Toshiro landed next to a barrack that was a little on the rundown side but knocked on the door. It took a minute but eventually the door slid open and Kira looked at Toshiro.

"Who are you?" he asked softly, seeming winded.

"It's me, Captain Hitsugaya."

Kira looked him over for a second.

"You've grown..."

"Well it's been a long time, Lieutenant."

"If you're still calling me that then it has been. You know I'm no longer part of the Gotei 13..."

"You're always welcome back to us... Even Captain Ichimaru misses you."

Kira looked away. "Seeing him makes me uneasy."

"I know the issues that happened and I don't like him that much anyway, but he's the only one that is immune to Aizen's released zanpakuto and you are the only one who can help us."

Kira frowned. "I don't understand..."

"Are you aware of anything that's happened in the past few days?"

"Sorry, I don't really pay much attention to much of anything anymore..." he said, rubbing his neck nervously.

"I understand... May I come in and explain it to you? We really need your help."

"I guess so..." he said, opening the door a little wider for Toshiro to come in.

"Hello? Did you forget that I was here?" Kohana growled before the door closed on her face.

Toshiro actually had forgotten about her and turned to her.

"Oh..."

"You jerk." Kohana growled.

Kira shuffled slowly towards his kitchen.

"I'm afraid all I can offer you are a few rice cakes and honey tea. I'm all out of green tea and haven't gotten my monthly vouchers for the market yet."

Toshiro looked around the hut and frowned, unhappy to see the conditions that he either let himself live in or was forced to live in. Knowing Kira, he was probably punishing himself or something honorable.

"Monthly vouchers?" Kohana decided to ask, even though Toshiro wanted to as well.

Kira put his kettle on the stove and turned to them fully in the light of the kitchen. Kohana gasped loud enough to draw attention and Toshiro elbowed her hard in the side. Kira's robotic eye focused on her, moving about in an odd way.

"Yes, I'm... not exactly ideal to look upon."

Kohana cleared her throat. "Forgive me; I was just surprised."

"I thought that Orihime healed you?" Toshiro said.

"She healed what she could. At the time, she had just reentered into the Soul Society as a soul herself and so she was still trying to remember her past when they called me in. She did what she was able to do but she was limited at the time. Captain Kurotsuchi asked if I would like to have robotic parts attached for the remaining things she couldn't heal. My eye, the original blast that killed me, and my forearm and hand."

"If she didn't heal that, then what did she do?"

"My mind. Being the one who was most under the control of that Quincy's power, my mind was not easily fixed by Captain Kurotsuchi's serum. They had me chained here for a while until he could find a better solution for me and then Inoue-san showed up."

The kettle began to whistle and Kohana leaned into Toshiro.

"Are you sure this is the right Shinigami who lives like a hermit at the edge of the Seireitei with robotic parts and a zanpakuto we can use?"

"Yup."

"Please, take a seat and we can discuss what you came for."

The two turned and Toshiro frowned at the 'table'. I will have to remind the Head Captain that this place is unacceptable... he thought as he looked at the long cardboard box. The two sat anyway as Kira followed them and served them all he had.

"Now, you said something about needing my help? Whatever for?"

"There are these people who call themselves the Cakurahita. They have a leader with them who can release zanpakutos from their sword binds and allow the user to use the shikais and bankais without the sword inhibitor."

"How odd." He said, sipping his tea.

"It's a problem. If she starts going around and releasing zanpakutos from people's swords, chaos will take over the Soul Society. There are some people who need the swords to keep themselves in check."

"So... how do I fit in?"

"We are trying to stop them and we need someone to help us. We need you, Kira."

Kira lifted an eyebrow. "If what you're saying is true, then what can someone like me do to help you?"

"Everything."

********************

Kyoraku listened to Urahara explain the plan to try and defeat Roka from the inside as Tachuri kept Osaka at bay outside of the meeting. Urahara finished and Kyoraku put his hand on his chin.

"So you think by unleashing Wabisuke, it will defeat the Cakurihita? How would that work?"

"That's right." Ukitate asked. "Wabisuke is more of a melee sword than a range one. There's no kido involved with it, so how would it work?"

"That is the beauty of the theory. Wabisuke may seem like it can't function without a sword, but in one factor it can: the doubling of weight."

"But if they don't use swords then how will that work?"

"Since Kira-san won't have to use a physical sword to touch something or someone, he can practically point and make something heavier. For instance, the Cakurihita girl that we have outside. Her abilities are based on her ability to open her mouth and produce sound waves. Kira-san would only need flick his wrist and cause her head to get as heavy as he could without breaking it from her neck and also making her bottom jaw heavy enough that it can't be moved. We can use their strength against them."

Kyoraku sighed, leaning back. "How confident are you that this will work?"

"If Kira-san agrees, I'm 80% sure that it will work."

"What kind of odds are those?!" Soi Fon growled, grabbing Urahara. "If we knew it would be that bad, we'd have thought of something else."

"I'm so sorry, Soi Fon." He said lightly.

"As much of a gap as it seems, Captain Soi Fon, 80% is better than 0%. This plan is the closest to a good one that we've had all day. We just got attacked by Aizen, who is working with the enemy and from what you just told me, they plan on trying to release Captain Kurosaki's powers as well. If using Wabisuke's strange shikai is what it takes to bring down this enemy, then with Kira-san's consent, we will use it."

******************

Captain Kurosaki leaned back on the rock and sighed, unhappy about his predicament. He hadn't been this helpless since... well, since the age he was looking at right now. Yachiru will be very displeased... he thought to himself. It was scarier wondering what his wife would do to him than what would come if Roka got a hold of Zangetsu. He wondered why she was waiting to unleash him from those binds anyway. What was she waiting for?

"How you feeling?" Ichigo asked his older self.

Captain Kurosaki scoffed. "Was I always this soft?"

"Concern doesn't mean you're soft." Ichigo growled.

"Well you show your 'concern' for everyone, enemies and friends alike. I have to wonder how I ever got around by worrying about other people."

Ichigo sighed. "Well I have to wonder why I become a complete dickhead when I grow to your age. It's like you stripped away every piece of what makes me me and here you are, the shell of what I am."

Captain Kurosaki growled and tried to lunge at him but hissed and leaned back on the rock. Orihime looked between the two.

"Please don't fight. It's really awkward and it won't do any good. Oichi, you have to save your strength. You know Murasunta is going to come back soon and activate your Hollow again."

"Yeah..."

"If she does that," Byakuya said. "How will you survive?"

"The way I always have: by surviving."

"And I'm stupid." Ichigo mumbled.

Captain Kurosaki kicked Ichigo in the ankle and his younger self hopped around. Orihime made a face at him as Byakuya did the same.

"You say you're not childish and yet here you are... acting like a child. Just be a good convalescent already." Byakuya said.

"Look who is showing his true personality." Captain Kurosaki mocked.

Ichigo was a little confused and Byakuya rolled his eyes.

"Captain Kurosaki isn't very good with pain."

Kurosaki was about to deny it when a sharp pain went through him and he hissed, trying to brace himself against the rock. Orihime moved his hand and her eyes went downcast.

"It's getting worse."

"No shit..." he growled.

"There's got to be a way out of here." Ichigo said, looking around the underground center.

"Aizen said he was going to help us somehow."

"Do you really trust the guy who almost took down the Soul Society before? That would be like putting faith in Yhwach if he were still alive." Kurosaki said.

"Despite their alikes they are quite different from each other. Yhwach wanted revenge and to rule over all the dimensions." Byakuya said, leaning against the rock as well. "He wanted to warp the way the world worked, giving people immortality because of the fear of death. Aizen only wants to rule the Soul Society... or at least help rule it. I highly doubt the Head Captain would give him free reign."

"But isn't that the same thing?" Ichigo asked.

"Aizen will help in exchange for helping to rule the Soul Society. Yhwach didn't care and wanted to conquer all the worlds and thought there would be no consequences to his idiocy. He got too cocky and was killed. Aizen is immortal, so he's quite a feat already. From what I gathered from him during his time in Hueco Mundo and the way that he spoke, he feels that he should rule over something. He stole the Hyogoku because Yamamoto would never allow him to rule and he wanted to transcend being a Soul Reaper. If he wasn't a Soul Reaper, he was no longer under Yamamoto's hand."

"Which makes him dangerous." Kurosaki said. "I don't care if he wants to help us defeat the Cakurahita but letting him try to rule anything is like telling a child they can only have one piece of candy and yet they have control of the whole shop. If he has any control, he will take all control."

"His confidence is still lacking even after all these years. I'm flattered, actually."

Byakuya turned to Aizen's image and Ichigo watched him.

"Is Aizen here?"

"His image is."

"I came to inform you that your friends are coming. They are trying to hatch a plan but I don't think they will be able to accomplish it without my help. Do I still have permission to use your Senbonzakura's image?"

"Why do you need it?"

"Personal use... Well?"

"I guess so."

Aizen's image nodded and Byakuya frowned again.

"What's wrong?" Orihime asked.

"I don't know what Aizen is going to do with my Senbonzakura..."

"Well, we keep giving him the okay so whatever comes is our faults."

*****************

Gin perched himself in a tree and scanned the outskirts of the Seireitei. He had heard them say something about being in an abandoned barrack. There weren't very many of those and the only one he was really aware of was Kira's. He'd sneak a peek at his former lieutenant every once in a while and then come back and leave food for the idiot. For some reason he thought he needed to live in squalor but Gin didn't push himself onto Kira.

Suddenly the sound of tinkling glass caught Gin's attention and a line of cherry blossoms floated in front of him. He watched them for a second as they seemed to pull together and bob up and down in the air, as if they were waiting. Although Gin could see that the cherry blossoms were a part of Senbonzakura, he had a feeling that it wasn't the real thing. He cautiously followed the floating petals.

They led him to the line of trees in front of the abandoned barrack and as he suspected, Aizen was there. As soon as the petals entered the tree line, the image shattered, indicating that Gin must have been close enough for the 'nullifying' to take place.

"Unusual for you, Aizen-sama." Gin said with a wider smirk. "Using my friend's zanpakuto as bait."

"I was unaware that you and Byakuya were friends now."

"Your perceptive prowess must be waning then."

"I will admit that your act 100 years ago was quite compelling. Even I was fooled every once in a while by your tremendous loyalty."

Gin smirked more. "Nyeh-eh, I learned from the best. If I took nothing but your ability to be the flower to the people while also being the snake underneath, I would have learned nothing else."

"Your loyalty is still odd."

"I came this time because I wanted to."

"Wasn't that always the case anyway?"

Gin couldn't have stretched his mouth any further, but he did.

"Whatever did you need, Aizen-sama?"

"Your friends need to be at this barrack." He threw something to Gin. "These are the coordinates. Whatever their plan is, they need to hurry. This Roka woman is getting cocky and also impatient. She wants to unleash Kurosaki's zanpakuto but we both know what would happen if she did."

"Chaos."

"And not the good kind. Plus, Kurosaki is wounded. Trying to unleash his zanpakuto while he is wounded would not be good, for the Hollow part of himself would try to take over to combat the strain."

"What's in it for you?"

Aizen smirked. "That's between me and the Head Captain."

He walked away as Gin looked at the piece of paper with longitude and latitude of the barrack. He sighed and began to head back to the other group. He had always respected Aizen's cunning nature but he never liked his secrecy. Sure, Gin had his own secrets but never more than Aizen. He could never tell if the man was just that good at knowing things and being able to hide them or if he was just that good that he was able to make someone think that's how he worked.

Gin had to admit that the man was still ingenious, whether it was intentional or not.

+++++++++++++++++++

i swear for gah i had other intentions for the senbonzakura thing but i forgot it so this is what happened. i apologize. anyway, i dunno why kira lives in such a hovel but for some reason i see him feeling that is his punishment. even though he didn't do anything... he just seems like that kind of dude.

oh and i believe that orihime's powers wouldn't have been up to par as soon as she got to the SS. because some souls forget their past altogether but then there was the parakeet kid who remembered chad when they got to the rukongai. so i would think that orihime would remember everything for the most part but her SP wouldn't be up to par yet just because it's trying to conform and stuff. then again, retcon with tsukishima/ginjo and they remembered EVERYTHING