You immediately flash-stepped to the Espada, kicking her backwards. You panted a little, getting into a stance.

"(Y/N)..."

"This is my fight too! With all due respect, Lieutenant, I refuse to wait for permission! I may be unexperienced, and you probably could see my fear- but that doesn't mean I'm incapable."

She smiled weakly, nodding.

"Sorry. I underestimated them," she admitted. You suddenly froze when you felt a familiar reiatsu heading towards you.

"Lieutenant Hinamori? I thought she was...!"

Rangiku seemed to be just as surprised.

"Hinamori... are you... all better?" Rangiku asked, in between ragged breathing.

"...Yes. Don't worry, Rangiku-san. I have put my Lieutenant's badge and come here today as the Vice-Captain of Fifth Division. But what that means is that I am acting as 'the person in charge of Fifth Division'... not as a 'subordinate of Aizen Taichou. Because... he is... an enemy of soul society..."

Hinamori... I don't know if she noticed...

"...Good. As long as you understand that,"

But she called Aizen 'Aizen Taichou' just now... is she really okay to do this?

"Let's go!"

"Yes!"

"Be careful... Hinamori, (Y/N)..."

"Are you done with your pointless chatter?"

"Rangiku, a cero!"

She blocked it quickly with her ash, and you thanked her silently as you tightened your grip.

"Y-Ye lord! Mask of all blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens. Hado #73! Sōren Sōkatsui!"

The blue beam fired, barely grazing Appaci's sides. You stared smugly at her ripped clothing and charred skin, despite having missed.

"...I get it now. Judging from your power level, you are around Vice-Captain level... but three people of your power level isn't that much different to three on one."

You took a wary step back as she snapped two handcuff-looking things on both arms. They turned into something akin to a headband- you almost laughed at the thought- covered in blades. Mira rose pulled out a sword, and Sunsun pulled out something resembling a small trident.

"Mira rose! Sunsun! Let's put an end to this! We'll hurry and finish playing house here, then we'll head over to where Halibel-sama is!"

"Don't act like you're in charge, moron," Mila rose sighed.

"You were the one dragging this out," Sunsun said plainly.

"But you know... I'm in agreement with what you're saying."

In sync, all three of them charged towards the three of you, weapons out.

"Later, cow girl!"

Suddenly, they stopped in mid air. You raised an eyebrow smugly, shooting Hinamori a grin.

"What the hell... is this?"

"Did you think about it? How I was able to suddenly appear earlier without being detected? You're all so much stronger than me... so in order to get close enough without being noticed, I had to hide my Reiatsu with Kido. So, while I was hiding myself, I put up a kido net around Rangiku-san... but I didn't even come close to imagining that all three of you would be caught in it."

"You little brat..."

"Snap... Tobiume!"

The radius around the barrier exploded.

"Are you okay... Hinamori?" you asked, noticing her huffs.

"...Yes, sorry... that was my first time using that combination procedure... focusing was really tough,"

"It's okay," you laughed. "That really was something. Number 20, Fushibi, right? And I'm guessing you used Shakkahou in combination... ah, and Bakudou number 6, Kyoukkou? To make it invisible, yeah?"

She blinked at you in confusion.

"How did you.. know?"

"Aha, I've been doing my research~!" you hummed modestly.

"Oh, well, I'm glad it went well."

She seems more okay than I thought she was... I'm glad. She's very important to Shiro...

"Thrust upwards, Cierva!"

"Feast wildly, Leona!"

"Strangle, Anaconda!"

You frowned at the three Espada who had used their Resurreccions.

"No way..."

"I didn't think that it had beaten them, but they're almost completely unharmed!"

"Their injuries heal when they do their Resurreccion. That's just the type of group they are..."

Appaci looked annoyed at her fellow Arrancar.

"...Damn it... you guys are going overboard!"

"Dragging this out seems like it'd be more trouble. Using that, we can wrap it up in one shot,"

"...I suppose it can't be helped."

"Quimera parca."

They ripped off their arms at the same time. You felt your stomach churn at the mere thought of it. You watched as the three arms were thrown into each other. They transformed into some sort of "monkey-deer-snake-thingy" (you couldn't think of any better words to describe it).

"Wha... what in the world... is that?"

"Quimera Parca. This is our pet, constructed from our three left arms when we are in our released states. His name is Allon."

What is... this chill I'm feeling? It's like peering into a bottomless hole...

The monster launched itself at the three of you.

"Haineko!"

You stared in horror as a hole was created in her sides. You could see her insides in all their glory.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you... Allon is dreadfully strong, so be careful," Appaci taunted.

"RANGIKU! Bakudo No.37! Tsuriboshi!" you shouted. Hinamori leaned above Rangiku in a panic.

"Hang on, Rangiku-san! I'll heal you right away!"

You watched uselessly, frozen to the spot, as Rangiku gasped for breath. Hinamori pulled her sword out quickly as Allon stepped in front of her. She was punched out of the way swiftly, coughing up blood.

"Bakudo No.37! Tsuriboshi!" you repeated quickly. Suddenly you felt a presence from behind you.

"You did well... Hinamori. Don't worry, us three will take care of this creep."

"Izuru..! Shuuhei!"

"Tch... they just keep coming, one after another... you guys sure do love to get involved in other people's fights. ALLON! Don't give them time to interfere! Kill them all at once!"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"ALLON! He's ignoring me?! That bastard!"

"Give it up, moron. There's no way Allon can hear what we're saying."

"He's got to have ear-drums somewhere, right?!"

"I don't know. I've never seen him react to anything I've said."

"Tch... he didn't do anything, after all. What a creepy bastard."

You silently agreed with the Arrancar.

A creepy bastard indeed.

~