place! Now, let's go rescue Orihime," said Renji.

The group retracts their hands and rushes through the entrances in front of them. Ichigo and Kuroi quickly run down their hallway. They continue to run until they hear the voice of a familiar little girl.

"Wait for Nel!" exclaimed Nelliel.

"Nel, I told you to not follow us!" exclaimed Kuroi.

"Nel wants to go with you!" exclaimed Nelliel.

Nelliel tries to jump on Kuroi, but Kuroi easily catches her.

"Where's the rest of your gang?" asked Ichigo.

"Nel left Bawabawa outside because he needs to eat sand to survive," said Nelliel.

"I wasn't talking about your pet. Where is your 'family'?" said Ichigo.

"They're right behind Nel," said Nelliel.

"There is no one behind you," said Kuroi.

"What do you mean that no one is behind Nel?" asked Nelliel.

Nelliel turns her head and sees that her brothers are not behind her.

"They's not there! They's lost childrens! Dondochakka and Pesshe has become lost childrenses!" exclaimed Nelliel.

"You're the lost child," said Kuroi.

"I guess that we will have to take her with us," said Ichigo.

"Just don't get in our way," said Kuroi.

"Nel won't. Nel promises," said Nelliel.

Before Nelliel, Kuroi, and Ichigo can move, Kuroi and Ichigo sense someone above them.

"What's wrong?" asked Nelliel.

"Be quiet. Someone's here," said Kuroi.

"Come on out! I know that you're hiding up there!" exclaimed Ichigo.

Ichigo looks up and sees a shadowy figure perched on top of the ceiling. The figure hops off the ceiling.

"I won't let you run away!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"Who's running?" asked the figure.

The figure crash lands behind the trio.

"Are you ok?" asked Kuroi.

"Taaaaaadaa!" exclaimed the figure.

The figure starts to cough violently. After the coughing fit, he starts to pose.

"Hey!" exclaimed the man.

The trio just stands there, visibly disappointed by the terrible entrance.

"Wait one second! What's with the reactions!" exclaimed the man.

"Your entrance was so lame," said Kuroi.

"Lame! That was my grand entrance! How could it possibly be lame!" exclaimed the man.

"You missed your step and fell in front of us. You need to rehearse more," said Kuroi.

"I need to rehearse more! Nevermind. You suffer from bad tastes, but that doesn't change the result. You will be defeated by Arrancar number 103, Dordoni!" said Dordoni.

"Number 103. That's a big number," said Ichigo.

"I thought that it only went up to double digits not triple. Have you ever seen this, Nel?" said Kuroi.

"No. It should only be two digits," said Nelliel.

"That must mean he's pretty weak. I feel bad for him," said Kuroi.

"Don't you dare pity me! Here I come!" exclaimed Dordoni.

"Wait!" exclaimed Kuroi.

"Huh?" asked Dordoni.

"We can't fight when there's a child here," said Kuroi.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Dordoni.

"I'm taking her somewhere safe," said Kuroi.

"I won't let you leave. You're just trying to avoid going against my amazing strength," said Dordoni.

Kuroi casually flash steps past Dordoni without him even noticing.

"I wasn't asking you. I was telling you that I was going to take her somewhere safe. Ichigo, you can deal with this guy, but do it quickly. I sense strong spiritual pressures up ahead," said Kuroi.

Kuroi proceeds to run down the hallway. Dordoni turns around and tries to stop Kuroi and Nelliel from running, but Ichigo puts his blade to Dordoni's throat.

"I'm your opponent, clown," said Ichigo.

Kuroi, with Nelliel in his arms, continues to run down the hallway. They continue to run until Kuroi senses a very big amount of spiritual pressure. He stops and stares at the top of the stairs. A few seconds pass before Ulquiorra walks through the door.

"Kuroi, you're here. I know that I sensed you," said Ulquiorra.

"Damn," said Kuroi.