STOP ME WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH

Nope, No Way

A blue arrow pierces the Hollow's face, and it releases a blood curdling scream as it evaporates. Everyone dashes to the fallen boys, Ichigo being the first one there. Keigo is a little more vocal about his wound, but Mizuiro's looks worse. Inoue reaches for her pins. Ichigo throws a hand up at her.

"Wait, no. They need to heal from these wounds the hard way," Ichigo states.

"I hate that," Inoue frowns.

"Me too."

"Ichigo, why don't you close them up the same way you healed me?" Rukia inquires.

"What way?" Inoue tilts her head. "Do you have healing, too, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Kinda. I don't really get how it works yet," the ginger shrugs.

"Are you guys alright?" Chad asks.

"I feel like I'm dying," Keigo groans loudly.

"It hurts to breathe," Mizuiro confesses.

"Itsygo should let Nel help," Nel declares.

Ichigo regards her. "Go for it."

She wobbles over, her brothers watching her like a pair of hawks. She leans over Keigo with little balance, and proceeds to release a wave of slobber onto the wounded brunet's gashed chest. He wails in disgust, along with Tatsuki and Rukia.

Ichigo quickly scoops up the green haired child before Keigo gets the chance to clobber her. Keigo sits up, holding his arms out as he gawks at his rapidly healing wound. Ichigo instantly becomes intrigued, shifting himself closer to get a better look. So Nel has healing spit? He can recall having a similar power when he coated Rukia's stitches in spit. So it's a Hollow thing? Weird. He supposes it makes sense since it's an animal's instinct to lick its wounds.

"Mizuiro's turn," Ichigo chuckles, holding Nel over his friend's cut up torso.

"I'd rather bleed out," Mizuiro proclaims.

Too late. A large glob of saliva slaps onto the short teen's wounds. He whines in disgust, his frown forever imprinted into his face. Ichigo and Tatsuki can only chuckle at their misfortune. Rukia lightly hits Ichigo's shoulder, yet from the humor in her eyes, one can tell she doesn't mean it.

All wounds are healed and everyone is to their feet. Ichigo whips up a portal to Las Noches, and everyone hops through. They land in a corridor at the half way point between Aizen's throne room and Ichigo's palace. The ginger gives a casual command for his fracción to go to the palace before departing for Aizen with the new recruits.

Nel is shaking in his arms as he carries her. Ichigo wonders if he should say something.

"It's okay to be scared, Nel. Just know your brothers and I are here for you, okay? We won't let you go through this alone."

"Why is Itsygo so nice to Nel? Itsygo hardly knows Nel, and Nel hardly knows Itsygo," the child sniffs.

"Because you needed help, and that's what I'm here to do - help people."

"Then why did Itsygo kill Espada?"

The question throws him off for a moment. "Because I'm helping good people. I never said anything about protecting the bad."

Ichigo enters the throne room in the middle of - what looks like - a meeting. He pauses in the doorway with Dondochakka and Pesche behind him. All heads turn to look at the newcomers from the table that wasn't there before. All of what's left of the Espada are present along with a new guy. Ulquiorra can't even be bothered to roll his eyes, but Grimmjow definitely can. All Aizen does is offer a smile.